A Dangerous Man

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Knife – A True Crime Podcast

Episode: "A Dangerous Man"

Date: January 29, 2026
Hosts: Hannah Smith and Paisha Eaton
Guest: Cassandra Rosa

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Main Theme / Purpose

This episode of The Knife delves into the harrowing, years-long ordeal of Cassandra Rosa, a realtor in a small New Mexico town who became the victim of escalating stalking and sexual harassment. The conversation highlights the complexities victims face when seeking help from law enforcement, the inadequate systemic response, and the ripple effects of violence—both from the offender and the institutions ostensibly meant to protect. The episode’s purpose is to give a platform to Cassandra's story, exploring both her lived experience and the broader implications for victims failed by the system.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cassandra's Background and the Start of the Harassment

• Cassandra moved back to her New Mexico hometown in 2020 to help her mother, pivoting to a career in real estate during the pandemic.
• By October 2020, she was a newly licensed realtor utilizing social media to build her business.
• In Feb 2021, she started receiving anonymous, sexually explicit, and threatening messages from random, untraceable numbers.
• Despite reporting the early harassment to local police, the investigation was perfunctory and quickly dropped.
  • Quote: “[The police] literally says they did nothing…that they took my word that it was a fake number and that concluded their investigation.” — Cassandra (11:01)

2. Escalation of Stalker’s Behavior

• After initial inappropriate texts, the harassment escalated to frequent anonymous calls (often with sexually explicit noises).
• The perpetrator’s tactics diversified: impersonation of clients, statements of intent to rape, phone calls pretending to be legitimate business inquiries, and more.
  • Quote: “It wasn’t just the text messages being anonymous. It wasn’t just the masturbating on the phone. It wasn’t just the no caller ID. It wasn’t just pretending to be somebody who needed help…” — Cassandra (16:54)

3. Inadequate Law Enforcement Response

• Cassandra repeatedly filed police reports and sought protection. The only tangible action was a vague “watch” placed on her home, which even responding officers could not explain.
  • Memorable Moment (19:06): Officer asks Cassandra’s family why there’s a watch on their home, revealing the system's inefficacy.
• Cassandra implemented her own safety protocols: locking her office, avoiding showings with men, getting a concealed carry license.

4. Intersection With a Local Contractor, "Chris"

• After her property is vandalized, Cassandra hires a contractor (“Chris”—a pseudonym), who is initially helpful and seems interested in her.
• Red flags arise: constant messaging, unsolicited gifts, evasiveness about personal information.
• Upon running a reverse phone search, Cassandra discovers Chris's real identity: a convicted sex offender and attempted murderer with a history of violence against women.
  • Quote: “One of the first things that come up is an article about that person and being wanted for attempted murder…he had tried to kill his girlfriend at the time and he stabbed her so many times…” — Cassandra (29:57)
• Chris’s behavior becomes more concerning as Cassandra begins to suspect he is the stalker.

5. Cassandra's Reckoning and Response

• Cassandra makes a calculated decision to not immediately confront Chris or break contact, fearing for her safety.
  • She purposely acts erratic and jealous to end communication without revealing her suspicions.
  • Quote: “I was causing a lot of friction…what I wanted him to feel like is that if something was wrong between us, it’s not because I knew something was wrong with him.” — Cassandra (38:22)
• After cutting contact, she provides her evidence to an undersheriff and later to police and Chris’s parole officer.

6. Police and Community Backlash

• Cassandra feels the investigation is again stalling, with shifting explanations and blame from detectives.
  • Quote: “I really do believe that if y’all don’t help me, the only recourse I have…is to come forward and let people know that he’s a danger.” — Cassandra (44:01)
• She posts on Facebook about her stalker (without naming him), and the community quickly deduces who Chris is. Chris obtains a restraining order against Cassandra, claiming harassment.
• The police ultimately arrest and jail Cassandra for harassment, despite dismissing her own reports of being stalked.
  • Quote: “And I was arrested in August and spent three days in jail.” — Cassandra (54:59)

7. Deeper Institutional Failures & Community Outrage

• Cassandra’s arrest further erodes her trust in the justice system; she spends $10,000 defending herself before charges are dropped.
  • Quote: “For the last four months, I’ve been trying to get myself out of that charge, and it was difficult…It wasn’t until that last attorney that the DA automatically dropped the charges…” — Cassandra (56:54)
• Documentation shows police disliked Cassandra, doubting her claims and character, calling her unreliable.
• Even with evidence (message similarities, harassment reports tied to Chris, timeline coincidences), police and parole officers take little concrete action.
  • Discussion: If the evidence doesn’t support 100% certainty, do police have any duty to investigate further, especially given Chris’s history?

8. Contact With Other Victims & Systemic Gaps

• Chris’s other victims confirm a longstanding pattern of violence and stalking, suffering ongoing impacts and failed attempts at protection via the courts.
  • Quote: “She did try to get a restraining order on him and the courts denied it…even though that’s part of his stipulations is to have no contact…” — Cassandra (60:44)
• Chris shields his real identity with nicknames and his business, evading repercussions and public knowledge of his criminal record.

9. Larger Reflections — Technology, Policing, and Victim Blaming

• Hosts discuss the technological ease of anonymous harassment and how law enforcement may lack resources/know-how for cyberstalking cases.
  • Quote: “It’s actually so easy to download an app on your phone that allows you to send text messages that look like they’re coming from random numbers that aren’t traceable…” — Hannah (70:56)
• They reflect on how trauma, fear, and lack of support lead victims to react in ways that authorities may misinterpret, further disadvantaging victims in the justice system.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote / Moment | Speaker | |-----------|----------------|---------| | 11:01 | “It literally says they did nothing…that they took my word that it was a fake number and that concluded their investigation.” | Cassandra | | 14:07 | “But it was July of 21, and I had received another message...they said...I would give my left nut to see you in red panties.” | Cassandra | | 16:54 | “It wasn’t just the text messages being anonymous. It wasn’t just the masturbating on the phone... he had different techniques, I guess you could say, right? Different ways to terrorize me.” | Cassandra | | 19:06 | “We do know that you have a watch on your home. Can you tell me why?’…I was traumatized. I was crying. I didn’t know what was going on…” | Cassandra | | 29:57 | “One of the first things that come up is an article about that person and being wanted for attempted murder…he had tried to kill his girlfriend at the time and he stabbed her so many times…” | Cassandra | | 38:22 | “It was very important to me that he did not know that I knew he was my stalker.” | Cassandra | | 44:01 | “I really do believe that if y’all don’t help me, the only recourse I have…is to come forward and let people know that he’s a danger.” | Cassandra | | 54:59 | “And I was arrested in August and spent three days in jail.” | Cassandra | | 56:54 | “For the last four months, I’ve been trying to get myself out of that charge, and it was difficult…It wasn’t until that last attorney that the DA automatically dropped the charges…” | Cassandra | | 70:56 | “It’s actually so easy to download an app on your phone that allows you to send text messages that look like they’re coming from random numbers that aren’t traceable…” | Hannah Smith |

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Significant Timestamps

• 03:02 — Introduction of Cassandra Rosa and her return to her hometown.
• 05:44 — On putting herself out there as a realtor and first inappropriate messages.
• 14:07 — Stalker's threats escalate to violent sexual text messages.
• 17:25 — Cassandra’s second/third police report; minimal police response.
• 26:37 — Introduction to “Chris”; red flags in his behavior.
• 29:57 — Discovery of Chris’s criminal history.
• 32:16 — Cassandra suspects Chris is her stalker.
• 38:22 — Strategic disengagement from Chris.
• 44:01 — Frustration with police and decision to go public on Facebook.
• 47:03 — Stalker files restraining order against Cassandra.
• 54:59 — Cassandra’s arrest and time in jail.
• 62:08 — Details from other victims.
• 70:56 — Reflections on police resource gaps and tech-enabled harassment.

