0:01

Louisville Metro Police Detective Aaron Tenelli

0:03

noticed kids playing outside the

0:05

alley in the residential neighborhood before

0:08

he went inside a vacant home with

0:10

overgrown grass. That

0:12

was in 2016. Years

0:15

later, Detective Tenelli fought back tears

0:17

as he testified about that call

0:20

he was responding to in the

0:22

4,000 block of River Park Road right

0:24

around lunchtime. What he

0:27

saw was heinous. Detective

0:29

Tenelli, an 18 year veteran on

0:31

the force, was a father after

0:33

all. In

0:35

the back of the vacant house and

0:37

the tall grass were two dead teenage

0:39

boys. They had been badly

0:42

beaten. Their bodies had

0:44

been burned. What did

0:46

you note about the bodies? Upon

0:50

approaching the children, first

0:53

thing we notice is that they were laid out.

0:57

There was no sign of like a struggle or

1:01

other signs that there was like some kind of

1:04

disturbance within it besides the actual bodies

1:06

themselves and the actual

1:08

burning of the bodies. So the

1:11

first thing I notice is that there's

1:14

a good chance they were not killed

1:16

there or murdered there.

1:20

Police canvassed the neighborhood looking

1:22

for houses with security cameras but

1:24

no such lock. They needed

1:26

to identify these two young victims

1:28

so they went through missing persons

1:30

databases locally and nationally to see

1:32

if they might get a hit.

1:35

You're looking at these two children and you're trying

1:37

to guess age, you're trying to guess weight, you're

1:40

trying to guess all these

1:42

things to give her as

1:44

much information so that she can go to these databases

1:47

and try to get you a range

1:50

of possibilities, which is extremely

1:52

difficult. A list of potential

1:54

names was started but in

1:56

the meantime the autopsies were performed.

1:59

It was a impossible to get their

2:01

fingerprints because they were too charred from

2:03

having been burned. Detective

2:06

Tinelli came up with another idea. I

2:09

came up with the idea that we would

2:11

contact our CSU

2:13

text that was also a forensic

2:15

artist. That's

2:18

CSU tech, Erin Wright. And

2:20

I asked her if she could do a

2:22

rendering of the two kids so that if we had

2:25

to put that on the news

2:27

or someplace else to have the community help

2:29

us identify these kids that we

2:31

could use them. She

2:35

agreed and we

2:38

took photographs of the kids as they

2:40

were and she began her renderings. Why

2:42

couldn't you just put the photographs on

2:44

the news? Nobody

2:48

needs to see that on the

2:50

news. That your child, see

2:53

that for the first time would be down

2:56

with that. That would be

2:58

devastating. The sketches were

3:00

put on the news and an assistant

3:02

principal from a local high school reached

3:04

out and said she believed she knew

3:06

the kids' identities. The

3:09

investigators now had names. The

3:12

victims were half-brothers, 14-year-old

3:14

Larry Ordway and 16-year-old

3:17

Maurice Gordon. Police

3:19

spoke with their mother, Elizabeth Wren.

3:22

Did Ms. Wren give you information

3:25

about her son's son?

3:27

Yes, she did. One of

3:30

the questions we asked, which

3:32

would be a question you would ask any

3:35

parent is why didn't you file

3:38

a missing persons or

3:40

contact the police? And

3:42

she had stated that she had been in contact with one

3:44

of their friends and her friends had said that they

3:47

were out to the store and he was using the phone to call when

3:49

we get back. And

3:53

that information led

3:55

us to of

4:00

the investigation. Did she provide you with a phone

4:02

number? She did. And were you able to do anything with

4:04

that phone number? Yes, we were able to

4:06

take that phone, considering the information that we

4:08

had from the house and

4:11

the fact that a relative timeframe

4:13

of when the kids were the last there.

4:16

We took that phone number and we

4:20

used that phone number and the assistance of the U.S.

4:22

Marshals to start pinging that phone.

