SERIALously - 85: Idaho Murders & DNA Win, Love Triangle Murder Trial, Christian “Kit” Martin & Remembering Matthew Perry

Episode Date: November 2, 2023

Annie discusses the latest news and cases in the headlines this week, including Matthew Perry’s tragic death, Idaho Murders King Road Home, Bryan Kohberger’s DNA, Kaitlin Armstrong’s Love Triangle Murder Trial, and a ‘bombshell’ with Christian “Kit” Martin.  Follow the podcast on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcast Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serialouslypod/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_ SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ About Me: https://annieelise.com/ For Business Inquiries: [e-mail] Kaitlin Armstrong Case: https://youtu.be/66yqtckiHco?si=3Id1yN58v6M0PMH4 Sources: NewsNation Court TV CNN Audio Credits: NewsNation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0dZZGYxcLg  Court TV https://www.courttv.com/title/kit-martins-ex-wife-teases-new-bombshell-evidence/

Hey, true crime besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly. Hey everybody, welcome back to this week's episode of Headline Highlights. My name is Annie Elise and this is Serialistly. As a reminder, if you're brand new and you're like, hey, what the hell is Headline Highlights, Annie? Well, let me just tell you what Headline Highlights is. Headline Highlights, jeez, can you say Headline Highlights five times fast? Oh my god. Headline Highlights is our weekly breakdown where we go through all different true crime cases, anything that's really happened this week or even the tail end of last week. New cases that have popped up on the radar, updates in existing cases that we've been

talking about. It's really just a bite-sized episode to keep you up to date in all things true crime because I know how overwhelming it can be to follow everything at any given moment. So that's what we do over here. Now in this episode today, we have a lot to talk about, including the tragic death of Matthew Perry, who we all love from Friends. He is absolutely amazing and is just so devastating. We also are going to talk about the King Roadhouse in Moscow, Idaho, Brian Koberger's quote-unquote win about DNA in his case, Caitlin Armstrong's murder trial, which was like a love triangle turned fatal, turned international fleeing, turned manhunt, like then she tried to

escape. I mean, a lot to talk about there. And then also a case that was featured on Dateline and then quickly got a lot of attention with a lot, lot a lot a lot of dive of divided opinions and bombshell new evidence claims so I want to kick this off by talking about Matthew Perry because as many of you probably already know over the weekend Matthew Perry passed away he was 54 years old initially multiple sources reported that this was due to drowning because he was found in his hot tub. However, Captain Scott Williams of the LAPD's Robbery Homicide Division said that the cause was not likely to be determined for some time, but that there is no indication of foul play. Matthew has publicly struggled with drinking

and drug use for decades, leading to hospitalizations for a range of ailments. Now, by his own account, he had spent more than half of his life in treatment and rehab facilities. On Wednesday, authorities also released some new details about his death. Emergency responders had gotten to his home at 4.07 p.m. on Saturday. The person who made the 911 call told responders that they got back to the house and saw him completely underwater in the hot tub. That person pulled his head above the water and over to the side of the hot tub. A quick assessment by first responders revealed that he was already deceased. The identity of the 911 caller has not yet been released by official sources, but multiple reports say that it was Matthew's assistant.

but multiple reports say that it was Matthew's assistant. Now, there have been so many tributes to him, primarily with a nod to his character Chandler from Friends, because that is so many people's comfort show. That show was iconic. It arguably could be considered one of the biggest sitcoms of our generation. But there is a really interesting quote that I want to read you that is actually from Matthew Perry himself, and I believe

this was in one of his recent books. In it it says, I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I'm still working through it personally but the best thing about me is that if an alcoholic or drug addict comes up to me and says, will you help me? I will always say yes. I know how to do that. I will do that for you even if I can't always do it for myself. So I do that, whenever I can, in groups or one-on-one. And I created the Perry House in Malibu, a sober living facility for men. I also wrote my play, The End of Longing, which is a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk. I had something important to say to people like me and to people who love people like me. When I die, I know people will talk about friends,

