Melissa Patterson

Hey, it's Stephanie Gomolko with oxygen.com.

When I'm running a marathon, I have enough to worry about.

My hydration, to my time, to how my knee is feeling.

The last thing I need to worry about is blisters.

Thanks to Bombas, that hasn't been an issue.

Don't let bad socks and blisters stop you in your tracks either.

Bombas make slides, socks, and seamless essentials to keep up with however you pace your days.

Bombas offers sweat-wicking blister fighting and impact cushioning socks.

You can also order Bombas abroad.

That's right, along with the U.S., they now ship internationally to over 200 countries.

Head over to bombas.com and use code snapped for 20% off your first purchase.

That's bombbas.com, code snapped at checkout.

Affordable and easy access to therapy is something everyone should have.

It can help you find the silver linings even during tough times.

Telehealth is one-way accessibility is more convenient than ever.

Thanks to Rula.

Rula isn't just affordable.

They stick with you throughout your journey to make sure you're getting the best therapy and that you're making progress.

With Rula, every provider is carefully vetted and chosen for their expertise, making the first step towards better mental health easy.

Rula starts by asking you some questions about what is important to you and then provides a list of licensed providers who match your preferences.

You can have an appointment as soon as the next day.

Thousands have already trusted Rula to support them on their journey toward improved mental health and overall well-being.

Head over to rula.com slash snapped to get started today.

After you sign up, they ask where you heard about them.

Please support our show and tell them our show sent you.

Go to rula.com/slash snapped and take the first step towards better mental health today.

You deserve quality care from someone who cares.

Theirs was a love story that stood the test of time.

He married a soulmate, and they were meant to be.

And it was obvious.

I mean, they were married for over 50 years.

But after more than a half century together, time finally catches up with them.

There's a fire truck, an ambulance in front of my dad's house.

When I had heard that he had a heart attack, it made sense to me.

After 96 years of life, sometimes the body quit.

Yet things aren't what they seem.

The story seems so far-fetched, they had a hard time believing it.

There had been approximately $200,000, which were misappropriated.

To uncover the appalling truth, detectives must navigate a trail of he said she said.

He picked up the phone, started telling me I was trying to murder him, I was trying to steal his money.

She was hired to work at his house, but he didn't trust her.

She just seemed like someone who had something to hide.

She felt that he could potentially cause harm to her.

He fought for his life.

New Bronfalls, Texas.

At 9:40 a.m.

on January 28th, 2015, Mark Nell is leaving for work when he gets a call from McAllen, Texas, where his 96-year-old father, Marty Nell, lives.

That's the neighbor across the street telling me there's a fire truck, an ambulance in front of my dad's house.

As Mark begins the four-hour trip south, he asks the neighbor to keep him updated.

I was getting a play-by-play over the phone from her.

Desperate for more information, Mark decides to contact his father's caretaker and close friend, Melissa Patterson.

I told the neighbor, well, let me call you back.

I'm going to try to get in touch with her.

And I texted Melissa.

Minutes later, Melissa calls Mark back with news from his father's housekeeper, Celestina Mascoro, who had called emergency responders.

Celestina says, Hey, I don't know, he just had a heart attack and they're trying to revive him.

As Mark races down the highway, he prays his father will still be alive when he gets there.

I needed to get down there right away to help him.

Raised by a West Virginia coal miner during the Depression, Marty Nell always pushed himself to succeed.

He was extremely gifted in baseball and basketball.

Started working in the coal mines somewhere in his high school years.

He was tough as nails.

However, when Marty started dating fellow classmate Penny Fletcher, it was clear he'd met his match.

My mom was a wonderful lady, beautiful, fiery, didn't take any gruff off anybody.

They were meant to be.

And it was obvious.

In the summer of 1941, the couple wed.

A few months later, the United States entered World War II.

Marty wasted no time enlisting.

He was

real patriotic all his life.

He'd registered with the Army.

