Not Adding Up | “48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] 911 what is your emergency I wome with my boyfriend he he was outside this
morning he's cold he's cold I was scared I was confused I I was on the phone with 911 the kitchen's a
bloody mess and he's not breathing why is the kitchen a bloody mess I don't know what's your name Melissa
Turner I couldn't remember a lot when I realized that he wasn't responding I panicked when did you realize that
Matthew was dead I think a part of me already knew October 18th 2019 we got the call
that we had to respond here Matthew truster was found in the patio pool area of this residence and
what kind of shape was Melissa at that time I remember seeing her pretty well covered in
blood so on that night what happens Matt I gotten upset uh he had he had gotten his knife out I
remember he would act more like he was possessed he would say things to me like Matt's not here anymore I'm the
demon there were times where he try and use it on himself I was the prosecutor who went to
the crime scene that day I thought it was bizarre there was the insinuation that he had done this to
himself and he had estabish in the back he couldn't have done that to himself right he flow back I tried giving him
CPR I tried I just thought that there was a lot of acting happening where she's dialing 911 and make herself cry I
don't know what happened was exceptional acting fantastic actress she wanted to be in
movies a cosplay model is basically where you dress up as like uh your favorite characters um I would do
alvara Misty from Pokemon I really loved the makeup and the props and the costuming I am tothor Rose I'm a cam
model I'm an artist I love Fitness her content was sexual based she had websites she had an only fans page we
were very shocked to find this kind of secretive life that we didn't know about who do you believe killed Matthew
truster Melissa Turner I didn't do what they're saying I did if I'm going to prison then I'm going down
viting I'm going down telling my side of the story [Music] [Music] that's County 5 just of the
emergency tell me what's wrong he is non responsive I couldn't stop crying Melissa Turner can vividly describe the
moment as Medics tried to revive her fiance Matthew Trussler I watched the EMTs unfold the sheet and um lay the
white sheet over him two years later Melissa still struggles to talk about the day Matthew died and
it was it was when that happened that I just I couldn't hold in the tears and everything it was around 8:30 a.m. when
Melissa says she found Matthew unresponsive on the back patio of the house they shared in a suburb of Tampa
Florida I tried to see if he was breathing and I tried to to start CPR just a couple hours later still
covered in blood Melissa agreed to talk to investigators at the Hillsboro County
Sheriff's Office she says she wanted to help them figure out what had happened to
Matthew I was just saying yes and complying with whatever was kind of said or told to
me the world around me didn't really feel real in those moments a lot less glamor of the backing old TV told the
detectives the couple's day had started off just like any other they took care of their pets did house chores as seen
in these previously posted Facebook videos get up we got to clean that spot first spot and went grocery shopping she
admitted they were also drinking alcohol throughout the day leading into the evening that's what we did we just we
were there at the house ourselves we had drinks he always liked drinking he was a
drinker according to Melissa around 11:00 p.m. she got tired and told Matthew she wanted to go to sleep he was
still up I slept on that that big chair that's in my little office area [Music] downstairs what she saw when she woke up
the next morning Melissa told investigators didn't make sense I saw the the kitchen was
I didn't see him outside at first I went upstairs and I checked the bedroom and then I came back down
again she says that's when she discovered Matthew outside on the patio and began
CPR CPR help they're hard to see but Melissa is wearing latex gloves given to her by an officer at the scene he had
you put those on I was getting things bloody cuz I was C in his blood do you want to keep wearing
those gloves or do you want to take them off I'll leave them on for now do you have any injuries on your
person any scratches or Cuts or anything that I notice the detectives eventually
told Melissa she would need to take the gloves off I have a little and that's from what I think it's
from grabbing the glass or cuz I know there was the broken glass this morning so they could take
photographs of her more there to open it up sorry oh my gosh I didn't like pretty
good I didn't even noticed oh wow I had no idea that was there as detectives work to get to the
bottom of what happened Matthew's family was learning Matthew had died his brother Shawn got the call from
their mother I got a call that he died in an accident that's what they told me Sean called his fiance Jennifer
immediately he's sobbing so hard and just screaming at the top of his lungs he's gone my brother Maddie
Maddie's gone he's dead I'm getting chills just talking about [Music] this Sean and Matthew Trussler were
originally from Massachusetts in 2015 Matthew followed in his brother's footsteps and moved to Florida to work
with him in the construction business Shawn who lost one of his eyes due to a work accident shortly after his
brother's death says the two made a good team I have worked Maddie very hard he just needs to be led correctly Matthew
or Maddie as Sean calls him struggled with substance abuse and was looking at the move to Florida as a chance to start
over he was a really good kid he worked so hard he had the biggest heart he loved everybody and
everything two years after his move Melissa then 24 met Matthew 23 on an online dating app we met on Tinder and I
just liked how different Matt treated me he made me feel more important he drew me in in 2019 the couple took a big step
and bought a house together we were excited about the house we were picking out you know paint colors for walls and
Furniture but Melissa says a few months into their new lives their relationship became strained Matt's drinking was
getting worse it was just becoming really excessive at the the Sheriff's Office Melissa had been adamant that there were
no arguments between the couple that night we were having a great time was there anything physical violent he was
never violent he was always amazing with me but Melissa didn't know that the detectives had been tipped off by the
responding officer that Melissa had told him there had been an argument at the house the night before what were you and
Matthew arguing about last night I don't really remember I mean we might have gone an argument
but it didn't seem like anything more like screaming at each other that I know of you told us that guys were there
there only two of you the two of you were drinking my problem is is I got Matthew on the back porch
with stab wounds stab wounds meanwhile another Detective Ryan legassi was knocking on doors and
canvasing neighborhood for Clues as I walked over here you've got the camera located directly above the residence
across the street [Music] here and what was captured by this camera police say would prove Melissa knew more than
she was letting on get get up [Music] [Music] an eyewitness can be crucial to solving
a crime and just hours into the investigation of Matthew tressler's death detectives discovered digital
observers there was an ADT camera inside the couple's home but at first glance it
didn't appear to show any unusual activity most of our information came from that camera that's posted up above
the garage it was this nest camera on a neighbor's garage that would prove invaluable an unblinking eye trained on
the side of Melissa and Matthew's home that recorded S and sounds so I started looking at the
footage shei a detective for the sheriff's office at the time saw only darkness and heard the near Silence of
Suburbia until around 4: a.m. I started to hear racketing um you know things that were sounded like they were
crashing and um so then I you know I kind of zoomed in my senses a little bit and then from there I started hearing
voices and then I hear what sounds like screaming um yelling legassi says those voices were coming
from Matthew and Melissa's house how would you describe the tone of the voices that you heard so the little bit
of male voice was tough to distinguish um but the female voice was very um very loud um sounded very angry what could
you hear what kind of phrases so I heard um get up get up I heard so and then there was an
explicit die you heard so die and then I heard um you know it sounded like a female voice was crying saying
what what did I do legassi immediately reached out to his colleagues who were interviewing
Melissa you said that last night you never woke up at all no I remember laying down I remember waking up in the
same spot investigators now believe they had evidence that Melissa wasn't telling
all she knew tell me about what happened around 4:00 this morning 4:00 what happened at 4:00 I don't know
that's what I'm asking you I don't know either why was there any arguing at 4:00
not that I know of I believe I was asleep I have no memory of any argument at 4 in the morning but after detectives
confronted her with the evidence Melissa Stewart story changed I have some video
surveillance actually yelling and screaming between a male and a female coming from your house what we need from
you that would probably make a lot more sense is to tell us what that argument was about it I would say he woke me up
and we gotten an argument over that because he was still up at 400 in the morning drinking okay so just so I'm
clear you do have a memory of what happened right at 4:00 yes why were you yelling at him
[ __ ] get up [ __ ] get up actually a lot of the times whenever he is drinking and gets that drunk into
the hours of the morning he will just fall over you also said a couple of other things like stay
down so [ __ ] die what are you talking about that was me being pissed off at everybodyy fell over you got a slice on
your hand a slice that's what that is how did that happen the investigators again
focused on that cut on Melissa's hand it's not from glass I can tell you that once again her story
changed he does get his knives out sometimes he wasn't him anymore thinking back on
it this is from me grabbing a knife out of his hand and things kind escalated from there Melissa later told us she
wasn't trying to hide the injury on her hand in fact she had me mentioned it earlier to the 911 operator I have a cut
on my hand I barely remembered even after mentioning it on the 911 call that my hand was sliced open 911 a
few hours after Melissa placed that 911 call she was arrested in charge with second deegree murder with a
weapon Shawn and Jennifer learned Melissa was in custody for Matthew's murder from his mom who called Melissa
by her middle name Rose she said Rose killed him I remember we stood in my kitchen and he just starts bing up until
then sea and Jennifer say the couple didn't appear to have any problems but Sean says that Melissa did put a wedge
between him and Matthew she was totally isolated him and her from the rest of the world the truth is like how
controlling and manipulating Rose was Sean says he hadn't seen Matthew during the last 6 months of his
life the brothers had had a falling out after Matthew stopped working with Shawn
at his construction business she took Maddie long before she took him forever Shawn and Jennifer say Melissa had two
