Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Former American Idol Contestant, Worship Leader Faces New Charges in Death of His Wife|Crime Alert Recap Saturday 03.28.26

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Former American Idol Contestant, Worship Leader Faces New Charges in Death of His Wife|Crime Alert Recap Saturday 03.28.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now, I'm.
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  Speaker 2: Nicole, pardon. Caleb Flynn, a thirty nine year old former
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  Speaker 2: contestant on American IDOL, has been charged with aggravated murder
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  Speaker 2: and a series of additional offenses following the alleged killing
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  Speaker 2: of his wife, Ashley Flynn, at their Ohio home. A
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  Speaker 2: grand jury in Miami County has issued an eleven count
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  Speaker 2: indictment against Flynn, which includes charges of aggravated murder, three
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  Speaker 2: counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, three counts
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  Speaker 2: of tampering with evidence, two counts of intimidation of a witness,
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  Speaker 2: all in his criminal proceeding. Several of these charges are
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  Speaker 2: specifically related to firearms. Prior to this, Flynn faced charges
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  Speaker 2: of murder, two counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon,
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  Speaker 2: and two counts of tampering with evidence. The number of
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  Speaker 2: charges now increasing. Prosecutors claim that Flynn used a nine
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  Speaker 2: millimeter handgun and manipulated the crime scene to deceive investigators.
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  Speaker 2: He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his
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  Speaker 2: bond is set at two million dollars. According to prosecutors,
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  Speaker 2: Flynn allegedly tried to intimidate a witness in the days
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  Speaker 2: following the shooting between February sixteen and February eighteen, although
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  Speaker 2: the indictment does not specifically detail that witness. A nine
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  Speaker 2: to one to one call obtained by Fox News Digital
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  Speaker 2: features Flynn reporting that someone has broken into their home
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  Speaker 2: shot his wife. Oh my god. He can be heard saying,
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  Speaker 2: someone broke into my home. Someone broke into my home
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  Speaker 2: and they shot my wife. My wife, she's been shot
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  Speaker 2: twice in the head, and there's blood everywhere. Oh my god,
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  Speaker 2: Oh my god, Oh my god. At the time of
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  Speaker 2: the incident, only Ashley Caleb and their two children were home.
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  Speaker 2: RP and juvenile daughter are locked in a room, the
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  Speaker 2: dispatcher informed police. According to the outlet, just to clarify,
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  Speaker 2: the juveniles are currently in their own rooms asleep, said
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  Speaker 2: the dispatch. In a previous statement to Fox News Digital,
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  Speaker 2: Caleb Flynn's attorney, Patrick Mulligan, expressed concerns that prosecutors were
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  Speaker 2: quote too quick to accuse his client of murder. Caleb
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  Speaker 2: Flynn entered a plea of not guilty and looks forward
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  Speaker 2: to defending himself in the case. We are both disappointed
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  Speaker 2: and worried about the rushed timeline and a parent rushed
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  Speaker 2: to judgment. Mulligan said when investigators exhaust their leads or
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  Speaker 2: struggle to find evidence, they often focus on the surviving spouse.
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  Speaker 2: He said. Caleb Flynn gained attention as a contestant on
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  Speaker 2: American Idol, where he expressed his deep affection for his
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  Speaker 2: wife during a twenty thirteen Hometown interview segment. I absolutely
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  Speaker 2: love the Lord and I love my wife more than anything.
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  Speaker 2: She is very, very pretty. I love her, Flynn said
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  Speaker 2: at the time. But you know, I'm a regular guy
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  Speaker 2: who loves to sing more than anything else. For now
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  Speaker 2: he's singing behind bars. Will Crime and Justice News after this.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Drew Nelson. A Massachusetts police officer and her husband
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  Speaker 3: are now facing child rape charters after a man says
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  Speaker 3: they abused him for years, starting when he was a teenager.
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  Speaker 3: The defendants are thirty one year old Samantha pel Rene,
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  Speaker 3: who is a Plymouth police officer, and her husband, thirty
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  Speaker 3: seven year old Daniel Farrand. They were arraigned in Plymouth
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  Speaker 3: District's court on Thursday and both pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors
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  Speaker 3: say the abuse went on for years. Plymouth assistant District
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  Speaker 3: attorney Jim Duffy told the court the alleged victim was
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  Speaker 3: taken into the couple's home and later forced into repeated
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  Speaker 3: sexual encounters.
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  Speaker 4: This continues on with the three of them, with the
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  Speaker 4: alleged victim being forced to partake in these sexual encounters
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  Speaker 4: with Samantha and Daniel.