4:25

The ping led Sergeant Jason Vance

4:27

to an address to a house

4:30

to recover the phone. Investigators

4:32

were curious about who would have

4:34

told Mrs. Wren that her sons

4:36

were at the store when she

4:38

had called. What happened when you got there? Make

4:41

contact with the homeowner and her

4:43

daughter. It was a bi-level

4:45

house. So when you walked into the

4:48

living room, immediately

4:50

to the right, there was a, you

4:52

know, the second level was like maybe, you

4:54

know, maybe like six feet higher than the

4:56

level you're standing on. I had a clear

4:59

view into a bedroom, up

5:02

a short set of stairs. And

5:04

I observed an individual on a cell

5:06

phone. When he saw me, he took

5:09

the cell phone immediately, concealed it under

5:11

the mattress. Were you able

5:13

to collect that cell phone? I was. The

5:15

boy who was hiding the phone was 15-year-old Anwan

5:19

Carter. The phone was

5:21

Maurice Gordon's. Anwan

5:23

was taken to the police station. Investigators

5:26

had plenty of questions. Today's

5:30

case is one with not just

5:32

two victims, but three. Multiple

5:35

suspects, sordid details, and

5:38

even outbursts in court. I don't

5:41

know if I got some type of sexual relationship going

5:43

on or which I got going on, but I'm definitely

5:45

going to speak my mind. This

5:48

is Jillian in partnership with law

5:50

and crime. You're listening to court

5:52

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WART. 16-year-old

8:15

Maurice Gordon and 14-year-old Larry

8:17

Ordway had been good boys,

8:19

according to their grandma, Debbie

8:21

Wren. The two half-brothers,

8:23

who were always together, played sports

8:26

and got along with everybody. They

8:28

were well-liked at school. They

8:30

had a tough life living in poverty. Their

8:33

fathers weren't in their lives, and their

8:35

mother, Elizabeth Wren, had a

8:37

hard time making ends meet. Sometimes,

8:40

the family didn't have enough food to eat.

8:43

Aside from Maurice and Larry, they also

8:45

had a younger sister. If

8:47

the boys had lived, they would have met

8:50

their baby sister, who was born in September

8:52

2017. It

8:55

was clear Maurice and Larry's deaths

8:57

devastated their families. Debbie

8:59

Wren cried in court as she talked

9:02

about their personalities. Their

9:04

mother, Elizabeth Wren, had to be

9:06

restrained from trying to physically attack

9:08

the man accused of murdering them,

9:10

Bryce Rhodes. The

9:13

name Bryce Rhodes came up quickly

9:15

in the investigation. Bryce, who

9:17

was 25 years old in

9:20

2016, was an aspiring rapper.

9:22

He was taken to

9:24

the police station for an interview on May

9:26

24, 2016, a couple

9:29

days after the murders. Detective

9:31

Aaron Tenelli interviewed him. Here's

9:34

the thing, man. We are

9:37

looking for two missing kids.

9:41

We don't know. We heard that you might know

9:44

where they might be. People were seen

9:46

with them or talked to them. Anyways appreciate

9:48

it before anything else is inside. We appreciate

9:50

it. Who are they? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm

9:56

sorry, man.

9:58

Maurice? And who else? Larry. Have

10:01

you seen him lately?

10:04

I haven't seen him in a week. You

10:07

haven't seen him in a week? Bryce sat

10:09

relaxed, baseball cap on his head,

10:11

and told Detective Snelly that he

10:13

hadn't seen the boys in a week. He

10:16

said the last time he saw them, they

10:18

were playing basketball. Bryce said

10:20

he was cool with them. They played ball and

10:22

hung out from time to time. It's

10:24

a big neighborhood. Everybody hangs with

10:26

everybody, he said. Did

10:29

they run away or like what happened? He

10:31

asked. He added he had even

10:33

tried to get a hold of Maurice and Larry

10:35

himself. During

10:37

the interview, Bryce bashed the boys'

10:40

mother, calling her a substance

10:42

abuser. And he said

10:44

the boys were in a gang. He

10:47

told Detective Snelly that they were also caught

10:49

up in drama at the basketball court. At

10:54

the same time as Bryce was giving his

10:56

interview to police, Anwan Carter,

10:58

the teenager who had been caught in possession

11:00

of one of the boys' cell phones, was

11:03

also at the station. Anwan

11:06

had a chilling story to

11:08

tell, and it involved Bryce

11:11

Rhodes, and another

11:13

murder victim. Anwan

11:21

Carter was 22 years old when

11:24

he testified at trial. Back

11:26

in 2016, he was 15 years old. Anwan

11:30

told the court that he knew Maurice and

11:32

Larry from school. Maurice, Larry,

11:34

and Anwan were close. They

11:37

met girls and hung out together, he said. Anwan

11:40

had only known then 25-year-old Bryce

11:43

Rhodes for two or three weeks.

