March 13, 2025 • 26 mins
This episode features four stories that occurred in recent years, some of which are still ongoing. #1 Rachel HenryOn January 20, 2020, members of 22-year-old Rachel Henry's family were present at their Prague, Oklahoma home when all three of Rachel's children were discovered deceased on the living room couch, staged to look as if they were sleeping.
#2 Neil HowardOn September 13, 2023, 46-year-old Neil Howard was drunk when he attacked his 60-year-old mother, Norma Caraker in their home with a bungee cord. He wrapped it around her neck and left her body in her bed. He made an attempt to accuse an assailant that broke in, but was ultimately arrested as his story did not line up. It was said that Neil was tired of his mother dating and not giving him enough money. Neil was also tried in the 2005 murder of his father, but was acquitted.
#3 Asia GuercyOn January 26, 2025, 25-year-old Asia Guercy and her friend, 31-year-old Charles Dark were ran off the road by a vehicle being drove by Asia's husband, 31-year-old Isaac Albert Perez. The vehicle drove through a chain link fence and into a flood canal, instantly killing both Asia and Charles.
#4 Sam NordquistSam was a 24-year-old bi-racial, transgender male who left his home in Minnesota to be with his lover he met online, 38-year-old Precious Arzauga. He was to stay with her for two weeks in Canandaigua, New York, but when his family stopped hearing from him from January to February 2025, they became concerned and sent police to check up on Room 22 at Patty's Lodge, a hotel considered a "last-resort" place for many down on their luck. Room 22 is where Sam and Precious had been staying. Sam's body was located on February 13 wrapped in plastic in a field about a 20-minute drive from the hotel. He had been beaten, tortured, and sexually assaulted for over a month, held hostage at the hotel by seven perpetrators.
SourcesThe Telegraph (2023)People (2025)MSN (2025)People (2025)The Sun (2025)People (2025)NBC News (2025)NY Times (2025)NBC News (2025)Find Law (2025)NY Times (2025)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dark-deeds--6216218/support.
#2 Neil HowardOn September 13, 2023, 46-year-old Neil Howard was drunk when he attacked his 60-year-old mother, Norma Caraker in their home with a bungee cord. He wrapped it around her neck and left her body in her bed. He made an attempt to accuse an assailant that broke in, but was ultimately arrested as his story did not line up. It was said that Neil was tired of his mother dating and not giving him enough money. Neil was also tried in the 2005 murder of his father, but was acquitted.
#3 Asia GuercyOn January 26, 2025, 25-year-old Asia Guercy and her friend, 31-year-old Charles Dark were ran off the road by a vehicle being drove by Asia's husband, 31-year-old Isaac Albert Perez. The vehicle drove through a chain link fence and into a flood canal, instantly killing both Asia and Charles.
#4 Sam NordquistSam was a 24-year-old bi-racial, transgender male who left his home in Minnesota to be with his lover he met online, 38-year-old Precious Arzauga. He was to stay with her for two weeks in Canandaigua, New York, but when his family stopped hearing from him from January to February 2025, they became concerned and sent police to check up on Room 22 at Patty's Lodge, a hotel considered a "last-resort" place for many down on their luck. Room 22 is where Sam and Precious had been staying. Sam's body was located on February 13 wrapped in plastic in a field about a 20-minute drive from the hotel. He had been beaten, tortured, and sexually assaulted for over a month, held hostage at the hotel by seven perpetrators.
SourcesThe Telegraph (2023)People (2025)MSN (2025)People (2025)The Sun (2025)People (2025)NBC News (2025)NY Times (2025)NBC News (2025)Find Law (2025)NY Times (2025)
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dark-deeds--6216218/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello listeners, and welcome back to another episode of Darth
Dde's podcast. This episode is a little different as it
features four more recent cases that I would like to
follow up on. All right, everyone, let's get started. Not
(00:35):
much is out there about the background of Rachel Henry.
She was living in Prague, Oklahoma. She worked at a
local walmart to pay her bills and her mother's bills.
She was a caregiver for her mother and did everything
to support her while also caring for her three children.
Rachel's mother passed away in twenty eighteen. Rachel also had
a boyfriend named Pedro Rios, who was with her for
(00:57):
seven years and had three children, Zaane, Mariah.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And Catalaia.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Rachel and Pedro then moved to Arizona. On January twentieth,
twenty twenty, in Phoenix, Arizona, police were called to the
home of twenty two year old Rachel Henry and her boyfriend.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Other family members lived in this home as well.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
The children were murdered by Rachel and placed on the
couch to look as if they were sleeping. Pedro and
the family members living in the home discovered the children
and upon first look, thought they were simply napping. During
the time the police were at her home investigating, Rachel
discussed with the police officer about her life. She said
she came out there to try to get a job
and to try to get her life right, but she
(01:37):
couldn't find a job at first due to her losing
her license. She said she didn't lose them legally, she
just couldn't find them as far as it sounded on the.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Interview, she also had a problem with drugs and.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Alcohol and wanted to try to straighten her life out
and move on. She then admitted at near the end
of the interview two killing her three children. She said
she began with one year old Mariah. She was wrestling
and playing with her by being on top of her.
She thought her breathing was obstructed, and then simply placed
her hands over the child's mouth. She stated the child
(02:10):
kicked as she did so, and three year old Zaine
came over yelling no at her. He attempted to get
her to stop by yelling and punching his mom, but
she did not stop. Rachel was then interrupted when family
members returned to the residence. She later straddled Zane to
smother him until he died. Next she fed the seven
month old baby Catalaia a bottle in her bedroom until
(02:31):
she fell asleep, then some lullabies while she placed her
hand over Catalia's mouth to smother her. She stated she
continued singing to her until she died. Rachel then placed
all the children in the position on the living room
couch to make it look as if they were just
taking a nap. Rachel did not inform the family members
that were home that she had murdered her children. At first,
(02:52):
Rachel pled not guilty of murdering her children, but during
her trial she pled guilty to take the death penalty
off the table. In court, her lawyer discs us as
theories that led to the tragedy postpartum depression, fetal alcohol
spectrum disorder, major depression, her social history, and a lack
of support that she experienced at the time of the events.
