299. The Death From Success

On this episode, Payton and Garrett dive into the case of Lance Herndon, a successful tech entrepreneur whose life ended under mysterious circumstances. As investigators search for answers, it becomes clear that success can come with dangerous consequences. Links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderwithmyhusband NEW MERCH LINK: https://mwmhshop.com Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themwmh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murderwithmyhusband/ Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@murderwithmyhusband Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7?si=f5224c9fd99542a7 Case Sources:Oxygen.com - https://www.oxygen.com/the-real-murders-of-atlanta/crime-news/dionne-baugh-killed-atlanta-tech-mogul-lance-herndon UPI.com - https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/08/09/Noted-black-businesman-slain/8769839563200/ MiamiHerald.com - https://www.miamiherald.com/detour/article281403783.html NBC.com - https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/atlanta-millionaire-lance-herndon-bludgeoned-to-death-in-home 11Alive.com - https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/true-crime/lance-herndon-killing-dateline-nbc/85-95f31139-0674-4370-b195-51a907fee81c Caselaw. Findlaw.com - https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ga-supreme-court/1339828.html NPR.org - https://www.npr.org/2007/03/08/7767097/redbone-tells-story-of-murder-in-atlanta Corrections1.com - https://www.corrections1.com/corrections/articles/1996-killer-of-roswell-millionaire-out-of-prison-PvTJ28TRjxUGwH7z/ Murderpedia.org - https://mail.murderpedia.org/female. B/b/baugh-dionne.htm NBC.com - https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/atlanta-millionaire-lance-herndon-bludgeoned-to-death-in-home FindAGrave.com - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/254348728/lance-harrison-herndon HappyScribe.com - https://podcasts.happyscribe.com/dateline-nbc/the-killer-among-them Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:26Speaker 01

  This fall, discover why there are two sides to every pancake story at Cracker Barrel. The edgy side, created by the golden crispy edges, and the softer side, made up of those warm fluffy centers. So, slow down. Make time to bring in the family, day or night, and try the new Sweet Cream Caramel Apple Pancakes. Three of the world's best buttermilk pancakes topped with fried cinnamon apples, caramel drizzle, and sweet vanilla cream. Then dig in and write your own breakfast story. Welcome home to Cracker Barrel.

• 0:56Payton Moreland?

  You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My Husband. I'm Peyton Morland.

• 1:03Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm Garrett Moreland.

• 1:04Payton Moreland?

  And he's the husband.

• 1:05Garrett Moreland?

  And I'm the husband. Alright, we don't really have any announcements. Too crazy, I guess. Holiday's coming up, we are recording. I think we mentioned an announcement last week, something we're still working on, but any day now. Any day.

• 1:22Garrett Moreland?

  If you are watching on video, we're messing with some new lighting, so my face is kinda dark. That's okay. We did get, we got shades, I guess. We've been needing shades for our studio for a year.

• 1:40Payton Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 1:40Garrett Moreland?

  Got them. I got them installed. They look great.

• 1:44Payton Moreland?

  Way better. We had curtains hanging up.

• 1:49Garrett Moreland?

  I don't even know if you can call them curtains.

• 1:50Payton Moreland?

  Me either.

• 1:51Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, no announcements. Nothing too crazy.

• 1:56Garrett Moreland?

  First, the podcast. And for my 10 seconds, I'm gonna talk a second about the bagel shop. So if you don't like bagels, you can skip forward. And if you skip forward, that means that I don't know if I like you.

• 2:10Garrett Moreland?

  Bagels, bagels are getting closer. I am opening a bagel shop. It is happening for those that are curious. It's happening. I got the space. I'm signed into a lease. I'm working on permits, working on construction, finalizing recipes, got my concept down. Bagel shop will be opening. It will be opening in Utah. I'm not going to say where yet. It'll be in Utah County and I'll keep everyone updated. More updates coming soon, I promise. I'm just still in the little bit of beginning stages that I don't want to say too much yet. Yeah, that's my 10 seconds. I'm excited. I promise the bagels are going to be good. I promise they're going to be hot. They're going

• 2:54Garrett Moreland?

  to be warm. No one's getting a cold bagel. That's what I have. So on that note, let's hop into today's episode.

• 3:02Payton Moreland?

  Our sources for this episode are oxygen.com, upi.com, miamiherald.com, nbc.com, eleven live dot com, caselaw.fine law, npr.org, correctionsone.com, nbc.com, findagrave.com, and happyscribe.com. I think it's safe to say that a lot of us want to be successful at what we do. It's what drives and motivates many of us to be the best. Sometimes we want the success for the money, or sometimes it's recognition. Sometimes it's just wanting the spotlight. And for a lot of people, it is a combination of all three. But when you finally reach that success, there can

• 3:46Payton Moreland?

  be a lot of unforeseen consequences, critical voices, financial hurdles, and new relationships to navigate. Because success can make you a lot of friends and a lot of enemies. And a lot of your enemies look like friends. Today's case will prove just that, that those new relationships are often the most dangerous part of success. Because the more people you let in and the more people you trust, the more chances you have of getting hurt emotionally, financially, and maybe even physically.

