45: A Call for Change: Angie Leon's Story and the Fight for Justice

Angie Leon thought she had finally had the chance to start over, but a quiet morning in Nampa, Idaho, changed everything. Join Dani and Stephanie in this episode of The Lethal Library as they explore a true crime story that shook law enforcement, the courts, and an entire community. Angie, a young mother of three, faced horrific abuse from her ex-husband, Abel Ramirez Leon, who continually violated protection orders amid a failing justice system. Despite Angie's relentless efforts to protect herself and her children, she was tragically murdered. This episode not only recounts her harrowing story but also spotlights the systemic failures that allowed it to happen, and the powerful grassroots movements ignited in its wake. Through detailed reporting and deep respect for the victims, this episode aims to inspire listeners to take action in their own communities and to remember that positive change is possible when people unite for a common cause. Trigger warnings included for extreme instances of domestic violence.

Contact The Lethal Library at [e-mail]. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok!

Episode Transcript

Dani (00:00):
Angie Leon thought she had finally had a chance to start
over.
She had a new apartment, a newjob, and plans to leave the pass
behind.
But one quiet morning in Nampa,Idaho, everything she'd built
collapsed in minutes after thesystem meant to protect her,
failed her at every turn.

(00:20):
What happened next would shakelaw enforcement, the courts, and
an entire community thatrealized too late, they should
have done more.

Stephanie (00:59):
Welcome back everyone, to another episode of
The Lethal Library.
I am Stephanie.
And I'm Danny.
And we're here again today totell you another true crime
story out of Idaho, out ofNampa, which is.
You know, near and dear to us,the two C right in the two C
Canyon County baby.
So, I think I might rememberthis case, but I know that I

(01:21):
don't know the details and fromwhat Danny says, it's going to
make me

Dani (01:25):
very

Stephanie (01:26):
angry.
So I think we're gonna have,

Dani (01:28):
we're gonna have some, uh, Mike shakes going on.
Mike,

Stephanie (01:31):
Mike punch the mic.
Uh, apologies in advance

Dani (01:34):
and although, the two C is near and dear.
not, you're gonna be pissed offat the two C.

Stephanie (01:41):
Oh, I, I can imagine.
So I, I'm sure I know exactlywhat you're talking about.
So,

Dani (01:46):
sources used today are all articles from the Idaho
Statesman.

Stephanie (01:50):
Love you, statesman

Dani (01:51):
love bitch.
She's got my back.
We do have one update to share,which is that we will be taking
the month of December off frompublishing new episodes.
our schedules are pretty packedthroughout that month and it
would be a challenge to get anew episode out weekly.
So we will be returning with newepisodes on Monday, January 5th.

(02:11):
So mark your calendars for that.
in the meantime, we will besharing some of our favorite
podcasts on our Facebook pagethroughout the month, so keep an
eye there to maybe find a newfavorite as well.
additionally, we want to give atrigger warning for this
episode.
Uh, we deal with a lot of toughsubjects here on the podcast,
domestic violence being, one ofthe most triggering, and this

(02:32):
case does have some very extremeinstances of domestic violence.
we will also be sharing someresources in this episode for
anyone experiencing domesticviolence.
so please stay tuned for those.
We wanna thank you guys forlistening, and we will see you
on January 5th.
Angie Leon was 21 when she tried to start a new life.

(02:56):
She rented a small apartment onIvy Street in Nampa, close to
Northwest Nazarene University,and began a job in admissions at
Health South.
Treasure Valley Hospital inBoise.
Friends says she was hopeful shewas divorcing her husband, Abel
Ramirez.
Leon.

(03:17):
She was focused on her children.
A former coworker, ChristinaReyes.
Lived near the apartment andsaid Angie would do anything for
anyone.
Reyes cried when she had learnedwhat had happened.
She said Angie had very little,but worked hard and kept moving
forward.
Her children were her life,

Stephanie (03:39):
well, and I mean, she was young.
Only 21 more than one childalready had been married and
trying, I remember when I was21.
I certainly did not have my shittogether and I didn't have kids.
Right.
And wasn't married.
So she's got this job.
Sounds like a good job.
Nice small apartment.
Getting her life, rewriting herlife, you know?

(04:01):
Yeah.
She was, to be getting alreadydivorced.
I'm sure that that was a hugedeal.
That young,

Dani (04:07):
a huge deal, and it needed to happen.

Stephanie (04:09):
Really.
Okay.

Dani (04:12):
Angie had moved there because Abel had been in jail,
and she thought the distance andsecrecy could keep her safe.
That safety did not Last Reyessaid Angie lived in fear.
Abel had broken into her home,followed her, and telephoned her
constantly, despite civilprotection orders that required

(04:35):
him to stay 300 yards away andnot contact her.

Stephanie (04:39):
And that's a story that we've heard again and again
and again, and women, you know,men too sometimes, but most
women know this.
If, if you're dealing with acharacter like this, that that
protection order doesn't meanshit.
Okay?
Oh, it does not mean shit.
And they do not care.
No, they do not care.

Dani (05:00):
not only does the person not care, but as we continue in
the story, you're gonna seethat, police don't care.
It's like, it's

Stephanie (05:07):
basically like, well, have they killed you yet though?
Right.
There's, there's not urgencybehind it.
And it, we see it escalate andescalate and escalate, and I'm
sure that that's where we'regoing.

Dani (05:18):
Court records showed a long history of violence and
drug use.
In 2001, Abel pled guilty tomisdemeanor domestic battery,
but prosecutors had the casedismissed for reasons.
The records didn't explain hepled guilty.
Why would it be dismissed?

Stephanie (05:37):
Why would it be dis?
Hello?
Mm-hmm.
Can someone explain how that's athing?
If you know, please reach out tous.
The prosecution doesn't evenhave to do anything.
He's pled guilty.

Dani (05:51):
I think part of the, and I, I, I think part of the thing
with that, and, and you're gonnahear further in the story, is
that there was so many chargesagainst him that they would
often.
Bundle'em up and then it wouldgo for like, this is just wait
till you hear the mess.

(06:11):
Wait till you hear it.

Stephanie (06:12):
It's already a mess.
I'm already pissed.
You didn't lie.
I'm pissed off already.
Thank you.
We are what?
I love you.

Dani (06:18):
I know you.
Six minutes in maybe, in June of2001, he pled guilty to felony
methamphetamine possession andreceived a withheld judgment.
That's what it was

Stephanie (06:32):
a with.
A withheld judge in Idaho, theyusually do not fuck around with,
especially not meth.
I mean, even marijuana, they,they will just nail your ass to
the wall.
What's happening here

Dani (06:48):
in that deal, if he finished three years of
probation without violations,the conviction would've
disappeared.
His heart deal?

Stephanie (06:56):
Yeah.

Dani (06:56):
But instead his behavior worsened with meth.
No.
In October of 2002, Nampa policefiled eight cases that included
10 violations of protectionorders and three charges of
stalking.
Most of those cases weredismissed.
Only two counts of violatingprotection orders, and one count

(07:18):
of stalking remained so outta 13charges.
He got three.

Stephanie (07:27):
All right.
I know that sometimes you haveto lessen or whatever, but I'm
already not liking this and itseems like, I mean, this is a
very messy type criminal, likeif you're getting caught up this
many times, didn't fight.
It's not like there's notevidence or something if you, if
you can be charged that manytimes, but what do I know?

Dani (07:53):
In November, 2002, officers arrested Abel again.
That incident included two moreviolations of protection orders,
possession of paraphernalia,resisting officers f fleeing
police that, included a felonyeluding charge after he drove 85

(08:14):
miles an hour in a 35 mile anhour zone.

Stephanie (08:20):
So he's just fucking up shit everywhere.
And usually police take it kindof personal once you start
getting the resisting andfleeing and you know, you'll be
targeted usually.
So what's going on here?

Dani (08:34):
He served at least 160 days in jail.
but records number fullyclarified what those days were.
I think that those days were, hewas just waiting.
For the plea deal, right.
Or whatever, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Just awaiting trial or the pleadeal or whatever can make bail.
Yeah.

Stephanie (08:51):
Or maybe who knows what the bail was, if it was a
bail or whatever.

Dani (08:56):
By April 23rd, 2003, Abel and prosecutors reached a plea
bargain.
That's what it was.
They, they were waiting, youknow, nearly every charge except
the felony eluding count wasdismissed.
Why?
He pled guilty and walked out ofthe jail on his own recognizance
to wait for sentencing in June.

