← Serialously with Annie Elise
Serialously with Annie Elise
243: Barbaric Fiji Honeymoon Murder, Josef Fritzl Release, Diddy Wins Lawsuit & Doctor Kills 10 Patients
00:37:06
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- [00:00]
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- [01:02]
Annie Elise
Hey true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial Asleep. Hey everybody. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial As Ly with me, Annie Elise. I am outside of my normal studio today. I am recording in Big Bear, California actually, because I didn't realize that it's ski week, which means my son has the week off school. So we decided come up here, let's you know, there's a little bit of snow left from the storm from last week. We're gonna attempt to go skiing today and it'll be their first time taking lessons. So fingers crossed that all goes according to plan. But you if you're watching the YouTube version of this, then you see that I'm not in my normal set. But anyway, today we are going over headline highlights and there is so much to talk about today because it is an episode that is full of not only new cases but also a lot of updates in existing cases. I'll start off by just giving you like a little sneak preview, but one of these cases is about a doctor who allegedly murdered 10 of his patients but then tried to cover up every single individual murder by setting a fire to their residents. It's very complicated, very confusing, but we're going to get into that. But honestly, like serial killer, right? We also are going to talk about an update in the infamous case of Joseph Fritzel. Now, some people call him Josef. It's Joseph Fritzel. He was the guy. You probably are familiar. There was a movie based off him. He locked his daughter in a basement for over two decades, had multiple children with her. There was a movie made off of this case. It was called Girl in the Basement. And he actually might be getting released from prison. It is unbelievable. So we're going to talk about that case, too. Another case that we have talked about briefly, but don't worry, I'll give you the recap, is Lindsay Shiver. It looks like she is going to possibly be released and have given another chance on bail even though in my opinion she screwed up her last chance so badly because they told her not to go on a press tour. She went on Good Morning America out of all things. So then she was thrown right back in jail in the Bahamas. But now it looks like she might be released soon. There also has been an update in the Diddy and Jay Z of it all, particularly, not only has one of the lawsuits been dropped and dismissed, but there is a new lawsuit for $100 million. But it's not what you think. So we're going to go over that, too. We'll talk a little bit about the Megan Boswell trial because I know I've been talking about that on the last couple of episodes. She is who I deem Casey Anthony 2.0. She has officially been found guilty. She's been sentenced. So we'll touch on that a bit. And then we're going to talk about this case about a man who was convicted of killing his fiance in Fiji while the two of them were on their honeymoon. I touched on this. I believe it was like a year ago. Way more details have come out and this is so bizarre to me and I don't want to get ahead of myself, but they go on this extravagant, beautiful honeymoon in Fiji. He not only allegedly murders her, but then he tries to flee in the most ass backwards way I've ever heard of. So we're going to jump right in to all of it. Let's start with this doctor who allegedly has killed 10 people and then tried to cover his tracks by setting fire to all of the residences. So this case actually sounds like it's right out of an episode of Criminal Minds or I don't know, NCIS or any one of those shows because it truly is wild. But a German doctor who works in Berlin has now been charged with killing 10 of his patients. And in half of those cases, like I said, he allegedly tried to start fires to cover up the murders. So this doctor, whose identity hasn't yet been released, first got charged back in August, and this was because the police suspected him of killing four elderly patients. All of them were between 72 and 94 years of age, which we talked about elderly crime before on here. And it just, it never ceases to amaze because, like, what kind of sick person are you to then be, like, in a position of power, like a doctor or a trusted official, and then you prey on some of the most vulnerable people. It's just sick. So this doctor, he was 40 years old, and he was also a part of a nursing care team, and he allegedly killed these four elderly patients in June and July, then tried to set their apartment on fire to cover his tracks, which he really have much success with that, clearly. But then in November, the investigators started to realize the extent of just who they were dealing with because they connected him to four more patients deaths. And then just last week, they connected him to another two. So they were able to connect him to all of those murders after going through all of the different patients files and then cross referencing their autopsy reports. And that's really when all the puzzle pieces started to come together. And it's not exactly said how he allegedly killed every single one of these patients, but from what the police have shared, looks like he would give these patients some sort of, like, lethal mix of medication or drugs. I'm not sure if he would inject them with this dosage or give it to them in pill form or maybe even like cough syrup form, but he would somehow give his patients this very deadly dose. Now, one of the scariest and the saddest parts of this entire case is that he supposedly had no motive whatsoever for doing any of this. I mean, other than what the investigators are calling, quote, a literal lust for murder. But other than that, no motive. Not that we ever see a huge motive in this, because a lot of the times we see caretakers, hospital