• 4:22Payton Moreland?

  Jumping right in, it is the summer of 1996 and we are in Atlanta, Georgia. Now, this city is actually hosting the Summer Olympics in 1996, bringing in tourists from all over the globe. It is the place to see and be seen. It's also the hotspot at that time if you want to build a business. And 40-year-old Lance Herndon knows that. Lance grew up in New York to pretty humble beginnings, but he became a self-made businessman in Atlanta as he grew up. And by the mid 90s, he was a tech mogul who'd gained a lot of success after creating his own business called Access Incorporated.

• 5:08Payton Moreland?

  It was a computer consulting firm that became a $3 million a year enterprise in the 90s. It had contracts with massive corporations like Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and Nations Bank. But that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Lance. He had a lot of interests and hobbies. He liked collecting cars, traveling the world, getting his pilot's license. And he also co-owned one of the hottest nightclubs in Atlanta called The Vixen Club. I just can't even imagine what The Vixen Club was like in the 90s.

• 5:49Garrett Moreland?

  I feel like clubs and night, this is a different time. Not everyone's running around with iPhones. Honestly, it'd probably be kind of nice.

• 5:58Payton Moreland?

  There's probably so much speed.

• 6:01Garrett Moreland?

  You're probably right. You're probably right.

• 6:03Payton Moreland?

  So I think it's safe to say that Lance obviously takes his life, his work, very seriously. He had been given several public achievement awards, like a Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year Award from President Bill Clinton. And a National Service Award from President George H. W. Bush. So he's just like, well-known in the business world, but as a self-made businessman.

• 6:35Payton Moreland?

  Lance was seen as a hero, an icon in Atlanta in the 90s. But there was just one thing Lance wasn't suited for, and that was marriage. He had been divorced three times, his most recent divorce being in January of 1996. Now, he was still very close and greatly admired by his two kids, his son and his daughter. But he was also seen as one of the most eligible bachelors in Atlanta, who was now back on the market again. So that August, Lance would be turning 41, and he wanted to ring in the occasion in style. Because Lance, by this point, had sort of built a reputation for himself.

• 7:19Payton Moreland?

  Some people referred to him as, quote, "a black Jay Gatsby", because he loved to throw lavish parties where he spared no expense. And that was exactly what he did for his 41st birthday. And in the months before his actual birthday, yes, he had his birthday party months before his birthday, for some reason. He rented out a space overlooking the city of Atlanta. Hundreds of people showed up to this party to celebrate Lance. Many of them were big hitters and power players in Atlanta at the time. Several of the people that came were girlfriends of Lance that he would just kind of keep on rotation.

• 8:03Payton Moreland?

  And that night, everyone danced, everyone drank, and they cheersed to what would certainly be a long and flourishing career for the soon-to-be 41-year-old Lance. But if only they knew what was about to unfold. It was Thursday, August 8th, 1996, a couple of months later, actually. Just four days after Lance's actual 41st birthday.

• 8:30Payton Moreland?

  That morning Lance's employees start showing up to his house in Roswell, Georgia. This is just north of Atlanta. It's here at his big colonial style home that they actually operate the business out of Lance's basement. Now Holly Stubber, one of Lance's most loyal workers is the first to arrive. So she gets to the house at 8:00 AM and she kind of finds it strange that Lance isn't already up and down in the basement, sitting in his desk hustling away. Usually Lance gets up early and is the first to begin work.

• 9:09Payton Moreland?

  I'm talking 4:00 AM early so he could be in front of his computer around 5:00 AM to answer calls and emails from around the world, which is what his business did. But that day, like I said, he's not there. And it's strange because Lance is really diligent about this. He has not one but three alarm clocks that go off every morning. In case he had spent the night partying, he wants to make sure no hangover can beat the ringing of those alarms for work. So Holly thinks, okay, maybe Lance just had a doctor's appointment or something today that he forgot to tell me about. So she goes into his office to look for these tapes that he always leaves her.

• 9:54Payton Moreland?

  It's little cassettes that have her verbal instructions on what to do for the day. Basically think like a voice message in Slack, but way before.

• 10:04Garrett Moreland?

  Actually, it's kind of cool.

• 10:06Payton Moreland?

