Episode 347

Summary

Sword and Scale – Episode 347 (April 11, 2026)

Host: Mike Boudet
Main Theme: The brutal murder of 94-year-old Marie Belcastro by 15-year-old neighbor Jacob LaRosa in Niles, Ohio, and the far-reaching consequences for both families and the criminal justice system, especially in light of changes to Ohio sentencing laws for juveniles.

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Episode Overview

This episode of Sword and Scale delves deep into one of the most disturbing cases in recent Ohio history: the 2015 murder of Marie Belcastro, a beloved 94-year-old woman, by neighbor Jacob LaRosa, who was just 15 at the time. The episode goes beyond the crime itself to examine systemic justice failures, the lifelong impact on the victim's family, and the aftermath of legislative changes that could grant parole to juvenile murderers, forcing victims’ families to relive their trauma repeatedly.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crime and Investigation

• Setting the Scene ([02:32]):

  • Niles, Ohio: A quiet, working-class town where everyone knows their neighbors.
  • March 31, 2015: Jacob LaRosa, 15, returns home drunk, barefoot, bloodied, and without pants. His mother calls 911, believing her son is a victim.

• Jacob's Changing Story ([06:41], [09:14]):

  • Jacob spins a convoluted account for police, blaming older teens—"Derek Davies" and "Devonte Jackson"—for holding him at gunpoint, forcing him to drink, and committing the crime while he merely stood by.
  • Police quickly note inconsistencies; his story shifts repeatedly and falls apart under questioning.
  • Quote:
    • “Jacob’s story kept shifting, full of names and details that led nowhere.” – Mike Boudet ([29:38])

• Discovery of Marie's Body ([20:52]):

  • Marie Belcastro is found bludgeoned to death, her home ransacked, with a Maglite flashlight covered in blood as the murder weapon. The crime scene is described as "unlike anything" experienced law enforcement had ever seen.
  • Forensic evidence implicates Jacob: blood soaked into his clothes and underwear, his shoeprints throughout the house, Marie’s blood found on his genitals, and his DNA on liquor bottles taken from the scene.

• Jacob’s History ([32:29]):

  • The episode details Jacob's lengthy juvenile record: multiple failed interventions, violence toward family, documented sexual deviancy, and a history of manipulative behaviors.
  • Quote:
    • “Jacob had a long history of behavioral problems, and he had bombed out of a number of programs... He was just the devil incarnated inside this house and in this whole neighborhood.” – Chris Becker, lead prosecutor ([37:14])

2. The Victim: Marie Belcastro

• Marie’s Life and Legacy ([15:43]-[20:24]):
  • Marie, known as "Gigi" to her family, is fondly remembered as a generous, humorous, and tough matriarch—daughter of Italian immigrants, wife, mother, grandmother, and bus driver.
  • Memorable Moments:
    • Her great-granddaughter, Lena, describes Marie as “very spiritually in tune... always gave back. She was very kindhearted.” ([15:43])
    • Brian Kirk, her grandson, recalls her infectious laughter and supportive nature.
      • Quote: “She gave me the freedom to make mistakes. And she was just a very funny woman with a very advanced sense of humor…” – Brian Kirk ([19:11])

3. The Arrest and Confession

• Interview and Arrest ([27:04]-[38:21]):
  • Police confront Jacob with neighbor identifications and forensic evidence. He continues to deny involvement and blames others, but he’s arrested after threatening “suicide by cop.”
  • Jacob ultimately pleads "no contest" to aggravated murder, burglary, robbery, and attempted rape. He is tried and sentenced as an adult.
  • Quote:
    • “He should be locked up forever... My grandfather used to say, if you act like an animal, you should be treated like an animal. And Jacob LaRosa is clearly an animal.” – Chris Becker ([40:01])

4. Sentencing and Controversy Over Juvenile Sentencing Laws

• Sentencing ([38:21]-[45:37]):

  • Jacob, now 18, receives life without parole (death penalty unavailable due to age), plus 30 years for additional charges.
  • Family and investigators express relief, but doubts linger about closure.

• Change to Ohio Law – Senate Bill 256 ([49:07]):

  • The episode pivots to explain a legislative twist: Senate Bill 256, passed after the crime, allows for parole eligibility after 25 years for those who committed crimes as juveniles—even in cases as heinous as Jacob's.
  • Quote:
    • “It was an absolute—I can’t even put a proper adjective on how awful this legislation was not only for the victims, but for the state of Ohio.” – Chris Becker ([49:07])

• Impact on Victims’ Families ([52:33]-[53:46]):

  • Marie’s family must now attend parole hearings every ten years to argue for Jacob’s continued incarceration, an ongoing trauma.
  • Quote:
    • “To force a family to defend their safety against their loved one’s killer... is, I think, cruel.” – Brian Kirk ([53:46])

5. Systemic Critique

• Justice System Failings ([50:17]-[56:39]):

  • The host and guests criticize the justice system's misplaced empathy for violent offenders and the legislative process that minimized victims’ rights for political expediency.
  • Quote:
    • “The fact we have a criminal justice system that pities... and even defends him instead of the real victim is what the actual crime is here.” – Mike Boudet ([61:27])

• Final Thoughts from the Family ([58:24], [59:24]):

  • Brian and Lena Kirk express hope for reform and unity beyond partisan lines, honoring Marie’s legacy of kindness.
  • Memorable Quotes:
    • “Just have hope in a time of darkness… I think it’s humanity versus insanity.” – Lena ([58:24])
    • “If you find yourself in a position to fight for something, don’t stop fighting for that.” – Lena, channeling her great-grandmother ([59:24])

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “Good kids don’t come home drunk, incoherent, and covered in somebody else’s blood. Great kids don’t leave a dead body in their wake.” – Mike Boudet ([12:30])
• “She always gave back. She was very kind hearted… no matter how good your intentions are… there’s always going to be some jerk that’s going to try and affect that, destroy that.” – Lena, Marie’s great-granddaughter ([15:43])
• “He only had minor injuries and he was Grateful, even thanking and blessing the officer and the nurse who were helping him. He’d make it home after all. But across the street, Marie Belcastro was lying dead in a heap of blood, while Jacob blamed two boys with guns.” – Mike Boudet ([27:46])
• “This kid was just… just the devil incarnated inside this house and in this whole neighborhood.” – Chris Becker, prosecutor ([37:14])
• “A waste of human flesh, a waste of space, a waste of oxygen.” – Mike Boudet, on Jacob LaRosa ([61:27])

