Snapped: Women Who Murder - Donna Matthews

Episode Date: October 23, 2022

While investigating a tragic murder, Wisconsin police must work their way through a complex web, spanning across the nation, with alleged mafia ties and scandalous text messages.Season 26, Episode 26Originally aired: March 3, 2019Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. A pair of restless world travelers find comfort in each other's arms. They had a great relationship. They just adored each other and loved each other.

She was just having a good time, you know, being out and about with him. You could tell that he was in love with her. But their romance comes to a screeching halt, one hot summer day with a most gruesome discovery. They smelled this horrifying smell. The body was covered with flies and maggots. There were bullet holes in the shirt. Blood smears were found on the door

consistent with trying to escape. Investigators slowly uncover a twisted story of lies, intimidation, and unbridled rage. The relegations of ties to the mafia. Returning to burn their houses down, threatening to kill them. You didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything. That's all you know, any hope for fall. As police finally zero in on a killer,

they uncover disturbing secrets about this seemingly picture-perfect romance. Anyone who would commemorate the murder of another person has some serious issues. July 26, 2016, Kenosha, Wisconsin, an idyllic town nestled on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago. At 11.30 a.m., a municipal crew prepares to repair a sidewalk on a quiet Lakefront street. The crew leader wants to advise residents of the work

and approaches the nearest house. They were going to be doing work on the sidewalk area, and they had stopped at the residence. At that point, he had noticed a strong odor coming from the residence. The terrible smell is unmistakable. Hello, she's a spectra 277. We were all doing our sidewalk inspection

and we were trying to get a home of a residence by knocking on his door. And we ate like lots of flies in the window and a stinky smell coming out from where is this here conditioner is or concerned. You might be dead in there. Moments later, patrol officers from the Kenosha Police Department arrive.

Once getting to the sidewalk, surrounding the residence, the order that was coming from the Kenosha Police Department arrive. Once getting to the sidewalk, surrounding the residents, the order that was coming from the residents was very pungent. The doors are locked, so the officers have to find another way in. There was one window adjacent to the front door that was unlocked, and it was that window that they were able to kind of push up

and access the residents within about five feet of their location. They saw the body. The body was very poloated. There's a lot of skin slippage. It was covered with flies and maggots. The body appears to be that of an adult male. You couldn't tell who he was.

I mean, just the decomposition factors took care of that. You know that he's been there a while. They don't know who the victim is, yet it's clear how he died. There were what appeared to be bullet holes in the shirt. The officers call for homicide detectives and a crime scene unit. Once they arrive, they begin processing the scene Officers call for homicide detectives and a crime scene unit. Once they arrive, they begin processing the scene

and discover a driver's license belonging to 51-year-old Michael Gaian. We believe that the body that was located was Michael Gaian's. If it is, Michael, how and why did he meet such a horrible end? This case will stand out in my memory. It was pretty startling for me, a lot of what we thought turned out to be not what we expected. Born in Chicago in 1965, Michael Gayan was the oldest of four siblings. Michael liked to be by himself a majority of the time, other than his relationship with

his family. He was described as being very intelligent and having a very high IQ, very analytical and methodical and how he had things done. He enjoyed riding his motorcycle. He liked to hike, he liked to travel. He would take pictures frequently of everything. In 1996, Michael met a woman named Jamie, who worked in the burgeoning field of biotech.

They were never married. They had a son together. He was a stay-at-home dad for a number of years to his son. During that time, Michael and Jamie started investing in real estate, especially in the North Chicago land suburb of Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was a property manager and he collected rent and he managed through rental properties. In 2010, Michael and Jamie decided to end their romantic relationship, though they remained business partners.

Ultimately, Jamie and their son moved to Seattle, but Michael remained in Chicago. It was easiest for them at the time to just keep the residences in her name, and Michael was able to manage the properties here in Kenosha. Not long after Jamie left town, Michael met Army vet and world traveler, Donna Matthews, who was a bartender at the time. She was a little bit of a tomboy,

but she was also really pretty. There was something about her. She didn't have to get dressed up to be pretty. Donna grew up in Michigan, the only daughter in a busy home of five siblings. She loved her four brothers, but after high school, Donna wanted to see the world. So she joined the army, hoping to do just that.

