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Episode: Case Review: Austin Mitchell

Author: Tenderfoot TV, Resonate Recordings & Audacy
Duration: 00:49:33

Episode Shownotes

Austin Mitchell was a kind and passionate young man living with his family in Union City, GA. The 20-year-old was a recent honors graduate with big dreams for the future. But in one tragic moment in March of 2019, all of that would be taken away. Austin had been hanging

out with some friends in a nearby townhome when something unexpected occurred resulting in Austin’s death. His friends reported that he’d died by suicide, but his parents think otherwise. They believe the information they have learned over time asserts the theory that their son was a victim of foul play. Follow Culpable on our socials @CulpablePodcast Visit the website at culpablepodcast.com For early access and ad-free listening, subscribe to Tenderfoot+ at https://tenderfoot.tv/plus To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary

In this episode of Culpable, hosted by Dennis Cooper, we investigate the mysterious death of 20-year-old Austin Mitchell, initially labeled a suicide by friends but strongly contested by his parents, Michael and Kim Postel. They argue that ample evidence suggests foul play, prompting a search for answers amidst numerous unresolved questions. We delve into the family's distress, community dynamics, and the inconsistencies in police investigations, revealing ongoing concerns about the circumstances surrounding Austin's tragic demise in March 2019.

Go to PodExtra AI's episode page (Case Review: Austin Mitchell) to play and view complete AI-processed content: summary, mindmap, topics, takeaways, transcript, keywords and highlights.

Full Transcript

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When I stumbled upon an old box full of VHS tapes and police reports, I didn't expect to uncover connections to several unsolved murders near my hometown.

00:00:51 Speaker_20
I've been investigating how these murders could be connected to a group called the Lords of Death. Check out this clip from the show.

00:01:00 Speaker_17
So Tim had a tattoo on his arm that was just letters. It said LOD. And I asked Mick what LOD stood for. And I was told it stood for Lords of Death. So I asked, you know, for the meaning behind it. And only a couple people had the tattoo, apparently.

00:01:16 Speaker_17
And in order to get the tattoo, you had to take someone's soul, as in murder someone, is what I was told. But it never really clicked with me that it was like, they were really the Lords of Death.

00:01:27 Speaker_17
I could just see them being like, yeah, cool, we're the Lords of Death, and it really meaning nothing is how I looked at it. But I was wrong. It meant a lot.

00:01:37 Speaker_20
I'm Thrasher Banks, host of the new Tenderfoot TV podcast, Lords of Death. For an ad-free binge, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com.

00:01:49 Speaker_18
Culpable Case Review episodes are released on Friday. To binge the entire installment ad-free, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts. Now, let's start the show.

00:02:07 Speaker_21
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the individuals interviewed and participating in the show and do not represent those of Tenderfoot TV.

00:02:16 Speaker_21
All individuals described or mentioned in this podcast should be considered innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

00:02:23 Speaker_21
This podcast contains subject matter such as violence and other graphic descriptions, which may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

00:02:38 Speaker_04
Austin was just amazing. I knew he would be somebody.

00:02:47 Speaker_13
He had a driving goal, and he was going to make that goal. I don't care what it took, if he get his mind and set it to something, he's going to execute that plan.

00:02:58 Speaker_22
This is Michael and Kim Postel, the parents of Austin Mitchell, the victim in this story. 20-year-old Austin Mitchell was a recent honors graduate, living with his parents in Union City, Georgia. He was always known for his positive, upbeat spirit.

00:03:14 Speaker_22
He had many friends. He had plans for the future, dreams he was chasing. But sadly, in one tragic and unexpected moment, all those dreams would fade to black.

00:03:27 Speaker_04
The phone was ringing. I said, well, I'll check it when I get back. When I got back up the stairs, I called the number back, and the girl was screaming. I said, what's wrong? She said, is it true? I said, what? That Austin killed himself?

00:03:44 Speaker_04
And I just threw the phone down and started crying.

00:03:49 Speaker_13
It's like someone taking a piece of your heart and just cutting it in two and throwing it out the window. That's what it's been like. You want to hug them and touch them and talk to them and hear their voice. You can't do that no more.

00:04:03 Speaker_13
That's all been robbed. You've been robbed of that.

00:04:06 Speaker_22
— It's still unclear what exactly transpired that fateful night of March 3rd, 2019. But when Michael and Kim were given news of Austin's death, they were told that he had taken his own life.

00:04:19 Speaker_22
To them, the idea of their son committing suicide was preposterous. Ever since then, they've continued to dig into the circumstances surrounding his death in an unrelenting fight for answers.

00:04:30 Speaker_22
And what they've learned over time has only raised their suspicions.

00:04:33 Speaker_13
— You see all this evidence, overwhelming evidence, right before your eyes, and no one does anything about it? Who are you protecting here?

00:04:43 Speaker_22
— This is a culpable case review of Austin Mitchell. If you're a longtime listener of Culpable, then you know that the first story I ever covered was the suspicious death of Christian Andreacchio in Meridian, Mississippi.

