A Spouse Scapegoats a Towel Ring
(“Slippery Motives,” Forensic Files)
The story of Julie Post’s death encompasses a favorite Forensic Files theme: As much as the show stresses science, many times the little things suspects do or say are more damning.
“Slippery Motive,” the episode about Julie Post’s murder by her husband, New Orleans salesman Ed Post, also contains one of the best quips ever from a prosecutor’s on-camera interview.
Salesman’s personality. I’ll get to that in a minute and also provide an epilogue for Ed, who is still alive three decades after he ended his wife’s life.
So let’s get started on the “Slippery Motive” episode recap, along with extra information from internet research:
Ed Post and Julie Thigpen met at the University of Southern Mississippi and married in 1967.
They moved to Louisiana, where Ed made a name for himself as a real estate agent, thanks in part to what Forensic Files calls his sophisticated manner.
Cajun success story. After Julie joined his firm, Wagner & Truax, she sold around $1 million in real estate a year, according to Forensic Files. But later, someone mentioned that she made only around $20,000 annually.
That confused me a little because if the firm charges the standard 6 percent commission, why didn’t Julie get at least half of that, which would add up to $30,000?
On the other hand, she started working there in 1982, when $20,000 a year was pretty decent scratch.
Together, the couple were earning enough to afford a wine collection worth $30,000, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Bill McClellan, who went on to write a mass-market paperback called Evidence of Murder (Onyx, 1993) about Julie Post’s homicide.
(Note: Forensic Files references Wagner & Truax as the real estate firm that Ed Post partly owned, but a reader recently wrote in that he wasn’t an owner and the firm where he worked was actually Gertrude Gardner Realtors.)
Worst convention ever. But all that affluence wasn’t enough for the chubby 5-foot-7-inch Ed. He became infatuated with a cute colleague. She already had a well-to-do husband, and it was theorized that Ed wanted to turn himself into an even better provider than her spouse.
A trip the Posts took to St. Louis for a real estate conference gave Ed an opportunity to put a homicide plan into action.
He drowned Julie in the bathtub early in the morning on June 3, 1986, then quickly jumped into a T-shirt and shorts.
On his way out of the Omni Hotel in Union Station, where they were staying, Ed stopped by the concierge desk to thank her for a recommendation. Next, he introduced himself to the doorman and mentioned he was going jogging.
Big payout. Upon his return, he “discovered” his wife unresponsive in the tub. Police found a broken-off towel ring in the water. It looked as though Julie had grabbed it for support, it came loose from the tile wall, and then she fell, hit her head, and drowned.
Ed Post might have gotten away with it, but his greed turned reckless. He immediately called his lawyer brother to the scene, where they photographed evidence of the allegedly homicidal towel ring, in preparation for a lawsuit against the hotel (see Mark Winger).
And one more gift for prosecutors: Ed had purchased a $300,000 life insurance policy on Julie less than a month before her death.
Gratuitous interaction. At first, however, it looked as though authorities were buying the accidental-drowning story, and Julie Post’s body was transported to New Orleans for burial in Metairie Cemetery.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported on the death at the Omni, and it caught the eye of a prosecutor from the Missouri attorney general’s office.
Dee Joyce-Hayes didn’t buy all the towel-ring shaming.
Oh, come on. She also found it odd that Ed Post thought it necessary to introduce himself by first and last name to the Omni doorman and explain where he was going.
“It’s from the book of ‘Who Cares?’ ” she said. (Best quip of the season.)
Clearly, Ed Post was trying to establish an alibi.
Soon, more authorities took an interest in the case as a possible homicide.
Hardware inquisition. Next came the trial by combat of the towel ring. Investigators had a woman of about Julie Post’s weight and height test an attached, intact towel ring in another bathroom at the Omni Hotel.
After numerous trials, investigators determined that it would take a person weighing 480 pounds — or a person weighing 120 pounds who was descending from 64 feet — to pull the towel ring directly off the wall in the way they found it at the murder scene.
The lab concluded that someone standing outside the tub, with a foot against the side, violently and deliberately wrenched the towel wring from its mount on the tile wall.
Dead giveaway. After exhuming Julie Post’s body, the coroner found marks that suggested someone had held her head down in the water.
The authorities did a great job with the forensics, but the towel ring factor got undue attention, in my opinion. There was no way of determining the condition of the towel ring before it came off the wall in the Posts’ room. Maybe it had a loosened mounting plate or was defective.
As Dee Joyce-Hayes pointed out, Ed Post’s gratuitous explanation to the doorman was the real red flag.