(09:17):
Wonderful.
Have you ever heard of a thing

Stephanie (09:22):
pled guilty?
Is is he like, I'm justspiraling right now because I'm
like, is this, is he like aninformant?
What the fuck?
What,

Dani (09:31):
yeah.
Uh, yeah.
You can just take off.
We'll see it when you're, whenwe're ready to send you to
actual prison.
I just,

Stephanie (09:38):
yeah, you just, just come back when we ask you to.
If that's not too much trouble.

Dani (09:43):
We'll see you in a little bit.
Judge Kerik ordered him to livewith his mother on the north
side of Nampa and to stay awayfrom Angie Police said they
warned Angie, that Abel had beenreleased and they offered extra
patrols around her house

Stephanie (09:57):
as they

Dani (09:58):
should.
But the records show that nodistress calls from her after
April 23rd, except for one.
About a reporting a, a lostitem.

Stephanie (10:08):
Hmm.

Dani (10:09):
There's some things that's gonna come about that.
friends believe she was worndown by the system and tired of
reporting violations that neverseemed to matter.

Stephanie (10:17):
Well, yeah.
They all are just gettingdismissed.
I mean, he pled guilty to thedomestic or whatever the hell
that was.
And nothing happened.
Yeah.
She was burnt out,

Dani (10:27):
so she did not take it.
It had ground her down.
Yeah.
She's just like, why am I evenBo?
Why do I even bother?
Nothing comes of it.
It's like complaining.
It's

Stephanie (10:36):
just more stress.
Yeah.
And more uprooting your life andyou know it.
I can see why someone would feellike that.
If so,

Dani (10:46):
she's like, don't even bother.
Basically.
Like I feel like I've, when weget down to the how.
Frequent.
This was, she probably was justlike, it doesn't even matter.
Yeah.
extra patrols.
What is that gonna fucking dofor me?
The fucker's breaking into myhouse.
He's showing up here.
Yeah.
And you guys still, he stillthis crazy

Stephanie (11:07):
meth head that alluded you and resisted you.
Y'all didn't do shit about thateither.
Hello?

Dani (11:14):
Yeah.
She's just probably like, I'mfucking done.
It doesn't matter.
Yeah, I can totally see that.
I would get, that'd be likegoing to work.
And your coworker, let's justsay they're saying something
inappropriate, you know, uh, atwork every day.
And you're just like going toyour manager and being like,
this is happening, this ishappening.
This person is sayinginappropriate things, and it

(11:38):
makes me feel uncomfortable.
And I'm talking like, you know,maybe sexist or racist mm-hmm.
Or something on that level.
Like it's a

Stephanie (11:45):
problem.
It's

Dani (11:46):
definitely a problem.
Right.
And you go to your supervisorevery week and nothing is done,
nothing ever comes of it.
And then pretty soon you're justlike,

Stephanie (11:55):
why go?

Dani (11:56):
Yeah.
You're like, fuck.

Stephanie (11:58):
It's just another disappointment and task and you
know, having to

Dani (12:03):
waste your energy.
Yeah.
Explaining yourself.
And you all know if you've evercalled the cops or had to deal
with the cops.
It's not a five minuteinteraction.
No.
It's a fucking exhausting, andshe had three young children,

Stephanie (12:13):
and it takes over your life of all the reporting
and retelling your story, andretelling your story again, and
now to three different

Dani (12:21):
cops that are on the scene.
You're just like, yeah, I canjust, I would get burn out.
It would be really hard.
It would be difficult.

Stephanie (12:29):
Yeah.

Dani (12:32):
Angie had already survived years of escalating abuse.
She met Abel when they were bothsophomores at Skyview High
School.
Her mother, Sylvia Flores, said,Abel called at all hours and
showed early signs ofpossessiveness and disrespect.

Stephanie (12:48):
Yes, this sounds like it.
From the beginning was a notgood.
And that's what sucks is becauseespecially in high school,
there's not classes about thisof.
What is, what are red flags?
And so you think, you mightthink that this is what having a
boyfriend, a girlfriend is.
Mm-hmm.
This is how people act and thisis normal.

(13:10):
And starting it off that earlyis so toxic is just, you never
know anything different.
So you don't know that arelationship doesn't have to be
that.

Dani (13:20):
And her mother was, I don't know if I wrote this down
or not, so, but her mother waslike, instead of.
Making it a bigger fight.
'cause we all know how middleschoolers or young high
schoolers can be.
Mm-hmm.
You're like, oh, you cannot seethat person.
Like, she's hoping she'd justgrow out of it.

Stephanie (13:39):
Yeah.
'cause as soon as you say that,now it's my, my mom's against
us, my dad's against us.
It, us against the work drivesthem together even more.
So, it's such a tricky ssituation, even

Dani (13:49):
though mom saw these things and was like, this is not
good.
She also said was like, but Ididn't want the, make it a big
deal, the bigger deal I've madeat the, because then

Stephanie (14:00):
Rebel, right and

Dani (14:01):
right

Stephanie (14:02):
even closer.
So she was trying to

Dani (14:03):
manage that.
But

Stephanie (14:05):
I will say, Heidi and Chelsea with Kim Fest or Kind
Your Mind, they run a nonprofitcalled For You Network.
And they have been going toschools to do presentations
about, fuck yeah.
Red flags in relationships andwhat is normal behavior and what
is not normal behavior for bothboys and girls.
I love that.
Yes.
Just because if you guys thathave been listening for a while,

(14:27):
you may know this, but Heidi andChelsea might good friends, they
lost their little sister todomestic violence in an
incredibly tragic way.
and she was very young as well.
I think that she might have been21, I'm not sure, but.
Very young and did everythingright to get out of the
situation, and it's still notenough.
So they go to schools and give apresentation to try to be like,

Dani (14:50):
just so you guys know, this is, it's not mom and dad
like telling you this guy orthis gal is not healthy for you.
We are telling you, and this is

Stephanie (14:58):
not a normal relationship thing, right?
That is like adults are puttingup with or that this is how it
is if you're in therelationship.
So I love that they're doingthat and I think that it, those
types of things help make adifference.
'cause no one, there's not aclass for it.
No.
You know?
Yeah.
I think that the awareness is alot more nowadays with social
media.
Yeah.
There's a lot more peopletalking about it, but I mean,

(15:19):
especially in this time.
No one was talking.
There was not re easilyattainable resources to learn
about

Dani (15:28):
at such a young age.
No.
Especially too, you're justlike, oh, and everyone just
brushes it off as mm-hmm.
Oh, they're just kids.
Crazy in love, puppy love.
No, it can be very bad.
And it just starts off withbeing like her mother said,
disrespectful by, you know, Idon't want that guy calling here
at midnight.
Mm-hmm.
It's not okay that he just showsup over here.
He's being very possessive.

(15:48):
Yep.
You know?
By age 15, Angie was pregnant.
Months after her daughter wasborn.
Abel hit her and tried to forceher and the infant into his car
until Angie's brotherintervened.

Stephanie (16:03):
This is tragic.
This is so imagining a15-year-old with a baby.
Yep.
Getting hit like this is justterrible.

Dani (16:12):
But they did reconcile and they married in 1998.
Angie became pregnant with hersecond child a month later.
Abel worked at times, but wasreportedly arrested on drug and
domestic violence charges.
He was, Angie tried to keep thefamily together, but she spent
most of her marriage living withher parents because he was in

(16:35):
and outta jail.

Stephanie (16:38):
This is so sad.

Dani (16:40):
in 2001, they again attempted to.
Reconcile only to separateagain, when Abel was arrested,
he always said he would change,don't they?
Oh,

Stephanie (16:51):
they, I, there is a TikTok of a gal that goes around
asking, older ladies, Hey, Ijust wanna ask, do men ever
change?
And all of like the seasoned,older gals are like, absolutely
not.
No.
No, they don't.
They don't.
And they don't.
And they never do.
'cause

Dani (17:10):
they

Stephanie (17:10):
don't,

Dani (17:11):
with this.
Especially with this type ofpossessive Yes.
The if, if Kray.

Stephanie (17:17):
Mm-hmm.
You would have to go through anincredible amount of therapy and
like classes to relearn how tointeract in a relationship if
it's already this bad.

Dani (17:30):
She always tried to give them one more chance though.

Stephanie (17:34):
And you know, people are good hearted.
You got kids.
She, there was love there.
You know your high schoolsweetheart, you know you have
this image of what you think itcould be.
Yeah.

Dani (17:48):
in April of 2002, they had a third child and Angie finally
told Abel she did not want himin her life.

Stephanie (17:58):
That's tough.

Dani (17:59):
Abel refused to accept it.
He knocked on her door nearly.
Every morning, and he calledlate at night when Sylvia came
before dawn to drive herdaughter to work.
That's, Angie's mom.
Mm-hmm.
Abel was sometimes alreadywaiting at the doorstep.

