← Serialously with Annie Elise
Serialously with Annie Elise
328: Teen Decapitates Mom’s BF, Mistress Destroys Murder Evidence & Ellen Greenberg Ruled Suicide AGAIN
00:39:44
Loading summary
Transcript61 lines
- [00:00]
A
This is the story of the 1. As a maintenance supervisor at a manufacturing facility, he knows keeping the line up and running is a top priority. That's why he chooses Grainger. Because when a drive belt gets damaged, Grainger makes it easy to find the exact specs for the replacement product he needs. And next day delivery helps ensure he'll have everything in place and running like clockwork. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial Asleep. Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to an all new episode of Serial as ly with me your host, Annie Elise. Lots of cases to discuss today. Lots of updates in cases. It has been a wild week. I also have a little bit of housekeeping that I want to go over with you guys. First and foremost, tour has just been absolutely freaking amazing. Everyone who is listening right now, who has had a chance to come out and who I've met, thank you so much for coming, for supporting. You can see officially the bookshelf behind me is, you know, my version of the Andy Cohen watch what happens live clubhouse. These are all things that you guys have brought and shared with me on the road. And so it's nice. It just feels kind of, you know, like we're all in here together, which I love. But yeah, Some exciting news. So originally we only had three stops left on the tour. Tacoma, Portland and San Francisco. However, Tacoma sold out like two months ago and had a waiting list of over 100 people. So we added a second Tacoma show. So if you are one of those people in Washington who has been like, oh, I really wanted to go to Tacoma, but it's been sold out. We now added a show for that Monday and you can get those tickets on the website annie elise.com and if you want to get tickets, I think we still have a couple left for Portland and a couple left for San Francisco. So exciting news there. Some other exciting news is we officially have opened up the fall merch shop so that also, you know, just repeating myself, Annie elise.com but we did it a little bit differently this year. So it's some exclusive pieces, a couple of tour pieces that have been fan favorites and we're only going to have the merch shop open for two weeks. Then it's going to be shut down, won't be able to order anymore. So you've got to get those orders in within the next two weeks. It'll be closed on the 26th don't worry. I will give you a couple other reminders through other episodes, but they that is officially open as of now. So get those orders in whether it's gifting for the holidays for yourself. We have some really cozy sweatshirts on there, some really like fun stuff. So check that out. Annie elise.com okay, so now that all the housekeeping of it all is out of the way, the admin which is like a thorn in my side. Let's talk about some updates because as you know, I've been trying to follow this whole David case, The singer David D4VD, whatever the hell, so closely. We did a big deep dive into this case. We've been following it closely, figuring out, you know, what the heck is going on. The last update we had was that his manager was really trying to distance himself from David being like, you know, I never saw anything, I never heard anything. You know, I had managed a bunch of other people. I don't know what he was doing. And the police also had said that he was officially not a suspect. However, before you guys all gasp in horror, the reason why is more of like a technicality. Unfortunately, because Celeste's remains were so badly decomposed, they at this moment have been unable to determine cause of death and manner of death. So therefore the police have said, look, if we can't even prove that it is a homicide, then we sure as don't have a suspect in this case for a homicide. So it's kind of like a little roundabout loophole. They are doing further analysis on her remains and I would imagine they will have an answer soon. Maybe days, maybe weeks. I'm not really sure how long all of that will take, but they did say, you know, he's not a suspect at this time because of that. However, he has been doing some like questionable things in my opinion at least especially as of late, even after all of this new information was released. So he started moving some properties around, specifically putting them in family members names, which I'm just going to say it, and this is just my opinion, school me if you disagree. If you are not guilty of anything and you are not trying to protect your assets because you know you're going to be going to prison and you're going to be facing a murder charge, why would you need to start putting your homes in your mom's name? Why would you need to start moving your money around and protecting your assets? Because David has put his Texas houses, plural, multiple houses, in his mother's name during this ongoing investigation. He transferred the deeds of two Houston area homes to his mother. And these changes were made back on September 18th and the 22nd, which just throwing out some key dates as a reminder here. David's rental in California was searched on September 17, meaning the day after that property was searched, he transferred one of these homes, one of the deeds, to his mother. Again, maybe it doesn't mean anything, maybe it's all a coincidence, but to me it looks like he's trying to protect the assets and the money that he