11:47

The group of teenagers and

11:49

20-somethings, Maurice, Larry, Bryce, Anwan,

11:51

and another young man named

11:53

Jacory, who was Anwan's cousin,

11:56

were smoking in a backyard one day and

11:58

scheming. what

16:00

he called police misconduct. But

16:03

his case wasn't going well. The

16:05

judge denied his motion. Brace

16:08

was not happy in court. Detective

16:30

the telly and I have no sexual relation. I'm

16:32

talking about you in a prospect over a sir.

16:34

All right. You do not have my motions. Every

16:37

motion I've had you did not have pretty

16:39

sure I've been the best every motion I've

16:41

had Are you some

16:43

type of racist? Are you are you

16:45

I got some type of sexual relationship going on? Which one

16:48

is it? Or are you just wrong

16:50

and everything that you've made a motion for? Are

16:52

you a secret Ku Klux Klan member? No,

16:55

sir. I'm that you really are. No, okay

16:58

But like I said the higher courts they'll deal

17:00

with it when time comes necessary. That's exactly right.

17:03

Exactly and so say less One

17:05

of Bryce's attorneys withdrew from the case

17:08

because Maurice and Larry were the grandchildren

17:10

of one of his close friends Bryce

17:13

then spit on his attorney and threatened

17:15

him by saying I'll see you when

17:17

I get out During

17:20

another day in court Bryce blue

17:22

kisses and pretended to brush dirt

17:24

off his shoulders and grinned Which

17:26

appeared to be mocking gestures directed

17:28

at the boy's mother and other

17:30

family members sitting behind him The

17:33

judge struggled to maintain order in the

17:36

courtroom Here's

17:38

one of the tense exchanges when Maurice

17:40

and Larry's mother told Bryce to stop

17:42

looking at her and the judge admonished

17:45

her He

17:57

keeps and

20:00

saw things moving, which he called

20:02

shadows. But

20:04

finally, after years of delays, opening

20:08

statements began in late 2023. Ladies

20:12

and gentlemen of the jury, Callis

20:16

and casual was the first murder. The

20:20

two that followed were calculated and proved.

20:24

In May 2016, Bryce

20:27

Rhodes snuffed out the life Christopher

20:30

Jones, Larry

20:32

Ordway, and Maurice

20:34

Gordon. Prosecutor

20:36

Cunningham detailed the brutality of the

20:39

crimes in his opening statements, as

20:41

well as the evidence they had pointing to

20:43

Bryce Rhodes. He said

20:46

a couple weeks after Christopher's murder, Bryce's

20:48

blue Mazda picked up Maurice and

20:50

Larry from their apartment, and

20:53

that was the last time that anyone from

20:55

their home would ever see them alive. The

20:58

motive for killing Maurice and Larry, he

21:01

alleged that they had been talking about

21:03

the drive by shooting, so Bryce wanted

21:05

to silence them. A

21:09

key witness for the prosecution was

21:11

Anwan Carter, who testified in an

21:13

orange inmate jumpsuit. Anwan's

21:16

testimony was sometimes hard to

21:18

understand. He didn't elaborate

21:20

much, and he mumbled, but

21:22

the main point of his testimony was clear. The

21:25

murders of the boys were violent and had

21:27

been committed by Bryce. According

21:30

to Anwan, the other young men in

21:32

the group had put Maurice and Larry

21:34

in the bathroom, while Bryce called a

21:36

vote in the living room. What

21:39

happens in the living room? Take a vote.

21:42

What's this vote on? If they should

21:44

die or not. If they should die or not?

21:48

Who's calling the vote? Bryce.

