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NBC's Dateline features the brutal 2014 double murder of Gary and Jan Tyrrell in Springfield, Missouri. On May 1, the couple was found dead in their home. Gary was 60 at the time and had been shot twice, while Jan, 61, was bludgeoned to death with a rare engraved walrus tusk. The case shocked the community due to its brutality and raised questions about who would want to kill these senior citizens and why.
The investigations revealed that Mark Porter, Gary’s longtime friend and coworker, was behind the murders. Mark had recently asked Gary for a $ 250,000 loan. He had serious gambling issues and was denied the money. This financial motive, combined with betrayal of trust, led to the brutal killings. Read on to know five harrowing details about Gary and Jan Tyrrell's murder, as shown in Dateline.
Here are the 5 harrowing details about Gary and Jan Tyrrell's murder, revisited as per Dateline
NBC’s Dateline episode, titled The Collector, revisits the chilling 2014 double murder of Gary and Jan Tyrrell in Springfield, Missouri. Here are the five harrowing details:
No sign of forced entry or robbery
Gary was a respected coin collector and a loving husband. Initially, the case appeared complicated to the investigators as the house showed no signs of forced entry, while the valuable items were also untouched. This suggested that it was not a case of robbery but an inside job.
The investigation narrowed down to Mark Porter
When the bodies of the couple were discovered in their Greenbrier Avenue home, Gary was shot twice, while his wife was stabbed with an ivory tusk of sorts from their collection — underscoring violence driven by a degree of personal motive and recklessness — till she died. When the police realised that it was someone who knew them personally, the investigation narrowed down to Mark Porter. Gary and his wife, Jan, were close friends and professional associates of Mark E. Porter. Gary had even served as assistant superintendent while Porter was a school superintendent.
Mark killed the couple for refusing to lend money
Mark Porter had gambling problems and had recently asked Gary for a $250,000 loan. While tracking his activity, police found out that he sold silver coins worth $18,000 the next day after the murder. These coins were believed to be stolen from Gary's collection.
Mark's DNA was found at the crime scene
The officials then were chasing him secretly, they tried to take his fingerprints from a coffee cup he discarded at a service centre and the fingerprints matched. Moreover, his DNA was also found on a latex glove at the scene, sealing his implication in the crime, as explored in the Dateline episode.
Guilty plea and life sentences
Porter, 54, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. He received two consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole anytime soon.
Judge Thomas Mountjoy emphatically stated there would “never be a day” that Porter leaves prison:
“There is nothing that would be enough, besides undoing the terrible things that have happened.”
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Through tears, Jessica Tyrrell-Murray, daughter of Gary and Jan Tyrrell, urged the court to impose the maximum sentence on Mark E. Porter, who admitted to killing her parents in 2014. Prosecutor Dan Patterson confirmed the goal was for Porter to die behind bars for the heinous crime, as per Dateline.
“Our goal from the beginning was that he spend life in prison... And he’ll likely die in prison.”
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