1 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: Bodybacks with Joseph Scott Morgan. I've heard it said before 2 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: that the more brilliant people you get into a room, 3 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: the more confusing things become. And that's the case sometimes 4 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: in forensic pathology as well, because everybody, you know, forensic 5 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: pathologists are no different than any of the rest of 6 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: us in that they all have their own opinions, which 7 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: is good, but sometimes things can be kind of murky 8 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: or confusing. And in our case here that we're going 9 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: to talk about, there is a bit of confusion about 10 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: a ruling relative to a death. But one thing is 11 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: for certain. Alexandra alex Pennig, who's thirty two years old, 12 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:30,480 Speaker 1: sustained a gunshot wound to her head, and we do 13 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: know that she didn't survive it. I'm Joseph Scott Morgan, 14 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: and this is body bags. They you know sometimes you 15 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: and I I know this. You're the guru. You're the 16 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: guru when it comes to all things audio and production 17 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: and all these sorts of things. And I got to 18 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: tell you, I'm glad that there's not two of us 19 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: that are brilliant because you can help me walk through 20 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: these with problems with little or no concern. I know 21 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: that the content that we put out is going to 22 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: sound good most of the time, I think, and it's 23 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: because you're you're the you're the bright one when it 24 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: comes to all of that. You can help walk through 25 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: technical problems. But sometimes, such as in this case today, 26 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,959 Speaker 1: it's it's hard to make heads or tails of things. 27 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: And I think that sometimes we just throw our hands 28 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: up and say, well, I can't call it anything other 29 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: than what it is, and that is undetermined. And that's 30 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: what we're left with here. 31 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 2: I don't understand how that's possible. What does it really 32 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 2: mean when manner of death is undetermined? Now, just so 33 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 2: you know, today we're dealing with murder or suicide the 34 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 2: death of Alexandra Pinnick. She preferred to go by alex 35 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 2: thirty two years old. She has a gunshot to the head. 36 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 2: Boyfriend claims he grabbed his gun, ran in the bathroom 37 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 2: and shot herself. Police listened to his side of the 38 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 2: story and it didn't match the facts as they could 39 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 2: see them in the earliest moments of the investigation, and 40 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 2: so it was left to the medical examiner to tell 41 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 2: them what happened. And the medical examiner and by the way, 42 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 2: when you have a prosecution. You know, the defense has 43 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 2: their own person to come in and say whatever the 44 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 2: defense needs to say. 45 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: And in this case, oh well, if the defense has 46 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: enough money for it, right, Yeah, yeah, you got to 47 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: be clear about that. Should have been very clear. And 48 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: in this particular case, both of them, the prosecution, the 49 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: actual medical examiner and the one hired by the defense, 50 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: had the same thing. The manner of death is undetermined. 51 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: What does manner of death mean? Joseph Scott Morgan. Yeah, well, 52 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: there's only five to select from. And when it comes 53 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: too violent deaths regarding firearms, which is what we're going 54 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: to discuss, most of the time, it's going to fit 55 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: into one of one of those two categories. It's either 56 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: going to be homicide or suicide. Accidental is an outlier you. 57 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, most of the time it 58 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: has been my and in practice it was. If someone 59 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: told me that it was an accidental shooting, I'll say you, 60 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: you have to clearly explain this to me how this 61 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: was an accident before I'm going to bite on that. 62 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: Because those are a rarity when you compare it to 63 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: the number of suicides we have in this country, because 64 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: they outpaced homicides fire Oh yeah, yeah. 65 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,720 Speaker 2: Firearm death suicide outpaces homicide. 66 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, wow, by boss quite quite a significant margin. Yeah. Well, 67 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: a lot of people, you know, possess firearms and they 68 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:13,719 Speaker 1: see it as a quick and and powerful solution to 69 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,840 Speaker 1: whatever is facing them in their lives. Uh. And so yeah, 70 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: you have that. If you throw up accident, then it 71 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: leaves me in a position where you're going to have 72 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: to explain that to me, or the data is going 73 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: to have to play itself out where the dynamic of 74 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: that event can be easily explained and we can prove 75 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: it scientifically. But you know, there's another choice here, and 76 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: that is undetermined. And I've always I've always had this 77 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: kind of vision in my mind where when it's written undetermined, 78 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: I always have this like little cartoon character that pops 79 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: up in my brain where you got you got them, 80 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: and they're looking at you and there's just kind of 81 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: shrugging their shoulders with their hands upturned, looking at you 82 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: like I don't have an answer to this. I don't know. 83 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: And in this particular case, that's what we're dealing with. 84 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: We're dealing with the case involving a gunshot wound to 85 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: the head. We can definitively say that, but the classification 86 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: of it has been left undetermined. I do know this. 87 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 1: I do know that the two people that are involved 88 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 1: in this case, the victim and the perpetrator, are both 89 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: healthcare providers. They're both nurses, and I think that probably 90 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: from the prosecution standpoint, the circumstantial evidence just didn't It 91 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,799 Speaker 1: didn't hold water in this particular case because there's certain 92 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: things that you as an observer, based upon what you 93 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: know about people that practice medicine or work in allied health, 94 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: you expect them to behave under stressful search situations in 95 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: a very specific manner, and Dave, that didn't happen in 96 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: this case. 97 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 2: You know, when we get into this actual story, I 98 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,239 Speaker 2: want you to know the background, because the background follows through. 