A Deadly Attraction

0:00Music

0:08The most horrible thing you could ever imagine. A woman's asleep in her own room, in her own bed, and she's awakened to being stabbed. She's laying right here, and whoever it was starts stabbing her. Joanne Witt lived alone in the home with her 14-year-old daughter, Tyler Witt. Joanne had 20 stab wounds over her entire body. Some of the most horrific wounds I've ever seen. It was very brutal. It didn't appear that there was a robbery involved. There was nothing else missing from the home. And then the next question was, where's the daughter? And then, wait a minute, where's the daughter's boyfriend?

0:51Where are they? It was a very devastating experience. my daughter is murdered and we don't know what happened. The next thing we know, they're telling us that our granddaughter and her boyfriend did it. The relationship she had with Stephen Colvard, she worshiped him. She would have done anything for him. She was turning into more of a rebellious teenager. She was testing the limits. She'd been getting into trouble. You've been arrested for murder. What?

1:26Who did I murder? Your mother. What? My mom's dead.

1:38Whoever inflicted those wounds was very strong. And I just don't believe a 100-pound Tyler Witt could have inflicted those wounds. It's not true. She's not dead. She can't read it. She's dead. No, she's not. The victim's daughter is a very smart, manipulative 14-year-old. There is no way that she came anywhere near her mother that night. I don't believe it could have happened. I think the evidence was overwhelming that Tyler was not the one that did the killing. The woman attorney, I want you gone. How dare you? The whole thing is crazy.

2:29I'm Richard Schlesinger. Tonight on 48 Hours, a fatal attraction.

2:58Norb and Judy Witt worked hard and planned well to live it up in retirement, traveling whenever they wanted in their luxury RV. In 2009, they spent two months traveling the country, came home to El Dorado Hills, California, and days later got the phone call. It was their daughter Joanne's boss, wondering if they knew where she was. He says, well, she didn't show up for work on Friday and she didn't show up today. And we're worried that something might be wrong. Joanne Witt was 47, a single mother raising her teenage daughter, Tyler. She was an engineer for the county. The thing was, Joanne always, always called when she was not coming to work.

3:50When you heard that she hadn't been at work the previous Friday or that Monday, did that strike you as odd? Oh, yeah. Well, like your boss said, she's never missed work without calling. Noib says, we're only two miles away, we'll go check on her. But Joanne's boss was one step ahead of them. He says, I've already called the sheriff's. And he says Joanne had confided that she and Tyler had been having some problems. And he says we were concerned.

4:24I got in a car and got over there so fast I think I was in a daze by the time I got there.

4:31There was two sheriff's cars and two deputies out there walking around the house. And I said, well, I think I can get you in the house. Norb unlocked the house, but the sheriff's deputies ordered him to stay outside while they searched it. Before long, they told him Joanne was upstairs in her bedroom, and she was dead. They never said killed or murdered. They just said deceased. So we didn't know what was going on. But when the CSI van came in and we had probably 20 detectives wandering around the place, we knew that she had been killed. Joanne had been stabbed about 20 times. It was a very, very, very gruesome scene.

5:16Lisette Suter is the prosecutor on this case. There was a wound that almost decapitated her. Very violent. Two or three days before this, you'd been on vacation having the time of your life. Oh, yeah. And, you know, like that, everything changed. Yeah. The news got even worse. Their 14-year-old granddaughter, Tyler, was nowhere to be found. We didn't know if Tyler had been kidnapped. We knew nothing. Can you remember what you were feeling? Shock? Just shock. Just shock. Total, total. Shock and concern about our granddaughter. Yeah. But it didn't take detectives very long to conclude that Tyler was not a victim.

5:59Just weeks before, Joanne had complained to authorities about her daughter's relationship with a 19-year-old boyfriend, Stephen Culver. And now detectives wanted to talk to both of them. Culver and Tyler met at a coffee shop soon after she started ninth grade, and he had started college. Norb Witt says it wasn't long before Stephen started influencing Tyler, and not in a good way. He had a 14-year-old that looked at him as God. I mean, he had total control over her. We knew that drugs were involved. We knew that a lot of drugs were involved. They were into marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine. What does that do to someone's mind?