Stephanie (18:20):
When someone thinks they have a right to your life
and your but you like, he, Ifeel like he felt like he owned
her exact Yes.
And that's just so wild to methat how some people get it in
their heads that.
Hey, I wanna break up.
I don't wanna be with youanymore.
And to say, Nope, what?

(18:40):
I'm here.
What do you mean?
No?
Yeah, like it takes two peopleand they're like, no, we're just
gonna be in a relationship thatmeans that you're a whole step
further into delusion at thatpoint that you think you can
just like, well, no, I don'tagree.

Dani (18:54):
Yeah.
So we're not breaking up.

Stephanie (18:56):
Thank you.
What?
Oh, I hate this.

Dani (18:59):
In October, 2002, Angie reported that Abel broke into
her apartment and raped her.
Oh my God.
She began cooperating, but grewupset.
When detectives repeatedquestions, she found painful,

Stephanie (19:14):
and we know that a lot of times when things like
this, some people don't believein marital rape.
They think, well, and this was,

Dani (19:21):
you're married over 20 years ago.
Yeah,

Stephanie (19:23):
yeah.
And I'm sure that it was veryinsensitive or maybe even
accusatory towards her.
'cause we've seen it a milliontimes.
Yeah.
And again, who wants to dealwith that when you've just been
through something that traumaticand you know, that likely
nothing's gonna happen.

Dani (19:38):
So she's just like, you know what?
And I, I totally w you're, whenyou're trying to deal with
something and function throughsomething that.
You're no forward progress isbeing made.
Mm-hmm.
It's just easy to just, and weall

Stephanie (19:54):
know how rape cases go of, it's going to, they, the
defense is going to try to doanything they can to humiliate
you, to make you look like aterrible person.
There's no, there's no like coofNo.
That will end sensitivity.
It's, it's literally a mudslinging fest.

(20:15):
So you've been raped.
Now do you wanna be likepublicly shamed and humiliated
and, and, and just the way,grilled way that

Dani (20:23):
the detectives handled it?
Yeah.
You know, it was already painfulenough and then it just made it
worse.
So she's just, yeah.
but without her fullparticipation, prosecutors
couldn't bring the case.
And if

Stephanie (20:35):
even if there was full participation, would they
have been able to, I mean, yes,of course it has to stop at that
point, but I think we all knowthat there's many cases where
people are participating totheir absolute fullest and they
don't think it's a good enoughcase or whatever.
Or you know what I'm, I ampissed.

Dani (20:55):
She did secure a protection order though against
Abel and he ignored it.

Stephanie (21:00):
Of course,

Dani (21:02):
Namba police records showed violation after
violation.
Andy described threats in herjournals.
Abel said he would break herwindow and kill her and then
himself,

Stephanie (21:14):
and I just will never understand this because even as
him.
Does it sound like he's havingfun, you're threatening to kill
her and then yourself?
maybe, maybe they do get sometype of sick pleasure from this,
but it's just like, who has thefucking time to be acting this

(21:35):
out of pocket?
It's just is wild to me.

Dani (21:38):
Uh, and typically a narcissist pig like this guy,
um, wouldn't have killedhimself?
No.
Oh, no.
when Angie asked, you know, whatabout the children, you know,
when he would threaten to dothat, they don't give a shit.
He told her they were better offwithout her.

Stephanie (21:58):
Sorry, my jaw just dropped.
just that a 21-year-old is goingthrough this.
Mm-hmm.
I don't know if I'd have amental capacity to handle shit
like this now at my age.
this is

Dani (22:09):
terrible.
He stole her purse on anotherbreak-in and continued to appear
near her home.
Just

Stephanie (22:18):
a con, a pest, a constant, mm-hmm.
Pest.
That's also dangerous.
Completely dangerous.
Ugh.

Dani (22:27):
Angie moved again in January of 2003.
She got a post office box andtried to start over in March.
She got that job in Boise andplanned to move there
permanently.
That was her goal.
She hoped to start a divorceproceedings while Abel was
serving time'cause he was injail for that eluding police

(22:48):
officer gig.

Stephanie (22:49):
I bet that's the safest she felt the whole time.
Just knowing that he can't be onher fucking doorstep every day.

Dani (22:56):
but her mother said Angie couldn't afford to move that
far.
She had three children, limitededucation, no car, and very
little money.
But still she tried.
So mom's helping out a mm-hmm.
Lot here.
Mm-hmm.
Mom was driving her to work.
Yeah.
Helping with the children.
Being her support system.
She's, yeah, she's trying to geton her feet.
When Abel pled guilty to felonyeluding on April 23rd, Angie

(23:20):
assumed he would remain incustody until sentencing and
made plans accordingly.
The news that he was releasedshook her.
Yeah.
'cause now your safety is gone.
And she didn't even tell thepolice her new address.
She didn't want anybody to knowwhere she was.
she did not attend mandatoryclasses That would've given her

(23:40):
an aware alarm tied directly tolaw enforcement.

Stephanie (23:43):
Why does she have to go to classes to get that?
Yep.
This is like, I have threefucking, she documented, I have
three kids.
I'm going to work.
How many protection orders?
I mean, why would you need to goto a class?
What's an alarm gonna do?
I, listen, I can appreciate ifthey want to try, try to give
more awareness and whatever.
But having that as a requirementto get these things, no, it

(24:08):
should just be, and if you'dlike to learn more, have this,
yeah, we have this class foryou.
She's got three kids and istrying to make it work with this
absolute psychopath.
And they're like, well, if youdon't attend their class, you
don't get the special alarm.
So, yeah.

Dani (24:25):
and she told her mother, she was just tired of dealing
with the police.

Stephanie (24:28):
Yeah.
I mean,'cause you feel like.
Especially with how she wastreated after her rape.
I mean, I'm sorry, that probablysticks with you.

Dani (24:37):
Three days after his release.
Well, he's awai his sentencinghearing.
Yeah.
Just come back for yoursentencing.
We'll be all good.
Abel saw Angie and her brothersat a restaurant.
The brothers turned him away,but he began calling her from
payphones.
Because I'm assuming that theyhave and shame on you, this
mutual friend or person who gaveit up, you know that that

(24:58):
happened for him to, for him toget her phone number?
Yeah.
Someone did it.
Yeah.
Somebody gave it to her and theywere married, so they probably
had family and blah, blah, blah.
You know who, who knows?
It could have been a cousin,his, maybe his mother.
Mm-hmm.
You know, a friend.
Yeah.
Yeah.
She would not answer and she,she kept a journal.

(25:19):
And she just said she was tootired to report each violation

Stephanie (25:23):
because it doesn't matter.

Dani (25:25):
Change

Stephanie (25:25):
anything.

Dani (25:26):
No, nothing happens.
Wasted energy.
Yeah, wasted energy.
By 7:30 AM on May 19th, she wasdead.
That morning Sylvia arrived totake Angie to work.
She rang the doorbell and sincesomething was wrong, she heard
Abel inside.

(25:48):
She moved carefully trying notto provoke him together.
Angie and her got the threechildren out to the car.
Angie hurried towards thepassenger side.
Abel came out, hit her andpulled her away from the car.
Sylvia ran to the other side ofthe car, and Abel pointed a gun
at her.

Stephanie (26:10):
Oh my

Dani (26:10):
God.
The children were crying.
Angie screamed.
Mom, take the kids.
Mom, take the kids.
Abel told Sylvia, just give me10 minutes.
Sylvia begged him not to hurther daughter.
She said Angie knew he would.

(26:33):
Sylvia drove to the complexentrance and called police at
7:28 AM neighbors called a fewminutes later to report
gunshots.
This

Stephanie (26:46):
is like literally the worst.
I cried

Dani (26:50):
because she's like, just get my kids outta here, mom
trying to get the kids out sothat he and mom's like kids, you
know, picking the kids over herdaughter like I gotta get, like

Stephanie (26:59):
it's an impossible choice.
Yeah.
And you know, you just try to dowhat you think is the best in
the moment.
This fucking sucks.
I did cry while reading this.
Oh, I might need a break.
I don't know how much more ofthis.
I can hear

Dani (27:17):
all of this crying bullshit today.
I know.
We're just crying all day.
Let me see where we're atbecause we can go down and have
a cigarette and take a littlebreak.
I just wanna see.
Yeah, this is like literally

Stephanie (27:31):
one of the worst stories we've done.

Dani (27:34):
No, I fucking bawled and bald and bald and balled and
bald.
I wish you could hear kids

Stephanie (27:42):
had to see this.
Oh, this is awful.

