Latest / The Knife: A True Crime Podcast / What happened to Rebekah? (Part 2 of 2)

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What happened to Rebekah? (Part 2 of 2) · The Knife: A True Crime Podcast

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Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised.
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Speaker 2: The claims and opinions in this podcast are those of
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Speaker 2: the speaker and do not necessarily represent the knife or
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Speaker 2: exactly right media.
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Speaker 3: Regardless of whether alive or dead, injured or not injured,
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Speaker 3: the abused should never be returned to their abuser.
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Speaker 4: Thank you.
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Speaker 2: Welcome to The Knife. I'm Pasha Eaton. Today we have
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Speaker 2: part two of a two-part series about the disappearance of
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Speaker 2: Rebecca Barsotti. So if you haven't listened to part one,
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Speaker 2: start there. It came out last week. We're speaking with
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Speaker 2: Angela Mastrovito, Rebecca Barsotti's mother. When belongings of Rebecca's were
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Speaker 2: found along the Clark Fork River, a surge kicked off
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Speaker 2: that brought troubling questions about the investigation that only continued
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Speaker 2: with the discovery of Rebecca's remains. Let's get into the interview.
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Speaker 2: On July 20th, 2021, a family walking along a Clark
1:14
Speaker 2: Fork River trail came across several scattered belongings. Car keys,
1:19
Speaker 2: a phone, a dog leash, and a photo ID belonging
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Speaker 2: to Rebecca Barsotti. The Clark Fork River is 310 miles long,
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Speaker 2: stretching from southwestern Montana to northern Idaho. But the stretch
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Speaker 2: of riverbank where Rebecca's belongings were found was just west
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Speaker 2: of Alberton in Mineral County. Rebecca had been in the
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Speaker 2: area earlier that day, collecting her belongings from the marital
1:42
Speaker 2: home she'd shared with her estranged husband, David Barsotti. But
1:46
Speaker 2: the meeting took place at the town pump in Superior, Montana,
1:49
Speaker 2: so likely Rebecca had made a stop on her way home,
1:53
Speaker 2: taking Cerberus to the river. But now, Rebecca was a
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Speaker 2: missing person, and her mother, Angela, would soon be on
1:59
Speaker 2: a flight to Montana to join the search. But within
2:02
Speaker 2: days of her arrival in Missoula, more and more questions
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Speaker 2: about David Barsotti's strange behavior began to arise. Rebecca had
2:10
Speaker 2: left her abusive relationship. She had a new rental home
2:13
Speaker 2: that she was excited about. She had a job that
2:15
Speaker 2: she loved. But David Barsotti's behavior seemed to Angela like
2:20
Speaker 2: maybe he knew Rebecca wasn't coming back.
2:24
Speaker 3: So he had already contacted Plum Realty, which was the
2:29
Speaker 3: realty company that Rebecca was renting from.
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Speaker 2: The same day that Rebecca disappeared, July 20th, 2021, her
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Speaker 2: car was found. It sat parked at mile marker 71
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Speaker 2: off I-90 by the Clark Fork River. According to Angela,
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Speaker 2: Rebecca's mother, two of Rebecca's belongings were in her car,
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Speaker 2: but those were never forensically examined and the spot where
2:52
Speaker 2: her car was found was never secured. This was frustrating.
2:56
Speaker 2: Rebecca was a victim, and she had documented her allegations
3:00
Speaker 2: of domestic violence only months before leaving her estranged husband,
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Speaker 2: David Barsotti. And she was only in the area that
3:07
Speaker 2: day because David and his caretaker had insisted she collect
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Speaker 2: her belongings, things that she'd said she didn't even want,
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Speaker 2: that were not important to her. But it seemed to
3:17
Speaker 2: be important to David that she pick them up. And
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Speaker 2: by July 23rd, 2021, just three days after Angela was
3:23
Speaker 2: told Rebecca was missing, David Barsotti was in touch with
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Speaker 2: the rental company managing her new home, attempting to end
3:30
Speaker 2: her lease. And David's new caretaker, Bevan Cook, was posting
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Speaker 2: on social media that Cerberus, Rebecca's dog, was missing, along
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Speaker 2: with his, quote, handler. His handler was, of course, Rebecca,
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Speaker 2: but Bevan never referred to her by name. It was strange,
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Speaker 2: and it was unsettling.
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Speaker 3: The handler and serves are missing. Servers went into the river.
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Speaker 3: The handler is missing. Everything was third party and detached.
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Speaker 3: And then hours later, Bevan is posting that the dog's
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Speaker 3: been spotted in Plains. Plains is over 50 miles away, you.
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Speaker 5: Know, and I was told that he died of drowning.
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Speaker 2: But Rebecca's dog Cerberus wasn't spotted in Plains. And how
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Speaker 2: would Bevan know if he was? It seemed like a
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Speaker 2: strange claim to be making, especially given that Bevan and
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Speaker 2: Rebecca had virtually no relationship. Cerberus's body was found on
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Speaker 2: July 26, 2021, just six days after Angela had learned
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Speaker 2: that her daughter was missing. Knowing what Cerberus meant to
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Speaker 2: Rebecca and that she would never have left him, the
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Speaker 2: discovery was heartbreaking and deepened an already overwhelming concern for
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Speaker 2: Rebecca's safety. Cerberus's remains were discovered 10 river miles from
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Speaker 2: where law enforcement suspected Rebecca had last been with Cerberus
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Speaker 2: at the river.
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Speaker 3: The dog was taken to the SPCA out there in Missoula.
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Speaker 5: They did x-rays, but they did not do a necropsy.
