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1:20

Michael's troubling history. I hope

1:22

that the Attorney General's office

1:25

can communicate these compelling details

1:27

to this second jury more

1:30

effectively than the first. Because

1:33

right now, I am worried. My

1:36

name is Mandy Matney. This is

1:39

True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime

1:41

and corruption previously known as the

1:43

Murdock Murders podcast. True

1:45

Sunlight is a Luna Shark production

1:48

written with journalist Liz Farrell. Well,

2:07

hello from California. The

2:09

sun is finally shining in LA

2:11

and we are excited for today's

2:14

episode. We are less than

2:16

four weeks away from the Kaluji trial

2:18

and I am getting… worried.

2:22

While we are hearing that big media will

2:24

be covering this trial starting May 13th, it

2:27

appears like the South Carolina Attorney

2:29

General's office doesn't seem to

2:32

be preparing for the war that's ahead.

2:34

For example, the Attorney General's

2:36

office still doesn't appear to

2:38

know where accused killer Michael

2:40

Kaluji is staying on house

2:43

arrest. Despite the evidence we

2:45

have presented showing that he is

2:47

not living in the home that

2:49

his bond paperwork says he is,

2:52

the Attorney General has not

2:54

filed any motions for bond

2:57

revocation. While it is

2:59

possible that they have been communicating

3:01

with his attorney Andy Savage about

3:03

his whereabouts, I

3:05

am still skeptical. Shouldn't the

3:07

public know this man's whereabouts?

3:10

Shouldn't his neighbors know? Shouldn't

3:12

there be a public document stating

3:14

where this man is who is

3:17

awaiting trial for the murder of

3:19

his wife? We have

3:21

been screaming about this on social

3:23

media for weeks. And

3:25

Attorney General Allen Wilson's lack

3:27

of response is concerning. How

3:30

many people do we have to get to care

3:32

about this case so that he

3:34

cares? This case is

3:37

winnable, that's the thing. But

3:39

do they care about winning when

3:41

it comes to defendants like Michael

3:43

Kaluji who can afford attorneys like

3:45

Andy Savage? Or

3:47

will they lie down and roll over like

3:49

they did last time and

3:52

let the defense dominate every witness?

3:54

We will see next month and we

3:57

will be watching closely. we'll

4:00

be watching key witnesses from Core

4:02

TV's coverage of the first trial.

4:04

All premium members are invited to

4:06

join us this Friday at 11

4:08

a.m. as we dissect the opening

4:10

statements from the 2018 trial

4:14

and testimony from forensic scientist

4:16

Dr. Lee Marie Tormos. Premium

4:19

members also get access to detailed

4:21

timelines, police reports and even photos

4:24

from the aftermath showcasing shocking damage

4:26

from one of the homes that

4:28

Michael was kicked out of. And

4:31

premium members will get access to

4:34

all of our live coverage starting

4:36

May 13th. Learn

4:39

more about how you

4:41

can fund FOIAs, dive

4:44

deeper into cases and

4:46

experience the investigation firsthand

4:49

as a premium member

4:51

at lunasharkmedia.com/membership or at

4:54

lunashark.supercast.com Remember

4:58

how Alec Murdoch's co-conspirator slash

5:00

bestie Corey Fleming is appealing

5:03

the almost 14 year

5:05

state sentence he got from Judge

5:07

Clifton Newman in September of last

5:09

year? The sentence he

5:11

essentially tried to outrun by

5:13

pleading guilty to a single

5:16

federal charge of conspiracy first

5:18

and hoping to God that

5:20

his short federal sentence would

5:22

be enough to satisfy the

5:24

state? Well the South

5:26

Carolina Court of Appeals has kicked

5:28

back his appeal to the circuit

5:30

court so that a decision

5:32

could be made about restitution. At

5:35

the time he was sentenced

5:37

Judge Newman deferred any decision

5:40

about restitution. The state argued

5:42

that Corey wasn't eligible to

5:44

appeal his sentence because restitution

5:46

had not been yet decided.

5:49

Meaning how can you appeal something you don't

5:51

have the full scope of? The

5:54

Court of Appeals has agreed. So

5:56

now y'all can get super excited

5:58

for another hearing for. Cory Fleming

6:00

where you will hear reasons why

6:03

he thinks that he has suffered

6:05

enough. Corey. By

6:07

the way remains in Federal Prison and

6:09

Jessa, Georgia and is due to be

6:12

released from there and September twenty. Twenty

6:14

Six. Know hearing has been

6:16

scheduled as of yet, but we will

6:18

keep you updated. And. For his

6:20

buddy Alec Murdoch well, he

6:22

has filed notices to appeal

6:24

both his federal sentence for

6:26

their financial crimes, he and

6:28

his murder conviction. Nothing

6:31

has been filed so far by

6:33

his team on those friends, but

6:35

we will keep you posted because

6:37

I'm sure they will be absurd.

6:40

Meanwhile. Alex attorney Dick

6:42

Harpootlian is campaigning like

6:44

he's never campaign before.

6:47

In. His fight to stay in

6:49

the state senate ha ha. keep

6:51

his power as a lawyer, legislator.

6:54

Dick is facing a competitive

6:56

opponent in the primary. A

6:59

state representative at name Russell ought.

7:02

To. With raised over a hundred

7:04

thousand dollars and his race

7:06

against Dick so far. This.

7:09

Race matters because Harpootlian represents the

7:11

good ole boy boy your legislators

7:14

that most of us in this

7:16

state are sick and tired of.

7:19

We. Are tired of being represented

7:22

by millionaire men who make

7:24

their money off suing the

7:26

government and fighting for monsters

7:28

was holding onto their positions

7:30

of power which they weaponize

7:32

in the courtroom. Russell.

7:34

Art is a farmer and a small

7:36

business owner. And best of all, Dick

7:39

is clearly threatened by ham. My.

7:41

New favorite thing to do is to watch

7:44

deck or. Let's. Be honest, whoever

7:46

is running Dicks campaign on social

7:48

media. Go. At it on twitter.

7:51

The other day Dick posted a

7:53

thread to twitter Not alone at

7:55

makes me giggle Picturing Harpootlian in

7:58

is a would laden type. smoke-filled

8:00

old man's study, stomping around

8:03

in his grandpa's shoes while telling Siri

8:05

to post a thread to X. A

8:08

thread is a series of tweets, by the way.

8:11

It is not something that people who

8:13

use the word blogosphere typically do. So,

8:17

he posted this thread saying basically his

8:19

opponent was getting money from Gasp, the

8:23

other party, and that means he's

8:25

horrible. And well,

8:27

that backfired immediately. There

8:30

were more replies than retweets. I'll

8:33

have David read some of my favorite replies.

8:37

How's the search for the real killers going,

8:39

Dick? Who is

8:41

funding your fees to represent

8:43

Alex Murdock? Says

8:45

the attorney who handled a shotgun

8:48

in the courtroom and pointed it

8:50

at prosecutors. Or my

8:52

favorite. You fought for a

8:54

guy who killed his own family? We

8:57

don't want, nor do we

8:59

like, you in Lexington County.

9:03

This is a big deal because five

9:06

years ago, people in South Carolina simply

9:08

did not talk this way to Harputlian.

9:11

He was nearly untouchable. Now

9:14

people can't separate him from his

9:16

classless and bullish defense of a

9:18

man who killed his family. Nor

9:21

should they. Harputlian's

9:24

wants and needs as a

9:26

criminal defense attorney directly conflict

9:28

with his duty to serve

9:30

the people of South Carolina.

9:33

Maybe he will finally realize that

9:35

betting on Alex Murdock was a

9:38

bad move for his career. We

9:41

still believe that he was paid

9:43

a sizable fee to defend Alex

9:46

Murdock and we still question where

9:48

that money came from. Getting

9:51

Harputlian out of office is hitting

9:53

the good old boy system where

9:55

it hurts. It is

9:58

disrupting their power and shaking the. Ground

10:00

that they stomped over. To.

10:02

The primary is this year. While

10:05

we typically stay out of

10:07

politics, we hope Did District

10:09

makes them right. Choice Decision.

10:12

Hashtag no more Decks in the Senate.

10:15

Hashtag done with the

10:17

deck. So.

