Criminology - Matthew Trussler

Episode Date: June 30, 2024

On the morning of October 18, 2019, 26-year-old Melissa Turner called 911 to report that her 25-year-old fiancé, 25-year-old Matthew Trussler, was unresponsive. What the police found was a scene of horror. Matthew was cold and covered in blood.  Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the murder of Matthew Trussler. Melissa and Matthew were captured on surveillance video which also included audio. Melissa told a number of different stories about what happened that night, but investigators zeroed in on her as the prime suspect.  You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology

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That's B-O-H-M-E.com. Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 314 of the criminology podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And this is Mike Morford. Mike Morford. How you doing, buddy?

I'm doing pretty good. How you doing? I'm doing great. Just at the time this rolls out, I'll have had another birthday. Well, happy birthday. Yeah, appreciate that. I mean, you know, at our age, you don't really look forward to birthdays, but you do want them to come because the alternative is, uh, is not good.

I just wish they wouldn't roll around so quickly. Man, they seem like I just had one. Yeah, I think the older you get, the faster they seem to come. Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt about that. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Mark S. And then James Cruz jumped out. our highest level. So some great new support, we really appreciate it.

Thank you so much for that support. We appreciate it as always. And for anyone else that would like to help support the show, you can do so by going to patreon.com slash criminology. All right. Let's jump into this week's case. And we're discussing one that made headlines because of one of the people involved who made sexually explicit videos on the internet and like to dress up as fictional characters. So, you know, You know, there's some salaciousness to the case, but at its core, it's another tragic case of domestic violence. We are discussing the murder of Matthew Trusler at the hands of his fiance, Melissa Rose Turner. In 2015, Matthew moved to Florida from Massachusetts in search of a clean slate.

It had reportedly been struggling with substance abuse and felt like moving would give him a fresh start. After living in Florida for two years, he met Melissa, Turner on Tinder in April 2017. By January 2019, things were serious and they were engaged. This is when they bought their house together. They spent the next few months renovating it. Matthew worked construction with his brother, while Melissa was a performer in adult films. They had a room upstairs in the home where they could produce videos for Melissa's online fans. Over the years, she had been working on promoting herself as a cam girl and performer under the name two-thorn Rose, a little play in Melissa's middle name, Rose.

In her videos, Melissa, who was in a cosplay, would sometimes dress up as Alvira or Poison Ivy. Things seem to be going good for the couple until the morning of October 18th, 2019. And before we talk about that morning, I do want to talk a little bit about this proliferation of, you know, people being online as performance. I mean, there's no doubt more if a lot of people, both men and women are making their money this way, something that didn't exist, you know, X number of years ago. It's kind of like podcasts, right? Podcasts didn't exist at a period in time. But now it seems like everyone has one. Well, there are a lot of people out there doing cam shows or who have some type of page.

where people can pay them to see them perform. Yeah, I think it's very prevalent. There's all kinds of different sites and all kinds of different varieties of things you can find in today's day and age. And, you know, whether it's an adult performer or somebody that just has a YouTube channel talking about books, whatever it is, there's plenty of audience for them to be successful.

And it seems like Melissa was really trying to build up her audience and be successful at what she was doing. But I guess it's the variety of ways that exist today to make money that really, you know, kind of strikes me. You mentioned YouTube, a lot of people trying to make a, they're living on YouTube. Now, obviously, some people are very successful. Some people somewhat successful. And then some people don't make any money.

That's kind of how it goes with, with any venture. But if you think about the adult film industry in particular, you go back to the period of time before the internet. Well, there was really, what, about one way to do it. And that was to actually be in a film. There are so many ways today if you want to go that route. And I think one thing about that particular industry, whether you agree with it or not, whether you're a fan of it or not, is, the old cliche that sex sells and, you know, it's pretty much known to be recession proof, anything, you know, adult related. So it seems like a field that may have been beneficial

for to make a steady living. Yeah, for some, no doubt. But let's go back to that morning, October 18, 2019. At around 8.45 a.m., 26-year-old Melissa Turner called 911. Her fiancé, 25-year-old Matthew Trusler was unresponsive on the patio of their Riverview, Florida home. She told the dispatcher that he was cold and covered in blood. Deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office responded and walked into what Hillsborough County Assistant State Attorney, Catherine Fan, told Oxygen was the bloodiest crime scene she had ever seen. It was clear that Matthew was dead. the blood wasn't contained to the patio area where Matthew was found.

