Snapped: Women Who Murder - Melissa Patterson

Episode Date: November 21, 2021

After an endearing World War II veteran and family man is laid to rest from apparent natural causes, a surprise witness surfaces with murder accusations, sparking a police investigation into a devious predator.Season 25, Episode 20Originally aired: July 21, 2019Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WsLCJWqmIebSee 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. There's was a love story that stood the test of time. He married his soulmate, and they were meant to be. And it was obvious.

I mean, they were married for over 50 years. But after more than a half century together, time finally catches up with them. There's a fire truck, an ambulance, and a friend of mine at the house. When I had heard that he had an heart attack, it made sense to me. After 96 years of life, sometimes the body quits. Yet things aren't what they seem.

The story seems so far fetched. They had a hard time believing it. There had been approximately $200,000, which were misappropriated. To uncover the appalling truth, detectives must navigate a trail of, he said, she said. You picked up the phone, that started telling me. I was trying to murder him, I was trying to save his money. She was hired to work at his house, but he didn't trust her. She just seemed like someone who had something to hide.

She felt that he could potentially cause harm to her. He fought for his life. MUSIC New Bronfels, Texas. At 9.40am on January 28, 2015, Mark Nell is leaving for work when he gets a call from McAllen, Texas, where his 96-year-old father, Marty Nell, lives. It's been ever across the street telling me there's a fire truck, an ambulance in front of my dad's house.

As Mark begins the four-hour trip south, he asks the neighbor to keep him updated. I was getting a play-by-play over the phone from her. Desperate for more information, Mark decides to contact his father's caretaker and close friend, Melissa Patterson. I told the neighbor, well, let me call you back. I'm going to try to get in touch with her. And I texted Melissa. Minutes later, Melissa calls Mark back with news from his father's housekeeper,

Celestina Muscorro, who had called emergency responders. Celestina says, hey, I don't know. He just had a heart attack and they're trying to revive them. As Mark races down the highway, he preys his father will still be alive when he gets there. I need to get down there right away to help him. Raised by a West Virginia coal miner during the depression, Marty Nell always pushed himself to succeed.

He was extremely gifted in baseball and basketball. Started working in the coal mines, somewhere in his high school years, he was tough as nails. However, when Marty started dating fellow classmate, Penny Fletcher, it was clear he'd met his match. My mom was a wonderful lady, beautiful, fiery, didn't take any growth of anybody. They were meant to be, and it was obvious. In the summer of 1941, the couple

wed a few months later, the United States entered World War II. Marty wasted no time in listing. He was real patriotic all his life. He'd registered with the Army. He was a good pilot. So they promoted him out of his trainer position to Sargent. While Marty trained paratroopers, Penny worked as an operator at an up-and-coming telecommunications company.

Penny had worked for a small company at the time back in the day when she started working with him. She decided to take stock instead of pay. She was really good at our job, and they kept trying to promote her, and she kept turning them down because it required moving. After the war ended, the company finally convinced Penny to take a chief operator position

at their branch in McAllen, Texas. Marty left the army and worked in MacAllen as a male carrier. While their careers flourished and they were more in love than ever, the couple still felt like something was missing. They were unable to have children. When they thought they were financially able, they decided to adopt and adopted me in 1953.

During those years that I was growing up, they sang together in the house, danced a lot, laughed and giggled. My mom and dad had an awesome relationship. By the 1980s, after Mark had grown up and started a family of his own, Penny and Marty began to think about retirement. By this time, the company Penny had been working with since the 1940s had become the global telecommunications giant known as AT&T, and it turned out that Penny's choice to be paid in stock was a wise one.

She still had all that stock, and they were worth over a million dollars now. Even though they were millionaires, Penny and Marty focused on living modestly, spending time with their grandchildren and staying as active as possible. My grandpa would get up at four in the morning, pretty regularly, and do his exercises for like an hour every morning. My son Doug tried to do the same workout with him. And I think my son lasted 15 minutes.

