Deputy Spivey on Trial

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Speaker 3 What is your emergency?

Speaker 4 A shot spot.

Speaker 3 What is your name?

Speaker 4 My name is Anon Spivey.

Speaker 5 Name my wife in the army.

Speaker 4 I accidentally shot her.

Speaker 3 You accidentally shot her?

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 6 Here's the police.

Speaker 5 Where you at, ma'am?

Speaker 5 Sir? Yeah. Come back here.
All right, where's the weapon? Right here.

Speaker 7 Stay away from it.

Speaker 5 I don't want to see it in your hand. You understand?

Speaker 5 Where's she at?

Speaker 6 Yeah. Where you at? Okay.
It's legit. All right.
Shutting the leg. Okay.

Speaker 5 We were arguing, tussling with the gun, and we had been arguing all day.

Speaker 7 Okay, go ahead and put your hands behind your back, okay?

Speaker 8 Renar Spivey was a long time deputy sheriff, and the deceased was his wife, Pat or Patricia Spivey.

Speaker 9 Spivey, who also worked for a time as a TV judge show bailiff, is now charged with his wife's murder.

Speaker 8 There was a lot of publicity because he had been on a very popular reality TV show, Justice for All with Christina Perez.

Speaker 1 All rise, court is now in session.

Speaker 11 He was the perfect person in front of everybody else. I think he thought the camera was always on.

Speaker 12 When it comes to how your mom died, do you think it was accidental?

Speaker 13 No.

Speaker 11 It just, it didn't make sense. It didn't line up.

Speaker 12 The security cameras. How important

Speaker 12 were the security cameras and the evidence?

Speaker 14 I think they were very important. On the surveillance, you clearly hear the three gunshots.

Speaker 12 One.

Speaker 8 Two,

Speaker 8 three.

Speaker 14 The prosecution's theory is that he shot her and then shot himself to cover it up.

Speaker 11 You don't accidentally shoot someone more than once.

Speaker 12 Was the autopsy consistent with an accidental shooting?

Speaker 14 Well, ultimately, I guess that's the million-dollar question.

Speaker 8 Whose finger was on the trigger?

Speaker 12 Who was the aggressor?

Speaker 8 She was threatening him with a gun.

Speaker 14 If he is the aggressor, then this is a murder. If she is the aggressor, this was either self-defense or an accident.

Speaker 12 This is the nine-millimeter millimeter gun.

Speaker 8 This is the actual gun.

Speaker 8 It's caught now. There is no external safety on this gun.
And so any slight pull of the trigger would cause it to go off.

Speaker 14 There was no single piece of physical evidence that really conclusively pointed towards a particular verdict.

Speaker 12 Did you intentionally shoot your wife?

Speaker 8 No, ma'am. i love my wife

Speaker 8 natalie morales reports deputy spivey on trial

Speaker 7 it was just after 3 a.m in the warm houston summer of 2019

Speaker 7 when first responders arrived at Renard and Patricia Spivey's home and found 52-year-old Patricia dead in the closet from multiple gunshot wounds, we can definitely see a wound in her abdomen right there.

Speaker 17 Okay.

Speaker 18 Will it be the entry point?

Speaker 8 It looks like it.

Speaker 17 We don't know if that's the only one, but that's definitely one there. This sounds alive.

Speaker 7 Her husband, Renard, had a bullet in his leg. He told officers the two had been arguing and fighting over a gun when it fired.

Speaker 18 Would you shoot us?

Speaker 19 We was tussling in the the chancellor in the hall bro?

Speaker 7 Renard Spivey, a sheriff's deputy with Harris County, worked as a bailiff in courts.

Speaker 8 You're a deputy, sergeant, lieutenant, deputy,

Speaker 7 and played a bailiff on TV

Speaker 7 for justice for all with Judge Cristina Perez.

Speaker 19 I'm giving you one more chance to tell you the truth.

Speaker 7 Renard didn't say much more about what happened. Police detained him and had him transported to a hospital.

Speaker 7 Patricia's 83-year-old father, who suffered from dementia, was also living with the spy beam.

Speaker 7 He was sleeping when the gunshots erupted.

Speaker 18 You didn't hear anything?

Speaker 17 I haven't heard anything.

Speaker 18 I know, we just need your statement.

Speaker 7 First responders on the scene wondered how a gun could go off multiple times by accident.