staff kind of, you know, inject the insulin in the IV bags or do these things, especially with elderly patients, and they don't have a motive. It's just more of like a power trip, right? They have the power to play God and do these things. And apparently that's what this guy had, because as they are calling it, it was a lust for murder. Now, I guess Germany has some stricter privacy laws, so his identity hasn't yet been released. But the prosecutors did say that he has not responded to the charges or made any public statements. So we'll see what happens here. Again, a huge abuse of power, in my opinion. It's sick when people prey on the elderly. This does enter serial killer territory, clearly. So we'll see how this all pans out. Now, this next case is the one of Joseph Fritzel. And when I tell you this case has haunted me for years, it is every person's worst nightmare. And I feel like any of these stories that we hear about somebody being held capt captive in a home or in a basement and then being rescued and released. I don't know if it's just me because I cover a lot of true crime. Tell me if you do this too. But I swear, every time I'm driving up and down the street, whether it's my neighborhood or a neighborhood I'm not familiar with, or even on vacation, like right now, literally in the mountains, I was thinking, had this thought yesterday and I drive past these houses, I'm like, I wonder, out of all these houses, how many of them have somebody held against their will? And I don't know if that's again, just my sick mind because I'm also the kind of person where if I'm in a mall or like a concert, I also think to myself, I wonder how many people attending this have killed somebody. I wonder how many people are pedophiles. Like, my mind just goes there. Which that can't mean I'm well. But anyway, this is one that has haunted me forever, for decades, because it is one of the more barbaric and gruesome ones. So get ready to just be disgusted. Now, for those of you who haven't heard of this case, let me give you a little bit of a breakdown, okay? Because Joseph Fritzel was a man who basically held his. Not even. Basically, he did. He held his daughter Elizabeth captive in a cellar that he built beneath his home, beneath their home, their family home. And he held her there for years while she was being held captive in that cellar. He repeatedly raped her. He fathered seven children of hers. And he had convinced everyone in her family and her friends that she had run away from home to join a cult, which it is just so disgusting. This father kept his own daughter as his personal sex slave and kept her in that cellar for 24 years. Now, there's also been some confusion and some talk over the years that a lot of this stemmed from control, that he was a very controlling father. He didn't like her dating, he didn't like her going out. He just wanted complete control. Yet she would disobey a lot. She wanted to live her life. She Also fell in love and wanted to just be, you know, a typical teenage girl. And so because of that one day he just over, not even overreacted, but it's like a fuse blew. And that's when he dragged her into his cellar of her family home, beneath the home and held her there captive, fathering seven children for 24 years. As I mentioned, there was even a movie that was based on this case called Girl in the Basement and it came out back in 2021. So if you want, if you're curious, you should definitely watch it. Do your own research about this guy and you will see just how truly disgusting and absolutely vile he is now. How Elizabeth was finally able to manage escaping this 24 years of hell was because one of her daughters, who was a 19 year old named Kirsten, she became super sick. So Joseph had put Kirsten in an ambulance so that she could go to the hospital where the nurses and the doctors obviously became very concerned for just how bad this girl's condition was. All the while, Joseph pretended to not even know her, saying that he found her, that he was just playing good citizen by bringing her to the hospital, but that he didn't even know her. So because of that, the hospital started broadcasting these messages asking the missing mother to come forward to help this girl who's at the hospital. So Elizabeth started begging Joseph to let her go, to let her be released from this cellar in the basement so that she could go help her daughter. Which for whatever reason, he finally agreed to it. So they went to the hospital and Elizabeth started acting a little bit, not suspicious, but trying to like, say what was going on without saying what was going on, to like give the eyes to the doctor and the hospital staff so that somebody would help her. And after making the police promise that she would never ever have to lay eyes on her father again, she told the investigators and the staff everything about her 24 years as a hostage to her own father. And Joseph was 73 years old at the time. So I don't know if he was just getting weaker and didn't think that he could keep living this double life any longer. And that's why he agreed to let her out. But it wasn't like he let her out and then advertised what had happened and that he was the one responsible. She's the one who had the bravery and really went to these people and said, this was my father. I've been held captive for over two decades. So after Elizabeth finally escaped and told everybody what had happened, Joseph was arrested and he was charged with enslavement, incest, rape, coercion, and false imprisonment of elizabeth. He was also charged with murder by negligence of his infant son because one of their kids had died just days after being born. Now, also, just as a side note, I have to say that all of these kids were, yes, technically his children, but also his grandchildren. Just a very gross fact in all of that. So after a four day trial, Joseph pleaded guilty and he was sentenced to life in prison. A motive, though, was never given for any of the things that he did.
