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HUSBAND FINDS WIFE DEAD AT BOTTOM OF STAIRS, GOES ON BEER RUN · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A husband finds his wife,
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Speaker 1: a mom of three, dead at the bottom of the stairs.
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Speaker 1: So what does he do? Of course, he goes on
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Speaker 1: a beer run. Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. This is
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Speaker 1: Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.
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Speaker 2: An investigation underway in Salt Lake City, Utah suburbs after
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Speaker 2: a shocking discovery of a mom of three dead at
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Speaker 2: the bottom of a flight of stairs.
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Speaker 3: Bottom is extremely dedicated to her nursing job at the
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Speaker 3: Huntsman Cancer Institute and is even working toward becoming a
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Speaker 3: nurse practitioner. When the thirty nine year old mom doesn't
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Speaker 3: show up to work without calling ahead, coworkers are immediately concerned.
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Speaker 3: After several failed attempts to call Autumn, a coworker calls
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Speaker 3: West Jordan Police requesting a welfare check.
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Speaker 1: Joining me in all star panel, I'm just trying to
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Speaker 1: get my mind around the husband finding his wife. She's beautiful,
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Speaker 1: a mom of three at the foot of the stairs.
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Speaker 1: And did I just hear Let me understand this to
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Speaker 1: Sidney Sumner, joining us investigative reporter, Did I just hear?
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Speaker 1: The coworkers where she works as a nurse, they're the
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Speaker 1: ones that call police, not the husband that finds his
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Speaker 1: wife comatose at the bottom of the stairs.
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Speaker 4: Fancy, That's absolutely correct. The red flag was raised when
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Speaker 4: Autumn did not show up to work that afternoon. Coworkers
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Speaker 4: were immediately concerned when they couldn't reach her and ask
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Speaker 4: for a welfare check. They just wanted to make sure
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Speaker 4: she was okay when she didn't come to work.
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Speaker 1: Okay, I'm trying to figure out what time she would
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Speaker 1: normally get to work in the morning. What I'm getting
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Speaker 1: at Sydney Sumner is how long had Auna been at
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Speaker 1: the foot of the steps with what the husband walking
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Speaker 1: back and forth by her? Well, take a listen to
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Speaker 1: Sergeant Andrew Hercules, West Jordan p D.
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Speaker 5: January thirteenth, At approximately two thirty pm, West Jordan Police
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Speaker 5: officers were dispatched to the area of seventy eight hundred
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Speaker 5: South and Iron Core Lane to perform a welfare check.
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Speaker 5: We were initially dispatched to the home just for a
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Speaker 5: welfare check. It was from a coworker who hadn't been
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Speaker 5: able to get a hold of the deceased individual.
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Speaker 1: From our friends that k s el new is okay.
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Speaker 1: Hold on Sidney, you know when you told me that
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Speaker 1: the husband, Carlos Mercatit finds Autumn at the bottom of
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Speaker 1: the steps and then goes for a beer run. This
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Speaker 1: is this is what I'm getting at two thirty pm.
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Speaker 1: West Jordan PD dispatched to the home two thirty So
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Speaker 1: if she had the morning shift, that means he's been
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Speaker 1: walking around her body for how many hours?
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Speaker 4: Nancy? What we know from Mercado's statements is that he
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Speaker 4: found Autumn in that position just before nine am. She
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Speaker 4: had been there for roughly six hours when police were
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Speaker 4: dispatched to the scene. Repeat six hours, Nancy, say that again,
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Speaker 4: a full six hours, a full six hours. At the
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Speaker 4: bottom of the stair.
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Speaker 1: She had been lying at the foot of the steps
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Speaker 1: for six hours. And you know what, let me go
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Speaker 1: straight out to doctor Michelle Dupree, joining US forensic Pathologists,
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Speaker 1: medical examiner, former detective with Lexington County Sheriffs and author
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Speaker 1: of multiple books. The most recent one is Money, Mischief, Murder,
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Speaker 1: the Murdoch Dynasty. The rest of the story. You might
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Speaker 1: as well get ready to redo that trial, Dr Duprie.
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Speaker 1: But for my purposes, she's the author of the Homicide
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Speaker 1: Investigation Field Guide. Doctor Duprix help me figure this out.
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Speaker 1: I can't. There are extrinsic ways to tell the time
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Speaker 1: of death, okay, but if I am looking at specifically
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Speaker 1: the body itself, how do you tell how long a
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Speaker 1: victim has been dead?
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Speaker 6: Well, Nancy, we look at several things. One, we look
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Speaker 6: at the temperature of the body, but we also have
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Speaker 6: to compare that to the temperature in the room or
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Speaker 6: the environment. But we also look for something called rigor mortis,
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Speaker 6: which is the stiffening of the body. And we look
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Speaker 6: for liver mortise, which is where the blood settles at
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Speaker 6: the dependent areas, and that helps us tell.
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Speaker 1: You know, doctor Duprie, I got to know you really
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Speaker 1: well when we were out in the field on the
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Speaker 1: Murderye case. But let me remind you, we don't all
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Speaker 1: have medical degrees. So when you're referring to rigor mortis,
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Speaker 1: when the stiffening of the limbs, then there's live re mortise.
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Speaker 1: To my understanding is, for instance, when you're lying flat
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Speaker 1: on your back and your heart is no longer pumping
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Speaker 1: the blood in your body, fluids in your body settle
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Speaker 1: to the lowest common point. For instance, if you're on
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Speaker 1: your back, all your blood settles down to your back,
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Speaker 1: the back of your legs, your rear end. It settles down.
