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Nashville Man Convicted of Murdering Wife in a "Moment of Anger" Before Fleeing to Mexico · Murder Files Unsealed

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we are immersing ourselves
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in a case that is, frankly the ultimate study in deception.
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We're talking about the nineteen ninety six disappearance of Janet March.
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Speaker 2: Right from her what looked like a perfect suburban.
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Speaker 1: Life in Nashville exactly. And this story it's not just
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about a murder. It's about a full decade of really
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calculated lies, international moves, this bitter family.
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Speaker 2: War, and honestly, one of the most chilling murder for
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higher plots you'll ever come across. It's quite something, it
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really is. What really stands out, though, and what we
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really want to explore for you today is how the
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prosecution in Tennessee actually managed to get a second degree
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murder conviction without the key piece of evidence you normally need,
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the body, the body exactly. This case basically tore up
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that old legal saying nobody, no crime. We've got a
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lot of material here looking at Perry Marsh's whole journey
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from this charismatic lawyer to a convicted felon, and a
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lot of it seems driven by just staggering arrogance.
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Speaker 1: Okay, let's dig into that. Let's set the scene first,
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Forest Hills, Tennessee. It's August nineteen ninety six. The address
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you mentioned it seventeen fifteen, Bentley Drive, affluent suburbia.
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Speaker 2: Looks perfect, gextra perfect.
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Speaker 1: We've got Perry is real March. He's thirty three, seems sharp, discipline, lawyer,
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military background. And his wife Janet gay Levine March thirty four.
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She's a talented children's book illustrator. Seems very vibrant.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, they met back in eighty two University Michigan Hill
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event got married in Nashville, and yeah, they had all
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the signs of success. Two young kids, Zippy was five,
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Sammy just sixteen months old.
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Speaker 1: But it really was a facade, wasn't it.
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Speaker 2: Oh? Completely. Janet was, as you said, artistic, came from
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a well established Nashville family described as old Southern Jewish,
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money illustrative books like the New Kid on the Block.
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Seemed really devoted to.
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Speaker 1: Her kids and Perry.
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Speaker 2: Perry was charismatic, sure, yeah, But people also described him
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as combative, intensely focused on a level of success that well,
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honestly wasn't quite happening for him. His career was stalling a.
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Speaker 1: Bit, and that's where the cracks really start showing right
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the underlying tension, financial pressure big time.
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Speaker 2: He was working at his father in law's law firm,
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Larry Levine's firm, very successful real estate practice. But Perry
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wasn't exactly setting the world on fire there.
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Speaker 1: And the sources mention significant financial strain and crucially, there.
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Speaker 2: Was an affair, yes, an affair with a coworker. He
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had to settle quietly and get this, he borrowed twenty
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four thousand dollars to pay that settlement, borrowed from where
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from Janet's inheritance directly?
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Speaker 1: Wow? Okay, that must have created enormous tension.
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Speaker 2: Huge. It was like a powder cake. Janet was already
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feeling stifled controlled. Friends later testifout Perry was overly controlling.
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The affair settlement just seemed to crystallize things for her.
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She wanted independence, she wanted her career.
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Speaker 1: Back, and she wanted out of the marriage.
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Speaker 2: Definitely. The arguments were escalating over money, his late nights,
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even after they tried merital counseling wasn't working.
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Speaker 1: So He've got this perfect image, but underneath debt, betrayal,
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Janet wanting freedom. Our mission here is to really walk
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you through how that tension exploded, how it led to
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a death, and then this decade long cover up in war.
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Speaker 2: And we'll focus on that core puzzle. What specific evidence
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convinced a jury of murder in two thousand and six,
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ten years later without a body.
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Speaker 1: Right, let's get into the night it all happened. August fifteenth,
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nineteen ninety six. That's the critical date.
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Speaker 2: That's the pivot point. Yeah, we know the last time
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Janet was seen alive for sure was around five PM
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that evening.
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Speaker 1: Okay, what do we know about that last sighting?
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Speaker 2: Well, there were two carpenters at the house, John Ritchie
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and John McCallister. They were installing new kitchen countertops. They
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saw Janet inside. She was apparently quite animated, talking about
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design choices, and Perry Perry was outside of the two kids,
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Zibby and Sammy. The carpenter said everything seemed totally normal,
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no obvious tension, no distress, just a regular late afternoon
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at the house.
