Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #42 - Bowen Turner Is Arrested Again + the 911 Call from the Night of Sara Lynn Colucci’s Death

Episode Date: March 14, 2024

On today's True Sunlight Podcast, Co-hosts Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell talk to South Carolina Victims Assistance Network attorney Sarah Ford and Karl Stoller, a father who continues to seek justice for his daughter’s sexual assault, about the latest arrest of Bowen Turner. Bowen — who was accused by three girls in three separate counties of rape — avoided prison time for those sexual assaults after he received a sweetheart plea deal in 2022, which his lawyer-legislator was able to secure because of his implied influence over the prosecution and the judge. This is his second arrest since his sentence was suspended almost two years ago and it’s just four months since he was released from the South Carolina Department of Corrections.  Also on today’s show, Mandy and Liz begin their coverage of the Michael Colucci retrial, starting with the night Michael’s wife, Sara Lynn, was found dead outside their business in Summerville. They break down the 911 call from that night and talk about what’s in store for Michael’s retrial in May. Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ In March we’re offering your first month of Soak Up The Sun membership for 50% off. Join Luna Shark Premium today at Lunashark.Supercast.com. Premium Members also get access to searchable case files, written articles with documents, case photos, episode videos and exclusive live experiences with our hosts on lunasharkmedia.com all in one place. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE. And for those just wanting ad-free listening without all the other great content, we now offer ad-free listening on Apple Podcast through a subscription to Luna Shark Plus on the Apple Podcasts App. Or become a Premiere Member on YouTube for exclusive videos and ad-free episodes. SUNscribe to our free email list to get that special offer for first time members, receive alerts on bonus episodes, calls to action, new shows and updates. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3KBMJcP Visit our new events page Lunasharkmedia.com/events where you can learn about the upcoming in-person and virtual appearances from hosts! And a special thank you to our sponsors: Microdose.com, PELOTON, and VUORI. Use promo code "MANDY" for a special offer! For current & accurate updates: TrueSunlight.com facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/ Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod Twitter.com/mandymatney Twitter.com/elizfarrell youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I don't know what it will take for the justice system to prioritize victims' concerns over privileged defendants. But this weekend, Bowen Turner proved to the world how dangerous it gets when the system shows young defendants just how much they can get away with. My name is Mandi Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption previously known as the Murdoch Murders Podcast. True production, written with journalist Liz Farrell. Hello and we are back after a big exciting week visiting the beautiful state of Arizona. Arizona friends, I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I still have imposter syndrome when it comes to the whole author book space. I met authors this weekend who dedicated several years of their lives to their book and their book alone. Admittedly, my book was written in a rush during some of the lowest mental health moments of my life. And it simply wouldn't exist without my co-author Carolyn Murnick's hard work, tenacity, and relentless support of my story

during a time when the trolls almost convinced me to give up. Carolyn reminded me over and over that my book was important to inspire women to stand their ground and find their voices like I found mine. So my journey was a lot different from the authors that I spoke with this weekend. But the Lunashark fans in the audience reminded me that I belonged there. Thank you to not only the fans who went to both panels but also stayed after to chat and get your books signed. It was humbling and inspiring to meet y'all, to hear your stories

and to hear why you listen to True Sunlight. You, the fans, have made me feel validated and supported through every step of this process. And get this, you're making this introvert actually look forward to public appearances. For someone who spent years essentially hiding from the public, that is a big deal. So thank you. That said, Columbia, South Carolina,

we will be back to see you next week. Please join the South Carolina Victims Assistance Network and I for the Victims Matter Rally at 9 a.m. March 21st at the steps of the South Carolina State House in Columbia. This event is so timely and important. It gives us the opportunity to show those in power just how much we care about changing the system for the better. Especially after Bowen Turner was arrested this weekend, which we will talk about in a minute. The Victims Matter Rally is an opportunity to raise our voices loud enough so lawmakers can hear. Especially about the two cases in particular that we have been covering for two years.

Stephen Smith's case and the Bowen Turner case. We need to show our lawmakers that we're not going to be quiet about either one of them. And we simply will not accept them saying that nothing can be done. We need to show them that people from all over the world want Stephen's case solved. That Stephen's case could show the world that things are different now in South Carolina and no matter how much time has passed, people

like Sandy Smith can still get justice. We need to show up for Stephen, for Dallas, for Chloe and for Sandy Smith, and remind the system that victims can't and won't be silenced. We owe it to the victims for the systems to correct the mistakes that were made in their investigations and to fix the issues that have prevented them from getting justice. And we need to spread the word about this rally on social media. Be sure to tag your local TV stations and newspapers so they will care enough to cover it. So, for those of you all in SC asking us every week what can be done in Steven's case,