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Speaker 1: If you're on your side, it settles all to the side. Okay,
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Speaker 1: So you look for rigor. You look, how long does
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Speaker 1: it take for liver re mortis to set in?
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Speaker 6: Well, it's we call it fixed, and that's when it
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Speaker 6: won't change. If you move the position of the body,
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Speaker 6: that's maybe six to eight hours, maybe twelve hours again,
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Speaker 6: depending on the circumstances. But before that it still settles.
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Speaker 6: But if you move the body, then the live re
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Speaker 6: mortis may move also if you move it early.
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Speaker 1: Okay, doctor Dupre, I'm about to go to Autumn's sister
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Speaker 1: summer with us, but I want to clarify one more
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Speaker 1: thing before I continue to discuss how many hours she
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Speaker 1: had lain there. I don't know that that's true, doctor Dupre.
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Speaker 1: The last thing you want to do is have your
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Speaker 1: facts wrong in front of a jury, because if you're
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Speaker 1: wrong on one fact, they can discount everything you're going
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Speaker 1: to say. So how else can you tell? How long
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Speaker 1: does it take for rigor to set in? And riger
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Speaker 1: sets in the stiffening of the limbs, but then after
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Speaker 1: a period of hours it goes away, That's right? How
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Speaker 1: long til rigor sets in.
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Speaker 6: Again, six to eight hours, maybe twelve, depending on the circumstances,
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Speaker 6: if it's very warm or not. But once that rigor
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Speaker 6: is broken, for example, once that limb is moved, it
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Speaker 6: doesn't come back. And so again that's another way we
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Speaker 6: can tell if the body's been moved. It's a way
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Speaker 6: we can tell approximately how long the body has been there,
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Speaker 6: as well as with the lever and the temperature of
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Speaker 6: the body.
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Speaker 1: Doctor Dupree really not helping me that much. You're giving
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Speaker 1: me six to twelve hours, Okay, hold on, I can
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Speaker 1: back it up from there, depending on what time she
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Speaker 1: woke Well, I don't know what time she woke up
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Speaker 1: that morning, you said, dependent on the circumstances. If it's
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Speaker 1: warm in the home, does that change the time period
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Speaker 1: for a rigor mortis to set in.
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Speaker 6: Yes, it can speed it up. Actually it can make
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Speaker 6: it appears. But again, this is probably going to be
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Speaker 6: relatively minimal, given that there's what a six maybe even
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Speaker 6: only a twelve hour difference. But the biggest thing, the
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Speaker 6: most important thing, is the position of the body and
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Speaker 6: the injuries on the body.
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Speaker 1: How does that tell me when the time of death.
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Speaker 6: It doesn't help with the time of death, but it
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Speaker 6: helps tell us what happened and what maybe happened.
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Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, I'm still on time of death. Okay, And
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Speaker 1: my point is, you know, let me go out to
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Speaker 1: Autumn's sister joining us. Guys, we are talking about a
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Speaker 1: beautiful young woman. She's thirty nine years old. She's in
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Speaker 1: the prime of her life. The best thing in the world,
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Speaker 1: in my opinion, has happened to her. She's got these
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Speaker 1: three beautiful children. One is age one, one is age four,
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Speaker 1: one is age fifteen. She is an incredible nurse. She's
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Speaker 1: working to become a nurse practitioner, which is not easy.
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Speaker 1: It was hard enough for me to go to school
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Speaker 1: at night and work during the day, much less with
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Speaker 1: three children. And now she's just gone. What do you
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Speaker 1: tell the little one year old and the four year
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Speaker 1: old as a teen hits those teen years, what do
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Speaker 1: you tell them Mommy's not there to help them to
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Speaker 1: Summer Christiansen joining us, this is Autumn's sister, Summer. I'm
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Speaker 1: so sorry. I cannot imagine what you and your family
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Speaker 1: have gone through. And I'm sorry also that we are
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Speaker 1: discussing rigor and live re mortis and time of death.
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Speaker 1: Let's take it back to that day. When did you
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Speaker 1: learn that your sister had been in a horrible, horrible tragedy.
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Speaker 7: I learned that morning. I don't live in the same state,
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Speaker 7: but two sheriffs came to my house about one point
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Speaker 7: thirty in the morning, and by the look on their face,
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Speaker 7: I fell to the ground.
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Speaker 8: I don't know why.
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Speaker 7: My gut just said it was my sister. They didn't
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Speaker 7: have any answers for me. They did not know what
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Speaker 7: was going on. You know, at least they did contact
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Speaker 7: the sheriff's department in the state that I live in,
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Speaker 7: and they came to my home, so that I knew
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Speaker 7: what was happening. But I fell to the floor. I
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Speaker 7: couldn't breathe. I hyperventilated. It's my sister, It's my little sister.
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Speaker 8: You know, you call family, But summer, how did you know?
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Speaker 1: How did you know? You said when you saw them,
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Speaker 1: when they came to the door, you knew. And fell
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Speaker 1: to the ground.
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Speaker 8: It's like it hit me. It just hit me. I
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Speaker 8: don't know. I can't explain it. It's just something that
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Speaker 8: hit me.
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Speaker 7: And then after I fell to the ground, I looked
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Speaker 7: up and asked to clarify and he shook his head. Yes,
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Speaker 7: but don't it just hit me. It was like I
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Speaker 7: opened that door. I saw his face, the sheriff's face,
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Speaker 7: and the way he looked, and it just came through
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Speaker 7: the door.
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Speaker 8: I don't know, maybe it was her, I don't know.
