Snapped: Women Who Murder - Tyler Block-Patton

Episode Date: October 17, 2021

The murder of a U.S. Airman leads Las Vegas investigators down a twisted path to one woman's offbeat oasis and ties to an unusual fan club.Season 26, Episode 10Originally aired: November 2, 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 Wondries 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 power couple, building a life and a fortune together. Both get a very strong drive to be successful. They lived a pretty comfortable lifestyle.

They loved each other and they were fun. But their fun ends when a violent home invasion robs them of their future. There was bloods better on the stairs going up. The brutality of the crime is shocking. It was like something I'd never seen before. It was like television. It wasn't right. It wasn't your run of the mill murder.

It wasn't a very affluent area. We knew instantly that this was going to be a high profile case. The ensuing investigation will soon uncover a life riddled with danger and temptation. His reputation was pretty tough. We had been told that he had already been in prison once. There were a lot of women in and out of his life. And he loved the attention of having

beautiful women on his arm. He was involved with some shady characters, and there was some drug usage. When you heard the recordings, you were saying to yourself, it's just a matter of time before something really bad happens. January 16, 2001, Overland Park, Kansas. Its 9.27 pm and officer Steve Parker is seven hours into his shift when he receives a report of a possible break-in at a local residence. We do a lot of residence checks for one reason or another.

The residents are scared to go into their house. They find a door open and alarms gone off. There's a multiple number of reasons that we would respond to something like this. When Officer Parker and Officer Diane Gaffney arrive at the home, 51-year-old Tyler Block Patton walks them through the events that led up to her call. She said that she had proceeded to go into the residence.

She noticed it was dark. She observed some items thrown about. She started to walk up to stairs. She heard a noise. It spooked her so she ran back out, didn't contact us. Tyler says she's worried about her husband, Ed Patton, who she hasn't spoken to

since the previous afternoon. Tyler, she had told us that her husband, Ed, should be in the residence upstairs. He had been suffering from the flu for the last four to five days, so he should be inside in bed. According to Tyler, Ed had insisted she stay at one of their rental properties to avoid spreading his illness.

She said that he was so afraid of getting her sick that when she pulled up to the resident she was supposed to honk the horn of her vehicle, so he could spray the house with disinfect that to to the residence. She was supposed to hunt the horn over a vehicle. So he could spray the house with just in fact that they killed the germs. After speaking with Tyler, the officers enter the home. When we opened the front door, I announced very loudly police department. I yelled, Ed, are you here? I got no response. As they make their way through the home,

a chilling pattern emerges. I had mentioned jobs in Gaffney when we were downstairs that just did not look right. I could see debris just thrown about the room. There was blood spatter on the stairs going up. It was sporadic. It was just a few drops. And we were trying to avoid those drops as we were walking up.

There was a gold watch laying on the stairs also. The trail leads directly to the master bedroom. I can't see everything because it's dark. So I'm slowly trying to maneuver myself around the room so that I can check all the corners to make sure that there's nobody in there. I get to a point that I can actually see a bed and what appears to be an individual lying in the bed.

The bottom of that face was visible. But it's clear, Ed isn't asleep. He had a blanket that was covered his head and it was quite bloody. Whoever did this, did it with malice and anger. It was personal. I could see brain matter and blood splatter all over the headboard.

In all my years of law enforcement, this is by far one of the most violent crime scenes I had ever seen. Ed Patton, Jr. had always enjoyed a comfortable life. Ed Patton was the only son of Ed Sr. and Lou Patton. His father had a successful real estate business. The name Ed Patton real estate was definitely a well-known name in the real estate community and very well respected. Ed Jr. was respected as well for his kind heart and natural charisma.

He liked to laugh, have a good time. He was definitely a very outgoing guy, like to be the center of attention. Despite his comfortable upbringing, Ed strived to make his parents proud. Ed just didn't take it easy. He just didn't take, you know, go to the beach and take a vacation. He worked hard.

