Latest / Justice For / Staudte Family Murders | Mark and Shaun Staudte

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Staudte Family Murders | Mark and Shaun Staudte · Justice For

• justice for: In a matter of just a few months, tragedies seem to strike one family again and again. First, a husband suddenly falls ill and dies. Then just five months later, his son becomes violently sick and dies under eerily similar circumstances. And now another member of the family is fighting for her life in the ICU? To everyone around them, it looks like an unimaginable run of bad luck. One devastating loss after another. But as investigators begin to take a closer look, something about these deaths doesn't add up. Because sometimes what looks like terrible luck isn't at luck at all. And sometimes the person sitting closest to the family knows exactly why. Welcome back to Justice 4. We are your hosts. I'm Jackie. And I'm Sam. What? So today's case is actually a listener submission. And I'm super excited, so thank you, Samantha. Samantha When she first told me about this case, I was instantly like, Okay, I'm doing this. And then she sent me the article and I was all in. More than I was before. First of all, I can't believe I'd never heard of this case. You're gonna be shocked that you've also never heard of this case because it is a more recent one. I will say the pictures look oddly familiar. Don't they? Yes. And it's just it's just it's wild. This I wrote this script. I read everything. I've watched documentaries and I still am just like There's documentaries in it? yeah. We get ABC twenty twenty. yeah. There's some things. So, but before we get into it all, little shameless plug. this month we do have our live at Painting of the Twist coming up. It is candlemaking. are you okay? Yeah. my god, you guys! It's October! Okay, are you better now? Yeah. Okay. So This month we do have our live at Painting with a Twist. Yeah, we do. it's gonna be October thirtieth at seven PM. We're doing a candle making and it is a costume contest, so make sure you have your best costume because there will be a prize for this. we are super excited. I have an incredible episode for you. We have some fun things planned for the evening as well. We have incredible costumes. we can't wait to see everybody there. There will be a link below in this episode and our future episodes for this month that has linked by your tickets. You can find on our website and our social medias as well. Yeah. on that note, make sure you're following us everywhere at Justice For Podcast, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Apple, Spotify, everywhere because we have updates. It's how you find links, it's how you find out about our live shows. So yeah. We're really excited to see everybody. Hell yeah, we are. It's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be a great night. Yeah. All right, are you ready to get into this? No. She has absolutely no idea about this case and like Sometimes we can't not talk about the case we're writing, this time I absolutely told her nothing. I know nothing. All right. I know zero. So Diane and Mark Staudte met at a bluegrass festival while attending Saint John's College in Winfield, Kansas. They instantly bonded over their love for music and being musicians. Twenty three year old Diane and thirty one year old Mark got married on december twenty eighth, nineteen eighty five. And six months later, on july second, nineteen eighty six, they welcomed their first son, Sean. Yeah. Huh. Two years later, Diane gave birth to their first daughter, Sarah. Two years after that, their second daughter Rachel was born. And then to everyone's surprise, ten years later, the Staudte family announced their final member's arrival, Brianna. Okay. The Staudte family was very involved in the Redeemer Lutheran Church. Diane was the church's organist. But Rachel also played guitar and sang with the church band as well. Music was very much at the center of this family. While the whole family was musically talented, Rachel was Rachel just really excelled in the music area. She played several instruments and could sing, something Diane and Rachel just really bonded over. As the children grew up, they each came into their own unique traits. Diane called them her little professors. That's weird. I don't know why that's weird to me, but okay. Maybe it's cute to them. no, it's It feels weird. That feels weird. So let's fast forward to 2012. Okay. The Staudte's were your typical Midwest family living in Springfield, Missouri. Jeanette. They lived in a very modest 900 square foot house. Yes. That is six people living in a 900 square foot house. shit. And at this point, all of them are adults except for Brianna, who's still in grade school. So, real quick, I'm just gonna go through everyone living in the house. So you can just kind of get a feel of the overall dynamic. Okay. Okay. So the Staudte's oldest child, twenty-six year old Sean, still lived at home. around fifth grade, Sean was diagnosed with autism, and this his level of autism prevented him from being able to work or live alone. So he still lived at home with Mark and Diane. Okay. Sean was often found with his nose in a book and loved reading about Sweden, architecture, and mechanics. Period. If he wasn't reading, he was posting his every life update on Facebook. you Like we all did in twenty twelve, if we're gonna be honest. We literally I feel like we literally just talked about this and a couple episodes ago. Like Sam was watching South Park. That's exactly what I said. I know, I know. Through Sean's posts, we learn that he is very aware of his autism and how it affects him and the people around him in his life. Okay. Particularly in the social area of his life. And he would express often how he wishes it could be different. He once posted, starting next week, I'm going to be normal. He desperately wanted to be able to interact the same as everyone else. Is he nonverbal? Or he's verbal? Okay. yeah, yeah. Okay. He just he w like We love a self aware king. Yeah, he is a very self-aware king. Good. But the skills to be able to live alone or to be able to hold a job and do that, it just we weren't there. The second oldest, 24-year-old Sarah, moved back home after graduating from Missouri State University with a degree in French and history. She had plans to become a translator, but it was a lot harder to find a job in her career field than she thought it would be. For French, yeah. I mean, this was like 2012, and so if you think about it, like how many of our friends were like, I'm gonna go for liberal arts, and we're like, what the fuck are you doing with a liberal arts degree? You know what I mean? Like it was just the time of like pick something random and think you could do something with it. I I had friends that went to school for those. No offense to anybody who has a liberal arts degree. It was just the only thing I could think of I I had a lot of friends that went to college for like theater degrees. Yes. Good for I hope. Or a music degree, yeah. I hope that's going really well. Like genuinely, I hope that's going really well for you. It was really hard to find a job in this career field, especially we are in Springfield, Missouri. and then think about Not to mention the large amount of student debt that Sarah now had, and not being able to find a job in her career, all of that. Twenty two year old Rachel also lived at home while she attended college. and outside of her musical talents, Rachel was also incredibly smart. She spoke multiple language and pretty much excelled at everything she did. Rachel and Diane played in the church band, like I said, and Diane was v extremely proud of Rachel and her accomplishments. Good for her. Brianna Who was still in grade school at the time was the youngest of the Staudte children. Which is crazy. She loved dinosaurs and cats. same And although she also had several learning disabilities, she was incredibly gifted at working with computers. Hell yeah. Like insane. Hell yeah. So in grade school though, at that point? That's wild. But yeah, so insanely smart with computers. And at this time, Diane was working as a registered nurse and a clinical supervisor for United Healthcare. Okay. So she was kind of working at home mostly because she's wearing the healthcare side, but she had been working as a