48 Hours - Melissa Turner's Closing Act

Episode Date: January 15, 2023

A cosplay actor finds herself in the spotlight when she's accused of murdering her boyfriend. Can she convince a jury it was self-defense? "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. 9-1-1, what is your emergency? I woke up on my boyfriend. He was outside this morning. He's cold.

He's gone. I was scared. I was confused. I was on the phone with 911. The kitchen's a bloody mess. He's not breathing. Why is the kitchen a bloody mess? I don't know.

What's your name? Melissa Turner. No. What's your name? Alyssa Turner. I couldn't remember a lot. When I realized that he wasn't responding, I panicked. When did you realize that Matthew was dead?

I think a part of me already knew. Copy, I'm in oral therapy. October 18, 2019, we got the call that we had to respond here. Matthew Trusler was found in the patio pool area of this residence. And what kind of shape was Melissa at that time? I remember seeing her pretty well covered in blood. So on that night, what happens? Matt had gotten upset. He had gotten his knife out, I remember. He would act more like he was possessed.

He would say things to me like, Matt's not here anymore. I'm the demon. There were times where he would try and use it on himself. I was the prosecutor who went to the crime scene that day. I thought it was bizarre. There was the insinuation that he had done this to himself, and he had a stab wound in the back. He couldn't have done that to himself, right? See, it's well in his back. I tried giving him CPR. I tried. I just thought that there was a lot of acting happening where she's dialing 911 and make herself cry.

I don't know what happened. It was exceptional acting. Fantastic actress. She wanted to be in movies. A cosplay model is basically where you dress up as like your favorite characters. I would do Elvira, Misty from Pokemon. I really loved the makeup and the props and the costuming. I am Teethorn Rose. I'm a cam model, I'm an artist, I love fitness. Her content was sexual based. She had websites. She had an OnlyFans page.

We were very shocked to find this kind of secretive life that we didn't know about. Who do you believe killed Matthew Trusler? Melissa Turner. I didn't do what they're saying. I did. If I'm going to prison, then I'm going down fighting. I'm going down telling my side of the story. Субтитры создавал DimaTorzok I couldn't stop crying. Tell me what's wrong. She is not responsive. I couldn't stop crying. Melissa Turner can vividly describe the moment as medics tried to revive her fiancé, Matthew Trussler.

I watched the EMTs unfold the sheet and lay the white sheet over him. Two years later, Melissa still struggles to talk about the day Matthew died. And it was when that happened that I couldn't hold in the tears and everything. hold in the tears and everything. It was around 8.30 a.m. when Melissa says she found Matthew unresponsive on the back patio of the house they shared in a suburb of Tampa, Florida. I tried to see if he was breathing and I tried to start CPR. Just a couple hours later, still covered in blood, Melissa agreed to talk to investigators at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. She says she wanted to help them figure out what had happened to Matthew. I was just saying yes and complying with whatever was kind of said or told to me. The world around me didn't really feel real in those moments.

A lot less glamorous than the bank and all TV. Melissa told the detectives the couple's day had started off just like any other. They took care of their pets, did house chores, as seen in these previously posted Facebook videos. Get up. We've got to clean that spot. And went grocery shopping. She admitted they were also drinking alcohol throughout the day, leading into the evening. I mean, that's what we did. We were there at the house ourselves. We had drinks. He always liked drinking. He was a drinker.

According to Melissa, around 11 p.m., she got tired and told Matthew she wanted to go to sleep. He was still up. I slept on that big chair that's in my little office area downstairs. What she saw when she woke up the next morning, Melissa told investigators didn't make sense i saw the kitchen was like i didn't see him outside at first i went upstairs and i checked the bedroom and then i came back down again she says that's when she discovered matthew outside on the patio and began CPR. They're hard to see, but Melissa is wearing latex gloves given to her by an officer at the scene.

How'd you put those on? Because I was getting things bloody because I was covered in his blood. Do you want to keep wearing those gloves or do you want to take them off? I'll leave them on for now. Do you have any injuries on your person? No. Any scratches or cuts or anything? None that I've noticed. The detectives eventually told Melissa she would need to take the gloves off. I have a little cut in here. And that's from what? off. And that's from what? I think it's from grabbing a glass. I know there was the broken glass this morning.