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  Speaker 3: According to investigators, The man, who is now in his
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  Speaker 3: early twenties, went to state police on March fifteenth. He
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  Speaker 3: reported that he had been sexually assaulted first by Farrand
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  Speaker 3: and then by Farrand and pel Rene together on multiple
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  Speaker 3: occasions from twenty eighteen through twenty twenty five. Court records
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  Speaker 3: say the abuse began after the couple took him in
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  Speaker 3: and later became his legal guardians. State police moved quickly
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  Speaker 3: after the report. Arrest warrants were obtained, and both were
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  Speaker 3: taken into custody at their home early in the morning,
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  Speaker 3: and authorities say they went peacefully. In court, defense attorneys
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  Speaker 3: pushed back hard on the allegations and focused on the
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  Speaker 3: credibility of the accuser. Hel Rene's attorney, Joseph Krosky Junior.
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  Speaker 5: There was a history with this young man. He was
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  Speaker 5: a problem and we can document it. He had accused
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  Speaker 5: someone falsely of sexually and appropriate behavior when he was
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  Speaker 5: in high school.
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  Speaker 3: Foraran's attorney to Murray. Kovach also challenged the claims laid
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  Speaker 3: out in court filings.
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  Speaker 1: I was baffled when I read the affidavit for the
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  Speaker 1: restraining order, so his stories are inconsistent and I know
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  Speaker 1: today is not the day of trial.
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  Speaker 3: Despite the seriousness of the charges, both defendants were released
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  Speaker 3: after posting bail. The judge set bail at twenty five
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  Speaker 3: thousand dollars for for Rand and ten thousand and four
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  Speaker 3: pel Reen. The court also imposed strict conditions. Not allowed
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  Speaker 3: to have any contact with the alleged victim. They cannot
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  Speaker 3: be around anyone under eighteen. They must surrender any firearms.
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  Speaker 3: They must stay in Massachusetts and turn over their passports.
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  Speaker 3: The Plymouth Police Department has responded to the case, saying
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  Speaker 3: it is appalled and deeply disturbed by the allegations. The
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  Speaker 3: department also confirmed Officer Pelrin's duty status is under review
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  Speaker 3: and that an internal investigation is underway. The couple is
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  Speaker 3: due back in court on June eighth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Jennifer Gould. A blood soaked morning at a Vero
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  Speaker 1: Beach Public Library has ignited a desperate maritime manhunt after
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  Speaker 1: a sixty four year old husband allegedly transformed a quiet
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  Speaker 1: parking lot into a slaughterhouse with an AR fifteen style rifle.
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  Speaker 1: Jesse Ellis is wanted on two counts of first degree
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  Speaker 1: premeditated murder for the execution of his estranged wife, Stacy Mason,
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  Speaker 1: forty nine, and her lover, fifty six year old Danny.
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  Speaker 1: Both were highly respected Indian River County employees. This was
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  Speaker 1: no spontaneous explosion of rage. It was a calculated, cold
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  Speaker 1: blooded killing fueled by a deteriorating thirteen year marriage. Here's
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  Speaker 1: Vero Beach Police Chief David Curry at the news conference.
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  Speaker 4: Two individuals that were apparently seeing each other for a
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  Speaker 4: period of time and one husband being upset about it.
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  Speaker 1: The chief revealed that Ellis had recently obtained professional services
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  Speaker 1: believed to be a private investigator, to track the pair
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  Speaker 1: to their clandestine meeting spot. Chilling surveillance footage captured the
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  Speaker 1: husband stalking Ully's Ford Ranger at seven am, having reportedly
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  Speaker 1: parked his dark gray Ford F one point fifty on
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  Speaker 1: a nearby street to avoid detection before creeping toward the
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  Speaker 1: victims with the assaults. Rifle in hand. In a sickening
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  Speaker 1: display of violence, Ellis allegedly sprayed the driver's side with
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  Speaker 1: high velocity rounds to take out Uli, before circling to
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  Speaker 1: the passenger side, where his wife sat. As a wounded
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  Speaker 1: mason desperately tried to scramble from the truck and fell
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  Speaker 1: onto the asphalt, Ellis allegedly stood over her and pumped
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  Speaker 1: additional rounds into her body at point blank range to
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  Speaker 1: ensure she was dead. The investigation has since shifted from
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  Speaker 1: a search for a missing person to a high stakes
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  Speaker 1: manhunt for a highly skilled and dangerous outdoorsman. Following the
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  Speaker 1: double homicide, Ellis allegedly dumped his truck at South Beach
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  Speaker 1: and walked directly into the ocean, fully clothed in a
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  Speaker 1: mine bending twist. Fire Rescue crews actually intercepted him nine
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  Speaker 1: hundred yards off sure, but the killer gave a fake
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  Speaker 1: name and refused help before vanishing into the Atlantic near
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  Speaker 1: Rio Maar country Club. Police executed a series of search
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  Speaker 1: warrants at Ellis's Southern Indian River County home, seizing an
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  Speaker 1: additional cash of firearms and digital devices currently undergoing forensic analysis.
