Latest / Minor Mischief Podcast / The Eerie Tale of Elyse Pahler
Transcript
- Kiki George: What happens when sneaking out for a night of teenage fun takes an unexpected turn? This is the Minor Mischief Podcast and this is the Eerie Tale of Elise Paler. Welcome back welcome back welcome back welcome back I know it's been a few months, but y'all listen when I tell you that your friend, your girl, your hostess with the most dis has been getting tossed like a cashmere sweater in the dryer on high heat, your girl has been getting tossed like a Caesar salad. Your girl has been getting tossed like tequila shots on a Friday night. I have been busy. Okay. So much has been going on. Work had been crazy. I got married, did a ton of traveling. It's just I am I'm still tired. And it's January. But that's okay. That is okay. baby, I am tired. But it's all good things. Everything's fine. All is well. We, you know, had a couple couple couple rough moments, you know. But overall Things are things are fine. Everything's good. But I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry to leave all five of my listeners hanging. Cause I, you know, I know we are family, okay? I will make it up to you, I promise. And happy new year, by the way. Even though in my absence I missed all the holidays, so happy Halloween, happy Thanksgiving, happy Black Friday. Hopefully you got some good stuff or not, because why are we shopping anyway? The world is falling apart. Merry Christmas and happy Christmas Eve and all that. Merry Christ Christmas Hanaquan is Anyways. So when I started this podcast, I had no idea how much time, energy, effort, work, patience, blood, sweat, and tears fighting with my computer, fighting with my microphone, fighting with this, fighting with that, fighting with Apple Podcasts still. But it is okay. The show must go on. And I'm gonna keep pushing because you can't keep a good girl down. But I now realize why in the true crime space I will say, I can't speak for all podcasts, but I would say in in the true crime space, a lot of the podcasts that I've listened to, because I like newer podcasts a lot of the time. And I would wonder, I'm like, why are you guys so inconsistent? Baby, I get it. I get it. So if you don't if you recorded an episode This month and I don't get none for another three months. I get it. I understand. However, I'm going to try to be different. I am setting a new precedent. It's a brand new year. I don't care if I'm gonna lose sleep at this point. We have to keep going, right? Right. Anyway, listen, today's story, today's story. This story is so wild and unbe freaking leavable. I'm not even gonna belabor this entrance. So let's get into it, shall we? I missed you all. I hope you missed me. But let's get into this story, cause girl or guy. Seriously. so today's story has three mischief makers: Royce Casey, Jacob Deleschmitt, and Joseph Fiorella, who also goes by Joe or Joey. and then today's star of the show is Elise Paler, who unfortunately is our victim. So a quick side note, a lot of the coverage in this story pronounces her name Elise Paller. But the interviews that I saw with her family and friends say Paler. So I'm going to assume that's the correct pronunciation. And I apologize in advance to the Paler or Pauler family if it is not. Because I do want to be integral, you know, and be respectful of your loss. I just could not figure out if it was Paler or Pauler. I'm just really unsure. But I'm gonna go with Paler because the documentary I watched with her parents. said Paler. So Elise Marie Paler was born on April 24th, 1980 to her parents, David and Lysanne Paler. She was the oldest of four siblings and she and her family resided in Arroyo Grande, California. I've never been to Arroyo Grande, but based on what I've read, it's known for its small town charm. It has a scenic shoreline and it has a cute little quaint downtown area, which apparently features some amazing sidewalk cafes. And if anyone knows me, you guys know that I live For a good cafe. But this is also not about me, so moving on. also, apparently the movie Little Giants was filmed there. So put that in your trivia knowledge hat for a rainy day. Elise was described as a vivacious teenager with a zest for life. Remember what I said last episode? Remember what I said last episode. And because it was so long ago, I'm going to remind you guys that anytime anyone lights up a room has a zest for life, grab life by the horns. Baby watch out. Okay. It's just that's always how it goes. so please don't ever describe me as having a zest for life. Let everyone know that I hated it very, very much. Elise loved art and design and apparently used to design and sew her own clothing. She was described as an all-American girl, a great athlete, a model student who made friends very easily. She wasn't necessarily popular, but she had her friend group that she was seen with regularly. On some posts that I read about her, people who knew her from high school all agreed that she was really, really nice, really sweet and kind, someone easygoing. She kept a smile on her face, kept a smile on the faces of those around her, a very bright spirit with an abundance of talent. Elise attended Arroyo Grande High School, Go Eagles, which is where she met some of our mischief makers. So Royce Casey, Jacob Deleschmet, and Joseph Jorella, who, like I said earlier, went by Joe or Joey. They were all students of Arroyo Grande High School. Arroyo Grande High School was like any other high school in the nineties. You know, there were different cliques, you know, the athletes, cheerleaders, theater kids, rock kids, grunge kids, on and on and on. Band. Elise didn't necessarily fit into any of these groups. So she, along with four other girls, like I mentioned earlier, they kind of formed their own group and did their did their own thing, you know? The girls spent their time away from school listening to music. They would watch music videos, make up dance moves, have sleepovers. Researching this case was so nostalgic for me because I was a nineties kid and I just remember being so excited for high school. Like, my gosh, what would my friends be like? Are we gonna hang out by our lockers in between classes? What would we be into? Like watching movies like Clueless, never been kissed with Drew Barrymore, Wish Upon a Star. I'm dating