Hidden True Crime - MEGAN BOSWELL: FULL STORY & WEEK 1 TRIAL RECAP | WHAT HAPPENED TO BABY EVELYN?

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

The trial of Megan Boswell for the murder of her daughter, Evelyn Boswell is underway. Join Lauren as she breaks down the case, followed by a recap of week 1 of the trial! Stay tuned for more recaps as the trial continues. About Hidden True Crime: Lauren Matthias, a former television reporter, and her husband Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, started Hidden True Crime in 2020 with their Season, 'Beyond the Veil,' a psychological deep dive into the doomsday murders and prophet. What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a forensic psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime Sources:  Court TV  Law and Crime News Nation  11 News Our Sponsors:* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Armoire and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.armoire.style* Check out Effecty and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.effecty.com* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://happymammoth.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hidden-a-true-crime-podcast1836/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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could receive, either that or being compared to Lori Ballot. But we all remember the horrifying case of Casey Anthony. We will never forget Casey's daughter, Kaylee, being reported missing. The elaborate lies that were told by her mother, the lies covering up Kaylee's death. And then Casey's astonishing acquittal. Well, the case of Megan Boswell, admittedly, does give a daunting sense of deja vu. But now five years after her year old daughter Evelyn was reported missing, it is now up to a jury to learn about Megan's lies and for the jury to decide what happened to little Evelyn. Megan Boswell's 15-month-old daughter Evelyn was reported missing in February of 2020. But after she was reported missing, it was discovered that Evelyn had

actually not been seen in nearly three months. Well before the time she was reported missing. I told you that this would have deja vu vibes. Well, each time her mom Megan spoke to law enforcement or the media, the lies would add up one after the other, covering the heartbreaking truth that Evelyn was no longer alive. It has been five years since Evelyn's death, five years. And the trial of Megan Boswell is now finally underway.

We realize that many of our listeners are invested in this case and invested in justice for little Evelyn. Although invested, you might not have the time to sit through hours of testimony. And so I plan to bring you the latest daily recaps, highlights, and the breaking information that comes out during this trial and during these proceedings. And so if you are new to this case, you are still in the right place. Because before we jump into trial updates, I want to set the stage. And in this episode, I will be sharing a full run. down and timeline of this case, the full backstory on where this tragic story began and how everything unfolded. And that starts with Evelyn's mother. It's often said that children are a product of

their environment, which seems to be the case for the now 23-year-old Megan. Growing up, her home life was unstable, to say the least. Megan's parents, Tommy Sr. and Angela Boswell had an extremely tumultuous marriage with evidence of domestic violence, substance abuse, infidelity, and criminal activity, all of which was observed and witnessed by Megan and her three siblings. After her parents decided to divorce, Tommy was given custody of their minor children and that included Megan. And Angela, Megan's mother, continued to have run-ins with the law. When Megan was around 17 years old, she was placed in foster care because, according to Tommy, again, her dad, he couldn't get Megan to attend school on a regular basis. So foster care.

And while in foster care, Megan found out that she was pregnant. At the time, she pointed to a boy named Ethan Perry, who Megan dated off and on as being the father of her unborn child. Immediately after Ethan's graduation, Ethan elisted in the army, and he wasn't involved by the time Evelyn May Boswell was born on November 21, 2018. When Megynne, Megan was still just 17 years old. Just a few months later, in February of 2019, Megan turned 18 years old and she moved back onto what is referred to as the Boswell family compound.

This is an 11-acre piece of land located in Bluntville, Tennessee and owned by Megan's father, Tommy Sr. And on this compound are several homes, trailers, sheds, and other structures. And it's been said that various family members in France, could stay there as needed. Not long after it was decided, though, that Megan and Evelyn would move into their own home, a home of their own because she and Tommy's new wife weren't getting along. And so where they moved in was a trailer located about two miles away in a mobile home park that the Boswell family also owned. Having her own home provided Megan with more independence

and space where she could focus on raising little Evelyn. By all accounts, at just a lot of 18 years old, Megan started off as a great mom. I mean, many people have stated she was a great mom. Megan's friend said that Evelyn was always with her and that she rarely utilized a babysitter. She'd consistently post about Evelyn hitting all of her milestones and the photos of Evelyn's big blue eyes and adorable smile, those photos that really captured the public's attention and admiration for little Evelyn. Well, they certainly also made it appear that Evelyn was thriving. And even though Tommy Sr. had his hiccups as a father to Megan,

he, by all accounts, cherished being a grandfather and a support system for Megan and his new granddaughter, Evelyn. However, that autumn, he did start seeing a little less of Evelyn after Megan began working a new job. The last time he saw baby Evelyn in person was at their family Thanksgiving get-together. And that was at the end of November in 2000. Megan's new job was at a restaurant called Hunter T's Chicken Shack and was owned by the Wood family. The family's son, Hunter Wood, was the friend of Megan's older brother.

Hunter and Megan actually ended up hitting it off and quickly began dating after she started working at his restaurant. And soon after, in mid-December, Megan decided to move out of her trailer and into Hunter's house, which was in a much nicer neighborhood than where Megan had been living with Evelyn. Throughout the month of December, Megan would come back to the family compound here and there to retrieve items from storage. But Tommy began noticing that his granddaughter Evelyn was never really with Megan. On one occasion, he asked where Evelyn was. And Megan said that Hunter's mom was babysitting. Well, getting closer to Christmas, Tommy again, asked Megan where his granddaughter, where Evelyn was.

And she let him know that her ex, Ethan Perry, had actually taken the baby for a while. She said that they were going to do alternating weeks. And everyone actually seemed happy that Ethan was finally stepping up as a father and wanting to be in his daughter, Evelyn's life. That entire month, Megan was enjoying the new life she was establishing with Hunter. Hunter was able to take Megan on nice dates and various weekend trips. Evelyn, now allegedly having her father in her life, also it made it easier for this new romance between Megan and Hunter to blossom. For Christmas, Hunter and Megan's families even came together to go on a trip while Evelyn supposedly continued to stay with her dad, Ethan.

Well, by January, Tommy was really starting to miss his granddaughter. And in his words, while he was glad that Ethan was finally manning up, it started to feel like he was actually trying to take sole custody of Evelyn because she hadn't been with Megan at all. After consistent calling and questioning, Megan finally told her dad that Ethan was was refusing to give Evelyn back. Tommy told Megan that he would help her get an attorney, but Megan told him to just give her a couple more days to sort things out,

that she could figure this out on her own. However, a couple of days, well, that turned into a couple of weeks, and Tommy was growing increasingly worried about his granddaughter. In the recent years prior to this, Megan's contact with her mother, Angela, seems to have been sporadic, especially after the divorce. Angela and Tommy didn't really have much contact after their divorce, and she apparently hadn't heard that Ethan was the one supposedly taking care of Evelyn.