By 2014, as the couple approached their 90s, age started to catch up with them. My mom fell in the house and fractured her pelvis. She had to go to the hospital. She was in there for quite some time. My papas staying up all night with her. He's stealing with all the stress. In September 2014, doctors cleared Penny to return home from the hospital. But Marty was still worried about her.

He probably just didn't feel like he was going to be able to take care of her. And the nurse told me that she could go to the comfort house. Comfort House was a nonprofit care and hospice center run by a former speech pathologist named Melissa Patterson. I made arrangements with the comfort house to show up in Mac Allen and sign all the paperwork. -♪ Marty visited Penny several times a week and developed close relationships

with the comfort house staff, including Melissa. Melissa Patterson starts providing him with food. She starts caring for him. I was glad somebody was there to help him. It was good relationship. By October, Penny seemed to be improving. She's starting to put on weight and she's recovering. She was happy.

She was, you know, regaining her health. Their anniversary was on the 23rd. We were planning to go down for their anniversary to spend it with them. But on the day of the couple's 74th anniversary party, Penny took a sudden turn for the worse. Melissa saw us and told us that she didn't think my mom was going to last. My first reaction was, well, think my mom was gonna last.

My first reaction was, well, I thought she was doing better. It was a little bit of confusion initially. Well, that's how she took us back to my mom's room. Her mouth was so dry that she was croaking instead of talking. She was still breathing. Heart was still beating. She passed away at nine. I just said to myself, well, she's been sick for a year.

She's nearing the end of her life. She's weak. It makes sense that she passed away at this age. As for Marty, he was beyond devastated. He'd spent all his life with Penny, and without Penny, he was pretty much lost. That was his love of his life. He did everything for her.

His whole life revolved around her. He started being a little bit more introverted. We noticed the degradation and his mental and his emotional side of things. Though Marty wasn't a resident of Comfort House, its director, Melissa Patterson, stepped in to help him. And as Patterson became his friend and they came very close, he was going to have thanksgiving

with Melissa and her family. I thought to myself, I said, wow, she's trying to help them out, added a good of her heart. I thought that was pretty awesome. Melissa also enlisted the services of a friendly, kindhearted housekeeper named Celestina Moscoro. When you're 96 years old, every day becomes so vitally important, and he was able to spend it with good people.

But now, on the morning of January 28th, as Mark Nell races to his parents' home in MacAllen, he hopes this day won't be his father's last. He hopes this day won't be his father's last. So, it's been called 911. She believed that Arty Nell had had a heart attack and asked for an ambulance to be sent. And they started ministering CPR, which is her common protocol. Within minutes, Marty's friend Melissa Patterson also arrives.

Bearing a heavy message, she's legally obligated to deliver. She's saying, don't go resuscitate him, and then she's crying. And Melissa hands the directive not to resuscitate to the EMS. And they say, well, it's good. It's accurate, so stop and cease all life-saving procedures. Because of his age and because what Celestina Mosquora had told them, everybody just accepted that it was a heart attack. With Mark still en route, Melissa phones him again

and delivers the terrible news. She called back... told me. Your dad just died. Coming up, is there more to Marty's death than meets the eye? So, Steena Muscora heard sounds consistent with the struggle. And can investigators trust those closest to Marty? She believed that the Sun's after his money. After EMTs in MacAllen, Texas, declare 96-year-old Marty Nell dead. His housekeeper, Celestina Muscorro, tells police that the morning had started out like any other.

Celestina fixed Marty breakfast, then began to do some cleaning. When she returned to the kitchen, she found Marty slumped over the table. At the time, it's all no obvious signs of foul play. Someone at that age could go at any minute. You don't have to be suffering from a condition. After 96 years of life, sometimes a body quits. By the time Mark arrives in McGowan, the coroner has already transferred

his father's body to the morgue. My dad wanted to live to be a hundred. At that point, he was 96 years old. His mind was still capable, but his body didn't respond. When I had heard that he had had a heart attack, it made sense to me. It was 96 that sounds totally logical. that sounds totally logical. Three days later, on January 31st, 2015, friends and family gathered to celebrate Marty Nell's life

and bury him with full military honors. It was just a great side service, military. 21 guns loaded. The family members there, they've just lost their papal and their dad. You know, there's friends of his there, people that actually cared about him and knew him. Although Marty has been laid to rest,

the investigation into his death is just beginning. On the morning of February 24, 2015, nearly a month after Marty's death, his housekeeper, Celestina Muscorro, comes forward with a startling confession. Celestina walked into the Texas Rangers headquarters in West Dakota and asked to speak to someone she was scared. So, Stinema Squirrel advised the Rangers that she had witnessed the murder of Martin Mel. According to Celestina, on the morning of Marty's death, he received a phone call from Melissa Patterson.

