Episode 605 - Holiday Homicides

In this special edition of Unsolved with Steve Gregory we look back at homicides that happened between the traditional holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s – cases from Southern California and around the country. Many experts say the holiday season is a major stressor for people and some of the motivations behind holiday homicides include money, loneliness, and domestic issues. We look at murders as far back as 1881 and as recent as 2022. The cases come from all walks of life, including a poverty-stricken community in Kentucky and an upscale neighborhood in Chicago. The killers include a tobacco sharecropper, a former engineer with JPL, a desperate roommate, and an 18-year-old who didn’t want to pay rent.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six fortyon demand, KFI AM six forty live
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Thisis Unsolved with Steve Gregory. Welcome to
our special edition Holiday Homicides. Inthe next couple hours, we're going to
review some homicides that happened during thetraditional holiday season, beginning around Thanksgiving and

(00:24):
going through Christmas and ending New Year'sDay. Typically, overall crime tends to
slow down during the holiday season,but when there's a murder during the holidays,
it attracts more attention because it's unusual, especially because it's a time of
celebration, family and self reflection.But if there is a planned connection,
a premeditation between the holidays and amurder, that makes it even more heinous.

(00:49):
Sociologist and author Richard Gels says thereare three primary reasons for holiday violence.
The first, money, which impactsa struggling family during the holiday season,
spending on Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, gifts, and it's worse if
the couple or the family have beenstruggling for a long time. Number two,
something Gels calls forced intimacy, withmost stores and restaurants closed and relatives

(01:11):
who are already stressed out feel anobligation to be together all day and that
stress can compound. And the thirdreason, he says, is the happiness
gap. Gels says that all theTV advertisements, all the TV specials are
about how loving and wonderful families areand how life seems so bliss and wonderful,
which of course is a bit ofa myth. So we're going to

(01:33):
walk you through some cases that happenedfrom Thanksgiving to New Year's and whilst some
have apparent motives, others don't,but they all have one thing in common.
They're one of the holiday homicides.And caution, some of this material
is very graphic. Our first casecomes out of Knoxville, Tennessee. Thanksgiving
twenty sixteen, twenty eight year oldJoel Michael Guy Junior traveled from Baton Rouge,

(01:57):
Louisiana, back home to Knoxville,Tennessee, where he reunited with his
three sisters and their parents for Thanksgivingfestivities. At the end of the evening,
the three daughters, who all livedin Tennessee, returned to their homes.
Junior was left alone with his parents. Joel Guy Senior, who was
sixty one and Lisa Guy, whowas fifty five. Junior and his three
half sisters attended what was to bethe last event at the Knoxville House Thanksgiving

(02:21):
on Thursday, November twenty fourth,twenty sixteen. Now Here is some background
on all of the principles. JoelMichael Guy Senior was a pipeline engineering designer.
Now Lisa Guy. The mom wasa human resources account's payable administrator.
The son, Joel Michael Guy Junior, graduated from the Louisiana School from Math,

(02:42):
Science and the Arts in natchetochis intwenty oh six. He previously attended
Hanville High School. He'd never workedand had always been supported by his family.
Junior was described by others as distant, an outsider, never bothered to
establish a relationship with anyone in oroutside of his family. His mother doated
on him and bragged about him quitea bit. He spent a semester at

(03:02):
George Washington University, then attended LouisianaState University. As a student. He
lived in Baton Rouge until the murdersin twenty sixteen. He wanted to become
a plastic surgeon. The Guys hadrecently sold their Knoxville house and planned to
retire and move out of town.They also planned to stop providing money to
Junior. Now, in the eventof the parent's death, the son was

(03:24):
to receive five hundred thousand dollars inlife insurance money. Prosecutors say Junior hatched
an elaborate plot to stab both parents, dismember and dissolve their remains clean,
and burn down some of the house, as well as framed the father for
the crime. Again another warning,some of this is very graphic. So

(03:45):
let's go back to November twenty sixth. Officials say that's when Junior attacked and
killed his father with a knife ina second floor exercise room while his mother
was out shopping for groceries at Walmart. The scene showed evidence of a struggle,
with torn blinds, blood on thewall and corner, and an overturned
bowflex machine. The mom, LisaGuy, arriving home. She entered through

(04:05):
the front door, dropped the grocerieson the floor of the foyer, proceeded
upstairs. She was attacked then killedwith a knife. Nine of her ribs
were severed. Now, this allstarted because Lisa's boss was suspicious of her
absence from work and called police fora welfare check. At first, Knox
County officers Stephen Ballard and Jeremy McCordfound a seemingly empty house on Golden View

(04:28):
Lane. The property had been forsale, remember they were retired and wanted
to move out of town, butthere was no real estate lock on the
front door. They found that thedoorknob of a back door had been removed
and installed on the front door.Through the front door, they could see
groceries on the floor, including perishableitems such as bacon, sausage, and
ice cream, and through the holeleft by the missing back door knob,
they could sense heat and a strangesmell coming from the house. An officer

(04:54):
used a garage door opener in oneof the cars to gain access to the
house. Now when they first walkedin and they found a table with the
wallets from the parents and a sledgehammeron top, and then another table with
long guns. Downstairs, the stovewas on and the contents of a pot
were boiling. At the bottom ofthe stairs were the grocery items that were
seen earlier. The officers went upthe stairs and they heard a barking dog.

(05:17):
They looked down a hallway, andthey saw the father's hands on the
floor and discovered the dismembered corpses insolution in a bathroom. Among other items
investigators found upstairs were sewer line cleaner, a bag of baking soda, drain
cleaner, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, and a bleached sprayer and
drain opener. Investigators say they alsonoticed a note in an open suitcase with

(05:41):
the name and address of a LouisianaAce hardware store with a notation about sewer
line cleaner. Investigators soon discovered thefather's hands were removed at the wrists and
left nearby on the exercise room floor. The head of Junior's mother was removed.
It was carried downstairs, placed ina pot on the stove, and
heated. At the trial, theforensic examiner testified the head was not just

(06:03):
severed, but broken off with force. Both the mom and the dad also
had their arms and legs disarticulated,that means broken apart from the joints.
The father was disjointed at the waist, the mother at the knees. Their
limbs and torsos were placed in abin full of chemicals to dissolve each body

(06:23):
had a large gash inflicted after deathso that the chemicals would more quickly seep
into the body's mean cavities. Now, through all of this, Junior had
sustained several cuts to his hands,including a deep cut to his left thumb.
Later that afternoon, he was seenin Walmart in the first daid section
buying bandages and ointment for the woundsto his hands. He also purchased alcohol

(06:46):
and hydrogen peroxide. On that Sundayof the Thanksgiving weekend, Junior drove back
to Baton Rouge to have his woundstreated at the Student Clinic. Now,
by the time that the officers haddiscovered the scene, they put out an
all points bulletin the FBI Knox CountySheriff's Office in the East Batanuge Sheriff's Office
placed Junior under surveillance for a fewdays, and they eventually apprehended him on

(07:08):
the twenty ninth as he was enteringhis car in an apartment complex in the
Baton Rouge area. In fact,surveillance footage caught him on several cameras buying
the supplies he would later use tomurder and try to dissolve his parents.
He used cash for every transaction andself checked out most of the time.
He bought the supplies for the murderas early as November seventh, that's the
premeditation. He purchased several of thoseitems at ACE Hardware, muriatic acid,

(07:33):
food grade, hydrogen peroxide, andthen on November eighteenth, he was seen
in a home depot buying bleach sprayers, extension cords, and a timer.
He was at a sporting goods storeon November nineteenth buying a knife, and
on the twenty first, he wasseen at a Knoxville Walmart buying a plastic
blue tote bag large enough for thedismemberment bodies to dissolve in. They also

(07:56):
found a meat grinder in the trunkof his car. During the investigation,
detectives also found what they called abook of premeditation. It was a handwritten
journal found in the junior's backpack.It contained detailed notes outlining his intent to
murder and destroy the remains of hisparents. Now Here are excerpts of one
page. Again, folks, it'sit's graphics, but this gives you an

(08:16):
idea of just the heinousness of thiscrime. One of the pages had the
following notes. Get killing knives,quiet multiple, Get carving knives to make
small pieces. Get sledgehammer to crushbones. Bring blender and food grinder to
grind meat. Get bleach denature proteins. Does not matter where they're killed.