- [11:58]
News Reporter
For the last time, Joseph fritzl took the long walk to court. A dozen policemen guarding a man who's received thousands of death threats. He looked every inch someone ready to finally face judgment. This is the face of a man who's been broken. After the cameras had left, his lawyer told the jury it was the presence of his daughter elizabeth in court this week that made him change his pleas. Fritzl himself then addressed the jury. I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart, he said. Unfortunately, I can't change anything now.
- [12:34]
Annie Elise
So when he was sentenced to life in prison, he had a minimum of 15 years before he would become eligible for parole. And now those 15 years are up.
- [12:46]
News Reporter
He could theoretically be released after 15 years at the earliest. And then, of course, three judges would have to decide again on this release.
- [12:54]
Annie Elise
Joseph's lawyers are saying that they will be submitting a parole application in the coming weeks. And they've also said that they are very confident that he will be released possibly this year or by the next one. His lawyers say that he no longer poses a danger to society Due to his age and due to how frail he is since he's now 89 years old. But personally, my thoughts are this guy should never see the light of day again. I don't care if, first of all, 15 years is not enough, in my opinion, but also, I don't care how old you are. And because of your age, you're not a danger to society because you're so weak. That doesn't matter. The punishment for holding your own daughter captive for over two decades and for fathering children with her and instilling that trauma on her and everything she's had to endure and those kids have had to endure, that, in my opinion, equals you should be locked up for life. I don't care your age. I don't care how frail you are. It's not about you being a danger to society at this point. It's about retribution. It's about payback. It's about making sure that he is held accountable for what he did and what those horrific, vile actions were. Right. It just doesn't make sense to me. How he only served 15 years or might only have served 15 years, I'll never know. I think he deserves to run prison forever now. As if all of this wasn't crazy enough, Joseph is so insane that he fully believes that once he is released, he will be greeted with what he is calling fanfare. He legit thinks that people will be so incredibly happy to see that he is out, that he is walking free, and that he has a chance to finish his life outside of prison, which. No, no, bro. I think it is the complete opposite. I think that his family, along with the majority of the public are going to be outraged by this. Who wouldn't be? How is this guy if he was just walking down the street? I mean, how do you justify that? How do you justify this man being released? I will keep an eye on it. I hope it doesn't go through, but, you know, we have seen crazier things happen right now. Let's talk about this other case because it's a case that we have talked about on this channel. There hasn't been a resolution yet, but it is a very wild one. So I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with it, but Lindsay Shiver, the former beauty queen who was accused of hiring a hitman to kill her husband while they were on vacation, is set to return to the US after being granted bail again. So Lindsay is a former beauty queen and she was married to an ex NFL player named Robert Shiver. And safe to say, their marriage was on the outs and they were almost completely estranged at this point, but they were technically still married. So In July of 2023, Lindsay was arrested for an alleged murder for hire plot against Robert while in the Bahamas. Police ended up finding incriminating text messages between Lindsay and her alleged lover, Terence Bethel, and also some text messages with the alleged hitman, Farron Newbold Jr. And in these text messages, they were apparently all three talking about this murder plan, how they were going to get away with it, concocting the who plan. And according to the police report at the time, Lindsay admitted to sending a text message that said, kill him with a photo of her husband attached to it. Now, all three of them pleaded not guilty to these charges. So then In December of 2023, Lindsay was actually granted bail at $100,000 and Terence was also granted bail. However, with this bail, there was a certain set of conditions that Lindsay had to follow. This included going back to her Home in Georgia wearing an ankle monitor, returning to the Bahamas for all court hearings. And she had to follow a gag order, meaning she was not allowed to speak publicly about anything regarding the case. But boy, oh boy, did they screw that last one up. Because without getting permission from the courts, Lindsay and Terence spoke to media outlets ad nauseam and even gave interviews with Good Morning America where they would just talk about the case. They would give their take their opinion and their point of view. So I mean, because of this, obviously the court revoked their bond and they were rearrested after violating the agreements back in October of 2024. But now recently the judge has changed his mind and he is reinstating Lindsay's bond back to what it was originally set at. So this means that she is set to be released for a second time. This time