Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Teen girl found drugged, shot dead in exclusive hotel, last seen with millionaire

Episode Date: November 13, 2020

Salt Life co-founder Michael Hutto admits to police that he was "pretend gunfighting" with his 18-year-old girlfriend when the gun went off. Hutto didn’t call for help, but took off, leaving behind his wallet and cellphone.Joining Nancy Grace Today: James Shelnutt - 27 years Atlanta Metro Major Case detective, SWAT Officer (RET) Attorney www.shelnuttlawfirm.com  Dr Debbie Joffe-Ellis - Psychologist, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, www.debbiejoffeellis.com  Robert Crispin - Private Investigator “Crispin Special Investigations” www.crispinsinvestigations.com Dr. Tim Gallagher - Medical Examiner State of Florida  Ray Caputo Lead News Anchor for Orlando's Morning News, 96.5 WDBO TIPLINE: Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers 800-458-TIPS (8477) Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. What does the body of a teen girl, the dead body of a teen girl have to do with a multi-million dollar corporation and really a way of life. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. First of all, take a listen to this. If you like spending time on the beach, then you'll recognize the catchphrase, living the salt life.

And most likely you've seen a T-shirt or two. It began as a slogan for an outdoor apparel brand, Salt Life, but it's taken on a cultural meaning of its own for those with a hardcore love of the outdoors and the ocean, and it has an extreme following. The company sells all types of gear for surfing, fishing, diving, and beach going. In the first six months of 2019, Salt Life made a profit of nearly $2 million. It was founded by four friends in 2003, and the name is credited to co-founder Michael Troy Hutto. But the friends sold the business in 2013 for $40 million. Wow, $40 million. That's pretty sweet. You're hearing our friend from CrimeOnline.com, John Limley. So the salt life started out as like beach apparel and beach gear, fishing, diving. I've seen it a million times. We even have things labeled the salt life for extreme outdoors people. What does that have to do with the dead body of a teen girl?

Again, thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. Let's introduce to you an all-star panel. And I mean all-star. First of all, James Shelnut, 27 years Metro Major case, including SWAT, now lawyer at ShelnutLawfirm.com. Dr. Debbie Jaffe Ellis, psychologist, adjunct professor, Columbia University at debbiejaffeellis.com. Robert Crispin, former cop, now private investigator with crispinspecialinvestigations.com. Renowned medical examiner, Dr. Tim Gallagher, joining us from the jurisdiction

of Florida and Ray Caputo, lead news anchor, WDBO. Ray, what can you tell me about the salt life? And then I'll get to the dead girl. Well, Nancy, it's an iconic brand. Like you mentioned, it centers around anything involving saltwater or diving, fishing, swimming, surfing. Now, as a New York transplant, when I came down here, I didn't know about Salt Life, the brand, but you can't miss it. It's like on everything you turn around here, from car stickers to you see this cursive Salt Life writing on T-shirts. I mean, it's something that's inescapable, but it is more than a brand. It's kind of like a way of life, you know, sitting out and enjoying the ocean while you're having a nice mixed drink and a tiki bar. You know, all that is the Salt Life brand just plays into that Florida living.

Okay, hold on just a moment, Ray Caputo, because we have a lot of dive gear, swim gear, snorkel gear from the Salt Life, but my children are certainly not sitting poolside having, as you say, a mixed drink. What are you talking about? You get the little mixed drinks with an umbrella in it? Ray Caputo, I didn't really see that coming. Yeah, Nancy. Well, I mean, as a native New Yorker, someone who's moved down here, life in Florida is a lot slower than other places, I'll tell you. And, you know, it's the warm weather. People come here to vacation. I've never noticed that. I mean, about life being slower. Of course, I'm always in the courthouse when I'm in Florida. And things are moving pretty quickly there.

So, to me, salt life equates with extreme outdoorsmanship. Yes. I think you're referring to maybe, you know, a chill life on the beach, having a drink. Well, if you look at the salt life gear, it's for outdoors people that want to dive, that want to snorkel, that want to fish, that want to go out on a boat, that want to run on the beach. Extreme outdoorsmanship is the way I would describe the salt life. But what can you tell me about how it goes from kind of an idea to a $40 million sell-off? Well, oddly, this company was started based on a tattoo on the back of one of the founders, Troy Hutto's neck.