In an interview, Angela, so that's Megan's mother, Angela said that she heard rumors of Evelyn actually being taken by CPS, which is why Megan did not have custody. Angela said that she felt sorry for Megan and wanted to be there to support her daughter. And so she reached out to her daughter. Angela and Megan then began spending time together, but Angela says that she never bought up Evelyn being in foster care. She said she assumed Megan was embarrassed and didn't want to talk about it. However, some people believe that Angela may have actually known more about this situation.

This is because in an interview, Tommy stated that toward the end of February, he contacted Angela and told her that if Megan didn't get Evelyn back from Ethan, that he was going to get authorities involved. He then reported that Angela told him in response, quote, he would regret this, end quote. Had you been in communication with them at all? Like, I know you hadn't seen her, but what about you? No. I hadn't talked to her. I stayed busy and I talked to my ex-wife. And I told her, I said, if everyone don't come home, I said, I'm going to do something about it.

And she said, you better not do that. You're going to regret this. Well, this made the situation feel even more suspicious, prompting Tommy to give Megan in ultimatum, either produce Evelyn by Monday morning or he was calling child protective services. And on February 18, 2020, Tommy finally decided to call CPS. He reported to them that he had not seen his granddaughter Evelyn since Thanksgiving, and he was worried, very worried. It was an understatement, just how worried he was. And from there, CPS made contact with Megan at Hunter Woods residence, and she told them that Evelyn was with her father,

Ethan Perry. And this was the beginning, though, of everyone starting to realize that Megan wasn't telling the truth. Because when authorities were able to make contact with Ethan, well, they found out that he had been on active duty and living in the army barracks in Louisiana. Toddlers obviously are not allowed to be running around the barracks. And Ethan let them know that he hadn't even seen Megan or Evelyn at all recently. In fact, he had even been back to Tennessee for Christmas to visit his family. But even then, despite being in Tennessee, he didn't even take the time to see Evelyn. Even though it was clear that Megan wasn't being truthful, the next day on February 19th, the Sullivan County Sheriff's office officially listed Evelyn as a missing child. The Tennessee

Bureau of Investigation also became involved and issued an Amber Alert, believing that they were dealing with a potential abduction. When the media and the public caught onto the case, There were obviously a lot of questions in speculation, especially given the fact that Evelyn had been gone so long without being reported missing. Many people, many sleuths began pointing fingers at Megan's boyfriend Hunter, believing that he could know more about her disappearance. However, Hunter came forward and he did an interview claiming that he and Megan weren't very serious at all despite living together.

And Hunter also said that he had never actually met Evelyn in person and that Megan had told Hunter had told him that Evelyn was with her father, Ethan. I've never seen the baby in my life. Hunter Woods says he briefly dated Evelyn's mother, Megan Boswell. She applied for a job at my restaurant under Tease Chicken Shack. It wasn't like a relationship as an on and off going, you know what I'm saying, type deal. It wasn't like an all out like, you know, relationship. He says he's known Megan Boswell for about two months and never saw baby Evelyn.

All I've seen is pictures of her. I have no relationship with that child whatsoever. He says he's received threats over the internet, causing him to shut down his restaurant's Facebook page. To my knowledge, the entire time that I've known, Maggie, I've never seen the baby, of course, but as well as the baby has been with the father, you know, back from military leave. And that is all that I've known about the child. He wants the focus to be on finding the child and not on him and his business. There's been a bunch of stuff said about, you know what I'm saying, my restaurant, her tea's chicken shack, things negative towards, you know what I'm saying, to try to try to find him. to stir away the main key factor of us just trying to operate. And that is all that I've known

about the child. You know, never seen it, never seen her or anything of that matter. Given that Megan and Hunter were living together at the time saying they weren't serious, is kind of a stretch, at least to me. And it's clear that Hunter wanted to distance himself from the situation as much as possible. He even had Megan move out of his house. And in the following days, investigators held a press conference and stated that they weren't ruling anyone out as a suspect, including Evelyn's mother. They also pointed out many of the statements Megan shared with law enforcement that were inaccurate. And this was just the beginning of Megan's many lies. In trying to narrow down a timeline, most of Megan's family stated that they hadn't seen

Evelyn since Thanksgiving. However, reports that Evelyn had been seen by a babysitter in early December did come out as well. Investigators also seemed to have a lead involving a gray 2007 BMW, and they requested the public to be on a lookout for this vehicle. This was around the same time that Megan gave her first of several interviews with the media, and in this initial interview, Megan stated that the reason she didn't report Evelyn missing is because she actually knew the person who had taken her and didn't want that person or them to run away.

I just want her back. That's all I want. Are you feeling worried or anything along those lines? Yeah. Can you tell me about that at all? Well, the reason I didn't report it or anything is because I knew the person who had her, and I didn't want them to run away with her. And as soon as they thought I think was going on, they just kind of vanished. So I'm just worried about, you know, like where they're at, what they're doing with her at this point in time.

So you do know who has her. Megan's statements were very vague, as vague as they just sounded, and seemingly nonchalant, strange for someone whose child was missing. No one could figure out why she wouldn't just say who had Evelyn, which would make it easier for the public who she was speaking to in these interviews to help locate her daughter. However, Megan said that she had full confidence that authorities would locate the BMW in question, and then in turn, Evelyn would return home safely. So although Megan originally said that Evelyn was with Ethan,

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Compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorn's Tier 1 compensation provided. Investing involves risk, acorns advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. A few important disclosures at acorns.com slash hidden true crime. Has losing weight and getting healthier been on your mind lately? Have you heard about groundbreaking GLP1 treatments like OZMPIC and WeGO? With Effectie, getting an end? access to these powerful medications has never been easier or more affordable. Starting a new medication is always a bit scary when you aren't sure what to expect. And using Effecti makes it so much

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you can actually see how the changes you make, whether that's exercise, diet, or sleep, will affect your health over time. Ready to find out your biological age? Right now, our listeners can get 20% off their entire order at TrueDiagnostic.com by using code Hidden True Crime at checkout. That's True Diagnostic, T-R-U-D-I-G-N-O-S-T-I-C-C-com. Just use code Hidden True Crime to save 20% off. Plus, if you subscribe, you'll get an additional 20% off. Discover your true age today. While neither Megan nor police were releasing who it was supposedly driving this BMW, the public was able to deduce this information on their own after two arrests were made the very next day.

Megan's mother Angela and her mother's boyfriend, William McLeod. They were both taken into custody after being found driving the BMW in Wilkes County. Carolina. And even though it was assumed that this is who Megan was referring to as the people, the people who took Evelyn, she was still nowhere to be found. And there was also a whole series of bizarre details surrounding the couple being found driving the BMW because the day before their arrest, Hunter Wood and his family actually reported their car stolen. According to Hunter, he had brought the car to Megan for a test drive, and she was supposed to purchase the vehicle from his family.

