Masked Intruder: The Morgan Metzer Case

0:06 Welcome to Unspeakable, a true crime podcast where I tell stories of real crimes with real victims, whose cases are so shocking that many are left wondering, how is this even real? I use my experiences in law enforcement, corrections, and combined with my years as a criminal justice educator, dig deep into complex cases of evil acts, some so evil, many feel they are unspeakable. Warning, Unspeakable is intended for mature audiences. If you are easily offended, then I'm not your girl. Listening discretion is advised. Hey y'all, KJ here back with another episode of Unspeakable. How's it going? How is your week going? I have been in trainings all week long that rocked my world. I'm not going to lie. Morning, noon, and night, that was going on. And then I was writing episodes and doing all my things. So it's been a pretty long week so far, but I'm hanging in there.

1:17 I'm sure we all have the same struggles with our with our family lives and everything we got going on, but that's okay. We're here and we get to enjoy this episode together. And I think it's a pretty good one. Now, before I start, I do have a couple of shout outs that I want to do. And I'm going to start right here in Denham Springs, Louisiana. This one is very special to me because I believe... that I taught you. And this is for Caden Davis. What is going on, Caden? If I'm correct, this is the Caden that I taught a few years ago. Super big old football player. And I just really enjoyed my time with you. I have some pictures, I think, of him throwing me up in the air in the classroom. I think it was you. But look, what a, what a, um, feather in my cap for someone who spent a year with me and had to listen to me talk to continue forward in his adult life and to continue to support me. So it means the world to me genuinely does. I hope that you're doing really, really well, Caden. I miss you.

2:11 And of course, I do remember you. Then we're going to go to Baytown, Texas. And this is where Amber is. Amber, is it Tweeddale? Tweeddale? I think that's how you would say this. But what is going over in your neck of the woods, Amber? I'm supposed to be going to Texas soon because I want to go to the Teddy Swim's. concert. Is anybody else going to that? I'm really getting excited about the possibility of going. But thank you so much for supporting me, Amber. I'm waving to you on the camera. Please tell all your friends and family how much I appreciate you and to listen in and hear the shout out that I'm sending your way. And then last but certainly not least, we're going to go to Smithfield, Virginia, where Sarah Grotman is. Hey, Sarah, how are you doing?

2:54 She signed up and she said, look at this. I'm just going to get me a whole year of KJ in one fell swoop. And so, Sarah, you are my latest supporter, and I just appreciate you more than I can say. And I hate to sound like a broken record, but what do you say to somebody who thinks enough of your work that they want to continue to support your show? it's humbling, you know, to know that what I'm doing is being well received and that you're appreciating it. So Sarah, I'm waving to you on the camera, giving you a salute because y'all are the difference. Y'all are the reason that I can continue to do what I do. And thank you so much for your continued love and support. Don't forget, you can get on Patreon. It is me.

3:35 There is not a team. It takes me a little bit of time to get to everybody, but I am messaging you back. If you have questions, if you just want to chat, You know, I got my friends across the pond that always reach out to me. Nation, you know, I'm talking to you. But she messages me and it was so funny. She asked me, look, when you when you read my messages, do you read them in a British accent? And I thought that was so funny. I didn't, but I think I will now that now that you asked me that. So talk to me, guys. Message me. I post on there and I really enjoy talking with you. So go to Patreon.com. Check it out. Just search unspeakable. And if you're interested in that. I'd love to have you join. So let's jump in today's episode. And we are going to go to Canton, Georgia. Now, this is about 40 miles north of Atlanta. It's right there in those foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And as far as crime is related, y'all know I love looking up crime rates and things like that. I guess nerd alert.

4:26 But violent crime in that area is not bad. This is somewhere that would be a great place to call home because of that low crime rate. And that is exactly one of the reasons why so many people are moving to that growing area. And this episode or this case is going to take place in the year of 2020, because that was the home of 33-year-old Morgan Metzer. Now, Morgan was a cute little thing. This was somebody that anyone would be proud to take home to mama. Any guy would have just having her on his arm, I'm sure he would have just been so proud. And If we're going to talk about that, we're going to talk about her husband, Rodney, who went by Rod, because he would have totally agreed with me. He just thought that she hung the moon. And these two had been together for a really long time. And so I guess really long time is relative, right? Depending on your age. But they had met way back in the gap, back to like middle school, because she was 14 years old and he was 17 years. And that was the first time that they laid eyes on each other, but that by chance meeting would be life-changing because they were never apart after that. From that day forward, they just were attached at the hips. So the question becomes, do you believe in love at first sight? Because they sure did. I know some people do and some people don't, but Rod's athletic charm was just movie magic combined with her sweet girl next door vibe that she put off. It's really

5:57 like something out of the movies when you look at the two of them. They were the main characters of a lot of your love stories that we watch on TV today. And Rod's devotion to Morgan, I need you to know, it was not just skin deep. He loved her soul deeply. He not only thought that she was beautiful, but he just loved everything about her. It was just a depth of caring that was unmatched. And to that point, I also like to talk about the fact that nicknames are something that I really like. I am someone who gives nicknames, and it's, I guess, one of my love languages. And sometimes when we think about nicknames, think about ones you may have given people or ones that you've learned through through other people, but sometimes they mean more than I think the name off the cuff is given credit.

6:48 So if someone thinks enough of you to coin a special name curated just for you, there's something very special about that. I don't know if you agree, but I think it's really, really special. And oftentimes, whenever you're in a relationship, only the two of you will know why that name is so perfect. It's almost like a secret language of why you call each other what you do. And while others may use the given name, right? You were born and my name's Kelly. And there's a lot of people that call me Kelly. Um, a nickname just shows more. It's just, it's just, it's just so much deeper than that. My best friend, my entire life, his name's Elijah. Shout out, Elijah. I'm talking to you. He has called me toots, uh, since we were young. And, um, My nickname, I started thinking about my husband and my nickname for my husband, I'll share it with you even though it's kind of a personal thing, but I call him Mr. Man. That is his nickname. And it sounds really simple, but if you understood him and you knew him like I do, you would get it because he is a jack of all trades. In my eyes, he can do everything. And he has survived so much in his lifetime that to me, he is Mr. Man. He is the Mr. Man. Well, Rod's nickname for Morgan What was it? Well, I wanted to tell you this because he called her princess. And cheesy? Maybe. Okay, maybe it is a bit cheesy. But when the love of your life calls you princess, it's everything. He made her feel that way. And she was his everything. And she was

8:19 his princess. Their love would continue to grow. And it withstood the test of time. And wouldn't you know that Rod would eventually promote his princess to his queen when he got down on one knee and he asked her to marry him. This is what dreams are made of. Every girl. I don't care. I was a tomboy growing up. But deep down when I was by myself in the corner of my room, we think about our wedding day. We think about it growing up because it's just huge. And then when it actually comes to fruition, it's just amazing. It's everything that you've thought about. And I was just sitting down the other day. I know this story is not about me, but I was sitting down the other day and The thought hit me that all of my huge milestones in life are over. And that's just crazy.

9:08 It's really crazy when you put it into perspective. I've already had my wedding. I've already had all of my children. I no longer have babies anymore. And all of that's done. Life is just flying by. Anyone else feel that way? That it's just, man, this went faster than I expected. But when Morgan was 21 years old, Rod was 24, that's when they tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony. Everything that you can expect. They were surrounded by friends. The bridesmaids were in their bright pink dresses. Everyone was just smiling huge as she made her way down the aisle because everyone knew that this day or expected that this day would come. You know, they had been together for so long. It was just a matter of time.

9:51 Morgan looked like an absolute dream with her hair all pulled up and curls and Rod with his shit eating grin as he took her arm and they faced the officiant because the day was here. Okay, everyone knew it was coming. And now it was here. They said their vows, they lit the unity candle candle and they were promising forever. And then when it was all done, it was time to party. Everyone just partied the night away and it was perfect. And that event included Rod's younger brother, Kevin. Kevin was only 19 years old whenever the wedding took place, but this guy had been through a lot in his young life. And at one point, he was holding the microphone and he was giving his speech for his brother.

