← Serialously with Annie Elise
Serialously with Annie Elise
345: Brianna Aguilera, Teen Boys Lure Girl to Woods &, Eviction Exposes Dead Body & Tons of Explosives
00:42:49
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- [00:00]
A
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- [01:02]
Hey true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial Asleep.
- [01:25]
Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to an all new episode of Serial as slee with me your host Annie E. Leese. We are here to talk about headline highlights which as a reminder for everybody who might be new to the podcast, let me kind of just break down the format and what we do. Every Monday we do a deep dive where it's dedicated to a single case. We go through all the nitty gritty details, we talk about it, all of those things. And then every Thursday we we do headline highlights which is today's segment where we walk you through everything breaking this week in the true crime world. And we tee off the episode, or I guess not tee off, we start the episode by updates in some other cases that we have already covered, whether we've covered them in previous deep dives or in a headline highlights format before. So a lot to go over today because there are some updates and cases and we have some huge news stories that are breaking as well. Now really quickly, first I want to just talk about Rebecca park because we have talked about Rebecca park on Headline highlights a little bit. We do have a deep dive coming for you. Just to refresh your memory. She had gone missing. Then it was discovered that her body was found. She was pregnant. Her Baby had been cut out of her. The baby still has not been found. But come to find out her own mother and stepfather ended up being arrested and charged with her murder, which is like how evil can you possibly be? Her sister also had some charges, not necessarily tied directly to the murder itself, but for obstructing justice, false reports to a police officer. Her fiance also caught some charges, more for distro stuff with methamphetamines. So a family affair definitely. But as I said, we've been digging in really deep into this. We actually have been talking with some people too who knew Rebecca, who knew the mother, who had, you know, has some firsthand accounts of what happened in those early days. So that deep dive is definitely going to be coming in the next know in the, in the next few. I don't know, I don't want to promise days, but hopefully. But I do want to at least give you this little mini update about Rebecca's case because in a hearing on December 3, her biological mother, Courtney, who as I mentioned has been charged with her murder. Now she was asked to be given a reduced bond or to just be sent home entirely with house arrest and ankle monitoring because she said that she needed to be home to care for her 14 year old son, which I don't know how anybody thought that that was going to fly considering that she was being charged with murdering her other child. And the judge didn't agree either. The judge denied this request saying that she is a threat and also a flight risk. So the judge ordered that she continue to be held without bond. So again, deep dive coming, make sure you're following the podcast and subscribed on YouTube so that you don't miss that. Also, really quickly want to talk with you about everything going on with Brian Walsh. Now you may have seen this trial on your feeds in your tick tock algorithm. It seems like so people are just now kind of not even getting caught up with the trial, but are actually being exposed to the case for the first time. But his trial is happening right now. He's currently on trial for murdering his wife, dismembering her body, lying to the police, all sorts of things. And this is a case we've been closely covering for the last several years. So what I have done starting last week, and we will do it again this week is on Friday putting out a trial recap similar to what we did with Karen Reed. And it's just, you know, probably no more than 30 minutes, just everything that you need to know that happened that week during the trial so that you can be caught up. Because while there has been a lot of information previously talked about and covered, such as the cleaning supplies, the receipts, the CCTV footage of him buying the supplies, there has been quite a bit, I don't want to say, I guess you could say new details, a lot of new stuff that has come out in the trial, for sure. So that update will be out for you tomorrow. But if you want to get caught up from week one, you can also go. It's in the feed right now and you can go, listen. But just a quick little update. With that, prosecutors are now showing a lot of the evidence itself, meaning photos of the tools that he used to allegedly dismember his wife, Anna. He had purchased a hatchet, a hacksaw, shears, and there were stained rugs, towels, carpeting that had been recovered from one of the dump sites. So a lot of evidence that now all the photographs of that, it's being shown in the courtroom. And we also found out that it was in fact true. Anna was having an affair with this guy, William. He took the stand. He talked about when they met, he talked about how often they saw each other, what Anna's plans were. We know that Brian was searching divorce attorneys in the D.C. area. He also had a lot of Google searches, which I go into in detail on the. Not only the deep dive that we did, but the trial recap. So a lot going on and we initially thought that this trial, because it was slated to last four to six weeks, it's now looking like it might be over in as little as two or three. But again, we will be giving you those recaps every single Friday just so that you can be fully caught up. But one of the more grim and disturbing cases that we have covered in the recent days. And I think that's why a lot of people are getting their curiosity peaked as well, just because it seems so obvious based on his Google searches. Yet he still is saying he's not guilty, although he did plead guilty to disposing of her body and lying to the police. So a for effort, I guess he's trying to say that she had a, quote, unexplained medical incident in her sleep that night and that's how she died. And then he panicked and got rid of her body. But again, big deep dive. I'll actually link the deep dive in the show notes and I'll link the episode from last Friday so then you can get fully caught up from week one. But it is a roller coaster. It is a wild One, not to mention we talk a lot in that update about Proctor, Michael Proctor, you probably know him from Karen Reed because he was also one of the lead investigators in the Brian Walsh case. And it's just, you know, I don't know, close ties. Now we also have one other update before we get into the new cases that I want to share with you and that is an update regarding Anna Kempner. And Amy is back in studio today.
