Annie Elise (38:10)
So I want to go over this psych report because I think it really does have a lot of valuable information when you're looking at this case as a whole. Matthew was interviewed by one of the forensic psychiatry residents at Alberta Hospital. He told the doctors that in the months leading up to the murders, his life was pretty normal. He was a little bit stressed about starting law school that fall, but no different than anyone else who was about to start, you know, a very serious and rigorous program like that. Also, at the time that all of this happened, the media had been reporting that there were some kind of issues between Matthew and his sister, to which he told the doctor that, yeah, technically that was true. They weren't getting along exactly. But he said that the conflict between them was really not too severe or problematic. In fact, Matthew said that he honestly wasn't even sure when his thinking went from, hey, I'm a normal guy about to start law school to hey, I'm gonna now go on this mass murder spree of my friends. Matthew claimed that if he had to guess when that switch in his mind happened, it was probably around two weeks before the murders. He says that's when things started to feel a little bit different. And from the sounds of this report, it seems like the stuff that Matthew was reading at the time was a big trigger for him. Although it's not clear exactly what Matthew was reading, according to Matthew, he started to believe that he was the son of God, Also that he was the ancient Egyptian God Anubis. Now, the psych report didn't go into all of this, but honestly, I was pretty curious. So I knew I needed to brush up on my ancient Egyptian studies and see what the hell all of this meant. And I learned that this Anubis guy was the ancient Egyptian God of mummification, also the Egyptian God of the afterlife and the protector of tombs. It's believed that he would guide souls through the underworld. So, I don't know, it seems like maybe Matthew saw himself as this godlike figure who was heavily involved in death and the afterlife, and that he had to help take people from one to the next. But Matthew told the doctor that he started to believe that there was a conspiracy between the Illuminati vampires and werewolves. Apparently, all three of Them were fighting in battle with each other and there was going to be this gigantic war. I mean, think like Avengers, I guess, which also kind of sounds like Twilight a little bit, but I don't know. Now, if you're not familiar with the concept or the term Illuminati, it's a conspiracy. Some argue that it's real, but it hasn't been proven, about a group of secret global elite made up of powerful politicians, bankers, celebrities, business leaders, and supposedly they are all working together to control world events. It's been alleged that Jay Z is in the Illuminati, that Epstein was in the Illuminati, that it's just like, you know, the powerful elite and that they're the ones who really pull the strings. Which maybe given everything that's in the news these days, maybe it's not that much of a conspiracy, right? Maybe it is easier to believe. Who knows? But he also said that he believed that he was Darth Vader and that his dad, who he recently struggled to get along with, was evil. So just to recap, he's the son of God, Anubis. He's Darth Vader. There's a war between the Illuminati, vampires and werewolves, and he is facilitating all of it, according to Matthew. Now, the night of April 14th was a full moon, so you probably see where this is going. Matthew believed that because it was a full moon, the war was supposed to start and that the end of the world was coming. Here's the thing, though. According to him and his belief system, all of the evil vampires and werewolves were not going to look obvious. They were going to look like normal people, shape shifters, even, if you will. So that's why he said he had to prepare himself for whoever or whatever he was about to encounter. And I think that this is important to mention because his childhood best friend Brendan, the one who lived at Butler Mansion, and invited him to the party that night, he probably feels a lot of guilt, like maybe because he invited him into the house, that the blood of his friends is on his hands, which obviously we know that's not true. And from the way that Matthew describes it, he was just going to do what he had to do that night. Regardless of where he was. The invite to the party just made his mission all that much easier. But he was going to hunt people one way or another. Which, let me backtrack a little bit, maybe not, because the psych report did note that Matthew claims that he never went out that night with the intention of killing people. He says he was more like a general at war directing soldiers into battle. So take that how you will. I mean, in my opinion, it seems like he was almost saying he didn't have any intentions of killing those five specific people. But if people, you know, on the evil side or the shape shifters showed up that he knew what he had to do or he. What he felt like he had to do for this war. So I. I guess it could be open for interpretation. And I hope I'm not losing you all here, because I know that this is a lot. It's a lot of moving pieces, but this really is key to the entire case. So Matthew claimed that after Brendan invited him to the party, he started prepping for the war that night. He also brought gloves and a box cutter because he believed that his job as the general was to dismember the bodies of the evil and dispose of them before the police arrived. And according to him, the reason for that is because any and all police officers were also part of the conspiracy, and they were on the evil side as well. So with that in mind, it does make sense why he acted the way he did when he was arrested, right? He fought back. He punched the dog in