She was always at an adventure, like a next adventure. She enjoyed traveling. That's all she ever talked about was how much she loved to travel. While stationed in Germany, Donna fell in love and got married. When she was discharged, she returned to Kenosha with her husband in tow. He was a very attractive man. He was a good guy, a very good guy.

I always thought she had the ideal marriage. But after the birth of their two daughters, Donna began to bristle at the traditional rules her husband requested. He was more like, I want to come home and I want dinner on the table, I want the house cleaned, and she didn't like that man to tell her what to do. She wanted a little bit more out of life

than just being a stay at home mom and cooking and cleaning. So I think Donna was starting to feel a little restless. In 2010, Donna mustered up the courage to file for divorce. The couple's eldest daughter lived with her father while Donna retained custody of their youngest. Her relationship with the girls and the father are still very good. He was a really good dad, and Donna's a great mom.

So I don't think that the separation was too traumatizing for them, because I think in their eyes they still saw that their parents still love them. While still a loving mom, Donna was eager to spread her wings as a single woman. She seemed really fun because she had been so confined as a stay at home mom. We went out a lot, we went to the bars a lot, and everywhere that we went, the guys just fell all over her. Donna was easy on the eyes. I mean, she was a pretty attractive woman.

She had a certain charm that we kind of pull your hand a little bit. She would smile, it would brighten up the room. It was at this point that Donna crossed paths with Michael Gayan. His intelligence, charm, and shared love of travel swept Donna off her feet. She had said initially that she was attracted to him for his intelligence,

that he was a collector of moments, and that she found attractive about him. It started off well, and they had a great relationship. They just adored each other and loved each other. He fell for her. There was a motion behind what he was saying and doing. You know, the I love you. I'd like to spend more time with you. I would like to be with you. After they dated for five years, Donna began to feel claustrophobic in the relationship. Donna was more of a free spirit.

She had been settled down. I don't think she liked that life. Why would she settle down with one person? It seems that the relationship changed in July of 2015. There was a lot more arguing between the two of them. I think what she found appealing earlier in the relationship she was now resistive to in terms of him wanting to spend a lot of time with her wanting to be together. I think more than she wanted.

That summer, Donna told Michael she craved more freedom and that she and her daughter were leaving Kanocha in search of a fresh start. They were going to travel around until they found a place that they loved, and that's where she and her daughter were going to settle. Michael had come to the house, and Michael said that they had broke up. He said, well, I need your help to get Donna back. But she wanted to end their relationship. With Donna firmly decided, the former lovers

began relearning how to live life on their own. Now, a body found in a Kanocha home leads police to believe that Michael's life is over. Coming up, detectives piece together Michael Gaiens' terrifying final moments. The deceased was in a relaxed position and was ambushed. And they learn that for all his charm and intelligence, Michael might have had a dark side. Stalking her, texting her repeatedly, calling her repeatedly. She needed to go to let he would not find her.

Michael Gaiin and Donna Matthews were once an adventurous couple, always on the go. Now, Kenosha was consen police investigating a shooting death have found Michael's wallet and ID next to a badly decomposed body. Because of the state of decomposition, they had to take some extra steps to ID him. As detectives wait for the coroner to transport the body for autopsy, they search the scene for evidence. No murder weapon was found at the house.

However, investigators do recover three 38-calibre projectiles. This discovery helps paint a picture of how and where the victim was shot. There was a chair that we believed that he was seated in. There was blood on the chair, and there were bullet holes that were discovered in the chair itself. It looked like the deceased was in a relaxed position and was ultimately ambushed or surprised. The evidence shows the victim's final moments were spent in a desperate attempt to save himself. The body was found positioned close to the door.