10:20

Today we want to continue sharing the

10:22

text messages between Sarah Lynn Colucci and

10:24

Michael Clergy and the days leading up

10:27

to Saroyan staff in May. Two thousand

10:29

and Fifteen. In. About three weeks

10:31

my goal will be retried for

10:33

her murder and jury selection starts

10:35

on me. As

10:38

you know, this case, there's an awful

10:40

lot of resemblance to the murder case

10:42

in terms of the amount of influence

10:44

that exists. Attacks

10:47

messages. Let's talk a little bit about

10:49

that. Michael. College She

10:52

was born Michael Antonio.

10:54

When. He was eighteen years old, He

10:56

legally changed his last name and as

10:59

a stepfather evil. By

11:01

not having been adopted. By either.

11:04

I. Or that's a question

11:06

for Michael to answer. But when you

11:08

look at Michael's history and his connections

11:11

to Charleston Area law enforcement lawyers and

11:13

judges as well as his for a

11:15

is into the jewelry world and real

11:18

estate investment. A safe assumption

11:20

would be that this name change allowed

11:22

him to capitalize on evil. His

11:24

reputation. The. Charleston area is

11:26

particularly focus on pedigree, perhaps more

11:28

than any other area a South

11:30

Carolina. And that's saying something because

11:32

Charleston is also probably the most

11:35

open to newcomers, although I'm sure

11:37

there are plenty of newcomers in

11:39

trouble seeing the would disagree with

11:41

me on that point. Michael's.

11:43

Own father, John Antonio died at

11:45

age thirty six in December nineteen

11:48

seventy four, in why cough, New

11:50

Jersey. According to news reports from the time,

11:53

It's. not clear what his cause of

11:55

death was reported that breed checked into

11:57

getting a copy of his death certificate

11:59

but a cause of death would not be

12:01

listed on it. John was

12:04

a hairdresser and he owned a

12:06

beauty school with his wife Doris,

12:08

who was Michael's mother. John and

12:11

Doris had two sons. Michael's older

12:13

brother's name is Johnny. In

12:16

1965, five years before Michael was born, John

12:20

and Doris legally changed their

12:22

last name and Johnny's last

12:24

name from Jock-o-Mantonio to Antonio.

12:27

At the law firm at Han

12:29

Paul, their name change belonged to

12:32

Doris's family. Her father, Martin Damaria,

12:34

was a well-known attorney, judge, and

12:36

politician in Lodi, New Jersey. For

12:39

a while, he was also the town attorney for Lodi.

12:42

He died in 1979 and

12:44

his obituary described his career as,

12:47

quote, colorful. Damaria was

12:49

apparently involved in a number of

12:51

controversies during his career, including accusations

12:53

that he was overcharging the town

12:55

for representing them. The

12:58

town attorney's counsel ended up tapping his retainer. Then

13:02

there was an attempt to remove him as town attorney after

13:06

he was accused of withholding information about

13:09

a tax settlement that the

13:11

town had received. The 1949 counsel then fired him

13:13

as part of an overhaul related

13:16

to a dispute over veteran housing and contracts. After

13:20

that, he once again became a magistrate judge and

13:23

was hired as a consultant and

13:26

a redevelopment agency. If you fast forward more

13:28

than 20 years, you'll

13:30

find Damaria, still a judge and

13:32

now a mayoral candidate, locked in

13:34

a battle with a Lodi redevelopment agency who

13:37

sued to have him removed from his law offices

13:40

so they could build a post office and a grocery store

13:42

there. Damaria fought it

13:44

for two years and then decided to move out

13:47

on his own. In the meantime, a developer accused

13:49

him of preventing the women of

13:51

Lodi shop for their groceries downtown.

13:55

This is all just to say that

13:57

Michael Colucci, formerly Michael Antonio, formerly Michael

13:59

Colucci, Giacometonio comes

14:02

from a family accustomed to positional

14:04

power. He is the

14:06

grandson of an influential New Jersey

14:08

judge which obviously doesn't

14:11

mean much in South Carolina

14:13

practically speaking but it means

14:15

something socially. It's something

14:17

he gets to claim about himself in

14:19

a part of the state that values

14:21

social capital like that to a sometimes

14:23

comical degree. Again, if

14:26

you don't believe us about this, watch

14:28

Southern Charm or Southern Hospitality on Bravo.

14:31

That will give you a glimpse. Anyway,

14:34

what we have here is a man

14:37

who changed his name to Colucci once

14:39

he was old enough to do so

14:41

and while there might be emotional and

14:43

personal reasons for Michael doing this, there

14:45

were also economic reasons one would imagine

14:47

because again, like the

14:49

name Murdoch in the 14th Circuit, the name

14:51

Colucci means something in the

14:53

Charleston area. To better

14:56

understand this, we spoke to one of Ivo

14:58

Colucci's daughters, Kim

15:00

Colucci Lizzie who owns her own

15:02

jewelry store, Kim's Fine Jewelry in

15:05

Somerville. We wanted to

15:07

give you a little more perspective about the

15:09

Colucci name because we believe, like with Elec,

15:12

the name and the reputation that comes

15:14

with that name matters. Not

15:16

only has the name afforded Michael

15:19

a stellar legal team, it

15:21

helped contribute to the year-long delay

15:23

in him being charged. His

15:26

case was soft handled by the

15:28

Berkeley County Sheriff's Office at first

15:30

until pressure from Sarah Lynn's family

15:32

finally resulted in the agency recusing itself

15:34

and handing the case over to Sled. When

15:37

Sled found that it did indeed have probable

15:39

cause to arrest Michael for Sarah Lynn's death,

15:42

there was another problem. The

15:44

9th Circuit's Solicitor's Office is the prosecutor

15:46

for that area but it

15:48

too had to recuse itself because of

15:50

a conflict of interest related to prosecutors'

15:53

connections to Michael. Sound

15:55

familiar? Beyond. That, in testimony

15:57

during Michael's first trial, it was clear that some

15:59

of the. Responders who were hardly seen

16:01

that night New: Michael. From. Where

16:03

we said. It. Looks like he was

16:06

given the immediate benefit of the doubt

16:08

and was treated as a grieving husband

16:10

instead of a potential suspect. And because

16:12

of that be initial investigation suffered to

16:15

some degree, giving Michael's attorney plenty of

16:17

fodder during the trial. After speaking

16:19

with Kim, we got a better understanding of

16:21

what it means to be a member of

16:24

the Colucci family. My. Name

16:26

is calculate he. Lazy is

16:28

my married man. And. I

16:30

am the middle child. I.

16:34

Have an older sister. And

16:37

an older brother. And a

16:39

couple younger brothers. My. Dad

16:41

is originally from Naples, Italy and

16:44

he came to the United States

16:46

when he was eighteen. And

16:48

he married my. Biological mother

16:51

and they had five children. And.

16:54

Is. Met my stepmother and then

16:56

he divorced my mom and he moved

16:58

us three of us on my own

17:01

assumed other state, a New York in

17:03

the the Earth or younger of us.

17:05

Moved. Here. A

17:08

ninety seventy five with my dad and

17:10

my step mom and her two children.

17:12

Michael. And John Antonio. He.

17:15

Was fired by a company

17:17

called same Solomon which was

17:19

it was like and many.

17:21

Wal Mart at the time it

17:23

was before Walmart know of that

17:26

was even existed here and. A

17:29

He ran their joy department. He made all the

17:31

joys of their joy. Department and did all

17:33

of their repairs. And. When

17:35

they got bought out by service

17:37

merchandise think it was probably. Early

17:40

eighties. My. Dad bought.

17:43

And. Land down the street and he built.

17:46

What? Everybody knows his college issue a

17:48

factory. This. Is

17:51

when the Colucci see only name

17:53

became very well known. He.

17:56

Had built. A wonderful

17:58

reputation. He did. I'll. Probably

18:01

most everybody's engagement

18:03

rings, custom orders.

18:06

He was just a a

18:08

fantastic. Schuler. On.

18:10

And. Very creative. So.

18:13

He. Just. Created a

18:15

lot of custom pieces for all the

18:17

people in the tri county area around

18:19

here. And he had a

18:21

very, very good reputation. He was fair,

18:24

And he was on as. I.

18:27

Can remember as a kid with customers

18:29

coming to our door and asking my

18:31

dad that they didn't have enough money.

18:33

Maybe the by their children. Fear. And.