the face if he truly thought they were evil. If he truly thought that. Now, according to the psych report, Matthew claimed that he brought a knife to the party and then gave it to Brendan. He believed that Brendan was on the good side and that Brendan needed this knife to defend himself. And I couldn't actually find anything else about this in any other sources, but I was curious if it was true and what Brendan's perspective on it was, which. I mean, imagine that you invite your friend to a party, they show up, they hand you a knife, and to kind of confirm, like, hey, we're both on the good side, Use this to protect yourself. I'd be a little freaked out. I'd be like, what are you talking about, protect myself? Why the hell do you have a knife? Why do I have a knife? Like, what's going on here? Now, Matthew claimed during his psych exam that he had no idea what time the war was going to start, that it wasn't scheduled, it wasn't going to be a certain, like, thing that would spark his attention because it's right when the full moon fully came out. He said there wasn't any sort of indicator that he would just know. However, some of the other partygoers have reported conflicting things. One guy, another childhood friend of Matthew's named Daniel, said that he and Matthew went on a small walk together the night of the party. And he said that during that walk, Matthew shared with him that the world was going to end at midnight. Which to me, that makes me think that he had a time in mind. Right. He knew when things were going to begin. We also know that around that time is when everything did go down. Apparently, Matthew also had told Brendan that the world was ending at midnight. So that's at least two people who were told that. Yet Matthew didn't start stabbing people right when the clock struck midnight. Yet he was still acting pretty off around that time. At around 12:30am another person at the party recalled how Matthew was sitting around the fire with some of the other partygoers. And as they were all sitting around the fire together, he did something really weird. There was an ax laying nearby. I'm assuming it was to cut up wood to use for this fire. But Matthew picked up the ax, put his cell phone on the blade, part of it, and then dropped it into the fire. And everyone standing around the fire acted quickly and tried to help him out. And even though he did this intentionally, one of them was able to get his phone out of the fire pretty quickly. But as soon as the fire was out of the flames, Matthew grabbed it and started smashing it with the axe until it was literally in pieces. So, I mean, it's not like Matthew was being totally normal and inconspicuous that night until the stabbings. He was being odd all night long. First with arriving with a knife, then this weird thing with his phone at the bonfire and the axe. And maybe people assumed he had just drank too much, that he was wasted and weird. Who really knows? But none of his actions could have really warned or prepared people for what was about to happen less than an hour later. And just for a little timeline refresher, the fire pit incident was around 12:30am Then Brendan and some of the others headed to McDonald's at 1:00am Then that first phone call into 911 came in at 1:21am but apparently it was a conversation with Zachariah that completely triggered a full mental breakdown in Matthew. He claimed that the two of them had been having their own private conversation in the kitchen, but that the conversation was anything but casual. Something about the end of the world was brought up. And that's when Matthew said that his ears started perking up, right up until Zachariah said something to him that just didn't sit right with him. Matthew claimed that Zachariah said something along the lines of, quote, maybe you'll die before me. Now, Matthew, who Was clearly not in a good headspace, Took this as almost a warning or a threat. He claimed that it was the moment that he knew that Zachariah was a werewolf. So Matthew grabbed the kitchen knife and he stabbed Zechariah seven times. And according to Matthew, he said that he even aimed for the heart because he thought that by stabbing the heart, it was the only way to kill a werewolf. So this was the official start of the war. He claimed that he had to attack the other four victims because he felt like they, too, were a part of the evil sides conspiracy, not because they were the only ones left at the party, but because allegedly they weren't socializing with him or being friendly to him earlier that evening. So that must have meant that they were evil. So next were Joshua and Jordan, who were in the living room area or on the nearby couches. Then Lawrence, who was already asleep by this point on the couch. And then lastly, Caitlyn. She was in the dining room when she was stabbed. And the reason why is because she had tried to run away. I assume since she was the last one to be attacked, she either heard something or knew that something was going on. Whether that was because she saw one of the others being stabbed, saw their bodies, or just heard the commotion, we really don't know. We may never know. But what we do know for sure is that she was trying to escape and get to safety. And even though Joshua had been stabbed, he still was determined to make it out alive. So he tried escaping through that front door, But Matthew saw him leave and he chased after him. Now, when I described the scene earlier, we didn't go into too much detail, but we know that as Joshua was running out of the house, being chased by Matthew, the others who had gone to McDonald's were just now pulling back up, and they saw everything. Nobody knew the full extent of what had gone on inside the house while they were gone, but nonetheless, they came home to a terrifying scene. It was clear that Joshua was injured. I mean, there was blood coming from so many