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Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Garrett Fisher. Monday, March
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twenty third, twenty twenty six. Let me walk you through
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this week's lineup. First, Caleb Flynn a name. We brought
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you back in February. Former American Idol contestant, thirty nine
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years old, music pastor, worship leader. Devoted family man, at
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least that's what he told the cameras in twenty thirteen.
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On February sixteenth, his wife Ashley, was shot twice in
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the head in the master bedroom of their Tip City,
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Ohio home. Their daughters were sleeping nearby. Caleb called nine
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one one said someone broke in. Police say, that's not
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what happened. Last week, a grand jury agreed eleven counts
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aggravated murder. Bond raised to three and a half million dollars.
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We'll catch you up. Second, Matthew Hurtkin, Princeton, New Jersey.
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Last February, he killed his younger brother Joseph, knife golf
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club and worse, removed his eye, killed the family's cat.
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This week, a judge found him not guilty by reason
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of insanity, not because the defense said so, because both
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sides agreed we'll talk about what that means and where
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he goes from here. Third San Antonio, Texas, December twenty sixth,
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twenty twenty three. Two bodies found in a car at
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an apartment complex parking lot, five days they'd been there.
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Savanna Sota was eighteen years old and nine months pregnant.
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Her baby boy was supposed to be born the next day.
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His name was going to be David. Her boyfriend, Matthew Guera,
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was twenty two. Both shot in the head, covered in trash,
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left like they didn't matter. The trial of Christopher Preciato,
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charged with three counts of capital murder, began last week.
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Walk you through it. I'm Garrett Fisher. This is Daily
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Crime and Justice. We first brought you this case in
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February when Caleb Flynn was charged with his wife's murder
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a few days after it happened. Let me bring you
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up to date. Quick recap for anyone who's new. February sixteenth,
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twenty twenty six, two thirty in the morning, Tip City, Ohio,
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a small town twenty miles north of Dayton, Caleb Flynn
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calls nine one one, frantic, hyperventilating, says someone broke into
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his home and shot Ashley in the head, says he
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doesn't know if the intruder is still inside. There's blood everywhere.
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Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god. Police
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arrived and found Ashley Flynn dead in the master bedroom,
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two shots to the head. Their two daughters, both elementary age,
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were asleep in nearby rooms and had not been harmed.
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The Golden Doodles were fine. What police found when they
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looked around two shell casings on the floor near the
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foot of the bed. The center console of Caleb's twenty
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twenty four to Ford pickup open. He told police that's
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where he kept a handgun, and the side door to
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the garage, the one that supposedly gave an intruder access.
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A large refrigerator had been positioned directly in front of it.
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To enter that way, someone would have had to push
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it aside. They didn't. Nobody did because there was no intruder.
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Caleb Flynn was arrested three days later, charged with murder,
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felonious assault, and tampering with evidence. Bond said at two million.
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He pleaded not guilty. His attorney said the investigation moved
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too fast, called it a rush to judgment. On March third,
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police released body camera footage. You can hear Flynn in
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those videos calling his mother, calling Ashley's mother, telling them
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both that someone broke in and shot her, asking about
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his phone, asking if she's gone playing the part. Last week,
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the grand jury finished its work. Eleven counts returned against
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Caleb Flynn. One count of aggravated murder, three counts of murder,
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two counts of felonious assault, three counts of tampering with evidence,
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and this is the one that stands out. Two misdemeanor
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counts of intimidation of an attorney, victim, or witness. That
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last charge is notable. It says someone reached out to
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someone they shouldn't have from jail. We don't know yet
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who or what, but that charge doesn't get filed on
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a whim. Caleb was arraigned Thursday, March nineteenth, Bond raised
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to three and a half million. Pre trial hearing is
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set for March thirtieth before Miami County Common Please Judge
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Janine Pratt. If convicted on aggravated murder, he faces life
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in prison without the possibility of parole. His defense attorney
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called it what defense attorneys call everything, an overreach, said
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he's looking forward to defending the case. Of course he did.
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What we know about Ashley Flynn thirty seven years old,
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Tipicanu High School and Lee University graduate. She coached seventh
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grade girls volleyball at Tippecanu Middle School. Taught at LifeWise Academy,
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a nonprofit that brings Bible based lessons to public school kids.