However, he said that Angela and her boyfriend William took off in the car instead. When brought in for questioning, though, Angela and Williams said that Hunter had actually given them the car as a gift, which was further corroborated by Angela's father who claimed to have witnessed the transaction. What made Angela's father's statements even more strange was that he said Megan and Hunter had been over visiting

Angela every day for weeks leading up to Evelyn being reported missing. Hunter gave that car to my daughter. Watch it. Yeah. The two weeks that my daughter stayed here, Megan was here every day with the hunter. They were hanging with my daughter every day for two weeks. Yeah. Why would you hang with somebody that took your child? So you're saying earlier this month, when the car exchange happened, Angela was living with you all for about two weeks. And during that two week period, you're saying that Megan and her boyfriend, Hunter, came over here about every day during those two weeks. Sometimes twice a day. And so what you're saying is if Angela had taken Evelyn,

why would she hang out with her? Hanging with her every day. Does that make sense to you? You know, I hear your question. And so you're saying Hunter, the boyfriend of Megan gave you saw him give the car to um i mean it's not hearsay yeah if megan really believed that angela had evelyn how and why would she be spending time with her mom without evelyn present and in addition angela and william claimed to have no idea what megan was talking about in regards to them having taken evelyn from there the sheriff's department the tennessee bureau of investigation or TBI and the FBI were conducting searches and doing their best to sift through Megan's ever evolving lies. On February 24th, she ended up doing another news interview, where she

released yet another potentially key piece of information that she'd been holding on to. Since her stories about Ethan and then her mom having Evelyn were quickly proven false, now she was claiming that her mother had actually given Evelyn to someone else. She stated that she allowed Angela to watch Evelyn while she went to work. And then for some reason, Angela decided to drop Evelyn off with unknown people in a silver camper. This was supposedly located in a campground in Mendota, a city in the neighboring state of Virginia. Well, actually, I want to talk about that.

I've told TBI where to find her in Mendota. My mom took her to a campground and a silver camper. And if they don't go tonight, I'm going to go find her myself. Because I've told them and they're not really like taking it seriously. don't go tonight, like I will go myself. She claimed that Angela threatened her that if she called the police, which is why she had been hesitant to tell investigators. However, this was yet again another dead end and once again another proven lie.

The next day, Megan did another interview outside of the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office and claimed that she was there to submit a polygraph test. However, she claimed that they refused to administer her test because she was actually pregnant, which went against their polygraph policy. I am pregnant. That's why they won't give me a polygraph. Due to policy, if you're pregnant, they cannot give you one. Well, in actuality, the sheriff's office came out and said that this was a lie, that their office didn't even have polygraph equipment or even an examiner.

She was never asked to meet us for any polygraph. We don't actually have a polygraph examiner. Tennessee Bureau investigation does the polygraphing. We never set up any type of interview for her. And the pregnant statements, I'll have to leave that to her. That's information she released to you. Of course, it being medical, there's hippoth violations that we have to look into, and I can't release that information at this time.

And by that point, it was clear that investigators were becoming extremely frustrated with Megan's lies, inhibiting their investigation. That same night, they decided to arrest her on charges of false reporting with a bond set at $25,000. It was also revealed that Megan had lied yet again and was in fact not pregnant. Surprise. It speculated that this was some sort of last ditch effort by Megan to maybe get Hunter back on her side or possibly to gain attention and sympathy from the media.

He was growing increasingly suspicious of her. Regardless, it seemed to only make her look worse in the public's eye. Shortly after being arrested, Megan did decide to tell investigators yet again, another story. But true or not, this time, this story, the result would prove to be much more grim. Megan claimed that one night, Evelyn joined her and Hunter in bed, and while asleep, one of them must have accidentally rolled on top of Little Evelyn because when they woke up in the morning, she was dead. Given that Megan had lied so many times before, and that Hunter claimed to have never met Evelyn in person, investigators were hesitant to believe.

this version of events. In addition, Megan was refusing to tell them where Evelyn's body was located. They conducted another search of the Boswell compound with a cadaver dog and came up with nothing. However, about a week later on March 6th, Megan's father, Tommy, called the TBI to request that they search another building on the property, that he believed may have a clue. Maybe this building had some answers. He remembered that Megan had previously kept some items in her old playhouse. and thought that it should be searched more thoroughly. Now, it's not really clear why this playhouse hadn't already been searched, or if something was placed in there by Megan or someone else later on.

Nonetheless, this tip would yield a gruesome discovery. That night, a TBI agent named Brian Fraley arrived at the compound on Muddy Creek Road. And when he looked inside the playhouse, he noticed that the vast majority of the items inside appeared to have been untouched for years, and they were covered in dust and cobwebs. However, a few newer items were obviously placed inside more recently, at least in the time frame that Evelyn was thought to have gotten missing. One of these was a white kitchen garbage can piled high with trash bags, and Frey, will he remove the top bag, which contained items like dirty diapers and kitchen scraps.

Underneath that bag, he was horrified to see what appeared to be a little leg and foot. Frailey and the other investigators documented the scene and carefully removed the contents of the garbage can. Inside a second trash bag was the heavily decomposed body of a small child, placed upside down and wrapped tightly in a gray and white fleece blanket. She was dressed in a precious purple onesie with a penguin pattern. And if that wasn't already gruesome enough, the upper body included the head that was also wrapped in aluminum foil. And I know that this is tough to hear, but the foil was reportedly so tight that it actually flattened a portion of the face. The child who was later identified as 15-month-old Evelyn Boswell was then transported to Johnston City to undergo an autopsy.

And there it was determined that Evelyn died from asphyxiation in four separate forms. And that's all in quotes, asphyxiation in four separate forms. These forms included being placed in the trash can itself, being positioned upside down, having a mechanical obstruction of the foil tightly around her face and the blanket around her head. The medical examiner also said that her body underwent, quote, a natural folding, end quote, such as her head being forced backwards towards the spine, almost like a looking up position. And her legs were folded with her feet touching her buttocks. When the medical examiner was asked if it was possible that Evelyn died from being accidentally smothered in her sleep, she said, quote,