friends, friends, friends, and I'm glad of that, happy I've done some solid work as an actor, as well as given people multiple chances to make fun of my struggles on the world wide web. But when I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go, it would be nice if Friends was listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people. I know it won't happen, but it would be nice. And then it signed off as Matthew Perry. And I just think that's really important because of course he is going to be most widely recognized for his role in Friends, but he did have a really big struggle internally with substances and he was getting help for that and the fact that he says

like no I want to help others who are struggling with that I know that I can be there for them I can help them be I can be supportive of them and that's what I want to be remembered as it just shows in my opinion you know how important his legacy was to him, how big his heart was, and that's what makes it just even so much more tragic than what it already is. So kind of shifting gears over to Brian Koberger and the Idaho murderers. Investigators with the FBI were permitted by the University of Idaho to enter and conduct a further investigation of the home. Due to the trial of the primary suspect, Brian Koberger, being delayed indefinitely, the FBI is utilizing the extra time to gather more information on the scene of the crime. Although details of the scene were taken at the time of the initial investigation, the FBI is gathering additional evidence, images, and measurements, all in order to construct visual and audio exhibits and a physical model of the home, and this according to a news release from the University of Idaho.

The prosecution explained to the university that the time frame initially allotted to investigators in an October trial to create visual displays and models of the home was not enough, prompting the University of Idaho, and also who is the owner of the King Road house, to grant the FBI access to the property for two days, Tuesday, October 31st and Wednesday, November 1st. If you've been following this case closely, you know that for a while now the prosecution as well as the university were pushing to have the house demolished this October. However, the university has agreed not to do that after Brian Koberger's attorneys filed motions against the demolition because obviously that would destroy

a lot of evidence and they are hoping that they can somehow get him out of this still. Interestingly, Zanna and Kaylee's families share the same belief. They don't want it to be demolished and they released a statement saying, as the family has stressed from the beginning of this investigation, the King Road house is one of the most critical pieces of evidence in this case. We are grateful that the University of Idaho listened to the family's concerns and delayed the demolition of the home. Isn't this the whole point of not destroying evidence? You may not know if you need it until later, and it may become more important once a jury hears evidence in the case. It is our understanding that the King Road residence will not be demolished until after the trial has concluded.

On another note, it is important for the families of victims to stay involved in this process and trust your gut when it comes to standing up for the victims in the case. Our voice has been loud and consistent, and it will stay that way for Kaylee, Zanna, and all of the victims until justice has been served. Also, last week, the judge presiding over the case denied Brian Koberger's motion to dismiss the indictment. However, he did grant the defense's request for an in-camera review of the IgG evidence, the DNA. According to multiple outlets, the judge will look at all of the IgG evidence in the possession of the Latah County Prosecutor's Office and also the evidence in the FBI and determine what should be shared with the defense, what should be kept secret, and what will be redacted

from the public. Many people have been wondering if the genealogical DNA used to connect him to the crime may not have been all above board, and this clip kind of explains both sides of that perfectly. The judge did what some people think was give a gift to the defense because the judge has said regarding all that DNA technique that the prosecution's been using, I get it. I get it. Defense attorneys, I get it. Brian Koberger, you want to peek in their file and you think you deserve the discovery. Normally, that's not so unusual, but you don't get everything in an investigation. In a discovery, you don't get everything. You don't get every single police officer's notations in every book

that they might have done an interview, right? You don't get everything. And the prosecutors are saying, that's right. Our DNA technique that we used, genealogy, you know, the good old 23andMe stuff, we didn't use it for any court stuff. We didn't use it for warrants. We didn't use it for anything where you deserve to see that work product. What we did was we figured out who his family was, and then we went and did good gumshoe policing. We collected their trash, and then we did the old swab of his cheek and the swab of Brian's cheek. The police say matches that knife sheath at 22 at 1122 King Road. So what the prosecutors are saying is that you don't get to see every piece of work product. You don't get to see everything. And quite frankly, we don't

