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- [00:04]
Debra Roberts
Hello, everybody. It's Debra Roberts here. And today on 20 20, the After Show, I get a chance to sit down with somebody many of you have seen on lots of our episodes. Matt Murphy, who helps shed light on the complex search for justice in these true crime stories that we report on. Matt has spent decades facing down people accused of heinous crimes. He spent 26 years as a prosecutor in Orange County, California, and those years he tried homicide cases, which makes him perfect to help us understand a lot of our stories. Well, Matt now, of course, is using that legal expertise with us here on 2020, where he is an ABC News legal contributor. Hello, Matt.
- [00:46]
Matt Murphy
Happy to be here.
- [00:47]
Debra Roberts
Yeah, glad to see you. You know, it occurs to me that of course, I've talked to you in many of our episodes or included you in many of our episodes, but we don't get a chance to talk to each other that often face to face.
- [00:58]
Matt Murphy
No, it's funny the way 2020 works. You know, there's a ton of interaction between different people and then some. You' so this is fun for me.
- [01:06]
Debra Roberts
So let's start with you as a prosecutor before we get into how we work together here on 2020. You became a prosecutor specializing in homicide cases. But I know that you have a rich history of all kinds of things. You worked with kids who have developmental disabilities back in the day, and you also worked on sex assault cases. So what was it about these particular cases and becoming a prosecutor that drew you? Because everybody seems to have a story.
- [01:34]
Matt Murphy
I kind of stumbled into law school out of college. I had no plan to be a lawyer. And I got.
- [01:38]
Debra Roberts
Really?
- [01:39]
Matt Murphy
Yeah. And then I got. End of your first year is when you interview. And I had some offers. The FBI actually recruited me, which was cool and looked really interesting.
- [01:48]
Debra Roberts
Yeah.
- [01:49]
Matt Murphy
And I did an interview with the Orange County DA's office, and I was the last slot. And I got brought in by a woman. I was involved in some sexual assault education when I was in college, and that caught her eye on my resume. And her name was Kathy Harper. And she basically brought me in and I decided I'd go to the DA's office and do my post second year clerkship, which is the traditional legal pathway. And end of my first day, I was hooked as a junior law clerk. They put me on a project on a traffic ticket where they got in and they found some drugs in this guy's car and they were trying to suppress it. And it was so interesting to me. And the people around me I thought were fascinating. It was in this gritty Building in Santa Ana that's, you know, super old. And every time there's an earthquake, all the stuff like shakes down into light lenses and helps to get cleaned out. So the grit and the grime of that sort of law enforcement edge.
- [02:40]
Debra Roberts
Yeah, something about it, yeah.
- [02:43]
Matt Murphy
And I was 24 years old and it looked really fun. And so I stayed and fortunately got invited back. And each year you start out in misdemeanors, then you go to a juvenile court and, and then the more I learned and the more interesting the cases became, they trust you more and then you do heavier and heavier cases. Then you go up to the general felonies and from there I went into the sexual assault unit. And it just keeps getting more and more interesting. And then you reach a point where you're dealing with real victims families and you start dealing with those moms whose kids have either been abused sexually or when you get to homicide, they've been murdered. And when you deal with those families, you almost strangely become a part of their family.
- [03:26]
Debra Roberts
When you're, you know, for us here at 2020, I mean, I think that's one of the things that we really try to focus on. Not just the true crime, but the families. These are people who have been devastated by a crime and oftentimes it's an opportunity for them to either tell their story or to honor the legacy of someone. And I'm sure for you, you know, a chance to help them find some either justice, peace, something in their souls, you know, about dealing with something so horrific.
