Florida Man Friday | 17-Year-Old Accused of Murdering His Mother by Stabbing Her in the Neck | Collin Griffith - Love and Murder: Heartbreak to Homicide

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
On Sunday, September eighth, twenty twenty four, seventeen year old
Colin Griffith called nine one one from a home in Auberdale, Florida,
claiming his mother had been fatally injured in an accident.
When deputies arrived, they found thirty nine year old Katherine
Griffith unresponsive and pronounced her dead at the scene. According
to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Colin said that you're

(00:24):
in a heated argument. Catherine had lunged at him with
a knife, but she fell on it, causing the fatal
neck wound. However, the medical examiner's findings contradicted Colin's account.
Welcome Lamb's Welcome to Love and Murder, Heartbreak to Homicide.
You're Florida Man, Friday Edition. Hi, my name is Kai

(00:45):
and I will.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Be your host.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
If you're new here, take a listen all the way
to the end, and if you like it, then go
ahead and hit subscribe so you don't miss any more episodes.
If you're a return in LAMB, thank you so much
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If you want to be a sponsor of Love and Murder,

(01:09):
head on over and become an exclusive lamb Patreon dot
com forward slash Love and Murder.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
We have a December.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Sale going on right now where you get half off
your first month as a Lambpatreon Patreon dot com afford
slash a Love and Murder. Now, let's get back to
your Florida and Friday edition. The autopsy revealed a deep
knife woon to Catherine's neck that was quote inconsistent with
an accidental injury. Police also noted that the crime scene

(01:36):
showed no signs of the physical altercation Colin described, with
investigators also noting that the house remained quote neat and orderly.
Witnesses reported seeing Colin dragging his mother into the house
by her here as she pleaded for him to let
her go. Normally I would say something at this, but

(01:58):
further on into the episode, you'll see the reason I'm
holding my tongue. After questioning the witnesses, police noticed that
there was a two hour delay between what the witnesses
saw and the.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Nine to one to one call.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Reports reveal a pattern of confrontational behavior by Colin towards
his mother. A year before, Colin had been arrested for
allegedly attacking Catherine over video game privileges. Although he claimed
self defense in that incident, witnesses, including his grandmother, said
that wasn't true. So apparently this is the second time

(02:32):
he's claiming self defense but evidence isn't pointing to self defense.
Investigators documented a history of concern and behavior. Records from
Charlotte County Sheriff's Office reveal that Catherine had tried to
get help for her son, reaching out to mental health
facilities across Florida. This is why I didn't want to

(02:53):
say anything. It seems like he has mental health problems.
Records also showed that in September twenty twenty three, Colin
had a mental health evaluation under the Baker's Act, meaning
it was involuntary. He was diagnosed with PTSD and a
personality disorder.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
They didn't really say.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
What personality disorder in the reports, but that's what it said.
Then Colin made threats against his therapist who diagnosed him
with PTSD and a personality disorder. So somebody told him that, Okay,
we understand why you're going through this. You do have
a mental health disorder. And he was like, I'm coming
for you. Not that he said that, but I'm just saying.

(03:33):
He then made threats against her. How dare you say?
I have PTSD and a personality disorder. It's like, clearly
we could tell something's wrong, and he didn't want to
hear it. His grandmother reported to investigators a history of
physically and verbally aggressive behavior towards his mother, describing quote
a pattern of behavior that had escalated over time. Then

(03:57):
on November twenty twenty three, he attacked his mother, driwing
a meal. Sheriff Grady Judge said, quote, Colin Griffith is
a violent predator. He has now killed both his father
and his mother. We will hold him accountable in Polk County.
Oh are you a surprise by that statement?

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah? So.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
Fifteen months before this incident, on February fourteenth, twenty twenty three,
a then fifteen year old Colin had fatally shot his father,
Charles Robert Griffith, in Stroud, Oklahoma. Colin claimed what did
he claim? Self defense, saying that his father had cornered
him in a bedroom and was armed with a knife.

