"Musician" and Wife Use Saw and Acid to Conceal Unthinkable Crime | Laura Ackerson Case Analysis

hello this is Dr Grande today's question is can I analyze the case of Laura Akerson just a reminder I'm not diagnosing anybody in 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 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 Laura Jee Akerson was born on April 30 1984 in Hastings Michigan her parents separated when she was young in 1996 she moved to Iowa with her mother Laura went to high school there and graduated in 2003 after this she moved to Raleigh North Carolina and found a job as a waitress at an Applebee's restaurant in March 2007 Laura met a man named Grant Ruffin Hayes thei and they became romantically involved he was 5 years older than her having been born born on May 30 1979 Grant referred to himself as a musician and songwriter and would perform at various venues like bars and restaurants he struggled to make money but still maintained an unrealistic level of confidence Grant refused to let Go's dream of being a superstar musician Grant and Laura married on April 30 2007 which was Laura's 23rd birthday in May 2008 they had a son after failing to make a living in North Carolina Grant came to believe that his musical Talent would be more appreciated in St John US Virgin Islands why he believed this is a mystery perhaps he thought there was more background noise in the US Virgin Islands and the audience would be unable to hear him it's not clear the family moved there in 2009 and had another son in August of that year Grant kept insisting that he was talented musically but he didn't make any money in St John either Laura was growing impatient with with Grant he had several unpleasant personality characteristics and she was tired of the financial stress when she had enough Laura took her two sons and moved to Kingston North Carolina which is about an hour and a half southeast of righ she divorced Grant and started a graphic design business unfortunately she continued to have financial problems back in St John Grant had found a new romantic partner a woman named Amanda had taken an interest in him after seeing him perform a was about 7 years older than Grant having been born on April 8 1972 she had been married three times her third husband had been wealthy but a poor decision brought an end to his life after diving into a lake that was only 6 in deep he broke his neck and died shortly after this Amanda inherited his fortune and did not need to work for the rest of her life Grant and Amanda seemed like they were happy together but Grant wanted his children back sometime around April 2010 the the couple married and moved to row North Carolina where they lived in an apartment Grant started fighting with Laur over custody and the resulting Court battle was acrimonious in early June 2010 Grant and Amanda had a child together on June 29 the court issued a temporary order giving Grant physical custody of his two sons during the week and Laura custody on the weekends before moving to the timeline of the crime let's hear word from to's sponsor sent bird sent bird is a fragrance subscription that lets you choose a new designer fragrance to try every month for just $17 you don't have to invest a lot of money in designer fragrances if you try sent bird sent bird offers affordable and flexible subscription plans you can also skip or cancel your subscription at any time making it a hassle-free experience you choose your fragrance so there's no surprises they have over 600 perfumes and cologn and many unisex selections they carry Brands such as Gucci Prada and Versace as well as Indie labels like Skyler heretic and Confessions of a rebel you can be sure that you are getting a premium scent each month with each fragrance you will get a 30-day Supply so you can try out 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course of their investigation the police searched Grant's apartment and discovered that several items were missing while some of the furniture a few rugs a shower curtain and a vacuum cleaner they also thought that the bathroom looked exceptionally clean investigators found cleaning products a bleach stain on the carpet near the front door and lyrics to a song written by Grant titled mankiller the lyrics read quote my baby's mama don't talk to me don't want you a drama I got two kids by you I can't take any more from you I put put a price tag on your head you must have told your attorney I got intentions on killing you unquote in addition to indicating that he may have been homicidal lyrics explain why Grant was having trouble making a living as a musician in an apartment dumpster the police found bleach containers a package for a respirator a bleach stained towel a vacuum cleaner and gloves one of the gloves contained Laura's DNA investigators learned that on Tuesday July 12 2011 Grant emailed Laura and suggested that she visit the children on Wednesday July 13th Grant normally had the children during the week therefore Laura visiting the children at this time was at the ordinary on July 13 Laura sent a text message to Grant at 4:12 p.m. indicating she was on the way and asking where he would be in an hour or so at 4:59 p.m. Laura used her cell phone to call Grant Laura was supposed to call a business business partner at 900 p.m. but she never did on July 14 Grant purchased several items from a Walmart store and a Target store in Raleigh including a reciprocating saw extra blades for the saw trash bags goggles plastic sheeting a tarp gloves tape bleach and a lint roller he was at the Walmart at 2:30 a.m. and the target at 5:30 p.m. 2 days later on July 16 Grant purchased coolers and ice and rented a U-Haul trailer he told the people at the rental facility that he was going to Texas to fish and needed the trailer to transport coolers full of bait maybe he thought the fish were bigger in Texas Grant Amanda and the children traveled to Richmond Texas pulling the trailer with a 2009 Dodge Durango they arrived at the residence of Amanda's sister Karen Barry late on July 17 or early on July 18 on July 19 Grant went to a Home Depot in purchased acid and gloves Amanda was captured on video surveillance dumping a bottle of acid near Karen's residence on July 20 Grant returned the trailer and drove back to Raleigh Amanda and the children were with him the police spoke to Amanda's sister Karen she told them that Amanda admitted to killing Laura Akerson Grant and Amanda took Karen's boat out to a nearby Creek on the night of July 19 and were gone for a couple of hours they were interested in knowing if the creek had alligators and if those alligators would eat human bodies on July 24 the police found Laura's body in the creek near Karen's residence her body had been dismembered and someone had dumped acid on her head Laura's death was ruled a homicide by undetermined means on July 25 2011 Grant and Amanda were arrested and charged with first-degree murder on September 16 2013 Grant Hayes was found guilty of first-degree murder he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on February 19 2014 Amanda Hayes was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to 13 to 16 years in prison she could be released as early as 2025 from prison in North Carolina but that will not be the end of