48 Hours - The Disappearance of Marsha Brantley

Episode Date: August 26, 2024

When a woman vanishes and misses a hair appointment, her hairdresser becomes the driving force to find out -- did she leave her husband or is she dead? Peter Van Sant 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. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours and of all the cases I've covered, this is the one that troubles me most. Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, the troubled case against Crosley Green,

early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. How you doing, folks? I'm raising my family here. My parents raised their family here and their parents raised their family here. It's a place that I like to call home and hopefully this is where I'll remain. Cleveland, Tennessee is beautiful. Known as the city with spirit.

You can't swing a ball bat without hitting a church. A lot of people know one another and we do have a lot of older homes and a lot of history here. I'm very proud of our town. Hello! I've been a hairdresser for over 30 years. You have certain clients that you kind of click with and you're closer to. And for me, Marsha was one of those clients. She was fun.

She was outgoing. Marsha was one of my favorite cousins. She did confide in me, and I confided in her. She was beautiful. She was always kind. She loved her husband. She mentioned him every time. When I think of her, my first few words would not be giving, loving.

I didn't see a lot of that from her, even as her stepdaughter. How would you describe her? Loner. I believe that she was very depressed. A case that sounds like a 48-hour mystery. Bradley County woman disappears without a trace. It struck me. Oh my goodness, she's not been in, that is odd.

And I said, you know. What time do they? She's overdue. When Marsha disappeared in June of 2009, her husband Donnie Brantley did not report her missing. It's hard seeing my father in this way. It's a scary thing. I know the inside of this man and the heart of him.

He wouldn't hurt anyone. He loved her. Yes. And they had a real marriage. Yes. During the years of your marriage, am I correct that you maintained romantic relationships with persons other than your wife?

Upon advice of counsel, I plead the fifth. We have a guy who's told numerous lies about where his wife went, and we can prove otherwise. He may be the singularly most dishonest defendant I've ever dealt with. Authorities have not located Marsha's body, but were able to charge her husband with premeditated first-degree murder based on evidence. I think we have a great circumstantial case. There's no blood, no fingerprints, no DNA, no body, and there's no crime scene. What proof is there that she's in fact dead,

as opposed to gone missing or living someplace else? I felt compelled to find out what happened to her. I knew that something was very, very wrong. He murdered her. He murdered her. That's crazy. It's ridiculous. Charging you with first degree murder. Do you understand what the charge is? It's just not him. He's 100% innocent of these charges. If he did do something to her,

and if I just let this go, he'll get away with it. it. Peter Van Sant reports, Missing Russia. You're ready to go. We're ready for trial. We're actually not going to be able to answer any questions until after... Justice may finally be at hand for Marsha Brantley, a 50-year-old writer and animal lover who disappeared in 2009.

In February 2018, Marsha's husband, Donnie Brantley, has come to court, ready to stand trial for allegedly murdering her. This is a very important day for Donnie Brantley. It's very important. He's had a cloud of suspicion hanging over his head for nine years. Back in 2014, when 48 Hours first began investigating this case... I wanted to have just a moment with you all to. Marsha's Aunt Medra and cousin Jenna met with Steve Crump, who was about to take over as District Attorney General. Ultimately, I believe we will be able to do justice in this case. We're just looking forward to bringing this thing to a close. We're going to create within this

district a cold case working group. Crump raised the family's hopes that he could win a conviction in a case guaranteed to be an uphill battle for the prosecution because Marsha Brantley had simply vanished. We don't have a crime scene. We don't have a dead body. We don't have what you normally think of in terms of a homicide case. what you normally think of in terms of a homicide case. As the years passed, Jana and her husband Mark became frustrated that there would never be justice. It's a tragedy. It's something that no one should have to experience or no one should have to go through. What do you think?

What happened to her? Will we find her? It's a good question, especially since the man they believe knows what happened to Marsha has, in their opinion, never offered to help. Not a phone call, not an email, not a text message. No. Not a postcard, nothing. None of her family. Did he organize any search parties? None. He proffered no help.