00:05:21 Speaker_22
I bring this up because when our team in Atlanta brought me the story of Austin Mitchell, I couldn't help but notice some similarities between the two cases.

00:05:29 Speaker_22
Both victims were young men who were found dead from a single gunshot wound, with other individuals present at the time. And their deaths were reported as suicides, despite many unanswered questions.

00:05:40 Speaker_00
The reveal obtained these records from an outside medical examiner hired by Fulton County to take another look at the case. His determination? The gunshot wound was, quote, very concerning and atypical of a self-inflicted wound.

00:05:57 Speaker_22
Like with Christian's case, Austin's parents have fought tirelessly to keep his story in the media. But with time, it's faded.

00:06:05 Speaker_22
Our Atlanta team was curious about the recent status of the case, and after reaching out, discovered there was much more to the story than what made the headlines thus far.

00:06:14 Speaker_22
So, our producers, Jamie and Eric, loaded up their gear and traveled 20 minutes southwest of Atlanta to Union City, Georgia, to meet with Austin's parents.

00:06:26 Speaker_22
When they arrived at the Postel home, they were greeted warmly by Michael and Kimberly, who led them up the stairs to their main living area. The walls, tables, and mantle were covered with family photos of their three sons at every stage of life.

00:06:40 Speaker_22
There's photos of holidays and birthdays and sporting events. Austin's mother, Kim, was excited to show them around.

00:06:47 Speaker_04
Okay, this him at our family reunion playing a gospel song with my mom. This is when he was younger. This is a picture of us all together at a family reunion. And this is when he graduated, me and him together. And this is us when he was a baby.

00:07:11 Speaker_04
That's him and his brothers. And if you go up in his room, I have his prom pictures.

00:07:20 Speaker_22
After getting settled, they walk down the narrow hall to Austin's bedroom. It has remained virtually untouched for five years, except for his bed, which his father, Michael, sleeps in from time to time.

00:07:32 Speaker_22
You could sense Kim's pride as she gave a tour of her son's room.

00:07:36 Speaker_04
This is a picture of him. He wanted to do modeling. So I had taken a couple of pictures of him. This is a picture of him on his birthday. We was over to a friend's house.

00:07:49 Speaker_04
These are some schools he was thinking about going to school at when he made prom king and pictures of him at prom in California. took a girl to prom in California in 2018. Why California? Because he met her through my daughter-in-law.

00:08:12 Speaker_04
That's her cousin and they wind up liking each other. So he flew out there by himself and went to the prom and then he turned around and went back out there in July. So that's him. This is him with the hat on.

00:08:30 Speaker_22
As you can tell, there are countless memories of Austin scattered throughout his blue and green painted walls. And lining the shelves that wrap around the room are countless trophies and board games. He clearly had many interests.

00:08:41 Speaker_04
And so, you know, he liked playing games, so we left all his games up for this one.

00:08:48 Speaker_03
Do you have a favorite game?

00:08:50 Speaker_04
Oh, we play Monopoly. He liked that a lot. And he loved playing dominoes. He was 20, but he still act like a kid. This is a certificate of appreciation from McLaren High School.

00:09:10 Speaker_04
They put him in a summer program with computers, IT, and he did that for the summer. And this is his goals. He got a court from graduation too. He got an honors court. He said he was going to give 100% effort.

00:09:31 Speaker_22
It was clear the young man was an achiever. A black sash with the phrase Prom King and gold letters is proudly displayed on his wall, accompanied by various certificates and photos.

00:09:41 Speaker_22
And beside his bed hangs his honor graduation tassel, along with a handwritten note that's tacked just below it, which reads, Goals. Give 100% effort this term. Grind mode. Save for Camaro cash. Find new job with more money.

00:09:59 Speaker_22
Goals that I'd like to think he would have achieved if he only had more time. Before exiting his room, Kim pointed to a shelf in the corner.

00:10:07 Speaker_04
And that's his arm. And that's the picture they gave at the service.

00:10:14 Speaker_05
Can you read what it says?

00:10:16 Speaker_04
And I ain't got my glasses on, but you could bring it down and look at it, though. It's dusty. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

00:10:39 Speaker_13
Mic check. Mic check.

00:10:45 Speaker_03
Okay, go ahead.

00:10:47 Speaker_15
So we'll start by just having you introduce yourselves.

00:10:51 Speaker_04
I'm Michael Postel. And I'm Kimberly Postel.

00:10:55 Speaker_15
And tell us about your family.

00:10:59 Speaker_04
Well, we have three young men. We had three young men. My oldest is 36. My middle son is 30, and my son that's deceased would have been 25 this year. And he passed when he was 20.

00:11:19 Speaker_17
So tell us about Austin. What was he like when he was little?

00:11:22 Speaker_04
Oh, Austin was, he was like an angel. When he came in the room, he lit up the room. He was always full of spirit and laughing. He's very smart. He was a family boy. He had a niece, and he loved his niece.