she'll return back home to Georgia where she'll just wait until her trial starts. However, her trial date has also been pushed back. It was scheduled for March, but now it is set for August. So nobody really knows why the judge has changed their mind and why they are giving Lindsay and Terrence another chance at bail. I mean, it beats me. I have no idea. If they talked once, I would imagine they would talk again. But Lindsay and Terence still insist that there was never even a murder plot. They just said that Faren isn't even a hitman, that this was all a joke. She was just frustrated about her ex. So this is all pretty crazy and it will definitely be interesting to watch this whole thing unfold. So we will definitely be keeping an eye on Lindsay. We'll see if she follows her bond conditions this time. We'll see what happens. But if you want to go back and re review the deep dive of this case, I will link it in the show notes for you too. So let's talk about the Jay Z and the Diddy lawsuit and the update that is coming out of this case because it feels like every time we turn around there is another situation here, right? I mean the Diddy and Jay Z rabbit hole just continues on. But this new update is a bit of a shock because if you remember, Jay Z and Diddy were facing a lawsuit for the alleged rape of a 13 year old girl from back in the year 2000. However, the Attorney who was representing this girl just dismissed this lawsuit last Friday. Now if you don't remember, or maybe if you missed an episode where we talked about this, the 13 year old girl was attending the MTV Video Music Awards in New York City at Radio City to be exact. Then apparently as she was exiting, she was trying to get invited to an after party. And one of Diddy's limo drivers kind of scooped her up and decided, you know, you'd be great. We should take you to the after party. They would love to have you. So she alleged that at this after party, Jay Z and Diddy allegedly drugged her drink. Then after that, they raped her. All while a third female celebrity was inside the room watching the entire assault go down. Through this entire lawsuit, the woman has remained anonymous. But on Friday, the lawyer said that the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice. And since it was dismissed with prejudice, it means that this suit cannot be refiled and that this anonymous woman cannot sue again. It wasn't explicitly said why the lawsuit was dismissed, but I would imagine that it has something to do with a report by NBC where they were talking about the inconsistencies with her story. They wrote that the woman had said that her father picked her up after the assault, but then her father said that he doesn't remember even doing that. Then the woman said that she spoke to a certain musician at the party. However, the musician was apparently on tour, not even in New York City at the time of the party, which I will say. Her lawyers argued that victims of sexual assault can lose memories or even have some different time lapses within their memory, which is entirely true. But Jay Z's lawyers tried to use use these inconsistencies in her story to throw out the lawsuit entirely last month, which I have to say, whether this was true, whether it was fabricated, whatever the reason is, it is a true statement that victims block trauma out, that their memory may not be exact, that they might have time lapses. And taking into consideration that this was 25 years ago and that the girl was only 13 years old at the time. I understand it's a big life event, allegedly. But also I think that it certainly is possible that she doesn't remember all of the details exactly as they happened. Not only because of the time that has passed, but her age. And again, the trauma and fight or flight mode that your body goes into to block that out and suppress those memories. But what do I know? So Jay Z's attorney further said that the case was dismissed without any settlement or any payment. And he called the allegations false and malicious. Jay Z's company, ROC Nation, also issued a statement saying that this is a victory. He also said that this issue caused a lot of trauma for Jay Z, his wife and his children. And I just read too, that Jay Z is actually suing the lawyer, Busby the one who's been responsible and behind all of these lawsuits for all these Jane does and all these victims, that he is suing him for a hundred million dollars, claiming that this has not only created such distress for his family, but even has put his life in jeopardy because he claimed that when he went to the Lion King premiere for Blue Ivy's debut, that somebody apparently held him at gunpoint and was threatening his life. I hadn't heard of that. I'm not saying it's not true. I just hadn't ever heard of that. I didn't see it in the news. It very well could have happened. I don't follow Lion King News or Premiere News or Jay Z News that much, but he's saying that because of this, he's suing for a hundred million dollars because not only again, was there distress, but he put his life in jeopardy. So this whole lawsuit being dropped definitely came as a bit of a shock to everybody, especially the fact that it got tossed out and the girl might not ever see justice now, if that was, in fact, true. But I will say that although Jay Z's lawsuit got thrown out, Diddy is still facing dozens and dozens of lawsuits, some that do not seem to be