And I guess your guess is as good as mine, Nancy. Sometimes things just catch on with people and they go viral. And they just, they had a right idea at the time. And it just, it really did catch on. And again, it didn't take too long, you know, in less than 10 years, they ended up selling this brand for $40 million. They started in 2003. And by 2013, this thing that morphed from a tattoo on Troy Hutto's neck was a $40 million brand. $40 million. And the sale was several years ago, not telling what it would be worth right now. So how does that all factor into a dead body? Listen to our friend, Luli Ortiz, WPEC. Cheryl Miller is a Hilton Singer Island

club member, and she says she saw crime scene investigators going in and out of the hotel through the main lobby all afternoon and into the evening. From swimming in the pool to going to the ocean, they're happy. It's not a stressful place. It's where you go to chill out. It's unclear for how long the body was inside the hotel room and whether there were any injuries to suspect foul play.

Residents and guests remained worried as the cause of the death still remains a mystery. What I've got about Hilton Singer Island is it's a private beach. There's really ritzy shopping there, kind of a Rodeo Drive transplanted to Singer Island. What can you tell me about this location? Because it sounds like the people there at the Hilton Singer Island Club are really worried because there's a cop car there. Yeah, Nancy. I mean, I've said this before and you get on me about it,

but this sort of thing doesn't happen in places like this. Well, it did. It did. It did, yeah. It did happen. Palm Beach County, very ritzy. I love it when people say that. Things like that don't happen here.

James Shelnut, I mean, no offense, Ray Caputo, because you are the lead news anchor. You know what you're talking about. You're always right on the news, never been wrong. James Shelnut, why do people always say, that never happens here? It does. That's why people are saying it never happens here, because it just did happen there. Well, people say that until it does happen there. I mean, crime happens everywhere.

We've learned over the years that nowhere is safe. Nowhere is immune. And, you know, just the time that you think that your community is safe, something like this happens in it. I'm looking at this place, Hilton Singer Island, Oceanfront Palm Beach Resort. Coconuts on the Beach, a popular venue for locals and guests alike, a large weather-protected deck and tiki bar. They're drinking out of coconuts on the beach. Okay, so maybe you were right about the whole Salt Life thing, Ray Caputo. Now I'm looking at Ketch, K-E-T-C-H, the ultimate West Palm Beach, Florida vacation, rich dining experience, zest and freshness of the Atlantic Ocean. I'm looking at this place,

Jackie. I would feel like a dog upstairs. I mean, you know, you're not supposed to be there. Really? It's not for you. Okay. So, I mean, this is awesome. Beautiful. It looks like out of a movie. What is this place, Caputo? Break it down for me. All those peasants that don't go to places like this. It's just a beautiful resort, Nancy. I mean, you described it. It's on this little slice of land where, you know, it's like between the intercoastal and the Atlantic Ocean.

I mean, people who have millions upon millions of dollars live around here. This is where they choose to live, you know. And here's this resort nestled, you know, betweeniter and west palm beach oh wait a minute see i didn't realize the location when you said jupiter that's where um all the super wealthy people go to live like i know there were a bunch of um big time producers in new New York that left their penthouses and moved to Jupiter. And that's where Tiger King is, right? Tiger Woods, excuse me. The Tiger King.

I think I know where he is. He's in jail. Tiger Woods is there. Okay, now tell me about Singer Island itself. It's just very rich. A beautiful little slice of land. I'm looking at it right here on a map, and there is a bridge. It's kind of its own little island.

It is connected to land because of the bridge, but if you want to get away, see, this is the place to be. There's several other resorts on Singer Island. It's just very opulent, very posh. Question to you. Don't a lot of celebrities live there? A lot of celebrities live in these parts. I don't know. This is Riviera Beach. So this area of South Florida, I mean, it's just packed with, you know, million dollar homes. If you ever look at it on Google Maps, I mean,

there isn't a place you probably wouldn't want to live on the coast. I mean, it just seems endless from Miami all the way up to around Jupiter, you know, and a little bit farther north. It's just a beautiful place. You know. The president lives in these parts. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we were talking about the very exclusive vacation resort, the Hilton Resort on Singer Island near Palm Beach. You know, it's interesting to me. Let me go to you, Robert Crispin. You're a PI.

Now, Robert, you're the founder of CrispinInvestigations.com. As I recall, weren't you a cop in Florida? I was. I did narcotics for several of those years and I was assigned to the DEA task force in the Miami Field Division and I worked up and down this entire coast and nationwide.

