Episode 255

In August of 2014, a masked thief, dressed in black, walked away with nearly $20,000 from an American Eagle store in Fort Worth, Texas. Three months later, the assistant manager of that store was found brutally murdered inside her burning apartment. Were these completely separate crimes or were they somehow connected?

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Sword and Scale contains adult themes andviolence, and is not intended for all
audiences. Listener discretion is advised.She's a little one hundred pound girl and
you're a killer, dude? Fuckyou? No, fuck you? Fuck
you? What are you gonna do? Ask me in thirty years when you're

(00:22):
halfway through your sentence if you're akiller. We made it all the way
to season ten and the end oftwenty twenty three, a year that I
thought was for sure going to killme on a show called Sword and Scale
that proves that the worst monsters arereal. Well, like I said,

(00:59):
it's been a hell of a year, and not in a good way.
Or we started out in a completemess. The site has broken, the
app has broken. We worked reallyhard to fix it, and we're gonna
launch a new app and new websitevery soon. In twenty twenty four.
We're gonna take a short break becauseI'm gonna crack if I don't, and

(01:22):
you know, we'll be back reallyreally soon as soon as we can with
some major surprises for you. Ithink you're gonna love them. When a

(02:01):
murder is committed, people usually wantto know why, and oftentimes that answer
makes sense to us. We allknow what it's like to be jealous,
angry, or want something we can'thave. When a person kills for money
or revenge, we get it.We don't necessarily condone it. Kind of

(02:24):
like that Chris Rock joke, butit makes sense in some way. The
motivations are on some level relatable.But every once in a while a murderer
comes along with a motivation that isnot quite so relatable, not quite so

(02:45):
easy to understand. They aren't drivenby anger or jealousy. They don't seek
revenge or wealth. Instead, theyare driven by something much more frightening.
All they want is to experience theplanning and the crime itself. All there

(03:07):
really after is the thrill of thekill. In November of twenty fourteen,
on the morning after Thanksgiving, ayoung med school student was fast asleep in
his bed at the River Ranch Apartmentsin River Oaks, Texas, which is
about a ten minute drive from FortWorth. As the student was sleeping off

(03:30):
his turkey dinner from the night before, he was suddenly awakened by a scream
that apparently had come from the apartmentabove his own. Do you remember doing
anything after six o'clock? What awakesyou next it was the scream upstairs.
So at seven point thirty you heardscreaming. I was laying in bed and
it wasn't I wouldn't call his aidblood curling hot page top at ladder,

(03:55):
you know, I wouldn't describe ascream like that. It's more of a
scream slash like yells why. Andthen that woke me up. So I'm
sitting there looking at the ceiling,and I'm racking my brain thinking, Okay,
what the heck is going on upthere? Like johnnyn't go up there,
Like my first thought was she wokeus up up for a nightmare.
And then like I heard, likethe real loud pound on the ground.

(04:17):
After hearing the scream followed by aloud thud, this young man contemplated what
to do next. Eventually, hedecided to get out of bed and inspect
his apartment. After he did,he found that everything seemed fine. So
I get up from bed, Igo out, look at him, look
around in our apartment, and thecat's just sleep on the couch like nothing's

(04:38):
out of the ordinary. And I'mthinking, I'm like, okay, maybe
I should go up there. Likewe're sitting a heart attack seze or something
like that I could save her orsomething. I look out the window and
that's when I told you. Isaw that black are leaving hey minutes after
that my apartment. So I startedgoing off, and that that alarm is
so different than the smoke alarm isso much louder, so that I didn't

(04:59):
hear anything after that. One justturns out everything okay. The carbon monoxide
alarm in the apartment started blaring soonafter the fire suppression sprinkler system activated,
So the young man called nine oneone. Yeah, Hi, I'm a
little bit of River Range Apartments,and I think there's a fire upstairs in
the apartment above me. And nowthe sprinklers are going on with the fire

(05:23):
apartment four card department. This isKevin MAYOPI yeah, a little five River
Range Apartments. There's a fire aboveme forty seven five. Yeah, say
with me, I'll get someone inaround. The River Ranch apartment complex is
a two story quadplex that only consistsof four separate dwellings. Even so,

(05:46):
the medicool student wasn't the only personaffected by the assumed fire that had broken
out in the apartment above them.Not long after this initial nine to one
one call was placed. More emergencycalls were transferred to the Fort Worth Police
Department. Man, this is aFort Worth police I don't know one the

(06:08):
other emergency. Yeah, okay,okay, okay, we have a fire
right now. Are you in townerof the apartment is on fire? Fires
got out? Okay, you justgot out? Okay? Yeah, just
somebody hear them, but I can't. Please, do you think there's someone
other? Okay. Eventually emergency respondersand Fort Worth firefighters arrived on the scene.

(06:33):
They found that one of the secondfloor apartments was on fire, and
they quickly began working to extinguish theflames. Meanwhile, a crowd of onlookers
began gathering around the complex, andnews of the fire quickly reached friends and
family members of the River Ranch Apartmentresidents, Worth police, and five eight
one. We'll see I just we'recalling about I'm extually can in regard to

(06:57):
fire. You guys are ran thismorning. I'm not sure is the exact
address is It's my sister's address.One of her coworkers had called to tell
me that her apartment had caught onfires and that they are releasing any information
to anybody, but we're all outof town, so thank you, students.

(07:17):
So we're trying to figure out howwe can get information on this.
She's okay, okay, what I'mgoing to do? You said it was
your sister, right, that's correct, Ashley Harris, that's your name.
Thirty one year old Ashley Harris livedwith her golden retriever at the River Ranch
Apartments and worked full time as anassistant manager at American Eagle at the nearby

(07:39):
Hewlen Mall. Can you describe hergundy's as an assistant manager? Well,
her department responsibility because she was tryingto get into store management. She had
just taken over visuals a few monthsback, which required her hours sometimes to
be a little longer, like laterevenings doing like visual changes and other job

(08:00):
duties would be just running ourselves forwardduring mids hours. She was really big
into loss prevention. That was hertrack. She wouldn't eventually end up with
our loss prevention department, so shewould help me out with a lot of
operational things that that's actually what shewas strong as. That was just making

(08:20):
sure that you know, everybody wastrained on procedures and make sure that everybody
was aware was going on in thestore. As an assistant manager at American
Eagle, Ashley Harris worked long hoursand was paying her dues in hopes of
eventually being promoted. Ashley wanted tobe a loss prevention specialist. If you're

(08:41):
not familiar, many retailers employed thesespecialists to safeguard the company's assets and prevent
or minimize theft. So Ashley wasworking her way towards the position that she
ultimately wanted. She regularly posted videosof herself on social media while she was
at work. I'm extremely tired andthis right here is not even helpy.

(09:03):
Look in my eyes. It's horriblefor anyone who has ever had a retail
job. Unfortunately, raising my hand, you can probably relate to how demanding
and tiresome that kind of job canbe. It was J C. Penny

(09:24):
for me, in case you're wondering. Despite the long hours and demands of
her job, Ashley maintained a goodattitude and a healthy personal life. Again,
Ashley lived at the River Ranch Apartments, and she lived there with her
beloved golden retriever Nala. Sadly,in twenty fourteen, on the morning after

(09:46):
Thanksgiving, a large fire broke outinside Ashley's apartment. Fort Worth firefighters were
eventually called to the scene, andas they worked to extinguish the blaze,
many onlookers and can certain friends ofAshley watched as flames and black smoke billowed
out of Ashley's apartment. As manyof these onlookers anxiously waited for news of

(10:09):
Ashley's well being, a few ofthem were questioned by police. The all,
okay, she went. She gothome around the curry. I was

(10:30):
here next them, okay, Andshe got here and said she wake up
for the love talk. And thenI know a little bent woke up.
And then I went in and Itold her I was leaving, and I
left and I went home. Whattime was that? A four? When
I left here here? Was thereanybody else in there with her? No?

