Murder With My Husband - 79. Emma Walker - The Kind Cheerleader

Episode Date: September 27, 2021

On this episode of MWMH, Payton and Garrett discuss the murder of 16-year-old Emma Walker. LIVE ONLINE SHOW TICKETS HERE! https://www.moment.co/murderwithmyhusband Case Sources: Law&Crime Network Youtube - covered the whole trial https://www.wate.com/news/man-convicted-of-murdering-emma-walker-denied-new-trial/ https://abcnews.go.com/US/picture-perfect-high-school-sweethearts-toxic-relationship-ended/story?id=57781208 https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2018/09/28/no-extra-time-william-riley-gaul-emma-walkers-murder-cheerleader-central-high-life-sentence/1412726002/ https://www.oxygen.com/dateline-secrets-uncovered/crime-news/emma-watson-murdered-by-teen-boyfriend-as-she-slept Noises in the Night - Dateline https://www.chillingcrimes.com/blogs/news/emma-walker Links: https://linktr.ee/murderwithmyhusband  Ads: Ritual: That’s 10% off at ritual.com/MYHUSBAND. Sarah Flint: www.sarahflint.com/HUSBAND - 50$ off HydroJug: www.thehydrojug.com and use code: HUSBAND HelloFresh.com/Husband14 and use code husband14 for up to 14 free meals, plus free shipping! Charlottes Web: https://www.pntra.com/t/SUNITEtOSU1DSEpNTUlOQ0dORkdOTw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everybody welcome back to our podcast. This is murder with my husband. I'm Peyton Morlin I'm Garrett Morlin, and he's the husband. I'm the husband We have some very exciting news for all of you since October is murder with my husband's favorite month We have decided to do something extra spooky Every week this month we will be releasing paranormal ghost stories read by us but written by you guys We want to hear everything spooky, your favorite ghost stories, and we might even throw in some of ours too. This will obviously be in addition to our regularly scheduled weekly episodes. The first two weeks worth of listener

ghost stories will be released for everyone, but the last two weeks will be exclusively released to our patrons. So if you love the extra stories and want to support the podcast, you can find all four weeks by signing up for our Patreon. So if you love the extra stories and want to support the podcast, you can find all four weeks by signing up for our Patreon. So if you sign up right now for our Patreon, not only could you receive the backlog of Patreon exclusive content, you will also be getting two episodes a week

for the next month. We are so excited for this, and need you to start sending in your stories now via the Dock You Form in our bio, and it's also listed in the episode notes. The stories can be ghost stories, Halloween stories, paranormal stories, honestly, anything spooky and honor of October.

Once again, the Dock You Form to send these in will be listed in the episode notes and in the bio of our Instagram. If you DM your story or email your story, it won't be submitted correctly, so make sure you use the Dock You Form. We're super excited about this. I don't have a ton of ghost stories, so I hope you guys have some really, really good ones. I honestly have a few, but I'm really excited to read yours. I think this is gonna be so fun. Like, I've been planning this and looking forward to this for so long, so I'm really excited. Hey, and Loves Halloween.

Mm-hmm, it's my favorite. You should see our house. Okay, so besides that, besides our ghost stories in October, Garrett, do you have your 10 seconds for today? All right, so I guess on that for my 10 seconds as well, I bought some new pants. I got this shirt as well. Yeah. You're looking fly.

If you want to see what I bought, you can go watch the YouTube video, unless you're already watching the things other than that, I don't know. I'm trying to think of any shows I've been watching. If you want to know anything about Garrett during his 10 seconds, go ahead and send it in. And maybe you can like try to answer some of those. That would be really helpful. Other than that, just work in hanging out, hanging out with my wife. That's my life.

All right. So our case sources this week are Law and Crime Network YouTube. I did like they covered the whole entire trial of this. It was pretty amazing. www.mate.com, abcnews, noxnews.com, oxygen.com, noises in the night, a date line episode, chillingcrimes.com. So with everything going on in the news right now, I feel like domestic violence and relationship abuse has been talked about a lot. How women are most likely to die from the hands of their partners that statistically, Garrett is probably the most dangerous person I could be around, and today's case is no different. The day is Monday, November 21, 2016, and we are in Knoxville, Tennessee. We have the Walker family, which consists of Mother Jill, Father Mark, and their two kids Emma and