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Timestamps for Critical Segments

• Jacob’s first police interview & inconsistent stories: [06:41]–[13:15]
• Victim’s family remembers Marie: [15:43]–[20:24]
• Discovery of Marie’s body: [20:52]
• Jacob arrested & confessions unravel: [27:04]–[38:21]
• Sentencing, family impact: [38:21]–[45:37]
• Ohio law change & parole controversy: [49:07]–[53:46]
• Family advocacy & final words: [55:16]–[59:24]

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Episode Tone & Takeaway

The tone is raw, direct, and unflinching, characteristic of Sword and Scale. Host Mike Boudet pulls no punches in critiquing what he sees as a culture of misplaced empathy for offenders and a bureaucratic justice system that further victimizes families. Emotional testimonies from Marie’s family and the lead prosecutor round out a searing indictment of legislative “reform” that compounds the suffering of victims’ loved ones.

Final Note

This episode is a searing reminder of the real-world consequences behind debates on juvenile justice: the unimaginable suffering of innocent families, the moral complexities surrounding redemption and punishment, and the dangers of policy-making that overlooks the needs of victims for the sake of political expediency.

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Resources Mentioned

• National Organization for Victims of Juvenile Murderers: novjm.org ([55:16])
• Advocacy for changing/overturning SB256 mentioned by victim's family.

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For Further Listening

If you want to hear a powerful, uncensored, and enraged critique of the justice system’s failings—interwoven with unforgettable real-life testimony—Episode 347 of Sword and Scale is essential listening.

Transcript

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Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

[Jacob LaRosa]

I heard screaming and stuff, so I just left. I couldn't stand it no more.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Where'd you leave from?

[Jacob LaRosa]

That old lady's house?

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Hello and thank you for joining us. This is season 13 episode 340. What? 347 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

What's up baby?

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

It's Bretzky. And I'm here to tell you that spinquest.com is giving out free sweeps coins. All you got to do is purchase a ten dollar coin pack and guess what?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

They're going to give you the coins

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

from a $30 coin pack that lets you play all your favorite games like Blackjack, Wanted, Dead or Wild. And we're talking real cash prizes, baby. Spin Quest.com Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more detail. It's March 1, 2015 in Niles, Ohio. Yeah, Ohio again. Niles is an aging steel town in Trumbull County. The narrow streets are lined with ranch and Cape Cod homes where families have lived for generations. On Lafayette Avenue, the houses sit close together, with alleys running between them and neighbors that notice when something is out of place. Just before dinner, a teenage boy stumbles home and into the front door. He's not hungry and he's not thirsty either. In fact, he's already had too much to drink and he's a drunken mess.

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

911, what's your emergency? Hi. My friend came home and said he got drunk by several people and he's not acting right. Okay, where does this occur? I'm at 502 Lafayette. He said he was at Cedar Park. Okay. And he has blood on his hands and stuff.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Her voice echoes through the house as she speaks to the dispatcher. She's not in panic. He doesn't look injured, but he has blood all over him and he's not wearing pants. He's been staggering through the neighborhood in his underwear and a T shirt.

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

He has blood on his hands? Yeah, and on his shirt and he's like coming in and out of it. How old is he? Well, he's 15. Fifteen? Yeah. He's not. Okay, so you need an ambulance? Yeah. All right. I want you to come down to the station when he's done, okay. And file a report. Okay. Okay. Stay on the line.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

So far his mom doesn't seem to notice somehow that his breath also reeks of alcohol. Or at least she doesn't report this.

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

How old is your son? He's 15. He said he was jumping. When you say he's not acting right, what do you mean? He's like laying on the bathroom floor and he tries to lift up his head and his eyes roll back and he throws himself back down. And he's able to talk to you? He mumbles. He has blood on his hands and his shirt.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Her son, Jacob LaRosa, tells her he's been attacked by some other teenagers.

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

That's Niles. I have a call on the line at 5:02 Lafayette. Her 15 year old son was in a fight and came home and she said he's not acting right.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

The Niles squad car pulls up quickly. It's only a short drive to the station. The Lafayette houses are cluttered tightly in a neighborhood where officers can cross yards and alleys in seconds. Inside, he finds Jacob on the bathroom floor. An ambulance gets there in just minutes and they whisk Jacob away to the hospital where he's interviewed.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Mind if I come in?

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, sir.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

No, sir.

[Jacob LaRosa]

You can come in whenever you want. How you doing, sir?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Jacob, how are you doing?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Good, sir. Good.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

My name's Lieutenant Adkins.

[News Reporter / Court Reporter]

Don't talk or move yet, okay?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Yeah, you sit still for this young lady first though, okay?

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

Don't talk and don't move.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

You're moving, so you're gonna screw up your test, buddy.

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

Don't talk, don't move.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

That nurse wasn't playing games and didn't have the time for her Drunk patient.

[Jacob LaRosa]

You know where my mom is?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

She's out in the waiting room.

[Jacob LaRosa]

These guys came up with. Came up to me with the gun.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

It happens. The streets can be violent, especially in Ohio.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Tell me. Tell me, how'd you end up here tonight?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Well, this guy, this kid, Derek Davies and the Monte Jackson, they put a gun. They put a gun to my hand.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay. Derek Davies and. What was the other guy's name?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Their name? Jack? Yeah.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Jackson.

[Jacob LaRosa]

They put his gun to my head. They were making me drink. I got in the car. I told him I was scared.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Where were you with these guys?