Blood smears were found on the door, consistent with him trying to escape, but not succeeding and falling to the door. Blood smears were found on the door, consistent with him trying to escape, but not succeeding and falling to the ground near the door and dying there. Officers that responded to the scene were able to determine that both doors were locked and secured. You can often times tell that the house has been tossed or ransacked or whatever.

There was none of that here. His wallet was still there. It didn't appear to be a robbery gone wrong. As the crime scene processing wraps up, investigators hope the autopsy will shed further light on what happened. The body was sent to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's office. We weren't sure that it was Michael Gaion. We had very good clues to believe that it was him. With the autopsy and official identification underway,

detectives moved their work outside. We're able to speak to neighbors. No residence report hearing gunshots recently. They explained to detectives that Michael Gaihan and his ex-girlfriend Jamie owned several properties on the street. He resided in one of the properties, and the others were rental properties. The neighbors who knew him said that he seemed pleasant

in their interactions with him, but he was quiet. They didn't know much about him. They indicated that he was always on the go. It would not have been unusual for people to go a long time without seeing Michael. He kept to himself. He wasn't very social. A neighbor had indicated to us that she last spoke

with Mr. Gain on July 4th, roughly midday. Neighbors explain that Michael had been staying at one of his and Jamie's rental properties, where the body was found, while he renovated his actual residence, which is just a few doors down the street. Perhaps that home contains more evidence. We are doing a search more for the other residents

to determine if somebody may have entered that residence. In Michael's living room, detectives find a potential clue. There was a vase that had a gun that was wrapped in a bag. That was located tucked inside the vase. To find it hidden in the vase was strange to us, absolutely. I can't answer as to why that gun was placed in the base. However, the gun is a 380 caliber, so it can't be the murder weapon, which was a 38.

But the discovery leads police to wonder was Michael afraid of someone and kept a gun for protection but had it hidden in the wrong house. On July 28th, the day after the body was found, the medical examiner completes the autopsy, lifting a single identifiable fingerprint from the corpse. Detectives compare it to Michael Guyann's known prints on file due to a minor arrest record.

I identified one of his fingers, two and one set of standards cards, that he had produced at another agency. So with the fingerprint that we recovered at autopsy, that's how we identified scientifically who he was. However, the advanced decomposition of Michael's body means one fact remains uncertain. We believed the date of his death to be around July 4th, two to three weeks prior to his body being discovered. However, we couldn't give a definitive time frame on that. Still, that estimation fits with when neighbors last saw Michael.

Unfortunately, nothing from the autopsy helps identify the shooter. Seeking more information, detectives track down Michael's ex-girlfriend and current business partner, Jamie, who lives in Seattle, Washington. We were able to make phone contact with Jamie, who indicated to us that she and Michael

did own homes in Kenosha together. She indicated to us that they were at one point dating and they had a child in common. However, she and Michael were currently not dating or a never-mantre relation to pony sorts. Jamie tells investigators that she hasn't heard from Michael in several weeks, which is out of character for him. While she doesn't know of any specific threats

against her business partner, not everyone was a fan of Michaels. He was very methodical and how he had things done. He wanted it done his way, and if someone did something a certain way that they thought was right, Michael would get angry because it should have been done a different way. Jamie explains that she hasn't seen Michael in person in more than a year and is unable to provide any additional information.

The detectives decide to reach out to Michael's more recent girlfriend, Donna Matthews. Detective Hagen placed an initial phone call to Donna Matthews, who was living in Hawaii at the time. initial phone call to Donna Matthews, who was living in Hawaii at the time. Though she summed 4,000 miles and four time zones away, Donna explains that friends in Kenosha already told her the news. She knew Michael's body had been found. Donna also admits that she isn't entirely distraught by this news. According to Donna, she was harassed and stalked and emotionally and psychologically abused by Michael. Donna explains that over the course of their relationship,

Michael became more and more obsessive. And when she finally broke up with him, it only got worse. He wouldn't accept the relationship was ended according to her. According to Donna, that was when things took a turn. That was when he became more obsessive. He would start to stalk her or post pictures of her or would call her incessantly. Donna told me he was controlling.

