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Bodies in Suitcases · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, so today we're taking a deep dive into
• 0:02
  a really unsettling trend. We've noticed bodies being discovered in suitcases.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely a pattern that sends chills down your spine.
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  Speaker 1: We've got three cases lined up, and honestly, they get
• 0:12
  stranger and stranger. But that suitcase is a constant.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: It's like it becomes a character in the story itself,
• 0:17
  almost exactly.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: So first up, we're heading to Seattle in twenty twenty,
• 0:21
  the case of Jessica Lewis and Austin Winner.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: All right, Seattle, it is this.
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  Speaker 1: One starts, well, it starts in a way you wouldn't expect.
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  June twenty twenty. We've got a group of teenagers, right,
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  and they're using this app called randon Nautica. Basically, it
• 0:33
  sends you to random places, supposedly for an adventure.
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  Speaker 2: Kind of adds a bit of spontaneity to your day,
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  I guess, But in this case, spontaneous took a pretty
• 0:43
  dark turn.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no kidding. So they end up at this beach
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  they're filming for TikTok, and they come across a black
• 0:48
  suitcase just sitting there on the rocks. You know, they
• 0:50
  think it's treasure. Who wouldn't.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that's the kind of thing you hope for,
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  right right.
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  Speaker 1: But as they open it, the smell hits them and
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  they realize it's full of human remains, and then make
• 1:00
  matters worse. The tide's coming in and the suitcase starts
• 1:02
  getting washed away.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: It's chaos, and the police.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: It took them hours to arrive, even with the kid
• 1:08
  calling it in.
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  Speaker 2: It makes you wonder, though, right, what if the app
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  hadn't sent them there? Would that suehes have just drifted
• 1:15
  out to see those victims just gone.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: It's a terrifying thought, right, how many cases out there
• 1:19
  just stay hidden because of bad luck or whatever.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: The role of chance in these things is wild when
• 1:25
  you think about it.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely so. The victims they turn out to be Jessica
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  Lewis and Austin Wenner. They're renting a room from a
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  guy named Michael Lee Dudley, and as you dig into
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  their relationship with this landlord, things get really disturbing.
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  Speaker 2: Ah, the landlord tenant dynamic, it can get messy and
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  sometimes well, it can be a breeding ground for violence totally.
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  Speaker 1: So there were reports of gunshots coming from the house.
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  People even heard a man's voice pleading, please don't do this,
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  just let me leave. Police were actually called to the house,
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  no answer to the door, so they left.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wow, that's a missed opportunity right there.
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  Speaker 1: It's gut wrenching right thinking what might have been different.
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  When they finally searched Dudley's house, they found bullet holes, blood,
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  signs of a cleanup all in the room Jessica and
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  Austin had been renting.
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  Speaker 2: And Dudley.
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  Speaker 1: Oh there's even a witness who said they saw a
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  body in the room and that Dudley had bragged about
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  his gun working and his tenants not chilling.
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  Speaker 2: It's almost like he was proud of it. That's what
• 2:18
  gets me in these cases sometimes, the lack of remorse.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: I know what you mean. Dudley was arrested, but that
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  question hangs over the whole case. Could Jessica and Austin
• 2:26
  had been saved if someone had intervened sooner.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: It's impossible to say for sure, but it's a question
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  that'll hunt anyone who knows this case.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: All right, So now we're traveling across the globe to Australia.
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  Our next case starts with a suitcase found abandon alongside
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  a highway, and inside there remains of a young child.
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  This one's like a puzzle piece, together over years and
• 2:43
  across different locations. It all begins in early twenty fifteen
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  in a remote part of South Australia. There's this black
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  suitcase just left next to the karu Into Highway. But
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  here's the thing. Dashcam footage showed it was there for
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  a while, even moved around before anyone actually bothered to
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  look inside.
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  Speaker 2: Dashcam footage technology playing its part, even by accident.
