Sword and Scale - Episode 310

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Young lovers Toby Lowry and Morgan Leppert dreamed of escaping their small-town Florida lives, vanishing in the spring of 2008 to chase freedom at any cost. As they raced across state lines, stealing and hiding, authorities uncovered a chilling reality that pointed back to a small house in Melrose and the man left behind. Soon it became clear: this wasn’t just teenage rebellion—it was something far darker.

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. I'm like, God-Gallin' fucking jar, you sort of a bitch. I just fucking lay in these fucking windpipe with my shoe. This is episode 310 of Sword and Scale. You know that already, but I'm not going to waste your time with that. go ahead and hit skip to the meat of the show. Let me tell you, if you're not going to watch episode 17 of sort of scale television, you are truly missing one hell of a nightmare.

Let's go. I mean, I'm not even kidding. I couldn't sleep for three days after finalizing that episode. And if you're going to only watch one episode of Sword Scale Television, that one should be it. Not that you have to stop at one. I mean, if you sign up for the super supporter tier, you can get access to all 17 episodes and ongoing episodes. So it's monthly.

We're working on getting you some more content on top of that. It's labor of love, people. This is what the dipshit's on Reddit called Begging, which is actually just marketing. Yeah, we created a product. We want you to consume it. Duh. Anyway, go check it out if you like True Crime,

and if you want to support Sort and Scale. Love takes sacrifice. That's what I've heard, and I've also found it to be true in my own life. There's a lot you give up when you're truly in love. Sometimes you give up your time or your money or your freedom. To go to a ditty party, for example. A lot of things. But your humanity shouldn't be one of them.

Putnam County, Florida, is a stretch of land between Gainesville and St. Augustine, where dirt roads wind through the pine forests. And the air is as humid as, well, it's like walking through the bottom of a pool. It's a place of small towns and long stretches of country in between. The poverty rate is higher than the rest of the state because of the remoteness.

Inside Putnam County is Melrose, a small, quiet community that barely makes a blip on the map. This is the kind of place where people still leave their doors unlocked, believe it or not, and where Friday night football and Sunday morning church have become just a thing on the calendar that doesn't change. This is Attorney Bradley Waldrop, a native of the area. I am a former prosecutor. I've worked in Putnam County and St. John's County from about 2006 to 2010. I'm currently in private practice in St. Augustine, Florida.

I do criminal defense and do family law as well. But I'm a lifelong residence of St. Augustine, Florida. So very familiar with the area and really cut my teeth as a prosecutor in Putnam County, which is where this occurred. Down a dead end road in Melrose sat a modest home built in 1985. It was now more than two decades old. a single-story house with a yard that stretched into the woods. It wasn't much, but it was home to 15-year-old Morgan Leppert,

her older brother and her 48-year-old mother, Jerry. Melrose is a beautiful community. Like I said, it's very laid-back rural. It's one of those towns that you pass through on the way to Gainesville. Just a lot of beautiful scenery there. It's kind of like one of those one red light towns, or you stop with a red light and there's everything, a general store, a restaurant, a gas station.

But it's a very laid-back town, very tight-knit community. Jerry Leppert was the kind of mother who had lived enough to see trouble. If you don't know what that means, you will. Let's give it time. She tried to steer Morgan in the right direction, tried to set rules, and tried to keep her daughter close. She even picked her battles with Morgan, letting her see boys at an early age.

In order to keep an eye on things, she had an open-door policy preferring that Morgan socialize where her mom could see her. An interesting parenting style, which some people employ, to their detriment. But just like typical teens, arguments took place over space, choices,

and the kind of people Morgan was bringing into her life. Her mother saw the warning signs. She knew what was coming. It was obvious that Jerry cared about and loved her daughter, but Morgan didn't see that. She saw a cage instead, built to stifle her cravings for independence. I've said it a couple times on this program, but I'll say it one more time. Kids are dumb.

They really, really are. So if you're an old person and you see a bunch of kids at a protest, maybe think twice before joining. in, because he might be supporting really bad shit. Anyway, Morgan was desperate for her independence as most teenagers are,

and one day she found it in the form of a man named Toby Lorry. She fell in love with them, and love meant freedom. He moved in with us. Yeah. He loved this for three months. Okay.

Yeah, three months. Do you just sleep on the couch at the house, or... So Toby moved in right away. You know, Tommy needed a place to stay. Jerry was picking her battles with Morgan and was already prepared for the day when Morgan became interested in boys. Well, that day came early and her mom had already brought in reinforcements, as in contraception. Let me ask your personal questions. Are y'all having sex? Yep. Yeah.

I ain't going to like you. Well, I appreciate it. It's all, it's all with your will. He's not forced himself on anything. No? Never, ever. Well, okay. How many times do you think you may have had sex since y'all dated from the very beginning until now?

I don't know. Just guess. I know it's embarrassing, but guess? Oh, boy, oh boy. 10? No. 20? No.

Am I going too high or do you left? Hello. 60? Probably. Probably. Are y'all using protection? Mm-hmm. I'll go breast control.

You were? Who got that for you? I don't. I got on birth control on my 14th birthday. In January. I think it was 14. That's too early, girl. Oh, my mom, she's done.

My sister got on birth and she'll have 14 to. Yeah. If they use a protection? Yeah. You're not present? Mm-mm. Okay. So your mom knows it that you all have a sex?

Yeah. And she's fine with? She was whenever he was living with that. I had no idea now. At first, Morgan's mom didn't ask too many questions. Teenagers push boundaries, and that's just part of raising one. If giving Morgan a little space kept the piece, maybe it was worth it. But Toby wasn't just some boyfriend.

