Latest / Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast / 72 Minutes of Hell - Erinn Orcutt - Survival Story

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72 Minutes of Hell - Erinn Orcutt - Survival Story · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: In the spring of twenty ten, Aaron walked out of
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: work early, expecting nothing more than a quiet evening at home. Instead,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: as she approached her car, she was abducted at gunpoint
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and held captive. Over the next seventy two minutes, she
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: was subjected to an unthinkable sexual and physical assault before
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: she was ultimately told she had be taken to the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: desert to die. Realizing death was on the horizon, she
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: found the courage to take a chance and run. Soon
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: she found herself in the arms of safety, and as
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: the investigation into what happened unfolded, police uncovered something that
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: made the case even darker. Her attacker was a sex
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: crime detective. This is the case they call seventy two
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: minutes in hell, But this really is a survival story,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: the story of Aaron or Cut. My name's Ben.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: I'm Nicole and you're listening to Wicked and Grim.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: A true crime podcast. Warning. The following podcast material intent
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: more mature audience listener discretion.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: I just have to say, sometimes it's very hard for
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: me to be like, I'm Nicole and you're listening to
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Wicked and Grim after you have literally just like blown
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: my freaking mind with your intro and then I'm in
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: another world and then I'm like, oh gosh, I have
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: to do my part here.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, in case anyone out there listening doesn't realize
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: that intros and are like my name's Ben and I'm
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Nicole like, that's all recorded, Like it's recorded every time.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Da.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not something we put in. That's just a
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: little audio file that's, you know, the same one every time.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: It's Yeah, as Nicole said, I read the intro and
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: then we get right into it. And apparently today I
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: caught her off guard. Even though you asked for this case.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Technically I asked for a survival case, and I'm giving
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: you a survival case. But I think it was that
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: last little bit that you said. I was just like
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: what and then realized, oh shit, I'm gonna do my
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: role here.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you've got a role to play, so you've got
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: to make sure that you're ready for it. And I
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: even offered to preread you the intro.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: I know, and today is one of those days I
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: should have accepted that.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: I suppose, yes, yes, you should have, but that's okay. Yeah,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: And in case you're not aware, I mean, in case
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: you didn't listen to the intro. There is, yeah, some
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: sexual abuse and stuff that happened in this one, so
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: heads up for that. But it is a survival story,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: which I'm really happy to share. Yes, but it's it's
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: a doozy of a story to say the least. Yeah,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: and it's a doozy of a morning. It is super
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: cold here, like super thick, like horror frost. You know
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: that frost It gets like an inch or too long.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: It's been like that for a few days here, and
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: it's just dropping in temperature, getting colder and colder. But
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: it looks beautiful.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: The kind of weather that humans should not have to
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: live in.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: It's the kind of weather that like it hurts when
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: you breathe, Yeah, that sort of thing, and the snow
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: squeaks when you walk, that sort of stuff.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we did go for a walk yesterday and it
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: was quite lovely. You just have to really make sure
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: you're bundled up, I guess right, And it is doable.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: But it is well and honestly, like, we've had way
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: colder here plenty of times. But as soon as you
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: hit that minus twenty degrees celsius threshold, that's when it
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: starts getting cold, like actual like, oh, it's cold outside,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: and I think today it's so far minus twenty one
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: degree celsia. So we're just past that threshold where Canadians
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: started admitting yeah, okay, she cold.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Well I think it said it feels like minus twenty
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: six though.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Oh with a little bit of the wind chill er. Yeah,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: so it's cold. This story is cold, But like I said,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: there is that silver lining because it is a survival story.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: I think we're overdue for one of these two we are.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you asked me what kind of story I wanted.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: At first, I said cult, but those are very difficult
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: to research because there's a lot to them.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: And they yeah, they're generally very extensive, and I can
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: do a cult coming up, but I need some more
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: time to prepare for a cult episode.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: And it would probably generally be a two parter typically speaking. Yeah,
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: then I was like, okay, well a survivor. Let's do
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: a survivor. Those are always, you know, not quite as
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: as terrible at the end. Right, there's there's a happy
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: ending ish, right, so.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: There is that silver lining. The person survives, Right, there
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: is that happy ending. Ish. They went through hell, but
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: they make it out. So are you ready for it.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: I am ready well.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: On a warm spring afternoon in twenty ten, Erin Orcutt
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: walked out of her workplace in Ontario Mills Mall in
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: southern California, expecting nothing more than an early start to
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: her weekend. She'd just been sent home from her lunch
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: shift after business had slowed down. As a twenty five
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: year old single mother, she was expecting free time. I
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: mean it was rare, and she was looking forward to
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: spending it with her young son. However, she didn't make
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: it home. Instead, in a nearly empty parking lot, Erin
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: was approached by two men. One of them pulled out
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: a gun and climbed into her suv, ordering her to
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: do the same. Within seconds, she was being forced to
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: drive away from the mall where she worked, her life
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: now completely in the hands of a stranger. For the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: next seventy two minutes, Erin was held captive inside her
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: own vehicle. She was beaten, sexually assaulted, threatened, and photographed.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Her attacker sent images of her suffering to his accomplice
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: while about what he was doing. At one point, he
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: told her he planned to take her to the desert.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: End quote finish this end quote It was a statement
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: that she understood was a death sentence. So what Aaron
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: decided to do next it saved her life. She noticed
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: a moment of distraction just enough to make her move.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: She saw the gun was no longer in his hand,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: and she recognized that one of the car doors was
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: not child locked, and so she ran. Her escape was
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: caught on surveillance cameras, and her attacker fled on foot.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: And in the chaos that followed, police uncovered a detail
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: so disturbing that it shifted the entire investigation. The man
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: who had kidnapped and raped her was a police officer
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: assigned to investigate sex crimes. The case that followed would
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: span a couple years. It would involve recorded jailhouse threats,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: disturbing digital evidence, and high profile trials, and an insanity
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: defense that jurors had to weigh. This is, as I
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: already said, the true survival story of what happened to
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Aaron Orcutt. It's a story of how an ordinary Saturday
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: became a fight for survival, and how trust in authority
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: was shattered, and how one woman refused to let violence
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: define the rest of her life.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: That is terrible. Yeah, I have hardly heard anything about
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: this case, and I'm already just so freaking angry as you.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Should be, because this individual who well did this crime
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: was someone who was literally supposed to be protecting one
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: like this.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: And I feel like it's someone that would really know
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: how to potentially get away with it right as well,
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: which is just oh my gosh, I don't know people
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: who are in that kind of position of like authority,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: what the hell like that should not be happening.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: It shouldn't be, but here we are in that situation.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: Holy mo. So it raises a lot of red flags
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: for a lot of people on you know, who to trust, yeah,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: and all this sort of thing, because this is someone
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: that you should be able to trust the most. Oh yeah,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: you can't.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: And this is also someone that I guess, if they're
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: an evil person, could well, I mean, thank goodness they didn't,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: but could get away with a crime of this.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: This sorts right, yeah, And I have a feeling he
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: likely would have gotten away with it if it weren't
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: for Aaron making that run for her life. Dang, which
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: also begs a question had he done this before?
