Truth On Trial
Who Killed A Doctor's Young Beautiful Wife?
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More From David Tipton
Dr. David Tipton talks about the murder of his wife Karen, his daughters' reaction, and how he feels about Daniel Wade Moore's new trial.
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Crime scene analyst and defense witness Bob Tressel discusses the Tipton crime scene using a 3D model.
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Truth On Trial
Who killed a doctor?s young, beautiful wife? Erin Moriarty reports for 48 Hours Mystery, Saturday, Nov. 15, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Local crime reporter Jonathan Baggs says nothing shattered that quiet city like the case of 34-year-old Daniel Wade Moore. The ordeal Moore's been through has left him yearning for life's most simple pleasures, like sitting on the front porch with his sister.
Daniel learned about life the hard way - Decatur is home, except when he was living on Alabama's death row.
Daniel, who works for the local electric company, has his simple life back. But a constant part of that life is an unimaginable possibility: that he could once again become a dead man walking.
Nearly six years ago, Daniel was convicted of the murder of Karen Tipton and sent to death row. In 2005, the conviction was overturned, but he now faces another trial, and once again the death penalty.
"Time and time again you get a little bit of hope only to have the carpet jerked right out from under you. You can only take that so many times before you learn to quit hoping," he tells correspondent Erin Moriarty.
Dr. David Tipton also struggles to hang on to hope. He once lived in Decatur, on the other side of the tracks from Daniel.
Tipton, a psychiatrist, was raising his daughters Caroline and Catherine in their leafy Decatur neighborhood until something went terribly wrong: the brutal murder of Karen.
What happened nine years ago to Karen would connect David to Daniel in ways neither man could have imagined. Certainly not back in 1984, when David, a medical student, first met the beautiful blonde technician at an Alabama hospital.
Karen's brother Lance and sister Laurie say after five years of dating, Karen decided David was the one. "She said at one point, you know, 'He is just a great guy. He's gonna make some person a great husband. It might as well be me,'" Laurie remembers.
The first thing Karen wanted to do was start a family.
But the Tiptons' seemingly idyllic like came to an abrupt end on March 12, 1999, when David says he came home from work earlier than usual that day to go to the theatre.
When he walked from the garage into the house, he noticed the deadbolt on the door was not locked. Inside, he also noticed that the alarm panel had been removed from the wall. He found it lying on a kitchen counter.
"It was unusual. But it was not so weird. Given the fact that our alarm system was not working and we were expecting it to be fixed," he remembers.
David went into the foyer to hang up his coat. As he was calling for his wife, he says he noticed a small drop of blood on a tile in the foyer. "The next thing I saw was more blood. In the foyer, toward the door," he remembers. "And I walked up the stairs and was the most surprised person on the face of the earth to find a dead body there that looked somewhat like Karen."
Karen’s nude body was lying at the top of the stairs. She had been stabbed 28 times, and her throat had been cut.
David called 911. "She is dead. I have no idea where my children are. There's blood everywhere. I’m really concerned about my children," he told the operator.
Investigators began searching for clues, as officers tracked down the Tipton children, who were still at school where they had never been picked up.
Who would kill this 39-year-old housewife and mother? The crime scene was puzzling: David reported that Karen's purse and some jewelry were missing, but her diamond ring was still on her finger and there was no evidence of forced entry. Most striking of all was how brutal and vicious the killing was - a sign to investigators that the killer may have been someone who knew Karen.
"Even from the beginning, I realized that I had to be a suspect. Because I was the first on the scene and the husband. I knew that," David says.
Police believed Karen was murdered sometime between 1 p.m. - after a phone call to a friend - and 2:30 pm when she was supposed to pick up the kids from school. David's office manager said he left his office in neighboring Huntsville at 3:30 p.m.
Jonathan Baggs, then working for the Decatur Daily, heard the report come across his police radio. He says that once police ruled out Karen's husband, they faced another problem. "There was a lot of pressure to solve this case and solve it very quickly," he remembers.
But days, then weeks went by with no solid leads.
Until one month later, when a high speed chase of a random shoplifter ended with the arrest of Daniel Wade Moore, then just 24 years old. Some 48 hours later, in a twist no one could have predicted, police believed they had found Karen's killer.
Produced by Jamie Stolz and Susan Mallie
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I am one of the lucky ones. My exhusband was of the same personality as these other crazies. Control, abuse, power, manipulation and their wild card, charm. When I finally had enough and filed for divorce he was making other plans for me. Trying his darndest to smooth it all over (first interest he ever had in making 15 years of marriage try to work)by planning a trip to the BWCA. I believe his AADD gets all the credit for blowing the cover off what may very well have otherwise worked for him. Killing me.
