Snapped: Women Who Murder - Rebecca Braswell

Episode Date: March 5, 2023

An investigation into the murder of a military hero tests the bonds of military camaraderie and unravels a myriad of secrets, lies and hidden identities.Season 25, Episode 24Originally aired: August 11, 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 Lindsay 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. They were a young couple just starting out in the Navy. They had an affinity for each other, with charming to see.

But the couple's lives are torn apart by a hail storm of gunfire. They heard the shots, the sound of burning rubber. When I did step out of the door, I stepped into a puddle of blood. As local and naval investigators team up to find a killer, dark secrets are exposed. She had a black eye, busted lips.

It looked like she had been in a fight. In a quest to uncover the truth, detectives question if this was an act of self-defense. She says that he has an extremely dark side. Or a cold-blooded crime orchestrated by the ultimate puppet master. They're following him around. They're planning bombs on his car. This is one of the most diabolically evil persons that I've prosecuted.

This is a skimmer beyond imagination. December 1, 2006, Camarillo, California. Just before 6am, the 1,200 block of Mission Verde Drive is startled awake by an alarming sound. Several 911 calls came into the Sheriff's Office and the highway patrol from people reporting a shooting in the area. The sound of shots fired. One of the calls is from a woman named Cheryl O'Neill.

She informs Camarillo police that her roommate has just been shot in front of their condo. Camarillo, patrol units, arrive at the scene. The deputy met the victim's roommate in the street, and she said he's laying over there. The deputy finds a young man sprawled on the stoop in a pool of blood. They check for life size.

There are none. The fire department gets there. They also check for life size, and there are none. He is very obviously deceased, and everybody backs away. Once they determine they're not dealing with an active shooter situation, deputies secure the scene. Before turning to the 911 caller, Cheryl O'Neill. Cheryl identifies the victim as her roommate,

27-year-old John Marmo. They were hoping that she might have some information for them as to who could have done this to him. Cheryl tells the officers that she was upstairs in her room asleep before she heard the shooting. John and I usually woke up about the same time. December 1st, things were just a little out of alignment. He got up a little earlier.

I was lagging behind a little bit. He gets up in the morning, like he normally does. He then goes down the stairs. As she woke up, it sounded too gunshots, possibly three. I knew immediately it was gunshot. I pick up the phone dial 911, as I'm running down my interior stairs.

I stepped out of the front door into a puddle of blood, literally, both feet soaked in blood. He was laying profusely bleeding out on the pavement. I'd never seen anybody shot before. Seeing John laying on the ground with the blood, the shock about all I will never get over. It's a tragic end to a promising young life

that began 27 years ago. to a promising young life that began 27 years ago. Born in 1978, John Marmo Jr. grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was doded on by his loving parents and three sisters. John was a marvelous young man, very friendly, very open, liked people. John played the guitar a lot. He was very, very courteous, very helpful. He was just a very caring young man.

When he graduated high school in 1997, John decided to serve his country by enlisting in the Navy. John was stationed in Siganela, Italy, which is in Sicily, and he had an easy transition there. He melted into the community. People just found him to be entertaining and just appreciated his existence. While serving overseas, John became close

with a fellow Navy sailor two years his junior, named Rebecca Braswell. They immediately connected, and then eventually their friendship blossomed, and they became lovers. Rebecca had grown up in Arizona. Her laid back but self-assured demeanor captivated John's attention from the moment they met. She was just very confident and comfortable. John treated her the way she felt.

She should be treated like a princess. The Navy does have strict rules about who might become involved with each other. So this was something that they wanted to keep private. Although after about a year of secretly dating, evidence of John and Rebecca's romance proved impossible to hide from their lives. to keep private. Although after about a year of secretly dating, evidence of John and Rebecca's romance proved impossible to hide from their naval superiors.