myself. I'm dating myself. It's okay. But I just imagine that was what high school would be like. Spoiler alert, I was wrong. I was so wrong. I didn't hate high school or anything, but it was just not like the movies. I also was a New York City kid, so take that for what you will. so Jacob, Royce, and Joey were heavily into death metal music. They idolized the music group Slayer, which I was unsure who Slayer was, so please don't judge me if you're a huge Slayer fan. I just I think I've heard of them in passing. I just didn't know enough or didn't really care enough. To even like look into them. But for those of us who are unfamiliar with Slayer, they were slash R, Slash is still currently a death metal band who promoted a lot of like satanic in imagery. their lyrics included things like necrophilia, death and violence, virgin torture, things of that nature. This is all based on what I've read, because I have never listened to a Slayer song and I likely will not. Even their band logo is a pentagram. The members of Slayer are Carrie, Tom, Paul, and Gary, and they swear they are not Satanists. Scouts honor. Mm-hmm. but they said they just used the satanic imagery and lyrics for sales and for shock factor. I'll call BS, but that's just my opinion. At least one of the members now is a practicing Catholic and he says he believes in Christ, so take that for what you will. Nevertheless, Royce, Jacob, and Joe formed a group named Hatred. Which was a slayer knockoff type group in a way. So school is out for summer. Elise had wrapped up her freshman year. It's a hot Friday night in July. And she and her family are winding down and watching a television program when the phone rings. So Elise answered it and she was on the phone for about a minute and she didn't really say much during the conversation. She kinda had the receiver up to th her ear and was like, Hello? Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, cool, cool, cool. All right, cool. Bye. And then she got off the phone and got back on the couch with her family. Shortly after, another phone call came in and Elise got up again and answered that phone call. And her mom said that call lasted about ten seconds. and Lazanne said on that phone call, it was the same thing. It wasn't much of a conversation, just kind of like, Yeah, yeah, uhhuh. Okay, cool, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yep, yeah, yep. unbeknownst to her parents though at the time, Elise was making plans to sneak out and meet Royce, Jacob, Joseph, and smoke a little weed in the area surrounding their house. Apparently this was common in Arroyo Grande, where the kids would kinda hang out in little spots like under bridges or in fields or in groves, and they would gr gather, kinda smoke some weed, listen to music, zone out, get high, whatever. There wasn't any mention of any other drugs, but I have a little suspicion that they were out there doing other drugs as well. I do have to say though that the audacity to make plans to sneak out on a phone line that your parents could literally pick up the other receiver and hear you on is B-O-L-D bold. But hey, you know, this wasn't the first time Elise had kind of snuck out. Her parents mentioned that during the school year she had asked her dad one time to drop her off to school early so that she can get in some extra studying. And next thing you know, her parents got a call from the police that Elise had been picked up under a bridge smoking weed with some boy. I'm not judging. I'm not judging. I'm just saying, my girl Elise was here for a good old time, okay? So anyway, shortly after Elise takes these phone calls, she stretches her hands out wide, lets out a big fake yawn, and says, You know what, guys? Will you look at the time? It is getting late. I am tired. And I'm just gonna go ahead on into bed. And that's what she did. Sorry guys, I am like battling some kind of winter crud. So me and cough drops are BFFs right now, but I did not want to push this episode off any longer because it's already been like four months. So please excuse me if you hear like cough drop rappers or me drinking water. I'm gonna try to edit it all out, but I am fighting for my life. But I really wanted to stick to this, so please just give me some grace. anyway, so they're in the living room. Elise is like, I'm tired, I'm gonna go to bed. It's been a really great night with y with you guys, and you know. And then that was the last time Elise's family saw her alive. What they did not know is that while they were finishing their TV time and they thought Elise was tuckered out in her bed, Elise had carefully arranged the pillows in her bed to look like she was in it. And she snuck out of the French doors in her bedroom to meet Royce, Joey, and Jacob at the edge of their driveway. So together the four of them walk into a nearby eucalyptus grove called I'm about to butcher this name, dear God. It was called the Nipomo Mesa Eucalyptus Grove. Or is it nipomo? We'll go with Nipomo. If I'm saying it wrong, I apologize. You can correct me in the comments. So this next part of our story details Elisa's murder case and abuse of her corpse. So listener discretion is strongly advised, especially if you're listening with str with young children. And you know, if you don't want to hear about abuse of a corpse or the murder, I would skip for it about two minutes or so. And I'll wait a second to give you some time to do so right now. So the four teens enter the eucalyptus grove and Jacob says that he has to pee really quickly. Not suspicious at all. You know, hey, you gotta use the bathroom, do what you gotta do. But then he takes off his belt and immediately starts strangling Elise with it. Royce pins Elise's hands behind her back and Joe pulls out a large hunting knife. He proceeds to stab Elise in the front of her neck six times and on the side of her neck two more times. And then he hands the weapon to Jacob. who stabbed her an additional four to five times in her back and her neck. And then if that wasn't enough, Royce, he is finally handed the weapon and then he stabs her another four times. So he finally lets her go, but apparently she was still like moaning and faintly calling out for her mother, which Then she starts praying. And she's praying to God and asking him to please help her get out of this alive and just begging