could think was, what could have happened to alex in her dorm room? the new york state police were athlete and whittemore that very same question, that very morning [inaudible] clayton put the pieces together for the police about what happened that night. and it began with the fact that his relationship with alex wasn t so good after all. the couple had dinner, and then, the party. clayton said he and alex drank moderately, but at the party, he got annoyed with her, and he felt disrespected. [inaudible] as they walked back from the party, clayton got that open container ticket. [inaudible] clayton, remember, walk to
clayton, put the knife down. defense attorneys didn t dispute that clayton whittemore killed alex kogut, didn t even try. and they didn t dispute that his anger was years in the making. but they argued this wasn t a case of murder but. the client was guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. why? they said he was under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance, when he killed alex kogut, because clayton whittemore was a victim himself. [inaudible] that is clayton talking to the 9-1-1 dispatcher, hours after the murder. he s talking about his dad. telling the dispatcher his father had abused him and his family for years. that s my entire life. did you see a lot of it? i thought all. getting beaten in the
baseball bat by my own father. i watched my own father beat my sister. beat my own mother. [inaudible] her fingerprints are on his car. the interview room cops asked him how he felt about his dad now? [inaudible] in the minutes before he was arrested, clayton wrote a bizarre apology to alex and the kogut s. it s already to the family and you, he texted. nothing will ever fix or undo what i did. i became my father. in court, clayton cystic took the stand, and supported her brother s story.
her father, scott whittemore did not respond to declines call. there is no record of complaints against him, but the defense expert, a psychic twist, testified, got admitted that as a former marine, he may have been rough. because of that abuse, the expert concluded that clayton was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance and snapped in the dorm room. the prosecution back to the for. it was tragic. and you know, we never discounted or denied his past. but that as an excuse what he did. three weeks after the trial began, the case went to the jury. the verdict was swift. guilty of second degree murder. i just felt this overwhelming sense of relief, that the truth came out, and that there was finally a verdict. it was the right verdict. alex s mom did not attend the trial, but followed it closely, and tweeted
but clayton had been a model of cooperation that. what could he tell them, if anything, about what had happened in the dorm room that night? i couldn t put together what happened because it was so violent. there was so many things that didn t make sense in the room, that it was very hard to gauge what happened. you know, case closed. but whatever the scenarios you are thinking of? maybe there was an altercation between roommates. maybe, possibly, alex and clayton were on the run, and this was the roommate that was on the ground. maybe alex was abducted by clayton. maybe clayton had hurt the roommate. lots of things running through your mind? yes. lots of things on other peoples minds too. at her parents house, samantha turner, alex best buddy, was phoning all her friends. when she got to a roommate, a college official got on the line, and told her that there was a situation. and i broke down. and i grabbed my sister and i was like, we need to go back