6:50Just weeks after they met, Stephen and Tyler convinced her mother to let Stephen rent a room in their home. Joanne thought the two were just friends. They told her he was gay. And Joanne told skeptical friends Stephen could help Tyler with her homework and help her pay the mortgage. No one, every friend she had, everyone in the family did not want him in there. But Joanne was very strong-willed. So she let Stephen move in. But within a month, Joanne had become suspicious. She came home one day and was shocked when she went to Stephen's room. This is the room where it all began. The prosecutor took us through the house.

7:35Joanne walked in and caught them in a compromising position. They had just, or were about to, engage in a sexual relationship. Tyler was naked. Right, she was actually inside this closet, crouched down, covering herself butt naked. Joanne did what any parent would do. She ordered Stephen to leave, and she called in two of her male co-workers to help throw him out. She said she was going to kick Stephen out, and she didn't want to be there alone. Vinny Catapano was one of Joanne's friends. He helped move Culver's things to the sidewalk and then confronted him. The first thing I said to him is, if it was me, you'd be in jail right now.

8:23Joanne believed Culver had committed a crime, statutory rape, by having sex with Tyler, who was a minor. Joanne warned Culver she'd call the sheriff if he didn't immediately stop seeing Tyler. Vinnie took a more direct approach. I said, if you make contact with Tyler again, either by phone or in person, I'm going to hurt you. And I'm going to hurt you East Coast style, not West Coast style. What does that mean? I was trying to intimidate him. Did he seem intimidated? Absolutely not. And that, again, annoyed me more. Culver was also apparently not deterred by Vinnie or Joanne. He snuck over to the house 20 times.

9:07They continued their affair during the day when Joanne was at work and late at night when she was asleep. When Joanne found out, she made good on her threat and called authorities who opened an investigation. She wanted him away from her daughter, but they couldn't stand the thought of not being together. And so that's when the plotting began. Within days, Norb Witt unlocked the house and sheriff's deputies discovered the results of that alleged plot. Norb and his wife Judy now faced a terrible choice. Getting justice for the murder of their daughter meant turning their backs on their granddaughter.

9:55If she hadn't done whatever she did, her mother would still be alive today, probably. And prosecutors say Tyler and Stephen apparently didn't intend to stop with Joanne. They had more killing in mind.

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11:24It was less than a month before her murder, and Joanne Witt had had enough. She went to the sheriff to complain about Stephen Culver's sexual relationship with her underage daughter. That's when Culver got this call. Have you ever had sex with her? Have you ever had sex with Tyler? No. It was from a detective. Okay. And what's your relationship with her? He's like a sister to me. I understand she's 14. I understand all this. I'm very, very scared of the moment. You need to be honest because it'll look a lot better if you just come out clean. But things were just getting worse for Tyler and Stephen.

12:05Joanne discovered Tyler's diary and prosecutor Lisette Souter says it could not be more incriminating. It depicted very explicit writings of different sexual positions, different encounters, things that made it very clear that in fact they had had a sexual relationship. Joanne turned the diary over to the detectives and broke the news to her very angry daughter. She felt betrayed by her mother, Tyler's attorney, Mark Ralphs. And she was devastated, and she was very much afraid that he was going to go to prison. Culver thought he would face serious prison time once detectives read that diary that Joanne gave them.

12:54In his mind, up to 20 years in prison for what Joanne had just done to him. And Souter believes that's when Stephen and Tyler decided they had to kill Joanne. even though Joanne had already turned over the diary. They both made the decision that, yes, this is what we're going to do. Authorities believe the murder occurred late at night on Thursday, June 11, 2009, after Joanne went to bed. Her daughter let in Stephen Culver. After they made sure she was asleep, Stephen got out a knife. The knife was never recovered, but investigators believe it looked something like this, a 10-inch-long chef's knife.