  So this is something he leaves her every single day. He's very diligent about it, but then she notices her tape for that day isn't there. Which to Holly means, okay, he definitely did not step foot in the office at all this morning. So Holly calls Lance. There's no response. She pages him. He doesn't call back. Eventually she does the next best thing and actually calls Lance's mom, Jackie. Now Jackie often came by the office to help with admin stuff, which is why Holly even knows her. So when she arrived at 10:00 AM that morning, she went right upstairs to the main house to check on her son because she has been notified that things are looking a little odd.

• 10:50Payton Moreland?

  And that's when Holly hears screams coming from the upper levels of Lance's home.

• 10:58Payton Moreland?

  Jackie, his mother, had found Lance lying in bed in a pool of his own blood.

• 11:05Garrett Moreland?

  Okay, alright, here we go.

• 11:07Payton Moreland?

  He's naked and he has been bludgeoned to death.

• 11:12Garrett Moreland?

  She's a weasel.

• 11:13Payton Moreland?

  In the head and the face, which no mother should ever have to see.

• 11:18Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 11:19Payton Moreland?

  So Jackie immediately dials 911 for help. She is in hysterics when she's heard saying, quote, "Someone killed my baby." And within minutes, the Atlanta PD is showing up at Lance Herndon's house with a high-profile murder case now on their hands. One of the first things they notice is that Lance was struck with so much force that there was actually blood streaming, like dripping down the wall.

• 11:48Garrett Moreland?

  Okay, uh huh.

• 11:48Payton Moreland?

  In fact, Lance had been hit close to a dozen times with a blunt force weapon. But Lance didn't have any defensive wounds on his hands or any injuries below his waist. He was lying on his back with his hands across his chest, which was how some witnesses said he often slept. There was no sign of forced entry in the house, however, one of his credit cards is missing. The clothes he was wearing the night before also seemed to be gone, as is his work laptop from the office. And even weirder, there's a bloody towel stuffed in the toilet in the primary bedroom.

• 12:29Garrett Moreland?

  God.

• 12:30Payton Moreland?

  And the phone next to Lance's bed, along with all three of Lance's alarm clocks, have all been unplugged. One of the clocks was actually stuck on a time. It was at 4:10 a.m. Now Lance did have a high-tech home security setup, but it appeared to be disabled or had never been activated before his death. There were a few other important clues left behind, though, like a bunch of silver gum wrappers on the ground near the garage. And the photo next to his bed, which was a picture of Lance's girlfriend Kathy Collins, was actually turned down. Someone had like, put it down on its face.

• 13:13Garrett Moreland?

  Got it, uh huh.

• 13:14Payton Moreland?

  Now, the one thing they can't locate on scene was the murder weapon. However, when they spoke to Lance's housekeeper later on, she realized a wrench had been missing from the home, which could have fit the description of the blunt object that police were looking for. Luckily, there was some useful evidence to be gathered for DNA testing, like hair follicles on the bed. Now, one of the first things police consider after taking in the scene, especially because Lance's work laptop from his basement is missing, was that maybe this was a business rival. Lance had a lot of competitors and he had won a lot of contracts over the years with big companies.

• 14:00Payton Moreland?

  It was actually something that pissed off a lot of other business owners and Lance knew that. He kinda dominated the game, but, I mean, that's business. Still, when police follow these threads, it leads them nowhere. However, they do learn something else as they're digging into Lance's life. Besides how his life looked on the outside, his cars, the lavish parties he threw, Lance was actually in debt, and a lot of it. His company, Access Inc., was nearly bankrupt, and Lance had borrowed against a line of credit that he had taken out with a local bank.

• 14:39Garrett Moreland?

  It's, it's crazy. Um, people would be surprised how much this actually happens. Where you think a business is making money, where you think somebody is making money, they're not. Like, the amount, sadly, the amount of businesses and people you think are making millions of dollars usually aren't.

• 14:57Payton Moreland?

  Well, I mean, and he's been awarded by two presidents.

• 15:00Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, so you wouldn't even question it.

• 15:01Payton Moreland?

  You wouldn't question it.

• 15:02Garrett Moreland?

  No, not at all.

• 15:03Payton Moreland?

  But, reality is... The business world goes up and down just because a business flourishes in the first five years doesn't mean it's going to continue to flourish in the next.

• 15:13Garrett Moreland?

  Exactly, yep.

• 15:14Payton Moreland?

  And that's kind of what happened here. Lance was not getting the massive contracts that he used to get, and Lance's priorities had shifted over the last year or two, and his business had felt that. Ever since opening that nightclub, Lance had been dealing with a bunch of problems. Supposedly, several months after Lance opened the Vixen, one of his DJs was bludgeoned to death in the VIP room.

• 15:40Garrett Moreland?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 15:41Payton Moreland?

