All language subtitles for Accident.Suicide.or.Murder.S06E07.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

♪♪

-A wealthy widow
is discovered deceased

in her upstairs sitting room.

-Emergency services find
a woman lying on the floor,

face up.

She's cold to the touch.

-She had told several people
she didn't feel good.

-But her death appeared
to be caused by suffocation.

-We lost a great lady who was
very generous and very kind.

-It was very hard on our family.

-With millions at stake,

could someone close
to the victim be responsible?

-Speculation was
that someone in the will

murdered her
for the inheritance.

-A million dollars.
Is that motive?

You betcha.

-But with perplexing evidence,

the truth is elusive.

-In all my years,
I have never heard of a case

where it went
from natural causes

to an accidental death
to homicide.

-We knew
that the truth had to come out.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-Just after 10:30 a.m.
on a sleepy Sunday morning,

the Beach City Ambulance
Service receives a call

that an elderly woman
has been found unresponsive

in her bayfront mansion.

-When Beach City emergency
services arrive at the scene,

they make contact with three
people who are at the home --

the caller, who's a neighbor;

the live-in housekeeper;

and her husband,
the groundskeeper.

They lead them to
the second-floor sitting room,

where they find a woman lying
on the floor, face up.

She's covered with a quilt.

She's cold to the touch.
She appears to be deceased.

-The housekeeper, Sybil Eady,

found the victim and
identifies her as the homeowner,

76-year-old Virginia Mayes.

-At first glance, because she
was an elderly person,

it appears
that it was a natural death.

But the first responders contact

the Chambers County Justice
of the Peace, Larry Cryer.

Anytime there's a death
in the community,

he's the one they call
to have him conduct

his death investigation to see
if there's anything suspicious.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

-I arrive on the scene
in Mrs. Mayes' house,

and that's when I saw Mrs. Mayes
laying on her back on the floor.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

-Virginia is wearing
blue silk pajamas,

and they also noticed
there's some red markings

around her nose
and some bruises on her face.

-That's odd,
because Mrs. Mayes

was laying on her back.

How do you explain the red
on her face?

-They noticed there was
some pill bottles,

some jewelry that appears to
have been knocked on the floor

from her nightstand.

It might raise a question --

did this happen
as a result of a struggle?

-Present at the house

when emergency services arrive
are the caretakers,

63-year-old Sybil Eady,

her husband,
67-year-old Melvin Eady,

and the neighbor,
63-year-old Lena Henning.

One or all of them may have been
witness to Virginia's death.

-Finding Virginia dead
had to be traumatic,

but they apparently
want to find out what's going on

and try to help as best
they can.

Justice of the Peace Cryer
asked Melvin

when's the last time
he saw Virginia alive.

And Melvin says
he didn't see her that morning.

It was the night before.

-They had been out
working on the driveway.

Virginia told him that she was
feeling a little bit not well.

And so she quit
and went back in to the house.

-Lena, the neighbor,

tells me that she never saw
Virginia that morning,

but she talked to her on the
phone around half past 8:00.

Virginia said
she was not feeling well.

And then housekeeper
Sybil told me that

morning of, she went up to check
on Mrs. Mayes around 8:45.

-Mrs. Mayes continued to say
that she was not feeling well.

-And then around 10:15
that morning,

Sybil went upstairs again
to check on Virginia.

And that's when she found
her unresponsive on the floor.

Sybil tells Justice
of the Peace Cryer

that she kind of went into
a panic.

-Sybil -- she, of course,
called in Melvin,

who was outside
working, for his help.

-Melvin ran to
another neighbor's house,

who he knew to be a doctor,

but nobody was home.

-In the meantime,
Sybil winds up calling Lena,

and so Lena called for
an ambulance

and she went over there.

-Melvin says after trying to get
the doctor's attention,

he goes back to the house.

Justice of the Peace Cryer
asked Melvin, the groundskeeper,

"Why didn't you just call EMS
right away instead of running

to the neighbor's house?"

Melvin says, "Well,
we just panicked.

We didn't really know
what to do.

It just kind of hit us
out of left field."

-They were in shock.
They were scared.

They wanted someone
to be there immediately.

-When Lena got there,
Melvin and Sybil were panicked.

Mrs. Henning checked
Virginia's pulse.

They realized she was dead.

-And then that's
when they put the quilt on her,

at that point, out of respect.

