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The Killings of Mary Morris Part 1

The Killings of Mary Morris Part 1

Released Monday, 19th December 2022
 1 person rated this episode
The Killings of Mary Morris Part 1

The Killings of Mary Morris Part 1

The Killings of Mary Morris Part 1

The Killings of Mary Morris Part 1

Monday, 19th December 2022
 1 person rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

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0:00

Hey, neighbor. This is Merrill Hodge. S

0:02

and T Bank is a community bank that truly

0:04

cares about people. Whether you're a brand new

0:06

customer or your family has been with S

0:08

and T Bank since it's stark in nineteen o two,

0:10

the team is ready to exceed your banking expectations.

0:13

S and T Bank was ranked number one in customer

0:15

satisfaction with retail banking and Pennsylvania

0:18

by JD Power. Or j d power twenty

0:20

twenty two award information is at j

0:22

d power dot com. Learn how S and T

0:24

Bank supports its neighbors at s t bank

0:26

dot com. Today. Member FDIC.

0:33

Hi, everyone. I'm doctor John White,

0:35

WebMD's chief medical officer

0:37

and host of the spotlight on series

0:40

from WebMD's Health Discovery

0:42

podcast. For this special two

0:44

part episode, you'll hear up

0:46

close and personal journeys about

0:49

being diagnosed with a rare

0:51

type of

0:51

cancer. Multiple myeloma.

0:56

I started in myeloma nearly twenty five

0:58

years ago, and at that time, did

1:00

average expectation of life and someone

1:02

with myeloma was maybe one to two years.

1:05

But even just in this last ten to

1:07

twelve years, we have doubled if not tripled

1:09

the average survival of patients. I saw a new patient

1:11

this week and we had this conversation that based

1:13

on what we've done over the last decade,

1:16

my expectations that patients gonna live more

1:18

than ten years. Listen

1:21

to Health Discovery on the iHeartRadio app

1:24

or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:32

The gone cold podcast may contain violent

1:34

or graphic subject matter. Listener

1:36

discretion is advised.

1:40

When twenty eight year old Aaron Sheerhorn

1:42

approached the doorman at Houston's

1:44

Club Blurring. At about eleven forty

1:46

five PM on December tenth

1:49

two thousand ten. He was frantic

1:51

and panicking. He'd

1:53

been stabbed. Aaron excitedly

1:56

screamed as he opened his shirt, exposing

1:58

the wound. But the

2:00

doorman wouldn't let him in. Allowing

2:03

Aaron's attacker to catch up.

2:06

The large man stabbed him again, and

2:08

Aaron ran this time into

2:10

a parking lot next to the club. There,

2:14

Aaron was stabbed by the man several

2:16

more times. Wounds he'd

2:18

later die from at an area hospital.

2:22

About eight folks witnessed this

2:24

horrific and brutal crime,

2:26

one of whom later called crime stoppers

2:29

of Houston, to report he'd

2:31

seen Aaron's attacker and had taken

2:33

down the VIN number of the vehicle he

2:35

was in. That

2:37

car belonged to thirty three year old Lydell

2:39

Grant who was later arrested

2:41

on a warrant during a routine traffic

2:44

stop and charged with Erin Sheerhorn's

2:46

slaying. Although

2:48

Lydell's friend an alibi

2:51

that strongly showed the man could not

2:53

have committed the crime. And

2:55

no determination could be made

2:57

regarding the DNA evidence taken

2:59

from skin cells found underneath fingernails.

3:03

Several witnesses positively identified

3:06

him as the killer. A

3:08

jury convicted Lydell grant

3:10

of the first degree murder of Aaron Sherehorn

3:13

on December sixth two thousand

3:15

twelve. He was

3:17

sentenced to life behind bars.

3:21

The innocence of Texas

3:23

picked up the case after conviction

3:25

was upheld upon an appeal in

3:27

two thousand fourteen. After

3:31

testing of DNA evidence, it

3:33

was conclusively determined that

3:35

Lydell did not commit this

3:37

crime. The DNA

3:39

under Aaron Sheerhorn's fingernails, in

3:42

belonged to another man named

3:44

Germerico Carter. Thankfully,

3:47

as is not always the case in

3:50

this state, Lidell Grant was

3:52

released on bond with the cooperation

3:54

of Harris County prosecutors and

3:56

eventually exonerated. He'd

3:59

spent ten years in prison for a

4:01

crime he did not commit. Eye

4:04

witnesses were sure, Lydell

4:06

killed Aaron, and he was convicted

4:08

on little more than that. Germereco

4:12

Carter later confessed to detectives

4:14

who traveled to a Bullock County Georgia

4:17

jail house to interview him.

