The After Show: They Know Everything

Summary

Podcast Summary: 20/20 - The After Show: They Know Everything

Episode Information:

• Title: The After Show: They Know Everything
• Host/Author: ABC News
• Release Date: June 23, 2025

Overview: In this gripping episode of ABC News' 20/20 After Show, host Deborah Roberts delves into the harrowing true crime case of Christian Aguilar, an 18-year-old college student whose disappearance and subsequent murder shocked the University of Florida community. The episode features an in-depth interview with ABC News correspondent Victor Akindo, who provides comprehensive updates and insights into the case, including a rare prison interview with the convicted murderer, Pedro Bravo.

---

Introduction to the Case

[00:33] Deborah Roberts opens the discussion by introducing the case of Christian Aguilar, whose disappearance in 2020 led to a massive search effort by the Gainesville community and ultimately resulted in the tragic discovery of his body in a remote swamp. She sets the stage for an in-depth conversation with Victor Akindo, who reported extensively on the case.

Host and Correspondent Background

[01:15] Victor Akindo shares his personal connection to Florida and his background in journalism. Growing up in a family deeply rooted in the television news industry, Victor explains how his upbringing influenced his career path. He mentions interning at WPLG and his long-standing association with ABC's 20/20.

Community Response and Search Efforts

[03:22] Victor Akindo recounts the unprecedented community response in Gainesville following Christian's disappearance. "The hundreds of people, the throngs of people that descended on Gainesville to help that family search for their missing son. Never seen anything like it," he states at [04:10]. Deborah Roberts emphasizes the tight-knit nature of Southern communities, which amplified the collective effort to find Christian.

Christian Aguilar's Family and Their Struggle

The podcast highlights the deep emotional toll on Christian’s family. [08:06] Farrell, a Gainesville police detective, speaks about the difficulty of delivering the tragic news. Christian's parents, Carlos and Claudia Aguilar, are portrayed as resilient yet devastated, with Carlos voicing a poignant sentiment: "Justice is different from revenge. A loving family who, you know, just had to deal with this and tried to honor their son's legacy" [09:20].

Investigation and Arrest of Pedro Bravo

[13:22] The focus shifts to the investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of Pedro Bravo, a close friend of Christian Aguilar. Victor details how Bravo's inconsistent statements and suspicious behavior during interrogations raised red flags. Surveillance footage and testimonies from mutual acquaintances ultimately implicated Bravo.

Trial and Conviction

Pedro Bravo's trial in 2014 is discussed extensively. [17:18] Victor Akindo explains Bravo's decision to testify in his own defense, which proved to be a critical misstep. "During that trial in 2014, Pedro testified that he and Christian did have an argument, but he denied killing his friend," Victor notes [17:22]. The jury convicted Bravo, sentencing him to life in prison without parole.

Rare Prison Interview and New Developments

Nearly a decade after his conviction, Victor Akindo secured a rare interview with Pedro Bravo in prison. [19:05] Victor describes Bravo's demeanor: "He was silent. He didn't say a word to us." During the interview, Bravo maintained his innocence but showed signs of emotional strain. Despite his continued claims of innocence, evidence continued to mount against him.

In 2023, significant developments emerged:

• Michelangelo's Recantation: A key witness, Michelangelo, who had initially claimed Bravo confessed to him in prison, recanted his testimony.
• Eyewitness Testimony: Kelsey Edwards came forward, alleging she saw Bravo and Christian fighting, contradicting previous statements.
• Schemes to Exonerate: Authorities uncovered that Bravo orchestrated a scheme involving false testimonies to attempt his release, leading to additional charges against him.

Pedro Bravo's Death

In a somber conclusion to this segment, [28:47] Deborah Roberts reports Bravo's suicide in prison in March 2025 at the age of 31. This tragic end adds another layer of sorrow to the already devastating case.