think we need to share the genealogy with you because it was just sort of, it was like the lie detector test. It just led us to more information that we could investigate. Defense saying, nope, we want it all. And the judge is now saying, yeah, you know, I'm going to take a look at that. I think I'm going to go into chambers without all the cameras and everybody listening, and we're going to take a peek and see what they can and what they can't see. So to figure that out and how that works, Dave Ehrenberg is with me. He's the state attorney for Palm Beach County. Do you see this as complicated or do you just see this as placating the defense and moving on? Actually, it's been going on for a while, but law enforcement hasn't wanted the public to glimpse behind the curtain because, number one, they don't want the public when they sign on to

these genealogical websites, 23andMe, for example, to not click the box, allowing your information to become public because law enforcement has been using this stuff to catch serial killers, cold cases. And if the word gets out that your information, your DNA could be viewed by law enforcement, maybe people don't check that box and then you can't crack these cases. One of the reasons why the prosecutors did not want the defense lawyers to see all this stuff is because they don't want the cousin, the third cousin or whoever the relative is of Brian Kober to be harassed. And they don't want that person to be some red herring at trial. Aha, this is the real killer. He's got the DNA. And besides, what privacy

interest, Ashley, does Brian Koberger have in the DNA of his second or third cousin? None. So is this one of those things? There's a fancy expression in the law. I always love it. It's called fruit of the poisonous tree, meaning if you do something that isn't quite right and it leads to really good information in the case that could nail you to the cross, you all of a sudden can't use that because it was born from that poisonous tree. Is this one of those circumstances where the familial genealogy that led them to Pennsylvania, that led them to Brian Koberger's dad's house, that led them to believe we got a family member and someone in this family member must have a white Elantra and, you know, fit the bill. And there was Brian Koberger. Is it is it possible at all that all of this could be thrown out because of the poisonous tree?

I don't think it's poisonous, but is it? Actually, that's what the defense is hoping. That is like their only chance here, I think, because once they had the DNA swab of Koberger's cheek, it was a match. And how did they get to that swab? Well, you laid it out correctly. They had to first get the DNA from the sheath of the knife. They had to first get the DNA from the sheath of the knife. Then they ran it through the databases and there was no criminal in their database on file that matched.

So what they did was they took it to the genealogical database and they found a relative. And they compared the relatives who owned a white Hyundai Elantra. And that's how they found Koberger. And that's how they got the swab of his cheek. So if you could suppress the initial genealogical DNA, the thinking is everything else goes away as well. It's fruit of the poisonous tree. I think it's very unlikely this will work, but it's all they got.

So now let's shift over to the insane, crazy love triangle. This case was absolutely wild, guys. I did a full breakdown of it over on my YouTube, so I'll link that in the show notes, but it was a love triangle gone wrong, then there was a murder, then the murder suspect got caught, she was on camera, she fled, it was to either like Brazil or Peru, she got a nose job and facial plastic surgery so she wouldn't look like herself, had a fake passport, had stolen her sister's ID to get out of the country, and it was pretty obvious. And then she was finally caught at this hostel out of the country, brought back. She's been in custody. Then she went for like a doctor's appointment recently. She tried to run and jump a fence to get away from the police. Like it is one of the most wild

cases I've covered. And I forget what the ages were for all of the people involved. I think it was in their early 30s, maybe late 20s. but I'm going to link it in the show notes because this case guys is pretty interesting to hear which actually now that I think about it it wasn't Peru it wasn't Brazil it was Costa Rica so on Wednesday opening statements for Caitlin Armstrong's trial the woman who is accused of fatally shooting Anna Mariah Wilson also who who goes by Moe, in Texas back in 2022, began. She has pleaded not guilty to a charge on first-degree murder, although prosecutors say that she did do this murder and that she did it after she was fueled by jealousy and she wanted to get revenge. She is also facing additional charges since she disappeared like literally Houdini for 43 days and was later found

in Costa Rica and had all of that plastic surgery to change her face. And as I briefly touched on, Caitlyn recently made the news after a failed escape attempt. However, she was ultimately unsuccessful. Now, after her escape, new court documents filed showed that she might have actually been preparing for this for months before she tried to escape custody during that doctor's appointment. According to CNN, and I quote, an investigation of her attempted escape revealed Caitlyn had been exercising vigorously for months before she broke free from corrections officers while being escorted from a medical appointment, leading them on a foot chase for about a mile before she was recaptured. I mean,

