Closeted

WEBVTT
1
00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:15.240
Regine Beverly stands in front of her kitchen sink, staring
2
00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.120
at the window. It's the spring of two thousand and five,
3
00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:25.239
and for Regeane the day was almost perfect. It's seventy
4
00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:29.839
two degrees and the windows finally die it down. If
5
00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:34.119
only the clouds would clear, she thinks to herself. Suddenly,
6
00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:37.600
the quiet of her home is interrupted by loud, frantic
7
00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:42.039
pounding on her front door. She jumps at the sound.
8
00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:47.159
What in the world, she says aloud, realizing something must
9
00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.960
be wrong. Nothing, ever, happens and are called a sack.
10
00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.439
She puts a towel on the counter and hurries through
11
00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:58.240
the foyer towards the front door. She reaches for the
12
00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:02.600
knob and swings the door open. There she's surprised to
13
00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:07.760
see Martha, her neighbor, breathing hard. This is a woman
14
00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:12.120
she knows, has worked for and even watches their dog
15
00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:15.000
when they're out of town. Before she can ask what
16
00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.519
the problem is, Martha just walks in, no comment, no
17
00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:24.560
eye contact, nothing. Regiene turns to follow Martha inside her home,
18
00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:28.239
ready to ask her why she was knocking so hard.
19
00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.840
That's when Martha says, sternly, a man killed my husband.
20
00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:39.400
Regiene freezes and stares at Martha, but she refuses to
21
00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.359
meet her gaze. She just stands in the foyer, staring
22
00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:49.920
past Regiene. Regine snaps out of her shock. Did you
23
00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:56.239
call nine one one? She asks, No, Martha replies. Regiene
24
00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:00.200
races to find her cell phone. She finds it, dials,
25
00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:04.280
and waits. When the dispatcher answers, she relays the little
26
00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:10.319
information she has fifty four to twenty four Incline Drive,
27
00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:15.960
brent Wood, Tennessee. She tries to answer the dispatcher's questions,
28
00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.840
but she doesn't know what's going on. All she knows
29
00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.680
is the address and that Martha claims her husband is dead.
30
00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:29.240
She doesn't know how, why, or even if the man
31
00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:34.319
is still inside the house. She hands the phone to Martha.
32
00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:38.479
Martha holds it to her ear. Regiene can hear the
33
00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:41.919
distant sound of the dispatcher asking her questions, but Martha
34
00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:48.879
doesn't answer. She just stares. Regie snatches the phone back
35
00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:54.199
and tries to explain what's happening. Martha just sits at
36
00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:58.919
the bottom of the stairs. Regiane relays Martha's answers to
37
00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:05.000
the dispatcher's question, then Martha calmly says, I know the
38
00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:24.560
man who killed my husband. My husband found him. Welcome
39
00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:30.280
to Sword and Scale Nightmares, True crime for bedtime or
40
00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:55.240
nightmare beginners. Now, A flurry of police cars and emergency
41
00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:59.960
vehicles zoom through the neighborhood. The size of the homes
42
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.439
uninclined drive makes them seem to crawl past the ambulance's
43
00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:08.639
windows as it speeds by. The First responder, Brian Hampton,
44
00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:12.840
only knows the call involves a potentially expired person as
45
00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:15.080
they screech to a halt in front of fifty four
46
00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:19.399
to twenty four incline drive. He and his partner jump
47
00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:22.680
out and start gathering their gear. When a woman bursts
48
00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:26.720
out of the neighbor's house through tears and frantic gestures,
49
00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:31.560
she identifies herself as Martha, resident of the home. Hampton
50
00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:36.360
asks her for basic information. When did this happen? He asks?
51
00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:41.519
Did it happen twenty minutes ago, thirty minutes ago? Martha
52
00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:46.959
just nods yes. Moments earlier, Karen Kirby is at the
53
00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:50.399
home just a short distance away. When she notices something suspicious.
