August 19, 2025 • 22 mins
In April 2008, 22-year-old college student Lola Martinez was found murdered inside her dorm apartment at Purdue University Fort Wayne. At first, investigators feared a random attack. But the truth was far more shocking: the killer was not a stranger, but her roommate’s mother.
In this episode of Murder U, we follow Lola’s story from her childhood in New Mexico to her new life in Indiana, and the overlooked red flags in Tina Morris’s past that led to a fatal confrontation. This disturbing case of campus violence exposes the dangers that can arise when rules are ignored and trust is misplaced.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murder-u--6152042/support.
In this episode of Murder U, we follow Lola’s story from her childhood in New Mexico to her new life in Indiana, and the overlooked red flags in Tina Morris’s past that led to a fatal confrontation. This disturbing case of campus violence exposes the dangers that can arise when rules are ignored and trust is misplaced.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murder-u--6152042/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh my gosh. I can't thank you all enough for listening.
We've had thousands of downloads already and we're just getting started. Anyway,
can I ask you a huge favor. If you're loving
murder You, could you give us a five star review?
It really helps us out and ensures we can keep
bringing you great true crime stories thanks a bunch Abnornia.
(00:25):
From high school hallways to expansive college campuses and the
sanctity of their homes, these once secure spaces have transformed
into hunting grounds for sinister individuals seeking to inflict harm
on the unsuspecting. I'm your host, Mattie. Join me here
each week as we investigate the bone chilling stories of
senseless murders occurring in and around our centers of education.
(00:48):
Welcome to Murder You. An Abnormia original. When a young
(01:14):
adult is sent off to college, a parent might worry
about their kid falling into the wrong crowd, or being
targeted by predatory students right maybe getting into drugs or partying,
landing them in sticky situations. Those are all normal fears
for a parent, but rarely does it cross their mind
that their kid could be victimized by another parent specifically
(01:37):
a roommate's parent. In this case, this was something Lola
Martinez's family had to reckon with when their daughter was
murdered by Tina Morris, her roommate's mother. This is a bizarre,
wild case resulting in the death of a young woman
who was robbed of a bright future. Let's get into it,
le Et. Nicole Martinez was born on September twenty second,
(02:00):
nineteen eighty four, in Silver City, New Mexico, to Gabriel
and Geraldine Estrada Martinez. She was their only child and
was adored by her family. After years of people mispronouncing
her name, she decided to go by her nickname Lola
full time as a teenager. From a young age, Lola
was dedicated to her academics, but she also had an
(02:21):
affinity for cheer. She cheered for her middle school's team
and eventually her high school's palm team. Her positive and
bubbly personality made her perfect for the sport, and she
always brightened a room. Around this time, she also developed
an interest in visual art. After graduating from high school,
Lola was accepted into New Mexico State University, where she
(02:41):
was an active member in the digital art club, pursuing
a degree in graphic design. After spending her entire life
in New Mexico, it's understandable that Lola would want to
see more of the country, so she applied to transfer
from New Mexico State to Purdue University Fort Wayne in Indiana. Unsurprised,
she was accepted, and in two thousand and seven, she
(03:04):
moved over one thousand miles away to start her sophomore
year at the school. Though she was excited for this
new opportunity, Lola posted on her MySpace profile often about
how much she missed her family, her home, and her
dogs while she was in school in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
It's understandable moving away for school can be isolating and scary,
(03:25):
but Lola clearly made the most out of it. She
got a job as a server at a local Mexican
restaurant and started dating a boy named Brandon York. So far,
Lola was having a good time despite being home sead.
She lived on campus in an apartment style dorm. It
was monitored in the same way as regular dorms, with
an ra student only access with the key FOP system
(03:47):
and visiting hours for guests. Campus security was also on
duty twenty four to seven, providing peace of mind for
those who lived in the residence halls. The apartments themselves
were large, with Lola and her three roommates each having
their own room an apartment four sixty. I think that's
a pretty sweet deal. You get the best of both worlds,
the safety of a dorm plus the space and privacy
(04:09):
of an apartment, which I'm sure was great for twenty
two year old Lola. She was a bit older than
the traditional dorm demographic, so having an apartment and her
own room gave her and her roommates a level of
freedom they wouldn't have had in a traditional dorm. However,
this freedom proved to be both a blessing and a
curse because one of Lola's roommates, Tanzania Morris, used this
(04:34):
freedom to bring a guest into their apartment. The guest
was her mother, Tina Morris, and though the rules for
same sex overnight guests in the Residence Halls meant she
could stay for seventy two hours, Morris stayed for weeks.