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that is on my mind, But I'm like,
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: I'll just listen. You're always like, well, we'll get there,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: we'll get there.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: We'll get there. Okay, well let's get into it. In
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: the spring of twenty ten, twenty five year old Aaron
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Orcutt was focused on building a stable life for herself
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: and her young son. Has a single mother living in
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: southern California, her days were split between parenting and work.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: During the week she devoted herself to caring for her child,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: and on the weekends she worked long shifts as a
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: cocktail waitress at a restaurant and bar inside Ontario Mills
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Mall in Ontario, California. The job was demanding, but it
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: provided steady income and helped her support her family. Like
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: many service industry workers, airing was used to the unpredictable
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: schedules and long hours. Saturdays were often some of her
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: busiest days, and she expected this one to be no different.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: She arrived for her lunch shift prepared for a full
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: day of work, assuming she'd be heading home you know,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: later that evening. But as the afternoon went on, the
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: restaurant remained quiet, Customer traffic slowed to a crawl, and
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: tables just sat empty. Eventually, her manager made the call
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: that there was no reason to keep extra staff on
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: the floor, so Airing was told she could clock out early.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: For her, it felt like an unexpected break. It was
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: rare to get a free afternoon on a weekend, and
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: she immediately began thinking about how she's going to spend
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: this extra time with her son. She gathered her belongings,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: finished up any duty she had left over at work,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: and said goodbye to her coworkers before heading out. As
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: she walked through the mall and into the parking lot,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: nothing seemed out of place. It was just an ordinary
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: spring day. The weather was warm, and her mind was
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: on home, not any danger. Aarin walked towards her suv
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: just like any other day. She parked in the same
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: area as she usually did, without giving it much thought.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: The lot was normally busy with shoppers and employees coming
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: and going, but just like the restaurant today, it was
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: a little bit slower, and she never felt unsafe here before,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: so why would she think twice? As she reached her vehicle,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Aarin followed a habit she had developed over the years.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: As she approached, she clicked that fob to unlock her car,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: that little keyfob we all carry. She unlocked all the
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: doors at once, and then just as she opened the
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: driver's door to get in, a voice suddenly cut through
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: the quiet and it said, get in the car. Are startled.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Aaron looked up and saw a man climbing into the
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: passenger seat of her vehicle, and in his hand was
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: a gun pointed directly at her. For a brief moment,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: she tried to convince herself that it might be a joke,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: maybe a coworker playing a cruel prank or something, you know,
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: second guessing this can't be real, But the expression on
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: his face and the weapon in his hand made it
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: very clear this was not a joke at all. Almost
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: immediately she noticed a second man standing a short distance away.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: He positioned himself near the aisle of the parking lot,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: partially blocking the view from passing vehicles. He didn't approach
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: the suv or say anything. Instead, he appeared to be
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: watching the scene unfold, as if though standing guard. From
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Aaron's perspective, it seemed very calculated, as if the two
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: men had planned exactly where each of them would be standing.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: She quickly scanned the area, hoping to see someone who
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: could help her. Under normal circumstances. I already mentioned this.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Parking lots usually filled with people, but at that moment
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: it was unusually empty. There were no nearby shoppers, no
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: families walking to their cars, no security officers at sight,
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: and even if a vehicle passed by, the gunman was
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: holding a weapon low against his body, making it very
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: difficult to notice. In that instant, As Erin's kind of
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: scanned the area around her, she understood how vulnerable she was.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: If she screamed, no one might even hear her. If
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: she tried to run, she could be shot. If she resisted,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: the situation could become well even more dangerous. So, terrified
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: and unsure of what else to do, she climbed in
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: and sat in the driver's seat. The gunmen slid fully
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: into the passenger side beside her, keeping the weapon aimed
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: right at her the whole time. Behind them, the second
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: man remained in the parking lot, watching as they prepared
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: to leave, and later Aaron would recall that he even
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: appeared to be laughing as the suv pulled away.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Are you serious?
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: This is just like I mean, it could be anyone's
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: worst nightmare, but especially like I feel like a female.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: This is literally their nightmare right now, happening.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Like the epitome of what most women like fear.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, understandable because I know, I just recall my sister
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: so many My sister's six years older than me, so
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: there's quite an age difference. And I just remember throughout life,
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: like how many times she would be like, can you
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: please just pay attention when you get in the car,
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: because sometimes I'm just a little bit like aloof, I guess,
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: And she just has reminded me of that. I could
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: probably count like at least fifty times in my life, well,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: pay attention, like especially in parking lots.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: That's some really good advice, it.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Is, it really is.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, within seconds, Aaron found herself driving out of
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: the mall parking lot. Although she was behind the wheel,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: every decision was being dick by the man sitting beside her. Now,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: he didn't give her specific directions. Instead, he just kept
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: the gun visible and used it as constant leverage, making
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: it sure that you know, nothing could go wrong, and
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: if it did go wrong, it could cost air in
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: her life. So she would abide by whatever he said.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: As she drove kind of aimlessly, her mind raised and
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: she tried to think of anything that might help her escape.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: She considered slamming on the brakes, ramming into another vehicle,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: or even veering off the road. At one point, she
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: even thought about putting the car in park and just
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: simply running, but every option came with the same terrifying risk.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: If she made a sudden move, he could shoot her
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: before she even had a chance to get away. So
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: rather than panic, Aaron tried to think strategically. She'd grown
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: up in the area and knew it rather well. As
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: she drove, she began steering towards places where she remembered
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: seeing police officers in the past. There were certain restaurants
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: and parking lots where she knew law enforcement vehicles often parked.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: The hope was that if she can get close enough
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: to one of these spots, the presence of police might
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: scare her attacker into letting her go now. At the time,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: while doing so, she was pleading with him. She told
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: him that he could have the car. She told him
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: that he could take whatever cash was in her purse,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: and she promised she wasn't going to call police. She
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: was just begging him to let her out somewhere and
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: just leave her alone. None of it made any difference,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: though he ignored her offers and showed no signs of
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: backing down from the situation. Eventually, the man gave his
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: first clear instruction. He told her to pull into a
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: parking lot of a nearby restaurant. Aaron recognized the location immediately.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: It was a place where she had often seen police
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: officers gather, especially during break so her kind of intuition
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: of going to these places gravitating towards them it paid off,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: and it gave her that brief surge of hope there
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: were officers nearby. This might be her chance to attract
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: some sort of attention and force the situation to end.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: She slowed the vehicle and turned into the lot, silently
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: praying that someone in uniform would be there. But as
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: she pulled in, she realized the lot was empty, throw
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: no patrol cars or officers or even any witnesses. She
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: slowed the suv and looked around, but the man beside
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: her immediately grew agitated. He ordered her to drive around
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: to the back of the building, away from the street
