November 2, 2025 • 31 mins
In this shocking True Crime Case Files episode, we investigate the murder of Tyler Skinner, a 19-year-old Auburn University student, brutally stabbed 37 times by his girlfriend Baylor Whitmore during sorority rush week in October 2023. Discover the dark secrets behind Tyler’s life—juggling multiple affairs with students and professors, bartering sex for grades, and spreading STDs to those closest to him.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-case-files--6127499/support.
JOIN OUR FAN CLUB and become a part of our growing community of crime-solving aficionados!
JOIN HERE
We're waiting for you...
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-case-files--6127499/support.
JOIN OUR FAN CLUB and become a part of our growing community of crime-solving aficionados!
JOIN HERE
We're waiting for you...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Auburn, Alabama, October twenty twenty three. For most students at
Auburn University, it was supposed to be the peak of
college life. Football season, sorority rush, and knights, filled with
both studying and parties. But beneath the cheerful atmosphere of
tailgates and greek life, a scandal was brewing. A brutal
killing soon shocked the campus, mixing ambition, sex and betrayal,
(00:22):
and way's few could imagine. This is the story of
Tyler Skinner, a nineteen year old sophomore whose life ended violently,
and the sorority rush girl who killed him. In October
of twenty twenty three, Auburn University was alive with energy.
The leaves had just started to change. Football season was
in full swing, and the sidewalks near Toomer's Corner were
(00:44):
packed with students in orange and blue. Saturday afternoons meant
tailgates filled with music, grilled food, and laughter. At the
center of many of those gatherings was Tyler Skinner. Tyler
was nineteen years old, a sophomore studying communications. He came
from Huntsville, Alabama, the oldest child of Mike and Denise Skinner.
His parents worked hard to give their children every opportunity.
(01:07):
His younger sister, Ashley, often shared pictures of the two
of them on social media, calling him her big brother hero.
At home, Tyler was remembered as charming and funny, but
also stubborn and headstrong. At Auburn, Tyler built a different reputation.
He was known as the life of the tailgate, someone
who could turn any ordinary party into an unforgettable night.
(01:29):
Friends described him as outgoing, cocky, and confident. He preferred
spending late nights at fraternity houses, often surrounded by music,
red solo cups, and crowds of cheering students. When there
was a big football gang, people could count on seeing
Tyler at the center of it, laughing loudly and telling jokes.
But beneath that fun, loving image, Tyler was hiding secrets. Outwardly,
(01:51):
he seemed like just another college student enjoying life. In reality,
he was juggling multiple sexual relationships, not only with student
but also with faculty members. It was something he bragged
about privately to close friends, who often didn't believe him
until rumors started spreading online. Tyler's academic life told another story.
His grades were terrible, often near failing, yet somehow, semester
(02:15):
after semester he managed to pass his classes. This led
to whispers around campus. Some classmates suggested he was receiving
favoritism from certain professors. Others suspected more, saying he was
trading attention and intimacy for grades. Online forums lit up
with speculation, though nothing was ever proven at the time. Still,
the rumors followed him wherever he went. Despite his poor
(02:37):
academic record, Tyler liked to talk about his future. He
dreamed of a career in sports media, maybe working for
ESPN or becoming a sideline reporter. He would tell friends
that he wanted to turn his love of football and
parties into a real career. Whether he truly believed this
future was possible is unclear, but he spoke about it often.
In the weeks before his death, Tyler's life seemed busy, chaotic.
(03:01):
He was still seeing his girlfriend, Baylor Bay Whitmore, a
freshman who was rushing Alpha Delta Pi sorority. At the
same time, he was maintaining secret affairs with professors, balancing
each relationship like a risky game. Friend said he looked
confident on the outside, but seemed tired, even distracted when alone.
For many, Tyler Skinner was the picture of a college
(03:22):
student living life to the fullest, football games, parties, and
endless energy. But behind the laughter, he was walking a
dangerous path. His charm and recklessness had made him popular,
but they had also placed him at the center of
a web of lie's secrets and risks that would soon
lead to his violent end. The morning of October fourteenth,
twenty twenty three, began like many fallse Saturdays in Auburn, Alabama.
(03:45):
It was cool and clear, with a soft breeze that
carried the smell of fresh coffee from the nearby cafes.
On campus. Students were already buzzing about the Auburn football
game later that day. Tailgates were being set up near
Toomer's Corner and the sidewalks were full of students in
orange sweatshirts and baseball caps. While much of the city
prepared for a day of cheering and celebration, Jason Murray,
(04:07):
a twenty year old business major, had started his morning
with a workout at the campus recreation center. Jason lived
with Tyler Skinner in an off campus apartment on Glen Avenue,
just a short walk from the stadium. He usually got
home before Tyler was awake, since Tyler often stayed out
late at parties. At around nine twenty a m. Jason
walked up the stairs to their apartment, his gym bag
(04:29):
slung over his shoulder. Right away, he noticed something odd.
The front door was unlocked. Tyler almost never left it
that way, especially after a string of small break ins
had been reported nearby earlier that fall. Jason pushed the
door open and stepped inside. The living room was unusually quiet. Normally,
on a Saturday morning, he might find Tyler asleep on
(04:50):
the couch, empty pizza boxes on the table, or the
TV still playing highlights from the night before, but this
time the apartment was still. Jason set his bag down
and called out Tyler. There was no answer. Feeling uneasy,
Jason walked toward Tyler's bedroom. The door was half open.
When he stepped inside, he froze. What he saw was
(05:10):
worse than anything he could have imagined. Tyler was lying
motionless on the bed. Blood covered the sheets and soaked
into the mattress. Clothing was scattered across the floor. The
scene was chaotic and violent, not at all like the
messy but harmless apartment Jason was used to. Jason's chest tightened,
his hands began to shake as he stumbled backward. Pulling
(05:30):
his phone from his pocket, he dialed nine to one one,
but could hardly form words. His voice cracked as he said,
my roommate, he's dead. There's blood everywhere. The dispatcher tried
to calm him down, telling him to take slow breadths
and stay on the line until police arrived. Terrified, Jason
ran outside to wait in the parking lot. He paced
back and forth, pale and trembling, clutching his phone. A
(05:54):
few neighbors noticed his distress and asked what was wrong,
but he could barely respond. The Chris spocktober morning, filled
with sounds of students laughing in the distance, now felt
like a cruel contrast to the horror inside the apartment.
Within minutes, Auburn police cars arrived on the scene. Jason
stood frozen on the curb, still in shock, as officers
(06:14):
hurried past him to the door of the apartment, where
Tyler Skinner's body had been discovered. Within minutes of Jason
Murray's nine to one one call on the morning of
October fourteenth, twenty twenty three, Auburn police arrived at the
apartment on Glen Avenue. The day was crisp and cool,
with bright autumn sun lights shining across the street, where
students were already hauling coolers and folding chairs for tailgates.
(06:38):
But outside Tyler Skinner's apartment, the mood was grim and tense.
Detectives Angela Price and Marcus Keller led the investigation. Rice,
forty two, was a veteran with over a decade of
experience handling violent crimes. Colleagues described her as calm under
pressure and quick to notice details others might miss. Keller,
thirty six, was younger, but equally respected, known for his
(07:00):
methodical approach and patience at scenes where chaos often distracted others.
Both detectives had been through difficult cases, but what they
were about to witness inside Tyler's bedroom shocked even them.
