Unseen - "When They Saw the Red Flags, It Was Too Late" | The Case of Kay Baker & Michelle Rogers | UNSEEN

Episode Date: March 5, 2024

March 17th, 2017: a woman calls 911 in Michigan after hearing strange noises from across the street. As she steps outside to see what’s going on, her neighbor cries out so loudly that the operator can hear it on the other end of the line. May 28th, 2022, Five years later, two calls come into 911 in Florida - a woman is frantically alerting the authorities that something strange is happening across the street. What the cops find when they arrive at the scene of the crime will reveal a connection that will finally catch a violent attacker, who has been getting away from the law for years. Donate to the college fund for Kay Baker’s children: https://www.gofundme.com/f/college-fund-for-mason-and-nicholas-baker External Footage from: "American Nightmare: Screaming Bloody Murder (Arrow Media - ID)", "Matthew Terry's Trial (Key Segments) (CourtTV)", "Matthew Terry's Trial (Full Coverage) (Law & Crime Network)", "The Landing Bar & Grill (Tempa Fun)", "Motion Array", "Getty Images", "Stock Footage", "March For Domestic Violence Awareness", "KHON2 NEWS", "Year Of The Opposite: Michelle Rogers", "Travis Stoliker". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

911. The location of your emergency. There's a man who has a woman pinned on the ground in their driveway, they're fighting. She's screaming, why are you doing this to me? She's screaming for help. The woman screaming in the background is 35-year-old Michelle Rogers. Moments earlier, her longtime boyfriend, Matthew Terry, an ex-Marine and wrestling coach, attacked her with a knife outside their home.

He's literally on top of her with her legs over her head. Her legs over her head? Yes. He slammed her head on the ground. What is he saying? He didn't say a word. Oh, my God. He went inside and she's up.

She's all bloody. Following the brutal attack, Matthew was arrested, but a few days later, his rich parents bailed him out of prison for a quarter million dollars. I was disappointed for Michelle. She deserved better than this. When the trial came, Matthew hired the best lawyer in all of Michigan and pleaded self-defense on all charges. Unsurprisingly, he got away with only a slap on the wrist.

It's hard to escape a sense of arrogance, entitlement, his narcissistic overall attitude during the trial. Two months later, Florida elementary school teacher Kay Baker began dating Matthew. Shortly after, she started receiving strange messages and graphic pictures on Facebook, warning her that Matthew wasn't who he claimed to be. It sent chills down your spine. It was extremely just... In a strange turn of events, the person behind these messages proved to be none other than Michelle, who miraculously survived Matthew's brutal attempt on her life in 2017.

Since then, she learned that she wasn't his first victim and that she was the only one able to prevent the next attack, save Kay Baker's life, and finally put Matthew Terry behind bars. I don't care if I'm in danger. I don't care. He is going to go where he belongs. This, f***er, is getting put away this time. May 27, 2022, Matthew Terry just moved to Florida to live with his new girlfriend, Kay Baker. The two were having a night out at the landing bar and grill in Val Rico with a couple of friends. Late in the evening, Kay, in the red shirt, stood up to go to the bathroom. As she came out a minute later, she crossed paths with Kelly Andrews, one of her friends from the table.

They had gone to some bar, and apparently there was some guy dancing, like in passing, just kind of like danced real quick next to her. and walked away, and it wasn't anything. It was just, you know, if you're at the bar, everybody's having fun. Like, it's not a big deal. Back at their table, Matthew was accusing Kay of something. Her friends were confused by his reaction because all she did was jokingly dance for a few seconds. After the two left, the camera captured Kelly answering her phone.

Apparently, Kay and one of her friends had been talking on the phone, and Matt was still very angry in the car, and they were kind of making fun of him and telling him it wasn't a big deal. Afterward, Kay called Kelly again, but she didn't have a joking tone this time. She asked her friend to reassure Matthew that nothing happened at the bar. I was on speaker because he could hear me. I was telling him to stop. You're just being jealous.

You need to just drop it. When they got home, there was a text that was sent from Kay's phone and it wasn't her that sent the text. But it was, hey, everything's fine. Matt's okay now. We're good, good night. Shortly thereafter, we find out that, you know, there was a pretty good. grew some scene. I want, please.

Fire medical. I need a emergency, please. She's, she's, they have a major cut to their neck. Michelle met Kay Baker five years ago, during Matthew's trial following her attack. The defendant called multiple character witnesses, and one of the witnesses that testified was Kay Baker. Kay was there because they had been friends for a really long time, because everybody thought he was this great guy.

