Episode 310

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

This is episode 310 of Sword and Scale.

You know that already, but uh I'm not gonna waste your time with that.

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Love takes sacrifice.

That's what I've heard.

And I've also found it to be true.

in my own life.

There's a lot you give up when you're truly in love.

Sometimes you give up your time or your money or your freedom to go to a ditty party, for example.

A lot of things.

But your humanity shouldn't be one of them.

Putnam County, Florida is a stretch of land between Gainesville and St.

Augustine, where dirt roads wind through the pine forests, and the air is as humid as,

well,

it's like walking through the bottom of a pool.

It's a place of of small towns and long stretches of country in between.

The poverty rate is higher than the rest of the state because of the remoteness.

Inside Putnam County is Melrose, a small, quiet community that barely makes a blip on the map.

This is the kind of place where people still leave their doors unlocked, believe it or not.

and where Friday night football and Sunday morning church have become just a thing on the calendar that doesn't change.

This is Attorney Bradley Waldrup, a native of the area.

I am a former prosecutor.

I've worked in Putnam County and St.

John's County from about 2006 to 2010.

I'm currently in private practice in St.

Augustine, Florida.

I do criminal defense and do family law as well.

But I'm a lifelong resident of St.

Augustine, Florida.

So very familiar with the area and really cut my teeth as a prosecutor in Putnam County, which is where this occurred.

Down a dead end road in Melrose sat a modest home built in 1985.

It was now more than two decades old, a single-story house with a yard that stretched into the woods.

It wasn't much, but it was home to 15-year-old Morgan Leopard, her older brother, and her 48-year-old mother, Jerry.

Melrose is a beautiful community.

Like I said, it's very laid-back, rural.

It's one of those towns that you pass through on the way to Gainesville.

Just a lot of beautiful scenery there.

It's kind of like one of those one red light towns where you stop at the red light and there's everything,

a general store, a restaurant, a gas station.

But it's a very laid-back town, a very tight-knit community.

Jerry Leopard was the kind of mother who had lived enough to see trouble.

If you don't know what that means, you will.

Just give it time.

She tried to steer Morgan in the right direction, tried to set rules, and tried to keep her daughter close.

She even picked her battles with Morgan, letting her see boys at an early age.

In order to keep an eye on things, she had an open-door policy, preferring that Morgan socialize where her mom could see her, an interesting parenting style which some people employ, to their detriment.

But just like typical teens, arguments took place over space, choices, and the kind of people Morgan was bringing into her life.

Her mother saw the warning signs.

She knew what was coming.

It was obvious that Jerry cared about and loved her daughter, but Morgan didn't see that.

She saw a cage instead, built to stifle her cravings for independence.

I've said it a couple times on this program, but I'll say it one more time.

Kids are dumb.

They really, really are.

So if you're an old person and you see a bunch of kids at a protest, maybe think twice before joining in.

Because you might be supporting really bad shit.

Anyway, Morgan was desperate for her independence, as most teenagers are, and one day she found it in the form of a man named Toby Laurie.

She fell in love with him.

And Love meant freedom.

He moved in there.

He lived in for three months.

Okay.

Yeah, three months, like a month, something like that.

Did you just sleep on the couch at the house?

He slept in my room.

Your mom and I got

so Toby moved in right away.

You know, parenting isn't easy, and Toby needed a place to stay.

Jerry was picking her battles with Morgan and was already prepared for the day when Morgan became interested in boys.

Well,

that day came early, and her mom had already brought in reinforcements, as in contraception.

Let me ask you a personal question.

Are y'all having sex?

Yep.

Yeah.

I ain't gonna mind you.

Well, I appreciate it.

No.

Never, ever.

Well, okay.

How many times do you think you may have had sex since y'all dated from the very beginning until now?

Just guess.

I know it's embarrassing, but guess.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

Ten?

No.

Twenty?

No.

Uh am I going too high or too low?

Low.

Uh 60?

Probably.

Probably.

Are y'all using protection?

I'll go birth control.

You were?

Who got that for you?

I don't know.

I got on birth control on my

14th birthday in January.

I think it was 14th.

F2 early, girl.

Oh, my mom, she done my sister got on birth control at 14th.

If they use a protection?

Yeah.

You're not present?

Okay.

So your mom knows that y'all are having sex?

Yeah.

Is she fine with it?

She was whenever he was living with it.

I had

no idea now.

At first, Morgan's mom didn't ask too many questions.

Teenagers push boundaries, and that's just part of raising one.

If giving Morgan a little space kept the peace, maybe it was worth it.

But Toby wasn't just some boyfriend.

He was 22,

unemployed, and guess what?

He had a criminal record.

Young girls love bad boys, you know?

So, naturally, he was the perfect guy to move in with a 15-year-old.

That was sarcasm.

Some of you don't understand sarcasm, so I guess I got to point it out.

Jerry would soon find out exactly who she let into her home.

Well, at least y'all use the protection, and you're not pregnant.

That's the big thing.

You don't need no kids right now, because

Nick, you're still in school.

How old is he?

22.

And you're...

Do you want me to tell you how old you are?

15.

Yes, ma'am.

Don't you think that's kind of a big age, yeah?

Nope.

You're fine with it.

Could A day not by the number?

Yeah, but still.

You're still in school and he's out and got a job and.

Toby was out of school and unemployed.

When he wasn't behind bars, that is.

Charismatic and conventionally good-looking, he'd fallen through the cracks.

fallen out with his parents and started breaking the law.

And Morgan wasn't just rebelling, she was running toward a person who made her feel like an adult, even if he was the worst possible choice.

If you only heard of this conversation, you'd think this was a dad having the talk with his giggly teenage daughter, a patient, experienced voice trying to steer her back onto the right path.

But this was not her father.

This was a detective sitting across from Morgan in a concrete interrogation room, hours after she and Toby were found in Texas a thousand miles away from home, burning through stolen gas and borrowed time.

