Latest / NO FILTER / The Husband Who Fooled The Entire World_ Even The FBI _ True Crime Documentary(M4A_128K)

Transcript

The Husband Who Fooled The Entire World_ Even The FBI _ True Crime Documentary(M4A_128K) · NO FILTER

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: In this video, we're talking about a family tragedy that's
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: incredibly sad and difficult to wrap your head around. The
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: story of Katie Fusco. Katie was a bright, warm young
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: woman who was just starting to figure out her place
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: in the world. She'd been adopted as a baby and
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: grew up in a loving home with people who cared
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: about her deeply. When she reached adulthood, she became curious
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: about her biological parents. Like a lot of adoptees, she
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: wanted to understand where she came from. That search ended
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: up bringing her back into contact with her birth father,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Stephen Plattle. At first, it looked like a long separated
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: family finally reconnecting in a meaningful way. But underneath what
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: seemed like a hopeful reunion, there were things going on
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: that nobody around her could fully see at the time.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: So let's start from the beginning. Stephen Plattle grew up
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: in Levetown, New York. People who knew him back then
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: described him as quiet, someone who kept to himself and
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: didn't spend much time with other kids his age. Because
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: of that, he was often picked on. Now jump back
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: to nineteen ninety five. Stephen was twenty years old when
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: he met a girl named Alyssa online. She lived in
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: San Antonio, Texas. Alyssa was just fifteen at the time,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: a big age gap that should have raised serious concerns,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: but the two of them started talking and things escalated quickly.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: Before long, Stephen traveled from New York to Texas and
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: showed up at Alyssa's house. He pushed for them to
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: make their relationship official. It was clear he was taking
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: advantage of the situation. Alyssa's parents were shocked by how
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: fast everything was moving, but they didn't stop her from
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: leaving with him and going back to New York. Not
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: long after that, Alyssa became pregnant at sixteen. Everything was
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: happening incredibly fast, too fast, and everyone around them could
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: feel that things were already heading in a troubling direction.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Things only got harder from that point on. Alissa started
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: to see more of who Stephen really was. His moods
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: shifted fast. He could be calm one moment and harsh
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the next, And then she learned something that made everything worse.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: He had a history of hurting animals. That was when
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: she began to realize just how unsafe her situation was.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: She was a teenager far from home in a state
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: where she didn't know anyone, and she felt completely cut
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: off from her family, and she was stuck living with
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: someone she couldn't easily get away from. Even after their daughter,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Denise was born, Stephen's behavior didn't improve. When the baby cried,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: he would snap. At one point, he tried to quiet
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: her by putting her inside a cooler. Thankfully, Alyssa found
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: her in time, and the baby wasn't seriously hurt, mostly
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: because she was too young to understand what was happening.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: But the incident showed just how unpredictable and dangerous Stephen
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: could be. He refused to care for Denise at all.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: He wouldn't hold her, feed her, or change her. It
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: was like he felt nothing toward her, even though she
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: was his child. During all of this, Alissa was dealing
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: with her own abuse. In many ways, she was suffering
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: just as much, if not more. It's heartbreaking to say
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: that Alyssa stayed. Maybe she was afraid, maybe she'd been
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: worn down over time and didn't see a way out.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Whatever the reason, she couldn't bring herself to leave him,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: not even with her daughter in the house. But she
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: did know one thing for sure, Denise wasn't safe, and
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: to protect her, Alyssa made the incredibly difficult decision to
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: give her up for adoption when she was eight months old.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Denise was taken in by the Fusco family, who gave
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: her the kind of homes she desperately needed. Years later,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and six, Alissa and Stephen got married.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: It's hard to understand why, but the most likely explanation
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: is fear and emotional manipulation. Stephen often threatened to hurt
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: himself if Alyssa ever tried to leave, and she believed him.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: She cared about him, even while living in fear of him,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: and the idea of something happening to him, even by
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: his own hand and was something she couldn't handle. He
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: understood that, and he used it. They went on to
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: have two more daughters together, but Stephen didn't change. He
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: continued to be controlling and unpredictable with Alyssa and showed
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: little interest or care for any of his children, and, honestly,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: looking at how things started, none of this came as
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: a surprise. Not long after, the four of them moved
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: to Henrico County, Virginia, Alyssa had to work constantly just
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: to keep the household running, mostly because Stephen couldn't hold
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: down a job. He drifted from one thing to the next,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: and the responsibility always landed on her. She tried several
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: times to leave with the kids, but each time he
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: used the same tactics, threats, emotional pressure, promises that he
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: would make her life miserable even if he wasn't around anymore.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: He never stopped pushing those buttons. But as bad as
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: things already were, the story was about to take an
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: even sharper turn. While Alyssa was struggling to survive that relationship, Denise,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: now living with her adoptive family, was growing up in