please be there next Thursday. Make the t-shirts, the signs, the friendship bracelets, make it impossible for them to ignore us and for them to ignore the victims. Make them feel compelled to do something instead of ignoring the problem that has only gotten worse in the last few years. This event was created by attorney Sarah Ford in 2022, soon after thrice accused rapist Bowen Turner got a sweetheart deal due to the actions of Judge Markley Dennis, Prosecutor David Miller, and state Senator Brad Hutto. Sarah Ford, who wholeheartedly

fought for the victims in the Bowen Turner case, started the annual rally as her work made her realize that it was necessary to show support for all victims of crime in South Carolina. Because too often, the justice system forgets the victims. It is wild to think about. Days before the first ever Victims Matter rally was held, Bowen Turner was arrested for public disorderly conduct,

a violation of his parole conditions under the Youthful Offenders Act. That arrest ultimately led to Turner serving over a year in prison before he was released in November. And guess what? This weekend, less than two weeks before this year's Victims Matter rally, where we will scream until our voices shake about how important it is that the system actually listens to victims and prioritizes their concerns

and public safety over privileged defendants. Well, this weekend, Turner was arrested again. I keep thinking about this. What if Markley Dennis and David Miller actually listened to the concerns of the victims back in April 2022? How do those men feel now about their decision in allowing a thrice-accused rapist off easy despite the cries from victims and the public?

How do they feel now that once again Bowen Turner has proven to be a danger to the public. How did they feel knowing that they essentially taught this young man that he can get away with anything as long as his family has power and privilege? So let's talk about Bowen Turner again. So, let's talk about Bowen Turner again. Like again again. Or really, if we're being accurate, it's again again again. Because predictably, Bowen is back in the headlines for yet another arrest. That's right, just four months after he was released from the South Carolina Department of Corrections, where he was serving out part of his suspended sentence because of a previous arrest while out on probation. He's back in jail. He lasted four

months, you guys. Which, I guess to be fair, is longer than the last time this happened in 2022 when he held it together for just about a month before reoffending. To add insult to injury, he was released from SCDC last fall after serving just 16 months of his sweetheart deal of a four-year suspended sentence. Worse, he was released the day after the two-year anniversary of Dallas Stoller's death. Dallas was one of at least three teenagers

in three separate counties who reported being sexually assaulted by Bowen when he was 16 and 17 years old. And it's Dallas who has been on our minds a lot since hearing about this latest arrest. Dallas wanted Bowen to get help. She wanted the adults in his life and in the justice system to do their jobs and get this very troubled young man the help he needed so that he wouldn't continue to hurt people, so that he could be rehabilitated and live a productive life. She didn't just want justice for herself and the other victims, she wanted accountability for his sake too. Instead, Bowen was shown through a different door. One that allowed him to have some cognitive dissonance and pretend that nothing happened. Because instead of

being held to account for the sexual assault charges against him, remember, one of those sexual assault charges came while he was out on bond for another sexual assault charge. Bowen was allowed to plead guilty to a plain old first-degree assault and battery charge, as if he had just gotten into a fight with someone and not violated them in the most traumatic of ways. He was sentenced under the Youthful Offender Act, giving him the chance of a lifetime to make meaningful change in his life. It's a sentence that his parents essentially paid for by hiring a legislator lawyer who was able to use his influence within

the system to their benefit. They bought this resolution but appear to have made the mistake of thinking that in and of itself was the goal. Meaning, had Bowen just abided by the sentence he wouldn't have had to serve any time behind bars nor would he have had to register as a sex offender. His parents bought him a future, but they did not invest in him as a human being, but we'll get into that. Let's talk about what happened. On March 9th, the South Carolina Highway Patrol charged Bowen with a number of crimes after he was in a vehicle crash, in which he luckily missed hitting another driver, but flipped his own vehicle several times. Here's Carl Stahler, the father of Dallas Stahler, who is also an Orangeburg County Sheriff's Deputy, with what Bowen was charged with.

Bowen Turner was arrested over the weekend in Florence County for DUI, public disorderly conduct, it's like an open container of beer wine, seatbelt violation, and then there was, it was originally listed as an undisclosed charge that was pending, and of course, that turned out to be a resisting arrest. Florence County is about two hours from Orangeburg County where Bowen lives, according to his

sex offender registry profile. Speaking of that profile, according to the online portal, it appears that he first registered as a sex offender just five days before his latest arrest. Now, Bowen was arrested on Saturday night. Under normal circumstances, he would have been released on bond on Sunday. But

because of the circumstances involving the violation of his parole, he was held till Monday when the court had a hearing. Carl Stoller, along with South Carolina Victims Assistance Network attorney Sarah Ford, who represents Bowen's sexual assault victims, both went up to Florence on Monday to make sure that the victims' voices were heard by the court. Here is Sarah. Because Bowen is on supervised release on a charge in which there are victims, victims are notified and can and are encouraged to attend subsequent bond hearings. I did attend that bond hearing with Mr. Carl Stoller and of course was in contact with

