Snapped: Women Who Murder - Prescilla Matula

Episode Date: August 25, 2024

Authorities are puzzled when they find a beloved Georgia grandmother shot execution style. As the investigation unfolds, a once close-knit family turns against itself, and authorities soon learn the apple can fall very far from the tree.Season 30 Episode 18Originally aired: February 6, 2022Watch full episodes of Snapped for FREE on the Oxygen app: https://oxygentv.app.link/WatchSnappedPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I'm Sachi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagge. And we're the host of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondry that takes you along the twists and turns of some of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims, and what's left once a facade falls away. Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dan Tuberski. In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate New York.

A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast. What's the answer? And what do you do if they tell you it's all in your head? Hysterical. A new podcast from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios. Binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free on Wondery Plus. As a beloved matriarch and businesswoman, she ran everything in this small Georgia town from a car dealership to a carpool. Loved her family, good businesswoman. Our grandmother absolutely loved her grandkids and her kids. Family was always extremely important.

But tragedy brings this dignified rural family to the brink of collapse. She is in the bathroom floor and there's a lot of blood. Everyone thinks that we're arriving to a home invasion where she was attacked. The house is now an active crime scene. As investigators sift through a list of suspects a mile long, in this small town, it seems every suspect hits close to home. Her status financially would make him a target. He had financial problems.

All of a sudden they couldn't find him. She knew if she didn't do something, she would lose everything. A crime rooted in greed would reveal that the ties that bind sometimes break. Whenever Manny was killed, our family just died. February 4, 1991, LaGrange, Georgia. This picturesque small town's tight-knit community is nothing like the hustle and bustle of its neighboring big city, Atlanta. On Monday, February 4th at approximately 1230 in the afternoon, 911 received a call from Priscilla Matula.

She was at her mother's home. Priscilla's mother is 66-year-old Margaret Abernathy, one of the town's most well-known and wealthiest residents. Priscilla Matula tells the dispatcher that there's been a burglary and her mother's been hurt. Her mom was not speaking and she was lying in the bathroom floor. There's a lot of blood.

Her mother was injured and she needed an ambulance. I went over to check Miss Abernathy. I called the EMTs to come on in and proceed on the medical assistance. And they did, and they couldn't find anything wrong with her at first. She was alive. She was not conscious, but she was making,

it was described as snoring sounds. Priscilla Matula rides in the ambulance to the hospital as her mother desperately clings to life. With Margaret's vitals dropping fast, ER doctors are shocked to discover the true cause of her injury and immediately notify police. Doctors discovered that she had been shot twice.

The house is now an act of crime scene. When investigators first arrive, they look for signs of the burglary that was reported in her daughter's 911 call. Everyone thinks that we're arriving into a home invasion where she was attacked. The front door is locked and there was an appearance of forced entry through the back. The rear window had a little bit of broken glass from the pain that was in the door.

When detectives inspect Margaret's room they begin to theorize how the crime may have unfolded. You see a bed that had the covers turned down. You see blood on the pillow. From the blood being in the bed, you knew that she was most likely asleep when she was first attacked, or at least lounging in the bed when she was attacked. She was able to obviously get from her bed where she had been shot. She was able to actually get into the bathroom.

And in the bathroom, you could see blood on some toilet tissue. And it appeared that Miss Abernathy was attempting to clean herself up. As law enforcement awaits an update on Margaret's condition, the pressure to find who attacked LaGrange's most prominent resident begins to rise. It was a pretty high profile case for LaGrange. The Abernathy's. They were pretty well-off people and they lived a good life. You would assume that her status financially would make her a target. It was real important to talk to the people that knew her schedule.

No stone should be left unturned to find out who was around, who had access, who had ability to commit this act. When it came to the citizens of LaGrange, Margaret and Bill Abernathy stood tall among their peers. Nanny Abernathy and Granddaddy Abernathy were huge business people, especially in our local town. It was a small town, but they were a part of everything, whether it was being on the board for the local electric company or the board of commissioners.

The fuel that kept the Abernathy's hometown empire moving forward was their local car dealership. It was successful enough that they were able to invest in real estate and number of rental properties and things like that. It is my belief that they were pretty well situated. They had a farm and I just remember Grandaddy having buckets and buckets of vegetables at the dealership that people could pick up. They were always willing to give to the town and to the people of LaGrange.