her magical prison Journey she was charged with tampering with evidence in the state of Texas based on her role in disposing of Laura's body in 2018 Amanda was found guilty in Texas and sentenced to 20 years in prison to be served consecutively with her sentence in North Carolina when calculating the time for both sentences Laura will be eligible for release from prison in Texas around the age of 82 now moving to my analysis here are my thoughts on a few areas that stood out to be in this case item number one at the two trials the defense strategies for Grant and Amanda were similar Grant's defense attorneys argued that Amanda killed Laura but Grant only helped to dispose of the body Amanda's TX dick was to blame Grant she denied knowing anything about the murder until they were in Texas so after the murder was already completed at this time she helped dispose of the body but only because Grant threatened to kill her it's impossible to know what really happened in this case my theory is that Grant killed Laura after trying to force her to sign over full custody to him a note was found in his apartment indicating that he would give Laura $225,000 in exchange for full custody of their sons I don't know if Grant planned to kill Laura far in advance or was just open to the idea of murder and wanted to see how things would play out if he knew he was going to kill her he probably would have purchased all those supplies beforehand Grant and Amanda both participated in many elements if not all the elements of the crime in my opinion they were both guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt item number two the Romantic relationship between Grant and Laura was characterized by arguing fear manipulation insecurity and bizarre behavior Laura's friends were stunned that she would settle for someone as controlling and arrogant as Grant they thought that Laura could do better and that Grant was only pretending to be a good guy Laura often confided in her friends about Grant's worrisome Behavior there were many indicators that he was not a suitable romantic partner Laura was worried because Grant used cocaine marijuana heroin and other drugs while taking medication for bipolar disorder Grant repeatedly had problem maintaining steady employment he was described as lazy he always thought that he could find a better job like he was too good for the level of work for which he was qualified right after getting married Grant asked Laura to talk to his fans about their sex life and to mention how his member was extra large he was highly interested in the physical characteristics of women he encountered according to Laura he had an affair a few months after they married when asked to explain he said he selected his affair partner because she had an oversized posterior region item number three it appears as though Grant suffered from various mental health symptoms for example a mental health professional recommended that Grant be thoroughly evaluated because he had an logical and Disturbed thought process in addition as I mentioned he took medication for bipor disorder Grant had studied the Bible obsessively for a long time but then became interested in the lyrics from the rapper Tupac Shakur he studied them with the same Vigor as he once studied the Bible Grant developed a pattern of becoming highly invested in random ideas that he thought were incredible this is consistent with Mania which is part of bipolar disorder Grant demonstrated Behavior consistent with having grandiose paranoid and persecutory delusions for example he insisted that he was a time traveler who regularly communicated with aliens Grant wanted to obtain as much cash as he could so he could purchase passage on alien ships when the world ended he thought this was going to happen at the end of 2012 according to Grant rich people were hiding in underground tunnels waiting for the spaceships to arrive despite his belief that the world was going to be destroyed soon Grant had made many earth-based plans which stretched years into the future for example he wanted to have 50 children with many different women of all Races he thought this would help him and build an Empire that could take over the world he predicted that by the time he fulfilled this Mission he would be about 70 years old Grant indicated that this plan was longterm just like many plans seen in the Bible his delusions were not just grandiose they were of biblical proportions item number four what do I think happen in this case this is just a theory my opinion Grant was impulsive irresponsible lazy cowardly grandiose self-centered paranoid and ious vindictive and sadistic the combination of factors led to Laura Akerson finding Grant attractive she had mood instability low self-esteem and was insecure in addition she was dazzled by Grant's Charisma by the time she realized that he was an unsuitable romantic partner they already had children together like Laura Grant's New Lover Amanda was vulnerable to becoming romantically involved with an unsuitable partner when Amanda was younger she had a dream of being a movie star after her third husband died and left her a large amount of money she moved to New York City and landed a few small parts as an actress for example she was in the TV show The Sopranos and appeared in the 2004 movie The Stepford Wives unable to find any true success Amanda moved to St John perhaps believing it would be an exciting Paradise as it turns out she found it boring and was still searching for meaning and purpose in her life when she met Grant she thought that she found someone to have an adventure with Grant believed himself to be a singer and songwriter which was appealing to Amanda like he was also part of the entertainment industry it didn't bother Amanda that Grant failed to earn money because she believed in him as an artist when Grant became obsessed about the custody situation with Laura he committed to getting full custody at any cost he fantasized about murder and this fantasy transmitted to Amanda she became wrapped up in the nonsense that Grant was promoting much of the couple's Behavior may have been driven by irrational fear but they still knew the difference between right and wrong Grant and Amanda did not have a problem with the heinous and callous disposal of Laura's body because they despised her now moving to my final thoughts the main driving force behind this tragedy was Grant haast among his narcissistic traits there was a superficial charm he was able to convince Laura to marry him and later he did the same thing with Amanda the former ended up murdered and the latter in prison for taking part in that murder both Laura and Amanda knew Grant was dangerous but they were unable to extricate themselves from his grasp when Grant was representing himself as a musician he sometimes used the stage name Grant Hae spelling his last name as ha a z instead of H A ye S one could argue that his stage name captured the effect that he had on some women the haze around him obscured his pernicious and narcissistic traits those are my thoughts on the case of Laura Akerson 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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Length: 16min 48sec (1008 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 25 2024