Rachel was unable to explain why she committed the crimes,
(03:12):
as she says she does not remember much and was
unsure why she would have done it. In reference to
the crimes, Rachel told her aunt Pearla Robayedo quote, I
felt like I.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Was losing my mind. I didn't know what was going on.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I told you I felt like I was losing my
mind because I didn't understand why, you guys, why everyone
was acting the way they were. I didn't I was
on drugs, I was freaking out, and I didn't know
what to do.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I know, I was scared. End quote.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
On February fourth, twenty twenty four, Rachel was sentenced to
the rest of her natural life behind bars without the
possibility of parole. This next case covers the case of
Neil Howard. On September thirteenth, twenty twenty three, forty six
year old Neil Howard was sitting alone at the Troy,
Illinois home he shared with his mother, sixty year old
(03:57):
Norma Character, when she returned after going on the Neil
was drunk at this time and snapped rabbing a bungee
cord around his mother's neck, strangling and killing her. He
called police to the home at one thirty am, stating
that they needed to check on his mother as she
had been unresponsive. When police arrived at the home, they
found Norma lying in her bed with the cords still
around her neck. Neil told police that he saw an
(04:20):
unknown man running out of the sliding glass door just
before he found his mother. Neil was arrested at the scene,
as the police found that the glass door was locked
from the inside and there was no evidence of anyone
coming into the home. Norma was a former waitress and
widower of the ex mayor of Troy. Her obituary stated
that she never met a stranger and loved and took
care of her family and friends. Neil's trial began in
(04:40):
February of twenty twenty five and lasted for a week.
Assistant State's attorney Luke Yeger presented evidence in the trial
to show Neil's resement towards his mother. He stated quote,
the defendant had had enough of his mother. He'd had
enough of her sleeping around. He'd had enough of her
not giving him any money.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Neil's attorney, David fear in Camp told the news outlet
News Democrat quote, I don't argue things I don't believe in.
I believe in this case. I believe in Neil end quote.
The defense had argued that there wasn't enough focus on
other suspects. One of Howard's sisters testified in his support,
but other family members, including his other sister, were reportedly
seated behind prosecutors in court. The News Democrat reported Howard
(05:21):
was found guilty and the murder of his mother and.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
A sense to it is sentenced.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
At a later date, but faces up to sixty years
in prison. This isn't the first time Neil had actually
been violent. In two thousand and five, he was arrested
in question on the shooting death of his father, George
Howard Junior. The following information about the circumstances surrounding the
shooting of George Howard is from police reports obtained by
the Intelligence from the Mesquite Police Department in Texas. Mosquite
(05:47):
is a suburb on the east side of Dallas. It
was eleven forty one pm and November twentieth, two thousand
and five when Mesquite Police received a call from Neil Howard,
who was at a home in the three hundred block
of South Ebright. Police dispatch was advised from the collar
that his dad may be dead. Oh police report states
Neil Howard stated his father the subject had been shot
(06:08):
in the head. Neil Howard was sitting on the steps
of the single story home when officers arrived. They reported
he sat with his head down and one officer said
Neil Howard had a strong odor of alcohol about him.
The police report states that Neil Howard told the first
officer on the scene a quote his father had been
threatening him with the gun all day, and his father
fired won round into the house. The two began to
(06:28):
struggle for the gun and George Howard stated to Neil
to let go of the gun or it's going to
go off.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
The police report estates Neil Howard stated the gun went off,
his dad fell to the floor.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
George Howard had been shot in the right eye.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Police reported, although paramedics called to the scene detected a
faint pulse on the older man and he was transported
to a hospital. He was pronounced dead at twelve fifteen
am November twenty one, two thousand and five. Among observations
recorded by police in the report, two large bud light
cans were found open in the living room and the
Mesquie Police Department crime scene report evidence narrative authorities noted,
(07:02):
and nine milimeters pistol was recovered in the living room.
The chamber was empty and the magazine held six nine
millimeters hollow point shevels. Police found two spent shells and
a hole in wood flooring consistent with the bullet hole
they reported. Investigators also said they found two pipe bomb
looking devices in a bedroom closet. The bomb squad of
the Mesquite Fire Department dealt with the devices.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
The report states.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Other items found in the home included drug paraphernalia, such
as pipes from marijuana and narcotics.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Police took the case to a.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Grand jury, and the jury returned a no bill verdict
on December seventh, two thousand and five. A no bill
happens when failure to get at least nine nine of
the twelve jurors to agree that a felony offense occurred.
Since this resulted in a Nobell Neil Howard, at the
age of twenty six, was released and never tried for
the death of his father. No one else was ever
tried on this case either. Five years after this occurred,
(07:52):
a family member sought a protection order against Neil, stating
that he is violent and when he says he's going
to do something, he's serious. In Saint Clair County, Illinois,
seventeen year old Howard served a year of court supervision
for violating an order of protection and for theft in
nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
According to court records.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
He faced accusations of domestic battery in two thousand and
two thousand and one in that county, and also in
two thousand in Madison County. Howard was convicted of driving
under the influence in two thousand and four in both
Monroe and Madison Counties in cases brought one month apart
after his father's death in Texas. Neil Howard received jaaltide
in Monroe County, Illinois in two thousand and seven for violation.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Of court supervision.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Domestic battery charges were filed against him in a Madison
County in two thousand and eight and twenty sixteen. Court
records show among orders of protection requested against Howard, one
from August twenty ten alleged he threatened his children. In
March twenty eleven, charged with the aggravated battery of a child,
he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of endangering the
life and health of a child. Howard was accused of
(08:51):
domestic battery against a family member as recently as April
twenty twenty two. He has an October thirtieth Madison County
court date in that case, and as of right now,
that is all the information out on Neil Howard, and
I will be sure.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
To follow up on that as well.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Even though there is not a lot of information out
there about this case because it is so so recent,
I included it in here because I found it very
disturbing and I would like to follow it. Another recent
case that just occurred on January twenty sixth is the
case of Asia Guerrica and Charles Dark. Twenty five year
old to Asia Guerci from San Bernardino, California, had been
(09:28):
in a relationship with her husband, thirty one year old
Isaac Albert Perez, for eleven years. The two shared three
children together. Asia's relationship had been rocky as she experienced
verbal and physical abuse. In twenty twenty one, Asia had
filed for a restraining order against Isaac, citing domestic violence
as the reason. A judge denied her request. Just after
(09:48):
midnight on January twenty six, twenty twenty five, Isaac drove
to Paris Hill Park and San Bernardino took infront Asia
and her friend, Charles Dark, aged thirty one. Asia and
Charles left the park to get away from Isaac, but
he followed them in his car half a mile down
the road from the park. At Perry's Hill Park Road
and East Pacific Avenue. Isaac rear ended the car Asia
and Charles were in, sending their car through a chain
(10:10):
link fence and into a narrow flood channel. Isaac remained
at the scene where he was arrested at twelve fifteen am.