Despite the roommates being troubled by this living situation, the
ras didn't take any action whether they were neglecting their
(04:56):
responsibilities to enforce the rules, or they just didn't know
is unclear, but it would prove to be a fatal oversight. Now,
before I tell you about the events of April eighteenth,
two thousand and eight, I need to give you some
insight into the lives of Tanzania Morris and her mother,
Tina Morris, because I'm sure if anyone knew these details,
(05:17):
Morris would not have been allowed to stay in her
daughter's dorm. The Morris woman had in a strange relationship
throughout Tanzania's childhood with her mother, racking up a long
list of criminal behaviors. She wasn't arrested for all of them,
but the offenses included arson in nineteen ninety eight, which
she did serve jail time for Mole's station of a
(05:38):
teenage miner, a soult in, battery, identity theft, and more arson.
It's unbelievable that with such a history of criminality she
only served time once. I guess that just goes to
show how skilled she was at committing crimes. Morris's criminal
ways led to her not being in Tanzania's life very much.
(06:00):
Other family members saw her as an unstable parental figure.
Leaving Tanzania to be raised by grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
But despite such a checkered past, Morris's daughter, Tanzania made
it to college. She was described as being her mother's
polar opposite, quiet, keeping her head down and focusing on
her studies. So when Tanzania asked her roommates if her
(06:23):
mom could stay with them for a few days, they
didn't hesitate to welcome her into their campus home. After all,
Tanzania was such a kind and respectful girl, they had
no reason to believe that her mother would be any different.
But the thirty six year old Morris was loud and assertive,
and Lola's other roommates described her as emotionally immature. The
(06:46):
roommate's apartment environment that was once full of friends hanging
out and studying, soon became tense as Morris's stay increased
from a few days to over a week, then two weeks.
Talk about overstain you're welcome, But the girls didn't want
to be rude to Tanzania or her mother, especially knowing
that the two weren't close during Tanzania's childhood. They didn't
(07:10):
think it was their place to pressure Tanzania to kick
her mother out, which is perfectly understandable, but they could
tell that Tanzania was tense around her mother too, due
to their physical and emotional distance during Tanzania's childhood, she
also didn't know her mother very well. Eventually, the girls
banded together and asked Tanzania about when her mother would leave.
(07:33):
Tanzania assured them that any day now Morris would be
on the next bus out of town, but that day
never came. Morris lept on the couch in the living room,
making even their common space less inviting. She was described
as clingy, only leaving the apartment with Tanzania and even
hovering over her within the apartment. The only time she
(07:55):
ever went outside of the apartment on her own was
to smoke a cigarette, which she did many times a day.
Morris's presence in the apartment made for a less relaxed environment,
with the girls choosing to isolate more than hang out together.
When they used to have movie nights, the girls now
stayed in their rooms. That brings us to the night
(08:16):
of April seventeenth, two thousand and eight. That evening, Lola
had planned a movie night in the living room for
the girls, but two of the roommates Shasta and Mandy,
opted out. Mandy was out of town and Shasta had
an early class in the morning, which left Lola and
the two Morris women. The three women watched the movie,
and that's when things got tense. Tanzania began asking questions
(08:40):
about the plot of the movie, questions like how do
those characters know each other, where are they going, et cetera.
It was innocent enough until Lola became irritated at the
constant interruptions. She snapped at Tanzania, telling her that maybe
she'd understand better if she was quiet and watched the movie. Sure,
(09:00):
maybe getting angry wasn't the best idea, but I totally
understand getting annoyed with someone talking during a movie. I
don't blame Lola for being irritated. Tanzania conceded, but Morris
didn't appreciate someone speaking to her daughter that way. Now.
I'm sure we've all encountered our fair share of mama
(09:20):
bears in the world. You know, women who will do
anything to protect and defend their kids when posed with
a threat. It's pretty normal. Usually it's an admirable quality,
But in this instance, Morris's outrage was hardly warranted and
her reaction was anything but normal. Lola seemed to have
(09:41):
picked up on this rising tension after the interaction. After
the movie was over, she went to her boyfriend Brandon's
house to decompress and vent to him about the problem
she was having with Tanzania and Tina Morris. He told
her it would be best to let the situation blow
over and advised her to talk to her roommates about
house rules surrounding guests once more after things had diffused.
(10:03):
Lola agreed, thanked him, and left at one thirty am
to go back to Apartment four sixty. The next morning,
after attending class, Shasta returned to the apartment around eleven AM.
That's when she found blood smeared on the kitchen, cabinets
and floors. She was confused and afraid, and when she
went into the bathroom, she discovered a scene that would
(10:25):
haunt her for the rest of her life. Lola lay
on the floor of the bathroom, bleeding out from multiple
stab wounds. Shasta couldn't believe it. She started shouting for anyone.