She was the love of your life, right? Yes. This civil deposition in 2013 shows that Donnie likely will never have much to say. When did she stop being the love of your life? I plead the fifth. Did anything to do with her disappearance, did it? I plead the fifth. This is the home where Marcia and Donnie lived for nine years.

Jana and Medra went into the house in 2012, three years after Marcia went missing. They were upset by the chaos they found. Somebody had no respect for her, and we know who that was. And Donnie Brantley is going to pay for what he's done to her. There was not a picture of Marsha to be seen anywhere. There were pictures of Donnie and his daughter, but none of Marsha. Growing up, Jana was especially close to Marsha, her older cousin.

She would come and pick me up from high school sometimes and we would go get ice cream. From a young age, Marsha had an endearing passion for pets. She had her favorite little dachshund named Barney. She taught him how to pray before he ate his meals. He would cross his little paws. As an adult, Marsha volunteered at a local animal shelter. I looked up to her when I was a little girl. She was 5'10". Kim Shank was Marsha's closest friend. Even though she seemed to kind of command the room, she was probably one of the more shy people to be that commanding with her physical presence.

She was a friendly person, a sweet person. Especially to her parents. She was a friendly person, a sweet person. Especially to her parents. She grew up in an affluent family, an only child with no children of her own. She took care of her mother a lot because her mother was ill for a very long time. In 1999, Marsha met Donnie Brantley on a dating website. He was a divorced father of a teenage daughter.

She called me and she said, well, I've met someone and was getting really serious. And she said, I want you to meet him. Marsha and Donnie shared a love for the outdoors. She was an avid hiker, while Donnie was a competitive bicycle rider. At 41, this was Marsha's first serious relationship. He was what I always wanted for her, somebody that she could be into and love and share her life with and live on happily ever after. Marsha even wrote poetry for Donnie.

With love so pure and true, I can but only thank my God I fell in love with you. Marsha. Donnie's daughter, Elise, was happy her dad had found a soulmate. When we would sit and watch movies on weekends and that kind of thing, they would hold hands. They were married in 2000 and moved into the house Marsha's parents had built for her. But shortly after the newlyweds settled down, tragedy struck. Her mother passed away in November of 2000, and her father passed away in December.

Imagine losing both your parents in less than a month. She was devastated. It was a lot of sadness. I mean, it was heartbreaking. I saw a different side of her when she lost her parents. There wasn't a lot of happiness after that. But Marsha did her best to carry on. A large inheritance enabled her to help Donnie set up a handyman business franchise.

She also quit her job as housing director at nearby Lee University to pursue her passion. She wanted to write young adult novels. She was very talented and definitely had what it took to be successful. Reggie J. and Nancy Grill were members of a writers group that Marsha formed in 2007. What was the name of this writing group? Thunder Rock Writers Group. The other name was the Big Girl Panties Group. We would critique each other's work and we would say, put your big girl panties on because, you know,

you might get your feelings hurt. Nancy and Reggie say Marsha was the best of the bunch. Dirty Little Secrets is a story that Marsha wrote. The sun rose above the kudzu-covered trees as I swept the house and chased the dust out of the front door and across the porch with a broom. Wonderful imagery. Mm-hmm.

She can write this woman. Yes. But in June 2009, a dark chapter began in Marsha Brantley's life with a plot twist right out of a novel. She seemed to fall off the face of the earth. I knew that something was very, very wrong. 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. 29th on Amazon Music. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island.

It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn. And it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reached the age of 10 that would still have urged it. It just happens to all of us.

I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trialsals, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely, Pacific

island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. In her 30 years as a hairdresser in Cleveland, Tennessee, Kelly DeLute says cuts, perms, and parts... Well, you do that the way you do the... ...are only part of the job.

As a hairstylist, are you also a therapist? We're in their personal space, so people certainly share with us probably a lot more than they would the clerk at the grocery store, you know. But of the hundreds of clients Kelly has cut and consoled over the years, there has been only one whose face haunts her dreams. When I would go to sleep at night, I would think of Marcia. And when I would wake up in the morning, I would think of Marcia. Marcia Brantley first came in for a cut in the year 2000,

and the two came together like scissors and hair. What was it about Marsha that made the two of you click? We just got along. We would just talk the whole time. We would just sort of catch up with one another. She really spoke mostly about her home life with Donnie and her dogs. Her dogs were like her children.