Asia and Charles were pronounced dead at the scene. Their
causes of death were blunt forced trauma to the head.
Detectives determined that the crash was a homicide. Isaac was
convinced Asia was having an affair with Charles Tark, but
this has not been verified. Regardless, Asia was in the
(10:31):
process of leaving Isaac due to his abuse. Isaac Albert
Perez was charged with two counts of murder by the
San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office. He's pleaded not guilty
and the incident currently remains under investigation. A makeshift memorial
has been created at the site where the two died,
and a go Fundme page was created to help Asia's.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Family with funeral expenses.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
This is a case that doesn't have that much information
or backstory out there currently, like I said, but I
had put it in here because it's very tragic and
I wanted to keep an eye on it as it progresses.
She was a mom of three, and of course now
the children lost their mother and their father. I know
that Asia's sister is doing everything she can to help
(11:15):
the family and help the children, and she had set
up to go fund me page.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
This last case on.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Here is recent, I guess more recent than the rest
of them, but it had occurred in the last two months,
and not a lot of people are talking about it
as far as I've seen, so I wanted to put
that on here. It is about Sam Nordquist. Sam Nordquist
was born in red Wing, Minnesota, in two thousand and one.
(11:44):
He attended red Wing High School and worked at a
group home for disabled people in Little Canada, Minnesota. Nord
Quist was biracial and a transgender man. He left Minnesota
on September twenty eighth, twenty twenty four, with plans to
travel to Geneva, New York, to meet his online girlfriend.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Precious Arzalga.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
The two had formed a relationship in July twenty twenty four.
He and Precius spoke constantly on the phone for hours,
day and night, seven days a week. Sam's mother, Linda,
told NBC that Sam was vulnerable, he looked like he
was fifteen young, and she loved bombed him. Precious Arzaga
(12:22):
was thirty eight years old and had several children. It's
unclear how many children she had and if Sam even
knew at first, but if he did, he did not
seem to mind. The plan was for Sam to stay
in New York with Precious for two weeks and return.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Home to Minnesota. Things seemed to be going well at
the beginning of the trip.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
As Sam had sent photos to his mom of the
couple together, both smiling. On October twelfth, the day Sam
was expected to return home, he did not show up.
Sam told Linda, which is his mom, that he was
saying in Room twenty two in Patty's Lodge, a roadside
hotel on the outskirts of Canon Dagua, surrounded by farmland.
(12:59):
This hotel is there one that is kind of considered
a last resort hotel. It's a place where I guess
people rent four weeks at a time, and these people
are on the verge of homelessness or they're facing other emergencies.
Sometimes their stays are paid for using vouchers provided by
the Ontario County Department of Social Services. Others there are
(13:21):
registered sex offenders. It's just not clear how Samon Precious
ended up at this place or why and if anyone
else was staying with them, As Precious did have several
people living with her, I guess where she was staying
or living at the time. So this hotel was apparently
just not a safe environment to be in. On October thirteenth,
(13:43):
Linda contacted the New York State Police to request a
wellness check on Room twenty two, but not long after this,
Sam and Precious called her and assured her that everything
was fine. Sam told his mom that he wanted to
indefinitely stay to pursue his new relationship and to help
Precious support her kids. The police still checked on Room
twenty two, and Sam assured them that everything was fine
and he did not eat any medical.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Or law enforcement.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Based on the conversations of police, Linda believes the police
were misled and did not do it with thorough enough
job looking for any signs of distress. Linda stated quote,
they said they talked to Sam and everything appeared to
be fine, that everything was good.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Well, that's because Precious was right there.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I think Sam was scared and intimidated, and that they
should have separated them and they didn't.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Although the family was suspicious of their relationships, Sam and
Precious appeared to be happy online. They posted about two
dozen videos on TikTok between September and November, and a
lot of them were the couple dancing together and embracing,
and Sam described.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Precious as his ride or die, his soul and his family.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Sam's family tried to stay in touch with him, but
responses to their texts.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
And calls became pretty infrequent.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
When he did answer, they said it was usually because
they threatened to request more welfare checks. To Room twenty two,
Linda stated, quote, he didn't sound like himself. It's like
he was being coached. I want to say Sam lived
with me as whole entire life. We were always together,
so I.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Know how Sam talks and this was not Sam. End quote.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
On December fourth, Linda got an email from the Ontario
County Department of Social Services. It read I'm working with
your son Sam. He wanted me to reach you. If
you can, please contact me as soon as you get
this email. The social services agent told Linda in a
phone call that Precious was controlling Sam's cell phone use,
and he wanted to come home to Minnesota, and he
was concocting an escape plan. The agent said that Sam
(15:27):
was to return to the Social Services office on December nineteenth,
but he never showed up. On New Year's Day, Linda
spoke to Sam, wishing him a fresh start, a fresh start.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
To twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
He kept the conversation very short, saying I love you.
I'll call you tomorrow, but this is the last time
Linda would ever speak to her son. On New Year's Day,
the torture of Sam nord Quist began. Seven people, including pressures,
held him captive in Room twenty two, where they tortured
and abused him. They kicked him, beat him with sticks,
dog toys, robes, bottles, belts, canes, and wooden boards. They
(15:57):
starved him and forced him to eat feces and drink
urine and tobacco go spit. They also made himneil facing
a wall, dialsted him with bleach, and sexually assaulted him
with foreign objects such as a table leg and a broomstick,
even to have precious as children. A seven year old
and a twelve year old were forced to partake in
the torture. Now I should say I assumed they were
precious children. They might have been someone else's right now,
(16:19):
that isn't really out there.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
But she did have multiple children.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
She also had a child that was older, which helped
participate in the beating and the murder. While this torture
went on for weeks, there were no reports by anyone
else at the hotel or anything that they heard anything suspicious,
they heard any noise anything. There was no reports. But
(16:48):
at the same time, you have to consider the area.
