Latest / NO FILTER / 5 Disturbing True Crime Stories For Sleep With Rain Sound _ Black Screen _ Vol. 185(MP3_160K)

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5 Disturbing True Crime Stories For Sleep With Rain Sound _ Black Screen _ Vol. 185(MP3_160K) · NO FILTER

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome back to mister Sleepy Crime. This
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: is volume one hundred and eighty five of our true
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: crime stories for sleep. I know many of you enjoy
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: listening to these stories as you fall asleep, so before
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: you drift off, I'd love for you to leave a
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: comment letting me know where in the world you're tuning
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: in from. And if you're enjoying the stories, don't forget
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: to like and subscribe. It really helps the channel grow.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Before we begin, I want to acknowledge that these stories
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: involve real people and real tragedies. They are shared not
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: for entertainment, but to remember the victims and help raise
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: awareness of warning signs that could prevent similar tragedies. For
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: the best experience, feel free to lower the volume a little,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: just enough to let the story gently carry you off
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: to sleep. All right, please get comfortable, dim the lights,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: and let's begin tonight's first story. Tonight, we're going to
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: explore a story that unfolded in the working class streets
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: of Dundalk, Maryland. A story about a beloved bar owner,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: a troubled marriage, and a betrayal that no one could
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: have imagined. And this is the story of Lee Martin.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: The spring of twenty ten, Railway Avenue in Dundalk was
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: the kind of street where everyone knew everyone. The houses
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: sat close together, modest homes with small yards, and at
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: the center of it all stood a place called Hop's Inn.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: It wasn't fancy, it wasn't trying to beat, but to
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the people who walked through its doors, hops In was home.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: The bar had been in the same family for seventy years.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: Generation after generation had poured drinks there, listened to stories there,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: created memories there. And in January of two thousand and seven,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: a man named Lee Martin took over the business from
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: his relatives. His full name was Robert Lee Martin, but
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: nobody called him Robert. To everyone who knew him, he
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: was just Lee. Lee was forty three years old with
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: plans to make hops In something special. He installed central
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: air conditionings so customers wouldn't sweat through the summer. He
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: put in new sidewalks, brought in a pool table, mounted
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: a large screen television on the wall. He even started
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: a newsletter to keep his regulars updated on all the improvements.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Lee had dreams of bringing back live music, of making
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: the bar the kind of place where people wanted to gather.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: But more than the renovations, what people remembered about Lee
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: was his generosity. If you came into hops In and
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: you were short on cash, Lee would stand you a drink.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: If you were going through hard times, he might slip
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: you a few dollars. On New Year's Eve, drinks were
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: always on the house. He called all the women sweetye
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: and treated his employees like family. One of those employees
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: was a young bartender named Rayo Denisik, who had worked
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: at Hops for three and a half years. Reel would
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: later say that Lee was like a father figure to him,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: especially after his own father passed away. They'd known each
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: other since they were kids, and Lee had always been there.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Lee lived right next door to the bar, in an
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: apartment that shared a wall with hops In. It was
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: convenient after closing time, he could walk just a few
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: steps and be home. His life revolved around that bar,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: around those customers, around making people feel welcome. But behind
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: the walls of that apartment, life was not as peaceful
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: as it seemed. Lee had been married before. He had
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: two sons with his first wife, Christine, though that marriage
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: had ended in divorce. By all accounts, Lee remained a
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: devoted father to his boys, but in his personal life
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: he was searching for companionship, for connection. He found it,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: or thought he did, with a woman named Jacqueline. Friends
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: called her Jay. She was younger than Lee, with flame
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: red hair and a troubled spirit. Jacqueline had demons. She
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: wrestled with demons that came in bottles and pills. She
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: struggled with alcohol, She struggled with drugs, and as time
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: went on, those struggles began to tear at the fabric
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: of their marriage. They had been together for nine years
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: by the spring of twenty ten, but the relationship had frayed.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Neighbors on Railway Avenue often heard them, arguing. The fights
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: would echo through the walls, sharp voices cutting through the night.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Those who lived nearby learned to recognize the sound of
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: conflict coming from the apartment next to hops In. In
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: December of two thousand and nine, Jacqueline filed a domestic
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: violence complaint against Lee. She accused him of abusing her,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: claimed she needed protection, and asked the court to safeguard
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: not just herself, but also a man she described as
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: her best friend, a thirty one year old named David Bailey.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: She told the court that Lee's bank account held five
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars, that he owned property worth at least
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: three hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Lee countered with his
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: own accusations. He said Jacqueline was having an affair with
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: her drug dealer. He said she had a serious problem
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: with substances. He even filed for an emergency evaluation of Jacqueline,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: asking the court to determine whether she was mentally competent.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: But then something strange happened. When the court date came
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: for Jacqueline to argue for a permanent protective order, she
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: didn't show up. The case was dismissed. She and her
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: daughter had moved out to live on Walman Avenue in Edgemere,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: but at some point before Lee's death, they moved back
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: into the apartment next to Hopsin. Police documents would later
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: describe Jacqueline as someone who had been stealing from her
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: husband for quite some time. The money that Lee worked
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: so hard to earn, the money he used to buy
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: drinks for struggling customers and improve his bar, some of
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: it was disappearing. Jacqueline had been banned from Hop's end
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: because of her excessive drinking. This was Lee's place of business,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: his livelihood and her behavior there had become unacceptable. But
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: she was still living next door, still in his life,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: still bound to him by marriage vows that had long
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: since lost their meaning. Behind closed doors, Jacqueline spoke of
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: way to be free of Lee. She mentioned pushing him
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: down a flight of stairs. She fantasized about a life
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: without him, a life where she could access his money,
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: his property, his assets, and in her darkest thoughts, she
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: began to formulate a plan. She turned to the one
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: person she thought she could trust with such a terrible secret,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: her brother, Robert Garner, was twenty six years old and
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: carried his own troubled history. He had prior convictions for assault,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: for burglary, for theft. He was not a stranger to violence,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: not unfamiliar with crossing lines that most people never approach.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: When his sister Jacqueline came to him with her request,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: he did not turn her away. The plan took shape, slowly, carefully.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Jacqueline told Robert that she wanted Lee dead. She offered
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: him ten thousand dollars to do it. She gave him
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Lee's bank card, and Robert used it to withdraw a
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: toll of nine hundred and eighty seven dollars. With that money,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: he purchased a twenty two caliber handgun. That Robert couldn't
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: do this alone. He needed help. He reached out to
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: two young men, both just nineteen years old. Their names
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: were Brendan Roth and Stern Davis. Robert told them he
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: needed their assistance with something, promised them money for their trouble.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: He told Davis he'd pay him three hundred dollars. He
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: told Roth he'd get three hundred as well, though in
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: the end Roth would only receive one hundred. Davis and
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: Roth didn't fully understand what they were getting into. Davis
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: would later tell police he thought they were just going
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: to rough someone up, maybe rob him. He didn't know
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: what would end in murder. Roth's job was simple. Drive
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: to get away car. Just be the wheels, don't ask question.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: As the night of May twenty second approached, the pieces
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: were in place. Robert had the gun, he had the helpers,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: and Jacqueline had the access to Lee's movements, his schedule,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: his vulnerability. All they had to do was wait. Saturday
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: May twenty second, twenty ten, started like any other night
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: at hops in the regulars came in, ordered their drinks,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: watched the game on the big screen. Lee moved behind
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: the bar, chatting with customers, making sure everyone was having
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: a good time. This was what he loved, what he
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: was good at. The bar's surveillance cameras captured at all
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: the ordinary rhythms of a Saturday night in Dundalk, people laughing,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: people drinking, people being human together in the neighborhood bar.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: But while Lee worked, a car pulled up near Railway Avenue.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Inside were Robert Garner, Sturm Davis, and Brandon Roth. Robert
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: directed Rolf to park on a nearby street. Then Robert
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and Davis got out of the car and walked through
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: a break and a fence, making their way to the
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: side of hops in to the staircase that Lee had
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: recently built as part of his renovations. They waited in
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: the shadows. Robert pulled out his phone and called Jacqueline.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: He needed to be sure, He needed to know that
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: she really wanted this, that she was certain. Jacqueline was
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: in her apartment next door on her house phone. The
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: phone records would later show that in the minutes leading
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: up to her husband's murder, she had several conversations with
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: her brother. They talked while he hid between her residence
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: and the bar well. He waited to do the unthinkable.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Just before Lee was about to close for the night,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Jacqueline called him at the bar. It was a timing call,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: making sure everything was coordinated. Then she called Robert back.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: The trap was set. At approximately two twenty in the morning,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Lee Martin locked the doors of hops In. It had
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: been a good night, nothing unusual, nothing to worry about.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: He stepped out into the darkness of Railway Avenue, ready
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: to walk the few steps to his home and call
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: it a night. Robert Garner emerged from his hiding place.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: Davis was with him. Robert approached Lee and his hand
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: went to the gun tuck in his waistband. He demanded money.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Lee appeared frightened, confused. This wasn't how things were supposed
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: to be on his street, at his bar. He said
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: he didn't have any money. Robert pulled out the gun. Lee,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: seeing the weapon, reached for his wallet, handed over what
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: cash he had. Maybe he thought that would be enough.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Maybe he thought they'd take it and leave. Robert started shooting.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: The bullets tore through Lee's head, his neck, his chest.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: The sound echoed down Railway Avenue, sharp cracks that shattered
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: the quiet of the early morning. Lee fell to the
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: ground in front of his home, the place he'd worked
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: so hard to improve, the place where he'd shown so
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: much kindness to so many people. Inside the railway, in
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: a bar block away, someone heard the shots, three of
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: them distinct and unmistakable. They turned to others and said
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: something must have happened at hops. Robert and Davis ran
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: back through the brake and the fence. Roth was waiting
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: in the car, and he heard the gunshots from where
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: he sat, eight shots in total, though he couldn't have
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: known the exact mine. And the chaos of the moment,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: the three of them sped away into the night. Witnesses
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: called nine one one At about two twenty five in
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: the morning, a man had been shot in the head.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Two males had been seen running from the scene. When
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: police and paramedics arrived, they found Lee Martin lying in
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: front of his home. He had been shot not eight times,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: but nine times. He was still alive, barely clinging to consciousness.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: They rushed him to Bay View Medical Center, but the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: damage was too severe, the wounds too catastrophic. Lee Martin
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: was pronounced dead. A helicopter flew over Dundoc that night,
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: its spotlights sweeping across every street, searching for the killers.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Neighbors looked out their windows, wondering what had happened, feeling
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: fear creep into a community that had always felt safe.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: On Railway Avenue, the owner of Hopsan was gone, and
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: the mystery of who had killed him and why had
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: only just begun. Baltimore County police had little to go
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: on at first. The surveillance cameras at hops Inn had
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: captured part of the crime, showing two men hiding under
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: the staircase Lee had built, waiting for him, but identifying
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: them would take time. Neighbors were interviewed, Employees were questioned.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Friends tried to make sense of the senseless. Every one
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: described Lee the same way, generous kind, some one who'd
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: give you his last dollar if you needed it. Who
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: would want to hurt him? The police kept coming back
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: to one detail. The attack seemed planned, coordinated. It looked
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: like a hit, and in cases like that, you look
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: close to home. Four days after Lee's murder, on Wednesday,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: May twenty sixth, Baltimore County Police made their move. They
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: arrested four people in connection with the shooting, and the
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: name that shocked every one was the first one announced,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Martin, Lee's wife, the woman he'd lived next door to,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the woman he'd been married to for nine years. She
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: was charged with first degree murder. Also arrested were her brother,
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: Robert Garner, identified as the shooter, and two nineteen year
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: olds sterm Riley Davis and Brandon Michael Roth, identified his accomplices.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: The police chief held a press conference and made it
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: clear that Jacqueline Martin had orchestrated and arranged the murder
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: with her brother and other associates. She was the architect
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: of this horror. When Davis was questioned, he confessed to
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: arriving at Hop's Inn to help Robert Garner beat up
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Lee Martin. He said Robert displayed a handgun and demanded
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Lee's wallet. When Lee handed over cash, Robert started shooting.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Davis said he ran with Robert to the car where
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Roth was waiting, and they fled. Davis said he was
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: supposed to get three hundred dollars for his help. Riff
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: admitted that he drove the two other men to the
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: bar so that Robert could deal with someone from the
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: car he heard eight gun shots. He said he got
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: one hundred dollars for driving. When police first questioned Jacqueline,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: she claimed she had been asleep at the time of
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the shooting, but phone records told a different story. It
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: showed that she was on her house phone during the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: minutes leading up to her husband's murder, that she had
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: several conversations with Robert while he was hiding between her
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: residence and the bar, waiting to shoot and kill Lee.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: The phone records showed that just before the shooting, Jacqueline
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: called her husband at the bar, and then she called
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: her brother back. She had coordinated the whole thing. She
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: had given Robert money to buy the gun. She had
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: made sure Lee would step out at the right time
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: into the waiting ambush. Friends of Lee weren't entirely surprised
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: when they heard Jacqueline had been arrested. Debbie Kieran's, one
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: of Lee's friends, said that everyone sort of had a
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: feeling she had some involvement in it, because everybody was
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: saying and looked like a hit. The charging documents revealed
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: the depth of Jacqueline's betrayal. Police said she had been
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: stealing from Lee for some time. She had a drug
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: and alcohol problem, and prosecutors believed her motive was money.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: She thought that when Lee died, she would receive a
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: portion of his assets, his bank account with five hundred
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars, his property worth hundreds of thousands more. All
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: four suspects were charged with first degree murder and held
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: at the Baltimore County Detention Center with bail denied. Lee
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Martin was laid to rest at Commonly Funeral Home on
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: Sehler's Point Road in Dundalk. The visitation was on a
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Tuesday afternoon from two until five. The funeral service was
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: held at seven that evening. His friends, his employees, his
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: regulars from hops Inn. They all came to say goodbye
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: to a man who had been like family to so
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: many of them, and as they mourned, the wheels of
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: justice began to turn. The case wounded its way through
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: the legal system over the next two years. One by one,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: the defendants entered their pleas and faced their sentencing. In
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: October of two thousand ten, Brandon Roth, the getaway driver,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: pleaded guilty to first degree assault. He was sentenced to
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: twenty years in prison with all but seven years suspended.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: He would serve seven years for his role in Lee's death.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: The following month, Stern Davis pleaded guilty to armed robbery
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: and the use of a handgun in the commission of
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: a crime of violence. He was sentenced to thirty years,
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: with all but ten years suspended. He would serve ten years.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Davis maintained that he thought they were only going to
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: rob Lee, not kill him, but that didn't absolve him
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: of responsibility for being there for participating in the ambush
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: that ended a man's life. In November of two thousand
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and eleven, Robert Garner pleaded guilty to first degree murder
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: before Judge Robert Y. Kale Junior. He admitted that his
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: sister Jacqueline had planned the whole thing. He admitted that
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: she approached him, offered him money, gave him her husband's
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: bank card to buy the gun. He admitted pulling the
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: trigger eight times, shooting his brother in law on the head, neck,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: and chest. In March of twenty and twelve, Robert Garner
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: was sentenced to sixty years in prison. He was twenty
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: eight years old at sentencing. He would not be eligible
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: for parole until he was an old man if he
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: lived that long, which left only Jacqueline. On Friday, January thirteenth,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: twenty and twelve, Jacqueline Martin appeared in Baltimore County Circuit Court.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: She was thirty one years old, wearing a loose fitting
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: black suit, jackals around her ankles. She entered what's called
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: an Alfred pleat to the charge of first degree murder,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: and alfred plea is a strange thing. It means the
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: evidence to obtain a conviction. Jacqueline never admitted guilt, never
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: said the words I did this, but she acknowledged the
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: overwhelming evidence against her. During the hearing, prosecutor Lisa Dever
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: read a statement detailing the evidence from the case. She
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: explained how Jacqueline had been banned from hops in because
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: of her excessive drinking. She revealed that Jacqueline had mentioned
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: pushing Lee down a flight of stairs as a possible
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: way to kill him, showing that she'd been contemplating his
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: death for some time. Deiver explained that Jacqueline's defense attorneys
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: claimed she was a victim of domestic violence, that Lee
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: had abused her, but prosecutors believed her motive was money,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: pure and simple. She wanted access to Lee's assets, and
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: she was willing to have him killed to get them.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Judge Kle and Jacqueline's attorney, James Rhodes asked her repeatedly
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: if she understood the terms of the plea agreement, over
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: and over. She answered yes. Under the agreement, she could
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: be sentenced up to sixty years in prison with the
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: possibility of parole. If the case had gone to trial
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: and she'd been convicted, she could have faced life without parole.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: The sentencing was scheduled for April. On Monday, April sixteenth,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: twenty twelve, Jacqueline Martin stood before Judge Kle once more.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: The courtroom was filled with people whose lives had been
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: touched by this tragedy. Lee's friends, his employees, people from
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: the neighborhood who couldn't understand how someone could orchestrate the
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: murder of a man who'd been so kind. Baltimore County
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: State's Attorney, Scott Schellenberger, addressed the court. He said that
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: while they always want to punish the shooter the most,
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: in this case, Jacqueline started the ball rolling. Robert Garner
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: had no independent reason to kill Lee Martin except for
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: her request for him to do so. She was the architect,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: the plan, the one who set everything in motion. Schellenberger