the fucking nerve of this girl. She had complained of an injury that would mean that she could get the medical appointment outside of her jail, and then she secured a medical request that would prevent her legs from being restrained. Caitlin tried to make her escape as two corrections officers were leading her out of the back door of a medical office after her appointment, this all according to the affidavit. She was somehow able to break free and run away as the officers followed her. As she ran, Caitlin removed her black and white striped jail uniform pants to reveal that she had put on thermal pants underneath, all in another attempt to disguise her appearance as an inmate. Caitlin was also able to free one of her hands from her restraints. During a later search of her cell, investigators found a broken, thin piece of metal

that could likely be used to remove a handcuff. During the pursuit, Caitlin tried to scale a six foot fence before an officer pulled her down, causing both of them to fall. But Caitlin immediately got back up and kept running. Caitlin ran for about a mile, ignoring officers' commands to stop and also the sounds of sirens from several responding law enforcement units. Both corrections officers suffered injuries to their arms and knees during the pursuit. After Caitlin was caught, she was taken to a local hospital and then returned to the sheriff's office custody. She's now facing an additional felony charge of escape causing bodily injury. an additional felony charge of escape causing bodily injury.

The judge in the trial is not allowing the entire trial to be streamed, only allowing cameras for opening statements, closing statements, and the verdict. During opening statements, the prosecutor said, The last thing that Moe did on this earth is scream in terror, and you will hear those screams, saying that there is audio of the assault and the murder. The prosecution also said that Caitlin had access to Colin's email and Instagram account and that she could see all of his text messages, which if he had an iPhone, that would mean she could probably see everything. They also say that she was watching everything Colin and Mo were saying to each other on her laptop for weeks. Yet the defense is arguing

that the detectives in this case had tunnel vision the entire time and that they only looked at Caitlin, that any DNA or ballistics evidence the prosecution may have is just junk science, and that Caitlin is passionate about traveling and passionate about yoga. saying that she fled and got plastic surgery, all because she loves to travel, loves yoga, loves doing all of that. So you're saying she wasn't fleeing the country. She just had to get rid of her car that was seen near the crime scene at the time the crimes was suspected to have happened, sell it off for cash, then go get plastic surgery, and then thought, hey, you know what? I think I'll go to yoga in Costa Rica using my sister's passport. And hey, while I'm at it, I'm also going to go by a completely new name. You're trying to tell me that that was a coincidence and it's not because she's trying to get away with murder and she wasn't trying to evade the police? No no no no no nobody's buying it but I don't know watch it unfold yourself we'll be recapping it over here but like I said

you really got to hear this case guys because it's one of the more fucking wild ones I've talked about. You really got to hear this case, guys, because it's one of the more fucking wild ones I've talked about. So shifting over to a new case, too, it's a case that most people thought was over back in 2021 when the killer was sentenced. And it's back in the headlines this week, and it really does have a surprising twist. There was an episode of Dateline that aired back in 2021 on Christian Kitt Martin, which covered the case extensively. But as a backstory, it was in Kentucky and it was Kitt Martin who had a 30-year career as a U.S. Army major. He was accused of murdering his three neighbors, Edward Danzarou and a married couple, Calvin and Pamela Phillips. These murders occurred on November 18, 2015. Charred remains of Pamela

Phillips and Edward were found in a burnt car in a field. The car was traced to the Phillips' home, where investigators found another crime scene. Calvin Phillips was dead from multiple gunshot wounds, and the murders happened before Calvin Phillips was scheduled to testify in Kitt's military court-martial. That case was based on accusations of sexual abuse from Kitt's estranged wife, Joan, and that he had allegedly mishandled classified military information too. However, Kitt accused his wife of having an affair with Calvin Phillips and making up the abuse claims, and also saying that Joan committed bigamy because she was married to someone else when she married Kitt. Initially,

