Lauren White (2:25)

I've been in a lot of crime scenes, right? And inside that room. It took me back when I was a kid and watched Psycho for the first time at the Bates Motel. It's disturbing because there ends up being kind of an energy in these rooms where, you know, a battle has taken place. Blood has been shed and a life has been lost. It's just not like walking into a typical room. It's also a place. It's a very solemn place to go into, knowing all of that has happened, and a very sad place. And you feel that vibe.

Richie Fetzer (2:58)

Yes. And especially it's strange. In contrast to the beauty of the property. You know, you've got these peacock roaming around. We're right next to the water. It's really just a lovely, lovely place. But that room, definitely, you know, you went in knowing it was gonna be a somber experience, and it was.

Peter Van Sant (3:17)

Yeah. I always feel going to places, it's always great for us as reporters to actually be where things happened. But especially when it's a crime scene or we also went to where Eileen's body was found, it always feels like hollowed ground. You know, you're there to do a job, but it's also, you know, eerie but also solemn because, you know, reminds you of why we're doing it.

Ann Marie Green (3:36)

I was surprised that they actually let you into the room because, you know, it's a. It's a business. And sometimes people don't like that association. They want people to forget that anything bad ever happened there.

Richie Fetzer (3:45)

Anne Marie, I was shocked. You know, we always want to go to the crime scene. A lot of times it's, you know, a house or maybe a public area out in the open. This was an operational motel room. We thought the chances of actually getting into the room were gonna be slim to none. I called the motel owner, Ms. Etta, but, you know, you can't say, oh, is room 15 available? Cause then she'll know what I'm trying to do. So I said, you know, my favorite number is 14, and I would love, you know, how about room 15 as well? You know, and 14 really is my favorite number. So I didn't lie, and I said, you know, are those. She said, well, 14's available, but 15 isn't. I said, oh, well, you know, 15, actually, I really need. I work for 48 hours. And she said, oh, why do you want to do a story on this? It's such a sad case. I said, it is a truly sad case. But, you know, we have found that in the work that we do, going to the crime scenes really helps the audience understand the case better, and we would be there for a large part of it with the lead detective, Ronnie Jones. And to my amazement, she said, okay, I'm going to move some things around. And she made that room available to us. I TR to book it as an actual room. She wouldn't let me. I tried to give her a location fee. She wouldn't let me. So she gave us that room for two whole days for free.

Ann Marie Green (5:01)

But that room actually is being booked.

Richie Fetzer (5:03)

It's booked. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Ann Marie Green (5:05)

Wow. So this area of Florida's Gulf coast, it's referred to as the Forgotten Coast. But what we learn in this hour is this community has not forgotten Eileen at all. They didn't know her in life, but they've really worked hard to preserve her memory in death. In your experience, just how unusual is this?

Lauren White (5:25)

It's very unusual. Generally, when outsiders come into a community and bring some sense of ruin and shame and shock, locals want to forget those people as quick as possible. But the folks out there on the Forgotten coast are gentle souls. They live in this part of Florida that is so underdeveloped. It's like what Florida. Florida must have been like 100 years ago, where you have much more of the tropical feel to it. And instead of shunning her, they embraced her as one of their own, and it was really special. And you guys felt the same way, didn't you?

Peter Van Sant (6:03)

Oh, definitely. And they put up a memorial to Eileen near where her body was found. And what struck me is it's not like metal or stone or something that would be permanent. It's basically a poster. And of Eileen's face. Yeah, exactly.

Richie Fetzer (6:21)

It says, franklin county will never forget Eileen. And you had artificial flowers, but sunflowers, which were Eileen's favorite flower. And her sister Francesca, actually put me in touch with the person who started the memorial, woman named Debbie Jordan. She said that when she heard the case, she was just so moved by what happened to Eileen that she felt compelled to do something. So in addition to making this really beautiful memorial, she also got about a dozen cards and went around the whole county and had everyone sign the cards, and she sent them to Francesca and to Eileen's friends.

Peter Van Sant (6:54)

And the thing I think of is this is six years later, this crime happened in 2018. And here's this poster that someone is actually going back and maintaining and making sure it's still there, because it's there. Was there when we filmed.

Richie Fetzer (7:05)

Yep. It really is a testament to this area, because in addition to this memorial near where eileen was found, Ms. Etta from the motel also made a little memorial for Eileen where every night, they put up a light. They. They. They shine a light in honor of Eileen. Oh, that is. So they've been doing that every night, you know, since. For the past six years.