[Jacob LaRosa]

I was down the street of la. I told them I wanted to go home. I was just scared. My mom wanted me home. I was making excuses, so they believed me that I needed to be home. Okay. I want. I told. So why they let me off the block. I told them I was going to go get. I was going to steal something. So I told him I was gonna steal something. But I lied to them. I went straight to my house and they told me to get in the car.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

So I went to anyone in the room listening. It sounds like he was being held at gunpoint and told to rob somebody or something. So according to Jacob, he lied just so he could go home where his mom was expecting him. The officers have more questions, but all of a sudden, Jacob passes out.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

You all right? Still here with me, Jacob?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Jacob? Yeah.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Hey, Jacob.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Yeah.

[Jacob LaRosa]

Need to talk to the lieutenant here.

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[Jacob LaRosa]

How you doing today?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Good.

[Jacob LaRosa]

Well, this kid, he made me get a car. He had a gun.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Which kid had the gun?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Derrick Davies.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

What kind of gun was it?

[Jacob LaRosa]

It was 9 millimeter. Okay.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

What color? Black, Silver?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Black. Black, Black, Black. Okay. Had a grip on it, on the bottom. Where? Where you have it in your hand.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

What kind of car were they in?

[Jacob LaRosa]

They're in a gray car. You know what kind it was? It was like. It was. It was a Jeep. Yes, it was a Jeep. It was a Jeep. It was a Jeep. Okay. It was a great Jeep. Wait, wait, wait. It had, like, a bald eagle on top of it. I wonder. On the hood. On the hood.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay.

[Jacob LaRosa]

On the hood.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Got that. Jacob's account of what happened was only getting more interesting.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay, so they made you get in the car?

[Jacob LaRosa]

They made me drink.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

What did it make you drink?

[Jacob LaRosa]

It made me drink vodka. Woods came for Longo. I not want to do it. I want to be happy. I want to be over. Okay,

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

when you said they made you smoke, what were they making me smoke? Cigarettes.

[Jacob LaRosa]

Or maybe smoke cigarettes. They. They made me smoke weed. They made me drink.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

You said they made you smoke weed.

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, they made me smoke cigarettes, but they made me drink. Okay. I told. I. I want. I want to. They. They made me. They forced me to smoke the weed, but I didn't. Again, I say song like my probation officer said to me to do.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay?

[Jacob LaRosa]

I didn't.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Probation officer?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Ms. Calloway. Okay. Okay.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

How'd you meet up with these guys?

[Jacob LaRosa]

I was. I was down at the Queen. They trapped me. They trapped me.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

They what?

[Jacob LaRosa]

They trapped to me.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Peer pressure. You've been there, right? Just trying to do the right thing. Mind your own business. Follow all the rules. And then some kids your age pull guns, pour vodka down your throat, and shove weed at you. You try it. But like Bill Clinton once famously claimed, you don't inhale.

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, there's no way I could have leave. I was trying to ran, but they caught me. They caught me. Okay. I'm sorry. Please don't arrest me.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Jacob. I'm just talking to you right now.

[Jacob LaRosa]

Thank you.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay, so they make you get in the car. Where do you guys go?

[Jacob LaRosa]

We go to Dollar General.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay. On Robbins Avenue?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Yeah, the way up there. Way, way down there. You know where you go to. What is it called? Giant Eagle. You know where John Dingle is at?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Yeah.

[Jacob LaRosa]

You know how you go down the Johnny was. When you go across, he goes. When you turn, you turn right and you go all the way up to Robbins. Yeah, we're going all the way up to Robbins and they're having a car and you're saying that they're gonna be beat me up. I was scared. I always wanted to call my mom. I want to make sure my. Is my mom safe?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Yeah. How old are these guys?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Like 17, 18 years old.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Are they from Niles?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Yes. This is why I told my mom I didn't want to go to school there. Okay.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

The more questions the officer asked, the harder it was for Jacob to spit out his version of what happened. His words turned into sobs. His sentences trailed off. And what little sense he did make only raised more questions.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

So after you go to the Dollar General, where do you guys kill?

[Jacob LaRosa]

They're all making me

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

concentrate.

[Jacob LaRosa]

Maybe buy a bottle on the big day. I get a little dollar so they can have a. They can buy a bottle of Loco. All this is a dude, and you want the sparkle. And now I have the sparkle in my freaking system. And I wanna fast. I want to be a good kid. I want to be a good kid.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

He wanted to be a good kid, a great kid, but that wasn't how the first 15 years of his life had gone, he wasn't going to be nominated for Altar Boy of the Year anytime soon. Good kids don't come home drunk, incoherent, and covered in somebody else's blood. After all, good kids don't spin stories to get out of serious crime, and great kids don't leave a dead body in their wake.

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[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

On March 31, 2015, 15 year old Jacob LaRosa staggers home in a Niles, Ohio neighborhood. He's half dressed, bleeding and reeking of alcohol. His mother calls 911 convinced her son's been attacked at the hospital. Jacob claims that teenagers with guns trapped him, but his slurred lies can't hide the truth. Something way more gruesome happened that afternoon. And just across the street, the evidence was waiting. Marie Belcastro was a 94 year old widow with kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Her great granddaughter Lena called her Gigi.

[Lena (Marie Belcastro's Great Granddaughter)]

Gigi was like A really sweet person. She was very spiritually in tune with herself and religious to the degree of wanting to be just like Jesus. And she always gave back. She was very kind hearted. And I think, you know, a lot of people mistake kindness for weakness. And I think what happened to her was kind of tragic in the sense that the expression kind of came true to its with what had happened to her. And I think it kind of proves that no matter how good your intentions are, no matter how kind you are, there's always going to be some jerk that's going to try and affect that, destroy that.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Marie was born in 1920 to immigrant parents from Italy. Her dad was a carpenter who came to the US at the age of 11. Marie herself married Fred Belcastron, a member of the Army Corps in World War II. Marie also helped with the war effort, working at Packard Electric, making tanks and military equipment. She was like Rosie the Riveter, but in real life. This is her grandson, Brian Kirk.