The apartment itself was typical for college students, dishes stacked
in the sink, a half empty pizza box on the counter,
clothes tossed carelessly in the living room, But the moment
(07:22):
investigators stepped into Tyler's bedroom, the ordinary setting turned into
a nightmare. Tyler was found lying on his bed. He
had been stabbed thirty seven times with a sharp blade,
later identified as a Sorority rush box cutter, the same
kind handed out in Auburn's Greek system during recruitment week.
His body showed multiple wounds to the chest, arms, and neck.
(07:43):
As if that weren't enough, he had also been suffocated
his own Auburn Tiger's foot. He was wrapped tightly around
his face and throat tied in a way that suggested
the killer wanted to ensure he would not survive. The
bed was soaked in blood, which had seeped into the
mattress and dripped onto the floor. Clothing and personal items
were scattered everywhere, showing signs of a violent struggle. The
(08:05):
small box cutter, its silver blade, stained dark red, was
found near the foot of the bed. It appeared to
have slipped from the attacker's hand. After the frenzy of stabbing,
Detective's Price and Keller moved carefully noting every detail. Price
whispered to Keller that the attack seemed furious and personal,
not the work of a stranger. Keller focused on documenting
(08:25):
the position of the body, the weapon, and the blood spatter.
Crime seeing technicians worked quickly, setting up cameras to take
hundreds of photographs from every angle. They dusted for fingerprints
on the box cutter, dresser handles, and the bedroom door.
Swabs were taken from under Tyler's fingernails, suggesting he may
have fought back against his attacker. Technicians also collected fibers
(08:47):
from the hoodie used in the suffocation. The brutality of
the crime stood in sharp contrast to the lively October
morning outside. While students in Auburn jerseys prepared for a
day of football and celebration, police inside them the apartment
pieced together the evidence of a killing that was not
random but deeply personal. By the time the investigation team
finished their first walkthrough, one fact was clear. Tyler's murder
(09:10):
had been fueled by rage, and the clues inside his
off campus apartment pointed directly towards someone who knew him well.
The first person Auburn police turned their attention to was
Baylor Bay Whitmore, Tyler Skinner's girlfriend. Bay was only eighteen,
a freshman who had just started her first semester at
Auburn in August of twenty twenty three. She had grown
(09:31):
up in Birmingham, Alabama, in a middle class neighborhood where
she was known for being ambitious, competitive, and all witch
chasing perfection. From the time she was in high school,
Bay had one dream joining Alpha Delta PI, one of
Auburn's oldest and most prestigious sororities. For Bay, this wasn't
just a college activity. It was the center of her identity.
(09:52):
Her friends from home said she was laser focused on
Greek life, almost to the point of obsession. When other
teams were talking about football games or school dances, Bay
was studying sorority recruitment guides, practicing her smile, and building
her wardrobe to match the pastel, polished image she wanted
to project. Her parents, Mike and Susan Whitmore, sacrificed heavily
(10:13):
to support her dream. They even mortgaged their house to
cover the costs of rush consultants, social fees, and the
endless clothing purchases needed to look the part. They believed
this was Bay's ticket to success. One family friend later
said it wasn't just about sister of it, it was
about networking status and doors opening in the future. By October,
(10:36):
Bay's Instagram was filled with pictures of her in dresses,
holding Starbucks cups, and captioning posts with upbeat sorority themed quotes.
To outsiders, Bay looked like she had it altogether, but
her relationship with Tyler was another story. Friends described it
as rocky, filled with constant arguments, jealousy, and mistrust. Tyler
was known for flirting at parties and often disappeared without explanation. Bay,
(11:00):
on the other hand, was determined to keep him close.
She wanted the perfect sorority image, and that included having
the right boyfriend. A fellow freshman later explained after Tyler's death,
detectives quickly zeroed in on by the murder weapon, a
sorority rushbox cutter, was the same type issued to new
recruits like her. When police called her in for questioning,
(11:21):
it was just three days after the murder on October seventeenth.
By then, the campus was buzzing with rumors, and Bey
walked into the station wearing a pale blue sweater, her
hair pulled neatly into a ponytail. Detectives Angela Price and
Marcus Keller noted her appearance immediately. She looked calm on
the outside, but her hands fidgeted with the hem of
(11:41):
her sleeve. When asked about her last interactions with Tyler,
Bey insisted she had seen him earlier in the week,
but denied being within the night he was killed. She
repeated that she loved him too much to hurt him.
Her answers, though steady, sounded rehearsed. Price later said Bay's
tone reminded her of a student gets giving memorized lines
in class. She did not cry, but her voice grew sharper.
(12:04):
When pressed about Tyler's reputation for cheating, she said, people
lie about him. I know what's true. What troubled detectives
most was the box cutter every pledge had won for
Rush events, and By admitted she still had hers, but
investigators noted how closely it matched the weapon found at
the crime scene. At that moment, she moved from just
(12:25):
a grieving girlfriend to a serious suspect. After reviewing Tyler's
phone records, Auburn police soon turned their focus to doctor
Colleen Mercer, a thirty four year old English professor at
Auburn University. Mercer was not only one of Tyler's instructors,
but also, as investigators learned, one of his secret lovers.
Her name quickly rose to the top of the suspect
(12:46):
list once detectives pieced together, messages exchanged between the two.
Mercer had recently become something of an academic star. Just
that September, she had been granted tenure, a rare achievement
for someone her age. Only weeks earth. Her controversial essay
language is a Form of Gendered Violence had been published
in The New Yorker, sparking heated debate across the country.
(13:09):
While some praised or bold ideas, others accused her of
being extreme. On campus, she had a reputation as brilliant, intense,
and unafraid to stir conflict. Students described her as the
kind of professor who wanted to break the mold, no
matter how uncomfortable it made people. In October of twenty
twenty three, Mercer was easy to spot around campus. She
(13:30):
was known for chain smoking clothes cigarettes outside Haley's Center
between classes, often wearing all black outfits that gave her
a dramatic look. Students recalled how she quoted Belle Hook's
casually in conversations and sometimes lingered too long with male
students during office hours. Tyler had taken her Intro to
Literature course during his freshman year, and classmates later joked
(13:51):
that Mercer was way too into boys in office hours.
When detectives called Mercer in for questioning on October nineteenth,
she arrived wearing a long dark coat. Despite the mild
Alabama fall weather. Auburn was alive that week with football chatter.
He SPN analysts were predicting another big win for the Tigers,
and downtown bars were already decorated with orange and blue banners.
(14:13):
Yet inside the police station, the mood was far from celebratory.
Mercer admitted to the affair almost immediately, but dismissed it
as a lapse in judgment. According to investigators, her tone
throughout the interview was sharp, almost dismissive, as if she
was irritated by being forced to explain herself. When asked
about her last contact with Tyler, she said he had
(14:35):
been pressuring her, he even threatening to expose their relationship
to the university. Tyler was reckless, she told detectives Angela
Price and Marcus Keller, exhaling loudly as if she were
in one of her lectures. He was infected by society's
white male bias, and he used it to manipulate me.
But as a nonpracticing Zen Buddhist I do not kill.
(14:56):
Her choice of words stood out. Detectives noted how she
seemed eager to frame her responses in philosophical or academic language,
avoiding straightforward answers. Still, she did not appear nervous. If anything,
she seemed annoyed at what she called the intrusion of
police logic into my personal life. The possible motive was clear.