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  Speaker 1: It's crazy how those seemingly ordinary recordings can become key evidence.
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  Absolutely inside the suitcase the skeletal remains of a little girl,
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  along with a few personal items, a black two two,
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  some pink shoes, and this really distinctive pink striped dress.
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  That dress ended up being crucial to the case.
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  Speaker 2: It's often the smallest details, isn't it. You never know
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  what'll break a case wide open.
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  Speaker 1: So true. So months go by and a woman sees
• 3:24
  pictures of that dress online through crimestoppers, and she remembers
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  taking a picture of a little girl Kadleise Kiarra Pearce
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  years before wearing that exact same dress.
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  Speaker 2: Wow, that's a pretty incredible coincidence, or maybe not.
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  Speaker 1: Talk about the power of social media. For all its flaws,
• 3:39
  it can be a tool for justice.
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  Speaker 2: You're right, It connects us in ways we never could
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  have imagined.
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  Speaker 1: Right, And that's when the investigation really took off. The
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  focus shifted to codd Lise's mom, Carly Pierre Stevenson. They'd
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  been living this nomadic life, you know, traveling and working
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  across Australia, but there'd been no trace of them since
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  two thousand and eight.
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  Speaker 2: Had anyone reported them missing.
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  Speaker 1: Carly's family actually had, but they withdrew the report after
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  someone claiming to be Carly contacted them saying she was fine.
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  Speaker 2: Oh that's heartbreaking, the manipulation, the lengths someone would go
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  to cover their tracks.
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  Speaker 1: So remember I mentioned the little girl's skeletal remains, well,
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  DNA testing linked her to another set of remains found
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  years earlier, back in twenty ten in Blanglo State Forest.
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  Speaker 2: Bilanglos State Forest. That name carries a lot of weight,
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  doesn't it.
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  Speaker 1: It's infamous, right, known for being the dumping ground of
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  Iban Malot, one of Australia's most notorious serial killers.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly so, even though there was no direct connection, to
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  Milot's crimes. The fact that Carly's remains were found there
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  added this whole other layer of creepiness.
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  Speaker 1: For sure, it's like this chilling ego of past horrors.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Now they had two sets of remains, mother and daughter
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  found years apart in different places. The question was who
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  is responsible and how did it come to this?
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  Speaker 2: So where did the investigation lead?
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  Speaker 1: Well, they found out that Carly was last seen with
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  a guy named Daniel Holdham in late two thousand and eight,
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  and through some painstaking detective work they started to piece
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  together this timeline of events. What emerged was the picture
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  of a man capable of not only unthinkable cruelty, but
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  also someone who exploited his victims even after their deaths.
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  Speaker 2: It's almost too much to comprehend.
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  Speaker 1: It really is. Hold Them and Carly had been living
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  with roommates. One day they left together in Carly's car,
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  supposedly to take candalics back to her grandmother, but only
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  hold Him came back. Phone records placed them both in
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  Bilanglo State for Us that day, and that's where that's
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  where they believe Holden murdered Carly. He crushed her windpipe
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  and dumped her body. In the bush.
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  Speaker 2: It is just brutal, the level of violence, the way
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  he just escorted her.
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  Speaker 1: And then he drove to a motel with Candiley's but
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  when he left the next day he was alone. That
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  poor little girl ended up in that suitcase by the
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  highway with duct tape around her head and pieces of
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  cloth stuffed in her mouth.
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  Speaker 2: Ugh, that's just horrifying. Did they ever find out what
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  happened at that motel?
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  Speaker 1: A towel from the motel was later found near Candalise's remains,
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  placing Holdham at the scene of both crimes.
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  Speaker 2: It's like he was leaving a trail of breadcrumbs.
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  Speaker 1: But it gets even worse. Holdham didn't just take their lives.
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  He continued to exploit Carl Carly even after death.
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  Speaker 2: What do you mean?
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  Speaker 1: He used her credit cards, racked up debts, even used
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  her phone to contact her family, pretending to be her.