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Speaker 1: To doctor Lisa Long joining us, a forensic psychologist, doctor
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Speaker 1: owner of Doctor Long and Associates, Doctor Lisa, thank you
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Speaker 1: for being with us. I've heard that recollection from so
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Speaker 1: many victims families, and I experienced the same thing when
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Speaker 1: I learned my fiance had been murdered. I got a
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Speaker 1: call to contact Keith's sister and I knew immediately. I
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Speaker 1: knew immediately, and it does. It affects your body. I
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Speaker 1: remember trying to dial the numbers. It was a circular
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Speaker 1: payphone to contact his sister, and I couldn't dial. I
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Speaker 1: couldn't get my finger in the little dial slot to
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Speaker 1: turn the rotary. Just like Summer is saying, what is that?
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Speaker 1: What happens to you? Nobody told tells you. You know instinctively,
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Speaker 1: and then your body reacts absolutely.
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Speaker 9: Nancy, you know it's a terrible thing for anyone to
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Speaker 9: go through. It's trauma. It is the shock. I mean
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Speaker 9: your your brain is actually protecting you in those situations
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Speaker 9: where oftentimes people describe not really being able to remember
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Speaker 9: immediate events after or surrounding really traumatic incidents. It is
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Speaker 9: truly a shock response that you and Summer we're going through,
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Speaker 9: and it's very unfortunate. No one is ever prepared to
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Speaker 9: receive that type of information.
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Speaker 1: Listen to Sergeant Andrew Hercules.
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Speaker 5: January thirteenth, at approximately two thirty pm, Western Police officers
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Speaker 5: were dispound to the area of seventy eight hundred South
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Speaker 5: and Iron Core Lane to perform a welfare check. We
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Speaker 5: were initially dispatched to the home just for a welfare check.
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Speaker 5: It was from a coworker who hadn't been able to
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Speaker 5: get a hold of the deceased individual.
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Speaker 1: From our friends at KSL. Summer, you said you knew
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Speaker 1: immediately and your reaction was an involuntary physical reaction. You
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Speaker 1: fell to the ground. How long do you believe Autumn
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Speaker 1: lay in the floor until police arrived, so they call.
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Speaker 8: Her time of death when police found her.
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Speaker 7: My sister was a donor, so you know, with being
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Speaker 7: a donor, you are able to collect if you will.
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Speaker 7: Twenty four hours beforehand, I ended up getting a phone
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Speaker 7: call that they were not.
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Speaker 8: Going to be able to collect. So that's what I know.
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Speaker 8: So to me, it was longer than twenty four hours.
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Speaker 8: My opinion, she.
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Speaker 7: Probably was there, I don't know, a day and a
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Speaker 7: half with her kids just sitting there. Why Carlos is
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Speaker 7: doing whatever he's doing, and you said it earlier, Nancy,
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Speaker 7: as he has to step over her body to walk
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Speaker 7: up the stairs, he has to step over her body
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Speaker 7: to go into the kitchen and to make food, and
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Speaker 7: his children are just there with them like nothing.
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Speaker 8: I don't it's disgusting, Summer.
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Speaker 1: Do you know the condition of her body when police
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Speaker 1: found it and he's home, he's home with the children,
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Speaker 1: and she's lying there at the foot of the stairs,
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Speaker 1: cold to the touch.
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Speaker 8: I don't know the extent.
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Speaker 7: I mean, I know what the police records say, and
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Speaker 7: Rigor Mortis said in I don't know anything beyond that
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Speaker 7: yet everything is still under investigation, so I don't know
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Speaker 7: anything further than that.
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Speaker 1: To Sydney Summer joining us in addition to Autumn's sister, Summer,
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Speaker 1: and I can tell you this is taking a huge
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Speaker 1: emotional toll on her to speak out on her sister's behalf. Sidney,
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Speaker 1: what was the condition of Autumn's body. What did they
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Speaker 1: find when they came through that front door.
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Speaker 4: Nancy, So what police initially saw when they walked into
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Speaker 4: this building, Carlos Mercado was extremely drunk and they could
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Speaker 4: see open alcohol containers all over the house. Her children
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Speaker 4: were not far from her body, which was covered with
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Speaker 4: a blanket. Underneath that blanket, Autumn was wearing only a
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Speaker 4: ripped T shirt. She was naked from the waist down.
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Speaker 4: Her legs and her feet had extreme bruising all down
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Speaker 4: her legs and her feet. And that's what we know
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Speaker 4: from police. That's the state of her body. They say
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Speaker 4: they were signs of rigor mortis, So it's unclear was
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Speaker 4: that full rigor mortis? Was it starting to set in?
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Speaker 4: They hadn't released many details about how long they think
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Speaker 4: Autumn really laid there summer.
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Speaker 1: Did you know or have you come to learn that
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Speaker 1: your sister's legs were covered in bruises and she was
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Speaker 1: naked from the waist down, lying there in a ripped
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Speaker 1: T shirt with a blanket over her, and the children
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Speaker 1: all standing around her.
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Speaker 7: So I knew the legs from the police report, naked
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Speaker 7: from the waisttone, So my sister would have never walked
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Speaker 7: their own naked in front of her kids like that.
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Speaker 7: She wouldn't have been without underwear, like she would not
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Speaker 7: have done that. She wouldn't have done it. That's just
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Speaker 7: not her. I did read that in the police report.
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Speaker 7: But point was a blanket put over her? And not
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Speaker 7: only that, a blanket's put over her like we read
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Speaker 7: the police report. Like, if you say that out loud,
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Speaker 7: that's that's crazy. You don't pick your wife up, You
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Speaker 7: don't call someone right away, you don't call an ambulance,
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Speaker 7: you don't put her in bed, you don't cuddle her,
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Speaker 7: hold her, do anything. I saw someone fall at a
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Speaker 7: hospital one time. I ran over there to help pick
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Speaker 7: them up and call for help.