He was mean to her. Donna says that when she tried to put even more distance between them, Michael's behavior went from mean to downright menacing. Donna said that he told her often that he had a connection to organized crime and that he knew people who could kill her family members. Coming up, Donna alleges months of terror at Michael's hands.

Why aren't you doing something about those? Why aren't you arresting this guy? And a surprise witness emerges with a frightening tale. When you came to the police department, he was very nervous. He was sweating. MUSIC Hey, listener.

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Kevin Hart, Mark Cuban, Jimmy Campbell, so many more. Join us for an unforgettable conversation that will have you laughing pondering and quite possibly contemplating, growing a beard like Letterman's. I know I have. You can listen to these episodes four weeks early in ad free on Wundry Plus, find Wundry Plus in the Wundry app or on Apple Podcasts. Investigating the murder of Michael Gaianann, Kenosha Wisconsin authorities have been speaking with Michael's most recent girlfriend, Donna Matthews, who lives on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

In doing so, detectives have uncovered a stunning new twist to the case. Donna had alleged that Michael was involved with the mob. Donna says that after she ended their five-year relationship, Michael threatened to call in a favor with his mobster friends to have Donna and her family killed. Donna says that at that point, she filed a formal report with the Kenosha Police Department.

But according to Donna, her complaint fell largely on deaf ears. When Donna talked to the police officer about it, he didn't rescue him. That was horrifying to me. If this is serious, why aren't you doing something about this? With no proof of abuse and Michael denying the allegation,

all police could do was issue a restraining order against him. Donna explains that in September 2015, she and her daughter fled to New Orleans. But that wasn't far enough. Michael had sent her a text message with a picture of the place where she and her daughter were staying. So she believed that he had stalked them to New Orleans, so they had to leave. Donna claims that over the next several months, she and her daughter moved several more times. But no matter where they went, Michael kept stalking them.

He found her in Colorado. He found her in Arizona. He found her in North Carolina. She told me that he would just show up and I just thought, wow, that's really scary. He followed her wherever she went. She couldn't get away from him. She had reached out to the commercial police department previously, and her version was that nobody had been taking her seriously or attempting to help her. Hoping finally to be free from his grasp,

Donna moved all the way to Maui and took precautions in case Michael followed. She saw a restraining order against him. My understanding is that she was at a bus stop. He showed up on the bus stop. She called the police, he was arrested, and was released on the understanding that he would leave the island.

Once Michael left Maui, Dona says she felt safe until one night when she was checking a social media account. She told me that he had posted some naked pictures of her on Facebook. A couple of him were her in the shower. Somewhere in a shirt that was unbuttoned with no bra, somewhere her sitting in an office type of chair, the bed in behind her. When you do pictures like that for somebody,

that's supposed to be between you and that person. So if he did post those on Facebook, I can understand why she would be upset. on Facebook, I can understand why she would be upset. Donna also tells police that less than three weeks ago in early July, she received heartbreaking news that required a trip back to Kenosha. Her mother was dying and she needed to get home to see her mother before her mother died.

Donna worried that Michael would find out she was in town, but to her relief, she never saw him. And when her mother passed away on July 7, Michael didn't appear at the funeral. She indicated that the messages from Michael had stopped towards the beginning of July, immediately thereafter, July 4. Donna says she has no other information.

Detectives in Kenosha, Sapina, Michael's phone and computer records to look for any connections to organized crime. But there was no evidence to suggest any real true connection to the mob at all. We also reached out to the Chicago Police Department as well as the FBI in the organized crimes division.

The name of Michael Gyan was nowhere to be found. Next, detectives reach out to Donna's family in Kenosha, whom she claimed Michael also threatened. Donna had been telling her family members that Michael was threatening to burn their houses down, threatening to kill them. And so they were worried. There was maybe three brothers in town.