all the other victims who were certainly concerned and wanted to be involved in the process. At the bond hearing, Mr. Turner got a bond of $2,500 on all of his new charges. We were then informed that there was a hold, there was a warrant from the Department of Corrections for him so that he would not be released even if he made that bond because of his violation or alleged violation of the conditions of his Y.O.A. supervised release. And certainly that was a relief for us knowing that he would not be released, that he would have to go through the administrative hearing to determine whether he would be continued on his Y.A. parole or if he would be sent back to the Department of Corrections. So it was a bit of a long day, a bit of a confusing day, but thankfully we got the answers from folks that we were looking for trying to track down. And to our knowledge, Mr. Turner is still being held on that hold from the Department of Corrections.

Here's Carl on how Monday went from his perspective. The judge was setting bond on the Highway Patrol charges, because obviously, Highway Patrol is the one that charged them with those offenses. And the normal procedures of a bond hearing in the magistrate read him all his rights, information, etc. And the judge took some testimony from the victim's advocate for Sacramento Highway Patrol in that office there.

And she made a statement as to what took place with the events, etc. And the judge listened to that of course and then she mentioned that Sarah Ford, our South Carolina victim's advocate attorney or SUBAN attorney was present and of course myself and we were there in reference to Turner's previous charges which he was currently out under intensive public corrections and under my understanding of under supervision of probation and parole and he said yes his question was that he didn't know how that was relevant to the case or the... And basically, her response to the judge was that was to reinforce the information that he had on the criminal history right in front of him or Mr. Turner about his tendencies

to be a repeat offender, obviously. And so the judge listened to a couple more things she had to say. And at that point, he did allow Sarah to forward to make a statement after he had set the bond. When he during the initially said he wasn't going to hear anything on that because he didn't really have any information as to the violation of the intensive supervision terms, if you will. And that was, would have been a misdemeanor charge from probation and parole and Department of Corrections, but they didn't have that warrant available and he had not actually been served with that warrant or that charging document at that point. So there was some conversation you possibly would hear that at three o'clock that afternoon, which we were a little surprised. But nevertheless,

Sarah gave a statement and I gave a statement. I don't know why he wanted us to do that because at that point he had already said he wasn't hearing that until those charging documents had been served on Mr. Turner, but he asked us to speak anyhow. So that's basically what happened at the initial portion of the bond hearing. Can we take a moment to talk about this headache? Because it's one we hear about a lot, just general confusion at a bond hearing when someone re-offends. It's almost like it's a disruption to the process when it would seem to be something that happens with some amount of regularity given how much we talk about recidivism.

Meaning, there needs to be some solution to streamline this process better because, as Karl pointed out to us, Bowen almost walked out of the jail on Monday because there was confusion over the warrant. All he would have been required to pay was $250 of his $2,500 bond and he'd be back in business. This kind of confusion is something that deeply affects victims. And not just victims, by the way, it also affects the people who've put their necks on the line along the way, such as witnesses to crimes. Calling for justice and protecting victims' rights in the courtroom isn't just a moment. It's not a one and done thing. It's basically a game of whack-a-mole where you always have to be poised and ready to knock down the next challenge.

So I want to take a second here to acknowledge something. Carl and Sarah have shown up for the victims, physically and emotionally and intellectually. Every time there's a new challenge in this case, they show up. Every time there's an opportunity to make this system work better, they show up. Their dedication isn't just helping bring sunlight to the broken parts of the system. It's showing us all how very necessary people like them are in this. They deserve so much praise and support for what they're doing, and they are nothing short of inspirational. We talked to Sarah a little bit about one of the challenges she's faced, how the work she and S.C. Van are doing protecting victims' rights, is still seen

as a new thing in South Carolina, even though the Victims' Bill of Rights has been around for around 30 years now. I think it's one of those things that, you know, it's been around since the late 90s. I think that the work of victims' rights attorneys in the criminal court arena is relatively new. I mean, I think, though, you know, for me and lawyers that I work with, it's not uncommon for us to say,

hi, you know, we are the victim's lawyer. We represent them. We wish to be heard at the appropriate time, you know, even to the court. And having judges say, well, I've never had a victim's lawyer, you know, involved. Well, I like to say, you know, just because we've always done something,

some way doesn't mean we've got to continue doing that. And victims have these rights. And, you know, continuously I see whether it's from judges or, you know, in some prosecutor's offices, members of the JMSD, it's shocking that victims would want to be represented. It just, it makes sense to me. You know, if everyone has rights, you want those rights to be protected. The defendant has, you know, the defense attorney, the state is represented by the prosecutor.