Maybe those people just didn't trust cops. Maybe they weren't
you into that sort of thing. So maybe they did
hear things and they just didn't want to get involved
and want to report it.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
But it was stated that no one heard anything.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Weeks went by with little to no response from Sam
to his family, even to his sister Kayla, who kept
sending photos of.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Her children to him.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
He usually would get really excited and gush over pictures
of the children, but not this time. On February ninth,
the family called the New York State Police asking for
a welfare check on Room twenty two. Police told the
family someone answered the door and claimed to not know
who Sam was. When the family told authorities that the
explanation could not have been possible. Troopers returned to the
room that same day and they were met by Precious.
(17:31):
Precious set her and Sam broke up, and that he
had left a few weeks prior. That same day, Linda
and Kayla found a missing person's report, but the trooper
declined to father report. However, the trooper told Sam's sister
Kayla she needed to stop watching so much TV and
something about it not being a crime, true crime episode.
So that absolutely discussed me. That's so disheartening and I
(17:51):
can't believe that they were spoken to that way.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
That is disgusting.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
The state police, of course, refewed this and say they
took a pro reinvestigative steps. Sam's family say the police
did not treat Sam as a missing person until February tenth,
when the family fought a report with Oakdale Police Department,
which is their local department in Minnesota, and then the
report was added to a national law enforcement database and
forwarded to authorities in Canon Dagua.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Sam's family had plans.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
To fly to New York and do some investigative work
of their own when Linda received her next paycheck quote
we were going to blow horns and drive up and
down streets.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
I made three hundred copies of flyers.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
We were going to put a flyer on every door,
every business, go door to door if we had to,
because if something was happening, or if Sam was to
a point where he couldn't go home or whatever, at
least Sam could possibly hear my voice and no Mom's
hearing Mom's looking end quote. Before the family could make
it to New York, a body was found. On February thirteenth.
Local authorities found Sam's decaying body wrapped in plastic in
(18:48):
a field about a twenty minute drive southeast of Patty's Lodge.
His body was likely dumped. At the beginning of February,
police announced that five people, pressure Us sar Zaga, Jennifer
Kiano aged thirty, Kyle Sage thirty three, Patrick Goodwin thirty,
Emily Modica in nineteen were arrested in Sam's death. A
few days later, two more suspects, Precious's son Thomas Eves,
(19:10):
aged twenty one, and Kimberly's Socia twenty nine, were arrested.
They have all been charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, conspiracy,
endangering the welfare of a child and conciment of a
human court. Four of them, Precious, Keano, Sage, and Goodwin
were charged with aggravated sexual abuse as well. Precious faces
two charges of coercion for forcing the children to participate.
(19:33):
No one yet knows why this group of people came
together to carry out this torture and killing. Some are
romantically involved, others lived nearby in Patty's Lodge. Goodwin was
a registered sex offender. It was staying in room sixteen
at the lodge. Sage lived nearby. Also both more on
parole after serving prison sentences. Godwin was convicted of sexual
(19:53):
abuse and sexual acts against children, while Sage of disseminating
indecent materials to minors. This case this is prompted a
national outcry over anti transgender discrimination and violence. Advocates demanded
to know why it was not being tried as a
hate crime. Assistant DA Kelly Wilford stated quote that the
first degree murder charge is the highest count that is
available under New York state law.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
The case is bigger than a hate crime. A hate
crime would.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Make this charge about Sam's gender or about Sam's race,
and it's so much bigger to limit us to a
hate crime would be an injustice to Sam. Sam was beaten, assaulted, sexually,
be a starved, held captive, and we could not make
sense of that. We could not put that on his gender,
and we cannot put that on his race.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
So I understand why it can't be brought on as
a hate crime, because a hate crime would diminish what
they did and it would not allow them to get
the highest charges they can seek for these individuals. However,
I wonder if it could be kind of charged as
a hate crime and then the murder charges as well.
I mean, they place charges several charges on people all
(20:57):
the time, so I don't see why they couldn't deem
this as a hate crime. But I do know that
several of the people that were involved in the torture
murder are saying that they're members of the LGBTQ plus community,
and they are also of other races. I believe that
Precious was Puerto Rican or is Puerto Rican. So I
(21:19):
guess they're kind of claiming like, well, it wasn't a
hate crime, but no one knows why they actually did it,
why they actually did this to Sam. Sam flew there
and you know, he did everything he could to love
and help Precious and her children, and then this is
what they do to him. Very confusing to me, considering
she's clearly broke, like clearly poor. If she's like staying
(21:42):
in a hotel, that's this trashy. And I'm not obviously
doubting her for being you know, broke or financially unstable
and things of that nature, but clearly she's having issues.
So to have someone there to help her and then
to do this to them just confuses me. And then
to get all these other random people in there. Of
(22:04):
course more it's going to come out in court, but
all these random people who some of them had connections
but most of them didn't, And maybe they just came
over like, oh, you know, yeah, we're gonna do this
to have a good time, because they were criminals to
begin with. So I'm not exactly sure. No one is
sure yet why they decided to do this or why
these people, particular people came together. A lot of vigils
(22:30):
were held for Sam, as well as waves of online
posts commemorating him and calling him and calling for justice.
LGBTQ advocates have held vigils and protests separately in his honor.
Another thing that I had found about this was that
Precious's ex girlfriend came out and stated that she was
(22:52):
severely abused by Precious as well. She was treated very
badly when they were together. So apparently Precious was just
known to be a very violent person. So that's another
reason I forgot to add this. That's another reason why
they're claiming it's not a hate crime because Preuscious had
a girlfriend before and Precious was violent to her girlfriend.
(23:12):
But to me, that doesn't matter. To me, it doesn't matter.
