Two Teens, Two Sisters, And A Line Crossed:The Maestas Murders:

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to Human Wreckage, the podcast where we

(00:02):
explore the darkest moments ofhuman behavior, what triggers
them, who pays the cost, and howthe wreckage ripples outward.
I'm your host, Thomas, and inthis episode we take a deep dive
into a case of unimaginableviolence.
The January 22nd, 23 attack by19-year-old Bo Meistas and his
16-year-old sister MoniqueMeistas on two young sisters

(00:22):
staying in an RV trailer parkoutside a casino in Mesquite,
Nevada.
We will walk through thebackground of the attackers, the
victims, the night of the crime,the investigation, the legal
process, and finally what thiscase forces us to confront as a
society.
What happens when childhoodcollapses under neglect, drugs,
vengeance, and young peoplecross a line from desperation

(00:43):
into atrocity?
Trigger warning.
This case involves the stabbingof children, extreme violence,
and long-term trauma.
If this is difficult to hear,please consider whether you
should listen.
To understand what happened, weneed to understand the people,
the place, the tensions behindthe scenes.

(01:43):
The trailer in question wasparked on the resort's RV lot.
The early morning hours ofjanuary twenty second, twenty
three would become a scene ofdevastation.
A three year old girl,Christiana Cowan, and her ten
year old half sister, BrittanyBergerin, were inside the
trailer.
The mother, Tamara Bergerin, andher boyfriend were inside the
casino, according to policeaccounts.

(02:05):
At the time, Brittany hadalready experienced significant
trauma.
Years of custody struggles,allegations of molestation,
difficulties with her parents.
After the attack, Christianadied of her wounds.
Brittany survived, but was leftparalyzed from the waist down.
The attackers.
Bo Santino Meistus, nineteenyears old at the time of the
crime.

(02:25):
Monique Meistus, sixteen yearsold at the time.
They traveled from Utah, theSalt Lake area to Mesquite and
committed the attack.
The motive, as alleged bypolice, revenge for a bad drug
deal in which the mother'sboyfriend was accused of selling
salt instead of methamphetamine.
The Meistus siblings believedthey were cheated and decided to
retaliate.

(02:45):
The case raised immediatequestions about juvenile justice
Monique's age, adultprosecution, and the death
penalty for Beau.
Monique and Beau grew up in afamily marked by dysfunction.
Their father, Harry Meistas, hadprior convictions for murder and
manslaughter in Utah.
Brittany's upbringing also wasunstable.
A troubled custody history, drugissues in the home, prior CPS

(03:08):
involvement.
This wasn't a clean cut, goodkids versus bad kids story.
The intersecting variables,poverty, substance misuse,
parental absence, trauma wereall present.
But what would happen on januarytwenty second, two thousand
three went far beyondbackground.
It was calculated, brutal, andlife altering.
Let's walk the timeline aspieced together from police

(03:30):
statements, court records, mediareports.
It will be difficult to hear.
Brace yourself.
Early morning, january twentysecond, twenty three around two
M.
The two siblings Beau andMonique Meistas arrived at the
RV Park, near the Casablancaresort in Mesquite, Nevada.
The two little girls were alonein the trailer while their
mother and her boyfriend were inthe casino.

(03:51):
Police noted the girls wereunsupervised at that hour.
According to authorities, thesiblings forced their way into
the trailer and attacked thegirls with a large knife.
Christiana, the three year old,suffered multiple stab wounds,
including to the head and neck.
Brittany suffered at leasttwenty stab wounds, and two
wounds severed her spinal cord,leaving her permanently

(04:12):
paralyzed.
In initial statements, Bo toldinvestigators the girls began
screaming, he lost control, thenstabbed wildly.
After the attack, the siblingsfled back into Utah.
They were pulled over by theUtah Highway Patrol and
surrendered.
Investigators later found theirbloody clothing, knives, and
other evidence linking them tothe scene.