God, asking God, like, God, please, if you let me out of this, I'll be a better girl. If you let me out of this, I'll do better. If you let me out of this. Some reports say that she had started reciting the Lord's Prayer just over and over and over and over and over. And you know what Royce does? He decides that this is taking longer than he wants. And then he stomps Elise to her death. He stomped her to death. There were reports that the three sexually assaulted Elise after she took her last de breath, but they all deny it. And to that I say, just remember God is watching. After Elise took her last breath, they dug they dragged her body further out into the grove. They dug a shallow grave and they placed her there face down and fully clothed. I am curious as to why they laid her face down, but I could not find anything necessarily explaining why. So after they laid her there, they threw dirt and leaves over her body, and they walk back out to the main road. As they were walking along the street, they hid from cars like as they were walking along the street, you know, it's nighttime. And cars are driving by, so every time like a car would drive by, they would duck off behind the bushes or whatever the case may be. And eventually a car comes up and he like they this car sees them like. Trying to duck off. And it was Jacob's dad. And he was like, Boy, I have been looking for you. It is late. Why aren't you home? Why are you just walking around randomly ducking behind bushes? If you don't get in this car, that's how I imagine it went. It probably didn't go like that. It probably was like, Boy, if you don't get in this damn car, have me out here looking for you on a Friday night. I am pissed. I'm trying to lay down. Don't piss me off. But I'm just like, could you imagine? Could you imagine getting picked up by your dad and he is pissed because you miss curfew? Meanwhile, the reason you miss curfew is because you were out killing and assaulting an innocent girl from school just is mind boggling. Nevertheless, the three guys, you know, they went into the car with Jacob's dad, he took them all home and they acted like nothing ever happened. There were also reports that the boys went back over to her body a few times in the first few days and continued to assault her body those first few days. Again, they deny it. But that's what I read. So back at the Palo Residence, it's now the early morning of July twenty second, nineteen ninety five. And Lizanne like jumps out of her sleep in a panic. And she said that she kind of like jumped out of bed and her first words were like, Where's Elise? Like, is she is she cool? That's not what she said. It it just said it where's Elise, but I just you know that last part was mine. So she asked Elise's younger sister to go into her room and check on her, but then her worst fears came true once they realized that Elise was not in her room. So Lasanne called the police immediately, but they told her that she had to wait until Elise had been gone over twenty four hours to report her missing. Quick side story. You know what's crazy? I wonder if this is like a city by city or state by state thing, because I hear so often in these cases. That you have to wait over 24 hours to report a teenager missing because you know they're grown. Well, not grown per se, but they can move on their own volition at that age. But I just remember one point in my life, I was in high school and my mom asked me to run to the bank for her after I got out of school. And in true early 2000 New York City kid fashion, I went and hung out with my friends after school. We got three. Free swipes, if you know, you know, on your Metro card. And you can pretty much you can pretty much visit New York, okay? As long as you had money for the bus or the train. And so this particular day my mom asked me to go to the bank for her after school. I'm hanging out with my friends. Of course, I did not make it to the bank, and I realize it's getting late, and I'm like, shoot, I need to go get this money from my mom out of the ATM because she will lose it on me if I come home late and without this money. So I'm walking around, my friends had gone home at this point, and I'm realized like all the banks are freaking closed. And I'm like, I live in Brooklyn, New York. At least one bank has to be open. I was wrong. Majority of the banks were closed. I found one bank out by the mall, King's Plaza, for those of you that know, that was still open. And I was out of free trips on my Metro Card and I had no money for a cab or anything. So I had to walk back home and it was about nine PM when I got home. Whole time I'm walking home, I'm rehearsing my story, like, mom, I'm late because the bank was closed or I lost track of time. I'm like, what am I gonna tell my mom when I get home? 'Cause she's about to be pissed. And then you know what I saw when I pulled up? When I pulled up like I had a car, please. When I walked up on foot to my house, the police. My mom thought I went missing and called the police. And they should have just stayed at my house because my mom definitely tried to kill me that night. quick side story. But in Arroyo Grande in nineteen ninety five, they told Les Anne Paler that she had to wait twenty four hours to report Elise missing. And so she did. So the next day, July twenty third, nineteen ninety five, the police thought that Elise ran away. So it was reported that they did not put a whole lot of effort into the search for her just based on like her that was so ghetto. My phone is pinging while I'm recording this. Jesus take the wheel please. We're moving along, we're moving along. so it was reported that the police did not put a whole lot of effort into searching for Elise just based on her history of having like run away from home before, having skipped school, going out with people. And to me, I'm just like, that's all the reason you should be looking for her because usually she comes back, you know? But they thought she was a runaway. it was pretty much if we see her, we'll return her. She'll probably be back. You know, it is what it is. So the Palar family, surrounded by well wishers in their community, they begin to fight for answers at this point. They put up posters, they're scouring the streets, they're looking and leaving no stone unturned looking for Lisa's body. They did