She called for Mandy and Tanzania, but no one was
home to share in her panic. Shasta then called nine
one one, and when first responders arrived, they pronounced Lola
(10:48):
dead at the scene. She'd been stabbed in the neck
and shoulders, and her hands had burns on them, consistent
with shielding her face from something scolding hot. The campus
was thrown into frenzy as there was now a killer
on the loofs. Police didn't know who the killer was
or what their motive was, so they assumed it was
a random act of violence. Maybe a serial killer had
(11:11):
snuck onto campus, or perhaps there was a violent sexual
offender in the area. Shasta remembered the police asking her
if anyone's boyfriends had been around the apartment before she
left that morning. They attributed this sort of violence to
a male killer based on the brutality, but as far
as Shasta knew, it had just been the five women
(11:32):
in the apartment and only Tina Morris was unaccounted for.
If someone had intruded and killed Lola, they worried Tina
was hurt or in danger too. When police contacted Lola's family,
they were obviously devastated, and being so far away only
made it harder. There wasn't much they could do from
(11:53):
nearly two thousand miles away, especially knowing that their beloved
daughter was all dead. Through their grief, though they were
able to give the police an important piece of information.
Lola had a car on campus. The police checked the
parking lot only to find that it was gone, just
(12:14):
like the murderer. Whoever had done this to Lola had
apparently stolen the car. They wondered if theft was the motive.
It seemed unlikely since she was killed in her home.
Not many carthefs happened so far away from the road,
but it was hard to come up with a motive.
Who would want Lola Martinez dead when she was so
(12:35):
widely loved. Finally, after about thirty hours of investigating, the
police were given security footage from outside the residence hall.
It would prove to be a major break in the case.
The cameras caught Shasta leaving for class early that morning,
and they knew Mandy, the third roommate, was away visiting
her boyfriend, which only left two suspects unless someone else
(12:58):
was shown entering the apartment that morning. The person who
killed Lola was either Tina or Tanzania Morris. They were
dealing with either the mother or the daughter as their killer.
They watched the footage on the edge of their seats
until finally time stamped at ten o two a m.
Tanzania was shown leaving the apartment to go to class.
(13:19):
This meant that Morris and Lola had been left alone
in the apartment, and mere hours later, Lola had turned
up dead. The security footage showed Morris leaving the apartment
only twenty minutes after her daughter. Like usual, she had
gone out for a smoke break and seemed relaxed. Then
she went back inside. An hour later, footage showed Morris
(13:41):
leaving the apartment again, this time though she was wearing
a different shirt and her left hand was buried in
her pocket. She also appeared impatient as she waited for
the elevator. She was antsy and even hit the stair
well while she waited, clearly she was in distress. Then
she left and never returned. The next person to enter
(14:03):
the apartment was Shasta, returning from class when she found
the bloody crime scene. Police now had the name of
a suspect, and the man hunt for Tina Morris began.
They were prepared to search high and low for her,
but were surprised when a day later she called them.
She said it's Tina Morris. I heard you were looking
(14:24):
for me. I'm in Indianapolis. Two police officers made the
two hour drive to Indianapolis, where they found Morris sitting
in a park ready to come clean. Tanzania was the
one to convince her mother to confess. Upon learning that
her roommate Lola had been murdered, Tanzania called Tina and said, Mom,
(14:44):
please tell me you didn't do this. Maurris confessed to
her daughter, who convinced her to stay where she was
and turn herself in. Police arrived ready to hear Morris's
side of the story. Was she going to lie and
say there was an intruder? Was she going to claim
she ran away before the intruder got her to There
were so many ways this could have gone, especially with
(15:07):
Morris's history of crime and deceit, but there were no
lives yet. She confessed right there to killing Lola Martinez
and stealing her car to go on the run. The
police detained her and drove her back to Fort Wayne
for formal questioning. When she got back to the police station,
Morris gave the authorities her version of events. She said
(15:29):
she was angry about how Lola spoke to Tanzania the
night before, said that she stood about it all night
and decided to talk to her about it in the morning. Yeah,
that's right, she claimed. This all began with a little talk.
The police found it hard to believe. What was even
more unbelievable was the claim that Lola had attacked her
(15:52):
first and Morris was just defending herself. The lead interrogator,
Detective Clement, did not allow her to lie in this situation.
He said that he wasn't going to let her tell
him lies. He was going to tell her what happened.
He told Morris that she was angry at Lola for
talking to Tanzania the way she had the night before.