Rebecca found out that she was pregnant and this changed everything. At that point, they could no longer keep the relationship secret. The Navy has some rules. They frown upon single women who are pregnant, and John immediately stepped up to do the right thing. On December 1, 2001, John and Rebecca

officially tied the knot in a small ceremony. John knew this was the right thing to do, and it really seems like it wasn't that hard of a choice. They were in love, and this was really an exciting time in their lives. Three months later, the young couple welcomed a baby daughter, they named Heather Ray. But John and Rebecca received some unexpected news the following year. When Rebecca was restastatioed to port Ymini, California, with the United

States Naval Construction Battalions better known as the CBS. There was about 600 males and 26 females for one battalion, and there's at least four battalions. These guys are dedicated, they're determined, they're smart. Not wanting to split up his young family, John made the tough decision to end his naval career. John loved being a father. He lashed the Navy so that he could raise Heather. John served his time and was honorably discharged. While John stayed home with the baby,

Rebecca continued her work in the CB's. But after three years of marriage, Rebecca and John started to struggle as a couple. Parenthood and managing their careers just really wasn't working out for John and Rebecca. Being married in the military is hard, I've done it. And we have, I think, one of the highest divorce rates. John and Rebecca filed for divorce in July 2004, and a judge awarded them joint custody. Rebecca continued to live on base with their daughter, while John rented a room nearby.

He had a new roommate, a safe place to live. He had his daughter join custody. John was a nurturing father. He wanted to raise his child. That was very important to him to be able to be that kind of a father. But now, just six months after John moved into his new apartment, he's dead.

And it's up to homicide detectives to determine who could have killed this beloved father and veteran in cold blood. It was very scary, because that's a very safe neighborhood. And nothing like that had happened before. And so it put everybody on edge. This kind of a thing wasn't happening in Camarillo at all. Coming up, witness's point to a possible shooter.

He heard the shots, the sound of burning rubber, and the male voice going, whoa, in an excited manner. And in their search for a motive, investigators learn of some possible skeletons in their victim's closet. She says that John has an extremely dark side. In Camerillo, California, 27-year-old John Marmo has just been found shot to death in a pool of blood

on his doorstep. Investigators questioned whether John had been intentionally targeted by his killers. I kind of don't open mind about everything, and I don't draw any conclusions from the first moment I get there. Detectives notice a blood trail on the driveway, leading from the driver's side of John's car,

up to the front steps where his body lay. The evidence allows detectives to envision a possible scenario for the shooting. His keys are lying on the ground next to his car. So he, it's clearly, he's trying to get into his car when he's attacked, and he's trying to walk the 50 feet back to his house or get back into his house, and he collapses halfway. We found three spent bullets, one on the driveway,

one inside of Marmos' car, and one on the sidewalk near his body. The size of the bullet was a nine-millimeter. When the coroner arrives on the scene, he makes a preliminary assessment that only one of the bullets actually hit John. It severed the subcrativian artery in his shoulder, and he blood out from that. That was the bullet that is recovered on the sidewalk next to him.

A thorough examination of the scene gives investigators a good idea of where the shooter was positioned. The crime lab was able to match the trajectory of all these rounds that were fired and trace it back to this driveway immediately next door to the victim's parked car. A higher impression was on the cement driveway with an excess rubber like someone had burned rubber out of the driveway. Knowing that John's killer fled the scene in a car, police canvassed the area for potential witnesses. We found a witness who said he heard the shots,

the sound of burning rubber, like someone was rapidly accelerating away, and someone, a male voice going, whoa, kind of an excited manner. Based on all the evidence, it's clear to detectives that whoever killed John had been waiting for him when he exited his home. Someone was parking in the next door neighbor's yard.

They were sitting up for an ambush. They were stalking him. They were lying in wait. Hoping to get a better idea of who might have wished John harm, investigators turned back to his roommate, Cheryl O'Neill. Cheryl reveals that she's the homeowner, and that John had been leasing a room from her for the past six months.