everything they could think of to bring awareness to Lisa's case and hopefully bring their daughter home. The case did eventually gain nationwide attention and the tips began pouring in. Elise sightings were reported everywhere. People were saying they saw her on the beach. People were saying they saw her in LA. Someone said they thought she ran away with the circus. Which to me, why would you even bring that to her parents? Like, yeah, I heard she ran away with the circus. Are you nuts? Why the hell would she run away with the circus? getting back on track. there also was a story, one of the craziest Elise sightings was apparently there was this older guy who lived with a girl that favored Elise and she was she was around Elise's age. And they lived together in a mobile home. And apparently there was like no food, no running water, no electricity. And all they had in the trailer was meth. And both the old man and the young lady Like they were completely strung out on meth. And a lot of people thought that, you know, when they saw them together, because like they would go out and get money and buy more meth or whatever, they thought that he was the one that kidnapped Elise. So people kept pointing her family and the police in that direction. It was not Elise. And I sure do hope they rescued that girl though. I would really like to know more about her case, because what? Moving forward. So even Elise's family you know, reported and said that the police were treating her as a runaway. And even though like, you know, she would do things and all that, she always returned home fairly quickly and she was never gone overnight. Like that just never happened. And the fact that days kept passing without contact from Lise, I just really wish that the police were more diligent about this. At some point, rumors started swirling that Elise ran away because she was mad at her parents or she ran off to Mexico to be with some guy. It just became one big mess of confusion. Now, while Elise and her parents had a pretty good relationship, apparently right before her disappearance, they had really been getting on her case about her behavior and the company that she was hanging around. You know, Joseph and Jacob and Royce. So by the time school started back, the rumors were so whirling. And for those of us that have been through high school and graduated, we know that high school rumors will swirl. So the rumors are swirling around campus about Elise's case and what could have possibly happened. And you know, this was before the days of social media, so it was very much print media, nightly news, hard copy news, paper, word of mouth. So remember earlier, I mentioned that Elise at this time had her core group of friends. And at this time everybody's looking at her friends strange because they felt like they knew exactly where she was and just wasn't saying anything. And not to mention that Elise and one of her really good friends at the time, they just came to a point in their relationship where they realized they outgrew each other. And so they weren't friends anymore. And so it's like people are looking at them because it's like you guys are her close circle and they're looking around like, Are we? 'Cause we haven't really hung out like that recently, you know? So, Elisa was, you know, hanging out with other people and hanging out with Royce and them and so it just became very uncomfortable and just like I said, this big mess of confusion again. So none of Elisa's friends from her like original friend group that I spoke of, they did not like Joey. They said they got super weird vibes from him. they said his energy was really dark and he just was like they would just get the ick just to when she even introduced them to him. They were like, Ugh, why are you hanging out with this guy? which I'm like, duh, because they were over there worshiping Satan. Also note that Joey apparently had a pretty serious crush on Elise. I don't think anything ever happened between them. and I don't know if he ever confided in her about his feelings with her or tried to date her. But that also made people very uncomfortable because they just said that He was kind of just weird around her and you know. but it does make me wonder if he chose her as his victim because she rejected him somehow. I don't know. So a few months passed, tips are still pouring in, things are slowing down a little bit because at this point, you know, nobody really knows. So walk with me over to Royce's side of town. It is now March 14th, 1996, and your boy Royce was going through some chain jizz. His family was going to church regularly and the gospel of Jesus Christ was really starting to speak to Royce, you know? He was getting more and more involved in church, he was getting more involved in prayer, and he just could not live with the effects of what he had done any longer. Like he was just over it. He couldn't believe he had done it. He was just like, What did I do? So Royce decides at this time to confide in his pastor. Now the report said a member of clergy, but most of the articles that I read and in the documentary said pastor, so we're gonna go with the pastor. I also wonder if he was Catholic and maybe mentioned it in confession because if so I thought that was confidential. So Royce convided in his pastor, member of clergy, and his pastor immediately, immediately, I don't even think Royce left the building all the way, immediately notifies the police. And they go and take Royce in for questioning. So Royce at this point spills the beans. Like he is singing like Mariah Carey on Christmas. He was like, it's time, honey. Like he Royce spilled, okay? He told them everything. He even went as far as to lead them to Elise's mummified body. He confesses to the police that Elise was sacrificed to gain fame and popularity for their group hatred, which spoiler alert, they did not get. I mean I guess infamous, but not for music. They wanted to be as big and widely known as Slayer, and Royce, Jacob, and Joey had been plotting for months to get Elise alone and kill her. Once this was done, they planned to sacrifice to the devil by killing six hundred and sixty-five other blonde haired blue eyed girls to keep the fame and popularity of their band going. They needed six hundred and sixty-six blonde-haired, blue-eyed virgins in total. Apparently