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E241: Marsha Brantley
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How do you solve a crime with no evidence? How do you solve a crime when you don’t know when it occurred? And how do you solve a crime when you don’t even know IF it occurred. While those are the questions one man’s lawyer is asking, one woman’s family is convinced of foul play. What really happened to Marsha Brantley of Cleveland, Tennessee sometime between May and July of 2009?
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Transcript
Games Reflecting Human Psyche
00:00:00
Speaker
When you really think about it, it's quite odd that we take very serious elements of life and turn them into games. I wonder what that says about our human psyche. Take the game of operation, for example, where we make a botched surgery into a laughable situation where the patient's nose lights up red. The real-world equivalent can be devastating.
00:00:26
Speaker
In the game of life, it's a game whether we have children or not, whether we have the career that we actually want, and it's all up to chance, not choice. In reality, we study years for degrees, we work hard to climb career ladders, and for many of us, the choice to have children is a long and laborious process and not a coincidental byproduct.
00:00:50
Speaker
Then there's the game of would you rather, where some of the decisions are silly, unrealistic, and inconsequential choices, and others are unanswerable.
Introduction to Marsha Brantley Case
00:01:00
Speaker
Like, would you rather know that something tragic has happened, which eliminates hope of a better ending, or live in the unknown, where the tragic is possible, but hope lives on?
00:01:14
Speaker
At least in this game, as in life, sometimes both options are bad. We must choose the lesser of two evils. Unlike a game though, where we have a say, life doesn't give us that option. And the family at the center of our case this week has only been given one possibility. At least until more information comes to light. That their loved one is missing. And we don't know why, how, when,
00:01:44
Speaker
nor if something actually happened. They just know that she's gone. This is the case of Marsha briefly.
00:02:27
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:02:46
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:03:04
Speaker
Maggie, this week's case is, I want to say a little bit different from so many of the cases that we cover here on the show. It's similar in that it is a missing person case. It is still unsolved. okay There is a common theory in the court of public opinion that we'll discuss, and you know that's true in many of the cases that we cover. But it's different in that, as I mentioned in the introduction, we don't know when a crime occurred or even if one occurred at all. So it could be an unsolved crime or it could not be. I could just be telling someone's story. Hey, love it. You see, Marsha Brantley, a 51 year old woman from Cleveland, Tennessee went missing. And depending on how you understand the story, I guess missing
00:03:57
Speaker
could be an air quotes. Okay. If it were a choice to leave. Okay. You get what I'm saying? So we don't even know if a crime occurred. Right. So she could have left on her own accord. She could be missing. Either way, she went missing for all intents and purposes
Life and Background of Marsha Brantley
00:04:12
Speaker
of this case. We don't know where she is. Correct. Okay. Sometime in May or June,
00:04:21
Speaker
or even potentially July 2009. How do we have that big of a span of time? The reason why we don't know when ultimately is because no one immediately reported her missing.
00:04:35
Speaker
So she doesn't, didn't talk to people like on a regular basis. I feel like if I went a couple of days without talking to you, you'd probably be like, where's Maggie? Right. And you might think that you might think that because no one recorded her missing, that that happened because she didn't talk to people. She wasn't active. On the contrary, she was.
00:04:54
Speaker
She was married. She posted often on her blog called Magify's Nest with the last post on May 10th, 2009. She had pets, three dogs that she loved and cared for like they were her babies. She kept a meticulous garden and she had formed a writer's group of which she was an integral part. So for all of these reasons, one would think her absence would be felt quickly. Yeah.
00:05:24
Speaker
Like, you don't show up to your writer's group. Where's she at? Yeah. Your garden gets weeds. What's she doing? Mm-hmm. However, it wasn't until Marcia failed to come in for a hair appointment, as she did on a regular basis, that her hairdresser was the one to begin calling around to find out what had happened to the woman who wasn't just a customer to her, but who had become a friend.
00:05:52
Speaker
This hairdresser, Kelly Delude, I have to give praises to because she eventually went to police concerning her inability to get in touch with Marcia. She told Peter Van Zandt from 48 hours, quote, I felt compelled to find out what happened to her. I wasn't trying to be a detective. I was trying to be a concerned friend. Oh, that's an nice.
00:06:18
Speaker
Yet, even with that involvement from a friend, Marsha Brantley wasn't officially quote-unquote missing until November 2009. So that's a significant amount of time if she, even if went missing in July, that's a lot of time. Yes. But you could potentially add on two more minutes to that. Especially with all of these active involvements. Yeah.
00:06:41
Speaker
So let's get to know the place where the case is said. Cleveland, Tennessee and its nickname, the City with Spirit. I didn't even know Tennessee had a Cleveland. I didn't either until I was looking at this case, but Cleveland is a city around 45,000 people. So it's rather, it's a decent size. ah It's moniker as the City of Spirit that it got in 2012 does not refer to alcoholic spirits because big box liquor stores weren't allowed in the city until 2018.
00:07:10
Speaker
but to the prevalence of not only churches in the area, but also Christian colleges like the university and before it's moved to South Carolina, Bob Jones University. So the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the city with Holy Spirit.
00:07:26
Speaker
But this town where Ocasa said was not the town of Marsha's birth. She was born and raised in Illinois. Marsha had been an only child to an affluent girl, and as such was very close with her parents as an only child. She had not followed in the footsteps of many of her friends and begun a family of her own early in life. In fact, instead of building her own family, much of Marsha's time in her adult life had been caring for the family that she already had, namely taking care of her father and mother both battling cancer or wow in their Illinois home. When she wasn't caring for them, Marcia was working with animals at a local shelter where she volunteered. Maggie loves hiking the outdoors, which was a passion of hers, not ours, but hers, or riding, which was another. aimed up I don't know if you can tell by my accent, but W-R-I-T-I-N-G.
