A call comes in at 3 AM. A neighbor reports screaming. Police arrive to find a scene that will haunt them for the rest of their careers. Blood on the walls. Blood on the ceiling. Blood in places blood should never be. The victim is unrecognizable. The killer is still in the apartment.

In this episode, I examine the most violent case ever handled by a midwestern police department. The victim was a young woman who had recently broken up with her boyfriend. The boyfriend had a history of domestic violence. He had threatened to kill her if she left him. She obtained a restraining order. He ignored it. He broke into her apartment, waited for her to come home, and attacked her with a hammer. He struck her over forty times. He then called 911 and confessed.

The responding officers described the scene as something from a horror movie. The victim's blood was on every surface. The killer was sitting on the couch, covered in blood, waiting to be arrested. He showed no emotion. He asked if he could have a cigarette. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The victim's family testified at sentencing. They said she had been afraid of him for years. They said the system had failed her. They said they hoped he would never see the light of day.

Turn down the lights, put on your headphones, and press play because the most violent case police had ever seen was not the first time he had hurt her. It was just the last.

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