they were hooked on some Slayer lyrics that's dealt specifically with the murder of virgins. And now while they did plan out how they were going to kill Elise, it actually ended up being a spur of the moment thing on the day of because Royce was actually at the store and he ran into Joey and Jacob while he was hanging out with one of his female friends. And they were hanging out and decided to grab something to drink. And then Joey and Jacob come in the store and they're just like, hey, we just got off the phone with Elise and they looked at Royce like, you know what we're about to do. And Royce was like, Right now? And they're like, Yeah, you know what we're about to do. Like, we've been talking about this for months. Get your head in the game, Royce. So Royce peaced out to his friend and was like, I guess I'll see you later. And headed over to Elisa's house with Jacob and Joey. And they apparently, as they were walking to her house, discussed their plan and they were like, Okay, this is what we're gonna do. Here's how this is gonna go. And I'm like, At any point, buddy, you could have yelled for help. You could have said something. And then he said when he saw the belt and the knife. I knew and I quote, this was no longer a hypothetical discussion. At what point, Royce, did you realize it was not a hypothetical discussion? You guys have been talking about this for months. They just got off the phone with her, said, Hey, we're walking over to her house to do the thing. And you're like, we're just like, nah, we're not really about to do the thing, are we? But I digress. Anyways, he even mentioned on the night of they built a makeshift altar to sacrifice her on. And I think the most chilling detail of this case is that they already had their next victim picked out. Like they already knew, like, once this was done, they knew who girl number two was gonna be. And so Royce said he had to get out of it somehow, but he feared that if he did not go along with Jacob and Joey that they would kill him instead and move along with their plan. Royce mentioned that they talked about how each of them would be re rewarded by the devil for what they had done. And they talked about how Elise had fit exactly the perfect image of the virgin sacrifice described in the music they were obsessed with. So Royce mentioned that, quote, we talked about how each of us would be rewarded by the devil for what we had done. We talked about how Elise had fit exactly the image of the perfect sacrifice described in the music we were obsessed with. We talked about Elise being a trophy for the devil, a girlfriend to add to his winnings. End quote. Now, while this is all going on, Elisa's family was on a ski trip. It had been eight months since Elise's disappearance. They were no closer to getting answers and they're driving home and when they get to their street, they just see like a sea of police cars. There's flashing lights. People are lining the streets. People are looking at them as they're driving by. And they're like, What in the world is going on? They said you could see the lights before you even turned onto their street properly. Like there were so many police cars and so many people outside of their house. So they pull inside of their driveway and a detective greets David and informs him that Elisa's body was found. And not only was Elisa's body found, Elisa's body was found in a eucalyptus grove, about a quarter mile from their home. I just can't believe she was that close to home this entire time. That would have just mm. So Royce Casey, Jacob Delashmet, and Joe Fiorella are all booked and charged with seven counts. Including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit rape, and kidnapping. A forensic pathologist determined that none of Elisa's injuries were actually life-threatening and that she actually bled to death. The DA wanted to place charges for rape and torture, but due to the stage and the decompos the a little why can't I say that word? Due to the stage and the decomposition of her body. they weren't unable to verify if sexual assault had actually taken place. So the trio was taken to San Luis Obispo County Jail where they awaited trial. Now, while they were being questioned, Jacob flipped on Joey and pretty much said that this entire thing was all his idea. Every group has one, right? And that Joey was super obsessed with Elise and that he wanted to have sex with her. And to that I say. Jacob, you are not beating those assaulting a corpse allegations. I do not care. You were there. You participated. So you can flip on him all you want to. And I don't disagree that it probably was all Joey's idea. It probably was. And you guys are gonna see why I came to that conclusion later, but I feel like he was like, I have nothing to do with this. Get me out of here. And the truth of the matter is you were there and you kept your mouth shut for eight whole months and said nothing. So In January 1997, the trio's trial date finally arrived. David Paler said that he had been waiting on that day diligently. Like he was counting down the days on the calendar until their court date in 1997. He had written out several questions that he wanted the boys to answer. And most importantly, he said he wanted to look them in their faces and let them know how their actions affected him and their family. Unfortunately, he never received this opportunity. Because on the day that they were supposed to go to trial, each of them pled no contest to the murder. Joseph was sentenced in March of nineteen ninety seven. He received a sentence of twenty five years to life with the possibility of parole. Even though David Paler did not get to say what he wanted at the trial, he was able to speak at Joseph Fiorella's sentencing. And he said, quote, Joseph, it is a parent's worth fair and lifetime pain to outlive their child. It's even worse knowing she was murdered, tortured, and raped as a virgin, sacrificed on the altar of Satan so that you can earn a ticket to hell. There was a later quote from Joey Fiorella that I read, and it said, quote, I wish this never happened. Since it's happened, I always wish that God can bring her back to life. I can imagine how her family must feel. Later he reportedly said that he never thought of hurting anyone and that it was a stupid mistake. Royce Casey was sentenced to September