He was 22, unemployed, and guess what? He had a criminal record. Young girls love bad boys, you know? So, naturally, he was the perfect guy. to move in with a 15-year-old. That was sarcasm. Some of you don't understand sarcasm, so I guess I've got to point it out.

Derry would soon find out exactly who she let into her home. Well, at least you're using protection, and you're not pregnant. That's a big thing. You don't need no kids right now because, heck, you're still in school. How old was he? 22.

And you're... Do you want me to tell you how old you are? Yes, ma'am. Don't you think that's kind of a big age out? Nope. You're fine with it? Could a age age ain't, but remember. Yeah, but still.

You're still in school, and he's out and got a job. Toby was out of school and unemployed, when he wasn't behind bars, that is. Charismatic and conventionally good-looking, he'd fallen through the cracks, fallen out with his parents and started breaking the law. And Morgan wasn't just rebellious. she was running toward a person who made her feel like an adult, even if he was the worst possible choice.

If you only heard of this conversation, you'd think this was a dad having V-talk with his giggly teenage daughter, a patient, experienced voice trying to steer her back onto the right path. But this was not her father. This was a detective sitting across from Morgan in a concrete interrogation room. hours after she and Toby were found in Texas, a thousand miles away from home, burning through stolen gas and borrowed time. And all of it started when Jerry Leppert learned the truth.

She had no idea that Toby had a criminal record with burglary, theft, and drugs under his belt. She certainly had no idea that he was an adult male, almost eight years older than her daughter. But once she found out, she did what any sane mother would do, and she kicked him out. She told him he was done, gone, no more playing house with a 15-year-old child. For a minute, that might have seemed like the end of it, but Morgan wasn't letting go that easily. Just a few days later, on April 22nd, 2008, she was gone too. Her mother searched, she filed reports, she even broke in a day. Toby's trailer hoping to find some kind of sign, some trace of her daughter, but Morgan wasn't

there. This is Morgan talking about the early days with Toby leading up to her disappearance. All right. Are you willing to speak to me about the incident about you decided to run away? So you got a boyfriend and your mom found out he'd been in some trouble with the law and Yeah. Some things come up missing in the neighborhood, and he's a new kid on the block, so he got blamed, and you said that was back in January this year? Yeah, January 11th, he lost a day before my birthday. Then he came back two months later, and he got back to get it.

Yeah, so he came back to March, and you got back to give him, is that your same? Yeah, March 11th, he started dating a meeting. The reason Toby was basically homeless was because he had been living in a camper and then went to prison. While he was living in the camper, he proved his devotion to Morgan before moving into her bedroom. And he used to come down my street. He used to walk. That far? All the way from Polacka to the other side of the bridge. All right to see him to say.

Are you serious? Every day. That's a good 10-mile. He used to walk every day. And, you know, the bridge is steep. Fast forward. Toby moves in and stays for a few months, but things come up missing. Morgan's mom finds out about his age and background, and she kicks him out.

And in April, Morgan disappears with Toby, leaving her mom to contact the police. Pretty much, I just left. We didn't like the fact that I was with him in the last second. I was going to be with him no matter what, and I ended up leaving. Did you go to school at all the day you left? Or you just left the house? What day was you left the house? The 22nd.

Where'd you go when you left the house? They were there at the economy? Yeah. How many days do you stay over there? No. We left at night. You did? Mm-hmm.

And you started, where did y'all go when you left? Did you go back to your house, or did that when y'all started driving? They started driving then. Well, what car? How did you get out here? Yeah, it's that truck. What truck? That silver, the Dakota, or not Dakota, that toilet or decoma or whatever.

Oh, did you buy them a truck from working? I have no idea. He showed up in the truck. I don't know where he got it from. Yeah. I have no idea where that thing came from. Not at all. So when you got there, the truck was already there,

and then y'all just hopped in it and took off, huh? Did you bring any clothes, would you? Oh, my clothes. Well, we bought clothes, like, do traveling and stuff, but I don't know if they're going to give me my clothes back. They're all in the truck with my wallet. Maybe Toby rode in like a night in shining armor, literally. The truck was silver, new and gleaming, ready to whisk Morgan away to freedom, to adulthood, to adventure.

And to Morgan barely 15, and desperate for something bigger than the life she knew, it might have felt like a rescue. But to Toby, it was never about saving her. He was merely pulling her deeper into his world, where love was just another tool of manipulation. And that shiny new truck, it carried Toby and Morgan away on an adventure, while it left its owner behind, broken and bleeding. It was April 2008 in San Mateo, Florida. Jerry Leppert, lived in a three-bedroom home on the end of a rural street with her son and her daughter,

Morgan. The kid's father was no longer in the picture and her oldest daughter had moved out. Morgan was a good kid, but Jerry always knew she needed to keep an eye on her. Morgan was feisty, somewhat immature and crazy about boys. One boy in particular whose name was Toby. Toby had been living in a camper, so when Morgan begged her mom to let him move in with them. She reluctantly conceded. Sensing they were already sexually active, Jerry would rather have them fooling around under her own roof than in a camper somewhere remotely. I guess the sentiment sort of makes sense, but I don't know, try parenting instead. It works better. You can't actually say no to your children every now and that.

But instead of doing this, Jerry put Morgan on birth control at age 14 to ensure that there would be no accidental pregnancies. She didn't realize that Toby was an adult male with a criminal history, and his sights set on Morgan. So, when she kicked him out of her home and her daughter's life, Morgan had already fallen for him. It was too late, way too late. They were about to take off and make a life of their own. At least that's what Morgan thought. They simply disappeared in a silver truck. No one knew where they were going or what they'd already done.

But what started as an escape, as chance at the big road trip and a new life together, would soon unravel into something far more horrible. Because the truck they were driving didn't just belong to anyone. It belonged to a dead man. After they were picked up in El Paso, Texas, Morgan was interviewed. She wasn't interested in talking about the truck, though. Truck? What truck?