going away anytime soon. So with this case being thrown out, Diddy's lawyers are now trying to, of course, use that as leverage, saying, oh, well, yeah, all the allegations against him are just based on lies, just like this one, which, I don't know. I'm of the mentality of where there's smoke, there's fire. I think there is a lot of suggested proof indicating that this Diddy thing goes way deep. But of course, they're using this as, like, they're gonna use anything they possibly can. Right? And they're saying, just like this example, all these other ones are fabricated, too. We want all these thrown out, but I highly doubt that's going to happen. In the meantime, Diddy has been locked up in Brooklyn since September 2024, and he's facing racketeering and sex trafficking charges. He's been denied bail three times now, too, so he is definitely staying behind bars for now. Now, his trial is 5th, 2025, which I can't even believe that it is coming up that quickly, yet we're not even gonna. We haven't seen Brian Coburger in court for years. Right. I don't know. Not that they're the same, obviously, but, like, this is so fast. Now, he could be looking at a life sentence if he ends up being convicted. So I'm gonna follow this closely. I will keep you updated and I will follow that trial literally like glue. Now, before we get into this honeymoon murder and this guy trying to flee in the most dumb way I've ever heard, we're going to take a quick break and hear from today's sponsors. Today's episode is sponsored by Acorns. Acorns is a financial wellness app that makes it easy to start saving and start investing for your future. You don't need to be an expert either. Acorns will recommend a diversified portfolio that matches you and your money goals. And you don't need to be rich or have a lot of money. Don't worry, Acorns lets you get started with the spare money that you have right now, even if all you have is spare change. And you don't need a ton of time either. You can create your Acorns account and start investing in literally just five minutes. It is so easy. Acorns gives you these small, simple steps to get you and your money on track. And it doesn't need to feel overwhelming or like financial wellness is impossible. They make it so, so simple. Basically, Acorns does the hard part so that you can give your money a chance to grow. I am not financially savvy in the least. I always try to be. I read the books, I've listened to the podcast, I try to like figure out how to invest, how to do things like that. But I'll be honest, it always goes over my head. So this has been something that has just changed my experience tremendously. Because like I said, they do the hard part for you. You don't even have to be super savvy and knowledgeable like I thought you did. So sign up now and join the over 13 million all time customers who have already saved and invested over $22 billion with Acorn. Acorns. Head to acorns.comae or download the Acorns app to get started. Paid non client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns to your one compensated provided investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor view important disclosures acorns.comae all right guys, let's be real. 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So please support our show, tell them that we sent you, but treat yourself to Honey Love because you deserve it. Okay, guys, so I'm gonna just give you a quick update on Megan Boswell who was found guilty, the sentencing, all that, and then we are going to talk all about this honeymoon. Fiji Murder. So the heinous case of Megan Boswell is finally coming to a close. Last week, Megan's trial wrapped up, and not only was she found guilty on all charges, but she was also sentenced to life in prison. Prison. So last week I did a little bit of a recap and update about what was going on with her trial. So if you want to check that out, you definitely can. But the trial lasted about a week long. The trial included hours of testimony and the witnesses spanned from past babysitters, past foster families, friends, families, doctors, police officers, I mean, the whole nine yards. And it really was because they wanted to get a. Give everybody a full glimpse into who Megan was and also what her behavior was like after Evelyn was reported missing. So Megan faced a total of 19 charges. These included murder, child abuse, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, false reporting, and on and on and on. So last Wednesday, the lawyers gave their closing arguments, and after four hours of deliberating, the jury found her guilty on every single one of the 19 charges. And right after she was found guilty, the judge gave the jury a very short break, and then they immediately started with the sentencing portion of the trial. Now, the important thing to note know here is that since Megan was found guilty on all of the charges, she was definitely 100 going to get life in prison. However, the sentencing trial was to see whether or not she would get life in prison without the chance of parole or life in prison with the chance of parole, specifically after serving 51 years. Prosecutors argued that even though Megan had a very hard life growing up, that there are tons and tons of people who grow up in bad circumstances and. And of course, they don't murder their children. So they argued that she should spend the entirety of her life in prison.
