Daughter Enjoys Luxurious Lifestyle Before Murdering Mother | Joanne Witt Case Analysis

hello this is Dr Grande today's question is can I analyze the case of Joanne wit just a reminder I'm not diagnosing anybody this video only speculating about what could be happening in a situation like this if you enjoyed this video please like it subscribe to my channel and consider supporting me on patreon I'll will put the link to patreon in the description for this video first I'll look at the background of this case move to the timeline of the crime then offer my analysis Joanne Marie Wht was was born in 1962 and lived in Eldorado Hills California this is an upscale suburb of Sacramento Joanne came from a wealthy family her father owned a successful business she was exceptionally intelligent after earning her bachelor's degree Joanne earned a master's degree in Metallurgy she worked as an engineer for IBM before finding a job with the elderado county department of transportation Joanne suffered from lupus she took quite a bit of of medication including painkillers she also consumed alcohol frequently she suffered from extreme fatigue and was concerned about premature death on November 18 1994 Joanne had a daughter named Tyler Marie wit she raised her as a single mother the relationship between the mother and daughter was tumultuous there was a lot of tension and they frequently argued after striking Tyler Joanne lost custody of her for 6 months over time the relationship between Joanne and Tyler became even more strained despite these problems Joanne tried to provide Tyler with the Finer Things in life they lived in a five-bedroom house with a pool in the backyard Tyler had her own computer television cell phone guitar and violin she took horseback writing and music lessons Joan and her daughter went on vacations to Hawaii Chicago Washington DC Jamaica and Mexico in January 2009 when Tyler was 14 years old she met a 19-year-old man named Steven Paul Culver they first encountered each other at the Habit coffee shop in El Dorado Hills Steven used the nickname Boston apparently he did this because he once had a speech impediment and his classmates falsely believed it sounded like a Boston accent Steven worked at a Mexican restaurant and took college classes despite the age difference between Steven and Tyler they had sex starting in February 2009 in order to discourage her mother Joanne from interfering with the relationship Tyler told her that Steven was gay and he was like a brother to her eventually Tyler took her effort to be close to Steven one step further she asked her mother to let Steven move into their house Joanne was not a fan of this idea and her family told her not to to do it however Steven was willing to pay $500 a month and Joanne did not view him as a threat in a catastrophically ill-advised move that any reasonable person would have avoided Joanne let Steven move into her house in April 2009 for a while Joanne was quite pleased with the arrangement she described Steven as a perfect housemate he would regularly complete chores and make Joanne's life easier Joanne did not realize that Steven was bad news he and Tyler took advantage of their Newfound Freedom by continuing to have sex they also started using cocaine marijuana and ecstasy now moving to the timeline of the crime on May 14 2009 Joanne returned home and went to Tyler's room but she wasn't there she knocked on the door to Steven's room and heard shuffling inside when Steven opened the door Joanne asked for Tyler St Steven claimed that he did not know where she was Joanne observed a closet door that was a jar when she opened the door she found her daughter in there Tyler had a noticeable absence of clothing Joanne assumed that she had interrupted the couple having sex she was Furious and kicked Steven out of the house Joanne told him that if he ever returned she would contact the police unfortunately the young couple was not about to give up their relationship Steven covert entered Joanne's house on about 20 different occasions Joanne didn't know about this at first but became suspicious over time she finally decided to call the police and report Steven after an incident where Tyler did not answer her cell phone investigator spoke to Tyler but she denied everything she said that she was in the closet without clothing because she was changing nothing was going on Steven also denied having sex the police did not have sufficient evidence of a crime crime and were unable to make an arrest on June 10 2009 Joanne found Tyler's Journal which contained entries confirming her suspicions one referenced sex on a couch Joanne knew that she had located a key piece of evidence against Steven and she once again contacted the police she had the police talk to Tyler one more time hoping that Tyler would confess when her daughter did not confess Joanne turned over the the diary to investigators she took Tyler out to dinner that night and told her that Steven was in real trouble on the night of Thursday June 11 2009 step and Tyler murdered 47-year-old Joanne wit it's not clear exactly what happened but Joanne was stabbed 20 times in the master bedroom of her house that same night Steven and Tyler met with a friend of theirs named Matthew Whitman they told Matthew that they had just murdered Joanne Steven even showed Matthew a bloody knife when Joanne missed work on Friday June 12 her employer became concerned her supervisor called the police for a welfare check when Joanne missed work again on Monday June 15 the police found Joanne's body in the master bedroom of her house this was the only bedroom that was Disturbed they noticed that no one else was in the house they became worried about Tyler they believed that Steven may have taken her Steven was the obvious suspect the police started looking for him immediately his vehicle was found on Tuesday June 16 in a San Francisco inpound lot in his vehicle the police discovered a journal that contained entries from Steven one entry indicated that Joanne was the problem in his life she was his demise in another entry Steven referred to Tyler as a goddess and wrote quote I love love you more than you could possibly imagine Steven proclaimed that he would gladly endure any form of punishment including Eternal Dam nation in order to have the privilege to stay by Taylor's side using credit card information the police found a hotel room in San Francisco that the couple had rented by the time they arrived the couple was gone investigators discovered that the room was a mess it contained cocaine marijuana ecstasy rat poison and vomit there was also a note left behind indicating that the couple intended on going someplace with a beautiful view in order to bring a conclusion to their lives the couple didn't get very far they were arrested that same day June 16 after being spotted behind a dumpster in a San