Mars Davis implicates Andrea Morris in the murder of Pat McRae

The internet has not been kind to Mars Davis. Through the anonymity of YouTube comments, a lot of judgmental individuals felt it was appropriate to label Mars everything from a "snitch" to a "piece of shit". Sadly, it's comments like these where people best express their ignorance. It's not a bad thing to be ignorant of something – if you don't know something, you likely never learned it. I'm ignorant of things ranging from sub-quantum particle physics to home decorating. But the shame from ignorance comes when folks let it mold their opinions about people or situations.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Mars Davis probably experienced the troubles of addiction at some point(s) in his life. And those ignorant to the genuine disease that addiction actually is have no place judging someone who is dealing with it. I've known people through life who were not too dissimilar from Mars Davis. Some I've considered friends. At the various stages of the crime, the investigation, and the trial, Mars was challenged to make some very difficult decisions. An addiction essentially controls the person to make an often poor choice to serve its own need. YouTubers repeatedly commented that Mars only divulged his knowledge of the murder when it benefited him – receiving a lighter sentencing on his drug charge. But these individuals couldn't know what it was like to have this knowledge eating away at his conscience for five years.

I predict Davis' reluctance to share his information with Iowa authorities stemmed from self-preservation. Mars knew as soon as he told police about his relationship with Andrea and her role in Pat McRae's murder, he'd immediately become at least a co-suspect. He had to put himself out there to expose the truth, and he risked a crafty lawyer and an unpredictable jury. In my long history of reading/watching crimes of this nature, I've found it doesn't take much to distort the facts and end up with a wrongful conviction. Mars was not safe, especially not knowing what evidence the prosecutors would use to isolate the crime to Andrea Morris.

We all make decisions we might later come to regret. Could Mars have spoken up sooner? Certainly – but he had been younger and on a path many young people unfortunately end up taking. Thankfully in his Forensic Files interviews, Mars Davis seemed to be near the end of the road of poor choices. Coming clean and helping the McRae family find peace may have been the first, albeit dangerous step. I could rant here about jail-time sentencing for drug offenders being the opposite of the treatment such individuals actually need. Sufficed to say that the system is broken, and the rehabilitation that folks like Mars (and Andrea) needed is never found in a prison cell.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

One of my favorite quotes from the episode came from Mars. When he explained the private dance that Morris offered McRae after her shift at the Outer Limits, her words were, "This is happening." It speaks to the dynamics of his relationship with Andrea Morris at the time – I can understand where the man is coming from. Needing to kill an hour while Andrea performed the after-hours entertainment, Mars went to a convenience store and to "wash the Bronco". Judging from the episode's clip of a late night car wash, this wasn't as suspicious-looking as I had imagined. At first, it'd seemed washing a car late at night anywhere would look awfully conspicuous.

Meanwhile at the McRae home, Andrea probably behaved in a manner that led Pat McRae to let his guard down. She may have begun her performance, and then suddenly attacked McRae. It was suggested that Andrea Morris may have intended to rob Pat McRae from the start. But if this was the case, I'd imagine a different outcome. To start with, Andrea had a big, scary boyfriend she could've used to simply intimidate McRae. The couple could've tied Pat up and stolen a number of his household items. Or if Morris did intend to kill and then rob Pat McRae, she could've taken more than the man's wallet (and apparently clothing, CDs, cassette tapes and a glass figurine). One wonders if McRae misread the situation, perhaps got a little feisty, and Morris snapped in a most inappropriate way.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

After the horrific act had been committed, the episode suggested that Morris tried to clean up. At times I'm puzzled when any amount of effort is put toward cleaning up the crime scene. Yes, if you have shoe prints, fingerprints, your own blood, etc. left behind, then by all means clean up! But Morris left both footwear impressions and her own blood at the scene – what did she hope to accomplish by cleaning at all? It's likely that one's not thinking clearly after such a heinous deed. This was reinforced by Andrea leaving her wallet at Pat McRae's house, and worse not realizing it until hours afterward. Perhaps she'd put her own items down to dance for McRae, but she remembered to take his keys and wallet … then forgot her own.

In 2004, after Mars Davis told investigators about the murder in Des Moines five years prior, an APB was put out for suspect Andrea Morris. It was found that she had just been released from a two-year sentence in Lincoln, Nebraska. Upon her release, a DNA sample was taken – this removed the need for a warrant or clandestine method of obtaining her DNA for comparison. Many states don't gather and file a DNA sample unless the crime is more severe – it seems Nebraska is on the right path. Were the state's DNA records were already loaded to the national database by 2004? Morris' DNA was not on file in 1999 when it'd first been analyzed. So I'm left to wonder, without Mars' implication, how long would it have taken the system to target Andrea Morris on a ‘cold hit' after 2004? It seems identifying her role in McRae's murder was inevitable.

As usual, I'm left with a couple of few lingering questions to ponder:

• Did Andrea Morris truly hear voices? Did they tell her to kill? Had she killed before? Had she ever received treatment for this disorder? Why did she already have a knife on her when she went to McRae's house? What became of this knife? Why cut the wallet from McRae's pocket? Why take his keys, but not his vehicle? Why lock the door upon exiting?

Where is Andrea Morris now in 2024?

In 2013 (from my best estimate), Andrea Morris withdrew her "not guilty" plea and instead pleaded guilty to second degree murder, willful injury, and first degree theft. This effectively reduced her sentence from life without parole to a maximum of 70 years and parole eligibility.

A court in Iowa seemed to grant Morris' appeal for a new trial in 2011. But another article in The Des Moines Register from 2014 indicated Morris' new trial had been rejected by Judge Michael Huppert.