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: and away from any sort of view. Now Aaron tried
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: to comply, but quickly realized she wouldn't be able to.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: She knew the rear area of the property was blocked
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: by a storage facility that required an access code. There
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: was no open roadway leading behind the restaurant. Now. She
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: tried to explain this to him, telling him there's no
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: way to get through, but her explanation only made him angrier.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: He repeatedly told her to drive around to the back,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: raising his voice as his frustration grew and gripping the
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: weapon as he demanded that she find a way. So,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: with no other option, Aaron did her best she could,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: and she parked the suv in a spot that was
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: relatively public but as hidden as possible. From where she sat,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: she could see several nearby businesses, including a gas station
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: down the street, a Denny's restaurant behind her, and a
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: liquor store close by. The area appeared active and well traveled.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: She hoped that that surrounding by businesses and everything like
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: something like this would discourage him from harming her in
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: any way. Even if she couldn't escape, maybe the location
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: itself could offer something or you know, protection in some sort. However,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: that sense of safety was clouded and deceptive. You see,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: the SUV's windows were heavily tinted from the outside, it
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: was nearly impossible to see what was happening inside, especially
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: in the back seat. And the next the man raised
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: his gun and ordered Aaron declimb into the back seat. Terrified,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: she began to cry as she did what she was
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: told and followed the instructions, and he too climbed back
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: with her. Once both of them were in the backseat,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: Aaron's fear intensified. The confined space of the suv made
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: escape feel impossible. The man kept the gun close, using
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: it constantly to remind her that he was in control,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: and every movement she made, every sound she made, seemed
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: to irritate him. Almost immediately, he ordered her to take
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: her clothes off. Arin began to cry even harder, begging
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: him to let her go. She told him again that
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: he could take her car, her money, anything he wanted.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: She promised not to contact police, just please don't do
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: this and just let her go. Her voice shook as
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: she pleaded, hoping that somehow she could appeal to whatever
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: humanity he might still have, but he showed none. Instead,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: he pressed the gun against her head and told her
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: to stop crying.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh, brutal he doesn't have any humanity.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: I think he does at all. He doesn't because even
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: in this instance, at one point he even racked the gun.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: He racked the weapon, ejecting a bullet that fell onto
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: the seat beside her. Now, the sound in sight of
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: this was definitely meant to show her that the gun
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: was loaded and that he's willing to use it if
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: he needs to. Wow, she was completely at his mercy
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: and with nowhere to go no way to fight back safely,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Aron complied with his demands. She removed her clothing as
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: he watched. She was terrified and humiliated. Her hands shook
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: so badly that she struggled to do whatever it was
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: he was asking of her. And then he attempted to
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: rape her. Now I say attempted because despite his efforts,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: he was unable to complete the act because well, he
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: was unable to maintain an erection. Now, rather than stopping,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: his frustration and most likely embarrassment, turned into rage, and
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: he became more aggressive, lashing out physically at her. He
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: struck her repeatedly, punching her in the face and body,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: each blow reinforcing the fact that he's willing to hurt
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: her further if she resists at all. What followed inside
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: the suv stretched on far longer than aarin could have imagined.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: The attack did not end after the first attempt. Instead,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: it continued for more than an hour, turning into a
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: prolonged period of physical abuse, sexual assault, and psychological torment.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Later investigators would estimate that the entire ordeal lasted roughly
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: seventy two minutes, but for Erin, it felt endless. Throughout
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: that time, the man remained unpredictable. He continually tried to
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: sexually assault her, becoming increasingly angry while he's failing to perform,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: and each time he took it out on her, he
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: punched her, slapped her, struck her with enough force to
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: leave visible injuries. At times, he even choked her and
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: restrained her using pain and fear to keep maintaining that
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: control now. At the same time, he also humiliated her.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: While assaulting her, he pulled out his phone and began
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: taking photos. He ordered her to look directly at the
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: camera and even told her to smile as he snapped
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: pictures of her naked and terrified. As he photographed her,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: he began sending the pictures to his accomplice. He texted
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: the images to the man that he had left behind
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: in that mall parking lot, adding messages that described exactly
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: what he was doing to her. The two men soon
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: began speaking on the phone, laughing and joking, as though
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: the situation was nothing more than entertainment for them. Between
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: phone calls and messages, the abuse continued. He stared at
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: her with what she later described as empty quote dead
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: eyes before striking her again. He forced her into different positions,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: attempting to rape her from behind from above, growing more
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: violent each time. He still continued to fail. Throughout it all,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Aaron continued to hope that someone might notice something was wrong.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: She listened for footsteps, She watched shadows pass outside the windows.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: She prayed that a passerby might hear her or see
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: movement inside the suv, but that tinted glass hid everything.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: The man verbally tormented her throughout this all. He made
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: comments that suggested she wasn't going to survive the encounter.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: He spoke about harming her further and implied as she
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: would not be allowed to leave. Each statement deepened her
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: fear that this could end in her death. After more
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: than an hour of sustained violence, the intensity of the
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: assault began to change. The man's mood, movement slowed, and
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: his anger gave way to something more like control. For Aarin,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: the shift was very unsettling because it suggested he was
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: no longer acting purely on impulse, but thinking about what
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: he was going to do next. And not long after
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: he ordered her to get dressed. At first, she felt
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: a flicker of cautious relief, but that hope lasted only seconds.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: As she pulled her clothes back on with shaking hands,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: he told her that they were going to drive out
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: to the desert end quote finish this. The implication was clear.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: A remote location would mean no witnesses, no nearby help,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: and little chance of survival. Aarin understood immediately that if
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: he drove her away from that parking lot, she might
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: never come back, and from that moment on her thinking shit.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Fear was still flowing through Aaron's body, but it was
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: now joined by a sense of sharp urgency. With the
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: idea of being killed in the desert. She stopped focusing
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: on what she had already had happened to her and
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: began concentrating on what she needed to do to stay alive.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: Okay, I do have to just admit, I feel like
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: she's being very smart and able to almost think a
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: little bit, or she's like making herself still think clearly
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: in a sense right to protect herself, which is freaking amazing.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: She's she's are a badass of the day.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Be an easy task to do when you're that terrified one.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Hundred percent, especially in that situation, thinking I can barely
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: do that when I'm like, you know, through my everyday life,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: and she has this sense of awareness around her surroundings,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: sense of trying to survive, do what she needs to do.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: It's incredible. And she's such a bad ass for being
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: able to go through, push through and still do.
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: This total badass. And then him though he okay, he
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: I'm confused by him in a sense because he's obviously
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: a complete asshole.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Monster guy who can't get a boner.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: But because he can't, though, is this something that doesn't
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: get him going? Then you know that It was just
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: kind of on in my mind a little bit, like
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: does he actually want to be doing this or like
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: doing this or what's going on there?