You can be a member of a certain community and
commit a hate crime on another member. You know, Precious
wasn't trans. She was apparently bisexual, so maybe she hated
trans people. She was, you know, she was by but
(23:33):
she could have hated trans people. It doesn't make sense.
But either way. The family traveled to New York last
month to meet with investigators and receive his body. They
brought him back home to Minnesota, where he was laid
to rest at Patty's Lodge. The children's bicycles that lean
outside Room twenty two have been removed. A red rose
was placed at the doorstep is now gone. The Rainbow
(23:55):
Pride flag and a Puerto Rican flag that adorned the
windows no longer hang there. They were replaced by of
stark white blonds. So I believe that all of those
things were things that Precious and Sam had placed there
together as far as I know, And then of course
(24:16):
they were removed after this case, and the owner of
the hotel was also spoke to, and the owner kind
of takes the word of responsibility and says like, oh,
I didn't know this was going on.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
I have no knowledge, no say in it.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Which I mean, okay, but he didn't even make a
statement saying like he apologizes for it, or you know, sorry,
this happened on my.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
In my property, and things of that nature.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
So they were just kind of trying to do away
with it very quickly, and I think that's why they
kind of removed everything and replaced it with just the blondes.
They didn't want that kind of publicity surrounding their business.
On March eleventh, all seven people involved plea did not
get into their list of charges and they will appear
in court on May second, And of course I'm going
to follow this case as well. NBC made a statement
(25:08):
that really really hit me in the fields in death,
Sam finally received what he traveled so far to find,
an outpouring of love. That just killed me, because that
is exactly why Sam went there and did all of
those things for precious for love, and it ended horrifically
(25:32):
for him. And now he's receiving the outpouring of love
that he wanted, but in death, so that that really
that's that's rough, all right, everyone that concludses this episode.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for listening, and until next time.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Stop at
Hello listeners, and welcome back to another episode of Darth
Dde's podcast. This episode is a little different as it
features four more recent cases that I would like to
follow up on. All right, everyone, let's get started. Not
(00:35):
much is out there about the background of Rachel Henry.
She was living in Prague, Oklahoma. She worked at a
local walmart to pay her bills and her mother's bills.
She was a caregiver for her mother and did everything
to support her while also caring for her three children.
Rachel's mother passed away in twenty eighteen. Rachel also had
a boyfriend named Pedro Rios, who was with her for
(00:57):
seven years and had three children, Zaane, Mariah.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And Catalaia.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Rachel and Pedro then moved to Arizona. On January twentieth,
twenty twenty, in Phoenix, Arizona, police were called to the
home of twenty two year old Rachel Henry and her boyfriend.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Other family members lived in this home as well.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
The children were murdered by Rachel and placed on the
couch to look as if they were sleeping. Pedro and
the family members living in the home discovered the children
and upon first look, thought they were simply napping. During
the time the police were at her home investigating, Rachel
discussed with the police officer about her life. She said
she came out there to try to get a job
and to try to get her life right, but she
(01:37):
couldn't find a job at first due to her losing
her license. She said she didn't lose them legally, she
just couldn't find them as far as it sounded on the.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Interview, she also had a problem with drugs and.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Alcohol and wanted to try to straighten her life out
and move on. She then admitted at near the end
of the interview two killing her three children. She said
she began with one year old Mariah. She was wrestling
and playing with her by being on top of her.
She thought her breathing was obstructed, and then simply placed
her hands over the child's mouth. She stated the child
(02:10):
kicked as she did so, and three year old Zaine
came over yelling no at her. He attempted to get
her to stop by yelling and punching his mom, but
she did not stop. Rachel was then interrupted when family
members returned to the residence. She later straddled Zane to
smother him until he died. Next she fed the seven
month old baby Catalaia a bottle in her bedroom until
(02:31):
she fell asleep, then some lullabies while she placed her
hand over Catalia's mouth to smother her. She stated she
continued singing to her until she died. Rachel then placed
all the children in the position on the living room
couch to make it look as if they were just
taking a nap. Rachel did not inform the family members
that were home that she had murdered her children. At first,
(02:52):
Rachel pled not guilty of murdering her children, but during
her trial she pled guilty to take the death penalty
off the table. In court, her lawyer discs us as
theories that led to the tragedy postpartum depression, fetal alcohol
spectrum disorder, major depression, her social history, and a lack
of support that she experienced at the time of the events.
Rachel was unable to explain why she committed the crimes,
(03:12):
as she says she does not remember much and was
unsure why she would have done it. In reference to
the crimes, Rachel told her aunt Pearla Robayedo quote, I
felt like I.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Was losing my mind. I didn't know what was going on.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I told you I felt like I was losing my
mind because I didn't understand why, you guys, why everyone
was acting the way they were. I didn't I was
on drugs, I was freaking out, and I didn't know
what to do.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I know, I was scared. End quote.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
On February fourth, twenty twenty four, Rachel was sentenced to
the rest of her natural life behind bars without the
possibility of parole. This next case covers the case of
Neil Howard. On September thirteenth, twenty twenty three, forty six
year old Neil Howard was sitting alone at the Troy,
Illinois home he shared with his mother, sixty year old
(03:57):
Norma Character, when she returned after going on the Neil
was drunk at this time and snapped rabbing a bungee
cord around his mother's neck, strangling and killing her. He
called police to the home at one thirty am, stating
that they needed to check on his mother as she
had been unresponsive. When police arrived at the home, they
found Norma lying in her bed with the cords still
around her neck. Neil told police that he saw an
(04:20):
unknown man running out of the sliding glass door just
before he found his mother. Neil was arrested at the scene,
as the police found that the glass door was locked
from the inside and there was no evidence of anyone
coming into the home. Norma was a former waitress and
widower of the ex mayor of Troy. Her obituary stated
that she never met a stranger and loved and took
care of her family and friends. Neil's trial began in
(04:40):
February of twenty twenty five and lasted for a week.
Assistant State's attorney Luke Yeger presented evidence in the trial
to show Neil's resement towards his mother. He stated quote,
the defendant had had enough of his mother. He'd had
enough of her sleeping around. He'd had enough of her
not giving him any money.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Neil's attorney, David fear in Camp told the news outlet
News Democrat quote, I don't argue things I don't believe in.