So they could take photographs of her. I think I put your hand a little more there. Is that? Sorry. Oh my gosh, I didn't even notice. That looks pretty good. I didn't even notice. Oh wow.

I had no idea that was there. Oh my gosh, I didn't even notice. That looks pretty good. I didn't even notice. Oh, wow. I had no idea that was there. As detectives worked to get to the bottom of what happened, Matthew's family was learning Matthew had died. His brother Sean got the call from their mother. I got a call that he died in an accident. That's what they told me.

Sean called his fiancee, Jennifer, immediately. He's sobbing so hard and just screaming at the top of his lungs. He's gone. My brother, Matty. Matty's gone. He's dead. I'm getting chills just talking about this. Sean and Matthew Trusler were originally from Massachusetts. In 2015, Matthew followed in his brother's footsteps and moved to Florida to work with him in the construction business. Sean, who lost one of his eyes due to a work accident shortly after his brother's death, says the two made a good team. I have worked Matty very hard. He just needs to be led correctly. Matthew, or Matty as Sean calls him, struggled with substance abuse and was looking at the move to Florida as a chance to start over.

He was a really good kid. He worked so hard. He had the biggest heart. He loved everybody and everything. Two years after his move, Melissa, then 24, met Matthew, 23, on an online dating app. We met on Tinder and I just liked how different Matt treated me. He made me feel more important. He drew me in. In 2019, the couple took a big step and bought a house together. We were excited about the house. We were picking out, you know, paint colors for walls and furniture. But Melissa says a few months into their new lives, their relationship became strained.

Matt's drinking was getting worse. It was just becoming really excessive. At the sheriff's office, Melissa had been adamant that there were no arguments between the couple that night. We were having a great time. Was there anything physical? Violent? He was never violent. He was always amazing with me. But Melissa didn't know that the detectives had been tipped off by the responding officer,

that Melissa had told him there had been an argument at the house the night before. What were you and Matthew arguing about last night? I don't really remember. I mean, we might have gone and argued, but it didn't seem like anything. We weren't, like, screaming at each other that I know of. You told us that the guys were there, it was only the two of you, the two of you were drinking. My problem is, is I got Matthew on the back porch with stab wounds. Stab wounds?

Meanwhile, another detective, Ryan Lagasse, was knocking on doors and canvassing the neighborhood for clues. As I walked over here, you've got the camera located directly above the residence across the street here. And what was captured by this camera, police say, would prove Melissa knew more than she was letting on. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Now. Get off.

An eyewitness can be crucial to solving a crime. And just hours into the investigation of Matthew Trusler's death, detectives discovered digital observers. There was an ADT camera inside the couple's home. But at first glance, it didn't appear to show any unusual activity. Most of our information came from that camera that's posted up above the garage. It was this Nest camera on a neighbor's garage that would prove invaluable. An unblinking eye trained on the side of Melissa and Matthew's home that recorded sights and sounds. So I started looking at the footage. Lagasse, a detective for the sheriff's office at the time, saw only darkness and heard the near silence of suburbia until around 4 a.m. I started

to hear racketing, you know, things that were sounded like they were crashing. And so then I, you know, I kind of zoomed in my senses a little bit. And then from there, I started hearing voices. And then I hear what sounds like screaming, yelling. Lagasse says those voices were coming from Matthew and Melissa's house. How would you describe the tone of the voices that you heard? So the little bit of male voice was tough to distinguish, but the female voice was very, very loud, sounded very angry. What could you hear? What kind of phrases?

So I heard, get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. I heard, so, and then there was an explicit die. You heard so die? And then I heard, you know, it sounded like a female voice was crying, saying, what did I do? Lagasse immediately reached out to his colleagues who were interviewing Melissa. You said that last night you never woke up at all? No, I remember laying down and I remember waking up in the same spot.

Investigators now believe they had evidence that Melissa wasn't telling all she knew. Tell me about what happened around four o'clock this morning. Four o'clock? What happened at four o'clock? I don't know. That's what I'm asking you. I don't know either. Why? Was there any arguing at four o'clock? Not that I know of. I believe I was asleep. I have no memory of any argument at four in the morning. But after detectives confronted her with the evidence,

Melissa's story changed. I had some video surveillance, actually yelling and screaming between a male and a female coming from your house. What we need from you that would probably make a lot more sense is to tell us what that argument was about. I would say he woke me up

and we got an argument over that because he was still up at 4 in the morning drinking. Okay, so just so I'm clear, you do have a memory of what happened, right? Yes. At 4 o'clock. Yes. Why were you yelling at him, bitch, get up, bitch, get up? Actually, a lot of the times whenever he is drinking

and gets that drunk into the hours of the morning, he will just fall over. You also said a couple of other things like, stay down. So, die. What are you talking about? That was me being pissed off at him that he fell over. You got a slice on your hand. A slice.