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: Well, there are some things that I discussed later on
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: that could potentially be reasons why, Like there is allegedly
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: alcohol involved. Okay, so I mean, whiskey dick could be
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: a thing. Who knows. There's I mean, maybe it's the
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: stress of the situation. I don't know. There's a multitude
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: of reasons, but all we know is that he was
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: unable to. But and again this is I can't really
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: say too much about it, and not because I'm not
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: willing to say it right now, and it's you know,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: it'll give too much away. But they do find DNA
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: inside the car later on. Now that DNA, they don't
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: explicitly say it seemen, but I think it's hints that
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: it was. Okay, I think they call it biological material. Okay,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: So clearly he was able to perform in some manner, right,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: But how well, I have no idea.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Huh.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, as Aaron finished getting dressed, she began paying
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: close attention to everything around her. She watched his hands,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: and she noted where the gun was. She listened for
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: sounds outside the vehicle, every small detail she knew. She
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: needed an opportunity, even a brief one, to try and act.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: And then his phone rang. As he reached for it,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: his focus shifted away from her, and he began fumbling
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: with his device, momentarily distracted by the conversation, and in
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: that brief lapse of attention, Aaron realized the gun was
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: no longer in his hand. It had slipped onto the
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: floor near the front passenger seat. For the first since
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: she'd been forced into the back seat, the weapon was
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: not actively being used to control her, and Aaron knew
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: that whatever she did next would likely determine whether she
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: lived or died, So she kept looking around and reviewed
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: what she knew about her own vehicle, and one small
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: detail stood out. Because of her son, she had child's
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: safety locks on the rear passenger side door, the side
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: where his car seat was normally placed, and that's the
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: side the attacker was on. Now that door could not
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: be opened from the inside. The rear door behind the
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: driver's seat, however, did not have that childlock engaged the
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: side she was on, and it was her only possible exit. So,
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: moving as quietly as she could, Aaron shifted her position
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: and she waited for a brief moment when the man's
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: attention was fully absorbed by his phone. With her heart racing,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: she forced herself to stay focused. Then, in one sudden motion,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: she reached for the door handle on the rear driver's
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: side door and pulled it open. The moment the door
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: swung wide, she threw herself out of the suv and
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: began running without looking back. Fear, adrenaline, and instinct took
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: over as she sprinted across the parking lot, screaming for
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: help at the top of her lungs, desperate to attract
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: as much attention as she could. Now. Unbeknownst to her
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: at the time, security cameras mounted nearby captured every second
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: of her escape. The footage would later show her racing
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: from the vehicle in clear distress, confirming her account of
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: what had happened inside. From her perspective, though, all that
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: mattered was distance, as she ran towards the nearest business
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: she could. It was a liquor store located across just
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: across the parking lot, but still close to where the
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: suv was parked. As she approached, she continued screaming, hoping
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: that someone inside would hear her and respond, and inside
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: that store or the owner well. The owner already noticed
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: something unusual. He had seen that suv pull into the
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: lot earlier with two people sitting in the front seats,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: and what caught his attention was that the vehicle then
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: moved to a more isolated spot near a dumpster and
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: remained there for an extended period, and to him, it
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: didn't look normal, and he already had begun watching it
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: very closely, considering whether he should call police or not.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: Before he could make that decision, though, he saw Aaron
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: emerge in the vehicle in obvious distress. She was running
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: towards his store, crying and shouting that she had been kidnapped,
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: that her attacker was armed, and recognizing immediately that she
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: was in danger, the owner rushed outside to meet her.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: He grabbed her pulled her inside the store to safety.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: Once inside, he moved quickly to protect her. He hit
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: her behind the counter, out of view from the windows,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: and called nine one one. Still shaken and struggling to
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: process what had happened, Aaron collapsed behind the register, overwhelmed
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: with fear and exhaustion. The store owner stayed close and
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: positioned himself between her and the front of the store,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: watching the parking lot through the windows in case her
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: attacker tried to follow her inside. Also, while explaining on
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the phone with emergency dispatch what he had witnessed, what
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: had happened and where they were located. Now. As for
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: the man in the vehicle, his first instinct was to
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: flee the scene. He climbed into the driver's seat and
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: tried to start the engine with Aaron's car key, but
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: nothing happened. He tried again, growing more frantic with each attempt,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: but unbeknownst to him, Aaron had activated the vehicle's kill
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: switch when they entered the parking lot, disabling the ignition
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: and basically making it useless unless the correct censor was engaged.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: Holy seriously, Okay, this woman is just phenomenal.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Like I said of the day, Yeah, it was a
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: very small thing to do, but it was very quick
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: thinking that something that she'd done earlier, and it made
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: a massive difference. But now unable to get the suv running,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: he realized that driving away was no longer an option,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: so he abandoned the vehicle and ran on foot. He
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: disappeared into the surrounding streets and traffic, blending into the
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: area in an attempt to avoid being recognized. Now, when
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: Ontario police officers arrived at the liquor store, Erin was
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: still very shaken and injured. She told them what happened,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: and patrol cars quickly secured the perimeter and detectives were
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: called in to begin a more detailed investigation. The abandoned
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: suv quickly became the center of their attention, and inside
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: the vehicle, officers found clear signs of a violent assault
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: that had taken place. Clothes were scattered, personal items were
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: out of place, and they found the gun.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: Okay, depending if this dude was like on call or something,
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: he could have literally been called to this. I feel
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: like the potential, Hey.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: That's something I never even thought of, but I mean potentially,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: you're right, uh.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: And just like he must have realized too when he
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: wasn't able to start that vehicle that I think that
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: he was just fucked. Like I hope he just like
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: had this complete panic fear. Probably I think he would have.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: I think so. And honestly, like that moment of not
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: being able to start the car, that disabling the ignition
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: likely is what got him caught in the long run, really,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: because having the suv was massive. For the fact that
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: they even found the gun in the car, this is
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: how they actually connect to him because with the gun
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: still lying on the floorboards where the attacker had dropped
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: it during his escape. Detectives also examined the weapon more closely,
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: and they noticed something unusual about it. Tape to the
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: bottom of the magazine was a name. Now, this wasn't
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: a random marking or graffiti scrawled onto it. It was
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: clearly placed there on purpose, neatly attached, and easy to read.