Most of the blood was located inside the home in the kitchen. And it was clear to police that a terrible attack had taken place there. And Morph, I've been watching a lot of shows, true crime shows recently. HBO Max seems to have a ton of them. American murders, evil lives here. I mean, these are all probably like ID shows. that just end up aggregating over on HBO Max, but I'm often struck by 911 calls.

And, you know, in a lot of these, it turns out that the person making the call is the one who committed the murder, but it is fascinating to hear how people react in these types of calls. You know, sometimes the 911 dispatcher is trying to get them to do something. and they just don't do it. They can't really figure out how to respond. Now, that's not a sign of guilt because I think in any type of situation where someone's in shock, they could react in all types of different ways.

I just find it very interesting to hear how people react. And then sometimes there's no emotion whatsoever. It's just like, hey, can you send somebody because I found my loved one dead? Yeah, I think with this first 911 calls, first responders don't know what they're walking into. And I think in this situation, it was obviously pretty shocking when the assistant state attorney mentions that it's the bloodiest crime scene she's ever seen. You know, it had to be pretty, pretty bad. Melissa covered in Matthew's blood, was taken to the police station for an interview.

She was so bloody that an officer gave her a pair of latex gloves to wear so that, she would stop getting blood on everything she touched. Video of this police interrogation can be viewed on the YouTube channel Crime Circus. The information Melissa gave wasn't very helpful. She claimed to have no real memory of the night. According to her, she just went to bed. And then in the morning, she woke up to a nightmare. A detective asked her if she had any injuries.

But she said no. All the blood on her was Matthews. After a while, though, she was told. to take off the gloves, even though she wanted to keep them on. And it turned out, she did have an injury after all. She claimed not to notice that her palm had been sliced open. To be clear, this wasn't a nick. This wasn't a small cut. It was her full palm. And it was more of a gash than a cut. It was clear that some of that blood she had gotten all over the place, had to be from that wound. So I think immediately police began to doubt her story and they felt that the injury

had something to do with Matthew's death. The only question for police was did she receive the injury during her attack on Matthew as they suspected or could they be wrong? And was she really a victim? During questioning, Melissa never claimed to have been attacked by anyone. Instead, she said that the cut must have come from broken glass that she grabbed and she was freaking out. She was freaking out after she found Matthew outside. The police continued to doubt her story, and with Melissa being less than forthcoming, it looked more likely that she was the attacker. Melissa then offered up the idea that Matthew had taken his own life. According to Oxygen, she told police of Matthew, he always told me he had a feeling he was going to die young. While some of the injuries Matthew

suffered could have been caused by Matthew hurting himself, he had been stabbed in the back, which investigators in the case didn't feel with something he could have done to himself. Other wounds on his arms appeared to have been inflicted while he was cowering, covering his neck and face with his hands out in front of him in self-defense. According to CBS News, Matthew's cause of death was determined to be an incised wound to arm with perforation of cephalic vein. His right forearm had been cut so deeply, it severed a vein, causing him to bleed out quickly. So there's a couple of things that I wanted to touch on more of.

Number one, the fact that Melissa was so covered in. in blood, that they had her put on latex gloves just so she would stop getting blood on everything. I don't know that I've ever heard of that. And then, you know, this notion that she kind of offers up that Matthew might have hurt himself, this is something you see time and time again. But when somebody has a stab wound to the back, well, is it impossible to do that to yourself? No. Is it logical?

and I would say no. I'm pretty sure that's what the police were thinking as well. You know, if you're going to hurt yourself, there are ways that are more logical to the police than others. And a stab wound in the back just doesn't seem to fit that bill. Yeah, I think of some of those injuries coupled with the cut on Melissa's hand

that really made the police think, okay, she may be Matthew's killer. And I think from that point, they really became suspicious of her. And we have to add in there the defensive wounds. Well, if you're trying to hurt yourself, you're not going to have what would be determined to be defensive wounds because you're not defending yourself from anyone. During the time, Melissa was being interviewed by two detectives.