Thank you. Thank you, Crispin, for all the dope that floods through Atlanta. Come straight up I-75 and then straight to New York, right by my apartment where the twins are in there trying to do their homework. So thanks a lot. My point is, there's a lot of money floating around

down in Florida. Why is it that all the rich Floridians, I mean the really wealthy ones that are shacked up there on Singer Island and other places, they act like they've never heard or seen or know of a dead body. Did you hear this woman? She's more worried about, well, seemingly, I don't know her true mindset, that there were police coming in and out of the lobby. There is a dead girl, for Pete's sake. They live in a bubble.

You know, you talk to a lot of people that live on Worth Avenue. You talk to a lot of people that live in Palm Beach, Singer Island. A lot of those people don't go over that bridge to go back into Riviera Beach. They stay there. They get their Uber Eats. They get their food delivered. They get their clothes delivered. They don't want to come out of their little billywhack where they're living and life is grand. What do you mean by grand? I'm just

curious. I wouldn't trade my life that I have with the twins and my husband and my mom for anything. But what do you mean life is grand for them? Because they live in such a society that is fake for a lot of them. They are catered to because they have money. They get first class treatment because they have money. So they really deal with reality and they don't want to know about anything else. There's a lot of people, especially a lot of my clients that I'll talk about a current news event and they'll be like, what? I don't even watch the news. So you don't, you don't watch Nancy Grace. You don't and they'll be like, what? I don't even watch the news. It's like, oh, you don't watch Nancy Grace? You don't watch this?

You don't know? I don't want to see any of that bad stuff. So they live in a bubble. So when something happens and the police are on your front doorstep or they're in your neighborhood and there's the yellow crime scene tape up, they're like, wow, you know, what's going on? That doesn't happen here, not in my neighborhood. Well, you know what, Robert Crispin, you're absolutely right, but it did. Take a listen to Todd Wilson, WPTV.

Riviera Beach police got a call just after 10 this morning asking them to do a welfare check at the Hilton on Singer Island. When officers arrived, they found a young adult female dead in a room. The department's released few details about its investigation, but police say the victim had been staying at the resort for several days. She's a teen. This is not a grown woman. This is a teen girl dead in a room. And I'm trying to figure out to you, James Shelnut, 27 years Metro Major case, now lawyer, how long had the girl been in the room decomposing before there was a security check?

I mean, Shelnut, as part of Metro Major case, including SWAT, you've probably done a lot of raids and a lot of investigations at hotels and motels. Absolutely. Don't you, I mean, can you just hole up in your room and stay there for days on end as long as you have a do not disturb sign on the door? You know, you can, you know, that you can go for an extended period of time. I can't tell you how many cases I've had where, you know where your body is well decomposed by the time it's located. And the first time that you get a call is after the body starts to decompose and set off odors that draws the attention of people. You know, obviously, if someone is there after

their stay has been paid for, you know, you can have housekeeping come in and find them sometimes. But yeah, absolutely. And why is that? Dr. Tim Gallagher, the medical examiner for the state of Florida, this is his backyard. Dr. Gallagher, once you smell the decomposition of a human body, you never forget. It's unlike anything else. And nobody even needs to tell you what it is. You just know instinctively what is happening. Why does the body do that? Well, Nancy, you know, just because you die, we don't find you right away. And then the body starts to, like you say, decompose. What is happening now is bacteria is attacking the cells

and the cells are dying as well. And they are releasing their byproducts, their waste products, their gases. And it's this putrefactive decomposition that releases the noxious gases, the sulfur-type aromas that you smell, that sickly sweet type aroma that you smell. Yeah, that. That. There's a sweet tinge to it that I can't describe. The only way I could compare it to is rotting fruit. I mean, it's nothing like that.

It's so much worse, but there's a sweet tinge to it. But it's horrible, horrible smell. So you're saying that gases start to produce in the body and they're released from the body. Released through what? Well, they're released through the pores of the skin, actually. The pores of the skin relax, they open up, and the gases are released through perforations in the skin. They also come out through the mouth and the nose. And the skin itself also produces this type of gas. So it's a smell that once you smell it, it doesn't smell like anything else you've smelled before. And it'll stay with you for your entire life. You know, we often describe bodies

