The Strange Shooting of Alex Pennig | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[Music] 911 what is the address of your it's a day I don't think I'll ever forget is she still is she alive is she
she breathing no no okay a sheriff's vehicle pulled up and she informed us that Alex
was dead I don't remember what I did other than fall to my knees what's her name
Alex Alex loved people she was very caring she loved animals she'd bring home a story she'd bring home all kinds
of things but she worked a lot of years to get her degree in nursing cuz she truly wanted to become a nurse thank you
to my family for never once giving up on me when many times I'm sure You' wanted
to I talked to her at 6 o00 that evening via text she was doing great and that was that was kind of the last thing is
this your apartment or her apartment is it Matthew and what's your last name Matthew eer was a nurse
practitioner he was well educated good-look guy we have a lot of nurses in my family and he
is one of the best nurses I know he was a friend that she had met through this part-time job she had she called me she
had called him that she needed his help that she was in trouble she had been in a domestic dispute with her then
boyfriend and Matthew eer thought she was being assaulted and so he came down he was on his way to work and detoured
and came right to her apartment he had brought a gun he brought it with him everywhere he went he had a permit to
carry we were briefed by the responding officers as we're entering the apartment
and they're telling us their observations and what Matthew Ecker had told them were you guys arguing or
something no no she just scmed put to her head Alex is laying on her back she has a
gunshot wound to her head the handgun was facing this way it was on her left shoulder like this it just didn't look
right the scene didn't look right how did she get in that position but just didn't make sense they're thinking
they're not getting the whole story from Mr eer he's the only one that can tell us what happened he was the only one
that was there the only evidence is that she touched the gun there was gunshot residue on her left hand just as a mom
and knowing your kid I didn't it didn't fit he didn't have any motive to kill her I mean he was coming down to protect
protector there's no way he did this I would bet my entire life on the fact that he is innocent the first thing he
said to me is Mom I did not do this what happened [Music] [Music] [Music] the overnight hours it's December 16th
2022 what time do you get that call on that night the call came in around 250 it was a week before Christmas in
2022 when St Paul police officer Ching bang and his partner officer Justina sir set off on their regular Patrol of this
City dispatcher stated that a female was shot in the head my par and I we went LIC and Sirens
heading towards that call and is it all units in the vicinity called in at that time yes pretty much
every unit hop on that call to come and assist within minutes bang sir and several other officers body cameras
rolling arriv red at the location a residential apartment building Matthew Ecker the man who had
placed the 911 call let them in and directed them to an apartment on the second floor officer Vang was the first to
enter the apartment I remember walking in the bathroom was to the right the very first
door 32-year-old Alex penig was lying face up with a single gunshot wound to her left temple I noticed a lot of blood
around her head officer Vang had immediately spotted the gun laying on Alex's left
shoulder her hand resting on top a team of officers looked around the small studio apartment and question neighbors
no one had heard anything it's fine you sit in the hallway officer sir was talking to Matthew eer you got keep
breathing you got to keep breathing he was on the floor by himself so I went and approached him just start talking to
him oh God were you concerned about him I was because that at the time we didn't
know what was going on I know shocked I know it's hard I just told him to just slow down take your time we're not in a
rush whenever you're ready I'm I'm ready to listen Matthew did eventually calm down and he started talking were you
guys argu or something telling officers he lived almost 3 hours away but drove to Alex after she placed a frantic call
to him earlier so I came Matthew told police Alex had gotten into a fight with her current boyfriend
his name was Shane Anderson that things had gone physical and she was scared of what he might do so Matthew took his gun
and brought it with him to Alex's apartment because I was worried that her boyfriend would come so he was going
there he said to protect her yes Matthew arrived at Alex's around 2 p.m. Shane wasn't
there that evening he said they went out to local bars when they walked into a place called Camp bar Shane was inside
he came to her they were arguing and I came across and I stood in between him and then he punched me Shane hit him he
says and then was kicked out of the bar and heard I sat there and talked with other people for 45 minutes
we came back here and I thought everything was fine and then she just grab the gun did she make any of the threat
before that that she was going to kill herself herself she just crammed it and put it into her
head and with the gun in her hand she backed into the bathroom he says and locked the
door moments later a single shot rang out Matthew says he quickly broke the door
open and saw Alex on the floor he told the officers he tried using his nursing skills to stop the bleeding by putting
pressure on the wound I tried to do what I could okay and then I washed my hands and then you
wash your hands correct that's why I don't have anything on my hands and then you then you call the police
[Music] the news that Alex had fired a gun taking her own life was unfathomable to
Alex's parents Mary Joe and Jim that just was completely out of character for Alex she had never shot a gun she didn't
like guns so it didn't make any sense and Alex's mom Mary Joe had just texted with her daughter a few hours earlier
and she didn't seem depressed at all she's doing well you know that's what's hard
yeah did you see this see that part detectives Abby Danto and Jennifer odonnell were called to the scene you
get a call in the middle of the night so you know it's not good inside the apartment there was alcohol and six