4:21

Mistaken identity cases aren't

4:23

all that uncommon in Texas

4:25

true crime, but it's not

4:27

only due to false identification by

4:30

eyewitnesses or police.

4:33

Some victims are also thought to

4:35

have been mistakenly identified by

4:38

their killers. This

4:40

occurs most often perhaps as

4:42

the result of gang violence, but

4:45

not always. The

4:47

death of a North Richland Hills woman

4:49

by all indications is an

4:51

example. On the

4:53

evening of Sunday, December nine,

4:55

two thousand seven, retired couple,

4:58

Don and Maryann Wilkinson, sat

5:01

relaxing in their home. In

5:03

the quiet upper middle

5:04

class, housing development, Forest

5:06

Glen North. They

5:08

were not expecting company, so

5:11

when their doorbell rang at about eight

5:13

PM, It was perhaps

5:14

odd. But nevertheless, Mary

5:17

Anne got up and answered. When

5:19

she

5:19

opened the door, the sixty seven

5:22

year old was sprayed with gunfire.

5:24

The killing stomped at the

5:26

North Richland Hills police. This

5:29

elderly couple had no enemies.

5:32

They'd lived a quiet and completely

5:34

normal life. The

5:36

day after the senseless killing,

5:38

a woman came to police with a

5:40

possible explanation. The

5:43

bullets she thought were meant

5:45

for her. She and

5:47

her husband were going through a hostile

5:49

divorce. And he'd made a

5:51

throat cutting gesture with his finger,

5:53

among many other threats she

5:56

told detectives. It

5:58

seemed even more plausible when

6:00

police found out that not only did the

6:02

woman live on a cul de sac,

6:04

parallel to the Wilkinsons, the

6:06

houses of similar style and

6:08

brick, but also the

6:10

number of her house was the exact

6:13

number of Marianne and Don's.

6:16

Though Mary Anne Wilkinson's case

6:18

remains unsolved at the time of this

6:20

recording, the possibility that

6:22

she was shot to death as the result

6:25

of a murder for hire gone wrong.

6:27

A case of mistaken identity is

6:30

perhaps the most compelling and

6:32

sensible theory. When

6:35

two women in Harris County, Texas,

6:37

were killed within days of each other

6:39

in October of two thousand, a

6:41

connection or a possible

6:43

murder due to mistaken identity

6:46

might have never been theorized had

6:48

they not shared the same name.

6:51

Mary Morris. Mary

7:17

Lou Muncie was born in Houston,

7:19

Texas. On August sixteenth

7:22

nineteen fifty two to parents

7:24

John and Mabel. She became

7:27

Mary Lou Henderson when she married

7:29

her first husband. With whom she

7:31

had two children. In

7:33

nineteen eighty seven, however, the

7:35

couple divorced after seventeen years

7:38

of marriage. Mary

7:40

Lou met another divorcee, Jay

7:42

Morris, through a personal ad.

7:45

The two had much in common,

7:48

and hit it off pretty quick.

7:51

Eventually, in nineteen ninety

7:53

five, Mary Lou and Jay tied

7:55

the knot, a second to marriage

7:57

for both. Though

7:59

the crime rate was on a slow decline

8:01

in Houston in the mid and late nineteen

8:03

nineties, the city still had a

8:05

major problem. Jay

8:08

and Mary Lou Morris wanted

8:10

out. In nineteen

8:12

ninety eight, they moved to Baytown,

8:14

a considerably smaller city

8:16

to the east of Houston with

8:19

considerably less crime. The

8:22

following year, Mary Lou and Jay

8:24

moved into a home they had built on

8:26

a large property, often

8:28

referred to as a ranch, off

8:30

Bernat Bay on Baytown's north

8:32

side. Mary

8:34

Lou and Jay Morris were an active

8:37

couple, her particularly. According

8:40

to her daughter, in fact, her

8:43

mother acted like she was twenty years

8:45

old, always going

8:47

somewhere, always doing something.