has made and make sure that his family is taken care of should he be named a suspect and be arrested in the future. So again, take it how you want and come to your own conclusions. Some other news, which I talked about this a little bit while we were on the road last week during the tour because this news broke, but there has been an arrest made in connection with the Palisades fire here in California. As you know, this was the most devastating fire in California history, in Los Angeles history, I should say. It killed 12 people and was just absolutely devastating, created so much damage and has just been awful. So 29 year old Jonathan Reindernecti was arrested on October 8th in Florida and he was charged with maliciously starting that fire back in January 2025. Now, he allegedly started the fire in the Palisades area on New Year's Day and as we know, it became extremely destructive. It spread in very, very quickly and was just awful. As far as any sort of motive or admission or confession, there has not been much. All that they have released is that he apparently was very into fire. I, I don't want to use the term pyromaniacs because I feel like that is kind of a loaded name and, you know, accusation. But, you know, maybe it is, I don't know. But they did say that he had a fascination with dystopian images and things like that. So maybe he initially started this fire thinking it was going to be much smaller, that he could photograph it, that he could circle jerk to it. I don't know what they get off on, I don't know. But we now know that that fire was huge. So he had a court appearance on October 9, but he did not enter a plea. And his next court appearance is scheduled for October 17th. So tomorrow we will see what happen. But I know that when this first came out, everybody in Florida, cause that's where I was on tour at the time, they're like, we're not claiming him. He moved to Florida after he set the fire. Trying to like escape and hide and go under the radar. So he originally, I believe, yeah. Was from California, then moved there after starting the fire, and then was, of course, reprimanded. So we will watch that and see what happens. And we will pray that Spencer Pratt exposes all of it. Now, in other news, I gotta say, I'm really pissed off about this. And you know, I have been talking about this a lot for years. As a matter of fact, Ellen Greenberg, we republished our Deep Dive episode that we had released last year in which her parents had joined us as well. And there recently was a docu series that came out on Hulu called death in apartment 603, I believe it was. And everybody's been talking about this case. Everybody's been all over social media on Tick Tock, and I have still not seen a single person. And maybe it's because my algorithm is only feeding me what it knows I want to see, but I have not seen a single person say that they believe that this was a suicide. I have seen countless people say there's no way in hell this girl stabbed herself in the back of the head 20 times. There's way too much shady stuff about her fiance Sam, like, what the heck is going on here? So I gave you guys a breakdown. I believe it was last week, saying that they were re looking at the case, that there was going to be a new ruling by the medical examiner, which would then indicate if the case is reopened, if there's a bigger investigation and hopefully some justice for Ellen and her parents who have been fighting so hard. But as of now, officially, the medical examiner has once again ruled her death as a suicide, which not only angers and enrages me, but I know a lot of people out there just do not understand how this is happening. But as of October 10th at the Philadelphia medical examiner's office reviewed her death once again and concluded again that she died by suicide. I think I had mentioned too in the previous episode when I was going to plug the Deep Dive and when we re released it that back on February 3rd of this year, her parents had settled lawsuits that they had filed against the city of Philadelphia, the former chief medical examiner and others. And they did reach a settlement, which has been undisclosed the exact amount. But part of the settlement was not only monetary, it also was the city officials agreeing to reevaluate Ellen's manner of death. So going back a little bit, the original Emmy Osborne, who initially, let me remind you, initially ruled this a homicide, then changed it to suicide, and then recently signed a statement saying he no longer believes that she died by suicide and that it's his opinion that it was a homicide. However, now that's not the medical examiner who is doing this new determination. And chief medical examiner Lindsay Simon wrote that, quote, while the distribution of injuries is admittedly unusual, the fact remains that Ellen would be capable of inflicting these injuries herself, adding that she was, quote, a young woman suffering from anxiety. And this is just devastating for multiple reasons, not only because I don't think, you know, I believe 99% of the population believes that this was a homicide and her parents have been fighting so hard for this. But now that it was reevaluated, reopened and looked at and it's been ruled this again, the likelihood that it will ever change in the future or be overturned or re examined is probably pretty. And that's got to be a big blow to her parents and to the community that's been fighting so hard to try to get her justice. I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that somebody could do that