sides as Matthew's live-in partner and as a cosplay model who dressed up in costume portraying famous fictional
characters what is that then that is actually from Scooby-Doo she made a living by producing and acting in her
own adult videos but it's from a movie clip where she actually is performing um sexual acts and it wasn't until after
his death that they learned Melissa had cast Matthew as her partner in her videos and I really feel like uh the
pressure and the stress and the fact that it was more and more and more just paid its toll on him you think that
maybe he just didn't want to do those films anymore absolutely I think he was done with
[Music] her after Shawn and his fiance Jennifer found out that Melissa had been arrested
for Matthew's murder they began an investigation of their own we came across things were pretty
disturbing Sean and Jennifer believed Matthew was becoming disenchanted with his role in those videos Melissa
produced I think at first it was okay because he was seeing some fruits from his labor money um but I think it got a
little much they now wonder if Melissa had been looking for a partner for her videos
when she spotted Matthew on that dating app people write little bios about themselves she went out and found
someone with all the right stuff the looks the body and everything that goes with it she doesn't do things without a
bunch of research Cameron wga a former boyfriend of Melissa met her before she began her career in the world of adult
entertainment she was very artistic so she was able to edit her own videos edit her own pictures very business-driven
the two met in 2012 when they were studying makeup effects at Douglas Education Center near Pittsburgh back
then Melissa was running a popular fitness blog after losing 100b later documenting her
transformation on social media it kept her accountable she had this audience that was incredibly invested in what she
was doing and watching her evolve as a person in 2013 Cameron and Melissa moved to
Florida to pursue careers in special effects there Melissa confessed to Cameron that she had started a second
blog with racer content This was meant to be temporary this was supplemental but Cameron says
Melissa soon began earning a decent living doing what is called camw work where she performed in various stage of
dress for her internet followers who paid a fee she was so proud of where she got herself I used to be this incredibly
insecure girl now they're paying me to look at me he says he began to see a change in
Melissa's personality as her business grew but it came maniacal to a point where it was complete Obsession and and
it was money money money money money and the more and more success that she found
the more and more unstable she became she would scream at times that it would pierce your ear there were times where
she was just unpredictable absolutely unpredictable Sean and Jennifer now wonder if
Melissa's volatility may have escalated an argument with Matthew on the night he
died did he want out of the adult entertainment business I think maybe that night he was like yo I'm done with
this I'm washing my hands she didn't like whatever he said to her and it made her blow her top but that's not how it
happened says Melissa after he was upset with me for wanting to go to bed but you
know I stayed downstairs his demeanor would start to get darker and darker from there Matt he had his knife out it
was the black uh tactical switchblade there were times where he would uh get really upset
and try and use it on himself and so it was a common thing for me to try and take a knife away from him on this night
he didn't want to let go of the knife Melissa says Matthew was drunk and despondent they struggled over the knife
she says but after she managed to take it away she says Matthew grabbed her by the neck and squeezed a detail she
failed to tell detectives during her interrogation I thought this was it I thought he was going to kill me and
then I stabbed him lightly in the back just to get him off of me she says after she stabbed him once in the back Matthew
pushed her into the kitchen counter and she hit her head he came at me and that's how I fell back and hit my head
so I had a pretty severe head injury but that claim would later be challenged at
her trial I remembered a few blurry steps towards my office but that was it I just remember passing
out uh blacking out there she's the real victim she's the one that was suffering
the abuse John Trina is Melissa's attorney he describes a couple's relationship as toxic particularly since
she said it was escalating his drinking was escalating his behavior is were escalating and it just unfortunately
escalated into this very odd incident I don't think it is a murder case I think it is a case of
self-defense but Melissa's version of events will be picked apart by prosecutors Katherine fand and chimu
faet at her trial there's just nothing to support her statement she never mentions anything about anyone
strangling her or anything until days before trial you really have to take that into
consideration besides the audio from the nestcam the state plans to present video
from inside the couple's home remember that ADT security footage recovered by investigators prosecutors believed it
didn't show any suspicious activity the night of Matthew's death but just before
the trial they discovered they misread the time and date I'll be honest I misunderstood the timing it's not
recorded in Eastern Standard Time It's recorded in Universal time and what the video did capture say
prosecutors we're going to show you some ADT videos would undermine Melissa's defense he's calmly walking and you can
see she's hunched over she's yelling she is angry and upset what do you make of Melissa Turner's
account chat now on Facebook and [Music] X on Valentine's Day 2022 2 years after Matthew truster was
found dead on his patio his fiance Melissa Turner went on trial for murder all right Melissa had been out on bail
since her arrest in 2019 but if she's convicted she knows she could spend the rest of her life
Behind Bars it'll be a world of weight off my shoulders for this trial to just be
over the jury will hear nothing about her videos her cosplay modeling and acting out fantasies online the judge
ruled it wasn't relevant to the case prosecutor chimu faet sees it differently I did think that the jury
should have known that she was an actress and she was able to make herself into this victim type person and then
Cry On Demand Melissa's Attorney John travina told the jury that she didn't mean to kill Matthew that she stabbed
him in self-defense during that struggle over the knife who killed Matthew Trussler Matthew Trussler killed Matthew
Trussler he did he did it to himself because of his actions and his behaviors is drinking his emotional abuse you're
saying that Melissa had the right to kill him because he was drunk no Melissa had the right to kill him to defend
herself from being strangled but prosecutor faucet says Matthew had no record or history of violence against
anyone why do you believe that Melissa killed Matthew TR I think she was intoxicated and I do think that she went
far beyond anything she thought she would do maybe she was just so frustrated with his drinking that she
Harms him so badly that he ends up dying at trial Melissa decided to take a risk
and testify she described Matthew as an alcoholic who had exhibited abusive there were times where he would push me
and punch the walls beside my head and unsettling behaviors in the past I had seen him cut himself burn himself stab
himself he would stare off at some corners and he would tell me that there's a demon standing right there
there are times where he would talk in a different voice did that frighten you goodness I was terrified and this was
happening on that night yeah and he just had this little smile on his face and he said what's the
matter little girl are you scared cuz Matt's not here anymore authorities never checked
Melissa's blood alcohol level but Matthews was nearly five times the legal limit in Florida that level of blood
alcohol not only is lethal it can cause hallucinations the demon that we've heard about but the medical examiner
didn't say that he died of alcohol intoxication the cause of death is that he was stabbed and he bled to death
according to the medical examiner Matthew had several small cuts and bruises and a possible defensive wound
on his forearm the Fatal injury was not the Saab wound to his back but from a deep incision on on his right arm which
punctured a vein you stabbed him in the back correct correct okay the only thing
that I did was the back how did he get cut on his right arm I I couldn't tell you that I hav no clue he could have
fallen into something he could have done it himself and I stabbed him once to get
him off of me from strangling me why didn't you tell the police that he had been trying to strangle you
because I couldn't remember at the time I complained multiple times about a headache prosecutor faet questioned
Melissa about her memories that returned before the trial and so today in 2022 you now claim you had some kind of
head injury correct um yes but a crime scene Tech testified there was no evidence of a head injury and now in
2022 you speak of some kind of blackout correct yes correct okay the jury won't have to rely just on Melissa's memories
as they weigh the evidence there's also that video from inside the couple's home
prosecutors say it proves Melissa was the aggressor that night at 338 a.m. Melissa is seen running towards her
office at 3:42 2 a.m. Matthew walks past the camera Melissa follows him he's walking calmly unarmed in the ADT videos
and she's following him hunched over angry at 4:01 a.m. the video shows Melissa running from the direction of
the kitchen she appears distressed this is also around the time when the camera across the street picks up audio of
screaming and yelling then in the next video clip at 4:08 a.m. she's standing at a front door
and she's seeming like she's talking to open air and you can see on her hand you
can see the hint of red she already has the cut prosecutors say the cut on her hand occurred when Melissa stabbed
Matthew they believe he was still alive at that point prosecutors say she could have left then for help or called 911
that's not what she did she walks back to where he is she is not in reasonable fear of of him that's what's clear but
Melissa's Attorney John travina rejects the state's timeline and disputes what prosecutors say is seen on that video I
never saw any cut on her hand and I don't think it shows that the fighting continues say prosecutors because around
4:30 a.m. they say the couple moved close to an open window and that nest camera across the street recorded a
woman's angry voice you said 4:33 a.m. so effing die right no I have no recollection of that
I explained my side and why I did what I did you're crying right now is that is that what's happening are you crying
right now do you know what tears look like are you crying because you can just cry on Q I'm crying because
because my life is on the line right now travina says it's impossible to clearly understand what Melissa is
saying on the nest recording and a former FBI audio forensic expert Bruce kig testified for the defense how he
believes sections of the nest audio had been what he called volume enhanced so it could be that maybe one
voice on the recording was not Amplified and that another voice on the recording
was greatly Amplified that's true I find it highly suspicious that Miss Turner's