Speaker 18 Bliff, you get shot once, you're not going to make the gun go off again.

Speaker 8 That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 7 And why a man of Renard's size, around six foot three and weighing around 290 pounds, would need to struggle with his smaller wife to take control over a gun.

Speaker 18 Seeing you're that big and you're fighting for the gun?

Speaker 17 I don't know, but that was a big kid.

Speaker 18 This big dude was a big dude. She's got a bunch of trophies inside, bodybuilding trophies.

Speaker 18 She's got to call homicide.

Speaker 1 It just

Speaker 18 doesn't make sense, bro.

Speaker 11 It was more like, what happened?

Speaker 7 Because, like, I said. Patrina Marshall, Patricia's daughter from a previous relationship, arrived at the scene.

Speaker 8 Did my mom do something?

Speaker 11 Did Renard do something? Like,

Speaker 11 did somebody do something to them? Like, I didn't know what to expect.

Speaker 7 Patrina says an officer told her her mother had died during a struggle with her husband.

Speaker 12 When he told you she didn't make it, it had to be very tough to hear that.

Speaker 15 It was, but you held it together

Speaker 11 I don't know something really weird happened to me. I don't know.
It's just like I just kind of shut down

Speaker 11 and everything just became really numb.

Speaker 11 I still have not cried

Speaker 7 Betrina says she regrets not seeing her mom for one last time.

Speaker 8 I just didn't get that.

Speaker 11 And I'm like, man, so she just sitting in that closet just the whole time so oh my god I'm crying

Speaker 7 Patrina never thought her mother's life would end this way her mother fell quickly for Renard it was like her first everything

Speaker 7 that was her first house and it was Patricia's first marriage Renard's third when we met by dear like we kind of hit it off and stuff like that five years after Patricia's death Renard shared with us his feelings for Patricia she was a fun person

Speaker 8 She was spontaneous and she was just a beautiful person.

Speaker 7 Renard had popped the question in 2013 after Patricia pointed at a ring she liked at a store.

Speaker 8 Right there where the ring was. Come here, we'll show you.
I proposed, got on my knees, and proposed to her.

Speaker 12 And if she said yes right away.

Speaker 8 She said yes. And we had fun.
We celebrated in Hawaii.

Speaker 7 And then they built their dream house,

Speaker 7 a 3,000 square foot home with a three-car garage.

Speaker 7 But within a few hours of Patricia's death, Renard found himself under suspicion for murder. At the hospital, detectives wanted to interview Renard, but he refused.
He would later tell us why.

Speaker 12 At that point, had you already gotten an attorney?

Speaker 8 I had a union rep who was an attorney, and he came to the hospital. Union rep, we said, do not talk to him.

Speaker 7 While investigators tried to figure out how exactly the shooting unfolded, the medical examiner was conducting an autopsy on Patricia.

Speaker 7 According to the report, Patricia had multiple gunshot entry and exit wounds, the fatal shot piercing through her lungs and heart.

Speaker 7 48 Hours consultant and former prosecutor Lisa Andrews reviewed the case for us.

Speaker 14 The multiple shots is definitely what gives everyone a lot of pause as to why it's not an accident. The medical examiner ruled it a homicide, which is an intentional killing.

Speaker 7 On July 29th, 2019, Renard Spivey was charged with his wife's murder.

Speaker 12 What was that like for you now being behind bars for somebody who had been on the other side of the law for so long?

Speaker 16 It was tough.

Speaker 20 It was real tough.

Speaker 8 What I've been through, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

Speaker 7 Renard's twin sister, Renee Spivey Frazier, says she found out her brother was arrested when she got a call from a relative.

Speaker 20 And I just couldn't believe what I was hearing because I knew he loved her unconditionally.

Speaker 7 Renard's friend Gerald Graham, who Renard has mentored over the years, couldn't believe it either.

Speaker 8 He's the big brother, the father, the uncle. I just want to thank y'all for all the well-wishes.

Speaker 9 I have never seen Spivey

Speaker 8 in any kind of altercation.

Speaker 9 I never seen him raise his voice.

Speaker 7 Renard Spivey hired prominent criminal defense attorneys, brothers Dick and Mike DeGuerin, and Mike's son, Michael DeGuerin.