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Speaker 1: But Perry's story, the one he eventually told police two
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weeks later, was very.
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Speaker 2: Different, radically different. His claim was they had had a
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massive argument that night about his infidelity again, and the
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jan finally said she wanted a trial separation, that she
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was leaving him. That was his official story, she walked
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out voluntarily.
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Speaker 1: But that story starts to fall apart when his father
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gets involved, Arthur march Right.
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Speaker 2: Perry eventually confessed something very different to his father. He
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told Arthur that, yes, they argued and in a blind rage,
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he lost control. He grabbed this heavy, antique wrought iron wrench.
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Speaker 1: That was just displayed on the wall.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, like a decorative piece. Yeah, he grabbed it and
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struck her. He insisted to Arthur though, that it was
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an accident, that he was just overcome with fury and
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she collapsed dead after that one blow.
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Speaker 1: That word accident. It's hard to square with what happened
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next because his actions weren't panicked, were they They were
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incredibly methodical, not at all panicked.
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Speaker 2: Calculated is the word. The cover up that followed shows
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this analytical, almost military like planning. It's not what someone
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does in grief. For terror, So what did he do? First?
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He wrapped Janet's body in a rug from the house.
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Seems like a small detail, but those rug fibers become
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crucial evidence ten years down the line. Okay, Then he
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loaded her body into his green jeep Cherokee drove north
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under cover of.
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Speaker 1: Darkness, and this is where his legal mind kicks in,
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anticipating forensics.
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Speaker 2: The tires exactly, he stopped and bought new tires while
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he was en route to dispose of the body. Why
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to erase the unique tread patterns of his existing tires
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from the remote area where he left her. He was
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already thinking about how to beat the evidence.
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Speaker 1: Incredible foresight for an accident.
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Speaker 2: Right then he drives back, gets home around dawn. Now
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he has to complete the staging. He takes Janet's car
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and drives it to a distant airport parking lot, leaves
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there to make it look like she flew away.
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Speaker 1: And back at the house, what did he leave behind?
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Speaker 2: He intentionally left items that would bolster the she fled story,
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her purse, her ID credit cards, house keys, and very pointedly,
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her wedding ring.
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Speaker 1: Leaving the wedding ring is such a statement like she's
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rejecting the whole life, but who leaves everything else? ID? Money?
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Speaker 2: Precisely, it's meant to sell the story, but it was
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also deeply suspicious, and of course there was the cleanup
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bleach was used, wiping away any trace of violence. He
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set up his lie immediately and meticulously.
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Speaker 1: The lie depended on Janet acting completely out of character,
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and it started to unravel pretty quickly because of his
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own actions or lack thereof.
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Speaker 2: That delay, that two week delay, it's baffling. August fifteenth,
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she disappears. He doesn't report her missing until August twenty ninth.
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What was his excuse, he told Detective Ronnie French. He
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was in emotional turmoil. Claim he assumed she'd just gone
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to her parents. The Levines, who happened to be on
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vacation in Michigan at the time, just packed up and left,
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he said.
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Speaker 1: But the Levines weren't buying it for.
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Speaker 2: A second, not for a nanosecond. Larry Levine being a
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powerful attorney himself, they flew back immediately. They wanted answers,
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They demanded action, and for the police, like Detective French,
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the red flags were already waving.
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Speaker 1: A devoted leaves two babies, leaves her wallet, her keys,
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her id, her wedding ring, doesn't call anyone.
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Speaker 2: It just didn't add up. The police launched a missing
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person's investigation. But remember this is nineteen ninety six. Forensic
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DNA isn't the tool it is today. Perry, meanwhile is
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playing the grieving husband for the TV.
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Speaker 1: Cameras, tearful interviews.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, pleading for her return. But behind the scenes, he
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immediately lawyers up with a top attorney, John Herbison, while.
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Speaker 1: The Levines basically started their own investigation.
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Speaker 2: They did. Larry used his legal know how to get
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access to bank records. Fast confirmed zero activity on Janet's
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accounts after August fifteenth, No credit card use, no ATM withdrawals, nothing.
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Speaker 1: If she'd run off to start a new life, she'd
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need money exactly.