And all of it started when Jerry Leopard learned the truth.

She had no idea that Toby had a criminal record with burglary, theft, and drugs under his belt.

She certainly had no idea that he was an adult male, almost eight years older than her daughter.

But once she found out, she did what what any sane mother would do when she kicked him out.

She told him he was done.

Gone.

No more playing house with a 15-year-old child.

For a minute, that might have seemed like the end of it, but Morgan wasn't letting go that easily.

Just a few days later, on April 22, 2008, she was gone too.

Her mother searched.

She filed reports.

She even broke into Toby's trailer, hoping to find some kind of sign, some trace of her daughter, but Morgan wasn't there.

This is Morgan talking about the early days with Toby leading up to her disappearance.

Yes, I did.

All right, are you willing to speak to me about the incident about you deciding to run away?

So, you got a boyfriend, and your mom found out he'd been in some trouble with the law, and

some things went missing in the neighborhood, and he's nuked on the block, block so he got blamed and you said that was back in January of this year?

Yeah, January 11th, you know, the day before my birthday.

Then he came back two months later and we got back together.

Yeah, so he came back in March and y'all got back together in March.

Is that what you're saying?

Yeah, March 11th, he started dating the end.

The reason Toby was basically homeless was because he had been living in a camper and then went to prison.

While he was living in the camper, he proved his devotion to Morgan before moving into her bedroom.

And he to come down my street.

He used to walk

all the way from Palaca to the other side of the bridge, all the way to see him with the bridge.

Are you serious?

Every day.

That's a good 10 miles.

He used to walk every day.

And you know, the bridge is steep.

Fast forward.

Toby moves in and stays for a few months, but things come up missing.

Morgan's mom finds out about his age and background and she kicks him out.

And in April, Morgan disappears with Toby, leaving her mom to contact the police.

Pretty much, I just left.

He didn't like the fact that I was with him and I thought

I was going to be with him no matter what, and I ended up leaving.

Did you go to school at all on the day you left?

Or you just left the house?

What day was it you left the house?

The 22nd.

Where'd you go when you left the house?

The inch paper.

Over there at the Connovina?

Yeah.

How many days did you stay over there?

No.

We left that that night.

You did?

Mm-hmm.

And you started...

Um, where did y'all go when you left?

Did you

did you go back to your house or did that when y'all started driving?

I started driving, man.

Well, well, what cart?

How did you get out here?

Yeah, that truck.

What truck?

That's over the Dakota, or not Dakota, that Toyota Dacoma or whatever.

Oh, did he buy him a truck from working?

I have no idea.

He showed up in the truck.

I don't know where he got it from.

Yeah.

That's what I was I have no idea where that thing come from.

Not at all.

Um,

so when you got there, the truck was already there, and then y'all just hopped in it and took off, huh?

Did you take any bring any clothes with you?

Oh, my clothes.

Well, we had, we bought clothes, like, do traveling and stuff, but I don't know if they're gonna give me my clothes back.

They're all in that truck with my wallet and everything.

Maybe Toby rode in like a knight in shining armor.

Literally.

The truck was silver, new and gleaming, ready to whisk Morgan away to freedom, to adulthood, to adventure.

And to Morgan, barely 15, and desperate for something bigger than the life she knew, it might have felt like a rescue.

But to Toby, it was never about saving her.

It was merely pulling her deeper into his world, where love was just another tool of manipulation.

And that shiny new truck, it carried Toby and Morgan away on an adventure, while it left its owner behind, broken and bleeding.

It was April 2008 in San Mateo, Florida.

Jerry Leopard lived in a three-bedroom home on the end of a rural street with her son and her daughter, Morgan.

The kid's father was no longer in the picture, and her oldest daughter had moved out.

Morgan was a good kid, but Jerry always knew she needed to keep an eye on her.

Morgan was feisty, somewhat immature, and crazy about boys.

One boy in particular, whose name was Toby.

Toby had been living in a camper, so when Morgan begged her mom to let him move in with them, she reluctantly conceded.

Sensing they were already sexually active, Jerry would rather have them fooling around under her own roof than in a camper somewhere remotely.

I guess the sentiment sort of makes sense, but I don't know, try parenting instead.

It works better.

You can actually say no to your children every now and then.

But instead of doing this, Jerry put Morgan on birth control at age 14.

to ensure that there would be no accidental pregnancies.

She didn't realize that Toby was an adult male with a criminal history and his sights set on Morgan.

So when she kicked him out of her home and her daughter's life, Morgan had already fallen for him.

It was too late, way too late.

They were about to take off and make a life of their own.

At least that's what Morgan thought.

They simply disappeared in a silver truck.

No one knew where they were going or what they'd already

done.

But what started as an escape, as as chance at the big road trip and a new life together, would soon unravel into something far more horrible.

Because the truck they were driving didn't just belong to anyone.

It belonged to a dead man.

After they were picked up in El Paso, Texas, Morgan was interviewed.

She wasn't interested in talking about the truck, though.

Truck?

What truck?

All she could think about or talk about was how great Toby was and how he'd do anything for her.

She talked about leaving Florida, about sleeping in the woods, showering at gas stations, and about what it felt like to be free.

If that sounds a little immature, it's because it is.

It is.

But you know how detectives are.

They don't just ask you a question and take your first answer at face value.

No.

They ease in slowly, like a fisherman letting out a line, waiting for the right moment to reel you back in.

And that was on the 22nd, the day y'all left.

Did he tell his parents where he was going?

No, just said he was going to leave town for a little bit.

And

is that his friend's truck that he's in?

That y'all are in?

I really have no idea.

You ever seen him in it before?

You didn't ask them who it was?

I really didn't care at the moment.

I was glad to get out of here earlier or later.

So.

