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First Watch: DoorDash Gone Wrong & Knighted Irish Politician’s Delayed Trial
00:21:17
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Hi, it's Katie. I'm excited to let you know that you can watch video episodes of Crime House Daily Night Watch on Spotify. It's the same gripping true crime stories you've been getting here now with added videos and photos that give you even more depth and detail into each case. Search Night Watch on Spotify and hit follow so you never miss an episode.
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This is Crime House.
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As someone who teaches self defense, I am all for the right to defend yourself, but our first case today is not that because the suspect shot a door dash driver in the back while he was driving away and the only crime the driver committed was having the wrong address. Our second case is about a conservative politician in Ireland who, surprise surprise has been charged with sexual abuse of two minors spanning decades. Let's get into it. This shows the moments before a doordash driver was allegedly shot by an official in Orange County. He was seen just before the shooting going to another house as seen here trying to deliver food. I have a dog, my phone is broken.
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I just don't see this being a.
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Viable self defense case at all. 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.
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Our first case today is about 48 year old John Riley, who's facing charges of aggravated assault and attempted murder after shooting a door dash driver in the back while the driver was in the car driving away from John's house. And just to be clear, for anyone who may be wondering, this absolutely does not qualify as self defense. Fortunately, the driver survived, but his life has been permanently changed. The shooting went viral after John's ring. Camera footage was leaked to a local news station based in Woodbury, New York. News 12 shared the video and it quickly sparked national outrage. Even though the shooting happened back in May, court proceedings have just started. So we're finally beginning to learn more about the victim and the details of the case. So let's dive into what we know so far. The victim, 24 year old Alpha Berry, came to the US at the end of 2024 on a visa from Guinea, a country in West Africa. When he arrived, he moved to Middleton, New York, which is about two hours north of New York City, to stay with family members who were already living in the us Once he got settled, Alpha's goal was to start building a life of his own. Alpha's native language was French, so one of the first things he did was enroll in an English class at a nearby community college called Sunny Orange. By April 2025, once he felt more confident in his English, he started working for DoorDash. The job was going pretty well and Alpha was really excited to be earning his own money and getting into a routine. But then on May 2, everything changed. That night, Alpha was delivering in Chester, a rural town about 20 minutes from Middleton. Around 9pm, he started to get nervous because his phone was about to die and the GPS directions weren't clear. And as someone who has a chronically low battery, I have been in that situation before and have known the creeping panic. You're in a strange place, your phone is dying and you don't know how to get back home. On top of that, he had to find the exact house for his delivery. With the phone on the verge of dying, Alpha wasn't even sure which house it was. So he did what anyone in his position might do. He started knocking on doors, hoping someone could help. Unfortunately, most people didn't answer since it was so late at night. But when he rang the doorbell on a home on Valerie Drive, a 12 year old girl looked out. The window and saw him there. Alpha waved, trying to be friendly, but since she didn't recognize him, she immediately woke up her father and told him a stranger was outside. That father was 48 year old John Riley. Since court proceedings are still underway, we don't know exactly what happened next. But we do have the ring camera footage that tells most of the story. In the video you can see Alpha walking up to the door with a white plastic bag in his hands. He rings the doorbell, scratches his head and waits patiently on the stoop. He spots someone who we now know was the Riley's daughter and he waves. The video cuts out for a few seconds, maybe because the camera is motion activated, but maybe because some of the footage may have been deleted later. A couple minutes later, the video comes back on and John comes out of the house with a gun strapped to his back and another gun in his hand. You can hear Alpha's car start and see the headlights turn on in the background and Alpha is already in his car. But John fires a warning shot into the grass anyways. Then he points the gun at the car, yells at Alpha to go and Alpha starts to reverse. But regardless of the fact that he was reversing to turn around, John points the gun and shoots at the car. Alpha is driving away and John fires two more shots with one hitting Alpha in the back. His phone had died, so he couldn't call for help. But he was able to find a gas station, charge his phone and get directions home. I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been, just trying to get to safety while bleeding and alone at night, unfamiliar with the neighborhood you are in and your phone dying. Once he got home, his family rushed him to the hospital where doctors had to remove over two feet of his small intestine because it was a gunshot wound. The hospital notified the police and the next day authorities zeroed in on the house where the shooting happened. And that's when they realized a town official was might be involved. John Riley was the highway superintendent, an elected position, and this kind of incident could have destroyed his reputation. And it also seems like his wife, Selena Nelson. John knew what was at stake because when police arrived at the house, she was in the middle of deleting security footage. She told officers she had no idea anything had happened the night before. They didn't have a solid reason to keep questioning her, so they ended up leaving and Selena thought she was in the clear. She even texted a friend saying she had permanently deleted the videos. But the authorities were piecing things together and soon they had enough evidence to arrest John on attempted murder charges. Officers returned later that day to take him into custody and search his home. What they found did not look good for John.