54
00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.879
She gets up from her chair and inches closer to
55
00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:57.639
the window to get a better look. A Hispanic man
56
00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:01.720
with shoulder lengthd hair, knee length shorts, and a maroon
57
00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:06.199
T shirt is running through the neighborhood. She watches, wondering
58
00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:09.879
what the man is doing. He runs as fast as
59
00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:12.240
he can from a tree line directly to a new
60
00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:16.240
home still under construction. As she tries to understand what
61
00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:21.439
the man could be doing, she hears distant sirens. Seconds later,
62
00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:24.920
a convoy of police vehicles starts streaming up her street,
63
00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:29.439
heading towards the direction the man ran from. Her eyes
64
00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:35.439
widened and her pulse races, she calls for her husband
65
00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:40.199
to look. When he enters the room, she hurriedly explains
66
00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:44.360
what she saw and points to the police. You have
67
00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:47.079
to go flag one of them down now, she says.
68
00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:51.480
She turns her attention back to the unfinished house as
69
00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:55.480
her husband darts out the front door. Sergeant Collins with
70
00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:59.519
the Brentwood Police Department is en route to Incline Drive
71
00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.319
when he sees a man flagging him down on the
72
00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:06.279
side of the road. Sergeant Collins pulls over and rolls
73
00:06:06.279 --> 00:06:09.680
the window down. The man is slightly out of breath
74
00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:13.360
as he starts to talk. He explains that he doesn't
75
00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:16.279
know what's going on, but his wife saw all the
76
00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.439
police just seconds after she saw a man seemingly running
77
00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.000
for his life. He points to the unfinished house. She
78
00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:28.519
saw him go in there, he says. Sergeant Collins whips
79
00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:31.279
his head around to see the house and picks up
80
00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:35.160
his radio. Minutes later, Sergeant Collins and his backup are
81
00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:39.160
in front of the unfinished house on Palomar Drive. It's
82
00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:43.360
just two streets away from the incident on Incline. He
83
00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:45.920
directs one officer to the back of the house in
84
00:06:45.959 --> 00:06:49.519
case anyone tries to run, and directs the other to
85
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:53.240
come with him. All three officers draw their weapons and
86
00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:57.639
take their positions. Sergeant Collins and the other officer walk
87
00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:01.879
through the dirt and debris at the instruction site, making
88
00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:05.199
their way through the opening where a door would be installed.
89
00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:09.720
They immediately come face to face with two men on
90
00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:14.680
the ground floor. The men freeze, startled by the sudden
91
00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:18.879
presence of armed police. For a moment, the four men
92
00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:22.560
just stare at each other like that meme with the
93
00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:26.000
three Spider Mans pointing at each other. What are you
94
00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:31.360
doing here, Sergeant Collins shouts. The men provide identification and
95
00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:34.519
explain they are building inspectors here to make sure all
96
00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:38.680
building codes are being met. He asks them if they
97
00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:42.600
had seen or heard anything unusual. The two men share
98
00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:47.240
a glance and one points up. We both heard something
99
00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:53.000
coming from upstairs. Sergeant Collins' attention is drawn to the
100
00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:56.360
frame of a staircase near the center of the home.
101
00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.720
He points to the exit, and the two men take
102
00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:05.160
a hint and leave. He and his fellow officer clear
103
00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:11.839
the home room by room, first the ground floor, then
104
00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:16.879
they make their way to the second floor. At the
105
00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:20.959
back of the unfinished house, the third officer waits impatiently.
