Speaker 1: I remember sitting there crying, and I was like, this
Speaker 1: child who you called yours, This is the child that
Speaker 1: you loved so much, and you want him burned in
Speaker 1: a barrel. How disgusting.
Speaker 2: I'm Andrea Gunning. This is Betrayal, Season three, episode four,
Speaker 2: Him or Me, Doctor Justin Rutherford never expected to be incarcerated.
Speaker 2: He seemed genuinely surprised to be in jail. Stacy and
Speaker 2: her family had moved back to the Virginia area to
Speaker 2: be closer to family and friends. Justin's godmother, Nanny Dee,
Speaker 2: had done the same. He wrote frequent letters to Nanny.
Speaker 2: She looked after him as a child and had always
Speaker 2: been there for him as an adult. She did not
Speaker 2: believe the accusations against him. He shared his complaints with
Speaker 2: her about the lack of amenities in jail.
Speaker 3: The only chairs here are hard as well as the beds.
Speaker 3: And this is probably TMI, but the diet they give
Speaker 3: us caused me the worst constipation. It really makes things terrible.
Speaker 2: Once Tyler came forward, the Burkes County District Attorney's office
Speaker 2: was able to build a strong case against Justin. There
Speaker 2: was a good chance he could be sentenced to decades
Speaker 2: in jail, and that was largely because of what Tyler
Speaker 2: was able to share during his forensic interview.
Speaker 1: I don't remember if it was Detective Fick or Weaver,
Speaker 1: one of them I had spoken to, and they said
Speaker 1: they were so proud of Tyler because they had never
Speaker 1: seen a child, or heard a child give such a
Speaker 1: detailed interview as far as how much information he recalled.
Speaker 2: As a trial date drew closer, Justin's letters to family
Speaker 2: and friends grew more frenzied.
Speaker 3: Nanny call around to some of the lawyers below, explain
Speaker 3: my charges and deal that was offered, which is basically
Speaker 3: fifteen to thirty or open plea, see if they think
Speaker 3: they could do better, and see if they would do
Speaker 3: pro bono or reduced fee due to money already spent
Speaker 3: on current lawyer.
Speaker 2: Justin's father had an adopted daughter.
Speaker 3: Justin wrote to her, it's been a while since we
Speaker 3: have spoken. I miss you and the fam so much.
Speaker 3: I feel like we were the closest and you came
Speaker 3: to visit regularly. I am curious what you think of
Speaker 3: all of this shit. This is a compliment. You were
Speaker 3: always the shadiest in our group of siblings, and I
Speaker 3: was wondering if you still have contacts into the shady realm.
Speaker 3: Send me the answer through text on the tablet, but
Speaker 3: don't mention the question, as everything is recorded through text
Speaker 3: and phone. If the answer is yes, I will send
Speaker 3: you another letter with more info. Please keep this between us. Please.
Speaker 3: On the contrary, if you think I'm a piece of
Speaker 3: shit who deserves to be here, just ignore this letter.
Speaker 2: She ignored it. Nanny, however, stayed in regular contact with Justin,
Speaker 2: and he sent her many letters from jail like this.
Speaker 3: I can't live life knowing I won't be able to
Speaker 3: be with my kids until they are adults, that I
Speaker 3: was a failure and not given a chance at redemption.
Speaker 3: And honestly, if it comes down to it, I guess
Speaker 3: I'll have to take the pain away myself. I don't
Speaker 3: want it to end that way, but I literally can't
Speaker 3: do it. I'm not strong enough to serve so long.
Speaker 2: Justin was doing anything he could to get out of
Speaker 2: the Burkes County jail where he was awaiting trial. Tyler
Speaker 2: was in a kind of jail as well, a jail
Speaker 2: that Justin had built.
Speaker 4: When the abuse was going on. That was just my
Speaker 4: normal day to day life. I didn't think much of it.