There was an ease to him that made me feel comfortable both with him and him with me. So it was almost like a serrated child I had living with me. Cheryl tells investigators that John has an ex-wife, Rebecca Braswell, and together they have a young child. and together they have a young child. Detectives learn that 26-year-old Rebecca Braswell is in the CB's Naval Construction Battalion and is stationed at Port Waimini Base. Ventura Police contact NCIS and meet at the Naval Base

to notify Rebecca of John's death. When police brought Rebecca in, she wasn't emotional. Rebecca didn't see all that broke up about it at all. Investigators ask Rebecca where she was earlier that morning when John was shot. Her alibi wish she was fallen with her child. Like, no, nothing. I am not involved in any of this.

Don't know what happened. She actually paints a new picture of John for police. And she starts to explain perhaps why she was emotionless when they told her that he was dead. Rebecca explains that she filed for divorce from John in 2004, not because they drifted apart, but because their three-year marriage had been rife with physical and emotional abuse.

She says that John has an extremely dark side, and he was abusive, that he likely cheated on her. It's a startling allegation that runs counter to the kind image that John's friends and family had painted of the 27-year-old father. But Rebecca insists that she's had to file a restraining order against John to protect both herself and their young daughter. It came to light that there were serious child custody issues

going on between he and his former wife. She did not want John having any contact with Heather at all. Rebecca hit her daughter with her family members so that they wouldn't do a custody exchange. She was deliberately keeping her daughter from John. She says that she's filed reports against him and that she has witnesses. I remember asking Rebecca, what happened to you? And she said she got beat up by John. I don't remember specifically what was said during the whole thing.

I remember her saying she'd been beat up by him. Rebecca tells police that if they want a second witness account of John's abuse, they should talk to her friend and fellow CB, Shannon Butler. Shannon allegedly experienced John's rage firsthand. Shannon turns up for muster and she's got black eye, scrapes, spunk spruises. She said John beat her up, jumped her from behind

and just attacked her. Shannon had a black eye, busted lips, stuff like that. Looked like she'd been in a fight. And then Shannon started talking more about getting beat up by John. Investigators meet with Shannon Butler the next day. She backs up Rebecca's claims that John had been abusive. Shannon also tells investigators that even though she and Rebecca were just friends, John had been suspicious of their relationship and blamed Shannon for their divorce.

And then when she divorced him, he bled me for them to have been divorced because he thinks it weren't a lesbian relate to him. Shannon claims that both before and after their divorce, John threatened her with violence if she didn't stay away from Rebecca. Shannon was saying that John kept beating up her. She would be underneath her truck, working on her truck, and be pulled out from underneath the truck and beat up. Did you make a police report? Yes, I did. Who did you make the police report with? The Hawks aren't police department. I found a couple of police reports like that

he'd be following me and son. She implied that he was stalking her. Shannon was saying that she was chased down Pleasant Valley Road, which is out here in the county area by John. To investigators, the accusations against John levied by Rebecca and Shannon are as disturbing as they are unexpected and raise the question, could John's alleged abusive personality have somehow gotten him killed? Following up on this theory, investigators dig deeper into John's background, looking for any possible connection between John and the types of unsavory characters usually associated with violent crime.

They go through their database, with John's name, and what comes back, it opens a whole new world for them. Coming up, investigators uncovered details of an intricate murder plot. I've heard something missing from underneath my corner. And the web of conspiracy is much larger than police had ever imagined. She said, I didn't kill anybody,

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ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Ventura County Detectives and NCIS are trying to determine who killed ex-navy man, John Marmo. Interviews with John's ex-wife Rebecca Braswell, as well as her close friend Shannon Butler, have painted a disturbing portrait of the victim. John Marmo was supposedly abusing both of them.

Wanting to learn more about John Marmo, investigators dig deep into his background and discover a disturbing police report that John had filed not long before his death. Police learned that just two months prior in October, John found a bomb attached to his car. John went to have his car service for a smog check, and the person doing the smog check found,

hey, you got this under your car. What the heck's going on with this? And there's this small propane tank like you used for a cap stove lashed to the catalytic converter of his car. John had immediately notified authorities. The implication is the heat from the catalytic converter was going to ignite the canister and cause it to explode and be in next to the gas tank. It would fragment into the gas tank and cause fire while John's driving the car.

