Ep 14. Erin McLean

Erin McLean is the subject of Snapped season 7 episode 14. The episode delves into the life of a young woman whose world came crashing down the moment her estranged husband, Patrick McLean was shot dead in his apartment. Friends and family were taken aback by the news, what could have led someone to shoot the former Air Force reservist? Investigation into the matter revealed a sordid tale of betrayal, conspiracy, and murder.

Erin McLean met and fell in love with Patrick McLean when she was still a teenager. The couple got married, and everything seemed to be going well until Patrick, a Gulf War veteran, was diagnosed with PTSD. According to Erin, her husband became increasingly abusive after his diagnosis. However, it wasn't until he started cheating on her that Erin decided to leave her husband and file for divorce.

The couple's divorce was messy, with both parties accusing the other of infidelity and abuse. Erin was granted custody of the couple's two children, but Patrick was still required to provide child support. Erin claimed that her estranged husband had emotionally and physically abused her and implied that he had been using drugs.

Three years after the couple's bitter divorce, Patrick McLean was found dead, and police focused their investigation on Erin as a suspect. The evidence against her was circumstantial, but the authorities felt that Erin's motive for murdering her husband was clear – his refusal to pay child support. Investigators uncovered a series of text messages and emails between Erin and Patrick, which showed a high level of animosity between the former couple. But with no murder weapon or eyewitnesses, the prosecutor's case against Erin was weak.

Erin's defenders, including her friends and family members, insisted that she was incapable of murder. They painted her as a loving mother and caretaker who had always put her children first. Erin's brother, in particular, argued that his sister had been a victim of domestic abuse and that her husband's death had merely been the culmination of years of violence.

The trial was a lengthy one, with the prosecution presenting a case built on circumstantial evidence, while the defense team argued that there was no proof of Erin's guilt. Throughout the proceedings, Erin remained adamant that she was innocent and had nothing to do with her husband's death.

One of the key aspects of the trial was the prosecution's attempt to prove that Erin had planned the murder and had been driven to violence by her anger and frustration. The defense team argued that Erin had nothing to gain from her husband's death and that there was no evidence to suggest that she had any kind of motive.

The jury ultimately found Erin McLean guilty of first-degree murder, and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case was a tragic one, with both sides presenting compelling arguments. However, the fact remains that a man lost his life, and a family was torn apart, all because of the breakdown of a marriage and the bitter custody battle that followed. Snapped season 7 episode 14 permits the audience to witness how a husband and father's tragic death took a family on a destructive spiral.