Life was good until his father Ed Sr. died in 1987. Ed Jr. was left in inheritance in a trust that he didn't always spend wisely. From all accounts, he liked to go out and party and date, and you know, it's not like he quit working, but he lived a pretty comfortable lifestyle. Part of that party lifestyle included the use of marijuana and other drugs,

other illicit drugs. By his 40s, Ed had one botched marriage under his belt and was immersed in bachelorhood. He loved the bachelor life. There were a lot of women in and out of his life. And he loved the attention of having beautiful women on his arm. And he loved the fact that he had money and that he could treat these women

the way they want to be treated. Ed's carousing ways might have continued indefinitely. Had it not been for one blonde bombshell named Tyler Block. Unlike Ed Patton, Jr., Tyler wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Tyler was actually born with the name of Phyllis Wall. She was born in a blue-coll collar area of the Kansas City Metro area. Like a lot of people that grow up poor Tyler definitely wanted something more for her life.

And she didn't have a formal college education, but she had a very strong drive to be successful. And that led her to opening up a mail salon that actually did pretty well. But running a business required long hours and her personal relationships inevitably suffered. By the 1980s, Tyler, then known as Phyllis, was on her third marriage to a local businessman named Michael Block. He was good friends with my husband, Michael's

old real estate. After a few years together, Phyllis and Michael's marriage crumbled. Phyllis used the opportunity to reinvent herself, starting with her name. I think she just didn't like the name Phyllis. Thought it was a whole fashion kind of name. She changed her name to Tyler.

With her new name, Tyler thought it was time for a new career. She closed her nail salon and branched out into real estate. It seems that there was one constant in her life. As an adult, it was change. She was always looking for something better, always searching, you know, that grass is always greener kind of thing. When she locked eyes with Ed Patton in 1998, it seemed Tyler's searching had come to an end.

He was attracted to her. She was an attractive woman. And I guess you could say he also liked her personality. He could tell that she was driven and she was outgoing. And it was pretty well known that Ed had a thing for Tyler. Though hesitant at first, Tyler decided to give Ed a chance. It was sort of a cut up. And Tyler was going to arrive with a serious person, but she likes to have a good time. Tyler was supposed to come over to my house that night,

and she called me and said, OK, what would you do? If you met this really cute guy that really wants me to go do something with him now, and I said I would go with the guy, and that was Eddie. When Tyler met Ed, it seemed like finally everything was going the way that she wanted. Everything was coming together after this long struggle on life that she had had to endure.

For Ed's mother, Lou, Tyler was the answer to prayers. Lou was a strong supporter of Tyler. They were kind of a pair, very friendly, and had common goals and beliefs. Ed was very close to his mom, and she was, you know, putting a little bit of pressure on him to get married. Ed and Tyler tied the knot in February of 2000. When he got with Tyler, the timing was really right

for him to want to settle down. They got married in a church. Eddie's mother turned to me and said, well, Carolyn, we finally did it. The couple soon joined forces in business as well, purchasing investment properties to flip for profit. I have known two couples that I thought were perfect for each other and Eddie and Tyler were one of them.

The future looked bright for the newlyweds until January 16th, 2001. Less than one year after their wedding, when Ed's body is discovered covered in blood by Overland Park police officers. I was a little surprised. Typically, we don't go on, check the welfare's, and find homicide victims.

Outside the residence, Ed's wife Tyler Block Patton awaits the news of her husband's condition. She asked me, well, he just had the flu, is he okay? And my response to her was, no, he's dead. I kind of had to hold her back, and then she kind of started to collapse, which I caught her from falling to the ground. Coming up, grew some details and merged. There were skull fragments around the side of his head. It almost made him unidentifiable. And investigators uncover a double life. risk all fragments around the side of his head. He'd non-most bait him under dinner fireball.

And investigators uncover a double life. There was a small amount of marijuana found there. They'd never lock these doors. You were left wondering a little bit, could this have been drug influenced? After performing a routine welfare check, Overland Park control officers have found the battered body of 49-year-old real estate agent Ed Patton lying in his own bed. I told Officer Gaffney we had a homicide scene here, and we needed to contact some additional resources.

