Episode 267

LBTP FBZ!

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

Listener discretion is advised.

And then I decided not to buy the gun because then you guys are going to be like, oh, well, she has a gun.

Right.

She's going to kill Matt.

Hello, and welcome to Sword and Scale, Season 2, Episode 267.

A show that reveals that the worst monsters

are real

without the endless cackling and nonsense and gossip and bullshit.

Well, I want to first thank you guys for making a lifelong dream an actual reality for me.

We made a television show.

Episode 3 is out right now, and it is just.

I wish I had words for it.

It's,

I'm so proud of what we've done, is basically what I'm trying to say.

You gotta watch it.

You gotta, at some point.

And again, I have to thank our incredible fans, the sassholes, for

supporting us and helping make this happen.

I know it's expensive.

I mean, everything's expensive these days, but enough of you have signed up for the Super Tier or VIP tier, and that has allowed us to start planning to do two Sword and Scale TV episodes a month.

We're going to start ramping up production right away.

The first month of this will be in October.

So thank you.

Once again, from the bottom of our hearts, you're making not just mine, but all of our dreams come true.

There's a lot of people here with a lot of passion working on this.

Thank you.

So when I started this podcast, I didn't realize I was actually starting a small business.

Yikes.

There's nothing small about a small business.

You're working all of the time.

Thankfully, though, I have a partner with all the tools that I need to be successful.

You may have heard of them.

Their name is Shopify.

Shopify's point of sale system is a unified command center for your retail business.

It brings together in-store and online operations across up to a thousand locations.

Imagine being able to guarantee that shopping is always convenient.

Endless aisle, ship to customer, buy online, pick up in store.

All these things are made simpler to customers so they can shop how they want.

And staff have all the tools tools to close the sale every time.

And let's face it, acquiring new customers is expensive.

With Shopify POS, you can keep shoppers coming back with personalized experiences and first-party data that give marketing teams a competitive edge.

In fact, it's proven.

Based on a report from EY, businesses on Shopify POS see real results, like 22% better total cost of ownership and benefits equivalent to an 8.9% uplift in sales on average relative to the market set surveyed.

So, if you have a retail or online business, then I'll tell you what, Shopify is a fantastic partner to have on your side.

Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify.

Sign up for your $1 a month trial and start selling today at shopify.com/slash sword and scale.

All one word.

Just go to shopify.com slash sword and scale and sign up.

You'll thank me later.

You will.

Shopify.com slash sword and scale.

911.

Oh my gosh.

I just got home and thanked my son and the doctor and my door was open and when I came inside they stumbled over my house and my mom's is home and I didn't see him just as soon as my father's angry I watched her go.

Okay, take a deep breath.

Okay, take a deep breath.

Tell me the address you're calling from.

On March 6th, 2014, a young mother named Amber Smith arrived back at her Michigan home to find her house had been ransacked.

There was stuff thrown everywhere.

Afraid there was a burglar inside, she rushed her child back to the car and called 911.

Okay, and tell me what happened.

I didn't quite hear what you had said.

This morning, I took my kiddos.

I dropped one off at school and I took the other one to the doctor.

And I just got back home.

And my

screen door was open and my interior door was open, but my fiancé is home, so I thought he just left it open.

And I walked in and I saw stuff all over my counter and on the floor.

And so I told my kiddo to get get his stuff on and get back in the car.

And I ran back out just so I can get my phone and call you.

So you think somebody has broken?

Oh, there's stuff everywhere.

And I don't see my fiancé, but I didn't want to go further into the house.

Amber was terrified.

She sat in her car in the snow, begging for help.

What is your name?

Amber.

Okay, Amber, I'm going to help you through this, but I need you to take a deep breath.

I'm just I'm trying to get the information correct.

All right, I got you.

And Amber, what is is your last name?

Amit.

Okay.

And so

is your son safe?

Is he outside?

We're both sitting in the car.

Okay, all right.

And about what time did you leave today?

I left about five after seven, maybe,

because I had to stop at the store and get my other kid of snacks to take to class with him.

Okay.

And when you left, your fiancé was there at the house?

Yeah, because the kids wanted him to come with us and they couldn't get him to wake up because he was snoring so loud.

28-year-old Amber was a mother of two boys.

One she had with her, and the other one was at school.

When she left that morning, her fiancé, Trenton Mallory, was still asleep.

And does he drive like a sedge vehicle there?

He was fucking cold.

Okay, but you didn't see him in the house?

No, should I go back in?

I can't advise you to do that, Amber.

You need to use your own judgment.

Whatever you do, I'm going to keep you the line until the officers get there.

Does he have any known medical issues?

No.

And going, my partner is sending the officers up that way.

What kind of vehicle are you waiting in, Amber?

Oh, Miss Gold Chevy Malibu.

Why is it always a Chevy Malibu?

Anyway, let's continue.

Now, when you left this morning, you said he was sleeping.

He was in the bedroom?

Yes, ma'am.

Did you guys have an argument or anything?

No.

Actually, I got grumpy with him.

We fell asleep on the couch last night watching one of our recorded shows and he woke me up when he went to bed and I was

and I said that I know so I get up and he's like come on just go sleep in the bed and I was like okay quit being so grumpy

but it was three o'clock in the morning so

okay all right

no I am I'm just I've never had anybody in my home before

And you said the screen screen door was broke?

No, no, no, my two doors were open.

Okay, to the house.

Yes.

And you know that they were closed when you left?

Yes.

