Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / SHOCK TURN IN BRUTAL MURDER OF MEMPHIS MOM ELIZA FLETCHER

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SHOCK TURN IN BRUTAL MURDER OF MEMPHIS MOM ELIZA FLETCHER · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last days, a
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Speaker 1: major development in the case against a man accused of
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Speaker 1: murdering a beautiful young school teacher, mom, Eliza Fletcher. I'm
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Speaker 1: Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being
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Speaker 1: with us here at Fox Nation and SiriusXM one eleven.
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Speaker 1: We all remember when Eliza Fletcher was out jogging super
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Speaker 1: early in the morning, between four and five o'clock in
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Speaker 1: the morning, and then she goes missing. The frantic search
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Speaker 1: ended in the discovery of her body. In the last days,
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Speaker 1: Cleotha Apston Henderson pleads not guilty to the horrific murder
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Speaker 1: of Eliza Fletcher. He appeared at the Shelby County Criminal
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Speaker 1: Court charged with multiple offenses this as we know, the
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Speaker 1: convicted felon is also accused of raping Alicia Franklin back
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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. Her rape kit sat there basically
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Speaker 1: unnoticed for over a year. Nothing was done and while
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Speaker 1: he's out walking free, never jailed or tried on her rape.
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Speaker 1: He finds Eliza Fletcher and doesn't settle with just attacking her.
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Speaker 1: He murders her as well. Again. Cleotha Absen Henderson, age
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Speaker 1: thirty eight arraigned at the Shelby County Criminal Court on
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Speaker 1: multiple charges, including the rape and kidnap of another woman.
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Speaker 1: Where did it all start?
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Speaker 2: Listen, It's been just over twelve hours since Elijah Fletcher
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Speaker 2: disappeared and multiple agencies had wined forces, and I can
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Speaker 2: tell you there's a lot of concern in the community
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Speaker 2: as time passes by. Where is Eliza Fletcher? That's the
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Speaker 2: question many are asking across the Mid South after investigators
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Speaker 2: say that Avid Jogger was adducted.
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Speaker 3: It's very important that if anybody knows the whereabouts of
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Speaker 3: miss Fletcher to contact the police immediately.
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Speaker 2: Fletcher was jogging down Central Avenue around four point thirty
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Speaker 2: this morning when investigators say she was approached by someone
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Speaker 2: who forced her into a dark colored suv and drove off.
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Speaker 1: You don't want to hear that that's going on. We
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Speaker 1: want to find her.
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Speaker 4: We don't know what's going on.
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Speaker 2: Hart Robinson is a friend of Fletcher and got the
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Speaker 2: news this morning and immediately came to the area of
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Speaker 2: Central Avenue and Zach Curling Street where she was last seen.
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Speaker 1: Where everybody's desperately looking for it. The search was on
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Speaker 1: for the missing mom of to Eliza Fletcher. You were
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Speaker 1: just hearing our friends at wr EG Channel three. There
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Speaker 1: were owing two clothes left behind. Listen.
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Speaker 2: Fletcher's cell phone and a water bottle were found in
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Speaker 2: front of a home owned by the University of Memphis,
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Speaker 2: and a safety alert sent to students. They say she
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Speaker 2: was reported missing after not returning home from her run.
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Speaker 2: The SUV that she was last seen in was spotted
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Speaker 2: driving westbound down Central Avenue. Multiple agencies, including the FBI,
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Speaker 2: are assisting with the case. Would one goal in mind,
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Speaker 2: find Eliza Fletcher.
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Speaker 3: Our concern is to locate miss Fletcher. So if anybody
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Speaker 3: knows where she's at, call the police immediately.
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Speaker 1: Really just think her life could have been spared. I
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Speaker 1: firmly believe it, and then the frantic search. Listen to
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Speaker 1: our friends at NBC.
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Speaker 5: Around seven to fifty am, roughly three hours after the abduction,
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Speaker 5: the suspect's brother and another witness telling investigators they saw
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Speaker 5: him wash his clothes in a sink and clean the
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Speaker 5: inside of the car with floor cleaner, According to an affidavit.
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Speaker 5: The brother also said he was acting very strange. That
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Speaker 5: bizarre scene, allegedly unfolding less than a mile from where
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Speaker 5: police discovered the unidentified body late Monday. The affidavit also
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Speaker 5: says Abstin left sandals behind, Authorities using DNA from those
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Speaker 5: shoes to zero in on him.
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Speaker 1: So, while the frantic search throughout the Memphis area is
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Speaker 1: ongoing for the missing mom, you see Cleotha Abstin frantically
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Speaker 1: cleaning the back of his GMC, washing his clothes, and
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Speaker 1: his brothers sing wow, isn't that quite the coincidence? And
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Speaker 1: then the gruesome discovery Our friend's wrang.
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Speaker 6: A good wrenching discovery in South Memphis, as detectives confirm
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Speaker 6: a body was located a few yards away from where
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Speaker 6: Eliza Fletcher's alleged abductor came hours after her kidnapping. Monday,
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Speaker 6: Memphis police swarmed this area after finding a body in
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Speaker 6: an overgrown lot near a vacant home on Victor Street,
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Speaker 6: The scene just a stone's throwaway from where Memphis police
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Speaker 6: say thirty eight year old Cleota Absent came hours after
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Speaker 6: abducting Fletcher. They believe he cleaned blood from the interior
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Speaker 6: of the suv used in the abduction and washed his
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Speaker 6: clothes and his brother sink.
