Juatasha Denton-McCaster
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Y'all, sometimes when you're in a relationship, you feel like you don't have any other options, especially when you want to get out of one. But I promise you, I promise you, there is always an option that can leave you out of prison. ♪♪♪

Our players this week are Norman Raymel McCaster, husband and the victim, and Watasha Denton McCaster, the wife and murderess. Watasha Denton, also known as Tasha, was born on March 3rd, 1990 in South Chicago, Illinois.

Her dad was a good man. He was a great dad. He was in the military and he really made sure to take care of his family, like super big family man. He wanted to make sure that his kids knew that if they worked hard and they tried their best, anything could be possible. In elementary school, Tasha was a great student. I mean, she sung in the chorus. She played in the marching band. She played the piano at church.

In middle and high school, she was on honor roll all the time. One of the few times that I saw her name in the newspaper that wasn't about this case is when they published the honor rolls in the newspaper, which they definitely don't do that nowadays. Would have liked to see my name in honor roll in the newspaper. But anyway, she was known as a quiet girl, very well mannered. She kind of had that like high squeaky soft, you know, the shy girl that always has a high squeaky voice. She had that voice. Me? Yeah.

When she was in ninth grade, she started dating one of the most popular guys in school. And his name was Norman McCaster. If you're listening to this, you probably already know what I'm about to say. That today is the day for you to start your podcast. You have everything that you need. Your computer, a little microphone, and Spotify for podcasters. It is the all-in-one platform where you can host, edit, and share.

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free money free money is out there just go get it by starting your podcast today norman raymail mccaster was born on june 18 1990 in illinois his upbringing was the total opposite of watasha norman's dad sold drugs and was in a gang scene on the streets of chicago he said i'm a gay

He said, "I was a gangbanger." So in an effort to having him grow up in a proper home, his mother took him to Arkansas to be raised by his grandma. But when he was 12, his grandma died. And so his mom had to move him back to Chicago. He started living with his other grandmother. Around this time, his dad, Marcel Banks, started to change his lifestyle and clean up his act. He really wanted to be better for his son.

So Norman lived with his dad for the first time when he moved back from Arkansas. Then him and his dad became super close. When he moved back to Chicago in the ninth grade, he met with Tasha and they started dating. In school, Norman played basketball, football, and he was on the wrestling team. Qualified basketball.

Twice for state, it was super popular. So popular, in fact, that as the two of them grew up, Norman was a ladies' man, and his relationship with Tasha was not so much exclusive. Now, I don't know if that was a consensual not exclusive, but it was an exclusive. So there was...

On again, off again. You know how that goes. The two graduated high school in June of 2008 with plans to do big things. Norman had actually landed himself a scholarship to college for wrestling. He was really, actually really good at wrestling. And Tasha ended up going to the University of Illinois Springfield where she majored in liberal arts. She had a clear plan. She wanted to get her bachelor's.

She wants to go into the military like her dad, because, you know, if you go to the military after you get a degree, you get higher rank automatically. After the military, she wanted to go into dental school, like very clear, very, very much knew what she wanted to do. Now, Norman, he was really excited about going to college. And actually his freshman year of college, he got into a little bit of trouble. So he was at an on-campus party, drinking, partying, doing like they do. And the cops showed up.

to the party. He's there. It's at some type of frat house. And when the police walk in, he has a beer bottle in his hand. Immediately, he's arrested because the police see the beer in your hand, asked him for his ID, and he was underage at the time. Because he was underage and he got in trouble, they ended up taking away his scholarship. Imagine your freshman year getting your scholarship took. Ugh.

So he ended up getting his scholarship taken away. And, you know, without that scholarship money, there's no money to pay for school. So he also like, why are you not around people that are saying like, I can understand you being a freshman, you're not really knowing the rules. But somebody around you be like, put that shit down, put that shit down. Because as long as it wasn't in his hand, they couldn't have caught him for underage drinking. But he had the beer in his hand. And I think that was just a...

He ain't nobody. Bad look all around. Yeah. And it's crazy. Like, you weren't with your teammates. You was at a frat house. You know he was at a PWI where you had a white frat house and they just wanted to let... I can go down that rabbit hole. But he ended up leaving school because with no scholarship, there's no money to pay for school. So he had to drop out. But

Norman, he's a pretty positive dude. And he decided, you know, I'm going to make sure that I still have a future for myself. So he decided to enlist in the National Guard. And he was like, well, you know, if I enlist in the National Guard, I do my requirements, I will have the money now to pay for school. A lot of people go that route. So that's what he did. Him and Tasha actually have been dating pretty exclusively now that they were in college. And they were

getting closer than ever. And Norman, he actually saved up money to buy a ring right before he went to basic training. And so, you know, at basic training, you

You don't get to talk to them. You don't have any contact with them. They're all in. And then family and friends can come to their like graduation from basic training ceremony. And when that happened, after the ceremony, Norman got down on one knee and proposed to Tasha. I was like, baby, I want to be with you forever. We're going to build this life together. And of course she said yes. And, you know, Norman went out doing his thing. He was being really faithful. So of course Tasha had no reason to say no, right? Yeah.

