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Georgia Man's Brutal Stabbing Death Baffles Investigators · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: All right, so get ready because this one is a
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  weird one. We're going to deep dive into the death
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  of Jeffrey Gebhart. Oh yeah, who was found in the woods.
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  Okay with you're not going to leave this Yeah, seventeen stab.
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  Speaker 2: Ones seventeen seventeen.
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  Speaker 1: So you would think open and shut case.
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  Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, it definitely sounds like a homicide murder.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but not so fast. We're going to unpack this
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  case based on excerpts from this true crime article. Interesting
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  and try to figure out how investigators went from murder
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  to well, something else. Okay, And just a quick reminder
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  before we get started, if you or anyone you know
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  is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out for help.
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  The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available twenty four to seven.
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  Just dial nine to eight eight.
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  Speaker 2: That's so important. It's a good reminder that there are
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  resources available for those who need it.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Yea. So let's set the scene. It's September twenty second,
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  twenty twelve, Holiday Park campground in Georgia. We've got Jeffrey Gebheart,
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  thirty five years old. He's on a hunting trip with
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  his friend David Smith. Okaya, that night, Gebhart's found dead
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  in a dry.
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  Speaker 2: Lake bed, and the way they found his body raises
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  a lot of questions. The article mentions his hands were
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  placed on his chest and abdomen almost too perfectly.
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  Speaker 1: Right, almost like it was staged exactly.
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  Speaker 2: It's not the kind of thing that typically happens naturally.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, And to add to the mystery, Gibhart seemed to
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  have a pretty good life. He was healthy, no known enemies,
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  no obvious reasons for anyone to want him dead.
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  Speaker 2: So the question is what really happened?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's when we're here to figure out.
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  Speaker 2: Well, the autopsy revealed the cause of death to be
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  seventeen stablonds, including three to the heart.
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  Speaker 1: Seventeen stabloonds. Yeah, that does not sound like a typical
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  hunting accident.
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  Speaker 2: No, it doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: I can see why investigators immediately suspected foul play.
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  Speaker 2: Right, it's definitely a red flag. And to make things
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  even more suspicious, none of Gebhart's valuables were missing. His wallet, yeah,
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  his rifle, everything was still there.
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  Speaker 1: So if it wasn't a robbery, yeah, what could it be?
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  Who would want to kill this guy?
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  Speaker 2: That's the million dollar question.
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  Speaker 1: So naturally, the investigators focused on the last person to
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  see him alive, Right, his friend David Smith.
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  Speaker 2: Makes sense, when someone dies under mysterious circumstances, the people
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  closest to them are always the first to be looked at,
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  especially if the details of their story don't quite add up.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, so there was something off about Smith's story.
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  Speaker 2: Well, according to Smith, he had dropped Gebhart off at
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  his hunting stand around four p meters and later came
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  back to find him missing. There's even a voicemail from
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  Smith from that evening that says, blow the horn. It's
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  eerie to listen to knowing what we know now.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's definitely creepy. Right, but didn't some other hunters
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  confirm Smith's alibi?
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  Speaker 2: They did, a few other hunters said they had seen
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  Smith with different groups of people after eight thirty that.
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  Speaker 1: Night, So it seemed like he had a pretty solid alibi.
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  It did it first, So how did the investigation move forward?
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  Speaker 2: Well, while they were trying to figure out how Smith
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  could be involved despite the alibi, a crucial piece of
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  evidence came back, the DNA results from the bloody knife
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  found under Gebhart's body.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, this is where things start to get really interesting. Yeah,
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  what did the DNA show? Did it link back to Smith?
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  Speaker 2: Actually? No, the test revealed that the blood on the
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  knife belonged to geb Hart himself.
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  Speaker 1: So his own blood was on the knife.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, And to complicate things further, every single knife taken
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  from David Smith tested negative for any human blood whatsoever.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, this is already a lot to unpack, it is.
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  We've got a seemingly staged body, no clear motive, and
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  a friend with a rock solid alibi.
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  Speaker 2: And a twist with the DNA evidence exactly. This case
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  is full of surprises.
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  Speaker 1: So where do we go from here?
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's where things take an even more unexpected turn.
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  Speaker 1: I can't wait to hear more about it, but unfortunately
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  we'll have to save that for the next part of
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  this deep dive.
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  Speaker 2: Right, we're just getting started.
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  Speaker 1: Make sure you tune in next time as we continue
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  to unravel this bizarre case and explore how investigators arrived
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  at their final conclusion. I'll be here all right until then,
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  Stay curious.
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  Speaker 2: That's where the investigation really took a turn. You see,
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  because with Smith's DNA completely ruled out, the medical examiner, well,
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  they had to consider the new evidence, and they concluded
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  that Gebhart's death was a suicide.
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  Speaker 1: Whoa, whoa whoa suicide? Yeah, with seventeen stab wounds. I know,
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  how is that even possible?
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  Speaker 2: It's physically a lot to take in.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it just seems so extreme.
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  Speaker 2: It's definitely not a typical suicide case. And Gebhart's family
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  and friends they just refused to accept it. They were
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  adamant that he would never take his own life. And
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  you know, they had some pretty compelling arguments.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so what made them so sure that it wasn't suicide?
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  Speaker 2: Well, for one, they said that Gebhart had never shown
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  any signs of depression or any mental health struggles. Okay,
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  he seemed happy. He was actually excited about going back
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  to school. Oh wow, to study computer science. And it
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  wasn't just a gut feeling. They also brought up some
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  practical concerns.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, what kind of arguments did they make?
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  Speaker 2: Well, there's a quote from a family friend, Russell Cornell.
