Nikki Battiste
Appearances
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rod's job loss happened to come at the same time Morgan's career was starting to flourish.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan's company, Shiplap and Sugar, became so successful she asked Nicole to join her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan says her professional success and Rod's lack of it made for a dangerous combination. She says he began to abuse her both physically and mentally. She recalls one Labor Day weekend. She and Rod were celebrating on a boat with friends and had just returned to their cabin.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Shockingly, Morgan says Rod tried to convince her and the people closest to her that she was to blame for her injuries. He convinced my parents that I was the one that did it.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan says Rod claims she got hurt because he was forced to physically restrain her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan says that's when a new phase in the marriage began. one in which she started to doubt her own reality because she says Rod was gaslighting her, making her think every conflict Rod instigated actually began with her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan says Rod sexually abused her as well, although she says it took a while for her to recognize what it was.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
The divorce was final in December and Morgan was ready to move on. But now, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day, it appeared Rod had come back into her life as her hero. Sergeant Livers and Sergeant Robert Hawk recall that when they first arrived at Morgan's house at 3 a.m., Rod's behavior had struck them as unusual.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan was not only physically injured. Investigators could tell she had suffered psychologically after the attacker left her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan was outside for 40 minutes before Rod arrived, but initially she thought it was just half that.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Interesting. I would have thought the opposite. That would have felt longer for her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
The first thing Livers and Hawk did was separate everyone, seen here through this zoomed-in front porch security video. Morgan, Rod, and Morgan's father and brother, who came over after she called them. Then Livers recorded his conversation with Morgan inside the house.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Safely out of earshot of her ex-husband, who was standing just outside. Morgan told investigators that she suspected her attacker was the man pretending to be her hero.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan said she had no idea who her assailant was when the attack began. But then came one critical moment.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
And then there was another even bigger clue when her attacker lifted Morgan off the bed to place her outside. And that's when I really knew it was him. Morgan remembered something from years earlier.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
She told them the attack had followed a chaotic week, which began with very troubling news. He thinks he's got pancreatic cancer.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
This was one of those cases that when it happened, everybody knew that this was bad. Citizens don't want to think that monsters live amongst them.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rod had told no one else, and Morgan explained that she'd been letting him stay at her house.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan told the investigators that Rod had spent the week trying to reconcile with her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
But Morgan says she had no interest. By the morning of December 31st, she'd had enough, feeling the pressure of being his sole emotional support. Morgan insisted Rod share his health news with his parents.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Fed up with it all, Morgan lied and told Rod she'd be sleeping elsewhere that New Year's Eve night.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
As Morgan shared her suspicions with investigators, she didn't know if they would accept what she was telling them. I've been mentally, emotionally, physically abused. Because Rod made her feel like she was to blame for years. That's what he's built in my brain. But that all changed when Sergeant Livers told her he believed her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rachel Ash is the Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney for Cherokee County. She works exclusively on domestic violence cases. Parker, an emotional support dog, is often with her to comfort victims. Ash says investigators were perplexed that Rod had come to Morgan's house that night after she'd told him she'd be at her parents'.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Why'd you even come here? Why didn't you go to her parents' house? Why didn't you check with her parents?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rod said that after hearing that knocking on his window and someone saying Morgan's name, he tried phoning Morgan to warn her. Sergeant Hawk wanted to check.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rod handed his cell phone to the investigators. Gave them permission to look through his phone. And what they found came as a surprise.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
A lot of photos of Morgan nude. And those photos of Morgan nude, it was pretty apparent that she didn't know he was taking those photos of her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Investigators also discovered Rod had snapped pictures of Morgan's cell phone showing text messages between her and another man. They considered these and the photos of Morgan to be an invasion of privacy.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
But could investigators prove that Rod Metzer had attacked Morgan that night?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
I was angry and just sore. Even as they booked Rod for taking those pictures of Morgan and her texts, Hawk and Livers had already developed a theory about why Rod might have attacked her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Investigators hoped home security cameras would support their theory, but they quickly learned that all the video from the time of the attack had been erased through the app on Morgan's phone that the assailant had used to unlock her back porch door when he left. Morgan's attacker took her phone with him. It was never recovered.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Were you ever able to retrieve those missing videos from the security company?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
