Shortcut: Murder-Suicide After a Viral TikTok - ATC International

**Meshel Laurie** (0:04)
This is Australian True Crime International with Meshel Laurie. Just days before she was killed, Sara Gilson posted a TikTok saying she was preparing for the day Netflix made a documentary about her soon-to-be ex-husband after she discovered he was a pedophile.
12 days later, police allege her estranged husband Jeremiah Shawn Duffey shot and killed Sara before taking his own life. Today, we're joined by investigative journalist and That's So Criminal host, Lynden Blake, to unpack the case. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. A warning, this episode of the podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence.

**Lynden Blake** (0:51)
She was a girl that was a mom, she was a wife and she loved just using social media. I feel like she was just one of those girls, you know, country girl, small town girl out living in Oklahoma. And she would use TikTok as a way to make income and she would sell jewelry and bags and she'd be like, look at this bag and I love the color of this bag. It really goes with everything. I mean, she just seemed very relatable, but she also has this online persona with her husband, Jeremiah Shawn Duffey.
He goes by Shawn, that's how he's been identified, with in parentheses. Him and Sara were known online as the Duffs, but it wasn't always butterflies with them.
And a big character in this entire investigation and in telling the world who Sara was, is her first husband, Lyle Landers. And he said, you know, that he tried to get her, Sara, to leave Shawn Duffey, five times over the course of their marriage. And it's a tale as old as time. And I think because of Sara Gilson participating in this Netflix documentary trend on TikTok, and kind of for the first time, really peeling back the layer of, okay, this is my soon to be ex-husband. I'm preparing for my Netflix documentary on a soon to be ex-husband who I found out was a pedophile. And you were like, whoa.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:23)
Yeah.

**Lynden Blake** (2:23)
But this is not funny. This is not talking about your dog or, you're like, oh my gosh.
There was some time between when this all happened and when the horrible tragic situation happened. So she made that TikTok, July 11th is when she made it absolutely viral TikTok.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:49)
When I did see it, I thought, well, yeah, that's a scary thing to say out loud anywhere, especially about a partner with whom you've had, I'm going to say an abusive relationship because that's the picture that is being developed by her family and friends. That was a massive thing to say online, on the internet. I suppose I would have been more concerned about legal ramifications.

**Lynden Blake** (3:12)
But even, so that was July 11th.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:14)
Yeah.

**Lynden Blake** (3:15)
So on June 20th, I mean, she got pretty vulnerable too. And she's talking about that she's focused on her family and that's her sole focus and her family's only priority and that let's all remember to pray for the victim and her privacy. But so it seems like the last weeks of Sara Gilson's life is when she started putting the dirty laundry out there.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:41)
Absolutely.

**Lynden Blake** (3:42)
And getting the courage up, which is risky. Yes. And very vulnerable.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:48)
What was the incident? What sparked all of this?

**Lynden Blake** (3:51)
So Shawn Duffey, this basketball coach, not affiliated with a school or anything, coached a little girl's basketball. And there was this incident back on June 9th. There was this basketball tournament, and Shawn was obviously coaching there. And this young basketball player, one of her parents went to the Owasso Police Department to report harassment that Shawn Duffey had inappropriately touched her and kissed her during a basketball tournament game at an elementary school.
And that's what I believe Sara was referring to on that June 20th TikTok when she said pray for the victim, pray for her family as well. So when this little girl and her parents complained and said that this man, this grownup man, inappropriately touched this little girl, a juvenile, police were able to figure out that similar conduct involving the same little girl was reported to have occurred over an extended period of time. Multiple jurisdictions and states, this is this poor, poor girl. And Shawn Duffey at that point was under investigation. Shortly after this incident on June 9th is when Sara got her emergency protective orders for Shawn Duffey could not come within a hundred yards of her, of her house. And there was no exceptions to that. So he had to stay away.