10:33 And the wedding guests smiled, although in the back of everyone's minds, those smiles were holding kind of an air of sadness about them. And that's because Kevin was fighting against for his life through that speech. And not just because he may have feared public speaking in front of everybody, but he believed in everything that he was saying, but he was literally fighting for his life because he was dying. leukemia. It is no joke. And Kevin's swollen face was evidence of his fight as the guests listened to his speech intently, hanging on his words, because this was a very profound moment between two young brothers and how much they loved each other and how much Rod meant to his younger brother. Now, just being at their wedding meant everything to both Rod and Morgan, because this fight had been real. And after the dances were danced and the kisses were kissed and the young couple was off on their honeymoon, they were starting their life into what would be forever. But just eight months later, their new marriage was gonna suffer its very first really trying time because his younger brother, Kevin, would draw his last breath on earth on December 24th.

11:55 It was Christmas Eve of 2009. And I gotta tell you, Rod did not take this well. I don't think we expect anyone to take it well when their sibling passes, but this threw him into a very, very dark and desperate time in his life. And he would really depend and lean on his Morgan to help him make it through. His baby brother was gone, and there's nothing in life that had prepared him for the pain that that would bring. We talk about And we talk about death, right? We all know it's coming at some point. But when Kevin passed away, even knowing that that was very likely, it still wasn't anything that he was truly prepared for when Rod was no more. And they couldn't talk. They couldn't text.

12:46 They couldn't see one another. But Kevin would have his service and he would be buried. But that sadness, that sadness would just linger in Rod. It didn't seem to be improving. But then the days would pass and those days would turn into months. And while things did get easier, it would never be the same. I think we can all identify with that, that it's a new normal. It's not normal, but it's a new normal. And the good news that I can share is that eventually joy would come again. Morgan and Rod, although going through this trying time together, They couldn't help but smile when they got the news that while one loved life had ended, a new love and a brand new life was just beginning.

13:38 Because Morgan announced that she was pregnant. And whatever sadness they were feeling about the loss of Kevin, it was at least balanced with an extreme level of happiness of what was to come. And even more exciting, At that reveal, guess what? The color was blue. Yes, they were having their own son. And you got to ask yourself, what would his name be? What name would they choose for this baby? I bet you already know. Of course, you already know what I'm about to say. It's a name fitting for a strong and healthy boy and one that would be continuing a legacy. Baby Kevin would be the baby that was going to be born, named after his uncle, And he would make his way into the world just a few short nine months later. The excitement was just undeniable, guys.

14:32 Rod's parents now had something to look forward to. They didn't just have to focus on the loss of a child, but a new baby and a grandbaby at that was coming into the world. And it just gave this light, just the sliver of light that could come down and start shining again in their lives. And on March 15th of 2011, 18 days early, Baby Kevin was born. Now, this was unexpected. I mean, 18 days is a long time and kind of dangerous. You know, 18 days is a big growth period in those last days in the womb. And so this was a very early birth. And here he came very early, but they were all so excited.

15:13 And the sound of crying now at this point in their lives, this was nothing more than a blessing. I mean, this was everything and not a curse. These were good tears. This was joyful crying. But just as soon as that excitement and that joy filled the room, it would be sucked right back out as devastation, pure devastation would follow. Because baby Kevin was found to have a congenital heart defect of which there wasn't much that could be done. 18 days later, after he was born, so on his actual due date, which would have been April the 2nd, baby Kevin Metzer would pass away in the loving arms of his mommy. Both Kevins were now together in heaven.

16:04 And while it is just a wonderful thing to think that his uncle was there to greet him into the gates of heaven, the pain, it was just raw. It was again, just like the scab was ripped right off. That sweet baby that was supposed to change everything and bring so much joy was now just throwing them all back into that pit of just despair. Sweet Baby, of course, he never knew anything but love in his short time on this earth. And what a gift in and of itself to be nothing but so greatly loved for those 18 days. But what a cruelty to so swiftly have that taken away from you, especially as first-time parents that had just suffered something so tragic already. It just, you know, there's no words. How does this much loss happen to one couple in just such a short amount of time?

17:02 It's unthinkable. But baby Kevin would be laid to rest and his headstone would read together forever on the bottom. Morgan and Rod would then have to return home, not only without their brother and brother-in-law, but now with empty arms and no baby to bring back to a nursery. This again would as you can imagine, was a very trying time in their young marriage. But with each other, they would pull through these tough times and they would persevere. Again, those months would pass. And with time, things would get easier. And they weren't moving on. Don't want to make it sound that way, but they were moving forward step by step.

17:46 And eventually that young couple would settle back into a daily life. Again, a new step of normal, um, different, a new normal, but still moving forward. And at least they were moving in the right direction, which was forward. So the holidays would come and go. Christmas Eve, of course, was bittersweet because it would always remind them of the loss of Uncle Kevin. But you still have to live. You still have to live. You can't just lay down and die. You can't let every moment just suck the joy from you. You've got to have something worth living for, and you have to keep on even on the worst of days. And wouldn't you know it that again, a short time later, joy would come again. And that's right.

18:38 It's going to come in the form of a baby, but this time it was even bigger. Three short months after baby Kevin passed, Morgan would tell Rod, guess what? I'm pregnant again. And he wrapped her up in a hug. And the moment seemed huge. It was just massive, right? Here we go again. And cautiously optimistic, they would go to the doctor. And when the ultrasound was complete, guess what? It was good news. Not only was there one heartbeat, but there were two. There were two. This is almost poetic in the way that this is happening. Twins. Can you even believe it? Can you believe it? And when they broke this new news to their parents, they couldn't believe it either. This is so amazing. This is amazing.

19:30 You know, the Lord giveth, but the Lord may take away, but the Lord giveth. And in this instance, he giveth in just massive quantity. It was amazing. And in 2012, everyone was filled with tears of joy when both babies were born, not only healthy, but full of life. And even better, one of each. They got a boy and they got a girl. From there on, I got to tell you, life just took off. It just took off for them. No more human loss that would devastate their family like recent history had shown them. As the years would pass, the kids would grow. And I'll tell you, they were thriving. These children were thriving. And from the outside, things looked really, really good. But as is common, behind closed doors, the marriage wasn't quite hanging on with the same fervor and excitement that a lot of people thought that it was. There just were expectations that were not being met. Rod, when they got married, he had promised to honor and to cherish and to provide, but he just wasn't living up to those promises in Morgan's eyes.

20:47 Rod had lost his job. Things quickly began to roll downhill in that regard. And it was like he would get jobs and then he would lose jobs. He wasn't being consistent, this consistent guy that she was used to. And mainly he would do day trading, but... The consistency just wasn't there. They had kids that they needed to support and not one. I mean, they had multiple children that they needed to support. And this became a large cause of friction in their marriage. I think that if you do any sort of research, you'll find that, of course, it's all fun and love in the beginning. But then when real life happens, not just tragedy, but just real life, the stressors of caring and being responsible for family life and children and what it takes to be committed and be a supportive spouse, those are the common things that cause marriages to fall apart. And then communication, when that's lost, we know how that goes. So Morgan knew that. that although her husband was struggling, she had to pull her own weight as well in this marriage. And interior design was something that she loved. It was a passion of hers.

22:01 Me too, Morgan, if you're listening. I love interior design. And as such, she decided to take a massive leap of faith. And it was in herself because she started an interior design business. Now, starting a business is scary for anybody. You have to have just this, You know, you're blindfolded, basically, and you just step off the cliff and you hope to God that you're going to fly, but nothing is guaranteed. And definitely hoped for, but completely unexpected at the rate it went. Her business blew up. It took off. Not only did she fly, but she soared. I mean, what a great problem to have, right? And the name of her business, I just have to say, was just precious. She named it Shiplap and Sugar. And...