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: Now to experienced officers, it looked very familiar because many
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: law enforcement officers label their magazines this way in case
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: they need to share ammunition or identify who it belongs to.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: It was a practice common inside police departments, and that
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: implication was very unsettling, meaning it was likely the attacker
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: who had either somehow attained a police officer's gun, or
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: that the attacker himself was a police officer. So if
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: he had driven away with the suv, they would not
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: have likely have found his gun or made that connection.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: He would have had time to clean it up, and
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: he may have even destroyed the.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Suv probably would have.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: So Holy, she's a frickin genius.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: Yes. As investigators continue to process the vehicle, more evidence
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: surface to A pair of sunglasses that did not belong
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: to aarin was recovered as well as as I mentioned earlier,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: biological material that was collected for DNA testing. Every item
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: was carefully bagged and law building a growing profile of
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: the person responsible, and very soon they also began checking
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: internal records and recent reports from nearby police departments with
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: the name taped to the gun magazine. Now, as it
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: turns out, not long after the assault, officer Anthony Orbin
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: of Westminster Police Department, the same name matching the bottom
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: of his magazine, had contacted his department to report that
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: his service revolver had been stolen.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: Oh, of course, super convenient timing. Hey, yeah, They'm I
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: don't think that. I feel like they would be a
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: little suspicious of that.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: Oh they were like they did that. Like this is
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: like within like half an hour, they're finding this out.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: This is not like a couple days later he's still
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: on the foot, on the run when they're figuring out
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: his name that he had just reported it missing. So
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: he claimed that he the theft occurred in the Ontario area,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: not far from where Aaron had actually been attacked. Now,
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: Anthony was not just an officer, He also worked as
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: a detective in the department's sex crime unit. So if
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: Anthony was telling the truth, then someone had stolen his
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: gun and used it to commit a very violent kidnapping
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: and rape. But if he was lying, then one of
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: their own colleagues had committed the crime. Either way, the
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: situation was terrifying. Detectives began working to locate Anthony and
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: determine his movements that day. They also wanted to know
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: whether anyone had been with him. Given that Aaron had
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: reported an accomplice, they believed there was likely more than
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: one person involved. Officers quickly coordinated with nearby units and
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: set out to locate him, and they found him in
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: another parking lot not far from the crime scene. Anthony
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: was standing beside a man later identified as Jeffrey Jelinek,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: a correctional officer for the state of California. According to investigators,
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: the two men appeared to be helping each other search
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: for a truck that had been reported. On the surface,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: it looked like an ordinary situation, but given what police
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: now knew nothing about, it felt ordinary, especially considering that
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: both men matched the descriptions that Erin had given earlier.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: Now Anthony matched the appearance of the man who had
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: held her at gunpoint and assaulted her, while Jeffrey matched
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: the description of the accomplice who had remained behind in
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: the mall parking lot. The resemblance was strong enough that
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: detectives believed they had found their suspects, but to be certain,
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: they brought erin to the location where they found them.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: She remained in the back seat of a police cruiser
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: as officers positioned the vehicle nearby, ensuring she was safe.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: But from there she was asked to look out and
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: see if she recognized either of the men. As she did,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: her heart began to race, and she immediately recognized them.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: One was the man who attacked her and the other
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: was the one who helped them. She identified both without hesitation,
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: and once her identification was complete, officers moved in. Both
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: Anthony Orbin and Jeffrey Jelinek were detained and searched. Now
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: during the pat down, officers made an important discovery because
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: in Jeffrey Jelinek's pocket they found the keys to Aaron's SUV.
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, hey, yeah, holy you know, I just
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: have to say too, like, it's good that they're doing
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: this properly because it is almost from there, especially from
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: their point of view, unbelievable to think that detective that
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: you know, investigates sex crimes would be the main person
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: involved in this.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you have someone who's not only a colleague, but
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: someone who's a colleague in a very specific division, yes,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: of sex crimes, where he's protecting victims, taking down these perpetrators.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: And now he himself is the Yeah, he's one of them.
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: From their point of view, it would seem like there's
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: no way, there's way. Yeah, but they're taking it seriously
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: and sure shit, yeah, yep.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Now, after identifying her attackers, Aaron was taken to a
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: nearby hospital, and by that point, the adrenaline that had
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: carried her through her escape was beginning to fade, and
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: the physical toll of the assault was becoming more apparent.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: She was bruised, sore, and emotionally exhausted, but still it
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: wasn't over for her, and she understood that what happened
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: next was necessary both for her health and for the investigation.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: Medical staff soon conducted a forensic examination on her. A
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: sexual assault evidence kit, commonly known as a rape kit
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: was performed. Doctors and nurses carefully documented her injuries, collected
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: biological samples, and photographed visible bruises and markings left by
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: the beatings. Each step was handled with the dual purpose
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: of providing medical care and preserving the evidence that could
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: later be used in court, and for many survivors this
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: process can feel like a second trauma, forcing them to
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: relive what had happened in order to document it. Now,
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: Aaron knew it meant recounting the details and everything, but
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: she also knew that cooperating it could help ensure that
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: the men responsible would be held accountable, and so she
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: knew it was important. She knew she had to do it,
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: even though you know, it sucks, it hurts, but she
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: did it anyways.
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: Well at that point, like you would just want to
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: be warm and cozy and keep your clothes on and stuff.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: Right exactly, and now you're you're being treated almost like
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: a medical sample, right, your evidence. It sucks, But to
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: make sure that these guys go behind bars, it's kind
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: of the situation. These what these guys did, they're also
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: forcing you to go through this too. It's part of it.
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: Unfortunate, yep, yeah, it's completely their fault. Yeah.
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: Now, of course, though in addition to the forensic exam,
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: she did receive the treatment for her injuries. The punches
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: and the restraints all this sort of stuff. They had
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: left her with swelling, soreness, and significant pain. Medical staff
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: monitor closely and provided care to stabilize her physically. Now
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: with Anthony and Jeffrey in custody, detectives moved quickly to
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: begin formal interrogations. Both men were separated and questioned individually,
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: allowing investigators to compare their statements and look for inconsistencies.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: Given the strength of the physical evidence that they had
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: already collected, well, officers expected at least one of them
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: to begin cooperating very quickly, but instead they were met
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: with the same response from both suspects. Neither claimed to
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: remember what had happened. Anthony told detectives that he had
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: been drinking earlier that day and had taken antidepressant medication
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: as well. He said he believed he had blacked out.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: He had no memory of the events in the parking
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: or inside the suv. According to him, his gun had
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: been stolen and someone else must have committed the attack.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: He insisted that he had no idea how his weapon, sunglasses,
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: or biological material could have ended up in Aaron's vehicle.
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: Wow, that's his story, hey, and he's sticking to it.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know what happened. I can't remember. I
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: must have blacked out. And Jeffrey, well, he echoed the
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: same story. He claimed that he too could not remember
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: much about that day in question. He suggested that alcohol
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: had impaired his judgment and memory and all that sort
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: of stuff, and he maintained that he had not knowingly
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: participated in any crime. Both of them presented themselves as
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: confused and detached, as though they were being accused of
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: something that had happened without their awareness. Detectives, though, were
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: very unconvinced. Not buying it, not buying it. The evidence
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: told a very different story. Erin's detailed account, the gun,
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: the photographs, the DNA, the recovered items from the suv
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: all pointed to a very deliberate and planned actions, not
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: an unconscious blackout situation. Investigators continued pressing the suspects, challenging
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: their claims and pointing out the gaps in their explanations.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: Anthony repeated he couldn't remember anything. He denied intentionally harming Erin,
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: and portrayed himself as a victim of circumstance, even when
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: confronted with physical evidence. He refused to shift that position
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: for a time, it appeared that both men might try
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: to maintain this story all the way to trial, but
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: that strategy would not last because soon Jeffrey would crack.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: Faced with mounting evidence and the possibility of spending decades
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: in prison. Jeffrey began to realize that continuing to deny
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: everything was probably not going to work out for him,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: so during questioning he shifted from vague claims of memory
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: loss to cooperation, and towards the end of his interrogation
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: he made a statement that immediately the direction of the case.
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: He told detectives they should look at the photos on
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: his phone. Stored on the phone were multiple photographs showing
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: Aarin during the assault. The images documented her injuries, her distress,
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: and the sexual acts Anthony had forced her to endure
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: inside that suv. Alongside the images were text messages exchanged
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: between the two of them during the attack. In them,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: Anthony described what he was doing in real time and
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: sent images as proof. The phone officially erased any remaining doubt.
