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The Plight of Bernadette Protti · Minor Mischief Podcast

• Kiki George: What happens when wanting to fit in becomes wanting to be somebody else? When popularity feels like currency, when rejection feels like humiliation, and when one teenage girl decides another girl has everything she believes she deserves, this is the Minor Mischief Podcast, and this is the plight of Bernadette Pardi. Welcome back. Welcome back to another episode of the Minor Mischief Podcast, a true crime podcast where we discuss the crimes of young people. I'm your host and homegirl for the time being, Mrs. Kiana Amir, and thank you for hanging out with me. Now, before we get into today's episode, I need all my young people listening, and honestly, some of y'all grown folks too. To me, listen to me when I say this. Hear me when I say this. Somebody else's light does not dim yours. I know that sounds like something somebody's auntie has written across a picture of the sunset on Facebook, but I'm very serious. Someone else being pretty does not make you ugly. Someone making the team does not make you untalented. Someone having more money does not make you poor. And someone being popular does not mean you're unlikable. And somebody not wanting to be your friend simply does not mean that there's something wrong with you. Sometimes people are simply just not your people. And that's okay. Because today's story is about what can happen when comparison, insecurity, rejection, and the desperate desire to belong become wrapped up together in one person's mind. So baby, today grab your plane ticket, your rental car, your emotional support snacks, because we are heading to Northern California. And if you're picturing California and immediately thinking Los Angeles, palm trees, beaches, celebrities, you got the wrong California friend. We are heading to Orenda, California, to be exact. Arenda, California sits about 13 miles northeast of Oakland, California. And y'all, I y'all know I love LA Down, right? Like that's my dream home. That's where I want to be. But something about the Bay Area is just like Chef's Kiss. Like, I don't know. The vibe there is just, I love it. Ugh. I don't know why I was born an East Coast girly. And don't get me wrong, I'm an East Coast girl down. Like I will, like forever. Forever be a East Coast girl. Like I'm from Brooklyn, New York. I have lived my entire life on the east coast of the United States. From north to south. I love it. Maybe not Florida so much. Florida, y'all put me through a lot. But Virginia, Georgia, y'all put me through a little bit as well. matter of fact, I like North Carolina and I like New York. Virginia was okay. I loved Florida, but y'all put me through lot. Florida, y'all put me through a whole lot. That's all I'm saying, and that's it. That's all. But Arinda, California is known for its top-rated schools, its scenic hiking trails, wooded hillsides, and winding roads. It almost reminds me like, you know, like how the late 90s and early 2000s like suspense movies would be, how they were always like driving on like this windy road or there were these big beautiful houses and the families were just so organic and cute. This is what it's giving. That's how I'm seeing Arinda in my head. But if you're from there and it's not like that, please sound off in the comments. Arenda is also very popular for youth sports, which I love. Like they really have great youth sports programs from what I could see. There's a lot for the kids to get into to be involved, to keep busy, and to stay out of trouble. Which, like I said, I love that real bad. In Arinda, California, we meet Bernadette Pradi, who is our mischief maker, and Kirsten Costas, who is the star of our show, but also unfortunately our victim. So for today's story, we are heading back to 1984. And in 1984, Arinda, California technically wasn't even a city yet. And I feel like a lot of people that are listening to me right now, y'all probably did that picture me in the 80s challenge that's been going around. So that's you in the 80s, and that's where we are. Now, like I said, Arinda was not technically even a city. It was still an incorporated community governed largely through Contra Costa County. I'm probably saying that wrong. Contra Costa County. Isn't that a song by Larry June Contra Costa? I think. But it wasn't a city yet. And residents were actively campaigning for incorporation during 1984 because they wanted to control the development of the area. They wanted to control like the planning. They wanted their own board. They wanted their own local services. And in March 1985, Arinda actually did officially become its own city. According to the 1980s census, fewer than 17,000 people lived in Arinda, California at the time. And baby, Arinda, California in the 80s, it probably still is really nice, but back then it was described as nice. Like, not, my gosh, we finally got a mall nice, but like I said, I'm talking about affluent suburbs, beautifully manicured lawns, even though I must say, like any place that I have been in California has had a beautifully manicured lawn. Like I don't know what it is, but y'all lawn care services are immaculate. And during the 1980s, this was the type of community, and dare I say to this day, this is the type of community that most people want for themselves. Like not me per se. I'm just saying, but a lot of people love like that suburban white picket fence, large estate type of deal. I'm like I said, that's just not my jam simply for the fact of If you do not reach, if you are the lowest on the tax bracket there and you can still have money, like you could still be doing financially amazing. But if you move, in my opinion, this is just my opinion, y'all could tell me if I'm wrong. But if you move to a place where everyone has a a ton of money and you make okay money, then you're seen as poor. And what I'm not about to do is spend my hard-earned money and it's good hard-earned money. Some place where my kids are still gonna be picked on because they don't have Mercedes or BMWs. It's the same thing like the Bling Ring episode. Like he was like, my mom drove a Honda Civic and yet was new, but it wasn't a Mercedes, it wasn't a BMW, it wasn't a Porsche, you know? Like, so I don't ever want my kids to feel less than because baby, I'm not buying my fur my my son's first car, I already told him he's getting a Lexus IS 350 simply for reliability. And it could be a 2001 Lexus IS350. Probably not a 2001. I told him I wouldn't go farther than 2010. But you're getting a a an old Lexus. And only because it's a reliable car. Like, I don't think anyone