There was an argument between Melissa Patterson and Martin L. on the phone, and he was visibly upset. Celestina claims that a short time later, Melissa showed up at Marty's house. Melissa came into the house, and there was an argument between Mr. Nell and Melissa. Melissa asked Celestina to step out into the garage. Celestina exited the house and observed a subject she knew with Mario sitting in Melissa Patterson's vehicle. He worked odd jobs there at the comfort house,

so she knew who he was. There are a lot of jobs there at the comfort house, so she knew who he was. Most of Patterson came in motion for Mario to come into the house. Solestina stated that as they entered the residence, she was stopped by Melissa Patterson in the garage. She heard Melissa Patterson tell Mario to do what he had to do. Solestina and the squirrel heard sounds consistent Melissa Patterson tell Mario to do what he had to do. Salostina Muscuro heard sounds consistent with the struggle coming from inside the residence, muffled yelling from Martin Mel.

According to Salostina, a few minutes later, Melissa and Mario came back into the garage. Melissa began giving Salestina instructions, saying that she was to wait 30 minutes before calling authorities to tell them that she had found Mr. Nella that he wasn't breathing. According to Solestina, Patterson warned her that if she said anything about what happened, bad things would happen to her.

And then Mario told her basically the same thing. Solestina tells the Rangers that when she called 911, she followed Melissa's instructions to a T. She felt threatened by Mario. She felt that he could potentially cause harm to her. And she was afraid the most of Patterson may have someone try to cause harm to Celestina as well. Celestina's story is a game changer, but is it true?

The story seems so far fetched, if you will, that I think that they had a hard time believing it. The question to ask Ms. Moskoro, how are you so cool about all this? Can you explain the 911 call to me? Why did you go along with it? She doesn't report a crime. She reports a natural death.

And for months and for days, she's part of this alleged conspiracy. And that was extremely concerning. She just seemed like someone who had something to hide. Texas Rangers share this new information with the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office. Two days later, investigators arrive at Comfort House to speak with Melissa Patterson. In the initial meeting with Melissa Patterson,

no accusations were made by investigators, it was just to list any information that she might provide about the death of Martin Nell. Melissa explains how she and Marty became close after his wife Penny passed away at Comfort House. He trusted her enough to confide in her about his wealth. He lets it be known that he has invested wisely and that he's a millionaire.

Melissa says that Marty told her he planned to leave some money to his church, some to Comfort House, some to his grandchildren, and none to his son, Mark. His relationship with Mark grew a little bit. Stagnend was in a very good relationship. She believed that the sun was after his money. Melissa explains that Marty asked her to make sure Mark didn't try to take advantage of him.

Mr. Nell unequivocally said that he wanted Ms. Patterson to take care of his affairs. According to Melissa, Marty asked her to be executor of his estate and gave her power of attorney. He wanted someone to be able to take care of him. Melissa hired Celestina Mascoro to look after Marty during the week. However, Melissa says that just before he passed away, Marty called her furious and accused Celestina

of stealing from him. I think that there was cash inside the house that he kept. She must have known where it was at, and some of that money was not completely accounted for. Melissa explains that before she could confront Celestina, she received the devastating news of Marty's death. There's no doubt that she feels bad about what happened to Mr. Nell.

All the way around, it just an overwhelming feeling of sadness. After speaking with Melissa, authorities decide not to tell her about Celestina's accusations. We knew that there were contradictions between what Celestina Mascore was telling us and what Melissa Patterson was telling us. Although police lack evidence of a murder taking place, they must try to determine why Celestino waited to come forward. Was it because she was scared? Or was she stealing from Mr. Nell as Melissa Patterson claimed?