I believe in this case. I believe in Neil end quote.
The defense had argued that there wasn't enough focus on
other suspects. One of Howard's sisters testified in his support,
but other family members, including his other sister, were reportedly
seated behind prosecutors in court. The News Democrat reported Howard
(05:21):
was found guilty and the murder of his mother and.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
A sense to it is sentenced.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
At a later date, but faces up to sixty years
in prison. This isn't the first time Neil had actually
been violent. In two thousand and five, he was arrested
in question on the shooting death of his father, George
Howard Junior. The following information about the circumstances surrounding the
shooting of George Howard is from police reports obtained by
the Intelligence from the Mesquite Police Department in Texas. Mosquite
(05:47):
is a suburb on the east side of Dallas. It
was eleven forty one pm and November twentieth, two thousand
and five when Mesquite Police received a call from Neil Howard,
who was at a home in the three hundred block
of South Ebright. Police dispatch was advised from the collar
that his dad may be dead. Oh police report states
Neil Howard stated his father the subject had been shot
(06:08):
in the head. Neil Howard was sitting on the steps
of the single story home when officers arrived. They reported
he sat with his head down and one officer said
Neil Howard had a strong odor of alcohol about him.
The police report states that Neil Howard told the first
officer on the scene a quote his father had been
threatening him with the gun all day, and his father
fired won round into the house. The two began to
(06:28):
struggle for the gun and George Howard stated to Neil
to let go of the gun or it's going to
go off.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
The police report estates Neil Howard stated the gun went off,
his dad fell to the floor.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
George Howard had been shot in the right eye.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Police reported, although paramedics called to the scene detected a
faint pulse on the older man and he was transported
to a hospital. He was pronounced dead at twelve fifteen
am November twenty one, two thousand and five. Among observations
recorded by police in the report, two large bud light
cans were found open in the living room and the
Mesquie Police Department crime scene report evidence narrative authorities noted,
(07:02):
and nine milimeters pistol was recovered in the living room.
The chamber was empty and the magazine held six nine
millimeters hollow point shevels. Police found two spent shells and
a hole in wood flooring consistent with the bullet hole
they reported. Investigators also said they found two pipe bomb
looking devices in a bedroom closet. The bomb squad of
the Mesquite Fire Department dealt with the devices.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
The report states.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Other items found in the home included drug paraphernalia, such
as pipes from marijuana and narcotics.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Police took the case to a.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
Grand jury, and the jury returned a no bill verdict
on December seventh, two thousand and five. A no bill
happens when failure to get at least nine nine of
the twelve jurors to agree that a felony offense occurred.
Since this resulted in a Nobell Neil Howard, at the
age of twenty six, was released and never tried for
the death of his father. No one else was ever
tried on this case either. Five years after this occurred,
(07:52):
a family member sought a protection order against Neil, stating
that he is violent and when he says he's going
to do something, he's serious. In Saint Clair County, Illinois,
seventeen year old Howard served a year of court supervision
for violating an order of protection and for theft in
nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
According to court records.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
He faced accusations of domestic battery in two thousand and
two thousand and one in that county, and also in
two thousand in Madison County. Howard was convicted of driving
under the influence in two thousand and four in both
Monroe and Madison Counties in cases brought one month apart
after his father's death in Texas. Neil Howard received jaaltide
in Monroe County, Illinois in two thousand and seven for violation.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Of court supervision.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Domestic battery charges were filed against him in a Madison
County in two thousand and eight and twenty sixteen. Court
records show among orders of protection requested against Howard, one
from August twenty ten alleged he threatened his children. In
March twenty eleven, charged with the aggravated battery of a child,
he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of endangering the
life and health of a child. Howard was accused of
(08:51):
domestic battery against a family member as recently as April
twenty twenty two. He has an October thirtieth Madison County
court date in that case, and as of right now,
that is all the information out on Neil Howard, and
I will be sure.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
To follow up on that as well.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Even though there is not a lot of information out
there about this case because it is so so recent,
I included it in here because I found it very
disturbing and I would like to follow it. Another recent
case that just occurred on January twenty sixth is the
case of Asia Guerrica and Charles Dark. Twenty five year
old to Asia Guerci from San Bernardino, California, had been
(09:28):
in a relationship with her husband, thirty one year old
Isaac Albert Perez, for eleven years. The two shared three
children together. Asia's relationship had been rocky as she experienced
verbal and physical abuse. In twenty twenty one, Asia had
filed for a restraining order against Isaac, citing domestic violence
as the reason. A judge denied her request. Just after
(09:48):
midnight on January twenty six, twenty twenty five, Isaac drove
to Paris Hill Park and San Bernardino took infront Asia
and her friend, Charles Dark, aged thirty one. Asia and
Charles left the park to get away from Isaac, but
he followed them in his car half a mile down
the road from the park. At Perry's Hill Park Road
and East Pacific Avenue. Isaac rear ended the car Asia
and Charles were in, sending their car through a chain
(10:10):
link fence and into a narrow flood channel. Isaac remained
at the scene where he was arrested at twelve fifteen am.
Asia and Charles were pronounced dead at the scene. Their
causes of death were blunt forced trauma to the head.
Detectives determined that the crash was a homicide. Isaac was
convinced Asia was having an affair with Charles Tark, but
this has not been verified. Regardless, Asia was in the
(10:31):
process of leaving Isaac due to his abuse. Isaac Albert
Perez was charged with two counts of murder by the
San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office. He's pleaded not guilty
and the incident currently remains under investigation. A makeshift memorial
has been created at the site where the two died,
and a go Fundme page was created to help Asia's.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Family with funeral expenses.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
This is a case that doesn't have that much information
or backstory out there currently, like I said, but I
had put it in here because it's very tragic and
I wanted to keep an eye on it as it progresses.
She was a mom of three, and of course now
the children lost their mother and their father. I know
that Asia's sister is doing everything she can to help
(11:15):
the family and help the children, and she had set
up to go fund me page.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
This last case on.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Here is recent, I guess more recent than the rest
of them, but it had occurred in the last two months,
and not a lot of people are talking about it
as far as I've seen, so I wanted to put
that on here. It is about Sam Nordquist. Sam Nordquist
was born in red Wing, Minnesota, in two thousand and one.