Dani (27:45):
let's go take a smoke break, SISs, because that was
hard.
Abuse thrives in silence andbreaking that silence is the
first step to safety.
the National Domestic ViolenceHotline is available twenty four
seven.
Call 1 807 9 9 SAFE or 7 2 3 3or text start to 8 8 7 8 8.

(28:11):
You can [e-mail].
Advocates can help safety planwith you even if you're not
ready to leave.
If you're worried that yourdevice is being monitored, it
may be safest to call.
Teens and young adults can alsocontact.
Love is Respect at 8 6 6 3 3 1 94 7 4 or text.

(28:34):
Love is 2 2 2 5, 2 2.
For Native American and Alaskanative survivors strong heart's,
native helpline offersculturally specific 24 7 support
at 8 4 4 7 native.
If you are someone near you isin immediate danger, please call
9 1 1.
You deserve safety.

(29:06):
Abel fled on foot inside the apartment.
Police found Angie dead frommultiple gunshot wounds in the
girls' bedroom.
Sylvia collapsed at the scenewhile speaking to officers.
I can't even imagine.
the manhunt began immediately.
Police described Abel as fivenine, about 180 pounds with

(29:29):
brown hair.
Brown eyes and tattoos on hisneck, left hand and upper left
arm.
He wore a dark blue trench coat,a light blue shirt and dark
pants, and that he was armed anddangerous.

Stephanie (29:42):
Yeah.

Dani (29:44):
Officers combed Ivy Street, the surrounding blocks
and the homes of Abel'srelatives.
They searched the Greyhound busstation and several area stores.
Nampa Police brought in a dogteam and contacted law
enforcement in Oregon, Nebraska,and Mexico.
They tracked all cases involvingAbel's brothers.

Stephanie (30:03):
So they were trying to look for any possible Yeah.
Place he could be trying to fleeto.

Dani (30:08):
And let me, I wanna go back and just tell you a little
bit about his brothers.
So while they were checking allof those relatives and his
brothers, they were chasingleads.
One older brother, Felipe hadshot another brother in 2000 and
disappeared, and there was stillan active warrant for him.

Stephanie (30:31):
Oh my God.

Dani (30:32):
but they believed that, they would have better luck
catching Abel than his brother.
We're leaving no stone unturned,said Lieutenant Craig Kingsbury.
So they were

Stephanie (30:41):
now, now we're leaving no stone unturned, which
I appreciate.
But again, the lack of urgencybefore this happens.
And I know that, you know,there, law enforcement, there's
only so much that you can do.
But I mean, I don't, I justdon't understand how this wasn't

(31:02):
an iron clad.
Case, mm-hmm.
Of just the sheer amount ofviolations and interactions with
police.
And again, typically when youflee or resist the police, they
get a personal vendetta aboutyou.

(31:22):
So where was that energy?
Like?
Very low energy, frustrating.

Dani (31:33):
As police search County, county prosecutor, Dave Young
held a press conference.
He admitted that Abel wasreleased because of poor
judgment and because keycriminal records were missing
from the file.
He said the deputy prosecutorwho handled the case did not
have access to Abel's domesticviolence history.

Stephanie (31:55):
Um, okay.
Why?
How?
It sounds like this sh shouldhave been a well-known dude to
law enforcement and prosecution.
What, what led to the, like,someone needs to lose their job
or multiple people over this.

(32:15):
Is that a spoiler?
Does someone lose

Dani (32:17):
their job?
Eventually?
Yeah.
because, just so you know, theprosecuting attorney, is an
elected position.
Yeah.

Stephanie (32:25):
Like.
To protect people and go aftercriminals.
And it seems like these casesare just served up on a platter
of here's 75 different possibleinfractions.
Can we get'em on of'em orsomething?
No one.
Or he pled guilty and we justwere like, oh, thanks for
pleading guilty.

(32:46):
We'll see you.
I guess, you know what?
Nevermind, nevermind.
What?

Dani (32:52):
Uh, young acknowledge systematic failure and promise
policy changes.
He said all felony files wouldnow include arrest reports, plea
bargains, releasing defendantsbefore sentencing would require
top level approval.
Defendants who pled guilty wouldno longer be released on their

(33:13):
own recognizance.

Stephanie (33:14):
Yeah,

Dani (33:15):
great idea.

Stephanie (33:17):
And I love how he's like, yes, there was a, a, you
know, problem with judgment.
Yes.
From the judge, like, butresidents were furious as they
should be.
I, this is our community and Iam furious.

Dani (33:37):
Editorials accuse the prosecutors' office of failing
to protect Angie.

Stephanie (33:41):
Yep.

Dani (33:41):
They pointed out that Abel had been charged with 18
domestic violence related countssince 2001.
And violated protection orders25 times.
So,

Stephanie (33:54):
oh my, this poor young woman, 18 documented
domestic violence.
Imagine all of the times whereit didn't escalate to where the
cops were called or she couldn'tcall the cops, or it calmed
down.
And so she, in, in looking outfor her best interest of, Hey,
is it gonna piss him off more ifI report this?

(34:15):
Like.
Eight.
She was battered constantly.
This is just so awful.

Dani (34:25):
They also noted that Angie was killed less than a month
after the plea agreement.
Freedom until his sentencing.
Mm-hmm.
It's like, what were you fuckingthinking?
But the police said they workedday and night looking for Abel
and they secured a white car hehad ridden in and questioned
people suspected of hiding him.

(34:46):
Witnesses claim they saw him instores and near the bus station
and he, he did, God, I dunno ifI wrote this down.
Who is

Stephanie (34:52):
hiding him?

Dani (34:53):
Yeah.
Who is

Stephanie (34:55):
people?
I'm sorry.
There is absolutely people.
If, if it was my best friend,some guy and he kills his spouse
and there's no, there's no, hesaid, she said, or maybe it's on
the fucking news.
Yeah.
You.
Disgusting is all I can say.

Dani (35:18):
Uh, and he, I don't know if I wrote this down.
He did actually, they had a busticket in his name.
Oh.
And they were watching, but henever showed up.
Oh, nearly two weeks later, onJune 1st, Abel Leon walked into
downtown Marsing and waved downa sheriff's deputy.
Deputy Dennis Pep Lee said Abelappeared thin and tired.

(35:38):
Abel told him he wanted tostraighten things out, and that
the community had the wrongidea.
He claimed he had been living onthe streets for days and denied
being near Walters Ferry areawhere police had searched for
him.
He was unarmed.
So lemme tell you, they spottedthis, a car out there and also

(36:03):
spotted some of his friends inthe Walters Ferry area.

Stephanie (36:07):
Mm-hmm.
And

Dani (36:07):
they all denied it.
But they were bringing him foodand shit.
They were out there tending totheir little murdering friend.
and I think that it got too hotafter the questioning by the
police because the policequestioned him out there, like,
what are you doing out here?
Kind of thing.
And I just think they're like,sorry, bro.
And just look, I can't, I can't

Stephanie (36:28):
keep doing it.
They can't

Dani (36:29):
keep doing those masks.
It's getting too hot.
Too hot.
Shouldn't

Stephanie (36:32):
have ever fucking done it in the first place.
Exactly.
Like how gross is that?
I do side note, um, detectivePepy, that's who handled my
grandpa's four wheeler or sideby side case.
No shit that I was in contactwith and everything.
No shit.
Yeah.
Okay.
Because we thought, remember, wethought that it was like in that
area.
Yeah.
From like tips we had gotten andstuff.

Dani (36:52):
Okay.
Yeah.

Stephanie (36:53):
So he was.

Dani (36:56):
He's been doing a long time.
This is a three.

Stephanie (36:57):
Yeah.
And that he was involved inthat.
He's the one that got flaggeddown.

Dani (37:02):
Yeah.

Stephanie (37:03):
Crazy.

Dani (37:04):
It's like, yo see me.
Hey, I'm wanted fucking dick.
okay.
Sylvia felt relief wash over herafter Abel turned into
something.
Yeah.
'cause you don't

Stephanie (37:17):
know like, what's to say?
He's not gonna come after you asa witness and that kind, I mean.
He has no boundaries.
None at at all.
0

Dani (37:26):
25 protection in two years.
It's like every couple weeks,

Stephanie (37:32):
and that's, those are the ones that are getting
reported again.
Mm-hmm.
The torment that she wentthrough is just deplorable.
I cannot believe that this youngwoman was subjected to this much
in so few years of life.
It's just an absolute tragedy.
Like there's no other way todescribe it.

