WEBVTT - Morgan | Betrayal Weekly

0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.360
<v Speaker 1>Hi, everyone, we have some exciting news to share. ABC

0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:06.880
<v Speaker 1>News Studios has turned Caroline Brega's story from Betrayal season

0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.400
<v Speaker 1>four into a docu series. You'll get to meet the

0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:12.879
<v Speaker 1>people involved, You'll hear from people who have never spoken before,

0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:15.200
<v Speaker 1>and you get to see where this story took place.

0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:17.840
<v Speaker 1>We are so proud and excited to share it with

0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:22.239
<v Speaker 1>you all. Stream Betrayal, Dirty Secrets now on Hulu or

0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:26.280
<v Speaker 1>Hulu for Disney Plus. Hi everyone, It's Andrea Gunning. Before

0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:28.680
<v Speaker 1>we start this episode, I want to let you know

0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:31.760
<v Speaker 1>that we will be talking explicitly about the realities of

0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.159
<v Speaker 1>domestic violence, so please be mindful with this episode.

0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:41.960
<v Speaker 2>I saw this figure standing in the doorway and he

0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:46.760
<v Speaker 2>was an all black and had a batman mask and

0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:50.280
<v Speaker 2>just covered head to toe in black clothing. I kept

0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.160
<v Speaker 2>closing opening my eyes, like am I really seeing this

0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:53.600
<v Speaker 2>or not.

0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.959
<v Speaker 1>I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about

0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:13.640
<v Speaker 1>the people we trust the most and the deceptions that

0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:18.760
<v Speaker 1>change everything. This week's episode has also been adapted into

0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.319
<v Speaker 1>an episode of our TV show Betrayal, Secrets and Lies.

0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:27.880
<v Speaker 1>You can stream it on Disney Plus or Hulu. Morgan

0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:31.039
<v Speaker 1>Metzer grew up in Canton, Georgia, where big stretches of

0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:35.880
<v Speaker 1>forest hug quaint neighborhoods and the Chattahoochee River carves its

0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:36.840
<v Speaker 1>way through the town.

0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.440
<v Speaker 2>Growing up, I was the youngest. I have an older

0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:43.640
<v Speaker 2>brother and an older sister. My brother was in baseball

0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:45.880
<v Speaker 2>and my sister was in fast pitch, so I felt

0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:48.280
<v Speaker 2>like a lot of my weekends were following him around.

0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:51.080
<v Speaker 1>Morgan kept up with the older kids.

0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:53.760
<v Speaker 2>I was very outspoken in strong world.

0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:56.440
<v Speaker 1>School was challenging for Morgan.

0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.520
<v Speaker 2>I struggled a little bit with test taking and I

0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:00.720
<v Speaker 2>didn't have best grades.

0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.360
<v Speaker 1>But her parents taught her there are a lot of

0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:06.880
<v Speaker 1>things in life that are more important than grades.

0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:10.040
<v Speaker 2>My dad explained, in the real world, it's not the

0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.679
<v Speaker 2>grades in the end. They are more focused on who

0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:18.919
<v Speaker 2>you are as a person, your values, being truthful, being honest.

0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:25.040
<v Speaker 1>Morgan's school had a back patio where everyone hung out

0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.880
<v Speaker 1>after class. One day, when Morgan was in eighth grade,

0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:31.880
<v Speaker 1>she and her friends were out on the patio when

0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.320
<v Speaker 1>she saw a guy she hadn't noticed before.

0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.880
<v Speaker 2>I just random I saw him one day and we

0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.480
<v Speaker 2>just started talking a little bit. He was in high

0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:41.959
<v Speaker 2>school and I was in middle school.

0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:46.240
<v Speaker 1>His name was Rodney, and soon she found out everyone

0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:51.120
<v Speaker 1>on campus knew him. He was sixteen, two years older

0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.160
<v Speaker 1>than her, and Morgan thought that was exciting.

0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.720
<v Speaker 2>I thought he was really cute and I liked him.

0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:01.040
<v Speaker 1>The next time she saw him at school, they talked again.

0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.840
<v Speaker 1>The more time Morgan spent with Rodney, the more she

0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:05.399
<v Speaker 1>liked him.

0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:10.200
<v Speaker 2>We are very close, instantly, very connected. He was very

0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:14.160
<v Speaker 2>easy going, a study as a stream. Not much could

0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:16.120
<v Speaker 2>really rock his pote.

0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:20.160
<v Speaker 1>He made friends easily and was kind to everyone he met.

0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:23.320
<v Speaker 2>He was funny. He's what you would call the guy

0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:25.440
<v Speaker 2>next door that everyone just likes.

0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:29.320
<v Speaker 1>They started hanging out after school. They never got tired

0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:32.959
<v Speaker 1>of talking to each other and realized that their connection

0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:37.480
<v Speaker 1>was more than just friendship. Rodney asked Morgan to be

0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:38.200
<v Speaker 1>his girlfriend.

0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:43.160
<v Speaker 2>She said yes, that was just a typical teenager in love.

0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:46.560
<v Speaker 1>When she told her parents about her new.

0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:49.760
<v Speaker 2>Boyfriend, as you can imagine, my dad and my mom

0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.600
<v Speaker 2>weren't very happy about an eighth grader dating a junior.

0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.280
<v Speaker 2>So my dad made it perfetly clear that we would

0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.200
<v Speaker 2>not be going on date until I was sixteen, and

0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:01.800
<v Speaker 2>that if you wanted to see me, he would have

0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:03.320
<v Speaker 2>to come to the house and hang out.

0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:07.400
<v Speaker 1>So that's what they did. After school, Rodney would go

0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.520
<v Speaker 1>over to Morgan's house. They respected her parents' dating rules,

0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:15.360
<v Speaker 1>and Rodney quickly gained her parents trust.

0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.080
<v Speaker 2>Everyone loved him in my family. He grew up with them.

0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.279
<v Speaker 1>She grew up with his family too. His parents could

0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:27.920
<v Speaker 1>afford to go on extravagant vacations. They started inviting Morgan

0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:29.760
<v Speaker 1>to come with them on their trips.

0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.840
<v Speaker 2>His parents left to go to the Bahamas. They loved

0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:37.279
<v Speaker 2>to go on cruises, so we did all different kinds

0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:38.120
<v Speaker 2>of trips.

0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.640
<v Speaker 1>Once Morgan was in high school, she and Rodney gained

0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:43.840
<v Speaker 1>a little independence.

0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.320
<v Speaker 2>He would pick me up. We would meet up with

0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:51.280
<v Speaker 2>all of our friends and we'd all go to this

0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:55.120
<v Speaker 2>one waffle house and just hang out after school.

0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:59.000
<v Speaker 1>Morgan and Rodney always sat next to each other at

0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:02.560
<v Speaker 1>the waffle house. In fact, they almost never left each

0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:03.120
<v Speaker 1>other's side.

0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.240
<v Speaker 2>Everyone just knew it was always us. We came together

0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:10.400
<v Speaker 2>as one. If you had vied one, then they knew

0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:12.400
<v Speaker 2>I was coming, or vice versa.

0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:17.520
<v Speaker 1>They were inseparable and their friends understood why.

0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.240
<v Speaker 2>They all thought we were the power couple. Everyone just

0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:22.160
<v Speaker 2>loved us together.

0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:27.440
<v Speaker 1>Morgan and Rodney started planning for their future after high school.

0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:30.240
<v Speaker 2>All I wanted to do was become a mom and

0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:33.720
<v Speaker 2>support my house and create a home, and he said

0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:35.839
<v Speaker 2>that he wanted to be the main proviter. So we

0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:36.640
<v Speaker 2>kind of had our.

0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:41.039
<v Speaker 1>Plan, but she knew that plan would have to wait

0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:45.239
<v Speaker 1>until Rodney made enough money to support them both. After

0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:49.039
<v Speaker 1>graduating high school, she started pursuing her interest in hair

0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:53.000
<v Speaker 1>and makeup. Morgan decided to go to cosmetology school and

0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:57.000
<v Speaker 1>become a hairdresser. Rodney wanted to become a car mechanic

0:05:57.440 --> 0:05:59.480
<v Speaker 1>and began looking at trade schools.

0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:04.080
<v Speaker 2>Rod decided he wanted to go to the school called Wyotech.

0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.600
<v Speaker 1>Wyotech is a trade school in Laramie, Wyoming, a small

0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.280
<v Speaker 1>town that sits high in the plains, nestled between two

0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:14.239
<v Speaker 1>stretches of the Rocky Mountains.

0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:16.520
<v Speaker 2>He didn't want to go by himself, and they had

0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:19.479
<v Speaker 2>a cosmetology school there, so we backed up and moved

0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:20.200
<v Speaker 2>to Wyoming.

0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.600
<v Speaker 1>Morgan and Rodney had to get used to a new

0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:25.480
<v Speaker 1>pace of life.

0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:29.400
<v Speaker 2>It was a big jump. I mean, Georgia's not cold

0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.760
<v Speaker 2>like that, and you go to Laramie, Wyoming and not

0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.960
<v Speaker 2>for be mean about the city, but Applebee's was the

0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.919
<v Speaker 2>place to be. It was definitely a change in culture Forsure.

0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.960
<v Speaker 1>Still, they were eager to start this new chapter.

0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.279
<v Speaker 2>It was very exciting moving in together for the first time,

0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.680
<v Speaker 2>developing our routine, our habits.

0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:55.280
<v Speaker 1>Rodney started trade school to become a car mechanic, and

0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.760
<v Speaker 1>Morgan started a cosmetology school.

0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:01.600
<v Speaker 2>I would ride my bike every day.

0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.760
<v Speaker 1>As she peddled through town. She could look out and

0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:09.279
<v Speaker 1>see the stretches of mountains just beyond Laramie. She was

0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.760
<v Speaker 1>excited about the life she and Rodney were building. Home

0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:14.720
<v Speaker 1>was wherever Rodney was.

0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:18.120
<v Speaker 2>We would get up through our morning routine together. We

0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.640
<v Speaker 2>would be in school all day and then we'd meet up.

0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:24.240
<v Speaker 2>We'd have dinner, and then in the evenings was likely

0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:25.240
<v Speaker 2>watching a movie.