Too much info. Even the friendliest of business travelers is not going to introduce himself to the doorman by first and last name. The guy had a hidden agenda.
Ed Post also made sure to have a long narrative about the sights he took in on his jog, including Busch Stadium, the Gateway Arch, and city hall.
U.S. Prosecutor Dean Hoag called Post “a detail man done in by details” as reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on May 29, 1989:
“Hoag asked the jury to recall the testimony of New Orleans insurance inspector George Leggio, who said Post had kept offering him details of the ‘accident’ when all Leggio wanted was Julie Post’s health record before her death.”
Talking down to them. Ed Post’s trial for first degree murder started in 1989. In addition to the towel ring test and the accounting of the financial windfall Post would receive upon his wife’s death, the evidence included testimony that he joked around — at Julie Post’s funeral — about wanting to date his aforementioned cute colleague’s twin sister .
And there was also the matter of Ed Post’s business, Jackson & Truax, having fallen on hard times. In the mid-1980s, the New Orleans real estate market wasn’t exactly a zydeco dance party.
The jury found Ed guilty of first-degree murder after a day of deliberation. Forensic Files noted that his condescending tone on the witness stand had struck out with the jury.
A judge gave Post a sentence of life in jail without parole.
Family turns. Apparently, Post’s lawyers had offered him the chance to be considered for second-degree murder as well as first degree, but he declined, preferring “all or nothing,” according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story on May 24, 2014.
But the murder conviction was overturned because of evidence that the sheriff’s deputies got a little too buddy-buddy with the jurors.
By the time of his second trial in 1992, Ed Post’s brother, older daughter, and best friend (Harby Kreeger) no longer believed in his innocence. They testified against him.
Daughter’s ordeal. As if Stephanie Post hadn’t suffered enough by virtue of losing her mother, during her three hours of testimony, defense lawyer Rick Sindel brought up the fact that she’d had an abortion after being raped.
Stephanie, who cried several times on the stand, also said that her father had abused, and had pointed a gun at, her mother.
In 1985, Julie Post had told her daughters that she and Ed were getting a divorce and they would have to switch from private to public schools, Stephanie testified.
Blame the pills. At some point during one of the trials (it’s not clear which), Dan Post testified that Julie had told him about physical abuse she suffered at Ed’s hands. Oddly, that information was supposed to work in Ed’s favor: The fact that he had a temper was intended to suggest he killed Julie in a fit of anger, punishable as second-degree murder instead of first-degree.
By this time, prison life had worn away Ed Post’s cockiness and he just wanted a deal, according to McClellan. Circuit Judge Timothy J. Wilson accepted Post’s guilty plea to second-degree murder in return for a 30-year sentence with the chance of parole.
Post admitted to drowning his wife but blamed it partly on his being on diet pills at the time. He apologized to Julie Post’s survivors. Julie’s father later remarked that the contrition gave him a bit of solace.
So where is Ed Post today, and what does he have to say for himself?
Gone quiet. After turning down several of his requests for release over the years, the parole board allowed him to exit Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific in 2014 at the age of 69.
As far as what he has to say, apparently he doesn’t. Post started keeping a low profile before his prospective integration back into the free world and has continued to do so.
As for an epilogue for Julie Post’s older daughter, Stephanie married a doctor who does work for Doctors Without Borders. Her husband attended at least one of the parole hearings to ask that Ed Post be kept in prison.
Dee Joyce-Hayes went into private practice at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal and now is general counsel at the Bi-State Development Agency, according to her LinkedIn profile. I hope she gets a TV show of her own some day.
That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR
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I’ve always been held sway by your two observations about greed. Like, a pair of middle-aged bank robbers pull off several successful robberies. They amass more money than they’ll ever need the rest of their life, yet they keep going back over and over, almost teasing the authorities to catch them, rather than shutting down, being content with what they’ve got and enjoying the rest of their lives. Stupid.
Recall the guy in Illinois who murdered his wife and her shuttle driver. The cops were blind and missed key pieces of evidence. He then cashed his wife’s very recent, huge insurance policy, and he was on his way. But then he decided to sue the cops, paramedics and the shuttle company for millions, which caused everybody to take a second look, and… GOTCHA!
There’s another excellent series called “American Greed”, which profiles white collar crimes, stock frauds, Ponzi schemes, etc.
Thanks, RR, and for the catch-up since the FF story. I agree with you — and recall thinking as you at the time — that too much stock was placed in the ‘normal’ strength of the towel rings. Maybe HER ring was installed inadequately, or someone had already used it to arrest a fall before and it was weakened. Yes, the ‘typical’ strength is relevant — but its breakage is hardly conclusive that it was deliberately done.