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Speaker 3: Sheriff Taugh, Mike Taugh, had said that a necropsy was done,
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Speaker 3: but a necropsy was not done. And I did not
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Speaker 3: give permission for a necropsy.
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Speaker 2: And a necropsy, for anyone who doesn't know, is essentially
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Speaker 2: an autopsy, but for a non-human animal.
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Speaker 3: I was told the dog was too deteriorated for a necropsy.
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Speaker 2: So the sheriff's office is making some assumption or speculating
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Speaker 2: that Rebecca and the dog fell into the river and
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Speaker 2: they've drowned. violence issues?
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Speaker 5: Oh, yeah.
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Speaker 3: In fact, we were in the very same county that
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Speaker 3: the PFMA, the personal family member assault charge, had been
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Speaker 3: charged in. So they were very aware that there were
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Speaker 3: domestic violence issues. But when we asked about that and
6:03
Speaker 3: brought that to Sheriff Toss' attention, he said we could
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Speaker 3: say it a million times and it would never make
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Speaker 3: a difference, that David was not a person of interest
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Speaker 3: and never would be.
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Speaker 2: A woman goes missing just months after she makes a
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Speaker 2: 911 call telling authorities that her husband, David Barsotti, was
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Speaker 2: threatening her. This is not just something Angela told me
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Speaker 2: in our interview. It was later brought up in court.
6:27
Speaker 2: Here's a moment from the opening of the trial that
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Speaker 2: happened in March of 2022, after Rebecca had gone missing.
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Speaker 2: This trial was regarding David's domestic violence charges back in
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Speaker 2: March of 2021.
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Speaker 5: On March 9th.
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Speaker 4: 2021, a dispatcher, Anna Mae, with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office,
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Speaker 4: received a 911.
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Speaker 2: Call at about 1230 a.m.
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Speaker 4: The usual question, 911, what is your emergency? On this
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Speaker 4: early morning, the caller states, hi, my husband is threatening
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Speaker 4: my well-being if I do not leave the house that
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Speaker 4: I own. The dispatcher asks if this is a verbal threat.
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Speaker 4: The caller states, um, He has clenched my hand so
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Speaker 4: I can't call you the next time when he threatens me.
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Speaker 4: The dispatcher, you will hear, learns there are weapons in
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Speaker 4: the house.
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Speaker 5: The husband has been drinking.
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Speaker 4: He is taking prescription medications. The caller identifies herself as
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Speaker 4: Rebecca Barsotti, living at 63 Buckle Lane.
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Speaker 3: In Superior Road.
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Speaker 2: Rebecca goes on to tell the dispatcher that David won't
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Speaker 2: leave her alone. He's following her from room to room.
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Speaker 2: For Angela, and maybe for most of us listening, this
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Speaker 2: incident alone might feel like reason enough to investigate David.
7:50
Speaker 2: Their relationship was contentious, and at the very end of it,
7:53
Speaker 2: they were still in a major disagreement about how to
7:56
Speaker 2: financially separate, given that they'd purchased a home together. David
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Speaker 2: wanted Rebecca to walk away from that, and Rebecca, she
8:03
Speaker 2: didn't agree. But according to Angela, local law enforcement, they
8:07
Speaker 2: didn't see it that way. They felt their search for
8:09
Speaker 2: Rebecca was more than sufficient, that an investigation into her death,
8:13
Speaker 2: having been a possible murder, wasn't going to happen. It's
8:17
Speaker 2: hard to understand. I've always heard that the risk of
8:20
Speaker 2: harm to a victim of domestic abuse goes up substantially
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Speaker 2: when they leave the relationship. And Battered Women Support Services
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Speaker 2: says that risk is actually over 75%. On their website,
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Speaker 2: they say the reality is that the most dangerous time
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Speaker 2: for a survivor or victim is when she leaves the
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Speaker 2: abusive partner. 77% of domestic violence-related homicides occur upon separation,
8:46
Speaker 2: and there is a 75% increase of violence upon separation
8:50
Speaker 2: for at least two years. Rebecca Barsotti was only a
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Speaker 2: few months into her new life away from David when
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Speaker 2: she disappeared by the river.
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Speaker 3: And he's told us, he said, I wasn't even going
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Speaker 3: to look for your daughter. And I don't know if
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Speaker 3: anybody can like fully understand those words when they hit you,
9:13
Speaker 3: when somebody's telling you that. And I was like in
9:18
Speaker 3: such total shock and he's going on. I mean, he
9:21
Speaker 3: just doesn't stop there. He goes, who do you think
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Speaker 3: she is? The president of the United States. And I'm like, God,
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Speaker 3: can you be any more of a monster? You know,
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Speaker 3: I mean, I told him, I said, Rebecca was a
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Speaker 3: victim of domestic violence, a registered victim of domestic violence.
9:37
Speaker 3: And by that time, I knew enough that Montana Code
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Speaker 3: required that you look for a missing person if they
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Speaker 3: are a victim of domestic violence. But Sheriff Toth and
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Speaker 3: Jerry asked, he goes, where are your SOPs on missing persons?
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Speaker 3: And he goes, we don't need those. He said, I
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Speaker 3: don't have to do anything I don't want to do.
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Speaker 3: And that is exactly the structure of the position of
10:02
Speaker 3: the role of sheriff in the state of Montana. If
10:05
Speaker 3: you have a good sheriff, you're golden. But if you
10:09
Speaker 3: have a prideful sheriff, it's not going to happen.
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Speaker 5: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: I mean, I'm a parent, but I don't think you
10:15
Speaker 2: have to be a parent to understand how just Utterly
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Speaker 2: heartbreaking and shocking it would be to hear that if
10:24
Speaker 2: your own child was missing. Because it doesn't matter if
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Speaker 2: they're 33 or 53 or 63, like, that's your child.