to themselves or would do that to themselves just physically too. Because whether you watch the docu series or not, one of the main arguments in this is that one of the injuries to the back of her neck may have happened post mortem. And there was one injury, I believe too, on the stem of the brain where it would have potentially paralyzed her. So it's like there's just so much room for there to be something more going on here. So the fact that they're not even, I guess, willing to investigate this or investigate Sam or look into things further and they're just saying, oh no, you know, it's a suicide. I don't know, it doesn't sit right with me. But let me know what you guys think who have been following the case. And if you are brand new to that case and have not heard about it, I highly, highly encourage you. Go. I think it's only two weeks back in this feed on the episode list and listen to that re released episode I did that we had had her parents join on because it gives not only the full scope of the case, but a lot of information that the docu series didn't even touch on certain ties with the family, political influence, things about how Sam called the cousin to the apartment before authorities arrived to some really shady stuff. So I don't know, I feel like even though this unfortunately looks like that chapter is closed, I feel like a lot of people are still going to be talking about it. So maybe there's hope, I don't know. But we will certainly continue to follow it, keep an eye on it and hope for the best. So with that, those are the big updates that I wanted to share with you of ongoing stuff that we've been talking about. But now we have some new cases to get into and I have a fan favorite back on the mic. Joining me today, Amy is back in studio. I see the comments. I know you guys love her. So here she is.
- [12:52]
B
She's back.
- [12:53]
A
So we are going to get into some new cases that are happening this week that you've been sliding in my DMs about. You now have been sliding in Amy's DMs about and there's some wild ones. So I'll let, I'm going to take a sip of water and just shut up for a minute and I'll let you take this first one.
- [13:08]
B
Okay, perfect. But I'm so disappointed about Ellen Greenberg.
- [13:11]
A
I know.
- [13:12]
B
And when that came in yesterday, I feel like everyone in our office just, just, it sucked there out of the room.
- [13:17]
A
It really did. It's awesome.
- [13:18]
B
I actually can't believe that.
- [13:19]
A
No, I can't believe it. I know.
- [13:21]
B
Crazy.
- [13:21]
A
I know.
- [13:22]
B
Okay, so this next case has completely shocked the Bay Area and I understand why. It's about a gentleman named Howard Wang, 43 year old man, Walnut Creek, California, who's now facing some very serious charges. And the charges are two murder charges, one of his wife, Linlin Guo, and his mother in law, Baemon chang. So on September 18, around 11:45pm Police were called to the quiet suburban street in Walnut Creek after reports of hearing possible gunfire. And Walnut Creek is one of those really peaceful, upscale neighborhoods. In fact, I think my brother in law is from there.
- [14:01]
A
He is.
- [14:02]
B
That's just outside of San Francisco where violent crimes like this just are very rare. So when officers got there, police found these two women deceased with their throats cut and Howard was there. These two women were Howard's wife and mother in law. And at first Howard told police that an intruder had broken into the home and killed the two women and that he'd fired shots in self defense and that the intruder had ran away. But the investigators quickly realized that things just didn't seem like they were adding up because the layout of the house, the evidence that was there, the forensic findings started pointing into a completely different direction. And one thing that took this in a completely different direction was that this looked completely staged. And according to the Contra Costa county prosecutors, Howard Wayne was the one responsible for the murders and was not in fact, defending his home. And the following morning, Howard was Arrested and charged with murder with special circumstance enhancements, which means because there were multiple victims, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. So just when you think this whole thing's wrapped up, they've got the guy. Another person enters the scene. Yan wang is a 45 year old woman from Oakland. And although she's not related to Howard, it's rumored they are, quote, romantically involved at the time. And remember, Howard is also married to one of the victims, his wife. So prosecutors say that after the murders happened, but before the 911 calls, Yan went to Howard's home to help destroy evidence, which is wild to think about. Like, that's a very dedicated girlfriend. I can't imagine ever being in a romantic relationship to where I would go to a murder scene and agree to destroy evidence. But she broke into the house to stage the scene, destroyed all the cell phones, removed and tampered with items that investigators would have needed for their investigation. And now she's facing multiple charges herself, including accessory to a crime, residential burglary, and destroying evidence. The 45 year old alleged girlfriend of the murder suspect is now in jail in Martinez. Authorities say she broke into the home where the murders took place place and stole evidence, specifically cell phones, and then destroyed and disposed of the evidence in trash cans near where she lives in Oakland.