Evelyn was too old at the time of her death to have died in such a manner, and the environment was not conducive to that type of death. End quote. She also stated, quote, the infestation of maggots and decomposition prevented examiners from seeing if blunt force trauma was a factor in Evelyn's death, but the skeleton did not show damage. quote. However, in her opinion, she believes that it's possible that Evelyn was alive when she went into the trash can and her manner of death was ruled a homicide. Following this discovery, investigators began trying to piece together what they believed happened to Evelyn. And even though she was found in such a horrific state, and even though Megan was a known liar, that didn't necessarily mean that that she was involved in Evelyn's death, and they still needed to be able to find out

what happened and who did this to little Evelyn. In August of 2020, Megan was formally indicted by a grand jury on 19 charges, including first-degree murder, two counts of felony murder stemming from aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect, tampering with evidence, 11 counts of false report, abuse of a corpse, and failure to report a death under suspicious, unusual, or unnatural circumstances. Her bond was upgraded to $1 million, and she pleaded not guilty to all charges. While the trial was originally set to take place in February 2023, the case underwent several setbacks, including Megan's assigned defense attorney resigning from the case. In October of 2022, Attorney Brad Spruill stated that he and Megan's relationship was broken due to differences

in her defense strategy, and Judge Jim Goodwin agreed to allow him to withdraw. Well, Megan's now being represented by Gene Scott, who has over 20 years of representing criminal defendants and who seems to be much more zealous in defending Megan's innocence. Yes, innocence. While awaiting trial, community and family members of Evelyn Boswell have grieved her death, holding vigils, and setting up numerous memorials in her honor. And even if there is technically another explanation to Evelyn's death, Megan told countless lies, held up critical law enforcement resources and attempted to blame everyone but herself for what happened. She even went so far as to throw her own mother under the bus, knowing that Evelyn was no longer

alive. And if it truly were an accident, the normal thing to do would have been to call 911. However, if for whatever reason she felt like she couldn't do that, you'd think a loving mother would still try to give their child a more respectful burial. And even if that were a makeshift one in their vast family property, remember 11 acres. But instead, Megan chose to leave baby Evelyn alone in a trash can while concocting elaborate stories and ruining countless lives in the process. In July of 2021, House Bill 384 also referred to as Evelyn's law was signed, making it illegal in Tennessee to not report your child missing within 24 hours.

That's yet another parallel to this case. Anthony case with a similar bill called Cayley's Law going into effect in Florida after Kaylee's death. However, critics to these laws explain they may not make a parent more likely to report if they are the ones responsible for their child's disappearance, which seems to be the case for Megan. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers,

spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where ORA comes in. ORA actively removes your data from broker's sites and keeps it off. They also instantly alert you if your information shows up in a breach or on the dark web. But ORA goes beyond data protection. With one app, you get a VPN, antivirus, password manager, spam call protection, dark web monitoring,

and even up to $5 million in identity theft insurance. all backed by 24-7 U.S.-based fraud support. Other companies might sell just credit monitoring or just a VPN. ORA gives you all of it, together, at the same price competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial today at ORA.com slash remove. Protect yourself now at aura.com slash remove. And now that we have covered all of this background information, we can finally start going over everything that has taken place in the first days of this long away to trial.

beginning on February 5th, 2025. The first day was seemingly cut a little short. However, there's already been some pretty big Bonchelle revelations that came out during opening statements and that we are going to get into in just a minute. But the first thing that happened was the reading of the indictment, which took roughly 30 minutes given that there are 18 charges. One of the original false reporting charges has been dropped so that an interview with Megan providing a partial confession could be admitted into the trial.

Assistant District Attorney Amber Messingill gave a powerful opening statement for the prosecution, stating that Megan failed Evelyn in the worst possible way. She said that the last time Evelyn was seen alive was December 6th, and family became concerned as months passed with Megan no longer bringing her daughter around. In addition to the lies, we already know Megan told, Messingill also stated that she lied to the PD. attrition's office who inquired about Evelyn missing her scheduled wellness visits. She also stated that we will be hearing a lot about Ethan Perry during the trial.

However, she revealed for the first time publicly that Ethan is not actually Evelyn's biological father, even though Megan perpetuated this lie. Megan told family and friends that Ethan had taken her to court to file for emergency custody, which is easy to disprove. because there were no court records. She mentioned the chaos and embarrassment Megan put Ethan through by telling this lie because investigators had to come and search his army barracks in Louisiana.

Messingale stated that while concocting these stories, the reality was that she knew where Evelyn was the entire time because she is the one who placed her daughter Evelyn there, compressed in a trash can upside down in her childhood playhouse. She discussed that during the same time Evelyn went missing, conveniently happens to be the same time Megan was developing her new relationship with Hunter Wood. And that while her daughter was decomposing, Megan was outliving her best life. She went on trips, stayed in nice hotels, went to Margaritaville, all while she should have been grieving her daughter. Messingale closed out her opening statements by saying that while Megan already had her chance, it's now the jury's chance to get things right for Evelyn by.

finding Megan guilty on all counts. I submit to you, Megan Boswell has already had her chance. She was gifted with a beautiful child. A healthy, vibrant little girl. Evelyn was perfect. Megan Boswell already had her chance. So today is Evelyn's chance.

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does not have enough evidence to convict her of first-degree murder. He said that this was an interesting choice for the state to charge Megan with first-degree murder in three different ways. The first being premeditated. The second as a result of child abuse and the third as a result of neglect. He said that that alone casts reasonable doubt because they can't prove how Evelyn died. Scott also stated that the jury will hear from multiple medical examiners, all of which have different theories about how Evelyn died. However, he believes that the medical examiner who thinks Evelyn was placed in the trash can alive is incorrect. and that this type of death would be inconsistent with murder resulting from abuse and neglect.

Scott also brings up the possibility of Evelyn's death being accidental, and either Megan or Hunter rolling on top of her in their sleep. And while he does admit that not calling 911 in this circumstance seems unreasonable, it might not have been for an 18-year-old who grew up like Megan. But that's what I'm going to ask you to do. Put yourself in Megan Boswell's position. She's 18 years old. She's got an older boyfriend.

We expect the proof will be that he tells her, don't involve me with this. I don't want to be involved. They're scared they're going to get charged with something. That's going to be the proof in this case. And my reaction and your reaction would be different. I would certainly call 911. But I'm not 18 years old.

And I sometimes think, back to myself, I would have called down to 11 years old. But I probably wouldn't. But I know a lot of people at 18 years old, it wouldn't. Their life experiences are different. Their maturity is different. If any of you have kids, some of you probably know that. He said that the reason Megan continued to lie about Evelyn being dead is because she was

afraid of getting in trouble. But that doesn't necessarily mean she's a murderer. interestingly while we know that hunter wood claims to have had no contact with evelyn scott says that the jury will see evidence that he was involved in her life and that the investigators decided to solely focus on megan rather than hunter as well he said it's strange that cadaver dogs searched the property but didn't hit on the playhouse until days later when tommy seemingly had an epiphany that they should check there again and evelyn just so happened to be found that same day all in all he hopes that the jury will consider all of the possibilities for Evelyn's death, even sudden infant death syndrome, and believes that with the lack of evidence from the state, they will have to find her not guilty. The state's first witness was TVI agent Brian Freyley, who we know now is the one that located baby Evelyn's body in the playhouse. He said that over the course of their investigation, Megan gave him multiple different stories as to where Evelyn was located. He also stated that on