8:49

At forty eight years old in

8:51

two thousand, Mary Lou Morris had

8:54

been working for fifteen years

8:56

as a loan officer Chase

8:58

Bank in Spring Valley Village,

9:00

a small suburban city

9:02

located on Interstate ten

9:04

to Houston's West. The

9:07

commute to work from home was

9:09

thirty two miles, about an hour

9:11

drive directly through downtown

9:13

Houston during rush hour. When

9:15

its traffic was unavoidable and

9:17

insufferable. But the

9:19

drive was, for the most part, a

9:21

straight shot. Mary

9:24

Lou, it said, never missed a day

9:26

of work, but she was even

9:28

more devoted to her family than

9:30

she was her job.

9:31

She loved her children and

9:34

grandchildren. Mary Lou

9:36

was kind. Her daughter said,

9:38

one of the nicest folks you could

9:40

ever know.

9:42

On Thursday, October twelve

9:45

two thousand, Mary Lou

9:47

had some extra work to do at

9:49

the office. So to get ahead of

9:51

it, she decided she'd leave home a

9:53

little early. Between

9:55

five fifty and six AM that

9:57

morning, Jay walked Mary Lou to

9:59

the car as usual. The

10:02

couple said their goodbyes for the

10:04

day, and Jay watched as Mary

10:06

Lou turned from their home.

10:08

She was headed in the direction

10:10

of the Speedway Gas Station and

10:12

Convenience Store at Interstate

10:14

ten and Thomas Road.

10:16

Where she often filled up the tank

10:18

before heading into work. It

10:21

was her go to gas station because

10:23

the prices were generally the best around

10:25

there. Because it was a

10:27

part of her regular routine,

10:29

Jay assumed Mary Lou was

10:31

going to stop for gas before

10:33

hitting the highway. Nothing

10:36

at all that morning seemed amiss.

10:38

But as the hours passed,

10:41

things took a turn toward

10:43

the unusual. Hey,

10:55

neighbor. This is Merrill Hodge. S and T

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Bank is a community bank that truly cares

10:59

about people. Whether you're a brand new

11:01

customer, or your family has been with S and

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T Bank since its start in nineteen o

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two, the team is ready to exceed your

11:07

banking expectations. S and T Bank was

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ranked number one in customer satisfaction

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with retail banking and Pennsylvania by

11:13

JD Power. Or JD Power twenty twenty

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13:01

The voice in the preceding commercial was not the actual voice

13:03

of a winner. Jay Morris

13:06

almost always called and spoke with

13:08

his wife several times a day.

13:11

But Thursday, October twelfth

13:13

two thousand was different.

13:15

At twelve PM that

13:17

day, he began a series of

13:19

calls trying to get in touch with

13:21

Mary Lou. All of which went to voicemail.

13:25

None of the calls were returned. Perhaps

13:29

j thought His wife was

13:31

simply too busy to call back.

13:33

After all, she'd left for work

13:35

early to get a jump on some of the

13:37

extra work she had. In

13:39

between his many calls, sometime

13:41

just after two PM, a

13:43

woman called and asked for Mary

13:46

Lou. Jay told

13:48

them she was at home and thought little

13:50

about it, at least for a

13:52

while. Between

13:54

three and four PM, Jay

13:56

Morris called Mary Lou's Place of

13:58

Employment, Chase Bank in

14:00

Spring Valley Village. He

14:02

spoke with a branch manager

14:04

and immediately A sense of dread

14:06

overcame him when she told the

14:08

man, Mary Lou had never made it

14:10

in that day. In

14:12

fact, this supervisor was the woman who'd

14:14

called the house looking for

14:16

her about an hour earlier. Something

14:20

was not right. Not

14:22

only did the dependable Mary

14:24

Lou set out for work that morning,

14:26

Jay knew damn well his wife had

14:28

never missed a day of work without

14:30

good reason. And this

14:32

day, there wasn't one. Alongside

14:35

his stepdaughter Marilyn,

14:37

Jay began retracing the

14:39

steps and route Mary Lou would have

14:41

taken. She'd forgotten her

14:43

cell phone and charger at the house,

14:46

the two discovered so they

14:48

worried Mary Lou's car broke down

14:50

or

14:50

worse. She'd been in an accident.