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: said he didn't care if Jaqueline could admit it to
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: herself or not. They'd gotten the ultimate sentence they thought
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: was appropriate. Judge K. Hill's sentenced Jacqueline Martin to sixty
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: years in prison. She was thirty one years old. If
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: she served her full sentence, she would be ninety one
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: when she was released, an old woman who had spent
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: the majority of her life behind bars. As she was
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: led away in shackles, the courtroom sat in heavy silence.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Justice had been served, but it felt hollow. Lee Martin
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: was still dead. His boys had lost their father, His
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: friends had lost someone they cared about. Hitsen had closed
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: its doors, its future uncertain. The boar that had been
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: in Lee's family for seventy years, a place where he'd
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: worked so hard to create something special, It was empty now.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: The lights were off. The pool table sat unused. The
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: large screen television displayed nothing but darkness. In the the
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: years that followed, people in Dundalk still talked about Lee Martin.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: They remembered his generosity, his warmth, the way he made
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: everyone feel welcome. They remembered New Year's Eves when drinks
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: were on the house, remembered times when he'd lent them
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: money or bought them around when they were short on cash. Reyodniak,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: the young bartender who'd looked up to Lee like a father,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: carried the loss with him. He spoke of Lee in interviews,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: his voice breaking, saying that any time he needed anything,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Lee had taken care of him. Lee had been family
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: since they were little kids. Others in the neighborhood would
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: pass by the closed doors of hops In and feel
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: a pang of sadness that Barr had been a gathering place,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: a piece of Dundalk's history, and now it was just
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: a building with memories locked inside. The case bore an
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: eerie similarity to another murder that had happened in Baltimore
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: County just two months before Lee's death. In March of
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: twenty ten, a man named William Porter was killed at
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: a gas station he owned on his chopd in Tawson.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: His wife and five others were charged with his murder.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: The parallels were impossible to ignore. A business owner killed
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: in what looked like a robbery, a wife who'd orchestrated
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: the whole thing, amily members willing to pull the trigger.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Police Chief James Johnson mentioned the similarities during the investigation,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: noting that technology had helped in both cases. Surveillance, cameras,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: phone records, the digital trails we leave behind. They all
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: helped piece together what had happened. But knowing what happened
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: doesn't make it easier to accept. It doesn't bring Lee back.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: It doesn't undo the betrayal of a wife who looked
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: at her husband and saw not a partner but an obstacle,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: a source of money, something to be eliminated. Jacquelyne Martin
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: sits in prison today. By the time you hear this story,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: she's been there for many years. She has many years
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: left to go. Whether she's found any remorse, any recognition
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: of what she did, we don't know. That's between her
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: and her conscience. Robert Garner is also in prison, serving
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: his six year sentence alongside his sister, the two people
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: who shared blood and shared guilt, separated by prison walls
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: that bound by the terrible thing they did together. Brandon
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Roth has been released by now having served as seven years.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Stern Davis may also be out, having served as ten.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: So they were young when they made their terrible choice,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: barely more than teenagers. They carry with them the knowledge
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: that they were part of something that destroyed a good
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: man's life, that left a community mourning, that closed a
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: bar that had stood for seventy years. As you lie
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: here in the darkness listening to the story, perhaps you're
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: thinking about the choices we make, the small decisions that
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: ripple outward, touching lives we never intended to touch. The
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: moment when someone chooses darkness over light, violence over peace,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: betrayal over loyalty. Lee Martin chose to be generous. He
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: chose to help people. She chose to stand drinks for
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: those who couldn't pay, to loan money to those in need,
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: to make his bar a place of welcome. Those choices
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: made him beloved. They also made him vulnerable. Jacqueline Martin
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: chose differently. She chose addiction over sobriety. She chose theft
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: over honesty. She chose murder over whatever other options might
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: have been available to her. Those choices led to a courtroom,
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: to shackles, to six decades behind bars. We all make choices.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Some are small, fairly noticeable, some are enormous, life altering, irreversible,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: and once we've made them, we have to live with
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: the consequences, for better or for worse. On Railway Avenue
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: in Dundalk, the houses still sit close together, the street
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: still looks much the same. But where Hopson once stood,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: where music played and friends gathered and a generous man
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: worked hard to make something special, there's only absence. Now.
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: The building remains, but the spear is gone. The place
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: where you could get a free drink on New Year's Eve,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: where you could borrow a few bucks if times were hard,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: where someone called you sweetie and treated you like family.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: That place exists only in memory now. Lee Martin deserved better.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: He deserved to live out his days improving his bar,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: serving as customers, being a father to his sons. He
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: deserved loyalty from the woman he'd married, protection from the
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: family he'd welcomed into his life. He deserved to grow old,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: to see his dreams for Hopsin come to fruition. Instead,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: he got betrayal, He got bullets in the darkness. He
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: got a grave in Dundoc, while those who killed him
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: went to prison. Justice was served as much as it
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: can be in cases like this. But justice doesn't resurrect
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: the dead, it doesn't reopen the bar, It doesn't undo
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: the trauma inflicted on everyone who loved Lee Martin. What
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: it does is create a record, a statement that this
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: was wrong, that there are consequences, that a life mattered,
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: and it's taking will be answered for. And so Jacquelin
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Martin sits in prison day after day, year after year.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: The flame red hair has likely gone gray by now.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: The woman who thought she could orchestrate a murder and
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: walk away with money and freedom, she learned that some
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: choices carry weights too heavy to ever put down. If
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: this is your first time listening to one of our
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: true crime stories, welcome to mister Sleepy Crime, where we
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: explore these cases in a calm and respectful way. I
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: also want to take a moment to appreciate my amazing
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: subscribers who've been rocking with me. Thank you so much
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: for your continued support. If you're still awake in listening,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: don't forget to drop a comment, let me know where
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: you're tuning in from and the current time in your
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: corner of the world, or just say something to let
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: me know you're still here, and if you have it already,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: be sure to like this video and subscribe so you
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: don't miss our next true crime stories for Sleep. Now
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: let's move on to our second story story two tonight.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: We're going to explore a story when that happened on
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: a quiet November morning in Indianapolis. It's a story about faith,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: about tragedy, and about the unpredictable nature of violence. Like
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: you're breathing slow, there's nowhere you need to be. Just listen,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: and this is the story of Amanda Blackbird. The morning
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: of November tenth, twoenty and fifteen, began like so many others,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: on Sunnyfield Court, a peaceful residential street on the northwest
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: side of Indianapolis. The houses sat quiet in the pre
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: dawn darkness. Inside one of them, a young family was
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: just beginning to stir. Amanda Grace Blackburn had always been
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: a woman of deep conviction. Born on July thirty first,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven in Muskin, Michigan, she grew up in
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: a household where faith was the foundation of everything. Her parents,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Phil and Robin Byers, raised Amanda alongside her siblings, James
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: and Amber, and a home filled with warmth and Christian values.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: When Amanda was eight years old, the family moved to Elkhart, Indiana,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: where her father served as pastor of the first Baptist Church.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Amanda was the kind of child who seemed to glow
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: from within. She was bright, dedicated, and deeply compassionate. She
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: attended Elkhart Christian Academy, where she excelled academically and socially.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Those who knew her remembered a girl who was always
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: bringing people together, always seeking to lift others up. After
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: graduating in two thousand and six, she enrolled at Pensacola
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Christian College Infinity, where she earned her associate's degree in
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. That same year, on August first,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Amanda married Davy Blackburn. They had met during their college years,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: two young people united by their shared faith and their
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: desire to serve others. Davy was training to become a pastor,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: and Amanda supported his calling wholeheartedly. Together, they envisioned a
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: life dedicated to ministry, to building communities, to helping people
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: find purpose and hope. For several years, the young couple
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: lived in South Carolina, where Davy worked as an assistant
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: pastor at New Spring church, but they felt called to
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: do more. In twenty twelve, they made a bold decision.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: They packed up their belongings and moved to Indianapolis with
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: a mission to plant a new church from the ground up.
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Resonate Church began with just a small congregation around one
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty people, meeting in whatever space they could find,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: but under Davy and Amanda's leadership, it started to grow.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: Amanda threw herself into the work with characteristic past. She
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: wasn't content to simply attend services. She wanted to make
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: a real difference in the community. She became deeply involved
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: with fortin d, an organization dedicated to helping those affected
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: by poverty. She spent hours working with families, listening to
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: their struggles, offering support and encouragement. Those who knew Amanda
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: Resonate Church remembered her warmth, her authenticity, her genuine care
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: for others. She was all about people coming to know Jesus.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: When church member would later say, that's who she was
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: as a person. You could see it in her family life,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: in her personal life, and in her church life. In
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, Amanda and Davy welcomed their first child, a son.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: They named Weston James Blackburn. Amanda embraced motherhood with the
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: same devotion she brought to everything else in her life.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: She was a hands on mother, patient and loving, determined
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: to raise her son with the same values her parents
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: had instilled in her. By the fall of twenty fifteen,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the Blackburn family had even more reason to celebrate. Amanda
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: was twelve weeks pregnant with their second child, a daughter
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: they had already named Everett Grace Evie for short. They
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: had recently shared the news with their congregation, and the
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: response had been joyful. Everything seemed to be falling into
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: place for this young family. Their church was thriving, their
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: marriage was strong, and their future looked bright. But on
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: the morning of November tenth, everything would change. To understand
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: what happened to Amanda Blackburn, we need to step back
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: and look at the broader picture of what was unfolding
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: in Indianapolis during those early November days. Three young men,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Larry Joe Taylor Junior, eighteen years old, Jalen Watson twenty one,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: and Deano Gordon twenty four, had known each other for
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: some time. They moved in similar circles, lived in the
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: same neighborhoods and shared a growing desperation for money. On
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: November third, twenty fifteen, a week before Amanda's death, Taylor
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: and Watson broke into an apartment at the Westlake Apartments complex.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: It was around ten o'clock at night when they forced
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: their way into a twenty one year old woman's home.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: She was alone taking a shower when she heard the
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: sound of her front door being kicked in. The two
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: men ordered her out of the shower and forced her
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: to lie on her bedroom floor. What happened next was
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: an act of brutal violence. Taylor, armed with a handgun,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: sexually assaulted the woman while Watson searched through her belongings.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Several times. Watson returned to the bedroom and told Taylor
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: to stop, saying that's not what we're here for, but
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: Taylor continued. Eventually, they forced the woman to unlock her
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: phone and computer, demanded her bank cards, and fled with
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: cash and electronics. This wasn't their first crime, and it
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be their last. On November ninth, the day before
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: Amanda's death, Taylor was allegedly involved in another violent incident.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: Rolando Gonzalez Hernandez, a twenty seven year old man was
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: found shopped to death in a parking lot at the
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: Loshaya apartment complex. His body lay next to his car.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: Police would later charge Taylor with his murder as well,
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: though this case wouldn't come to light until later. The
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: violence was escalating. Taylor in particular, seemed to be spiraling
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: into increasingly reckless and brutal behavior, and on the morning
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: of November tenth, that violence would reach its most devastating point.
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: Darkness still covered Indianapolis when Davy Blackburn woke up at
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: around four point thirty in the morning on November tenth.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: This was his routine. He liked to get to the
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: gym early before the day really began. Amanda and their
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: sixteen month old son, Weston were still sleeping. As he
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: quietly gathered his things. The front door clicked shut behind him.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: Shortly after six am. The neighborhood was silent. Most people
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: were still in bed their houses dark. Davy climbed into
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: his car and drove away, heading to La Fitness to
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: work out. He had no idea that someone was watching.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: In the pre dawn hours. Larry Taylor, Jalen Watson, and
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: Diano Gordon were already out prowling through the neighborhoods of
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: northwest Indianapolis. They had been awake for hours looking for
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: opportunities for houses to rob for easy money. Their first
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: target that morning was an apartment several miles away from
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: Sunnyfield Court. They broke in while the occupant was sleeping,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: moving through the rooms quietly taking what they could find
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: an iPhone from a bedroom, car keys, a laptop, a wallet.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: As they were leaving, they discovered something troubling. The house
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: had a security camera and it had recorded them. According
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: a later testimony, Taylor's response was immediate and chilling. He
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: wanted to go back inside and kill the sleeping occupant
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: to eliminate the witness who might identify them. Watson and
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: Gordon talked him down, convinced him to leave, but the
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: suggestion itself revealed something dark about Taylor's state of mind.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: He was willing to kill to avoid getting caught. They
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: moved on to a second house, loading their stolen items
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: into a car they had previously taken. At this second location,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: they stole televisions and a laptop, carrying them out and
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: piling them into the vehicle. By now, they had committed
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: multiple burglaries but they weren't satisfied. They wanted more. That's
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: when they noticed Davy Blackburn leaving his house on Sunnyfield Court.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: The three men watched as Davy got into his car
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: and drove away. The house looked quiet, the lights were off.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: It seemed like an easy target, possibly empty, and even
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: if someone was home, they would be asleep and vulnerable.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: They made their decision they would hit one more house.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: The front door was unlocked. Davy had left it that
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: way when he departed for the gym, a small oversight
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: that would have devastating consequences. Larry Taylor, Jalen Watson, and
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: dan Ol Gordon entered the house quietly. The living room
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: was dim that the early morning light just beginning to
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: filter through the windows. A Christmas tree stood in one corner,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: its lights off. The house had the peaceful stillness of
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: a family home at rest that the house wasn't empty.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Amanda was there, and so was little Weston, still sleeping
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: in his crib upstairs. What happened next is pieced together
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: from testimony given years later during the trial, from the
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: accounts of Watson and Gordon, who would eventually cooperate with
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: prosecutors in exchange for reduced sentences. According to their testimony,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: when the three men encountered Amanda, the situation quickly escalated.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: They found cash in a billfold and split it among themselves.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: They took a credit card. Then they realized that if
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: they could get Amanda's pin number, they could withdraw more
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: money from ATMs, but Amanda refused to cooperate. She dropped
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: to the floor, refusing to leave her house. Refusing to
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: abandon her sleeping son, Watson and Gordon made a decision.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: They would leave and go find ATMs try to use
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: the credit card they had taken. They would leave Taylor
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: behind to keep watch over Amanda in Weston. Taylor was
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: armed with a point thirty eight caliber revolver. The two
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: men left, taking the stolen car and driving away in
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: search of cash machines. They tried the first ATM, but
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: the transaction failed. They drove to a second location. This time,
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: Watson wrapped a pink sweater they had stolen from an
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: earlier burglary around his face to conceal his identity. He
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: successfully withdrew four hundred dollars from Amanda's account. The time
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: stamp on the transaction was six fifty three a m. Meanwhile,
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: back at the Blackburn House, Larry Taylor was alone with
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: Amanda and her toddler's son. What happened during those minutes
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: when Watson and Gordon were gone would remain a source
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: of horror and grief for years to come. According to testimony,
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: Taylor struck Amanda in the mouth with his gun. Then,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: according to what he would later tell his accomplices, he
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: attempted to sexually assault her. Amanda, twelve weeks pregnant and
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: desperate to protect herself and her child, resisted. Taylor shot her.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: The first bullet struck her in the upper body, but
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: he didn't stop there. As Amanda lay on the floor,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: wounded and helpless, Taylor leaned over her and fired again,
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: this time shooting her in the back of the head. Then,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: according to what he would later tell Watson and Gordon,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: he leaned even closer, looked at her face, and watched
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: her bleed. Weston remained in his crib throughout the attack,
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: miraculously unharmed. When Watson and Gordon returned to pick up Taylor,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: they noticed he seemed different, agitated perhaps, or strangely calm.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: As they drove away from the neighborhood. Taylor casually told
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: them what he had done. I smoked her, he said.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: At first, Gordon didn't believe him, but as Taylor continued
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: to talk, describing in detail how Amanda had charged at
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: him and how he had shot her to avoid being scratched,
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: the truth became impossible to deny. Watson was stunned. He
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: had wanted quick cash from burglaries. He had never imagined
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: that anyone would get hurt, much less murdered, But it
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: was too late. Amanda Blackburn lay dying on her living
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: room floor, her blood pooling around her, her unborn daughter
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: dying with her. Davy Blackburn finished his workout and left
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: the gem around seven thirty that morning. He got into
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: his car and started the drive home, his mind on
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: the day ahead, on his wife and son waiting for him.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: But when he pulled into his driveway, he didn't immediately
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: go inside. He was on the phone with a friend
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: and he didn't want the conversation to wake Amanda or Weston,
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: so he stayed in his car, sitting in the driveway,
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: talking quietly. The minutes ticked by fifteen minutes, half an hour,
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: forty five minutes. It wasn't until after eight am that
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: Davy finally ended his call and walked toward his front door.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: The house was quiet when he stepped inside, too quiet perhaps.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: He called out for Amanda, but got no response. He
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: moved through the entryway into the living room, and that's
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: when he saw her. Amanda was lying face down on
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: the floor near the fireplace and the Christmas tree. She
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: was nude from the waist down. She wasn't moving. Blood
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: surrounded her. Davy's world shattered in that instant. He rushed
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: to her side, calling her name, trying to understand what
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: had happened. When she didn't respond, he grabbed his phone
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: and dialed nine to one to one, his voice breaking
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: as he tried to to the dispatcher what he was seeing.