(08:41):
Just get rid of bloody spots toprevent evidence of time of death in parentheses,
not the mattress or couches. Nextpoint, get rid of bodies inside
house. There in my DNA.Already there then he has written and crossed
out. Open up doggy door toprovide entryway he needs to be blamed,
not intruder. Flush chunks down toiletin parentheses. Not garbage disposal. Next

(09:07):
point, get plastic sheeting for disposalprocess. He writes this down then crosses
it out. Get hollow point bulletsjust in case will be seen buying bullets.
Just use computer room gun check tomake sure there are bullets. Last
resort he's not alive, to claimher half of the insurance money all mine
in parentheses five hundred thousand dollars.Flood the house, covers up forensic evidence,

(09:31):
turn heater up as high as itgoes speeds decomposition. Bleach reacts with
luminol just like blood doubts area withBleach, big Sprayer, lie Lye,
trash compactor, question mark, body, gives times of death, alibi,
don't have to get rid of bodyif there's no forensic evidence on the body,

(09:52):
and then in cap in all capshis fingerprints and DNA. Junior was
eventually at freehanded, as I mentioned, after a bunch of surveillance from multiple
agencies. He ended up pleading notguilty, but he filed a motion that
he be given the death penalty ifhe's ever convicted. Junior's defense counsel presented
no evidence on his behalf. Thetrial took four days. Junior was found

(10:16):
guilty and sentenced to life in prison. He was also convicted of abuse of
a corpse. Currently he's imprisoned atlast Anyone Knows at the Northwest Correctional Complex
in Tiptonville, Tennessee. Coming upanother holiday homicide, but first, this
is Unsolved with Steve Gregory on KFIAM six forty. You're listening to KFI
AM six forty on demand, KFIAM six forty live and on demand everywhere

(10:41):
on the iHeartRadio app. I'm SteveGregory and this is a special edition of
Unsolved we're highlighting some of the holidayhomicides from southern California and around the country,
murders that have happened between Thanksgiving,Christmas and New Year's. As always,
if you have a comment, story, or a tip from any case
we've ever highlighted on the show,simply press pound two fifty on your cell

(11:05):
phone and say the keyword unsolved.Or if you're listening live on the app
or on the live stream, justpress the red microphone on the iHeartRadio app
and record your message. The nextcase comes from Chicago, Illinois. It's

(11:26):
called the Valdez's Early Christmas Present.It's Christmas Eve twenty thirteen. Here is
an excerpt from an Associated Press articlepublished December twenty fifth, twenty thirteen.
At six fifty two in the morning, an eighteen year old man was taken
into custody after police found a decapitatedman early Christmas morning in the northwest side

(11:46):
Hermosa neighborhood. Officers responding to ahomicide call found the decapitated forty one year
old man at about two five aminside a basement apartment in the twenty five
hundred block of North Kildare Avenue.Police set police said they also found a
knife on the scene. An eighteenyear old man was standing outside the building
and was taken into custody, buthis relationship with the dead male was not

(12:09):
immediately known. Police said the CookCounty Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the death,
but were withholding the man's identity asof one pm, pending notification of his
family. Chargers were pending against theeighteen year old. Police said that was
the original story that went out overthe Associated Press wires on December twenty fifth,
twenty thirteen. We know now thatthe eighteen year old was Alexis Valdez,

(12:33):
a young man who just six monthsprior had moved in with his aunt
and his aunt's boyfriend, Sylvestri Diaz. Valdez was allowed to move into the
apartment in the twenty five hundred blockof North Kildare on the condition that he
go to school, work and contributeto household expenses, but eventually Valdez stopped
working, which prompted Valdez and Diazto get into an argument, one of

(12:56):
many. After this, Valdez wastold he would have to move out if
it cantinued this way. On ChristmasEve, while his aunt was at a
Christmas party, Valdez and Diaz begandrinking, even going to the store to
buy more beer. Prosecutors say Valdezhit a hammer by a door, and
when the two men got back fromthe liquor store, Valdez smashed Dias in

(13:16):
the head several times. Valdez thenshut the windows, closed the blinds,
and put on some loud music,maybe to mask the sounds that Silvestri might
have made while being stabbed repeatedly.It was also reported that Valdez was celebrating,
even jamming out to the music.He used a butcher knife to cut
off Silvestri's ears, nose, andmouth. He also cut off the man's

(13:39):
arms and used his bare hands topull his eyeballs out. He then decapitated
Diaz. Valdez then left the head, ears, and nose on the very
bed where Diaz and his aunt slept, because he said he wanted to leave
his aunt an early Christmas present.Valdez eventually became exhausted from cutting up the
body and called Knight to report adead body. When the nine to one

(14:01):
to one operator asked Valdez if hehad tried CPR, Valdez laughed and told
the nine one one operator that Diazhad been decapitated. When officers finally arrived
on scene, they said they foundValdez standing outside of the apartment complex,
saturated in blood. He confessed tothe murder and said if his aunt had

(14:22):
come home, she too would havebeen killed. Valdez had no known criminal
history. He was sentenced to thirtythree years in prison. Before we get
on with more holiday homicides, Iwant to give you an opportunity to submit
your name to a list of veryexclusive people that'll be invited to an in

(14:46):
person taping of Unsolved with Steve Gregory. We do this only a few times
a year, and it's a veryexclusive event. We only invite a handful
of listeners because of the nature ofthe taping. Let me explain. When
we dinner for in person taping,what we did was invited only ten listeners
to a crowd of fifty. Theremaining forty were actually detectives from the seasons

(15:07):
before and the current season we weretaping. We also invited other dignitaries,
the sheriff of Los Angeles County.We've had other sergeants, chiefs of police,
and detectives and investigators, Federal andlocal, and we wanted to make
it a very exclusive experience. Sowe invite this handful of listeners to come
mingle with the actual detectives they've beenlistening to throughout the season on Unsolved or

(15:31):
even past seasons. So how doyou get to be a part of that
group, Well, it's very simple. All you have to do is email
us. This is very important.We want you to email us because it's
easier to keep track of all ofthe details and the information. Email your
name, your cell phone number.We need your cell phone number or a
number we can get in a holdof you during business hours. We have

(15:54):
to call and verify your information.This is part of the vetting process because
we're going to be putting you inthe same room with detectives and chiefs and
sheriffs, and we want to makesure that we have everyone vetted before we
let them sit into the room withthese folks. So we ask that you
give us your cell phone number,your email, and your name. Then
we want you to put down yourfavorite episode and why. That'll help us

(16:15):
sort of gauge your interest in someof the detectives that we might be inviting.
Because if you put down an episodethat's got a favorite in there,
we might be able to cross referencethat detective and get them to come to
the show as well. So again, your name, your cell phone number,
your email address, and your favoriteepisode. And why try to include

(16:36):
your cell phone number at least anumber that we can contact you when we
need to, at least during businesshours. Sometimes we might have to call
you after business hours, but dependingon our schedule, So making it very
simple. Then when we get allthese names together, then we and we
vet the information. Then we randomlyselect about ten, maybe twelve listeners,
and then they can come to thetaping. And then we won't tell you

(16:56):
where the taping is until the lastminute so that we don't have a bunch
of people just kind of crashing theparty as it were. We want to
continue to make this in a veryexclusive event. So you ready for the
email. Here we go. It'svery simple. Unsolved at iHeartMedia dot com.
Unsolved at iHeartMedia dot com. Pleaseemail unsolved at iHeartMedia dot com.