00:08:24
Speaker
writing. Pen and paper. Yes. But in 1999, Marcia finally met someone, her first serious relationship. How old was she? She was 41. Wow. With whom she shared many interests.
00:08:39
Speaker
This was with a man named Donnie Brent. Even though Marcia, like I said, was 41 when she met Donnie, who was a single father of a teenage girl. In some ways, their relationship was like young love. Marcia would write poetry for Donnie. They held hands. They enjoyed dates, like watching movies with one another.
00:08:57
Speaker
The time that they spent together, I'm sure, and I'm sure there was some guilt with this, but it had to have felt like a little bit of respite, I would imagine, from the continued care of her mother and father. So i time to just relax.
00:09:11
Speaker
That love between the couple continued to grow, and Marcia and Donnie were married in 2000. I love a good wedding.
Marsha's Disappearance
00:09:18
Speaker
Yes, it was in that moment when Marcia's new family, herself, Donnie, and his daughter, Elise, moved into the home Marcia's parents had gifted her and sleep on Tennessee. Very nice. So that's when the move came. And she effectively went from a single woman in a dating relationship to having an instant family.
00:09:41
Speaker
They continued to watch movies together, do normal family things. Marsha also began creating a new community in Tennessee. right She did a good job. Yeah, this is a move. She found a trusted hairdresser in 2000. She planted a garden that she loved to care for. They began fostering three dogs. She and Donnie did And she continued to hone her writing skills. She also took a job with Lee University as a director, where in addition to other responsibilities, she found creative ways to get those students who commuted to the university involved in campus activities.
00:10:18
Speaker
But just when things were on the upswing, Marcia suffered the most devastating losses, her mother passing in November 2000, and her father the very next month. Wow. As opposed to the portrait of Marcia from her friends and family that they remember of her from years prior as being fun, kind, and outgoing, Marcia's stepdaughter Elise gave a starkly different description.
00:10:46
Speaker
calling Marcia a ah but loner and telling 48 hours, quote, when I think of her, my first few words would not be giving loving. I didn't see a lot of that from her, even as her stepdaughter, end quote, at least went on to tell the program her belief that Marcia was depressed.
00:11:08
Speaker
Well, I would say so. I think you wouldn't even have time to process your mother's death and then your father turns around and dies. I think that would be very taxing yeah on one's mental state. Yes, life altering. Yeah. And I will say with the context of Elise, the stepdaughter's comments, it's unclear whether that description of Marcia is accurate of how Marcia was in the beginning. Right. Or after. Right. Or after the loss of her parents.
00:11:37
Speaker
And those losses had to be doubly hard on Marsha since in Tennessee, Marsha had to rely heavily on Donnie alone because in moving there to begin their marriage, she had moved away from her best friend from much of her extended family. And even the connections that she had made in Tennessee from my research, a lot of them were, I don't want to say superficial, but they were more can contextualized, if you know what I mean. Like, she would have work friends, but they didn't necessarily hang out with them. As loss can sometimes do, it seemed that losing her parents did change Marcia in some ways. Namely, she decided to finally pursue a career in one of her passions. According to most sources, Marcia took the inheritance she received from her parents' passing.
00:12:32
Speaker
to do two things. Number one, she quit her job at Lee University to explore a career writing young adult novels. Oh, cool. And number two, she took some of the funds to help Donnie pursue his passions and to get him set up with his own handyman business called House Doctors. Well, I mean, it's good that she was able to follow those passions. Yeah.
00:12:57
Speaker
With this new career path, Marcia poured herself into her writing group, a group that she herself had formed in 2007. So are these aspiring authors? Yes. also and sir One of the members of the group, Reggie J, spoke on camera into 48 hours. And when asked the name of the writing group, J said, quote, Thunder Rock Writers Group. The other name was the big girl panties group," end quote, because they would critique each other's writing in such an honest way. So prepare your feelings. Yeah. So we wouldn't, and we would be out. yeah I would leave crying. I don't have any big girl panties, but on. But Marcia didn't have to worry about too much harsh criticism because she was dang good at writing, Maggie. Did she ever get published?
00:13:46
Speaker
Well, she did in 2009 submit one of her short stories called Dirty Little Secrets to a national competition, and she won second focus. Oh, now I have to look it up. Yeah. It's actually really good. I read it today.
00:14:01
Speaker
Yeah, her criticism maybe wasn't as harsh as some of the other people in the group, the critique of her writing. Despite the changes and navigating life after the loss of two important people, she seemed to have a solid foundation at home too. Marsha's hairdresser Kelly noted that every time she saw Marsha, Marsha was always talking about how much she loved her husband, Donnie.
00:14:26
Speaker
And she would share something that they had done together or how Donnie would buy her flowers just because. Even Marsha's blog was filled with mentions of her marriage to Donnie. She posted on March 31st, 2009, their ninth wedding anniversary, about how much she was in love with her husband. In this post, she recalled her wedding day, writing, quote,
00:14:50
Speaker
Family arrived at intervals throughout the day, meals were shared, and then there was the big event itself. It was great. The happiest day of my life. I was cocooned by family and friends." And in her last blog post on May 10th, 2009, she said, quote, Donnie and I saw the new Star Trek last night. Wow. What a ride. End quote. Listen, I really hope I don't start to dislike Donnie.
