Sins & Survivors: A Las Vegas True Crime Podcast - A Fight For Survival - Catherine Brewington & Brittany Figiel

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

Two women fought to survive domestic violence—but only one walked away completely free. Catherine Brewington and Brittany Figiel defended themselves but faced vastly different legal battles. Why does the justice system fail survivors who fight back? We examine the inconsistencies, the victim-blaming, and the deep flaws in how courts handle self-defense in domestic violence cases.https://sinspod.co/episode22sources2Domestic Violence Resourceshttp://sinspod.co/resourcesClick here to become a member of our Patreon!https://sinspod.co/patreonVisit and join our Patreon now and access our ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content & schwag!Apple Podcast Subscriptionshttps://sinspod.co/appleWe're now offering premium membership benefits on Apple Podcast Subscriptions! On your mobile deviceLet us know what you think about the episodehttps://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2248640/open_sms Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sins-survivors-a-las-vegas-true-crime-podcast--6173686/support.

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When you're in debt, everything looks different, even movie night. At Farber Debt Solutions, we can help you reduce your debt by up to 80% and save you money. Farber Debt Solutions, licensed insolvency trustees. Get the truth about debt. To listen ad-free, visit Zinspod.co slash subscribe. Arbor Debt Solutions. Licensed insolvency trustees. Get the truth about debt. To listen ad-free, visit Zinspod.co slash subscribe. Starting at $2.99 a month, you'll also get access to our exclusive bonus content episodes when you join through Patreon or Apple subscriptions. Thanks for supporting the show. We've covered many tragic cases in which a domestic violence victim,

or a victim and her children are murdered. Sometimes though, when a victim is pushed too far by an abuser, through sheer luck she ends up surviving, but kills her abuser. While a domestic violence victim surviving her ordeal is always a good outcome, living with killing someone, even a violent abuser, can have a huge toll on the survivor. They have to carry that with them forever. Worse, it's not always straightforward that the court system will afford them an ounce of sympathy for their plight, and as we saw last week, might just call them a murderer and send them to prison. Is that what justice looks like? Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence.

I'm your host, Sean, and with me, as always, is the one and only John. I am the only John in the room. Last week, we covered Tammy Lucero and David Hudson's case, in which, despite overwhelming evidence that she acted in self-defense, the murderer, Tammy, ended up accepting a plea deal that resulted in her being incarcerated for four years in what I think you can reasonably argue is a gross miscarriage of justice. I'm with you on that. I was horrified by the outcome of Tammy's case. I'm no lawyer, but I found myself turning this one over in my head trying to figure out if there might have been a better plea deal or lesser sentence available to her. Maybe if she had gone to trial instead of taking the plea,

would she have been completely exonerated? I'm not familiar with the lawyers on the case here, but I know based on my time on this planet that more money often means a better defense and a better outcome. We have two more examples of self-defense cases this week, with similar circumstances, but with very different outcomes. Do you want to tell us about the first case? Absolutely. On Wednesday night, February 10, 2016, at 7.30 p.m., a shotgun shattered the calm in a quiet tree-lined neighborhood near Lone Mountain in the northwest corner of the Las Vegas Valley in Summerlin. Aaron Matthews had been shot with a 12-gauge shotgun by Catherine Brewington in their driveway in an apparent case of self-defense. But as it turned out, the events of that night

were anything but straightforward. Aaron Nicholas Matthews was born on September 9, 1983. We think he was born in Kansas because the people who were awarded his estate, ultimately, were from Kansas, but we don't know the details, unfortunately. He has a daughter from a previous relationship born on November 28th, 2011, so she would have been only four years old at the time he died. Aaron had no prior criminal history, at least in Nevada, but he was sued for child support in 2012, less than a year after his daughter was born. He was 33 in 2016.

Catherine Marie Brewington was born on August 19, 1961. She was 22 years older than Aaron, in Reno, Nevada. She has two children, a daughter, and a son who we know is an attorney associated with the Nevada State Bar Association, so he's an active attorney. Catherine and Aaron had been dating for about four years and living together for at least a year up in the northwest corner of the valley near Lone Mountain, as I said. And that's pretty much as far away as you can get from where we live and still be in the Las Vegas area. That's another example of how domestic violence does not discriminate on class. You can live in a 500 square foot studio apartment or a two-story house in the suburbs and still be a victim or an abuser. Absolutely. They lived at 4740 Sweeping Glen Street, which, as I mentioned, is a really nice tree-lined street far from the neon

lights of the strip, maybe a 40-minute drive from their house. According to Catherine's recounting of the events of the night of the shooting, she and Aaron got into a physical altercation, DV incident, where Aaron allegedly choked Catherine and pulled her hair. Other testimony indicates that Brewington had been planning to move back to Reno, where she was from, but given how things were going, she decided to move the schedule up and just get away from Aaron, likely for her safety and her dog's safety too. She had three dogs. The fight they got into that night was escalating quickly, and Catherine attempted to arm herself with a handgun she knew Aaron kept under a couch cushion. When she didn't find it there, she assumed that he had armed himself and she feared for her life. There were also multiple