- [03:51]
Matt Murphy
Well, that's why I wanted to work with 2020. Honestly, I'd been in homicide for 17 years, did, did a bunch of high profile cases and if you watch any 2020s, it is, they're really, really good about that. And that's, and that's what it's all about when you're a prosecutor, when you reach that point. In homicide, I would always meet with the victim's families after the murder and given my personal cell phone number, I never regretted doing that really. But it becomes almost an addiction. You know, you want to help those families and then when you get a. I don't know what it was about the moms because the dads of course are heartbroken too, and the brothers and sisters, but something about those moms. And on a tough case, on a cold case, especially when you get that hug from the mom after five years of fighting because there's so much lead up that takes years of pre trials and everything, you get that hug at the end when you win One that.
- [04:42]
Debra Roberts
It's gratifying.
- [04:43]
Matt Murphy
Very gratifying.
- [04:44]
Debra Roberts
It's gratifying. Well, it's certainly not like the quick ones we see on television where they're wrapped up in a few months time. You've handled some of the most high profile cases, as you said, emotionally charged cases. In California, you prosecuted cold cases, famous serial killers, the no body murders, where there's not a body actually there, and more. Let's talk about some that stand out for you.
- [05:06]
Matt Murphy
You know, this is gonna sound like a cliche, but they all stick with you. I tried 53 cases while I was in the homicide unit. And there's something about every one of those that stands out. But there's a few that are particularly awful, I guess. There's the Tom and Jackie Hawks murder case. That was the couple that was tied to their anchor and thrown overboard. There's the William McLaughlin case. So the plot to Body Heat, if you've ever seen that movie, Same exact thing we were just talking about.
- [05:34]
Debra Roberts
Talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where do these ideas and these people come from?
- [05:38]
Matt Murphy
Right? Yeah. And it was a. He was a millionaire inventor and he was murdered by his girlfriend after he got divorced. Killed by her side boyfriend who was an NFL washout named Eric Naposki. Then there was the Golden State Killer. I was the prosecutor on the Dirty John case with Tara Newell, the victim who refused to be a victim. The Rodney Alcala case, that's the Dating Game killer. But then I had a bunch of others too, that really stuck with me. Like I had a homeless man once that was murdered. It's easy, especially in Southern California where homelessness is. So it's such a huge intractable problem. And he had two brothers who loved him to death. And they came from Georgia and it was these two gentlemen. And one of them, I remember, he had a cane. And they were impeccably dressed every time they came to court. And they were still proud of the brother. I think to this day. He had a track and field record that still held at their high school. And they came in and it was a reminder that, you know, they're all human beings, people who love them, at least at one point or another.
- [06:37]
Debra Roberts
Exactly. I mean, they're not nameless and faceless. These are people who have a history and who have family who are there for them. And you and I were talking earlier about how I'm just so surprised that there are so many stories for us to even cover around the country and that these things happen. You have talked and on 2020 we reveal a lot about how cases can come down to that very minuscule piece of evidence. And I think that's what our viewers and our listeners here today may find so interesting. That drop of blood or that missing object from a crime scene. And it's fascinating to me how that is something that you all hone in on and just that little detail that makes all the difference sometimes improving these cases, right?
- [07:20]
Matt Murphy
Oh, my gosh. Well, so Orange county has what's known as a vertical system. So that means that we would actually go to our crime scenes. So you're assigned cities, so you get a patch. It's not the normal way that prosecutorial agencies operate. Normally the police investigate and it winds up on one prosecutor's desk for filing, another for the preliminary hearing, and somebody else down the line for trial. The way they do it in Orange county on the serious cases is we get a section of the city and once you're on homicide. So I had Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Laguna and Irvine. Those were my cities. So anytime there was a murder, I would go to the scene with my investigator and be there to help with warrants and things like that. But you learn when you watch those professionals process a crime scene that it really is, it can be one tiny little thing. And because you're the prosecutor, you know what you're going to want to argue in closing. And everything is closing argument backwards. You know, you imagine what you want to be able to stand up in front of a jury and say. And you'd see one thing or another, sometimes the smallest little thing, and you'd want to. You could picture yourself arguing it. So, yeah, I'll give you an example. There was the Kathy Torres case. This was a cold case, brokenhearted family. It was a young woman who was an honor student and domestic violence situation. And she disappeared after an argument with her ex boyfriend. And she was found in the trunk of her car a week later. And this is a little graphic here, but on the trunk lid, there was a line of blood drops on the trunk lid. And that by itself is the type of thing you'd miss in a report. But when you've been to enough scenes and you've argued that enough times and you've had enough forensic pathologists on the stand, that means her heart was still beating when she went into the trunk. And that means that the person who helped put her in the trunk and it was, it was her boyfriend and his cousin. That means that because her heart was still beating, she was still alive, even though the boyfriend was the one that stabbed her. Multiple Times because she was still alive. When the cousin helped, it meant he was a principal to murder, too, because she hadn't died yet, which is the.