22:48 I love it. I feel like it almost has a Southern vibe to it. Shiplap and sugar, right? So needing all of the help that she could due to this massive success, Morgan decided to ask her best friend, her bestie's name was Nicole. She decided to ask Nicole if she would be interested in joining her in this adventure. And Nicole, being ride or die, was like, hell yeah, of course. Let's do this, girl. And so they worked hand in hand, right beside each other, day in and day out, to make this dream a reality. But something unexpected happened. happened in the face of all of this success. And Morgan just really didn't get it. It was almost like Rod became jealous of her, became jealous of all of her success, but it wasn't given to her. She was earning this. She was working her ass off. So why was he acting like he was jealous of it?

23:45 He could do the same thing if he wanted to. He could do it. He wasn't being supportive and considering how hard He had leaned in on her during his bad times. Why the hell wasn't he being helpful or at least supportive in these good times or what should have been good times? Dreams were coming true. But Rod just seemed to be falling short. And so this added an additional stressor to their already strained relationship. But they were married, guys. They had been through so much. They pretty much grew up together if you think about it. and they weren't just going to throw in the towel.

24:25 So Morgan would confide in Nicole that she wasn't really having fun anymore, that this was exhausting, the marriage at least, that Rod was more like an additional child than he was a partner, and it was just draining. You want to go home to someone on the same level as you, and he just wasn't meeting her needs. But something would happen if That just totally changed her opinion on throwing in the towel. While they were out with some friends on a boating trip, she and Rod got into a disagreement and it didn't seem to resolve itself. And once they got done and the boat docked, that argument would continue on. So Morgan's dad was at home and he was just doing his thing when his cell phone rang.

25:15 And it was Morgan saying, Daddy, I need you to come get me. I just, you need to come pick me up right now. She was upset for sure. He could tell that something wasn't good. And when dad was like, okay, where are you? What is going on? She said, went out on this boating trip, me and Rod, we got into an argument and Rod hit me. And I'm not staying here. I want to go. I just want to be away from him. Well, of course, Daddy doesn't hesitate when he hears this, but he goes and he wants to pick her up, but he's going to follow up with Rod. He is daddy, right? And he had known Rod a long time. I mean, he had known Rod since he was a teenager. So he's going to address it. And Rod's explanation of things was that Morgan wasn't really being completely honest with what had happened. They had been arguing, but when things had gotten really heated, she was the one who had absolutely just flashed out and took it over the edge. And he told her dad, look, she lost her temper. We were arguing, but she lost her temper and she started to just get out of control.

26:18 So to try to handle the situation and deescalate it. He said, I grabbed her to stop her. And so if she has any bruising on her arms, that was not me wanting to hit her. That was more my attempts to stop her from freaking out on me. I wanted this to deescalate, not escalate. So they both kind of gave their, their sides to the parents. And what it kind of seemed like to me was that, um, dad was was kind of in the middle of two kids, as he saw them, and that both of them really had been contributors to whatever the escalation was, and he figured that whatever had happened, it probably was somewhere in between both of their stories. Not that either one was lying, but that, of course, everyone's going to see it from their own point of view, and maybe they both just got overheated, and he wasn't sure exactly what took place, but it was probably somewhere in the middle. Well, of course, these arguments created an emotional struggle between the two of them.

27:20 And what happens when you're having an emotional struggle with two people who are intimate? Well, that would translate into sexual disagreements between them. The thing was this. If Morgan wasn't feeling it and she didn't want to. Her complaint was that Rod would not accept that. He would not take no for an answer. From his perspective, it was more like, look, you're my wife and you're holding out on me. And that's not cool. You know, that's not how this is supposed to work. But the arguments continued. The disagreements continued and eventually got to the point where Morgan just was not interested in the marriage anymore. It wasn't worth the fight. Things just continued to escalate and get worse. The damage had been done and it continued to grow. And when things finally came to a head, Morgan went ahead and she filed for divorce. While she loved Rod, she wasn't in love with him anymore. And she wanted out. Rod wasn't ready to give up though.

28:22 He wanted to work things out. The problem was that it was just too little, too late. You can't try to repair something when it's gotten this far and this dysfunctional. So once that groundwork was laid and it was understood, Rod moved out of the house and he went and he got an apartment of his own and they were just gonna continue to co-parent while also breaking the news as easily as they could to the children that mom and dad are not gonna be together anymore. So by December of 2020, their divorce was finalized. An old chapter in their lives was officially closed and a new chapter was to begin. They both cared about one another, but the marriage was over. So Morgan and best friend Nicole, they were closer than ever at this time, besties and work partners, and this kept them constantly together. And so with New Year's Eve of 2020 right there upon them, both women decided they didn't feel like getting crazy. They could have gone out and they could have partied and done all those things, but they had responsibilities. And they had things that they had to take care of. And so going out and clubbing and just getting tore up and all that, it just wasn't in the cards for this New Year's. So the twins, they also weren't home.

29:40 That would have been cool, right? Because then you don't have to worry about picking up the kids if you went out partying, but that's not, that wasn't the case anyway. The kids were off and they were visiting their aunt, which was Morgan's sister in Florida. So she didn't have to worry about them, but she still decided she wanted to keep this just a low-key New Year's Eve celebration. How low key? Well, the two women decided that they were going to hang out at Nicole's house, veg out on the couch, watch the TV and see the ball drop. And that was pretty much going to be that. But before midnight would get there, Morgan was tired and she was just ready for bed. She just wasn't going to make it. Who is with me on that one that we are too old? Midnight seems like forever. I just want to go to bed. I'm tired. And Nicole was like, really?

30:27 Are you serious? But yeah, she was serious. I'm tired. And so they hugged goodnight and Morgan got in her car and she went ahead and went home. So when she got to the house, she went inside, she put on her jammies, washed her face, and then she snuggled on in to her bed. She was asleep very quickly before she knew it. I mean, she was tired. But when the clock struck midnight, wouldn't you know that she was awakened by the sound of fireworks going off outside? Just because she was asleep didn't mean the rest of the world was. So it kind of startled her awake, but she quickly realized what was going on. And so she kind of got herself going and she scooped up her pup. She had her little dog there and she wished him a happy new year before planting her first smooch of that year right there on top of his head.

31:14 Happy New Year's, buddy. And she gave him that smooch. A sweet little moment, right? Shared between the both of them before Morgan snuggled right back into her bed and wanted to go back to sleep. But something was in the air in that moment that made Morgan feel uneasy. She had fallen asleep with no problems the first time, but she couldn't shake the fact that it almost felt like somebody was there, like somebody was with her. But that couldn't be. The reason it couldn't be is because she had set the alarm before she went to bed. The alarm wasn't going off or anything. So why did she feel so uneasy? But she was just unable to shake that feeling when she opened her eyes in the dark in her bedroom and then was jolted awake by the sight of a man standing right there in her house in her doorway. And so her immediate reaction is, oh my God, her eyes opened real wide. She sat up and she started just instinctually pushing herself back on the bed to try to make distance. But that man immediately charged at her as soon as he realized that he had been seen. And in the instant that he ran towards her, she could tell that the person had on a mask that was completely covering his face, black gloves and black pants, literally everything that The movies show in a nightmare scene. It's everything that we, especially as women, fear happening to us, especially in the sanctity of our own homes. But the man at that point jumped right

32:45 on top of her. He straddled her. And with no words exchanged, he reared back and he began just hitting her in the face. Blow after blow after blow, one after the other. And of course, she was trying to protect herself by turning her head. But when she turned her head to the left, the right side of her face was fully exposed. And the thing was this. He wasn't just punching her with his fist, which we know is going to hurt no matter what. But he was smoking her in the face with cold, hard metal bashing against her eye socket. And it was debilitating. And it was taking away any hope of her seeing her attacker or a way out in that regard. The weapon used to smash her cheek and to just beat her eye socket was a gun. And the crushing pain of that pistol whipping made Morgan just woozy pretty quickly. But he stopped hitting her at one point. And so she was trying to catch, you know, her balance and figure out what was going on. But that was not the end of this attack. After he stopped bashing her in the face, he then wrapped both of his hands around her throat.