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: My wife. She's on the floor. There's blood everywhere. I
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: don't know what happened. Please you have to send help.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: Paramedics arrived within minutes. They found Amanda unresponsive, barely clinging
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: to life. She had suffered multiple gunshot ones to her head,
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: her back, her arm. The injuries were severe, catastrophic. They
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: rushed her to the hospital, but the prognosis was grim. Upstairs,
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: little Weston was still in his crib, unharmed but alone.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Someone likely one of the first responders, went up and
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: got him, lifting him out of his bed and carrying
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: him away from the scene of horror below. Indianapolis Metropolitan
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: Police Department officers swarmed the Blackburn home within minutes of
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Davy's call. The scene they found was one of shocking brutality.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Amanda's blood stained the living room floor. Items were missing,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: credit cards, cash, possibly other valuables. The front door had
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: been left locked. Detectives immediately began canvassing the neighborhood, knocking
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: on doors, asking if anyone had seen or heard anything
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: unusual that morning. That's when they learned about the other burglaries.
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: Two other homes on or near Sunnyfield Court had been
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: broken into that same morning. Televisions had been stolen, electronics
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: a car. The pattern was clear someone had been prowling
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: through the neighborhood looking for easy targets. Investigators also reviewed
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: security footage from neighbours' homes, hoping to catch a glimpse
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: of the perpetrators. They examined the timeline carefully. Davy had
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: left the house at six am. Amanda had been found
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: at around eight fifteen am. That meant the attack had
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: happened sometime in that two hour and fifteen minute window.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Davy himself was quickly cleared as a suspect. Security footage
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: from LA Fitness confirmed he had been at the gym
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: during the critical time period. Phone records showed he had
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: been on a call with a friend when he arrived home.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: There was no evidence whatsoever linking him to the crime,
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: but Amanda's condition was deteriorating rapidly. At the hospital, doctors
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: fought to save her life, but the damage was too severe.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: The gunshot wound to the back of her head had
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: caused massive trauma. She remained unconscious on life support. Her
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: family gathered around her bedside. On November eleventh, twenty fifteen,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: just twenty four hours after she was shot, Amanda Grace
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Blackburn died. She was twenty eight years old. Her unborn daughter, Evie,
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: died with her. The investigation intensified. Detectives knew they were
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: looking for multiple suspects, likely three, based on the pattern
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: of burglaries. They processed the evidence meticulously, DNA samples, fingerprints,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: items left behind at the various crime scenes, and then
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: they got a break. The pink sweater became the key
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: piece of evidence. During the second burglary that morning, before
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: the attack on Amanda, the three men had stolen a
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: pink sweater along with other items. When Watson later used
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: that same sweater to cover his face while withdrawing money
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: from Amanda's bank account at the ATM, he left behind
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: DNA evidence on the fabric. Forensic analysis matched the DNA
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: to Jalen Watson. The identification was solid indisputable. From there,
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: investigators were able to trace connections to Larry Taylor and
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: Diano Gordon. Cell Phone records placed all three men in
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: the area of the burglaries at the relevant times. Bank
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: records showed the ATM withdrawal using Amanda's card. Surveillance footage
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: from the ATM's captured images of the suspects, though their
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: faces were partially obscured. On November twentieth, two thousand and fifteen,
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: ten days after Amanda's death, police arrested all three men.
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: Larry Joe Taylor Junior was taken into custody at his
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: cousin's house on North Meridian Street. When officers arrived, they
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: found him there along with a cell phone that would
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: later be tied to the crimes. Jalen Watson and Diano
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: Gordon were also arrested that same day. The charges were severe.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: Taylor and watas And were both charged with murder, along
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: with multiple counts of burglary, robbery, theft, auto theft, and
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: other related offenses. Gordon faced burglary and related charges, but
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: was not initially charged with murder, apparently because evidence suggested
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: he had not entered the Blackburn home during the actual attack.
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: When Davy Blackburn learned of the arrests, he released a
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: statement that reflected both his grief and his faith. I
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: am extremely relieved, he wrote. Though everything inside of me
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: wants to hate, be angry and slip into despair, I
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: choose the route of forgiveness, grace, and hope. If there
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: is one thing I've learned from Amanda in the ten
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: years we were together, it's this that Jesus would give
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: me in our family, a heart of forgiveness. It was
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: a remarkable statement, one that spoke to the values Amanda
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: herself had lived by. The Path to justice and Amanda
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: Blackburn's case would prove to be long and complicated, marked
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: by delays, legal maneuvering, and multiple failed attempts at trial.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: In November two thousand, eight fifteen, when Taylor and Watson
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: made their first court appearance, both entered pleas of not guilty.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: The Marion County Prosecutor's office announced they would consider seeking
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: the death penalty given the severity of the crimes and
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: the aggravating factors demanded his pregnancy, the sexual assault, the
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: brutality of the attack. But as the case moved forward,
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: the two accomplices began to reconsider their positions. In October
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, nearly two years after the murder, Jalen Watson
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: made a decision. He agreed to plead guilty to one
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: count of robbery and two counts of burglary in exchange
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: for having his other charges, including murder, dismissed. The condition
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: was clear he had to cooperate fully with prosecutors in
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: their case against Larry Taylor and Deiano Gordon. He had
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: to testify about what happened that morning. Watson's sentencing was
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: delayed for years depended on his cooperation and testimony. In
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, Giano Gordon reached a similar plea agreement. She
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and robbery, resulting
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: in serious bodily injury. Like Watson, he agreed to testify
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: against Taylor, but bringing Larry Taylor to trial proved extraordinarily difficult.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: The first attempt at a trial ended in a mistrial
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: when a juror revealed she had prior knowledge of the
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: case and had lied during jury selection about her awareness
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: of it. The trial had to be thrown out and rescheduled.
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: The second attempt also ended in a mistrial, this time
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: because a juror learned about Amanda's pregnancy, information that had
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: been kept from the jury because the judge feared it
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: would prejudice them and make it impossible for Taylor to
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: receive a fair trial. Then came the COVID nineteen pandemic,
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: which delayed court proceedings across the country for months and
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: even years. There were also changes in attorneys, disputes over evidence,
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: and countless legal motions filed by both sides. It wasn't
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: until September twenty twenty two, nearly seven years after Amanda's death,
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: that Larry Taylor finally faced trial for her murder. By
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: that point, the case had been changed from a jury
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: trial to a bench trial, meaning a judge alone would
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: hear the evidence and render a verdict. Judge Grant Hawkins
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: would preside. The trial began on September nineteenth, twenty twenty two,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: in a Marion County courtroom. The prosecution's case was built
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: on a combination of physical evidence, testimony from Watson and Gordon,
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: cell phone records, bank records, and DNA analysis. Jalen Watson
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: took the stand first. He described the events of that
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: morning in November twenty fifteen, the burglaries, the stolen car,
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: the decision to target the Blackburn home. He testified that
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: when they encountered Amanda inside the house, they found cash
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: and took a credit card. He said that when Amanda
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: refused to leave the house or cooperate, he and Gordon
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: decided to leave and try to use the card at ATMs.
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: He testified the tailor stayed behind with Amanda and Weston.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: When Watson and Gordon returned after successfully withdrawing money from
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: the second ATM, Taylor was waiting for them in the
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: New neighborhood. Watson testified that Taylor told them he had
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: tried to have sex with Amanda and when she refused,
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: he shot her. I was stunned, Watson told the court,
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: I just wanted quick cash. I would never want anyone
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: to get hurt or even be in Holmes they burglarized.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: I would never commit a sexual crime. Deano Gordon's testimony
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: corroborated Watson's account. He testified that when they picked up Taylor,
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: Taylor said I smoked her. Gordon said he initially didn't
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: believe Taylor, but in a later conversation with a group
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: of people, Taylor described in more detail how Amanda had
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: charged at him and how he had shot her in
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: the head. By that point, having seen news reports about
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: the murder, Gordon knew Taylor was telling the truth. Both
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: men admitted to initially lying to police about their involvement.
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: Watson said Taylor had sent him a threatening text message
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: telling him to keep his mouth shut or else. The
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: defense argued that there was reasonable doubt about who had
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: possession of the phones where calls were made from, about
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: the reliability of the cooperating witnesses, who had obvious reasons
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: to minimize their own involvement and blame Tailor, But the
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: physical evidence was damning the DNA on the pink sweater,
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: the ATM footage, the cell phone records, the testimony from
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: two accomplices who had everything to lose by lying, since
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: their own plea deals depended on truthful testimony. Navy Blackburn
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: also took the stand. He described the morning of November tenth,
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: his routine of going to the gym early, his phone
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: conversation in the driveway, the horrifying moment when he walked
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: inside and found his wife dying on the floor. We
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: lost everything and more, he told the court. Amanda's sister
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: and father also gave statements describing the woman they had
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: loved the gaping hole her death had left in their lives.
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: On September twenty second, twenty twenty two, Judge Grant Hawkins
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: announced his verdict. Larry Joe Taylor Junior was found guilty
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: of murder. He was also found guilty of multiple counts
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: of burglary, theft, criminal confinement, and carrying a handgun without
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: a license. He was acquitted on some charges, including robbery.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: That the murder conviction was solid. We are pleased with
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: today's verdict and that we are finally able to bring
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: justice for Amanda and her family, said Marion County Prosecutor
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: Ryan Mears in a statement. I commend the Blackburn family
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: and the community for the tremendous amount of patience and
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: grace they have shown throughout this process. On October fourteenth,
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, Larry Taylor returned to court for sentencing.
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: Before Judge Hawkins handed down the sentence, he heard from
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: the victims, from Davy Blackburn, from Amanda's father and sister,
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: and from the two other burglary victims whose homes had
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: been invaded that same morning. Amanda's family spoke of their
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: loss of the woman she had been, of the future
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: that had been stolen from them. All but remarkably, they
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: also spoke of forgiveness. Despite being angry. We offer you forgiveness,
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: they told Taylor. We encourage you to be more like
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: Amanda was. Davy Blackburn called the c selfish and demonic,
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: but he also emphasized the Christian principle of forgiveness that
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: had been so central to Amanda's life. Judge Hawkins sentenced
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: Larry Taylor to eighty six years in the Indiana Department
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: of Correction. The sentence reflected the murder charge, as well
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: as the additional burglary and theft charges. Given Taylor's age
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: at the time of the crime, eighteen, the sentence meant
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: he would likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: Taylor attempted to appeal his conviction, arguing that police had
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: questioned him about his cell phone before reading him his
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: Miranda rights and that those statements should have been excluded
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: from trial, but the Indiana Court of Appeals denied his
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: appeal in November two thousand and twenty three, ruling that
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: the statements had never been admitted a trial anyway, and
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: that even if they had been, there was overwhelming evidence
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: of his guilt beyond those statements. But the legal proceedings
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: weren't quite over yet. In November twenty twenty two, Larry
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: Taylor pleaded guilty to an additional charge, the sexual assault
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: of the woman at the Westlake Apartments on November third,
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen, one week before Amanda's murder. He received
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: an additional twenty year sentence to be served consecutively to
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: his existing eighty six year sentence. That meant Larry Taylor's
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: total sentence was one hundred and six years in prison.
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: Jalen Watson, who had cooperated with prosecutors and testified against Taylor,
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: had his sentence modified. Originally sentenced to twenty nine years.
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: Fourteen years of that sentence were later suspended. After the revision,
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: he was ordered to serve ten years in prison plus
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: five years of home detention. Deano Gordon was sentenced to
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: twenty five years in prison, followed by five years of
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: probation for his role in the burglaries and for his
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: cooperation in the case against Taylor. As of today, Larry
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: Taylor is serving his sentence at the Miami Correctional Facility
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: in Bunker Hill, Indiana. Jalen Watson has reportedly been released
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: from prison and is under home detention. The story of
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: Amanda Blackburn's murder is one that shook Indianapolis and captured
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: national attention. It was a story of randomeness and cruelty,
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: of a young mother murdered in her own home, of
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: a family shattered by senseless violence. But it's also a
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: story about faith, about forgiveness, about the choice to find
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: meaning even in the darkest tragedy. In the days and
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: weeks after Amanda's death, her memorial service drew more than
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: two thousand people. They came to honor a woman who
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: had devoted her life to serving others, to helping people
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: find hope and purpose. They came to grieve, to remember,
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: and to celebrate the impact she had made in her
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: twenty eight years of life. Davy Blackburn faced an unimaginable loss.