- [09:21]
Debra Roberts
Outcome of the case.
- [09:22]
Matt Murphy
Well, and what it means is we could arrest him, and he eventually, you know, it was 15 years later when he made the arrest, but he eventually, after many years, rolled over on his cousin and provided evidence against him. Now we decided not to call him as a witness. We. But it was. That detail made all the difference in the world as far as the presentation to the jury.
- [09:40]
Debra Roberts
Yeah. It's interesting. I've covered cases, too, where sometimes, just depending on where you come from in terms of what you bring to the case, there were these two women detectives down in Florida, and a woman was murdered. And they were able to surmise that she was probably putting on her earrings before she went to bed because one was missing. And they were able to figure out a woman is taking off her earrings, and she probably was hit over the head before she put the one. It's just fascinating, those details.
- [10:06]
Matt Murphy
Yep. And something a male detective or a male prosecutor, I guarantee we wouldn't.
- [10:11]
Debra Roberts
You wouldn't think about that. And they were able to sort of construct the actual crime. Was there one case, though, for you and you said that these cases really got to you where you just said, that's it. I mean, enough already in terms of how it drives you and your passion for prosecuting these cases.
- [10:27]
Matt Murphy
You know, the first time, I think fundamentally all murderers are bullies. Okay. Like, they. It goes back to fourth grade for me. Like, the first time you encounter a bully. And there was a little boy when I was in sexual assault. This. This kid was. I think he was six years old, and he'd gone into a bathroom in a park, and there was a guy waiting in ambush, you know, like a spider in a web. And. And this little boy, I remember he had a flat top. And this was very early in my time in sexual assault. And I'm. I'm watching the. It's called a cast interview, where they bring them in and it's an atmosphere. It's trained social workers, especially trained to interview children about sexual abuse. And this little boy, his mom didn't speak English, but he did. And they give him kind of the preamble, like, hey, it's important to tell the truth. And I might even. I hope I don't choke up as I tell you this. You know, he listened very carefully, and he puffed out his little chest and he said, I'm prepared to be brave. That was probably my within the first three months of my. My four years in sexual assault. And that was. Yeah, that was a very poignant moment. And as a DA when, you know, it took me. I had 37 misdemeanors before they let me touch a felony, and most of us did back then. And then you do what's called the felony panel, where you're. It's just back to back felony jury trials.
- [11:51]
Debra Roberts
You kind of work your way up.
- [11:52]
Matt Murphy
You work your way up very much so. And you have to drive cuts to get into different units. And it's almost like an NFL draft where the head of the unit will say, I want this person, I want that person. But along the way, you get a very marketable skill for private practice, and that's jury trials. And we all have offers and we all have opportunities to go out into the civil world and make a bunch of money trying civil cases, because it really is a valuable skill. And that was probably the moment I'd been. I had a guy whose name I'll leave out or a very successful practice who was in the process of retiring and wanted me to take it over for him. And that guy made. Made a lot of money. But any thoughts of that? I don't know what it was about that little boy, but it was like, no, I'm gonna stay.
- [12:35]
Debra Roberts
I have to do this work.