Well, he didn't say, hey, this is my buddy Jim's truck or this is, you know.

He didn't even worry that.

I just jumped in and took him off.

I

was just so happy as he got out of here.

Yeah.

Okay.

How did y'all eat?

Did y'all just buy food?

Yeah, we had money by food.

Did you know that the whole country was looking for your...

Sweet little self?

No, you didn't know that?

I know, I heard about it, but I figured like cuz I was walking into every Walmart we went to traveling the whole time

Now look on the mid-the-eyo people thing.

I didn't even see myself on this.

I said whatever You know you know what Florida's still.

Yeah, you know what amber alert is nationwide.

Yeah, I just found that out Yeah, cuz that's how they farm me yeah

And what they did is because your mom was so worried about you because she ain't seen so long as they sent the animal art out.

I haven't talked to her since the day, Alec.

Or it was two weeks.

But Jerry wasn't the only one wondering where their loved one was.

James Stewart lived alone, but his cousin had spoken to him on the morning of April 25th, 2008.

After that, the calls went unanswered.

A neighbor also noticed that James hadn't left his house in a while.

His beloved tomato plants weren't thriving anymore, and they wondered if he was away on vacation, but his truck was still there.

James's family wasn't alarmed for the first few days.

It was just a missed call, maybe just bad timing.

But when the days started to add up, so did the missed calls.

By May 1st, another cousin couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

So he called the police.

Deputies went to the house for a welfare check, and when they opened the door, the truth hit them in the face.

A wall of decay and death.

James Stewart wasn't missing.

He was lying on the floor, rotting.

He'd been dead for nearly 10 days, murdered and left to bloat, stiffen, and seep into the floorboards of his own home.

Morgan claimed that Toby picked her up in a silver truck, and she had no idea who the owner was.

Maybe she was right that Toby would do anything to be with her.

Maybe she was right.

Indeed.

Who do you think that truck belonged to?

He didn't tell me who the truck belonged to.

Yeah.

He just

didn't worry about who it was?

At the moment,

you know he didn't make enough money to buy that truck, right?

What do you mean?

Like, like Toby.

Do you think he made enough money washing cars to buy that truck, honestly?

Honestly, we know.

Yeah.

So

how do you think he got it?

Borrowed it or stole it or?

I have no idea.

He had to get it.

No, I'm just saying if he had to get it, how did he come about this truck?

Because it's not registered to him.

We don't know who the guy is that's registered to.

I have no idea.

No?

Would you tell me if he did?

Cronel?

Yeah, what?

I'm just making sure.

We're trying to find out whose truck it is.

It's not Toby's.

I don't know.

He picked me up in it

we just went on somewhere i didn't care at the moment who

what or what was going on around me or anything okay

she didn't care who it was or what was going on because she was in love did anybody care to be with me most likely

yeah but you know what he was gonna do whatever

he had to do just to be with me But I didn't know he was gonna take it that far

and do something stupid like he did.

Like what?

He said that truck was going.

Yeah.

It was.

And the whole we talked about running away, but I didn't know that he was that furious about it.

And then we actually did it and kind of scared you a little bit.

I didn't know he was like, I thought you know you were joking around and going along with what I was saying.

But we didn't force you to run away, did he?

No.

I wouldn't welcome.

Believe me, I wouldn't welcome me.

Morgan had no problem talking about running running away, and she certainly had no problem talking about Toby, the man who would do anything to be with her.

But detectives weren't here to talk about young love.

They were here for murder,

just like you.

They just hadn't revealed that secret to Morgan just yet.

The tone in the room shifted.

The detective stepped out for a moment and came back with a picture.

Do you recognize this guy, Morgan?

Have you ever seen him before?

From where?

Melrose?

Yeah.

I have no idea.

Never seen him before?

Has

Toby ever talked about an older friend of Melrose?

I have never seen Toby hang out with an older guy.

Like, the only guy that he hangs out with is Scott and

every time I went to Charlotte, I thought he was with.

Yeah.

Well, I talked to him and he said that he had mentioned this guy to you.

Do you remember who mentioned him to him at T at all?

Not at all.

Don't recognize him at all.

He never said, Hey, I got this guy that's a friend of mine that's older or nothing like that.

I've never seen him in that guy before.

Morgan wasn't budging.

Either she was telling the truth and her innocence was just that.

An innocent young girl in love taken advantage of by an older boy.

Well, an older man.

Or

there were many more layers to Morgan.

Well, I'm giving you a clean plate near if you knew what was going on with that truck, but tell me and you won't get in any trouble.

Yeah, I know.

You sure?

100% positive.

Yeah.

I just know it's cold here.

I'm changing the subject, but I'm cold.

You want to put that jacket on?

I don't want to look like a banana.

So you pick on us because we wear this kind of jacket when we work.

You call us banana?

I got a question.

Yes, ma'am.

Where is Toby?

Toby is in a holding cell waiting to be processed in the jail.

Would he come back for him?

Yes, ma'am.

Do you know what jail you're going to?

Putnam County.

Why you wor you worrying about seeing?

Well you you'll be able to see him in Putnam County jail.

Tell me I'm gonna go to Putnam County Jail.

Is your mom gonna let you?

That's what I'm you have to hold on.

I can be honest with you.

If you were my daughter, I wouldn't let you go.

No place for you.

It was early in the morning, and the interview was winding down as it was looking like Morgan wasn't going to give in.

The detective gave it one last shot.

Well, I'm going to be honest with you, okay?

Because I've been, because you've been honest with me the whole time, so I'm going to be honest with you.

If the truck comes back not belonging to Toby and it's stolen, he's going to be in a little bit of trouble, okay?

Okay.