Another detective was canvassing the neighborhood for any possible clues. and he found a big one. A neighbor's security camera pointed toward the patio area of the property. Watching the footage from this camera, which included audio, revealed that Melissa and Matthew had been arguing between 4 and 5 a.m. And it was clear from the video evidence that this wasn't just a verbal argument. This was a huge blowup. Though the fence blocked a view of the patio itself,

the detective could hear some of the fight clearly. Mostly, it was Melissa screaming at Matthew. Later on in court, prosecutors would say she can be heard telling him, so fucking die. Some people who listen to this audio believe that they thought she was saying, go and not die. But needless to say, this surveillance footage would become critical evidence. Detectives asked Melissa whether she and Matthew had been fighting that night. But according to CBS News, she said, I have no memory of any armed. argument. This is in direct contrast to which she told an officer who first responded to the scene.

While still at the house, she had admitted that they had been arguing the night before, but also said she couldn't remember what it was even about. By the time she was at the police station, talking with detectives, she had no recollection of it happening at all. In addition to the neighbor's video surveillance, Melissa and Matthew also had a security system from ADT that included indoor cameras, which would record when activated by motion. Multiple segments of the night inside their home were captured on camera. From the interior footage and the neighbor's surveillance audio, a timeline of the night was able to be put together.

The timeline went as follows. Melissa was obviously upset by 3.38 a.m. when she was running past the ADT camera into her office. After a few minutes, Matthew walks past in the other direction. He seems completely normal and calm, even. Melissa follows him, but her body language is off. She's hunched over,

like she's angry and confrontational. At 401 a.m., she runs back past the camera, towards her office. But she stops still in view of the camera and puts her hands on her head in a very obviously stressed out stance, and you can tell she's breathing heavily. Around this time,

the neighbor's camera captured audio of Melissa screaming. No words, just angry screams. By 4.30 a.m., Matthew had likely already been stabbed at least once, unless he had fallen deeply asleep between 3.40 and 4.30. It could be possible with how much he had been drinking that night, according to his blood alcohol contented autopsy, but we're unlikely to ever know. At 434, Melissa's voice was captured by the camera saying, I hate you. Just one minute later, she's yelling, get up. Two minutes later, there's a loud noise followed by Melissa telling Matthew to wake up.

While this would be the time to snap out of what you're doing and call for help, if your attack was truly a so-called crime of passion, and you didn't mean to do it, at 4.37 a.m., Melissa says again, I hate you. Two full minutes later, she's still just saying negative things to Matthew with no attempt to help him. She says things like, go fuck yourself and let's go. At 4.42 a.m., she was still in a rage. The sound of things smashing and breaking was captured by the neighbor's camera. along with Melissa yelling,

fuck you again. Matthew was still alive at this point because his voice is heard on the camera, but the words he said couldn't be made out because he was talking so much more quietly than Melissa was. So obviously, you know, the camera footage,

the surveillance footage, is big in this case, but there is some of it that's left to interpretation. I mean, the part to me where she's saying, wake up, you know, is that her trying to,

get Matthew to wake up because he's asleep or passed out or whatever or has she already initiated the attack and he's down and she's saying wake up obviously he's not dead at this point because his voice can be heard on the audio but it's so much lower than hers that it kind of makes you think that he's in a weakened state by this point and this audio volume would later become a point of contention when her defense team claimed that the prosecution had altered the volume, amplifying Melissa's voice to the point she was screeching and muffling what Matthew was saying, likely to hide any threats or other verbal assault. To the defense, it apparently didn't make sense that Melissa was so loud at that hour of the morning. It had to be corruption. And it couldn't be a

completely blind rage, an overreaction, a very angry and violent Melissa with a knife. According to CBS News, her defense attorney would later say at trial. I find it highly suspicious that Ms. Turner's voice is screeching loud. But when it came to, you know, Matthew Trusler, you could barely hear mumbling. In the suburbs of D.C., a woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder what's emergency. We just walked in the door and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible.