Well, I double-checked because I had to run back inside because I forgot my son's backpack for school.

Okay.

Amber was too scared to go inside.

and check on Trenton.

She stayed in the car, taking deep breaths, watching the steam from her chattering teeth rise into the cold air.

And there's like papers and stuff strewed about or what's no like my entire cabinet like full of medicine and like where we keep all that kind of stuff.

It's like everywhere.

It's all over my counter and then in the living room there's books on the floor so that was as far as I went and I came back out.

Amber said she'd been trying to reach Trenton all morning as she was out and about with her two boys.

Yeah, and I've been fixing him all morning, but I mean, sometimes he plays in pretty late, so I didn't think anything of it.

And when was the last time you actually talked to him?

Um, this morning before I left, I woke him up and told him that I was taking the kids to school and taking Kirsten to the doctor.

Okay.

Um, so about what time was that?

Um,

well, what time did I get out of bed?

So it had to be at about 20 after six.

Amber and Tretton's five-year-old son was visibly shaken up in the back seat, watching his mother melt down.

Yep, tell the kids, tell the child that the officer's on their way.

The police are coming, honey.

They're gonna look and see what's going on, okay?

But we're gonna keep us safe, right?

Yeah, just go ahead and stay in your car there, mate.

Or until they get there.

Come on, look at you.

Oh, my heart's going 100 miles an hour.

I can imagine, man.

I'm sorry.

I'm right here with you, okay?

I'm calming down.

Just calm down, mommy.

The dispatcher instructed Amber to drive her car down a bit so police could find her.

She backed up her car and waited, breathing heavily.

The police were having trouble finding her address with all the snowbanks.

Amber's son was scared as she tried her best to coax him down.

I know, mommy's not trying to be upset, honey.

Mommy's just a little bit scared right now, now, okay?

You know how when you get scared, if you're watching a scary movie?

Well, mama got a little bit scared, too.

Yep.

But I'm a girl, so I panic a little bit.

Okay.

What did you say, Sidney?

You're worried about what?

I'm worried about daddy, too, honey.

Finally, the police car came around the corner.

He's falling down.

I don't think he can find it.

I'm going to stand out of my car.

I waved at him so he could see me.

Okay,

can he see you?

Can he see you?

Yep, he's pulling into my driveway right now.

Okay, Amber, go ahead and talk to him.

I'm going to go ahead and disconnect, okay?

Okay, thank you.

Bye-bye.

When the officers and ambulance arrived on scene, they greeted a distraught Amber in her driveway.

The snow was piled up, and they asked her to wait in her car.

as they entered the home.

Just like Amber had described the house was a wreck.

It looked like someone had haphazardly gone through every drawer, pulling out clothing, papers, medicine, and food, and then just throwing it around, as though they were looking for something.

When they reached the couple's bedroom, they found Trenton.

He had been shot in the back of the head and was lying under the covers.

When the police returned to the cold winter air, they told Amber the news.

There

absolutely nothing easy to say

to do to make you feel any better in this situation, so I'm terribly sorry for that.

Um, but on the flip side of that,

that's what I'm here for.

I'll give you the

times of the essence in the situation, I guess, okay?

Um,

you

they gave you,

I'm sorry, he uh he told them the spars the time you left and so they got a good timeline.

What's his name again?

Is he your finance or

Trenton?

Trenton

and uh what does Trenton do?

He was a simple controller.

Coke, okay.

What does he do for Coke?

Um in the wintertime he merchandises, in the summer he drives some hard.

Trenton was a merchandiser and a relief driver for Coca-Cola.

He'd been working for the company for many years.

He was a hardworking family man who loved Amber and their boys deeply.

And how long have you been with him?

Like officially

five years.

And I've been, we've been best friends for like ten years.

We went on a blind date.

And

is your fiancé?

When were you planning to get married?

We didn't have a date set because

with Marshall, he's disabled and he gets SSI and

he gets child support from his dad.

And financially, it would have been silly for us to get married right now.

So we were just kind of waiting when Carson started kindergarten.

I was going to try and go back to school for nursing.

Then we were going to get married after that.

Okay.

And are these both Trenton's kids?

Marshall's not.

Marshall's whose?

Um, Timothy Schramm.

But if you told Trent or Marshall that he wasn't Marshall's dad, they'd punch you in the nose.

He's always been there.

Okay.

Since the day Marshall was born.

Timothy Schramm?

Yeah.

Where is he now?

Well, I don't know.

Kingsley, I think.

He doesn't.

We don't have anything to do with him.

Okay.

Now you say you don't have anything to do with him.

Does he have anything to do with Trenton?

No.

Are they in contact with each other at all?

No, they met once when Tim met Marshall, the only time he's ever met him.

That was it.

Trenton and Amber had met when she was pregnant with Marshall, her first son, and he had raised the boy as his own.

Carson came into the family a year later.

So tell me,

did they ask you or talk to you about Trenton's night?

Night?

Yeah, what did you do

from

6 o'clock p.m.

last night until

We ate dinner.

I know we ate dinner a little late.

Kidnapped until about 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon.

He was really tired.

And

he got up and I was picnic with him.

I've not sleeping so long because I was tired too.

Because Carson's been sick, so he was up all night.

And

so I cooked dinner.

We had spaghetti.

And

watched SpongeBob or Breadwinner or something like that on TV while we ate it.

We told the kids we could have a picnic because they weren't feeling good.

And

he kind of hurt my feelings a little because he didn't have seconds.

And I know he hates spaghetti, but I love it.