My name is your boyfriend, and I i wanted to tell you that just so you know um another thing is is that if toby tells us that you knew the truck was stolen or you knew that there wasn't his then you might be in a little bit of trouble too you see what i'm saying

well i mean you could you know it's it's theft you know

so i mean i'm just saying if he honestly didn't tell you that's fine and i and and and i completely believe you but if he did tell me now and we can bypass the issue of you getting in trouble or anything not that i know of i mean we've been traveling this whole time in that truck.

Yeah.

The detective tried the soft approach by giving Morgan an out, a clean slate.

But when she stuck to her story, he switched gears.

This wasn't just about a stolen truck anymore.

He reminded her of how dangerous this all was.

A teenage girl running away from home, sleeping in cars, hitchhiking across state lines, sleeping in the woods with rattlesnakes, and only Toby to protect her.

She could have been kidnapped, assaulted, or left for dead in the middle of nowhere.

But somehow, she was still here.

I heard my mom thought I was dead.

Really?

Why did you is that the friend you called that told us that?

Why did she think you were dead?

I don't know.

She because I guess my mom kept on calling him saying if you've heard anything from me and she said or she I guess she told him that oh she thought I was dead.

A lot of people thought you were seriously hurt because they ain't heard from you in a while.

Yeah, I heard a lot of people have been looking for me out there.

Do you know you've been on national television?

I've heard.

You've been on Nancy Gray's?

Nancy Grace.

She's the

talk show host on CNN.

I have no idea who she is.

You know what CNN is?

You know that that TV channel?

You've been you're famous, girl.

By now, Morgan's face was on the news.

What appeared to be a missing or runaway teen was turning out to be much more of a complicated story.

Morgan was still holding on to her version of the story, insisting that she had no idea where this truck came from and that she'd gone with Toby willingly.

But detectives weren't just getting one side of the story, because just down the hall in another room of the El Paso Police Department, they had already sat across from Toby Lawry and sent him back to Putnam County Jail.

By then they already knew where he and Morgan had been.

On April twenty second a friend of Morgan picked her up and took her to Toby's trailer at the Conomy Inn R V Park.

How romantic That night they showed up at Toby's parents' house, hoping for a place to stay, but his parents refused to take them in.

Now

they were on their own.

Toby was a drifter, a thief, and a predator, and like always, he was looking for someone to take along for the ride.

It gets lonely out there predating by yourself.

Is that a word?

Anyway, together they broke into a concession stand, stealing candy, drinks, and whatever food they could find.

They slept wherever they could, in the woods, behind homes, even on old mattresses they found abandoned in the yard.

It was like a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde adventure.

And along the way, Toby started looking for something bigger, something

like a getaway truck.

We're now on the 24th, okay?

What I want you to do, though, is I know you cased out some

houses over there in the Melrose area, and I want you to tell me what if anyone on the entering house is.

I need you to tell me

know if you did.

If you did not, then still go on.

I'll get up to that.

Oh, yeah, that's fine.

Um we're gonna start back off on

when we were laying in the woods,

what day were we at?

24 doesn't date that, but okay.

Um

she told me she was like, Maybe

I'll make you get out of here by any means necessary.

He immediately inculpated Morgan as the voice that drove him.

But neither he nor the officer was ready for the climate shift about to hit them.

He paused, shifted in his seat, he rubbed his arms and ran his hands through his blonde hair.

The room went quiet.

A chill settled into the space between them, and then, finally,

Toby leaned in.

Now you're relaxing for.

I don't know if I'm kind of cold.

okay.

Basically, what I was saying there

is I was like, baby,

go up there,

knock on your doors.

What time was this, Toby?

Was it dark?

No, it was daylight.

Okay, so they'll be as sure as the 24th.

Yes, okay.

Even though Toby didn't know the occupant of the house, James Stewart, he knew little about the house itself.

He used to live directly behind it, and a friend of his lived in the house James was in now.

What they did is they decided to run away together and they were basically casing different houses to look for appropriate victims.

Miss Leppard, earlier in the day, the day of the murder, knocked on Mr.

Stewart's door around 1 p.m.

and asked to use his phone.

He gave her access to use his phone and she actually called called her own cell phone and had an opportunity at that time to basically do some reconnaissance on his residence that he did live alone.

So Toby sent Morgan directly to James's front door on this reconnaissance mission.

Toby waited in the woods close by and he could see what was happening.

After about ten minutes, Morgan came back.

This was getting real.

I'm trying to

get it to where we ain't nowhere around this fucking place at all.

Right.

I'm trying to get the fuck out of there, yeah, I'm sure.

So she's telling me move over, you got no fingers.

He looks like he's kind of handy out kind of a little bit.

Yeah.

But

he's got like no.

Is that because of some of the stuff that's in the house?

Yeah.

Okay.

Weight equipment and stuff like that.

Yeah.

It looks like partially of his fingers like right here got cut off some weird shit.

I don't know what it is, bro.

And

I was like,

what the fuck?

And she was like, this hand over here, all the fingers were gone.

And there was just a round hand up there.

You know, I was like, kind of good.

I was like, what the fuck?

Sure.

Fucking freaky as shit.

I was like, can you be honest with me and tell me you never know this guy before?

I've never met her type of guy.

Okay, he just picked his place out of random that day.

And I told her, I was like, baby, that's fucking freaking me out.

I was like, he didn't touch you or nothing, did he?

Because usually people like that are fucking predators.

Sure.

And I was like,

like, baby, he didn't touch you, did he?

And she was like,

she didn't answer me and i was like baby he didn't touch you did he

and she was like

no he didn't touch me i was like she didn't answer you i'm like okay they had opened the door to the home of a disabled man

james stewart lived a quiet life tucked away in his modest house in melrose florida he wasn't a predator Where did Toby get the idea that disabled people are predators, I have no idea.

Here's Toby, someone who just entered adulthood with all his faculties and appendages, ready to do the unthinkable to a disabled man, and he's calling the victim a predator.

James wasn't wealthy, he wasn't famous, but he was independent.

