Culpable – A Conversation with Matt

Podcast: Culpable
Host: Dennis Cooper (Tenderfoot TV & Audacy)
Release Date: October 7, 2025
Case: Danny Violette, Season 3
Summary Focus: Unfiltered conversation with Matt, a friend who was with Danny the night before his disappearance.

Overview: Main Theme and Purpose

This bonus episode presents a candid conversation between host Dennis Cooper and Matt, a longtime friend of Danny Violette—the teenager whose 1998 disappearance and suspicious death is the focus of season three. Matt—who was present during the critical hours before Danny went missing—shares his memories of that night, his perspective on the intense scrutiny both he and his mother faced in the aftermath, and reflects on the traumas and rumors that have haunted him since. The episode aims to clarify lingering questions from recent episodes, provide Matt an opportunity to address longstanding speculation, and offer deeper context on events preceding Danny’s death.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Getting Matt to Talk

• Background: Dennis struggled to contact Matt for months despite Matt’s centrality to the events. The urgency grew as new information and speculation about Matt and his mother surfaced.
  • “It started to feel even more urgent that I get in touch with at least one of them to try and get some clarity.” (03:12, Dennis)

2. Recounting the Night Before Danny’s Disappearance

• Social Scene & Bad Decisions:
  • Matt describes their teen years as immersed in partying, experimentation, and poor choices.
  • The night began with Matt, Danny, and a friend named Adam traveling to meet an acquaintance, which led to a chaotic series of encounters with strangers and uncomfortable situations.
• Drug Use:
  • They obtained LSD ("a mini sheet of paper... with a big giant cherub on it—like it came out of a Masonic Temple") and took it together at Matt’s house after his parents, who were drunk, returned home.
  • “Instead of me being the smart guy, I was like, oh, well, I’ll do it too.” (06:21, Matt)

3. Danny’s Disturbing Reaction and Subsequent Behavior

• Bad Trip:
  • After consuming LSD, things took a turn:
    • Danny fell into a strange unresponsive state—"He was smiling but never talked, never said one word." (09:49, Matt)
  • Matt describes being deeply frightened and guilt-ridden by the incident.
• Attempts to Care for Danny:
  • The group tried to wake Danny the next morning and Matt cooked for him, but there was evident concern about his mental and physical state.
  • “I remember making him eggs and made him drink milk at Judd that morning. That’s when I said... we kind of laughed about it, when I heard Chad say, boy, I was glad I wasn’t there.” (10:31, Matt)

4. Danny Goes Missing

• Timeline and Reactions:
  • Matt details his movements the next day—running errands for his dad, the chaos at home, and returning to find out Danny was reported missing.
  • He expresses regret for not being able to help more and reflects how the aftermath caused him to withdraw from friends and become even more isolated.
  • "We kind of started losing contact. Now, I know it looks weird then because I quit hanging out with them. But Danny was like the reason why I hung out with him mostly anyway, because he was always at my house." (12:46, Matt)

5. The Fallout: Police Pressure and Personal Trauma

• Scrutiny from Law Enforcement:
  • Matt feels he and his mother were unfairly targeted as suspects, especially by Detective McLaughlin.
  • Describes being subjected to a polygraph and psychological pressure:
    • “I agreed instantly [to the polygraph]... After it was done, he’s like, ‘Are you surprised you passed?’... They just wanted me to be like the bad guy.” (14:28, Matt)
  • He openly discusses the long-term trauma: panic attacks, anxiety around police, and substance use fueled by the trauma, his father’s death, and his health issues.
  • “So I just got, I went all down the deep end then... It was a rough ride after that.” (15:35, Matt)

6. Fears, Regrets, and Withholding Information

• Why He Wasn’t Forthcoming:
  • Matt admits he was afraid to confess to drug use to the authorities and withheld details.
  • “I wish I wouldn’t beat around the bush... I thought we were gonna get in trouble for, like, me and the rest of the guys taking acid… If I had it over, I wouldn’t have.” (19:47, Matt)

7. Unanswered Questions: Medications & Mysterious Drugs

• Unexplained drugs in Danny’s System:
  • There were substances in Danny’s system no one could account for. Matt maintains no one in their circle had them:
    • “That was the first I heard it... We didn’t even have any of those. We—I don’t even think we got them filled… It was really odd.” (21:29, Matt)
  • He mentions that Danny’s lithium (prescribed for bipolar disorder) was often left at Matt’s house, and the group tried to encourage Danny to take it.