♪♪

Lena, Sybil and Melvin
tell Justice of the Peace Cryer

that they've known
Virginia a long time,

and he begins to find out

she has a very fascinating
history.

-Virginia Mayes
personified salt of the earth,

which was instilled in her
from a young age.

-Virginia was born in 1906

near the booming oil fields
close to Houston.

She grew up
with three siblings on a farm

in a very loving family.

-Her parents were in the oil
industry and ranching, too.

They were a well-respected
Texas family.

In high school, Virginia met
the love of her life.

His name was Harold Boyd Mayes.

It was like love at first sight

and they ended up
getting married.

-Virginia and Harold

built this pipe-fitting business
together called Mayes Brothers,

and it became very successful.

-Mayes Brothers was
a multi-million-dollar business

and they had hundreds
of employees,

which they considered family,

and the employees felt
like family as well.

Virginia didn't
actually work in the business,

although she was well known
at work.

She spent most of her time
at home.

-Virginia and Harold did not
have any children of their own,

but Virginia spent a lot of time
in her garden,

and she also spent her time
with pottery,

and she loved animals.

-Virginia was a very
strong-minded lady,

very independent.

And if Virginia wanted to do
something,

Virginia did it.

-Virginia and Harold
became pretty much part

of the social scene there
in Beach City.

People knew them,

and they earned some legendary
status in the neighborhood.

-In 1967,
after 40 years of marriage,

Virginia suffers
a heartbreaking loss

when her husband,
65-year-old Harold Boyd Mayes,

passes after a short battle
with cancer.

-The house that Virginia
and her husband lived in

was quite nice home.

But when her husband passed,
she sold that place.

Then Virginia started
building her new home

less than a mile down the road.

-Virginia decided
to build the dream home

and had the property built
herself.

The main house
is like 7,200 square feet

and it has a guest house,

8-car garage with
an apartment above the garage.

-There's somewhere
around 14 acres.

There was a greenhouse.

There was a ceramic house
and a duck house.

Once the property was completed,
it was a sight to behold.

-It was a beautiful place.
Very, very well kept.

Just so pretty.

Virginia City just
kind of became a nickname.

And she loved it.

So they all had T-shirts made
with Virginia City

because she had such
a little compound.

-Shortly after the property
is finished in 1972,

66-year-old Virginia
realizes she needs help.

-It's quite a task
to take care of that big house.

So she had a former employee,
Melvin Eady,

who worked at Mayes Brothers,

to come and help tend to things,

and he brought his wife
along with him, Sybil,

and they ended up living in
an apartment above the garage.

-My grandmother Sybil,
she was a pistol.

She was always happy
and laughing and dancing

and loved to be the center
of attention.

My grandfather Melvin,
he was incredible.

He had no formal education,
but he could fix anything.

And he could grow anything.

Grew every vegetable
you can imagine.

And my grandmother
would take care of Mrs. Mayes.

She ran all of her errands

and tended to her
for anything that she needed.

Mrs. Mayes trusted Melvin
and Sybil completely.

So they were much more
than employees.

They were like family,
and she treated them as such.

-Virginia was a very,
very generous woman,

someone who genuinely
cared about her community

and the people
who she came in contact with.

-Only hours
after police arrive on scene,

the incident has begun
to send shockwaves

through the small town.

-I remember August 1, 1982,

we were going to take
my grandmother to a movie.

She wasn't sure if she could go,

but we decided to go
and visit anyway.

And when we got to
Mrs. Mayes' house,

the ambulance was out front.

We learned pretty quickly
that Mrs. Mayes had passed away.

My grandparents,
they were in shock.

It was very emotional because, I
mean, we cared about Mrs. Mayes.

We had known her for years

and it was quite shocking
and traumatic.

We assumed that
Virginia had had a heart attack

or something like that,
just because,

what else could it be?

-Though a natural death seems
likely for the 76-year-old,

findings at the scene
are suspicious.

Investigators continue to search
the home looking for evidence.

-They're looking for
any signs of forced entry,

anything suspicious,
out of the ordinary.

-When I went around
to the rear of the home,

there was something
that caught my eye.

There was a ladder
on the back of the house

that went up
to the second floor.

That ladder went to a window
that was partially raised.

I did not see anything
as a break-in,

no broken glass.

But I noted that.

-Did somebody come in
through an upstairs window?

Justice of the Peace Cryer
doesn't know what this is,

he doesn't know
if this is an accident,

just a natural death,
or is it a murder?