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She was described by her district as someone known for
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her beautiful smile, warmth and kindness. A GoFundMe for her
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daughters raised nearly one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars.
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Her family celebrated what would have been her thirty eighth birthday,
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eight days after she was killed, with balloons and cupcakes.
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Her daughters blew them out. Caleb Flynn stood on national
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television in twenty thirteen and told the world, I absolutely
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love the Lord. I love my wife more than anything.
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She is very, very pretty. I love her. Someone should
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have said something, but sometimes the person who should say
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something is the one who says it on TV. Ashley
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Flynn was thirty seven years old, a teacher, a coach,
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a mother. She should be planning her spring season right now.
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Rest in peace, Ashley coming up A Princeton man stabbed
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and beat his younger brother to death, removed his eye,
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and burned the family cat, and a judge just found
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him not guilty. We'll explain why and why the system
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actually worked exactly as it was designed to. Let me
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tell you about a verdict that came down this week
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in New Jersey that I want to handle carefully because
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the instinct when you hear the facts is outrage, and
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then you learn more and the outrage becomes something harder
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to name. Matthew Hrkin is thirty two years old. He
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grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, the kind of town
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you think of when you think of old money and
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ivy walls. He and his younger brother, Joseph twenty seven,
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were family who knew each other their whole lives. February
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twenty second, twenty twenty five, a Saturday night, a third
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Hrkin's sibling had spent the afternoon with Matthew, picked him
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up around four thirty, spent time with him, and dropped
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him back at Joseph's apartment, a unit at the Michelle
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Muse luxury apartments in the Princeton area. Around ten pm,
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Joseph was home alive. The third sibling saw him Before leaving,
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That sibling sent a text to Joseph. It said that
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Matthew was having trouble with his visions and to reach
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out for help. He also texted Matthew directly just before
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ten thirty, saying hang in there and inviting him on
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a hike the next morning. Matthew didn't text back. About
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an hour later, Matthew Hurkin called nine one one told
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the dispatcher that his brother was dead on the floor
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and had been there for approximately thirty to forty minutes.
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When the dispatcher asked how Joseph was hurt, Matthew said,
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I'm not going to go into any more details right now.
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Police arrived at the Michelle Muse apartment and found Joseph
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Hurtkin on the floor in a pool of blood, next
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to blood covered dinnerware. He had suffered extensive head and
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body injuries. His right eye appeared to have been cut out.
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He'd been beaten with a knife and a golf club.
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The family's pet cat was also found at the scene, beaten, stabbed,
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and set on fire. Matthew Hurkin's hands were covered in
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cuts and scratches. He admitted to killing his brother, told
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his family told, the doctors told the defense said he
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had been experiencing visions. He was charged with first degree murder,
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weapons offenses, and third degree animal cruelty. Here is where
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it gets complicated and important. This week, the case went
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to a one day bench trial just to judge no
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jury before Superior Court Judge Robert Lytel in Mercer County.
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One witness took the stand a clinical and forensic psychologist,
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and that psychologist testified that Matthew Hrtkin had been diagnosed
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with schizophrenia, that he had been struggling with his mental
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health since twenty twenty one. And then he said something
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that the courtroom sat with for a moment. He said
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that when he evaluated Matthew Hrtgin and reviewed his records,
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he had quote one of the most severe mental illnesses
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that this psychologist had ever seen in his career. Here
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is what is unusual about this case. The prosecution agreed
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both sides, the state and the defense, presented the same
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conclusion to the judge. Matthew Hertgin was legally insane at
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the time he killed his brother, not just mentally ill,
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legally insane under New Jersey law, meaning he did not
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understand that what he was doing was wrong. Judge Lytel
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heard that consensus and rendered his verdict not guilty by
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reason of insanity. Now I know what some of you
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are thinking, because it's what most people think when they
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hear those words. He did it, he admitted it, and
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he's walking. He is not walking. Matthew Hurkin has been
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in custody since his arrest. Because the verdict is not
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guilty by reason of insanity. He will remain in custody
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through sentencing scheduled for May first, at which point he
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will be committed to a statemental hospital, not a cell,
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a psychiatric institution for an indeterminate period, which, given the
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severity of his illness, is described under oath by an expert,
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is unlikely to end soon. That is not a loophole.
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That is a system working exactly as it was designed.