- [07:35]
B
Hello, good morning.
- [07:36]
A
And you guys all know that she has been covering this case and like so knee deep in it. So she will actually be breaking down this update for you.
- [07:44]
B
So this one's actually about Thomas Hudson, who's the father of the 16 year old suspect in Anna Kepner's death, which was her step sibling, if you remember. And he filed for emergency custody of his nine year old daughter, stating that he claimed that she was at risk because of the circumstances surrounding Anna's death. However, her mom, Chantel Kepner, who is Thomas's ex wife, Anna Kepner's stepmom and the biological mother of the suspect in the case, said there is no risk of for the girl because her son, who has been viewed as a suspect, has now been sent away. He's living with relatives and there is no plan of him returning. So after the judge considered all the facts and went over everything, he actually denied the emergency request for custody, ruling that there was no immediate danger that would justify removing the girl from her mother's career. So what this tells us about Anna's case so far is that despite her stepbrother being named as a suspect by the FBI, there still has not been an arrest made. So we'll just have to stay tuned and follow up on the details and keep you posted.
- [08:52]
A
Well, and her family has spoken out, right? I don't remember exactly which family member saying like if he is a suspect, why hasn't he been arrested? And like kind of almost like, I don't know, grandparents loosely implying they believe he is responsible too. So like why hasn't there been an arrest?
- [09:06]
B
Well, I think, yeah, everyone's kind of saying like the writing's on the wall, he was the only one there. So yeah, I think they're just in support of whatever justice.
- [09:16]
A
Yeah, maybe they just want like an ironclad case before they make arrest because I know there were those rumors floating around too about CCTV from like the halls, which I know we haven't been able to verify at building the timeline.
- [09:27]
B
Maybe if there was because I believe the ex boyfriend had said there that Anna had complained before that she felt he had to focus on her and maybe previous things had happened. And so maybe they're trying to build an entire case rather than just that one incident. I'm not sure.
- [09:41]
A
Oh, gosh. Okay. So this next case, a lot of you have been asking me to cover, whether it's in my DMS or email or comment. And so I really wanted to jump on this one and talk about this first. And it's the case of Brianna Aguilera. Now, this is a case that we have been following very closely, and it's raising a lot of questions because it doesn't really seem like everything lines up very well. And we started talking about this internally and, you know, with other team members about a week ago when it first broke and it seemed suspicious and like there was foul play. But then it seemed like it was cut and dry. But now it seems like maybe there is some weirdness again. So I want to just lay it all out for you guys. You can be the judge. Everything is alleged at this point. Obviously do your own research, but wanted to bring it up since so many of you guys have been asking for it. So Brianna is a 20 year old Texas A and M student and her life was tragically cut short after what should have been a very fun rivalry football weekend in Austin, Texas. Now, Brianna was from Laredo, Texas, and by all accounts, she was a very driven, high achieving student. She actually graduated with honors from the United High School, and she was studying political science at Texas A and M Bush's school. Her family said that she also wanted to further that education and go to law school. She was also just months away from earning her Aggie ring, which an Aggie ring is something that is awarded to students at Texas A and M once they have completed 90 credit hours. And for most students, it really does mark being around one year away from graduating. So it's a very big deal at this school. And it was something that she talked about often and something that she was very, extremely proud of. So as I mentioned, on November 29, she went to Austin for this rivalry game between Texas A and M and the University of Texas. It was a very, very big weekend. People in Texas take these games, like, so seriously. And so it's like packed crowds, tailgate parties everywhere, everybody boozing and drinking and partying and just so much fun. And thousands of students travel to Austin for this game every single year. So later that night, Brianna was inside a West Campus apartment building, specifically the 21 Rio apartments. And according to police surveillance video shows her entering a unit on the 17th floor just after 11pm Then shortly after midnight, at around 12.30am a group of friends left the apartment and Brianna stayed there with three other people. But then the police received a 911 call. Someone had been found unresponsive outside the building. And that person was Brianna. She had fallen from