99 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: We have. 100 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 2: A number of people involved in this relationship. Alexandra, remember 101 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 2: Alexandra Penning. Alex Penning is thirty two and she is 102 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 2: the victim. She was dating Matthew Ecker. Matthew Ecker is 103 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 2: forty five, married with four children. Alex was also dating 104 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 2: another man and his name was Shane Anderson. On the 105 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 2: night in question, Alexandra had had an argument was Shane 106 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 2: earlier in the day about their relationship. Matthew Ecker comes 107 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 2: to the apartment and this is all up in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 108 00:07:55,440 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 2: Matthew Ecker lives hours away, but he got those two 109 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 2: be at the side of Alex while she's frustrated in 110 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 2: the relationship with Shane. And Matthew and Alex go out 111 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 2: for drinks that evening. When they come into this one place, 112 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 2: there is Shane Anderson with another woman. That causes Alex 113 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 2: to be very upset Matthew defending his girlfriend. See this 114 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 2: is where it gets confusing, Okay, but bottom line, Matthew 115 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 2: is with Alex, Shane Anderson is with another woman, and 116 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 2: Matthew actually confronts Shane and Shane hits him, probably says, 117 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 2: you're married, why are you talking to me? Get out, 118 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 2: you know, and hits him. Well, Shane Anderson and the 119 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 2: other woman leave. Matthew Ecker and Alex Penny stay at 120 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 2: the bar for another forty five minutes, having a couple 121 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 2: of drinks. Alex and Matthew go back to Alex's apartment 122 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:03,079 Speaker 2: and this is the story that Matthew Ecker tells everybody. 123 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 2: They arrive at her apartment, she grabs a gun out 124 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 2: of his backpack and runs to the bathroom and shoots 125 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 2: herself in the head. He bashes through the door and 126 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 2: calls nine one one, tries to stop the bleeding by 127 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 2: holding his thumb to the bullet hole. I guess police 128 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 2: arrive a few minutes later, and she's already cold, stiff. 129 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 2: And I want to ask you about this, Joe, because 130 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 2: here's my question. Based on Matthew Ecker's story, how soon 131 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 2: does a body get cold and stiff? Based on his timeline, 132 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 2: he calls nine minutes after she shoots herself four minutes 133 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:04,559 Speaker 2: police arrive five minutes later. So based on his timetable, 134 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 2: she gets shot at forty five to forty six in 135 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 2: the morning. At three oh five four police are there 136 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 2: and medics arrive and they declare her dead in the 137 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 2: space of nineteen minutes. I think, from shooting to declaring 138 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 2: her dead, and she's cold and stiff. 139 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, as it said, the old saying that dog don't hunt, okay, 140 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 1: And you know. 141 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 2: So you know, Joe, I didn't know that. That's why 142 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:32,559 Speaker 2: I'm asking because I think most of us don't know 143 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 2: how quickly does a body that is dead. 144 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, it takes it takes a well, a lot of 145 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: it is environmentally dependent. But in a course of let's 146 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: let's let's be generous here, let's say that it was 147 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: twenty minutes, if you still wouldn't have these presentations that 148 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,559 Speaker 1: you're talking about physically with the deceased individual where they're 149 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: cool to the touch. And that's the best way I 150 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:00,959 Speaker 1: can describe it, because you know, we do things like 151 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:06,320 Speaker 1: body temperatures at scenes and depend upon the jurisdiction. There's 152 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: multiple ways that we can get in sometime about how 153 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 1: we take body temperatures on the dead. But you don't 154 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: expect in a twenty minute, a twenty minute time frame 155 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,559 Speaker 1: for a body to be cold to the touch. And 156 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:29,079 Speaker 1: look if he's talking about stiffening or rigidity, and generally 157 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: that's how we refer to it, and again rigidity of 158 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: the body. That means how that goes to Roger Mortis. 159 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: It takes even longer for Roger Mortis to set in. 160 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: So any investigator that knows what they're doing, they're out 161 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:47,360 Speaker 1: on the scene, they're making that initial assessment and they're 162 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 1: trying to marry this up with what he is saying scientifically. 