Kelly says Marsha couldn't say enough nice things about her marriage and her husband. As the years went by, the two women grew closer. But during what turned out to be Marcia's final hair appointment in April 2009, Kelly saw a side of Marcia that left her concerned. She seemed troubled. She seemed a bit depressed. She was asking me if the economy had affected the business here, and I said, certainly it had, you know.

And she said, well, you know, it's really affecting our business. Marsha told her Donnie's handyman business was failing and money was tight. Still, she expected Marsha to call about six weeks later to set up her next appointment. And she was very regimented in coming to see you. Yeah, she colored her hair, so most women are, sure, yeah. But Kelly never got that call. She was too busy to notice. But as spring turned to summer,

Marsha's neighbor stopped into the salon. She said, Kelly, when was the last time you did Marsha's hair? And I said, let me look. And I looked at my file and I said, April, that is unusual. Is she okay? And she said, she has not been walking her dogs. They are barking their heads off and her flowers were dead in the yard. And when she mentioned that, it struck me, oh my goodness, she's not been in. That is odd. Odd enough, says Kelly, that she was moved to pick up the phone. I called Marcia.

The call went to voicemail. She left a message but didn't hear back. For days, she called again and again. No Marcia. One night, I decided, well, I'm going to call Donnie and ask him if he knows where Marsha is. I actually called Donnie's business and the phone was disconnected. So that really concerned me. Marsha's neighbor was concerned too, so much so that she decided to confront Donnie in person at his house. She literally went up, knocked on the door, and when he answered, she said, Donnie, where's Marsha?

And he told her the most ridiculous story. She's leaving me. She went out west. Had she ever talked about trouble in the marriage? No, never. For Kelly, it seemed inconceivable that Marsha would suddenly leave the house her parents had built for her, leave behind her beloved dogs, and most of all, leave the husband she adored. What are you thinking?

I'm thinking at that point he has done something to her. I knew that something was very, very wrong. I had no peace about it. And so finally I thought I'm gonna call around and in my mind I thought you know I'm crossing a little line here into meddling. You've become a detective at this point. You're gathering information, you're calling various people, right? Well I was but you know I wasn't trying to be a detective. I was trying to be a concerned friend. Kelly found a member of Marsha's writing club and got more disturbing news.

She told me that Marsha was no longer coming. One of the strangest things about this case is that for months, nobody reported Marsha Brantley missing. Her relatives, they live on the other side of the state. Her best friend, Kim Shank, she's in Ohio. And the members of her writers group, well, they just didn't hang out socially. In the end, it would be her hairdresser who tipped authorities to a potential murder. I came into work the next day, and I called the Cleveland Police Department,

and I said, I need to report a missing person. And he said, excuse me, are you her mom, her sister? And I said, no, actually I'm her hairdresser. He said, well, ma'am, if he says she's gone and that she left him, she left him. Undeterred, Kelly turned to the best social network she knew, her customers. And you can cut and talk at the same time, right?

You're good at that. For 30 years. Kelly chose a person who was long on brains under all that short hair, local attorney Jerry Hoffer. He couldn't get away, so when I was cutting his hair, I said, you know, Jerry, I'm going to tell you a story, and when I get finished, I want you to tell me what you think. I'm listening to the stories, and I'm just sitting there thinking,

this guy, he might have killed his wife. I mean, I felt like finally justice is going to be done. Right after I got my haircut, I walked into the DA's office, and I just kind of in a flippant way, I said, you've got a dead lady out there you all need to be looking for. Prosecutors agreed and sent their investigator, Walt Hunt, now retired, to Marsha's house to look for her. When I approached him, he told me that they were having some marital issues.