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Speaker 2: And Carolyn Levine, Janet's mother, she was mobilizing the community,
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holding vigils, keeping Janet's face in the public eye, and
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repeating their core belief Janet wouldn't abandon her babies. That
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message was vital counterprogramming to Perry's story.
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Speaker 1: By the fall of ninety six, the case lands with
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the Cold Case guys Pat Pastiglioni and Bill Pridemore. Postiglion's
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known for his behavioral insights right.
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Speaker 2: Very much so, and he picked up on something disturbing
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about Perry March right away, which was Perry consistently spoke
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about Janet in the past tens from the very beginning.
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It's a subtle linguistic tale, but it suggests the speaker
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already knows the person isn't coming back.
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Speaker 1: Huh creepy yeah.
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Speaker 2: Plus Postilion noted Perry's unsettling calm is composed demeanor. And
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then there was the jeep, that green Cherokee. They searched it,
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they did, and forensics sound fibers fibers consistent with oriental rugs,
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potentially matching the type of rug Perry might have used
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to wrap the body, but again, without a body, just
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suggestive clues, not enough.
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Speaker 1: So the investigation stalls, but Perry keeps moving.
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Speaker 2: He wants a distance, definitive separation financially and geographically. Early
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nineteen ninety seven, he sells the Fores Hills house, gets
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six hundred and fifty five thousand dollars for it, pockets
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about sixty thousand dollars after probate.
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Speaker 1: And where does he go?
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Speaker 2: Takes the kids, Tippy and Sammy, and moves to Chicago.
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Claims better job prospects, but the real goal seems pretty clear.
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Get the kids away from the Levines, Isolate them, control
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the narrative, alienate them from the only people actively challenging.
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Speaker 1: Him, and that moved to Chicago. That kicks off this
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incredibly ugly expensive civil war.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely Section three is all about this battle. The Levines
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weren't having it. They immediately sued Perry for visitation rights.
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The alleged he was actively trying to turn the kids
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against them, parental alienation. They refused to lose their grandchildren.
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Speaker 1: This wasn't just about visits, though. The Levines went further.
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Speaker 2: Much further. They realized they had to challenge the core premise,
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so in nineteen ninety eight they filed a civil wrongful
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death lawsuit. They claimed Perry killed Janet basically to get
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her estate.
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Speaker 1: Now, the standard of proof in civil court is lower
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than criminal court right preponderance of the evendents.
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Speaker 2: Exactly not beyond a reasonable doubt, and amazingly they won.
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The court awarded them a one point two million dollar
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wrongful death judgment against Perry, huge symbolic victory.
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Speaker 1: But Perry fought back.
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Speaker 2: Of course, he countersued them for defamation, and the legal
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victory for the Levines was actually temporary on that front.
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Perry appealed the wrongful death verdict and in two thousand
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and three and appeals court overturned it, they said. There
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just wasn't enough definitive evidence at that time to legally
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sustain the finding that he killed her. The suspicion was there,
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the motive maybe, but without more The nobody no crime
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idea still held sway legally even in civil court. Then
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it showed the hurdle they faced, but.
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Speaker 1: The Levines kept fighting on the custody front relentlessly.
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Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety nine they finally secured court ordered visits
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with the kids twice a month. For Perry, this was
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losing control.
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Speaker 1: He couldn't stand it, so he makes another drastic move.
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Speaker 2: He vanishes, takes Sippy and Sammy and moves again, this
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time out of the country to a jigitch Mexico. His father,
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Arthur was already down there. Perry likely saw Mexico as
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a safe haven, legal speaking, a place to permanently cut
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off the Levines.
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Speaker 1: And what was life like in Mexico? Did he settle
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down on the surface.
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Speaker 2: Maybe He remarried quickly, a woman named Carmen Alardo. In
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two thousand. He even opened a restaurant called Media Luna.
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Looked like a fresh start, but underneath sam old Perry
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he couldn't let go of the fight. He kept weaponizing
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the legal system against the Levines. The sources say he
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just bombarded them with lawsuits, custody assets, anything to drain
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their money and their energy.
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Speaker 1: Just constant harassment.
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Speaker 2: Totally. It costs the Levines over a million dollars in
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legal fees alone, just fighting to see their grandkids and
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up poll Janet's memory. It was psychological warfare as much
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as legal designed to.