beats Lexus reliability. But that's what he's getting. And so for me, I'm like a Lexus is still a Lexus, but in Arinda, California, they're like, my gosh, is it 2010? Like, no, we're not doing that. Not with my hard-earned money. Absolutely not. But like I said, I see why this type of neighborhood would allure the people. Like, you know, they have great schools. It's a beautiful neighborhood. It's a safe place to raise your children. And that's really what the Prodi family was looking for when they settled there. Now, Bernadette Proddy was born in 1968 to Raymond and Elaine Prody. And this is already gonna be different from some of the stories that we've covered on Minor Mischief in the past, because normally this is the point where I tell y'all. Daddy disappeared, mom was whiling, grandma was raising everybody, they was on drugs, the house caught on fire, the family moved 37 times. You know, the basic minor mischief starter pack. But that was not Bernadette's story. Similar to our friends Morgan Geyser, like they lived a pretty good life. The Costas family had actually moved from Oakland to Arinda a few years before the story takes place because they wanted to be in a community where success was not optional, it was expected. And Bernadette, like I said, her family was fairly stable. Her father, Raymond, had worked for the city of San Francisco, and her mother, Elaine, was actively involved in all of her children's lives. So Bernadette was the youngest in a large Catholic family, and she had several older siblings, including a sister named Virginia. There isn't a documented childhood history of horrific abuse or neglect, like something that we could say, okay, this explains why she maybe flew off the deep end. From the outside, Bernadette was described as polite. She was described as helpful. Her family loved her. She had friends. Her grades were fine. She participated in sports. Like by all accounts, like she was living the American teenage dream in the 1980s. Like she probably spent Friday nights at the mall. She probably loved pizza, you know, these things. Bernadette originally attended a Catholic school. And during her high school year, she transferred to Meramonte High School, Gometz. mascot is the mators. They call them the mats. And it's been a while since I've been able to represent a mascot. So thank you, Marmonte High School. and so Meramonte High School, they had a reputation for high academic achievement. Like the kids weren't only expected to do well in school. They were expected to be involved in clubs. They were expected to be athletes. They were expected to participate in activities. They were expected to be activists. Like they were expected to have on top of going to school Earning good grades, having a thriving social life, they also had to have like a resume. Like they had to, what are you doing with yourself? It to me, it's like I picture in the words of someone's Nigerian grandmother, I did not come to this country for you to play games. I came for you to be successful. Like that's how I see it happening in, you know, this area at the time. Meanwhile, my mother came to this country. And when I was fifteen, My extracurricular activity was probably standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open looking for snacks, you know? I also had a sticky fingers problem. And I mentioned that before. I I admit it. I had a sticky fingers problem. I used to steal real bad. I don't do that anymore though. I have learned my lesson and I feel like at this point in my life, if I even stole a pack of gum out of the Walmart, God will make an example out of me. I that's just how I feel. That's my personal conviction. I did try basketball once though, but I'll leave that right there. Now, like I said, the environment at Miramante and in the community matters because this is where we're starting to see like Bernadette didn't want to just attend Mary Monte. Like she went to that high school because she's just like, you know what, this Catholic school thing is great, but mom and dad, I really like I want to thrive here. And of course, she wants to thrive. They want her to thrive. When I thrive, you thrive, we thrive together. Like, I know that's not the words, but seriously, that's what she wanted out of her life. She wanted to be. one of the girls that everybody knew. She wanted to be in the activity. She wanted the recognition. She wanted the popularity. But most importantly, she wanted to be accepted. So we're gonna place ourselves in Bernadette's shoes and like just picture it. You're now transferring to this school where everybody knows everybody. The friend groups are already established. There's a social hierarchy. Everybody knows who's popular, who are the popular athletes, who's funny, who's the weirdos, like real mean girl's behavior, you know? And I'm not saying that any I'm not saying that Bernadette was bullied because I could not find any sources to say that she was. But what I am saying is that she felt like an outsider. She felt like even though she had friends and even though she had a loving family and even though they lived in this, you know, relatively nice house, even though, you know, she had support, even though her grades were good, even though she had great extracurriculars, There was still something inside of her that felt like it was not enough. And so it's like she's starting this new school. And it's like, dang, I'm really back at the bottom of the totem pole again. And it just really was a hard time for her. But Bernadette, she is not a punk. She's not one to step down from a challenge. She worked hard to catch up academically after transferring. She tried several different ways to become involved at her new high school. She ran track, she joined the swim team. She tried to join the yearbook staff. She wanted to be a cheerleader. She wanted to join social organizations. Like on the outside looking in, sis had her life together. She was joining the clubs. And even though she got into some clubs and didn't get into others, because this was, you know, in the time of life where the participation trophies weren't a thing. It was either you had what it took or you didn't. And she didn't have what it took for everything that she wanted to do, but she actually got into some things. And even though that should have been enough. Bernadette felt like it's not enough. There was still that void inside of her that was just like, no, if I don't join the chair squad, then what is life even about? So Bernadette at this point in her life, she's just not happy with how she's measuring up with the other students in the school. And that comparison was really