what was initially reported as, quote, a very high floor, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Now, almost immediately, Austin police ruled that there was no foul play. I mean, within days, her death was ruled as self inflict. And this is something that, as I mentioned, we were talking about internally here, just as a team, when we saw the article before it was ruled as self inflicted, we're like, oh my gosh, what happened? She was partying. Did somebody push her? What happened? Then it was ruled self inflicted. And we were like, oh, okay, I guess it's cut and dry, but not so much. And let me continue. So first and foremost, to get to that ruling, the police say that they came to this conclusion based on digital evidence, which included a deleted note that was recovered from her phone, also some text messages that possibly showed emotional distress, and simply a lack of any evidence that somebody else caused her to fall. There wasn't any evidence indicating there was any sort of foul play. However, when you look deeper at the details, it does get a little bit more complicated because Brianna's family is strongly disputing that ruling. They say that the investigators just moved way too fast and that they made this ruling before the talks, report and a full autopsy were done. So they have actually hired a high profile Texas attorney, a few of them, and they're calling for an independent investigation because her parents are saying she absolutely would not have done this to herself. They actually even say she was afraid of heights. Not to mention that she was actively making future plans and she was very excited about school, the holidays, and everything that was coming up in the next few months. She wouldn't just go to this football game party with all of her friends, and then at the end of such a fun night, decide to take her life. And they also do point to some details that they say just don't add up. See, according to reports, Brianna's phone, it was found thrown in the woods, which kind of begs the question, would she have done that before she decided to go into this apartment building? Was there any activity on her phone between the time she entered the building and when she left? Could it have flown? Where is this area of the woods? How far away is it from her person? Could it have? You Know, during the fall, somehow thrown that way, but I would imagine it would have been highly damaged. Things that just don't make sense. They also say that that note that was recovered from her phone, which in the media was indicated to be a goodbye note that she wrote, it was actually part of an essay that she had written, and then it was deleted. Then more and more details come out. The family's attorneys also said that somebody reported hearing a woman yell, get off of me. At the time of the fall. Another witness also reportedly heard, quote, running back and forth and screaming. However, the biggest thing that raises red flags about these details is the fact that Austin police didn't talk to either one of these witnesses. And when it comes to her phone being found in the woods, apparently witnesses also told Austin PD that Brianna had lost her phone at the tailgate and that she must have dropped it somewhere in the woods on her way to the apartment, which I don't know necessarily how that makes sense. Again, I don't know the path that they would walk from the apartment to the game or the game to the apartment. If you would go through the woods, I would be curious to know when cell activity stopped on her phone. That's it. Was she inside the apartment? Was she not? I'd be curious to know that. But police are maintaining that they have looked at all of the evidence, that they've interviewed anybody who potentially could have been there as an eyewitness, and they stand by their conclusion. They say that nothing in the investigation points to a homicide. Yet her family is continuing to fight that, and many people out there in the community are supporting them. Saying, something just isn't right here. It doesn't make sense. There's gaps in information. There's unanswered questions. There were details that were either overlooked or entirely dismissed before they even came out. And it all just is raising a lot of suspicion out there. So curious what you guys think. We definitely are going to keep our eye on this, but I know a lot of you have been following this, and it certainly is an interesting one. I don't know. What do you believe?
- [16:07]
B
I was literally going to ask you the same thing.
- [16:09]
A
What? What's that from? What do you believe? What do you believe?
- [16:12]
B
Who do you believe?
- [16:13]
A
What's that from? It's from a movie.
- [16:17]
Oh, my God. That's gonna bug me. I hope somebody in the comments knows it.
- [16:20]
B
I don't know.
- [16:20]
A
Who do you believe? Who do you believe? What are you gonna like? It's something where they're, like, panicking. Forget it.
- [16:25]
B
Forget It, I don't know.
- [16:26]
A
But what do you believe?