- [28:06]
Prosecutor
And maybe the worst part is that she just went on with her life as if Evelyn had never even existed. But Evelyn did exist. Evelyn is a real person. And Megan Boswell should not be able to go on as if Evelyn did not exist. There are things we will never. We will never know about what happened. None of us will ever know everything. I think it's fair to say that we do know that Evelyn was in the way. She was in the way of Megan Boswell living the life that she thought she deserved, that she wanted to live. So Megan removed her. As simple as that. So today, five years later, almost five years to the day that Evelyn was reported missing, we are going to ask that you hold Megan Boswell accountable for what she did for her child. Submit to you, the state has proven every count and every element of every count beyond reasonable doubt. And we are going to ask that you return a verdict of guilty.
- [29:18]
News Reporter
Thank you, general.
- [29:20]
Annie Elise
The defense, on the other hand, asked the jury to show Megan what they were calling grace and love, saying that showing compassion to Megan would allow the community to heal. The defense asked the jury to give Megan the chance of parole, too, because she needs to be shown love, that she's redeemable, that she should have a chance at life.
- [29:39]
News Reporter
My argument is helpful somehow with this case. What I would say to you, if you have questions, El, if you have questions about any elements of These crimes and your questions are not answered to your satisfaction. You have reasonable doubt. If you say, I don't know how that child died, that's reasonable doubt. The homicide. I don't think I have much to. To say to you. I go to a Baptist church, and I hate long sermons. I'm used to them.
- [30:14]
Annie Elise
Then the deputy district attorney shared his final closing statement. And he said to the jury that they should show Megan Boswell, quote, the same compassion and grace that she showed Evelyn. And he asked the jury to send her away without any chance of parole. So in the end, the jury ended up deciding to give her life in prison with the chance of parole. This will be after 51 years, which I gotta say, I do not agree, madam.
- [30:40]
News Reporter
Four person. Did the jury come to a unanimous decision for sentencing on counts one, two, and three?
- [30:47]
Prosecutor
Yes, your honor.
- [30:48]
News Reporter
If you would deliver the verdict. Account one.
- [30:54]
Prosecutor
We, the jury, unanimously agree that the defendant shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life.
- [31:01]
News Reporter
And did each. Each member of the jury signed the form. All right, if that is each individual juror's verdict, please raise your right hand. Let the record reflect each juror raise their right hand.
- [31:14]
Annie Elise
So this sentencing of life in prison is just for her three first degree murder convictions. The sentences for all the other charges, like the tampering with evidence, the abuse of a corpse, the false reporting, all those, those will be decided on May 22. And then once those are figured out, it'll probably affect how the entirety of her prison sentence ends up being carried out. But as of right now, Megan will be put in prison for at least 51 years. And then after time is served, she will get the chance to go for parole. I'm sure that this case has taken such a toll on friends, family, involved, even the community. And for me, personally, I don't feel that 51 years is nearly enough for what she showed was her priority. And that was living a life without Evelyn, in my opinion. But I don't know. I wasn't on the jury. So. Guess she gets to be free after 51 years, which will put her somewhere around, what, 75 years old? Maybe a little less, A little shy of that. I can't really do the math. So at least the majority of her life, she'll be locked up. But in my opinion, there should be no parole offered. I don't know. Those are just my thoughts. So let's talk about this Fiji honeymoon murder, because this one is absolutely crazy. Again, not only because of what happened and the course of events that took place, but then when this guy literally Tried to flee. So I covered this case in the past. I will link it. So for those of you who are not familiar with this case, let me give you a little bit of a breakdown. Bradley and Christie got married in 2022, and Bradley was doing I T. For a non profit organization While Christie was working as a pharmacist at the time. Also, let me just add in, their romance was definitely a bit of a whirlwind one. They got married just three months after meeting, so things were definitely moving fast. But you know, when you know, you know, and they were in love. So after they got married, they headed over to Fiji for their honeymoon, and they were staying in this very exclusive turtle island resort, which sounds and looks picture perfect, but it definitely was not, because two days after the newlyweds got there, Their honeymoon went unbelievably south. So one night, the hotel workers heard Bradley and Christy arguing. However, they didn't think to intervene. All couples argue. There was a lot of drinking involved, things like that. However, the next morning, the