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Speaker 5: Exactly.
10:35
Speaker 2: For Angela, feeling like she no longer had the support
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Speaker 2: of local law enforcement, it was devastating. And to see
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Speaker 2: that David had also not been investigated was impossible to understand.
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Speaker 2: Angela and her husband Jerry had been living at a
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Speaker 2: temporary residence in Montana, putting everything they had into finding Rebecca.
10:55
Speaker 2: But they were far from home, and they were outsiders
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Speaker 2: in a small town. On August 23, 2021, so a
11:02
Speaker 2: little over a month since Rebecca's disappearance, all river search
11:07
Speaker 2: efforts came to a stop, and no land searches were
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Speaker 2: performed outside of where boats were launched in to search
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Speaker 2: the river. It was an excruciating feeling for Angela and
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Speaker 2: the rest of Rebecca's family. It still is. Despite it all,
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Speaker 2: Angela stayed in Montana, searching for her daughter and pleading
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Speaker 2: with local authorities to do the same. Meanwhile, David Barsotti
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Speaker 2: seemed least concerned of all with finding Rebecca. Angela had
11:32
Speaker 2: continued paying Rebecca's renter's insurance policy through USAA, but in
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Speaker 2: September of 2021, she received notice that the insurance had
11:41
Speaker 2: lapsed because Rebecca had been reported deceased. To Angela's knowledge,
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Speaker 2: the only person who could have done that was David.
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Speaker 3: So we didn't return to Virginia until August of 2022.
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Speaker 3: We got out there in August of 2021. The grandkids
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Speaker 3: were missing us terribly because they were used to us
12:05
Speaker 3: coming up every six to eight weeks to visit. So
12:08
Speaker 3: I did go back in December for a week to
12:11
Speaker 3: stay with Tony and the grandkids. And then flew back
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Speaker 3: to Montana. And then in May, we tried to take
12:22
Speaker 3: a respite and went to visit family in Arizona. But
12:27
Speaker 3: we got the phone call that a body had been
12:29
Speaker 3: found while we were there. And so we had to
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Speaker 3: return back to Montana.
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Speaker 2: What were you told and how certain were they that
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Speaker 2: it was Rebecca's?
12:39
Speaker 3: So Deputy Ryan Funk, and he was deputy still at
12:43
Speaker 3: the time, he called.
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Speaker 2: Because now we're into May 2022.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, we're into May 2022.
12:48
Speaker 2: Almost a year later. Yep. On May 17th, 2022, two
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Speaker 2: fishermen discovered a body laying on a riverbank under the
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Speaker 2: I-90 bridge next to mile marker 53. It's a terrible
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Speaker 2: thing to have to think about. After how long Rebecca
13:11
Speaker 2: was missing, how long her body laid in the river
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Speaker 2: or next to it before being found, and still, nothing
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Speaker 2: about her disappearance really made any sense. Local law enforcement
13:23
Speaker 2: initially said the investigation into her death was ongoing, but soon,
13:27
Speaker 2: it seemed like they were satisfied with the idea that
13:29
Speaker 2: Rebecca had drowned.
13:32
Speaker 3: He called and said that a body had been found.
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Speaker 3: He couldn't identify it as Rebecca and that the body
13:39
Speaker 3: would be sent to the state crime lab. And there
13:43
Speaker 3: was a conversation because I asked, you know, do you
13:46
Speaker 3: know for certain it's Rebecca? Well, I can't be positive
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Speaker 3: about that. It's going to the state crime lab.
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Speaker 5: It is a female. And then I asked, well, what
13:55
Speaker 5: happens now?
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Speaker 2: Before we get into how everything unfolds from the point
14:00
Speaker 2: that her body is found, I have some questions. And
14:02
Speaker 2: you can also just say if you don't want to
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Speaker 2: talk about it, because I know that this is really hard.
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Speaker 2: But in the PDF you put together, there's some details
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Speaker 2: about the remains that I was just sort of not understanding.
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Speaker 2: And I didn't know if you... had insight but we're
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Speaker 2: talking about may of 2022 when rebecca went missing in
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Speaker 2: july of 2021 right and this note says that the
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Speaker 2: skin is fully intact in a large portion of the
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Speaker 2: body with only the tips of the fingers on the
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Speaker 2: right hand skeletonized right how is that possible So.
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Speaker 3: Deputy Ryan Funk did tell me, you know, in the
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Speaker 3: phone call that the right hand had been skeletonized. And
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Speaker 3: I asked if it was the whole right hand. And
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Speaker 3: he said the digits, like to the knuckle area.
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Speaker 5: Okay.
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Speaker 3: Not the knuckle on the hand, but the middle knuckle
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Speaker 3: and the finger. And I wondered how that happened too.
15:02
Speaker 3: And nobody could answer that. Now, I can tell you
15:06
Speaker 3: where my mind goes because you've got four extremities with
15:13
Speaker 3: fingers on two hands and toes on two feet, and
15:17
Speaker 3: you've got ears that stick out. And those areas were
15:21
Speaker 3: not compromised, just the right hand. So I can tell
15:25
Speaker 3: you where my mind goes. I also asked the forensics
15:30
Speaker 3: pathologist at State Crime Law, the search and rescue leader said,
15:35
Speaker 3: ask for entomology exam.
15:37
Speaker 5: Which is a.