Evan. Emma is a junior at Central High School, and this Monday morning was supposed to be like any other school day. Jill woke up and went about getting ready for her day. Mark left for work, and Jill noticed that their 16 year old daughter had still not come out for breakfast ready for school. She called her name a couple times, but no response. Emma must have slept in. Jill makes her way over to Emma's room and calls for her to get up,

Emma doesn't move. Jill walks over to the bed and lightly tries to shake Emma awake, but again, Emma doesn't respond. Panic begins setting in. Jill shakes Emma, calling her name over and over again, but Emma just lays limp in the bed. Jill checks for a pulse, as Emma's little brother, Evan, comes running in the room to see what's happening. Jill frantically checks for a pulse again, but can't find one. She calls 911. Emma Walker had been a cheerleader

since freshman year of high school. She was bright and bubbly and had a ton of friends. She volunteered at an animal shelter and was an honor student. Emma wanted to be a nurse when she finished college and she had a lot of ambition and drive. Emma's parents say that her smile could absolutely light up a room and that her laugh was contagious.

They remember how playful and fun Emma could be. So what happened to Emma Walker from the time she got ice cream with her dad the night before and then went to bed and the time her mom woke up to a mother's nightmare? Emma's life at school was good, but it hadn't always been going so well. When she was a freshman, Emma met a boy named Riley Gaul who was two years older than her. Friends and family say that the attraction was immediate and fast. Emma began dating Riley who claimed he had just gotten out of another relationship, but his time went on, Emma found out that Riley's ex-girlfriend wasn't so much of an ex.

Riley was a player, and while dating Emma, he was also still talking to and seeing his ex-girlfriend. Emma's friends and family immediately tried telling her to break it off, that Riley was a player and did not genuinely care about her, but like most teens, Emma had a hard time seeing past it. Riley was a wide receiver on the football team that she cheered on every single Friday night. He was active at the Central Baptist Church and loved Star Wars.

So she was a freshman and he was a junior. A junior, okay. Riley was raised by his mother and grandparents and he was also a top student who loved video games. They were, I mean, seemingly the perfect couple, in her eyes, he was two years older, he was the cool and mature guy, who she just couldn't stay away from

no matter how many red flags were being flown. And I'm sure she was popular for being a freshman and in all of that. She was on the cheer team, he was on the football team. Yeah, yeah. So Emma actually began fighting with her parents at home over her relationship with Riley. The tension in the home was consistent.

They didn't want her to keep seeing Riley, but she needed to figure that out on her own like most teen girls. Emma's friends were also upset when it became apparent that Riley did not want Emma hanging out with them anymore. He began secluding her from not just her parents, but from them as well. He was controlling and told her what she could do,

what she couldn't do. Emma was working at a supermarket at the time that she was dating Riley, and he would like consistently wait outside for hours until she finished work, so that he could know where she was, drive her home. He was very controlling. And as we know, secluding someone from their family

and their loved one is a very, very telltale sign that there is abuse going on in the relationship. It seems so young to be doing that already. Yeah. I mean, he's only a junior in high school. To me, that seems super young. Riley had also began telling Emma what she could and couldn't wear, how she could and couldn't talk.

He was completely controlling her. Emma's friends were even more discouraged after Riley told Emma that he would be taking his ex-girlfriend that he wasn't supposed to be talking to anymore to prom that year. Oh my gosh, that's messed up. He told her it was his junior year and so he had another year of prom and he would take Emma next year for his senior prom instead. Oh my gosh, that's rude. Emma's friends are like, this is bad news and although Emma was obviously not happy about the circumstances that Riley was putting on her and how he was treating her, she agreed to the arrangement and let her boyfriend go to prom with his ex-girlfriends.

Okay. And I know this sounds ridiculous but I actually had a boyfriend go to a dance his ex girlfriends. And I know this sounds ridiculous, but I actually had a boyfriend go to a dance with a different girl and I stayed with him. So, I don't know, I think it's just teenage, toxic love, you know what I mean? So, two years past, and Emma Walker and Riley Gall break up and get back together throughout his junior and senior year,

her freshman and sophomore year. The breakups were always dramatic and public, often through text message or Snapchat posts. I mean,ups were always dramatic and public, often through text message or Snapchat posts. I mean, they were posting about each other, not tagging each other, that kind of thing. Eventually, the relationship turned fully verbally abusive when Riley started sending Emma messages like, I hate everything about you and you're the biggest B word. Emma's parents confronted them when they read a text from him to her that said, I'll see your name in the obituary one day.