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: He had lost not just his wife, but also his
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: unborn daughter. He was left to raise his young son, Weston, alone,
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: to navigate a future that looked nothing like what he
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: had imagined. But he chose to honor Amanda's memory by
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: continuing the work she had cared so deeply about. In
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: the years after Amanda's death, Davy started a ministry focused
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: on intercepting young people in inner city Indianapolis before they
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: could fall into lives of crime and violence, kids like
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: the ones who had killed his wife. It was an
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: act of remarkable grace, an attempt to break the cycle
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: of violence rather than simply condemn it. He later remarried
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: a woman named Christy, who shared his faith in his
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: commitment to serving others. Together, they continued the work Amanda
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: had started, seeking to help those who were hurting, to
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: offer hope to those in despair. Amanda's family established the
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: Amanda Bayer's Blackburn Legacy Fund through the Community Foundation of
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: Elkhart County. The fund supports causes Amanda cared about helping
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: people connect, creating spaces for community, making meaningful transformations for
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: those suffering from disabilities or facing difficult circumstances. There was
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: even talk of developing a park in her memory, a
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: place where children could play and parents could gather, a
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: living testament to the light she had brought into the world.
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: Amanda loved to bring people together to believe in Jesus.
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: Her father said, Therefore, if we invest in the Kingdom,
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: we can continue to make an impact in Amanda's name.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: The tragedy of Amanda Blackburn's murder raises uncomfortable questions. How
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: do we make sense of such random violence? How do
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: we reconcile the existence of evil with our beliefs about justice,
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: about goodness, about the way the world should work. There
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: are no easy answers to these questions. Amanda was a
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: woman who dedicated her life to helping others, who embodied
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: kindness and compassion, who was building a future for her family.
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: She didn't deserve what happened to her. No one does.
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: Larry Taylor was a young man, just eighteen years old
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: when he committed these crimes, but his youth doesn't excuse
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: the choices he made. The violence he enacted, the lives
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: he destroyed. He had agency, he had choice, and he
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: chose cruelty. The justice system did its work, however imperfectly,
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: however slowly. Taylor was convicted, sentenced, and removed from society.
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: But even the longest prison sentence can't undo what was done.
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: Amanda is still gone. Evie was never born, Weston grew
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: up without his mother, Davy's life was forever altered. In
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: the end, perhaps the only meaning to be found in
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: this tragedy is the meaning we create from it. The
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: choice to forgive rather than hate, the choice to build
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: rather than destroy, the choice to honor a life by
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: continuing the work that life represented. Amanda made her mission
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: to see as many people as possible come to no hope,
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: to feel loved, to find purpose. Her family and friends
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: have chosen to carry that mission forward, to ensure that
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: her story doesn't end with violence, but continues through the
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: life she touched in the legacy she left behind. As
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: you lie here tonight, warm and safe in your bed,
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: think about the fragility of life. Think about the people
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: you love, the moments you share, the ordinary days that
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: string together to create a life. Amanda Blackburn the twenty
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: eight years, she was a daughter, a sister, a wife,
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: a mother. She was a friend to many, a helper
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: to those in need. She filled her days with purpose
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: and meaning. She loved deeply and was deeply loved in return.
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: The story is a reminder that we never truly know
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: how much time we have, that every morning we wake
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: up as a gift, that the people we love deserve
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: to know they are loved. It's also a reminder of
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: the darkness that exists in the world, of the capacity
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: for cruelty that some people carry within them. We cannot
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: always protect ourselves or those we love from that darkness,
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: but we can choose how we respond to it. We
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: can choose to meet hatred with love, violence with peace,
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: despair with hope. That was Amanda's way, and in their grief,
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: her family and friends chose to honor that way. If
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: you're still awake in listening, check whether you've left your
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: little good night comment. I always check your comments before
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: I sleep too, And if you haven't already, don't forget
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: to like this video and subscribe so you don't miss
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: our next true crime stories for sleep. Meanwhile, let's move
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: on to our third story. Story three Tonight, I want
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: to tell you about a story from the heartland of America,
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: from a small farming town where everyone knew everyone, where
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: life moved at the pace of the seasons, and where
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: one family's tragedy would eventually reveal a truth that no
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: one wanted to believe. And this is the story of
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: Ryan Cooper. There's something about the Iowa countryside that feels timeless.
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: The way the cornfields stretch out like an ocean of
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: green in the summer, the way the wind carries the
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: scent of earth and growing things. In Tama County, in
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: a little town called Treer, population just over sixteen hundred,
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: This is the kind of place where generations stay put,
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: where sons inherit their father's land, and where the sound
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: of a tractor in the early morning is as familiar
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: as bird's song. This is where Ryan Roy Cooper was
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: born on the first of June nineteen seventy nine. His parents,
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: Jan and Connie Cooper brought him into a world that
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: revolved around family and farming. They already had two sons,
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: Jason and Aaron, and later they'd welcome Ryan's younger sister, Michel.
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: The Coopers were farmers through and through. Jan's father had
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: worked that land and his father before him. It was
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: a legacy written in soil and sweat. But before Ryan
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: ever took his first breath, the Cooper family knew tragedy.
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: Just a year before Ryan was born. In January of
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, his older brother Jason passed away at
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: just five years old, complications from heart surgery taking him
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: far too soon. The family carried that loss with them
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: the way families do, folding the grief into the fabric
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: of their daily lives, finding ways to keep moving forward.
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: Ryan grew up in that shadow, but also in the
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: light of a close knit family that loved fiercely. From
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: the time he could walk, you'd find him in rubber
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: boots too big for his feet, following his dad around
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: the farm, playing with toy tractors on the living room floor,
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: already dreaming of the day he'd worked that land for real.
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: His sister Michelle would later remember how even as a
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: little boy, Ryan had this quiet determination about him, this
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: certainty that he was meant to be a farmer. He
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: went to North tom A High school right there in Trayer,
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: graduating in nineteen ninety eight, and then just like he'd
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: always planned. He joined the family farm. Cooper Farms became
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: his life, his identity, his pride. He worked as a
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: cattle producer, a farmer, a truck driver, whatever needed doing.
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: The work was hard, the hours were long, but Ryan
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: never complained. He had this way about him. People said,
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: quiet but dependable, the kind of guy who'd drop everything
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: to help a neighbor, who'd show up when you needed
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: him most. His mother, Connie, handled the administrative side of things,
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: the paperwork and finances that kept the farm running smoothly.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: She was the backbone of the operation in her own way,
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 1: devoted to her children and grandchildren, making sure everything held together.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: The Coopers were a team. Ryan fell in love young,
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: got married and had his first son, Cole Roy, But
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: that marriage didn't last, and eventually Ryan found himself alone again,
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: still working the farm, still living the only life he'd
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: ever wanted. Then he met Carina Elpers. She worked part
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: time at a local salon, cutting hair and chatting with
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: clients in that easy, small town way. She seemed nice enough,
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: and before long they were married at Zion Lutheran Church
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: and dissart, making promises in front of family and friends. Together,
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: Ryan and Karina had three more children, two sons, Kate
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: and Cable Ryan and a daughter Courtland Yvan. Four kids.
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: In all, Ryan was over the moon. He was the
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: kind of dead who did bedtime stories even when he
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: was bone tired from a day in the fields, who
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: cheered at every game, who made time being a father.
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: People said, that's what Ryan lived for. More than the farm,
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: More than anything, he lived for his kids. Life had
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: its rhythms, the changing seasons, the planting and harvest, Friday
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: night football games, trips to the Lake of the Ozarks
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: with the kids for jet skiing and boat rides. Ryan
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: was a fan of the Iowa State Cyclones, liked tossing
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: back a bush light with his buddies, enjoyed snowmobiling in winter.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: He had this thing about keeping his equipment immaculate, customizing
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: and accessorizing his tractors and trucks, making sure everything was spotless.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: Friends joked that you could always spot Ryan coming a
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: mile away, phone clipped to his hip headset over his
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: baseball cap work, boots dusty but lace tight. Then, in
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: May of twenty twenty, the Coopers faced another devastating loss. Connie,
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: the family matriarch, passed away at seventy years old. Ryan
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: took it hard. Everyone did. She'd been such a central
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: figure in their lives, and suddenly there was this hole
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: that couldn't be filled. But Ryan kept going, kept working,
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: kept showing up for his kids. That's what you did.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: You kept going that fall. In September of twenty twenty,
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: something shifted in Ryan's marriage. He removed Karina from the
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: family business phone planned. It seems like a small thing, maybe,
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: but in a marriage, these little decisions speak volumes. There
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: was a growing distance between them, a distrust creeping in.
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: Ryan had seen something on Karina's phone that bothered him,
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: a notification from someone named Houston Danker, one of her
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: salon clients. The message was inappropriate, referencing a married woman,
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: mentioning that he'd seen her naked. When Ryan confronted Karina
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: about it, she'd brushed it off, said it was nothing,
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: that Houston had meant to send it to someone else.
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: Ryan wanted to believe her, or maybe he just didn't
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: want to deal with it. Either way, he let it go.
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: But something had changed, and that something was the beginning
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: of the end. Houston Danker was nineteen years younger than
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: Karina Cooper. He was twenty seven when he started coming
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: to her salon, and somewhere along the way their relationship
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: became something more than stylist and client. They connected on Snapchat,
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: that app where messages disappear, where conversations can be hidden,
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: where secrets feel safer. Somehow the messages started innocently enough, maybe,
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: but they didn't stay that way. Karina and Houston began
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: talking more and more, fantasizing about a life together, about
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: getting married, about having children through IVF. They exchanged thousands
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: of messages over the months. Karina told him she hated Ryan.
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: She called her husband the sperm donor. She said she
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: wished he would die, wished a semi truck would hit him,
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: anything to get him out of the picture. No survivors,
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: She wrote, It's chilling to read those words now, knowing
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: what happened happened, But at the time maybe it felt
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: like fantasy to her, like venting, like words that couldn't
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: hurt anyone because they were just words disappearing into the
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: digital ether. Except they weren't just words because Houston was
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: listening and Houston was willing to help. According to later testimony,
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: Karina and Houston's relationship became physical at least once, in
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: February of twenty twenty one. Afterward, Karina said she felt guilty,
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: said she ended the physical side of things, but the
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: messages continued. The planning continued, because by then they'd moved
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: from fantasy to something darker. They'd started talking about how
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 1: to actually make it happen, how to kill Ryan Cooper
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: and get away with it. Houston's Google search history would
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: later reveal the depths of their planning. He searched for
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: things like best ways to kill somebody with no way
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: for anybody to find out who did it, and how
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: to positively get away with murder, and how to delete
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: Snapchat data he was researching. He was serious, and Karina
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: she had a motive beyond just wanting Ryan gone. Ryan
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: had life insurance policies more than half a million dollars worth,
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: and Karina was the sole beneficiary five hundred and fifteen
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars to be exact, enough to start over, enough
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: to build that fantasy life she'd been texting about with Houston.
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: All that stood in the way was Ryan. The night
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: of June seventeenth, twenty twenty one was unremarkable Ryan and
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: Karina had been with family earlier in the evening, and
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: they came home around eight o'clock. The kids were put
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: to bed, the house settled into that quiet that comes
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: after a long day. Ryan was tired. He'd been working hard,
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: the way he always did, and at some point he
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: fell asleep in his recliner in the living room. It
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: wasn't unusual after a day on the farm. Sometimes you
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 1: just sink into the nearest chair and that's where you stay.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: That night, while Ryan slept, Houston Danker's phone pinged cell
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: towers near the Cooper home three times between nine oh
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: four and nine forty in the evening, His phone passed
• 1:06:03
  Speaker 1: by that farmhouse like he was circling, waiting planning. The
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: authorities would piece this together later from phone records and
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: cell tower data, creating a timeline that told the story
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: Ryan would never get to defend himself against. Then, in
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: the early hours of June eighteenth, at four thirty five
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: in the morning, a nine one one call came in.
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: It was Coarina Cooper and she was screaming. Someone was
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: in the house. She said she'd heard gunshots. She needed help.
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: Aaron Cooper, Ryan's brother lived just a mile down the road.
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: Karina had called him first, before even calling nine one one,
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: crying hysterical, begging him to come. Aaron called the emergency
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: line and then rushed to his brother's house. What he
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: found there would haunt him for the rest of his life.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: Ryan was in his recliner, blood everywhere, two gunshot wounds
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: to the left side of his face. Both shots had
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: been fired at close range. You could tell from the stipling,
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 1: the little burnmarks around the wounds where gunpowder had touched skin.
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 1: And Karina, she was sitting on top of Ryan's body,
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: covered in his blood, sobbing uncontrollably. The scene was chaos,
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: blood pooled on the floor, spattered on the walls. But
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: here's the thing that struck the first responders right away.
• 1:07:17
  Speaker 1: There was no sign of forced entry. None of the
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: doors had been jimmied open, no windows broken, nothing stolen.
• 1:07:24
  Speaker 1: The three children sleeping upstairs were completely unharmed, hadn't heard
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: a thing, and there was no gun, no weapon anywhere
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: near Ryan's body, just a single point two two caliber
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: shell casing on the floor nearby, one casing. But Ryan
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: had been shot twice. Where was the second one? Where
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: was the gun The deputies knew immediately that something was
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: off about this scene. It didn't look like a burglary
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: gone wrong. It looked targeted, intentional, and the only people
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: who'd been in that house were Karina, the kids, and
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: Ryan himself. They questioned Karina at the scene. She was distraught,
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: barely coherent, but she gave them her story. He'd gone
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: to bed normally, she said, woke up to a loud noise,
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 1: thought she heard Ryan snore once. When he didn't answer
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: her calling his name, she turned on the lights and
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: found him like this, shot bleeding, dying or already dead.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: She didn't know what happened. She didn't know who could
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: have done this. When the Iowa State Medical Examiner performed
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: the autopsy the next day, they confirmed what everyone already knew.
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: Two gunshot wounds to the head, both independently fatal. No
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: alcohol or drugs in his system. Ryan Cooper had been
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: forty two years old, he'd been murdered while he slept
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: in his own home, and someone had gotten away with it.
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: For almost three years, the case went nowhere. The Iowa
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: Division of Criminal Investigation worked it alongside the Toma County
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: Sheriff's office, but there were no arrests, no charges, just
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: a family torn apart by grief and confusion in a
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: community that couldn't understand how something like this could happen
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: in their quiet little town. Ryan's sister, Michelle would later
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 1: talk about those years, about how the family suspected Karina
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: almost from the beginning, but had to keep quiet, had
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: to keep her tending, had to keep hugging her and
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: telling her they loved her at family gatherings because they
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: needed to protect their relationship with Ryan's children. They had
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 1: to maintain that facade so that when the truth finally
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: came out, they wouldn't lose access to those kids. It
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: was torture, she said, knowing what they suspected, but not
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: being able to say anything, having to watch Karina play
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: the grieving widow while they ached with their own grief,
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: and Karina did play that role. She collected on Ryan's
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: life insurance policies, all of it more than five hundred
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars paid out to the sole beneficiary. While the
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: investigation dragged on, she continued living in Trayer, raising the kids,
• 1:09:50
  Speaker 1: going about her life. Some people in town sympathized with her,
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: thought she'd been through something terrible. Others had their doubts.
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: Small towns are like That word gets around. But it
• 1:10:01
  Speaker 1: wasn't until digital forensic experts started digging through Karina's phone
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: records that the case finally broke open. They recovered those
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 1: Snapchat messages, the ones Karina thought had disappeared forever, thousands
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: of them, Messages between Karna and Houston, danker planning Ryan's murder,
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: fantasizing about their life together afterward, talking about the life
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: insurance money, about how they'd finally be free. Four days
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: after Ryan's death, someone had remotely deleted Karina's Snapchat account,
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 1: even though her phone had already been seized by police.
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 1: The digital footprints are harder to erase than people think.
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: The investigators kept digging, kept recovering data, kept building their case.