So we ate spaghetti and then I put the kids in the bathtub

when he watched something on TV while I was doing that.

And Carson and I played Candyland after he got out of the tub.

And

the kids went to bed.

It was still late when they went to bed because the doctor had said that, you know, hey, it's well past your bedtime.

Um, we tucked them in and then we went outside and had a cigarette and we came in and I made some Kool-Aid and we sat down and watched our shows that we had recorded.

And we fell asleep watching the last one, The Americans.

We fell asleep on the couch and Trent got up about, I don't know, he told me what time it was.

It was like 3.30 in the morning.

He got up and he woke me up.

I'm sorry, but this is a lot of details, isn't it?

It's like a shocking amount of details for a woman who just found out that her husband was killed.

Maybe she's just nervous, but go on, Amber.

Because I fell asleep sitting up, and I told him I didn't feel like going to bed because I'm cranky when I wake up.

Then he's then he woke me up again and I said, Stop being so bossy.

And he's like, Well, you're going to get a crank in your neck.

And he pulled me into bed and carried my hand and we went to sleep.

Who doesn't like Trent?

Who would be his biggest enemies?

Everybody likes Trent.

He's such a great guy.

Everybody likes him.

Enemies?

Um.

I don't think so.

There's only one person in this world that we cannot stand, and that's my mother.

Talk to me about that, Waza.

You know her.

Who is she?

Darlene Simpson.

Okay.

That's where I've heard your name before.

She tried to get me to call you when she was in jail.

She, um um, we won't let her, you know, have anything to do with us because she's crazy.

Amber's mother, Darlene, had a criminal history, and the two no longer spoke.

But in a small town like theirs, it was hard to completely avoid each other.

She told everybody that Marshall dies, like all these people she worked with and stuff, so she could get money from them.

and time off work like she told everybody that he was dead.

And so we found out that she got a tattoo to commemorate his death.

Like a tattoo on her leg.

Like not a little one.

It's like this big.

It's huge.

Like

and the people that did the tattoo had told us it was for her dead grandson and I sent him a picture and I said that's my son and he's very much alive and I told I was gonna go down to her house and talk to her about it and she had all of our stuff from

And we went out and make a wish trip for Marshall because he's too little, you know.

And she had all of our keepsakes and mementos because she was going to make us a scrapbook.

scrapbook.

So Trent said, wait for me, I want to come with you because I have a few things to see myself.

And we showed up there.

She wouldn't answer the door.

She called the cops on us.

The officer noted that he better look into Darlene, but he had to focus on the murder.

What exactly happened when Amber and Carson arrived home?

I kicked off my shoes and Carson was taking off his stuff.

And I came around the corner and

I saw the stuff everywhere.

And I turned around and said, Carson, and I said, Get your stuff back on and go outside.

Just because I mean,

there was no reason for meds to be all over my calendar like Trent wouldn't do that.

So, um,

I guess growing up as a police officer, I was taught to be scared of situations like that, so I just hurried up back outside and I called 911.

And why, if I were to tell you that it's a possibility, okay,

that somebody caused the death to your

that somebody caused the death to Trenton,

Who do you think would do such a thing?

Nobody.

Nobody would do that to Trent.

Trent buys and trades a lot of stuff, so there's always people coming and going, buying stuff or selling stuff.

Okay.

When you say buy and trade, what do you mean by that?

You see that I show cardio games?

Yeah.

Well, everybody who knows Trent, like Olson's and at my, they call him Trader Trent because he's always trading something.

Like, he wants to be the next Carter King.

And so he's always buying stuff that he can make a profit on, you know.

During the slow seasons, Trenton would buy and sell things on Craigslist and other bartering sites.

Maybe someone he met on one of these shady websites was responsible for this.

What was the last thing he saw?

I don't know.

He traded a gun.

A gun?

What kind of gun?

What is this?

The metal CD shotgun is a 410.

A Winchester.

Who's true that is?

Some guy named Gordy.

He traded it for a TV that we had bought.

Trenton and Amber had many guns in the house and other valuables too.

They kept cash on hand, but none of that or the guns had been taken.

The only thing that was stolen was Trenton's life, which is

unusual for a stranger to want to take.

If this, in fact, is a homicide.

If it is, I would assume that you would cooperate to the fullest.

That means taking computers, phones, engines.

Amber was cooperative, but there was something that didn't add up with this whole story.

Listening at home, you're probably getting that sense too.

Luckily, she was ready and willing to be her overly chatty self with the police.

And she,

like most women,

oh boy, here come the emails,

talked a lot more

than she needed to.

So when I started this podcast, I didn't realize I was actually starting a small business.

Yikes.

There's nothing small about a small business.

You're working all of the time.

Thankfully, though, I have a partner with all the tools that I need to be successful.

You may have heard of them.

Their name is Shopify.

Shopify's point-of-sale system is a unified command center for your retail business.

It brings together in-store and online operations across up to a thousand locations.

Imagine being able to guarantee that shopping is always convenient.

Endless aisle, ship to customer, buy online, pick up in-store.

All these things are made simpler to customers so they can shop how they want, and staff have all the tools to close the sale every time.

And let's face it, acquiring new customers is expensive.

With Shopify POS, you can keep shoppers coming back with personalized experiences and first-party data that give marketing teams a competitive edge.

In fact, it's proven.

Based on a report from EY, businesses on Shopify POS see real results, like 22% better total cost of ownership and benefits equivalent to an 8.9% uplift in sales on average relative to the market set surveyed.