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  Speaker 2: To throw off the investigation, exactly.
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  Speaker 1: To keep them from filing a missing person report. This
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  went on for years.
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  Speaker 2: He was playing a sick game, So the level of
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  manipulation is just astounding.
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  Speaker 1: Totally. Then a former partner of Holdham's, Hazel Passmar She
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  came forward with some really disturbing information. She had found
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  an SD card with photos on it, trophy photos of
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  Carly's body after Holdham had sexually assaulted her.
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  Speaker 2: Oh God, that's just sick. The depravity is.
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  Speaker 1: Just I know. And as if all of that wasn't enough,
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  there's another layer of tragedy to this story. Before Carly
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  and Candilies were killed, Holdham was driving with Hazel and
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  her two children when he caused an accident. An accident,
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  both of Hazel's children died and she was left in
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  a wheelchair.
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  Speaker 2: This guy, he's like a walking disaster, so much pain
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  and destruction in his way.
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  Speaker 1: It's unbelievable that even found a notebook of his with
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  lists of children's names and ages and next to them
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  words like rape, forced, and consent.
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  Speaker 2: That's beyond disturbing, a glimpse into the mind of a predator.
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  Speaker 1: Thankfully he was caught. Holdham was convicted of the murders
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  of Carly and Candlius and sends to two life terms.
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  The judge called his crimes acts of extreme gravital and
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  appalling to pravity. He said Holdham represented a danger to society.
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  Speaker 2: A small comfort, but at least he's off the streets.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. The justice system worked in this case, but the
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  scars left by these crimes, those will last a lifetime.
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  Speaker 2: No amount of justice can truly heal that kind of pain.
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  Speaker 1: So true. Now let's move on to our final case
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  for this episode. This time we're in Connecticut, and this
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  case will it just feels like it had happened anywhere
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  to anyone. It involves Valerie Reyis, who was twenty four
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  years old and her family described her as this gentle soul.
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  She loved reading, singing, creating art.
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  Speaker 2: It really hits home, doesn't it. Just a young woman
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  living her life.
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  Speaker 1: She even dreamed of becoming a tattoo artist, just like
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  her brother. It's a stark reminder that behind every case
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  there's a person, a family, a whole world shattered by
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  these acts.
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  Speaker 2: It's so easy to get caught up in the details,
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  the forensics, the investigation, but we can't forget the human cost.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely so. In January twenty nineteen, Valerie disappears, and initially
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  there are signs that maybe she ran away. You know,
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  her iPhone was gone, her iPad, some clothes, even her
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  bed sheets were missing.
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  Speaker 2: Bed sheets. That's that's an odd detail.
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  Speaker 1: It is right, and it really threw people off. It
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  made them think maybe she'd left on her own. But
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  her family, they knew something was terribly wrong. They filed
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  a missing person report, and her mother shared something really chilling.
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  Valerie had told her that she was scared, that she
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  was having anxiety attacks, even that she was afraid someone
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  was going to murder her.
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  Speaker 2: A premonition or was she already sensing danger. It's a
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  thought that sends chills down your spine.
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  Speaker 1: A week after she vanished, a group of public works
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  employee found a red suitcase. It was abandoned in the
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  woods in Greenwich, Connecticut.
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  Speaker 2: Don't tell me.
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  Speaker 1: Inside Valerie's body. Her hands and feet were bound and
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  there was packing tape over her mouth the suitcase.
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  Speaker 2: Once again, it's just so so dehumanizing.
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  Speaker 1: I know. The investigation quickly focused on an ex boyfriend
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  of Valerie's, Javier de Silva. They dated for about eight months,
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  about a year before she disappeared. Her mother described him
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  as pushy, said he wouldn't take no for an answer.
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  Speaker 2: Red flags right there, controlling behavior, inability to accept rejection.
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  Those can be warning signs of a much bigger problem.