33:59 And he began to squeeze as hard as he could possibly squeeze. And she was struggling to pull his hands, to get his hands off of her throat. She was gasping for air. But the more that she gasped and the more that she struggled, the harder that he squeezed. And he squeezed right to the point that she was going to pass out. She knew it. She was going out. then he let go. When he let go, all she could do at that point to remain conscious was just to start, start gulping. She was gulping at the air, desperately trying to get oxygen into her lungs so that she could stay alive. And that's when she heard the man speak for the first time. And what was very, very strange about it was that his voice sounded like Batman.

34:47 And I do not mean that funny. I mean that literally it sounded like, like Batman in the movies, almost as if he was purposefully making his voice very, very deep and almost growly in the way that he was talking to her. And that's when he told her to shut up. And then he grabbed her around the throat again. And he started to squeeze again with that full pressure. And she was right back in that same scenario, those gasps of air, unable to get the air back in her lungs. Why had he stopped? And now he was doing it again. And while she was struggling to stay alive with everything she had in her, Morgan's thoughts started racing and her children's faces flashed in her mind. My babies, oh my God, I'm gonna die and they're not gonna have their mama. But just as soon, As she started to lose consciousness again, the attacker let go. He let go again. And she starts gasping for air. She was choking.

35:45 She was coughing. She was doing everything she could to just try to suck that air back in. And the attacker at that point again started beating her. But while he was doing this and he was just raining down the blows back on her again, he was talking to her. And what he was saying, it was like he knew her, like he knew all about her life. And for a second, for a millisecond, she wondered, am I having a nightmare? But this hurt too bad. This physically hurt too bad to just be a dream. And that's when the attacker began to rip off her clothes and he muttered to her that she may live through this, but she was going to miss her husband, guaranteed. And so she screamed out, no, please, please, and leave my husband alone. I love him so much. Please, please.

36:33 But the man didn't care what she said. He was there with a mission in mind, and it was to take what he wanted. And part of what he wanted was sexual. So bruised and bleeding and definitely lightheaded from this severe beating that she had taken, Morgan was then subjected to being raped by the masked intruder. And there was nothing that she could do. When people say that they feel helpless, this is one of those moments I'm telling you that I think a woman for sure, and a man as well, but a woman for sure feels what the word helpless feels like. She was hurt and she was terrified and she was overpowered, helpless. She was home alone and there was nothing anyone could do to stop this. compliance really seemed to be the best course of action in the moment. Fighting him, she was not going to win. She was completely overpowered. But compliance, maybe if I do exactly what he wants and what he says, maybe I'll survive this. And so hot tears were just rolling, pushing through one of her swollen eyes, but rolling down her cheeks as she felt him working himself to the position that he needed to sexually assault her. He was hurting her in every way possible. And the punishment in this moment was nearly unbearable. But fear, fear has purpose

38:05 in life and fear is a motivator. And Morgan needed this fear to live. In her mind, although she was struggling and she just felt that she may not make it through this, her mind locked onto the faces of those children that needed her so much and She was worried about them and she was worried about Rod too because she didn't know if he was already hurt, if maybe he was dead. Were her kids okay? Were the kids dead? Had someone targeted all of them? All of this going through her mind, but she focused in on those children and she was going to do what she had to do to go home to them or for at least them to be able to come home to her and alive. And when the man was done pleasing himself with Morgan's body, That's when he flipped her over on her stomach, and she knew that this was going to be a changing moment in this attack. She really wondered, okay, is this the part where he kills me? But while she's waiting for that, I don't know if she was waiting for a gunshot or a stab. What are you waiting for? She just knew that she was injured. That's when she felt her arms being pulled behind her back, almost as if she was being arrested. straight behind her back, pulled together, and then she felt plastic ties being placed around her wrists and then pulled tightly, which completely immobilized her.

39:34 And she was completely at this attacker's just total mercy. She now couldn't fight back if she wanted to. And that's when the man jumped up off the bed and he started demanding her valuables. It wasn't enough that he had raped her and beaten her within an inch of her life. Now he wanted anything worth money. So he's standing up and he's going through her room and he starts ripping open her furniture, the drawers. He's digging through everything. And he turned around and he said, where is your cell phone? She wasn't in a position to not comply. And so she pointed to where the phone was. And as if that wasn't enough, he wanted her passcode as well.

40:16 She gave it to him. She gave the digits. Because what she realized is that this guy was not an idiot. And this was not your everyday home invasion rapist, as if there is such a thing. But this guy was more than just come in and rape and then run out the front door. He was smart enough to look in her phone, use her lock pad to unlock it. And then he went into her apps and he was able to unlock the doors using the app. Now her home was two stories, okay? And she had a door right there in her bedroom that if you opened it, it went directly off onto a second story balcony or outdoor porch area. So the attacker, then ripped her up off of the bed and pulled a pillow, a pillowcase right off of the pillow. And she said, oh my God, through this one eye, the one eye that she could open because she realized he's about to suffocate me. But when he put the pillowcase over her head, he never started to tighten it. He just put it over her head.

41:29 So she was sitting there naked and totally immobilized with her hands behind her back. And now she was blinded by this pillowcase that was over her head. What the hell was he going to do with her? She was hot. She was crying. She was in a total state of panic when the man then picked her up off of the bed and he carried her outside on that porch. And she thought, oh my God, he's going to throw me over the balcony. Oh my God. Her thoughts were just racing, bracing for the impact that she knew was coming. But He didn't throw her over the balcony. He set her down right there on the porch. He set her down naked and then he barked, do not move until you hear two honks. If you move, I will kill you.

42:18 So unable to see if he understood that she understood and wanting to make sure that she agreed, she started shaking her head with the hood right over it. She started shaking in agreeance. I won't move. I won't move. And then, just as quickly as it happened, there was silence. She was listening just very intently to anything that was around her, but all she could hear was crickets. All she could feel was the cool December wind blowing against her skin. But she didn't trust her attacker, not for one second. She didn't know if he was just standing there watching her to see what she was going to do.

43:01 She didn't know, was he still in the house? Is he right here? Is he gone? Is he just being quiet? She had no clue. And it put a fear into her that was so chilling that she froze and she didn't dare move. She didn't care what happened. She wasn't moving. And what do you do? Put yourself in this position. What do you do in a moment such as this? There is no training on how to react, nor is This is something that we all, just deep down inside, be honest. No one ever assumes that this is actually going to happen to you. It's always someone else that this happens to, not me. And so no matter what you've been told, do this, do that, when you're actually in the throes of it, it just brings a whole new level of terror that you don't even know what to do. You don't know where your attacker is, and you don't know what all he's capable of. So she sat there terrified and shaking for what felt like forever, unable to move, unable to see, but hearing every leaf that crackled under the weight of someone's foot. And she realized someone's back here. Oh my God. Oh my God, he's back. He's back. She could hear the cracking of the leaves as someone was moving into the backyard, but she didn't know who it was. And she was like, She didn't want to make a sound. But then a miracle.

44:35 An absolute miracle. Because she heard her name. Morgan? Morgan. There was a voice in the dark calling out for her and knew her. And it was a voice that she knew. She recognized it. Her head shot up. She couldn't see. But Rod? And it was Rod. Rod! Rod! Rod, I'm up here. And he said, are you okay? Are you okay? And in her mind, she's thinking, oh my God, are you okay? And he was, but whenever he looked up in the darkness, he was stunned. What are you doing? What are you doing? What happened? Come help me, Rod, please come help me. So Rod ran into the house.

45:18 He shot up the stairs where he found Morgan in terrible condition out there on that porch. He ripped the pillowcase off of her head, and the sight of her battered face almost made him come unglued. What happened to you, Morgan? Oh, my God. So as she's trying to explain it, he fumbled in his pocket, he grabbed his cell phone, and that's when he dialed 911. Sure, he got me 911. Somebody broke in over here. She was on the back porch. So while Rod was her ex-husband, and they certainly had their problems, there was no doubt, she was so thankful. She was so thankful to have him there in this moment, and he consoled her through the whole thing. He was so genuinely loving and caring. I won't leave you. I'm staying right here, Morgan. You're okay. I've got you. I've got you. It's okay. They're on their way. And as he said this, he stood by his word, too. He could have had every reason to say, you know, forget you.

