[Randy] Matt was great to be around.
Couldn't ask for a better friend.
[Tammy] When I first met Rida, I thought she was
sweet and caring.
When Matt loves someone,
he loved them with his whole heart and soul.
[Melissa] Rida drove a wedge between Matt and everybody.
He was a puppet under her control.
[Tammy] You would never think that she would be that violent.
[officer] We're gonna sit right here.
Rida's story kept changing.
-[gunshot blasts] -[Melissa] It'd take a really evil person
to do something like that.
[heavy theme music playing]
[theme music ends]
[indistinct crowd noise, music]
[man] I will, I'll get the photo.
[whooping noises]
[Tammy] Matt had a great sense of humor,
loved to make people laugh, always the jokester.
But more than that, he was a good soul.
[narrator] Young couple Matt and Rida Hendershot
are crazy about each other,
and they love nothing more than spending time at
their favorite place, the beach.
When I first met Rida, I thought she was sweet,
very pretty, and they seemed to have a lot of fun together.
Well, I was actually happy for them.
Matt was born in Martinsburg, July 28th, 1987.
He was my first child.
I fell in love with him immediately.
It was like love at first sight.
[narrator] Matt's parents divorce when he is three years old,
and a few years later, Tammy remarries.
Matt was ten when I met his stepfather, John.
They seemed to get along pretty well.
He was 15 when we had his twin sisters,
and he became a great big brother.
[narrator] It's Christmas 2005,
and Matt and his family exchange gifts.
[Tammy] I've always been big on capturing memories.
Family's always been very important to me.
Matt was 18, and he had just graduated from high school.
He was getting ready to go to community college.
He was very excited about that.
[Tammy] Matt was always a good kid.
Just always very easygoing and likable.
[Tammy] Matt and his great-grandmother, Matilda,
they always had a very close relationship.
It was definitely no secret that Matt was
Grandma Til's favorite.
If she could, she would have roped the moon
and handed it to that child.
She definitely loved Matt, and Matt was the same
towards her.
He was about 17, 18 years old
when Matilda's husband passed away.
I think Matt didn't want Grandma to live in the house by
herself, and he moved in with her.
Matt was definitely happy to be there with her.
[Tammy] Matt graduated high school.
He went to Blue Ridge Community College.
He was studying business and then he went on to Shepherd
to get his bachelor's.
I met Matt in 2012.
We just became really good friends.
That was like our extremely hot sauce that
Matt had ordered and dared me to try.
[laughing]
About a month after I met Matt, we were at the bar,
and Rida walked in.
They made eye contact at some point.
She came over and was talking to him,
and Matt was immediately interested in her.
[narrator] Rida Syed was born in West Virginia to Pakistani parents.
Matt was 25 and Rida was 21 when they first met.
Very quickly, they spent a lot of time together.
And I was very happy for him, that he found someone that
he seemed to really love,
and she seemed to really love him.
Matt always loved the beach.
That was like his favorite place.
That's where he felt the most calm and peace.
This is on the Ocean City Boardwalk.
[Tammy] Matt had a great sense of humor.
He was very funny. He loved to make people laugh.
You can see he was acting pretty silly,
having a good time, having fun.
[narrator] Not long after they meet,
Matt decides to take the next step in their relationship.
Rida moved into my grandmother, Matilda's, house quickly.
They seemed happy, so I was happy for them.
[narrator] But Matt's father, Brian, has some concerns.
I asked him, "Do you think that was the right step,
moving her on in?"
And he said, "I'm really in love with her, Dad."
I said, "If you feel that it's the right thing to do,
I have no complaints."
[narrator] And just a few months later,
the couple make things official.
Matt and Rida eloped.
They went to the courthouse.
Matt called me.
He said, "We need to tell you something.
We actually got married." He seemed very happy about it.
It was very much a surprise.
It was out of character for Matt to get married
without telling anybody.
I absolutely believe that the decision for them
to get married that abruptly was definitely Rida's.