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: a completely different environment. The Fusco family in Dover, New York,
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: welcomed her into their home and gave her a new name, Katie.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: It marked the beginning of a new life for her,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: and she grew up in a stable, caring household. Katie's
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: childhood was pretty typical in the best way. She loved
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: animals so much that she eventually stopped eating meat. She
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: spent a lot of time drawing and writing, and she
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: was already thinking about studying art and working in digital media.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: She joined the cheerleading team at Dover High School. She
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: had dreams, plans, and a future she was excited about.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: It's amazing to see how far she'd come considering how
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: her life began. Her adoptive parents, Anthony and Kelly, gave
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: her a real foundation. Anthony had worked as a prison
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: guard at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, and Kelly
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: worked as a secretary. They already had a daughter, but
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: chose to adopt instead of having another biological child. There
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: was nothing unusual or concerning about their home, just a steady,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: loving family who gave Katie exactly what she needed. Katie
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: put a lot of heart into everything she did. She
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: was thoughtful, creative, and mature for her age. Her writing
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: showed a level of awareness and emotion that was far
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: beyond what you usually expect from a teenager. She was
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: incredibly talented. In twenty sixteen, she graduated from high school
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: and was excited about starting college. But alongside all her plans,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: there was something she'd been thinking about for a long time.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: She wanted to find her biological parents. She had grown
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: up in a supportive home, but she still felt a
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: strong pull to understand her beginnings and, if possible, meet
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: the people who brought her into the world. At eighteen,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: she finally decided it was time to try. Katie had
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: a strong relationship with her adoptive parents and a close
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: bond with her adoptive sister, but even with that support,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: she still felt that familiar pull. Many adoptees talk about
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: the desire to understand where you come from. In a literal,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: personal way. It's a normal curiosity, wanting to know the
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: people who brought you into the world and what parts
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: of them might live in you. Katie felt that too.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: She wanted answers about her background, her history, and her identity.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: What she didn't realize was that some of those answers
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: would come with painful consequences. She hoped reconnecting would give
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: her some sense of closure, maybe even a relationship with
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the father she imagined or hoped for. Instead, she found
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Stephen Plattle. In August twenty sixteen, she tracked down her
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: birth mother, Alyssa on Facebook and reached out Her adoptive parents.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Anthony and Kelly had always been open with her about
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: her adoption, so she likely knew at least a little
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: about her early life. Still nearly two decades had passed
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: and she had no idea what her birth parents were
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: like now. Alyssa, who was still living with Stephen and
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: working multiple jobs to keep the household afloat, saw Katie's
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: message and was genuinely excited. She and Katie started talking
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: online and eventually made plans to meet. They met in Nightdale,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: North Carolina, and spent hours together. For Alyssa, seeing Katie
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: her Denise grown healthy and happy was overwhelming. She had
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: loved her from the beginning, and giving her up had
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: been the hardest decision of her life. For eighteen years,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: she had marked Katie's due date on every calendar and
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: quietly hoped she was doing well. Katie, in turn, was
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: thrilled to meet her birth mother. Learning that her biological
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: parents were still together and that she had two younger
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: sisters made her feel like her family had expanded overnight.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: That there was one thing Katie didn't know. She had
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: never been told about the abuse, or that the reason
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: she'd been placed for adoption was to protect her, and
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: we still don't know exactly why Elissa didn't share that
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: part of the story. It's understandable that Alyssa didn't bring
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: up the abuse during their first meeting. That's not the
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: kind of conversation you'd drop on someone you're just getting
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: to know again, especially a daughter you haven't seen since
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: she was a baby. And for whatever reason, Katie didn't
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: ask right away why she'd been placed for adoption. Maybe
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: she planned to ask later, maybe she was overwhelmed, or
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: maybe they were both just trying to enjoy the moment,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: so they kept things light. They talked about their lives,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: their interests, and everything that had happened over the last
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: eighteen years. Melissa didn't push Katie to move in or
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: change anything about her life. She saw how well Katie
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: was doing and was genuinely proud of her. Then Katie
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: met Stephen, and surprisingly that first meeting went smoothly, better
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: than anyone expected. But soon after, Katie made a decision
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: that caught everyone off guard. She wanted to move in
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: with her biological parents for her adoptive parents, Anthony and Kelly,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: it felt like the ground shifted underneath them. They had
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: no warning. Stephen and Alissa agreed to let her come,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: but no one outside that household knew what Stephen was
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: really capable of or what he had in mind. Katie
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: had been excited about college, about studying art, and about
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: building a future she'd worked toward for years, but after
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: reconnecting with her birth parents, she put all of that
