Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I grabbed my phone, and I put my mom's phone
number in my phone, and I put the phone to
my chest, and I keep my finger on the call button,
and I can't stop these thoughts. I don't know how
else to explain it. It was just like somebody was
whispering in my ear, telling me something bad was about
to happen.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about
the people we trust the most and the deceptions that
change everything. Angelique Robletto was thrust into the headlines when
she was only seventeen.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Everybody was outside my door. I had every single news station.
I had people calling me. I had Anderson Cooper calling me.
I don't even know how they got my number.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
As a teenager, Angelique experience to horribly traumatic betrayal. And
that's the story you're going to hear over the next
two episodes. It's taken her ten years of hindsight processing
and her own investigation to be able to tell the
full story, not just for the headlines or the tabloids,
(01:18):
but for herself. Today, Angelique is finally ready to tell
her story her way.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
My motivation is not just to get my story out.
It's also to be a voice for the mothers that
are not here, that didn't get to survive this crime.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Angeline grew up in a large Mexican American family.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And so when we have get togethers, it's not just
to get together. It was always a party. There was
always like i've been out that our cousins, our aunts,
our uncles, the whole shebang would come together.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Their house was always a gathering place for friends and family.
Angelique's mom was an interior designer and she loved being
a hostess.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Growing up when we lived in a mobile home, she
didn't care like, come to our house, you know, come
hang out with us. She would be an amazing host.
I just remember her always constantly baking cookies, putting them
out on the table, and you know, always having like lemonade,
always having things.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
It was a loving home. Angelique was the only girl
in a family full of brothers. She was the sensitive one.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
I feel like I'm the odd ball out in my family.
I do feel like I'm the one that worries more
about people and what they think and also what they
think of me.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Compared to her brothers, she was more of a people pleaser.
She wanted to fit in and be liked. When Angelique
was in middle school, her family moved from California to Arizona.
It felt like a big upgrade.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
We went from living in a mobile home park to
what seemed like to me like a mansion, because you know,
back then the prices were a lot different. We moved
from California to Arizona and had a five bedroom home
with a pool, and it was just amazing. It was
like a new start, in a new beginning.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
But it was a difficult adjustment. She left all of
her friends behind and started middle school in a new state.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I was the new girl. I definitely got stared at.
I definitely got judged my first week of school. I
ended up eating lunch in the bathroom all by myself
for like a whole week because people did not like me.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
So she developed a tough girl persona.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
So I at that point had changed from the sweet
girl who never got into fights, who never even had
an f ever, to this hardcore You know, I won't
say a bad person, but when I look back at
my childhood, I really do think of, like, wow, I
did change into this person that I could not even
recognize anymore.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And part of that new persona meant experimenting with drugs.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I did start using marijuana and drinking with my friends,
and then I was going through a really, really hard
time during my eleventh grade year. Something just within my
family and it changed everything about me and made me
feel numb.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
She asked us not to share details about what was happening.
Let's suffice it to say it was a difficult time.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
So I was going through some stuff at home, but
also dealing with being a high schooler and trying to
be cool.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
The summer before her senior year, she was invited to
a party.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I woke up to a text message at like six
am that said, rager party. My parents aren't home, bring
your bathing suits, Let's go swimming, and let's have a party.
We are very what I would call the redneck city.
We were drinking keystone, that's all we could afford. It
(04:52):
was so much fun. I had a blast.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
It was at that party that a friend suggested that
they try a new drug.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Trying meth. It took away the pain and the sorrow
and everything that I felt inside of me, and I
was immediately hooked. It only takes one time, and that's
all it took for me.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
She was in a bad place and living a life
of extremes.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
I was just a young seventeen year old girl who
didn't really understand the consequences of using hard drugs that way.
Nobody wants to go down this path.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Trying meth wasn't the only thing that happened at the party.
There was a guy named Josh there. They'd known each
other for years as acquaintances. She thought it was cute,
and that night.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
One thing led to another, and all of a sudden,
I wake up at the morning and I'm like, okay,
so just happened.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
She and Josh hooked up. It was casual, a one
time thing. After that party, Angelique's life began revolving around
her new addiction.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I got sneakier. I started finding people to were like
within work doing it. I started getting people to do
it with me so that they would get it. Like
when you're in that drug world, you'll figure it out.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
As the weeks went on, Angelique began feeling sick and
started to suspect she could be pregnant. So one day,
about six weeks after she hooked up with Josh, she
bought a pregnancy test.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Well, I guess I wasn't the only person that thought
I was pregnant, because when I got home, there was
a pregnancy test sitting on my bed for my mother.