00:15:17
Speaker
Oh, I gave Maggie a look. yeah He is a theory. Okay. In contrast to the words posted on Marsha's blog, something changed in March and April 2009. Marsha had a hair appointment with Kelly in April 2009. And Kelly admitted to 48 hours that Marsha seemed different at this point.
00:15:45
Speaker
I feel like your hairdresser always knows. Always know, because you tell them everything. And I don't even know why. yeah You don't know these people from anybody. But you share. Kelly told the program that Marcia seemed, quote, troubled and, quote, a bit depressed. okay quote And remember, we heard that from her stepdaughter as well. Specifically, Kelly remembers Marcia asking how the economy had been affecting business for Kelly.
00:16:13
Speaker
and revealed that Donnie's handyman business was quote, failing. Okay, and if I remember correctly, in 2009, right, we were like, We had an economic downfall. We all did. Yes, downturn, definitely. The housing market especially took a drastic hit, which by extension would have greatly affected Donnie's home repair business. So there was some financial strain in the marriage, but Marcia at least felt comfortable discussing it, even if it was in vague reference with Kelly.
00:16:48
Speaker
But again, like you said, it's kind of normal to discuss with the good and the bad with somebody's hairdresser. At least Marcia wasn't holding it in. But then everything stopped. Marcia not only wasn't talking to anyone, she also wasn't seen by anyone.
00:17:08
Speaker
Okay, so this is when we had the iffy part of when she disappeared. Weeks
Investigation and Suspicions
00:17:12
Speaker
passed until one of Marcia's neighbors, Phyllis, came into Kelly's salon and asked her when Marcia had last been in. Kelly looks at her appointment book and she says, huh, she hasn't been in since April.
00:17:28
Speaker
And that's when Kelly realized how unlike Marcia it was to not continue her regimented six week appointment. Oh yeah, you got to get those roots touched up. You got to. So when she didn't come in and she always did, every six weeks, Kelly is like something's up. This is weird.
00:17:48
Speaker
Then, Marcia's neighbor mentioned that all of Marcia's flowers in her yard were dead. Concerned, Kelly tried to call Marcia only to continually get her voicemail and no return calls. She even tried to call Donnie's business only to learn that the phone had been disconnected. Now that is a little fishy, I will say.
00:18:12
Speaker
Marcia's neighbor Phyllis also didn't give up and unable to get ahold of Marcia tried contacting Donnie as well, but Phyllis walked straight up to the door, the girl knocked and demanded to know where Marcia was.
00:18:24
Speaker
Donnie told Phyllis that the two were getting a divorce. Okay, so then that could explain how he would not have potentially known she's been missing for a while. Correct. He reported to Phyllis, quote, she's leaving me, she went out West, end quote.
00:18:42
Speaker
According to Donnie, the once happy marriage had fallen apart. That quickly, though? Well, I guess that could happen. It can, but this comment struck both women, Kelly and Phyllis, as strange because even though Marcia had discussed concerns over finances with Kelly, she hadn't mentioned any other trouble in the marriage, and even her musings on her blog did not seem those of a woman going through a divorce. Because remember- Oh yeah, she was like, we saw the star trek. It was great. Yeah, that was in May. So why would she just mention a casual movie viewing with Donnie on May 10th on her blog if they were about to end things? And did she treat her blog kind of like a diary? I wonder if she would have been honest about the relationship on there. We'll talk about that.
00:19:33
Speaker
They also questioned why not mention marriage troubles, not just financial troubles, to your hairdresser. All just seemed kind of out of character for them. Marcia had also stopped coming to her riding club. I don't think they should have. No offense, riding friends. Y'all should have noticed something was up a little bit sooner. Well, I'll give you a potential reason why they did it. Reason why. Yes. Okay. Okay.
00:20:03
Speaker
And that I'll touch more on it later. I won't get into it right now, but I will get into a reason ah why. But it was at least through members of the writing club, according to an article by Rosanna Hughes for Times Free Press, that we learn that the world Marcia created on her blog may not have exactly mirrored reality. So she was creative nonfiction. Yes. In contrast to the flowers, the movie watching, the gushing over a loving marriage, writer friend Nancy Grill said that the two, meaning Marcia and Donnie, were not
00:20:40
Speaker
lovey-dovey in person. According to the article, quote, she recalled a time the group met at Marsha Brantley's house and Donnie Brantley came home. He didn't say a word and went directly to a back room to change clothes. He only reemerged to say he was going to watch a movie before heading downstairs, she said.
00:21:00
Speaker
which like can be normal, but let me continue the quote. At another event, there was noticeable tension between the couple. It was a reading sponsored by the writer's group in February 2009, and Donnie Brantley was on his phone the entire time Marsha Brantley read one of her stories, Grill said, end quote.
00:21:21
Speaker
That's bad to me. See, I was going to say, I feel like sometimes if people don't know me and anything, they may be like, you all hate each other because we pick at each other a lot. But that's our love language, but not that not like this. Like he would not have been on his phone if I were reading something that's red flag. Yeah. Yeah. Another writing friend from that group.
00:21:43
Speaker
reported in that same article, quote, you could tell something was wrong. Adding that the couple seemed unhappy with each other and they're kind of indicating maybe what she's talking about on the blog.
00:21:58
Speaker
isn't reality. And if so, that could seem to indicate that there were troubles even early 2009. And I guess, you know, that just shows that there can always be something going on behind closed doors that even those closest to us don't know.
00:22:17
Speaker
Still concerned by not hearing from Marcia, her hairdresser's inquiries into Marcia's well-being resulted in a search for her. You see Maggie, Kelly also cut hair for a local attorney, and while giving him a trim, Kelly shared Marcia's story. She says, let me tell you about something and see what I need to do.
