Setting the Stage | "Married to Death" | "48 Hours" Podcast | Forensic Files

ryanella was telling the police that he committed suicide that couldn't be possible because my dad
was scared to death the guns that's what I told her and I knew that he couldn't have done that if you tell the jury this
is a suicide the jury wants to know how do I know were you at all prepared for what in fact happened in this case
not at all I'm Erin Moriarty 48 hours and this is married to death continue with the case of raynella Lee
who went on trial in 2017 in Knox County Tennessee for killing her husband David
[Music] right now right now on March 13 2003 at 11 23 that morning reynella Leeds
reported her husband's suicide reynella had been married to David Lee her second husband for 10 years when she
says she walked into their home and found him dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound
later that same day what do you want me to call you speaking with Knox County Tennessee investigators
okay I need you to tell me tell me about this morning um she tells them her husband have been
ill and depressed about his health for some time and have been showing signs of dementia
listen to these old audio tapes recorded just hours after finding her husband's body
you're doing really good helping us establish what time and everything okay okay it's difficult to believe that this
woman this clearly distraught woman could have planned and carried out his murder
and I should point out that suicides involving white middle-aged men are common more than 90 suicides every day
in this country still police are doing their job and asking the Widow more questions okay so
when you talk to him at nine o'clock when you took his breakfast in yeah um did he start eating it or I think
that I've got to get up and see he said I'll come right back and eat don't worry because I think another way
they're listening you cold do you know about what time you come you got back home
um okay um you came through the Breezeway and then you came in and you hit your answering machine and you called for him
and you came and you came back man he was laying on the bed just as it was when you found him
was the covers up on him like that or did you cover him up all right I can't remember
but detectives also recorded themselves as they began their investigation hi this is detective lawyers for the
sheriff's department we're out on a uh possible suicide gunshot one the guns laying next to his
left hand which is curled underneath thing because it appears to be an old coat we
got three fired rounds what they find three spent ones a shooting with not one a three fired rounds
three live ones he or someone has fired at least two rounds that we know of we just not found
the third one yet subject is neat no underwear nothing does have a pillow between his legs one
of those helping your back lower back and knees there's no suicide note but that's not
their biggest issue they're troubled by the location of the bullet holes now David Leith was found
want to have a problem is one is where the rounds at and the way he's like I'm not saying it it stains I'm just
saying it strong just 24 hours later following an autopsy the death was ruled not as suicide but a
homicide and all lies turn to the Widow reignella Lee [Music] fourteen years later all eyes are still
on reynella Leaf as she goes on trial for her husband's murder and not for the first time this is her
third murder trial her first trial ended with a hung jury she was convicted the second time around
but that conviction was overturned and now she's back in court again reynella Lee the nurse and once a
prominent member of Knoxville Society will stay on trial for the murder of her second husband
sitting in the back of the courtroom with my producer Josh Gainer and the other reporters
the lead trial like all trials run by senior State judge Paul Summers begins with the Pledge of Allegiance in the
United States of America I've sat through so many trials where the judge can sometimes give the defense
a very difficult time and in this case the judge was a real gentleman he wore cowboy boots to court every day here's
my producer Josh the same variation of a tie with the Tennessee state flag on it with the
three stars he spoke in almost a theatric wave thank you he is what you would hope a southern judge would sound
like almost from a movie instead of wearing black robes you ought to wear black and white stripe room because all
we really do are referees but what is Justice in the case of raynello Leith if David Lee's death was so clearly a
homicide to the investigators why has it taken 14 years and three murder trials to find Justice the case was tried in
the media before the case was tried to a jury defense attorney Josh Hedrick tells
me he believes the prosecution of reynella Lee took on a life of its own in a part of the difficulty is fueled by
the Press it's not a compelling story for the purpose of selling papers or getting viewership to
say that a man suffering from Alzheimer's and depression finally decided he was going to end his life it's not the kind
of story that's going to move papers off the rack when you start laying out this complex almost Master
criminal level plan to set up an alibi and get get a weapon and make sure everything's in order and and