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Speaker 1: In the past ten minutes.
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Speaker 7: Memphis police confirming those new details saying that the body
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Speaker 7: they found yesterday is that of missing mother Eliza Fletcher.
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Speaker 7: And now the man they had in custody, already charged
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Speaker 7: with her kidnapping, faces murder charges. And this is coming
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Speaker 7: just about sixteen hours after they discovered a body here
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Speaker 7: not far they said, within walking distance to an apartment
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Speaker 7: complex where the thirty eight year old Cleota Absen was
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Speaker 7: seen cleaning his suv shortly after the abduction.
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Speaker 1: Our friends at Fox thirteen joining WRAG. When Eliza went missing,
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Speaker 1: the sirt ensued. You see the defendant, the suspect caught
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Speaker 1: on video just cleaning, cleaning, scrubbing, scrubbing, trying to get
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Speaker 1: rid of blood. He would need some sort of hydrochloric
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Speaker 1: acid to do that trick. It didn't work, blood throughout
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Speaker 1: his suv. And then a couple hundred yards away, the
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Speaker 1: body of Eliza Fletcher found just discarded in tall grass.
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Speaker 1: Her Lululemon running shorts found in a garbage bag not
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Speaker 1: far away, also discarded. And now today we find out
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Speaker 1: her abduction, her likely rape, her murder could have all
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Speaker 1: been avoided. How take a listen to our friends at
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Speaker 1: wat n.
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Speaker 8: The man accused of kidnapping and killing Eliza Fletcher is
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Speaker 8: facing three new criminal charges tonight. The charges are from
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Speaker 8: another case in twenty twenty one. In this case, he's
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Speaker 8: facing charges for aggravated rape, kidnapping, and unlawful possession of
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Speaker 8: a gun. Memphis Police confirm a sexual assault report was
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Speaker 8: taken on September twenty one of twenty twenty one. The
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Speaker 8: sexual assault kit was submitted to the Tennessee Bureau of
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Speaker 8: Investigations two days later on September twenty third, but that
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Speaker 8: kit was not tested until he was connected to Eliza
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Speaker 8: Fletcher's disappearance.
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Speaker 1: Did you hear that? Another aggravated kidnap and rape? All
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Speaker 1: the way back almost a year ago twenty twenty one,
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Speaker 1: a rape kit was taken to the Tennessee Bureau of
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Speaker 1: Investigations the TBI, and not a thing was done. It
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Speaker 1: sat on a shelf and in that Manila evidence bag
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Speaker 1: sealed shut with the investigators initials over it to maintain
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Speaker 1: the chain of custody. Was the evidence that would have
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Speaker 1: put Kleiosha absence behind bars at the time Eliza was
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Speaker 1: kidnapped and murdered. Joining me right now in all star
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Speaker 1: panel to make sense of what we know right now?
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Speaker 1: But first I want to go to Dave maattcrimeonline dot
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Speaker 1: Com investigative reporter Dave what went wrong?
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Speaker 9: Nancy?
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Speaker 10: You know, we talked about how quickly they were able
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Speaker 10: to identify the DNA of Kleiota Abstin on the slide
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Speaker 10: they found at the kidnapping scene for Eliza Fledger. They
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Speaker 10: turned that around in less than eighteen hours from the
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Speaker 10: moment they found the slides to the moment they identified
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Speaker 10: the DNA coming from Cleosa absence. In the case from
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Speaker 10: September twenty first, twenty twenty one, a woman reported the rape,
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Speaker 10: they did a rape kit, and forty eight hours later,
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Speaker 10: on September twenty third, the rape kit was submitted to
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Speaker 10: the TBI DNA case files. The problem is, unless they
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Speaker 10: order a rush on the DNA, it goes into the
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Speaker 10: regular file.
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Speaker 1: Just stop, no offense, Dave Matt. But I really don't
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Speaker 1: want to hear that, because that is all BS. I know.
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Speaker 1: You're reporting where the TBI wants me to hear. But
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Speaker 1: when it comes to a life threatening violent crime, why
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Speaker 1: is there a wait? Ibay half my paycheck every year
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Speaker 1: and have been since I was a lowly assistant in
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Speaker 1: the District Attorney's office. Since before that when I worked
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Speaker 1: at the library at Mercy University. Why do I pay
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Speaker 1: taxes so Cleota Abstin can walk free and murder Eliza Fletcher,
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Speaker 1: leaving her two children with no mother. You know how
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Speaker 1: much that screws a kid up forever. And you're telling
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Speaker 1: me it sounds like with a straight face that it
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Speaker 1: was in line to get analyzed. You know what, I
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Speaker 1: don't want to hear it. She's dead and she endured
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Speaker 1: a horrible death that sguv was covered in blood. I
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Speaker 1: put money on it. She was forcibly raped, likely sodomized
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Speaker 1: as well. Why because of a line? A queue for it?