- [12:37]
Matt Murphy
I'm gonna keep doing it, and it's gonna sound corny, as I say, but I felt like I had an opportunity to make things just a little better for that little boy and for all the other kids on my caseload then. And then you get into homicide, and that's when it's like you get into.
- [12:49]
Debra Roberts
The varsity leagues, then, yeah, you're in the big leagues in a big way. In a big, sad way sometimes.
- [12:55]
Matt Murphy
And then you meet your first crying mother, and it was over for me.
- [12:58]
Debra Roberts
Yeah. Yeah. No, but that's what's so fascinating and also, I think so, so great about what you all do, because you can see that there is a lot of passion there. Matt, you've tried high profile cases like, as you said, like the Dating Game killer Rodney Alcala, and the former child star Skylar De Leon, where there's been substantial media interest. And now you're back on the other side. So when we come back, we're gonna talk about that shift. Stay with us.
- [13:29]
Narrator/Announcer
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- [15:23]
Debra Roberts
Simple we're back now with Matt Murphy. And Matt, one of the things you've been able to do is you bring us inside so many of these cases that you've tried. And I'm thinking of, say, the Hossein Nayeri case. Our title for that episode was called Catch Me if youf Can. And this is a case that involved psychological manipulation and international manhunt. A prison. I mean, it was like something out of a novel. Of course. What was the most unpredictable moment in this case for you? Tell us about some of the details.
- [15:55]
Matt Murphy
Oh, boy. Well, that case was. It was so involved. Essentially what happened was it's the marijuana world in California and it is still to this day very Much like the Wild West. The reason for that, it's an all cash business, because that F of the FDIC that we see on the front door of every bank we go into stands for federal. And even though marijuana cultivation and sales is legal in the state of California, it still constitutes a federal crime. That means you can't bank with credit cards. So what that means is that all those marijuana businesses are cash, so you can't use credit. And those debit cards are going to be limited because if it says Visa on it, a lot of times those won't work. So for anybody that's running a legitimate business, you have two essential elements left in California. You've got the. The legitimate business, people that are coming in, following the rules, paying taxes, getting proper permits, who are taking advantage of that change in the law. And then you still have a very entrenched criminal element. And I used to think drug dealers were like, when I. I mean, even I've been a DA for probably 15 years before I learned this, but I thought drug dealers were like on different tiers. Like, I know methamphetamine dealers are the motorcycle guys and they got to be maybe the worst, or the cocaine guys. And then I figured it was unicorn riding hippies selling marijuana, you know, like.
- [17:14]
Debra Roberts
I would think so too.
- [17:15]
Matt Murphy
Right, right. And it turns out, not so much. They are every bit as ruthless, backstabbing, murderous criminals as any other form of narcotics. You wouldn't think so, but I've dealt with some absolutely vicious murders that came out of the marijuana world. And essentially this case was one of the legitimate guys. And they've squeezed the margins down for the criminal guys. So they're making a lot less, and there's a lot more competition now. And they don't like it and they know there's a pile of money. Okay. So a lot of those places get robbed. It's a consistent problem. But in this particular case, they kidnapped the owner of one of these dispensaries and they took him out to the desert and they tortured him. And they had it in their mind that he was burying money in the desert and he was.
- [18:01]
Debra Roberts
Nyere's ex wife, agreed to participate in a high stakes operation with the police. Let's play a clip from that part of our episode that features Matt Gutman's interview with her and some undercover police recordings.
- [18:14]
Courtney Shigerian
They asked me, would you be willing to help us try and get Hossein back from Iran?
- [18:20]
Matt Murphy
She and the police are laying a trap for Nayeri, and she's essentially the base.
- [18:28]
Narrator/Reporter
What was it like, to talk to this guy again.
- [18:31]
Courtney Shigerian
It was really hard. I was thinking to myself, oh, my God, he's gonna sense that my voice inflection changes if I don't laugh at a joke. You know, anything could set him off. And he's highly suspicious. I want to see you. I want you to come and meet me. Then we can be together.