A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, blood and water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Getting back to the timeline at 4.42 a.m., there's a sound of something, just noise in the background of the tape, before Melissa's show. no, and then finally, what did I do? Just minutes after this, Matthew's smartwatch stopped detecting a pulse. To investigators, it was clear that this was the point that the realization had set in for Melissa, that she had just murdered Matthew. Police found that the screen of the window near the patio had been removed from the frame. Matthew died right in front of the window on the cement next to the pool. Investigators believed that he had pushed the screen out

in order to escape Melissa, who was in the kitchen. And if you look at the setup of the kitchen, there's a cabinet on one side of the window and a table on the other. If he had ended up standing in front of the window during a fight, which it appeared he did due to the massive amount of blood in that specific area, he would have been effectively trapped, especially if Melissa was holding a knife. You have to wonder if he was stabbed in the back first

when he was popping the screen out of the window in an effort to flee, and then turned back around to try and defend himself from the onslaught. He crawled out the window, but it was too late. He was bleeding too quickly. Melissa did not call 911. For four hours after this file and attack, she claimed she had stopped drinking around 10 or 10.30 p.m. But detectives said she smelled of alcohol during the interview around 11 a.m. the next day.

You can see that in the crime circus YouTube footage, that when investigators confronted Melissa, with their evidence, her story didn't change. saying, I would never stab him. Detectives tried to give Melissa a chance to say that it had all been a terrible accident, but she maintained that she was not responsible. If it was an accident, then I would have called 911 and not just let him die.

This was an incredibly damning statement. To investigators and later to a jury, this was proof that Melissa knew. Matthew was badly hurt and that not calling 911. would mean letting him die. Yet she didn't call for help. We talk in a lot of episodes about how somebody should sound on a 911 call.

If they're too upset, it sounds fishy sometimes. If they're not upset at all, it sounds fishy. But I think it really stands out when they don't call for four hours, somebody that they love is bleeding out and they don't make a call for four hours. That's just altogether a different set of circumstances. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, the timing of making the 911 call to me is very telling as well. And I think anybody listening can kind of put themselves in a scenario where they find a loved one who's hurt. That 911 call is going to come very quickly. Now, if you had something to do

with it, then maybe that changes your way of thinking. Maybe you don't want to make the 911 call right away because you are trying to let time go by so that this person dies. Yeah, maybe she was getting her story straight or trying to think of what she was going to say and, you know, who knows what she could have been thinking. I think there are sometimes where people need a little time, right, to set the scene, to change it up so that it tells somewhat of a different story. Well, if you call right away, you don't have that time. Melissa also had an explanation for each of the things that the neighbor's audio capture

her screaming at Matthew. According to her, when she yelled, get up. It was not because Matthew was sleeping or had been stabbed, but because when he drank, he would often lose his balance. Melissa claimed that after unsuccessfully trying to help get him up, she just yelled at him to stay down. And she admitted she was frustrated. When detective stepped out of the room toward the end of the interview, Melissa began to panic.

She said out loud to herself, this can't be my life, while her leg bounced anxiously. No, no, she started repeating as she hyperventilated. Eventually she asked the detective, can't you at least come in here and keep me company? I feel like I'm going to fall apart. At the end of the interview, Melissa was arrested for Matthew's murder. And I talked earlier more of about, you know, being fascinated with 911 calls. on some of these shows I've been watching. Well, I'm also fascinated with interviews.

I love to watch when investigators interview a suspect, especially a suspect, who we know is ultimately going to be the murderer. I mean, there are just so many tells that these people have. It's like they can't help but give themselves away. Now, some people are stone cold, but I don't. think that's the majority of people, especially when you're talking about kind of a one-off murder scenario. We're not talking about a stone cold serial killer here who can just sit emotionless in front of an investigator. And most people, when in this type of situation,

would have a very hard time masking the truth. And I think they do. And we see it play out time and time again. And I think speaking of the truth, I think Melissa was sort of boxed into a corner because there was no evidence of any intruder that came in. You know, she didn't say somebody attacked and fled. There's this audio and video to contend with. So I don't think she really had any kind of story that could have gotten her out of this situation and this eventual arrest at the end of this interview. Melissa was charged with second-degree murder, and prosecutors offered a plea deal that would require her to serve 25 years in prison before her release. She refused, maintaining her innocence, but counteroffered a plea of five years. Prosecutors declined her offer. The case was delayed due to

the court backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic while awaiting trial. Melissa told CBS News, I didn't do what they're saying I did. If I'm going to prison, then I'm going down fighting. Though she was asking for a public defender, she bragged from jail about having $30,000 in a bank account while she was speaking on a recorded line. Some people found it incredible that Melissa was released on bomb pending trial.