He was a good pilot.

So they promoted him out of his trainer position to sergeant.

While Marty trained paratroopers, Penny worked as an operator at an up-and-coming telecommunications company.

Penny had worked for a small company at the time back in the day when she started working with them.

She decided to take stock instead of pay.

She was really good at her job, and they kept trying to promote her, and she kept turning them down because it required moving.

After the war ended, the company finally convinced Penny to take a chief operator position at their branch in McAllen, Texas.

Marty left the Army and worked in McAllen as a mail carrier.

While their careers flourished and they were more in love than ever, the couple still felt like something was missing.

They were unable to have children.

When they thought they were financially able, they decided to adopt, and

they adopted me in 1953.

During those years that I was growing up, they sang together in the house, danced a lot, laughed and giggled.

My mom and dad had an awesome relationship.

By the 1980s, after Mark had grown up and started a family of his own, Penny and Marty began to think about retirement.

By this time, the company Penny had been working with since the 1940s had become the global telecommunications giant known as AT ⁇ T.

And it turned out that Penny's choice to be paid in stock was a wise one.

She still had all that stock, and they were worth over a million dollars now.

Even though they were millionaires, Penny and Marty focused on living modestly, spending time with their grandchildren, and staying as active as possible.

My grandpa would get up at four in the morning pretty regularly and do his exercises for like an hour every morning.

My son Doug tried to do the same workout with him

and I think my son lasted 15 minutes.

By 2014 as the couple approached their 90s, Age started to catch up with them.

My mom fell in the house and fractured her pelvis.

She had to go to the hospital.

She was in there for quite some time.

My papa was staying up all night with her.

He's dealing with all the stress.

In September 2014, doctors cleared Penny to return home from the hospital.

But Marty was still worried about her.

He probably just didn't feel like he was going to be able to take care of her.

And the nurse told me that she could go to the Comfort House.

Comfort House was a non-profit care and hospice center run by a former speech pathologist named Melissa Patterson.

I made arrangements with the Comfort House to show up in Mac Allen and sign all the paperwork.

Marty visited Penny several times a week and developed close relationships relationships with the Comfort House staff, including Melissa.

Melissa Patterson starts providing him with food.

She starts caring for him.

I was

glad somebody was there to help him.

It was a good relationship.

By October, Penny seemed to be improving.

She's starting to put on weight and she's recovering.

She was happy.

She was, you know, regaining her health.

Their anniversary was on the 23rd and we were planning to go down for the anniversary to spend it with them.

But on the day of the couple's 74th anniversary party, Penny took a sudden turn for the worse.

Melissa saw us and told us that she didn't think my mom was going to last.

My first reaction was, well, I thought she was doing better.

It was a little bit of confusion initially.

Melissa, she took us back to my mom's room.

Her mouth was so dry that she was croaking instead of talking.

She was still breathing.

Heart was still beating, but she passed away at nine.

I just said to myself, well,

she's been sick for a year.

She's nearing the end of her life.

She's weak.

It makes sense that she passed away at this age.

As for Marty, he was beyond devastated.

He'd spent all his life with Penny, and without Penny, he was pretty much lost.

That was his love of his life.

He did everything for her.

His whole life revolved around her.

He started to be a little bit more introverted.

We noticed the degradation in his mental and his emotional side of things.

Though Marty wasn't a resident of Comfort House, its director, Melissa Patterson, stepped in to help him.

Ms.

Patterson became his friend and they came very close.

He was going to have Thanksgiving with Melissa and her family.

I thought to myself, I said, wow, she's trying to help him out out of the good of her heart.

I thought that was pretty awesome.

Melissa also enlisted the services of a friendly, kind-hearted housekeeper named Celestina Moscoro.

When you're 96 years old, old, every day becomes so vitally important, and he was able to spend it with good people.

But now, on the morning of January 28th, as Mark Nell races to his parents' home in McAllen, he hopes this day won't be his father's last.