(17:22):
Unsolved at iHeartMedia dot com. Okay, great, now let's get back to
more holiday homicides. But first thisis Unsolved with Steve Gregory on KFI AM
six forty. You're listening to KFIAM six forty on demand, kf I

(17:48):
AM six forty live and on demandeverywhere on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Steve
Gregory and this is a special editionof Unsolved. We're highlighting some of the
holiday homicides from southern California and aroundthe gun. The next case comes to
us from Ashland, Kentucky. Theyear eighteen eighty one Christmas Eve. Missus
J. W. Gibbons was awayfrom her home in Ashland, Kentucky on

(18:11):
December twenty third of eighteen eighty one. She left behind her eighteen year old
son Robert, her fourteen year olddaughter Fanny, and a family friend,
seventeen year old Emma Thomas, whohappened to be staying with him. Missus
Gibbons returned the following day to findher home burned to the ground and all
three teenagers inside dead. Neighbors discoveredthe fire around five am on December twenty

(18:32):
fourth, and two of them wereable to drag the bodies out of the
fire. Fanny's skull was crushed bya blunt instrument and Emma had been strangled.
It appeared both girls had been raped. Robert who had lost a leg
in a railroad accident, was nomatch for the intruders. He ran outside
to scream and get some help,but before he could do so, the
killer struck him from behind with ahatchet. The victim's clothes were saturated with

(18:56):
coal oil and were partially burned.It appeared the killer or kill pillers had
tried to start a fire by lightingthe clothing. The fire did not catch,
so they returned and set the houseon fire. Now, of course,
this tiny town of Ashlal was shockedat the news. The local newspaper,
the Wheeling Register, called it oneof the most atrocious and hellish murders
ever committed in a civilized community.The town raised one thousand dollars as a

(19:21):
reward for the apprehension of the killer, and sent for private detective John T.
Norris. Now imagine that one thousanddollars raised in eighteen eighty one.
The axe and crowbar used in themurders belonged to the Gibbons family, so
the killers must have known where thesethings were kept. Norris was convinced the
killer was Missus Gibbons's husband, athriftless drinking man who'd been kicked out of

(19:41):
the house several weeks earlier because ofhis dissipated habits, as it was called.
The community found it hard to believethat Gibbons would rape his own fourteen
year old daughter, but the postmortem physicians could not say for sure that
the girls had been raped. Norristhought Gibbons had mutilated the bodies after death
to make it appear they were rapedto throw suspicion on someone else. The

(20:03):
newspapers reported several stories attributed to MissusGibbons, suggesting that J. W.
Gibbons was dangerously unstable. He wassubject to spells of temporary insanity, frequently
acting like a lunatic. He threatenedto kill his family, once cut their
heads off and burned down the house. He once pranced around the house brandishing
a butcher knife, and at onetime had proposed a suicide pact with his

(20:23):
wife. Norris was searching for Gibbonsand believed he would soon be in custody
if he had not already killed himself. Not everyone believed that Gibbons was guilty.
In the nearby town of Louisa,the police arrested a black man named
Willis Hackaday. He had been drinkingthe day of the murder and disappeared that
night. The next day, hemade some incriminating statements. There was no

(20:45):
evidence that Hakaday had any connection tothe murder, and the police released him.
Hawckaday barely escaped lynching. It turnedout the statements attributed to Missus Gibbons
concerning her husband's behavior were exaggerated rumorsgathered by a reporter go figure the media.
Gibbons denied making the statements. JW. Gibbons arrived in Ashland on
January second, bringing overwhelming proof thathe was elsewhere the night of the murder,

(21:07):
so he was not arrested. DetectiveHeflin of the Ashland Police Department never
believed that Gibbons was the killer.He followed a different path. The night
of January second, Heflin arrested threemen, William Neil, Ellis Craft,
and George Ellis. George Ellis immediatelyadmitted he was at the Gibbons home the
night of the murders, but placedmost of the blame on the other two

(21:27):
men. He said that Neil andCraft had boasted that they would carnally know
Miss Thomas and Miss Gibbons before Christmas. They roused Ellis late on the night
of the murder and insisted he gowith them to the Gibbons' house. Reluctantly,
he went with them. They wentin through a window and Ellis watched
his craft raped Fanny. She criedfor mercy as he continued his hellish work.

(21:49):
Neil then raped Emma Thomas as GeorgeEllis held her arms. Afterward,
Emma said, I know who youare, and I'm going to tell my
mother. All the commotion aroused Robert, who when outside to scream for help,
but then Kraft hit him on thehead with an axe. Kraft then
told Fanny er time had come,and he struck her on the head and
killed her instantly. Neil then killedEmma Thomas. The police took the prisoners

(22:11):
by steamboat to Katlisburg. They managedto secure the men in jail there before
the gathering lynch mob could get tothem, but everyone believed a lynching was
inevitable. The Cincinnati commercial said,most likely before this is read by the
many readers of the commercial, thehell hounds in this blood curdling drama will
swing into eternity. Ten armed menguarded the prisoners held at the Katlitsburg jail

(22:33):
and they managed to keep them safeuntil their trials. William Neil confessed to
the crime, but Ellis Kraft continuedto plead not guilty. All three were
charged with aiding a betting and conspiringmurder. George Ellis was separately charged with
three counts of murder, a technicalityallowing him to testify against his accomplices.
Neil changed his plead and not guilty, but all three men were eventually convicted.

(22:56):
Neil and Kraft were found guilty offirst degree murder and sentenced to hang
Ellis, who testified against Niel andCraft, was found guilty of manslaughter and
sentenced to life in prison. Thesentence did not sit well with the people
of Ashland. A group of aboutforty masked men arrived in Katlitzburg by train,
broke into the jail through a window, unlocked Ellis's cell, and brought
him out with a rope around hisneck. They took him to a brickyard

(23:19):
near the murder site and hung himfrom a sycamore tree. Both Neil and
Kraft appealed their convictions and were grantednew trials and a change of venue to
Carter County. They were taken bysteamboat to Maysville, Kentucky, guarded by
two hundred and twenty state troops.Five miles below Katltzberg, a gang of
men in ferryboats opened fire on thesteamboat, and the troops returned fire.