That's what that is. How did that happen? The investigators again focused on that cut on Melissa's hand. It's not from glass. I can tell you that. Once again, her story changed. He does get his knives out sometimes. He wasn't him anymore. I'm thinking back on it.

This is from me grabbing a knife out of his hand. And then things escalated from there. Melissa later told us she wasn't trying to hide the injury on her hand. In fact, she had mentioned it earlier to the 911 operator. I have a cut on my hand. I barely remembered even after mentioning it on the 911 call that my hand was sliced open. A few hours after Melissa placed that 911 call, she was arrested and charged with second degree murder with a weapon. Sean and Jennifer learned Melissa was in custody for Matthew's murder from his mom, who called Melissa by her middle name, Rose. She said, Rose killed him.

I remember we stood in my kitchen and he just starts bawling. Up until then, Sean and Jennifer say the couple didn't appear to have any problems. But Sean says that Melissa did put a wedge between him and Matthew. She was totally isolated, him and her, from the rest of the world. The truth is how controlling and manipulating Rose was. Sean says he hadn't seen Matthew during the last six months of his life. The brothers had had a falling out after Matthew stopped working with Sean at his construction business.

She took Matty long before she took him forever. Sean and Jennifer say Melissa had two sides as Matthew's live-in partner and as a cosplay model who dressed up in costume portraying famous fictional characters. What is that, though? That is actually from... Scooby-Doo. costume, portraying famous fictional characters. What is that, though?

That is actually from Scooby Doo. She made a living by producing and acting in her own adult videos. But it's from a movie clip where she actually is performing sexual acts. And it wasn't until after his death that they learned Melissa had cast Matthew as her partner in her videos.

And I really feel like the pressure and the stress and the fact that it was more and more and more just paid its toll on him. You think that maybe he just didn't want to do those films anymore? Absolutely. I think he was done with her. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own.

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It's just the best idea yet. After Sean and his fiancée Jennifer found out that Melissa had been arrested for Matthew's murder, they began an investigation of their own. We came across things that were pretty disturbing. Sean and Jennifer believed Matthew was becoming disenchanted with his role in those videos Melissa produced. I think at first it was okay because he was seeing some fruits from his labor. Money. But I think it got a little much. They now wonder if Melissa had been looking for a partner for her videos

when she spotted Matthew on that dating app. People write little bios about themselves. She went out and found someone with all the right stuff. The looks, the body, and everything that goes with it. She doesn't do things without a bunch of research. Cameron Mulega, a former boyfriend of Melissa, met her before she began her career in the world of adult entertainment. She was very artistic, so she was able to edit her own videos, edit her own pictures, very business driven. The two met in 2012 when they were studying makeup effects at Douglas Education Center near Pittsburgh.

Back then, Melissa was running a popular fitness blog after losing 100 pounds, later documenting her transformation on social media. It kept her accountable. She had this audience that was incredibly invested in what she was doing and watching her evolve as a person. In 2013, Cameron and Melissa moved to Florida to pursue careers in special effects. There, Melissa confessed to Cameron that she had started a second blog with racier content. This was meant to be temporary. This was supplemental.

But Cameron says Melissa soon began earning a decent living doing what is called cam work, where she performed in various stage of dress for her Internet followers who paid a fee. She was so proud of where she got herself. I used to be this incredibly insecure girl. Now they're paying me to look at me. He says he began to see a change in Melissa's personality as her business grew. It came maniacal to a point where it was complete obsession. And it was money, money, money, money, money. And the more and more success that she found, the more and more unstable she became. She would scream at times that it would pierce your ear. There were times where she was just unpredictable.