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  Speaker 1: Chief Curry noted that as an avid hunter, Ellis possesses
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  Speaker 1: the survivalist skills necessary to navigate the rugged Florida coastline
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  Speaker 1: and evade capture indefinitely. Here's the chief again at the
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  Speaker 1: news conference.
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  Speaker 4: You know, a crime of passion type incident. You know,
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  Speaker 4: a marital issue where you know, it's very sad and
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  Speaker 4: terrible what took place. But that's why we said we
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  Speaker 4: don't think there's a threat to the community.
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  Speaker 1: The search has reached a fever pitch, with cadaver dogs
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  Speaker 1: and high speed zodiac boats scouring the surf. While authorities
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  Speaker 1: admit Ellis may have drowned, they are operating under the
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  Speaker 1: grim reality that a double murderer remains at large. If
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  Speaker 1: captured alive, Ellis is facing a capital felony that could
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  Speaker 1: land him on death row. A routine child custody exchanged
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  Speaker 1: at a San Antonio, Texas YMCA dissolved into a scene
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  Speaker 1: of primitive violence after a scorned mother allegedly teamed up
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  Speaker 1: with her replacement's ex boyfriend to carry it out a
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  Speaker 1: calculated hit. Melanie Sierra Gomez thirty two and Abel Revs
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  Speaker 1: Twenty six are facing felony aggravated assault charges after an
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  Speaker 1: ambush that left Oscar Heavier Barbosa fighting for his life.
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  Speaker 1: Investigators say the plot was a twisted alliance of X's,
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  Speaker 1: where Gomez allegedly recruited Revas, the former flame of Barbosa's
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  Speaker 1: current girlfriend, to settle a blood debt over a new pregnancy.
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  Speaker 1: The trap was sprung at the Davis Scott Family YMCA
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  Speaker 1: on Iowa Street. According to an arrest AFFI, David Gomez
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  Speaker 1: lured Barbosa outside the facility via phone, leading him directly
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  Speaker 1: into the path of a knife wielding Revas. Barbosa's current
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  Speaker 1: girlfriend was on the line during the attack, hearing the
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  Speaker 1: victim desperately plead quote are you going to stab me?
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  Speaker 1: Over this? End quote, before the call cut to silence.
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  Speaker 1: As Revs allegedly went to work with a folding blade,
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  Speaker 1: Gomez did not just watch. She reportedly became the muscle,
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  Speaker 1: physically pinning Barbosa against a car and dragging him back
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  Speaker 1: as he tried to run from the flurry of stabs
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  Speaker 1: to his stomach in arms. Gomez, who was already on
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  Speaker 1: probation for making terroristic threats, allegedly taunted the bleeding father
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  Speaker 1: about getting his new girlfriend pregnant before Revs hijacked the
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  Speaker 1: victim's car and fled. Barbosa was rushed into emergency surgery
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  Speaker 1: and miraculously survived to id his attackers. Reves was hauled
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  Speaker 1: into the Bexar County Jail held on a one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and five thousand dollars bond, while Gomez has since posted bail.
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  Speaker 1: And finally, it looks like one department needs a paddle
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  Speaker 1: board patrol because this chase just went off road and
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  Speaker 1: into the deep end. Here's the body camp before.
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  Speaker 3: We asked you any questions to have a lawyer president.
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  Speaker 5: Hey.
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  Speaker 3: Hell running out light dail, good shirt sworts.
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  Speaker 1: Chase Cruise, that is his name. Twenty eight gave Florida's
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  Speaker 1: Volucia Sheriff's officer run for their money a chase haha
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  Speaker 1: when he bolted mid Miranda and dove into the Halifax River.
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  Speaker 1: Thinking he was home free, Cruise was shocked to see
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  Speaker 1: Daytona Beach Shores officer trading their squad cars for paddle
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  Speaker 1: boards to coast into his escape route. Aerial footage captured
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  Speaker 1: the moment lawman balanced their duty to hook the suspect
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  Speaker 1: while floating in murky water. Talk about board to be
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  Speaker 1: wild cruse was towed back to a waiting dock and
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  Speaker 1: slapped with charges of loitering, prowling, and resisting arrest. It
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  Speaker 1: turns out when you try to tide over the law,
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  Speaker 1: the police will sink your plans. BAM for the latest
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  Speaker 1: crime and justice news. Follow the Crime Alert hourly update
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  Speaker 1: on your favorite podcast app with this crime Alert. I'm
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  Speaker 1: Jennifer Gould.