- 6 weeks ago
Sandra Garner’s case shocked Texas when her husband Jon was murdered in 2018. She claimed a masked intruder broke in, but investigators discovered hidden evidence—Google searches like “how to kill someone in their sleep”, a hidden gun, and suspicious family drama. After a dramatic trial, Sandra was found not guilty in a shocking verdict.
Sandra Garner case | Sandra Garner murder trial | Texas true crime | shocking murder verdict | Jon Garner murder | Sandra Garner acquitted | women accused of murder | famous true crime cases | courtroom drama murder | Maypearl Texas murder case
Sandra Garner shocking case – Texas | Sandra Garner internet searches | Sandra Garner trial highlights | true crime shocking verdict | husband murder trial Texas | hidden gun evidence | masked intruder story false | Sandra Garner not guilty decision
Sandra Garner trial | shocking Texas murder case | wives accused of killing husbands | acquittal true crime | shocking courtroom verdict | Sandra Garner defense | Jon Garner shooting mystery | internet searches murder case
“Thanks for supporting The Dark Stories! Every like, comment, and share helps us keep uncovering shocking crime cases for you. Stay curious and stay safe.”
sandra garner case, sandra garner trial, sandra garner murder, jon garner murder, maypearl texas murder, shocking true crime stories, women accused of murder, not guilty verdict true crime, hidden gun murder trial, texas murder mysteries, sandra garner acquittal, courtroom drama true crime, dark stories channel, shocking verdict case, sandra garner son theory, true crime documentary texas
Sandra Garner case | Sandra Garner murder trial | Texas true crime | shocking murder verdict | Jon Garner murder | Sandra Garner acquitted | women accused of murder | famous true crime cases | courtroom drama murder | Maypearl Texas murder case
Sandra Garner shocking case – Texas | Sandra Garner internet searches | Sandra Garner trial highlights | true crime shocking verdict | husband murder trial Texas | hidden gun evidence | masked intruder story false | Sandra Garner not guilty decision
Sandra Garner trial | shocking Texas murder case | wives accused of killing husbands | acquittal true crime | shocking courtroom verdict | Sandra Garner defense | Jon Garner shooting mystery | internet searches murder case
“Thanks for supporting The Dark Stories! Every like, comment, and share helps us keep uncovering shocking crime cases for you. Stay curious and stay safe.”
sandra garner case, sandra garner trial, sandra garner murder, jon garner murder, maypearl texas murder, shocking true crime stories, women accused of murder, not guilty verdict true crime, hidden gun murder trial, texas murder mysteries, sandra garner acquittal, courtroom drama true crime, dark stories channel, shocking verdict case, sandra garner son theory, true crime documentary texas
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Okay, let's dive into this one. January 2nd, 2018, May, Pearl, Texas. That 911 call from Sandra Garner. Wow. The distress is just immediate, isn't it?
00:11Oh, absolutely. You hear her reporting her husband, John, shot by an intruder.
00:15911, where is your emergency? I need a police car. I want to be John.
00:20I got a telephone call from the Ellis County Sheriff's Office saying, hey, we've had a shooting in your city.
00:40Her husband's been shot by an unknown male, I believe, that had broken into the house.
00:44Hold these.
00:45When I got there, I met a deputy from Ellis County.
00:52Where do you have the bedroom?
00:55Please help him.
00:56And we see a body on the floor.
00:58His name is John.
00:59John what?
01:00Warner.
01:01Excuse me, ma'am, back up on there.
01:02He's still warm.
01:05Is he lost?
01:08No, ma'am.
01:10Come on, sweetie.
01:11Just raw panic.
01:12Yeah, trying to process something horrific right as it's happening.
01:15And the scene police found, well, it matched that trauma.
01:19Especially considering, you know, they just celebrated their 18th anniversary the night before.
01:23Right.
01:23Suddenly, police are there, John's dead, and Sandra's the only witness.
01:27Understandably distraught, trying to explain it all.
01:29Exactly.
01:30So, the initial steps seem standard.
01:32Gunshot residue test for Sandra, collecting her clothes.
01:35Then hours of questioning start at the sheriff's office.
01:38But pretty quickly, you start to see things that, well, don't quite fit the picture of just a grieving widow.
01:44That's putting it mildly.