106
00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:28.199
The silence is frightening. Then noise erupts above him. He
107
00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.839
hears the two officers inside start to yell. They shout
108
00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:37.879
show your hands in English and then in Spanish. The
109
00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:42.720
house is basically a skeleton. There were no walls, no ceilings,
110
00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:47.360
just a frame where the walls should be. After clearing
111
00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:51.279
the first and second floors, the two officers had not
112
00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:55.320
yet found them. There was nowhere left to search except
113
00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.879
up and when the two officers turn their attention to
114
00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:03.840
the rafters above them, they see a man staring back
115
00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.360
with nowhere left to run. The man climbed down from
116
00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:13.720
the attic rafters and surrendered. His name was Raphael de
117
00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:19.039
Jesus Roach of Perez. He was a Mexican national who
118
00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:24.279
was in the country illegally, like so many others, he
119
00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:28.720
wasn't supposed to be here, not in this country, let
120
00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:33.840
alone in that house. Back at Martha's house, with the
121
00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:39.200
threat of the armed suspect gone, EMT's russianside, Martha has
122
00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:44.200
directed them to the upstairs bathroom. Firefighter Hampton made his
123
00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:47.559
way up the large staircase and down the hall. When
124
00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:51.519
he turns into the bathroom, he sees the victim, Martha's husband,
125
00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:58.480
Jeffrey Freeman. The scene confuses him. Though Jeffrey is lying
126
00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:02.200
face down in a half zipped sleeping bag on the floor.
127
00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:06.080
His head is wrapped in a plastic bag and it's
128
00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:09.799
tied or taped around his neck. He can't tell which.
129
00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:13.399
He reaches down to feel for a pulse and realizes
130
00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:19.000
Jeffrey is soaking wet, but worse, he doesn't have a pulse.
131
00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:24.679
That's when Martha's nod comes back into his mind. Something
132
00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:31.159
here doesn't make sense. This isn't fresh. He tries to
133
00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.480
lift one of Jeffrey's arms, but it's already starting to stiffen.
134
00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:39.919
Rigor mortis is already setting in. He rolls Jeffrey on
135
00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:43.440
his side and looks at his stomach. He knows when
136
00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:47.440
the heart stops the blood begins to pool, but it
137
00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:54.240
takes a while to show externally, except Jeffrey's stomach was
138
00:10:54.279 --> 00:11:29.960
already purple. About ten years earlier, Martha is at work
139
00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:33.600
when her new boss hands her a shipping order. She
140
00:11:33.639 --> 00:11:37.440
looks over the order and sighs, this is a big shipment.
141
00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:41.039
She thinks. A glint of joy flickers in her eye
142
00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:44.960
as she picks up the phone. She dials and waits.
143
00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:50.480
When the call is answered, she asks to speak to Jeffrey.
144
00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:53.759
She twirls the phone cable in her fingers as she waits.
145
00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:59.240
Jeffrey was her representative at a trucking company. She would
146
00:11:59.240 --> 00:12:01.600
call with a big ship and he would find the
147
00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.879
trucks to move it, but she never wasted an opportunity
148
00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:10.799
to flirt. Jeffrey answers the phone, and Martha, snapping out
149
00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:15.279
of a daydream, straightens up. She tells him about the
150
00:12:15.399 --> 00:12:18.840
big shipment and where it needs to go. She throws
151
00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:21.799
in a coy statement here and there and laughs a
152
00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:26.120
little too hard at his jokes. When the so called
153
00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:30.919
business is done and there are no more legitimate business
154
00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:35.879
reasons to talk, Martha jokingly says, well, I'll let you
155
00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:38.120
go so you can get home to the wife and kids.
156
00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:44.200
Much to her surprise, Jeffrey corrects her. Her heart flutters
157
00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:47.279
a little when he says he's not married and doesn't
158
00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:51.840
have any kids. After that, their relationship is a whirlwind.
159
00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:57.200
They started seeing each other and talking all the time. Soon, though,
160
00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:00.000
Jeffrey grew tired of paying for the long distance phone
161
00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:05.639
calls to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Martha lived, so one day,
162
00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:09.879
Jeffrey brings Martha a gift. She shakes the box, trying
163
00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:13.759
to guess what's in it. It's heavy, she says. She
164
00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:17.240
rips the wrapping paper. She tears into the box and
165
00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:21.799
pulls out a large, hand carved heart shaped box. She
166
00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:24.879
looks up at Jeffrey and he tells her to open it.
167
00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:30.519
She pulls on the lid and it hinges open. Inside,
168
00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:34.720
she sees a single key. When she looks back at Jeffrey,
169
00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:38.000
he smiles and says, it's the key to my heart
170
00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:44.320
and my house. Will you move in with me? Martha
171
00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:49.320
jumps to hug him unable to speak. Then she nearly screams, yes,
172
00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:53.799
I'll move in with you. Just a few months later,
173
00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:59.279
they were married. For the next several years, their lives blossomed.