00:22:39
Speaker
That attorney then went to the DA's office, who then spoke with an investigator, who then did a little bit of initial investigating, and based on his gut feelings, later went to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. So basically, if it was not for this hairdresser, we might not even be talking about Marsha today. Yeah, it would have taken a lot, lot longer. Because again, she doesn't live around any of her family.
00:23:04
Speaker
her parents are gone. Yeah. Because of this long chain from one involvement to another until law enforcement or finally involved, even though the last activity we can truly account for for Marcia, though I'm going to discuss some later potential. Possibility dates as well. Was in May 2009. The actual determination that Marcia Brantley was missing didn't happen until November 2009. So now you get, we you still don't know why the writer's group didn't report it, but I'll tell you, I'll tell you a reason for that. And you already said, if Donnie's telling the truth, that they were in the process of giving a divorce, that might explain why. Right, maybe they were living separately. He didn't report it. Regardless, in November 2009, it was then that people started demanding answers.
00:23:58
Speaker
During the investigation into Marsha's disappearance, according to several sources, Donnie, arguing that he didn't really know where she may be because of the impending divorce, which is why he said he didn't realize that she was missing, offered up to investigators a variety of potential places where Marsha may have gone. How would he, I mean, I guess maybe places she frequented, talked about. Maybe in one instance, he suggested that she went to Florida,
00:24:27
Speaker
in another instance that she went camping in their RV and instill another that she had moved out west. Well, would you not be missing your RV there, Don Don? And even if he's trying to be helpful in saying maybe she went here, maybe she went here, maybe she went here. It just looks like he's changing stories or sending them on like a goose chase right despite the changing location he consistently said that she had made the decision to leave the marriage and that she had taken her phone with her oh well nobody can get up with her along with a bundle of cash according to donnie's estimates around i don't think you're ready for this a hundred to a hundred and ten thousand dollars man he said had been stashed away in the attic ma'am
00:25:13
Speaker
Your attic, ma'am. I only have $100,000 of Monopoly money. but That's all we have in our house, in our attic. But he said that she took her phone and this cash when she left. Now, maybe she did. Maybe.
00:25:32
Speaker
She didn't, but if she did, I feel like that would explain, you know, maybe there's no, cause there's no um ATM right withdrawals. Right. and And that is a lot of cash to have with you. I mean, that would last a long time, but you do have that cash. Per his story, Marcia had left town of her own free will, but where was anyone's guess? But Maggie, Marcia's family and friends weren't buying it.
00:25:57
Speaker
For them, really any suggestion that Marcia had left of her own free will rash yes was thrown into question by other discoveries in the investigation. Like the fact that Marcia had not taken her cell phone with her as gone to police.
00:26:15
Speaker
but had left it behind. In fact, the cell phone in its last uses, which I'll get to more here in a bit, never pinged off of a tower other than the one closest to the couple's home, a two-mile radius.
00:26:30
Speaker
There's also the fact that Marcia had left her babies, her dogs that she shared with Donnie behind, and friends and family were refused to believe further that Marcia would be the one to just up and leave the home that her parents had gifted her. I forgot about that. That's her house. That is her house. i would Because if they were getting into divorce, I feel like she would have said, pack your crap, get out. This is my house. This is mine.
00:26:56
Speaker
quickly, as you can imagine, people began to grow suspicious yeah of Donnie. To be honest, Maggie, there are some very suspicious things that Donnie did after Marsha's disappearance. According to Marsha's family, they felt that Donnie was not actively involved in any attempt to locate Marsha. They said not only did he not reach out to them with sympathy or information, but that he also didn't take part in any search for her. Now, I will say here, I understand
00:27:30
Speaker
Why it looks fishy. Their desire for him to do so. but it Could be maybe too hard for him. Brings up too many emotions. Or if there were an impending divorce. You know, we don't know his emotional state toward Marcia at the time. I mean, if he cared for Marcia still and her family or.
00:27:50
Speaker
maybe they were getting a divorce because they had just grown apart, then one would expect him to reach out and to participate. Yes. However, if there are hard feelings, exactly. If there's a lot of animosity between the two of them, if he's trying to distance himself from people in her life,
00:28:06
Speaker
Maybe that would explain the lack of involvement. Maybe even he might think, if I'm involved in this, maybe that'll point fingers. that So maybe he's just kind of separating himself. Right. And however you feel about it, the whole argument hinges, of course, on the idea of whether we believe Marcia and Donnie were truly about to get a divorce.
00:28:27
Speaker
since Marcia disappeared before any separation or divorce paperwork had been filed, so it's all based on Donnie's word that they were getting in divorce. Because she hadn't mentioned it to anybody. And the blog, potentially, yeah. It counteracts, but you know what I'm showing you. Right, yeah. It makes us question. Yeah.
00:28:52
Speaker
I also don't know how much time passed between Marsha's disappearance and the additional quote-unquote suspicious actions from Donnie. I say this because at least in one instance Marsha was last seen in 2009, yet it was in 2012.
00:29:09
Speaker
so Three years later, when Marcia's family entered the home Marcia and Donnie had shared together, that they started noting something else that upset them. The fact that there were no pictures of Marcia visible there. But it had been three years. Exactly. From an outsider, could the passage of time alone be enough to explain that?
00:29:30
Speaker
But also, if they're getting a divorce, then it would make sense that her pictures would be gone. yeah You don't want to keep those pictures up. And if it's been three years, I mean, as bad as this sounds, he could have moved on by then. Well, he could have moved on a lot sooner.