Tyler had been blackmailing Mercer with intimate messages and photos.
(15:18):
For a newly tenured professor whose career was just taking off.
Exposure would have been disastrous. Her essay in The New
Yorker had made her a rising name in literary circles,
and being caught in a scandal with a freshman would
have destroyed her credibility. Even so, detectives lacked direct evidence
tying Mercer to the crime. No fingerprints, no DNA, and
(15:39):
no witnesses placed her at Tyler's apartment on the night
of October thirteenth. She remained a strong suspect, but without
more police had no grounds to arrest her. On Tuesday,
October seventeenth, twenty twenty three, the Skies over Auburn opened
with a steady cold rain. Students hurried across campus in
ponchos and hoodies. Coffee shop near Tumor's Corner filled early,
(16:02):
and windshield wipers thumped across Glen Avenue, where Tyler Skinner's
apartment still sat behind yellow police tape. It was that morning,
under the gray Alabama sky that investigators uncovered a discovery
that would shift the entire case. Detectives Angela Price and
Marcus Keller had suppointed Tyler's medical records inside the mental
a folder was information no one had expected. Months before
(16:24):
his death, Tyler had tested positive for not one, but
three different sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia. Most disturbing of all,
there was no evidence he had ever told his partners.
Auburn police now had to confront a devastating reality. Tyler
had exposed multiple people without their knowledge. Through interviews and
phone records, investigators pieced together the extent of Tyler's secret life.
(16:48):
He had been involved with at least a dozen faculty
members across Auburn University. These weren't just casual relationships. They
formed a pattern. Tyler had been bartering sex for grays,
created ding what one detective later described as an underground
economy of academic corruption. Among those implicated were doctor Colleen Mercer,
the outspoken English professor whose affair had already drawn suspicion,
(17:12):
and doctor Gerald Jerry Haskins, a sixty three year old
mathematics professor nearing retirement. Haskins was well known on campus
for his old fashioned chalkboard lectures and his habit of
whistling as he walked down the hallways of Parker Paul.
To his colleagues, he was quiet and unremarkable, but police
discovered that he too had been drawn into Tyler's web.
(17:34):
Records showed both Mercer and Haskins had contracted infections from Tyler.
Even more alarming, so had Baylor Bay Whitmore, Tyler's freshman girlfriend.
At just eighteen, She had been dragged into the same
destructive circle as professors twice and three times aer Age.
The revelations not only deepened the investigation, but also exploded
into a scandal that threatened Auburn University's reputation. By mid October,
(17:59):
word of the finding leaked online. Student message boards and
Reddit threads lit up with speculation. Some called Tyler a
manipulator who had taken advantage of weak faculty oversight. Others
argued he had been enabled by professors who should have
known better. Either way, the details shattered illusions of campus
life in the fall of twenty twenty three, a season
that had otherwise been filled with football excitement, pumpkin spice
(18:22):
promotions at the campus Starbucks, and chatter about fall break
trips to Gulf shores. The case was no longer just
about one young man's violent death. It had become a
story of corruption and betrayal, woven deep into Auburn's academic fabric.
Police noted how Tyler's charm and recklessness allowed him to
move between parties, classrooms, and faculty offices without consequences. Its
(18:43):
failing grades had somehow turned into passing marks semester after semester,
fueling suspicions that were now being confirmed in grim detail.
By the time detectives closed the files that rainy afternoon,
they understood that Tyler's murder had pulled back the curtain
on something larger, a hidden network of affairs manipulation and
academic misconduct that would scar Auburn's reputation for years. By
(19:06):
mid October twenty twenty three, attention turned toward doctor Gerald
Jerry Haskins, a sixty three year old mathematics professor who
had taught at Auburn University for nearly four decades. Haskins
was a fixture on campus, an old school academic who
still carried chalk in his jacket pocket and scribbled equations
on the green boards in Parker Hall. He had a
(19:26):
reputation for punctuality, conservative dress, and whistling folk tunes as
he walked across the quad. To many students, he was
just the quiet, older professor who seemed more interested in
proofs than in people. But detectives had uncovered a secret.
Haskins had been having a month's long affair with nineteen
year old Tyler Skinner Mary for over forty years. To
(19:47):
his wife Margaret, Haskins had seemed to live a traditional,
steady life. He had two grown children, a mortgage almost
paid off, and retirement on the horizon. Yet behind that
respectable exterior, he had slipped in to a hidden double
life that would come crashing down in the fall of
twenty twenty three. The breaking point came when Haskins learned,
(20:07):
through police questioning and medical reports, that Tyler had infected
him with multiple sexually transmitted diseases. The revelation hit him
like a wrecking ball. Colleagues in the math department described
a sharp change in his demeanor in early October. Once
warm and chatty and faculty meetings, he became erratic and cold,
snapping its staff and avoiding eye contact in the hallways.
(20:29):
One teaching assistant recalled that Haskins slammed a textbook onto
a desk during a lecture, something he had never done
in decades of teaching. By the time Auburn police brought
him in for questioning on October twentieth, the professor was
a shell of his former self. Outside campus life went
on as usual. Students carried umbrellas across the rainslick brick walkways,
(20:49):
Starbucks cups in hand, discussing the upcoming LSU game and
fall break plans. Inside the small interrogation room at the
Auburn Police Department, however, the mood was anything but normal.
At first, Haskins tried to maintain his composure, but under
the sharp questions of detectors Angela Price and Marcus Keller,
he crumbled, red faced and trembling. He admitted to the
(21:10):
affair with Tyler. His voice cracked as he described the
humiliation of being deceived and exposed. I gave my whole
life to this university, he said bitterly, and that boy,
he made me a fool. Detectives noted his anger was
raw and unfiltered, spilling out in bursts of frustration and shame.
At one point, he slammed his fist on the table
(21:30):
and muttered, he ruined me. Still, Haskins swore he had
not killed Tyler. He insisted he had been at home
with his wife on the night of October thirteenth, watching
the runs of Jeopardy and grating midterm exams. While his
alibi remained under review, investigators could not ignore the motive
staring them in the face. A respected professor, married for decades,
(21:52):
betrayed and humiliated in both his career and private life,
Haskins had every reason to lash out. Whether he had
acted on that age was the question detectives now had
to answer. By October twenty, twenty twenty three, the investigation
reached its breaking point. The air in Auburn was cooling
into crisp fall days, with leaves gathering along the sidewalks
(22:14):
and students flooding Timor's corner for coffee and football talk.
But behind the college town normalcy, detectives were preparing to
close in on the truth. The crime lab had delivered
results that could not be ignored. DNA analysis confirmed that
blood found under Tyler Skinner's fingernails matched Baylor Bay whitmore
fingerprints on the bloodied sorority rushbox cutter pointed directly to
(22:37):
her as well. For detectives Angela Price and Marcus Keller,
the pieces finally fit together. Bay was just eighteen years old,
a freshman from Birmingham, and had wrapped her entire future
around one dream pledging Alpha Delta Pie, one of Auburn's
most prestigious sororities. Her parents, Mike and Laura Whitmore, had
gone to extraordinary lengths to make it possible that mortgage
(23:00):
their home to cover her wardrobe, rush week fees, social dues,
and even hired consultants to coach her on etiquette, outfits
and conversations. Friend said Bay was laser focused on Greek life,
almost to obsession, But during a mandatory health screening for
sorority pledges earlier that month, Bey's dream began to collapse.