  This case actually went unsolved, and as word spread, it began to sink the establishment. After that, Lance had a falling out with his business partner at the club, and there were rumors of Lance owing a lot of people money in this business, too.

• 15:58Garrett Moreland?

  Interesting. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. There are plenty of reasons we put off getting support, and for a lot of people, cost is one of them. With BetterHelp, insurance options may now be available nationwide with an average copay for eligible members of just $23 per session. And while we're reconsidering old assumptions, maybe there are a few others worth questioning, too.

• 16:22Payton Moreland?

  Women inherit a lot of unwritten rules. Be ambitious, but not intimidating. Be there for everyone, but still make time for yourself. Have it all together, but don't look like you're trying too hard. And I have definitely fallen into all of these traps. But if you have been wanting to start therapy, BetterHelp works with more than 125 health plan networks and eligible members have an average copay of just $23 per session with insurance. If you don't have insurance or don't live in the United States, you can still get 10% off your first month.

• 16:54Garrett Moreland?

  And Peyton and I are big advocates for therapy. Give it a try. Life can be crazy. There's a lot going on. Like we were talking about, sometimes it feels like you need to have everything figured out. You don't. Go talk to someone. Go see what's going on. Visit betterhelp.com/husband to explore your payment options. That's betterhelp, H E L P dot com slash husband.

• 17:15Payton Moreland?

  This message is sponsored by Greenlight. You know, there were many times growing up in school where I was like, when am I ever going to use this? And let me be real honest with you, a lot of those things have turned out to be true. But you know what I wish they would have taught in school? Financial literacy. So Greenlight takes the mental load of family life and kind of puts it all into one place. It keeps your whole family in sync, money, safety, and everyday life, all in one place. When you're using it, you can see what your kids are spending, right when they spend it. You can also easily send them money via Greenlight

• 17:57Payton Moreland?

  instead of like digging around for cash. And Greenlight just helps your household run smoother. Chores happen without nagging because you can do it all through the Greenlight app. There's also like a schedule that is up to date in real time. So when you're out of milk or someone needs new cleats, it just goes on this shared list that everyone can add to. Join the 6.5 million family members who trust Greenlight. Garrett has younger siblings. They've used Greenlight and it is so amazing to watch them learn about money in the safety of their home. You've got enough on your plate. Greenlight keeps it all in sync. Get started at greenlight.com/husband. That is greenlight.com/husband. Greenlight.com/husband.

• 18:42Payton Moreland?

  Go check it out now. Now, apparently the local police were also familiar with Lance because in the months before his death, he had been acting pretty paranoid. He was actually calling police over to his house on more than one occasion before he was murdered, asking them to do a check of his property. Reportedly Lance was always cagey with police when they were like, why are you nervous? Like, why do you want us to walk around your property? He was just kind of cagey, wouldn't really say what he was worried about. So this is the background police have. They then get to the autopsy and it gives detectives a little more insight on what those calls of calling the police to his house might have been about.

• 19:26Garrett Moreland?

  Had to have been something illegal, otherwise there's no reason to be cagey.

• 19:30Payton Moreland?

  Right. So it turns out that missing wrench is what likely killed Lance, according to the medical examiner, and would have been easily accessible to the killer, considering Lance had the wrench out and was using it to put together some exercise equipment earlier in the evening. They had also collected DNA from under Lance's fingernails and found several additional hairs on Lance's body that they believed were the killer's. But the lack of defense wounds and the way Lance's body was positioned when he died told the medical examiner that he was more likely asleep when he was killed. But the attack

• 20:10Payton Moreland?

  was quick and was likely done by someone who had been intimate with Lance right before. Okay. The fact that Lance had no lower body injuries made them wonder if someone had climbed on top of his naked body and beat him to death. This was sort of confirmed by a blood spatter expert who said the only way you would get those blood marks that they found on his wall was if someone was striking Lance while on top of him in a straddled position. So this is sounding less and less like some angry business associate and a lot more like a crime of passion, which doesn't exactly narrow things down because, like

• 20:52Payton Moreland?

  I said, Lance had plenty of romantic partners over his years. He was a bit of a playboy. In fact, at the time of his death, he was said to be seeing around four different women. And you have to remember, he has three different ex-wives, too. So this is actually where police kind of start with Lance's most recent ex-wife, Janine Price. Now Lance and Janine were married in 1990, though I'm not entirely sure when they met, but I do know where. It was in Brazil, under the Statue of Christ. Lance was on vacation and Janine was a flight attendant on a layover. Apparently it was love at first sight.

• 21:34Payton Moreland?