Speaker 4: It was just how things went and it was expected
Speaker 4: to happen. It wasn't a shock. I was used to it.
Speaker 4: I was trained, and I finally had time to deal
Speaker 4: with all those motions away from justin. It was like
Speaker 4: my first time actually trying to get through it on
Speaker 4: instead of just like be numb to it or whatnot.
Speaker 4: All the emotions they just flood into your mind, flood
Speaker 4: into your body. It's just overwhelming, over stimulating. Anything is
Speaker 4: gonna set you off. It's like you have a short fuse.
Speaker 4: At least it was for me.
Speaker 2: Stacey wanted to do something nice for the kids to
Speaker 2: get away from the whole mess at home, so she
Speaker 2: took them to Disney World. It's called the happiest place
Speaker 2: on Earth, but for Tyler it was anything.
Speaker 4: But everyone smile on their faces, and like in my head,
Speaker 4: it was a completely different atmosphere. It was like I
Speaker 4: was in a different spot. Like Stranger Things, how they
Speaker 4: have the upside down, That's where I was. I mean,
Speaker 4: I was in the same place, but in my mind,
Speaker 4: I was in a different atmosphere. A few nights, I
Speaker 4: was just sitting on the balcony by myself. Everyone was inside.
Speaker 4: I just wanted to jump because we were about like
Speaker 4: four or five stories up, Like I didn't really want to,
Speaker 4: but I guess I just I didn't see another way
Speaker 4: to stop the anxiety. It was so bad. That was
Speaker 4: just like a way to switch it off and know.
Speaker 2: Going back at Disney, Tyler started fearing for his little
Speaker 2: brother and sister, the lines, throngs of people everywhere. He
Speaker 2: still carries that with him.
Speaker 4: I just I worry with the littles being in public.
Speaker 4: I hate when they run off. I don't like them
Speaker 4: being more than like a foot from me, But I
Speaker 4: just worry so much. I don't know if it's fear
Speaker 4: of them getting hurt, fear of somebody taking them, but
Speaker 4: when they're in public, I want them to be raped
Speaker 4: by either me or my mom's side, and nowhere else.
Speaker 2: He appreciated his mom trying to show the kids a
Speaker 2: good time after all they'd been through, but the anxiety
Speaker 2: was unrelenting, punishing. It followed Tyler when he was awake, asleep.
Speaker 2: It didn't matter. Tyler had a great therapist, but that
Speaker 2: weekly meeting was no match for the pervasive thoughts that
Speaker 2: plagued him. Twenty four to seven.
Speaker 4: I definitely struggled with both depression and anxiety, but to me,
Speaker 4: anxiety was my killer. They just seemed like there was
Speaker 4: no way to get by it. This was about a
Speaker 4: week after the Disney trip. I was at school. It
Speaker 4: was just a normal day, and I started to have
Speaker 4: some pretty bad anxiety I would say more so like
Speaker 4: a panic attack, Like my heart was beating really fast,
Speaker 4: and the thoughts were just going left and right in
Speaker 4: my head, going crazy, and I just I couldn't shake
Speaker 4: it no matter what I did. It was terrible. It
Speaker 4: lasted all the way till I got back home. I'm like,
Speaker 4: damn it, I'm ten hours into this and it's just
Speaker 4: getting worse and worse. So I decided I was gonna
Speaker 4: take matters into my own hands. That day, I wanted
Speaker 4: to kill myself, but I didn't want my family to
Speaker 4: know I tried to do that or hurt them, so
Speaker 4: I tried to make it look natural, like a heart
Speaker 4: attack and down like a whole tub of pre workout
Speaker 4: Jim energy drinks and whatnot. You're usually supposed to take
Speaker 4: like a scoop, Like two scoops is too much and
Speaker 4: your heart's going crazy. So I wouldn't say I downed
Speaker 4: the whole tub, but I definitely tried to down as
Speaker 4: much as I could in a short period of time,
Speaker 4: and that just made it even worse, to the point
Speaker 4: where it literally felt like my heart was going to
Speaker 4: come out of my chest, like I thought I was dying.