(04:40):
According to an affidavit, Colin said he picked up a
gun in fear and shot his father twice, once in
the chest and once in the head.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
So he just turned into Barba jega John Wick. You
were afraid and your aim got that good. Once in
a chest, once in the head. Really.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office did arrest him, but when
they were doing their investigation, physical evidence supported his account
of being cornered. The Oklahoma Self Defense Statute, passed in
twenty fourteen, said that a person can use deadly force
if they quote reasonably believe that use of deadly force

(05:20):
was necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm. This
law applies even when the danger isn't real, as long
as a reasonable person would believe they faced imminent danger.
That is a really problematic sound in law if I
ever heard one myself, Because you could twist anything to

(05:42):
make it sound like you faced eminent danger. That the
law applies even when the danger isn't real, as long
as a reasonable person would believe they faced eminent danger. No,
I don't like that. I don't like that at all.
That's very problematic. What do y'all think about that law

(06:04):
and what it says there, I really want to hear.
I want to hear. If that makes you cringe as
much as it makes me cringe, let me know in
the comments below, like, seriously, that's a really skating on
thin ice type of law right there. The Oklahoma State
Bureau of Investigation examined the case thoroughly quote. After evaluating

(06:25):
all of the evidence and possible theories, it was determined
that the District Attorney's office could not rule out that
Griffith acted in self defense and did not file any charges.
So basically they couldn't prove self defense and the case
was dismissed. By the way, Catherine had paid fifty thousand
dollars already to bail him out of jail. So my

(06:47):
thing is, if you figured he had mental health issues,
I understand, don't leave him in jail. That's not the
place to be. But wouldn't you have bailed him out
of jail and said there could have been something that
you could have said to go straight from jail into
a mental health facility under involuntary admittance. But you know what,

(07:08):
in knowing people who are dealing with this, I know
how hard everybody makes it for somebody to get admitted.
It's really it's oh my god, the level of difference.
You think it would be easy, Like, well, this dude
is saying he's seeing flying unicorns and he just broke
into somebody's house because there was a portal to Galaktika's

(07:29):
palace over there and they were trying to get into
this portal, So I would like to admit him. And
they'll literally look you in the eye and say, no,
he looks fine to me. While this person is telling
them like, my name is Galindar and I'm the ruler
of the Nexus Star, and they'll be like, no, they

(07:52):
sound reasonably fine to me. Or the other thing is
they'll say, oh, look at their eyes. Looks like they're
high on drugs. And it's like they're not high on drugs,
they're high off of whatever chemical is pouring into their
mind right now and they're not seeing reality.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
And they're like, oh, you.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Say that, but to me, they look fine. Like seriously
trying to get people institutionalized. And I'm not saying keep
you there permanently. I'm saying just so you can look
them over, give them the correct help, and then you know,
once they are okay, let them out. Try to get
people into that area. It would actually be easier to

(08:34):
go to Antarctica and sell the people there some ice
from my freezer.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
That would actually be easier.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
Than trying to get somebody admitted involuntarily when you see
they need it into a mental health institution. They want
the person who's not in their right mind to say, yeah,
I'm not in my right mind and I want to
be in here, which makes no sense because to them,
they're in their right mind and you're the one who's crazy.

(09:04):
So just so you understand how it works, this is
just me knowing people who are dealing with this right now.
I'm just letting you know how.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Difficult it is.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
So I was hoping and maybe she did try this.
Maybe she did try to bail him out and then
put him in a mental institution to get help, but
again she was hit with those same roadblocks. So they
would make a law that says, even if the danger
isn't real, you could use deadly force to prevent death

(09:36):
or great or to yeah, to prevent death or great
bodily harm. But if a person isn't clearly like like,
I can't even when I say clearly, I mean clearly
isn't in their right mind.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
They say no, they're fine anyway.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Continuing on this incident now raised questions about Collin's history
and the dynamics within the family. The Oklahoma State Bureau
of Investigation agents found physical evidence that didn't match Colin's
initial account of his father's death. Why didn't they find
this physical evidence before? The investigation uncovered similar patterns in

(10:18):
both nine one one calls. Quote, he used similar language
to when he made the nine to one one call
about eighteen or twenty months earlier when he shot his father.
In each case, Colin called nine to one one claiming
self defense and described similar scenarios of being attacked. In actually,
in all the cases, not even the ones that they