He took care of himself, tended to his tomato plants in his backyard, and kept his truck in pristine condition.

What he didn't have, what he had never had, were fingers.

He was born with a congenital defect that left him with hands that he could grasp with, but never fully close.

The simplest tasks like buttoning a shirt, tying a knot, holding a pen, had been lifelong challenges, but he'd learned to manage.

He had adapted.

It's amazing how humans can adapt to almost anything.

He'd found ways to live in a world that wasn't built for him.

But there are some things that no amount of adaptation could prepare him for.

And all Toby was concerned about was whether James had touched his precious girlfriend with his stubby hands.

In Toby's words, fingerless stumps.

But there was some information Toby hadn't revealed yet that would lead this cold-hearted thief and murderer feel just a little more protective of his girlfriend Morgan than usual.

Alright, I'll walk up a little bit.

I'm thinking, I'm like, what the hell to do?

What am I gonna do?

All they could think about was how to get out of the state and start building a life together.

Because after all, their baby was technically going to be the product of statutory rape, according to the law.

She was like, honestly?

I'm like, yeah, honestly.

She's like, I'd say we go up in that fucking house while he's in there.

Fucking beat the shit out of him.

Do what the hell we gotta do.

Yeah.

I'm like, baby, I'm gonna fucking know about that shit.

I don't think I got the heart for that.

And

I was like, well, fuck it.

It was easy to think that Toby was the one lying and trying to pin this on Morgan, but for the fact that he was the one laying out the painstaking details while Morgan had sat in a chair across from another detective, lying and giggling.

On the other hand, Morgan claimed she went willingly.

Maybe she believed that at the time.

Maybe she still does.

But willingly or not, she was a 15-year-old child who followed Toby all the way to murder.

Next, Toby goes to the door of the house by himself.

He knocks.

James comes to the door and is met with Toby, asking him if he'd seen a young blonde girl earlier.

James tells him yes.

She just left and went down the street.

Toby answers, really?

At this point, Toby says that James gets snarky with him and asks if he's stupid because he just told him she left and went down the street.

That response sat with Toby about as well as the thought that a man with fingerless hands would dare touch his woman.

According to Toby, he gave him an evil look and walked away.

Relax when you shake it on.

Sorry, I'm sure his nerves and I never gave a confession like like this ever.

Okay.

Waited five minutes and she was like, baby, you're gonna fucking kill your ass.

I'm like,

I'm the and I was like, man, no, I can't, I can't do this shit.

No, I ain't got the heart to do that shit.

I can't.

I can't do it.

And she was like, baby,

I'm pregnant.

There's nothing we can do else.

We've got no money or nothing.

We ain't got no money.

We ain't got no transportation.

I'm pregnant.

There's nothing we can do.

Okay.

I asked her, I was like, is this what you really fucking want?

She's like, yeah.

Once we do this, we can fucking take the drug and get the fuck out of state.

She's like, baby,

okay, we're going to do something.

I was just, I can't lose you again.

I'm like,

well, you know, we got this here.

You're going to lose me for a long time.

And you're like, we ain't going to get caught.

Here was a seasoned criminal looking to a 15-year-old girl on on what to do when she had never committed a crime before meeting him.

This wasn't two kids who believed it was them against the world.

It was an adult and a naive girl.

She's right next to me.

She don't like to be my son.

I got you.

So now the couple was heading back into the house.

The doors were all unlocked, remember?

At some little shit town in Florida.

Nobody locks their doors.

This time they had with them two copper pieces of pipe tucked into their backpacks, and they wouldn't be knocking on the door, they'd be sneaking in through the side door.

So, I'm standing there, I'm like, baby, fuck, I don't want to fucking do this shit.

I don't know what to do, I'll break it down here.

She's like, baby, we got there.

We're already inside the house.

If he comes out that room, he's got to do something.

Or he's going to call the fucking ball on you.

I'm like, fuck me.

I'm like, how the the fuck are you going to call the log?

He ain't got no fucking fingers.

That's worth repeating in case you didn't understand.

Morgan says, you have to do something now.

We're in the house and they'll call the law on us.

To which Toby replies,

how's he gonna call the fucking law?

He ain't got no fingers.

I started thinking, I'm like, baby, he's just sitting there.

She turns towards us.

She's like, babe, go in there.

I'm going to pull the knife on him.

He ain't going to say shit to you.

I was like,

though, I'm scared.

I ain't got to work prison for fucking life.

No parole.

She was like, babe, you've got to do this, dude.

You've got to do this.

You've got to do this.

So you guys are kind of arguing back.

Now we're arguing back to you.

Kind of we're discussing what you're going to do discussing it.

And then like on your hear about it right now.

I'll be like, man,

I took off my sweater, my shirt, and I put it in a chair.

And

I didn't have no shirt on.

Alright, why?

I didn't want to get blood or nothing on and like that.

So I was like, fuck it, you know, so.

It seemed like the adult in the pair was the only one thinking of consequences.

Toby didn't want to get blood on his shirt, and he reminded Morgan of what could happen.

I'm almost in tears.

Baby, we just don't know how long I will go away for.

She was like, fuck it.

I'm like, fuck it.

You'll never fucking see me again.

And she was like,

okay,

don't do this.

And I swore in my mind that I wouldn't, I wouldn't confess this shit to nobody, but she already did, apparently.

So.

Little did Toby know that Morgan,

either because she had too much faith in her partnership or because she was immature and naive,

or maybe because she was smarter than he was, had not said one word and would not confess until the next day.

She loves me.

She knows it's best for me.

So I was like, fuck it.

I jump in the fucking room.

I'm like, listen here, motherfucker.

He turns turns around and he got his shocked ass look on his face.

I'm like, where the fucking keys are you?

I'm not doing shit to him.

I was just like, get the keys, whatever money he had and leave him.

You know,

what you say to you?