She had been tracking my period. She said, you have
not had a period this month. Take this test.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Turns out it was positive. She was only seventeen, and
she panicked.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I remember very clearly at that very moment. I locked
myself in the bathroom. I brought my pipe in there,
I brought my bag, my stuff, and I had smoked
and smoked and smoked. I was in shock, and I
thought maybe this would not my pain.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
But she couldn't stay in the bathroom forever.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I came out and I threw the pregnancy test at
my mom and I said I'm pregnant, and she was livid.
She was so mad at me and disappointed. She was crying,
and I was just sitting there. I just turned up
all my emotions and I just looked at her like what,
trying to pretend like it wasn't a big deal, but
(07:27):
inside I was actually really like freaking out.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Her stepbrother was watching the whole scene, and he knew
Angelique had just used drugs in the bathroom.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
He was one of my best friends he was somebody
that I would talk to all the time, and the
first thing that he did was he found my stash
and he flushed everything down the toilet.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
The rest of that day was a blur. Once everyone
in the house had gone to bed, Angelique had one
thing on her mind.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I sat at the toilet, staring at it with a wrench,
trying to figure out how I could remove the toilet
to get my stashed so that I could smoke again.
That's what my main priority was, so was to sit
there and figure that out.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
At this point, she'd been addicted to math for six
weeks and it had taken over her life.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It was the moment that I sat on the ground
staring at that toilet with a wrench that really made
me stomach how far gone this drug had made me.
I had felt pathetic, like I have no idea what
I'm doing with this wrench, What am I gonna do?
Take this toilet apart and put my hand down and
(08:33):
try to find a bag that might be soaked? Like
is that how much I loved this? Is that how
much I want to do this? I spend my whole
paycheck on it. How am I supposed to do anything?
In life.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Sitting in front of the toilet with a wrench was
her rock bottom. She never wanted to go back to
that place.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
It was my turning point, and if you're an addict,
you understand exactly what that means.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
This morning, she knew she had to talk to Josh.
She told him she was pregnant, and he agreed to
meet in person.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
And I came down the street in a hoodie with glasses.
It's hot and Arizetta. I pulled my hoodie down, took
off my glasses and stared at him and said, do
you see me? And he said, yeah, you look really
messed up. And I said, exactly, if I don't have
this baby, this is going to be my life. I
(09:27):
don't know if I had it in me to stop
doing this because I like it too much. But this
baby can change everything in my life. This baby can
help me.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
She decided that this pregnancy was her second chance, her lifeline.
She told Josh that she was going to have the baby,
whether he wanted to be involved or not. After all,
they had only hooked up once. They hardly knew each other.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
I didn't want somebody to be with me because I
was having their baby. I wanted somebody to be with
me because they loved me, not because they felt obligated.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
But Josh wanted to be there for her and for
the baby. One of their first dates was a doctor's appointment.
They're looking at the ultrasound monitor.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
When I saw the screen, I had immediately fell in
love with this tiny little bulb inside of me. And honestly,
that was like reassurance for me and more motivation to
stay away from the people that were doing drugs or
to stay clean.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
This whole experience led her to sobriety, and she's been
clean ever since.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
I officially believe that being pregnant is what saved my life.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
But it wasn't easy. She had to take one day at.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
A time, trying to work, trying to stay sober, trying
to do all these different things just was extremely complicated.
So I had decided just to stop, and I stopped
going to school at them, I ended up actually getting
my ged.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Her old friends started avoiding her.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I had lost a lot of friends, like deep, really
really close friends. Everybody else was still in high school,
everybody else was still parting, everybody else was still doing
these things that I couldn't do.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Her friends had moved on without her. She says she
felt forgotten.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
You think about high school and you think senior year
is going to be the year. It's going to be
the year that I graduate. All these different things that
we think senior prank just prom everything. I was watching
all of my friends go through that, and I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
On top of that, she didn't have any friends who
understood what it was like being pregnant, and.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I felt so isolated and lonely because nobody understood why
I had heartburn. Nobody understood why I couldn't walk two
miles without catching my breath. Nobody could understand, you know,
me complaining about how big my belly was. Like. They
didn't understand any of that because none of them were
going through what I was going through.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Her biggest supporter was Josh, but to prepare for the baby,
Josh started working overtime trying to save money.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
He was working like ninety hour weeks, like it was insane.