(10:52):
She turned on. It was justher home. But you were with
her until then you left. Myleft. I went well, I texted
her when I un figure in alot among the onlookers was a young woman
that was well acquainted with Ashley.In fact, she and Ashley had been
on a few dates together. Hername was Alexis Torres, and Alexis claimed

(11:16):
that she was with Ashley just afew hours before the fire broke out.
I first met Ashley about a yearyear and a half ago, and you
know, we were just you know, like I guess Facebook friends at first.
We started really getting close, startedhanging out just throughout every day.
She became one of my really,you know, best friends, and now

(11:39):
we started dating. As is usuallythe case for retail workers, Ashley Harris
had to work on Thanksgiving, andwhat has become the American custom, many
retailers opened their stores on Thanksgiving eveningas an extension of an early start to
Black Friday. You're all consumers totell you that it's the biggest single shopping

(12:01):
day in the United States every yearand kind of sets the tone for the
whole Christmas shopping season. On thisparticular Thanksgiving day, Ashley was expected to
work an especially long overnight shift ather American Eagle store at the nearby Hewlen
Mall. Ashley was having to workfor a Black Friday, so we had

(12:24):
a Thanksgiving at Tripe and carry House, which is another group of friend of
ours. But we had Thanksgiving aroundI guess blues two o'clock. She left
because she had to be at work, and she asked me to take care
of Nala, her dog. Well, Ashley was at work, Alexis looked
after her dog. Early the nextmorning, at around three am, unexhausted,

(12:48):
Ashley returned to her apartment. WasAshley still wearing the same clothes that
she went to work in? Yeah, she was still wearing work clothes?
Can you describe those? She hadon a red shirt, but remember what
it said, but all of heremployees were wearing it. She had on
jeans and her boots. She stillhad her keys her see the keys anywhere?

(13:13):
She still had them on her beltloop. It was a pretty big
clip. She all was just puttingaround her belt loop, according to Alexis.
After Ashley came home, she andAlexis spent some time together before Alexis
said goodbye and left the apartment.And we talked for about about our hour

(13:33):
and a half. And I lefther apartment at three forty I mean not
three four am, sorry four am. She walked me out. I opened
the door to the front door,I closed it and I heard her lock
the door behind me. And Itext her at four fifty three and I
told her I was home. AndI didn't get a response and just took

(13:56):
clarify know I had to asked youthis before, but just so we can
put on the record, was thereanybody that Ashley ever talked about having problems
with or that would want her harmAshley? By all accounts, Ashley Harris
was an extremely well liked, caring, and personable young woman. She had
a lot of close friends, manyof whom described her as having a magnetic

(14:20):
personality. People liked to be aroundAshley, Even people that only briefly interacted
with her could easily recognize the overwhelmingpositivity that Ashley carried herself with. She
was extremely nice, extremely just positive. It is only for a couple seconds
we were walking our dogs and Ijust felt just her positive energy. As

(14:43):
the police investigated the fire at Ashley'sapartment, one of the people they spoke
to was her boss at American Eagle. Not unlike Ashley's friends and acquaintances,
her boss had only good things tosay about Ashley and couldn't imagine that anyone
would want to hurt her. Whatkind of employee was Ashley? Fantastic as

(15:05):
she just you know, tried tobe as cordial to everybody as possible.
You couldn't ask for a more positiveperson. The associates all just kind of
attached themselves to her. She waslike the mother of the store. She
was my right hand person and dependenton her for so much. Do you
know if Ashley was having problems ortrouble with anyone? Oh, that's what

(15:26):
we're all beating ourselves up over.We just don't get it. Like she
didn't have an enemy in the world. Despite what everyone was saying about Ashley,
the chaos and her apartment suggested thatshe must have had at least one
enemy. Tragically, as fort Worthfirefighters were working to extinguish the blaze,

(15:48):
they found a body among the flames. It was female. She was lying
face down and it was obvious thatthe fire didn't kill her. Ashley Harris
had been murdered and an apartment firehas turned into a potential murder mystery in
southwest ford Worth. On Friday,we told you about this. Firefighters discovered

(16:11):
the body of a young woman insideher burning apartment unit along Keen Ranch Road,
but investigators quickly determined the fire wasnot the cause of her death.
The rest ward Affiday would say,Harris was found with her ankles bound with
gray duck tape. Her hands werealso bound with gray duck tape behind her
back, and that her body waspartially burned. In the early morning hours

(16:36):
of Black Friday, someone or multiplepeople broke into Ashley Harris's apartment and attacked
her. They bound her arms andfeet with duct tape. They pistol whipped
her and strangled her to death.Then they set her apartment on fire and

(16:56):
fled. Interestingly, as police processthe scene, they determined that the only
thing missing from the apartment was Ashley'swork key. For detectives, this was
bizarre. Why would someone only steala set of keys? To American Eagle?

(17:18):
Was that all they wanted? Whatthe detectives to know is that the
person behind all this mayhem had aplan, and part of that plan was
to murder Ashley Harris, But anotherpart of the plan included gaining access to
the store where Ashley worked. Ultimately, it was those missing keys that would

(17:42):
help explain why someone wanted to committhis brutal crime and why a well liked
young woman that seemingly had no enemieswas viciously attacked and murdered. In November

(18:26):
of twenty fourteen, fort Worth firefighterswere called to a fire at the River
Ranch apartments in River Oaks, Texas. Inside one of the apartments, firefighters
found the dead body of thirty oneyear old Ashley Harris. Soon after,
fort Worth homicide detectives were called into investigate, and they quickly determined that

(18:48):
Ashley had been murdered. Ashley's handsand feet were bound with duct tape,
and she had multiple lacerations and woundsall over her body. A medical examiner
later determined that Ashley must have beendead before the fire started because her aorta
blood tested negative for carbon monoxide.The medical examiner also found that Ashley's eyes

(19:14):
reflected strangulation. The cause of deathwas exphyxia and blunt forced trauma to the
head. There was no doubt thatthis was a homicide. As for the
fire, an arson investigator determined thatrubbing alcohol was used as an accelerant and
the fire had multiple points of origin, including Ashley's bed, her closet,

(19:38):
and her body. In other words, someone viciously beat and murdered Ashley,
poured alcohol all over her body andher belongings, and then set the apartment
on fire before fleeing the scene.Thankfully, Ashley's dog survived. And you
were all going to worry about that, so I, you know, made

(20:00):
sure to tell you. Anyway,the pup was eventually adopted by Ashley's parents
and he's doing fine. During thesubsequent investigation, though, homicide detectives interviewed
several people, one of which happenedto be a former police officer that lived
in the same apartment complex as Ashley. Later on, maybe around seven or

(20:23):
so, you tell me I comeback out in the vacame spot. It
was a car that I didn't recognize. So between seven and seven o five
you see a car in the spotnext to Ashley that you recognized as not
belonging to that complex, correct,not a car that I had seen before.
And can you describe what you saw? What I believed to be a

(20:47):
black Infinity And did you see anybodycoming or going from that vehicle? Okay,
so when you left for work atseven twenty, you sent the car
you meant the black infinished still partnerto Ashley shrugged. According to Ashley's neighbor,
his typical morning routine included smoking acigarette on his apartment's front balcony.