Motherfucker's like, motherfucker, I'll fix him.

You gotta call off.

I was like, you met me and you don't wanna fucking do that, dude.

I'm unstable.

At that point, James was still sitting down.

His...

Back had been turned to Toby and Morgan.

He hadn't noticed them yet.

But when he heard them, he swiveled around and put his arms up.

He was wearing a t-shirt, underwear, and socks in the comfort of his own living room, where he'd been playing a game on the computer.

When he started to stand up, Toby grabbed a nearby knife and started threatening him.

All he wanted was keys to the truck and cash, but for some reason, James kept repeating that he couldn't even afford the truck.

And this made Toby angrier, because that didn't make any sense to him.

Being an idiot, of course.

I was like, motherfucker, give me the fucking keys right fucking now.

You'll give me the fucking keys and I'll fucking put you wide open.

He was like, man, man, look here, look here.

I can't afford that truck.

I was like, I don't give a fuck if you can afford the truck or not.

Fucking give me the goddamn keys and I'll be out of your motherfucking hand.

James was getting closer.

Like, if he wanted to, he could grab that fucking knife.

How are you holding that?

I'm holding a knife like this, kind of like that one.

Yeah, yeah, I'm like, I'm trying to keep it away from him so he don't try to fucking grab it or nothing.

But then Toby looked at him and remembered.

I'm looking at his hand and I'm like, man, this motherfucker can't grab this shit.

He's got a phone on one hand.

I'm like, what the

goddamn big guy?

Motherfucker, give me the fucking keys.

I'm like, look here.

Either you give me the fucking keys

and we're out of your hair and whatever money you fucking got

or I'm just gonna take care of business right here.

According to Toby, James fought back with everything he had, but Toby had already decided how this was going to end.

Toby answered with a punch in the face, breaking James's glasses and puncturing his eye with a piece of the lens.

And I'm like, God damn it, see what you fucking made me do.

And Morty's like, pay me, fucking get on top of it.

Fucking kill him right now.

Did he fall to the ground?

Yes.

The two got into a physical brawl on the floor.

And James defended himself fairly well, despite his limitations.

Maybe a little too well.

I done cut the motherfucker clean to the fucking bone.

This is right here.

Yeah, okay.

Cut him clean as a fucking bone.

I'm like, god damn it.

Fuck.

Bloods are going everywhere, right?

I'm like, god damn it.

I can, I can see the fucking bone in his fucking arm because the bitch is like

slayed over.

Yeah, it

was right now, she's falling.

It was sick.

It was like, but once I seen that blood, I was like, fuck it, I'm dead.

Now I'm late.

You know, I'm like, goddamn it.

I'm like, goddamn, I'm fucking freaking out.

I'm like, baby, fucking hit him with something.

Where is she at?

She's standing right beside me.

She's still over the middle of the door.

I'm like, fucking hit him with something.

Like, what the fuck are you on here to stand there?

Do you hear how excited this idiot is?

He can't wait to tell his story, even to cops.

Like, gets a promo for some stupid made-for-TV movie.

Dumb people be dumbin'.

I'll bet my Cybertruck this retard watches a lot of wrestling.

Yeah, he's laying flat on the floor now.

I'm fucking

the shoes I had on, I had some Reebok soldiers on with the fucking elash strap to come across the top of them.

Okay.

And I'm fuck I got foot in his fucking neck like this.

I'm trying to fucking choke him.

I'm like, you're fucking I'm trying to fucking break his windpipe, yeah.

Are you stomping on it yeah I kept stomping on a fucking windpipe god damn he's still moving yeah he's still trying to fight me off of it okay I'm like man quit fucking moving man I'm freaking out man cuz I'm like man this motherfucker's close to dying already man he's bleeding to death out of his fucking arm you know fucking he's still struggling I yeah I sliced him on this arm and I know that fucking vein right there is a straight blade key to your heart yeah and he's gonna bleed like a motherfucker okay I'm bam bam bam bam I'm fucking kicking his fucking face into the wall.

You kick him the neck.

Yeah, I'm kicking the neck.

I'm trying to fucking collapse his windpipe.

I can't do it.

He's still fucking moving.

How many times?

How many times do you kick him?

Fuck 25 times.

That's why.

I'm fucking.

I'm fucking.

No, I fucking kicked him a lot.

Just kept stopping.

Yeah, I just kept trying to stop him because I didn't know what the fuck to do.

I'm like, I'm freaking out.

My hips are gonna drop the fucking knife.

Okay, I'm like, I ain't got shit in my hand now.

Okay.

Where is she at?

She's standing right beside me still.

Imagine bragging about getting the better of a man with no fingers.

I mean,

seriously.

She was standing right beside him because they never left each other's sides, according to Morgan.

Did Toby stay with you the whole time or did he go somewhere else and leave you there?

He was at the whole time.

He won't leave my sight.

You sure?

He wouldn't let me out of his sight.

I wouldn't let him out of my sight.

He was like dead on.

You're like, baby, baby, fucking killing me.

I'm like, damn it.

Stop for a minute.

I'm like, damn, damn, damn.

I'm still fucking kidding you, man.

I'm like, god damn it.

Fucking car, you slumble bitch.

Fucking I just watched him lay into his fucking windpipe in my shoe.

It was like they were stamping out a bug or a deadly snake or like world of t-shirts.

stomping on a fish.

And there was Toby in his orange jumpsuit, reliving it all with disturbing enthusiasm.

I don't know about you, but this is kind of nauseating to me, hearing him so excited about telling the story.

He was standing now, animated, his hands waving through the air as he reenacted every brutal strike.

For a few minutes, it wasn't a confession, it was a performance.

Toby looked less like a man haunted by what he'd done and more like one who still felt the thrill of it.

This is the worst case that I have encountered as far as brutality and the circumstances surrounding the passing and the killing of Mr.