voice is screeching loud but when it came to Matthew Trussler you could barely hear mumbling prosecutors deny
the audio was manipulated based on the outside camera prosecutor fan says the confrontation
ended at 511 a.m. when Matthew somehow got out to the pool area through this window so the window was actually open
but when he decided to flee from her he pushed out the screen and went out the window prosecutors say by the time
Matthew collapsed by the pool Melissa would have seen how injured he was he has already bled all that blood in the
kitchen and then gone out she knows that he needs help and she's awake and she doesn't help him but Melissa
says that's when she returned to her office and blacked out the argument ends sometime around
5:00 yes but you don't call 911 911 until 8:45 correct because I was unconscious one of the last ADT Clips
shows Melissa at 8:35 a.m. walking from the dire of her office in the police report her hair is described as quote
Messy as if she just woke up that was the most demonstrative of her not knowing he's dead because you wouldn't
go look for him if you killed him is it possible that she did pass out there she's been drinking whatever and had no
idea that he was dying at that time well she knew he was dying because she saw him bleeding out as the jury began their
deliberations one of the jurors Donald Goodwin was feeling the weight of his decision how does the first vote go two
for guilty in the second degree and where were you unknown do you have a home security
camera and has it ever recorded something unusual take a look at the murder investigation at 48 hours.com
[Music] [Music] what do you hope the jury comes back with what everyone hopes for not
guilty if you have a reasonable doubt about February 18th 2022 Melissa Turner's murder trial
wrapped up after 5 days of testimony before judge Samantha Ward your duty is to determine if the defendant has been
proven guilty or not in accord with the law Melissa is hoping the jury will believe her story about seeing Matthew
alive before blacking out he was still up and and moving around she says she had no idea of how badly he had been
injured so the last I remembered of him he was still up isn't it possible that there may not have been really intent to
kill anybody it's this drunken fight and somebody ends up bleeding to death that's a
homicide and prosecutor chimu fet says this case is really about domestic violence he was cut and stabbed and left
to die I think that's the very definition especially considering that this was by
his fiance in Florida second degree murder cases are heard by six jurors in this
case two women four men one of them Donald Goodwin come on up Turner and you see a young lady and you're already like
your stomach drops they like Lord just let me do the right thing but behind the looks of a young lady the truth was
coming out quickly Melissa Turner when she went to the stand I think it hurt her big time her tears
were so fake and you can tell I'm crying because I still remember all those places all those plans she was super
angry and super sad her emotions were everywhere you were there I'm like that tells me that's who she is Goodwin a
part-time family pastor says those security camera videos were crucial because of what he says was a lack of
other evidence I looked at the videos over and over at the at videos that's inside the
house I seen red on her hands but I couldn't use it as evidence because the camera wasn't crystal clear at that
point did do you think he had already been stabbed yes and I think she snapped you don't believe he was strangling her
at the time no I felt like she had enough and attacked him and there was one clip of the audio recording that
convinced Goodwin that Melissa knew Matthew was hurt then she said what did I do and I was
like that right there tells me you know exactly what's going on now she knew he was going to
die she knew it and yet she called nobody and as for Melissa's claims about hitting her head and blacking out you
don't believe that she might have passed out no not at all there was no evidence
of head injury publish the verdict and pull the jurors please the jury deliberated for 7 hours we the
jury find us follows as to the charge the defendant is guilty of murder in the second degree guilty of the murder of
Matthew Trussler I remember Sean squeezing my hand it was a happy feeling she was
inconsolable I mean it it was it was very difficult I mean she was crying profusely she will be taken into custody
at this time on March 18th 2022 Melissa returned to court to learn her sentence she talked
about what she had lost on October 18th Matthew lost his life and I lost a man that I
loved I lost my future and my hopes and my dreams but Matthew's family also spoke struggling with both grief and
anger Maddie 25 years old wow so much life still ahead the life of a son a brother a
brother-in-law and an uncle Shan will never see his best friend again he will never be able to replace
you Matthew's mother spoke directly to Melissa the story that you have contrived has
caused me as much pain as his death if Matthew's drinking was escalating it was because of the lifestyle that you
involved him in it was not consistent with who he was and with the way that he was raised this jury did not believe her
claims of self-defense nor does this court still judge Samantha Ward offered Melissa some
mercy sparing her a life sentence based on the jury's verdict you are adjudicated guilty sentenced to 20.5
years in the Florida state prison Melissa Turner will be eligible for release before she turns
50 what do you guys miss about Maddie the most oh my gosh laugh probably he had a great laugh he was a good kid he
was he was just starting to be a man one life lost another ruined on a night juror Goodwin says didn't have to
happen Matthew truster didn't have to die they could have walked away from each other and started a different life
Melissa Turner chose to kill Matthew Trester did I think it was premeditated absolutely not do I think she's guilty
absolutely [Music] a knock at the door by a clown an evil clown the evil clowns you see in the
[Music] [Music] it's like [Music] ghosts you just see the ghosts of them [Music]
everywhere if you close your eyes can you still see it all of [Music] it the focus of the case is Michelle
Renee she was living with her uh her daughter briia they were living um in a kind of a secluded house does it feel
like 22 years sometimes it does sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago sometimes it
feels like it was last week I asked the FBI to take Michelle back to the house to help reconstruct probably the most
traumatic night of her life we came in the door I put the groceries away went in the kitchen
Michelle was a single mom she was a bank manager somebody who worked hard to gain
a job of position of trust and respect it had been such a long day and I was just excited to be home with Bria we
were on the couch it was just the two of us I was sitting here she was right beside me and we were playing Game Boy a
group of individuals put Michelle under surveillance knowing she was a bank manager and they devised a
plan and we just heard this huge the the sound just the biggest noise from behind
us and we I turned to look and just saw three people they were all lined up one right after the other just rushing in
running in the door that like squat style and they had their guns and they were all in black and I just screamed
super loud my daughter screamed super loud at that point my daughter took off this way but two of them came to me put
guns in my face one guy grabbed me back my head forced me down in front of the couch that was right here they binded
her up with duct tape they put her seven-year-old on the ground and bind her up with duct tape and uh they tell
them that uh if they don't cooperate they're going to be killed they're going to be
shot okay okay okay okay they let me turn around and see my daughter laying face down on the floor right here by the
door um face down with her hands tied and her feet tied um right there on the ground I heard my
daughter say are you going to kill my mommy and are you going to kill me and they said no not if your mommy does
everything that we tell her to do they said you're going to rob the bank for us or we will kill you and your daughter
will be first [Music] [Music] the only monsters that had ever scared Michelle Rene's seven-year-old daughter
Bria were make believe but on November 20th 2000 just a day before three masked men broke in she calls me mom there's
somebody outside the window I looked out there I didn't see anything I didn't see
anybody I just brushed it off Michelle had chocked it up to her child's imagination but this time was different
she saw them looking through the window they were there the night before the same men now held Michelle
and Bria at gunpoint in the living room the gunman said they'd been following the 35-year-old bank manager for
months it was very much that mind control thing that they were doing that we know everything about you Michelle
would recount the events inside the house for investigators and we're going to be here all night with you to make
sure you know exactly what you're going to do or you will die throughout the night the ring leader gave Specific
Instructions about how he wanted Michelle to rob her own bank the next morning we're going to go over this
again this is what you're going to do when Brinks gets there you're going to get Brink's money as she huddled with
Bria on the couch now duct taped shelle could hear him talking to a woman on a two-way radio money one to money two
were there that's what they called each other yeah they called each other money one to Money Two money one was the ring
leader around 11 the voice on the walkie-talkie got his attention car coming up the driveway the roommates
there it was their roommate Kimbra and they put the gun right here in her face right up her nose and said don't make us
use this I pushed the guy's hand out of her face face and said don't do this don't hurt her and he just pointed it
right at me and said don't ever touch me again Michelle realized this might be the last night she ever spent with her
daughter it was almost morning just rubbed her hair so she could try to get some
sleep wondering if that was going to be the last time I was going to get to touch her hair and see her sleep was
pretty tough in the morning the nightmare would continue it was like 6:00 a.m. he said
get up it's time to get ready for work I got dressed and started doing my hair when he came in and stopped
me and said we need to put the dynamite on you now Michelle her roommate Kimbra and Bria would all be strapped with
dynamite then money one showed Michelle what looked like a doorbell this is a detonation device one false move I
pushed this button you will disintegrate your will go first and they sat me right
here and said now we're going to take your daughter the gunman put Bria in her bedroom
closet I'm just telling her I'd be right back that everything is going to be fine
be brave Mommy that was the last thing she said went before I walked out to go to the bank did you feel Brave no as two
of the gunmen stayed in the house money W handed Michelle a briefcase stuffed with with a duffel bag before he
crouched in the back of her Jeep with dynamite on her back and a gun to her side she drove to work so you pull up
into your spot what does he tell you before you get out of the car don't don't this up and the Brinks truck came
at 8:50 I believe right around 8:50 was the drop right over here that's when Michelle grabbed her briefcase and