Speaker 4: So I called my sister.
Speaker 5: I got the phone call. It was a FaceTime video
Speaker 5: from him. He's crying and he's like, I'm scared. My
Speaker 5: chest feels funny, and he's like I took something. I
Speaker 5: made him stay on the phone with me, and Ems
Speaker 5: got there.
Speaker 4: Mom got there, They sent the paramedics. They said I
Speaker 4: was all right, I would just have a very fast
Speaker 4: heart rate for a while.
Speaker 3: Was all the caffeine.
Speaker 5: They took him to the hospital and then that's when
Speaker 5: he got admitted.
Speaker 2: Tyler was admitted into a mental health facility in Virginia
Speaker 2: with a reputable youth program.
Speaker 1: Not only did Justin ruin his childhood, but now he
Speaker 1: doesn't even want to live on this earth. I felt
Speaker 1: like he had took enough from him, and I think
Speaker 1: that's what made me angry, is he knew how much
Speaker 1: my kids meant to me. If Tyler would have died,
Speaker 1: I say I probably would have just jumped with him,
Speaker 1: because I don't know how parents live without their kids.
Speaker 4: I stayed there for I think about eight days, and
Speaker 4: the whole time just went through therapy.
Speaker 2: The inpatient program gave him helpful strategies to deal with
Speaker 2: his anxiety.
Speaker 4: They gave us a bunch of like papers and handouts
Speaker 4: to keep. It had like good coping mechanisms on there.
Speaker 4: I kept that paper and took it with me wherever
Speaker 4: I went.
Speaker 2: Tyler recognized his treatment as an opportunity.
Speaker 4: You just gotta want it, because there's definitely kids in
Speaker 4: there who didn't want it and therefore didn't help them
Speaker 4: like it did me. Like I know a kid who
Speaker 4: said he'd been in and out of him for like
Speaker 4: six years, and then after you go so many times,
Speaker 4: they make you stay longer and longer. And he was
Speaker 4: telling me his last stand one was like nine months.
Speaker 4: So I saw that and took that as a sign
Speaker 4: that I need to learn what I need to learn
Speaker 4: and get out of here and go live my life.
Speaker 2: Tyler was determined to make strides in his mental health.
Speaker 2: He didn't want this to be the rest of his life.
Speaker 4: I honestly thought it was like a good break from life.
Speaker 6: Like.
Speaker 4: I actually enjoyed it because it was just calm and
Speaker 4: it helped teach me a lot.
Speaker 2: Tyler told me that he still has some rough patches
Speaker 2: and weeks of feeling bad, but he's doing much better
Speaker 2: and suicide doesn't enter his mind anymore. Stacy and Tyler
Speaker 2: had a lot of dates to deal with, meetings with
Speaker 2: prosecutors and court appearances. A few months after Tyler finished
Speaker 2: his treatment. In about two years after Justin was arrested,
Speaker 2: there was a special day. Stacy's whole family was looking
Speaker 2: forward to the August twenty twenty three wedding of Stacy's
Speaker 2: eldest daughter, Mikayla, to her long time boyfriend Tommy. There
Speaker 2: was a lot of joy leading up to the wedding,
Speaker 2: but it was also a time of reflection. Justin's absence
Speaker 2: was deeply felt. Even with the knowledge of his crimes.
Speaker 2: Mikaela was like his daughter. She called Justin debt.
Speaker 5: She felt cheated for Father's Day one year, I said,
Speaker 5: when I'm old enough and find the right man who
Speaker 5: loves me the way that you do, well, you walk
Speaker 5: me down the aisle. Some nights we would be planning
Speaker 5: and I would cry. It's like a missing piece, but
Speaker 5: also like I don't want that piece here.
Speaker 2: Mikila walked a fine line between feeling excitement for her
Speaker 2: big day and respecting the grief around her.