Speaker 8 One of the things that we were able to see in this case is they had a camera system in their home

Speaker 8 and I watched their relationship.

Speaker 8 We wanted to see if there was anything there to provide a motive. for wanting her to be harmed or dead or that there was trouble in the relationship.

Speaker 17 It was a very loving relationship, as I could tell.

Speaker 12 But yet, we know on that night, somebody went to bed angry.

Speaker 8 It looked like she went to bed angry.

Speaker 8 He did not.

Speaker 7 48 hours after he was charged with the murder of his wife, Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Renard Spivey posted bond, $50,000.

Speaker 8 I was in jail probably a couple of days.

Speaker 7 And returned to the house he used to share with Patricia, where investigators believed he intentionally shot her.

Speaker 12 When you walk in that door, do the memories come flooding right back?

Speaker 8 Well, as soon as you go in the door and then you go in the bedroom, Bam, it hits you.

Speaker 7 Renard Spivey insists his wife's death was an accident.

Speaker 8 I love my wife. You know, I did everything for anything, anything she wanted.
I always treated her like my queen.

Speaker 7 But Renard never gave a statement to police about how the events unfolded that night.

Speaker 7 And Patricia's family questioned the circumstances around her death and why Renard was free on bond. Patricia's cousin, Sybil Shepard.

Speaker 13 I don't think that his bond was high enough for for murder. Being a sheriff, I think he got a lot of privilege in that instance.

Speaker 7 Patricia's loved ones call her the caregiver of the family.

Speaker 11 She was kind of like the glue. Her being gone, really,

Speaker 11 is, you notice it that she's gone.

Speaker 13 She did anything that she could to help people out. And you can see that just from taking care of her dad, you know, just taking on that responsibility.

Speaker 7 Patricia worked as an executive assistant for the Methodist Hospital in Houston.

Speaker 13 She'd go visit people in the hospital. She would go take them food, send them flowers.
If nobody else was thinking of them, she was.

Speaker 11 She just was everywhere helping, taking pictures, giving her time, just real social.

Speaker 8 She was very accomplished.

Speaker 7 Renard's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, says the Spiveys had a good life.

Speaker 8 They were very happy.

Speaker 8 They went on cruises together. Every Friday night, they had a special dinner.

Speaker 12 How would you describe Renard Spivey?

Speaker 17 I mean, the idea of a gentle giant.

Speaker 8 His size was

Speaker 9 you can't avoid seeing how big he is.

Speaker 7 Renard has been a bodybuilder since his 20s. In the aftermath of his wife's death, he was placed under house arrest, but was allowed to continue with his training.

Speaker 8 Actually, during that period of time, it was more therapeutic for me because I've been doing it for 40 years.

Speaker 8 That's my love.

Speaker 7 He was also free to go to church and spend time with his family, but he resigned from his career of more than 20 years with Harris County Sheriff's Department. His TV career also took a hit.

Speaker 12 At the time of Patricia's death, I understand you were still taping

Speaker 12 the justice with Christina Perez show.

Speaker 8 They say before that, we were still taping. Then after that, we didn't do any more taping.

Speaker 7 Renard had portrayed the bailiff for nine years and taped more than 100 episodes.

Speaker 7 He told us it was something his wife really liked about him.

Speaker 12 And what did Patricia think of your television career?

Speaker 8 Oh, she loved it. She was excited.
And as a matter of fact, I took her to a couple of the Emmys.

Speaker 7 Patricia's childhood friend, Ezra Washington, had a small part as an extra on that show and remembered meeting Renard when Patricia and Renard got together.

Speaker 12 You recognized him right away, probably

Speaker 8 from his time.

Speaker 7 Renard and Ezra became close friends. But over time, even before Patricia married Renard, Ezra says Renard was controlling with her.

Speaker 8 They were at Papado's Friday night. You know, she'd have a few and he told her, don't drink no more.

Speaker 8 And she said, why? He was like, because I said so.

Speaker 8 And

Speaker 8 She dumped him.

Speaker 7 The couple got back together, but their problems hardly went away, says Ezra, and eventually impacted Patricia's relationship with her cousin Sybil.

Speaker 8 He didn't like Sybil at all. He literally just hated her.
She allowed Pat to have freedom.

Speaker 8 They would go on a cruise every year, and they party, have fun, and they meet people from other parts of the country.