Oh my gosh. But when they confronted him about it, Riley was like, listen, I was just angry at the time. We always talk like that. It didn't mean anything. I love her. But her parents are like, no, no, no. They banned Riley from coming over and they took away Emma's cell phone to try to stop the toxic

relationship, but as you know, when teenagers want something, they'll get it. So Emma found ways to get a hold of Riley without having her phone, and the toxic relationship of hate followed up with, I'm sorry, and I love yous, and they would just keep moving forward. Riley eventually graduated high school and decided to further his education at Maryville College, which was only a half hour away from their home. Riley and Emma actually decided to continue dating while Riley was off at college

despite their rocky relationship. But around early November, 2016, Emma saw some snapchats of Riley back at college with other girls. And I'm presuming these snapchats of Riley back at college with other girls and I'm presuming these snapchats were not innocent as this was Emma's final straw. She broke up with Riley this time for good. She knew she deserved more and had finally put up with enough. Things at home with her parents immediately began to get better once the toxic relationship was out of her life. She began

spending quality time with her parents and kind of healing the damage that had been done over the last two years. But the joy and newfound happiness was short-lived because just a few weeks later, it's November 21st and Jill has just found Emma dead in her bed that morning. Before we get into that, how far away was the college from 30 minutes? So they could easily still see each other and stuff, but I mean. So it wasn't very far. Yeah, he graduated, he moved out.

And he was living on campus at the college? Yes, but he would come back a lot. Like it wasn't uncommon for them to drive back home on the time. Got it. So back at school that morning, Emma's friends are hearing the news. Like Emma didn't wake up that morning.

Her mom found her dead in her bed. The confusing news that their good friend Emma had died overnight. Riley was back at college when he found out and he immediately began posting about the loss on his social media. He says, I love you Emma. I can't be around any of it yet. It's too soon. I know you know I'm dying to be there, but understand I can't.

I love you. He goes on to talk there, but understand I can't. I love you. He goes on to talk about how Emma is in a better place now. I was taken too soon. Many people commented underneath the post offering their condolences and love for him and his loss of his ex-girlfriend. Keep in mind, they'd only been like officially broken up for two to three weeks, so it was still fairly new. Which seems normal. I mean, to me, it obviously seems suspicious because of the history of their relationship. But I mean, to most people, it's like, Hey, I just lost the ex girlfriend. I lost a girlfriend.

Yes, exactly. It seems totally normal. But no one on social media knew yet how Emma had died. And the rumors began to fly. There were rumors that she had overdosed, that she had brain bleeding, or that she had taken her own life. And imagine how hurtful these speculations were to her family, and we as listeners can be careful

to never add to the narrative of talking about death without leads or words from officials, this is something we can do to kind of, you know, stop this hurt from happening to victims' families. When investigators arrived on the scene that morning with first responders, can do to kind of, you know, stop this hurt from happening to victims' families. When investigators arrived on the scene that morning with first responders, no one really knew what had happened. Emma's parents could see her not responding in her bed.

There was really no sign as to what was going on besides a very small amount of blood on her pillow. Knox County officials Mike McLean and Alan Merritt were assigned to the case and they too were perplexed by the situation. They began working under the assumption that maybe Emma had ingested something or something had happened that caused her to vomit up blood. That's how small blood it was. They thought maybe it was just some vomit or something. It almost seems like to me she's been poisoned somehow. Yes, and I think that's what they are like, something inside has gone wrong. We don't really see anything on the outside that's happened.

So that's how they felt at first. But it didn't take long for them to find the thing that would explain Emma's cause of death and turn this case upside down. After combing through her room, investigators discovered a small hole in the wall directly next to Emma's pillow that had gone unnoticed before. That's how like small it was. A small hole that once they examined it looked eerily similar to a bullet hole in the wall of Emma's bed.

No way. Now remember. But there wasn't that much blood. There wasn't that much blood there wasn't that much blood and her family was I mean they saw her go to bed that night and then they woke up and she was dead They were just sleeping next door and they didn't hear anything no so confused because if Emma had been shot There was a lack of blood at the crime scene and on her They quickly re-examine the body and once they did they found an entry wound in the side of Emma's head.