(16:14):
He speculated that the conversation got heated and Morris could
no longer contain her rage. Then she attacked her, ultimately
fatally stabbing her. Finally, Morris conceded and admitted Lola never
attacked her. The detective wasn't far off base, but the
truth was even more gruesome than he could have imagined.
(16:36):
In the physical confrontation, Lola tried to get away. This
is the most heinous part, folks, Brace yourselves. Morris took
a pot of boiling water off of the stove and
through the water on Lola's face. How cruel she clearly
wanted to see the poor woman suffer. She then took
(16:58):
a nearby knife and stopped in the neck. Lola ran
to her bedroom and attempted to barricade herself inside, but
Morris followed and continued to stab her in the neck
and shoulders, leaving multiple stab wounds and ultimately killing her.
The police examined Morris's body for any defensive wounds, there
were none, further proof that Morris was the initial and
(17:21):
primary aggressor. The only injuries she had were consistent with
swinging a knife downward to stab someone, which was why
she kept her hand hidden when she left the apartment
after changing out of her bloody clothes. They booked Tina Morris,
charging her with felony murder and twelve other counts. Initially,
(17:42):
she pleaded insanity, but quickly had a change of heart.
They offered her a plea deal. The Martinez family didn't
want to have to go through a trial, being forced
to hear all of the grizzly details about what happened
to their daughter and debate what the right sentence would
be for someone so depraved to commit this kind of violence.
(18:02):
They wanted Morris to plead guilty and spend sixty years
in prison for the one count of murder and would
drop the other charges. Morris took the plea. That sentence
was divisive. Many believed she should have been given life,
but Lola's family recognized that no amount of jail time
was going to bring her back. Despite their grief, the
(18:23):
Martinez family showed exceptional grace throughout this tragedy. They even
invited Tanzania to Lola's funeral, recognizing that her mother's actions
were not her fault. Lola's parents didn't even know that
Morris had spent two weeks in their daughter's apartment. The
news of her death at the hands of Morris must
(18:44):
have truly been a major shock and punched to the gut.
Lola's boyfriend, Brandon, felt immense guilt for not asking Lola
to stay over the night of the movie confrontation. He
said he'll always wonder if he could have saved her life.
How heartbreaking. It's so clear that when someone's life is
(19:06):
taken from them, the deceased don't just lose their entire future,
but their loved ones lose their peace of mind. To
this day, Tina Morris is serving time at Rockville Correctional
Facility in Rockville, Indiana, with possibility of parole in twenty
thirty six. It's so chilling to me to know that
(19:27):
a cold blooded killer could be walking free in just
over a decade. As for Tanzania, she has understandably kept
a very low profile. Had she not invited her mother
to live with her, this whole ordeal would have never happened.
That kind of guilt must be so hard to carry
through life and would only be made worse with the
(19:48):
negative attention that comes with it. It's not clear whether
she was expelled for breaking the resident hall's seventy two
hour rule for overnight guests. She was just a student
who wanted to be closer to me her mother, and
there was no way of knowing Tina would be a
danger to her roommates. But at the end of the day,
if she'd honored the dorm rules, Lola Martinez might still
(20:10):
be alive. It's interesting this case didn't get much media coverage.
There are no public accounts of Purdue University Fort Wayne
changing any of their rules and regulations or cracking down
on campus security, but it's clear that Lola's death left
a legacy. Many discussed the case on online forums, sharing
(20:30):
their opinions on the killer and the death. Interestingly enough,
many believed this case to be a result of parental hovering,
likening it to when a father stays at a nearby
hotel while his college aged son takes his midterms. But
I think it's clear that Morris was not a hover parent.
She was a parent who didn't get to spend much
time with her daughter in the earlier years of her
(20:52):
life and took advantage of Tanzania's new living situation while
she was away at college. And unfortunately, she was overcome
with rage in response to a perceived disrespect against her
daughter and took it out on Lola. There was no
way she thought that because of one offhanded comment to Tanzania,
Lola was actually some sort of threat to her daughter.
(21:15):
That's the difference between a helicopter parent or a mama
bear and Tina Morris. Morris let rage take over her
in the moment she stopped Lola and through the boiling water.
She didn't need to protect Tanzania from anything at the moment.
She just didn't like Lola, these kinds of simple explanations
(21:36):
to murders can be some of the most chilling, can't they.
It really makes you wonder if, when the right button
is pushed, anyone is capable of doing these kinds of things.
Lola Martinez was only twenty two years old and had
such a beautiful life ahead of her. She blogged on
her MySpace account in the years before her death. In
(21:58):
one post, interestingly enough, she was asked the question of
how she'd want to die. She answered, in a really cool,
tragic way, as long as I don't take anyone down
with me. Even in this fantasy scenario where death was
not actually on the table, she was thinking of others.