[Tammy] I felt it was a little quick.
We really didn't know a whole lot about her, but he would
always say, "Mom, I'm a grown man, and I know what I'm doing."
[narrator] But it's not long before Matt's family start to have concerns
about his new wife.
Rida would act like she cared so much for grandma and how
she loved being there to help take care of her.
On her Facebook, she had put some posts on there.
The first one said, "I didn't sign up for this.
I didn't get married to take care of an old bitch."
It takes a really horrible person to speak so poorly of
someone who is letting you live in their home for free.
It's just horrible.
We started noticing
that her and my grandmother, Matilda, were fighting a lot.
My grandmother said that she felt like she would be
happier if she could just move
into an assisted living facility.
I believe Rida knew exactly what she was doing.
She had full intention of trying to take control of
Grandma Til's house.
We had to walk a fine line
because Rida was shutting people out of Matt's life.
[Randy] Not long after they got married,
I was unable to reach Matt to hang out.
[phone ringing]
It definitely crushed me, since I was his best friend.
[Melissa] Rida basically drove a wedge between Matt and everybody.
His friends, his family,
everyone.
It seemed like he was becoming more and more isolated.
[Tammy] Rida would make posts
[cell phone buttons clicking]
stating that it was her and Matt against the world,
that there was a lot of haters
not wanting to see them together.
She wanted him to believe that it was him and her
against everyone else.
She had a very subtle way of making Matt think his family
was doing something wrong -- brainwashed him, I guess.
Every time I tried to have a conversation with him,
he'd say, "Dad, I appreciate any advice that you give me,
but, you know, I gotta live my life."
[narrator] Despite his family's concerns,
Matt is aspiring model Rida's biggest fan.
He was so loyal and so honest and genuine that you would
never have to worry about him straying.
He just wasn't that kind of person.
When he loved someone, he loved them
with his whole heart and soul.
These definitely seem like happier times
between Matt and Rida.
But things changed dramatically.
[narrator] In 2017, the family suffer a tragedy.
[Tammy] My Grandmother Matilda passed away.
It was extremely hard on Matt.
[narrator] In her final hours, Matt spends some precious time
with Matilda.
He told her how much he loved her and how much he appreciated
everything that she had done throughout his life.
When Grandma Til passed away, she left
Matt, the house, the vehicles, everything.
It did seem like Rida had gotten what she wanted.
Certainly did seem like her main goal was to
obtain possessions.
[narrator] In the wake of Matilda's death,
Matt starts to see a different side to Rida.
They did start to fight a lot, and he started seeing
all her true colors.
Her manipulation, her playing the victim, lying a lot.
Things were
changing, not for the best.
And he knew he had to end it.
He told me that he filed for divorce.
I felt very bad for him.
I just knew how heartbroken he was.
[narrator] in June 2018, after more than
five years together, Matt and Rida's divorce is finalized.
[Tammy] I was glad he was moving
forward with his life and putting the past behind him.
[Melissa] It was very good to see the old Matt back.
He seemed happy again.
[narrator] In the summer of 2018,
Matt reconnects with an old friend.
I was extremely happy to have him back in my life.
Matt started to tell me that it didn't work out between him
and Rida, that his friend and Rida were engaged.
It definitely was a shock to me that she had gotten into
a relationship that fast, especially with his friend.
[narrator] In the wake of the divorce,
Rida finds a new obsession.
[gunshot blasts]
I had never seen her be interested in guns
until Rida got with her fiancé.
[gunshot blasts]
That's when I started seeing more posts about guns on
her social media.
[gunshot blasts]
She looks very, very comfortable.
[two gunshots blast]
[gun clicks]
Seemed like a very unhealthy obsession to me.
On Rida's social media platforms,
she consistently portrayed to be someone she wasn't.
She would post things on there, like, "Be true to yourself,
always be a good person, be a better person."
She was nothing like that at all.
[narrator] In December 2019,
Rida makes a new post on social media.