bottles of prescription medications including anti-depressants and amphetamines all prescribed to Alex but
if that suggested maybe Alex had been depressed and took her own life there were other things that didn't seem to
add up in Matthew's account the first was the position of Alex's body says the investigators shown here
in the CBS News animation the door to the bathroom was a jar and you immediately see Alex's feet on either
side of the door if Matthew had broken down the bathroom door after hearing The Gunshot as he told officers he had we
think that if that had been the case her legs would have been swept behind the door and even though Matthew had said he
washed his hands before calling 911 when responding officers arrived the sink was
dry and if he had said you know he called the police right away and that sink probably would have been still
wet the detectives decided to take a deeper look at Matthew's story he had told police his only mission that day
was to protect Alex from Shane Anderson the boyfriend he claimed was violent and in fact there were these
holes in the closet door across from the bathroom kind of like punch marks hes Matthew said Shane was responsible
for St Paul police the detectives were now eager to speak with shame [Music] it's the most devastating knock on my
door I've ever had in my life hey it's St Paul police hours after Alex penig was found dead police were at her
boyfriend Shane Anderson's front door did you hear what happened two police officers they asked me who Alex was and
I said that's my girlfriend is she okay just passed away no Alex penic you're kidding me and I I
don't know blacked out after that pretty much my God Shane says he was desperate for
answers and willingly went to the police station to speak with detectives Abby Danto and Dan zebro I want to know what
happened to her okay that's what I'm trying to figure out okay so Shane told the detectives he had been dating Alex
for around 4 months and painted a Rosy picture [Music] she was sweet like she was fun
everything that you'd want in a [Music] woman according to Shane they spent nearly every day together and loved to
lounge around with her two cats I'm not a cat person I'm more of a dog person to
be honest but uh she kind of made me a cat person he told the detectives that although it was early in their
relationship they were planning a future together literally yesterday we were talking about like me breaking my lease
and moving into her place we both wanted families do you imagined yourself with her
100% Shane's description was in stark contrast to what Matthew eer had told police Matthew said Alex told him she
was fighting with Shane and scared of him but when the detectives asked Shane denied it so did the argument that you
guys had in that morning get physical no no not at all God no it was about basically why I haven't moved in yet and
like why that was taking so long but what about those punch marks in Alex's apartment that was from a few weeks back
that was me yes I was drunk I didn't put my hands on her though we argued like a
married couple like it wasn't anything like crazy or like violent or like weird but remember Matthew told detectives
Shane was arguing with Alex just hours before her death at campar and Shane even punched Matthew and I came across
and I stood in between him and then he punched me Shane didn't deny hitting Matthew he says seeing Alex with another
man upset him Alex showed up with like a guy he doesn't look familiar I have no idea who this guy is
I was wondering why this guy is hanging out with my girlfriend and I decided Ed to throw a punch which I is
not in my character but it just felt like the thing to do at the time so Camp bar is the last bar that Alex and
Matthew went to detectives D Santo and odonnell reviewed security footage from inside Camp bar so as Alex and Matt
walked in Shane was sitting right across from the bar they took us through the altercation and we zoomed in for a
closer look Matt was sitting here when they walked in and then really oddly Alex walked around the bar and sat
across the bar over there Shane walked over to her first and then she is talking to Shane and then Matt comes
over and it appears that he's introducing himself because he holds out his hand to shake hands with Shane then
there's a confrontation Shane ended up assaulting [Applause] Matt no we're not doing that
[Applause] Shane then is asked to leave yes I had no idea that that was going to
be the last time that I ever saw her after Shane left the footage showed Alex hanging at the bar with Matthew for
about another hour drinking and chatting detectives were no closer to understanding why why just a little
while later she would as Matthew told them take her own life and the medical examiner ruled that
Alex's manner of death could not be determined so detectives dug into her past looking for anything that could
explain what happened she's been every hair color brunette and then blonde and then black hair put a little red in
there and it was like she would just be every color Jillian KUB and Sarah Hansen
have known Alex since grade school tell me about Alex as you knew her back then spunky a little child full of energy
always up to something Jillian played ice hockey with Alex and together they won a state championship what was she
like Fire on Ice luckily I was always on her team so I never had to play against
her but she was feisty she was so fun I don't really remember anything other than happiness
really in the especially in the younger years but detectives learned that as a young adult Alex struggled her parents
Mary Joe and Jim said that in college Alex would get depressed and she got hooked on prescription pills it was very
difficult one day in 2016 she went up to her room and took a handful of meds and
then had told her mom that she was attempting suicide by meds and then promptly threw it up stuck her finger in
her throat and threw it up I felt like it was a cry for help and they got Alex that
help inspired by the nurses who helped her recover in 2019 she got her licensed practical nursing degree and was chosen
to speak at graduation I have climbed out of the darkness with permanent scars but a heart of gold and the promise that
as a nurse I will try my best for people like me to not feel alone and help them