couple didn't show up for breakfast or for lunch. And let me also just add this. In this resort that they were staying at, it only had 14 couples staying there at a time. So it was definitely very easy to notice that they had missed from breakfast from then lunchtime. I mean, they had an accounting of all of their guests. So hotel staff decided to go and check on the couple, Especially since they had heard them arguing the night before. But there is no way that the staff members were prepared for what they were going to find, because when they went inside their room, they found the dead body of Christie, and Bradley was nowhere to be seen. Christie's body had clearly been beaten very badly, and she had horrific blunt force trauma to her head. In fact, her body was apparently so severely damaged that she couldn't even be embalmed to be returned to the US and it was rumored that they saw a broken toilet tank lid nearby her, where her body was, which, you know, I'm talking about not the actual toilet seat cover, but the, like, big, rectangular, heavy piece of porcelain that goes on top of the water tank, apparently. Allegedly. I'm just gonna throw it out there. That is what was used to inflict the blunt force trauma. Took that lid off and just bashed her in the head with it, which you can imagine how forceful that is. Right? So they find her body, and then, of course, the question is, okay, well, where's her husband? Where's the newlywed? Where's Bradley after all of this? And get this. He actually stole a kayak and then fled to a nearby island after the murder. He ended up being found about 36 hours after Christie's body was discovered. The police said that when he was found, he had blood on him, he had his passport, he had some other things with him, and it clearly just indicated that he was trying to flee. And I, again, in this deep dive that I talked about, there were other things how people on that island mentioned how he was acting, what he was saying to them, and it's believed that he was 100 trying to get away from all of this. So Bradley was arrested, but then he pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyer said that the prosecutors didn't have sufficient evidence to convict him. Bradley's lawyers argued that Bradley did not have any physical injuries. So because of that, how could he have been involved in a fight? And they also argued that he left a lot of his belongings behind at that hotel. So there's no way that he could have been trying to flee Fiji, which I don't really know about that. I think that you just take what you need, like a passport, right? Yeah, I think there was also. And I'd have to go back and double check. He was very drunk when they found him. And I think that was the initial excuse, too, is I'm drunk, I'm blacked out. I didn't even know what I was doing. But obviously, you're not going to take a suitcase with you on a kayak if you're trying to flee. You would take what you need to flee, a passport, some money, things like that. So even though the defense was fighting this, the judge said that he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Bradley committed this crime. Crime. So Bradley's trial lasted eight days, and he was convicted in December of 2024. But then last Tuesday, he was sentenced to life in prison. So Bradley will have to serve 18 years in prison before he can even be considered for a pardon. And he's going to serve this sentence in Fiji, which, can you imagine? I mean, first of all, I think this guy deserves to rot. He manipulated her, he abused her. It is a horrific crime. And then he fled. But also, I wish it was life in prison without parole. But what I will say, he does give me, you know, a glimmer of happiness that he's being held in Fiji because you're not going to have a revolving door of friends and family coming and visiting you all the way over there. Maybe a few from time to time, but certainly not the amount you would have if you were in your hometown, which he's from Tennessee. So imagine if he was in prison in Tennessee. He would have visitors more frequently. He'd actually have have some semblance of a life there. It's my opinion he really won't, except in. Unless people want to, like, piggyback a vacation on it. But then it's like, what are you gonna do? Go visit him in prison and like, brag about how you're on, like a Fiji vacation and going to the beach? Maybe. I don't know. Maybe I should do that. Maybe I should go brag to him. But anyway, yeah, I'm just glad that he is away from kind stripped of any visitors and really stripped of any life, because that's what he deserves. He took hers. He shouldn't have one. Not eye for an eye. But maybe. I don't know. I'm going off on a tangent. I need to reel it in. All right, guys, thanks for tuning in with me today for another episode of Headline Highlights. I appreciate you being here. I will be back with you on the mic first thing Monday. All new deep dive into a case. It is one that is wild and is going to truly blow your mind. It's one that a lot of you guys have been requesting and we have got a lot to talk about. So I will talk with you very soon. Until then, stay safe, be nice, please don't kill people, and just be a good human. All right, bye, guys.