(21:10):
On the morning of the murder,and before the fire broke out, this
neighbor noticed a black car parked nextto Ashley's truck. It was a car
that he did not recognize as usuallybeing parked there. Don't you just love
neighbors. At the same time,Ashley's other neighbor, the young man that
lived below her, noticed a blackcar leaving the complex just before his carbon

(21:36):
monoxide alarm went off. I lookout the window, and that's when I
told you I saw that black carleaving. Came in fashly that my carbon
monoxide started going off in that Thatalarm is so different than the smoke alarm
is so much louder, so easythat I didn't hear anything after that,
But the alarm just turns out everything. At this point in the investigation,
the cops had gathered a lot ofinformation very quickly. They were trying to

(22:00):
put all the pieces together, butthe one thing they knew right away was
that they needed to find that blackInfinity and its driver. Somehow, the
news of that car spread among Ashley'sfriends and co workers, and it prompted
Ashley's boss to approach detectives. Now, from you understanding what kind of car

(22:22):
did Carter drive? I was toldto Dave was a black It's like a
little black sports car two door fouror I'm believe it was two door.
I never saw it in person,just that picture that I the board over
too. So now when you approachedus that day, how did you put
two and two together? Because somebody, one of her friends, somebody had

(22:45):
mentioned it in the black car.And as soon as she said it,
yeah, as me and I lookedat each other and we were like,
is that Carter like Ashley Harris,Twenty eight year old Carter Servantes was also
an assistant manager at American Eagle.Both women had worked at the same store,
and Carter happened to own and drivea two door black Infinity. On

(23:08):
the morning after the murder, thelead homicide detective on this case decided to
visit Carter's apartment, and when hearrived there, he found a black Infinity
parked in the driveway. Rather thanapproached the home and knock on the door,
the detective decided to sit, waitand watch. After a few hours,

(23:30):
he saw Carter leave her apartment andwalk toward her car, but Carter
wasn't alone. Whether was a youngblack man that looked to be around eighteen
or nineteen years old. The detectivewatched as the young man got into the
driver's seat of the Infinity while Cartersat in the passenger seat. The couple

(23:53):
drove off, and the detective followeduntil they arrived at the Hewlen Mall Ewlen
Mall, where Ashley Harris used towork. The detective continued watching as Carter
stepped out of the passenger seat andwalked into the mall. Meanwhile, the
young driver sat and waited in theparking lot. At this point, it

(24:17):
was around eight am and the doorsto the mall were open, but many
of the stores inside were still closed, So the detective decided to follow Carter
into the mall as he called uponanother detective to put eyes on the young
driver. Unfortunately, the detective inthe mall lost sight of Carter and was

(24:37):
unable to find out where she wentor why. The other detective, however,
decided to approach the Infinity and questionthe driver, who identified himself as
David Mallory. David explained that hehad driven his girlfriend to the mall so
she could pick up some documents fromher job at Arrow p Host Style.

(25:02):
Of course, that's not really whereshe worked, is it. This struck
detectives. It's strange because he knewthat Carter didn't work there. What a
dumb lie. Some people are reallybad at it. When the detective asked
David for his driver's license, heexplained that he didn't have one, which
prompted the detective to arrest him.David was then taken to the police station

(25:26):
and questioned, where'd you guys leavefor Thanksgiving? Oh? He could stayed
in watch movies. What did youguys have her career Thanksgiving? Oh?
Bunch of shit? I don't know. Yah? Yeah, baby bringing catro
techy. You got that friend number? No, did you guys ever leave

(25:49):
or or anything of the house Thursday. In questioning David, detectives learned that
he was Carter's living boyfriend, andaccording to him, he and Carter spent
their Thanksgiving at home together. Heexplained that all they did was cook,
eat, watch movies, and sleep. At this point, David had already

(26:14):
garnered some suspicion from detectives because whenhe was first approached at the mall,
he presumably lied about where Carter worked. So this morning, you got to
get up. What's going on?When you gotta talking about what you did?
I had to get up and Itook her to the mall. She
said she needed some papers or someOkay, should be in and out,

(26:34):
move to the come probs. Waitin the parlem. Okay, okay,
what time is them all open?I'm not sure that she was going there
to put out paperwork and pick uppaper. I believe she said to pick
up some papers we're at I'm notsure does she work there? He said

(26:55):
that she was just going to pickup some papers that you have to wear?
What paper you know? I mean, I wasn't too concerned about it.
Detectives seemed to believe that whatever wassupposed to happen at the mall that
morning had been orchestrated by David's girlfriend. They also seemed to believe that David
knew all about her plan, andthey wanted him to tell them what the

(27:18):
plan was. We know that youknow she shouldn't work at her repossible dang
lighting out that even why your lineswas about where she works. And I
don't think I used or something there. You know, she hadn't worked since
she had to marry Ingle was inAmerican England. She hadn't worked her the
month, so here you had thatyou have your hoards about what was going

(27:41):
on this morning so what were youwriting there at the lawgo what she told
me. I was just taking togetting these. She said, you be
in now. David maintained his storyand claimed that all he had done that
morning was drive his girlfriend to themall. At the same time, David
had some questions of his own.From his perspective, it was obvious that

(28:06):
something more was going on here.When someone is arrested for driving without a
license, they aren't typically questioned bymultiple detectives, much less homicide detectives.
I do want to know about it. I don't told me that. Oh
it's you guys are wrote something atthe mall, so he got you know,

(28:27):
we've gotten hips got information on alot two days about when you guys
wrote two or was about having inthis morning, So that's kind of what's
going on. And you're just bushittedme for about fifteen seconds. Do you
want to let me know what's goingon? Because I mean, I would
really like to know. I'm inthat's why you're here a middle coaching you
needed watch. I mean, we'renot the one that are bullshitting here.

(28:51):
I mean, you don't do youdon't go to it and linked VI and
hey, you're the smart guy youcome with my we're here. I don't
know why the fuck where here,Why you're think you're smart, Why you're
going to do this to all yourpeople who will do this a lot of
you for no driver's life. Again, the lock don't that you are a
smart guy. You have figured outyou know what I did want to talk
to you. I do have aninvestigation going to I'm not I'm going to

(29:15):
be one hundreds with you. Iam not going to show you my cards.
I'm not sure, but I knowthat. Hold yeah, hold on,
yeah, you're hiding something. Yeah, I've just told you. I'm
not. I'm telling you I'm notgoing to show you my cars. One
tool that I have to talk toyou is to arrest you for an offense
that we see you commit, whichis what we did. That's why you're

(29:36):
under arrest. I'm gonna tell you, quite honestly, one hundred percent,
what I think is happening here isa woman is taking you down a bad
path. The detectives traded questions andaccusations with David, but by the end
of their conversation, neither side gavemore than an inch. David never admitted

(29:56):
to anything and He was eventually booked, taken before it judge, and jailed
for driving without a license. Meanwhile, the cops had also tracked down Carter
and brought her in for questioning aswell. Interestingly, they found Carter in
the laundry area of her apartment complex, which meant that after David dropped her

(30:18):
off at the mall, Carter musthave made the long walk back to her
home. So whatever Carter had donethat morning in the mall remained a mystery,
at least for the time being.Carter Carol Savantez, Yes, I
know you mentioned David is your boyfriend? Want? Have you guys been together

(30:38):
about a year and a half.How'd you guys meet? We worked?
Taylor an American Eagle briefly. Twentyeight year old Carter Servantes originally worked as
an assistant manager at an American Eaglestore in Amarillo, Texas, which is
about four hundred miles north of FortWorth. It was in Amarillo that Carter

