Murder With My Husband - 99. Elizabeth Sullivan - The Hopeful Wife

Episode Date: February 14, 2022

On this episode of MWMH, Payton and Garrett discuss the mysterious murder of mom and friend, Elizabeth Sullivan. LIVE ONLINE SHOW TICKETS HERE! https://www.moment.co/murderwithmyhusband Case Sources: https://thecinemaholic.com/where-is-calandra-duckett-now/ Dateline: Secrets By The Bay https://heavy.com/news/elizabeth-sullivan-murder/ https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/matthew-sullivan-sentenced-in-elizabeth-sullivans-slaying https://starcasm.net/dateline-secrets-by-the-bay-the-murder-of-elizabeth-sullivan/ https://thecinemaholic.com/elizabeth-sullivans-murder-how-did-she-die-who-killed-her/ Links: https://linktr.ee/murderwithmyhusband  Ads: Native: www.nativedeo.com/husband  Betterhelp: www.betterhelp.com/husband Simpli Safe: https://simplisafe.com/mwmh Shopify: www.shopify.com/husband  Thrive Causemetics: www.thrivecausemetics.com/HUSBAND Green Chef: www.greenchef.com/mwmh130 and use code mwmh130 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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That's native.co.com slash husband or use promo code husband at checkout for 20% off your first order. Hey everybody welcome back to our podcast. This is murder with my husband. I'm Peyton Morland. And I'm Garrett Morland. And he's the husband. I'm the husband. All right, everyone. Listen up here. Okay, our live show is this Sunday, February 20th at 6 p.m. PT. There is six days until our live show. So if you have not got your tickets, you need to get tickets right now at momenthouse.com slash murder with my husband.

And there'll be links all over the place. We're super excited. So if you can make it, please come. be links all over the place. We're super excited. So if you can make it, please come. We sure sure are really excited. We're nervous, but we're excited. Yes, it's going to be an online live show so you can log onto your computer using your ticket, get in.

We will be doing. iPhone, phone, Android, whatever it is. We will be doing our regular show live. So Garrett's 10 seconds live, everything live, there will be a comment feed that is live. So I'm kind seconds live, everything live, there will be a comment feed that is live. So I'm kind of excited for that aspect of it. And then there's also going to be a live Q&A, some games, some hanging out, honestly, I'm so pumped. We've been preparing for this for a really long time. And I think it's going to be great.

And again, if you want to get tickets, we're going to have links in the episode notes, if you're sending on podcasts and YouTube, it'll be in the description. And then we're also going to put it on our Instagram, Facebook, all of our social media. I'm really excited to be celebrating our 100th episode live with all of you guys. So please, if you can, come join. It's going to be a blast. And there will also be just a regular, you know, our regular content episode that week, but this 100th episode live is actually going to be

exclusive to the live. We won't be releasing it so that is the only time you will be able to hear the story that we're going to be telling live. Okay, we can stop talking about this live. I'm just so excited. So what's your 10 seconds for this week's episode? Well, go bangles. Superbulls coming up.

Oh my gosh, I forgot. I know. So go bangles. It's the bangles, but week's episode? Well, go Bengals, Super Bowl's coming up. Oh my gosh, it forgot! I know, so go Bengals! Go Bengals, but paintings like who are the Bengals? I still don't know the other team. The Rams, LA Rams. Oh, the Rams, the LA Rams. LA Rams. I don't know anything about them, but Garrett's going for the Bengals,

so I'm going for the Rams, just kidding. And then also, well, I mean, Payton's family's coming into the town this weekend. Oh, yep. But there's a UFC fight on Saturday. If you're a UFC fan, you know what you fight them talking about. PaperView event. We'll probably watch that as well. That's our Super Bowl.

We do like watching any UFC fights in general. We like watching that. So we'll be doing that. Payton the other day posted a picture of me washing my car. Mm-hmm. Well, it was on my personal. Yeah, I share it to mine as well. Yeah.

So, you know, washed my car this week, hung out. Everyone loved that you were wearing your muck boots. I was wearing my muck boots while washing my car. It is freezing outside. It's not really that cold. It was like 40 degrees, but that's cold to me. But I do like getting outside to wash the car. Normally I just get my little camping chair,

I unfold it, I put it in the driveway, and I just sit there and watch the car. Other than that, hanging out, getting ready for the Super Bowl, getting ready for UFC fights, and working. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that watches and supports us. We've really felt the love over the last couple of weeks. We always feel the love,

but it's just been crazy to see just everything grow. Yeah, it really is so crazy. I was actually just talking to someone today about how surreal this is that I feel like we just have this community of people who meet with us every single week to enjoy true crime. And I just like still can't even believe that you guys have

given us this opportunity to do this and given us this family. So yeah, thank you guys so much. The question when people come up to us, it's so fun. We love it. So if you ever see us, please stop us. Right. Yeah, we actually just had a wife and her husband who is an officer, stop us and say hi. And it was pretty crazy because he was like, I've listened to your podcast like while doing

