The Death of an Officer's Wife | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[Music] I wake up every single day and I cry and I miss her it's so frustrating because you just
you look back and you you wish you did more maybe my sister was scared to go to the law because her husband was a police
officer Jones County District Attorney's office I believe Seth peralt was an individual that had a lot of people
fooled say hi Honey hi he doesn't want to say hi I think he hid behind a badge and wore a mask every day nice house
nice car law enforcement but behind that door to that house he was pretty abusive
stop the Cera no let's not let's tell Tru stop the Cera no maybe she was scared to get
out it's February 3rd 2020 set the scene for me what happened I'm sitting at my desk in my office that see you and the
phone rings and it's the police chief he said I got Seth peralt on the phone he's
told me his wife killed herself and I knew that we need to get there and get this matter investigated
and do it right describe what you saw when you got to the scene Seth paral sitting on the
front steps he's sitting there hands holding over his face I asked going to go inside
search the house and he gave consent for that had you ever seen a suicide that looked like that I never seen anything
like that her body is flat on the back her legs are almost together and her arms
are tucked against her side with her hands cut this wasn't right he's worked a lot of cases he told me he said the
scene is not right there's something not adding up and the more we investigated the otter it got obviously we have a
death investigation here I asked him would he come downtown to talk to us further I don't know how this happened
he said that they were in bed and they were arguing all I know is my wife was upset she put me and said I can't do no
more he loved her she was his world he never done anything to harm her ever my wife looked at me and executed herself
and if you look at the logistics of it you're going to see that I had nothing to do with
it we all called Sheriff SS that night and said we know our sister didn't do this we know she didn't take her own
life that he had something to do with this I'll look you in your face as as a long Force officer I did not do I had
nothing to do with it 7 months later the medical examiner report comes out and what does it say
suicide well I was astounded Dr derile is a renowned medical examiner so her certification of
suicide we thought was basically open shot you have to remember she works for the state I'm Justin Kenny an attorney
for Seth peralt it all came down to the forensics could the state actually prove
that Seth had pulled the trigger and shot his wife in the head [Music] [Music] just an hour and a half after Seth
peralt said his 44-year-old wife Amanda shot herself right in front of him he was struggling to tell his story I'm in
shock my wife of 8 years that I love more than anything in this world I don't know any more to start sir I've lost
everything in my life 44-year-old pero then a police officer for the city of Eatenton Georgia
told the county sheriff Howard s that his wife Amanda had shot herself in the head what did he say happened he said
that they were in bed and they were arguing and then all of a sudden she just produced the gun out of thin air
and executed herself I just sat there watch my wife execute herself in all my years of questioning anybody for suicid
I have never heard anybody use the term executed I knew she hadn't I knew that he was lying from the very beginning
Angie and Alicia Johnson say they had questions about what happened to their sister Amanda we knew better we knew our
sister Amanda love life she wouldn't put us through this about 8 years earlier in the fall
of 2011 a recently divorced Amanda met Seth peral online I remember being kind of excited about it he treated her
differently from some of the past relationship she had been in where you know she wasn't respected Seth battling
cancer and unemployed at the time seemed to fall for Amanda fast and hard and they moved in fairly quick like he had
her move in within 6 months of the meeting Seth was living an hour away with his mother who was caring for him
but Angie says Amanda would quickly take over the role of Seth's caretaker when she moved out there he didn't want her
to work they say Seth's parents were paying all of the couple's bills and helping with expenses for Seth's
daughter from a previous relationship so Seth was basically dependent on his family very much very much and Amanda
was dependent on Seth for the longest time like he wouldn't let her have any kind of phone cell phone or anything
like that it would be his phone or a landline didn't even have a car to drive he monitored her
constantly as time went on Alicia and Angie say they saw less and less of their sister he kept us from being able
to see her so come to like any of our Christmas events or like any of our events because she had to host for his
family and cook for all of them Amanda lived with Seth for 5 years then on June 23rd 200 17 the couple surprised
everyone when they quietly went to the local courthouse and got married Angie and Alicia believed the
only reason Seth married their sister was to help him get custody of his daughter that's why I feel like he asked
her to marry him Seth's custody battle had been going on for almost exactly a year at that point do you think Seth
Maring Amanda helped him gain custody absolutely absolutely set's attorney Justin Kenny if Amanda was going to be
present in his daughter's life they had to get married I think that was one of the Paramount issues for him to gain
custody Kenny says Seth did love Amanda and his daughter and was just trying to do what he thought was best for everyone
this was a guy that doed on his daughter he was a family man he would do on his wife I I just thought he was a stand-up
individual a few months after Amanda and Seth were married he was granted custody
of his daughter a little over a year later he was hired by the Edenton police department and his father bought him
this house near Lake a con she loved their new home this should have been everything she hoped for yeah it was you
know except for the relationship Alicia and Angie say they didn't know just how bad things had
gotten but were hearing more and more stories of fighting fueled my alcohol I've heard stories in interviews that
you know when they were sober they were loving toward one another but it's when alcohol came into the mix that's when it
became toxic a little over a year after joining the police force Seth fell down some
stairs at the couple's home and had to go on medical leave now along with the alcohol there were pain pills and the
sisters say the fighting seemed to be escalating you could hear it like on phone calls has tone and demeanor around
her I would ask you want me to call 911 can I call 911 she would tell you no no don't call you know we' just been
drinking we'll be everything will be okay later on maybe she knew her situation would become even worse you