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Speaker 1: Simmer, who do you think put the blanket on her?
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Speaker 1: Do you think the children thought she was asleep and
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Speaker 1: put a blanket on her? How? How did a blanket
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Speaker 1: end up on her? And I wonder was it over
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Speaker 1: her face? Was it over her body like they were
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Speaker 1: trying to keep her warm? Or did the husband know
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Speaker 1: that she was dead and put it over her face?
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Speaker 1: Who put the blanket on her? And why? And how?
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Speaker 8: I don't so, of course I only have what's you
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Speaker 8: know the.
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Speaker 7: Police records that Carlos said he had put the blanket
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Speaker 7: over her. But the way I feel is so is
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Speaker 7: it so that they don't he doesn't have to look
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Speaker 7: at her.
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Speaker 8: I don't understand. I don't know if it was over
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Speaker 8: her head or not.
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Speaker 2: Coworkers sound the alarm when a dedicated Utah nurse and
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Speaker 2: aspiring nurse practitioner fails to show up to our Monday
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Speaker 2: morning shift. Police make us startling discovery.
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Speaker 1: The husband says he was about to call police. Okay,
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Speaker 1: Sidney Sumner tells us that reports state that autumn was
17:39
Speaker 1: cold to the touch. That can take hours for your
17:44
Speaker 1: body temperature to go from its normal temp ninety eight
17:48
Speaker 1: point six to cold to the touch, especially when you're
17:54
Speaker 1: in a structure such as a home with heating for
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Speaker 1: your body to dip below the ambiyond temperature, the temperature
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Speaker 1: in the room. What would that require out to you,
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Speaker 1: doctor Michelle do pre forensic pathologists, medical examiner, what would
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Speaker 1: that require? How many hours had he been walking by
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Speaker 1: her dead body as it slipped into rigor mortis? How
18:23
Speaker 1: long to get cold in am beyond temperature.
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Speaker 6: Nancy, It usually takes about a decreases about two degrees
18:32
Speaker 6: centigrade per hour. So if you extrapolate from that or
18:37
Speaker 6: back date that we don't know the temperature of our body,
18:40
Speaker 6: but cold to touch would take a few hours. Yes, absolutely,
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Speaker 6: what more do we know?
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Speaker 1: Listen?
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Speaker 10: Officers have to ask Mercado to keep the children back
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Speaker 10: from the body while they investigate. Under the blanket, the
18:52
Speaker 10: woman is naked from the waist down, only wearing a
18:55
Speaker 10: ripped shirt. Upon closer inspection, her legs are covered in
18:58
Speaker 10: bruises and rigor mortis is clearly setting in. Based on
19:02
Speaker 10: husband Carlos Mercado's statements and her driver's license, the body
19:05
Speaker 10: is identified as Autumn.
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Speaker 1: Joining me Veterans trial lawyer Philip Dubay, former quarter appointed
19:12
Speaker 1: Council in the La County PD's office. Dubay, he thought
19:18
Speaker 1: she was asleep for that long at the food of
19:22
Speaker 1: the stairs, half naked. He put a blanket on her,
19:28
Speaker 1: and he said he was about to call police. Hours
19:32
Speaker 1: had passed, she was already a no show at work.
19:36
Speaker 1: They're the ones that call police, and then when police arrived,
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Speaker 1: they have to ask him to get the children away
19:43
Speaker 1: from their mother's naked, cold body. What is wrong with him?
19:48
Speaker 11: Well, he was drunk as a skunk. He was hungover. Still,
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Speaker 11: Remember he and the wife had had a night of drinking,
19:55
Speaker 11: so obviously he wasn't of clear mind at the time.
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Speaker 1: I don't know that she had been drinking. That's just
20:01
Speaker 1: what you say, you think I'm listening to him. Oh okay,
20:05
Speaker 1: and also told the police he thought she was asleep.
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Speaker 11: Well, the MB report will bear that out. We'll find
20:11
Speaker 11: out if she had any alcohol in her system when
20:15
Speaker 11: they do. The talks run on. But to me, the
20:17
Speaker 11: case really hinges on whether or not you even have
20:19
Speaker 11: a homicide, And so far all we know is she
20:22
Speaker 11: reported to him that she had vertigo, And if she
20:27
Speaker 11: had vertigo and fell down the stairs, and maybe in
20:29
Speaker 11: a fit of panic, he left her there because of
20:32
Speaker 11: the dB history that he's had with her, it's understandable.
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Speaker 11: Does anybody condone it, No, But it goes to what
20:39
Speaker 11: his state.
20:39
Speaker 1: Of mind was put up. DEBEI are you married?
20:45
Speaker 12: Oh no, No, Well, before you ever do get married, uh,
20:53
Speaker 12: make sure your wife, your future wife, your pretend wife,
20:59
Speaker 12: knows that if.
21:00
Speaker 1: You found her half naked, covered in bruises at the
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Speaker 1: foot of the stairs, you wouldn't just walk around her
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Speaker 1: body for hours on end. Okay that you would call
21:11
Speaker 1: for assistance. And isn't it true, Philip Dubay that voluntary
21:16
Speaker 1: use of drugs or alcohol is not a defense under
21:20
Speaker 1: the law. So for you to say, oh, he was drunk,
21:23
Speaker 1: I believe you said drunk as a skunk. That's no
21:26
Speaker 1: defense to anything. If that were true, the Fulton County
21:30
Speaker 1: jail would be empty right now. Everybody would say, oh,
21:33
Speaker 1: miss Grace, I was drunk. That's bs. So don't even
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Speaker 1: start with me that he was drunk. I don't care
21:38
Speaker 1: that he was drunk, and Lady Justice doesn't care, and
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Speaker 1: the law is on my side here.