(30:59):
met and again dating her co workerDavid Mallory. When the district manager became
aware of that situation, he gaveCarter a choice. She would either resign
or be transferred to another store.Carter chose the latter. So how did
you look in Fort Work? Ihad a job opportunity with American New Authorors

(31:22):
that brought me here from Amarillo orlove Look from Memorilla. I worked with
the company for about eight years.It was maybe about seven. I happened
some change and I was the storemanager for them at Amarillo and they transferred
me down here to work at Hughand Wall. Are you still there?
No, I'm not. Before Cartermade the move from Amarillo to Fort Worth,

(31:45):
she called the American Eagles store managerin Fort Worth and spoke to both
him and Ashley Harris. But it'snot like she was transferred here because she
had ties to for work and wantedto No, no, no, she
didn't know anybody here. A matterof fact, whenever she was going to
move here, she had called andtalked to me and to Ashley and asked,
like, what's an area that youknow would be close to the store,

(32:08):
but kind of central? And actuallyI think it is the one that
I actually mentioned, the ben Brookarea. Carter made her way to Fort
Worth and soon began working at AmericanEagle at the Hewlen Mall. While there
are things didn't go well for her, Carter struggled to get along with many

(32:30):
of her new coworkers, which happenedto include Ashley Harris. Can you describe
the relationship between Ashley and Carter?They never clicked. I mean, Carter
never clicked with anybody in the storefrom my understanding, except for the sooship.
Do you know again? Carter kepteverybody at arms leans She didn't,
you know, Carter everyone over toher partner to hang out or anything like

(32:52):
that. He did. Carter andAshley were both assistant managers, but they
were pretty much also completely opposite people. They had conflicting personalities and approached their
positions an American Eagle in different ways, if that makes sense. While Ashley
was an upbeat and exceptionally personable worker, Carter usually kept to herself and maintained

(33:15):
a matter of fact attitude during hershifts. Meanwhile, back in Amarillo,
David Mallory stopped showing up for workand was eventually fired from his American Eagle
store. David's name was placed onthe company's do not hire list, and
he soon moved to Fort Worth,where he reunited with Carter. Once there,

(33:38):
Carter used her position as an assistantmanager to falsify some paperwork and hired
David to once again work alongside herat the Hewlen Mall American Eagle. Unsurprisingly,
both Carter and David were eventually fired, but not for the reasons you

(33:58):
may think. I was put ona suspended leave of absence the week before,
and then they decided to let mego. On September first, there
was a robbery at Human Mall andI had closed the night before. They
determined that I had left the storeand secured, so they let me go.
Was that case ever sawd Did youever speak to detectives about that case?

(34:21):
I was never questioned, and Idid not leave the store. I
actually filed for unemployment and fought thecompany. So where are you currently working?
I'm not currently working. If youask Carter why she was fired from
American Eagle, she will tell youthat she was accused of leaving her store
unsecure. But if you ask yourboss, you'll get a more detailed explanation.

(34:45):
I got a call one day whileI was at church on a Sunday
morning, hard to pause that fromthe night before had been stolen. So
I went to the store. Wehave video in some of our store.
What had happened is the night beforeshe scheduled I believe a two to ten
to be like the closing correct tobe the closing manager to close down our

(35:07):
Redsters, and then Carter was scheduledto work I believe a three to midnight
or a four to midnight. Threemonths before Ashley Harris was murdered in August
of twenty fourteen, there was arobbery at the Helen Mall American Eagle.
On the night of that robbery,Ashley Harris had done a shift change with

(35:29):
Carter, and during that brief timethat they were working together, Carter did
something unusual. Carter, around sevenor seven thirty that night, told Asha
that she was going to take thetrash out and as she thought it was
strange, it's something that Carter's youknow, Carter was very hands off.
She didn't a lot of that stuffwas beneath her. So either way,

(35:51):
she took uh. She took thetrash out and left the back door unlocked.
A few hours later, Carter anda couple of other employees finished up
their shift close the store and left. So that night, I believe at
five or ten minutes after twelve,you can see on the camera Carter and
her team leave the building, lockdown the front gate, and they leave.

(36:15):
At about one point fifteen in themorning, you see on the camera
a blackmail walk in from my backdoor onto my sales floor. He's he's
wearing like a black hoodie or adark hoodie pulled up over his head,
wearing gloves. He walks over tointo my cash and wrap area and bend's

(36:36):
down. He walks it directly tothe safe, bends down, puts the
key in, unlocks it, andtakes the deposit. It was a little
over eighteen thousand dollars deposit, andthen takes that same path back out.
A masked thief dressed in black casuallywalked through the unlocked back door, reached
into the store safe, and leftwith about eighteen thousand dollars. Needless to

(37:00):
say, it was highly suspicious thatthis thief somehow knew that the back door
was unlocked. At the same time, this thief seemed to know exactly where
to go to get the money.These retail workers sure are smart. A
week went by after we're doing ourinvestigation and I was told to contact Carter
and terminate her employment for policy violationfor leaving the store unsecured, and then

(37:24):
as far as the theft, itwas put in the hands of four PD
to kind of go from there.We were going to press charges, assuming
that it was moved forward on theirend. After the robbery, Carter was
let go. It was assumed thatshe planned the robbery, but aside from

(37:46):
firing her and handing the investigation overto the police, there wasn't much else
that American Eagle could do at thatpoint. Nobody at the store knew that
Carter was dating David Mallory. Didn'tstop Ashley Harris from putting two and two
together. As soon as I walkedin that Sunday morning and Ashley has a

(38:07):
play button, she goes, that'sDavid Mallory. Okay, so what about
that? Do you know that's DavidMallory. She goes, it's the way
he's walking, the way he carrieshimself, how skinny he is, and
that's David Mountain. Like without adoubt and watching the surveillance footage, Ashley
could easily tell that the mass thiefwas David Mallory. His mannerisms and lanky

(38:30):
frame gave him away. Even so, the managers at American Eagle were never
able to question David about the theftbecause after it happened, David just for
some reason never came back to work. So so curious, so so so
curious. Somehow he suspiciously just disappearedweird. And after that incident with the

(38:58):
theft, was David ever put backon this schedule? Was he fired?
We our policy that they have hatthree consecutive no call, no shows,
so I'll put him on the schedulefor three consecutive shifts. And he never
picked a schedule up, never showedup, so he terminated. So that
was shortly after afterd he ever comeback. No Sir Ashley Harris believed that

(39:19):
Carter planned the robbery and David carriedit out, and given that David never
came back to work, her assumptionwas all but confirmed. Even so,
the police investigation into this theft draggedon for months. David and Carter were
never even questioned by police about it. Carter took it very hard when she

(39:40):
was terminated, like she she wasnot going to go down without a fight,
but she took it extremely hard.But she also knows that Ashley is
the one that called and turned herin. Given the nature of Carter's departure
from American Eagle and her response tobeing fired, It wasn't unreasonable to suggest
that Carter may have had an axeto grind with both the store itself and

(40:04):
the very recently murdered Ashley Harris.When Carter was brought in for questioning,
the detectives were already highly suspicious ofher, and as she was interviewed,
Carter didn't do herself any favors tosway those suspicions. In fact, she
really only made things worse. Atone point during the interview, detectives briefly

(40:27):
left the room, but not beforeoffering Carter something to eat or drink else.
Oh no, I'm fine, Idon't need to I guess yes,
all right, we will be.Carter accepted a bottle of water from one
of the detectives who left the roomafter handing it to her. Carter opened

(40:52):
the bottle and took a sip.She then went for another sip, but
abruptly stopped before taking it. Thena look washed over her face that can
only be described as Oh shit,what have I done? Carter then put

(41:13):
the water bottle on a nearby table. She grabbed a tissue from a nearby
tissue box and used it to wipedown the water bottle. Huh, what
was she doing wiping away fingerprints fromthe water bottle? Wiping DNA? Maybe?
What did you guys do for Thanksgiving? We were here for Thanksgiving?