0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:28.920
<v Speaker 1>Rodney told her about everything he was learning at school.

0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:32.880
<v Speaker 2>He loved it. He loves cars. We loved building cars.

0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:34.360
<v Speaker 2>He loved everything about it.

0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.120
<v Speaker 1>At night, they would talk about their future.

0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.800
<v Speaker 2>We just created a dream scenario in our head that

0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.080
<v Speaker 2>you know, we would get married and eventually we would

0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:43.720
<v Speaker 2>have children.

0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:48.120
<v Speaker 1>And when they each graduated, they moved back to Georgia

0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.520
<v Speaker 1>and got to work making their dream life a reality.

0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.240
<v Speaker 2>We bought our first house. I was working at a

0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:59.760
<v Speaker 2>hair Salon in Roswell, and we developed some really good

0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:03.080
<v Speaker 2>friend friends that we knew since we were younger. Our

0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.840
<v Speaker 2>friends knew each other, and our friends knew our family.

0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:11.640
<v Speaker 1>They had a tight knit community with deep roots before

0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:15.600
<v Speaker 1>Morgan knew it. Six years flew by with Rodney and

0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:19.840
<v Speaker 1>they went from being high school sweethearts to mature adult partners.

0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:25.440
<v Speaker 1>They knew each other's favorite jokes, deepest fears, and biggest dreams.

0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:30.280
<v Speaker 1>And then on Christmas Day, Rodney proposed to Morgan with

0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:31.640
<v Speaker 1>her grandmother's wedding ring.

0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:35.280
<v Speaker 2>I was so excited. I couldn't stop crying.

0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:39.480
<v Speaker 1>She was so happy. A little over a year later,

0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:40.480
<v Speaker 1>they got married.

0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.200
<v Speaker 2>They got married niga zebo at dusk, and the gazebo

0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:48.840
<v Speaker 2>was covered in high ranges of pionies and lily's and roses,

0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:51.800
<v Speaker 2>spinkle lights all over the place, and pretty much like

0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:53.680
<v Speaker 2>a magical Cinderella type of feel.

0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.800
<v Speaker 1>That magical feeling continued well after their wedding.

0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:01.240
<v Speaker 2>We were very much a team. His mom, though, was

0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.880
<v Speaker 2>happy wife, happy life. So he just wanted to provide

0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:09.160
<v Speaker 2>anything he possibly could. He was the main provider financially.

0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:11.800
<v Speaker 2>He always took care of things around the house to

0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:13.839
<v Speaker 2>make sure you're a roof over our head, food on

0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:17.920
<v Speaker 2>our plate, bury in our train, very emotionally there for me.

0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.680
<v Speaker 1>But not too long after their wedding, Rodney's family suffered

0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:30.720
<v Speaker 1>a horrible loss. His brother, Kevin had battled leukemia for years.

0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:33.720
<v Speaker 1>One night, he passed away in his sleep.

0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:38.800
<v Speaker 2>He was an amazing person. I loved him a lot.

0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:44.840
<v Speaker 2>It really changed the dynamic and his family so much pain.

0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.240
<v Speaker 1>It was hard for Rodney's parents to make time for

0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.840
<v Speaker 1>him as they struggled with Kevin's death. It felt like

0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.200
<v Speaker 1>when Kevin died, so did their happy, tight knit family.

0:09:56.120 --> 0:10:00.360
<v Speaker 2>Rod started feeling abandoned. And that's when I started being

0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:04.160
<v Speaker 2>rod changed just a tidy bit because he just felt

0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:06.960
<v Speaker 2>not as important as he used too.

0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.800
<v Speaker 1>Rodney's brother, Kevin had always wanted to be an uncle.

0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:13.800
<v Speaker 2>We got pregnant shortly after his brother passed away.

0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.640
<v Speaker 1>They had a son and named him Kevin to honor

0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:22.200
<v Speaker 1>Rodney's brother. But shortly after he was born, Morgan and

0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:26.959
<v Speaker 1>Rodney were given devastating news their son had a congenital

0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:30.959
<v Speaker 1>heart defect. At this point in her life, Morgan can

0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:35.680
<v Speaker 1>tell the story without much emotion, but it's still incredibly painful.

0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:41.679
<v Speaker 2>When he was born. He was immediately shipped to Egilson

0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:47.520
<v Speaker 2>Atlanta Cardiac Unit for eighteen days he was there, he

0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:51.160
<v Speaker 2>had his first heart surgery, but he couldn't recover from it.

0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:55.040
<v Speaker 2>He couldn't get off the vener later and he didn't

0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:55.520
<v Speaker 2>make it.

0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.959
<v Speaker 1>Their firstborn son died before he was a month old.

0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:05.000
<v Speaker 1>Morgan and Rodney were facing a grief no parent should

0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.760
<v Speaker 1>have to endure. Rodney tried to find the words to

0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:09.640
<v Speaker 1>comfort Morgan.

0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:12.080
<v Speaker 2>He was like, even if you don't want to go

0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.520
<v Speaker 2>back to work after this, she don't have to. You

0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.079
<v Speaker 2>thought you were a mom and you were going to

0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:17.760
<v Speaker 2>get to stay home, and I don't want to make

0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:20.000
<v Speaker 2>you go back to work. So he was very supportive,

0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:21.600
<v Speaker 2>but there were.

0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:26.200
<v Speaker 1>Times when Rodney couldn't handle the grief. To him, seeing

0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.160
<v Speaker 1>Morgan sad was a reminder of how much they had lost.

0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:32.440
<v Speaker 2>He would help me not to cry because they didn't

0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.240
<v Speaker 2>like steamy cry, and so I didn't. So I didn't

0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.040
<v Speaker 2>feel like I could really grieve all that much.

0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:39.760
<v Speaker 1>They decided to try for kids again.

0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:44.679
<v Speaker 2>We got pregnant twins. My mom says I was the

0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:48.240
<v Speaker 2>happiest pregnant person she's ever seen. I enjoyed every second

0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.840
<v Speaker 2>of it, the good, the bad, ugly. I loved it.

0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.080
<v Speaker 1>When the twins were born, Morgan and Rodney were overjoyed.

0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.880
<v Speaker 2>I was just elated to have help with babies. We

0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.240
<v Speaker 2>were in heaven. We were just so happy. It brought

0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:06.239
<v Speaker 2>some light into our world. After a really hard few years.

0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.080
<v Speaker 1>Rodney and Morgan made a good team.

0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.280
<v Speaker 2>We were in a dynamic duo. We would tackle every

0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:16.920
<v Speaker 2>day's task. We delegated, we would support each other emotionally.

0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:19.080
<v Speaker 2>We would just conquer it together.

0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:24.520
<v Speaker 1>Rodney was working as a car mechanic and Morgan stayed

0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:28.160
<v Speaker 1>home with the twins. Juggling parenting and work meant the

0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.880
<v Speaker 1>two of them had less quality time together and Rodney

0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.000
<v Speaker 1>had a hard time adjusting.

0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:36.560
<v Speaker 2>I think he struggled a little bit with sharing my

0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:38.360
<v Speaker 2>time with the twins.

0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:42.760
<v Speaker 1>Rodney started acting spacey at home and at the mechanics

0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:46.200
<v Speaker 1>where he worked, and one day rad.

0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:49.880
<v Speaker 2>Got fired because he let a car fall off the lift.

0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:54.920
<v Speaker 1>It was a dangerous mistake. Someone could have died. Rodney

0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:57.760
<v Speaker 1>insisted that it wasn't his fault.

0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:01.959
<v Speaker 2>And it's like, okay, well it was your fault. You

0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:04.360
<v Speaker 2>put the car on the left, you know. So that

0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:05.959
<v Speaker 2>kind of brought a strain.

0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:10.040
<v Speaker 1>Rodney needed to find a new way to support their family.

0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:13.000
<v Speaker 2>So he started doing day trading the stock market.

0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:15.760
<v Speaker 1>At first he was successful.

0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.319
<v Speaker 2>He neede great money. We owned our house pretty much

0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.880
<v Speaker 2>at right, I could stay home. The twins were sorry

0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:24.080
<v Speaker 2>in preschool at the time.

0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.040
<v Speaker 1>They had dealt with a lot of grief, but they

0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:32.240
<v Speaker 1>were still able to grow together, and finally they had

0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:35.880
<v Speaker 1>what they always wanted. Rodney worked full time to support

0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:41.720
<v Speaker 1>their family, freeing up Morgan to raise their twins. One day,

0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.880
<v Speaker 1>Rodney came to Morgan in a panic and told her

0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:49.520
<v Speaker 1>someone had stolen money from their shared savings account. Morgan

0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:53.079
<v Speaker 1>didn't really understand what he meant. The details of their

0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:57.840
<v Speaker 1>finances had always been Rodney's domain, but when she logged

0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.080
<v Speaker 1>into their shared bank account, you saw that he was right.

0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:04.120
<v Speaker 1>The account was drained.

0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:07.760
<v Speaker 2>I just knew that the money was gone, and I

0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.839
<v Speaker 2>was like, what is going on? This can't possibly be true.

0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.080
<v Speaker 2>I was just blindsided.

0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:39.000
<v Speaker 1>Morgan in her high school sweetheart, Rodney, got married and

0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:42.480
<v Speaker 1>settled down near their hometown in Georgia. They were living

0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:45.680
<v Speaker 1>the life they dreamed of since they were teenagers. Rodney

0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.560
<v Speaker 1>worked full time and Morgan stayed home with their twins.

0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.720
<v Speaker 1>But one day Rodney came home in a panic. He

0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:57.120
<v Speaker 1>told Morgan someone had stolen from their savings account. It

0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:00.160
<v Speaker 1>was a life changing amount of money. They wouldn't be

0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:02.840
<v Speaker 1>able to afford to stay in their house, and so

0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:04.240
<v Speaker 1>they moved into a rental.

0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.400
<v Speaker 2>So we no longer had any acts of some money.

0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.160
<v Speaker 2>And so at that time he pretty much told me,

0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.560
<v Speaker 2>He's like, now it's your turn provided for the house.

0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.760
<v Speaker 1>Not only was the money gone, but Rodney expected her

0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:22.240
<v Speaker 1>to fix it. Morgan was shocked. This was never their plan.