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: Holy shit, I was wondering if that phone evidence was
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: going to come to.
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: Be Yeah, it did.
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: Oh and honestly because from just like anyone a bystander
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: or whatever, he did do drastically less.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Right, he did, but he was still very integral to
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: this and he let it happen.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: He did, yes, but he wasn't the one doing like
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: the sexual assault. Right. So he's still very much so guilty,
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: still very much a piece of shit. Yes, but by him,
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: you know, turning on his friend, he's probably going to
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: get way less time.
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: You're right, Well, we'll get to that, but you're right,
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: he gets way less time.
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: It kind of makes sense that he did that.
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Anthony Orbin was soon indicted on multiple felony accounts,
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: including kidnapping, rape, and several counts of sexual assault. Jeffrey Jellinek,
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: facing serious charges of his own, agreed to cooperate with
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: authorities fully in exchange for a reduced sentence. He provided
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: investigators and prosecutors with a detailed account of what had
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: happened before, during, and after the assault. His cooperation would
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: actually later play a very big role in shaping the
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: case and how it was presented at trial. Pre trial
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: hearing stretched on from defense attorneys, filed motions and challenging
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: evidence in questioning the circumstances of the investigation. Prosecutors worked
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: to preserve witness testimony and prepare their case, and during
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: this period, Anthony still continued to maintain his version of events.
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: He insisted he had no memory of the assault, and
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: he had repeated that alcohol and medication had caused him
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: to black out. He framed himself as someone who had
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: lost control through no fault of his own. His legal
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: team began laying the groundwork for a defense based on
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: mental incapacity and diminished responsibility. Meanwhile, Jeffrey's cooperation from while
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: it began to reveal how the crime had started. He
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: told investigators that he and Anthony had been drinking on
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: the day of the attack. At some point they decided
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: to go drive around and look for quote cute girls,
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: and when they saw Aaron walking alone to her car,
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: they targeted her. According to Jeffrey, the decision was impulsive,
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: but very much so intentional, driven by alcohol, entitlement, and
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: a sense of impunity. Now, as the months dragged on,
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: the case slowly moved towards trial, but soon a new
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: and deeply unsettling concern emerged for Aaron and for the
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: prosecutors handling the case. You see, even from behind bars,
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: Anthony continued to pose a potential threat. Like most inmates,
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: Anthony was allowed to make phone calls from jail. Those
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: calls were recorded and monitored, which is a very standard
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: practice in detention facilities. It was during several of these
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: conversations he made remarks that immediately alarmed investigators. In one
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: recorded call, he suggested that things would be much easier
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: for him if the witness quote unquote were no longer around.
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: Whoa yeah, oh my gosh, this guy just has some
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: serious nerve, does he ever? And I have to just
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: make a quick comment too, like they're obviously terrible people
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: because you're not just out with a buddy having some drinks.
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: And then, okay, I can kind of maybe understand going
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: for a drive looking for cute girls, but then you
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: don't just decide all of a sudden to capture one
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: and like sexually assault them.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: I don't get how that escalation spirals like that.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: I don't like, hey, let's go look for girls cool.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: That usually implies, you know, trying to find a date,
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: a little bit of flirting. Can I buy you a drink?
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: Maybe even a one night stand? Things progressed to something
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: like that, who knows not, Oh, I'm going to treat
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: you like a pokemon and make you my fucking sex slave.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: That's like, no, women are fucking people, not things you
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: can just go and take.
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: Well, so the escalation of that just doesn't make sense
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: to me. It almost seems like, have they done this before?
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know, that's the thing weird.
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: Now, there is nothing that I found about anything of
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: prior cases or anything, So I don't know if it
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: is something they've done before or something that is carried,
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: is something that just simply escalated to this point. Maybe
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: they have sexually harassed women before, you know, cat calling
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: or things like that, and it just got to the
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: point where they're like, I'm just gonna fucking take one.
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. That's super, super weird and gross.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. Now, although the statements were not explicit threats,
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: you know him on the phone saying if the witness
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: were no longer around, they carried a very unmistakable tone
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: of intimidation. Combined with his background in law enforcement and
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: his demonstration already of willingness to use violence, the comments
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: were taken very seriously. Now, around the same time Aaron
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: actually began experiencing disturbing incidents, she received strange phone calls
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: from unknown numbers, and on at least one occasion, she
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: believed she was being followed while driving on a freeway.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: Now she could not be certain whether these incidents were
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: connected to Anthony or simply coincidences, but given his recorded statements,
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: they were hard to ignore. The fear that she lived
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: was constant, and although Erin was not placed in formal
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: witness protection, prosecutors and investigators took extraordinary steps to ensure
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: that she was safe. Her movements were monitored, her location
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: was kept confidential, contact with the outside world was limited
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: during critical periods, and officers checked in on her regularly.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: When the trial finally approached, the restrictions became even tighter too.
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: Erin was only permitted to attend court on the days
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: when her presence was absolutely necessary, the day she testified
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: and the day the verdict was delivered. At all other times,
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: she was kept away from the courthouse to minimize the
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: risk of confrontation or retaliation. Now, for Erin, this was
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: emotionally exhausting. She was trying to heal, trying to rebuild
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: her life, care for her son, all while living under
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: the shadow of a man who had already shown he
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: was capable of extreme cruelty. Even with law enforcement watching
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: over her, she never fully felt safe.
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: When Anthony's trial did finally begin in twenty twelve, t
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: nearly two years had passed since Aaron's abduction and assault,
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: and by that point the case had drawn significant attention,
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: not only because of the brutality of the crime, but
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: because the primary suspect had been a police officer assigned
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: to investigate the very crimes he had just committed. From
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: the start, Anthony's defense made its strategy clear. Rather than
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: denying the assault had occurred, his legal team focused on
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: his mental state at the time, arguing that he'd been
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: incapable of understanding or controlling his actions due to a
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: combination of prescription medication, alcohol, and emotional distress, claiming flat
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: out that if Anthony had committed the crime, he'd done
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: so during a drug induced blackout.
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: I hate that. I agree, because if there's anyone out
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: there that would totally understand the consequences of his actions here,
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: it would be someone in his position exactly.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: And even if you do it during a fucking blackout,
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: you are still fucking responsible.
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's no excuse whatsoever.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not a defense. In my opinion, you did it.
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: That's a matter of fact. That case closed period. The
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: defense said that he'd been taking an antidepressant called zolof
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: while drinking heavily, and they maintained that this combination had
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: impaired his judgment and left him unconscious or unaware of
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: his behavior. Anthony repeated this himself too, saying that he
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: could not remember anything about the attack and insisted that
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: he had never intended to harm Aaron. Bullshit, excuse me.
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: To support this narrative, the defense even presented testimony about
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: his personal life. Anthony told the court that he had
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: been struggling financially and professionally. He described problems in his
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: marriage and increasing stress at work. He claimed that his
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: mental health had deteriorated in the years leading up to
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: the assault, leaving him emotionally unstable and overwhelmed. He also
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: spoke about his past military service too, as a veteran
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: of multiple deployments. He said that he had been deeply
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: affected by what he had witnessed during this time in
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: the Armed Forces.