Impact on Christian Aguilar's Loved Ones

The episode poignantly portrays the enduring pain of Christian’s family. Christian’s parents and brother continue to honor his legacy, with the University of Florida awarding him a posthumous degree in biomedical engineering. Carlos Aguilar's heartfelt message to Pedro's parents underscores the mutual suffering: "Carlos Aguilar said that Pedro destroyed two families, his and ours, and nobody won that day" [18:05].

Reflection and Closing Remarks

Deborah Roberts and Victor Akindo reflect on the emotional toll of covering such tragic stories. Victor shares, "These are places I knew well. So this one definitely hit home" [30:13]. The episode closes with expressions of solidarity and the ongoing support for Christian’s family as they continue to navigate their grief.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Victor Akindo [04:10]: "The hundreds of people, the throngs of people that descended on Gainesville to help that family search for their missing son. Never seen anything like it."

• Deborah Roberts [09:20]: "Justice is different from revenge. A loving family who, you know, just had to deal with this and tried to honor their son's legacy."

• Victor Akindo [17:22]: "During that trial in 2014, Pedro testified that he and Christian did have an argument, but he denied killing his friend."

• Deborah Roberts [18:05]: "Carlos Aguilar said that Pedro destroyed two families, his and ours, and nobody won that day."

• Victor Akindo [30:13]: "These are places I knew well. So this one definitely hit home."

---

Conclusion: This episode of 20/20 After Show masterfully navigates the complex and emotionally charged narrative of Christian Aguilar's disappearance and murder. Through detailed reporting, personal interviews, and an exploration of the investigation's twists and turns, Deborah Roberts and Victor Akindo provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the case's profound impact on the individuals and community involved.

Transcript

[Victor Akindo]

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two factor authentication, strong passwords and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it and they might not be as careful. That's why Lifelock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year make visit lifelock.com podcast for 40% off terms apply.

[Deborah Roberts]

Hi there everybody. Deborah Roberts here and with another case that is so fascinating from 2020. This one prosecutors say was sparked by obsession, passion and a love rivalry. The disappearance of 18 year old college student Christian Aguilar shocked the University of Florida community where he went to school. The Gainesville area loved ones conduct a massive search to find him. But tragically, Christian's body was eventually found in a remote swamp. Today on 20 20, the After Show, I am going to catch up with ABC News correspondent Victor Akindo, who brought us the latest updates on this episode on Friday. Victor, so good to see you.

[Victor Akindo]

Hi, Deborah, thanks for having me.

[Deborah Roberts]

I see you on the tube all the time down in Miami, but we don't get a chance to see each other face to face that often.

[Victor Akindo]

This is rare. I love being up here in person with you. Makes a big difference.

[Deborah Roberts]

Well, you've been joining us on 2020 recently and you know, one of the things that we to do on the podcast is get to know people. Oftentimes, you know, they're folks I've worked with regularly and behind the scenes. But you and I have just begun to kind of work together on 2020. So I associate you with Florida. You're a guy who's born and raised, I guess down there, Right.

[Victor Akindo]

That's a good place to start. Yeah. And just to go way back, tell you how I got into journalism in the first place. That journey started at a very young age. Mom and dad both worked in television. My mom an anchor for Univision for more than 30 years. Of course, she had a show called Aki I A Here and Now. It was like a long format style show.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah.

[Victor Akindo]

My father before he passed away was a vice president at Univision. So.

[Deborah Roberts]

So this was just like in your blood.

[Victor Akindo]

Exactly. It's the family business. I grew up around newsrooms where a lot of people might walk into one and be like, what the heck is going on here? This is so weird. I don't know how you guys do this for a living. I was always very comfortable in that setting. So started Studying it, followed through in college at the University of Miami. Great journalism program there, of course, excellent school of communication. Started interning, started work at WPLG as a news trainer.

[Deborah Roberts]

I remember PLG, of course.

[Victor Akindo]

And here you are about 15, 16 years later. Here we are.

