Virginia woman strangled days after dumping her deceptive boyfriend

3 days ago 7

When archetypal responders arrived astatine Katlyn Lyon Montgomery's flat and discovered her unconscious, they suspected a cause overdose. Her roommate, Jacob Piercy, had called 911 aft Montgomery's daughter, Milani, alerted him that determination was thing incorrect with her mother.

But arsenic "48 Hours" analogous Erin Moriarty reports, determination was nary overdose, and investigators soon uncovered Katlyn had been murdered, successful "The Sneak Attack connected Katlyn Lyon" airing Saturday, Jan. 31, astatine 10/9c connected CBS and streaming connected Paramount+.

Mom turns to TikTok to stock grief and clasp daughter's slayer accountable 03:43

When Montgomery arrived astatine the infirmary successful the aboriginal greeting hours of Jan. 7, 2022, aesculapian unit noticed injuries forming connected her caput and neck. Lead researcher Robbie Burnette with Virginia's Bedford County Sheriff's Office focused connected documenting those injuries. At the apartment, researcher Michelle Alderson recovered what whitethorn person caused those injuries connected Montgomery's neck: a aggregate charging cord adapter wrapped up successful Katlyn's comforter.

Investigators turned to Piercy, arsenic helium was the lone different big successful the flat and determination was nary motion of a break-in.

"So, we were looking astatine him ... beauteous dense astatine archetypal ... helium was our No. 1 fishy astatine that point," Burnette told Moriarty.

Burnette said Piercy was cooperative, handing implicit his telephone and agreeing to beryllium interviewed respective times. Police soon cleared Piercy aft his communicative checked out, and investigators accidental helium could beryllium heard connected the 911 telephone doing CPR and trying to prevention Montgomery.

Investigators learned Montgomery had precocious breached up with a antheral named Trenton Frye. They spoke with Katlyn's household and friends to find retired much astir the relationship. Her brother, Jake Lyon, said astatine first, Frye seemed similar an awesome guy.

"And did she get the content that helium was beauteous palmy and ran a mates of businesses ..." Moriarty asked Lyon.

"Definitely. Yeah, I deliberation everybody was benignant of nether that impression," helium replied.

Montgomery's friend, Hannah McDowell, says Frye was a bully lucifer for Katlyn, who was looking for a antheral that she could unrecorded with, wed and person children with.

"She wanted idiosyncratic that was supportive ... and beryllium a begetter to Milani, arsenic well."

Montgomery and Frye had plans to determination successful together, and Frye offered to find them an flat successful his autochthonal North Carolina.

But successful aboriginal September 2022, helium confessed helium couldn't find an flat due to the fact that helium lacked the recognition and root of income to qualify. Montgomery's aunt, Sherry Cox, said, "Katlyn called maine from enactment and she was screaming ... bawling ... she was like, 'He's a liar, helium lied astir everything, helium doesn't person a occupation ... that's not his car he's driving, he's driving his mom's car ... he's surviving successful his car, helium doesn't person a place.'"

Like Cox, Lyon remembered that his sister "realized that helium was benignant of a con artist" and asserted Frye "always talked a large crippled astir however palmy helium was and each of his companies that helium ran oregon owned ... helium didn't person thing going for him."

And similar Cox and Lyon, Montgomery's mother, Crystal Sale, knew that Katlyn was done with Frye.

"So she chopped him off?" asked Moriarty.

"She did. She blocked him," Frye replied.

Now with a motive, and aft gathering cellphone information placing him adjacent Montgomery's flat connected the nighttime of her attack, Frye was taken into custody. As helium awaited trial, prosecutors had to portion unneurotic however Frye could person sneaked into the second-story flat and carried retired this onslaught without leaving immoderate carnal grounds behind.

Commonwealth lawyer Wes Nance pointed to a seat that was recovered thrown into the weeds down Montgomery's apartment. He theorized that Frye placed that seat atop a 4-foot partition nether Montgomery's balcony to "give him that other foot-and-a-half oregon truthful boost truthful helium could really propulsion up onto the second-floor deck."

This mentation was inactive hard to prove, though, said Nance. "Just due to the fact that you mightiness person a weakness successful your case, doesn't mean you let a slayer to spell free," helium told Moriarty.

Frye's attorney, Joseph Sanzone, emphasizes that determination is nary grounds placing Frye wrong the apartment, and besides urged it would person been intolerable for Frye to standard that balcony and interruption into the flat without waking anyone up — including the 3 dogs that Montgomery and Piercy shared.

"Only Tom Cruise tin bash that arsenic acold arsenic I know," said Sanzone.

Nance points to 1 cardinal item during proceedings that points to Frye's "Tom Cruise"-like ability, and it came from a sanction Frye gave himself connected the stand: "ninja."

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