'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAcACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABkAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQYQAAEEAgMBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAMBAgQFABIGBxETIQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgcRAAECBQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECBAADBRESEzFBQlH/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AKXZ/MqDtPl8C6q1mT219G0EsxiuishFC5z1IEXi7/Xfx2ZlZAmqqaJ+Yxgoz1uJqyvcWiruaU2pWctvljrEWNj1SeAPY//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The upcoming episode of A&E's Taking the Stand, which premieres on Thursday, January 19, 2023, will detail the grisly details of the quadruple Houston killings and the case against Adam Matos.
Adam Matos, now a convicted murderer, killed four individuals - his former girlfriend and mother of his four-year-old son, Megan Brown, her parents, and her boyfriend - in 2014, in an act that he claimed was fueled by paranoia and his intentions to defend himself.
The dead decomposing bodies of Brown and the others were found about a mile away from their Houston, Florida, home, where the family had only been residing for a few months at the time.
While two of the victims were shot to death, the other two suffered severe blunt-force trauma injuries and were likely bludgeoned to death.
According to reports, Matos then stayed in the house for a couple of days, tried to clean up the crime scene, and sold the family's belongings on Craiglist listings before fleeing with his son. He even bought his son pizza using one of the victim's credit cards. The father-son-duo was eventually arrested within days at a hotel.
Why Adam Matos committed the crime, how he was found, and 3 other facts to know about the killings
1) Authorities found four maggot-covered decaying bodies in a roadside field
A day after authorities found four decomposing bodies, an investigation and search of Adam Matos ensued. Police reportedly arrived at the Brown family's residence and found blood at the scene and the family was gone.
They then found the four victims' bodies heaped on top of one another in a field about a mile from the home on the same day that they had been dumped there for several days.
The bodies were identified as Matos' ex-girlfriend Megan Brown, 27, her father Greg, 52, mother Margaret, 52, and her boyfriend Nick Leonard, 37.
2) Adam Matos was found after authorities issued an amber alert for his missing son
Adam Matos reportedly made 200 calls to Megan Brown and her mother on August 28 between the hours of 7.49 am and 4.13 pm, a discovery made by authorities while investigating his phone records.
Around 11 o'clock that day, the mother was last seen leaving her place of work. Authorities also issued an amber alert for the former couple's son.
Matos and Tristan, who arrived at the Floridan Palace Hotel on September 5 with plans to take a bus to the Florida Keys later in the day, were arrested after a 12-hour manhunt one day after the grisly discovery of the bodies.
The police stated that after finding that he had checked into a room under his real name, they managed to trick him into leaving and a SWAT team arrested him.
3) Matos testified during his trial, claiming that he acted in self-defense
During a "stunning" 2017 trial, Adam Matos testified, claiming that the brutal killings were motivated by self-defense and "paranoia." He meticulously narrated the events from the day he killed his ex-girlfriend, her parents, and her boyfriend.
He said that the fight began when Nicholas Leonard, Megan's new boyfriend, attacked him. Leonard allegedly choked him while holding a gun to his chest when Greg Brown, Megan's father, entered the room with a firearm.
Leonard was stabbed during the incident, after which he shot Brown, fearing that the 52-year-old was going to kill them both. He then fired a shot that ricocheted and hit Megan in the eye, killing her in the process. He then used a hammer to kill Leonard and attacked Margaret Brown with the same hammer when she got home from work.
4) Adam Matos allegedly used Margaret Brown's credit card after the killings and took care of his son
After the murders, Adam Matos allegedly lied to neighbors about the Brown family's whereabouts, stating that they were away on a trip to West Virginia. He even sold the family's possessions - including their dogs - on Craigslist, and used Margaret Brown's credit card to purchase a shovel that he allegedly used to bury their bodies.
Sources state that Matos stayed in the house for a couple of days after the killings with his four-year-old autistic son, Ismael "Tristan" Santisteban, with the bodies still present in the house. He took care of Tristan and bought him pizza using the same credit card.
5) The jury did not believe his self-defense claim and found him guilty of all charges
During his trial in November 2017, Adam Matos was convicted for the August 2014 murders of four individuals in Hudson. He was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder regardless of his attempts to persuade the jury that he committed the killings in self-defense.
Matos received four consecutive life sentences in jail without the possibility of parole.