The only one I can draw was that she got very desperate because she felt she was going to get caught for having taken so much money. And what about Melissa's other claims? Melissa was suspicious at Mark. It was only interested in his money. Coming up, detectives confront a grieving son. He started telling me.

I was trying to murder him. I was trying to steal his money. And a witness, I deez a key suspect. Late out the photos, she looked through either screader, face looked through, he described her face going white. The hardest true crime story to report on is your own. I'm Tiffany Reese, host of the podcast, something was wrong. For 15 seasons, I've always aimed to validate

and amplify the voices of those who have survived abuse and crime. But for season 16, I'm opening up for the first time to validate and amplify the voices of those who have survived abuse and crime. But for season 16, I'm opening up for the first time about my own experiences as an abuse survivor and a murder co-victim. With the help of trusted friends, we'll unpack my journey to becoming a victim advocate by examining my past. From the emotional and physical abuse I endured at the hands of my parents, and the bullying

I received from my classmates, to the murder of my brother and the securities fraud my father was convicted of. I'm covering it all and even learning more about myself through this process. This is obviously a very personal journey for me, but I believe that this will play a part in my healing helping me to process the trauma that I endured. Follow something was wrong wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. Four weeks after the death of 96-year-old Marty Mel, accusations of murder have emerged. Investigators have three persons of interest, Marty's housekeeper, Celestina Mascoro,

the executor of his estate, Melissa Patterson, and his own son, Mark Mel. On March 2nd, 2015, Texas Rangers request an interview with Mark. They asked me if I was going to be in the valley anytime soon. I told them the out and they said, would you mind meeting with us? And I said no, by all means. They wouldn't talk to him, interviewed him about what he knew about his father's death. Mark tells investigators that after his mother died, he began to worry his father's mental health was deteriorating.

On December 3rd, I called down to his house and he started telling me I was trying to murder him, I was trying to steal his money, he was trying to get control of him. It was suspicious at Mark. I was only interested steal his money, and trying to get control of him. It was suspicious at Mark. I was only interested in his money. That pissed me off. And finally, I just told him goodbye. Last time I ever talked to him.

Mark explains that after his father shut him out, Melissa stepped in as a go-between for father and son. The only information I was getting from was from Melissa. She's taken into the doctor, took into Thanksgiving at her house. Mark says it wasn't until his dad passed away that Mark realized just how much control Melissa had over Marty's life. And after my dad died, I couldn't get into the house. She had changed all the locks on my dad's house. We got involved.

And why, what gives you the right to do this? At that point, Melissa goes to her truck, pulls out a copy of the wheel, and shows Mark that I'm the executive tricks of the property. I'm the one named in the wheel. Mark tells authorities he and his family were immediately suspicious. He said that he thought that Patterson had manipulated Marty into changing over all of his financials to her and that he didn't trust her.

I think she just saw a great opportunity on a weakened old man who had lost his wife, who needed somebody. And she had this authority figure of trust. She swooped in and took every advantage she could. After speaking with Mark, authorities decide to take a closer look at Melissa Patterson. Her family is a long time political family. She's decided to take a closer look at Melissa Patterson. Her family is a long time political family.

You would call it a local virus, see anyone. She's a member of the community for as long as I've been here. And her family was very involved. And father was a county commissioner for many years, and she's got a brother who was a county courted law judge. So they were very, very involved. They were a high-profile family. Melissa's mother was an administrator in our school district. Her father was a school board member in the district,

and he was also mayor of San Juan. Though Melissa's family has a long history of public service, her actions in the days after Marty Nell's death were eyebrow-raising. However, detectives feel that Melissa has been far more consistent in her account than Marty's housekeeper, Celestina Mascuro. The story was slightly different about how he'd been found unresponsive by his housekeeper. The first thing in my mind, I started to question whether or not she was being truthful.