But it wasn't just what Brantley said. It was how he said it that really caught Hunt's attention. He was pretty cool and maybe a little cooler than I might expect. He said he was cool, calm, steady as a rock. He said that is not normal. Hunt's instincts convinced him to call the TBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. They would launch what would become a nine-year coordinated effort between state and local agencies, all dedicated to finding Marsha

Brantley. It was around October 2011, and I jumped at the opportunity to be able to assist with the investigation. When Zach Pike and David Shoemaker of the Bradley County Sheriff's Office got the case in 2011, they quickly saw why Donnie Brantley was a suspect. He had always denied any role in his wife's disappearance, but he'd lied when he claimed that Marsha had taken her phone. I think her cell phone in his possession is easily, in my mind, the most damning fact. The cell phone never left pinging from a tower that's two miles or less from the home. In June of 2009, right around the time investigators think Marsha disappeared, they say Donnie used her phone to make a highly suspicious call.

He calls on that cell phone the Chattanooga Singles line. He calls it dating? Yes, Chattanooga Singles line. While Donnie was apparently seeking a new love interest, investigators say he couldn't seem to keep his story straight about his old love, Marsha. She took a camper and moved to Townsend, Tennessee. Gone to Florida, gone out west to work as a missionary. Every time somebody asks what happened to Marsha, it's something different.

They were all lies. If Marsha had left, investigators were struck by what she had left behind. All of her clothes, her shoes, documents important to her, the baby book that her mother had compiled for her, brushes, toothbrushes, all that's still in the house. She left her car. Importantly, she left her house.

The one her parents had built for her. That doesn't make sense If Donnie Brantley did kill his wife They say a look at the family finances may provide a motive Did she keep the money or did you not play the fit? He was financially supported by his wife They say Donnie's failing business franchise was draining Marsha's inheritance She would have cut him off from the money.

What was the state of their marriage in those last months prior to Marsha's disappearance? There was a little bit of tension, obviously with the money problems. And investigators soon unearthed phone records that revealed Donnie Brantley had begun calling an ex-girlfriend within days after Marsha disappeared. Do you know Stephanie Richardson? Yes. Okay. And who is Stephanie Richardson? I plead the fifth.

Lee Davis is Donnie Brantley's attorney. There was no affair with Donnie while Donnie was married to Marsha. There was an intimate relationship that started after Marsha left. And there was other suspicious behavior. Authorities discovered that just hours after Investigator Hunt had interviewed him, Donnie went to a pawn shop and sold a number of Marsha's possessions, including... 14-karat gold cross, a Figaro necklace, a Figaro bracelet, a herringbone necklace, and a Toshiba laptop.

And there was something else Marsha left behind that friends and family say she valued more than all the material possessions in the world. Marcia loved her dogs. They were her kids. Would she have ever left that house without her dogs? No. No. Never.

In March of 2010, authorities asked Donnie Brantley to take a polygraph test. Surprisingly, he accepts. How does he do? Fails it. Fails it. Flying colors. Then, during that 2013 videotaped deposition, I played the fifth.

Donnie refused to answer, I played the fifth. or said he couldn't recall, I don't recall. more than 100 times. I don't recall. Are there other items of hers which you sold when she disappeared? Not playing with it.

That performance, combined with circumstantial evidence, helped convince police in August of 2013 to arrest Donnie Brantley and charge him with the murder of his wife. Donnie Brantley is now an inmate at the Brantley and charge him with the murder of his wife. Donnie Brantley is now an inmate at the Brantley County Jail being held on a half-million-dollar bond for the first-degree murder of his wife, Marsha. But after seven months behind bars, Donnie is freed when then-prosecutor Steve Bebb decides he doesn't have enough evidence yet and drops the charges. The family had told law enforcement

they didn't feel good about going forward with it at this time, and they wanted to try to get more evidence. We didn't think that it was time yet. Because you get one shot at this. Right. I was interested in from the very beginning. Months later, newly elected prosecutor Steve Crump focuses his legal sights on Donnie Brantley,

but it would take another two years to arrest and recharge him. Four cars pulled up and told him to get on the ground. So it was pretty traumatizing. Finally, in February of 2018, nearly nine years after Marsha Brantley disappeared, her husband's murder trial is scheduled to begin. You're convinced you've got the right man? No doubt.