know then things did get worse on January 28th 2020 just days before her death Amanda called
911 can sh office would you help please okay thank you she called me she had barricaded herself in a back bedroom
it's my husband and he's putting his hands on me she ended up having to run next door he locked me out of the house
and I'm just trying to get my things out of the house please she's got the neighbor's house right now another
Sheriff's dispatcher was alerted and she said her husband is an officer with the
eaten some Police Department that second dispatcher said he knew Seth foral and said he had a reputation I ain't
supposed to know this but he's been out of work with his back and apparently he's over there whipping up on her
ass Seth made local headlines when he was arrested on charges of simple battery and Family Violence she told me
would I come get her the next morning and I told her yes to make sure to pack everything have it
ready instead Amanda decided to attend Seth's bond hearing when the judge agreed to release Seth on bail he asked
Amanda if she wanted a staya away order added Amanda said no and then let Seth come home cuz she was scared she knew he
was mad she knew that it was public that he had been arrested he's a police officer you know I have to bring him
home and make this right I talked to her the day he got out and I said how are things and she said he's been unusually
nice Alicia says she doubted Seth's new attitude and felt that underneath he must be seething knowing that if he was
convicted on abuse charges he was in danger of losing custody of his daughter and his job he knew he was going to
embarrass his family and he had already put himself up here on this pedestal like he was King and then to be
humiliated in front of people I think it made him very angry Alicia says Amanda was terrified
and looking for a way out we were all on a chain message and we were telling her
just get out divorce him tell his father that you don't want anything but a vehicle and she said I'm not trying to
get killed just 5 days later Amanda was dead [Music] Sheriff Howard Sills says that from the
very start of his investigation into the death of Amanda peralt he wasn't buying
her husband's story I knew something was wrong the day I walked in the house for starters the position of
Amanda's body depicted in this 48 Hours animation based on the crime scene photos left Sills certain that Amanda
could not have shot herself okay this is the actual gun also of concern to SS was the way this Smith
and Wesson 380 which belonged to Seth was found lying next to Amanda's body with its magazine ejected the magazine
it was near her right side and the pistol itself was way down here below her left
foot what made the ejected magazine even more Curious says Sills is the fact that
there was a bullet found inside the gun's chamber it's a semi-automatic gun so when it fires the slide comes back
the spent cartridge Cas is ejected and it picks up the next round because of that bullet in the chamber the magazine
had to be ejected after the gun was fired says Sills and unless the gun is defective the only way
to eject the magazine is to push this button now I don't do this at home but when you do this how you going to get
your hand your second hand around there to do it there was also no blood on Amanda's hands or the long sleeves of
her shirt and something else caught the sheriff's eye in the middle of the closet on the floor was a damp green
towel as somebody had dried off with it no doubt about that one of the first deputies on the
scene said Seth smelled like shampoo also alarming the bedroom was littered with 20 miniature bottles of Fireball
whiskey all of them empty s says he didn't have the manpower to process the scene so we called in
Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation while they collected physical evidence and Amanda's body was
transported to the State medical examiner Sills focused on Seth he came in and sat right in this blue leather
chair Seth spoke to sills in his office for over an hour without an attorney present I'm not going to lie to you I'm
I have no reason to lie to you I wanted to know what had happened that day how did the magazine get out of the gun how
did the gun get where it was did you touch that guy today the 380 yeah I mean it's SP no today yes sir how
does her body get into that position no answer cuz he never touched her no never
touched her but s says that didn't make any sense so he kept pressing and then Seth changed his story how are
you maybe I I don't know I probably did touch her I was probably out of her and I was like I'm so like
honey what the hell's going on Sheriff Sills says Seth tried several times to deflect questions with his badge I take
pride in being a good law enforcement agent and I can't how many times he looked me in the eye and said I'm a good
police officer I'm I'm a good officer I'm a good police officer I'm a good police officer I'm a good officer I'm a
good police officer a Amanda he said also knew what a good cop he was and how assault charges would ruin both their
lives she hated to see my reputation destroyed on the news because she knows what a good police officer I am and she
was so worried I lose my daughter she wanted to come down here and tell you that it was a liive Seth insisted
that Amanda had lied the day she called 911 and felt so bad about it that she wanted to confess to perjury he said
that she had written something that she intended to bring to me recanting what she had told the deputies and he told me
where it was this handwritten letter was found in Amanda's nightstand it reads in
part I Amanda pero would like to retract my statement my husband never put his hands on me ever I feel horrible for the
humiliation I put my husband at my family through I am willing to take any punishment I may deserve for what I have
done I don't deny she wrote it but look at the penmanship there's not the slightest era of any
kind what we've got here is a inexperienced police officer dictating what's to be written like Sills Amanda's
sisters are certain Seth was behind the letter she wrote it but she was coached I think what he was telling her I need
you to write this to get me out of trouble but Seth told Sills he was not about to let Amanda confess to lying to
authorities I knew if she came down here it was a false statement and a felony I
knew it but according to Seth Amanda couldn't take the guilt anymore so she put his gun to her head and pulled the
trigger she looked at me and said I'm sorry I'm sorry I put you through this boot I couldn't even say a word sheriff
it was done Seth tried to convince SS that Amanda killed herself because her call to 911 had potentially ruined their
lives but the sheriff didn't see that as a reason for suicide instead he saw a motive for
murder believing that Amanda would never take her own life this made sense to her
sisters as as well he had to make it look like she took her life so that he could be cleared of all this
wrongdoing Sheriff Sil says he was convinced that Seth peral was somehow involved in his wife's death but that