like those nurses had helped me Alex didn't make that choice to get well and she did her life was back on track her
life was on track right and we watched the campar video right that's detectives also learned all
about Alex's history with Matthew eer she met him in 2020 when she got a job at a Walkin Clinic her parents say their
daughter described Matthew as someone she worked with but according to Matthew's parents bla Necker and Terry
Randall there was a lot more than just friendship Alex and Matthew they say were having an affair back then even
though Matthew was married with four kids she knew he was married she knew he had four children Terry says the romance
didn't last in the summer of 2022 they had ended the physical part their relationship and we just friends
still she says her son was a source of support for Alex she says Matthew told her Alex was drinking heavily and as a
result lost several jobs she wouldn't show up she'd go on a bench without a job Matthew's family says Alex struggled
to pay her bills so unbeknownst to her parents Matthew stepped in he gave Alex money and helped her pay her rent
Matthew's sister's Molly and Amy aren't surprised their brother wanted to help he cared for her and he has a big heart
and he didn't want to just walk away he he couldn't walk away and just three days before Alex
died Alex sent Matthew these text messages I shut myself out to the world I needed a mental health break and I'm
not very hopeful at the moment about life even with with those texts though and Alex's past attempt years earlier
detectives still weren't convinced she took her own life just because you say I need a
mental health day or it's not a good day doesn't mean you're suicidal detectiv suspected Matthew was
lying to them and here's why remember the gun was found on Alex's chest with her left hand on it turn out Alex was
right-handed when detectives Abby Des Santo and Jennifer O'Donnell reviewed security footage from Alex's apartment
building and she opens the door they were able to see what happened after Matthew and Alex left Camp bar so that's
Alex and Matt they're just in the vesu of Alex's apartment walking in about 2:00 in the morning or so yes time frame
mm you can see Matthew and Alex walk out of view as they go up to her apartment but a short while later they walk back
through the lobby and out the door Matthew would say it was to get his headphones from his
car Alex returns to the lobby and waits for the detectives what happens next is key she seems impatient just looking at
her body language they note how when Matthew returns Alex doesn't hold the door for
him and how he shrugs his shoulders as he follows behind her the detectives wonder if Matthew and Alex had gotten
into a fight something was going on with that's huge cuz that's the last time we
see Alex alive 20 minutes later at 2:50 a.m. Matthew placed that call to 911 a girl who shot herself the
head the lobby security footage had no audio so there was no way to know for sure if the two had gotten into a fight
but when Alex's family and friends saw it you could tell that she was mad you could tell the way she ripped open that
door you could tell Alex stomping stomping in whenever she was mad she'd like stop and she I was visible in this
video so they were definitely in a fight but when detectives questioned Matthew he denied any
problems we were laughing on the way home everything was fine you guys weren't arguing or anything there's a
little f with you two not between and Matthew's family believes there could be a different reason for the change in
Alex's demeanor in the footage Alex is on her phone they wonder if she was messaging Shane and arguing with him
about the altercation that had just happened at campar I truly believe there's a lot of
information a lot of texting and we think having gotten those interactions would have given us a lot more insight
into her state of mind but the detective couldn't get into Alex's phone because no one knew the passcode and Shane said
he had lost his phone the night before so they couldn't search his either it seemed there was some kind of exchange
happening was she talking to you at all I didn't have a phone so Facebook message or anything like that uh no
unable to know for sure what was really happening in the lobby when detective Danto and her colleague Dan zebro
interviewed Matthew they focused on what he said happened in the apartment how was she holding the gun when she was
backing up to the bathroom she was she had down here first and then she cocked it left hand cocked it but she ended up
holding it to her left tle what I remember okay she left she's not not so it was
weird he said she did all this with her left hand but then he told us she was right-handed
you don't use a weapon with your non-dominant hand it just another inconsistency or another part of the
puzzle that doesn't match there was also the nagging question about the sink being dry Matthew had told First
Responders he washed his hands after trying to help Alex which is why his hands were clean but the sink was dry
when police arrived Danto asked if he did in fact call police right away okay and then you call the police right away
yeah I'm call the police yeah so you know when you get blood all of your hands and then you go under the sink and
you yeah or the handle to the sink right there should be blood on there's no there's no blood in the hand on the sink
and there's no nothing in the sink and the sink is sink rinse my hand the sink's dry there's no water or
anything no I washed my hands in the sink I but Danto thought Matthew was lying either he hadn't helped Alex and
didn't wash his hands or he had not called 911 right away right now all this evidence is not add up I can't I just
want you to just think I just want you to think about this and what what you're you're asking me to confess to something
I didn't do no I'm not I'm asking you just to think I mean we're just going to give you some time here just to think we
got to grab that stuff anyway think about everything that we discussed with you but soon Matthew called them back in it
was more than 2 hours into his interview and he wanted to change his story so the
change that I have I did take the gun and I put it in my suitcase I put it in the suitcase went
back looked to her and said yep went back to the suitcase grabbed a gun and put it back