21:43
Speaker 3: Carlos Mercado Junior has a hard time maintaining his balance
21:47
Speaker 3: and slurs his speech while speaking with officers. His breath
21:51
Speaker 3: smells of alcohol, as he explains he found on him
21:54
Speaker 3: roughly six hours ago, but did not realize she was dead.
21:58
Speaker 3: Mercado says he assumed she was sleeping off the numerous
22:01
Speaker 3: drinks they shared the night before. Officers noticed several open
22:05
Speaker 3: alcohol containers in the kitchen and living room.
22:08
Speaker 1: Joining me right now is a domestic violence and sex
22:12
Speaker 1: assault expert. Bill Hernandez is joining us. He is a
22:16
Speaker 1: detective in California, Bill, Thank you for being with us. Bill,
22:20
Speaker 1: having prosecuted violent felonies my entire career and working at
22:26
Speaker 1: the Battered Women's Center as a volunteer for nine years
22:28
Speaker 1: on the hotline. How many times, I mean, can you
22:32
Speaker 1: even count them that the husband, partner, boyfriend, ex whatever,
22:38
Speaker 1: claims quote I was drunk, as if that somehow absolves
22:42
Speaker 1: them from what they've done. They're always drunk. Do you care?
22:47
Speaker 1: Does that mean she's not dead? Does that mean that
22:50
Speaker 1: other women were not attacked because the perp is drunk?
22:54
Speaker 13: No, it certainly doesn't mean that they weren't attacked, and
22:57
Speaker 13: it certainly does matter in thestigation how intoxicated this person was.
23:02
Speaker 13: We always do want to ask that type of question,
23:05
Speaker 13: but it really doesn't go to what happened during the incident.
23:09
Speaker 13: It doesn't state the facts.
23:11
Speaker 1: In addition to what police find when they get there,
23:16
Speaker 1: they then get evidence of a lift ride listen.
23:22
Speaker 3: Mercato tells police that he and Autumn were drinking heavily
23:25
Speaker 3: late into the night and he fell asleep around four am.
23:29
Speaker 3: When he wakes at eight forty am, Autumn is at
23:32
Speaker 3: the bottom of the stairs and Mercado cannot wake her.
23:35
Speaker 3: Mercato tells police he believes Autumn must have passed out
23:39
Speaker 3: from vertigo and fallen down the stairs. Mercato admits that
23:43
Speaker 3: instead of calling nine to one one, he covers Autumn
23:45
Speaker 3: with a blanket and orders a lift ride. Mercato makes
23:49
Speaker 3: a trip to a nearby gas station for a beer run,
23:53
Speaker 3: leaving their one and four year old children home alone
23:56
Speaker 3: with mommy's body.
23:57
Speaker 1: Debay a beer ride. A beer run, he finds his
24:04
Speaker 1: wife's dead body at the foot of the stairs six
24:09
Speaker 1: hours by his admission, according to her sister, is likely
24:13
Speaker 1: much longer, and goes for a beer run, leaving a
24:17
Speaker 1: one year old and four year old child alone with
24:21
Speaker 1: mommy's body hovering around it.
24:27
Speaker 11: You can be a fourteen carrot jerk without being a killer.
24:30
Speaker 11: The man was obviously drunk. He wanted to resume where
24:34
Speaker 11: he left off. Does that mean anybody would condone it?
24:37
Speaker 11: Certainly not, But that's not an element of murder. The
24:40
Speaker 11: real question here is what's going to happen regarding the
24:43
Speaker 11: child abandonment problem that he's got.
24:45
Speaker 3: Now.
24:46
Speaker 11: Obviously, nobody wants to leave their spouse when they've fallen
24:49
Speaker 11: down the stairs from vertigo. But if you are drunk,
24:52
Speaker 11: if your blotto. You're not in the right state of
24:55
Speaker 11: mind to act like an otherwise sober person. So for now,
24:59
Speaker 11: there's not enough evidence to charge him with a homicide.
25:09
Speaker 2: A nurse, mom of three found dead at the bottom
25:13
Speaker 2: of stairs in her home. Is it an accident or
25:16
Speaker 2: is there more to the story?
25:18
Speaker 1: This is by far not the first time a wife
25:21
Speaker 1: has been found dead at the foot of the stairs
25:25
Speaker 1: from an accident. I recall distinctly the Kathleen Peterson case.
25:31
Speaker 1: Kathleen found at the foot of the stairs. The defense,
25:36
Speaker 1: wait for it was that an owl had flown into
25:41
Speaker 1: the home, attacked her and made her fall down the stairs,
25:47
Speaker 1: and then I guess the owl found its way out
25:49
Speaker 1: the front door.
25:52
Speaker 10: Listen, Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of
25:57
Speaker 10: the couple staircase.
25:58
Speaker 3: Peterson's husband is not list of Michael Peterson.
26:01
Speaker 1: The cop was on me instantly.
26:03
Speaker 7: There was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial.
26:05
Speaker 8: The injuries are not consistently the fall down the stairs.
26:08
Speaker 7: The charge first degree murder.
26:12
Speaker 8: The d is trying to say that I died till
26:14
Speaker 8: her mother.
26:15
Speaker 6: There's no murder web, there's no motivor.
