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[Music] up next a suspicious house fire nearly kills an entire family had she been in there much longer she
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certainly wouldn't have survived a month later the husband is assaulted and the wife
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is dead who did this who would have possibly wanted to hurt her everyone was in lockdown mode
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new lights new sensors had been purchased everyone was on edge police have no witnesses no motive and
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no suspects this was a savage brutal attack until science uncovers an elaborate plan
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everybody was scratching their heads [Music] michael and effie ratley didn't meet in
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the typical way through friends or at work or school hey there got a little trouble there
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yeah they met when effie's car had a flat tire and michael stopped and offered to
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help wouldn't be any problem i was glad that effie found someone that she wanted to
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date because she had not previously dated a whole lot 18 months after their chance encounter
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the couple married but the union lasted only three months they were married for a short time
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originally they broke up never really lost contact with one another but less than a year later the couple
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married again and soon had a child together a son ayden i knew that if effie had the
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opportunity to be back with michael she would because she truly loved him she truly loved him michael was an
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office worker for blue cross and blue shield and the couple lived in a mobile home
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next door to michael's parents in bryceville florida but just weeks after coming home from
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the hospital with their new baby tragedy struck a fire broke out in michael and effie's home michael
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managed to get the baby out unharmed but effie was trapped inside instead of waiting for firefighters he
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used a satellite dish to break a window michael's actions were hailed by the local media
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michael's wife says she was asleep and had no idea what was going on because it was all happening so fast
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i wasn't really thinking anything at the time when i got out and i was like realized what was going on you know it
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was good to see him and know that he was okay michael says he's just glad he woke up
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i tried not to think what could have happened if i wouldn't have woke up it's too scary to think about as a
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reporter i'm hearing him say this and i'm thinking this guy is an absolute hero when you saw the damage inside this home
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you realize that had she been in there much longer she certainly wouldn't have survived
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fire investigators determined the cause of the fire was faulty wiring and there was no
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functioning fire detector the fire was ruled to have been an accidental fire michael effie and their baby moved in
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with michael's parents effie had her own room and inside the parent's house so the parents were
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helping them out after the firing tried to set them up but a month later tragedy struck the
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ratlies again michael radley was sleeping in the living room with his newborn son that
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was something he did frequently so that effie could be in the room by herself and get
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more sleep michael heard a noise coming from the bedroom and that's what awoke him and arose his
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attention to go in there and check on her he went in found the window wide open and his wife bleeding on the bed
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oh what's going on paramedics rushed effie to the local hospital she was alive and breathing according to
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rescue and when i got there they said she was barely hanging on it's terrible i remember coming out and
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telling joy i said it's it's bad it's bad the trauma doctor come in and talk to us
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they explained that effie had experienced an injury that was going to be life-ending that
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there was no way that she was going to pull through there had been a suspected break into
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the ratley's home and effie ratley had suffered serious injuries emergency room doctors discovered she
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had been struck seven times in the head with a blunt object [Music] the wounds had a very distinct
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appearance of a star which generally tells you that it's a round object that struck that person
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what makes this a personal crime were not only the extent of the injuries but the placement of the injuries
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this was not a one gunshot or a one stab wound this was blow after blow after blow very
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very violent effie had no enemies she was loved by everyone who met her who would do this and why
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after four days doctors concluded the neurological damage was too great and with the family's
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permission effie was taken off life support i'd always thought what would i do if
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something happened to one of my children so i'm sure we all have probably done that but it's not the same when it does
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happen you can seem like you could pair prepare all you want to it's not going to
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diminish the effect on you it looked as if effie's killer entered and exited through her ground floor
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bedroom window while everyone else in the house was asleep in other rooms outside the window they found the screen
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that had been cut it was laying directly beneath the window once i stepped in the room
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you could see the blood spatter on the wall behind effie's bed michael riley's parents
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stated that they never heard any noise coming from the bedroom during the attack
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effie ratley's murder was a concern to the entire community this was a big time crime in a very
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small city and it got everyone's attention immediately the night before effie's murder there