You know, the prosecutor doesn't represent the victim. And it's important for them to know that they have these rights and that they can assert these rights. And in fact, we can fight to make sure that these rights are enforced. If all people are looking at with victims' rights is that it's a check check mark, like check, we did talk to the victim, check, we let them know about the bond hearing, but we're not making it meaningful for them, then what's the point? It's useless. And we would certainly never do that to a defendant. So why would we ever, the person who has been hurt the most, who should be at the center of this process, why would we ever push them out and not make them a welcomed addition and inclusion

in the system, in the, you know, in the hearing at the table? That's just never made a whole lot of sense for me, even as a prosecutor. It just doesn't make sense. And we'll be right back. I'm sure y'all know how much I love fitness, justice, and travel, but I'm also deeply passionate about cheering on successful women. That's why I want to tell you about my amazing and inspiring friend, Jenny Fisher. You might have seen her in fitness magazines or on her own platform, fitfishmom.com. But now Jenny is offering an amazing opportunity to join her salt squad on the magical Greek

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That's travelgems.com slash get dash salty dash retreat. Having victims at the table is something that the good old boy system was not built for. The victim's voices are not only inconvenient to defense attorneys, they force law enforcement and prosecutors to have to work harder to be more thorough and diligent in building their cases. Which brings us back to Bowen.

When we first brought the Bowen Turner case to your attention in 2022, it was to help bring sunlight to a secret plea deal that Bowen's legislator attorney, State Senator Brad Huddo, had struck with the prosecutor, David Miller. Miller needed Huddo and his legislator friends to support his ongoing bid to become a circuit court judge. Miller is still trying to become a judge, by the way. Write your legislators. Back in 2022, it was clear that Bowen was a troubled teenager who desperately needed at least one adult to recognize that he needs serious help.

Because he did. He needed serious help. He stood accused of raping three teenage girls in three different counties. And while those teenage girls suffered, one to the point of ending her own life by a self-inflicted wound, the certain circles of the Orangeburg community seemed to rally around Bowen. Grown adults were advocating on his behalf, not advocating for him to be rehabilitated, but rather advocating for him to be rehabilitated, but rather advocating for him not to be held accountable while they shamed the girls who accused him of rape.

Dallas Stahler, on the other hand, knew that accountability would offer Bowen some sort of salvation. My wife and I definitely wanted to respect our daughter's wishes initially and when everything that originally happened and we supported her in that and it was her decision and she did advertise that to the solicitor's office at the time. And that was even prior to when Sarah Ford got involved as her attorney from the SC band. So that was talked about early on, Liz. But, you know, now, and, you know, everybody knows kind of the history that we evolved

and went down and then, of course, Dallas passed away. And we were, you know, we were still respecting her wishes even after her death. But of course, you know, Senator Hutto was, Brad Hutto was his attorney and Deputy Solicitor David Miller of Second Judicial Circuit was the prosecutor for the state. And somewhere along the line, all that got lost. And of course, they chose to make it a sentence which he's entitled to obviously but nothing ever got entertained further with saying, hey, this young man is offended at least three times that we know of.

He's a young man at that point in time, 16, 17 years old, I think he was 16 when he assaulted my daughter. And we thought that there was a legitimate chance for rehabilitation if to help him out because he's obviously sick and is sick and would have a chance to change the direction of his life in a positive manner. I still feel a degree of sorrow for him, believe it or not, and of course his family as well, that he's had all these chances to do the right thing and he just doesn't seem to want to take advantage of them.

And I guess, you know, my pity can only go so far when you don't take advantage of them. And I guess, you know, my pity can only go so far when you, when you don't take advantage of situations that were handed to you that I dare say most people would not have gotten in those situations and did nothing with them. And here you are sitting back in jail at this point in Florence County. Here's Sarah. I mean, it's terribly sad. I mean, to look at a young person, 21 years old, standing there for, I can't tell you how many body hearings I feel like I've been at for the one turner and just seeing that he doesn't get it. And maybe it's, you know, maybe everyone doesn't get it. I don't know. But I don't know if he's not getting the support. It clearly appears that he's not getting the support, you know, of his support team, his family.

You know, I certainly can't speak specifically to that, but it doesn't appear that way if we have a person that continues to offend and offend and reoffend. And I just keep thinking back to what Dallas wanted to see happen, what Dallas dollar wanted to see happen. And even what Chloe Bess has said before, this was not about shaking Bowen Turner under the jail for life. That was not what any of these victims wanted. And yet here we are still dealing with this. You know, what they wanted was not taken seriously by the people who should have taken it seriously. And here we are, you know, years later now

with Dallas gone and, you know, Chloe grown up and still dealing with this. And there's no, you know, what's the resolution? I mean, he would be provoked potentially for 10 to 14 months and back on Y.O.A. parole, back on community supervision, back out on the streets of South Carolina. That's a scary thought. That's a scary thought, is he's not changing, he's not adjusting, because he hasn't given so many chances. And it is sad.