46:19 But he stayed true to his word, and he did not leave her side. And the thing was this. I got to give you a little insight here. Morgan and Rod had gotten much closer in the recent weeks, despite the fact that they were divorced. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Rod was facing uncertainty. horrible circumstances in his private life, and I do not mean the divorce, and Morgan was the only one that he was confiding it all to. He had gone to the doctor and he had been handed some devastating news because Rod found out that he had pancreatic cancer. Now, if you don't have any experience with pancreatic cancer, it is very rarely found in its early stages and And that's when it's got its greatest chance of curing or at least delaying. But basically, by the time that you start having symptoms and they show, usually it's already spread and curing it is very, very rare.

47:26 Often a deadly outcome is inevitable. So Rod's parents, we know this, had already dealt with the death of his brother. And now this happens. this had come about and he just wasn't able to break it to them. He didn't want to tell them you're going to lose another son. And so he did what he, what he could. He knew that, you know, Morgan knew him well. And so he could trust her. And so if he couldn't break it to his parents, he had broken this news to Morgan and Morgan, because she still cared for him and he still cared for her. She had been his source of comfort for the last, couple of weeks and trying to figure out what to do. Morgan had even allowed him to stay at the house for the past like week or so, so that he wouldn't be alone. Nobody wants to hear basically you're going to die and then be left alone. That's just cruel. And so this time they had spent together had brought them closer in, I guess, some sort of not good, but magical way. And in this instance, considering what just happened to Morgan, It seemed like it was a good thing that they were together.

48:43 So when the police arrived, Rod was very clearly on edge. He was very affected by the situation in the moment. And so as the detectives come walking up and approached him, he didn't even greet them. He just looked up and snapped and he said, why don't you get in there and do your fucking job? Okay, go help her. So the officer's like, damn, dude, you know, they're used to people being rude. Officers are no stranger to people being rude, right? And that's what they were there to do. And he was upset. So they just moved on and they went in the house to help Morgan. Now Morgan's father and her brother had already been called to the scene. They were there. And so they too were trying to comfort Morgan and understand the situation and what all had unfolded.

49:27 So when the detectives got there, Morgan had already put her clothes back on by that point. She was in her little pink and white pinstripe jammy pants she had on a t shirt. But The zip ties that were around her wrists had been cut. She was still wearing it on one wrist, but they had cut them so that she at least was not in discomfort while waiting for everything to be evaluated. Her right eye was swollen shut. She was crying. She was in shock. And there was a fresh set of like scratching underneath her chin. And as a daddy and a brother looking at this, you can probably imagine the range of emotions that they were feeling because your daddy and your brother, they're the ones who are going to protect you. But they... They weren't able to. They would have, but they were just unable to.

50:18 And so they're in this just range of emotions. And Rod, who was horrified by what had happened, he was in the thralls of emotion too. I mean, this was the mother of his children. If they could find, if the collective men could have found who did this, he was good as dead. They were all just overwhelmed seeing her in that condition. So Morgan, like I said, she was inside. And she was questioned by the police where she gave them the basic rundown of everything that had happened. And it was disturbing, quite shocking to say the least, because Morgan had no known enemies. She had no work issues that would have possibly created a disgruntled client or anything really, really.

51:01 She and Rod were on good terms. She didn't live a high-risk lifestyle either. So there were no obvious leads to just go run and start chasing down. So Rod was outside on the porch. He's just sitting there, you know, rubbing his face, trying to figure out what is his role here? What is he supposed to do? He's just keeping an eye out basically for anyone who might want to return or something like that. And so the police went outside and they wanted to question him on what had happened. And he too gave them a rundown of events. But the police couldn't understand one big thing about this. Again, they didn't know the background that the two of them had gotten closer in recent weeks. So they were kind of like judging him here going, we can't figure out why were you at the house in the first place?

51:53 And That's when things really got rolling because Rod said, all right, I had been up very late at my apartment. I was at home. It's New Year's, but I was at home. I didn't go out or anything. He said, I was in my bathroom. I was brushing my teeth. And that's when I heard what I thought was knocking at one of my windows. So he stopped and he kind of leaned and was listening when someone who was outside of his window was was saying something, was like talking. But when he was able to realize that's what was happening, that's when the person took off running. So when he went and looked, nobody was there. He did not make out what all they had said, but he thought that he had heard Morgan's name. And that was confusing, but also alarming considering it was very early hours, early morning hours.

52:48 And he had no idea no foundation of what the hell was going on. So since he couldn't make out what exactly was said, but he was pretty sure he had heard Morgan's name, he didn't know what to think. So he went and he grabbed his cell phone and he called Morgan, but Morgan didn't pick up the phone. Either way, she had told him earlier in the night that she was going out. And so she was going to be staying at her parents' house is what she had told him. And so he didn't really know what like what to think since she didn't answer the phone. That's why when he decided that he was going to go get in his car and he just drove over to the house, it was just too weird to not react. And, you know, he still cared about her and he wasn't going to go, oh, someone said Morgan's name outside of my window. I guess that's nothing. And then go to bed.

53:37 That just didn't make any sense. So when he pulled up to the house, he knocked on the front door and there was no answer. But the thing was, Morgan's car was there. So he knew that she was home. And so he said, that's why I was there. And he said, I started to walk around the back of the house to see if anything was going on back there. And that's whenever I found Morgan. And, you know, you know everything from that point forward. He was the listener as well as the police. They knew what happened from that point forward. So him being at the house when that was explained wasn't strange because they both said, yeah, I mean, he's been staying here and, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But also he wasn't like not welcome necessarily at the home because he had dropped off a check to her earlier that evening and left it under a cushion on a chair on the porch. So when they asked Morgan, is that true? She said, absolutely. He had dropped off a check earlier. And then he left. So following up on their stories, everything was was copacetic and was lining up.

54:44 So police asked him, hey, can we see your cell phone? He readily said, sure. He handed it over. And sure enough, they were able to verify he had indeed tried to call Morgan before he went over to the house. So Morgan broke the news to the detectives or told the detectives, look, I have security cameras. And they're like, awesome. This is going to be a huge help. But whenever police were able to log in and view the cameras, nothing was out of the ordinary. Everything was lining up until the time of the attack. And that's when the footage was gone. It was cut. So they're looking... And detectives have to look at everything and they're wondering, Morgan, did you erase the footage? Because she was the one who had access to it. But that was quickly dispelled. That couldn't be true because she didn't even have her phone to access it, number one. And you're like, well, she could have done it by computer. Well, she could have, except for the fact that Rod showed up and when she was found, there wouldn't have been time for her to do all of that. Plus she was zip tied behind her back and she didn't zip tie herself behind the back. How would she do that? So it didn't take long for the detectives to realize that the attacker had access to her phone and he was likely the one that had accessed the cameras. It was believed that he was the one that erased the footage. So the camera showed everything that evening. It even showed when Rod came up to

56:15 the house and dropped the check off. He put it under the cushion. And it even caught all the way up to whenever Morgan returned home and got the check from under the cushion. But after that, nothing until the police arrived. But there was something that investigators couldn't understand. And they didn't want to harp on this, okay? But it just was not flowing for them. And their question was, why did Rod go to Morgan's house? And you're like, well, he already said why he went to her house. What is so hard to understand about that? But the reason the investigators weren't understanding this was based on his own statements.

56:56 Because Rod said that she wasn't home because she told him that she was spending the night at her mama's house. And he's like, yeah, that's true. Okay, then when someone knocked on your window... Why didn't you go to her mom's house? Why did you come to Morgan's house? And he seemed like confused by the question. He's like, it's her house. And his apartment was close to her house. That's why I came here. All right. I guess that makes sense, right? So detectives decided to move on from that. And they wanted to look further and more into his exact account of things because he was the ex-husband. And this included obtaining a search warrant for his electronics, his car, and his home. Well, when they got in his car, Rod did have a pistol in the car. But this wasn't direct evidence of involvement or anything. Plenty of people carry weapons in their cars, and they were on good terms.