174
00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:03.159
They bought a house in the upscale Mountain View neighborhood.
175
00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:06.360
Martha was able to quit her job at the Pallette
176
00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:10.600
Company and pursue a new career. She became a licensed
177
00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:14.240
private investigator and started her own company, and that company
178
00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:18.759
took off. She had contacts with large companies and landlords
179
00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:24.000
to screen new employees and potential tenants. The company, resc Effects,
180
00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:28.279
grew so big that Jeffrey quit his job, got licensed
181
00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:32.960
as well, and started running the company. What started as
182
00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.159
a small business run out of their home grew so
183
00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:39.759
big that it needed its own building. This was around
184
00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.679
the time Jeffrey started working a lot and Martha started
185
00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:50.240
working less. Mentally, she was drained, but she couldn't explain why.
186
00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:55.879
She was nearing forty, but this felt worse than just age.
187
00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:02.480
Then she got the diagnosis she had bipo disorder. Her
188
00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:07.159
psychiatrists recommended medication, but they made it so she could
189
00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:12.120
barely function. Some mornings she just couldn't get out of bed,
190
00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:17.159
too tired, to do anything. Then Martha's mother fell ill
191
00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:20.240
and moved in with them. Martha took care of their
192
00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:25.120
mother until the day she died. First the diagnosis and
193
00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:30.200
then the death of her mother, Martha was in shambles.
194
00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:34.440
Jeffrey would start working longer and longer hours while Martha
195
00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:40.360
stayed home alone, mostly sleeping. Their marriage started to suffer,
196
00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:44.480
especially in the bedroom. They had been together for ten years.
197
00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:49.039
When Martha decided she needed space, she wanted to move out.
198
00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:54.799
Jeffrey understood and supported her decision. He didn't want her
199
00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:58.080
to leave, but he did want her to be happy.
200
00:15:59.159 --> 00:16:01.519
If this is what it took to save his marriage,
201
00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:05.399
he would support it. In late summer of two thousand
202
00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:10.200
and four, Martha moved into an extended stay hotel. After
203
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:13.360
about six months, Jeffrey still wanted to work on the marriage,
204
00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:17.320
and Martha did too. She moved back into the marital
205
00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:21.759
home in February of two thousand and five. A couple
206
00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:27.360
of months later, Jeffrey drives home. He opens the garage
207
00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:30.879
as he pulls into the driveway, he parts the car
208
00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:35.159
and walks inside. He hangs up his jacket and sets
209
00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:39.159
his keys on the counter. It's late. The house is
210
00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:44.639
dark and quiet. Martha must already be asleep, he thinks.
211
00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:48.039
He makes his way up to the stairs to change
212
00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:51.159
his clothes. As he walks up the stairs, he thinks
213
00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:54.639
about his marriage, how much fun they used to have
214
00:16:54.759 --> 00:17:01.840
before everything, before her diagnosis, before her mother's We're sleeping
215
00:17:01.879 --> 00:17:06.519
in the separate room. He wishes they could just get
216
00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:10.759
back to that. Just then he passes Martha's closed door.
217
00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:16.960
And here's something unusual. It's a low, deep, repetitive sound.
218
00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:23.359
He stops and turns towards her room. He listens. Then
219
00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:28.440
he turns the knob and slowly opens the door. There
220
00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:35.319
on the bed is Martha, sound asleep, but the noise,
221
00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:42.599
the noise is still there. He tiptoes into the room
222
00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:45.319
so as not to wake Martha, and follows the sound.
223
00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:51.319
He tilts his head, confused by the sound. It's coming
224
00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:55.839
from the closet. He reaches out and slowly opens the door.