(11:44):
He attended red Wing High School and worked at a
group home for disabled people in Little Canada, Minnesota. Nord
Quist was biracial and a transgender man. He left Minnesota
on September twenty eighth, twenty twenty four, with plans to
travel to Geneva, New York, to meet his online girlfriend.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Precious Arzalga.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
The two had formed a relationship in July twenty twenty four.
He and Precius spoke constantly on the phone for hours,
day and night, seven days a week. Sam's mother, Linda,
told NBC that Sam was vulnerable, he looked like he
was fifteen young, and she loved bombed him. Precious Arzaga
(12:22):
was thirty eight years old and had several children. It's
unclear how many children she had and if Sam even
knew at first, but if he did, he did not
seem to mind. The plan was for Sam to stay
in New York with Precious for two weeks and return.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Home to Minnesota. Things seemed to be going well at
the beginning of the trip.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
As Sam had sent photos to his mom of the
couple together, both smiling. On October twelfth, the day Sam
was expected to return home, he did not show up.
Sam told Linda, which is his mom, that he was
saying in Room twenty two in Patty's Lodge, a roadside
hotel on the outskirts of Canon Dagua, surrounded by farmland.
(12:59):
This hotel is there one that is kind of considered
a last resort hotel. It's a place where I guess
people rent four weeks at a time, and these people
are on the verge of homelessness or they're facing other emergencies.
Sometimes their stays are paid for using vouchers provided by
the Ontario County Department of Social Services. Others there are
(13:21):
registered sex offenders. It's just not clear how Samon Precious
ended up at this place or why and if anyone
else was staying with them, As Precious did have several
people living with her, I guess where she was staying
or living at the time. So this hotel was apparently
just not a safe environment to be in. On October thirteenth,
(13:43):
Linda contacted the New York State Police to request a
wellness check on Room twenty two, but not long after this,
Sam and Precious called her and assured her that everything
was fine. Sam told his mom that he wanted to
indefinitely stay to pursue his new relationship and to help
Precious support her kids. The police still checked on Room
twenty two, and Sam assured them that everything was fine
and he did not eat any medical.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Or law enforcement.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Based on the conversations of police, Linda believes the police
were misled and did not do it with thorough enough
job looking for any signs of distress. Linda stated quote,
they said they talked to Sam and everything appeared to
be fine, that everything was good.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Well, that's because Precious was right there.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I think Sam was scared and intimidated, and that they
should have separated them and they didn't.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Although the family was suspicious of their relationships, Sam and
Precious appeared to be happy online. They posted about two
dozen videos on TikTok between September and November, and a
lot of them were the couple dancing together and embracing,
and Sam described.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Precious as his ride or die, his soul and his family.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Sam's family tried to stay in touch with him, but
responses to their texts.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
And calls became pretty infrequent.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
When he did answer, they said it was usually because
they threatened to request more welfare checks. To Room twenty two,
Linda stated, quote, he didn't sound like himself. It's like
he was being coached. I want to say Sam lived
with me as whole entire life. We were always together,
so I.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Know how Sam talks and this was not Sam. End quote.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
On December fourth, Linda got an email from the Ontario
County Department of Social Services. It read I'm working with
your son Sam. He wanted me to reach you. If
you can, please contact me as soon as you get
this email. The social services agent told Linda in a
phone call that Precious was controlling Sam's cell phone use,
and he wanted to come home to Minnesota, and he
was concocting an escape plan. The agent said that Sam
(15:27):
was to return to the Social Services office on December nineteenth,
but he never showed up. On New Year's Day, Linda
spoke to Sam, wishing him a fresh start, a fresh start.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
To twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
He kept the conversation very short, saying I love you.
I'll call you tomorrow, but this is the last time
Linda would ever speak to her son. On New Year's Day,
the torture of Sam nord Quist began. Seven people, including pressures,
held him captive in Room twenty two, where they tortured
and abused him. They kicked him, beat him with sticks,
dog toys, robes, bottles, belts, canes, and wooden boards. They
(15:57):
starved him and forced him to eat feces and drink
urine and tobacco go spit. They also made himneil facing
a wall, dialsted him with bleach, and sexually assaulted him
with foreign objects such as a table leg and a broomstick,
even to have precious as children. A seven year old
and a twelve year old were forced to partake in
the torture. Now I should say I assumed they were
precious children. They might have been someone else's right now,
(16:19):
that isn't really out there.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
But she did have multiple children.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
She also had a child that was older, which helped
participate in the beating and the murder. While this torture
went on for weeks, there were no reports by anyone
else at the hotel or anything that they heard anything suspicious,
they heard any noise anything. There was no reports. But
(16:48):
at the same time, you have to consider the area.
Maybe those people just didn't trust cops. Maybe they weren't
you into that sort of thing. So maybe they did
hear things and they just didn't want to get involved
and want to report it.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
But it was stated that no one heard anything.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Weeks went by with little to no response from Sam
to his family, even to his sister Kayla, who kept
sending photos of.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Her children to him.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
He usually would get really excited and gush over pictures
of the children, but not this time. On February ninth,
the family called the New York State Police asking for
a welfare check on Room twenty two. Police told the
family someone answered the door and claimed to not know
who Sam was. When the family told authorities that the
explanation could not have been possible. Troopers returned to the
room that same day and they were met by Precious.
(17:31):
Precious set her and Sam broke up, and that he
had left a few weeks prior. That same day, Linda
and Kayla found a missing person's report, but the trooper
declined to father report. However, the trooper told Sam's sister
Kayla she needed to stop watching so much TV and
something about it not being a crime, true crime episode.