00:29:46
Speaker
um But we'll talk about that. but talk Still believing that Donnie were responsible, they just needed to they felt they needed to find the evidence. And you know for them, that was one
Legal Proceedings and Charges
00:29:57
Speaker
piece. The family had also noted in one search of the home, and there had been several searches of the home, Maggie, in an attempt to either find clues to support a crime had occurred or to find clues about Marsha's whereabouts. In between 2009 and 2012? Yes.
00:30:14
Speaker
But in 2012, the family also saw something else that was of interest to them. They noticed some unevenness in the basement concrete and a different finish to it. So they wanted it investigated. okay Again, I can completely understand from their perspective. So in November 2012, not only were cadaver dogs brought in, but part of the basement of the home was dug up.
00:30:44
Speaker
no evidence was discovered. I mean, it could have been like a leak or some other yeah reason why it was replaced. With each passing year and no word from Marcia, despite the lack of evidence, the sneaking suspicions of Donnie's involvement for many not only remained, but grew, especially after the ah RV that Donnie had suggested Marcia may have taken when she left was discovered in November 2012 on property owned by Donnie's family.
00:31:17
Speaker
so he would have known that it's there. right and yeah So that was she didn't take it. Unless she's living on the property, Donnie's family owns it. Right. There are some suspicious things.
00:31:42
Speaker
Taking all of the suspicious behavior together, Maggie, in 2013, Marcia's estranged husband, Donnie, was charged with premeditated first degree murder. Oh, okay, we're serious. Some of the elements that were circumstantial that support this theory were that people felt Donnie had told too many stories of where Marcia and me had been, he had lied about the cell phone, and not, yes, the RV, and not only that, but there seemed to be some evidence that Marsha's phone had been used in early June to make a call to a Chattanooga Singles line. People questioned whether that call had been made by Donnie. And did we find her phone? Yes. Okay.
00:32:26
Speaker
Additionally, after Donnie was interviewed by police concerning Marsha's disappearance, and we're talking early in the investigation and within hours of being questioned by police, according to CBS News, Donnie had taken Marsha's laptop and some of her personal jewelry to get a pond.
00:32:46
Speaker
Yeah. That looks bad. I always try to present the other side. Can we explain this away if his business were still fumbling or there were other payments that one income couldn't cover? And remember, he's not questioned about her disappearance until potentially she had already been gone for months.
00:33:09
Speaker
at that point. So the pawning of it, yes, it looks bad that it's happening within hours of him being questioned, but ultimately it had been months from when Marcia right had last been seen. I don't know if that's a enough question. Maybe it's a coincidence.
00:33:26
Speaker
Donnie had also bagged up much of Marcia's other belongings as well. But again, we talked about that. It's been a while. Yes. But it was what was in those bags, Maggie, that indicated to investigators that Marcia had met with foul play and did not leave of her own free will.
00:33:41
Speaker
Since, if she had left of her own free will, she would have left all of her clothes and shoes, except what she was wearing. She would have left important things from her childhood, like her baby book that her mom had made for her, which I imagine would have been something important to her.
00:33:58
Speaker
obviously her dogs, her car, her cell phone. Were those seeing all of these things in bags? Do we read that as proof that Donnie didn't care for Marcia and therefore he's responsible or potentially responsible for her disappearance? Or work do we read all of these items being in the bag?
00:34:19
Speaker
as though Donnie had been telling the truth about a divorce and so he's packing up all of these things that she left behind because he doesn't want him in the home anymore. How much of the actions can be explained away? I feel like They can be both damaging and not. Yes. With no real evidence, there was little, if anything, to quote unquote prove Donnie's guilt other than a gut feeling. But if gut feelings could have a voice, that voice only grew stronger after what I'm about to share with you. At one point, Donnie was questioned about details associated with Marsha's disappearance. This is after he's being charged.
00:34:59
Speaker
So like, what year again was that? That is in 2013. When he is asked questions about Marsha's disappearance, including how he felt about Marsha, suspicion grew even more. In that interview, Donnie Brantley responded by pleading the fifth or saying, I don't recall more than 100 times For those who believe in his guilt, it was these responses that did nothing but solidify that opinion. So even when they were like, how do you feel about Marcia? He'd be like, I played the fifth. Yeah. Let me give you some of those examples. There seems to have been some evidence that Donnie had conducted extramarital affairs while with Marcia. Okay. Again, more about that in a minute.
00:35:45
Speaker
I say this because the deposition attorney asked Donnie about those affairs, to which Donnie responded, quote, upon the advice of counsel, I plead the fifth. End quote. Okay. The attorney said, she, meaning Marsha, was the love of your life, right? And Donnie replies, yes. The attorney then says, okay, when did she stop being the love of your life?
00:36:09
Speaker
Donnie responds, quote, I plead the fifth, end quote. The attorney pushed further, quote, didn't have anything to do with her disappearance, did it? End quote. And Donnie again says, I plead the fifth. Well, I feel like if you're getting a divorce, as you have stated, then you would have a pretty clear indication of when your feelings changed for her, which would have been before the disappearance.
00:36:35
Speaker
He was asked if Marsha was in charge of the money in the relationship, or he was. Again, he pled the fifth. All of these instances, as well as knowledge of lies or at least misleading related by law enforcement during the investigation itself, the cell phone, the RV, all of that, led prosecutor Steve Crump to tell 48 hours of Donnie, quote, he may be the singularly most dishonest defendant I've ever dealt with, end quote. Period.
