The Corn Rake Murder | Full Episode

foreign of America small community Farm Town everybody knows everybody knew Amy Mullis you know she was very bubbly outgoing all of a sudden one day she's dead everyone wanted to know what happened to Amy Mullis did you guys there's nothing okay what is your name sir Todd was straight shooter tough man hard worker farmer he calls 9-1-1 he's telling them that somehow some sort of accident happened to his wife I don't know if she was halfway out the door I sent my son over to suck on her he yelled at me and I ran over there Amy's body is face down sticking out of her back is a corn rake is a very sharp heavy duty Farm tool nothing like a rake for leaves that has four prongs sticking out of it and they're typically very sharp [Music] Amy is sitting on her son Kristen's lap and Todd is in route to the hospital you feel anything Amy Amy appreciate Amy she's not responding the dispatcher says can you pull over and so he pulls over on the side of the road sir do you feel comfortable doing CPR I can try I'll try anything he attempts to lay her down flat on the seat and he's pumping her chest hoping to get her responsive come on just spawn come on come on let me never regained consciousness it was a death in a small town community it shocked everyone this is something that they were not prepared for and then it doesn't happen there [Music] Todd's story was that he didn't know what happened so he assumed that she fell on the corn rake and it was an accident you don't fall on a rake that has four tines and suffers six puncture wounds it's hard to believe that it's accidental rumors swirl that wait a second this wasn't an accident they were having marital problems you would think that in a case like this there wouldn't be a lot of unanswered questions but here we are questioning exactly what happened and why this happened by the authority of the state of Iowa a accused Todd Morris of murder first degree [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] was a young and beautiful woman she was 39 years old she was a daughter a sister a friend and a mother to her three young children in September of 2019 almost a year after Amy's murder family and friends packed the Dubuque County Courthouse as lead prosecutor Maureen Hughes described what she says happened to the woman they knew so well Amy had so much life left to live but that life was viciously taken from her on November 10 2018 taken at the hands of this defendant Amy's husband Todd Mullis the hard-working farmer who many Saw as a devoted father to Tristan Taylor and Wyatt was on trial for first degree murder this brutal senseless murder happened in a town called Earlville Amy was found in this Red Shed on the Family's hog farm by her 13 year old son Tristan she was face down with a corn rake sticking out of her back Amy Mullis was viciously and deliberately murdered from the start of the trial covered by Court TV Todd mullis's attorney Gerald firehelm agreed with prosecutors that Amy had been murdered but argued it wasn't Todd who killed her I believe that you will find that there's a reasonable doubt about Mr mullis's guilt there's no way that Todd could have killed Amy he did not have the opportunity to do this 48 Hours hired legal experts Daniel and Dina neshwat to look at the evidence from the defense point of view and Matthew Triano to look at it from the prosecutions perspective this is not a random third party this is not a long distance gunshot this is up close and personal as serious and brutal and violent as it comes [Music] doctor did you know Amy Mullis I knew her as a nurse in the emergency department Dr Craig Thompson was on duty the day Amy was rushed to the hospital in Manchester Iowa where she once worked as a nurse shortly after arrival at the hospital I understood that Amy Mullis had been pronounced dead the first thing that Thompson the medical director of Emergency Services was told Amy's death was a freak accident Amy had been injured falling on a on a corn rake that was upended Thompson is also a medical examiner and he needed to make sure her injuries matched that story did you notice any or observe any injuries on Amy well notably she had six puncture wounds across the back I found it very difficult to see how four tines could cause six holes in a single impact literally the math doesn't add up yeah it's basic math we have a problem here Dr Cruz did you perform an autopsy on Amy Mullis I did Thompson contacted Dr Kelly Cruz a forensic pathologist for the State medical examiner's office so she has a small abrasion or a scrape in the middle of her upper lip Crews found blunt force injuries to Amy's face hands and knees possible evidence of a struggle this is a photograph of the Corn rake that was brought to the autopsy Suite there were two different directions of the six puncture wounds and what do those different directions indicate to you to me they indicate that she would have to be impaled with the rake at least twice possibly three times which meant the Delaware County Sheriff's office now had a murder to solve I went immediately to the The Red Shed it was dark by the