Absolutely unpredictable. Sean and Jennifer now wonder if Melissa's volatility may have escalated an argument with Matthew on the night he died. Did he want out of the adult entertainment business? I think, like, maybe that night he was like, yo, I'm done with this. I'm washing my hands. She didn't like whatever he said to her and it made her blow her top. But that's not how it happened, says Melissa. After he was upset with

me for wanting to go to bed, but you know, I stayed downstairs. His demeanor would start to get darker and darker from there. Matt, he had his knife out. It was the black tactical switchblade. There were times where he would get really upset and try and use it on himself, and so it was a common thing for me to try and take a knife away from him. On this night, he didn't want to let go of the knife. Melissa says Matthew was drunk and despondent. They struggled over the knife, she says. But after she managed to take it away, she says Matthew grabbed her by the neck and squeezed, a detail she failed to tell detectives during her interrogation. I thought this was it.

I thought he was going to kill me. And I stabbed him lightly in the back just to get him off of me. She says after she stabbed him once in the back, Matthew pushed her into the kitchen counter and she hit her head. He came at me and that's how I counter and she hit her head. He came at me and that's how I fell back and hit my head. So I had a pretty severe head injury. But that claim would later be challenged at her trial.

I remembered a few blurry steps towards my office, but that was it. I just remember passing out, blacking out there. She's the real victim. She's the one that was suffering the abuse. John Trevina is Melissa's attorney. He describes the couple's relationship as toxic. Particularly since she said it was escalating. His drinking was escalating, his behavior issues were escalating, and it just unfortunately escalated into this very odd incident. I don't think it is a murder case. I think it is a case of self-defense. But Melissa's version of events will be picked apart by prosecutors Catherine Fand and Chimwe Fawcett at her trial. There's just nothing to support her statement.

She never mentions anything about anyone strangling her or anything until days before trial. You really have to take that into consideration. Besides the audio from the Nescam, the state plans to present video from inside the couple's home. Remember that ADT security footage recovered by investigators? Prosecutors believed it didn't show any suspicious activity the night of Matthew's death. But just before the trial, they discovered they misread the time and date. I'll be honest, I misunderstood the timing. It's not recorded in Eastern Standard Time. It's recorded in Universal Time. And what the video did capture, say prosecutors, we're going to show you some ADT videos, would undermine Melissa's defense.

ADT videos would undermine Melissa's defense. He's calmly walking and you can see she's hunched over, she's yelling, she is angry and upset. What do you make of Melissa Turner's account? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn,

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It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now, we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder?

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Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. On Valentine's Day 2022, two years after Matthew Trusler was found dead on his patio, his fiancee, Melissa Turner, went on trial for murder. All right. Melissa had been out on bail since her arrest in 2019. But if she's convicted, she knows she could spend the rest of her life behind bars. It'll be a world of weight off my shoulders for this trial to just be over.

The jury will hear nothing about her videos, her cosplay modeling, and acting out fantasies online. The judge ruled it wasn't relevant to the case. Prosecutor Chimwe Fawcett sees it differently. I did think that the jury should have known that she was an actress. And she was able to make herself into this victim-type person and then cry on demand. Melissa's attorney, John Trevino, told the jury that she didn't mean to kill Matthew, that she stabbed him in self-defense

during that struggle over the knife. Who killed Matthew Trusler? Matthew Trusler killed Matthew Trusler. He did. He did it to himself because of his actions and his behaviors, his drinking, his emotional abuse. You're saying that Melissa had the right to kill him because he was drunk? No, Melissa had the right to kill him to defend herself from being strangled. But Prosecutor Fawcett says Matthew had no record or history of violence against anyone.

Why do you believe that Melissa killed Matthew? against anyone. Why do you believe that Melissa killed Matthew? I think she was intoxicated, and I do think that she went far beyond anything she thought she would do. Maybe she was just so frustrated with his drinking that she harms him so badly that he ends up dying. At trial, Melissa decided to take a risk and testify. She described Matthew as an alcoholic who had exhibited abusive.

There were times where he would push me and punch the walls beside my head. And unsettling behaviors in the past. I had seen him cut himself, burn himself, stab himself. He would stare off at some corners. And he would tell me that there was a demon standing right there. There were times where he would talk in a different voice. Did that frighten you? Goodness.