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

She was a housewife. And the Italian American community at Niles was very close knit. In fact, I've heard wonderful stories about the Italians banding together with other minorities.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

It was a very different time in American history. Back then, just getting into the United States was a different process than it is today. Irish, Italian and Jewish families traveled weeks by ship in cramped spaces, hoping they didn't die. Along the way, they came to Ellis island with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. They stood in long lines, went through humiliating medical inspections, bought language barriers and hoped they wouldn't be turned away. No jobs were waiting, no handouts, no safety nets, certainly no welfare. All they had was each other. And in Niles, Ohio, the Italian families banded together with other newcomers to find their way in a city that didn't always welcome them. They faced suspicion and prejudice, but they worked long hours in the mills, raised families and built communities of faith and tradition that held them together.

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

My grandfather suffered a stroke in the 70s and my grandmother became a bus aide and then a school bus driver. She was Quite short, about 4 foot 9 and so the idea of her driving a big bus was pretty funny to us. But she did what she had to do to thrive and survive. And she was a product of that Great Depression era. She had a hip side to her and by that I mean she was plugged into the culture. She loved stand up comedy. She liked comics like Ron White and Lewis Black. When I was six years old, I remember watching Saturday Night Live on her living room floor, something that my parents would never let me do.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Brian says that even though his grandmother was a devout Catholic, she didn't push her beliefs on anyone and didn't get stuck in the dogma. When Brian and a friend visited her on their first college break, the first thing she did was offer them 20 bucks to go buy some beer.

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

She gave me the freedom to make mistakes. And she was just a very funny woman with a very advanced sense of humor. In a different era, she could have been been a college professor. But in 1920s Ohio, you know, the child of immigrants and relatively poor, she didn't have the same opportunities that young women have today. But a learned woman, a smart woman,

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

and a really good Italian cook, I might add, who wouldn't want a grandma like her? The thing Brian remembers most is her humor and her laugh, things she inherited. He went on to become a comedian.

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

I remember doing Howard Cosell impersonations at age 6 for her friends and neighbors on the sidewalk in Niles. So she was my first audience and her laugh was wonderful and infectious. And the last conversation I ever had with her was on an iPad. And she asked me if I had any new impressions and I gave her one. I told her about a new character that I was learning and she was up to the end, always looking to laugh.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

94 years old, and according to her family and doctor, she would have easily lived another 10 years. But on March 31, 2015, her laugh was silenced. That afternoon, Marie's daughter walked into the house on Cherry Avenue, the one that Marie's father had built for her with his own hands, and found what the killer or killers had left behind.

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

91 1, what's your emergency? I'm at 509 Cherry Street. Niles, I'm Marie Belcastro's daughter. I just walked into her house and I finally found her. She looks like she's all smashed. Blood in every room. The house was ransacked. How old is she? How old is she? Yeah, she was 94. I think she's dead. She looks. She's in a twisted. She's twisted in here in the bedroom. And I saw an ambulance When I walked in and saw all kind of stuff, I saw an ambulance one walk above. So I ran up there and I said, I need someone. I thought maybe they went to the wrong place and maybe she called them, but I think somebody came in. I know somebody came in here.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

The ambulance she saw just across the street was for Jacob.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Did at any time you go to a house over on Cherry Street? The old lady lives behind you.

[Jacob LaRosa]

I'm so sorry, guys.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Okay, just go ahead and answer the lieutenant.

[Jacob LaRosa]

What did you say? Sir?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

The house behind you on Cherry street, the old lady that lives back there, did you go to her house?

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, ma'.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Am.

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, sir. Okay.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Did any of those guys go to that house?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Yeah, but I. I told him I'm not going in there. They left. They started. I heard screaming and stuff, so I just left. I couldn't stand it. No?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Where'd you leave from?

[Jacob LaRosa]

That old lady's house?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Were you inside and left, or.

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, I left. I couldn't. I just heard screaming, so I left.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Where'd you hear screaming from?

[Jacob LaRosa]

The old lady's house.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay, but were you outside? Were you in the car? Were you? Where were you?

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, I was in the alley, but I ran. I ran at home. That went on like. What's it called? The swing sting. The swing. Swing thing.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Swing set.

[Jacob LaRosa]

The swing set, yeah. Okay.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Jacob said he ran home as the boys who held him at gunpoint went inside Marie's house. He said he only heard the screams. Whether he was inside the house or not. Marie was indeed screaming. And what her daughter found was the end of a struggle. No one should ever have to fight, especially a sweet old woman. Back at the scene, an officer steps through the side entrance at 509 Cherry. The doorframe is splintered. The lock has been forced. Evidence of violence is pervasive in multiple rooms. In the living room, the floor is stained with blood, especially in front of a recliner where the struggle started. It's not a single pool. It's smeared, soaked into the carpet, streaked across furniture and spattered on walls. On the couch, more stains. He sees fragments of bone. Sections of Marie Belcastro's skull lying on the floor among the blood. We interviewed Chris Becker, the lead prosecutor on the case.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

The coroner indicated that she had been beaten so brutally that he could not determine how many blows had rained down on her head.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

A trail of bloody drag marts leads into the dining room. More blood on the floor. Another fragment of skull. Shards of her hearing aids lay in various places, and one is broken and lodged inside her ear canal. A detail the coroner would later say he had never seen before in over 8,000 autopsies. The officer follows Dragmark's smeared lines of blood leading away from the front rooms, through the kitchen, down the hallway, along the baseboard of one wall, there are more fragments of skull and brain tissue. In the guest bedroom, he finds the body. Marie Belcastro lies twisted on the floor at the foot of her bed. She is face down. Her pajama pants are gone. Her Shirt is soaked in blood. Her arms are contorted with one pinned under her and the other bent unnaturally. Blood has pooled beneath her and saturated deep into the carpet. They will later discover there's so much blood that it is dripping through the floorboards into her finished basement. He gets down on his knees, careful not to disturb the scene, and sees her crushed face. The injury measures almost five by one and a half inches. It's not a fracture. The bone and tissue are completely caved in. Nearby, he spots the murder weapon, a Maglite flashlight stained with blood. There are also bloody shoe prints marking the carpet. The house reeks of iron. Every room he passes through has signs of a violent struggle. A veteran with decades on the force, he freezes for a moment. In 24 years of law enforcement, he has never seen anything like this. And this could have been his grandmother, he thinks to himself. Meanwhile, Jacob is still in the hospital being questioned. His drunken version is starting to crack. He had already blamed the murder on two other young men or kids who held him at gunpoint and then decided to let him go. So he's running through all the alleys with no pants and ends up at a playground.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

And what did you do there?