headed to the Vault I brought my teller in the vault with me and said I'm getting ready to clear out this Vault or
my daughter and I are going to die this is what's happened all night and you whispered to her I have Dynamite on my
back yes yeah I whisper I pulled my shirt up and then you just opened up the duffel bag and started shoveling in
money I did my heart was racing my am I fast enough Michelle's colleagues would alert the authorities but not before she
walked out with $360,000 just get to the Jeep hurl it in the Jeep and go and just do what's next
money W directed Michelle to get out a few blocks later and that I would find my Jeep down the street she found her
car and raced home I don't know if Bria is going to be there I don't know if she's going to be alive when I get there
and I went to open the door and I was just screaming and hello hello it was eerily
[Music] silent and I just heard Bria and I remember screaming we're back here we're
back here Brio was still in the closet right where Michelle left her what was that like to hear and see her oh my gosh
she was alive I did it we did it we didn't die probably the happiest moment of my life but then I could still see
the Panic on her face the Dynamite's still on me before leaving the gunman had ripped the dynamite off of Kimbra
and Bria so they cut it off of Michelle's back before running to the nearest neighbor I opened the gates went
down the hill real fast helped them up to the house Rick Brown lived up a steep hill I called 911 right
away sherff remember going to have you yes uh some neighbors of virs were held hostage I need somebody out here right
away soon the place was crawling with investigators from the FBI San Diego Sheriff's department and the bomb
squad this is the dynamite that was taken off of um shell San Diego prosecutor Tom Manning would lead the
task force investigating the case they quickly figured out the dynamite was fake they realized that it actually is
two painted dowels or broomstick handles but as you can see from a distance in the lighting plus it's on your back with
the stress of the situation you're not going to take a chance that it isn't real but during the very real 14 hours
they were held hostage Michelle had held on to any any detail that might help identify the
attackers remembering details is just sort of this part of my DNA about people that was kind of my superpower details
like money one's eyes when I turn the light on and go to the bathroom and I saw his eyes in there I I said that
those eyes were at my desk those eyes were at my desk today oh my God Michelle says it was a man with whom she'd had an
odd encounter at the bank hours before before being taken hostage and he sat at my desk for a really long time asking
sort of the same questions over and over and then a woman walked in and said Chris we need to get going and they got
up and left the man had handed Michelle his business card and the name on the business card was Christopher Butler
[Music] after hours of police questioning Michelle and Bria were sent to a hotel Michelle called her brother Dave
it didn't sound like her was someone you know heavily traumatized Dave who lived 3 hours away
rushed to his sister's Aid what I saw when I opened that door door it scared the Daylights out of me
are you okay and she would Shake how about Bria same thing in the days ahead Michelle
struggled to hold it together for her daughter she was the strongest person for me while investigators wanted
answers they grilled her about that odd encounter with Christopher Butler why was he in the bank what was
he saying he was there for he came came in to say that he was a potential client and that he wanted to talk about
investments before Butler handed Michelle his business card a woman he introduced as Lisa came in and whisked
him away hey Chris we need to go it was the same voice Michelle says she heard later that night on the
walkie-talkie I kept saying it over and over check my desk that c my desk get that card I know that it's them through
that card they started the investigation the FBI soon discovered Butler was a convicted felon with a
history of robbing banks they figured out where he was staying and then uh the team that I work with set up
surveillance Butler and his fiance Lisa Ramirez lived in a house just a few miles from the bank some of the people
in the house were telling the police who was there when they planned it within days detectives identified the two other
men Christopher hug there was a big guy maybe maybe 6'4 he's gang ties and the man who' held a gun to
little Bria a gang member called Bones real name Robert Ortiz Ortiz was a connection who got the guns on December
1st they decided to arrest Butler and Ramirez during a traffic stop in the glove compartment was a
weapon it's it's actually a BB gun if you look at that in a stressful situation that looks as real as it can
get what they find when they pump the trunk plethora of evidence all this all this they found the uh the black bag
that Michelle described the money being carried in uh several pairs of black gloves and um a homemade ski mask oh
yeah look at the eye holes there yeah mhm but they clearly cut themselves Michelle's credit cards were all found
in the uh trunk of the vehicle and then of course the money straps from the bank
also in the trunk that doorbell Detonator and there was even more at the house they found all the ingredients uh
to make the fake bomb there were broom handles which were cut up into small dowels which actually were used in
making the the fake Dynamite they also recovered the the actual spray cans Ramirez's uh fingerprint was on one of
those cans it was crazy I've never seen that much physical evidence left at a crime scene they thought they'd gotten
away with it yeah one thing investigators didn't find on Butler and Ramirez any of the bank's
$360,000 but after arresting Huggins that same day they did recover 93,000 of the cash that he'd stashed away Huggins
confessed and said that he'd already spent several Grand on a trip to Vegas the fourth suspect Robert
Ortiz was on the lamb when authorities arrested him 3 months later in Wisconsin Ortiz still had
$32,000 of the bank's money and gave a full confession did Huggins and Ortiz's confessions corroborate each other yes
very much so so did Huggins and Ortiz's confessions corroborate what Michelle had told investigators yes almost
identical Butler denied everything even when confronted with direct evidence his thumb print on the fake Dynamite
sticks and we got fingerprints that are yours that went you I wasn't involved he tried to protect Lisa Lisa
wouldn't have been involved with that but Lisa was about to start talking she admitted she was the female voice on the
walkie-talkie she even took credit for the idea to use fake dynamite and kidnap the bank
manager idea was about 8 months ago jokingly lying Lisa said they'd split the money three ways but that her and
Butler share more than $100,000 had been stolen and to everyone's surprise she said Michelle
was in on the plot they told me this Michelle they was talking walked out of that um thinking okay leas
is leas is The Mastermind behind all this and um is it possible Michelle's involved Manning says ultimately he knew
Michelle was innocent the first time I interviewed her she had Bria with her and I I I saw that Bond and relationship
and when she left I went she's not involved in this but that wouldn't be enough in Court San Diego County
Sheriff's detectives Rudy Zamora Dale Martin and Randy demur would have to rule Michelle out as a
suspect every time we pushed a button she would react in a way a true victim should they recreated the dynamite packs
and strapped them on Kimbra Michelle and Bria she was very upset and Michelle was
emotional when asked to revisit the horrific details of the kidnapping and then they I had to put her in there and
they shut the shut the closet she was shaking up I thought she was going to have a nervous
breakdown when Michelle did those reenactments were her story kimbra's story and bria's story consistent yes
completely consistent in fact investigators couldn't find any evidence Michelle was involved still they worried
she was not our normal victim as they took a deep dive into Michelle's life what did they find out about Michelle's
past she didn't hide anything including the fact that for years she had worked as a
stripper I'm not embarrassed or ashamed by any of that Michelle says it was one of the choices she had to make for
survival at a young age I ran away at 15 I worked really really hard to get to where I was with no high school diploma
she had climbed the corporate ladder all the way to regional vice president before taking the bank manager job to be
home more with Bria and while you were working at the bank you were still dancing still stripping for a while I
was for a while the money was really great but more worrisome were things that went directly to Michelle's
credibility she falsified resumés claimed she had various experience various education which she didn't have
bounced a check back filed for bankruptcy right that doesn't look good it doesn't look good and if you're a
defense attorney you look in your chops oh was the best verdict I ever got in my
life see what evidence investigators found in the kidnapping of Michelle Ren that 48
hours.com by Spring of 2001 the suspects were in custody awaiting trial for kidnapping and bank robbery charges but
Michelle and Bria were still reeling from that night of Terror I could still hear them I could
still hear the the sounds I couldn't get it to turn off I just wanted to hide I thought they were going to find us they
were going to kill us still in June Michelle decided to move Bria to Alaska to live with her
grandmother I was going to fly her up there and get her to safety I was going to figure out
what to do from there after a few days Michelle says she had an epiphany to go back to San Diego and get
rid of everything I could possibly get rid of and drive back to Alaska with a dog come here some cash
can do this on a budget and a camcorder today is July the 6th she embarked on a nday day drive I'm on my way baby doll
to the Last Frontier you had a deadline I had a deadline bria's birthday was in N9 days
and I promised her I'd be back before her birthday party that's when Michelle and Bria say
they began to heal did you feel safe in Alaska safer I could be a kid again happy birthday to you by the time they
were turned to San Diego a year later for the trial Michelle says she was ready there was so much evidence there
was no way I thought that this trial was going to be anything but slam dunk Butler and Ramirez would be tried first
when her case came across your desk what did you think at first she's guilty you thought she's
guilty well yeah herb Weston who represented Lisa Ramirez had a problem his client had confessed on camera there
was a female voice that came all at once walk if they played that tape saying that she wasn't involved would have been
difficult Weston proposed a plea deal hoping to save Ramirez from a potential life sentence but the prosecution turned
him down we thought we would definitely get State the key statements in that she
was involved but since Ramirez had also implicated Butler the judge ruled her entire statement
inadmissible we now can at least argue to the jury that she wasn't involved without her confession the case against
Ramirez relied almost entirely on Michelle a fact Manning was keenly aware of during his opening statement to the
jury on June 3rd 2002 when you told the jury that this case was about credibility right Michelle's uh