paperwork on duty and stuff and it's like law enforcement is even listening. It's just, it's just really cool. Okay, let's get into this. Our case sources this week are cinemaholic.com, heavy.com, oxygen, star chasm, and date line secrets by the bay. And I do just want to give a shout out real quick to all of the reporters and journalists

who go and cover these cases like in real time in these cities that we then can use the sources. So thank you to our sources who are out there, you know, actually able to do this so that we can then learn everything. Okay, so our case this week begins with a beautiful, vibrant 20-year-old woman named Elizabeth Sullivan, and her best friend, Kalandra Duckett. Elizabeth and Kalandra actually grew up in Virginia, and once they met, they became inseparable. Elizabeth was caring, wild, and colorful. She could draw the attention of anyone, which was how her and Kalandra actually became so close in the first place. Elizabeth loved an adventure and was always on

to the next thing. She was a dancer, then a musician, then the next thing and the next thing. She's super passionate and hardworking and everything she gets into and had been that way since she was a little girl. By her early 20s, Elizabeth, who goes by Liz, was living in Norfolk, Virginia with Kalandra.

And Norfolk actually houses the biggest naval station in the world. You knew that? Yeah. Man, I learned these things about these places. Every single time I do research. OK, I lied. I didn't know that, but I knew it was big.

I knew it was the biggest thing. But we can pretend like I knew it. Just lying on camera. No, no, I remember. And it was while living there that Liz actually met a man named Matthew Sullivan. And he goes on to become her next big passion. Matthew, who goes by Matt, was a Minnesota kid who

had joined the Navy and was now stationed at that big naval base we talked about. And Liz was infatuated with Matt almost instantly. She was passionate, like I said, about most things, and Matt was no different. Friends say that Liz described Matt as her night in shining armor. He promised, you know, permanence and stability for Liz. And one of those stable and loving relationships was what she was really looking for, like the long haul. It was something she was really wanting. So Liz and Matt began dating and forming a life together.

But then very early into their relationship, Matt got the news that he was being reassigned across the country to San Diego, California. This news was devastating for both Matt and Liz, who, although only knowing each other for a few months at this point, had quite literally fallen head over hills in love. It was fast, chaotic, and passionate, just like everything else in Liz's life. And because of the positive and hopeful attitude that Liz always had, she handled this situation differently than most would. Liz and Matt did not want to be separated, so they decided to get married. Three months after meeting, Matt got down on one knee and proposes to Liz and of

course she says yes. After the quick wedding, Liz and Matt are running around preparing for the move as husband and wife to San Diego. She has now taken on the role of a true military wife, getting ready to pack up and leave everything she knows to have this life with Matt. And it was in the middle of this chaos that Liz called Kalandra her friend to tell her something. Something had happened, and it was the worst timing. It was going to change her whole life. She was almost positive that she was pregnant with Matt's baby. So on top of marriage, a new town, a new husband, Liz was also expecting a new baby. And although

overwhelmed, Liz wasn't going to let this stop her dreams. Together, the newlyweds finally moved to San Diego to start their life. But it was basically as soon as they unpacked that Matt then got another call. He was getting deployed overseas. Wow, okay. Yeah, so at this point, Liz is still pregnant

with his child now in a new town all by herself. Yeah, shout out to all those who served by the way. Right. But time goes on, Matt deploys Liz has their baby and begins life as a military mom. Matt begins coming home for short periods of time to see Liz and his new baby girl. And it was during one of these times that Liz discovers

that she is pregnant again with baby number two. Wow. And after delivering the second baby, Liz is now like full on mom mode. She's raising her two babies in San Diego still, but the marriage and the move to a new state was not all it had promised to be to Liz. A few years had gone by and hopeful Liz had begun

to feel isolated with the reality sinking in. She was lonely. With Matt always gone and really no solid friends yet because of all of her time, like the she'd been spending, momming basically. Liz decides that she needs to try and establish a life in San Diego after talking to her friends and family back home. So she tries to get out and meet people. One day, Liz out with her kids in the stroller, wanders into an

eyewear store where she meets a man named Nathan Character. And although Nathan was working when he met her, he was completely drawn to Liz like most people were. She had a huge personality that made anyone comfortable. Very naturally, they began talking and honestly became good friends, the exact friend that she'd been looking for in San Diego. And on the other end, Liz made Nathan fill accepted and loved so their friendship really just worked. So I need to clarify here, there is no romantic feelings going on. This is just purely a platonic friendship, but it's a good friendship.

Nathan eventually becomes Liz's best friend in San Diego. She spent a whole lot of time with him and they began to become intricate parts of each other's lives. They can fight in each other and Nathan was the person that Liz could go to to talk about anything. What she ended up doing when it turns out that her life with Matt wasn't as perfect as it seemed.

So Matt had just come home again and together him and Liz moved to Liberty Station in San Diego. Now Liberty Station is Navy Station in San Diego. Now Liberty Station is Navy housing in San Diego. And Liz told Nathan after Matt came home that her marriage wasn't going well. He was staying long term this time. And the problem was, Liz felt like before Matt came back,

she and the kids had just finally become really comfortable with their routine. She was like a single mother, their life was running really smoothly, but when Matt came home, all of that got disrupted. And to make matters worse, Liz felt like Matt barely knew his own kids and that she kind of barely knew him as well as the kids knowing him. Which is rough because it's not, I mean, it's not his fault, right? Right. He's been gone.