00:11:42 Speaker_04
She was two years old, and every time he came from the job, he had something for her. He just loved family.

00:11:50 Speaker_13
Yeah, he loved people, actually. He was a people person, and he made an impact on anybody he came across. You know, they remember him, and they recognize and acknowledge him because of who he was. His energy was so positive.

00:12:03 Speaker_13
And, you know, we have a strong Christian belief. We taught him that when he was young, all of them.

00:12:10 Speaker_22
Michael and Kim are actually from Michigan. They moved their family to Union City in 2000, when the boys were much younger, and Austin was just a baby.

00:12:20 Speaker_04
I wanted my kids to be in a major city. I thought Detroit was too rough. So we brought them here, and they loved it. And being right in Union City, it was small. It wasn't something that they had to rush into the big city.

00:12:37 Speaker_04
You know, it was close enough to go up to Atlanta, but being here, it was, you know, small. I thought when it was younger, it was a nice place, but...

00:12:49 Speaker_22
Michael explained that during that time, many black families around the country were moving to Georgia to raise their children. And he's right.

00:12:56 Speaker_22
Between 2000 and 2010, Atlanta and surrounding cities like Union City led the nation in black migration and population growth. And there's plenty of reasons for that.

00:13:05 Speaker_13
When we moved here, Union City was kind of like a dream neighborhood. Everybody seemed to know everybody. You know, everybody got along. It wasn't any high crime rates at that time. You know, the chief of police was Mike Isom.

00:13:24 Speaker_13
Very good man, very good man. But I noticed as time progressed, once we changed the officials in the law enforcement agency in Union City, the crime rates started going up, up, up. They closed a lot of apartments in the Atlanta metro area.

00:13:43 Speaker_13
So people started migrating to Union City. I noticed the crime started to get a little bit more rampant. Now, I would recommend no one to come here, to live here, because I can't guarantee you that you're going to be protected.

00:14:01 Speaker_22
The Postels were aware of the rising violence in Union City, but like many families across America, moving wasn't really an option. So they focused on educating their sons and spent a lot of time in prayer.

00:14:13 Speaker_22
They knew of the dangers their son might face, but they never expected they'd lose one of them at such a young age. The first weekend of March 2019 started off like any other. Austin was enjoying his free time, in and out of the house with friends.

00:14:26 Speaker_22
He came home late that Saturday night and went to his room. Kim says something compelled her to check on him.

00:14:33 Speaker_22
When she walked in his room, it appeared he had been crying, but to this day she has no idea what had made him so upset after returning home that night. but he assured his mom that he was fine and he went to sleep for the night.

00:14:45 Speaker_22
The next day, Sunday, March 3rd, Kim says his demeanor had changed. After getting her hair braided that morning, she actually sat down with Austin and they proceeded to have a conversation about all sorts of things.

00:14:57 Speaker_22
She had no idea at the time that this would be the last time they'd ever speak.

00:15:03 Speaker_04
So I came out later on and I sat on that couch and he sat next to me. So I called him over there and I started talking to him and hugged him and kissed him and told him I loved him. We talked about school and

00:15:18 Speaker_04
Then he started telling me, Mama, I get my insurance kick in, and my tube been bothering me. I'm going to go to the dentist. I'm going to be starting school at the end of the month. And then he said, oh, and I'm going to get a car.

00:15:34 Speaker_04
And he said, Mama, I'm going to take good care of you. He said, Daddy, I'm going to take good care of you, too. And he was just happy. And he got ready to go downstairs, and I had a funny feeling. I said, Austin, don't go nowhere today.

00:15:49 Speaker_04
Just stay around the house. He said, I ain't going nowhere.

00:15:55 Speaker_22
Despite Austin's positivity, Kim couldn't help but feel that something was off with her son that Sunday, March 3rd. Since he didn't seem to have any plans for the day, she figured they'd have a chance to talk later on.

00:16:06 Speaker_22
But when night rolled around, Kim would learn that Austin had gone against his word when her sons informed her that he had left the house with a guy he knew. She said this immediately made her nervous.

00:16:17 Speaker_22
But later that night is when the fear would really set in.

00:16:23 Speaker_04
I was washing clothes, and I went downstairs, and the phone was ringing. I said, well, I'll check it when I get back. When I got back up the stairs, I called the number back, and the girl was screaming. I said, what's wrong? She said, is it true?

00:16:41 Speaker_04
I said, what? That Austin killed himself. I know it ain't true. He didn't do it. And I just threw the phone down and started crying.

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00:20:03 Speaker_22
Kim frantically woke up Michael after receiving the phone call from Austin's friend. And after figuring out the location, Michael and his other two sons jumped in the truck and headed that way.

00:20:13 Speaker_13
— So, when I get around there, I see the flashing lights and the yellow tape, and I had an eerie feeling, but I tried to go through the line, you know, trying to see what's going on in that apartment.

00:20:28 Speaker_13
The police stopped me, wouldn't let me go, and she said, sir, we can't let you go over there. And I said, well, I finally got her to tell me. I said, well, tell me this. Her name was Sergeant Baker. I said, well, tell me this.