registered nurse like in hospitals and stuff like that before this. Okay. But that kind of timeline of when she started working from home as the health insurance and when she was a nurse is kind of blurred. Okay. But she was working at home mostly at this point. Under like more so with like health insurance, less so of the nursing side. Okay. But it's very important that she's a nurse, by the way. She is an RN. Okay. While Mark opted to stay home and pursue his passion for music, Mark worked odd jobs here and there as a bartender, but his main focus was being the lead singer and guitarist of a local blues band called Messing with Destiny. Hmm. Recently, the band had begun getting more bookings and were doing some recordings, like in a studio and everything. Nice, right? Hell yeah. But Diane was the only one working a steady job, so she was definitely the breadwinner of the family, and had a lot of people to care for. This definitely created some tension between Diane and Mark, but they made it work, and from the outside, they were just like any other family in Springfield, Missouri. That is, until April of twenty twelve, when Sean's Facebook posts took a turn. You see, Sean normally posted about his day, what he did, what he ate, what he read. He enjoyed giving episode reviews or movie reviews. honestly he was like on a Dexter kick around this time or had been, and he like reviewing the episodes of Dexter. Yeah. Twenty twelve, absolutely. Dexter was prime in twenty twelve. but starting April first, Sean began documenting his father Mark. Documenting? Yeah. So on April first, Sean posted, My father is suffering from an incurable mental illness and is likely to die. What? On April second, my father is slowly starting to have problems with driving and accomplishing anything. When he drove a car, the car swerved a little bit, and I had to help him keep the car direction straight and properly turning. A few days later on April fifth, he posted, My father is so insane I don't want to be friends with him anymore. On April sixth, my father has changed from panic, aggressive and selfish to depressed and suicidal. He took his car, wallet, cell phone, he said he would commit suicide rather than torment us. I don't know if I will see him alive. He no longer cares about himself. He never truly listened to other people. If he is dead, I want to see him to make sure he is dead. What? Listen, like I love You have to remember Sean and his autistic, he's just saying everything on his mind as it comes to be. So you know what I mean? Like he's just this is raw, honest feelings inside him that he needs to get out. And I love this. So this is on April sixth that Sean had posted that. Okay. Also, on Friday, April sixth, Mark went to a recording session with his band. And unfortunately, they weren't able to complete the recording session or get very much done. Because the usually energetic Mark was zoning in and out. He couldn't really focus on playing, and not to mention he didn't look very good. One band member described him as looking a little yellow. But Mark just told them that he hadn't been feeling very good lately, and he should probably go home and just get some rest. So the next day, April 7th, which was Mark's 61st birthday, Sean posts, My father is slowly getting sicker, his voice is slurred, his walking is wobbly. His body is more tired than normal. He is sleeping in bed longer than us. He may collapse under his weight at any time. Even in Mark's condition, he went to a friend's house that night to celebrate his birthday. Mark had been drinking fluids and taking walks, trying to shake off whatever this was. Once again, his friend seemed a little concerned with his slightly yellow complexion, but Mark and Diane just brushed it off that he was getting over some bug. Hmm. The next morning, Sunday, April 8th, Sean posted on his Facebook: My father is so weak that he must spend half the day in bed. His motor skills have deteriorated to the point where he cannot mow a lawn or properly drive a vehicle safely. If he gets behind the steering wheel of any vehicle, his failing motor skill would put pets, people, and himself in danger. Hmm. Mark was so sick that for the first time ever he didn't attend church with his family, which was kind of a big deal since it was Easter Sunday. shit. That day at church, when anyone would ask where Mark was, Diane simply replied that he was at home sick with a terrible case of what she assumed was the flu. But she didn't seem overly too concerned about him or worried. When Diane and the kids returned home from church, Diane found Mark still in bed sleeping. Instead of waking him, Diane periodically checked on him. It was on one of these checks that Diane discovered Mark wasn't breathing, and he had this weird ring of dried blood around his mouth. Diane immediately called 911. Unfortunately, Mark was pronounced dead shortly after EMS arrived at their house. On Easter Sunday? God damn. When police spoke with Diane, she told them that Mark hadn't been feeling well over the past few days. Then she told them that Mark had three seizures that day, with the last one being forty-five minutes before she found him not breathing. Excuse me? They of course asked Diane if Mark had a history of seizures, and she responded, No, he's never had one before today. Naturally, the officer's next question Why didn't you take him to the hospital? Why didn't you call nine one one or take him to the hospital after the first seizure? Diane simply replied that Mark didn't want to go to the hospital and told her not to call nine one one. He absolutely refused and got really angry at her, so she just respected his wishes, adding that Mark was also bipolar and had struggled with health issues over the years like diabetes and he was developing Alzheimer's, then added in his alcohol consumption, paired with being a longtime smoker. This was all according to Diane. Since nothing appeared suspicious about Mark's death, he didn't have any obvious injuries, just a small amount of dried blood around his mouth, the Green County Medical Examiner determined that his death was a result of his prior medical issues and ruled it as natural. I want to point out there was no autopsy performed. no. no. On April 9th, Diane announced Mark's death on Facebook with a post that read For all my friends on Facebook, this past Sunday evening, Mark, my husband of twenty seven years, reached his eternal home, followed by a Bible verse from the Gospel of John. Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me. That was the entire post for Mark. Huh. Mark was then cremated, and a memorial service was held for him on April 20th at the family's church. Robert Mansuko, a bandmate of Mark, said that while the service was very nice, Diane didn't seem to be upset at all. During the memorial, she was acting more concerned about being the perfect host and making sure that the guests were looked after, but there was no signs of grief, no tears. But everyone grooves differently. Mm-hmm. And she could just be putting on a happy smile to make it through what is probably one of the worst days of her life. Mm-hmm. I will say, like, I don't know, so if you guys know me, we you know that we had a loss in the family last year and it was on Thanksgiving, which fucking sucked. But like, I was more concerned about the potatoes I was making. Because like that's what my mind could function on. granted that was also the day of. Yeah, no, I I mean I So like I don't know. Everyone agrees diff differently, you I mean they've been together for twenty seven years. She was in college. Yes, he was also in college as well, but he was in thirties in college. I had to super research that timeline by the I was like, how is he thirty one in college and she was in college? Was he an alumni? No, they were both going to college at the same time. Good for him. So Mark's ashes were scattered at a nearby lake that he liked, and his bandmates played at his memorial service, making sure to perform his favorite song titled Darkest Hour. Not long after Mark's death, Sean very excitedly posted on Facebook that they were moving. And he was happy to get out of what he referred to as a bad neighborhood, and how happy he was to be moving into a new house in a good area with good schools and good houses. And he let everyone know that he'd be making a new Facebook for his new life that he was starting. I have read a lot of Sean's posts, and they are just the best. He's just extremely honest and I love it. And I I love that he posts it all the time. Mm-hmm. Diane received a twenty thousand dollar life insurance payout from Mark's death. Okay. Which she used to purchase a new house on July second, just four months after Mark died. She sold their existing house for fifty five thousand dollars and bought the new one for seventy nine thousand dollars. Remember, they were a family of six living in a nine hundred square foot house. Only one was a child, so that's a very cramped house. Yeah. This is a very reasonable Also, your husband of twenty-seven years just died in your house and your kids all live there too. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in the house. One of them is in grade school. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be in that house. You know? Mm-hmm. Diane's pastor at church who had been counseling her through Mark's death, was happy for the family. He sees this all the time when a key member of the family dies. A fresh start in a new place is often what is needed to heal. Yeah. So everybody understood this. I yeah. The move seemed to be good for the Staudte's Sean's Facebook was constantly full of good things, he loved the new neighborhood and his new house that had a lot more room. And I also want to say they didn't live in a bad neighborhood, they didn't live in a bad area, but like I have a client whose grandson doesn't like to go to school. Yeah. So he literally has been showing his parents houses that are two hours away. So he goes, No school Look, nice house, but too far from school. And I'm like, no. my god. That's so funny. But like how funny is that? Like So It could be a bad neighborhood because there's not enough streetlights on there. It could be a bad neighborhood because they're not where all the people he wants to be you know what I mean? So that part is just so funny to me. But slowly Sean began posting less and less. And he even acknowledged this in early August, saying that he was sharing fewer posts than usual. Then the post just stopped entirely. And I wanna add that Sean didn't have a lot of followers, so his posts were getting like max of five to six likes per post at this time. So it's not like a bunch of people were like, Wow, something really weird is going on here. You know what I mean? I wanna point that out. But his posts really do help us with a very good timeline. Yes. I wanna point something out really quick. I don't get that many likes on my posts, but I post all the time anyway because that's just who I am as a person. Yeah. I actually had like a week that I just didn't post just because I was busy or something. I don't remember. And I had multiple people message me. They're like, Are you okay? Is everything okay? Yeah. Like, I don't get that many likes on it, but there's people who notice people notice shit. And there were people who were noticing that he really wasn't posting as much. Period. But they didn't see it as weird. Yeah. So what was going on that suddenly made Sean stop posting on Facebook? Well, like Mark, Sean had suddenly fallen very ill. He was unable to eat, he had become bedridden for weeks, and he was experiencing horrible flu like symptoms. Diane, Rachel, and Sarah took turns caring for Sean around the clock, bringing him drinks. Mainly Gatorade. Well, Mark was mainly Gatorade to help keep his electrolytes up. Sean, yes, he had Gatorade, but he's still his favorite drink was Coke. Coca-Cola. He loved it. So even if he's sick, he's still drinking his Coca Cola's every day. But you know, they're trying to give him other fluids. I understand. And I'm just saying if I'm on my deathbed, bring me a frozen Coke. Woo, right? He was getting being brought food, but he wasn't really keeping it down, even though he was trying. And unfortunately he just wasn't getting better. It was getting harder to keep him hydrated with how much he was vomiting and he had constant headaches and muscle aches. And Diane just assumed it was a terrible case of the flu and that he would get better soon. In the past few years, Diane switched to working from home, so it was easy for her to keep an eye on Sean. On Sunday, September second, Sean was so sick that he couldn't get out of bed, which of course meant he couldn't attend church. Bitch. So the family left him in bed and attended church like normal. I have a question for you before you proceed, because I know what's coming and I need to pause it. was it from April to September or was it like a year? So this is five months. So Mark died in April. And now we are in September. Okay. I didn't realize how quick August is when he stopped posting. Okay. So on Sunday, September second, Sean was so sick that he couldn't get out of bed. Mm. Which of course meant he couldn't attend church. So the family left him in bed and attended church like normal. Just like when Mark didn't show up to church on Easter Sunday, everyone was asking where Sean was. Mm-hmm. And Diane just simply told them he had a bad case of the flu and was at home in bed. When the family arrived home from church, Diane found Sean unconscious in his bedroom floor. Girl. And just like Mark, Sean had a dried ring of blood around his mouth. Diane checked for a pulse and couldn't find one, so she called nine one one. When officers arrived, Diane told them that Sean had been really sick for the past few weeks and that he had a history of seizures. The Green County Medical Examiner reported that Sean's death was due to natural causes as a result of prior medical issues. The findings showed that Sean had a congenital kidney defect, signs of brain damage, and a stroke along with damage to his central nervous system. A stroke? All attributed to his seizures and his congenital kidney defect. His seizure okay, I have so many questions, Jackie. But no one knew about Sean's death until a few days later when Diane made a Facebook post that read It's been hard for me to come up with the right words, but here it goes. On Sunday, my oldest child Sean died. Although he had been sick lately, we thought he was getting better. May we have a portion of the peace he now enjoys. Hey, that's the whole post. There was no obituary written or posted for Sean. No funeral was held for him. There was no memorial thrown for him at the church like Mark had. Just a gathering of a few people at their house. A family member who attended said it was really strange and there were only about three or four of us there. They never saw any of the kids while they were there. Not to mention, Diane seemed to be taking all of this really well. She had just lost her husband one hundred and forty seven days ago and And now her oldest son. Something that would break most people. Instead, Diane just seemed to be focusing on taking care of her three daughters, and threw herself into music in the church. Even Rachel noticed how well her mother seemed to be taking all of this, making a Facebook post about it. Rachel posted a picture of herself sitting cross legged on the floor with the caption Don't think I have seen mum so chilled out like this in a long time. Ugh. While we're talking about Facebook posts of this family main, let's talk about how Diane claimed to love all of her children equally like most parents do. But her posts on social media told a very different story. While most of her posts were Bible verses and faith based, she had a lot of posts with photos showing off Rachel and her accomplishments, but hardly any pictures of Sarah, Sean, or Brianna. She would mention them in posts here and there, but that's about it. And after Mark and Sean's death, it didn't take Diane very long to get back to sharing funny memes and her normal random posting. Something that was kind of odd to the people in her life. Mm-hmm. After Sean's death, the Staudte's pastor knew that Diane would need her faith more than ever. So he made sure to make himself available for her and the family. After all, Dust and the family was nothing new for this pastor. He often helped counsel members of his church through incredibly hard losses. But something felt different about Diane and her grief. And while the pastor tried his hardest to not judge Diane and how she chose to grieve, he just couldn't shake this feeling that something wasn't