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Analysis & Reflections

• The episode paints a detailed portrait of how stalking and harassment can upend a victim’s life—and how defenses provided by police, courts, and parole systems often fail those most in need.
• Cassandra’s story is also about the secondary trauma inflicted by being disbelieved, dismissed, or even criminalized by authorities.
• Hosts emphasize that victim responses—which may look contradictory or counterintuitive—are often guided by desperate self-preservation, not obsession or instability.
• The episode acts as a searing critique of systemic gaps in protecting survivors, especially when offenders are technically savvy and institutions fail to keep up.

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Conclusion

The Knife’s "A Dangerous Man" is a powerful, empathy-driven examination of what it means to be stalked, threatened, and then failed by the systems designed to safeguard victims. The episode offers a raw look into Cassandra’s trauma, the barriers to justice, and the chilling reality that for many victims, telling your story—and staying vigilant—may be the only recourse left.

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For listeners seeking more information or support, the hosts encourage reaching out via their email (thenifexactlyrightmedia.com), Instagram (@theknifepodcast), or Bluesky.

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“As a woman, the most important thing you can do is to believe in yourself and to try to keep yourself safe even when nobody else is helping you.”
— Cassandra Rosa (64:49)

Transcript

[Cassandra Rosa]

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[Hannah Smith]

You can find [e-mail] and just search the knife. This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised.

[Paisha Eaton]

The claims and opinions in this podcast are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the knife or exactly right media.

[Cassandra Rosa]

And I just remember opening that last message, and I immediately started crying because it was real and it was my life.

[Hannah Smith]

Welcome to the Knife. I'm Hannah Smith.

[Paisha Eaton]

I'm Haisha Eaton. And this week we're speaking with Cassandra Rosa. Cassandra has been the victim of a stalker for years now, and the escalation of this stalker is both shocking and not because we know that stalkers can start to feel emboldened as time passes.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, we talk a lot on the show about how it's hard to catch and stop stalkers practically and legally. This story is no different. But it also highlights how wrong things can go with an investigation and how a victim start to look like the villain.

[Paisha Eaton]

Yeah, I mean, Cassandra lives in a small New Mexico town, and we're not going to say the name of where she lives because things became so contentious with her case.

[Hannah Smith]

As a warning, we do talk about text messages that Cassandra received, which are of a violent and sexual nature.

[Paisha Eaton]

Let's get into the interview.

[Cassandra Rosa]

My name is Cassandra. I've been working in my little community for the last five years as a realtor. And I'd say I'm a pretty regular gal. I'm single, no kids, in my mid-30s. But, yeah, I would never expect that in the last five years I would be in a place where I could even tell a story like this. It was in 2020 is when I decided to move back home. Before that, I was living in El Paso. I was a restaurant manager. And the reason I did decide to move back home was for family reasons. At that time, my mom was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer, and she was a sing mom. And I just knew it was going to be really hard for her to be going through her treatments and still trying to maintain her household. And I was just in a position where I could go home and really support her. So that was very meaningful to me. I thought, you know, I could go, like, get a little serving job, work hard and still be able to support my mom and take care of her. But with the quarantine, it totally killed that plan. And so I had to pivot into real estate. I was able to get my license. And so By October of 2020, I was working as a realtor.

[Hannah Smith]

Cassandra was back home living in her New Mexico town for the first time in years she was launching a brand new career in real estate, which meant rebuilding her connections from scratch and developing a marketing plan which mostly focused on social media. For real estate agents nowadays, having a social media presence is really not optional. It is how they get their clients. People want to feel like they already know you before they trust you with buying or selling a home. In a lot of ways, Cassandra's success depended on making herself and her contact information visible to the public.

[Cassandra Rosa]

It was a lot of fun and it definitely takes a lot of dedication because you're doing that non stop without a lot of return for your effort, to be honest with you. So I did that for the first few months and I was getting pretty regular interactions until things kind of got weird.

[Paisha Eaton]

Yeah. And tell us more about that sort of transition from, okay, I'm putting myself out there and I'm getting some traction to something strange happening.

[Cassandra Rosa]

So I started getting messages in February of 2021, and automatically it was inappropriate. So the first message I got was telling me that they saw me on Facebook. They wanted help from me that they had a loan from and, you know, money from their parents. But they solicited me for sex in that same text asking me if I would sleep with them. I never answered back. And I just thought, wow, I can't believe somebody would do that. I cannot believe somebody would send a text like that. But I thought, okay, you know, it's 2021. Guys are crazy out there. There's the Internet. People see you online all the time. They can get my number.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay, so you're getting a text on your phone, which you know your phone number is public because you're trying to advertise your services. But are you mainly advertising on Facebook at that time? Is that why you believe that they got your info from Facebook, Facebook, Instagram?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Those are the ways, at least in my little town, that we really, we connect with people. We call it a Facebook community because if anybody's going to find out what's happening in our town, it's going to be through Facebook. So a lot of people, that's how we connect with one another.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. So when this person texted you, did they introduce themselves and say, I'm so and so, or was it just anonymous message?

[Cassandra Rosa]

They didn't give me a real name. It would always be like, hey, and then go off into, I saw you, you know, I want your help. I thought you were attractive. Would you sleep with me?

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Cassandra Rosa]

And you don't know who it's coming from. I asked the other realtors you know, can you trace this number? Can you cross reference it? Can you check in your app? And it didn't go back to anyone. I really did think that it was somebody messing with me, and they would. It would not be a regular occurrence. But it was just a couple weeks after that that I got another message. And this time it said that they were my Facebook friend named Robert. And in the message, they told me that their wife had cheated on them with their best friend and that they wanted to kill themselves. And so when I first started reading these, I was like, wow, this is so intense. Like, I thought maybe it could be. Well, I kind of already knew. I was like, I don't have a Facebook friend named Robert who would even tell me this type of thing. So I was like, this can't be somebody I really know. But I didn't know if it was, like, fake or not. I wasn't really on edge yet. So I told them, like, call the police if you're thinking about killing yourself. I just didn't know what to say. And it got weird because they told me, I need somebody to talk to, Cassandra. I need somebody to talk to someone like you. And I was like, this is just. It's very bizarre, very weird, because that number was also a fake number, but.

[Hannah Smith]

It was a different number than the first number.

[Cassandra Rosa]

Yes, it was a different number than the first number, and it was a fake number.

[Hannah Smith]

When Cassandra says fake number, she means the number did not trace back to a registered user. A registered phone number with a cell phone carrier is traceable back to a human being. But these numbers led nowhere, leading Cassandra to believe that they were generated by an app. It's kind of alarming, actually, how easy it is to download an app on your phone that allows you to text from random numbers that aren't associated with you. And these random numbers are really hard to trace unless you have the phone they were sent from. Cassandra started to receive regular text messages with unwanted sexually explicit content. And blocking the phone numbers also didn't help, since each message came from a new random number.