[Deborah Roberts]

Now here we are. Well, I worked in Florida all those years ago too. I worked in Orlando and I worked in Miami too, for another network for the bureau down there. So I have a sense of a lot of the areas that you've covered. You know, I mean, for 2020, I've actually continued to go down there from time to time. We get a lot of stories down in Florida, as you know. This particular one, I remember this going back, I mean, obviously a few years ago, and it just was so striking. A college town, a young man who is like the pride of his family going off to school and, you know, we don't hear a lot of stories like this that often. So tell me about your first reaction to this story.

[Victor Akindo]

Yeah, I actually remember this one when I worked locally at WPLG as a news anchor there. This one, it almost involved the entire state enveloping everyone because these kids were from Miami and they went up to Gainesville. Some went to the University of Florida, some went to a local community college nearby. We'll get into all of that a little bit later. We've covered so many difficult stories throughout the years and what I tend to find, whether it's a hurricane, a shooting, something like that, people always tend to come together after a tragedy. And we saw that happen in a way I've never really seen happen before. In this case where once Christian Aguilar went missing. The hundreds of people, the throngs of people that descended on Gainesville to help that family search for their missing son. Never seen anything like it. Haven't seen anything like it since.

[Deborah Roberts]

Wow. And that area is, I mean, it's a southern part of the country too. This area really sort of personifies that kind of almost small town, kind of southern feel, which would probably explain like the folks and really feeling the connection to a teenager who's missing.

[Victor Akindo]

Absolutely. Gainesville, it's not exactly a huge town. It is all about the University of Florida there. That's what you get. But people were driving up the five, six hours from Miami to go help this family. They were desperate to find their son.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, well, let talk about your background a little bit because obviously you're from Florida. Did it help at all? Because we're talking Spanish speaking folks here too. I mean, obviously you speak Spanish. How did your background help inform you as you began to report this story?

[Victor Akindo]

Yeah, I mean, I'm a first generation Cuban American. The families involved here, they're not Cuban, but still, there is a sense that I knew these families in a way, in the sense that Latin families are super tight knit. Usually kids, especially the daughters, will live at home almost until they're married. So for Christian Aguilar, he was going to be one of the first in his family to graduate from college. So for him to leave Miami, leave the nest, go up to Gainesville, his dream school, he had already got the season tickets for Gator football. For him to leave, that was a huge deal for the family. And he made a promise to his parents that he would call them every single day. His dad told me he made sure to call every single day. So when he didn't call, that's when they knew something was up.

[Deborah Roberts]

They knew something was up. Well, let's talk about diving into this story. We saw you in the episode on an airboat out there, you know, with the investigators. And we oftentimes jump into all kinds of scenarios to report these stories, which is kind of fun to talk about on the podcast because we can bring our listeners into how we go about telling these stories. I jumped on a boat recently for a story, but this is an airboat, and you're kind of out there in an area that's kind of tough too, to, you know, a swamp. Swamp.

[Victor Akindo]

It's a legit swamp. There is a reason why that stadium at the University of Florida is called the Swamp, because the surrounding areas there are brutal. It is a true swampland. So we got out there, we had Captain Art, he knew someone in the sheriff's department. So we had two airboats. I was riding along with their sheriff, and on the other boat was our whole crew, photographer, camera capturing the photos.

[Deborah Roberts]

Of you, the video of you.

[Victor Akindo]

I'm talking to camera one boat to another. Look, I've reported in hurricanes, tornadoes. I'm used to getting tossed in the elements. I will say going full speed on a loud airboat, that's something different.

[Deborah Roberts]

It's different.

[Victor Akindo]

And especially because we were also using drones at times as well. So, you know, you can imagine the drone is only as steady as it can be. We're also on a moving boat. So, yeah, it wasn't the easiest of shoots, but I think that what we were able to eventually record and show everyone at home, and hopefully those who are listening to this right now is just what that area look like, what it was like for this family. For the volunteers for authorities as they searched for more than three weeks searching for Christian Aguilar.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, and that's what's so important because you're kind of taking the viewers for 2020. And of course, the listeners here now can understand we're taking them inside to kind of figure out what that search was like. So the family is, of course, just devastated because they know something is wrong. They're searching for him. It was a painful discovery for everybody when they finally did discover the hard truth, which is Christian was not alive. And you spoke with his parents, Carlos and Claudia Aguilar. And we've got a clip recalling how they responded to learning this devastating news that their son was gone from the Gainesville police detective Randy Roberts. Let's listen. It's hard to do a death notification for anybody. It's hard to tell them that their.