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: on hold. She wanted to live with them, get to
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: know them, and rebuild the family she felt she'd never had.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: When her adoptive parents heard this, they were stunned. They
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: tried to talk to her about her plans, but she
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: was legally an adult. She could choose for herself, and
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: they didn't want to stand in the way of her
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: finally learning where she came from. That was the hardest part,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: supporting her while being terrified for her. Meanwhile, Stephen was thrilled.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: The idea of Katie moving in seemed to light him
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: up in a way that wasn't typical for him. But
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: inside that household, things weren't as whole as they looked.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Stephen and Alissa were barely functioning as a couple. They
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: still lived under the same roof, but they had separate
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: bedrooms and were basically leading separate lives. Their marriage was
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: almost over. The separation was well under way, but nothing
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: had been finalized yet. Stephen was genuinely excited about Katy
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: moving in, but pretty quickly something started to feel off.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Alyssa noticed almost immediately that Stephen's interest in her had
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: completely faded. Yes, they were already struggling and heading toward
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: a separation, but once Katy arrived, it was like he
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: stopped acknowledging Alyssa altogether. His attention shifted entirely to Katy.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Over time, Stephen even started changing how he looked. He
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: began dressing in a way that seemed meant to make
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: him look younger, new clothes, longer hair, trying to match
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: the style of someone much younger than he was. It
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: stood out, especially for a man in his mid forties.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Then his behavior took an even stranger turn. He moved
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: out of his own bedroom and started sleeping on the
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: floor in Katy's room. When Alyssa as I saw this,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: she didn't know what to make of it. She confronted him,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: but he brushed it off. Eventually, he and Katy left
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: the house together, and the whole thing just felt wrong.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: They still had two younger children living there, and everyone
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: in the house was confused and uncomfortable. No one could
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: understand what was happening. By November twenty sixteen, Alissa decided
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: she had to leave. She moved out, and she and
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Stephen shared custody of their daughters, but her leaving the
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: home made everything that followed even more complicated. A few
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: months later, in May twenty seventeen, Alissa discovered something that
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: made her physically ill. One of her daughters had left
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: a diary open, and in it she found a note
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: saying that Stephen and Katy were in a relationship, and
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: not only that Katy was pregnant. Alissa was horrified. She
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: called Stephen right away, desperate for an explanation. His response
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: was shockingly casual. He simply said, I thought you knew
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: we love each other, as if he didn't grasp the
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: weight of what he was admitting. A father involved with
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: his own daughter. That's basically what Stephen did best at
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: this point, drive everyone around him up the wall, and honestly,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: people had good reason to feel that way. Alyssa did
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: call the police on him, but nothing came of it.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: No one was arrested. While all that was happening, Stephen
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: and Katy moved in with his mother in Nightdale, North Carolina,
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: and they started planning a wedding. To this day, I
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: still can't wrap my head around how his mom allowed
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: any of this. There were so many obvious problems, so
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: many chances for someone to step in, and yet everything
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: kept moving forward like it was normal. Alisa thought calling
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: the cops would be enough, that once the authorities knew
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: what was going on, they'd handle it, but that didn't happen,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: and then things somehow escalated even more. The wedding actually
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: went through. Stephen and Katy got married and parked in
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Maryland on July twentieth, twenty seventeen. His mom was there,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Katie's adoptive parents were there. Stephen was forty three, Katie
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: was twenty. Katie even posted wedding photos on social media,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: and you could clearly see she was pregnant. The situation
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: was already disturbing on its own, but seeing both families
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: smiling and the photos made it feel even more unreal,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: like they were all pretending nothing was wrong. I'd like
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: to think they were just putting on a polite face
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: to avoid making a scene, but honestly, that's hard to believe.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Every part of this was wrong, and beyond wrong, it
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: was illegal. But Stephen wasn't just manipulative, he was calculated.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: He told officials that he and Katie weren't biologically related,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: which allowed the paperwork to slip through. Technically that made
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: the marriage legal enough to get filed. And then there
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: were Katie's adoptive parents. They didn't fight it, they didn't
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: stop it. And Katie, she was an adult. She wasn't
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: being threatened the way Alissa had been. She wasn't trapped.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: She chose this. What makes it even more confusing is
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: that Alissa had already warned her before Katie ever moved out.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Alyssa told her everything, that Stephen had abused her when
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: she was a baby, that he had threatened her, that
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: he had hurt people before. She tried to tell Katy
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: the truth, but Katie didn't react at all. It was
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: like talking to someone who wasn't really processing anything. She
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: didn't show emotion, didn't seem worried, didn't even seem upset.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: She just didn't believe Alyssa. Alyssa was convinced that Stephen
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: had influenced Katie and turned her against her, and honestly,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: it was heartbreaking to see. The whole situation sounded unreal,