- [16:27]
B
I mean, I don't know. Obviously, like we said internally, we talked about this a lot and I think we've gone back and forth as the evidence has come in. But I do think that regardless, alcohol played a huge role, maybe something else. But that's what's so sad is even if this was suicide, I feel like it was probably accidental. I mean, no one in that state of mind probably has the wherewithal to like execute a plan when they've been kicked out of a party. They're like being left behind. They're emotional, you know, I just feel like no matter what happened, obviously I think alcohol played a big factor in it, which is so sad because we have a team member who went to that game and loves Austin and the culture and everything. And she said this is like a huge celebratory game. And that night particular was really great because they won and everyone was excited. Well, her team didn't win, but I just think that there was a lot of alcohol probably involved. And. But our team member did say that there's quite a few deaths that happen on West Campus and that when she went to school there, that had happened also. So I don't know if maybe, I think.
- [17:37]
A
I mean, I know it's a party town to your point, but I would be curious to know what were those distressed text messages that they found? The note was apparently an excerpt from an essay which then she deleted. So was it really a goodbye? Like, I feel like there is enough weirdness to cast.
- [17:52]
B
What kind of essay includes a suicide note?
- [17:55]
A
Well, maybe I don't think it was necessarily like a goodbye note. Maybe it was like just part of a story. Yeah. Where it's like almost like where maybe it's interpreted as being hopeless or something like that. I don't know. Those things, to my knowledge, haven't been. Haven't come out and been verified yet. But that's why we're.
- [18:11]
B
Well, the family is definitely not letting up, so I'm sure if there are more answers out there, we'll hear.
- [18:16]
A
And was she then alone in that apartment after the other three friends left?
- [18:21]
B
Like, did somebody come in?
- [18:23]
A
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Lots of questions.
- [18:26]
B
Well, this next case comes from Simi Valley, California, so not far from us.
- [18:31]
A
Great.
- [18:31]
B
And this one's crazy. It's about a married couple who was shot and killed in their own driveway in the middle of broad daylight, which is unbelievable. So According to police, 63 year old Dr. Eric Cordes and his wife, 66 year old Vicki, were killed on November 30th. Just before noon, officers responded to reports from the neighbor of gunfire in the area. Apparently after hearing the shots, the neighbor ran immediately over to their house, but feared it was too late. And when the police got there, they found Eric and Vicki suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the driveway of their own home. Both of them were transported to the hospital and unfortunately neither of them survived. And very early on, investigators made it clear that this was not a random attack. In fact, they had witnesses, one of them being the son of that neighbor who rushed over to help of the shooting, saying that there was a black Honda Civic with out of state plates that were driving away from the house right after it happened. And then hours later, around 2:30, 3:00 in the afternoon, police found that car in Chino, California, which for those of you aren't familiar, it's about 75 miles away from Simi Valley and it was fully engulfed in flames. And inside the car was 37 year old Keith Cordes, the son and stepson of the two victims. He had set the car on fire and then shot himself. And the weapon that was recovered at the scene is believed to be the same one that was used to kill both Eric and Vicki. So after discovering Keith dead in that car, police said there was no ongoing threat to the public and therefore were not searching for anyone else in connection with the case. But what wasn't explained was the motive behind all of this. There haven't been any details about what led up to the shooting, what the family dynamic was like, or whether there had been any past conflicts. In fact, the community revered Dr. Eric as a really well known radiologist who served the community for many, many years. And they haven't said if there was any warning signs, which was obviously something they were going to look at for a case like this. So while police say they consider the case solved in terms of who's responsible, we may really never know the reason why. There were no reports of a huge family blow up, no history of violence, no big financial issue that anyone's aware of, nothing. Friends and co workers describe Eric as brilliant, beloved, and neighbors say the couple was kind, quiet and totally normal. The last people you'd ever expect to be at the center of something like this. So yes, while we do know who pulled the trigger, we don't know the motive, we don't know the reason why a son would ambush of his own father, stepmother, in broad daylight, shoot them multiple times, drive away, burn his car, and then Ultimately take his own life. And for now, it appears that those answers may have died with him in that car. Which somehow makes this case even more unsettling. Because sometimes these most disturbing stories aren't ones about strangers. It ends up being the people that are like closest to you at home.
- [21:32]
A
It's weird. I feel like lately we've talked a lot about cases involving child on parent crime. And I'd be curious too in this one as well. Did he leave any note behind? What was his text? Is this mental health related? Like, what's going on? But I saw, I did see this case blow up all over my feed. Everybody was talking about it and it seems like the whole community is pretty shaken up by it.
- [21:53]
B
Yeah, they. Yeah, they are, I think because he was like the neighbor that everyone knew and he had been a part of the community for so many years and it was just so unexpected.
- [22:02]
A
Yeah, it's sad too. And I have to say, like, I don't know, I'm gonna say an expression that I honestly hate and I'm probably gonna say it wrong. And I think you're gonna die right now. I don't know if it's the chicken before the egg or.