12-gauge shotguns in the garage, so she got one of those and headed outside. Catherine told police the situation escalated more outside, and Aaron confronted her when she was packing up the car, loading up her three dogs so she could leave. Catherine claimed that she saw Aaron reach for his waistband, which led her to believe that he was reaching for a gun, and that was the time she grabbed the shotgun and shot him in the chest. It's not clear how long he survived, but it wasn't very long. He was gone by the time paramedics arrived. Two uniformed Metro Patrol officers responded to multiple calls of 911. They were there mostly to secure the scene and ensure the safety of the public, which is pretty important considering a 12-gauge shotgun had just been discharged in a busy neighborhood with a lot of families nearby.

No less than five homicide detectives and crime scene analysts arrived shortly after to take over the investigation, interview witnesses, and gather evidence, such as Catherine's clothing, and take exhaustive photos of the scene. The problem was that the evidence gathered by the team, including the forensic team and the interviews the detectives conducted, didn't match up very well with Catherine's account of the events. For example, Catherine said that she shot him in the chest as he approached her, but the condition of Aaron's body directly contradicted that. Aaron had been shot on the right side of the back with only one small exit wound in the front

of his chest. He also had powder burns and stifling, which were consistent with him being shot at very close range. Stifling is a pattern of small burns or marks on the skin caused by burning powder hitting the skin. It's also known as tattooing or peppering or powder tattooing. It's caused by superheated gunpowder exiting a gun and is the result of a close proximity to a discharged firearm. It's typically seen with muzzle-to-target distances of less than three feet. So she shot him at really close range, which somewhat supports what she was saying about her being afraid of him, but I don't understand the part about him being shot in the back.

For sure. The police didn't either. A neighbor was a witness to the whole incident, and she told police that there was in fact no loud escalating argument. She reported that it was eerily quiet, and that Catherine shouted something like, get away from me, and then shot him. She didn't witness any physical altercation at the moment of the shooting. She was, of course, only reporting what she saw in the moment while she was taking out her garbage without the full context of what happened inside or prior.

The location where the shotgun was fired from also didn't match what Catherine said had happened. The spent shotgun casing was behind her vehicle, not on the side near the driver's side door, consistent with her assertion that it happened as she was loading up the dogs into the car. The police also found two more shotguns in the garage, both loaded with that same ammunition, which they took as evidence refuting the spontaneous self-defense claim, which seems a bit dubious to me. They also recovered $2,700 in loose cash in the truck, and blood spatter on the inside of the driver's side front door. It seems like Aaron was near the front door and Catherine may have been behind the vehicle. Did they ever find his handgun? Interestingly, no. Aaron was not armed, and there was no mention of the handgun

in the bindover document. Having said all that, I don't find it surprising at all that in such an unbelievably stressful situation, the details could easily get confused. But some of the details are pretty huge, like the location she shot him, in the chest versus having shot him in the back. To be clear, there was definite evidence of domestic violence between these two. Catherine described a fight on the night of the incident, stating that Aaron had put his hands around her neck, choking her, and pulling her hair, obviously indicating a level of physical aggression and control typical in domestic violence situations, and it must have really made her scared for her life, since she was packing up and getting out that same time. As we often discuss, the most dangerous time in a relationship with domestic violence is when a victim leaves, and Catherine was

in the process of leaving. A crime scene analyst also documented the physical injuries on Catherine, including an abrasion to her upper right lip, redness and scratches around her neck, scratches around her right chest, scratches inside her left forearm, abrasions with a pattern of injury in her upper right back, redness on top of both shoulders, and scratches and a cut on top of her left hand. All of these could be consistent with a struggle or physical assault. But ultimately, because of the discrepancies with her story and the physical evidence at the scene, Catherine was arrested and charged with open murder, which was later changed to murder with the use of a deadly weapon. Her bail was set at $150,000, but her lawyer petitioned the court to reduce it to $50,000

based on her being a lifelong Nevada resident. She was from Reno. Her ties to the community. She had a son and a daughter. No prior criminal history whatsoever, either felony or misdemeanor. Actually, neither of them had any prior criminal history before this incident. And the fact that she was a domestic violence victim. All the injuries that I mentioned before that they cataloged. Even with all that, the judge ultimately did not lower her bail, and in the end, her son posted the $150,000 in bail in cash. She was required to surrender her passport, surrender all the guns in her home, which was checked by authorities, and she was prohibited from moving out of Las Vegas, specifically back to her hometown of Reno.