- [18:49]
Matt Murphy
Together forever. She has lived under his thumb for so long. If it was real, she would be.
- [18:56]
Courtney Shigerian
Singing, I love you so much. I want to see you.
- [18:59]
Matt Murphy
Like, I can't wait to see you. Like, this is the greatest thing. She knows she has to do that to convince him to get on that plane.
- [19:05]
Courtney Shigerian
And then the night that he was supposed to come, I'm calling him, saying he's not answering. I'm like, oh, my God, he's not going to get on this plane. Everyone's going to think I tipped him off, and I hadn't. Finally, he calls me and he's like, oh, I'm so sorry. I overslept. I'll be there. See you very soon.
- [19:22]
Matt Murphy
He honestly believed that he was going to reconcile this relationship. And instead, he gets off the plane in Prague and gets stripped, arrested, cavity searched, and thrown in prison.
- [19:38]
Debra Roberts
Wow. Nayeri was still married to Courtney Shigerian when she worked with police to lure him out of Iran. And he was arrested in the Czech Republic while traveling to meet her in Spain. I mean, it's like something out of a Michael Crichton novel, right? I mean, navigating the ethical and the safety components involving somebody so close to the perpetrator. It's unbelievable. Matt.
- [19:59]
Matt Murphy
Yeah. So the last voice we heard on that is Ryan Peters. And Ryan was the lead detective. And Courtney was the woman's voice. That was his wife. She was represented by a man named Lou Rosenblum, who was my former boss in the Homstead unit. And he's absolutely brilliant. So Lou and Ryan teamed up to put this thing together where they lured Hussein Nayiri out of Iran. He went to the Czech Republic on his way to Spain for this postpartum trip. I still can't believe that it worked. So he fled after we arrested one of his co conspirators, a guy named Kyle Hanley. And as soon as that arrest happened, he realized we were onto them, despite all of their. All of their efforts. So he fled back to Iran. And Iran is the one country in the world that's never going to extradite one of their citizens, United States. So they had to do it another way. And they decided to lure him to the Czech Republic. He was arrested there. Get storage. County jail. Everybody's celebrating. Until we weren't because I was actually out here. In fact, I was having dinner with a bunch of ABC people when I got the phone call that Nyeri had escaped from the jail.
- [21:08]
Debra Roberts
Wow. That's one of those stories that we just won't forget. And that's what makes them so fascinating for us. You were also one of the prosecutors involved in the case of Blaise Bernstein, a 19 year old pre med student at the University of Pennsylvania. And when Blaise left for college to head home for winter break, a meeting with a former high school classmate ends in murder. You covered that case for us in our episode which was called the Last Text. And it was a story where the family's own investigation helped CR the case.
- [21:38]
Matt Murphy
A lot of times the family provides invaluable information on these things. And God forbid any of your listeners ever wind up in, in this situation. But when the loved one has been murdered, there is, it's going to sound obvious, but there's such a compelling, overwhelming need for justice. And a lot of times they will provide invaluable clues, material that the detectives find. I mean, the families can really play a pivotal role.
- [22:10]
Debra Roberts
A pivotal role in this case. Blaze Bernstein's family became instrumental in this investigation. Let's hear a clip to remind our listeners of the Snapchat clue that Blaze's 14 year old sister finds.
- [22:22]
Narrator/Reporter
A quick check of his computer revealed no exchanges on iMessage or Facebook DMs. And so with virtually no solid information to go on, the Bernsteins, along with help from their 14 year old daughter, Bowie began dipping deeper into Blaze's social media.
- [22:39]
Courtney Shigerian
We would not have been able to figure it out without the help of kids his age. Yeah, like he grew up with and our daughter. Yes.
- [22:46]
Blaze Bernstein's Sister
I told my parents, I'm like, I can try and help you like find everything that like you need. I'm really good with Snapchat. I knew the names of a lot of his friends, so I was able to, to like text them and ask them if they knew what was going on.