163 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: That's why I said this dog don't hunt, because you're 164 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: not going to have these manifestations that are occurring now. 165 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: Things are happening at a cellar level. As soon as 166 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 1: we die, we begin to change, all right, and it's 167 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:12,199 Speaker 1: because cellular respiration has ceased, you'll begin production of lactic acid, 168 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: which is actually what creates riger mortis. If I tell 169 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 1: my students at Jacksonville State, I teach medical legal death investigation, 170 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: it's this class that I've taught for years. If you 171 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: ever not that anybody would, but if you ever want 172 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: to understand what Ryger mortis would feel like, don't work 173 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: out for a while. Go to the gym and get 174 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: a vigorous workout. In the next morning, when you wake 175 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: up and you're stiff, that's lactic acid that has built 176 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: up in your body. That's about as close as you'll 177 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: ever feel to what riger is. And that takes some time, though, 178 00:12:55,679 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: and you know that's happening at a cellular level, but 179 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: it's not happening this quick. There's no way. And that's 180 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: that's how we that's in investigations, that's how we test, 181 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: at least on my side of the house, that's how 182 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,440 Speaker 1: we test an alibi. Okay, if somebody is trying to 183 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: alibi themselves, and say, well, this is what happened, this 184 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:21,200 Speaker 1: is a time frame that it happened in, and this 185 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 1: is what I experienced at this moment, Tom And then 186 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: you're looking at what's left behind, all that remains, if 187 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: you will, we're the dead, and you know good and 188 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: well that what they're saying is not valid. And that's 189 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: the case here, Dave. 190 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 2: And that's what I was really curious about, Joe when 191 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 2: in going over this story, knowing we had it on 192 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 2: our table, murder versus suicide. How quickly do the police 193 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 2: call you to come in when they have a scene 194 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,320 Speaker 2: like this pretty quickly? 195 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: And again it's jurisdictionally dependent. Okay, So but up in 196 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: if you think about the Twin Cities, if you think 197 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 1: about Minneapolis, Saint Paul, I was friends with the chief 198 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: investigator for Hennepon County for some time, dear lady, who 199 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: was at the top of her game. She was a 200 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 1: former nurse and she was the chief investigator. And that's 201 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: a top flight office that they have in Hennepon County. 202 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: Their response would have been as soon as the police 203 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: have visualized the scene and they know that this person 204 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: is in fact deceased, they're going to say start the Emmy, 205 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: and they're going to say start CID and c IDEA 206 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: is a criminal investigation division, and start the crime scene unit. 207 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,640 Speaker 1: So all three of us would essentially head out simultaneously 208 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: from our different offices. We'd show up pretty quickly, and 209 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: the sooner that we can get there to do the assessment, 210 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,359 Speaker 1: the better, because the further you move down that timeline 211 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: away from when the actual event occurred, you're losing data. 212 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: And then it's the environment is producing other data that 213 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: might skew your conclusions. All right, So timeliness is a 214 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: huge factor in everything that we do. As a matter 215 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: of fact, I think our our entire existence is kind 216 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: of based upon we examined for trauma. But one of 217 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 1: the underpinnings of what we do is we're trying to 218 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: analyze time. We're trying to analyze a timeline and trying 219 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: to understand what is happening within a specific period there 220 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: and does it merry up with with the narrative that 221 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: we're being given. Dave, you got my head's women, man. 222 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: I often say, you need a what's that thing called 223 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: the playbill like they use for Broadway. You need to 224 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: play build to keep up with characters and a given. 225 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: And I'm thinking about Ecker, who is a married man 226 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: with four young'un's man four four, and he's involved in 227 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: an ongoing relationship with this young lady who's thirty two. 228 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: She's I don't know what, roughly twelve years younger than him, 229 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: which is fine. I mean, that's their thing. They can do, 230 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: you know. But yet he stated in an interview that 231 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: he had been involved for some time with her and 232 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: that they I think for two years, and that they 233 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: were involved, they had an open relationship. Well, it seems 234 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: like he's open is the key word here. I mean 235 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: he's open to a lot of things, and it has 236 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: not It's not turned out well on either end of 237 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,040 Speaker 1: the spectrum here for him and certainly for Alex, who's now. 238 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 2: I don't know what was going on in the relationship 239 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 2: because Alex is dead. What we only have what we 240 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 2: have left. Just like his story, we have Matthew Ecker's 241 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 2: story of what he says happened, and by the way, 242 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:20,199 Speaker 2: according to police, his story changed. We can kind of 243 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 2: understand the relationship dynamics and that Alex at thirty two 244 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 2: and a nurse involved with an older, married guy. We 245 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 2: don't know if Matthew Ecker's wife knew of the relationship before, 246 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 2: but we know that she did divorce him when this 247 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,880 Speaker 2: came out. I don't know Shane Anderson. I didn't want 248 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,399 Speaker 2: to mention his name, but I had to mention his 249 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 2: name because as part of the story, you know, there 250 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 2: was something going on here that caused or seems to 251 00:17:53,680 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 2: have caused Alex to be upset. And the part that 252 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,679 Speaker 2: I have the most questions about is what happened when 253 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 2: they got back to the apartment. Because Matthew Ecker's story, 254 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,120 Speaker 2: and this is why I'm asking you, Joe, about how 255 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,760 Speaker 2: soon a person does get cold and stiff, because these 256 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 2: are professional Matthew Ecker is a professional nurse. He's a 257 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:24,679 Speaker 2: nurse practitioner. He works in the emergency room. This is 258 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 2: not his first, you know, bullet wound he's ever seen. 259 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 2: I'm gonna assume no, no, it's not. And the story 260 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,880 Speaker 2: he tells you just say that dog won't hunt. So 261 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 2: let's go over this really quickly. Because when police found Alex, 262 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 2: she's laying on the floor of the bathroom. Her legs 263 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 2: are straddling the door her the gun is placed on 264 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,880 Speaker 2: her chest. I say placed for a reason, and her 265 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 2: hands are near it. By the way, Alex is right handed, 266 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,080 Speaker 2: but the shut the bullet wound was on the left 267 00:19:04,119 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 2: side of her head. 268 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,360 Speaker 1: Yeah, gs w to the left side, all right. 