Speaker 13 She definitely felt, you know, intimidated by the relationship, you know, that we had.

Speaker 7 Sybil says, after the couple got married, Patricia distanced herself.

Speaker 13 It was more so trying to just put that wedge

Speaker 13 between the two of us.

Speaker 8 And it worked.

Speaker 13 I just backed off from it. I didn't want to come between somebody and their marriage.

Speaker 11 It almost seemed like he was jealous of her relationships that he already knew she had. I mean, he met her.

Speaker 7 Patrina says her mom and Renard had no business being married. She says their relationship became strained once they moved into their new house.

Speaker 15 They argued quite a bit.

Speaker 12 What did she complain about with him?

Speaker 8 Mainly, it was libido,

Speaker 11 that he didn't want to sleep with her, and maybe she thought he was taking steroids because

Speaker 11 his whole demeanor changed and his attitude towards her changed. Like mood swings, a lot of up and down.

Speaker 14 Yes.

Speaker 7 Petrina says her mom looked up some of Renard's pills and told her she found proof Renard was using steroids.

Speaker 12 In the days leading up to the shooting, did it seem like things had intensified?

Speaker 15 Yes.

Speaker 7 Renard says he was never controlling with Patricia, but he doesn't deny there were issues in their marriage and says they began about a month before the shooting.

Speaker 8 She thought I was on steroids and stuff, and I was trying to get her to understand that

Speaker 8 my testosterone was low and I was going to a doctor.

Speaker 7 Renard says a doctor had prescribed him testosterone shots.

Speaker 12 What about the steroids?

Speaker 15 Were you taking steroids at that point?

Speaker 8 That was the replacement.

Speaker 8 It's called replacement therapy.

Speaker 8 That's not steroids.

Speaker 15 Did you feel like

Speaker 12 your moods were up and down too during the time you were getting those shots? Do the shots affect your mood? No, never.

Speaker 7 Renard had already told police the two two were arguing on that fatal night.

Speaker 8 And she thought I probably was cheating on her or something because we wasn't intimate anymore.

Speaker 15 And what did you say to her?

Speaker 8 I told her, no, that's crazy.

Speaker 7 Security footage in the Spivey's home recorded some of the couple's movements.

Speaker 12 She is sitting at the table at one point. You walk over to her.
What happened?

Speaker 8 When I walked over to her, I was getting ready to go to bed. And every time I walk over to her, she'd turn her phone down.
And then I was trying to kiss her. She said, I'm not kissing you.

Speaker 7 Renard says he was curious why Patricia was hiding her phone from him.

Speaker 7 After they went to bed, thinking that his wife was asleep, he says he grabbed her phone from her nightstand and brought it into the closet.

Speaker 8 I want to see what she was looking at. And so when I grab the phone, I'm thinking she's asleep.
I go in the master closet. It's dark.
And it wasn't seconds before, you know, pointing the gun at me.

Speaker 8 Give me my damn phone.

Speaker 7 Bernard says Patricia followed him into the closet with a gun.

Speaker 8 Then when I turned around and saw her finger on the trigger, I was scared for my life.

Speaker 8 When I turned around, she had the gun pointed at me.

Speaker 7 Tension between Renard and his wife Patricia turned frightening he says i was really scared because you know put your finger on the trigger unless you prepared to shoot when patricia threatened him with his gun

Speaker 12 where do you keep your gun uh on the on the dresser so it's on your side on my side

Speaker 12 yeah and is it always loaded it's always loaded Don't you talk somebody down? Like that's your police training is to de-escalate the situation?

Speaker 8 Well, I was afraid because I've I've never been in a situation like that before. So the best thing I knew in my training is to try to take the weapon away from him.

Speaker 7 Renard says he tried to do just that and things unfolded quickly.

Speaker 8 When I grabbed her wrist, I grabbed the top of the weapon. She pulled back with her finger on the trigger and it went off and shot me in the leg.

Speaker 12 So you got shot first?

Speaker 8 I got shot first.

Speaker 12 Then what happened?

Speaker 8 I was in the process of falling down. And when I tried to take the weapon away from me, it went off a couple more times.

Speaker 7 Two more times, he says, Patricia was hit in the chest and then hit by another bullet in her arm, as illustrated in the CBS News animation based on defense theory.

Speaker 8 We're certain. that the first shot that hit her went into her left chest, through her lungs, and into her heart.