00:20:38 Speaker_13
Is this a young, light-skinned young man? And she looked down at the ground and she said, yes, sir, I believe it is. So after she said that, I felt it in my stomach. You know, I just, it's like a gut instinct. I just, I just knew. I said, wasn't right.

00:20:55 Speaker_13
So his brothers looking like they was ready to run through the line and all type of, I said, y'all just be cool. Just calm down. Just be cool. I said, we just gotta be intelligent about this whole thing. I said, we don't know exactly what's going on.

00:21:06 Speaker_13
I knew, I knew, but I, I couldn't tell them that.

00:21:13 Speaker_22
Sergeant Baker then asked Michael to drive his sons to the station so they could write statements describing what they had witnessed earlier that night when Austin left the home.

00:21:23 Speaker_13
So they wrote down a statement showing what they'd seen. They told him it was a guy picked him up and they told him they'd seen a gun in his waistband, what type of gun it was, what color the gun was. They told him all that.

00:21:37 Speaker_13
So at this point in time, I hear some other police coming down the hall talking. And I asked the police, I said, well, the boys that he was with, I said, do you have them? Yeah, we have them. I said, well, are they here now? Can I go?

00:21:49 Speaker_13
No, we can't let you, no, we can't let you go in there where they at. No, sir. I said, y'all, come on, let's go, man, let's go. We get in the car, I drive back home. The part I'm dreading most right now is what I'm gonna say to Kim.

00:22:07 Speaker_11
So I, I come upstairs. She said, look at me. She said, Mike, tell me it ain't true. Please. I just grabbed her and said, yeah, Kim, it's true. And she just fell to the ground on her knees screaming. Screaming. It was a scream that I never heard before.

00:22:40 Speaker_04
I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I know we all got to leave this world, but your child to leave is a whole different pain.

00:23:01 Speaker_22
And just like that, Michael and Kim had lost their youngest son. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like processing this. But to make matters worse, they had no idea what had even happened to him, just that he was gone.

00:23:15 Speaker_22
So the focus became just that, determining what happened to Austin. Piecing together the events that transpired on March 3rd, 2019, is no easy task. But it started with multiple calls to 911. The first call came into dispatch at 10.33 p.m.

00:23:35 Speaker_08
What is the address of the emergency?

00:23:36 Speaker_06
My friend, my friend just shot himself in the head.

00:23:40 Speaker_08
Okay, what is the address?

00:23:42 Speaker_07
I don't know the address.

00:23:44 Speaker_08
Okay, repeat that address for verification. Can you ask somebody if you don't know?

00:23:49 Speaker_06
Ma'am?

00:23:50 Speaker_08
Can you repeat that address for me for verification?

00:23:53 Speaker_06
What's the address, ma'am? 5942 Stonewall Drive.

00:23:56 Speaker_09
What's your first and last name?

00:23:59 Speaker_06
Austin Mitchell. Excuse me?

00:24:00 Speaker_14
Austin Mitchell.

00:24:04 Speaker_22
— This 911 call was made by 20-year-old Anthony Beard. In the audio, you hear Anthony tell the dispatcher that his friend Austin Mitchell shot himself in the head.

00:24:16 Speaker_22
When asked for the location, he claimed to not know the exact address, but another person at the scene was able to confirm. Then, the dispatcher asked some additional questions.

00:24:26 Speaker_08
— Is he awake? — No, he's dead now.

00:24:32 Speaker_06
— Then, the call disconnects.

00:24:40 Speaker_22
When Union City police officers arrived at 10.39 p.m., there seemed to be some confusion. Authorities were dispatched to the apartment complex to locate an individual wounded by gunfire, and they were not given a unit number.

00:24:53 Speaker_22
According to the police report, dispatch attempted to call the 911 caller back three times to clarify, but had no success. Then, the officers observed that the door to Unit 5 was open.

00:25:08 Speaker_23
U.C. Police Department! U.C. Police Department, make yourself known!

00:25:27 Speaker_22
As you hear in this audio, two officers enter and clear Unit 5, which would turn out to be the wrong unit. Unable to make contact with the 911 caller, they leave, noting in the report that there was, quote, an odor of gunfire.

00:25:41 Speaker_22
In the video, they're actually standing in front of Unit 1, the unit where Austin had been shot, when they mention the smell of gunpowder.

00:25:48 Speaker_05
Following a search of the area, police leave the complex. And then, at 10.55 p.m., about 15 minutes after the original 911 call, another call comes in, this time from the landlord.

00:26:08 Speaker_07
There's a bunch of teenagers inside that apartment. The mom hasn't been there since Monday. They're causing all kinds of services. I'm told that they have guns in there. So it's just a bunch of teens in the apartment?

00:26:23 Speaker_07
Yeah, they've been there like all week, and the mom is not there. OK, so what's going on? They just left. They have guns, and somebody overheard somebody, so they shot somebody.