Ann Marie Green (7:27)

It's like she developed this sort of whole family that she really didn't have in. In life. It was her and her sister basically against it all, you know.

Lauren White (7:35)

Absolutely.

Ann Marie Green (7:36)

So. So speaking of kind of creating your own family, this is. This is perhaps one of the more interesting components of this hour. Right. Eileen was in a throuple relationship with Zach Abel and Christina Araujo. I've had to delete my search history, thanks to you, Peter, on my work computer, because, you know, I had to do some research. And so, of course, this all means that they were all three in a romantic relationship. It's a type of polyamorous relationship, which has gained some popularity over the last few decades. But I think a lot of people can look at the situation and make an assumption about the relationship that Abel was individually dating both Eileen and Araujo.

Peter Van Sant (8:20)

By all accounts, from the friends that we spoke to, Christina and Eileen were in a romantic relationship themselves. Like, really, truly, these three people were dating each other. And I think something that was interesting that David Adlerstein, the reporter we spoke to, talked about was that when this crime first happened, people in the community automatically assumed, without hearing anything else, oh, Christina must be the killer.

Ann Marie Green (8:42)

Right.

Peter Van Sant (8:43)

And then once we've dove into this story a little bit more and you're learning more about the evidence pointing towards Zack as an active participant in Eileen's death, there's DNA evidence. His palm prints were on one of the murder weapons. So people's expectations don't always match the reality of what happened.

Ann Marie Green (9:02)

I know Araujo is basically saying this beating was started, she participated later on.

Richie Fetzer (9:09)

Right.

Ann Marie Green (9:09)

But she wasn't sort of the primary person. She didn't start this thing. But I wondered about the forensic evidence. Did it back up her story that she participated minimally in the beating of Eileen?

Peter Van Sant (9:23)

It did. And I think that's part of what the prosecutor said to us when he interviewed, is that she's testifying and she's telling a story. But a lot of what she was saying lined up with the forensic evidence they found later. So they had this curtain rod that had Eileen's blood on it, and it had Zach Abel's palm prints on it. Didn't have Christina Araujo's. Then there was this walking stick that Christina testified was used in the crime. It's broken into multiple pieces. It has Eileen's DNA on it, and it has Zach Abel's DNA on it. Didn't have Christina Araujo's on it. The defense attorney would argue she had bruises on her hands and feet. So that to him, we Made the argument meant that she participated. And to her own story, she participated. So it would back that up.

Lauren White (10:06)

But in other words, she was punching and kicking.

Ann Marie Green (10:08)

Right.

Richie Fetzer (10:09)

And the defense also say that the reason why Zack's palm print is on the bloody shower curtain is because Christina said, pick that up. And that of course, his DNA would be on the walking stick. It was his walking stick. Now, you know, it's a shame that this is our representation of throuples. Cause most throuples, I'm sure, don't end this way, you know, or have such toxic elements. Seems like there was no transparency, no communication, no real consideration of each other. And so it was really kind of doomed from the start in many ways.

Lauren White (10:43)

Look, human nature has to play a role in this. Three people together, sexually, socially, there's bound to be some envy, some jealousy. And it seemed to explode in that room.

Richie Fetzer (10:56)

And, you know, throttle aside, this is a classic, you know, domestic violence case. This is a case where in many ways she was isolated because she worked with them, because she lived with them. You know, she was financially dependent on them, on making this work. So she had a lot riding on this.

Peter Van Sant (11:13)

What kind of struck me with this one specifically is we do domestic violence cases all the time. So we've seen the story a lot of times before. And what struck us from the beginning was Eileen was really facing it with two perpetrators. She had two romantic partners, and therefore she really had two abusers that she was trying to navigate and deal with. Which must have been overwhelming.

Richie Fetzer (11:35)

Exactly.

Commercial Narrator (11:41)

They say to only bring what you can carry. So with the allnew 2025 Ford Expedition Tremor, bring a lot like three dirt bikes, a few tents, an entire crew ready to make memories, a panoramic 24 inch display, and the confidence to push your limits. The all new 2025 Ford Expedition Tremor. Always consult the owner's manual before off road driving. Know your terrain and trail difficulty and use appropriate safety gear. Max payload varies based on accessories and vehicle configuration. See label and door jam for carrying capacity of a specific vehicle. Always properly secure cargo.

Ann Marie Green (12:11)

Hablas espanol, Spristo Deutsch.