She was given house arrest back at the home where the murder had taken place, and as you might expect, her neighbors were not happy about it. One neighbor wrote a letter to the judge in which he expressed concerns about Catherine being placed on house arrest in their neighborhood following what was understandably a terrifying incident for the local residents. Ultimately, he didn't even seem slightly concerned with the circumstances around the incident, saying, regardless of the details which led to and surrounded the death of Aaron Matthews, I was witness to a violent act which I have trouble believing was entirely in self-defense. And of course, it's fine that that was his opinion, which is somewhat heartless and non-empathetic, but he's not the one adjudicating that. No less than two dozen other neighbors in that Stone

Ridge community signed a petition asking the judge not to let her be placed under house arrest in their neighborhood, citing fear of future violence. Their suggestion was to have her house arrest be as far away from here as possible. So clearly that's just them wanting to make this someone else's problem. There was definitely a lack of empathy for her plight. Yeah, for sure. And definitely a little confusing. The victim was her boyfriend, and the guns had been removed from the house. And if she was found to be dangerous by the court, I think we would all hope that she would have been denied bail altogether. It's not clear to me exactly what they were afraid of.

For sure. So nearly two years later, the trial was set to proceed. The documents that describe the timeline are under seal, unfortunately, so we're not sure why there was such a long delay. But at that time, the state was ready to go to trial. They had expert witnesses lined up to testify. But then suddenly, in August of 2018, Catherine was offered a plea deal. She pled to voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to serve a minimum of 60 months and a maximum of 150 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections. That included a base sentence of 36 to 90 months, with an additional consecutive sentence

of 24 to 60 months for the deadly weapon enhancement. But, plot twist, her sentence was suspended, so that means she didn't spend any time at all in prison. Instead, she was given four years probation with the standard probation conditions, and also, she had to complete eight hours of community service work each month of probation. She had to abide by any curfew imposed by the probation officer as deemed necessary. She was to have no contact with the victim's family, and actually the condition said that she was to have no contact with the victim as well, which I think we can agree indicates this is probably boilerplate language considering that the victim is no longer

alive, and she was to, within the first 30 days, complete an evaluation, and I'm not clear on what that means. To me, this is the best outcome she could have possibly hoped for. The conflict between her account and the evidence and eyewitness testimony really raises questions, but it does seem clear that she was the victim of domestic violence and was defending herself legitimately. Her probation is over now, and she has moved back to Reno to be closer to closer her family as best we can tell and of course we wish her only the best in her healing journey although both of the women our cases today defended themselves from domestic violence the vast difference in these two cases is a good reminder that these types of experiences can vary wildly one was sentenced to four years

in prison and one was sentenced to no years in prison and just got four years of probation please remember that if you are experiencing domestic violence or you know someone who is prison and one was sentenced to no years in prison and just got four years of probation. Please remember that if you are experiencing domestic violence or you know someone who is, please take action. Reach out to local resources before the situation escalates like these two cases did. Regardless, it's always important to believe the victims of domestic violence and never give in to the urge to engage in victim blaming. I agree. The second case on this topic that I wanted to share took place in Elko, Nevada. Before we get started, we wanted to take a moment to clear up some items in this episode. Recently, Brittany reached out to us and clarified a few things from her case, and she wanted us to pass along some corrections, and of course, we're more than happy to do that.

Her case was a tough one to research. We did not have access to upgrade your investing. Online brokerage services are offered through Q Trade Direct Investing, a division of Avizo Financial Inc. We relied on the Elko Daily Free Press for a lot of what we brought you. So here are some clarifications you can keep in mind as you listen to the episode. The first thing she wanted us to correct was about the knife. The Elko Daily Free Press calls it a meat cleaver, and we mentioned that that seemed weird to us, and Brittany confirms that it was just a regular kitchen knife. She says she was chased into the kitchen where the plan that night was to cook spaghetti, and the knife was just out in order to cut up some onions. It just happened to be within reach when the incident occurred. As for where Brittany went for help, the relatives next door were Timmy's aunt and uncle. We talk in the episode a bit about how the legal system re-victimized her and from what she says, she feels that's the case too. The legal system fails so many women