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Speaker 1: Us crime stories with Nancy Grace for those of you
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Speaker 1: just joining Uskleiotha. Abston Henderson, aged thirty eight, has just
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Speaker 1: pled not guilty to first degree murder in the disappearance
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Speaker 1: and death of a billionaire heiress. He also appeared in
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Speaker 1: court in connection with the rape of another young woman
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Speaker 1: he abducted, Alicia Franklin. In twenty twenty one. Abston Henderson
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Speaker 1: accused of killing elementary school teacher Eliza just thirty four,
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Speaker 1: after forcing her into his car while she was out
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Speaker 1: for an early morning jog. This past September. He was
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Speaker 1: an indicted January twenty five on charges of especially aggravated kidnapping,
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Speaker 1: being a convicted fell in a possession of a firearm,
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Speaker 1: and tampering with evidence. I just keep thinking about Eliza
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Speaker 1: Fletcher's to little children and that moment when she's kidnapped
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Speaker 1: and forced into a black suv in the dark of
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Speaker 1: the early morning hours. Surveillance video shows her jogging along
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Speaker 1: and then suddenly she's missing. The judge in this case,
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Speaker 1: Judge Lee Coffee, looked out at Fletcher's family here, of course,
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Speaker 1: were in court for the not guilty plea, telling Eliza's
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Speaker 1: family the case would be a very quote long journey.
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Speaker 1: His words were, this is going to be a long journey.
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Speaker 1: These cases do not resolve themselves in a brief period
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Speaker 1: of time. I just hate what this family is going through.
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Speaker 1: But I hate more than that these children being raised
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Speaker 1: without their mom and a beautiful young life cut short
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Speaker 1: because this devil was out walking free. So Lisa Daddyo,
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Speaker 1: the director of the Center for Advanced Policing and Graduate
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Speaker 1: program coordinator, University of New Haven, Lisa, could you please
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Speaker 1: interpret what Dave Matt was just trying.
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Speaker 11: To say Honestly, Nancy, the police department messed up on
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Speaker 11: that one, and you know, I really wait.
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Speaker 1: Wait, wait, messed up. Let's just analyze what you just said,
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Speaker 1: messed up. This is more than just messing up. They
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Speaker 1: didn't fall through the cracks. They screwed up horribly, and
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Speaker 1: Eliza is dead because they couldn't analyze a rape kit.
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Speaker 1: To Racial d Fisher joining me Special Guests, registered nurse,
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Speaker 1: sex assault nurse examiner. She's an expert witness. She's author
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Speaker 1: of Taking Back the Pen and you can find her
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Speaker 1: legal r in consult dot org. Rachel, do you ever
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Speaker 1: get tired of hearing about one fail after the next.
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Speaker 1: You deal with rape victims every day, and I keep
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Speaker 1: screaming it from the rooftops. A rape victim is never
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Speaker 1: the same like a child molestation victims. Yes, they can
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Speaker 1: go on about life, they seem like they're having a
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Speaker 1: normal life, but they're never the same after a rape.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you can say it better than me, Rachel.
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Speaker 12: Yeah, the impact that a victim has after being assaulted,
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Speaker 12: it's lifelong. It never goes away. It's a murder is
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Speaker 12: one thing that's the end result. But there are people
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Speaker 12: living with the effects of this for the rest of
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Speaker 12: their lives. And it comes down to the fact that
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Speaker 12: jurisdic community is don't put an emphasis on crimes of
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Speaker 12: violence against women are the vulnerable. These sex crimes are
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Speaker 12: just tossed the side. There's not proper funding, we don't
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Speaker 12: adequately staff our law enforcement agency their crime labs. And
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Speaker 12: then the statues. I mean Tennessee, you don't even have
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Speaker 12: to the law enforcement agency does not even have to
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Speaker 12: turn over the kit until sixty days to the crime lab.
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Speaker 12: So the statutes are showing, Okay, there's not a priority.
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Speaker 12: What can happen in sixty days. A lot can happen.
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Speaker 12: Other rapes can happen.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, like Eliza Fletcher can get murdered. And you know
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Speaker 1: another thing, Rachel D. Fisher, who is a rape sex
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Speaker 1: assault nurse examiner. It's a very very specialized area. I
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Speaker 1: wonder what that says to the rape victim, like Clotha
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Speaker 1: Absen's other right victim. I mean, we already know of
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Speaker 1: one when he was nearing adulthood, this one in September
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. I wonder how that rape victim felt
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Speaker 1: when she would call and say, what's the status of
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Speaker 1: my brutal rape case, and she said oh, and she hears, oh, yeah,
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Speaker 1: Well it's in the queue. It's like you're at Target
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Speaker 1: and there's a long line, or you're at Kroger and
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Speaker 1: the line wraps around the cash register.
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Speaker 13: Uh huh.
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Speaker 1: No, she's not buying a dozen apples. She's trying to
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Speaker 1: find out about her rape case that forever altered her life.
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Speaker 1: And she gets told, yeah, you're in the line, they'll
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Speaker 1: analyze it. Meanwhile, this guy is walking free. But am
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Speaker 1: I talking gibberish? Karen Start because I feel like I'm
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Speaker 1: not getting through. I don't think I can scream any
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Speaker 1: louder in a studio. Karen Start joining me renown psychologists
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Speaker 1: out of New York at Karenstart dot com. That's Karen
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Speaker 1: with a C. Karen, help me, please.