The things that he did, the things he said, all point toward a guilty man. For more of Donnie Brantley's video deposition, go to Facebook at 48 Hours. Donnie Brantley's video deposition, go to Facebook at 48 hours. and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk-takers who brought them to life. Like did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans. Discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party.

So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. Did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hours-plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. podcasts. How big a case is this among people here? I think it's pretty big for the simple fact that this doesn't happen here every day. People don't just disappear and not be seen for nine years. Zach Pike and David Shoemaker of the Bradley County Sheriff's Office say as Cleveland, Tennessee natives,

the Brantley case hits them close to home. In some ways, is this personal for you? Absolutely. Been many nights I haven't slept. I wonder where Marsha is. We're actually not going to be able to answer any questions. There's no proof that Donnie Brantley murdered his wife, Marsha.

I've asked him point blank, if Donnie is responsible, as you suggest, tell me how he did it. Donnie Brantley's lawyers, Lee Davis and Janie Parks Farnell, say their client should never have been charged with murder once, let alone twice. Law enforcement had tunnel vision, once, let alone twice. Law enforcement had tunnel vision, and they had tunnel vision that led directly to Donnie Brantley. And the rest of it, they just ignored. Who murdered Marsha Brantley? Donnie Brantley.

You say the same? I say the same. Where? At her house. At their house. No proof of a crime scene, no proof of a body, an autopsy. Is there a witness in this case? No. There's no trace evidence. There's no blood, no fingerprints, no DNA, no fiber analysis. What proof is there that she's in fact dead?

He'll argue at trial that this case is actually about a nine-year-old marriage that because of financial problems may have reached a breaking point in June 2009. And she told Donnie that she needed some time to herself and time to think. Which is why Davis says it's ridiculous to argue Donnie's failure to report Marsha missing is suspicious. When your wife tells you that she's leaving the marriage, you don't call the police or 911. She would never have left her family. She would never have left her home. She would never left her friends and just disappeared and contacted no one. Remember, her phone never left the house. He's using her phone after he's told law enforcement that she took it.

Yes. Davis says that certainly doesn't help Donnie, but it shouldn't hurt him either. He lied about her cell phone, and that is something that has complicated the case. There is a huge world of difference between somebody who lies about a cell phone and proof

of a first-degree murder. Nor should it hurt the defense that Marsha left many of her belongings behind, even if Donnie pawned some of them. Davis says he needed cash, but left most of her things alone because he figured she'd one day come back to get them, including her beloved dogs. Let's talk about the dog issue. If you believe that Marsha was murdered,

you would say she would never leave the dogs behind. If you look at it from the lens of Marsha was troubled and depressed or not sure what she was going to do, the one thing she wouldn't do is take the dogs with her. She'd make sure she left the dogs with somebody who would take care of them no matter what, and that's Donnie. They got those dogs together. They were their dogs. They weren't just hers. And there was one thing Marsha definitely didn't leave behind, Davis says. She took with her a large amount of money, which was her money. A wad of cash they kept hidden in the attic. And how much money are we talking about?

Probably talking between $100,000 and $110,000. Davis says all that money could have been Marsha's gateway to a new life, away from her husband and Cleveland, Tennessee. Donnie's lawyers also claim that all those stories he told about where his wife may have gone were actually suggestions once he realized she truly was missing. suggestions once he realized she truly was missing. In the state of Tennessee, there are 283 missing persons cases open right now. Though a civil court ruled that Marsha is deceased, her name can still be found on the National Missing Persons website. There's one for Marsha Brantley right now that's open listing her as a missing person.

Not a murdered person. Not a person who they suspect has been murdered by her husband. She's a smart woman who left for reasons of her own. She was always self-assured and was a leader-type personality. But a couple of months before Marsha disappeared, Reggie J says the writers group was stunned by a bitter email exchange with her. She says, ladies, I just wanted to let you all know that I'd be missing for some time without explaining. When you read that, what'd you think? I was mad. I thought, how dare you do that to us? She writes, no one in the group is responsible for my MIA, missing in action, No one in the group is responsible for my MIA, missing in action, status.