13:39Souter believes it was Culver alone who stabbed Joanne in a particularly violent attack. She's laying right here. He starts stabbing her. Wow. Very brutal. She tries to fight back. She puts her hands up. There's a struggle. The sheets are messed up. Things go flying. And there's how she's found, with her legs over the bed. A bloody outline of the knife was left on the bed. And ironically, in the nightstand next to the bed where she died, there was a book, How to Parent You're Out of Control Teenager. After the murder, Suter says Tyler and Stephen covered Joanne's body with a blanket, turned down the air conditioning to help preserve the body, locked up the house, and left.

14:29I think how they acted afterwards is very shocking, that they were hanging out with their friends. They were kissing and holding hands along the street. They were living their life without Joanne. But they didn't plan to live very long. Using logic only a teenager might understand, Stephen and Tyler allegedly killed Joanne so they could run off and kill themselves. They both believed Stephen was about to be arrested for having sex with Tyler. That's when it led to how are we going to be together? Well, we're gonna be together forever and eternally by killing ourselves. How much thought did they put into this?

15:15Well, it's a great deal. Obviously, I don't follow their logic. But Steven and Tyler were following their plan. They went to San Francisco, rented this hotel room, and ate a bizarre concoction of Froot Loops, cake, and rat poison. It didn't work. And two days after Joanne's body was found, with police hot on their trail, the teens were discovered by local officers changing their clothes behind a dumpster at a mall. They were both charged with murder. You've been arrested for murder. It's not true. It's not that she killed me then. It wasn't long before Tyler ended the interrogation.

16:18Detectives had a lot of questions for Tyler and Culver. And so did Stephen's mother. Jan Culver is convinced her son is innocent. I remember when I looked at the autopsy photos, and I just remember gasping at the horrific nature of them. Stephen is incapable of that. But Stephen and Tyler both left incriminating suicide notes, and Stephen told two of his close friends that he murdered Joanne. He went so far as to get into the trunk of his car and show the bloody knife. So he showed what you believe is the murder weapon? Correct. It was Stephen's own words that helped convince prosecutors he actually stabbed Joanne Witt to death while Tyler stood by.

17:11When somebody says, I did it, here's the knife I did it with. Indeed. That's a problem for a defense attorney. Very much so. Dane Weiner is Stephen's attorney. He says Culver told his friends he killed Joanne to protect the real killer, the love of his life, Tyler Witt. He's planning on being dead in several days, so he's not concerned about the consequences for him. His goal is to prevent her from being labeled as a mother killer. He would care about others before himself to his detriment. Stephen is the kind of guy who would drive off a cliff or jump in front of a bullet or run into a burning home for a friend.

17:49Even when he was interrogated shortly after his arrest, Culver was asking about Tyler. You spoke with Ty? How is she? Better now? She's probably going through a lot. I'm just worried about her. But he probably should have been worried about himself. His mother believes Stephen has crippled his defense, and she told him so right after his arrest. Why on earth would you have ever said that you did this? We were both crying and he said, he said, I was in a different frame of mind. He goes, I'm so sorry, mom. And I said, you do realize that your words will probably convict you.

18:40Steven's not violent. He's not aggressive. Tyler wrote in her diary about how she wished her mother would die in a horrible car crash. Dane Weiner, who's defending Tyler Witt's boyfriend Stephen Culver, says while Culver had a clean record, there is plenty of evidence that shows Tyler was violent and more than capable of stabbing her mother. Every friend she had virtually, she told that she hated her mother. She said, if my mother doesn't let me see Stephen, I swear to God, I will kill her. For Tyler's grandparents, it is almost impossible to believe. Yeah, that's cute. Tyler was a beautiful baby when she was born.

19:29Tyler's birth. As soon as she was born, they let me in with the cameras and I've got, you know, the pictures. Tyler was Norb and Judy Witt's third grandchild. happier times. Oh yeah. Time is crazy! I love you!

19:49Oh, she loves her papa! Now, times are very different. When you look at those pictures, given all that's gone on, what happens in your heart? It was hard. It really was. Hey! She was a wonderful mother. Just the affection, the care. Her whole life centered around her daughter. No father involved at all. He was never in the scene. Joanne took Tyler everywhere. Very, very close. Everything changed, though, when Tyler was just five. According to Joanne's best friend, Roxanna Juergait, Joanne lost control just for a moment. It happened when she was taking Tyler home from daycare. They were on their way home and they were driving.