26:17
Speaker 7: But we're sitting behind our died We've never occurred to
26:21
Speaker 7: Michael Peterson that people wouldn't believe it. That's really what
26:24
Speaker 7: this is all about.
26:27
Speaker 8: He thought he'd get away with it.
26:29
Speaker 1: That's where our friends at Netflix. The husband in that case,
26:34
Speaker 1: Michael Peterson, was tried. Then after a lot of legal wrangling,
26:40
Speaker 1: after being found guilty and then the legal wrangling, he
26:43
Speaker 1: ended up taking a plea to involuntary manslaughter. But listen
26:48
Speaker 1: to this nine one one call you.
26:52
Speaker 9: Roch Peters.
26:56
Speaker 2: Whyn't turn asking what kind of a super including the conscious?
27:02
Speaker 2: Worse conscious?
27:04
Speaker 3: No, she's not conscious?
27:06
Speaker 2: How many stairs to do all there?
27:08
Speaker 9: How many for bears?
27:10
Speaker 1: How many stairs?
27:13
Speaker 4: Fifteen forty?
27:14
Speaker 9: I don't know.
27:15
Speaker 12: Please get somebody her.
27:16
Speaker 1: Brother way straight out to Summer Christensen. This is Autumn's sister, Summer.
27:22
Speaker 1: In that case, the husband claimed an owl flew in
27:25
Speaker 1: and attacked his wife. He claimed she had been drinking,
27:28
Speaker 1: in other words, putting the blame on her as I
27:32
Speaker 1: recall she had had a glass of wine and now
27:35
Speaker 1: she's dead. It then came out that he had a
27:39
Speaker 1: prior relationship with another woman in Germany who was found
27:46
Speaker 1: dead at the foot of the stairs in this case.
27:52
Speaker 1: In that case, he claimed an owl is responsible. And
27:55
Speaker 1: a glass of wine or intake of alcohol, and this
28:00
Speaker 1: case we're hearing vertigo and that Autumn had been drinking.
28:05
Speaker 1: Why is it always seemingly the victim's fault. She's at
28:08
Speaker 1: the bottom of the stairs dead.
28:11
Speaker 8: I don't even know what to say to that.
28:13
Speaker 7: To be honest with you, I do feel in my
28:16
Speaker 7: heart and my gut that a phone call could have
28:19
Speaker 7: been made to help save her life.
28:21
Speaker 1: What are you being told about the bruises on her body?
28:24
Speaker 7: Nothing yet, that everything is still under investigation, that it'll
28:29
Speaker 7: take weeks for the full investigation to be complete.
28:34
Speaker 1: That brings to mind the case of Susanne Seals. Listen.
28:39
Speaker 11: He said it was an accident and she appeared to
28:41
Speaker 11: have fallen down the stairs.
28:44
Speaker 1: I got the call from Scott and he said Susanne
28:46
Speaker 1: is dead and I said, no, she isn't. He said,
28:51
Speaker 1: but accidents do happen, which of course is true.
28:55
Speaker 9: We found blood stains that is obviously suspicious.
28:58
Speaker 10: Of course you didn't who's but what we didn't know?
29:02
Speaker 4: We knew that sooner onto some we were gonna have
29:04
Speaker 4: to spend some time on.
29:05
Speaker 1: My son in law has just been arrested for the
29:09
Speaker 1: murder of my daughter, another woman dead at the foot
29:14
Speaker 1: of the stairs. That's from our friends at Dateline to
29:18
Speaker 1: Sydney Sumner joining US Crime online dot Com investigative reporter, Sidney,
29:22
Speaker 1: what can you tell me about the bruises on her body?
29:24
Speaker 1: I know we don't have the autopsy report yet, but
29:27
Speaker 1: we've been able to glean a little bit from police
29:29
Speaker 1: reports and statements.
29:31
Speaker 4: Nancy. What the report says about the bruising on Autumn's
29:34
Speaker 4: body is her legs and her feet were extremely discolored.
29:39
Speaker 4: That's what we took to minas bruising on her legs
29:41
Speaker 4: and feet. They noted particularly her feet were bruised, which
29:45
Speaker 4: is very odd. I cannot think of a reason that
29:50
Speaker 4: those bruises would be there from an injury that happened
29:55
Speaker 4: in her life.
29:56
Speaker 1: Doctor Michelle Dupree, What does that indicate to you? Her
30:00
Speaker 1: legs and feet badly bruised?
30:03
Speaker 6: Nancy? The first thing I think of is actually defensive wounds.
30:07
Speaker 6: Oftentimes anyone may fight off an attacker with their arms
30:11
Speaker 6: and legs and feet, and you know, if the bruises
30:13
Speaker 6: are on her feet, I think that would be highly
30:16
Speaker 6: suspicious for defensive wounds.
30:18
Speaker 1: You know, that's a really good point doctor Michelle Dupree.
30:21
Speaker 1: When I try to explain defensive wounds to a jury,
30:25
Speaker 1: imagine someone coming at you with a baseball bat. The
30:28
Speaker 1: first thing you do is put your hands up over
30:30
Speaker 1: your face. And that's why we often see defensive wounds
30:32
Speaker 1: along the outside of the arms, the outside of the hands,
30:37
Speaker 1: and that bruising. Even though a blow is struck here,
30:40
Speaker 1: the bruising will go into the hand. Often we see
30:44
Speaker 1: a victim if they're already in the floor or say
30:48
Speaker 1: in the bed or in a sitting position, not necessarily
30:52
Speaker 1: prone on the floor, they curl up in a fetal
30:55
Speaker 1: position and you will find a lot of bruising on
30:59
Speaker 1: the legs and the feet where they're instinctively trying to
31:02
Speaker 1: protect their internal organs. Is that how it works, doctor Dupree.