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Speaker 1: Break them, which leads to that really difficult moment in
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two thousand and one, the retrieval.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's incredibly tough. The Levines went down to Mexico
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and in an act that Mexican authorities later called illegal,
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they basically snatched Zippy and Sammy from their school.
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Speaker 1: Wow.
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Speaker 2: They immediately brought them back to Nashville, where the grandparents
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were granted custody. But you can only imagine the trauma
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for the kids. They were screaming for their father, Perry.
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Speaker 1: Even then, it's an impossible choice for the Levines, leave
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them with a man they believe killed their daughter, or
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inflict this trauma of sudden separation.
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Speaker 2: The terrible dilemma. But it got the children out of
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Perry's direct control, back to stability. Even if it was
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a deeply complicated stability in Nashville.
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Speaker 1: So the kids are back with the Levines. Perry's in Mexico,
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but his desperation is clearly escalating. It's unbelievable that he'd
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then consider what he considered next.
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Speaker 2: It really shows the paranoia and egos spiraling out of control.
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He saw the Levines as the absent block, the enemy,
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preventing him from getting his kids back, maybe even exposing him.
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His anger really boiled over around two thousand. What happened
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in two thousand He was actually briefly jailed back in
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Tennessee contempt of court charge related to him ignoring rulings
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in the ongoing civil battles.
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Speaker 1: And being in jail gave him an idea, a terrible.
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Speaker 2: Idea, horrific idea. He decided the only way to truly win,
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to make if the original problem go away, was to
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eliminate the Levines entirely.
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Speaker 1: So inside the jail he.
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Speaker 2: Approaches another inmate, a guy named Russell Ferris, described as
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a Mexican American drifter, maybe with some connections. Perry offers
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Ferris fifty thousand dollars to do. What to murder Larry
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and Carolyn Levine, both.
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Speaker 1: Of them a hit an attorney trying to hire a
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hitman from jail. The lack of judgment is astounding.
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Speaker 2: It's mind blowing. And here's the kicker, Ferris. He was
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an FBI jail house informant.
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Speaker 1: Oh my goodness.
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Speaker 2: So the very move Perry made to guarantee his freedom
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to silence his accusers, it becomes the single most damning
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piece of evidence against him, not just for the plot,
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but it reflects back intensely on the original disappearance.
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Speaker 1: Because the FBI got takes, he.
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Speaker 2: Got tapes p. Two thousand, Yeah, and the calls capture
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the plot in absolutely cold, chilling detail. Perry is explicit.
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Speaker 1: What did he say? What was his logic on the tapes?
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Speaker 2: He spelled it out. He said murdering the Levines would
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make the original investigation into Janet's death basically go away.
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His quote was something and like, he'd have a ninety
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percent chance of acquittal without them testifying, because.
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Speaker 1: They were the driving force keeping the case alive.
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Speaker 2: Exactly. They were the pressure, the memory keeper is the
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ones pushing law enforcement. He figured, get rid of them,
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the whole thing collapses.
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Speaker 1: And his father, Arthur, was he aware of this.
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Speaker 2: Plot, aware he was involved. This is maybe the most
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disturbing part. The tapes caught Arthur Marsh actively discussing the
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logistics with Perry and Ferris, Logistics like what like how
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to dispose of the bodies. Arthur suggested they should dump
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the bodies in the lake. He even talked about getting
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the weapon a point three to eight from my contact
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in Guadalajara. This wasn't just awareness, it was active participation
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in planning a double murder, sickening family loyalty.
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Speaker 1: Unbelievable. Meanwhile, back on the original cold case, a new
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lead surfaces from Mexico.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, another piece falls into place, where in two thousand
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and four, a business associate of Perry's down in Mexico,
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someone he had a money dispute with at the restaurant
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Media Luna. This person tips off the police that what Perry,
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apparently maybe drunk or just arrogant, had boasted during the argument,
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I'll kill you like I killed my wife, a direct confession,
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pretty much an outright verbal admission to a third party. Huge.
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Speaker 1: So now you have the Ferris tapes plotting murder and
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this reported confession from Mexico.
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Speaker 2: That combination was finally enough a Davidson County grand jury
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indicts Perry in December two thousand and four. Charges are
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second degree murder for janet abusive a corpse, tampering with evidence,
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and also felony theft for embezzling about twenty three thousand
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dollars from Larry Levin's law firm way back in nineteen
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ninety nine.