right. In his sessions with Diane, he noticed that Diane didn't really seem to have any issues coping with the absence of Mark and Sean. He would ask her, How are you doing? How is your grief? He would listen to her. But there was never any statements of, I need help, I need prayer, I'm having troubles. He said he eventually struggled with understand why he was even meeting. with her because he didn't remember Diane talking about her life or grief in any significant way. Which was just it was odd to him. It was something he hadn't encountered before. It just it was eating at him. But the community was just rallying around this family. It was just so unimaginable that this much tragedy could happen to a family in such a short amount of time. But the Stoutys just kind of retreated to themselves, like they had been since they moved into the new house. They were so heavily involved in the church and playing music, and they were back to business as usual not long after Sean's death, just like after Mark's death. Mm-hmm. Yes. Was Sean cremated? Yes. Son of a bitch, Jackie. Go on. Rachel continued attending college. Diane returned to work like normal, and Sarah continued looking for a job in her career field. It seemed like whatever bad luck this family had was over. They made it past the one year anniversary of Mark's death without any more sickness or tragedy. Things were looking up for the family. That isn't till June of twenty thirteen. Diane, Rachel, and Brianna came home from church and found Sarah barely conscious. Sarah the oldest? Cycle the oldest now. The oldest days ever. Rachel and Diane carried Sarah out to the car and rushed her to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, Diane told them that Sarah had been suffering from severe flu symptoms for weeks. And seizures? She had been vomiting profusely, having a hard time eating, she had headaches, and no matter what they did, she just seemed to be getting worse. Hmm. Sarah was quickly admitted to the ICU and ended up on life support. The doctors who evaluated Sarah Said that she was one of the sickest twenty three year olds they had ever treated. She was in multi-system organ failure, everything was shutting down, and strangely they couldn't seem to figure out why. They ran every test imaginable and they couldn't find anything. No one thought Sarah would live. She pretty much had a zero percent chance of recovery if they couldn't figure out what was making her sick. Mm-hmm. Get Doctor House. Exactly. Call doctor House. Exactly. On June 9th. Diane simply posted on Facebook asking for prayers as my daughter Sarah is in critical condition in the ICU tonight. And that is the only post she made about Sarah being in the hospital. But just two days after Diane made this post, Springfield Police received an anonymous phone call. period. The caller said that he believed Diane Staudte could be responsible for two or three homicides, further explaining that her family had experienced two suspicious deaths in a short time and that a third family member was in the ICU. You wanna guess who gave that tip? Band member. It's the pastor. No shit. The pastor called this shit in. It ruins nothing for the rest of the episode. I think I actually forgot to put down there who actually called that anonymous tip in. It was the pastor. How do we know it was because he literally c they they say he comes out he's in the do he's in the ABC 2020 special. He's like, I don't want to be anonymous no more. Yeah, no, this pastor phenomenally in tune and in touch. Like serious. Mm-hmm. So police were definitely a little skeptical of this anonymous tip. But they followed up on it anyway. They started with looking at Mark and Sean's death. They definitely had similarities in their manner of deaths, and they couldn't ignore the dried ring of blood around their mouths. Uhhuh. Remember, there was no autopsy performed on Mark, but there was one done on Sean. There was? Yeah, because with the medical examiner report, I did. I went through the autopsy findings from the medical examiner. You did? Yeah. Congenital kidney failure. Stroke. You're right. Okay. You're right. They also noticed that Mark, Sean, and Sarah all experienced similar symptoms and patterns leading up to their deaths and Sarah's hospitalization. Mm-hmm. Then it got really weird when they talked to the responding officers for Mark's death and the nurses and doctors at the hospital. One of the responding officers for Mark's S said the one thing that stood out to him the most, and still to that day, was that while he was talking to Diane, she actually stepped over. over Mark's body while talking to the officer. Which is something that is generally really hard for someone to do in this situation. So to the officers, it showed her detachment from Mark and what was happening. Like she was stepping over a spill on the carpet and not her husband of over twenty years. Why did she have to do that? Why did she she because she was standing on the other side of him in the bedroom and she stepped literally to get closer to talk to the officer about something, most people freeze and try to figure out how to get around them. Yeah. Like we even had a case where somebody would not move over the body. Valid. You know what I mean? Yeah. So that's wild. Not as wild as the detectives when they talked to the doctor and nurses that were treating Sarah. The doctor was completely at a loss for what was wrong with Sarah. He had never seen anything like this. Everything they were testing for was coming back negative. So the detective told the doctor about the anonymous tip they received, and the doctor said he was actually beginning to think that Sarah had been poisoned. He was considered a heavy metal poisoning like lithium or maybe even arsenic. Mercury. So they took a blood draw to test for those poisons, but it was gonna take a few days to get the results back. It's not an instant test. Meanwhile, the detectives began speaking with the nurses because if you want to know what's going on in a hospital, you don't talk to the doctor. You talk to the nurses. Yeah. Just sit by the nurse station and wait. the nurses definitely had some things to say about Diane. Like for starters, Diane was hardly ever at the hospital with Sarah. She had come by a couple times, but she didn't stay for long, and when she would come by, instead of focusing on Sarah and her condition, she would be making jokes and laughing, and she would often talk about an upcoming vacation she had planned and how Sarah's condition wasn't going to stop her from going. well, excuse me. The nurses were definitely appalled by Diane's behavior, and, like the doctors, they thought Sarah's condition was suspicious and that something more was going on. huh. A week after Sarah's blood was sent off to be tested for poisons like heavy metals and arsenic, the results came back negative. Once again the doctors were back at square one trying to figure out what was wrong with Sarah. But there was good news. Sarah's condition was miraculously beginning to stabilize. She might just survive this after all. Because she's not getting poisoned every day. She was by no means out of the woods. But they were getting her stable. Good. At this point the detectives decide it's time to bring Diane in and have a little talk with her. Period. They start with asking her about how Sarah got sick. She said that Sarah got sick over the past week, but nothing she was really concerned about. When asked if Sarah was suicidal, she said, Yeah, she has been in the past. Then he asked about drug use or if she would have taken anything. And that's when Diane says, Yeah, she could have, but I don't know what it could have been. So she started that clip a little bit with her like laughing a little bit. We keep doing that. So yeah. So her her her interview is a lot of I don't knows. But Diane definitely doesn't seem worried about Sarah's condition, that's for sure. Or how it happened. I try. I don't know. I'm just a hard nurse. I'm just a hard nurse. I'm a cardiologist, I don't understand psych. I try. And detectives really didn't have any evidence against Diane other than suspicions of those around her and treating Sarah. But detectives still couldn't shake the feeling that something weird was going on here. Eventually detectives decide to try and appeal to Diane's faith to get some