31:08
Speaker 6: Absolutely, Nancy, you gave a perfect description. That's exactly what happened.
31:12
Speaker 6: You're trying to defend yourself, and the way to do
31:15
Speaker 6: that is with your arms, your legs, your feet, basically
31:18
Speaker 6: anything to protect that core of your body.
31:20
Speaker 1: That's what it sounds like to me.
31:23
Speaker 2: A Utah nurse found in her home cop say hubby
31:26
Speaker 2: buys beer before calling nine to one one.
31:29
Speaker 1: He didn't just buy beer. He got a lift ride
31:33
Speaker 1: to go buy beer and come home and get drunk
31:37
Speaker 1: while his wife is lying in the floor, cold to
31:40
Speaker 1: the touch, covered in bruises, and half naked. Why it's
31:45
Speaker 1: not the first time suspect a person of interest, let's say,
31:52
Speaker 1: suddenly got an attack of the hungries after the death.
31:56
Speaker 3: Listen, federal agents line up raaking through garbage searching for
32:00
Speaker 3: twenty month old Quinton Simon's remains. Meanwhile, Leilanie Simon, the
32:04
Speaker 3: only suspect in her son's disappearance, Her mother, Billy Jo Howell,
32:09
Speaker 3: and others are spotted out at the popular Tybee Island bar.
32:13
Speaker 3: Their waiters say they took Shantz, got flirty, and even
32:16
Speaker 3: demanded one waiter's phone number. Their party ran up a
32:20
Speaker 3: tab of over three hundred dollars while protesters stood in
32:23
Speaker 3: front of the family's home demanding justice for Quinton.
32:26
Speaker 9: Not just that.
32:28
Speaker 1: I'm sure we all remember the case of Micah Miller.
32:32
Speaker 10: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is buzzing with rumors that pastor
32:35
Speaker 10: John Paul Miller is dating again and has possibly even remarried.
32:39
Speaker 10: Miller was previously seen out to dinner with a member
32:42
Speaker 10: of his congregation just four days after Micah Miller's suicide,
32:46
Speaker 10: less than twenty four hours after his home is rated
32:49
Speaker 10: by the FBI, Miller is seen with the same woman
32:52
Speaker 10: having lunch at McAllister's Deli. This time, the pair cap
32:55
Speaker 10: their distance and appeared tense when entering and leaving the restaurant.
32:59
Speaker 1: Again. In that case, Michael Miller's case, they passed. Her
33:01
Speaker 1: husband has not been charged in relation to her death.
33:05
Speaker 1: To Summer Christensen, has he contacted you at all since
33:09
Speaker 1: Autumn's death.
33:10
Speaker 8: Yes, he tried reaching out to me from a phone number.
33:14
Speaker 8: I did not know that it was him.
33:17
Speaker 7: I actually thought it was maybe someone from the police department.
33:20
Speaker 7: The first thing he said to me was, I didn't
33:23
Speaker 7: do it. Not my condolences, I'm sorry about leaving the kids. Nothing.
33:29
Speaker 7: Maybe I'm sorry. I Edmit's guilt. I don't know, but no,
33:32
Speaker 7: nothing other than he didn't do it, and he has
33:39
Speaker 7: clothing for the children that my family can pick up.
33:43
Speaker 8: I froze. I couldn't say anything. I wanted to scream,
33:46
Speaker 8: I wanted to yell. I froze. I couldn't say anything.
33:48
Speaker 8: I was just silent.
33:50
Speaker 3: Autumn sisters say they thought her relationship with Mercato was
33:54
Speaker 3: happy and loving older sister, Summer. Christiansen Ward says she
33:59
Speaker 3: had no idea about the previous domestic violence charges and
34:02
Speaker 3: believes her sister's marriage was much different behind closed doors.
34:07
Speaker 1: Summer, did you ever have any idea that there was
34:11
Speaker 1: domestic violence in their marriage?
34:14
Speaker 7: We so, I was saying, my family know, not until
34:18
Speaker 7: I guess she would say it was too late. Right
34:21
Speaker 7: in front of us family gatherings. They were loving to
34:25
Speaker 7: each other. It wasn't until more recently that you can
34:30
Speaker 7: only you know, so many times, you can only fall
34:35
Speaker 7: down the stairs. You know how many more times?
34:39
Speaker 8: I don't know. Things started to come together, but she's
34:43
Speaker 8: not with us, like.
34:46
Speaker 1: Summer, is too true that you were told he Carlos
34:50
Speaker 1: Mercado pushed her down the stairs in the past. It's
34:52
Speaker 1: not the first time.
34:54
Speaker 7: So after her passing, yes, someone came forward and said
34:59
Speaker 7: that she had reached out to them.
35:03
Speaker 8: Because Carlos had pushed her down the stairs.
35:06
Speaker 1: So a few of her friends, at least one knew
35:09
Speaker 1: about the domestic violence Sydney. Wasn't there a previous domestic
35:12
Speaker 1: violence charge?
35:14
Speaker 11: Nancy?
35:15
Speaker 4: There were several. The first they were not yet married,
35:19
Speaker 4: still engaged in twenty nineteen and there was a domestic
35:23
Speaker 4: violence assault charge against Mercado. Then again two years later
35:31
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty one, there was another charge filed, but
35:37
Speaker 4: law enforcement could not get in touch with Autumn to
35:40
Speaker 4: successfully prosecute the case. Again, a year later, Mercado assaulted
35:46
Speaker 4: Autumn again, just months after completing court ordered anger management
35:52
Speaker 4: and counseling for the initial charge back in twenty nineteen.