  Friends of Lance's said Janine was a kind, generous person with a good heart. The reality was the two just weren't really a good match for one another. Lance stepped out on the marriage often and Janine didn't want to deal with it. So six years after they tied the knot, she took their son, four-year-old Harrison, and moved out. This was about seven months before Lance was killed. And when police looked into Janine, they also found what might be a motive. A $750,000 life insurance policy, which she was still listed as the beneficiary on. So, police zero in on Janine, especially when she admits to them that she still knew the

• 22:17Payton Moreland?

  security code to Lance's house. But Janine insisted. On the night Lance died, she was at home with a man that she had been seeing post-divorce, and he confirmed her alibi. They also learned she'd been getting quite a bit of money every month from Lance for alimony and child support, so the motive doesn't really add up.

• 22:38Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, that's true.

• 22:39Payton Moreland?

  And with her alibi checking out, police feel confident enough to move on to the other suspects, like Lance's current girlfriend, Kathy Collins. So Kathy's photo was the one found face down next to the bed. Though Lance was a bit of a playboy, Kathy was said to be his main girlfriend, the woman that he spent the most time with. Now, whether she knew he was seeing other people on the side or not, I'm not sure. Kathy and Lance were introduced in Los Angeles, where she lived at the time, and they started fooling around, even though they were both married at the time they met. Now, after they both left their marriages, Kathy moved to Atlanta, literally just to be closer to Lance. She even moved a bunch of her things into his house, so...

• 23:24Payton Moreland?

  It's looking kind of serious. But when police spoke with some of Lance's friends, they said they weren't so sure about Kathy. That Lance bought her a lot of gifts and took her traveling, but she seemed to care more about that than their actual connection. Though it was clear Lance wasn't that serious about her either, since he continued seeing other women on the side. So detectives have to wonder, could she have found out that Lance wasn't being monogamous with her? And took drastic measures? Was Lance starting to lose interest in her? And she thought she was gonna lose this new fancy lifestyle that she had just moved across the country for? So this appeared to be a bit of a motive.

• 24:08Payton Moreland?

  And her behavior when she showed up at the crime scene wasn't exactly the grieving girlfriend. According to police, she seemed more concerned with getting her own personal belongings from Lance's house than she was about her boyfriend having just been murdered in bed. And I'm not talking about like her wallet and keys. I'm talking about she's like, please, before you guys like, tear the house apart. I want my clothing, my sunglasses, an expensive bottle of wine I have here. But the more police looked into Kathley-

• 24:37Garrett Moreland?

  He sounds like she's just prissy.

• 24:39Payton Moreland?

  Well, they're looking into her and the less likely, they think she's a suspect. Mainly because she kind of had already moved on emotionally and physically too. They learned she too is seeing another man on the side and he confirmed that they were together the night Lance was killed. So with that, police start looking into other suspects once again. And that is when they stumble into an old friend of Lance's, a woman named Talana Caraway. Now, Talana and Lance had dated in the past. It was just a quick fling. Their relationship kind of evolved into a close friendship, one that was going on 11 years at the time of Lance's death. Talana told police that when she was having a hard time making money,

• 25:24Payton Moreland?

  Lance offered her a part-time job at his company. And that's actually what put her at the scene of the crime on the night of the murder. Talana says she was still working away in Lance's home office around 10:30 PM the night he died. So when police learned this, they went to Talana's house to speak with her. Only she immediately refuses to speak with them without an attorney present. Obviously, this is smart, but detectives are like, girl, we weren't even coming over here to like see you as a suspect. So this is a little strange to them. It looks like a sign that Talana's

• 26:04Payton Moreland?

  hiding something, but to Talana, it's just her covering her bases. Now, a day or so later, she agrees to come in and speak to police with her attorney. And this is what she told them about the night that her boss and longtime friend Lance was murdered. She said that evening, she was doing some data entry work for Lance in the basement when he came down to the office to check in. She said he was relaxed. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. In fact, he started telling Talana about a new woman he had met, a teacher, and that he wanted to write her a nice message on a card, something romantic. So Talana helped him out. Now that night, it was raining heavily and Lance told her he was worried about her

• 26:49Payton Moreland?

  driving home. So when she left and got home around 11:30, he called her to make sure that she had made it home safe. They chatted briefly around this time, and this is something police actually verified with phone records. This also helps them to establish a clearer timeline. Lance had died sometime between 11:30 when he made that call from his house and 4:30 AM when his alarm clocks were set to go off.

• 27:17Garrett Moreland?

  That is helpful, actually. Okay.

• 27:19Payton Moreland?

  But there was something that happened before she actually left his house that stuck out to the police. Talana said, "A woman called the home office repeatedly that night asking for Lance, and she was sounding annoyed that Lance was dodging her calls and not trying to call her back." She identified herself as Lance's girlfriend, which Talana probably found a little bit odd since she knew Kathy, but also Lance was known to have women on the side.