And I can't help but point out the sad irony
(22:20):
that she did end up dying tragically, but her legacy
lived on in the hearts of her family members. That's
it for this episode of Murder. You thank you for listening,
and remember, if you or anyone you know is struggling
with mental illness, please call or text nine eight eight,
go to the nearest emergency room, or reach out to
(22:41):
a twenty four hour crisis center or a mobile crisis
outreach team in your area.
Oh my gosh. I can't thank you all enough for listening.
We've had thousands of downloads already and we're just getting started. Anyway,
can I ask you a huge favor. If you're loving
murder You, could you give us a five star review?
It really helps us out and ensures we can keep
bringing you great true crime stories thanks a bunch Abnornia.
(00:25):
From high school hallways to expansive college campuses and the
sanctity of their homes, these once secure spaces have transformed
into hunting grounds for sinister individuals seeking to inflict harm
on the unsuspecting. I'm your host, Mattie. Join me here
each week as we investigate the bone chilling stories of
senseless murders occurring in and around our centers of education.
(00:48):
Welcome to Murder You. An Abnormia original. When a young
(01:14):
adult is sent off to college, a parent might worry
about their kid falling into the wrong crowd, or being
targeted by predatory students right maybe getting into drugs or partying,
landing them in sticky situations. Those are all normal fears
for a parent, but rarely does it cross their mind
that their kid could be victimized by another parent specifically
(01:37):
a roommate's parent. In this case, this was something Lola
Martinez's family had to reckon with when their daughter was
murdered by Tina Morris, her roommate's mother. This is a bizarre,
wild case resulting in the death of a young woman
who was robbed of a bright future. Let's get into it,
le Et. Nicole Martinez was born on September twenty second,
(02:00):
nineteen eighty four, in Silver City, New Mexico, to Gabriel
and Geraldine Estrada Martinez. She was their only child and
was adored by her family. After years of people mispronouncing
her name, she decided to go by her nickname Lola
full time as a teenager. From a young age, Lola
was dedicated to her academics, but she also had an
(02:21):
affinity for cheer. She cheered for her middle school's team
and eventually her high school's palm team. Her positive and
bubbly personality made her perfect for the sport, and she
always brightened a room. Around this time, she also developed
an interest in visual art. After graduating from high school,
Lola was accepted into New Mexico State University, where she
(02:41):
was an active member in the digital art club, pursuing
a degree in graphic design. After spending her entire life
in New Mexico, it's understandable that Lola would want to
see more of the country, so she applied to transfer
from New Mexico State to Purdue University Fort Wayne in Indiana. Unsurprised,
she was accepted, and in two thousand and seven, she
(03:04):
moved over one thousand miles away to start her sophomore
year at the school. Though she was excited for this
new opportunity, Lola posted on her MySpace profile often about
how much she missed her family, her home, and her
dogs while she was in school in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
It's understandable moving away for school can be isolating and scary,
(03:25):
but Lola clearly made the most out of it. She
got a job as a server at a local Mexican
restaurant and started dating a boy named Brandon York. So far,
Lola was having a good time despite being home sead.
She lived on campus in an apartment style dorm. It
was monitored in the same way as regular dorms, with
an ra student only access with the key FOP system
(03:47):
and visiting hours for guests. Campus security was also on
duty twenty four to seven, providing peace of mind for
those who lived in the residence halls. The apartments themselves
were large, with Lola and her three roommates each having
their own room an apartment four sixty. I think that's
a pretty sweet deal. You get the best of both worlds,
the safety of a dorm plus the space and privacy
(04:09):
of an apartment, which I'm sure was great for twenty
two year old Lola. She was a bit older than
the traditional dorm demographic, so having an apartment and her
own room gave her and her roommates a level of
freedom they wouldn't have had in a traditional dorm. However,
this freedom proved to be both a blessing and a
curse because one of Lola's roommates, Tanzania Morris, used this
(04:34):
freedom to bring a guest into their apartment. The guest
was her mother, Tina Morris, and though the rules for
same sex overnight guests in the Residence Halls meant she
could stay for seventy two hours, Morris stayed for weeks.
Despite the roommates being troubled by this living situation, the
ras didn't take any action whether they were neglecting their
(04:56):
responsibilities to enforce the rules, or they just didn't know
is unclear, but it would prove to be a fatal oversight. Now,
before I tell you about the events of April eighteenth,
two thousand and eight, I need to give you some
insight into the lives of Tanzania Morris and her mother,
Tina Morris, because I'm sure if anyone knew these details,
(05:17):
Morris would not have been allowed to stay in her
daughter's dorm. The Morris woman had in a strange relationship
throughout Tanzania's childhood with her mother, racking up a long
list of criminal behaviors. She wasn't arrested for all of them,
but the offenses included arson in nineteen ninety eight, which
she did serve jail time for Mole's station of a
(05:38):
teenage miner, a soult in, battery, identity theft, and more arson.