00:37:11
Speaker
As another example, law enforcement believed Donnie lied about Marsha's car. A CBS News report by Josh Yeager from August 2024 noted that Donnie had told law enforcement that Marcia had left her car at the local Walmart. Police went to search for it and didn't locate it, only to return again later to search again and find it there. are Oh. So they think he moved it there. He moved it there.
00:37:41
Speaker
Plus, and I don't know if there's a way around this issue. I mean, the whole reason we say I plead the fifth is so you don't incriminate yourself in some way, yet by saying I plead the fifth, you're still incriminating yourself in some way. It's like if you don't take a lot of detector tests. Yes, because we know then what those answers will be that you're choosing not to answer. And the answers to the questions Donnie avoided. Maybe that's why he did it so many times. He just did it to all level.
00:38:11
Speaker
may But the answers to the questions Donnie avoided or couldn't recall, again, for the those who believe the theory of Donnie being responsible for her disappearance, it gives motive. Actually, two potential motives, money and other women.
00:38:29
Speaker
If Marcia were in charge of the finances and Donnie didn't have access, remember she came from the Affluent family, the house is hers, she's the one who's funding their dream careers, removing Marcia would give him unfettered access to all that money.
00:38:49
Speaker
We question, if he is pawning her personal items, does it show the need for money number one and his willingness to get rid of things? Right. Because if he had access to the money, he wouldn't necessarily need to pawn her things. She's apparently took like a hundred thousand dollars with her. Or according to him.
00:39:09
Speaker
We know that obviously the rains the financial reigns were being pulled in when things were hard. In 2009, did something happen where Donnie felt Marsha was in complete control over the finances and that had angered him. That's one potential motive.
00:39:25
Speaker
Additionally, there's the argument that if Donnie were responsible, it may have been because he was interested in being with other women. Investigators pointed out that just a few days after they believe Marcia disappeared when late May or early June, Donnie started calling an ex-girlfriend, they argue, even sending a card that read, quote, hi girl, hi girl, exclamation, exclamation.
00:39:55
Speaker
Things are better for me now. Call me if you can." End quote.
Debate on Disappearance Theories
00:40:00
Speaker
And this was how close? It is believed that this card found its way into the ex's hands on June 3rd. A few days, potentially only one day.
00:40:15
Speaker
after they believed Marcia Brantley disappeared. So let's talk about this date really quick. Either way that's bad, whether it's a few days or it's one day. Marcia's family actually also believe based on the events listed in her day planner, though I don't know what those events were, but I know it's based on her day planner, that Marcia disappeared in the first days of June, especially since all activity ceased on her phone on June 2nd as well. Though If we say all activity ceased on June 2nd, that would assume that the contact of the singles line would have come from her. Oh yeah, because that was at the beginning or the end of May. That was June 2nd was that call. So if she left on June 2nd and Donnie contacts an ex with that claim on June 3rd, that's not a whole lot of time in between. Oh, very quick, this marriage and
00:41:11
Speaker
yeah But, I mean, if they had been having problems since February and he's done it this point, then maybe he had he had emotionally moved on ta long before. If not, then boom and none of this about a divorce is true, then this looks really bad.
00:41:34
Speaker
And that's the problem I think with this case is that so much about it, including when a crime may or may not have occurred, is fuzzy.
00:41:46
Speaker
We don't know a date for sure. She may have been missing much longer, potentially since the end of May. so I'll kind of give the timeframe here. The end of May, we do know that she was returning from a writer's conference on May 27th and she spoke with her best friend Kim on the phone. Okay. So that happens. We know that for sure. May 27th.
00:42:09
Speaker
But we have some social media postings I'll tell you about in a second. I wonder if he could have posted on her social media. Could have. This is why, potentially as early as May 27th,
00:42:25
Speaker
It could have been further into June or even potentially as late as July because Donnie sold his handyman business in July, which required her signature. One forensic handwriting expert said the signature did belong to Marcia, matched her signature in July. A second handwriting expert disagreed and said it was not her. She went missing in May. He would have had a while to practice her signature or whoever's or was she still around in July?
00:43:06
Speaker
before going missing because again none of this is recorded until November. but Like I just think even if they were getting a divorce couldn't he have said definitively the last day I spoke to her was X. Yes you would think but I have not seen that anymore or he said it was on this day. Again what's hard in this case is that we don't even know when a crime happened, if it happened. But getting back to the potential motive of another woman and to offer an alternative statement, the ex-girlfriend that he supposedly hey girl had been in contact with said that the two of them having an affair is a gross misrepresentation. She stated that she and Donnie didn't even actually speak in person until Marcia was gone, not until around ah October,
00:44:01
Speaker
2009. Even then, according to an article by Rosanna Hughes for Times Free Press, the ex stated that they had only shared a kiss after she had hired Donnie to do some home repairs, and that was it. She said it didn't go any further than that. Hardly a relationship to kill over, especially since, according to the ex, they hadn't even spoken in person before Marcia disappeared. And I just keep going back to Why kill someone just simply because you want to be with somebody else? Like just... I don't understand that either. I feel like I would you just be honest with them. Yeah. Get a divorce. Yeah, get a divorce. Move on.
00:44:42
Speaker
I will say though, despite what the ex-girlfriend said in my research, it does not seem like either the prosecution nor the defense were questioning the delivery of the card that I mentioned between the two. So I don't know what we're supposed to make of that. Even if they didn't speak in person or on the phone until after she's gone until October. I still have male correspondence. He still sent the call.
00:45:04
Speaker
And I haven't seen that argued by his defense lawyers. Regardless of whether Donnie had been cheating on Marcia, cheating isn't the crime at hand. Right. And with no physical evidence, the charges against Donnie were dropped in 2014. Okay. Right. Cause it's just circumstantial. Yep. He's charged in 2013. It's dropped in 2014.