0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:27.200
<v Speaker 1>Rodney had always prided himself on being a provider, and

0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.720
<v Speaker 1>now he was panicking and asking her to fill that role.

0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.960
<v Speaker 1>She had to figure something out to take care of

0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.560
<v Speaker 1>their kids.

0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.800
<v Speaker 2>And I couldn't go become a hairdresser and support this

0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:40.800
<v Speaker 2>lavish lifestyle that we had.

0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:45.200
<v Speaker 1>Then she had an idea.

0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.080
<v Speaker 2>All my friends had really said that I was really

0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:51.840
<v Speaker 2>good into he design, and so I decided to start

0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:53.280
<v Speaker 2>manunte your design business.

0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:57.440
<v Speaker 1>Morgan named her business Ship Lap and Sugar. It was

0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.600
<v Speaker 1>an immediate success in town on working with local clients,

0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:04.960
<v Speaker 1>and before long she was working full time and was

0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:09.200
<v Speaker 1>the primary provider for their family. Within a year, Ship

0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:13.680
<v Speaker 1>Lap In Sugar was voted Canton's number one interior design business.

0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.320
<v Speaker 1>Rodney was in a new role too. He was staying

0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.320
<v Speaker 1>home with the twins and working for Morgan's Interior Design

0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.880
<v Speaker 1>company part time as a handyman. He helped with the

0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:27.520
<v Speaker 1>construction side of things, building bunk beds and mounting decor,

0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:30.880
<v Speaker 1>but soon he started to overstep.

0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.520
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes he would try to overtalk me with customers and

0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:37.160
<v Speaker 2>chime in about how he thought something should be done,

0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.000
<v Speaker 2>and it just didn't make us look like we're on

0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.880
<v Speaker 2>the same page. I didn't really like that, and I

0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.720
<v Speaker 2>was like, this is not your position. I am in

0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:49.760
<v Speaker 2>charge of running the consultations and speaking to my customers.

0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:53.880
<v Speaker 1>It was frustrating to see Rodney trying to take control

0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.960
<v Speaker 1>and ownership of the business she had built.

0:16:57.520 --> 0:16:59.760
<v Speaker 2>I'm sorry, like you put me in charge or running

0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.520
<v Speaker 2>a hout household and providing for the household. I did

0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:04.480
<v Speaker 2>this myself. I built this from the bottom up.

0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.119
<v Speaker 1>She told Rodney to stay in is lane at work

0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:10.760
<v Speaker 1>and let her manage the business.

0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.480
<v Speaker 2>That's when I think you prod really took a hit

0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.800
<v Speaker 2>because I was providing for the household, and you know,

0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:18.560
<v Speaker 2>he had to stay home with the kids.

0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.920
<v Speaker 1>She and Rodney had always been a team. They met

0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:26.840
<v Speaker 1>when they were kids and they'd been together for more

0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:31.880
<v Speaker 1>than fifteen years. For that entire time, Rodney had been

0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:35.760
<v Speaker 1>the calm, grounded one, but that began to change.

0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:40.120
<v Speaker 2>He was very impatience. He got very angry, very fast.

0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.560
<v Speaker 2>It just turned ugly and nasty, and that's when it

0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:44.960
<v Speaker 2>all just started spiraling.

0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.760
<v Speaker 1>Rodney became argumentative and combative with her.

0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.560
<v Speaker 2>Some nights, we'd be up fighting all night long and

0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:54.639
<v Speaker 2>I wouldn't get a minute of sleep, and then I

0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.119
<v Speaker 2>have to go work twelve hours and there was no

0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.800
<v Speaker 2>break from him because I worked with him too.

0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.840
<v Speaker 1>Morgan suggested they go to couple's therapy, but it didn't

0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:05.320
<v Speaker 1>go well, like he got.

0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:09.119
<v Speaker 2>Kick out one session because he was so aggressive, and

0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:13.600
<v Speaker 2>she diagnosed him with PTSD and he didn't believe it

0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:15.080
<v Speaker 2>and he just didn't want help.

0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:18.119
<v Speaker 1>Rodney started lashing out at Morgan.

0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.520
<v Speaker 2>He'd start a fight and he would scream and yell

0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:26.560
<v Speaker 2>at me and follow me around and drive me insane

0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.280
<v Speaker 2>until I finally broke and I would scream, and then

0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.640
<v Speaker 2>he'd turn it around on me and make me look

0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:36.240
<v Speaker 2>like the crazy person, like I would be the insane one.

0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:38.879
<v Speaker 1>He became verbally abusive.

0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:41.399
<v Speaker 2>I would end up hiding in the closet because I

0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.760
<v Speaker 2>was like, please just shut up. I'm exhausted in hearing

0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:48.280
<v Speaker 2>you constantly at my throat. It was horrible.

0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.960
<v Speaker 1>Even little things would set him off. The environment in

0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.280
<v Speaker 1>their home shifted. She felt like she was walking on

0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:57.119
<v Speaker 1>egg sheells.

0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:59.879
<v Speaker 2>I didn't want to irritate him. I didn't want to

0:18:59.880 --> 0:19:02.639
<v Speaker 2>set them off. We were on tippy toes. It was

0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:04.840
<v Speaker 2>like skinning out the knife. Guys just didn't want to

0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:06.320
<v Speaker 2>cause conflict.

0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:12.159
<v Speaker 1>The Rodney she had fallen in love with was steady, loving, kind.

0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:17.679
<v Speaker 1>This new version of him was angry, impulsive, and cruel.

0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:22.600
<v Speaker 2>His soul just turned black. It was very scary, but

0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:26.280
<v Speaker 2>it was done little by little, and when things are

0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:29.000
<v Speaker 2>done little by little, you don't really notice change it.

0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:33.160
<v Speaker 1>Morgan was working hard at building her business, and after

0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:35.440
<v Speaker 1>a year they moved out of their rental and bought

0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.199
<v Speaker 1>a new home. But the home she had worked so

0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:42.080
<v Speaker 1>hard to afford was unsafe for her and their twins.

0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.960
<v Speaker 2>The kids were just getting older. Rod was more aggressive

0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:50.160
<v Speaker 2>and just It became unhealthy and very toxic.

0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:54.240
<v Speaker 1>That summer, a friend of Morgan and Rodney's rented a

0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.000
<v Speaker 1>houseboat for their group of friends for the night. It

0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:57.919
<v Speaker 1>was a big party.

0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:02.440
<v Speaker 2>Everyone was having a great time drinking out in the sun.

0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:05.600
<v Speaker 1>At the end of the evening, Morgan and Rodney went

0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:06.000
<v Speaker 1>to their.

0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.959
<v Speaker 2>Room and we were going to go to sleep, but

0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:12.640
<v Speaker 2>then he attacked me. It was dark, it was pitch

0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.639
<v Speaker 2>black because there was no windows in there. All I

0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:17.720
<v Speaker 2>remember it is just getting humbled by him.

0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:21.120
<v Speaker 1>Morgan managed to get away from him and came out

0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:23.679
<v Speaker 1>of their bedroom into the main area of the boat.

0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:27.440
<v Speaker 1>A few of their friends were still awake and startled

0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:30.840
<v Speaker 1>at the sight of her. She was bleeding. Rodney was

0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:33.760
<v Speaker 1>close on her heels, but when he saw their friends,

0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:35.720
<v Speaker 1>he quickly came up with the story.

0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:38.560
<v Speaker 2>He was like, I cannot believe you have hacked me.

0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:41.920
<v Speaker 2>My gosh, you are so drunk.

0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:45.560
<v Speaker 1>Morgan and her friends stared at him, dumbfounded.

0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:50.639
<v Speaker 2>My friends were like, no, that if she attacked you,

0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:53.359
<v Speaker 2>you'd be able to hold her down. She doesn't need

0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:57.119
<v Speaker 2>to have marks on her like this and bleeding for

0:20:57.320 --> 0:20:58.440
<v Speaker 2>you to stop her.

0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:01.720
<v Speaker 1>She called her parents to come pick her up.

0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.000
<v Speaker 2>I went to their house and I slept for the

0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:09.480
<v Speaker 2>entire day, and then rod showed up. He convinced my

0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:11.840
<v Speaker 2>parents it was me, and then I was the crazy

0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:16.320
<v Speaker 2>one and that I attacked him and that it was

0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:17.240
<v Speaker 2>all my fault.

0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:21.400
<v Speaker 1>The more Rodney told the story of Morgan attacking him,

0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.680
<v Speaker 1>the more Morgan began to question her own experience.

0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:28.959
<v Speaker 2>I was embarrassed. I was like, well, maybe it was me, because,

0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:31.920
<v Speaker 2>like I said, we had all been drinking and hanging out,

0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:36.000
<v Speaker 2>so it's not like I was completely sober. You question yourself,

0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:39.280
<v Speaker 2>you know, like, was I wrong? Am I crazy? Did

0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:40.720
<v Speaker 2>I lose it? Like what happened?

0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:47.520
<v Speaker 1>Morgan's memory felt fuzzy, but Rodney seemed to remember everything

0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:51.560
<v Speaker 1>in perfect detail. He sat on her parents couch and

0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:54.160
<v Speaker 1>calmly explained how she attacked him.

0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:56.919
<v Speaker 2>He would just sit there and lay it all out, so,

0:21:56.960 --> 0:21:58.680
<v Speaker 2>of course, naturally then I was like, oh my gosh,

0:21:58.720 --> 0:21:59.480
<v Speaker 2>well maybe it was me.

0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:05.600
<v Speaker 1>I'm so Rodney was physically and emotionally abusing Morgan. He

0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:08.119
<v Speaker 1>always found a way to make her take the blame

0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:09.320
<v Speaker 1>for his actions.

0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:12.000
<v Speaker 2>He was like, Okay, well I'm going to give you

0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:15.480
<v Speaker 2>a chance, and you're going to get better. You're not

0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:17.560
<v Speaker 2>going to do this again. So then I feel like

0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.679
<v Speaker 2>I was being given a chance, like I need to

0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:23.720
<v Speaker 2>become a better person, so I feel like I was

0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:24.560
<v Speaker 2>the one on trial.