I am grateful to be alive but never feel entirely free. Anyone who survives this madness never quits looking over their shoulder, never. I realize there are places for women (let''s face it, they end up dead the most)to go for help but these places cannot save your life. Only you can.
I hate to say it because it makes me sad to think our world is this way but women in these relationships would be doing society on a whole a huge favor by just killing these monsters first.
The wife died at age 38 -- that is typically the time where someone in a long marriage wants to "get out" or have one last hurrah.
The other tell is that he seemed older than her. This is another tip for a cheating wife. When in their 20s, she may have found him attractive, but with him being middle aged and her still attractive, he would have been a target of cuckolding.
There is every reason to suspect the spouse. Also, there did not seem to be any attempt to find his DNA on the body (yes, he was her husband, but with the deep stab wounds, there may have been evidence in a wound).
There seemed to be no investigation of the husband whatsoever.
Also, the idea that he left town was very suspicious. I don''t think a person who was not the murderer would have left town like that and just up and moved to a new place.
1) Wife was to pick up children at 2:30 and a no show. David Tipton states on the 911 call that he was worried about his children and did not know their where a bouts. Where was the desperation and fear of possibly finding his children dead as well? Didn''t the school call home and or his office? Why did the police have to track the children down? Why didn''t David Tipton call himself and send someone to get them? He claims he left his office at 3:00 p.m. As if the office manager wouldn''t lie. An office affair possibly?
2) Despite the degraded quality of the hair it still can be tested for drug use and when those drugs where used. Did they even bother getting samples from the husband and or his best friend? They don''t appear to be "crack heads".
3) David Tipton''s recorded message on the 911 call states that "it appears she''s been strangled". He could tell this despite the fact that her throat was cut and covered in so much blood he claims he didn''t recognize his own wife????
4) The crime scene photo''s of the foyer show drops of blood that had almost dried and then something had smeared them. Like a botched clean up perhaps? Or was it incompetent crime scene preservation?
You don''t know these people and you make disparaging remarks about a woman who was brutally murdered? Have some respect for her daughters, if nothing else!
There is no way Dr. Tipton could have been at work and at home at the same time. He was not investigated further because it was PROVEN he was at work!
As for his calm demeanor, he''s a professional, a doctor and quite possibly the only way to speak about it at all is to speak of %u201Cthe body%u201D rather than %u201Cmy wife%u201D while being interviewed on national television. Until you''ve been in his position, had to live in it and endure the scrutiny and horror of it all, you don''t know HOW you would react or respond. If he''s angry, he''s chastised. If he''s calm, he''s chastised. I admire him for putting up the fight for justice for all these years. Until you''ve lived not only through the death of a spouse and the aftermath but to have no closure year after year! How can you stand in judgment of his emotions? You have no clue.
I know this man personally. I admire and respect him both professionally and personally and am proud to call him a friend.
These prosecutors have no fear of consequences for their ILLEGAL actions. This CORRUPT PROSECUTOR is willing to put an INNOCENT man to DEATH rather than admit he was wrong.Total disregard for the law & JUSTICE.Justice is to seek the TRUTH not cover it up.The 911 call by the husband,I find shocking. No emotion,no crying,no hysteria.I believe Daniel will get Justice based on the majority of decent,fair minded people in Decatur who believe he''s innocent. KUDOS to the company who gave him a job, Americans can be so great!The shame is this young man has no life until the CORRUPT prosecuters get off their high horse and start the real investigation into the husband.I give KUDOS to the judge who released Daniel,that was the right decision.CORRUPT prosecutors should not get a 2nd chance when they violated the law.It truly is shocking that this prosecutor has such little regard for human life.I used to favor the death penalty,not anymore,unless they start changing the laws and start holding prosecutors accountable for VIOLATING THE LAW & THEIR OATH (not misconduct).There are to many prosecutors out there (Nifong) just like this one.This case should be used across this country as an example as to why the death penalty needs to be abolished, this case shows how a prosecutor is willing to put an innocent man to death rather than admit they were wrong.
if he didn''t ''volunteer a confession'' to his uncle perhaps the police would have put more of an effort into finding the actual murdered.
due to mr moore''s own actions, the police are refusing to back down. to do so will cause them to look like fools and possibly open them to a lawsuit from mr moore.
i hope the third trail does not end in a hung jury. but i also hope mr moore is barred from suing the state.
I think the authorities wanted an easy target and easy conviction. So, they went after the local crack cocaine druggie. He was stupid to confess though.
Interesting how a certain woman saw the wife alive on the afternoon when she was supposedly murdered.
What''s with the GAY PORN on the good doctor''s home computer? Hmmm....
Like Bundy, Daniel Wade Moore has a cult-like following of people who cannot believe his did this murder, though the evidence is clear.