The couple got married on October 26, 2010. They did it very simple. They didn't have a big wedding. They just went to the courthouse to say their I do's. And Tasha became Mrs. Denton McCaster. After he gets out of basic training and after they get married in the fall, they rent a house in Springfield, Illinois. They actually started putting roots down in that community. They found a church community that they really enjoyed and they started attending. Tasha started singing in the

choir there. The neighbor said that the two years that the couple was living there, they were quiet, they were helpful, they looked very happy. And Norman, he, you know, wrestling is still his love, still his dream. So he decided to go to the high school and he was a volunteer coach for the wrestling team there. Now, if you're wondering how in the world is this man making money? Of course, he has a National Guard, but he also was picking up temp work anywhere he could. And his supervisor and

And at the temp agency and at the jobs that he had said that, listen, he's on time. He has a bright attitude, super helpful dude, love to have him around. Right now, the temp agency had him working at a furniture store part-time while

while Tasha was at school doing her thing. So the year 2011 consisted of the couple settling in their home, their jobs, and other extracurricular things that they were participating in. They started to become kind of distant with their families, at least Norman did. It's not completely out of the ordinary, like he's starting his own family, you know? And a lot of times once people start creating their own nucleus, it's hard for them to keep up and keep ties with their old nucleus, at least not on the same level that they used to.

You know, some can, some can't. That's just the part of being in a relationship so young. Like, the person that I was dating at that age, I was just, was a not great relationship. But when I was in it and all in, I was distanced from everybody. That's around the time you and I stopped talking for a good little while. Like, I was distanced from everybody because I was in a...

not so great relationship. But when you're at that age, you're young as fuck. So the couple, in addition to, you know, starting their own new life together, the newly married couple, their house is three hours away from where Norman's family lives. So he would only see them when he went up there for drill. So like once a month. But in between time, they weren't really talking on the phone like that. Like they keep in touch. But, you know, it wasn't

You know what I mean? The years passed and they just did them. Latasha was starting to get restless in a relationship and she was just finding things in her diary talking about she wasn't getting what she deserved. She was like, I don't get no flowers. I don't get no candy. It's the simple things. Show me you care, you know? You don't have a single romantic bone in your body. Do you even love me? Was this an issue that she was always having? This is her high school sweetheart, you know? Like, y'all been in it. But anywho, she's not happy anymore.

and she's kind of in this lustless marriage at this point right fast forward october 24th 2012 and tasha she's still in school she's keeping at that degree and she asked a classmate can she borrow a gun and her reasoning was that her dad was coming into town and they were going to go to the gun range classmates like yeah sure take my gun which no first of all if i can only describe you as a

Why stop giving people your weapons? The next day, Tasha returns the gun to her classmates saying, thanks for no thanks. I bought my own. Also on the 25th, Norman is AWOL. He did not show up for a drill at the National Guard at 7 p.m. Over where Tasha's at. She places an order at Lowe's for them to deliver a deep freezer. And she uses her credit cards to make this purchase.

But an hour passes and she cancels the order. She's like, you know what? I don't need a deep freezer. I'm just going to let that sit shit there. You know, I'm just going to store more food that I'm not going to cook. So just before midnight, Tasha goes to Walmart to buy a reciprocating salt. You know, Norman's gone. He's supposed to be away at drill.

So obviously she's bored and wants to take on some new hobbies, you know? So she was sparked and decided to go get a reciprocating cell, right? Then 1026, the very next day, Tasha calls Norman's family. And she's like, you know what? I'm worried about Norman. And I'm like, why so? And she was like, um, he's just been acting different. I think he's on drugs. And they're like, how?

That boy ain't on no drugs. And like, not that he's never done drugs before or anything, but he's in a National Guard. He's being more responsible. He gets drug tested randomly, you know? He doesn't have time to be playing those games and risking that shit. It was like, no, that boy ain't on no drugs.