It's unbelievable that with such a history of criminality she
only served time once. I guess that just goes to
show how skilled she was at committing crimes. Morris's criminal
ways led to her not being in Tanzania's life very much.
(06:00):
Other family members saw her as an unstable parental figure.
Leaving Tanzania to be raised by grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
But despite such a checkered past, Morris's daughter, Tanzania made
it to college. She was described as being her mother's
polar opposite, quiet, keeping her head down and focusing on
her studies. So when Tanzania asked her roommates if her
(06:23):
mom could stay with them for a few days, they
didn't hesitate to welcome her into their campus home. After all,
Tanzania was such a kind and respectful girl, they had
no reason to believe that her mother would be any different.
But the thirty six year old Morris was loud and assertive,
and Lola's other roommates described her as emotionally immature. The
(06:46):
roommate's apartment environment that was once full of friends hanging
out and studying, soon became tense as Morris's stay increased
from a few days to over a week, then two weeks.
Talk about overstain you're welcome, But the girls didn't want
to be rude to Tanzania or her mother, especially knowing
that the two weren't close during Tanzania's childhood. They didn't
(07:10):
think it was their place to pressure Tanzania to kick
her mother out, which is perfectly understandable, but they could
tell that Tanzania was tense around her mother too, due
to their physical and emotional distance during Tanzania's childhood, she
also didn't know her mother very well. Eventually, the girls
banded together and asked Tanzania about when her mother would leave.
(07:33):
Tanzania assured them that any day now Morris would be
on the next bus out of town, but that day
never came. Morris lept on the couch in the living room,
making even their common space less inviting. She was described
as clingy, only leaving the apartment with Tanzania and even
hovering over her within the apartment. The only time she
(07:55):
ever went outside of the apartment on her own was
to smoke a cigarette, which she did many times a day.
Morris's presence in the apartment made for a less relaxed environment,
with the girls choosing to isolate more than hang out together.
When they used to have movie nights, the girls now
stayed in their rooms. That brings us to the night
(08:16):
of April seventeenth, two thousand and eight. That evening, Lola
had planned a movie night in the living room for
the girls, but two of the roommates Shasta and Mandy,
opted out. Mandy was out of town and Shasta had
an early class in the morning, which left Lola and
the two Morris women. The three women watched the movie,
and that's when things got tense. Tanzania began asking questions
(08:40):
about the plot of the movie, questions like how do
those characters know each other, where are they going, et cetera.
It was innocent enough until Lola became irritated at the
constant interruptions. She snapped at Tanzania, telling her that maybe
she'd understand better if she was quiet and watched the movie. Sure,
(09:00):
maybe getting angry wasn't the best idea, but I totally
understand getting annoyed with someone talking during a movie. I
don't blame Lola for being irritated. Tanzania conceded, but Morris
didn't appreciate someone speaking to her daughter that way. Now.
I'm sure we've all encountered our fair share of mama
(09:20):
bears in the world. You know, women who will do
anything to protect and defend their kids when posed with
a threat. It's pretty normal. Usually it's an admirable quality,
But in this instance, Morris's outrage was hardly warranted and
her reaction was anything but normal. Lola seemed to have
(09:41):
picked up on this rising tension after the interaction. After
the movie was over, she went to her boyfriend Brandon's
house to decompress and vent to him about the problem
she was having with Tanzania and Tina Morris. He told
her it would be best to let the situation blow
over and advised her to talk to her roommates about
house rules surrounding guests once more after things had diffused.
(10:03):
Lola agreed, thanked him, and left at one thirty am
to go back to Apartment four sixty. The next morning,
after attending class, Shasta returned to the apartment around eleven AM.
That's when she found blood smeared on the kitchen, cabinets
and floors. She was confused and afraid, and when she
went into the bathroom, she discovered a scene that would
(10:25):
haunt her for the rest of her life. Lola lay
on the floor of the bathroom, bleeding out from multiple
stab wounds. Shasta couldn't believe it. She started shouting for anyone.