It was literally from morning tonight. I never saw him,
but he would come to my house with no sleep
just to give me a kiss or just to give
me a hug.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Seeing Josh was often the highlight of her day. That
was until she was introduced to a new friend.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
I had a friend. Her name was Hannah, and Hannah
called me and was like, I met this girl. Her
name is Cassandra. She is pregnant, just like you are.
She's our age. It's crazy. Her birthday's in October, just
like yours. I feel like you guys would have a
lot in common. Plus she's new to town, so she doesn't
have too many friends. You know what it's like to
(12:57):
be pregnant and kind of feel like that isolation. I
kind of just painted this whole picture of like a
perfect friend.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
But that new friend would change Angelique's life forever. Angelique
(13:27):
was seventeen when she found out she was going to
have a baby. She had lost a lot of friends,
and by the time she was entering her third trimester,
she was feeling isolated and alone. But then a friend
offered to connect her to someone new, another teenager named Cassandra,
who was four months pregnant.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And I was like, yeah, yeah, like that sounds awesome,
Like I need a new friend. I need somebody that
is going to be able to relate to what I
am going through right now.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
So she made plans to get lunch with her.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
It was like an instant clique. So if you're a girl,
you know exactly what I mean. You either click with
a girl or you don't. And I had felt this
like full connection with her right away.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
They just got each other.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
She was very smiley and just seems so down to earth.
I would say something like, oh my gosh, this happened,
and she'd be like, I know what you're talking about,
and I was like, oh my gosh, do you understand me.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Finally, Angeline had her pregnancy buddy, someone who wouldn't judge her.
It was the connection she'd been craving. They both needed
to set up their baby registry, so they decided to
do it together at a baby store.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
We were excited and we absolutely like, oh you should
get this, Oh you should get that. I already have this.
It was actually like a really cool moment to have
with a friend because I didn't have a friend that
was going to go do that with me.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
They started talking every day, commiserating.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
We stay in contact through Facebook and text message constantly,
the same exact thing that we always talked about. You know,
how are you feeling, what are you craving, what's been
going on?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
They became fast friends, and they had mutual friends, so
they would sometimes hang out as one big group. When
they all got together. Cassandra was always on her phone.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
She always would be like, oh, my husband's calling me.
She was constantly on the phone.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
That was one thing they didn't have in common. Angelique
was still taking it slow with the father of her baby,
but Cassandra was already married to the father of.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Hers We're all kind of thrown off at the fact
that she was like seventeen, eighteen years old and she
had a husband. His name was Edwin.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Cassandra only talked to Edwin in Spanish, even though Angelique
grew up around it every day, she never learned the language,
so when Cassandra was on these calls, no one knew
what she was talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So that was something that like, we all did go huh.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
It was weird, but people just chalked it up to
Cassandra being young, pregnant, and being attached to her husband.
A few weeks before Angelique's due date, her family and
friends threw her baby shower.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
We had it at my parents' house and it was
really really big. I remember feeling extremely overwhelmed with the
amount of gifts that I got. It was insane. I
I had gotten every single thing that I wanted for
my registry plus four. I just remember that whole day
feeling so blessed.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
The only person who couldn't be there was Cassandra. She'd
been feeling sick that day but promised to check in
when she felt better.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
She was just like, hey, like, how are you doing.
I'm so sorry that I missed your baby shower. And
I was like, hey, no, don't worry. I know what
it's like to be pregnant, Like, don't worry or feel
bad at all. And she was like, I still have
gifts for you, and I really really want to come
over and just see you and hang out.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
So they made plans for Cassandra to come over a
few days later.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
My little brother answered the door and she had walked in,
and she was very bubbly, very enthusiastic, you know, very kind,
and she had this really big bag with her. It
was like a diaper bag.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
The bag was full of gifts for Angelique, but instead
of opening them, they got distracted just catching up.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
We just spent our whole day just hanging out talking,
you know, sat on my couch watching TV. At that time,
it was sixteen and pregnant and team mom like MTV.