So they charged her with second degree murder. My assumption morph is that it didn't really have. have like a premeditation aspect maybe to think they could get first degree. But then they offer her this plea deal of 25 years. She says, nope, I'm innocent. But I would take a plea of five years. And I found that to be pretty interesting. You're maintaining your innocence this entire time while also saying that you would do five

years. And then you have Melissa being released on Bond, which I think a lot of people were shocked by. And I don't know what the rules are when they decide they're going to release somebody for a crime this violent. A lot of times murders don't get bond or bail. And I don't, we couldn't find in the research here what the bail amount was, but you would think it would have been pretty substantial. And I don't know if it makes a difference because she's charged with second degree murder versus first degree murder. Maybe that's when they make the decision to let somebody out pending trial. But it definitely caught me off guard that she would have been let out after something

that's violent. Well, I'm sure first degree versus second degree probably has something to do with it. Those are two very different things. I'm just struck by the inconsistencies of her statements, right? If I'm going to prison, I'm going down fighting. but I'll take a five year deal. That just keeps standing out to me for some reason. I guess you could, you know,

somebody could make the argument that maybe she thinks that she's not guilty, but they're going to find her guilty. So she'd rather have five years than 25 years. But it also could just be because, you know, she knows she's guilty and she'll take her chances. If she can't get five years, she'll just take her chances with a trial. And maybe the ultimate.

sentence is going to be around 25 years anyway. Yeah, I think that's a good point. Finally, on February 14, 2022, Melissa Turner went on trial. She testified in her own defense. Her story this time was that she did stab Matthew, but it wasn't murder. It was self-defense. She told the court, I loved him, and I didn't want to do that to him. She said she had gone to bed, just like she originally claimed, but around 4 a.m., a very drunk Matthew woke her up. They ended up arguing over him waking her up and that he was only up because he was drinking so much. And he had issues when he drank, according to Melissa. She claimed that when she confronted him about his drinking, it enraged Matthew, and he pulled a knife on her.

Melissa claimed that Matthew had previously pulled knives when drinking. She said that there were times when he would get really upset and he would try and use it on himself. And so it was a common thing for me to try and take a knife away from him. According to Melissa, during the struggle, Matthew threw her. her into the kitchen island, causing her to hit her head. Stunned, she couldn't fight back for a moment and claims that this is when he began to strangle her. She knew she needed to do something to survive. She said, I thought this was it. I thought he was going to kill me. Melissa claimed that they fought

over the knife, but she was eventually able to take it away from him. This is when that deep slice in her palm happened. She says she had to stab him to get him off of him. But she wasn't trying to kill him, saying I stabbed him lightly in the back just to get him off me. Still woozy from hitting her head on the kitchen island, she stumbled to a chair in her office where she passed out. Blood that was found on that chair, where Melissa's head would have been, seemed to back up at the very least, the fact that she had sat in that chair after the attack. She claimed she blacked out and lost consciousness until she woke up and found Matthew on the patio. Melissa claimed that her waiting to call 911 was because she was passed out from her head injury. She also said that's why she told police early on she couldn't recall what happened.

This defense is interesting because she insisted to detectives during that interview that Matthew had never been violent with her. She said specifically, it's true, he's never been violent with me, and he never hit me. Despite this, she also said anything like this only happened whenever he was that drunk, where he was gone, he wasn't him anymore. At trial, some of the ADT security footage was played in court. It captured Melissa standing at the front door, the home, gesturing as if she was talking to someone, but there was no one there. At this time, her hands appear to be red, possibly with blood.

But the video quality is just below what it would need to be for us to be absolutely certain. It's not just the red string lights. They had hanging, creating some type of distortion or reflection on her skin. One juror, Donald Goewin, would later tell the Sandhill Express, I looked at the videos over and over. I seen red on her hands, but I couldn't use it as evidence because the camera wasn't crystal clear. Investigators believe that the cut on Melissa's palm hadn't been from trying to grab the knife away from Matthew, but instead was from it slipping in her hand as she viciously stabbed Matthew.