I merely said I'd be missing. At that point, I truly did think to myself, immediately, did Marsha write that? Who do you think wrote it? Donnie. But neither side in the legal case agrees with her. The defense says Marsha wrote the email because she was about to leave town. She was separating herself from those relationships that was closest to her. The prosecution says she only sent it because she planned to quit her writing group. And the email itself proves she wasn't actually going anywhere.

Later in that email, she says, but you all will see me around. Cleveland is a small town. We'll certainly run into one another. Reggie and Nancy were bewildered and concerned. They remembered around the time of the emails, Marsha, who had suddenly lost a lot of weight, said something that now seemed ominous. And she just made the comment, I've been so depressed that I could hardly get off the couch. And I remember doing sort of a double take, looking and like, Marcia, are you okay? I think that there was a whole lot going on with Marcia that she didn't tell anyone, even the people in her writing group.

If Marcia Brantley had a secret, 48 Hours contacted one of the only people she might have told. Robin Torero is a former pharmacist who worked with doctors to treat patients. She specialized in hormone replacement therapy. She first came in 2004, in June of 2004. Torero says Marsha was going through menopause and was having a tough time, including night sweats and mood swings. It can be very, very severe. And in the worst cases, what can it lead to? Well, I mean, there have been cases known where women did commit suicide during this time.

Terrero worked with Marsha's doctor who prescribed medications for her right up to the time she disappeared. What concerned me more with Marsha was not what she shared, but what she didn't share. That there was a lot more underneath there than she was willing to share with me. Torero's chart notes show Marsha repeatedly reported feeling depressed, including this passage one month before she disappeared. On May 1st, 2009, patient has been off of hormones since April the 12th, was having severe depression. So Marsha said to you she was experiencing severe depression.

Yes, it was underlined, severe. And what are the last notes that you have written? On 5-18, she was having mood swings, sleep less. She was just like this, up and down. You have a woman describes herself as being severely depressed. Those things were disclosed in 2010 to law enforcement. And from all I can tell, they've never been investigated. There was no significant mental illness.

I never thought that that was the real answer. State investigators have closed a Cleveland pharmacy... In 2015, the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy revoked Robin Torero's license for unprofessional conduct unrelated to Marsha's treatment. She was never charged with a crime. Oh, the places you'll go by Dr. Seuss. What do you think happened to Marsha Brantley? I wish I knew. I really have no idea.

Did you ever just look him in the eye, daughter to father, and say, Dad, did you do this? Did you kill her? I did not. I knew he didn't. She's gone. She's dead. Well, he's disposed of her body very well. I know that.

Now, after nine long years, a jury will hear both sides of Marsha Brantley's mysterious disappearance. This has got to be done exactly right. We don't have any room for error. 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. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marsha Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop.

Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. A Bradley County cold case from nearly a decade ago heads to trial next week. But just two days before Donnie Brantley's murder trial is set to begin,

I've heard you have an announcement to make. Prosecutor Steve Crump, the man who four years earlier promised Marsha Brantley's family justice, gives 48 Hours some shocking news. We just met with the family and we told them that we're probably going to be dismissing this case on Monday. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're going to dismiss this murder case? Yes. Why? This is an unusual case.

We're afraid that the judge will enter a judgment of acquittal because we can't prove that Marcia Brantley was murdered. You only get one shot. Crump fears the jury would never get a chance to decide on guilt or innocence, that the judge would rule there just isn't enough evidence to go on and throw the case out. To be charged with murder, dropped,

charged with murder, and dropped again. I'm sorry, I just feel like there's some incompetence here. Sure, well, and I can appreciate that. In my view of what Donnie Brantley did to Marsha Brantley hasn't changed. I don't believe we have the wrong guy. I don't believe we have the wrong set of facts. This is a legal decision, one that is made as a matter of trial strategy.

Crump stands by what he's done. Maybe I should have done it earlier. Maybe I should have seen this sooner. Maybe you're right, maybe it was incompetence. I'll never stop self-evaluating. But no matter what the outcome is, I better always do the right thing. Hey, Kelly. Hello. I have some rather startling news to tell you. There will not be a trial. Are you serious? That's terrible. That's terrible.