that are found in bodies of water as bloated. Is that from the gas being created from decomp inside the body? It blows your body up? It truly is. The stomach expands with the gas, the intestinal tract, the large intestine, small intestine. They have bacteria in there that are gas producing bacteria, and which produces gas while you're alive as well. And in the form of flatulence, you'd probably recognize that smell. But there's gas throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract and as well as the upper chest cavity. So these swell with the gases and then raise the body from the bottom of the water to the top of the water. And the people just float up like buoy markers, you know, after a couple of days. You know, when you say it like that, and I try to reconcile what you're saying, Dr. Tim Gallagher,

to the fact that I know this is a young, beautiful teen girl, and this is what is happening to her body. She should have been out at her senior year of high school running track or studying for an exam or getting ready for a prom or something like that. Guys, take a listen to our friends at WPEC. We're still working to learn the circumstances of this woman's death. Investigators only telling us right now that this is a suspicious death and it's leaving hotel guests and residents nearby a little on edge. It's a luxury oceanfront getaway to escape and enjoy private beach access. But the Hilton Singer Island Resort in Riviera Beach turned something guests have never seen, a crime scene after a woman was found dead in one of the rooms

early Thursday morning. Police made the discovery after getting a call about a welfare check, and right now they're only calling her death suspicious. I find it shocking because there's really not a lot of crime on this island. Here we go with it doesn't happen here. There was a group of people shocked to see a police person, a policeman, a policewoman in their lobby. And that was the big shock for them. I wonder if they had smelled the decomposing teen girl body upstairs, if they would have been a little more shocked. For people that say it doesn't happen here, it does. crime stories with nancy grace we are talking about the exclusive singer island area in florida take a listen to Al Peffley, WPEC, CBS 12. How did an 18-year-old

woman from Lake City end up dead in a hotel here some 300 miles from her home? Police are trying to piece together what happened. Riviera Beach police say they found the body of 18-year-old Laura Grace Duncan of Lake City in a hotel room at the Hilton Hotel on Singer Island about 11 30 Thursday morning. She had been shot once. Sheriff's detectives in Columbia County, where Duncan lived, a four and a half hour drive from South Florida, say she left the county voluntarily with a man and her parents called the sheriff's office Monday asking them to do a well-being check on her. Detectives learned she might be in Riviera Beach and police found her body in a Hilton hotel room. So this girl lives almost five hours away from the Singer Island Beach Resort.

And the dad, it appears, called police to do a welfare check. Did he know his daughter was there? Who is the man? Take another listen to CBS 12. A Columbia County Sheriff's spokesman did not know if the victim met the man online or how they met. He said he also did not know a possible motive for the murder. We certainly want to apprehend whoever did this as quickly as possible. We are a tight-knit community up here, and to hear something like this was done to one of our citizens is very shocking.

Riviera Beach police say they've identified a person of interest in the slaying, but they have not released any details on who the person is, where he is now, or what led to the killing. You're hearing Sergeant Steve Clackacan in Columbia County. He is the PIO for the sheriffs there. Straight out to Dr. Debbie Joffe Ellis, psychologist at Columbia University. Dr. Debbie, not only was this teen girl found dead in a hotel room and they were already decomposing. When the sheriffs arrived, they were hit with the smell of decomp the moment they got to the door. Somebody left her there like that. What kind of a mindset is that, Dr. Debbie, to not only know somebody is dead, but leave them there?

That door was locked. Well, there are a number of possibilities, aren't there, Nancy? One, and you'll call me kind of Pollyanna here, might be that the person didn't realize she was dead. Nonetheless, in all probability, the person who shot the gun would have realized at the very least she was injured. So one logical explanation might be that he didn't want to be found out or caught, and he might be suspected as being the one if he lets the authorities know. So that's one possibility. It may or may not have been intentional, short of being psychic. Who can know for sure unless the person admits what

happens in a truthful way? Well, that's why we have something called forensics. Yes. And witnesses and statements and hotel security cameras, all sorts of things, just in case a killer doesn't confess to set things straight. So let me go to you, Robert Crispin, PI at Crispin Special Investigations, former police officer there in Florida. Robert Crispin, what do you make of Dr. Debbie Jaffe Ellis's

initial thought that maybe the shooter didn't know the 18-year-old girl victim was dead, and maybe they thought she was just having a nap? Well, listen, I have to respectfully disagree. I mean, he knew exactly what's going on. He's the one who pulled the trigger, done a little bit of research on the case. And, you know, he fled. He fled. He took off. He got scared. He didn't stay there to render her first aid and maybe which would have saved her life. If he says it was an accident you know what

you're right crispin take a listen to this because there's a very good chance her life may have been saved who is the person that shot this teen girl that should have been studying for exams at school in high school and leaves her there to die or dead already in a hotel room, shutting the door, hitting the elevator button and hightailing it out of there. Our friends at People Magazine, listen. According to investigators, the 18-year-old woman whose Salt Life co-founder Michael Troy Hutto is accused of fatally shooting last month was his girlfriend. According to WPTV, an arrest affidavit states that Laura Grace Duncan's father told police she was in a romantic relationship with the 54-year-old suspect. Authorities have said