00:26:36 Speaker_22
In the call, you can hear the landlord describe various concerns that tenants had relayed to her regarding teenagers inside of the apartment where the incident took place.

00:26:46 Speaker_22
Shortly after this, at 11.02 p.m., officers again responded to Stonewall Drive. According to the report written by Officer Kiles, he did not locate any minors upon arrival, so he left.

00:26:59 Speaker_22
Then, at 11.44 p.m., less than an hour later, yet another 911 call is placed. This time, from one of the other friends.

00:27:10 Speaker_09
Hello? Yes, sir, I was gonna say, who committed suicide?

00:27:14 Speaker_06
My friend.

00:27:15 Speaker_09
Okay, but do you see the patient right now? Are they there?

00:27:18 Speaker_06
Should I walk in there?

00:27:19 Speaker_09
No, I'm asking, did you see the patient? What did they do to themselves?

00:27:23 Speaker_06
Yeah, he loaded a gun and shot himself in the head.

00:27:27 Speaker_09
— In the audio, you hear 21-year-old Christopher Stodgehill give his account of what happened.

00:27:31 Speaker_06
He confirms the story provided earlier by Anthony Beard, and explains that he left the apartment out of fear.

00:27:37 Speaker_09
Then, he volunteers additional information.

00:27:58 Speaker_06
When the police come, can I tell you that we unloaded the gun and put it in the trunk?

00:28:02 Speaker_09
Yes, I'll notate that in the call, okay? I'll notate that, okay? But I'm sending someone to assist you, okay? Please leave everything as you found it. Is there anything else?

00:28:14 Speaker_06
So what about the gun? Because we put it in the bag and put it in the trunk. So do I need to bring that back in here?

00:28:20 Speaker_09
Yes.

00:28:21 Speaker_06
Okay, then I'm going to take it.

00:28:29 Speaker_22
— Officers arrived at the scene for the third time, at 11.51 p.m., an hour and a half after the first 911 call was placed.

00:28:39 Speaker_22
This time, they are met outside by three young black males that are described as suspects in the police report— Christopher Stodgehill, Anthony Beard, and Steven Ackridge. Steven resides in the apartment.

00:28:53 Speaker_22
In the body cam footage, you see multiple young people on scene, and a woman later identified as Christopher's mother. Here's audio of the first interaction between law enforcement and the group.

00:29:02 Speaker_14
— Okay. What happened? — Why? — We do this every day. So we got like three or four calls on this earlier, and we couldn't find y'all. Why? So y'all didn't want to get him no help? Wow.

00:29:40 Speaker_22
As you hear in the audio, they all state that their friend died by suicide earlier that night. After witnessing this, they stated that they were traumatized and left the residence. Police run the gun, a Glock 19, and determine that it was stolen.

00:29:54 Speaker_22
They ask the group about the gun, and Anthony responds.

00:29:58 Speaker_05
I put it in the bag. I took the bullets out and put it in the bag.

00:30:01 Speaker_09
After your friend did that?

00:30:02 Speaker_05
Yeah. Everybody don't touch the gun right now.

00:30:06 Speaker_22
Later, the officers ask Christopher why he left the scene. Here's his response.

00:30:12 Speaker_05
Christopher is heard explaining why he left, which appeared to be out of fear, referencing prior negative experiences he'd had with law enforcement. He's also heard asking if Austin's family will be notified.

00:30:36 Speaker_22
From here, officers enter the apartment and attempt to make sense of the situation.

00:30:42 Speaker_05
As you hear, this is when Austin's father and brothers arrive, as reported earlier.

00:31:05 Speaker_22
They're understandably emotional. Police tell them they do not know if the victim is Austin and ask them to go to the police department. From there, officers continue to assess the situation. Police enter the main area of Unit 1.

00:31:31 Speaker_22
In the body cam footage, you see Austin, slumped over on the right corner of a sofa. While his death was reported to first responders as a suicide, there appeared to be some doubt on behalf of the responding officers.

00:31:43 Speaker_02
— He didn't make sense. He couldn't tell me. He said they left in his sister's car, and they came back, but he couldn't tell me what kind of car his sister had.

00:31:51 Speaker_02
But then, the other one, they left and went and got his mom, because they already knew something was wrong.

00:32:02 Speaker_22
— After processing the scene, responding officers seemed to lean towards the idea that they were dealing with a murder, rather than a suicide. Though it's hard to tell exactly why that is.

00:32:18 Speaker_22
but this suspicion would be further supported by the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office, who, after their initial investigation, labeled Austin's manner of death as undetermined.

00:32:28 Speaker_22
Meanwhile, at the police department, Christopher, Anthony, Stephen, and a young female identified as Stephen's girlfriend are all placed in a large room that looks like a classroom.

00:32:39 Speaker_22
There's a podium up front, a TV on the wall, and tables lined with chairs. They're asked to write witness statements, but are not interviewed individually at this time.

00:32:49 Speaker_22
Christopher is charged with tampering with evidence, theft by receiving stolen property, and possession of stolen property in relation to the Glock 19 firearm.

