Cosplay model claims she stabbed her fiancé in self-defense; prosecutors say security cameras prove otherwise

This story previously aired on Oct. 28, 2023.

Melissa Turner called 911 saying she had discovered her fiancé Matthew Trussler lying unresponsive near their swimming pool in Riverview, Florida. He was pronounced dead at the scene and an autopsy later revealed he had died from stab wounds. It was Oct. 18, 2019, and Melissa initially told detectives that the couple had been drinking the night before, but that she could remember few details. However, when investigators found a security camera above a neighbor's garage door that held clues to what happened, her story changed. Prosecutors say Melissa can be heard screaming at Matthew on an audio recording from the camera. She said she stabbed her fiancé, acting in self-defense when he tried to choke her. Melissa Turner was eventually arrested and charged with second degree murder with a weapon.

"I thought this was it. I thought he was going to kill me. And I stabbed him lightly in the back just to get him off me," Turner told Moriarty. "I didn't do what they're saying I did. If I'm going to prison, then I'm going down fighting."