Welcome to Secrets True Crime, the Eric Cates and Gypsy Story. I am your host, Amber Sitten.

What is done in darkness will eventually come to light.

That is the purpose of this podcast,

to shine light on the story of Eric Cates, his beloved dog Gypsy, and the town of Empire, Alabama.

Listener discretion is advised.

The subject matter may involve discretion is It is not suitable for younger listeners.

This is episode 10 of a serial podcast

and they are designed to be listened to in order.

Before I jump into this episode, I have something I want to address up front. This podcast exists to shine light on the stories of victims such as Eric and Gypsy and their loved ones who are left

behind. This episode is going to be upsetting for some of you and frustrating for others.

We've left out some of the current struggles Toby has been facing in the last few months

and is continuing to face now, But you are all invested in Eric's story and in the struggles

his family have faced trying to get justice. It's time for you all to know that Toby's battle for justice is real and seemingly

never ending. This isn't an episode that we wanted to do, but we've reached a point where the truth must come to light.

We met with Toby and Eric's brother Chris for the first time on August 28th, 2019.

We met Sheriff Nick Smith the next day.

In our initial meeting with Sheriff Smith,

he shared Eric's Toxicology results with us.

It is overdose level, three times.

While she made repeated request for the toxicology results, no one had shared this information with Eric's mother in the four and a half years since his murder.

When I told her, she wasn't surprised by it. She'd actually made those persistent

requests because she suspected that's what the toxicology results would reveal. Not long after we got the letter, Wayne and his brother got the letter from Empire describing an event that supposedly happened to Eric.

...