background was was going to be an issue I knew there were issues but I believed her and you thought the jury would
believe her right but not if the defense had its way what was your strategy going
into trial my strategy was to beat the hell out of the victim and show all these
inconsistencies that the victim is saying it got very confrontational I was really really off
that played right into Weston's hand angry Witnesses don't come across as credible I was treated like I was the
criminal during his cross-examination Weston implied Michelle was lying about recognizing Lisa Ramirez's voice on the
walkie-talkie wait a minute ma'am I've looked at all this stuff isn't this the first time you've said that in fact he
pointed out it wasn't in any of the FBI reports but Michelle insists she told them I did I 100% did and Manning says
she identified Lisa's voice to him before taking the stand does it bother you that Lisa actually admitted that
that was her voice on the walkie-talkie the fact is it was Lisa but that's not the issue for me it made a great opening
to attack her credibility Weston then grilled Michelle about bait money the traceable bills Banks keep in their
vaults to trap bank robbers you didn't take the bait money did not take the de bait money why not they said no funny
money you say that's suspicious that she must have been in on it correct maybe worst of all for Michelle Weston
questioned her maternal instincts would a mother run to a place where her daughter was if she believes that I have
a bomb on my back she wasn't sure whether her daughter was dead or alive don't you think it's possible that she
wasn't thinking straight sure but also what could be true is she knew there wasn't a bomb and so she didn't have to
worry about it did you feel like you were on trial I 100% felt like I was on trial I would be
sitting in the front row and all I could think about was it's going to take me maybe 6 seconds to get from this point
to the offender that is how I rap I was day after day listening to this listening to this is it fair to beat up
the victim AB absolutely while Weston hammered on every decision Michelle made that day the attorney representing
Butler went after everything else what was the worst thing they asked you about my sex life they were trying to paint me
as somebody that was irresponsible a selfish terrible mother that would do anything for
money and they picked apart Michelle's finances she's in uh Financial uh distress and that could be the motive
isn't it kind of odd that we're talking about motive when we're talking about a victim it is the defense in the case was
to uh make Michelle a uh uh a culprit here after Michelle's grueling three-day testimony it was Christopher Butler's
turn he protected Lisa on the stand claiming Michelle was The Mastermind and that they'd had an affair I was shocked
it's almost laughable what was his story about how the two of you met from what I
understand we met in a grocery store and that I recruited him Butler claimed that
he'd gone to Michelle's house that night with Huggins and Ortiz he said that in the early morning hours while smoking
pot Michelle brought up the bank robbery idea again and decided they should do it
that morning his evidence of this his proof of this zero if any of this were true he would have thrown Michelle down
in a heartbeat in his interview the jury deliberate ated for 5 days before finding Butler guilty of the
bank robbery and Bria and kimbra's kidnapping but they hung 9 to3 on the charges of kidnapping Michelle when we
talked to the jurors you know we discovered it was one juror who completely believed Butler and the other
two jurors were unsure and they found Lisa Ramirez not guilty on all counts oh was the best verdict I ever got in my
life mindboggling the fact that it was her idea to do this to a mother and a child and laughing and proud of it how
involved do you think she was in this very involved the investigators kept saying she she was the brains of the
outfit so the brains of the outfit walked right the second trial would go very differently with Huggin and Ortiz easily
convicted in so many of uh the stories that we tell the ending is the conviction but in your case in a lot of
ways that's just the beginning how do you feel about the defense falsely claiming that Michelle
was in on it chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter all righty it's working yeah if
you close your eyes can you still see it okay all of it I can still see all of it even though the men who had
terrorized them were now serving multiple life sentences Michelle and Bria would never
be the same there's aspects of that night that are going to be with me for the rest of
my life they were treated for post-traumatic stress disorder for over two years they had their guns Michelle
says dealing with the Breakin led to a breakthrough it was two choices call them monsters and stay angry and blame
everything in my life on them or I can take this other Road the best thing I could do for Bria is to be an example
enjoy the book Michelle wrote a book which was made into a TV movie and she and Bria went on speaking
tours to discuss their experience with trauma a lot of people coming out of this would want to just forget about it
put it behind them but you and your mom talked openly about it yes and I think it was the best decision for us we're
speaking out about our experience I was showing people that it's not always the end all be all when something bad
happens to you you can come out of it stronger up 2 and by 2011 she really turned the corner and started enjoying
her life again the girl who had hidden from everything was a high school senior and competitive cheerleader she loved it
it was her absolute passion you're thriving you're living the dream you said you dreamed of this
you were living the dream I was then suddenly senior year in December I started feeling a little off
I was dropping things showed up at my work at 6:00 dragging her leg going mommy something's really wrong
something's wrong I don't know what's happening I said Mom I'm really scared they had no idea Ria was in for
the fight of her life we rushed her to the hospital and they started pricking her
leg and she couldn't feel it and her heart rate started going crazy oh my gosh by 8:00 p.m. that night I was
paralyzed on my left side couldn't talk couldn't swallow blinding my left eye we
found abnormalities in the brain is all they could tell me that that night it almost sounds like there's that same
feeling of helplessness that you had the night that you were held hostage completely the next morning Brio was
diagnosed with an acute onset of multiple sclerosis an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system
attacks its own tissues based on the scans she has Tuma active Ms which is not only rare in and of itself but
people bria's age at 18 rarely get Ms Bri says she was told she might never walk or talk again just like that just
like that 1 2 3 go my life just ended again there I was 18 trying to go off to college do cheer
in college and that was never going to happen for me so much of your healing had been talking and now you couldn't
talk no I couldn't talk it I couldn't feed myself anymore she had to relearn all of that oh good but
it was as if they'd been training for this for years do you think in some way what
happened to you when you were seven prepared you for battling Ms yes I think it made me strong enough to go through
what I went through with MS and it was here we go again here we go again Bria would spend six weeks in the
hospital two to three times a day of physical therapy occupational therapy speech
therapy after she could talk again she turned to me and said kidnapping was a piece of cake compared to
this do it again and just as with the kidnapping Bria wanted to inspire others she wrote her college essay from her
hospital room from her wheelchair it is my hope that my college experience and said I'm going going to college I am
going to be the first person in my family to graduate college no matter what I now know that there is no time to
waste life can change so suddenly she chronicled her journey on her Facebook page Bria I love
you she fought tooth and nail every single day for every single step she took she walked out of the hospital this
time it was Michelle doing the cheerleading hey Bri the rehab started in the hospital
but the real rehab was Michelle constantly on her we're going to do this it's okay good job we were a
total team we just ended up going into full gear we lived in a house with stairs good that was really good she
couldn't do stairs anymore so once again you're out of a home that you've been living in yeah and
I had to become her full-time caregiver for about a year year and a half 2 years
and rebuilding our life again despite the odds 4 5 oh she made it to college she relapsed three times her first year
in college and had to come home but she did it she follows in her mom's footsteps teaching her how to get her
foot to stay on the line I with the tenacity and the never give up philosophy that they have lift your knee
up ready go Bria is walking talking proof so they told you you would never walk again yeah I would never walk again
never see again never anything like that and I would say I beat the odds yet again yes exactly but 20 years
after their world first Came Crashing Down they'd be faced with the unimaginable once
again Christopher Butler could be released [Music] it's been over 20 years what stands out about this case in
hindsight the victims from the very beginning the case hit close to home for prosecutor Tom
Manning the fact that there was a a little girl my daughter was the same AG is Bria when this happened nearly 20
years later in June 2020 Christopher Butler was up for parole he's the one who lied about
me Manning made sure he was at the hearing and you had a plan going in I did he saw a chance to set the record
straight by asking Butler about the story he told on the stand I told Michelle if I felt it was
right I was going to go for it what' you think about that go for it ask away even
though that's risky it's a little risky this guy could go to the Grave with these lies the risk paid off Butler
recanted his whole story admitting he and Michelle never had a relationship how did that feel to hear
that H it's about time I wanted everybody who ever doubted me to read the this parole
transcript I want to blast it all over the Internet that there was never ever a chance that I would ever ever have been
involved in anything like this ever Bria says it's a Bittersweet victory for her
Mom feels good but it's a little too late you can search my mom's name and it can come up on the internet you can't
take that back why does it take him so long to come clean and it's probably because he had an
opportunity to be free even though Butler was unequivocal that Michelle was not involved he still
hasn't really taken responsibility he blamed his old flame Lisa Ramirez but Butler said he was sorry for
what he' put his victims through and even said he'd read Michelle's book more than once he said some of the passages
in your book really got to him yeah on the road trip to Alaska I really started to think about what it would be like to
try to just understand Michelle says that's when she started to wonder about the people
behind the masks this is someone's son this is someone's brother this is someone's
grandson what happened to them in their life that got them to the point where they thought the only option was to