18:37

My dad would. Give. Them money and and

18:39

they would come try to pay him back and

18:41

he would never. Who. Would never let

18:43

them pay him back. I choose a really

18:45

giving person. He. Bogeyed even

18:47

more notoriety because of some

18:49

high profile jewelry he was

18:52

commissioned to design. Including

18:54

a piece for Miss South Carolina

18:56

and some local artists. He.

18:58

Designed all is is jewelry

19:00

by hand getting our customers

19:02

hopes and dreams on paper.

19:05

And. Then making them come to life, Is

19:08

Jewelry store was a busy place

19:10

employing a number of jewelry to

19:12

help fill orders. If

19:15

he was just there. Is

19:17

just a really creative guy. Evil

19:20

made an impression on the community.

19:23

And soon his name carry the

19:25

weight of his reputation. Everybody

19:27

knew him and a fleet and sheriff

19:29

author of the is a cold they'd

19:31

be like are you even daughter even

19:33

if it was gonna that of that

19:35

small town thing. They. Need

19:37

be like she has also tell that with us. I.

19:40

Mean, my dad was such a

19:42

respectful person. Allen. And the he

19:44

was just. So good to.

19:47

So many people. And

19:49

he ran a business. He thought I run

19:51

my business exactly like he. I haven't changed

19:53

to say I do everything like he did.

19:56

Fan. The. He was successful and

19:58

he has to say you don't. A

20:00

lot of us dollars have big and seventy

20:02

to tell me you don't have to do

20:05

that, you just you need to be fair

20:07

if you make a living a dog and

20:09

make a killing and so. I.

20:11

Think he just blew the five hour and he

20:13

was a fair if he could be. In.

20:15

His business him in everything he did.

20:18

He. Was so successful he he

20:20

lot older homes in downtown

20:23

Charleston that well you know,

20:25

falling apart and. Being

20:28

pinned. Down and he he he was

20:30

very handy if you could do the

20:32

a lot of of himself so he

20:34

would violate buildings and hit the younger

20:36

written down walls and putting up in

20:38

a sheet rock and hit tournament you

20:40

apartment so you know by the time

20:42

he policy has all this real estate

20:44

that he had built. Into

20:48

I agree at twenty something apartments.

20:50

Yeah, he could really want

20:53

that mark. Then it

20:55

came time for evolved a

20:57

passive legacy onto the next

20:59

generation. When. He retired.

21:02

He left the store to two of

21:04

my brothers one brother. I'm one step

21:06

brother. And. He went

21:09

to us. To retire and

21:11

then they decided. For.

21:14

Think at that time my

21:16

brother Bobby he. Kind.

21:18

Of separated and. Michael

21:21

I guess are or what they did not him

21:23

out and then should the store became Michael. And.

21:26

Then Michael actually open the second

21:28

store and somerville. At. This

21:30

point. Michael own to jewelry

21:32

stores but neither is where Sarah

21:34

Lens body would later be found.

21:37

That was a place called The Gold

21:39

Standard. The. Gold Standard was actually

21:41

a jewelry store. Fun though it

21:44

was Poetry Jewelers with Somerville I

21:46

think was the name of the

21:48

store in Somerville. The. Jewelry

21:50

Store. And then when Michael met Thera

21:52

stay open the Gold Standard just to

21:55

have a place for people to come

21:57

and sell gold they didn't actually sell.

22:00

jewelry there. It

22:02

was like a gold castle place. A

22:04

lot of people were selling a lot of gold back

22:06

then and so it was

22:08

just a place you could go just to sell

22:10

your gold. People were kind of

22:12

not wearing yellow gold anymore and white gold

22:14

was becoming popular so people were selling all

22:17

of the yellow gold and

22:20

getting everything remade in white gold.

22:23

And gold went up. People's

22:26

handling of Evo's legacy was

22:28

a cause of consternation for

22:30

Evo. We will talk about

22:32

that after a short break. Imagine

22:41

the aroma of vanilla, cherry

22:43

and melon, minerals or baking

22:45

spices. Now manifest those thoughts

22:47

into perfect wines and have them

22:50

delivered to your door. That is

22:52

firstly. Y'all know I am purposeful

22:54

in my clubs and subscriptions and

22:56

I recently found one that totally

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deserves a place on that list.

23:01

First leaf is an amazing wine

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24:49

Evo and Michael had different visions

24:51

for the jewelry business that Evo

24:53

built. He never wanted

24:55

the second store and he didn't

24:57

have anything to do with the Somerville store or

25:00

the gold standard. Because

25:02

his jewelry store was now failing

25:04

under Michael's leadership, Evo had

25:06

to come back from Key West and out

25:08

of retirement. The store

25:10

was doing very poorly in North

25:13

Charleston and according

25:16

to my dad,

25:18

he had to basically come and

25:20

rebuild it back up. So I

25:23

went with him and my

25:26

son was there and some

25:28

of the old employees and we all worked

25:30

together to build the North Charleston store back

25:33

back up, you know, to a

25:35

good working condition again. The store

25:38

thrived once again until tragedy struck

25:40

in 2017. The courts

25:42

actually made us sell that when

25:45

my dad had dementia and as

25:48

everybody knows, you know, he unfortunately

25:50

shot my stepmom in that store.

25:52

So it was pretty

25:54

horrific time and so

25:56

the store had to be sold and eventually

25:59

the whole He owned the whole shopping

26:01

center and eventually the whole shopping center was

26:03

sold. And I own, mine

26:06

is called Kim's. I

26:09

didn't go with Kaluti because I just

26:12

wanted to be on my own and do

26:14

my own thing. In

26:17

2016, Michael was charged with killing Sarah

26:19

Lynn. At the time, which

26:21

was a year after her death, Michael

26:23

was already living with Evo and

26:26

Doris. Even after Sarah

26:28

Lynn's death, he was evicted from the home she

26:30

built with the help of her parents who

26:32

still owned the home. When

26:35

he was charged in her death, he

26:37

was put under house arrest and lived

26:39

with Evo and Doris, which is something

26:41

that troubled Evo and ended up sealing

26:43

his fate with Doris. I

26:46

think the whole incident has just

26:48

put such a dark shadow over

26:50

everything. It's like,

26:52

I feel like the root of the

26:55

demise of everything, that incident

26:58

happened and it financially was

27:02

really, I don't want to

27:04

say it was devastating my dad, but he was

27:06

not happy about the financial

27:08

aspect of all of it and how

27:11

much money it was going to cost

27:13

to just keep attorney fees

27:15

and all of those kind of things just to

27:18

keep Michael, I guess, out of jail

27:21

or I don't know, keep him afloat. I

27:23

don't know exactly what the

27:25

term is, but it took

27:28

a toll on his marriage and

27:30

so in turn, they just got

27:33

kind of volatile and he

27:36

is also suffering at this time

27:38

starting to disintegrate mentally

27:41

and he was diagnosed with dementia

27:46

and I just

27:48

think he couldn't handle

27:51

it. He probably had a

27:53

hard time handling it in his right mind, but

27:56

I don't know if you know much about dementia,

27:58

but it causes paranoia. And it causes

28:00

a lot of fear that you wouldn't normally

28:03

have. And I think

28:05

it really caused my

28:07

dad a lot of hardship. And just

28:10

me and Michael never really got along that

28:12

well to begin with. And then he was

28:14

on health arrest there. And I think they

28:16

fought a lot. And it

28:18

was very upsetting to my dad to

28:21

live like that. And he

28:24

just wanted peace. It's really all he

28:26

wanted. Fundamentally, Michael

28:29

and Evo were very different

28:31

people. Michael valued

28:33

the appearance of wealth. And Evo didn't

28:35

really care about that. My

28:37

dad drove a suburban that was probably 12

28:40

years old. But

28:42

it was fine. It ran fine. And he doesn't need

28:44

a new car. He

28:46

didn't need fancy things. He

28:49

just was very simple.

28:52

And he would rather buy

28:55

me something, oh, well, buy

28:58

you a washer and dryer. Those kind of

29:00

things made him happy to do

29:03

for other people. He came here

29:05

from Italy with, I think,

29:07

literally $5 in his pocket. Ultimately,

29:11

Evo built the life he did

29:13

for his children. So

29:16

because we lived on a lot

29:18

of land, we had a lot

29:22

of parties. And we had a lot of,

29:24

when I say we, I don't mean my dad. He

29:27

didn't really have a lot

29:29

of parties or anything like we

29:31

did as kids growing up. And so

29:34

people that we grew up with always have memories

29:36

of the parties out

29:38

there because my dad would just be like,

29:40

what do you want? And I'd say, I want

29:42

a party. And I want a band. And I want this.