John confided in me, everything that was going on. I got a call from him, and he said, don't be surprised, and I don't want you to be concerned. And he went on to explain to me that there had been explosive devices attached to his muffler system, his exhaust systems in the car. Just two weeks later, on October 28, John called the fire department again to report a second

bomb he'd found underneath his car. John is checking his car before he drives away. And it just comes out one morning and it looks underneath his car. And there's another propane caster tied to the catalytic converter. I've heard something hissing from underneath my car and when I look to see what it was, I'm talking string hanging, and you can smell a propane, somebody a tidal bottle of propane right by my exhaust.

Unfortunately, the investigation hadn't turned up any suspects before John was killed only a month later. It's clear someone had been making multiple attempts on John Marmos' life, well before he was shot to death outside his residence. There was this ongoing terrorism act being perpetrated against John. We know that he was being stalked. Police asked John's friends if they know of anyone who'd recently had conflict

with the former naval enlisti, three names come up. Two investigators are already familiar with. Rebecca Braswell and Shannon Butler. But the third name is new to police. But this point, Seth Hardy's name comes up. Seth Hardy was one of the crew members of this battalion that Rebecca and Shannon belong to. Seth believed that Vrazzwell and Butler's lives were in danger

and that they were being threatened and terrorized by Rebecca Vrazzwell's ex-husband, John Marmo. Seth did admit to his friends to paying a visit to John's workplace. With the idea that he was going to attack him at the knife, hit the workplace. Following up on the lead, NCIS officers and homicide detectives head to the CB's barracks to question Seth Hardy. At first, detectives find the 20-year-old less than cooperative.

I personally was speaking with Seth, and he was just really arrogant. You know, I just had this air of being just better than anybody else. But when investigators reveal they know about the two bombs planted beneath John Marmos' car, Seth's defensive veneer crumbles, and he makes a shocking admission. Seth already admitted that he was involved in the bombing attempts. When investigators asked why he was trying to kill John Marmo, Seth claims he did it in an effort to protect

his close friend and fellow CB, Shannon Butler. According to Seth, Shannon had come to him with a black eye and multiple contusions. Several weeks before he planted the first bomb. She told me John had had her jumped. She asked me if I'd like to help I said, hey, whatever I can do, let me know. Okay. She asked me if I'd like to help, I said, hey, whatever I can do, let me know. OK? Well, she brings the idea to me that he needs to be dealt with. He said that he did this because Shannon told him to do it,

that Shannon paid him. And the reason she paid him was because she was in fear that John was hurting her. She brought a little bear bottle to me, some magic horse tied down with in a suit-bearing water. She had all this stuff already? Yes. She brought it all to me in one bag.

When their first bombing attempt was spoiled, Seth agreed to plant another. But when the second bomb was also discovered, Shannon approached Seth with an idea about taking care of John another way. If she comes out, it means she goes, I can get a gun. OK. And I just looked it on white.

You're joking, right? She knows nothing. She's like this is the last resort. Seth says, look, when the bombs failed, I told Shannon, I can't do this anymore. He wanted nothing to do with actually going out and shooting somebody. Whether or not Seth is telling the truth about his refusal

to take part in John's shooting, investigators charge him with two counts of attempted murder for the prior bombing attempts. Detectives then turn their attention to speaking with Shannon Butler again, but they have a hard time tracking her down. We need to talk to Shannon, and she's in the wind. We can't find her. We don't know where she's living.

Because she's not living in the barracks, and she doesn't have a house anymore. So where is she? Investigators turn to Shannon's fellow sailors for help. Many of them know about Shannon's obsession with John Marmo. It was complaints at first, like, you know, this guy is a bad guy, he's not a good father. He's not doing right by Rebecca or their daughter. Then it became an obsession over every time

that you saw her, she wouldn't talk about other things anymore. She would just talk about John and Rebecca and their daughter. When Shannon started showing up with bruises, the sailors claim they all became concerned. Everybody's like, oh, my God, what happened to you? I remember her saying she'd been beat up by him and that he was abusive towards Rebecca

in front of their child or in front of Shannon and stuff like that. Before long, Shannon started asking for help dealing with John from her squad. And it turned into, I hate this guy. I can't stand this guy. I want to beat this guy up, too. I want to get rid of this guy.