answers, telling her they know she's a God-fearing woman and that sometimes things just happen. It doesn't make you a bad person unless you lie about it, telling her they know she's not a bad person, but there are a lot of questions and people are going to want some answers. At first, Diane says she didn't do anything to Sarah. Detectives remind her that there are still samples left from Sean's autopsy, and they are testing to see if there are any similarities between Sarah and Sean. And she just kept saying she didn't do anything to her, and that the only thing she should have done was take her to the hospital earlier. So the detective makes one final appeal to Diane, saying he knows she's a good person, but he understands the pressure she was under, having to provide for her whole family, her frustration with Mark not making more money and with his drinking. And how it was a lot on her to take care of the whole family while working full time to support them, and that we all have our breaking points. Mm-hmm. Goodness. Then to the detective's complete shock, Diane tells him that they, they, as in Mark, Sean, and Sarah, were drinking Anti-freeze He asked how she knew this, and she goes they told me. The detective was not buying this one bit, so he tells her, I know you were giving it to them. Just tell me how it happened. Diane said she was fed up with Mark being lazy and them arguing and his drinking and drug use. She was tired of him not contributing and his bipolar disorder made him angry and sometimes it would get physical. Diane said she ordered a specific antifreeze online that didn't have the bitter agent added to it. And this is when I learned that store bought, and most antifreeze has a bitter agent added to it so people don't accidentally consume it. She started adding tablespoons of it to Mark's Gatorade, but it took a while for him to get sick, so eventually she began adding more and more and more to his drinks. When asked about Sean's death, Diane told him that Sean was a pest. He was always around and in her way. She saw him as a burden since he couldn't work and contribute to the house. She had tried to put him in a home a few times, but nothing worked out. She told detectives that Sean loved to drink Coke, so she would put the Antifreeze in Sean's Cokes. Diane had already explained her frustration to the detective about Sarah not having a job and how she didn't want to be responsible for paying off Sarah's school debt and staying up all night and sleeping all day, calling Sarah a burden, just like Mark and Sean were. When asked if anyone in the house knew about what she was doing, Diane told them nobody else knew what she was doing to them. It was just her. Okay, well the way you're saying it, Jackie. Alright, I will have Diane's full interrogation linked in the show notes if you wanna watch it. But I'm gonna play you a couple clips of her confession. So of course Diane was arrested after her confession. Period. And the detectives decided it was time to talk to Rachel. Period. Really quick, I am still f fucking mind blown about the burden part. They were burdens on me. Hello? That was your husband and children. it's gonna get worse. Okay. Rachel admitted that the whole situation with her brother and sister and father was really weird. And that she had been worried that it was hereditary, but her mom had been reassuring her that she would be okay. Hereditary. When asked about the dynamic of her family, it was different from the image Diane had painted of a lazy alcoholic father who sat at home all day doing nothing. She said her dad was wonderful and that her parents would occasionally fight about money and normal things like her dad's friends. They broke a table once arguing, but that was a while ago and it really wasn't that serious. It was more like an accident. Who broke a table? Diane and Mark. wow. She said that Sean wasn't a bother. He was happy all the time and generally kept to himself. as for her relationship with Sarah, she said that she wished she would find a job but understood why it was so hard. She said her mom was frustrated about it, but it wasn't something they argued about. When asked about how her mom felt about her dad and brothers passing, Rachel told them that her mom was upset and she wished she could have done more for Sean. She had a lot of guilt over Sean's death and that she felt the same guilt about not taking Sarah to the hospital sooner. After Rachel told the detectives all of this, they revealed to her that her mom has actually confessed to poisoning her dad, brother, and sister with Antifreeze They just needed to make sure Rachel wasn't a part of it. And here's some clips of Rachel while she's finding out and after. I have an extreme suspicion still. Something is not sitting right with me with Miss Rachel over here. That video clip didn't give Sam what she wanted. So after talking with Rachel, they searched the house, and in the garage they find a bottle of Antifreeze right next to a six pack of Coke. Yuck. As well as under the sink in the kitchen. They also took all the computers in the house and there were quite a few. Every member of the family had an their own computer, and then there were like a few other computers, because you know we still are in the days of like having a computer room in the house with like family desktops. Probably the most interesting thing that was found in the house was a small purple journal found just tossed on top of some books on a bookshelf. And it had the word journal written right across the front. Kid. Who did this journal belong to, Jackie? I need y'all to buckle up for what they discovered in this journal. I'm also gonna go roller coaster rides. I feel Ready. Turns out the journal belonged to Rachel. As detectives began to read through the journal, an entry caught their attention. It was dated june thirteenth, twenty eleven. So just under a year before Mark's death. Rachel wrote, It's sad when I realize how my father will pass on in the next two months. Sean, my brother, will move on shortly after. It will be tough getting used to the changes, but everything will work out. Excuse me? Another entry not long after this one, Rachel wrote about being thankful that she had time to prepare for each of their deaths and that she would also be getting her father's car. Excuse me? Also I didn't include this in here, but Sean had a Facebook post after Mark died about how his he was like, My dad is dead, my sisters get his me and my sisters get his belongings now, my sister has his car. Like just very like matter of factly. A poem was found in Rachel's purse that was written after Sarah was taken to the hospital. Once upon a time there were six, and now there are only three. Only the quiet ones are left my mom, my little sister, and me. Obviously detectives bring Rachel back in for questioning. Because clearly everyone is still lying. Diane swore up and down no one else was involved, and Rachel point blank told detectives in her interview that she had no idea her mom was doing this and that she wasn't involved at all. When clearly she was involved. But even the detectives were shocked at just how much involvement Rachel had. Detectives did not reveal to Rachel right away that they had found her journal. Instead they asked her how she felt about what her mom did. Yeah. She said she was confused and shocked at how someone she knew could do this. Following it up with an I quote, I mean, who judges who can live? They then asked her if her mom had ever said anything about any family members being close to death, and Rachel simply recalled her mom saying that if her dad kept up his drinking and smoking, he wouldn't live past eighty. But other than that, past eighty? Yeah. But other than that, no, she never talked about any of them dying soon. Hmm. Detectives then slid the journal across the table in front of Rachel. And they said, Is this your journal? And he she goes, Yeah. I And then they go, and did you write these entries? And she said, Yeah. Then they showed her the entry from twenty eleven. that predicted Mark and Sean's death. Rachel took a pause before finally answering that she was having a lot of bad dreams about her dad and Sean dying. That's what she was writing about. She even added that she told her mom about these dreams. Rachel described her relationship with her mom as being very close. They