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Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts New episodes out every Monday.
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This is Crime House.
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Today we're covering two cases that have been making headlines. First is a tragic murder out of Utah where a teenage boy who had recently lost his parents was killed by one of his best friends. Then I'll get into a strange case from Idaho where a couple is facing charges relating to a bizarre manifesto, the contents of which have led them to be charged with 120 criminal counts. Let's get into it.
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Well, Rowdy Lee aguilar is facing 25 to lie for stabbing and dismembering his friend, 15 year old Ivan Vedeknik of Taylorsville.
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This boy stood up for him. This boy befriended him after his mom died and these kids started picking on him. That's why it makes no sense. Hi, I'm Katie Ring, a true crime analyst, self defense instructor and fierce advocate for victims. And this is Crime House Daily, your essential true crime companion. Every weekday morning and night here at Crime House Daily, we dig into the true crime stories making headlines right now, where justice is unfolding, arrests are happening, and new evidence is emerging. Every morning, First Watch gets you up to speed on today's biggest cases. Every night, Night Watch takes you deeper. If you want to follow a case from the first 911 call to the final verdict, this is the place for you. Follow Crime House Daily. Wherever you get your podcasts, leave a Review and for ad free listening, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. For video, check out our YouTube channel, Rimehouse Daily. This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence. So everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Foreign we get into today's main cases. I want to bring up a really creepy case that I saw on my fyp With Halloween just around the corner. Police in Alexandria, Virginia are investigating a chilling attempted break in that was caught on a home's ring doorbell camera and the suspects were all wearing Halloween costumes. The footage recorded on October 14 shows three masked individuals pounding on the front door, yelling things like, you come out or we come in, and trying to force their way inside. At first, the family thought it might be a Halloween prank, but the situation turned terrifying as the group started pulling on the windows and checking other entry points around the home. The homeowner's daughter told local news that their father had just died and her mother was already on edge. So when strangers in costumes tried to break in, she was absolutely terrified. Police say the suspects fled before officers arrived and are now actively searching for the trio, asking anyone with security footage or tips to come forward. I'm curious if the group did know the family, though, because I wouldn't be surprised if they targeted them because they knew about the father's recent death. But investigators believe the group might have targeted multiple homes in the area. I hate that people like this start ruining everything because people should be able to pass out candy to kids without worrying about things like this. Makes me sad. But please stay vigilant and to the people on the other side of this, stop being dumbasses and ruining the fun for everyone else. Thanks. Our first case Today is the 2021 murder of 15 year old Ivan Vytechnik. Ivan, who went by his middle name, Nick, was allegedly killed by his good friend, rowdy Aguilar. Now 21, Rowdy has pleaded guilty to Nick's murder, with his next court date slated for this December. Authorities are keeping a lot of the details under wraps for now, but here's what we know so far. Nick and Rowdy grew up in the same neighborhood of Taylorsville, Utah, part of the greater Salt Lake City metro area. It's a bustling suburb set against the stunning backdrop of two different mountain ranges. It's quiet, safe, and a good place to raise a family. Nick and Rowdy have known each other since Nick was in kindergarten, but they're not especially close when they're younger. But a few years later, an unexpected tragedy changes that. When Nick is 13 years old, his mom passes away from colon cancer. After this loss, Nick struggles in his social life and other kids start picking on him. And that's when Rowdy steps in. Rowdy's two years older than Nick, and he sticks up for him. After that, the two start spending more time together, and soon they're inseparable. As the boys grow up, Nick gets a lot taller and towers over his peers, but he's known as the gentle giant. Nick never wants to hurt