[Cassandra Rosa]

And that's the key thing to all of this, is that there are always new random numbers. No caller id at that time, I was still not thinking. It was, like, a huge deal, but I was like, I need to document this. That was one thing I am very glad about. This whole process is that I documented everything as well as I could. So I did make a police report online. I think at that time, there was three numbers by that time who had been messaging me. So I Included those. I made the report of what they said because there was another number that texted me big booty. So I was like, well, let me just throw it in there, because you never know. And, man, I look back at the police reports I've made, and literally all they ever say on there is that they took my word that it was not a real number and anonymous, and they concluded their investigation from day one.

[Paisha Eaton]

It doesn't say, like, what they did to try to figure out who this was or anything like that.

[Cassandra Rosa]

It literally says they did nothing.

[Paisha Eaton]

Wow.

[Cassandra Rosa]

That they took my word that it was a fake number and that concluded their investigation.

[Hannah Smith]

We weren't able to get a hold of that initial police report, so we don't actually know the exact reason given as to why this wasn't looked into further. But it started off what's not been the most amicable relationship with Cassandra and her local police department. Cassandra said what she felt then was simply she was scared, and she asked for help, and she didn't get it.

[Cassandra Rosa]

I really thought that police would have my best interest for me. So when nothing came about it, I was just like, okay, well, at least it's reported. At least they know, and if it was serious, they would probably try to look into it more. That's what I thought, honestly.

[Hannah Smith]

Did you talk with any real estate friends and, you know, had other people had experiences of weirdos reaching out to them? I guess I'm trying to understand if at this point how you were understanding this. Like, oh, this happens to real estate agents. It's really annoying, but it's harmless. Or was it scarier than that to you at the time already?

[Cassandra Rosa]

I think it was. It was getting scary, but I was still very naive to maybe the danger that I was really in or just maybe the obsession that somebody had about me. But I did recognize that it's not normal for somebody to say such extreme things to you. It's not normal for somebody to be soliciting you for sex. So I did know that something was wrong very early, and I did ask the other realtors very early on. At that time, I was with a rather large brokerage. It was the biggest one in town, and it was majority women. And, you know, a lot of women in real estate are very beautiful women. And so. So I did ask, and I would reach out to the association as a whole, asking, is anyone else getting inappropriate messages from numbers they don't know from numbers that are untraceable? And over all the years, nobody's ever said, me too, Nobody.

[Paisha Eaton]

When you realized the police had sort of concluded their investigation and weren't going to help you at that point. What was your next step?

[Cassandra Rosa]

So that was like in February, and by March is when I reported it. So from March until Probably July of 21, I started then receiving not only anonymous texts from random numbers, but then I would also start receiving no caller ID phone calls. And it was on those phone calls where I would hear somebody masturbating on the phone. And I know you're like, how can you know it's that. But it's was done so often, and it's such a disgusting thing to have happen to you that you just kind of know.

[Hannah Smith]

Cassandra believed the same person who had been texting her was the person who was now calling her. It felt like he was becoming emboldened and his actions were escalating.

[Cassandra Rosa]

But it was July of 21, and I had received another message from a phone number I didn't recognize. And this one, this time said, basically saying that they were my client. They told me that they liked my ass when I was showing them a property. And they said, I don't know if we can move forward with me putting an offer because of what I've just told you. I knew right away they were not my client. I just never got any vibes like that from anyone I was working with. And so I just knew that it was this person who's been messing with me. And so I told them, if you're my client, why don't I have your number? And they said, what did I get myself into? There's just one woman, Cassandra, and that one woman is you. And I would give my left nut to see you in red panties. And that's when I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, yes, this person is crazy. Whoever is messing with me is like, next level weird. And then I told them to stop messaging me, leave me alone. And that's when they told me that they wanted to marry me and have my babies. And then after that is when they told me that I could go to the authorities and that I had no control and there was nothing they would do for me. And that if they wanted to rape me, they could. That they could schedule a showing that they could go to an open house, that they could rape me as many times as they want. I would think I was like, even at work at that time when I got that message, I was showing a house. I had to go back to the office. And I just remember opening that last message, and I immediately started crying because it was real. And it was my life, and I think I tried to deny it for so long that that was my life.

[Hannah Smith]

First of all, I mean, that's just so horrible and terrifying. And I imagine as a realtor, part of your job is going to these open houses and you don't know who's going to walk through the door. And so that's a really scary threat, that this person is watching you and obsessed with you this really horrible way, and threatening violence whenever they would call you and you could tell that someone was masturbating, which is so disturbing. Did this person ever speak to you? Like, did you ever hear their voice?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Sometimes they would. They would call and pretend to be a customer, and then pretending to ask me regular questions. And then they would say something disgusting out of nowhere, like just throw it back to something sexual. And I'd hang up because he would fool me again. But when it was just the masturbating, for whatever reason, he would already be doing it. And so you'd answer and you're like, hello. Hello. And then you're hearing this sound and you're like, what is this sound? And then, yeah, that's the sound, you know?

[Hannah Smith]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Cassandra Rosa]

But, yeah, he. That's. He had different techniques, I guess you could say, right? Different ways to terrorize me. It wasn't just the text messages being anonymous. It wasn't just the masturbating on the phone. It wasn't just the no caller id. It wasn't just pretending to be somebody who needed help and then freaking me out by saying something disgusting to me. And so, of course, when I got the rape text messages, I went directly into the police station by that point. And I think that was either my second or third police report.

[Paisha Eaton]

And with these reports that you're continuing to file as this stalker's behavior is escalating, is the police response escalating at all? Is their reaction to the reports changing?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Only when I came to them with the text about going to the police, having no control and them raping me. But the action was not equivalent to the threat, in my opinion. So what they did was they put a watch on my house.

[Paisha Eaton]

What does that mean, they put a watch on your house?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Well, I never knew what it meant.

[Hannah Smith]

Right.

[Cassandra Rosa]

Because that's all they told me, is that we'll put a watch on your home. So what that means is that they have your home known is an address to be looked over is what I assume. And I assume that because there was one time, randomly, for whatever reason, somebody was running from the cops and for whatever reason, they decided to pull up to. At that time, I was living with my mom still. They pulled into my mom's driveway and they got out of their car and they ran to the backyard. And because my mom, my sister, and me, we were all in the house and we knew I had a stalker, we all got very scared and we called the police. And the police came and they checked the backyard and everywhere around, and they told us, okay, this is what happened. This man was running from cops. He just happened to pull into your driveway. We've already taken him into custody. We do know that you have a watch on your home. Can you tell me why? And so my sister. Because I was traumatized. I was crying. I didn't know what was going on. I was super scared. My sister told them how somebody had been stalking me, somebody had been threatening to rape me, and that the police had not helped me. And so, I mean, I do know that they did put a watch on.

[Hannah Smith]

My house, but that the officer didn't even know what it was for. We know there's a watch in your house, but why? It's like, I don't know. I don't know how it works, but that kind of makes you think, like, well, how serious are you taking this then?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Yeah, yeah.

[Paisha Eaton]

Like, what good is this watch if you don't know what you're looking for?

[Cassandra Rosa]

I mean, but if you can imagine just being in my shoes, even thinking that something's being done for you is just. It means the world. Right. Because what resources did I have at that time? Nothing really.

[Hannah Smith]

At your job, was anything done as far as when you went to open houses? Did someone come with you? Was there anything put in place to help you feel safer?