He's been gone. He got deployed. You know how long he was gone for? I don't know how long he's gone for, but I'm pretty sure it's only like two or three years since they moved to San Diego. Okay, and he had been deployed, then came home. And then got... So he was kind of coming back for short periods,

but now he's back for a long term. Okay. And like you were saying, it's not his fault. But what is his fault and was what making matters worse, he wasn't taking the time to get to know them. Like she had hoped. It was almost like he didn't care that he was a stranger in their life. Matt also did not have a driver's license and didn't care to get one.

So it was Liz's job to continue her kids' life being mom, but also to cart Matt around as well. That'd be hard. So what she goes, I mean, I mean, never drives. No, never. Friends say that the WAM-BAM relationship that Matt and Liz had started their marriage off as

had quickly fallen apart because of real life and responsibilities. It was hard for Liz to be the fun-loving wife now, and in return, that was hard for Matt to understand. Liz felt awful about all of this, but was confiding in her friend Nathan about it. But she also told Nathan that she wanted things to be better. She hadn't given up on her marriage. She saw this as an opportunity for their family to really start over and succeed. She remained hopeful and positive just

like always. So Liz, who is now 32 years old, went to Matt to tell him how she felt since he had come home. She needed to tell him that although things had not been going smoothly, she really believes that they could spend time as a family and work on things. Their marriage still had hope. Nothing seems like suspicious yet to me. Right. Like, I'm not, yeah, nothing gets really kind of jumping or grabbing out at me. And I agree, and we'll get to that a little later on. But devastating to Liz, Matt shut this conversation down. He didn't want to work on anything.

He was fine with the way their marriage was. He was fine just going to work and coming home and kind of living separate lives. He didn't want to put in the effort and find where he fit into the picture. She had been living in for the last couple of years. Liz had dreamed of this life and was ready to build it, but Matt didn't want it. And on top of this, Matt ended the conversation by informing Liz that his parents and sister need to move into the house with them. He had told them yes already

without even talking to her and they were moving in that exact week. So kind of like what you were saying before, I know a lot of this seems kind of like textbook marriage problems, right? Like not nothing suspicious. Like you were saying nothing drastic, but it doesn't always have to be extreme things that can cause major issues in marriages. Liz immediately calls her confident Nathan after having this conversation with Matt about his parents moving home and him not wanting to change his behavior. Matt's parents had never liked Liz and she was worried about them being around the kids so much like they're moving into her life. So we're getting somewhere now. Right. How would Matt and Liz work on their relationship with in-laws around? She stressed out and honestly freaking out.

Did they have room in their house for his family? Yes, yes they did. But I mean, I think anyone would be freaking out. And like this is a decision that shouldn't have just been made by one person, like if you're moving people into the house and you have a partner living there, they should probably, you know, you should probably at least talk to them about it

before you're just like, yeah, they're coming this week. So while on the phone with Nathan, because Liz is talking to him, she says, you know what, I'm coming over. I'm coming over. She couldn't be at home anymore, not after the fight. Her and Matt had just gotten and the bomb drop about the in-laws moving in. Liz actually ends up spending the night at Nathan's house that night in hopes of cooling off and getting clarity on the situation.

She informs Nathan that she had already actually contacted a divorce attorney in case that Matt didn't want to work on things and now she is sure. Like, he doesn't want to work on it and I want out. She's not fine living how they are even though he says he is. So Liz falls asleep and when morning comes she heads home to face reality. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads unsure of which direction to take in life? We all face those moments of uncertainty where the right path seems elusive. But guess what? There's a solution that can help you find clarity and confidence. And that's therapy. As you guys know, I talk about therapy all the time.

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Okay, so she loved the kids at home with Matt when a word of Nathan's freaked out, said, he's not wanting to change. Talked to him, slept over. Yes. So now Nathan calls Liz once she's home the next morning, just needs to check in. He's worried, he had never seen Liz

as upset as she was the night before. But when Liz answers the phone call, she's almost whispering like hushed. She tells Nathan she can't talk and that she'll have to call him back tomorrow, which would be Monday. And he's like, okay, and she's like, K, bye. Was his family there at this point or not yet? Not yet. But Monday, October 13, 2014 comes and goes with no word from Liz. Nathan is worried, but she's an adult, and she's also trying to figure out everything at home. Like, life is not good at home.

So he would try again later, and he does, but Liz still never answers her phone. So by Tuesday, October 14, an anxious Nathan decides to call Matt Sullivan, her husband, to check on Liz. He knew that Matt's family was supposed to be landing that day to move in. And he needed to make sure that Liz was okay and that everything was going okay. Oh man, this is getting crazy already. The phone is ringing and finally Matt picks up. Nathan asks Matt if he can talk to Liz. Matt and Nathan actually knew each other by this point, like Nathan had even had Matt and Liz over for Thanksgiving, so they're kind of like family friends.