getting under her skin. Because, like I mentioned earlier, the proddies weren't poor. They're not destitute. They weren't hand to mouth, like they had an average life. But when you're living an average life amongst affluent people, it feels like I don't have what it takes. And that's really what Bernadette was going through. Additionally, when you're a girl that's trying to fit in so desperately and you're not able to buy, you know, all the 25 pairs of Jordash jeans, she probably had six pairs of Jordash jeans, but you know, she didn't have 25 pairs. She didn't have her own phone line, you know, and there were just things that the other kids had that she didn't. Like I said, not making it seem like what she had was less than because she had enough. She had she had what she needed and some of what she wanted, but she didn't have all of what she wanted. And that really put a damper on her. Simply put, Bernadette was jealous of the other girls in Orinda who had more money. And that jealousy and feeling beneath her was worse than when, according to her, they went on a school ski trip one time, and this young lady by the name of Kirsten Costas. made a comment and was just like, your skis, they're cute and all, but they're not the nice, like, you don't have the nice ones. Like that reminds me of the time when like, and you know, we're comparing apples to oranges here, but I remember one time I got invited to a baby shower and I had just had a baby of my own. I was working like eight dollar an hour job. and I just didn't have a lot, but I'm the type of person I'm never gonna show up to your event. If you invite me to your birthday party, I'm coming with a gift. If you invite me to your birthday dinner, I'm coming with a gift. If you invite me to your kids' party, I'm coming with a gift. If you invite me to anything, I'm coming with a gift. And so I bought these bottles, but you know, they were just, they were like the regular Walmart brand parents' choice bottles or whatever. And so I get there, I put my gift down, and I'm sitting with, you know, everybody. And so baby mama's opening the gifts. And she opens my bottles and she's like, okay, cute. And then she opens another person's bottles and she's just like, you got me the good one. And it made me feel like, damn, girl, my bottles was just like, I really, I spent my last on those bottles, you know? So it's like just kind of like, yes, you did it, but also it's like, is it good enough when someone else has way more than? So apparently they're on the ski trip and Kirsten makes a comment, like, okay, girl, you know, you're you don't have the nice skis that everyone else has because I guess your family just doesn't have enough money as everyone else. And I don't know. If she was saying that just to say like, you poor girl, or if she was just like, Well, yeah, girl, maybe you fell because their skis cost five hundred dollars and yours cost fifty dollars. You know, I'm not sure what the context was, but Bernadette really carried that in her heart as hurt feelings. Kirsten Marina Costas was born on July twenty-third, nineteen sixty-eight in Oakland, California, to her parents Arthur, who went by Art and Barrett Costas. She had at least one sibling, a brother named Peter. I couldn't find any other siblings for her. Similar to Bernadette's parents, Art and Barrett moved their family from Oakland to Arinda because they wanted what most parents want: a safe neighborhood, good schools, good opportunities for their children. Art built a successful career and Barrett stayed home as a homemaker caring for her family. Their family became involved in their local swim club, their local tennis club, and swimming eventually became a big part of Kirsten's life. By high school, she was swimming varsity at Merramonte. Kirsten was your average teenage, like she was your average teenage girl. She loved music. She loved talking on the phone with her friends. She loved dancing. She was the type of teenager where you know she was home because you can hear her. You can hear her laughing. You can hear the music playing. You can hear her watching MTV. You can hear her talking on the phone with her friends. You can like her energy and her vibe were simply magnetic. Kirsten socially was everything that Bernadette wanted to be. She was popular, she was pretty, her family had money. And all of this was true. But sometimes I think reducing Kirsten to the popular girl, because I kept reading that like popular girl gets slain by, and I'm like, I feel like there's a negative stigma on popularity. And so I feel like if you're saying the popular girl, popular girl, it kind of strips someone away from their humanity because by all accounts, most people are like, well, she was popular, she had it all. So, you know, they don't feel as bad for you. But just because she was popular does not mean her life was perfect. Just because she was popular does not make her a bad person. And you know, I just feel like in the articles, I would have loved to know more about Kirsten the person. Like what was she like and st outside of being popular? She was popular and what else? What did she like? What did she love? How did she treat her friends? That speaks more to me. And I read a quote that said, Envy no one for whatever you see a price was paid, which basically means you don't know what life is like for a person. Things may present well on the outside, but she may have struggled with anxiety. She may have struggled with like we just don't know. So just because someone is popular doesn't mean that they have it all together. It just means that they're a social butterfly. And that's okay. Bernada and Kirsten, they were both fairly active in their school. They both joined a club called the Bobble Lynx or the Bobbies. And the Bobble Links Or the Bobbies, like I said, they were a girl service organization associated with the community. So it was like a volunteer organization and a social club where teenagers can join and they would do like these little rallies. They would do organizational, like fundraisers. They were just out and about. Like they were the girls who were out and about trying to make a difference in their community. And because it was this exclusive club, having that membership in the Bobbies really carried status. So it's now June 1984. School is out for the summer. Kirsten had just finished up her sophomore year. She was looking forward to cheerleading. She was exciting about spending the summer swimming, hanging out with her friends, going out to the mall, you know, regular, degular, schmegular teenage girl stuff. She was set to turn 16 in July. So she's just like, listen, I'm