Speaker 8 We think that the second shot that hit her hit her in the right arm and went basically in and out of the bicep and then into her upper right chest.

Speaker 7 But former prosecutor Lisa Andrews says it is not certain that only two shots struck her.

Speaker 7 The medical examiner thought it was possible Patricia's wounds were the result of three shots, one to the left chest, one to the right arm, and a third to her right chest.

Speaker 14 There's a lot of controversy about how many times she was actually shot.

Speaker 12 One shot is an accident. Three shots?

Speaker 14 Well, I mean, that's the question, right?

Speaker 7 Investigators poured over the home surveillance.

Speaker 7 Three gunshots are heard clearly.

Speaker 7 But authorities suspected Renard actually fired the gun four times.

Speaker 7 Three bullets fired at Patricia, and then one Renard would have fired at himself.

Speaker 7 Wounding his leg to make it seem that Patricia shot him.

Speaker 7 Investigators identified one piece of sound. You can hear it over the alarm ringing.

Speaker 12 Now this next clip

Speaker 12 picks up the tap.

Speaker 7 They say it's the gunshot recorded about a minute and a half after the three other shots.

Speaker 12 Different sound.

Speaker 14 Different sound.

Speaker 7 There was a reason they say it sounds different than the others.

Speaker 14 Their theory was that that sound, that fourth sound, was a gunshot in a different part of the house, and that was him shooting himself.

Speaker 7 Renard Spivey denies there was a fourth gunshot.

Speaker 12 That wasn't you shooting the fourth shot to then have

Speaker 12 a cover-up story. No, ma'am.

Speaker 7 Renard's attorneys, Dick and Michael DeGuerin, also listened to that surveillance tape.

Speaker 17 It is not a gunshot.

Speaker 7 They say the sound most likely is the click of another camera in the room being activated.

Speaker 8 And keep in mind, there were three empty cartridges that were found.

Speaker 7 But Lisa Andrews says there were other things that could point to Renard's guilt, like his call to 911.

Speaker 3 What is your emergency?

Speaker 4 A shot spot.

Speaker 3 Okay, sir. Is there an actual patient there? Is someone miss shot?

Speaker 4 Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 8 He's pretty calm.

Speaker 14 The demeanor does look pretty off to me.

Speaker 3 Okay, where's the patient?

Speaker 4 Are they on the floor?

Speaker 4 I'm shot too.

Speaker 14 They. He doesn't say my wife or she.

Speaker 14 It's an emotional step back from what has happened.

Speaker 7 It took Renard two and a half minutes to say he accidentally shot his wife.

Speaker 5 Yeah, my wife had an argument.

Speaker 4 I accidentally shot her.

Speaker 14 It's like he can't bring himself to say what he's done. For him not to reveal that information with two decades of law enforcement training, to me, that was consciousness of guilt.

Speaker 7 But Renard says he wasn't hiding anything.

Speaker 8 Well, when you traumatize and see your wife shot and you shot two at the same time,

Speaker 8 it's a lot.

Speaker 3 Where's the gun?

Speaker 8 you can hear the strain in his voice so you know he's in pain he was confused and

Speaker 8 probably going into shop

Speaker 7 but there are other things on that tape that caught andrew's attention

Speaker 3 so she is not awake and not breathing normally so we need to perform cpr on her

Speaker 3 I said we need to perform CPR on her.

Speaker 14 I thought this was also significant. I have no doubt he is trained in how to give CPR, perform it.

Speaker 7 You can hear what sounds like Renard doing chest compressions.

Speaker 8 One, two, three, four, five.

Speaker 7 But a little while later, you can see on the home security cameras, Renard takes a break without mentioning it to the 911 operator.

Speaker 3 Need to apply firm direct pressure to your wounds and her wounds, but we still need to continue the CPR.

Speaker 4 Okay, ma'am.

Speaker 12 He's on the phone with 911,

Speaker 15 holding the towel on his leg.

Speaker 14 Typically, when you're performing CPR, you don't take breaks.

Speaker 7 Renard says he went to unlock the garage door to make sure medics could get to his wife as soon as possible.

Speaker 8 I came right back and continue the chest compressions. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,

Speaker 8 seven.

Speaker 7 He is then heard breaking down.

Speaker 19 Ma'am, I'm here, Mr.