I too remember, and liked, the ‘who cares?’ clip! And Mr. Post’s uber-greed reminded me, as Jason, above, of the case of the murderer, Mark Winger, who appeared to get away with it… until he went too far, sued the cab company of the driver he’d (seemingly successfully) framed for the murder, and attracted closer scrutiny of the case, which then blew up in his face (FF: ‘A Welcome Intrusion’ 1996). Poetic justice.
Yet again, Post is a seemingly intelligent, and successful, man who establishes an insurance policy just weeks before the crime. Greed appears the only explanation for the impatience.
I’d love to know of the connection between diet pills and homicide. Is there something the maker’s aren’t telling the public – and can they sue…?
Post seems to’ve served c 25 years: not much, really, for a premeditated murder for money. I’d have had him serve the full 30.
Thanks for reminding me — I meant to put a link to the Mark Winger story in the post. Glad you’re a fan of Dee Joyce-Hayes. She seems like the kind of fun-loving person who could make a business meeting bearable.
As a legal issue, the possibility of the ring having sustained prior damage is speculative. You can bet it was brought up, but — lacking any evidence — the judge would have ruled it inadmissible. But since he admitted to the murder, the issue is moot.
Post was a real estate salesman. If his sentence for the murder AND the people he’s conned and cheated in his sleazy life were proportionate, he’d be in prison for the next 2,850 years.
He should have gotten the death penalty, and saved the poor state of Missouri a ton of money.
“… the possibility of the ring having sustained prior damage [or was poorly installed] is speculative.” So was the contention he yanked it off – until he admitted it!
There might be an aborigine in deepest Africa who hasn’t yet heard money buys freedom. Just look at all the f-ing movie stars who buy their way out with multi-million-dollar mouthpieces. And that brainless female dork in South Carolina who carried her dead daughter’s body around for six months in the trunk of her Pontiac, and walked. And if anyone studies all the phony, crooked stock investment schemes, those self-enriched millionaires buy their way off lightly, too. (A typical case previewed recently had a guy who defrauded 405 people out of $.5.5 million. He was convicted and given one year in federal prison, plus pay restitution. Since he was penniless, nobody ever got a damned nickel back, and the US federal prison system is pretty well known as a South Seas Resort chain of country clubs. What irks me is, this a-hole gets one year, and he’s back in business again, while 405 victims who actually worked all their life, are sentenced to life in destitution.
Like you, I wonder where the fairness went.
RR: Yes, D J-H might liven-up the dullest of tax-liability cases… I’ve borrowed her ‘from the book of who cares’ once or twice since. I suspect the hotel doorman was probably thinking summat stronger (just piss-off, you boring old fart).
Jason: Missouri’s a death penalty state, and Post seems lucky to have got 2nd degree. Apropos of a previous discussion, could that be ‘cos he could afford good representation, as opposed to poor black people languishing on death row? I can’t see why this was 2nd degree and a deal needed doing. So often one wonders where the fairness is, and FF’s been an education for me in the grossly different treatment of perps committing either similar murders, murders of similar egregiousness, or most usually, both. One serves 25 yrs; others die after c. 15 on the row…
Thank you for saying this! I’m disgusted with the disparity between black and white defendants; they’re prosecuted completely differently. Another issue that MUST be addressed is prison reform. Even though that you didn’t mention that, but the USA is the sole First World Country which has the death penalty. (Hi. I’m Ed Post! Repeat ad nauseum.)
I did a bit of digging re Post’s case. There were in fact three trials — extraordinarily. The first found 1st degree murder without parole, overturned ‘cos of jury misconduct (though not of the sort that likely affected the outcome); the second again found 1st degree murder without parole — and you’d think that would be that. But that was overturned ‘cos “the older of Post’s two daughters testified about memories of past abuse. She had recovered those memories with some kind of New Age therapy [I’ve no idea what this means!!!]. The third time, Post pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 30-year sentence.”
Aside from his seeming luck at getting 2nd, and 30 years, third time round, when two juries had given him first without parole, you’d have thought that this final sentence would have at least been awarded without parole, such that the full 30 were served. Furthermore, it’s quite possible that even fewer years would’ve been served had it not been for one of the original prosecutors as well as the deceased’s brother appearing in person at each parole hearing to argue against it. In a country as large as the States, it seems that offenders at parole hearings hope opposers of parole won’t appear, perhaps ‘cos of the sheer distance some would need to travel, and who may be old/infirm, or who can’t afford the travel. Surely for this reason written submission should carry as much weight as personal testimony. I’m sure it does — formally — but can imagine that personal appearance can be more effective. The chances of parole should not be affected by the resources of those who support or reject it.