investigators looked at Kitt, but the case ultimately went cold because they didn't have enough evidence to bring any charges. Then in 2017, a bullet casing was found that showed that it was fired from one of Kit's guns. Cell phone tower evidence also placed him in the same area where the remains of Pamela and Edward were found. In 2019, he was arrested and indicted on 10 counts, including three counts of murder. He went to trial in 2021, and his defense raised questions about the convenient new evidence, as well as implying that Kitt's ex-wife Joan was out to ruin him. Specifically, the casing found raised a lot of questions, because it was found not only by a victim's family member,

but it was also in pristine condition months later, after the casing had been outside for a very long time. The facts were that investigators processed that porch and found nothing. Several detectives all over the porch found not a single thing. Your husband's a military man. I would imagine that he probably does a lot of shooting in his backyard. If I remember correctly, there was a lot of testimony. And if you just leave your brass laying out there, it's going to get worn and tarnished, all that. So if that spent cartridge casing was on that porch for all that time in the weather, it would get tarnished. This was a shiny new spent casing that was uncovered, you know, by somebody connected to one of the victims. And correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it placed in the hands of somebody who serves in government?

Additionally, Kitt testified in his trial, saying he was home with his fiancée the day of the murders. His defense team also argued that the grand jury indicted him based on misleading testimony from an investigator about the cell phone tower evidence. Ultimately, he was found guilty on all charges and was given life in prison without the possibility of parole. Since he's been in jail, Kitt has done interviews along with his defense team still claiming he is innocent. He even has a somewhat of a large support group who believe that he is being railroaded by the state of Kentucky after being the target of a Pentagon sexual assault witch hunt based on frivolous accusations. That is a direct quote. Kitt's conviction appeal was denied and the Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed his murder convictions. But now his ex-wife, Stacey, who he was married to before Joan, teased new information in an interview that she says

would exonerate Kit. I would like to mention that two of the Supreme Justices, I don't know if this has been out there, but two of the Justices did not agree with that opinion. So we did feel a little ray of hope in that. But now, if you don't mind me interjecting this, we now have tremendous information post-conviction that improper format will exonerate Kit Martin. And in fact, we believe that it should support indictment of public officials and other persons because Kit Martin is innocent. Wow. Okay. You have to tell us more. That's a big, big bombshell, Stacey. What is this new evidence that has been uncovered?

I'm not at liberty. I'm sorry. I'm not at liberty to give that information because I can't put his case at jeopardy, but I can tell you it is there. So this case is really interesting guys so if you want me to do a full deep dive on it definitely let me know in the review section or in the Spotify Q&A section because it is a very fascinating one and I'm wondering if this new information will truly exonerate Kit or if this is just another you know like throwing pasta to the wall hoping something will stick. So those are all the updates I have for you in today's wild week of true crime on Headline Highlights. I hope you found it useful and informative. Luckily, it was a little bit of a quieter week in the true crime multiverse, universe, whatever you would call it, which we don't really find too often. So I'm sure

we'll be jam-packed next week because there's no shortage of asshole criminals, no shortage of horrible crimes, and of course updates in so many cases. But I also want to take this moment to announce, do-do-do-do-do-do, drum roll please, I officially am launching a new series called Dark Chapters with Annie Elise. This is going to be over on my YouTube page, 10 to Life, and it'll be where we are diving into some of the most dark and disturbing true crime cases out there. The editing style is different. The coverage aspect is different. I really hope you guys enjoy it.

And it's going to be airing every other Friday at 5 p.m. Pacific time, 8 p.m. Eastern. So the very first episode goes live tomorrow. And I am really excited to get your guys's feedback on that so I will also link that in the show notes below don't miss it I also think that I'm going to set it up as a premiere meaning the live chat will be going I will be in the live chat answering your questions and we will all be watching together so make sure check that out if you're not subscribed to my YouTube channel yet hit that link in the show notes It'll take you directly to my YouTube channel and you can hit subscribe there so that you don't miss it. All right, guys, thanks so much for tuning in with me today on another episode of

Headline Highlights. It is your true crime bestie, Annie, signing off. Thanks so much. Bye. Thank you. you