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Transcript

Beauty and the Cheat - A True Crime Documentary Streaming now on Hulu · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Okay, so we all know the story of Bonnie and Clyde, right,
• 0:02
  the outlaws, the lovers on the run, Classic, total classic.
• 0:06
  But what if I told you there was this couple
• 0:08
  right here in the US in the two thousands who
• 0:12
  basically took that Bonnie and Clyde energy and gave it
• 0:15
  a modern twist.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Oh this is going to be good laid on me.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, So picture this ivy league degrees designer clothes vacations.
• 0:22
  You wouldn't believe the life of the rich and famous, right,
• 0:26
  except they were paying for it all with stolen credit
• 0:28
  cards and fake checks.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: No way.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: See, that's the kind of stuff that just gets me going,
• 0:33
  the audacity of it.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: All right, And that's why we're diving deep into the
• 0:37
  wild ride of Joscelyn Kersh and Edward Anderton, the duo
• 0:41
  some called the Bonnie and Clyde of Philadelphia back in
• 0:43
  two thousand and seven. Yeah, we got a ton of
• 0:45
  requests from you all to unpack this case, especially with
• 0:48
  this new documentary coming out, Beauty and the Cheat. And
• 0:51
  let me tell you, the more we dug into the articles,
• 0:53
  the more we were like, whoa, there's a lot more
• 0:55
  to this story that meets the eye.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: It's like those true crime stories that just grab you
• 0:59
  and don't let go. What is it about these cases
• 1:02
  that capture our imaginations even years later.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: It's like a train wreck you can't look away from.
• 1:07
  So Kirstian Anderton they were barely old enough to drink
• 1:10
  when they started this whole scheme. We're talking about college
• 1:13
  kids living a lifestyle most people only dream about, and
• 1:17
  they were stealing from everyone, friends, family, even complete strangers.
• 1:22
  What blows my mind is that they were posting about
• 1:24
  it all online, like no attempt to hide.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: It's almost like they wanted to get caught, you know,
• 1:29
  like they were daring someone to stop them.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Or maybe, and this is.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Just a thought, maybe they were so caught up in
• 1:37
  the fantasy they created they actually believed they were untouchable.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Oh that's a good point. It's like they were living
• 1:42
  this bubble of extravagance, completely detached from reality. But here's
• 1:47
  the thing. They were living this lavish life, but they
• 1:50
  weren't exactly criminal masterminds.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, I mean they managed to keep it going
• 1:54
  for a while, which says something, Right, you don't just
• 1:58
  stumble into that kind of lifestyle without a certain level
• 2:00
  of cunning true.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: But on the other hand, the article mentions that it
• 2:05
  was a pretty basic operation forged checks, stolen credit card
• 2:09
  info stuff. Anyone with the laptop and a little too
• 2:12
  much time on their hands could theoretically pull off, right.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: But that's where their story gets really interesting. I think
• 2:18
  they weren't masterminds, but they tapped into something very real,
• 2:22
  this cultural obsession with appearances. We see these young, attractive faces,
• 2:27
  we automatically assume success, privilege, maybe even some good morals
• 2:31
  thrown in there, And when the reality turns out to
• 2:33
  be the complete opposite, it's more than just shocking. It
• 2:36
  makes us question our own judgment, oh.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Totally, Like are we all a little guilty of judging
• 2:41
  a book by its cover? I know I am. And
• 2:44
  one of the investigators on the case even said something
• 2:46
  about that.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: Didn't they, Yeah, Deputy US Attorney Louis Lappin. He said
• 2:50
  something like, people just love to romanticize these good looking
• 2:53
  couples who turned to crime. And you know what, he's
• 2:56
  got a point. It's like, there's this part of us
• 2:59
  deep down that's drawn to these stories. We want to
• 3:03
  believe in the fantasy, even when we know better it's true.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Think about it. Movies, books, they're full of these charming
• 3:09
  rogues and cunning beauties pulling off elaborate heists. Maybe it's
• 3:13
  the thrill of the con the idea of sticking it
• 3:15
  to the man. Whatever it is, it's definitely part of
• 3:17
  our culture. But like you said, we sometimes forget that
• 3:20
  there are actual victims in these situations.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: Exactly, And for the victims, the damage goes way beyond
• 3:27
  just the financial aspect. It's that violation of trust, that
• 3:31
  feeling of being completely blindsided by someone you thought you knew.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Totally Like in Curcio's case, one of the people who
• 3:38
  ended up going to the police was her close friend
• 3:41
  Jennifer Bisikia and her ex boyfriend Jason Verdebello had no
• 3:45
  idea what was going on either. Can you imagine being
• 3:47
  in their shoes.