She called for Mandy and Tanzania, but no one was
home to share in her panic. Shasta then called nine
one one, and when first responders arrived, they pronounced Lola
(10:48):
dead at the scene. She'd been stabbed in the neck
and shoulders, and her hands had burns on them, consistent
with shielding her face from something scolding hot. The campus
was thrown into frenzy as there was now a killer
on the loofs. Police didn't know who the killer was
or what their motive was, so they assumed it was
a random act of violence. Maybe a serial killer had
(11:11):
snuck onto campus, or perhaps there was a violent sexual
offender in the area. Shasta remembered the police asking her
if anyone's boyfriends had been around the apartment before she
left that morning. They attributed this sort of violence to
a male killer based on the brutality, but as far
as Shasta knew, it had just been the five women
(11:32):
in the apartment and only Tina Morris was unaccounted for.
If someone had intruded and killed Lola, they worried Tina
was hurt or in danger too. When police contacted Lola's family,
they were obviously devastated, and being so far away only
made it harder. There wasn't much they could do from
(11:53):
nearly two thousand miles away, especially knowing that their beloved
daughter was all dead. Through their grief, though they were
able to give the police an important piece of information.
Lola had a car on campus. The police checked the
parking lot only to find that it was gone, just
(12:14):
like the murderer. Whoever had done this to Lola had
apparently stolen the car. They wondered if theft was the motive.
It seemed unlikely since she was killed in her home.
Not many carthefs happened so far away from the road,
but it was hard to come up with a motive.
Who would want Lola Martinez dead when she was so
(12:35):
widely loved. Finally, after about thirty hours of investigating, the
police were given security footage from outside the residence hall.
It would prove to be a major break in the case.
The cameras caught Shasta leaving for class early that morning,
and they knew Mandy, the third roommate, was away visiting
her boyfriend, which only left two suspects unless someone else
(12:58):
was shown entering the apartment that morning. The person who
killed Lola was either Tina or Tanzania Morris. They were
dealing with either the mother or the daughter as their killer.
They watched the footage on the edge of their seats
until finally time stamped at ten o two a m.
Tanzania was shown leaving the apartment to go to class.
(13:19):
This meant that Morris and Lola had been left alone
in the apartment, and mere hours later, Lola had turned
up dead. The security footage showed Morris leaving the apartment
only twenty minutes after her daughter. Like usual, she had
gone out for a smoke break and seemed relaxed. Then
she went back inside. An hour later, footage showed Morris
(13:41):
leaving the apartment again, this time though she was wearing
a different shirt and her left hand was buried in
her pocket. She also appeared impatient as she waited for
the elevator. She was antsy and even hit the stair
well while she waited, clearly she was in distress. Then
she left and never returned. The next person to enter
(14:03):
the apartment was Shasta, returning from class when she found
the bloody crime scene. Police now had the name of
a suspect, and the man hunt for Tina Morris began.
They were prepared to search high and low for her,
but were surprised when a day later she called them.
She said it's Tina Morris. I heard you were looking
(14:24):
for me. I'm in Indianapolis. Two police officers made the
two hour drive to Indianapolis, where they found Morris sitting
in a park ready to come clean. Tanzania was the
one to convince her mother to confess. Upon learning that
her roommate Lola had been murdered, Tanzania called Tina and said, Mom,
(14:44):
please tell me you didn't do this. Maurris confessed to
her daughter, who convinced her to stay where she was
and turn herself in. Police arrived ready to hear Morris's
side of the story. Was she going to lie and
say there was an intruder? Was she going to claim
she ran away before the intruder got her to There
were so many ways this could have gone, especially with
(15:07):
Morris's history of crime and deceit, but there were no
lives yet. She confessed right there to killing Lola Martinez
and stealing her car to go on the run. The
police detained her and drove her back to Fort Wayne
for formal questioning. When she got back to the police station,
Morris gave the authorities her version of events. She said
(15:29):
she was angry about how Lola spoke to Tanzania the
night before, said that she stood about it all night
and decided to talk to her about it in the morning. Yeah,
that's right, she claimed. This all began with a little talk.
The police found it hard to believe. What was even
more unbelievable was the claim that Lola had attacked her
(15:52):
first and Morris was just defending herself. The lead interrogator,
Detective Clement, did not allow her to lie in this situation.
He said that he wasn't going to let her tell
him lies. He was going to tell her what happened.
He told Morris that she was angry at Lola for
talking to Tanzania the way she had the night before.
(16:14):
He speculated that the conversation got heated and Morris could
no longer contain her rage. Then she attacked her, ultimately
fatally stabbing her. Finally, Morris conceded and admitted Lola never
attacked her. The detective wasn't far off base, but the
truth was even more gruesome than he could have imagined.
(16:36):
In the physical confrontation, Lola tried to get away. This
is the most heinous part, folks, Brace yourselves. Morris took
a pot of boiling water off of the stove and
through the water on Lola's face. How cruel she clearly
wanted to see the poor woman suffer. She then took
(16:58):
a nearby knife and stopped in the neck. Lola ran
to her bedroom and attempted to barricade herself inside, but
Morris followed and continued to stab her in the neck
and shoulders, leaving multiple stab wounds and ultimately killing her.
