#80 45 Years And The Secret Sauce To Loving Life

Welcome to Postmortem, I'm your host Ann Marie Green, and today we are discussing the case of 28-year-old Caitlin Lyon Montgomery, who was found unresponsive by her roommate in October of 2022. When she later died of her injuries to her head and her neck at the hospital, the case evolved into a homicide investigation, and it sparked a social media fight for justice from her family. So joining me today is 48-hour's correspondent, Erin Moriarty, to talk about this case. Thank you, Erin. It's another tough one, Ann Marie, because Caitlin's mother described her as glitter. She was such a law. So it's a tough case to discuss. Now remember everyone, if you haven't listened to the 48-hour's episode yet, head on over to your podcast feed for the full audio version of it. You're going to find it just below this podcast, go listen, and then come on back. All right, so let's get into this case. In the early morning hours of October 7th, 2022, Caitlin Montgomery was rushed to the hospital after her roommate, Jacob Piercey called 911. Now, and this is a heartbreaking part of this. It was her four-year-old daughter who first alerted Jacob that her mom would not wake up. But Caitlin's home wasn't initially treated as a crime scene, and that's because first responders thought that Caitlin probably overdosed on drugs as the hospital doctors discovered the bruises around her neck. So my question to you is, how did first responders miss this? How did they miss that there was a possible strangulation here? Amri, this was a new one for me because as it turns out, she had been so recently attacked that those bruises didn't come out and they didn't see anything. And because she was unresponsive and because she was young, they assumed she must have taken something. It must have been an overdose. And this case really serves as a reminder. I hear this all the time of why every scene, death scene, has to be treated like a homicide. But the other side of this is, of course, that the first responders, she was still alive. Their priority was not that scene they wanted to save her life. Yeah. And now that I'm talking it out with you, I can count the number of times that I've maybe hit my thigh on a table and said to myself, boy, that's going to bruise. And I know the bruise isn't going to pop up probably for another hour or so. And so when I think about that, it makes sense that the bruises would not have been visible by the time the first responders were there. You're absolutely right. In fact, in many strangulation cases, I mean, there may be no bruises at all, or they may be internal and not show up on the outside. And this was an attack that was very quick. She was probably asleep, so there were no defensive wounds. But those bruises did become visible at the hospital. And I thought it was really interesting that actually, those bruises helped a lot in terms of creating like a timestamp for the attack. The fact that the bruises didn't immediately appear actually in a weird way helped the investigation because it helped the lead investigator to determine approximately what time the attack happened. And what they believe is that it happened about an hour before Jacob Fierci called 911, which would make it somewhere between four and five a.m. and that becomes very important during the trial. Mm-hmm. Do investigators know where Caitlin's daughter, Mulani, was when the attack happened? Oh, this is so sad, yes. She was in bed with her mother. Hopefully, she won't have any memories if she saw any of it. She was just four years of age when this happened. But because she was there, she was either awakened by it or a woke on her own right afterwards and thank God that she ran to get Jacob, because to be honest, if she had not gotten Jacob right away, those certainly the bruises would have appeared, but they might not have been able to figure out exactly when she had been murdered. So after Caitlin dies of her injuries, investigators almost immediately zero in on Jacob Fierci, her roommate. At one point, they actually tell Caitlin's family that they're 99% sure that it's Jacob. So what made them sort of pivot from being 99% sure that it's the roommate to looking at, well, what could that 1% be? Well, I mean, there's a reason why investigators first looked at Jacob Fierci for one reason. He was the only other adult in the apartment. It was Caitlin, her daughter, and Jacob Fierci. There is no sign of forced entry. This was actually Jacob Fierci's first night living in the apartment. He had just moved in the evening before she was attacked. And they learned that he had tried to ask Caitlin out. And so they're thinking, you know, maybe she's burned him. But on the other side of that, you know, he was so cooperative and handed over his phone right away and wanted to do whatever he could to help out the investigation. And that just didn't fit with someone who was trying to hide what he had done. And I should point out they're also hearing from the family that there was somebody else at the family suspected. But I have to tell you, they were looking hard at Jacob Fierci and he knew it. He was scared. He was. Yeah, you know, I felt, I felt for him, but he looks a little suspicious. The investigator, which I thought really helped him before they really moved off of Jacob. He went back and listened to the 911 call and you could hear that Jacob was trying to do what he could to save her life. Right. So it did make investigators finally look at somebody else. Right. And that her family was mentioning, hey, there is someone else you should look at. Investigators are looking at Caitlin's ex-boyfriend. His name is Trenton Fry and he's got him out of because 10 days before the attack, she dumped him. She had discovered that he was really kind of overplaying this idea that he was a successful businessman and he spun this whole story about who he was and what he did for living. And so she was no time. She breaks up with him, she blocks him, you know, Erin, the investigators and the prosecutor, they're really kind