29:45

He'd be like, OK. And he'd be just like, buy

29:48

me a band to be out

29:51

there. And just whatever would make us

29:53

happy, he would do it. And he

29:55

just wanted

29:58

us to be happy. And. And he was

30:00

happy that we had so many friends. And

30:03

he was, people would come over because

30:05

Sunday dinners are big. I

30:07

had one yesterday and I had

30:09

my brothers. There was 17 people here I fed yesterday.

30:13

And it was nothing. It's just, that's just what we do. And,

30:17

but at my dad's it was every Sunday. And

30:19

so it didn't matter who came over. We would

30:21

have enough food and he, you would sit down

30:24

and you would eat and, and

30:27

he was just inviting to everybody. And

30:29

my dad still had kind of an accent, kind

30:32

of New York, kind of Italian, kind of Southern, it was

30:34

very funny. And so

30:36

yeah, I mean, people just love to listen

30:39

to him talk. And he was always, you

30:41

know, giving them advice

30:43

and wisdom and he was always

30:45

like, but anybody

30:47

you talk to that knew him will say,

30:49

and people still come in my store. I

30:51

have customers that are his friends

30:53

and, your dad

30:55

was just a lovely man. And we just

30:58

loved him so much. And

31:00

he made these rings for me and he did this.

31:02

And so it's kind of, it's kind

31:04

of cool that I get to experience that.

31:08

After Evo killed Doris in his

31:10

jewelry shop, the reputation he

31:12

had built became that, at

31:14

least to the public at large. I

31:17

wish people would remember. And I think

31:20

most of the people that actually will at least

31:22

say to my face, do remember who he was

31:24

and what he did. And for

31:27

so many people. And I

31:29

think it's sensationalized a lot

31:31

because, you know, the

31:34

media, they, you know, were very

31:36

obnoxious when that happened and just following

31:38

us and trying to get

31:40

us to say something. And it's like, you know

31:42

what, this is my dad and this is not

31:44

who my dad is. My dad loved her and

31:47

he would have never hurt her in a million

31:49

years. And people that know them and knew their

31:51

relationship, knew how

31:53

much he loved her. And

31:56

I just think the pressure of everything

31:58

that was going on. And I think

32:01

the him losing, he

32:03

felt like all of his properties

32:08

and everything were being lost

32:10

to other, from him. He

32:13

felt like they were taken from him,

32:15

everything he built in his life. And

32:19

I think he just couldn't take

32:21

it anymore. And that's why he

32:23

shot her. But he was

32:25

very, very, very upset that day that

32:28

that happened. But I just think

32:30

that for the news worthiness

32:33

of it, if you will, I

32:36

think, oh, this jeweler is

32:39

accused of murdering his wife. And then his

32:41

dad goes and shoots his wife, and it

32:43

makes us sound like a bunch of crazy

32:45

people. But we're

32:47

not crazy people. I think

32:50

that my dad was

32:52

a very good role model, and he was

32:54

a very good person, hardworking. And all

32:57

of us, his kids, us Kaluchis

33:00

are hardworking people. We learned

33:03

from him, and me and my sister and

33:05

my other two brothers, we

33:07

work, and we work hard. The

33:13

night Sarah Lynn died set off a

33:15

series of events that ultimately led to

33:17

Ivo Kaluchi's demise. After

33:20

he killed Doris, he was deemed not

33:23

fit to stand trial because of his

33:25

dementia. His charges were

33:27

later exchanged. But despite

33:29

the Kaluchi name becoming synonymous

33:32

with Michael Kaluchi's murder trial

33:34

and Doris Kaluchi's murder, it still

33:37

carries weight in Charleston. How

33:41

much weight remains to be seen.

33:44

So jury selection and Michael's retrial

33:46

begins in less than three weeks,

33:49

which could get really

33:51

interesting. Remember, Michael

33:54

had enough connections in both

33:56

the local solicitor's office and

33:59

the Berkeley-Kansas office. Sheriff's Office for

34:01

both of those agencies to

34:03

recuse themselves. Andy

34:06

Savage's team has already submitted

34:08

a proposed juror questionnaire with the

34:10

court on April 15th and

34:13

that was very, hmm, what's

34:15

the phrase? Like a dick

34:17

move. We will

34:19

cover this in a later episode because

34:21

it's extensive but my

34:23

favorite part is Andy Savage's intro

34:26

that says this. Social

34:29

media coverage has been

34:31

extensive including

34:33

websites and blogs totally

34:36

dedicated to this event

34:39

and there have been podcasts

34:43

which are ongoing about the

34:45

case. On

34:47

social media opinions

34:50

of the circumstances surrounding

34:52

the manner of Sarah's

34:54

death have been ubiquitous.

34:58

Rare is there a report or

35:01

statement that is factually

35:04

accurate. Blogs,

35:06

podcasts, social media, the

35:09

whore. It reminds

35:11

me of the time Dick ranted about

35:13

the blogosphere. Again,

35:16

we will discuss Andy Savage's slew

35:18

of recent filings in an upcoming

35:20

episode but from what we

35:22

can tell, jury selection could

35:25

take a while in this case.

35:29

Now let's talk about the weeks leading up to

35:31

Sarah Lynn's death and what her marriage to Michael

35:33

looked like. Last week we

35:35

told you about how text messages starting in April 2015,

35:37

less than a month before

35:40

Sarah Lynn was killed, show that

35:42

Sarah Lynn seemed pretty set on

35:44

divorcing Michael. We also told

35:46

you about how strange the exchanges were.

35:48

The texts were presented during trial and

35:50

the majority are from Sarah Lynn. Michael

35:53

barely seems to respond and when he does,

35:55

it's usually with an answer that stands in

35:57

stark contrast to the vitriol of the story.

36:00

of her text where she says, I hate

36:02

you. He says, I love you. It's

36:05

this dynamic that Michael's attorney Andy

36:07

Savage seized upon during the first

36:09

trial painting Michael as a calm

36:11

husband tasked with being a caregiver

36:14

to his quote, mentally ill quote,

36:16

alcoholic wife. I put

36:18

those words in quotes because from what we

36:20

could see Andy Savage was playing up

36:22

Sarah Lynn's mental illness in an attempt

36:24

to support the defense's theory that she

36:26

died by suicide with a garden hose

36:28

that night or if not

36:31

suicide, tripped and fell into a noose.

36:33

But like we told you last week, evidence

36:36

seems to point to Sarah Lynn having run

36:38

of the mill anxiety and depression. Nothing

36:41

about her text messages points to

36:43

any suicidal ideation. Instead, it

36:45

all pointed to a woman who now had

36:48

her eyes open and was very much planning

36:50

to move on as soon as possible with

36:52

her daughter. Of course, nothing

36:54

in marriage is simple. Especially

36:57

not in one that is fueled by

36:59

both parties, drug and alcohol use. Going

37:02

back to what we told you about Michael's lack

37:04

of response. Last week we told

37:06

you about how it sometimes seems like Sarah Lynn

37:08

is responding to a message that simply isn't there.

37:11

It seems like Michael was communicating

37:13

with her possibly over voice text.

37:16

Another possibility they never rolled out in the

37:18

last trial was that someone deleted several text

37:20

messages. It's unclear, but we

37:23

believe the text messages presented at trial are

37:25

missing parts of the conversations. We

37:27

left off last week with Sarah Lynn's text

37:30

from May 1st when she told Michael to

37:32

stop kissing her when she was asleep, when

37:35

she told him he was chasing his

37:37

tail, and when she told him that she hoped

37:39

he died of a heart attack. May

37:41

1st was a particularly contentious

37:43

day. That evening started

37:46

off with Sarah Lynn asking Michael

37:48

for a valium, telling him she

37:50

already looked in the cabinet. About

37:53

40 minutes after that she told him he was a

37:55

freak and that his immaturity

37:57

makes her angry. It's not

37:59

clear. what if anything happened in

38:01

that time span. She told him

38:04

she hopes he has a heart attack and dies

38:06

and asks him about the will he'd never made.