time Deputy Travis hemsath arrived at the farm there was a couple drops of Blood on the floor and that's where it was described to me that that's where she was positioned I looked on all the equipment in there for any other indication such as blood markings that would indicate an injury where she had had fallen anywhere else but where she was located and Did You observe anything I did not he noticed a few drops of blood and with his own eyes couldn't notice anything else and had concluded the investigation at The Red Shed Daniel and Dina neshwat wonder whether Amy's death was even a murder if this was a murder and somebody is stabbing Amy not one not two but three times you're gonna see blood drops on the chemical totes on the shed walls on a suspect you're going to see it on Amy the Delaware County Sheriff's Department doesn't investigate many homicides Amy's was only the fourth in the last 10 years so they asked for help from Iowa's division of criminal investigation deputies began digging into the mullis's marriage they discovered Amy had cheated on Todd five years earlier Amy crushed the foundation of their marriage the trust of their marriage by having an affair Amy and Todd decided to try to work it out they went to counseling Amy quit her job at the hospital to work on the farm Todd said she wanted to spend more time with her family but Amy told France she had no choice she left because it was kind of a deal she made with her husband the terms of the deal is that Amy you're done in the hospital you're back on the farm I'm keeping my eye on you yeah and Todd's position is she signed up for that right we agreed that this was going to be the way it was going to go it took Todd a very long time I don't think he ever really trusted Amy again in fact she told Terry stainer she felt like a prisoner it was very regulated who she could do things with it was kind of a joke at the approved friend list um that could actually do things with Amy she was timed when she left home and when she got back there was a line that was used that she was a prisoner of Todd so this is pretty intense stuff it's controlling Behavior by 2018 Amy was confiding in friends like Patricia Christopherson that things were not going well she wasn't happy in her marriage and she hadn't been happy for many years [Music] would you say you were kind [Music] but Todd told a very different story to John turban a special agent assisting with the investigation how would you describe your marriage to me pretty high actually yeah communication was great we were together all the time you know hey we it was good yeah between us it was good it just wasn't the whole truth in July of 2018 five years after Amy's Affair Todd had noticed a change in her his radar size Radars up hey wait a minute I've seen this movie before yep and that raises a red flag going over phone records Todd discovered his wife had been communicating with another man Jerry Frazier a field manager for the Mullis Farm Todd couldn't see their 128 texts but Matt Triano says when Todd confronted Frazier he was told nothing going on this is business stuff we're talking about kids activities nothing scandalous all those texts they were all about kids activities and the pig farm correct that's the story Todd even called Frazier's wife Jerry's wife convinces him everything is fine they have a happy marriage and she has no concerns about her husband and that puts his mind to rest as investigators quickly discovered Amy and Jerry Frazier were having an affair that provided what they needed a motive for Todd to kill her the obvious choice always is the husband but Todd also had an airtight Alibi his son Tristan which means as his father has tried for the murder of his mother Tristan will be the most important witness for both the prosecution and the defense everyone was on the edge of their seats of what's the Sun going to say now Tristan I'd like to do during November 10 2018. do you remember that day yes how do you think Amy Mullis died could it have been an accident see more photos from the case on Facebook at 48 hours [Music] please be seated everyone one of the most anticipated Witnesses at Todd mullis's murder trial was taught in Amy's 14 year old son Tristan we've chosen not to show his face he testified via closed circuit TV do you swear that the testimony you give here today will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth yes your honor everyone knew the stakes from the first moments of the investigation Tristan had provided an alibi for his father legal expert Matthew troiano says Tristan told police I am with my dad right we did I didn't I didn't lose sight of him I'm with my dad the whole time he may not know it but he's alibiing his father if they are together the whole time then he can't be assaulting his wife and killing his wife with the monitor facing the jury Tristan spoke of the close Bond he shared with his Dad we would go hunting fishing um obviously the two often work together on the farm on the day Amy died the two younger kids stayed in the house while Amy joined Todd and Tristan in one of their large hog barns it's got open Barn