Celestina called 911.

She believed that

Artie Nell had had a heart attack and asked for an ambulance to be sent.

And they started administering CPR, which is her common protocol.

Within minutes, Marty's friend, Melissa Patterson, also arrives, bearing a heavy message she's legally obligated to deliver.

She's saying, don't resuscitate him.

And then she's crying, and Melissa hands the directive not to resuscitate to the EMS.

And they say, well, it's good.

It's accurate.

So stop and cease all life-saving procedures.

Because of his age and because what Celestina Moscoro had told them, everybody just accepted that it was a heart attack.

With Mark still en route, Melissa phones him again and delivers the terrible news.

She called back and

told me.

Your dad just died.

Coming up, is there more to Marty's death than meets the eye?

Celestina Moscoro heard sounds consistent with the struggle.

And can investigators trust those closest to Marty?

She believed that the son was after his money.

After EMTs in McAllen, Texas declare 96-year-old Marty Nell dead.

His housekeeper, Celestina Mascoro, tells police that the morning had started out like any other.

Celestina fixed Marty breakfast, then began to do some cleaning.

When she returned to the kitchen, she found Marty slumped over the table.

At the time, saw no obvious signs of foul play.

Someone that age could go at any minute.

You don't have to be suffering from a condition.

After 96 years of life.

Sometimes the body quits.

By the time Mark arrives in McAllen, the coroner has already transferred his father's body to the morgue.

My dad wanted to live to be 100.

At that point, he's 96 years old.

His mind was still capable, but his body didn't respond.

When I had heard that he had had a heart attack, it made sense to me.

He was 96.

That sounds totally logical.

Three days later, on January 31st, 2015, friends and family gathered to celebrate Marty Nell's life and bury him with full military honors.

It was just going to be a graveside service, military.

21 guns salute.

The family members there.

They've just lost their papa and their dad.

You know, there's friends of his there, people that actually cared about him and knew him.

Although Marty has been laid to rest, the investigation into his death is just beginning.

On the morning of February 24th, 2015, nearly a month after Marty's death, his housekeeper, Celestina Mascoro, comes forward with a startling confession.

Celestina walked into the Texas Rangers headquarters in Westlico and asked asked to speak to someone.

She was scared.

Celestina Moscoro

advised the Rangers that she had witnessed the murder of Martin Nell.

According to Celestina,

on the morning of Marty's death, he received a phone call from Melissa Patterson.

There was an argument between Melissa Patterson and Martin Nell on the phone, and he was visibly upset.

Celestina claims that a short time later, Melissa showed up at Marty's house.

Melissa came into the house and there was an argument between Mr.

Nell and Melissa.

Melissa asked Celestina to step out into the garage.

Celestina exited the house and observed a subject she knew with Mario sitting in Melissa Patterson's vehicle.

He worked odd jobs there at the Comfort House, so she knew who he was.

Melissa Patterson came and motioned for Mario to come into the house.

Celestina stated that as they entered the residence, she was stopped by Melissa Patterson in the garage.

She heard Melissa Patterson tell Mario to do what he had to do.

Celestina Moscoro heard sounds consistent with a struggle coming from inside the residence, a muffled yelling from Martin Mell.

According to Celestina, a few minutes later, Melissa and Mario came back into the garage.

Melissa began giving Celestina instructions, saying that she was to wait 30 minutes before calling authorities to tell them that she had found Mr.

Nell and that he wasn't breathing.

According to Celestina, Patterson warned her that if she said anything about what happened, bad things would happen to her.

And then Mario told her basically the same thing

celestina tells the rangers that when she called 911 she followed melissa's instructions to a t

she felt threatened by mario she felt that he could potentially cause harm to her and she was afraid that melissa patterson may have someone

try to cause harm to celestina as well

Celestina's story is a game changer, but is it true?

The story seems so far-fetched, if you will, that I think that they had a hard time believing it.