But Matt tells Nathan on the phone that Liz isn't there. Nathan's like, okay, well I haven't heard from her since Monday and she promised she would call. He's like, I just need to make sure she's okay. I just need to check in. And this is when Matt drops a bomb on Nathan. He tells him that he too hadn't seen or heard from his wife since Monday. And Nathan is like, uh, what? Matt quickly explains how his family flew in this morning to move in with them. And Liz was unhappy about it. So he figured she was just somewhere cooling off trying to put off having to come back and deal with them.

And I mean, Liz was impulsive. Both Nathan and Matt knew this, but Nathan hangs up the phone unsure. He feels like something is not right. That even if Liz ran away, she wouldn't leave her kids. She was a consistent mother. She wouldn't have left her kids behind, right? So sitting there thinking through everything, Nathan decides to make one more phone call. This time to the police. He embarrassly tells them that he knows he's just a friend in this situation, but he really feels like something might be wrong. He asks them if they could just look into it. But Liz is an adult and she can leave if she wants. That's a lot like the police's hands are tied. But they reassure him that although they can't do much right now, they would keep an eye on it in case she doesn't

turn up soon. But another day and then another day goes by without any word to anyone from Liz. How is Matt at this point? Like had Nathan talk to Matt again? Not again, but he's at home with their daughters, the kids, yes. And then his parents and sister and they're all moving in, living fine at this point. Okay. So Nathan, it just, it seems like if she was still missing, the family would be like, Hey, where's your wife?

Matt would be like, Hey, where's my wife? Matt would be like, hey, where's my wife? But it seems like Nathan's the only one right now that cares. Exactly. So Nathan, like you said, is sitting at work right now, waiting by the phone for a call, whether that's from the police or from Liz, he doesn't know. And Liz's friends and family from home are eager to hear an update from anyone,

but it never comes. Three days after Nathan had originally called the San Diego Police, they decide to file Elizabeth Michelle Sullivan as an official missing person in San Diego. Investigators from the missing persons unit make their way to Liberty Station to stop by Liz and Matt's home. They talk to everyone, they do a quick search of the home looking for any evidence. They see no signs of foul play, but Liz hadn't taken her car, which was still parked in the garage.

And doesn't it work different, though, because he's in the military, not the military police can involved and so on and so forth. And he's also going to be tried different as well. So the military police do not get involved in this case, and I'm not sure how that all works either, so if you know anything about that, go ahead and leave a comment. What I do know is that they do not get involved in this case.

Because remember the case we did where she went missing, mm-hmm, on bells and a Hawaii, right, correct? And he was in the military. She didn't go missing. She was murdered. Correct, yes. She was murdered. And yes, the military handled it. Yeah, but in this case, it's the local police. So I think so that case was actually on like base,

like on a base and they're just housing. Oh, they're not on a base. They're just housing. They're just in housing. Yeah, so maybe that's the difference. I'm not sure. Okay. Again, if anyone knows anything about that, let us know because I don't,

I don't know enough about that. So anyways, police are like, it's a little weird that she's missing and her car is still here parked in. think about that, let us know, because I don't know enough about that. So anyways, police are like, it's a little weird that she's missing and her car is still here parked in the garage. It was kind of next to a broken mirror and a freezer, like just your typical garage. Police searched the house, the closets,

even the freezer in the garage, but found nothing. Liz's bedroom was slightly messy, but nothing that stood out to investigators. And I say Liz's bedroom because Liz and Matt slept in separate bedrooms. Matt tells police that one of their suitcases is missing along with Liz's computer and phone, which is what led him to believe that she had just left on her own accord in the first place. Matt adds that Liz had transferred all of the money in their joint account over to her account before she disappeared. Matt also handed over all of Liz's journals to police because they're like,

maybe we can find out where she left if she did willingly leave. Police immediately call the bank and check Liz's accounts only to discover that there had been credit card activity on her account in the days after she was missing. Everyone in Liz's life takes a sigh of relief when they hear this though. Maybe she really had just run away. Either way, they still want to define her. I read flags for just shooting up in the air. I don't know why. Yeah, probably because we're sitting here doing a case. And if everything was all right, we probably wouldn't be. That is true. So the missing person posters are hung up all around the area and the media reports on the story. Within a week an off-duty sheriff's deputy reports that he actually spotted Liz in the days after her disappearance at a soccer field near her home. Okay. He says that he even talked to her and she seemed disoriented and told him that she

had slept in the park the night before. Another spotting comes in near the San Diego airport. But after that, it's quiet. Matt Sullivan tells the media that he doesn't know where else to look. He really thought that his wife had just taken a few days to cool down, but now it's obvious that's not what happened. He reiterates that Liz had left before,

but that was just like for one night or overnight, nothing like this, nothing long-term. Liz's dad, who had flown in from Virginia at this point, pleads with the public for help. He believes that she could be in trouble and needing help. Nathan is brought in for questioning in the disappearance and is asked to take a polygraph which he refuses. They obviously also questioned Matt and San Diego police searches house multiple times. He passes the polygraph that he's given and DNA is collected from the house in case they need to identify a body. But by this point, no more reports had come in and quickly a month goes by, with no sign

or word from Liz Sullivan. But police haven't stopped the investigation, even with some clear cut signs that maybe she had run away. During their time looking into Liz, police had discovered quite a bit more about her. Liz was eccentric. She was wild and free and adventurous. And she had also been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

According to Wikipedia, borderline personality disorder is a personality disorder characterized by a long-term pattern of unstable in a personal relationships, distorted sense of self and strong emotional reactions. And although that definition can sound intense, borderline personality disorder isn't as big of a deal as we have made it out to be. Millions of people are diagnosed with this and function every day with it. And Liz was one of those people who had been living with this, but many of her friends and family who loved her said the diagnosis could be complicated sometimes.