On saying all this, 25 years IS a long time — but it’s potentially much less than life.
Apropos of nothing, here’s a nightmare parolee story (served just 14 years for triple homicide; committed more crime when released and went on the run; then commits a fourth murder years later (what more evidence was needed that this man’s a dangerous lunatic ???) :
https://nypost.com/2017/10/31/paroled-killer-goes-back-to-prison-after-fourth-murder/
If I were the latest victim’s family I’d be suing Corrections for rank stupidity in releasing him or failing to monitor him adequately (eg, how does a convicted murderer have a gun?)
Just goes to show – in decomposing America, all you need to have is enough scratch to keep spinning the wheel until you win. 95% of US trials that last for three rounds end up in favor of the defendant by way of a substantial reduction.
He likely bought the gun illegally. So…he was awfully upset? I get awfully upset sometimes, but I’m in my 50s and haven’t shot anyone!
IN RE: Epps. This is a great example of why companies like Terminex need to be licensed to kill dangerous human parasites that impact our society. Epps did 14 years. His victims are doing life without forever. Does that seem like an imbalance?
Jason: Yes, it’s crazy… I’ve no idea if Corrections has ever been successfully sued for releasing offenders who further kill – but if they were, irresponsible parole decisions and stupidy short imprisonment terms such as this might lessen.
I’m sure there have been actions brought against the CDCR, but I have no knowledge if any were successful or published as case law. Parole boards, particularly in Texas and California, are staffed with gutless insects who probably know more about what’s in the Emperor of Japan’s hairpin box than they know about criminal law.
Love the “from the book of “Who Cares?” quip. The best I can come up with is that the accidental drowning story just didn’t have the “ring” of truth to it.
Lol, not the vicious circle it seemed…
There are several inaccuracies in this report. Ed didn’t own any of the real estate company; he was the broker/manager for the Westbank office of Gertrude Gardner Realtor when Julie got her real estate license.
He made $60,000 a year, not $600,000. (I choked on my coffee when I read that one!) The reason Julie sold $1 million her first year was rumored to be the result of Ed passing listings to her on the side instead of following the equal distribution among all the realtors in the office.
As was mentioned, there were actually two trials; one overturned by the jurors playing around with their keepers and one due to hearsay rules. There wasn’t a third trial as Ed had squandered all his parents’ money on lawyers and the daughters weren’t going to give up what was left of the insurance money. So he decided to take the plea rather than gamble on a public defender.
The name of the woman he supposedly lusted after is phonetically correct but I won’t post the correct spelling here. I’m sure she’s sick of being drug through all this. Greed, not so much lust, was really the game here. Although the woman named here was not the only one he acted “inappropriate” with.
This was a very sad case and those of us who knew Ed and Julie well still shake their heads over it.
Mary: Hello and thanks for the clarification. Sad indeed. Post should consider himself lucky that he didn’t get life without parole (or worse), for his crime was every bit as serious as many that do and certainly meets the threshold for that sentence. I’m sorry for Julie’s family and friends (and for Post’s).
Just viewed this ep again. FF states Post ‘was part-owner of Wagner Truax and responsible for 10% of its losses’. This is a quite specific claim so surprising (and careless) if FF is wrong. Such responsibility for loss (presumably per 10% shares) could explain the motive for murder: not just the gaining of $hundreds of thousands’ insurance money per se but because it was wanted to cover such loss.
Julie’s apparently modest salary (I thought that too!) per inflation calc is c $60k today, which seems more fitting .
Mary, thanks much for the great information. The spelling of Ed Post’s co-worker’s name came from subtitles for the episode, so I guess it was rendered phonetically, as you suggested; I went back in and removed the name from the post. I think the mistake about Ed’s salary was a typo — or maybe the amounts of Julie Post’s life insurance payout and Ed Post’s salary somehow got mixed up; I took it out of the post. (And lol, sorry about making you almost choke on your coffee — that sum must have been quite a surprise to be confronted with in the a.m.). I’m surprised to hear Ed didn’t own a portion of Wagner and Truax because the Forensic Files episode specifically mentioned an affiliation with that firm rather than Gertrude Gardner. I’ll make a note in the post about it. Thanks again for the intelligence — it’s great to hear from someone in the know about the case.