269 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:14,159 Speaker 2: Now, while nothing is impossible, you know it does. Have 270 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 2: you known of a case where somebody who was right 271 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 2: hand dominant to shoot themselves on the left side of 272 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:20,640 Speaker 2: the head? 273 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: No? 274 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 2: Do women usually shoot themselves in the head of the heart? 275 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: Goo? 276 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:24,879 Speaker 2: Uh? 277 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: Yeah that well, let's let's go with the first one first. Uh, 278 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: the first one first. I like that. So if they 279 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 1: do change hands, it is a it's an outlier. It's 280 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: not something you would come because it's like picking up 281 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:46,119 Speaker 1: a pencil. It's like picking up a golf club or 282 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:48,639 Speaker 1: picking up a baseball bat, or picking up your knife 283 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:53,679 Speaker 1: and fork. You're going to use your dominant hand. Now. 284 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,200 Speaker 1: I don't know how much experience Alex had had with 285 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: a weapon, but one of the questions we always ask 286 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: Dave when doing a suicide investigation, which suicide investigations are. 287 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: First off, I've always felt as though, from me, the 288 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,680 Speaker 1: suicide investigations are much more difficult than homicide investigations because 289 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: most of the time you don't have a witness to it, 290 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: and so you're having to draw these conclusions based upon 291 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: what science is telling you. But when we begin to 292 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,639 Speaker 1: interview their their intimates, their peripherals, you know, in their life, 293 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,719 Speaker 1: will say, well, this is a apparent suicide. Maybe they 294 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:35,359 Speaker 1: left a note, who knows. But was there an indication 295 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 1: that they were they ambidextrius? Did they could they use 296 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,640 Speaker 1: both hands or were they left or right hand dominant? 297 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 1: And you would expect that if your right hand dominant, 298 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: that the gunshot wound would be would be on that 299 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,359 Speaker 1: dependent side, and in this case it wasn't on the 300 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: left hand side. Now to this question about about do 301 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: women shoot themselves in the head, if we were having 302 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: this discussion, let's see, if we were having this discussion 303 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:17,359 Speaker 1: in the early eighties, I would say that, you know, 304 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: you you rarely have ever seen that. But you know, Dave, 305 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: as my career. 306 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:23,360 Speaker 2: Progressed, rarely have ever seen a headshunt. 307 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, with with females. And people say that there's data 308 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: that backs us up. Maybe there is. But as my 309 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: career progressed, I began to see more and more cases 310 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: of females that would in their lives much like men 311 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: did that you know, i'd have mentor oil, gunshot woes, 312 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,119 Speaker 1: gunshot womans to the side of the head, you know, 313 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,680 Speaker 1: those sorts of things. I think that there was this uh, 314 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,959 Speaker 1: this uh thesis is kind of put forward in our 315 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: field where it says that, you know, because of appearance, 316 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: that women were not inclined to shoot themselves in the head. 317 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,400 Speaker 1: I gotta be honest with you, I don't ever remember 318 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: a self inflicted gunshot wound by a female where they 319 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: shot themselves in the abdomen. I think I had a 320 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: couple in the chest, but I'd say that I probably 321 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:32,480 Speaker 1: had more headshots self inflicted with women than I did 322 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 1: any other location. So I don't I just don't. I 323 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: don't buy into it that that that that idea. Do 324 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,080 Speaker 1: men and women take their lives in a variety of 325 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: different ways, Yeah, they do. And I don't know if 326 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: that's gender dependent or not, but it's it's one of 327 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:53,560 Speaker 1: those things that floats around and get asked that question 328 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,920 Speaker 1: a lot, you know, over the years, I've been asked 329 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: that question. But that she had a gunshot one to 330 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: the head and they were thinking it might be suicide, 331 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: at least it wouldn't be surprising. I don't think to 332 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: anybody that was out there that would be working the scene. 333 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: But here's the thing that's really shocking about this. Let's 334 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: go back to what you said about Eckert. Not only 335 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: is he a nurse practitioner, Dave, he's working. He's working 336 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:25,960 Speaker 1: as a nurse practitioner in an emergency room setting, and 337 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: let's face it, a major metropolitan area. He's gonna see trauma, Dave. 338 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,919 Speaker 1: And I got to tell you, I worked as an 339 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: ear tech for a number of years in college, and 340 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 1: in that environment, if you have gunshot wounds that come in, 341 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 1: knife wounds, that sort of thing, you're gonna get blood 342 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: on you. You're gonna have it on you. I mean, 343 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: that's the nature of what you do. You can put 344 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:53,719 Speaker 1: on gloves, but you'll even get blood up up above 345 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 1: your wrist, onto your elbows, those sorts of things. You'll 346 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: get blood if you're wearing scrubs, which everybody does. That's 347 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: why you wear scrubs because they used to be almost disposable. 