Authorities bring Selestina back for another interview. Once again, she says Marty was murdered by a man named Mario, and Melissa was somehow involved. To back up her claims, Selestina recounts how she got the job looking after Marty. Patterson had hired Celestina to work at Nell's house. And the supposition from that was that she just wanted eyes and ears at his house to keep Mark away from the dead.

If Mark called Celestina Moskoda was under the instructions not to let him talk to Martin Nell, to keep Mark away from the dead. If Mark called Celestino Mosquota was under the instructions not to let him talk to Martin L. She was acting as an interference. When asked about Mario, Celestino reiterates that she doesn't know his last name. Though he has called her before

about maintenance issues at Marty's house. He had fixed the shower at the Nell House. They wanted to figure out who Mario was. And so they went through her phone records. And she was able to pick out a phone number for him. They entered that into Facebook. And they came up with a picture of unheld, Mario Garza.

The next morning, Solestina Muscuro came in. Again, we used a booking photo of Mario Garza from a previous jailing. We presented a photo lineup to Celestina Muscuro. He laid out the photos and she looked through and saw him and I think he described her face as going white. She positively identified on Hill Mario Garza

as being the Mario that was at Martin Nell's residence and participated in his murder. The positive ID ramps up the investigation. We began attempting to corroborate the story of Celestina Muscorro. We started by obtaining search warrants for cell phone records. Melissa Patterson had always said that she was never

at the house until she got called out there at the time of the MS arriving. Cell phone records obtained, showed all three subjects were placed at the residence during the time that Martin Mel was reported to murder. That was strong evidence that they were not truthful to my investigators at the very beginning. With Celestina Mascoro's account seemingly confirmed, authorities asked her to perform an important and dangerous assignment. Texas Rangers and the Sheriff's Office investigating the case wanted to see if Melissa Patterson

would admit to any role in the death of Mr. Nell. And in order to get Melissa's confession, they planned to use Celestina as bait. The law enforcement had microphone Celestina and they had agents with cameras to film and record their conversation. On July 5, 2015, five months after Marty Nell's death, Celestina sits down with Melissa. Celestina Muscororo confronted Melissa Patterson with the accusation that she had murdered Mark Nell. Melissa kept telling Celestina that she was wrong and so on and so forth.

Didn't know what she was talking about. There was no overt admission. That yes, I committed the murder. Yes, I know what you're talking about. But she doesn't come across as a person who didn't do something. but she doesn't come across as a person who didn't do something. Coming up, can a new witness shed light on what really happened to Marty Nell? The bank accounts were basically stripped clean. She had filed a report and she called adult protective services

and detectives inch closer to the truce. He says he's not the one who actually killed Marty Mel. [♪ Music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background,

music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in, believe Marty's caretaker, Melissa Patterson, has not been fully honest with them. Yet, they still don't have proof his death was a murder. We didn't know where it was going at the time, so we needed more information. The next lead comes when authorities discover an adult protection services report, filed two months before Marty's death by a bereavement counselor named Raquel Ibarra.

Raquel, she had called the police department, and she filed a report and she called adult protective services. When detectives speak with Raquel, she explains the incident that initially gave her concerns. She was providing services to Martin L. Bereavement Services in counseling because Penny Nell had passed. And at one of the visits, she's talking to Martin L.

and Martin L. is upset. According to Raquel, Marty had just learned that the beneficiary on his stock accounts had been changed. Melissa Patterson was now named as the transfer on death. If he passed away, it would go to her. He was upset saying that why did this young lady do this? Why did she didn't have the authority to do it? Raquel says that Marty called Melissa

and demanded an explanation. She's like, well, you know, calm down, Marty. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. And she shows up. And Martin is upset saying, you need to change this back to me. Nobody gave you the authority to do this.

Raquel explains that Melissa refused to talk in front of her. She asked if I can't even leave because she's saying this is information, it's privileged information that she can't hear. So she leaves, but she calls APS and she reports it. To detectives, Raquel's story begins to unravel Melissa's possible motive. We believe that Melissa Patterson was attempting to take advantage of an LRD individual to gain his trust in order to take his assets. On August 25, 2015, investigators bring in Mario Garza to hopefully confirm their suspicions.