(23:41):
The troops killed one of the attackersand wounded several others. Five spectators on
the riverbank were killed and twenty onewounded. The prisoners eventually reached Maysville safely.
Neither Neil nor Craft succeeded in theirsecond trial. Both were convicted again
a first degree murder and sentenced tohang. In a last ditch attempt to
avoid execution, Kraft's brother found abla black man in Columbus, Ohio,
who supposedly confessed to the crime.William Diary had allegedly given a woman a

(24:04):
bracelet that belonged to one of themurdered girls. No one believed the story
and nothing changed. It was thoughtthat Craft's friends planned to lynch direly to
draw attention from Kraft. Reportedly,the people of Ashland were extremely indignant and
made sure that Diary was treated fairly. Ellis Crafts hanging on October twelfth,
eighteen eighty three, in Grayson,Kentucky, was witnessed by a large and

(24:26):
festive crowd. He professed innocence tothe end. William Neil was hanged in
Grayson on March twenty seventh, eighteeneighty five, and with his dying breath
he also professed innocence. Somewhere inthe middle of all of that is the
truth, and one thing's for certain. It really shook the small town of
Ashland, Kentucky. It actually madesuch an impression there was a song written

(24:49):
about it in the late eighteen hundredsby composer Elijah Adams. The murder ballad
was called the Ashland Tragedy, andthere's no known music to it that I
could ever find, but I didfind the lyrics, believe or not.
The ballad was a very lengthy one. So here are just a few stanzas
come people deer from far and wide, and lend a willing ear to me

(25:10):
while I relate the cruel facts ofAshland's greatest tragedy. George Ellis was one
of the men, but Ellis Craftwas in the lead, and William Neil
the other one that did this awful, awful deed. Now, Bobby was
a crippled boy. He saw them, so George Ellis said. Then Ellis
Craft, that dark eyed fiend.He turned and crushed poor Bobby's head.

(25:30):
They murdered both these little girls andleft their outraged bodies lie. They threw
a torch inside the house. PoorBobby's body lay close by. The town
was filled with angry men. Theysearched the country far and near. George
Ellis was a coward at heart.His guilty soul was filled with fear.
At last he turned state's evidence.Protect me from the mob, he said.

(25:52):
But from the jail. They draggedhim forth and hung him by the
neck till dead. So let thistale a warning bee, for crime will
find you out. At last,you'll meet the fate. George Ellis met
with William Neil and Ellis Kraft.More holiday homicides coming up, but first,
this is Unsolved with Steve Gregory onKFI AM six forty. You're listening
to KFI AM six forty on demand, I AM six forty live and on

(26:30):
demand everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.I'm Steve Gregory and this is a special
edition of Unsolved. We're highlighting someof the holiday homicides from southern California and
around the country murders that have happenedbetween Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.
As always, if you have acomment, story, idea, or a
tip from any case we've highlighted onthe show, simply press pound two fifty

(26:52):
on your cell phone and say thekeyword unsolved. Or if you're listening live
on the app, just press thered microphone icon on the iHeartRadio app Cordial
Message. Our next case comes fromJacksonville, Florida, body under a Christmas

(27:21):
tree from December of twenty eleven,a sixty seven year old Florida woman was
found beaten, strangled, and hiddenbeneath the Christmas presence in her home.
The body of Michelle o' dowd wasdiscovered by her twin brother Phil axt,
who had gone to check on herat home in a gated community after O'Dowd
failed to show up for work athis business. The door was open and

(27:41):
O'Dowd's house had been ransacked. Actssaid, chairs and tables were turned upside
down, Her car and dog werestill at the home. He said,
I knew this wasn't going to bepretty. The third time Phil Axed went
through his twin sister's den he spotteda foot sticking out of a big pile
of Christmas gifts. The rest ofher body was buried completely with the kid's

(28:03):
Christmas presents, he said. Beneaththose pile of gifts meant for nephew's nieces
and grandchildren, Michelle O'Dowd was dad, her bloodied face covered by a terry
cloth towel. He said, Igrabbed her ankle and it was cold.
He was alone, he said,when he discovered the woman who everyone knew
was Mickey oh And whom he callshis baby twin sister. He said,
presents were piled on top of hissister, and an empty vodka bottle was

(28:27):
nearby. He actually thinks the bottlewas a prop posed by the killer,
maybe to get people off the scent. The family was told that O'Dowd died
of blunt force trauma and strangulation.The police quickly honed in on forty year
old Patty Michelle White. White wasan ex girlfriend of the O'Dowd's nephew and
was considered a family friend. Theysaid White had been staying with relatives in

(28:49):
South Carolina and since returned to Floridato rob O'Dowd. Officials at the Jacksonville
County Sheriff's Office said whatever took placein that apartment went horrible wrong, and
White ended up beating and killing O'Dowd. Acst said that his aunt actually treated
White as part of the family,giving her odd jobs to earn extra money,
even though she just couldn't keep ajob and couldn't get her life together.

(29:11):
O'Dowd had allowed White to stay ather home for a month for free,
even trusting her with her pen numberto her debit card so that White
could purchase groceries for the both ofthem. As said his family has known
White for about four or five years, and that she and his nephew had
recently broken up. She moved toOrlando for a while, Act said,
but she also stayed with O'Dowd fora month or so recently and occasionally made

(29:33):
overnight visits to help White earn money. Axt and his sister would pay her
to clean houses or do other oddjobs. Sometimes she even baby sat his
grandchildren, he said. Bottom line, she was part of the family,
he said. He said his sisterwas just one of those sweet, sweet,
sweet ladies. White also knew theentry codes to Grand Reserve, the
gated community on Sutton Park Drive,where they lived. White later used that

(29:56):
debit card to withdraw one thousand dollarsat two bank etms in Florida. He
said that withdrawals were made in Jacksonvilleon a route leading to the highway and
in South Carolina. Investigators say afterthe murder, White drove to her parents'
house in York, South Carolina.Now. According to York Police Chief Andy
Robinson, York police officers pulled overa car that White was riding in on

(30:18):
a Saturday afternoon at around three fortypm, and according to the police report,
White's mother was driving her when deputiesstopped them on East Liberty Street near
College Street. From the time wewere notified, he said, the ball
rolled pretty quickly. Their concern was, even though the crime wasn't committed in
their city, someone capable of committingthat kind of crime was here. They

(30:40):
wanted to secure the person in orderto protect the residents. White agreed to
go to the police station to speakwith Jacksonville detectives. Chief Robinson said during
the interview with detectives, White confessedto the murder of O'Dowd. Authorities took
some clothes from White's family home inSouth Carolina to be examined and turned over
to Florida police. A car inwhich White and her mother were traveling when

(31:00):
White was arrested was also examined butlater released to the family. A police
canvas of ten homes around o'dodd's foundonly one person home, and they say
they didn't hear anything. But healso said his sister's neighbors heard screams.
The brother said, so many peoplein the community said they heard someone screaming
and wailing, but no one calledthe police. Act went on to say

(31:22):
that this was his sister's favorite timeof the year. She even took care
of decorating his business for the holidays. Aunt Micky, as O'Dowd was known
to friends and family, was thesweetest, kindest person who had never heard
a fly. He said, Finally, how can you be so sick to
bury the victim under a pile ofchildren's Christmas gifts? Before we get to

(31:56):
more holiday homicides, we want tolet you know the portions of the content
from this hour are from the followingsources. The Murder by Gaslight website,
the Chicago Sun Times, NBC fiveChicago and the Associated Press. Still to
come. Two very gruesome holiday homicidesright here in southern California. But first,