[Melissa] She's on a motorcycle,
and it had a caption, "I'm a ride-or-die kind of girl."
Definitely seems chilling to put the two of those together.
[narrator] On March 30th, 2020,
Rida and her fiancé attend a party.
[Brian] When I dug a little deeper,
I found that they was arguing at a party and been arguing
and fighting all day long.
And he had left on the motorcycle and she took off
and got in the car and went right behind him in the car
and followed him out of there.
[Melissa] He was close to home and hit a pothole,
which caused his bike to slide,
landing him on a fence.
And he had lost his life.
[narrator] Frederick County Sheriff's Office
determines that Rida's
fiancé's death was a tragic accident.
Shortly after Rida's fiancé passed, she contacted Matt
and asked him if she could move back in with him.
In his eyes, she was suffering. She had just lost her fiancé.
[Tammy] I did not think it was a good idea for her
to come back there.
And he said, "I'm only helping her, and it's only
a temporary thing."
[Melissa] And I was like, oh, no.
Don't tell me he took her back.
It was almost like he was a puppet under her control.
[Tammy] I felt like Rida was getting what she wanted.
I believe it was all a plan.
Matt let her move back in for a couple months to save up
enough money to get her own apartment.
I personally still think he somewhat cared for her.
It's hard to turn love on and off.
[Melissa] I just remember thinking to myself,
maybe this has changed her.
Maybe going through this changed her to a better person,
a more caring person.
But obviously, that was wrong.
When Rida showed up at Matt's house,
she had brought with her -[gunshot blasts]
guns that had belonged to her fiancé.
Matt did not like loaded guns in the house.
[Brian] He never went out and shot guns.
Wasn't nothing that he would do for a pastime.
[narrator] Shortly after Rida moves in,
Matt's father, Brian, visits his son for the weekend.
Matthew actually cooked dinner for all of us.
He loved to grill out,
but I could tell there was some tension between him and her.
I could tell something was wrong.
And I seen the bedroom door with a bunch of holes in it.
And I asked Matthew what the holes was from, and he said
she got on a drunken spree and was stabbing the door
with a knife.
That kind of told me what kind of person she really was.
That last evening, Rida brought out a military-grade sniper rifle.
She looked me dead in the eyes and told me,
[two gunshots blast]
"I could shoot somebody and kill them from a mile away
with this gun." -[gunshot blasts]
That's when I actually started feeling concerned.
[narrator] Matt's best friend, Randy,
also witnesses Rida's erratic behavior.
[Randy] When I went back to visit Matt,
Rida was drinking excessively,
getting in arguments.
It seemed like she was doing everything that she could to
try to get on his nerves and frustrate him.
[narrator] Terrified of another outburst,
Matt communicates with Rida via text message.
[Randy] Approximately a month after she had moved in,
Matt and I had made plans to play beer pong for the evening.
Her and Matt had gotten into an argument,
and I turned around,
and she was wielding a machete.
And I told Matt that I was leaving, and I didn't feel
comfortable for him being there, and that she needed
to go immediately.
Matt didn't like to involve other people in his affairs,
including his family.
[Tammy] He would just tell me that he really needed her
to move out, that every time
they had a date for her to leave,
she had an excuse of why she couldn't go.
[narrator] And while living with Matt,
Rida meets someone new.
[Tammy] She had a boyfriend.
That was always confusing to me as to why she was staying
with Matt.
That's what makes me think it was all part of a plan.
[narrator] But the months go by,
and Rida shows no signs of leaving.
On the 12th of December, Matt had texted me
and told me that Rida had pulled a gun
outside of his bedroom door.
I told him that he needed to get out of there immediately.
He did get to the point where he told me that he was going to
the authorities to have her removed legally,
because she will not leave on her own.
Unfortunately, he didn't get that chance.
[phone ringing]
[siren wailing]
Dispatch put out over the radio
for a suicide with a firearm.
As I arrived at the scene, there were multiple ambulance
units and a fire truck.