about 100 about a football field long Tristan described the division of labor he was setting up portable heaters anticipating a delivery of piglets to the farm Todd was setting up equipment that provided water to the pens Amy was cleaning the lights so she would get on a bucket a five gallon bucket and then she would reach up to these uh the light bulbs in the ceiling so she would clean those out everything seemed fine until Tristan noticed something was off with his mom she said she was getting dizzy she uh kind of like had to like when she got in a bucket she had to hold herself from falling off and she got down in her legs she was kind of shaky Tristan was worried four days earlier Amy had undergone an outpatient medical procedure this was her first time out of the house I think I remember saying no cleaning and then Dad got asked the same thing she just said no like I'm fine but a little while later Amy suffered another dizzy spell according to Tristan Todd became concerned Tristan testified that Todd wanted Amy to go into the house and rest but asked if on her way she could grab a pet carrier out of The Red Shed some 30 yards away from the front of the barn Todd told her he would need it later to round up a litter of kittens to protect them from some heavy machinery he planned to use she said if you can get it to the shop that would help but if you just can't get it then just leave it we'll get it Amy left Tristan said he and his dad continued working together for about another hour and a half in the barn then headed to an office at the front that's when Todd looked out the window and saw the pet carrier was not where he had asked Amy to put it so he asked you to go to The Red Shed to check on your mom he asked to go check on because like maybe we thought that she was still struggling to get it all to get the pet cage or maybe she just went in the house so he just said go check on Mom but he didn't he told you to go to the red chat yes when Tristan got to The Red Shed he made the horrifying discovery she was kind of did you see anything that was protruding or sticking out of your mom's body yes what did you see corn rake what did you do a second Tristan screamed for his dad Todd arrived saw Amy and told Tristan to go get the family truck and what was your dad doing then he was helping helping Mom out of the barn because the opening inside the shed was so narrow Todd would later tell police he had to remove the corn rake from Amy's back in order to get her out Todd then picked her up and carried her to the truck Tristan gets into the passenger seat Todd puts Amy essentially on top of Tristan and drives can you imagine the trauma Tristan must be feeling his mother on top of him as they're driving away with these serious injuries massive bleeding yeah it's it's terrible right it's terrible Tristan described to the jury that as they race towards the hospital Todd dialed 9-1-1 okay so you're headed to where okay with the hospital if you're in the truck and he's frantic he's excited when he's on the phone with 9-1-1 the dispatcher says can you pull over and so he pulls over on the side of the road the first matter will be the truth the whole truth said nothing but the truth at first to arrive at the scene was Deputy Luke Thompson I saw a young man looked heck like he had blood on his coat flagging me down as I pulled up Thompson rushed to help Amy she was unresponsive and they're not breathing no pulse she had quite a bit of blood on her on her on her clothes and we put her on the ground and I started doing chest compressions while Deputy Thompson worked on Amy he asked Todd what had happened Todd told them he wasn't sure but that day Todd also said he suspected Amy had become dizzy and accidentally fell on the rake while trying to get the pet carrier as for Tristan well Tristan tells the police what his dad was with him the whole time he was with his dad working in the hog farm the entire time so if Todd didn't kill Amy who did there was certainly somebody else who had access to that farm and that person also had a relationship with the molasses and a relationship with Amy Mullis that man Amy was having an affair with Jerry Frazier may have had his own reasons for wanting Amy out of the picture Jerry Frazier had motive to kill Amy he had a wife he had children he didn't want to leave his family [Music] why do you think Todd waited to call 9-1-1 until he was on the road hear more of Todd's 9-1-1 call at 48hours.com [Music] foreign Amy often complained that Todd works too much [Music] he prefer to stay home when she preferred to go out you know at some point those opposites didn't attract anymore and Amy sought attention elsewhere the attention came from this man state your name and spell it for the record please Jerry Frazier Jerry Frazier the married father of two managed the Molasses Hog operation and it's in that capacity that he meets Amy since she was the Farm's bookkeeper Matthew Triano says it was normal for them to be in contact and then it morphs into a personal romantic sexual relationship Fair began in late May of 2018. how often would you and Amy me for this physical