Speaker 5: It was hard for me to be truly happy with it,
Speaker 5: like oh, I'm getting married because everyone around me is miserable,
Speaker 5: and here I am like, oh, what color do you
Speaker 5: want to wear to my wife?
Speaker 2: When the day finally came, the whole family rose the occasion.
Speaker 2: Just talking about it makes Stacy emotional.
Speaker 1: Michayla's wedding was beautiful in August. There was so much
Speaker 1: joy that day, and that was a day that was
Speaker 1: going to be really hard for me. That ended up
Speaker 1: not not at all, like and that was I get
Speaker 1: one hundred percent say a god thing because you know
Speaker 1: it just it was.
Speaker 3: A beautiful day.
Speaker 2: They were all dressed beautifully, they danced. Mikayla and Tommy
Speaker 2: are a great couple. It was a celebration of them,
Speaker 2: a family, of survival, of making it this far for.
Speaker 1: A window of a weekend. I think we just forgot
Speaker 1: about things like I would have just loved to live
Speaker 1: in that weekend in Michayla's wedding because that was our
Speaker 1: first time where we just had fun. We didn't think
Speaker 1: about it, we didn't talk about it, like today's a
Speaker 1: day and being joyful and new beginnings. And there's a
Speaker 1: lot missing that day, But there was also so much more.
Speaker 2: While the family reveled in a new chapter of love,
Speaker 2: Justin continued steing in jail. A trial was just months away.
Speaker 2: Now he knew he couldn't stay there. He organized his
Speaker 2: thoughts and came up with three strategies to avoid prison,
Speaker 2: options one, two, and three. Option one had been mentioned
Speaker 2: in his letters with both Stacy and Nanny. The option
Speaker 2: was suicide. Though Stacy didn't fall for Justin's threats to
Speaker 2: take his life, it probably hurt Nanny much more. Option
Speaker 2: two was mentioned, but still vague. We'll return to that later.
Speaker 2: And then there was option three, persuading Tyler to recant
Speaker 2: his statement to detectives.
Speaker 3: Dear Nanny, thank you for trying option three. If you could,
Speaker 3: please try to continue to push for him to drop it.
Speaker 3: Here's why I can't go to trial, and they say
Speaker 3: there's too much evidence. It is true that I did
Speaker 3: the camera. I have an issue with voyeurism. It's true.
Speaker 3: Please keep this to yourself.
Speaker 2: Finally, an admission that he did put the camera in
Speaker 2: the house.
Speaker 3: The camera is basically what screwed me, because there is
Speaker 3: no evidence otherwise for the rape charges. I do swear
Speaker 3: to you, Nanny, that I never raped anyone. So basically
Speaker 3: I should be serving maybe a year for my true crimes,
Speaker 3: but instead may end up serving much more. I'm not
Speaker 3: gonna lie. I got myself in a pickle, but please
Speaker 3: don't let me serve time that is unjust.
Speaker 2: This is hard to stomach. I got myself in a
Speaker 2: pickle as something you say when you make plans with
Speaker 2: two different friends on the same night, not a phrase
Speaker 2: when you use to describe these kinds of charges.
Speaker 3: He continues, I would be institutionalized and have no way
Speaker 3: to ever retire. It's literally the worst ending to my
Speaker 3: life I could imagine. Please keep trying option three because
Speaker 3: we're approaching the line of no return. Love Justin.
Speaker 2: Sergeant Fick found the relationship between Nanny Dee and Justin puzzling.
Speaker 7: I listened to a lot of jail house calls from
Speaker 7: her and Justin.
Speaker 2: Their communication did not sound like an aunt and nephew
Speaker 2: or godmother and godson.
Speaker 7: I mean, there's times they talked like their husband and
Speaker 7: wife I was confused by that. I know she supports
Speaker 7: Justin He has a lot of people Fulden's family.