00:45:28
Speaker
Donnie's lawyer, Lee Davis, stated, quote, there is no proof that Marsha Brantley is dead, end quote. He further stated, quote, there is a huge world of difference between somebody who lies about a cell phone and proof of first degree murder, end quote. I just think the question goes back to the intent of the lie. Why lie about it?
00:45:52
Speaker
unless you're covering up something else. It just looks weird. At the time, the family had decided to not go forward because they wanted the ability to gather more evidence. So it was actually the family who said, let's not charge them because we only get one shot at the charges. We need to make sure it's right.
00:46:11
Speaker
Even though the charges were dropped, Marsh's family still believe Donnie is responsible. Marsh's aunt, Medra Justice, posted on Facebook in 2014, quote, Please pray that justice will be served. I have faith that Donnie will be found guilty.
00:46:29
Speaker
But whatever the outcome that the truth will come forth, my desire is to find Marcia and put her to rest." End quote. Now I see where your intro came from though. Would you rather know there is no hope or live in this state where you're... You don't even know. Yeah. And that's the only, up and that's where they are. They don't even know. They feel like they know, but they don't really know.
00:46:55
Speaker
Despite her aunt's conviction, there are other theories that have been proposed as well that need to be ruled out. So let's talk about those briefly now. And I'm gonna get into the writer's club. okay One theory is that Marcia did leave of her own free will, even though she had left all those possessions behind. I say this because a couple of months before Marcia's last activities that we can verify, she had written an email to fellow writers group members. In that email, despite a rule of the group that Marcia herself had established to ensure buy-in from every member that you can't with the club,
00:47:35
Speaker
Without reasonable cause right so she comes up with it. She's like a gang you can't write his game You can't just quit you have to have a reason to quit Fellow writer Reggie J said that Marcia stated in the email that she would be leaving the group As reported on 48 hours, she wrote, quote, ladies, I just wanted to let you know that I'd be missing for some time. No one in this group is responsible for my MIA missing in action status, end quote. And later adds, quote, but you all will see me around. Cleveland's a small town. We'll certainly run into one another and quote months before her last known activities on May 27th.
00:48:22
Speaker
It seems rather weird, this email. Okay, I'm sorry to keep going back to this. But again, could somebody else have sent that message? I actually don't know what to make of this email. I think it's it could just be her saying, hey, I'm not going to be in group for a while. But it seems weird her choice of I'm going to be missing, yeah missing in action. and Instead of just saying,
00:48:46
Speaker
I'm gonna be gone for right right. I'm taking a short break. I'm gonna miss a few meetings It's the choice of words that seems weird and a lot of people would say oh like you did did somebody else? write this email Some people have argued that maybe this exit from her writing group that she established was because she had plans to join a larger writing group in Knoxville because there there was some potential evidence. you started Yeah, i don't i don't I don't know why you couldn't be part of both groups. But if Marcia did write this email, leaving shows premeditation on her part, as if she left of her own free will.
Lack of Conviction and Ongoing Doubts
00:49:29
Speaker
And the act of leaving the group, just when we're thinking, okay, maybe somebody else wrote this email, the act of leaving the group is something another member, Wendy Brown, told Rosanna Hughes of Times Free Press that Marcia had told her was her plan in a previous private conversation. oh So she's saying, she told me this, I just didn't bring it up to the group because it was a private conversation. But I knew it was coming. Then she sent the email. Okay.
00:49:53
Speaker
But that private conversation was another email. It was not face to face. So again, it been somebody right if you believe that somebody else wrote the email, well, then it also shows premeditation, even if it came from somebody else, but premeditation of harming her. Others in the group like Nancy Grill told 48 hours that she actually believes Marcia is still alive and that one day she'll return.
00:50:20
Speaker
So she thinks she's just taking a little sabbatical? I guess. Maybe she is doing a sabbatical and just focusing on her writing. She needed to cut off all this toxicity and just get away. I feel like that and and in and of itself is a plot to a bit. It is, but I doubt the sabbatical would last that long. And wouldn't you take your things? Right. And I kind of forget that, you know, 2009 is about two years ago. Right.
00:50:45
Speaker
Like a really long time ago. Right, a long long time ago. Yet another theory is su suicide. Along with that email of quitting the writing group, something that Marcia loved, her writing group members and friends had noticed Marcia's physical appearance changing, particularly after the loss of her parents. She had lost significant weight,
00:51:06
Speaker
and just seemed like she was carrying a heavier burden. I'm sure she was. Oh, absolutely. She even told a writing group member, quote, I've been so depressed that I can hardly get off the couch. End quote. What's that?
00:51:19
Speaker
The potential that Marcia was severely depressed was supported by a woman who worked in hormone replacement therapy who had been working with Marcia. So we've heard it from a friend. We heard it from her hairdresser. We heard it from her stepdaughter. Now we're hearing it from this healthcare worker.
00:51:39
Speaker
She said that Marsha's experience with menopause had been so hard on her. So with that, in addition to all of the trauma, life trauma that she had experienced. On May 1, 2009, Marsha's chart notes read, quote, patient has been off of hormones since April the 12th.
00:51:59
Speaker
was having severe, and that's underlined, depression." end quote Going back to the date many believe may have been Marsha's last June 2nd, 2009, there was a post made on her social media that day that read, quote, are all of the planets out of alignment? Why is everything that can go wrong going wrong for the past month? And I feel like a status like that I mean, I don't know the other people in her life, but that sounds like something a writer would say, not just somebody who didn't do that frequently. And again, we don't know if she wrote that just because it's posted on her social
Family's Conviction and Call for Justice
00:52:42
Speaker
media. It's not her speaking right with someone. But we do seem to have from various people in her life that there is severe depression.