15:37
Speaker 3: Bug exam of either water bugs or land bugs. And
15:41
Speaker 3: so I specifically asked for an entomology exam for water
15:46
Speaker 3: bugs and land bugs. And the answer I got back
15:49
Speaker 3: was there were no bugs. So they were able to
15:53
Speaker 3: do a toxicology screen. And I don't understand this either.
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Speaker 3: They were able to do a toxicology screen from internal organs, okay?
16:04
Speaker 3: but they could not pull DNA from the bone marrow
16:10
Speaker 3: or the femur or the brain tissue or the liver
16:14
Speaker 3: tissue or any other large bony mass.
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Speaker 5: They couldn't pull DNA.
16:21
Speaker 3: And so that seemed so unusual to me to have
16:27
Speaker 3: sufficient tissue viable enough to pull a toxicology And they
16:34
Speaker 3: pulled a qualitative, not a quantitative, for presence. So if
16:42
Speaker 3: the drug had ever been present in the body. And
16:45
Speaker 3: they ran about 25, 30 drugs.
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Speaker 5: I don't remember them all.
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Speaker 3: But the only two that showed up was THC, which
16:54
Speaker 3: Rebecca had a medical marijuana card, and caffeine.
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Speaker 5: She was a coffee drinker.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, these aren't known to kill people.
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Speaker 3: Right.
17:02
Speaker 2: And so the initial autopsy determines what is her manner
17:06
Speaker 2: of death.
17:07
Speaker 3: Manner of death and cause of death. So because Ryan
17:12
Speaker 3: Funk submitted in his report to the state crime lab
17:16
Speaker 3: that Rebecca was last seen at the river, then that's
17:21
Speaker 3: what drove the autopsy report.
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Speaker 2: The state crime lab found no signs of gunshots or
17:27
Speaker 2: stabbing wounds on Rebecca's body and presumed that her death
17:31
Speaker 2: was the result of a drowning accident. Angela reasonably has
17:34
Speaker 2: issues with this because no one ever saw Rebecca at
17:38
Speaker 2: the river.
17:39
Speaker 3: The truth of the matter is, is that even by
17:42
Speaker 3: Mineral County's Sheriff's Department own admission of what they posted
17:48
Speaker 3: online and published online, Rebecca was last seen on dry
17:52
Speaker 3: ground at Town Pump, 30 miles away. She wasn't last
17:56
Speaker 3: seen at the river. Nobody's come forward to say they
17:59
Speaker 3: saw her at the river.
18:00
Speaker 2: And this is a popular spot in the summertime.
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Speaker 5: Very popular spot in the summertime.
18:06
Speaker 2: But when they did identify her body with dental records and,
18:10
Speaker 2: you know, determine that she had been found deceased, how
18:14
Speaker 2: did that sort of shift your mission here?
18:18
Speaker 3: Well, there were even questions about the dental records. I
18:23
Speaker 3: had copies of dental x-rays that were taken two weeks
18:25
Speaker 3: before she died. She had a full set of teeth.
18:29
Speaker 3: In fact, I had three different sets of dental records
18:32
Speaker 3: for the past two years. And I had gone around
18:35
Speaker 3: to the dentist to gather those up. And of course,
18:39
Speaker 3: one dentist actually turned me in, even though I had
18:42
Speaker 3: guardianship papers.
18:44
Speaker 5: And called the police on me.
18:45
Speaker 2: Wow.
18:45
Speaker 3: Yeah. Said they had some woman in here asking for
18:48
Speaker 3: dental records for Rebecca Barsotti. And they had told me
18:52
Speaker 3: the police do this. I said, well, this was in
18:55
Speaker 3: October and Rebecca had gone missing in July. And I said, well,
18:58
Speaker 3: they haven't done it. So I'm doing it as a guardian,
19:02
Speaker 3: you know. And in fact, the police department had told
19:05
Speaker 3: me they wait until after a body is found before
19:08
Speaker 3: they do. asked for dental records, which made no sense
19:11
Speaker 3: to me because what if you don't find a body
19:13
Speaker 3: for 10 years?
19:14
Speaker 5: Those dental records are gone. Gone.
19:17
Speaker 3: They're not available anymore. So they're not proactive in their pursuit.
19:22
Speaker 3: But between the reports, it ended up that nine teeth
19:26
Speaker 3: were missing. I think it said nine teeth on the autopsy.
19:30
Speaker 3: And I was like, but Rebecca had a full set
19:33
Speaker 3: of teeth before she went missing. So what happened to
19:36
Speaker 3: the teeth? You know, and is this Rebecca? I mean,
19:40
Speaker 3: it's nine teeth missing. I don't know enough about, you know,
19:45
Speaker 3: like the profile of the mouth and all that. Nine
19:48
Speaker 3: teeth is a lot of teeth.
19:50
Speaker 5: To be missing.
19:51
Speaker 2: Who did you bring these concerns to about these discrepancies?
19:55
Speaker 3: So the concerns were brought to the county attorney and
20:01
Speaker 3: to the state crime lab. I think I copied the
20:06
Speaker 3: sheriff's department documents. By that time, we were on such
20:09
Speaker 3: a contentious, in such a contentious relationship with the sheriff
20:14
Speaker 3: department that communication said pretty much completely broken down. So
20:19
Speaker 3: I was sending communications to everybody else, the county attorney,
20:23
Speaker 3: the state crime lab, the forensics pathologist, DOJ, but it
20:29
Speaker 3: wasn't going to the sheriff's department because the sheriff's department
20:32
Speaker 3: wasn't responding and they weren't doing anything. And so, you know,
20:37
Speaker 3: I had a list of questions as to the discrepancies,
20:41
Speaker 3: no answers. I let my attorneys know the discrepancies in
20:47
Speaker 3: my mind, okay, but no direction as to what to do.