38:09

Don't act so concerned about Milan now,

38:11

she wrote, referencing his young daughter. In

38:13

a span of minutes, she told him to

38:15

stay off the phone with a man named

38:17

Rich and to leave her and her daughter

38:20

Bishop alone. Then she repeatedly

38:22

texted him, you are the

38:24

biggest joke in Charleston after all.

38:27

And when I said repeatedly, I mean, it

38:29

looks like she copied and pasted the same

38:32

message over and over. She did

38:34

this several times with several other texts, including,

38:36

and that makes me the biggest joke in Charleston's

38:39

life. A

38:42

quick refresher about what was going on in Michael's

38:44

life at the time. His

38:46

jewelry stores weren't doing great. Like

38:49

we said, Evo had to come out of retirement

38:51

to help rebuild the business he had passed on

38:53

to Michael. Michael had

38:55

gone through foreclosures and a land

38:57

deal had just bombed. He

38:59

and Sarah Lynn were suing their daughter's

39:01

private school because of a notice of

39:03

nonpayment of tuition that accidentally went out

39:05

to their own family, exposing

39:07

the fact that they were having trouble paying their

39:09

bill. And Michael owed thousands

39:12

of dollars to at least one customer who

39:14

ended up calling the police after Sarah Lynn's

39:16

death to report Michael. Last

39:18

week we told you about texts in April that

39:20

showed that Sarah Lynn wasn't sure if they had

39:22

enough money for her to take a cab. And

39:25

we mentioned Michael's cryptic use of the word

39:27

greenbacks, telling Sarah Lynn that he'd come home

39:30

once he got some greenbacks. In

39:32

response to that litany of texts from

39:34

Sarah Lynn on May 1st, Michael

39:37

wrote back Sarah, please.

39:40

And that's it. She responded by telling

39:42

him to go away and to leave her

39:44

and Bishop alone. Then she told

39:46

him his burned up coat was a joke.

39:49

What burned up coat? No idea.

39:52

She told him to just leave her alone

39:54

forever telling him, I don't want to be

39:56

in your dumbass presence. Then three

39:59

times in a row, she She told him, you ruined

40:01

my life. She told

40:03

him that she preferred for him to move

40:05

out since they didn't have sex and kissing

40:07

him made her feel nauseated. You

40:10

and I are nothing alike, she wrote.

40:13

Then she resents all these texts again.

40:16

And in the middle of it wrote three

40:18

times, I hope you played Joseph in the

40:20

Christmas play You Hypocrite. Now

40:23

what does that mean? Again, I have no

40:25

idea. But in a few of the texts

40:27

she references not believing that he was talking

40:29

to a male friend on the phone as

40:32

he was cleaning. Three times

40:34

she told him to get his stuff and leave now.

40:37

Three times she told him that she was not in

40:39

love with him. Three times

40:41

she again told him that he ruined

40:43

her life. Sixteen

40:45

times she wrote, but you

40:48

won't ruin bishops. Two

40:50

hours later she texted him to say she couldn't

40:52

find her car keys. A few

40:54

minutes later she informed him that she was going to

40:57

keep looking, then chided him for

40:59

taking all the cigarettes. He

41:01

responded once telling her he loves her and

41:03

that he's at the gas station and will

41:06

be home soon. We'll

41:11

be right back. Hey

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now. So,

42:17

the state's evidence either does not

42:20

include their text over the next

42:22

four days because there was nothing

42:24

relevant in them or Sarah

42:26

and Michael simply didn't talk

42:28

over text again until

42:30

May 5th, two weeks

42:33

before Sarah Lynn's death. On

42:36

May 5th, Sarah Lynn is

42:38

clearly angry with Michael about

42:41

how he spoke to her in front

42:43

of someone and she texts him,

42:45

I cannot lose my house.

42:48

I will not lose my house.

42:51

She tells him to expedite his

42:53

visit with someone named Rich. She

42:55

says that if it lasts until

42:58

after 8pm, she will

43:00

be upset. She then orders Michael

43:02

to read his texts and emails

43:04

and stop being a quote unquote

43:06

pussy. I do not

43:08

have anything positive to say to you. I

43:11

will lose my home for you.

43:14

You are in a lot of trouble

43:17

Michael. She tells him he

43:19

finally responds with Sarah,

43:22

please stop. You are not

43:25

helping anything by your words. I

43:28

love you and I am doing all I

43:30

can. She responds to

43:32

them with you're doing the

43:35

wrong things and again tells him

43:37

to read the text that

43:39

she has sent him. She writes,

43:41

I'll go to work tomorrow. Just don't

43:44

lose the keys so I can possibly

43:46

get there. I cannot

43:48

believe how blind you are. You

43:51

have zero sense of priorities.

43:54

Then in a series of texts

43:56

over several minutes and

43:58

for this episode, In case

44:00

there are little ears listening, whenever

44:02

Sarah Lynn or Michael uses the F

44:04

word, we're just going to say F,

44:07

effing or effed. In

44:09

their text, they used the full word.

44:12

She wrote, have a great day and

44:14

night getting effed up and pretending to

44:16

do something. If you think

44:18

I'm Camilla stuck here without a car,

44:20

no money, nor means you're as crazy

44:22

as I thought you were. I

44:25

am not living in La La Land.

44:28

I am going to take your phone from

44:30

you or have it suspended. You

44:32

have gone off the deep end, dude. We

44:35

focus. Sell something we

44:37

already actually own. I'm

44:40

ready to separate. I

44:42

can't stand you anymore. I

44:45

am not going down with you. Sorry.

44:49

You aren't a very smart man

44:51

and I cannot be around you

44:53

for another minute. Bring me

44:55

to the car and I'll drop you off wherever

44:57

you want to go. You

44:59

and I are through. I'm

45:02

taking steps to move forward.

45:04

I can't take your ignorance.

45:08

Michael finally responds with Sarah. What

45:10

are you talking about? I'm talking about

45:12

you. She says, then

45:15

talk with not about me. He

45:17

responds. Okay. She

45:20

writes, you are insane. Everyone

45:24

knows it, but you follow

45:26

Shane's lead. You

45:28

have lost your mind and family.

45:31

Great job. We don't know who

45:33

Shane is, by the way. Michael

45:36

then writes, thank you, and responds

45:38

over the next 15 minutes. Sarah

45:41

writes in a flurry of texts. Bring

45:44

me the car, get off the phone and bring

45:46

me my car. Do

45:48

not call George or anyone else. Bring

45:51

the car home now. Throw

45:54

the phone out of the window. I

45:57

am going to suspend it if I have to.

46:00

Someone has to help you and you don't

46:02

listen well. This has gone

46:04

to an extreme that I won't live with.

46:07

I do not want to live with you

46:09

any longer. Get it? I

46:12

am going to call your mother

46:14

and father also. I

46:16

am not qualified to help you. I

46:19

just text your mom. Hope

46:21

to see you soon." Michael

46:24

finally responds, Great.

46:28

I'm doing whether you believe it

46:30

or not everything I can. Let's

46:34

pause for a second here. Remember

46:37

how we told you that Andy

46:40

Savage challenged any notion from

46:42

the state that Michael was

46:44

having financial issues. It

46:47

sure seems like something was going down

46:49

there, that Michael was

46:51

in some kind of a pickle

46:54

that involved the potential of Sarah

46:56

Lynn losing her house. Also,

46:58

they appear to have been sharing

47:00

one car for some reason. That

47:04

doesn't scream well off or wealthy

47:07

as Andy Savage claimed Michael to be.

47:10

Immediately after Michael's texts telling Sarah

47:12

Lynn he is doing everything he

47:15

can, Sarah Lynn responds

47:17

in what ended up being a series

47:19

of 31 texts over the course of

47:21

an hour and a half. She

47:24

tells, Are you driving home?

47:27

That's all anyone wants you to do

47:29

at the moment. I think your day

47:31

is over. You are out

47:33

of options, my friend. Mark

47:35

this day on your calendar. Are you

47:37

driving home, Michael? Are you

47:40

driving home? We have children

47:42

and I need my car. Not

47:44

your excuses. No more of

47:46

those. I am finished.

47:49

Krell is calling now. Please

47:52

call me please. Call

47:55

me please. Hang up and

47:57

call me now. What

48:01

is wrong with you? Call

48:03

me back. You were just

48:05

here. What the F is going on? Nevermind

48:09

I'll handle it. Just

48:11

like I'll be handling all the issues and

48:13

problems created over the last six years that

48:15

I've known you. Thanks a

48:17

lot buddy. You

48:19

were just here. What the F

48:21

is going on? I'm calling Verizon.