(41:36):
It was just me and him.So did y'all go to dinner? Did
you go to I actually cooked.I made turkey and there was stuffing and
mashed potatoes and green bean castrole.Did anybody join you for dinner? No?
It was them. What time didyou guys have dinner? We actually
ate all day. I made itas a lunch and we had ranted movies

(41:59):
on Whennesday night? Wednesday when youwatched this? No Wednesday. We rented
those movies so we could stay inall day on Thursday and watch movies and
eat like David. Carter explained thatshe and David were at home on Thanksgiving.
She claimed that they cooked eight watchedmovies, and slept. She also
explained that on the following day,she and David briefly left Carter's apartment to

(42:22):
check on some Black Friday sales beforereturning home later the same evening. Naturally,
Carter never mentioned anything about going toAshley's apartment. Committing murder, oh
yeah, and setting the place onfire. Okay, so that morning,
what time did you guys get up? I woke up about I don't know.

(42:42):
I guess it was about seven thirty, and talked to him for a
little while, and then I kindof fell back to sleep. Okay,
And I know what time did youwake up? I woke up about nine
fifteen, nine thirty. I putthe laundry in and then I was waiting
for the office to open. WhenI'm play your detective, Carter told detectives
that on the morning that David gotarrested in the mall parking lot, she

(43:05):
never left her apartment complex. Sheclaimed that when she got out of bed,
David was just gone and she didn'tknow where he went. What Carter
didn't know was that the detective shewas telling the story to had watched her
leave the apartment that morning and driveto the mall with David. I don't
know how I can put to seeyou, but I'm gonna stress to you

(43:29):
that you need to be completely honestwith me because to this point, you
have not been one hundred percent withme, okay, And I'm telling you
that you're in a bad position rightnow, because we know what's going on.
We know what has happened over thelast few days, okay, and
we knew what was gonna happen.Okay. Before revealing what he knew,

(43:51):
the detective gave Carter one last chanceto revise her story, but she never
did. Carter stuck to her easilydisprovable lies. All right, so let's
start with this morning. Okay,all right, this morning, okay,
what time do you get up?About seven? And then what happens then?
And then we talked and I wentback to sleep when I woke up

(44:15):
to you wasn't there. I knowthat's a lie. No, it's no,
it's not you know what. Iknow it's a lie. Why do
you know it? Because I sawyou come out of your apartment and get
him. The passengers see of thatcar, and I saw him drive out
of there. That's why I knowit's a lie. You're lying to me.
I'm sorry you were in that vehicle. I saw you exit that vehicle.

(44:37):
I saw you get in that vehicle, and I saw you exit that
vehicle. Oh, I've done todayis take the Well we're gonna start over
about what happened today. I'm sorry. I did not do anything that I
know. You didn't do anything thismorning, but that before go take the
laundry, and you are lying,how did it happen? Right now?

(44:57):
You're making yourself seem like you're justa terrible person. You're a liar that
doesn't give a damn about your life. No, not at all. Why
can't you just be completely honest?I am being completely honest. Do you
understand what he's saying? He wasthere, Okay, he watched you,
he followed. I don't stop.He saw it with his own eyes.

(45:19):
It's not what someone told us.It's what he saw with his own eyes.
When you can't be honest about thelittle things, when we get to
the big things, nothing matters.Despite what the detective had seen, Carter
maintained her story. For whatever reason, she did not want to place herself
at the mall, and the copswanted to know why. What exactly were

(45:45):
Carter and David planning to do thatmorning? I don't you know what a
You know what DNA is? Right? Do you have a problem with me
getting a sample of your DNA?Yes? I would have a problem with
that. Do I need an attorney? What am I doing under arrest.
What a buckle swab. I'd justlike to do buckle swab inside your mount
and get a sample of your DNA. No, would you be willing for

(46:08):
us to consent a search to yourresidence? No? There a reason.
Yes, because I have rights andI'm an American citizen, and just because
you're the police doesn't make you thegest stoppo. Again, Carter had not
done herself any favors. She hadpresented herself as an uncooperative liar, and

(46:28):
for detectives that meant she must havebeen guilty of something. Whatever. That
something was involved the murder of AshleyHarris, the Hewlen Mall, and probably
American Eagle. For a time,several questions lingered over this case. Who

(46:49):
killed Ashley Harris, why did theydo it? And what exactly did Carter
and David originally plan to do atthe mall on the morning after the murder.
The cops already had the assumption thatCarter was a terrible person and a
criminal, but as they began answeringthose big questions in this case, it

(47:13):
became clear that Carter was much moresinister and sociopathic than anyone could have ever
suspected. On November twenty eighth,twenty fourteen, the dead body of thirty

(47:46):
one year old Ashley Harris was discoveredinside her apartment. Ashley had been beaten
and strangled to death, and herkiller or killers set her apartment on fire
before fleeing this One witness saw ablack two door Infinity leaving the apartment complex
just before the fire, set offsmoke alarms and the building sprinkler system.

(48:12):
Fort Worth Police quickly learned that Ashley'sformer coworker, twenty eight year old Carter
Servantes, owned a black Infinity.Within a day of Ashley being murdered,
Carter was questioned by homicide detectives,as was her nineteen year old living boyfriend,
David Mallory. Carter and David hadboth worked alongside Ashley Harris at American

(48:36):
Eagle at the nearby Hewlen mall butCarter and David were both fired after eighteen
thousand dollars was suddenly stolen from thestore. It was presumed by the store's
management staff, which included Ashley Harris, that Carter planned the robbery and David
carried it out. Three months afterthe robbery, Ashley Harris was founded in

(49:00):
her apartment thirty one year old AshleyHarris was murdered Friday, November twenty eighth,
Police say because she turned into coworkersfor stealing almost twenty thousand dollars from
the American Eagle store where they allworked well Steve. Ashley. Harris's neighbors
at her apartment complex were awakened onthat morning by fire and even water from

(49:22):
sprinklers leaking down through the ceiling oftheir apartments. Police say that they were
eventually led back to Harris's coworkers,who were suspected in that theft back in
August, but they weren't arrested forthe murder until this weekend. During their
initial police interviews, neither David norCarter admitted to any wrongdoing. They didn't

(49:45):
come clean about the robbery, andthey certainly didn't come clean about the murder.
A few more weeks went by,which allowed police to gather more evidence.
Eventually, David and Carter were botharrested and charged with capital murder.
After these arrests were made, Davidwas given another opportunity to speak to detectives,

(50:07):
and during this second interview, Davidgot a taste of the overwhelming evidence
that cops had on both him andCarter, and although your phone was locked,
we were able to get into Wewere able to get into Carter's phone
or when we've covered from the carthe day that we've got her. So
we've got a lot of stuff onher and we're just we've been able to
make sense of a lot of it. And I know there was a lot

(50:29):
of communication between you and her.There was some planning at one time in
Abilene when you were working up there. She wanted to basically hit a link
over at the American Eagle there.Some of the most damning evidence that the
cops found came from David and Carter'scell phones and reviewing their text messages,
detectives learned that before robbing the FortWorth American Eagle store, Carter and David

(50:52):
planned to quote hit a lick inAbilene, Texas. For those of you
that aren't career criminals, the termhit a lick means basically to steal a
lot of money from a very easytarget. There was some extensive surveillance done
by her, watching one specific managerand her car. The plan was basically

(51:16):
to disable her car and then continuewith what she wanted to do. And
there's no doubt in our mind thatyou were aware of that, because when
we get your phone, all thecorresponding test messages are there. Based on
Carter and David's texts, it wasapparent that they had followed and surveilled an
American Eagles store manager in the AbileneMall parking lot. They planned to disable

(51:40):
the store manager's car, incapacitate her, and steal her work keys. The
end goal was to break into theAmerican Eagles store and rob it. We've
also got pictures which are pretty damaging, mostly to her about what she was

(52:00):
up to and what she was planningto do. And David, I think
Detective Peyton and I are both ofthe thinking that you know, she was
a mastermind behind the scene. Andthat's been our position the entire time that
we've been investigating this case, thatshe was a mastermind. She's a person
that likes to manipulate people, she'sa sociopath, she likes to lie,
and she's going to stick to herlives. Given that Carter seemed to be

(52:22):
the mastermind of this criminal duo,detectives were hoping that they could get David
to flip. What they truly wantedwas details about what happened inside Ashley Harris's
apartment on the night that she wasmurdered. Let's start with the Abilion situation.