348 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 1: You know, you would get bloodstains on you. You could go 349 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,800 Speaker 1: to closet, get a fresh pair and change out. So 350 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: you would expect him if he is he allegedly attempted 351 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: to stem the bleeding by placing his hand or his 352 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 1: finger over the defect in her head to stem the bleeding, Dave, 353 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,359 Speaker 1: if that were the case. If that were the case, 354 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: he would have blood all over his hands. There's a 355 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:37,960 Speaker 1: high probability that she probably clipped cerebral artery in there, 356 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: so it's going to be pumping blood out. It could 357 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,919 Speaker 1: spray onto him. There's really no trace evidence of blood 358 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:46,959 Speaker 1: on him, so I think that that's really making the 359 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:48,880 Speaker 1: cops question what's going on. 360 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 2: He actually claims that he washed up now just to 361 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 2: Ecker claims that when he opens the bathroom door and 362 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 2: sees Alex, she shut herself in the head. He claims 363 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 2: he tried to stop the bleeding short of that before 364 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 2: he calls nine one one to report what has just 365 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 2: taken place. He took the time to wash himself up, 366 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:17,600 Speaker 2: and he tells police he did it in the bathroom 367 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 2: sink and he washed with soap. He then calls nine 368 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,960 Speaker 2: one one, and he says he called nine one one 369 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 2: within four minutes of the shot. So you've got him 370 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 2: coming to the bathroom finding his girlfriend on the bathroom 371 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,400 Speaker 2: floor with a gunshot wounded the head. He then removes 372 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,919 Speaker 2: the gun. He takes the gun and puts it in 373 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:42,120 Speaker 2: a suitcase. Then he comes back in after trying to 374 00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 2: save her life, washes up using soap and water, and 375 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,200 Speaker 2: apparently cleans the gun as well, because he then places 376 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 2: the gun on her chest and calls nine one one. 377 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 2: Police arrived minutes later, and the first thing they notice 378 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 2: he has no blood on him and the gun is 379 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 2: remarkably clean. Yeah, despite the nature of this scene, the 380 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 2: gun is scrubbed clean. The fact that he uses soap 381 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,959 Speaker 2: and water on his hands to ostensibly clean up blood 382 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,680 Speaker 2: like that would be the worry at that point, particular moment. 383 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, its nose and the. 384 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 2: Bathroom sink is dry. The bathroom sink is dry, but 385 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 2: he tells them he just used it to wash his hands. 386 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,240 Speaker 2: By the way, blood on the floor of the bathroom 387 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 2: is drying already. 388 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: Yeah. 389 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,120 Speaker 2: I wonder how long it takes at it seen. 390 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, it takes, it takes it takes uh, it takes 391 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: a while. I'll put it to you that way again. 392 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 1: I hate to kind of weasel out of the question, 393 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: but it's going to be environmentally dependent, and it's going 394 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: to be dependent upon the surface in the bathroom. Are 395 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: the carpets in there. Is it a tile? Uh? You 396 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: know what, what's the temperature inside of the room, what's 397 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: temperature of the floor. That's going to promote this because 398 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: you know, when you get drying blood, uh, you're you're 399 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: at that point time. And when I say drying blood, 400 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 1: I'm talking about dry blood that's that's beginning to to 401 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,880 Speaker 1: flake or it has the appearance that it doesn't have. 402 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: Let's see that the tension of the blood surface itself 403 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: has diminished to the point where it's almost at the 404 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 1: same level as the floor that it's on or the 405 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: surface that it's on. It it's it's lost all of 406 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: that and it's beginning to almost look like paint. That 407 00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: takes that takes some amount of time. I'm thinking, I'm 408 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: thinking beyond an hour, I would I would think, And 409 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: it's really hard to judge that. But you know, here 410 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,920 Speaker 1: here's another thing with the weapon. And by the way, 411 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: this is kind of interesting. He was a licensed firearms carrier. 412 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: He had to carry permit, and he had kept this weapon. 413 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: According to him in his book back which you'll see 414 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,199 Speaker 1: a lot of nurses that are coming in on the 415 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 1: hospital that carry book bags. They almost look like students 416 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: and they you know, they've got extra changes of clothes 417 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,160 Speaker 1: in there, their whatnot, you know, is carried around and there. 418 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 1: He carried his weapon in there and she Alex, according 419 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,679 Speaker 1: to him, went she had an awareness of the weapon 420 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: that he had one before she went into the bathroom. 421 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: She went into his bag and retrieved this weapon. She 422 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: knew it was there and went into the bathroom. 423 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:31,680 Speaker 2: And showed it to him. Okay, she grabs it and 424 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 2: according to Ecker, she point has the gun in her 425 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 2: hand and she is walking backwards, telling him don't come 426 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 2: any closer. I'll shoot myself, and backs herself into the bathroom, 427 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 2: then shuts the door, and he says, within two seconds 428 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 2: of the door shutting, here's the gun. Go off, opens 429 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 2: the door and finds her. That's why this timetable is 430 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 2: very important to the whole story, because from the moment 431 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 2: he calls nine to one one to the minute cops arrive, 432 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 2: it's a very short window, very very short. There's something 433 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 2: else that goes into this too. According to the story 434 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:06,840 Speaker 2: Ecker told police, you know, he moves the gun and 435 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 2: put he again. He moves the gun, puts it in 436 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 2: a bag, then brings it back in places on our chest. 