Do you know where I can get a gun? It's like she couldn't let it go. She couldn't think of anything else to say or to talk about. It was just consuming her mind. Shannon's obsession with John makes her the top suspect in his murder investigation. We've always known about Shannon.

And after interviewing witnesses, it was decided. We need to take a second looking at her. Investigators finally get a lead on Shannon's whereabouts on December 5th when one of her fellow sailors admits he not only knows where Shannon is but he also has information about a crucial piece of evidence. He tells them he knows where the murder weapon is. The informant admits that Shannon has been hiding out at his apartment with the murder weapon since John was killed. Investigators then come up with a ruse to ensnare Shannon Butler using the informant as bait.

He had gained the trust of Shannon Butler, and we use that to get to Shannon. So they came up with a plan. They decide to have him call Shannon and say, look, I'm going out of town for a few days. Why don't you let me get rid of that gun? Shannon, did you get the gun out of the apartment? Yeah, this one.

Where's it at? I'm hiding. I'm going up the Utah and I want to take it with me. I want to get rid of it. You want it? Yeah, I'll take it. Police decide to set up a sting in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. Shannon agrees to meet him in the parking lot, drop off the gun. How long will it take you? 15, 20 minutes, baby.

She called him and she's on her way and there's a surveillance team following him. How long will it take you? 15, 20 minutes, baby. She called him, and she's on her way, and there's a surveillance team following her. Is it in the bag? Yeah, it will be in it. When I get there. The gun is in a backpack. She drops the backpack in the vehicle and leaves.

As soon as Shannon drives away, officers seize the backpack with the weapon and a full clip inside. They then give the order for officers to take Shannon into custody. The undercover detective is surrounded in her response at that time that those detectives was. One of my being arrested for her, the detective told her murder. It was surrounded. And her response at that time, those detectives was,

what am I being arrested for? The detective told her murder. She said, I didn't kill anybody, but I have a story to tell you. Coming up, Shannon Butler points the finger at the person she claims is the real killer. She described him going up in detail about how the whole thing went down.

And the next thing I know, I hear gunshots going off in my ear, and he's not on the heat out here, get out here. On December 5, 2006, Ventura County investigators arrest Shannon Butler for the murder of John Marmo. Shannon has the murder weapon, so we had her arrested. We sat down and I read her rights. And told her, I hear you have a story to tell me.

Let me hear it. And she said, I was there. I saw it happen. I didn't do it. Shannon claims she was at John's home that morning with a fellow CB, not her bombing co-conspirator Seth Hardy, but another Navy and LSD named Matt Turner.

Matt's a young man from Laguna Hills, California. He's just started his nameal career. She told me that she had taken her friend Matt along for protection. And they had driven over to John's house at 5.30 in the morning and waited for John to come out. As she wanted to confront him about all the attacks he was committed against her and tell him to leave her alone. He's been threatening my life for very far three years. tell him to leave her alone.

He's been threatening my life for very quite a three years. I've been in crisis in X-Life. And I just went down over there. Shannon at first insists her plan had been to simply confront John, and that she hadn't known that Matt had brought along a gun. She said she was sitting in the driver's seat, and Matt wasn't the backseat.

She saw John come out to his car, and she started to open the driver's door to get out. When Matt started shooting up the passenger window. And hit John. I had no idea what my buddy had planned. When John walked out, next thing I know, there's shots going on. You know, my first reaction is because I had a lot of that. Because I didn't know what was going on.

But detectives are having a hard time believing Shannon's story, or her supposed motive for wanting to confront John. How long have you been to the assaults they're going on? Uh, two years. Two years? Two years? So for two years you're going to get an assaulting? How many times have you been assaulted in two years? I lost track of the interest.