But since Morgan had a home security system, how did the attacker get in without setting off the alarm? It did not take long to figure out. This is the window the attacker entered?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Investigators believed Rod had disabled the sensor while he was staying at Morgan's house that week. I was sleeping. It was in the middle of the night. Although the home security videos had been erased, there was other video from prior to the attack. The camera on Morgan's front porch caught Rod earlier that evening.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan says the message Rod sent with the picture of the check made it seem like he was trying to make a grand gesture.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan's attacker took that check with him. It was never found. What did you find out about Rod's finances?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
The day after his arrest, investigators executed search warrants on Rod's car and his apartment. As soon as they walked through the door, they found a key piece of evidence.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
They located this bag of zip ties in his apartment and a portion of a zip tie.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Before arriving at her house, Morgan's attacker had pre-looped the zip ties he'd put on her wrists.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Hawken-Livers needed to find out if that portion of a zip tie, essentially a tail found in Rod's apartment, lined up with one of the extra heads on Morgan's restraints. They headed to their crime lab. So these are the zip ties that were actually found on Morgan?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
She went back to sleep. And then the next thing that she knew, she woke up. And there was this figure standing in her door.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
The striations on the tail found in Rod's apartment lined up exactly with those on Morgan's zip tie. That's incredible. Perfect match. Perfect match. What did you think when you saw this?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
But the search warrant of Rod's apartment yielded even more. There was a book.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
The searches also included how to crack an iPhone password, how to get sympathy from your ex, and one that was especially appalling.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Investigators searched Rod's outgoing emails. There they found Rod had set up a fake email account to create the pancreatic cancer diagnosis letter he'd shown Morgan. And there was more.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
He had created a bill for a doctor's office to show that he was being treated for pancreatic cancer. All of this in order to convince Morgan that he had pancreatic cancer. He wasn't sick at all. No, he did not have cancer.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Do you think that he faked the cancer diagnosis as a way to try to get you back or as a way to get access to your house because he had this plan?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
On January 3rd, two days after the attack, Sergeant Livers and Sergeant Tom Harris interviewed Rod. They talked to him about his health.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Detective Livers confronted Rod about the cancer diagnosis he'd faked to Morgan.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Then Rod tried to turn the tables by attempting to take the upper hand in the interview.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
What do you make of Rod Metzer's interview with police? For an in-depth look at the evidence, go to 48hours.com.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
He turned her over, and he put these handcuffs on her that were fashioned with zip ties.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
I see a face right up against the window. Bleach white, no hair, black eyes, a round hole for a mouth. It's flat, Taylor. It's completely flat. I don't know what that is. I don't know what kind of a head is flat.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Hours after the interview with Rod Metzer concluded, he was charged with 10 counts related to the attack on Morgan, including home invasion, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and sexual battery.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
The next day, Morgan, with her friend Nicole by her side, talked to investigators again.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Sergeant Harris told Morgan they'd watch the home security video of Rod arriving at her house after her attack. He rang the front doorbell, but when there was no response, headed around to the back.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
What was your reaction when you learned Rod had been arrested for violently attacking Morgan?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Two days after Rod was charged, he talked to his mom, Kathy, on the phone.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
But the evidence kept mounting. When investigators recovered those zip ties from Rod's apartment, the bag they came in was found as well.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
The sheriff's office then went to the two Lowe's that we have here in Cherokee County, and they started searching for transactions.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
She described it like Batman, kind of like Batman trying to disguise his voice.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
It didn't take long. Rod Metzer had purchased those zip ties on December 30th, about 36 hours before the attack. Easy to find because he paid with his debit card. Investigators obtained the security video from Lowe's, zoomed in here for clarity.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
This was during COVID, and this was during a period where everybody was wearing a mask except for Rodney Metzer. So the surveillance images and the videos that were recovered from Lowe's of him purchasing those zip ties, his face is right there in the camera.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
I see a security camera here. Next came the security video from Rod's apartment building.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Sergeant Liver says there was no video of Rod leaving after he said someone knocked on his window.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Just four minutes later, Rod is caught on camera again leaving the building wearing completely different clothes and sneakers and carrying a plastic bag highlighted here. The timestamp was 1.24 a.m.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
We just don't know where that went. Investigators can't know for sure what was in that bag, but believe it had evidence Rod discarded on his drive back to Morgan's house. The attacker's mask was never found, but Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Rachel Ash says they had more than enough to prove Rod was guilty.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
This is a prosecutor's dream to put up because the evidence in this case was overwhelming. Overwhelming.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