So if you you have a retail or online business, then I'll tell you what, Shopify is a fantastic partner to have on your side.

Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify.

Sign up for your $1 a month trial and start selling today at shopify.com/slash sword and scale.

All one word.

Just go to shopify.com/slash swordandscale and sign up.

You'll thank me later.

You will.

Shopify.com/slash slash sword and scale.

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36-year-old Coca-Cola worker and familyman Trenton Mallory had been found shot in the back of the head in his bedroom.

His fiancé Amber Smith and their son Carson walked into the house to find the place had been turned upside down and that Trenton was dead.

Amber said that Trenton had no enemies.

The only person they didn't get along with was Amber's mother, who she said was nuts and had been in and out of jail.

Trenton also did a lot of trading online, and perhaps someone he had run into

did this to him.

You never know with the internet.

there's a bunch of weirdos out there, especially on Reddit.

Just fat, mouth-breathing losers.

You know who you are.

Anyway, Amber's boys were taken to Trenton's mother's house as she went down to the police station to further help the detectives.

Helen, how's your relationship with Trenton right now?

Good, amazing.

Amazing.

You know, um,

gosh, when Marshall first got sick, we um we had found out we were pregnant a week before that and um

it was too stressful for us, like we were two totally different people and um

you know, we kind of handled the stress together so we stopped talking for a while even though, you know, I was pregnant with Carson and then um you know, we've worked really hard on our relationship since Carson's been born and we kinda know like what makes each other tick, you know what I mean, type thing and you know we try not to be such selfish people, you know like we used to be and um you know it works for us.

I mean the biggest argument we get in is

you know he picks on Carson incessantly just bugs that kid and Carson hates it and

you know it drives me crazy that he does it and you know

you need to leave him alone.

You're too hard on him.

And I mean that's like the biggest fight we get in.

We just don't fight because he grew up with parents that fought.

I grew up with parents that fought and

it was just never something we wanted for our children.

So you know we'd rather not say anything than fight.

But even you know now we've gotten past any of that.

Like I can't remember the last time we had a fight.

It's just not what we do.

Financially, how are you guys doing financially?

I don't really take care of it too much, but I mean it it comes and goes.

In the winter, we struggle more than we do in the summer.

You know, because his hours at work get cut, you know, he makes most of his money in the summertime.

My struggle is I lower.

So how much does he make per year, do you know?

Um, like 30.

I think he made 38 last year.

Okay.

Does he do any other side jobs or then?

No, he just does his trading.

The trading?

Yeah.

Okay.

And when we say trading, I mean, talk to me about that.

What do you mean by that?

Like bartering?

Like

he has

to my keys and you give me a shoe.

You know what I mean?

Type thing.

Okay.

Do you have any life insurance?

No.

Does Trenton?

No.

I think he has a policy through his work if he gets hurt on the job.

Well, that we don't have life insurance policies.

Any

IRAs, investments, or anything like that?

No.

Amber and Trenton lived paycheck to paycheck.

Like most young couples these days.

She claimed she didn't know much about about his finances.

Any psychological stuff with Trenton at all?

No.

Okay.

Have you ever

dented counseling

psychologists?

I went to counseling in college for a little bit, just because I was lonely and homesick.

Which of college?

Anderson University.

It's in Anderson, Indiana.

Oh, okay.

What did you study?

Well, I only went for one year.

I studied

criminal justice and psychology.

But Amber didn't finish her degree.

She partied too much and was just using college as a way to free herself from her parents.

There's a lot of that.

If you're a senior in college and haven't figured out what you want to do for the rest of your life, then maybe you're one of these people.

So Amber dropped out and she went home.

You know, I've known Trent for a long time.

We went on a blind date 10 years ago.

And I chased that boy, chased that boy, and, you know, he just didn't want anything to do with me and you know we were the greatest friends but then I decided to go off and get engaged to somebody else and all of a sudden he was interested in me you know so and then at that point you know he wasn't he wasn't at a point in his life that was okay with me like

You know, he drank a lot and he constantly called me for rides home from the bar because he couldn't drive or because he was going home with the nasty martyr, you know, so that was our relationship for the first four years I knew him And

it was fine.

And then Marshall came along and, you know, he loves kids.

Like, there's nothing in this world that Trent ever wanted more than to be a dad.

Like, he just always wanted a house full of kids.

And

actually, we just talked about it two days ago when his niece was born, how I shouldn't have gotten my tubes tied because he's like to have food.

And,

you know, once he started hanging around when Marshall was born, you know, we realized that

we know each other better than most married couples know each other because we were best friends.

And,

you know, we tried to date and then the stuff happened with Marshall and, you know, it was just too much stress for me, like trying to deal with a dying child that was pregnant.

But then after Carson was born, you know, we figured it out.

Though they didn't start in the most conventional way, Trenton and Amber grew together and made a little family that they were proud of.

You know, the first probably year was a struggle, you know, trying to figure out how to deal with each other because, you know, he came from living at his parents' house until he lived on his own with me.

So, you know, he was messy and inconsiderate and drove me nuts, you know, and I was bossy and unitary.

I drove him nuts.

So,

you know, once we figured out the dance of how to live with another human being, you know, then it was great.

But Marshall was a sick kid.

He had a heart transplant transplant at age one.

And then the poor boy had to battle cancer.

His medical issues were a huge strain on the family and were something that would always be at the forefront of Amber and Trenton's minds.

Even now, we have to take off at home.