All she could think about or talk about was how great Toby was and how he'd do anything for her. She talked about leaving Florida, about sleeping in the woods, showering at gas stations, and about what it felt like to be free. If that sounds a little immature, it's because it is. It is. But you know how detectives are. They don't just ask you a question and take your first answer at face value. No.

They ease in slowly, like a fisherman letting out a line, waiting for the right moment to reel you back in. And I was only 22nd today, y'all left? Did he tell his parents where he was going? No. Just that he was going to eat down for a little bit. And, and, is that his friend's truck that he did that y'all are in? I really had no idea.

You ever seen him in it before? Mm-hmm. You didn't ask him who it was? I don't believe he didn't care at the moment. I was just glad to get out of you. Yeah. So. Well, he didn't say, hey, this is my buddy Jim's truck or this is, you know.

But then he didn't even worry that I just jumped in and took off. I was just so happy as we'd get out of day. Yeah. Okay. How did y'all eat? Did y'all eat about food? Yeah, we haven't really about food. Did you know that the whole country was looking for your sweet little self-note?

You didn't know that? I know. I heard about it. I figured, like, because I was walking into every Walmart we went to, traveling the whole time. Now I'll look on the missing old people thing. I didn't even see myself on this. I said, whatever. You know, Florida's built.

Yeah. You know what the Amber Alert is? Making wine. Yeah. I just found that out. Yeah. So that's how they find me. Yeah.

And what they did is because your mom was so worried about you because she ain't seen him so long as they sent their Amber Alert out. I haven't talked to her since the day I went on those two weeks. But Jerry wasn't the only one wondering where their loved one was. James Stewart lived alone. but his cousin had spoken to him on the morning of April 25th, 2008. After that, the calls went unanswered. A neighbor also noticed that James hadn't left his house in a while.

His beloved tomato plants weren't thriving anymore, and they wondered if he was away on vacation, but his truck was still there. James' family wasn't alarmed for the first few days. It was just a missed call, Maybe just bad timing. But when the days started to add up, so did the miss calls. By May 1st, another cousin couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

So he called the police. Deputies went to the house for a welfare check, and when they opened the door, the truth hit him in the face. A wall of decay and death. James Stewart wasn't missing. He was lying on the floor, rotting. He'd been dead for nearly 10 days. Murdered and left to bloat, stiffen, and seep into the floorboards of his own home. Morgan claimed that Toby picked her up in a silver truck, and she had no idea who the owner was. Maybe she was right that Toby would do anything to be with her. Maybe she was right.

Indeed. Who do you think that truck belongs to? I didn't tell me the truck belongs to. Yeah. He just didn't worry about who there was? That's a month if he did. You know, he didn't make enough money to buy that truck, right? What I mean?

Like, Toby, do you think he made enough money washing cars to buy that truck, honestly? Honestly, now. Yeah. So what, how do you think he got it? Barded it or stole it or? I have no idea. I have no idea. If you had a guess?

What's the money on you getting to? No, I'm just saying if you had to guess, how did he come about this truck? Because it's not registered to him. They don't know who the guy is that's registered to. I have no idea. No? Would you tell me if he did? You're proud?

Yeah, I was. I'm just making sure. We're trying to find out whose truck it is. It's not Toby's. I don't know. He picked me up in it and we just went on something. I didn't care at the moment who was what or what was going on. or what was going on around me or anything.

Okay. She didn't care who it was or what was going on because she was in love. Doing what he wanted to be with me, most likely. Yeah, but you know what? He told me he was going to do whatever he had to do just to be with me. But I didn't know he was going to do that far. And do something stupid like he did. Like what?

Because that truck was going. Yeah. And it was. And the whole week talked about running away, but I didn't know that he even got serious about it. And then we actually did it and kind of scared you a little bit. I didn't know. He was like, I thought, you know, he was joking around and going along to what I was saying. We didn't force you to run away, did he?

No. I went well. Believe me. I went wealthy. Morgan had no problem talking about running away. And she certainly had no problem. talking about Toby, the man who would do anything to be with her. But detectives weren't here to talk about young love.

They were here for murder, just like you. They just hadn't revealed that secret to Morgan just yet. The tone in the room shifted. The detective stepped out for a moment and came back with a picture. Do you recognize this guy, Morgan? Ever seen him before? some way yeah

I had no idea never seen him before his his um Toby ever talked about yet an older friend in Melrose I have never seen that we hang out as an older guy

like the only guy is that he hangs out with Scott and every time every time I went to show up and I thought he was with yeah well I talked to him and he said that he had mentioned this guy Tia. Do you remember him mentioning to him at T at all? Not at all. No, he never said,

hey, I got this guy that's a friend of mine that's older or nothing like that. I've never seen him in that guy before. Morgan wasn't budging. Either she was telling the truth and her innocence was just that, an innocent young girl in love taken advantage of by an older boy, well, an older man, or there were many more layers to Morgan. giving you a clean slate mirror that you knew what was going on in that truck to tell me and you won't get in any trouble. You sure? Now was that positive? Yeah. I just know it's cold here. I don't change the subject, but I'm cold. You want to put that jacket on? I don't want to look like a banana. So you pick on it up because we wear this kind of

jacket when we work? You call us banana? Yes, ma'am. Mary's Toby. Toby is in a holding cell waiting to be processed in the jail. Would he come back for me? Yes, ma'am. Do you know about jail you're saying? Putnam County.

Why, you weren't about seeing any? Well, you'll be able to pay him of Putnam County Jail. That's really a guilty puttum County Jail. Is your mom going to election? That's what I'm scared to court on. I can be honest with you. If you were my daughter, I wouldn't let you go. No place for you.