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Speaker 14: Nancy, you're not talking gibridge. This is how it happens.
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Speaker 1: I feel like crying and fighting and heeding someone all
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Speaker 1: at the same time.
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Speaker 14: People don't take it seriously enough. Here's something that will
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Speaker 14: damage someone's life forever. And I don't understand because police
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Speaker 14: are supposed to be trained, they're supposed to know that
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Speaker 14: they need to do something right away. And it is
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Speaker 14: outrageous just outrageous that they did not make sure that
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Speaker 14: that came back as soon as possible, and who knows
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Speaker 14: what else he was up to. Nancy.
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Speaker 1: Oh oh, this is the tip of the iceberg. Karen, Karen,
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Speaker 1: Karen Stark. This guy, claire Tha Austin started committing violent
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Speaker 1: felonies at age eleven that we know of. And you know,
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Speaker 1: Matthew Mangino, I'm not asking you to speak. I'm just
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Speaker 1: referring to you former prosecutor now civil and defense at
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Speaker 1: Ernie and author. He would argue, Oh, he was just eleven,
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Speaker 1: the sweet little boy.
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Speaker 6: You know.
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Speaker 1: I might buy that at eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, but
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Speaker 1: then at sixteen, seventeen eighteen, I'm not buying it anymore. So, Karen, start,
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Speaker 1: when people say he started his one man crime wave
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Speaker 1: at age eleven, how many rapes has this guy committed,
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Speaker 1: culminating in the murder of Eliza Fletcher. I mean, GINO,
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Speaker 1: don't even bother jumping in and saying he's innocent until
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Speaker 1: proven guilty. I know that we all know that, and
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Speaker 1: I believe there is a snowballs chance in hell that
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Speaker 1: he may not be guilty. Okay, So that said, what
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Speaker 1: Karen start This.
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Speaker 14: Is outrageous and people, do you know that psycho test
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Speaker 14: start at an early age, so it doesn't surprise me
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Speaker 14: that this began at eleven. The bags part of this
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Speaker 14: is that he is not already under lock and.
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Speaker 1: Key walking free to grab a line. Okay, so what
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Speaker 1: is the excuse? Take a listen to our friend Marcus Hunter.
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Speaker 15: Scientists pulled the recently tested kits matching Gabson Henderson for
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Speaker 15: analysis nine months after it was received on June twenty fourth,
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Speaker 15: and completed an initial report of the results on August
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Speaker 15: twenty ninth. The sample was then entered into kotis, which
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Speaker 15: returned the match on September fifth, which was within hours
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Speaker 15: of Memphis police finding Fletcher's body on Victor Street and
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Speaker 15: forty nine weeks after MPD submitted the rape kit to TBI,
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Speaker 15: the match of the September twenty one assault came back
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Speaker 15: to Cleota Abson Henderson. The results were then reported to
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Speaker 15: Memphis police. According to court documents, it was indicted all
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Speaker 15: the charges of aggravated race, especially aggravated kidnapping, and gun
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Speaker 15: charges in connection to the crime.
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Speaker 1: You know, it's just all blah blah blah words. Now,
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Speaker 1: am I supposed to believe. Matthew Mangino. I'm coming to
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Speaker 1: you just as a legal expert. Don't put on your
20:17
Speaker 1: defense had yet, Okay, because we all know you're a
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Speaker 1: former prosecutor, former parole board member, author of the executioners
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Speaker 1: told so please don't start telling me he was only
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Speaker 1: eleven years old when he committed his first felony. I'll
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Speaker 1: just say that for the shrink. What you know, all
20:36
Speaker 1: this is bs right because they're saying that what it
20:39
Speaker 1: was just a coincidence that when Eliza Fletcher goes missing
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Speaker 1: and they go, oh, you know what, you're at the
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Speaker 1: front of the line. Now, let's do that DNA kit. No,
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Speaker 1: that's not a coincidence. There's no such thing in criminal law.
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Speaker 1: So they're trying to tell me that Eliza goes missing
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Speaker 1: and then they go, Wow, I think it's time that
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Speaker 1: we do the DNA on that file way back there
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Speaker 1: on the shelf.
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Speaker 13: What really happened, man Gino, Well, I think what really
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Speaker 13: happened is they were able to find DNA on the
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Speaker 13: sandals that were found at the crime scene.
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Speaker 16: And they immediately did an analysis.
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Speaker 1: I'm not talking about that, Matthew CLARITHA Austin DNA IS
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Speaker 1: on a September twenty twenty one rape victim. Okay, so
21:33
Speaker 1: why when Eliza gets kidnapped and there's a search going on,
21:39
Speaker 1: do they go, Wow, I think I think I'll run
21:42
Speaker 1: that DNA test. That's total bs. Why did they suddenly
21:47
Speaker 1: decide to run it then.
21:49
Speaker 16: To cover their butts? I mean, they failed. This was
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Speaker 16: a systemic failure to test DNA that was found at
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Speaker 16: a crime as simple as just running a.
