even an autopsy to wave around because the coroner hadn t labeled vashti s death a homicide. no, the evidence was not hard. it was circumstantial. he got his .44 magnum revolver, approached her in bed while she was sleeping. he shot her in the head. he set fire to at least two places in the house to cover up his actions. and he did all of this while their two young sons were in the home. the motive quite simple said the prosecution. brett did not want a divorce, but he did want custody of his sons. and he would do what it took, even kill vashti to keep them. their marriage counselor took the stand.
such a big, heavy gun. if she killed herself, how was she able to get that heavy handgun up to her head and pull the trigger and do so in just the right downward angle that it slices right through her spinal cord, and then there was some kick, some recoil to the gun. how did it end up completely underneath her body when she was sleeping on her side? the prosecutor said the angle of the bullet proved one thing. that s consistent with someone standing over her while she was sleeping shooting her. because, said the prosecutor, because that s what he said he would do. brett not only woke vashti up one night to tell her he had a dream he killed her, but friends and colleagues testified what they told the kbi, in the weeks before she died vashti told them incredibly brett threatened to kill her and burn the house down and make it look like suicide.
coming up the note. some of his actions were reckless because the clock was wipedi winding down. the gun. how did it end up completely underneath the body when she was sleeping on her side? the threats. she said do you think brett would burn the house down with me in it. and i i was taken aback by that, and i said not with the kids at home. the prosecutors come on strong. and so when those threats didn t work, he had to kill her to maintain control. when dateline continues. co. when dateline continues frequent heartburn? not anymore.
were still intact, which would have tamped down the fire inside the room where vashti was last seen. and that meant there was some chance at least that some evidence would still exist in there. wouldn t be completely incinerated by the flames. and sure enough, when monti got inside what was left of the house, he saw the body of vashti seacat, lying on the mattress in the master bedroom on the second floor. she was lying on her left side. her knees were slightly drawn up. it appeared that her elbows were bent. there was still a significant amount of blanket or covering on her, like she was under the covers asleep. also there, a weapon. the firearm was actually under her left hip, which would have been against the mattress, with the barrel facing downward. it became clear the gun had been the source of a single gunshot wound to the side of her lower skull.
friendships and planning a vacation with you. and a concert and a hawaii trip and a springfield trip, and we had just gone shopping the week before, and the clothes were still in the bag at her house. in fact, she had so many things lined up for us to do that i was thinking i can t keep up with her. so they didn t buy brett s story at all. she was not depressed. she was anything but. the wednesday before vashti died when brett was served with the divorce papers, she spent that night with their sons at a friend s house and was going to stay there until friday when brett was supposed to be out of the house. that was the plan, said kathleen. he got ahold of her on thursday and told her to come home, that she owed it to him to let him say goodbye to his kids. he told her he couldn t be out by friday, he had nowhere to go. his parents didn t even know