57:59 But this is where I'm going to insert the word sorta, okay? Because Morgan had been separated from Rod, like physically separated, not because of the divorce. And when she was questioned alone, Morgan explained to them that his cancer diagnosis had been devastating to both of them, that she had let him stay at the house for a couple of days. But he did frustrate her some because he wanted to talk about reconciliation towards the end of that stay. And she wasn't interested in that. at all. And so when he did kind of say, look, you know, maybe we should try again. That's when she had said, look, I think it's best that you just go back to your house.

58:42 So it wasn't all just straight sunshines and rainbows and their best friends. But the fact was that he had found her and thank God he found her and that he had saved her in this tragedy. She was thankful, but she was very clear that she was not wanting to reconcile or anything with him. So with no other leads and nothing to go off of, they still wanted to focus on Rod and discount him as a suspect. So when they got to his apartment, I'm going to let you know that it really looked a lot like what you would expect of a bachelor pad. Sports memorabilia, there were baseballs and helmets on this table below the big screen. He had a dark brown, this big leather chair and these leather couches. I'll be honest, I thought it was somewhat charming. I kind of liked the vibe of his man cave. And so the detectives were looking around and they were bagging things that they thought might could be potential evidence. And this included his laptop that was going to be sent for analysis. But during that search, they also found a bag of zip ties and they were black ones. So. These are things that lots of people have in their homes. But considering the fact that Morgan was restrained with zip ties that were very similar, those two were taken for examination. Now, before they were sent off to be put in evidence, the detective on the scene decided to open up his cell phone and go to his Lowe's app, like, you know, Home Depot, Lowe's, those stores. And he scanned the QR code on the

1:00:14 bag of the zip ties to see if maybe it was something that they sold. And sure enough, they did. These were sold at Lowe's. So a quick search of the local area showed that there were only two local Lowe's that were in the nearby area. So on a hunch, the detective drove to these stores and he requested any video surveillance of anyone that may have been buying that product. Now, of course, reminder, this was during COVID, so everyone was masked up when they were checking out, but that was until one man got to check out, and that was on December the 30th. This was just about 36 hours before the attack, and clear as day, it was Rod buying these zip ties. He was standing very casually. He was in jeans, and he had this North Face sweatshirt on, baseball cap, very average situation. There was nothing weird about it, but if there was... even a question of whether he was the guy buying these zip ties, he used his debit card to check out. So they definitely knew that he bought these zip ties and that he had recently bought them. But again, it didn't necessarily mean that they were the ones that were used in what happened to Morgan.

1:01:27 The forensic comparison at the lab would tell if they were the actual ones or not, but that was going to take time. So until then, a search of Rod's electronics would be done and it would reveal that he had a secret folder on his cell phone. And once that secret folder was cracked open, it held photos of Morgan in the nude. But we got to stop real quick because yes, they had been a married couple. So these could have been photos that were mutually shared during that timeframe. But the issue that investigators had with these photos is that when they were taken, it was very clear that Morgan was seemingly unaware that she was being photographed.

1:02:18 These weren't like selfies in the nude sent to him. So they decided not to ask Rod about it. They wanted to ask Morgan about it. And when Morgan was questioned about these photos, she was horrified and she was unaware that Rod was in possession of any photos of her. Not only that, but he also had screenshots in his photos of text messages that were between Morgan and another gentleman. There was no reason that he should have been in possession of those photos. And because of the squirrely circumstances about those text messages that were screenshotted, police decided to go ahead and arrest Rod, not for Morgan's situation, but for the secret photos that she said he was not supposed to be in possession of. So when Morgan was brought in and further spoke with detectives, at this point, she was angry. It hadn't been long since the attack had occurred. And this meeting was videoed at the police station, kind of in an interrogation room. And you can clearly see that Morgan's eye is still swollen shut. She's incredibly sore.

1:03:30 She did have her friend Nicole with her by her side to give her support. So when Morgan explained what her attacker's voice sounded like, they kind of discussed why she thought what she thought about the whole Batman thing. And she told the detectives that while she wasn't certain, she felt like the voice could have been someone that she knew. She said, like, my ex-husband, okay? And while these thoughts are kind of being said out loud, something flashed into her mind that she couldn't shake. And it wasn't about the beating. It was about after the beating.

1:04:12 She told them about the man picking her up off of the bed and carrying her outside to the porch. And what flashed in her mind was that it was just it had a familiarity about it. It specifically reminded her of a time when she was very pregnant at home and she Rod had picked her up off of the bed and it was almost like deja vu that way that she had been picked up. But she also thought about that, you know, she's thinking back through this beating. And it was the point whenever she said, no, please don't hurt my husband, my ex-husband. I love him very much.

1:04:52 That was the moment that the attacker seemed to ease up on her. And like a lightbulb, slowly turning on and taking a moment to gain full brightness, she looked up in almost disbelief because it hit her. Are you saying that Rod might be the person who did this to me? And that's when Morgan would start thinking things through and open up and give a little bit more insight to her recent situation because she claimed that to the detective that towards the end of their marriage, one thing that really bothered her the most was that Rod had become more physical with her. But when she would tell anyone, he would always make it out to seem like she was exaggerating what happened. And it even got to a point where she said that she was starting to question her own reality, if what she knew to be true wasn't really what had happened. Because it felt like Rod was like gaslighting her in that way. Because she said that he was even bringing the children into the fighting towards the end of the marriage. He would hurt himself. She said one time he fell down the stairs and then went and told the children, look what mommy did to me. Look, mommy hurt me. And so she really started to think that maybe she was losing it.

1:06:17 And that was when she just put her foot down and said, I've had enough. No more. I want a divorce. But thinking it all through, Rod, was he capable of like beating and sexually assaulting her? Was he really able to do that? And if so, why? So all of this is kind of going through her mind and she just can't figure out why. So with him now in custody because of the photos that he had without permission, Rod was brought in by detectives and he was questioned, but not before calling his mom. And we all know these phone calls are recorded in jail and he's talking to his mother and his mother was dumbfounded. She just could not believe that he had been arrested. Were the police really serious here because he had been there trying to help Morgan for God's sake and he's being punished, it seemed like, for that. And on the recorded call from jail, Rod is heard asking his mom, mom, why is she doing this to me? Why does she keep doing this to me? Rod's conversation was centered around the notion that Morgan was doing this to him. His understanding was that she was setting him up, that she was clearly out to get him. If Morgan had given him those photos, then why would she allow him to be arrested?

1:07:44 So his mother really didn't know what to think. This was either Morgan playing games after the divorce or Rod's manipulation at its finest, but there were two very different viewpoints of what was going on here. So detectives wanted to speak with Rod directly, and they brought him in to ask him some questions. So he was already in custody, like you know, he was dressed in his orange jail jumper, but his demeanor was calm. He was not agitated. He just came in. And the conversation started rather vanilla, but man, did it have an impact. Because in the basic just entry questions that were being asked, Rod was asked about his health ailments and he acknowledged his diabetes. So investigators were intrigued by this because he didn't mention his cancer.

1:08:37 So when he was asked, Rod wasn't sure what to say. So was he going to hide his diagnosis from the police? I mean, I get hiding it from your mom because you don't want to break her heart after all she's been through. But why would you hide it from the police? And so they're like, are you getting cancer attention while you're in jail? Are you being treated? Are you getting your medications? When he was directly asked about his cancer, he looked at him and said, you know what? I don't want to talk to you guys anymore. I don't like the angle I feel like you're taking with me. And he started to point out things about the detective's behavior as to why he didn't want to talk to them. Things like he said, he was pointing to one of the detectives and he said, you're scratching yourself very obviously scratching yourself when you're agitated with what I'm saying. And the detectives, when he starts saying all of this, they're not having it. Like, straight up, they look at him and say, bro, do you have cancer or not? And Rod didn't want to talk anymore. But guess what? Detectives never go into questioning unarmed. And I don't mean with a gun. I mean with information. Because Those computer searches of his laptop, those had come back. And if he was uncomfortable at that moment during the questioning, then he was about to catch some so-called strays when they started with the next set of questions because they said, look here, Rod, we found the letter confirming your cancer from the hospital.