And I was the crazy. Even though she was on her own, Michelle faced Matthew in court on four fronts at once, a criminal trial, a CPS lawsuit, a custody battle, and a restraining order. But the worst part was to discover that, while he was still serving the short sentence he got for attempting to murder her, Matthew had already lured another woman into his grasp. Kay and Matt were communicating on jail calls, and once I found that out, I searched her on Facebook, and I sent a picture of myself in the hospital. And I said, you know, he's not, he's not who he says he is.

He's lying. He's going to manipulate you. Please, please, like, don't let this be you. You have to get out of this. She pretended not to know what I was talking about and to say she wasn't talking to him. And at that point, I knew there was no way to get through to her. But trust me, I was scared to death for this girl and her children.

Something bad is going to happen. And it couldn't get much worse than what happened on May 12th, 28, 2022. Less than 10 minutes after Kay called Kelly to reassure Matthew, Kay's panicked neighbor called 911. Do you know what happened? I don't know. My husband hurt someone screaming and then we came outside. They're stuck, get in the house. They're going out of this door.

They're struggling. I'm sorry. I'm going to break you out of house. When the police arrived, Kay was in critical condition. The elementary school teacher had cuts and bruises all over and was bleeding from the neck. A trail of blood started from her location and ran through the street to a wooded area outside the neighborhood. Matthew was nowhere to be found. Have a break. Have a Kit Kat. Oh my God. What did that? Pulling me and you can take a picture.

No, I don't want to hold him. Graham right here. This was filmed in July of 2015. In the video, Matthew Terry is teaching Michelle's young son how to fish. Knowing what I knew about Matt Terry at that point, I thought, well, there could be worse slings. He seems like a good guy. What manipulators and abusers do well is they show you all these amazing good times, and then they show you the nightmares. Not long after, the couple had his son and moved in together. But during the two years, she spent alongside Matthew,

Michelle couldn't help but notice that something was wrong with him. I noticed a different side to Matt only a few months into the relationship. there were a few times where he drank quite a bit. And when he spoke, it was just all gibberish. There was no words in what he spoke. It was just he was just belligerent and obliterated. On one occasion, Matthew threw a hot frying pan at Michelle while she held their newborn son. He then rushed outside the house, slamming the door behind him.

He came in just a few minutes later, and he wrapped his arm around me as I was still feeding the baby. and he said, I would never hurt you or our child. Escaping from an abusive relationship is always challenging. And it seemed even harder now that Michelle and Matthew had his son together. I definitely wasn't happy in the relationship, but I had to at least try for my son. I just thought it would be better having a dad around. I just didn't know the danger I was in at the time. Following her arduous recovery and failed trial back in 2017,

Michelle attempted to keep her attacker in jail for as long as possible, Even before she learned about Kay and Matthew's relationship, she had already teamed up with prosecutor Elish Gallagher to make her voice heard by the authorities. We tried to fight it and wrote a letter for more oversight, more conditions, even a longer period of parole, but the parole period was not changed. While Matthew was in prison,

his parents started sending packages to Michelle on his behalf. He also asked some of his relatives to spy on her. I felt like Michelle had to constantly worry about her safety. And I felt helpless to do more for her because the parole decision was made. I didn't know what to do. I just knew I had to keep my family safe.

Despite all of their efforts, the parole board never answered any of their requests. And by December 1st, 2020, Matthew Terry was released from prison. I was not happy with him walking free. He was definitely a danger to society and I clearly communicated that to the parole board and anyone that would listen.

But nobody would really listen. The board's oversight ended up having dire consequences On May 28, 2022, mere minutes after being found by the police, Kay Baker succumbed to her injuries. As officers started following the blood trail left beside her body, they brought in a canine unit to investigate. Make yourself known, dog's going to bite you. Show me your hands. Show me your hands. Matthew was immediately arrested, and Michelle was amongst the first to learn about the event.

Despite all her efforts, she couldn't. save Kay. I don't know how you explain that feeling. It was like I was out of my body for a while. At Matthew's trial, prosecutor Justin D. has presented the CCTV footage capturing the

argument between Kay, Kelly, and Matthew. Once you kind of grasp the fact that this is her last moment and you're seeing it on video before they go home and she's killed, it's a little surreal. It seems like she didn't have any indication of what was about to happen. As the last person to end, interact with Kay before her death, her friend Kelly took the stand.