Doctors diagnosed her with multiple sexually transmitted diseases. Shocked and embarrassed,
(23:24):
she retraced how she might have been infected. Betrayal led
back to her boyfriend Tyler. Soon she learned the full
extent of his betrayal. Not only had he been cheating,
but he had been sleeping with professors like doctor Colleen
Mercer and doctor Gerald Haskins to secure passing grades. The
discovery shattered Bay's carefully constructed image. Her parents had sacrificed
(23:45):
their financial security, and now her reputation and sorority chances
were at risk of crumbling before they had even begun. Enraged, humiliated,
and terrified, by confronted Tyler in his off campus apartment
on Glenn Avenue on the nighte ight of October thirteenth.
Neighbors later told police they heard raised voices but assumed
it was just another college couple arguing inside. However, the
(24:08):
argument quickly escalated. Tyler, known for his cocky charmed dismissed
Bay's fury. The exchange spiraled out of control until Bay snapped.
She grabbed the small box cutter from her rush kit,
a tool meant for opening packages and decorating banners and attacked.
Tyler was stabbed thirty seven times in a frenzy of rage.
When the stabbing stopped, they pulled Tyler's own Auburn Tiger's foot,
(24:31):
he tight around his neck and suffocated him. On the
evening of October twenty first, police officers arrived at the
dorms on the Auburn University campus. Students were out on
the lawns tossing footballs and preparing for that weekend's tailgate,
unaware of the drama unfolding, nearby, officers knocked on Bay's door.
When she answered, dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and page
(24:52):
onma pants, she froze. The moment she was told she
was under arrest for the murder of Tyler Skinner, her
face went pale. According to p please records, They appeared stunned,
but quickly lashed out, yelling, he ruined my mother bleeping life.
She was handcuffed and led away as wide eyed dorm
residents watched in silence. For Tyler's family, his parents, Mike
(25:13):
and Denise, and his younger sister, Ashley, the arrest brought
a complicated mix of relief and devastation. The truth that
Tyler had been killed not by a stranger, but by
the girl closest to him, left them shattered. Ashley, who
had once probably posted about her big brother at Auburn,
was now left grieving, a future erased. The trial of
Baylor Bay Whitmore began in March of twenty twenty five,
(25:36):
about a year and a half after the murder of
Tyler Skinner. Outside the Lee County Courthouse in Opelika, Alabama.
Television crews lined the sidewalks, their cameras trained on every arrival.
Students from Auburn University gathered nearby during spring break week,
holding signs that read justice for Tyler and snapping photos
for TikTok. The case had become one of the most
(25:58):
followed trials in Alabama in years. A mix of youth
betrayal and the darker side of campus culture. The prosecution
was led by District Attorney Laura Simmons, age forty nine,
known for her sharp questioning style and her no nonsense personality.
Simmons painted Bay as a young woman consumed by ambition
and jealousy. In her opening statement, she told the jury,
(26:20):
this was not an accident, this was not a mistake,
This was the choice of someone who could not stand
the collapse of the perfect life she wanted. Simmons argued
that Bay's obsession with joying alpha delta pie, paired with
the humiliation of learning she had contracted sexually transmitted diseases
from Tyler, created the fury that fueled the killing. She
(26:41):
described the stabbing minus thirty seven wounds with a sorority
box cutter and the suffocation with tylerswootee as deliberate and
brutal axe. The defense was handled by Michael Rhodes forty one,
a Birmingham based attorney with a reputation for taking high
profile cases. He presented Bay as a victim of Tyler's recklessness.
In his version, Bey was an overwhelmed teenager, blindsighted by
(27:03):
betrayal and terrified that her future was over. She was
pushed into an emotional corner. Rhodes argued this was not
premeditated murder, it was a breakdown. He asked the jury
to consider manslaughter not murder. Inside the courtroom, Tyler's family
sat together every day. His parents, Mike and Dennise Skinner,
often held hands tightly as testimony replayed the violent details.
(27:27):
His younger sister Ashley, who was now a high school senior,
sometimes left the room in tears. Reporters noted that the
family carried a framed photo of Tyler in his Auburn
football jersey, setting it on the bench beside them as
a silent reminder of who had been lost. After two
weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated for less than a day.
On March eighteenth, twenty twenty five, the verdict was read
(27:50):
guilty of second degree murder. Gaests rippled through the courtroom.
Bey sobbed uncontrollably at the words buryting her face in
her hands as decadies moved closer. She was sentenced to
twenty eight years in prison, with no chance of parole
for the first twenty For Tyler's family, the punishment brought
some measure of closure, though it did not erase the pain.
(28:11):
Denis Skinner later told reporters nothing will bring Tyler back,
but at least now we know there is accountability. In
March of twenty twenty five, following her conviction, Baylor Bay
Whitmore was transferred to Julia Tutwyler Prison for Women in Watomka, Alabama.
At just nineteen years old, her future had been irrevocably altered.
(28:32):
The dreams that had consumed her pledging Alpha Delta pie,
building a social life at Auburn, and establishing a polished
college persona were gone. Her Instagram and social media accounts
have been deleted, erasing the curated pastel images and selfies
that once projected perfection. Her parents, Mike and Laura Whitmore,
were left grappling with financial strain from the investments they
(28:54):
had made in her sorority pursuits. Meanwhile, the fallout extended
across campus. Doctor cull Llie Mercer returned to her teaching
duties in the English Department, but her professional life was
far from the saying. The exposure of her affair with
Tyler Skinner had cast a long shadow over her reputation.
Students whispered in the hallways, and faculty meetings became tense.
Mercer avoided public appearances and withdrew from extracurricular events, her
(29:19):
once confident presence now subdued. Though she remained employed, Colleagues
noted that she no longer participated in conferences or social gatherings,
and her once bright career trajectory had been permanently dimmed.
Doctor Gerald Jerry Haskins quietly retired a few months later,
citing health reasons. Those who had worked with him for decades, however,
(29:39):
speculated that the shame of the scandal and his involvement
with Tyler had hastened the decision. The long serving math
professor left behind a legacy of decades in teaching, but
his final years at Auburn were overshadowed by the betrayal, humiliation,
and the public scrutiny that followed the case. Detectives Angela
Price and Marcus Keller received official commendation for their work
(30:00):
in solving the murder, recognizing the painstaking hours spent piecing
together Tyler's secret life, the forensic evidence, and the tangled
web of relationships that ultimately led to the arrest of Baywhittmore.
Both detectives later described the case as one of the
most disturbing of their careers, citing not only the brutality
of the crime, but also the shocking layers of manipulation, betrayal,
(30:23):
and sexual exploitation they uncovered at Auburn University. Jason Murray,
Tyler's former roommate, transferred to another university to escape the
memories of the apartment and the trama of discovering his
friend's body. The cheerful, bustling life of Auburn's October twenty
twenty three tailbates and Greek Week celebrations had been replaced
in his mind by a sense of loss and unease.
(30:45):
Tyler's family returned to their home in Huntsville, Alabama. Mike
and Dennise Skinner, along with their younger daughter, Ashley, carried
the weight of grief and the challenge of rebuilding their lives.
Their days were filled with photographs, keepsakes, and memories of Tyler,
the nineteen year old who had once dreamed of a
career in sports media, whose charm and recklessness had massed
(31:05):
dangerous secrets. Though justice had been served in court, the
family's morning continued, chicked by the void left by a
life so abruptly stolen. The murder of Tyler Skinner revealed
more than a tragic end to one young man's life.