kill your husband and then cover Your Tracks so perfectly that sells papers and the presumption of innocence well it
seems long forgotten when it comes to reynella leave and the story has only grown with time
the case makes the front page most days and is mentioned morning and night on the local TV stations
in court reynello Leith is sitting ahead of us to our right with her other defense counsel Rebecca Legrand often
whispering in her ear the grand practices law in DC which makes her a bit of an outsider she's a
tiny woman in tense and comes across a little raw as a litigator she's not from the south and you can tell Josh Hedrick
speaks in a sort of very graceful mannerly Southern way and she has an accent from somebody from the north and
she is not as experienced in a courtroom so I was really interested to see how the jury would react to her because
she's clearly not from here and not in a courtroom every single day and she's afraid she tells me reynello Leith was
convicted once it could happen again it's terrifying I know she's innocent and I know she's already been convicted
and I know that the media's the local press is going to say what they're going to say
and I know I'm sitting next to an innocent woman who's been incredibly kind to me who's been incredibly kind to
a lot of people in her life when we came in the deck was stacked massively against her and that's terrifying
and that's because a lot of people in the community think reynella may be a so-called Black Widow
as I mentioned in the first episode raynella's first husband Ed Dawson also died under very strange circumstances
after being trampled by his own cattle initially the County Medical Examiner ruled it an accident
but years later when rainella's second husband David Leith died investigators had second thoughts
they believe reynella had likely killed Dawson as well but she never went to trial for it more
on that later inside the courtroom just to our left is one woman who has no question the
raynell is a killer her name is Cindy Wilkerson she's raynella's stepdaughter and David
Lease Only child do you miss your dad every day Cindy Wilkerson is Tiny she's in her 50s but looks much younger her
long blonde hair always freshly styled after all she's a barber not a hair stylist a barber just like her dad
my dad was fun full of joy loving caring he was a great dad when she's not at court she's here just
love to joke around and at the Suburban barber shop where her father once worked
she still uses his chair but it's a joy to work for my dad did in the barbershop
hello Frank and use the same chair he did Cindy was surprised even shocked when just six months after Ed Dawson died
raynella married her dad but raynella did make him happy she fix these food and started his car in the morning and
just whatever he wanted she just treated him like a king reynella would go out in
the morning and start your dad's car before he went to work yes and she'd bring him lunch bring him a milkshake
every day now this is a town where everybody knew everybody's business so if there were
issues in raynella and David's marriage wouldn't word have gotten out Cindy and her cousin Beth Roberts are
convinced reynella killed David but they also admit they didn't see any problems
in the marriage besides the occasional nagging and nipping even when David suddenly retired from barbering in 2000
Cindy says her dad seemed fine but did you begin to notice any kind of problems with your dad not 2000.
forgetfulness no uh confusion no did he seem more emotional no you didn't see any no he was very alert very
sharp you know he knew he knew all his surroundings he was just he was on top of it which is what she told
investigators back on March 13th when she got to her father's house and was told he had taken his life what did you
actually think when reynella said your dad committed suicide did you initially think well well maybe he did but it's
just hard to believe no I never did think that I knew that couldn't be possible because my dad was scared to
death the guns that's what I told her and I knew that he couldn't have done that and there was the way he had done
it that bothered Cindy even more he had apparently held the gun anywhere from six inches to a foot away from his face
with his left hand he could not have done that and what about the idea you see David Lee was not just
right-handed he was unable to see with his left eye injured years earlier in an accident
while chopping wood he would not have known how close to get or anything because he was totally blind
out of that eye but if David Lee didn't shoot himself who did reynello Leith was gone from the house
most of the morning she got up early that morning she told investigators after daughter Katie left for school
reynella watched television with David in their bedroom and then left him breakfast on a bedside table walking out
the door around 9 30 A.M and okay if I'm not here when you get back I'll be at the Y and I said okay he worked he
had 12 hours a day every day for 39 years cutting hairs she's going to rain after Ray Noah left the house she went
to Park West hospital to visit David's mother her mother-in-law and after that she stopped by the high school to bring
her daughter Katie Madison and Reynold Leith had an alibi and almost too good to be true
because there was something she did that morning that would come back to haunt her at 9 50 that very morning about 20