Dani (37:55):
Sophia said, I am thrilled.
I'm not afraid he'll come aroundthe corner.
Yeah, it's been a nightmare.
Can you,'cause she had thosebabies and he pointed the gun at
her.
Yeah.
In the months after Angie'sdeath, Canon County found itself
under a microscope,

Stephanie (38:13):
as you should with this level of fucking
incompetence.

Dani (38:19):
The prosecutor's office already strained and
understaffed, faced sharpcriticism for the decisions that
allowed Abel Leon to walk out ofjail despite a violent record
that should have kept him behindbars.

Stephanie (38:30):
Incredibly violent and incredibly persistent.
Happening all the time.

Dani (38:38):
It wasn't just one mistake, but a chain of them
scattered across plea bargains,missing arrest reports, and a
routine disregard for the dangerthat Angie had repeatedly
reported.

Stephanie (38:49):
Yeah.

Dani (38:52):
As the criminal case moved forward, Angie's death ignited a
grassroots movement.
This is so badass.
Yeah.
Terry Ottens, a Canyon Countyresident, heard the news about
Angie on the radio.
She began to cry and picturedbeing forced to save her
grandchildren while her daughterwas killed.

Stephanie (39:11):
Yeah,

Dani (39:12):
an impossible choice.
She decided she would not letthis become another forgotten
story.
She organized a meeting ofconcerned citizens.
67 people showed up, and 17 ofthose became a core group.
They dug through public record.
Interviewed police, prosecutors,victims and probation officers,

(39:34):
and attended court proceedings,Kennan County Court watch, and
the Angie Leon Citizens TaskForce formed.
Oh, those efforts, and this is,these inspiring these people,
and most of them were women.
We're literally sitting in courtevery day watching the judicial

(40:00):
system work through thesedomestic violence cases.
And they were fucking taken,taking notes,

Stephanie (40:08):
taking them to task, and this is.
I love this'cause it's like,well, if no one else is gonna
fucking help, these are supposedto be our resources.
Thanks for fucking

Dani (40:17):
words.
Prosecutor Young, fuck you.
We want action.
And they were gonna hold them toaccount for a whole fucking
year.
They did this stuff and guess,and they, they had a fantastic
report to let the cox suckersknow how bad they sucked.

Stephanie (40:33):
Yeah.
'cause I mean, what happenswhen, when they say, oh, the
Canning County was under amicroscope.
Yeah, it's usually the policeinvestigating themselves.
Mm-hmm.
And we all know how that goes.
So they said, absolutely not.
We're gonna go ahead and stepin.
So good for them.
This is so inspiring.
Terry on is a badass.
Yeah.

Dani (40:52):
A year later, the group released a 69 page report
detailing systematic failures indomestic violence cases.
Okay.
Like, look, it's happeningeverywhere all the time.
This, these are the numbers.

Stephanie (41:06):
I don't know if I want to hear'em, but go.

Dani (41:08):
They found 59 contacts between Abel and law enforcement
over five years.
35 were domestic violencerelated.
What?
The 25 were protection orderviolations, and only three of
those were prosecuted.

Stephanie (41:27):
Hello?
Right.
Why on earth like.
That's why, that's why my mindwent to, and I, this is
conspiracy theory and not that'sjust the only logical
explanation to me of why apolice department would not be
wanting to absolutely lock thisperson up.

(41:51):
What, why was this nothappening?

Dani (41:55):
I love this task group.
I love them.
they analyzed 57 domesticviolence arrests in Nampa,
Caldwell, and Canon Countybetween June of 2002 and June of
2003.
Only four resulted in felonycharges out of 57.

(42:15):
41 were pled to lower charges.
Eight were misdemeanors.
Eight were never charged.
The report concluded that thesystem consistently downgraded
domestic violence cases evenwhen the victims had serious
injuries,

Stephanie (42:30):
which means you also have serious evidence.
Like what?
What an absolute failure.
This is one of those moments,and I know we've talked about it
before, Danny, where we lovewhere we live.
Both of us do.
Mm-hmm.
I love Nampa.
I love my community, I love ourstate, but this is just another

(42:52):
reason to that we care and it'sjust fucking disappointing.

Dani (42:57):
Yeah.
And Terry Ottens and this group,why was this the culture right?
What in the fuck.
That a judge couldn't see all ofthose arrests and contact
that's, that should be takeninto context when somebody's
released on their ownrecognizance, like, dude, he's

(43:19):
not a good person.
Yeah, he was dangerous enoughthat you kept him in jail for
106 days until he.
Plead it out and then you'regonna let him go.
What's,

Stephanie (43:27):
yeah, what's changed?
Go stay

Dani (43:28):
at your mom's house.
Stay away from Angie.
You better

Stephanie (43:31):
not go and bother Angie.
Like, yeah, fuck it.
Even though you have done thatat ev, he has pr, he has built
the case against him for them.
They haven't had to do shit.
He's already built the case.

Dani (43:48):
let me also remind you, he had a felony, right?
He was not a legal resident andhe should have been deported.

Stephanie (44:02):
Really?
Okay.

Dani (44:03):
So INS felt as well, just slipped through the cracks.
Yeah.
They let'em go.
There were so many avenues thatthey could have used.
Yep.
And that's just that, the onlyreason I'm saying that is just
another failure of the system.
Because he should havetechnically been

Stephanie (44:22):
Yes.
Deported.
If, if

Dani (44:23):
we didn't wanna deal

Stephanie (44:24):
with it as us Idaho.
Mm-hmm.
Why?
Why weren't they like, Heyy'all, this is your case.
More clear cut solution.
Yeah.
The federal go, they don't haveeven failed

Dani (44:36):
because he should have been after that conviction where
he was a felon.
He should have, but it wasn'tlike he was run.
They knew where he was at it.
They just clearly, they 59.
Interactions with

Stephanie (44:49):
police.
How were the police?
Not because, listen, I have,that's literally once a month.
I've had friends that get pullwhen I was younger, constantly
not having a license and noinsurance, not getting into
wrecks or driving recklessly.
But once they would get them onthat they couldn't go anywhere,

(45:10):
even with someone else drivingor walking or whatever like they
were getting, having police.
Holding a grudge for nonviolentthings.
What, where was the like passionon their part of this?
This is the guy that tried tofight me when I tried to arrest
him and having a little bit moreumph to, to take care of this.

(45:32):
Where was

Dani (45:33):
that?
Nampa Police Chief Curtis Homerembraced the findings of the
task force.
He told the audience.
His own daughter had beenseverely beaten in the past.
He promised more training andcollaboration and supported
efforts to build a familyjustice center.

(45:55):
So they had a big newsconference about this, you know
mm-hmm.
Reporting their findings.
And that's when, uh, the Nampapolice chief was like, yeah,

Stephanie (46:06):
I, which is what you should do at that point?

Dani (46:10):
Prosecutor Young said he appreciated the feedback but
disagreed with parts of thereport.
I don't

Stephanie (46:16):
give a fuck.
Young.

Dani (46:18):
He repeated that he had made policy changes after
Angie's death.
Advocates said the changes weretoo small and inconsistently
implemented.
It was true.

Stephanie (46:29):
No, and listen, this is one of those things where
when something like thishappens, yes, you made policy
changes after Angie wasmurdered, she's gone.
The whole family was subjectedto this trauma for years.
Her poor children had to be partof this last day.

(46:53):
Mm-hmm.
Bullshit.

Dani (46:54):
And who knows what they saw.
So

Stephanie (46:56):
I'm, if they, it clearly seems like this, a
advocacy group had their ducksin a row and like really lined
it out.
If you disagree personally, Ithink you maybe just keep that
shit to yourself like mm-hmm.
Because at this point it justlooks like why are we being

(47:18):
defensive?

Dani (47:20):
Why are being, he's a fucking defensive.
He's being very defensive, and

Stephanie (47:24):
he will, uh, and that's, that is the culture of,
you know, most law enforcementsthat we know.
And they were, I think they weremad because it wasn't them
investigating themselves.
It wasn't Jim Bob, who you'veknown for 20 years in the force
doing the investigation, writingup a nice

Dani (47:40):
report,

Stephanie (47:40):
saying, yeah.
Saying, gosh, look at all thesepeople are doing.
They, they had the numbers.
Mm-hmm.
Numbers don't lie.
Facts don't lie.
So.
Young, I'm sorry, not a fan.

Dani (47:52):
I will say that young, eventually, he didn't lose his
job in the oh four election.
I think it was still kind ofnew.
He kept it, but in the oh eightit was a big thing of his
opponent and I can't rememberwho his opponent was.
I apologize, but.
It was brought up.
They pounced on it.
Yeah.

Stephanie (48:09):
Because obviously, why, why wouldn't you?
It should, yeah.