day he felt he didn't have enough to arrest him I wanted to see if I could get some more
evidence and I did one of the clues that convinced Sheriff SS that Seth peralt wasn't telling the
truth were his actions just 20 minutes before he reported his wife Amanda was dead that's when s's Deputy Terrell
abery arrived at his front door trying to deliver paperwork on an upcoming in case they had one of those video
doorbell things and I rang that the scene was captured in this video I expected him to answer the door
and I expected to hand him his copy of the subpoena I mean you're a policeman you
know how this works abery says he could tell someone was home and what did you hear I heard
footsteps or footfalls heavy ones I'm announcing myself who who I am what it is I even turned my back to the door I
don't care if you're in your underwear just answer the door and take the paper he waited 7 minutes and then left
subpoena still in hand in my heart I believe that Amanda peralt had already been shot when aathy rang the doorbell I
think he was concerned that somebody heard the gunshot and that's why he didn't go to the
door district attorney Wright barkdale believed Seth was trying to figure out what to do next think about this he's in
the process of staging this scene and he hears the doorbell ring can you imagine
what was going through his mind but attorney Justin Kenny says that is not what happened why didn't they come to
the door when Deputy abery rang that Bell fear of what he's bringing Seth is afraid that his ex is about to serve him
with custody modification paperwork what does that say happened after that so believe it there is a heated discussion
that takes place he lays down diffuse a situation he lays down to take a nap he awoke to Amanda mumbling
something Whispering something and her pulling the trigger and and shooting herself Kenny points out that Amanda was
impaired by alcohol three times the legal limit when tested by the medical examiner that and the escalating tension
in her marriage became a deadly combination the nice house the daughter the Financial Security all of this was
crumbling around Amanda and then you tack on a23 blood alcohol content she thought that that was the only way to to
fix it to to end it she was really drunk absolutely maybe she accidentally shot the gun how'd she accidentally get the
magazine out of it how'd she accidentally get posed as she was Sills was also very troubled because
Seth didn't call 911 when his wife allegedly shot herself instead peral called his boss the Eatenton chief of
police on his cell phone 48 Hours made several unsuccessful attempts to reach the former Chief for
comment obviously we're not going to have a recording of that and they have at least a 20 minute conversation before
I'm called hoping the peral's neighbors had heard something the day Amanda died sils
had Deputy abery go back to the paroled house to question them what he learned made Sills even more suspicious about
Seth's involvement in Amanda's death we found out that there had been a true pattern of domestic violence for years
and years neighbors said the couple could be heard fighting nearly every day and in their
eyes Seth was almost always the aggressor they told stories about a physical altercation between Seth and
Amanda where he actually grabbed her by the back of the hair and pulled her down
and pushed her into the driveway one neighbor told abery that he would often stand by in case things got really
violent he talked about how at times he would just to stand in the yard and just
wait to see if he needed to call 911 because it was so violent over there another neighbor said that Amanda had
twice made this chilling comment that if she were to wind up dead that peral is the one that did it and
she made this neighbor promise that she would insist that her death be investigated as homicide did anyone call
the police no why not well one of the answers was that well we were scared to call because he was the
police it's hurtful it's hurtful and this is why I wanted to do this show is to make sure that
people know to speak up the day Amanda died the neighbor said they didn't hear a thing the only witness to what
happened was Seth peral and Sills was sure he couldn't trust him after the interview in his office according to
Seth they take the child to school they come back home and they go nowhere at all other than down the
street to the convenient store well that didn't happen he lied s says the proof was on this
surveillance camera footage of the couple found 12 mil away at this drive-thru liquor store where Amanda
bought those 20 miniature bottles of Fireball whiskey she drives up the driveing window right there's the camera
that catches the truck I see it simultaneously Seth was captured on a camera next door at this convenience
store you see him walk and he actually comes down I believe it's this aisle and he walks and he gets something
to drink this video says Barksdale would become a crucial piece of evidence not because of what was purchased but
because of what Seth was wearing this Pink Floyd t-shirt these black athletic pants
nearly 4 hours later when sheriff's deputies arrived at the peral home to investigate Amanda's death Seth was
wearing something else when we get there he is dressed in shorts and a dark t-shirt and the clothing Seth was
wearing in the video we found those in the washing machine the clothing was dry and had clearly not been
laundered but there was that Deputy who had reported that Seth smelled freshly washed and there was that damp towel
that was found on the closet floor Seth says he took a bath Seth's attorney Justin Kenny says Seth did wash up at
some point after you take a bath you're going to change clothes there was no evidence that the was washing machine
had actually been turned on it looked like the washing machine was being used as a a laundry
basket only a tiny Speck of blood was found on the backs side of peral's pants and a trace amount of gunpowder residue
was found on his left hand when tested they did it 3 hours later after potential contamination from being at
the police station Amanda's hands were never tested and the gun was never dusted for fingerprints
but Sills felt he now had enough evidence to make an arrest just two days after Amanda's shooting now former
Edenton police officer Seth peral was taken into custody Sheriff SS called me and let me know that they were going to
arrest him for her murder and I my whole family just was so relieved and and happy that she was getting Justice
yes but before a grand jury could hear the evidence and decide if there was enough to go to trial covid shut down
the courts Seth would sit in this jail for nearly 9 months until that autopsy report was released by the medical
examiner declaring Amanda's death a suicide her decision was based primarily on the lack of gunpowder around the
wound which meant the gun would have to have been right up against Amanda's head
when it went off and there were no signs of a struggle nobody is just going to allow somebody to put a gun to their