there was there why would you move that gun did he explain why he moved the gun he was scared when Matthew put the gun
back he said he put it on Alex the way First Responders found it with their hand on top I mean why would you lay her
hand back down front I was moving I was moving her I was looking at her that's all I know at that point we're like What
innocent person would s do this yet Matthew continued to insist he was innocent that gun went off behind the
Clos I did not shoot her I didn't kill her and he kept saying the door to the bathroom was shut I don't know what
happened but you didn't buy it m no and neither did detective zebro no but the detectives didn't know how they could
prove it and then they discovered a new piece of evidence this is a big piece of
the puzzle for you yes what do you think of Alex and Matthew's body language in the lobby see
a timeline of the case at 48 hours.com okay I didn't kill I didn't shoot I I just for hours Matthew eer insisted he
did not kill Alex that she locked herself in the bathroom and fired the shot he said he
had broken open the door only after the gun went off I I heard the gun go off and that's when I open the but then
detective odonnell got a call from the forensic unit processing the scene once Alex was moved they found underneath
where Alex had been laying was a round metal piece which is this piece right here yes odonnell says it's a piece of
the bathroom door lock and because it was discovered on the floor under Alex's head as seen in the CBS News animation
it had to have gotten there while Alex was still alive for us it meant that the door was forced open before she was shot
the detective suspected Alex had locked the door to get away from Matthew I believe that Alex and Matthew got an
argument I believe that she went into the bathroom to be alone not wanting to be with him but when he broke open the
door they say that small piece of metal from the lock landed on the bathroom floor he forced his way in and shot her
shot they say Alex fell on top of the metal piece to the detectives it was the only way the piece could have ended up
under her Matthew eer was charged with second degree murder his family was stunned it's like no there's there's got
to be a mistake it's just not his character he's not going to harm somebody on purpose they hired criminal defense
attorney Bruce Rivers there's Reasonable Doubt all over the place that this was a
homicide River says there's another explanation for how that metal piece got under Al he said it could have ended up
under her head when Matthew eer attempted to help her cuz he did lift her head up but detectives point of the
way Alex was found with her legs straddling the door if Matthew eer had broken open the door after hearing The
Gunshot detectives say Alex's legs would have been pushed to the side but ecker's
defense attorney says there was enough space in the bathroom that when the door was broken open it went in between her
legs that is consistent in my opinion with uh her laying there and having shot herself and importantly claims Rivers if
his client had shot Alex there would have been blood splatter on him and that's not the case there was not one
Speck of blood on his shirt on his pants on his face anywhere whatsoever the detectives say that's because eer most
likely had reached around the door while he was trying to force his way in and fired the shot I believe the door
shielded him from the initial blood splatter but River says it makes much more sense that Alex took her own life
and he says forensic testing proves eer wasn't the one who fired the gun it was Alex there was gunshot residue on her
left hand and was her DNA found on the gun it was there was also no gunshot residue on
eer and his DNA was not found on the gun detectives suspect that's because he wiped it clean before putting it on Alex
there should be his DNA it's your gun you told us in an interview that you grabbed the gun your hands were over
that gun but it was very clean he admitted to having held the gun and moving the gun after
the fact yet none of his DNA was found on the gun how do you explain that that's not uncommon just because you
touch something doesn't mean that DNA is going to be there at the time of her death Alex had
almost three times the legal limit of alcohol and four different prescription medications in her system including
proac and Valium although it wasn't the cause of her death to Rivers it showed she was struggling as did those texts
she had sent Ecker just a few days before her death she was depressed because of her
finan cial conditions depressed because of her job situation all these things compounded themselves but detectives
would discover something unusual about those prescription medications found in Alex's body it turns out Matthew Ecker
had prescribed them he didn't tell us that he was prescribing your medication during the investigation you found that
out yeah as a licensed nurse practitioner eer had the authority to write prescriptions though normally that
Authority is used for a patient Alex was not you would think you would send her to a doctor and have her see someone
else was his prescribing medication considered illegal though no it's unethical but it was not illegal
according to ecker's family Matthew had good reason she was prescribed those medications originally by a medical
doctor so she had asked Matt if he could refill them she would Badger him and they point to multiple text Alex
sent him days before her death asking him to refill medications including I need you to send in my immediate release
Aderall script make sure I have refills for my Trazodone and metap too please I have like three bottles of Prozac so I'm
good with that still Alex's family and friends say there is no excuse I can't get over that as a nurse practitioner he
should have known him better so his feeling sorry for your daughter or feeling like he was doing this the best
way to try to help her you don't believe that's the case I don't believe it at all especially for someone that has a
history of addiction you don't prescribe it as a nurse practitioner you say no in February 2024 Matthew ecker's
trial began the detectives were confident they had an idea of why Matthew eer would have wanted Alex dead
and it centered around their path romance maybe she said that she was going to call his wife and tell his wife