• 27:50Garrett Moreland?

  I'm just gonna be really surprised if this ends up being like one of his girlfriends. I feel like it's gotta be more than that. Maybe not. I mean, this happens all the time, but I don't know. We'll see.

• 28:00Payton Moreland?

  I will say.

• 28:01Garrett Moreland?

  Like, it happens all the time where we have girlfriends, husbands, whatever, wives. They get mad and they kill their spouses, but this seems, it seems like there's more here.

• 28:15Payton Moreland?

  I think without reporting on it, the police believed it was a woman because he was found naked and someone had straddled him to kill him.

• 28:27Garrett Moreland?

  Which I guess I get. That makes sense, yeah.

• 28:29Payton Moreland?

  And I know that that might sound like biased or weird.

• 28:33Garrett Moreland?

  I mean, it's good evidence.

• 28:34Payton Moreland?

  But I, I mean, the fact is genders kill differently and usually, right? Statistically, and so I think sometimes when we look at cause of death, if it's passionate, we think it's someone they knew. If it's this, we think maybe it was a woman. If it's, you know what I'm saying?

• 28:50Garrett Moreland?

  And statistically, usually that is correct.

• 28:53Payton Moreland?

  Right. Obviously, there are the oddities, but Talana's like, yes, this woman kept calling saying that she was his girlfriend, but I know Kathy. But again, he definitely could have a side piece. Talana also added another interesting detail that happened before she left the office that night. She says that when she went upstairs to say goodbye to Lance, she noticed that he was moving Kathy's clothes out of the main bedroom and into a hallway closet, something she had actually seen him do before, and she knew what that meant. Lance was having another woman over, a woman who wasn't Kathy. So now police have this new suspect that they think they need to look into.

• 29:35Payton Moreland?

  It's a mystery woman who kept calling that evening, said she was Lance's girlfriend, and Talana saw him kind of clearing out the primary to bring a girl into. So they're like, hey, did she tell you her name? And Talana's like, actually, I wrote it down. I took a message for her and I wrote it down. Twenty-seven-year-old Dion Ba. So Dion wasn't an Atlanta native. She'd actually been born and raised in Jamaica and later moved to Atlanta to study finance at Georgia State University. Dion also had a great job as an executive assistant at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.

• 30:14Payton Moreland?

  Her husband, Shawn Nelson, was a pilot for Air Jamaica, and the two had a four-year-old daughter together. But with Shawn's job taking him on constant business trips away from the family, Dion saw that as an opportunity to step out of the marriage. In fact, when her boss was invited to a birthday party for a high-profile friend in Atlanta, Dion weaseled her way into an invitation. Obviously, the birthday party was for 41-year-old Lance. Hence, this is how the two meet. This is where Dion caught Lance's eye. That very premature bash was four months before Lance's actual birthday, like I've mentioned.

• 30:57Payton Moreland?

  But for the next four months, things kind of got hot and heavy between Lance and Dion. He wined and dined her, bought her expensive things. He even got her a Mercedes. What she failed to mention him was that she was actually married to another man. So once police hear that there was a woman who was starting to replace Kathy on Lance's roster, police realized they need to speak with her. So she comes into the station for questioning around August 17th. This is nine days after the murder. She tells police that she and Lance were madly in love and she's actually heartbroken over the news of his death and that her husband still wasn't aware of this secret relationship. He just thought Lance was mentoring her.

• 31:42Garrett Moreland?

  Oh.

• 31:43Payton Moreland?

  She tells police.

• 31:44Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 31:44Payton Moreland?

  She wasn't at Lance's house the night of the murder because he actually stopped by hers the night of the murder. She said that evening around 7:00 PM, she took her husband and daughter to the airport because they were going to go on a trip back to Jamaica. And after that, sometime between 9:00 and 10:30 PM, Lance came by her apartment to loan her a laptop that she needed for school. Now, this might explain why that one work laptop was missing from his office, but it doesn't match what the story Talana said, that Lance was at home while she was working in the office that night.

• 32:22Garrett Moreland?

  Hmm, true, okay.

• 32:23Payton Moreland?

  That as far as she knows, he never left. Now, when Dion starts to feel a little backed into a corner about this, she mentions one thing. She says, "Actually, my husband was sending some angry texts to Lance around the time he died. He must have found out about our affair."

• 32:44Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 32:44Payton Moreland?

  And they're like, "You just said..."

• 32:45Garrett Moreland?

  This is all up in the air. She trying to pin him now?

• 32:49Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, they're like, "But you just said he didn't know."

• 32:51Garrett Moreland?

  Yes, it's all over.

• 32:52Payton Moreland?