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: And then there were the messages from the night of
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: the murder itself. Around three point thirty in the morning,
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: about an hour before Karina called nine to one one,
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: Houston sent her a text, remember those casings, no if
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 1: sands or butts. Karna replied, absolutely, one hundred percent. Those
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: messages were damning. They showed premeditation, planning, coordination. They showed
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: that both Corina and Houston knew exactly what was about
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: to happen, and they were worried about leaving evidence behind
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: the shell casings, the physical proof that someone had fired
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: a gun in that house. In February of twenty twenty four,
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: nearly three years after Ryan's death, Corrina Cooper was arrested
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: and charged with first degree murder. The news rippled through
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: Trayer like a stone dropped in still water. Some people
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: were shocked, others nodded knowingly. Ryan's family felt something like
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: relief mixed with devastation. Finally, finally, someone was being held accountable.
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: Two months later, in April, Houston Danker was also arrested,
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: charged with first degree murder for acting in concert with Corina.
• 1:11:47
  Speaker 1: He'd been the one circling the house that night, He'd
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: been the one helping plan it all. The prosecution believed
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: that either Houston had pulled the trigger while Kriina helped,
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: or Karina had done it herself while Houston waited near by. Either,
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: under Iowa law, both of them were equally guilty. When
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: detectives first questioned Houston back in twenty twenty one, right
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: after the murder, he'd claimed he barely knew Karina said
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: he was her gay best friend from the salon, nothing
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: romantic between them, But the recovered messages told a completely
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 1: different story. They showed a sexual relationship, love confessions detailed
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: plans for a future together. Houston had lied, and now
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: years later those lies were catching up with him. Karina's
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: trial began in July of twenty twenty five. It had
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: been moved from Toma County to Lynn County because of
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: all the pre trial publicity. Everyone in Treyer knew about
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: the case had opinions about it. A fair trial there
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: would have been nearly impossible. The prosecution laid out their
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: case methodically. They presented the digital evidence, those thousands of
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: Snapchat messages. They showed the jury Karina's bank records, how
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 1: her accounts had been repeatedly overdrawn in the months before
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: Ryan's death. They brought in the insurance agent to confirm
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: that Karina was the sole beneficiary on those policies. They
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: presented cell tower data showing Houston's phone near the Cooper
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: House the night of the murder. A blood stained analyst
• 1:13:15
  Speaker 1: testified that Ryan had been shot, while reclined that he'd
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: never moved. Afterward, that the blood spatter patterns showed the
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: living room door had been closed during the shooting, then
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: opened while the blood was still wet, leaving distinct patterns
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: that told the story of timing of someone manipulating the scene.
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: The medical examiner explained how both wounds were fatal, fired
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: at close range while Ryan slept, how he wouldn't have
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: known what was happening, how it would have been quick
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: at least. The prosecution argued that there were two possible scenarios.
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: Either Karina had shot Ryan herself, or Houston had done
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: it while Karina ate it and ebedded, But under Iowa law,
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: it didn't matter who pulled the trigger, if they'd planned
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: it together, if they'd acted in concert, they were both
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: guilty of first degree murder. The defect Vunce tried to
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: argue that Houston had acted alone, that he'd been manipulative,
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: that Karina had been pulled into his fantasy without really
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 1: understanding what was going to happen. They painted Houston as
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: the mastermind and Karina as a victim of his manipulation.
• 1:14:13
  Speaker 1: But those messages, they were hard to explain away. I
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: hate him, I wish he would die. Remember those casings
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 1: absolutely one hundred percent. Those weren't the words of someone
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: who'd been tricked. Those were the words of someone who
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: knew exactly what was happening and wanted it to happen.
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: Karina took the stand in her own defense, which is
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: always a gamble. She claimed that Houston had killed Ryan,
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: that she hadn't known he was going to do it,
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: that she'd been too scared of Houston to tell the
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: police about his involvement. But under cross examination, her story
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: fell apart. The timeline didn't make sense, her explanations for
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: the messages didn't hold up. After six days of testimony
• 1:14:53
  Speaker 1: in more than three hours of deliberation, the jury came
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: back with a verdict guilty of first degree murder. Karina
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: Cooper sat at the defense table as the verdict was read,
• 1:15:04
  Speaker 1: her face expressionless. Behind her. Ryan's family held each other,
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: tears streaming down their faces. It wasn't joy, exactly. It
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: was something more complicated than that. Relief, maybe validation, the
• 1:15:20
  Speaker 1: knowledge that Ryan's death hadn't been in vain, that someone
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: was finally being held accountable. In August, just before his
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 1: own trial was set to begin, Shuston Danker changed his
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: plea to guilty. Maybe his lawyers had told him the
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 1: evidence was overwhelming. Maybe he'd watched Karina's trial and knew
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 1: he didn't stand a chance, Or maybe after all that time,
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: something in his conscience finally cracked. He admitted to the
• 1:15:43
  Speaker 1: judge that he and Karina had been lovers, that they'd
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: planned the murder together over four to five months, that
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: he'd helped kill Ryan Cooper. The sentencing hearings came in
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: September and October of twenty twenty five, life more than
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 1: four years after Ryan's death her first degree murder. In Iowa,
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: there's only one sentence, life in prison without the possibility
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: of parole. But before the judge handed down that mandatory sentence,
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: Ryan's family got to speak. Michelle Wilson, Ryan's sister, stood
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 1: at the witness stand and looked directly at Karina. Her
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: statement was powerful, raw, pulling no punches. She talked about how,
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: from almost the very beginning that the family had known
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: Karina was involved, but had to keep quiet, had to
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: live behind a facade while investigators built an air tight case.
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: She talked about the torture of that, the having to
• 1:16:36
  Speaker 1: hug Karina and smile and pretend while knowing what she'd done.
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: She talked about Ryan, about the little brother she'd loved,
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: the man who'd been ten years younger than her, who'd
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 1: grown up following their dad around the farm, who'd been
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: so proud to carry on the Cooper legacy. She talked
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: about how Ryan had been devoted to his children, how
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: they'd been his whole world, About how Karina had robbed
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 1: those children of not just their father, but in a way,
• 1:17:02
  Speaker 1: their mother too, since she'd be spending the rest of
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: her life in prison. You sentenced Ryan to death, Michelle said,
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: her voice steady, despite the tears, and you sentenced the
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 1: rest of us to life without Ryan. There is no justice,
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: There will be no forgiveness. What I hope for now
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 1: is simply closure. She ended her statement by looking Karina
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: directly in the eye and saying, go to hell. Heather Cooper,
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: Ryan's sister in law, and Aaron's wife, also spoke. She
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: talked about how Ryan's children now lived with her and Erin,
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: how they were raising them alongside their own kids, trying
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: to give them all the love and support Ryan would
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: have given them himself, but she acknowledged that she was
• 1:17:41
  Speaker 1: no substitute for their father. No one could be the
• 1:17:44
  Speaker 1: judge when he finally spoke, called Ryan's death a senseless crime.
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: He told Karina that her actions had deprived her children
• 1:17:51
  Speaker 1: of not only their father, but also their mother, that
• 1:17:54
  Speaker 1: the ripples of what she'd done would spread through generations,
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: affecting people who hadn't even been born yet. Karina Cooper
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: was sent to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
• 1:18:04
  Speaker 1: She's currently incarcerated at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: in Mitchellville, where she'll remain for the rest of her
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: natural life. She's forty eight years old. Now she'll never
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: be free again. Kosten Danker received the same sentence at
• 1:18:17
  Speaker 1: his hearing in October. He didn't make a statement, didn't
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: try to explain himself or apologize. What could he say?
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: That he was sorry, that he wished he'd made different choices.
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: Words like that feel hollow in the face of what
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 1: he'd done. Michelle Wilson spoke at his sentencing too. She
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 1: told Houston that he'd tried to steal Ryan's life, Ryan's children,
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: Ryan's dream of a farming legacy, but that he could
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: never be Ryan, that he'd failed at that just as
• 1:18:44
  Speaker 1: thoroughly as he had failed at getting away with murder.
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: If she would have just remembered those cases, Michelle said,
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: with bitter irony, Or if he would have known to
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: make his Google searches private. So many mistakes they made,
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: but those are the things you look learn when you
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: kill somebody. Ryan's children are being raised by Aaron and Heather,
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 1: now surrounded by family growing up on the same land
• 1:19:11
  Speaker 1: their father loved, learning about him through stories and photographs
• 1:19:15
  Speaker 1: and the way people's voices soften when they say his name.
• 1:19:18
  Speaker 1: The Cooper family started a foundation in Ryan's honor, the
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: Ryan Cooper Family Foundation, dedicated to helping families going through
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: hard times, just like Ryan would have done himself. Every year,
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: on Father's Day, the anniversary of Ryan's death, the family
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: gathers to remember him. They talk about the good times,
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 1: the jokes he used to make, the way he'd light
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: up when his kids accomplished something. They're determined to make
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 1: sure Ryan's children know who their father really was, not
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: just the victim in a crime story, but the man
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: who loved farming and his kids in cold bushicks and
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: snowmobiling and customizing his tractors until they shined the town
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: of Trayer population sixteen hundred is still processing what happened,
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: how something like this could occur in their quiet community
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 1: where everyone knows everyone, where your neighbors are the people
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: you've known since kindergarten. Some people drive by the Cooper
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: farm and feel a chill. Others make a point of
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: stopping by to check on Aaron, to ask about the kids,
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: to remind the family that they're not alone. The cornfields
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 1: still stretch to the horizon. The seasons still change. The
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: farm still operates, though now it's air and running things,
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 1: carrying on that legacy that started with his great grandfather,
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: working land that has Cooper blood in sweat and tears
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: mixed into the soil, and somewhere in all of that,
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 1: Ryan's memory persists not as the man who was murdered,
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: not primarily as the victim in a true crime story,
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: but as the father, the brother, the son, the friend,
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: the neighbor who drop everything to help when someone needed it,
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: the man who lived quietly and loved deeply, and died
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: too soon at the hands of people he should have
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: been able to trust. His sister, Michelle said it best
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 1: at that sentencing hearing. We will never stop saying Ryan's
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 1: name and they haven't. They won't because that's what you
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: do when you love someone. You keep saying their name,
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: you keep telling their story. You make sure that whatever
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: darkness tried to swallow them up, it doesn't get to
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: define who they were. Ryan Roy Cooper was born on
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: June first, nineteen seventy nine. He died on June eighteenth,
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, at forty two years old. In between
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: those dates, he lived a life that mattered. He was
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: a son who made his parents proud, a brother who
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: was loved fiercely, a father who lived for his children,
• 1:21:32
  Speaker 1: a farmer who worked land his ancestors had worked before him,
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 1: a neighbor who showed up when people needed help, a
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: friend who was loyal and true. That's who Ryan Cooper was.
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 1: That's what we remember. That's the story that matters. Please,
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: I'm just putting it out there. If you're still awake
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: in listening, drop a comment, let me know where you're
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 1: tuning in from the time, in your part the world,
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: or just say something to let me know you're still
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: with me. And of course, if you haven't already liked
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: this video and subscribe so you don't miss the next
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 1: true crime story for sleep.
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 2: Now, let's move on to our fourth story.
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 1: Story four tonight. We're going to explore a story that
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: unfolded in the quiet neighborhoods of San Francisco, a tale
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: of friendship twisted into something darker, of choices made in
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: moments that can never be taken back. This is a
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 1: story that asks us to consider the fragile nature of
• 1:22:47
  Speaker 1: trust and the shadows that can exist behind even the
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: most familiar faces. Take a deep breath if you'd like,
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 1: and let's begin. Our story centers on a young man
• 1:23:02
  Speaker 1: named Alex Woodworth. Born in nineteen ninety two. Alex grew
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: up in the Bay Area of California, a place known
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 1: for its rolling fog, steep hills, and a culture that
• 1:23:12
  Speaker 1: prided itself on acceptance and innovation. Alex was, by most accounts,
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: a gentle soul. Those who knew him described a young
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: man with a kind demeanor, someone who struggled at times,
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: but who remained open hearted in a world that could
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 1: be harsh. In his early twenties, Alex found himself navigating
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 1: the complexities of young adulthood. Like many people his age,
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 1: he was searching for his place in the world, trying
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: to understand who he was and what he wanted from life.
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 1: He faced challenges, as we all do, but through it all,
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: Alex maintained connections with friends and family, people who cared
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 1: about him deeply. Among his circle of friends was a
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 1: man named Sean Angeld. Sean was roughly the same age
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: as Alex, and the two had known each other for
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: some time. They moved in similar social circles in San Francisco,
• 1:23:57
  Speaker 1: at sprawling city by the Bay, where the tech boomag
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 1: created stark contrasts between wealth and poverty, where Victorian houses
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: stood alongside modern glass towers, and where people from all
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 1: walks of life tried to carve out their own existence.
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: Sean had his own struggles. He had faced difficulties with
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: substance abuse, periods of instability, and the kind of challenges
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: that can make life feel like an uphill battle. But
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: in Alex, he had found someone who didn't judge, someone
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 1: who extended friendship even when times were difficult. There was
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: someone else in this story too. Her name was Morrison Lampley,
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: though those who knew her often called her Melissa. She
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: was younger than Sean and Alex by several years, born
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety seven, Melissa had come from the Pacific
• 1:24:41
  Speaker 1: Northwest from Portland, Oregon, and had drifted down to the
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: Bay Area. She and Sean had formed a relationship, the
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: kind of intense connection that sometimes develops between people who
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: find themselves on the margins of society. In the early
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: months of twenty sixteen, these three lives were intertwined. Alex, Sean,
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 1: and Melissa spend time together in San Francisco's hate Ashbury neighborhood,
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: that famous district once known as the heart of the
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: counterculture movement in the nineteen sixties. By twenty sixteen, the
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: neighborhood had changed become more gentrified, but it still attracted
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: young people looking for community, for acceptance for something they
• 1:25:18
  Speaker 1: couldn't quite name. February in San Francisco can be cold.
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: The fog rolls in from the Pacific Ocean, wrapping the
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 1: city in a damp chill that seeps into your bones.
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 1: On the night of February twenty fifth, twenty sixteen, the
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 1: city was quiet, in the way cities can be when
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 1: darkness falls, when the tourists have retreated to their hotels
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 1: and the locals have settled into their evening routines. That night,
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 1: Alex Woodworth, Sean Engeld, and Morrison Lampley were together. The
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 1: exact details of their evening have been pieced together through
• 1:25:52
  Speaker 1: witness statements, physical evidence, and the confessions that would come later.
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 1: What we know is this, at some point during the night,
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 1: something went terribly irreversibly wrong. According to the accounts that emerged,
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 1: the three were in the hate Ashbury area. They may
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 1: have been under the influence of substances. This was later
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 1: suggested by various sources close to the investigation. What began
• 1:26:15
  Speaker 1: as an ordinary evening among friends transformed into something violent.
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: Sean Engeld and Morrison Lampley attacked Alex Woodworth. The assault
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: was brutal. Alex was beaten and stabbed multiple times. The
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: violence inflicted upon him was severe, methodical, and ultimately fatal.
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 1: This young man, who had extended friendship and trust, found
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: himself betrayed in the most fundamental way possible. The reasons
• 1:26:39
  Speaker 1: behind this attack remained somewhat murky, filtered through the fog
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 1: of conflicting accounts and the unreliable narratives provided by those involved.
• 1:26:47
  Speaker 1: Some reports suggested that Shawn and Melissa had become convinced,
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 1: perhaps through paranoia or delusion, enhanced by drug use, that
• 1:26:55
  Speaker 1: Alex posed some kind of threat to them. Others hinted
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: at a possible robbery motive. Still, others suggested the attack
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: may have had elements of a thrill, seeking something darker
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 1: and more disturbing than simple fear or greed. What is
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 1: certain is that Alex Woodworth died that night. His life
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 1: ended on the San Francisco street, his body left behind
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 1: as Shawn and Melissa fled the scene. He was twenty
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: three years old. When someone dies violently, there's a moment
• 1:27:25
  Speaker 1: before the discovery, when the world continues as normal people
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: walk past cars, drive by, Life moves forward, unaware that
• 1:27:33
  Speaker 1: something terrible has occurred just out of sight. Alex's body
• 1:27:36
  Speaker 1: was discovered in the early morning hours of February twenty six.