March 6, he and other investigators were planning on taking a break for the weekend to regroup right before he got a call from Tommy Boswell about the playhouse. When he and other investigators arrived at the property, he looked inside the playhouse and he saw the white trash can piles with bags. On the screen, several photos were shown inside the playhouse and the photo of Evelyn's little egg appearing after Frey removed one bag from the top. He described each photo as he removed items from the trash can and layers of foil off of Evelyn. The foil around her head seemed to have been formed around her,

and multiple jury members cried as photos of Evelyn's body were shown. Megan appeared to be crying as well, but I will note that there didn't appear to be any tears, or at least no tears that I could personally see. Before recess, Freely stated that the purple penguin onesie and the blanket Evelyn was found in matched the description of her last known outfit. Megan provided, this outfit and the description of this outfit during an interview 10 days before the discovery of her body. After the recess, the trial was paused to resolve a legal issue. The issue was regarding whether or not the jury should be able to view the entire interview between Megan and Agent Fraley and not just parts that the state picked out to show. The defense argued that they should be able

to cross-examine Fraley after the jury views the entire video because during this interview, Megan also says that Evelyn's death was an accident. He said, quote, I want juries to hear the video because it tells her side of what happened. He put in part of a confession that the baby is dead. They're trying to use that to blame her that the baby's dead. There is a long video. We just want the jury to be able to see it. I think it explains her side of the story pretty accurately, end quote. Judge Goodwin decided that he would need the rest of the day to watch the entire video for himself and make a decision. So he let the jury go for the day who was currently being sequestered in a local hotel. Day two of the trial started with Judge Goodwin announcing his decision that the jury

would be able to view Megan's interview with TBI agent Frailey. In the video, Megan described that when she woke up, Evelyn wasn't breathing and she believed that Hunter accidentally rolled on top of her. She said she attempted CPR, but then held her for several hours after realizing she was dead. She alleged that Hunter took Evelyn to dispose of her body. Megan recalled her being dressed in the purple penguin onesie and wrapped in a thick gray fleece blanket, the same things that she was later found wearing. In the video, she stated that she had no idea where he took her body, but gave several possibilities, including under a doghouse on Hunter's property,

or somewhere on the Boswell compound. She also stated that afterwards she noticed a trash can from her trailer was gone, but didn't ask if Hunter used that to dispose of her. Megan's attorney asked Frey why they didn't immediately search the compound after this admission. And he said they checked several of the other possible locations, and really they just weren't sure if she was even telling the truth. Next on the stand was Megan's father, Tommy Boswell Sr. Tommy talked about Megan being placed in foster care for not attending school,

but financially supporting her and then Evelyn as well until she was able to come back home. He discussed Megan moving into the trailer at the family-owned trailer park and how he paid for all of her bills until he found out that she had moved in with Hunter. When he realized that Megan was no longer living in the trailer, he hired a friend to help clean it out and so he could then rent the space to someone else. Tommy spoke about the trip he took with Megan and Hunter's family, to Gatlinburg for Christmas and how Megan told him that Evelyn was staying with Ethan. He reiterated that every time he asked about Evelyn, Megan had an excuse as to where she was

and why Ethan wasn't returning her. After Tommy finally reported the situation to CPS, he gave full permission for his property to be searched. He also described seeing Megan's car on the property with her tailgate pulled up in a shed located near the playhouse. At the time, he was He believed she was retrieving more items, but didn't go over and ask because he was in a rush to go by medication for his youngest son. The defense asked Tommy about how Megan was able to gain entry onto the property, and he explained that everyone in the family had a key fob in their car, kind of like a garage door opener that would open the gate.

He said that while it's technically possible for Hunter to have access to the keyfob, if he drove Megan's car, he never saw Hunter on the property. The next witness was a friend Tommy mentioned, Austin Feller, who cleaned out the trailer after Megan had left. Photos were displayed as he described finding dirty diapers, trash, mold, and general filth throughout the home, creating really unacceptable living conditions for a baby. Feller said that once all of the trash was removed, he had to redo the flooring using a respirator due to the smell. Next was an employee for the Department of Children's Services, James Lewis. He actually became involved in Megan's life after someone reported Megan for neglect,

lack of supervision, and physical abuse of Evelyn. At the time of his visit, no one knew that Evelyn was already missing. Lewis stated that when he spoke to Megan about the allegations, her demeanor did not show much care or concern. At the time, Megan was staying at Hunter's house, but Megan did not have a crib or even a pack-and-play or really any other items for children. The only thing she had were a cup and what he described to as a memory box. If Megan was no longer living in the trailer, it's unclear where all the items for Evelyn would be located,

minus that memory box. The next witness was Megan's former foster sister, Casey Saltz, who was also just happens to be the receptionist at the pediatrician's office where Evelyn had her well visits. She stated, Casey stated, that her aunt babysat Evelyn on at least one occasion in early December. However, after that, Evelyn began missing her scheduled well visits at the pediatrician's office. When Casey reached out to ask Megan if everything was okay, she said that she just forgot the days and forgot the appointments. Casey let her know that the pediatrician was was not happy with Evelyn missing her appointments, and Megan let her know that she was going

to switch doctors. However, their office never got any medical record requests, which you would expect if a child switches doctors. Evelyn's pediatrician, Dr. Barbara Pugh, briefly spoke as well. She stated that other than being a little small, Evelyn was doing well at all of her visits. She also recalled seeing her on a routine basis until around December 5th when Megan stopped. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the Internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers.

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charge for just one service. Start your free trial today at ORA.com slash remove. Protect yourself now atora.com slash remove. Bringing Evelyn in for her scheduled appointments. After this, we heard from Ethan Perry's grandfather, Paul Miller. He stated that a few days before Christmas, he invited Megan and Evelyn over to retrieve a present. Megan showed up to his home with Ethan, but she let him know that Evelyn was home sick with the flu.

Next on the stand was a young man named Stephen Lawrence, who was the brother of Megan's former friend who passed away. He testified that Megan came to visit him in December and recalled that Evelyn wasn't with her. He also said that on February 25th, 2020, Megan asked him to help her locate Evelyn. He took her to the sheriff's office to speak with officers. And afterwards, Stephen asked if Evelyn was missing when she visited him in December, to which she said yes. The next witness was Megan's longtime friend named Audrey Gibbs. Audrey stated that prior to Evelyn going missing, Evelyn was always with Megan every time they hung out and she never knew Megan to use babysitters. Audrey stated that after giving birth to her daughter, Kyrie, Megan came to visit her at the

hospital on December 9th, 2019, which was the first time she'd ever seen her without Evelyn. She described Megan as acting weird during the visit and having a strange look on her face. Even though they remained in contact after this visit, Megan never brought Evelyn up unless Audrey did it first. Audrey tried to get Megan to bring Evelyn over to meet Kyrie, but Megan would tell her that she was with Ethan. She also said that Megan told her she was pregnant in mid-January. The last witness for the day was Megan's other longtime best friend Bailey Hawkins. Prior to December of 2019, she hung out with Megan and Evelyn about once or twice a week. The last time she saw Evelyn was when they attended an event called the Speedway in Lights at the Bristol Motor Speedway

in late November. She said that after Megan started working at Hunter T's Chicken Shack in the beginning of December, she was told that Megan's grandmother was watching Evelyn while she worked. She stated Megan worked open to close most days. Next, we see multiple text message exchanges between Bailey and Megan, which shows the rapid progression and almost borderline obsession that Megan was developing for Hunter. And during this time, she never mentioned Evelyn or seemed to be including Evelyn in her or Hunter's plans. Starting in mid-December, Megan began telling Bailey that after a visit with Ethan, he took emergency custody of Evelyn. She stated that they were going to go to court in January, but at no point did she seem upset or scared about losing Evelyn. On December 14th,