1:10:07 And he's like, okay. And they say, but we also know it isn't real. You made that letter. We also know that you created a fake email account to send yourself that fake cancer diagnosis letter. Oh, yeah. And we also can see and found where you created the fake medical bills for your supposed cancer. You don't have cancer, do you? Rod was fuming at this point. And he tried his typical gaslighting by acting insulted by the accusation. But these were grown ass men that he was talking to, not an ex-wife who was trying to see the best in him. Challenge accepted here. And that's when they really just dropped the hammer on him. You are also interested.

1:10:56 We can see if you don't talk about your cancer, that's fine. But we can also see you were interested in your Google searches on how to change your voice. Kind of interesting, huh? And he said, yeah, I felt like mine wasn't manly enough. And they're like, OK, Batman. OK, a picture here is being painted. But when he was confronted with those zip ties and the purchasing video, Rod got got big mad in this one. And he adamantly denied having any, quote unquote, big ass zip ties there. And he said, this interview is starting to get really squirrely. I didn't have any big-ass zip ties in my apartment. But something I noticed, me, as your podcaster, is whenever he said this, he threw his hands up. And he made like a gesture to the size of the zip ties.

1:11:48 And I went, huh. Because they never said big-ass zip ties. And they certainly hadn't given a length or anything like that. So why would he create... that size with his hands. Things that make you go, hmm. But after all of his denials, I'd have to agree with his getting squirrely assessment of things because like a game show, okay, is I'm going to have to say, but wait, Rod, there's more. Because that's when they say, and we found the The handcuffs, whenever they were on Morgan, they had been pre-looped. You could tell that whoever had set this up, they had pre-looped the hand ties together. And it was really weird because when they were connected, they had been ratcheted down really tight together. I don't mean on Morgan. I mean like the pre-setup of these cuffs. And when that happened, then the tails of the connecting zip ties had been snipped off. And detectives brought up the fact that a tail of a zip tie had been found at his apartment.

1:12:58 And it matched the head that remained on the zip ties on Morgan's cuffs. Remember, zip ties have those teeth in them. When you pull it, it goes, right, that sound? It has those teeth. So it was actually quite simple to fracture match the piece found at his apartment with those cuffs around her wrists. They were a perfect match. And so Rod pipes up and says, there is something really funny going on here. And detectives would have to agree with him. But Rod was saying that he was starting to feel uneasy because he was being set up. Somebody was setting him up. What detectives knew about his search history, though, on his computer was even more telling. OK, the jig was up. Let me tell you some additional searches on his computer. They included how to change your voice.

1:13:52 how to choke someone unconscious, making someone pass out, how to crack an iPhone password. And then the aha moment was found in the searches. And this one said, how to get sympathy from your ex. There it was. If you needed a why and a how, the police had found it. Rod had destroyed his marriage, okay? And then when he couldn't win Morgan back with his charm or his lack thereof, that's when he went the sympathy route. That's when he created the fake cancer diagnosis. He was such a liar and such a... a manipulator. He knew Morgan didn't hate him. She cared about him. And he used that soft spot to his advantage. If you don't recognize that manipulation is abuse, then let's get to it right now. You will never convince me otherwise. Emotional manipulation very quickly crosses the line into emotional and psychological abuse when it becomes a repeated intentional pattern of especially when it's used to gain power or control or to try to dominate somebody else. And this is exactly what he was doing. She let him back in the house to comfort him because of this fake diagnosis. She was being there for him and the whole time he was playing a game. He also, I have to tell you, had much more devious plans from the start. because he knew

1:15:23 he needed a way to get into her home, because he had planned to hurt her all along. When detectives searched the home, they could not understand how the attacker could have gotten inside without setting off the alarm. Records showed that the alarm had been set, but it never was tripped. But they found the answer when they were searching the exterior of the home. There was nothing wrong with the alarm system, but just like Morgan, it had been manipulated. But how? Here's the answer. you would have had to have been inside the house with the alarm off to do what was found to have been done.

1:16:04 No random attacker could have done this without there being somewhat of an inside job in mind. On the lower level window, the connection was still there for the alarm, meaning that if the window were to be raised, it would separate the connection, i.e. that alerts that there's been a breach in the security of the home, And the alarm would have sounded. So the whole alarm apparatus that was there or the module had been moved. So it was connected together on the sill rather than where if it was moved, it would separate. This took planning. It took thought. And this took access to the home when the alarm wasn't on. So whenever he was staying in this house for comfort for his supposed cancer, that's whenever he went in and he disabled or moved that connection to where he would be able to get in that house by opening a window, but it would never set off the alarm. And they believe that he did this in the night while she was sleeping. Rod's whole story at this point was blown to hell and back. And when his own explanation of events didn't match additional security cameras, i.e.

1:17:18 the ones at his own apartment, that's when it just totally fell apart. So the Lowe's surveillance footage showed Rod leaving the store with that package of zip ties, right? Well, additional surveillance footage was found at his apartment complex. that showed him leaving again just a few minutes after he had arrived home. But guess what? He was in different clothing. And what was that clothing, you ask? I'm glad you asked me. Dark jeans, a dark hoodie, and he was also carrying a plastic bag. Now, in full transparency, this was one like from a store, you know, like maybe from Lowe's or Home Depot, something like that. And what was in the bag is still to this day unknown.

1:18:00 But I think we're all smart enough to fill in the gaps. Maybe a mask, maybe some gloves, and maybe some preset, pre-hooked zip ties. Hmm, I don't know. You can decide for yourself. But one final piece of evidence would be almost comical if it weren't involved in the beating and damn near strangulation death of a defenseless woman. Because what if I told you Rod had taken up reading in his spare time? That's right. Police found a book in his apartment, and the title, you ask? Seven Ways to Be Her Hero. So I looked this up. I was just curious, and I thought I'd share some of the chapters with you, okay? Chapter two, Stop Chasing the Wind and Start Chasing Your Wife. I think he might have misinterpreted that chapter just a hair. Chapter three, how it got laid. Arguably, he must have misunderstood what that chapter was about as well. Chapter five, say what is powerful. Maybe like, I don't know, changing your voice and threatening her and sounding like Batman. Did he even read the chapter? And then chapter seven, go big with small things. I'm going to leave that one there. I'm going to see if you're on the same maturity level as me at this exact moment. I'm sure that's not funny, but I digress. So I'm thinking at this point that he may have just read the chapter titles and totally

1:19:31 skipped over the content, which to the book's credit is actually good stuff. It's all about courting your wife and being a good husband. I'm not sure that he read that content. So what happened that day that Morgan was beaten, pistol whipped, sexually assaulted was completely a planned and thought out event by Rod. He faked his cancer diagnosis so he could gain her sympathy. And since he knew her so well, he figured he could get into the home and play on her emotions. His entire plan was to gain reconciliation through sympathy. By the way, that's a manipulation tactic. He started with working on her emotions. And if she thought that she may possibly lose him permanently, i.e. because he may die, then he thought, well, then she won't want to waste any time that I have left. And so that's when he worked on the cancer angle. Whenever he was in the home and they started talking, Morgan had said he seemed like he was trying to reconcile. Well, he was because he started making promises to her. He told her things like, oh, you can quit your job.

1:20:37 I'll take care of you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But she had already been there before. Been there, done that, got the proverbial T-shirt. He couldn't even keep a job and he wasn't being a good partner. That's why she wanted to divorce him in the first place, not to mention that he had become both physical in fighting and sexually. So when this wasn't going to plan and he resorted basically to begging, that's when Morgan said, look, I think I think you need to go ahead and leave. And that is whenever he shifted to his plan B. He was going to try to gain her love through force and through fear. But he wouldn't be able to keep her if he knew or if she knew that he was the one that was hurting her. Y'all, he wasn't dumb.