Babbel Advertiser (12:14)

If you used Babbel, you would. Babbel's conversation based techniques teaches you useful words and phrases to get you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world. With lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speaker speakers, Babel is like having a private tutor in your pocket. Start speaking with Babel today. Get up to 55% off your Babel subscription right now. @babbel.com Spotify spelled B-A-B-E-L.com Spotify rules and restrictions may apply.

Ann Marie Green (12:45)

Welcome back. You have a very powerful interview with Eileen's sister Francesca, who, even six years later, seemed very emotional, very raw. What was it like to speak to her?

Lauren White (12:59)

Francesca was so good to agree to talk to us about something as deeply personal and painful as this. She's heartbroken. And so I approach this, obviously, with as much sympathy as possible and respect for her. I thanked her many times for participating in this. Think of what she's gone through along with what Eileen went through. Lost their mother, lost their father. Then she ends up losing her sister. And she carries a sense of guilt. And we all try to assure her she's not responsible for what happened to her sister, but she has dealt with so much, but she maintains her dignity, and we were just blessed to have her in this story.

Ann Marie Green (13:45)

Why did she want to participate in this?

Richie Fetzer (13:47)

She really wanted to be a voice for Eileen and represent not only Eileen, but represent their parents as well. And we all told her she represented her whole family beautifully. She showed a lot of strength. But this was very difficult for her to not only speak about the brutality of what happened to Eileen, but to speak on camera.

Lauren White (14:08)

And we learned during the course of the interview, too, because some of the questions I had that I was asking gently involved details of what had happened to her sister. She didn't want to hear any of it, and she still doesn't want to know these details. It's just too painful for her. But I felt like we got her trust and she opened up to give us details that are fascinating.

Peter Van Sant (14:31)

On our end. It was really watching also Peter's humanity and how to deal with someone that's experienced trauma and was very clearly visibly upset. And I think as you're going through an interview and we're kind of checking off questions, I think we all kind of experience when we're really watching Peter firsthand make a decision of, like, we got enough right.

Richie Fetzer (14:49)

Peter was able to tell what her boundaries were, and we weren't pushing that. Yeah, yeah, exactly. No one's trying to do more damage here, you know? Exactly.

Peter Van Sant (14:56)

It was masterful to watch because it was, you know, it's emotions as opposed to thinking well.

Ann Marie Green (15:01)

I mean, one thing that everyone at 48 hours does to a very, very high level, but I know that Peter's always cognizant of is delivering these stories with compassion, understanding that these are human beings who are willing to relive some of the worst things in their lives in the hopes of improving someone else's life.

Lauren White (15:25)

Right, right, exactly. And that's what she wanted to do. And, you know, these interviews are important. That you're listening to them and reacting to them is far more important than the initial question. And I think she. It was almost like a therapy session. You know, as we talk, you don't have these conversations with family members. You know, when I lost my mother and I'm with my sisters, I didn't interview them. Right. We don't have those kind of conversations, so becomes a bit cathartic for them as well, to finally talk about things that they've always wanted to talk to someone about but have not.

Ann Marie Green (16:01)

Sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers. I think we've all been in situations like that. You also interviewed Eileen's best friend. She did not want her name, her real name, used. Right. So she's referred to as Ally in the show. Given her privacy concerns, was it difficult to convince her to go in front of the camera?

Richie Fetzer (16:20)

Right. First of all, she has a very unique name, and she was also concerned about her family. She didn't want to her family to be kind of tied to this. And when I first spoke with her, she said, I do not want to be on camera. I don't want to be involved. I will give you information on background. I thought, oh, okay, that's great. Let's do that. And then as I kept talking to other people who knew Eileen, I realized that they didn't know the story. They didn't know this case. They didn't know what Eileen was going through in the same way that Ali did. And, you know, we've all kind of experienced that the people who want to speak don't necessarily have the things that you need. And so, you know, I went back to Ali and I. And I asked her again, and she said, you know, I'm not really interested. And then, shockingly, she called me the Sunday before we left for Apalachicola, and she said, lauren, how are you? And I said, I'm great. I'm actually heading to Florida. We need a voice for Eileen. No one knows the story the way that you do. And she said, okay, I'll do it. And I was shocked, but I was so excited because I knew that it would really help the story and that she would provide Eileen's perspective in a way that no one else could have.

Peter Van Sant (17:31)

I think it was an example of Lauren's soft persistence with someone that we're trying to interview because it was an ongoing back and forth. And, I mean, to Lauren's point, she knew everything, and she was really central to trying to help Eileen in her moment of need.

Richie Fetzer (17:44)

Yeah.

Peter Van Sant (17:44)

So it's like that whole part of that story, and even giving Eileen the grace that she was trying to get out of this situation, Allie was the voice to tell that story.