  So, the police leave Dion that night knowing that there's some holes in her story. And it doesn't take long for them to find out. Shawn had already known about the affair. The Mercedes Dion had gotten from Lance gave that away. I mean, how does your wife just get a brand new car from a mentor? And Shawn was confirmed to be on a flight to Jamaica the night Lance was murdered.

• 33:18Payton Moreland?

  So they rule him out quickly, but they also learn there was an altercation between Lance and Dion about a month before he died.

• 33:27Garrett Moreland?

  So maybe he hired a hitman. Who knows? Okay.

• 33:30Payton Moreland?

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• 34:14Payton Moreland?

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• 34:58Payton Moreland?

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• 35:43Payton Moreland?

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• 36:23Payton Moreland?

  So, back on July 10th, Dionne showed up to Lance's house completely unannounced. And apparently, she knew Lance had another woman over at the time and went berserk over it. She started beating on the door, ringing the doorbell repeatedly while calling his phone. Oh, and she showed up to his house with a knife to confront him with this other woman. It scared Lance to the point where he actually called 911 on her. And when an officer showed up a few minutes later, he noticed a car in Lance's driveway and he peered inside. That's when he saw a black coat on the floor of the backseat and a woman's leg poking out from underneath it.

• 37:05Payton Moreland?

  Dionne was clearly trying to hide from the cops, but she was eventually lured out and arrested. She's charged with criminal trespassing. And she and Lance were actually scheduled to go to court on August 8th over this entire incident. Only, the two never showed up because that morning Lance was found dead. However, it seems Lance and Dion were still seeing each other in the days leading up to that court date, though he had kind of been pulling back a little bit ever since this incident. He had stopped letting her use his credit cards. He was no longer lending her money. That didn't really stop Dion from spending his money. Police found out that on the day he died, she actually used one of his credit cards to buy some furniture.

• 37:48Payton Moreland?

  And remember that one of his credit cards was missing from his wallet. Plus, the car he had gotten for Dion. Apparently, there was a document that stated in the case of his death, she would be able to keep it forever. She wouldn't have to give it back.

• 38:02Garrett Moreland?

  So, this really is that she just killed him?

• 38:06Payton Moreland?

  Investigators-

• 38:07Garrett Moreland?

  What the freak? I mean, open and shut, I guess, but wild.

• 38:12Payton Moreland?

  They, so they don't feel like this is all enough to move in with an arrest warrant, at least not until they gathered more evidence. So they actually keep building their case on Dion. And then 18 months after Lance's death, as police are still trying to gather enough evidence, there's a big break in the case, thanks to Dion's own husband, Shawn Nelson. So in January 1998, Shawn called the police in Atlanta to say, "Listen, we're getting divorced. I need to turn over this information. We were in an argument. I confront her about whether she killed her lover, Lance." And according to him, Dion turned incredibly violent.

• 38:56Payton Moreland?

  She threatened Shawn, saying if he said anything, she would kill him, the same way she killed Lance.

• 39:04Garrett Moreland?

  Holy crap.

• 39:05Payton Moreland?

  Now, according to Shawn's mother, Dion had said something interesting to her as well. Dion told her mother-in-law, just a few weeks after Lance was killed, that she went to his house on the night he died. This completely contradicted the statements she made to police. And it's around this same time that police get confirmation on those DNA samples found in Lance's bed. They do appear to be a match for Dion. So on- January 29th, 1998, with now two witnesses who they can have testify at court. Police finally arrest Dion and charge her with murder. And the prosecution takes their time building the case against her.

• 39:51Payton Moreland?

  It's actually not until 2001 that Dion finally faces her day in court. Now, this is the theory the prosecution paints. Sometime after Talana went home that night and Lance called her to check on her. So after 11:30, Dion came over to Lance's house. The two of them had sex and Lance fell asleep. That's when Dion got on top of him, straddled him and violently beat him with the wrench that she had found sitting out in his own home. She then unplugged the alarm clocks, turned the picture of Kathy over on the nightstand, and then went through his wallet and took that credit card that she then used later to buy furniture.

• 40:37Payton Moreland?

  After this, she went down to the home office and took the laptop too, because she needed it for school. She then went out to her car. And that's where police found another clue pointing to Dion. Those silver gum wrappers that were on the ground outside. Dion had the same wrappers stuffed into a purse of hers that was examined as evidence, which seemed to prove she kind of was at the house that evening. And as for motive, prosecutors say Dion knew she was on the outs with Lance, that it was only a matter of time before he kicked her to the curb and moved on. She wanted to make off with as much of his money and things as possible before he dumped her.

• 41:21Garrett Moreland?

  I wonder why his laptop, because I feel like.

• 41:24Payton Moreland?

  She needed it for school.

• 41:26Garrett Moreland?