Dani (48:12):
You're a horrible pro.
You're a horrible leader.
Yeah.
Why did this happen?
Yeah.
so he did lose his job, in theelection in oh eight.
So for what that's worth alittle too late.
But, but the Idaho legislaturetook notice to this way to go
task group.
Thank you.
Was it Task force?
Yeah, I think it was Task force.

(48:33):
Yeah.
What, you know what I'm saying?
lawmakers toughen, the state'sstalking Law House Bills 6 68
created a first degree stalkingcharge for offenders who
violated protection orders, hadserious prior offenses or
targeted minors.
It carried up to five years inprison and a$10,000 fine.

(48:53):
Legislators cited Angie's caseas one of the reasons the law
was needed.
Good.

Stephanie (48:57):
I'm.
I am glad that something,

Dani (49:00):
because that meth charge would've been a serious prior
offense.

Stephanie (49:04):
yeah, and Idaho usually is with drugs
especially, I mean, evenmarijuana people are doing time,
big time for personal amounts ofmarijuana in Idaho, not dealing
for real.
It it truly.
So what's the

Dani (49:22):
fine now?
Just even 300 for paraphernaliaeven.
Right.

Stephanie (49:26):
I think so.
Or a small amount.
Like tiny amount.

Dani (49:29):
Yeah.

Stephanie (49:30):
Yeah.
Okay.

Dani (49:33):
Way to go Idaho.
All right.
on August 1st, 2003, so we'reback in court.
Mm-hmm.
able pled not guilty to firstdegree murder, first degree
kidnapping, and aggravatedassault with a firearm, the
charges carried a possible deathsentence or life in prison.
Angie's family cried.

(49:54):
Yeah.
They're just like, why is hepleading?
I think they were hoping for nothaving a trust.
Yeah.
He

Stephanie (50:01):
pled guilty to a domestic violence and got
nothing.
So you think maybe he wanted toswing that again?

Dani (50:08):
Sylvia said the children struggled intensely.
I'm sure they had nightmares andasked for their mother.
Flores and Angie's father tooktime off work to care for them.
She was their,

Stephanie (50:19):
you know, main support.
And her mom.

Dani (50:21):
And her mom and, and Angie's mom and dad weren't
together.
and her dad lived in Ontario.
Mm-hmm.
And basically her death broughtabout this family.
Just getting back together.
Reconciling, yeah.
And getting back together.
So she had, you know, familymembers on dad's sides and mom's

(50:43):
side and everybody was just,everyone coming together
tomorrow, everybody to cometogether.
This is a

Stephanie (50:46):
lot like Kim's story.

Dani (50:49):
Sorry sis.
Gimme minutes.
It makes me so mad.
I'm sorry, sis.
I wasn't trying to make you cry.
No, it's okay.
But good things there.
I'm glad

Stephanie (51:04):
we're talking.
We have to talk about

Dani (51:05):
it and there's, we have to talk about it and there's good
things that evolved.
It's so sad that, that it has totake a tragedy like this to make
change.
But if you can look ateverything.
And this guy is just a fuckingdba.
He's such a fucking absolutepiece of shit.
Right.
So, uh, but something came outof it.

(51:29):
It was not a waste.
So to have an actual bill and itignited the community and a task
force Yeah.
Of these strong women that said,Uhuh motherfucker, we're
tattling on you.

Stephanie (51:40):
Absolutely not.
And I just appreciate that somuch.

Dani (51:44):
And they also created a charity golf tournament.
That raised money for the kids'future.
Good.
Yeah.
And it was, it was a big deal.
And I think I saw it at leastgoing up to, like five years
after her death.
Really?
They were still doing it.
Yeah.
It wasn't a one-time thing, sothat's awesome.

(52:05):
so mama's mad and she should be.
Yeah.
Flores filed tort claimsexecuting the prosecutor's
office of failing to warn Angieand failing to oppose Abel's
release.
If they would've made one phonecall to her, like, Hey, we're
thinking about just releasinghim.
hey, maybe don't do that.

(52:27):
Then she could have said, haveyou looked at his shit?
This is what the, the bigproblem was, is that.
They say they didn't know orhave access.
I'm, the judge didn't know how,how the judge didn't know
because it wasn't required.
The prosecutor didn't

Stephanie (52:41):
bring

Dani (52:41):
it.
It wasn't required to have theirarrest reports or anything.
I think that it was just theirconvictions.
Hello.
Context isn't, is

Stephanie (52:50):
that not Yep.
The type of thing you bring upin court context and.
I, it's just, I'm so glad thatchanges have been made because
of this,'cause it's, there'sjust no excuse.

Dani (53:04):
Sylvia alleged that Angie was not notified of her Right.
To object to the plea agreementor of any hearing date changes.
Yeah.
That might be important.
Yeah.
It might be her one point to onetime where he can't, where her
say her, her saying meanssomething and she can actually
go and talk to the judge.
Yeah.
Her claims turned into a federallawsuit in early 2005.

(53:26):
Get them.
She alleged that the CanonCounty Prosecutor's Office
mishandled domestic violencecases in General Lodge proper
training, clearly and referredto Angie Dismissively when she
saw help.
That's probably why.
Yeah.

Stephanie (53:41):
yeah, I think that's very clear in what, what we've
talked about.

Dani (53:46):
Her attorney said poor policies created a known danger
for Angie.
So one of the things that, and Idon't know the exact law, but
you cannot sue a prosecutor.
Why?
So they had to really dig deep.
So this is why they're sayingthey had to

Stephanie (54:03):
be creative with it.
Right.

Dani (54:04):
They mishan, you can't sue.
It's almost like

Stephanie (54:07):
a wrongful death or something.
Yeah, right.
You can't

Dani (54:09):
handle it like that.
So they had to really get deep.

Stephanie (54:13):
And say, find an avenue to do this and,

Dani (54:15):
and repeat not just her case, but repeated.
They mishandled domesticviolence cases.
Yeah.
They weren't training their

Stephanie (54:23):
trust.
She was raped and they werehandling it poorly like and with
all of the other data that youshould have.
Knowing that of what a fuckingpest this guy is.
I don't know why any detectivewould be treating someone in a
way that they would be like, youknow what, just fucking forget
it.

(54:44):
You have all the evidence.
You've it 59 times in two years.
You should know who this guy is.

Dani (54:54):
So the courts allowed part of the lawsuit to move forward,
which was a huge win.

Stephanie (54:58):
Yeah.

Dani (54:59):
judge Lynn Windmill ruled.
That the equal protection claimcould not proceed, and that
Canon County and prosecutor DaveYoung, were not immune from
being sued over their policies,which is huge.
Meanwhile, Abel's criminal caseapproached trial, but on August

(55:21):
18th, 2004, Abel Leon pledguilty to first degree murder in
an Alfred plea.

Stephanie (55:30):
Loser way to do it, but at least for the family's
sake of not having to go throughtrial and everything, whatever.
I mean, I, I say, I'll take it.
It's not me my place to saythat, but at at least it's
something

Dani (55:47):
he said.
He would not admit guilt, butaccepted that evidence would
convict him because you did it.

Stephanie (55:52):
Hello?

Dani (55:54):
prosecutors dropped the death penalty and the kidnapping
and assault charges.
Dave Young said Abel changed hisplea so that a 6-year-old son
would not have to testify.
Oh, how gracious of you.
Wow, what a great parent.

Stephanie (56:07):
Go fuck yourself.
Amazing.
Give him an award parent of theyear, like, go fuck yourself,
Abel.

Dani (56:18):
But Angie's family supported the deal.
Yeah, I think they really wantedclosure and,

Stephanie (56:21):
and honestly, it's.
To not have to fight and go backand forth and or have her her
be,'cause she would be smeared.
They, that's what a defense isgoing to do.
Yep.
How was it her fault?
What was she doing?
What, you know, whatever theycan pull up and dig up.
And then to

Dani (56:38):
have, to have those babies relive that moment and tell that
in front, no, fuck that.
Ugh.
So, you're still a cocksucker,but I'm glad those babies didn't
have to testify.

Stephanie (56:48):
Yeah.

Dani (56:49):
Angie's brother Ricky said that the family had been praying
for a resolution that wouldspare the children further
trauma.
Yeah.
Fair.

Stephanie (56:56):
Yeah.

Dani (56:57):
at sentencing, Flores told the judge that her grandson was
terrified of Abel.
So Angie's son, the children,she said, had trouble sleeping
and struggled deeply duringschool events and milestones.

