Danielle Redlick

I am putting this case together literally the day after the verdict was read. I admit that I heard a little about case throughout the trial but really knew very little about it except for the fact it was a case of a wife murdering her husband with a kitchen knife. I also heard rumors that her husband used to be her stepfather, but again, I knew none of the details. Today it is difficult to find those details because the first things to pop up revolve around the verdict. I do know that domestic violence was alleged and after the verdict the case was often compared to the now infamous Depp V. Heard trial that ended earlier this month. More specifically many of the law shows talked about the difference between Amber Heard's testimony and that of Danielle Redlick.

As I said finding deep specifics about this case proved to be a bit difficult but I will do the best that I can and hopefully any of you that watched the trial or know more can chime in. What I can tell you is that at the time of his death Michael Redlick was sixty-five years old. His wife, Danielle was twenty years younger than he and they had been married for fifteen years at that point. So, they were approximately thirty and fifty years old at the time of their marriage. They also had a fifteen year old daughter and an eleven year old son at the time of his death. At some point Michael had been married to Danielle's mother and after she died Michael and Danielle got together. Nothing was ever clear anywhere how old Danielle was when Michael became her stepfather or how long Michael and her mother were married. I saw things that said neither side super addressed this in the trial. The prosecution of course would not want to but it would have seemed helpful to the defense, or it could have been, again depending on how long that marriage had lasted and how old Danielle was when it began.

Some of you may be asking yourself why I feel the stepfather/stepdaughter relationship could have been important... here is why. In most families that involve a stepparent that stepparent is give authority over the children. They are expected to respect them and listen to them just as they would any parent. Depending on how old Danielle was when her mother entered the relationship with Michael can make a huge difference because it would have set the tone for Michael and Danielle's relationship. While we do not often use the words dominant and submissive in every day relationships, we do hear about them in ones in which there are allegations of abuse and we do not generally use those words when describing parent/child relationships but in this case that dynamic was different. If Michael was a huge authority figure to Danielle when he was her stepfather and she basically “did as she was told” then it would not be a stretch to believe that that dynamic remained between them when they became romantically involved.

On the morning of January 12, 2019 Danielle Redlick called 911 from her Winter Park Florida home. She reported that there had been a “tragedy” in her home and she believed her husband was “deceased.” She even told the 911 operator that she believed he may have had a heart attack. Now, over time Danielle's story would change repeatedly. In another version she attempted to say that Michael had stabbed himself. At her trial she told another story that involved self defense.

Now, I have heard and seen stories where there were comments that Michael was stabbed several times but from everything I could find that was not the case. He had one stab wound to his left shoulder, done admittedly, or obviously, not sure if it was both, and coroner believed he had defensive wounds on his arms or hands. Whether the coroner believed those “defensive wounds” were from the knife I cannot say. But, here is where it gets a bit sticky.

Even before her trial it was determined that after Michael had been stabbed Danielle had waited about eleven hours before she called 911. Prosecutors say that within that eleven hours she got on a dating website, attempted to clean up the blood in the house and his body and may even slept before later cutting her own wrists. I do want to say that I cannot say for certain that she cut her wrists prior to the 911 call but I found nothing that stated she spoke of this on her 911 call. So, either she had done it prior and did not call 911 for herself at all, or she did it after the 911 call and prior to the police arriving to the home. She seemingly did not, or could not dispute these things from happening.

The following month she was arrested on charges of second degree murder and tampering with evidence. At some point she was offered a plea deal where if she pleaded guilty to manslaughter she would receive a sentence of ten years. She rejected that deal. Her trial began on June 5, 2022 and lasted until June 17^th. After four hours of deliberations the jury returned with their verdict. They found her not guilty on the murder charge, but guilty on the tampering charge. I knew the case was going on and when it started but had only really turned my television on on the last day. The jury had returned that morning to deliberate so I knew they had only been deliberating for a few hours. I left my house and I received a notification on my phone (through the Court TV app) that a verdict had been reached. Again, knowing very little about the case other than she was facing a murder charge I remember thinking to myself this was a not guilty verdict. I just did not feel that they had been out long enough to come back with guilty. That being said I was unaware at the time about the tampering charge but even still I believe that was likely an easy decision to come to. Police officers had reported smelling bleach when they entered the home and found Michael's bloody shirt under some blood soaked towels. It was also said that there were “swirls” on the floor indicating there had been some mopping. But, lets be fair... she obviously did not completely clean up the scene before officers got there or they would not have seen these things. I think that is important and I will touch on that later.