The Abernathy's also had three children who were all part of the family business, Alec, Priscilla, and Melody. Margaret was an extremely generous person. She would do anything for her kids. Money never really seemed like it was that big of a deal to Margaret. If somebody needed help, she would help them. She was very thought out in her process of taking care of her children,

making sure that they had their dreams come true. She helped all three kids do different adventures in life. Middle child Priscilla took a keen interest in the family business from an early age. Priscilla was the most involved as far as with the dealerships. There was a huge age difference between all the siblings. And so my mom was a good bit younger. She was the baby of the family.

So Priscilla was the one that was the most pick of the family to put in charge. Priscilla did her part to help grow the family operation. But there were also times she leaned hard on her mother to help weather life's storms. From the death of her first husband early in their marriage, to raising two children as a single mother. Margaret was Priscilla's support system. in their marriage to raising two children as a single mother. Margaret was Priscilla's support system. She really wanted to help her get through this tough time.

She was going to be there for her financially and emotionally. She was involved in everything that Nanny Abernathy did. All the business transactions, all the different clubs and things, Priscilla was right there along with her. They were inseparable. By the late 80s, Priscilla had fallen in love with a local man, Nick Metula. Nick and Priscilla get married. He steps up and becomes a stepfather to her two kids,

and then goes to work at the family business. In 1989, the family banded together once again when the family patriarch, Bill Abernathy, fell ill. We would try to be over there a couple of nights a week. Sunday dinners were a big thing. It slowly got to where he couldn't come out of the room. His health continued to deteriorate and he had to have a lot of assistance. A friend of the family, Diakka Andromalus, was looking for a place to live when Margaret asked

him to move in and help provide care for Bill. Diakka took up residence in a spare bedroom. It was nice having him there because he was able to actually help Margaret with a lot of stuff. He was a gentle giant. Ultimately, his diabetes led into congestive heart failure, which is what ended up taking his life. After Mr. Abernathy passed away, Diocca continued to live there with her.

Margaret decides to sell the family businesses and retire. That's when Priscilla and Nick decide they want to start their own business and buy a local dealership. The problem is they didn't really have enough money to purchase the store themselves. And this is where Ms. Margaret came in. She had agreed to front the money to help them to purchase the dealership. When she committed to help Priscilla and Nick

purchase the store, then she wanted to see exactly what was going on, what was being done, who was doing what. As someone who grew up in the car business, Priscilla looked more than ready to take the wheel. Nick was over the service department. Nick was very, very strong-minded, but Priscilla was very easy to get along with. She was very soft-spoken and she was extremely friendly.

She appeared to me to do a good job at what she did as the office manager. She more or less, you know, was responsible for paying all the bills of everything, ordering materials and stuff. As the heir apparent of the family business, Priscilla relied heavily on her mother's guidance. Ms. Margaret and Priscilla's relationship was extremely close. I mean extremely close. But now, as Margaret Abernathy lays in critical condition, the entire family's future is in doubt.

Ms. Abernathy had two gunshot wounds to the back of her head. One was just under the skin and the other one had hit the brain stem. Friends and family soon gather alongside 41-year-old Priscillaiscilla keeping vigil outside Margaret's room Miss Abernathy's daughters were at the hospital and maybe some of the extended family as The family tries to stay optimistic. They are met with a grim prognosis She basically is put on a monitor and she can't move, she can't speak, she's not responding. They put her on temporary life support for a short time. She did have a heartbeat, but she had nothing else.

She was in a coma pretty much. The brain stem hit is what took her life. They had to unhook her and just let her pass. It's one of those moments you'll just never forget. They had to unhook her and just let her pass. It's one of those moments you'll just never forget. You know, when your parents call you in and sit you down on the edge of the bed and tell you they got to talk about what happened to Nanny. Margaret's death is officially ruled a homicide, and the investigation to find her attacker intensifies.

My thought process was just unbelievable. Who in the world could have caused this? Coming up, detectives learn the cruel details of Margaret's attack. Margaret had at some point tried to stop the bleeding, which means there was time in between the first and the second shot. And the evidence points to someone in Margaret's inner circle. It's like somebody was trying to make it appear as a burglary when maybe it really was not.