It was early in the morning, and the interview was winding down as it was looking like Morgan wasn't going to give in. The detective gave it one last shot. Well, I'm going to be honest with you, okay? Because you've been honest with me the whole time, so I'm going to be honest with you. If the truck comes back, not going on the television, it's stolen, he's going to be in a little bit of trouble, okay?

Okay. Okay. My name is your boyfriend. I wanted to tell you that. just for you know. And the other thing is, is that if Toby tells us that you knew the trouble or you knew that there wasn't his, then you might be in a little bit of trouble, too. You see what I'm saying?

What I'm in trouble? Well, I mean, you could, you know, it's theft, you know what I mean? So, I mean, I'm just saying if he honestly didn't tell you, that's fine, and I completely believe you. But if he did, tell me now, and we can bypass the issue of you getting in trouble, right? Not that I know of. I mean, we've been traveling this whole time. that truck. Yeah.

The detective tried the soft approach by giving Morgan an out, a clean slate. But when she stuck to her story, he switched gears. This wasn't just about a stolen truck anymore. He reminded her of how dangerous this all was, a teenage girl running away from home, sleeping in cars, hitchhiking across state lines, sleeping in the woods with rattlesnakes, and only Toby to protect. her. She could have been kidnapped, assaulted, or left her dead in the middle of nowhere. But somehow, she was still here.

They were far. I mean, y'all could easily get the car accident and you could have been hurt and no one would know where you're at, you know? Mm-hmm. I heard my mom thought I was dead. Really? Why did you... Is that the friend you called that told him? Why did she think he were dead? I don't know. She, because, I guess my mom kept on calling him, and see her anything from me. And she said, or I guess she told him that, oh, she thought that I was dead. A lot of people thought you were seriously hurt because they ain't heard from you a while.

Yeah, I heard a lot of people have been looking for me out there. Do you know you've been on national television? I've heard. You've been on Nancy Grace? Nancy Grace. She's the talk show host on CNN. I had no idea. You know what CNN is?

You know that TV channel? You've been, you're famous, girl. Morgan's face was on the news. What appeared to be a missing or runaway teen was turning out to be much more of a complicated story. Morgan was still holding on to her version of the story, insisting that she had no idea where this truck came from and that she'd gone with Toby willingly. But detectives weren't just getting one side of the story. Because just down the hall in another room of the El Paso Police Department, they had already sat across from Toby Lorry and sent him back to Putnam County Jail. By then, they already knew where he and

Morgan had been. On April 22nd, a friend of Morgan picked her up and took her to Toby's trailer at the Economy Inn RV Park. How romantic. That night, they showed up at Toby's parents' house, hoping for a place to stay, but his parents refused to take them in. Now, they were on their own. Toby was a drifter, a thief, and a predator, and like always, he was looking for someone to take along for the ride. It gets lonely out there predating by yourself. Is that a word? Anyway, together they broke into a concession stand, stealing candy, drinks, and whatever food they could find. They slept wherever they could in the woods, behind homes, even on old mattresses they found abandoned in the yard. It was like a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde adventure. And along

the way, Toby started looking for something bigger, something like a getaway truck. We're now on 24, okay? We don't want you to do those. I know you paced out some houses over there in the Melrose area and I want you to tell me what what if anyone he entered any houses I need I need you to tell me if you know if you did not and we'll go on I'll get up to that okay I'm sorry um we want to start back off on for the time when we were laying in the woods whatever the matter what day we at okay okay He told me she was like, maybe I'll be getting out of here, but he didn't be necessary.

He immediately inculpated Morgan as the voice that drove him. But neither he nor the officer was ready for the climate shift about to hit them. He paused, shifted in his seat. He rubbed his arms and ran his hands through his blonde hair. The room went quiet. A chill settled into the space between them, and then, finally, Toby leaned in. Even though Toby didn't know the occupant of the house, James Stewart, he knew a little about the house itself.

He used to live directly behind it, and a friend of his lived in the house James was in now. What they did is they decided to run away together, and they were basically casing different houses to look for appropriate victims. Miss Leppert earlier in the day, the day of the murder, knocked on Mr. Stewart's door around 1 p.m. and asked to use his phone. He gave her access to use his phone and she actually called her own cell phone and had an opportunity at that time to basically do some reconnaissance on his residence that he did live alone. So Toby sent Morgan directly to James' front door on this reconnaissance mission. We should have knocked on the door.

I was like, go there and ask if you can use the phone. Okay, call your cell phone. No one's going to answer your cell phone. Toby waited in the woods close by, and he could see what was happening. After about 10 minutes, Morgan came back. This was getting real. I'm kind of pushing it. I'm my fucking thoughts right now.

As you can tell, I'm kind of psychotic in my mind. Well, you're thinking survival, bro. I'm thinking survival. I'm trying to get it to where... We ain't know we're around this fucking place at all. Right? I'm trying to get the fuck out of there, yeah. I'm sure.

So she's telling me, move over, he got no fingers. He looks like he's kind of... Yeah, kind of a little bit. Yeah. But he... Is that because of some of the stuff is in the house? Yeah. Okay.

Wait, way to quit. and you see like that yeah and it looks like like partially of his fingers like right here got cut off some weird shit I don't know what it is real and I was like what the fuck and she was like this hand over here all the fingers were gone and it was just a round hand okay right there you know like kind of good I was like sure fucking freaky as shit all right I was like and you're being honest when you tell me you never know this guy before I've never met her too guys okay you just picked this place out of random

that. And I thought, I was like, maybe that's fucking freaking me out. I was like, he didn't touch you or nothing, diddy. Because usually people like that are fucking predators. Sure. And I was like, maybe he didn't touch you, diddy. And she was like, she didn't answer me. And I was like, baby, he didn't touch you, diddy? And she was like, no, he didn't touch me. I was like, okay. They'd opened the door to the home of a disabled man. James Stewart lived a quiet life tucked away in his modest house in Melrose, Florida. He wasn't a predator.