14:53

They couldn't find the missing woman

14:55

anywhere. Because

14:57

their neighbor was an investigator for the

14:59

Harris County Sheriff's Office,

15:01

Jay Morris was able to give a missing

15:03

persons report that

15:05

afternoon. But it was too

15:07

late. At approximately

15:11

five PM on October twelfth

15:13

two thousand, A man off roading on a four

15:15

wheeler in a tall grass pasture,

15:17

off west Lynchburg cedar

15:19

Bayou road in Baytown, made

15:21

a grizzly discovery. When

15:25

inspecting a smoldering car he'd

15:27

come upon, the joyrider

15:29

saw inside a charred

15:31

body so badly

15:31

burnt. No distinguishing features

15:35

remained. He

15:36

immediately called police.

15:39

Not long after first responders arrived

15:42

at the scene. Detectives and

15:44

crime scene investigators from the Harris

15:46

County Sheriff's Office showed

15:48

up. From the front

15:50

grill to the trunk latch, the vehicle

15:52

was burned evenly. All

15:54

plastic within the engine,

15:56

the wiring, the interior,

15:59

the tires and even some

16:01

glass was melted. Inside

16:04

across the back seat, laid

16:06

human remains that were unidentified.

16:08

At the scene,

16:11

investigators could not determine whether

16:13

the body was male or female.

16:16

When they got word, a burned car had

16:18

been found. Mary Lou's

16:20

husband Jay and daughter Marilyn

16:22

rushed to the scene. But were

16:24

met by Sheriff's deputies well

16:26

before arriving at the site of

16:28

the smoldering remnants. Deputies

16:31

told them they could not be there.

16:34

And asked that they return home

16:36

and wait for news should there be

16:38

any. Later, the

16:40

burned out vehicle would be identified

16:42

as Mary Lou Morris' Gray Chevy

16:45

Lumina. Harris

16:47

County Sheriff's Office Detective W.

16:49

D. Lanier commented that they were

16:51

lucky to find a part of a jaw

16:53

with intact teeth as

16:55

any other possible identifiers had

16:58

turned to bone fragment or

17:00

ash. Though

17:01

it took three days, the charred body

17:03

was finally confirmed to be the

17:06

vehicle's

17:06

owner. It

17:08

was impossible, of course,

17:10

to determine Mary Lou's cause

17:13

of death.

17:14

Where Mary Lou's car and body were

17:17

found is in the opposite

17:19

direction of the one she would have

17:21

taken to go to work. It was

17:23

about three and a half miles from her

17:25

home near Burnett Bay,

17:27

a spot ironically secluded

17:29

within the combines

17:31

of the many surrounding residences

17:33

and accessible only by using a well

17:36

traveled thoroughfare. Whoever

17:38

drove Mary Lou's car there, traveled down

17:41

West Lynchburg Cedar Bayou

17:43

Road, which would have been

17:45

busy. And turned just past

17:47

John Martin Road where the

17:49

traffic turning on and off would

17:51

also have been significant.

17:53

This person, presumably

17:56

Mary's killer, then had to

17:58

get out of the vehicle, open a

18:00

gate that led into property owned

18:02

by the Harris County drainage

18:04

district and drive through

18:06

grass for about one hundred and fifty

18:08

yards where they parked the Chevy

18:10

Lumina and an isolated pipeline

18:12

did. Not visible from

18:14

the Drainage District Road.

18:16

Since it seemed disposing

18:18

of the body and evidence by

18:21

fire at this location could not

18:23

have been a random decision.

18:25

And because the spot where Mary Lou's

18:27

car was set ablaze and

18:30

burned, likely for hours could not

18:32

be seen from the many homes

18:34

surrounding it. Police

18:36

theorized her killer was quite

18:38

familiar with the area. The

18:40

fact that no area residents reported seeing

18:43

smoke in that area was

18:45

surprising. Though burning

18:47

domestic waste send other debris

18:49

there was legal under certain

18:51

circumstances, meaning

18:53

that there were likely folks who witnessed

18:56

the smoke But since rural

18:58

residential burning wasn't necessarily

19:00

uncommon, they might not have given it a

19:03

second

19:03

thought. It was later

19:06

discovered that a fire truck crew

19:08

had indeed seen and reported

19:10

the smoke to their superiors

19:12

at about ten twenty AM that

19:14

morning. They were told

19:16

not to worry about it. It was

19:18

simply someone burning leaves or

19:21

trash. The determination

19:22

by the firefighters' superiors

19:25

perhaps reflected the attitude of

19:27

the folks living nearby.