I observed a male laying at the bottom of the steps.
The victim was identified as Matthew Hendershot.
Matthew was dead on arrival.
[indistinct radio chatter]
I could see the paramedics down there.
And I said to my husband, "Is he...?"
And that's all I got.
That's all I could say.
My husband looks up at me and said, "He's gone."
[Joshua] Call was dispatched as a suicide, but I didn't see
a firearm located outside next to the body.
If this was more than a suicide, then I needed to
figure out exactly what had happened.
As I approached the person that found Matthew, Rida Hendershot,
she began acting erratic.
She was saying that she wanted to die and that she was going
to commit self-harm.
So I put her in handcuffs just for her personal safety.
[narrator] With Rida under control, Corporal Shockey tries to find
out what happened to Matt.
[narrator] Rida just admitted she was holding the gun,
but she claims it went off accidentally.
Due to it no longer being a self-inflicted gunshot wound,
I had called for more units to come.
[narrator] While they wait for detectives,
Rida finds a way to contact
her boyfriend, despite being in handcuffs.
[narrator] Moments later, Rida's boyfriend arrives on scene.
We were within eye shot of Rida, but she couldn't actually
hear what we were saying.
She again started acting very erratic.
So that was extremely suspicious.
[Rida screaming loudly]
[narrator] Officers on scene are becoming
increasingly suspicious of Rida's behavior.
[Rida] I can't! I don't have family!
[narrator] Detective Weidman questions Rida
about the details of Matt's death.
It happened quick, I didn't even have...
[narrator] Rita reveals that Matt was killed with a 1911 handgun.
She claims the gun went off in the kitchen, so detectives
investigate the scene.
[Catie] Investigators were not entirely sure
where the shooting had occurred,
because there was not a significant amount of blood
in the house.
In Matt's bedroom, the TV remained on.
It was on an Xbox waiting screen.
It appeared that someone had been playing video games
and then abruptly shut off.
There were a number of firearms in the kitchen.
They located an Ed Brown 1911 that was on
the kitchen counter.
We sent it to our forensic laboratory to determine if
Rida's story about the gun just going off in some sort of
accident is true.
[phone ringing]
[Tammy] My brother Davey called me.
He said, uh, "Matt's been shot."
"What do you mean, he's been shot?"
"Rida's the one that shot Matt, and she's saying
it's an accident."
And he said, um, he died.
I was just...
just in so much disbelief,
I was just floored.
So I immediately started driving towards the house.
I got to the house, and...
they wouldn't let me go up the driveway.
[Rida sobbing]
I heard Rida yelling.
[Tammy] My brother had come down,
and he said, "Rida is saying it was an accident."
And I said, "There is no way I believe that."
She shot him on purpose.
[narrator] Five hours after the shooting,
detectives ask Rida
to take part in a walkthrough to try and determine
how Matt was killed.
[officer] Right.
[Catie] Rida's story kept changing.
In the interview with Detective Weidman, she had previously
said that they were going to hide the guns under Matt's bed.
It shows that she's not being wholly forthcoming.
[narrator] Investigators give her one more chance
to clarify what happened.
[officer] OK.
During the walkthrough, Rida's story
changes repeatedly.
Earlier, she had said that they were in the kitchen.
Matt was handing her the gun, and it went off.
Then...
...she very casually explains that she's actually walking into
the bedroom and reenacts when the gun actually fired.
In the walkthrough, investigators located
the fired cartridge on Matt's bed.
So Matt was playing video games when Rida actually entered
the room and shot him.
That was pretty shocking to us.
[Catie] None of that added up.
She had engaged in calling her boyfriend
and Facebook messaging pretty much immediately
after the shooting had occurred.
[narrator] Rida is arrested for wanton endangerment
for the reckless handling of a firearm.
Investigators certainly had a gut feeling
that she had committed murder.
But, at this point, we wanted to have at least a charge,
and that's why they opted to go with wanton endangerment.