-Virginia's body is sent

to the Harris County Medical
Examiner's office for autopsy.

Investigators hope
it will reveal how she died.

-Before her death,

Virginia had told several people
she didn't feel good at all,

which may point to
a natural death.

But also it was a suspicious
thing that Sybil and Melvin

did not call
the emergency personnel

right after they found her.

-Was that just a tactic
to delay emergency services

from showing up and
possibly resuscitating Virginia?

And how did she get
these bruises on her face

and the red markings
on her nose?

-I want to know
what killed her.

Especially with a wealthy,
deceased person.

We're talking about life
or death, murder or not.

And something's just not right.

-Maybe they wouldn't
let Nina up there

because they'd already killed
her.

-We need to get
to the bottom of it.

So ask them to take a polygraph.

-He said, "Well,
I've got a bad heart."

That kind of looks suspicious.

-Is this some kind of ploy
to try

♪♪

-After finding Virginia Mayes
deceased on the floor

of her bayfront mansion,

law enforcement is unsure of
how she died.

Though witnesses describe
a natural death,

clues at the scene point
to something more nefarious.

-It appeared at the time
as a natural passing,

but there was some bruising
to her face.

-Also, there were
some items on the floor.

This indicates that there
could be signs of a struggle.

-Mrs. Mayes was
a well-to-do lady,

which, of course, could make
somebody more of a target.

-This may be more
than just a natural death.

It might actually be a murder.

-Later that afternoon,

the Harris County Medical
Examiner begins the autopsy

of Virginia Mayes.

-I started here in the Harris
County Medical Examiner's Office

in 2007, and I'm now
deputy chief medical examiner.

Back in the '80s,

Chambers County was contracting
with Harris County

when they needed to
properly determine the cause

and manner of death.

-It was conducted
by Harris County

Medical Examiner
Dr. Eduardo Bellas.

-During his examination
of Miss Mayes,

Dr. Bellas found signs
of injury.

In particular,
bruises or contusions

were noted to be extensively
on the nose

and then extending
toward the cheek.

-In addition to the bruises
on Virginia's face,

there is also a bite
on her tongue.

-They did not find
any other external injuries.

So Dr. Bellas continues
with an internal examination.

Miss Mayes had
a very enlarged heart,

which is consistent
with ongoing hypertension

and underlying heart disease.

But his findings did not have
a clear-cut heart attack

that he saw to classify it
as a natural death.

-The medical examiner
determines

that Virginia died about an hour
or so

before the emergency
services arrived.

-Based on the bruising
to her face,

the death appeared to be caused

by a possibly something
holding against her mouth.

-The doctor determines that
the cause of Virginia's death

is asphyxia due to suffocation.

Dr. Bellas then rules that
the cause of death was homicide.

-That immediately triggers
law enforcement

to continue their investigation

to fully flesh out who might
have done this to the decedent.

♪♪

-There were three people there
when Virginia passed away --

Sybil Eady, the housekeeper;

her husband, Melvin Eady,
the groundskeeper;

and then the neighbor
Lena Henning was also

at the house that day.

-When I investigated
the rear of the home,

there was a ladder
that went up to a window

that was partially raised.

-Did somebody sneak in
through a window there

and kill Virginia?

-Though it is possible
someone else may be involved,

Justice of the Peace
Cryer first goes back

to question the trio
more carefully.

He begins with Lena Henning

and learns she was at Virginia's
house earlier that morning.

-Lena tells
Justice of the Peace Cryer

that about 9:15, Lena arrives,

which was around the time
that the medical examiner

determined that Virginia died.

-Lena claimed she came
at the request of Virginia

over to the house,

but Lena said she never saw
Virginia

because she was intercepted.

-Sybil told her that
Virginia's not feeling well

and is not going to take
any visitors that day.

-Lena said it was odd and that
Sybil appeared to be nervous.

-Concerned about why Lena
was intercepted that morning,

Justice of the Peace
Cryer next speaks to Sybil.

-Sybil says that that morning
started like any other morning.

She got up and started preparing
breakfast for Virginia.

And so she goes up
and checks on her

to see, you know,
how she's doing.

Virginia tells her
that she's not feeling well.

Sybil offers to take her
to the doctor,

and Virginia declines
to go to the doctor.

-Virginia then indicated
to Sybil

that she didn't
particularly feel like visitors.

-According to Sybil,
30 minutes later,

at about 9:15 a.m., Lena arrived
for her visit with Virginia.