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  He said that Gebhart worked in a slaughterhouse, so he
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  knew how to kill animals quickly, yeah and efficiently. So
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  their point was why would he choose such a brutal method?
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  He really wanted to die.
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  Speaker 1: That's a really good point, and it's a question.
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  Speaker 2: That still lingers even after the investigation was closed.
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  Speaker 1: It really makes you think, did the investigators consider any
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  other possibilities.
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  Speaker 2: Well, they did look into things like maybe a ritualistic
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  killing or something like that, but nothing really panned out.
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  And the family also question why Gebhart would have called
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  Smith for help if he was planning to take his
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  own life. It just didn't add up to them.
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  Speaker 1: So how did the medical examiner respond to all this skepticism?
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  How do they justify the suicide ruling?
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  Speaker 2: Well, they pointed to what are called hesitation wounds. These
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  are like superficial stab wounds that you often see in
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  suicide cases where the person is basically working up the
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  courage to inflict the fatal blow.
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  Speaker 1: So they're saying that Gebheart hesitated at first exactly, and
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  that's why there were so many less severe wounds. But
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  that still doesn't explain the sheer number of stabbings.
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  Speaker 2: Well, the examiners explain was that all the wounds were
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  within Gebhart's reach, and the angles of the wounds indicated
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  that they were self inflicted rather than caused by someone else.
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  Speaker 1: So it's all about the biomechanics and how the body moves. Okay,
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  so we have the DNA evidence, the hesitation wounds, the
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  medical examiner's explanation. But was that enough to convince everyone?
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  Speaker 2: It seems like the case actually went before a grand
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  jury to review all the evidence and decide whether to
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  bring charges, and they ultimately agreed with the suicide ruling.
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  Speaker 1: So that was a case closed.
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  Speaker 2: Well not quite. This is where the story takes another
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  unexpected turn. A few years later, a team of forensic
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  experts from Florida State University Wow, decided to take a
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  fresh look at the case.
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  Speaker 1: Hold on, you mean a whole new team of experts
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  looked at this case years later? Yep? What made them
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  do that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the FSU team they specialized in cold cases and
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  they often review evidence with fresh eyes, you know, maybe
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  apply some new techniques or just re examine the details
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  that might have been overlooked.
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  Speaker 1: Makes sense? And what was their initial assessment of the
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  gap part case.
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  Speaker 2: Well, this is the interesting part. At first, the entire
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  FSUCSI team thought it was a homicide. They did based
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  on just the photographs and evidence reports.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, a whole team of CSI experts thought it was murder.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they found certain things about the scene, like the
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  positioning of the body and the knife, to be highly suspicious.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so what changed their minds?
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  Speaker 2: As they started digging deeper into the specifics of the case,
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  you know, actually going through all the evidence, some inconsistencies
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  started to emerge. Likewise, well, for example, there were no
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  signs of a struggle at the scene, no defensive wounds
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  on Gapart's body, or any indication that another person had
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  been there. And they also started to really think about
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  the logistics of someone inflicting that many wounds on a
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  two hundred and thirty pounds man in such a remote location.
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  Speaker 1: Right, it wouldn't be easy to overpower someone that size
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  and stab them that many times without leaving some kind
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  of trace behind exactly. But what about the knife? Yeah,
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  I remember it was found folded and partially under his body.
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  That seems pretty strange for suicide, doesn't it.
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  Speaker 2: It did seem odd at first, but they came up
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  with a possible explanation. You see, after the stab and
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  Gebhart might have tried to close the knife, maybe even
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  placed it on his chest, and then as he moved
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  or just over time, it could have easily slid down
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  beside his body.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so that makes sense. The knife placement could be explained.
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  But what about Gebhart's call to Smith right if he
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  was planning to end his life, why call for help.
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  Speaker 2: That's a question that comes up a lot in suicide cases,
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  and it's impossible to know for sure what was going
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  through his mind. But the CSI team suggested that it's
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  not uncommon for people who are considering suicide to actually
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  want to be found. Really yeah, like maybe there's a
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  subconscious desire to not completely disappear, you know, or to
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  maybe spare their loved ones the pain of not knowing
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  what happened to them.
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  Speaker 1: That's a heartbreaking thought, but it does make you think
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  about the complexity of the human mind.
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  Speaker 2: It does so.
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  Speaker 1: In the end, even with their initial suspicions, the Florida
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  State University CSI team, after carefully re examining every single detail,
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  they also concluded that Jeffrey Gebhart's death was a suicide.
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  Speaker 2: It's a case that really highlights just how complex these
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  investigations can be. It shows us how important it is
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  to stay open minded, challenge our assumptions, and really dig
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  into the details of the evidence right.
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  Speaker 1: Because sometimes even when things seem straightforward on the surface exactly,
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  there's a whole lot more to the story.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's a reminder that we're not just dealing
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  with physical evidence, but also with human emotions, relationships, right,
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  and the mysteries of life and death.
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  Speaker 1: This case really makes you think about all the unanswered
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  questions that are left behind and how difficult it must
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  have been for Gebhart's family and friends to accept the
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  suicide ruling.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's a tragic situation all around, and it reminds
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  us that sometimes even with the most thorough investigation, there
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  may still be some things will never fully understand.
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  Speaker 1: Well, this has been a truly fascinating deep dive into
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  a very complex and tragic case. Yeah, it's a reminder
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  that things are not always as they seem, and that
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  there's always more to uncover if we're willing to look
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  beneath the surface.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Huge thank you to our expert for lending their insight
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  and expertise to this discussion, My pleasure, and to our
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  listeners for joining us on this journey of exploration and discovery.
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  Until next time, stay curious and remember to always question everything.