Megan asked Bailey if she would come to stay in a hotel with her. She stated that she didn't want to go home because seeing Evelyn's things made her sad. And when Bailey asked why she couldn't stay with Hunter, she said she didn't feel like being around him. At the hotel, Bailey said that Megan was acting disassociated and went to sleep. The next day, Bailey rode with Megan to the hospital, to see Audrey and meet her new baby. Bailey said that Megan was all over the place acting erratic and kept saying how much she loved that. She reiterated that this was not how Megan normally behaved

and it was out of character. On December 23rd, Megan told Bailey that she was with Ethan at his grandparents' house. Bailey asked if Evelyn was with her and how she was and Megan said, yes, and that she was doing good. at this point Bailey became visibly upset after reading a text in which she tells Megan that she misses Evelyn and asked her to send some photographs. Megan told her that she would in a second, but then she never did send any photographs. What do you say to Megan?

So please send pictures of Evelyn. I miss her. And what does Megan say to you? So I'm willing to say it. Okay. Did Megan send pictures of Evelyn that day? No. Bailey, do you need a minute? Okay.

In January, Bailey asked when the custody court date was and how it was going, and Megan told her that it was going to start the next day. On January 24th, Megan also told Bailey that she was pregnant. Bailey responded and asked how Evelyn was, and Megan said that she and Ethan had agreed on a two-week-on, two-week-off custody agreement. However, after several more times of asking for photos or to visit Evelyn, Bailey did start to feel like her stories were not adding up. She also noticed that Megan stopped posting photos of Evelyn on social media. Bailey testified that she only found out that Evelyn was missing from Facebook and not from Megan herself. On February 22nd, Bailey texted Megan that if something happened to Evelyn to tell her and that she needed to know, She asked when was the last time that Megan saw Evelyn?

And Megan replied that she could not disclose any information. Bailey also asked if Hunter ever got to meet Evelyn. But Megan said she would not get into that for Hunter's sake. And that is in quotes, not get into that for Hunter's sake. Following this portion of her testimony, it was decided that the defense would wait until the next day to cross-examine Bailey. And that leads us to day three. Day three, Friday, started right on cue.

When the live feed started, there was no audio, but we were able to see the defense prosecution and judge chatting. They were smiling. They all looked to be laughing, and it seemed like they were all having a pretty good time and that they have a great relationship, even though the defense and prosecution are arguing against one another. We picked back up with the defenses turned to question Megan's longtime best friend,

Bailey Hawkins. Bailey stated that after Evelyn was born, she had no reason to believe that she was mistreated in any way. She also said that if she did think she was being abused, she would step in to stop it regardless if it ruined her friendship with Megan. The prosecution came back briefly to ask if Bailey ever witnessed Evelyn in contact with Hunter, to which she replied no. After Bailey Hawkins, the second person on the stand on Friday was Crystal Crawford. Crystal has been an employee of the Econa Lodge for nearly a decade. She confirmed that Megan checked in and out four different times at the hotel. The dates were October 11th through 12th, 2019, which that date would have been before Evelyn

was last seen. The second date was December 14th through 15th, 2019. The third date was December 15th through 16th, 2019. and the fourth date was January 5th through 6th, 2020. On the third visit, December 15th through 16th, Crystal and Megan struck up a conversation that lasted about 20 minutes. During that conversation, it came up that Megan had a little girl.

Megan told Crystal that Evelyn was with her father. Crystal confirmed that she never did see Evelyn at the hotel. Crystal said that Megan never appeared to be crying, sad, scared, worried, or concerned about the safety of her daughter during any of her visits. The next witness was Caitlin Carter. Caitlin and Megan, well, they met in middle school and then reconnected and became friends while Caitlin was in college. Caitlin was around baby Evelyn four or five times.

The last time Caitlin saw Evelyn was at Chili's with Megan in early December 2019 after she finished her final exams. Caitlin said that Evelyn's face, hands and clothes were all dirty and that she could smell her across the table. But this is interesting to note because it was a siding after Thanksgiving. This was, again, early December 2019. And then the prosecution shifted to when Megan started working at the chicken shack and began dating Hunter Wood shortly after she started working there. Caitlin said she would spend more time with Hunter and less time with Evelyn, or no time with Evelyn, actually. The prosecution showed Caitlin two photos, which were believed to be taken mid-December of Megan and Hunter at the aquarium.

Megan had sent those photos to Caitlin. Eventually, Caitlin asked about Evelyn to which Megan responded that she was with her father. And that father was Ethan. Megan told Caitlin that after Ethan saw photos of bruises on Evelyn's forehead, he had taken emergency custody of Evelyn. Megan continues saying that both in person and text. And then around Christmas time, Megan and Caitlin met up at Bristol to hang out. While they were hanging out, Megan's dad called her and Megan told her dad that she would be getting

Evelyn back around the 1st of February. On cross-examination, Attorney Scott confirmed with Caitlin that the Chili's incident was the only time that Caitlin ever saw Evelyn in that state. He also questioned Caitlin on why their friendship ended. Caitlin said that Megan misplaced her phone and didn't have a way to communicate with her. On redirect, prosecutor Massingale clarified that the Chili's incident was shortly after she began working

on the chicken shack. So basically, to lay out the timeline in simple terms, Megan begins working at the chicken shack. She then begins dating Hunter Wood. Approximately the first week of December is when Caitlin last. saw Evelyn with Megan. After that, she never saw her again, but began to get concerned as Megan seemed to only be hanging out with Hunter and did not have Evelyn with her. And then just before

Christmas was the call when Megan told her father that Evelyn would come back around February 1st. The third witness on Friday was Megan's foster mother, Gail Kite. Gail was Megan's foster mom for four months. The end of 2018 to February. of 2019. So when Megan came to Gail, she was 17 years old and seven months pregnant. While Megan and Evelyn were living with Gail, Evelyn seemed to be a normal developing infant and Gail made sure to take her to all of her appointments before Megan and Evelyn moved into Megan's dads in February of 2019. Well, seven months later in September of 2019, Megan brought Evelyn over to Gail's for a visit. And at that point, Evelyn was just learning to walk and was taking a couple steps on her own.