So I just went door to door trying to locate them, and we ran into Derek Matthews. We asked him if he's willing to come down and to the police department and talk to us. He came across as just a nervous guy, kind of fidgety. He brought up Michael Guyon, and he explained that Donald had an odd again, off-going relationship with him, that he didn't like him. Detectives questioned Derek

about where he was on the night of July 4th. The last day, Michael Gayan was seen alive. On July 4th, Derek said he was going to meet some people at a local bar instead of staying in. Derek denied knowing about Michael's death, Derek denied being around Michael's residence. The initial interaction with Derek was very short. I walked away from that interview saying he needs to get talked to again.

Had Derek Matthews murdered his sister's ex in order to protect their family. Before detectives can dig any deeper, a man named Josh Taylor comes forward, ready to talk. We had a resident in the cane they needed to speak with a detective involved in the Michael Gein homicide. Josh Taylor lived downstairs from Derek Matthews. He was a friend to Derek. They were very close. A detective and I talked, and I said,

how many times was he shot? And he said, well, how do you know he was shot? And I said it was a revolver. It was at 38. And he said that information has not been publicized. He firmly believed that he had information about who committed the homicide. Josh says Derek confided in him about his sister,

Donna's troubled relationship with Michael Guyan and dropped an unsettling hint. He was growing very concerned about the situation with Donna. Derek tells me that if nobody is going to help Donna, then he's going to be is going to help Donna, then he's going to be the one to help Donna. And I said, what exactly does Donna need help with? And he said, getting rid of Michael K.

And people say, all the time, you know, God, I wish I could kill that person. You never think anybody's going to go through on it. Josh explains that he and Derek plan to watch the fireworks on July 4th. The night police believe Michael Guyann was murdered. It comes time to go for the fireworks. And I said, well, we're going right now.

I said, let's lock up the house and go. And Derek comes out and says, I'm going to go out for a drink. Derek is dressed all in black, and he runs upstairs, grabs his bag, comes back out. And it says, I'm serious. go out for a drink. Derek's dressed all in black, and he runs up stairs, grabs his bag, comes back out, and says, I'm serious, don't wait up for me. I'm out in this car and leaves. The whole time on the inside, you have that little voice that's saying, this isn't right. Josh indicated that after July 4th, that Derek's hold demeanor had changed drastically. He went from being very fond and caring to kind of being more to himself.

After July 4th, every time I saw him, it looked like the life had been sucked out of him a little bit more. Something was eating away at him. Then, Josh learned about Michael Guy-Anne's murder. I had a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I called Derek, and I said, Derek, I said, Michael Gyan is dead. They're silent.

I said, Derek, what did you do? Derek responded to me, you didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything, that's all you know, and you have to fall. You didn't hear anything. That's all you know. Any hope for fun. Joshua also provided us with information that Derek owned a revolver. That was a 38 revolver. So a lot of the information that he provided

was very consistent with the investigation thus far. Based on Josh's statement, Kenosha Detectives secure a search warrant for Derek Matthews' home. In his kitchen he had a golf bag and inside the golf bag we found some ammunition. We did locate 38 special ammunition with five rounds missing. Detectives are increasingly convinced that Derek was somehow involved in the murder. But in order to obtain an arrest warrant, they're going to need concrete proof. We needed to gather some more information. We didn't believe for him to be a flight risk at that time. Detectives ask Derek's housemate, Josh Taylor,

to play a crucial but risky role in the investigation. Secretly recording a conversation with Derek. And they said, OK, so you'll do it. And I said, yes. And I said, I'll get him and talk about the situation. Coming up, will the crime's prime suspect come clean? See, here's the thing. You are family to us. Right, Houston.

OK. If you didn't do it, then you need to say that. After the murder of Michael Guyan, detectives in Kenosha, Wisconsin, ask Josh Taylor to wear a wire and record a conversation with his friend and housemate, Derek Matthews. Derek is also the brother of Michael Guyan's ex-girlfriend, Donna Matthews. Josh agrees to help police. It's hard for me. I've never done anything like that before. So Derek and I had a conversation.