0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:29.359
<v Speaker 1>They went back to their routines, but now whenever they

0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:34.000
<v Speaker 1>had an argument, Rodney made Morgan believe she started it.

0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:37.760
<v Speaker 2>He'd like, well, it was your fault. You said this,

0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:39.919
<v Speaker 2>you did this, And I was like, I don't remember that,

0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:43.800
<v Speaker 2>but okay, I'm sorry. My mind would play games in me.

0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:46.960
<v Speaker 2>It's like, no, you're at fault. No, no, he's at fault.

0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:50.000
<v Speaker 2>It was just a cluster of just so many things

0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:51.080
<v Speaker 2>running through my head.

0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:56.000
<v Speaker 1>Morgan was losing trust in herself. Rodney was gaslighting her

0:22:56.280 --> 0:22:59.480
<v Speaker 1>and his plan was working. She was starting to doubt

0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:00.560
<v Speaker 1>her own way reality.

0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:05.439
<v Speaker 2>There was a time that we were arguing and we

0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:08.560
<v Speaker 2>were walking up the stairs and he pretended I pushed

0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:11.200
<v Speaker 2>them down the stairs, and he did it in front

0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:13.359
<v Speaker 2>of the children and was like, look, mom pushed me

0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:14.360
<v Speaker 2>down the stairs.

0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:18.080
<v Speaker 1>This time, Morgan did not doubt herself.

0:23:18.880 --> 0:23:20.639
<v Speaker 2>I know I did not do this, Like that was

0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:23.280
<v Speaker 2>a situation in a scenario where he can never convince

0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:24.160
<v Speaker 2>me that I did that.

0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:27.760
<v Speaker 1>He was trying to get their kids to stop trusting her.

0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:30.320
<v Speaker 2>I just decided to grab the kids and go to

0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:31.159
<v Speaker 2>my mom's house.

0:23:32.080 --> 0:23:35.600
<v Speaker 1>She knew something had to change. She tried to encourage

0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:38.400
<v Speaker 1>Rodney to seek professional help for his behavior.

0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:40.960
<v Speaker 2>I didn't want to give up on them. I was

0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:43.400
<v Speaker 2>trying to get them help, like I wanted to get help.

0:23:43.440 --> 0:23:45.920
<v Speaker 2>He wouldn't go see a therapist. He wouldn't do anything.

0:23:46.359 --> 0:23:50.600
<v Speaker 1>His abuse only escalated. As a note to listeners, the

0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:53.199
<v Speaker 1>next scene involves a threat of suicide.

0:23:53.800 --> 0:23:55.720
<v Speaker 2>One time we were fighting and I grabbed the kids

0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:57.679
<v Speaker 2>and I went to my parents' house. But as I

0:23:57.680 --> 0:24:01.480
<v Speaker 2>would leave in the driveway, came out stood in the driveway.

0:24:01.640 --> 0:24:03.920
<v Speaker 2>He had a gun and he pointed it to his head.

0:24:04.960 --> 0:24:06.920
<v Speaker 2>I just dropped everything and put my hands in my

0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:10.080
<v Speaker 2>face because I didn't want to see it happen. I

0:24:10.200 --> 0:24:12.360
<v Speaker 2>drove away.

0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:16.159
<v Speaker 1>Morgan was focused on surviving his abuse and keeping her

0:24:16.240 --> 0:24:16.879
<v Speaker 1>kids safe.

0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:21.000
<v Speaker 2>I was just trying to get by minute per minute.

0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:25.520
<v Speaker 1>It was devastating. She still had so much love for

0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:30.200
<v Speaker 1>this person, but he was not the man she married. Eventually,

0:24:30.800 --> 0:24:34.879
<v Speaker 1>Morgan told her parents that she needed to leave her marriage.

0:24:35.080 --> 0:24:36.800
<v Speaker 2>I went to them and was like, I can't do

0:24:36.880 --> 0:24:40.240
<v Speaker 2>this anymore. They were on my side. My dad was like, Okay,

0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:43.240
<v Speaker 2>call the attorney. We're going to get the divorce. We're done.

0:24:43.280 --> 0:24:44.560
<v Speaker 2>I get it. I understand.

0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:49.240
<v Speaker 1>Hearing her parents affirm her decision to leave shifted something

0:24:49.280 --> 0:24:50.000
<v Speaker 1>within Morgan.

0:24:50.600 --> 0:24:53.879
<v Speaker 2>I don't know what it was, but a light just

0:24:54.000 --> 0:24:57.280
<v Speaker 2>came on and I was like, I'm ton I don't

0:24:57.320 --> 0:24:59.280
<v Speaker 2>have to do this. I could get out.

0:25:00.240 --> 0:25:04.280
<v Speaker 1>After eleven years of marriage and nearly twenty years together,

0:25:05.119 --> 0:25:06.600
<v Speaker 1>Morgan filed for divorce.

0:25:07.359 --> 0:25:09.600
<v Speaker 2>My divorce was like a month long.

0:25:10.160 --> 0:25:12.440
<v Speaker 1>The proceedings were extremely fast.

0:25:13.000 --> 0:25:15.680
<v Speaker 2>He gave me the house, he gave me everything. He

0:25:15.720 --> 0:25:17.560
<v Speaker 2>didn't fight it, and I think it's because he thought

0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:20.479
<v Speaker 2>he could win me back. Behind the scenes, he was like,

0:25:20.880 --> 0:25:23.480
<v Speaker 2>give me another chance. I was just constantly begging me

0:25:23.560 --> 0:25:24.119
<v Speaker 2>and begging me.

0:25:25.000 --> 0:25:28.960
<v Speaker 1>But Morgan was done giving Rodney chances to change. Their

0:25:29.000 --> 0:25:32.760
<v Speaker 1>divorce was finalized in December of twenty twenty, and she

0:25:32.840 --> 0:25:34.480
<v Speaker 1>knew she had made the right decision.

0:25:34.920 --> 0:25:39.399
<v Speaker 2>I was feeling free. I just felt great. I didn't

0:25:39.400 --> 0:25:42.240
<v Speaker 2>have the urge to want to go back. I just

0:25:42.320 --> 0:25:46.399
<v Speaker 2>felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders.

0:25:46.720 --> 0:25:49.200
<v Speaker 1>It was a positive change for her kids too.

0:25:49.560 --> 0:25:51.720
<v Speaker 2>And my kids were like, Mom, it's so much happier

0:25:51.760 --> 0:25:54.120
<v Speaker 2>around here. I was like, yes, I know, I did

0:25:54.119 --> 0:25:58.359
<v Speaker 2>the right thing. I was just so elated that the

0:25:58.480 --> 0:26:00.000
<v Speaker 2>house was calm and quiet.

0:26:00.080 --> 0:26:05.080
<v Speaker 1>It Rodney was the only one not adjusting well.

0:26:05.840 --> 0:26:08.879
<v Speaker 2>Rob is still asking me to get back together with them.

0:26:09.000 --> 0:26:10.240
<v Speaker 2>Let me give another chance.

0:26:11.000 --> 0:26:13.560
<v Speaker 1>Morgan tried her best to ignore him, but he was

0:26:13.600 --> 0:26:15.720
<v Speaker 1>trying everything to make her feel bad.

0:26:16.640 --> 0:26:18.920
<v Speaker 2>It was a few days before his birthday. He's like, well,

0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:20.840
<v Speaker 2>no one's going to take me out for my birthday.

0:26:21.359 --> 0:26:23.199
<v Speaker 2>Can you please go out and make my birthday? So

0:26:23.200 --> 0:26:25.320
<v Speaker 2>that I said, okay, I'll go to dinner for your birthday.

0:26:25.880 --> 0:26:30.000
<v Speaker 1>The dinner was uncomfortable. The entire time, Rodney was begging

0:26:30.080 --> 0:26:33.200
<v Speaker 1>her to take him back. She tried to set boundaries

0:26:33.200 --> 0:26:37.760
<v Speaker 1>between them again. Then a few days before Christmas, Morgan

0:26:37.840 --> 0:26:39.760
<v Speaker 1>was at her friend's house when she got an email

0:26:39.800 --> 0:26:43.720
<v Speaker 1>from Rodney. He was writing to let her know that

0:26:43.840 --> 0:26:47.560
<v Speaker 1>he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He attached a

0:26:47.600 --> 0:26:51.200
<v Speaker 1>doctor's note to his email. The cancer had already progressed

0:26:51.200 --> 0:26:54.080
<v Speaker 1>to stage four by the time they found it. It

0:26:54.200 --> 0:26:59.000
<v Speaker 1>was a terminal diagnosis. Morgan was stunned. She rushed over

0:26:59.119 --> 0:27:02.160
<v Speaker 1>to Rodney's house right away, and I was.

0:27:02.119 --> 0:27:05.040
<v Speaker 2>Like, I am so sorry. I'm here for you, your father,

0:27:05.240 --> 0:27:06.840
<v Speaker 2>my children. I'm always gonna love you.

0:27:07.920 --> 0:27:10.600
<v Speaker 1>She spent the day at his apartment, trying to support

0:27:10.680 --> 0:27:13.959
<v Speaker 1>him as he wrapped his mind around the diagnosis. When

0:27:14.000 --> 0:27:16.400
<v Speaker 1>the day he came to an end, Rodney told her

0:27:16.600 --> 0:27:19.240
<v Speaker 1>he was scared to be alone. That night, she told

0:27:19.320 --> 0:27:21.480
<v Speaker 1>him he could come to her house and sleep on

0:27:21.520 --> 0:27:23.080
<v Speaker 1>the sofa if he needed.

0:27:22.800 --> 0:27:26.119
<v Speaker 2>To, and the following morning, I said, Okay, you know,

0:27:26.600 --> 0:27:28.480
<v Speaker 2>I think it's time we call your parents. He's like,

0:27:28.480 --> 0:27:30.119
<v Speaker 2>I don't want my parents to know. And I was like,

0:27:30.600 --> 0:27:32.240
<v Speaker 2>rod you got in credit cancer.

0:27:33.320 --> 0:27:36.399
<v Speaker 1>Morgan wanted to support him, but she was frustrated that

0:27:36.520 --> 0:27:41.520
<v Speaker 1>Rodney only wanted support from her and nobody else. Even

0:27:41.520 --> 0:27:44.680
<v Speaker 1>though she still cared for Rodney, they were divorced.