It exposed a hidden culture of corruption, betrayal, and reckless
ambition at Auburn University. A promising future ended in violence,
(31:27):
and the ripple effects scared every one connected to the case.
In the end, a sorority rush dring turned deadly leaving
a campus and a family forever changed.
Auburn, Alabama, October twenty twenty three. For most students at
Auburn University, it was supposed to be the peak of
college life. Football season, sorority rush, and knights, filled with
both studying and parties. But beneath the cheerful atmosphere of
tailgates and greek life, a scandal was brewing. A brutal
killing soon shocked the campus, mixing ambition, sex and betrayal,
(00:22):
and way's few could imagine. This is the story of
Tyler Skinner, a nineteen year old sophomore whose life ended violently,
and the sorority rush girl who killed him. In October
of twenty twenty three, Auburn University was alive with energy.
The leaves had just started to change. Football season was
in full swing, and the sidewalks near Toomer's Corner were
(00:44):
packed with students in orange and blue. Saturday afternoons meant
tailgates filled with music, grilled food, and laughter. At the
center of many of those gatherings was Tyler Skinner. Tyler
was nineteen years old, a sophomore studying communications. He came
from Huntsville, Alabama, the oldest child of Mike and Denise Skinner.
His parents worked hard to give their children every opportunity.
(01:07):
His younger sister, Ashley, often shared pictures of the two
of them on social media, calling him her big brother hero.
At home, Tyler was remembered as charming and funny, but
also stubborn and headstrong. At Auburn, Tyler built a different reputation.
He was known as the life of the tailgate, someone
who could turn any ordinary party into an unforgettable night.
(01:29):
Friends described him as outgoing, cocky, and confident. He preferred
spending late nights at fraternity houses, often surrounded by music,
red solo cups, and crowds of cheering students. When there
was a big football gang, people could count on seeing
Tyler at the center of it, laughing loudly and telling jokes.
But beneath that fun, loving image, Tyler was hiding secrets. Outwardly,
(01:51):
he seemed like just another college student enjoying life. In reality,
he was juggling multiple sexual relationships, not only with student
but also with faculty members. It was something he bragged
about privately to close friends, who often didn't believe him
until rumors started spreading online. Tyler's academic life told another story.
His grades were terrible, often near failing, yet somehow, semester
(02:15):
after semester he managed to pass his classes. This led
to whispers around campus. Some classmates suggested he was receiving
favoritism from certain professors. Others suspected more, saying he was
trading attention and intimacy for grades. Online forums lit up
with speculation, though nothing was ever proven at the time. Still,
the rumors followed him wherever he went. Despite his poor
(02:37):
academic record, Tyler liked to talk about his future. He
dreamed of a career in sports media, maybe working for
ESPN or becoming a sideline reporter. He would tell friends
that he wanted to turn his love of football and
parties into a real career. Whether he truly believed this
future was possible is unclear, but he spoke about it often.
In the weeks before his death, Tyler's life seemed busy, chaotic.
(03:01):
He was still seeing his girlfriend, Baylor Bay Whitmore, a
freshman who was rushing Alpha Delta Pi sorority. At the
same time, he was maintaining secret affairs with professors, balancing
each relationship like a risky game. Friend said he looked
confident on the outside, but seemed tired, even distracted when alone.
For many, Tyler Skinner was the picture of a college
(03:22):
student living life to the fullest, football games, parties, and
endless energy. But behind the laughter, he was walking a
dangerous path. His charm and recklessness had made him popular,
but they had also placed him at the center of
a web of lie's secrets and risks that would soon
lead to his violent end. The morning of October fourteenth,
twenty twenty three, began like many fallse Saturdays in Auburn, Alabama.
(03:45):
It was cool and clear, with a soft breeze that
carried the smell of fresh coffee from the nearby cafes.
On campus. Students were already buzzing about the Auburn football
game later that day. Tailgates were being set up near
Toomer's Corner and the sidewalks were full of students in
orange sweatshirts and baseball caps. While much of the city
prepared for a day of cheering and celebration, Jason Murray,
(04:07):
a twenty year old business major, had started his morning
with a workout at the campus recreation center. Jason lived
with Tyler Skinner in an off campus apartment on Glen Avenue,
just a short walk from the stadium. He usually got
home before Tyler was awake, since Tyler often stayed out
late at parties. At around nine twenty a m. Jason
walked up the stairs to their apartment, his gym bag
(04:29):
slung over his shoulder. Right away, he noticed something odd.
The front door was unlocked. Tyler almost never left it
that way, especially after a string of small break ins
had been reported nearby earlier that fall. Jason pushed the
door open and stepped inside. The living room was unusually quiet. Normally,
on a Saturday morning, he might find Tyler asleep on
(04:50):
the couch, empty pizza boxes on the table, or the
TV still playing highlights from the night before, but this
time the apartment was still. Jason set his bag down
and called out Tyler. There was no answer. Feeling uneasy,
Jason walked toward Tyler's bedroom. The door was half open.
When he stepped inside, he froze. What he saw was
(05:10):
worse than anything he could have imagined. Tyler was lying
motionless on the bed. Blood covered the sheets and soaked
into the mattress. Clothing was scattered across the floor. The
scene was chaotic and violent, not at all like the
messy but harmless apartment Jason was used to. Jason's chest tightened,
his hands began to shake as he stumbled backward. Pulling
(05:30):
his phone from his pocket, he dialed nine to one one,
but could hardly form words. His voice cracked as he said,
my roommate, he's dead. There's blood everywhere. The dispatcher tried
to calm him down, telling him to take slow breadths
and stay on the line until police arrived. Terrified, Jason
ran outside to wait in the parking lot. He paced
back and forth, pale and trembling, clutching his phone. A
(05:54):
few neighbors noticed his distress and asked what was wrong,
but he could barely respond. The Chris spocktober morning, filled
with sounds of students laughing in the distance, now felt
like a cruel contrast to the horror inside the apartment.
Within minutes, Auburn police cars arrived on the scene. Jason
stood frozen on the curb, still in shock, as officers
(06:14):
hurried past him to the door of the apartment, where
Tyler Skinner's body had been discovered. Within minutes of Jason
Murray's nine to one one call on the morning of
October fourteenth, twenty twenty three, Auburn police arrived at the
apartment on Glen Avenue. The day was crisp and cool,
with bright autumn sun lights shining across the street, where
students were already hauling coolers and folding chairs for tailgates.
(06:38):
But outside Tyler Skinner's apartment, the mood was grim and tense.
Detectives Angela Price and Marcus Keller led the investigation. Rice,
forty two, was a veteran with over a decade of
experience handling violent crimes. Colleagues described her as calm under
pressure and quick to notice details others might miss. Keller,
thirty six, was younger, but equally respected, known for his
(07:00):
methodical approach and patience at scenes where chaos often distracted others.
Both detectives had been through difficult cases, but what they
were about to witness inside Tyler's bedroom shocked even them.
The apartment itself was typical for college students, dishes stacked
in the sink, a half empty pizza box on the counter,
clothes tossed carelessly in the living room, But the moment
(07:22):
investigators stepped into Tyler's bedroom, the ordinary setting turned into
a nightmare. Tyler was found lying on his bed. He
had been stabbed thirty seven times with a sharp blade,
later identified as a Sorority rush box cutter, the same
kind handed out in Auburn's Greek system during recruitment week.