Diaz was looking for a motive for Matthew's frustration, no matter how petty. Are you aware of any moment that is not on video that we've already seen where Kay Baker is dancing with another guy? No. That's it. That's it. Those five seconds. Correct.

On the defense side, the attorneys tried to convince the jury of an entirely different version of the events. They were trying to say that it was some other person. It was some other person that came and attacked them both, and they just both ran. The prosecutor knew Matthew's lies got him out of trouble no less than three times in the past. If he ever wanted to win this trial, he had to bring those cases back on the table. He started with Jessica Koch, Matthew's first victim. Can you just give a brief summary of what happened in that case?

Yes. He broke into my house. I was assaulted. My girlfriend was also assaulted. When the police came, he pretended to be the victim. I have watched the giggles and their laughs and the complete disrespect for a woman's life. He also introduced Michelle's case to the jury.

The similarities were in Canny. Both times, Matthew was dressed the same way, used the same weapon, struck in the same place, and so on. She had two sons. I have two sons. It happened on a Friday. During a holiday weekend,

I mean, she had stab wounds in her right shoulder. He just got better at what he knows how to do. In the first trial, he claimed self-defense, and the few bruises he got during his struggle against Michelle seemed sufficient to convince the jury of his claims. But this time, Matthew's defense was more elaborate. He stabbed himself on either side of his throat, trying to really play the part of having somebody else attack him, and so he wouldn't be found guilty in killing Kay.

Among the many people on the stand that day, Kay's stepmother couldn't help but ask Matthew directly why he killed her. What words did Kay say that night to justify you killing her? How bad could those words be? Did she say Michelle was right? Was that what got her a death sentence? I feared for Kay's life. I hope you fear for your life.

After an expert proved that no one could have inflicted Matthew's stab wounds but himself, his defense crumbled, but the team of prestigious lawyers he hired planned in consequence. In the middle of the trial, they shifted gears and started claiming self-defense to reduce his penalty as much as possible, just like they did in Michelle's case five years ago. He was saying it was self-defense. All of his friends and family, he had convinced that it was self-defense. At this point, Prosecutor Diaz had enough. He needed a strong witness to finally sway that idea away from the jury's mind. This was when his cabinet decided to contact Michelle directly. Look, this is what's going on in Florida. We need to get all over this. And they have to be

immediately got in contact. We got them all the videos, the documentation, everything they needed. And there was never a point where I'm like, I shouldn't do this. No, this f***er is getting put away this time. She may have failed to prevent the last attack and save Kay, but she was still determined to stop Matthew. There was just no question in my mind. It was what I had to do for me, for justice finally, for the safety of me and my kids. It's what I had to do for Kay Baker and her family and justice for them. To me, there was no other option. It was just, that's what I'm doing. Michelle was brought to the stand, sworn in, and asked to point out every scar she received from Matthew's assault. So on my left cheek, I have two circular bite-mark scars.

There's a small stablin cell here, another stablin scar here, and then another scar underneath my eyebrow. So on my right shoulder, I have the three stab-lorn scars. I have bite-mark scars on my arm here. The following day, Michelle was asked to reiterate her testimony from the first trial. At that time, he was very clearly drunk, and I remember him coming around the counter and coming at me. I kind of backed off and embraced myself, and I actually verbally said, you know, what are you doing? And at that point, then we both fell to the floor. When I yelled at him, I said, you know, I love you.

Why are you doing this? And he said, no, you don't. I'm going to kill you. So tell us what happens next in the fight. He just continues to, for lack of. of a better phrase, beat the sh out of me. And I keep trying to escape. And he continues to punch me in the face. And at that point, there was, there was blood everywhere. Where is the blood coming from? I believe my nose at that time, he had broken my nose. And at this point, he was taking both of his

hands, and he was taking my head, and he was slamming it into the floor. And so every time he would do that, my vision would go black. And then he comes around behind me, and he wraps his arm around my neck and he steps me in the throat with a knife. At that moment, are you armed? No. Are you even standing up to put up a fight? No. So at that point, again, it was just kind of the thought, like,

I need to get the hell out of this house or I'm going to die in here. And so I remember standing up. And as I stood up, he continued to, you know, try and stop me and try and punch me. I was able to get loose to get the garage door open and run to the garage. And as you step into the garage through the door, is there a garage? open up? Yes, so I pushed the opener with my left hand as I was running out and I ran towards it, but it was very slow, so I couldn't quite get under it right away before he was able to get to me again. As Matthew slammed her on the ground and continued to hit her, Michelle waited until the garage door

was open enough to push him back and forced the two of them to roll under it. As they tumbled across the driveway, Michelle did the only thing she could to save herself. She started screaming as loudly as she could, I was under him and he was on top of me. He had used both of his hands to take my head and slam it into the cement multiple times. Sorry. I could very faintly hear voices across the street. He had stabbed me three times in the shoulder and he went to bring the knife down again and I had reached up and I grabbed with my right hand the blade under the knife in midair.