At that point, the officers knew that the crime scene had been staged. stage. February 4th, 1991. The murder of beloved businesswoman, 66-year-old Margaret Abernathy, has authorities in LaGrange, Georgia looking for answers. Detectives arrive at the hospital soon after Margaret's death to interview her daughter Priscilla, who discovered Margaret shot in her home earlier that day.

Priscilla is there with other family members, and she's in shock. Investigators ask Priscilla to walk them through the events leading up to the discovery of her mother. She leaves for work between 720 and 730, gets to work between 8 and 815. She went into very specific details about getting behind school buses and getting food. She got there by going down Highway 29, which she does every day when she goes to work. She says that after she was there a little while, she left to go to the bank and to the post office. And when she got to the post office, there was a lot of traffic there, a lot of long lines.

She drove around the block two or three times and decided to come back at a later time. So she ends up going back to the dealership. The amount of detail that she gave the investigators when she interviewed with them seemed excessive. She's got a narrative that she wanted to put forth. Priscilla further explains that she went back to the post office and bank around 10 a.m. and then returned to work once again. She tells investigators that even though she was going about her business, she was distracted and worried.

She said that she always talks to her mom in the morning. Sometimes her mom comes to the car a lot. But that morning, she hadn't heard a peep from Margaret. She calls her mother several times, calls some other people trying to find out if they've talked to her, if they know where she's at, if they've seen her, if they heard from her. I had overheard Priscilla and Linda Frazier, who was another employee there, discussing that Ms. Margaret had not come in, she had not called, and that she was not answering her phone. By lunchtime, Priscilla knew she needed to take action.

She was in the bathroom. Miss Matula went to the house. She said she let herself in. Through the front door, the lights were off. She called for her. She didn't hear anything. She went toward the bedroom, saw her mother on the floor of the bathroom with an agonal breathing, saw the bloody tissues that her mother had.

She called 911, and her words, I believe, were, my mom is hurt. And then she waited for the paramedics to arrive. Priscilla's story seems clear, but autopsy details of Margaret's injuries suggest a disturbing timeline. She had two gunshot wounds directly to her head, indicated a small caliber weapon with a small bullet. One gunshot did not penetrate her skull and if that had been the only shot, they would have been able to take care of her at the hospital and save her life.

There was bloody toilet paper in the bathroom, which means that Margaret had at some point tried to stop the bleeding. And that goes to show you that there was time in between the first and the second shot. Second shot perforated her brain stem, which meant at that point she could not do nothing, walk, talk, anything, which means the shooter had to shoot her once in the bedroom and once in the bedroom and once in the bathroom. While Margaret's family grieves at the hospital, Priscilla's husband Nick Metula and brother Alec Abernathy have arrived at the home to try and assist police in catching Margaret's attacker.

While we're outside talking to the family members, of course we ask them, did they have any suspects at all? Did they know of anybody that had problems with Miss Abernathy? Alec and Nick inform investigators that Margaret didn't live alone. Some of the family members while we were at the scene advised us that there was a young man named DeOcca that lived with Miss Abernathy, and that, of course, he had access to the house. It was Toad. He was not to the house. It was towed. He was not there that day.

He was at work. The family insists that, just like most people in LaGrange, Diocca and Dromelis adored Margaret and would never hurt her. Miss Abernathy was a well-respected woman, loved her family, good businesswoman, kind, never heard anything negative said about her. And in a small town where everybody knows everything about everybody, that's pretty big.

The family is convinced that Margaret had no enemies and that this must be the result of a burglary gone wrong. They told us that if it was a burglary, there'd be certain items that would be missing. It would have been a main coat, some expensive jewelry, and a derringer. They gave us the location of the items. Of course, when we went back in and looked for the items, they were missing. A derringer is a small caliber weapon, and that's of interest because Margaret was killed

by a small caliber gun. Investigators also discover evidence of a break-in. Within the house, they noticed that there were drawers that were open, as if there had been possibly a burglary where somebody was looking for something valuable. There were some drawers open and stuff was taken out of the drawers and it was neatly set in the floor.