of characterizing this as a case of domestic violence. I know you've covered many domestic violence cases when women leave their partners. They are particularly vulnerable. You know, I've covered too many of these stories, Anne Marie. And if there's anything that viewers and listeners take away from this story, I want it to be that. And that certainly seems to be the case in Caitlin's case. So Trenton Fry on paper looked like the perfect guy. He had done a lot to promote this image of himself as the owner of a security business and construction business and he apparently, according to the prosecution, was very upset when Caitlin held him accountable for the lies. You know, when it turned out that he may have had those businesses, but he wasn't making any real money. He didn't have good credit and she was upending that image that he had created. And there's one other, I think, important points we find out later that that Caitlin wasn't the only woman in his life. He had other girlfriends. You're kidding me. Yeah. No, it's true. And apparently this fact that Caitlin could walk away so easily, according to the prosecutor was enough to make him angry. See, to me, that's, you know, one of those red flags that this is not about love. This is about ownership. That's certainly what the prosecution believes was the motive. So, you know, Frye, of course, tells investigators he wasn't anywhere close to Caitlin when this attack happened that he was hours away. He was working in North Carolina, except they find some pretty solid evidence that he wasn't. But one thing they noticed that there were cell phone tower pings that occurred in Virginia, when he had told investigators he was in North Carolina. And those pings started three days before the attack, and then another interesting thing is that two of Caitlin's neighbors saw an unfamiliar man sitting outside the apartments. And one neighbor was so scared of this guy that she actually went home to her parents. So, he must have been sending off really creepy vibes. And the other person actually took a picture and it's time-stamped on October 6, which is a day before she was attacked. Then we get to what investigators uncover with the browser history. They figure out that he's been actually looking at the layout of her apartment. And that is very helpful because this is a case where you have to wonder how did he get into the apartment? Yeah. Her apartment was on the second floor. There wasn't like a fire escape or anything, so you're wondering that and how was someone able to find her room so quickly, kill her, get out, and get away. I'm in a very short period of time. So that layout really mattered because it showed that he was trying to figure out where everybody was in the apartment. And he had, as you point out, Emory, those three days sitting out there. So I think the prosecution's theory was that he was outside, looking where the lights were and could figure out where was her bedroom as opposed to Jacob Pearce's. I do find kind of that part of the case challenging that he was able to slip in and slip out without anyone noticing, without making noise. And there were dogs in the apartment. Emory, that was, I had the biggest problem with that because dogs bark at everything. Now, I understand why Caitlyn's dog might not have barked because Caitlyn's dog knew Trenton fry, but what troubled me was that there are also two dogs in Jacob Pearce's room. But the prosecutor says those dogs were in a closed room with Jacob. Jacob wasn't being threatened. And so there wasn't a reason for the dogs to bark. And the other thing is, you know, often it's very difficult to disturb a scene without leaving something behind. And investigators found nothing that really placed fry inside Caitlyn's apartment. That is true. And that was the strongest argument that the defense leaned on at trial. But that scene was so contaminated by dogs and people and first responders and made it more difficult for investigators later on. Now, the only real evidence that pointed to Trenton fry being in the apartment is this time when Trenton fry's phone connects to Caitlyn's iPad, which is very damaging. And the prosecution uses that to say he had to be in the apartment to make that connection. But what the defense argued was, how do you know that iPad was actually in the apartment at that time because when Caitlyn's aunt came to the scene when they first thought it was an overdose and Sherry took the iPad home with her. And that's where investigators got it. When investigators sort of confront fry with the evidence that they have about allegedly being in Caitlyn's apartment, he claims he has no memory of it. And he starts to talk about, you know, he has periods of blacking out, we've heard this before, Aaron. And, Emory, if we've heard it a lot, they come off and the investigators have heard that. October 20th, 2022, Trenton fry is charged with Caitlyn's murder. And he pleads not guilty. Now, before Trenton fry's trial even began, Caitlyn's mother, Crystal, her two aunts, Sherry and Tina, they took to social media. They started posting videos on TikTok to talk about the case. And it's definitely something that we've been seeing, whether it's the families of victims wanting more attention on a case that hasn't been solved or wanting more attention on a suspect who has been charged. I just did a case involving Molly Bish and her sister used TikTok to try to get new tips and new evidence. So, yes, it's happening all the time. In this case, though, as reporters, you really get a sense of what this family went through in a way you couldn't any other way. Caitlyn's mother, Crystal, happens to have two sisters and these women are very supportive of each other. And so when Crystal was having difficulty grappling with her pain and her loss, her sisters come through in the way they support her is on TikTok and telling people what's happening and how we have to have justice for Caitlyn. They really were pushing for that. A lot of these videos really brought Caitlyn to life. Like she pops off the screen. Oh, she does. I