That although she was spunky and had a huge love for life, she'd been battling tortured thoughts for years. Now trigger warning here, we are going to discuss drug use in self-harm, so I'm just going to put that out there. Friends also informed investigators that Liz, like many others, took prescribed and recreational drugs. She had opened up to her friends that sometimes she self-medicated.

Liz had been under the care of psychiatrists for a while, and one way she found a cope with things was to self harm, which is common for BPD patients. Liz was having to jump through more hurdles than most people do when it comes to mental health, which is really discouraging. She had to fight 10 times harder, but her friends and family confirmed that she was strong-willed and understood her challenges. And one of the ways that Liz worked through things was by riding them down, and she had actually been working on a novel that is clear to see mirrored her own life pretty well. The main character in the novel was saved by a knight in shining armor who moved her to California and together they had a daughter.

But in the novel that Liz was riding before she disappeared, this is where things went wrong. Eventually, the main character leaves her night and daughter behind for good, running away, unable to handle things. Weird, I am confused right now because I think all of my thoughts are pointing towards Matt, but now I have no idea. You and the police. No idea.

This book is obviously telling in Liz's case because if she followed the timeline of the main character she was writing about, she would have willingly run away. That's what the main character did. Police had also discovered that in the months before Liz went missing, she had downloaded Tinder. Friends explain to police that Liz used Tinder as an escape from her real life. That maybe when you are struggling

with your own self-esteem, it can feel good to hear from others how amazing you are. But investigators have to confront the reality that if Liz met someone on Tinder, she could have run away with them. It just, I think what's keeping me held back right now that she hasn't run away is because her kids are with mass. Right.

And I feel like, I mean, I don't know what tone about her right now. But even her face. When you told me I feel like she loves her kids and probably would not leave them. And even her friends said that. Yeah. They were like, despite what's in that book, she loved her kids. Yeah. And Halisa also like, if she met someone on Tinder, she could be in trouble, right?

Like, it could be Tinder gone wrong. So this just adds a whole new layer to the case. And they definitely needed to look into it. It had been about two months since Liz had gone missing at this point when police discovered a man named Steven Sutton who it appears Liz had met on Tinder and had a relationship with before she went missing. Liz had even confided in Nathan about Steve, telling him that Steve was her boyfriend she was having an affair. She told Nathan that Steve was educated and always wanted to better himself, and to her he was everything that Matt wasn't in the moment. And Nathan loved Liz, but didn't know what to say. I mean, she's an adult after all. You can't just say, stop, right? Detectives obviously want to talk to Steve,

but Steve was super uncooperative from the start. He immediately got an attorney and made it hard for police to talk to him. So police had to work the story on their own. And this is when they discovered that about a month before Liz went missing, her secret relationship with Steve exploded. During their relationship, Liz actually spent a lot of time at Steve's house that he shared with his roommate.

And although she got along well with Steve's roommate, it was the roommate's girlfriend that didn't so much like Liz, even though she didn't know that much about her. One day, while Liz was over, Steve's roommate's girlfriend noticed that Liz had car seats in her car. And although like I said, she didn't know much about Liz, she drew the conclusion that Liz had left her kids home alone abandoned to come over. And so she called CPS on Liz. Oh, jeez. Kalandra, Liz's friend says something really good here. She notes that she doesn't actually condemn the woman who called CPS because sometimes that really does save kids lives. But she does admit like this woman knew nothing about Liz or the situation and so that's kind of where it's tricky.

Anyways, Liz was at home with her girls after this when she got a knock at the door and it was from CPS. They did a small investigation, checked things out, and Liz explained what had happened. They understood, but told Liz that they would need to call Matt, the children's dad, and inform him either way. And when they leave, Liz freaks out and calls Nathan. She's about to be caught in this relationship. CPS was going to tell Matt what had happened, and things were already really bad with Matt and so she was worried

That night when Matt came home Liz told him everything so that CPS wouldn't catch Malfgaard Matt tells police that it didn't really bother him much when he found out because him and Liz had already been living pretty separate lives up to this point Sleeping in separate bedrooms not really a functioning marriage. So the news about her infidelity, like wasn't really a big deal to him. But according to Nathan, Liz was really upset when all of this happened. She kind of started to spiral,

resulting to self harm in the following weeks. And this is just about a month before she went missing. And although Matt had told police that he didn't care all that much, they still kind of looked into this time frame on cell phone records to see what was going on. And according to Matt's phone records, he maybe did care a little bit more

than he was leading on. Since Matt had found out about the relationship, he had actually been badgering or harassing Steve with text. Threatening the cut, Liz off telling him to go get his STDs checked. Like just kind of weird things. Okay, you guys, we are getting into an ad. I know you guys have both heard the story about how Garrett and I were both paying separately

for peacock. Then we used rocket money and realized how dumb we are and our so happy rocket money helped us stop doing that Rocket money is a personal finance app that finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions monitors Your spending and helps you lower your bills all in one place. I'm like Peyton said I'm always on it checking things out Seeing what's going on seeing how many Amazon packages Peyton or Bob is that how you find out about my Amazon packages? No, I just get emails is that how you find out about my Amazon packages? No, I just get emails.