about to be 16. I'm about to be living my life. Like she is just excited for what the future holds. Now I'm not sure what led Bernadette to this. I'm not sure. Because by all accounts, she didn't show any signs. She didn't have a conversation with someone to say, I'm gonna pick Kirsten up and I'm gonna tell her about herself. Nobody knew what was going on. But it's a few days before June 23rd. She calls Kirsten's house. Barrett picks up the phone and she's just like, Hey, my name is insert fake name here. From the Bobbies, and we're having this surprise dinner that Kirsten has to be a part of. Don't tell her we will come pick her up. Just make sure she's available on the night of June 23rd at this time. And because Kirsten was a Bobby, this didn't sound insane. It didn't sound like, that like this is not something that they would do because this was completely on brand for something that the Bobbies would do. So It's Saturday, June twenty-third, nineteen eighty four. Kirsten had actually been at like a cheerleading camp. So she just came back home. Her mom's just like, Hey, tonight, there's nothing, like, don't make any plans. Don't try to do anything. You're gonna have a ride, come pick you up at let's say 7 PM. Just be ready. You're gonna go to a dinner and then they'll bring you back home. Cool? Cool. Now Bernadette at her house at the same damn time is telling her family, Hey Dad, I have a babysitting job tonight. I could really use the extra cash. You know, there's this new CD that I wanna buy. Can you drive me to this babysitting gig and I'll drive myself back home? So Raymond drove, and I don't know why this happened. I'm not sure because I'm just like, well, if she was gonna drive herself home anyway, she could have just drove herself there. Or maybe he wanted to see where she was going. I don't know. But Raymond drove Bernadette to this alleged babysitting location. He parks the family's pinto and he's just like, All right, drive back home when you're done. Now sh he leaves and Bernadette hops in the driver's seat and drives over to Kirsten's house. Now Kirsten knows nothing about this fake dinner. She just knows that she's getting ready and she has to be ready at this time for someone to come pick her up. So Bernadette pulls up to the house, you know, she calls Kirsten over to the car and Kirsten's just like, it's you, okay, I know you and so she gets in the car and then they're talking and You know, probably laughing or whatever. And so Bernadette, they're driving, they're talking, and she parks into this parking lot of a church in the nearby town of Moraga, or is it Moraga? Someone's gonna tell me it's Moraga. I feel like I go through this every week where I'm just like, I'm gonna mess this up. And I do really try to look up the pronunciations of things beforehand, but that one slipped me. So Kirsten begins feeling uneasy at this point because she's just like This doesn't really look like a Bobby's dinner party. Like there's not any cars outside. There's nothing going on. And so she's like, Bernadette, what is really going on? And Bernadette look turns to her and is just like, I really just want to talk. Like, I wanna talk about our friendship. I wanna talk about us. And so Kirsten is just like, girl, I don't know what you're talking about. There is no us. Like, there, like, I know you from the Bobbies, I know you from school, but like, I'm not really interested in being your friend. And so the two are going back and forth and the conversation escalates to a point now where they're arguing. So Kirsten is just like, I need to remove myself from this situation because it's escalating and I need it to de-escalate immediately. So she gets out of the car and she runs to the closest house and she's banging on the door. She's like, Hey, can you guys help me? I like I need help. My I was with my friend. We were in the car. We were talking. We were chatting, kiki kaka. She had gone weird. And I just need to call my parents to come pick me up because I'm not doing this with her. So because of the day and age, they didn't think anything of it. And the couple let Kirsten in the house. The couple's name was Alex and Mary Jane Arnold. And they let her use the phone. So Kirsten calls mom, no answer. She calls dad, no answer. And she's just like, man, my parents aren't answering. Like, what do I do? And so Alex Arnold at this point, he's just like, you know what? I don't want you going back out there. I would not feel comfortable with you going back out there with a friend that you're saying is being weird to you right now. Cause weird could mean a lot. It could mean, hey, boo, we just need to talk or something far more dangerous. So I'll tell you what, I'll drive you home. I'll make sure you get home safely. So Bernadette's like, thank you so much. This means a lot. She gets in the car with Alex and they begin driving towards her house. As they're driving toward Kirsten's house, Alex notices a mustard color pinto following them. And a pinto is kind of like a Ford hat hatchback, I think. I know what it looks like. I think it's a Ford. Sorry. Sorry. But so he notices this car following them. And he's just like, this car's been following like every turn that we make. And Kirsten is just like, my gosh, that's Bernadette. Like that's the friend I was telling you about. So he's just like, listen. I'm driving you home and I'm gonna I'm gonna sit in the car. I'm not gonna leave until you get in properly. So they get to Kirsten's house. Kirsten gets out of the car and Bernadette Pulsan right behind them. Kirsten goes up to the door and she's like, shoot, I do not have my house keys. So she quickly runs over to the neighbor's door and she's like banging on their door for them to let her in so that she could stay there until her parents come back. Because at this point, her parents are away at her brother's baseball game. So she's banging on the neighbor's door. And they're not answering and Bernadette at this point walks up to her. So Alex is watching and he's just like, all right, let me get out to see what's gonna happen. And he sees Bernadette hitting Kirsten. And so he's just like, like, hey, like, get off of her, you know? And he thinks Bernadette's just hitting her until she pulls her hand back and he sees like the reflection of a knife. And so as he's getting closer, Bernadette takes off. She gets in the car, she drives off. Alex follows her, but then he does eventually lose her. The neighbors at this point, they are seeing and hearing what's going on outside. So they go outside to Kirsten and they're like, Let's call 911, she's bleeding. So they call 911, they're just like, Hey, my