nineteen ninety seven And was given a sentence of twenty-five years to life with the possibility of parole as well. Jacob Delashman was sentenced on October 1997 and he was given a sentence of twenty-six years to life with the possibility of parole. He received an extra year because he was the one that carried the knife. So he received an extra year for possessing a deadly weapon. Something that I learned through this case is that apparently it's not always best for the family's case to not go to trial. I always thought it would kind of save the families the Drama of reliving everything, having to talk through their loved ones' last moments, having to like look their killer in the eye, having to hear witness statements and all those things. I always thought that it would be better to not go to trial, but one thing I learned in this case is that not going to trial robs the families that moment of looking the killers in the face and telling them about. How their actions affected them. It robs them of closure. David Paler said that he had been waiting two years to look his daughter's killers in the face and tell them how their actions affected their family and her friends, and he never got that opportunity. And he likely never will get that opportunity. Most of Elisa's loved ones were left to deal with the reality that they will just honestly never get answers. In October 2001, The Palers filed a lawsuit against the group Slayer and their record label Sony Music. They initially filed a suit in November 1996, but due to the criminal case, the suit was postponed. The Paler family stated that if it was not for Slayer's lyrics, imagery, and violent music, the boys would not have come up with this really stupid idea. And boy was it a dumbass idea. But more on that later. In addition, the Paler stated that Slayer purposefully marketed their music to minors. And unfortunately in that case, a San Luis Obispo County judge sided with the band on the grounds that Slayer's music is protected under the First Amendment. I watched the documentary or it's actually like a true crime series, A Killer Among Friends. It's on HBO Max for those of you that want to watch. And I watched that as part of my research for this episode because it told that story in season one, episode three, if anyone is interested in going to see it. And while I wish they were more descriptive with the way they told the story, one thing I did notice is that everyone in Elisa's life is still very much hurting. They're still very much in disbelief that this happened in their small town. They're still very much broken. They are still very like they don't even go to the house anymore. Like they don't drive on down that street anymore. They don't go by the eucalyptus grove anymore. Her family and her friends have all admitted that they have so many unhealed wounds from this. And some of her friends still have a hard time because remember they were 15 and 16 years old. So they still have a hard time just grappling with it in general because it happened when they were so young. And I think that's why they kept her story kind of vague, just in a way to protect her loved ones, because they had to tell it. And again, this was such a heavy, this was such a heavy case because not only does it involve her murder. But just what happened before her murder, her praying, her begging essentially for her life and them being like, No, you you belong to the devil now. Like, are you I hated the story so much. also a little tidbit of information. Allegedly, the movie Jennifer's Body was based off this case. I hated that movie. That movie was trash. So I feel like if they want to tell Elise's story, I really pray they make another movie. Because that they could have done way better in Elisa's honor. But apparently the movie Jennifer's Body was based off this story. So in June of 2025, Jacob Delash Delashmet Delashmet. gosh. Why am I having problems with his name now? Jacob was granted parole. There is little known about his release as it is mostly kept under wraps, and he walked out of prison silently. There was no fanfare, no one knew about it. he had been granted parole once before in 2023, but it was overturned by Governor Gavin Newsome. And he was granted parole again in May, and Governor Newsom again was like, No. He was like, absolutely not. But he did send it to the parole board for review and the board upheld it and he was freed from prison and he walked out silently, didn't say anything to anyone, put on his sunglasses and drove off into the into the day, you know? In July twenty twenty five, Royce Casey walked out of Valley State prison in Chowchilla, California, a free man as well. Well, a man on parole. He had applied for parole twice, and he had been granted parole twice in twenty twenty one and in twenty twenty three. Once again, Governor Gavin Newsom was like, I think the hell not and overturned his release. His defense attorney, Charles Carboni, said, quote, he spent over three decades in prison. It's just not this time. It's the quality of time. End quote. He also noted that three psychiatric. experts deemed that Royce was a low risk reoffender, which how do we really know? Do I think he'd do it again? Probably not. But do I think he should be free to test those waters to see if he'd do it again? Also probably not. Now as a part of Royce's release conditions, he basically signed a statement saying that he would never well he was ordered to be honest. He is ordered to never return to San Luis Obispo County. Or to make any contact of any kind with the Paler family. And I do wonder, like, completely off topic. Let's say Royce is in Florida and he's at Disney World. And the Paler family's in Florida and they're at Disney World. And they run into each other. Does Royce have to leave? Just out of curiosity. So district attorney Dan Dow states. That he strongly opposed the release of Jacob and Royce, stating that no amount of prison sentence would be enough to satisfy the debt that they owe to the family of Elise Paler and to the community of Royal Grande. And I have to agree with him. Royce did write a 46 page petition to the court and it was called it wasn't called anything, but it was saying that basically he wrote it to state that he's not the same person that he was. He admitted that his crime was unusually dark, barbaric, and