(32:16):
this is Unsolved with Steve Gregory onKFI AM six forty. You're listening
to KFI AM six forty on demandKFI AM six forty live and on demand
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. I'mSteve Gregory and this is a special edition

(32:38):
of Unsolved. We're highlighting some ofthe holiday homicides from southern California and around
the country, murders that have happenedbetween Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.
As always, if you have acomment, story, idea, or tip
from any case we've highlighted on theshow, press pound two fifty on your
cell phone and say the keyword Unsolved, or you can press the red microphone

(33:00):
icon on the iHeartRadio app and recordyour message. Our next case comes from
Germanton, North Carolina, nineteen twentynine The Laws in family Tragedy. Germanton,
North Carolina is a farming community nearDanbury. Forty three year old Charlie

(33:21):
Lawson, his thirty seven year oldwife, and their seven children were all
put into a truck one day fora drive to Winston Salem, about thirteen
miles away. He bought them allbrand new clothes. Now, this spending
spree was very unusual for the lawsIn family. Charlie was just a tobacco
sharecropper. After they got all theirbrand new clothes, Charlie instructed them to
keep them on for another trip toa local photography studio. He had him

(33:44):
sit for a family portrait, andthis is when he told the family it's
part of a Christmas surprise. Charlieand Fanny Lawson married in nineteen eleven.
They had eight children, though onedied of pneumonia at the age of six.
Charlie then moved his family to theGermanton area in nineteen teen eighteen and
began sharecropping tobacco. By nineteen twentyseven, the Lawsons had saved enough money

(34:05):
to buy a farm on Brook CoveRoad. The family portrait still exists today
and it shows sixteen year old Arthur, seventeen year old Marie, forty three
year old Charles, thirty seven yearold Fanny, who's holding baby Mary Lou
was just a few months old,twelve year old Carrie, two year old
Raymond, seven year old Maybelle andfour year old James. Usually in the

(34:28):
evenings, Charlie, Fanny, andtheir two oldest Arthur and Marie, would
work together renovating the farmhouse. Onone evening, while removing rotten timbers,
Charlie accidentally hit himself in the foreheadwith an axe. After that accident,
neighbors and family members say they noticeda change in his personality. It was
a cold Christmas morning in nineteen twentynine when Marie woke up early. She

(34:49):
wanted to blend together some butter,sugar and egg whites, roll a cup
of raisins into flour, and pourthat mixture into two circular pans. This
was her signature dessert. They wouldsoon become iced decorator cakes and ready for
the holiday feast. While the cakewas cooling, Charlie, Arthur, and
the family's two beagles went on ahunting expedition. They ran out of ammo,
so Charlie sent Arthur to Germanton tobuy more. Meanwhile, back at

(35:12):
the loss in farm, the oldestdaughter, Marie was finishing up in the
kitchen. Her two younger sisters,Carrie twelve and six year old Mabel,
decided to visit an aunt and unclenearby, But what neither Marie nor her
mother could know was that Charlie waswaiting by the barn. As the girls
walked by, Charlie shot his daughters, and to make sure they were dead,
he bludgeoned them to death with thehandle of a hoe. Charlie returned

(35:34):
to the house and shot his wife, who was peeling potatoes on the porch.
As he shoved more shells into hisshotgun, he swung open the door
and pulled the trigger, striking Marie, the oldest daughter. She slumped to
the floor in front of the fireplace. The two small boys, James and
Raymond, attempted to find a hidingplace, but Charlie found and killed the
both of them. Lastly, hebludgeoned four month old Mary Low to death.

(35:55):
Charlie then ran off into the nearbywoods where he had just been hunting.
After the murders, relatives came tothe house wanting to wish the lawsons
of merry Christmas, but instead theycame upon a grisly scene of seven dead
bodies. A couple hours later,a gunshot was heard out in the woods,
which led to the discovery of Charlielawson's body he had committed suicide.

(36:16):
Police found footprints all around the areain which his body lay, and it
formed a circle, suggesting that maybeCharlie had been pacing just after the murders.
Was he trying to process what hehad just done, or maybe he
was just working up the nerve toend his own life, or perhaps both.
Inside his pockets they found two crypticnotes, one of which read trouble

(36:36):
can cause and the other one saidno one to blame but I. It
didn't take long for people to capitalizeon the tragedy. Charlie's brother Marian opened
up the home as a tourist attraction, and it would remain open for five
years, attracting thousands of visitors,including the mobster John Dillinger. The crime
scene was left bloodstained and Marie's uneatenChristmas cake remember that from Christmas more warning

(37:00):
it was kept on display. Theyended up having to protect the cake with
the glass cover, though, becausevisitors kept taking the raisins off of it
as souvenirs. After the home wasclosed down to the public, the cake
was displayed in carnival side shows.Eventually, a relative of the family buried
the cake. The crime shocked everyonein thousands attended the funeral. The bodies
were buried in a mass grave,with baby Mary Loo nestled in her mother's

(37:22):
arms. They said there was aboutfifteen hundred people at the funeral, most
of whom were just morbid curiosity seekers. Now, there were a lot of
theories, a lot of debate aboutwhy Charlie did what he did, and
the first and foremost was that hewas mentally unstable. He was driven to
commit such a horrific act as aresult of the head injury he had months

(37:42):
earlier. Remember when the acts hithim in the head. An autopsy was
performed on his brain at Johns HopkinsUniversity, but it was determined his brain
had no notable abnormalities. But rememberthis was nineteen twenty nine. Autopsies were
not as thorough then and medical knowledgewas not as advanced, so it's entirely
possible some important was missed in thatexamination. Another of the ongoing theories was

(38:04):
that he raped his daughter, Marie, the seventeen year old oldest daughter,
and gotten her pregnant. He didn'twant anyone else to know about it,
and killed his family and himself outa feeling of intense shame. According to
Murray's best friend, lama A Johnson, Murrie had confessed to her during a
sleepover that she was pregnant with herfather's child. Also, Charlie's niece Stella
later came forward and claimed to haveoverheard a conversation once between Fanny and several

(38:25):
other women in the family, includingStella's mother Jetty, in which Fanny expressed
concern over their incestuous relationship between Charlieand Marie. Now, there was no
autopsy done on Marie, and theredidn't appear to be an official record confirming
her pregnancy. Yet there's another oddtheory about what happened. The stock market
crash of nineteen twenty nine had justhappened two months earlier. Maybe Charlie gave

(38:46):
up, decided to blow what littlecash he had on the portrait and all
the brand new clothes, and thencarried out his murder suicide. Why did
Charlie choose to spare his oldest son, Arthur, Remember he was nineteen years
old. Some of speculated I disbecause he thought Arthur might have stopped him
from carrying out his plan. Buthe could have just simply got around that

(39:06):
by killing him first. He mayhave also spared Arthur because he wanted one
of his sons to live to carryon his name. Remember this is nineteen
twenty nine. It was a bigdeal back then. But Arthur didn't live
long enough anyway. He died ina freak car accident in nineteen forty five
at the age of thirty two,left behind his own wife and four children.
And after that, strange stories ofpremonitions, curses, and ghosts ran

(39:27):
rampant in the Germanton area. Butin time the loss in cabin was demolished,
an interest in the tragedy eventually becamemore of a blip on the historic
radar of a once quiet little towncoming up or holiday homicides. But first,
this is Unsolved with Steve Gregory onKFI AM six forty. You're listening