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 1: The location was in hate Ashbury, that neighborhood of colorful
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: Victorian houses and busy intersections. When the police arrived, they
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 1: found a scene of violence that spoke to the intensity
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 1: of what had occurred. The San Francisco Police Department began
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: their investigation immediately. Homicide detectives canvassed the area, looking for witnesses,
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: collecting evidence, trying to piece together what had happened and
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: who was responsible. In a city the size of San Francisco,
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: with its population of over eight hundred thousand people, finding
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: suspects in a street killing could be challenging, but this
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: case would take an unexpected turn. The medical examiner confirmed
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: what was already apparent from the scene. Alex had died
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 1: for multiple stab wounds and blunt forced trauma. The attack
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 1: had been sustained and vicious. This was not a crime
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: of passion that ended after a single blow, but rather
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: something that continued well past the point when Alex would
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: opposed any threat. Meanwhile, Shawn eng Gold and Morrison Lampley
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 1: had left the city. They traveled north away from San Francisco,
• 1:28:38
  Speaker 1: away from the scene of what they had done. They
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: made their way up the coast of California, heading toward
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 1: another state, perhaps believing that distance would provide safety. They
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 1: went to Oregon, to the area around Portland, a city
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: where Melissa had grown up, and there, incredibly, they would
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 1: kill again. In the Fairview area, just outside Portland, there
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 1: lived a young woman named Audrey care. She was twenty
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: three years old, the same age Alex Woodworth had been.
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: Audrey was a traveler at heart, someone who had moved
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 1: through life with a sense of adventure and openness to experience.
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: Those who knew Audrey remembered her warmth, her intelligence, her
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: desire to connect with others. She had spent time traveling,
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: had lived in different places, and had eventually found herself
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: in the Portland area. She was working at a hiking
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: supply store, the job that suited her love of the outdoors.
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: On March third, twenty sixteen, just six days after Alex
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 1: Woodworth's murder in San Francisco, Audrey's body was discovered in
• 1:29:37
  Speaker 1: a public park in Fairview, Oregon. She had been killed
• 1:29:40
  Speaker 1: in a manner strikingly similar to Alex, stabbed multiple times
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: and beaten. The violence was once again excessive and brutal.
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 1: The Fairview Police departments and the Moltenauma County Sheriff's Office
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: launched an investigation. They collected evidence from the scene, interviewed
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: potential witnesses, and began the painstaking work of trying to
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: to identify who was responsible for this young woman's death.
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 1: What they didn't know yet, what couldn't have been immediately apparent,
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: was that Audrey Carey's murder was connected to another killing.
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 1: Over six hundred miles to the south. The connection would
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: become clear soon enough. When police investigate a murder, they
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 1: followed the evidence wherever it leads. Sometimes that evidence points
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 1: in unexpected directions. Sometimes the pieces of a puzzle fall
• 1:30:29
  Speaker 1: into place quickly, and sometimes separate investigations running in parallels
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: suddenly converge. Witnesses near the park in Fairview had seen
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 1: people matching the descriptions of Sean and Melissa in the
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 1: area around the time of Audrey's death. Police began to
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: circulate these descriptions, asking the public for help in identifying
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 1: potential suspects. It didn't take long. Sean Engeld and Morrison
• 1:30:52
  Speaker 1: Lampley were located and taken into custody in Oregon. Initially,
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: they were questioned about Audrey Carey's murder, but as investigators
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 1: do deeper, as they connected the dots between the two cases,
• 1:31:03
  Speaker 1: the full scope of what had occurred began to emerge.
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 1: Both Sean and Melissa eventually confessed to killing Alex Woodworth
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: and Audrey Carey. The confessions came separately, but they aligned
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 1: in the crucial details. They admitted to the violence, to
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 1: the stabbings, to leaving two young people dead in the
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: span of less than a week. The motivations they provided
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: were vague and contradictory. At various times, they claimed they
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 1: had felt threatened, that they needed money, that they had
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: been in the grip of paranoia. Some reports suggested they
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: had been influenced by drugs, possibly methmphetamine, which can induce
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: psychosis and paranoia in heavy users, but ultimately no explanation
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: could make sense of why two lives had been taken
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 1: so violently and so needlessly. The legal proceedings that followed
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: would unfold across two states, involving multiple jurisdictions and complex
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: questions of where and how Shawan angled and Morse and
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 1: Lampley should be tried and sentenced. In the American legal system,
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 1: when someone is accused of murder, they have the right
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: to a trial, to present a defense, to have their
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: case heard, but they also have the right to plead
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 1: guilty to accept responsibility for what they've done in exchange
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: for a negotiated sentence. Sean A. Gold and Morrison Lampley
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 1: both chose to plead guilty rather than go to trial.
• 1:32:22
  Speaker 1: This meant that the families of Alex Woodworth and Audrey
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 1: Carey would be spared the ordeal of a lengthy trial,
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 1: of having to hear every detail of how their loved
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 1: ones died, but it also meant that some questions might
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 1: never be fully answered. In California, both defendants pleaded guilty
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 1: to the murder of Alex Woodworth. The charges included first
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: degree murder, and the circumstances of the crime meant they
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 1: faced significant prison time. The San Francisco Superior courts sentenced
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: them to lengthy terms. In Oregon, similar proceedings took place
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 1: for the murder of Audrey Carey. Again, both pleaded guilty,
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 1: and again they received substantial sentences. The exact structure of
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: their sentences was complex, involving considerations of how time would
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 1: be served across different jurisdictions, and whether sentences would run
• 1:33:05
  Speaker 1: concurrently or consecutively. Morrison Lampley, who was nineteen years old
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: at the time of the murders, received a sentence of
• 1:33:13
  Speaker 1: twenty six years to life. In the California case. Sean Angeld,
• 1:33:17
  Speaker 1: who was twenty four at the time, received similar sentencing
• 1:33:20
  Speaker 1: and Oregon additional years were added for Audrey's murder. These
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 1: sentences meant that both would spend decades in prison. Likely
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: the majority of their remaining lives, they would grow old
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: behind bars, their youth consumed by the consequences of choices
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: made during a span of less than a week. It's
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 1: important in telling a story like this not to let
• 1:33:40
  Speaker 1: it be only about the perpetrators, about the violence and
• 1:33:43
  Speaker 1: the legal proceedings, because at the center of this story
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: are two people who lost their lives, two young people
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: who had families and friends and futures that were stolen
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 1: from them. Alex Woodworth was remembered by those who knew
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: him as someone who struggled but who kept trying. Life
• 1:33:58
  Speaker 1: hadn't been easy for him, but he may attained his
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 1: capacity for friendship, for connection, for kindness. His family spoke
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 1: of their grief, of the whole left in their lives
• 1:34:07
  Speaker 1: by his absence. In the hate Ashbury neighborhood where Alex died,
• 1:34:12
  Speaker 1: friends and community members held vigils. They lit candles, shared memories,
• 1:34:17
  Speaker 1: and more to life cut short. These gatherings served as
• 1:34:21
  Speaker 1: a reminder that every murder victim is more than just
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: a statistic, more than just a name and a case file.
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: They are someone's son, someone's friend, someone who mattered. Alex's
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 1: murder also highlighted ongoing concerns about safety and street crime
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 1: in San Francisco, particularly issues related to drug use and
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 1: homelessness in neighborhoods like the Hate Community. Activists used the
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 1: tragedy as a catalyst for conversations about how to better
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 1: serve vulnerable populations, how to prevent violence, how to create
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: a safer city for everyone. Audrey Carey's family and friends
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: were devastated by her loss. Described as vibrant, curious, and
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: full of life. She had traveled extensively, had lived in
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: Hawaii for a time, and had a deep love for
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 1: nature and the outdoors. Her work at a hiking supply
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 1: store reflected her passions. Those who knew Audrey organized memorials
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 1: in her honor. They shared stories of her adventurous spirit,
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 1: her laughter, her warmth. They spoke of the unfairness of
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: her death, of how someone so young and full of
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 1: potential had been taken so suddenly and so violently. Audrey's
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 1: murderer also raised questions in the Portland area about public
• 1:35:33
  Speaker 1: safety in parks and recreational areas. The fact that she
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 1: had been killed in a public space during daylight hours
• 1:35:39
  Speaker 1: was particularly disturbing to many residents. It prompted discussions about
• 1:35:43
  Speaker 1: park patrols, about how to balance the openness and accessibility
• 1:35:46
  Speaker 1: of public spaces with the need for safety. In both cases,
• 1:35:49
  Speaker 1: the families faced not only the immediate grief of loss,
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 1: but also the long process of healing that follows homicide.
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 1: Unlike deaths from illness or accident, murder adds layers of trauma,
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: the knowledge of intentional violence, the legal proceedings, the media attention,
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 1: the unanswerable questions about why. Even with confessions and convictions,
• 1:36:10
  Speaker 1: cases like this leave us with questions, how do two people,
• 1:36:13
  Speaker 1: neither of whom had previously committed murder, kill two different
• 1:36:18
  Speaker 1: people in two different states in the span of six days.
• 1:36:21
  Speaker 1: What drives that kind of violence? Some experts have suggested
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: that substance abuse played a significant role. Methamphetamine in particular,
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: can produce severe paranoia, hallucinations, and a disconnect from reality.
• 1:36:34
  Speaker 1: Heavy users can experience what sometimes called meth psychosis, a
• 1:36:38
  Speaker 1: state in which they genuinely believe they are in danger
• 1:36:41
  Speaker 1: or that others are threatening them. Could this explain the
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 1: claims that Sean and Melissa felt threatened by Alex Perhaps,
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 1: though it doesn't explain all aspects of the crimes. Others
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 1: have pointed to the phenomenon of fully adieux, a French
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 1: term meaning madness of two, in which a delusion or
• 1:36:56
  Speaker 1: mental illness is shared between two people in close relationship.
• 1:37:00
  Speaker 1: In such cases, one person's paranoia or disturbed thinking can
• 1:37:03
  Speaker 1: be adopted by another, creating a feedback loop that reinforces
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 1: and amplifies irrational beliefs. The intense relationship between Sean and Melissa,
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 1: combined with isolation and possible substance use, might have created
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 1: conditions for this kind of shared disturbance. There's also the
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 1: uncomfortable question of whether these crimes had an element of
• 1:37:22
  Speaker 1: thrill seeking to them. Some evidence suggested that the violence
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 1: went beyond what would be necessary for robbery or self defense,
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 1: that there was an excess to it that hinted at
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 1: something darker. This is difficult territory to navigate because it
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 1: forces us to confront the capacity for cruelty that exists
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 1: in human nature. Whatever the explanations, two people are dead
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: who should still be alive, two families are forever changed,
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 1: and two perpetrators will spend the rest of their lives
• 1:37:48
  Speaker 1: in prison, their own futures extinguished by their own actions.
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 1: Cases like the murders of Alex Woodworth and Audrey Carey
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 1: force us to think of about larger questions. We live
• 1:38:02
  Speaker 1: in a society where substance abuse, mental illness, and homelessness
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 1: create vulnerable populations. Both victims and perpetrators in this case were,
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 1: in different ways, part of these vulnerable groups. What systems
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 1: failed that might have prevented these deaths? Were there intervention
• 1:38:18
  Speaker 1: points that were missed? Should there have been more resources
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 1: available for people struggling with addiction and mental health issues.
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 1: These are the kinds of questions that policymakers and community
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 1: leaders grapple with in the aftermath of tragedies like this.
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 1: There's also the question of how we think about justice.
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 1: Lengthy prison sentences serve multiple purposes. They punish the offenders,
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 1: they protect society by removing dangerous individuals from the community,
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 1: and they provide some sense of justice to the victims' families.
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 1: But do they address the root causes of violence? Do
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 1: they heal the harm that's been done? These are questions
• 1:38:51
  Speaker 1: without easy answers, the kind of questions that people of
• 1:38:55
  Speaker 1: good faith can disagree about. What certain is that the
• 1:38:57
  Speaker 1: life's loss cannot be recovered, and that the ripples of
• 1:39:01
  Speaker 1: these murders continue to spread outward, touching everyone connected to
• 1:39:04
  Speaker 1: the case. Please, if you're still awake, let's move on
• 1:39:10
  Speaker 1: to our last.
• 1:39:11
  Speaker 3: Story, story five.
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: To Night. Let me tell you a story, one that
• 1:39:36
  Speaker 1: happened on the very first day of a brand new
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: year in a small California town where everyone knew everyone.
• 1:39:43
  Speaker 1: It's a story about trust, about kindness turned tragic, and
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: about how sometimes the people we think we know best
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 1: can surprise us in the darkest ways. And this is
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 1: the story of Valeries of Alla Wilson. There's something peaceful
• 1:40:01
  Speaker 1: about Fillmore, California. It's one of those small towns tucked
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: into Ventura County, surrounded by citrus groves and mountains, where
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 1: the air smells like orange blossoms in the spring. The
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 1: kind of place where neighbors wave to each other, where
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 1: high school football games bring out the whole community, where
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 1: you can walk down the street at night and feel safe.
• 1:40:19
  Speaker 1: In the early two thousands, Fillmore was home to about
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 1: thirteen thousand people. It was the kind of town where
• 1:40:25
  Speaker 1: families put down roots for generations, where kids grew up
• 1:40:28
  Speaker 1: knowing they'd probably see their kindergarten classmates at their high
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: school graduation, and among those families were the Zavalas, who
• 1:40:34
  Speaker 1: had moved to Fillmore so their children could grow up
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 1: in exactly this kind of community. Valerie Diane Zavala Wilson
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 1: was born on August twentieth, nineteen eighty three, in Santa Clara, California.
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 1: She came into the world as the eldest daughter of
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 1: Kevin and Michelle Zavala, joining what would eventually become a
• 1:40:52
  Speaker 1: family of four children. Her parents called her their bundle
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 1: of joy, and by all accounts, that's exactly what she was.
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 1: Valerie had two younger sisters, Jessica and Kirsten, and the
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 1: younger brother named Kevin. The family was close knit, the
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: kind where the kids actually wanted to spend time together,
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 1: where movie nights and inside jokes were common. When the
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 1: family moved to Fillmore, Valerie was still young enough that
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 1: it became her hometown, the place that shaped who she
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: would become. And who she became was someone special, not
• 1:41:21
  Speaker 1: just in the way that grieving parents always remember their
• 1:41:24
  Speaker 1: children as special, but genuinely measurably special, the kind of
• 1:41:28
  Speaker 1: person who left an impression on everyone she met. At
• 1:41:31
  Speaker 1: Fillmore High School, Valerie wasn't just another student. She excelled academically,
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 1: earning good grades that reflected genuine intellectual curiosity rather than
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 1: mere grade grubbing. She was a cheerleader, one of those bright,
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 1: energetic presences on the sidelines who seemed to embody school
• 1:41:48
  Speaker 1: spirit itself. But she wasn't content to just cheer. She
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 1: volunteered to compile statistics for the wrestling team, earning herself
• 1:41:56
  Speaker 1: a sports letter in the process. Think about that for
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 1: a moment. How many teenagers voluntarily take on extra work
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 1: just to be helpful, just to be part of something.