437 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:14,640 Speaker 2: He says he tried to save her life, that she 438 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 2: was breathing when he first got there. He tries to 439 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,719 Speaker 2: stop the flow of blood, but they asked him, did 440 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 2: you perform CPR? Again, going back to the blood that 441 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 2: would be everywhere, and he says, no, I did not 442 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,640 Speaker 2: do CPR because I didn't know what to do. How 443 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 2: does a nurse practitioner working in an emergency room not 444 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 2: know how to do CPR? 445 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: You can't. But and that's that's that's what's so odd 446 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,920 Speaker 1: about this. In order to work in an emergency room 447 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: or if you're going to be let's say, if you're 448 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,600 Speaker 1: going to work in ic ICU or one of these 449 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: places critical care units like this, you you have to 450 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: be certified in advanced life So and first off, CPR 451 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,840 Speaker 1: is is that's the bottom line. I mean, these people 452 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: go through such training. I mean nurses are you know, 453 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,200 Speaker 1: are the life blood of a hospital. You think about doctors, 454 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: forget it. It's the nurses that run the show and 455 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 1: they control everything that's there, and they are trained and 456 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: you're not trained. If you can't keep up in that environment, 457 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: you can find another job somewhere because they got other 458 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: people that'll take your job. Really quick that are proficient 459 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:33,400 Speaker 1: at what they do. This guy would have had to 460 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,480 Speaker 1: have been certified in advanced life support and he would 461 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 1: have understood the principles behind CPR. And here's another thing. 462 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: If he had done compressions on her at the scene, 463 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: did you know that with a gunshot wound to the head, 464 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 1: one of the things that also happens is you'll get 465 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 1: this fracturing of the skull. Obviously, because you're creating, you know, 466 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: you're cavitating the cranial vault, and you've got these fractures 467 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:01,280 Speaker 1: that go on the victim as you're doing compressions, you'll 468 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: actually get blood from the nose, the mouth, not to 469 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:07,560 Speaker 1: mention the defect in the head. So yeah, it would 470 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 1: be a bloody mess. I wonder if he had an 471 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:14,840 Speaker 1: awareness of that as well. I'm not so much concerned 472 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 1: about the absence of blood on his hands, Dave. What 473 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:25,640 Speaker 1: I'm really interested in, since he's saying that this is 474 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: in fact a self inflicted gunshot woman, was there no 475 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 1: blood on her hands? Well, it looks like they've got 476 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,040 Speaker 1: quite the conundrum here, don't they. You've got a guy 477 00:31:53,240 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: that I would imagine, in the face of questioning the 478 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:06,000 Speaker 1: local PD he ain't doing so well. And but yet 479 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: you've got a a young lady and will go ahead 480 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: and say it plainly because it's it's already out there. 481 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 1: She's got she's got some real emotional issues. I mean, 482 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 1: she's you know, fought anxiety, depression, all these sorts of things. 483 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, Ecker has been providing her 484 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: with with Benzo's for anxiety, and he's also been providing 485 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: her with adderall kind of mood stabilizing. And so you, uh, 486 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: you think about that, she's got all this dynamic going 487 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: on with her, and you listen, you have to consider 488 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 1: that that maybe taking her own life is on the table. 489 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 1: As far as an investigator, you have to be able 490 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:55,120 Speaker 1: to take all of that in consideration. Uh, that would 491 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 1: do that? Would it would behoove you as an investigator 492 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: to go back and dig into her past. If she's 493 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,479 Speaker 1: under therapy, if she's receiving therapy, you'd want to question 494 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: the individual that's providing her therapy. And then you got 495 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 1: to talk to her friends. You got to talk to 496 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: her family members that might you know, she may have 497 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:16,120 Speaker 1: confided in that sort of thing. It's not just talking 498 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: to Ecker or to this other fellow that she's involved 499 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: in a relationship with. This is on its surface, this 500 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: seems like a very simple case. But it's like I said, 501 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: cases like this are very very complex. 502 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 2: Well, the physical evidence, taking away the psychology and everything else, 503 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,160 Speaker 2: just the physical evidence alone, the scene of the crime, 504 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 2: the scene of the incident. Yeah, was it murder or suicide? 505 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 2: One of the handgun didn't have blood on it. Now, 506 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 2: if she takes her own life, she's right handed, but 507 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 2: she shoots the gun with her left hand and the 508 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 2: left side of her head. But police get there minutes later. 509 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 2: By the way back to the timetable, the phone call 510 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,000 Speaker 2: to nine one one was made at two point fifty am, 511 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,760 Speaker 2: and Matthew Ecker claims that he called nine to one 512 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:09,200 Speaker 2: one four minutes after she shot herself. Police arrive and 513 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 2: she is declared dead by medical professionals. MS workers are 514 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:15,520 Speaker 2: there and she's declared dead at three h four am. 515 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,160 Speaker 2: So from the time he called, the time he calls, 516 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,879 Speaker 2: to the time they're there and declared dead is fourteen minutes. 