(10:40):
called nine to one one. Anytime he did something, he
always said it was in self defense. If you remember earlier,
it said like he attacked his mother, and then he
said he was doing it in self defense. Not even
this fatal attack, but another one. So Colin was arrested,
and the state Attorney for the tenth Judicial Circuit of Florida,

(11:00):
Brian Haass, decided to charge Colin as an adult.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Quote.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
I made the decision to charge this seventeen year old
as an adult based upon the egregious facts and circumstances
of this case, so Colin faces charges of first degree murder, kidnapping,
and violation of a no contact order. Polk County deputies
worked with Oklahoma authorities to share evidence that might affect

(11:26):
both cases. Lincoln County's district attorney confirmed the Oklahoma case
could be reevaluated if new evidence emerges. Quote, My prosecutors
and the deputies from the Polk County Sheriff's Office will
continue to work together to pursue justice in this case
and hold Colin Griffith accountable for his murder. Lincoln County

(11:47):
District Attorney Adam Panter announced the possibility of reopening the
Oklahoma case following the new developments in Florida. Quote, if
anyone gives his office relevant and credible evidence, it could
result in a reevaluation of the case. We are working
with authorities in that state to be sure they are
provided all relevant information and evidence to evaluate their case.

(12:10):
I mean, my thing is, you can see a clear
pattern here, so that sounds like reasonable doubt to me.
It's been fifteen months. I mean, I don't know what
kind of evidence you would be able to collect right now,
But it sounds like clearly he has a pattern of
attacking and then say in self defense, which I don't

(12:33):
know about the personality disorder, but I ded somewhat if
you're having like hallucinogenic episodes, then you may think somebody's
attacking you. In thinking about the cases, I don't really
think that fits into Colin's pattern. Like they said, he
has a personality disorder. I think it's that personality disorder

(12:55):
that's leading to this where he attacks and then claim
self defense because I really believe that he knows that
he's lying, but it's the personality disorder portion that's leading
to all of this.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
Again, not an excuse, just fact saying.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
What it is like, for instance, if that personality disorder
means that he's a sociopath or a psychopath. Now, even
though everybody's saying that, you know, if we receive evidence
and this and this and this, we'll reevaluate the case,
the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that they haven't
received an official request to reopen the case. So that's

(13:34):
where it's standing right now, and that's my thing. It's
been fifteen months. What other evidence are you going to get? Like,
so this case is still ongoing, they haven't taken him
to trial. I don't know how he pled. I would
think he needs to. I mean, he's guilty. He's definitely guilty,
and I'm going to say allegedly because the case is

(13:56):
still ongoing. But then my thing is he guilty by
reason of insanity or are they just going to find
him guilty of first degree murder? Then by reason of
insanity it would get him the help he needs, and
just being guilty will keep him stuck where he is,
So he's not going to be rehabilitated.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
So what are you going to do? Keep it in
prison for the rest of his life. So these are
this is.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
What I'm wondering about and going on into twenty twenty five.
I'll continue watching this case. I mean, you know how
some cases go. This could not even move an inch
in twenty twenty five, It could only gain traction in
twenty twenty six, Like you never know, but I'm gonna
put it in my files of updates to keep watching
for it. Sheriff Judge said, quote, this is one of

(14:43):
the most disturbing cases we've ever seen. The evidence is
clear Colin's actions have taken two lives, and we will
ensure justice is served. So what did y'all think about
this episode? I think, you know, with mental health and
cases such as these, if people won't get the mental
health help that they need, I mean, they'll never get rehabilitated.

(15:06):
It's just gonna continuously be the same pattern. So if
Colin does go free without any mental health help, he's
gonna attack somebody else. I'm gonna say he might. He
might attack somebody else and then claim the self defense,
and it's gonna be that same pattern. Might be that
same pattern. So I think we really need to put

(15:26):
mental health and prison like kind of hand in hand. Like,
if you go to prison, part of that prison term
is you actually have to get a mental health evaluation.
You actually have to go through therapy, and you know,
not just that group therapy that they put every but therapy,
especially if your mental health evaluation comes back like you

(15:48):
have something, you need to go through therapy, you need
to take medicine, whatever it is.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
You know.