Maybe he's just going through something, you know? Try not to worry too much about it. Let a man be a man. He's got to deal with it his own way. And they never suspected anything with Tasha because they've known this girl since high school. Norman's mom said that she talked real smart and just carried herself very well and was very polite. You know, they really thought their son had a good girl by his side. When they start getting these weird phone

calls from with Tasha, you're just kind of like, okay, that just doesn't seem like the girl we used to know. Something's weird going on there, but again. They young, they figure out their relationship. Later this night, after talking to the parents,

Tasha goes back to Walmart and gets some cleaning supplies. So she's obviously made a mess and now she needs to clean it up. The next day, October 27th, Tasha calls Norman's family again to tell them that Norman has left her. He'll be back

Then when we met again, he's not thinking nothing of it. He was like, but nigga needs space to the nigga needs space. So a few more days passed and now he ain't heard from Norman. He was like, I understand we're having problems, but I ain't doing nothing to you. So she's moved on to that, um,

Next stage of grief. What are the stages? First is sadness, right? Then you get the anger. Anger and all that stuff. She's moved on to acceptance. She's moved all the way to the end in one day, like 24, 48 hours. Oh, she's just like, I mean, it is what it is, man, right? On October 29th,

Norman has now missed his shit at the furniture store. So he ain't making to drill, which ain't nobody playing with that because who is trying to be AWOL from the military? Who wants those problems? Who wants those problems? But then you missed your job at the furniture store. Your daddy ain't hurt for you. We're a little concerned at this point. So the same day, that Monday, October 29th, 2012, a man was driving home and he was going over overpass. Now in this area...

of Mechanicsburg, Illinois. In this area, it had just started hunting season. Deer season is open. They're ready to rock. This man being a natural hunter, even though he was in the car and walking and headed home, he's always looking at the forest, just trying to see, you know, the scope of the land, maybe think about his new route. And there was like an embankment and he looked down

In his car, he saw like a figure. He didn't think much of it. He went home, got dinner, and then something in his gut feeling, like that's how you know you had a gut feeling. Something in his gut was like, I don't know. Something was down there. And it just didn't seem right. Like it didn't, it didn't seem right. So he calls up a neighbor. He's like, hey, I think I saw- The fact that you went all the way home and still it couldn't leave your head. He was like, I've got to go back and see what it was.

That's wild. So he calls up a neighbor and he's like, hey, I could be crazy, but I feel like I saw something. Can you walk down with me and see if I'm just to clear my conscience? And the neighbor's like, sure, I'll go with you. So they go and what they find, they see this figure and initially they think, oh, it's a dead hog. Like, yeah, but then they get a little bit closer and they're like, oh, no, this is not a dead hog.

this is a body, a male body. And the only reason that they could tell this is because of the male parts, because the head was gone off this body. The legs were gone from the kneecaps down and the hands were gone. So this was like a potato. Like there was nothing left. They're like,

Oh my goodness. And immediately call authorities. I mean, this is like a super small town with no more than 300 people. It just so happens there's a small college in that area. Crime does not happen. The sheriff of the town was like, I have never seen anything like this.

When they got to the body, they could tell that the body had been decomposing for a couple of days. And initially, like, the sheriff is like, you know, Chicago's not too far away. There's a lot of violence there. Maybe somebody tried to get rid of a body from Chicago down here. There's no way that some type of murder like this would happen in our small town. But if it did, like, does that mean that we have a serial killer in our small town where probably nobody locks their doors? Like, do we have some lunatic that's out on the streets? What are...

what is happening, right? So they're looking around, they're investigating the crime scene, and it just so happens that the investigator looks down and sees a receipt. Initially, they're like, nah, like it's a receipt on the side of the road here. I mean, there's a main highway, any people litter, that could be anything from anywhere. But this receipt was from Walmart.

And on that receipt was the purchase of a reciprocating saw. And it was paid for with a credit card. A credit card that had a name linked to it. Watasha Denton McCaster. So the police are like, this is still a coincidence in no fucking way, right? They head to Walmart.

They pull DNA, they pull surveillance. And lo and behold, they see a video of a woman buying this saw at that same time from Walmart. And granted, it's not just at any time, like it's a little past midnight. Late time to be buying a saw, like what are you doing at late at night? Carving soap?

When the medical examiner got the part of the body that they could get, the medical examiner was able to determine that all of the limbs being taken off of the body happened post-mortem. And of course, you can tell this because of the blood flow. Once the blood stops beating to the heart, you're not having as much bleeding from the limbs or any other part.

injuries post-mortem. So after looking at the security footage, they were able to determine that yes, Watasha was the one that made this purchase at Walmart past midnight using a credit card. And they're like, could this be connected? Is this person connected to her? So they did a little bit of research on her. There wasn't much because she's never gotten in trouble. She has a squeaky clean record, but she has a husband.

At this point, they still weren't able to identify John Doe, but they now had a suspect and they immediately began treating her like one. So they're like surveilling the house.

And waiting for her to put her trash out on the street. Because once you put it on the street, you put it on public property and anybody can get it. That's just a little note out there for y'all. They started collecting her trash and kind of looking at things that were in it, trying to see if they could point to anything, right? They even put a tracking device on her car and-

traced everywhere she went. And at first, they're like, this has got to be the wrong fucking person. She's like 21 years old. She's in college. We see her go to school. We see her come home from school. We see her go to work. We see her come home from work. She has her little friends. Nothing exciting is happening. Nothing exciting is happening at all. Like, she's just living a 21-year-old college life, you know? But it was like, we'll keep watching because at this point, this is the only thing we fucking got, right? Her trash wasn't unusual for a while.