Rida was able to post bail and was released from jail
the day after the shooting.
[narrator] And just a day after her release, Rida goes to
posting on social media.
[Tammy] She was kayaking with her boyfriend.
It made me very angry,
because I thought, how fair is it that my son was killed,
and you are out enjoying your life?
Just because Rida had been charged,
that was not the end of the investigation.
That was really just when things continued to crank up.
[narrator] Just a few days after the shooting,
detectives gathered text messages from Matt's
friends and family.
We were made aware of conversations that Matt had
had on his cell phone.
It became very apparent to us that there was a history
of violence from Rida to Matt in their relationship that
he told very few people about.
We began to understand that Matt was a victim of domestic abuse.
[narrator] Three weeks after Matt's death,
the results from the gun test come in.
The forensic laboratory in Charleston determined that
the firearm was fully functional.
There's a grip safety in the back of the grip,
and if that is not depressed, it will not fire.
[gunshot blasts]
So there's just no way that that would happen accidentally.
[gunshot blasts]
[narrator] Finally, detectives have enough evidence to rearrest Rida.
On June 11, Rida was served with a warrant for
first-degree murder and taken into custody.
I felt relieved knowing that she couldn't do this
to nobody else,
and the truth would come out.
[narrator] And nearly two years later,
Rida's trial finally begins.
[Joe] The primary defense was that this was an accident.
We were really able to combat that defense by showing all
the firearms evidence and then really just the overwhelming
evidence of the abusive nature of her relationship toward him.
[Catie] Matt's family and friends were vital in proving that.
I told them exactly what I witnessed when I was over at
Matt's house, what she had done previously.
[Tammy] It was the first time that I had learned about
a lot of those incidents,
and it was very difficult to listen to.
[narrator] The trial lasts six days. Rida does not testify.
During the presentation of evidence,
she would occasionally be seen, you know, weeping and being
emotional, but she stayed quiet for the most part
during the trial.
It was a tough case to put on, because we were having to,
two years later, come back and try to prove what was going
through Rida Hendershot's mind when she pulled the trigger.
And as far as prosecuting is concerned, that's a tough ask.
The jury came back with a finding of guilty of murder
in second-degree, as well as a guilty verdict for the use of
a firearm in the commission of a felony.
We had asked for a first-degree murder verdict, but I think
based upon the evidence presented that
the second-degree murder verdict was a fair verdict.
It showed me
that the jury believed our theory of the case.
And that even if this killing wasn't necessarily
premeditated and planned and she hadn't thought out,
you know, I'm gonna walk in and shoot him and act like it
was an accident, I think it still
sends the right message.
[narrator] Rida is sentenced to 40 years for second-degree murder
and 10 years for use of a firearm in commission of a felony.
When she was convicted, I felt like we got some sort
of justice.
Unfortunately, we'll never be able to bring Matt back.
When an abuser feels that their control and their power
is slipping away, that's when they increase the violence.
On that day,
she had been drinking
and she started arguing with him.
He was probably just trying to ignore her
and play his video games.
She picked up that pistol, and she pointed it at his face,
and she pulled the trigger.
[gunshot blasts]
After Rida shot Matt,
he made it out to the back concrete stairwell,
where he collapsed
and ultimately died.
Instead of running back inside and grabbing her phone
and calling 911, Rida ran to the neighbor's house,
screaming, demanding that the neighbor
call 9-1-1 because Matt had shot himself.
Rida killed Matt Hendershot because she was running out of
ways to stall him from kicking her out of that house.
[Randy] Matt was one of my best friends in my entire life.
He was always there for me. He believed in me.
I thought we were gonna be growing old together
and hanging out, making memories
[Brian] There ain't a day goes by I don't think about him.
It affects me emotionally
every single day.
Matt's favorite holiday was Christmas.
It's very difficult to go daily without him,
but there's certain dates that are extremely difficult.
We miss him very dearly.
He's always on my mind, always on my heart.