February 5th, 2018, court convenes to make it official. Hey, Zach. Morning. It's kind of a sad day for you. Absolutely. That's him. That's Brantley. Donnie, can I just ask one thing? What's going through your mind after all you've gone through? This is such a day of victory for you.

This is State of Tennessee versus Mr. Brantley. General, would you like to approach and do you have a motion to make? Yes, Your Honor. I made the decision on Saturday that we would not go forward with this case. Nearly 10 years after Marsha's disappearance, it takes a judge just ten minutes

to dismiss the case against Donnie Brantley yet again. At this time, Mr. Brantley is free to go. For Donnie, a second victory. I'd like to thank the judge for dismissing the charges. I'd also like to thank my family for all their support during this extremely stressful period.

I look forward to putting this difficult time behind me. For Marsha's family, a second devastating blow in court. I felt like life had been squeezed out of me. My family is crushed, but tomorrow's a new day. This isn't the end. Later that month, the judge orders Donnie's record of criminal charges in Bradley County to be erased. And Steve Crump does something we found remarkable. So this is from the case file? It is. And this is an extraordinary thing,

because generally you don't get to see this pre-trial. That's right. With Detective Pike guarding the evidence, Crump showed 48 Hours what a jury never got to see. He hopes that by showing the evidence, a viewer may remember something important and call in a tip. What are you holding in your hand? This is a receipt for a torch kit for a welder.

Receipts for items Donnie bought around the time Marsha disappeared, including duct tape and plastic sheeting. The man runs a home repair business. We believe that all of these receipts represent preparations for disposing of Marsha Brantley. Disposing of her body? Yes, correct. What do we have here? A greeting card. A greeting card he says Donnie hand-delivered to that ex-girlfriend he'd been calling. This was delivered, we believe, the day after Marsha Brantley disappeared. And what did Donnie write on the inside of this card? Hi girl, with two exclamation points. Things are better for me now. Call me if you can with his number. You know how the card got in Stephanie Richardson's mailbox on the morning of June the 3rd, 2009.

In your handwriting. I played the fifth. It provides at least in part a motive. There's another woman. We wanted to meet that other woman. We've decided to drive out to her neighborhood to try to speak to her. I'm going to go up to the door and knock

and see if Stephanie's home. and knock and see if Stephanie's home. Stephanie Richardson is now married. Hey, Stephanie. Hi, how are you? I'm Peter Van Sant with CBS News 48 Hours. It's really nice to meet you. She disagrees with the prosecutor's interpretation of the card.

I'm sorry, they're stretching things. Stephanie says she did date Donnie, but not while Marsha was in his life. The prosecutor's claiming that there was an affair. That's not true. I would love to ask you just a few questions about that. Would you be... No. You have to understand, this is my life for 10 years.

I don't want to deal with this anymore. Donnie Brantley has gone back home to Georgia, where he's spending time with a new love interest and his grandchildren, too. Getting to see that grandfather side of him is just a whole other very special side. What I want people to know is how loving, kind, thoughtful, and how hardworking he is. Despite the prosecution's repeated failure to prove Donnie Brantley committed a murder, or even that a murder was committed, they pledged to work harder to one day bring the Brantley case

back to court. I've been very plain that we're not going to stop. And so whatever he feels relief or whatever he may feel, I wouldn't get accustomed to it. We hope it helps. Back in Cleveland, former writing group member Nancy Gryll believes Marsha's story may have one last dramatic chapter. I'm probably the only person in the world that doesn't really truly believe that Marsha is dead. What?

Do you believe that one day Marsha Brantley may reemerge? I think it's a possibility. But sadly, Marsha's family thinks Nancy's hope is pure fiction. Oh yeah, I think about her every day. Can we get her back? Can we lay her to rest beside her mother and father? Our family has a hole there that can't be replaced and we will do everything we can to find her.

And we won't give up. To call in a tip, contact the Bradley County Sheriff's Office at 423-728-7336. 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 a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey. by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.