involved in domestic abuse situations, which we've tried to call out every time we see it. She also relayed how she was so afraid she'd never see her daughter again and was overcome with emotion when she was found innocent. And she says that her faith really got her through the whole ordeal. We also love her idea of having law enforcement officers receive expanded training on handling domestic violence situations. We're on board with her hope that one day the legal system won't punish those they're supposed to protect. Thank you again, Brittany, your brave young woman who's been through a horrible ordeal. We appreciate you reaching out to us and we're so glad that you and your daughter are doing well. And with that, back to the episode. Elko is more than 400 miles

north of Las Vegas or about a seven hour drive drive. It's about a three-hour drive directly west of Salt Lake City, Utah. Elko is a small and rural town compared to Henderson or Las Vegas, with a population of around 20,000. Brittany and Timothy Feigl started dating in 2015 when they were both around 17 or 18 years old, moving to Elko from Louisiana just a few years later. Initially, the couple lived with Timothy's father, but when they got married in 2019, they moved into their own place. Soon after, Brittany gave birth to a daughter, and of course, since she's a minor, we're just going to call her Casey. Their relationship was described as rocky and tumultuous, and that conflict continued throughout their marriage,

which only lasted about two years. On June 8, 2022, when Brittany went out to spend some time with some friends, Timothy came to her house to watch Casey. When Brittany returned home that evening, Timothy told her he was going to take Casey with him and introduce her to his new girlfriend. This started an argument between the two of them because Brittany had not even met the new girlfriend. She said she wanted to meet her first and thought that Timothy and the new girlfriend should be together for a length of time before introducing Casey to a new person. That's pretty common for single parents when dating, that they delay having their kids meet the new boyfriend or girlfriend so that it doesn't cause constant upheaval for the child. The argument escalated and Brittany said that

Timothy told her, I'll just kill you and I can do whatever I want with Casey. Brittany later stated that she had seen Timothy become enraged and violent many times before in past arguments, and she quote, knew what it meant and what would happen next. Timothy chased her into the kitchen where she grabbed a large kitchen knife and warned him to stay away. He charged at her, though, and ran right into it. For reference, Brittany is 5'1 and weighs 90 pounds, while Timothy is enormous at 6'2 and 257 pounds. That's a huge size difference and it has to be intimidating when someone nearly three times your size is threatening you and running at you. Brittany initially thought she had stabbed him in the stomach, but the blood was coming out from

his chest. He staggered out the front door and collapsed onto the porch. According to reporting, Brittany ran to her husband's relative's house next door, which I think is very likely to be Timothy's father's house, and told them, call 911, Timmy. The relative went with Brittany back to her house and saw Timothy lying on the porch bleeding out. He told authorities that Brittany was hysterical. He scooped up Casey and brought her to his house, while a female relative called 911. When the police arrived, they found Timothy on the front porch, bleeding from a stab wound in the chest, with Brittany kneeling over him, putting pressure on the wound. The EMTs tried to save his life, but they were unable to, and Timothy died on the porch. A knife described as a meat cleaver was identified at the scene as a murder weapon

and was collected by the police. I find that weird because you can't really stab someone with a meat cleaver. It is famously dull on that edge. It's more for chopping. Yeah, that part confused me as well. I'm not sure why the officers described it that way. But Brittany was arrested and charged with open murder, battery with a deadly weapon, and domestic battery. And due to the charge of open murder, she was held without bail.

Casey was put into Child Protective Services and placed with relatives. Again, weird. We've talked about many cases where there's an open murder here in Nevada, and the person is offered bail. Maybe in those other cases, the charges were changed to some other more specific form of murder. It seems weird to me, though. Everyone seems to get bail here. Timothy's death was the first murder in Elko in about a year. So as you can imagine, in a small town like that, it caused quite an uproar. The trial began on March 15, 2023, in Elko District Court. Brittany argued that she had killed Timothy in an act of self-defense as a result of being a victim of ongoing domestic violence. During the trial, the prosecution brought evidence that Timothy's autopsy showed

that he had died from a knife wound to his chest that was seven and one quarter inches deep and had punctured his left lung and his heart. Timothy did not have any defensive wounds and no alcohol or drugs were found in his system. Police said that there was no reported history of domestic violence with the couple, despite her claim of ongoing domestic violence. Brittany stated that Timothy had strangled her and had pushed her down the stairs when she was pregnant. In addition, Timothy's father had witnessed an incident where Timothy had picked up Brittany and threw her against a wall, causing her to hit her head. Timothy threatened to kill her if she touched him again.

