On October 18, 2019, Matthew Trussler, 25, was discovered lifeless by police within the yard of the Riverview, Florida residence he shared along with his girlfriend Melissa Turner, 26. Regulation enforcement arrived after Turner referred to as 911.
Trussler’s physique was “coated in blood,” journalist Gina Tron informed Kill or Be Killed, airing Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen. “He had a number of lacerations and wounds.”
“Melissa was distraught,” Tron added. “She was crying. She stated she had no concept what occurred. She wakened and located Matthew in a bloody mess.”
Whereas police awaited the medical expert to take away Trussler’s physique, Turner agreed to allow them to search the house. She was given latex gloves to placed on earlier than she signed a consent kind.
On the scene, co-prosecutor Chinwe Fossett noticed that Trussler had “a really deep minimize to his proper arm,” she stated. “Unlikely, however conceivably, one might inflict that kind of harm on themselves.”
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Investigators decided Trussler “bled out principally within the kitchen,” based on Fossett. Damaged glass and several other knives had been discovered within the room. He managed to make his technique to the patio earlier than dying.
Katherine Fand, an assistant state legal professional in Hillsborough County, described it as “the bloodiest crime scene I’ve ever seen.”
Who’re Melissa Turner and Matthew Trussler?
Turner informed police that she and Trussler had been engaged. Investigators realized that he had grown up in Massachusetts and had a loving household.
“[Trussler] was the sunshine of the get together,” stated Tron, including that “he struggled although with substance abuse.” He moved to Florida to make a change in his life, and met Turner there.
Bullied as a youth, Turner misplaced 100 kilos in her early 20s. She documented her transformation on-line, and monetized her rising fan base by performing as a cam lady.
“She had a whole lot of followers, she had a whole lot of prospects,” stated Tron, including that she engaged in sexual acts for the digital camera.
Police attempt to determine who killed Matthew Trussler
Turner informed police that Trussler had talked prior to now about harming himself. “He all the time informed me he had a sense he was gonna die younger,” Turner stated in a police recording. Nonetheless, a stab wound on Trussler’s again dominated out his dying as a suicide.
Investigators noticed a neighbor’s safety digital camera overlooking Turner’s residence. The digital camera captured audio coming from the crime scene.
The audio picked up Turner discovering Trussler on the patio, when she referred to as 911. It additionally captured a lady’s voice and a loud argument from earlier within the morning, between 4:30 and 5 a.m. “She’s screaming at him, telling him to die,” stated Fossett of the lady’s voice. “So this adjustments every part.”
Melissa Turner adjustments her story
Turner was discovered to have a minimize on her neck and a big slice on her hand. She claimed she couldn’t keep in mind what had occurred “She did point out just a few occasions she had a headache,” stated Tron.
Requested in regards to the shouting heard coming from her residence, Turner stated within the police interview that she and Trussler argued as a result of he was nonetheless up then and ingesting at 4 a.m.
At this level, Turner’s story about waking up and discovering Trussler lifeless modified. “He had a ingesting drawback,” Turner stated. “He does get his knives out typically.”
She informed police she recalled “pissing him off and issues escalated” when she tried to get his knife out of his hand. At that time, Turner requested for a lawyer.
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Melissa Turner charged with homicide
Turner was charged with second-degree homicide. She enlisted the assistance of protection legal professional John Trevina. Turner claimed she was pressured to defend herself when Trussler drunkenly attacked her with a knife.
“He slams her head into the kitchen island. He is strangling her,” stated Trevina. “She’s capable of wrestle the knife away from him. After which she stabs him. That is self-defense.”
Turner alleged that she staggered to her workplace and handed out in a chair. Proof confirmed Turner’s blood on the chair the place her head would have been resting.
Stephanie Neal, Turner’s buddy, stated she recalled feeling a bump on the again of the suspect’s head and asking her if she’d gotten medical consideration for it.
Mounting Melissa Turner’s protection
Turner’s lawyer maintained that Trussler “took benefit of Melissa in each manner doable.” He wasn’t stably employed and was a extreme alcoholic, the protection staff alleged.
“Melissa would inform tales to me about how he would have very scary hallucinations,” stated Trevina. “He would speak about demons.”
Prosecutors didn’t purchase it. “There was no proof that Matthew self-harmed. She did a whole lot of horror and Halloween-style cosplay,” stated Fand. “I feel that she simply needed to give you a narrative.”
What did Matthew Trussler’s post-mortem report reveal?
On November 7, 2019, the post-mortem report revealed that Trussler suffered superficial stab wounds to his chest and again, defensive wounds on his arms, and a deep minimize on his proper bicep that severed an artery and finally induced his dying.
“Had Melissa gotten him medical consideration, there is a chance that Matthew would nonetheless be alive,” stated Fand.
The protection staff had a special interpretation of the report. They maintained the deadly wound to Trussler’s arm was self-inflicted and targeted on the truth that his blood alcohol stage “was astronomical.”
Investigators appeared into the months main as much as the homicide. “Matthew’s household started to suspect that Melissa was controlling and that she was isolating him,” stated Tron.
“Matthew was concerned in a few of her sexually specific movies,” Tron added. “Which will have led him to drink extra.”
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Based on a former roommate, stated Fand, “Matthew was ingesting an excessive amount of. He wasn’t violent when he acquired drunk. However the largest drawback [was that] it actually made Melissa indignant always.”
The prosecution’s concept, knowledgeable by accounts of household and buddies, was that Turner acquired so indignant that she struck out at him with a knife. Trevina referred to as that concept “preposterous.”
Dramatic pre-trial choices
Prosecutors ready to current that Turner made a dwelling performing as a cam lady and was taking part in the position of a sufferer. However the decide barred her work historical past from the proceedings.
The protection tried to exclude the audio from the neighbor’s video digital camera, claiming the prosecution tampered with the proof.
Prosecutors acknowledged adjusting the amount, stated Tron. “They denied that they did any enhancing or muting,” she stated. The audio was allowed to be performed on the trial.
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Melissa Turner’s cellphone turns up a clue
On December 9, 2019, a search warrant on Turner’s cellphone turned up a brand new lead tied to a house safety app.
“Matthew and Melissa had an ADT digital camera that was activated by movement,” stated Fand, including that the night time of the homicide it was activated a number of occasions.
“That digital camera grew to become crucial as a result of it allow us to present that one, Melissa was the aggressor, and two, when Melissa acquired the minimize on her hand.”
Trevina maintained that the ADT digital camera photographs didn’t “actually inform a lot of any story.”
After being postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Turner’s trial started on February 14, 2022. On February 17, Turner testified on her personal behalf.
“My purpose was to get the jury to see her for who she actually was,” stated Fossett, who grilled the defendant aggressively.
On February 18, Turner was discovered responsible of second-degree homicide. She obtained a sentence of 20.5 years.
Discover out what Trussler’s mom stated at Turner’s sentencing and extra in regards to the case coated within the “Killer Cam Lady” episode of Kill or Be Killed, airing Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.