neighbor, she's laying on my doorstep, she's bleeding. I think someone stabbed her, she's seriously hurt. Can you guys please come over? Emergency services comes over and Kirsten was taken by ambulance to Kaiser Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California. To be treated for her injuries. Unfortunately, her injuries were too severe, and on June 23rd, 1984, one month before her 16th birthday, Kirsten Costas passed away. Police arrive on the scene at this point, and Sergeant Richard Weckle begins questioning all the witnesses. Alex Arnold did stay behind to be questioned, and he was able to give them most of the information about Kirsten's attacker. He said, I know it was a young lady, she was blonde. She was driving a mustard color pinto. Kirsten came over to my house because she said that they were in the car. She was being weird. I saw her hitting her. I thought she was just hitting her. Upon, you know, further looking, she was actually stabbing her. I followed her for a little bit. She did unfortunately get away, and I'm not sure which direction she went to. So police take this information. They thank everyone for their cooperation and they begin the search for Kirsten's killer. Kirsten was buried at the Oakmont Memorial Park Cemetery, and surprisingly, Bernadette did attend her funeral. During the investigation, over 750 pintols were checked while trying to identify who had access to a car matching the witness description. And they were unable to find anything. Investors then questioned everyone that knew or had access to Kirsten, and eventually they did question Bernadette. They questioned Bernadette. She gave them her statement. She was like, Yes, I was at this babysitting gig. After the babysitting gig, I drove home. My parents were there. I was there. All was right right with the world. And they're just like, Well, would you be would you be interested in taking a lie detector test to back that up? And she's just like, Yeah, no problem. I'll take a lie detector test. So she takes the test and she passes with flying colors. So time is going on, the the leads are getting less and less. The case is kind of growing cold. And at this point, school starts back. And school is just nowhere near the same without Kirsten. So I imagine that's like the Elise Pollard case where the students were looking around at each other because they were just like, one of us passed away, all of us are here, but we don't know who did this. And the person who did this could very could very well be one of us. And they were right because Bernadette was in class. She was amongst her classmates. walking the same hallways whenever they would do, you know, vigils or, you know, candlelight things or whatever, just to honor Kirsten, Bernadette was there. Two of their co classmates, one of who was described as kind of weird, like they were really into punk rock music. And then the other one who was really into heavy metal, everybody thought it was those two. So they were just like hell like it wasn't us. Like they were questioned. They were like they went through so much they eventually just packed up and moved away because Tensions were so high and everybody really wanted to know like who was responsible. And for months, things are weird at school. And Kirsten's family is grieving, not only losing their baby girl, but also like not having that justice and knowing who did this to her. So Bernadette, she's going about her she's going about her life by all accounts. Like she's just living with what she had done. She's Continuing in her activities, her grades hadn't slipped any. Like she's just going about life, like everything's okay. And so, with no leads and nothing pointing them in the right direction, investigators finally are just like, we are not going to let this down because our community morale right now is so low, we have to figure out who did this. And so they enlisted the help of the FBI around November 1985. They had the FBI built a criminal profile so that they can at least have something, anything to go off of of who Kirsten's killer could be. So it's now December 1984, and the FBI profile suggested that the killer might believe that the homicide was justified and therefore could appear unusually calm when questioned. The FBI also mentioned in their profiling that the killer would be from a large family. I believe it did say a religious family, but don't quote me on the religious part because I couldn't find that in writing, but I did find that on a documentary that I watched about the case. And that they did say that the income of the killer and their social status would be slightly lower than those around them. So Sergeant Weckle is just like, okay, where do we go back from here? So he goes back to the pinto list. Okay, does anyone in our pinto list fit this description? And they look and they're just like, What about this Bernadette girl? comes from a family of six. They're a very devout Catholic, drives a mustard colored pentail. And so they go over to Bernadette to question her. And so Bernadette gets questioned again and she's calm. She's just like, yes, I have access to the car. You know, yes, all of this is true. And so they're questioning and questioning and they're pushing and pushing. And she's calm on the outside, but on the inside, she was hotter than a crackspoon. Like she was literally on fire on the inside because she's like, damn, they got me. And she finally broke. Now she was discharged from the station. She was allowed to go home. She went home. She wrote a letter to her mother. And in the letter, she admitted everything that she had done and what she had done to Kirsten. I tried looking up exactly what the letter said, but I simply could not find a copy of it on the internet, which, you know, it's probably for the best. Elaine and Raymond find the letter and they read it and they immediately go pick up Bernadette from school and they take her straight to the police station. At the police station, Bernadette provided a taped confession to the police in which she stated, quote, I didn't know what I was doing. And then afterwards I was so horrified. I didn't think about if she was going to die. I lost for cheerleader and I didn't get the club I wanted and I didn't get to be on the yearbook. Things that got me mad was it hurt and it I couldn't change it, like looks or money or popularity or things. Bernadette then went on to say that these disappointments hurt because they felt like she was getting nowhere in life. And then she talked about Kirsten. She said that she was afraid that after their interaction, Kirsten would go back to school and tell people that she was