The prosecution argued that Danielle was the aggressor in the family and that she had murdered Michael so that she could have a “new life.” They pointed to her going to a dating website, her lies to 911, her changing story, and stated that her slitting her wrists was a sign of guilt. Danielle and Michael's now eighteen year old daughter testified against her mother saying that she was very close to her father and saying that her mother was “toxic and very manipulative.” The prosecution made it sound as if Danielle had repeatedly stabbed Michael but I can only assume that they were referring to what the coroner referred to as defensive wounds. I say this because this is where some of my confusion came. I heard clips from the trial that showed the prosecutors closing arguments among other things and I kept hearing this being referenced yet my research and other things that I found repeatedly stated that Danielle stabbed him one time. There was at least one other witness, a friend of Michael's, that testified that Danielle was the aggressor in the relationship. The prosecution was asking for a sentence of life without parole.

The defense, for their part argued there was domestic abuse in the relationship and said Michael was the aggressor. They presented two witnesses, besides Danielle who testified she suffered from domestic violence at the hands of Michael. For her Danielle testified that on the night of his murder the couple had an argument and in the process she claimed that he had choked and attempted to smother her. She claimed that she was pinned down on her back by him and had been able to reach a drawer and retrieved a knife. She claimed she stabbed him once in the left shoulder, got away and ran to the bathroom to hide. She claimed when she finally came out that his blood was everywhere and she had even began to slip in it. She went to him and discovered him not breathing and attempted CPR. I cannot say for certain her reasoning for waiting eleven hours before calling 911 or what the defense would claim. While the prosecution argued this was all but a planned killing the defense argued that there was no way of anyone believing that a stab wound to the shoulder would have killed someone. I am unsure whether it was the defense or prosecution who presented the evidence but it was determined that the stab wound had hit a major artery and had punctured his lung. They estimated that he bled out in a matter of about six minutes. The defense also argued, “she doesn't have to have injuries, she just has to reasonably believe that his violent attack against her will cause death or bodily harm.”

After the trial one of the jury members was quoted as saying he “believed the state left too much room for reasonable doubt. When you have a history of abuse and so many other factors, and you can't say 100 percent, because this is somebody's life that is being determined then we can only do the best we can.” Michael's friend that had testified for the prosecution seemed to agree and criticized them for not portraying her as the aggressor in the relationship.

Throughout this case my mind kept going to the Susan Wright case. For those who do not recall this case there is a blog about it but I will give a quick version here. Susan Wright murdered her husband, Jeff, in 2003 in their Texas home, in their bed. She claimed that he was abusive to her throughout the marriage. She proceeded to bury him in the backyard of their home. Five days later she contacted an attorney, confessed and a few days later turned herself into authorities. She argued at her trial that basically she had PTSD after the event and while she did murder him by stabbing him 193 times, and bury him in the backyard she could not process that and believed he was still alive. The jury did not believe her and convicted her. She was sentenced to twenty-five years. Later she was given a new sentence but it was only five years left. She was released in 2020.

Danielle's case was not this extreme obviously as she called 911 eleven hours after she stabbed her husband but any time there is a delay it looks bad. There is the idea that was pushed in the Wright case of insanity or lack of awareness would be a more accurate wording. I think Danielle's defense attorney's were correct in their argument that a reasonable person would not have believed that a single stab wound to the shoulder would have caused death. I am unsure if I heard how long she allegedly stayed in the bathroom after the incident. But, as I stated earlier it was determined that it likely took less than ten minutes for Michael to die from the wound. While the prosecution alleged the eleven hours was spent basically for lack of a better phrase “doing her own thing” I think the defense argued it was more for being in a fog and lack of awareness.