It was terrifying. And this was happening on that night? Yeah. He just had this little smile on his face. And he said, what's the matter, little girl? Are you scared? Because Matt's not here anymore. Authorities never checked Melissa's blood alcohol level,

but Matthews was nearly five times the legal limit in Florida. That level of blood alcohol not only is lethal, it can cause hallucinations, the demon that we've heard about. But the medical examiner didn't say that he died of alcohol intoxication. The cause of death is that he was stabbed and he bled to death. According to the medical examiner, Matthew had several small cuts and bruises and a possible defensive wound on his forearm. The fatal injury was not the stab wound to his back, but from a deep incision on his right arm, which punctured a vein. You stabbed him in the back, correct? Correct. Okay. The only thing that

I did was the back. How did he get cut on his right arm? I couldn't tell you that. I have no clue. He could have fallen into something. He could have done it himself. I stabbed him once to get him off of me from strangling me. Why didn't you tell the police that he had been trying to strangle you? Because I couldn't remember at the time. I complained multiple times about a headache. Prosecutor Fawcett questioned Melissa about her memories that returned before the trial. And so today, in 2022, you now claim you had some kind of head

injury, correct? Yes. But at crime scene, Tech testified there was no evidence of a head injury. And now, in 2022, you speak of some kind of blackout, correct? Correct. Okay. The jury won't have to rely just on Melissa's memories as they weigh the evidence. There's also that video from inside the couple's home. Prosecutors say it proves Melissa was the aggressor that night. At 3.38 a.m., Melissa is seen running towards her office. At 3.42 a.m., Matthew walks past the camera.

Melissa follows him. He's walking calmly unarmed in the ADT videos, and she's following him hunched over angry. At 4.01 a.m., the video shows Melissa running from the direction of the kitchen. She appears distressed. This is also around the time when the camera across the street picks up audio of screaming and yelling. Then in the next video clip at 4.08 a.m. She's standing at a front door and she's seeming like she's talking to open air. And you can see on her hand, you can see the hint

of red. She already has the cut. Prosecutors say the cut on her hand occurred when Melissa stabbed Matthew. They believe he was still alive at that point. Prosecutors say she could have left them for help or called 911. That's not what she did. She walks back to where he is. She is not in reasonable fear of him. That's what's clear. But Melissa's attorney, John Trevino, rejects the state's timeline and disputes what prosecutors say is seen on that video. I never saw any cut on her hand and I don't think it shows that. The fighting continues, say prosecutors, because around 4 30 a.m. they say the couple moved close to an open window and that nest camera across the street recorded a woman's angry voice.

You said 4.33 a.m. So effing die, right? No, I have no recollection of that. I explained my side and why I did what I did. You're crying right now. Is that is that what I did. You're crying right now. Is that what's happening? Are you crying right now? Do you know what tears look like?

Are you crying because you can just cry on cue? I'm crying because my life is on the line right now. Trevina says it's impossible to clearly understand what Melissa is saying on the Nest recording. And a former FBI audio forensic expert, Bruce Koenig, testified for the defense how he believes sections of the Nest audio had been what he called volume enhanced. Volume enhanced. So it could be that maybe one voice on the recording was not amplified and that another voice on the recording was greatly amplified. That's true. I find it highly suspicious that Ms. Turner's voice is screeching loud,

but when it came to Matthew Trussler, you could barely hear mumbling. Prosecutors deny the audio was manipulated. Based on the outside camera, prosecutor Phan says the confrontation ended at 5.11 a.m., when Matthew somehow got out to the pool area through this window. So the window was actually open, but when he decided to flee from her, he pushed out the screen and went out the window. So the window was actually open, but when he decided to flee from her, he pushed out the screen and went out the window. Prosecutors say by the time Matthew collapsed by the pool, Melissa would have seen how injured he was. He has already bled all that blood in the kitchen

and then gone out. She knows that he needs help. And she's awake. And she doesn't help him. But Melissa says that's when she returned to her office and blacked out. The argument ends sometime around 5 o'clock. But you don't call 911 until 845. Correct, because I was unconscious. One of the last ADT clips shows Melissa at 8.35 a.m. walking from the direction of her office. In the police report, her hair is described as, quote, messy, as if she just woke up. That was the most demonstrative of her not knowing he's dead,

because you wouldn't go looking for him if you killed him. Is it possible that she did pass out there? She's been drinking whatever and had no idea that he was dying at that time. Well, she knew he was dying because she saw him bleeding out. As the jury began their deliberations, one of the jurors, Donald Goodwin, was feeling the weight of his decision. How does the first vote go? Two for guilty in the second degree.