-Sybil let Lena know

that Mrs. Mayes
was not feeling good.

She just didn't feel
up to visitors.

-Sybil says
instead of spending the morning

with Virginia, Lena has
tea and biscuits with her.

Lena left around 10:15
that morning.

Sybil then went upstairs
again to check on Virginia,

and that's when she found
her unresponsive on the floor.

-Next, Justice
of the Peace Cryer

speaks
with Sybil's husband, Melvin,

who backs up
her and Lena's story.

-Melvin confirms that Sybil
kept Lena away from Virginia

that morning,

but he reiterates that Virginia
probably didn't want any company

as she was not feeling well.

Melvin tells Justice
of the Peace Cryer

that he was gardening,
and then about 10:30,

his wife, Sybil, comes
running out in a panic to him,

saying, "Something's happened
to Virginia."

-With no real changes
in their stories

except the detail that Lena was
not allowed to see Virginia,

police consider
someone may be lying.

-It seems like Sybil is the
only one who did see Virginia.

Although Melvin said
that he didn't see Virginia

that morning, nobody really can
confirm that.

Sybil or Melvin

could just be making
the whole thing up.

-Maybe they wouldn't
let Nina up there

because they'd
already killed her.

-And, of course,
it is a bit suspicious

that Sybil didn't call
emergency services.

She actually called Lena
to have her do that instead

at that point.

Lena Henning was taken
off the suspect list

because she apparently had
no motive

to do any harm to Virginia.

All the evidence has
kind of led to them thinking

that Melvin and Sybil
are persons of interest now.

If they're the ones
who murdered Virginia,

did Sybil act alone in this,

did Melvin act alone in this,

or did they collaborate
together?

And then, of course,
whoever did kill Virginia,

why did they do it?

What did they have to gain
from it?

♪♪

-On August 2, 1982,

one day after Virginia Mayes
was found deceased

in her home from what appeared
to be natural causes,

the medical examiner determines
that it was a murder.

As police dig
into their investigation,

the community reels
from the news.

-When the news came back that
Virginia was actually murdered,

most people were in disbelief

because Virginia was
a very kind, generous person,

and the first thought was,

"Who would have murdered
Virginia Mayes?

And for what reason?"

Knowing
that Virginia had no children,

speculation was that
someone in the will

was suspected of killing
Virginia for the inheritance.

-A lot of people assumed
that Melvin and Sybil

were going to inherit
a huge amount of money,

and that was part of what drove
some of the suspicion on them.

It was very hard on our family.

-With rumors swirling
about Melvin, Sybil,

a will and a large payout,

investigators reach out to the
attorneys managing her estate

to find out who would benefit
from Virginia's death.

-When I talked to
the attorney for Miss Mayes,

he was shocked about the murder,
and we learned there was a will.

-Justice of the Peace Cryer
finds out

that Virginia had an estate
worth $4 million.

In 1982, $4 million went a lot
further than it does in 2025.

So it's quite a bit of money
to consider here.

And she had plans to divvy
this money up to several people.

-I asked him if he could tell
me the names from her will,

and he said there were
eight people

that were beneficiaries
and that they were all people

that Virginia really cared about
that took care of her.

They were well trusted.

-The lawyer reveals that
five of them are family members,

but three of them are not.

Named on that beneficiary list
is Melvin and Sybil Eady.

-The will showed them
to each get $500,000,

or a total of $1 million,
at any time of her death.

Melvin and Sybil

knew they were going to be
recipients of the will

and how much.

Because Virginia had
told them $1 million.

Is that motive? You betcha.

-Even though Sybil and Melvin

now appear to both
have had the means,

opportunity and potential motive
to kill Virginia,

investigators first
want to eliminate

other possible suspects.

-Well, the next thing we're
going to investigate everybody

that was a beneficiary
of her death.

All those people have to
be tracked down

and interviewed to find out if
they could be possible suspects.

-As investigators track down

and interview the heirs
to Virginia's estate,

all of whom
are set to inherit enough money

to be considered a motive,

alibis are provided
and verified.

-And it turns out,
for one reason or another,

they just weren't close
enough to Virginia that day

she passed away to have anything
to do with her death.

There's no reason to think that
they had anything to do with it.

So it eliminates them
from the suspect list.

-The sixth beneficiary
they speak with,

a niece of Virginia, also has
an alibi for that morning.