Richie Fetzer (17:54)

Yeah.

Ann Marie Green (17:54)

I can't imagine what the hour would be like without her.

Richie Fetzer (17:57)

Right.

Ann Marie Green (17:57)

Because she really gave some insight into how Eileen wound up there and why it would be so challenging for her to pull herself out of it.

Richie Fetzer (18:05)

Correct.

Ann Marie Green (18:05)

Zach Abel did not take the stand at trial, but someone very close to him was actually supposed to testify on his behalf. His own mother, Kimberly Clark. But that never happened. So to explain why, I want to play parts of your interview with defense attorney Alex Morris that actually did not make it into the hour.

Lauren White (18:28)

So what happened? Why didn't she testify.

Alex Morris (18:32)

In 25. Coming on 26 years, I've never experienced this. She was here in Apalachicola, prepared to test testify under subpoena in a motel room. I'd been here for three days, four days. She's going to testify the next day. The woman who came up with her, I get a phone call from her that's frantic, says, alex, you need to come to the motel. Why? Kim's dead. I said, you got to be kidding me. So my first thought was, don't call me. We need to call 911. But I went to the motel, and. Oh, my gosh. I mean, she's deceased, of course. My brain's.

Lauren White (19:16)

Wait.

Richie Fetzer (19:16)

Wait a minute.

Lauren White (19:17)

Did she have a heart attack? Did she. She didn't take her own life.

Peter Van Sant (19:20)

No.

Alex Morris (19:21)

So we know now, natural causes. The medical examiner's report, heart problems and things of that nature.

Lauren White (19:29)

If Zach's mother had lived and testified, might there have been a different outcome?

Alex Morris (19:36)

Yes.

Ann Marie Green (19:38)

Really? Well, I mean, what was she going to say that made the defense attorney so confident?

Lauren White (19:46)

Abel had to be humanized, and his mother was the person who was going to be able to do that. I lived in England for a while, where the accused very often testify. In America, it's just the opposite. They rarely do. He chose not to take the stand. And so when you do that, you're defined by your enemies. Unless you have someone like your mom, who will take the stand and humanize this guy. Alex Morris said it hurt the case because they lost that element.

Peter Van Sant (20:17)

Alex had mentioned to us, too, that Kimberly Clark was potentially going to kind of back up the story of Christina as being more of an aggressor in this relationship. And really paint that picture a little bit clearer.

Richie Fetzer (20:32)

And she wasn't just, you know, Zack's mom. She was also their roommate. She lived with the throuple around the time. I know. I know. She lived with the thruffle around the time of April 2018, right before this road trip. And she was there for that big fight that kind of started the road trip. So she could have really given some insider view. Mm.

Peter Van Sant (20:52)

And, you know, we wrestled with including this detail in the hour.

Ann Marie Green (20:55)

But ultimately, why didn't that detail make it in just time or it's time.

Peter Van Sant (20:59)

You know, we have an hour to tell a story.

Richie Fetzer (21:01)

And, you know, to Zach Abel's credit, Alex Morris offered him the opportunity. You know, should we see about delaying or maybe seeking a mistrial because of this? This was a big, you know, character witness for us. And Zach said, no, let's keep going.

Peter Van Sant (21:15)

Alex brought up chess. That might be a reason that he could appeal. Cause a judge might look at that and say, well, he made that decision, but he wasn't in the right direct space. Exactly. He was grieving his mother in that moment. So that's fascinating.

Ann Marie Green (21:30)

As we mentioned, Abel didn't testify at trial, but he did make a statement during his sentencing more than two months later. 48 hours was there that day. What was the reaction in the courtroom like to hearing Abel speak?

Richie Fetzer (21:44)

We were very excited to hear what he was going to say. And his statement was that he loved Eileen and that actually, this road trip was kind of a little bit of a. A love trip for him and Eileen. And he claimed he proposed to her on the trip with a ring pop. And, you know, it's. The specificity of it. You know, it wasn't just, I proposed. I proposed with a ring pop. But we were kind of very shocked by that, because by the prosecution standpoint, you killed her maybe, what, a week or two after that. But he said that they loved each other, they were going to start a family together, and they were gonna get away from Christina. That was his whole thing. They were. Their whole plan was to get away from Christina. Yeah.

Peter Van Sant (22:26)

And we're hearing this. I mean, we're processing this. And then the judge is also hearing the statement and then sentences Abel and gives him the maximum and actually says that he wishes. I'm paraphrasing. But effectively, he was saying that he wished he could give him a harsher sentence, and he'd sentenced him to life. So what does that mean? I mean, I don't know that I've heard a judge personally express anything like that before. Right.