- [22:13]
B
Or how else with the cart before the horse.
- [22:16]
A
Oh, no, it is the car before.
- [22:18]
B
The horse because the horse is what takes the car. Yeah, so that was. Right. What's the chicken?
- [22:22]
A
Chicken before the egg or like the egg before the chicken?
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B
You're counting your eggs before they hatch.
- [22:27]
A
That's a different one, but similar. But okay, you're on the same wavelength as me, but my point being, I don't know which came first. We know he torched his car and then apparently shot himself. The sun. So does that mean he torched his car, got in the driver's seat while it was on fire and burning, and then shot himself?
- [22:44]
B
And like, what was the point of that?
- [22:46]
A
I don't know. Maybe evidence. Or like he thought that it would all like burn up. I have no idea.
- [22:50]
B
Well, and he's 37, so it's not like he was a child living at home who was under the constraints of parent. Like, what motivates a 37 year old?
- [23:00]
A
I don't know.
- [23:01]
B
I'm 37. Yeah, I mean, what would it take?
- [23:07]
I'm like, well, just kidding. I started asking that question. I'm like, let me retract that as it's coming out of my mouth.
- [23:16]
A
Well, I know everything. I don't know.
- [23:18]
B
That's another one.
- [23:19]
A
The cart before the Gotcha. Would it take me everything or nothing? Oh, God. Guys, I'm not gonna kill anyone.
- [23:25]
But I am 37.
- [23:27]
B
Okay?
- [23:34]
A
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- [26:21]
Okay, so let's move to Florida for our next case. And look, I love Florida. I especially love Florida this time of the year. But for all my Floridians. Is that how you say it? For all my Florida friends that are listening what's in the water in Florida? Why are there so many cases coming out of Florida and this one is super disturbing because unfortunately it resembles something that we see far too often. And it reminds me a lot of the case that we recently Talked about on 10 to Life, which for all my podcast listeners, friendly reminder, we put out new episodes every single Tuesday. There's another one from this week for you to binge and it's on the 10 to Life podcast. So you have to follow Serial lessly and tend to Life. But anyway, we talked about it last week and it's the Morgan Geyser case, the Slender man stabbing. And we talked about it because there was an escape and we went into like all this deep crap we found out about her like obsession with murder, memorabilia, talking to people, weird stuff. But anyway, the reason I bring it up is because it does remind me a lot of today's case because it's once again another situation where teenagers are accused of planning and carrying out extreme violence after luring someone into the woods. So this is the case of dan Troy, a 14 year old girl from Page, Florida. And what investigators say happen it is so beyond disturbing. Danika was reported missing by her mother on December 1. This was after she didn't come home. And the last time that she had seen Danika was around 10pm the night before. Danika's mom also noticed that her electric scooter was missing. So this raised some concern. Obviously she had some sort of mode of transportation, right? Not a car, obviously, she's 14, but an electric scooter. So a missing person report went out. But by the very next day, somebody who was passing by in the area made a horrific discovery. A burned body was found in a wooded area off Kimberly Road nearby. Police also recovered a red and black electric scooter along with, quote, multiple Live ammunition rounds. They also recovered a shoe that matched the description of the ones that Danika's mother said that she was wearing when she was last last seen. And sure enough, just under 24 hours later, they confirmed that the remains were those of Danika Troy. So the investigators moved very, very quickly. They spoke to witnesses, they assessed the scene, they tried to figure out who could have been responsible for something like this. And one witness said that there were two boys who allegedly told them that they, quote, planned the murder of Danika. It's giving Aiden Fucci vibes, isn't it? So from there, the investigators went to the home of one of those boys who was another 14 year old, Kamari Blevins. Detectives then spoke with Kamari's mom, who gave them permission to talk with her son. And from there they took him in the back of their unmarked car, read him his Miranda rights and started asking him some questions. Now, he said that the very last time he talked to Danika was over the Thanksgiving break. He said that they had some sort of falling out and there was some sort of blocking on social media that took place. But then when the investigators asked him what happened in the woods, he immediately asked for an attorney. Kamari's mom later told the police that she had caught him sneaking back into the house at around 11pm on Sunday night. His excuse was that he was outside smoking a cigarette, but she said she didn't smell any smoke, so she suspected that something was up, which. I also just have to pause there for a moment. Is it normal for 14 year olds to smoke? I mean, I smoked, I guess when I was 14.