But she is able to share
some interesting information

with the investigators.

-Investigators make contact
with Virginia's niece,

who was in the will.

She tells them that
she was very close to Virginia.

Virginia was
like a second mother to her.

So she loved her very much.

Virginia's niece also tells
investigators

that her and Virginia
talked quite a bit,

and one of the things
they talked about lately

was Sybil and Melvin.

-We learned that
Virginia thought a lot of them.

Sybil and Melvin
were dear, beloved family.

-But Virginia told her niece
that Melvin and Sybil,

they were getting
older themselves

and just kind of wanted to stop
being a housekeeper,

stop being a gardener,
and go get a place of their own.

-Melvin and Sybil had told
Mrs. Mayes maybe a year or so

before she passed away

that they were interested
in retiring.

They were getting older.

My grandfather was having
some health issues.

I don't think that Mrs. Mayes
was particularly happy

about that, unfortunately.

-Virginia's niece said
there's nothing malicious

about Melvin and Sybil,

but she did admit
that it is a bit suspicious

of the timing
of Virginia's passing,

and then having this desire
to want to get out on their own.

-They wanted to move.

Maybe they were afraid
that if they did wind up moving,

she would change the will.

Before she died,
they wouldn't get anything.

-So was there something
bubbling

underneath the surface here

between Virginia and Melvin
and Sybil?

Was it something that
was reaching a boiling point?

-At that point,

Sybil and Melvin
were the prime suspects

because they were set to receive
$500,000 each upon her death.

And there was only two people
that saw Virginia that morning.

-We had to consider
Sybil acted alone,

or her husband acted alone,
or they did it as a partnership.

-Investigators are
going to interview again

Melvin and Sybil Eady

to get them to
either confess this

or prove that they're the ones
who murdered Virginia.

♪♪

-In late October of 1982,
nearly three months

after Virginia Mayes
was found deceased in her home,

investigators have tracked down
the beneficiaries to her estate.

After eliminating six
of the eight heirs,

police focus back on their
two initial prime suspects.

-Sybil and Melvin
were natural suspects.

They were the only ones
with her.

Lena, the neighbor, we could say
they wouldn't let up there

because
they'd already killed her.

They were set to receive
$500,000 each upon her death.

-There was enough motive
that we had to look into it

and we needed extra help
on this.

-At this point,

Justice of the Peace Cryer
calls in the Texas Rangers.

They sent a fellow down here
by the name of Haskell Taylor.

-Haskell Taylor, Texas Ranger,
was a quiet, no-nonsense,

but humorous man

that couldn't have
been picked better for that job

than anybody in it.

-On November 1st,

after getting himself
up to speed on the case,

Ranger Taylor believes
the investigation's

next step is to formally
interview Sybil and Melvin Eady.

-Justice of the Peace Larry
Cryer and Texas Ranger Taylor

want to get a confession
out of Melvin and Sybil Eady,

who are still living
on Virginia Mayes's estate.

-Melvin and Sybil
continued living on the property

under the direction
of Virginia's lawyer

because they wanted someone
to maintain the property,

make sure it stayed very nice.

-So we went to interview
Sybil and Melvin.

We told them we had
more questions about the day

Virginia died and about
their being named in the will.

I said, "Things just
don't totally add up,

and what would help clear
that up is your testimony."

-Seemingly cooperative,

Melvin and Sybil
agree to speak to investigators

without an attorney present.

-We asked about
their relationship with Virginia

and the fact
that they wanted to move.

-Melvin and Sybil Eady say that
there's no animosity

between them and Virginia.

They had a good relationship
for many years.

They got along with her
very well.

And of course, they had some
disagreements here and there,

but they were more
like family than employees,

which is why they said
they were in the will.

-Sybil was the last-known
person to see Virginia alive.

She recounts nearly
the same story

she told police the morning
she was discovered deceased.

-That's when an unsuspected
new detail emerges.

-Sybil reveals
to Justice of the Peace Cryer

and Ranger Taylor

that when she found
Virginia that morning,

she moved Virginia's body.

-Sybil tells us
that in the interview,

she found her face down
and more on her knees.

-She turned her over
to examine her

and find out what was going on.

So this is a pretty big reveal
that she was found face down,

not facing up as it was when
investigators came on the scene.

Also, this is the first time

that Sybil is saying
she moved Virginia's body.

She didn't say anything
initially,

so they're kind of wondering
why wasn't this said before?