[Victor Akindo]

Loved one's not coming home. So that conversation with Randy Roberts where he tells you that they found a body, he just told me.

[Deborah Roberts]

I asked him, Randy, in your experience.

[Victor Akindo]

You know, the body that you guys.

[Deborah Roberts]

Found in there matches the clothing, everything.

[Victor Akindo]

That Christian was wearing.

[Deborah Roberts]

And he says 100%. So, you know, at that moment, we all start crying.

[Victor Akindo]

Claudia, you wanted to go see the body after it was recovered. Why?

[Deborah Roberts]

Because I didn't believe that he was. He was.

[Victor Akindo]

He passed.

[Deborah Roberts]

He was murdered. Even that Randy said that he found the Christian body, I didn't believe that.

[Victor Akindo]

For me, it's been 30 years I've.

[Deborah Roberts]

Been doing it, and that was the only time that I ever probably broke down with the family. That was the hardest one I ever did.

[Victor Akindo]

You just spent more than three weeks searching for your son. You must have been exhausted, physically and mentally. What was it like when you had to bury him?

[Deborah Roberts]

My brain was not there. My heart was not there. My physical presence.

[Victor Akindo]

Yes. But, you know, I don't remember everything clearly.

[Deborah Roberts]

It just breaks your heart to just hear this. It just breaks your heart. And the parents, I mean, they were holding on to hope. And that was a power quote to hear from Christian's father, too, when he had told you justice is different from revenge. A loving family who, you know, just had to deal with this and tried to honor their son's legacy.

[Victor Akindo]

One thing that I learned about Carlos Aguilar, Christian's father, was that when he sets his mind to something, he's gonna do it. I mean, the second that his son went missing, he made it to Gainesville in record time, a couple hours. It usually takes five to six to get to Gainesville from Miami. He searched every single day, 22 days nonstop. He said, I don't care if we lose the house. I don't care what happens to our jobs. We're not going to leave Gainesville until we find Christian one way or another. At the funeral, we saw clips of him there hugging everyone. Friends talked about how emotional that was. Obviously a very difficult experience. We're talking about kids who were 18 years old when this happened. And then, yes, Carlos said that the focus shifted to finding justice for their son, not revenge. The quote here, if somebody has done a wrongdoing and you know it and it's really bad, that person needs to be brought to justice. And we asked for justice. We didn't ask for revenge, which is different.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah. And so they've gone from the heartbreak of losing their son and having to bury him to now trying to figure out what happened. And now the investigation begins. And we're going to take a short break. And when we come back, we're going to discuss the evidence that authorities uncovered and give us a picture inside a killer's mind. And Victor, you had a rare prison interview with the person who was eventually convicted. Stay with us, everybody. With the hot summer weather moving in, I'm often tempted to refresh my wardrobe. But the key is finding clothes that aren't just attractive but also comfortable and made to last. Quince is the answer. Their clothes are timeless, lightweight and stylish, like 100% European linen dresses, Italian leather platform sandals and more. It's luxury made affordable. And Quintz only works with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. It's time for your wardrobe to match your standards. Give your summer closet an upgrade with quince. Go to quince.com 20. ABC that's 20tw y, a, B C for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I-N-C-E.com 20 y a b c to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com 20.

[Victor Akindo]

ABC hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Deborah Roberts]

Of $45 for a three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only.

[Victor Akindo]

Speed slow. After 35 gigabytes of network's busy, taxes and fees extra.

[Deborah Roberts]

See mintmobile.com, i'm back now with ABC News correspondent Victor Akindo talking about his 2020 report on the Christian Aguilar case. Just a heartbreaking story, Victor. We learned through your reporting that police eventually hone in on one of Christian's friends, Pedro Bravo, and eventually they wind up charging him with murder. Let's talk about that investigation. And also charging a friend in a friend's murder. Crazy.