Speaker 3 Spivey. Just keep going.
Doing great, sir. If If you can continue, please continue.

Speaker 3 One, two, three, four, five, six,

Speaker 3 three, three, two, four.

Speaker 8 He loved her.

Speaker 8 Happy anniversary to you, too, dear. Happy anniversary to you.

Speaker 8 He really loved her.

Speaker 7 Renard's twin sister is not surprised her brother was emotional.

Speaker 20 She lost her life,

Speaker 8 and he still

Speaker 16 was

Speaker 8 hurting.

Speaker 7 but patricia's close friend ezra washington says just two days before patricia died she told him she was fed up with renard's controlling ways and his suspected steroid use which she blamed for the lack of intimacy in their relationship

Speaker 8 she said

Speaker 8 you know what

Speaker 8 she said i'm done she said i'm leaving

Speaker 7 ezra says on the day of the shooting he had multiple phone conversations with Renard and that Renard told him they were getting a divorce. Ezra claims he confronted Renard about steroids.

Speaker 8 I know you're on them steroids. Okay, okay, man.

Speaker 8 I did. I got some product from my boy because I wanted to get lean for the cruise, but I ain't doing it no more.
I said, stop lying.

Speaker 7 Ezra says he told Renard to just leave the home, but Renard made a comment about Patricia not getting the house.

Speaker 8 I'm a sure.

Speaker 8 I'm a sure. I said, man, don't be stupid.

Speaker 7 Ezra says he feels guilty for not reaching out to Patricia to warn her that night.

Speaker 8 I didn't call. I regret that to this day.

Speaker 7 But he told authorities about his conversations with Renard.

Speaker 8 I told him everything.

Speaker 7 As Patrina and Sybil waited for the case to go to trial, they had arrived at the same conclusion with Ezra: that Renard had intentionally shot and killed Patricia.

Speaker 11 It was more or less his actions afterwards. I didn't see any remorse from him.

Speaker 13 I don't think it was an accident.

Speaker 7 But Renard Spivey's loved ones were convinced he would walk out a free man.

Speaker 8 He would never ever intentionally pull a weapon to kill.

Speaker 8 I knew him, I knew he was going to get a not guilty verdict.

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Speaker 7 As Patricia Spivey's family waited for their day in court, the coronavirus pandemic stalled the proceedings. Four and a half years passed by.

Speaker 13 That's not justice.

Speaker 7 Renard remained under house arrest, but after some time, his lawyers successfully filed a motion to remove his ankle monitor. And Renard joined the world of dating apps.

Speaker 8 I probably was on maybe one or two of them, but you know, you get lonely. You need

Speaker 8 some friends or something like that.

Speaker 7 On November 28th, 2023, Renard Spivey was back in court. This time, not as a bailiff, but as the accused, facing a life sentence if convicted.

Speaker 13 He looked totally different. You know, he wasn't the clean-shaven, you know, he had the gray beard.

Speaker 7 The state told the jury Renard shot Patricia intentionally after she threatened to leave their marriage.

Speaker 14 The prosecution's theory is that almost like he snapped. He was angry.
They were arguing. He was being accused of things by her.

Speaker 7 But according to Spivey's attorneys, this was simply a case of self-defense.

Speaker 8 Self-defense fits because

Speaker 8 she was threatening him with the gun and he grabbed her wrist and the gun in his own defense.

Speaker 7 They say what happened next was an accident.

Speaker 8 It was an unintentional discharge of the gun.

Speaker 8 Several discharges of the gun.

Speaker 8 When he told me what kind of gun it was, I'd had experience. with that particular model of a Smith ⁇ Wesson semi-automatic.
Have it right there. There is no external safety on this gun.

Speaker 8 So if someone's finger is on that trigger, all it takes is a

Speaker 8 slight pressure and it goes off.

Speaker 8 With someone that's gripping and trying to wrestle with the gun, that's enough pressure to engage the trigger and to fire the gun.

Speaker 7 Dick DeGuerin says, once fired, the semi-automatic reloads itself instantaneously.

Speaker 8 It recharges in split seconds. Each time it's fired, it's ready to fire again.

Speaker 7 We went with DeGuerin to the doorway of the closet in Spivey's house.

Speaker 12 It's a pretty sizable closet.

Speaker 8 It's like a big closet. Big closet.