-It was a suspicious thing

that she talked about turning
her body over

after all this time.

-Other than the information

that Virginia's
body may have been moved,

the statements
from Sybil and Melvin match

what they told investigators
the morning of the death.

-This could be because
they've rehearsed their story,

or it could simply be that
they're just telling the truth.

Sybil did say when
she first discovered Virginia,

she kind of went into a panic

and just didn't really know
what to do.

-It's possible that
Sybil may not have remembered

that she moved Virginia's
body in that first interview.

Regardless, we need to get to
the bottom of it.

So we asked them
to take a polygraph.

-On November 12, 1982,
Melvin and Sybil

are taken down to
the Baytown Police Department,

and they are both administered
a polygraph test

by Detective Richard Reff.

-When Melvin and Sybil
were called in for a polygraph,

they wanted to cooperate,
but it was very stressful.

-The purpose of the examine
was to determine

if the statements given
by Sybil and Melvin

were the truth
and to see if Sybil or Melvin

was involved in the death
of Virginia.

-As Sybil was the person

who claimed
to have moved Virginia's body,

she's the first
to take the polygraph exam.

-Sybil was very cooperative.

She's calm, helpful.

She didn't particularly like
being thought of as a suspect.

-Sybil says she had
absolutely nothing

to do with Virginia's death.

She sticks to her story,

the same one she told
Justice of the Peace Cryer

in the beginning.

-After getting a baseline,

Sybil is asked to describe
how she found Virginia's body.

-Sybil told me that she found
Virginia face down on the floor,

and then Sybil said
she had straightened her out

and laid her on her back.

As far as how she found the
body, no deception indicated.

I asked her if she participated
in the death

and did she in any way
smother Virginia?

Sybil stated that
she didn't do anything to her

that might have caused
her death.

-Detective Reff determines that
Sybil's answers are truthful.

There's no deception in them.

Detective Reff talks
with Justice of the Peace Cryer,

and that pretty much removes her
from the suspect list.

-That was such a huge relief
because we knew

that she was innocent.

-Detective Reff
then prepares to administer

the polygraph to Melvin.

-We had a problem with Melvin.

He said, "Well,
I've got a bad heart.

I'm on an AFib and so forth."

And AFib can cause some false
positives during the polygraph.

So I told him
that I couldn't give him an exam

because it would be invalid.

And he got angry.

I don't want to get
him stirred up anymore.

So I did run a chart.

-Detective Reff decides
to do a simple test,

ask him some basic questions.

-I asked him his first name,
last name,

what his address was,
date of birth, things like that.

And what it showed me
is that the cardio pattern

to his polygraph
was very erratic.

I don't want him
to have a heart attack in here.

So I did not test him
about the murder.

-Is this some kind of ploy
to try

to get out of taking
the polygraph test,

or is there something to it?

♪♪

-While attempting
to administer a polygraph exam

to Melvin Eady,

a possible suspect
in Virginia Mayes' death,

investigators learned

that his possible heart
condition renders

the test inconclusive.

-I just ran a simple polygraph

and his cardio pattern was
very erratic.

That kind of looks suspicious

because there's a possibility
he was trying to get out of it.

-Sybil passed the polygraph,

but we had to consider
Melvin may have acted alone.

-With no useful polygraph test
for Melvin,

investigators still have
a suspect,

but must consider
the new information from Sybil.

-According
to the polygraph test,

Sybil was telling the truth.

So Justice of the Peace
Cryer and Ranger Taylor

began
to look at evidence again.

-Sybil said to us,

when she found Virginia
face down,

she turned her over
from her knees to her back.

♪♪

-Upon looking at the photos,

they noticed Virginia's
place had shag carpet.

-They could see the thickness
of the shag carpet.

It's possible that Virginia fell
face first into the carpet

and she just asphyxiated.

-At this point,
a new theory emerges

that Virginia did die
of suffocation,

but maybe not at the hands
of somebody else.

This could be an accidental
death and not a murder.

-The whole thing has changed.

-In early December,

four months after the death
of Virginia Mayes,

police go back
to the medical examiner

with the new information
provided by Sybil.

-The information provided
by the police

to the medical examiner

regarding the original position
of Virginia

was that she was found
face up on the carpet.

-But now they told the
medical examiner the position

she was actually in
when she was found by Sybil.

-After receiving
this new information,

the medical examiner
then proceeded

to reevaluate
his autopsy examination.