(39:51):
to KFI AM six forty on demand, k I AM six forty live and

(40:14):
on demand everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Steve Gregory and this is a
special edition of Unsolved. We're highlightingsome of the holiday homicides from southern California
and around the country, murders thathave happened between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New
Year's The next case comes to usout of Covina, California, the Christmas

(40:45):
massacre of twenty eight Christmas Eve eleventhirty in the evening, forty five year
old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, dressed ina Santa Claus suit, knocked on the
door of his former in law's house. There were about twenty five people inside.
Pardo had a gift wrapped package containinga rolling air compressor which had been

(41:07):
converted to deliver gasoline from it,and at least four nine millimeters semi automatic
handguns. Moments after the door open, Pardo pulled out the handguns and immediately
shot his eight year old niece,Katrina Yusupolski, the daughter of Letitia Yusupolski,
which was the sister of Sylvia Pardo. He then fired indiscriminately at people
inside the party as they ran around. Police later speculated that Pardo may have

(41:30):
stood over and pointedly executed some ofthe victims using the other handguns. Now
after opening fire with the handguns,Pardo and wrapped the other package containing the
compressor and used it to spray gasolineto set the home on fire. Nine
people died from either gunfire or flames, and three others were wounded. Yusuf
Polski was shot in the face withsevere but non life threatening injuries, a

(41:52):
sixteen year old girl was shot andwounded in the back, and a twenty
year old woman who suffered a brokenankle, jumped out of the second floor
window. One person who survived escapedduring the attack and ran to a neighbor's
house, where they called nine oneone. The resulting fire hit heights of
forty to fifty feet high, andit took eighty firefighters about an hour and
a half to extinguish all the flamesdue to the intensity. In the heat

(42:15):
of the fire, the identification ofthe victims was done with dental and medical
records. After setting the home onfire, Pardo put on his street clothes
and then drove his Dodge Caliber rentalcar to his brother's house in Silmar,
which is about thirty miles away fromthe crime scene. He was later found
dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound. His brother was not present in the

(42:36):
home at the time of Pardo's death. It was initially believed that Pardo intended
to head off to Canada by plane, since he bought an airline ticket for
a flight on Air Canada, butdetectives subsequently discovered that a flight eightinerary on
Northwest Airlines from LA to Moline,Illinois with a layover in Minnesota, was
more likely. Pardo had called daysbefore to tell a high school friend that

(42:57):
he was planning to visit, butinvestigators were sure if that was actually intended
or if the flight was too full. Investigators he had visited that friend before
in October of twenty oh eight.It had also been suggested that the Santa
suit that Pardo had been wearing hadmelted during the flamethrower portion of the attack,
and it was actually burnt into hisskin, so not all of it
could be removed. Pardo did sufferthird degree burns on his arms stemming from

(43:22):
that fire. Investigators say Pardo decidedto go against his own plan. Police
found seventeen thousand dollars in cash,clean wrapped on his legs inside of a
girdle. His rental car, parkedone block from his brother's house, had
remnants of his Santa suit. Theyalso recovered from the scene four thirteen round
capacity handguns that were empty and atleast two hundred rounds of ammunition. With

(43:45):
all of that ammunition investigators approached verycautiously the car. They called in a
bomb squad, and while they attemptedto remove a portion of the Santa suit
that was in the car with arobot, that robot accidentally started a fire
inside the car, burning and destroying. Police had recovered five empty boxes that
once contained semi automatic handguns, aBenelium two tactical shotgun, and a container

(44:07):
for high octane fuel was also discovered. They also found what was described as
a virtual bomb factory in his home. All told, at least three victims
deaths were caused by gunshot wounds alone, while four others died from a combination
of both gunshot wounds in fire.Two other deaths stemmed from the fire alone.

(44:28):
Some of the other bodies were burnedand had to be identified by dental
records. At least thirteen children becameorphans after that massacre, and two others
lost one parent. Here's a listof those who died in that attack.
Sylvia Pardo the ex wife forty threeyears old. Alicia Sotomayora Ortega was the
mother in law. She was seventyJoseph Ortega was the father in law.
He was seventy nine. Charles Ortegawas a brother in law. He was

(44:51):
fifty. Sherry Lynn Ortega was asister in law, she was forty five.
James Ortega was another brother in law, he was fifty two. Teresa
Ortega was a s in law shewas fifty two, and Alicia Ortega Ortiz
was another sister in law. Shewas forty six. And Michael Ortiz was
a nephew he was seventeen years old. Investigators tried, to, of course,
figure out the motivation. Pardo livedin San Fernando Valley. He graduated

(45:15):
from John Francis Polytechnic High He alsoattended cal State North rich He worked at
JPL in Law Canata in twenty offours when he met his soon to be
wife, Sylvia. Police have speculatedthe motive of Pardo's attack was related to
marital problems. After the couple wetin January of six, their marriage quickly
fell apart within the first year becausePardo refused to open a joint bank account

(45:36):
with Sylvia. He also expected hiswife to use her own finances to take
care of her own three children.There's also speculation the divorce may have also
been caused by Pardo concealing a childfrom a previous relationship. It was reported
Pardo's child had been severely injured ina swimming pool accident several years prior,
for which Pardo did not pay childor spousal support. In June of eight,

(45:58):
a divorce court ordered parts to payOney seven hundred and eighty five dollars
a month in spousal support, andduring divorce proceedings, Pardo confided to a
friend his wife was quote taking himto the cleaners. In July of that
year, Pardo, who had nocriminal record or history of violence, was
fired from his job at the timeas an electrical engineer at Itt. The
divorce court suspended the support payments dueto financial hardship. However, as part

(46:21):
of the divorce settlement, Parto wasrequired to pay his ex wife ten thousand
dollars and she was permitted to keepher wedding ring and family dog. Parto
complained that the court Sylvia was livingwith her parents, not paying rent,
and had spent lavishly on a luxurycar, gambling trips to Las Vegas,
neils at expensive restaurants, massages,and golf lessons. Pardo and Sylvia had
finalized their divorce just one week priorto the attack. Coming up more holiday

(47:07):
homicides, but first, this isUnsolved with Steve Gregory on KFI AM six
forty. You're listening to KFI AMsix forty on demand k I AM six
forty heard live and on demand everywhereon the iHeartRadio app. I'm Steve Gregory

(47:30):
and this is a special edition ofUnsolved where we've been highlighting some of the
holiday homicides from southern California and aroundthe country, murders that have happened between
Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Ournext case comes to us from Oakland,
California, the Mahari gaver Selassie familyThanksgiving of twenty oh six. The followings

(47:52):
from the Associated Press article from ThanksgivingDay, November twenty third, twenty oh
six. Two brothers were in policestudy Friday after gunfire erupted at another family's
Thanksgiving dinner, leaving a widow,her brother, and her mother dead.
Forty three year old Asmam Gebra Selassiand thirty nine year old Turdos Gebra Selassi

(48:12):
were arrested late Thursday on suspicion ofopening fire with two weapons in a third
floor apartment at the gated Keller Plazaapartment complex in North Oakland. The men
were booked on suspicion of three countsof murder. It's unclear whether they have
criminal records. Killed were twenty eightyear old went to Tea Mahari of Berkeley,
her mother, fifty year old RegbaBaharanngasi of Oakland, and her seventeen