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: but it was actually happening, and it was only getting
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: more complicated. Katie gave birth to a baby boy on
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: September one, twenty seventeen, not even two months after that
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: bizarre wedding. She named him Bennett Plattele. Then in January
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, both Stephen and Katie were arrested, which at
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: that point felt inevitable. In court, Stephen's lawyer argued that
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: the relationship was mutual, that Stephen was in love with
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: his daughter, who was eighteen at the time. He even
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: claimed that their feelings mattered more than the fact that
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: they were biologically related. That completely missed the point. Despite everything,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Stephen and Katy were released on bond. Bennett was placed
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: with Stephen's mother, and the court ordered Stephen and Katy
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: not to have any contact with each other. Katie moved
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: back in with her adoptive parents, and that's when things
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: finally started to shift. Once she had some distance, she
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: began to see the situation for what it really was.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: She called Stephen and told him she wanted a divorce immediately.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Stephen didn't handle that well. He didn't want Alyssa gone,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: he didn't want Katy gone, and when Katie finally cut
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: ties for good, he spiraled. He convinced himself that her
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: adoptive parents had somehow turned her against him, even though
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: that clearly wasn't the case, and then things took a
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: darker turn. Before the events of April eleventh, twenty eighteen,
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: Stephen had already made up his mind. If he couldn't
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: have the life he wanted, he was going to destroy
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: everything connected to it. In his mind, that included anyone
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: he believed had pulled Katie away from him, even his
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: own infant son, Bennett. But he wasn't finished. He was
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: still focused on Katie. On April twelfth, he figured out
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: where she was. She had gone with her adoptive father, Anthony,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: to Waterbury, Connecticut, to help her grandmother clean her house.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: They had left their home in Dover earlier that day.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Stephen knew exactly where Katy would be. He drove from
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: North Carolina to Dover and waited near her house until
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: she and her adoptive father left for Connecticut. Cameras in
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: the area later showed parts of what happened next. Katie
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: and Anthony were driving on a fairly busy road heading
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: toward New Milford, Connecticut. Stephen was right behind them in
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: a Honda minivan. What made it even more alarming was
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: that he had a loaded gun sitting next to him
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: in the passenger seat. He wasn't foughtollowing them by accident.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: He was waiting for a moment to act. He found
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: that moment a few minutes later, when Anthony slowed down
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: at a stop sign where Route seven meets Route fifty five.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: Stephen pulled up beside them and opened fire into their car.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: People nearby said everything had been quiet, and then suddenly
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: they heard a series of loud bangs at the intersection.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: When the noise stopped, the minivan sped away. Someone called
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: nine one one immediately. When police and paramedics reached the car,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: the scene was devastating. Katie and Anthony were both unresponsive
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: in their seats, and the interior of the car made
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: it clear how violent the attack had been. Stephen had
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: fired repeatedly, making sure he didn't miss. At first, officers
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: had no idea who was responsible. They only knew that
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: two people had been shot and that the suspect was gone.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: That changed when they received another nine one one call,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: this one from Stephen's mother. She was distraught and told
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: them that Stephen had called her and confessed to everything.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: Police rushed to her home but Stephen wasn't there. He
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: had already left. About eighteen miles from where Katy and
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Anthony were found, officers located a silver Mini van parked
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: in Dover. Inside was Stephen, who had taken his own life.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: The same gun used in the earlier shooting was in
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: his hand. Whether he planned all of this from the
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: beginning or panicked once he realized what he'd done will
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: never be fully known, But in the end, he avoided
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: facing the consequences of what he'd carried out. In the end,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Stephen carried out his actions and took them to the grave,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: leaving the families of his victims without closure or justice. Bennett, Katy,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: and Anthony were buried together at Saint Charles Cemetery in
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: Dover Plains, New York, on April twenty first, twenty eighteen.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: For Alyssa, the pain and the mistakes she lived with
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: will never completely go away. Her own husband ended up
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: killing her daughter. It's hard to even make sense of
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: whether it was sickness, cruelty, or something else. Entirely, three
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: lives were lost and no one was held accountable because
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Stephen acted alone. There's no silver lining here, no happy ending,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: no lesson that can make up for the tragedy. People
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: like him, Murderers, abusers, manipulators don't usually teach us anything new.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Often the warning signs are there in neighbors, in parents,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: in spouses. Sometimes all of the above. Cases like this
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: leave a lot of questions. What could have been done differently,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: could anything have prevented it? And most importantly, was justice
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: ever truly served? I'd really like to hear what you think.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Thanks for watching Murder Ledger. We look into real cases
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: from across the world, the ones that raise tough questions
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: and stay with you long after they're over. If you're
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: interested in stories like this, make sure to like, subscribe,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: and join the conversation.