weird. And she was just like, I'm not going back to school. I could not live with myself had that rumor got out there that she said I was weird. Like I would really rather die, is what she said. And I'm just like, girl, you know how many people call me weird when I was growing up? And now I have a microphone and for some reason y'all keep listening to me? Look at God. But at fifteen, baby, I was weird. And also I'm weird at thirty seven, so It is what it is. Like, but I get it. I guess at 15, that type of I remember I got into an argument with one of my really good friends at the age of 15. And when I tell you I was stressed for like two straight months, mind you, I was in the wrong. I had apologized. And I just felt like when I tell you, like the sun did not shine for two straight months because me and my friend weren't talking and it just felt like the end of the world. But it's really not, it's really not opportunity. I promise you, it's really not. After her type confession, Bernadette was officially charged with the murder of Kirsten Costas, and she sat in a juvenile detention facility until March 1985, when her trial began under Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Edward L. Merrill, who would hear the evidence and decide Bernadette's fate. Now, it wasn't a typical trial where they had to do jury selection or even had a jury. Like it was a bench trial. Both sides were going to present in front of the judge and then the judge was gonna make the decision on her fate. Deputy district attorney John Oda represented the prosecution and Bernadette was represented by attorney Charles James, who I kid you not, I kept typing James Charles every time I type I typed his name. So if I say James Charles, please charge it to my head, not my heart. Cause I cannot, it's like his name is Charles James, but I keep calling this man James Charles and I know you don't want to be James Charles Charles James. Charles James is who represented Bernadette during the trial. During the trial, they argued over the degree of murder. There wasn't really a question of did Bernadette kill Kirsten, because she had already confessed, her confession was on tape, and she also had the handwritten letter to her mother. The prosecution wanted to push for first degree murder. They believed that Bernadette planned and executed Kirsten's murder from the fake dinner invitation, lying to her own parents about having a babysitting job. Spoiler alert, the lady that lived at that house that Mr. Prodi dropped Bernadette off to on the night in question, she was interviewed and she was just like, I don't know a Bernadette. I don't need babysitting services. I don't know any of these people. And so they're just like, okay, so she even gave her father a fake address to drop her off to. The prosecution mentioned her chasing Kirsten to the Arnold house, to following them back to Kirsten's house. To exiting the car and fatally stabbing Kirsten in front of her neighbor's house, to speeding away and not telling anyone for months what truly happened. District Attorney John Oda argued that Bernadette had made deliberate preparations to get Kirsten alone. The defense agreed. Bernadette should be charged with something, but not first-degree murder. They painted the picture that Bernadette did not plan the murder and the events of that. night were just the results of a very heated exchange. Attorney Charles James focused on Bernadette's mental and emotional state and argued that although she killed Kirsten, the killing itself had not been planned in advance. According to the defense, Bernadette had created the fake dinner because she wanted the opportunity to talk to Kirsten, to get close to Kirsten. She just wanted to become friends, and then they argued and things went horribly wrong. Both families testified Barrett Costas took to the stand to talk about the phone call that brought her daughter out of the house in the first place. Raymond Pratdy testified about dropping Bernadette off to that babysitting job that never existed. Bernadette's sister Virginia testified in court that Bernadette may not have even taken the knife in the car with her because she used the car often and she kept that knife in the car to cut vegetables. I read somewhere that the Costas family when Virginia said that she left the knife in the car because she used it to cut vegetables, that they were just like, there is no way in hell that you would use a chef knife to slice tomatoes in your car, Virginia. I could not find a direct quote, but I read that in one of the articles. And I was like, actually, they ate with that one because you d what are you doing cutting vegetables in a car booth? On the flip side, it is possible that maybe cause she was older, so maybe she had moved out of the house and she was taking that knife. Cause you know how us older children are, like how it's just like, hey, mom and dad, I'm coming to see you, but I'm really coming to grocery shopping to shop in your house. It could have been one of those things. I don't know. But I am going to lead with the former. So then the court heard Bernadette's own tape confession in which she stated, quote, We went to the church because she wanted to smoke some marijuana or whatever, and I didn't. Now, by all accounts, everyone around Kirsten said that they didn't know about any marijuana usage. And I'm led to believe that that probably was the truth. Because who is smoking marijuana in the parking lot of a church? Are you crazy? Absolutely not. So Bernadette then went on to say that they argued some and she was just like, well, it wasn't really an argument. She just constantly putting me down. She just talked about all the things that I didn't have and what I would never be. And then she then went on to state all of the things that I mentioned earlier, like, Feeling inadequate, feeling like she should have gotten the cheerleading gig, feeling like she should have gotten the yearbud gig, all the things that Kirsten had, she felt like those should have been hers and they were stolen from her. And then she went on to say that she just felt overwhelmed and not socially accepted. On March 13th, 1985, Judge Edward Merrill announced his decision. He found Bernadette guilty of murder, but not first degree murder. Judge Merrill determined that prosecutors had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Bernadette had committed a premeditated first-degree murder. Because of this, he found her guilty of second-degree murder. Once the verdict was read, Bernadette broke down into tears. I truly do feel like a part of her, though, was just crying because she felt like she would be able to walk