Emma had been shot in the head in the middle of the night while her brother and parents slept quietly in their rooms nearby. That's crazy. I know. But had someone really broken and shot her in her sleep and got back outside without anyone noticing anyone hearing. And this is when Mark Walker, Emma's dad, told police that he had actually woke up in the middle of the night, that night before when they are presuming this happened. He said he was sleeping when he woke up to what he thought was a door slamming inside of the house.

So he jumped up, but he kind of like waited to see if he could hear anything else, which I understand. If you wake up like, okay, I think I heard something, but now I'm not sure. Did I just like jump scare? So he sits around for a second and then the noise happens again just a few moments later. He feels like it's a door slamming. So he jumps out of bed and he runs to immediately check on the kids like it's the middle of the

night. He walked into Evan's room and found him sleeping. He checked on Emma and when he opened the door, she was laying there, what appeared to be sleeping to mark as well. So he closed the door, he checked the rest of the house, and then he just went back to bed. Like, I don't know what I heard,

but whatever it was, everyone's fine. Yeah. So police began searching the residents and taking photographs. They moved their search outside. And this is when Alan Merrent noticed what he thought to be another bullet hole on the outside of the house that was about shoulder high. Literally like someone shot a bullet through the house and into Emma's bedroom. Almost like it was like someone had a like a sniper somewhere or rifle somewhere. It's

literally through the wall of the home like the outside wall of the home There's a bullet hole that's yeah, I know I like I did I don't understand. I don't even think they understood really He keeps searching he finds two shell casings around the house So at this point he's like okay, well two shots have been. And that also kind of matches the dad's description of what happened. So we keep searching the outside walls of the home. And he eventually finds a second shot on a different side of the house.

These two shots were on the outside of either wall of Emma's bedroom. So like two of her walls were on the outside of the home. Does that make sense? And there were shots into each of those walls. They were on the same wall though, right? Like they were on, oh, those were on different walls. The person who shot the gun was on one side of the house,

turned the corner, and was on the other side of the house and shot through that wall as well. That is so weird. So weird. Cops are confused, but what this is seeming like is a murder, and the killer stood outside the walls of the home pointing the gun toward Emma's bedroom firing two bullets through the house and into her room. Do you understand how hard that would be to then hit her?

Then hit her. You can't even know where what position she's in. You don't know how she's sleeping and you hit her in the head. I like, I don't so police are as like mineboggled as we are, but they go back inside. They're like there were two shots in here. They search around and they find another bullet lodged into Emma's pillow. Oh my gosh. So as the interviews of Emma's family and friends begin, it doesn't take long for police to realize they definitely needed to talk to one person and really one person only.

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PXU energy, energy for everything. Captain Banner now to learn more. So a couple weeks earlier, when Emma broke up for good with Riley, his friends said that he began moping around and acting depressed. He even swallowed vital can pills in an attempt to take his life. He told his friends that he wanted to hurt himself. And in a way, he was kind of asking for help. He was obviously not doing good.

But he's the one who had been with other girls. Yes, was hanging out with other girls had not been being very nice to Emma. Yeah. So on Friday, November 18, 2016, Emma actually attended a party where she told her friend Zach. This is after she's broke up with him. She attends a party where she tells her friend, Zach, this is after she's broke up with him. She attends a party where she tells her friend, Zach, Green, that she was receiving strange text messages that night from a random number while at the party. The text said things like, come outside alone if you don't want to see a loved one get hurt.

And also, go to your car with your keys alone. I've got someone you love, and if you don't comply, I will hurt them. Geez. So Emma figured it was just one of Riley's friends playing a prank. So she texted them back and said, listen, I'm gonna call the police and I'm gonna block the number if you don't stop. But the text didn't stop.

The text eventually said that they dropped Riley outside the party because she wouldn't come out there. And so she better go check on him. She's like, no, you didn't. And they're like, well, this is weird that you can go from caring about someone to treating them like this. He's outside alone.

So it's obviously him. I mean, yes, you haven't said yet, but it feels a little obvious. And Emma fills that way too. So Zach and Emma actually walk outside together to look around because she's like, I don't understand really what's going on. I don't know, maybe he is her. like, I don't understand really what's going on. I don't know maybe he is hurt. Like, I don't think so, but maybe.

So, and sure enough, they find Riley lying face down in a ditch near the house party, like near the house where the party is. So, Zach says they got over to him, they got him sitting upright and he acted like he had, you know, he had a confused look on his face. Emma asked him why he was there and he claimed he didn't know. He didn't know why he had got there or how he got there that he was kidnapped.