  That was just not smart. Like if she honestly would have left the lap- would have left the laptop. And some other, I don't know, they're just, I mean, everything was stupid, but. Anyways.

• 41:38Payton Moreland?

  They also state that at first Lance was planning to drop the charges against her at that August 8th court hearing and changed his mind in the days before. And once Dion learned about that, it might have been the final straw, the thing that made her want to end Lance's life for good. However, the biggest piece of evidence was those hairs found on Lance's bed that were a match with Dion's and that her DNA was also found underneath Lance's fingernails. But the defense says all this proves is that the two had been recently intimate with each other.

• 42:14Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, it's true. I mean.

• 42:15Payton Moreland?

  She was over there. They had sex. She even had access to everything she took. That doesn't mean that she murdered Lance. They pointed to all of the other potential suspects police failed to follow, like Kathy Collins. The defense said police only questioned her new boyfriend about her alibi, but not the other people who saw her that evening. They also pointed to Talana's boyfriend who had financial dealings with Lance and was said to be seen driving around the area the night he died. And on top of that, they listed the many enemies Lance had made through the Vixen Club. The problem was all the evidence was kind of pointing to Dion.

• 42:54Payton Moreland?

  So on April 17th, 2001, the jury found Dion guilty of first degree murder. She was sentenced to life in prison. But on July 10th, 2003, Dion's lawyers successfully appealed her case.

• 43:10Garrett Moreland?

  Okay, why? How?

• 43:11Payton Moreland?

  This was because hearsay found by one of the investigators was admitted during the trial when it shouldn't have been. So Dion went back to court in the fall of 2003 and this time her case is declared a mistrial.

• 43:27Garrett Moreland?

  What?

• 43:29Payton Moreland?

  After the jurors were deadlocked. So that means Dion was awaiting a third trial. But instead of repeating the process again, she decided to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a sentence.

• 43:43Garrett Moreland?

  10 years or something?

• 43:43Payton Moreland?

  10 years in prison.

• 43:44Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, I mean, yeah, she'd get that in 10 years instead of life.

• 43:48Payton Moreland?

  Well, she only served about seven of those years.

• 43:50Garrett Moreland?

  Okay.

• 43:51Payton Moreland?

  Dion was released in July of 2011 at the age of 44. Technically, her whole life ahead of her.

• 43:58Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, I mean, she got it, yeah.

• 43:59Payton Moreland?

  Meanwhile, Lance died before he ever even saw that age.

• 44:04Payton Moreland?

  Though Lance's legacy does still live on, his rags to riches story is a huge inspiration, especially in Atlanta's business community. He is still talked about today as a generous, hardworking man, an excellent boss, mentor, friend, and dad, whose life was cut short way too soon by someone who tried all too desperately to ride his coattails to the top. And that is the murder of Lance Herndon.

• 44:35Garrett Moreland?

  I just figured it would be some business, business thing, considering like, business wasn't going good. Nope. When it was girlfriends. This is why, this is why you only have one girlfriend at the time.

• 44:47Payton Moreland?

  I mean, she pled guilty.

• 44:49Garrett Moreland?

  It's insane. That sucks. Horrible.

• 44:51Payton Moreland?

  It just feels so senseless again, like.

• 44:54Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah, like it.

• 44:55Payton Moreland?

  Not that the crimes ever have any sense.

• 44:57Garrett Moreland?

  Sometimes it seems so obvious and senses, senseless, you're just like, what?

• 45:01Payton Moreland?

  For like, some furniture?

• 45:03Garrett Moreland?

  For some furniture, a car and a laptop that you're obviously gonna get caught with?

• 45:08Payton Moreland?

  Maybe. She was a lover scorned, maybe.

• 45:12Garrett Moreland?

  And she just didn't admit it?

• 45:13Payton Moreland?

  Yeah, cuz it's like.

• 45:15Garrett Moreland?

  She just didn't want to? I don't know.

• 45:17Payton Moreland?

  It almost feels like, maybe they couldn't go that route cuz it's more of a motive?

• 45:22Garrett Moreland?

  Maybe.

• 45:23Payton Moreland?

  Um, but for the state, it almost feels like, instead of going the money route, they could have done the, her marriage just got destroyed because of this affair? Her whole life's kind of falling apart, he's now gonna go to court against her and drop her when she's still in love with him? Like, that almost seems more of a motive, and I'm kind of shocked the state didn't focus more heavily on that.

• 45:46Garrett Moreland?

  Yeah.

• 45:47Payton Moreland?

  I don't know, that is the brutal, senseless crime against Lance, and we will see you next time with another case. I love it.

• 45:58Garrett Moreland?

  I hate it.

• 45:59Payton Moreland?

  Goodbye.

• 46:08Speaker 01

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