Stewart.

I can't think of anything

in my 18 years of practicing law that's

been this brutal.

Toby lifted his boot and brought it down hard on James Stewart's neck again

and again.

Die, son of a bitch.

But James

didn't die.

He was fighting as hard as he could.

This man who had endured a life of trying to adapt was desperately trying to survive.

Fighting as hard as he could despite his physical disabilities.

For all the blood, all the blows, and all the ways his body had been broken, he was still alive.

And there was still time for Toby and Morgan to leave with James's soul still intact.

But that wasn't part of the plan.

What came next wasn't just brutal, it was absolutely merciless.

In April of 2008, 15-year-old Morgan Leppard and 22-year-old Toby Laurie vanished from Melrose, Florida in a stolen silver Toyota Tacoma.

Great truck, by the way.

It's one of our sponsors.

Anyway, days earlier, Morgan had been reported missing and investigators soon discovered she wasn't just a runaway.

She and Toby had been involved in a violent crime.

And that's quite an understatement.

Their trail led back to the home of 66-year-old James Stewart, a disabled man who was found murdered in his own home.

His pristine truck was missing.

and the suspects were nowhere to be found.

As authorities pieced together this timeline, they realized this wasn't just a case of teenage rebellion.

It was

something a lot darker.

Sitting in an interrogation room over a thousand miles away, Toby Laurie was recounting every last detail, each thought and each action.

Even detectives were mortified at the number of times Toby stomped on James's neck while he was on the floor.

But what he had to say next was far worse than anyone expected.

I get down on the ground grabbing the knife down.

I tried to stab him in his fucking chest.

How many times?

Well, the knife wouldn't go in at first.

I tried to fucking put the knife on his chest to fucking push down on it, but he kept trying to fucking force the knife up.

He was still alive.

He

rode up to the chest.

I don't even fucking know.

I've tried to stab him once.

I know that with my knife.

I've tried to stab him.

And

when I came to, when I looked at his face

his whole face was fucking purple

bloody yeah fucking there was chunks of brain coming out of his fucking nose cartilage coming out of his fucking nose not moving he's not he he he he's still moving a little bit it's like twitching or whatever he's like

he's he's trying to fucking breathe sure I done fucking broke his nose and shit

or two yeah He's trying to breathe, I still see his fucking heart beating in his fucking chest, he's unpissed on himself, he pissed blood out his dick,

There's blood everywhere, blood on the wall and shit.

I'm like, goddamn, goddamn, goddamn, goddamn, I'm freaking out, bring it out, fucking out.

Where's Margaret at least like that?

And she's like, she's like, baby, move.

Hey, move, move.

I'm like, why the fuck you want me to move?

I fucking I moved because I was out of breath and I couldn't fucking breathe in the office.

It was just it was burning right here.

You're on you.

Yeah, it was just fucking burning.

There was nothing I could do.

It was just fucking burning.

And

I walked in the other section of the house for a minute and I hear

black, flap, flack, flap, flack.

I turn around and Morgan just fucking beat the shit out of me with his fucking pipe.

I beat the shit I wear in the face.

She hit him in the face horror.

Toby had stepped away from the scene for just a minute to use his inhaler, which is fucking hilarious.

A killer with asthma.

All that action had left him breathless, and he had plenty of life left, unlike James, his victim, who was struggling with everything he had to stay in the fight.

But he was losing.

And then, through the wheeze and the chaos, Toby saw something that he wasn't prepared for.

I'm like, baby, I gotta get in the shower.

I can't have this fucking blow on the other fucking pull down.

I'm about to fucking cry now.

I get in the shower.

You took a shower there?

Yeah.

Which one?

The The one right there.

And

Tori, the argument was Legon.

I took a shower right there.

And as I'm taking a shower, I see Morgan.

I'm not a stepson on her.

I'm not a step son.

Don't get me wrong.

I understand.

Just finish it out, though, because the spirit is over with.

You're 900% there.

I see Morgan stabbing in the chest.

Okay, how many times did we switch his head?

At least twice.

Okay, there was three stab wounds in his chest.

They were almost like bam bam bam.

There were three stab wounds because Toby had just finished stabbing him once.

And then Morgan took over.

When Toby got out of the shower, he realized that James was still

alive.

He's still telling fucking cash for breath.

I'm not supposed to play Paris.

So maybe you're talking.

Yeah, I don't think I could.

I went and got a garbage bag.

Where'd you get her from?

The uh counter irony thing.

Oh, he is right.

Yeah, okay.

I put it around his head

and I twisted him aside like kind of

a little bit he's rusted by hand with a problem bag that's right about lever like a hand where you handle that.

Okay.

And

I just I lost it again.

I started beating his face then, like my fist.

Okay, I buried his nose.

His nose was like,

yeah, he's still trying to breathe.

I can I can see like a bubble come up from where his mouth moves.

I can still see the heart.

The heart beating.

And I'm like...

I felt his nose break three times.

Is the pocket back on his head?

Yeah,

I felt his nose break three times.

When his nose broke three times, that's when he fucking...

That was it.

That's when he passed.

Because

I think I I pushed the bone up into his brain or something.

Yeah, these were made us suffer though.

Yeah, I fucking I put him out of his fucking misery and

listen, just relax, man.

Just relax.

Relax.

Listen, all I can do is like if you can justify, you can justify to yourself there was reasons why you did this and I think you did it.

You just did it for me.

You justified that you were in hard times, bro.

You're trying to help out your wife or your wife to be, I should say.

and your baby in that belt.

And you know what?

Toby, unfortunately, you still have to provide for them, bro.

You understand that, right?

You still have to be their woman?

He's supposed to be a feller.

You're still going to be a husband figure to her.

Can I use a bandwidth?

Toby had just described James' final moments in chilling detail,

saying he had to put him out of his misery, like a lame horse or an injured animal.