That story was corroborated by a text message between Brittany and Timothy, where Brittany texted him, I have a knot on my head. Thanks for that. And he replied, sorry about that. I was out of line. During the trial, a domestic violence expert testified about the cycle of domestic violence and Timothy's controlling behavior. As reported in the Elko Free Press, Brittany was not allowed to go to the grocery store without him and any money she earned became his money. For some reason, during the opening arguments, the DA brought up the height and weight difference between Brittany and Timothy. Again, Brittany's only 5'1 and weighs 90 pounds, and Timothy was 6'2

and weighed 257 pounds. I honestly have no idea what the prosecution thought they were doing there. That is not something that helps their case. If anything, it makes it much more clear why she'd be so afraid of him physically. I mean, I'm 150 pounds, and I would be intimidated by somebody who was 450 pounds running at me. In contrast, Brittany's attorney, Elko County Public Defender Matthew Pinnell,

said that despite their differences in size, quote, she finally had the courage not to be a victim and stood her ground. I'm sure the defense was really happy that the prosecutors brought that up. What a layup. The trial lasted two weeks and included the testimony of 26 witnesses and more than 100 exhibits entered into evidence.

The prosecution largely tried to cast doubt on Brittany's claims of violence, as there were no police reports made, and the only witness was the father-in-law. The prosecution also tried to disprove the facts and circumstances of the stabbing, saying that the angle of the stab wound and the lack of defensive wounds met that Brittany wasn't holding the knife out away from her body in a stay away stance. They argued he would have been cut by the knife or had some defensive wounds before he got close to her. He was much taller and he had a longer reach than her. The defense argued that Timothy was walking fast towards Brittany in a rage and that if her intent was to kill him, why did she only stab him

once then run to get help and attempt to stop the bleeding afterward. Her attorney shared that Brittany had said, what else was I supposed to do? And he argued that Brittany couldn't have done anything else. Otherwise she would have lost her life that day. Her defense attorney also emphasized how she was a victim of domestic violence and evidence had shown that Timothy did not care for Brittany at all and that he was angry and violent towards her. Timothy himself had admitted to punching holes in the wall next to Brittany's face. Her attorney said, quote, why would he admit to that if it wasn't true? Evidence showed at one point that Timothy had said, there's a lot of mines, there are a lot of holes, and she'd never be found. I want to read this last part from Pinnell's closing

argument. Brittany was the real victim in this case. When someone threatens to kill you, you should believe them, especially when just the week before they violently assaulted you and told you that they were going to kill you. Especially if you've been punching holes in the walls near her face just a month or two before you threatened to kill her. Especially if you've been punching holes in the walls near her face just a month or two before you threatened to kill her. Especially if you had the physicality and the power to overwhelm her and do whatever you wanted to do. And especially when someone has no choice but to defend themselves, we don't punish the survivors. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury could have found Brittany guilty of murder in the first degree, in the second degree, or of manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. After two hours of deliberation, the jury found her not guilty.

Brittany still lives in the Elko area with her daughter, and she speaks out on her social media about domestic violence. Here's a quote from something she wrote. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so I wanted to share these hotlines for anyone I know who may need them, or someone you may know who needs them. You deserve a better life than you have now. I'm always here for anyone that needs someone to talk to without judgment. Over the past two episodes, we've seen three examples of women who are forced to defend themselves from attack using deadly force, but we saw how vastly differently they were treated by the judicial system. It's clear that the courts have problems when it comes to domestic violence and self-defense. It seems like a systemic form of victim blaming, where instead of a person asking

why didn't they leave, it's the courts sending them to prison, with a prosecutor having asked, why didn't they just retreat? In reality, sometimes there is no option for retreat. Advocates like Brittany and even police officers often stress that victims should reach out and contact hotlines or other local resources for help, because the advocates are trained to listen and to help you develop a plan that works for you. If you yourself are not experiencing domestic violence, you can also call hotlines for your own emotional support or even advice on how to best help your loved one who's going through a domestic violence situation. If you are someone who has used violence in a relationship, you can also reach out. You can remain anonymous and find out what support is available to help you cope and work to change your behavior.

We have a list of resources in our show notes and on our website. Remember to follow us on social media at Sins and Survivors on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and now YouTube. You can also get ad-free episodes and bonus content by visiting sinspod.co slash subscribe. We're working on getting our Patreon up and running, so we'll be announcing that soon. Thank you so much for listening and supporting the podcast because it's important that victim stories are told. And we remind you that what happens here happens everywhere. Thanks for listening. Visit sinspod.co slash subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to listen ad-free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Threads

at Sins and Survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. You can contact us at questions at sinsandsurvivors.com. If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence or needs support, please reach out to local resources or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources is available on our website, sinsandsurvivors.com.

Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is research written and produced by your hosts, Sean and John. The information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please email us. Links to source material for this episode can be found on our website, sinsandsurvivors.com. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast creators, hosts, and their guests. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does Thank you.