The police examined Morris's body for any defensive wounds, there
were none, further proof that Morris was the initial and
(17:21):
primary aggressor. The only injuries she had were consistent with
swinging a knife downward to stab someone, which was why
she kept her hand hidden when she left the apartment
after changing out of her bloody clothes. They booked Tina Morris,
charging her with felony murder and twelve other counts. Initially,
(17:42):
she pleaded insanity, but quickly had a change of heart.
They offered her a plea deal. The Martinez family didn't
want to have to go through a trial, being forced
to hear all of the grizzly details about what happened
to their daughter and debate what the right sentence would
be for someone so depraved to commit this kind of violence.
(18:02):
They wanted Morris to plead guilty and spend sixty years
in prison for the one count of murder and would
drop the other charges. Morris took the plea. That sentence
was divisive. Many believed she should have been given life,
but Lola's family recognized that no amount of jail time
was going to bring her back. Despite their grief, the
(18:23):
Martinez family showed exceptional grace throughout this tragedy. They even
invited Tanzania to Lola's funeral, recognizing that her mother's actions
were not her fault. Lola's parents didn't even know that
Morris had spent two weeks in their daughter's apartment. The
news of her death at the hands of Morris must
(18:44):
have truly been a major shock and punched to the gut.
Lola's boyfriend, Brandon, felt immense guilt for not asking Lola
to stay over the night of the movie confrontation. He
said he'll always wonder if he could have saved her life.
How heartbreaking. It's so clear that when someone's life is
(19:06):
taken from them, the deceased don't just lose their entire future,
but their loved ones lose their peace of mind. To
this day, Tina Morris is serving time at Rockville Correctional
Facility in Rockville, Indiana, with possibility of parole in twenty
thirty six. It's so chilling to me to know that
(19:27):
a cold blooded killer could be walking free in just
over a decade. As for Tanzania, she has understandably kept
a very low profile. Had she not invited her mother
to live with her, this whole ordeal would have never happened.
That kind of guilt must be so hard to carry
through life and would only be made worse with the
(19:48):
negative attention that comes with it. It's not clear whether
she was expelled for breaking the resident hall's seventy two
hour rule for overnight guests. She was just a student
who wanted to be closer to me her mother, and
there was no way of knowing Tina would be a
danger to her roommates. But at the end of the day,
if she'd honored the dorm rules, Lola Martinez might still
(20:10):
be alive. It's interesting this case didn't get much media coverage.
There are no public accounts of Purdue University Fort Wayne
changing any of their rules and regulations or cracking down
on campus security, but it's clear that Lola's death left
a legacy. Many discussed the case on online forums, sharing
(20:30):
their opinions on the killer and the death. Interestingly enough,
many believed this case to be a result of parental hovering,
likening it to when a father stays at a nearby
hotel while his college aged son takes his midterms. But
I think it's clear that Morris was not a hover parent.
She was a parent who didn't get to spend much
time with her daughter in the earlier years of her
(20:52):
life and took advantage of Tanzania's new living situation while
she was away at college. And unfortunately, she was overcome
with rage in response to a perceived disrespect against her
daughter and took it out on Lola. There was no
way she thought that because of one offhanded comment to Tanzania,
Lola was actually some sort of threat to her daughter.
(21:15):
That's the difference between a helicopter parent or a mama
bear and Tina Morris. Morris let rage take over her
in the moment she stopped Lola and through the boiling water.
She didn't need to protect Tanzania from anything at the moment.
She just didn't like Lola, these kinds of simple explanations
(21:36):
to murders can be some of the most chilling, can't they.
It really makes you wonder if, when the right button
is pushed, anyone is capable of doing these kinds of things.
Lola Martinez was only twenty two years old and had
such a beautiful life ahead of her. She blogged on
her MySpace account in the years before her death. In
(21:58):
one post, interestingly enough, she was asked the question of
how she'd want to die. She answered, in a really cool,
tragic way, as long as I don't take anyone down
with me. Even in this fantasy scenario where death was
not actually on the table, she was thinking of others.
And I can't help but point out the sad irony
(22:20):
that she did end up dying tragically, but her legacy
lived on in the hearts of her family members. That's
it for this episode of Murder. You thank you for listening,
and remember, if you or anyone you know is struggling
with mental illness, please call or text nine eight eight,
go to the nearest emergency room, or reach out to
(22:41):
a twenty four hour crisis center or a mobile crisis
outreach team in your area.
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