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Melissa Turner and Matthew Trussler Wiki, Biography
According to CBS News, Melissa Turner and Matthew Trussler met on Tinder, a popular dating app, in April 2017, which eventually led to the beginning of a relationship and their subsequent engagement. However, things ended badly for the couple when Trussler was found stabbed to death in the backyard of his suburban home in Tampa, Florida, in October 2019.
The investigation, focused primarily on cameras in and around the home, led authorities to believe that Turner may have killed her boyfriend. After rigorous questioning, she finally confessed to stabbing Trussler in her own defense after he tried to strangle her. Following this, a jury found Turner guilty of second-degree murder during a trial in February 2022.
The next episode of CBS’s 48 Hours will delve further into the case, detailing the case from the perspective of Melissa Turner, who herself reported a crime she committed. The all-new episode, titled Melissa Turner’s Closing Act, airs this Saturday, January 14, 2023 at 10 p.m. m. ET. The official synopsis for the episode reads:
“A cosplay actress finds herself in the spotlight when she is accused of murdering her boyfriend. Will she be able to convince a jury that she was defending herself?”
Melissa Turner was the first to find the body of Matthew Trussler and call 911
On October 18, 2019, Matthew Trussler was found dead at a bloody crime scene in the backyard of the Tampa, Florida home he shared with his girlfriend, a popular cosplay model named Melissa Turner. Authorities found him brutally stabbed multiple times in the back with a kitchen knife, lying face down in a pool of blood after reporting a distressing call made by Turner that morning.
On the call, according to CBS News, Turner said:
“We had a lot of drinks last night and went to bed drunk…we woke up this morning and he was bloody and out this morning.”
She further added:
“He’s cold. He’s not responding.”
Upon examination, medical examiners discovered that the victim had sustained defensive wounds to the right forearm, a minor cut to the right shoulder, a severe laceration to the chest, and a significant stab wound to the back. The cause of death was ultimately determined to be blood loss from an “incised wound on the arm with perforation of the cephalic vein.”
Investigators questioned Turner about the night before the murder, as she was the first to find the crime scene and report the savage murder. She alleged that after drinking with Trussler, she eventually passed out and found him dead after waking up. However, Turner was unaware that detectives had received information about a surveillance camera that she had recorded more than she had provided.
How was Melissa Turner involved in the Matthew Trussler stabbing death case?
Detectives searched the area for clues, eventually discovering a neighbor’s surveillance camera consisting of footage from the night of the murder. Two were heard screaming on surveillance footage, one of whom sounded like a woman, saying: “Then die!” Additionally, an ADT camera at the couple’s home recorded their movements overnight, making Turner appear guilty.
When she was confronted with the surveillance footage, Melissa Turner claimed that she “didn’t remember any discussion.” However, she subsequently changed her account, claiming that she remembered the argument.
Turner later confessed that Trussler woke her up that night while she was very drunk, which upset her and led to an argument. She claimed that he was holding a knife in her hand, and things got out of hand when she tried to take it from him. The suspect herself further claimed that she would have called 911 if it had been an accident “and not just let him die.”
However, Melissa Turner was immediately arrested on charges of second degree murder. Her case went to trial in February 2022, where she claimed that “there was abuse in this relationship and that she acted in self-defense.” But after a week-long trial, she was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20.5 years in prison.