Melissa denied this, saying, I stabbed him once to get him off me from strangling me. It's clear by this point there's been a physical struggle, regardless of who was the aggressor, if her hand was already cut. One big reason to believe that she was the one with a knife in that kitchen was that after standing there, with her back to the kitchen, and Matthew, she went back inside the home. That's not the action of someone in fear for their life. She stopped right in front of the front door and never tried to leave or call for help, not for herself and certainly not for Matthew.

For Matthew's family, what happened to him was tragic and heartbreaking, but it wasn't completely surprising. They felt that Melissa had been isolating him from his friends and other loved ones since they met long before his death. They felt that Melissa's story was all alive and that she was angry at Matthew because he wanted out of the relationship. At the time of his death, Matthew had changed his Facebook relationship status to single. He hadn't seen his family in six months and had quit working with his brother

Sean at his construction business, seemingly in an effort to work on Melissa's videos. His family had no idea. He was even making these videos until after he had passed away. For her part, Melissa said that things were going well between her and Matthew, but she also said Matthew was unstable. She told the Tampa Bay Times, it was like he was drowning, and I was the only one there to offer him a hand. I wasn't strong enough to pull him up from the water. Melissa's ex-boyfriend, Cameron Willega, remembers when she began making the videos. It was 2013 and they had just moved from Pittsburgh to Florida to try and get jobs doing special effects. Melissa had always been artistic and in horror and fantasy and enjoyed cosplay.

The videos, which she was posting on a secret blog, were supposed to be a quick way to make some money while she was looking for a better job. But she became successful and popular very quickly, producing adult content. She had a fitness and nutrition-focused blog that was public and made videos about her 100-pound weight loss journey. After growing up trying to hide her body and feeling bullied about her weight,

this type of attention from the more explicit blog was that much more exciting. Cameron told Sandhill Express that Melissa once told him, I used to be this incredibly insecure girl. now they're paying to look at me. This wasn't only good for self-esteem. It was great for her bank account. And we talked a little bit about it earlier,

how there's a lot of people who go this route. And there's no doubt. It can be very lucrative. But I also wonder, you know, for some people, how much of it is the attention? We hear from Melissa that, you know, that was exciting, that people actually wanted to see her.

And I just wonder, you know, for some people, that adoration, that feeling of people wanting you, wanting to see you. I just wonder how much that plays into it for some. Yeah, I think that can probably become addictive, you know, just getting that attention and her feeling good about herself and being able to make money from it on top of that just had to make it that much more easier for to keep doing it. Fresh air, longer days, a chance to reset.

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Visit growtherapy.com slash book now to get started. That's growth therapy.com slash book now. Growtherapy.com slash book now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Cameron also saw how this new career changed Melissa, saying it became maniacal to a point where it was a complete obsession. And it was money, money, money. And the more and more success that she found,

the more and more unstable she became. Cameron also mentioned how loud Melissa could be and touched on the surveillance footage saying, it's clear the prosecution, didn't die. her that evidence to make Melissa's voice louder than Matthews. Cameron said she would scream at times so loud that it would pierce your ear. There were times where she was just unpredictable, absolutely unpredictable. I think it's interesting hearing from Cameron providing some background about Melissa from someone that was close to her because Matthew can't. He's almost speaking

as a witness to how Melissa acted and what she was like and what she was like. And what she was thinking and it tells us a lot about her that we might not otherwise know. Well, I think it's important in any trial, you know, to have people who knew the defendant at some earlier point in time because, you know, a lot of these trials, there's a person dead. And they obviously can't speak to what it was like. But other boyfriends, other girlfriends, you know, people like that can speak to their experience. And, you know, it can be helpful. Prosecutors never bought Melissa's story that she was a victim who was being harmed by Matthew.

She never made that claim until after she was facing life in prison for murder. The only conceivable way to convince a jury that you didn't commit a murder when you've admitted you were the only other person there is to try and convince them it wasn't a murder at all. Prosecutor Chinway Fawcett told the San Hill Express, she never mentions anything about anyone strangling her or anything until days before trial. You really have to take that in a consideration. And more of I think you have to take all of these types of statements into consideration, not just the statements themselves, but the timing of them.