His body showed multiple wounds to the chest, arms, and neck.
(07:43):
As if that weren't enough, he had also been suffocated
his own Auburn Tiger's foot. He was wrapped tightly around
his face and throat tied in a way that suggested
the killer wanted to ensure he would not survive. The
bed was soaked in blood, which had seeped into the
mattress and dripped onto the floor. Clothing and personal items
were scattered everywhere, showing signs of a violent struggle. The
(08:05):
small box cutter, its silver blade, stained dark red, was
found near the foot of the bed. It appeared to
have slipped from the attacker's hand. After the frenzy of stabbing,
Detective's Price and Keller moved carefully noting every detail. Price
whispered to Keller that the attack seemed furious and personal,
not the work of a stranger. Keller focused on documenting
(08:25):
the position of the body, the weapon, and the blood spatter.
Crime seeing technicians worked quickly, setting up cameras to take
hundreds of photographs from every angle. They dusted for fingerprints
on the box cutter, dresser handles, and the bedroom door.
Swabs were taken from under Tyler's fingernails, suggesting he may
have fought back against his attacker. Technicians also collected fibers
(08:47):
from the hoodie used in the suffocation. The brutality of
the crime stood in sharp contrast to the lively October
morning outside. While students in Auburn jerseys prepared for a
day of football and celebration, police inside them the apartment
pieced together the evidence of a killing that was not
random but deeply personal. By the time the investigation team
finished their first walkthrough, one fact was clear. Tyler's murder
(09:10):
had been fueled by rage, and the clues inside his
off campus apartment pointed directly towards someone who knew him well.
The first person Auburn police turned their attention to was
Baylor Bay Whitmore, Tyler Skinner's girlfriend. Bay was only eighteen,
a freshman who had just started her first semester at
Auburn in August of twenty twenty three. She had grown
(09:31):
up in Birmingham, Alabama, in a middle class neighborhood where
she was known for being ambitious, competitive, and all witch
chasing perfection. From the time she was in high school,
Bay had one dream joining Alpha Delta PI, one of
Auburn's oldest and most prestigious sororities. For Bay, this wasn't
just a college activity. It was the center of her identity.
(09:52):
Her friends from home said she was laser focused on
Greek life, almost to the point of obsession. When other
teams were talking about football games or school dances, Bay
was studying sorority recruitment guides, practicing her smile, and building
her wardrobe to match the pastel, polished image she wanted
to project. Her parents, Mike and Susan Whitmore, sacrificed heavily
(10:13):
to support her dream. They even mortgaged their house to
cover the costs of rush consultants, social fees, and the
endless clothing purchases needed to look the part. They believed
this was Bay's ticket to success. One family friend later
said it wasn't just about sister of it, it was
about networking status and doors opening in the future. By October,
(10:36):
Bay's Instagram was filled with pictures of her in dresses,
holding Starbucks cups, and captioning posts with upbeat sorority themed quotes.
To outsiders, Bay looked like she had it altogether, but
her relationship with Tyler was another story. Friends described it
as rocky, filled with constant arguments, jealousy, and mistrust. Tyler
was known for flirting at parties and often disappeared without explanation. Bay,
(11:00):
on the other hand, was determined to keep him close.
She wanted the perfect sorority image, and that included having
the right boyfriend. A fellow freshman later explained after Tyler's death,
detectives quickly zeroed in on by the murder weapon, a
sorority rushbox cutter, was the same type issued to new
recruits like her. When police called her in for questioning,
(11:21):
it was just three days after the murder on October seventeenth.
By then, the campus was buzzing with rumors, and Bey
walked into the station wearing a pale blue sweater, her
hair pulled neatly into a ponytail. Detectives Angela Price and
Marcus Keller noted her appearance immediately. She looked calm on
the outside, but her hands fidgeted with the hem of
(11:41):
her sleeve. When asked about her last interactions with Tyler,
Bey insisted she had seen him earlier in the week,
but denied being within the night he was killed. She
repeated that she loved him too much to hurt him.
Her answers, though steady, sounded rehearsed. Price later said Bay's
tone reminded her of a student gets giving memorized lines
in class. She did not cry, but her voice grew sharper.
(12:04):
When pressed about Tyler's reputation for cheating, she said, people
lie about him. I know what's true. What troubled detectives
most was the box cutter every pledge had won for
Rush events, and By admitted she still had hers, but
investigators noted how closely it matched the weapon found at
the crime scene. At that moment, she moved from just
(12:25):
a grieving girlfriend to a serious suspect. After reviewing Tyler's
phone records, Auburn police soon turned their focus to doctor
Colleen Mercer, a thirty four year old English professor at
Auburn University. Mercer was not only one of Tyler's instructors,
but also, as investigators learned, one of his secret lovers.
Her name quickly rose to the top of the suspect
(12:46):
list once detectives pieced together, messages exchanged between the two.
Mercer had recently become something of an academic star. Just
that September, she had been granted tenure, a rare achievement
for someone her age. Only weeks earth. Her controversial essay
language is a Form of Gendered Violence had been published
in The New Yorker, sparking heated debate across the country.
(13:09):
While some praised or bold ideas, others accused her of
being extreme. On campus, she had a reputation as brilliant, intense,
and unafraid to stir conflict. Students described her as the
kind of professor who wanted to break the mold, no
matter how uncomfortable it made people. In October of twenty
twenty three, Mercer was easy to spot around campus. She
(13:30):
was known for chain smoking clothes cigarettes outside Haley's Center
between classes, often wearing all black outfits that gave her
a dramatic look. Students recalled how she quoted Belle Hook's
casually in conversations and sometimes lingered too long with male
students during office hours. Tyler had taken her Intro to
Literature course during his freshman year, and classmates later joked
(13:51):
that Mercer was way too into boys in office hours.
When detectives called Mercer in for questioning on October nineteenth,
she arrived wearing a long dark coat. Despite the mild
Alabama fall weather. Auburn was alive that week with football chatter.
He SPN analysts were predicting another big win for the Tigers,
and downtown bars were already decorated with orange and blue banners.
(14:13):
Yet inside the police station, the mood was far from celebratory.
Mercer admitted to the affair almost immediately, but dismissed it
as a lapse in judgment. According to investigators, her tone
throughout the interview was sharp, almost dismissive, as if she
was irritated by being forced to explain herself. When asked
about her last contact with Tyler, she said he had
(14:35):
been pressuring her, he even threatening to expose their relationship
to the university. Tyler was reckless, she told detectives Angela
Price and Marcus Keller, exhaling loudly as if she were
in one of her lectures. He was infected by society's
white male bias, and he used it to manipulate me.
But as a nonpracticing Zen Buddhist I do not kill.
(14:56):
Her choice of words stood out. Detectives noted how she
seemed eager to frame her responses in philosophical or academic language,
avoiding straightforward answers. Still, she did not appear nervous. If anything,
she seemed annoyed at what she called the intrusion of
police logic into my personal life. The possible motive was clear.
Tyler had been blackmailing Mercer with intimate messages and photos.
(15:18):
For a newly tenured professor whose career was just taking off.