01:46Her story was very detailed.
01:48A masked intruder, white male, claiming John ruined his life.
01:52And demanding money, right?
01:53She even mentioned John supposedly keeping huge amounts of cash at home.
01:56Yeah, she quoted a figure, I think, $188,000 the last time she counted it, supposedly.
02:01Which is, in itself, a lot of cash to have lying around.
02:05But here's the bit that really jumps out.
02:07That instruction.
02:07Ah, yes.
02:09The intruder telling her to sit down and count to 100 before calling 911.
02:13Exactly.
02:14And threatening to come back and kill her if he heard sirens sooner.
02:17It just feels weird, you know?
02:20Yeah.
02:20Almost staged.
02:21It absolutely raises eyebrows.
02:23It's not what you'd typically expect in that kind of violent encounter.
02:26It immediately makes you question the whole story.
02:28Right.
02:28So, that's what we're digging into here, isn't it?
02:30Looking at these inconsistencies.
02:32The questions that pop up from the police reports, the court testimony.
02:35Precisely.
02:36So, maybe let's start with their background, Sandra and John.
02:38Give us some context before that night.
02:39Okay.
02:40So, Sandra was 13 years older.
02:42They met at work in Paris, Texas.
02:44Mm-hmm.
02:45Two years later, they eloped to Vegas, get married on New Year's Eve.
02:49Mm-hmm.
02:50What was the dynamic like, based on what we've seen?
02:52Well, despite the age gap, sources suggest they seemed pretty solid.
02:56John was described as a, quote, tough boss.
02:59Fired people.
03:00Didn't shy away from that.
03:01Right.
03:02And also, apparently, drank heavily, was on antidepressants, so maybe some internal struggles there.
03:07Seems plausible.
03:09But personally, it sounded like a partnership.
03:11John became like a second dad to Sandra's son, Wes.
03:14And then, crucially, when Sandra got her MS diagnosis in 2014, John really stepped up, became her caretaker.
03:22Her rock, some said.
03:23Yeah, that detail about her feeling suicidal like a burden, and John saying, if you do that, I'll kill myself, too.
03:30That speaks volumes, doesn't it?
03:33It really does.
03:33Suggests a very deep, maybe even codependent connection.
03:36And then they moved to May Pearl in 2016, closer to family.
03:41John's dad living right across the street.
03:42The backyard was a gathering spot.
03:44Even John's cousin's wife considered Sander family.
03:46So, on the surface.
03:48Yeah.
03:48Happy.
03:49Connected.
03:49But that surface starts to crack pretty fast when you look at how people reacted after the shooting, right?
03:54Definitely.
03:55When Sandra first told her story after leaving the sheriff's office, some of the Garner family, they weren't buying it.
04:00There was immediate doubt.
04:01And then her son, Wes, shows up at the sheriff's office.
04:04Yes.
04:04And his conversation with Lieutenant Thompson was pretty significant.
04:09He actually asked if his own mother could have done it early on.
04:13He did, openly wondering if she could be a killer.
04:16I mean, that's shocking.
04:17And you can see how that would immediately shift the police focus.
04:21Absolutely.
04:22So, suspicion lands on Sandra pretty hard, pretty fast.
04:26Police searched the house, the garage.
04:29And her Mustang locked inside the detached garage.
04:33This becomes important.
04:34Because when they asked for the keys.
04:36Her reaction wasn't great, according to the reports.
04:39Wes went to get them, and she apparently threw her fork down, got angry, refused initially.
04:43Which, again, raises questions.
04:45Why resist searching your own car after your husband's been murdered?
04:48Exactly.
04:49And those questions got much louder three days later.
04:52That's when they searched the Mustang again, right?
04:53Right.
04:54And under the front seat, they find a .38 caliber pistol.
04:58The murder weapon.
04:59The murder weapon.
05:00Wrapped in wet towels inside a plastic bag.
05:02And registered to Sandra.
05:04A gift from John.
05:05Correct.
05:05The wet towels, the bag.
05:07Like, it suggests someone tried to wipe it down, maybe remove evidence.
05:10But placing it under the seat of her locked car.
05:14It's a direct link.
05:16And crucially.
05:17No fingerprints.
05:18No DNA on the gun itself.
05:20So, gloves?
05:21Or someone else entirely?