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and manage your expenses the easy way by going to rocket money.com slash husband. That's rocket money.com slash husband. Rocket money.com slash husband.'s rocket money dot com slash husband rocket money dot com slash husband. Although Steve is still not talking to police at this point, he releases a statement to the public in light of the relationship and please from Liz's family for answers. He says that about a month after Liz had disappeared, he actually received an email from an unknown account named badly drawn girl at hotmail.com.

The email claimed to be from Liz, but Steve was unsure. So he sent back a question that only Liz would know the answer to to confirm that it really was her. I mean, she had been missing for a month. The question was, what had Liz got him for his birthday? The sender emailed back the correct answer of a keychain. Steve assumes it was from Liz and confirms that he believes she is still alive and just hiding out. Okay. So the detectives asked Steve to turn over the email to them, but he informed them via attorney that he had deleted it.

And that was unfortunate because all of the other leads up to this point that police thought they had had, I mean, you can get a lead in email though. I think so. Yeah. But all of the leads really hadn't gone anywhere. In fact, the officer who claimed that he saw Liz at that soccer field came forward later and corrected that it had been before she disappeared. He had mixed his days up. Okay.

And the money that Liz had supposedly transferred into her account after she went missing was untouched at this point. It hadn't been used. And those transactions that happened after she went missing, those were actually before she went missing, but didn't show up on records until later. Got it. So it's now been months since Liz went missing. And police don't know where they stand. Did she leave? Is she in danger? Is she hurt? No one really knows. Either way, details are still emerging at this point from Liz's life before she disappeared.

And these new details begin to shine a light on the catastrophe that was her marriage to Matt. It was a little worse than everyone knew. Police discovered a 911 call that had been placed the same day Liz went missing. It came from Matt Sullivan himself, but it wasn't about his missing wife. On the 911 call... Question. This took a couple months after to like realize a 911 call. Well all of this is kind of... I mean I know there's a lot of work that goes into it. I'm just

curious. I don't think it was necessarily a couple months after this, just the timeline that I'm telling you. This is all just after she went missing, all of this is coming out. Got it. But she, I mean, she has been missing for quite a while. So on the 911 call, Matt tells the operator that he is worried his wife is trying

to take his kids away from him. That she had taken his personal credit card and used it to hire a lawyer against him. He says that he hasn't been served with papers yet, but he thinks that she's trying to ruin his life. All right, this is where things are starting to get a little suspicious. And you called 911 for that?

Yeah. Hey, 911 operator, who I'm sure you have a lot more things going on that you can do. My wife's trying to ruin my life by taking my kids. Exactly. So about an hour later, he calls them again. He tells them that his wife had actually moved money I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it.

I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it.

I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it.

I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I'm guys can try to work this out. Matt never calls back. When Liz told Nathan the night before she went missing that she was planning on divorce and had met with attorneys, she had been doing much more than that. She had made a strategic plan to get out because not only was her marriage on the rocks and the secret relationship had been found out, Liz had accused Matt of being physically abusive. Oh, okay. She had a plan to get a restraining order, file for divorce, and leave.

It had to be clear cut for her safety. So she was scared? Yes. So in the story, this is coming out publicly to the media. So that's why I think it's a little later in the timeline. And when this comes out publicly, Matt deletes all images and any trace of Liz from his social media He and friends all of her friends and family and cuts off her cell phone Despite the fact that he says she took it and is missing. He's like, oh done paying that bill So he basically just took away her lifeline if she is out there. And then he moves another woman

into the home less than three months after Liz went missing. He told people she was there to watch the kids, but then changed his relationship status on Facebook to in a relationship. Police began looking more heavily into Matt at this point and they discover the day Nathan reported Liz missing Matt had bought carpet cleaner from Ace Hardware. When police confront him with this information, he tells them that he was cleaning the carpets because his parents are moving in, you know, like he needs to get the carpets cleaned. Oh yeah, I don't even know how to say it. What husband has ever said, oh, my in-laws are coming over. I need. I need to get carpet cleaner and clean the freaking carpet. Not you. Not me. I need. I need to get carpet cleaner and clean the freaking carpet.