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Speaker 1: CODA Combined DNA Index System exactly. It was cover your ass,
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Speaker 1: That's what it was. And I'm just wondering, Matthew Mangino,
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Speaker 1: why did they select that particular rape kit to suddenly test.
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Speaker 1: I'm guessing that that rape occurred in the same mo
22:26
Speaker 1: modus operandi method of operation as Eliza's kidnap, that the
22:34
Speaker 1: victim may have described the same kind of vehicle. Something
22:39
Speaker 1: about that rape kit, about that rape maybe it was
22:42
Speaker 1: in the same area, just I don't know, but something
22:46
Speaker 1: made them reach back on that shelf and pull out
22:50
Speaker 1: that file and perform that DNA test. Is submitted to CODIS,
22:55
Speaker 1: the Combined DNA Index System before I go to special
22:59
Speaker 1: guest Dottor Kristin Middleman from authram Labs. I want to
23:04
Speaker 1: circle back to Rachel D. Fisher, registered sex assault nurse examiner. Rachel,
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Speaker 1: could you please describe what is the procedure that you
23:16
Speaker 1: go through when you examine a rape victim and what
23:19
Speaker 1: is a rape KITNA.
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Speaker 12: A rape victim comes to the hospital, we do a
23:24
Speaker 12: headed to assessment in the detailed general examber, reflect evidence
23:27
Speaker 12: from all the intimate parts of the body anywhere based
23:31
Speaker 12: on the history. We submit this kit to law enforcement,
23:36
Speaker 12: and law enforcement.
23:37
Speaker 1: Slow down place. As I like to say, Rachel, we're
23:41
Speaker 1: not having tea at High Grove with King Charles. Okay,
23:46
Speaker 1: when you say we connect, we collect DNA from all
23:50
Speaker 1: parts of the body that is certainly putting perfume on
23:55
Speaker 1: the pig. The rape victim, who has already being brutally raped,
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Speaker 1: probably beaten, terrified, then has to go for a rape kit.
24:06
Speaker 1: Then it's basically a pelvic exam and it takes a
24:11
Speaker 1: long time. What do you have to do.
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Speaker 12: It's a very intrusive exam. We spread their legs, we touch,
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Speaker 12: we look, we examine, we go into all the genitalia,
24:23
Speaker 12: we swab, we insert speculums. We it's retraumatizing for the victim.
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Speaker 12: Essentially is what it is, because we're going back into
24:31
Speaker 12: these places.
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Speaker 1: Okay, waite a minute. See, say you are an expert,
24:35
Speaker 1: and when you just roll off comments like that, not
24:39
Speaker 1: everybody knows what you mean when you say a speculum
24:44
Speaker 1: isn't that kind of like a reverse eyelash curler where
24:49
Speaker 1: you squinch the curler together Instead, A speculum is something
24:54
Speaker 1: you stick inside the ladies vagina and anus, and then
24:58
Speaker 1: you open up those cat female cavities and then you
25:03
Speaker 1: go in there basically with a search light like a flashlight,
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Speaker 1: and you look around with a really long Q tip
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Speaker 1: and you look in there and you try and find
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Speaker 1: with a swab. Yeah, everybody in the studio is grimacing
25:20
Speaker 1: and looking away right now for a reason. And you
25:24
Speaker 1: swab around inside the anis and the vagina and hopefully
25:30
Speaker 1: you will get naked to the human eye sperm DNA. Right.
25:39
Speaker 12: That's the intent to get any sort of DNA off
25:42
Speaker 12: of the internal orphics of the patients.
25:44
Speaker 1: Yes, and that includes the anus. Correct.
25:48
Speaker 12: We do also swab the anis.
25:50
Speaker 1: Yes, And then you have the rape kit combing as
25:54
Speaker 1: if I would comb my hair. What is that We.
25:58
Speaker 12: Take a comb and we go through the headhair, the
26:01
Speaker 12: pubic hair, getting any debris that can link it back
26:04
Speaker 12: to potentially the scene of where it happened to corroborate
26:08
Speaker 12: that as well. Sometimes we do plucking of the hair
26:12
Speaker 12: in order to get DNA as well. So it's a
26:15
Speaker 12: very painful, intrusive examine in some points of it. But
26:19
Speaker 12: when the victims are that brave enough to come ETN
26:22
Speaker 12: for that, that's right there, the first step in their healing.
26:26
Speaker 12: And the first victim of this case with a positive
26:28
Speaker 12: HIT was brave enough to do that. So I can
26:30
Speaker 12: only imagine her seeing this that she was brave enough
26:33
Speaker 12: to go in and then nobody tested it until it
26:36
Speaker 12: was too late. I can only imagine what she's feeling
26:39
Speaker 12: right now. She was brave enough to do that initial
26:42
Speaker 12: rape kit back then, over a year ago, and here
26:45
Speaker 12: we are.
26:45
Speaker 1: And the only way her case was finally processed was
26:50
Speaker 1: because Eliza was murdered. It took a murder to get
26:55
Speaker 1: her rape kit done. That's the harsh truth of what
26:59
Speaker 1: we did with Rachel Dave Fisher. Could you please describe
27:03
Speaker 1: the spectrum of demeanors You're right, victim patients have displayed.