The question to ask Ms.

Mascoto, how are you so cool about all of this?

Can you explain the 911 call to me?

Why did you go along with it?

She doesn't report a crime.

She reports a natural death.

And for months and for days, she's part of this alleged conspiracy.

And that was extremely concerning.

She just seemed like someone who had something to hide.

Texas Rangers share this new information with the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office.

Two days later, investigators arrive at Comfort House to speak with Melissa Patterson.

In the initial meeting with Melissa Patterson, no accusations were made by investigators.

It was just to elicit any information that she might provide about the death of Martin Elm.

Melissa explains how she and Marty became close after his wife Penny passed away at Comfort House.

He trusted her enough to confide in her about his wealth.

He lets it be known that he has invested wisely and that he's a millionaire.

Melissa says that Marty told her he planned to leave some money to his church, some to Comfort House, some to his grandchildren, and none to his son, Mark.

His relationship with Mark grew a little bit stagnant.

It wasn't a very good relationship.

She believed that the son was after his money.

Melissa explains that Marty asked her to make sure Mark didn't try to take advantage of him.

Mr.

Nell unequivocally said that he wanted Ms.

Patterson to take care of his affairs.

According to Melissa, Marty asked her to be executor of his estate and gave her power of attorney.

He wanted someone to be able to take care of him.

Melissa hired Celestina Mascoro to look after Marty during the week.

However, Melissa says that just before he passed away, Marty called her furious and accused Celestina of stealing from him.

I think that there was cash inside the house that he kept.

She must have known where it was at.

And some of that money was not completely accounted for.

Melissa explains that before she could confront Celestina, she received the devastating news of Marty's death.

There's no doubt that she feels bad about what happened to Ms.

Chanel.

All the way around, it's just an overwhelming feeling of sadness.

After speaking with Melissa, authorities decide not to tell her about Celestina's accusations.

We knew that there were contradictions between what Celestina Moscora was telling us and what Melissa Patterson was telling us.

Although police lack evidence of a murder taking place, they must try to determine why Celestina waited to come forward.

Was it because she was scared, or was she stealing from Mr.

Nell as Melissa Patterson claimed?

The only one I could draw was that she got very desperate because she felt she was going to get caught for having taken so much money.

And what about Melissa's other claims?

Melissa was suspicious that Mark was was only interested in his money.

Coming up, detectives confront a grieving son.

He started telling me I was trying to murder him, I was trying to steal his money.

And a witness IDs a key suspect.

Laid out the photos.

She looked through.

He described her face going white.

As much as I'd love to hold on to summer for as long as I can, I get excited for fall by thinking about my wardrobe, cozy sweaters, layering my scarves.

Quince nails it with luxury essentials that make your capsule closet effortless, easy, and always so stylish.

Think chic cashmere wraps or cotton sweaters.

The best part, with Quince, everything is half the cost of similar brands.

They work directly with top artisans and cut out the middleman to give you luxury without the markup.

One classic I've been using every day since I got them is the Bally Polarized Sunglasses in green.

They're great for road trips, pumpkin patches, or early mornings.

I don't want to risk my eyesight for style, so I'm glad Quince offers polarized frames in a cute style.

I've also been eyeing the Italian leather laptop backpack for a while.

I might just have to check out my cart right after this.

Elevate your fall wardrobe essentials with Quince.

Go to quince.com/slash snapped for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.

That's q-u-in-ce-e.com/slash snapped to get free shipping and 365 day returns.

Quince.com/slash snapped.

Candice Rivera has it all.

In just three years, she went from stay-at-home mum to traveling the world, saving lives and making millions.

Anyone would think Candice's charm life is about as real as Unicorn's.

But sometimes the truth is even harder to believe than the lies.

Not true.

There's so many things not true.

You gotta bleed.

I'm Charlie Webster, and this is Unicorn Girl, an Apple original podcast produced by Seven Hills.

Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.