Speaker 2: Meg McCallum, the lead Assistant District Attorney of Burke's County,
Speaker 2: was busy preparing for true she was assigned to prosecute
Speaker 2: the case.
Speaker 6: I have been specifically doing sexual assault prosecution for ten
Speaker 6: and a half years now. When it comes forward, these
Speaker 6: families are devastated because, unfortunately, nine times out of ten,
Speaker 6: what we were seeing is that it was somebody very close,
Speaker 6: if not a family member, who has committed these crimes
Speaker 6: against these children. It is hard because there's that part
Speaker 6: of them that you love, that you have grown a relationship,
Speaker 6: grown this family with. It's not all bad, and it's
Speaker 6: similar with domestic violence victims, where the cycle just kind
Speaker 6: of keeps going because he was doing good, kind, helpful things,
Speaker 6: and those parts of him that were not hidden were
Speaker 6: the good parts and were probably genuinely good to them.
Speaker 6: But he obviously had this side that nobody would have anticipated,
Speaker 6: nobody would have expected him to do where he was
Speaker 6: raping this little boy since he was tiny.
Speaker 2: Ada McCallum pointed out that there are times when these
Speaker 2: cases can't be prosecuted.
Speaker 6: Sometimes I have to make the hard decision where I
Speaker 6: don't believe a child is going to be able to
Speaker 6: make it through the process, or I just don't think
Speaker 6: that we're going to be able to get a beyond
Speaker 6: the reasonable doubt verdict, and so sometimes those cases are
Speaker 6: not approved. That's actually probably the hardest thing that I
Speaker 6: have to do, because then I have to tell that
Speaker 6: family it's not the time for this.
Speaker 2: And what about Tyler? Could he make it through a trial?
Speaker 6: There was no question based on my review of his
Speaker 6: interview and his discussions with my detectives, and even when
Speaker 6: I met him at the preliminary hearing, he was going
Speaker 6: to be okay and would have just and.
Speaker 2: Got what he wanted. And Tyler didn't testify.
Speaker 6: If Tyler didn't cooperate, and if Tyler wasn't willing to
Speaker 6: testify in this case at a trial, we would not
Speaker 6: be able to convict Justin Rutherford of the crimes for
Speaker 6: his conduct against Tyler. In Pennsylvania, specifically, I have to
Speaker 6: call child victims to testify unless there is some other
Speaker 6: evidence where it's videotaped or something like that, or somebody
Speaker 6: witnesses it. In order to sustain my convictions. And so
Speaker 6: because sexual offenses occur secretly, they happen for a very
Speaker 6: long time, we have almost no evidence ever, other than
Speaker 6: the victim's own words. Their words become the most important
Speaker 6: thing for the prosecution.
Speaker 2: The District Attorney's office had solid evidence against Justin. They
Speaker 2: believed he needed to be held accountable for his crimes
Speaker 2: and kept off the streets, so they made a plea offer.
Speaker 2: Justin found the offer unacceptable.
Speaker 3: Dear Nanny, I am so sad that you want me
Speaker 3: to take this deal. I don't understand how you think
Speaker 3: it is okay for me to be in here for
Speaker 3: fifteen thirty years. Do you think I'm guilty? Do you
Speaker 3: not believe me? I mean, I know it's not your
Speaker 3: fault I'm in here, but I thought you would do
Speaker 3: everything you could to prevent this injustice. I don't know
Speaker 3: how you sit there idly by and watch as he
Speaker 3: takes everything, not just for me, but you and the kids.
Speaker 2: He takes everything. The he is Tyler. He is a
Speaker 2: sixteen year old boy who has just lost everything. According
Speaker 2: to Justin, Tyler was doing this to him, to Nanny
Speaker 2: d and the kids, and Nanny wasn't doing anything about it.
Speaker 3: I lost my wife, house, car job. If I took
Speaker 3: this deal, I would not only lose my kids since
Speaker 3: I would not be out until they were adults, but
Speaker 3: I would lose my career. I would never practice medicine
Speaker 3: again if they had my DNA or an eyewitness but
Speaker 3: literally they have nothing.