- [29:44]
B
I was literally thinking the same thing. I'm like, if I came back in, I'm like, sorry, Mom, I was just having a cigarette.
- [29:49]
A
She would BE like, at 14, excuse me, I know. No, honestly, honestly. But she didn't smell smoke, so she suspected something was up. So no biggie. Yeah. So then he was placed under arrest. So then shortly after that, the Police questioned the second suspect, 16 year old Gabriel Williams. Now, Gabriel said that Danika had made comments to him about how he was, quote, a worthless gang banger. So police arrested Gabriel and they looked into those alleged comments as possible motive. These two guys being pissed that she's talking crap to them, that they're being blocked on social media, they're blocking her back, and then they carry out this horrific plan. Now, according to documents, police say that Gabriel and Kamari allegedly lured Dan into the woods under the guise of meeting up in a place that was familiar to her. A Place that was really familiar to all of them. Then once Dan got there, the situation turned deadly. Investigators believe that Gabriel stole his mother's handgun and he used it to shoot Dena multiple times. Then after they already knew that she was dead, they set her body on fire in an attempt to destroy the evidence and hide what they did. So both Kamari and Gabriel are now facing charges of first degree murder. Prosecutors are also deciding whether or not to charge the two of them as adults, given how thought out and how brutal this attack truly was, which it kind of again, it gives, it's giving Morgan Geyser, but also Aiden Fucci. Such a violence at such a young age. And it makes me wonder how do these two people. And I know there's a term for it and I'll screw it up, so I'm not even going to say it. I'm gonna try to say it. Follow folly, do folly, ado, whatever it is, where it's two people who both are so diabolical that then they connect somehow and form a friendship and like they feed off of each other and like commit some of the most heinous, heinous things out there. It's sick. Now meanwhile, Danika's family has is just distraught by all of this. They call her trusting. Somebody who believed that she was meeting up with friends, didn't think that there was any sort of danger. And Obviously she was 14 years old. She didn't deserve what happened to her, not in any way or under any circumstance. Even if she was talking shit to them, she didn't deserve to be murdered for it. So now you have this 14 year old girl who so many people loved and who is just gone too soon. And it's just really sad. And I gotta say too though, I am happy that Kamari's mom spoke up with the police because unlike Aiden Fucci, she did the right thing. His mom, I don't know if you are familiar with that case, amy. He's the 14 year old who killed his 13 year old classmate also in Florida, lured her to the woods, stabbed her to death. And his mom, when police started asking questions, there was cameras in it that she had inside her house, kind of like we do, like in our playroom area. And it showed footage of her grabbing his bloody jeans from his closet and washing them in the bathroom. And she ended up catching some charges for that too. So. And I get that instinct as a parent just wanting to protect your kids immediately, but I'm glad she did the right thing. And she's like, oh no, he said he was gonna smoke and something's up and he came home late and yeah.
- [32:51]
B
It'S giving Brian Laundrie's mom too.
- [32:55]
A
Also in Florida.
- [32:56]
B
Yes, these Florida moms, man.
- [32:59]
A
Dottie, Dottie, are you listening? No, I'm just kidding. Yeah. What is going on in Florida with.
- [33:04]
B
These mamas and his kids in general? Like, not to date myself, but I remember just like meet me out in the parking lot and like you just had a little fight when there was a disagreement. Not these planned violent attacks where there's weapons involved and well, and here I go.
- [33:22]
A
I could go off on a rant right now about it. Based on cases I've covered, I think There could be two things that contribute to that. 1, 1000% is social media. Especially in the Aiden Fuchi case because he took to Snapchat right after when he was in the back of the cop car. And like, I think at that point they're so young, their frontal lobe isn't fully developed. So they're not realizing not only the severity of their actions, but the repercuss that are going to happen. They're just living in the moment and they want like the infamy, the thrill, the fame that will come with it. But I also think true crime was not nearly as covered in a commercial way when we were young as it is now. Documentaries on Netflix, things like that. So. And these kids watch these docuseries. So not that they glamorize crime, some, some do Ryan Murphy, but not that they glamorize crime, but they're exposed to it, to where it almost feels mainstream, if that makes sense.
- [34:12]
B
Or a solution, quote, unquote.
- [34:13]
A
Yeah. Or like, oh, they did this and I watched this. Like it doesn't feel as scary and taboo and tucked away. Something you never talk about. So maybe it's like, I don't know, I'm not a psychologist, obviously. Gotta get Dr. Leslie in here.
- [34:25]
B
No, but it's. I mean, to be 14 years old and even have those thoughts cross your mind is scary.