Four weeks after the death of 96-year-old Marty Nell, accusations of murder have emerged.

Investigators have three persons of interest.

Marty's housekeeper, Celestina Mascoro, the executor of his estate, Melissa Patterson, and his own son, Mark Nell.

On March 2nd, 2015, Texas Rangers request an interview with Mark.

They asked me if I was going to be in the valley anytime soon.

I told them, yeah.

And they said, would you mind meeting with us?

And I said, no, by all means.

They went and talked to him, interviewed him about what he knew about his father's death.

Mark tells investigators that after his mother died, he began to worry his father's mental health was deteriorating.

On December 3rd, I called down to his house and he started telling me I was trying to murder him.

I was trying to steal his money.

I was trying to get control of him.

He was suspicious that Mark was only interested in his money.

That pissed me off.

And finally, I just told him goodbye.

Last time I ever talked to him.

Mark explains that after his father shut him out, Melissa stepped in as a go-between for father and son.

The only information I was getting was from Melissa.

She's taken him to the doctor, took him to

Thanksgiving at her house.

Mark says it wasn't until his dad passed away that Mark realized just how much control Melissa had over Marty's life.

The day after my dad died, I couldn't get into the house.

She had changed all the locks on my dad's house.

We got involved.

And what gives you the right, you know, to do this?

At that point, Melissa goes to her truck, pulls out a copy of the wheel, and shows Mark that I'm the executrix of the property.

I'm the one named in the wheel.

Mark tells authorities he and his family were immediately suspicious.

He said that he thought that Patterson had manipulated Marty into changing over all of his financials to her and that he didn't trust her.

I think she just saw a great opportunity on a weakened old man who had lost his wife, who needed somebody, and she had this authority figure of trust.

She swooped in and took every advantage she could.

After speaking with Mark, authorities decide to take a closer look at Melissa Patterson.

Her family is a longtime political family.

You would call it a local dynasty if you want.

She's a member of the community for as long as I've been here.

And her family was very involved.

Her father was a county commissioner for many years and she's got a brother who's a county court law judge.

So they were very, very involved.

They were a high-profile family.

Melissa's mother was an administrator in our school district.

Her father was a school board member in the district, and he was also mayor of San Juan.

Though Melissa's family has a long history of public service, her actions in the days after Marty Nell's death were eyebrow-raising.

However, detectives feel that Melissa has been far more consistent in her account than Marty's housekeeper, Celestina Mascoro.

The story was slightly different about how he'd been found unresponsive by his housekeeper.

The first thing in my mind, I started to question whether or not she was being truthful.

Authorities bring Celestina back for another interview.

Once again, she says Marty was murdered by a man named Mario, and Melissa was somehow involved.

To back up her claims, Celestina recounts how she got the job looking after Marty.

Patterson had hired Celestina to work at Nell's house, and the supposition from that was that she just wanted eyes and ears at his house to keep Mark away from the dad.

If Mark called, Celestina Moscoro was under the instructions not to let him talk to Martin Nell.

She was acting as an interference.

When asked about Mario, Celestina reiterates that she doesn't know his last name.

Though he has called her before about maintenance issues at Marty's house.

He had fixed the shower at the Nell house.

They wanted to figure out who Mario was, and so they went through her phone records and she was able to pick out a phone number for him.

They entered that into Facebook and they came up with a picture of Angel Mario Garza.

The next morning, Celestina Moscuro came in again.

We used a booking photo of Mario Garza from a previous jailing.

We presented a photo lineup to Celestina Moscoro.

We laid out the photos and she looked through that and saw him and I think he described her face going white.

She positively identified Panhill Mario Garza as being the Mario that was at Martin Nell's residence and participated in his murder.

The positive ID ramps up the investigation.

We began attempting to corroborate the story of Celestina Mascoro.

We started by obtaining search warrants for cell phone records.

Melissa Patterson had always said that she was never at the house until she got called out there at the time of the MS arriving.