And that someone had dropped him off and he didn't know what was happening. Zach said Riley was holding his head like he had been hitting the head or something. So Emma told him, you know what, I don't really care. We broke up and you need to leave me alone. So she's not buying it. She's like, I know what, I don't really care. We broke up and you need to leave me alone. So she's not buying it. She's like, I know what you're doing. Leave me alone. So Zach says that Riley then got up and walked down the street

where he then called his friend to tell him that he had been kidnapped. So he leaves because she's like, you need to leave. He gets up and leaves. Calls his friend says, I've been kidnapped. Come pick me up. According to ABC News, his friend said he sounded like he'd been crying or he was sounding fatigue, I guess. He basically told me that these people knocked him out, took his car through him in a van like he'd been crying or he was sounding fatigued, I guess.

He basically told me that these people knocked him out, took his car through him in a van and he didn't know where he was. When the friend suggested that, you know, Riley, you should call the cops if this really happened. Like, if you were really kidnapped, you should call the cops, right? They're like, no, no, no, no. No cops. It's not a big enough deal for cops. We don't need to get cops involved. Did he seem? Did they say that he actually seemed like his friends didn't believe him. Okay. And neither did Zack or Emma. So it seemed like an act. Yes. Okay. So despite the incident, Emma nor her friends either called the police, but the next day Emma texted her friend saying,

I'm home alone and somebody in all black just walked down my street and came to my door and rang the doorbell over and over again. I literally thought I was going to die. So Emma also texted Riley at this point and explained to him what was happening and he's like, it's not me, I don't know who that is. And she eventually says, I hate you, but I need you right now, come over. So Riley texted back, I'm coming, I'm speeding,

just give me a minute. Riley gets there really fast. He gets to her house really fast, he checks around the house. So that morning Emma was actually supposed to meet her mother for volunteer work at the elementary school. And so when she didn't show up, Jill was like what text going on went home and when she shows up at her house, she finds Riley over at the house with Emma, which he's not allowed to be there. Remember Riley's band from the house. She's like, hey, Riley, you need to leave.

So Riley leaves and Emma explains what had happened the night before at the party in that morning. And Jill, Emma's mom is like, Emma, this is Riley. Like this was is Riley. Like this was all Riley. Do you not think it's weird that Riley was involved with both of these incidences. It's odd that Riley was there last night in today,

but Emma didn't believe her. Emma asked the family to set the alarm that night for the first time ever. She was genuinely scared by this mysterious person in black who had shown up at her house that morning. But now I'm confused. I mean, I think it's Riley obviously, but. You feel like Emma would have thought so too,

but then she changed her mind and said, no, I actually believe him. So Jill says the next day that she and her husband Mark actually followed Emma to work just to make sure she made it safe. That's how scared Emma was. They were worried about her. And that is what led up to November 21st

when they woke up and found Emma shot in the head in her room. Oh, man. So Jill and Mark not knowing really what was going on after being removed from their house and it taped off as a crime scene, attended a candlelight vigil at central high the night after Emma's death. Her friends on the cheer team released balloons in her memory at the football game that week. Everybody is mourning Emma. And during all of this, police are bringing in Riley's friends for interviews. One friend Alex McCarty told police that the day after Riley's alleged kidnapping, he was so scared for his life that he stole his grandfather's gun. Um, he then pulled the gun out and showed his friend. So his friend Alex comes

in and is like, yeah, so the day after he got kidnapped or whatever, he showed me a gun and said he stole it from his grandfather. We're not at the end yet, but I mean, he's always you planning something. Yes, like, I mean, this is all weird. And everybody knows. Police knows his friends, like everybody knows. So his friend actually said that he wasn't worried he was going to use the gun to hurt someone else. He was actually worried that Riley was suicidal. So and that's why he stole the gun, but Riley assured him he was fine. He just knew that whoever was out to get him, whoever had kidnapped him, was also out to get Emma and that he needed to protect her.

Got it. But another friend Noah Walton says during his interview that Riley had asked him around this time if he knew how to get fingerprints off of a gun. And so Noah's like, what kind of question is that? Don't be asking me that. And Riley brushed it off and was like, oh, no worries, dude, it's not for me. I'm asking for a roommate. It's just a joke.

I thought it was weird to you. I was just curious. And Noah was like, what the freaking heck? He's going crazy. Yeah. So, police end up obviously bringing Riley in for questioning the evening of Monday the 21st. The interrogation lasts two hours, and the whole time Riley refers to Emma Walker as the girl, or that girl.