0:27:44.680 --> 0:27:49.200
<v Speaker 2>Now. I was feeling like, you know, this isn't really

0:27:49.240 --> 0:27:52.800
<v Speaker 2>on me, Like this isn't my responsibility anymore.

0:27:53.640 --> 0:27:56.560
<v Speaker 1>It was a tough decision, but she knew she couldn't

0:27:56.560 --> 0:28:00.639
<v Speaker 1>be Rodney's only support system for her sake and for his,

0:28:01.680 --> 0:28:04.960
<v Speaker 1>so she called his parents, told them about his diagnosis,

0:28:05.440 --> 0:28:08.159
<v Speaker 1>and then told him it was time for him to

0:28:08.200 --> 0:28:08.919
<v Speaker 1>go back home.

0:28:09.240 --> 0:28:11.720
<v Speaker 2>I was like, that's it. You're not putting all of

0:28:11.760 --> 0:28:16.640
<v Speaker 2>this on me. I didn't feel responsible for him anymore.

0:28:17.960 --> 0:28:20.159
<v Speaker 1>Morgan tried to take a step back.

0:28:20.840 --> 0:28:23.000
<v Speaker 2>And he was still messaging me. He's like, let me

0:28:23.040 --> 0:28:24.960
<v Speaker 2>take you out for New Year's Eve. Let me let's

0:28:24.960 --> 0:28:26.880
<v Speaker 2>do the New Year's Eve together. And I was like, no,

0:28:27.119 --> 0:28:28.880
<v Speaker 2>I'm not doing it. I don't want to do it.

0:28:29.720 --> 0:28:32.679
<v Speaker 1>So she made up an excuse. She told him she

0:28:32.720 --> 0:28:35.280
<v Speaker 1>was spending the night at her parents' house so he

0:28:35.320 --> 0:28:38.520
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't try to come over. Her kids were out of town,

0:28:38.760 --> 0:28:41.440
<v Speaker 1>so Morgan decided to go to a friend's New Year's

0:28:41.480 --> 0:28:42.080
<v Speaker 1>Eve party.

0:28:42.520 --> 0:28:44.680
<v Speaker 2>I was there for a little bit and I was like,

0:28:44.720 --> 0:28:46.400
<v Speaker 2>you know what, I don't really want to be here.

0:28:46.720 --> 0:28:49.360
<v Speaker 2>I'm tired. This is my first New Year by myself.

0:28:49.520 --> 0:28:53.000
<v Speaker 2>I don't like drinking. I just wanted it to be relaxing,

0:28:53.360 --> 0:28:55.760
<v Speaker 2>and I didn't have my kids. I was like, I

0:28:55.840 --> 0:28:56.680
<v Speaker 2>just want to go home.

0:28:57.240 --> 0:28:59.560
<v Speaker 1>Her kids were at her sister's house in Florida for

0:28:59.560 --> 0:29:02.960
<v Speaker 1>the week, and Morgan had the house to herself. She

0:29:03.040 --> 0:29:06.280
<v Speaker 1>went home, changed into her pajamas, and put on a movie.

0:29:06.760 --> 0:29:10.320
<v Speaker 2>I fell asleep on the sofa that night. I woke up.

0:29:10.560 --> 0:29:13.880
<v Speaker 2>I think it was just about a minute before midnight,

0:29:14.600 --> 0:29:16.920
<v Speaker 2>and it was a firework I heard in the neighborhood

0:29:16.920 --> 0:29:19.120
<v Speaker 2>and it woke me up. And so I was like,

0:29:19.160 --> 0:29:21.440
<v Speaker 2>oh gosh, okay, it was just for a second. And

0:29:21.480 --> 0:29:23.080
<v Speaker 2>then I'd been down and I kissed my dog and

0:29:23.120 --> 0:29:24.040
<v Speaker 2>I was like having a year.

0:29:25.000 --> 0:29:27.680
<v Speaker 1>She pulled herself off the couch, went to her room,

0:29:27.800 --> 0:29:31.040
<v Speaker 1>and went back to bed. As a note for listeners,

0:29:31.440 --> 0:29:34.760
<v Speaker 1>Morgan is about to describe an instance of graphic violence.

0:29:35.920 --> 0:29:38.320
<v Speaker 2>It was like thirty minutes later or something like that,

0:29:39.720 --> 0:29:43.000
<v Speaker 2>I woke up again. There's always been a creek by

0:29:43.000 --> 0:29:44.480
<v Speaker 2>my door when you walk by it.

0:29:45.120 --> 0:29:48.120
<v Speaker 1>She heard the floorboard creak and her eyes snapped open.

0:29:48.680 --> 0:29:52.160
<v Speaker 2>It was just loud, and I saw this figure standing

0:29:52.200 --> 0:29:56.400
<v Speaker 2>in the doorway. He was an all black and had

0:29:56.440 --> 0:30:00.680
<v Speaker 2>a batman mask and just covered head to toe and clothing.

0:30:01.480 --> 0:30:04.480
<v Speaker 1>The light in the living room was on behind the intruder.

0:30:04.880 --> 0:30:07.680
<v Speaker 1>He was silhouetted in the doorway. She didn't have a

0:30:07.720 --> 0:30:08.640
<v Speaker 1>clear view of him.

0:30:08.920 --> 0:30:10.960
<v Speaker 2>I kept closing and opening my eyes, like am I

0:30:11.000 --> 0:30:14.360
<v Speaker 2>really seeing this or not. The moment that I think

0:30:14.400 --> 0:30:17.840
<v Speaker 2>he realized my eyes were opened is when he pounced

0:30:17.960 --> 0:30:23.040
<v Speaker 2>at me. I remember letting out this blood curling scream,

0:30:23.240 --> 0:30:25.760
<v Speaker 2>a scream that you never thought would possibly be able

0:30:25.760 --> 0:30:26.720
<v Speaker 2>to come out of your body.

0:30:27.400 --> 0:30:31.160
<v Speaker 1>The intruder used zip ties to restrain her. The whole time.

0:30:31.240 --> 0:30:33.800
<v Speaker 1>He had a gun in her face and he used

0:30:33.840 --> 0:30:37.480
<v Speaker 1>it to hit her. The attack felt like it lasted forever.

0:30:38.360 --> 0:30:41.760
<v Speaker 2>When you're strangled, it is the worst feeling in the

0:30:41.880 --> 0:30:45.760
<v Speaker 2>entire world. I mean, it's so personal. You're looking up

0:30:45.920 --> 0:30:50.520
<v Speaker 2>at this person and you can't breathe. I got to

0:30:50.560 --> 0:30:53.600
<v Speaker 2>the point where I literally felt like my body was

0:30:53.640 --> 0:30:56.440
<v Speaker 2>shutting down. When I was done, I was thinking in

0:30:56.480 --> 0:30:57.960
<v Speaker 2>my head he was going to take my kids.

0:30:59.600 --> 0:31:02.560
<v Speaker 1>He put it pillowcase over her head and he sexually

0:31:02.560 --> 0:31:08.520
<v Speaker 1>assaulted her. Then the intruder began to speak. It sounded

0:31:08.560 --> 0:31:12.320
<v Speaker 1>like he was using a voice changer. The altered voice

0:31:12.480 --> 0:31:15.680
<v Speaker 1>was deep and gravelly. It sounded just like Batman.

0:31:16.680 --> 0:31:21.280
<v Speaker 2>That was definitely the scariest thing, the Batman voice sound.

0:31:22.080 --> 0:31:25.560
<v Speaker 2>That is what still haunts my dreams. Hey would just

0:31:25.600 --> 0:31:28.240
<v Speaker 2>make all these comments of like you've messed with the

0:31:28.280 --> 0:31:31.080
<v Speaker 2>wrong person. You're gonna pay for this.

0:31:32.120 --> 0:31:36.080
<v Speaker 1>The intruder demanded that she share her phone password. Scared

0:31:36.120 --> 0:31:40.360
<v Speaker 1>for her life, she told him. Morgan's mind was racing

0:31:40.680 --> 0:31:43.440
<v Speaker 1>trying to figure out who was behind the mask.

0:31:44.040 --> 0:31:45.600
<v Speaker 2>I'm thinking in my head, like I do not have

0:31:45.720 --> 0:31:50.120
<v Speaker 2>enemies like this. What is going on. Then he makes

0:31:50.120 --> 0:31:52.320
<v Speaker 2>a comment, if you're really going to miss your husband.

0:31:52.920 --> 0:31:55.440
<v Speaker 1>She had to make a split second decision of how

0:31:55.480 --> 0:31:59.560
<v Speaker 1>to respond. Something in her knew what the intruder wanted

0:31:59.560 --> 0:32:01.640
<v Speaker 1>to hear, and I was.

0:32:01.640 --> 0:32:04.560
<v Speaker 2>Like, oh no, please, don't hurt my husband. I love

0:32:04.640 --> 0:32:08.760
<v Speaker 2>him very much. And I think that's what saved me,

0:32:08.920 --> 0:32:14.040
<v Speaker 2>because the mood in the entire room changed. It wasn't

0:32:14.040 --> 0:32:16.440
<v Speaker 2>as heavy, it wasn't as dark, it wasn't as deep.

0:32:17.880 --> 0:32:20.320
<v Speaker 2>His whole persona changed.

0:32:23.040 --> 0:32:26.640
<v Speaker 1>Just seconds ago, the intruder's violence had been life threatening,

0:32:27.240 --> 0:32:31.280
<v Speaker 1>but now his focus shifted from Morgan to her valuables

0:32:31.560 --> 0:32:32.920
<v Speaker 1>and what he could steal.

0:32:33.080 --> 0:32:34.880
<v Speaker 2>Like he was a burglar more so than they're the

0:32:34.960 --> 0:32:36.760
<v Speaker 2>murder me. He's like, where's your jewelry? And he started

0:32:36.800 --> 0:32:39.200
<v Speaker 2>ripping out stuff from my drawers and things like that.

0:32:40.000 --> 0:32:43.200
<v Speaker 1>Then the intruder lifted Morgan off of the bed.

