Melissa Turner case: Did a neighbor’s security camera capture the last moments of Matthew Trussler’s life?

Oct. 17, 2019, started as a regular day for Matthew Trussler and Melissa Turner. The couple went purchasing at Home Depot and Publix, after which had lunch at the residence they shared close to Tampa, Florida. Hours later, Trussler was discovered lifeless by their pool.

Turner stated she frantically known as 911 when she found Trussler’s lifeless physique the subsequent day. 

“He is cold,” she informed the 911 operator. “He is not responsive.” 

When investigators arrived at the crime scene, they rapidly went to work. Turner agreed to go to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office for questioning. Turner informed investigators she didn’t understand how Trussler died. 

As investigators canvassed the neighborhood, then-sheriff’s detective Ryan LaGasse stated he observed a neighbor’s surveillance camera going through the course of Turner and Trussler’s residence. He reviewed the footage, during which he heard loud voices coming from their residence. 

“And then I hear what sounds like screaming, yelling,” LaGasse informed “48 Hours.”

LaGasse famous that as he continued listening to the audio from the camera, he heard phrases equivalent to “Get up now,” and “So f****** die,” that he stated seemed to be the voice of a girl. 

Back at the sheriff’s workplace, investigators confronted Turner about the voices and screams coming from their residence all through the evening. At first she stated she had no reminiscence of screaming and yelling, however when pressed by detectives, she recalled the argument. 

“He woke me up and we got in an argument over that, because he was still up at four in the morning drinking,” she informed detectives.

Turner additionally informed detectives that the argument turned bodily, and Trussler strangled her. She claimed she grabbed his knife and stabbed him. 

“I thought he was gonna kill me,” Turner informed “48 Hours.”

During the interview, detectives found a massive minimize on Turner’s hand. She informed them she obtained the minimize when she picked up a damaged glass earlier that morning.

Turner shared extra of her story with “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty in “Melissa Turner’s Closing Act,” airing Jan. 14 at 10/9c on CBS, and streaming on Paramount+.

There can be one other improvement that may assist investigators: the discovery of an ADT camera in the couple’s residence that recorded Turner and Trussler’s actions that evening. 

“He’s walking calmly, unarmed in the ADT videos, and she’s following hunched over angry,” prosecutor Chinwe Fossett informed “48 Hours.” 

Prosecutors additionally imagine the recording exhibits blood on Turner’s hand from that minimize, which they are saying occurred when she stabbed Trussler.

Despite Turner’s model of occasions, she was arrested and charged with second-degree homicide with a weapon. Two years later, on Feb. 14, 2022, Turner went on trial.

Throughout the trial, Turner maintained she acted in self-defense. 

“I thought he was going to kill me, and I was trying to get him to stop,” Turner informed jurors. 

“And I loved him,” she added. 

Turner’s lawyer, John Trevena, introduced in an audio skilled who testified that he thought the voices recorded on the neighbor’s camera had been quantity enhanced. 

“I find it highly suspicious that Ms. Turner’s voice is screeching loud,” Trevena stated. “But when it came to Matthew Trussler .. you could barely hear mumbling.” 

But prosecutors denied the recording was manipulated.

At the finish of the week-long trial, a jury discovered Turner responsible of second-degree homicide. She was sentenced to twenty.5 years in jail.

“They could’ve walked away from each other and started a different life,” Donald Goodwin, a juror in Turner’s trial, informed “48 Hours.” “Melissa Turner chose to kill Matthew Trussler.”