Cell phone records obtained showed all three subjects were placed at the residence during the time that Martin Mell was reportedly murdered.

That was strong evidence

that they were not truthful to my investigators at the very beginning.

With Celestina Mascoro's account seemingly confirmed, authorities asked her to perform an important and dangerous assignment.

Texas Rangers and the sheriff's office investigating the case wanted to see if Melissa Patterson would admit to any role in the death of Mr.

Nell.

And in order to get Melissa's confession, they planned to use Celestina as bait.

The law enforcement had microphoned Celestina and they had agents with cameras to film and record their conversation.

On July 5th, 2015, five months after Martinelle's death, Celestina sits down with Melissa.

Celestina Moscoro confronted Melissa Patterson with the accusation that she had murdered Martin Nell.

Melissa kept telling Celestina that she was wrong and so on and so forth.

Didn't know what she was talking about.

There was no overt admission that, yes, I committed the murder.

Yes, I know what you're talking about.

But she doesn't come across as a person who didn't do something.

Coming up, can a new witness shed light on what really happened to Marty Nell?

The bank accounts were basically stripped clean.

She had filed a report and she called Adult Protective Services and detectives inch closer to the truth.

He says he's not the one who actually killed Marty Nell.

Texas investigators looking into the death of Marty Nell believe Marty's caretaker, Melissa Patterson, has not been fully honest with them.

Yet they still don't have proof his death was a murder.

We didn't know where it was going at the time, so we needed more information.

The next lead comes when authorities discover an Adult Protection Services report filed two months before Marty's death by a bereavement counselor named Raquel Ibarra.

Raquel, she had called the police department and she filed a report and she called Adult Protective Services.

When detectives speak with Raquel, she explains the incident that initially gave her concerns.

She was providing services to Martinelle, bereavement services, and counseling because Penny Nell had passed.

And at one of the visits, she's talking to Martinelle and Martinelle's upset.

According to Raquel, Marty had just learned that the beneficiary on his stock accounts had been changed.

Melissa Patterson was now named as the transfer on death.

If he passed away, it would go to her.

He was upset saying that, why did this young lady do this?

Why she didn't have the authority to do it.

Raquel says that Marty called Melissa and demanded an explanation.

She's like, well, you know, calm down, Marty.

I'll be right there.

I'll be right there.

And she shows up.

And Martin is upset.

saying, you need to change this back to me.

Nobody gave you the authority to do this.

Raquel explains that Melissa refused to talk in front of her.

She asked Raquel to leave because she's saying this is information, it's privileged information that she can't hear.

So she leaves, but she calls APS and she reports it.

To detectives, Raquel's story begins to unravel Melissa's possible motive.

We believe that Melissa Patterson was attempting to take advantage of an elderly individual to gain his trust in order to take his assets.

On August 25th, 2015, investigators bring in Mario Garza to hopefully confirm their suspicions.

Mario explains that he works part-time at Comfort House and that in January of that year, Melissa confided in him that she was about to become a rich woman.

She said that shortly prior to Martin Mill's death, he changed his last will and testament to make herself the beneficiary of his estate.

He says that Patterson approached him to help murder Nell or get rid of him.

In exchange for him helping out, she would share with him some of the proceeds from Nell's estate.

Mario admits that he agreed to the deal, and on January 28th, 2015, Melissa drove him to Marty's house.

When she gave him the signal, Mario says he went inside to do the deed, but lost the courage to follow through with the plan.

He says in his confession that he's not the one who actually killed Marty Nell, it was Patterson.

Plastic bags were placed over his head and had Mr.

Nelf off for his life

trying to breathe.

He lays out the story in such great detail that it would be hard to fabricate.

So, after he gave his confession, he was taken into custody.

It seems Celestina Mascoro had been telling the truth after all.

The case never would have developed without her.

Had she not gone to the Texas Rangers, had she remained silent, then they would have gotten away with it.