minutes after she said she left the house she called Cindy Wilkerson who was at work at the barbershop you know she had
asked me if we'd seen daddy and he went to work out on an empty stomach was that
normal no she never called me at work never called you never called me at work have
you seen your father today he did need his oatmeal this morning so he must have gone that's Stephen Crum
the district attorney general it was the first indication on March 13 2003 that anything was unusual about David
Lee there would have been no reason to ask if he'd worked out and there certainly would have been no reason to
say he didn't eat his breakfast because there's no way she could have known that
unless she had been there and unless the only reason she knew he hadn't eaten breakfast was because he was dead
Cindy says during the call raynella handed the phone to Cindy's grandmother to say hello it was a way she thinks for
reynella to cover her traps and prove she wasn't at home it was unusual in tone it was unusual into the fact that she
called her at her business investigators began to suspect that raynell Elite wasn't telling the whole
story and yet even after her husband's death was ruled a homicide nothing happened what are you expecting will
happen investigation indictment trial it doesn't no not even close not even close David's cousin Beth
Roberts says everyone in the family expected rainelle Elite to be charged with murder
but months went by with no charges so Cindy Wilkerson took matters into her own hands
she filed a civil suit against her own stepmother when Cindy filed a wrongful death suit against reynella did the
Press jump on something there was a big news story in the local paper that the prosecutors did respond to and and
defense attorney Rebecca Legrand says that that pushed prosecutors to bring criminal charges although there was no
new evidence in the case in 2006 reynella Leith was charged with the murder of David Lee in my opinion
the most the most troubling piece of evidence is that we can't prove suicide defense attorney Josh Hedrick
aware of the burden proof being on the state we could talk about the presumption of innocence and that's
fascinating academic discussion but the reality is is the jury if you tell the jury this is a suicide the jury wants to
know how do I know the only the only person there's David he's gone and I can't prove 100 that this was a
suicide I can't answer all the questions [Music] and that's what concerned me the most
Civic Crump was not on the prosecution team for reynella's first two trials regarding the murder of David Lee
so this is his first crack at it you feel really strongly about this case yes I do you wanted to you wanted this woman
to be tried again yes I felt great about it I felt like hey this is a case that needs to be tried and we'll get 12 good
people and they'll make a decision were you at all prepared for what in fact you know
this podcast series Married to death is developed by 48 hours in partnership with CBS News Radio Judy teigart is
executive producer Nancy Kramer is our executive story editor Mike filet and Alan Pang are the series producer
editors this episode was produced by Josh Gainer Lisa freed and Luis Geraldo and edited by Mike McHugh Dwayne
Tolleson Jamie Benson and Meghan Marcus thanks to composer Richard fioka for his
original scores Gabriella de mergian and Morgan Canty are our associate producers
Kayla cadell is our production associate thank you to Craig swagler the vice president and general manager of CBS
News Radio and finally a shout out to all of you our fans we owe it to all of you the
millions of fans of 48 hours in the U.S and around the world don't forget to join me online I am at EF Moriarty on
Twitter and we are at 48 Hours on Twitter Facebook and Instagram see you soon

Hear more of the audio tapes from on-site investigators, recorded just hours after David Leath’s death in 2003. David’s daughter, Cindy Wilkerson, and her cousin Beth Roberts, recount and share their suspicions about what happened the day he died. And, Raynella Leath’s defense attorneys are concerned about the narratives blaming their client that have been simmering for more than 10 years. Raynella has always denied any involvement in David’s death. Join "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty as she revisits the murder investigation of Raynella Leath. Listen to "Married to Death from My Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty" on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/MTDYTE2

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "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.

Brief Summary

Raynella Lee's murder trial raises questions about justice and media influence in her husband's death.

Key points

A Troubling Investigation. Investigators ruled David Lee's death a homicide, shifting focus to his widow, Raynella.
Married to Death. The case of Raynella Lee, accused of murdering her husband, unfolds over multiple trials.
Cindy's Doubts. Cindy Wilkerson, David's daughter, struggles to believe her father committed suicide.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's terrifying. I know she's innocent.

Defense attorney expresses concern for Reynella Lee.

9:06WatchJun 21, 2023

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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