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had been another incident on the radley's property someone attacked michael ratley outside
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the barn what's going on my friends come home does he know who did it no idea nothing
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had been stolen which led police to believe michael had surprised his attacker before he could steal anything it
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created a lot of concern with the family it was common in this area to at night leave a garage door open or
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even a window open or what have you that was not the case after the barn incident before this incident 40
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miles away a woman was raped during a home invasion a week before that a woman working at a
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nearby convenience store was beaten and left in a storeroom it appeared that there might be someone out here on the
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loose preying on women in our county that was a real concern for women that was it one person
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are women being targeted why is this person targeting certain women but investigators found evidence that
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contradicted the idea the intruder entered through the radley's bedroom window it had been freezing cold on the night
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of the murder yet there were no foot impressions outside in the ground under the bedroom window there was a
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heavy frost that night also there were no footprints in the frost where that would indicate that someone had
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disturbed it and nothing had been tracked inside onto the bedroom carpet this carpeting
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was white and so if somebody had come into the window you would expect some evidence some debris
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that would have been carried inside the residence from outside in fact a basket of clothes directly in
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front of the window and a layer of dust on the windowsill hadn't been touched the investigators
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went so far as to videotape the window sills inside and out with a close-up view and you could see
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the dust on the inside of the windowsill that was undisturbed and robbery didn't appear to be a motive
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there was a purse by the window that was not taken there was a wallet on the nightstand
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that was not taken and she was not sexually assaulted in any way investigators also found some personal
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items in michael ratley's possession that raised questions about the couple's marriage
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there was a portable dvd player a bottle of personal lubricant and several dvd movies that contained
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adult male gay pornographic material on it it did lead to theories about motive you
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know he had a boyfriend somewhere and maybe he wanted to do away with effy to live that
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lifestyle and just break away in addition michael's phone records indicated he'd
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been making frequent phone calls to a 35 year old man who'd been one of his teachers in high
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school although this was suspicious was it a possible motive for murder this isn't
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hollywood this is bryceville and there's just an awful lot to this story a lot of smoke
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and mirrors at the ratley's home investigators found evidence that appeared to contradict the theory
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an intruder broke into their home the night effie was murdered the curtains were white there was no
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evidence whatsoever i actually got down on my hands and knees and looked at that area looking for any
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kind of trace evidence that i could tell the crime scene technicians to look at there was nothing there nothing there
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michael ratley's sister lived down the road and she too heard nothing to indicate an intruder
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michael ratley's sister and her husband had eight hunting dogs that were in a pen
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and they had two dogs that ran freely and by everyone's account there were no dogs heard barking the night of the
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assault and michael's friends told investigators he'd made some malicious comments about
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his wife he had told his friends that he hated his wife he had told his friends that he couldn't
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afford a child so there was more to michael ratley's marriage than what there appeared to be
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on the surface and according to effie's family there were other troubling incidents like
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the time effie was driving to work on the interstate michael called asking her to check the
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console to see if his medication was there [Music] she nearly wrecked the car at that point
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or her girlfriend's later relayed to me that she was just plum hysterical when she got to work
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yes she did have a fear of mice we're not real sure if michael did it or not investigators also learned effie had a
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hundred and fifty thousand dollars of life insurance with michael as the beneficiary
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in reconstructing the crime and analyzing the blood spatter evidence investigators concluded that the killer
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would have been covered in blood scientists tested the robe michael was wearing on
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the night of his wife's murder i did look for the presence of blood on that bathrobe
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but i did not find any i was surprised the whole house was searched anything for weapons the whole house was
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fingerprinted dna swabs any kind of blood or anything for touch dna was swabbed in that house
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but investigators found nothing no murder weapon bloody clothing or any other evidence of the crime
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inside michael's truck however investigators found a hidden compartment under the back seat
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there they found a treasure trove of forensic evidence michael riley's truck turned out to be
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the jackpot if you will for our case it was almost like it was packaged for them
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to find because it was just that easy there was a hammer a box cutter a piece of burnt electrical
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wire and several pairs of gloves michael radley said he was shocked that these items were found in his truck