So since Marshall gets sick, we've got to go out of state or, you know, and then we've got to find someone to take ours in.

And, you know, like, it's hard enough to find someone to take one kid at a home, too, you know.

Medical bills piled up as the couple had to invest in medicine and care.

So Amber took to the local media to spread the word and fundraise money to pay for her son's treatments.

The media coverage worked, and the couple were able to pay for Marshall's medical bills with kindness from strangers.

They received make-a-wish trips and other forms of charity to help Marshall live an exceptional life.

But it was all experimental medicine, so it was, you know, everything had to be paid for by us.

You know, insurance companies don't want to foot a bill that isn't FDA approved.

But it had been hours since Amber had found out that Trenton was dead.

And now that she had calmed down a bit, they had to ask a couple of tough questions.

What do you think?

I have no idea what happened.

I don't even know what happened because you guys just just said that he was dead.

And that it was a homicide between somebody else did it.

And the only thing I can think about is how I'm supposed to live my life without him.

How my kids are supposed to be okay with damn.

I imagine if you said that somebody got into the safe, then they took our money, you know, which whatever.

But I don't know why anybody would hurt Trenton because if they needed the money that badly would just give it to him.

amber and trenton had a safe with about $800 in it and some guns in the house but nothing was touched and something like this no offense but something like this you always look first

inside out okay that what that means is his circle of friends his circle of family is we're gonna do a full it's called a victimology we're gonna do a full victim we're gonna know everything we want to know about trenton okay and that's what i'm asking you for so these seven cases you look inside out so you look at family first, okay?

And then once you eliminate, you just keep working your way out, right?

Do you understand that?

Okay, so, and I'll be lying to you if I didn't tell you that, you know, we do have to look at you.

Okay, everybody's a suspect, right?

I'm going to ask you if you had any part, or did you play any part whatsoever in trying this death?

No.

Okay,

it's your job.

It's fine.

Okay.

All right.

So let's say, let's say our first level.

So we know that the kids didn't do it, right?

Right.

Okay.

And you're saying that you had no play in that.

So now what's our next level?

Hold on.

Does he hang out with anybody that warns?

He just hangs out with us.

Amber continued to sniffle and cry as she recounted all the happy days she had with Trenton.

The little things about their relationship, like how he would call her bossy.

Or that she was always running a little late for work and she'd make his coffee and lay out his uniform.

Happy little memories flowed out of her between the tears.

Then

the detectives honed in.

Do you know how he died?

Huh?

No, no, no are you curious?

So there's several different ways that I'm a site could occur, correct?

Would you agree?

So

he was shot, but it appears that he was sleeping or less occurred.

So this makes it just

a little bit odd, okay?

Do you see what I'm saying?

No.

So

let's break down everything, alright?

So I gotta I gotta look at this.

I gotta look at this, look at this from the detectors point of view, okay?

We're on Broadway.

A house in the middle of nowhere.

There's a truck parked in the driveway, okay?

The doors open, there's movers, all right?

And then

all of a sudden a person is shot in his sleep

house.

Does that sound odd to you?

Um, anybody killing another person sounds odd to me.

Sure, but it happens sometimes.

Not around here.

No, right.

I understand that, but it does happen sometimes.

But I'm saying, you take all those variables and put them into the basket, you look at it and go, Something's kind of odd, right?

Because,

I mean, how then would somebody know that you're not there?

How would they know that nobody can tell?

I mean, we have a truck park there, so you have to assume that somebody's there, right?

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's, you know, there's several things that can happen with something like this, okay?

One is that you could have done it, right?

Just saying.

You could have paid to have somebody do it for you.

I'm just talking, these are variables that we have to look at, okay?

Or it's just some

random chance act that this occurred.

And up here with something like this, it's just not random, so there's got to be there's got to be a reason, okay, right.

And you know, so let's dive into reasons.

Reasons would be drug deal don't bad.

Somebody owes somebody a lot of money and they're not paying it, right?

Is there anybody in your family, anybody that Trent owes money to that

we don't know about?

I need to know any dark secret that you or him may have.

I don't know.

I mean, the dark secrets, we don't have any.

Okay.

So.

Amber swore there were no secrets.

Nothing hidden beneath the surface.

But the detectives knew more.

I would still say no.

Okay.

And

would you be willing to take a lie detector test if that's?

If you want me to.

Okay.

And how do you think you would do on that test?

I think I would do just fine fine.

I was with my kids.

I mean, I would never hurt Ren.

Okay.

And it really hurts me to have kids.

And with that, the detective left.

Amber sat quietly, sniffling and hugging herself in her winter coat.

Minutes passed, and then the detective came back.

You know, we have two

Two, possibly three witnesses now that did not see anybody go into that house or any car pull into that driveway.

I don't know what you want me to tell you.

I wasn't home.

How can we explain that?

But I mean, I'm just telling you, we have two, possibly three, said no, we did not see any car go into that driveway or anybody going to that house.

Okay.

I don't know how to explain that.

I didn't see anybody coming out of anything because I wasn't home.

Right.

So who could possibly do this?

I have no idea.

Things were not looking so good good for Amber.

Yes, she had an alibi that checked out going to the drugstore, dropping her child off at school, going to her stepsister's house, and then back home.

But no one had seen a single car or person go into the house the day Trenton was murdered.

Amber said the couple had no secrets, but

that just wasn't true.

About a month ago, there was a recall.

What car were they recalled?

The one that I'd even have.

The one you're driving.

Tell me about that.

What happened there?

Um, I don't know.

