Details of a murder trial in which many believe an innocent man was convicted of a triple homicide.
Title: I Will Ruin You: The Twisted Truth Behind the Kit Martin Murder Trial
Author: Emilio Corsetti III
Publication Date: March 26, 2024
Pages: 196
Genre: True Crime/Nonfiction
Moments before boarding a passenger flight on 11 May 2019 as the first officer, pilot Christian “Kit” Martin, a former army ranger, was arrested by a swarm of heavily armed officers for the murders of three of his neighbors. The arrest captured global attention as Martin’s mugshot, clad in a pilot’s uniform, spread across the internet, sparking a media firestorm with headlines such as “Monster in the Cockpit.”
A combat helicopter pilot, Kit Martin had seen his life unravel after seeking a divorce. His wife’s threatening words, “If you leave me, I will ruin your life …,” overheard by his daughter, seemed to have become a grim reality, escalating to a court-martial and culminating in a high-stakes murder trial at which he was convicted.
I WILL RUIN YOU: The Twisted Truth Behind the Kit Martin Murder Trial delves into the complex circumstances behind Martin’s story. It looks beyond the sensational headlines and legal turmoil into the heart of this controversial case.
You can purchase I Will Ruin You: The Twisted Truth Behind the Kit Martin Murder Trial at Amazon.
Deputy Frye was barely out of his car when Joan approached and said, “He beat the shit out of me again.” Deputy Frye asked Joan where she had been hit. Joan pointed to her temples and the back of her head. Deputy Frye used his flashlight to examine Joan. When Deputy Frye indicated that he didn’t see any marks, Joan replied that her son was upstairs and that he should talk to him.
Deputy Frye then headed to the back porch, where Sergeant Trafford spoke with Kit. Frye told Sergeant Trafford that he would go inside and question the kids. When the deputy entered the residence, the first thing that caught his attention was how dark it was inside. He had to use his flashlight to see.
McKenzie was the first of the kids to talk to Deputy Frye. She indicated there had been a verbal argument, but she hadn’t seen anything. When Deputy Frye asked where the “boy” was, McKenzie said he was upstairs.
Still using his flashlight to guide him, Deputy Frye climbed the steep stairs to the second floor. Both Alma and Elijah met him at the top of the stairs. Frye indicated that he wanted to talk to Elijah. After introducing himself, he asked Elijah to tell him exactly what he had heard and seen. He added that he needed to know one hundred percent what had happened, no matter who was at fault. Elijah said that his dad was upstairs on the couch and that his mom came upstairs and yelled at him. Elijah then emphasized that “he never touched her.”
Deputy Frye asked again, “You never saw him hit her?”
“No,” Elijah answered. “He did not hit her.”
The Inspiration Behind I Will Ruin You: The Twisted Truth Behind Kit Martin's Murder Trial
In May 2019, I
heard a story about an American Airlines Pilot who had been arrested for a
triple homicide. I was working as a pilot for American Airlines at the time.
I've flown with some pilots who had issues, but a triple homicide is on another
level.
I did a little
research and learned that this person worked for PSA Airlines, an American
Airlines regional carrier. I also learned that he had been arrested at the
Louisville International Airport moments before he was scheduled to work the
flight as the first officer. He was still wearing his pilot uniform when he had
his mugshot taken.
I didn't go much
further than learning about the charges against him. Two years later, in June
2021, I heard he had been convicted. Then, in September of that same year,
Dateline did an episode about the case titled The Evil That Watches.
I'm a big fan of Dateline. But as I watched the show and listened to the
evidence against him and his interview with Keith Morrison, I got the sense
that something wasn't right.
Fortunately, the
entire murder trial was filmed by Court TV and available to view online. I
spent the next month or so watching every minute of that trial. When I finished
it, I was convinced that he was innocent. I know that the prosecution did not
prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
By this time, I
was four months away from retirement. I had written two books—both were
nonfiction narratives about aviation stories. I started to consider making this
story the subject of my third book. I've always been fascinated by stories of
wrongful convictions and have written extensively about them on my review site www.everythingnonfiction.com.
I did a little
online sleuthing and found a Facebook group called Free Kit Martin. As it turns
out, thousands of other people felt the same way as I did about his innocence.
I joined the group and, in no time, was able to reach out to Kit (the name he
goes by) through a prison email account.
My thinking at
the time was that some well-known author surely had to be all over this story.
But I was happy to learn that no one had approached Kit or his family about a
book. Once everyone was on board, I was given access to a wealth of material
dating back to 2012. I started writing in November 2021.
My previous books
had taken between three and five years to write. Now that I was retired, I was
able to dedicate as much time as I needed. I had a first draft by the summer of
2023. I contacted the family and told them there were two choices: I could publish
the book myself, or I could try and find a traditional publisher. I gave them
the pros and cons of each path. The family decided that I should try the
traditional route first and do it myself if I could not find a publisher.
I wrote a
proposal and started sending out query letters to literary agents. I started
racking up rejection letters as fast as I sent them out. I was willing to give
it six months to a year. The problem with doing that, however, is that there
was still no guarantee that I would even get an agent, let alone a publishing
deal. And if I did manage to find a publisher, it would be another year or more
before the book ever saw the light of day. Meanwhile, Kit was sitting in
prison, having to rely on two appeals attorneys who didn't seem all that
interested in their jobs.
I decided to
submit the proposal directly to WildBlue Press, a publisher known for its true
crime books. I had read and reviewed a book from this publisher called Failure of
Justice by John Ferak. Somehow, my proposal landed in the
hands of one of the two founders of the company. Within a very short time, I
had a publishing agreement, and here we are now. And soon a lot more people
will learn how the State of Kentucky convicted an innocent man.
Emilio Corsetti III is a retired airline pilot and the author of the bestselling nonfiction books 35 Miles From Shore and Scapegoat. Emilio is a graduate of St. Louis University Parks College of Aviation. He and his wife, Lynn, reside in Dallas, Texas.
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