(52:43):
Explain to us what was going onwith that whole Ablion planning. I
don't know, man, She don'twant to work. She kept trying to
get me to quit my job andtrying to with them. So tell me
what her pan was. She didn'treally just like this closed everything to me.
She just really told me that shewanted to hear that. For the

(53:06):
majority of this interview, David triedto maintain as much plausible deniability as possible,
which wasn't easy given everything the copsfound on his cell phone. So
what was the plan? How wasshe going to get the keys from the
girl? She never told me?Mom, Daby, you gotta be honest.
Man, Man, I'm asking youbecause I already know. Do you

(53:29):
remember ever going into the Hewlean orto the Abilene mall and kind of scoping
out the American Eagle for her?Do you ever remember going in or snapping
pictures of the manager's schedules? Mmhmm is the reason why you're taking this
picture. So I'm getting that,David, I take that she took that,
she showed it to me, shesent it to you on your phone,

(53:52):
she sent it to you by text, she shut it from her phone,
from my phone to her phone,and stuff like this. David,
that this is stuff you need tobe upfront about. I mean, this
is something you would have remembered.Despite the pretty clear cut evidence, David
maintained that when it came to anycriminal activity, Carter was doing her own
thing. David claimed that he justkind of watched from the background, didn't

(54:19):
help with any of the planning,and wasn't privy to any of the details.
So explain to me exactly how itwas was to go down in Ablue.
There wasn't really just like a shadplan. I mean she said she
wanted to get the keys. Imean that was the plan. She wanted
to get the keys from one ofthe managers. Yeah, okay, were
you guys going to follow her away? She never said. She just kept

(54:43):
saying that she was going to getthe keys. But then you mentioned something
by a tire earlier. Yeah,I mean she said, well, maybe
I can pop retire or and shewould just be in the park a lot.
Carter and David planned to attack anunsuspecting woman in a parking lot and
still her work keys. They exchangetext messages as they surveiled the woman and

(55:06):
discussed each move as they went along, but in the end, David convinced
Carter to abandon this plan. Thisis from her to you, do you
think she parked to walk out ofthe movie theater doors? You respond,
yeah, she did, and thenyou respond, she's not too far from
over a park and then she saysshe has a purse, and then you

(55:29):
respond, so that's most likely wherethey would be. Then she asks you
which side is it on? Andthen you respond, I like it.
It all just doesn't seem peaceable.You're there, you're watching, You're talking
to Carter about what's about to happen. But then you kind of try to
back oun says, this doesn't seempeaceable, which kind of goes back to

(55:50):
what we're thinking. You're the smarterguy in the whole situation. She's trying
to make you do this, sowhen you're sitting here trying to lie to
us about what really happened, doesn'tmake sense to David. Eventually, David
explained that Carter had filled his headwith fantasies. According to him. Carter
wanted the two of them to becomecross country bandits. They could plan and

(56:12):
commit robberies in one state and thenmove right on to the next. America
was their oyster and they were goingto be the next Bonnie and Clyde and
fuck manum nineteen. Who doesn't wantwho doesn't want? All that money?
I mean the fuck I come fromthe hood. Man. I've never seen
ten thousand dollars in my life.She said, I quit my job and

(56:36):
I could go help her go aboutwherever the hell she wanted to go.
She said, we can go anywhere. She said, I have this car
and I had low miles. Wecan go anywhere we can. We can
go anywhere. We have fifty statesthat we get you from. She wanted
to be Bonnie and Clyde, soshe just continued, continued, can you.
I just kept bagging it and anyway, like, you need to come
on, You need to come on, You need to come on, You

(56:58):
need to hit the big and youneed to come quin. You need to
quit the job. David and Carterabandoned their plan to rob American Eagle in
Abilene, but they followed through withtheir plan to rob the American Eagle in
Fort Worth and walked away with eighteenthousand dollars. This ultimately led to both

(57:19):
of them getting fired, but Davidand Carter weren't finished with the Fort Worth
location. After losing their jobs,they came up with a plan to hit
the store again, and that planinvolved the person that identified them as thieves,
Ashley Harris. But if you hadAshley's keys, you could get in

(57:42):
back doors or no, no,no, no, I mean like we
entered it. We entered the frontdoor to the gate. We just raise
it up a couple of feet going, and Ashley had keys to that gate,
correct, Okay, yes, sir, So if I had Ashley's keys,
I could get in there, andI could also get in the deposit
box. Absolutely. In the earlymorning hours of November twenty eighth, twenty

(58:02):
fourteen, Ashley Harris returned to herapartment after working a long and tiresome Black
Friday shift at American Eagle. Detectivestheorized that shortly after arriving home, Carter
Servantes and David Mallory forced their wayinto Ashley's apartment and attacked her. They

(58:23):
bound her feet and hands with ducttape pistol whipped her and strangled her to
death. Then they stole her workkeys and set her apartment on fire before
fleeing the scene. The next morning, Carter and David drove to the Hewlen
Mall and they planned to use Ashley'skeys to break into American Eagle and rob

(58:45):
this store before it opened. Surveillancecameras captured a masked woman trying to unlock
the store's front gate. That womanwas quite obviously Carter with Carter and David
didn't realize is that a homicide detectivehad followed them to the mall and Ashley's

(59:06):
keys were completely useless. Servantes andMallory had been fired from their jobs at
American Eagle Outfitters at Hewlen Mall afterthey were suspected of stealing nearly eighteen thousand
dollars from the store safe in August. Harris had identified the pair as the
suspects. The police documents say Servantsand Mallory plan to go back to American

(59:27):
Eagle to take forty to fifty thousanddollars in Black Friday shopping sales, but
they needed the keys from Harris.The day after Harris was killed, Servantes
was seen on mall security video thelease, saying she appears to be trying
to unlock the gate, but Servantesand Mallory didn't know the locks had already
been changed. The evidence that policehad gathered in this case was overwhelming.