relationship it just depended I mean it was everything was very short it was maybe once a week maybe more depending on just how it worked out they would meet in secret on the farm on back roads occasionally motel rooms well I think it was strictly or more sexual for Jerry than it was for Amy it seemed like Amy had very strong feelings for Jerry and Patricia Christopherson told yours Amy envisioned a future with him he made her happy she had talked about wanting to get married eventually with him but after Todd discovered those phone records and began asking questions Frazier got nervous yeah I told her that we needed to slow down were you afraid about Todd finding out about your Affair yes why oh why wouldn't you be but they kept seeing each other by late summer 2018 word was out about Amy's latest infidelity her friend Terry Stayner says Amy was worried she said I'm going to tell Todd that there's rumors out there to stop this so if he hears it he'll think it's just the rumor mill going around Dina neshwat says Jerry Frazier was also feeling pressure he had a wife he had children he didn't want to leave his family she is a threat to Jerry and his family so when Amy was murdered just two months later Jerry Frazier immediately became a person of interest he had motive he had means he is on that farm all the time he had just as much motive as Todd did testimony special agent John Turpin interviewed Frazier he sat next to me in my unmarked police vehicle and we talked for an hour and a half Frasier readily admitted to the affair but insisted he couldn't have killed Amy he was home in Anamosa 45 minutes away and just like Todd Mullis his son was his alibi his college age son had excellent recall and so they had gotten up and spent all Saturday morning doing work and then they watched college football investigators went through Frazier's cell phone records at the time Amy was murdered we could see that Jerry Fraser's cell phone had cell phone activity around 10 45 11 45 12 45 all of that down in Anamosa but Daniel neshwat says if someone wanted to commit murder today's day and age no don't bring your cell phone with you leave it at home the cell phone pinging only means that's where the cell phone was correct doesn't mean where Jerry was investigators concluded Jerry Frazier wasn't involved and they turned their attention back to Todd Mullis in spite of his alibi word was Amy wanted a divorce that's motivation because if she leaves and they get divorced he loses the farm loses half at least pays her alimony child support splits probably his life in half so he needs things to be together investigators were especially interested in what Amy told her friends that Todd might do to her I asked her why she stayed and she said she was scared of Todd and if he found out about wanting a divorce or an affair that he would kill her one time she did say that if he ever found out she would disappear she even told Terry stainer where to search for her on the Muller's property she said Tara if I ever come up missing have him look in our new Timber Stinger worried Amy's affair would provoke Todd I told her you know Amy you're putting yourself in a really dangerous situation and I said at that time he is going to kill you and why did you say that because Todd is just a the person you don't mess with built their case investigators began focusing on Todd's actions the day Amy died like sending Tristan to The Red Shed long after Amy had gone to get the pet carrier why would she still be in The Red Shed So an instruction would be wider than just the red shirt absolutely go find Mom search the farm so why would Todd pick Red Shed of all the possibilities the prosecution would want you to believe that he wants Tristan to find mom he needs Amy to be located by somebody other than him [Music] this interview when John turbot accused him of murdering his wife [Music] Matthew troiano says Todd's reaction was revealing if you get put into an interrogation room and you had nothing to do with the death of your wife the death of anybody but you are accused wrongly you are going to fight back you're going to scream you're going to yell and none of that from Todd and nope not enough but Dina neshwa disagrees how would you describe his reaction baffled what me I'm responsible if somebody said you killed your spouse would you have an emotional reaction to that everybody reacts differently to everything tried to deny it several times and Todd even said you want me to confess to something I didn't do but what about Todd mullis's airtight alibi turns out there may be some cracks interesting story at some point did you lose sight of your dad yes foreign was the prime suspect in the death of his wife Amy but he's always had a solid Alibi from his teenage son Tristan Tristan told authorities he was with his father all morning how important was that for Todd crucial that was his Saving Grace but everything changed just days before the trial when Tristan was re-interviewed and admitted he did not advise on his father the whole time Tristan said he lost sight of Todd a couple of times when Tristan went to get some water in the office at