Text messages were shown in court on December 3rd, Megan asking Gail if her sister, Sue, would be willing to watch Evelyn and if she could pay her the following week because she had just gotten a job and she wouldn't get paid until then. Gail said she knew her sister would. Sue did end up watching Evelyn a few times. Gail then testified that she saw Megan Ann Hunter her on December 22nd at a church play. Evelyn was not with Megan. And when Gail asked where she was, Megan told her that Ethan had her

and that they were sharing custody. Well, fast forward to Monday, January 13th, 2020. Gail and Megan were messaging back and forth. And when Gail asked how she and Evelyn were doing, she responded, good. Ethan has half custody now. Gail responded that Megan needed to come visit and that she almost bought Evelyn a dress at Cracker Barrel.

But then she realized she wasn't too sure of her size. To which Megan responded, quote, she wears 18 months now. Isn't that crazy? Hunter and I can come when we get off work. Ethan has Evelyn until Friday though, end quote. Gail told her to not come until Thursday because she had a DCS visit and was cleaning and then she was nervous.

Megan told her not to be nervous and said that she and her husband were the best foster parents and in some ways were her family more than her actual family. And then in February, Megan's aunt Shirley reached out to Gail on Facebook and then called her. Because of court rules, Gail was not allowed to say what Shirley told her, but Gail said that she told Shirley she didn't know where Evelyn was and that the last time she had talked to Megan, Megan had told her Ethan had Evelyn. Well, after hanging up, Gail tried calling Megan, but her dad answered and they talked. Then messaged Megan on Facebook and Megan told her she didn't have a phone.

That day, Gail called DCS and left a message saying Evelyn was missing. After Gail testified, her sister Sue was called to the stand and Sue confirmed that she had watched Evelyn three to four times in her home and Megan would bring her to her. During that time, Evelyn would always show up dirty, smelling like urine and needing a bath. Evelyn also had a terrible diaper rash, worse than anything she had said. scene. The last time Sue watched Evelyn, Megan picked her up around 10 or 1030 p.m. Megan later said she wouldn't need her to babysit Evelyn anymore. And then on December 21st, Sue sent Megan a message basically begging to be paid because she hadn't been paid yet for watching

Evelyn and she was out of gas. Well, Megan responded saying that she would bring the money and put it in her mailbox before following up and apologizing for not stopping to talk, saying that she had been crying and that her baby daddy had taken temporary custody of Evelyn and that she hadn't seen her in days. The court took a short break before returning to bring. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you,

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Again, ORA gives you all of it, together, at the same price competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial today atora.com slash remove. Protect yourself now at aura.com slash remove. I mean Erica Stacey to the stand. Erica's son Caleb dated Megan in the spring of 2019 and she met Evelyn a handful of times during that time. Every time she saw Evelyn, Megan was with her and they were described as being attached at the hip. Despite Erica offering to babysit Evelyn, Megan never took her up. on that offer. Even after Caleb and Megan broke up, Erica stayed in contact with Megan because she wanted to help Megan and Evelyn. In September of 2019, Megan came over with Evelyn so that

she could get decals Erica had made to put on her car. Well, Erica helped her put them on the car, these decals, and that was the last time she ever saw Evelyn. A little while later, in November, Megan went to Erica's house to pick up a birthday shirt Erica made for Evelyn and a birthday gift. As Erica tearfully described the shirt she made Evelyn and the baby shark blanket that she had put Evelyn's name on for her birthday, the camera panned over to Megan, who also seemed emotional in the courtroom. If you can go ahead and just take out with the envelope and don't show it to the jury yet, but see if you can identify that. Yeah. Okay. Can you tell me what it is?

It's the shirt that I made for Evelyn for her birthday. Okay. When asked if Megan ever said anything about Evelyn that was surprising, Erica said that Megan would always say that, quote, Evelyn was mean as shit, end quote. Despite Megan saying that Erica said that Evelyn was a very happy, very smiley baby. In December, Megan was supposed to come over on Christmas Eve to pick up Christmas gifts for Eve, but she never came and got them. Erica saw Megan and Hunter at church twice in January, but Evelyn was not with Megan.

either time. When Erica asked Megan what Evelyn thought of Hunter, she said that they hadn't really been around each other. The next time she heard anything about Evelyn was when detectives showed up at Erica's house and Evelyn was reported as missing. At some point in February, Erica picked Megan up from Walmart after Megan said she didn't have anywhere to go. Erica tried to talk to Megan to see if she could get her to open up about Evelyn and her whereabouts, but Megan said she didn't know where she was blaming Ethan once again saying he had her and wouldn't answer calls or texts. Megan seemed completely emotionless. She was then asked about Megan's TV interviews. Spring of 2019. Is that right? Yes. Yes. Did you see Megan on the news interviews that she gave?

I did. Okay. Did you watch those interviews? Of course. Was the Megan that you saw on those television interviews, the same Megan? that you knew? No. How was she different? It was almost, it almost seemed rehearsed, practiced. She just, I don't know how to describe that. Okay, okay, we can stop with that. And then, Erica was shown text between her and Megan from January 8th, 2020 prior to Evelyn being reported as missing. And in these messages, she said, quote, I've been worried to death of, about you. Are you okay? And then another that said, quote, did you and Evelyn have a good Christmas? Megan responded, quote, we did. And then this is where things got a little weird in the courtroom.

So on the messages shown from Megan to Erica, it said we did. When asked if she and Hunter were a couple, Megan responds to Erica, more or less, L-O-L, Ethan's leaving to go home. tomorrow so I won't have Evelyn tonight, but I'll bring her next week, end quote. So there was, in other words, a mix up of text messages that look to be screenshots shown on the screen. And the defense asked for a mistrial because of this. So it was a big jump from all of a sudden hearing witnesses to, whoa, we're going to declare a mistrial here. Judge Goodwin decided to not call a mistrial, but instead told the jury to not consider the messed up messages and then told the DA's office to make sure that there were no more errors within the evidence. And then there was a lunch break.

After lunch break, Attorney Scott once again brought up the issue of the messages. The jury is left with an impression that these are screenshots. I think that's what several of us in the room thought when they were coming in. So without waiving my earlier motion for a mistrial, My suggestion would be if the court, since the court has denied that, the court craft a curative instruction to explain to the jury that these are not screenshots, these are text messages selected by the state, which are a portion of the text messages contained on a telephone download. The judge reiterated to the jury to not consider that message as evidence at all and then told them that they are not actual screenshots. Erica Stacey was then called back to the witness stand

after that to finish her testimony. They showed the amended messages from January 8th, which started by Megan texting Erica, quote, we and Hunter are for sure coming tonight, exclamation point. We tried to come on New Year's, but there wasn't a service, L.O.L. To which Erica responded with two messages, the first one, quote, I have been worried to death about you. Are you? Are you? you okay? And the other, quote, did you and Evelyn have a good Christmas? End quote. The text chain continued after that. Megan, my phone is broken, L.O.L. We did. Did you at all? Erica. We sure did. I'll bring you presents tonight and give them to you. So are you and Hunter a couple? Question mark. Megan. More or less, L.O. Ethan's leaving to go home tomorrow, so I won't have Evelyn

but I'll bring her next week. Erica. Okay. What does Evelyn think of Hunter? Megan. She's not really been around him much because Ethan's in and has had her a lot. He won't get another break until he's out in September. Erica.