0:32:43.920 --> 0:32:46.280
<v Speaker 2>He kept that pillow case over my head and then

0:32:46.360 --> 0:32:49.360
<v Speaker 2>took me outside in the back patio, laid me on

0:32:49.440 --> 0:32:53.440
<v Speaker 2>my outside sofa, and he was like, don't move until

0:32:53.480 --> 0:32:54.960
<v Speaker 2>you hear three car hons.

0:32:56.880 --> 0:33:01.160
<v Speaker 1>She complied and listened as the intruder's foots faded away.

0:33:06.200 --> 0:33:08.080
<v Speaker 2>I heard the car leave, but I didn't hear any

0:33:08.080 --> 0:33:09.400
<v Speaker 2>three car hogs.

0:33:10.120 --> 0:33:13.800
<v Speaker 1>There was still a pillowcase over her head. She didn't

0:33:13.800 --> 0:33:16.960
<v Speaker 1>know for sure if the intruder had left or if

0:33:17.000 --> 0:33:18.480
<v Speaker 1>anyone else was watching her.

0:33:18.840 --> 0:33:21.960
<v Speaker 2>I don't know if there's more than one person. I

0:33:21.960 --> 0:33:24.400
<v Speaker 2>couldn't see anything, and I was trying to keep myself

0:33:24.440 --> 0:33:28.080
<v Speaker 2>awake because I can feel the blood running down my faith.

0:33:29.120 --> 0:33:32.920
<v Speaker 1>Morgan was severely injured. She focused all of her energy

0:33:33.000 --> 0:33:37.160
<v Speaker 1>on coaching herself through the pain. She needed to survive this,

0:33:37.840 --> 0:33:40.760
<v Speaker 1>not only for herself, before her children.

0:33:41.400 --> 0:33:43.960
<v Speaker 2>And I was like, you can have a concussion. Try

0:33:44.000 --> 0:33:46.120
<v Speaker 2>to stay awake. Try to stay awake. At the same time,

0:33:46.240 --> 0:33:49.360
<v Speaker 2>I'm thinking in my head, okay, where are your keith at.

0:33:49.360 --> 0:33:50.800
<v Speaker 2>You're going to run to the car, like I was

0:33:50.880 --> 0:33:52.160
<v Speaker 2>planning things out in my head.

0:33:53.320 --> 0:33:56.880
<v Speaker 1>She laid on the back patio for forty minutes waiting,

0:33:57.760 --> 0:33:59.959
<v Speaker 1>but then she heard something.

0:34:00.280 --> 0:34:02.960
<v Speaker 2>We had river rocks in our backyard, and I heard

0:34:03.000 --> 0:34:06.680
<v Speaker 2>someone stepping on them. And then I heard footsteps going

0:34:06.720 --> 0:34:10.160
<v Speaker 2>up the back deck stairs, and I was like, somebody

0:34:10.280 --> 0:34:11.720
<v Speaker 2>else is here.

0:34:31.880 --> 0:34:34.319
<v Speaker 1>Morgan was asleep at her house on New Year's Eve

0:34:34.760 --> 0:34:37.720
<v Speaker 1>when an intruder broke into her home. He was wearing

0:34:37.719 --> 0:34:41.319
<v Speaker 1>a batman mask, black clothing, and disguising his voice with

0:34:41.360 --> 0:34:45.239
<v Speaker 1>a voice changer. He violently attacked her before leaving her

0:34:45.280 --> 0:34:48.719
<v Speaker 1>on the back porch, her head covered with a pillowcase.

0:34:49.719 --> 0:34:51.920
<v Speaker 1>He told her not to move until she heard three

0:34:51.920 --> 0:34:55.000
<v Speaker 1>hanks of a car's horn, but the sounds never came,

0:34:55.600 --> 0:34:58.439
<v Speaker 1>so she stayed there for forty minutes until she heard

0:34:58.440 --> 0:35:00.000
<v Speaker 1>footsteps approaching.

0:35:00.000 --> 0:35:02.680
<v Speaker 2>And I was like, somebody else is here.

0:35:03.680 --> 0:35:06.400
<v Speaker 1>She wasn't sure if this was help or the start

0:35:06.480 --> 0:35:07.520
<v Speaker 1>of a second attack.

0:35:08.120 --> 0:35:11.160
<v Speaker 2>And then I heard footsteps going up the back deckstairs.

0:35:11.680 --> 0:35:15.040
<v Speaker 1>The pillowcase was slifted off her head, and Morgan looked

0:35:15.080 --> 0:35:20.799
<v Speaker 1>up to see who had arrived. It was Rodney.

0:35:20.920 --> 0:35:22.960
<v Speaker 2>He looked very surprised.

0:35:23.600 --> 0:35:28.040
<v Speaker 1>Morgan was also surprised. How did Rodney know she needed help?

0:35:28.680 --> 0:35:32.840
<v Speaker 2>He said, well, why right? Someone can tapping out my

0:35:32.920 --> 0:35:35.320
<v Speaker 2>window and saying you better go check on your wife

0:35:35.440 --> 0:35:36.520
<v Speaker 2>or something like that.

0:35:37.719 --> 0:35:40.320
<v Speaker 1>Then Rodney began to tend to Morgan.

0:35:40.880 --> 0:35:46.040
<v Speaker 2>I'm still naked and my hands are tied and I

0:35:46.200 --> 0:35:49.000
<v Speaker 2>was crying, and he took me inside, took me by

0:35:49.040 --> 0:35:53.719
<v Speaker 2>the fireplace. He was consulting, but also like trying to

0:35:53.800 --> 0:35:55.600
<v Speaker 2>act like he was staying in the day. He's like,

0:35:55.600 --> 0:35:58.080
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to check the house out, make sure everything's good,

0:35:58.360 --> 0:36:00.040
<v Speaker 2>and make sure everyone's gone.

0:36:00.160 --> 0:36:03.759
<v Speaker 1>He walked around the house, opening closet doors, but he.

0:36:03.800 --> 0:36:06.160
<v Speaker 2>Still has under my handcuffs or got me my clothes

0:36:06.200 --> 0:36:06.720
<v Speaker 2>that I needed.

0:36:07.800 --> 0:36:13.000
<v Speaker 1>Then Rodney called the police. Morgan listened, still handcuffed as

0:36:13.000 --> 0:36:15.399
<v Speaker 1>he told the nine one one dispatcher.

0:36:15.080 --> 0:36:17.640
<v Speaker 2>He's gone now and it's no big deal. We don't

0:36:17.640 --> 0:36:19.520
<v Speaker 2>need the sirens of the lights or the big old

0:36:19.680 --> 0:36:22.799
<v Speaker 2>or deal or anything like that. And I'm sitting there

0:36:22.840 --> 0:36:23.160
<v Speaker 2>like what.

0:36:23.920 --> 0:36:25.880
<v Speaker 1>The police made their way to the house at a

0:36:25.960 --> 0:36:30.279
<v Speaker 1>leisurely pace. Based on Rodney's account, they didn't think it

0:36:30.360 --> 0:36:32.000
<v Speaker 1>was that serious of a situation.

0:36:33.160 --> 0:36:35.800
<v Speaker 2>The policeman walks in the front door and he stops

0:36:35.840 --> 0:36:38.319
<v Speaker 2>in his fracks and back right back out outside and

0:36:38.400 --> 0:36:39.319
<v Speaker 2>calling her back up.

0:36:39.960 --> 0:36:43.359
<v Speaker 1>Rodney sounded calm on the phone, but one look at

0:36:43.400 --> 0:36:48.120
<v Speaker 1>Morgan told a different story. She had been physically assaulted.

0:36:48.880 --> 0:36:52.000
<v Speaker 1>She was bleeding from a head wound, her face was

0:36:52.040 --> 0:36:54.400
<v Speaker 1>swelling and starting to turn purple.

0:36:55.760 --> 0:36:58.000
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I can't even see out of like one eye.

0:36:58.680 --> 0:37:00.600
<v Speaker 2>The cop was kind of like, what do you mean?

0:37:00.640 --> 0:37:01.879
<v Speaker 2>This is not this big of a deal.

0:37:03.600 --> 0:37:07.160
<v Speaker 1>The police took Rodney aside for questioning. In the meantime,

0:37:07.680 --> 0:37:11.879
<v Speaker 1>they searched the house. Occasionally someone came over to talk

0:37:11.920 --> 0:37:15.479
<v Speaker 1>to Morgan, but all of their words faded into one

0:37:15.680 --> 0:37:16.600
<v Speaker 1>loud hum.

0:37:17.960 --> 0:37:21.960
<v Speaker 2>I just felt like I was medicated or something. It

0:37:22.080 --> 0:37:26.400
<v Speaker 2>was all a blur. My brain was just going, you know,

0:37:26.440 --> 0:37:28.520
<v Speaker 2>a thousand miles a minute, and I couldn't even keep

0:37:28.600 --> 0:37:30.040
<v Speaker 2>up with what detectives were saying.

0:37:31.000 --> 0:37:33.919
<v Speaker 1>But then one of the detectives said something that cut

0:37:33.920 --> 0:37:39.600
<v Speaker 1>through the noise. He told her they were arresting Rodney.

0:37:39.800 --> 0:37:44.200
<v Speaker 1>Morgan's head was spinning. She remembered the look on Rodney's

0:37:44.239 --> 0:37:48.279
<v Speaker 1>face when he first saw her injuries. He had looked surprised,

0:37:49.440 --> 0:37:52.359
<v Speaker 1>but they had been together since they were teenagers, and

0:37:52.400 --> 0:37:54.279
<v Speaker 1>Morgan knew Rodney's expressions.

0:37:54.320 --> 0:37:57.480
<v Speaker 2>Intimately, it was a genuine shock. But I think it

0:37:57.520 --> 0:38:02.919
<v Speaker 2>was a genuine shock of like, oh, Lee wrap, what

0:38:02.960 --> 0:38:03.799
<v Speaker 2>did I do to have.

0:38:05.680 --> 0:38:09.719
<v Speaker 1>Her thoughts were racing. Could Rodney really have done this?

0:38:10.600 --> 0:38:12.799
<v Speaker 2>Maybe it said, Maybe it wasn't. I don't know. I

0:38:12.840 --> 0:38:15.200
<v Speaker 2>didn't know if he'd hired anybody else.