attack a mother and her daughter do you accept Christopher Butler's apology I do yeah
th% I appreciate him finally being honest after all this time I hope he keeps digging
deeper yeah I forgave him a long time ago and I accept his apology but neither Bria nor Michelle
want Butler released he's already been denied parole twice the irony isn't lost on Dave all
he really did is free everybody else he's held with his life in a very weird way I could breathe I could exhale
finally after all this time while they don't believe Butler has changed his ways they feel very differently about
the other two men who held them hostage they confessed they take accountability for what they did and
that's a big thing are you actually rooting for these guys to succeed at this Point yes they were younger than
what I am now if they are doing the work I want nothing but the best for them especially Robert Ortiz Robert Ortiz at
the sentencing Robert Ortiz is the only one that turned around and looked at me and said I'm
sorry he mouthed it they wrote to Ortiz back in 2011 and received a reply 9 years
later out of respect for him I'm not going to say everything that's in the letter I can say that it's beautiful
it's heartfelt and I can't wait to see where that leads this is the young man who held a
gun to your daughter's head yes and she spoke at his parole Hearing in his favor there's my puppy we're road
tripping in the meantime Michelle has written a follow-up book so we're on our way about the road trip that changed her
point of view great warning really great warning it is about healing just called
9 days which is how long I was on the road to Alaska it is possible to forgive I do
believe that through this terrible tragedy it's possible to see beauty again that something beautiful was meant
to come about Alaska it has built these people into these incredible human beings and through it all they say they
wouldn't change a thing even the kidnapping so if you look back at the last 20 years what is this journey been
about raising a remarkable daughter it's the best thing I've ever done in my life
this be her mom it seems like both of you look at this at least a tiny bit as a gift
mhm yeah I wouldn't change it it gave us a chance to build the bond that we have
today and it's just gotten stronger [Music] yeah I'm Aaron morti and this is my My
Life Of Crime listen to My Life Of Crime from 48 Hours wherever you get your podcasts I'm
here that's beautiful 48 Hours presents I've handled hundreds of firearms through the course of daily
casework the majority are handgun types and then we see a fair amount of semi-automatic
rifles and a variety of [Music] shotguns detectives lren and McCarthy presented this case to the Firearms
unit they had a woman who had accidentally shot got her husband with a revolver tell me what this gun is this
is the same Mak model of firearm that was recovered from the Duffy residence when I first walked in Sun was
coming through the sliding glass door it just looked very peaceful until I walked
in and saw Mr Duffy laying on the couch there was a lot of blood on the carp and there was some blood on the
wall lots of blood but based on what I was being told about her middle class educated woman she didn't fit the
profile of a murderer this could be an accident she's eccentric and quirky she gives that impression the minute you
meet her she was very entertaining and very funny love to laugh you either really really liked Linda or you really
thought wow she cannot be trusted I've investigated well over a 100 murders I'm sorry Linda okay I was very anxious to
hear how this this accident happened you have to understand Pat and I joke around
a lot with each other she said we have this thing that we always do we morph in the cartoon characters and sorry they
what they morph in the cartoon characters what's up Jack there was a Bugs Bunny cartoon with Elmer fud and he
does this silly little Elmer fud voice no more bullets no more bullets and she said she began to talk to him in her
Elmer fud voice no more bullets and she said she wanted to impress him and she walked over and picked the gun up no
more bullets no more bullets he told me there was no bullets in the gun well I don't believe she could have fired it in
the manner she said she did an's right there I wanted to believe her story it's not a a believable story I had that gut
feeling there was something more Sinister I'm Richard slesinger tonight on 48 hour
The Bugs Bunny [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] defense this is the matter of Linda guad
she is present before the court both Council are present 7 years after she shot her husband in their Suburban
Living Room Linda Duffy gatz is in a Los Angeles County Court denying as strongly
as she can that she is a murderess this was a horrible accident and I wish and pray
constantly that I could be able to take away your pain but I can't this case is not a who done it
it's more of a why' she do it Linda admits she shot her husband Patrick Duffy in 2007 but she says it was an
awful and unlikely accident she's had to convince authorities that fact can be Stranger Than Fiction because her legal
defense has featured among other things a cast of cartoon characters here let me
see that thinging her lawyer has used the words of Bugs Bunny and Elmer fud to explain her actions as he insisted she
is innocent we're going to ask you to tell us what happened today Linda talked to police voluntarily and without a
lawyer just hours after the shooting it was it was pointed down and the next thing I
know he his hand was right there just laying there well let's go by the house Sean m
karthy and Shannon Len have been homicide detectives for the LA County Sheriff's Department for 13 years
forgive the cliche but they really did think they'd pretty much seen it all here's the house right here and then on
April 26th 2007 they got a call about a shooting at the Duffy's house in Suburban Whit here my husband was going
to go shooting and I accidentally shot him help stay on the line with me ma'am this is the couch that that you saw in
the living room yes yes Mr Duffy was right here McCarthy and Len found Patrick Duffy dead on the couch his left
hand was in his pocket and his right knee was being supported by a pillow very comfortable relaxed there was blood
pulled on the floor and splattered on the wall and it was a pretty good size blood puddle right in here clearly he
had a gunshot wound to the Head the couple's two teenage Sons Sha and Thomas were at school so Linda was the only
surviving witness and detective Len had a funny feeling looked like he'd been sleeping on the couch and somebody
walked up and shot him in his sleep what did you think I was leaning that this was an accident detective McCarthy has
been investigating homicide cases for about 13 years and knows how to spot even the tiniest Clues he saw very
little here that made him suspicious ious do you guys disagree frequently on cases I disagree with all my partners on
every case well so how does that work I I think we kind of wait until we have more information I wanted to hear her
story she was very entertaining L to tell stories Julie Prendergast has been listening to Linda's stories since they
first became friends in a college music program in the 80s she said well actually I'm from um Ireland and she
started talking with what I thought was a pretty phony accent that was my first indication that Linda was a little bit
different Julie says Linda could be irreverent even goofy I would say Linda I'm going to tell you something and
you're going to want to laugh but we're in class right now so don't laugh out loud and it would just pop out anyway
after they left school Julie and Linda ended up working at the same place and one day Julie says Linda called with
some news she said I'm I'm so excited I'm getting married and I'd like you to be in my wedding the groom was a man
Linda had met 4 years earlier Patrick Duffy a radio engineer gun enthusiast and Private Pilot she just said it was
like her dream come true and she couldn't be happier they seemed happy as a family they understood each other
Patrick's sister Katherine hunt says Patrick and Linda were soulmates and Playmates they were kidding with each
other joking with each other we're just always just joking around with each other and being silly and having a good
time and it was that silliness that became a Cornerstone of Linda's story when she explained to police what
happened the day she killed her husband then I came into the family room and he was sitting on the the sofa she said
they had just come back from a doctor's appointment Patrick had chronic circulation problems Linda said he'd
been planning to go to the shooting range his 38 one of three revolvers he kept in the house was nearby we keep it
in this little locked box Linda told police she usually stayed away from the guns but that day she picked up the 38
and the story got stranger as it went on we do this little silly thing we always
kind of relate little silly conversations to like cartoons that we've seen when we were younger and
stuff and he does this silly little Elmer fed voice no more bullets and she claimed she said to him no more buets in
Elmer fud's voice no more bullets and she said his response was no more bullets no more buets she said it was a
game they played all the time and that when her husband said no more bullets in his Elmer fud voice she took it to mean
the gun was empty and that it was safe to try something Patrick had taught her she said that she then wanted to impress
him by showing him she can shoot a cowboy style it's called fanf firing and any fan of
westerns knows it you hold the trigger down and keep pulling back the hammer so the gun fires
quickly wa you told me there was no bullets than the gun she says once she started fanf firing she couldn't stop in
time to avoid hitting her husband who leaned into the line of fire and the next thing I
know he his hand was right there the statement about the fan firing it just didn't sound right but
his partner detective Shawn McCarthy who had heard his share of crazy explanations from suspected Killers
listened to that panick 911 tape listened to Linda's story and concluded the story was just wacky enough to be
true the overwhelming feeling that I got from her was she was odd at best and eccentric at worst after they
interviewed Linda for an hour they let her go home and when you left work that day did you have in your mind that she
was a suspect no his gut told him Linda was innocent but he'd need more he'd need science the
muzzle of the firearm was between a distance of 1 and 7 in from his head [Music]
when he first studied the scene where Linda Duffy killed her husband detective Shawn McCarthy was pretty sure it was an
accident he believed her story that she had reenacted their favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon no more bullets no more
boets and then fan fired the gun and when he talked to Linda later that day start with when you got up this morning
she said nothing that made him doubt her it's my fault no it's not your fault it's just it's it's just that we need to
understand larren and McCarthy were beginning to understand more about what happened inside the Duffy home
especially after they talked to the medical examiner who had just done an autopsy on Patrick Duffy there was a
second gunshot wound Linda Duffy claimed this was an accident but she had shot her husband in
the head not once but twice and believe it or not even seasoned investigators can miss that kind of clue at the crime
scene you could not see the second gunshot wound well because of uh dried blood and and the the amount of blood