And I took the knife and I pulled it. Again, I'm on my back and I pulled it. across my face and I just remember thinking he was going to like stab my eye out or something as I'm doing this. Throughout all of this, are you screaming and yelling for help asking him to stop putting up resistance? Yeah, so we didn't live that far from the hospital and stuff. And as the neighbors were, you know, I later found out they were on the phone with 911 at the time. We could hear sirens coming. You could hear them coming from around the corner when we both heard the sirens. That's when he got up off of me and and ran back in the house.

What did you do? I ran across the street to the voices of the neighbors who were telling me to come over there, you know, come here. And then I proceeded to go across the street and I collapsed on my back in their front yard. Michelle suffered a severe concussion, a broken nose, and seven stab wounds. Her one-year-old baby was still in the house as this happened.

Where's the baby at? Check for the baby. I'm with you. I'm with you. Clear. Hi, cutie. Hi, buddy. It's okay.

The reaction in the audience was poppable. Who knows what could have happened to Michelle's son if the police hadn't arrived in time. And her testimony had a similar effect. Her harrowing story of survival shocked the entire jury. Michelle was relieved that, finally, someone believed her. This time people believed me. Before addressing the jury one last time, Diaz invited a few of case friends and family members to the stand.

Her sister, Carrie Rebels, tried her best to express how her absence affected her and her family. Today, I stand by my sister. There are no words to describe the void that her absence brings. I miss my sister. Her friend Kelly took the stand again, this time to talk about the young boys Kay left behind. Her boys meant everything to her. Kay loved watching Nicholas and Mason grow. They would crawl up into her lap for some.

and look into each other's eyes. Now they can't do that. Mason and Nicholas will have to hold on to those memories and hope that they will never fade. They will have to go on with their lives without their mother. This will forever be a hole in all our hearts that will never be felt. I will never be able to speak to her or hear her voice again. This devastation is unbearable.

The unfairness of her death is unreal. We all loved her so much. I listened to the testimony of Ms. Rogers, and I believe that you should have been in prison in Michigan and that Ms. Baker should still be alive. This is Florida. You're going to prison for the rest of your life. The verdict in his trial gives you a lot of feelings, especially since someone had to die for the truth to be known.

and that's heartbreaking. During the early phases of the trial, it was still unsure if the prosecution would aim for the death penalty or a life sentence. But in the end, those closest to Kay were confident that life without parole was the best outcome for everyone involved. Let him live in prison, knowing what he did to Kay, to her family, to her sons.

Let him sit there and just simmer in that every single day for the rest of his life. because that's what he deserves. There's also that sense of relief that's like, finally, he's going to jail and he can't do this to anybody else. Looking back at what happened, Michelle realized that people needed to widen their definition of what domestic violence can entail.

The key to take away, especially with my story, is that I've heard people say, well, he doesn't hit me, he's not abusive. And I think that it's just a huge area. in our thinking because Matt Terry never hit me. Not once did he hit me. He manipulated me. He controlled me. He fucked with my head. Not once did he hit me until he nearly took my life. I mean, all it takes is once. And I promise that they're just going to get worse. They're not going to get better. So you're in danger, whether they hit you or not. And if it's abusive,

it's abusive and you need to get the hell out. Today, Michelle is still fighting for the rights of domestic violence survivors and is also raising money for Eve, an order to be able to organization providing shelter and counseling to women in Michigan. Since trial, I'm just working on healing, I'm working on building a happy life for myself and my kids. I've been doing things to help spread the awareness about domestic violence and the epidemic that it is. She believes she can inspire others to find their voice and stand up for their own safety by sharing her story. Her ultimate hope is that the broader public will pay attention to the survivor's perspective, recognizing the importance of these voices, and taking meaningful action to be.

prevent similar events in the future. I just want people to listen. I am not the first person that has been through a situation like this, and I definitely won't be the last. I'm dedicating my second chance at life to be able to share my story and to save lives. Because that's all I want. That's all I want, and that's all I've ever wanted. And I couldn't save K's, but I will save whoever else I can and whoever else will listen.