-From that,

he determined Virginia had
fallen face first on the floor,

for whatever reason, whether she
tripped or become unconscious.

-She had collapsed,

and that's why she was
on her knees

and why her hands were
to the side,

and she took the full impact
to her face.

The M.E. said that was probably
the cause for the bruising

to her face and nose
because of the impact.

-And then she just suffocated
right there on the carpet,

face down.

-The medical examiner thought

that her position with
her face in the carpeted floor

was enough to cause asphyxia
and cause her death.

-Clearly,
this was an accidental death

and not a murder at all.

So the official manner of death

in Virginia's case
is ruled an accident.

-With that determination,

Sybil and Melvin Eady are
no longer considered suspects.

-Melvin and Sybil,

to feel like everybody's
watching you and suspecting you,

it was very, very difficult.

You've lost someone
you care so deeply about,

and you don't even have time
to mourn

because you have
this microscope on you.

But it was a huge relief for all
of us when they were exonerated,

because we knew
that the truth had to come out.

-Things aren't always
what they seem,

and it's sad to think about
what Melvin and Sybil

went through being
accused of murdering Virginia,

somebody they cared a lot about
and who cared about them.

But in the end, Melvin and Sybil
received their inheritance.

-Melvin and Sybil

could finally move away
from that property

and move on with their lives.

-But the story doesn't end
there.

In early spring 2025,

42 years
after Virginia Mayes' passing,

the Harris County
Medical Examiner's Office

receives a request
for public information

from the producers
of this television show.

-This show files
a Freedom of Information Act

with the Harris County
Medical Examiner's Office

to get more information
about Virginia's case.

-This case was brought
to my attention for review

before release
of that information.

-Dr. Gumpeni takes
a look at the autopsy reports --

the first one
that was done initially

that believed
that Virginia was murdered,

and then looks at the second one

where it went to
an accidental death.

Upon looking at them,
a light bulb goes off.

-When reviewing this case,
I realized that I don't believe

that she had
an accidental death.

♪♪

-In 2025,

the Harris County Medical
Examiner's Office reviews

Virginia Mayes' case
42 years after her death.

-Being as old as it was,

and given the fact that there
was an amended cause of death,

that moved me
to review the material further,

to see was this an accurate

cause and manner
of death determination?

I reviewed the information that
was provided by law enforcement

at the time,
including the scene photographs.

From what I read
in the autopsy report,

Miss Mayes had
very bad heart disease.

She had this
very enlarged heart,

and she had large amounts
of calcification

of the various vessels
of her heart and her body.

I wasn't there in 1982,

but there were slides
made of various tissues

from her autopsy examination.

In review of those slides,

I found even more
supporting evidence

for a long-standing cardiac
disease that Miss Mayes had.

I believe she had
a sudden cardiac event

which can cause sudden death
that easily

could have then put her
into a position on the ground

in which she was
pretty much already deceased.

♪♪

-Dr. Gumpeni
has reviewed it all again.

He finds
that her heart gave out on her.

-It became apparent that
she did not die from the carpet.

I felt a moral
and ethical obligation

to properly amend
the death certificate to reflect

that she died
from natural causes.

-In all my years
of writing stories about people

who have died,
I have never heard of a case

where it went from homicide
to an accidental death

to being amended
to natural causes.

-It is extremely rare
for a case to be changed

as many times
as this case has been.

But I think it's really
important that we acknowledge

that we know a lot more
about heart disease

and its presentation
than we did 40 years ago.

♪♪

-I feel like we expended all
of our efforts

that we could into
the investigation at the time.

We took what we had to work with

and went after it
with everything we could.

-Justice of the Peace Cryer
did his detective work,

and he found the truth.

That's what he was there to do.

♪♪

-My grandfather Melvin,
unfortunately,

he passed away
from a heart attack in 1988,

but my grandmother lived
until 2003

and just was full of life.

They were kind, loving people

and unfortunately
had to go through something

pretty difficult
but came out the other side.

-Melvin and Sybil,
they now have joined Virginia

and hopefully they're all
at peace now.

♪♪

-It seems like
Virginia desired to help people

around her, and she loved
being able to do that.

And that's the best
you can do in this human life.

-Virginia Mayes --
that shock of white hair,

that dark, leathery skin driving
that golf cart with her dog.

Those are the sweet memories.

She'd be driving that golf cart
as the sun would set.

And just solitude, beauty.

A generous, lovely person.

♪♪