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

In 2007, the Florida mobile home of Effie and Michael Ratley catches fire and Michael heroically rescues his wife and infant son. A month later, his wife is found beaten to death in a bedroom of his parents' home.

Brief Summary

Effie Ratley was murdered by her husband Michael, who was later convicted of first-degree murder.

Key points

Suspicious House Fire. A fire nearly kills an entire family, raising questions about its cause.
Tragic Assault. A month later, the wife is found dead after a brutal attack.
Michael's Heroism. Michael saves his baby from a fire but tragedy strikes again soon after.
Effie's Murder Investigation. Effie is found with severe injuries, leading to a complex investigation.
Michael's Conviction. Michael Ratley is convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I tried not to think what could have happened if I wouldn't have woke up.

Michael reflecting on the fire incident.

2:55WatchMar 13, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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