I explained to him that if he wasn't the person that did, in fact, kill Michael Guyann, that he needed to say it. During the conversation, Josh suggests that maybe Donna was the killer. See, here's the thing. You are family to us. I used to. Okay. If you didn't do it, if she did it,

there is two totally different set of protocols there. Well, you... You the cop was telling me, if I'm protecting my sister, I'm just as guilty as she is. And like I said, I'm looking you eye to eye. But you didn't do it. I didn't do it. Detectives believe Derek knows more about the crime

than he's confided to his housemate. That same afternoon, police hauled Derek into the station for another interrogation. He was very cooperative. You could tell he wanted to be cooperative. He wanted to speak to us. That's when Derek starts to come clean. He explains that he knows who killed Michael Guyan, his sister Donna. Derek told us that Donna had told him that she needed to get rid of Michael

because Michael was going to post some very embarrassing and humiliating things about her on social media and that that would ruin her life and she would never be able to be employed again and she would lose friends and family as a result. Derek says Donna asked him to save her by killing Michael. I told her I can't, I can't 100 times, that she was so upset and I just could not let her

be in pain anymore in the English. Derek tells detectives he finally agreed to assist her. She flew secretly into town, Montreal, I-forth, but she did not tell any of her family that that was happening. That was a day earlier than Donna told friends she would be arriving for her mother's funeral. So I brought my sister back to my house and then we'll tell them, you're done. You want us, Sarah's?

My weapon was that. Derek admits he gave his sister his 38 caliber pistol, loaded with five live rounds, and drove her to Michael's neighborhood. Derek explained to us that the idea was that she was going to shoot him during the fireworks and the fireworks are going to muffle the gunfire. She got on the car. It's here, it's home.

You have to have fireworks. Derek indicated that after the fireworks were over, she sent him a text message indicating that she was done. I told her where I was, and you didn't say it in my scene at that time. What did she say to you at that point? She said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she didn't say anything. And you're like, I'm quite a big son of a... And why did you do that?

Because it was a product. Derek stated that he threw the bullet casings in the lake and then hid the gun. There was nothing for us to believe that he wasn't telling the truth. He was charged with first degree intentional homicide, party to a crime, use of a dangerous weapon.

After formally charging Derek, detectives set their sights on Donna, who's already back home in Maui. I walked out of the interview and one of the bosses asked me, you know, are you willing to go to Maui? Which wasn't a hard decision. We were gonna just try to find Donna.

We arranged for two detectives to fly out to Maui to speak with her. When we touched down, there's an FBI agent there, and there was two Maui detectives. And as we got there, we were finding out that she had just left. Her flight left about an hour before we touched on. I was taken aback that she left Hawaii.

It seemed highly suspicious. One would think that she was running. Working with the FBI, detectives uncover Donna's flight number and destination. Her flights did indicate that she was going to Seattle. We reached out to the Seattle Port Authority, and at that point, the district's office was able to enter a temporary warrant

for Donna's arrest for the incident. While U.S. Marshals positioned themselves at SeaTac Airport to await Donna's arrival, Kenosha detectives continue their investigation in Hawaii, learning important information from Donna's colleagues at the bar where she works. We know that she had asked people to kill Michael for her. We know that she had offered to pay people money.

One coworker says that once Michael was dead, Donna celebrated in a very cold-hearted and very noticeable way. It's a tattoo of a sea turtle. It's got the date of July 4th on it, and then it's got like a heart and a peace sign. And she said that it commemorated when she became free of this relationship.