20:41Tyler was screaming and Joe was having trouble concentrating on driving and being safe driver. And she turned around and hit Tyler. Later, when daycare workers noticed a red mark in the shape of Joanne's hand on Tyler's face, They reported it to the state CPS, Child Protective Services, and Tyler was taken away from Joanne. She went to foster care for about a month until Norb and Judy could get temporary custody. She lived with us for about six months where Joanne had to take classes. What kind of classes? Anger management and parenting. When Joanne got Tyler back, things were very different in her house.

21:29No, after that, Joanne was afraid even to discipline her that strongly. Yep. Because she was afraid that Tyler would report her to CPS. So that cloud was always there. Mommy, you know, I want to go out tonight with the boys or something like that. And I'm going. And that was always the threat. Yeah. Hi, Ty. What? Ty, wait a minute. What's wrong? Tyler got into this behavior that she could do whatever she wanted. And there's no consequence.

22:10She watched as Tyler started getting into trouble at school, and she ran away from home several times. She was sweet when she was growing up. She was sweet.

22:24but I don't know her now and I don't want to know her now. Roxanna says Joanne finally started trying to discipline Tyler more in the months before she was killed and that led to fights, violent ones. What are you doing? Nothing. Yeah. Things were starting to get physical between them. The authorities, including Child Protective Services, got involved several times. Tyler told them her mother frequently got drunk and beat her. But Tyler was never taken from the house. There was no abuse. She wasn't an alcoholic. She didn't get violent. And the authorities seem to agree. Prosecutor Lizette Souter says there is no evidence to support Tyler's accusations.

23:14If Tyler were truly beaten to the extent that is sort of assumed from the way Tyler speaks, there were never marks, there were never bruises, there were people around a lot, and it never happened with any of those people around. So was it something that happened just behind closed doors? I don't know. But less than a month before the murder, Joanne and her daughter had a fight, focusing this time on Tyler's sexual relationship with Culver. Did she ever actually attack her mother? She did. She threw some things at her mom. It was the day that she learned that her mother had reported the relationship to the police.

23:51Actually, Tyler called the police pretending to be her mother, saying, my daughter's out of control, come get my daughter. It has to be one of the more bizarre 911 calls ever made. 911. Um, excuse me, my daughter, Tyler Witt, has physically assaulted me and she's analyzing my home. That's Tyler impersonating her mother. She's trying to get herself taken away by the sheriff. Do you feel safe being on the phone with me? No, I do not. She would not go back into her room. I tried to push her back into her room, and we started to get into a fight, and I'm bleeding. It is chilling evidence of a deeply troubled mother-daughter relationship.

24:33Joanne finally comes to the phone, and she really is injured. The angry voice in the background is Tyler. Hello? Yes? That was my daughter. Go ahead. Finish the report. Send me to jail. Is her name Joanne? Why don't you let me leave? Are you safe? I don't know. Okay. Are you injured at all? Yeah. Okay. We have deputies on the way. Thank you. Why would Tyler try to arrange her own arrest? I have asked Tyler that question, and she said she wanted to be anywhere but home. She would rather have been in juvenile hall than at home that day. Mom ended up with, I believe, a cut on her chin, some bruises on her arm.

25:17Joanne didn't need to go to a hospital, but Tyler was taken to Juvenile Hall. When Joanne refused to press charges, Tyler was released within hours and sent back home.

25:33Weiner questions why, with Tyler's history of fighting with her mother, Stephen is the one prosecutors say stabbed Joanne. He has never hurt anybody or tried to hurt anybody or threatened to hurt anybody, as contrasted with Tyler, who has a very specific history with her mother and has literally threatened to kill her, to stab her, the very method by which she was ultimately killed. Joanne's parents, Tyler's grandparents, weren't sure what to believe, who did what to whom, but Norb was convinced that Tyler was involved in Joanne's murder somehow she's not my granddaughter anymore your husband's written her off I mean is that pretty much have you a little harder for a grandmother yeah I think she'll always be in my heart that it's not the Tyler that we know today.