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Speaker 1: Getting him back from Mexico must have been tricky.
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Speaker 2: It was. Mexo has strict policies against extradition for capital
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cases where the death penalty is possible, so US prosecutors
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had to make a strategic choice.
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Speaker 1: They had to drop the first degree murder charge.
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Speaker 2: Correct, they reduced it to second degree murder, not because
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they didn't think it might have been premeditated, but purely
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as a legal necessity to satisfy the tree and get
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Mexico to poor him. Getting him back to face trial
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was the priority.
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Speaker 1: So he's finally deported in August two thousand and five.
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Speaker 2: Yep. And then the final nail in the coffin really
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Arthur march is arrested three months later for his role
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in the hitman plot, and he cuts a deal.
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Speaker 1: What was the deal?
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Speaker 2: Arthur pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit murder, got a
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five year sentence. But the crucial part was he agreed
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to testify against his own son, Perry.
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Speaker 1: And Arthur's testimony provided the narrative of the burial.
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Speaker 2: It did. Arthur told authorities Perry called him that night, hysterical,
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claiming it was an accident during an argument over money,
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that Perry just lost control. Arthur said. He then drove
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with Perry to Dent County, Missouri. They buried Janet in a.
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Speaker 1: Shallow grave, but they moved her later.
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Speaker 2: Yes, Arthur claimed that later, worried about construction near the
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Missouri site, they dug her up and moved the body
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somewhere in Kentucky, trying to hide the evidence.
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Speaker 1: Even better, did Arthur say exactly where in Kentucky?
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Speaker 2: He claimed he couldn't remember the exact spot. Selective amnesia maybe,
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but frankly, the prosecution didn't need the exact spot anymore.
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Why not, because Arthur's testimony did two critical things. One,
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he confirmed Janet's death was a homicide, not a voluntary departure. Two,
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it confirmed Perry's immediate elaborate efforts to conceal the crime
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with Arthur's help. You take that testimony, add the rug
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fibers from ninety six, the tire receipts, Terry's confession in Mexico,
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the hit man plot. It all clicked together, a sealed narrative,
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body or nobody, which.
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Speaker 1: Brings us to the trials themselves. Section five. Perry faced
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the other charges.
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Speaker 2: First, Yeah, they build momentum. Papril two thousand and six,
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He's convicted of that felony theft charge from the law firm.
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It's three years.
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Speaker 1: Then the big one before the murder trial.
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Speaker 2: June two thousand and six, the conspiracy and solicitation trial
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based on those Ferris tapes, slam dunk guilty. That had
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another twenty six years consecutive. Perry, by the way, still
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calling the whole thing a farce, total denial.
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Speaker 1: But the main event is the murder trial August two
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thousand and six. Moved to Chattanooga because of all the
17:58
publicity in Nashville, right, and.
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Speaker 2: The prosecution, led by Leo Duskan, knew the challenge convincing
18:04
a jury of murder without a corpse.
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Speaker 1: So what was their strategy?
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Speaker 2: Brilliant really, They didn't focus on the absence of the body.
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They framed the entire case as being about deceit. They
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argue the lack of a body was actually irrelevant because
18:19
of the mountain of circumstantial evidence showing Perry's guilt and
18:23
crucially his desperate cover up.
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Speaker 1: Attempts like the hitman plot exactly.
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Speaker 2: They argued the plot to kill the Levines was essentially
18:29
a confession by conduct. Why would an innocent man try
18:33
to have the primary witnesses against him murdered. You only
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do that if you're guilty of the original crime they
18:38
might testify about.
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Speaker 1: And the defense what was their play?
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Speaker 2: Led by William Massey. They stuck to the traditional no corpse,
18:45
no crime defense. They kept pushing the idea that Janet
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could have just walked away started a new life somewhere.
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But by this point that story was full of holes.
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Speaker 1: So let's recap that circumstantial evidence that sealed it. What
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were the key pillars for the jury?
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Speaker 2: Okay, Pillar one Perry's own actions right after the disappearance,
19:03
that two week delay in reporting her missing, the suspicious
19:07
staging of the scene car at the airport, ring left
19:09
behind purse id all designed to mislead Pillar two.