[Victor Akindo]

Yeah. Pedro Bravo was. Was always someone that they were looking at closely for the main reason he was the last person who saw Christian Aguilar alive. Christian and Pedro had spent that day together. They were on campus. They got a bite to eat. They went to a Best Buy to buy the new, at the time, Kanye west cd. And that's the last time that we actually see any video. There's some surveillance videos. That's when you see Christian physically. Then there's another clip at a Walmart nearby, at a parking lot there where they're inside the car together. But Pedro Bravo, he was the key to unraveling what happened.

[Deborah Roberts]

And tell us about their relationship. They're buddies. I mean, you know, and that must be the hardest thing probably for these families to try to figure out. I mean, these guys are friends, knew each other in high school, right?

[Victor Akindo]

So they both went to Doral Academy Charter School. That's in Miami. They were close friends in high school. By all accounts, Pedro, very smart guy. He actually had a full ride to fiu. Florida International University. That's in Miami. That's a big school, and it's a great school. He was also known to be, like a class clown, really funny, smart guy. Christian wanted to be a biomedical engineer. He was off to the University of Florida. Now, there's a third person here, Erica Freeman. During high school, Erica dated Pedro Bravo. They break up. Erica goes off to Santa Fe Community College. It's right next to the University of Florida. Often what people do is that they'll go to Santa Fe for a couple years, spend a couple semesters, and then transfer right over. In those early weeks and months at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Christian and Erica, they get involved romantically. It picks up. It's clear that they like each other also. It obviously helps. They're in a new place. And being that they both went to high school together, they're from Miami, and they're young, and they're young, they started dating, and ultimately Pedro found out, and it's clear that didn't sit well with him.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, yeah. And then to the point that we made earlier, you know, you get jealousy and rage and all of that. That just plays a part here. So tell us about this investigation. I mean, eventually, he's charged in this murder. It's gotta be painful for everybody involved. What leads up to the trial? What is that like, that period? Like, getting us to his trial?

[Victor Akindo]

Yeah. So there was actually a two year gap there. It wasn't until 2014 that this went to trial. But just going back to the investigation alone, seeing Pedro Bravo being interrogated by police, you just saw it unravel in real time. His story just never really added up. And then it was one thing after another. He seemed to have an answer for everything. You could just tell he was very slippery, having spoken with him in person. Yeah, he's good at lying.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah. Yeah. I want to get to that in a little bit, too, because you did get to talk to him. But investigators could see that, too.

[Victor Akindo]

They could see right through it. You know, at first, what he said was, we got into an argument in the car that we were riding in together, and Christian asked to be let out. So I just let him out. That's the last time I saw him. Then it evolves to, well, we got into a physical altercation, and I left him on the side of the road, and then I went straight home. Things aren't adding up here, especially because he kind of does it to himself. The timeline doesn't make sense. He says he went straight home. He gave investigators the key to his car. Of course police are gonna comb through that vehicle. They found a receipt for McDonald's. In the middle of the night, long after Pedro Provo had said he'd been home again, he changes his story. He says, honestly, guys, I forgot. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this. I took some sleeping pills, and I was just a little out of it. Sorry about that. It was just one thing after another.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah. And the inconsistency started to speak volumes to investigators. And then before you know it, police charged Bravo with murder. Tell us about the results of his trial, because as you said, it took a couple of years. Then Bravo is trial in 2014, and.

[Victor Akindo]

He actually decides to testify in his own defense. Pretty risky move.

[Deborah Roberts]

Shocking. Yeah.