It's incredibly sad to see. And it's incredibly sad because it was foreseeable and preventable. So every time Bowen Turner's name comes back up we get a slew of people who won't have the same old argument with us about us supposedly not understanding the rights of a defendant. Our criticism of Senator Brad Hutto and the lawyer- legislator system as it were is taken usually by defense attorneys as us saying that we don't think defendants

deserve to be defended, that we want them all thrown in jail immediately after they're accused of committing a crime and just have the key thrown away. But that's not it. Not even close. No one can deny that Bowen escaped initial prosecution on sex assault charges because of who his attorney was. Not only was Senator Hutto's influence felt by the prosecutor, he was able to get Judge Mark Lee Dennis to agree to a closed-door plea hearing. Remember, our legislators have immense influence over the judges they elect. They put them in office and they can remove them from office. Now, defense attorneys will say all of this was just good lawyering, but it is not. Good lawyering is

holding the state accountable to its investigation and making them prove the allegations that are being made against their clients. But we've gotten so far away from that definition in South Carolina that it's basically allowed an entire economy to form around legislator lawyers. We asked Sarah for her thoughts on the argument that criticism of the system amounts to a criticism of defense attorneys just doing their jobs. Sarah Bates I would argue that Bowen Turner had multiple defense attorneys in that courtroom that day that he pled on those charges in August of 2022. You know, there's a prosecutor, there's defense attorneys, there's a judge.

You know, and everybody has a job to do. You know, a prosecutor should be pursuing justice, you know, doing everything they can to protect the public, to, you know, help victims, support victims. In a defense attorney, their job is to represent the interests of their client, of the defendant. Those are very different interests. In this particular case, we had a prosecutor, David Miller, who, you know, designed this incredible deal that I can't imagine many other folks would ever receive. So when you have a prosecutor that's giving a probationary sentence on someone who's been charged multiple times with sexual assault, has disregarded bond conditions over and over

and over again without ensuring any accountability for the offender, I mean, at that point you really need to defense attorney. I started my career as a public defender. You know, I was a public defender for a couple of years before I became an assistant solicitor and before I became a victim's rights lawyer. I've always looked at being a defense attorney in this way. If the state did everything they were supposed to do, then the defense would lose every time. The defense is supposed to protect the rights of the defense.

And that's making sure that law enforcement did everything they were supposed to do. That the prosecutor, you know, prosecuted to the fullest extent, that they complied with everything. And so, you know, I don't necessarily blame defense attorneys for doing their job. That's their job. Now, certainly the way that they handle themselves in doing that job, we certainly

can make judgments on that for sure. But we absolutely need everybody at the table, you know, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, I think victims' rights attorneys, making sure that victims are represented. Because, I mean, we can see that what happens in situations where, you know, victims aren't aware of what their rights are. They don't know that they have the right to participate. They don't know that they have the right to be heard or to meet with prosecutors or any of the rights that they have.

So everybody is needed, everybody is necessary. Now, how people do their job, that's up for discussion, surely, but certainly I don't blame anybody for doing their job if they're actually doing their job. And I think what folks are getting at is that there's a way that people can do their job without bloodshaming a 16-year-old girl.

I agree with that. I agree with that. I think that defense attorneys have a tough job, but there was nobody on the stand, Liz, at that bond hearing. I mean, we're talking years ago, but nobody was on the stand at that bond hearing. This is just, you know, at a bond hearing. And it was disappointing, I think. But I don't think, you know, if we're looking to blame, obviously we have to blame Bowen Turner. But I think there are other people that had a more serious hand in how we got to where we are today in this case.

We are going to continue to follow the Bowen-Turner story because it is a cautionary tale on so many levels. From the start, Bowen-Turner's case reminded us so much of Paul Murdoch's boat crash case, right down to their mug shots, which looked nothing like your typical mug shots. Instead of wearing jail uniforms or some sort of jail covering, both boys were allowed to take pictures that just as easily could have served as their senior portraits in their

yearbooks. Then there were the loose bond terms. Paul wasn't even barred from drinking and, from all accounts, continued to do so, even on both right up to his death in 2021. Bowen repeatedly breached the boundaries of his ankle monitor and no matter how many times the victims brought this to the attention of the prosecutor, it went unchecked. According to some of Paul's friends, despite appearances and despite his father's attempts to buy him out of trouble, Paul was affected by what happened to Mallory Beach because

of him. A source close to Paul told us that even if Paul wanted to face accountability for his own actions, his parents would have never allowed him to. That has always stuck with us. And we wonder the same thing about Bowen. We know that at least one of the breaches of his bond before his ultimate sentencing was when he visited Dallas' gravesite. Did he do that because of guilt? Is he continuing to break the law because he wants to be punished. These are questions worth asking