Speaker 2: If Justin thought nothing of Tyler's testimony, why was he
Speaker 2: trying so hard to have him recant.
Speaker 3: You always said you would do anything for me. You
Speaker 3: could negotiate other terms such as money, treatment, etc. I'll
Speaker 3: complete treatment and never contact him if he recants and
Speaker 3: doesn't testify. I know I'm putting you in a difficult
Speaker 3: spot and it's not something I like to do. But Nanny,
Speaker 3: this is not fair, and you know it. I am
Speaker 3: backed into a corner with nowhere to go. I just
Speaker 3: can't take the pain of not being there for you
Speaker 3: and the kids, the pain of being labeled, you know what,
Speaker 3: the pain of losing my reputation career, and the pain
Speaker 3: of being a failure bad father.
Speaker 2: In these letters, Justin emotionally torments his godmother Nanny. He
Speaker 2: uses suicide and dying as a negotiation tactic. The blood
Speaker 2: would be on her hands. Justin must have thought that
Speaker 2: would work on Nanny. He knew that she really loved him.
Speaker 2: Time was running out for Justin. His court date was approaching.
Speaker 2: He realized that option three's waiting Tyler to recant was
Speaker 2: not going to happen. He didn't seem too eager to
Speaker 2: pull the trigger on option one, taking his own life.
Speaker 2: He was ready to deploy option two. He wrote to Nanny.
Speaker 3: Even the Bible is full of God smiting one's enemies,
Speaker 3: for example, David versus Goliath. At this point, you have
Speaker 3: to choose a side. It's either me or him.
Speaker 2: He should have known that the police monitored his communication,
Speaker 2: but at that point he didn't seem to care. He
Speaker 2: was done being reasonable.
Speaker 3: I really need you to do this, and I mean asap.
Speaker 3: Look I have tried every other way. I'm not saying
Speaker 3: you have to do it personally.
Speaker 2: Was he really suggesting what I think he is suggesting.
Speaker 3: I am done fucking around. The offer they gave me
Speaker 3: is the same as this twenty three year old kid
Speaker 3: who stabbed his mother sixty plus times, all because of
Speaker 3: stories that were made up after the camera thing went down.
Speaker 2: He even suggested this.
Speaker 3: Go downtown Martinsburg and look for a druggie, just get
Speaker 3: it done. Offer less than ten thousand pay after cash.
Speaker 2: Any old druggie would do to kill Tyler. Remember this
Speaker 2: man was a doctor. Justin always told Nanny he loved
Speaker 2: her and would look after her and his letters, but
Speaker 2: he seemed quite willing to risk her freedom.
Speaker 3: Nanny, I am asking you to trade your few remaining
Speaker 3: years for my forty plus. That is, if you do it. Obviously,
Speaker 3: talk to no one else and ask for a lawyer
Speaker 3: immediately if questioned.
Speaker 2: And if she could find a willing assassin. He offered
Speaker 2: guidance on the best time to approach the target.
Speaker 3: I recommend after work, but you do it how you wish.
Speaker 3: This is not the road I wanted, but it is
Speaker 3: the one that must be taken. It's either that.
Speaker 6: Or me.
Speaker 2: In case Nanny wasn't taking the suicide threat to heart.
Speaker 2: He concluded the letter with his own obituary.
Speaker 3: Thirty three year old male with so much potential good doctor,
Speaker 3: good father, wrongfully accused survived.
Speaker 2: Nanny wasn't going to find someone to kill Tyler. He
Speaker 2: would take the matter into his own hands and find
Speaker 2: someone on the inside. What was Justin offering money? Of course,
Speaker 2: other inmates probably thought he was rich since he was
Speaker 2: a doctor.
Speaker 7: He just basically said, you know, when I get out
Speaker 7: of here, I'll make sure that you're comfortable.