Normally burglars, they care less about what kind of mess they make. They throw stuff out of the drawers onto the floor, turn them upside down, open every drawer looking for anything they can find that's worth stealing. It didn't appear that way here. And while some valuables are missing, others are in plain sight. There was no TVs missing, no electronics were missing, no cameras, no anything. At the back door, investigators closely examined the broken glass pane where it appeared the intruder entered. But the clue itself is misleading.

Most of the glass was on the outside of the door instead of the inside, which would make you assume that the glass was broken from the inside of the house. Actually, the hole was real small as if somebody had just tapped it to break it to try and fool whoever, that someone had done that to make entry into the residence. Didn't make sense.

It was so small that you couldn't reach a hand through there to do anything to get in the residence. It's like somebody was trying to make it appear as a burglary when maybe it really was not. At that point, the officers knew the crime scene had been staged. Usually, if it is a staged scene, it is a person that closely related or friends with the victim. Now that burglary is ruled out, and with new evidence of the scene being staged, investigators have to consider one person who had easy access to the property,

Diakka Andromalus, though Margaret's family thinks it impossible that he would do this. Diakka is naturally someone that police and investigators are going to want to speak with. He lives there, he has access to everything in the home, he knows where the valuables are, and he could have been there at the time of the crime. Knowing that Diocca works at another local car dealership, investigators place a phone call to locate him. His boss at Johnson Motors said that he caught dinner at 8,

went to lunch at 11.30, come back at 12.30, and then all of a sudden they couldn't find him. Diakka's boss doesn't know where he is. He's disappeared. Coming up, while police search for Diakka, they learn that some of the Abernathy children have secrets of their own. They were in the red. They had no financial safety net beyond Miss Abernathy. That was it. With a potential motive in hand, investigators take a closer look at a very complicated alibi. According to Priscilla, she was nowhere near her mother's house before lunch on February

4th. She lied about where she was before the shooting. news. With Amazon Music, you have access to the largest catalog of ad-free top podcasts included with your Prime membership. To start listening, download the Amazon Music app for free or go to amazon.com slash ad-free podcasts. That's amazon.com slash ad-free podcasts to catch up on the latest episodes without the ads. Was there a crime committed? As far as I'm concerned, there wasn't. Guilty By Design dives into the wild story of Alexander and Frank, interior designers who in the 80s landed the jackpot of all clients.

We went to bed one night and the next morning we woke up as one of the most wanted people in the United States. What are they guilty of? You can listen to Guilty by Design exclusively and ad free on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Just hours after 66-year-old businesswoman

Margaret Abernathy died from two gunshot wounds to the head, sheriff's investigators in Troup County, Georgia have zeroed in on their first person of interest, Diakka Andromalus. Diakka lived with Margaret, and according to Diakka's supervisor, he left the car dealership where he worked, and no one knows where he is.

But just a few hours later, detectives receive a phone call from Diakka Andromalus' supervisor saying that he has returned to work, and they immediately head there to interview him. He told us he didn't know anything about anything going on at Miss Abernathy's. I told DeYonka that Miss Abernathy had passed, that someone had come into the house and shot her two times, and that she was deceased. And then, of course, we told him and he got upset.

DeYonka got emotional and start crying, and they don't understand what happened, and you just can't console him. He valued her or treated her like his grandmother. I mean, he cared a lot about her, Miss Aberneth. DeYonka tells them he had nothing to do with Margaret's death. But he does admit that he tried to slip away unnoticed from his job.

He left because he actually had a job interview at another dealership, and he didn't want his boss to know. He was afraid if he told him he went for an interview at another business, he would fire him. Investigators end their interview with Diocca and quickly check on his claim that he left the dealership for a job interview. According to him, he went to an interview at another business.

Of course, the other business advised that he did come there for an interview, which sort of said there ain't no way he could have been there to commit the crime. With Diaga's alibi holding up, detectives remove him from their list of potential suspects. When they speak with Margaret's son-in-law, Nick Matula, again, this time on his own, he offers up a disturbing theory. According to Nick Matulin, he told us that Alec had told them at one time that he was just waiting on his dad, Mr. Bill Abernathy and his mom, Margaret Abernathy, to die so that he could get some of the family inheritance in order to take care of his loans, his money problems. Nick was, you know, throwing shade on Alex Abernathy. Alex had problems. He had financial problems.