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: It would be devastating to find out that someone you
• 3:50
  cared about, someone you trusted, was living this double life
• 3:53
  built on lies and deceit. The emotional fallout from that
• 3:56
  kind of betrayal is huge.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: It's huge, and in a way it's even more powerful
• 4:01
  than any financial loss. You know, that feeling of being
• 4:03
  taken advantage of, of having your trust shattered. Yeah, they
• 4:06
  can stay with you for a really long time. And Bisikia,
• 4:09
  she ended up being the one who exposed them. That
• 4:11
  took some serious guts, for sure.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: And it's something you see a lot in these kinds
• 4:14
  of cases.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: It often comes down to someone close to the criminal,
• 4:17
  someone who's wrestling with their own conscience, deciding whether to
• 4:20
  speak up. Do they stay loyal to this person they
• 4:23
  care about, even if it means protecting a criminal, or
• 4:27
  do they do what they believe is right, even if
• 4:29
  it means turning their world upside down.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: It's a tough call, no doubt about it. And it's
• 4:33
  not like Kirsh Anderton were making it easy for anyone
• 4:36
  to figure them out. I mean, the article said they
• 4:38
  lived this double life for over a year. That takes
• 4:42
  a certain level of I don't know, commitment to the
• 4:45
  con definitely.
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: It's that cat and mouse element that I find so
• 4:49
  fascinating about these cases. The criminals are constantly trying to
• 4:52
  stay one step ahead while the investigators are hot on
• 4:55
  their trail piecing.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Together the clues.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: And what makes this case even more interesting is that
• 4:59
  it went down in two thousand and seven.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Before Instagram influencers and all that.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Right, exactly.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: So it makes you wonder, in today's world, with social media,
• 5:07
  where everyone's flaunting their wealth and success online, would a
• 5:11
  case like this be easier to crack, or would be
• 5:14
  even easier for these kinds of con artists to blend
• 5:16
  in and disappear.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Right, Because on the one hand, there are more ways
• 5:20
  to track people now, more digital footprints to follow. But
• 5:24
  then again, with everyone curating their online image, maybe it's
• 5:27
  easier to hide in plain sight exactly.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: It's like a double edged sword.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: But even with all the technology in the world, some
• 5:34
  things never change, right. Greed, deception, the desire for a
• 5:38
  life of luxury. Those are timeless themes.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: For real, and so's the idea that even the best
• 5:45
  con artists eventually slip up. The article didn't say exactly
• 5:48
  what mistake led to kursh And Anderton's downfall, but I'm
• 5:51
  dying to know.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Right It's like, what was the one loose thread that
• 5:54
  unraveled the whole thing. I guess we'll have to watch
• 5:57
  the documentary to find out exactly.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: But even without knowing all the nitty gritty details, this
• 6:03
  case is still totally fascinating. We've gone from stolen credit
• 6:07
  cards to social psychology to the very nature of trust
• 6:11
  and betrayal, all in like five minutes.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: And that's the beauty of these deep dives, right.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: You start with a simple story, but it quickly spirals
• 6:20
  into something much bigger and more complex, and it makes
• 6:23
  you think, have we learned anything from cases like this?
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Are we more or less.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: Vulnerable to these kinds of cons in the digital age?
• 6:31
  And what does it say about us that we're still
• 6:33
  so captivated by these stories?
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: So many questions? So if you, like us, are totally
• 6:38
  hooked on this story and need to know how it
• 6:39
  all went down, we highly recommend checking out Beauty and
• 6:42
  the Cheat. It premieres next week and we'll be back
• 6:45
  to break it all down for you.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: You don't want to miss it.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: Trust us,