27:11
Speaker 12: They come in sometimes completely with no affect meaning their
27:14
Speaker 12: face is a smile, they don't frown, they're just quiet,
27:16
Speaker 12: they don't make eye contact. Sometimes they laugh or distracted themselves,
27:20
Speaker 12: sometimes they're crying. Trauma presents in very different ways, and
27:25
Speaker 12: each victim is different. And I've see law enforcement or
27:28
Speaker 12: even say, well, she doesn't seem like anything happened. We're
27:31
Speaker 12: not even sure if it's real because of her demeanor.
27:33
Speaker 12: Like you, I've heard it all. But each victim processes
27:37
Speaker 12: their trauma differently. So regardless of how they respond to it,
27:42
Speaker 12: if they're brave enough to come get an intrusive exam
27:44
Speaker 12: in a busy er and have an examiner stick things
27:49
Speaker 12: into their bodies, something happened, nobody willingly does that. They
27:53
Speaker 12: regardless of what their demeanor is. They're there for help,
27:56
Speaker 12: and we help them all the same, and we prioritize
27:59
Speaker 12: it on our end, and then we do the next
28:02
Speaker 12: step in our process is handed over to law enforcement
28:05
Speaker 12: for them to do their due diligence, which is supposed
28:08
Speaker 12: me to take it to the crime lab. But Tennessee
28:10
Speaker 12: has a statue, but they have sixty days for it
28:13
Speaker 12: to sit on their shelf before they're mandated to give
28:15
Speaker 12: it to the crime lab.
28:16
Speaker 1: Karen start. You know, I'm thinking of these rape victims
28:21
Speaker 1: when it's so horrible they can't even begin to grapple
28:26
Speaker 1: with it. Karen Stark.
28:28
Speaker 14: That's right, Nancy, it is they disassociate. And you really
28:33
Speaker 14: can't pay attention to how someone reacts to trauma and
28:37
Speaker 14: to death because everyone, each one of us is very,
28:41
Speaker 14: very different, and there are people that cry. Think about
28:45
Speaker 14: you know when people sometimes get nervous and they start laughing,
28:49
Speaker 14: and they're not laughing because it's funny, it's just their
28:53
Speaker 14: response that they have no choice. That's how they deal
28:57
Speaker 14: with that kind of a situation, and that's what you
28:59
Speaker 14: would describe. I've been to funerals where somebody was so
29:04
Speaker 14: angry at the depth of their spouse. They were furious,
29:11
Speaker 14: and you would never know that this was happening because
29:14
Speaker 14: they're grieving and loving and in pain and it all
29:19
Speaker 14: gets mixed up when they have to deal with this
29:22
Speaker 14: kind of a situation.
29:23
Speaker 1: Terrible and now, having spoken to the rest of our panel,
29:30
Speaker 1: I'm going to lay it all in your lap, doctor
29:34
Speaker 1: Kristen Middleman. She is this chief development officer at the
29:40
Speaker 1: highly respected author ram Inc. You can find them at
29:44
Speaker 1: Dnasols dot com. One of their specialties I have learned
29:50
Speaker 1: is taking old or degraded DNA and somehow pulling a
29:57
Speaker 1: miracle and getting a match. I'm talking about DNA that's
30:02
Speaker 1: been in mud, been underwater, been through a fire, fifty
30:07
Speaker 1: sixty years old, and they.
30:10
Speaker 4: Have the technology to bring us justice.
30:29
Speaker 1: Crime stories with Nancy Grace, the judge was right, Judge
30:34
Speaker 1: Lee Coffee, this is going to be a very long
30:37
Speaker 1: road to hoe for Eliza's family. The key locations in
30:43
Speaker 1: the kidnap case. First of all, on Central Avenue where
30:49
Speaker 1: Eliza was snatched and forced into a GMC terrain. Trash
30:54
Speaker 1: bags were found on South Orleans Street, trash bags containing
30:57
Speaker 1: her purple Lululemon shorts. That her shorts were there, it
31:02
Speaker 1: tells me she was raped. Interesting, I haven't heard that
31:05
Speaker 1: he's charged with rape. Then there is sixteen sixty six
31:10
Speaker 1: Victor Street body. Her body is found in tall grass
31:15
Speaker 1: next to an abandoned building where I'm pretty sure he
31:19
Speaker 1: was spotted at that building by witnesses. Then there's Person
31:23
Speaker 1: Ave and Marjorie Street, and that's where the GMC terrain
31:27
Speaker 1: was last seen turning left onto Person AV. I'm pretty
31:32
Speaker 1: sure there's going to be video surveillance of that then
31:37
Speaker 1: another spot of interest. The jury may very well go
31:42
Speaker 1: see these locations like the Alex Morlock jury went to
31:45
Speaker 1: go see the dog kennels at the Moselle Hunting Lodge
31:51
Speaker 1: seventeen sixty five South Orleans Street. Defendant absencing clink meticulously
31:57
Speaker 1: cleaning a GMC at his brother's apartment, just thinking about
32:03
Speaker 1: how the husband realized she hadn't come back from the
32:06
Speaker 1: jog and was trying to take care of the children,
32:09
Speaker 1: wondering career is mommy? Her obituary described her as this
32:14
Speaker 1: young school teacher, as the quote born athlete who found
32:19
Speaker 1: great joy in her morning runs and was not afraid
32:25
Speaker 1: when she.