He was in trouble. Nick Matula said that Alex had made a comment that he needed his inheritance, so his parents needed to go ahead and pass away. According to Nick, So his parents need to go ahead and pass away. According to Nick, Alec did not work at the dealership but was a constant fixture. Nick Metulo pretty much threw it all on Alec Abernathy. I know that investigators looked at him very strongly

because of his financial situation. I know that he was definitely a person of interest. Nick Metulo told us that he felt like Alec Abernathy had something to do with Mrs. Abernathy's death due to the fact that he owed a bunch of money and she did have a big insurance policy and Alec was named in it, that it would help Alec with his debts

and felt like that might push Alec into doing something like committing this homicide. He was going to be the beneficiary of a double indemnity life insurance policy, so he was looking for $40,000 upon the death of Ms. Abernathy. But investigators find that he too has an airtight alibi. Alec sometimes worked at the same dealership with the family in Priscilla, Matula, and according to Linda Frazier, he never left until he was called later on to come to Miss Abernathy's house because of something happening to her. 48 hours have passed since Margaret was murdered, and Troupe County investigators have ruled

out two potential suspects. They fear that if someone knows something, they aren't telling. LaGrange is a small town, and although people like to know about other people's business, they don't always want to be the one setting things in motion. Just when police need it the most, they receive a tip that shines a damning light on another one of the Abernathy children. Two days after the homicide,

we received an anonymous call from the Bank of Troop County from someone who said that Miss Abernathy had come to the bank. The Saturday, two days prior to her death, had wanted to take Priscilla Matula off of all their business accounts. We went to the Bank of Troop County on the 6th and talked to the branch manager. He told us that Margaret had been there on that Saturday and that she was

adamant about making some changes. They said she seemed to be really upset, angry. Said that her blood pressure had been going up, I guess because she had gotten mad according to whatever it was going on with the bank accounts. There was some discrepancies on some of the business accounts they had, which was the reason Miss Abernathy wanted Priscilla Matula taken off. She didn't want her to have access or the authority to write any checks or make any decisions according to any of the accounts at the bank.

She was physically agitated, emotionally distraught. She wanted it to be fixed instantly. She was distressed. She was almost inconsolable. They had told her they couldn't do it right, that he just didn't have the personnel there that could do it. That she had to come back Monday morning. She told them that she would be back in on Monday. She was going to have it done.

And of course she never made it. Once we received that information in reference to Ms. Abernathy wanting Priscilla off the account, of course it made her a viable suspect. Coming up, when police look into Priscilla and Margaret's finances, it appears the apple has fallen quite far from the tree. We called a financial expert from the GBI. She came.

She went over all those records and said there was a scheme going on. Had desperation forced Priscilla to do the unthinkable. She said she had the authority to do what needed to be done. 41-year-old businesswoman Priscilla Matula has gone from grieving daughter to a suspect in her mother's murder. We went back to the sheriff's office, got a subpoena, took subpoena, all the financial records for the business accounts to make a determination what was the cause for Ms. Abernathy wanting to remove Priscilla Matula from the accounts.

They learned that Margaret had been very generous in helping Priscilla get her dealership up and running. Mrs. Abernathy had put up her house for collateral and a CD for collateral to allow Nick and Priscilla to purchase this car dealership. I believe that Ms. Abernathy had given Nick and Priscilla Mantula $130,000 to help them purchase this dealership. So she was already in fairly deep with them financially. When investigators look deeper,

they discover Priscilla's business was in serious debt, and she had taken some illegal steps to cover it up. We called a financial expert from the GBI. She came, she went over all those records and said there was a kiting scheme going on. Tech kiting is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul. It's writing checks where you don't have the money to cover it. She would write a check to make a deposit,

say to Troop County Bank. Then she would go to another bank and write a check to cash on that check, which was no good. Then this bank would cash the check for that, and they would do that back and forth. Back in the 90s, I mean, it might've took three to five days or longer for a check to even get to the bank and then, you know, get cleared.