But Ash says she wanted to offer Morgan an opportunity for a quicker closure than a trial would bring in the form of a plea deal for Rod.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
We went through the pros and cons of letting him plead guilty, letting him accept responsibility. We agreed we should try. He took it quickly.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
On August 4th, 2021, Rod pleaded guilty to a total of 14 counts related to Morgan's attack and the photos found on his phone.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
I've lost my husband. He's dead to me. At Rod's sentencing, Morgan delivered a victim impact statement several pages long.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
There were no cameras in the courtroom. We asked Morgan to read her statement. Here's a portion of it.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Who would want to do this to Morgan Metzer? Nobody should want to do this to Morgan Metzer.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
She was laying to rest this relationship. She was telling him this, I'm never going to be yours, right? I'm never going to be yours.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rod's actions that New Year's Day continue to affect everyone. Have you been able to visit Rod in person at all?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rod suffers from type 1 diabetes, and Kathy says his health is rapidly declining in prison. You're worried he could die?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
He was not the kind of person that most people suspect of something like this.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan says once the ordeal was behind her, she had to take steps so she could recover, seeking therapy to help her cope.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
She says she is focused on raising her children and helping others who find themselves in similar circumstances.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rod Metzer's sentence prevents him from contacting Morgan and their children in any way.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
When Morgan Metzer glimpsed a masked figure standing in her bedroom doorway shortly after midnight on New Year's Day 2021, she thought she might just be seeing things.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Just hours earlier, she'd been ready to ring in the new year in Canton, Georgia, with her best friend, Nicole Stabisevsky.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Recently divorced, her eight-year-old twin son and daughter were spending a few days with her sister in Florida. I mean, we're moms. We just wanted to hang out for a second.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Little could either friend have guessed that a short time later, Morgan would be in fear for her life. Her attacker had brought zip ties with him, already pre-looped and intertwined. He put Morgan's hands behind her back, slipped them on, and tightened them. It's an outer body experience. I can't imagine what you're thinking, what you're feeling.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan's attacker sexually assaulted her. Who did you think was attacking you? I don't know. I just felt like it was some random person. In addition to the mask, the intruder had taken great pains to disguise himself. Black hoodie jacket, black pants, black gloves.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
He said very little, but when he did, Morgan says her assailants seemed to be disguising his voice, making it sound low and gravelly, like the Batman movies. He also seemed to know about Morgan's personal life, specifically her recent divorce. He said something about your husband.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan says her mind raced. trying to piece together why this was happening to her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan's house had an alarm system, which she'd set before going to bed. An app on her phone controlled it, along with several security cameras around her home. And a lock on the door of her second floor bedroom, which led out to a back porch.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
The attacker had unlocked the door remotely through that app on Morgan's phone. Morgan says he put a pillowcase over her head.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan's property was secluded, with little chance of a neighbor seeing or hearing her on the back porch. And with that pillowcase over her head and the attacker's final words of warning ringing in her ears, Morgan had no way of knowing if he, or someone else, was watching her.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Then, a sound in the distance struck terror in Morgan all over again. I hear somebody walking up. Unable to see, she feared her attacker had returned to finish the job.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
That's when Morgan heard a very familiar voice. Oh, honey, what happened? Morgan's grueling ordeal was finally over. And who would turn out to be her rescuer? Her ex-husband, Rod Metzer.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
When Morgan's ex-husband, Rod Metzer, turned up at her house, he immediately called 911. Somebody broke in over here.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Sergeant Dakota Livers was a detective with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department in 2021. He had a lot of questions. Exactly why had Rod gone to Morgan's home in the middle of the night? This was Rod's apartment right here?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Concerned, Rod said he tried calling Morgan, but she didn't answer. What did he say he was thinking? Someone knocks on his window in the early morning hours of New Year's Day?
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Rod told investigators he'd gotten in his car and made the 12-minute drive over to his ex-wife's house. Despite being divorced, Rod said he was still looking out for Morgan. Their relationship stretched back nearly 20 years. How old were you when you met Rod? 14 years old.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Unfortunately, their newly wedded bliss would be short-lived. Eight months after the wedding... I wish you both endless years of love, health, and happiness. Rod's younger brother Kevin lost his battle with leukemia at the age of 19.
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
But the family would suffer a second and devastating loss. Baby Kevin was born early with a congenital heart defect. He lived just 18 days. He actually died on his due date. The loss of a child is...
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
unthinkable and i would imagine tough for you and rod very tough don't really remember a lot of it it's a big blur with all the emotions so it seemed like a miracle when just three months later morgan discovered she was pregnant again kathy remembers the moment rod showed her the ultrasound picture he says what do you see i said a baby he said no look what do you see
48 Hours
The "Batman" Intruder
Morgan gave birth to a healthy boy and girl in 2012. It should have been a happy time, but not long after, the marriage began to change.