head and pull the trigger without putting up some sort of fight first thing I just called the da I said you're
not going believe this did you think maybe you made a mistake absolutely not we going to take every bit of the
evidence and try to piece this thing together but Justin Kenny did think the prosecution was making a mistake and
that the autopsy report was all the evidence needed to defend Seth peralt I mean it was it seemed pretty open shot
to [Music] me it was November 3rd 2020 and Seth FAL still un indicted had been in jail for
nearly 9 months when covid restrictions finally eased a grand jury was set to decide if there was enough evidence
against him to go to trial and you know the first thing I put up for that grand jury to see the crime scene pictures no
ma'am the autopsy report that said suicide ladies and gentlemen the State Crime Lab medical examiner says this was
a suicide now I'm going to show you the evidence I found members of the grand jury did see the crime scene photos and
heard evidence of domestic abuse and quickly decided that despite the medical examiner's report Seth peralt should
face a jury of his peers what were the charges malice murder felony murder and aggravated assault peral pled not guilty
to all charges at his trial in February of 2022 he decided not to testify leaving
defense attorney Justin Kenny to tell his story I think there was a complete absence of sufficient evidence that Seth
killed his wife the prosecution showed a jury of eight women and four men the crime scene photos including the way
Amanda's body and the gun were found they also heard testimony from that sheriff's deputy who thought Seth
smelled freshly showered they watched the footage of Deputy abery at the peral's front door and listen to all 60
Minutes of peral's interview with Sheriff Sills I don't know how this happened district attorney Barksdale
says that some of the most compelling evidence was found on Amanda's cell phone like this video she recorded 7
months prior to her death it's sad it's sad because you know what I married you and I'm not going to I'm dud you're done
I'm done Amanda's sisters were seeing the video for the first time it made me angry I
want to have a good weekend you burn that up when you try to put that phone in my face what phone in your face oh
right there oh you're you're videotaping yeah because you're being I'm going to show you tomorrow you didn't videotape
all the you when you hit me and smack hit you youing chok me eight times the video was problematic but it it doesn't
show everything that took place Seth also states that she had violently toward him as well he doesn't want to
say hi there was no evidence of Seth having been abused introduced at trial but Amanda's phone also contained photos
of her with bruises a black eye and a split lip along with texts like this one to her sisters Seth just choked me till
I nearly passed out busted my lip wide open I was scared that um one of them might get hurt this is Seth's then
8-year-old daughter being interviewed by a forensic child psychologist remember she was a witness to what happened the
day Amanda called 911 they were cussing at each other Miss Amanda was cussing too but she didn't touch Daddy at all
Daddy was like touching her nose like this like get out of my house right now the jury was shown most of the interview
she was on the floor like this yeah trying to get her stuff then all of a sudden Daddy just started grabbing her
arms and Daddy just pushed her over the laundry table and then um open the door and pushed her out the door while her
father spent the night in jail she said Amanda begged her not to tell anyone what happened or there could be deadly
consequences Amanda tells her that night if your daddy loses custody of you he's
going to shoot me dead your daddy would come shoot me dead but when Barksdale called the now
10-year-old to the witness stand she said she couldn't recall what happened that day or what she said in the
interview she I think felt really torn I seen her look at her dad a couple times
I felt like she was more careful about what she was saying like somebody had been coaching her in Cross examination
the defense asked if anyone had coached her on what to say she said no but but Justin Kenny says he believes another
prosecution witness may have been coached a jailhouse informant named Jack Faulk who had shared a dorm block with
Seth peral Jack Faulk has a criminal history I believe 28 pages long numerous contacts with the police and he had
every incentive to lie and make up a story folk had come forward three weeks before the medical examiner's report was
released claiming he had valuable information about Amanda's death he knew things that only Seth paral could have
told him in these two handwritten letters Faulk claimed that Seth told him the camera catching him with the clothes
on was his biggest concern he also claimed that Seth said he had been giving Amanda painkillers all day and
that she was passed out at the time of her death I think he was in the bed with her after she was passed out and held
the gun against her head thank he was behind her behind her or slight to the side the defense argued that Amanda shot
herself because her lies about Seth assaulting her had potentially ruined their lives furthermore only that tiny
trace of gunshot residue was found on paro's left hand and there was just that one Speck of blood found on his
clothing Justin Kenny says the hardest thing for the defense to explain was the way Amanda's body was found we knew that
it was going to be a problem the body had to be moved in some way had to be touched in some way Kenny says there is
one explanation that makes sense to him something peral said in his interview with Sheriff Sills I probably did touch
her I was probably hugging the out her and that would potentially account for her arms being by her sides as for the
way set's gun was found beside Amanda's body with the ejected magazine by her side the defense hired an expert who
testified he fired the gun six times and after one of those firings the magazine
spontaneously ejected it shows that that firearm can drop the magazine when it's fired Howard Sals
took that very gun out and shot it several times the gbi examined that gun didn't notate in their report any Mal
functions whatsoever Dr Laura L O R A darasa then there was the the medical examiner Laura
derasa Barksdale called her to the stand and asked her to explain how she came to
her conclusion of suicide as the manner of death what I wanted the jury and for her to see she did not consider all the
evidence she had not considered Seth daughter's interview she had not considered the cell phone data the prior
domestic abuse video but Dr darasa defended her conclusion and in this statement to 48 Hours the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation backed her up our agency stands behind the original expert opinion of Perot's
death were you worried at all about the verdict what I try to remind myself it is my job to pursue Justice and to