20:51
Speaker 5: So it was all a very frustrating time.
20:54
Speaker 2: As an interviewer, this story certainly isn't about me, but
20:59
Speaker 2: speaking with Angela and researching Rebecca's disappearance and her life,
21:03
Speaker 2: her story, I think the fact that the investigation did
21:07
Speaker 2: not take a long, hard look at her estranged husband
21:10
Speaker 2: is its own injustice. Because regardless of how Rebecca's life ended,
21:15
Speaker 2: she had been living in fear and under threats. She'd
21:18
Speaker 2: called the police, documented it, asked for help. She also
21:23
Speaker 2: left her relationship. And so, accidental drowning or not, I
21:26
Speaker 2: believe that her disappearance and death deserved a closer look
21:30
Speaker 2: at her life. Because her life matters so much more.
21:34
Speaker 2: And for her mother, the lingering questions deserved to be answered.
21:39
Speaker 2: So in the meantime that this is all happening and
21:41
Speaker 2: things are contentious between you and local officials and local
21:45
Speaker 2: law enforcement, what becomes of Rebecca's remains?
21:51
Speaker 3: So Rebecca's remains are ultimately cremated. We were not informed
21:56
Speaker 3: on the date they were cremated. In fact, there was
22:00
Speaker 3: a real like fine line of communication. I was literally
22:07
Speaker 3: communicating with my attorney, at what point do I get
22:10
Speaker 3: the autopsy report? Because we were talking about cremation and
22:15
Speaker 3: I'd never gotten an autopsy report. And my attorney said, well,
22:19
Speaker 3: you received it. And I said, I absolutely did not.
22:22
Speaker 3: And then they realized I never had. I got the
22:26
Speaker 3: autopsy report. I'm reading through it. I'm seeing discrepancies. And
22:31
Speaker 3: I'm literally just like speed typing to my attorney. I
22:36
Speaker 3: have this question, this question, and this question and copying
22:40
Speaker 3: it to the state crime lab. Little did I know
22:43
Speaker 3: or was I aware that the body had already been
22:47
Speaker 3: transferred to the funeral home and was already undergoing cremation.
22:52
Speaker 2: And who was then in possession of the remains?
22:56
Speaker 3: David.
22:57
Speaker 5: David Barsotti, her estranged husband.
23:01
Speaker 2: And as far as like legal processes go, I mean,
23:04
Speaker 2: they were estranged and certainly headed toward divorce. Were they
23:07
Speaker 2: legally separated? No.
23:10
Speaker 3: So in the state of Montana, and that's one thing
23:12
Speaker 3: that I'm working on is trying to coordinate with people
23:15
Speaker 3: who live there and have a voice for a vote.
23:19
Speaker 3: In the state of Montana, you have to be separated
23:23
Speaker 3: 180 days, physically separated.
23:26
Speaker 5: And then you can file.
23:29
Speaker 3: And Rebecca was separated 132 of the 180 days. But
23:34
Speaker 3: because there was no legal filing, David was still considered
23:38
Speaker 3: her husband. So you're either married or not married. And
23:43
Speaker 3: he was still considered her husband. So ultimately, the victim
23:47
Speaker 3: of abuse got returned to her abuser. And what I
23:52
Speaker 3: want to see change is that when a person is
23:57
Speaker 3: missing and there is a record of documented domestic violence
24:03
Speaker 3: and domestic abuse, that there should be an immediate divorce.
24:08
Speaker 3: There should be an escape clause in there. Because the
24:12
Speaker 3: other scenario could have been what if Rebecca was found
24:18
Speaker 3: and she was injured enough that she could not speak
24:22
Speaker 3: for herself, David would have been the one making medical
24:26
Speaker 3: decisions for her.
24:28
Speaker 2: Which would have been totally inappropriate and against what she
24:31
Speaker 2: would have wanted.
24:33
Speaker 5: Exactly.
24:34
Speaker 3: And regardless of whether alive or dead, injured or not injured,
24:38
Speaker 3: the abused should never be returned to their abuser. In
24:45
Speaker 3: order to protect the abused, you have to be able
24:48
Speaker 3: to file that divorce and to make that state, you know,
24:54
Speaker 3: so that it's a legal document. And there's also the
24:57
Speaker 3: Slayer statute in Montana, which the Montana Bar Association assured
25:01
Speaker 3: me would protect Rebecca. But I had two attorneys who said, no,
25:05
Speaker 3: it was up to interpretation that the Slayer statute would
25:09
Speaker 3: have only protected Rebecca if David had been convicted with
25:13
Speaker 3: domestic violence.
25:15
Speaker 2: Which would be so hard to do once someone is deceased.
25:20
Speaker 3: Right. But also in Rebecca's case, during the jury trial,
25:25
Speaker 3: the jury was not allowed to be informed she was missing.
25:28
Speaker 3: So therefore, David's attorney was able to say, as you
25:34
Speaker 3: can see, Rebecca's not here at the hearing she requested,
25:39
Speaker 3: which in and of itself swayed the jury.
25:42
Speaker 2: How could they allow him to say that and not
25:45
Speaker 2: allow the other side to say because she is a
25:48
Speaker 2: missing person?
25:50
Speaker 3: Right. I don't understand that. And so that's the other
25:54
Speaker 3: thing I'd like to change in Montana specifically. That if
25:57
Speaker 3: a person is missing, the jury is to be informed.
26:02
Speaker 2: And so, because not only did... David Barsotti, known abuser, known,
26:08
Speaker 2: at least accused abuser, have possession of Rebecca's remains, but
26:13
Speaker 2: he was able to sort of, by way of a
26:17
Speaker 2: third party, obtain a life insurance payout. Can you talk
26:22
Speaker 2: to me a little bit about that?