- [23:00]
Blaze Bernstein's Father
And that's when the whole evening changed.
- [23:02]
Debra Roberts
Yeah.
- [23:03]
Blaze Bernstein's Father
When they said, well, what about Snapchat? That's when the light bulb went on and we saw that Blaze gave our address out to somebody.
- [23:11]
Narrator/Reporter
Did you know who?
- [23:12]
Blaze Bernstein's Father
We didn't know at the time who it was. We saw the name.
- [23:16]
Blaze Bernstein's Sister
I had absolutely no idea who he was. I was so happy that there was somebody who we could talk to that could just help us find my brother.
- [23:24]
Narrator/Reporter
Bernsteins didn't know the person Blaze sent his address to. But in the hours ahead, the discovery of that person's identity would turn the desperate search for their son upside down.
- [23:37]
Blaze Bernstein's Sister
Hi, this is Blaze's dad. We really need to know what you know. We can't find him.
- [23:43]
Blaze Bernstein's Father
This is becoming an urgent issue with trying to figure out what really happened to him. And we're gonna really need your help on this because you're the last person that probably saw him.
- [23:50]
Blaze Bernstein's Sister
And showing the police, like, look what I have.
- [23:55]
Debra Roberts
Families just oftentimes will not give up, will not give up until they can actually find some justice. And I'm sure you've seen that so many times.
- [24:05]
Matt Murphy
Oh, time and time again. Yep. And especially on the. On cold cases, you know, the families. Like on the McLaughlin case that we were talking about, the millionaire, his daughters. Every year, on the anniversary of the murder, they would bring cookies to the Newport Beach Police Department. Just don't forget about my dad. And we filed charges 15 years after that murder was committed. So you see that over and over. And I hear those voices again. That was such a nice family. And that was one of the moms, Pepper. She went to ucsb. I think we might have even been there at the same time. I didn't know her, but just so heartbreaking. Blaise Bernstein's mother and that whole family. Just such a nice family. And. Yeah, and in that case, they played a definite role in the investigation. There were excellent detectives involved in that case as well.
- [24:50]
Debra Roberts
I mean, technology has really changed the game in a lot of ways, right?
- [24:54]
Matt Murphy
It's changed the game. Well, I want to say it's the same game, only far more persuasive now, because now people communicate via text messages, right? And we have cell phone pings. So we all in that magic little triangle we carry in our pockets. And especially for people, most murderers, it's their first rodeo. It really is. So I don't know if you've ever taken up golf or whatever you've taken up. We're all terrible at whatever it is the first time we do it. So thankfully, good detectives know the common mistakes. Like, everybody seems to slice a golf ball. People bring their cell phones with them when they commit murder. So we have these tracking devices now. And on that same thing, there'll be communication oftentimes with the victim. So when you have a good detective who knows what to look for, and.
- [25:38]
Debra Roberts
Sometimes they try to get rid of the cell phone, not knowing that it still is going to ping where they were last time, they were out doing something We've covered those stories.
- [25:45]
Matt Murphy
That's right. Or they try to delete it and it's not really deleted. Or they try to destroy the phone. And then even like on Blaze Bernstein, he was successful in breaking Blaze's phone. And it was raining and it was muddy, and it corrupted all the data. But then you get to argue, why did he break the phone? Because he is taking those measures, and that's huge. What's known as consciousness of guilt.
- [26:07]
Debra Roberts
Yeah, yeah. Sam Woodward there. Blaze was murdered in January of 2018, and Sam Woodward was arrested 10 days later. The case actually didn't go to trial until April of 2024, six years later. What was it that took so long? And how do you stay focused with such a long span like that?