present a case for the jury to consider and if they were to walk came out the door I would be able to look to Amanda
peral's family and say we did everything we could go inside the case and see more of
the evidence at 48 [Music] hours.com when they called us all back in we all just held hands and dropped
our head it had been just under 2 and 1/2 hours when the jury in the murder trial
of Seth bral announced that they had reached a verdict I just remember praying saying God you
know just please you know please do this for our family let us have Justice for our
sister and Justice is what they feel they got the verdict guilty of murder it was better sweet
because we got justice but it didn't bring her back and didn't bring our best friend
back that same day peral was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole I want many years of him praying
to God and being on his knees that he would have took his own life instead of my
sisters Justin Kenny says he believes an innocent man is now behind bars for life
my heart sank I've known Seth for almost a decade now and I don't think he did [Music]
it every August on her birthday Amanda's sisters honor her memory by releasing love letters tied to purple
balloons I love you Amanda I hope you're having a beautiful birthday in heaven happy birthday dear
Amanda happy birthday to [Music] you in 2022 the notes also included the National Domestic Abuse Hotline number
and hopefully this will'll find somebody that really needs it we just want to create awareness around domestic abuse
and for people to don't sit back and just let it happen no matter what the the victim is telling
[Music] you fight for them you know help them help them any way you can there's so
many things I wish I could go back now and do different I wish I could go back and
save her you're going to save somebody with this I hope so [Music] taken from her friends and family too
soon she was artistic she was creative she was smart she was feisty a murderer roams free for too long there was that
constant fear is this going to happen again you will never forget Sarah Yaro 48 Hours next on CBS and streaming on
Paramount Plus [Music] [Music] I'm anarie green and welcome to postmortem and whether you're new to 48
hours or a longtime fan we're answering your biggest questions from our episode the death of an officer's wife this is a
special one to me because I was the correspondent on this case and I'm joined Now by producer Judy Ryback who
reported and produced on this episode so welcome Judy thank you it is really good
to be here for my first ever podcast so before we get to our postmortem let's listen to an overview of this week's
episode it was February 3rd 2020 when Seth peral then a police officer for the city of Edon Georgia reported his
44-year-old wife Amanda had shot and killed herself putham County Sheriff Howard sils was in charge of the
investigation he said that they were in bed and they were arguing and then all of a sudden she just produced the gun
out of thin air and executed herself but Sills says from the start he wasn't buying perold story for one thing the
crime scene didn't look like a suicide to the sheriff her body is flat on the back her legs are almost together and
her arms are tucked against her side with her hands cut this wasn't right also of concern to SS was the way this
Smith and Wesson 380 which belonged to Seth peral was found lying next to Amanda's body with its magazine ejected
the magazine it was near her right side and the pistol itself was way down here below her left foot there's
something not adding up district attorney Wright Barksdale points to the fact that just 6 days before before
Amanda peral's death she had called 911 and had her husband arrested on charges of simple battery and Family Violence
the next day he made bond I think he hid behind a badge and wore a mask every day
nice house law enforcement but behind that door to that house he was pretty abusive based in part on the crime scene
and allegations of abuse barkdale charged 44-year-old Perot with murder but 7 months later the medical examiner
in the case issued her report ruling Amanda peral's death a suicide when you're working with Judy
you get every transcript you get any piece of evidence that you know the investigators are willing to give every
phone call you've had with everyone we're about to interview you're really detailed and so when you said to me you
were struggling with this hour why did you find putting this together so challenging I think for me honestly it's
not the case itself because for me the evidence is so clear like it just speaks so loudly and it's and it's interesting
for me it was because it was a domestic violence case I think that's what was really bothering me you know like and
and the notion that um that Amanda was trying to get out and didn't get out in time you know and I know and we sort of
talked about this that yes it was a toxic relationship yes neither of these people were perfect um but you were
really cognizant of putting together the hour in a way that we would not be blaming Amanda for what happened to her
yeah well that's what we do at 48 hours we're very very sensitive to victims cuz
nobody deserves to be murdered you know no matter who you are or what you've done you know whatever um we don't blame
the victim at all and and we're really um you know we we're fair and balanced cuz we go bend over backwards to be
always fair and balanced but we but we honor the victims and their families yeah um I know for me this was sort of
classic red flags when it comes to a domestic violence situation very toxic relationship alienation um and you know
increasingly she had become dependent on Seth but I really do feel like there was
some manipulation oh yeah I feel like there was a lot of manipulation um from the start and remember she was always
dependent on him right from the very start he had her move in with him and reportedly wouldn't let her get a job
yeah so um she was completely dependent on him yeah the idea of being married to
a police officer like everything on the surface of this looked so perfect you have a young family police officer a
beautiful house a boat in the driveway I mean it was all an illusion of this kind
of per perfect Suburbia living you know what I mean yeah it wasn't it wasn't yeah so let's dig into the case and the
key question when it comes to this case is who pulled the trigger right was it a
suicide was it a murder and I'm going to throw something else in too was it an accidental
suicide um because that's something that lawyers sort of raised that maybe she had shot herself by accident because you
know she was inebriated they had been drinking a lot um so can you talk a little bit about the medical examiner
ruling CU that was the moment right that I heard gasps when I was sitting and watching the hour where people were like
how did the medical examiner rule this a suicide when everything about the case seems so odd right not only how but the