48:24

Goodbye. What happened? I

48:27

thought you just answered. WTF

48:29

is going on. Where

48:31

are the keys? I

48:33

can take you to a hotel, your

48:35

parents, my parents or a friend of

48:37

your choosing. Let me know

48:40

because the clock is ticking. I

48:42

have kids. Unlike you

48:44

or Camilla realize some

48:47

people are not meant for being

48:49

married or becoming parents. Congratulations.

48:53

You are the .30% out of the 100% of the population. Wow.

49:01

You and she were made for each other.

49:04

I am tired of being berated for

49:06

what you have tried to turn me

49:08

into. You

49:11

are a problem but not

49:13

mine anymore. Stupid

49:15

bastard. Paid Connie

49:17

lately? Paid anyone

49:19

lately. I hate you.

49:22

I will leave with the kids but

49:25

I need the keys. There's

49:27

a lot to unpack there. Again,

49:30

Camilla is Michael's ex-wife

49:33

who he was divorcing at the time he

49:35

got with Sarah Lynn. Last

49:38

week we read you the text that

49:40

seemed to indicate that Michael was pawning

49:42

his daughter off on a woman named

49:44

Connie who was not happy about it.

49:47

We found out from sources that Connie

49:49

was likely a woman who was friends

49:51

with Michael's mom and who did childcare

49:54

for Sarah Lynn and Michael. After

49:56

those texts, Michael responds.

50:00

you. Open the house.

50:02

I will gladly give you the keys." She

50:05

responds, I will leave with

50:07

the kids, but I need the keys now. If

50:09

you think I'm

50:11

playing some drunk ass man's

50:13

game, you are wrong. He

50:15

writes, you can

50:18

have the keys. I never

50:20

said otherwise. Sarah sends another

50:22

22 texts over the next two

50:24

hours. Michael, I am

50:26

so sad that you would rather be

50:29

right than have a family. Good

50:31

luck to you. I am coming

50:34

to get the store card or any cash

50:36

you don't have. And

50:38

I will race you to the bank

50:40

tomorrow. I've already

50:42

called Verizon. Once

50:44

again, you call yourself a husband and

50:46

father. I'm filing for

50:49

divorce. My parents are

50:51

not going to pay for you to

50:53

live in their house. As

50:55

a man, it would seem that

50:57

you would make other plans. Sounds

50:59

good. I'm calling Corral back. Bishop

51:02

needs to go to my parents and I'll take

51:04

Milan to yours. I am stopping

51:07

by to get their school clothes. I'll

51:09

call anyone who calls me. Enjoy

51:12

the house. It's all yours to lose.

51:14

Don't threaten me. I will

51:17

handle the kids and myself. You

51:19

aren't very smart. I

51:21

know how you operate. I am filing

51:24

for divorce. You got

51:26

what you asked for. Another

51:28

failed marriage that wasn't your fault.

51:31

And another business down the tubes.

51:34

Stay out of my things. Get

51:37

your own house and go through your

51:39

things, not mine. I do

51:41

not love you any longer. Eat some

51:44

beans and get out of my house and my

51:46

life. You are making your

51:49

situation a lot worse than it needs

51:51

to be. To the effing

51:53

cats in the house for your children. If

51:56

not for anything else, you selfish

51:58

bitch. One day I'll

52:00

never have to see you again. I

52:03

cannot wait. Why don't you

52:05

lie in the middle of the road? Because

52:07

you are too scared, haha. Find

52:10

an attorney now." So

52:13

again, it seems like Sarah Lynn is

52:15

responding to things that he is saying,

52:17

but there is no corresponding text messages

52:20

that they presented in court, and

52:22

it's not clear if Michael was using

52:25

voice messages or if

52:27

some messages have been deleted. But

52:35

you note the themes, right? They

52:37

clearly were having money problems. There

52:40

were pressures involving the care of their children. Another

52:43

business was down the tubes. These

52:46

are all complaints from a set up wife.

52:49

While they might seem over the top to

52:51

people like Andi Savage, who attribute them to

52:53

her quote mental illness, from our

52:55

perspective Sarah Lynn seems pretty consistent and

52:57

clear about what she wants. Now

53:00

here's the weird thing. Here's how

53:02

Michael responds to all of that. He

53:04

says, I am inside, the

53:06

girls are inside, and you

53:09

are outside in the car telling me

53:11

whatever. You know when you're

53:13

watching a Hallmark or a Lifetime movie

53:15

and the writers need to convey information

53:17

to the audience that the audience needs

53:20

to know for context but wouldn't otherwise

53:22

know unless a character just out and

53:24

out says it. But in

53:27

saying it, the character is saying something

53:29

in a way that no actual human

53:31

talks. Something like, oh you're going

53:33

to see your father? How's he

53:35

doing after losing the family's land after

53:38

three generations? That's the

53:40

kind of vibe that Michael's text has, right?

53:42

It's almost like he's establishing that thing for

53:44

the record. But again, like

53:46

we've said in previous episodes, Michael

53:48

is aware of the record. He

53:51

knows she's angling for a divorce.

53:53

He knows she's angry and that

53:55

her behavior is unpredictable right now.

53:58

She texted him. his mom. Despite

54:01

whatever he's going through, he's smart

54:03

enough to know not to put things in writing that could

54:05

be used against him. For her part,

54:07

Sarah Lynn does not miss a bead. She

54:10

says, I will sleep in the car tonight

54:12

while you look for drugs or whatever you are

54:14

doing. Michael, the

54:16

guy who rarely responds,

54:18

immediately responds and says, I

54:21

am not looking for anything. The

54:23

texting ends around 10pm and picks up

54:25

again the next morning around 1130.

54:29

Sarah Lynn asks Michael, how's it going?

54:32

He responds within 5 minutes. To

54:34

be honest, it looks very very realistic that

54:36

they are buying the property. He

54:39

flew in from Miami yesterday just to

54:41

see it. He verbatim said they want

54:43

it exclamation point. Jeff quoted

54:45

them the 8 million. He was blown away when

54:47

they walked on the marsh and it was sand

54:50

based. I'd like to believe it

54:52

will be signed by week's end. $200,000 non-refundable they were

54:54

quoted. Sarah

54:57

Lynn writes back, let's keep our

55:00

fingers crossed. Then she writes,

55:02

Phillip is a crockhead. Did you realize

55:04

that we are keeping Callie and Amber?

55:07

Callie is really sweet, so I'm okay with

55:09

that. Probably the nicest cat will have. I'm

55:12

supposed to meet Karen with the two kittens today.

55:14

I don't know how to

55:16

let the mom or Amber say goodbye. Sounds

55:18

stupid, but it's true. Michael

55:21

responds 7 minutes later. I love

55:23

you. Sarah Lynn tells

55:25

him, that's sweet. 4 minutes

55:27

later, Michael responds with your sweet

55:30

with 4 exclamation points. So

55:33

yeah, you're feeling that web lash?

55:36

Well, brace yourself. Two days

55:38

later at 1 44 am Sarah

55:40

Lynn text Michael, I'm ready

55:42

to do something else. We are not on the

55:44

same page of life. Michael

55:47

responds within seconds. I'm with you. Come

55:49

to our room. Sarah Lynn

55:52

writes back, I love you, but I think only as

55:54

a friend. I'm going to chapel

55:56

in the morning and going to sleep now.

55:58

Good night. waking up

56:00

to the same day makes me ill.

56:02

I'm sorry, Michael. We just aren't alike.

56:05

I'm giving you this phone back. You have two

56:07

phones now." That afternoon

56:09

she texts him, Dr. Fry just tried to

56:11

call me and Michael responds, I'll handle him.

56:14

Two hours later she lets Michael know that she's

56:17

headed his way and she asks if there's any

56:19

word about the property. Then

56:21

over an hour later she writes, I love you and

56:23

miss you. I had to wait for the

56:25

girls to get here in order to leave. Now let's

56:28

fast forward three days. May 11th,

56:30

just nine days before Sarah Lynn

56:32

died. And she's texting

56:34

this three times. In

56:37

all caps, I hate

56:39

you. The only thing you close in

56:42

your life is your mouth. Enjoy getting

56:44

effed. Over the next 15

56:46

minutes or so between 7 22

56:48

pm and 8 12 pm Sarah

56:51

Lynn texts Michael 37 with

56:53

no text response from him. Here's what

56:56

she wrote, I want out now.