19:29

Though evidence might have been

19:31

saved had they been told to

19:34

investigate the smoke, certainly 1 mistake

19:37

in hindsight. This discovery wasn't

19:39

all wasted since the Harris County

19:41

Sheriff's

19:41

Office, at least, had another mark on

19:44

the

19:44

timeline. Immediately

19:47

upon their arrival, a

19:49

crime scene investigation unit

19:51

began closely inspecting Mary

19:53

Lou's Chevy Lumina, what was

19:55

left of it, and the area surrounding

19:58

the vehicle. Fire

20:00

investigators determined quickly that

20:02

the car was set ablaze intentionally using

20:05

what they called massive amounts

20:07

of accelerant. In the

20:10

area around where the fire had chaotically

20:12

and unremor affordably burned.

20:15

Trees were singed from trunk

20:17

to crown. Inside

20:19

the vehicle, nothing of evidentiary

20:22

value survived the ravaging

20:24

flames. There were no

20:27

fingerprints, no bullets, bullet

20:30

casings, or any other sign of the

20:32

weapon that might have been used to

20:34

murder forty eight year old Mary

20:36

Lou

20:36

Morris. And no way to know if

20:38

she was still alive as the car

20:40

went up in flames. As

20:43

is the normal course of action in

20:46

any murder investigation. The

20:48

Harris County Sheriff's Office ran an

20:50

extensive background check

20:52

on the victim. And interviewed those who knew her

20:55

best, including friends,

20:57

coworkers, and close

20:59

relatives. No

21:01

motive for Mary Lou's murder could

21:03

be found. All her

21:05

life, detective W. D.

21:08

Lanier said she was a law abiding

21:10

woman who had no enemies.

21:12

Not a single person interviewed had

21:14

a neutral word to say about

21:16

Mary Lou Morris, alone a negative

21:19

one. They all loved

21:21

her. There were absolutely

21:23

no signs that she'd been having an

21:25

affair using drugs was

21:27

gambling and got behind on a debt or

21:29

anything else that would suggest a high

21:31

risk lifestyle, a motive

21:34

to pursue. She

21:36

was kind to everyone and certainly not

21:39

living any kind of secret life on

21:41

the side. Mary

21:43

Lou was incredibly stable and happy in

21:45

her life, and it even continued

21:47

to maintain good terms with her

21:49

ex husband, Jim. With

21:52

whom she'd had two children.

21:55

He had nothing negative whatsoever

21:57

to say about her. And helped search

21:59

for her before the family knew

22:01

her body had been found. The

22:05

fact that Mary Lou's jewelry remained

22:07

on her body Though melted it was virtually

22:10

unrecognizable, suggested

22:12

that the motive was not

22:14

robbery. One

22:16

piece of jewelry, however,

22:18

was missing. Mary Lou's

22:21

wedding ring. Following

22:24

Mary Lou Morris' funeral,

22:26

the investigation into her murder took

22:28

a strange and convoluted turn.

22:31

When a striking similarity or several

22:34

similarities between hers

22:36

and the death of another woman was

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today. Member, FDIC. Hey,

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this is Steve Vernell, a host of the meat

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23:25

cover hunting mission wild foods, wildlife conservation,

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and all things outdoors with

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a lot of humor and style.

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Check out this clip from our

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one. 1 I

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on. Big

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bullseye. Big bullseye. Big bull. Okay.

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one 1

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to yours.

24:29

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winner. The funeral

25:02

and burial for Mary Lou Morris took

25:04

place on Monday, October sixteenth two

25:07

thousand. After her

25:09

daughter, Marilyn, phoned Beres

25:11

County medical examiner's office.