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The insanity defense exists because we as a society have
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decided that punishment requires moral culpability, that you have to know,
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actually know that what you're doing is wrong. When someone
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is so severely ill that reality has collapsed entirely. A
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prison sentence doesn't deliver Jill justice. It just delivers a cell.
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Does that make any of this easier? No. Joseph Hurrikin
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was twenty seven years old. He let his brother into
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his home. He was someone's son, someone's sibling. The family
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described him as part of a large and loving extended family.
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The third sibling sent that text said Matthew was having
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trouble with his visions, told Joseph to reach out, tried
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to flag it, and yet someone should have said something.
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Someone tried, it wasn't enough. This is a case about
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what schizophrenia looks like when it goes untreated, when the
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visions become indistinguishable from reality, when the person you knew
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is still standing in front of you but is no
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longer there. Joseph Herkin was twenty seven years old. He
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deserved to grow old. He deserved that hike. The next morning,
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coming up, a pregnant teenager was scheduled to be induced
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on to Say twenty second, twenty twenty three. She and
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her boyfriend never showed up. Five days later, they were
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found shot to death in a car covered in garbage.
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The man accused of their execution is now on trial
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in San Antonio. December twenty first, twenty twenty three, San Antonio, Texas.
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Late at night, a twenty two year old man named
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Matthew Guera and his girlfriend, Savannah Soto, eighteen years old
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and nine months pregnant, got into their gray Kia Optima together.
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The next morning, Savannah had a hospital appointment. She was
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scheduled to be induced. Her baby boy was due. Her
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family had been told people were coming. The name had
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been chosen, David. They never made it to the hospital.
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They never made it anywhere. For five days, nobody knew
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where they were. Savannah's family reported her missing. A statewide
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clear alert went out on Christmas Day. On December twenty sixth,
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the day after Christmas, a woman approached a gray Kia
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Optima parked at a Leon Valley apartment complex. She looked inside.
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She saw Savannah in the passenger seat dead. Matthew Guero
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was there too. They had been shot in the head
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and left. Garbage had been thrown over and around the car,
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junk like they were trash, like they were nothing. Savannah
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Soda was laid to rest with her son in her arms.
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Her family said it that way. They buried her holding David.
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They didn't bury him in her stomach. He was a person,
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he had a name. He was buried as one. That
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is where we're starting. Let me tell you about the
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man now on trial, Christopher Priciato. He was nineteen at
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the time of the murders. He knew Matthew Gera, not
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as a friend, but as a dealer. Guera sold marijuana
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and the two had an arrangement. The night of December
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twenty first, Savannah and Matthew drove to Priciato's house for
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a transaction. Prosecutors say that was by design. In opening
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statements last Tuesday in Begzar County, co prosecutor Melissa Albin
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told the jury, you're going to hear that they made
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choices that many of us would not make, but the
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penalty for those poor choices should not be execution. He
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executed them, and for no other reason than he needed
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money and Matthew had a lot of it. The prosecution's
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theory is straightforward. Pritciado needed cash, Gara had it. Pritciato
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lured them to his house, shot them both in the head,
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and then called his father, Ramon Pritciato, to help deal
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with the aftermath. Ramon, who was not present for the murders,
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allegedly helped move the bodies and the car. He is
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charged separately with abuse of a corpse. The gun used
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in the killings was recovered from the Pritziato family home,
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specifically from the parents' bedroom closet. Christopher P. Preciado is
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charged with three counts of capital murder the death of
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Matthew Gera, the death of Savanna Soto, and the death
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of their unborn child, David. Under Texas law, an unborn
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child is included in the definition of a person for
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purposes of capital murder three lives, three counts. The defense,
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in opening statements, told the jury a different story. Defense
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attorney Joseph A. Sparza described what he called a chaotic situation,
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a drug transaction that went wrong, a gun pulled by
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the dealer, a struggle, and shots fired in the chaos.
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He said, that's not capital murder. He said his client
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talk to police, but never confessed. He also pointed the
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finger at Ramon Priciato, suggesting the father had more involvement
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than the state is alleging, and that the gun found
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in the parents' bedroom doesn't belong to Christopher. Then, he
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told the jury, at the end of this trial, my
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partner and I will ask you to return a verdict
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of not guilty after you examine all of the evidence.