[Jacob LaRosa]

I hung out. So when he came back, I seen blood all over him. All over. Blood all. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Who did you see blood all over?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Devonte Jackson.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Devonte Jackson had blood all over.

[Jacob LaRosa]

He had blood all over him.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

It's devonte. White or black?

[Jacob LaRosa]

He's black. Okay.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

How about this other guy? What's his name again?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Derek Davies.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Is he white or black?

[Jacob LaRosa]

He's white. Okay. He came up at McDonald's. At McDonald's. Every single morning he would be up hanging out with McDonald's. Okay. Oh, my God.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

In that Jeep?

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, in a car. Black car, it said. It'll have the right license price up front. Look like a race car.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay, so you were in the house at any time with them?

[Jacob LaRosa]

No.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

So I won't find anything. Ears in that house? Because I've got guys up there right now looking for stuff in that house. Nothing in there is going to come back. That's yours, right?

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, sir.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

And you're not gonna have any blood in there? You're not gonna have anything in there?

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, sir. Okay.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Because I. I want you being honest with me right now.

[Jacob LaRosa]

I'm completely honest. Thank you, officer, for saving my life. Oh, yeah. Thank you.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

You're welcome.

[Jacob LaRosa]

God bless you. Well, thank you.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

In the hospital, Jacob was safe. He only had minor injuries and he was Grateful, even thanking and blessing the officer and the nurse who were helping him. He'd make it home after all. But across the street, Maria Belcastro was lying dead in a heap of blood, while Jacob blamed two boys with guns. Investigators canvassed the neighborhood. They questioned everyone who might have seen somebody, anybody really, going into or out of Marie's house that afternoon. No one had.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Why are the neighbors saying that they didn't see anybody over there but you?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Huh?

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Well, a couple of the neighbors over there said they saw you coming out of the house. Why would they say that? Yeah, why would the neighbors say they only saw you come out of the house?

[Jacob LaRosa]

Oh, because first I. I want to know who the guy

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

they were saying that because it was true. But Jacob's lies kept coming along with new names.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Tayvon Jackson.

[Jacob LaRosa]

Yes.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

When did he come on scene? I thought it was devonte. And the other guy, the white guy.

[Jacob LaRosa]

No, it's totally different.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Jacob, let me explain something to you. You watch TV a lot? You watch TV at all? Yeah. You ever watch CSI or any of that when they do crime scene stuff? Yeah. Well, I got my crime scene guys up right now, and your story isn't adding up to what you're telling me. And see, I'm up here trying to help you out and get you in front of this so that you don't end up with a bigger mess than it could be already. And I don't think you're telling me the truth because your story keeps changing a lot. And I've got witnesses up there.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Jacob's story kept shifting, full of names and details that led nowhere. By then, investigators already knew this wasn't some random encounter. Jacob had been in and out of detention for years, with probation officers and judges trying and failing to rein him in.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

He had been just been released from the Juvenile justice center about five hours earlier. He had been literally in jail till about he was released. I think we found out about 11 o'. Clock. We had video of that 11 in the morning. And of course, Marie was murdered sometime between 4 o', clock, between like 3 o' clock and 4 o'. Clock. Because we had people that had been to her house and seen her after the lunch hour, during the lunch hour. So we know she was alive at least during, you know, like say one or two o'. Clock. And Jacob, what he did was he broke into her house. There was video of him in the alley. Security from the neighbor actually showed him in the alleyway. He broke into the house.

[Jacob LaRosa]

He.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

He obviously committed the murder of Marie, beat her in three different locations. And at that point, then he rifled through her purse. He went down to the basement, where this was an older kind of 1950s built house. There was an old little bar down there. I don't think Marie Belcaster probably had used that bar for a number of years, but there were some liquor bottles that he ended up taking. And he was seen on the video in the alleyway with those bottles. They actually were recovered. And a couple of those bottles of alcohol had his DNA on the. On the bottle.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

That wasn't the only place they found DNA evidence. When Jacob was in the hospital, nurses noticed blood in his underwear. When they took him to the restroom to urinate, they discovered that his penis and groin area had blood, and it was Marie's. Later, the police would confirm this by recovering the washcloth the nurse had used to wipe him.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

He eventually drug her to a bedroom where he attempted to rape her. She was still bleeding at that point, but, you know, for all intents and purposes, she was brain dead. We know for a fact that he had her blood on his penis, because we were able to swab that and get that information or, you know, get that evidence.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

This wasn't the story of a troubled kid who just needed another chance. Prosecutors said Jacob had already burned through every chance he'd ever been given. And what he did to Marie Belcastro proved he was beyond redemption. Sorry to say, but sometimes it's just time to give up and put a bullet in their head or a couple thousand volts through their body. I mean, what do we need these people for anyway?

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

But Jacob had a long history of behavioral problems, and he had bombed out of a number of programs that were designed to help him. He didn't respond well to any treatment. He was in a treatment facility called the Smith House quest for about three months in late 2014. And if you recall, this murder happened in March 31st of 2015. And while he was there, he made threats against residents, was caught masturbating. He had punched another juvenile there. He was found to be in the computer room and admitted that he liked to look at women and masturbate to them. He used another inmate's computer there to send sexually explicit emails to a teacher. So he had a long history of behavioral problems and sexual deviation and violence.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Even his own parents were afraid of him.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