- [16:18]
A
The allegations against her are accessory after the fact in a double murder case, which means she had knowledge of the crime that was committed and she concealed it from law enforcement knowingly.
- [16:30]
B
The prosecutor said Yan, quote, allegedly aided Howard Wang with knowledge following the murders and with intent to help him avoid arrest, trial, conviction, and punish for killing his wife. During one of her early court hearings, Gan allegedly got into a physical altercation with a member of the victim's family in the courtroom. Deputies actually had to step in and stop it, which is wild because if you think about it, you have this mistress who's in the courtroom during a hearing regarding a murder that your boyfriend killed their family members, and you're causing some sort of physical altercation. So obviously this woman is unhinged. And as for Howard, prosecutors are also accusing him of making criminal threats, trying to dissuade a witness, his wife Linlin, and preventing her from reporting crimes in the past, which really kind of paints a bigger picture as to maybe this wasn't just this one time explosion. Maybe this has been like escalating and the long, like a long term result of something that was much bigger happening at home. And so right now, Howard and Yan are awaiting court appearances. Prosecutors say that the case is still developing and the additional evidence could come out in the next few months. As always, we'll keep watching to see what happens with this one because I. I have a feeling this one's far from over. I mean, as we said, if they've had multiple calls out to the home, perhaps other crimes that she hadn't been able to come forward with, maybe there's going to be some more information coming out. So we will keep an eye.
- [17:58]
A
I wonder, too, just thinking about it. First of all, like, I feel like the new tagline isn't just be nice, don't kill people. It's like, be nice, don't kill people, and don't help your skeezy boyfriend cover it up.
- [18:09]
B
Be nice, don't kill people. Or date people that kill people.
- [18:12]
A
No, honestly. But also, like, I wonder if now that she's been caught, if she'll flip, if they'll offer a deal, if she'll say, like, what he. His. The extent of whatever was going on inside the home with his wife was happening. I want. I. Like you said, I think it's far from over and there's probably a lot more information that's going to happen.
- [18:28]
B
Like, was she scared of him, too? And maybe that's why she felt like she had to go clean it up.
- [18:33]
A
Yeah. But Walnut Creek, that is where Jeremiah is from. It's a sleepy town. And it's like very. I mean, the places I've gone, it's like very suburban, very cookie cutter.
- [18:41]
B
Like what you hear.
- [18:42]
A
Do you know him? Yeah. Yeah. Do you have any mutual friends?
- [18:46]
B
Well, funny enough that you should say that because when we were doing a little bit of sleuthing last night, we found out that the mistress and the wife were friends on Facebook.
- [18:55]
A
Ooh, that's juicy.
- [18:57]
B
I know.
- [18:58]
A
So she's got to have more intel.
- [19:00]
B
Yeah, for sure.
- [19:01]
A
She's for sure going to probably, like, either spill or. Or maybe she's. I wonder how long go down fighting. I don't know.
- [19:07]
B
How long has this affair gone on?
- [19:09]
A
Makes me sick.
- [19:10]
B
Another scandal.