05:23Those are the possibilities.
05:24But Sandra denied putting it there?
05:27Flat out denied it.
05:28Which directly contradicts finding the gun registered to her in her car.
05:31But then came the digital evidence?
05:33The part that's really hard to explain away?
05:35The internet searches.
05:37On her iPad and phone.
05:38Just days before the murder.
05:40Yeah.
05:41Searches like how to kill somebody in their sleep.
05:44And she clicked the link, didn't she?
05:4516 ways to kill somebody and not get caught.
05:48She did.
05:48I mean, when investigators find that, it's incredibly difficult not to see that as pointing towards premeditation.
05:54Or at least exploring the idea very seriously.
05:56It puts her initial story under immense pressure.
05:59But the investigation itself, it wasn't exactly flawless, was it?
06:04No, far from it.
06:06The police chief at the time, Boyd Norton, admitted this was his first murder investigation.
06:10First one.
06:11Wow.
06:11And he acknowledged mistakes.
06:13Big ones.
06:14Like the crime scene not being properly secured.
06:16First responders going into the bedroom.
06:17Exactly.
06:19Potentially contaminating everything.
06:21And Sandra's hands weren't bagged right away.
06:23So the gunshot residue test.
06:25They only found three tiny specks on her left arm days later.
06:29Which isn't much.
06:30Especially if you just fired a .38.
06:32You'd expect more, likely on both hands.
06:35These aren't small errors, are they?
06:36They create reasonable doubt.
06:37For sure.
06:38And then there's the issue with Chief Norton's photos.
06:40Oh, right.
06:41The crime scene photos he took on his personal phone just disappeared.
06:46Vanished.
06:47Which is bizarre.
06:47So the prosecution had to use photos taken like eight hours later by the sheriff's crime scene unit.
06:53And they didn't even fingerprint the Mustang's door handle where the gun was found.
06:57Nope.
06:58Another missed opportunity.
06:59You can see why the defense had a field day with this stuff.
07:02And there was that timing issue too, right?
07:04How long it took police to respond to the 911 call.
07:08Yeah, a bit of a discrepancy.
07:09Sandra seemed to think it took longer.
07:11The chief recalled about 15 minutes.
07:13In these situations, timing is everything.
07:16So you have all this circumstantial stuff pointing at Sandra, the gun, the searches.
07:21But the prosecution really struggled with motive, didn't they?
07:24They really did.
07:25Why would she kill John?
07:26He was her caregiver.
07:27Especially with the MS getting worse, it didn't quite add up that why was missing.
07:31Which always leaves a door open.
07:33And the defense, Tom Pappas, he pushed that door open towards someone else.
07:37Towards Wes.
07:38Wes, Sandra's son.
07:40Pointing out he might need money.
07:41Maybe he thought he was in John's will.
07:43Although that wasn't confirmed.
07:44Right.
07:45But beyond the defense just suggesting it, Wes was the first one to cast suspicion on his mom.
07:50True.
07:51He knew the house.
07:52The dogs.
07:53And now, later on, Sandra actually believes Wes killed John.
07:57It's a complete turnaround.
07:58That's a huge shift.
08:00And what about the timing of those web searches again?
08:02Okay.
08:02Yeah, this is interesting.
08:03They happened between 11 p.m. and midnight, four days before the murder.
08:07But Sandra and John usually went to bed around 9, 3 p.m.
08:10And Wes was at their house that night.
08:11So, who was actually doing the searching?
08:14It raises a serious question.
08:16And Wes's behavior with the police seemed almost too helpful to some.
08:20Well, he readily gave information about his mom, her gun, where she kept it in the Mustang.
08:25And the gun was found exactly where he suggested it might be.
08:28Under the seat.
08:29Precisely.
08:30It's a detail that certainly stands out.
08:32Looks convenient, maybe.
08:33Then the alibi issue.
08:35That really fell apart, didn't it?
08:36It did.
08:37Initially, he said he was home, watching Netflix, drinking beer.
08:41Records seemed to back it up.
08:43But they realized the time zone on the records was wrong.
08:46Once corrected, his alibi for the actual time of the murder evaporated.
08:51His whereabouts were unknown.
08:53That's a massive hole in his story.
08:54It is.
08:55Yet, the prosecution insisted Wes couldn't have done it.