Those were like all the things that we used to watch,
and so me and her spent a lot of time
doing that.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Angelique's mom fixed them lunch.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
You know, we're eating, and I started to notice she
was mimicking things that I would say. For an example,
my mom would be like, oh, well, Angelique ran away
when she was this age and she jumped the wall.
But all of a sudden she had the exact same story,
and then I was like, oh, you know that could happen,
(18:08):
But then more stories would happen, and she would just
be like, oh, that happened to me too, almost exactly
the same. And I don't know. For some reason, I
was getting bothered by it, and I don't know why.
It's really not that big of a deal. I pulled
my mom aside and I asked her, like, Hey, do
you think Cassandra's weird? And she was like, what do
you mean. I was like, I don't know, just I
(18:29):
keep getting this weird feeling about her, Like I have
this weird feeling and my mom was like, no, like
I don't feel that way. She's like, I can tell
you that it does seem like she needs a lot
of attention, and it seems like she wants like your
approval to be your friend. Cut her some slack, you know,
as a mom would tell a teenager, like, you're kind
of being judgmental.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
So Angeline tried to give Cassandra some grace, even when
it came to the endless calls she made to her husband, Edwin.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Once she realized my mom understood Spanish, she kind of
changed her demeanor and she started taking her calls in private.
I was just like, Okay, these are just things that
are kind of just going on. They have explanations.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
As the afternoon went on, Angelique got tired.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
It was exhausting hosting, so I started like yawning and
kind of just being like a little like, oh, I'm
so tired. She had told me that she didn't have
her keys to her house and she had to wait
for her sister to get back home, and so at
that point I was like, Okay, Angelique, suck it up,
like she's stuck here for a little bit, and that's okay,
You're just going to have to stop and suck it up,
(19:35):
like hang out and just continue the rest of your
day with her.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
By this point, it was getting close to dinner time.
Angelique's mom had to take her little brothers to football practice.
She offered to bring Angelice and Cassandra along.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
And Cassandra was very adamant, like, no, I don't feel good.
Is it okay if we stay here?
Speaker 2 (19:56):
So they stayed back.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
One time mom had left, my brothers had left that
it was just us. It was just starting to get
darker outside, and it was like a light switched. It
was like Cassandra started being different suddenly.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Cassandra seemed on edge, almost paranoid. But then she remembered
something and.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
She was like, oh, your gifts. And at this point
I'm like, oh, yeah, that's why you came over. You
came over because you wanted to bring me baby shower
gifts like and that just completely slipped my mind.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Cassandra wanted to surprise Angelique with the gifts.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
She wanted to give me these gifts in a very
unique way. She took a chair from my kitchen and
she put it in the middle of my kitchen and
told me to sit in it and turn around and
close my eyes. And I thought that was so odd,
but I did it. She said, I'm going to come
up behind you. I'm going to drop the presence in
your lap.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
She started dropping presents in her lap one by one.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
The first present was a receiving blanket. The second present
was a onesie, little booties, a bib, a bigger blanket,
some random newborn diapers.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
But Angelique noticed something off about the gifts.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
They had the smell. It was smelt like a man
had rubbed like like Colonne all over it, or like
they like he just like rubbed himself on it or
something like it just not like a man. But I
am not a rude person. My mother did not teach
me to be a rude person. And I will be
thankful for whatever I get, whether I like it or
whether I don't. So I nodded and I said thank
you so much.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
The whole situation started to give her that weird feeling again.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
My instincts were telling me something that I didn't know
how to explain or what it even was. But there
was gifts in my lap.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Then Cassandra brought out an even bigger present, an expensive
baby carrier.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I felt like really awkward about it, like I know
the gift was expensive, and I remember setting there her
like I don't think I can accept this, like you've
already given me so much.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Cassandra explained that she'd gotten two of them at her
own baby shower and wanted to give one to Angelique. Plus,
she said Angelique was special.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
She had felt some type of special bond between us.