Exposure would have been disastrous. Her essay in The New
Yorker had made her a rising name in literary circles,
and being caught in a scandal with a freshman would
have destroyed her credibility. Even so, detectives lacked direct evidence
tying Mercer to the crime. No fingerprints, no DNA, and
(15:39):
no witnesses placed her at Tyler's apartment on the night
of October thirteenth. She remained a strong suspect, but without
more police had no grounds to arrest her. On Tuesday,
October seventeenth, twenty twenty three, the Skies over Auburn opened
with a steady cold rain. Students hurried across campus in
ponchos and hoodies. Coffee shop near Tumor's Corner filled early,
(16:02):
and windshield wipers thumped across Glen Avenue, where Tyler Skinner's
apartment still sat behind yellow police tape. It was that morning,
under the gray Alabama sky that investigators uncovered a discovery
that would shift the entire case. Detectives Angela Price and
Marcus Keller had suppointed Tyler's medical records inside the mental
a folder was information no one had expected. Months before
(16:24):
his death, Tyler had tested positive for not one, but
three different sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia. Most disturbing of all,
there was no evidence he had ever told his partners.
Auburn police now had to confront a devastating reality. Tyler
had exposed multiple people without their knowledge. Through interviews and
phone records, investigators pieced together the extent of Tyler's secret life.
(16:48):
He had been involved with at least a dozen faculty
members across Auburn University. These weren't just casual relationships. They
formed a pattern. Tyler had been bartering sex for grays,
created ding what one detective later described as an underground
economy of academic corruption. Among those implicated were doctor Colleen Mercer,
the outspoken English professor whose affair had already drawn suspicion,
(17:12):
and doctor Gerald Jerry Haskins, a sixty three year old
mathematics professor nearing retirement. Haskins was well known on campus
for his old fashioned chalkboard lectures and his habit of
whistling as he walked down the hallways of Parker Paul.
To his colleagues, he was quiet and unremarkable, but police
discovered that he too had been drawn into Tyler's web.
(17:34):
Records showed both Mercer and Haskins had contracted infections from Tyler.
Even more alarming, so had Baylor Bay Whitmore, Tyler's freshman girlfriend.
At just eighteen, She had been dragged into the same
destructive circle as professors twice and three times aer Age.
The revelations not only deepened the investigation, but also exploded
into a scandal that threatened Auburn University's reputation. By mid October,
(17:59):
word of the finding leaked online. Student message boards and
Reddit threads lit up with speculation. Some called Tyler a
manipulator who had taken advantage of weak faculty oversight. Others
argued he had been enabled by professors who should have
known better. Either way, the details shattered illusions of campus
life in the fall of twenty twenty three, a season
that had otherwise been filled with football excitement, pumpkin spice
(18:22):
promotions at the campus Starbucks, and chatter about fall break
trips to Gulf shores. The case was no longer just
about one young man's violent death. It had become a
story of corruption and betrayal, woven deep into Auburn's academic fabric.
Police noted how Tyler's charm and recklessness allowed him to
move between parties, classrooms, and faculty offices without consequences. Its
(18:43):
failing grades had somehow turned into passing marks semester after semester,
fueling suspicions that were now being confirmed in grim detail.
By the time detectives closed the files that rainy afternoon,
they understood that Tyler's murder had pulled back the curtain
on something larger, a hidden network of affairs manipulation and
academic misconduct that would scar Auburn's reputation for years. By
(19:06):
mid October twenty twenty three, attention turned toward doctor Gerald
Jerry Haskins, a sixty three year old mathematics professor who
had taught at Auburn University for nearly four decades. Haskins
was a fixture on campus, an old school academic who
still carried chalk in his jacket pocket and scribbled equations
on the green boards in Parker Hall. He had a
(19:26):
reputation for punctuality, conservative dress, and whistling folk tunes as
he walked across the quad. To many students, he was
just the quiet, older professor who seemed more interested in
proofs than in people. But detectives had uncovered a secret.
Haskins had been having a month's long affair with nineteen
year old Tyler Skinner Mary for over forty years. To
(19:47):
his wife Margaret, Haskins had seemed to live a traditional,
steady life. He had two grown children, a mortgage almost
paid off, and retirement on the horizon. Yet behind that
respectable exterior, he had slipped in to a hidden double
life that would come crashing down in the fall of
twenty twenty three. The breaking point came when Haskins learned,
(20:07):
through police questioning and medical reports, that Tyler had infected
him with multiple sexually transmitted diseases. The revelation hit him
like a wrecking ball. Colleagues in the math department described
a sharp change in his demeanor in early October. Once
warm and chatty and faculty meetings, he became erratic and cold,
snapping its staff and avoiding eye contact in the hallways.
(20:29):
One teaching assistant recalled that Haskins slammed a textbook onto
a desk during a lecture, something he had never done
in decades of teaching. By the time Auburn police brought
him in for questioning on October twentieth, the professor was
a shell of his former self. Outside campus life went
on as usual. Students carried umbrellas across the rainslick brick walkways,
(20:49):
Starbucks cups in hand, discussing the upcoming LSU game and
fall break plans. Inside the small interrogation room at the
Auburn Police Department, however, the mood was anything but normal.
At first, Haskins tried to maintain his composure, but under
the sharp questions of detectors Angela Price and Marcus Keller,
he crumbled, red faced and trembling. He admitted to the
(21:10):
affair with Tyler. His voice cracked as he described the
humiliation of being deceived and exposed. I gave my whole
life to this university, he said bitterly, and that boy,
he made me a fool. Detectives noted his anger was
raw and unfiltered, spilling out in bursts of frustration and shame.
At one point, he slammed his fist on the table
(21:30):
and muttered, he ruined me. Still, Haskins swore he had
not killed Tyler. He insisted he had been at home
with his wife on the night of October thirteenth, watching
the runs of Jeopardy and grating midterm exams. While his
alibi remained under review, investigators could not ignore the motive
staring them in the face. A respected professor, married for decades,
(21:52):
betrayed and humiliated in both his career and private life,
Haskins had every reason to lash out. Whether he had
acted on that age was the question detectives now had
to answer. By October twenty, twenty twenty three, the investigation
reached its breaking point. The air in Auburn was cooling
into crisp fall days, with leaves gathering along the sidewalks
(22:14):
and students flooding Timor's corner for coffee and football talk.
But behind the college town normalcy, detectives were preparing to
close in on the truth. The crime lab had delivered
results that could not be ignored. DNA analysis confirmed that
blood found under Tyler Skinner's fingernails matched Baylor Bay whitmore
fingerprints on the bloodied sorority rushbox cutter pointed directly to
(22:37):
her as well. For detectives Angela Price and Marcus Keller,
the pieces finally fit together. Bay was just eighteen years old,
a freshman from Birmingham, and had wrapped her entire future
around one dream pledging Alpha Delta Pie, one of Auburn's
most prestigious sororities. Her parents, Mike and Laura Whitmore, had
gone to extraordinary lengths to make it possible that mortgage
(23:00):
their home to cover her wardrobe, rush week fees, social dues,
and even hired consultants to coach her on etiquette, outfits
and conversations. Friend said Bay was laser focused on Greek life,
almost to obsession, But during a mandatory health screening for
sorority pledges earlier that month, Bey's dream began to collapse.
Doctors diagnosed her with multiple sexually transmitted diseases. Shocked and embarrassed,
(23:24):
she retraced how she might have been infected. Betrayal led
back to her boyfriend Tyler. Soon she learned the full
extent of his betrayal. Not only had he been cheating,
but he had been sleeping with professors like doctor Colleen
Mercer and doctor Gerald Haskins to secure passing grades. The
discovery shattered Bay's carefully constructed image. Her parents had sacrificed
(23:45):
their financial security, and now her reputation and sorority chances
were at risk of crumbling before they had even begun. Enraged, humiliated,
and terrified, by confronted Tyler in his off campus apartment
on Glenn Avenue on the nighte ight of October thirteenth.