brutal. He said that death metal music and the dark lyrics and themes made him feel powerful, expressing his emotions of anger, rage, and hate at a time where he felt sharing his feelings made him appear weak. Songs about an innocent victim being murdered on an altar of sacrifice to Satan seamlessly melded a fantasy world with the horrible reality of such a crime. He wrote, The consequences of my choice to consume this music was That I was corrupting my mind and morals and I was normalizing such evil ideas. In his statement, he took responsibility for the selfishness and cruelty of the crime and his mindset and actions that led him to do it. He said, Quote, I do not expect society to come running to welcome me home upon my release, but I know that I am not the same person I was when I committed my crime because I have spent considerable time and energy to change and to become the man I am today. Through self-help, through self-help, education and faith in God. Casey said his time in prison has allowed him to learn how his thoughts, feelings, and beliefs direct his actions. And he said that he no longer has the same view of the world that he did when he was a teenager. He said that he loves and respects others and himself because of his share of because of our shared humanity and not any internal or external considerations. He said all life has value and worth. Which I mean it's beautiful, I guess, but it doesn't necessarily bring Elise back. And so but I'm gonna go on a rant about that later. Joey Fiorella was denied parole. He is reeligible to apply in twenty twenty six and I looked at his mugshot from twenty eighteen and I'm gonna go ahead and vote that they should probably keep his ass in there. He just I don't know, he looks thrown off. They should all still be in there in my opinion, but it's not up to me. So where are the families now? Well, David and Lesanne had a very difficult time naturally following Elisa's murder. They missed tons of time off of work to the point where David lost his job. because you know, he was like, This is not something where three days of bereavement would cut it. It's just really not. It's not something where you can say, you know, I have a death in the family, and then you can take your little three bereavement days. He struggled. She struggled, their family struggled. Because not only did they have to deal with her death, they had to hear about how it was done and then they had to realize that she had been a quarter of a mile from the house the whole time. Not to mention that even before they knew she was dead, they spent eight months pounding the pavement looking for her, flying here there, driving here there, contacting this police department and that police department to see where their child is, you know? Okay, yes. So they were ordered to be paid for lost wages because according to sources, they just they lost so much, so much money, so much time. You know, he had a hard time finding a job. There was just so much going on. but according to like just my research, they apparently never received payment, which pay those people and pay them immediately. David Paler continuously shows up at parole board meetings and he is working on getting parole requirements changed in the state of California. He has been very active in trying to get laws changed and continue fighting for Lisa's memory. I have to admit that David Paler has a fire about him and an unwillingness to take no for an answer that I really admire. Like, it is the year of our Lord 2026, and David Paler is still like, y'all are not gonna forget my daughter's name. Who do I need to talk to? Where do I need to show up? Like he is showing up. Up at these council meetings, at these parole meetings, at he is showing up and he is showing out and he is making sure that some change comes from this. And a lot of change needs to come from this because they did not handle this story. They did not handle this properly. And the truth of the matter is, even in this day and age, a lot of times these things still are not handled properly. I have to be honest, I did not even look into where Royce, Joey, and Jacob family. I did not look into how they're doing. I did not try to figure out like, my gosh, does he have a Facebook? I did not because I just I didn't want to, honestly. I just don't want to. So my final thoughts is what is in the water in San Luis Obispo County? There's just so much going on there. isn't if I'm not mistaken, isn't this where the Christian Smart case occurred? And I was watching no, I wasn't I wasn't watching. I was listening to an episode of Crime Junkies a couple months ago. And they did a story about these two young ladies named Teresa Flores and Martha Mezzo. And that was also in San Luis Obispo County. So I'm like, what's going on here? this case was a really hard one. There was just so much wrong. I mean, so much wrong. And it also makes me a little irritated with our justice system, but I'm like, you know what's new? I'm not saying let's compare, but I feel like Josh Phillips, still being in jail and Royce Casey and Jake Delishmutt being out is kind of absurd. I'm not saying that Josh Phillips is innocent. He admitted to his crime, he's serving his time, you know. He's been in jail since ninety seven. And I'm just saying his crime was far less heinous, in my opinion. And they should still be in prison. Another reminder to not commit crimes in Florida, kids. I mean, don't commit crimes in general, but especially not in the state of Florida, because you will not see the light of day again. This story, I must admit, was incredibly hard to get through just because of what happened. And I think what happened was bad enough, but how she was treated. At the end of the day, she's still a daughter. She's still a sister, she's still a friend. And the police were just like, she's a runaway. You know, and I understand that maybe they don't have the resources, maybe they don't have the time, maybe, you know, but and honestly speaking, even by the time her parents called the police, it was already too late. But I just wish they would have shown them more compassion. I feel like too often we hear these stories where it's like you guys could have done anything differently. I just feel like it would have brought the family closure. And I honestly feel like had Royce not