were more like friends than mother and daughter. So when Rachel told her mom about these dreams Diane told her that she had actually been thinking of killing Mark and Sean. At first, Rachel wasn't okay with it, but Diane assured her that it needed to be done and that it would be quick and easy. Except it wasn't. It took a while for anything to start happening to her dad, so they began adding more Antifreeze to his drinks. At this point, Rachel's only admitting to knowing about her mom poisoning them. She hasn't actually admitted to being involved in the act. But she does keep saying, we Before quickly switching it to her or mom. Hmm. Especially in reference to researching how to kill them. Finally, the detective point blank asked Rachel, How many times did you put antifreeze in the drinks? And she replies, Well, once I did. This absolutely floored detectives, but they were noticing a pattern. Rachel would give up a little bit of information while giving a broad answer. And if they pressed with more detailed questions, she would eventually just tell them everything. I mean, it is like a teenager. Yeah. Then the process would just start over. Twenty two. She was twenty two. Yep. So the detective pressed more. You only did it once? Are you sure? Hmm. And she said, Well, maybe three or four times. Okay, still more. Rachel explained that she and Diane took turns mixing her dad's drinks with Antifreeze. They started off small with just a tablespoon or two. Rachel made him two drinks, one in the morning and one at night. Her mom worked from home and was also mixing drinks as well, stating sometimes they overlapped and gave him multiple in a row on accident. She said it took weeks before something started happening. Eventually they were filling almost a quarter of his drinks with Antifreeze. Absolutely shocked by Rachel's confession, they asked her. Why she helped her mom. Period. This is when Rachel's true feelings about her family came to light. She said that her dad was a drain on the family and he was lazy. She said that her mom was relieved when he died. Rachel admitted that she didn't think it was right to kill Sean and she really struggled with him having to die, but her mom told her it was the only way. But she really thought they could have tried harder to put him in a home. Before eventually admitting that actually Sean was annoying to her. And she didn't really like him that much. As for Sarah, it was obvious that Rachel didn't like her. She even tried to spin a story about Sarah inappropriately touching her when they were in middle school, but told detectives that Sarah always said she dn didn't remember doing it. She said she was just inappropriate. Even when she did take medication, she just was inappropriate and she had become a burden because she wasn't trying hard enough to get a job and contribute to the family. There you are going and using that word again, Jackie. A burden? Yes. Yeah. What the fuck? Rachel tried to say that she only knew about her dad and Sean. She had no idea her mom planned to poison Sarah, before eventually admitting she knew about the plan about a month before they started poisoning Sarah. Rachel said that there was no plan to kill her younger sister Brianna. Then she added, yeah. By the way, guys, Sarah knew about the poisoning, she was in on it too. Excuse me? Adding that when Sarah got sick, she even asked Rachel and Diane if she was going to die, and Rachel and Diane would just reply, I don't know. Detectives were not believing it at all. They they were just not buying that Sarah was involved because why would she continue to take drinks from them after getting sick? Why wouldn't she reach out to anybody? Yeah. When asked why they decided to take Sarah to the hospital, Rachel responded with and I quote. I didn't want another one to Diane the house because houses are nasty after somebody dies in it. Taking Sarah to the hospital had nothing to do with helping her. They thought she wouldn't live anyway, they just didn't want her to Diane the house. At least they didn't just take her outside. When asked if she still wanted Sarah to die, Rachel nodded her head yes. You're lying. She then told detectives how she moved into Sean's room after he died and that she was being haunted by him. She could be having horrible nightmares. She could sense his ghostly presence in the room constantly, and she didn't want to have to deal with that again. But also, way to go, Sean, for haunting her ass. Keep it up, keep it up, keep it up. Keep fucking haunting her in prison, man. Do it. one last thing that Rachel revealed before her interview was over was that they had also planned on killing Brianna, stating that her learning disabilities were a burden and they no longer wanted to deal with it. Rachel was then arrested. I keep using the word burden because it's the word that Rachel and Diane consistently and constantly keep saying. I I'm aware. I'm painfully aware at this point and I'm angry. Go on. Detectives decided to speak with Diane again. Just just real quick to clear a few things up. Right. When Diane was told that Rachel confessed to her part of the poisonings, Diane completely sold her ass out, telling them that they researched the different methods and poisons together before. Jointly deciding on Antifreeze Like Rachel, she showed no remorse or grief for the murders, and she expressed zero guilt about Rachel getting caught up in all of this. Okay. Wow. Diane and Rachel Staudte were charged each with two counts of first degree murder for Mark and shaun one count of first degree assault for Sarah, and one count of armed criminal action. Let's go back to Sarah who is still in the hospital, but is making an incredible recovery. Okay. Sarah suffered multiple strokes and seizures, leaving her severe neurological damage. She would eventually have to relearn how to do everything, including walking and talking. Jesus. Detective From an antifreeze, dude? Detectives still need when she was went to the hospital, almost all of her organs were shutting down. She had a zero percent chance of survival. We were basically keeping her alive until doctors or decided to stop. Decided to stop and consult them. You know what I mean? But detectives still needed to speak with her about Rachel's claims that she was involved in the poisonings. As soon as Sarah felt well enough to speak with them, she did. Sarah still had no idea that her mom and sister had confessed to poisoning her. all she knew was that her illness was being investigated. Detectives asked Sarah if she could think of anyone who wanted to hurt her. She told them no, and that all she knows is that she just got sick like her dad and brother did. Sarah was genuinely shocked when detectives told her that her mom and sister confessed to poisoning her along with her dad and brother. Hold on, you said she had to learn how to walk and talk again? Yes. And how was she doing? So this was the first that she could speak with them again. Cognitively there. Yes, once our cognitive function, like once they figure so once Diane confessed and they knew it was antifreeze, they knew how to start treating her immediately. Okay. As soon as she was cognitive enough awake in that realm to speak with them and off meds enough to coherently speak with them or communicate with them, they did. The time line is a little like 'cause yes, she did have to learn how to walk and talk again. Yeah. But this was as soon as she was able. Okay. Okay. Getting it out, I'm not entirely sure if she was having a conversation like they kept this from I mean if she was bleeding in her brain, who knows at that point. But they also kept all the details from Sarah during her recovery. Period. So hospital workers, family members, nobody along. Yep. Nobody further along. Yes. This recovery was probably a month or a couple months later. Okay. but yes, it was she was very much kept in the dark. Yeah, yeah. Like n again, like it may not have it could have been longer than a couple of months. She could have already been going through physical therapy and relearning how to do all this as well. I'm just But yeah, but she was in the hospital. Like this their talk with it was pretty quick 'cause they needed to determine stuff. yeah, brother. So, she was shocked when she learned that her mom and sister had been doing all this. Like she genuinely had no idea. Sarah