anyone or even make them feel scared. One Halloween, he dresses up like a clown to pass out candy to trick or Treaters. But he takes off his mask if any kids actually get spooked. Nick begins to discover his passions as he grows up and develops a love for the outdoors, nature and especially animals. He's coming into his own and overcoming the trauma of his mother's death. But unfortunately, another tragedy is waiting around the corner. At the end of 2020, when Nick is 14, his father has a heart attack and passes away. After his death, Nick gets cared for by his aunt Carrie Ingham. He's able to keep living near Rowdy so the two boys can still hang out all the time. Despite everything Nick has gone through, he's trying to move forward. In the spring of 2021, Nick is 15 and he's getting ready for his first year of high school. But he has a bit of a rebellious streak and got some tattoos even though he's not 18 yet. Despite that, he is still responsible and wants to get a job that summer to have some spending money. He is also thinking about trying out for the football team and using his height to his advantage. On the morning of May 26, 2021, he goes to visit Rowdy like any other day. Details of what happened during that visit are still being released. But after Nick arrives, Rowdy does the unthinkable. Out of nowhere, he. He attacks Nick with a kitchen knife, stabbing him in the face over and over again. Sources vary on how many injuries Nick sustained. Some say it was over 30 times. But no matter what, it's beyond excessive. One of the stab wounds is severe enough to damage Nick's skull and the fatal blow strikes his carotid artery. But the cruelty doesn't stop there. After he kills him, Rowdy allegedly dismembers Nick's body and and places some of his remains in garbage bags. The rest are left in a utility trailer on the property. Then, shortly before 2pm, Rowdy grabs the bags and leaves them out in a field behind his house. Later that day, Rowdy's dad comes home from work and when he walks in, he doesn't see Rowdy anywhere in the house. So he checks for him in the trailer and that's when he stumbles on the horrific sight of dismembered human remains. I can't even imagine being a parent and realizing your own child just did something so horrifying. Rowdy's father makes a call no parent wants to make and calls the police immediately. When officers arrive, they find a kitchen knife and cleaning supplies in the trailer. The place also reeks of bleach and they found a blood soaked shirt In Rowdy's bedroom, detectives start investigating and it doesn't take them long to start piecing things together. First, they view the Aguilar's home security footage, which shows Nick and Rowdy standing outside the house together just after 10am but about three hours later, at 1:20pm, Rowdy reappears outside by himself. This time his shirt is soaked in blood. Then the footage shows Rowdy taking bags out to the field behind the house and coming back without them. Police quickly retrieve the rest of the remains and they're able to confirm that it's Nick based on his tattoos. With all of this evidence, Rowdy is arrested the same day. Officers leave him alone in a room in the police station while they prepare to question him. Once he's by himself, Rowdy manages to break free from his handcuffs and he tries to escape. But this plan doesn't work and the police put an end to his shenanigans and get down to business. They interrogate Rowdy and try and get him to tell them what happened, but he denies everything. In fact, he even tries to deny knowing Nick at all. Rowdy tells police he was at his girlfriend's house all day and that he hasn't been home. Clearly he wasn't aware of the ring camera footage. But pretty soon, in addition to catching him disposing of the body, investigators noticed something about Rowdy that adds to their pile of evidence. Limu Emu and Doug.
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Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.
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Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.
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Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Variant underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates excludes Massachusetts. It's okay not to be perfect with finances. Experian is your big financial friend and here to help. Did you know you can get matched with credit cards on the app? Some cards are labeled no ding decline, which means if you're not approved, they won't hurt your credit scores. Download the Experian app for free today. Applying for no ding decline cards won't hurt your credit scores if you aren't initially approved. Initial approval will result in a hard inquiry which may impact your credit scores.