[Cassandra Rosa]

There was more, like safety protocols that I had to take more initiative on. If I was ever at the office alone, it had to remain locked at all times, which I still do to this day if I'm ever in an office. No showings with people I don't know by myself. For a long time, I didn't do evening showings without either somebody on the phone or somebody with me. Even to this day, I really don't like working with men. I don't know. It makes me very uncomfortable and I feel really horrible. But it's just one of those effects of what's happened to me. And I did get a concealed carry license. Not because I'm trying to assume anyone and everyone's my stalker, but because I had real fear of somebody trying to take control of me physically.

[Public Sponsor/Announcer]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures.

[Cassandra Rosa]

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[Hannah Smith]

Cassandra became hyper aware of her environment, always on the al alert. For example, when she had to meet a client in person to show a house, she was very cautious, confirming their identity before meeting in person and often having someone else come with her. She continued to live and work this way for months and then the months Turned to years, and still the texts and the phone calls kept coming.

[Cassandra Rosa]

Sometimes it would be for months. I wouldn't hear from him, but he would always pop back up into my life. And so it just happened to be that I got a listing in the next town over, and for whatever reason, somebody decided to vandalize that property. And I do really think it was just random. I don't think these two things are connected. But what had happened was they went and took, like, a lot of the metals out of, like, the electrical stuff and out of, like, the plumbing. Right. So it was a home that was already under contract, that seller needed to sell, so we had to get those repairs done. So because of that, there were a few contractors I had to contact in order to get quotes for the work. So I reached out to the contractors I would need, and I called one of the contractors, and I called into the office, and when I called into the office, I spoke to the office lady, and the lady told me that she would, you know, let one of her employees know and that they would reach out to me to set up that time for a quote.

[Paisha Eaton]

And this is a company that you had worked with before. You had some level of familiarity with them.

[Cassandra Rosa]

I had never worked with them, but I had known about them because of their online presence. Like I said, we're a Facebook community, so they had a pretty strong Facebook presence, and they also had really good reviews.

[Paisha Eaton]

Okay.

[Cassandra Rosa]

That's another thing is Realtors, if we're going to suggest a service provider, which is really not a great idea because, you know, you want your customers to be choosing who they work with because there's liability in everything. So, of course I'm going to look for what I think is at a reputable company. So within me calling the office and, you know, setting up a quote within not even a minute. I mean, it was immediate. I get a text on my phone, and it's from a person who did work there. But this person had previously messaged me about real estate over the last year. I'm always uncomfortable about guys who like me, and I don't know them. And so he had mentioned in those previous texts about, like, some charity work I had done. I used to do work for Lasagna Love. And so, I mean, he was familiar enough with me to even ask about that kind of stuff.

[Hannah Smith]

Maybe because of the stalker she'd been dealing with. Cassandra was on high alert when interacting with men in general. And she noticed that she'd previously texted with this guy, I'm going to call him Chris Even though that's not his real name. Looking at past texts with Chris, she noticed he'd been a little flirty. He probably had a crush on her, but it didn't seem like that big of a deal. So she scheduled him to do the repair work on the rental property, and she said, he did a great job.

[Cassandra Rosa]

He gave me a discount immediately. So it kind of opened up that personal relationship, right? Because then I'm like, oh, well, what a nice man. Then when he came to do the work, he gave me a gift card. So I was like, oh, wow. You know, he really appreciates his customers. So I did need a stove for that same property. I posted on Facebook in search of a used stove, because I was going to get it for my seller. I wasn't going to make him pay for it. I was going to do that on my own. And so I was like, I got to find a used stove. Let me go to Facebook. I know somebody on there will have one. So I posted it, and not even within five minutes, that man messages me telling me that, hey, I saw that you needed a stove. If you can find one, I can help you put it in.

[Hannah Smith]

She did find a stove, and true to his word, Chris helped her install it. It took a couple of days, and Cassandra and Chris got to chatting, and she says she ended up being kind of interested in him. She thought he was cute.

[Cassandra Rosa]

From the first moment I remember seeing him, I thought he was really attractive, and he was kind to me, and he was helpful. And when you're a single woman who nobody is helping you, I mean, that's a way to really, like, look great in someone's eyes, you know? So to me, I was like, wow, this guy's a really nice guy. But then there were also little red flags that I was like, is he nice because he's a nice guy, or is he nice because he wants something from me? So with all the gifts, with all the compliments, with trying to get my attention all the time, you know, I've dated a lot of guys where you really do need to see their actions before you can determine whether somebody is an appropriate fit for you. And, you know, just talking to somebody a few weeks is not enough time. I've always had a lot of boundaries. I've always had a lot of walls up. And so I. Even though I really liked him, I wanted maybe to pursue more, but I needed to know more about him first.

[Paisha Eaton]

Yeah. Can you describe to us or at least however much you feel comfortable, like, what did he look like? How did he carry himself? How did he dress?

[Cassandra Rosa]

He's just a very regular guy. I mean, he's just somebody that you wouldn't think twice about interacting with, you know, he's just really a nice looking guy, to be honest with you. And the way he presents himself is very like, I almost want to say soft, like honestly, somebody who's just a really kind person. But what I was thinking was this man's always asking me questions. He's always trying to talk to me, but he won't ask me on a date. That's kind of weird. He's, you know, a decent looking man, he's got a good business. Why is he not asking me out if he is finding reasons to talk to me all the time? So I thought he was a married man. I really did. I thought he's married, he's got a family or something and he's trying to be a little sneaky with me to see if I'll allow it. I wanted to know more about him. All I knew was the first name he was going by. And so I was really starting to like him. But I wanted to know more about him. One, if he was married and two, just, you know, what his past was. It wasn't until that evening when he helped me. We finished the stove and everything and I was talking to some friends and also a guy friend. And I was like, hey, do you guys know this guy and his last name or his business or anything? And my, my friends were like, no, not really. And then I asked my guy friend and he was like, no, but look up his number. Use this reverse phone number. Look up. And when I use one of mine, it didn't give me his last name, but when I used that one, it gave me the first name and the last name.

[Paisha Eaton]

Was that the same name that he had given you?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Absolutely not. No.

[Paisha Eaton]

So you're with someone who's like, you need to run this phone number through this reverse number search. You do that and you come up with a name that upon searching is this person that you've been interacting with, but it's not the name that he gave you. And what do you find when you search his name? What comes up?

[Cassandra Rosa]

One of the first things that come up is an article about that person and being wanted for attempted murder.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Cassandra Rosa]

He had tried to kill his girlfriend at the time and he stabbed her so many times, fled to another city before they were able to capture him.

[Paisha Eaton]

And at the point that you're reading this article, is he still wanted or is it in the past and he had been apprehended since the article was written?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Yes. So at the time that I was reading the article was many, many years later, and he had actually already been apprehended, and he had been tried and convicted. Convicted for the attempted murder.

[Hannah Smith]

Did it say that he had served prison time, anything like that?

[Cassandra Rosa]

So for that, he did serve three years and just three years out on probation, and that was already his second offense.

[Hannah Smith]

What else did you discover after this?

[Cassandra Rosa]

I saw the sex registry, and on there it says he's a registered sex offender for second degree criminal penetration. So that's a different offense from the attempted murder. So there's two women he's attacked at two different times. They were like Facebook news articles. Right. And so people can comment on them. So one of his previous victims, the one before the girlfriend, had commented that she didn't even know him and that he raped her and stalked her afterwards. And so from there, when I read those things, okay, it's not like I ever wanted to put these things together, but to not would be a grave mistake. This person never went by his name that's on the registry. He's going by a totally different name. He never, ever disclosed to me that he is a registered sex offender and he was doing work on a home. His employer didn't disclose that to me either. I have been stopped for five years, threatened rape, and then here I am with this man who will not leave me alone, who is always finding reasons to be around me, who is giving me gifts, and who has never told me that he is raped and tried to kill somebody.