- [26:25]
Matt Murphy
Well, you need to make sure one of the sacrosanct obligations of a prosecutor is not only to the victim's families, but you have to make sure that the defendant is being treated fairly, too. So there's process that has to go in, and the defense has to be afforded an opportunity to conduct their own investigation. And that's. That's a part of the prosecutor's job that a lot of people forget that you're an advocate for your client, which is the people of whatever state you're living in. Technically, you're fighting for the family. But at the same time, you have to balance that by fairness to the defendant, which means when the defense attorney comes in, and I know this defense attorney very well, he's a guy named Ken Morrison. We tried a serial killer once that. The trial itself was six months long. My Andrew dialysis case. But when Ken comes in and says, I really need more time to investigate this. The last thing you want to do is hold somebody's feet to the fire and create an appellate issue. Because the worst thing for a family is you go too hard, too early, and somebody gets off the hook and a jury acquits them. The second worst thing is you go through the entire process. They're convicted, the family thinks they can finally sleep, and. And it gets reversed on appeal, and.
- [27:32]
Debra Roberts
You got to go back and do it all over again.
- [27:33]
Matt Murphy
So you have to be very, very careful. And Orange county judges are good about that. And once he's in custody, he's not. Unless he escapes like Nyere, they're not posing a danger to the community anymore. So you actually have the time to cross all the t's, dot all the I's, and ensure that all their rights are scrupulously honored. And so it doesn't get reversed when.
- [27:54]
Debra Roberts
We come back, Matt literally wrote the book on murder. In fact, it's called the book of A Prosecutor's Journey Through Love and Death. And we're going to talk about it when we come back.
- [28:05]
Ryan Reynolds
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- [28:27]
Debra Roberts
Of $45 for a three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com we're back now with Matt Murphy. And you have transitioned from prosecutor to legal analyst, thankfully for us here at 20 20. And now of course, you are an author telling stories that are in the public eye and how they kind of changed your view in your, I mean, you know it's from your background, right? In prosecuting.
- [28:54]
Matt Murphy
Yeah, it's number one. This is kind of a confession here, Deborah.
- [28:59]
Debra Roberts
But I, well, that's what we do on this program. We allow you to just confess, whatever.
- [29:03]
Matt Murphy
I miss this job every day. I miss my call outs. I miss my cops. I miss the strategy and the puzzles. Every murder case is a puzzle. Sometimes it's two pieces and it's the guy's hiding in the bushes down the street, which actually happened to me once.
- [29:17]
Debra Roberts
But it's putting all those pieces together.
- [29:19]
Matt Murphy
Sometimes it takes 15 years, but each one is a puzzle. I really do miss that. But, and I'm still doing, I'm still practicing law. I have a homicide on my caseload where I'm actually a defense lawyer on it. So I'm seeing it from a different perspective. And in that one, my client is actually innocent. Says probably every defense lawyer out there.
- [29:39]
Debra Roberts
I was going to add that actually without being so cynical about it.
- [29:42]
Matt Murphy
But the beauty is I will win it.
- [29:44]
Debra Roberts
I have no doubt you will.
- [29:45]
Matt Murphy
But what I love about my work here at ABC is being able to tell people and I have a larger platform to, to educate the general public about the hard work of all the professionals behind the scenes on these cases, like these forensic scientists that I got to work with, some of the best human beings I've met in my life. And you see them at three in the morning working with the detectives. Oftentimes they've been up for 18 hours trying to process these crime scenes, and I probably rolled out to. I must have been to a hundred different homicide scenes over the course of my 17 years in homicide. I never heard a single complaint from any of them. And then they're always there when you need them. And it's just some of the best people. And then you see. I mean, that goes on to the juries, too. You see a group of people that really want to do the right thing and judges who are making the right rulings. And every one of these cases for me, always started with something horrible. You've got your poor victim in a ditch or dead on a kitchen floor, and then immediately you see the best of humanity sort of come in. And what ABC has allowed me to do is educate people and help tell these stories, help unpack some of these really interesting cases from across the country. And it's second nature. It's very easy for me to look at a murder prosecution and explain what the prosecutor is concerned about, why the judge ruled this way. I really enjoy that work, and I miss the prosecution game every day.