because it all goes back to the good old boy system. It doesn't serve anyone's best interests, not even those who benefit from it. Like we told you last week, as we continue our deep dive into Stephen Smith's case, we are also going to take on a new case that is set to go to retrial on May 13th in Berkeley County, which is just outside of Charleston, South Carolina. Again, it is a case that needs a whole lot of sunshine on it, and one we think will be of interest to you

because of not only how complex it is, but how familiar it is. Like we said, there are so many elements here that we saw in the Murdock case as well, including some of the players. The first trial was in 2018 and it was originally covered by Court TV. In fact, it was the first trial that Court TV covered after its relaunch. Court TV called it a Southern murder mystery, not knowing then that 2021 was going to be like, hold my beer because I've got a Southern murder mystery for you. But this case holds its own when it comes to intrigue

and when it comes to piecing together the evidence to try and understand something that is simply not meant for us to understand. And we'll be right back. Now, let's talk about the Michael Calucci case. This case starts on the evening of May 20, 2015, shortly after 7 o'clock in the evening, when Michael made a frantic call to 911 from outside of a storefront that he and his wife Sarah Lynn rented in Somerville, which is a town just outside of Charleston. The store was called the Gold Standard.

Michael's stepfather, Ivo Colucci, was a well-known jeweler in Charleston, and Michael attempted to follow in Ivo's footsteps. The Gold Standard was used for storage and also as a place where the couple bought gold for resale. The building itself looks sort of rough. If you want to look it up, it's at 2206 North Main Street in Summerville, South Carolina. The gold standard wasn't the only business house there at the time,

according to testimony from their landlord in 2018. There was also a driving school. The building featured two exterior entry bathrooms at the front. According to the landlord, the Coluchis didn't have access to either restroom because their warehouse had its own interior bathroom. This is important because on the night of Sarah Lynn's death, the couple had been out and had been drinking. The reason Michael says he and Sarah Lynn stopped at the warehouse was so that she could go to the bathroom. We should also note that the warehouse was a short distance from their home at the time. One more thing before we play the 911 call. Michael, who was 45 at the time, and Sarah Lynn, who was 38 years old, were in Sarah Lynn's silver Toyota Prius that night.

Michael told investigators that he remained in the car while Sarah Lynn went to go to the bathroom. The car was about 25 feet or so from where Sarah Lynn's body was found. Now, Michael's defense attorney Andy Savage mounted two defenses in Michael's first trial. The first is that Sarah Lynn was so depressed over the anniversary of her second husband's death Michael was her third husband that she took her own life by wrapping a garden hose around her neck. The second is that she accidentally fell into the hose and snagged herself by the neck when she attempted to squeeze through a fence on the side of the building so that she could pee outside the building.

Obviously, this states contention is that Michael and Sarah Lynn got into a physical fight at some point before her death and that Michael strangled her and then tried to cover it up by grabbing a nearby garden hose. We should note, according to EMT testimony in 2018, Sarah Lynn's body was cold to the touch when they arrived shortly after this call. The audio of this call is really hard to understand at parts, so we're going to break it into chunks and interpret it as best we can for you as we go along. It sounds like he says, my wife, my wife is, my wife is not well. She tried to kill herself. But then he gives the wrong address of where they're located and before telling the dispatcher

that he is attempting to give Sarah Lynn CPR. Sarah Lynn's body was found lying on the ground to the side of the building. Her feet were positioned toward the chain link fence. On the concrete wall of the building was a rack for a garden hose with a length of hose still wrapped loosely in it. Part of the hose was looped around a post at the top of the chain link fence. A strand of her blonde hair was found on a portion of that hose. One end of the hose was under her body.

When first responders arrived on scene, they would also find Michael with a cut and bloodied lip. His explanation for it was that he got the cut while giving CPR. How old is she? She's 76. She's 76? No, she's more than 96. Oh, okay. What happened to her? I don't know. I don't know. I'm just going to go to the bathroom. I'm going to go to the bathroom.

I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'm going to go to the bathroom. says I think she tried to kill herself. The dispatcher then tries to confirm the address Michael gave him, 2209 North Main Street in Somerville. Again, even though it's slightly off, Michael confirms that this is in fact the address and asks the dispatcher to please hurry.