So that absolutely discussed me. That's so disheartening and I
(17:51):
can't believe that they were spoken to that way.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
That is disgusting.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
The state police, of course, refewed this and say they
took a pro reinvestigative steps. Sam's family say the police
did not treat Sam as a missing person until February tenth,
when the family fought a report with Oakdale Police Department,
which is their local department in Minnesota, and then the
report was added to a national law enforcement database and
forwarded to authorities in Canon Dagua.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Sam's family had plans.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
To fly to New York and do some investigative work
of their own when Linda received her next paycheck quote
we were going to blow horns and drive up and
down streets.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
I made three hundred copies of flyers.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
We were going to put a flyer on every door,
every business, go door to door if we had to,
because if something was happening, or if Sam was to
a point where he couldn't go home or whatever, at
least Sam could possibly hear my voice and no Mom's
hearing Mom's looking end quote. Before the family could make
it to New York, a body was found. On February thirteenth.
Local authorities found Sam's decaying body wrapped in plastic in
(18:48):
a field about a twenty minute drive southeast of Patty's Lodge.
His body was likely dumped. At the beginning of February,
police announced that five people, pressure Us sar Zaga, Jennifer
Kiano aged thirty, Kyle Sage thirty three, Patrick Goodwin thirty,
Emily Modica in nineteen were arrested in Sam's death. A
few days later, two more suspects, Precious's son Thomas Eves,
(19:10):
aged twenty one, and Kimberly's Socia twenty nine, were arrested.
They have all been charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, conspiracy,
endangering the welfare of a child and conciment of a
human court. Four of them, Precious, Keano, Sage, and Goodwin
were charged with aggravated sexual abuse as well. Precious faces
two charges of coercion for forcing the children to participate.
(19:33):
No one yet knows why this group of people came
together to carry out this torture and killing. Some are
romantically involved, others lived nearby in Patty's Lodge. Goodwin was
a registered sex offender. It was staying in room sixteen
at the lodge. Sage lived nearby. Also both more on
parole after serving prison sentences. Godwin was convicted of sexual
(19:53):
abuse and sexual acts against children, while Sage of disseminating
indecent materials to minors. This case this is prompted a
national outcry over anti transgender discrimination and violence. Advocates demanded
to know why it was not being tried as a
hate crime. Assistant DA Kelly Wilford stated quote that the
first degree murder charge is the highest count that is
available under New York state law.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
The case is bigger than a hate crime. A hate
crime would.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Make this charge about Sam's gender or about Sam's race,
and it's so much bigger to limit us to a
hate crime would be an injustice to Sam. Sam was beaten, assaulted, sexually,
be a starved, held captive, and we could not make
sense of that. We could not put that on his gender,
and we cannot put that on his race.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
So I understand why it can't be brought on as
a hate crime, because a hate crime would diminish what
they did and it would not allow them to get
the highest charges they can seek for these individuals. However,
I wonder if it could be kind of charged as
a hate crime and then the murder charges as well.
I mean, they place charges several charges on people all
(20:57):
the time, so I don't see why they couldn't deem
this as a hate crime. But I do know that
several of the people that were involved in the torture
murder are saying that they're members of the LGBTQ plus community,
and they are also of other races. I believe that
Precious was Puerto Rican or is Puerto Rican. So I
(21:19):
guess they're kind of claiming like, well, it wasn't a
hate crime, but no one knows why they actually did it,
why they actually did this to Sam. Sam flew there
and you know, he did everything he could to love
and help Precious and her children, and then this is
what they do to him. Very confusing to me, considering
she's clearly broke, like clearly poor. If she's like staying
(21:42):
in a hotel, that's this trashy. And I'm not obviously
doubting her for being you know, broke or financially unstable
and things of that nature, but clearly she's having issues.
So to have someone there to help her and then
to do this to them just confuses me. And then
to get all these other random people in there. Of
(22:04):
course more it's going to come out in court, but
all these random people who some of them had connections
but most of them didn't, And maybe they just came
over like, oh, you know, yeah, we're gonna do this
to have a good time, because they were criminals to
begin with. So I'm not exactly sure. No one is
sure yet why they decided to do this or why
these people, particular people came together. A lot of vigils
(22:30):
were held for Sam, as well as waves of online
posts commemorating him and calling him and calling for justice.
LGBTQ advocates have held vigils and protests separately in his honor.
Another thing that I had found about this was that
Precious's ex girlfriend came out and stated that she was
(22:52):
severely abused by Precious as well. She was treated very
badly when they were together. So apparently Precious was just
known to be a very violent person. So that's another
reason I forgot to add this. That's another reason why
they're claiming it's not a hate crime because Preuscious had
a girlfriend before and Precious was violent to her girlfriend.
(23:12):
But to me, that doesn't matter. To me, it doesn't matter.
You can be a member of a certain community and
commit a hate crime on another member. You know, Precious
wasn't trans. She was apparently bisexual, so maybe she hated
trans people. She was, you know, she was by but
(23:33):
she could have hated trans people. It doesn't make sense.
But either way. The family traveled to New York last
month to meet with investigators and receive his body. They
brought him back home to Minnesota, where he was laid
to rest at Patty's Lodge. The children's bicycles that lean
outside Room twenty two have been removed. A red rose
was placed at the doorstep is now gone. The Rainbow
(23:55):
Pride flag and a Puerto Rican flag that adorned the
windows no longer hang there. They were replaced by of
stark white blonds. So I believe that all of those
things were things that Precious and Sam had placed there
together as far as I know, And then of course
(24:16):
they were removed after this case, and the owner of
the hotel was also spoke to, and the owner kind
of takes the word of responsibility and says like, oh,
I didn't know this was going on.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
I have no knowledge, no say in it.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Which I mean, okay, but he didn't even make a
statement saying like he apologizes for it, or you know, sorry,
this happened on my.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
In my property, and things of that nature.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
So they were just kind of trying to do away
with it very quickly, and I think that's why they
kind of removed everything and replaced it with just the blondes.
They didn't want that kind of publicity surrounding their business.
On March eleventh, all seven people involved plea did not
get into their list of charges and they will appear
in court on May second, And of course I'm going
to follow this case as well. NBC made a statement
(25:08):
that really really hit me in the fields in death,
Sam finally received what he traveled so far to find,
an outpouring of love. That just killed me, because that
is exactly why Sam went there and did all of
those things for precious for love, and it ended horrifically
(25:32):
for him. And now he's receiving the outpouring of love
that he wanted, but in death, so that that really
that's that's rough, all right, everyone that concludses this episode.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for listening, and until next time.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Stop at
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