1:21:19 He's an asshole. So that's when he made up the plan to have the random intruder scare and hurt her. He made adjustments to the window before he left the home so that he could make his way back into that house undetected. 36 hours before the attack occurred is when he went and he bought the zip ties. Here's the other thing. Remember, the kids were out of town. He knew that. So this was a perfect time to attack their mother while they weren't home. But that's when he encountered a problem. She wouldn't be home. Remember, she had told him that she was going to be at her parents' house. She wasn't going to be home. And that's when a light bulb went off in police. They realized that that check he brought earlier in the day, that was part of the plan. Because he had texted Morgan that he was bringing over that check. But get this.

1:22:17 You want to know how much that check was for? I thought that this was gonna be something I assumed to be like a child support check or something along those lines. But no, this check was huge. This check was written for $ 56, 000. And it was all a ploy to ensure that she came home so that that check wouldn't be left outside. So when Morgan got home and they go back and they look at her pulling the check out from underneath the couch cushion, Her reaction at that point stood out to them and it was much more telling because when she pulled the check out and she opened and looked at it, she like shook her head no almost and then threw her arms down almost like saying, come on. Why did she react that way? Well, looking into it, police now understood why. Rod didn't have $ 56, 000.

1:23:11 He was broke. He knew that. She knew that. This check was no good and he was wasting her time. But the thing was this, it was all part of his plan. The check didn't have to be good. It was to get her home and it worked. So after the home went quiet, the lights were off and Morgan was in bed. Rod snuck in through that bottom window, gloves on, black mask, zip ties and gun at the ready. Whether he would kill her or just beat her would be decided in the moment. Careful to remove that screen and gently open that window. Morgan was upstairs asleep under the false sense of safety at that moment that her alarm would protect her. Rod snuck through. He remained undetected, but he froze when Morgan unexpectedly woke up. Remember, those fireworks went off. But when she got back in the bed, her spidey senses, I know this was Batman, but her spidey senses were already on. And she felt like she wasn't alone. And that's when he appeared in the doorway, ready to take what he believed was his. And he did everything he could to get her back, and she didn't want to accept it. So this was going to be the way that he got it now. He pounced, he pistol-whipped the shit out of the woman he quote-unquote loved, all the while changing his voice to trick her. And then he began to strangle her. But when she said, please don't hurt my ex, please don't do this, I love him, that's when he stopped. It was working. The

1:24:44 plan that he started out with was working, but he wanted to pleasure himself too. So he went through with the sexual assault, ripping off her clothes against her will. She was then zip tied, but he made a huge mistake here because those tails would be fracture matched perfectly right back in the lab. And he had constructed those restraints at home before he left the house. Now, when he took her phone, it wasn't just for the credibility of this robbery looking real either. It was self-serving. He wanted to see who had she been talking to? Were there any men in her phone? And then when he saw it and he found it, he took pictures of it. And you have to ask yourself here, I wonder why?

1:25:27 Was that man potentially in danger himself considering what Rod was willing to do to someone he supposedly loved? I'll let you decide, but why would you document this unless you were going to do something about it. They were already divorced. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong anyway. He then disarmed the alarm before carrying his beaten and broken princess, the way he used to on the outside porch, crying and desperately afraid for her life. After leaving, he used her phone to delete the video footage of the attack, but he made sure to let that camera roll continue whenever he swooped back in 40 minutes later to save her.

1:26:09 which now answers why he went to her house, not her parents' house. The detectives were right all along. It's because he knew she wasn't there. You have to ask yourself, why would he yell out her name anyway? Her home was dark and nothing looked amiss to anyone who didn't know, but he did. That's why he was yelling her name out in the backyard, because he knew she was outside and that she would answer him. The surveillance from his own apartment would also confirm that no one ever knocked on his window or was ever outside of it. I guess he didn't think that part through. And there was also another bit of information that now made so much sense as to the timing of the attack. On December 31st, Morgan told Rod, look, you need to tell your parents about your diagnosis, meaning the cancer. When he refused, she said, well, then you just, you need to go. because he was trying to reconcile and all of that. But if Morgan were to go and tell his parents about the fake diagnosis, that would have messed everything up. His plans would have been destroyed. And so it was now or never. With the overwhelming evidence against Rod, he was charged with multiple counts, Home invasion in the first degree, possession of a knife or a firearm during the commission of an attempt to commit a felony, armed robbery, aggravated assault by strangulation, burglary, kidnapping, battery, simple battery, sexual battery, false imprisonment, anything that they could

1:27:40 charge him with, they put it on there. But now, although he was formally charged, the victim's needs and wants had to also be met. How did Morgan feel about about a possible plea agreement. Now, before you jump, hear me out. Keeping Morgan and her kids and everyone safe was the ultimate goal, right? If a plea deal was offered to her or was offered and it was to her liking, and then he accepted it, that would ensure her safety versus a trial that anything could happen. The plea they wanted to offer, deal that they wanted to offer was this. Plead guilty to 14, of the specified accounts.

1:28:26 And when he did so, he would serve a mandatory 25 years in full, no early release or anything like that, on a 70 year sentence. And when he did get out in 25 years, he would remain for the next 45 years on probation, meaning he would be watched and checked in with. After weighing everything, Morgan agreed that she liked these terms and that she thought that they should offer it. Rod would be offered the plea agreement, which he accepted on August the 4th of 2021. But Morgan would get the last word. At sentencing, she read a victim impact statement. And when she read it, she read it without crying. She didn't show any type of distress or emotion. And a portion of that, this is obviously not the full statement, but a portion of it read this. Rod, Not only will the statement be to my attacker, but it'll also be my last words to whom I thought was the love of my life. The last four years being married to you was like living with a monster that constantly tried to break me down and fence me in.

1:29:39 It was a blessing in disguise. I can now walk with the confidence knowing the pain you have given me is turned into power. That's not the full statement, but you get the gist. She mic-dropped, And then she was done walking out of that courtroom like a battle-worn but successful and winning queen. And if his parents hadn't been through enough already, losing one son and also losing a grandson, they've now lost their remaining son to prison and he refuses visitation from his mother. the only woman who will remain unconditionally loving to him until the day he draws his last breath. And what does he do to her?

1:30:27 He's going to make her suffer. He refuses to have visits from her. While I feel his pain on the loss of a child and the loss of a brother, it does not translate to accepting violence as a last resort when you don't get your way. They do not equate. They are different. especially when you supposedly love someone. Love should never hurt. Love doesn't bruise you. It certainly doesn't pistol whip you and rape you. And it definitely doesn't damn near choke the life out of you. The state's overall belief is that Rod's plan was actually a murder-suicide, but he wasn't able to go through with it, and that is whenever he switched to the intruder story. The way I see it, Morgan... quite literally saved her own life that night when she said, I love my ex-husband. Thankfully, I'm going to say that Morgan lived through this domestic violence attack when so many others do not. And I am giving her the full credit for saving herself and being her own hero in her story. She didn't need Rod to be a hero because she was one and she was her own hero. Rod Metzer is all about control, and he wanted Morgan to feel helpless, afraid, and completely at his mercy. But in his twisted little power play, he handed her something that he never intended to give her,

1:32:00 and that was the power to expose exactly who he was. He wanted to be the author of Morgan's story, but failed so spectacularly that she walked away, not only with the power, but the truth and the last word. He wanted to write the ending of her story, but instead, all he did was made himself a villain that everyone will remember. And if there's anything I've learned as a teacher, it's that differentiation matters when teaching a lesson. People learn in different ways. And with that said. think I have old Rod figured out. Professionally speaking, there are people in society who just don't benefit from reading. These books that they try to read aren't going to reach them. So with that in mind, my opinion is that we are all best served when the judge does just as he did in this case, and he throws the whole damn thing right at him.