different parts of his body. It was so, so bloody that it was difficult to tell where he had been stabbed. Then they saw Matthew not only chasing him, but chasing him with a bloody knife still in hand. And then that is when Brendan started chasing after his childhood friend Matthew. The court documents state that Brendan finally caught up with Matthew a few blocks away from the Butler mansion. Now, remember from the psych report, Matthew said that Brendan was one of the good ones. That's why he gave him a knife earlier that night. He was On Matthew's side, according to Matthew. Matthew. Brendan, of course, just didn't realize it in this moment. And in addition to the knife, Matthew also had given him a clove of garlic. So I guess in his own weird, twisted way, he was trying to make sure that his best friend stayed safe through what he thought was the end of the world. Brendan had known Matthew practically his whole life. But in that moment, chasing him through the streets in the dark, this was no longer the friend that he grew up with. This was a man covered in blood, armed, delusional and cornered. And Brendan, well, he was about to find out just how dangerous that made him. I don't know about you, but I like knowing exactly where my money is going. And for the longest time, my wireless bill was one of those things that just felt out of control. Overages here, extra here, you know, you used all your data here. And after years of overpaying for big wireless carriers and having the crazy bills, the random fees, the free perks that aren't actually free, I finally realized that there is a better way. And so about a year ago, I switched over to Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile offers premium wireless plans starting at just $15 a month. You get high speed data and unlimited talk and text on the nation's largest 5G network without the inflated price tag. You can also bring your own phone, keep your number, activate in minutes with an esim. No contracts, no hassle. I've told you about them before. I also had to just get a line here at the office for customer service, for our merch and things like that. And I went with Mint Mobile as well because I personally use them and they're just the best and it takes like no time at all to set up. So instead of overpaying just because, you know that's how it's always been, you can actually switch and start saving immediately like I did. If you like your money, Mint Mobile is for you. Shop plans@mintmobile.com ae that's mintmobile.com ae Upfront payment of $45 for three months. Five gigabyte plan required equivalent to 15amonth. New customer offer for first three months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fee as extra. See Mint Mobile for details. Unfortunately, once Brendan caught up with Matthew, we don't get Matthew's point of view from the psych report. But we do know what happened from the court documents, which it leads me to believe that it was Brendan's recounting of the events. The documents state that by that point, Matthew had the knife Held over his head, the blade pointing downward, almost like he was moments away from attacking Brendan too. But Brendan very courageously then grabbed Matthew's hand slowly, same hand holding the knife. And as calmly as possible, he told him, give me the knife, calm down. And shockingly, Matthew handed him the knife. And that's when Brendan noticed something else. The knife and the gloves that Matthew was wearing were both covered in blood. So I think that that was the moment that it finally hit him. Matthew had stabbed someone, at least Joshua, who had already collapsed on the front lawn by this point. But Matthew wasn't giving up easily. He told Brendan that it was, quote, the night of long knives. And then he took off running again. So Brendan chased after him again, running a few more blocks before catching up to him for the second time. And again Brendan begged him to calm down and to just come back to the house. Which I gotta say, Brendan was obviously doing everything that he could possibly think of to de escalate what was going on. And I know a lot of people in that situation, myself included, would probably have been panicking, but he was so courageous and brave. And you can just tell that he was trying to get Matthew weapon free and back to the house, where then hopefully law enforcement would be and they could intervene. However, it wasn't that simple. Matthew wasn't listening. He wasn't, you know, listening to reason. So Brendan did the only thing that he could think to do. He shoved Matthew up against a parked car, hoping it might stop him or at least slow him down. But instead, Matthew responded to that by wiping his bloody gloves onto Brendan's hand and saying that they were now blood brothers. He said, you need to come with me so we can fight the war together, so we can protect each other. But Brendan obviously was not doing that, and Matthew could see the hesitation. So then he threatened him, telling Brendan that if he got in his way, he would be next. Brendan could then see Matthew's hand reaching toward his pocket, and he was worried that he was about to pull out another knife or maybe even the box cutter that he had brought to the party. So Brendan backed up, ran away and ran back toward the house. And the last thing that he saw was Matthew running in the opposite direction. So those were the events of what happened that night at Butler Mansion. Everything that we can at least piece together from the psych report and from court documents. But despite Matthew's full confession, he and his team pleaded not guilty to the five counts of first degree murder that he was up against. In the weeks following the murders, Matthew was ordered to undergo a 30 day assessment to decide whether or not he would be mentally fit to stand trial. And at the end of the 30 days, on May 22, 2014, the results came back.