[Victor Akindo]

So during that trial in 2014, Pedro testified that he and Christian did have an argument, but he denied killing his friend. He testified that he just left him on the side of the road after they fought. Now, In August of 2014, a jury convicts Bravo of his charges. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole and tried appealing several times, all of those denied. Pedro's mother told me that obviously there's another family involved here, another set of parents. Of course, she took it incredibly hard, and she started crying seeing what was happening to her son. Carlos Aguilar said that Pedro destroyed two families, his and ours, and nobody won that day.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, and these are young people we have to remember. College age people. We cover a lot of these stories where people are, you know, older or married couples and things have happened. They've got children. But in this case, these are young, young lives. Well, nearly a decade after the sentencing, you got a rare opportunity to actually speak with Pedro in prison. And we've all done these prison interviews before, but this one was really fascinating to watch.

[Victor Akindo]

Absolutely. And actually to prepare for this one, I went back to an old episode of 2020 and watched one of your prison interviews to see how this was done.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, well, it's kind of a little strange.

[Victor Akindo]

It is incredibly strange. Just get through the security process in the beginning, getting all your gear in, setting up for the interview, and then you never know. Will they already be in the room waiting for you, or are they gonna bring him in from somewhere else? It's just eerie to be in a prison in the first place.

[Deborah Roberts]

And you don't know what demeanor you're going to get from that person either. You don't know what you're gonna get when you're sitting down across the, you know, way from a convicted murderer.

[Victor Akindo]

And then for us, and this is, you know, really looking behind the curtain here, we want these people to open up to us. So it's a fine line, the delicate balance here that we have to take. But when we got to that prison, went through the whole thing, Pedro Bravo was already waiting in that room for us. This was at the Okeechobee Correctional Facility in Florida. That's where he was serving his life sentence. And it was the first time in nearly a decade that he'd spoken about this case since he testified in his own defense.

[Deborah Roberts]

And what were your impressions when you first walked in and you saw him?

[Victor Akindo]

He was silent. He didn't say a word to us. I also didn't want to go over there and introduce myself just yet. I wanted our crew to take a beat. Go ahead, set up, make sure that everything was okay. Because you have a limited amount of time here. They're not gonna, you know, they're on a pretty tight schedule. So we had, in total, an hour to get in, set up the interview, roll on the interview, and then break down and head out.

[Deborah Roberts]

What did he begin to tell you about not only the trial, but what happened? What surprised you?

[Victor Akindo]

The way that he talked about Christian surprised me. It shouldn't have because of the amount of lies I've heard him tell. Just digging deep in this story. But he spoke so fondly of Christian, about how close they were in high school, and that he was very soft spoken in it, you know, like, he didn't appear to be very confident. At the same time, though, when I left that interview, I didn't come away thinking, oh, that's someone who was wrongly convicted. I didn't believe a word of it.

[Deborah Roberts]

No. You didn't believe his story?

[Victor Akindo]

No, not at all. Cause I pushed him on the lies. Granted, this is someone who's spoken to professional investigators here. This is someone who's crafted and honed in these lies. He might have even believed them himself at some point, who knows? But he didn't break character here. He stayed true to the story that he'd told all along for 10 years. And there was definitely a coldness in his eyes. He's also aged. You know, 10 years had passed here. You know, he was almost. He was clearly balding when we met him. It was a. It was a different person physically, but still.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got some real impressions there, too. As you said, his stories kind of changed and they were all over the map.

[Victor Akindo]

Yes, very clearly. And when he would talk about Christian, he would describe him as like, charismatic, how he. He loved to laugh with him, how close they were. Pedro said that he was conflicted in high school, that he was have. Starting to have some struggles there. He didn't really know what he wanted to do with his life. He talked to us about Erica. He described it as teen love. He said that he was mad at Christian at first for dating his ex, Erica Freeman. Mad that they kept it a secret from him. He talked about the changing storyline with investigators and how he allegedly punched Christian in the face. One quote that he told police was, I'm not used to talking to law enforcement. I was worn down by the interrogation. He couldn't keep things straight. Deborah. So those were Pedro's claims. And we knew that what was said at trial, that outcome differed from what said to us. Right. I also, I asked him point blank, did you kill Christian? Pedro responds, seemingly heartfelt answer. Right. We know what the truth is behind that.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah. Well, let's take a break. And next we're going to talk about the scheme that authorities say Pedro used to to try to get himself out of prison. This message comes from Greenlight. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely, and invest. With your guardrails in place, with Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance, and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get started risk [e-mail] Spotify. Back now with ABC correspondent Victor Akindo, who reported on this incredible story on Christian Aguilar as part of our recent 2020 episode. And you and the team include some fascinating updates from the years since all of this happened, since Pedro Bravo was sent to prison. And there are moments that I'd love for you to break down for us that we talked about in the report that you learned about two people involved in a scheme, essentially, to try to get him out of prison.

