She was attacked by a masked intruder who disguised his voice. But the one who got here to her rescue was the villain all alongside | EUROtoday

In the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2021, a Georgia lady woke as much as a masked intruder in her bed room.

What first appeared like a nightmare to Morgan Metzer shortly turned actual when the shadowy determine within the doorway abruptly lunged and attacked her.

The intruder, who disguised his voice to sound like Batman, restrained her with zip ties, beat her and sexually assaulted her earlier than leaving her on the porch with a pillowcase over her head.

A short while after the attacker left, Morgan’s ex-husband, Rodney “Rod” Metzer, arrived on the home in what gave the impression to be an act of heroism.

But investigators quickly uncovered surprising revelations that left them questioning whether or not Metzer was the hero of the story – or the villain.

Morgan’s harrowing assault is the main target of this week’s all-new 48 Hours episode, The Batman Intruder, which airs at 10/9c Saturday on CBS and Paramount+.

Night of the assault

Deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office responded to Morgan’s residence in Canton, Georgia on the morning of January 1, 2021. They’d acquired a 911 name from her ex-husband who mentioned he had found her tied up on the porch, in keeping with an August 2021 launch from the Office of the District Attorney for the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit.

She recalled the harrowing assault to the authorities.

“I saw the shadow of a man’s body standing there, you know, all in black and just lit up by the light in the background,” she mentioned. “He had a mask on.”

After the person jumped on her, “that’s when he started pistol-whipping me,” Morgan mentioned.

As Morgan struggled, the intruder growled at her: “You’re gonna regret this, you’ve done really wrong now,” she recalled him saying, including that he saved making an attempt to make his voice low and gravelly.

“It was the sound of Batman’s voice,” she mentioned.

The man then used zip ties to constrain her wrists earlier than sexually assaulting her and strangling her almost unconscious twice, she mentioned.

Morgan was left on the again porch, which was related to the bed room, with a pillowcase over her head.

Ex-husband to the ‘rescue’

Morgan was on the porch for about 40 minutes when she heard somebody strolling towards her.

She fearful the assailant had come again to complete her off, however this time, she heard a well-known voice. It was her ex-husband.

“Oh honey, what happened?” Morgan mentioned he mentioned to her.

The former couple had finalized their divorce simply weeks earlier than the assault, ending a 20-year marriage. Morgan mentioned the choice to file for divorce got here after years of what she described as psychological and bodily abuse from her husband.

Metzer had moved out of the home and into his personal residence however the two continued to co-parent their nine-year-old twins, who had been spending a number of days with Morgan’s sister in Florida when the assault occurred.

Despite the divorce, Morgan mentioned that her ex was consistently making an attempt to get again collectively together with her. But she informed him she had little interest in reconciling.

Just days earlier than the assault, Morgan mentioned he referred to as her with surprising information that he had been identified with pancreatic most cancers.

“And so I rushed to go see him,” Morgan informed 48 hours. “He showed me doctors’ notes and whatnot.”

She then invited him to remain at their home to assist him cope along with his analysis.

“I needed to be supportive still because it’s the father of my children,” she defined.

But on the morning of New Year’s Eve, a day earlier than the assault, she informed him that he wanted to inform his mother and father about his analysis, which sparked an argument.

“He said, ‘No, absolutely not. I’m not telling anybody.’ And that’s when I was like, ‘OK, get out,’” Morgan recalled to 48 Hours.

Metzer left the home, however continued to textual content her all through the day. Morgan turned fed up along with his antics so she mentioned she lied to him about going to remain at her mother and father’ residence that evening for New Year’s Eve.

After the assault, investigators questioned each Morgan and Metzer on the scene.

Metzer informed police that after Morgan ordered him to depart, he did, and had deliberate on spending the evening at his residence. But then he heard somebody knock on his window and say Morgan’s title. Worried about her, he mentioned he referred to as however there was no reply. So he drove to her home to examine on her.

When requested why he didn’t go to her mother and father’ home, the place she mentioned she’d be, he claimed that he drove to her residence out of behavior.

Investigators turned suspicious of Metzer’s story as they appeared into how he knew Morgan was at her residence that evening when she mentioned in any other case, in addition to the coincidental timing of his arrival simply after the assault.

And then issues took a weird flip.

An sudden twist

After questioning the couple on the scene, investigators ordered search warrants for Metzer’s residence, automobile, and his cellular phone and laptop computer.

What they discovered was a slew of wierd web searches on his searching historical past.

The searches included, “How to get sympathy from your ex” and “How to change the sound of your voice.”

Other searches included, “How long before you starve to death” and “how long it takes to choke someone unconscious.”

There was one search that actually stood out to investigators: “cancer letter from hospital.”

Investigators then found that Metzer had created a pretend e-mail account and posed as a health care provider in an effort to ship himself the most cancers analysis letter that he had proven Morgan.

“He had created a bill for a doctor’s office to show that he was being treated for pancreatic cancer,” mentioned Rachel Ashe, the deputy chief assistant district lawyer for Cherokee County.

She mentioned that Metzer “did all of this in order to convince Morgan that he had pancreatic cancer” and that it was “in an attempt to gain sympathy from his ex-wife.”

Investigators mentioned he had “created a convoluted plan that the investigators in this case and our office truly believe involved a plot to kill her and then himself,” and that “when he couldn’t go through with that plan, he instead devised a new plan to rescue her.”

The investigation discovered that it was Metzer who had attacked Morgan within the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.

A handgun was present in his automobile and zip ties that matched those used within the assault had been present in his residence.

Investigators additionally obtained surveillance footage displaying Metzer buying zip ties from Lowe’s Home Improvement.

Where is Rodney Metzer now?

Rodney Metzer pleaded responsible to 14 counts associated to the assault, together with kidnapping, sexual battery and aggravated assault, in keeping with courtroom information.

He was sentenced to 70 years in jail, with the primary 25 years to be served in confinement and the remaining 45 years on probation.

Metzer stays behind bars on the Augusta State Medical Prison in Grovetown, Georgia, in keeping with on-line information from the Georgia Department of Corrections.

The ‘Batman’ Intruder airs at 10/9c Saturday on CBS and Paramount+.