The dispatcher asks how old Sarah Lynn is and Michael attempts to give him her age, but either can't remember how old she is offhand or is too flustered to say it. He starts to say the first part of her age, 30, but then gives the dispatcher the year she was born instead, 1976, which the dispatcher misinterprets as her age. Michael again tells the dispatcher to please hurry. The dispatcher asks what happened to Sarah Lynn and Michael stumbles over his words and says I don't know. Then the rest is too garbled to understand. We're working on

getting a cleaner copy of this call by the way. We're going to make the whole call available online for premium subscribers to Lunashark. If you think you're able to understand what Michael's saying here or in any other part, please let us know on our Discord channel or go to lunasharkmedia.com, click on contact us and send us a message that way. After Michael's garbled explanation about what happened to Sarah Lynn, he again begs the dispatcher, please. The dispatcher asks for his name. Michael says, Michael Kaluchi, and then something else that's not discernible. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you.

I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you.

I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you.

I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. I promise you. Then it sounds like he moans and says, come on, Sarah, come on, baby, come on. The dispatcher asks him what makes him think How is she? What did she do to do to upset herself? What? Sorry. The dispatcher asks him what makes him think that Sarah Lynn tried to kill herself. It sounds like Michael responds by saying, she's turning purple. Come on, please. Then he says, she put herself around a hose or something. I don't know.

Then it sounds like he might have said she couldn't breathe. Come on, baby. Come on, baby. Come on. The dispatcher asks Michael, what did he do to hurt herself? Michael responds with a sound and then says, I'm at the warehouse, then tries to get out a series of words before saying, I have no idea. The dispatcher responds by saying, is it carbon monoxide?

Is that what she did? And Michael either says, no, sir, or no, Sarah. And then, come on, baby, come on, baby, come on. The dispatcher then tries to get the address situation cleared up. Okay, 2209 is not the correct address. What is it? 2209. Okay, that's not the right address

Right, what is it? 2206, my apology What is it? 2206 Yeah, oh now that MacRoss on the hot spot Please, now They're on the way, sir

What's the name of the business? Gold Standard, I want to of the business? Gold Standard, this is me, I want an employee, please send an employee. Gold Standard? I want an employee, please send somebody now. Sir, they're on the way, okay? Are you still going to TBR? Yes, sir. Okay, they're on the way. Michael repeats the wrong address, then says, My Apologies apologies and corrects it to 2206.

The dispatcher asks if it's across from the hotspot, which is a gas station and convenience store. Then Michael says, please help. The dispatcher tells him that first responders are on the way. For your reference, this point is about three minutes into the 911 call. The dispatcher asks for

the name of the business, Michael tells him and he repeats it. Upset, Michael again tells the dispatcher to quote, please send somebody now. The dispatcher again tells him they're on their way and asks if Michael is still doing CPR to which Michael says he is. Then there's sort of a wailing sound. It's not clear if that's Michael crying. He then yells, come on, breathe, come on, breathe. Okay. Please. I need to figure out what she did. She's trying to hang herself on her own. She's trying to hang herself with a hose. Okay. Please. Oh my God.

What the? What's wrong, baby? Come on. Okay, Michael, did you cut her down or what? No, I just cut her down in here. I just, she was standing there and saw what she's done over here. And then, and then, and then she, she, she, she just cut her. Okay, they're on their way, okay?

Are you still going to the ER? Yes, sir. The dispatcher asks Michael if Sarah Lynn is breathing. It sounds like he says, I don't know twice and then please. The dispatcher says I need to figure out what she did. Michael says she tried to hang herself with a hose. And the dispatcher repeats his response. Michael appears to tell Sarah Lynn to just breathe.

Then he says, come on baby, come on, Sarah. The dispatcher cuts in and says, okay, Michael, did you cut her down or what? Michael replies, no, I didn't cut her down. Then it sounds like he says something like she was standing by the door and she tried to open it, but it's hard to know for sure because he starts to stumble on his words a bit. The dispatcher cuts in again to say, okay, they're on their way. Are you still doing CPR? Michael yells out,, no sir. The dispatcher asked him if Sarah Lynn was on the ground when he

found her and he says yes sir. Then 4 minutes and 48 seconds into the call. The dispatcher asked Michael if he hears sirens. OK, you hear the sirens. OK, let him know where you are. Please, John. Please, John.

Oh, my God. They see you? Michael? They see you? I don't see anybody yet. I got hurt. Oh my God. Come on baby. Oh my God. Please on baby. Oh my god. Please!

Sarah, pull! Michael shouts out, oh my god. Please, sir help. Come on Sarah. Please baby. Louder than before. Okay Michael, they're there. Make sure they find you, okay? Come on, okay? No!

No, no! Here, here! Please, please! Do you see somebody? Mmm! Mmm! Okay, Michael, I'm gonna hang up, okay? I'm gonna hang up!