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Experian. On May 26, 2021, 17 year old Rowdy Aguilar stabs 15 year old Nick Fotechnik to death. Rowdy is arrested and brought to the station where he quickly denies his guilt. He says he was with his girlfriend at the time of the murder. But then officers notice that Rowdy has cuts on his hand. When they ask him where he got them, he says he cut himself while preparing meat for a barbecue. Police aren't buying it, especially since the cuts on Rowdy's hands aren't the only sign of his guilt. Even though he's taken off his bloody shirt, Rowdy apparently hasn't changed any of his other clothes and still has blood stains on his pants, socks, and shoes. Officers continue to poke holes in his story, and finally, Rowdy caves. He admits that he killed Nick and is held without bail on charges of aggravated murder, obstruction of justice, abuse, or desecration of a human body, and escape. He's 17 at the time, so it's possible he'll be tried as an adult. When the news breaks, Nick's aunt, Carrie Ingham expresses her shock to reporters. She says anytime Nick and Rowdy were together, they were laughing, they were having fun. So the fact that this happened just leaves us with a huge question of why. Though she's forced into the media spotlight only days after her nephew, who was basically her son, is killed, Carrie expresses a lot of sympathy for Rowdy, too. She says that both their lives are effectively over and that she's sad because, quote, this is completely unexpected. Rowdy was a good boy, too, and he had things he was supposed to do. However, some of Nick's other family members are less sympathetic. In 2025, when court proceedings are underway, Nick's sister Samantha Van Treese, says that Rowdy doesn't seem remorseful at all. She says, every court hearing we see him at, he just has a smug look on his face like he doesn't actually care what he did. Gearing up for trial, Rowdy's defense briefly looks into the insanity plea, but ends up dropping that strategy. The courts decide to charge Rowdy as an adult, which seems to push Rowdy to accept a plea deal. The lesser charges of obstruction of justice, desecration of a corpse, and escape are all dismissed. In exchange, Rowdy pleads guilty to aggravated murder, which is a first degree felony. Even though his lawyers dropped the insanity plea, Rowdy also claims he has a mental condition that should be taken into account. However, specific details on what his supposed condition is haven't been released. The mandatory sentence for him will be 25 to life. He'll stay at a youth detention center until 2029, when he's 25. At that time, he'll be moved to an adult prison. When the news of Rowdy's plea agreement breaks, Nick's sister Samantha calls it a small victory. However, she doesn't believe that Rowdy even suffered from a mental condition. She says, quote, he knew what he was doing. He deserves to rot. She thinks Rowdy clearly has the presence of mind to try and hide what he did by attempting to clean up the crime scene before fleeing. Samantha also shares some chilling information as well. She says that she heard from a reliable source that Rowdy carried out the crime because he, quote, wanted to know what it was like to kill someone. Samantha will soon be able to speak her mind to Rowdy Aguilar in person. His next court date is December 5th, and she will get a chance to take the stand and finally confront the man who killed her brother. Nick's family continues to honor his memory. Carrie says that despite having been through so much at such a young age, he was a selfless person who always wanted to help others. Hopefully, Rowdy will eventually tell the truth about what motivated him to commit such a heinous act against a person he once called a friend. But right now, it's seeming like he is simply a run of the mill psychopath. We'll be following this case closely, and when we get any major updates, we'll be sure to bring them to you here. Our second case today is about a couple from Idaho, Jonathan and Jolene Harms. They're making headlines around the US because of an elaborate manifesto they wrote which includes dozens of threats against people they wanted to kill. It also contained instructions for others to hunt, kill, and wreak havoc on their behalf. Jonathan and Jolene were arrested in September 2025, and as investigators gathered more information, their list of charges quickly piled up. We're still awaiting more information on the court proceedings, and the trial has also been pushed back, so we should be learning a lot more as things progress. In the meantime, let's dive into what we know about this case so far. Jonathan is 43 and Jolene is 39, and they're from Boise, Idaho, the most populous city in the state. Before this summer, the couple was deeply involved in their religious community until they were excommunicated from their church. Details are still emerging on what they did, but it was bad enough that two church leaders obtained protection orders against Jonathan and Jolene shortly afterward. We also know that the Harms have what's described by prosecutors as deep religious conviction, which is a book of the Bible that describes the end of the world. And like any part of the Bible, there's debate about what Certain things mean different translations offer widely different interpretations on things. But let's look at what these witnesses seem to be from the King James Translation. Revelations 11 