He never once uses her name despite the fact that just hours earlier he was tweeting about his love for her, calling her sweetheart literally. So they asked him where he was the last 72 hours and Riley says he spent Friday night at his friend's house. Police note that Riley doesn't show a whole lot of passion or concern. He was very cold the whole entire interview. Riley admits to trying to speak to Emma that weekend But that she wouldn't reply so he says he tried to use a friend's phone and she got mad at him and blocked that number two He says after that he went to his grandparents house and then drove back to college He says once there he broke down and cried for two to three hours in his car over the breakup that he loved that girl

This is one detectives asked Riley about his grandfather's missing nine millimeter gun and Riley tells them he doesn't know where it is. He also denies showing it to friends and asking about how to remove fingerprints. When police asked to see Riley cell phone, he asks them if he's a suspect. They say, should you be and Riley responded by denying having anything to do with the girl's death. What's weird to me is that, I mean, I think it's Riley right now, but because we're the bullet shot, it's just like how did- What are the chances? Yeah, what are the chances of that? I know.

Especially because he's asking questions like, oh, how do I clean fingerprints off? It's obviously not an expert. Yes. So it's like how do I clean fingerprints off? Is it obviously not an expert at anything that has to do with guns? So like, how did that bullet hit her? Exactly. So once Riley left the police station, he immediately, like, you know, the smart kid he is, texts his friends, no one, Alex,

and confronts them about why they told the police about his grandfather's gun and about how to get fingerprints off of and he says, don't talk to the police anymore. Do not talk to the police like your bad friends. Why would you do that? But Riley's friends were not the, oh, I'll help you hide a body type of friends. They immediately went to police again and told them, hey,

he texted us the second you left and told us to never talk to you guys again. So police decide to work with Alex and Noah, Riley's friends, they're gonna set up a trap. On Tuesday night, just one day after Emma was murdered, Noah and Alex wire up with mics so police could listen in. They also put a camera hidden in a key fob. This is a sting operation where police are hoping

that Riley will reveal where his grandfather's gun is, that they are presuming to be the murder weapon. All right, we're going to head into an ad real quick. So the friends are all sitting down. They're in a room in this footage. And Riley immediately sits down with him, and this is all you can hear it, you can watch it. He tells them, I didn't murder Emma,

but he also tells them that he told his attorney that they got high, his friends got high. And so whatever you told the police, my attorney knows you were high and you could get in trouble for that. If you're not so cute and so angry, then I thought you were turning today, told everything. I told him that you got to learn how to drive a kid to church. So he's trying to scare them.

He's trying to have something over them. And hopefully at this point, they're like, hey, word. Like we're trying to bust you here. Yeah, we're trying to bust you, so they just say, okay, okay, like they don't say anything. I don't believe anything you said. Yes. So Riley tells his friends, if you talk to police again,

you have to tell them that you were high on acid. And so now you don't really remember what you said about the gun, you were confused before, anything you said can't hold up in court because you guys were under the influence. And I told my attorney that, so if the police call you again, you're gonna have to say it.

Dude, what? This is so messed up. He then goes on to tell them that he needs to get rid of the gun. And they are like, wait, Riley, if you didn't do anything wrong, why do you need to get rid of the gun? If you didn't kill her, why do you need to get rid of it? And he goes, I just need to get rid of the gun. And they are like, wait, Riley, if you didn't do anything wrong, why do you need to get rid of the gun? If you didn't kill her, why do you need to get rid of it?

And he goes, I just need to get rid of it. Okay, I need you guys to support me. You're like standing here in the gun. I'm like, I'm going to throw you a ball. I'm going to throw you a ball. And they talk a lot about his interrogation. And he says, no, no, no, I told the truth. That nobody even knows

if Emma was murdered. She could have killed herself for all we know. This is like what he's saying. So he's still not, I mean, he's not admitting it. He's not admitting it. And they're trying to get him to admit it. Yeah, but he's told the police he doesn't have the gun and he's sitting there with the gun right now.

He says that he wants to be more upset about Emma's death, but that he's actually more worried about getting arrested for her murder. So he can't really be upset about it. And that's why he doesn't have much emotion. They talk about how if she really got shot through a wall, why wouldn't she scream? Like how could she have died? What are the chances? It just kind of seems impossible. This goes to show me that at this point, he didn't know where she had been hit or how she died. Because he says, well, if she got shot, don't you think she would have crawled or screamed for help?