225
00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.160
He nearly falls backward, startled by what he sees. Inside
226
00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:07.559
on the floor is a sleeping man. In that moment,
227
00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:12.759
he knew he had been betrayed. More hurt than angry,
228
00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:16.960
he wakes up Martha. He hears the snoring stop and
229
00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.759
the man shift, but he doesn't look back. He watches
230
00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:26.480
her eyes snap awake as he starts to speak, Get
231
00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:30.160
that man out of my house, He says, I'm going
232
00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:32.759
to walk the dog and he'd better be gone by
233
00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:37.799
the time I get back. Martha stammers, trying to explain,
234
00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:43.559
trying to apologize. Jeffrey doesn't listen. He storms downstairs, grabs
235
00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:48.000
a leash, and calls the dog upstairs. Martha and the
236
00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:52.920
man stare at each other, too afraid to speak. They
237
00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:57.000
hear the front door open and then slam shut. The
238
00:18:57.079 --> 00:19:03.400
house falls silent again for a moment. Neither of them moves.
239
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:07.799
Jeffrey walks down the street, watching the dog sniff the ground.
240
00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:13.559
Oblivious to his heartbreak, He kicks a rock. I should
241
00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:17.319
have known better, he thinks. He takes a deep breath
242
00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:22.119
and stares up at the sky. Then he keeps walking.
243
00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:28.279
He walks for what feels like forever. Jeffrey doesn't know
244
00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:31.119
how long it's been, but he feels like it's been
245
00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:35.920
long enough. He turns around and heads back to his house.
246
00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:39.680
He walks up to the front door and pauses for
247
00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:43.920
a moment, deciding if he wants to go inside. Then
248
00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.880
he turns the knob and opens the door. He expected
249
00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:53.519
the man to be gone, of course, but he wasn't.
250
00:19:54.799 --> 00:20:00.920
Jeffrey was greeted by the barrel of a shotgun. He
251
00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:05.279
dropped to his knees and started to pray. What happened
252
00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:15.279
next wasn't quick. It took time and control. He was restrained,
253
00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:21.359
his wrists bound. He struggles to free himself, but it's
254
00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:26.640
no use. He's hit in the eye, which immediately swells.
255
00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:30.680
He doesn't see it coming, but he feels blow after
256
00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:36.279
blow to his head. He collapses to the floor, barely conscious.
257
00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:42.160
His chest starts to tighten. He realized that the man
258
00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:46.480
is on top of him. Now. He tries to speak,
259
00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:51.440
to beg for his life, but he's too hurt. He's
260
00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:57.000
too weak to fight back. Something slides around his neck
261
00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:02.000
and starts to tighten. His breath comes shallow and short
262
00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:09.279
until it stops altogether. His one good eye rolls to
263
00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:15.839
the back of his head, and the house falls silent again.
264
00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:01.680
Martha takes the stand. The court is small and crowded.
265
00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:07.200
She looks over at Raphael, sitting with his defense lawyer
266
00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:12.839
and his interpreter. He doesn't look back. The district attorney
267
00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:17.640
approaches her and starts the questioning, she nervously wrings her
268
00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:25.680
hands together. He asks how she met Raphael. Martha replies quietly.
269
00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:30.000
She tells the courtroom she met Raphael on July fourth,
270
00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:34.200
two thousand and four. She and Jeffrey had gotten a
271
00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.640
hotel room in downtown Nashville to watch the fireworks show,
272
00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:41.400
but as it got later, Jeffrey just wanted to go home.
273
00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:47.240
Martha did not, so she stayed in the hotel while
274
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:51.480
Jeffrey made the short drive back home. Alone in the city,
275
00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:55.359
Martha went for a walk. It wasn't long before she
276
00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:00.319
came across three Mexican men. She struck up a conversation
277
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:02.799
with them and asked if they wanted to go back
278
00:23:02.839 --> 00:23:09.000
to her room to party. They agreed, of course. The
279
00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:12.279
courtroom falls silent as she explained she had sex with
280
00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:16.720
all three men that night. The next morning, when she
281
00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:20.960
woke up, Raphael was still there. That was the beginning
282
00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:25.000
of their relationship. A month later, she moved into the
283
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:30.559
Extended Stay hotel with Raphael. For six months, they lived
284
00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:34.400
together until Martha ran out of money. That's when she
285
00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:38.519
decided her marriage was worth working on, so she broke
286
00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:42.440
it off with Raphael and moved back in with Jeffrey,
287
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.440
who at this point had no idea about her boyfriend
288
00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:52.799
or boyfriends her and you found resolved to save her.