She had kited checks in the amount of 20, $30,000 so that it looked to be that she had a positive cash flow at the car lot. She was showing some of the vehicles on the car lot sold that wasn't actually sold. Like she would say it was sold and she got all this money for it. Some of the bank statements that were coming

showed these discrepancies. Police believe Margaret discovered the accounting irregularities and became convinced Priscilla was stealing from the business. I believe that when Ms. Margaret found out about what was going on. Priscilla was confronted by her mother and told that she was going to be taken off of all of her accounts and that Priscilla would no longer have access to that. That's when I think this creature came out in Priscilla. She was gonna cut her off and Priscilla would lose everything. With a strong motive in hand, investigators take a closer look at Priscilla's alibi.

According to Priscilla, she was nowhere near her mother's house before lunch on February 4th. But when investigators start canvassing the area, they interview a convenience store clerk that says Priscilla came in after 7 a.m. the morning of the murder. She was at the convenience store down from her mama's house, so she lied about where she was. As their neighborhood canvas continues, investigators find another woman who was doing a walkthrough

of a rental property on the morning of February 4th. It just so happens the home is located right across the street from Margaret's residence, and she remembers seeing a sedan parked on the property. She had seen Priscilla Matula's car, her Jeep Premier, at her mother's house in that timeframe, between 10 and 30. She goes inside this rental house looking at it to see if she wanted to rent it. And while there, heard what she thought was a gunshot.

She wasn't sure where it came from, sounded like it might've came from across the street. The question, of course, was, well, did you call the police? But of course, in rural Troop County, hearing gunfire, she didn't think to call the police. She figured that somebody just might have been out in the field shooting a gun. With Priscilla's vehicle being spotted at her mother's, investigators contact Linda Frazier, who Priscilla claimed would verify her story about being at work at the time of the shooting.

But Linda only pokes further holes in Priscilla's alibi. Priscilla had come to work normally at around 8 o'clock. Shortly after she had left going to the post office and to the bank. She was gone for a little while. Came back, said that she didn't actually get to go in the post office because it had a long line she couldn't get in. We know at 10 o'clock between 10 and 10 30 she was at her mother's house. We know that at that time when she was at her mother's house gunshots were fired. She was the only one to be there.

She was the only one that we could point to being there. Once back at the office, she made a point of showing concern for her mother. She couldn't get in touch with us. She was worried about her. She thought she was supposed to go to get her hair fixed somewhere. Each time she came back, she was talking about her mother. As my mother called, she would call somebody to see if they had seen her.

Around lunch, Priscilla announced she was going to check on Margaret. When the phrase was said, she told her, you don't need to go by yourself. Priscilla, I'm going with you, just in case something is bad wrong. And Priscilla refused, said no, she didn't need her to go with her, she'd go by herself. Shortly after Priscilla left for the last time, the 911 call came in from Priscilla herself. With her alibi in shambles and financial misdeeds exposed, investigators arrest Priscilla on February 12th. During her interview, when you'd ask her about anything in reference to the homicide, she just wouldn't talk to you.

She doesn't even acknowledge that she's being asked about her mother's murder. You know, tell us what happened that day. She doesn't acknowledge any of it. When it comes to financial malfeasance, Priscilla insists that everything was on the up and up. When Priscilla was asked about the finances of the dealership, of course, she said she had the authority to do what needed to be done. She just said, you know, she was on the account, she had the right to write checks and carry

on business with the dealership. But despite her claims to investigators, Priscilla's motive is crystal clear. They were in the red. And once she realized that she had no financial safety net beyond Ms. Abernathy, that was it. The only thing she could do was kill her mother so she could still have access to her money. She knew if she didn't do something between that time and Monday,

when her mother started her day, that she would be done. Coming up, Priscilla makes a brazen move to clear her name. Priscilla is fairly pushy in telling her that I wasn't there, you must be mistaken. But could a missing piece of evidence end the case? It was mostly a circumstantial case. We did not have a murder weapon.

LaGrange, Georgia, homicide investigators have charged Priscilla Matula with the shooting death of her mother, Margaret. As her murder trial approaches, authorities get one final piece of evidence. A key witness for the prosecution was a convenience store clerk who said that she saw Priscilla the morning of the murder. In February of 1992, she calls the Troup County Sheriff's Department. Paige Hester called us and said that Priscilla had called her.