- [19:11]
A
Another scandal. You guys know that I'm always trying to find ways to be more productive without hopefully relying on caffeine or for all my coffee drinkers out there, five cups of coffee. But honestly, I'll keep it real with you. I struggle with focus. I get a midday crash and I crash hard. So I've been looking for something that could actually help with the energy that I need and also with the focus, but not give me the jittery side effects. And that's how I was introduced to Everyday Dose which fun fact over the weekend when we were in Big Bear for my husband's race, I was talking with one of our friends who helped me on the crew and as a doctor and she was saying how she recently tried this new coffee called Everyday Dose and how she loves it. So it's the best coffee alternative I've tried it and I'm obsessed with the taste because Everyday Dose is coffee plus benefits. They combine high quality coffee with powerful ingredients like lion's mane and collagen protein nootropics to fuel your brain, boost focus and give you clean sustained energy all day long. It tastes just like coffee, but without the downside. No crash, no jitters, just clean sustained energy. So it's become a part of my husband's daily routine and I've been drinking it as well. Well and I will just say his gut and his mood have never been better. Which sorry for listening chair, but just telling the people the truth. So if you want to try it for yourself, get 45 off your first subscription order of 30 servings of coffee. Plus you'll also receive a starter kit with over a hundred dollars in free gifts by going to everydaydose.com ae or entering ae at checkout. That's everydaydose.com ae for 45 off your first order. You know those moments when you're trying to get your finances together but it feels like everything is working against you? I'm talking like the overdraft fees, the missed payments, or just wishing maybe that you could get your paycheck a little earlier so that you're not stressed out before bills are due. Well, that's exactly what I love about Chime. Chime understands that every dollar counts and when you set up direct deposit through Chime, you get access to fee free features, things like free overdraft coverage, getting paid up to two days early with direct deposit, and access to over 47,000 fee free ATMs, which is actually more than the top three national banks combined. Now I have personally tried Chime and it has been really a great experience for me, especially the option if you want to like, you know, get paid early. For all my people who like to splurge like I do, it just gives you a little bit of like that breathing room that makes life feel less stressful. So work on your financial goals through Chime today and open an account in two minutes@chime.com seriously. That's chime.com seriously. Chime feels like progress. Chime is a financial technology company Not a bank. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank NA or Stride Bank NA members. FDIC Spotney eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Timing depends on submission of payment file fees. Apply it out of network ATMs. Bank ranking and number of ATMs according to US News and World Report 2023 time checking account required. Okay you guys. So this next case is out of Clinton, Indiana. And we are Talking about a 20 year old guy named Nicholas Thomas Yates. A young man more specifically who is now accused of taking the life of someone that most of us who are normal in the head can't even imagine. Hurting his own mother, 49 year old Cheryl Yates. So let me rewind and just back up here for a minute. So Cheryl was reported missing in early October by Nicholas himself, her own son. He told the police that he hadn't seen her since Friday, October 3, and that according to him, she just disappeared. But even from the very start, the investigators said that something about his story just didn't quite add up. See, when Nicholas reported Cheryl is missing, he said that all of her belongings were also gone. But then when the officers went to their family home in Clinton and started searching it, that was certainly not the case. And it was pretty obvious from the get go, her purse, her car, her medications, they were all still there. Even her daily pill organizer was still just sitting there on the counter. Filled up all the way to the night of October 3rd. Meaning that she had every intention of taking her next dose of pills, but then she just stopped for whatever reason. So that was like the first red flag in this. Because normally if somebody just disappears, they're not leaving everything behind. Unless of course you're trying to argue that she was abducted and did not leave on her own free will or of her own free will, I should say. So the police brought Nicholas in for questioning after this and they asked him if he knew of anyone that would want to hurt his mother. To which he said, no, she was the sweetest person. They then started asking more questions about when she went missing and when they started probing him and asking him more questions, that is when his story started to change. Now at first he said, remember that his mom left the house on her own. But then he said he had tried calling her and that he couldn't reach her. And when the investigators asked him, okay, well why would you try to call a phone that you knew was already at the house and hadn't been taken with her? He said that she got a new phone. She got a new phone Number along with it as well. And then later, he said that he actually sold it, which makes no sense. And the detectives described his answers as what they are calling, quote, inconsistent. Which, I mean, let's be honest, that's usually code for something ain't lining up here. So then they decided to talk to Cheryl's employer about her going missing, Just, again, trying to get more information about where she had been that day and see if maybe they knew anything that would be helpful in finding her. And her supervisor said that when Cheryl left work on the third, she had said something to the effect of, I'm going to kill him, Referring to her son for apparently spending all of his money. So