Shannon and I cock at length about all the assaults that were going on. Where's the police reports? I haven't seen any police reports. It didn't make sense to us. Under pressure from police, eventually, she folded completely and told them that John actually never hurt her, that it was all made up,

all so that she could get Matt and Seth to join her in this concocted, made up manhunt of John Marmo. But why had Shannon recruited Matt Turner and Seth Hardy to kill John Marmo if he'd never hurt her? According to Shannon, the entire murder plot had been conceived by someone else entirely. Shannon's actually pointed the finger at Rebecca. Rebecca's telling Shannon, John's bad.

He hits me, he's upset, he yells in front of, you know, our daughter. We need to get rid of him for Heather. People leave her a bit and I'm like, I told you. For the most part, I mean, I'm not gonna question what she's the one with her daughter. Is what Shannon saying true? Was Rebecca really behind the plot to kill John?

Police know that there was no love lost between the ex couple and that their heated custody battle over their daughter just might be motive enough for Rebecca to want to see her ex-husband dead. This is a huge turning point. I think the haze really begins to clear and investigators can see through this intricate web that Rebecca might have really been at the center of it. While Shannon denies having feelings for Rebecca, police suspect that Rebecca decided to take advantage of their close relationship.

Is it possible Rebecca believed Shannon had a romantic interest in her and manipulated Shannon into killing John so she could win custody of Heather. Shannon Butler was willing to do anything to win the favor of Rebecca Braswell. I think Rebecca only had an interest in using Shannon. As for the abuse allegations against John, investigators suspect Shannon and Rebecca made it all up to recruit potential accomplices

to help them carry out their plot. The Rebecca would actually punch Shannon and give Shannon injuries and Shannon would punch her so they could be photographed with injuries. Shannon had been making herself out. It's to be the victim. And she was hoping her brother sailors would step up and protect her and go see distribution on John

for things that he really and truly didn't do. Seth Hardy took the bait and helped Shannon plant two bombs under John's car. Police believe that Shannon, following Rebecca's orders, used the same tactics to convince Matt Turner to shoot John outside his home. Rebecca's in charge. His Shannon now is sub-leasing all of this work out to other people.

But Shannon implicating Rebecca in John's murder isn't enough. Investigators still need the evidence to prove it. Once their interview with Shannon is complete, investigators set their sights on apprehending the accused mastermind behind the conspiracy. Rebecca Braswell. We were waiting outside the base, pulled her over in a traffic stop and took her into custody. The broader to the office of Ventura. Rebecca immediately denies having any knowledge of John's murder. When they started that interview, she was as confident as I've ever seen anybody.

But I just, I mean, I don't have a lot of hatred towards John. I was waiting for him to, you know, grow up a little bit, you know, realize the fact that he has a kid. Not enough to, not the ex-wife who wants to go out and have her ex-husband kill. Oh, no, no, no. I believe that Rebecca's feeling was, if I don't touch this, no one can touch me, kind of thing. And I think that was the mindset of these two women was, if I don't do this crime, I can't be touched for this crime.

But Rebecca doesn't hesitate to throw Shannon under the bus. She was saying, Shannon was crazy, Shannon was a stalker. Oh, yeah. Was Shannon obsessed with June? She's just had an obsessive hatred. She hates him? Well, yeah.

She hates him because of everything that I've been through with him. In an effort to up the pressure on Rebecca, investigators tell her they have Shannon in custody. She's implicating you in the murder of your husband. Of course she is. And at that point, you could kind of see her world collapse. And she finally, after a long pause, says, OK, I gave Shannon the gun. I shouldn't have, but I gave it to her for her protection, because of all the harassment that was going on that we were getting from John Marmel,

which is, of course course all made up. While Rebecca never admits to her role in the conspiracy, authorities have enough evidence to arrest her for suspicion of murder. Police are under a big time crunch. They can hold Shannon and Rebecca, but not for long. They need more information. We had no physical evidence. We had Shannon Butler saying it,

but we would have had to give her a deal. We weren't willing to do that. Even if we gave her a deal, there's an accomplice corroboration rule. You have to corroborate the testimony even accomplice. We didn't have corroboration. To detectives, the one missing piece of the puzzle is the suspected trigger man, Matt Turner.