In the early hours of January 17th, Overland Park, CSI, and homicide detectives descend on the scene. Most of all, there were a lot of value both left. A Gucci watch was the first indicator to me when I walked into the house that there was a problem, because if a person was stealing stuff, even if they got just a Gucci watch,

they would have gotten it, gotten out there. There was also kind of a trail of meaningless items that were down the stairs and out the back door. It was like whoever did it tried to make things look like they'd been scattered about a ramse act. How the killer entered the home is also puzzling. There was no forest entry to the house. In the master bedroom detectives find a gruesome scene. It was obvious looking at the blood that had dried and the smell.

That it wasn't a fresh kill. It had been sometimes since the person had become deceased. I noted a very pungent, rotting smell odor. It's a smell that you will never forget. And it will kind of make it stamp in your mind. The body was laying in the center of the bed. On its back, covered up with several blankets.

There was quite a bit of blood, and it had soaked through. When I pulled the blanket off of his face, I could see a forehead and a bit of a chin. And then the rest was a massive blood pulled up. This did appear very violent. Part of the skull was lying next to his head. It almost made him unidentifiable at that immediate point in time. In my career, I've seen lots of dead bodies, but this was as bad as display of damage to a person's face that I'd ever seen. From the blood spatter and the blood soak, it was indicative of an object striking over and over.

It appeared the person was asleep and never knew that they were being attacked. and never knew that they were being attacked. Processing the scene, investigators begin to meticulously remove the bedlinens one at a time. I don't recall if it was under the first blanket or under the second blanket, but I found a sliver wood that was red in color. At that particular point, I wasn't sure exactly what the sliver of wood meant, but it was totally out of place. There was no other wood around there, so I collected it as evidence.

Like downstairs, the bedroom appears to have been staged. The TV had been moved. It was by the bed. There were blood spatters on the TV that was consistent with it having been in an original position. The bathroom had drawers open and medicine bottles laying about on the counter. To detectives, the biggest inconsistency between the scene and the burglary-gone wrong theory is Ed himself.

When you're looking at a body that has been mutilated this badly, if it was a burglar, they may hit the person one time and knock them out and get away. The maled damage done to this indicates that the person who did it had a lot of rage toward the victim. But who had targeted this affluent real estate broker? A thorough sweep of the downstairs provides investigators with their first possible clue.

There was a small amount of marijuana that was found there. As investigators set up a mobile command unit to help process the scene, news of the horrific slaying travels fast through the community. This case really stood out. It wasn't your run of the mill murder.

It was in a very affluent area, overland park, and murder just don't happen there. So when we heard about it, we knew instantly that this was going to be a high profile case. I was panicked, and that night I went over to Tyler's house to comfort her and talk to her. She, of course, was crying and heartbroken. But what I recall her saying is, what am I going to do?

What am I going to do? As day breaks, investigators searching the home's perimeter find what they believe is the murder weapon. There was a 2x4 that was located near the deck. Dad had been wrapped with a towel. When they removed the towel, it was determined to be blood on this section of 2x4. One can only surmise why the towel would be around it.

He would think it was because they're rough and half splinters and I'm in a person to hold onto that end. It gives you grip where you can hold onto it better. Text-collect blood and other trace evidence from the wooden plank. Studying the board, investigators quickly make a connection. The piece of wood that I took off with the bed between the blankets was matched to that piece of tube before,

to the point that you could actually put it in from where it had broken off. While CSI's continue to process the scene, Ed's widow Tyler Block Patton has finally composed herself enough to talk to investigators. Tyler says she's been out of the home for several days while Ed recovered from the flu. Tyler told the police that she had moved out of the house because he didn't want her to get sick. According to Tyler, she and her husband stayed in contact

for most of the week. Then, on the afternoon of January 15th, Ed stopped responding to her messages. Tyler had said that because she hadn't spoken to or seen Ed in several days, she wanted to come to the house to check up on him. Tyler says it was shortly after she arrived at the house that she notified police. She had entered the house. She noticed that all the lights were off,

which she said was unusual because Ed did like to have the lights on and the TV on. And she told me that the darkness scared her and she ran out of the house to call the police. When asked about her relationship with Ed, Tyler begins to choke up. Tyler said that Ed treated her like a queen. Everything's great. We're in love. We love each other.