[Victor Akindo]

Right. So let's start with Michelangelo. And. Yeah, that's his real name.

[Deborah Roberts]

That is kind of. Yeah. Surprising. I was. When I saw that, I was like, okay, is that real?

[Victor Akindo]

I know. Michelangelo meets Pedro while in jail. At some point, Michelangelo says that Pedro confesses everything to him, revealing details that only the killer would know. Angelo would later testify to this at Pedro's trial. Pedro sentenced to life in prison. Again, all of those appeals are denied. Almost a decade passes with no movement on this case. But that changes in 2023. That's when Michelangelo recants that testimony that was so important at trial. Also at that time, an alleged eyewitness, her name is Kelsey Edwards. She comes forward claiming that back in 2012, she saw Pedro and Christian's fight, and then she saw Christian walk away afterwards.

[Deborah Roberts]

Just bizarre.

[Victor Akindo]

Something's not adding up here.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah. Yeah, just bizarre. Well, investigators determined that Kelsey Edwards actually had kids with a man named Brandon Campbell. And Campbell, it turns out, was in prison with Pedro Bravo. And that's seemingly the connection between Pedro and Kelsey. Right.

[Victor Akindo]

Putting it all together here, authorities uncover communications. You have calls, you have messages, financial transactions between Pedro and Kelsey Edwards that show this scheme that would, you know, hopefully ultimately get Pedro out of prison. Kelsey says that Bravo paid her to provide false testimony. The state's attorney determines that Kelsey's affidavit and Michael's recantation are both false and part of an elaborate scheme that was orchestrated by Pedro himself. All of this from prison, by the way.

[Deborah Roberts]

Absolutely unbelievable. Well, your Report included audio recordings from the investigation. So let's take a listen to an excerpt from Florida State Attorney Brian Kramer's conversation with Kelsey Edwards, where she talks about Pedro communicating with her.

[Victor Akindo]

Now, when you first started talking to Bravo, when he first reaches out to you and you guys have your conversation, does he now start to communicate with you? Outside of Brandon knowing about it now, it's just kind of you and him talking, and you might talk to Brandon here and there, but primarily, all this stuff is now just you and Bravo.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yes.

[Victor Akindo]

And based on what you said, you feel like he was trying to.

[Deborah Roberts]

Have.

[Victor Akindo]

Like, a personal relationship with you.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yes. And then, like, I feel like he purposely sought me out because, like he said in the original case, there was a witness or somebody who said there was a young female also in the vicinity that could have seen something. And he said that the physical description fit the way I looked. And Brandon had pictures of me with our kids on his Facebook.

[Victor Akindo]

Just so you know, that's all untrue.

[Deborah Roberts]

What?

[Victor Akindo]

Everything you just said.

[Deborah Roberts]

Oh, I'm sure it is. Oh, I'm sure it is. By the way, we should point out that Brandon Campbell was never charged, and authorities told us that he cooperated fully with this investigation. That's one of those. We're sitting here shaking our heads, just even listening to that.

[Victor Akindo]

Imagine what it was like for investigators digging deep, putting all of that together, trying to figure out the connection between these two. Now, Kelsey Edwards, she would plead guilty to fraud. Michelangelo pleaded guilty to perjury for his false recantation. Bravo is charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit perjury, perjury in a capital proceeding, and witness tampering in a capital proceeding. So, big picture, though, those recordings, they show that personality shift that we saw in Pedro. In our interviews, Pedro said he was scared, right? Well, the cops see the other side hearing those messages. He's more controlling, calculating. He's more direct. I guess it's that old adage, cameras never lie.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, I mean, we heard again in that clip that investigators found an admission from Pedro about Christian WhatsApp.