She was like, I just feel like you're a true friend,
and I just feel like I want to thank you
for accepting me. And I know I can be overbearing
sometimes and it was like reassurance that I wanted because
of all the feelings I was having and that conversation
with my mom. So it made me feel like all
she really is somebody that just wants a friend. She
(22:33):
just wants to be accepted.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Cassandra was on the verge of tears. Angelique almost felt
sorry for her.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
So I accepted the gift and she was like, oh
my gosh, I forgot I have one last present for you.
And I was like, well, what is it. She was like, well,
I have to show you in the dark, like this
has to be done in the dark. So we go
to your room and I was like yeah. Sure.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Cassandra had been spoiling Angelique with gift after gift for
the baby, but she had one last present for her.
It was a gift that involved a light or a projection.
You'd have to see it in the dark for the
full effect. So they went to Angelique's room, where Cassandra
told her to sit on the bed and close her
eyes one more time.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
At this point, the sun is fully set because it's
pitch shark in my room. I couldn't see too well,
but I could see her shadow like I could see her,
and I start to get really scared. All of a sudden,
it was like these weird thoughts started coming into my head,
and they were very like vivid thoughts. It was just
like somebody was whispering in my ear, telling me I
(23:57):
was about to be murdered, that like something bad was
about to happen to me, that I was going to
be stabbed. So I grabbed my phone and I put
my mom's phone number in my phone, and I put
the phone to my chest and I keep my finger
on the call button, and I can't stop these thoughts.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
She couldn't tell if this was just anxiety or if
it was something more serious.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
So as I'm battling with myself, all she's doing is
digging through this bag to give me the gift. Then
at that moment, I said something. I said, Cassandra, like,
what's taking so long? And she was like, I found it.
I found it, okay, And she got up on my bed,
got behind me on my bed, which made me extremely nervous,
and she said, okay, are you ready? And I was like, yeah,
show me. She was like okay, and I'm like, well,
(24:43):
what are you doing. She's like, I'm just going to
put the light over your head and then you'll be
able to see. It's going to shine on your closet
like I had a big closet door. And I was
like okay, okay, And I'm sitting right there and she
puts her hand on my shoulder. She leans me forward
and she starts to count and she says one, two,
and right when she says three, something inside of my
(25:06):
head said stand up. So I jumped up as fast
as I could and I ran and turned the light on.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
But when she flipped the light switch, whatever she.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Had in her hand she was putting back into the
bag and she's just like staring at me, and I'm like,
what is going on? And exactly when I say that,
her phone rings and she answers it and it's it's Edwin.
And she takes the bag and she leaves the room
and she just starts speaking to this person in Spanish.
(25:37):
She starts yelling at this person.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Angela's heart was pounding.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
They kept on wanting to make it make sense because
none of it made any sense.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
So she tried to calm herself down by lighting a candle,
a nervous habit of hers. When Cassandra came back into
her room.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I was like, well, is everything okay? And she was like, yeah,
it was Edwin. He wants to take me out to dinner,
but like, I have nothing to wear. And I was like, well,
just go look at my closet, like, go see for
something in it that fits you.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
The whole situation was so bizarre. Angelique needed a moment
to herself, so she left Cassandra in her room while
she went to the kitchen.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
In my head, I'm thinking something's happening inside in my
room right now, and I don't know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Then Cassandra came out wearing one of Angelique's.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
Dresses and I'm like, oh, that's cute. And I get
up and I start to walk closer to the room
and I start to smell this like weird smell, and
I'm like, what's that smell? And she's like, what are
you talking about? And I was like, it almost smells
like something's burning. And she was like, Oh, I don't
know what you're talking about. And she's like looking at
herself in the mirror, just like checking herself out, and
(26:48):
I'm just like, no, I can absolutely smell like something
is burning.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
The smell was so intense that Angelique ran from room
to room checking to see if anything was on fire.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
The last place I look at my closet. When I
opened my closet, everything is in flames. All my clothes
that are in my closet, it's all on fire. And
I went into a straight panic mode. I grabbed my
phone and I didn't call nine one one. I called
the last person that called me, which happened to be
one of my best friends. So I'm screaming, there's a
(27:20):
fire in my house. Call nine one one, help please.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
She didn't have time to deal with Cassandra or think
at all. She just needed to put the fire out immediately.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
And I'm running to the kitchen. I'm grabbing pots and pans.