everything and as far as a motive what what would be the motive keep her quiet so the wife doesn't find out sure it
would be nice if there was some evidence of that I mean it was just sheer speculation there's nothing not one
cintilla of evidence that they were in any kind of dispute whatsoever instead River says he sure that night everything
came to a head for Alex and she couldn't take it anymore so when when it boils down to it this is a case about what the
jury's going to believe whether it's suicide or homicide and because the medical examiner had ruled Alex's manner
of death could not be determined Rivers brought in a second one who came to the same conclusion
undetermined if they can't determine it was a homicide neither can you but what would the jury think when it was time
for deliberations everyone was nervous it was obvious is to me Matt was concerned selfishly as a parent of Alex
we wanted to believe that he was guilty but believing it and proving it are two different
[Music] things we got a call at their head been a a verdict you just take this huge deep
breath and like oh my gosh in February 2024 after 9 hours of deliberation the jury came to a decision
about Matthew AER Matthew was guilty guilty of second deegree murder once we heard that we were we
were very we were very happy we were sad because didn't bring Alex back but at least there was some justice
served but for Matthew ecker's family it was like a knife in the heart I I couldn't even
function what did you see in your brother in that moment when the jury read the verdict
just absolute tragedy it was awful yeah 2 months later on April 3rd 2024 Matthew Ecker was back in court for
sentencing All Rise session The Honorable D is presiding call I understand there are
people who wish to make statements today so how this will Alex's friend Jillian addresses the
court countless times I picked up the phone to call Al only to realize I won't ever hear her voice again and strive to
Sarah Echoes their loss Alex really was a once in a-lifetime kind of friend and I remember Sarah you were giving
your statement and unfortunately that meant I was at the level of where Matt was he was sitting and I was standing
and I just kept looking over at him just focus trying to feel something you know
try to figure out what you're feeling and there was just nothing nothing Alex's parents Mary Joe and Jim
implored the judge to impose a stiff sentence our hearts have been broken Beyond repair and the future trajectory
of Our Lives has been changed forever and the world lost a special soul and we lost our
baby come on up but Matthew ecker's family appealed for leniency Matt is one of the kindest and
most compassionate people we know he has spent most of his adult life helping people and caring in for
people I truly believe that Matt has so much more to offer to this world in the end it is the sentence of
the law in the Judgment of the court that you serve 360 months with the Department of Corrections the judge
sentenced Matthew eer to 30 years for killing Alex you are remanded to the custody of
the Department of Corrections mean him sitting in prison for 30 years is just it's just not
acceptable he's not a murderer he didn't do this we will fight until it's made right and we will not give up on
him eer and his wife are now divorced and she has full custody of their four children his family says they have not
been allowed any contact with the kids that has to be very hard as Grandparents not having that connection yeah
absolutely terrible and I miss them so much is there something you you would want them to know about their
dad he loves them and cares for them and misses them and we love them as for Alex's family there are
questions they'd still like eer to answer why' you do it why questions with answers that may
never come what they do know is how they choose to honor Alex one way is through
her love for animals including a serendipitous encounter somebody had dumped off a
little baby rooster and somehow it just migrated to our house so we built a chicken CP and we
now have 12 chickens at at home in properly named Alex's Co yes I have a feeling Alex maybe had a hand in
bringing you that Roost right yeah well that's good and every month the penig get together with Sarah and Jillian then
we just sit there and talk and cry and tell stories that oh Al would not want us to be telling Mary Joe but we tell
them because we're like we have to relive some of these stories yes get yourself
some Alex's boyfriend Shane also struggles it's heartbreaking cuz I I love that girl and she deserves to be
here she absolutely deserves to be here the cemetery where Alex is buried is a short drive from where her parents
live and they visit her as often as they can he I miss you kid oh yeah this is tough love you
honey and at peace we miss you [Music] sweetheart CBS next Saturday two innocent people on their first date had
their lives destroyed a fatal first date Sheriff's Office I got one alive and one
bed and the only eyewitness is fighting for his life what did you think who who would have done that 48 hours is all new
CBS next Saturday 109 Central and streaming on Paramount Plus [Music] welcome back to another episode of post
morm I'm your host and Marie green and today we're discussing the death of Alex penig she was last seen Alive by her
former cooworker Matthew eer with whom she also had a one-time Affair now he called 911 after he said she shot
herself with his gun but investigators would unravel a different story so me now to discuss this mysterious case the
CBS News correspondent Natalie Morales and 48 Hours producer Betsy Schuler thank you so much for joining us guys of
course thanks for having us good to be with you again amarie if you have not listened to the 48 Hours episode that
we're about to talk about yet you can find the full audio version just below this episode in your podcast feed so go
take a listen and then come on back for this conversation all right so the title of
uh this episode is the strange shooting of Alex penig it's a great title because
it was a strange one and this was one hour where I found myself completely convinced of a different scenario every
5 Seconds one of the things that I was watching is Matthew ecker's reaction he was certainly incredibly distraught he