32:27
Speaker 2: Ran.
32:29
Speaker 1: We know not only is Cleota asked in charge with
32:32
Speaker 1: the kidnapp and rape of another woman. Court documents reveal
32:36
Speaker 1: he was previously convicted of raping a man when he
32:40
Speaker 1: was a teenager. This guy, now thirty eight, was eleven
32:46
Speaker 1: eleven years old when he first appeared in the Shelby
32:49
Speaker 1: County Juvenile Court charged with theft. He quickly graduated to rape,
32:55
Speaker 1: aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, and now murder.
33:00
Speaker 1: Doctor Kristen Middleman, first of all, I want to know
33:03
Speaker 1: how they made the match and what likely statistical identification
33:08
Speaker 1: we have of cleotha abstin and any insight you can
33:13
Speaker 1: give us as to why they so horribly failed the
33:19
Speaker 1: first rate victim, well, the last rate victim that we
33:23
Speaker 1: know of, and Eliza, how did that happen? I mean,
33:27
Speaker 1: you deal with this kind of thing every day, and
33:30
Speaker 1: we are We're.
33:31
Speaker 9: Going to deal with this kind of thing every single day,
33:34
Speaker 9: and I, like you and everyone here at at THEM,
33:37
Speaker 9: believe that it's an outrage that we do not have
33:40
Speaker 9: the technology implemented that would be able to stop this
33:45
Speaker 9: from happening. You know, we talked about this every single day,
33:49
Speaker 9: but the Code of Testing system was created thirty years
33:52
Speaker 9: ago and nothing new has come to forensic since in
33:56
Speaker 9: order to help these investigators. You know, you say the
33:58
Speaker 9: investigators might failed. I don't think the investigators are failing.
34:03
Speaker 9: We work with these guys every single day, exactly, work
34:05
Speaker 9: with CBI, and they work day and night trying to
34:08
Speaker 9: make things work. They're not given the technology that's necessary
34:12
Speaker 9: to be able to clear these cases at scale. The
34:16
Speaker 9: government is who's failing. The government has failed to fund
34:20
Speaker 9: and adopt new technologies that would allow us the backlogs
34:24
Speaker 9: to truly clear. We have backlogs everywhere because this technology
34:29
Speaker 9: is the way that it's written right now. It's not scalable.
34:31
Speaker 9: You can't hire enough people to do on every single
34:35
Speaker 9: test immediately and have a result in eight hours. It's
34:38
Speaker 9: just not possible. But there is new technologies here. Are
34:42
Speaker 9: Is this one of the new technologies that could help
34:45
Speaker 9: clear a lot of the backlock that gets stuck when
34:47
Speaker 9: there's no d any answer? But there are other new
34:50
Speaker 9: technologies here. Could you imagine doing this podcast on computers
34:55
Speaker 9: from thirty years ago?
34:56
Speaker 16: No, you wouldn't.
34:57
Speaker 9: You would get the new computer, you would get the
34:59
Speaker 9: best mic, you would do the next best thing. You
35:01
Speaker 9: would do it just for your business. Why isn't forensic changing?
35:06
Speaker 1: Okay, hold on, doctor Middleman, It is far far beyond
35:12
Speaker 1: me your knowledge regarding DNA and scientific testing. But I'm
35:19
Speaker 1: not asking for a result in eight hours? What about
35:23
Speaker 1: eight days? What about eight weeks? What about eight months?
35:26
Speaker 1: This was a year. The last rape victim that we
35:31
Speaker 1: know of of Cleotha Auston's was September twenty twenty one.
35:36
Speaker 1: It is now September twenty twenty two, and you're preaching
35:41
Speaker 1: to the choir, Doctor Middleman, I spent a third of
35:45
Speaker 1: my time as a prosecutor at the Georgia State Crime Lab.
35:50
Speaker 1: And can I tell you those people work like dogs
35:55
Speaker 1: scientists in ballistics, in fiber analysis, hair analysis, DNA, blood,
36:01
Speaker 1: you name it. They weren't like dogs. They already were
36:05
Speaker 1: over time. What more do we want them to do? So?
36:08
Speaker 1: Where is the fail? And I guarantee you the TB
36:12
Speaker 1: I Tennessee be your investigation crime lab is the same.
36:16
Speaker 1: So how is it he's walking the street to murder Eliza.
36:22
Speaker 9: Because the system has failed to implement all the necessary tools.
36:26
Speaker 1: You know.
36:27
Speaker 9: Let me tell you, Nancy, It's just like if I
36:29
Speaker 9: gave you a bicycle and I told you go ahead
36:32
Speaker 9: and deliver mail all over the United States. Well, how
36:36
Speaker 9: could you possibly deliver mail all over the United States
36:38
Speaker 9: of that bicycle. It would never happen. It's not possible.
36:42
Speaker 9: But if there were cars and planes and roads and
36:45
Speaker 9: everything else there, and the infrastructure put all together, then
36:48
Speaker 9: you could deliver that mail all over the United States. Unfortunately,
36:52
Speaker 9: we are at the bicycle state of friends of science
36:54
Speaker 9: when it comes to solving these backlogs with texicalcal murders.