00:32:57 Speaker_22
Anthony is charged with tampering with evidence and is also placed in custody for a warrant for a failure to appear in court.

00:33:04 Speaker_22
On March 5, 2019, Dr. Rachel Geller with the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office officially classified Austin's manner of death as undetermined. Here's an excerpt from the autopsy report. Perforating gunshot wound of the head of close range.

00:33:21 Speaker_22
Entrance wound, left side of the head. A muzzle imprint and soot are present. Exit wound, right side of the head. Course and direction, left to right, downwards, and slightly back to front. Cause of death, gunshot wound of the head.

00:33:37 Speaker_22
Manner of death, undetermined. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Division of Forensics, a death is classified as undetermined when, after a thorough investigation, no definitive manner of death could be reached.

00:33:53 Speaker_22
Undetermined is an uncommon classification. According to the National Institute of Health, approximately 1.9% of deaths annually are classified as undetermined.

00:34:03 Speaker_22
Looking deeper into the autopsy and toxicology, it's reported that Austin's blood alcohol count was .212, over two and a half times the legal limit. No medications or illicit drugs were found in his system.

00:34:17 Speaker_22
The report further states that he has no history of mental illness or suicidal ideation.

00:34:22 Speaker_22
Based on initial suspicion from the authorities on scene and the report from the medical examiner, the family assumed Austin's death would continue to be investigated.

00:34:31 Speaker_22
But then, they received a strange call from a person who claimed to be an employee of the medical examiner's office.

00:34:38 Speaker_13
You know, he said, I got to let you know they're trying to write your son off. And he, through the thing, I said to him, he even said, well, it's the detective down here doing the autopsy and everything, trying to sway them to say it was suicide.

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00:37:05 Speaker_22
Suspecting foul play, Austin's parents had faith that the Union City Police Department would properly investigate their son's death.

00:37:11 Speaker_22
But six months after these alarming tips and other interactions that raised their suspicions, a friend of the family recommended that they instead hire a professional to take a look at the case. And that's exactly what they did.

00:37:24 Speaker_10
My name is Eric Echols. I'm a private investigator. My background started out of Detroit, Michigan, and went to the United States Marine Corps. From the Marines, I got into loss prevention.

00:37:36 Speaker_10
In 2005, my wife and I started a private detective agency focusing on loss prevention, and we also did security.

00:37:43 Speaker_22
— Eric had the opportunity to work on several high-profile cases, such as George Floyd's and others that made national headlines. Austin Mitchell's case is on the other end of the spectrum, only making local news.

00:37:56 Speaker_22
But after receiving a small stipend from a colleague to look over the files, Eric knew that he wanted to work this case.

00:38:03 Speaker_10
As a private investigator on a case like this, the first thing you need to do is get the police report to see what the police are actually saying about the crime scene, what they actually wrote, what is actually being said.

00:38:17 Speaker_10
Then the ME report tells you the manner of death. It tells you the trajectory of the fire, how it was shot. It tells you if there was soot, stippling, things of that nature, from if it's a close contact wound. Then that way,

00:38:31 Speaker_10
I can look at it and say, okay, is this possible? And then you talk to the family again once you have all of this information. Okay, well, tell me about this. It's on the left side of the head. Is he left-handed or right-handed? Well, he uses both hands.

00:38:44 Speaker_10
He writes with his left, but his strong hand is his right. Okay, has he ever fired a firearm before? Yeah, he knows how to operate a firearm. He shoots with his right hand.

00:38:55 Speaker_10
So you look at all of these different things and you compare what you find and you compare what's being said to the police report.

00:39:04 Speaker_10
And then you go out and you try to find witnesses and you try to talk to individuals to see what they've heard and what they've seen and things of that nature.

00:39:11 Speaker_10
And then you run background checks on the individual to see the type of people that you're dealing with.

00:39:17 Speaker_10
So I'm doing all of this stuff and I find out that Stodge, he's been in trouble before, finding out that there was a witness who said that she heard some boys talking about shooting someone.

00:39:29 Speaker_10
Then, you know, they had a bunch of guns and she's reporting this, that she's seen them with a lot of guns. So I'm finding all this information out. And then you get to the police and the police are saying it's still an open investigation.

00:39:43 Speaker_22
As Eric noted, the report states that Austin was shot on the left side of the head and he was left-handed, though his parents contest he was known to shoot guns with his right hand.

00:39:53 Speaker_22
Our team spoke to law enforcement officers not involved in this case and received conflicting information regarding dominant hand versus non-dominant when firing a firearm.

00:40:02 Speaker_22
But regardless, after his initial investigation and learning that the case was still considered open, Eric decided to step back and see how things played out.

00:40:11 Speaker_10
So time went past, and then things weren't happening. There was no movement on the case.

00:40:18 Speaker_10
So I took everything that I had, all the investigative, looking at police reports, looking at the ME report, talking to witnesses, all this information, and I put together a PowerPoint presentation.