I threw one at Cassandra, and I'm telling her, fill
these up and let's put this fire out.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Angelie poured on as much water as she could before
they had to evacuate.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I was just coughing so much, to the point like
where I was on my knees and I had finally
gotten the strength till I get up and I grabbed
her by her collar and I dragged her out of
the house with me, and I opened my garage door,
and when I opened it, like smoke was rolling out
of my house. We had finally made it outside, and
we were just both like on the ground, coughing so much.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Right as they got out, Angelique's best friend, who she
called in panic, was pulling up to the house.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
He lived not even a minute away from me, so
him and his mom got in the car. They drove over,
and they were the first people that were on the scene.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
He and his mom had called nine to one one
and the fire department was on their way.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I was so scared, and I was also trying to
breathe because I was having bad contractions from inhaling so
much smoke.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
Cassandra was also having contractions. Angelique was a week away
from her due date, but Cassandra was only six months pregnant.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
So me and her are both sitting in different chairs
and different areas of my garage. I started get feeling worse,
like my contractions were getting so bad.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Angelique's parents arrived home at the same time as emergency.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Services, and this is like when the cops start to
show up. Everyone's kind of rolling up to my house
at this point, and there's just smoke everywhere.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Firefighters rushed inside while paramedics started attending to Angelique and Cassandra.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
They came home to everybody outside of her house, so
they were in shock also, and I think my dad
was inside like with the firefighters, trying to figure out
what happened. My mom was more emotional support. When they
give me my IV like everything's fine, oxygen, I start
feeling so much better.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
But Cassandra wasn't feeling better. She thought she was in labor,
so the paramedics decided to take her to the hospital. Meanwhile,
Angelique went inside with her parents to assess the damage.
The firefighters had put the fire out, but not.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Before everything inside my closet was gone. Every single piece
of clothing that I had, my mother's wedding dress that
I had hoped to wear on my wedding day. One
day was destroyed.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Everyone wanted to know how the fire started. Angelique thought
Cassandra had something to do with it, but she didn't
think anyone would believe her.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
And I'm like, okay, if I tell you what I
think happened, please like, just listen and just listen to me.
Don't think I'm lying.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
She explained that she had lit a candle in her
bedroom and then went to the kitchen, leaving Cassandra alone
in her bedroom.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
I said, I guarantee you if you find that dandle,
you'll find her fingerprints on it, which they should not
be on it because I'm the only person that touched it.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
The authorities retrieved the candle and collected it for evidence. Meanwhile,
Angelique tried to explain to her parents that something else
had happened that night. She told them about the whole
scene before the fire, how Cassandra sat her down in
the dark, that she'd been scared for her life, and.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
I'm like, mom, it felt like I was going to die.
It felt like somebody was going to stab me. It
felt like I had something to my back.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Then ems began collecting Cassandra's things, including that big bag
she'd brought with her.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
They start grabbing the diaper bag and I say, hold on,
hold on, and I'm like, excuse me, please wait, and
I say, can I please see that? And I'm doing
this in front of everybody, in front of the cops.
I take the diver bag and I keep explaining to
them she said she had this present for me, like
the explanation is in this bag. And as I'm doing that,
I put the bag on the counter. I breach my
hand in the bag and I feel these two metal
(31:20):
objects and when I lift them and pull them out,
they're two large butcher knives. I dropped them on the
counter and I just start screaming.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
On the next episode of Betrayal.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
There's some stuff in here that I don't think. You know.
He has done this before. They sold babies in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal
team or want to tell us your Betrayal story, email
us at Betrayal pod at gmail dot com. That's Betrayal
pod at gmail dot com. We're grateful for you support.
One way to show support is by subscribing to our
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review Betrayal five star reviews go a long way, a
(32:09):
big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is
a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment
Group and partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive
produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason, hosted and produced
by me Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Monique Leboard,
also produced by Ben Fetterman. Associate producers are Kristin Mercury
(32:32):
and Caitlin Golden. Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and
Jessica Krinchech. Audio editing and mixing by Matt del Vecchio,
Additional editing support from Tanner Robbins. Betrayal's theme composed by
Oliver Bains. Music library provided by Mob Music and For
more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(32:53):
or wherever you get your podcasts.