In fact, Tyler claims the only arguments they ever had were over Ed's open door policy towards his heart-party-ing old friends. Ed never walked these doors. He had a group of friends that were welcome at any time, day or night. And she had a hard time in it. She said Ed was a partier, and that there seemed to be a lot of people coming and going out of his home,

and some pretty unsavory people at that. When asked about the drugs found in her home, Tyler admits Ed had struggled with addiction before they got together. Tyler told me that when they have started dating, he was trying to quit using marijuana and cocaine. She told him when they moved in together a year earlier that if she ever saw him using drugs

or associating with people, that used drugs that she would leave him. According to Tyler, there were recent signs that Ed may have been using again. Tyler did tell me that approximately six months earlier, he began losing quite a bit of weight. I asked if it could have anything to do with drug use and she said she did not know.

But if Ed was back on drugs, Tyler says a woman named Michelle would be involved. Tyler told the police, Michelle had been to their house, you know, some time before the homicide that Ed and this in Michelle had gotten into a heated argument over something. Michelle had been in a relationship with a guy. It was like a big time drug dealer.

Coming up, a shocking revelation turns the investigation on its head. Part of Tyler's statement was, oh my gosh, Ed and I had switched the side of the bed that we slept on. Perhaps the killed Ed was actually looking for me. He's a bad guy. He has the physical capability. If he hadn't killed me before, he could do it again.

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 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. Hours into the investigation of Kansas City real estate icon Ed Patten Jr.'s murder, his wife Tyler Block Patten has just dropped a bombshell allegation. It was pretty well known that Ed was a recreational drug user.

According to Tyler, a woman named Michelle, who Ed knew from his hard-partying past, was at the center of it all. Michelle allegedly was somehow involved in drugs with Ed and have been in a relationship with, if I recall, a guy who was like a big-time drug dealer. They have to look at that possibility. He was involved with some nefarious shady characters in the drug business.

Before investigators can begin tracking down Michelle, Tyler adds a new wrinkle to the case. Part of Tyler's statement was just recently Ed and I had switched the side of the bed that we slept on. So he was sleeping on the side that I normally slept on. So maybe this killer came in there thinking that was me in killed Ed. Tyler says there's one man detectives

should take a look at. Her half-brother, Mark Walsh. He was a big, big guy. And as far as his reputation, it was pretty tough. We had been told that he had already been in prison once. Tyler Metacombs said, market kill somebody on a job site some years ago. If he had killed before, he could do it again. According to Tyler, the only time she ever saw her brother was when he wanted money.

I know off and on him would come up to Kansas City and stay with her. Tyler says when she finally told Mark he was cut off, he held her hostage for three hours. And she expressed concern about he was trying to strangle her and threaten her. Mark was a big guy. He's strong. And I found out that he had threatened her sometime in the past. It bodily harm.

Mark had done something physically to her. She was afraid of Mark. Is it possible Ed Patton's death was a case of mistaken identity? Or could Mark have targeted Ed in the belief that it would eventually serve himself. He might have thought he had a motive, he might have thought that Tyler came into this

wretches that he would be able to get some of it. Detectives follow up on both leads, starting with Michelle. Michelle denies fighting with Ed in the days before his death, detectives follow up on both leads starting with Michelle. Michelle denies fighting with Ed in the days before his death and claims she was in Missouri, visiting her boyfriend when Ed was murdered. They did prove that she was not there.

But what about Tyler's claims of a drug connection between Ed, Michelle, and her drug dealer boyfriend. This alleged drug dealer could have been involved in the crime. He had died a couple years before any of this happened, so obviously that was a good end as far as the police were concerned. After a few days of searching, investigators track down Tyler's half-brother, Mark Walsh, working in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Pressed by detectives, Mark is adamant they've made a mistake.