Mario explains that he works part-time at Comfort House, and that in January of that year, Melissa confided in him that she was about to become a rich woman. She said, shortly prior to Martin Nodath, he changed his last- oil and testament to make herself the beneficiary of his estate. He says that Patterson approached him to help her now or get rid of him.

In exchange for him helping out, she would share with him some of the proceeds from Nild's estate. Mario admits that he agreed to the deal, and on January 28, 2015, Melissa drove him to Marty's house. When she gave him the signal, Mario says he went inside to do the deed, but lost the courage to follow through with the plan. He says in his confession that he's not the one who actually killed Marty Nellow was a Patterson.

Plastic bags were placed over his head and Mr. Melpoth was trying to breathe. He lays out the story in such great detail that would be hard to fabricate. So after he gave his confession, he was taken to the custody. It seems Celestina Mascoro had been telling the truth after all. The case never would have developed without her.

Had she not gone to the Texas Rangers? Had she remained silent? Then they would have gotten away with it. Now, with Mario Garza in custody, detectives set their sights on Melissa Patterson. On August 26, 2015, they arrive at Comfort House. We spoke to Melissa Patterson and Astrid to accompany us for an interview.

At that point she just says, I don't want to talk to you anymore. I want my attorney present. And so then at that point they say, well, we're going to go ahead and arrest you for the charge of capital murder. Her family is a prominent family in the community. I personally know the father and the brother.

So it was devastating having to arrest a daughter of a personal friend of mine, but as a sheriff of this county, we had to do what we had to do. Although Melissa doesn't stay in jail for long, her wealthy parents quickly come to the rescue, hosting her $500,000 bond. But her family connections can't save Melissa from the judgment of the community. It was big news because here he had the daughter of the former Mayor San Juan

precinct commissioner being arrested for the murder of a nice six-year-old World War II veteran. I was totally surprised. It was shock and disbelief. Um, I didn't even experience anger yet. By now, it's clear the tension between Marty Nell and his son, Mark, was completely manufactured by Melissa.

She was telling him that I was trying to kill him. She was telling him that I was trying to steal his money. Melissa did what? So many people like her do in those situations. They start to exchange the person from family and friends and so forth. With Melissa in custody, investigators work hard to solidify their case against her. The sheriff's investigator called and asked

how I would feel about exhuming my dad's body. I agreed to it. So they got a court order and went out and dug up his coffin and there was an autopsy performed. He had a couple of broken, and he was a victim of the murder and went out and dug up his coffin, and there was an autopsy performed. He had a couple of broken ribs on his back. It could have been consistent with him being held down. Infrared light also reveals suspicious marks on Marty's neck.

There were signs of trauma, which were consistent with the accounts given by Celestina Moschoro and Mario Garza. Soon after Melissa's arrest, the chairman of the Comfort House Board notifies investigators that Marty Nell's murder might not be the only crime Melissa Patterson has committed. When she was arrested, he began to realize that there were lots of missing funds. A full audit will take some time,

but with the scope of Melissa's crimes coming into focus, investigators turned their attention to another untimely death in the Nell family. There's more to that story about my mom, her birth was hastened. Everybody did have questions as far as pinning Elle's death, but we chose to focus on Martin Nell's. When the discussion of exhuming or was discussed,

it's likely we're not going to find anything. So it may not be worth it to go through all this. Mark didn't want to disintervote them, and we were establishing a lot more evidence on Martin Elsteth. Two months after the arrests, the chairman of Comfort House's board reports that their audit is complete. The Pilgrimage Bank of Comfort basically stripped clean.

Coming up, Melissa Patterson's case goes to trial. Will she be able to dodge a life sentence? She thought she could outsmart them all. Or will the Nell family get the justice they so desperately seek? We were up against the most prominent defense attorneys to ever work in our county. An audit of Comfort House's records has revealed she's been embezzling from the organization since day one. There had been approximately $200,000 of Comfort House's funds that were misappropriated by

Melissa Patterson. She had basically cleaned them out. She had cleaned out their investment account. All of the operating accounts were cleaned out. There was no money to even make payroll. She even expended approximately $20,000 in Comfort House's funds on her son's graduation party. She loved the highlight.