(04:33):
In the aftermath, the mother ofthe girls, Tamara Bergerin, made
a public statement.
The attack on my little girls isnothing short of violent,
premeditated murder andattempted murder.
One detail stands out.
The victims were children, trulyvulnerable, in a trailer in the
early morning hours.
The attackers were older youngadults, and their claim of

(04:54):
motive drug deal revenge makeswhat unfolded horrifying for how
disconnected it was from thevictim's world.
To put it into perspective, theyounger child, three year old
Christiana, struck down withmultiple stab wounds to headnik
back shockingly violent.
The ten-year-old Brittany,fighting for her life, defending
her sister, surviving despitethe spinal cord injury.

(05:15):
All because two young peoplefelt ripped off.
That line of cause to effect issmall, but the destruction was
immense.
Once the crime scene was securedand the victims located, law
enforcement moved quickly.
On january twenty fourth, twothousand three, it was reported
that authorities in Utah soughtto extradite both Beau and
Monique Meistas to Nevada.

(05:36):
The siblings were charged inClark County, Nevada with
murder, attempted murder,burglary, while in the
possession of a deadly weapon,conspiracy to commit robbery,
and other related offenses.
Monique, being 16, raisedquestions of whether she would
be tried as an adult.
A justice of the peace ruled sheshould be tried as an adult.
In May 2003, both entered notguilty pleas initially.

(05:59):
For Bomaistas, he later pleadedguilty May 2005 to first degree
murder with use of a deadlyweapon, attempted murder with a
deadly weapon, and burglary.
Monique ultimately pleadedguilty to the murder and
attempted murder charges as partof plea negotiations in order to
avoid the death penalty.
Because of her under 18 age, shewas ineligible for death.

(06:20):
Bo Meistas was sentenced todeath by a Nevada jury.
The Nevada Supreme Courtaffirmed the death sentence in
2012.
Monique Meistes was sentenced toa term of years.
Reports indicate 47 years tolife.
The case brought up significantdebate about juvenile offenders
committing very serious violentcrimes in the intersection of
juvenile justice and adultcourt.

(06:43):
Meanwhile, legal action was alsotaken by the victim's family.
The Casablanca Resort offered$5.5 million to settle a lawsuit
filed on behalf of Britney, theparalyzed girl.
Child neglect endangermentcharges were brought against the
girl's mother and her boyfriendfor leaving the children alone
at the trailer while they werein the casino.
What this case demonstrates ishow many layers of legal

(07:05):
accountability can arise fromthe initial violent crime
itself, to neglect or abuse ofchildren, to civil liability of
property owners or institutions.
But at the core remains, twolittle girls, one dead, one
crippled, two teens, nowcriminals, serving life or death
sentences.
Let's shift to the human side.
The survivors, the families, thelong-term consequences.

(07:28):
For Christiana Cowan, thethree-year-old, her life ended
that night.
The impact on her parents andthe wider family is
immeasurable.
For Brittany Bergerin, survivinga twenty-stab wound assault, a
severed spinal cord, lifelongparalysis.
Her life changed in an instant.
She entered foster care,adoption discussions.

(07:48):
The mother, Tamara Bergerin,publicly expressed her grief and
anger.
Unless you are a parent who haslost a child, you have no idea
what I'm feeling.
Beau and Monique Meistas.
Now incarcerated, their livesforever altered.
Beau on death row, Moniqueserving decades.
Their backgrounds trauma, familydysfunction, don't excuse.

(08:09):
But help explain how theyarrived at this moment.
If we ask, who is the wreckage?
The answer is nearly everyone.
The little girls, the family,the siblings turned offenders,
the justice system, thecommunity.
This case is a tragicconvergence of multiple failings
and horrible human choices.
In other words, this is not justa story of crime.

(08:30):
It's a story of systems failing,of childhoods lost, of vengeance
misdirected, of livesirrevocably marked.
The wreckage extends far pastthe incident.
If you take one thing from thisepisode, let it be this.
The most vulnerable among uschildren often bear the brunt of
adult failures, of supervision,of substance, of violence.
If we ignore that vulnerability,focus purely on retribution

(08:54):
instead of prevention, we riskmore stories like this.
Thank you for listening to HumanWreckage.