517 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,239 Speaker 2: Add another four minutes from the time he says she 518 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:27,880 Speaker 2: shot herself, and you have eighteen minutes from gunshot to 519 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 2: declared dead at the scene of the crime you mentioned, 520 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 2: Why are her hands not bloody? What is the test 521 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:37,880 Speaker 2: that is done by medical experts to determine whether or 522 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 2: not somebody has fired a gun? 523 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:44,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's a gunshot residue test. It's there are 524 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:54,680 Speaker 1: three major components in in in firearms, in the actual 525 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: process of kind of lighting the fuse on a projectile. 526 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 1: All right, So when if you just imagine, if you'll 527 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,360 Speaker 1: just imagine in your mind that when you initiate the 528 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 1: firing sequence with any kind of firearm, when you pull 529 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 1: that trigger, okay, and that firing pin or the hammer 530 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:23,160 Speaker 1: slams forward onto the base of that live round, you 531 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 1: have got a primer cap. And the primer itself is 532 00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:36,080 Speaker 1: a bit more unstable chemically, that is is it doesn't 533 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,400 Speaker 1: take much to set it off, which is what you want, 534 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:40,480 Speaker 1: because there's like a little cap. If you look at 535 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 1: the end of a live round, there's a little cap 536 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:46,080 Speaker 1: in the end of it, and it's called a primer 537 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 1: cap that's tapped off. And when that's tapped off, it 538 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:55,640 Speaker 1: creates an explosion, all right, And that explosion sparks up 539 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:59,520 Speaker 1: through what are referred to as flash holes, and within 540 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:03,920 Speaker 1: the flat holes, the it ignites what's referred to as 541 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:09,560 Speaker 1: the propellant that's contained within the cartridge itself, that's the gunpowder. 542 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:16,000 Speaker 1: So when you do when you do a GSR test, 543 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:23,359 Speaker 1: you're looking for antimony, barium, and also lead those three components, 544 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: and primer residue is a bit different than that. So 545 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,440 Speaker 1: you can get an idea that if it's if it's 546 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:36,080 Speaker 1: primer residue that you're looking for, perhaps it it you 547 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:38,879 Speaker 1: would expect to find it on a hand, all right, 548 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:41,120 Speaker 1: that's where it's. It's kind of got a c clamp 549 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,360 Speaker 1: on the on the grip of the pistol in this case, 550 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:50,800 Speaker 1: and then you'll find the rest the remaining elements there 551 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:53,719 Speaker 1: that kind of shower down out of this cloud you know, 552 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,040 Speaker 1: you see the gun smoke, you know, cloud that comes 553 00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:00,960 Speaker 1: out and it's kind of showering down. We try to 554 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 1: do That's one of the reasons. Like at the scene, 555 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:07,120 Speaker 1: and I would imagine in this particular scene, at this 556 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,880 Speaker 1: particular scene, rather they would have bagged her hands at 557 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,319 Speaker 1: the scene, that's what we would do, okay. And the 558 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,120 Speaker 1: reason is is that when you place her body into 559 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:19,920 Speaker 1: a body bag, sometimes the bags can sweat and you 560 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: have to protect those hands because you're going to do 561 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:27,560 Speaker 1: a GSR test on the victim at the morgue, and 562 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:29,960 Speaker 1: we have series of swabs that we go through and 563 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:32,160 Speaker 1: that's sent off to the state crime lab and you 564 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: can test to see if she's recently fired a weapon. 565 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:42,400 Speaker 1: The trick is I wonder. I wonder if the police 566 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:46,839 Speaker 1: at that moment in time, based upon how unsteady his 567 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:51,359 Speaker 1: story was. I wonder if they said, Okay, we need 568 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:54,439 Speaker 1: to do a GSR test on you, and I wonder 569 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:57,239 Speaker 1: if he submitted to that, if they actually did one, 570 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,960 Speaker 1: because right now at this point, we don't know if 571 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:04,520 Speaker 1: they did that. There's no indication that that that that 572 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,080 Speaker 1: has necessarily come up. Not saying it didn't happen, but 573 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,160 Speaker 1: it's one of the things that you would do in 574 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: a case like this, particularly where you're questioning the tomeline 575 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 1: about how everything went down and it keeps getting marked 576 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,560 Speaker 1: because you you stated Dave that he changed his story 577 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,319 Speaker 1: a couple of times, and for me, that's that's a 578 00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:28,279 Speaker 1: huge red flag. Well because if you're so, yeah, go ahead. 579 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:30,560 Speaker 2: The soap and water, he claims because they noticed a man. 580 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:32,560 Speaker 2: You said you tried to save her life, but there's 581 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:36,560 Speaker 2: no blood on you and the gun is incredibly clean. Uh, 582 00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:40,440 Speaker 2: he is the can you wash away like the GRS 583 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,560 Speaker 2: test the gun residue? Did I say that? 584 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:42,759 Speaker 1: Right? 585 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:43,360 Speaker 2: GRS? 586 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 1: It's GSR, but YESR anyway, but they're going to test 587 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:50,600 Speaker 1: it if you wash your hands with soap and water. Huh, 588 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,600 Speaker 1: can you wash away that residue so that you do 589 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:55,279 Speaker 1: a test on me? And it's like, I'm sorry, man, 590 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:56,839 Speaker 1: it's just soap and water. I had to clean up 591 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 1: the blood. It's my gun. I touched the gun. I mean, 592 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:01,879 Speaker 1: is there a way that he now can explain any 593 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,799 Speaker 1: kind of residue on his hands, but I use something 594 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,960 Speaker 1: water to clean them. I mean yeah, And just because 595 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:12,319 Speaker 1: you have, just because you have these results, First off, 596 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:16,239 Speaker 1: GSR tests are not fool for if people think that 597 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:18,319 Speaker 1: they are, they're not. They're not. 598 00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:21,239 Speaker 2: And so that's why they're not putting a whole lot 599 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:23,760 Speaker 2: of heat on that. All right, Yeah, Yeah, that explains 600 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:25,080 Speaker 2: that I wondered, Joe. I didn't know. 601 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:28,360 Speaker 1: I'm not going to say that GSR is in the 602 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:31,520 Speaker 1: same realm as like a polygraph. Okay, it's not like that, 603 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: but you're not necessarily you know, they did one study 604 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 1: years ago with people that worked in what was it. 605 00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:42,880 Speaker 1: They worked in munitions factories and they would randomly test 606 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: people with GSR in those environments and they would come 607 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,319 Speaker 1: back with negative results. And these people have been handling munitions, 608 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:53,120 Speaker 1: you know, for days and days, and I always found 609 00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,440 Speaker 1: that that kind of interesting. They put a lot of 610 00:39:55,480 --> 00:40:00,200 Speaker 1: weight on these tests. But you know, I don't I 611 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:05,640 Speaker 1: don't necessarily think that GSR is required in this case 612 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:13,320 Speaker 1: because he's he's kind of betraying, you know, the original narrative. 