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On October 13, 2014, 32-year-old Elizabeth Sullivan suddenly disappeared from her home near Liberty Station in San Diego, California. She was the wife of a Navy service member named Matthew Sullivan, with whom she had two daughters.
The San Diego police started looking into this investigation but got no concrete leads, and the case went cold for the next two years. This left a deep impact on Elizabeth's friends and relatives, who were hoping that she would come back.
But the entire department was left in a state of shock when, on October 6, 2016, the decomposing body of Elizabeth Sullivan was discovered from the San Diego Bay in Southern California. Upon investigation, it was found that Elizabeth's skull was fractured, and she died from stabbing by a sharp object. Upon autopsy, it was discovered that Elizabeth Sullivan's body was just a month into decomposition, which raised several questions.
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Season 1, episode 6 of Fatal Affairs on ID, titled Murder She Wrote, looks into the sudden disappearance of Elizabeth Sullivan and her brutal murder. The episode airs on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, on Investigation Discovery. The official synopsis of the episode reads,
"A young married mother takes to Tinder under a pseudonym and embarks on a steamy affair."
5 key details about the murder of Elizabeth Sullivan
1) Elizabeth Sullivan had a strained marriage and was having an affair
Elizabeth was a vibrant young woman who grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. She had a cheerful vibe and loved to get along with people. However, she had Borderline Personality Disorder, which led her to occasional stances of sudden panic.
Naval Station Norfolk (NS Norfolk) is the largest naval base in the United States. Elizabeth met the Navy officer, Matt Sullivan, who was on his service there. The two quickly got along, and the couple got engaged a few months later. Right after the wedding, they moved to San Diego, California, where Elizabeth discovered she was pregnant. But Matt was soon stationed overseas, leaving her alone with the baby.
The couple again had another baby, and Matt returned to finally settle in Liberty Station in San Diego, California. But Elizabeth Sullivan had already spent a lot of time by herself, which brought a crack into their marriage. She soon joined Tinder and began having an affair with Steven Sutton.
The investigators came to know that right before Elizabeth's disappearance, she had used Matt's credit card to pay a lawyer to file a divorce case from her husband. Also, she had reportedly taken out 1000 dollars from their joint bank account.
2) Elizabeth Sullivan was facing threats from Matt
Calandra Duckett, a long-time friend of Elizabeth Sullivan, reportedly had a phone conversation with her on October 13, 2014. The couple had a falling marriage, where Matt had stances of domestic violence on her. He constantly threatened her after the night Elizabeth revealed that she was seeing another guy.
Calandra reportedly got a call in the middle of the night and found Elizabeth in a panic. She allegedly said Matt was threatening to kill her, and Calandra suggested she lock the doors and keep in line with her. The phone got cut, and that was reportedly the last time she had ever listened to Elizabeth Sullivan.
3) Investigators found Elizabeth's bloodstains from Matt Sullivan's house
At the beginning of the investigation, Matt was calm with the police and even accompanied them. Without much evidence in hand, the case was put on pause until two years later, on October 6, 2016, when Elizabeth's body was washed on San Diego Bay.
The investigation was initiated again, and they found that Matt had eloped with another woman named Kayla Turner. The couple reportedly got together just two months after Elizabeth's tragic ending and planned to move to Maryland.
Matt was allegedly charged with being involved in Elizabeth Sullivan's murder. Almost two years later, in January 2018, the police thoroughly searched Matt's house, which heightened their suspicion. Though the house was fairy-cleaned, the investigators reportedly found Elizabeth's blood stains under their bedroom carpet. Finally, a knife was found hidden in the attic that contained both Elizabeth and Matt's DNA samples.
The autopsy reports showed that Elizabeth's death was due to a stabbing from a sharp object and a fracture on the skull. This connected all the dots, and Matt was soon taken into custody.
4) Matt kept Elizabeth's body in the freezer for almost two years
Elizabeth had disappeared in 2014, and her body was found two years later. However, it was found that the decomposition process started only a month before the body was found in October 2016. The attorney declared that Matt killed Elizabeth because she was planning to leave the marriage and take custody of the children. Matt allegedly kept the corpse frozen in the garage for two years.
According to an article in People Magazine published on December 9, 2016, Matt was planning to shift to Maryland with his fiance Kayla Turner, the two daughters, and their new child. It was only then that Matt decided to get rid of the body and dump it into the sea.
5) Matt Sullivan was sentenced to second-degree murder of his wife
Matt was arrested on January 31, 2018, from his home in Wyoming, Delaware. On October 22, 2019, Superior Court Judge Albert Harutunian III took up the case. Despite Matt's lawyer Marcus DeBose's constant defending, the judge agreed it was a structured plan where the victim would be shown missing.
Matt was sentenced to 16 years in prison on March 12, 2021. As per reports by Fox News published on March 19, 2021, Matt Sullivan is imprisoned in North Kern State Prison in Delano, California.
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