Bond Hearing Held for Husband and Son Charged in Tennessee Mother’s Death | Crime Alert 3PM 12.08.25

David Gardiner, 64, and Gabriel Vilchez, 18, are charged with criminal homicide and abuse of a corpse in the death of Silvia Vilchez. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart hourly update, breaking crime news Now. I'm nicoll Parton.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
A small town in Tennessee is still grieving after a
beloved mother was brutally murdered. Today, her son and her
husband appeared in a Sequatchee County court on a bond hearing.
Recent arrest reports have unveiled disturbing details surrounding the murder
of the mother in a small town Dunlap, Tennessee. Her
husband and her eighteen year old son are facing charges

(00:27):
in connection with her death, as well as the desecration
of her remains. After a brief hearing today, the judge
determined that her son will continue to be held without bond,
but her husband's bond was set at two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars and that has left the community shocked.
Investigators discovered multiple red stains believed to be blood on

(00:50):
the carpet within Sylvia Vilche's home, alongside red splatters on
the walls, desk, and photographs, as well as a shop
vat containing what appeared to be blood. Detectives said the
carpet in an office space was so saturated that it
was soggy to walk on today. The detectives described their findings.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
In the initial interview, he stated that he had beaten
his mother with all that and drug the body out
to the bar he had learned. Did he tell you
where he had beaten his mother? Yes, you're in the office,
which was consistent with the blood I'm sum' screw. And

(01:35):
after that interview he did he approach the sheriff's partment.
And I'll give you an additional sagment. You did, and
how did that come about? My family? He talked to
one of the just out and told him that he
wanted to office the share and this was after he'd

(01:55):
been appointing counsel.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
That's true.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
And as you sit in on that out of it
was did you explain to mister bil Chess you have lawyer,
did not have to talk to y'all, that's correct, But
did he want to talk to you? What did he
tell you in the second interview? In same interview, he
sayd that he he started me his mode all that,

(02:21):
the short came in also hit his mother all that.
So once they were done, the duk the body out
in the black horse, rolled it up and parted to
the bar.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
If he had burned and the.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Burning of the body did they tell you how long
that took or how that process went for? Mister vil
Chess tellions, yes, regret the first game you ecited to play.
We're out there on that long feeding wood on.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
The fire key environment. Subsequent to the initial investigation, human
remains thought to belong to Bill Chaz were found in
a burn pile located outside the house and deeper into
the nearby woods. A search warrant was executed on October
thirty after inconsistencies arose in the accounts provided by her husband,
David Gardner and her son Gabriel Vilchez, who initially claimed

(03:11):
Sylvia was in Costa Rica. However, a cell phone ping
indicated that her phone was actually inside her home. During
a recorded interview, her son Gabriel confessed to attacking his
mother with a baseball bat while his stepfather looked on.
He revealed that they subsequently moved her body to a
fire pit and cremated her remains. Both Gardener, aged sixty four,

(03:35):
and Vilchez, eighteen, are charged with criminal homicide and abuse
of a corpse. Residents of the Lewis Chapel area have
expressed disbelief over the allegations, noting that the stepfather and
son seemed to share a loving bond with the woman.
They also highlighted that Sylvia Vilchez was a vibrant member

(03:55):
of the community prior to her tragic murder. For now,
her son remains behind bar. Her husband granted that two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars bond. Stay close to Crime
Alert hourly update. I'll keep you posted as this trial unfolds.
More crime and justice news after this. A mother of

(04:17):
two has been convicted of murdering a retired nurse in
order to finance her daughter's attendants to a cheerleading camp.
On December four, Sherrie Townshend was found guilty a first
degree murder for the death of Susan Leeds, which occurred
in May in a parking structure of the promenade on
the Peninsula Shopping Mall in Rolling Hill Estates, California. Leeds,

(04:39):
sixty six, was tragically stabbed seventeen times in the mall's
parking lot shortly after noon on the day of the incident.
Prosecutors argued that the murder was committed during an attempted robbery,
with Townshend seeking funds to cover her daughter's cheerleading competition.
Over the course of the last seven years following Leeds's death,
a case saw numerous twists and turns, including Townsend, forty seven,

(05:04):
who has consistently claimed her innocence, falling a lawsuit against
Los Angeles County after being arrested, released, and then re
arrested five years later. According to NBC four in August
twenty three, she stated that her connection to the crime
was solely due to her accidentally leaving her phone at
the crime scene. The cell phone, discovered beneath leeds white

(05:26):
Mercedes SUV, was instrumental in Townshend's arrest, as detailed by
the Los Angeles Times. Townshend had previously accused the LASD
of targeting her unjustly, claiming false imprisonment, defamation, racial discrimination,
and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Her federal lawsuit against

(05:47):
the Sheriff's office was dismissed. In a statement released on
December eighth, the LASD described the scene of the crime,
noting that when deputies arrived, they found the victim in
her car suffering multiple stab wounds.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Are metics pronounced her dead on the scene.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
The LASD continued, explaining that investigative leads were pursued, resulting
in Townsend's arrests for murder on May seventeen, twenty eighteen. However,
the case was initially rejected by the Los Angeles County
District Attorney's Office pending further investigation, and then in July
twenty twenty two, the case was reassigned to new investigators,

(06:22):
who reevaluated the evidence and re interviewed several witnesses as
well as speaking to new ones. On August sixteen, twenty three,
the case was once again presented to the DA's office,
leading to the issuance of a warrant for Townsend's arrest
for murder.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
She was apprehended on August eighteen.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
The trial started on November twelve in Torrance's Superior Court,
overseen by Judge John Lonergan Junior. Following the recent guilty verdict,
townshend sentencing is scheduled for January twenty three.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
According to the criminal complaint, Townsend.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Had been seeking about two thousand dollars to send her
daughter and two friends to a cheerleading comp petition in Florida.
For the latest crime injustice news, follow Crime Alert hourly
update on your favorite podcasting app with this crime alert.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
I'm Nicoll Parton