Speaker 2: Justin would do anything, anything to save himself. The details
Speaker 2: were all in the affidavid of probable cause. The affidavid
Speaker 2: says Rutherford wrote down the victim's address, his schedule, the
Speaker 2: car he operates, his interests in other personal identifying information.
Speaker 2: Rutherford also drew a floor plan of the victim's residents.
Speaker 2: It continues. Through the use of covert recording devices, investigators
Speaker 2: were able to intercept communications Rutherford made while incarcerated at
Speaker 2: Burke's County Jail system. During this interception, and investigators heard
Speaker 2: Rutherford discuss having the victim murdered. During the interception, Rutherford
Speaker 2: stated that a Monday night after seven pm would be
Speaker 2: the best time, as it is dark and no one
Speaker 2: else would be home. Rutherford stated to use gloves and
Speaker 2: to wear layers of clothing so no DNA is found.
Speaker 2: Rutherford stated, as soon as you knock him out, it's
Speaker 2: painless and no evidence. The affidavit also contained Justin's instructions
Speaker 2: for disposing the body. Rutherford also stated that the victim
Speaker 2: could be buried in the forest somewhere. Rutherford also stated
Speaker 2: that the victim could be burned in a barrel, as
Speaker 2: this would be like a cremation and is also a
Speaker 2: good way to get rid of any evidence. It was
Speaker 2: all on tape. Sergeant Fick had suspected that Justin wouldn't
Speaker 2: just try to persuade his godmother nanny.
Speaker 7: We got possession of the jail house letters. I wanted
Speaker 7: to arrest him for that. At that point, we were
Speaker 7: told they felt we needed more. I went to other
Speaker 7: state prisons and interviewed individuals that were cellmates and on
Speaker 7: the block with Justin, and they all told me that's
Speaker 7: all he would talk about. But the good news is
Speaker 7: we did have the chance to use an informant to
Speaker 7: obtain information how he wanted to have Tyler killed.
Speaker 2: They caught a break. Another prisoner whose release date was
Speaker 2: near came forward. He was disturbed by Justin's persistent solicitation
Speaker 2: of him to kill Tyler when he was released. At first,
Speaker 2: the informant didn't believe Justin.
Speaker 7: He thought he was joking, because when you're in there
Speaker 7: you have nothing else to do, you're going to blow
Speaker 7: steam off.
Speaker 3: I wish he was dead.
Speaker 7: I get it. But he went too far. He did
Speaker 7: not just say I wish he was dead, or you know,
Speaker 7: I wish someone would kill him. He actually gave details,
Speaker 7: giving him a layout of the home, what it looks like,
Speaker 7: Tyler's interests, and you know, explain different scenarios on how
Speaker 7: to kill him. Make sure that there's no evidence. He
Speaker 7: stepped way over that line.
Speaker 2: Justin knew the layout of the home where Tyler was living,
Speaker 2: the Knights, he worked, where his room was in the
Speaker 2: new house. How In the last episode, Stacy explained that
Speaker 2: she allowed the littles to send and receive letters from
Speaker 2: Justin in jail, but there was more. Stacy also permitted
Speaker 2: Justin to have video calls with them.
Speaker 1: That's how he drew the map. The kids video chatted
Speaker 1: and wanted to show him their new house. You know,
Speaker 1: you thought you were doing the right thing. You know,
Speaker 1: what could it harm letting him talk to the little ones?
Speaker 1: But then the whole time he was like plotting this
Speaker 1: stuff in the back.
Speaker 2: Stacey didn't want Tyler to be in the house during
Speaker 2: these calls.
Speaker 1: I would say, Tyler's not home this night, he's got
Speaker 1: a work. That'd be a great night for you to call.
Speaker 1: So like he knew his work schedule. Because of that,
Speaker 1: I never thought twice about, oh my god, I just
Speaker 1: told him that he's at work.