Now, he had a little bit of a difficult start. His parents were divorced, but by all accounts, his mother was pretty good to him. His. His other siblings were pretty decent kids. They. They didn't commit these type of Crimes and didn't even come close to committing any types of crimes. At one point was committed or sentenced actually for domestic violence when he threw a mason jar candle at his seven year old sister and hit her in the eye and she required 18 stitches. At one point, the stepfather said, we had to put padlocks on all the other children's bedrooms doors because Jacob would steal anything and everything and then sell it for drugs. So all the children had padlocks on their bedroom door so Jacob could not get in there and steal anything from them that he could use to sell. The father also told us in a written statement and a recorded statement, I believe that he was so afraid of Jacob and his violence that he was sleeping with a gun under his pillow. That's how bad Jacob was.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Even with that history, what drove Jacob on March 31st is still unclear. He had been released from juvenile detention only hours earlier, full of restlessness and agitation. Maybe he was simply looking for a dopamine hit. He'd been diagnosed with ADHD as a child. But of course, most people with ADHD aren't violent. Most people in general aren't violent. Maybe he was looking for money or alcohol, things he knew Marie kept in her home. She offered him meals and snacks before and even gave him loose change. But her daughter was clear those small acts of kindness happened only on the porch. Marie never let them inside.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

I have no idea what Jacob's motive was. He never stated it. He never gave the police any information. Of course he deflected and lied and, you know, even lied about where he got the blood on his clothes from to his own parents. But it's clear that he was sexually deviant. There's a long track record of him having sexual fantasies and deviations and masturbating and looking at pornography. And the other thing was, he's clearly has a violent track record. He is just one of those individuals that if you were beside him, he didn't care if it was broad daylight because Marie was killed in the middle of the afternoon. If he wanted something, which maybe he wanted the liquor in this case, or maybe just, you know, had sexual fantasies and wanted to, you know, have some kind of sexual fantasy with a woman he knew. Marie was 94 years old and lived basically in his backyard and he could take advantage and enter her home and, you know, though that could be part of the motivation too.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Whatever Jacob's reasons, the evidence left little doubt. His bloody shoe prints tracked through Marie's home. A Maglite flashlight stained with her blood. DNA all over the scene. And on Marie. Neighbors saw him wandering half naked and drunk, his body smeared with Marie's blood. By the time investigators finished collecting evidence, there was no question who had been inside 509 cherry that afternoon and who had not. Jacob left the hospital that evening after being treated for minor injuries. He went back home, hoping he had somehow convinced the police that not only was he innocent, but that he was also a victim. By this time, his family was beyond suspicious. They already knew what life with him was like.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

His siblings are, you know, normal. Human beings are normal people. And he just put this whole family, including his mother and his siblings, obviously by, you know, causing the injuries to the sister, he just put him through hell. You know, the fact that they had the padlock, the bedroom doors, the fact that the stepfather had to sleep with a gun, I mean, this. This kid was just. Just the devil incarnated inside this house and in this whole neighborhood.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Just after midnight, deputies surround his house after hearing from dispatch that he's threatening suicide by cop. Spotlights flood the house. A PA system booms his name, ordering him out. Jacob hesitates. He tells officers on the phone he's worried about his dogs. And then he's quiet. Minutes drag on as Jacob's parents coach him. Finally, Jacob steps into the doorway. He edges forward, but then backs up. The officers keep calling him. At last, he walks into the open. He doesn't fight. He just says, I'm going to jail.

[News Reporter / Court Reporter]

Well, Dave, after spending all day yesterday trying to sit a jury in this case, Jacob LaRosa himself pleaded no contest to charges named in an amended indictment this morning. Now, Judge Wyatt McKay found LaRosa guilty of the charges, including aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and attempted rape. The charges stem from the brutal attack on 94 year old Marie Belcastro inside her Niles home back in March of 2015. Now, LaRosa was arrested shortly after the crime and has been held on $3 million bond at the juvenile detention center ever since. But now that he's 18 and convicted of the crime, he'll be moved over to the Trumbull County Jail at some point very shortly.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Jacob pleaded no contest but would be sentenced as an adult. This meant that for the charges of aggravated murder, the court could impose the maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The death penalty was off the table because he was a juvenile when he committed the crime.

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

When they were trying to seat a jury, they couldn't get people to have any sense of fairness or impartiality on the question of Jacob La Rosa because they had all heard about the murder, and they all had a very strong opinion about what should happen to La Rosa. And it just shows you the goodness of the man on the street who when presented with something very black and white and clear cut, like the murder of a helpless old lady, they know what to do.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

And this is part of what Chris Becker had to say in his closing arguments at Jacob's sentencing.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

He had beaten her in the living room and in the dining room, and parts of her skull were found in both places. Her hearing aids had been basically beat out of her head. That's why I refer to Jacob LaRosa as just an animal. He should be locked up forever. You know, my grandfather used to say all the time, if you act like an animal, you should be treated like an animal. And Jacob LaRosa is clearly an animal.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Of course, the defense team didn't see it that way. They saw him as a child of 15, with his whole life ahead of him. Just a little baby boy just ready to go out into the world, you know, such a bright future ahead. And that was exactly the problem. What other heinous crimes would he commit with an entire life ahead of him? Remember, in the hospital, Jacob was grateful his life had been saved, but only hours earlier, he had snuffed out the life of a sweet old lady and then lied about it.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

God bless me.

[Jacob LaRosa]

God bless you.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Why would I do.

[Jacob LaRosa]

You saved my life. You got me here. You guys saved my life.

[Lieutenant Adkins / Police Officer]

Okay.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

It's hard to believe that Jacob would be capable of believing in God. It does take a certain amount of humility to admit there's a higher power. And it's even hard to believe that he was truly grateful for anything except

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

himself, his life, Jacob, for whatever reason, whatever wires were crossed in his brain, whatever happened to him, something got into him and made him this animal that ended up taking the life of a wonderful, by all accounts, 94 year old woman.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Oh, she was a very nice lady. She'd do anything for you. I can't understand why anybody would want to hurt her, really, because she'd do anything for you. She'd go out of her way for you. Jacob's life had been spared once already, or at least he pretended to see it that way. But now it was really on the line, like for real. Real. He couldn't be given a death penalty because he was a minor, but he would be eligible for life without parole. And that's exactly what Marie's family was hoping for. Would the justice system spare him? Or would the Judge know what to do. As Marie's grandson Brian pointed out, fortunately, attorney Becker didn't have to prove motive. Some people on this earth are just sociopaths, and that's all they'll ever be.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