timing of it right like they were still in the middle of investigating the case and suddenly this report comes out and
everybody was stunned I mean everybody was stunned often when you have a gunshot directly to the temple Emmys
tend to rule suicide because who else is going to get that close to you and you know you have to kind of stand still to
to be shot this way right so I think their theory is it's not a it's not a struggle there's no struggle there is a
gunshot right to the temple and um I can't believe she looked at the crime scene photos and saw a suicide I don't I
don't see how and she didn't budge on the stand and you've done a lot of 48 hours so one of the things that you were
telling me was that you know often medical examiners do disagree with investigators but not like this it's
usually the other way around an investigator might say I think it's a suicide and the medical examiner says no
you should take a second look so this was a little odd very odd to me the other thing that shocked people too was
the same thing that shocked the sheriff the position of Amanda's body I don't know about you when you talk to some of
your friends but I know my friends that was the other thing that they kept on talking about where her hands were
positioned where the gun was positioned the way the gun broke apart like how does she end up like that you know like
straight out like a mummy with her hands cued by her side in fact let's play a little of what sarif SS has to say the
magazine it was near her right side and the pistol itself was way down here below her left
foot and there was a bullet in the gun so remember he explained to us that um you have to if the magazine falls out
how is there a bullet the the magazine has to eject another bullet into the gun and then it falls out it doesn't happen
that way right the gun was not tested for fingerprints and also not tested for the gunpowder residue right which you
know you go what are you talking about the gunpowder residue would let you know if she committed suicide cuz it'd be all
over her hands be all over her but there big butt with that right right I've been
told by a lot of Das and and detectives at this point they they don't really rely on it because again because when
you shoot off a gun yeah GSR gunshot residue goes all over the place and uh and and yeah so it might not have proven
anything whether she was holding the gun or not the gun was so close to her that
and anyone else would have gotten right what is interesting is that they found a
you know a bit of it on his hand right right and but it was his gun but it was his gun and he was a cop but he had been
off duty for a while right and he could have showered and there could have been just a little bit left oh the other
thing is you know there's no blood so how do you shoot yourself and not get blood on your hand and the sleeve of
your shirt it just doesn't make sense so yeah when sheriff sales sort of Acts this out it seems impossible and
certainly the way Amanda's body was um you know you wouldn't sort of shoot yourself and then wind up in that
position but on the flip side which Sheriff SS was suggesting was that Seth somehow got behind her was able to
crouch down behind her I mean what he's suggesting as the alternative reality I guess is also
still not very easy to do no it's not re real easy to wrap your brain around right there was no room for him to
crouch down I mean I just don't really get it I I I I could we could play homicide detective for
hours um so like I said Judy gives you everything that they've acquired about a case and one of the things that I
listened to was the tapes of sets interrogation by by Sheriff SS okay so that's where he's sort of explaining why
her body was in this strange position um and he initially says I didn't touch her
I didn't touch her I didn't touch her and it felt a lot to me it felt like someone who was lying it
felt like someone who was just trying to keep the conversational ball in the air
but not actually answering any of the questions I want to play a little bit maybe I I don't know I probably did tell
I was probably hugging out of her and I was probably like I'm so like honey what
the hell's going on then he says well maybe I hugged her and it was a lot of that wasn't it Judy in the conversation
a lot of kind of jumping around being un deflecting yeah yeah kept wanting to talk about what a great police officer
he was and how Amanda thought he was such a great police officer and how important it was to her and to him and
yeah yeah a good officer I'm a good police officer I'm a good police officer I'm a good
officer it really sounds a little bit like he's trying to manipulate the sheriff and then he uses the word my
wife executed herself he said that they were in bed and they were arguing and then all of a sudden she just produced
the gun out of thin air and executed her I just sat there watch my wife execute herself in all my years of questioning
anybody for suicid I have never heard anybody use the term executed during the interview with Sheriff SS that was a
word that jumped out at him and he was like I've never heard anyone speak like that yeah I've never heard that either
in my 13 years at uh 48 hours I have never heard anyone use the word execute you know people should know that um
you really worked hard to get somebody to speak on Seth's behalf yes it was very difficult yeah you you spent a lot
of time talking to his mother and his mother really felt like the sheriff had it out for Seth yeah yeah the defense
seemed to be that um Seth was a good guy and that um that he was uh the victim of
uh some sort of conspiracy you know the sheriff was out to get the local police chief and um and this and Seth got
caught in the middle of some battle between the sheriff and the local police chief and he was sort of like roadkill
you know right yeah now Sheriff's Hills is sort of like a fixture in putam County um he's been shareff for a really
for a really long time but the sort of line there is that he grew up in the courthouse because he had actually been
adopted by the district attorney of the county so he had always been around law law enforcement the courthouse and then
eventually grew up to become Sheriff that's part of the reason why she felt that you know the tentacles of sheriff
SS could be long and influential in the county yeah I mean he does have long influential tentacles in the county you
know but has he used them for evil I mean there's no evidence of that right so and and there was no evidence that
that he was going to cross the Thin Blue Line you know um or that he wasn't you know I should say that
that he was going after a police officer you know and and he in in his words he felt like that put more pressure on him
right because it was one of their own and they did have to be super careful and make sure that they got it right
because he was a police officer so I feel like almost every time that I spoke to you sort of leading up to our shoots
you would say I just got off the phone with Seth's mom you you really did spend a lot of time talking to her you had