They'd left a message for her, I guess, that wanted Paige to call her. Hoping Priscilla is about to incriminate herself, investigators convince Paige to call her back while they tap the line. Investigators listen in as Paige calls Priscilla at the house where she's out on bond. She wanted Paige Hester to deny that she was there, and she kept telling her, you know, are you sure it was the fourth? Maybe it was another day when you saw me there. Priscilla is fairly pushy in telling her

that I wasn't there, you must be mistaken. Of course, Paige Hester told her no. It was the day of Ms. Abernathy's death. Priscilla was very cagey in the way she was speaking to Paige. There was no bribery, no real coercion. She was pretty much just trying to adjust her memory. Nothing illegal happened. It was just clear that she was trying to create testimony for Paige.

Investigators share this information with prosecutors who believe it will help prove Priscilla's guilt when her trial begins in August 1992. The hardest part was trying to make a jury understand. I think the hardest part for anybody is the fact that who kills their mother. That was the hardest part, trying to get into the desperation she must have felt to do this act. The theory of the case was that Priscilla must have been confronted by her mother on Saturday. Her mother was so distraught at the bank that had to have been conveyed to Priscilla. At that point, Priscilla was told that her financial life loan was going to be cut off on Monday. Priscilla apparently didn't have any other resources. She had to have stewed over that.

With her being taken off that account and losing the dealership, her and Nick were destitute, pretty much. It was either make Miss Abernathy not take her off the account, or stop her from taking her off the account. She was desperate. She obviously decided on Monday that the only thing she could do was kill her mother so she could still have access to her money. Prosecutors believe that Priscilla snuck into Margaret's home and fired a single shot into her sleeping mother's head. I'm sure she thought she had killed her at that point.

She comes back a few hours later to find her still alive and in the bathroom. And instead of helping her, shoots her again to kill her. She ended up knocking one of the glasses out of one of the doors from the inside of the house instead of the outside. And of course, call 9-1-1 reported it

and it acted like somebody had murderized the house and shot her mother. Prosecutors believe that Priscilla even got rid of her mother's jewelry and mink coat just to make it look like a burglary gone wrong. Priscilla's attorney argues that the prosecution's case is conjecture and not fact. It was mostly a circumstantial case because we didn't have a person that actually saw her do anything,

and we did not have a murder weapon that we could link to her. It's a hurdle to not have the murder weapon. It would have been nice to have been able to have a murder weapon. The hardest part was trying to make a jury understand the evidence the way I understood the evidence. On August 28, 1992, the jury announces its verdict. She was found guilty and got a life license. Life with parole. For those seeking justice for Margaret, it's a bittersweet moment for this once proud and happy family.

I've always thought that just for that instant that Priscilla lost her mind, I believe that she probably got the sentence that she deserved. Cases where families' lives are torn apart like this, those stick with you. A daughter killing her mother is, to me, personally unimaginable. So you have to go to a really dark place to understand this. Finding out that Priscilla had killed Margaret, So you have to go to a really dark place to understand this.

Finding out that Priscilla had killed Margaret, you know, my aunt had killed my grandmother. Somebody that I loved and cared for, you know, with everything I had. Anger definitely is one of the first emotions that comes out. Whenever Nanny was killed, our family just died. And I don't know how to explain it. The family events, the vacations, the dinners, all of it was gone. So for Priscilla to be gone, yeah, it was a big deal, but really everything was gone. Priscilla was also convicted of six counts of forgery and sentenced to 30 years. In May of 2015, Priscilla Matula was released after serving 23 years in prison.

Hey, I'm Mike Corey, the host of Wondery's podcast Against the Odds. In each episode, we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who live to tell the tale. In our next season, it's July 6th, 1988, and workers are settling into the night shift aboard Piper Alpha, the world's largest offshore oil rig. Home to 226 men, the rig is stationed in the stormy North Sea off the coast of Scotland. At around 10pm, workers accidentally trigger a gas leak that leads to an explosion and a fire.

As they wait to be rescued, the workers soon realize that Piper Alpha has transformed into a death trap. Follow Against the Odds wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music or the Wondery app.