Speaker 2: Detectives drove down to Stacy's home from Brooks County to
Speaker 2: tell her about Justin's plot in person.
Speaker 1: I remember sitting there crying, and I was like, this
Speaker 1: child who you called yours, This is the child that
Speaker 1: you loved so much, and you want him burned in
Speaker 1: a barrel.
Speaker 3: How disgusting.
Speaker 1: He knew how much my kids mean to me, and
Speaker 1: you were okay taking that. You were okay taking another
Speaker 1: thing from me. You were okay taking another thing from
Speaker 1: your two children, their brother. It was sick to think
Speaker 1: that the person that loved him so much was willing
Speaker 1: to get rid of him to save his own self.
Speaker 1: So from that point on, I slept for the loaded
Speaker 1: gun next to my bed. I mean, I was going
Speaker 1: to shoot to kill if he was coming after me
Speaker 1: and my kids. When Tyler would come home from work,
Speaker 1: I would stay up and wait, especially on Monday nights,
Speaker 1: because it was supposed to be done on a Monday night.
Speaker 1: Monday nights were really bothersome for me, but I couldn't
Speaker 1: stop for the longest time waiting up and watching for
Speaker 1: him to come in.
Speaker 2: Justin thought he was smarter than everyone, but he wasn't
Speaker 2: smarter than the Burkes County detectives. They planted a recording
Speaker 2: device and captured evidence of his plans to kill Tyler.
Speaker 2: Justin had exhausted his options, an option one seemed more
Speaker 2: like a ruse to manipulate nanny. Now, Assistant District Attorney
Speaker 2: Meg McCallum had a new option of her own, and
Speaker 2: it was one Justin probably never saw coming.
Speaker 6: Charges were brought against Justin Rutherford for a solicitation to
Speaker 6: commit a murder, specifically of Tyler, and I legally and
Speaker 6: ethically believe that we had sufficient evidence to prove it
Speaker 6: beyond a result out.
Speaker 2: On the next episode of Betrayal, Stacey and Tyler finally
Speaker 2: get their day in court.
Speaker 1: I wanted to look at him because I wanted him
Speaker 1: to see my face when I was reading what I
Speaker 1: said to.
Speaker 2: Him, and Justin's words shock everyone.
Speaker 3: It had nothing to do with your age. I mean,
Speaker 3: love can strike you at any point, you know, look
Speaker 3: at Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.
Speaker 2: If you're a man who has experienced sexual abuse or assault,
Speaker 2: or you know someone who is seeking support, go to
Speaker 2: one in six dot org. That's the number one I
Speaker 2: n number six dot org. Find a path to a happier,
Speaker 2: healthier future. If you would like to reach out to
Speaker 2: the Betrayal team, email us at Betrayalpod at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2: That's Betrayal Pod at gmail dot com. Also, please be
Speaker 2: sure to follow us at Glass Podcasts on Instagram for
Speaker 2: all Betrayal content, news and updates. We're grateful for your support.
Speaker 2: One way to show support is by subscribing to our
Speaker 2: show on Apple Podcasts, and don't forget to rate and
Speaker 2: review Betrayal. Five star reviews go a long way. A
Speaker 2: big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is
Speaker 2: a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group,
Speaker 2: in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced
Speaker 2: by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason, hosted and produced by
Speaker 2: me Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Kerry Hartman, also
Speaker 2: produced by Ben Fetterman. Associate producers are Kristin Melcury and
Speaker 2: Caitlin Golden. Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Crincheck.
Speaker 2: Voice acting by Andrew Dabby. Special thanks to Stacy Rutherford Tyler,
Speaker 2: and the rest of Stacy and Tyler friends and family.
Speaker 2: Audio editing and mixing by Matt Talfekio editing support from
Speaker 2: Nico Aruka. Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Bains. Music library
Speaker 2: provided by mybe Music and For more podcasts from iHeart,
Speaker 2: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Speaker 2: your podcasts.