Mark had been questioned by Overn Park Police. Had told them that he was not in the Kansas City area at the time of Ed's death. But Mark has no idea detectives have been checking local hotels where he's been known to stay in the area. They had then found hotel records from Kansas City, North of the river, showing that he stayed there at least a night or two that would include the time of death.

Though with no motive and no evidence, Mark was ever in the patent home, detectives are at an impasse. They begin reviewing Ed Paton's autopsy report, hoping for a new lead. As investigators suspected, the official cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head. The piece of wood that I took off of the bed between the blankets was matched to that piece of 2x4. And both pieces, the piece of wood found on the bed, and that end of the 2x4 had Ed Patton's DNA on it.

But from there, the report calls into question Tyler's fear her husband may be back on drugs. Mr. Patton shared no drugs in his system at the time of death. And a very small amount of alcohol, I think, point zero, to which, to be honest, could come from a cold medicine. But we couldn't confirm or deny that he had the flu. That's not the only hole that report punches in Tyler's story to police.

He'd been dead for at least a day or two, perhaps. Tyler had made a comment earlier on that she had talked to Ed earlier that morning by phone. I wanted to get something from Tyler at that point in time to show that there was inconsistencies. Could there be a reason why Tyler might want her fourth husband dead? I'm thinking, wow, this is really unusual. She had finally found love with Ed

that they had this story of the life. And there's no way that she would have killed someone that she loved so intensely. Over the next few days, investigators dig deeper into Ed and Tyler's personal affairs, starting with their finances. Ed spoke of himself as being a trust funder, implying that his father had left a lot of money

and trust for him, and the money was actually controlled by Lou. It's not like he got all the money at once. Lou oversaw the money and would give it to him periodically. But as detectives discover, Tyler did stand to inherit at least some of her husband's money. Tyler was gonna come into a large chunk of money, stemming from Ed's various real estate properties. She was going to be entitled to over $100,000.

When investigators reach out to the couple's co-workers and friends, they admit the picture-perfect relationship Tyler was so proud of was beginning to fade. One coworker talked about just overhearing conversations between Ed and Tyler. It sounded like to him that Tyler was brow-beating him and chastising him. And Ed was just getting really depressed. And his friend, his coworker, could see. It was a very toxic situation for Ed. Tyler was sort of taunting Ed about his inability

to make enough money to give her the lifestyle that she wanted unexpected. It seemed like he wanted to make this marriage work so badly that he didn't mind being a doormat for Tyler, because even though she was berating him, he didn't really fight back. Speaking to Tyler's second husband, they learn more about her fiery temperament. There is evidence that they were having an argument and he was sitting on the couch watching TV or something and wouldn't let her use his car to go get something,

so she'd get him on the head with a flower pot. Coming up, secrets from the grave emerge. Ed had been keeping a journal chronicling the problems between him. And a hidden recording bears all. She was telling Ed, you promised me this great life, and look, we basically have nothing. In the week following the fatal beating of 49-year-old real estate agent Ed Patton Jr., Kansas investigators are re-examining the rosy picture his widow Tyler Block Patton had painted about their marriage.

They interviewed people that knew them about problems between Ed and Tyler. It confided in people. It was a very troubled marriage. Investigators know they can't hang a murder charge on rumors. Instead, they focus on sifting through the inventory of items collected from the couple's residence after the initial search of the home. As part of the evidence collected in the case, there was something that became known as the Tyler Patton Journal.

Ed had been keeping a journal a diary, if he will, of sort of chronicling the problems between he and Tyler. And again, the initial portrait of everything's Levy Dubby that Tyler tried to present was certainly contradicted by that journal. Obviously, there was issues. [♪ 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 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 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, of all comes from Tyler herself less than two weeks before Ed's murder. On January 2nd 2001, there was a phone call between Ed and Tyler that was recorded in which they argued pretty violently and it didn't sound like things were peaches and cream. This was not your ordinary marital spat. I mean this was an ugly, ugly fight.

I remember thinking, wow, she really, really was angry at Ed. The argument was discovered on a recording device in Ed's home office. They would both get angry and yell and stuff, and that's why Ed would be recording this, and that's what he was recording with him, yelling at Toddler and tyrant yelling at him. She was telling Ed, hey Ed, you promised me this great life.