now, armed with this information and clearly a witness saying that there was some sort of friction and potential turmoil between him and his mother, they went back to the house, and this time, they went with a search warrant. And what they found next is the part of this case that nobody will ever forget. Because behind the house, the investigators discovered a burn pit, A burn pit that was still smoldering. And inside this burn pit were ashes, bits of melted material, and what police then described as items of concern. In the ashes, they also found what appeared to be human remains, including what they believe to be vertebrae, which are parts of a spinal cord. I mean, barbaric. And it kind of actually takes me right back to Chad face dumbbell. And what they did in his backyard, where it's like, people need to stop thinking that they can dispose of human bodies and remains with a burn pit in your yard. Like, get a grip. So according to the probable cause affidavit, Nicholas allegedly told the police that he and his mother did get into a heated argument on the night of octo third, that things escalated and that at some point, he hit her in the throat and her face turned blue, and that when that happened, she fell backwards. Now, I honestly, when I first heard about that and was researching this, I don't know how you just hit someone in the throat and their face turns blue and then they fall backwards, Unless you're, like, literally, like, karate chopping them into their throat. Or if this was, again, just a tall tale of his. But this is what he was explaining to the investigators after she fell back. He says that he then bashed her head on a metal bed frame and that after doing that, she didn't get back up. He allegedly told the police that he panicked, and he put her body into a wooden box and burned it in that fire pit the following morning. Now, again, that's what is in the Affidavit, meaning that it's all alleged at this stage, but it is what ultimately led to Nicholas being arrested and charged with her murder. And what makes it even more surreal is that after all of this happened, Nicholas had apparently still gone to the police and filed that missing person's report, thinking that he could just get away with this, which maybe it's because he's 20 years old and I don't know when a man's full frontal lobe develops, probably not till they're 50. Sorry for any men listening, but, like, how do you think you're just going to get away with that? It's beyond me. So when the police pressed him further, the investigators say that his demeanor shifted from defensive to emotional to quiet. One detective even said that it felt like he was, quote, living in two realities. Part of him was trying to keep up with this story, while another part of him just could not hold it in anymore and just kind of had to lay it all out on the table. So after his arrest, Nicholas was taken into custody at the local county jail, where he's currently being held without bond. He has since entered a not guilty plea. And his next court appearance, which is a pre trial hearing, is scheduled for January 7, 2026. His trial is set to begin on February 24, 2026. Which I gotta say, they're moving very quickly with this, and maybe that's one that we will go to, I don't know. Or maybe that one will cover and we'll follow. Because this case does seem really interesting. And I want to know more about the money that his mom alleged that he had spent and what he had spent that on, and how that was such a big deal that it created this, you know, huge altercation that escalated so fast to where he felt like he had no other choice but to murder her. Makes no sense. Now, the coroner's office is still in the process of confirming the remains, though the investigators say that the evidence overwhelmingly points to the remains belonging to Cheryl. Police are working to piece together the full picture still, though, because they don't know what led to this. What exactly happened that night, and were there any warning signs that anybody missed? Clearly, Cheryl seemed to be pretty outspoken. If she told her employer, you know, I'm gonna kill him. But had she confided in anybody else? Are there other siblings? What about his dad? Are they still married? There's still a lot of information since this just broke, that's still coming in. So again, I want to follow this really closely because I personally just have a lot of questions. And it kind of makes me fearful as a parent.
- [29:20]
B
Yeah, well, fearful especially with little Emmy.
- [29:24]
A
I don't know what she's capable of.
- [29:26]
B
Yeah. Like what got so bad? And then again back to the disposal of the body in the backyard and why people think that's a good.
- [29:33]
A
He probably just panicked and like, oh, if I burn it, they'll never find like any of the remains. Not realizing that like bone doesn't necessarily disintegrate the way that you think it does. And yeah, just panicking. But then to double down and go file the missing persons report, which I get it, you're trying to Peterson. It's giving Scott Peterson. It's giving every Peterson. It's giving Drew Peterson, Scott Peterson. Giving cliche loser who has watched a true crime documentary.
- [30:00]
B
But not enough like just don't say anything.
- [30:05]
A
Would that be better though? I mean because then they, once they. Somebody realize that she's missing, probably her employer, when she doesn't show up to work, then they ask the son, why didn't you ask? Why didn't you say that she was missing? And yeah, I don't know. Just don't murder people. Maybe that's the way to go. I don't know. Seems simple enough, right? This next story that I know you're gonna talk about, Amy, everybody's been dming us about and talking to us about on tour. I think on the very last stop.
- [30:32]
B
Really bad.
- [30:33]
A
It's really, really bad.
- [30:35]
B
I know.
- [30:36]
A
Take it away. I don't want to talk about it.
- [30:38]
B
Okay.
- [30:39]
A
I don't want to talk about it. You talk about it. I have a lot of thoughts, but I feel like if I talk about it, I'm not going to get anywhere. I'm going to just spin in circles. So you talk about it.