The good news is I don't have to prove motive. And thank goodness he never told us what his motive was, because I don't think there's any real reason. You know, you can always understand why maybe someone who's homeless or a drug addict may steal something because, you know, I'm hungry or I have a drug addiction. But this is a case where you're just dealing with a psychopath who's a violent sexual predator. And he, like I say, you know, I still believe this day he's one of the. One of the people that I've prosecuted. There's a number of them. But he is definitely one of the people that probably should have got the death penalty, but because he was under 18, that the US Supreme Court has prohibited that, but he certainly should be dying in prison.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

At the sentencing hearing, Marie's daughter spoke, wanting to remind the judge exactly what she found the day she walked in on what Jacob had left behind. I'm seeing splatter on the wall and Mom's purse dumped. So I go into the first bedroom, and there she was on the floor. And I knelt down and I put my hand on her head. I put my hand on her back, and her back was still wet. It was wet with blood. Jacob tried to seem remorseful, but some things he just can't fake.

[Jacob LaRosa]

I'm sorry for what I did. And I hope and pray Mary Bakasha's family and everyone else can reach down deep in their hearts and forgive me. I am sorry to the people I hurt and let down. I am sorry to my family that I hurt for so long. I am sorry to the people I bullied, disrespected, stolen from. And I'm sorry to the court system for everything I've done. I'm sorry to the staff I disrespected in the past.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

The thing is, her name was Marie, not Mary. But he was either too stupid to remember it, or he just didn't give a shit. And the list of people he disrespected kept rolling out of his mouth, more like a fifth step from a chronic AA regular making amends because they have to, rather than anything resembling real remorse. Even more damning than his robotic apology was what he said to a jailer inmate while awaiting trial. This quite possibly explains his motive. According to him, Jacob said that he was at a party with friends and they were drinking. They ran out of alcohol so he said he was going to go find some more and he knew that this old lady had alcohol at her house so he went there to take it but he couldn't find it. He said he saw her sitting in the living room and he just grabbed the flashlight from the table and hit her with it. He said she fell over and started to scream so he kept hitting her until she stopped. Then he dragged her to the bedroom. He was going to try to rape her but he couldn't get it up so he just left her there on the floor. A prison term of life without parole

[Jacob LaRosa]

in a state penal institution.

[News Reporter / Court Reporter]

Showing no remorse, the now 19 year old Jacob LaRosa was given the maximum sentence allowed by law for the aggravated murder of 94 year old Marie Belcastro. And on top of that, 30 additional years for charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and attempted rape. All stemming from what happened inside Belcastro's Cherry Avenue home back in March of 2015.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

But this is Ohio, and in Ohio, sometimes up is down and down is up. And sometimes even a sentence of life without parole doesn't really mean life without parole.

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[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

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[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

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[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

Foreign.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Jacob LaRosa was 15 years old, living with his mother on Lafayette Avenue in Niles, Ohio. On March 31, 2015, just out of juvie, he came home drunk, barefoot and covered in blood. Across the street, his 94 year old neighbor, Marie Belcastron was found beaten to death inside her home. The evidence was overwhelming. Jacob's bloody shoe prints, the Maglite flashlight, Marie's DNA in his underwear. He was arrested within hours, charged as an adult, and in 2018 sentenced to life without parole. But this is Ohio and that sentence wouldn't hold.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

The Ohio legislature then passed Senate Bill 256, which retroactively gave defendants such as Jacob that were serving life sentences with no parole parole eligibility after serving 25 years. It was an absolute. I can't even put a proper adjective on how awful this legislation was not only for the victims, but for the state of Ohio. And it was done for political purposes.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Isn't that always the case? Is there really any justice when lawmakers negotiate, make deals and set themselves up to win the next election by sabotaging the rest of us? Am I a little jaded? Maybe? Or maybe I'm just spitting some truth.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

Matt Dolan, who his family owns the Cleveland Guardians, is a horrible, horrible legislature. And everyone that voted for this did a horrible job of looking at the facts. And anytime you retroactively let monsters like Jacob LaRosa give them a benefit, it's just horrible. And our Ohio legislature did a horrible job on the passage of Senate Bill 256.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

This was a law that basically said anyone who committed a crime while under the age of 18 and was given life without parole was given a get out of jail free card. Maybe not quite free, but they are now allowed to seek parole after 25 years. Some idiot thought that'd be a good idea to just set an upper limit, no matter how horrendous the crime.

[Jacob LaRosa]

Oh, why?

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Because you're just a little baby. Just a little baby. Just a little tiny little baby. Just a little innocent little baby. Sorry. Let's get back to it. In Jacob's case, he would be in his early 40s if let out plenty of time to commit. Who knows what I mean. He killed Marie Belcastro over alcohol within eight hours of being released from juvenile detention. Do you really think he's gonna be reformed somehow?

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

Not to sound dramatic, but that hit me harder than the murder, to be honest, because, not to minimize it, but she was 94 years old. I knew that that call would come someday soonish. I didn't realize the manner of death. It was hard, but it was also. People lift you up in prayer when someone in your family gets murdered. I think there's a combination of shock and prayer and the Holy Spirit that just enveloped our family for weeks and still does. But when the Ohio legislature retroactively changes a law, given your loved one's killer rights that he didn't previously have, there's no Hallmark card for that. There's no prayer chain for that. There is the shock that the party that you supported all your life. I'm a lifelong Republican, and it was my old Republican buddies in Ohio. I used to work for the Ohio Republican Party. I raised money for Governor Mike DeWine. When your own political family betrays you and basically says, which is what SB256 did, it said you have to go to parole hearings every five years.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Your own political family. Let's be clear, there's no such thing as a political family. There's nothing familial about politics.

[Chris Becker (Lead Prosecutor)]

Well, it happened because a lot of these Republicans are the typical Rhinos. They, you know, they want to save money at the legislature, at the state penitentiary system. They, you know, they. They pander to a lot of special interests. And in this particular case, like I said, it was led by some very wayward legislators that, you know, took the bait of this poor little kid. He's going to have to spend the rest of his life in prison. It wasn't just Jacob. It was a number of individuals that were serving life sentences, but every one of them deserved it.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

The law doesn't guarantee Jacob's release, but it guarantees something else. Marie's family will have to keep showing up every time he asks for parole to remind the board of what he actually did. And they'll have to do this, reliving the murder for the rest of their lives or until he finally gets released. Talk about punishing victims.