(48:35):
year old brother, Jonas Mahari.The family was originally from Osmara, Eritrea,
and had lived in the US forabout five years. Another of Winta
Mahari's brothers, a twenty eight yearold man, was seriously injured after he
jumped out of a window to escapethe attack. He was in critical condition
Friday with a back injury. Theman may be paralyzed, but was expected
to survive. Police and family memberssaid the shootings were in retaliation for the

(49:00):
death of the men's brother, fortytwo year old Abraham gebris Lassi, who
died in March of that year.He'd been married to Winta Mahari. The
couple has a two year old son. Wint Mahari's family believes her husband died
of a heart attack. A spokesmanfor the coroner's office said it listed as
an undetermined death, meaning an autopsyfailed to reveal a specific cause of death,

(49:20):
compounding the brother's concerns. The dayafter the murders, dozens of Eritrean
immigrants strained into the gated apartment complexto mourn the loss of their friends and
to comfort the remaining family members holdup inside. Historically, thousands of Eritreans
came to the US's refugees during theircountry's thirty year war of independence with Ethiopia,
or immigrated after the war ended innineteen ninety one. According to the

(49:44):
Eritrean Consulate, about seven thousand immigrantssettled in the San Francisco Bay Area,
with about two thousand of those inOakland, many in the neighborhood where the
shootings took place, and as youmight imagine, the killings rocked an otherwise
close knit community. Now fast forwardto the trial of the two brothers.
This text is from a combination ofpublished news stories in twenty sixteen. The

(50:06):
lengthy legal saga stemming from the fatalshooting of three Oakland people at a family
residence on Thanksgiving Day twenty oh sixneared its end today when two in laws
were convicted of first degree murder andother charges. Jurors who deliberated for six
and a half days, announced theirverdicts against Asmaran Geberh Salassi and Tuardos Gebrisalassi
in a courtroom that was packed withrelatives and the victim's family members. The

(50:29):
courtroom was guarded by six armed bailiffsand ten inspectors from the Alameda County District
Attorney's office. In addition to thethree murder counts, jurors convicted the geber
Salassi brothers of one count of attemptedmurder for wounding Jefiram Mahari in the shooting,
one count of kidnapping for taking WyntaMahari's two year old son, Isaac
from the scene, and two countsof false imprisonment. They were also convicted

(50:51):
of two special circumstance murder clauses,committing multiple murders and committing murder during the
course of a kidnapping. It tookthe clerk twenty minutes to read all the
verdicts in the case. The gaverSelassi and Mahari families are both from Eritrea,
which was once part of Ethiopia butgained its independence twenty years ago.
Prosecutor Jonny Leventis said the Gebrier Salasibrothers conspired to kill their in laws at

(51:12):
the family's apartment at the Keller Plazacomplex at fifty three oh one Telegraph Avenue
in Oakland on November twenty third oftwenty oh six, and what she said
was a mistaken act of revenge.She said the brothers erroneously believed that their
in laws were responsible for the suddendeath of their brother, forty two year
old Abraham to Wolde earlier that year. Towolde was married to Wynta Mahari and
died at the couple's home at twentytwo thirty eight Russell Street in Berkeley on

(51:37):
March first of twenty oh six.Leaventus said two doctors who examined Toolda's body
determined he died of natural causes andsaid no foul play was involved, But
Laventus said the Gebra Salasi brothers werestill convinced that Toolde had been killed by
Mahari, perhaps with the help ofher family members, and decided that Mahari
and her family members should die.Leaventus said the Mahari family never would have

(51:59):
let out as marm Gebrislassi into theirapartment because he had angrily confronted them several
times about to Wolda's death, butthat they allowed Twardos Gebrisilasi insight on Thanksgiving
because he had maintained good relations withthem. Turduros Geversilasi ate food and drank
a traditional eritree in coffee drink atthe Mahari's apartment, then called his brother
as Moram on his cell phone andled him into the apartment, the prosecutor

(52:20):
said. In her closing argument,Leaventis said as Maraam geber Selassi proceeded to
shoot and kill Wynta and Yonis Mahariand Bahrenghasi in cold blood. As Moram
Gaverslassi, who represented himself at thebeginning of the case but was later defended
by a professional lawyer after he actedup in court, admitted during the trial
that he killed the three victims,but also said he did so in self

(52:42):
defense. Gebrisilasi said one reason hethinks his in laws killed to Wolde is
that they wanted to collect a fivehundred thousand dollars life insurance policy he had
taken out six months before his death. He also alleged that went to Mahari
wanted to kill Twolde because he wasgoing to disclose that her brother was gay
and he was molesting the culp's youngson. He said homosexuality is unacceptable in

(53:02):
the Eritrean community and the Mahari familywould have been disgraced if Towolda had made
the allegations. Tony Sarah, whorepresents towardos Gebrisilassi, said his clients should
also be found not guilty because therewas insufficient evidence that he led his brother
into the apartment and knew his brotherwould shoot their in laws. After the
verdicts, the jury's fore woman saidthat jurors believed that towardos geber Selassi was

(53:23):
in on the plan that killed theMahari family and opened the door for his
brother. The fore woman, awoman from Pleasanton who said her first name's
Nancy but declined to give her lastname, said jurors did not believe asmaram
Gebrislassi's testimony that he acted in selfdefense. The fore woman said absolutely not.
She said the trial, which beganwith jury selection in January of that
year and had opening statements in February, was very long. And very emotional.

(53:47):
The fore women said it was difficultat times, but they all agreed
on the verdicts. A cousin ofthe Mahari family who lives in San Jose,
said the guilty verdicts for the Geberslasibrothers are bittersweet because nothing will bring
back the three family members that theylost, but he said the case concluded
in a just way and justice wasserved. The da had commented that it

(54:07):
was about time the family got thejustice they needed, saying she believes the
jury did the right thing. Leventissaid jurors did not believe Asmam Gaberslassi's testimony
that went to Mahari wanted to killher husband because he was going to disclose
that her brother was gay. Thejury thought Asmarm was just saying that to
muddy the waters. As Maram's attorneysaid he's frustrated by the verdict and at

(54:27):
a loss because he does not believethere was sufficient evidence to prove his client
planned to kill his in laws,saying there was a lot of inconsistencies in
the testimony of the surviving Mahari familymembers who testified at the trial. The
attorney alleged that members of the Maharifamily brandished weapons in the Thanksgiving Day incident,
but the Leventis the DA said therewas no evidence that any of the
Maharis were armed. The defense alsosaid he doesn't think that the Tordos Gabriselassi

(54:52):
led his brother into the apartment orknew that a shooting would occur, saying
Tardos does not have the nature orcharacter to do that. Okay. Now
fast forward to twenty twenty two,the First District Court of Appeal has upheld
the convictions of the gunmen as MoranGeber Selassi, but granted a new trial
to his brother, tur drose Gebslassi, who was accused of aiding his older

(55:13):
brother by leading him to the apartmentand signaling that his intended victims were there.
Both men had been sentenced to lifein prison without parole. The court
said Alameda County Superior Court Judge VernonNakamura had wrongly allowed a police investigator to
testify that he didn't believe tour drosegeb Selassi's statement to police about the murders.
Witnesses are supposed to testify only aboutfacts and should not state their opinions

(55:36):
about another person's credibility, the courtsaid, and that the case against Touldrose
gever Slassi depended almost entirely on whetheror not the jury believed him. Currently,
the Alameda County DA's office has fileda new case, which is still
pending. Coming up, we'll wrapup this holiday homicide's edition of Unsolved with
Steve Gregory. But first, thisis CAFI AM six forty. You're listening

(56:00):
to KFI AM six forty on demand, I AM six forty live and on
demand everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.I'm Steve Gregory and this is a special
edition of Unsolved. We've been highlightingsome of the holiday homicides from southern California

(56:20):
and around the country, murders thathave happened between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New
Year's. Our final case comes tous out of Riverside, California, the
Catfish Cop. Thanksgiving of twenty twentytwo, twenty eight year old Austin Lee
Edwards from North Chesterfield, Virginia meta fifteen year old girl online in Riverside.