Neighbors later told police they heard raised voices but assumed
it was just another college couple arguing inside. However, the
(24:08):
argument quickly escalated. Tyler, known for his cocky charmed dismissed
Bay's fury. The exchange spiraled out of control until Bay snapped.
She grabbed the small box cutter from her rush kit,
a tool meant for opening packages and decorating banners and attacked.
Tyler was stabbed thirty seven times in a frenzy of rage.
When the stabbing stopped, they pulled Tyler's own Auburn Tiger's foot,
(24:31):
he tight around his neck and suffocated him. On the
evening of October twenty first, police officers arrived at the
dorms on the Auburn University campus. Students were out on
the lawns tossing footballs and preparing for that weekend's tailgate,
unaware of the drama unfolding, nearby, officers knocked on Bay's door.
When she answered, dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and page
(24:52):
onma pants, she froze. The moment she was told she
was under arrest for the murder of Tyler Skinner, her
face went pale. According to p please records, They appeared stunned,
but quickly lashed out, yelling, he ruined my mother bleeping life.
She was handcuffed and led away as wide eyed dorm
residents watched in silence. For Tyler's family, his parents, Mike
(25:13):
and Denise, and his younger sister, Ashley, the arrest brought
a complicated mix of relief and devastation. The truth that
Tyler had been killed not by a stranger, but by
the girl closest to him, left them shattered. Ashley, who
had once probably posted about her big brother at Auburn,
was now left grieving, a future erased. The trial of
Baylor Bay Whitmore began in March of twenty twenty five,
(25:36):
about a year and a half after the murder of
Tyler Skinner. Outside the Lee County Courthouse in Opelika, Alabama.
Television crews lined the sidewalks, their cameras trained on every arrival.
Students from Auburn University gathered nearby during spring break week,
holding signs that read justice for Tyler and snapping photos
for TikTok. The case had become one of the most
(25:58):
followed trials in Alabama in years. A mix of youth
betrayal and the darker side of campus culture. The prosecution
was led by District Attorney Laura Simmons, age forty nine,
known for her sharp questioning style and her no nonsense personality.
Simmons painted Bay as a young woman consumed by ambition
and jealousy. In her opening statement, she told the jury,
(26:20):
this was not an accident, this was not a mistake,
This was the choice of someone who could not stand
the collapse of the perfect life she wanted. Simmons argued
that Bay's obsession with joying alpha delta pie, paired with
the humiliation of learning she had contracted sexually transmitted diseases
from Tyler, created the fury that fueled the killing. She
(26:41):
described the stabbing minus thirty seven wounds with a sorority
box cutter and the suffocation with tylerswootee as deliberate and
brutal axe. The defense was handled by Michael Rhodes forty one,
a Birmingham based attorney with a reputation for taking high
profile cases. He presented Bay as a victim of Tyler's recklessness.
In his version, Bey was an overwhelmed teenager, blindsighted by
(27:03):
betrayal and terrified that her future was over. She was
pushed into an emotional corner. Rhodes argued this was not
premeditated murder, it was a breakdown. He asked the jury
to consider manslaughter not murder. Inside the courtroom, Tyler's family
sat together every day. His parents, Mike and Dennise Skinner,
often held hands tightly as testimony replayed the violent details.
(27:27):
His younger sister Ashley, who was now a high school senior,
sometimes left the room in tears. Reporters noted that the
family carried a framed photo of Tyler in his Auburn
football jersey, setting it on the bench beside them as
a silent reminder of who had been lost. After two
weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated for less than a day.
On March eighteenth, twenty twenty five, the verdict was read
(27:50):
guilty of second degree murder. Gaests rippled through the courtroom.
Bey sobbed uncontrollably at the words buryting her face in
her hands as decadies moved closer. She was sentenced to
twenty eight years in prison, with no chance of parole
for the first twenty For Tyler's family, the punishment brought
some measure of closure, though it did not erase the pain.
(28:11):
Denis Skinner later told reporters nothing will bring Tyler back,
but at least now we know there is accountability. In
March of twenty twenty five, following her conviction, Baylor Bay
Whitmore was transferred to Julia Tutwyler Prison for Women in Watomka, Alabama.
At just nineteen years old, her future had been irrevocably altered.
(28:32):
The dreams that had consumed her pledging Alpha Delta pie,
building a social life at Auburn, and establishing a polished
college persona were gone. Her Instagram and social media accounts
have been deleted, erasing the curated pastel images and selfies
that once projected perfection. Her parents, Mike and Laura Whitmore,
were left grappling with financial strain from the investments they
(28:54):
had made in her sorority pursuits. Meanwhile, the fallout extended
across campus. Doctor cull Llie Mercer returned to her teaching
duties in the English Department, but her professional life was
far from the saying. The exposure of her affair with
Tyler Skinner had cast a long shadow over her reputation.
Students whispered in the hallways, and faculty meetings became tense.
Mercer avoided public appearances and withdrew from extracurricular events, her
(29:19):
once confident presence now subdued. Though she remained employed, Colleagues
noted that she no longer participated in conferences or social gatherings,
and her once bright career trajectory had been permanently dimmed.
Doctor Gerald Jerry Haskins quietly retired a few months later,
citing health reasons. Those who had worked with him for decades, however,
(29:39):
speculated that the shame of the scandal and his involvement
with Tyler had hastened the decision. The long serving math
professor left behind a legacy of decades in teaching, but
his final years at Auburn were overshadowed by the betrayal, humiliation,
and the public scrutiny that followed the case. Detectives Angela
Price and Marcus Keller received official commendation for their work
(30:00):
in solving the murder, recognizing the painstaking hours spent piecing
together Tyler's secret life, the forensic evidence, and the tangled
web of relationships that ultimately led to the arrest of Baywhittmore.
Both detectives later described the case as one of the
most disturbing of their careers, citing not only the brutality
of the crime, but also the shocking layers of manipulation, betrayal,
(30:23):
and sexual exploitation they uncovered at Auburn University. Jason Murray,
Tyler's former roommate, transferred to another university to escape the
memories of the apartment and the trama of discovering his
friend's body. The cheerful, bustling life of Auburn's October twenty
twenty three tailbates and Greek Week celebrations had been replaced
in his mind by a sense of loss and unease.
(30:45):
Tyler's family returned to their home in Huntsville, Alabama. Mike
and Dennise Skinner, along with their younger daughter, Ashley, carried
the weight of grief and the challenge of rebuilding their lives.
Their days were filled with photographs, keepsakes, and memories of Tyler,
the nineteen year old who had once dreamed of a
career in sports media, whose charm and recklessness had massed
(31:05):
dangerous secrets. Though justice had been served in court, the
family's morning continued, chicked by the void left by a
life so abruptly stolen. The murder of Tyler Skinner revealed
more than a tragic end to one young man's life.
It exposed a hidden culture of corruption, betrayal, and reckless
ambition at Auburn University. A promising future ended in violence,
(31:27):
and the ripple effects scared every one connected to the case.
In the end, a sorority rush dring turned deadly leaving
a campus and a family forever changed.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.