0:00

Hey

0:02

there, it's Kristen.

0:09

On

0:11

Murder, She Told, I share with you the stories

0:13

of lesser-known crimes in Maine,

0:15

New England, and away. In

0:18

a similar vein, I want to recommend to you

0:20

a show called Black Girl Gone,

0:22

hosted by Amara Kofer.

0:24

Each episode takes you on a heart-wrenching

0:26

journey through the stories of missing and murdered

0:29

black women and the families they left behind.

0:31

Each week, Amara works

0:33

to uncover hidden truths and bring

0:35

the important stories of these women to the

0:37

forefront. I'm gonna play a clip from

0:40

Black Girl Gone, and I encourage you to

0:42

find and follow Black Girl Gone in

0:44

your favorite podcast app, or by clicking

0:46

the link in the show notes.

0:48

I hope you enjoy.

0:50

On April 16th, 2005, the bodies of 38-year-old Glenda Pulley and

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her 10-year-old son, Tyler Jones, were

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found inside their Warren County, North Carolina

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home. They

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had both been shot to death. Investigators

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believed that they knew what had happened to Glenda

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and Tyler.

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And within days, they were declaring

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their death the result of a murder

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suicide

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orchestrated by 10-year-old Tyler.

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No one in Tyler and Glenda's family, including

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his father, Daniel, believed that Tyler

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could ever be capable of doing something like this.

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Like

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I said, by all accounts, Tyler

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was a normal kid, very active,

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full of energy. And if you're

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raising boys, you know exactly what kind of

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energy they can possess.

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He'd like to ride four-wheelers and play outside

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with his friends and cousins. And there was

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no history of him being a troubled child or

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having behavior issues. But

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when investigators spoke to Dennis at the home

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after the murders, Dennis sang a

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different tune about Tyler.

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Dennis told investigators that Tyler had

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anger issues. Now, Linda's

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family said that police didn't ask anyone

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close to Tyler if he had anger issues.

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According to them, they did not try

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to confirm what Dennis said with anyone else

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in Glenda and Tyler's family or circle. And

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instead, they took what Dennis said as

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proof that Tyler had committed this crime.

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Investigators used Dennis's words in

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the official report and it was noted

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on the medical examiner's report. By

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6pm that evening on the 16th,

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investigators had finished processing the scene.

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And according to Daniel,

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the home was opened back up and people

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were allowed to come and go.

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Now, that would give you the impression

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that police had collected all the evidence that

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they needed in seven hours and were

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not going to need to go back in the home because why

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else would they allow people to go back inside the house?

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But

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the reason why is because they

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had decided at that point that the case

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was essentially closed.

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And when a suicide note was found,

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all of the investigator's beliefs about Tyler

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being the perpetrator were confirmed.

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But how and when the suicide note

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was found is not clear and is

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actually kind of confusing. Now,

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according to an article two days after

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the murder, the investigator on the case

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said that a suicide note was found under a

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pillow in the home, But

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he does not say who found the note.

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But on the episode of Still a Mystery, Daniel

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says that police did not find the note and that the funeral

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director found the note. Which

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is interesting because the funeral director would

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not have had access to the bodies until after

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the medical examiner had completed the autopsies. And

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so that kind of makes it seem like the

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note was in Tyler's pocket. And if it was

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in Tyler's pocket, then that would raise the

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question about the question about why police

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would not have

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found it immediately. I mean,

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even if it was under the pillow, if police

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were not the ones who found it, then how

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thoroughly did they actually process this

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scene? Now, this

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is no shade, but smaller police departments

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don't have the resources to deal with crimes

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of this magnitude, and these

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kind of crimes don't often happen in their communities,

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so their experience with this sort of

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thing is limited.

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But in this case, state investigators

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had also been on the case the day of the murder,

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although they later claimed that they had a very limited

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role in the investigation.

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The suicide note for investigators, however, was

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the final piece that they would need to officially

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rule this case, a murder-suicide, and

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close the investigation.

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In the note,

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10-year-old Tyler allegedly writes,

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quote, Sorry, everybody. I'm

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sorry for killing my best mom. So

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I'm going to write a little song and then kill

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myself.

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My dad don't even care for me. He

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doesn't even call me.

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And if you want to understand me more, listen

4:53

to 50 Cent, The Massacre.

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He then writes the words, My Life

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and Really Large Letters. And then the letter

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is signed from Tyler.

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The police photo of this letter shows that the

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letter was creased multiple times

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like it had been folded up.

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Now when Daniel is shown the note, he

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tells investigators that his son did not

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write that letter. And

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he's not the only one who didn't believe that Tyler

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had not written that letter.

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Glinda's cousins also did not believe that

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Tyler was capable of writing a letter like that.

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I mean, even the fact that a suicide note

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was left at all was suspicious.

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I

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mean, a 10-year-old had the wherewithal to

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compose a suicide note after he had

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shot and killed his mother with a shotgun.

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Glinda and Tyler's family didn't believe

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that Tyler would be able to formulate those kind

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of thoughts. But

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police, however, did not agree with them.

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They believed that Tyler was a troubled child

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and that he murdered his mother and then himself.

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Case closed. For

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Glenda's family, however, it was far

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from close case.

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They knew that Tyler was not capable

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of killing his mother and then himself.

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But it wasn't just what they knew about Tyler

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that made them believe he wasn't the person who did

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this.

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It was what they knew and then soon found

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out about Dennis that solidified

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their suspicion that this was not a murder-suicide.

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It was a double

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murder.