0:38:15.880 --> 0:38:19.239
<v Speaker 1>Morgan was taken to the hospital. Luckily, her kids were

0:38:19.360 --> 0:38:23.200
<v Speaker 1>still out of town, staying with her sister. Rodney was

0:38:23.239 --> 0:38:27.200
<v Speaker 1>the prime suspect, but authorities needed solid proof if they

0:38:27.200 --> 0:38:30.080
<v Speaker 1>were going to charge him with the crime, so they

0:38:30.120 --> 0:38:33.680
<v Speaker 1>got a warrant to search Rodney's apartment. That's when the

0:38:33.760 --> 0:38:38.680
<v Speaker 1>picture began to come together. Detectives found a book in

0:38:38.800 --> 0:38:42.640
<v Speaker 1>Rodney's apartment, Seven Ways to Be Her Hero, a self

0:38:42.719 --> 0:38:47.400
<v Speaker 1>help book for men, and Rodney's search history told a

0:38:47.400 --> 0:38:48.480
<v Speaker 1>disturbing story.

0:38:49.080 --> 0:38:53.120
<v Speaker 2>They took his computer and they found searches of how

0:38:53.239 --> 0:38:56.800
<v Speaker 2>to strangle somebody and writing a suicide letter.

0:38:58.400 --> 0:39:01.480
<v Speaker 1>He also searched for how to change the sound of

0:39:01.520 --> 0:39:04.839
<v Speaker 1>your voice, how to get sympathy from your ex, and

0:39:05.320 --> 0:39:10.240
<v Speaker 1>how long to choke someone unconscious. Then they found physical evidence,

0:39:10.960 --> 0:39:14.000
<v Speaker 1>zip ties that looked just like the ones used to

0:39:14.040 --> 0:39:15.360
<v Speaker 1>restrain Morgan.

0:39:15.800 --> 0:39:18.720
<v Speaker 2>And they took the zip ties to forensics to see

0:39:18.840 --> 0:39:20.480
<v Speaker 2>if it was a match.

0:39:21.320 --> 0:39:25.480
<v Speaker 1>Forensics came back quickly it was a match. The evidence

0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:28.719
<v Speaker 1>was overwhelming. Rodney was the intruder.

0:39:29.880 --> 0:39:32.640
<v Speaker 2>I just dropped to the ground and just started crying.

0:39:33.920 --> 0:39:37.040
<v Speaker 2>Finally someone saw that it wasn't my fault.

0:39:39.200 --> 0:39:43.360
<v Speaker 1>For years, Rodney had been gaslighting Morgan, telling her she

0:39:43.640 --> 0:39:47.840
<v Speaker 1>was to blame for his violence. Now it was finally over.

0:39:49.200 --> 0:39:53.319
<v Speaker 2>I was just throwing back like, Oh my gosh, I

0:39:53.360 --> 0:39:55.640
<v Speaker 2>can't believe he was honestly just stupid to look it

0:39:55.680 --> 0:39:57.239
<v Speaker 2>all up online.

0:39:57.280 --> 0:40:00.520
<v Speaker 1>In the weeks before the attack, Rodney told me he

0:40:00.560 --> 0:40:05.520
<v Speaker 1>had terminal cancer, but in their investigation, police discovered a

0:40:05.560 --> 0:40:10.799
<v Speaker 1>forged doctor's note proof that Rodney's story was a lie.

0:40:11.080 --> 0:40:15.479
<v Speaker 2>It was just so mind boggling. I guess I never

0:40:15.520 --> 0:40:17.319
<v Speaker 2>really truly thought he would go that far.

0:40:18.280 --> 0:40:22.000
<v Speaker 1>Rodney had been desperate to regain control of Morgan's life

0:40:22.280 --> 0:40:25.120
<v Speaker 1>and to get her back. He started by trying to

0:40:25.160 --> 0:40:28.720
<v Speaker 1>gain her sympathy. When he first told Morgan about his cancer,

0:40:29.200 --> 0:40:33.120
<v Speaker 1>she was distraught, but even though she was worried for him,

0:40:33.600 --> 0:40:36.040
<v Speaker 1>she still didn't want to get back together with him.

0:40:36.320 --> 0:40:38.960
<v Speaker 2>That is when I think he finally made a decision. Okay,

0:40:38.960 --> 0:40:41.520
<v Speaker 2>he's going to go through with what his end game was.

0:40:43.360 --> 0:40:47.080
<v Speaker 1>Morgan had let Rodney sleep on her couch. He said

0:40:47.120 --> 0:40:51.360
<v Speaker 1>he was scared about his terminal diagnosis, but in reality,

0:40:52.080 --> 0:40:53.959
<v Speaker 1>he had ulterior motives.

0:40:54.760 --> 0:40:57.600
<v Speaker 2>During that time I was sleeping, he went downstairs in

0:40:57.640 --> 0:41:00.880
<v Speaker 2>the basement and took a window sensor off the window,

0:41:01.840 --> 0:41:04.279
<v Speaker 2>so he was a planning as next est.

0:41:05.920 --> 0:41:09.279
<v Speaker 1>With the window sensor removed, Rodney had an easy way

0:41:09.320 --> 0:41:14.719
<v Speaker 1>to enter Morgan's house without activating the alarm system. On

0:41:14.800 --> 0:41:17.359
<v Speaker 1>the night of the attack, he'd asked for Morgan's phone

0:41:17.400 --> 0:41:22.359
<v Speaker 1>password and gone through her phone. Police discovered he'd been

0:41:22.400 --> 0:41:28.360
<v Speaker 1>deleting security footage. Rodney Metzer was charged with fourteen counts

0:41:28.400 --> 0:41:33.600
<v Speaker 1>related to the attack, including kidnapping, home invasion, armed robbery,

0:41:34.040 --> 0:41:39.719
<v Speaker 1>aggravated assault, and sexual battery. But one question remained, why

0:41:39.760 --> 0:41:43.279
<v Speaker 1>would Rodney do this to her? Why take it this far?

0:41:44.480 --> 0:41:47.240
<v Speaker 1>Morgan thinks it's because he wanted to create a villain

0:41:47.719 --> 0:41:50.000
<v Speaker 1>so that he could be the hero.

0:41:50.520 --> 0:41:54.120
<v Speaker 2>Because he wanted to gain back that guy next door

0:41:54.200 --> 0:41:58.920
<v Speaker 2>type of vibe everyone like the penny of the perfect person.

0:41:59.840 --> 0:42:04.080
<v Speaker 1>The assistant district attorney who prosecuted a case believes Rodney's

0:42:04.080 --> 0:42:08.000
<v Speaker 1>motivations were even more sinister. In a press release about

0:42:08.000 --> 0:42:11.759
<v Speaker 1>Morgan's case, she gave this quote, which we've had read

0:42:11.800 --> 0:42:15.839
<v Speaker 1>by a voice actor. This man is a master manipulator.

0:42:16.680 --> 0:42:19.240
<v Speaker 3>In the days leading up to the attack, he faked

0:42:19.239 --> 0:42:22.480
<v Speaker 3>a cancer diagnosis in an attempt to gain sympathy from

0:42:22.520 --> 0:42:26.520
<v Speaker 3>his ex wife. When that didn't work, he created a

0:42:26.560 --> 0:42:30.600
<v Speaker 3>convoluted plan that the investigators in this case and our office,

0:42:31.000 --> 0:42:34.400
<v Speaker 3>truly believe involved a plot to kill her and then himself.

0:42:35.520 --> 0:42:38.320
<v Speaker 3>When he couldn't go through with that plan, he instead

0:42:38.400 --> 0:42:42.120
<v Speaker 3>devised a new plan to rescue her.

0:42:44.719 --> 0:42:47.800
<v Speaker 1>In the weeks following the attack, Morgan's sister agreed to

0:42:47.840 --> 0:42:50.960
<v Speaker 1>take care of her kids while she focused on recovering.

0:42:51.840 --> 0:42:57.040
<v Speaker 1>She checked herself into an impatient rehab for PTSD recovery,

0:42:57.239 --> 0:43:00.719
<v Speaker 1>but even with professional help, she found her self struggling

0:43:00.719 --> 0:43:02.760
<v Speaker 1>to return to the life she had before.

0:43:03.800 --> 0:43:06.160
<v Speaker 2>I didn't want to be left alone in the house.

0:43:06.200 --> 0:43:07.799
<v Speaker 2>But I didn't want to leave my house because I

0:43:07.800 --> 0:43:10.560
<v Speaker 2>worked very hard to pay for that house. At that time,

0:43:10.719 --> 0:43:12.640
<v Speaker 2>I was too afraid to work because I didn't want

0:43:12.640 --> 0:43:14.040
<v Speaker 2>to go to random people's houses.

0:43:14.400 --> 0:43:18.399
<v Speaker 1>I was scared nights for the hardest. She didn't feel

0:43:18.440 --> 0:43:20.840
<v Speaker 1>safe letting her guard down in her own home.

0:43:21.880 --> 0:43:24.160
<v Speaker 2>There was a month that I would sleep in my

0:43:24.239 --> 0:43:25.759
<v Speaker 2>son's room and just sit in the corner of the

0:43:25.840 --> 0:43:28.080
<v Speaker 2>room and stare at the door. I just wouldn't sleep.

0:43:28.600 --> 0:43:32.120
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't find comfort in it, but I refused to

0:43:32.200 --> 0:43:34.480
<v Speaker 2>let him beat me.

0:43:34.480 --> 0:43:38.000
<v Speaker 1>Meanwhile, the state built their case against Rodney and prepared

0:43:38.040 --> 0:43:38.600
<v Speaker 1>for trial.

0:43:39.360 --> 0:43:45.280
<v Speaker 2>I was just talking to the DA constantly, just constant questions.

0:43:45.600 --> 0:43:49.120
<v Speaker 2>They came to get server at my house, they went

0:43:49.160 --> 0:43:52.920
<v Speaker 2>through his phone. It was just reliving that moment every

0:43:53.040 --> 0:43:57.120
<v Speaker 2>second for like eight months.