613 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:17,000 Speaker 1: Here's he keeps deviating from the story. And that's a 614 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:22,760 Speaker 1: circumstantial in circumstantial evidence. But still he's the only witness 615 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:25,799 Speaker 1: to all of this. He was an ear witness to 616 00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:28,640 Speaker 1: you know, any kind of statements. He certainly saw what 617 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 1: happened that evening, and I guess you know, you begin 618 00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:34,680 Speaker 1: to think about, well, what would be his motivation to 619 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:39,280 Speaker 1: do this to her? Why? Why would he take her life? 620 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:42,320 Speaker 1: And you think about maybe it all came to a 621 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:44,800 Speaker 1: head that night in the bar where he gets into 622 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:49,160 Speaker 1: this tete a tet with this other man in her life. 623 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,799 Speaker 1: He's he's married, he's got four kids. Maybe he had 624 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:55,360 Speaker 1: this moment in time where he's like, what am I doing? 625 00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:57,600 Speaker 1: And the only way that he can see to solve 626 00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:01,520 Speaker 1: this is perhaps taking her life. I don't know the 627 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:05,440 Speaker 1: weapon itself, though, when you look at it, there's also 628 00:41:05,719 --> 00:41:07,560 Speaker 1: you know, they were talking about how clean it was. 629 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:11,320 Speaker 1: Many times, not every case, but many times with self 630 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:17,760 Speaker 1: inflicted gunshot wounds day you'll see evidence of what's referred 631 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:21,319 Speaker 1: to as blowback on weapons, where you'll have blood that 632 00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:24,279 Speaker 1: will come back onto the surface of the weapon, and 633 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:27,439 Speaker 1: if it's a close contact gunshot wound, which I really 634 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:34,160 Speaker 1: want to get into here, you would have I've worked 635 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:39,319 Speaker 1: cases where I've had skin, hair, brain matter in the 636 00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:43,080 Speaker 1: muzzle of the weapon where it blows back down the barrel. 637 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,960 Speaker 1: You'll actually have that occur because you know that barrel 638 00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:51,240 Speaker 1: space is empty after that projectile. It happens in a flash, 639 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:57,280 Speaker 1: but after that projectile exits the barrel, it cavitates into 640 00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:02,640 Speaker 1: the skull, and you've got this energy that's forcing backwards 641 00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:05,600 Speaker 1: towards the point of origin of this thing, and you'll 642 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:08,480 Speaker 1: get this kind of distribution on the surface weapon. They're 643 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:12,120 Speaker 1: not seeing that here, So I think that that's the 644 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:16,439 Speaker 1: position that this puts the forensic pathologists, and I say 645 00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:19,239 Speaker 1: pathologist because we're plural. We've got two of them Dave, 646 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:24,840 Speaker 1: we're talking about two uh too highly learned or learned. 647 00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:29,520 Speaker 1: I guess they say uh learned learned people here. They 648 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,400 Speaker 1: are board certified forensic pathologists, and they both arrived at 649 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:36,440 Speaker 1: the same conclusion. They can't say that this is either 650 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:41,920 Speaker 1: a homicide a suicide. They can't say it's accidental. So 651 00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:45,200 Speaker 1: their default position here is it turns out to be 652 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:51,200 Speaker 1: undetermined in this particular case. I find that quite fascinating. 653 00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:55,640 Speaker 2: But it does end up going to court. Matthew Ecker 654 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:58,840 Speaker 2: is charged, and it goes back to the reason I 655 00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:02,160 Speaker 2: was hitting the timeline so hard is because you really 656 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,319 Speaker 2: are dealing with eighteen minutes from starting to finish on 657 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:10,720 Speaker 2: her death. And his story did change. It didn't make sense. 658 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 2: He's a nurse practitioner working in an emergency room, didn't 659 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,560 Speaker 2: perform CPR or do anything he knows to do. And 660 00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:21,000 Speaker 2: he was clean. The scene was clean, blood was drying. 661 00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:24,240 Speaker 2: There's nothing in the sink indicating anybody had washed anything 662 00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:26,600 Speaker 2: in the sink in the bathroom like he claimed. The 663 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,480 Speaker 2: evidence didn't bear out his story, so he took it 664 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:34,359 Speaker 2: to court. He was charged with her murder. It has 665 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:35,200 Speaker 2: been adjudicated. 666 00:43:35,239 --> 00:43:39,959 Speaker 1: Joe, what's our conclusion here, Dave is he now cool 667 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:41,879 Speaker 1: in his heels in state penitentiary. 668 00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:46,040 Speaker 2: Matthew Philip Becker, forty five years old. His wife did 669 00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:51,480 Speaker 2: divorce him, by the way. The father of four convicted 670 00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:56,080 Speaker 2: of the sole count of second degree intentional murder not 671 00:43:56,200 --> 00:44:00,640 Speaker 2: premeditated for shooting thirty two year old alex Xandra Lee 672 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:04,680 Speaker 2: Pennig in the head December sixteenth, twenty twenty two. 673 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:07,400 Speaker 1: I've got to tell you, at the end of the day, 674 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:10,520 Speaker 1: you think about you think about all of the effort 675 00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:15,400 Speaker 1: that went into living the lives that these people lived. 676 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:20,000 Speaker 1: The desire to help people in healthcare, the desire to 677 00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:23,040 Speaker 1: get all of the education that's required, those hoops that 678 00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:27,440 Speaker 1: you have to jump through, and to throw it all away. 679 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:34,360 Speaker 1: I'm Joseph Scott Morgan and this is Bodybacks