was breaking down but I I couldn't tell if I thought it was too much or not you interviewed the First Responders what
was their impression of Eker when they spoke to him you know I think that's what was so fascinating is that we had
so much of that body cam footage First Responders were with him for about an hour and that's what everybody was
looking at and analyzing and it's not just the amount of footage but it's also that it's minutes right after Alex was
shot I think people enter a situation and look at things and say okay does it seem genuine does it not seem genuine
and I think First Responders analyzed all the evidence in front of them as he was very distraught and grieving and
trying to process the trauma in that moment it was interesting when we questioned them about what they thought
they thought he was not producing real tears and they questioned how he was responding to what they perceive as real
grief versus you know not grieving and I think you know throughout the course of
our reporting we looked back at that footage so much right Betsy and we just analyzed and overanalyzed and we thought
of all the different scenarios and it was it's really hard to decipher how somebody processes grief is what we've
come down to yeah yeah for sure I mean I think our impression of the footage is one thing but the way the people
involved with the case sort of saw the footage is a different thing detectives noticed eer talking to First Responders
in the hallway he seemed really emotional but they didn't see him crying any actual tears and I think that stood
out to them all of this was what ended up in trial being questioned his behavior whether or not he produced real
tears and also for Alex's family right they're looking at this footage and they see a guy who's disingenuous who's
overacting who looked rehearsed to them Matthew's family sees you know their their son their brother breaking down
his mom is a nurse and had worked as a hospice nurse for a while so she said she had some experience dealing with
people going through trauma and she said that in her experience that people don't
always produce tears and also that sometimes when you're crying for that long you might not produce tears the
whole time if you're dehydrated you may not produce tears you know in that scenario Matthew had been drinking for
hours with Alex so there was a lot of things that play there you know and for our viewers who just watched this
episode they might remember that we also show someone else responding to grief we
show the moment where Shane Anderson learns that his girlfriend Alex had just died and he doesn't produce tears either
um you know so I found that really interesting yeah and that did stand out to me you know early on as the hours
unfolding I started to wonder well I don't know I what is the right way to respond to this terrible shocking news
um so yeah like I said I went back and forth about a million times during the hour so speaking of conflicting evidence
First Responders found Alex dead in her bathroom with the gun laying on her shoulder her left hand was sort of
resting on top the detectives later learned that she was right-handed did detectives think that
this was a slam dunk in in terms of evidence that she could not have been the one to shoot herself because why
would you use your non-dominant hand I mean I definitely think they thought it was a piece of the puzzle um I'm not
sure it was a slam dunk at that point um for us this one was really hard um I think we go back and forth on what this
means you know initially you think oh well if she's right-handed how could she use her left hand one of the editors on
this interestingly enough is in the military and she had an interesting perspective if you picture a pistol when
you go to rack the chamber you pull back this sliding mechanism to load it and apparently that's really heavy and not
so easy to move if you don't know what you're doing so it could make sense that you would make that motion with your
dominant hand which means the gun would be in your non-dominant hand and according to Alex's family Alex did not
have any experience with shooting guns and remember according to eer this all happened so quickly he says she ran
into the bathroom locked the door and then he heard a gunshot and then when he broke down the door what he saw was her
on the floor that's according to eer so I think that's like a split second thing
that you have to consider timing time to switch hands Also let's say she has her
hand on the door and is locking the door wouldn't you do that with your dominant
hand I mean it's hard to say what somebody does with the left and the right but obviously if you're in the
moment and in a frenzy I think it could be seen differently right Matthew eer also
didn't give detectives the whole story about the gun at first it was more than 2 hours actually into his interview that
he admitted to moving it first putting it in his suitcase and then he placed it back on Alex's body that's what he
says did detectives think you know this was suspicious that this perhaps showed a bit of guilt yeah that's exactly what
they thought one of the detectives was like what innocent person would do this I mean I think that was a really big
moment for them if you didn't fire the gun why would you pick it up and move it so that one didn't look good for him and
the explanation that uh ecker's attorney gives was you know in that moment realized oh my gosh that's my gun and so
maybe there was a panic or something and he picked up the gun and went to put it
away but then realized well I've got to explain what happened here I better put it back so you know that's how Bruce
Rivers who is ecker's attorney explained that at trial so you can look at it this
from two different sides again and be very conflicted as we all but as a viewer of True Crime you know
when someone starts changing their story your spidey sense goes up that's your tell yeah especially after two hours
because you know he's been questioned about the positioning of the gun probably a couple of times it it comes
off like he's thinking I better have a better answer than the one I had an hour ago also The Gunshot residue uh was
actually on Alex's left hand but eer didn't have any gunshot residue at all on him and keep in mind
he had no blood on him his entire shirt outfit everything was clean you know he doesn't have anything to indicate that