I guess we got behind on our payments and we had worked out an arrangement to pay them, but they repoed it anyway.

And I decided to be dramatic and say that I was going to kill myself over it just because Marshall had to get to the doctor.

And it was quite the situation.

I felt like a dumbass afterwards, but it was what it was.

So they took the car and, you know, we got the car back.

Okay.

Well, were you

talking about killing yourself?

What were you doing?

Maybe.

How How is it?

Did you have a gun?

Did you have...

Yeah, there was a gun in the house, but...

There's a lot of guns in your house.

Yeah, I know.

I'm Trin's a big hunter.

I don't hunt, so.

Okay.

Actually, he taught me how to shoot a 410 the other day, the little one that you treated, and that was exciting for me.

Amber's car had been repossessed because a couple had fallen behind on payments.

Then there was another money issue that the police just couldn't ignore.

There was about $900 in checks that you wrote just recently

that were bad.

How did you pay for those?

Without tax money.

With your tax money?

Yeah, we're paying for them.

Alright, what that $900 goes to?

What do you mean?

Why?

We wrote.

Did you write directly to the store?

Is that what it was?

Cash?

I don't understand that, but I gotta understand what you mean.

$900 you wrote in bad checks, right?

Right.

Okay, who did you write those to?

To

Levering Store.

Okay.

We wrote one to um take care of balance.

Who said we?

You?

Ryan?

Well, thanks that I wrote them, yes.

Not only had Amber written bad checks and had her car repossessed,

but she had been aggressively flirting with other men on Facebook.

How well do you know Ryan Hunter?

Ryan Hunter.

I used to work with him.

I used to work with him at Walmart.

Okay.

How well do you know him?

Um,

he cheated on his friend

and worked there.

Okay.

And when was the last time you contacted him?

Well, Trenton and I saw him the other day of Gordon.

He was service where he works, but we didn't say anything to him.

I talked to him.

Marshall was hospitalized, and I talked to him then.

That was

2011.

That was the last time it was?

We talked on Facebook.

Maybe it was 2012.

I don't know.

It was a couple of years ago.

It was when Marshall was hospitalized.

Right.

Well, actually, it was six to eight months ago.

What was it?

Yeah.

And

you're specifically asking him the slot.

Excuse me?

Correct.

And we have those.

Six to eight months ago?

That's correct.

And

he actually,

in those messages, had expressed the fact that that's just something you do.

That

I mean, we're in the process of getting those.

He read them off to me last night about two in the morning.

Okay.

Was anyone else really stunned by the detective saying, asking him to fuck?

That was quite a shocker.

Amber was looking worse and worse.

Then they told her that if her DNA just happened to be on any of the bullets,

she would be in big trouble.

What I'm asking you is a simple question, question.

There may be a lot of D, excuse me, a lot of 22 shells in your house.

But is that 22 shell, the one that we have, okay, that potentially has a finger grain and DNA on that shell, is that going to come back to you?

No.

You better be absolutely certain because I'm telling you right now, what you're saying is not necessarily true.

Okay.

Okay?

So, I mean, is there any I just need a way to explain away that?

I can explain it for you.

Why is that?

My answer?

Yeah,

what I'm saying is.

I did not shoot Trent.

So.

Based on what we have, when we talk about your cell phone, when we talk about eyewitnesses,

and we're talking about true evidence, based on that, I'm telling you, there's no doubt whatsoever that you were involved in this.

No doubt.

There are two reasons, and I tried to explain that a little bit to you yesterday about it being being two reasons.

One, it's a person that was just caught in the middle of something that did something that they're not supposed to, that they would not normally do and just snapped, okay?

Or a person who's just simply psychotic, okay?

All right, so when we talk about this, when we talk about this, we're talking about something that are two totally different people, right?

Okay, and now we're trying to understand who you are.

All right, I'm telling you, you're put in a situation, and I'm telling you right now that the evidence right here is not, it's not going away, and it's only getting stronger.

All right, Did you have anything to do with this?

No.

Did you have any knowledge that this was occurring?

No.

Okay.

And I'm telling you right now that that's not true.

Amber was adamant about the details of her whereabouts that day and that she had nothing to do with the crime.

But the evidence was stacking up against her.

You see, not only had her car been repoed and she was writing bad checks, but Amber had started to gamble.

At first, she and Trenton would go to the casino together.

Amber won big one evening and thought that was her ticket to financial freedom.

Of course, if you have more than three brain cells, you know that's a really dumb thing to think.

But

Amber thought it, and she kept going.

She hit the casino alone, and when she wasn't there, she'd be gambling on her phone at night.

By the time Trenton was dead, she'd racked up $25,000 in gambling debt, all in her husband's name.

As the police continued digging in, they found out that the couple's house was about to be foreclosed.

Amber had been taking out payday loans with a 300%

interest rate.

They were swimming in debt, but it was all falling under Trenton.

Under his name, under his credit.

The debts were all in his name, but Amber was the one who kept mounting it on with her gambling.

The police let her go.

They didn't have enough to arrest her, at least not yet.

But they were looking into her.

She was the closest to Trenton.

The only one in his life who had a reason to need him gone.

But then again, without him, her children had no father, and she had no support system or family.

There was no life insurance or cash out on either.

Would she really have done this to the love of her life?

As the weeks passed and the snow started to melt, Amber's stepsister found something in her driveway that would seal

Amber's fate.

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28-year-old Amber Smith had come home to find her house ransacked and her fiancé shot in the back of the head while sleeping.