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 1: Her friends described her as bubbly, vibrant, outgoing, someone with
• 1:42:10
  Speaker 1: a contagious laugh that could light up a room. Her father,
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: Kevin Wilson, would later say that she was trusting almost
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 1: to a fault. When she felt a certain way about
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: a decision, nothing would stop her. He remembered she wasn't
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 1: one to follow the crowd. Her mother and Michelle had
• 1:42:26
  Speaker 1: an even closer relationship with her eldest daughter. She was
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 1: not only my daughter, she was my best friend, Michelle
• 1:42:33
  Speaker 1: would tell reporters later, her voice breaking. On girls' night out,
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 1: we watched Julia Roberts movies and ate Dorito's and avocados
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: can you picture it? A mother and daughter sitting together
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 1: on a couch, the glow of the television illuminating their faces,
• 1:42:52
  Speaker 1: sharing snacks and laughter. Those simple, perfect moments that make
• 1:42:56
  Speaker 1: up a relationship, the kind of moments that, in hindsight,
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 1: become almost unbearably precious. Valerie graduated from Fillmore High School
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 1: with honors. She had dreams of becoming an elementary school teacher,
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 1: of shaping the young minds the way her own had
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: been shaped by carrying educators. She wanted to give back,
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 1: to make a difference, and so she enrolled at San
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 1: Jose State University, about two hundred and seventy miles north
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: of Fillmore, to pursue her degree in Liberal Arts. At
• 1:43:24
  Speaker 1: San Jose State, Valerie joined the Alpha Kappa Delta Phi sorority.
• 1:43:28
  Speaker 1: She wasn't just a member, She threw herself into it,
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 1: the way she threw herself into everything, becoming the fundraising chairwoman.
• 1:43:35
  Speaker 1: Her sorority sisters nicknamed her chug a Bug, one of
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 1: those affectionate nicknames that only makes sense to the people
• 1:43:41
  Speaker 1: who knew her. She was the kind of person people
• 1:43:44
  Speaker 1: confided in, the one you'd go to with your problems
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 1: because you knew she'd listen, really listen, and try to help.
• 1:43:50
  Speaker 1: By the end of two thousand and two, Valerie was
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 1: nineteen years old and a sophomore in college. She was
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 1: home for the winter break back in Fillmore for the holidays.
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: Christmas had come and gone, and now it was New
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 1: Year's Eve, that strange in between time when one year
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 1: is ending and another is about to begin, a time
• 1:44:09
  Speaker 1: of parties and nalas, of resolutions and fresh starts. Valerie
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 1: had been invited to a New Year's Eve party at
• 1:44:16
  Speaker 1: a friend's house in Fillmore. It was the kind of
• 1:44:18
  Speaker 1: party that small town teenagers throw, nothing too wild, just
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: friends gathering to ring in the new year together. She
• 1:44:25
  Speaker 1: went with her cousin, Robert Padilla, and her friend Anahinoosa.
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 1: Video footage from the party would later show Valerie in
• 1:44:32
  Speaker 1: the kitchen, smiling, laughing, in good spirits. She was the
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 1: designated driver that night, the responsible one, the one making
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 1: sure everyone got home safely. The party had started around
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 1: ten in the evening, and as the hours ticked by
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 1: and the new year approached, people started to get tired,
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 1: started to think about heading home. Around one in the morning,
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: shortly after the ball had dropped and two thousand and
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: three had officially begun. Valerie checked in with her parents.
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 1: She told them that Anna had been drinking, so she
• 1:45:00
  Speaker 1: was going to drive Anna home in Anna's car. She
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 1: also mentioned that she'd be giving a ride to someone else,
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 1: a seventeen year old named Samuel Puebla. Samuel Puebla everyone
• 1:45:10
  Speaker 1: called him Sammy. He was a classmate of Valerie's younger sister,
• 1:45:14
  Speaker 1: two years behind Valerie at Fillmore High School. He was
• 1:45:17
  Speaker 1: a senior, a football player, popular among his peers. In fact,
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: he'd recently been voted prom king that quintessentially all American
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 1: high school honor that speaks to being well liked, well regarded.
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: He was a straight a student, the kind of kid
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 1: that adults pointed to as an example of doing things right.
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 1: On the surface, Sammy Puyibla had everything going for him,
• 1:45:38
  Speaker 1: but beneath that surface, things were darker than anyone knew.
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 1: That night, after the party, Valerie got behind the wheel
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: of Anna's black two thousand and three Toyota Corolla. Anna
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 1: was in the car, and so was Sammy Puebla. The
• 1:45:54
  Speaker 1: plan was simple, drop Anna off first, then drops Sammy off,
• 1:45:59
  Speaker 1: and then Valerie was planning to visit an ex boyfriend
• 1:46:01
  Speaker 1: named Isaac Flores before heading home herself. Around two in
• 1:46:05
  Speaker 1: the morning, after dropping Anno off, Valerie and Sammy were
• 1:46:08
  Speaker 1: alone in the car, driving through the quiet streets of Fillmore.
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 1: Most of the town was asleep by then, the parties over,
• 1:46:15
  Speaker 1: the celebrations winding down. It was dark, that particular darkness
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 1: of a small town in the early morning hours, where
• 1:46:21
  Speaker 1: street lights are few and far between. What happened next
• 1:46:24
  Speaker 1: would only be pieced together later through physical evidence and
• 1:46:28
  Speaker 1: changing stories and the kind of detective work that involves
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 1: fitting together puzzle pieces that don't want to fit. At
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 1: some point during that drive, Samuel Puebla made unwanted advances
• 1:46:38
  Speaker 1: toward Valerie. The exact word spoken, the exact sequence of events,
• 1:46:43
  Speaker 1: These details were lost in the darkness of that night,
• 1:46:46
  Speaker 1: but what is known is that Valerie rejected him. She
• 1:46:50
  Speaker 1: said no, and for Sammy Puebla, that rejection triggered something violent.
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 1: He attacked her in the car. He put his hands
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: around her throat and began to strangle her, to choke
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 1: her until she lost consciousness, But he didn't squeeze hard
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 1: enough or long enough. Valerie came to and when she
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 1: did she realized the danger she was in. She managed
• 1:47:10
  Speaker 1: to escape from the car. She ran. Think about that moment,
• 1:47:15
  Speaker 1: the terror of waking up to find yourself in mortal danger,
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 1: the adrenaline that must have flooded her system, the desperate
• 1:47:23
  Speaker 1: need to get away, to survive, to make it, to help,
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 1: to make it home. She ran through the dark streets
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: of Fillmore, This town where she'd grown up, where she'd
• 1:47:31
  Speaker 1: walked a thousand times in daylight, now transformed into a
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 1: nightmare landscape, and Sammy Puebla chased her. He caught up
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 1: with her in the parking lot of Saint Francis of
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 1: Assisi Church, the same church where her family attended services,
• 1:47:45
  Speaker 1: where she'd been a regular presence her whole life. In
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 1: that parking lot, he attacked her again. He struck her
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 1: in the head with such force that her ear drum ruptured.
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 1: Her earring flew off and landed on the pavement. He
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 1: ripped off her clothing. He attempted to rape her, but
• 1:48:01
  Speaker 1: she fought back. She fought with everything she had. The
• 1:48:04
  Speaker 1: medical examiner would later find defensive wounds evidence that Valerie
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 1: Zavlo Wilson did not go quietly into the dark. She struggled,
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 1: She resisted, She fought for her life. That Samuel Poeblo
• 1:48:17
  Speaker 1: was stronger, and he was driven by something dark and inexplicable.
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: He struck her repeatedly in the head, causing severe trauma,
• 1:48:24
  Speaker 1: and then he put his hands around her throat again
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 1: and strangled her, this time leaning his weight on her
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 1: chest as he did so, making it impossible for her
• 1:48:31
  Speaker 1: to breathe impossible for her to fight back, until finally
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 1: her struggle ended. She died there in that church parking
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 1: lot in the early hours of New Year's Day two
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 1: thousand and three, the first day of a year that
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 1: should have held so much promise for her, a year
• 1:48:46
  Speaker 1: of college classes and sorority events and dreams of teaching,
• 1:48:50
  Speaker 1: a year that she would never see. After Valerie was dead,
• 1:48:54
  Speaker 1: Samuel Pablo gathered up her clothing, her belongings, the physical
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 1: evidence of what he done. He put her body in
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 1: the car and drove to a remote area off South
• 1:49:04
  Speaker 1: Mountain Road between the towns of Santa Pola and Fillmore.
• 1:49:08
  Speaker 1: There was a drainage culvert there, a concrete pipe that
• 1:49:11
  Speaker 1: carried rain water. It was isolated, surrounded by citrus groves,
• 1:49:16
  Speaker 1: the kind of place where you wouldn't expect to find anyone.
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 1: He dumped her body in that culvert, partially covering it
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: with cypress branches, perhaps thinking that would hide it would
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 1: buy him time. Then he left her there in the
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 1: cold darkness and drove away in Anna's car. The next morning,
• 1:49:34
  Speaker 1: January first, two thousand and three, a young boy was
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 1: taking a short cut from his home when he came
• 1:49:40
  Speaker 1: across something that would haunt him forever, a body in
• 1:49:43
  Speaker 1: the drainage pipe. Even from a distance, he could tell
• 1:49:47
  Speaker 1: something was terribly wrong. He ran home, and his family
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: called nine to one one. When the Ventura County Sheriff's
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 1: deputies arrived at the scene, they found valeriees of Alla
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 1: Wilson's partially nude body in the culvert. Her shirt had
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 1: been pulled up, her pants and underwear were missing. She
• 1:50:02
  Speaker 1: was covered with cypress branches. She wore only one ear.
• 1:50:06
  Speaker 1: Blood was oozing from her ear, and it wasn't fully
• 1:50:09
  Speaker 1: dried yet, a sign that she hadn't been there very long.
• 1:50:12
  Speaker 1: The deputies processed the scene carefully. They found shoe prints.
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 1: They found evidence that suggested the body had been dragged,
• 1:50:21
  Speaker 1: that this wasn't where she had been killed. They took photographs,
• 1:50:25
  Speaker 1: collected samples documented everything, and they began the grim work
• 1:50:29
  Speaker 1: of trying to figure out who this young woman was
• 1:50:32
  Speaker 1: and what had happened to her. By that evening, Valerie's
• 1:50:34
  Speaker 1: family had reported her missing. She hadn't come home, she
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 1: wasn't answering her phone. In a small town like Fillmore,
• 1:50:43
  Speaker 1: word travels fast, and when the description of the body
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 1: was shared, her family's worst fears were confirmed. It was Valerie.
• 1:50:50
  Speaker 1: The autopsy revealed that she had died from asphyxiation from
• 1:50:54
  Speaker 1: being strangled. She had also suffered blunt forced trauma to
• 1:50:58
  Speaker 1: her head. The manner of death was ruled a homicide,
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 1: and with that determination, a murder investigation began. The detectives,
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 1: led by Jose Rivera and Chris Dunn, started by retracing
• 1:51:09
  Speaker 1: Valerie's last known movements. They learned about the New Year's
• 1:51:13
  Speaker 1: Eve party. They learned that she'd been the designated driver.
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: They learned about the passengers she'd agreed to drop off,
• 1:51:20
  Speaker 1: Anna Hinojosa and Samuel Poebla. They found Anna's car on
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: the afternoon of January first, parked in a grocery store
• 1:51:28
  Speaker 1: lot in Fillmore. Inside they found Valerie's purse, her blouse,
• 1:51:33
  Speaker 1: her jacket. The car became a crime scene, carefully processed
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 1: for evidence. The detectives interviewed Anna, who told them about
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 1: the party about how Valerie had been kind enough to
• 1:51:43
  Speaker 1: drive her home since she'd been drinking. They asked about
• 1:51:46
  Speaker 1: Samuel Pobla, and Anna confirmed that yes, he'd been in
• 1:51:49
  Speaker 1: the car too. When the detectives reached out to Sammy Popla,
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 1: he agreed to talk to them. This was just hours
• 1:51:56
  Speaker 1: after the body had been found, before it had even
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 1: been publicly Identai his Valerie. Deputy Tilkens went to Sammy's
• 1:52:03
  Speaker 1: house to ask him some questions. Tilkens would later testify
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: about that encounter. He said Sammy seemed nervous, his voice
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 1: kept cracking, and he had a nosebleed which he was
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 1: trying to stop with tissues. The deputy asked him about
• 1:52:19
  Speaker 1: the last time he'd seen Valerie. Sammy said, yes, he'd
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 1: been at the party. Yes, Valerie had given him a
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 1: ride home. He said they'd hugged briefly when she dropped
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 1: him off, and that was the last time he saw her.
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 1: The detectives also learned that Valerie had been planning to
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 1: visit her ex boyfriend Isaac Flores after dropping off her passengers.
• 1:52:39
  Speaker 1: Isaac initially became a person of interest. The detectives interviewed him,
• 1:52:43
  Speaker 1: asked him about his relationship with Valerie, about whether he'd
• 1:52:47
  Speaker 1: seen her that night. Isaac told them that yes, they'd
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: had plans to meet, but she never showed up. He'd
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 1: been waiting for her, wondering where she was, and crucially,
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 1: he had an alibi. There was no evidence linking him
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 1: to the crime. The investigation seemed to stall. There were
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: shoe prints at the scene, but no one to match
• 1:53:05
  Speaker 1: them too. There was DNA evidence, but the labs took
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 1: time to process. A week went by and the case
• 1:53:12
  Speaker 1: grew cold. But then something interesting happened. A witness came forward.
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 1: A couple who had been driving home from their own
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 1: New Year's Eve party in the early morning hours of
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 1: January first reported seeing something unusual. They'd seen a person
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 1: standing next to a black sedan Ana's black sedan parked
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 1: at a market in Fillmore. The person matched Sammy Pidla's description.
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: Around the same time, one of the detectives who'd been
• 1:53:37
  Speaker 1: on vacation returned to duty. His name was Detective eb
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 1: and when he was briefed on the case, something clicked
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 1: in his mind. He remembered Samuel Polevla, not from this case,
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 1: but from a previous one. Just a few weeks earlier,
• 1:53:51
  Speaker 1: in December, there had been a burglary. Samuel Peebla had
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 1: been involved in it. During the investigation of that burglary,
• 1:53:59
  Speaker 1: Paubla had the whole detectives that he'd dumped items he
• 1:54:02
  Speaker 1: didn't want in a dumpster at Saint Francis of Assisi Church,
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 1: the same church where Valerie's family worshiped, the same church
• 1:54:09
  Speaker 1: it would turn out where Valerie had been killed. Detective
• 1:54:12
  Speaker 1: Iube had a theory. Criminals, he knew, tend to stick
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 1: to patterns. They do what's worked for them in the past,
• 1:54:21
  Speaker 1: what feels comfortable and familiar. If puebl had used that
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: church dumpster to dispose of evidence once, might he have
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 1: done it again. On January seventh, exactly one week after
• 1:54:35
  Speaker 1: Valerie's body had been found, detectives obtained a warrant and
• 1:54:38
  Speaker 1: headed to Saint Francis of Assisi Church. They had received
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 1: another piece of tragic timing. Valerie's Rosary service had been
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: held at that church just hours before the family and
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 1: friends who gathered to mourn her had no idea that
• 1:54:51
  Speaker 1: they were standing mere feet from where she'd been murdered,
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 1: where crucial evidence still lay waiting to be discovered. In
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 1: the church parking lot and in the dumby, detectives found
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 1: a horrifying collection of items. There were cypress clippings matching
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 1: the branches that had been used to cover Valerie's body.
