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Speaker 1: Crime Alard, hourly update, Breaking crime news Now.

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Speaker 2: I'm Drew Nelson. Polk County Sheriff's deputies respond to a

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Speaker 2: horrifying scene in Auburndale, Florida. Inside a mobile home, thirty

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Speaker 2: nine year old Katherine Griffith lies face down with a

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Speaker 2: kitchen knife through her neck. Her son, seventeen year old

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Speaker 2: Colin Griffith, is calm standing outside when deputies arrive. He

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Speaker 2: tells them that after a long fight, his mother quote

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Speaker 2: falls on the knife, but investigators believe the truth is

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Speaker 2: far more sinister. Catherine Griffith is dead and Colin is

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Speaker 2: their prime suspect. The tragedy caps a long and troubled

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Speaker 2: relationship between Colin and his mother three years earlier, as

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Speaker 2: Catherine flees from her marriage, she alleges abuse from Colin's father,

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Speaker 2: Charles Griffith. The couple fights bitterly over custody, but ultimately

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Speaker 2: Colin is sent to live with his father in Oklahoma.

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Speaker 2: In February of twenty three, Colin calls nine to one

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Speaker 2: one as he claims he shoots his father in self

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Speaker 2: defense after Charles chases him with a knife. With his

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Speaker 2: father dead, Colin is sent to live with Catherine and

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Speaker 2: Florida Crime Onlines Dave Mack reports.

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Speaker 3: Colin's alleged abuse at the hands of his father, Charles

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Speaker 3: Griffith comes to a head on Valentine's Day. Colin calls

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Speaker 3: nine to one one to report he shot and killed

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Speaker 3: his father. Colin tells the operator his dad attacked him,

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Speaker 3: chasing him through their home with a knife. Colin says

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Speaker 3: when Charles corners him in a bedroom, Colin grabs a

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Speaker 3: shotgun and shoots his father in self defense. Colin is

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Speaker 3: too shaken up to give another statement, but based on

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Speaker 3: the evidence in the home and colin zime won one call,

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Speaker 3: investigators cannot rule out self defense. Colin is sent to

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Speaker 3: live with his mother in Florida.

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Speaker 2: From the outside, life seems to improve for Colin and

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Speaker 2: his mother. Social media posts painted picture of his family

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Speaker 2: vacations and milestones like Colin's early graduation and buying his

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Speaker 2: first car. But behind the scenes, Colin struggles with his

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Speaker 2: mental health and one outburst, he is Baker acted of

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Speaker 2: Florida law that allows for involuntary mental health examination. After

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Speaker 2: a short time, Colin is released back to his mother's care.

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Speaker 2: Sheriff Grady ju explains the unraveling of the situation.

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Speaker 1: When he came to live with his mother, Katherine Griffith,

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Speaker 1: who was thirty nine. You would think things would be better.

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Speaker 1: He would be really, really lucky that, hey, this was

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Speaker 1: a self defense and I'm here with mom. But six

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Speaker 1: months later, six months later, guess what happened. He's Bakerackett

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Speaker 1: the rest of Colin's story.

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Speaker 2: After this, tensions continue to escalate in the Griffith home.

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Speaker 2: In November of twenty twenty three, Colin attacks his mother

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Speaker 2: after she takes away his video game privileges. He's charged

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Speaker 2: with domestic violence, but a year of probation seems to

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Speaker 2: settle things for a while. Catherine confides in neighbors about

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Speaker 2: her exhaustion with trying to help her son, but she

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Speaker 2: still works to them in their relationship. Things have come

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Speaker 2: to a head this month, as Colin flees his mother's

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Speaker 2: home after another argument, retreating to his grandmother's house. When

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Speaker 2: Catherine comes to bring him home, witnesses see Colin dragging

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Speaker 2: her inside by her hair. Hours later, debut He's arrived

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Speaker 2: to find Catherine dead. Crime Online s Dave Mack reports.

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Speaker 3: After several failed attempts to get Colin home, Catherine Griffith

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Speaker 3: confides in a neighbor how exhausted she is trying to

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Speaker 3: help her son. Catherine tells that she's cleared out Colin's

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Speaker 3: room and that he's not allowed back into the home

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Speaker 3: without her. The neighbor tries to convince Colin to come

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Speaker 3: home herself, but Colin ignores her too. Catherine says she's

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Speaker 3: going to meet Colin at his grandmother's home tomorrow as

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Speaker 3: a last ditch effort to bring him home before he

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Speaker 3: misses a probation meeting. After that, he'll have to answer

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Speaker 3: to law enforcement.

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Speaker 2: Deputies find Colin covered in blood, claiming his mother quote unquote,

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Speaker 2: falls on the knife, but evidence tells a different story.

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Speaker 2: Sheriff Judd elaborates.

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Speaker 1: When the deputies arrived, he met the deputies outside and

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Speaker 1: he was calm, cool, collected, not upset, and he had

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Speaker 1: blood on him. And he didn't say, mom's in here,

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Speaker 1: Mom's bleeding to death. Mom needs help. He looked the

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Speaker 1: deputy in the eye and says, I know my rights.

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Speaker 1: I want an attorney. What we found inside was this knife.

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Speaker 1: This knife is twelve inches long, and of the twelve inches,

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Speaker 1: eight inches of that hit is the blame. So he's

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Speaker 1: saying that his mother fell on this knife.

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Speaker 2: The medical examiner confirms that Catherine's injuries are not consistent

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Speaker 2: with Colin's story. Investigators believe this is the culmination of

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Speaker 2: a history of violence and instability. At just seventeen years old,

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Speaker 2: Colin has allegedly killed both of his parents, and while

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Speaker 2: he previously escapes legal consequences for his father's death, this

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Speaker 2: time it seems unlikely he will walk free. For the

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Speaker 2: latest on the investigation, tune in two Crime Stories with

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Speaker 2: Nancy Grace six and nine pm Eastern on Doctor Phil's

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Speaker 2: Merritt Street Media, or find Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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Speaker 2: wherever you get your podcasts. For the latest crime and

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Speaker 2: justice news, follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your

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Speaker 2: favorite podcast app with a strime Alert. I'm Drew Nelson.