36:59
Speaker 9: We are na testing is that it's instancy still and
37:03
Speaker 9: there are so many ways. I mean, our technology, we
37:06
Speaker 9: don't need a code of database to identify someone. You
37:09
Speaker 9: don't have to have raped someone else in order for
37:11
Speaker 9: us to identify you. That's the biggest key. You can
37:14
Speaker 9: rate one person and get identified the very very first time.
37:19
Speaker 9: Yet our technology isn't widely used everywhere because people scream
37:23
Speaker 9: all sorts of stuff. Oh well, it's new, we don't
37:25
Speaker 9: know if it works, Oh my god, privacy, oh this,
37:27
Speaker 9: oh well, the government's slow and funding it. I want
37:30
Speaker 9: to perpetrateor and jail the first time they commit a crime.
37:33
Speaker 9: I don't want to have to wait till the second
37:34
Speaker 9: victim and the third victim, or the eleventh or twelfth victim.
37:37
Speaker 9: And trust me, we've identified those as well. They're in
37:40
Speaker 9: coded so many many times then no one's ever identified them.
37:44
Speaker 9: They come to us finally, and now they're identified and
37:46
Speaker 9: all these crimes are solved. That's devastating.
37:49
Speaker 1: You're hearing the voice of doctor Kristen Middleman, chief development
37:53
Speaker 1: officer at all Ram Lab. You can find her at
37:57
Speaker 1: dnasolves dot com, explain how we don't even need another
38:04
Speaker 1: rate or murder to identify Kleioth Austin from his last
38:09
Speaker 1: rate last September, but it was never done. Take a
38:14
Speaker 1: listen to Marcus Hunter WRG.
38:17
Speaker 15: The TBI accepts rush DNA cases when requested by a
38:22
Speaker 15: local investigative agency, as we did in the recent Eliza
38:26
Speaker 15: Fletcher case. It went on to say, our scientists identified
38:30
Speaker 15: Cleyota Abstin as a suspect less than eighteen hours after
38:34
Speaker 15: receiving a key evidence. The agency said the soundful they
38:38
Speaker 15: received in September of last year was not submitted as
38:42
Speaker 15: a rush case. Therefore, it was placed with the standard
38:46
Speaker 15: case work, which can have an average turnaround of thirty
38:50
Speaker 15: three to forty nine weeks.
38:52
Speaker 1: So, Lisa Daddy, what does it take to be a
38:55
Speaker 1: rush case? I mean, Cleota Abstin in court the new
39:00
Speaker 1: charges of a violent rape and as they say, especially
39:04
Speaker 1: dangerous kidnap. Why was that not a rush case back
39:08
Speaker 1: in September twenty twenty one?
39:09
Speaker 11: It should have been when you have a stranger rape
39:14
Speaker 11: and given the circumstances of what we know, that should
39:17
Speaker 11: have been a rush because we know they're going to
39:21
Speaker 11: hit again. It's not just one and done. So I
39:24
Speaker 11: don't understand how that case was not rushed to try
39:28
Speaker 11: to identify the who.
39:29
Speaker 1: A violent rate of brutal kidnapping is not a rush,
39:33
Speaker 1: then what is it took this before we knew the truth?
39:38
Speaker 1: It took this before that rape kit was tested. Listen
39:42
Speaker 1: to our friends at Fox thirteen.
39:44
Speaker 17: And after David reveals mood details about Fletcher's final moments.
39:48
Speaker 17: Investigators say data from the FBI Cast team, which is
39:52
Speaker 17: used to track cell phones, led them to East Person
39:55
Speaker 17: Avenue and Victor Street. While searching that area Monday, just
39:59
Speaker 17: after five, they say officers noticed high grass at a
40:03
Speaker 17: vacant home, as well as vehicle tracks in the high grass.
40:07
Speaker 17: Officers also smelled and older of decay. We're told the
40:11
Speaker 17: officers fanned out and walked to the back of the property.
40:16
Speaker 17: Immediately to the right of the steps, they say they
40:19
Speaker 17: found a woman's body. To give you an idea why
40:22
Speaker 17: it was so hard for officials to find her is
40:26
Speaker 17: because even though they're in the middle of a neighborhood,
40:29
Speaker 17: you can see there's very tall grass shielding the view
40:32
Speaker 17: from the street.
40:34
Speaker 9: I'm five to five.
40:35
Speaker 18: Take a look at this grass, It's towering over me.
40:38
Speaker 18: Then there's this abandoned home, and we're told Fletcher's remains
40:42
Speaker 18: were found behind this house.
40:44
Speaker 1: Walk with me so.
40:45
Speaker 18: You can see beside these steps here, and you can
40:48
Speaker 18: even see an imprint in the dirt right here.
40:53
Speaker 1: Well, he's gonna rot in hell, with a little pitstop
40:58
Speaker 1: in the penitentiary. I just pray right now for those
41:03
Speaker 1: two little children who miss their mommy Eliza. We wait
41:08
Speaker 1: as justice unfals. Good Bye, Fat