26:23
Speaker 5: Yeah.
26:24
Speaker 3: So we had asked the detectives that were assigned to
26:28
Speaker 3: the case early on to look into Rebecca's life insurance,
26:32
Speaker 3: if there was any kind of policy on Rebecca, because
26:35
Speaker 3: I had called Montana Insurance State Commissioner and they said
26:38
Speaker 3: they couldn't speak to me because it was a live
26:40
Speaker 3: or an open case. And when they transferred the case
26:44
Speaker 3: back to Mineral County, I asked for an update and
26:46
Speaker 3: they said, oh, we never heard back. One year later,
26:49
Speaker 3: we get a phone call, an anonymous phone call telling
26:53
Speaker 3: us that there was a accidental life insurance policy taken
27:00
Speaker 3: out on Rebecca.
27:01
Speaker 5: Payable upon accidental death only.
27:04
Speaker 2: How could they possibly determine her death was accidental?
27:09
Speaker 3: Well, within 24 hours, the sheriff, Sheriff Mike Toth, had
27:14
Speaker 3: made the proclamation, if you will, that it was an
27:19
Speaker 3: accidental death within 24 hours without any evidence.
27:23
Speaker 2: And the insurance company just said, okay.
27:27
Speaker 5: Yeah, I reached out to the insurance company.
27:30
Speaker 3: After we found that out and little did I know
27:33
Speaker 3: that by the time we got the information and by
27:36
Speaker 3: the time I reached out to the insurance company, they
27:41
Speaker 3: had already paid it out. And I kept asking, you know,
27:45
Speaker 3: can you please follow up on this? Can you please
27:47
Speaker 3: update me? And they finally did update me. And I
27:51
Speaker 3: have that in writing as well. David called the insurance
27:54
Speaker 3: company 33 times in 18 months. And they didn't find
28:00
Speaker 3: that odd. And they called him the day after Rebecca
28:04
Speaker 3: went missing to ensure that the policy was still in
28:09
Speaker 3: effect and had not lapsed. And that's in their letter
28:13
Speaker 3: back to me.
28:14
Speaker 2: Before anyone was even looking for her.
28:16
Speaker 3: Mm hmm. Yeah.
28:19
Speaker 5: So there was so much.
28:21
Speaker 3: And then their last paragraph was, we saw no reason
28:24
Speaker 3: to withhold payment.
28:26
Speaker 5: And then I'm.
28:27
Speaker 3: Like, 33 phone calls in 18 months, a call after
28:31
Speaker 3: the day, Rebecca goes missing to make sure the policy's
28:34
Speaker 3: still in force. And you find nothing that alerts you.
28:47
Speaker 3: And then after Rebecca died, of course, I really just
28:50
Speaker 3: think nobody expected us to show up. They expected that
28:55
Speaker 3: Rebecca would go missing.
28:57
Speaker 5: And nobody would care.
28:58
Speaker 3: Because that's what David had everybody believing.
29:01
Speaker 5: Right. That nobody cared.
29:04
Speaker 2: So when I called you, there had been... It's not
29:08
Speaker 2: necessarily a development, but there's something had happened in regards
29:13
Speaker 2: to David. Can you talk to me about that?
29:14
Speaker 5: Yeah. So on June.
29:19
Speaker 3: 16th, I got notified that somebody made a comment on
29:23
Speaker 3: Rebecca's Facebook page. And so I went to that comment
29:28
Speaker 3: and the person had said, David Barsotti is dead. And
29:32
Speaker 3: then in parentheses, they put 7-14-2026. And I had gotten
29:35
Speaker 3: a notice like that in April through Messenger that David died,
29:45
Speaker 3: but nobody could confirm it. So I just thought it
29:48
Speaker 3: was another scam. But like within five or 10 minutes,
29:53
Speaker 3: my PI, John Baker, called me and said, have you heard?
29:57
Speaker 3: And I said, well, It's strange you should call because
30:00
Speaker 3: I just got a notice that said David Varsady had died.
30:06
Speaker 3: And I said, I don't know if it's true or not.
30:07
Speaker 3: So he called and confirmed it. I had hoped that
30:14
Speaker 3: Mineral County would do the right thing since Rebecca was
30:17
Speaker 3: a missing person and at one time married to David,
30:21
Speaker 3: which they reminded me of over and over again.
30:25
Speaker 5: But they did not. No one in a.
30:28
Speaker 3: Position of authority bothered to contact me. And I called
30:32
Speaker 3: them on the afternoon of the 16th, looking to follow
30:39
Speaker 3: up on a post complaint I had filed against Ryan Funk,
30:42
Speaker 3: who was the responding deputy of Rebecca's case, and now
30:46
Speaker 3: the sheriff. And I had informed the county attorney out
30:50
Speaker 3: of courtesy that I had filed that and never heard
30:53
Speaker 3: anything back. And so I spoke with her. She confirmed
30:56
Speaker 3: that she did receive it.
30:58
Speaker 5: And I waited.
31:00
Speaker 3: I waited to see if she was going to say anything.
31:02
Speaker 3: And she finally asked if I had heard the rumor.
31:06
Speaker 3: And I said, you mean of David Barsotti being dead?
31:09
Speaker 3: And she said, yes. And she said, it's true. Now,
31:13
Speaker 3: mind you, no one, they've never made a public statement.
31:17
Speaker 3: I've heard from many people that a welfare check was called,
31:21
Speaker 3: but nothing, a lot of people in Mineral County have scanners.