Stephanie (57:09):
I bet.
Because even before he killedher.
They know he's dangerous.
He's showing up at the house atfucking chaos.
Yeah.
And, and mom has to be like, no,we can't let dad in.
Just the complete repeatedtrauma that he inflicted on her
and these children is wild.

Dani (57:28):
Counselor Wanda Newton showed the court, the children's
drawings, Angie's son drewtombstones a gun, blood, and his
mother being killed by hisfather.
Because it's, it's traumatic,these poor fucking babies.

Stephanie (57:42):
It's a life altering event and just, I hope, I can't
imagine going through that at myage and then thinking of it as a
kid of seeing something likethat is hell.

Dani (57:56):
Her five-year-old daughter drew black marks and said they
were her dad's heart.
Newton said the children wouldneed therapy for the rest of
their lives.

Stephanie (58:07):
My heart goes out to them.
This is just,

Dani (58:12):
Angie's father described his grief as the loss of an
entire piece of their family.
Yeah.
Quote, my whole family has beenmurdered.
He said

Stephanie (58:22):
It just, it's such a huge scar and that again.
She was doing everything right.
And it's not to say that even ifyou aren't taking actions to
leave an abusive partner thatyou know you would deserve any
blame.
But she was really trying sohard and,

Dani (58:41):
and she was excited he was in jail'cause she just saw a
path fucking forward.

Stephanie (58:46):
I bet it was such a relief while he was in jail.
Hell yeah.
Imagine some, a pest showing upat your fucking door every day.
And now that's not happening,and you can just easily take
your kids to daycare and mom cancome pick you up and there's a
future, and then it's ripped outfrom under you so that he can be

(59:06):
out before he's sentenced.
I just, the logic of that, likewhy are we letting them out if
they're guilty?
What?
It's just so fucking stupid.

Dani (59:20):
Angie's father also said he was furious that Abel would
not take responsibility becausehe's a pussy.
I hope he has a very largecellmate that beats his ass
every day.
Sorry,

Stephanie (59:32):
not sorry.
I, I am not sorry about wantingfor that either.
'cause I don't think that PE

Dani (59:39):
Why don't she be tortured every day?
He

Stephanie (59:40):
inflicted fucking terror on her for years.
Mm-hmm.

Dani (59:43):
Torture, terror.
I and

Stephanie (59:46):
the children, the,

Dani (59:47):
the mental and phys.
It wasn't just physical abuse,the mental, oh my God, I can't
even for it

Stephanie (59:53):
to have this many reports, you know, I know I've
already said this, but it washappening in so many other ways
that weren't big enough to getreported or just weren't able to
be reported.
A fucking menace, an absolutemenace rot.

Dani (01:00:12):
Abel insisted he took the plea deal only to protect his
children from testifying.
Oh, you're such a man.

Stephanie (01:00:17):
Aw.
'cause someone else did it.
Like, oh, you had a big defense,but you didn't wanna bring the
kids in and defend yourselfbecause you didn't do it.
Oh, here's his defense.
Shut up.

Dani (01:00:25):
This is why he did the offered plea.
He claimed he was at work duringthe murder and only heard about
it on the news.
Oh.
Really, but that's why he washiding out of Walters Ferry.
Shut the fuck up.

Stephanie (01:00:39):
And that's why you and Sylvia was there and
witnessed it, and all your kidswitnessed you pointing a gun.
Wow.
Wow.
Oh, now Sylvia's the liar andall the, the kids.
Yes.
They were convenient for you.
Yeah.
Okay.
Shut the fuck

Dani (01:00:54):
up.
What an absolute dipshitprosecutor Wolf said.
Abel's employer confirmed he wasnot working that day.

Stephanie (01:01:03):
Well look at that.
I was at work.
Yeah, an easily provable alibithat your work's not going to
ride for you like your weird assfriends.

Dani (01:01:13):
Oh no, this gets better.
Police interviews showed thatAbel called his sister for a
ride after the shooting.
He like walked up to like thejack in the box or something and
called her from a payphone.
God.
Abel said he was sad that thecommunity saw him as violent.

Stephanie (01:01:35):
Pardon the fuck.
Delusional the fuck.
I am saddened that the communityviews me as violent.
After my 59 interactions of myviolence and my violence against
police were publicized.
Shut the fuck.

(01:01:56):
Up.

Dani (01:01:56):
What?
I'm kind of glad he is in jailright now stuff because I think
he might murder, like

Stephanie (01:02:03):
I think that if he was out, I'm sorry, they've
already got a task force andthey're, they're on the do good
side.
I think there, if he was out andabout there would be an a posse,
an alternate reality task forceof like, yeah, we're going to be
Batman Uhhuh, like, and takecare of this, and I hope that
he's being taken care of.

(01:02:25):
Very well in prison.
I hope that he is just givenevery kindness and warm hug and
that everyone is really wrappingtheir arms around him in support
around his neck.
Like I was waiting for the drop

Dani (01:02:48):
Psychologist Richard Cervantes.
Testified for the defense anddescribed cultural and emotional
issues in Abel's upbringing.

Stephanie (01:02:57):
I don't wanna hear it.
I don't, I don't wanna hear it.
Cultural.
What cul, what culture is thisthe norm?

Dani (01:03:07):
Well, he is from Mexico and so they were saying that he
grew up where kind of women werea, a possession, whatever,
bullshit.
Don't care.
Be a fucking human being youdeba.
But the prosecutors counteredsaying that none of his

(01:03:27):
emotional issues explained thelong pattern of violence or the
murder terror.

Stephanie (01:03:33):
He was a terrorist

Dani (01:03:35):
to her judge James Morphett called the case the
most severe domestic violencecase he had ever seen.
He cited Abel's refusal toaccept responsibility.
The devastating impact on thechildren and his long history of
abuse, he sentenced thatmotherfucker to life in prison
without the possibility ofparole wrought.

(01:03:59):
Wrought.

Stephanie (01:04:00):
Thank you.

Dani (01:04:02):
Can we get a little,

Stephanie (01:04:04):
a judge with some sense?
Did Hey, wait, before theysentenced, did they let him out
just for a bit on his ownrecall?
Right.
They, because you know, justwhile you're being sentenced, go
stay with your mom.
You better just stay at yourmom's house and stay away

Dani (01:04:16):
from those kids and we'll see you back here in, and you
don't do anything in about sixweeks, okay?
Don't

Stephanie (01:04:21):
you do

Dani (01:04:21):
anything Naughty fucking dick.
But guess what, mama?
Her lawsuit continued good, andin August of 2006 it settled for
$925,000.
Triple it and give it to her.
I'll take 14 more of those rightnow?

(01:04:41):
Yes.
Fantastic.
Give her 14 more of'em.
Flora said she had mixedemotions, but wanted to to help
raise the children.
Yeah.
And continue pushing for change.

Stephanie (01:04:50):
This helps her give them some type of benefit, some
type of leg.
They deserve it.
They've lost everything.
Yeah.

Dani (01:04:57):
Because of the lack of the prosecutor, our public services

Stephanie (01:05:02):
Yeah.
That are supposed we pay for toprotect us, so, so, yes.
And you know what?
You didn't give her all themoney.

Dani (01:05:08):
I'm telling you, if Angie was 21, mama was still, Sylvia
was still working.
Mm-hmm.
That's like me trying to,everyone trying to come together
and protect her.
So she, she financially, what ablessing to be able for her to
raising three ch Look, I'm oldand if I all of a sudden had
custody of three, three kids,young kids, we didn't plan for

(01:05:33):
this.
No.
So.
And there'll be some leftover,I'm sure for the kids, for
college education.
College

Stephanie (01:05:39):
for

Dani (01:05:39):
homes

Stephanie (01:05:40):
would give them, let's go.
They deserve something.
Because this was an absolute SISsystemic failure.
On MPAs part on

Dani (01:05:51):
the Canyon County's part, Angie's Case transformed Canyon
County.
The court watched task forcecontinued reporting on domestic
violence cases.
Hope's Door Shelter opened inCaldwell in 2005 and created a
room in Angie's Honor.
The community held that annualgolf tournament in her name and

(01:06:13):
a bench outside.
Mercy Medical Center bore herphoto next to White Roses, her
favorite flower.
They have tore down MercyMedical.
I wonder if that's still there

Stephanie (01:06:24):
or if they like put it somewhere else or, right.
I'd

Dani (01:06:26):
be curious.

Stephanie (01:06:28):
I hope they did.

Dani (01:06:29):
I don't think they probably tore it down.
I'll have to jet through thereand see.
Right?
and Flores became an advocate.
Go, mama.
Go.
She worked full time and RAraised Angie's three children.
She answered calls from mothersand daughters looking for help
and task force leader, TerryOtten said Flores never turned
away anyone.