Where did Toby get the idea that disabled people are predators? I have no idea. Here's Toby, someone who just entered adulthood with all his faculties and appendages, ready to do the unthinkable to a disabled man. And he's calling the victim a predator. James wasn't wealthy. He wasn't famous, but he was independent.

He took care of himself, tended to his tomato plants in his backyard, and kept his truck in pristine condition. What he didn't have, what he had never had, were fingers. He was born with a congenital defect that left him with hands that he could grasp with,

but never fully clothes. The simplest tasks like buttoning a shirt, tying a knot, holding a pen, had been lifelong challenges, but he'd learned to manage. He had adapted. It's amazing how humans can adapt to almost anything. He'd found ways to live in a world that wasn't built for him. But there are some things that no amount of adaptation could prepare him for. And all Toby was concerned about was whether James had touched his precious girlfriend with his stubby hands.

In Toby's words, fingerless stumps. But there was some information Toby hadn't revealed yet that would lead this cold-hearted thief and murderer feel just a little more protective of his girlfriend Morgan than usual. What do you want to do? I'm like, I don't know. I was like, a million thoughts for her to do my head right now, but her both think it's a Bible.

Yeah, and she's like, maybe you know I'm pregnant, you know, when you can't get out of here, this is your ticket right here? I'm like, yeah. I'm like, well, he has a truck. Oh, man, I don't know what the fuck. Sorry, I'll walk up a little bit.

I'm thinking, I'm like, what the hell to do? What am I going to do? All they could think about was how to get out of the state and start building a life together. because after all, their baby was technically going to be the product of statutory rape, according to the law. She was like, honestly, I'm like, yeah, honestly.

She's like, I'd say we'd go up in this fucking house. Bobby's in there. He's fucking beat the shit out of there. Do what we've got to do. Yeah. I'm like, baby, I'm fucking talking about this shit. I'm the thing I got the heart for that. It was easy to think that Toby was the one lying and trying to pin this on Morgan.

But for the fact that he was the one laying out the painstaking details while Morgan had sat in a chair across from another detective lying and giggling. On the other hand, Morgan claimed she went willingly. Maybe she believed that at the time. Maybe she still does. But willingly or not, she was a 15-year-old child who followed Toby all the way to murder. Next, Toby goes to the door of the house by himself. He knocks.

James comes to the door and is met with Toby asking him if he'd seen a young, blonde girl earlier. James tells him yes. She just left and went down the street. Toby answers, really? At this point, Toby says that James gets snarky with him and asks if he's stupid because he just told him she left and went down the street. That response sat with Toby about as well as the thought

that a man with fingerless hands would dare touch his woman. According to Toby, he gave him an evil look and walked away. Relax, why you're shaking on it? Sorry, I was nervous. I never gave you a confession. like this better okay wait five minutes and she was like baby you're gonna kill me this I'm like I'm like and all right man I can't I can't do this shit I mean I ain't got the heart to do that shit I can't I can't do it and she was like baby I'm pregnant there's nothing we can do else you got the money or nothing we ain't

got no money we can get no transportation I'm pregnant there's nothing we can do Okay. I asked her, I was like, and this was you really fucking want. She's like, you know, once we do this, we can fuck take the truck and get you fucked at stake. Yeah. I'm like, baby. I mean, we got to do something. I can't lose you again. I'm like, well, you know, we had caught here.

You know, lose me for a long time. Yeah. And you're like, we ain't going to get caught. Here was a seasoned criminal looking to a 15-year-old girl on what to do when she had never committed a crime before meeting him. This wasn't two kids who believed it was them against the world, it was an adult and a naive girl. So now the couple was heading back into the house.

The doors were all unlocked, remember? It's some little shit town in Florida. Nobody locks their door. doors. This time they had with them two copper pieces of pipe tucked into their backpacks, and they wouldn't be knocking on the door. They'd be sneaking in through the side door. Um, so I'm just standing there, I'm like, baby, fuck, I don't want to do with a freaking door here. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't want to do this shit. She's not a lot of this shit. She's like, baby, we got there, we're right inside the house. He comes up that room. He

to do something. Or he doesn't call the fucking law on me. I'm like, how's he going to call the law? He had no fucking fingers. That's worth repeating in case you didn't understand. Morgan says, you have to do something now. We're in the house, and he'll call the law on us. To which Toby replies,

how's he going to call the fucking law? He ain't got no fingers. I looked in the room. There's a peeked around the corner. I peeked around the corner. Yeah. I'd say you just sitting at the computer desk. I was like, I started thinking, I'm like,

baby, you just sitting there. She's gonna turn towards us. She's like, baby, go in there. Pull the knife on him. He ain't gonna say shit to you. I was like, I was scared. You got to want to prison for your life.

No parole. She was like, very, you've got to do this. You've got to do this. You got to do it. So you guys are kind of arguing back and how they're arguing, but kind of, what you're discussing it? And then he, like on your breath? I'm like, I'm like, man, I took off my sweater, my shirt, and I put it in a chair.

And I, I didn't have no shirt on. All right? Why? I didn't want to get a bullet or nothing on the right hat. So I was like, fuck it. Yeah. Yeah. It seemed like the adult in the pair was the only one thinking of consequences.

Toby didn't want to get blood on his shirt, and he reminded Morgan of what could happen. Me, it was. I wouldn't confess to shit to nobody, but she already did, apparently. Little did Toby know that Morgan, either because she had too much faith in her partnership, or because she was immature and naive, or maybe because she was smarter than he was, had not said one word and would not confess until the next day. And she loves me, she knows what's best for me.