Now, with Mario Garza in custody, detectives set their sights on Melissa Patterson.

On August 26, 2015, they arrive at Comfort House.

We spoke to Melissa Patterson and asked her to accompany us for an interview.

At that point, she just says, I don't want to talk to you anymore.

I want my attorney present.

And so then at that point, they say, well, we're going to go ahead and arrest you for the charge of capital murder.

Her family is a prominent family in the community.

I personally know the father and the brother.

So it was devastating having having to arrest a daughter of a personal friend of mine.

But as a sheriff of this county,

we had to do what we had to do.

Although Melissa doesn't stay in jail for long, her wealthy parents quickly come to the rescue, posting her $500,000 bond.

But her family connections can't save Melissa from the judgment of the community.

It was big news because here you had the daughter of the former Mayor San Juan Precinct Commissioner being arrested for the murder of a 96-year-old World War II veteran.

I was totally surprised.

It was shock and disbelief.

I didn't even experience anger yet.

By now, it's clear the tension between Marty Nell and his son, Mark, was completely manufactured by Melissa.

She was telling him that I was trying to kill him.

She was telling him that I was trying to steal his money.

Melissa did what so many people like her do in those situations.

They start to estrange the person from family and friends and so forth.

With Melissa in custody, investigators work hard to solidify their case against her.

The sheriff's investigator called and asked how I would feel about exhuming my dad's body.

I agreed to it.

So they got a court order and went out and dug up his coffin and there was an autopsy performed.

He had a couple of broken ribs on his back.

It could have been consistent with him being held down.

Infrared light also reveals suspicious marks on Marty's neck.

There were signs of trauma, which were consistent with the accounts given by Celestino Moscoro and Mario Garzin.

Soon after Melissa's arrest, the chairman of the Comfort House Board notifies investigators that Marty Nell's murder might not be the only crime Melissa Patterson has committed.

When she was arrested, he began to realize that there were lots of missing funds.

A full audit will take some time, but with the scope of Melissa's crimes coming into focus, investigators turned their attention to another untimely death in the Nell family.

There's more to that story about my mom.

Her birth was hastened.

Everybody did have questions as far as Penny Nell's death, but we chose to focus on Martin Nell's.

When the discussion of exhuming her was discussed, it's likely we're not going to find anything, so it may not be worth it to go through all this.

Mark didn't want to disinter both of them, and we were establishing a lot more evidence on Martin Nell's death.

Two months after the arrests, the chairman of Comfort House's board reports that their audit is complete.

The Comfort House bank accounts were basically stripped clean.

Coming up, Melissa Patterson's case goes to trial.

Will she be able to dodge a life sentence?

She thought she could outsmart them all.

Or will the Nell family get the justice they so desperately seek?

We were up against the most prominent defense attorneys to ever work in our county.

Two months after the arrest of hospice director Melissa Patterson, an audit of Comfort House's records has revealed she's been embezzling from the organization since day one.

There had been approximately $200,000 of Comfort House's funds which were misappropriated by Melissa Patterson.

She had basically cleaned them out.

She had cleaned out their investment account.

All of the operating accounts were cleaned up.

There was no money to even make payroll.

She even expended approximately $20,000 in Comfort House's funds on her son's graduation party.

She loved the highlight.

She loved to party, loved to go to Vegas, go out, drink it up.

All that takes money.

Melissa didn't just clean out Comfort House.

Investigators discover that after Marty Nell's death, Melissa transferred over $230,000 from his accounts into her own.

Melissa Patterson had the power of attorney and most of his financial accounts had been turned over to her.

It's all gone.

So there are large sums of money that are still missing and unaccounted for.

I think Melissa was used to having what she needed when she needed it.

She came from a family that was well-to-do.

So that's why I always ask, why would Melissa do this?

In looking into Melissa's finances, investigators uncover a possible motive beyond mere greed.