[Hannah Smith]

Cassandra was shocked and horrified to find out that Chris, the man who she'd hoped to date and who worked at this reputable company around town, was a convicted criminal who had violently attacked two women in his past. Cassandra found this out in January of 2025. And for context, she had been getting unsolicited phone calls and texts with threats of violence since February of 2021. And suddenly she had this feeling that it was the same guy, that Chris was the one who'd been harassing her for almost four years. When she looked at his flirty texts, they felt eerily familiar.

[Cassandra Rosa]

It's not that I 100% knew he was my stalker. It was that this was the first time anybody had ever come into my life. That made me fear for my life in that manner.

[Paisha Eaton]

What is your level of contact with him during that time, and how do you navigate that once you understand him to be an incredibly dangerous person?

[Cassandra Rosa]

It was constant. He would not leave me Alone. And that was another reason why I was like, this man is texting me all the time, constantly. I don't think anybody can truly understand how horrified, how disgusted, and how scared I was for my life. When I say I was in fear for my life. There's just no exaggeration to that. That's a fact. I knew that this man is a smart man, he's a manipulative man, and I knew that just removing myself and just going straight to police would not be a smart idea. I was also worried that would they believe me. And so I decided and I told my girlfriends right away in a group text and I called my dad and I called my sister immediately. As soon as I put that together in my mind, I started telling people, I think I know who my stalker is. Or I believe I've figured out who my stalker is. And of course they say why. And I say, because of his interactions with me, of the way he's obsessed, because of his history, because I've never ever been around anyone who's ever made me feel like this.

[Hannah Smith]

What Cassandra did next, the steps that she took could be confusing at face value, even controversial, and it would honestly cause a lot of problems for her later, because what she did next is not the textbook reaction that you might expect from someone afraid for their life. But I'd argue that you actually don't know what you would do unless you were in that situation. She'd been hypervigilant for four years. She'd been looking over her shoulder. She'd been dealing with someone who was sending her threats of rape consistently for four years. She'd been scared and she'd asked for help from the police multiple times and she felt like she hadn't gotten any.

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[Hannah Smith]

Cassandra says she felt like if she she just cut off contact with Chris, if she ghosted him, she wasn't sure what he would do. And that really terrified her. So she wanted to figure out a way to extricate herself from the conversation without letting him know that she believed he was her stalker.

[Cassandra Rosa]

And so from that day, I probably talked to him for like the next five or six days. And when I say talk to him, I mean that I no longer was trying to meet up with him in person. That was never an option again. And that was frustrating for him. I was causing a lot of friction by pretending to be jealous, by saying he liked other people, by saying he was taking too long to message me back, just being as chaotic as possible because what I wanted him to feel like is that if something was wrong between us, it's not because I knew something was wrong with him.

[Paisha Eaton]

So you were sort of coming up with conflicts to have with him to get him away from you without letting him know that you knew who he was?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Yes, it was very important to me that he did not know that I Knew he was my stalker.

[Paisha Eaton]

And I don't know if you're comfortable saying this, but up until this point, you know, because you had seen him in person, had you guys ever engaged in any sort of, like, romantic relationship?

[Cassandra Rosa]

No. I'm so grateful for that. You don't even understand how mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually I am grateful that I never held his hand, that I never kissed him, that if I gave him a hug, it was only ever a side hug. Just knowing that he never physically got to have any emotional intimacy with me other than those messages is a triumph for me. And so through that, there's tons of messages. Me and him probably started messaging pretty often just within that, like, first week before I found out that he was my stalker. And in between that little bit of time, we have 1200 messages together. Over 1200 messages. That is so excessive. And it was just me constantly having to deal with the emotional baggage of putting up this front. It came to a day to where I finally told him, like, I don't want to talk to you anymore. You're not giving me the attention that I want. And so I'm just going to block you. Because to me, that was the best way to put it.

[Hannah Smith]

The next day, Cassandra went to the sheriff's department. She said she had a personal connection with an undersheriff there, which made her feel more comfortable coming forward with something so vulnerable.

[Cassandra Rosa]

And I went to him, and I told him, this is the reason why I believe this man could be the stalker. And I gave him text messages. I told him that it was his behavior. And I was very upfront. I told them we had been talking, that because we had been talking, I had to continue talking to them. Once I did put two and two together because I was in fear for my life. When I reported to him, he told me he knew about that man. He knew about that man, that he knew that that man had caused trouble in the community, that even he knew recently about some issues he was having because he had possibly been harassing another woman in another social network. And so he seemed like he believed me. And so he said, okay, well, since he's a paroled sex offender, I'm going to give this to the investigator to handle because she's the one who should be handling it.

[Hannah Smith]

At first, it seemed to Cassandra like her case was being taken seriously and that something would be done. But because Chris was a paroled sex offender, this case had to be transferred to the local police department, and they had to coordinate with his parole officer. So Cassandra got a call from A detective at her local police department. And this is when things began to go downhill for her.

[Cassandra Rosa]

When she called me, she told me to tell her my story, and I did the same story I'm telling you here today. And I did mention that I'm a believer. I believe in God, and I believe in Jesus Christ. I do believe that the Holy Spirit protected me from this man by being able to put these things together. But it's not like the behavior and his actions weren't there. So she told me that day, she told me that because he was on Facebook and he shouldn't be because he's a paroled sex offender, that she could have him arrested, that she was going to get with his parole officer, and that they would get together to go through his phone and to have him arrested. Did I want her to continue with that? To me, it was like, finally, finally, somebody's going to help me. There's going to be some action. This person has been harassing me, causing me so much harm for so many years. This person has a really bad history. The cops are already aware of him. He's already under their supervision, finally. So she told me that she would get with the parole officer, that they would work on getting him arrested, that it was Friday. So she would give me a call later on that afternoon. And I told her, please, because I want to know how much I will be involved, because I don't want him to know it's me, that I'm in fear of my life. She asked me if I wanted her to ask him if he was my stalker. And I told her, no, I don't want you to ask him that. I am afraid of him. I'm in fear of my life, and I don't want him to know it's me accusing him. And so the weekend passed by, and I think I waited until the following Tuesday, and I followed up. So she reached out to me, and from there, that's when the story started to change little by little. And so from there, she said, oh, well, you know, I have to get with his parole officer. She hasn't brought him in. I have to see what's going on with that. I think she's sick. She's usually on top of things. You know, another week goes by, I'm asking questions again, still getting a runaround. They haven't brought him in, haven't looked through his phone. So I'm just taking her word that she's helping me.

[Hannah Smith]

We have a copy of the detective's report. In it, she notes that she Told Cassandra on the phone call that the text screenshots were not evidence that Chris was her stalker. She says she also informed Cassandra that she would have to contact Chris probation officer, and that if it were true that he had a Facebook profile, that would be a violation of his parole. But she also states that they can't do anything without evidence. As time ticked by, Cassandra was losing faith that the police department was taking her claim seriously. Were they taking appropriate action to stop someone who she believed had been threatening to rape her?