The prosecution brought up that within that eleven hours Danielle got on a dating website and I want to address this issue. There was evidence that both Danielle and Michael had been unfaithful throughout the marriage. It was said that he had been the first (I did not see when this happened) and Danielle left him. Her defense attorney's argued that Michael had begged her to come back and then when that did not work he threatened to take their home and their children from her so apparently she went back. An article then stated that according to the defense, “when Danielle later began speaking to other men Michael became angry and jealous.” It is unclear what sort of arrangement the couple had but I wanted to mention this here because her being on a dating website sounds as if it was possibly a normal routine for her. It is not as if she stabbed and murdered her husband and then went online to a dating website for the first time. I fully got the impression that this was far from her first time. Am I wrong? Anything is possible but I feel as if it was the first time I would have found something that stated this. And, let's be fair, this may be one of the areas where both a juror and a prosecution witness saw the prosecution in failing to make their case.

It is clear that Danielle “tampered with evidence” and the jury was justified in that verdict but I also think the way things were tampered with tells us a story. The prosecution made it sound as if she was hiding things and lying and of course had murdered her husband with premeditation. And of course they made a huge deal about the eleven hours it took her to call 911. In my opinion the fact that there were bloody towels still laying around and officers reported finding bloody mop water and blood “swirls” on the floor says that she did not do a good job and I believe that is telling. If her goal was to hide things and cover things up she would have done a much better job at cleaning the scene in those eleven hours before calling 911. That is not to mean that if everything would have been clean and pristine when the officers arrived that things did not happen the way she testified. Think about the movie “Sleeping With the Enemy” about domestic violence. The woman faked her death to get away from her abusive husband but even when on her own she caught herself making sure things were exactly the way he had liked them such as everything being in its place and turned correctly.

In this case though I think the fact that she did not clean everything up, or clean up very well could indicate she was in a panic or anxiety ridden state at that time. The question would be why wait eleven hours to call 911 and make a half attempt of cleaning, rather than completely clean or do none at all. I do believe this points to her not planning for this to happen or having those thoughts in her head.

Early on I mentioned that many legal commentators have compared this case to the recent Depp V Heard case. Again, while murder was not the subject of the Depp trial, domestic abuse was. In both cases the alleged victim got on the stand and told their story. Legal analysts and body language experts have weighed in on both cases and say there were vast differences in their testimony. Most believed that Danielle sounded much more credible than Amber Heard in their testimony. To be fair I have only seen snippets of Danielle's testimony after the fact but I have heard the analysts. With this all being said I have also heard things as far as Amber Heard's testimony being either “too rehearsed” like when she faced the jury every time she answered a question, to not rehearsed or guided enough by her attorney's when she would get more hostile with the other attorney's or refuse to take accountability.

I do not know if the jury actually believed that Danielle was a victim of domestic violence or not. The verdict itself would indicate that they did. However, the comment from the juror gives the impression that this was more of a case in which the prosecution simply did not prove their case and the jury felt there was reasonable doubt. I feel as if the prosecution was “banking” on those eleven hours after Michael was stabbed as their “home run” of sorts and yet everything was not so cut and dry. This is how the law does, and should work. Some could say it was just another case in Florida where someone got away with murder. Florida has gotten this reputation since the Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman cases. In fairness I believe the prosecution in those cases proved their cases and yet the jury still acquitted them so people do have a point when it comes to Florida. However, I just do not feel that is the case here. It is the job of the prosecution to convince a jury beyond “reasonable doubt” that a defendant is guilty.... that is their job. It is the job of the defense to poke holes in the theory and create reasonable doubt. It has been said repeatedly when it came to the Depp V Heard case that her lawyers were “out lawyered” by his and this may be true but it was a civil case, not a criminal case. No one was looking at jail time and losing their freedom in that case. Danielle's case was different. This is why a defendant can file an appeal for “ineffective counsel” in a criminal trial. But in cases where the prosecution is out lawyered, well, that is their one chance and if they lose, they lose forever.

After the verdict a judge granted Danielle a bail and later that afternoon she was released. She is scheduled to be sentenced this coming August for the tampering charge. Most believe she will likely get a sentence of “time served.” The maximum sentence she could receive is five years and by the time of the trial she had already served three and a half. Florida requires that an inmate serve 85% of their sentence but most do not believe that she will get the maximum sentence in this case. If she were she to get the full five years she would have to serve less than a year more of time. I suspect that the prosecutor will push for the maximum considering they lost their main charge in court.