(56:45):
He posed as a seventeen year oldboy and obtained her personal information by
passing himself off as someone else.Cops call it catfishing. It's unclear how
long the two were communicating. Theshocking incident began to unfold just after eleven
o'clock the day after Thanksgiving, whenpolice and Riverside got a call for a
welfare check concerning a young woman whoappeared distressed when getting into a red Kia

(57:07):
Soul in the eleven two hundred blockof Price Court. While officers were responding,
dispatchers were then alerted to smoke anda possible fire just a few houses
away from where police were called forthe welfare check. The Riverside Fire Department
arrived on scene, and when firefighterswent inside, they say they discovered three
adults lying in the front entryway.They took him outside, and first responders

(57:28):
immediately determined they were victims of anapparent homicide. Investigators later determined the young
woman described in the initial welfare callhad lived at the same house where the
three people were found dead. Thebodies found in the scorched Riverside home were
identified as the abducted teens. Grandparentsand mother, sixty nine year old Mark
Winnick, his wife, sixty fiveyear old Sherry Winnick, and their thirty

(57:51):
eight year old daughter, Brooke,Winnick. Police said they believed Edwards had
traveled twenty five hundred miles across thecountry, parked his car in a neighbor's
driveway, walked to the fifteen yearold girl's home, and killed her family
before leaving with the girl. AfterEdwards killed the grandparents and the mother,
he then lit the house on fire. Riverside police immediately distributed a description of

(58:13):
Edward's car to law enforcement agency throughoutCalifornia. Several hours later, they located
a car with Edwards and the teenagerin the tiny community of Kelso in San
Bernardino County. Edwards fired gunshots butwas killed by deputies who returned fire.
That's what the police initially thought,but the investigation would eventually show that he
actually killed himself. The young teenwas eventually put into the care of relatives.

(58:36):
Almost immediately, people wanted to knowhow such a brazen attack could be
done by a member of law enforcement. The story was not only the headline
here in southern California, but alsoin Edward's hometown in Virginia. Officials in
Virginia went on the defensive, andhere's the story from a local newspaper outlet,
in Virginia. The police officer accusedof killing three people and kidnapping a
girl in Riverside, California, onFriday, passed a background check in psychological

(59:00):
testing before being hired. Austin LeeEdwards is accused of traveling from Virginia to
Riverside, abducting a fifteen year oldgirl he had met online, and killing
her mother and grandparents. According topolice, Edwards catfished the girl using a
fake identity, then kidnapped her inthe eleven two hundred block of Price Court,
killing sixty nine year old Mark Winnick, his sixty five year old wife,

(59:21):
Sherry Winnick, and their daughter,thirty eight year old Brook Winnick.
Then he intentionally set fire to theteen's home. He later was killed in
a gunfight with deputies from the SanBernardino County Sheriff's Department. The girl was
unharmed. He had been an officerof the Virginia State Police then was hired
by the Washington County Sheriff's Office.His time in law enforcement lasted less than
a year, but during his applicationprocess, training, and time on the

(59:44):
job, he passed physical, psychologicaland written testing, as well as a
lie detector test that was According tothe Virginia State Police spokesperson Kareem Geller,
the suspect in a triple homicide wasa former law enforcement official from Virginia,
and during Edward's short time tenure withthe department, he never exhibited any behaviors
to trigger any internal, administrative orcriminal investigations. Geller said. Edwards resigned

(01:00:07):
from the department on October twenty eighth, and on November sixteenth, he was
hired by the Sheriff's office. Hewas going through the orientation process as no
issues arose during his background check.That was according to Sheriff Blake Andys,
it is shocking and sad he saidto the entire law enforcement community that such
an evil and wicked person could infiltratelaw enforcement while concealing his true identity as

(01:00:29):
a computer predator and murderer. Butmore would come out about Edwards, including
his time in a mental hospital andwhat had once been described as mental breakdowns
by his father. Law enforcement officialsin Virginia eventually admitted Edwards fell through the
cracks. A few days after themurders, members of the Winnicks family,
along with friends, were part ofa press conference at the Riverside Police Department.

(01:00:51):
This is a portion of comments madeby Michelle Blandon. She's the oldest
daughter of the Winnings who were killed. It was just a few days ago
that we all celebrated together that Thanksgivingof blessing and gratefulness, and we recounted
many of those blessings that we hadin our lives together. On that day,

(01:01:13):
we had a family debate and itgot heated on if the brownies my
mom made should be frosted with sprinklesor just left plain. It seems silly
at the time, but that's aconversation and a debate that will forever resonate

(01:01:37):
in my heart. Little did Iknow on that day that would be the
last time that my husband and Iwould see my parents and my sister again.
The next day, while we wereout buying Christmas lights for our home,

(01:02:00):
I received a phone call from myparents' neighbor of twenty two years.
They were best friends, they lookedout for each other. She called to
tell us that we needed to getthere as soon as we could because my
parents' house was on fire. Thisis the home that my sister and I

(01:02:20):
grew up in. Since we werelittle. I couldn't get there fast enough.
We left everything in the shopping cartat the store and took off.
When I had arrived at my house, we had learned that something more tragic
had happened. In a time wherecommunities are afraid to report strange sightings,

(01:02:47):
the loving neighbors on my parents' streetsaw an unfamiliar car and they immediately reported
it to authorities. Ultimately, thisis our community and we need to look
out and care for one another.Making that call from that neighbor saved my

(01:03:15):
niece's life, and that neighbor isa hero in our eyes. If something
like this horrific tragedy can happen herein our neighborhood, in our community,
it can happen anywhere. Sadly,we were too late to save my dad,

(01:03:37):
Mark, my mom's Sherry, andmy youngest sister Brooke from that vicious
crime. They are forever in myheart and I miss them deeply. In

(01:03:58):
this tragic moment of our family ourgrief. We hope some good will come
from this. Parents, please pleaseknow your child's online activity. Ask questions
about what they are doing and whomthey are talking to. In November of

(01:04:19):
twenty twenty three, the surviving membersof the Winnings filed a civil lawsuit claiming
negligence against Edward's employers and Edward's estate, and that's going to do it unsolved
with Steve Gregory. The radio showis a production of the KFI News Department
for iHeartMedia, Los Angeles and isproduced by Steve Gregory and Jacob Gonzalez.

(01:04:39):
Our field engineer is Tony Sorrentino andour technical director is Raoul Cortes. Portions
of content from this hour are fromthe following sources. Alice Adams from Southern
Calls, Reddit, oc Register,Wikipedia, Patch, KFI News, and
the Riverside Police Department. This isKFI AM six forty, KFI AM six
forty on demand. Yes,