[Victor Akindo]

Messages that Pedro sent to Kelsey from prison. He was able to communicate so frequently, concoct this kind of scheme from prison while locked up, sentenced to life. It's wild. He admits that he killed Christian, though this latest admission differs from what authorities alleged at trial, Pedro still claims, okay, that it was a spontaneous fight that led Christian to dying in his car and then he buried him. Authorities suggest that at trial, it was something more deliberate that Pedro had planned in advance. This is a version Pedro claims is true, but at least he's finally admitting he did kill Christian. The outcome, though, and this was the final chapter of this very long story, Pedro kills himself. He was found to have died by suicide in prison in March of 2025, age 31.

[Deborah Roberts]

Wow. Wow. So this story, the tragedy just continued even years later and even in prison. What do we know about Christian Aguilar's loved ones today? How are they doing?

[Victor Akindo]

I don't know how you ever get over the loss of a son, especially. They were so close. They were clearly so proud of him. His parents loved him. His brother, who I interviewed as well, they were very, very close. The University of Florida honored Christian with a posthumous degree in biomedical engineering. That's what he wanted to do. He wanted to help people with his life. After Pedro Bravo's death, Christian's father, Carlos, actually posted a note of condolence on Facebook to Pedro's parents, saying that no parent should go through the pain of losing a child. Christian's parents showed me mementos that they've been able to keep. That family still hurting, can't forget Christian's brother Alex talking to us about he and his family. You know, they showed up every single day at Pedro's trial. They carried on for Christian since he didn't have a voice anymore. Christian's brother Alex, guess which college he decided to attend.

[Deborah Roberts]

University of Florida.

[Victor Akindo]

There it is.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah. Just to kind of follow in his brother's footsteps. I mean, what a tragedy on two levels. As you said, two families devastated in this case. I know it was a hard one to report. And Victor, I know for me, oftentimes when I'm covering these stories, particularly when it's somebody young, it really kind of gets you in the gut. So I know this is one that's probably going to stick with you for a while.

[Victor Akindo]

Absolutely. And I had friends that went to their high school. I had a lot of friends that went to the University of Florida. These are places I knew well. So this one definitely hit home.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, it definitely did. Well, your reporting was just absolutely excellent, and you brought it back to us and updated us. And as always, it's so great to see you. We don't see enough of each other.

[Victor Akindo]

I'll come back more often.

[Deborah Roberts]

Yeah, let's do that. Well, thank you. We appreciate you bringing the latest in this case for us on 2020. We also want to note that if you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text. The suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Thanks so much for joining me for this after show episode and on Friday nights for 2020 on every ABC. The 2020 after show is produced by Amira Williams and Sasha Aslanian with Joseph Diaz, Jeff Schneider, Mike Schultz, Brian Mazursky and Alex Barenfeld of 20 20. Theme music by Evan Viola. Janice Johnston is the executive producer of 2020 Josh Cohen, the director of podcasting at ABC Audio. Lara Mayer is the Executive producer.

[Victor Akindo]

Foreign.

[Deborah Roberts]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

[Victor Akindo]

It's Brad Milkey, host of ABC's Daily News podcast.

[Deborah Roberts]

Start Here.

[Victor Akindo]

Fiscally responsible financial geniuses. Monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary.

[Deborah Roberts]

Not available in all states or situations. On June 24, Ironheart arrives on Disney Plus RiRi what is going on with you? From Marvel Television and executive producer Ryan Coogler. After my internship in Wakanda, I wanted to build something undeniable. But now I'm in trouble. Don't miss the sixth episode of that. I joined a crew of criminals and.

[Victor Akindo]

Now I'm about to get filmed by.

[Deborah Roberts]

Deranged man in a cake. Be the first to experience the all new series. You've bitten off a hell of a lot more than you can chew. I could chew a lot. Marvel Televisions iron hard screaming June 24th only on Disney Plus.