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Speaker 1: The physical evidence, however, limited right those.
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Speaker 2: Oriental rug fibers found in his jeep way back in
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ninety six, matching samples from the house, plus evidence of
19:22
bleach residue, suggesting a major cleanup. An FBI analyst even
19:26
testified about vacuumings from the jeep linking to a rolled carpet.
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Small things, but they fit the narrative.
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Speaker 1: Pillar three Arthur March's testimony.
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Speaker 2: Crucial even though he was reluctant. Arthur confirmed the argument
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Perry losing control, the wrapping in the rugs, the initial
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burial in Missouri, the later moved to Kentucky. It provided
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the framework connecting Perry directly to Janet's death and disposal.
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Speaker 1: And Pillar four the hit man plot, the.
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Speaker 2: Absolute killer evidence pardon b on end. The Fairest tapes
19:53
proved Perry's willingness to commit further hain Inis crimes to
19:56
cover up the first one. It destroyed his credibility and
19:59
show consciousness of guilt. Plus you had Detective POSTILIONI testifying
20:03
about Perry's inconsistencies, like his changing stories about dropping the
20:07
car at the airport. It all painted a picture of
20:09
constant lying.
20:10
Speaker 1: So it wasn't one smoking gun, but this intricate web
20:13
of evidence.
20:14
Speaker 2: Exactly fibers, receipts, past tense language, delay, staging father's confession,
20:20
hit man plot, layer upon layer. The prosecution successfully argued
20:25
that the only explanation that fit all these facts was
20:27
that Perry March killed Janet and covered it up. The
20:30
lack of a body became.
20:31
Speaker 1: Secondary, and the jury agreed.
20:33
Speaker 2: After about ten hours of deliberation. On August seventeen, two
20:36
thousand and six, almost exactly ten years after Janet disappeared,
20:39
they came back Guilsey second degree murder.
20:42
Speaker 1: Second degree implies malice, but maybe not full premeditation for
20:46
the initial act, consistent with the lost control narrative from Arthur.
20:50
Speaker 2: Legally, yes, it fits that heat of passion killing followed
20:54
by a cold, calculated cover up. He got twenty five
20:58
years for the murder, plus more time for a abusing
21:00
the corpse and tampering with evidence, Adding it all up
21:02
with the theft and solicitation conviction. Total sentence fifty six
21:06
years to serve consecutively.
21:08
Speaker 1: He appealed, obviously, of course, but.
21:10
Speaker 2: The appeals failed in two thousand and eight. The courts
21:13
basically said the evidence was overwhelming. It even went to
21:16
a federal Hades review in twenty eleven, which is a
21:19
pretty high level of scrutiny.
21:20
Speaker 1: What did the federal court say?
21:22
Speaker 2: They acknowledged some minor potential Fifth Amendment issues with how
21:25
Postilione questioned him early on, where Perioidi felt compelled to answer,
21:30
But they called it harmless error, meaning meaning even if
21:33
those minor procedural issues hadn't happened, the sheer weight of
21:36
the other evidence was so ironclad that the verdict would
21:39
undoubtedly been the same. The conviction stood firm.
21:42
Speaker 1: So Perry March, now in his early sixties, is still
21:45
in prison, eligible for parole, way off in twenty forty three.
21:49
Speaker 2: That's right. And Arthur Marsh, the father whose testimony helped
21:52
convict his son, he actually died in prison in two
21:55
thousand and seven, just a year or so into his
21:56
five year sentence.
21:57
Speaker 1: He was eighty four, a tragic end to a implicit life.
22:01
The case really is a landmark for circumstantial evidence.
22:04
Speaker 2: Absolutely, especially in the South. It proved you can get
22:07
a murder conviction without a body if the web of
22:10
deceit is strong enough.
22:11
Speaker 1: Oh okay, let's move to our final section, the aftermath. The
22:15
scar is left by all this, especially on the children.
22:18
Zippy and Sammy.
22:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the undeniable tragedy here. They were so young
22:22
when their mother was killed five and sixteen months. Their
22:26
childhood became this whirlwind of instability Chicago, then.
22:30
Speaker 1: Mexico and that deeply traumatic retrieval from the schoolyard.