35:57
Speaker 4: So there were several documented cases of mastic violence from
36:01
Speaker 4: Mercado against Autumn, and it seems those who saw her
36:05
Speaker 4: on a daily basis had some idea that this was
36:08
Speaker 4: going on. The coworker that called for the welfare check
36:12
Speaker 4: actually mentioned to police she was worried about Autumn because
36:16
Speaker 4: of their domestic violence history.
36:19
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting Summer that nobody in the family knew.
36:25
Speaker 1: But you know what, that is not uncommon. In fact,
36:29
Speaker 1: that's normal. It's very rare that a domestic victim will
36:35
Speaker 1: open up and tell people. For some reason, they keep
36:38
Speaker 1: it a secret. How did she portray her marriage to you?
36:44
Speaker 7: He was her night in shining armor. She protected him,
36:50
Speaker 7: She definitely protected him. Like I said, it wasn't until
36:54
Speaker 7: things started not adding up. And it's like, there's only
36:57
Speaker 7: so many times certain things can happen. And I hate
37:00
Speaker 7: to think that she was dealing with this for as
37:02
Speaker 7: long as they were together. She wanted us to love him.
37:10
Speaker 7: She protected him. He didn't protect her, but she definitely
37:13
Speaker 7: protected him.
37:14
Speaker 1: Doctor Lise Long, psychologists joining us. Why why do the
37:19
Speaker 1: victims try to protect the abuser?
37:23
Speaker 9: It is part of the abuse cycle, you know. You
37:26
Speaker 9: go through periods of trying to get back together, strengthen
37:31
Speaker 9: the relationship, and they're living in an environment that is
37:37
Speaker 9: fear based. You know, it's chaos within the environment, and
37:42
Speaker 9: they're under a lot of pressure by the perpetrator to
37:47
Speaker 9: make them look good publicly.
37:49
Speaker 1: You know, I think part of it, doctor Lesa. I'm
37:51
Speaker 1: certainly in a shrink, but they want that image. People
37:57
Speaker 1: women grow up thinking they're going to have this wonderful husband,
38:01
Speaker 1: this happy life, you know, like in the Harrmark movie
38:04
Speaker 1: or and the Christmas card photos, and that's you know,
38:08
Speaker 1: sold to us, and we buy into it and think
38:12
Speaker 1: that's the way it's supposed to be, and somehow if
38:15
Speaker 1: it's not really that way, you're the big failure.
38:19
Speaker 9: Absolutely, Nancy, you know, and that is part of the
38:22
Speaker 9: domestic violence. The abuse cycle is that victims often internalize
38:29
Speaker 9: guilt and shame for being victims of abuse when you know, obviously,
38:34
Speaker 9: logically we know that's not the way, that they're not
38:39
Speaker 9: the cause of it, but that is exactly what happens,
38:43
Speaker 9: and then it creates a cycle of feeling shame to
38:47
Speaker 9: speak out to get help, and then we end up
38:50
Speaker 9: in situations like this.
38:54
Speaker 1: Summer. What is your message tonight? I know the children
39:00
Speaker 1: are with Autumn's family, What do they remember about the
39:06
Speaker 1: day Mommy was at the foot of the stairs.
39:09
Speaker 8: I will never ask, at least the four year old.
39:13
Speaker 8: What I will tell you is that he has night terrors.
39:19
Speaker 8: Do I think that he knows Mommy is gone?
39:21
Speaker 9: I do, I do.
39:24
Speaker 7: But what I would want people to remember one is
39:28
Speaker 7: if you are suffering from domestic violence, please reach out.
39:32
Speaker 7: Reach out to your family. Even if if you confide
39:35
Speaker 7: and others or work coworkers or other friends, then I
39:39
Speaker 7: would ask you, you know, coworkers, other friends, whoever it is,
39:42
Speaker 7: reach out to the family, call someone, Please do something.
39:46
Speaker 7: I don't want them to end up like my sister.
39:48
Speaker 7: But I also want my sister to be remembered. Like
39:50
Speaker 7: I said, she is not only beautiful, on the inside
39:54
Speaker 7: or on the outside, but also on the inside. She
39:56
Speaker 7: was nurturing, she was loving. Her hugs were big, they
39:59
Speaker 7: were warm.
40:01
Speaker 8: She was a nurse. I say this all the time.
40:03
Speaker 7: If you were cared for by my sister, you knew
40:06
Speaker 7: you were going to be taken care of. She gave
40:08
Speaker 7: off that demeanor and that confidence and that, you know,
40:12
Speaker 7: just her the way she was when she cared for people.
40:15
Speaker 7: She but her number one pride and joy were her
40:20
Speaker 7: three children. Her three kids were her pride and joy,
40:24
Speaker 7: and she loved them with everything she had. I really
40:28
Speaker 7: want my sister to be remembered for the wonderful person
40:30
Speaker 7: that she was, the amazing woman that she was. I
40:35
Speaker 7: do want justice for her, but I want her to
40:38
Speaker 7: be remembered for who she is and not the woman
40:41
Speaker 7: at the bottom of the stairs where her kids were
40:43
Speaker 7: there to watch her. She's an amazing, wonderful woman.
40:46
Speaker 1: If you or someone you know is suffering domestic violence,
40:53
Speaker 1: please call toll free eight hundred seven ninety nine seven
40:58
Speaker 1: two three three. Eight hundred seven ninety nine seven two
41:03
Speaker 1: three three. We wait as just as sun falls. Goodbye, friend,