• 52:04
  Speaker 2: He was married. He married, yes, oh okay, I didn't
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: expect that.
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: Yep, he's married, and trust me, you're you're not going
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: to like his wife either.
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: Oh okay.
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: So he basically suggested that the memories of combat had
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: continued to haunt him long after returning home, and that
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: it had all contributed to his psychological decline. At one point,
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: he even claimed that he had experienced thoughts of harming
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: himself and his family, presenting himself as a man on
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: the brink of collapse. Now, his wife, Tracy, testified in
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: his defense as well. She supported his claims that he
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: had not been acting like himself in the period before
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: the assault. She too supported the argument that medication and
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: stress had clouded his judgment and impaired his ability to
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: think clearly. So she is supporting her husband and what
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: he did.
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: Essentially, she's making excuse for him.
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: That's what she's doing. She's not making an excuse for
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: what he did, but she's making an excuse for the
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: things leading up to what he did.
• 53:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, which is it's kind of surprising because I
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: feel like, if I was in that situation, I'd just
• 53:13
  Speaker 2: be like, fuck you, you're on your own.
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: By understandably, you're married to a monster. To patch yourself
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: from the fucking monster. Prosecutors, however, countered that Anthony's actions
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: showed planning, awareness and control. That he had worked with
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: an accomplice, that he had used a firearm, he had
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: taken photographs, he'd sent messages in real time. He'd even
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: attempted to flee the scene. None of that behavior was
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: consistent with someone who was unconscious or unaware of their actions.
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: To further challenge his claims, prosecutors presented evidence suggesting that
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: Anthony may have been been trying to imitate symptoms of trauma.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: Along the items found in his home was a magazine
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: featuring a story about a war veteran who had killed
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: his family before taking his own life. While they could
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: not prove his intent, prosecutor's questioned whether he was borrowing
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: elements of someone else's tragedy to build his own defense.
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: Now Aaron herself also testified about what had happened to
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: her under oath. She recounted the abduction, the assault, and
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: her escape in detail. Facing her attacker in court was
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: one of the most difficult experiences of her life, but
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: her testimony remained consistent with the physical and digital evidence.
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: After weeks of testimony, cross examination, and closing arguments, Anthony
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: Orbin's case was finally placed in the hands of the jury,
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: deliberations began with two central questions. First, had he committed
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: the acts that he was accused of, and second, if
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: he had, was he legally sane at the time. In
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: June of twenty twelve, the jury returned with their verdict.
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: Anthony Orbin was found guilty on all eight felony counts,
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: including kidnapping, rape, and multiple counts of sexual assault. Just
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: as importantly, he was also found legally sane.
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: Good. If there was any other outcome, I know I
• 55:19
  Speaker 2: would not have been happy.
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: I out of rage too. Don't worry, I'm right there
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: with you. The jury concluded that he had understood what
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: he was doing and that he had chosen specifically to
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: do it. After the guilty verdict, the case moved to
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: its final phase sentencing. Given the seriousness of the charges
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: and the jury's rejection of the insanity defense, prosecutors prepared
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: to seek a sentence that would ensure Anthony would never
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: be free again, and behind the scenes, the outlook for
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: Anthony was extremely grim. The presiding judge later revealed that
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: she was prepared to impose an extraordinary punishment based on
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: the number of convictions and the severity of the crimes. Well,
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: he was facing the sentence of eighty two years to
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: life in prison, followed by an additional ninety five years.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: In practical terms, it meant he would almost certainly die
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: behind bars. But that sentence never came because shortly before
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: the scheduled sentencing date, Aaron received an unexpected phone call.
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: She was told that she might not need to come
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: to court after all, because authorities discovered Anthony Orbin dead
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: in his jail cell. He had hung himself, it seems,
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: rather than face the consequences of his actions and the
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: reality of spending the rest of his life behind bars,
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: he decided to take his own life instead.
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: It's so hard to comment on that because it's like,
• 56:42
  Speaker 2: you don't want someone to take their own life. But he,
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: like very much so took the easy way out there, really, yeah,
• 56:49
  Speaker 2: he did.
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: He couldn't face it.
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I don't I'm curious how that would have
• 56:54
  Speaker 2: made Aaron feel like. I don't feel like that would
• 56:57
  Speaker 2: have felt good. Yeah, And he is also not alive anymore,
• 57:01
  Speaker 2: so I don't know. It would be really mixed. I guess.
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: Well. The next sentence I have here is the news
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: brought a sudden and unsettling, and to a complicated case.
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: I've stretched on for far too long, So I mean, yeah,
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: you're right, it's very complicated emotionally and in the court
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: and documented wise. Everything is so mixed. However, the thing is,
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: though Aaron was not ready to let the story end
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: this way. In the months leading up to sentencing, she
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: had already carefully planned a victim impact statement. It was
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: her chance to explain in her own words what the
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: assault had taken away from her and what it had
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: cost her to survive. So when she learned Anthony was
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: actually dead well, she feared that opportunity would be taken
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: away from her as well, so she asked the court
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: for permission to read her statement in court. Anyways, their
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: request was unusual. Without a living defendant, there was no
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: legal requirement to hold a sentencing hearing, but still, the
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: judge recognized that Anthony's actions should not erase Aaron's right
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: to be heard, and the court agreed to allow her
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: to speak. When the day arrived, Anthony's family members were
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: present in the courtroom. They remained seated and listened to
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: Erin as she stood and addressed the court In her statement,
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: she spoke about the terror that she experienced, the physical pain,
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: and the lasting emotional damage. She described how the attack
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: had taken away her sense of safety and her care
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: free spirit. She explained that it was like living in
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: constant fear, always looking over her shoulder and wondering who
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: might be behind her. She didn't excuse what he had done.
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: She made it very clear that no explanation, no medication,
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: no personal hardships could justify kidnapping, rape, or violence on
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: another person. She expressed disappointment that someone entrusted with public
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: safety had abused that power so completely, And then she
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: said something few expected. She told the court that she
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: forgave him. That forgiveness wasn't for his benefit, it was
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: for her own. She explained that holding on to anger
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: and hatred would only continue to give him power over
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: her in life. Letting go, she said, was part of
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: taking that power back now. That statement marked a very
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: big turning point. For the first time since the attack,
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: Aaron felt that she had been able to freely speak,
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: without fear and without interruption. Her voice, which had been
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: silenced at gunpoint, was now being heard in a courtroom. Now.
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: While Anthony's case ended with death, the legal process continued
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: for Jeffrey Jelnik. Unlike Anthony, he had survived to face sensing,
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: and as part of his agreement with the District Attorney's office,
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey pleaded no contest to several charges, including assault with
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: a firearm, being an accessory to the crime, and false imprisonment.