25:14

She told them her mother's name,

25:16

Mary Morris, and asked when she could

25:18

pick up the jewelry her mother had

25:21

been wearing. The medical examiner's

25:23

office told Marilyn that she

25:25

could retrieve her mother's belongings after

25:28

the funeral home picks up

25:30

the body. Her mother was

25:32

just buried. Marilyn told

25:34

them, but they replied that the body

25:36

of Mary Morris was still in the

25:38

medical examiner's possession. Maryland

25:41

and her family had just

25:43

placed nineteen pounds of ash and

25:45

bone fragment in a grave to be marked

25:47

with her mother's name, she

25:50

And the young woman began to

25:53

panic. Had they undergone

25:55

funeral services for and

25:57

buried remains that did not

25:59

belong to her mother? It

26:01

seemed like an impossible

26:04

mistake. One that would be just as

26:06

impossible to rectify. Finally,

26:09

someone in the medical examiner's

26:11

office was able to get to the bottom

26:13

of the mix

26:13

up. They had been given the

26:16

correct remains.

26:17

The body that's still laid in the

26:20

morgue was someone 1. A

26:22

woman who was found dead the very

26:24

morning before, Mary Lou Morris was

26:26

laid to rest A woman

26:29

named Mary Teresa Morris.

26:32

Born in Welch,

26:35

West Virginia, to parents Rose

26:37

and Hugh. On July seventh

26:39

nineteen sixty one, Mary

26:41

Teresa McGinnis became

26:43

Mary Teresa Morris when she

26:45

married Mike Morris in nineteen eighty

26:48

three. The following year,

26:50

the couple gave birth to their

26:52

only child, a daughter.

26:54

Mary Teresa's sister

26:57

Stephanie called her vivacious

26:59

and very outgoing, a

27:01

devoted mother with a positive and

27:04

enthusiastic outlook on

27:06

life. She lived life

27:08

to the fullest. Stephanie

27:10

said, an angel who not only

27:12

got along with and loved nearly everyone,

27:15

but who also worked to make sure

27:17

those around her were happy

27:20

and laughing. In

27:22

nineteen ninety eight, Mary Teresa took

27:24

a job as the medical director

27:27

for union carbide in

27:28

Houston, Leaving her

27:31

family and home in West Virginia

27:33

behind.

27:35

Union

27:35

carbide is one of the oldest and most

27:38

successful chemical companies in the

27:40

United States and produces

27:42

products that serve markets

27:44

ranging from household to oil

27:46

and

27:46

gas. And virtually everything

27:48

in between.

27:49

Mary Teresa was extremely

27:52

successful and this job,

27:54

which had her overseeing several

27:56

clinics in the industrial

27:58

plants as a head nurse practitioner

28:01

was a testament to her abilities

28:03

and professionalism.

28:05

In fact, her sister Stephanie

28:08

insisted that anything a doctor could

28:10

do, so could marry

28:11

Teresa, and she did.

28:14

She was a hard worker who didn't give

28:16

doubles and weekend shifts a second

28:19

thought. Outside of

28:21

work, she acting in local theater

28:24

productions. Still,

28:26

as near perfect as Mary

28:28

Teresa was thought of professionally,

28:31

she was certainly not immune from life's

28:33

less desirable situations

28:35

and circumstances. Even

28:38

before moving to Houston, Mary

28:40

Teresa's marriage to Mike Morris had its ups

28:42

and

28:42

downs, as all

28:45

marriages do.

28:47

Once they arrived in Texas' most populous

28:50

city, the marriage became

28:52

further strained. In large part, it

28:54

seems because was

28:56

unemployed for some time.

28:58

Of course, being out of work can

29:00

do a number on the socially

29:02

sculpted male ego sometimes leading

29:04

to feelings of inadequacy and

29:07

broken self confidence, which

29:09

is perhaps why Mike accused

29:12

Mary Teresa and a coworker of

29:14

hers of having an affair. Perhaps

29:17

they were and perhaps they were

29:19

not, but when he confronted them,

29:21

Mike Morris later commented. The

29:23

two denied it while looking him in the

29:25

eye, and he added he

29:27

chose to believe them.

29:29

This situation apparently

29:32

was the crescendo for the couple's

29:34

problems, the maker

29:36

brake point. Mike and Mary

29:38

Teresa decided to work through their

29:40

problems and by October

29:42

of two thousand were

29:44

back to being the very best of

29:45

friends, Mike said.