So, I was like, fuck it. I'm like, listen, here's a motherfucker. He turns around. He got this shocked-ass look on his face. I'm like, where the fucking key to you, dude? I wasn't playing on doing shit to him. I was just like, get to these, whatever money he had and leaving. You know, what do you say he did?

Motherfugger, I'm fixing to get up a cold wall. I was like, you meant me and you don't want to fucking do that, dude. I'm unstable. At that point, James was still sitting down. His back had been turned to Toby and Morgan. He hadn't noticed them yet. But when he heard them, he swiveled around and put his arms up. He was wearing a t-shirt, underwear, and socks in the comfort of his own living room,

where he'd been playing a game on the computer. When he started to stand up, Toby grabbed a nearby knife and started threatening him. All he wanted was keys to the truck and can. cash, but for some reason James kept repeating that he couldn't even afford the truck. And this made Toby angrier because that didn't make any sense to him, being an idiot, of course. So I was like, well, fucking give me the fucking keys, right fucking now. You'll give me the fucking keys and my fucking cut you wide open. Okay.

You're like, man, man, look here, look here, I can't afford that truck. I was like, I don't give him a fuck if he can afford the truck or not. James was getting closer. Like, if he wanted to, he could grab that fucking knife. How are you holding that? I'm holding a knife like this, telling down like this. Yeah, I'm like, I'm trying to keep it away from him so he don't try to fucking grab it or nothing. But then Toby looked at him and remembered.

But I'm looking at his hands, I'm like, man, this motherfucker can't grab any shit. Right. He's got a phone on one hand, I'm like, what? God damn, he's a big guy. I'm gonna fucking give him a fucking geez. I'm like, look here. Either you give me a fucking geez and you're out of your hair and whatever one you fucking got

or I was gonna take care of business right here. According to Toby, James fought back with everything he had, but Toby had already decided how this was going to end. Toby answered with a punch in the face, breaking James' glasses and puncturing his eyes. with a piece of the lens. And I'm like, God damn it, too, you're fucking made me do.

And Morgan's like, fame. Fucking get on top of his fucking killing right now. Did he fall to the ground? Yeah. The two got into a physical brawl on the floor, and James defended himself fairly well, despite his limitations, maybe a little too well.

I don't cut the motherfucker clean to the fucking bone. This is right here. Yeah, okay. Cut him clean to the fucking bone. I'm like, God. Damn it. Bloods are going everywhere. I'm like, God damn.

I can see the fucking bone in his fucking arm. The bitch is, like, flayed over. Yeah. But now it's flowing. It was sick. It was like, but once I seen that blood, I was like, fucking out, I'm dead. You know, I'm like, God, damn it.

No, like, God damn, I'm fucking freaking out. Now, okay. I'm like, baby, fucking hitting or something. Where is she in? She's standing right beside me. She's still over her. I'm like, fucking hit him or something. Like, what the fuck are you under the stand there?

Do you hear how excited this idiot is? You can't wait to tell his story. Even the cops. Like it's a promo for some stupid made-for-TV movie. Dumb people be dumbing. I'll bet my cybertruck this retard watches a lot of wrestling. And she hit him with the pipe in the face. But he's like, one time he's like,

he fucking... Certainly much he lands flat in the floor. Yeah, he's laying. five and four now I'm fucking the shoes I had on I had some Reebok soldiers on with the fucking elastic strap to come across the top of him okay and I'm fuck I got my foot in his fucking neck like this I'm trying to fucking choke him like you're fucking I'm trying to fucking break his windpipe yeah are you stomping on it yeah I kept stomping on a fucking windpipe right god damn he's still going to fight me off of it okay I'm like man quit fucking

moving man I'm freaking out man because I'm like man this motherfucker's close to dying already man He bleeding in death, I was fucking arm, you know, fucking... He still struggling him? Yeah, I sliced him on this arm and I know that fucking vein right there is a straight blade key to your heart. Yeah. And he's gonna bleed like a motherfucker. Okay. I'm...

Bam, bang, bam, bam, bam. I'm fucking kicking his fucking face and the wall. You're kicking the neck? Yeah, I'm kicking the neck. I'm trying to fucking collapse his windpipe. Alright. I can't do it. He's still fucking moving.

How many times you kick him? How many times you kick him? What? That's quite. I'm fucking... No, I fucking kicked him a lot. Just catch stuff on my fist on? Yeah, I just kept on the stomach.

I didn't know what the fuck to do. I'm like, I'm freaking out. And I'm like, I ain't got shit in my hand now. Okay. Where's she? She's standing right beside me still. Imagine bragging about getting the better of a man with no fingers. I mean, seriously.

She was standing right beside him because they never left each other's sides, according to Morgan. Did Toby stay with his old time or did he go somewhere else and leave you there? He was at me, he won't me in my sight. You sure? He wouldn't let me out of his side. I wouldn't let him out of my side.

He was like, dead on. And you're like, baby, baby fucking dick killing you. I'm like, damn, damn for a minute. I'm like, bam, damn, I'm still fucking kicking you, man. I'm like, God, damn it, you son of a bitch. It was like I just fucking lay in his fucking windpipe of my shoe. It was like they were stamping out a bug or a deadly snake or like World of T-shirts, stomping on a fish.

And there was Toby in his orange jumpsuit, reliving it all with disturbing enthusiasm. I don't know about you, but this is kind of ennauziating to me, hearing him so excited about telling the story. He was standing now, animated. His hands waving through the air as he reenacted every brutal strike. For a few minutes, it wasn't a confession. It was a performance.