And look, we basically have nothing. She was saying that she's so unhappy. They hadn't even been married a year yet, and you're thinking yourself, wow, it was that bad. By the end of the call, it seems the two had decided to go their separate ways. They had a fight in January, and she moved out to that other house.

She moved to that other house before he ever got sick. It wasn't because he had the flu. Investigators waste no time bringing Tyler in to confront her to fly. Investigators waste no time bringing Tyler in to confront her with this new evidence. When the police told Tyler, hey, we got this recording. What's the deal with this? And Tyler's story was when we get in fights, we record them. So then later we go back and listen to it and think about how

ridiculous we sound. They'd fight and vicar back and listen to it and think about how ridiculous we sound. They'd fight and vicar back and forth, and they both had tempers, but they loved each other. Police have their doubts. It just didn't make any sense. Tyler tried to make light of those phone recordings like they were no big deal, but I mean, come on. Anybody who listened to those knew that this was no big deal. But I mean, come on, anybody who listened to those knew

that this was a big deal. This was a very, very volatile relationship. It's almost like when you heard the recordings, you were saying yourself, it's just a matter of time before something really bad happens. But Tyler's steadfastly maintains her innocence. She insists there's no way she could have killed Ed in such a brutal manner,

even if she wanted to. The fall before Ed's death, she was involved in a very free kind of accident when she was leaving a parking area and a building was going to the airbag to deploy. The result was a ruptured breast implant that had to be replaced. She said there's no way that I was physically able to kill Ed by swinging two by four because she claimed that she had had surgery that would limit her abilities.

Before Christmas, she told me she was wrapping her Christmas presents sitting on the floor, and she couldn't raise her arms. With no direct evidence connecting her to Ed's murder, investigators are forced to release Tyler. But based on the circumstantial evidence, they believe she could have multiple motives for committing the crime. Tyler believed that Ed had duped her into this marriage, promising her this lavish lifestyle,

and she thought they were struggling. Ed may have misled Tyler to believe that he, in fact, was the beneficiary of the trust, and that Lou was just the trustee. In addition, as the surviving spouse, Tyler would automatically inherit the couple's investment properties. She wanted the money that Ed had. She wanted real estate money from the real estate that they owned.

Another theory is that Tyler sought she might become heir to Ed's trust once Ed's mom Lou died. She discovers that live insurance that she might have gotten turns out might become heir to Ed's trust once Ed's mom Lou died. She discovers that life insurance that she might have gotten turns out she's not the beneficiary that his mother is. And I know she does everything she can to try to stay on her mother-in-law's good side. Lou did not think that certainly that Tyler had killed her son. Certainly, the Tyler had killed her son.

Coming up, DNA reveals a killer. Your odds of winning the lottery are much higher than the odds of there being a misrepresentation of the DNA. And Tyler shares her deepest regret. Because what happens is I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there.

The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. The first time I have been there. detectives in Overland Park, Kansas, are convinced Tyler Block Patton wielded the weapon that killed her husband, Ed Patton, Jr. What they're missing is conclusive evidence to prove it. It takes six long months, but in July of 2001, investigators receive the state laboratories

DNA findings. The trace evidence found in the home obviously is a lot of DNA from Ed Patton and a lot of DNA from Tyler Block Patton. But Tyler Block Patton's DNA has a right to be everywhere in that house, as did Edwards. The unique part is that the murder weapon had her DNA on one end and his DNA on the other. The odds of that DNA match is 1 in 1.84 trillion. On July 6, 2001, Tyler Block Patton

is arrested without incident at one of her rental properties and charged with the first degree murder of her husband, Ed Patton, Jr. When Tyler got arrested, it was huge news. We had all been waiting for six months for police to announce some type of break in the case. And when we heard that she had been arrested, we were surprised because she was just not a likely suspect.