[Cassandra Rosa]

So there comes a day where I think it's already almost like two full weeks and nothing's being done. And I told her that I regretted coming to them because I felt like they weren't helping me. And that's when she called me, and she told me that she was going to get with the parole officer again to find out what's going on, that they do have to go through his phone, that they can't just accuse him of anything, and that she would have to wait and see what happens with that. And I said, well, you told me that he could be arrested, and I feel like if you guys don't help me, there's going to be nothing for me to do. And I really do believe that he's the person that's been doing this to me for y' all to look into him. And I told her, I feel like if y' all don't help me, the only recourse I have to keep myself safe is to come forward and let people know that he's a danger. And she told me that she knows he hates public humiliation, that his other victims have come forward in the past, and that she thought he was a changed man. And so I had a bad feeling about her, and I knew that nothing was going to get done. And so the following morning, again, she told me she was going to reach out to the parole officer within, like, 20 minutes. She told me that they had already brought him in. They looked through his phone and that there was no evidence and nothing they could do. So when she told me there was nothing they could do, I knew there was something that I should do. And so what I did is I made a post. I made a Facebook post. I never name him. My community was already aware I have a stalker. I'm a realtor, and I let people know I've had somebody stalking me. I would post the messages because I'm not going to let somebody ruin my life without people watching over me. So when the sheriffs didn't help me, my first post Was just something pretty basic, saying that I found out who my stalker was and that I went to the sheriffs and they would not help me. And so the following day I made another post. This one was more specific and it included the message where he threatened to rape me. But in the post, I never name them, but I just said that this person was a registered sex offender, that the sheriffs were not helping me even though I went to them, that this person hides behind their business and that they're a very dangerous person. And really that's all I had to put because within like just a couple hours, there was tons of shares, there was tons of comments because people had put together through those details who this person was, and because he has such a heinous history, people got very angry with him. I never ever asked anyone to do anything on my behalf. All I wanted to do was to notify people that I had no help. And so he started receiving death threats from people, so he says, because who even knows? But that's all it took was him saying that he went to the sheriff's and he served me with the restraining order that same day.

[Hannah Smith]

If it seems unbelievable that after everything, Cassandra is the one who gets slapped with a restraining order, there is even more that's mind blowing about this. After Cassandra felt that her local police department was not taking action to help her, her relationship with them totally devolved. She became outspoken in her criticism of the police department and event they closed her case. Things got so bad that it's hard to know how to interpret that. Did they close the case due to lack of evidence or potentially out of spite? They did not like that Cassandra had gone public with her story and that she was saying negative things about both the police department and the sheriff's office on Facebook. As Cassandra said previously, this was a Facebook community and people were outraged on her behalf. And even though she didn't name her stalker on Facebook, people in the community put two and two together. And some people figured out who she was talking about. And now Chris had a reason to claim that Cassandra was harassing him. Additionally, all of those text messages that she'd sent him back when she was trying to carefully extricate herself from the conversation with him, at face value, they could appear like a woman who was obsessed with him. Regardless, Cassandra said the police department reached out to her and tried to make amends and repair their relationship. But according to her, their efforts were not long lasting or helpful and nothing was really resolved. We reached out to the police department for comment on this story and have not heard back.

[Cassandra Rosa]

I was receiving phone calls from the sheriff's department and the police department after I made that post that same day, because it just blew up. Everybody was reading it, Everybody was sharing it. I guess people were interacting because of it or having responses because of it. So what ended up happening was they were trying to get a hold of me. The sheriff's is calling me, because I guess they did not like the way that the community was reacting to the way they handled it. Investigator called me saying that she had to take care of it if I wanted their help. I initially said, I don't want their help because they told me that they weren't going to help me. So I said, why would I want your help now? And because they served me with the restraining order, I told them I wanted to speak with an attorney first because I was scared. But on that same conversation, I told her I wanted to speak with an attorney because of how she never collected any evidence for me, how she never brought me in to talk to me, how she never really even investigated is why I didn't want to talk to her. And I told her, I do want y' all to investigate. I just don't want your help.

[Paisha Eaton]

And so all of that is taking place in, what, the summer of this past year?

[Cassandra Rosa]

No, all of it was taking place in, like, February and March.

[Paisha Eaton]

February and March. And where does it all stand right now? Because it seems like you did everything that we, quote, like, tell. Not we, Hannah and I, but, like, society is like, well, if they had just reported it and if they had just documented it, but you did all of that, and you didn't get the help that you were looking for. Where does it all stand right now?

[Cassandra Rosa]

Well, things got a lot worse because I went to the police department and I met with a detective. Detective took information and pretended like he was actually going to investigate. But over the next, like, probably three months, I would follow up with him. I would ask him, hey, have you looked into these numbers? Have you tried to access the Apple id? Can you subpoena for real information? And he just always would tell me, it'll take more time. I'm waiting on phone records. Honestly, I think he was lying to me the whole time. So what ended up happening was I decided to share my story on a pretty big podcast. And so through that, the lieutenant governor of the state actually reached out to me.

[Hannah Smith]

That's right. The lieutenant governor's office got involved with this after Cassandra told her story on a big podcast. And because of that, we actually have access to emails that relay conversations between the lieutenant governor's office and the police department about Cassandra and her case. And they are very illuminating as to how bad things got. It is clear that Cassandra was not a well liked person at her local police department. One email states, when a detective was asked about Cassandra, he claimed she consistently lied, screamed, and cussed at officers. The main detective, the one Cassandra made her initial report to once she felt she'd identified her stalker as Chris. That detective told someone in the lieutenant governor's office flat out that she did not believe Cassandra's story. She also said that Cassandra had no evidence except her claim that the holy spirit told her that this man was her stalker. She claimed that she offered to help Cassandra, but Cassandra was hesitant to have her name listed on the report, which is true, and so she closed the case. Now, to give this police department the benefit of the doubt here, it is true that Cassandra has no foolproof evidence proving that this man Chris is the same man who has been stalking her for four years. And the police should not just go around arresting people without cause. But I also have to wonder, how did Cassandra become such a hated person in this department? And were the detectives letting their personal feelings about her impact the case? How hard had they really tried? Because to me, Cassandra has a compelling theory that this man is her stalker. And she has a lot to back up that theory enough to where I think it should be looked into. She has saved many, many messages from the random numbers that have harassed her for years. And she has compared those messages to Chris's verifiable cell phone and the messages that he sent. And a lot of them are very similar. The phrasing he uses, the content, they sound alike. Cassandra also looked up Chris's cell phone number again. The real number registered to his name on a site called telos.com and his number has multiple complaints of harassment against women connected to it. Someone from the lieutenant governor's office verified that that was true. Additionally, when Cassandra met Chris in person and they began texting, the mysterious and harassing random text that she'd been getting for years suddenly stopped. That timing was interesting to her. That along with the allegations that he'd been using Facebook, which she clarified, that he had been using his company's Facebook account, But he had reached out to Cassandra multiple times on Facebook, and using Facebook was a violation of his parole. So wouldn't that be enough probable cause to search his phone and computer? It is noted in an email that at some point, Chris's phone was searched not by the Police department, but by his parole officer, and it stated that nothing was found, but there are no more details than that. And I have to wonder, how deep was this search? Did they know what apps to look for? And what if he had deleted the apps? Did they look through his app store history to see what apps he had downloaded and deleted? There's not a lot of information about what exactly they searched. All of this, to me, begs the question, what kind of victim do police departments have a responsibility to help? Just the ones they like or everybody? Because instead of looking into Cassandra's case, something completely bizarre happened. They charged her with harassment. They said she had been harassing Chris.