Anyone who would get a tattoo like this to commemorate the murder of another person has some serious issues. The Police in Knocia, Wisconsin believe Donna Matthews murdered her ex-boyfriend, Michael Gaiann. But before they can arrest her in Maui, they discover Donna has fled on a flight bound for Seattle. They notify US marshals who make a beeline for C-TAC

International Airport. When her flight gets touched down, we've only been there 4 1-1 hour, and she was taken into custody. Derek Matthews pleads guilty to second degree murder and agrees to testify against his sister. Donna Matthews fights the charges, and on June 26, 2018, her trial begins. Prosecutors open by spelling out the events that they believe led to Michael Guyane's murder. It started shortly after the death of Donna's mother,

when Donna flew into Kenosha on July 4, 2016, a day earlier than she told family she'd be arriving for the funeral. Donna then borrowed her brother's 38-caliber handgun, and just before the holiday fireworks were scheduled to begin, she had Derek drop her off near Michael's home. She snuck into the residence, hid until Michael came into the residence and sat down.

She jumped out, unloaded the weapon, five shots. Until Michael fell to the floor. He was so moaning, so she hit him in the head with the gun. Prosecutors support their theory with the sworn testimony of Donna's brother, Derek. They also submit nearly six years of texts and Facebook messages between Donna and Michael. Messages they assert are proof that Donna's claims that Michael had repeatedly threatened her are a fabrication.

We were specifically looking for that type of evidence. Was there any message where he talked about burning down homes? Was there any message even a vague veiled threat to hurt anyone in her family? And we found nothing. All of the threats of that he was going to kill her or kill her family members, there's nothing, there's no proof of that.

And Donna's own texts and direct messages prove that she lied about Michael's stalking, too. She, after their breakup had very much portrayed to her family and friends that she wanted nothing more to do with him, But the record of text messages shows that they really did continue to talk to each other. She would tell family and friends, don't tell Michael where I'm going. However, in messages with Michael, she would indicate to him where she, in fact, she was. Hey, we're in New Orleans, hey, they were in New Mexico, they were in Colorado.

Then before she flew to Hawaii, telling her family that she was trying to get away from him, she stayed at his house. She was so far from a domestic violence victim, there was no learned helplessness. There was no fear of him there. Prosecutors surmised that when Donna got a restraining order under false pretenses, Michael defended himself by posting screenshots of their sexually explicit text messages and the semi-nude

photos Donna sent him. He told her, I know you've been telling your friends and your family these terrible things about me. You started this by telling them these lies about me, and now I'm putting these pictures and these pages of our sexting so that people will see that you were lying about me. This whole case was about Michael exposing her on Facebook to her friends and family.

When it's the defense's turn, they call Donna to the stand, hoping she can convince the jury that she killed Michael purely out of self-defense. She says a lot of the threats that he made were verbal, rather than in writing. She referred to Michael a number of times as her terminator that he wouldn't give up, that he just kept coming at her no matter what she did.

She felt helpless to get out of the situation. On cross-examination, prosecutors work to pick apart Donna's self-defense claims. For a self-defense claim in Wisconsin, you have to have an imminent threat of death, self-defense claims. For a self-defense claim in Wisconsin, you have to have an imminent threat of death, their great bodily harm, and that just wasn't present here. She's got a life in Hawaii.

She's away from him. You know, why come all the way back home and ambush him to take his life? After closing arguments, the case comes down to one final question. Michael Guyann might not have been the picture perfect boyfriend, but did that give Donna the right to murder him? After two and a half hours of deliberations,

the jury returns with their answer to that question. Tanawas found guilty at trial of first degree homicide. The only reaction was of Donna Matthews. She turned around and started screaming at the gay and family and yelling about Michael. She yelled that he was an animal and that it was the family's fault. I think to see that side of Donna was very telling. Michael shouldn't have died

because of this mutually toxic relationship with Donna Matthews. Death is not the answer. You are not, you're not the executioner, you're not the judge. You are not. You're not the executioner. You're not the judge. On August 31, 2018, a judge sentenced Donna Matthews

to life in prison. On September 14, 2018, Derek Matthews was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in Michael Guyin's murder. For more information on snapped, go to oxygen.com.