Not you, I'm promising. Not you. If someone else out there has, send me a DM, but I promise you I'm gonna get zero DMs. Fixer, it didn't happen. Yeah, fixer didn't happen. And then a month later, more carpet cleaner and a large industrial role of plastic wrap

is purchased from that. Okay. He tells police that he was moving some things into storage and that's why he needed it. And despite the suspicion, they had nothing to charge him with and no clue where Liz was. And pretty soon, the case goes cold. Liz- Hold, I was thinking it would have sparked everything

up again because this is suspicious. Yeah, yeah, no, they have nothing to charge. Yeah, that's true. So Liz becomes another missing person on a long list of missing people in America. Two years go by. Matt has another child with his new girlfriend, and they live together in Liz's old home. Two years of unanswered questions, absolutely no word or sign of Liz. Two years of heartache for her friends and family.

This is a stagnant investigation until one day in 2016 when an off duty marshal is taking a walk around a walking path against the San Diego Bay around the Liberty Station Shore. Real quick, I guess I'm still confused though because people said they saw her after she went missing. So that's where my mind's a little confused, but keep going. We'll see. Well, the one guy who said he saw her said, oh, never mind, I mixed up my dates. Oh, remember?

Yes, I forgot about that. And then the other person was kind of just someone who was like, I saw the missing person poster. I think I saw her here. So it was a kind of firm. So it was a firm. Right. So this martial is walking along this path. And it's kind of a rocky path and The Marshall's dog starts climbing down the rocks towards the shoreline

When the Marshall notices that his dog is sniffing at something he moves closer and is horrified at what he sees a human body laying dead on the shore. Oh my gosh San Diego police respond and immediately all of Liz's family is petrified. The body had been found only half mile away from Liz and Matt's old home. Okay. Police make a positive DNA match. The body was that of Elizabeth Sullivan. The closure and answers come with a loss of hope for Liz's loved ones, according to Nathan. And this actually broke my heart because we listened to so many of these cases.

And he's like, yeah, I mean, we were happy to have found her body and received some closure. But when that closure came, it cut off any hope we had that she was still alive. And was that any better? I know. And that's awful. The double edged sword.

The autopsy showed that Liz had her prescribed medication and her system at the time of death. They also noted multiple stab wounds that went deep enough to hit her bones. Oh, man. You know, I just have to say as well, Nathan is a good friend. Yes. Really good friend. But the biggest mystery of all, if Liz had been underwater for the last two years and just washed up, murdered and dumped the day she went missing back in 2014, she would not be in one piece when her body was found. But her body was found in good shape, decomplwise.

The official autopsy estimated that Liz had only been killed one to two months before her body was found. No way. Where had she been? And what happened? It's safe to say that the investigation was reopened and urgent. Holy crap, it wasn't expecting that. So three days after Liz's body was found, Matt Sullivan moved from his home in Liberty

station to Maryland. He had started packing up the truck with movers the day that her body was found. So he just went almost as far as he possibly could away. Police decide to research the Sullivan's home now that he's out from top to bottom. And based on evidence from Kalandra, they decided to search Liz's bathroom first with Lumenol. And it lit up like a Christmas tree. Oh, man. It led out the door onto the carpet where there was a large blood stain.

It had actually leaked through the carpet and into the padding. They pulled the carpet up and matched the DNA evidence to Liz. She had bled a large amount on their bedroom carpet and bathroom floor. But that was all they found. And when police took the evidence to the DA, they decided it wasn't enough to charge because where had she been for the last two years? This blood was old, which is hard. I, I, I get it. Obviously, something went wrong, but it's like, what? What are we supposed to charge with?

You can't prove this. Right. Yeah. So police tried interviewing Matt for any more, anything else they could get, but it didn't help. And soon enough, another year went by in the case without any charges being brought. Honestly, you put him in court and you tell everyone that he bought carpet cleaner to clean his carpet before his family came, he'd be guilty. And this is why you are not on a journey.

This is why I'm not on a journey, correct? A year later, police decide to try and search the home once more. They noticed some slats in the attic were broke, so they began pulling up all of the insulation. They're like, someone's been up here, let's just keep searching. And that's when they discover a military knife hidden behind one of the slats in the attic.

Liz's blood was found on the blade, Liz and Matt's DNA was found on the handle. This had to be enough to charge. They just found a knife hidden. Matt Sullivan was arrested for the murder. In five years after Liz Sullivan disappeared, Matt Sullivan went to trial. Wow, okay. Where was she? I just wanted to know where she was. Yeah, you and everyone else up to this point, no one knows. And police are deciding they have enough. So Liz's best friends all testified

about the domestic violence that Liz had been experiencing at the hands of Matt. So she had told people about this. Liz had called police six months prior to her disappearance to report domestic violence. Kalandra testified about a phone call in the middle of the night that she had had with Liz right before she disappeared.

And on that phone call, Liz explained to her that she had just gotten into a really bad fight with Matt. She hung up in the middle of the call and that was the last time she ever talked to her. The prosecution's case resting on the fact that Matt attacked and killed her in the bedroom and bathroom right after Liz hung up. So they're like, Liz was on the phone with Kalandra, Liz hung up and he killed her in 2014. So they're saying that he killed her that night or whatever that in 2014 that she was on the phone with her and then got off the phone and he killed. But then the autopsy says that she was only been then for two months, correct?