56:59

I'm leaving tonight and staying with Karen. Don't

57:02

you ever look at me as if

57:04

I'm an idiot when the only one

57:07

I have to constantly be exposed to

57:09

is you. Sleep

57:11

on you Michael. No real

57:13

last name. Nothing is going

57:15

into a trust by the way. Rely

57:17

on your team. Sleep on

57:19

you Michael. I want nothing from

57:22

you but what I've worked for. Everything.

57:26

She asks why and again it seems

57:28

like she's in a conversation where we

57:30

can't see or hear the other side.

57:32

It seems that way during several points

57:34

of this text exchange. She

57:37

goes on. Have a

57:39

solid team. Rock on

57:41

you washed up eff. I

57:44

want a divorce period. I

57:47

do not like some hot sweaty

57:49

needy weirdo asking to be held

57:51

in the morning when another is

57:53

trying to sleep. You

57:55

gross me out. You aren't the

57:57

person I met. I am serving the

58:00

papers tomorrow, at 10 or

58:02

11 or 2.30 or whenever nothing happens as usual. Good

58:08

luck. You will need it. My

58:11

mom was right all along. I

58:13

have never loved you. Get

58:15

your shit, clothes and get out. I

58:18

do not love you, Michael. I

58:20

do not love you, want to F

58:22

you, nor entertain your family any longer.

58:25

I think you may not even be the guy I

58:27

was referring to all this time. I

58:30

would not be surprised. I

58:32

hope you make one trillion dollars tomorrow.

58:34

Then you will leave and I can

58:36

be young and happy again. There

58:39

was actually another guy with a Diamante. OMG,

58:42

I know who it was now. Not

58:44

you either. I am looking him up now. Thank

58:49

God. Good luck in whatever you do. I

58:51

had you confused with a man. Only

58:53

saw you one time. You are

58:55

not the guy at all. Nor are

58:57

you, man. I am out of here.

59:01

Thank the Lord for that revelation. I

59:03

hope you make a mint tomorrow. Your

59:06

partners are funny. My payoff

59:08

is never seeing you again. I

59:10

am getting Bishop now. I am released from

59:13

your weird life. I

59:15

appreciate it also. It

59:17

was Jean's nephew. All

59:20

along I have been trying to connect with a guy who

59:22

had a license plate. You weren't

59:24

him. I am shocked

59:26

and relieved. I knew something wasn't

59:28

right. Goodbye. Lots of

59:30

love. I guess. Whatever.

59:34

I am free. So

59:37

again, that was broken into 37 individual

59:39

texts. There are

59:41

definite moments there where she seemed to be

59:43

responding to him in the moment such as

59:45

when she says, nor are you, man, and

59:47

I guess, whatever. On

59:49

May 17th, three days before Sarah Lynn's

59:52

death, things get heated around 7pm. She

59:56

appears to be at Sarah Lynn's house and

59:58

she's furious. Michael concedes

1:00:01

that this is a problem. Wow,

1:00:04

Sarah writes to him. The

1:00:06

stupidity never ends. I

1:00:08

would death stop this infatuation with

1:00:10

giving other people money and get

1:00:13

him out of there before I

1:00:15

get home. I'm already super upset.

1:00:17

Get the warehouse key back to now. Michael

1:00:21

responds, Sarah, you are 100% right.

1:00:24

All I asked was for him to pick up the

1:00:26

trash. Period. Now

1:00:28

his truck is stranded and unpissed. Combined

1:00:31

with what you just went through. F

1:00:33

everybody. You have

1:00:35

been terrorized after I asked her

1:00:37

multiple times. Philip is, and

1:00:40

he uses the R word here, and done.

1:00:44

Sarah Lynn responds that she's going to Subway and

1:00:46

tells Michael to call a tow truck. Babe,

1:00:49

you do whatever Michael tells her. Then

1:00:52

says, get home so he can get this done.

1:00:55

Then Sarah Lynn writes in a series of texts. If

1:00:58

he is there when I get there, I will flip my

1:01:00

effing wig. Someone that keeps

1:01:02

threatening and called DSS is at my house.

1:01:05

Are you? And then she uses the R

1:01:07

word here. Yes, you

1:01:10

are. I cannot believe the

1:01:12

length of your stupidity. And

1:01:14

then she says, my mom is a bitch. Again,

1:01:18

it seems like Sarah Lynn is responding to Michael,

1:01:20

but we don't see texts for him. It's not

1:01:22

clear whether this is one issue going on or

1:01:24

two, or if they're related. Michael

1:01:26

writes, I'm physically going to take him to

1:01:28

house. He needs to go.

1:01:31

Yes, she does. No one

1:01:33

needs to be around us right now, nor help.

1:01:36

Bullshit. Reminder, this

1:01:38

is three days before Sarah Lynn

1:01:41

dies. Sarah Lynn writes

1:01:43

back, I don't care if I ever see her again after

1:01:45

today and I get to come home to Philip. Are

1:01:48

you insane? If only

1:01:50

I were Brit, I may get a little

1:01:52

respect or any other deadbeat that

1:01:54

needs money. You have

1:01:56

topped an all time record. I

1:01:58

am pissed off back. had. Michael

1:02:01

responds, at the station, be

1:02:03

home soon. It's not

1:02:05

clear what's happening here. We do know that

1:02:07

Michael has a friend named Phillip who was

1:02:09

mentioned in a police report as helping him

1:02:11

pawn a customer's jewelry after his arrest in

1:02:13

2016. We also believe Brit

1:02:17

could be Sarah Lynn's brother. All

1:02:19

we know is that from these texts, it seems

1:02:21

like all hell has broken loose. Just

1:02:24

under an hour after this, Sarah Lynn

1:02:26

texts Michael, broke ass

1:02:28

slut. My family not

1:02:30

only hates you, they hate me too

1:02:32

now. And why would

1:02:34

I compromise my blood? For

1:02:36

a liar. F. U.

1:02:39

I'm going to start my own life. I'm going to start

1:02:41

my own shit up on the side so I can be

1:02:43

happy again. File now. I

1:02:46

don't want to be around you and I don't want

1:02:48

to flaunt another man in your face. At

1:02:51

least I'm honest. Michael

1:02:53

responds. I'm sorry. I honestly just

1:02:55

wanted the trash out. While

1:03:00

it is hard to draw conclusions from

1:03:02

these texts because we don't think that

1:03:05

we are getting the full exchange between

1:03:07

the two, and it

1:03:09

is hard to know the full picture of

1:03:11

what is happening to precipitate

1:03:13

some of these exchanges, it

1:03:16

does seem very evident that

1:03:18

Michael is hitting rock bottom

1:03:21

when it comes to Sarah

1:03:23

Lynn. He is out of chances. He

1:03:26

messed up one too many times.

1:03:29

She's now at the point where

1:03:31

she is imagining a better life

1:03:33

without him and with

1:03:36

another man. Two

1:03:38

days before Sarah Lynn's death, Sarah

1:03:41

Lynn texts Michael around 5.30

1:03:43

that evening. Sarah Lynn

1:03:45

sends about 15 texts over

1:03:47

the course of 20 minutes and

1:03:50

about halfway in it seems to

1:03:52

shift. It seems like

1:03:54

someone else is now texting Michael

1:03:56

from her phone. It

1:03:58

starts with you You are a

1:04:01

whore of humanity. Then,

1:04:03

I hate your guts. I

1:04:06

will call your 71 year old relative

1:04:08

and speak to she or him in

1:04:10

a negative light. I

1:04:12

would expect divorce papers. I

1:04:14

hate you. My friend

1:04:16

is having my car charged tomorrow. He

1:04:19

will have tags changed too. One

1:04:22

less expense off your plate to buy coke

1:04:24

with. Yeah, go

1:04:27

get asked. My friend

1:04:29

wants to speak to you anyway. Please

1:04:32

stay out of Sarah Lynn's bed or Lynn.

1:04:35

We think they meant to type life in there.

