The Last Call: Inside the Killing of Jordan Wheeler

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[MUSIC]

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Jordan Wheeler did everything they tell you to do when a marriage turns dangerous.

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She left, she filed, she started building a new life for herself, then her son called,

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scared, and she drove back through that door one more time.

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[MUSIC]

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[MUSIC]

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[MUSIC]

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Jordan Wheeler had already done the hard part.

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She left, she filed for divorce two months before any of this happened, and she moved in with

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her sister.

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And if you know anything about walking away from a marriage that's falling apart, you know

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that's the scary part, that's the part that everybody tells you to just survive it.

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And she survived it.

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Then on October 19th, 2023, one of her sons called her.

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He was scared.

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Steven, her estranged husband, had been drinking, and he'd thrown an iPad across the room and

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it hit one of the boys in the back.

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And the kids were home with him at the house in Clinton Township, Michigan, and they wanted

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their mom.

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Even the kids knew that a grown man throwing something and hitting one of his own kids was

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a warning sign.

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And it's the reason a scared kid ended up on the phone with his mother in the first place.

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So Jordan drove over.

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And that decision seems like a no-brainer.

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Of course, you would drive over to your estranged husband's house when your kid calls and says

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that they feel like they're in danger.

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A mother gets a call that her kids are scared and she gets in the car.

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Jordan had three kids total, Colton, Carson, and Kinsey.

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And her family described her afterward as the "mama of all mamas."

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When she got there, things were already bad.

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Steven was yelling.

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The kids were terrified.

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And Jordan called 911 to report that he'd assaulted her.

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She stayed on the phone with that dispatcher while she tried to get her boys out of the

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house.

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Her son's ran.

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They got out seconds before the gunfire started and sprinted toward neighbor's house.

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And their mother was still on that call when it happened.

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Steven shot her five times in the head.

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My child called me crying that his dad threw his tablet at him so I was coming to get him.

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And then he was here on me.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Can you get out of the home with him?

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I am trying to get my kid stopped so I can get out of here.

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Okay.

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You're ready for bed so they're trying to get dressed and get their stuff first.

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Because they need medical attention, ma'am.

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No.

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Get out of my house.

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Okay.

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Can you wait in your vehicle?

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Are you arriving?

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I can't get out of my house.

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I also believe that he's been drinking so.

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Okay.

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What did he do to you?

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He grabbed me and tried to push me out of the house.

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What's your name?

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Heather.

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I'm video.

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Jordan.

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Tyler.

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Jordan.

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Yes.

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He said he has been drinking.

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I believe so.

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Anybody have any weapons?

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Yes.

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Yes, yes.

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Where is the gun?

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Somewhere in the house, probably in the bedroom.

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But it's not being used or threatened in that way.

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go ahead..

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go ahead..

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come on Ana..

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eeler?

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he is a beau?

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hello

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what's going on?

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I found it in the fucking head

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I found it in the fucking head

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I found it in the fucking head

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I found it in the fucking head

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I found it in the fucking head

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eeler?

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what's going on?

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I found it in the fucking head

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the vet's here, 60 car, via the house, male hats on the phone now

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saying he shot the female dog

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the special no longer here, the female background

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there was no mystery for investigators to solve here

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they had a 911 recording capturing an assault as it happened

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they had a husband still standing in the house when officers arrived

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they had two child witnesses who just watched the worst night of their lives

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from a dead sprint across the front yard

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the jury's whole job was deciding whether Steven's versions of that night could survive

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the evidence sitting in front of them

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and once they heard that 911 call

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that version didn't hold up long

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there's audio that you just heard from

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right after the shooting where you can hear Steven's own voice say

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I shot you in the head

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he said that out loud standing next to a phone line that was still connected

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this is a man who served in the National Guard and worked professionally as a private investigator

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someone whose whole job was watching people

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documenting details and staying a step ahead

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and he apparently gave zero thought to the fact that there was a live phone

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right there still sitting six feet away from him

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you'd think a private investigator

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of the entire population on earth would understand how recordings work

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I guess not

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he also did not run

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officers found him still standing at the house when they showed up

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researchers who studied domestic homicide describe this pattern often

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a person who was never planning to keep on going once the act itself was finished

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because the killing was the whole plan

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start to finish

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there's nothing left afterward to strategize toward

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their oldest son testified a trial

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he was nine

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room full of strangers and described hearing the shots and seeing the flashes

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after he and his little brother made it outside

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and then he talked about his dad drinking that night and yelling

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and being rough with him before any of it kicked off

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nine years old is too young to be a witness on a stand

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he did it anyway

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because somebody had to say what happened in that house

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and the only people who really knew were the children

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Steven Wheeler was 31

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Jordan was 33

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the trial ran six days in McComb County

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and the judge didn't settle on a lesser charge

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they convicted him a first degree premeditated murder

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and that word premeditated is the real story here

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that piece turns this from a fight into an execution

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Jordan was unarmed

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she was on the phone asking for help

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Steven had real time

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enough to walk away from a fight

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and he used it to go get a gun and come back with it

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that was a choice

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made in stages with room to stop at every single one of those stages

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he fired five shots into the head of the woman that he used to be married to