29:47

The marital problems as is

29:49

the case with almost every married

29:52

couple, or complicated. But

29:54

a difficult period that he and Mary

29:56

Teresa had overcome, according

29:59

to both

30:00

Mike, and years later, the couple's daughter.

30:03

Again,

30:04

Mary Teresa Morris was

30:07

a workhorse, So

30:10

naturally, she generally had a little time

30:12

off to take care of her errands and

30:14

chores. On October

30:16

fifteenth two thousand, planned to knock out

30:18

her to do list for the week as she

30:21

did every Sunday. Mary

30:24

Teresa met her good friend and

30:26

coworker at the union carbide

30:28

clinic to get a flu

30:29

shot. Workaholic she

30:32

was, Mary Teresa told Lori

30:34

she was gonna hang around there for a

30:36

couple hours before finishing up her

30:38

errands and returning

30:39

home. She went to the post

30:42

office then a grocery store.

30:44

Before finally ending up at the Ecker Drug

30:46

Store at West Little York

30:48

Road and US Highway

30:50

two ninety in Northwest Houston.

30:53

While at record, Mary

30:56

Teresa called Lori. Someone

30:59

in the drugstore was giving her

31:01

the creeps, making her very

31:03

uncomfortable. Mary Teresa

31:05

told Lori Matter of Factually.

31:07

She didn't sound scared.

31:10

Lori later said, just

31:12

aware. Mary Teresa

31:14

told her friend she was going to run

31:16

back to the clinic at Union

31:19

Carbide sign out of her computer and head

31:21

home. Twelve minutes

31:23

after hanging up with Lori, Mary

31:25

Teresa made a frantic call

31:27

to nine 1.

31:29

The audio recording has never

31:31

been released to the press or public,

31:33

but Harris County Sheriff's Office

31:35

Detective Wayne Coleman called it blood

31:37

chilling and disturbing. The

31:39

phone call captured an

31:41

attack against the thirty nine year

31:44

old woman. That evening

31:46

after she failed to return

31:48

home, Mary Teresa's husband,

31:50

Mike Morris, reported her missing

31:52

to

31:52

family, friends. And

31:55

authorities. The

31:57

following morning, Monday,

32:00

October sixteenth two

32:02

thousand A record driver came

32:04

upon a two thousand Dodge Intrepid

32:07

just north of the eighty six hundred

32:09

block of West Little

32:11

York Road. In a desolate area

32:13

not far from the last known

32:15

location of Mary Teresa

32:17

Morris, an echo drugstore,

32:19

though in the opposite direction from where she

32:21

was thought to have been

32:22

heading, which was the clinic

32:24

where she worked.

32:26

The vehicle was her union carbide

32:29

company car and

32:31

inside was the bloody body of

32:33

Mary Teresa. The

32:35

woman had suffered a single

32:37

gunshot wound to her head.

32:41

As was the case in the murder of Mary

32:43

Lou Morris, three days earlier,

32:45

Mary Teresa Morris was not wearing

32:47

her wedding ring. Strange

32:52

theories developed about the potential connection

32:55

between the October twelve, two

32:57

thousand murder of Mary

32:59

Lou Morris. And the slang

33:01

of Mary Teresa Morris on October

33:03

fifteenth two thousand, if only

33:06

for a fleeting investigative moment.

33:10

The public and media, however,

33:12

seemed to have a much harder time,

33:14

letting go of the possibility

33:16

of a link The press

33:19

often manipulating readers

33:21

and viewers into thinking the

33:23

two crimes took place virtually

33:25

right next door to each other. When

33:27

in actuality, they happened on opposite

33:30

ends of Harris County, Mary

33:32

Teresa's and far northwest

33:34

Houston. And Mary Lou's in Baytown,

33:37

nearly thirty seven miles to the

33:39

east. Next time

33:41

on gone cold, the investigation

33:44

that ensued, the

33:46

theories, and the suspects. If

33:50

you have information about the murder of Mary

33:52

Lou Morris or Mary

33:55

Teresa Morris, please contact the

33:57

Harris County Sheriff's Office

33:59

at seven thirteen 2749100

34:04

or crimestoppers of Houston at

34:06

seven thirteen 222

34:08

tips. That's 7132228477

34:16

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34:18

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34:20

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35:00

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it. Sources for this episode can be found in the

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episode's show notes. Thanks

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for listening y'all.

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