Duncan died from a single gunshot wound to the stomach. The affidavit also alleges that the day before Duncan's body was found at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort on Singer Island, Florida, Hutto was rushed to a Jacksonville hospital after police found him in a car parked illegally outside of a gas station. The affidavit states that he was found, quote, twitching, making delusional comments and crying while his eyes were rolling into the back of his head. According to WPTV, he allegedly told police while at the hospital, quote, Oh my God, I think I hurt Gracie. He also reportedly said that the shooting was an accident. The hotel room in which Duncan's body was found told police while at the hospital, quote, Oh my God, I think I hurt Gracie. He also reportedly said that the shooting was an accident. The hotel room in which Duncan's body was found was

allegedly registered in Hutto's name. Hutto was charged with one count of manslaughter, as well as a firearms possession violation. Manslaughter? First, let me get to the injury. This teen girl, Laura Grace Duncan, that was a flood of information right there. I hardly know which way to go. There's a plethora of information. Dr. Tim Gallagher, when you're shot in the stomach, I mean, that's not an artery. You're not shot in the heart. You're not shot in your jugular or your femoral artery. I'm just a JD. you're the MD, but it seems to me that if she had gone straight to the emergency room, she may have been able to be saved. Well, that may or may not be true.

I mean, your liver is also in your abdominal area, and the liver is basically a big sack of blood, you know, so a gunshot wound to the liver. Even in front of a team of surgeons, you would have a 50-50 chance of surviving. Also, your aorta, your descending aorta, the one that leads from your heart and travels down to both of your legs, is there and it travels along the back of your spine and that can be perforated by the bullet and you would bleed out within less than a minute. Will you say that one more time, Dr. Gallagher, about the artery that

travels? Did you say from the heart down to the rest of the body, snakes along the spine? Right. There's a vessel called the aorta, and it comes out of the top of the heart. Half of it goes to your head, and the other half travels down the length of your spine to your organs. It branches out into your organs and then goes down to your legs. So that is a very major blood artery that can be in your abdominal area, that is in your abdominal area. And once it's perforated, you will bleed out within minutes. You know, I'm listening to Dr. Tim Gallagher correctly describe what may have happened. We know this teen girl sustained a single shot to the stomach. Did she suffer? Did she bleed out? I want you to take a listen to this. Listen. The probable cause affidavit revealing Hutto was reportedly dating 18-year-old Lake City teen Laura

Grace Duncan at the time of her death at a hotel in Riviera Beach. Investigators say Duncan's father was aware of the relationship and told them he hadn't had contact with his daughter for days before she was found dead of a gunshot wound inside a room at the hotel. Investigators say he told them he thought Hutto was, quote, giving her drugs to keep her sedated. Giving her drugs to keep her sedated. Did you hear that? That was David Jones at WTLV, First Coast News. To Ray Caputo, lead news anchor, Orlando News WDBO, what? First of all, I'm just being smacked in the face. A 54-year-old multimillionaire is dating a teen girl just out of high school

or I guess out of high school. What's that all about? I don't know. He was, he's literally three times her age. And this girl was one years old. She was an infant when this guy started his, his salt life brand.

I'm not sure how they met, but the drugs make it sound like he was grooming her. He got her hooked. They couldn't have been in a long-term relationship, Nancy, because she wasn't old enough to be in a long-term relationship. Last year, she was a sophomore in high school or something like that. But drugs keeping her sedated on drugs.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace guys we're talking about the death the shooting death of a teen girl allegedly at the hands of a multi-million dollar founder of the salt life take a listen to the rest of what wtlv friend david jones says. The day before Duncan's body was found, Hutto reportedly overdosed in a St. Johns County gas station. Detectives from South Florida who questioned Hutto at the hospital in Jacksonville say he told them, quote, oh my God, I think I hurt my Gracie before crying. According to the affidavit, Hutto said he and the teen were heading to the Florida Keys to visit friends, that they stopped at the hotel and at one point were, quote, playing inside of the hotel room as if they were shooting with their finger and a gun. He said at one point, quote, he pointed the gun at