talks about two witnesses whom God sends to take back a holy city from non believers. The two witnesses are to rule over the holy city for four years, and anyone who challenges their rule is said to meet a gruesome fate. Here's a quote that describes what will happen if any man will hurt them. Fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies. Jonathan and Jolene apparently believe they are these biblical witnesses. Jonathan also claims that he specifically is the crown prince of heaven. It's worth noting that in the Bible, Jesus is occasionally referred to as a crown prince of heaven. The couple's claims are baffling, and they're not going unnoticed, because soon the couple begins making direct threats to others. By May of 2025, Jonathan and Jolene Harms have been excommunicated from their church, and they're not taking it well. Soon, Jonathan is under investigation for escalating hostility towards his former church congregation. He's even placed on a mental health hold for a bit. But it doesn't seem to help. In fact, things quickly get worse. The Harms start writing a manifesto together. In it, they talk about people they wanted to kill, many of whom are members of their former congregation. The manifesto also contains detailed instructions for others to harm individuals on their behalf. It says for some people to, quote, go hunt, kill. The Harms want their followers to target a variety of people, including police officers, judges, and even their own families. The list also calls for the bodies of those killed to be mutilated and burned, and for various buildings to be burned down. In total, the manifesto is 277 pages long. On July 10, the harms start emailing it to people, two of whom are the church leaders who've already filed protection orders against them. Word gets out at their former church, and several of the people named in the manifesto are terrified, and they get protection orders of their own. Many of these people also contact the police who read the manifesto themselves. Based on the targeted nature of the content and the fact that Jonathan seems to be the main author, authorities want to arrest him on stalking charges. At the same time, people have warned them that the couple owns many firearms. Jonathan has also had confrontations with the police in the past, so law enforcement prepares for a potentially dangerous arrest. Authorities have the Boise police crisis negotiation team on standby in case things escalate. Officers make their way to the harms house on July 12, and they're quickly surprised because Jonathan surrenders peacefully. Police then search the house, confiscating a large cache of weapons and ammunition. They charge Jonathan with two counts of stalking and keep him in custody while they investigate. At this time, police still don't know Jolene's level of involvement, so she's not apprehended. But soon, she involves herself in the investigation. Jolene reaches out to the wife of one of the investigating officers, and she texts her to say that she needs to make her husband talk about things with Jonathan and if he doesn't, their whole family is going to die and that their children would be slaughtered. She followed up with, quote, seriously, I'm going to kill your children. Those texts don't specify what Jolene wants the officer to discuss with Jonathan. Either way, Jolene is then quickly arrested on misdemeanor telecommunication harassment. She pleads guilty in late September 2025 and is given a year of unsupervised probation. But she's still not finished. While Jonathan is in jail, she continues to talk to him about the kill list over the phone, and the calls are recorded and the police hear everything. At the same time, Jolene continues to share the manifesto From July to September. She posts it on social media and sends it directly to people all over the country. She creates quite a digital footprint, so it takes time for investigators to gather all of the evidence. They're hoping that everyone who received the manifesto will come forward. Finally, towards the end of September 2025, Jolene is re arrested. On September 25, both she and Jonathan's charges are updated. They're now each facing 20 counts of felony stalking, 19 counts of felony witness intimidation, and 21 counts of misdemeanor witness intimidation. This brings the counts up to 60 each and 120 total. They are now each being held on a $15 million bond. The judge also puts 20 people who have been threatened on the protected list. Should the Harms try and call, call or contact them in any way from prison, additional charges may be added. Jonathan's jury trial was originally set for January 14, 2026, but that's changed now that Jolene has also been charged. And both their charges have escalated. A new trial date hasn't been set yet. We do know their defense is working to get Jolene out of jail for now. The Harms have five children, and their lawyer argues that Jolene should be released to care for them. They also say her bond is too high and that she isn't a danger to the community. We'll see how that turns out. In the meantime, we'll be sure to bring you all of the major updates as soon as they come in. What did you think of today's cases? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments. See you next time. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel @Crime House Daily and follow us on social media rimehouse24 7 for real time updates. Because the pursuit of justice never stops.