But then some weird things started popping up. Like she threw out a few Visine bottles, you know, like the eye drops. And they're like, I mean, I don't know how somebody would go through this many bottles of Visine so fast. But she threw out all the Visine bottles.

Then they find in a different bag some towels, like some broken bathroom towels. And they had some blood on them, but also like some surgical gloves with some blood on them. And it was weird, but not to say that it couldn't be explained, right? But then the police start collecting cut credit cards.

and driver's license and military IDs and they start to realize all of this stuff belongs to Norman Raymond McCast and another thing that they found was a cut up picture of

of Latasha and Norman. I think also they found his uniform as well. Mm-hmm. Clothes, shoes, all this stuff started. That would be the main thing that he fucking took. So the police are like, could this John Doe be Norman? I mean, we're not 100% sure yet, but...

It's definitely looking like we're at least making some type of momentum in this case. Thankfully, I guess the police had something on their side. The fact that Norman was in the military. So they head up to the National Guard and his drill sergeant is like, you know what? Crazy you ask about Norman because he didn't show up to drill this past weekend. He's completely AWOL and that's not like him. He is always here. He has never missed. He has never made an excuse.

And the police tell the military kind of what's going on. And fun fact, I didn't know this, but the military keeps your DNA, keeps a sample of your DNA if you're in the military. Do you know why? It's pretty dark and...

It's kind of dark when you think about why the military keeps your DNA, but the reason that the military has samples of everybody that's in the military's DNA is so that they can identify bodies that are on the battlefield. So the military was like, we have a sample of his DNA. We can match it with the torso and see if there's

something there. They do, and they're really excited to get this DNA testing underway, but of course it takes a little while. And while this is happening, they're already testing the blood that was found on the tile in her trash, which

to the body itself. Turns out they're a match, but we're still not sure if it's Norman yet. Police then go to the temp agency and ask if Norman showed up to work. Of course, they say Norman didn't show up to work. Still had all positive things to say about Norman. And everybody is getting more and more worried that

police go to Norman's family, to his dad. And they're like, you know, Norman is missing. He's like, he's missing, missing. Like, you know, it's one thing for a nigga to be like me and me and the wife got into it. So I'm, I need some time to myself, but now he's missing, missing.

That's a problem. Oh, yeah. And so on November 7th, literally a week later, Latasha files for divorce. And she did this because Norman, heavy air quotes, left her. A few weeks after she files for divorce, on November 26, 2012, police are like, all right, it's time for us to approach Tasha. So they go to her home and they say that, you know, the National Guard is very concerned because he has not showed up for drill.

and the National Guard has asked the police to kind of investigate. So they're here, and she's like, oh, yeah, that's fine. Come on in. Would you like some water? Is there anything you need? And she tells them that, you know, our relationship, we did get married. We were high school sweethearts, but it's been on the rocks, and he's been really on drugs. Like, he's been on drugs pretty bad lately. It's just been...

really hard on our relationship. And he told me that he was leaving with some other druggies and it was right before our anniversary. And they were like, well, okay, okay. What car did he leave in? Do you know? She's like, I don't know. We were so upset and he just left.

And they're like, okay, do you know who he left with? She was like, some guys, I don't really know. And they were like, okay. Then they look over at the calendar that's hanging up on the wall. Now it's one of those flip calendars that are pretty standard. You can buy them from any Barnes and Noble, but he noticed that there was a date in the calendar that was like completely blacked out in Sharpie. The date that was blocked out was October 26th. And they were like, why is that day blocked out on your calendar? She's like, oh,

that was going to be the day that it was me and Norman's two year anniversary. And I was just so angry and upset that he left me. And I just, I blocked it out because it seems like he clearly didn't want to be here for it. And it just makes me so sad. And the police were like, okay, you know, they, they said initially she seemed pretty genuine. They leave and DNA results come back that yes,

The body that was found was in fact Norman's. And as you know already, the DNA from the body also matched the DNA on the tiles that Watasha was throwing out. So the police call Watasha again. And this time they're like, come on down to the station, girl.

So when the police question her, they start off easy. And they're just like, you know, we just, what, do you know what Norman is? And she's like, no, we haven't really been the same the past few months. We ain't been too good. And it was like, you know, he's missing, right?

She was like, like, missing, missing? It was like, yeah, he's missing. She was like, oh, no, I just know he left me. He took everything. He took even the food out the fridge. It was like, so he took everything with him. And she was like, yeah.

I didn't want it. I didn't want to keep anything. They kind of pounce on this opportunity to be like, we got you in a line. We didn't need much. And you've already given it to us because he didn't take everything because we saw you throw out everything. And you told us in the first interview when we was at your house that he only left with the clothes on his back.