lunch with her on your birthday yeah the life of a 48 Hours producer yeah we couldn't get her to go on camera no what
was her concern you know I don't know how to answer that question actually I mean
because we did spend so much time on the phone hours and hours and hours on the phone with this woman um and listening
to her story and really trying to understand her defense of her son um and I wanted her to come on camera and say
that I wanted her to come on camera and tell us what kind of man he was cuz she was painting him to be you know the good
guy yeah so we have a lot more to talk about we're going to get into the possible
motive for this murder set's daughter that incredible interview video and a possible jailhouse confession we'll be
right back [Music] [Music] welcome back so Seth's mom is you know characterizing she's telling you that
her son's a good guy that he loved Amanda but then on the flip side you have a guy who just became a police
officer he's got a bit of a reputation for roughing up his wife other officers know about it and we actually sort of
hear it in a 911 call when an officer is heading over to the house um after hearing about a disturb I want to play
that 911 call can sh would you help please thank you she called me she had barricaded
herself in a back bedroom it's my husband and he's putting his hands on me she ended up having to run next door he
locked me out of the house and I'm just trying to get my things out of the house
please she's at the neighbor's house right now another Sheriff's dispatcher was alerted and she said her husband is
an officer with the Eden Police Department that second dispatcher said he knew Seth
paral and said he had a reputation I ain't supposed to know this but he's been out of work with his back and
apparently he's over there whipping up on her ass Seth's arrested for um domestic assault even after that after
the arrest Amanda refuses a staya away order and so Seth is able to come back and she do she doesn't survive much
longer after that right right that call was her first call to the police ever right and uh just a few days before she
was shot yeah why do you think she let Seth come back he was totally in control right and and we've talked about this
she loved his daughter right so they had custody of of his daughter and um yeah like as I'm remembering it now she
didn't have a job she didn't have a car and I even feel like she didn't have a cell phone that she could use regularly
have at that point okay yeah yeah but there was she went a long time without her own cell phone right like she really
was restricted and had felt she had few options but she did have her sisters and
her sisters felt like there was another reason why she would not insist on Seth being kept away from her I want to play
Alicia's sound cuz she was scared she knew he was mad she knew that it was public that he had been arrested he's a
police officer you know I have to bring him home and make this right say that's potential motive the suggestion from the
sheriff from the prosecutor is that after he was arrested for domestic violence everything about his world was
going there's a risk of it all unraveling right um it was already sort of barely hanging together this facade
of suburban success and peace yes um and with the removal of One Piece which would have been his job everything else
could could have fallen apart yeah so I think he was panicking he was going to lose his job and potentially lose
custody of his daughter and uh he had Amanda write that note and he wanted her to take it down
to the sheriff's department and I think he forced her to write the note because that's sort of what it looks like right
and that's what the sheriff says and the da um the language is is not con you know it's it's just bizarre it's a
bizarre letter it's a really weird letter I want to play some of what Sheriff SS had to say that sort of stuck
out to him he said that she had written something that she intended to bring to me recanting what she had told the
deputies and he told me where it was this handwritten letter was found in Amanda's nightstand it reads in part I
Amanda per would like to retract my statement my husband never put his hands on me ever I feel horrible for the
humiliation I put my husband and my family through I am willing to take any punishment I may deserve for what I have
done so the odd word is punishment I mean who writes that if you if you say that you know I was wrong I was
dishonest it's never happened then that's all you're right you don't say punish me please I don't don't know it
was you know it was bizarre to me that's the one the biggest piece of evidence that motive right yeah and I think she
might have refused to take it down to the sheriff's department and um was planning on leaving him and if she left
him that was it right there there was no defense in the in the abuse the the child would have been taken away and and
for sh for Sheriff Sals because he's got a little bit of intuition it wasn't just
the wording it was The Way It Was Written you actually brought a copy of the letter here I mean when you look at
this and not only is the penmanship perfect and some people have perfect penmanship I am not one of those people
looks like a paper written for like a school class complely the margins are perfect it just looks like somebody who
had sort of written it over and over again until it was Perfection and those are the little things that when you have
a lot of experience um when you've seen notes like this before you know like the
sheriff has it just it just stands out all right we'll talk a little bit about the trial now but when you listen to his
daughter's interview oh my gosh cuz I listen to it again yeah um and she's describing the fight that they had when
officers were called they were cussing at each other Miss Amanda was cussing too but she didn't touch Daddy at all
Daddy was like touching our nose like this like get out of my house right now the jury was shown most of the interview
she was on the floor like this yeah trying to get her stuff then all of a sudden Daddy just started grabbing her
arms and Daddy just pushed her over the laundry table and then um opened the door and pushed her out the door while
her father spent the night in jail she said Amanda begged her not to tell anyone what happened or there could be
deadly consequences Amanda tells her that night if your daddy loses custody of you he's going to shoot me dead your
daddy would come shoot me dead can you imagine you know he is throwing her out of the house and this poor little child
is describing it in the way that she would have described a game that was being played
in the school yard you know so and so went after so and so and then so and so went after so and so your heart is
breaking for her yeah because this is not normal right and she I don't know if she knows it right and then there was
sort of some other video that was shown in the court from Amanda's cell phone that kind of it's kind of the only
Glimpse that we have of what might have been going on behind the scenes right um