Through the investigation, we learned that Melissa Patterson was in debt to the IRS

and several other organizations.

She had gone bankrupt from her speech therapy job.

She had liens against her of close to the tune of $300,000.

Faced with the possibility of having to claim bankruptcy, you never know how one

is going to react to that.

On September 25th, 2017, Melissa's trial begins.

Among the charges are theft from a nonprofit, misapplication of fiduciary property, and capital murder.

But Melissa Patterson isn't going down without a fight.

It was Craig Thompson and myself up against eight defense attorneys, and out of those eight, they were probably

four of the most prominent defense attorneys to ever work in our county.

Prosecutors open their case by detailing Melissa's outrageous spending and her pending bankruptcy.

They argue that Melissa saw Comfort House and the Nells seven-figure estate as a ticket out of the red and into the black.

But things didn't go as planned.

He had changed his mind and he was going to try and roll everything back.

Get his will back, take everything back.

He was pissed.

He didn't trust her.

According to the prosecution, on the morning of his death marty confronted melissa he had an argument with melissa patterson and the phone call was to bring the wills over so he can have the wills rewritten to change the beneficiary that's when prosecutors allege that melissa's greed drove her to murder

that was a pretty strong motive at that time

to make sure that that would never happen.

To prove their case, prosecutors turn to the statement of Mario Garza.

Mario didn't testify in her trial.

Mario pled guilty later on at a separate hearing.

Then he said Melissa had killed Mr.

Nell.

When it's the defense's turn, they attempt to pin the crime on Mario.

Our attorney gave the same kind of spiel that they'd been going through the trial that it was all perpetrated by the housekeeper and Mario.

Though she's paid for the best attorneys in the county, Melissa isn't taking a back seat.

We noticed that she was picking which of the attorneys would do the questioning.

She was trying to tell them what questions to ask.

I think she thought she was smarter and better than everybody in that courtroom.

She thought she could outsmart them all.

On November 1st, 2017, after just three hours of deliberations, the jury proves Melissa wrong.

Melissa Patterson was found guilty on all counts in the indictment, to include the capital murder.

When it actually came through that she was guilty, I was just like,

thank God justice has been served.

The judge sentences Melissa Patterson to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Even after she's sentenced, Melissa never once expresses regret for what she did.

There's no remorse.

There's no regret.

She's never going to feel bad about what she did.

For the Nell family, Marty's story is a stark reminder that seniors, who should be society's most revered citizens, are sometimes its most vulnerable targets.

Children in their 40s and 50s who have aging parents, they really don't know that how many predators are out there.

It definitely never entered my thought process that someone was trying to take advantage of them.

You gotta know who your parents are hanging around and who's hanging around them.

Don't hesitate to break knees when you know that something that's not right.

I feel like if I had man-handled the situation with my mom and my dad, that I would have had both of them for a lot longer.

Melissa Patterson is currently housed at Christina Melton Crane Unit in Gatesville, Texas.

Mark Nell has filed a civil suit against her to try and reclaim his father's estate.

The case is ongoing.

Mario Garza was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

For more information on Snapped, go to oxygen.com.

It's all a light-hearted nightmare on our podcast, Morbid.

We're your hosts, I'm Alina Urquhart, and I'm Ash Kelly.

And our show is part true crime, part spooky, and part comedy.

The stories we cover are well researched.

Of the 880 men who survived the attack, around 400 would eventually find their way to one another and merge into one larger group.

With a touch of humor.

Shout out to her.

Shout out to all my therapists out the years.

There's been like eight of them.

A dash of sarcasm and just garnished a bit with a little bit of cursing.

That motherfucker is not real.

And if you're a weirdo like us and love to cozy up to a creepy tale of the paranormal, or you love to hop in the Way Back Machine and dissect the details of some of history's most notorious crimes, you should tune in to our podcast, Morbid.

Follow Morbid on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can listen to episodes early and ad-free by joining Wondery Plus and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.