So what did he do? So they're like, you know why? Because you put it in the garbage. And that's how we know. And that's why we're here. Because you threw it away. And it was like, guess what? Norman's not missing. We know where Norman is. And she says, well, where is he? He said, you know where Norman is.

she said no I don't he was like you need to tell us what's been going on so she was like no I'm telling you we just haven't been in a good place right she was like I came home one day from class he was drunk and high on the couch watching porn and you know I'm a Christian woman I don't want that in my house and he knows that he knows me you know so on October 24th I just kicked him out you know so

So now you kicked him out. So they're like, we have you because guess what? It's not that he's missing. It's that he's dead. And we found his body and we ran a DNA on it and it's a match. So we know it's him. So now we're investigating a homicide. And she said,

What's a homicide? So after they explained to her what a homicide is, she says, oh, no, that's not right. You've got to find the other person. You've got to find another person. Somebody else has got to go down for it, but it ain't me. And it was like, no. And she says, am I under arrest? And he says, yeah. She said, am I going to jail? And he said, yes.

Yep. She said, I want a lawyer. While she's waiting for a lawyer, she doesn't necessarily stop talking. Right. She continued and he's not asking her any questions. But she was like, I've never been in trouble before. She was being very friendly to the police. They didn't really care. And they took her to Sangamon County Jail for her to await arraignment.

After Latasha asked for a lawyer, she was arrested and charged with three counts. One count of first degree murder, one count of dismembering a human body, and one count of concealment of a homicidal death.

Her bail was set at $5 million, and she stayed in jail until her trial. I didn't know that dismembering a body was its own separate offense. Yeah, it's just like necrophilia is a separate charge than murder. Well, but necrophilia isn't the act of killing, but you mean a separate charge than rape? Yes, but if you're the person that killed the body, and then you did something other than in addition to killing the body, it's an additional charge.

So Tasha's trial begins on March 26, 2014, two years after she was arrested. And Tasha was awarded a public defender. The prosecution and the defense for this trial really just went back and forth, back and forth. And they fought each other really hard to get the verdict in their favor. Now the prosecution, they were like,

OK, and they were pretty smart. So every time that you walked into the courtroom, there was a huge picture of Norman and not just any picture. It was his military picture. So it's him in his uniform, the American flag behind him. Great way to sway a jury. Right. Also, it totally discredits whatever you're going to think about a black man being murdered. Right. Like this is not just any dude. He was an upstanding citizen.

to our country. He volunteered as a wrestling coach. They were laying it on thick about how great of a guy he was. They also showed in evidence about how Tasha was journaling about how she deserved better, how she blacked out the calendar on their wedding anniversary.

And the defense, they were like, listen, I hear what you're saying, but there is absolutely no motive for Tasha to kill her husband. None, none whatsoever. She was in the prime of her life.

She filed for divorce. There is no way in the world that she would kill and dismember her husband. No way. Absolutely not. She didn't have a criminal record. She didn't have a violent bone in her body. I mean, sis never even had a speeding ticket. You can't just say that she did it. We don't know the cause of death because there are no limbs that show that. You can't say that this was Tasha.

No proof. Circumstantial. And Tasha's on the stand right now telling you how he was getting in bad in the drug game. Hello, people. The prosecution rebuts and they're showing pictures of the body and it's in this horrible condition. And they're kind of shocking the jury. Like, look, look at it. Isn't it terrible? And they're showing the surveillance footage of Tasha at the Walmart. Clearly, terrible.

buying cleaning supplies and clearly buying a reciprocating saw.

And clearly putting her credit card into the machine and then pulling the receipt and having the receipt and the time zones matching and the description matching. They also brought in a forensic pathologist to testify that they have reviewed the stomach contents of Norman and testified that there was no evidence of drugs in his system at the time of death or evidence of drugs ever. So he'd been clean for a minute if it's not in your system, you know what happened?

wasn't found by the initial medical examiner was found by the second expert and when they searched the contents in his stomach and they was like you know what there's an awful high level of tetrazole in his stomach and everybody is like what's that and he says well that's the active ingredient in visine but too much of it if ingested can kill you

And they're like, what? So then they bring out all of these bottles of visine that they had found in Tasha's trash. And they're like, like this much visine? And the pathologist is like, yeah, that's probably a poisonous amount of visine that you got there.

And they're like, hmm, you don't say. And as if this was not bad enough. So then they bring in their computer expert who has gotten onto Tasha's little laptop and digged into that search history. And she has things in her search history that say, is Visina poison? Hire a hitman in Springfield. How to get away with murder. Has that show started yet?

We're in 2014. No, but you know, Visine and the drink was like this big joke from Wedding Crashers, that movie from 2005. And that's where most people get that as it being like a fun thing to do that can hurt somebody. But like Visine, y'all, I know somebody that's slow now because somebody put Visine in their drink. He crazy now. Don't be doing no shit like that, y'all. So the defense is like, listen, listen, listen, listen.