- [30:47]
B
Okay. So this next case is the one that's out of Staten island and had everybody shocked, as you said. And it's not only because what happened, but it's how it happened. So it's about 19 year old Damien Herstal who's accused of killing his mother's boyfriend, 45 year old Anthony Castellaspro. And this happened inside their family home in West Brighton, New York. And Anthony was a longtime New York sanitation employee. Neighbors and family said he was a very nice guy. And while it was known that this family had some struggles, it was never expected that you'd see them on the evening news. But then that all changed on October 6th and just a trigger warning. This one is very, very graphic and has some extremely disturbing details because what happened was Unthinkable. The police were called to the home after it was described as a deeply disturbing SC One that detectives say will stay with them forever. According to police reports and court filings, officers arrived at the family's home around 6am and inside, they found Damien Anthony and evidence of a very violent struggle. And from the very start, it was obvious that this wasn't an accident. It was intentional and very, very personal. Sources said that while they questioned Damien, he appeared calm, almost detached, and gave a statement outlining what had happened before and after the incident. Damien allegedly admitted that he bludgeoned Anthony over the head with a meat tenderizer because he, quote, wanted to know what it was like to kill someone, which I don't know why that would be your weapon of choice. But Damon said that the incident unfolded after he had an argument with his mother that morning and that Anthony told him that he needed to take a walk and calm down, which, surprisingly, Damien did take a walk. But when he got back, his mom was gone. Then an altercation began between Damien and Anthony, and Damien grabbed the meat tenderizer and beat Anthony in the head until he was dead. So that kind of begs the question to me if you wanted to know what it was like to, quote, kill somebody. This felt like a little bit more the way it's described as heat in the moment you came home, the mom wasn't home, and so then you grabbed this meat tenderizer and started beating Anthony in the heads. So according to reports, Damien allegedly planned to cut Anthony's body into pieces that he would, quote, liquefy in a blender and later flush down the toilet. And he was going to start with the brain. Damien first attempted to sever Anthony's head using a kitchen knife. And then when that didn't work, he went into the backyard and grabbed a handsaw. And then allegedly, he was using a hammer to then remove Anthony's brain. That was until his sister returned home from school. So Damien allegedly told his sister, I did something bad. Go to your room. But instead of going to her room, his sister followed the trail of blood to the bathroom, where she found Anthony's dismembered body in the bathtub and super disgusting. With a spoon sticking out of the severed head's eye socket and a knife still lodged in the neck.
- [33:52]
A
Crime scene investigators collecting evidence at 380 Cary Avenue in the West Brighton section of Staten island. And our police sources telling us the suspect used a hacksaw to decapitate the stepfather. Then he stabbed the head with multiple knives. When officers arrived, they discovered that 45 year old victim in the bathtub with multiple stab wounds in his head and neck. A 16 year old made that gruesome discovery and made the 911 call informing police her brother was still on scene.
- [34:27]
B
So Damian's sister then called 911 and her mother, who of course rose, rushed back to the house. And police immediately began processing the scene, where they started collecting evidence from several rooms in the home and recovering items they believed were connected to this incident. Damien was taken into custody and received formal charges a few hours later, which included second degree murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. Now, police had been called to that same address several times in recent years for domestic violence, and neighbors described hearing yelling and arguments on a fairly regular basis. And while Damien had no criminal record, his history of mental illness includes schizophrenia and self harm. So family members said he had been in and out of treatment since 2022 and that his behavior had become increasingly erratic. According to court documents, his mother reported that he had been trying to get help multiple times, but nothing just really ever seemed to stick and that they had tried therapy, medications, hospital stays. So when you look at this situation more holistically, there's years of domestic violence, you have perhaps an unstable home life and this young man battling some serious mental illness. So it paints a picture of more maybe pressure building from every angle. And then this was just the last and final incident. After his arrest, Damon was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation. And at first, police said he appeared physically unharmed. But shortly after he was taken into custody, he reportedly collapsed and had a seizure. And it turns out he had a blood infection and had to be hospitalized. And so he faced the judge in his first hearing from a hospital bed, which I've actually never heard that before. And according to records, Damien is being held without bail and on suicide watch pending mental health assessments that prosecutors say could play a significant role in how the case moves forward. Which as I was looking through this case, I felt the same thing. I'm like, okay, so I'm curious to know how this is going to be tried. His defense attorney has already requested that Damian receives a full psychiatric evaluation, but hasn't been clear if this is going to be used as an insanity defense.