Toby looked less like a man haunted by what he'd done and more like one who still felt the thrill of it. This is the worst case that I've encountered as far as brutality and the circumstances surrounding the passing and the killing of Mr. Stewart. I can't think of anything in my 18 years of practicing law that's been this brutal. Toby lifted his boot and brought it down hard on James Stewart's neck again and again. Die, son of a bitch. But James didn't die.

He was fighting as hard as he could. This man who had endured a life of trying to adapt was desperately trying to survive, fighting as hard as he could, despite his physical disabilities. For all the blood, all the blows, and all the ways his body had been broken, he was still alive. And there was still time for Toby and Morgan to leave with James' soul still intact. But that wasn't part of the plan.

What came next wasn't just brutal, it was absolutely merciless. In April of 2008, 15-year-old Morgan Leppert and 22-year-old Toby Laurie vanished from Melrose, Florida in a stolen silver Toyota Tacoma. Great truck, by the way. It's one of our sponsors. Anyway, days earlier, Morgan had been reported missing, and investigators soon discovered she wasn't just a runaway. She and Toby had been involved in a violent crime. That's quite an understatement. Their trail led back to the home of 66-year-old James Stewart, a disabled man who was found

murdered in his own home. His pristine truck was missing, and the suspects were nowhere to be found. As authorities pieced together this timeline, they realized this wasn't just a case of teenage rebellion. It was something a lot darker. Sitting in an interrogation room over a thousand miles away, Toby Lorry was recounting every last detail, each thought and each action. Even detectives were mortified at the number of times Toby stomped on James' neck while

he was on the floor. But what he had to say next was far worse than anyone expected. I get down on the ground, grab the knife now and I try to stand in his fucking chest How many time? Well, the knife wouldn't go in at first. I tried to fucking put the knife on the chest to fucking push down on it, but he kept trying to fucking force the knife up. He was still alive.

He was alive. Where about the chest? Like right here. Okay. How many times you have in there? Because I don't know how many? I don't like you for fucking, no. I've tried to stab him once.

I know that with my knife. I tried to stand him. And when I came to, when I looked at his face, his whole face was fucking purple. purple. Yeah. Bloody. Yeah. There was chunks of brain coming out of his fucking nose.

Cartlets coming out of his fucking nose. Not moving. He's not, he's still moving a little bit. It's like twitching or whatever. He's like, he's kind of fucking breathe. Sure. I don't fucking broke his nose and shit. Probably there too.

Yeah. He's trying to breathe. I still see his fucking heart beating in his fucking chest. He's done pissed on himself. He pissed blood out of his dick. There's blood everywhere. There's blood everywhere. blowing the wall and shit.

I'm like, god damn, goddamn, goddain, freaking out, freaking out, fucking up. And she's like, she's like, make you move, move, move. I'm like, why the fuck you want me to move? I'm fucking, I moved because I was out of breath I couldn't fucking breathe. It was just, it was burning right here.

You aren't you? Yeah, it was just fucking burning. There was nothing I could do, but it was just fucking burning. And I walked in the other section of the other section house for a minute and I hear. Black, flat, flat, flat, flat, flat. I turn around and morning's fucking beat the shit I'm into this fucking pipe. I'm being a shirt of wear in face.

Okay. She's hitting in face a whore. Toby had stepped away from the scene for just a minute to use his inhaler, which is fucking hilarious, a killer with asthma. All that action had left him breathless, and he had plenty of life left, unlike James, his victim. It was struggling with everything he had to stay in the fight. But he was losing.

And then, through the wheeze and the chaos, Toby saw something that he wasn't prepared for. I'm like, baby, I've got to get in the shower. I can't have this fucking blow on me. I'm about to fucking cry now. I get in the shower. You do a shower there? Yeah.

Which one? More right there. in where he was laying I took the shower right there and as I'm taking the shower I see Morgan I'm not extension on her I'm not session on I don't get me wrong I understand just finish it out though because if you're over with you're not I'm set there I see Morgan's dad in the chest okay how many times it did for the sweet is you twice okay there was three stab both there's chest they're almost like There were three stab wounds because Toby had just finished stabbing him once.

And then Morgan took over. When Toby got out of the shower, he realized that James was still alive. He's still telling a fucking gas and breath. I'm not supposed to play by in Missouri. So he'd be suffering? Yeah. I wasn't got a garbage bag. Where'd you get her from?

The Canada and he'd seen. Oh, he was one? Yeah. I put it around his head and I twist the side like I couldn't work. You must be by hand with a hand with a hand with a back with a right-saw lever like a hand. Okay. And I just, I lost it again and I started beating his face then with my face. Okay.

I broke his nose. The nose was like... You beat your head. Yeah, he's still trying to breathe. I can like to see like a bubble come up from where his mouth is. Okay. the heart beating, right? And I'm like,

I'm like, I thought of his nose break three times. Is the plastic bag on his head? Yeah, please. I fell his nose broke three times. When his nose broke three times, that's when you fucking... That was it.

That's when he passed. Because I think I pushed the phone up into his brain or something. Yeah, these were made his suffering, though. Yeah. I fucking, I put him out of his fucking. from Missouri and... Just right, man. Just right.

Relax. All I do is like, if you can justify, you can justify to yourself. There was reasons why you did this, and I think you did it. You did it for me. You justified that you were in a hard time, bro. You're trying to help out your wife, or your wife could be, I should say, and your baby in that bill. And you know what?