and coagulated blood we weren't privy to the second gunshot one what did you make
of that well it's certainly was a red flag but it was not just a red flag for McCarthy's partner Shannon lren it was
more like a bright red arrow pointing right at Linda Duffy there was so many highly improbable events that would have
had to have all lined up for this to actually have been an accident they didn't line up
oh still Shan McCarthy was not convinced why didn't you just say this is going to
be murder because I needed to be convinced to myself that this was murder the last thing in the world I
want to do is send an innocent person to prison for the rest of their lives it wasn't enough for McCarthy to know what
happened he wanted to know why it happened we struggled to find a compelling motive and we looked and we
looked and we looked but they couldn't really find one the Duffy seemed to be an average middle class family living
here in the LA suburbs there was a life insurance policy on Patrick but they' bought that decades earlier plus there
was no evidence of cheating and considering her eccentric personality detective McCarthy could not just
dismiss Linda's story okay maybe this could have happened the way she said cuz she's so quirky and eccentric but it was
about to get a little harder for McCarthy to believe Linda story because of Tracy
peek the Firearms expert for the sheriff's department who was brought into the case by McCarthy and
Len remember according to Linda she fired the way they did in the movies it is possible to do that pretty
easily with the right kind of gun this is the kind of gun that you can fan fire right correct so this is a a single
action revolver this type of firearm is fired by cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger the guns they used in the
cowboy movies were single action guns you can easily keep firing quickly by pulling and releasing the
hammer while the trigger is held back when the hammer is fanned the cylinder will rotate with this type of gun so it
will fire the cartridges in the chambers of the cylinder as it's being fanned the Duffy had two single
action revolvers in the house but the gun Linda used to shoot her husband was not one of them it is a double action
revolver and there's a big difference the shooter simply pulls the trigger which accomplishes both cocking the
hammer and releasing the hammer and the gun will fire to Rapid Fire a double action revolver the shooter has to do
all sorts of things at the right time and in the right sequence is this gun designed to be fired that way no for the
purposes of this case I essentially invented a way in which I would conceivably fan this uh and that
included pulling the trigger releasing the trigger Fanning the hammer pulling the trigger releasing
the trigger and Fanning the hammer but doing it pretty quickly and pec says it's very hard to aim while
doing all that she says the unexpected defining noise of the gun and The Recoil would have alarmed Linda if she didn't
know the gun was loaded according to PEC it would have been next to impossible for Linda who claims to be an amateur to
shoot her husband twice rapidly by accident especially since the wounds were so close together
I don't find it a very believable story I still wanted to believe her but it clearly couldn't have gone down the way
that she said that it went down by now detective McCarthy was all but certain that Patrick Duffy's death
was no accident but the two detectives felt they didn't have enough to prove it because of a heavy workload it took 2
years but in January 2009 McCarthy and lren brought Linda back in for another chat the video wasn't working but you
can still hear their conversation he show me how to do it really fast because you got to do it
like the cowboy well in the second interview I think we were both convinced that this was a murder they showed her a
video of Tracy peek fanf firing the gun I think she was certainly surprised when
we explained to her how difficult it would be I could tell the light bulb went on in her brain and she said I got
to at least change the story a little bit Linda now said she and her husband had practiced fanf firing with an
unloaded revolver for years like yeah 15 20 times I'm did you believe her this time no but the
detectives wanted to give Linda one last chance to show them how she fired the gun and they made her an un usual offer
meet us at the range we'll bring an exact replica and show us that you can fire this gun in the manner that you
said the detectives were certain Linda would not kill again so they let her go home again and waited to hear from her
about their offer days turned into weeks and then months and life went on at the Homicide
Bureau we change partners and when that happens you start getting new new cases and other cases start falling to the
Wayside as the years passed Linda might have thought she was off the hook but her past was about to catch up with her
the district attorney said I'm going to file this case and I need to go get [Music]
her with no news for nearly 5 years Patrick Duffy's brother John and sister Catherine hunt thought the police had
decided his death was an accident and had closed the investigation but Catherine says she had a hard time
believing what Linda told her when she called on that awful day she was incoherent and I said
um what happened he was cleaning his gun and it accidentally went Linda had told the police that she had
shot Patrick by accident but later that night she told his siblings he shot himself could you picture him having
that kind of an accident no absolutely not we were raised with guns and we were taught to empty our we weapons before
even entering the house and that was like the number one rule it was hard to believe that he had done something like
that and Katherine learned she was right the day after pat dieded when she met Linda at the funeral home I said where
was he shot and she went like this just like that that's when it hit me that he didn't shoot
himself I said so tell me what really happen she said oh you're going to hate me you're going to hate me you're going
to hate me I said no I'm not going to hate you but I need to know what the truth is and
I said did you shoot my brother in the head and she said yes it was there in the funeral home where
Catherine first heard the tale of Elmer fud Pat had told her no bullets like no bullets like like Daffy Duck and Elmer
fud because they would talk in cartoon characters sometimes she thought the gun wasn't loaded and it went
off I couldn't quite understand why she' lied if it was an accident it was an accident but she had lied to us but the
police still had to prove she had lied to them about why she shot him detectives had interrogated her twice
and released her twice the second time they let her go they'd made that unusual offer to meet her at the firing
range we even told her it can be at your convenience they weren't shocked when they didn't hear back from her and
several months later they stopped by the Duffy's house and saw a for sale sign her sons were home they said she's on
her honeymoon in Italy two years after the shooting Linda Duffy was Linda gatz newly married to Lawrence gatz who
anyone in the saxophone world knows is a world class player when we Googled him he was
playing in Carnegie Hall and once again when Wedding Bells rang so did Julie pendergast's phone
she asked me what I sing in that wedding and I said what Linda I'm not coming to your wedding something's not
right surrounding the death of Patrick Julie says she was uneasy with how Linda just moved on she dyed her hair blonde
she was wearing different style of clothes she seemed to be walking on air on clouds like oh just as happy as can
be a year after shooting her first husband Linda met guat online she moved to Mississippi where
her new husband was a music professor she was out of sight but for detectives Len and McCarthy she was not out of mind
did you forget about this case was there a period of time where oh no absolutely
not when their workload with their new partners permitted McCarthy and Len each turned their attention back to
[Music] Linda they wanted to take a new look at the blood evidence with a new expert
Paul delh Hower he studied the photos and police reports and concluded Linda had to be lying based on her statements
police believed Linda was claiming that she had fired quickly and from the same spot she moved and the relative position
of the gun to the Head changed we are standing next to the couch on which Patrick Duffy died delh Hower said the
blood evidence told him a lot especially these tiny stains on Linda's clothing and the walls called spatter which he
says came from the first shot the barrel has to be within about 3 Ines of the head in order to produce the spatter
delh Hower says the second shot created a large pool of blood on the floor in the exact spot where Linda said she was
standing she would have been getting Jets of blood um hitting her Linda Duffy have any blood on her very little yeah
very very little police thought they now had proof that Linda was lying she didn't have
enough blood on her after the shooting to support her story Laren and McCarthy thought they knew what really happened
she took aim fired one round while he was sleeping realized he wasn't Dead comes back on target fires the second
round and that's why they're within 2 Ines of each other they believe Patrick's death wasn't an accident it
was an execution by 2012 the new prosecutor assigned to the case was eager to move
ahead and police began talking to Linda's co-workers boy that was very revealing well they consistently talked
about how she was so Charming but then as time went on they started finding out that she was this compulsive liar and
Julie Prendergast had a few stories to tell about her one-time friend's record when it comes to telling the truth we
all have one gallbladder Linda had hers removed three times Linda just always needed seemed to want to have attention
it was enough for McCarthy I became absolutely convinced that we need to prosecut
her so finally in May 2012 5 years after Patrick 's death detective McCarthy flew to Mississippi
where Linda and her new husband were living in a comfortable home and she had gotten a job at the
University you knock on the door what's her reaction her reaction was I thought the investigation was all over the
investigation wasn't over McCarthy arrested Linda Duffy guats for murder and everyone was in for some some
surprises it's been six years since Linda Duffy shot her husband to death and she thought she was going on with
her life with a new husband a new house a new look and a new town but now she's going on trial for murder Tuesday her
Freedom came to an end and Joseph low is her attorney unfortunately on this particular day she was going to play
with a gun again like she's done so many times before and she rapid fired it in the top of his head it's a complete
accident he'll argue that based partly on the words of Elmer fud no more bullets Linda thought the 38 revolver
was empty did you ever consider the possibility that this what we'll call A Bugs Bunny defense for lack of a better
term could be true 0% chance it's true Deputy district attorney Robert Villa says in 27 years
on the job he's never seen a defense rely even partly on a cartoon bugs is having a conversation with uh Daffy Duck
and Elmer fud watching a prosecutor parrot a bunny was a first for us too but an official transcript of the
cartoon had to be made what do you know no more bullets and then Bugs Bunny says no more