08:58Said his personality wasn't suited for violence, couldn't handle blood.
09:01Which feels, I don't know, subjective.
09:04Not exactly hard evidence.
09:05Not really.
09:06And they also argued, well, wouldn't Sandra recognize her own son?
09:10Even masked?
09:11But Sandra's explanation, you know, the trauma, the shock.
09:14Could that cloud recognition in a moment like that?
09:17It's certainly possible.
09:18Trauma does strange things to memory and perception.
09:21So it goes to trial.
09:23Sandra decides to testify.
09:24Even though her lawyer maybe wasn't keen.
09:27Always a huge risk.
09:28And her testimony was reportedly, uh, difficult.
09:31Struggled with questions, especially about the web searches.
09:34Claimed memory loss.
09:35Yeah.
09:36The jury would have been watching that very closely.
09:38Her demeanor.
09:39Her answers.
09:40And after just three hours.
09:42The verdict came back.
09:44Not guilty.
09:44Imagine that moment for her.
09:47After 21 months in jail.
09:49Just release.
09:50An unbelievable emotional swing.
09:52Legally, she was free.
09:54But that legal outcome didn't mean closure for the Garner family, did it?
09:57Not at all.
09:58Most of them remained convinced she was guilty.
10:01Washing her walk free was incredibly painful for them, added to their grief.
10:05And then, adding another strange layer, Sandra moved back into the house.
10:08The same house where John was murdered.
10:10Yeah.
10:10She said she wanted to be close to his memory.
10:13But living right across from John's parents, who believe she did it?
10:16Yeah.
10:17It's gotta be incredibly tense.
10:19And just...
10:20Odd.
10:21To many.
10:22It's definitely an unusual choice.
10:24And it highlights the other chilling possibility.
10:26If Sandra didn't do it...
10:27Then the real killer is still out there.
10:29Which raises concerns for her safety, too.
10:31Absolutely.
10:32And the family fallout.
10:34Profound.
10:35Sandra and her daughter Andrea are estranged from Wes now.
10:39Right.
10:39Sandra said she feels deeply hurt, that her love for him has changed.
10:44Understandable, given he pointed the finger at her.
10:47And through all of this, Sandra insists she's innocent.
10:51Emphasizes how much she relied on John, how close they were.
10:54She's never wavered from that denial.
10:56But legally, the chapter is closed.
10:58Because of double jeopardy, right?
10:59She can't be tried again for this, no matter what.
11:01Correct.
11:02Even if new evidence surfaced, or she confessed tomorrow, the not guilty verdict stands for that specific charge.
11:08That's how the system works.
11:11So we're left with this deeply unsettling picture.
11:13A not guilty verdict, yes.
11:15But so many questions hanging over John Garner's death.
11:18We've walked through the evidence, the doubts, the flawed investigation.
11:22It's a lot to take in.
11:24It really shows the complexity, doesn't it?
11:25Yeah.
11:26A bungled investigation, maybe a setup, a family just torn apart by it all.
11:30Absolutely.
11:31Suspicion, grief, anger.
11:34It's devastating.
11:35And it leaves us with that final thought, really.
11:37In a case like this, with so much uncertainty, what does justice even look like?
11:42You have the legal verdict, but does it feel like the truth was found?
11:45It's tough.
11:46When an investigation has that many holes, and the consequences are so permanent for everyone,
11:52it makes you wonder, what do you make of it all, looking back at the evidence and the way things played out?
11:57Hope I'm saying, I'm not guilty, please.
12:00And I know people think I'm crazy for wanting to be here, but I just want to be as close to him as I can.
12:09Sandra Garner is now free to spend time with what remains of her family.
12:15She knows others still see her as a killer who got away with it.
12:20In the eyes of the law, she is not guilty, and the case against her is forever closed.
12:28Under the law, you cannot be charged with this crime again, even if you say you did it.
12:35So let me ask you, did you kill your husband?
12:41No.
12:42The man was the love of my life.
12:45I told you he was all I had.
12:47He was going to take care of me for the rest of my life.
12:51Without him, I have nobody.
12:54No, I didn't kill my husband.
12:56No.
Recommended
2:34
|
Up next
1:11
2:13
1:56
1:58
1:36
Be the first to comment