1:04:38

Either way, answer my call and make

1:04:41

it happen until you or I can

1:04:43

get to her. You

1:04:45

don't appreciate her, but I do. Want

1:04:48

my number? Mr. Michael Kaluchi,

1:04:50

do you want my phone number? Be

1:04:53

a man. Leave her alone. She

1:04:56

has already suffered enough. Understand

1:05:00

why in. I love Sarah. Get

1:05:02

used to it. Michael

1:05:05

responds at the end of the flurry

1:05:07

of texts with yes ma'am.

1:05:10

Then someone again seems to

1:05:12

respond from Sarah Lynn's phone.

1:05:15

Ha ha, limp dick. Michael,

1:05:18

man to man. You aren't

1:05:20

what Sarah Lynn or Bishop needs. I

1:05:22

am pretty damn sure that she has told

1:05:25

you that enough. Am I right? Want

1:05:27

to talk? Then it's

1:05:30

just to Sarah. Michael, this

1:05:32

is Sarah. You need to leave. I

1:05:35

don't love you like I did before. You

1:05:37

are less. I need to be happy.

1:05:39

Goodbye freak. Four

1:05:42

minutes after her last text,

1:05:45

Michael responds. It

1:05:47

is not for me to answer. You

1:05:50

keep doing and saying and everything else.

1:05:53

I am no freak. What wife

1:05:55

would say what you say? Full

1:05:58

boy in my bed. Put me. on

1:06:00

the phone with your family that is just

1:06:02

as confused as you and them all. Call

1:06:05

me a gay F-word. Wake

1:06:08

up will you please. Less

1:06:11

than five hours later, Sarah

1:06:14

Lynn text Meikle. This

1:06:16

is what he just sent me. With

1:06:18

all the drug use, I'm really concerned

1:06:21

about your kids. You guys

1:06:23

need help. Baby, I don't want

1:06:25

any more fighting. Please. Meikle

1:06:28

responds within minutes. I

1:06:30

never started any fight or engaged in

1:06:33

one, but now I'm being made out

1:06:35

to be a piece of shit at

1:06:37

home and everywhere else. This

1:06:40

is not my doing. Then,

1:06:42

in text unlike any

1:06:44

others presented from April through her

1:06:46

death, Sarah Lynn writes, I

1:06:49

am begging you to forgive me. Please.

1:06:53

I am sick. I can't

1:06:55

do it anymore. Our

1:06:57

fighting is my fault. I am

1:06:59

sorry. Please,

1:07:01

please forgive me. I

1:07:04

am begging you. Within

1:07:08

a minute, Meikle responds, I've

1:07:10

never had anything but love and compassion.

1:07:13

I can't bring back the one you love.

1:07:16

You can have any pool boy or girl

1:07:18

you want. F-Shane. He

1:07:20

is next. F-U-All. Sarah

1:07:25

Lynn writes back, Meikle,

1:07:27

please stop. He

1:07:30

writes back immediately. Enjoy it

1:07:32

too. In a series

1:07:35

of texts, Sarah Lynn writes back,

1:07:37

Meikle, please stop. I can't stop

1:07:39

shitting or throwing up. I

1:07:41

must be pregnant. Please stop. Baby,

1:07:44

please. Call me,

1:07:46

please. Immediately,

1:07:48

Meikle responds. Shane

1:07:51

can shove it up his ass. The

1:07:53

steel is between me and Nolan.

1:07:56

F-Everyone else. I

1:07:58

promise you that. No trust,

1:08:00

no nothing. I'm going to squash

1:08:03

it all. Sarah Lynn

1:08:05

responds, stop, please.

1:08:07

I'm very sorry. I

1:08:10

need you. I need you. Please

1:08:13

don't hate me and please don't leave me.

1:08:16

I will be the wife you deserve. Michael

1:08:19

writes, Sarah, no, you don't. I

1:08:22

will not start anything as I have

1:08:25

always. I'm not a pawn. My

1:08:27

parents did that to me. No one

1:08:29

else. I pray for

1:08:32

all that attempt otherwise. May

1:08:34

God have mercy on their souls if

1:08:36

they have any. You will

1:08:38

see soon. Sarah Lynn

1:08:40

says, I am not following you. Michael

1:08:44

explains in two texts. I

1:08:46

am no pool boy, no drug addict,

1:08:49

not crazy, just a pawn. I

1:08:52

am a great father, husband, and the

1:08:54

realest man you and others

1:08:56

will ever meet. No need

1:08:59

to worry, nor will my

1:09:01

daughters. I did find a gold

1:09:03

ring that I gave you. I am grateful

1:09:05

for that. She texts back,

1:09:08

what? I am very sick and I

1:09:10

love you. I can't argue

1:09:12

anymore. I think I'm dying. Will

1:09:15

you consider forgiving me and come

1:09:17

home? I love you and

1:09:19

I'm sorry for all the pain that I've

1:09:21

caused. I want to make sure

1:09:23

you're OK. Please,

1:09:26

please, stop. I

1:09:28

respect you and our family and I

1:09:30

will do anything to make it better.

1:09:32

Please stop the rage just for tonight.

1:09:35

I need you. I need you, Michael.

1:09:38

I am begging you. And

1:09:40

that's it. The text ended

1:09:43

around 1230 AM the day before she died.

1:09:47

Let's talk about those final texts. Sarah

1:09:50

Lynn made a complete turnaround on

1:09:52

how she addresses Michael and on

1:09:54

things she says to him. Frankly,

1:09:58

she seems to be talking. him off

1:10:00

a ledge. I want to make

1:10:02

sure you're okay," she says. She's

1:10:05

clearly dealing with some stomach issues

1:10:08

while texting him. Nevertheless,

1:10:10

she seems focused on reversing

1:10:12

whatever it is that got

1:10:14

triggered in Michael. For

1:10:17

his part, he seems maudlin,

1:10:19

like he's feeling sorry for himself

1:10:22

while he's trying to convince himself that he

1:10:24

isn't the person she says that he is.

1:10:28

Whatever it is, it seems pretty

1:10:30

evident from the text that something

1:10:32

pivotal happened on May 17th,

1:10:35

three days before Sarah was killed.

1:10:38

And whatever that something was, involved

1:10:40

Michael, potentially a friend of his,

1:10:43

and her family, and it crossed

1:10:45

a major line for Sarah Lynn. And

1:10:49

whatever that something was prompted

1:10:51

Michael to be apologetic because

1:10:53

of something else that Sarah

1:10:55

Lynn had just gone through.

1:10:57

And then another man

1:10:59

seems to enter the chat. Did

1:11:02

Sarah Lynn push it too far with

1:11:04

Michael? Was he at

1:11:06

rock bottom in the days before

1:11:09

her death? On

1:11:11

May 20th, 2015, the

1:11:13

day of Sarah Lynn's death,

1:11:16

she went with Michael to their attorney's

1:11:18

office to talk about their

1:11:20

case against their daughter's school. They

1:11:23

allegedly went out to dinner. They

1:11:26

allegedly visited the grave of

1:11:28

her deceased husband. Then

1:11:30

they went to the gold standard. We'll

1:11:34

tell you more about that day

1:11:36

and another episode now that you

1:11:38

have the full context of

1:11:40

what their marriage was like leading

1:11:42

up to the final day. But the

1:11:44

ultimate takeaway here is

1:11:47

that at no point in those messages

1:11:49

did Sarah Lynn express a desire

1:11:52

to die. She made

1:11:54

no threats hollow or otherwise

1:11:56

about killing herself. She

1:11:59

never express a thought about her

1:12:01

feeling down blue or low. She

1:12:04

was just over it. She wanted to

1:12:07

move on. She wanted to

1:12:09

create a new life without Michael,

1:12:12

for her and for her daughter. And

1:12:15

she regretted marrying Michael. She

1:12:17

was very angry at him and

1:12:20

what he has brought into her life. The

1:12:24

question facing jurors in the next three

1:12:26

weeks is whether her anger,

1:12:29

her name calling and pointing out

1:12:31

his failures, finally caused

1:12:34

Michael to snap. Stay

1:12:38

tuned, stay pesky and

1:12:40

stay in the sunlight. True

1:12:53

Sunlight is a Luna Shark production

1:12:55

created by me, Mandy Matney and

1:12:58

co-hosted by journalist Liz Farrell. Learn

1:13:00

more about our mission and membership

1:13:02

at lunasharkmedia.com. Interruptions

1:13:05

provided by Luna and Joe Pesky.

1:13:10

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1:13:13

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