Ruth Chenetz
Appearances
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
Yeah, you get that. And I think he... Wants to think that of everyone in his life and his firefighters and his world has been changed. I mean, his world will never be the same.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
Right, and the person that the defense mentioned in their closing argument was Melissa's dad, saying... You never looked at Gus. You never questioned him. He was at the grocery store buying groceries for Thanksgiving when he got the call about the fire. Like, why didn't you verify that he wasn't at the house earlier? And they were making that point.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
It's a bold move, I think, on the defense part. And I asked the lawyers, is there a shred of evidence that Gus had anything to do with Melissa's murder, with the fire, anything? And they said no. So it was, you know, but as defense lawyers, as they do, we're just trying to create some sort of doubt. And that was one of the ways they did it. Right.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
That was actually one of my very first thoughts when we were researching the story is, wait a second. He seems like the one person who might be able to set a fire that would destroy evidence, but he's a firefighter. He's not an arson investigator. He doesn't necessarily know how to start the perfect fire.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
You know, hearing Gus refer to that in his victim statement was powerful. I remember, I think we even looked at each other like, ugh. And then also, we sat down with Gus after that day, and he had such raw emotion. You know, I feel like dads sometimes try to be really tough, and he just, it was so sad and so heartbreaking.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
Clearly, they were so close. She's living with him. He's supporting her. There's a room in his house ready for a baby with diapers and teddy bears and He's lost it all and his house.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
It's a sweet story. It's a great name. I love the name. According to her family, Melissa never told anyone the name, but they really wanted to try to figure it out. They knew that she liked double letters. They knew it was a boy and she was calling the baby little bear. So after she passed, they were able to see her internet searches. And one of them was, what does the name Barrett mean?
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
So they decided to go with that name. And coincidentally, one of the meanings of the name Barrett is bear strength. Oh. Which is sweet. So that's the name that he was given. That's the name that's on his tombstone with his mom.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
And remember, if he did, in fact, do this, you know, he would have wanted to destroy all the evidence, but he would have no way of knowing exactly how to commit the perfect crime in that way.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
Yeah, putting out a fire is definitely much different. The oven wasn't on. The burners were turned off. But when you see pictures of the crime scene and anyone who watched the show sees, I mean, the kitchen is destroyed, which she was found. But a lot of the rest of the house, including the room that had stuff for the baby, which is gut-wrenching to see, was intact.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
Melissa and Matthew Pallotti had known each other for some time. They met during college. They went to different colleges, but they met at a trivia night at a bar. And as Ruth said, had this casual relationship. But I remember Cassie... One of her sisters who we talked to in the hour telling a story about Melissa saying that the father of her baby was a bald firefighter.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
And Cassie went on Facebook sort of scouring, trying to figure it out and did. And sort of said, is it him? Really? And she's like, you know, I believe confirmed it.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
Well, I know Gus, Melissa's dad, he didn't want to know the name because- He didn't want to know. He didn't want to know who the father was because the father didn't want to be in the baby's life. And I think as Melissa's father, he's probably mad. Like, I don't even want to know who this guy is. I think my dad would feel that way. Right. But I think probably her sister clearly wanted to know.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
I'd probably do the same thing. I'd be all over Facebook.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
Matthew did not want his parents to know he was expecting a baby, and Melissa decided ultimately to take it upon herself to tell Matt's parents about it. And as we understand it, you know, they probably later spoke to him about it. So we don't know for sure. Investigators say they don't know for sure if that could have set him off.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
But certainly in our interview with some of Melissa's family, they wondered if it did. I remember Deanna, her mom, saying, you know, if only she hadn't told his parents, would she maybe be here? Would my grandson maybe be here? Okay.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
Which is admirable and says a lot about Melissa. We did... tried to speak with his parents, but they didn't want to sit down with us with 48 hours. But they were, as we understand it, there at the trial. The defense said they certainly were supporting him. We saw them the day of the sentencing.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
What started the fire? What mattered was, was it accidental or was it intentional? An accidental fire and an intentional fire could both be started in the same way, really. So I think that was really what it was all about.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
wanted to see her daughter and her grandson, Barrett, who, remember, was a baby about to come out into the world. And Deanna carries around a picture with her. In the picture is Barrett, and she's holding Barrett's hand, Deanna, and she keeps that in her wallet and carries it around. And to see the picture just sort of makes your heart stop for a
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
What this family has lost, she's lost her own daughter, her grandson, her daughter's lost a child she never got to meet. I mean, it's horrific in every way. And for me, seeing that photo is just something I'll never forget.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
And I think, too, what's striking or what might strike a jury is not once is he emotional. And I think, you know, juries, humans, like to watch behavior. And behavior... as his lawyers would put it, doesn't mean guilt or innocence, no matter what it is. But it's hard to tell a jury that.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
I think for me, what strikes me the most is neither of his interviews did he ever say, I didn't kill Melissa and her baby. And I would think if you are, in fact, innocent, you would probably say that.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
And when he first got the call that Matthew Plody was being investigated for the murder of... He didn't even know about Melissa... Had never heard the name Melissa Landers. She didn't know there was a baby. But when he was told all of this and that Matthew was being investigated, he couldn't believe it. He was like, no, no way. Not the Matthew that I know. He knows him. He's known him for years.
48 Hours
Post Mortem | The Firefighter's Secret
But he said, I think the moment for him where he thought, wait, maybe something is, you know, maybe Matthew is involved is that Matthew had... taken off that day from work. And I think for him, that was the moment where things started to fall into place.