Speaker 7 Where he showed us what he says happened.

Speaker 8 He saw that she had her finger on the trigger. With his left hand, he grabbed her right wrist

Speaker 8 and put his right hand on the top of the gun. to force it down and she pulled back

Speaker 8 away from me okay and she did that, it shot, hit him in the left thigh.

Speaker 8 And as they fell, he grabbed her again and grabbed the gun and tried to twist it out of her hand.

Speaker 8 Her left hand came off.

Speaker 12 Okay. Left hand comes off.

Speaker 8 And the gun went off again and shot

Speaker 8 in the chest.

Speaker 7 Then Dick Aaron says the gun went off one more time and the third shot hit Patricia in the arm.

Speaker 8 Her hand by that time was in relationship to her body, almost vertical to her body. That's why when the bullet went in, it went in by her elbow, came back out, and went into her chest.

Speaker 7 Guerin says the powder burn mark on Renard's right hand proves he grabbed the gun as Patricia fired.

Speaker 8 When the gun fires,

Speaker 8 this is where the gunpowder that's been fired comes out, and that's what burned his right hand.

Speaker 7 But there was something that puzzled the prosecutors, and they raised it at trial.

Speaker 18 Where's she at?

Speaker 6 She's laying on the floor.

Speaker 7 In Renard's telling, he and Patricia were fighting at the entrance of the closet. But Patricia's body was found deep inside the closet.
Prosecutors believe it was because he cornered her.

Speaker 12 Her body, as I understand. Her body.
Where did it end up?

Speaker 8 Well, it ended up over in about the area that you are. But then after.

Speaker 12 And why, how did it end up here?

Speaker 8 Because that's where they fell.

Speaker 12 Where she fell.

Speaker 7 At trial, the defense team painted Patricia as the aggressor, and they point to her internet activity that evening to demonstrate, they say, that her frustration with her husband was building.

Speaker 7 At 2:49 a.m., Patricia posted this meme on Facebook: Characterize people by their actions, and you will never be fooled by their words. At 2:59 a.m., Patricia is seen on camera for the last time.

Speaker 7 At 3.01 a.m., prosecutors suspect Patricia had enough, and you can make out her saying the words, it's the same thing, over and over again.

Speaker 7 But DeGuerin says it is not clear what Patricia really meant.

Speaker 8 Maybe that's what she said, but what did it mean? It's ambiguous. What is she complaining about over and over again?

Speaker 7 At 3.03 a.m., Renard is seen in the kitchen, and then he goes into the bedroom. Four minutes later, at 3.07, you hear those three gunshots.

Speaker 8 They were in quick succession, inside of four seconds.

Speaker 7 And at trial, Renard Spivey told the jury his wife Patricia was the one firing.

Speaker 8 I didn't pull the trigger.

Speaker 12 No, your fingers weren't on the trigger.

Speaker 8 No, ma'am, not at all.

Speaker 7 DeGuerin says there is no evidence to contradict that. He says that a crime scene technician acknowledged at trial that the trigger was never separately swabbed for DNA.

Speaker 8 She said, well, I was afraid that the gun would go off again. Now, that tells you how dangerous that gun was.

Speaker 7 But Petrina says her mom was not the type of person who would pull a gun on anyone.

Speaker 11 My mom is not violent like that. It didn't make sense to me.

Speaker 7 Instead, Petrina believes her mom was in the closet that night because she was packing.

Speaker 11 I think she was trying to leave that night.

Speaker 7 Prosecutors had Ezra Washington tell the jury about those phone conversations with Renard, where Renard talked about his frustrations.

Speaker 8 I just want to get him the truth.

Speaker 8 Everything that came out of his mouth. That I know.

Speaker 7 But the prosecutors ran into a problem. They say Ezra told them he spoke to Renard using apps on his phone, and they were unable to find records of those calls.

Speaker 7 DeGuerin says he doesn't believe those conversations ever took place.

Speaker 12 Are you saying Ezra Washington then, when he testified because he was a key witness for the prosecution, was he lying when he talked about those phone calls?

Speaker 8 I wouldn't call him a key witness, particularly when we were able to show.

Speaker 8 that there was no record of those calls. He didn't talk to me.
He lied. He didn't talk to me.

Speaker 12 I mean, why would he make that up?

Speaker 8 I don't know why he would make that up.