Stephanie (01:06:49):
And that's, I think there's a lot to be said about
that because if you've beenthrough something this awful.
It's hard to hear other stories,you know, like it, it's
triggering, it punches youRight.
In the gut.
Right.
And so, you know, I thinkthere's a lot to be said for

(01:07:10):
people that,

Dani (01:07:11):
how strong is her mom?
Yeah.
And fuck yeah.
Terry Ottens.
Mm-hmm.
You.
To this whole task force.
Like, I fucking love it.
It's so badass.
There's not as much de like Iread all of these articles.
These women were like,

Stephanie (01:07:27):
they were, had a fire lit.
Mm-hmm.
And did it.
And that's, you know what, whenthere's a failure on the level
that's supposed to support us,that this is why being a part of
your community and and findingthings that you're passionate
about are so fucking important.

Dani (01:07:48):
People remembered Angie.
They remembered May 19th.
They remembered how close shecame to escaping that marriage
at the end of 2002 and early2003, she had been the happiest
she'd been in years.
Abel was in jail on the eludingcharge.
She was motivated, ready to go,and she believed go.
She believed he would serve a 10year sentence.

(01:08:09):
Yeah.
And she dreamed of attendingIdaho State University and
becoming a pharmacist.
And within that 10 years, by thetime Abel got outta jail, she
would've been hightailed outtahere.
She would've been gone.
And

Stephanie (01:08:21):
what she was stolen from her family and from the
community and from her kids,like she to be that motivated
and still going through.
This is just, Danny and I talkedabout this when we had our
little break of.
I would not have handled it aswell as her.
No, she's no way.

(01:08:42):
She's strong, not at 21, not atmy present age.
Right.
Of her motivation to keep goingand keep trying to build a life.
It's incredible.
And so what, what a loss.

Dani (01:08:56):
so her mom gave an interview, five years after
Angie's death.
And she talked a little bit morein depth about some of the
things that, around that timeshe said that, when Abel got out
of jail in 2003, that Angie feltdread.

(01:09:17):
Yeah, I bet.
They were driving to a familyfuneral and she told her mother
she wanted to be cremated andthat she wanted Sylvia to raise
her children.
She, she's completely aware ofhow fucking dangerous, how bad
she is.
How bad.
Yep.
Absolutely.
flora said she tried to steerthe conversation away like
you're being, but she's tryingto be realistic.

(01:09:37):
Yeah.
And it is

Stephanie (01:09:38):
realistic.
This is what really happened.
She knew like terrible, and shetold her

Dani (01:09:41):
mother, if Abel gets out, I know he's going to kill me.
Oh my god.
Flora said the grief was thedeepest in the, in the morning
after Angie's death.
She said she thinks of otherparents who lose children and
remembers that.
Morning feeling of disbelief.
She sometimes avoids the newsbecause the empathy is so

(01:10:03):
overwhelming and she's talkingabout, and she

Stephanie (01:10:06):
knows exactly what people are going

Dani (01:10:08):
through.
Right.
And she's taking those phonecalls.
Yeah.
Like Terry Otten said, she'staking those phone calls, she's
helping others, even though herown struggle.
Because she said she did.
It's painful.
Just wake up and just thisdidn't happen and just
absolutely be so

Stephanie (01:10:22):
much easier to try to block it all out and pretend
that that wasn't part of yourlife.

Dani (01:10:30):
But Angie's children kept Sylvia moving

Stephanie (01:10:34):
good.

Dani (01:10:34):
They stopped formal counseling, but they still talk
about their mother.
And Flores is watching, youknow, was watching for signs of
trauma, anything that wastriggering.
She said that they became theirown small therapy group and that
she would never cry each otherin front of those babies.

Stephanie (01:10:51):
Ugh.

Dani (01:10:52):
She said she was raising them the way Angie would want.
She said Angie was a devotedmother who loved being home with
her children.
She kept Angie's baby books thatshe had created for her
children, exactly how they werehospital wristbands, footprints,
photographs.
Oh, people remembered Angiebecause she embodied a painful

(01:11:14):
truth.
She tried to start over.
She tried to follow the rules.
She was, she tried to survivewithin a system that kept
letting her abuser walk free.
Her death forced a community toconfront its failures.
It sparked a movement, ashelter, and a legacy of reform.
Flora said that helping othershelped her survive.

(01:11:37):
She believed Angie would wantthat.

Stephanie (01:11:39):
Yeah.

Dani (01:11:40):
She said when she faced a hard decision, she asked
herself, what would Angie do?

Stephanie (01:11:48):
Oh, you'd have to give me a moment.
Wow.
I'm so pissed that thishappened.
You gotta have another

Dani (01:12:08):
moment.
This is a rough one.
Yeah.
Because this isn't some from,you know, it's not some random
burglar, some random crime.

Stephanie (01:12:26):
Yeah.
Or some, or someone gets in abar fight or, you know,
whatever.

Dani (01:12:31):
This was systematic.
Torture and abuse that thesystem let happen, which makes
it more tragic.

Stephanie (01:12:40):
Yeah.
So what I'll say is I'm so gladthat positive things came about
this, and that's, that's the wayto move forward really, you
know?
Mm-hmm.
That's, it's, it's so right inline with confess stuff, so, oh,
I'm so sorry To her family andher kids.

Dani (01:13:03):
I hope that they are thriving, that they found
strength in what their motherwent through and are kick in the
world's ass.
Yeah.
And Sylvia, you're a badass mom,right?
Badass mom.

Stephanie (01:13:20):
And Terry, you're a badass too.
This is just, it's

Dani (01:13:23):
just a random community member saying, this is not
right.
Saying

Stephanie (01:13:26):
it stops with me.
Yep.
We're gonna come together.
So thank you guys.
So yeah, like we said, tough,tough episode.
Um.
Thank you guys for listening.
Please get involved.
Yeah.
In your community.
See what

Dani (01:13:41):
can happen.
Yeah.
However you see what can happen.
Look at the change, like therewas a bill introduced into law
and we know how

Stephanie (01:13:50):
slow legal things work and how complicated they
are, and so finding the likeinspiration to do that is huge.
So get involved with causes thatyou care about.
It's.
Incredibly rewarding, and it'sthe only thing that really makes
change.
It.
Really?
Yep.
The Canyon County would've nevermade these changes.

(01:14:11):
No.
If these people were not pushingand pushing and pushing

Dani (01:14:15):
and watching them, yes.

Stephanie (01:14:18):
Fucking eyeballing them.
Be the eyes, be the ears, be thechange.
Um, if you have any info or youwant to email us questions,
concerns the [e-mail], you can
follow us on TikTok, Facebook,wherever you want.
Um.
That's all I got.
Danny.
Any anything else?

Dani (01:14:37):
No.
I'm gonna go drink about it.

Stephanie (01:14:38):
Yeah, I'm gonna drink about it too.
Uh, ten four River Ducky.
Fuck yeah.

(01:15:02):
On this episode of The LethalLibrary, we talked about Angie
Leon, and it's been a tragicreminder of how domestic
violence devastates families andcommunities in the face of such
loss, healing, and connectionare essential.
That's why Danny and I reallywanna share the work of For You

(01:15:23):
Network and their annual event,Kim Fest.
Kim Fest began as a memorial forKimberly Larson, who was
murdered in a domestic assault.
In 2018, her family transformedgrief into action, creating a
festival that honors lives lostto tragedy, whether through
domestic violence, suicideaddiction, mental health

(01:15:47):
struggles, accidents or illness.
Each year, chem Fest brings ourcommunity together with live
entertainment.
Local artisans, delicious foods,tons of activities for kids, and
most importantly, resources forhealing.
It's a free, family friendlyevent where you can connect with

(01:16:07):
support groups, classes, andseminars offered by for you
network and it's partners yearround.
their mission is simple butpowerful to minimize the impact
of trauma.
Prevent violence and help peoplefind a path forward.
Healing isn't one size fits allfor you.
Network meets people where theyare, guiding them toward

(01:16:30):
compassionate connections andtransformation.
Kim Fest is more than afestival.
It's a movement to kind yourmind.
Choosing kindness over judgment,blame and shame To learn more,
get involved, or support theirmission.
Visit four.
You network and join thecommunity at ChemFest.

(01:16:51):
Together we can honor thosewe've lost and build a culture
of healing and nonviolence foryou.
Network for healing, forconnection, for all of us.
To get connected, please visitkim fest.com.
That's KYM fest.com.
There are links to donate,volunteer, or become a vendor

(01:17:15):
for the festival.
You can also email Kind YourMind [e-mail].
Again, thank you all forlistening.