Gracie. It went off and shot her, police say. Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in Florida, but Hutto's charges could be upped if new evidence comes to light. So we're learning what he is saying, that somehow he has a drug overdose one day before the body is found of this teen girl, which means now we're looking at at least two days he has left her there. And what's significant to me, James Shelnut, you're the lawyer, is he says they were playing a game with their fingers and a gun. That he pointed the gun at Gracie and it went off and shot her. Did you hear him say he was playing a game? Yeah, BS. You know, I will tell you some of the best advice that I got when I became a police officer many years ago

was never lose sight of the overall picture of what's going on. Never lose your common sense. Look, this guy drugged this 18-year-old girl miles, hours away from her home. This guy left her in a hotel room. And I will tell you, I don't know where to begin from the forensic side of things, but I will tell you that story doesn't make sense. It doesn't hold water. And I don't buy that for one second. And it's disgusting that he would even say that. I feel the same way. Nothing is adding up. Maybe we can go back to Dr. Debbie Jaffe Ellis's theory

that he thought maybe she was not shot or that maybe what she was asleep on the bed. I'll have to explore that with her. Take a listen now to our friend Al Peffley, WPEC CBS 12. Hutto told detectives at a hospital in Jacksonville, oh, my God, I think I hurt my Gracie as he began to cry. The next day at the hospital, the arrest report says Mr. Hutto stated that him and Gracie was playing inside of the hotel room as if they were shooting with their finger and a gun. As it turned out, their play turned into a tragedy. The arrest report says Mr. Hutto went on to state as Gracie was sitting on the counter inside of the bathroom, he pointed the gun at Gracie, at which time it went off and shot her. The arrest report says

Duncan's father believes Hutto gave Duncan drugs to sedate her. Hutto is being held on $255,000 bond. He's charged with manslaughter and possession or use of a weapon. At his initial court appearance today, Hutto did not say anything. The judge said he views Hutto as a flight risk. The prosecutor told the judge that Hutto has prior arrests for DUI, reckless driving, and marijuana possession. Then why is he only charged with manslaughter? That's something I don't understand. And I'm not going to get into the age difference. He's 54. She's just turned 18.

But the drugging her, I mean, the parents, Ray Caputo, WDBO, had to know that she's in a romantic, i.e. sex relationship with a man who's pushing 60. Yeah, they did. And, in fact, it was her father, too, that had tracked her phone, and he was worried. But, you know, Nancy's an 18-year-old girl. I don't know the family dynamic, but she's 18. She's technically an adult. You know, I don't know how much influence that has over her at that point.

Well, you know what? You're absolutely right. Take a listen, WPEC, CBS 12. This arrest report says Michael Hutto has admitted to the fatal shooting that killed his 18-year-old girlfriend. He says they were playing inside their Singer Island hotel room. But what started as two adults having fun led to a deadly outcome. It's just so sad. Haley Land says she was a close friend of Laura Duncan in elementary school. She was like bubbly and really kind-hearted.

She was just really sweet. Like she didn't have a mean bone in her body. A family friend describes the 18-year-old from Lake City as down to earth and having a heart of gold. But Riviera Beach police say her life was cut short by her 54-year-old boyfriend, Michael Hutto, of Wellborn, Florida. Hutto is one of the co-founders of Salt Life, a brand of leisure apparel and sunglasses. And according to the arrest report, he's married. On October 29th, Riviera Beach police were called to the Hilton Hotel on Singer Island to do a welfare check after Duncan's father was unable to reach her. They found Duncan's body on the floor in a seventh-floor hotel room. She had a gunshot unable to reach her. They found Duncan's body on the floor in a seventh floor hotel room.

She had a gunshot wound to the stomach. The previous day, police say Huda was found at a gas station in St. Augustine, twitching, making delusional comments and crying. Oh, blah, blah. So he takes drugs. I mean, he knows that he's left the girl back in the room. This 18-year-old girl, Laura Grace Duncan, is back in the room dead and or dying, and he's loading up on drugs, having left her there. I mean, to you, Dr. Debbie Jaffe,

Ellis psychologist, Professor Columbia, he knew that she had been shot. He told cops they were playing, two adults playing, gunshot with their finger. I don't know how a loaded gun got into that scenario, that he shot her in the stomach. He had sedated her for whatever reason and left her there. Yeah, there's no doubt that from what I'm hearing that he's responsible however some of the things that are clear to me and by the way I didn't mean to imply earlier that he thought she was napping on the bed no I said that but what seems pretty clear to me is that he and they were under the influence. When one is under the influence and playing around, there is no rational thinking. There's no groundedness in reality.