the front of the barn legal expert Matthew Triano this is not the situation that we had before where Tristan is saying I'm with him the whole time I have eyes on my dad the entire time correct and once you don't have that game changer in that interview Tristan estimated he was gone less than a minute each time but when he was questioned by prosecutor Maureen Hughes at the trial do you know exactly how long your dad wasn't in your site no Tristan would it be accurate to say that you don't know how much time you were away from your dad when you were in when you were working in the hog Barn Tristan's revised statement the prosecution insisted Todd had the opportunity to kill Amy every statement that he's given has been worse and worse for his father because the first one was pretty airtight what do you think is going on with Tristan I think he's like any other 13 or 14 or 15 year old where there's probably I want to try to do the right thing I want to try to maybe help my mom and help my dad and you know that's culminated and he has to testify against his father it's awful [Music] but there was still room for doubt Tristan said he never saw blood on Todd and that at no point while they were working together in the hog Barn did his demeanor change what's more Dina neshwat maintains that no matter how long it took Tristan to get those drinks of water in the office there was no way Todd had enough time to get from the hog Barn to The Red Shed to expect him to stab his wife with a corn rake not once not twice possibly three times wait for her to make sure she's dead and then come with no blood no torn clothes same composure as if nothing happened it's not possible investigators didn't have any physical evidence linking Todd to the scene but they did have Electronics from the Mullis Farm including a security camera system there's two Vantage points for these cameras that look out over the property one of which would have captured the area around the Red Shed not inside the Red Shed but Around The Red Shed and when investigators searched for any footage from the day Amy died we were unable to find any video but strangely one of the cameras had a recording from the next day well now that doesn't seem to add up do you think he deleted the footage I think that the reasonable explanation is that he deleted the footage it was worse for Todd investigators found a series of disturbing internet searches on Todd's iPad including what happens to cheaters in history Thrill of the kill and killing Unfaithful women if I'm investigating a homicide and the guy I think committed the murder of his wife has been searching online about what happens to cheating wives don't I have an open and shut case it doesn't look good wait out eyes turned to Todd who took the stand in his own defense were you surprised that Todd testified you know his reactions and and his actions and what he does and doesn't do are made such an important part of the case that the best person to explain that is Todd Mullis for about three hours Todd calmly addressed the many questions swirling around him including why he didn't call 9-1-1 right away I I just wanted to help her I just want to let's let's go to the hospital is there something wrong I'm a doer I guess I just I want to help I was in reaction mode I wanted to get her to the hospital Todd also told the jury why there was no security camera footage from the day Amy died he said he believed his cats had accidentally knocked the antennas off the window ledge while they were trying to find a warm spot to sit the colder it gets cats go to heat and there's a heater right below the window sun comes up in the morning they sit in the window in fact there were no recordings for nearly two weeks leading up to Amy's death and the reason one of the cameras suddenly started working the following day it was the day after I think after talking to family members and stuff they go do you have anything on the camera so I went out I seen everything was knocked off hanging down by the floor I picked it all back up I did not know how long it had been off or whatever as for those internet searches about cheating spouses when defense attorney Gerald firehome asked Todd if he had done that no I did not do you know who did I have no idea who looked that up Todd said other family members use the iPad including Amy have you ever searched for wedding dresses I have never searched for wedding dresses did you ever do a Pinterest search no do you know what Pinterest is I have no idea what Pinterest is then came the question everyone wanted to know Todd did did you Ambush your wife Amy and that shed that day and brutally beat her and Chop Chop her up with that corn Fork no I did not you know who did I have no idea in closing statements the prosecutor left the jury with a final thought about Todd's motive why did he kill Amy because he didn't want to lose his farm because she was cheating you might not like that Amy was having an affair but that doesn't mean she deserved to die as for the defense the state has not proven a case against Todd Mullis Beyond A Reasonable Doubt the dots don't even remotely connect