- [36:36]
A
I would imagine there's going to be some sort of mental health element to it. And I mean, if he suffered from schizophrenia, if there's a paper trail of inpatient hospital stays, if he had said before that he wanted to know what it was like to kill someone and then to go about it, in just such a. I feel like barbaric's not even a strong enough word. But to like, decapitate, to use the meat tenderizer, to then have the spoon in the eye socket. I mean, it is so brutal and like. Yeah, just like personal and all, but almost kind of detached in a way to be able to do this to another human being. I don't know. So it's really scary.
- [37:12]
B
It's kind of confusing to me because I'm thinking the altercation was with your mother, but then you came after the boyfriend. But he. It seemed like that conversation was relatively calm. He said, take a walk. Like, calm down. Which he did. So then what was it when he stepped back in the house? Was it the opportunity that the mother was gone, or was it this burning situation?
- [37:33]
A
So sad. I'm glad he didn't hurt his sister, though. Gosh, that's. But now think of that poor sister. She's.
- [37:39]
B
Thank God, brother. And her mom called 91 1.
- [37:41]
A
I know, it's so sad. I know that these were some really heavy cases this week, guys. So thank you so much for listening. As a reminder, we added that Tacoma, which is in a week and a half, and we also have. So we have two Tacoma shows, Portland, Oregon and San Francisco. San Francisco will be the very last show of the tour. I mentioned it, I think in a couple episodes ago, but I don't believe we will be doing another tour next year. So if you're in that area, I think that's what, like the Pack Northwest.
- [38:10]
B
Northwest.
- [38:11]
A
Pack Northwest is how it's called. I'm not good with geography, but if you're in that area and you want to catch one of these episodes live and some other stuff. Stuff live. Then get your tickets to one of those shows and you can do that@annealise.com and remember, the merch shop is officially open, but it's only open until October 26th. Then it's closed. No more orders, nothing. So go check it out. It's all@annie elise.com and final little piece of housekeeping. As a reminder, if you feel like you need more content during the week to listen to, we have launched 10 to Life, my my original YouTube series as a podcast. So it's not on this podcast feed, but all you have to do is go to whatever podcast app you listen to, search 10 to life 10. You'll find that feed. We have been trending in the top charts, which has been really exciting. We hit number three at one point, which was super exciting. So right now there are Actually, three episodes that you can go binge listen to because we had added two on launch day just so that you had, you know, a little extra treatment treat. So now we're coming to you with episodes Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and bonus episodes on Fridays between. Seriously. And Tend to life on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. So it's like we're coming at you four out of five days of the week. That is pretty darn good.
- [39:34]
B
Every day.
- [39:34]
A
It's a lot of Annie. It's Annie on overtime. Who wants that much on tour? Couldn't tell you.
- [39:39]
B
Buy some merch.
- [39:40]
A
It's a lot. It's a lot of Annie. I'm sick of myself. I'm sick of Annie Annie.
- [39:44]
B
I'm not.
- [39:44]
A
I am. But there is a case that we released on Tend to Life this week about a different Annie. So go listen to that Annie. Not this Annie. Okay. All right, guys, thanks so much. Until the next one, be nice. Don't kill people, don't cover up people's murders, don't date any murderers, and don't join any cults. Bye. This is the story of the 1. As head of maintenance at a concert hall, he knows the show must always go on. That's why he works behind the scenes, ensuring every light is working, the H Vac is humming, and his facility shines with Granger's supplies and solutions for every challenge he faces. Plus 24. 7 customer support. His venue never misses a beat. Call quickgranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Mint is still $15 a month for premium wireless. And if you haven't made the switch yet, here are 15 reasons why you should. One, it's $15 a month. Two, seriously, it's $15 a month. Three, no big contracts. Four, I use it. Five, my mom used to say, are you. Are you playing me off? That's what's happening, right? Okay, give it a try. @mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of 45 for 3 month plan. 15 per month equivalent required. New customer offer first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. Cmnobile.com.