31:25
Speaker 3: Nobody heard a welfare check call come through.
31:28
Speaker 2: What have you heard about the need details surrounding his passing?
31:32
Speaker 3: So I have a copy of the certificate of death.
31:35
Speaker 3: It's a public record. And on it, it says manner
31:39
Speaker 3: of death by natural causes. And cause of death is alcoholism,
31:45
Speaker 3: complications to alcoholism. I'm assuming no autopsy was done because
31:50
Speaker 3: the manner of death and the cause of death, it
31:53
Speaker 3: removes the need to do those tests, right? perform an autopsy.
32:01
Speaker 3: And I'm assuming they did it because David did have
32:04
Speaker 3: a lot of DUIs.
32:05
Speaker 5: So they just assumed.
32:07
Speaker 2: I see.
32:08
Speaker 5: But Mineral County assumes a lot. Yeah.
32:12
Speaker 2: And so now that David is dead, what does that mean,
32:17
Speaker 2: if anything, to you about this?
32:21
Speaker 3: At first, that meant the secrets went to his grave
32:23
Speaker 3: with him. But I don't think David's the only one
32:27
Speaker 3: who knows what happened. So I'm hopeful that eventually people
32:33
Speaker 3: will come forward.
32:35
Speaker 2: And, you know, bring me to the point of Rebecca's legacy.
32:38
Speaker 3: So we operate, we bring Rebecca's legacy to the people
32:46
Speaker 3: either in person or on social media because we believe
32:51
Speaker 3: that there was systemic failure in the judicial system and
32:57
Speaker 3: the police department. And we also believe that Rebecca is
33:01
Speaker 3: not the only one that happened to. In fact, in Montana,
33:05
Speaker 3: it happens more times than what anyone would want to admit.
33:10
Speaker 3: And so it's our hope that we'll bring light to
33:14
Speaker 3: that along with other people who have been affected and
33:19
Speaker 3: that we'll give voice to people who have experienced the
33:24
Speaker 3: same injustices or similar injustices. your indigenous nations, they have
33:31
Speaker 3: embraced us because they looked past the color of the
33:35
Speaker 3: skin and realized that what we experienced and what Rebecca
33:39
Speaker 3: experienced was very close to what their own women have
33:45
Speaker 3: experienced in missing and murdered cases.
33:49
Speaker 2: Being overlooked by law enforcement and not searched for and
33:53
Speaker 2: not cared about.
33:54
Speaker 3: So what we have done is we have become boots
33:57
Speaker 3: on the ground. We go into the community here in Richmond, Virginia.
34:02
Speaker 3: We set up a table with Rebecca's legacy in just
34:06
Speaker 3: a short brief brochure about her story. But then we
34:10
Speaker 3: collaborate with other domestic violence shelters in the area and
34:15
Speaker 3: we have their information available, their hotlines available, their services
34:21
Speaker 3: for safe planning strategies, prevention, education, awareness. making people accountable.
34:30
Speaker 3: And it's our hope and dream that we will, we're
34:35
Speaker 3: a small nonprofit, we're a very small nonprofit right now,
34:39
Speaker 3: but that we will grow and that we will gain
34:42
Speaker 3: traction so that we can implement the prevention by education
34:50
Speaker 3: and that we can implement accountability That accountability is in
34:55
Speaker 3: all forms. Restaurants can have signs up in the bathroom
35:00
Speaker 3: for victims of domestic violence with codes. How do they
35:04
Speaker 3: let the bartender know that they're experiencing domestic violence with
35:08
Speaker 3: the person they're there? There's actually systems set up. And
35:12
Speaker 3: it's just a matter of getting the word out and
35:14
Speaker 3: getting them initiated. There's hand signals for a person who's
35:19
Speaker 3: experiencing domestic violence. But the community at large doesn't know
35:24
Speaker 3: those hand signals.
35:25
Speaker 2: Right, and how much good are they doing if people
35:27
Speaker 2: aren't aware?
35:28
Speaker 5: Right, right.
35:30
Speaker 3: So our goal is to educate, to help prevent. We
35:35
Speaker 3: make available free of charge a search and rescue coloring
35:38
Speaker 3: book for children that is provided to us by Community
35:44
Speaker 3: United Efforts Search and Rescue in North Carolina. My sister
35:48
Speaker 3: created a coloring book Happy hearts, healthy hands. Anyways, it's
35:54
Speaker 3: about building healthy relationships, specifically for four to eight-year-olds. And
35:59
Speaker 3: these are integrative coloring books to be used side by
36:03
Speaker 3: side with an adult or an older person to talk
36:06
Speaker 3: about it. And so that's prevention. It's education and prevention.
36:12
Speaker 3: And then there's other programs that we align ourselves with, loveisrespect.org.
36:18
Speaker 3: which targets your teenagers and your college age students. So
36:23
Speaker 3: we are a catalyst to get the information into the community.
36:28
Speaker 3: Instead of expecting the victim to go to a seminar
36:32
Speaker 3: on domestic violence, we're at the flea market. We're at
36:35
Speaker 3: the gun show. We're at the fly fishing festival. We're
36:38
Speaker 3: at the substance abuse fair. And we meet these people
36:44
Speaker 3: right where they're at.
36:45
Speaker 5: Yeah.
36:46
Speaker 2: That's amazing. I mean, I think that just from what
36:50
Speaker 2: I've learned about Rebecca and who she was, it seems
36:53
Speaker 2: like something she would have been so happy to know
36:56
Speaker 2: that you're doing with her story.
36:58
Speaker 5: Yeah.