I don't think he knows she's been shot in the head. I don't think he realizes that he or whoever shot Emma hit her in the head. And it really was just a random shot, hoping to hit her. Oh man. I really believe that after hearing this. So he then asks for their help to dump the gun. He's like, are you guys busy right now because I'm trusting you with my life and I need to get rid of this gun? They're like, okay, yeah. But basically after this sting operation at the River Bluff Wildlife Area,

while trying to throw away the gun, Riley Gaul was arrested, like the police followed him there, and then they arrested him. Police searched his stuff and they found not only the gun, but they found gloves and black clothing, which matched the description of the man at Emma's door that day. She said, oh, he showed up in black, they found all of that clothing. In May of 2018, Riley Gaul went to trial

and his defense attorney argued that he never meant to kill Emma. So he says, I shot him. Okay. So he admitted that he shot her, but he says he wasn't trying to kill her that he fired the gun through the wall to try and scare her to get more attention because that day, when he had scared her with the black clothing, she had called and asked him to come. She had turned back to him.

She believed him. And so he said he was excited again and he wanted to get back with her. Yeah, he wanted her to, he wanted her to need saving. Yeah, makes sense. Her to be scared. And he says that's why he shot those bullets through the bedroom.

He never knew that he was going to hit her. According to ABC News, his attorney says he never intended to cause her harm, never intended to cause her death. Consistent with her reaching out to Riley regarding the event Saturday morning, he was attempting to get her to ask him for help again, sort of for him to be her protector. It's been in his heart, it's been in his mind, it's been in just everything about him. Every day for the rest of his life, wherever that may be, he will have to live with that reality.

But I would say I kind of agree, but he fired two shots, correct? Yes. Now, I think two shots from two different walls at the bed. He had been in her room. He knew the layout. He knew where her bed was. Yeah. I feel like, okay.

So I mean, he went there with a gun. I mean, no matter what. Yeah. So Riley denied being the mysterious man in black that morning, and he sticks to his kidnapping story, said someone really was after us at sentencing Riley apologized. He said, I'm sorry. I took M.O. away from you that I robbed you the experience of watching your daughter grow up. What I can do is tell the truth about that night. I wanted to scare her. I never meant to take Emma's life. Again, I'm sorry. He was given a mandatory life sentence

or 51 years. It kind of depends on the source, which I'm kind of confused about. But I mean either way, he's been put away. He was guilty of first degree murder, stalking reckless endangerment theft, tampering with evidence, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. In June 2021, Riley's motion for a new trial due to insufficient evidence was denied. That was recently. Yeah. Jill Walker, Emma's mom, hopes that by sharing her daughter's story, she can maybe reach someone who might also be in a tumultuous relationship.

She wants everyone to know. If your boyfriend or girlfriend is telling you you can't go there or what to wear or who to hang out with or who to talk to, it's not okay. She says, I think when they become quiet and withdrawn, it's a big sign too. It's not just bruises. Abuse is emotional and it's controlling. Emma Walker's legacy is that she loved animals and ABC News says that she wanted to be a NICU nurse. So the family has since gotten a dog park and a NICU patient room at East Tennessee Children's

Hospital. Jill hopes people remember Emma for being kind to others and so that is what we will do. That is the story of Emma Walker. Oh man, that's horrible. Horrible. I feel like there's, there's just so many types of cases, right? There's like some that, I guess are serial killers or some that are domestic abuse.

It just, and it's just, like majority of women, the like most dangerous thing is their partner. That's like how, that's the most common way for women to die of like murder is from their partner. Well, because how much like domestic abuse stats, do you know a whole lot about it? Okay, so on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. Okay, that's a lot. One in four women and one in nine men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate

partner contact sexual violence and or intimate partner stalking. I mean, it's very common. It is, yeah, it is very common. And yes, it goes both ways. Sometimes I do think that we think only women can be victims of domestic violence, but that is not true. Everyone can be a victim of domestic violence. All right, you guys.

I don't want you to forget about our ghost stories coming up in the month of October. Remember that you can send those in or submit them in on our docuform that will be linked in the episode notes. That doc form also be linked in our Instagram bio. We are really excited for this. So if you have any spooky stories, please send them in. And we will see you guys next week with another episode and a

ghost story episode. I love it. And I hate it. Goodbye!