• 1:55:09
  Speaker 1: There was a pair of women's underwear, There was an
• 1:55:11
  Speaker 1: earring that looked just like the one Valerie had still
• 1:55:14
  Speaker 1: been wearing when her body was found, and there were
• 1:55:16
  Speaker 1: shoe prints in the dirt. Clear impressions left behind. DNA
• 1:55:20
  Speaker 1: testing would confirm what the detectives suspected. The underwear and
• 1:55:24
  Speaker 1: earring belonged to Valeries of Alla Wilson. The shoe prints
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: matched a pair of sneakers owned by Samuel Puebla, and
• 1:55:30
  Speaker 1: when the DNA results came back from Valerie's body, they
• 1:55:34
  Speaker 1: revealed something else. There was saliva on her chest, male saliva,
• 1:55:39
  Speaker 1: and it matched Samuel Puebla's DNA profile. With this evidence
• 1:55:43
  Speaker 1: in hand, detectives obtained a warrant to search Puebla's home
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 1: and to collect a DNA sample from him directly. On
• 1:55:49
  Speaker 1: January seventh, they arrived at his house. What they found
• 1:55:53
  Speaker 1: in Samuel Poebla's bedroom was deeply disturbing. Hidden away, they
• 1:55:57
  Speaker 1: discovered stashes of women's underwear and cell phones. The underwear
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 1: had been stolen from women in the neighborhood. They were trophies, keepsakes,
• 1:56:06
  Speaker 1: evidence of a pattern of behavior that had gone unnoticed.
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: Samuel Peebla, the straight a student, the prom king, the
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 1: football player, had been secretly violating the privacy and safety
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 1: of women around him for who knows how long. When
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 1: the detectives interviewed Sammy again, they confronted him with the evidence.
• 1:56:24
  Speaker 1: They told him about the DNA, about the possibility that
• 1:56:27
  Speaker 1: his genetic material had been found on Valerie's body. At
• 1:56:30
  Speaker 1: this point, Sammy changed his story. First, he'd said they'd
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 1: just hugged. Now he claimed that he and Valerie had
• 1:56:37
  Speaker 1: been kissing, that they had been planning to engage in
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 1: consensual sexual activity, but the evidence told a different story.
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 1: The detectives asked Sammy if he was cold. He said yes,
• 1:56:48
  Speaker 1: So Detective Au went to his closet and found a jacket,
• 1:56:51
  Speaker 1: a specific jacket that matched the description witnesses had given
• 1:56:54
  Speaker 1: of what Sammy had been wearing at the party. The
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: jacket was seized as evidence. Lab analysis would prove that
• 1:57:00
  Speaker 1: Valerie's blood was on that jacket, her blood physical proof
• 1:57:04
  Speaker 1: that Samuel pelble had been there when she died, that
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 1: he'd been close enough to her bleeding body to get
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: her blood on his clothing. The arrest of Samuel Puebla
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 1: sent shockwaves through Fillmore. This was the prom king. This
• 1:57:18
  Speaker 1: was a kid who seemed to have it all together.
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 1: How could he have done something so monstrous. His family
• 1:57:24
  Speaker 1: and friends couldn't believe it. They said there must be
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 1: some mistake, that Samy was a good kid, that this
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 1: couldn't be true. But the evidence was overwhelming. The DNA,
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 1: the blood, the shoe prince, the pattern of theft and
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 1: violation that had been hidden in his bedroom, and most
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 1: damning of all, his constantly changing story, each version shifting
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 1: to try to account for whatever new evidence the detectives presented.
• 1:57:52
  Speaker 1: Samuel Pebla was arrested and charged with first degree murder,
• 1:57:55
  Speaker 1: attempted rape, and the special circumstance of felony murder committed
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 1: during the course of anath tempted sexual assaults. The trial
• 1:58:07
  Speaker 1: began on July ninth, two thousand and four, about a
• 1:58:11
  Speaker 1: year and a half after Valerie's death. The prosecution, led
• 1:58:15
  Speaker 1: by Deputy District Attorney May Fox, laid out their case methodically.
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 1: They argued that Samuel Poebla had made unwonted sexual advances
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: toward Valerie during that drive home when she rejected him.
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: When she said no, he became violent. They theorized that
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: he detacked her in the car, that she'd managed to
• 1:58:33
  Speaker 1: escape and run, and that he chased her down and
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: killed her in that church parking lot. Then he disposed
• 1:58:39
  Speaker 1: of her body in the drainage culvert and tried to
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 1: cover his tracks. The defense attorneys tried their best. They
• 1:58:45
  Speaker 1: suggested that maybe someone else had killed Valerie, some unknown stranger.
• 1:58:50
  Speaker 1: They pointed to a witness who had reported seeing a
• 1:58:52
  Speaker 1: man near where the body was found, someone who didn't
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 1: match Poblo's description. They tried to create reasonable doubt, but
• 1:58:59
  Speaker 1: the physical evidence was insurmountable. Valerie's blood on Poebla's jacket,
• 1:59:04
  Speaker 1: his saliva on her body, his shoe prints at the scene,
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 1: his items in the church dumpster, his stolen trophies hidden
• 1:59:12
  Speaker 1: in his bedroom, and his ever changing story, each version
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 1: more desperate than the last. The jury deliberated, According to
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 1: later interviews, there was little disagreement among them the evidence
• 1:59:24
  Speaker 1: was simply too strong. On August second, two thousand and four,
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: they returned with their verdict guilty on all counts, first
• 1:59:32
  Speaker 1: degree murder, attempted ravee felony, murdered during the commission of
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 1: attempted sexual assault. Because Samuel Puebla had been seventeen at
• 1:59:40
  Speaker 1: the time of the murder, he was ineligible for the
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: death penalty, but he was sentenced to life in prison
• 1:59:46
  Speaker 1: without the possibility of parole. At the sentencing hearing, Valerie's
• 1:59:50
  Speaker 1: family members addressed the court. They urged the judge to
• 1:59:53
  Speaker 1: ensure that Samuel Puebla would never be released, that he
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 1: would never have the opportunity to hurt another young woman
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 1: the way he'd heard Valerie. Michelle Wilson, Valerie's mother, spoke
• 2:00:04
  Speaker 1: about her daughter, about the light that had been extinguished,
• 2:00:07
  Speaker 1: about the future that had been stolen. Kevin Wilson, her father,
• 2:00:12
  Speaker 1: echoed those sentiments. But even in their grief and anger,
• 2:00:15
  Speaker 1: the Wilsons showed remarkable compassion. Michelle Wilson told reporters that
• 2:00:21
  Speaker 1: she felt empathy for Samuel prieblus family, to parents, his siblings.
• 2:00:25
  Speaker 1: They were victims too, in a way. She acknowledged their
• 2:00:28
  Speaker 1: journey was just beginning, she said, the journey of having
• 2:00:32
  Speaker 1: to live with what their son and brother had done
• 2:00:34
  Speaker 1: but her family, Valerie's family could at least begin to
• 2:00:38
  Speaker 1: heal now. The prosecutor made Fox told the press that
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 1: the case was particularly awful because Valerie had no reason
• 2:00:45
  Speaker 1: to be afraid of Samuel Puibla before he reached his
• 2:00:48
  Speaker 1: breaking point. He was her sister's classmate. He was a
• 2:00:52
  Speaker 1: familiar face, someone from their small community. She'd been doing
• 2:00:55
  Speaker 1: him a favor, giving him a ride home. She'd been
• 2:00:59
  Speaker 1: being kind, helpful, being the responsible designated driver, and he'd
• 2:01:03
  Speaker 1: repaid that kindness with violence and murder. Samuel Puebla was
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 1: transferred to state prison. As of the latest reports, he's
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 1: incarcerated at Ironwood State Prison in California, where he's serving
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: his life sentence. Some sources suggest he may become eligible
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 1: for parole in twenty twenty eight. They'll give the severity
• 2:01:21
  Speaker 1: of his crimes in the life without parole sence. That
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 1: seems unlikely. Valerie Zabala Wilson was laid to rest at
• 2:01:28
  Speaker 1: Barnsdale Cemetery in Fillmore, not far from where she'd grown up,
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 1: where she'd cheered at football games, where she'd walked to school,
• 2:01:36
  Speaker 1: where she'd lived her brief, bright life. Her funeral was
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 1: packed with mournart Her sorority sisters from San Jose State
• 2:01:43
  Speaker 1: drove down for the service. The walls of Saint Francis
• 2:01:46
  Speaker 1: of Assisi Church were lined with people who'd come to
• 2:01:48
  Speaker 1: pay their respects to say goodbye. Her little brother, Kevin,
• 2:01:52
  Speaker 1: pressed his lips to a red rose and placed it
• 2:01:54
  Speaker 1: on her silver casket, then kissed the coughing goodbye. Michelle
• 2:01:58
  Speaker 1: Wilson released a dove at the barrier, a symbol of peace,
• 2:02:02
  Speaker 1: a Valerie spirit to sending. The principal at Fillmore High
• 2:02:05
  Speaker 1: School made grief counselors available for students, especially for Valerie's
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 1: younger sisters who still attended the school on the San
• 2:02:12
  Speaker 1: Jose State campus. Her sorority held a candlelight vigil. The
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 1: sorority's website was flooded with messages from all over the
• 2:02:19
  Speaker 1: country from people who'd known Valerie or who'd simply been
• 2:02:22
  Speaker 1: moved by her story. I am still in shock, wrote
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 1: a Sacramento sorority sister named Kim. I cannot believe it.
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 1: Valerie was such a wonderful person. She was beautiful inside
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 1: and out. She always brought smiles and laughs to my face.
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 1: That's what people remembered about Valerie, not the way she died, though,
• 2:02:42
  Speaker 1: that was what made headlines, what brought her case to
• 2:02:44
  Speaker 1: true crime documentaries and television shows. What people who actually
• 2:02:48
  Speaker 1: knew her remembered was her smile, her laugh, her kindness,
• 2:02:53
  Speaker 1: the way she volunteered to be the designated driver, the
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 1: way she helped out with the wrestling team statistics, the
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 1: way she made time for her sorority sisters and her family,
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: the way she lit up a room just by walking
• 2:03:05
  Speaker 1: into it. She wanted to be a teacher. She wanted
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: to shape young minds, to make a difference in children's lives,
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 1: and in a way, maybe she still does. Is Her
• 2:03:15
  Speaker 1: story teaches something important, something difficult, but necessary. It teaches
• 2:03:19
  Speaker 1: us that evil can hide behind a smile, behind good
• 2:03:22
  Speaker 1: grades and prom king crowns and football jerseys. It teaches
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 1: us that trust, while necessary for human connection, needs to
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: be tempered with awareness and caution. It teaches us that
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 1: even in small towns where everyone knows everyone, terrible things
• 2:03:36
  Speaker 1: can happen in the darkness. But perhaps more than that,
• 2:03:40
  Speaker 1: Valerie's story teaches us about the preciousness of life, about
• 2:03:43
  Speaker 1: how quickly everything can change, about how a simple act
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 1: of kindness giving someone a ride home can have unforseeable consequences.
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 1: It reminds us to cherish the people we love, to
• 2:03:55
  Speaker 1: watch Julia Roberts movies and eat Dorito's and avocados with
• 2:03:59
  Speaker 1: our mothers, to make memories while we can. Fillmore California
• 2:04:04
  Speaker 1: changed after that New Year's Day in two thousand three.
• 2:04:07
  Speaker 1: The town lost some of its innocence. Parents held their
• 2:04:10
  Speaker 1: children a little tighter. Young women were more cautious about
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 1: giving rides to acquaintances. The community that had seemed so
• 2:04:18
  Speaker 1: safe suddenly felt more vulnerable. But Fillmore also came together
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 1: in the wake of tragedy. They supported the Wilson family.
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 1: They showed up at the trial. They made sure that
• 2:04:28
  Speaker 1: Valerie was remembered not just as a victim, but as
• 2:04:31
  Speaker 1: the vibrant, loving, ambitious young woman she'd been. On the
• 2:04:36
  Speaker 1: night of December thirty first, two thousand two, Valerie Zavala
• 2:04:40
  Speaker 1: Wilson went to a party with friends. She laughed, she celebrated,
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 1: She welcomed the new year. She made the responsible choice
• 2:04:48
  Speaker 1: to be the designated driver. She offered kindness to some
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 1: one who asked for a ride, and for those choices,
• 2:04:54
  Speaker 1: for that kindness, she paid with her life. It's been
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 1: over two decades now since that terrible night. Would be
• 2:05:00
  Speaker 1: in her early forties. If she'd lived, she might have
• 2:05:03
  Speaker 1: become that elementary school teacher she dreamed of being. She
• 2:05:06
  Speaker 1: might have had a classroom full of students who adored her,
• 2:05:09
  Speaker 1: who remembered her years later as the teacher who made
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 1: learning fun, who believed in them. She might have gotten married,
• 2:05:15
  Speaker 1: had children of her own. She might have grown old
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 1: with her parents, watched her siblings children grow up, then
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 1: the finanted family gatherings. All of those might have beens
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: were stolen by a few minutes of violence in a
• 2:05:27
  Speaker 1: dark parking lot, by one person's inability to accept rejection,
• 2:05:31
  Speaker 1: to control their impulses, to see another human being as
• 2:05:35
  Speaker 1: anything more than an object for their own gratification. Samuel
• 2:05:39
  Speaker 1: Pebla is in prison, and he'll likely stay there for
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 1: the rest of his life. That's justice of a sort.
• 2:05:45
  Speaker 1: It protects society from him, it punishes him for what
• 2:05:49
  Speaker 1: he did, but it doesn't bring Valerie back. It doesn't
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 1: give Michelle and Kevin their daughter back. It doesn't give
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 1: Jessica and Kirsten their big sister back. It doesn't give
• 2:05:59
  Speaker 1: young Kevin his sisters her back. It doesn't give Valerie's
• 2:06:02
  Speaker 1: friends and sorority sisters their friend deck. And it doesn't
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: give all those future elementary school students the teacher they
• 2:06:08
  Speaker 1: never got to have. That's the real tragedy of murder,
• 2:06:11
  Speaker 1: isn't it. It's not just one life that ends. It's
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 1: all the lives that life would have touched. It's the
• 2:06:19
  Speaker 1: ripple effects spreading out endlessly through time. It's the whole
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 1: left behind in the world, shaped exactly like the person
• 2:06:26
  Speaker 1: who's gone. On quiet nights in Fillmore, when the citrus
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 1: blossoms are blooming and the mountains are dark silhouettes against
• 2:06:33
  Speaker 1: the sky. Maybe some people still think about Valerie. Maybe
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: they remember her laugh, Maybe they remember her cheering at
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 1: football games. Maybe they remember her as that girl who
• 2:06:43
  Speaker 1: was always willing to help, always willing to volunteer, always
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 1: there with a smile. And maybe in remembering her that
• 2:06:50
  Speaker 1: way and keeping alive the memory of who she was
• 2:06:53
  Speaker 1: rather than just how she died, there's a different kind
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 1: of justice, a way of saying that Samuel Popla might
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 1: have taken her life, but he couldn't take her impact,
• 2:07:01
  Speaker 1: couldn't erase the love she gave and received, couldn't destroy
• 2:07:05
  Speaker 1: the mark she left on the world in her nineteen years.
• 2:07:08
  Speaker 1: Rest in peace. Valerie Diana ofv al Wilson August twentieth,
• 2:07:12
  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three to January first, two thousand and three.
• 2:07:16
  Speaker 1: A daughter, a sister, a friend, a student, a cheerleader,
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 1: a dreamer, gone far too soon, but never forgotten. And
• 2:07:27
  Speaker 1: that's the story, A true story, a sad story, but
• 2:07:31
  Speaker 1: one worth telling, worth remembering, because in the telling, Valerie
• 2:07:36
  Speaker 1: lives on just a little bit, and maybe that mattered.
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to tonight's true crime story. Rest
• 2:07:45
  Speaker 1: peacefully knowing that another story awaits you next time, ready
• 2:07:49
  Speaker 1: to accompany you on another journey toward restorative sleep. But
• 2:07:52
  Speaker 1: if you're still awake, don't forget to like and subscribe
• 2:07:55
  Speaker 1: so you don't miss our next true crime stories. And
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 1: until next time, stay safe and take care. Good night,
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 1: us
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 2: U