he was near her body at the time no which is really interesting and so you know Natalie laid out the one side of it
the detectives would say that you know that would be because the door would have shielded him
that they believe there was a struggle at the bathroom door and she was trying to push the door closed and he was
trying to reach around so he would have been shielded from some of that you know
I think that's what's so interesting about this case is you try to add up all the pieces and the position of her body
in the bathroom was a big one that was a big tell yeah I think that was one of the first things for the detectives that
sort of made them a little suspicious about the scene just seeing the position of her legs they were like how could she
have gotten in this position when First Responders arrived her legs were straddled around the door and that
according to the scenarios that were presented by detectives they were like well that shows that there had to have
been some sort of struggle you know that she was sort of caught in the middle of
the door when this happened whereas ecker's attorney explains that as he was trying to help her he went in broke the
door there was enough room in the bathroom that her legs could have shifted and moved with the door being
pushed back and opened so again one more thing that makes us very conflicted welcome back Matthew eer
claims that he went to Alex's apartment that day because she told him that she was scared of her boyfriend
Shane Shane was never considered a suspect though you interviewed him uh in that hour what was your impression of
him well I have to tell you first of all he was very reluctant uh to do the interview with us and he was hesitant he
was very unsure about what to expect I think many of his reasons for deciding to do it was he wanted to honor Alex who
he loved very much but also he was I think still processing a lot of what he had heard I mean a lot of what he was
first hearing happened to come out of the trial and the first time he was hearing for example that Matthew eer and
Alex had had a previous romance Affair uh was at that trial so I think talking to us gave him some sort of sense of you
know closure but also wanting to be able to process his emotions to me it appears
as if he you know truly loved Alex but it also seemed like you know it wasn't the best relationship or I should say it
wasn't perfect he was accused of doing some stuff to Alex that she was scared enough to call this other guy eer so you
know he was brought into this through that he wasn't a suspect but I think he also wanted the chance to respond to
some of that and tell his side of the story yeah he says I mean Alex was the love of his life and they were planning
a future together in fact it was right before the holidays when Alex died died and he was planning to go with her to
meet her parents for the first time so he was looking forward to that yeah it did seem like he really cared about her
even all these months later we could feel it when we were with him you do certainly get that in the hour and I
just want to stress to everyone even though it's clear in the hour he was never considered a suspect at all after
that altercation at the bar uh he was told to get out and go home and that's what he did yeah there were only two
people in that apartment it was eer and it was Alex yeah speaking of eer and Alex pretty unusual relationship that
day he made a 3our drive from his home to help Alex get out of what he says is you know a bad situation with her
current boyfriend when I heard it in the hour I go wait a minute there's no one else that's closer to you I mean in
three hours an argument flares up and then it's over it just seemed a little a little off was the affair truly over
according to his family the affair had ended and they were just friends seemed like a bit of an interesting friendship
because he was giving her money as we see in the trial and court record showed he was financially helping support Alex
paying her rent and pay some of her expenses about $28,000 that he ended up um giving Alex
or loaning Alex he was also also uh according to the text messages that we see between the two of them prescribing
her with drugs eer is a licensed nurse practitioner so with that he is able to prescribe medications Alex course was
not his patient and while detectives and even ecker's own family who are also nurses all agree it is unethical they
all point out it is not illegal e really did seem to to care about Alex and so the big question of course is what could
the motive have been here yes I mean certainly when you talk about motive I mean what could have been the motive for
murdering Alex I think that's probably the most mysterious part of this case and something that is still not very
clear I mean one thing that detectives thought it could be was that perhaps maybe Alex was threatening to go public
and to tell his wife even about their Affair but then there's that question of why would she do that to the guy who was
providing for her at that time what about the phone what about the text messages it was clear in the lobby of
the apartment building that she was looking at her phone yeah you know we saw that surveillance footage and that's
the last time you see Alex alive it looked like she was texting with somebody but we don't really know if
there were text messages or not because police were never able to get into her phone detectives did tell us that
multiple forensic examiners did try to get into Alex's phone but they were unsuccessful the defense also try it as
well it would have been um really revealing to be able to see some of her text messages um you know we have the
messages between her and eer from ecker's phone um we go through some of those in the hour and I think they're
very telling but we don't know who else she may have been messaging and what she
may have been saying to them some people wonder if she was messaging with Shane you know this fight at campar had just
happened but Shane had lost his phone so they weren't able to get the messages from his side either so yeah there's a
lot that we don't know that maybe could have come out if they would have been able to get in the phone when I talked
to Shane I asked him like did you ever I mean if you sign on to a computer you can see your messages or you know if you