been given the chance to confess, they may still be in jail to this day. Because I don't feel like it's right that they're out. And I know that her family agreed. They agreed. They agreed to Royce being freed in exchange for him just like giving them that closure of telling them like, What happened? Why are you different? You know, like he wrote forty six pages, basically pouring his heart out. And you know, if that's what they wanted and that's what they needed at the time, then that's great. But I would have probably left him in there. Because she was fifteen years old. I have a fifteen year old and I couldn't not imagine. I couldn't imagine because he has his whole life ahead of him. And we talk about the future often. I sit with him and I make plans about college and what are you gonna do when you get older and let's look into getting you into driver's ed. You gotta get your permit. And she was robbed of all of those things. And listen, just cause a girl wanted to have a little fun, skip a little class, you know, smoke a little weed, doesn't make her a bad person. So R.I.P. Elise, and I'm sorry that the system essentially failed you because they weren't looking for you. When I was researching this case, like they said her father, like he did not play. I didn't hear much about Lissanne, but David, they were like, he was at school putting up posters. And one of the things I read was that. He would put up posters at the school, but because naturally in school they're like, Listen, we need our students to focus. We don't have time for you to keep putting these posters up. It's it's creating too much commotion. And they would take his posters down. And you know what David would do? He would put them back up. He was not playing. Take it down, he put it up. He said he would go tit for tat. Like they would take it down at ten five AM and he would put it back up at ten seven AM. He was not playing. And I really admire that about him. I just hate that this was his portion. All because some idiots came up with this dumbass plan to sacrifice his daughter to Satan. And it did not make them any more famous. Like, yeah, everyone knows your name now, but not for the reason that you want. Not for the reason of, they make really great music, but for the reason of you essentially butchered an innocent girl for your own fantasy and you sacrificed her on an altar. Like, are you nuts? They can go all go to hell. I mean, maybe, maybe not. a hard time. It's like forgiveness is for everyone, yes. But I do still feel like they should pay for their crimes. And the only one that seems truly remorseful is Royce. But at the end of the day, like he also was the one that essentially killed her. You stopped that girl. Come on. I just I I just I I cannot. But that's the end of our episode. Thank you all for To everyone who made it this far, thank you for sticking through with me. Your girl has a headache. I need some mucinex and nyQuil. It is late. I'm tired. I worked a full day, but I was like by fire or by force, this episode is going out because I can't. I just I have learned that successful people are diligent. Successful people show up. Day after day after day, month after month after month, season after season, whether they're sick, whether they're well, whether they have everything going on, they lose sleep. And Steve Harvey, I love hate him for this because he is the main one that's just like if you're not where you want to be in life, you don't need to be sleeping. I respectfully disagree because I'm like, I cannot function when I'm sleep deprived, but I also understand where he's coming from because I'm up I could have been in bed two hours ago. But I decided to stay up and to record this because I have a goal to really push these stories out and to connect with an audience that just really wants to get into the mind of like why was this a good idea to you at a young age? You know, like why why was this the choice? I feel like children are extremely important. I feel like children should be protected. And I feel like children should be loved properly and appropriately. And I realize that a lot of children don't have that. They don't have the lives where, you know, they have warm beds and and amazing families to come home to and it leads them down paths. And I just I feel like if we can at least tell these stories, then we can maybe look at a child and say, You're not going down a great path. Like, yes, this is just music to you, but I'm noticing that you have a lot of pent up frustration, a lot of anger, a lot of rage. And let's talk about it. Let's see if we can just prevent one tragedy from happening. If just one person is listening and they're like, you know, his characteristics are like that guy from that one episode. Maybe I should like see if he needs therapy or something. Maybe I should intervene. Maybe I should just see if he needs a friend. And if we could just prevent one tragedy, I feel like my job here is done. And so I just really want to, especially in this new year, I am learning that Consistency is key. And so that's why I wanted to still do this. Next week will be less chaotic, I promise. Hopefully, I feel better by then because I've been battling this for like over a week. thank you for sticking through. Going forward, and I know I say this, I feel like you guys are getting sick and tired of my broken promises. Promises. getting forward, we will have weekly releases. I have done a study. And apparently Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are great days to push out your true crime podcast. Tuesdays are no good for me. Wednesdays, Thursdays are gonna be my day. Wednesday was really gonna be my day, but I just was not able to get this d out in time and done and edited and all the things. And so we're gonna aim for Thursdays. Maybe lice all your speakers after this because your girl is going through it. But Thursdays. We're gonna stick with Thursdays. I'm gonna be consistent on social media. Hold me accountable. Write me a message. Minor Mischief Podcast at gmail.com. TikTok Minor Mischief Podcast. Instagram Minor Mischief Podcast. I think that's everything. Thank you guys for sticking through this with me. Next week is gonna be better. I promise. Until then, have a wonderful week, a wonderful weekend, an amazing new year, and stay mischievous, friends. Mm-hmm.