Oh, okay. They then showed another set of text messages. So here we go again. Erica, quote, can you tell me who has or had Evelyn? I'm worried sick about her. Megan then replies, quote, my mom did. That's why the TBI was looking for that BMW and she's being questioned, end quote. Erika, then replies, what did your mom do with Evelyn?

The news said that she wasn't with them. Has she had her this entire time? End quote. Megan, quote, yeah, I'll talk to you later. I'm just trying to gather pictures of her, but thinks, though. End quote. Obviously, that was different than when Megan previously told Erica that Evelyn was with Ethan. So we already are seeing a difference in what Megan is stating to friends and how her story is changing. On cross-exam, the defense just clarified how old Evelyn was when she met her, what Megan's personality was like, and if Evelyn ever was taken care of.

There was no redirect and Erica was free to leave. The next witness was Randy Wood, who is Hunter Wood's father. So Randy actually owns the chicken shop. And he said the first time that he met Megan was when she applied for a job there. And he hired her. When asked about Hunter and Megan's relationship on the stand, he described it as, quote, a weird situation, end quote, saying she got her car repoed and he made Hunter take her to an appointment that day, since she didn't have anywhere to go after her car was reposed, she stayed with them for three nights.

And then he talked more about Hunter and what is going on with Hunter now. And it was a lot. Take a listen. Well, they was together a lot. Yes. You can say Dayton, if you want to, or together a lot. Yes. Okay.

And at some point in time, does she come to live at your house? Well, she didn't have anywhere to go when they repoped a car. And apparently her father, what she said, would kick her out. So I'll let her come stay about. She stayed about three nights there. That's all she stayed. Okay. Did, were you aware that she had a small child?

Yes. Okay. Did you ever see Evelyn? No, never saw the baby. Okay. She never brought Evelyn to work there with her at the chicken check? When I hired her, because one of the questions is, do you have any kids? because we work around schedules.

Because you've got a child, you can't work a lot of hours. So I asked her, she said, yes, I have a baby girl. I said, do we need to work around your schedule? She said, no, the baby daddy had the child. She said, I can work as many hours you want. I said, okay. Did she work a lot of hours? She did work a lot of hours.

Now, you said she had stayed at your house. Did you ever see, did she ever bring Evelyn over? The baby never was in my house. Okay. Should you ever bring any high chairs or play pens? No, nothing. Diapers, baby bottles? Nothing.

Okay. Did you ever see your son Hunter around? No. How often were you, did you see Hunter at that time? Every day. Now, your son Hunter, does he still live with you? No, he started living with his mother, but he's not, he's at, hospital at the moment okay he's at a hospital where is he in a hospital

Mary in Virginia all right is that a mental hospital yes how long has he been there two months okay what have you been up there to see him at that facility yes what is his mental status this time well some days he's pretty decent other days he don't know who I am okay would he be able to come into this courtroom and testify? No. You mentioned that he'd been there for about two months. Yes. Had he had mental health problems prior to that? Yes. When did he, if you know, when did he start having mental health problems? Well, when he got accused being a baby killer. We also got to hear from Ethan Perry himself. Ethan testified that he, he said, he was,

he and Megan had an on and off again relationship throughout high school until he graduated in 2017. He joined the army 10 days later and started basic training before being stationed in Louisiana. And during that time, he and Megan maintained a long distance contact. I wanted to say long distance relationship, but it was more like long distance contact, mostly through handwritten letters and occasional phone calls. They'd see each other periodically when Ethan would return home for visits, but their relationship had mostly fizzled out the longer he was gone. In April of 2018, Megan informed Ethan that she was pregnant and believed him to be the father. And even though Ethan had doubts, he accepted that she was telling the truth.

After that, even though he returned home for Christmas in 2018, he didn't see Megan and Evelyn because she had confirmed his paternity. At one point in 2019, Ethan was on a mission in El Paso, Texas. when Megan drove herself and Evelyn two straight days to surprise him with a visit. Even though Ethan was shocked and wanted to turn her away since she came so far and brought the baby, he decided to let her stay. They spent about three or four days together with him getting acquainted with Evelyn. That was the one and only time he physically saw Evelyn.

After Megan returned to Tennessee, they continued to have periodic contact via Facebook Messenger. Ethan said that this was mostly arguing and Megan asking for money for Evelyn. However, he was doubting even more that she really was his child. Ethan stated that the last time he was in Tennessee was to visit his family for Christmas in late December 2019. He asked Megan to bring Evelyn over to his grandparents to receive a gift, but Megan told him that she had the flu. Megan went with Ethan to retrieve the gift, which is the last time they saw each other.

A few days later, Megan texts. to him and said, just so you know, my dad kicked me out again, so I won't have Evelyn back until I get a place to stay." End quote. It seems as though she didn't want Ethan to know. She was already living with Hunter. On January 19th, Ethan texted Megan to let her know that people had been reaching out to him, claiming to be worried about Evelyn. Megan told Ethan to just ignore everyone because she hadn't spoken to her family for weeks, which is why none of them had seen the baby. Ethan was also surprised when he began receiving phone calls from CPS requesting information regarding Evelyn's whereabouts. He was even more surprised

when they asked if he was in custody of Evelyn or had even seen her because, as we know, that's what Megan had been alleging. Not long after, he was contacted by the Army Central Investigation Division, who told him that he was going to be questioned by CPS and law enforcement. He underwent hours of interrogation, a barracks in car search and consented to his phone being searched as well. He also underwent a DNA test, which proved that he was not Evelyn's biological father. The defense only had a few questions for Ethan pertaining to his one and only visit with Evelyn in El Paso. They asked if Evelyn appeared to be well taken care of, to which he said yes.

However, when asked if Megan appeared to love Evelyn, he said he wasn't sure. The next witness on the stand was Carl Perry, Ethan's other grandfather. He stated that after Evelyn went missing, police came to ask if his wife had previously babysat for Megan. However, at the time, his wife had severe cancer, and investigators could see that she would not have been babysitting anyone anytime recently. The last witness of the day, a lieutenant with the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office, Michelle Gillum. A video was shown from an interview between Gillum and Megan in which Megan continues to try to say that Ethan was in custody of Evelyn. Next, the lieutenant shared photos of items inside a storage shed, which was located directly in front of the playhouse where Evelyn was later found. These mostly consisted of fairly new baby items believed to belong to Evelyn.

That wraps up the first few days, the first week of the trial. and I'll continue to follow and bring you the very latest updates. Hit subscribe and notifications. We'll see you next week. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers.

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