8. Clearing Up Rumors and Speculation

• Rumors About What Happened:
  • Addressing local rumors that Danny died at Matt’s house and his body was secretly disposed of (the “carpet” story).
  • Matt points out that most rumors came from “felon drug addicts” trying to save themselves by telling police stories for leniency.
  • He rebuts suggestions about hidden family involvement, especially against his father and mother.
    • “I hate to say it like that, but it’s true. We never had anything to do with it... all that is just, it’s bunk.” (40:15, Matt)
• Police Conflict-of-Interest:
  • Matt’s uncle, a police officer, was part of the drug task force during the case. Matt says this relationship did more harm than help, amplifying rumors and suspicion:
    • “With my uncle being in the being a police officer, that really hurt us a lot more than it helped like people think, because then that’s when they thought... 'he’s helping them.'" (40:15, Matt)

9. Insights into Law Enforcement and Family Dynamics

• Family Relationships:
  • Matt opens up about strained family ties, especially with his uncle. He describes a fraught post-case relationship with his extended relatives and ongoing personal struggles.

10. Hopes for Closure

• Desire for Resolution:
  • Matt concludes by hoping the truth about Danny’s death will come out and reinforces that he and his family had no involvement.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It was scary and everything. It was bad times.”
  — Matt, on the pain of revisiting events (03:43)
• “If I had it over, I wouldn’t have. I’d just have been like yeah...I was just so scared.”
  — Matt, about withholding key information from police (19:47)
• “He was smiling but never talked, never said one word...like, lights on but nobody’s home.”
  — Matt, on Danny’s state the morning after drug use (09:49)
• “All those rumors were by drug addicts, trying to get out of trouble because they didn’t want to be dope sick...We never had anything to do with it.”
  — Matt, about community suspicion and damaging stories (40:15)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:38–10:31] – Matt recounts the events and the wild social scene leading to Danny’s unresponsiveness that night.
• [12:46–15:35] – Matt describes Danny’s disappearance, Matt’s family fallout, and early police scrutiny.
• [14:28] – Details of Matt’s experience being polygraphed and accused by police.
• [19:47–20:37] – Matt admits to withholding the truth from police and explains why.
• [21:01–21:29] – Discussion about unexplained drugs found in Danny’s system.
• [25:31–26:13] – Questions about Danny’s shoes, medications, and presence in Matt’s home.
• [29:12–33:08] – Delving into the origins of rumors about Danny’s death and community suspicion.
• [34:00–36:38] – Matt reflects on his uncle working the case and community fallout.
• [39:37–41:07] – Matt explains why he stayed silent, his fears, and his hopes for a conclusion.

Additional Insights & Tone

• Matt’s tone is candid, self-deprecating, and colored by lasting guilt and anxiety—he is eager to explain himself, clear his name, but carries visible trauma and regret.
• Dennis maintains a careful, empathetic interviewer’s stance—offering clarification, gently challenging Matt on inconsistencies, and presenting rumors factually but without accusation.
• The conversation is raw and often emotionally charged—Matt’s descriptions paint a vivid, if chaotic, picture of their teenage years and the ripple effects of the tragedy over decades.

Conclusion

This episode of Culpable provides rare direct insight from a figure long shrouded in rumor. Matt’s testimony openly acknowledges mistakes and fears, both from the fateful night and the years of aftermath, while forcefully denying the most damning accusations. For listeners, it fills in crucial details about Danny’s last known hours, illuminates the long-term impact of the case on those close to it, and reaffirms the urgency for truth and closure in the still-unresolved death of Danny Violette.