I thought they placed way too much emphasis on the towel ring. A previous guest could have ripped the ring off and then replaced it, rendering it unable to support someone’s weight and likely to cause a fall if someone tried to grab it for balance. In that case, the fact that an undamaged ring in an adjacent room can support someone’s weight is irrelevant. The only towel ring that is relevant to the case is the one that was found in the bathtub, and the condition of it before her death cannot be proven by either side. The only other physical evidence was the bruising, which could be interpreted any number of ways and doesn’t necessarily prove murder. A defense medical expert could have offered another explanation. The life insurance policy and introducing himself to hotel staff as a possible alibi are quite suspicious, but not proof. I believe he’s guilty, but I think a decent attorney could have raised a reasonable doubt in this case and gotten an acquittal. The fact that he ended up confessing isn’t even definitive evidence that he did it, since he only confessed in exchange for a reduced sentence. He had been sentenced to life without parole twice. The confession is the reason he is free today, so even if he was innocent, the confession was the best option for him.
Ace: Good points – but I think you’re too sceptical about the quantum of evidence here. Not infrequently can individual components of a murder case be questioned via other potential interpretations, but it’s whether and how they fit together that makes the case. I suggest that no-one looking at the features of this case ‘synoptically’ – as a whole – could come to another plausible explanation, bearing in mind that the burden’s on the prosecution.
Considering your points in order (but not as individual, unrelated components, as you treat them):
Extensive testing on the ring showed that it was very likely to have been forcibly ripped off, showing an intention to remove it. Nonetheless, for some reason an earlier user could have decided to pull it off and just re-hung it loosely, so it’s not in itself probative (though it’s condition might show that it couldn’t have even hung loosely as too damaged…) As said above, I agree that the ring was over-emphasised.
But probativeness starts to gain momentum with evidence of neck bruising (and petechial haemorrhage?) that is established characteristic of someone forcibly drowned in a bath and which I think you’re too dismissive of. There is little other possible cause that comes to mind than some kind of sex game!
It’s been laughed at elsewhere on this site just how many perps are too greedy to wait a good while after taking out insurance on the person they kill. It’s not of course ipso facto proof but is probative in the round, as it’s been found to be so many times (as is also the preceding ‘money troubles’).
There was testimony that Post was abusive to Julie, had a violent temper, and that she intended divorce (expensive…) It’s all adding up…
As to his plea, that’s an awkward one. He didn’t, and as far as we know wasn’t offered, an Alford plea, whereby he accepted that there was enough evidence to convict for murder but could maintain his innocence. In such a case (alleged) offenders are literally allowed to maintain innocence by the offer of such a plea. In Post’s case there is nothing that permits us to interpret innocence. Rather, a plea deal was offered and accepted because the case was dragging on and in practical terms getting very expensive. TWO juries had found for first-degree murder without parole. His final sentence was a matter of luck, not reflective of any question of guilt nor the want of evidence for it.
As an aside, though, I certainly agree that guilt may be accepted to save a worse fate, just not here.
Cannot believe how many think they can get away with murdering spouse only months after increasing life insurance 3/4 fold for no apparent reason.
Richard:So many FF eps are about just this. Many perps seem to think insurance companies have fools for staff, and don’t work with police. Life insurers have the greatest motivation to be suspicious: not paying out!
I wonder that myself. As if the insurance companies wouldn’t find it suspicious you upped your spouse’s life insurance to $250,000 a couple weeks ago and now they “mysteriously” suffered a fatal accident?
Julie should be alive today enjoying life and family. I see this case on forensic files at least twice a month and read the book, Evidence Of Murder by William McClellan. Edward Post should be behind bars for the rest of his life. What a shame he is out golfing and and enjoying life. This beautiful woman and her family deserve justice. If Louisiana wasn’t so far away, I’d put flowers in that ceramic holder where she is. Everything is sad about this tragedy. Julie deserves better, what a great woman.
Definitely – that man belongs in captivity forever.
Totally agree about the ‘It’s from the book of Who Cares?’ line. I’m currently watching this episode on HLN and heard her say that. I googled it to see if it was an expression or just something of her creation and found your blog. Great stuff!
Thanks so much for letting me know — I started this blog to answer the questions that keep Forensic Files fans up at night and am glad to hear that it’s working!
“But the murder conviction was overturned because of evidence that the sheriff’s deputies got a little too buddy-buddy with the jurors.”
That reminds me of a San Diego case almost 20 years ago. At the sentencing hearing for David Westerfield, who had been convicted of kidnapping and murdering Danielle van Dam, some of the jurors spoke with Danielle’s parents and laughed with prosecutors (as reported by the local newspaper). That could also be considered grounds for overturning the conviction.
Definitely a bad idea for the prosecution to do so!