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while her sons were running for their lives outside

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he was sentenced in February of 2025 to life without parole

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plus a mandatory extra two years tacked on for the fire arm charge

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that extra time barely registered next to a life sentence

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the law still adds it in anyway

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because that's how the paperwork works

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during deliberations they asked to hear the 9-1-1 call again

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they also asked for a video Jordan had recorded of herself approaching the house that night

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and for the paperwork tied to the custody of the kids

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the jury was piecing together who this couple was to each other

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who felt like they owned that house

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who felt entitled to control what happened inside it

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and whether Jordan had reason to be afraid walking through her own front door

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she absolutely did

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Michigan signed a new law in May of 2023 letting family members, co-parents or police

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request an emergency removal of someone's guns if that person looked dangerous

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it's called an extreme risk protection order

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that law didn't actually take effect until February of 2024

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Jordan was killed in October of 2023

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four months before that tool existed anywhere in the state

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now I'm not going to sit here and promise you that that law could have saved her

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or would have saved her because no one can promise that or see the future like that

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and I don't trust the crime shows that pretend that they can

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what I can tell you is that Michigan recorded at least 59 domestic violence homicides in 2022 alone

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and 58% of those involved fire arm

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Jordan's case sits right inside that pattern

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that new law that one that came four months too late for her

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lets us spouse a co-parent or even a police officer petitioned court

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to remove someone's firearms temporarily if that person shows signs of danger

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things like threats, a history of violence or heavy drinking layered on top of an already volatile home

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every one of those factors was evident and present in that house that night in October

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the public record in this case is pretty thin on a few important places

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there's no documented mental illness no insanity defense no childhood history of anyone's laid out publicly

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what witnesses did say is that Stephen had been drinking that night

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pouring alcohol from a jar into a cup before things escalated

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and after his arrest he admitted to killing Jordan and made statements about wanting to die himself

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strip away the address in Clinton Township and the specific names in this case

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and you're left with something researchers who study intimate partner violence will tell you

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it shows up again and again a woman leaves the relationship is legally ending

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but still tangled through the kids and a shared house and a court calendar

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and the man on the other end of that tangled decides that if he can't control it anymore

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no one gets to have it

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news of this case spread past Clinton Township fast

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a mother shot while she was on the phone with 9-1-1 her kids sprinting for a neighbor's yard

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and it was absorbed the way that most of these cases are absorbed as proof that the most dangerous room for a woman

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in a bad relationship is often her own living room

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a family friend later started a fun for the kids education

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and this case is still going on by the way as of this year the case is still working through appeals in Michigan

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with motions filed back and forth with no final word yet either way

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Jordan Wheeler left she filed she built a plan and she followed it right up until the moments her kids needed her back inside that house

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the 9-1-1 call is still sitting in a court file somewhere in McComb County

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and it ends the same way her life did mid-sentence

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thanks for listening to 10-minute murder binge-able true crime stories

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I'm Joe I'm the host and here's an email subject

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third times a charm

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hey Joe hope you're doing great just want to say how much I love your podcast your webpage

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your newsletter love it all I love your voice so calming but warning and angry

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but caring all at the same time my absolute favorite thing about you is that you

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legit say thank you at the end of every show most shows I feel I become arrogant

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and don't care about the listeners like that anymore

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one question you probably answered I'm so sorry if you have if you have kids

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have you become extremely wary of everyone everywhere

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all the time I feel like I'm always so observant of everyone and everything around my kids at all times

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like maybe more than normal LOL they know I'm always watching

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well thank you for making me happy every time you put out anything

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I've emailed you twice before but you never read them or replied

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maybe you read them but just didn't reply sorry ADHD I just hope you read this one

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your number one stalker shy BTW I'm not actually stalking you please don't sue me

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shy thanks for the emails and I I won't sue you probably

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but I reserve the ride in the future and yeah I get as you can imagine hundreds of emails to this show

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all the time and I do my best to respond to every single one that I can

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but you can imagine with the volume that I get I can always do that I do try to read them all though

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and do some slip through the cracks I'm sure they do I try not to let that happen but I'm sure it does

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and to answer your actual question yes I do have a kid well he's a grown up kid now he's college age

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but I have been kind of a helicopter parent when he was younger I was very aware of his surroundings

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who was allowed to be in his presence who was maybe looking too long at the grocery store

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always focused on his safety and maybe that's normal maybe that's not normal I don't know

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but he's the only one I've got so I just I've been overprotective or the right amount of protective

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I don't know in my opinion if you are keeping them safe you're watching where they're going

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who they're seeing and they're still having fun in life and doing things that they enjoy

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that's all you can really ask for try again thank you for the email thank you for listening to the podcast

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hey if you're a brand new listeners to this podcast you're listening to me right now for the very first time

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do me a huge favor subscribe wherever you're listening you can also go to 10minutemurder.com

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find more places to listen also follow the show on social media you'll find links there at the website as well

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you OG listeners like shy borderline stalking keep doing what you're doing sharing the show with your friends

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and your family rating at five stars wherever that's possible

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and suggesting cases for me to talk about here on this podcast that's gonna do it

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that's your episode for today thanks again for listening to 10minute murder see you next time