Where is the husband, the rapist, now?

Inspired by the true story of Morgan and Rodney Metzer, Lee Gabiana’s Gaslit by My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story is a biographical drama that portrays the couple’s horrific case in a dramatized yet accurate way. Shortly after her divorce, Morgan was attacked in her home by a mysterious masked man. The injured and battered mother of two described the incident to the police, who launched an investigation to catch the perpetrator. The Lifetime film portrays the entire case in an interesting way from the victim’s perspective.

Rodney Metzer went to extremes to win back Morgan’s love

Morgan first caught the attention of a high school student named Rodney William Metzer when she was 14 years old. It wasn’t long before sparks flew between them and they started dating. After more than six years of dating, the couple decided to make their relationship official in the eyes of the law and got married when she was 21. Over the next few years, they had twins and took on the responsibilities of parenthood with grace. Unfortunately, their marriage began to show signs of deterioration as he was reportedly constantly manipulating and abusing her.

Since Rodney had anger management issues, Morgan was sometimes the one who suffered from his anger. Before things got any worse between the two, they divorced 10 years after their wedding. However, even after going their separate ways, they decided to remain friends for the sake of their 9-year-old twin children. In an attempt to win her back, Rodney went to several lengths. He even faked a cancer diagnosis just to get her sympathy. But the most extreme thing he did to win back his ex-wife’s love was to break into her house wearing a mask and assault her before tying her hands with zip ties and putting a pillowcase over her head in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2021.

To avoid arousing suspicion, he even managed to speak in an altered and distorted voice. He reportedly held her down, hit her with his gun, and choked her so much that she could barely breathe. He even sexually abused her before leaving her tied up and injured on a sofa on the back deck. While fleeing the scene, taking her cell phone with him, he instructed her not to move from the spot until she heard two cars honking. That signal never came, as Rodney returned to Morgan’s house, but this time as her ex-husband rather than a masked intruder. After freeing his ex-wife and becoming a hero in her eyes, Rodney dialed 911 and informed the police of the incident.

When investigators questioned him, he claimed he heard someone knocking on his apartment window and calling Morgan’s name, prompting him to rush to her house to check on her. Investigators found this story bizarre and without hesitation told him to his face, “There is absolutely no way someone could knock on your window and say her name and you would come right over to check on her. And she just happens to be tied up with a pillowcase over her head by a man who is disguising his voice.” As Rodney became a suspect, they dug deeper into his life and found photos of Morgan’s text messages and photos of her in the shower on his phone and computer, suggesting that her phone was in his possession.

Police immediately arrested Rodney Metzer for lying to them that same day. Soon after, investigators found surveillance footage from a hardware store that showed Rodney buying zip ties that matched the ones found on Morgan’s bound hands. They even found a gun in his car, a suicide note, and a fake hospital bill to further convince Morgan that he was really battling cancer. When they went through his online search history, they found suspicious phrases like “how long to choke someone unconscious” and “how to change the sound of their voice.” Therefore, he was charged with kidnapping, assault, and threatening Morgan with a gun.

Rodney Metzer is serving his sentence in a Georgia prison

Several months after his arrest in August 2021, Rodney Metzer pleaded guilty to all charges against him, including kidnapping and aggravated assault. However, he did not explain why he did this or what he did with the mask after the attack. On August 4, 2021, he was sentenced to 70 years in prison, of which he was to spend 25 years behind bars and the remaining 45 years on probation. He is currently incarcerated at Augusta State Medical Prison at 3001 Gordon Highway in Grovetown, Georgia, awaiting his parole date in 2045.

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