[Cassandra Rosa]

And I was arrested in August and spent three days in jail.

[Paisha Eaton]

Oh, my God. You spent three days in jail. What was the charge?

[Cassandra Rosa]

It was a charge of harassment, and they threw me in jail for harassment. That's not a normal thing to do.

[Hannah Smith]

We have a copy of the arrest record. In August of 2025, Cassandra was charged with harassment and arrested. As far as we can tell, there was no additional inciting incident that led to this arrest. And the harassment charges came from Cassandra repeatedly claiming that Chris was her stalker.

[Paisha Eaton]

Yeah. It's also like, what could be scarier than to think that while you're just trying to protect yourself from someone else, the other powers that be, like the police department, sheriff's department, is actively working against you and doing that.

[Cassandra Rosa]

So you can imagine, as I'm, like, being taken to jail, just the total shock I was in. Oh, but I did not cry. I did not cry. And I was not scared because I 100% knew that it was retaliation. I knew that I was not a harasser. I knew that I had not made contact with that man since I blocked him in January. For the last four months, I've been trying to get myself out of that charge, and it was difficult. But I really do believe they thought they were going to be able to get me with that charge. And so I had to change attorneys three times before I found an attorney who was not going to try and make me take a plea deal. And so it wasn't until that last attorney that the DA Automatically dropped the charges. Dismissed him as soon as they saw the attorney's name on the docket. That should tell you a lot.

[Paisha Eaton]

How much have you spent defending yourself against this charge?

[Cassandra Rosa]

$10,000.

[Paisha Eaton]

Wow. That is so much money.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. And, I mean, we believe you. I believe you. You know, it's horrible. And it's clear that this guy is also used to navigating the criminal justice system and is smart about it.

[Cassandra Rosa]

Absolutely.

[Hannah Smith]

But the other thing is, I'm just curious, like, from a legal standpoint, it seems like there's a big barrier that could the evidence hold up in court? Because you have the texts from what you, you know, what everyone recognizes is his number, his registered number, you have his history of violence. But is there anything evidentiary that can connect him to these other phone calls and text messages from these untraceable numbers that you know of?

[Cassandra Rosa]

I believe if an actual detective looked into it, they would, because there's a lot of the way he would spell things the way he would, like, use grammar and punctuation. There's a lot that are similar. And even the detective, even on his report he says that they do seem similar, the two text messages. But what really kind of made me sick to my stomach one time was I always remember that message where he said he wanted to marry me and have babies. When I was interacting with this person over that week, we were not talking about family or anything like that. I just randomly said like, hey, what's your four or five year plan? You know, like talking about, like, what do you want for yourself? I was thinking business wise or something, you know, and he said to have a wife named Cassandra and his last name and a baby.

[Hannah Smith]

He said this to you in person?

[Cassandra Rosa]

In text.

[Hannah Smith]

In text.

[Cassandra Rosa]

But we maybe been talking not even a week yet. Like, I mean, you don't say that to a woman. Even the way he interacted with me, like, he remembers a time that we met at a toy run and I don't even remember it. And that's something significant for him. And then he just weird stuff, like, really creepy stuff, like how he. One time he told me, like, that he liked that I didn't remember that it was him and that I came off like, as a cold because he wanted to win me over or like change me. And like, I just really believe that the evidence is all there and to me. I've been stalked for five years. Okay, you're telling me it can't be this man, so why won't you find out who it is? Especially because I'm still being stalked. What woman should have to endure five years of threats of rape? Why can I not rely on the police department, the sheriff's department, or the state police to look into these numbers when I have actual threats of violence against me? Also, I am in the real estate community. This is not just something that's affecting me. This is affecting the community. This is a professional job that affects everyone. Why Are they not taking this as a public safety issue? And another thing I'd like to say is that this person is a paroled sex offender who does not have to report the name they go by. To me, I don't just see my issue as dealing with just this person who's caused me harm. I see my issue as dealing with the system that has enabled this person to possibly live a life without any restraint, even though they should be under extreme supervision. And so that's the real issue that I have. My issue is that I'm living in an unsafe community where I can't even report the violence that's happening to me.

[Paisha Eaton]

Yeah, I mean, it is, it is unbelievable. One thing we haven't talked about yet is that you did reach out to his other victims. Can you tell us about that?

[Cassandra Rosa]

So when I first came out on Facebook at the beginning of the year, his victims reached out to me because he's showing up again. And so I spoke with his victim that he attempted to murder. She still lives in our community as well. She still battles this every day too, these poor women. In March of 2024, she did try to get a restraining order on him and the courts denied it. Somebody had poisoned her dog. He was driving by her kids school and somebody vandalized her car. And the court still denied a restraining order, even though that's part of his stipulations is to have no contact with her. They just will not consider anything he does is wrong, I guess. And she's also told me that she has judgments that because she filed a civil suit against him and she has like a ton of monetary damages that have been awarded to her because of this. And he's never paid a dime. He's over here hiding behind his business and pretending to be a rich person. I just don't understand how he's had no repercussions whatsoever. And I feel for her so bad. And the other victim that he did rape, she told me about the violent attack and she did have to move out of state because he was still stalking her and nobody would do anything.

[Paisha Eaton]

It's horrible if it happens to one person. And to learn that it's happened to multiple people with the same offender is surprising. You know, it's very scary because obviously you would think at least, you know, from my civilian perspective, well, you should have more than enough information to know that this is a very dangerous person and that you should listen to the people who are shouting from the rooftops that they're being threatened by him because you know I don't know the stats in front of me, but a crime that violent, I don't think it's probably unlikely for people to commit crimes again or for there to be an escalation. I guess just a follow up question I have. What is his role in this company that you reached out to? Is he like a higher up there? Is he a contractor? Like what. What can you tell me about him professionally?

[Cassandra Rosa]

He does own that company, so it's a shield. There's people in the community that shield him too. He hides behind his nickname so people can't just Google it and see that, you know, the man who owns that company is a registered sex offender. I think that's scary. This person was going into homes like probably still is not giving notice and his parole officers know and there was no consequences about that.

[Paisha Eaton]

So as of today, you know, we're speaking with you mid December 2025. He's out and about in the world.

[Cassandra Rosa]

Yes. And of course I'm alleging that it is this person, you know, but there's a lot that has made me weary for my safety and made me suspicious to where I did report him to police and I think it's a reasonable expectation for them to have had a way better investigation on him. So I did file notice of tort to sue. And so I have tort notices out with the county, with the city, with the sheriff department, the police department, State of New Mexico, Department of Corrections, the New Mexico State Police. Because there should be accountability. Officers should not be rogue like this in the state. There needs to be accountability, There needs to be more oversight.

[Paisha Eaton]

Yeah, I mean, the idea that you could be victimized by someone, I mean, yes, it's alleged, but like you believe this to be true and this is your story and you're going to police and then, you know, to go in thinking someone's about to help you and to be arrested. Yeah, it's such an incredible violation of trust. I totally see where you're coming from, even though I do think it's sad.

[Cassandra Rosa]

And I think time will tell for sure. And I think as a woman, the most important thing you can do is to believe in yourself and to try to keep yourself safe even when nobody else is helping you. So I think that's the most important thing because as a victim, you're going to be isolated, you're going to be silenced. And sometimes even when you go to the proper authorities, they might punish you. But don't give up.