She loved the party. She loved to go to Vegas, go out drink it up, all that takes money. Melissa didn't just clean out Comfort House. Investigators discover that after Marty Nell's death, Melissa transferred over $230,000 from his accounts into her own. Melissa Patterson had the power of attorney and most of his financial accounts had been turned over to her.

It's all gone. So there are large sums of money that are still missing and most of this financial accounts had been turned over to her. It's all gone. So there are large sums of money that are still missing and unaccounted for. I think Melissa was used to having what she needed, when she needed it. She came from a family that was well to do. So that's why I always ask why would Melissa do this?

In looking into Melissa's finances, investigators uncover a possible motive beyond mere greed. Through the investigation, we learned that Melissa Patterson was in debt to the IRS and the separate leather organizations. She had gone bankrupt from her speech therapy job. She had lanes against her of close to the $2,000, $300,000. Face with the possibility of having to claim bankruptcy, you never know how one is going to react to that.

On September 25, 2017, Melissa's trial begins. Among the charges are theft from a nonprofit, misapplication of fiduciary property, and capital murder. But Melissa Patterson isn't going down without a fight. It was Craig Thompson and myself up against eight defense attorneys. And out of those eight, they were probably four of the most prominent defense attorneys to ever work in our county.

Prosecutors opened their case by detailing Melissa's outrageous spending and her pending bankruptcy. They argue that Melissa saw Comfort House and the Nell's seven figure estate as a ticket out of the red and into the black, but things didn't go as planned. He had changed his mind and he was going to try and roll everything back. Get his will back, take everything back. He was pissed.

He didn't trust her. According to the prosecution, on the morning of his death, Marty confronted Melissa. He had an argument with Melissa Patterson, and the phone call was to bring the wheels over. So he can have the wheels rewritten to change the beneficiary. That's when prosecutors alleged that Melissa's greed drove her to murder. That was a pretty strong motive at that time to make sure that that would never happen.

To prove their case, prosecutors turned to the statement of Mario Garza. Mario didn't testify in her trial. Mario, glad guilty later on at a separate hearing. Mario, glad guilty later on at a separate hearing. And he said Melissa had killed Mr. Nell. When it's the defense's turn, they attempt to pin the crime on Mario. Our attorney gave the same kind of

spiel we had been going through the trial. That it was all perpetrated by the housekeeper and Mario. the same kind of spiel we've been going through the trial that I was all perpetrated by the housekeeper and Mario. Though she's paid for the best attorneys in the county, Melissa isn't taking a back seat. We noticed that she was picking

which other attorneys would do the questioning. She was trying to tell them what questions to ask. I think she thought she was smarter and better than everybody in that courtroom. She thought she could outsmart them all. On November 1st, 2017, after just three hours of deliberations, the jury proves Melissa wrong.

Most of Patterson was found guilty on all counts in the indictment to include the capital murdered. When it actually came through that she was guilty, I was just like, thank God, justice has been served. The judge sentences Melissa Patterson to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Even after she's sentenced, Melissa never once expresses regret for what she did.

There's no remorse, no regret. She's never going to feel bad about what she did. For the Nell family, Marty's story is a stark reminder that seniors who should be society's most revered citizens are sometimes its most vulnerable targets. Children in the 40s and 50s have the age and parents. They really don't know that how many predators are out there. It definitely never entered my thought process

that someone was trying to take advantage of them. You've got to know know your parents are hanging around and he's hanging around them. Thumb has a date to break knees when you know that something that's not right. I feel like if I had nannable the situation with my mom and my dad, but I would have had both of them for a lot longer. longer. Melissa Patterson is currently housed at Christina Melton Crane Unit in Gatesville, Texas. Mark Nell has filed a civil suit against her to try and reclaim his father's estate, the case is ongoing.

Mario Garza was sentenced to 45 years in prison. for more information on snapped go to oxygen.com