You know, we see it in so many different cases where a person tells a story in, let's say, a first interview. Then they tell a different story. in the next interview. They may go through four, five, six different versions of events. Well, at a certain point, you have to start to question what's true and what's not. And I do think if you don't mention something during multiple interrogations, let's say. And then all of a sudden right before trial, you have this story that just kind of seems

to pop out of nowhere. Well, how do you take that? How do you view that? And I guess more importantly, how does the jury view it? Yeah, I think if you tell the truth from the beginning, the story will always be the same because you're not changing anything. You're not abolishing anything. You're not adding anything.

You're just being truthful. And when you change that story up, it's maybe making it, you're trying to make yourself look better. You're trying to make yourself look innocent. You're trying to make an excuse. for what happened. So I think that's when people get caught up when they're trying to make these different switches. And for me, it seems like, you know, people are confronted with evidence or known facts that they then have to try to explain. And so they craft a new version of events that

helps explain that. Then they're confronted with something else. So they have to change up the version so that the narrative now fits what new information they have. And you can just see it time and time again. Just four days after the trial began, Melissa Rose Turner was found guilty of second-degree murder. It took just seven hours of deliberation for the jury to come to this decision. Donald Goodwin, one of the jurors would later explain to CBS News that it was clear. She knew he was going to die.

She knew it. And yet she called no. body, the jury made their decision based solely on the facts of the case. Hillsborough Circuit Judge Samantha Ward ruled that Melissa's online persona and camgirl videos weren't relevant to the murder case. So the jury never heard about it or saw any of the videos. Prosecutors worried that this would be a blow to their case. Chenwy Fawcett told the Sandhill Express, 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. Instead of showing Melissa's acting ability to the jury in the form of videos, the prosecutor asked Melissa on the stand, are you crying because you can just cry on cue? Melissa responded, I'm crying because my life is on the line right now. And this probably didn't win her any points with the jury because she wasn't crying out of remorse or because Matthew was dead. It was because her life was on the line. And this is a very interesting point. You know, words matter. They matter in everyday life. They certainly matter when you're on the stand as a defendant in a murder case. And I think this answer, I'm crying because my life is on the line

right now. It's a very telling statement. And it's probably very truthful. It just is showing the jury maybe how heartless you really are. Yeah, I think it basically is just self-preservation and worried about what's best for her and her future and not at all thinking about Matthew or his family, not having him around. It's all about her. And I think you see that a lot where killers, one thing, been convicted once they're in jail, prison, there is some remorse. But a lot of times, I don't think it's for the actual act that they committed. I don't think it's for, you know, the fact that someone lost their life. It's because their life has essentially ended. They're stuck in a cell. A lot of killers, I do believe that's the only remorse they actually ever have.

It seems like you don't hear about many people taking responsibility and, you know, admitting on the stand that they did this and they're sorry and they're ready to take their punishment. Usually it's the opposite. They're trying to get off as lightly as they can. In the end, jurors didn't need to see the videos to feel that Melissa was acting. Juror Donald Goodwin told the Sandhill Express, when she went to the stand, I think it hurt her big time. Her tears were so fake, and you can tell. Her demeanor on the stand was proved to the jury. Melissa could have overreacted or snapped,

especially while drinking and attacked Matthew. Donald Goodwin said she was super angry and super sad. Her emotions were everywhere. I'm like, that tells me who she is. Matthew's brother, Sean Truster, told the Tampa Bay Times, this is a story of a woman who intentionally isolated and manipulated a good kid away from his loving and supportive family. But I still think, you know, there are a ton of questions in the

case morph. Why did this happen? And why that night? What ultimately led to this tragic outcome, authorities never took Melissa's blood to test her blood alcohol content, but Matthews' autopsy revealed his was almost five times the legal limit, which is probably why Melissa tried to frame the alcohol issues that night as Matthews, not hers or theirs. Prosecutor Fawcett told the Sandhill Express. I think she was intoxicated and I do think that she went far beyond anything she thought she would do. Some people have expressed sympathy for Melissa too stating that perhaps she too was under the influence of alcohol and it's not likely that she meant to kill Matthew but during her very intentional assault she sliced his arm too deeply in just the right or wrong

spot. But she knew what she had done and didn't do anything to try to help it. And that's what turns a brutal assault into a murder. Assistant State Attorney Catherine Fan told the Tampa Bay Times, this is not a case where the defendant is a victim of domestic violence. This is a case where Matthew Trusler is the victim of domestic violence. That's the important thing to focus on, is that he is the victim in this case. Melissa was sentenced to 20 and a half years in prison, which is less than she would have served had she taken the a plea deal, but still much longer than the five years she asked for under a plea deal. Of the punishment handed down, and the story that Melissa told, Matthew's mom, Margaret