you know can you check Facebook messages and and he said there was nothing yeah he told us he was not messaging with
Alex at all ultimately eer is found guilty he's sentenced to 30 years it's a hefty
sentence is he appealing his conviction yes he is appealing his conviction his family was not happy with with how the
trial um was presented and how it went on what was it that they were unhappy about so there were a couple things
obvious viously the outcome um you know their son their brother is in prison for
30 years but they would have liked to hear eer on the stand they would have liked him to tell his story his defense
attorney Bruce Rivers said that you know through all the footage um in the hallway in the interrogation room that
he did get to tell his story so Rivers told us that he didn't feel like it was necessary for eer to testify um you know
I think the family also felt that his you know his character wasn't brought into it the way he helps people his past
some more sides of his personality like that I think they really hoped that that
would have been a part of it I sort of wondered about that because I thought the way they describe him there are some
things at odds with that you know he he runs to the aid of of this young woman but it's still sort of questionable I
think that's why ultimately his attorney decided you know is the risk worth taking putting the defendant on the
stand I think that's always the analysis you do here's a guy who has a wife with
four children and knowingly he cheated on her granted an affair does not make a murderer as we've talked about so many
times in our 48 Hours shows we know that's not the case right I was kind of curious about how Alex's family felt
about how she had been depicted her parents knew she had had some struggles she had some things in
her past and they really didn't shy away from it they certainly didn't shy away from it in our interview and I respected
that I mean it's it's who she was and they're wonderful people uh the pen IGS and um still dealing with so much grief
and losing Alex Alex was a beautiful person and they wanted to make sure that her memory was honored E's family
totally convinced that he's innocent uh Alex's family and friends totally convinced that he's guilty you have to
present this hour how challenging was it to strike a balance I think it's always
a challenge but sort of also always a part of our job um and part of what we do as journalists is to present both
sides I mean it doesn't change a fact that a jury found him guilty but I think that is a part of our responsibility
that we take really seriously yeah and we walk away from this one seeing two families that are destroyed one lost
their daughter who they adored and had been through so much with her and the other family is grieving the son
sentenced to 30 years in prison I think you see both sides here of two families that are grieving a loss and I think
that's what our reporting shows is it's never easy to tell these stories but we do our jobs and present all the evidence
and ultimately you know it's it's what the jury came back with and we'll have to see what happens next yeah well thank
you guys for another really fascinating episode I'm sure viewers are still debating about how they feel about the
outcome of this case um Natalie Betsy just want to thank you of course thank you thank you Natalie you have a brand
new podcast that's dropping I'm hosting a new six episode podcast it's called 48
Hours NCIS it takes listeners inside the case of Aaron Corwin um this is a a tough one she was a 19-year-old Marine
wife found dead in an abandoned M shaft in Joshua Tree National Park we go behind the scenes with the real life
NCIS agents as they worked through the case and their tireless efforts to try to locate the body then finally
ultimately reaching the conclusion of that case and the verdict so be sure to pull up your podcast app where you're
listening type in 48 Hours NCIS and tap follow to check out our new episode new episodes come out by the way every
Tuesday so you don't want to miss it so you know what else comes out on Tuesdays postmortem and if you like this
series post morum 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 wry Plus in the wry app or with a 4 48
Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcast thanks again for listening

Surveillance video captures a nurse coming home for the last time.

Watch "The Strange Shooting of Alex Pennig" and then catch up with "48 Hours" correspondent Natalie Morales and producer Betsy Shuller on "Post Mortem" as they go behind their report on the murder of Alex Pennig. When Alex was discovered dead in her bathroom, her friend, Matthew Ecker, called 9-1-1 and claimed she shot herself, but detectives uncovered a different story. The team discusses the bodycam footage of first responders interviewing Ecker just minutes after Alex's death, the conflicting evidence surrounding who fired the gun and the unusual friendship between Alex and Ecker.

00:00 The Strange Shooting of Alex Pennig 41:51 Listen to a post-mortem on the episode

Listen to "Post Mortem" wherever you get your podcasts: https://apple.co/3NK4okT

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

The episode investigates Alex Penig's death, questioning whether it was suicide or murder, focusing on Matthew Ecker's role and the ensuing trial.

Key points

A Mother's Defense. A mother stands firm in her belief of her son's innocence after a tragic event.
The Unbelievable Tragedy. Alex's mother struggles to comprehend her daughter's death, claiming it was out of character.
Seeking Answers. Shane Anderson, Alex's boyfriend, desperately seeks the truth about her death.
Denial of Violence. Shane Anderson denies any physical altercation with Alex, claiming their arguments were normal.
Mental Health Misunderstanding. Detectives question the validity of Alex's mental state prior to her death.
Matthew Ecker Found Guilty. After 9 hours of deliberation, the jury found Matthew Ecker guilty of second-degree murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I would bet my entire life on the fact that he is innocent.

A mother defending her son after a tragic incident.

3:06WatchJan 31, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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