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  Speaker 1: And remember that money withdrawn from Valerie's account right surveillance
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  footage actually showed Javier using her debit card at an
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  ATM just hours after she disappeared.
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  Speaker 2: That's cold.
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  Speaker 1: He denied everything at first, of course, said he hadn't
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  seen Valerie in months, but as more evidence came to light,
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  he finally confessed to killing her. His story they were
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  at her apartment and she fell, hit her head. Claimed
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  he panic taped her, mouth bound her, put her in
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  the suitcase, and drove her body to Connecticut.
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  Speaker 2: A fall and he panicked. Come on, that sounds a
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  little too convenient, right.
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  Speaker 1: And here's something truly disturbing. The criminal complaint stated that
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  Valerie was actually still alive when he put her in
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  the suitcase.
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  Speaker 2: So she suffocated.
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  Speaker 1: Oh god, that's just It adds a whole other layer
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  cruelty to this whole thing.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, And what about using her debit car? Did he
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  have an explanation for that?
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  Speaker 1: Oh? He claimed you did it because he wanted to
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  get caught.
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  Speaker 2: Please like that makes it okay.
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  Speaker 1: Right, as if that justifies anything. The investigation uncovered more too.
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  They found out that Javier had switched his phone to
• 10:16
  airplane mode before going to Valerie's apartment, which suggested premeditation.
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  And he'd actually sold her iPad after she died.
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  Speaker 2: So much for panicking he was covering his tracks.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly a year to the day after her body was found,
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  Javier pleaded guilty to kidnapping resulting in death. He's now
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  facing thirty years to life in prison.
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  Speaker 2: It's something, but does it really bring justice? I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: It's hard to say this case because it sticks with you. You know,
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  Valerie was a young woman with so much life ahead
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  of her and it was all taken away.
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  Speaker 2: It makes you realize how fragile life is, how quickly
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  things can change.
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  Speaker 1: So we've explored these three cases now, each one unique,
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  each one tragic, but connected by this unsettling use of
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  a suitcase. What do you make of it? Is there
• 10:58
  something about this specific man method of concealment that points
• 11:02
  to a particular kind of criminal, a certain mindset.
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  Speaker 2: That's the question, isn't it? And it's one that's fascinated
• 11:07
  experts for a long time. Why a suitcase? There are
• 11:09
  a couple of theories, some practical, some more psychological.
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  Speaker 1: Let's hear them well.
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  Speaker 2: On a practical level, suitcases are pretty easy to conceal.
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  They're portable, you can move them, around without attracting too
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  much attention. And when you think about it, they're designed
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  to hold things, to transport things, so they make a
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  gruesome task like disposing of a body much less conspicuous.
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  Speaker 1: Chilling, but logistically it makes sense, right.
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  Speaker 2: And then there's the psychological aspect. Some experts believe that
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  the choice of a suitcase could be a way for
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  the perpetrator to dehumanize the victim, to reduce them to
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  an object.
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  Speaker 1: It's like you're trying to distance themselves from the crime,
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  from the reality of what they've done.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. By putting the body in a suitcase, they're turning
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  it into luggage, something inanimate, disposable. It's a way to
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  compartmentalize the horror to protect themselves. Psychologically.
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  Speaker 1: That's disturbing, but it makes sense dehumanization as a coping mechanism.
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  It's a way to avoid face seeing the consequences of
• 12:01
  their actions.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, it's important to remember that these are just theories.
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  The motivations likely differ in each case, right.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: We can't make sweeping generalizations about criminal behavior. There's always
• 12:10
  more to.
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  Speaker 2: The story, exactly, and that's what makes these cases so
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  complex and so compelling. They force us to confront the
• 12:16
  darkness that exists in the world, and they challenge us
• 12:19
  to understand the factors that contribute to violence.
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  Speaker 1: It's heavy stuff, but it's important to talk about it.