22:33
Speaker 2: In two thousand and one exactly, Carolyn Levine talked about
22:36
how heart wrenching it was, the kids crying for Perry
22:39
even as they were being taken away. They had no
22:41
stable ground for years.
22:42
Speaker 1: But they did find stability with the Levine.
22:44
Speaker 2: They did extensive therapy, a loving environment, finally some consistency,
22:49
and they thrived. The sources say they're successful adults now.
22:52
Zippy became a lawyer, Sammy an engineer.
22:54
Speaker 1: Have they maintained contact with Perry?
22:57
Speaker 2: Reports indicate they've largely distanced themsels understandably, they seem focused
23:02
on honoring their mother's memory instead.
23:05
Speaker 1: And Janet's legacy does live on through her art.
23:07
Speaker 2: It does. The family helped establish art foundations in her name.
23:11
Carolyn Levine has worked tirelessly to preserve Janet's illustrations, keep
23:15
her creative spirit alive. It's quite remarkable turning that immen's
23:19
pain into something positive.
23:21
Speaker 1: For Larry and Carolyn Levine, now in their nineties, it
23:25
must be such a bittersweet victory.
23:27
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Larry Levine himself summed it up hauntingly. We got
23:31
our grand babies back, but at what cost? They got
23:34
justice in the courts. They got the children back safely.
23:36
Speaker 1: But Jane's body is still missing.
23:38
Speaker 2: Still missing. That lack of final closure of a resting
23:41
place casts a long shadow. It's a constant source of
23:44
grief alongside the legal win.
23:46
Speaker 1: Did the case have broader legal impacts?
23:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's spurred changes in Tennessee law, particularly regarding grandparent
23:52
visitation rights in situations where a parent is presumed dead
23:55
or responsible for the other parent's death. And culturally, it's
23:59
stuck in public mind, Nashville's Watergate of true crime.
24:03
Speaker 1: Some call it because of the complexity the layers of deception.
24:06
Speaker 2: Exactly, and it stands as this stark warning. Perry March,
24:09
reportedly still writing appeals from prison, embodies this unchecked ego.
24:14
How a single moment of anger, as he and his.
24:16
Speaker 1: Father described it, instantly became something else, a calculated, decade
24:21
long campaign of deception.
24:22
Speaker 2: Precisely, the initial act might have been impulsive fury, but
24:25
everything after buying the tires, staging the scene, the relentless lawsuits,
24:30
the horrific murder for higher plot. That was all cold calculation, crime,
24:35
layering upon crime to cover the original sin.
24:37
Speaker 1: So wrapping this up, what are the key takeaways for you?
24:40
Speaker 2: Well, first and foremost, it's the power of cumulative circumstantial evidence.
24:44
Perry bet everything on nobody, no crime and lost. The
24:49
prosecution showed that when you weave together enough threads motive, opportunity,
24:54
suspicious behavior, physical clues, witness testimony, and especially subsequent actions
24:59
like trying to kill witnesses, you can paint a picture
25:01
so convincing that the absence of the body becomes almost irrelevant.
25:05
Speaker 1: That attempt to hire a hit man really was the
25:08
nail on the coffin. It showed his consciousness of guilt
25:11
more clearly than almost anything else.
25:12
Speaker 2: It was his confession by conduct, as we said, It
25:15
demonstrated the extreme lengths he'd go to maintain the lie.
25:18
It fundamentally undermined any claim of innocence regarding Janet's disappearance.
25:22
Speaker 1: Which brings us to our final thought, the Levines. One
25:25
justice was served legally speaking, but Janet's body has never
25:29
been found she remains lost.
25:31
Speaker 2: And that really makes you think, doesn't it. What is
25:34
the true measure of justice or closure for a family
25:36
when they can't even perform the basic act of laying
25:39
their loved one to.
25:39
Speaker 1: Rest, when that fundamental respect is denied?
25:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, what does it tell us about the enduring impact
25:45
of crime when one initial lie, one act of violence,
25:48
can trigger this massive chain reaction of deception across borders,
25:52
across years, and yet the person at the very center
25:56
of it all, the victim, remained physically lost. Is truly
25:59
hollow aspect to the victory.
26:00
Speaker 1: A haunting question to end on. Thank you for joining
26:03
us on this deep dive into the complex and tragic
26:05
case of Janet March. We'll see you next time.