(59:53):
That's what happens when knitwitz commit crimes, lots of evidence. Despite this,
David maintained that he had never beento Ashley's apartment and that he had nothing
to do with the murder. Wasn'tme, said David. He also claimed

(01:00:15):
that on the morning after the murder, when he dropped Carter off at the
mall, he didn't know what Carterwas planning to do. Can I tell
you that I literally slept all likeThanksgiving? Okay, that's what happened.
So she rolled out sometime. You'rein Thanksgiving where you were asleep? Yeah,
Like, I had no knowledge thatshe even left. I had no

(01:00:37):
knowledge that she came back. Inever woke up and she wasn't there nothing.
I never went to sleep and shewasn't there. Every time I was
there, she was there. Okay, Well, we know that's not the
case. You knew what she wentto the mall that day, that she
took over her to do that waspart of her plan. You knew she
had the keys. Okay, maybeyou don't want any part of it.
You know what you said, I'lldrive you and that's your thing. She

(01:00:57):
got to be honest about that.I had about to have these cuts.
You're making a huge mistake. AndI tell him us what we're asking.
You're not telling us the truth.You're not feeling in those pieces for us,
and you're gonna put me in themix with her. I'm trying to,
man, I know what you're tryingto. I'm trying to identify what
you did. Man, you didn't. At the very minimum, we know

(01:01:22):
that you were there, that youdrove her there, We know that for
a fact. To where to thelocation where this happened to them all,
yes, ye y'all got me,young, got me and the night before.
No, no, hell no,you're saying that's a lie. Yeah,
that is a lie. Okay.Detectives knew, or at least strongly
suspected, that David went to Ashley'sapartment with Carter and helped commit the murder,

(01:01:46):
but no matter how hard they pressedhim, David simply wouldn't give it
up. What did she tell yousay to you or show you reference the
death of Ashley Nothing, man,I had no idea nobody got killed.
Man. If I had knew somebodygot killed, Man, I wouldn't have
helped him, I swear to God. So you're saying, if you had

(01:02:07):
known somebody gotten killed, you wouldnot have helped her kill. No,
there's no way she could have donethis for herself. Man. She was
one hundred pounds at the most wayof that seen blood. There's absolutely no
way she would have done this byherself. I can admit, man,
I've done some bad things in mylife. Man, but I've never ever

(01:02:30):
murdered somebody. But imagine this.You're sitting in a police interrogation room and
a homicide detective is accusing you ofa murder that you didn't commit. Would
you just sit there and meekly say, I've never murdered somebody. Bro.
I get that everyone reacts to situationsdifferently, But let's just say if that

(01:02:52):
were me and I were innocent,of course I'd be anocent. I wouldn't
murder anymore. But let's just saythat for me, idn't be that casual.
In fact, my inner hispanic wouldprobably be coming out, and I'd
be screaming at the detective, tellinghim that they have the wrong man.
They made a mistake, demanding alawyer immediately before anything else comes out of

(01:03:16):
my mouth. In fact, inany case, these particular detectives kept pushing
David and dumb. David eventually offeredto give them more information in exchange for
a deal. Basically, David waswilling to tell the truth finally, if
and only if he could get somethingout of it. That is, yeah,

(01:03:37):
I need I need a guarantee,man, did shat on go river
me? Like her? I needa guarantee? And what kind of guarantee
you as? I don't know?Man? A document? I need something?
But we don't do that here.The ain't the time for document with
the document is when we tell theDA's office that we want to use you,
that's when the document to start comingin. I ain't going to do

(01:03:58):
that, man, I know y, I ain't going to do that.
What are you talking about? Howare we going to railroad? Were trying
to? We're trying to. We'reasking you what she did. This is
a capital case and I'm glad thatthat's finally slunk in your head. If
that's what this is again the evidencein this case was overwhelming. Not only
did detectives not have the authority tooffer David any deals, but quite frankly,

(01:04:23):
they didn't need to offer him anydeals. They had him dead to
write. Not really sure what thatexpression means. I just I've heard it
said before, so there it isdead to write. Not sure if I
even said it the right way.But besides that, the purpose of this
interview was really just to make thecase even stronger and to more specifically determine

(01:04:47):
what Carter and David did on themorning of Ashley's murder. Okay, tell
us what you did, because weknow that the very minimum you drove her
there. You may not have gonein and did what you did to this
girl, or she did they didto this girl, But the very minimum
you drove. And there's a differencesomebody that just drives and somebody actually goes
in and does it. I didn'teven drive there. I don't know we

(01:05:09):
had this to place. You driving. You just stay in the car,
and you were supposed to like honkersomething if something happened. Okay, but
you were at least there. Iwasn't there telling you. You're not just
doing this for yourself. Man,you gotta do this for other people.
Man, I can't tell you Itold you the lies that I told you,
and I told you the truth aboutthem, the people that matter,

(01:05:30):
the jury. There's going to bepeople that aren't made aware of this interview,
and I want those people to knowthis truth. The only reason not
to tell the truth about all thisis if you're a killer. If you
are a cold blooded, thieving,stealing killer, and stick to it because

(01:05:55):
you have nothing else. There isnothing redeemable about you. That is the
only reason to stick to the lies, because you can't swallow the peal of
being a killer. You're big enoughto do it, but you're not big
enough to admit to it, andthat makes you. That makes you nothing,
That makes you unredeemable, That makesyou a liar, That makes you

(01:06:19):
a capital murder actor. After threehours of interrogation, detectives determined that they
weren't going to get anything else fromDavid. He was sticking to his guns
and unwilling to admit that he tookpart in Ashley's murder, So detectives called

(01:06:40):
it quits, but not before gettingin a few more well deserved jobs.
And let me tell you something.If we were sitting in different chairs and
you were accusing me of it,I'd be standing up, screaming, yelling,
stark, raving mad. If Iwas innocent, he had never been
that. You never will be thatbecause you're guilty of killing Ashley Harris.

(01:07:04):
Fuck you, no, fuck you? Fuck you. You want to you
want to talk to me? Whatare you gonna do? Huh? Because
I'm gonna walk out of here.That's all you got, all you got
when I can fuck Ashley, whenI confront you with the truth and get
in your face like a man,because you're nineteen now on your man.
When I confront you with the truth, all you can say is fuck you.

(01:07:27):
That doesn't hurt me, dude,because that doesn't affect me. That's
a kid's answer. That is theway of an ignorant child who has nothing
else could Everything you're telling every dayis a lie. You've been confronted with
your actions, You've been confronted withyour deeds and your reason. I termine
that you shut your bits as you'reyou're a man excu I'm done. I'm

(01:07:51):
done. You ain't finna sit hereand cladden the road. Damn killed man.
That's the real day. You gotme. Fuck, that's the one
I wanted to see right there,that's the one I wanted to see do
It had nothing to do with Carter. You're the thug from the hood who
killed her. She's a little onehundred pound girl, and you're a killer

(01:08:11):
dude killing Oh yeah, ask mein thirty years when you're halfway through your
sentence, if you're a killer,tell mes a county. Yeah, you're
going David made his choice. Hewas not going to cooperate with police,
and this interview came to an end, but not before one of the detectives
made a prediction. Unless we knowexactly what you did that comes out of

(01:08:35):
your mouth, I'm not talking aboutCarter telling us because I'm guarantee you the
sooner or later she want to besitting right here. She may not get
the opportunity, but I can guaranteeyou that she's going to try, and
we don't want her telling your story. This is your story, and like
I tell you the first time,you cannot afford somebody tell your story,
because I can guarantee you that she'sgoing to make you the bad guy.
She's going to say it was David'splan. He's the one that hated this

(01:08:57):
girl. He's the one that neededmoney. She didn't put it on you,
David, I'm telling you Mann.Surprisingly, detectives turned out to be
completely right. In May of twentysixteen, Carter Servantes took her case to
trial. She testified in her owndefense, and her story was one that
we have heard many times before.I was very afraid to do over word

(01:09:30):
I had kill. According to Carter, David was violent, sexually abusive,
and controlling. Yes, of courseshe's going to claim these things after she's
caught red handed. As always,she claimed that their relationship had devolved to
the point where Carter was in fearfor her life and that David had threatened