let's play some of that I want to have a good weekend you burn that up when you try to put that phone in my face what
phone in your face oh right there oh your your videotape yeah because you're being I'm going to show you tomorrow you
didn't videotape all the you when you hit me and hit you youing chok me eight times so I've heard I I can't remember
who said it but someone said Amanda could give as good as she could get right and I don't know about that I
don't think that was equal but she was a fighter she would fight back victims can
also at times have the power try to defend them to try to fight back to try and create boundaries right but um but
at times they are overpowered and and what we saw was a power Dynamic here that even when she fought back she was
always in the weaker position a power struggle and she was always in the weaker position yeah totally um what was
your take on this jailhouse confession I I know that they kind of like included it but I didn't I didn't think they
actually needed it I didn't think they needed it either and I and I'm not I'll never really be fully sure um why they
brought it in and when we asked the da about it he said well you know it was just another piece of the puzzle mhm and
you know part of that confession was according to him Seth saying that his biggest concern was the clothing that
they would see that he had changed his clothes and and I didn't really understand that cuz there was no blood
on that clothing anyway right so what's the big deal and I really thought the defense attorney who didn't interview
with us um I thought that his explanation was was pretty solid like they had been out that morning he went
home he changed he took a shower changed his clothes and got into bed you know let's talk about the defense attorney
yeah please so 48 Hours tried and tried and tried to get someone to talk on Seth's behalf his mother had at times
promised to come she promis friends would come she had all this sort of stuff right so in the end we got this
defense attorney uh Justin Kenny Justin Kenny right who I thought was great he was terrific what people need to know
about Justin Kenny and the and the defense in general is he was not Seth's primary attorney right he wasn't the
lead attorney on the he wasn't the lead attorne can you sort of tell us how tell
us how his defense evolved so Seth initially had a very um well-known well-healed defense attorney
who they were paying a lot of money for and he passed away like a month before trial and then Justin Kenny comes in at
the last minute and has like you know just a few weeks or a few days or a month or so to read into the case which
isn't really a lot and and then he uh and then he gets stuck doing closing arguments yeah and the night before he
wrote the whole thing out himself like really sort of last minute crunch time so I really appreciated that he was
willing to talk to us about the case um and I got to tell you I mean he really believes that Seth should not be behind
bars yeah he was very passionate I thought he did a very good job given the evidence and what he had to work with
and uh but he really does believe that Seth is innocent yeah so kind of the most kind of
challenging part of the story for me was speaking to Amanda's sisters yeah and it
was challenging because they were incredibly emotional there were a lot of tears and I just felt the weight of
doing right by them yeah doing right by a Amanda um and making sure that they got their story out we just want to
create awareness around domestic abuse and for people to don't sit back and just let it happen
no matter what the the victim is telling you they were glad that they had spoken
for their sister right cuz that was was what it was all about like someone has to be the voice of Amanda and tell us
her side of the story and who she was and and and what you know what what they saw in that relationship I like to think
that when PE when viewers watch our show they either see themselves or families see their daughters or cousins or
sisters in Amanda and they see the red flags and they think oh are there any of those red flags in this relationship and
should I be a little more vocal about that fight for them you know help them help them any way you can there's so
many things I wish I could go back now and do different I wish I could go back and
save her you're going to save somebody with this I hope so be sure to join us next Tuesday for
another postmortem and if you're liking the show please rate and review 48 Hours
on Apple podcast and follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast you can also listen at free on Amazon music the
wry app or with a 48 Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcasts [Music]

The unusual position of a woman's body raises questions about who pulled the trigger. "48 Hours" contributor Anne-Marie Green reports.

From the outside, Amanda Perrault and her husband Seth, a police officer, seemed like a picture-perfect family. They had a beautiful home in Georgia and were raising a young daughter together. But behind closed doors, Amanda alleged she saw a different, and abusive, side of Seth. What happens when a toxic relationship turns deadly, especially at the hands of someone who is supposed to serve and protect? Watch "The Death of an Officer's Wife" and then catch up with "48 Hours" correspondent Anne-Marie Green and producer Judy Rybak on "Post Mortem" as they discuss crossing the thin blue line, a questionable note left behind at the crime scene, the shocking report from the medical examiner ruling Amanda’s death a suicide and if this would be enough to find Seth innocent at trial.

00:00 The Death of an Officer's Wife 41:23 Listen to a post-mortem on the episode

Listen to "Post Mortem" wherever you get your podcasts: https://bit.ly/3ZZe2I2

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.

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Brief Summary

Amanda Peralt's suspicious death leads to her husband's murder conviction amid allegations of domestic abuse.

Key points

The Tragic Death of Amanda Peralt. Amanda Peralt's death raises questions about her husband's involvement and the circumstances surrounding it.
Seth's Alibi Unravels. Seth Peralt's story about his wife's death begins to fall apart under scrutiny.
Domestic Violence Patterns. Neighbors reveal a history of domestic violence that casts doubt on Seth's innocence.
Seth Peral Arrested for Murder. Seth Peral was taken into custody just two days after Amanda's shooting, raising questions about the evidence.
Autopsy Report Declares Suicide. The medical examiner's report ruled Amanda's death a suicide, leading to a controversial trial.
Guilty Verdict. The jury found Seth Peral guilty of murder after deliberating for just under 2.5 hours.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I knew she hadn't. I knew that he was lying from the very beginning.

5:35WatchOct 25, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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