often feel this, but I felt this in particular in this case that I wish I'd known Caitlyn Montgomery. As I mentioned, her mom called her Glitter and she does remind you of Glitter. She was very adept at a dance called Shuffling. I was not familiar with that before I started on this story. It's this very, very quick step dance that Caitlyn had learned from her brother. And remember Caitlyn Montgomery was this tiny little thing. And so really what you see when you see videos of her are just her little feet moving, moving, moving. And so she does pop. Trenton Fry also had support from his family. Trent and Fry, he has a sister who clearly loves him. And I think she felt she had to defend him if there were all these TikToks pointing the finger at him. And so when the trial started, there were a lot of TikTok videos that she produced to say, wait a minute, you know, maybe he didn't do it. Here's why he didn't do it. Why are we looking at him? He actually takes the stand in his own defense, which is, as we've said every time it happens, it's unusual. Despite the fact that it seems to happen more often than not on 48 hours, it's not normal. It is not. You know, the general view of defense attorneys is you do not put your client whose standing trial for murder on the stand. But what I've heard in this case is that this particular attorney often puts clients on the stand. And he said to me that he felt in this case, Trenton had to take the stand that the jury needed to hear from him. And Trent and I had to make that decision as well that he was the one who would take the stand and he wanted to. The defense tried to raise doubt during the trial by suggesting that Jacob Piercey had been the one who strangled Caitlin because of some sort of consensual sex act that went too far. I understand the role of the defense. But just kind of personally, it felt a little icky to kind of throw this out there. I have to agree with you, Emory. The defense often and certainly has the right to raise reasonable doubt where the defense attorney feels it's best. What's wrong with that is the defense knew that there was evidence that contradicted it. The medical examiner actually testified that there was no evidence that she had had recent sexual activity. So I was troubled that that would be raised because it probably wasn't going to be enough to sway the jurors when there was no evidence of it. And they heard that, but it did hurt the family, particularly Caitlin's mother was so upset. So that one I struggled with, the defense has the right to do it, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to do. So it doesn't take the jury long to come to a conclusion here. They're only deliberated for about an hour before delivering the verdict. Trenton Fry was found guilty of first-degree murder and Caitlin's death. Four months later, they returned to court for Trenton Fry's sentencing. Aaron, you were there for the sentencing. What was it like in the courtroom? Well, of course, I really wanted to go because the defendant might say something accepting responsibility or at least apologizing or something that might give some peace to family members. But in this case, he accepted no responsibility for it. So it upset, I think people belonging to Caitlin's family, but it really upset the judge. And I think you need to hear it for yourself because it really shows and explains why the judge ended up sentencing him the way he did. This murder was as cold blooded, premeditated and calculated as any I've seen. The manner of death was strangulation. Death was not instantaneous. The amount of terror, the amount of horror inflicted upon this young innocent woman is unimaginable, unimaginable to anyone, to everybody except you, because you were there. You saw it, you caused it. I hereby sentence you to imprisonment for life. Because in my opinion, a sentence for anything less would be less than what you justly deserve. You could hear people responding in the courtroom. I think it was from both sides, because I know that Caitlin's family, there were like tears, but there were tears on the part of Trent and Fry's family too, from all appearances. And certainly they testified on his behalf, support him. But this was a judge who had been both a prosecutor and then a judge for 47 years. And you would think had seen everything. And this case really set him off as you can tell. That gave me chills hearing it again. Milani. She is with Caitlin's aunt now, but why is she not living with her grandmother, Caitlin's mom? And Sherry has always been the mother-hand of the family. She's the oldest of the three sisters. And she had a very close relationship with Caitlin and Milani. And so at this point, she is raising Milani. But Crystal is all good with that because she couldn't see her granddaughter any time she wants. And I think from the family's perspective, they all have said this is definitely the right way to do it. And you could just see she is blossoming as a child. And I think we have a little bit more sound about how she's doing. There are moments in the beginning that it was heartbreaking, but we do everything we can to keep her busy. And she's just a happy little girl. What does she call you? She calls me Mama Naomi. Oh, Mommy. Was that hard for you at first? Yes, because I didn't want my sister to be upset because I didn't want her to think I was taking Milani from Caitlin and Aras and Caitlin and I'm not trying to do that. But how can I tell Milani not to call me Mama when I'm doing everything? You know, she's used to being with me. I was the first one to be at the apartment to get her. And from that day on, it was like I've been her person. I rescued her and she has clung to me. She feels safe with me. And the way we have it works for us. This is a story of a wonderful, wonderful, warm family that lost a very important member and they are trying to get through it and make it the best they can for her daughter. It's inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time. Erin, it's always great talking to you. Thank you so much. Thanks, Amory.