• 12:23
  These aren't just isolated incidents. They reflect larger issues in
• 12:27
  our society, patterns of behavior that we need to recognize
• 12:30
  and address. Okay, so we've gone deep into these cases.
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  Each one's so disturbing, and we've talked about the whine,
• 12:35
  the how, But there's this one thing that keeps nagging
• 12:38
  at me, and it's the suitcases themselves.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I get that. I mean, there's such ordinary objects,
• 12:43
  something most of us use all the time exactly.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: So does the fact that these perpetrators chose suitcases to
• 12:49
  hide their victims? Does that tell us something about our
• 12:51
  world today? Like how easy it is to disappear, to
• 12:55
  just become another piece of luggage lost in the system.
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  Speaker 2: It's a chilling thought, isn't it. The suitcase, this symbol
• 13:01
  of travel, of moving on, becomes this instrument of a rature.
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  It makes you think about the anonymity of modern life,
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  how easy it is to get lost in the crowd.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: It's like those suitcases become these portable tombs almost, yeah, a.
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  Speaker 2: Way to contain the crime, to make it manageable.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe we've talked about the practical side, the size, the portability,
• 13:20
  but for me, it's that psychological aspect that's really unsettling.
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  It's like, by using a suitcase, the perpetrators trying to
• 13:26
  detach from the crime, to dehumanize the victim.
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  Speaker 2: I think you're right, it's a way to distance themselves
• 13:31
  from the horror, to make it easier to deal with psychologically.
• 13:34
  If it's in a suitcase, it's not a person anymore.
• 13:36
  It's just baggage, right.
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  Speaker 1: Like it's something they could just discard forget about. But
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  those were people with lives, with families.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what we have to remember every one of
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  these cases. It represents a life cut short, a world
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  of potential extinguished.
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  Speaker 1: So what can we do? I mean, we've talked about
• 13:52
  the bigger societal issues like poverty, mental health, the lack
• 13:56
  of support systems. But what can we do as individuals
• 14:00
  to make a difference to prevent these kinds of tragedies
• 14:02
  from happening.
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  Speaker 2: It's a big question, right, and there's no easy answer,
• 14:05
  But I think it starts with awareness, with being more
• 14:08
  attuned to what's happening around us. Pay attention to those
• 14:11
  red flags, those subtle signs that something might be wrong,
• 14:14
  like what could be anything really a change in someone's behavior,
• 14:18
  withdrawal from social activities, unexplained injuries. Just trust your gut.
• 14:23
  If something feels off, it probably.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: Is, so don't be afraid to ask questions.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Exactly, reach out, offer support, even if it turns out
• 14:30
  to be nothing. It's better to be safe than sorry.
• 14:33
  And if you see something that seems abusive or dangerous,
• 14:36
  don't hesitate to intervene to report it to the authorities.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Sometimes just that act of caring, if showing concern, can
• 14:43
  make a world of difference.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's about creating a culture of support, of looking
• 14:47
  out for each other.
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  Speaker 1: It's about recognizing that we're all connected, that we all
• 14:51
  have a responsibility to each other exactly.
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  Speaker 2: We're not just isolated individual We're part of a community
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  and we need to act like it.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: This has been a tough deep dive. Honestly, these cases
• 15:01
  are brutal, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the darkness.
• 15:04
  But I think it's important to remember that there's light too,
• 15:07
  There's the resilience of the human spirit, the courage of
• 15:10
  those who fight for justice, the love that binds us
• 15:13
  together even in the face of tragedy.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: I couldn't agree more. And that's what we need to
• 15:17
  focus on. That spark of hope, that belief in the
• 15:20
  possibility of a better world.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Well said, We hope this deep dive has given you
• 15:24
  a new perspective on these cases, on the complexities of
• 15:27
  human behavior, and on the importance of staying vigilant and connected.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Remember, knowledge is power, Stay informed, stay curious, and let's
• 15:35
  all do our part to create a safer, more compassionate world.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Until next time, stay safe,