Speaker 1 (15:54):
I think we need to have that working hand in hand.
I know they kind of have it in prison a
little bit, but it's not I don't think it's to
the I don't think it's to the degree that it
needs to be. Anyway, let me know your thoughts on
this case, especially that Oklahoma a lot that I told
you about, because that is not sitting right with me.

(16:14):
Let me know in the comments below, or you can
record your comments on your phone and then you can
actually email it to me at No Conduct Radio at
gmail dot com. And actually, right now, even though I'm
not reading comments, I do still see your comments. And
I saw somebody sent a comment that said they don't
see any comments for me, so they were gonna do
me a favor and leave a comment. Thank you for

(16:37):
doing me a favor. I do want to hear your comments.
First of all, I'm not dragging this person, but I
do want you to take in consideration that my podcast
is across many platforms and I do have comments, whether
it's on social media, whether it's on my website, or
whether it's on Spotify, Apple or wherever. But I do

(16:58):
get comments, and I'm just one. And what do you
think that I've been reading out all these times? Do
you think I've been like making stuff up and then
reading it out. I don't understand, But thank you for
leaving me a comment.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
It could have.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
Done without the beginning part of I don't see any
comments on your.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
Platforms like it.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Really, I'm saying this because sometimes people just need to
be nicer. It's kind of giving, like have you gained weight,
but that dress looks really pretty? You know what I'm saying,
a backhanded compliment type of deal. So just be mindful
when you say things. I'm talking in general. I'm not

(17:38):
just talking to this person who left the comment. In general,
be mindful when you say things. Think about would you
want somebody to tell you something like that? Do onto
others as you'd have them do onto you. Is the
rule for today. So if you don't want to be
treated a certain way, don't treat people that way. If

(17:59):
you don't want somebody to say something to you like this,
don't say it to somebody else. Do onto others as
you'd have them do onto you. Oh another reminder that
was my own personal rant. Another reminder is, don't forget
starting on Monday, you're going to have a series of
quick rants. So it won't be this normal episode. It'll

(18:19):
probably be like five minutes. It might be ten, twenty
minutes maybe, but it's just gonna be a number of
quick rants because I'm going on vacation, and I decided
that usually for the last three years, in December, I
don't have any episodes coming out. Well for twenty twenty four,
I decided that I'm not stopping my podcast in December,

(18:41):
but I still need to have some type of vacation
to reset my mind and everything like that. So instead,
I'm giving you quick rants. All of them are pre recorded.
You can still leave comments on them, but I am
not going back to reading comments until twenty twenty five,
so don't hesitate to leave your comments. They will be addressed,
they will be read. I will not be answering anything

(19:05):
on social media. I will not be on social media.
I won't even be answering anything in my patreon. I'm
going to be on complete vacation, and part of my
vacation is prepping for season five to bring you a
better podcast and a fresher, clearer, mentally healthy KI. So
between this Monday coming up, which is the sixteenth, all

(19:28):
the way to January third, you will be getting your
normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday episodes, but it's gonna be quick rants.
So I just wanted to remind you all of that.
And I know every day I'm getting new podcast listeners,
so in the beginning of the quick rent, I'm going
to remind you that it is just a quick rerant
and that i'll be back in season five. So I

(19:50):
want to thank you for listening to this episode. Like
I said, if you're new here, or if you haven't
subscribed to Love and Murder yet, please subscribe so you
don't miss any more episodes.

Speaker 2 (20:00):
Also subscribe on the Patreon.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
You can actually subscribe on the patreon for free, or
you could be a supporter of Love and Murder in
the Patreon, Patreon dot com.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Forward slash Love and Murder.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
And that's all I have for you today and I
will see you in the next episode.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
Bye.

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Florida Man Friday | 17-Year-Old Accused of Murdering His Mother by Stabbing Her in the Neck | Collin Griffith

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Florida Man Friday | 17-Year-Old Accused of Murdering His Mother by Stabbing Her in the Neck | Collin Griffith