(01:09:53):
to kill her on multiple occasions.So naturally, Carter had no t voice
but to do exactly what David toldher to do. How many times have
we heard that before? Do thistelling me what to drink, what to
eat, and he maybe have sexwith him in the movie. While on

(01:10:18):
the witness stand, Carter also claimedthat, in order to keep her in
line, David enlisted the help oftwo of his friends to rape Carter.
Somebody pushed me down right when Igot into the apartment to go out my
swell hats and pulled him down intomy ankles and they raped me. Were

(01:10:42):
you yeah? String Carter spun quitea tail and was clearly hoping to garner
some sympathy from her jury. Itall sort of reminds me of a certain
Aquaman actress. When prosecutors were giventhe chance to cross examine Carter, one

(01:11:05):
of the things they asked her aboutinvolved her police interview. They wanted to
know why Carter had wiped down thewater bottle that the police had given her.
Carter's response was just as surprising asit was unbelievable. Carter claimed,
get this, that she wasn't tryingto wipe away DNA or fingerprints. No,

(01:11:30):
no, no, no, that'sthat's silly she was. She was
just trying to wipe away the overwhelmingsmell of seamen because the water bottle reminded
her of being raped by David's friends. Iwe I swear to, I swear
to. I can't make this up. It's just swater swater. As for

(01:11:58):
the morning of the murder, carterstory wasn't all that different from David's.
According to Carter, the murderer musthave been carried out entirely by David Well
she was asleep at home. Thenext day, David drove Carter to the
Hewlen Mall, gave her Ashley's workkeys, pointed a gun at her,
and demanded that Carter use those keysto rob the American Eagle store. Gave

(01:12:23):
me some clothes, told me toput along, and then he handed me
a set of American Eagle Peace andhe said, go in and over the
gate, bring me that bad assdeposit. I shook my head, but
I wasn't going to do it,and he said, you don't understand.

(01:12:44):
There's somebody sitting outside your parents' houseright now. If you don't go in
them, then to kill them,and then I'm going to kill you.
During Carter's trial, a lot ofdetails about this case were revealed for starters.
When police searched Carter's car, theyfound a semi automatic pistol with Ashley
Harris's DNA on it. The prosecutiontheor is that this gun was initially used

(01:13:09):
to gain Ashley's compliance when David andCarter broke into her apartment, and was
later used to pistol whip her,which explains the bruising and abrasions on Ashley's
body. Also, Carter had clearlysurveilled Ashley's apartment during the weeks leading up
to the murder, as there wereseveral photos on her phone of Ashley's apartment

(01:13:31):
complex, Ashley's truck, and thestairwell leading up to Ashley's front door.
Just a quick pro tip, ifyou're thinking of murdering someone, don't take
pictures of their apartment beforehand. Iknow some of you are dumber than most,
but you know there it is.There's a tip for you. That

(01:13:56):
one's for you. Prosecutors also revealedthat this wasn't a situation of a robbery
that incidentally turned into a deadly homicide. Now this was a murder. The
murder of Ashley Harris was always partof the plan. Also found on Carter's

(01:14:16):
phone or text messages with David thatincluded map coordinates. These coordinates led police
to a shallow grave in a desertedarea of Abilene, Texas, about one
hundred miles away from Ashley's apartment.Police also recovered a sales receipt and surveillance
footage of Carter purchasing gloves, atarp, and two shovels. I mean,

(01:14:42):
you might as well just walk intothe police station with the evidence at
this point, if you're that dumb. The prosecution theorized that Carter planned to
abduct Ashley, steal her work,keys, murder her, and then bury
Ashley in that shallow grave for whatever. There for a reason, and much
like the rest of Carter's plan,things didn't really play out as intended.

(01:15:06):
Instead of driving Ashley to her intendedburial site, Carter and David must have
decided to leave her body in theapartment and burn the place down. Of
course, no thought or consideration wasgiven to any of the other occupants of
the apartment complex. The thought thatmore people could be injured or killed didn't

(01:15:30):
even cross their minds. As forDavid, he also took his case to
trial and maintained the same story thathe told detectives. His lawyers argued that
if Carter did go over to Ashley'sapartment and murder her, David knew nothing
about it. In the end,both Carter and David were unsuccessful in convincing

(01:15:54):
their respective juries that their partner wassolely responsible for the killing. They were
both convicted of murder and sentenced tolife in prison without the possibility of parole.
In Carter's case, the jury deliberatedfor only two hours, which came
as no surprise because frankly, Carterwas a shitty criminal. As for her

(01:16:17):
motivation, things aren't as simple asthey may seem. Yeah, Carter had
an ax to grind. She wasangry that Ashley accused her of robbing American
Eagle, she was angry that shegot fired. And yes, Carter wanted
to steal a lot of money.But all of those things were just peripheral.

(01:16:40):
Carter's criminal acts were driven by somethingmuch more complicated and kaya that she
is. Do you do you knowthe word narcissistic? Okay? I think
she's one of the most narcissistic peopleI've ever come across. Just looking at
her pictures and stuff on her phone. Her world revolves around her. Her.

(01:17:00):
Her world is all about her.Have you ever seen her do something
for someone else. When detectives investigatedthis case, it didn't take them long
to understand Servantes. She obviously lackedempathy and remorse, and she had complete
disregard for the law. The womanwas a textbook sociopath, and when it

(01:17:29):
comes to killers like her, theeasily understood motivations for murder like anger,
revenge, or greed don't really apply. You see, Carter Servantes is what
is commonly referred to as a thrillkiller. She wasn't seeking victory over Ashley
or revenge against American Eagle. Whattruly motivated Carter was something much more terrifying

(01:18:00):
to the average human being here onearth. What truly motivated Carter was the
agony of her past defeats. Andlike most thrill killers and sociopaths, the
only satisfaction that Carter could find wasplanning out and carrying out her crimes.

(01:18:24):
Any money or retribution that she gainedas a result was just a bonus or
a cherry on top, if youwill. Two years after the murder of
Ashley Harris, Carter took her caseto trial and tried to lie her way
out of trouble. She demonstrated thatshe had not changed and will likely never

(01:18:46):
change. She knew every step ofthe way that what she was doing was
wrong, and she didn't care.She didn't care about the life she took
or the people she heard, andher only regret was that she got caught.

(01:19:20):
Well, it's hard not to geta little sentimental at the end of
the year, but I do wantto say that I love you guys.
I know it's hard to hear thatfrom another adult that you've never met through
a telephonic computer device, but Imean it. You guys have changed my
life so much for the better,and you've affected the lives of countless others

(01:19:45):
who work on this show every day. Try to bring you the content that
you appreciate, try to do itin a respectful and responsible way. All
of us here at Swords and especiallyI appreciate you so much. You guys
who are still here, actually seethrough the bullshit. You actually see what's

(01:20:13):
happening. You see that authenticity isno longer valued, that people value fake
fucks. Politician like fake fucks that'lltell them everything they want to hear.
And that's not me. That'll neverbe me. I just tell the truth
because that's all that I know howto do. So if you're still here
with us in twenty twenty four,thank you and stay safe. Hime night.

(01:20:39):
My name is Dominique and I'm inHouston and I just listened to US
episode one fifty three and it hitsme off. I consider myself to be
pretty liberal, but I'm over allof these new as diagnoses for mental health
disorders. Give me a damn boing. Okay, this is what happens when

(01:21:00):
you bring an entire generation of athletesthat get participation in trophies because they showed
up. Now they don't know howto take rejections, and when they get
told no, now you got tostab somebody. This is dumb, but
that's all great podcast that our listenersis like day three, It's amazing to
keep doing what you're doing and everybodyelse can kick around