There's ridiculousness. To me, the age difference is really no red flag in any way. It's very common for young girls to be seduced by the glamour of a successful, older, wealthy man. Can I ask you something? Can I ask you something, Dr. Debbie? If it's that common, how many teen girls do you know, 18, dating a guy that's pushing 60? I mean, in your personal life, do you know anybody that's doing that? Well, in my personal life and in my professional life, it's not uncommon.

It's not uncommon at all. So then you do know a teen girl dating a 60-year-old man? Not in my personal life, but yes, indeed. Yeah. But wait, wait, wait. You said not in your personal life. I'm asking you, do you know anybody whose daughter is a teen girl dating a guy pushing 60? At present, I don't. But in the past, I have. Yes. In your personal life, a teen girl was dating a guy pushing 60? Yeah.

Okay. All right. Because I don't. I don't know anybody whose teen girl is dating a guy pushing 60 years old. But you know what? Hey, that's just me. So I don't think it is normal. I didn't say normal.

Or common. I don't think it's common. It's not uncommon, Nancy. Well, if it's not uncommon, that means it's common. And I don't think it is common. But that actually is neither here nor there. What matters is the fact that in our jurisprudence system, the voluntary use of're at that extent, and they commit a violent crime, it could be a defense.

But the reality is that's factually impossible because if you're comatose, you cannot commit a violent crime. You're passed out. Totally passed out. The law is voluntary use of drugs or alcohol is not a defense. And another thing while I'm on it, Shelnut, one grown person and a teen girl playing in a hotel where the teen girl is sedated. I imagine for sex purposes,. They're playing, what, cops and robbers? And he's the only one with a gun?

Wow, that's some game. People act in extraordinary ways, Nancy. And not everyone acts in a nice kind of what the stereotypical idea of normal behavior is. Again, in my professional experience counseling a variety of people of a variety of ages, sex play and fantasizing is not unusual. My question to you is, that's some game. That's not a game. That's called murder. Look, I'm going to tell you what I would not be surprised to see at all. You know, they charge with manslaughter. That is the easy charge right now. They know that they have that charge. That charge is not going to get kicked out at some probable cause hearing.

That charge is not going to get dismissed on some motion from his defense lawyers. That's the low hanging fruit to keep him at bay in jail until they further investigate this. This is not a game. Let me tell you what they're going to do. They're going to look under her fingernails for his skin. They're going to look on him to see if he has any injuries where this poor 18-year-old child was fighting him off. They're going to go back and forensically look at this hotel room for a struggle. They're going to look at exactly what Robert Crispin said.

This man left this room, left this poor girl there bleeding and dying without calling for help. They're going to look at her text messages. They're going to do a forensic call to her phone. They're going to take a look and say, hey, was she texting her friends back and forth? Hey, he's acting weird or he's acting violent or I'm scared. I would not be surprised whatsoever if at the end of this case, no one thought it was a game and his butt is sitting in jail on a murder charge. My fear is two things. One, the sedation, because she may have been drugged out of her gourd so she didn't fight back. And two, money. Crispin, Robert Crispin of Crispin Investigations.

Money is floating around this area like water. If anybody interested in this case who would normally want a murder prosecution on behalf of this teen girl gets a stack of money and goes along with a manslaughter charge this may just go away just like hey does jeffrey epstein that name ring a bell to you crispin in your backyard where epstein is statutory raping these little girls and he gets a little slap on the hand is that what's going to happen this time in florida with this guy listen it clearly it clearly could ring that way of

course he's going to have the best legal defense team he's got going because money clearly is not an object for him uh there's a lot of good points that, that were just brought up or text messages, her DNA forensics under her nails, et cetera, et cetera. But this has all the earmarkings of a, a bad drug use gone bad. Um, you know, I, I love whether it was after his Miranda or before I love his spontaneous utterance of, you know, I think I heard Gracie. I mean, this goes back even a day or two before when the father went for the welfare check because he says his daughter was acting out of character. We'll see.

We'll see if money is running the courts down at Singer Island. We'll see. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.