They're there, I'm gonna hang up. I'm sorry, up, okay? I'm gonna hang up. They're there, I'm gonna hang up. Michael. Michael. Michael. Michael. The entire call was just under six and a half minutes. Experts testified that this was not enough time

for a body to go cold. Now we almost got through a full episode without saying the name, Elick Murdoch, but I just have to say the vibes are everywhere in that call. In fact, I can't hear the words, please hurry without hearing it in Elick's voice. But it's beyond that. Both Michael Colucci and Elec Murdoch initially told stories that simply did not match the evidence. Here is David reading a paragraph from the civil lawsuit filed against Michael by Sarah's

family. David Colucci, reading the paragraph from the civil lawsuit filed against Michael by Sarah's family. In the days and weeks following Sarah Lynn's death, Colucci's version of the events surrounding Sarah Lynn's death, Colucci's version of the events surrounding Sarah Lynn's death varied considerably. Colucci initially informed Sarah Lynn's family that he had not been drinking when Sarah Lynn died, but then recanted this and informed them that he had been drinking fireball, cinnamon, whiskey. Colucci also informed Sarah Lynn's family that he never took his eyes off of Sarah Lynn from the time she exited his car to the time he found her dead.

But then recanted this version of events and informed them that Sarah Lynn tripped and fell into the garden hose causing her death. Kaluci further informed Sarah Lynn's family that he discovered Sarah Lynn's lifeless body standing straight up against the storage shed, but then recanted this and informed Sarah Lynn's mother that he discovered Sarah Lynn's body leaning forward at a 45-degree angle from a fence. In fact, according to reporting from the Post and Courier, Michael Calucci stayed with his wife's family in the weeks following her death,

but the relationship ended sometime after because it became clear to them that Michael's story of Sarah's death just didn't add up. Sources told us that Elick Murdoch stayed with Maggie's family in the weeks after the murders, likely to keep an eye on them and perhaps to remind them that the sweet son-in-law staying with them couldn't possibly have killed their daughter. I have to ask, was Michael doing the same?

Adding to the family's suspicions, Michael didn't bother holding a funeral for his wife, and he reportedly waited six months just to pick up her ashes. Like everything else in this case, it is difficult to know what those facts mean. Does it point to Michael simply not caring about Sarah Lynn? Had he already moved on because he knew who was responsible for her death? Or was he a man in the throes of grief, behaving strangely because of the trauma he felt after his wife's death? Was he angry with Sarah Lynn because of how she died? Or again, are these just acts of a guilty man? The question on a lot of people's minds, including ours, is how could a man just accept

that in one moment his wife was getting out of the car to use the restroom at their business while he was just a few feet away, by the way, and then she died via asphyxia by neck compression? Unlike the Murdoch case, the Colucci case includes strong evidence of a marriage on the verge of ending. Sarah Lynn appears to have been a lot more open about the stress that she felt in her marriage than Maggie Murdoch was. Text messages, police reports, and testimony, all of which we will talk about in a later episode, show a clear history of an unhealthy relationship on its last legs at the time of Sarah Lynn's death. In fact, Sarah Lynn's mother testified

on the day that her daughter died, that Sarah Lynn told her that she had plans of leaving Michael that upcoming weekend. After Maggie and Paul were killed, we were repeatedly told by people that even though they believe Ellic did it, that we would never see charges in the case, and that if we did see charges, we would never see a prosecution. Obviously, that is not how things went down.

But people said this to us because the Murdoch Murders case was circumstantial. That word got thrown around all of the time by those in Ellic's corner. All the state has is a circumstantial case. Like we said back then, most cases are circumstantial. Unless someone directly witnesses a murder happening, the case is going to be one in which law enforcement and prosecutors have to show a certain collection of facts. When taken all together, we'll show that a defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That is what this case was and still is. The first trial ended in a mistrial with

half of the jury, including the four person, believing that the state had not done its job, and half of the jury believing that Michael killed Sarah Lynn in the heat of passion. In future episodes, we are going to share some pivotal moments with you from the two week trial in 2018. And in a lot of ways, this case is like the Murdoch case, but the trial was so different, and we can't wait to share that with you.

It's one of the most fascinating cases and trials we've seen so far, so there is a lot to discuss. Starting with how old this case is. Sarah Lynn was killed almost nine years ago. Michael was arrested for her murder almost eight years ago. And he was tried for her murder almost six years ago. The entire time he has been out on bond. Oh, and one last thing about that.

Guess who set Michael's bond back in 2016? Judge Markley Dennis. That name should sound familiar because we mentioned it earlier in this episode when we talked about the Bowen-Turner case. Judge Dennis is who approved the secret surprise plea deal for Bowen and who allowed it to be struck behind closed doors.

You know, the sweetheart of a plea deal that Bowen appears to have violated at least two times since then. We will talk more about Michael's bond hearing in a future episode, but that is how small the good ol' boy world is in South Carolina. That is how tight these circles really are. Stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight. True Sunlight is a Lunar Shark production created by me, Mandy Matney, and co-hosted by journalist Liz Farrell. Learn more about our mission and membership at lunasharkmedia.com.

Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky.