04x13 - Slippery Motives

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: while a business trip in , ed post spent the

Morning jogging near his hotel in downtown st. Louis.

When he returned to his hotel room, he discovered his wife

Dead in the bathtub.

The medical examiner ruled the death was by drowning,

Presumably accidental.

But homicide investigators weren't so sure.

Ed post met julie thigpen when they were both students a the

University of southern mississippi in the s.

They married in , had two daughters...

And moved to new orleans.

Ed went to work in the real-estate business.

His outgoing personality and sophisticated manner made him a

Successful salesman right from the start.

I thought ed was a good fellow, what you'd expect a

Real-estate salesman to be, kind of relentlessly cheerful.

Narrator: after a few years, ed post became part owner of the

Wagner/truax real-estate firm.

Julie post also joined the company and was very successful,

Selling over a million dollars of real estate every year from

On.

In june of , the posts attended a real estate

Convention in st. Louis, missouri, at the omni hotel at

Union station.

On the morning of june rd, ed post decided to go jogging

Before the meeting started.

He said he drew his wife a bath and woke her before leaving

Around : a.m.

Julie.

Julie, it's time to wake up.

Narrator: on his way out, he thanked the hotel's concierge

For a suggestion she made to the posts the day before.

Really wonderful.

Oh, I'm so glad.

It's a wonderful place.

If there's anything else I can do for you, just let me know.

Narrator: hello, sir, are you having a nice stay?

Yes, I am, thank you.

Have a nice run.

Sure.

Narrator: ed post jogged past busch stadium, around the city's

Famous arch, and returned to the hotel at :.

How was your run, sir?

Great.

That's terrific.

I had a great workout this morning.

Have a nice day, sir.

Narrator: when he entered his hotel room, he said he

Discovered his wife lying facedown and unconscious in the

Bathtub.

After pulling her body from the water, he called for an

Ambulance at :.

Send an ambulance, please.

Narrator: it looked as if julie post lost her footing and

Grabbed the towel ring, which pulled out of the wall.

At the hospital, julie post was pronounced dead.

She was years old.

The autopsy revealed the death was due to drowning.

Ed post immediately phoned his brother, who was a lawyer.

Together, they photographed the broken towel ring and wall mount

For a lawsuit against the hotel.

His brother told the policemen here in st. Louis,

I'm gonna sue them for $ million, you watch.

Narrator: ed post was convinced that had it not been

For the faulty towel ring, his wife, julie, might still be

Alive.

Narrator: after julie post was pronounced dead, an autopsy

Was performed in st. Louis before the body was transported

To new orleans for burial.

The autopsy found no sign of alcohol or dr*gs in her system.

There were no skull fractures or bleeding in the brain that would

Have been present if the victim had been struck in the head

Before drowning.

In short, the pathologist could find no evidence of foul

Play.

I was certainly not convinced that it was an accident.

On the other hand, I couldn't prove that it was anything else.

Narrator: on the death certificate, the manner of death

Was undetermined.

When the st. Louis post-dispatch reported the news of

Julie post's death, there were some interesting reactions.

Dee joyce hayes was a prosecutor in the district attorney's

Office.

Her husband, gary, was a detective in the st. Louis

Police department.

Dee had just read an article about a woman who had drowned in

The bathtub at the omni hotel, and she said, gary, make sure

You read this.

It doesn't sound right to me.

We both read the article and looked at each other and said,

Nah.

No way.

Narrator: the hotel management found it hard to

Believe that a -pound woman like julie post could have

Pulled the towel ring from the wall since the ring had been

Designed to withstand more than twice that weight.

We went to the two adjoining rooms, and I probably weighed

Close to pounds at the time.

With all my weight, hung on to both towel rings in both rooms,

And neither one of them gave, nothing.

Narrator: ed post told police that he and his wife had a very

Good relationship.

But a background check of the posts' finances revealed an

Interesting coincidence.

We went to the insurance company, and lo and behold, I

Don't know, , days prior to julie post's death, ed had

Increased her insurance like $, or $,.

Now, this is a woman who's making in the low to mid

$,-A-year range in salary, and he's got this $,,

$, Life insurance policy on his wife.

That's when I began to believe maybe we have something here.

Narrator: police also discovered that ed post was

Enamored with a married woman who worked in his office.

Her name was kim otan.

On the day of julie post's funeral, ed made an unusual

Request to kim otan.

Kim otan had a twin sister.

And at the time of the funeral of julie, ed post said to

Kim otan, maybe when this is over, you can set me up with

Your sister.

And that seemed a most inappropriate thing to be saying

And particularly saying at the time that he's alleged to have

Said it.

Narrator: police were also suspicious about the way ed post

Told the story of finding his wife's body.

The story never varied, almost as if it had been rehearsed.

St. Louis police tape recorded those conversations.

And then when she came over the edge of the tub, being as

Wet as she was in the water, it was then at that point, once

I got her partially out of tub, I was not prepared for what

Happened next, which was she literally slid out at that

Point.

Do you think...

She did hit her head on the front portion.

It's the fact that ed post in his...golden-tongue, glib manner

Came off as a...noncaring person that had this alibi, who

Had everything down pat.

I mean, he didn't change his story one iota from the first

Time he told it to the second time he told it.

Narrator: and some of the hotel employees noticed that

Ed post was acting suspiciously on the morning of the accident.

Before leaving the hotel for his morning run, ed post made sure

That the concierge knew who he was, thanking her for a favor

She did for him the day before.

I believe you're the one that told us about the botanical

Gardens.

My wife finally had a chance to visit there yesterday.

It was spectacular, really wonderful.

I'm so glad.

Narrator: and the hotel doorman said that post

Introduced himself by name before going out for his run.

Hello, sir, are you enjoying your stay?

Yes, I am, thank you.

My name is ed post, I'm going on a run this morning.

I'll be gone about minutes.

Watch out for me, please.

I sure will.

Have a nice run.

Sure.

He made it a point to say good morning to the doorman at

The hotel, say who he was, and what room he was in, and that he

Was gonna go out and jog.

I mean, it, like, it was from the book of who cares?

The doorman didn't care.

Why would you do that?

Narrator: but all of these incidents simply raised

Suspicions.

Homicide investigators had no hard evidence that ed post

Played any role in his wife's death.

Investigators decided to conduct more sophisticated tests on the

Broken towel ring to see if a woman julie post's size could

Have pulled it from the wall during a fall.

Narrator: prosecutors in st. Louis were starting to

Wonder whether the death of julie post in the hotel bathtub

Was truly an accident.

The autopsy did not find any evidence of foul play, so

Prosecutors decided to exhume julie post's remains for a

Second autopsy.

She had been buried in a cemetery outside of new orleans.

The water table is so high in new orleans, that most people

Are buried in aboveground vaults, but julie post had been

Buried in the ground, and her body was placed in a wooden

Casket.

Investigators feared that water damage to the body would be

Significant.

When they opened the grave, it was almost completely filled

With water.

Fortunately, the foot of the casket was the part that sunk.

Her head was the only part of her body that was not submerged

In water.

And her head was in perfect shape.

The casket had collapsed and pushed down and had flattened

Her nose from the pressure, but that was the only disfiguration

From the collapsing of the casket.

Most of the casket collapse had been at the foot end.

Narrator: the pathologist who performed the second autopsy

Found numerous bruises that were not noted during the first

Autopsy.

That's not unusual because some bruising continues to develop

Even after death.

Ed post's attorney said that the additional bruises proved

Nothing.

That they could have been caused by the removing of her organs

And bones for donation shortly after her death.

But the pathologist found two new bruises in a critical area.

The only additional finding at the autopsy was an area of

Bruising that was very far down on the back of the head in the

Upper neck region where in a normal autopsy, I usually don't

Take the scalp down quite that far.

I'm looking at these bruises.

And as far as I'm concerned, it's from a thumb and a hand.

If you're holding somebody underwater, you got to hold them

By the base of the neck if you're gonna drown them.

Narrator: next, prosecutors turned their attention to the

Metal towel ring found inside the tub next to julie post's

Body.

The towel ring was attached to metal studs inside the wall with

One-and-a-half-inch screws.

The ring and wall mount had been designed and manufactured to

Withstand hundreds of pounds of force.

Prosecutors hired boulter kelsey, an accident

Reconstructionist, to attempt to recreate the accident.

Kelsey conducted his experiments at the hotel omni in a room with

An identical towel ring attached to the wall in the same way as

The towel ring in ed and julie post's room.

And for the test, kelsey used a woman who was the same height

And weight as julie post.

Kelsey asked the model to simulate a fall by grabbing onto

The towel ring with all of her weight.

Nothing happened.

Then, she was asked to wrench the ring back and forth.

Again, nothing happened.

What we found was that -- doing some calculations based on

What information we had on the ultimate strength of the ring --

That we could not remove it, or a person couldn't remove it at

That size unless she fell about feet and grabbed the towel

Ring as she went by.

And, of course, the hotel room has an eight-foot ceiling.

So there's no way that that can happen.

Narrator: finally, as a last resort, kelsey asked the model

To use both hands to remove the towel ring in any way she could.

After considerable effort, the ring came off.

The concept that julie post somehow grabbed this towel ring

During a fall and pulled it off the wall was impossible.

It could not physically have happened that way.

Narrator: next, prosecutors sent an identical towel ring and

Wall mount to dr. William weins, a professor

Of mechanical engineering at the university of nebraska in

Lincoln.

Dr. Weins was asked to determine how much force was

Required to remove the towel ring from the wall attachment.

Those tests revealed that it took between and pounds

Of force to remove it from the wall.

It was also obvious very early on the testing that those

Types of modes of force application -- straight pulls,

Pulls down -- clearly didn't match the evidence.

That the deformed towel ring, the failed towel ring didn't

Look anything like the towel ring in question here.

Narrator: the baseplate had damage underneath the stem, and

On the left side, the towel ring, itself, also had been

Damaged.

Dr. Weins performed different tests to reproduce the damage

Found on the baseplate and towel ring, all without success.

But on test number , dr. Weins produced something very close.

That test indicated that the towel ring was removed from

Outside the bathtub.

Our conclusion was that it was taken off the wall by someone

With considerable strength.

And it was, you know, the type of action where one would grab

It and pull outside the tub.

And it was, if you look at the location of it, it would be

Consistent, for instance, with someone like putting their foot

On the edge of the tub and grabbing the towel ring and then

Pulling it off out toward the outside of the tub.

Narrator: prosecutors now had scientific proof that

Julie post's death was no accident.

Narrator: in , new orleans was going through

Its worst economic downturn since the great depression.

Many local businesses were affected, and real estate was

Just one more casualty.

Ed post was % owner of the wagner/truax real-estate

Business and was responsible for % of the losses, which in

And ' were substantial.

And the posts' marriage was going through a downturn of its

Own.

Friends said that ed and julie fought frequently, fights which

Were sometimes physical.

And kim otan, who worked with the posts, said that ed post had

Made advances towards her in the months before julie's death.

I think that ed fell in love with kim otan.

Just him being a free man wouldn't get kim.

He had to be a free man with lots of money to compete with

Her husband.

And he hatched this plan.

Narrator: prosecutors believe that plan was in motion one

Month before julie's death when ed post increased his wife's

Life insurance.

On june , , before going out for his morning run,

Prosecutors believe that post drowned his wife in the hotel

Bathtub.

Afterwards, he pulled the towel ring from the wall, not only to

Corroborate his cover story that julie fell while holding onto

The towel ring, but also for the money, the potential settlement

From the hotel in a civil lawsuit.

After the m*rder, post made sure to speak with both the hotel

Concierge and doorman to cement his alibi.

Yes, I am, thank you.

My name is ed post.

I'm going on a run this morning.

Thank you.

The whole business with the towel ring, which is really what

k*lled him -- not literally, but figuratively -- you know, he had

To go pull that off the wall.

He had to go pull that off the wall so that he could set up a

Lawsuit against the omni hotel and get more money, the greedy

S.o.b.

Narrator: three years after julie post's death, ed post went

On trial for first-degree m*rder.

Ed post pleaded not guilty and took the stand in his own

Defense.

Ed's demeanor on the stand, I think, could best be

Described as follows.

He was very well-dressed.

He was very articulate, spoke at a very sophisticated

Level, including his use of the language.

Spoke, I think, far differently than the jurors were accustomed

To speaking or hearing.

He did not speak with a southern accent at all, although he was

From new orleans.

And he came across, as ed often came across, as condescending.

And I think that those things did not play well.

Narrator: and the scientific experts provided powerful

Testimony that julie post was not capable of removing the

Towel ring during a fall.

It took the jury less than a day to reach its verdict.

Ed post was found guilty of first-degree m*rder and was

Sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

Ed post and his attorneys appealed the conviction.

And in a plea bargain, post agreed to plead guilty to

Second-degree m*rder and confess to the m*rder of his wife in

Exchange for a -year prison sentence that included the

Possibility of parole.

If he doesn't take the towel ring off, he gets away with it.

It's just an accidental drowning.

I mean, look at how it happened.

Almost everybody classified it as undetermined or accidental.

But for that, ed post would be on his merry way.

He would have probably sued the omni, got a couple million

Dollars, and had $, in life insurance.

We wouldn't even know who he was.

In my opinion, the most important thing in the trial was

The science.

It was the towel ring.

When you can show that it was wrenched back and forth, back

And forth until it broke or

Until it came loose, that

Convicted him.

If he would have left that out

Of there, he might be a free man

Today.