At first, the police felt bad for Amber, but as they began their investigation, her entire story seemed suspicious, and they they thought that Amber was involved.

Not only was nothing of value stolen from the home, but Amber and Trenton were having major money troubles, and that always spells bigger problems.

Amber had become addicted to gambling and had racked up almost $25,000 in debt, and their finances were buckling beneath them.

Bad checks, high-interest payday loans, and foreclosures were mounting.

However, Amber was the one handling the finances.

Someone who should have never touched the finances to begin with.

Besides, Trenton being the breadwinner and everything being in his name, Amber was in charge of the spending.

She was good at it.

So the cops were on to Amber.

Her story was sketchy and she'd lied about their money issues.

She cried during her interviews, but the sniffles were empty.

Still, without DNA evidence or a confession, they couldn't arrest Amber,

so she was released.

March turned to April and heavy snowbanks began to slowly melt.

That's when Amber's stepsister walked outside and saw something odd in her driveway.

It was a long brown thing.

in the snow.

She got closer and noticed it's a gun.

The kind Trenton had been murdered with.

Remember, Amber had said that she stopped by her sister's house on the day Trenton was killed.

So her stepsister called the police and they miped her up and had her call Amber.

Hey,

where yet?

Okay, um, I need to talk to you.

like it's really important and I need I need to talk to you.

Okay goes um where are you?

Uh I'm at home but I need to talk to you like right now.

Oh, like on the phone or do you need to be there right now?

Um,

I went up to Mike's house and when I was leaving there I noticed something in the snowbank and when I stopped I can I

No, I put it there yesterday.

And I was going to stop at Mike's house today and talk to him.

You put the gun in the yard?

I just, I just bought it because I wanted something for home protection.

Sure.

Oh,

why wouldn't you say something?

No, I did.

I tried to call you twice, three times yesterday.

And I tried to call Mike's cell phone, too, twice.

Oh, my God.

No, honey, I tried to call.

Because this just scares the shit out of me.

No, no, no, no, I understand that.

And I tried to call you this morning, too.

That's why I stayed at Archie talk so long,'cause I was waiting to get a hold of you so I could get home.

Not get home, but not by on the way home.

Okay, well, I I was just freaked out because uh it looked a whole

okay.

Are you kidding me?

I didn't know it.

I mean, it looks a lot like the it looks like a l a lot like the gun gun that they had a picture of.

That they said, oh, I told you they said there was a gun missing.

And

so I'm just shaking.

I was freaked right out.

Oh, God.

No, I didn't mean to freak it out.

I tried to get a hold of you.

Gotta say, I think the stepsister is doing an excellent job here on this call.

It's very believable.

It's okay.

It just, you know, it just freaks me out.

I mean, it just, it looks like you've been there a while.

And, you know,

I don't know I just my brain is just racing right now it's just

like I said it's just to find it there and look like if you know just the snow had melted or something I just

sheer panic

right

I mean I didn't know you know was somebody trying to set me up what's going on you know oh gosh no

I just figured with me and the boys being all alone, you know what I mean?

It scares me, so.

Okay, well, if you could go, right to Likes and get it, because

it's gotta get out of there.

No, I agree.

Okay.

Alright, I'll get it with you.

Alright, you're heading likes.

Yeah, okay, thank you.

Amber said she'd be right over, and the police were waiting at her stepsister's house, staking out the scene to see if she grabbed the gun.

Just in time, she rolled up in her Chevy Malibu.

But the cops had already taken the weapon out of the snow and into their possession.

The police watched as Amber shuffled around the snowbank, looking for the gun.

Then Amber called her stepsister back and tried to make up a story as to why the gun was no longer there.

Listen carefully.

I was buying a gun from a person named Snow and asked them to meet me at Mike's house.

Not when somebody stuck a gun in your smoke bank.

So you were going to meet somebody at Mike's house to buy it?

Well, and that's why I said today instead of yesterday, we expected to get a hold of Mike because I figured that way I wasn't all alone.

I just don't.

I'm so I don't even know know what to think right now.

I just

I don't know.

I just feel like I'm just in such a shitty position.

I'm fucking pissed.

I just don't get this.

I absolutely.

I just don't get this thought.

I don't either.

Amber tried to say she was meeting a guy named Snow to buy a gun to protect herself.

Not that she left it in the snow bank.

Okay, Amber.

Whatever you say.

I love you, but I mean,

did you, you didn't do this, did you?

Hello, Amber again.

I said I love you, but you didn't do this, did you?

Or, well, I mean, I don't.

You got an underhead where I'm coming from here.

This is just scary as shit.

And

I just, I'm just falling apart here.

I just don't understand all this.

I don't understand either, but no, I can't do it.

Alright, well, I'm gonna go try and pull myself together, but I just

needed to talk to you, so

um,

I don't know.

I don't,

I guess hopefully, we'll get some answers here soon.

So

that would be the hope.

When the police directly confronted Amber about the gun in the driveway, the walls began to close in on her.

Anything?

Because it appears to maybe be the same gun that we're looking for.

That's what she told me.

It's interesting that it ended up in your sister's driveway.

It would be interesting.

Though you think we

probably need to talk about this a little bit, don't you?

We're going

Remember what I told you before last time when we ended our conversation about the truth and how the truth's always going to come back and we're going to figure it out.

Yes.

Well, this is the point right now, Amber, that your story started unraveling.

We've told enough things that are half-truths, untruths, and just flat-out lies at this point that they're all coming back to bite you.