- [31:13]
Debra Roberts
I can imagine. Well, you hit on something I was going to point out, because you talk to people who have just committed unthinkable crimes, but then you get to witness the human spirit, too, which is kind of a lift in the midst of all of this difficulty.
- [31:27]
Matt Murphy
Yes, for sure. And you also, as the prosecutor, in a weird way, you kind of get the last word. You're the last person that's going to stand up. There's, of course, an entire appellate process that begins. That's critically important in any case. But as the prosecutor, you get to almost speak for the people that can't speak for themselves, you know, and once you've. Once you've met the mom and you've met the family, I had a great quote again from Lou Rosenblum, my former boss, and it was before my first no body case. And I asked him for tips, like, how do we do these? You know, and he said, the jury can always see the soul of your victim reflected in the eyes of those who love them. Oh, it's a heavy one, right?
- [32:11]
Debra Roberts
Wow, that's profound.
- [32:12]
Matt Murphy
As a prosecutor, every time you sit down with the mom or the dad, you get that same thing. You get a real sense of who your victim was, and then you get to stand up and argue for them, and you're advocating almost on their behalf. Technically, it's. Again, it's the people of the state that you're working for. That's your actual client as a prosecutor. But really when you're up there, you get to, you get to speak for the victim that can't speak for themselves anymore. And that can be, you can, you can draw on some really hot passion when you do that, when you hear some nonsense from the defense side of the table. So. And it, and it's an honor to.
- [32:52]
Debra Roberts
Do that every time to remind people that there's a human being behind this terrible crime. We have such loyal true crime viewers. What is it that draws people to these stories and to watch us on these programs?
- [33:07]
Matt Murphy
Well, I think it's a combination of things. When it comes to true crime, I think it's a lot deeper than that. I think that there is a fundamental human need for justice. And I think that these cases really are fascinating. They're so complex oftentimes and multi layered. And these, of course, are stories that we can all relate to because when it comes to murder, you know, the technology has improved almost to the point of magic at this point, but the motives to commit murder are the same that they've been for 200,000 years. It's greed, jealousy, you know, anger. It's the same. It's almost like the biblical.
- [33:51]
Debra Roberts
All the biblical terms. Yeah. That we've heard over the years.
- [33:53]
Matt Murphy
And so, but, but I think people see reflections of their own lives and it's a combination of those things. And when, when they, when they watch these shows, especially if they're done well, people learn and they get to see the detective that solved the case. And I think it's really good because really does kind of enforce what's good about the system. We hear so much about what's bad about it, but a lot of times that plane lands safely. A lot of times you got hard working, dedicated people who are bringing justice to these families and into the communities by catching the bad guy and also preventing that person from hurting anybody else. And that's important. And I think that when it's done right, all of these are good stories and hopefully they have, you know, it's sort of a bitter happy ending. But I think people, they need to see that. They like to see that. And also there are, look, there are cases, and I've done some here on 2020, where the prosecution gets it wrong sometimes and some people are overcharged, Some people are flat out innocent. And it's equally important that those people are freed. And I think that there's almost a participation, you know, when people watch these things and they get smarter, they get better. And I think the world is just a little better for it.
- [35:11]
Debra Roberts
Yeah. And seeing the resolution. Well, we hope that we do it right, as you say, and because of folks like you who help us bring a certain understanding to these cases. Matt, such a pleasure to get to chat with you in person.
- [35:23]
Matt Murphy
Pleasure's all mine.
- [35:24]
Debra Roberts
Yeah. Thank you so much. And we really appreciate your being with us on so many of these stories on 2020. Well, make sure to tune in to 2020 on Friday nights at 9 on ABC. The 2020 after show was produced by Amira Williams, Susie Lu, and Sasha Aslanian with Lisa Soloway, Brian Mazersky and Alex Barenfeld of 20 20. The theme music is by Evan Viola. Janice Johnston is the executive producer of 2020, Josh Cohen, the director of podcasting at ABC Audio, and Laura Mayer is the executive producer.