21:52

What was your vote? I don't wanna say

21:54

no. I say yeah. Did

21:57

you think about what would

21:59

happen? Again,

34:01

Anne One Carter and Jaquarie

34:03

Taylor plus Tyron Coleman, they

34:06

have all pled guilty to

34:08

their murders. So

34:12

why are we here then? Because

34:15

in order for those men to get

34:17

very lenient deals from the government, they

34:20

agreed to testify against Bryce. The

34:24

evidence will show you all that those responsible

34:26

for the murders have already been

34:29

convicted and are now

34:31

trying to put the blame on Bryce Rhodes. There

34:35

is reasonable doubt that Bryce

34:37

Rhodes is guilty. She

34:39

adamantly denied that Bryce was a murderer.

34:42

He was just an easy target as a

34:44

suspect, she said. She

34:47

accused the Louisville Metro Police of

34:49

mishandling evidence and of having tunnel

34:51

vision in their investigation. She

34:53

brought up the Breonna Taylor case

34:56

during her opening statements. And

34:59

there were two lead detectives, as the

35:01

Commonwealth told you, Detective Griffin and Detective

35:03

Tinelli, and you'll hear from both of

35:05

them. But

35:08

I want you to think about how many

35:10

hands were involved in this

35:13

case. When

35:15

it comes to handling evidence,

35:17

interviewing witnesses, executing search warrants,

35:21

mistakes were made. And

35:24

I want you to think, can we

35:26

rely on every person that works for

35:29

the Louisville Metro Police Department? You

35:33

will learn that the Louisville Metro

35:35

Police Department investigated these homicides. And

35:37

once again, this is the same

35:39

force that murdered Breonna Taylor. Okay.

35:46

The judge told the jury to disregard

35:48

that statement, saying there was no evidence

35:50

of any relation between this case and

35:52

Breonna Taylor's. Bryce's

35:55

attorney then continued. She

35:58

said investigators in the case had even

36:00

even lost a pretty major piece of

36:02

evidence. Ladies and

36:04

gentlemen, no, it was an entire backseat

36:06

of a car. It's

36:09

gone. You

36:12

know how I told you earlier that

36:15

the police stated that Bryce's backseat had

36:17

been removed. Detective

36:20

Tanelli told a judge and then

36:22

a grand jury that the

36:24

local Metro Police Department had found

36:26

and collected a burnt backseat from

36:28

a dumpster that matched Bryce Rhodes'

36:30

backseat. And now

36:32

it's gone. I

36:35

am mystified as

36:39

to how you lose a piece of evidence

36:41

that big. It's

36:47

huge. It's a huge piece of evidence, not

36:49

only physically but to the case as well.

36:55

So in an effort to get Bryce charged, the

36:58

court was misled, the grand jury

37:00

was misled about a piece of

37:02

evidence in the LMPD's possession. Did

37:06

they lie under oath about having it? Or

37:09

did they dispose of it because it didn't help the

37:11

case? You all

37:13

decide that. She told

37:15

the jury that police searched Bryce's mother's house

37:17

where he had been living twice and

37:20

where the murders of Larry and Maurice were

37:22

said to have occurred. The

37:25

first time was a large search with

37:27

detectives and a crime scene unit. Nothing

37:30

was found. But then

37:32

she said they decided to go back. The

37:34

officers go back, decide to search the home again

37:36

and now claim that they have found

37:39

evidence that Larry and Maurice were killed there. Now

37:42

there's suddenly blood there. First

37:47

of all, is that how search warrants work? You

37:50

keep going back until you find something.

37:52

And if you don't find anything, you find

37:55

a way to come back and find something.

38:00

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again, huh?

38:03

But that's not how search warrants work, ladies and

38:05

gentlemen. Despite all

38:07

of those officers being there, I've

38:10

never seen a video recording of the search

38:13

at Hyde Avenue. There's

38:15

nothing for you all to watch to

38:18

see what actually happened. I

38:22

want you to consider that when you hear

38:24

about how the evidence was collected. Consider

38:28

that reasonable doubt as

38:31

to the guilt of Mr. Rhodes. She

38:34

also said that the boy's mother,

38:36

Elizabeth Wren, had told police

38:39

about Bryce, but suggested she

38:41

may have had an ulterior motive. She

38:44

had dated Bryce, and their relationship

38:46

had gone sour. Evidence

38:48

will show that she is

38:51

a known drug user who was aware

38:53

that her juvenile sons were hanging with

38:55

J'Quarrie Taylor and Anwan Carter, were

38:57

involved with guns, and even

38:59

knew her son's friends bought a gun out of

39:02

her own home. She

39:05

was naturally distraught when she spoke to

39:07

the police, but also very likely under

39:09

the influence. And

39:12

I'm not saying that to speak ill of her. But

39:15

as a jury, you have

39:17

to know that the police took her

39:20

statement and did not investigate anyone else.