And where were you? Unknown. Do you have a home security camera? And has it ever recorded something unusual? Take a look at the murder investigation at 48hours.com. What do you hope the jury comes back with? What everyone hopes for, not guilty. If you have a reasonable doubt about... February 18, 2022.

Melissa Turner's murder trial wrapped up after five days of testimony before Judge Samantha Ward. Your duty is to determine if the defendant has been proven guilty or not in accord with the law. Melissa's hoping the jury will believe her story about seeing Matthew alive before blacking out. He was still up and moving around. She says she had no idea of how badly he had been injured. So the last I remembered of him, he was still up. Isn't it possible that there may not have been really

intent to kill anybody? It's this drunken fight, and somebody ends up bleeding to death. That's a homicide. And prosecutor Chimwe Fawcett says this case is really about domestic violence. He was cut and stabbed and left to die. I think that's the very definition, especially considering that this was by his fiance.

In Florida, second-degree murder cases are heard by six jurors. In this case, two women, four men. One of them, Donald Goodwin. Come on up, Turner. And you see a young lady, and you're already, like, your stomach drops. You're like, Lord, just let me do the right thing. But behind the looks of a young lady, the truth was coming out quickly. When she went to the stand, I think it hurt her big time.

Her tears were so fake, and you can tell. I'm crying because I still remember all those places, all those plans. She was super angry and super sad. Her emotions were everywhere. I'm like, that tells me that's who she is. Goodwin, a part-time family pastor, says those security camera videos were crucial because of what he says was a lack of other evidence. I looked at the videos over and over of the ATT videos that's inside the house. I seen red on her hands, but I couldn't use it as evidence because the camera wasn't crystal clear. At that point, did you think he had already been stabbed? Yes, and I think she

snapped. You don't believe he was strangling her at the time. No. I felt like she had enough and attacked him. And there was one clip of the audio recording that convinced Goodwin that Melissa knew Matthew was hurt. Then she said, what did I do? And I was like, that right there tells me you know exactly what's going on now. She knew he was going to die. She knew it, and yet she called nobody.

And as for Melissa's claims about hitting her head and blacking out, you don't believe that she might have passed out? No, not at all. There was no evidence of head injury. Publish the verdict and pull the jurors, please. The jury deliberated for seven hours. We, the jury, find as follows as to the charge the defendant is guilty of murder in the second degree. Guilty of the murder of Matthew Trussler. I remember Sean squeezing my hand. It was a happy feeling. She was inconsolable. I mean, it was very difficult.

I mean, she was crying profusely. She will be taken into custody at this time. On March 18, 2022, Melissa returned to court to learn her sentence. She talked about what she had lost. On October 18th, Matthew lost his life, and I lost the man that I loved. I lost my future and my hopes and my dreams. But Matthew's family also spoke, struggling with both grief and anger. Maddie, 25 years old. Wow. So much life still ahead. The life of a son, a brother, a brother-in-law,

and an uncle. Sean will never see his best friend again. He will never be able to replace you. Matthew's mother spoke directly to Melissa. The story that you have contrived has caused me as much pain as his death. If Matthew's drinking was escalating, it was because of the lifestyle that you involved him in. It was not consistent with who he was and with the way that he was raised. This jury did not believe her claims of self-defense, nor does this court. Still, Judge Samantha Ward offered Melissa some mercy, sparing her a life sentence. offered Melissa some mercy, sparing her a life sentence. Based on the jury's verdict, you are adjudicated guilty,

sentenced to 20.5 years in the Florida State Prison. Melissa Turner will be eligible for release before she turns 50. What do you guys miss about Matty the most? Oh my gosh. Laugh, probably. He had a great laugh. He was a good kid. He was.

He was just starting to be a man. One life lost, another ruined. On a night, Juror Goodwin says, didn't have to happen. Matthew Trusler didn't have to die. They could have walked away from each other and started a different life. Melissa Turner chose to kill Matthew Tressler. Do I think it was premeditated?

Absolutely not. Do I think she's guilty? Absolutely not. My name is Nora. How are you doing? We go to stories because we can bring someone to that story. You have spinal issues and you can hit the ball that far. That's so incredible. That human connection is incredibly important because the news doesn't have to be depressing. Energy!

Energy! It can be uplifting. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.