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his words were oh my god so it looks like i killed my wife michael insisted he wasn't the killer
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and that someone was trying to frame him michael believed that somebody planted those items in his truck
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and that it might have possibly been the same attacker who attacked him in the barn the piece
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of burnt electrical wire was compared to the wire in the ratley's mobile home that caught fire a month earlier and
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forensically and microscopically it was compared to the ends of the wire that remained in
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the trailer and it was a match the wire alone disproved the intruder theory it showed that the
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person who did this murder then went through all the trouble of getting those wires
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and putting him also in in the storage compartment that michael radley had which would be incredible but one
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question bothered investigators if michael ratley wanted his wife dead why did he go through the trouble of
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rescuing her from the house fire just a month earlier i try not to think what could have happened
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if i wouldn't work up that's too scary to think about everybody was scratching their heads
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because he rescued her it makes you wonder did he try to kill her in that fire nobody knows
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[Music] michael ratley insisted that an intruder broke into his wife's bedroom window
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attacked her then fled the scene without leaving any trace evidence he also claimed the killer hid the
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murder weapon and gloves in the hidden compartment of his truck he talked about the fact that he loved
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his wife that he would not do this to her that she had just given birth to his child so there was no reason whatsoever
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his story was difficult to believe but would forensic science provide the answers
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the bloody hammer found in michael's truck was the first thing analysts tested and that is where i
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developed a dna profile from that dna profile matched that of effie radley the medical examiner's analysis
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concluded the hammer matched effie ratley's head wounds dna tests identified it was effie's
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blood on the paper towels and the heavy work gloves found in michael's truck but they didn't find any dna
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inside the work gloves so scientists swabbed the inside of the latex gloves for skin cells michael ratley's dna was
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recovered from the latex gloves it was just a logical assumption that michael ratley
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had worn the latex gloves and then put the larger heavier rubber gloves on and then wheeled in the murder weapon
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in killing his wife prosecutors believe micah ratley had planned his wife's murder for months
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and had made more than one attempt on her life the first could have been the incident
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in the car with the mouse which almost caused her to crash on the interstate highway
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the mobile home fire was also suspicious prosecutors believe michael disconnected
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the smoke alarm and started the fire near the baby's diaper warmer while effie was asleep
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michael grabbed their infant son and ran outside the blaze blocked effie's escape
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but family members and neighbors saw the smoke and got to the scene before the fire
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engulfed the entire mobile home [Music] so michael probably felt he had no choice but to make some attempt
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to save his wife so he broke one of the windows and helped her to escape in so doing he was hailed as a hero
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[Music] a month later while living with his parents michael fabricated the story that he was
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hit on the head by a robber trying to break into the barn his plan was to create the impression
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that a thief was running loose in the neighborhood the next day prosecutors believe
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he cut out the bedroom screen waited for his wife to go to bed took off his clothes
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put on two pairs of gloves and used a hammer to beat his wife to death [Music] blood spattered onto the walls and all
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over him [Music] he used the paper towels to clean himself then put on his robe which explains why there
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was no blood on him when interviewed by police michael hid the evidence in the hidden
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compartment of his truck then ran to his parents bedroom and reported the attack
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michael radley thought that the last person that they would look at was him and the
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last place that they would look was his truck and he was dead wrong on both accounts
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effie's parents believe michael no longer wanted to be married but didn't want the financial burden of
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a divorce i truly believe he just did not want to be married anymore and in his mind this was a way out
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in his mind it was the only way out because if he divorced he would be a weakened father paying child support
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until ayden was 18 years of age at least seven times she was beaten on the head with a hammer
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the multiple blunt impact of those injuries caused skull fractures brain lacerations energy
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and brain swelling in july of 2009 michael ratley was tried and convicted of first degree murder and sentenced
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to life in prison without parole on its face a person can appear a certain way but when you do more
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investigation you find out it's a little different you really find out the true character of a person at
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that time michael's a monster a soulless monster i've struggled with that why why anybody
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could do something that magnitude but there's a lot of deceivers in the world with this type of crime scene the way it
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was laid out and the amount of evidence that was left for us it was a home run you couldn't ask for
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anything better you