You have no way to prove that it was Tasha's fingers that typed the keys that typed the search into the Google. Is it her computer? Yes. Does that mean that nobody's ever touched her computer before? No, it's not. They also said...

Say that you cannot prove what Tasha was doing with that vising. Maybe she had the driest eyes in the world. We just don't know. Okay. Maybe she was hurting and doing a lot of crying. And after all her tears, she had to put a little drops in there because her eyes were all dried out and swollen.

You know, maybe she just had, you know, some people buy a whole bunch of little shit. Maybe she was like, damn, why I got so many advising bottles. Maybe she's like, I know somebody that every time they go to the BD Supply Store, they buy a pack of rubber bands. And I know they got a drawer full of rubber bands, but it's like their thing that they always buy when they go to the BD Supply Store. Can't have enough rubber bands. Maybe that was her thing that she just bought because she never had it in her purse when she needed it for school. But the point of the matter is circumstantial.

If you can't connect the dots, let's not bring it up, okay? But the prosecution had one more trick up their sleeve. Remember Tasha's classmate that she borrowed a gun from because she said she was going to the gun range but ended up not going to the gun range because she said she bought her own gun and then gave the gun back and she said, oh, all is well? Well, he was a surprise witness. And he said that, yes, she borrowed the gun. That story that I just told you is correct. However...

When she returned the gun to him the very next day, two bullets were missing. Now, if you ask Tasha, they're like, you know, she made it very clear that, you know, I was playing with the gun and I was messing with the clip and I dropped two of the bullets and I didn't know what happened. That doesn't mean that I used the gun to shoot anyone. So we're back to circumstantial.

Back to circumstantial. I mean, this case is all about circumstantial. I mean, there's no murder weapon. The prosecution is assuming and they're forced to assume that the injury was obtained, that it was a head injury that was obtained. So they're trying to prove that she used this gun. Right. Because the injuries that we see

happened post-mortem and there weren't any other bruising or scarring or defensive wounds on his, on the limbs that were left. So they're trying to prove basically that she used this gun. Prosecution is like, okay, great. Here is our straightforward theory. Our theory is Tasha borrowed the gun, shot Norman in the head,

After he passed away, she said, what can I do with the body? Decided that she wanted to freeze it, a Michelle Blair type of situation. Decided, nah, that wasn't the right way to go. Canceled the order for the freezer. Then decided to go to Walmart to go get this reciprocating saw, right?

goes to get the reciprocating saw, chops off the limbs, gets rid of the head, hands, and legs from the kneecaps down, disposes of the body. There was also some blood on the railing, so it was smeared and there were napkins. Clearly got some blood on there. Used an extension cord because there was an extension cord around the body. Used the extension cord to drag the body to where his body was found. Got rid of the limbs and now...

trying to file for divorce like nothing happened. It's a crazy theory when the prosecution literally does not have a head, does not have hands, and does not have any legs to stand on. It's a wild theory, but they're confident enough that they have enough circumstantial evidence to get a full conviction. The defense, of course, decided that Tasha would not take the stand, which probably was a great idea.

Instead, they had her mother testify. And when her mother got on the stand, she testified that her daughter just is not capable of doing anything that bad. Like she never did anything bad that saw that she bought. She bought it for her father. His birthday was coming up and that's what he wanted. Like there's no way that she would use that to chop up a body. And that was it. She spoke. Everybody had their closing arguments and it was time for the jury to go back and deliberate.

On April 1st, 2014, after seven hours of deliberation, they were waiting patiently. Like, you know, the longer we've seen a lot of convictions come back in an hour, a couple minutes, the longer that the jury is back there deliberating, the more time that means that they're really looking at the case. That means they're debating. That means that they're not all agreeing at once. So the defense is getting more and more hopeful that we might actually come out on top here after seven hours.

They come out and they read the verdict. They find with Tasha Denton McCaster guilty of all three counts, first degree murder, dismemberment of a human body and concealment of a homicidal death. When they read her guilty verdict, she was emotionless.

It was kind of eerie how emotionless she was. And she was taken back into custody to await her sentencing hearing. Tasha's sentencing took place on June 25th, 2014. And she read a statement where this time she did cry, but she denied any involvement in Norman's death. She was sentenced to 55 years for first degree murder, 20 years for dismembering a human body and three for concealment of a homicidal death.

For a total, for a grand total of 78 years. I don't know, 78 almost sounds worse than life. Yeah, I'd rather think, I think I'd rather hear life than have to do the math of 78 years. Right, be like, I get, maybe if I live till I'm 99, but who wants to do that? So she will be eligible for parole in 2079, in which she will be 89 years old. She'll be a golden girl.

Illinois does not have a death penalty. It's not a death penalty state. So if you're found guilty of first degree murder, you serve your whole term. So she might not save the whole time for dismembering the body. She might not serve the whole time for concealment of a homicidal death. But she's doing that 55 years for the first degree murder.