- [34:32]
A
Well, think about 14 year olds. Like they have access to everything on Netflix, assuming you don't put parental controls, I guess. But like shows like the Beast in Me, that's out right now, now. Or even if it's like fiction and it's not a true story, but they are probably watched. Where's Amy Bradley? All these other things to where it's like. And they see it on Tick Tock on social media. It just like. What's the word I'm looking for? Not like neutralizes the feeling.
- [34:53]
B
But like, no, it desensitizes you. That's, I mean, that's what they say about people just like that are famous in general. Like the Hollywood celebrities used to be so untouched. You never knew anything about their personal life or you, it was kind of like you had no access. Now with influencers and all of these things, people pretty much anyone could be famous, if you will. And you have this lens into their lives. So it just has changed the whole landscape in general. I think social media just gives so much more access.
- [35:20]
A
And yeah, desensitized is the word. That's a great word too. And that goes with like Epstein and Diddy and all that. They became so desensitized that they did like some of the most vulgar.
- [35:29]
B
Don't even get me started on Diddy after this weekend.
- [35:32]
A
Oh my God.
- [35:33]
B
It reignited a rage inside of me. Like I, I, yeah, Diddy sucks. Okay, well, our final case today is coming out of Connecticut actually in a city where I used to work, which, so it was interesting for me to read through it because this one is really crazy. I know we always say that this one is really crazy.
- [35:51]
A
It is all crazy.
- [35:52]
B
But this one is very complicated and has major twists that nobody expected, myself included. And it centers around a man named Jed Parkington. And what started out as a court ordered eviction quickly spiraled into a multi hour standoff that included gunfire with police and a discovery that raised way more questions than answers. And you'll see why. On December 2, around 9:00am, authorities went into a home in Stamford, Connecticut to carry out an eviction following a foreclosure. Court records show that the home had been tied up for years in legal and financial trouble with the mortgage in default for a long, long period of time.
- [36:32]
A
Time.
- [36:33]
B
And according to documents, Jed Parkington and his wife owed around $700,000 on the home. And there was even a letter written by Jed's wife at some point, a letter of hardship, explaining why they had fallen on hard times after Jed had lost his job back in 2014. However, the judge who was in charge of this case denied their request to have their eviction stayed until after the holidays and ordered that it be carried out as planned. So when law enforcement arrived at the house that day, out of nowhere, Jed pushed his wife out of the house and then barricaded himself inside the home. And law enforcement said it was at this moment that the whole situation changed and everything just escalated. Reports say that after Jed had barricaded himself in the home, the city's hostage negotiation team as well as the special response team were both deployed to the scene and arrived within minutes, which ended up being a good thing that they got there quickly because shortly after Jed started firing at the police, Jed shot over and over again, using what was quoted as high powered weapons, hitting the armored vehicles. And authorities later confirmed that AK47 style rounds were recovered from the scene. So the area was completely locked down and police were trying to negotiate with Jed to get him out. And this kept going on for hours and hours. And eventually officers heard one single gunshot from within the home, at which time they sent a drone in and were able to confirm that Jed was found dead inside. Now, while all of this was crazy enough, the real twist came with what they found inside when they went to clear the house. Inside the home, police say they discovered multiple suspected explosive devices, including pipe bombs, hand grenades, and Molotov cocktails. They also found Nazi imagery on the walls, including flags and symbols. But it gets even worse. And this was the most chilling discovery. On the second floor of the house, investigators found a second body hidden and severely decomposed. And as of now, police have not publicly identified that person or confirmed how or when they died. But there was in fact, a second body in the home, which is unbelievable. So at this point, what initially started as this eviction gone wrong became something far, far more serious. And authorities say now they're just trying to figure out who that second person was, how long the body had been in the home, and confirm how, in fact, that they died. This case has obviously shaken the Stanford community. Like I said, I used to work there, so I was shocked to read this, not just because of the sheer violence of it all, but because the layers underneath it and the unknowns of that gruesome discovery that police made inside that Parkington home. And it kind of begs the question, did the wife know what was going on? Was she involved?
- [39:22]
A
Yeah, I'd be curious. Was the body hidden or was it just out a decomposing body? It seems like they found it fairly quickly. So did she know why he shove her out? Unless he was, like, trying to, like, take it all down on himself. Could it have been a child of theirs? And if she did know about it, Otherwise, who is it?
- [39:39]
B
It? Yeah, who is it?
- [39:40]
A
The landlord?