But when investigators try to track him down, they run into a big problem. He's in Okinawa, Japan, and was actually deployed the day before. Coming up, detectives head halfway across the world to question Matt Turner. But will he provide investigators with the information that they need to make the charges against Rebecca Braswell stick?

Without a confession from Turner, we did not have a case at that time. Rebekah Braswell and Shannon Butler are in police custody in Ventura County, California for the murder of Rebekah's ex-husband, John Marmo. But authorities need more evidence if the charges against the two women are going to stick. And they believe the key to locking up the case is suspected trigger man, Matt Turner. We learned everything there was, learned about Turner. He was at Camp Nellson in Okanawa. From what Shannon Butler said, we knew Matt Turner was the shooter,

but we needed a confession. We didn't have physical evidence connecting Matthew Turner to the crime. Investigators fly to Okinawa, an interview Matt at the Naval Base where he stationed. When Matt learns that Shannon Butler has implicated him in the crime, it doesn't take long for the 19-year-old sailor to admit his role in the murder. He was there, and he was the shooter. He tells them that Shannon was fearful of John, that John might hurt her. He says he did it because he wanted to protect his friend. That was what we needed.

Because without a confession, we would not have been able to make a case. Shannon Butler's testimony along would not have been able to do it. On December 11, 2006, police charge Matt Turner with the murder of John Marmo and bring him back to the States for prosecution. When I heard that everybody had been arrested, which was within a week of the incident, I was just very much relieved. On March 3, 2007, Shannon Butler pleads guilty

to first-degree murder and a sentence to 25 years to life in prison. Two months later, Seth Hardy pleads guilty to two counts of attempted murder for placing the propane canisters on John's car. And a sentence to life with the possibility of parole. With both Shannon and Seth locked behind bars, prosecutors set their sights on the upcoming joint trial of Rebecca Braswell and Matt Turner. I want to try those two together, because if Matt Turner testified, and I figured he would, then I could use his statement

because it would be subject to cross-examination about how he waited for John Walmer to come out of his house and basically execute him. By being able to put that in through him, I could put that on Braswell, and that's a lying in weight special allegation, which makes her eligible for life without the possibility of parole. Rebecca and Matt are each charged with first degree murder and conspiracy. Both face life in prison when their trial begins

in January of 2009. Prosecutors open their case by painting Rebecca as a vindictive ex-wife, who would rather kill her former spouse than share custody of their daughter. The match remind behind all this was Rebecca Braswell. She was the one that had the most to gain. Everything was about her winning.

Part of winning was gonna be preventing him from having any kind of a relationship with his daughter. It wasn't about their daughter, really, it was about winning. Using court records and testimony from her fellow CB sailors as evidence, prosecutors explain how Rebecca manipulated the court system by making false abuse claims against John. At first, it seemed to work until the courts

started to catch on to her game. Rebecca snapped because she was losing in court. She couldn't get the custody orders that she wanted anymore. When that happened, that's when she changed her game plan from deceiving the courts and lying and filing false documents to an actual plot to murder. Shannon Butler was willing to do anything to win the favor, and I believe the love of Rebecca Braswell.

Matthew Turner was stupid and was suckered into it. Rebecca is one of the most diabolically evil persons that I prosecuted, because she is a skimmer beyond imagination. The jury agrees. In February 2009, Rebecca is found guilty of first degree murder. Her co-defendant and accused trigger man Matt Turner is also found guilty.

They are both sentenced to life without parole. I was extremely happy that they would never be of harm to anybody else. I just feel so bad for Heather. I don't know that we can call it justice. I don't think we can call it closure because Heather's without parents, both of them are gone. She's never going to get to know her mom or her dad, and it could have all been avoided. Rebecca Braswell is serving her life sentence

at Central California Women's Facility. Shannon Butler will be eligible for parole in March 2025. She'll be 41 years old. Rebecca and John's daughter was raised by his family. Rebecca and John's daughter was raised by his family.