After conviction, she appealed and she said she was too young to be given a 78 year sentence and wanted it to be 20 instead. And the court said, you should have thought about that while you were planning this murder. You should have thought about that while you were over there being remorseless. You should have thought about that when you decided to still not tell us where we can find the remaining parts of his body so that his parents can bury a whole body and not just a chunk of meat. You know, a chunk of flesh.

So they're like, we're going to keep you at 78 and maybe you'll have some more time to think about it. Tasha will be out when she is 89 because I don't... You and I will be 85, friend. Wow. That's crazy. I mean, can you imagine losing your whole life at 22? Could you imagine trying to get out of jail after being in... Or get out of prison after being there since...

She were 22 and you come out at 89. What the fuck is going on outside? Right. As for Norman, he was late to rest December 22nd, 2012. And to this day, no one has found his head, hands or legs. Tasha is like a completely different person in prison. And she curses now. And she gets into altercations. And she got into...

She got into a fight with some girl, something about some commissary. Maybe she wasn't able to buy no commissary, some shit, but she wanted her snacks or whatever. So they put her in solitary confinement, and then she remembered that she don't get no commissary when she's in solitary confinement. So she stopped up the toilets and floated on them and shit. But...

I hear she's got a new attitude behind bars, but she's back there doing her 78 at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Illinois. And we'll see if you make it. All right, y'all. It's time for... Well, I'm not Black. I'm OG. I ain't do it, but if I did, this is how I would have got away with it.

I ain't do it, but if I did, when I go to Walmart to buy a weapon, I'm going to pay in cash. She paid with her credit card instead of getting cash out. And it's, you know, at Walmart, you can't even get no points or anything like that. You don't even get any benefits from your credit card. It's giving that murder wasn't in the budget, pay in cash. So there is no...

trailed back to you. I ain't do it, but if I did, you made me think of this. Keep up with your damn calendar, sis. Because that's what really spooked them on to you. Right, they came to your house in November, your calendar on October. Keep up. Keep up with all this rage if you blacking out these dates.

Right. I wouldn't even want to see that black date anymore. I didn't do it. But if I did, when I return a weapon to somebody, even if I did drop those bullets and those bullets did not and I never fired that gun, if I borrowed a gun from you and you have a full clip, you should always return somebody's things the way you found them.

So you should have returned that gun with a full clip. Facts. I ain't do it, but if I did, keep that trash close until it's trash day, dude. Don't let these niggas get access to your shit. Matter of fact, take it straight to the dump. Shred these credit cards. Shred these military IDs. They're not chopped up enough. Right. They were literally chopped up in four and...

if you see the evidence on like the snapped episode, they were able to piece them back together pretty easily. Yeah. Yeah. You definitely, but that's good to know. Like keep that trash on your curb. And when I say on your curb, on the, your property side of your curb, um, I didn't do it, but if I did y'all, if somebody is in the military, y'all need to stop trying to kill folks that are in the military. You know, especially when they got to show up, the military going to find you. They got everything on you.

You know, whether they're active or not. Y'all got to stop killing these military folks because, I mean, being in the military is already a scam. Huge scam. Huge scam. But especially if you're a man, they're going to try and figure out what happened to you. Now, if you're a woman in the military, they don't really care as much, especially because, you know, we can go on that rabbit hole. But if you're a man in the military, for sure they're going to be trying to find your ass. I ain't do it, but if I did, I would have worked a little bit harder.

harder hiding the trunk you know the officers the detectives they said honestly if she'd have went about 15 10 more feet out and put him in a shrub they probably would have found that man probably would have got decomposed and ate up and it's not like it's a whole lot it's just a trunk it was like if she'd have hid it better maybe that guy wouldn't have seen it on the road and who would have known i mean and that dude saw it by chance and it just so happens

that on Snap, they're like, it was divine intervention, but it kind of was like that man's gut feeling made him go back out there. Cause I don't know if I would have gone back out there, even if I was like, so I'm sketchy over there. I ain't do it. But if I did y'all get a divorce, get one,

Forget what anybody has to say. Forget what your family had to say. Forget what the church has to say. What is going to make you happy? Because she was 22. And by the time she was 44, double her life, she would have had an entire different life, maybe an entire different family. She has the potential to be so much happier. But you didn't want to. There was some image you were upholding. And I kept I heard it mostly on podcasts.

They were talking about how she was like a perfectionist. And that was the motive. I don't really buy that as a motive. I don't buy that at all. And that's why we really didn't mention in this episode because, eh. But like, I understand you thinking, you being 22, thinking that your man's supposed to bring you flowers all the time. And it's great. And I too enjoy getting flowers all the time. And I personally get them pretty often. But you know what? At 22, I wasn't.