Bruno strip mall it must have been one of those dumpsters with a breathtaking Panorama like a Scenic Vista dumpster the police interviewed the young couple Tyler said that they had tried to run away she never mentioned a murder after the police told her they were arresting her for murder Tyler said who did I murder she then started crying without tears and saying things like she can't be dead the interview ended after Tyler asked for an attorney Steven also asked for an attorney the only thing he said to the police prior to this was that he was worried about Tyler Steven and Tyler were charged with murder initially it seemed like they were both going to Proclaim their innocence to the end but in August 2010 Tyler indicated she wanted a deal her Eternal commitment of love to Steven lost some of its appeal Tyler admitted to planning the murder but claimed that Steven was the actual killer he's the one who stabbed Joanne in September 2010 Tyler wit pleaded guilty to Second deegree murder she would later be sentenced to 15 years in prison Steven's trial started in May 2011 as expected Tyler testified against Steven she claimed that they planned on killing her mother together and they both had knives in their hands but at the last moment she couldn't handle it only Steven stabbed her mother Steven testified in his own defense he said that Tyler had called him over to Joanne's house because she was frustrated and angry with her mother when he arrived he saw Tyler holding a kitchen knife and there was a red stain on her leg Tyler said Boston I did it I finally did it my mom is gone forever Steven went into the master bedroom and found Joanne's body he said that he falsely confessed to his friend Matthew on June 15 2011 two years to the day after Joanne wit's body was discovered Steven Culver was found guilty a first deegree murder he received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of PR Tyler wit was released from prison in the spring of 2023 now moving to my analysis Steven Culver otherwise known as Boston still maintains his innocence some people believe he was an accessory to the murder but did not actually participate in the murder Tyler was both The Mastermind and the killer this brings me to the question did Stephen murder Joanne wit let's take a look at the evidence both for and against the idea that Steven Culver was guilty of murder starting with the inculpatory factors Tyler implicated Steven and said he was the killer Steven confessed to a friend and showed him a bloody knife Steven had a motive to kill Joanne she had turned him into the police for having sex with Tyler Joanne had a small amount of DNA under her fingernails it was from a male but there was not enough to identify the donor the behavior of Steven and Tyler after the murder is consistent with guilt why did they flee if if they were innocent moving to the exculpatory factors the DNA under Joanne's fingernails could have been from any number of men with whom she had contact Steven said that he falsely confessed to his friend he thought that he might as well take the blame because he and Tyler planned on dying anyway this is supported by the fact that Steven told Matthew he stabbed Joanne in the stomach but she had not been stabbed in the stomach prior to meeting Steven Tyler had threatened her mother with a knife on one occasion and had fantasies about killing her one entry from Tyler's Journal which referred to Joanne read quote I wish you would die somehow someway and leave me the blank alone un another entry read my mom is driving me insane I can't stand her company for more than 5 minutes I hate her unquote Tyler fantasized about her mother dying in a motor vehicle collision asked a friend about obtaining Arsenic and told a friend that if her mother did not let her continue to see Steven she would kill her Tyler admitted that she was a pathological liar and was caught lying on the stand she admitted that she was The Mastermind behind the murder she said her mother needed to die despite claiming that she did not have the nerve to follow through with the actual stabbing Tyler cleaned up the crime scene when considering all the evidence do I think that Steven was guilty of murder yes I believe he was guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt what do I think happened in this case this is just a theory my opinion Joanne had a contentious relationship with her daughter and did not supervise her very well Tyler became self-centered manipulative arrogant grandiose impulsive irresponsible and full of Rage she developed a series of unusual beliefs including that she had dissociative identity disorder she insisted that she represented three souls in one body apparently each of them without a brain One Soul was her true self the second was a demon named Toby and the third was an angel named Alex over time Tyler grew to hate her mother with a ferocious intensity the mother and daughter were in a constant competition they were always trying to prove who was more intelligent people who watched them interact could see Tyler's contempt but they hoped that it was just a phase when Tyler met Steven she believed he was someone who could save her from her evil mother in one journal entry referring to Steven Tyler wrote quote I die without him there to hold me to love me and protect me unquote Steven was an antisocial and bizarre young man he was heavily invested into the goth lifestyle and had a collection of edged weapons Steven knew that his relationship with Tyler was illegal but he became obsessed with her the young couple was not going to let anything interfere with their relationship Tyler orchestrated the murder and Steven stabbed Joanne the murder was fueled by immaturity sadism vindictiveness narcissism feelings of passion and a desire for immediate gratification both Steven and Tyler deserved a long sentence but Tyler managed to escape Justice at Tyler's sentencing the judge said there was no evidence that she was remorseful yet he still gave her just 15 years to life considering that Tyler lied on the stand during Steven's trial I think that 25 years to life would have been a more reasonable sense now moving to my final thoughts as I mentioned Steven selected Boston to be his nickname Boston had more than a feeling that he would end up in prison but his motto should be don't look back he may never get peace of mind but he can be certain when saying to himself a man I'll never be those are my thoughts in the case of Joanne wit please put any opinions and thoughts in the comment section they always generate an interesting dialogue as always I hope you found my analysis of this topic to be informative thanks for watching

Channel: Dr. Todd Grande

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Id: VHKhwfPxoiQ

Length: 15min 9sec (909 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 04 2023