then recalled a time after Markinson's death where she found her mom's diary and read an entry about Mark and Shawn's death, and to her shock, it also talked about her death as well. When she confronted Diane, her mom, just simply dismissed her concerns and warned her not to go snooping again. Detectives still weren't sure, so they just straight up asked Sarah if she was involved in the plot to kill her dad and brother. Sarah denied any involvement, and the detectives believed her, even though her brain is still foggy from everything she's been through. Just looking at it all, they just don't believe that Sarah would have allowed herself to get that sick without getting herself help. Yeah. You know? Yeah. When two people are charged with the same murder, a fun little game usually begins called Who Can Take a Plea First to Get a Lesser Sentence? My favorite game to play by the way. Who can sell the other one out more to get a lesser sentence? Who do you think took a plea deal first? Diane. I'm disappointed in you because I said you guessed it, and you're wrong. In may twenty fifteen, Rachel took a plea deal. In exchange for testifying against her mother, she was looking at a lighter sentence that left open the possibility of future parole. she pleaded guilty to two counts of second degree murder for Mark and Sean. So we were first degree murders and she plugged down a second degree murder. Okay. And one count of first degree assault for Sarah. Period. And the one count of armed criminal criminal action. I'm kinda surprised actually. So the whole reason I thought Diane would have done it first is because clearly she doesn't give a fuck about her family. Yeah. We'll get to her in a minute. I guess it kind of makes sense though that Rachel would have taken it and I should have been more shocked that she turned her mother in. Or turned her mother. Just wait till I get to Diane and what she did, because then you won't be shocked anymore. A year later in May of twenty sixteen, Rachel received two concurrent life sentences plus an additional twenty years. She went with the possibility of parole. She will first become eligible to apply for parole after serving forty two and a half years in prison Which is 2055 and she will be 62 years old. Give or take a few months. Damn, okay. Diane's trial was supposed to start in November 2015, before getting moved to May of 2016. But Diane's trial never took place because in January of 2016, she took an Alfred plea deal in order to avoid the death penalty. For those of you unfamiliar with an Alfred plea deal, allow me to explain. With an Alfred plea, there's no admission of guilt. Diane is allowed to maintain innocence while officially acknowledging that the state possesses overwhelming evidence that would inevitably result in a conviction at trial. This is the stupidest shit I've ever heard, by the way. Diane agreed to plead guilty to the amended charges of first-degree murder for Sean, second degree murder for Mark. First degree assault for Sarah and the armed criminal action charge was dropped when she took the plea deal. Because that charge would have resulted in a different trial. The deal mandated that she serve three life sentences running concurrently, so at the same time. Diane also gave up any chance at parole because of the first degree murder charge she agreed to for Sean. In Missouri, that is an automatic life sentence without parole, regardless of the deal. Period. So now are you surprised at who took the plea deal first? Because Diane still got her own little deal. She didn't have to admit to anything. That's fucking. Rachel's, she had to admit to guilt. I'm I'm genuinely genuinely surprised and a little confused how it was first degree, second degree for Mark. Like second degree for Mark. We don't have an autopsy for Mark. We have an autopsy for Sean. We can prove it for Sean makes a lot of sense of it for Mark. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. Sarah actually spoke at Diane's sentencing. And I just want to share part of what Sarah said. Quote Not only did she take away my dad and brother, she also took away my livelihood and my independence. and then she finished it with I prefer to be a survivor than a victim. She also told reporters, I forgive my mom for what she did to me. Explaining further that she chose forgiveness simply because it was the right thing to do. Pshit. I'm sorry, I'm very different from I'm a petty ass bitch, let me tell you. One more Taylor Swift, I can't even get that line out my mouth without laughing half the time. So I'll help you with that in a minute. I don't need to Although Sarah made a miraculous recovery, she continues to live with permanent lifelong physical and neurological damage caused by the poisoning. Due to the severe brain and organ injuries sustained from the toxicity, Sarah is unable to live entirely independently. She lives in an assisted living facility and has a court appointed legal guardian to assist with her care and affairs. Although Sarah learned how to walk and talk again, her speech and mo mobility are still greatly impacted. The Anaphree's fundamentally slowed her central nervous system. Her speech remains characterized by short, deliberate sentences, and her motor skills are permanently altered. Accepting her new life has been hard. Before she was poisoned, she was on the dean's list and had dreams of becoming a translator. She hasn't lost sight of those dreams, and while she maintains a more private life now, she does keep a social media presence, using her story to bring awareness to Antifreeze poisonings, along with other poisons that can often present. similar symptoms of common illnesses and easily get overlooked until it's too late. Because like insulin, Antifreeze is also not tested for in autopsies. And part of this is having a bigger I really do think we need to start getting a broader panel for autopsies for toxicology reports. I really do believe a toxicology report should test for literally every substance that could exist in the blood. Or in a fluid because there's so much that gets missed because it's not standard. Yeah. Yeah. Diane and Rachel, of course, tried to undo their plea deals. Diane decided to suddenly declare her innocence, even going on ABC 2020 and denying any involvement, saying she said what she was told to say. She's now claiming she was also feeling sick around that time and that she thought she was also being poisoned. She blamed Mark and the bad people he hung around and who did drugs. Honestly, she is so ridiculous in this ABC twenty twenty special, it's almost comical. Even with the recorded confessions, she denies all of it and won't even admit to poisoning them. A at multiple times in this, she goes, There's a whole other story. You don't even know. And they're like, Well, this is your chance. This is your opportunity to tell us, I can't. Of course. Like the whole thing, it's infuriating, like I I feel for I feel for the woman interviewing her because like the way I would have reached across and shook this woman while sitting in a prison with her, I wouldn't admit. I got backup. But you know what I mean? Like I'm saying, like what is she gonna lose by giving this other story? She just won't take responsibility for it. Of course not. It's I mean, watching it take it sound infuriating, but go watch it. I'm good. I'm good. Rachel, on the other hand, decided to pull the intimidation card. declaring that she was scared of men and being shut in a room with a male detective was and I quote like being flayed alive. Ew. Like, okay, that's a bit dramatic, but whatever you say, that was like one of the nicest like dad detective cops ever when he's like, I'm so sorry, like I don't know how He wasn't even like processing leaning in towards her, I understand this is a lot to process. Like take your time. Like I'm sorry. Yeah. And like brought her a blanket thing. Like shut up. Then she claims that she was pressured by her attorneys to admit to these things in order to take the plea deal. Mm-hmm None of those She could have just, you know, not taken a plea deal and gone to trial and had a jury of her peers r see the evidence. Yeah. Crazy how that works. It's like part of our legal system or something. Huh. none of this worked and they are all still serving their original sentences. As they fucking should be. So with her, I'm