Correct. This is what's happening at trial. I don't understand. Okay. Yeah, no one does. So what about the time of death from the forensic pathologist? If Matt didn't kill Liz that night, like where was she for two years? And if the prosecution is saying that he did kill her that night, then the autopsy is wrong.

Yeah. So the prosecution has an answer. They're like, everyone, Garrett, calm down. We will tell you what happened. They say that Matt bought the industrial plastic and hid her up in the attic with the knife originally dead. Oh my gosh, police came and searched the main area of the home after Nathan had reported her missing and found nothing because she was up in the attic. They then say that he moved her body into the garage and into the standalone freezer where

she sat for two years. Oh my gosh. And that he pretended to be her, moving money, emailing her ex and experts testified that there is something that can delay the decomposition process. Freezing. And that's freezing a body. It could have made it look like she had only been killed just recently since decomposition is what we used to determine how long someone has been dead. But if freezing delays that, then it would be only

one to two months. He had been planning this. Like he had to have been, I mean, I know he bought the supplies right before she died. Right. Well, I feel like maybe he wasn't planning it. I guess I'm trying to decide in his mind how far ahead he was planning this. Right. So he didn't buy carpet cleaner until after she went missing.

Got it. But I mean, you don't just kill someone. I mean, people do. People do, but it's just a little weird. You know what I mean? He got the, he bought it, was a cam, I'm gonna put her in the freezer and then was like, X amount of time goes by. And then moved his, and then moved his parents in,

raced his kids in that house, and moved it his next girl in, and had another baby with her in the freezer. So messed up, this is, this is what prosecution's saying. Okay. So Matt, the defense obviously denies it all. They state that none of this makes sense that the blood stain in the bedroom was from a like a bad self-harm attempt

that Liz had had, that her blood's on the knife because that's what she used, that none of, that she really did just run away and then someone else that was bad got to her Two years later and killed her. Yeah, the jury goes out for deliberation and comes back with a verdict within an hour Wow, they found Matt Sullivan not guilty of first degree murder, but guilty of second degree murder 36 year old Matt Sullivan was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.

What? How, how, I mean, I guess good he was found guilty of second degree murder, but bad that he wasn't found guilty of first degree murder. Because they don't think it was planned, they think that they got into a fight and he just killed her that right there, that it wasn't premeditated.

I just don't even know how that. It happens. Yeah, I guess I don't know. Maybe there's another conversation for another conversation. I guess it's just it's it's the justice system. I guess it's the fact that okay, say second degree murder. They got into a fight and he killed there. But he then went and bought all these supplies.

Right. He then went and put her body in a freezer. Hit it. It had been one thing if you called the police and then said, hey, we got in a fight and I killed her. Then it's like, okay, well, there's pre-substantial evidence that, okay, it was second degree murder. But now that all this stuff happened after, we'll crap.

You feel like hiding it then should make it first degree. Correct. According to oxygen.com, Matt was discharged from the Navy in 2016. Okay. Would she had ever been found if Matt didn't move with his new girl? No. The day he begins packing up with others, her body washes a shore looking as if it hadn't even been submerged.

Like it was just dumped there. Matt says he can't explain the coincidences, and I guess it's not ours to judge, only the jury who found him guilty gets to do that. Liz had the force of life in her. She is described as someone who smiles and laughs more than anyone else. She was who everyone wanted to be around and I'm sure that every single person listening can imagine someone like this in their life.

And her friends and family miss her terribly. She was sparkly and amazing. Klanjah says that you couldn't take the shine out of her. Liz had her mental health and disorders used against her in court. Put on display in a negative way for all to see. Yeah. And mental health is not taboo and it doesn't make anyone less than. She is worth more than that. She is all of the kind things that everyone says about her. And today I want us to remember her for that and think of those who ache for her loss, including her children. Elizabeth Sullivan was murdered. And that is the story of her case. Oh, I feel like it just ended so abruptly. Right. Like, you know what I'm saying?

They found her body. And you know, with a child and a child, I mean, I guess that's a good thing, but there's just not, there's not like something for me to grasp. He just denied everything and said, Oh, I didn't kill him. And that's something I've noticed with these cases. The more we cover, the more I'm like, you know, I don't know if you're not guilty, then I guess you're not guilty. But for these people, and I'm not saying that this,

you know, is his case, but in a lot of these cases, it's like open and shut case, right? Like there's no denying what happened and they still deny it. And to me, that's the last dig and the last hurtful thing you could do to victimize everyone in the case. I guess I'm confused how they fought against the fact that there was blood everywhere. Right. Like how do you even argue that?

Every which I mean, I guess is why the jury found him guilty of Right murder it might not have been first-degree murder, but it still was murder second-degree murder And who hides a who hides a knife in their attic like like who hides a knife behind a Row of insulation in their alley and believe like he had his family come over and they were just living there And then a new girl his kids Poor kids. Yeah, that is horrible to That's why I'm going to show them at the end. Yeah Once again like we always see with these cases. There's always more than one victim. Yeah, okay you guys

We love you and that was the case for today and we will see you guys next week with another episode and a live episode I love it. I hate it. Goodbye. Bye.