36:59
Speaker 3: And we spend a good deal of time with it
37:01
Speaker 3: promoting awareness that pets don't need to be left behind
37:05
Speaker 3: because Rebecca loved her beloved dog, Surs. Yeah.
37:09
Speaker 5: And Surs was very important to her.
37:11
Speaker 4: Yeah.
37:12
Speaker 3: So we also can put people in touch with those resources.
37:16
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Angela, for taking the time to
37:19
Speaker 2: speak with me today.
37:20
Speaker 5: You're welcome.
37:21
Speaker 2: To share your story and Rebecca's. And I know our
37:24
Speaker 2: listeners will be so moved by it.
37:26
Speaker 5: Thank you.
37:27
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. I appreciate it, Faysha. I appreciate
37:30
Speaker 3: the opportunity very much.
37:37
Speaker 2: So that was our two-part series speaking with Angela Mastrofito
37:40
Speaker 2: about her daughter, Rebecca. Authorities did not and do not
37:44
Speaker 2: suspect foul play in Rebecca's death. And as we covered
37:47
Speaker 2: in the episode, the state crime lab determined Rebecca had drowned.
37:51
Speaker 2: But no matter what happened, it's clear to me, listening
37:55
Speaker 2: to Angela and hearing Rebecca's story, that she was the
37:58
Speaker 2: victim of domestic abuse. And it's easy to understand why
38:02
Speaker 2: Angela continues to fight so hard to share Rebecca's story
38:06
Speaker 2: and call out the gaps that she sees in the investigations.
38:10
Speaker 2: I want to touch on the Slayer statute Angela mentioned.
38:14
Speaker 2: So had David Barsotti ever been convicted on domestic violence charges,
38:20
Speaker 2: his rights over her estate and insurance policy or any
38:24
Speaker 2: possible way of potentially profiting from her death would have
38:28
Speaker 2: been taken from him. And it looks like 47 states
38:32
Speaker 2: have a similar statute. I don't know much about this,
38:35
Speaker 2: so I looked into it. And It sounds like the
38:38
Speaker 2: Slayer Statute is a good start, but it's imperfect. In
38:41
Speaker 2: certain cases, if a defendant is found not guilty by
38:44
Speaker 2: reason of insanity, sometimes this can create a loophole wherein
38:48
Speaker 2: they are still allowed to inherit from someone whose death
38:51
Speaker 2: they are responsible for. In other instances, even if someone
38:55
Speaker 2: is found responsible for killing someone that they would stand
38:58
Speaker 2: to inherit from, the killer's own children can sometimes still
39:02
Speaker 2: gain from that inheritance, even if it bypasses their parent
39:06
Speaker 2: who is responsible for this person's death. And I could
39:09
Speaker 2: see that going both ways if it's, say, like one
39:12
Speaker 2: parent murdering another. Obviously, you want those children to still inherit.
39:17
Speaker 2: But I think that that's probably not usually the case
39:20
Speaker 2: when they're talking about this loophole. And then additionally, I
39:25
Speaker 2: wanted to speak a little bit about Rebecca's legacy, which
39:28
Speaker 2: is a nonprofit. organization founded by Angela to give victims
39:34
Speaker 2: of domestic violence and those who are missing or murdered
39:36
Speaker 2: and their families a voice while providing resources, awareness, and
39:40
Speaker 2: educational information. You can find a link to their website
39:44
Speaker 2: in our show notes. You know, as we heard in
39:46
Speaker 2: the episode, Rebecca deeply loved her dog Cerberus. And I
39:52
Speaker 2: love that this came up in our conversation because it's
39:54
Speaker 2: actually so important. Many people experiencing hardship, whether it's maybe
40:01
Speaker 2: they're unhoused or attempting to leave an abusive relationship, they
40:05
Speaker 2: struggle with having to leave behind their pets. And Under
40:09
Speaker 2: the Resources tab on the Rebecca's Legacy website, they have
40:12
Speaker 2: a list of pet-safe resources for victims of domestic abuse.
40:16
Speaker 2: Angela is really doing incredible work to carry on Rebecca's
40:20
Speaker 2: story with purpose, despite the difficulty that comes with speaking
40:24
Speaker 2: about such an incredible tragedy. And I just want to
40:28
Speaker 2: thank her again for taking the time to speak with us.
40:32
Speaker 2: There's more on the case on Rebecca's Legacy, the website
40:36
Speaker 2: that's in the show notes. There's also episodes about Rebecca
40:39
Speaker 2: Barsotti's disappearance on Hidden True Crime that have unearthed interviews
40:45
Speaker 2: that I wasn't able to touch on in our episodes,
40:48
Speaker 2: but I would encourage you to check it out. So
40:50
Speaker 2: thank you so much for listening.
40:51
Speaker 5: We will be back next week.
40:55
Speaker 2: If you have a story for us, we would love
40:57
Speaker 2: to hear it. Our email is thenife at exactlyrightmedia.com or
41:01
Speaker 2: you can follow us on Instagram at The Knife Podcast
41:04
Speaker 2: or Blue Sky at The Knife Podcast.
41:06
Speaker 1: This has been an Exactly Right production, hosted and produced
41:09
Speaker 1: by me, Hannah Smith.
41:10
Speaker 2: And me, Patia Eaton. Our producers are Tom Breyfogle and
41:13
Speaker 2: Alexa Samorosi.
41:15
Speaker 1: This episode was mixed by Tom Breyfogle.
41:17
Speaker 2: Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain.
41:19
Speaker 1: Our theme music is by Birds in the Airport.
41:22
Speaker 2: Artwork by Vanessa Lilac.
41:24
Speaker 1: Executive produced by Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark, and Danielle Kramer.