Speaker 7 And Renard says he had no reason to kill his wife.

Speaker 12 Had there been conversations about separation or divorce between you and Patricia?

Speaker 20 No.

Speaker 12 She hadn't talked about leaving you?

Speaker 8 No. No.

Speaker 8 All is lies.

Speaker 7 As the case went to the jury, no one knew who the jurors were going to believe.

Speaker 16 It was tough.

Speaker 8 People point fingers at you. You did it.

Speaker 8 And I know deep inside that I didn't.

Speaker 8 If you were on the jury, what would be the most important evidence in this case? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X.

Speaker 8 I've never stopped having hope and have faith.

Speaker 7 On December 6th, 2023, after 12 hours of deliberations over two days, the jury and Renard Spivey's murder trial reached a verdict.

Speaker 8 My heart is, you know, I'm emotional. I don't know what to expect.

Speaker 7 And found him.

Speaker 8 Happy anniversary.

Speaker 13 Happy anniversary.

Speaker 8 Thanks, Mivey.

Speaker 7 Not guilty.

Speaker 8 I fall to the floor crying.

Speaker 8 Bull crying.

Speaker 8 my attorneys helped pick me up my family you know

Speaker 12 very emotional yeah all

Speaker 7 renard's sister renee was relieved i want it to be over with

Speaker 8 because i'm concerned about him i'm concerned about his well-being his life how he's handling this

Speaker 7 But she says there were no winners.

Speaker 20 She lost her life.

Speaker 8 And I was feeling for her and

Speaker 20 his life will never be the same.

Speaker 7 On the other side of the aisle, Patricia's family and friends say they couldn't believe the jury's decision.

Speaker 13 I'm just, I'm numb. I do not believe that she received justice at all.

Speaker 11 I feel like I held my breath and then

Speaker 11 not guilty.

Speaker 11 I don't understand how they got there. I didn't believe him.

Speaker 7 Renard's attorney says the jurors just weren't convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that his client was the one who fired that gun.

Speaker 8 I think it was very important to the jury that the prosecution never proved whose finger was on the trigger. And it's very important because the prosecution has a burden of proof.

Speaker 8 And the gun was so important.

Speaker 8 The fact that it's such a dangerous design of a gun that will go off so easily.

Speaker 14 There just wasn't enough evidence to disprove his story.

Speaker 7 Since the trial, Patricia's family say they've had a hard time processing their loss.

Speaker 13 Felt like it was way too soon for me to be at her funeral. Facebook has this

Speaker 13 memories

Speaker 13 and just seems like every other day our pictures will come up. I think about the times that we shared.

Speaker 15 The good times.

Speaker 11 My mom was still important. Like she was important to me.

Speaker 11 I just miss that unconditional love.

Speaker 11 I have no anchor. Like she's gone.

Speaker 8 So

Speaker 11 she was my

Speaker 8 anchor. Yeah.

Speaker 8 So, yeah.

Speaker 8 Well, I'm hurting. So I know how they feel.

Speaker 8 Actually, I would like to, you know, come to their family, go to their family and say, hey, look, you know, I loved her.

Speaker 8 You know, and they knew that.

Speaker 8 It's no doubt in my mind. that they knew I loved Patricia Marshall.

Speaker 7 Renard says, since his acquittal, he has been active in his community.

Speaker 8 I work for an organization and a volunteer for healing for hoodies.

Speaker 8 And we feed the homeless every Sunday.

Speaker 7 Leaning on his family and friends.

Speaker 8 A lot of the officers, a lot of other people, we knew that you didn't do that.

Speaker 8 We knew that you would get, you know, found not guilty. We know you.
We know your character. We know what type of person you are.

Speaker 12 I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

Speaker 8 God is good. God is good.

Speaker 7 But he says he still misses his wife.

Speaker 8 You remember stuff that she used to like.

Speaker 8 You remember the music.

Speaker 8 You remember the food she liked.

Speaker 8 You know, what color dress,

Speaker 8 certain things she liked. You remember all that.

Speaker 8 So every day,

Speaker 8 it's a challenge.

Speaker 8 I can't sleep at night

Speaker 8 with it every day.

Speaker 22 Join me Tuesday Tuesday for post-mortem from 48 Hours, where we'll dive even deeper into today's episode and answer your questions about the case.