Because at 22, a lot of the men weren't doing that because they didn't even... Especially when you're married, you're trying to figure out how you're going... Your girl in school and you trying to figure out how you're going to make sure that you can pay your half of the rent. She didn't respect my man's hustle. And...

It showed. Get a divorce. And now at 44, you're going to be in prison. At 66, you're going to be in prison. At 88, you're going to be in prison. You know what I'm saying? Like you could have had your life going to the courthouse and just telling this man, you know what? I'm not feeling it. I know somebody. It's so sad. She was engaged, right? And her fiance literally rolled over and was like, I'm so sorry. I'm just not in love with you anymore. And I don't want to do this.

And that shit hurt. Oh, it hurt bad. Like, it hurt so bad I felt it. But guess what? That was years ago and now this girl has a life. Now she has the potential to be happy. Now she can do all the things because somebody was at least...

bold enough to, yeah, you may hurt me, my feelings for a little while, but you didn't kill me. What doesn't kill you? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Hey, you probably saved me from an unhappy marriage because half the time y'all be numb before you get into it that it ain't right, but try to put so much work into it that you might as well give it a try as if that's not what you've been doing.

Absolutely. So many people, especially young folks are like, well, we've come this far, right? Oh, we've posted each other on Instagram. We've met each other's family. We've done all of this. There's no turning back now. There is always turning back. The good Lord gave you free will. And then you just happen, at least those that are listening in America, you just so happen to be in the land of the so-called free. So they say, but one thing you can do is get a divorce. Can't get an abortion, but you can get a divorce. I do think it was a good move chopping up the body. So she had to move it somehow.

Well, but also she got rid of all the identifying parts. She really just fucked up with that trash and then been able to... The trash and the crash. Oh, you know what else? Fucking clean up after yourself and don't fucking litter because they got that fucking receipt which tipped them off.

I don't know. Y'all don't know this about me and Tazzy, but that I think that was like the number one thing that Tazzy and I bonded on when at the very genesis of our friendship is that we both hate litter, like despise it. Like we yell at people on the street. Yes. It's one of our teacher in our AP environmental science class, Ms. Voss. It is definitely her fault, but it is our pet. It is me and Tazzy's pet peeve.

You dumb bitch. There are trash cans everywhere. There are trash cans everywhere. When I see people drive and throw trash out the window, I'm like, wherever you were going, there was a trash can there. I promise you. I don't even know where you're going. Don't have to. But when you got there, there would have been a trash can for you to throw that away at.

Exactly. Exactly. This is the last one I got. I didn't do it, but if I did, at this point, girl, let them know where them body parts are. If you want to get out of prison, you better let them know where the body parts are. I ain't letting her out after all this time. You just did this to negotiate. We're not fucking with it.

I mean, but listen, I would have done that then. Yeah. As soon as I found out... Even if she wanted to hold that car close to her chest, as soon as they said, guilty, here's the body parts. Can y'all sentence me lighter? I'm sorry. Like...

And it just goes like, I just feel so bad for Norma's family. Like you really both families, when you get married, I'm assuming that the family feels like, great, I'm leaving you in the safe hands of this person, you know, like the whole giving the daughter away and mothers giving their sons away and shit like that. Like I ain't never been married, but I'm in my fairytale world. That's how it, how it goes. But now they like,

Y'all could have just not gotten married. Y'all could have saved everybody time, money, and effort. And if you respected us enough, y'all, you've known us since you were in ninth grade. You didn't respect us enough so that we could lay him to rest like you know that we want to. You know this family. Let's do some reviews.

All right. This one is from KMG20079. It says, love you too. I feel like you both were born to be telling stories together. Thank you both. I listen to y'all on my mail route. Everyone is a suspect out here. Bro, like randomly, if I see something, I'd be like, all right, silver Toyota. What time is it? Like most of the time when I'm randomly checking my time is because something crazy happened and I just want to

I just want to know. But thank you. Thank you. I, too, feel like I'm a natural-born storyteller. I think as well. And it's crazy because I didn't think that you and I would go into telling stories together. But here we are. Yeah. And the people don't want us to stop. Yeah.

I remember like when I told the story of my car catching on fire, niggas was late to class. It was like, I just can't pull away. Like, listen to how she tell that story. I was like, no, this is what happened. This one says one of my favorites ever. Love listening to you guys. Your relationship is amazing and you can feel the energy and connection through your stories. It's the best combination of knowledge and laughs and listening to Mirage musical references and listen to her sing is my favorite part. Being a black girl who enjoys theater. I feel so included.

Thanks, girl. All righty. That's the end of the show. So if you want to keep up with us, you can shoot us an email. Give us a case suggestion. Tell us anything you'd like to tell us at our email, which is sisterswhokillpodcast at gmail.com. You can tweet us at sisterswhokill. You can follow us on Instagram at sisterswhokillpod and follow us on TikTok at sisterswhokillpodcast. Got anything else, friend? Talk to us. We'll talk back.

Bye.