00:40:33 Speaker_10
And I contacted the district attorney, Fonny Willis, to meet with her and her team. And they said, nope, this is definitely not suicide. We're going to take this investigation ourselves. Home run, right? I'm thinking, job done. Everything is over.

00:40:50 Speaker_10
I did my job. Then we followed up with Fonny Willis and her team, and then finally they came and they called us both in after like, I don't know, maybe four or six months, and said that there was nothing that they could really do.

00:41:06 Speaker_10
Now, in the process, what they were going to do is look at everything, take the ME's reports from Fulton County, and they were going to hire an outside ME and let that individual look at the case.

00:41:21 Speaker_22
And that did happen.

00:41:22 Speaker_22
A summary by Sue Chan Esquire, the Senior Assistant District Attorney in the Fulton County DA's office, dated October 20th, 2021, states that they were contracted to conduct a brief review of the autopsy, lab, and crime scene information in Austin's case.

00:41:37 Speaker_22
They consulted with an outside medical examiner, J.C. Upshaw Downs, with Forensics LLC, who stated, After reviewing all the material, Assistant D.A. Sue Chan concluded her report by recommending a more detailed analysis of the case.

00:42:02 Speaker_22
According to Eric, he was not initially provided with Suchan's report. He only received it, among other documents, after filing an open records request. He was immediately taken aback after reviewing it.

00:42:14 Speaker_10
And I'm like, well, wait a minute now. We just had this meeting with the district attorney's office, and they never mentioned this letter. They never said anything about this report. They never told us that this M.E. said it was atypical.

00:42:29 Speaker_10
What they told us was a conversation A.D.A. Chan said that she had with the M.E., and he said that maybe Austin didn't know how to properly hold a gun. That's what they told us. So now I'm a little vexed. So I called A.D.A.

00:42:44 Speaker_10
Chan, and I'd had this conversation with her, and I said, well, you know, what was the main reason why I'm trying to get her to say it again? And she did. Well, maybe Austin didn't know how to hold a gun. And I said, well, what about this report?

00:42:58 Speaker_10
Now she hesitates. I said, in this report, it says the situation was atypical, not normal for a suicide. So we went back and forth. And I said, well, let me talk to him. Would you give me authorization to talk to him?" She said yes.

00:43:12 Speaker_22
— To clarify, the man that Erica is referring to is J.C. Upshaw Downs, the third-party medical examiner who was hired to review Austin's autopsy.

00:43:23 Speaker_10
So I gave him a call immediately. I said, did you by chance tell ADA Chan that the angle in which the wound was, that Austin may not have known how to hold a gun or shoot a gun? He said, absolutely not. I would never say anything like that.

00:43:41 Speaker_10
So now, I'm getting a contradicted story here. The ADA, from District Attorney Finney Willis' office, telling me one thing. I talked to the ME, who she said said this, deny saying it. He said, my report says it's atypical. That's what I said.

00:43:59 Speaker_22
At this point, Eric was feeling that something wasn't right with the handling of this, and he clarifies that that feeling actually set in well before the confusion over the additional M.E. report.

00:44:09 Speaker_22
It started right after that original meeting at the D.A. 's office, when he had a run-in with one of their investigators.

00:44:16 Speaker_10
One of the investigators from Fonny Willis' office came down and met us outside on the street. And he said, you know, Union City messed this whole investigation up. And I will help you and I will testify against Union City if you need me to.

00:44:33 Speaker_10
So I called this individual back and I said, hey, did you really mean that you would testify? Oh yeah, I'll testify to help you guys out because they messed up the investigation. So we have now a report

00:44:47 Speaker_10
We had ADA telling us something that didn't happen, contradicting by the ME. We have now an investigator on the DA's public interrogating unit saying Union City messed this whole investigation up, nothing they can do about it.

00:45:01 Speaker_10
So we have all of these things, and now the culprit now becomes who? Union City Police Department.

00:45:07 Speaker_22
— So from here, Eric went back to the drawing board, now with his focus back on the original investigation by the Union City Police Department. The question at hand being, what can be done now? The conclusion he reached is a bit disheartening.

00:45:23 Speaker_22
He prefaced it with his own professional opinion on Austin's case.

00:45:28 Speaker_10
Everybody knows that Austin Mitchell did not commit suicide, but the police have messed up the investigation so bad, we now need new evidence. But there's no new evidence.

00:45:40 Speaker_10
The only new evidence that's going to come forward would have came if she would have grabbed each one of those individuals, put them in separate interview rooms, and interrogated them. And that never happened.

00:45:52 Speaker_22
It's important to note that Austin's case was also examined by Fulton County's Anti-Corruption Unit, along with other cases of death in Union City attributed to suicide.

00:46:03 Speaker_22
The Anti-Corruption Unit investigates and prosecutes cases involving allegations of misconduct by government officials, excluding allegations of improper use of force by law enforcement, which are handled by the Civil Rights Unit.

00:46:15 Speaker_22
The Anti-Corruption Unit investigated Union City's investigation into the death of Austin Mitchell by reviewing the case file and interviewing responding officers.