There was no way she could have done this, or would have done this, or had the strength to do this, or the heart to do this. When Tyler Block Patton's trial begins on April 22, 2002, it creates quite the stir in the Kansas City community. This is the kind of story that the local media lives for. I mean, all the TV stations, the radio stations, were all covering it intensely because it had so many intriguing elements to it. All the attention has Tyler hyper-aware of her appearance.

I mean, she looked like one of the real housewives long before that show ever came out. It was so apparent that her looks were so important to her. It was very important for her to appear as blonde. Her hair had started growing out to his natural color. When she reinvented herself, she was blonde and she wanted to continue with that persona. Though Tyler's looks are crucial to her, the judge is less concerned with them. We had talked about getting a special order from the judge to allow a hair dresser to

come in and color her hair for the trial. Judge wouldn't go for that, but what we ended up doing was buying her a blonde wig. She wanted to look like herself. She was striking looking, and she knew that it seemed, and she was going to try to use that card to persuade the jury in any way that she could, that, hey, look, someone like me can commit murder.

But prosecutors remind jurors not to be deceived by first impressions. The motive that the prosecution presented to the jurors was essentially greed. And Tyler wanted money that, because it looked like they were going to be going their separate ways, she was afraid she wasn't going to get any of that, so she had to take some action. Prosecutors believe that on or around January 14, 2001, Tyler let herself into the house and bludgeoned Ed in his sleep with a piece of fencing she found in the couple's backyard.

With a piece of fencing she found in the couple's backyard. I'm not sure that Mr. Patton could have stopped this from happening. I saw no evidence of him ever being able to provide any defense. Prosecutors say after the murder, Tyler staged the scene to make it look like an interrupted burglary. The house wasn't ransacked, it was drawers dumped out. The floor lamp in the bedroom was a nice lamp, and if there had been a scuffle, it would have just got knocked over and broken, but it was laid gently over so that the lampshade was not damaged. To seal their case, prosecutors present the DNA evidence found on the murder weapon.

When they brought up the DNA evidence, you could see a lot of jurors kind of glaring and saying, wow. But defense attorneys argue the state's DNA evidence isn't as conclusive as it appears. Ed's DNA was obviously blood, and there was obviously lots of it. Tyler's there's very little of it, and it could have been on the board any time before the crime. Her defense team argues there's another issue that would have precluded Tyler from committing the crime.

She's recently had a breast implant removed, and she was weakened for bounty. But prosecutors contend Tyler not only had the strongest motive to commit the crime, she also had the means. One of their real strong bits of evidence was a photo of Tyler a few days before Ed was found murdered up on the roof of their house, swinging a hammer. So that was another really convincing bit of evidence that Tyler could definitely have been responsible for the murder.

On May 2, 2002, the jury retires to deliberate Tyler's fate. They came back and fairly quickly had a verdict. She was convicted in sentence, the life in prison, with no chance of parole for 25 years. It was horrible. I do not ever remember hearing beyond a reasonable doubt. And to me, there was no definite proof that she did it. When the sentence was handed down,

you could see the relief from Ed's mother, Lou. Though in the eyes of the law, justice has been served, Tyler Block Patton maintains her innocence to this day. She vehemently believes she was the intended target and points to her now deceased half-brother Mark Walsh as the likeliest suspect. And with Sipa and he was sleeping.

And when Ed's left, he covered his body up and he had lost so much weight. And the bed, he could've looked like me. My brother swears for the children. So I always thought it might have been bed. He couldn't look like me. My brother's clothes were still big. So I always thought it might be a family thought he wanted to kill me. And they didn't even kill me. For Tyler, she has one regret.

Before it would happen if I had been there, but I was over there and I should have just come back home later and not stay over there. As far as Overland Park police officers are concerned, the evidence presented at trial still speaks for itself. I absolutely think it was a correct verdict. What it taught me is that you never know what's going on behind closed doors. Tyler Blockpaton is currently housed in the Topeka Correctional Facility.

She will be eligible for parole in 2026 when she is 76 years old. Her half-brother, Mark Walsh, died in prison while serving a life sentence for an unrelated double murder. for an unrelated double murder. For more information on SNAPT, go to oxygen.com.