But somewhere in his core, he was finally feeling remorse, and it was visible to detectives.

It seems like sympathizing with a killer, this technique that detectives use to keep a suspect talking, to stop them from shutting down.

But in this moment, after the sheer horror of what Toby had just described, it felt grotesque.

Because

what had just happened wasn't about love.

It wasn't about love at all.

And no words, no justification could change that.

At the murder scene just before they left, this is what Morgan said.

After I did that, she told me, she was like, baby, we just took a human life.

I'm like, no shit.

I'm the one who fucking did it.

I mean, you helped out, but

you just don't know how that shit made me feel.

Shit,

they've been eating at me and eating at me and eating at me.

I wanted to come clean so bad, but I didn't want to get put in prison for the rest of my fucking life.

Was he really remorseful?

Or did he just fear the consequences of being in prison for life and being without the love of his life?

Prison, of course, is exactly where he landed.

In 2010, both Toby Laurie and Morgan Leppert stood trial for the murder of James Stewart.

Prosecutors argued that this wasn't a spontaneous act of violence.

It was calculated, cold, and relentless.

Toby, the adult of the couple, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life without parole.

During the trial, Morgan's defense team painted her as a naive, manipulated teenager under the control of an older, violent man.

Courts love it when women get off on the same crime that a man committed.

Not exactly sure why.

Maybe.

Some of that old chivalry from the Dark Ages.

They argued that Toby Laurie was the mastermind, that he orchestrated the attack, that Morgan was just following orders, too young, too impressionable to understand the weight of her actions.

He said, oh, he's gonna call the cops and Toby said, no, the hell you wait, and boom,

punched him right in the face.

And I just, I walked away.

I was about to cry.

I told Toby, I was about to tell Toby, I don't want to do this, but

Toby just already hit him, and he's like, come on, baby, come on, hit him, hit him.

But the prosecution had a different take on it.

I mean, as far as like who was the ringleader, I mean, the only people who know what happened in that house are Morgan, Toby, and Mr.

Stewart.

So

what the jury found was that she was guilty of first-degree murder because she participated in the in the murder.

Exactly what she did, really the only people alive who know are Toby and Morgan.

But the jury did find that she intended to commit premeditated murder and in fact

killed Mr.

Stewart.

Morgan, just 15 at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery.

Under Florida law, she received a mandatory life sentence without parole, a punishment usually reserved only for adults.

But, and here we go, in 2012, the U.S.

Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional, despite what monsters they could be.

That decision gave Morgan a second chance, at least in the courtroom.

In 2020, she was re-sentenced to 40 years in prison.

A reduced sentence, but still long enough to make sure she won't walk free until she's well into her fifties.

I'm sure 40 years in prison will rehabilitate her.

Oh, Morgan claimed that she was pregnant but miscarried in jail.

So, probably no kids in her future.

James Stewart lived alone.

He was disabled.

He'd already proved to the world that he was stronger than his disabilities.

In fact, he was so strong that Toby and Morgan could have walked away more than once while he was still alive, but they decided not to.

James's family will miss him dearly.

This is a statement from his nephew.

My uncle was the type of man that anyone around him who was ready to take life head-on should have had the opportunity to meet or speak with.

Those who were lucky enough to spend time with my uncle soon learned that there was nothing that he could not do.

The man was truly amazing.

Things that I hear people young and old say that they can't do are things he called speed bumps or obstacles.

Not having hands did not slow him down one bit.

The thing is, he did things most people don't dream of accomplishing in their lifetime.

He was a master carpenter, a professor.

He skied, played tennis, bowled.

He was a commercial fisherman.

The list goes on and on.

Most of the cars he owned were stick shifts with no power steering.

My uncle taught me that the word can't is for cowards, losers, and people that see hard times or difficult tasks and give up.

I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with this amazing man and have some of that greatness rub off on me.

But my son and future children will only be able to hear stories of this great man that I have called

Uncle.

For centuries, philosophers have pondered what love is.

They've done it for as long as there have been philosophers.

But what do they know?

People with nothing but the luxury to sit around thinking all day and ponder things.

Those are usually the people that are most disconnected from reality.

Hey, I'm describing myself.

Alright, so let's give it a shot.

Love is.

Fuck, I don't know.

But I'm sure Morgan doesn't know either.

Morgan had an obsessive, all-consuming type of quote-unquote love for Toby.

The kind that rewired her dumb little brain and twisted whatever immature concept stood in for logic.

This obsession drowned out all reason and convinced her that nothing else mattered.

It's a kind of thing you see in movies.

Bad ones.

Morgan was 15, reckless, desperate for freedom, and convinced that Toby Laurie was the answer.

He made her feel untouchable, like the world belonged just to the two of them.

A lot of people don't realize that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, not a romance.

I, on the other hand, treat it like a comedy, because if God gave you a brain, then you have the responsibility to use it every now and then.

And for Toby, Morgan was also an obsession.

She was something to possess, to run away with, to kill for, because he was lonely and wanted a hole to put his dick in.

That's it.

That's what she was for Toby.

Real love doesn't ask for everything you have.

I don't know why anyone has to actually say that out loud.

It doesn't demand a sacrifice in blood.

It doesn't turn a teenage girl into a murderer or leave an innocent disabled man gasping for his final breath on the floor of his own living room.

That

I do know.

Even dumb old me.

James Stewart didn't know Morgan and Toby.

He wasn't part of their stupid fantasy or their twisted rebellion.

He gained nothing from being in the proximity of dumb.

But

unfortunately for him, he ended up being part of their sacrifice and quote-unquote

love

anyway.

Well, I'm not gonna beg you to watch SMS TV again.

You're an adult.

You go figure out what to do.

At least I hope so.

Otherwise, go find your parents.

What the fuck are they doing?

Shouldn't be listening to this.

Swordscale.com, stay safe.