00:52:53
Speaker
might she have been so depressed that she either just walked away from her old life, which would support the previous theory, or that she could have taken her own life. Were the blog posts that made her life seem positive, just a cover-up of the truth? Truth also masking her depression and how severe it was.
00:53:15
Speaker
Could this theory be a reason why she left the writing group? Without evidence to support one theory over another, some believe we need to consider all possibilities. yes sure But prosecutor Steve k Crump believes otherwise. He feels that Marsha Brantley is deceased and that she has been murdered. He believes so because she left her cell phone, hasn't touched bank accounts,
00:53:38
Speaker
hasn't applied for a new driver's license anywhere, hasn't tried to get a passport, et cetera. I'm gonna say, though, if you have $100,000, one, well, one, if you're just leaving your life out and you wouldn't take yourself, two, if you have $100,000, that's enough for you to probably, I mean, I don't know, oh I've never looked into this.
00:53:57
Speaker
Change your identity, get fake documents. She would be able to rent an apartment, start a job, enter another name, open up a new bank account. So why would she need access to that old bank account if she's able to literally just start her life over again? I guess what makes it hard is, and her family and friends are saying, well, she wouldn't have left her dogs. She wouldn't have left this house that belonged to her behind. But I think if you're depressed enough and this is your only option, you would leave that behind.
00:54:27
Speaker
I know it's very hard, but like I said, prosecutor Steve Crump, he not only believes that she's been murdered, but he further told 48 hours that he knows who is responsible for Marsha's disappearance, saying, quote, I don't believe we have the wrong guy.
00:54:44
Speaker
I don't believe we have the wrong set of facts. This dropping of the charges is a legal decision, one that is made as a matter of trial strategy," end quote. So saying, we're not dropping charges because we've got the wrong guy. We're the wrong evidence. Yeah, we're just dropping the charges right now until we get maybe one more piece of evidence that will further support it.
00:55:06
Speaker
And he meant that because Donnie was again charged with Marcia's murder in 2016. However, again, those charges were dropped in 2018. Why? Because in the two years between the two murder charges, so from, well, I guess three years, 2013 with the first charge, 2016 with the second,
00:55:28
Speaker
There hadn't been a lot of significant development in terms of the evidence other than one thing, from my understanding, that could be used to prove guilt. It was essentially all of the same circumstantial evidence in 2016 as had been there in 2013 into 2014. But from my understanding, the only new evidence damning for those who believe in Donnie's guilt, but just as circumstantial for those who believe in his innocence,
00:55:57
Speaker
was a receipt from around the time Marcia disappeared. It was for a welder, duct tape, a pressure washer, and a plastic sheet.
00:56:09
Speaker
there was also reportedly a receipt for a landfill dump. Now, some people believe those items could have been used to dispose of Marsha's body, especially if those are the purchases right around her appearance. Others argue Donnie ran a home repair business. That's true, I forgot about that. And all of those things could have innocently been used for that purpose. Right, coincidental again, just like potentially selling her laptop and other things. that right It is Donnie's lawyer's argument that there he feels like there's been a laser focus on Donnie. And again, I mean, obviously he's paid to defend Donnie, so we're going to hear support of Donnie from his lawyer. But he's saying there's been a ah a laser focus on him. And in terms of looking into other possibilities, the reason why there's not support of other theories, according to his lawyer, is, well, you're not going to find something you're not looking for.
00:57:04
Speaker
I mean that's a good point too though. So Maggie, what are your thoughts? Well I think Donnie's Lawyer makes a good point. You're gonna miss things if you're so hyper focused on just one person or one theory. Unless...
00:57:22
Speaker
The other lawyer has a point that they know who it is. They're just waiting for that specific piece of evidence. I guess the most damning piece to come forward. here I may not know who's responsible.
00:57:37
Speaker
I was gonna say I do think that something happened to her. I don't think she just left of her own three wheels. But then as soon as I was saying it, I was thinking, well, maybe she did. I know. This one is a really, really hard one. All of the conflicting elements in this case is why Donnie's attorney Lee Davis told CBS News, quote, what proof is there that she's in fact dead as opposed to gone missing or living someplace else, end quote.
00:58:04
Speaker
Elsewhere in an interview for the chatnugan.com, Davis reiterated, quote, in this unusual case, the state has no proof of a crime. The state charged Donnie Brantley with first degree murder, and yet the state has failed to produce any physical evidence that Miss Brantley is dead, much less murdered.
00:58:26
Speaker
There is no body, no crime scene, and no forensic evidence of any kind. There is no witnesses to a crime, no confessions. In short, there has been no evidence presented to me that an alleged crime has in fact been committed at all, much less that it was committed with premeditation by Mr. Brantley in Bradley County, Tennessee." End quote.
00:58:50
Speaker
My answer to that is somewhere. Somewhere there is proof. Proof of either a crime or proof of Marsha's continued existence. Proof that only time can help to reveal. If someone is responsible there will be a slip one day and with that slip up will come answers.
00:59:15
Speaker
Marsha Bradley was five foot eight inches tall and weighed around 125 pounds. She had light brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information about Marsha Brantley or about her movements between May and July 2009, please call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND or call the Bradley County Sheriff's Office at 423-728.
00:59:43
Speaker
7336.
00:59:47
Speaker
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01:00:17
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.