- [39:41]
B
I. I don't know. And they know this impending evictions coming, so.
- [39:45]
A
And why did he have so many weapons and scary weapons? Yeah, like, who just has a grenade in their house?
- [39:53]
B
I know.
- [39:54]
A
Not me. No, not me. We. I was gonna say we do have weapons, but we don't have grenades.
- [40:02]
B
Well, that's why when I saw that, I'm like, I had to Google that. So I'm like, I've never cocktail.
- [40:06]
A
Yeah, it's where they. And they, like, chuck it usually.
- [40:08]
B
Yeah.
- [40:08]
A
So that's what they use a lot in riots. And I. I can't remember if that's what Diddy allegedly used for Kid Cudi's car or what it was. But, like, it is.
- [40:17]
B
I mean, again, explosives. Like, why are people going to these extremes?
- [40:21]
A
No, I know. Like, never would you think somebody just has, like, dynamite in their house? Dynamite a thing? Or is that just from cartoons?
- [40:29]
B
I mean, you're, like, there to evict someone, and you're like, here's all these weapons and a second body and now a hostage situation. Hostage situation.
- [40:38]
A
And some pipe bombs and, like, Nazi paraphernalia all over the walls.
- [40:42]
B
Like, I'm curious to know what the wife says.
- [40:45]
A
I know. I'm sure that'll come out. That this is scarier is scary. Like, the more I think about it. Like, and was she under his control? He then shoved her out. Like, maybe she wasn't, though. Maybe she was a participant.
- [40:56]
B
Like, I mean, she had to see all that paraphernalia and stuff in the house. Yeah, I would imagine.
- [41:01]
A
I don't like it. I'm also re watching Homeland right now, so I feel like this is so good. It's so Homeland coded. I know. And I just got to the, like, good episode. If you guys haven't watched it, it's on Netflix now. It used to be only on Showtime. It's so good. But I just got to the episode where they're in the hotel room.
- [41:15]
B
Oh, I mean, there's so many good. Did you ever finish it? I feel like you never did.
- [41:20]
A
I didn't. I got, like, three or four seasons in. It's so good, and I don't know why, but it feels like a holiday re watch. Like, it doesn't give me the warm and fuzzies.
- [41:29]
B
Nothing says holiday spirit like Homeland.
- [41:31]
A
But, like, it's. You know, it's CIA, FBI, terrorist attacks. Like, not that I want that part, but, like, I love the CIA piece of it. You know, I want to go.
- [41:42]
B
And this is why. This is what you do for a life.
- [41:43]
A
You're right. I'm all. Yeah. All right. Anyways, thank you guys so much for tuning in to this episode of Headline Highlights. As a reminder, tomorrow morning, we will be dropping the Brian Walsh recap from this week. Everything that shit for brains has said this weekend trial, and if you want to get caught up on last week's. It's a quick little listen. It's only about 30 minutes and that way you can be fully up to speed in all things. Brian Walsh. Also, we just released an episode on the Tender Life podcast. I know I mentioned the Tender Life podcast earlier on Tuesday. So it's in your feed right now and it's about this woman, Rebecca, and it's giving Ellen Greenberg. Okay? She was found bound, gagged, naked and hanging like suspended from a second story balcony. And it was ruled self inflicted despite her feet being bound, her hands being bound, I believe behind her neck there being this weird ominous note left behind that was written on the wall in paint like it is so freaking wild. Also in a 27 bedroom mansion down in Southern California. So that episode is live right now in the 10 to Life feed. As a reminder for all my YouTube watchers too, the uncensored version of all of these episodes, Deep dives headline highlights, all of it always will live on the podcast because YouTube makes me censor. All right, thank you guys so much for tuning in. Be back with you tomorrow and then again on Monday within another deep dive. Until the next one. Be nice, don't kill people.
- [43:11]
B
And if you see something, say something.
- [43:13]
A
Yeah, if you see something, say something. And don't put hand grenade in your house.
- [43:18]
B
Definitely not.
- [43:19]
A
What else? Don't lure anyone to the woods. Don't go to the woods. Don't go to the woods.
- [43:25]
B
Yeah, no woods.
- [43:26]
A
No woods.
- [43:27]
B
Don't go to Austin.
- [43:28]
A
Yeah, Just kidding. Personal, personal little nugget there from Amy. Don't go to Austin.
- [43:32]
B
I'm just kidding.
- [43:33]
A
The devil's there.
- [43:36]
All right, bye guys.
- [43:50]
B
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A
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B
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