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Learn more@naturalcycles.com during the search, police found 28 guns in John Reilly's home, including the one he used to shoot Alpha Barry. John was a federally licensed firearm dealer and possessed most of these guns legally, but authorities discovered that he didn't have the New York specific paperwork required for gun dealing. Eight of his guns were pistols, including the one he used on Alpha, and he didn't have the permits required under New York law for each pistol. The police confiscated those guns before taking John into the station where he spent a few days in jail while before posting a $250,000 cash bail. He was released on May 6 and ordered to wear an ankle monitor and surrender his passport. Meanwhile, authorities recovered 17 videos from the Riley's home security system that Selena thought she had deleted. On May 8, one of those recordings was leaked to Hudson Valley News 12. It showed the shooting and it went viral. The news quickly spread beyond the community and sparked national outrage. Personally watching the video, it didn't come off to me like a man defending his family. It felt like a man filled with anger, racially profiling a delivery driver and nearly killing him for just going to the wrong house. And if I had to guess, the footage missing between the knock on the door and John coming out with two guns probably contained some slurs. On my social media pages, I'm always the first to advise that you should never open your door to anyone you don't know. It's a sad reality, but there are far too many stories where kind people trying to help were robbed or worse. If you really want to help someone, you can speak through the ring camera, give directions, or offer to call the police. But shooting an unarmed person driving away is not an option. Not only is this not self defense, some are even considering it a hate crime. Another big question has been whether John should step down as a highway superintendent. Since he's elected, he can't be removed unless he's convicted of a felony. The town board faced backlash and issued a statement calling for John to resign while he deals with court proceedings, emphasizing that he is innocent until proven guilty. But soon after, they started receiving threats from people accusing the town of condoning racism. On June 2, John pleaded not guilty to 13 charges, including second degree attempted murder, assault with depraved indifference, and various weapons violations. During an early court hearing, John's lawyer, Thomas Kenneth claimed that Alpha had bizarrely insisted on coming inside to charge his cell phone and that John justifiably believed this was a pretext for a home invasion. Kenneth said John never intended to harm Alpha but took steps to protect his home and his family. As a self defense instructor, I have seen videos of people coming to a house under the pretense of needing help. Sometimes it is asking for something like a phone charger, but you don't have to open the door. You can talk to them through the rear camera, which they clearly had, and you can say, hey, how can I help you? Sorry, I can't open the door. Oh, can I call the police for you? If you think they're actually really under distress or hey, the neighbor's house is just two doors down. It's not that hard. I don't believe for a second that he was very concerned for his family. Again, watching the video back, it looks like a man who is just very excited to use his gun and if he wasn't trying to harm Alpha, he wouldn't have pointed his gun straight at his car and shot three times. The warning shot could have been enough alone because he was already driving away anyways. Court proceedings continued and on August 20th, Alpha's family spoke out saying Alpha had undergone multiple surgeries. Despite the doctor's efforts, his injuries were so severe he may never walk again. He's also so traumatized he won't even go outside his family says they're determined to get justice. On October 31st, John's wife, Selena was charged with 17 counts of second degree evidence tampering, one for each video she deleted. Her next hearing is on January 5, 2026. John's trial is tentatively scheduled for February 2026, with his next court date set for November 26. He could face up to 25 years in prison. And as always, we'll keep all of you updated on any major developments. One thing I've learned about sexual abuse and trafficking is that many times abusers have women in their lives who not only enable the abuse, but play an active role in recruiting and grooming victims. In the case of Jeffrey Epstein, it was Ghislaine Maxwell. In today's case, it is the wife of a Conservative party leader in Ireland named Jeffrey Donaldson. Donaldson was arrested on almost 20 counts related to sexual misconduct and rape. And in this shocking, but also not so shocking, twisted, Jeffrey's wife was also charged with aiding and abetting these attacks. The Donaldson's trial has been continually pushed back, leading to questions about whether the Irish court system will dole out fair consequences regardless of the defendant's status. Jeffrey spent years building up his political career. Now the question remains, will it all come crashing down? Or will the justice system fail his victims?
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Jeffrey Donaldson was born in 1962 in Ireland, during a time of bitter division over whether the country should remain under British rule. One side was mostly Protestant and loyal to the UK and the other was mostly Catholic and pushing for independence. This era of civil unrest is known as the Troubles. Even as a teenager, Jeffrey was politically ambitious. At 16, he joined the Orange Order, a Protestant only religious and cultural group. Two years later, he enlisted in the Ulster Defense Regiment, a Protestant militia unit of the British Army. By 1984, he officially joined the conservative Ulster Unionist party, and in 1985, he became the youngest member of the Northern Ireland Assembly. He married Eleanor in 1987, and the couple had two daughters together over the years. As Ireland's conflict eased, Jeffrey's politics shifted. By 2003, he joined the more mainstream Democratic Unionist Party. He rose through the ranks, earning a knighthood in 2016 and being elected DUP leader in 2021. In January 2024, he brokered a major power sharing deal, consolidating his position as a leader of the Conservative political power in Northern Ireland. But beneath the surface, trouble was brewing. Investigators began looking into Jeffrey's past, and several women came forward with evidence of serious abuse from 1985 to 2008, including gross indecency and rape. On March 28, 2024, the Police Service of Northern Ireland arrested Jeffrey and his wife, Eleanor. Eleanor was charged with aiding and abetting rape and indecent assault, as well as two counts of cruelty to a person under 16. The fallout was immediate. Jeffrey was suspended from the Orange Order and resigned from the DUP leadership. The couple was granted bail and required to live separately while preparing for their hearings. Eleanor's charge of cruelty to a minor was later dropped, and Jeffrey's charges were slightly adjusted to four counts of gross indecency, 13 counts of indecent assault, and one count of rape. Both pleaded not guilty. Repeated delays followed. By March 2025, Eleanor's lawyers argued that she was too ill to continue. Citing psychiatric reports, Judge Paul Ramsey agreed to further evaluation, and hearings in June and August were conducted without the defendant's presence. A new hearing was scheduled for November 3, 2025, but was vacated due to Eleanor's health. The trial is now unlikely to begin before early 2026. Personally, if you do crimes like this, I don't think an illness should delay your judgment. But apparently that's how the law sometimes works. At Crime House Daily, we'll keep you fully updated. Justice for Jeffrey's accusers has been slow, but we hope the case will have its day in court. And the full truth will come to light. 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.
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