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

It was such a betrayal, such a punch in the gut, such a hard thing to fathom. And you contrast that with the security of a life without parole sentence. And it's night and day. We have been fighting ever since we learned about it. We had one victory a couple years ago. They changed that time from five years to 10 years. So it's parole hearings every 10 years, which is certainly more manageable than every five years. But at the same time, to force a family to defend their safety against their loved one's killer when, prior to that, you didn't have to, is, I think, cruel.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Imagine losing someone you love to murder, then being told you're gonna have to stand in front of a parole board every few years to explain why their killer should stay in prison. That's the reality Marie's family now faces. And they're not alone. Because when lawmakers decide to water down sentences and add upper limits, it's a gift to all those hardcore criminals out there, and it's a punishment to all the families of victims. Brian has a message. If you want to understand just how big this problem really is, the best

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

resource I could recommend is a mouthful. It's the National Organization for Victims of Juvenile Murderers. N o v j m.org they're going to find state by state status on bills that might impact innocent people. They're going to find studies and links to books, and they're going to find stories, and they're going to find an article that I wrote when my grandmother was killed. And when you're a legislator, I understand you have a lot of bills to read and digest and understand. But I think a simple litmus test ought to be, does this strengthen the innocent and punish criminals, or does it do the opposite? And if you're a believer in goodness and you're doing the people's work, you want to help victims and not criminals. So that's a nice little litmus test for any legislator that is confused. As far as Ohio goes, I have a feeling that the next governor, Vivek Ramaswamy, will be receptive to overturning or doing what he can. The problem is, I guess, once you give a class of people new rights, it's very hard to then take them away.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Yeah, think about that for a second. The bigger the government and the more money it spends on stupid ideas or programs that aren't working, the harder it is to undo the mess they create. It becomes one big, tangled bureaucratic mess, and instead of fixing it, the next guy comes and spends more of your money adding another layer of laws on top of it. But Brian and his family have actually taken action because for them, it's personal.

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

Well, 2021, our family did sort of an RV tour of Ohio. We visited 13 county courthouses and did interviews with the press and just sort of raised awareness about Senate Bill 256. It was really nice. We met all kinds of regular folks, some riff raffles. Everybody we talked to, from homeless people to clearly people who are showing up for probation, drug tests, you know, when you're at a courthouse, you see all kinds of folks, right? You're following. We're here to file documents. Oh, I'm here to file a urine sample. I met a guy who was in prison with LaRosa, who was out, and when I explained to him what we were doing, he said, oh, my gosh. Like, I've never met anybody who thinks it's a great idea to undo the sentence of a judge to give killers a second, third, eighth chance.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Brian's daughter Lena, Marie's great granddaughter, is a very young adult, but has a surprising amount of common sense and wisdom that many of us don't have. Here's what she said about the changing law and what her family has gone through.

[Lena (Marie Belcastro's Great Granddaughter)]

Just have hope in a time of darkness and conflict, because I think having hope and unity with every community there is, I think that is the strongest form of expression. That is the perfect way to fight in the face of the very ones who control us, which is the government. We need to really wake up and realize, like, we're not divided on either party. We're divided because of the people trying to divide us. We need to stay focused, not let us just like, not let them distract us. I just feel like it's humanity versus insanity and it's not even about party versus party. I think it's both parties versus the government. That's what I feel.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

But this is really about Marie Belcastro, a sweet grandma who didn't deserve to die in such a monstrous way. No one does. We asked Brian and Lena what Gigi would have said today if she were still alive.

[Lena (Marie Belcastro's Great Granddaughter)]

If you find yourself in a position to fight for something, don't stop fighting for that. So that's what I'm getting from her. And I think she would say that with, like, love and, you know, with all the kindness in her heart and lust from her head, you know, because she was the kind to be with her heart, not her mind.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Marie lived for 94 years in Niles, Ohio. She was a mother, a grandmother, and a great grandmother. She was the kind of neighbor who baked cookies, who gave kids a few coins for their help and made people laugh with her humor. She had seen hard times. She had raised a family and she had outlived so many of her peers only for this to happen to her. She deserved to live out the rest of her years in peace in the home her dad built for her and her family. Instead, her life was cut short in the most brutal way imaginable by a snot nosed kid. Hell, bent on ruining lives, including his own. Still, while parents were putting padlocks on their bedroom doors and neighbors were placing surveillance cameras, Marie was giving him cookies and love on her front porch. She was a woman defined by her laughter, her love, and the simple good things she left behind. At her 90th birthday party, she told us herself how she wanted to be remembered.

[Jacob LaRosa]

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine?

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

You make me happy when skies are gray.

[Brian Kirk (Marie Belcastro's Grandson)]

What would you like to be remembered for?

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

For all the good things that I might have done, which I don't know, too many of them.

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

But not for bad things.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Marie Belcastro will live on the minds of those who knew her for all the good things she did. Jacob LaRosa, however, will never achieve anything. This is a waste of human flesh, a waste of space, a waste of oxygen. The fact we have a criminal justice system that pities, feels sorry for, and even defends him instead of the real victim is what the actual crime is here. When are we gonna fucking wake up out of this haze of suicidal empathy for literal monsters? I got nothing else to say about it. I'm disgusted, literally disgusted by how we treat actual victims. For the sake of appearances.

[Jacob LaRosa]

This.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

I've been doing this for 13 years for you. Can you do me a quick favor and head on over to YouTube.com swordandscale TV and subscribe? Would you mind? Would it kill you? Could you just. Could you just please kindly. Thank ya. See you next week. Stay safe.

[911 Dispatcher / Nurse]

Sam. Sa.

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[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

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[Jacob LaRosa]

Hey everyone.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date? Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Advertiser]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Advertiser]

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[Narrator / Host (Mike Boudet)]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.