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: Defying against Anthony and providing investigator with detailed information about
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: the attack, He'd positioned himself for a significantly lighter sentence
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: than he would have received otherwise, and so the court
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: ultimately sentenced Jeffrey to a term of just over five
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: years in state prison. Now one source placed a sentence
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: at five years, while another specified five years and four months,
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: but regardless of the exact figure, it was far shorter
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: than the life sentence Anthony Orbin had been facing.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: That is not enough time.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, A lot of people were not happy with it.
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: It was it was difficult to accept.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 2: I was thinking he would get maybe minimum ten yeah.
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: Nothing. So while Jeffrey may not have personally carried out
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: the assault, he had helped orchestrate the abduction, stood by
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: while Aaron was attacked and received photographic evidence of her
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 1: suffering in real time, and laughed about it his involvement
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: had been essential for the crime, yet through cooperation, he
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: avoided the most severe of his consequences, and after serving
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: roughly only three years of a sentence, Jeffrey Jellinek was
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: released in March of twenty thirteen. He returned to live
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: with his parents in another part of the country, far
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: from the sight of the crime. His mother later told
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: reporters that he quote should never have been there in
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: the first place. End quote, referring not to the parking lot,
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: but about being in prisoned and incarcerated.
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 2: Really, yes, holy heck. What is with the women in
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: this case not supporting other women?
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: I know that they're protecting the perpetrators attacked and assaulted her,
• 1:01:45
  Speaker 1: who did the.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: Most unthinkable, terrible thing. Yeah, okay, that's shocking.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: The comment drew a lot of criticism from many who
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: felt it reflected a refusal to acknowledge the harm her
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: son had helped cause, which is exactly what that is.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 2: He could have stopped it at any point.
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: He could have He could have called authorities, he could
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: have intervened. Yeah, but he didn't.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 2: And still nothing.
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: He laughed.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he was very involved, and I guess reaping disgusting
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 2: benefits of it, really.
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And honestly, I mean, who's to say that going
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: out to that desert it may have involved going and
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: picking up Jeremy and him having his turn quote unquote right. Possibly,
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: It's possible, we don't know.
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 2: He probably would have been involved in some way at
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 2: that point, I would imagine.
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: I would think so now for aarin, His release was
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: another reminder that the legal system does not always deliver
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: outcomes that feel proportionate to the suffering that was endured. Well,
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: Anthony avoided sentencing in prison, the man who had aided
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: him was already rebuilding his life. She, meanwhile, was still
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: working to rebuild hers. By the time the court proceedings
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: were over, more than two years had passed since the
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: day that she was abducted in Ontario Mills parking lot.
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: In that time, her life had been consumed by investigations, interviews,
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: court dates, security precautions, and the constant pressure of reliving
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: her trauma in public and private settings. When the case
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: finally ended, she was left with something she'd not experienced
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: in a long time, silence, and that silence wasn't easy.
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: In the months and years that followed, Erin was diagnosed
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: with post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. She struggled with
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: panic attacks, depression, and lingering fear. Ordinary situations like walking
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: through a parking lot, sitting alone in her car, hearing
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: footsteps behind her, it all could trigger ways of anxiety.
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: Even when she was physically safe, her body and mind
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 1: often reacted as though danger were still present. Some days
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: were manageable, others were overwhelming. At the same time, she
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: was raising her son, just trying to provide for him stability.
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: What helped her move forward was a conscious des decision
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: to not let the attack define her. She refused to
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: see herself only as a victim. Instead, she focused on
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: rebuilding her confidence and self control. She sought treatment and
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: leaned on supportive people in her life, and gradually she
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: began to find her footing again. Over time, Aaron chose
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 1: to share her story publicly. By speaking out about what
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: happened to her, she hoped to show that other survivors
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: they're not alone, and that healing, while it's difficult, it
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 1: is possible. She became an advocate for victims of sexual violence,
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: using her experience to encourage others to come forward and
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: to seek help. And it's important to note even if
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: you are already aware of this. Her survival was not
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: an accident. It was the result of awareness, quick thinking, courage,
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: and an unwillingness to give up when the odds were
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: stacked against her. She escaped because she recognized her moment
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: and she took it, even when doing so meant risking everything. Today,
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: Aaron Orcut's story stands as a very powerful reminder of
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: how quickly violence can enter an ordinary life and how
• 1:05:11
  Speaker 1: strong a person can be in the aftermath of unimaginable trauma.
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: She was targeted by someone entrusted with public safety, and
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: she was betrayed by that trust. Yet she refused to
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 1: let that betrayal be the final chapter in her life. Instead,
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: she chose to fight, and she chose to live. And
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: that's the story of Aaron Orcut.
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 2: She's incredible, she is. That is a survival story.
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: Holy Molly badass of the cheers to erin honestly, because
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 1: she deserves so much, so much more than what this
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: fucking monster took from her. Like, oh my god, I
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: can't I can't put into words. I'm fumbling my shit
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: because I can't. I can't put it into words. It
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: blows my mind what he did and how bad as.
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 2: She is, Well, yeah, during you know, the act and
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 2: even afterwards, she just showed so much strength really because
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 2: none of that stuff would have been easy at all.
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, strength and fortitude to get through that. It's incredible.
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 2: So yeah, she is, Oh gosh, I don't know, to
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 2: sit here and even imagine what she went through would
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 2: be you know, not even touching the surface.
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: Really, that's true. And survival stories are two sides of
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: the coin. They're always so tragic. They're heartbreaking to think
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: that someone had gone through that had to endure that,
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: But then the fact that they walk away, they live,
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: and many of them are they're trying to to better
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: the world. They're trying to show other survivors that are
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 1: not alone, other people who survived these situations. They're speaking
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: for them, advocating for them, and it it's a feel
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: good story, but it's also tragic at the same time.
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, a lot of like sexual assaults don't even
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 2: get what's the word reported, reported right, because people are scared.
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 2: But then I guess it's so important to report them
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 2: because then you know, it makes that these people never
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 2: have that opportunity to do it again.
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 2: And she was very willing to go through something very
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 2: hard to make sure that these two don't do it again.
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 2: And I can only hope that one guy, Frick is
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 2: not a complete monster being only in jail for three
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 2: years and getting out and God knows what he's up
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 2: to now. But anyway, we won't think about that.
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't know if you guys heard it, but
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: I kind of like had like a bit of a
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: hiccup in the microphone. Sorry, I like went like a hiccup,
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: and I like tried to stop and I was like, sodad,
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: sorry about that. But yeah, we were long overdue for
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: a survival story. Aaron is an absolute badass. She's our
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: badass of the day. I hope she keeps carrying on
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: and advocating for people who go through trauma like she did,
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: because we need more people in the world like Aaron
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 1: who not only fight, but they also stand up for others.
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: So have a glass of water or a glass of wine,
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: have something, and just take a moment to respect Aaron
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: and who she is. We need more people like her.
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. We got a lot of stuff
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: in the description of this podcast. If you want to
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 1: give us a review, join our Patreon. All that stuff
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: helps along a long ways with us. We're an independent podcast, researched, written,
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: hosted all on our own. It's us, no one else,
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: no big corporation. We're an independent podcast, just us with you.
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: We couldn't be doing this without you, so thank you.
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: You mean the world, and until next time, stay wicked.