0:43:58.520 --> 0:44:01.800
<v Speaker 1>Rodney pled guilty to for team counts related to the attack.

0:44:02.600 --> 0:44:06.520
<v Speaker 1>On August fourth, twenty twenty one, Rodney was sentenced to

0:44:06.560 --> 0:44:10.040
<v Speaker 1>twenty five years in prison and forty five years of probation.

0:44:11.239 --> 0:44:14.640
<v Speaker 1>Morgan wanted to go to his sentencing hearing. She prepared

0:44:14.640 --> 0:44:17.239
<v Speaker 1>a victim impact statement. What she read in the.

0:44:17.160 --> 0:44:20.800
<v Speaker 2>Courtroom and my last statement to him, I said, do

0:44:20.840 --> 0:44:24.360
<v Speaker 2>you know, rod the pain you've given me is turned

0:44:24.360 --> 0:44:28.680
<v Speaker 2>into so much power. I walked off that stand feeling

0:44:29.080 --> 0:44:32.080
<v Speaker 2>like weight was lifted off my shoulders. I just felt

0:44:32.080 --> 0:44:34.839
<v Speaker 2>like I could breathe a little bit more. I feel

0:44:34.880 --> 0:44:36.640
<v Speaker 2>like some things that were at peace.

0:44:38.920 --> 0:44:42.440
<v Speaker 1>In that same press release about the case, the prosecutor

0:44:42.480 --> 0:44:45.400
<v Speaker 1>wrote a line that stood out to our team. Here's

0:44:45.440 --> 0:44:46.120
<v Speaker 1>what she wrote.

0:44:47.520 --> 0:44:50.200
<v Speaker 3>This is a classic example of how the most dangerous

0:44:50.239 --> 0:44:53.200
<v Speaker 3>time for a domestic violence victim is when she decides

0:44:53.239 --> 0:44:54.879
<v Speaker 3>to leave an abusive relationship.

0:44:56.640 --> 0:44:58.880
<v Speaker 1>Morgan had to find a way to explain to her

0:44:58.960 --> 0:45:01.640
<v Speaker 1>kids why the couldn't see their father anymore.

0:45:02.560 --> 0:45:04.759
<v Speaker 2>I told them, do you guys know when you get

0:45:04.760 --> 0:45:07.759
<v Speaker 2>in trouble, there's a consequence for your actions. And they

0:45:07.840 --> 0:45:10.839
<v Speaker 2>said yes, and I said, well, that did something very

0:45:10.880 --> 0:45:14.920
<v Speaker 2>bad and he has to have a punish net and

0:45:14.960 --> 0:45:18.120
<v Speaker 2>he's going to be away for twenty to twenty five years.

0:45:19.480 --> 0:45:22.080
<v Speaker 1>She did everything she could to process her trauma and

0:45:22.160 --> 0:45:26.160
<v Speaker 1>heal for herself and for her kids. It took months,

0:45:26.480 --> 0:45:27.520
<v Speaker 1>but slowly.

0:45:27.480 --> 0:45:30.160
<v Speaker 2>I felt like I was more myself, letting the kids

0:45:30.200 --> 0:45:33.360
<v Speaker 2>go to school, more Okay, we're getting back into a routine.

0:45:33.640 --> 0:45:36.680
<v Speaker 1>Rodney was a defining figure in Morgan's life since she

0:45:36.800 --> 0:45:41.440
<v Speaker 1>was fourteen years old. Without him around, even the smallest

0:45:41.480 --> 0:45:42.399
<v Speaker 1>things felt new.

0:45:43.400 --> 0:45:46.040
<v Speaker 2>I was trapped by him for so long that I

0:45:46.120 --> 0:45:48.960
<v Speaker 2>was getting to know my real self too. I had

0:45:49.000 --> 0:45:53.000
<v Speaker 2>to reintroduce myself. I feel like I had to relearn

0:45:53.080 --> 0:45:57.839
<v Speaker 2>how to walk and talk again, like do they Eventually

0:45:58.000 --> 0:46:02.160
<v Speaker 2>I started learning to get up every day and learn

0:46:02.200 --> 0:46:03.520
<v Speaker 2>who the new me was going to be.

0:46:06.920 --> 0:46:10.239
<v Speaker 1>In her victim impact statement, she told Rodney she would

0:46:10.280 --> 0:46:13.879
<v Speaker 1>turn the pain he inflicted into power, and she did

0:46:14.800 --> 0:46:15.480
<v Speaker 1>that power.

0:46:15.960 --> 0:46:18.360
<v Speaker 2>It's gotten me through figuring out how to provide for

0:46:18.440 --> 0:46:21.400
<v Speaker 2>my children, how to figure out how to do daily

0:46:21.480 --> 0:46:24.240
<v Speaker 2>life today.

0:46:24.400 --> 0:46:28.640
<v Speaker 1>Morgan's interior design business is thriving. She reclaimed the house

0:46:28.640 --> 0:46:31.880
<v Speaker 1>where she was attacked and turned it into a loving home,

0:46:32.520 --> 0:46:35.200
<v Speaker 1>and as for her twins, she's proud of the people

0:46:35.239 --> 0:46:40.160
<v Speaker 1>they're becoming. We end every weekly episode with the same question,

0:46:40.880 --> 0:46:42.440
<v Speaker 1>why do you want to share your story?

0:46:43.200 --> 0:46:46.680
<v Speaker 2>I'm very lucky. Unfortunately a lot of women in my

0:46:46.760 --> 0:46:52.640
<v Speaker 2>situation don't get out alive. And I just want women

0:46:52.760 --> 0:46:55.439
<v Speaker 2>to know that it's important to speak to each other

0:46:55.480 --> 0:46:58.440
<v Speaker 2>and to be open and to talk about things. I

0:46:58.520 --> 0:47:01.520
<v Speaker 2>never said anything out loud. I never really went to

0:47:02.160 --> 0:47:04.399
<v Speaker 2>a lot of my friends because I wanted to paint

0:47:04.440 --> 0:47:07.280
<v Speaker 2>this beautiful picture of my family and nothing was wrong.

0:47:07.680 --> 0:47:12.440
<v Speaker 2>And we as women are each other's big guest supporterers,

0:47:12.640 --> 0:47:16.200
<v Speaker 2>and if we say what's going on, maybe would have

0:47:16.200 --> 0:47:17.440
<v Speaker 2>been able to get help earlier.

0:47:24.960 --> 0:47:27.120
<v Speaker 1>On the next episode of Betrayal.

0:47:26.680 --> 0:47:30.520
<v Speaker 4>Weekly, suddenly the knock is on my door. I open

0:47:30.600 --> 0:47:32.920
<v Speaker 4>the door. These two men in street clothes are claiming

0:47:32.960 --> 0:47:37.799
<v Speaker 4>to be us Marshals. My whole body is hot. I

0:47:37.960 --> 0:47:41.160
<v Speaker 4>feel like my stomach is dropped and they show me

0:47:41.200 --> 0:47:44.120
<v Speaker 4>a picture. Yeah, that is my fiance.

0:47:54.960 --> 0:47:57.640
<v Speaker 1>If you'd like to share your story on Betrayal, please

0:47:57.719 --> 0:48:03.120
<v Speaker 1>email Betrayal Pod at gmail dot com that is Betrayalpod

0:48:03.480 --> 0:48:07.200
<v Speaker 1>at gmail dot com. Please note that we are not

0:48:07.400 --> 0:48:11.400
<v Speaker 1>a mental health organization. If you are in crisis or

0:48:11.520 --> 0:48:16.000
<v Speaker 1>currently experiencing domestic violence, we encourage you to seek local

0:48:16.080 --> 0:48:20.400
<v Speaker 1>help or dial nine to one one. Please contact organizations

0:48:20.400 --> 0:48:24.520
<v Speaker 1>that offer immediate support. In our show notes, we've included

0:48:24.520 --> 0:48:28.400
<v Speaker 1>a list of US based resources. You can follow us

0:48:28.440 --> 0:48:31.799
<v Speaker 1>on Instagram at betrayal Pod, or find me at It's

0:48:31.840 --> 0:48:36.040
<v Speaker 1>Andrea Gunning. To access our newsletter and additional content, and

0:48:36.080 --> 0:48:39.520
<v Speaker 1>to connect with the Betrayal community, join our substack at

0:48:39.680 --> 0:48:43.800
<v Speaker 1>Betrayal dot substack dot com. We're grateful for your support.

0:48:44.080 --> 0:48:46.560
<v Speaker 1>One way to show support is by subscribing to our

0:48:46.600 --> 0:48:49.759
<v Speaker 1>show on Apple Podcasts and don't forget to rate and

0:48:49.800 --> 0:48:54.000
<v Speaker 1>review Betrayal. Five star reviews go a long way. Big

0:48:54.080 --> 0:48:57.160
<v Speaker 1>thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a

0:48:57.160 --> 0:49:00.720
<v Speaker 1>production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass and Entertainment Group,

0:49:00.760 --> 0:49:05.000
<v Speaker 1>in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced

0:49:05.000 --> 0:49:08.480
<v Speaker 1>by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason, posted and produced by

0:49:08.560 --> 0:49:12.640
<v Speaker 1>me Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Olivia Hewitt. Our

0:49:12.719 --> 0:49:16.880
<v Speaker 1>story editor is Monique Lebord. Also produced by Ben Fetterman.

0:49:17.400 --> 0:49:22.600
<v Speaker 1>Our associate producer is Leah Jablo. Production management by Kristin Melcurie,

0:49:23.080 --> 0:49:28.200
<v Speaker 1>Booking support by Curry Richmond. Voice acting by Teresa Christine Brabson.

0:49:29.040 --> 0:49:33.080
<v Speaker 1>Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Crincheck. Audio

0:49:33.160 --> 0:49:36.200
<v Speaker 1>editing by Tanner Robbins, with additional editing and mixing by

0:49:36.200 --> 0:49:40.560
<v Speaker 1>Matt Delbecchio. A Trayals theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music

0:49:40.640 --> 0:49:45.000
<v Speaker 1>library provided by my Music and For more podcasts from iHeart,

0:49:45.160 --> 0:49:49.000
<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

0:49:49.040 --> 0:49:50.520
<v Speaker 1>your podcasts,