I didn't do anything.

Well,

it's not working out that way, Amber.

And you can continue to deny that, but we know that's not the truth.

We've now collected the murder weapon that killed your fiancé out of your sister's driveway, okay?

And where do you think that is right now?

I have no idea.

That's at the lab being processed for a lot of different things, a lot of different trace evidence stuff.

Okay?

It's all going to come back to you.

It's all already coming back to you.

Your story that you told us is falling apart in the midst of all this.

It's coming apart.

I told you that's what's going to happen, did I not?

I did.

Amber had painted herself into a corner, and she had no more lies up her sleeve.

No more sob stories to throw out.

No more ways to make herself the victim.

The gun was being processed.

She was toast.

Gigs up, we know.

We're not looking for anybody else.

We found our person, and here she is.

And we've given you the opportunity opportunity to tell the truth again and again and again, and you refuse to do so because you're only thinking of yourself.

You're not thinking of those kids.

Those two things that mean the most to you in this life, you're not thinking about.

You're only thinking about you.

It's time to think about them.

There were no other tire tracks in her driveway.

They connected Amber to the murder weapon.

The hard evidence was smacking Amber right in the face, and yet, she did not crack.

Is this what we're gonna do all day?

We're not going away.

I did.

I scooted away.

I'm just saying.

But again, they still couldn't arrest her without the lab results.

If Amber's prints were on the bullet or the gun, that's it.

She'd be done for.

Game over.

The police were so close.

So they brought her in one more time.

And like a good, bold-faced, psychopathic liar,

she showed up and took the emotional battery.

You hold the explanation as to why.

Yeah, I guess that's your opinion.

It's not an opinion.

It's fact at this point.

It's fact.

The gun, the bullet that was in Trent's head belonged to that gun.

That casing that we found in the house belongs to that gun.

You were in possession of that gun.

You took a picture on your phone with that gun.

And you hid the gun in the snowbank.

It doesn't get any more clear than that.

Not just getting any more clear than that.

Right now, Amber,

you're just a cold-blooded killer.

That's what you are

who shot her fiancé in his sleep.

Never saw it coming.

Is that who you are?

No.

So what are you?

We know you're not just a grieving fiancé.

Are you?

That's not what you are.

I just cried for fun.

I didn't do anything.

That's not true.

I'm telling you, we'll be on there.

So are we finished?

Everyone thought Amber did it.

Everyone.

The cops, me, you listening at home.

Even Trenton's mother, who had loved Amber like a daughter.

There was absolutely no other explanation.

The theory was that Amber got up that morning, packed her kids in the car, and then ran inside and shot Trenton while he slept.

Then, she took the gun with her on her errands to create an alibi, and in the end, dropped the weapon in the snowbank.

at her sister's house, knowing it would be concealed for at least a month in the cold.

As for the why,

all the debts were in Trenton's name, and the couple wasn't married yet.

If she killed him, then the debt would also die.

That's the thinking inside her noodle.

That's how simple it is.

That's how dumb it is.

Criminals are not smart, guys.

In her mind, she thought she'd end up as a grieving widow, able to fundraise her way out of debt with her newfound misery.

Victimhood these days pays a premium, after all.

The plan was pretty solid, actually, as long as Amber stuck to her story.

But the bullets matched the gun, and she was busted with science.

Amber went to trial for Trenton's murder in October of 2014.

She was arrested in the spring of 2014, and by the fall, she was facing the courtroom and the jury.

Amber sat sadly in her pink t-shirt, barely looking up during the trial.

It was hard to know what she was thinking.

She had no expression on her sullen face.

as the litigators went over every one of her missteps in great detail, showing the video of her digging for the gun in the snowbank.

It took the jury less than an hour to find her guilty of premeditated first-degree murder.

Amber will be in prison for the rest of her life,

without the possibility of parole.

The entire time that Amber was grilled by police, they kept telling her to think of her family.

Think of her sons.

Think of anyone except yourself, Amber.

Amber's very sick child had been through enough in his short life.

He had battled cancer and a heart transplant.

And now his father was dead and his mother was going to prison.

When Amber was doing her media circuit to raise money for Marshall's treatments, she said something almost psychic about the strength of her boy.

Maybe he was put here to teach the world a lesson that, you know, if he can go through all of this and be happy, then what are are we all complaining about?

We don't know if Marshall is happy or his brother, for that matter.

But we do know that they have the love and support of Trenton's family to keep them thriving.

As if Marshall hadn't been through enough, his own mother, the woman who was supposed to protect him from harm and love him forever, cast the greatest darkness onto her own child instead.

Ember is a cold-hearted killer,

and she

is right where she belongs for eternity.

Well, that's gonna do it.

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Stay safe.

Hi,

um,

so

I noticed you're upping your tiers, but what's going on?

Are you taking tears away from five-dollar tier subscribers?

Because I noticed there was a lot of uh shows that you are having on there, but they're not on the regular plus tier

feed.

So

what's going on I mean just trying to

I mean what's going on I mean what's going on why do I need to pay more money to get more sorties I think you should just focus on plus and

regular sorting scale and stop trying to do sorty scale nightmares sorting scale

monstro I mean it's too much I really honestly think I've been following you for years honestly you do these things

and you do them until you don't and then they're gone.

There's no consistency.

So

just handle that.

Thank you.

Bye.

I don't think there should be.

I don't know why I should pay $20 to get some extra shows that I'm already subscribed to

to get those extra shows

that everybody else is not paying for.

Thanks.

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