The first jury, back in 2002, convicted him, but the conviction was overturned because the judge ruled the defense did not have proper access to some files. The second trial, nine years after Mrs. Tipton''s murder, ended in a mistrial. Of course, this favors the defense. The longer they can drag this out, the more witnesses may die or have less clear memories, and the more lies the defense can spread.
This case has so much evidence pointing to Daniel Wade Moore that it is scary to think of this man out on the streets. There is no doubt in my mind at all that he is guilty.
CBS chooses to leave out much of the evidence against Moore, but he provided detailed of slashing and stabbing Karen Tipton that had not been made public. Police also have a DNA match that is 99.8% certain to be Moore, and cannot be the husband.
Moore worked for the alarm company that maintained the Tipton home alarm, malfunctioning the week of the murder, so Karen Tipton would have let him in to fix the alarm. He told a relative that he was in the Tipton home robbing it when she was killed, and his hair was found on the scene.
He''s the killer. And he''s walking the streets free.
i have often wondered what happen to her computer hard drive. the prosecutors didnt think her hard drive was important? so it sits somewhere for 10 yrs. after all that has transpired concerning the mishandling of evidence and we are suppose to believe this was lost.
daniel was jailed for marijuana use before the trial began. testing his hair proves he has not used mj or another drug but he is still in jail.
Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. give it up prosecutor. you guys screwed up. big time. and you think a conviction of daniel will vindicate you, wrong
I live in the area and I am afraid of that killer Daniel Moore. He is guilty as sin. He admitted it and stabbed himself while being interviewed.
His has a large, very vocal family who have screamed to anyone who will listen that he is innocent trying to get him off, but his guilt has been proven. If the woman had not been beautiful and living an unconventional lifestyle, he would be in prison.
Good for Daniel that he has a supportive family.
He was not found guilty during a fair and unbiased trial.
The trial where he was voted guilty was thrown out because of the acts of the prosecution. All the evidence and wittnesses were not heard/presented. In a trial where all the evidence was submitted, we had a hung jury.
Meg have you ever watched real murder interrogations on tv. The intensity. The badgering to get a confession. He was a drug addict. He wanted a fix. They were holding him there and hammering him with accusations of murder. That's what interagators do. They torture suspects to get a confession. Deprive them of sleep, make threats, rough them up a bit sometimes.
What about the wet shower at the Tiptons. What about the neighbor that saw her at the mailbox. What about the drugs found in the Tipton home. What about no trail of blood going down the steps. What about the paver saying Daniel was not the person he spoke to. What about the paver saying Tipton got home 90 minutes before the police. What about no blood on Daniels clothing, car, house, motel room. Nothing on his tools.
How about no finger prints at the scene. How bout the "wrong" facts Daniel made when he talked about being there when she was killed. Even the wrong city.
How bout Daniel had been to the house previously which would explain hair at the scene or where they planted. If it was a sexual assault, why was there no *****...or was there and it wasn't Daniels.
Sloppy investigation is the problem....it is not the fault of the defense attorney or Daniels family or the majority of the people in Deatur who say they do not have a case to convict Daniel. It is not the fault of the judge who threw the first trial out. It is that there is too much reasonable doubt to believe this man should be in prison.
I also believe the prosecution "finding" the missing hard drive will be another problem for the prosecution as well as Daniel being put in jail for a positive marijuana drug test the day the trial started only to have a "hair" sample prove he hasn't done any drugs for as long as the hair as grown on his head. I am sure the defense attorney will say...oh tests on his hair are good enough to be used to put him to death but not good enough to prove he didn't violate his probation.
How about the defense motive for murder. Sure makes sense to the majority of the people.
The two hairs that have been mentioned are not two hairs found anywhere. These are hairs found with blood on them in the bloody bed and found in the bloody wash clothe the killer used to cleen up. That absolutely without a doubt places Daniel Moore at the crime scene when the murder took place on that day. With the testing on the hairs being 1 out of 7.5 million it is injustice to the victom and victom's family to not find this killer guilty.
Also I have refused to watch another episode of 48 hour mystery because of their coverage. They have built this to be a movie and have slanted the TRUTH. Because of this all of their reports are tainted and is not worth watching.
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT.
Hard evidence outweighs rumors and speculation everyday ... unless this is Decator, AL
Also not that only a defence motion can change the venue (location) of the trial. This is so that a "fair" trial can be heard. In this case with the small town local boy mentality the only fair trial would to move it out of that area. The victom's family has rights also and deserve to have a fair trial. This case needed to be moved out of that county.
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by litmiss
May 15, 2009 2:17 PM PDT
- DWM found "not guilty" on all counts. 5/15/09
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