McLaughlin, speaking at the sentencing hearing, said to Melissa, you and I both know Matthew was the best thing that ever happened to you. Margaret also admitted that Matthew loved Melissa, and that he would not want her in prison, saying, I have no doubt what is going to happen to you here today would have caused him great anguish. The home Melissa and Matthew bought and renovated together, one that was supposed to be filled with joy, instead went into foreclosure. Melissa Turner will be eligible for release in 2042. Until then, she's at Lowell Correctional Institution in Marion County, Florida, a mixed security facility. It's interesting to compare this case to the upcoming trial of Courtney Clinton, another case out of Florida. It's a case

which parallels this one in many ways. Courtney called 911 on April 3, 2020. to report that she stabbed her boyfriend Christian Toby Obam Selle. During an argument, his cause of death was a knife wound that punctured the subclavian artery in the right side of his chest. She claimed that he had attacked her and she threw a knife at him. Unlike Melissa Turner, Courtney Clenney immediately admitted she was responsible, but investigators were still suspicious of her story from the start. Just like with Matthew's murder, Toby Obamselli's murder has received the amount of coverage it has in part because Clenny posted a lot on her only fans account. And in both cases, there's footage where you can hear the perpetrator.

Melissa in one case, Courtney and another, screaming up the top of their lungs, absolutely enraged. Even the sound of the screaming is eerily similar. There are even more videos in this case. One from an elevator security camera captured Courtney assaulting Toby. He's much larger than her, and he doesn't fight back. Just tries to get her away from him. She's going after him the entire elevator ride. There's also much more audio in this case,

because it seems that Toby was recording his encounters with her toward the end of his life in an effort to protect himself. A trial date hasn't been set yet for her, but if the jury in this case is anything like the ones who clearly felt the evidence pointed to Melissa Turner's guilt, they won't buy whatever Courtney tells them, unless her defense team has a very good piece of evidence that hasn't been made public. It'll be interesting to see if there's a similar outcome.

So as we wrap up this case more, some of these are very tough because we do know that many, many women experience domestic violence. And there are times when they have to defend themselves. And sometimes that results in somebody being hurt, being killed, but there's justification for it. You know, this happens to men as well, obviously. We can't fail to point that out.

But I do think there are some cases, many cases, in fact, where people use that as a defense when it's simply not true. They're using it as a way to try to mitigate what they did or give a jury, hopefully enough justification to let them off the hook for a murder. I think the trouble with, you know, this case is, yes, there are some videos with audio, but they don't capture everything. There are really only two people who know exactly what went on in that house, and one of them ended up dead. And I think you see that in a lot of stories. Yeah, I think it's unfortunate that we'll really never have all the answers probably, because now at this point, with Matthew being dead, Melissa is the only one that really knows.

And it's disappointing that the police didn't test Melissa's blood because I'd be interested to know she too was intoxicated and therefore might not even know the full details of what happened. And maybe she doesn't even have the full answers. At the end of the day, the person who's responsible for killing Matthew Trusler is right where she belongs in prison. Well, that's the decision that a jury came up with. And they had all the evidence. So you have to kind of go with them, right? If you were someone you know is dealing with any kind of domestic violence related issues like the ones we discussed in this episode. You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799 safe or text start to 8-8-7-88 for help. Free help is available 24-7. That's it for our. episode on Matthew Trusler. If you love the show, but haven't done so yet, go out, give us a five-star rating, you can leave a review. Keep telling your friends. That word of mouth about the criminology podcast really helps us out. If you want to find us on social media, we're on X with a handle

at Criminology Pod. You can also find us on Facebook by going to facebook.com slash criminology podcast. And you can join our Facebook discussion group, criminology podcast, discussion, and fans. So that's it for another episode of criminology. But Morph and I will be back with all of you next Saturday night with a brand new episode. So until then for Mike and Morph. We'll talk to you next week. Take care, everyone.