bullets as they're having this conversation just as she went to fanf fire the gun he laid down and put his
own head right in front of the of the gun so ridiculous you know and I know that strange things do happen strange
things happen this wasn't one of them he was asleep she shot him in the head twice it was that simple open and shut
for me it was but it wasn't so simp Le for the jury over two weeks they heard three recordings of Linda telling
authorities about cartoon rabbits and cowboy fanf firing they also heard days of testimony from dueling experts about
whether Linda's explanation made any sense at all it was a lot for the jury to consider it it was difficult you know
for every expert there's another one who can tell you a different story the defense questioned whether a prosecution
expert witness Paul Hower she would have been getting Jets of blood hitting her was really an expert at
all the jurors deliberated for a day but could not reach a verdict very few of us
thought the intent was there so how do you convict somebody when it could happen exactly the way she explained it
with a deadlock jury the judge had no choice he had to declare a mistrial so you will be discharged on this case it
sent a clear message that the jury wasn't willing to convict on murder were you disappointed I'm
always disappointed when there's no verdict because that means I have to do it again and roughly one year later with
Linda having remained in jail good morning everybody Villa was doing it again this time his case will be very
different he laid down on the couch streamlined and simple his wife came up to him put a gun
between 1 and seven in from his head and pulled the trigger some time went by she
pulled the trigger again he says the Duffy's marriage was strained and she thought she might have to take care of
her ailing husband she's like I'm not going to wait on this guy for the rest of his life this was a premeditated and
deliberate murder for his opening arguments defense attorney Joseph low brings his own sofa to present this as a
simple case no motive no intent no crime Pat was her best friend and she was his one of the things they
love to do is to watch cartoons together they're kind of goofy but there are many
aspects to this trial that are if you will offbeat one of you asked the clerk about how these cameras work well
they're only on me Judge John tibio has a reputation for lightening the atmosphere here for the jury I'm the
star so don't worry but things quickly get serious when the da takes them back to
the moment right after Linda Duffy shot her husband my husband was going to go shooting and he was again I shot him
it's hard to make out some of the words because she just she can't even talk the
didn't have any and I she sounds terrified and frantic to me she sounds like to you she sounds like
someone who is acting may I use the firearm to demonstrate just aim it at the jury Tracy peek tells the jury Linda had
to pull the trigger on this gun twice to get two bullets to fire if I do not release the trigger the
cylinder will not Advance the big surprise in this trial is what prosecutor Bob Villa leaves out I'd ask
that people's 1 through 35 be admitted into the evidence and with that I rest I arrested my case after basically 2 and
1/2 days unlike the first trial there is very little dense forensic testimony about blood stains and most crucially
your last name's Duffy he does not introduce Linda's taped interviews with police where she first discussed Bugs
Bunny there was no need for Bugs Bunny no need unless she took the stand Villa has thrown defense attorney Joseph low a
curveball since the defense isn't allowed to introduce the interrogations unless the state does first the only way
jurors will hear Linda Duffy's side of the story is if she takes the stand and exposes herself to
cross-examination were you hoping she would take the stand absolutely were you ready absolutely low begins his defense
with a good offense his first witness is the detective who at first did not think
Linda was a murderess when you're done asking your questions you allowed Mrs Duffy to go home correct talking to her
was very convincing to me she was eccentric and how could she harm anybody sir you would not let somebody who you
thought had just committed a murder go back out on the street if you had the power of arrest isn't that correct
relevant suain that night I liked her as the investigation went on I liked her a
lot less L tries to paint a sympathetic picture of Linda sir how you feeling right now little nervous by calling her
sons Sean and Thomas she's a very emotional caring person we were always really happy they like cartoons a lot
they were always making funny jokes to each other and always poked fun of each other and stuff
the defense has a very big decision to make will Linda take the stand herself then if she took the stand we were going
to hear all about Bugs Bunny Miss guad do you wish to testify no sir Linda has decided not to
take the stand so her lawyer worries the jury will hear nothing about fanf firing
and then he comes up with an idea so I'd like to refer the court and csil page five of the 911 one transcript he finds
a reference to it in the 911 tape prosecutors have already introduced a long time ago he showed me how to pull
the thing back on top of the gun and pull the trigger real fast so L is allowed to call Firearms expert Lance
Martini who says fan firing a double-action gun like Linda claims she did is not so far-fetched after all this
can be done it's not overly common but it certainly can be done sir is it humanly possible to shoot more than one
round in less than a second double action mode yes it is there's no way absolutely no way it happened that way
this was an execution these jurors never got to see any cartoons but they did see
one animation produced by the prosecutor it is no laughing matter it attempts to
answer a deadly serious question what happened to Patrick Duffy he's asleep watching
television the video doesn't leave much to the imagination although the defense and closing argument says it and the
rest of the state's case are all a fantasy she accidentally shot her husband it ain't right and it's not fair
to guess somebody into a conviction guess somebody into a concrete tomb as it all comes down to whether it's one
word or two from the jury correct guilty or not guilty jury's present Council and defendant are
present and you've reached a verdict or verdicts yes would you please it's been a long road now nearly 7 years since
Patrick Duffy died and one year after a jury deadlocked in his wife's first murder trial this time the jury comes
back in just over 24 hours we the jury the above entitled action find the defendant Linda dorine guads guilty of
the crime of second deegree murder of Patrick Albert Duffy in violation of section 187 the guilty verdict floors
Linda it hits her lawyer hard too for his part the prosecutor is more relieved than anything else I'm pleased uh that I
don't have to try it a third time you saw the way she reacted yes I've always thought she was an actress so that
was that was her moment honestly that's the first time I saw her really cry Patrick Duffy's sister Catherine has
waited years for this day she didn't get away with murdering my brother when it comes time to sentence
Linda 3 months later it's her last chance to address the court and she speaks I wanted to let all of you
know how grieved I feel most of all to Patrick and my beautiful son Sean and Thomas because you lost such a ling
wonderful father her sons try their best to ask for leniency if there's anything you can
do to to help out with my family and that's all I can ask believe she's innocent and I will till the day I die
Linda's second husband Larry gatz also appeals to the judge to assert that this was a premeditated purposeful act I'm
sorry it's unacceptable to me look at these two people beautifully in love why because she's a wonderful human
being who doesn't deserve this but the judge doesn't have much leeway this particular instance the law
mandates 40 to life my oath requires that I impose that I was like you did this to
yourself we found it curious that one jury could not agree on a verdict at all and a second convicted Linda in a day it
is ironic but in these two trials it is apparently true that in the case against
Linda Duffy gatz less is more if I remember correctly we sat down with jurors from both trials to see why one
jury quickly reached a verdict Andrew Dixon murdering the second Danielle Wong second degree murder while the other
never did Brandy Jones not guilty Pamela Enriquez murder in the second where's the gun 1 to 7 in remember the jury that
convicted Linda only heard the Bare Bones prosecution makes this impossible to happen the way she says very little
about fanf firing or cartoons they heard a lot more than you heard and we can only make the decision
based off of the evidence that we heard the jurors from both trials the ones who
heard the long story and the ones who heard it made short sat around our table and pondered while less may be more is
it enough and you're putting a woman away for the rest of her life so present everything I I think I really have to
agree with Brandy maybe all the evidence should be presented did you know she gave an interview to the
police would you have liked to I I would have loved to hear what she had to say um would that have changed my decision
don't know possibly if you had heard everything you think it would have affected the deliberations absolutely
and even though they made their decision some of the jurors who convicted Linda still have questions did it bother you
that they never said exactly why she did it um yeah it did how'd you get over that I'm not over it I still want to
know when I heard the guilty verdict I said yay Justice is finally served Julie Prendergast has no doubt the second jury
did the right thing by finding her former friend guilty and she wonders how Linda's life
which was once so happy became so tragic I'm sad for everyone involved those two boys lost their
father and now they're losing their mother it's a tragic story in every way you can think about it
[Music] [Music]

“48 Hours" reports on cases with peculiar evidence and confusing clues. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon including "Melissa Turner's Closing Act," "The Kidnapping of Michelle and Breea Renee" "and "The Bugs Bunny Defense."

00:00 Melissa Turner's Closing Act 41:59 The Kidnapping of Michelle and Breea Renee 1:23:42 The Bugs Bunny Defense

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Melissa Turner was convicted of murdering her fiancé Matthew Trussler after a tumultuous relationship and conflicting evidence during the trial.

Key points

Secrets Unveiled. Investigators uncover Melissa's secret life as a cosplay model and cam model.
The Argument. Detectives confront Melissa about a possible argument the night before Matthew's death.
Trial Begins. Melissa's trial for murder begins, with the jury unaware of her online persona.
The Jury's Verdict. After hours of deliberation, the jury finds Melissa guilty of second-degree murder.
Michelle's Superpower. Michelle describes her ability to read people, which she considers a superpower.
The Arrest. Investigators arrest Butler and discover crucial evidence linking him to the crime.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I have a cut on my hand.

Melissa mentioning her injury during the 911 call.

16:13WatchDec 7, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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