Cody, unfortunately, you still have to provide them, bro. bro. You understand that, right? You still have to be there at the man. He's still to be a follower. You still have to be a husband figure to her. Can I use a bad enough? Toby had just described James' final moments in chilling detail,

saying he had to put him out of his misery, like a lame horse or an injured animal. But somewhere in his core, he was finally feeling remorse, and it was visible to detectives. It seems like sympathizing with a killer. this technique that detectives used to keep a suspect talking to stop them from shutting down. But in this moment, after the sheer horror

of what Toby had just described, it felt grotesque. Because what had just happened wasn't about love. Wasn't about love at all. And no words, no justification could change that. At the murder scene, just before they left, this is what Morgan said. After I did that, she told me she was like, they mean, we just took a human life. I'm like, no shit.

I didn't want to fucking get it. You knowed out, but... She just don't know how that shit made you feel? Shit. Yeah. There's been eating at me and eating at me and eating at me. I wanted to come clean so bad, but I didn't want to get put in prison for the rest of my fucking mind. for the rest of my fucking life.

Was he really remorseful? Or did he just fear the consequences of being in prison for life and being without the love of his life? Prison, of course, is exactly where he landed. In 2010, both Toby, Lorry, and Morgan Leppert stood trial for the murder of James Stewart. Prosecutors argued that this wasn't a spontaneous act of violence.

It was calculated, cold, and... Relentless. Toby, the adult of the couple, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life without parole. During the trial, Morgan's defense team painted her as a naive, manipulated teenager under the control of an older, violent man. Courts love it when women get off on the same crime that a man committed. Not exactly sure why. Maybe some of that old chivalry from the dark ages. They argued that Toby Lorry was the mastermind, that he orchestrated the attack,

that Morgan was just following orders, too young, too impressionable, to understand the weight of her actions. Said, oh, he's going to call the cops, and Toby said, no, the hell are you waiting, and boom, punched him right in the face. And I just, I looked away. I was about to cry.

I told Toby, I was about, about to tell Toby, I don't want to do this, but Toby just already hit him, and he's like, come on, baby, come on, hit him, hit him. But the prosecution had a different take on it. I mean, as far as, like, who was the ringleader, I mean, the only people who know what happened in that house are Morgan, Toby, and Mr. Stewart. So what the jury found was that she was guilty of first-degree murder because she participated in the in the murder. Exactly what she did, really the only people alive who know are Toby and

Morgan. But the jury did find that she intended to commit premeditated murder and in fact killed Mr. Stewart. Morgan, just 15 at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery. Under Florida law, she received a mandatory life sentence without parole. A punishment usually reserved only for adults. But, and here we go, in 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional, despite what monsters they could be. That decision gave Morgan a second chance, at least in the courtroom. In 2020, she was resentenced to 40 years in prison, a reduced sentence, but still long,

to make sure she won't walk free until she's well into her 50s. I'm sure 40 years in prison will rehabilitate her. Oh, Morgan claimed that she was pregnant but miscarried in jail, so probably no kids in her future. James Stewart lived alone. He was disabled. He'd already proved to the world that he was stronger than his disabilities. In fact, he was so strong that Toby and Morgan could have walked away more than once

while he was still alive, but they decided not to. James' family will miss him dearly. This is a statement from his nephew. My uncle was the type of man that anyone around him who was ready to take life head on should have had the opportunity to meet or speak with. Those who were lucky enough to spend time with my uncle soon learned that there was nothing that he could not do.

The man was truly amazing. Things that I hear people young and old say that they can't do are things he called speed bumps or obstacles. Not having hands did not slow him down one bit. The thing is, he did things most people don't dream of accomplishing in their lifetime. He was a master carpenter, a professor. He skied, played tennis, bold. He was a commercial fisherman.

The list goes on and on. Most of the cars he owned were stick shifts with no power steering. My uncle taught me that the word can't is for cowards, losers, and people that see hard times or difficult tasks and give up. I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with this amazing man and have some of that greatness rub off on me. But my son and future children will only be able to hear stories of this great man that I have called uncle. For centuries, philosophers have pondered what love is. They've done it for as long as there have been philosophers. But what do they know?

People with nothing but the luxury to sit around thinking all day and ponder things. Those are usually the people that are most disconnected from reality. Hey, I'm describing myself. All right, so let's give it a shot. Love is... Fuck, I don't know. But I'm sure Morgan doesn't know either. Why didn't you just spoke out, Gordon?

You don't want to me, Toby. So you killed so much? I love him so much. Morgan had an obsessive, all-consuming type of quote-unquote love for Toby, the kind that rewired her dumb little brain and twisted whatever immature concept stood in for logic. This obsession drowned out all reason and convinced her that nothing else mattered.

It's a kind of thing you see in movies, bad ones. Morgan was 15, reckless, desperate for freedom, and convinced that Toby Laurie was the answer. He made her feel untouchable, like the world belonged just to the two of them. A lot of people don't realize that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, not a romance. I, on the other hand, treat it like a comedy, because if God gave you a brain, then you have the responsibility to use it every now and then. And for Toby, Morgan was also an obsession.

She was something to possess, to run away with, to kill for, because he was lonely and wanted a hole to put his dick in. That's it. That's what she was for Toby. Real love doesn't ask for everything you have. I don't know why anyone has to actually say that out loud. It doesn't demand a sacrifice in blood. It doesn't turn a teenage girl into a murderer

or leave an innocent disabled man gasping for his final breath on the floor of his own living room. That, I do know. Even dumb old me. James Stewart didn't know Morgan and Toby. He wasn't part of their stupid fantasy or their twisted rebellion. He gained nothing from being.

in the proximity of dumb. But, unfortunately for him, he ended up being part of their sacrifice and quote-unquote love anyway. Well, I'm not going to beg you to watch S&S TV again. You're an adult. You go figure out what to do. At least I hope so. Otherwise, go find your parents. What the fuck are they doing?

Shouldn't be listening to this. So it's Gail.com. Stay safe. You know, I'm going to