00:46:25 Speaker_22
Interestingly, one officer is quoted saying he believed Austin's death was a homicide, but he was overruled by a superior officer. The Fulton County Anti-Corruption Unit's report concluded the following.

00:46:38 Speaker_22
In continuation of this investigation, there is no indication for any ACU investigation in the officers' involvement for misconduct of oath of duties.

00:46:48 Speaker_22
However, this incident should have been titled a death investigation, as too many unknown factors have not been addressed or investigated. In our review of the records, body cam footage, and reports, we found several key pieces of information.

00:47:05 Speaker_22
The individuals present at the time of the shooting, Anthony, Christopher, and Stephen, were interviewed individually by the Union City Police Department in May of 2019, two months after Austin's death. Their statements were found to be consistent.

00:47:21 Speaker_22
Phone records were also reviewed that confirmed phone calls mentioned in the witness statements. In a witness statement that our team obtained, Anthony claimed that two weeks prior to his death, Austin called him very upset.

00:47:33 Speaker_22
He asked to be picked up from home due to family issues. This claim has not been substantiated by our team, and there's no further information in the case file pertaining to this, so it's impossible to know if this had any bearing on Austin's death.

00:47:45 Speaker_22
And there was another interesting piece of information.

00:47:48 Speaker_22
Despite the family being told that gunshot residue tests were not completed, a Union City Police Department supplemental report states that in June of 2019, the Union City Police Department did obtain gunshot residue results.

00:48:02 Speaker_22
Five individuals' hands were swabbed on the night of the incident, including Austin's. The report reads, West received two positive results back from the GBI. West received the test result and conclusion for victim Austin Mitchell.

00:48:17 Speaker_22
The examination revealed more than five particles characteristic of gunshot residue. West received the test result and conclusion for witness Anthony Beard, who, in his statements, advised he remove the firearm from Mitchell's hand.

00:48:32 Speaker_22
The examination revealed two particles characteristic of gunshot residue.

00:48:38 Speaker_22
And finally, regarding the time that Austin's death was reported, his family has believed for years that 911 was not called for over an hour after the shooting, but records seem to indicate that the first call was placed shortly after the shooting.

00:48:52 Speaker_22
As we looked into this case and all the pertaining documents, there's obviously a lot to consider here, and there's a lot of questions that remain unanswered, including the most obvious one.

00:49:02 Speaker_22
Did Austin take his own life, or was someone else responsible? As for Austin's family and friends, they remain firm in their belief that he would have never committed suicide.

00:49:12 Speaker_22
He had even discussed this with them just weeks before his death, saying if he were to ever die, they need to investigate it.

00:49:21 Speaker_22
We may never know what happened on Stonewall Drive the night of March 3rd, 2019, but one thing that is clear is that Austin's death has left a family and community devastated.

00:49:32 Speaker_22
Austin's parents were not properly notified of his death, which was first reported as a suicide, but later deemed atypical of a suicide and ruled undetermined by the medical examiner.

00:49:43 Speaker_22
Lastly, the ensuing investigation into Austin's death was considered unthorough by an agency that oversees the Union City Police Department. And this is why Austin's family has just one simple request for the authorities.

00:49:57 Speaker_03
Do your job. Do your job.

00:50:02 Speaker_13
Why would you take the job if you're not going to do what the job takes? It makes no sense. Get out of the way. Let someone else take that job so that people won't have to go through what we're going through.

00:50:13 Speaker_04
I would feel better if I got justice, but I will always miss my baby.

00:50:26 Speaker_22
If you have any information about the death of Austin Mitchell, please contact the Union City Police Department at 770-306-6849.

00:50:35 Speaker_22
And if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideation, depression, or mental health, please dial the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 for immediate assistance. That's it for this episode. Thanks for listening.

00:51:04 Speaker_21
Culpable is a production of Tenderfoot TV in partnership with Odyssey, written and hosted by Dennis Cooper. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsey. Our senior producer is John Street. Our producer is Jamie Albright.

00:51:19 Speaker_21
Supervising producers are John Street and Tracy Kaplan, with additional production by Eric Quintana, Annie Rustin, and Jordan Foxworthy. Editing by Jaja Muhammad and Sydney Evans. Mixing, mastering, and sound design by Dayton Cole.

00:51:35 Speaker_21
Our theme song is by Dirt Poor Robins, with additional scoring by Makeup and Vanity Set and Dayton Cole. Our cover art is by Drew Bardana. Sources for this episode include Eleven Alive and WSB-TV.

00:51:50 Speaker_21
Special thanks to the teams at UTA, Beck Media & Marketing, and The Nord Group. You can follow us on social media at Culpable Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please take time to follow, rate, and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

00:52:06 Speaker_21
For ad-free listening and exclusive content, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com. Thanks for listening.

00:52:21 Speaker_18
Thanks for listening to this episode of Culpable Case Review. Tune back in for additional episodes releasing each Friday. For ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootplus.com or on Apple Podcasts.

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