out of that courtroom a free young woman, and that is absolutely not at all what happened, but they said she was besides herself like homegirl, like she cried that courtroom down. After the verdict was read, Kirsten's father, Art, made a statement saying, quote, My feeling is that the law has been served. We've lost our daughter. I don't believe the punishment will ever match the crime. On april first, nineteen eighty five, Bernadette returned to court for sentencing. She was sentenced to nine years under the California Youth Authority, and because she was being handled within the juvenile system, She could not be kept there beyond the age of 25. Her sentencing was extremely difficult for Kirsten's family and many people at Miramante to accept. According to quotes documented in the San Francisco Chronicle, one student said, quote, I was mad when I heard that. Everybody was. Obviously, it was premeditated. Five stab wounds? Come on. Doug Jordan, a 15-year-old student at the time, also left a statement saying, quote, to say that murder wasn't planned, I don't know what they're talking about. Even if she remains in custody at the youth authorities Ventura School until she reaches the age of 25, it would be a little light for murdering somebody. And with one other student just screaming life, like she deserves life. Students publicly expressed anger over the second degree conviction. Some believe the preparations for the murder clearly showed planning, but legally, Judge Merrill did conclude that first-degree murder had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Because of the way California's juvenile sentencing worked at the time, the practical maximum period of confinement would not commute to become a traditional adult sentence simply because the conviction was second degree instead of first degree. Which brings me to where are they now? Bernadette was sent into California's juvenile correction system and eventually she became eligible for parole. Her release was not automatic the first time it came up. She was reportedly denied parole several times. Because every time she would come up for parole, Kirsten's family would be like, uh-uh, send her back. Every time she would come up again, they'd be like, uh-uh, I think not. She ain't served enough time. However, on June tenth, nineteen ninety-two, at the age of twenty-three and eight years after the murder of Kirsten Costas, Bernadette Praddy was released on parole. Following her release, Bernadette got the hell out of California and changed her name. There have been internet communities over the years dedicated to identifying her current name, where she's at, what's her personal life like, what her family's like. I'm not digging for it. I am respectfully going to keep this story about Kirsten. Bernadette, hope you're doing well. But girl, you know you was wrong as hell. You know you were. And that is all I'm saying. But I'm not sending anybody on a scavenger hunt. I'm not going on a scavenger hunt to. figure out what she's up to now. Now, if she commits another crime and ends up on the news, we'll talk. Until then, I guess she's a brand new woman, child. And she better be telling the people in her life what she really did. Cause I listened to one of the Bitch I can't episodes about this lady who had murdered her, I think it wasn't her husband's side piece. It was her side piece's wife. Cause she was married, he was married, they got together and Anyway, I said all that to say she changed her name and lived out her full life. Nobody knew what she had done. And then on her deathbed, she was like, by the way, I killed all these people. And I'm like, What you know how pissed I would be? Do you know how pissed I would be if my grandma told me that on her deathbed, I would be pissed. You hear me? But I digress. This is not about me. This is definitely about Kirsten. I just hope that Bernadette tells the people in her life, the people that she holds near and dear husband kids, what she truly did. The Costas family eventually did leave Arenda, California. Public accounts say that Art and Barrett moved away to Hawaii and just to distance themselves from the place that their daughter had been murdered. And I can't blame them. And Hawaii sounds like honestly a dream. I pray y'all are safe out there. Unfortunately, a lot of people first learned Kirsten's name through dramatizations of her murder. Kirsten's case eventually inspired the 1994 television movie A Friend to Die For, which I think was a lifetime movie starring Tori spelling. And it also inspired the movie Death of a Cheerleader. Over the years, her story became known as the cheerleader murder, the jealous classmate murder, the popular girl murder. And that's why I made the disclaimer at the beginning of this episode because I feel like when you do stuff like that, it dehumanizes the person. Like, Kirsten was 15. So it's just like it like we we gotta be careful about how we describe people, you know? Like we just I I hated reading that. I hated reading, the popular girl was slain. Like she was a a 15-year-old girl first. She was a daughter first. She was a sister first. She was a swimmer first. She was a friend first. She was a teenager who loved music. She was a girl who danced around her house. She was a girl who spent time on the phone twirling the cord between her fingers and laughing with her friends. She was a girl who was a cheerleader. She was a girl whose sweet 16 birthday was one month away and that was taken from her. She was a girl who had absolutely no idea that another person's insecurity would become attached to her being able to live or die. And that is the Kirsten I think it's important to remember. Not the crime scene photograph, not the headline, not Bernadette's version of her. Because at the end of the day, like I said, she was someone's daughter. She was someone's best friend. And as someone who lost one of my very best friends in the last few months, I want that to be the version of Kirsten that we amplify. Not the fact that she was a popular cheerleader. She was a popular cheerleader and that was great. I love that for her because who doesn't want that? But she was a human first. Which brings me to my final thoughts. My final thoughts are, baby, comparison is the thief of joy. It is something my mom always told me growing up. And in this story, it played out in real time. This case is one of the most extreme examples I've ever covered of somebody becoming so focused on what someone else had. And she stopped recognizing what she had herself because, like I said, she had a good life. She was on the team. She was in this. She was a Bobby for crying out loud. Like, girl, even if you were the least of the Bobbies, you were still a Bobby. You were still better than the people that wanted to be a Bobby. And if you felt like you were the least of the Bobbies, baby, do what you gotta do to be the best of the Bobbies. Cause I promise you, I would have been at the thrift store in the really nice neighborhood buying the really nice clothes for a really nice price and nobody would know different because I wouldn't say a thing. Is only at this point in my life where people compliment me and I'm like, girl, I got this for three dollars at Rainbow. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, Bernadette wanted popularity. She wanted to be a cheerleader. She wanted more money. She wanted acceptance. And she just wanted to stop feeling weird. But it's like, you know what would have happened if you simply survived being an awkward teenager? You would have grown up. That's it. Like you would have gotten older and you would have gone off to college. You could have moved out of Arenda the legal way, like without having to report to a probation officer. You would have gone to college. You would have met someone. You would have had kids if you wanted to. And the sucky part is Bernadette still technically under a different name was able to do all those things and Kirsten wasn't. And that's what really like it really scussed my Tim's, if I could be honest, you know? Because that's it. Had she just stayed the course, she would have grown up, Bernadette would have grown up. And she would have realized that that girl that she desperately wanted to impress in the tenth grade probably wouldn't even matter anymore. That boy you cried over, you would look at his Facebook page in 20 years and say, That's who I was crying over? Child, I could tell y'all some stories about the first boy to make me cry. He's a bum now. He don't even have a car. And we're almost 40. Please. You know what I'm saying? Like the thing that you thought everybody was talking about, nobody remembers. The outfit that you couldn't afford, baby. You could buy it when you're grown or don't buy it at all. Like these things don't matter in the long run. And that's the tragedy here. That Bernadette made a permanent decision based on temporary feelings. And she eventually got the opportunity to grow out of those feelings. Like I'm sure she's still tormented. I'm sure she still hurts. But she's living life. But I do know she still probably carries that guilt because at the end of the day, you're forever gonna be Bernadette Pratty. Even though your name has changed, it doesn't change who you are on the inside. And it doesn't change who your parents created you to be. Period. So I just want to leave you guys with that. To the young girls listening, even though my demographic is mostly like mid 30s to mid-40s women, tell your nieces, tell your daughters, like you don't have to hate another woman because she has something that you want. You don't have to compete with every girl in the room. You don't have to become her and you don't have to destroy her. And you damn sure don't have to destroy yourself proving that you're better than her. Somebody's always gonna have something that you don't have. And guess what? You have something that somebody else doesn't have too. And that's life. You just gotta learn who you are and find your people. And if the popular girls don't like you, I wanna say, F them. It's just it is what it is. I guarantee adulthood has a seat waiting for you with amazing people like. Me personally, I wasn't the least popular girl in school. I was probably the Bernadette. I had friends, I had my own things, I had my own stuff. Did I have the nicest clothes? No. Was I 5'11 in the ninth grade? Yes. Was I tall, awkward? Yes. Did I get a lot of male attention? No. And it hurt. And it was a really tough time, but I stayed the course. Unfortunately, I wish I would have stopped caring about what men think far before my 30s. But Like I made it and now I have like even in my twenties, I didn't really have a large friend group. I didn't have a lot going on. I didn't blossom until my 30s, but that's the point here. Give yourself time to blossom. Because now I have a beautiful friend group. My friends are like my sisters. They check on me, they uplift me, they hug me. I didn't have that when I was younger, but I'm basking in it now. So that's just the point I'm trying to make. Just stay the course. Because had Bernadette stayed the course. Kirsten Costas, she would have gotten the chance to become an adult. She would have gotten the opportunity to look back at Meramonte High School and laugh at the things that she once thought was so important. She would have gotten to turn sixteen and eighteen and twenty one and thirty. Because today she would have been fifty-eight years old, you know? And it just sucks that that was not able to be her story. Her story ended at fifteen. So today we're not ending this episode thinking about whether Bernadette eventually found the acceptance she spent her teenage years chasing. We're ending it thinking about the girl whose life was taken because someone else couldn't see the value of her own. And that's why she's the star of our show. And may she rest peacefully. And to everyone listening, be kind to yourselves, be kind to other people, and stop comparing your behind the scenes to somebody else's highlight reel. And for the love of God, because this is a recurring theme here on the Minor Mischief Podcast. If somebody doesn't want to be your friend, go find another friend. There are eight billion people on this planet, and one of them is bound to like you for you. And that's the end of our show. Follow me on TikTok, Minor Mischief Pod on Instagram, Minor Mischief Podcast. If you have any case suggestions, anything that you want to chat about, email me, minor mischief podcast or at gmail.com. Rate the show. Leave a review. Leave a comment. Thank you. I appreciate it. A good review. If you have a bad review, leave me a comment. Don't give me no stars. Just leave me a comment. I'm fighting for my rating. If you have a bad review, leave me a comment. We could talk in the comments, but don't leave no stars. Thank you. But rate the show. If you made it all the way through today's episode before you close it out or before you move on to the next show, rate the show. That's all I ask. It helps me out a ton. It helps me out a ton. And you're already in the I appreciate it so much, friend. I think that's everything. I hope y'all enjoyed the show. And I will see y'all next week. Same day of the week. And I love y'all so life. And until then, stay mischievous, friends.