39:27

The police didn't care that she hated Bryce.

39:30

The police didn't care that they had a relationship

39:32

that went sour. The

39:34

police didn't care that she hadn't

39:36

actually seen anything. They

39:42

already had a name, and she

39:44

was happy to trash her ex-boyfriend.

39:47

She said other suspects should have

39:49

been investigated. Just

39:51

prior to the shooting of Christopher Jones,

39:54

a local Metro police officer reported a

39:56

suspect in a white shirt. And

44:01

nothing that we presented to you over the last

44:03

two days, and nothing

44:05

that I'm going to discuss with you now is

44:09

meant to take away from that accountability or

44:11

that loss of life. Horrible

44:15

things were done in May of 2016. An

44:19

innocent man was gunned down in the street

44:22

and two teenagers were then

44:24

brutally murdered. And

44:27

you've held Bryce accountable for

44:29

his participation in these murders. The

44:32

murders of Christopher Jones, of

44:34

Maurice Forden, and Larry Orgway. You've

44:38

heard from their family members, those

44:40

who have lost to their loved ones. And

44:42

I'm going to leave it to the state to discuss

44:44

that loss, because that's their place. The

44:50

state now

44:53

wants you to lock Bryce up. They

44:56

want you to lock him up and throw

44:58

away the key. And

45:00

they want you to be angry. I'm

45:03

asking you to do something different, something

45:05

difficult, something that may be uncomfortable.

45:10

I'm asking you to hold on to your empathy

45:14

and your heart, because

45:16

no matter what Bryce did on his

45:18

worst days, Bryce

45:22

is still a human being. And

45:25

so I'm asking you to make a rational decision. I'm

45:28

not asking you to let him walk

45:30

out of the courtroom today. I couldn't,

45:33

even if I wanted to. That's not an option available to

45:35

you. I'm

45:37

not asking you to give him a total

45:39

sentence of any specific term

45:42

of years. Let's

45:45

not forget that there is now

45:47

no small sentence available to Bryce

45:49

now. The minimum

45:51

available to you to punish Bryce is

45:54

20 years on each count. And

45:58

20 years is a long time. time, but

46:01

I'm not asking you for

46:04

20 years. I'm

46:06

asking you to give Bryce a chance at parole.

46:10

In their arguments to the court, the

46:12

prosecution brought up the horrific nature of

46:14

the murders and the devastating effect the

46:17

three deaths had on their families. The

46:20

jury deliberated and then reached a decision.

46:23

They recommended life without parole. Before

46:27

the judge handed down her sentence, the

46:29

victim's family spoke. Christopher

46:31

Jones had been a father of two when

46:34

he was shot and killed. The

46:36

mother of one of his children testified

46:38

and said what Bryce did was unthinkable.

46:41

She said their family forgives, but for

46:43

themselves, not for him. She

46:46

said they don't feel that Bryce is

46:48

remorseful and that they would like the

46:50

court to uphold the jury's recommendation of

46:52

life in prison without parole. She

46:55

said their son was 10 years old when

46:57

his father was murdered and that he's now

46:59

18 about to play

47:01

football in college. She

47:03

said she is super proud of her son

47:06

whose dad didn't get to be there at

47:08

his 18th birthday or his

47:10

graduation. The

47:13

judge sentenced Bryce to three life

47:15

without parole sentences for the three

47:18

murders, five years for

47:20

tampering with physical evidence and

47:22

one year each for the two counts of

47:24

abuse of a corpse. And

47:27

that's all for this episode. As

47:30

always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this

47:32

case. Let me know by

47:35

joining the conversation on Instagram, by tweeting

47:37

me at court junkie pod or

47:39

by emailing me at podcast at court

47:41

junkie.com. This case

47:43

was researched and written by Gabrielle

47:46

Rouson. Thanks again

47:48

for listening. Until next time. Mm

47:54

hmm.