[Paisha Eaton]

Wow, that was such an interesting conversation with Cassandra and something you and I Talk about when we go into stories like hers where you have this person who has been victimized, she is being stalked, has been stalked, and that is a very scary situation to be in. And, you know, she is very valid in her fear and anger around how the case was handled, at least from her perception of that.

[Hannah Smith]

I mean, if someone were threatening you for years, you can imagine how eventually that would make you feel so enraged. It would make me feel enraged. It would make me feel unsafe. And also just like, how is it possible that someone is able to still do this?

[Paisha Eaton]

Yeah, it's maddening. And anytime you and I interview someone who has been arrested or has any sort of criminal history, it's something that we look into. We have to do our due diligence. And ultimately, with Cassandra's story, and just like with others where we've, you know, come across this, it's like, okay, she has this arrest for harassment.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Paisha Eaton]

And we didn't talk to law enforcement about their decision to arrest her for harassment.

[Hannah Smith]

No, we reached out, by the way, but they have not responded.

[Paisha Eaton]

Okay, yeah, we reached out, but no response. And so it's like, for us, in our show, this is Cassandra's experience. And I think what it does really highlight that we can all agree on, is that the experience of being stalked and feeling like you are in danger and not getting the support that you need from law enforcement can make you do things that you wouldn't normally do. And that can range from the way that you interact with law enforcement once you feel like they're not working for you, to, you know, her need to go out and get a concealed carry permit to protect herself.

[Hannah Smith]

Or even her talking about when she is texting with this guy who we call Chris in the episode, obviously that's not his real name. And she comes to believe, and I say comes to believe, because still, there's no evidence, 100% that shows that he is her stalker. She comes to believe that he is, and she's in this really weird position where she's been texting with him, kind of flirting with him, kind of likes him, maybe wants to date him. Suddenly, everything changes. She finds out his criminal history and history of violence against women, believes he's her stalker. And now she is terrified for him to find out that she believes this because she doesn't know what he'll do. And I think that's a valid fear.

[Paisha Eaton]

It's a tale as old as time. It's like, keep your friends close, enemies closer. She doesn't know what he's fully capable Of. But she does believe he's capable of violence.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. And so then she goes through this whole thing of taking on a character. This is her story to us, right. Of pretending to be a jealous woman. She's trying to drive him away by being sort of unpredictable and crazy and clingy and all those things. And that's the choice that she made in that time. Again, like, you could see it from two perspectives. You can see how if you really feel like no one is helping you or even believing you, you're on your own. You're scared. So it's like. It's an interesting strategy to come up with to protect herself, but then it ends up really hurting her in the long run because the police can look at that and say, no, look, you're obsessed with him and you're harassing him. So it's obviously so messy and tricky.

[Paisha Eaton]

It muddies the waters. Someone whose job is to discern from electronic communication, like a text who's in the right and who's in the wrong. Because if you're kind of in a relationship or you were at one point and your text messages allude to, like, you being clingy to him, portraying that he's a stalker is even more difficult. But if you believe you're fighting for your own safety, you do things that you wouldn't expect yourself to do. And, you know, you and I, for as long as we've reported on different stories together, have seen this in victims of all manner of crimes where you think you'd react one way, but then it happens to you. And that's usually not the way that you end up reacting.

[Hannah Smith]

Totally. This is really random, but the texting thing makes me think about the Diddy trial and the way that Cassie was texting with him. And all these texts are pulled up by attorneys like, well, looks like you say, I love you, kiss, kiss, or whatever. And the reality is, yes, the. Those actual physical texts were sent, but when you look at the greater situation of someone who's being abused, who is also aware that if they anger the person who's either abusing them, stalking them, whatever it is, that that is not gonna go well for them.

[Paisha Eaton]

It's self preservation. And it's not that black and white, you just can't say, oh, well, because you were nice to them, you must have been okay with it. There must not have been a problem.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, I mean, I've experienced it.

[Paisha Eaton]

I mean, we all do it in, like, such. In small ways all the time in our life. Like, women have been at a bar and been approached by someone they weren't interested in and tried to, like, kindly exit, maybe even after that person was too abrasive because it's just safer.

[Hannah Smith]

Totally. Yeah. You don't want to piss that person off and then suddenly you're in danger when you literally were just trying to have a drink at a bar.

[Paisha Eaton]

Yeah, seriously. And that's the thing I love about our show, is that it's an individual story and we don't have to call the shots. The listener can interpret for themselves, you know, their take on what happened to this person. And this is Cassandra's authentic experience.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. One thing that this story, this interview made me think about in relation to stalking, and it's something that has kind of come up as a theme on our show on a lot of different episodes. It's this idea that crime is occurring in a different way than it used to. The fact that you can literally. And I looked this up because I was like, how easy is this? Right. I went to the app store, I looked at all these apps. Like, it's actually so easy to download an app on your phone that allows you to send text messages that look like they're coming from random numbers that aren't traceable. Now they're traceable technically back to the app. So if someone had my phone and I was doing this, they could see I have this app, they could open it up and see that I'd been sending text messages. But it's also like, you could just download and delete an app and, you know, I don't know to what lengths this guy's phone was searched, when it was searched, but it makes me wonder, did the people looking at his phone, were they aware that this kind of app existed? Did they look for that? Did they look at his app history, which you can do, and look at what apps he's downloaded and deleted. How thorough was this search? And maybe it was, we don't know because they didn't respond to us when we asked these questions. And it's not listed in any of the documents that we have. But it makes me think that there's such a need for investigations to become technologically, like, intelligent for the investigation to match the crime, if the crime is happening on the Internet with different apps and whatever. Like, there needs to be an investigation that's competent about these types of things.

[Paisha Eaton]

And how well resourced are these small town law enforcement agencies? You know, they're probably spread thin. And what is the continued education on cyber stalking?

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, I don't know. Yeah.

[Paisha Eaton]

But thanks everyone for listening and we'll see you next week. If you have a story for us, we would love to hear it. Our email is thenifexactlyrightmedia.com or you can follow us on Instagram Henife Podcast or Blue Sky TheNife podcast.

[Hannah Smith]

This has been an exactly right production. Hosted and produced by me, Hannah Smith.

[Paisha Eaton]

And me, Paisha Eaton. Our producers are Tom Breifel and Alexis Amorosi.

[Hannah Smith]

This episode was mixed by Tom Breifogel.

[Paisha Eaton]

Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain.

[Hannah Smith]

Our theme music is by Birds in the Airport.

[Paisha Eaton]

Artwork by Vanessa Lilac.

[Hannah Smith]

Executive produced by Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer.

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[Paisha Eaton]

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[Hannah Smith]

2016, we said, let's do a podcast.

[Paisha Eaton]

Little did we know it would last 10 years.

I mean, but here's the thing.

[Hannah Smith]

Stay out of the forest.

[Cassandra Rosa]

You're in a cult. Call your dad.

[Paisha Eaton]

This is terrible.

[Cassandra Rosa]

Keep going, you guys. Stay sexy.

[Hannah Smith]

Don't get murdered. Elvis, do you want a cookie?

[Cassandra Rosa]

A cookie?

[Paisha Eaton]

My favorite Murder turns 10 this month.

Join us for new episodes every Thursday.

[Cassandra Rosa]

On the Exactly Right network.

[Hannah Smith]

Listen to my favorite murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Goodbye.