289
00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:56.599
Marriage was short lived, of course. By mid March, less
290
00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:59.440
than a month after she moved back in, she went
291
00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:03.400
and picked Raphael up. She took him home while Jeffrey
292
00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:06.440
was at work. It was supposed to be, you know,
293
00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:15.160
one last fuck, but Raphael never left. You see, he
294
00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:18.079
had a habit of doing that, both in the home
295
00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:22.680
and in the country he was in. He lived in
296
00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.079
the home for over a month before the events of
297
00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:29.359
April tenth. As a matter of fact, he spent every
298
00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:36.519
night in the closet and every day with Martha. The
299
00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:42.400
questioning turns to the events of that night. Martha describes
300
00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:46.720
Jeffrey coming back from walking the dog. She describes how
301
00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:50.640
he prayed and how Rafael grabbed him and forced him
302
00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:54.480
into the bathroom. She described listening to the water running
303
00:24:54.599 --> 00:25:02.200
and hearing thud after thud as she did thing. Just then,
304
00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:06.160
the judge told her to stop talking and address the court.
305
00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:11.599
It's so bizarre, it's hard to believe a lot of this,
306
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:15.240
he says, I have problems with allowing this to go
307
00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:19.559
further without her getting some representation, and I can see
308
00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:24.200
her being charged in this case. She probably should be
309
00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:27.799
charged in this case. I hope the state does not
310
00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:31.680
believe everything she is testifying to because I sure don't
311
00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:37.039
with that. Martha pleaded the Fifth Amendment against self incrimination
312
00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:41.759
shortly after she was also charged with the murder of
313
00:25:41.799 --> 00:25:48.000
her husband. She and Raphael were tried together. The trial
314
00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.839
showed a pattern of contradictions, guilty behavior, and circumstantial evidence
315
00:25:53.920 --> 00:26:00.759
suggesting involvement rather than fear. Jeffrey hadn't just died dead
316
00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:05.519
for hours. In those hours, she made efforts to cover
317
00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:09.960
up the crime. She called his mother, saying he went
318
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:13.920
to bed early. The next morning, a neighbor witnessed her
319
00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:18.119
calmly standing on her front porch. The home was spotless,
320
00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:23.119
evidence of a cleanup in trash bags. Police later found
321
00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:27.640
latex gloves, a wet bath matt, a wet and bloody pillowcase,
322
00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:33.000
and a telephone court. But the most damning evidence that
323
00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:38.400
Martha was a willing participant and not a passive victim
324
00:26:38.839 --> 00:26:42.200
was a towel spread out on the living room floor.
325
00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:51.880
That towel tested positive for both her DNA and Raphael's sperm.
326
00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:55.960
They had sex at some point during the sixteen to
327
00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:02.039
eighteen hours before she asked her neighbor to call with
328
00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:07.759
her husband's corpse right there in the house. The jury
329
00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:14.799
wasn't blind. They saw the contradictions, the delay in the
330
00:27:15.559 --> 00:27:18.720
nearly eighteen hours after Jeffrey's death. She didn't act like
331
00:27:18.759 --> 00:27:25.519
a victim. She acted like an accomplice. Martha Freeman and
332
00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:32.160
Raphael DeJesus wrote, Cha Perez were both found guilty a
333
00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:37.440
first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, Yet
334
00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:43.319
further proof that why women sure do love illegal immigration
335
00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:57.119
for all sorts of reasons. If you enjoyed the show,
336
00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:02.920
please consider joining plus at Sword and Scale dot com
337
00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:07.039
slash plus. But if you can't, consider leaving us a
338
00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:13.559
positive review on your preferred listening platform. Sweet Dreams and
339
00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:15.119
good Night,