just I'm really curious and I guarantee I already have the answer. I'm just I don't want it to be the right answer. Even though they're taking play deals, they can still appeal. I think I think with the Alfred Pre Diane lost her appeals. Okay. Because she also doesn't get parole. Okay. But I think she lost her appeals. Okay. Period. do you have any other thoughts? I wanna know what's going on with Brianna. You know, that's my next paragraph to start here after I said any more thoughts before we get to my favorite part. No. Okay. So let's start with the youngest Staudte Brianna. She was placed into foster care after Rachel and Diane's arrest, and that's all that we know about her after the arrest. Which is totally okay, because this girl needs privacy. She has lost her entire family. Her sister is now in an assisted living facility for the rest of her life. She also had learning disabilities, so she may not even understand the full depth of it. I mean, she was still a normal student going to school and all of that. I don't think that she was as severe as they're like making this out to be. Okay. Diane and Rachel, I mean. Yeah. but essentially I just hope that she grew up to live a normal life. Yeah. And has a wonderful family that has treated her very well and she has overcome all of this and I hope she has a relationship with Sarah. I genuinely hope the foster care system is being good to her. I mean she's out of it now and she's an adult. I hope it was good to her. That's why the one picture you saw was blurred out. There are other podcasts who don't use her name, but like the ABC twenty twenty special uses her name and they talk about so I have a couple podcasts changed her name in it. But yeah. Okay. So that's if you if you listen to I think it's Cold Case, you'll notice the names different that I'm using than they are, but they established they're using a different name for her. because she was in sixth grade by the time mm Diane and Rachel were arrested. Okay. she star I think she was like in fourth grade when Mark died. And by the end of this she was in sixth grade, I do believe. So you know, just hopefully she's out there living a A wonderful life and she is not known for this and doesn't have to, you know, any of that. So I just hope that she is the best. I mean, maybe you never know. Maybe during her foster home she got adopted and changed her last names completely. Hopefully. And she is not Yeah. Connected to them in any way, shape, or form anymore. That's a hope. Except for biologically. Yeah. Sean Staudte had a lot of life left to live. Yeah. As we have already discussed, he loved to read, and his current interest was Sweden and Mechanic Books. He definitely loved to give his opinions, everything from books and TV shows to movies. And I just love that he posted it all over Facebook for us all to read, and it's all still preserved, so we can read it. And he was just genuinely himself all the time. He loved his sisters and he loved being around his family and he enjoyed attending church and playing music. All of these kids could play music. That's awesome. So it was just not an easy It was a very big part of their life. Yep. And it just really makes me mad that he just kept getting referred to as a burden because he didn't seem like it. All of them. All of them. And that's just so like, just leave. Like just literally leave. You're the burden at this point, my dude. Yeah. Mark Staudte was an incredibly gifted musician and songwriter. And he was his entire life. Everyone had something nice to say about Mark. His friends painted a much different picture of Mark than Diane did. They said he rarely drank because he had to sing and play harmonica. They said he was a regular guy who loved his family, church, and to play music. you can just see how happy and how much he loved doing that and That's what they bonded over from the start. It is exactly what they bonded over from the start. And so Mark was just he wasn't all the horrible things that Diane painted him out to be. He didn't have these shady drug dealing friends. He wasn't into drugs. She just needed to paint him that way. Mm-hmm. And so yeah, his friends just absolutely cannot believe this. Yeah. So now Jury it's the time to ask y'all. Did we get justice for Mark, Sean, and Sarah? Yes. I agree. I think we got justice as well. You know, we got Brian out of that situation. Sarah is alive. Luckily because of Rachel's own selfish reasons. But Yeah, that's fucking crazy. But do you think that Diane and Rachel will ever fully take responsibility for what they did? No. I don't. you haven't even watched the ABC twenty twenty special and I agree with you fully. They won't. Rachel's not in it, by the way, I just realized. good. Only Diane's in it. 'Cause she Like they have clips and stuff, Rachel, but she doesn't actually speak in it. I just realized that. Period. do you think Rachel will ever get out on parole? No. I don't. I don't think she'll get out on parole either. I hope she doesn't. Yeah. Fifty five? She'll be sixty two. Yeah it'll be twenty fifty five. We'll be around. Because honestly, like this is one of those like she's not like she's gonna be too old to do this. It was a poisoning. Her mother literally convinced her it was okay to poison her whole family. So not only do we have like she can use like she's what what's the word I'm looking for? Easily influence cor corrup corruptible. Yep, she could be She's easily corruptible. So I don't I personally don't think she'll ever get out on parole because At sixty two you can still easily poison and do this. It's not like we are like the only thing I can think of I I just feel I feel it in my bones. I'm gonna say it right now, twenty twenty six, when she goes for her parole board, she's gonna say she was coerced into it. She's gonna say I was twenty two and my mom was probably threatening me and her mom will probably be dead by then. Mhm. I guarantee my dead by then. But also as a judge, I hope they're like it was so very easy for your mom to convince you to kill your s your family. Yeah. Like Well, and the fact that you had journal entries of it from a y almost a year before. Like she was just so complicit in this that she just went with it for so long. She had so many opportunities to stop it. Well, and also how many times she lied about it and then finally was like, Ugh, okay, here's what really happened. Like That's not being young, that's being mentally f fucked. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That's manipulation manipulation. Yeah. So Bruh. Yeah, that's that's my case for today, guys. I'm sorry. Thank you, Samantha. That was a wonderful time. We have so many Sams. We had Samantha that did the case. We got Sam right here, and then we got me. I feel very left out. I'm just a Jackie. You can be Sam too. My god you're freezing. I am. Jesus. So on that note, come join us. Maybe Sam will come with us too. what's this one's full name? Sam. it's just Sam? Yeah. Anyway, so maybe Sam will join us also. Steve will be there. Steve will be there. We will be there at our costume. Steve has a Halloween costume, so you need a Halloween costume. So Steve doesn't win the Halloween costume contest. And let's be honest, his costume's real good and he just might. His costume is really good. Real good. I'm really pumped about it. So October thirtieth, seven PM, Candlemakings. We have a fun activity for you. It's going to be a blast. I have an incredible script. There's Halloween candy. Halloween candy. It's gonna be a great time. We are so excited. Make sure you buy your ticket. Let's sell this out again. You know how we do it, painting with a twist. And yeah. Follow us on everything, Justice For Podcast, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, all of it. And we'll have updates. You can find all the pictures, you can find our resources on our website and all of our merch. So yeah. Yep. We have a couple of good episodes coming to you guys. Throughout October, obviously y'all know Halloween is a my favorite, so we're gonna get crazy with it. A little spooky. But yeah, so that's all I've got today. Do you have anything else? Nah, man, I'm brain dead. Alright, let's wrap this up. Okay, you guys, we will catch you next week with an all-new episode. Stop killing each other. Lock your damn doors. Stop leaving your fucking friends. Okay, love you. Bye.