here there were zero physical evidence linking Todd to anything that happened with the week-long trial complete jury was excused to deliberate and decide Todd mullis's fate [Music] [Music] after a week of testimony it was now up to the jury to decide if Todd Mullis had murdered his wife Amy I think the question is this not so much is Todd Mullis innocent of doing this I think the more critical question is did the state prove that he did it this woman who asked that we not use her name was an alternate juror who weighed all of the testimony and evidence as she watched the trial from where you're sitting did the prosecution do a good job I personally just wish that they would have been able to provide more forensic evidence and some of the 12 jurors who went into the Jury Room to decide Todd mullis's fate felt much the same way this juror who also did not want to use her name said the jury was split going into deliberations what was the initial field there was probably half at least that said he was guilty and then the rest were undecided there were some that had difficulties saying he was guilty when there was no Witnesses this was a big deal that you were basically sifting through circumstantial evidence and there was no witness to the crime yes that was a serious a serious verdict to come up with I am informed that the jury has reached a verdict after roughly seven hours of deliberation a verdict we the jury find the defendant Todd Michael Mullis guilty of the crime of Murder in the first degree guilty Amy mullis's family breathed the sigh of relief and Todd Muller subtly shook his head before being led out of the courtroom in Chains as this juror explained the jury reached a consensus by going back through all the evidence we talked about all the different scenarios it could have been and it was we couldn't come up with a plausible explanation but then we went back to Todd and all the points against him it was a series of unfortunate events that just didn't add up starting with Todd's decision to take the corn rake out of Amy's back and drive her away to get help before calling 9-1-1 I stand why he doesn't and the fact that he chose not to was that a big deal for you and she says Todd did not do himself any favors by taking the stand to me he seemed cold he was a cold fish you know he was probably a man of few words which a lot of farmers are but when you talk about things that they're passionate about like their families or their Farms or their wives or they usually can muster up some emotion then there were those internet searches we we concluded that they it was him it wasn't just a crime of passion he had premeditation after being found guilty Todd Mullis hired a new legal team and submitted a motion for a new trial as he awaited sentencing so now the issue is going to become a legal issue of did he get a fair trial was anything done wrong that shouldn't have happened Tad's motion claimed that among other things Todd's trial lawyers blatantly disregarded his guidance to argue that Amy died from an accident right from the start Amy Mullis was viciously and deliberately murdered when that happened Todd wrote on a sheet of paper what the f was that the job of the defense lawyer is not to convince the jury that Todd is innocent the job is to create Reasonable Doubt in the minds of the jury he should never have closed that door he should have left it open for the jurors to wonder well was it an accident or was it a murder the judge ruled on the motion as to the defendant's motion for new trial and motion in arrest of judgment I will deny those motions in their entirety we will go ahead and proceed with sentencing at this time before being sentenced Todd Mullis took one last chance to address the court I did not do this uh this is supposed to be America where you shouldn't have to prove your innocence I thought it was guilty until or uh innocent until proven guilty I feel this is the other way around and I was a faithful and loving husband [Music] Mr Mullis for the charge of Murder in the First Degree you are sentenced to life in prison with no opportunity for parole now as Todd Mullis is left to appeal his conviction from prison the ripples of Amy's death continue to be felt by all who loved her this case is a tragedy all around you have three beautiful children that not only lost their mother they lost their father at the same time what Todd Mullis did if he did do this is he acted selfishly in his own best interest to remove a potential problem in his life but he didn't think or think enough about his three kids and all of the other layers of trauma that would result four victims not one yeah at least at least [Music] foreign [Music] she has thought about killing her brother she is a danger to our family The Lost Child that haunted us we cannot be her parents anymore until we found her years later and heard her surprising story a new 48 Hours next on CBS

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 6,147,964

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news

Id: UrQPanA-S88

Length: 42min 12sec (2532 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 09 2022