Lauren White (22:49)

Because Remember, the details were explained in court with photographs and everything else of her body.

Ann Marie Green (22:55)

Yes.

Lauren White (22:55)

What was done to that woman is as shocking a killing as I've ever seen on any 48 hours. And I've been doing this for a couple of decades. It was a shocking killing, and that was the undercurrent for all of this. So that as the judges listening to him express regret, he has the memory of those photographs. He knows what was done.

Ann Marie Green (23:18)

So then, what about Christina Araujo's sentencing? Because, I mean, between the two of them, she made out much, much better.

Peter Van Sant (23:24)

Christina Araujo, in the end, her judge was a different judge than Abel's judge, sentenced her to 25 years. So she could have gotten life in prison like him, but she got a lesser sentence of 20 years. And he acknowledged her cooperation with testifying for the prosecution.

Richie Fetzer (23:41)

A lot of Eileen's friends and loved ones were really nervous that because of the connections that Christina had bragged about for all of these years, according to them, that she might just get a slap on the wrist. But clearly she did not.

Ann Marie Green (23:54)

I mean, it's not life.

Richie Fetzer (23:55)

It's not life, but it's not a walk.

Ann Marie Green (23:58)

Absolutely. So Araujo always bragging about her dad.

Richie Fetzer (24:03)

Right.

Ann Marie Green (24:03)

And I thought to myself, I like why she keeps saying this. Like, what, was she a problem child before? Had her dad helped her out before? But now we've, you know, elevated to a level where you're like, sorry, kid, I can't help you. I mean, did we find out any sort of more background on her?

Peter Van Sant (24:17)

I mean, there's a lot of rumors.

Richie Fetzer (24:19)

Right.

Peter Van Sant (24:19)

There's a lot of things that friends and other people have speculated. As far as evidence, I mean, we haven't seen any.

Richie Fetzer (24:25)

Right.

Peter Van Sant (24:25)

And he spoke at her sentencing and was pretty clear that he had never used his influence to help her. And, I mean, I think was pretty eloquent in saying that.

Richie Fetzer (24:34)

Oh, for sure.

Lauren White (24:35)

I think she just tried to use it to intimidate. It was a power play. I've got this dad who can make things happen and will protect me. Nothing more than that. He turns out to be, based on all of our reporting, a very straight arrow guy. And he told his daughter, you're going to admit what you've done, and you're going to pay the price for what you've done. So just the opposite.

Richie Fetzer (24:57)

He.

Lauren White (24:58)

He did his job as a. As a lawman, and he was, in a way, kind of a hero in this case.

Ann Marie Green (25:05)

Yeah.

Richie Fetzer (25:05)

For all of her bragging and all of the alleged threats she made to Eileen about her father, about her powerful connections. When push came to shove, he turned her in. The father turned her in and to.

Peter Van Sant (25:16)

His story was influential in her pleading guilty.

Richie Fetzer (25:19)

Wow.

Ann Marie Green (25:19)

But I'm sure absolutely devastating when you dedicate your life to law in order to have a child that you then have to have to turn in. So at the end of the episode, Eileen's best friend Allie expressed her hope for more compassion towards those trapped in abusive relationships. And I think that you're helping to fulfill her hope for sure by sharing Eileen's story. This is a great hour, you know, and I hope that ultimately people also learn from this hour. Peter, Lauren, Richie, I want to thank you guys so much. Thank you.

Peter Van Sant (25:54)

Thank you for having us.

Ann Marie Green (25:58)

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline. That number is 1-800-799-7233. If you like this series postmortem, please rate and review 48 hours on Apple Podcasts and follow 48 hours wherever you get your podcasts. And you can also listen ad free on Amazon Music Wondry plus in the Wondry app or with a 48 hours plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Thanks again for listening.

Amazon Advertiser (26:38)

Mom, Dad, I humbly suggest you save some money and shop Amazon for Back to school. It's for my growth, meaning my body's growing at an alarming rate and clothes you buy me this year will be very small very soon. Plus the clothes I love today will be out of style tomorrow. But at least your wallet doesn't have to be my fashion victim. If you shop low prices for school at Amazon, hopefully this is helpful. Amazon Spend less, smile more mom and dad. The school supplies you buy me this year will mostly end up in my mouth. Maybe shop low prices for school at Amazon so I don't eat up all your money, just something to chew on. Amazon Spend less, smile more.