5 Real Crime Cases From Reddit You Won’t Forget - True Crime Stories Compilation - Reddit’s Most Shocking Stories: Jaw-Dropping Tales from Reddit

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, Welcome back to the Checkered Sky Channel, where
we dive into true crime stories. Today, we're diving into
five real life true crime cases, each grabbing the attention
of the public and media. While investigating these five cases,
detectives faced challenges. However, evidence, witness statements, and in some

(00:22):
cases surveillance footage ultimately helped uncover the truth. Today, we
will look at a case that took place in Minnesota.
Back in twenty thirteen, thirty year old Kira Stieger was
employed as a store clerk at a clothing store located

(00:44):
in the Mall of America. She was passionate about her
job and never skipped a shift, so when on February
twenty third, twenty thirteen, she didn't come to work, her
coworkers got worried. They tried to get in touch with Kira,
but she didn't returned their calls or text messages, and
the police were soon informed that she was missing. Kira

(01:07):
k Steger was born November nineteenth, nineteen eighty two, in
Des Plains, Illinois. She was the daughter of Marcy and
Jay Steeger, who described her as a lively, dedicated and
sweet daughter. Kira was employed at the Mall of America
and worked for two stores there, wet Seal and most recently, Delia's.
Her coworkers were not only great friends, but Kira considered

(01:30):
them part of her family. Kira possessed a unique talent
for recognizing people's strengths that they themselves didn't notice. She
planned and hoped for a promising future which looked bright
and serene. Sadly, all her dreams ended in an instant
when Kira mysteriously vanished. On Thursday, February twenty first, twenty thirteen,

(01:53):
Kira had a shift at work. Her co workers said
she had been feeling good and planned to go to
a nice restaurant with her husband after the store closed.
Kira and Jeffrey Travino got acquainted three years ago. They
immediately ignited a spark between them and started a romantic relationship,
which ultimately resulted in a wedding. Generally, Kira and Jeffrey
seemed to be a happy and stable married couple. There

(02:16):
might have been occasional disagreements between them, but it all
was kept within their own circle. Neither relatives, friends, nor
coworkers were aware of them. At the very least Two
days later, on Saturday, February twenty third, when Kira did
not come to work, Her co workers were concerned because
such behavior was not typical of her. She was on time,

(02:38):
strict with herself and others, never tolerated being late, and
adhered to her schedule. Having failed to reach Kira, her
coworkers called Jeffrey, but he had no idea where his
wife had gone. As per Jeffrey, Kira had left the
house the previous morning and had not been back. Since.
It wasn't really worrying to him because Kira had a
tendency to occasionally disappear for a day or two. She

(03:01):
would stay the night at a friend's house or go
to a relative's place unannounced. One thing that might have
caused worry was the bad weather that day, because it
had been snowing heavily. Jeffrey suggested that maybe there was
something that could have happened to her on the way,
perhaps her car got stuck and her cell phone battery
ran out of power. On the same day, Having received

(03:21):
no news from his wife, Jeffrey filed a missing person's
report and got in touch with Kira's family. Her family
members were surprised by the mysterious disappearance of their loved
one and it was a big blow to them. Having
received a missing person's report for Kira Steger, detectives immediately
got to work. As it is common in such cases,
the investigation started with questioning the spouse and searching the

(03:44):
nearest surroundings. This was no exception. Detectives went to Jeffrey's
residence to talk to him. Jeffrey informed detectives that on Thursday,
he and Kira were looking to have some time together.
They had dinner, conversed, played bowling, and evently left the mall.
By Jeffrey's account, he and Kira headed home straight away

(04:05):
as Kira intended to watch a movie. Jeffrey also told
detectives that his wife left their house the next day,
which was a Friday, around eight thirty am. An event
was scheduled at work and her mandatory presence was required.
She was conducting herself as usual and he didn't see
anything strange. Jeffrey found it nothing out of the ordinary

(04:25):
that Kira would disappear from time to time, although he
didn't even know where she was or who she was
spending time with. They had been having relationship problems for
a few months, said Jeffrey. However, he didn't see it
as serious or alarming, considering it to be just minor
arguments that occur in all families. The detective started asking
Jeffrey who Kira might be staying with, asking if she

(04:48):
might have had a lover. The man refused this suggestion,
as he had personally asked Kira about this and got
a negative response. In Jeffrey's words, he really loves his
wife and trust. The investigators passed on all the information
they managed to collect about Kira and her car to
the on duty patrols. The detectives went to the Mall

(05:09):
of America themselves in order to confirm the credibility of
Jeffrey's words and possibly pick up some clues. Mall of
America is among the biggest shopping malls worldwide. It is
situated in Bloomington. It features five hundred and twenty stores,
theme parks, an oceanarium, movie theaters, a golf course, and
much more. Therefore, it's not surprising that the mall is

(05:32):
fitted with numerous security cameras. Knowing at what time Kira
had left work on February twenty first, the detectives looked
into that moment the footage showed nothing out of the ordinary.
Jeffrey's account held true. He met Kira after work and
they hung out at the mall for a while, then
went down to the parking lot and drove away. There

(05:53):
were no arguments between them, and the evening appeared to
have gone fine. Nothing is as bad as just waiting
without any knowledge of what's going on, and with each
successive day, the anxiety for Kira's life was getting progressively worse.
Lacking any news from her, and having grown tired of waiting,

(06:14):
Kira's family traveled to Bloomington in an effort to try
to help with the investigation. They had flyers printed with
her pictures on them, posted them on poles, and distributed
them to passers by on the street. Their objective was
to attract as much attention as possible to the search
for Kira. They realized they could not simply stand by,

(06:34):
but had to do everything they could to find their
loved one. While Kira's family was distributing leaflets, the investigators
continued their inquiry. When interviewing the couple's neighbors, officers noticed
a surveillance camera installed on one neighbor's house. The camera
rotated sideways, and in one of its angles, it captured
Kira and Jeffrey's home. Thus, the investigators asked the homeowner

(06:58):
to copy the camera footage for them as they hoped
to uncover some clues from it. In the meantime, a
cell phone company's records arrived and provided investigators with a
new lead. According to Kira's phone records, she had another
man in her life besides Jeffrey. He turned out to
be Ryan Went, who was the manager of the same

(07:19):
store chain in one of which she was employed. They
had a very intense and lengthy relationship and corresponded frequently.
Police were able to ascertain that Ryan Went was out
of state, and while a search for Kira was ongoing,
Ryan was traveling in his car towards Colorado. This man
was of major relevance to the investigation because, in addition

(07:40):
to having a romantic relationship with Kira, he also moved
out of state the same time she disappeared. Maybe it
was a mere coincidence and nothing more, or perhaps things
were completely different and his escape hides something behind it.
It is the investigators who would have to find the
answer to that question. Regardless, the detectives managed to reach Ryan,

(08:01):
and he consented to appear for questioning in Colorado, where
he was asked many questions. He stated that he last
contacted Kira while he was driving his car across South
Dakota and exchanged texts with her. These text messages had
been sent shortly before Kira's disappearance. Upon reviewing the timing
of the text messages, detectives determined that Kira had been

(08:22):
in contact with her new lover just as she was
dining with her husband. It was abundantly clear from the
correspondence that Kira was increasingly becoming distant from Jeffrey. The
investigators examined Ryan's phone to determine his location with respect
to the cell towers, and reviewed his credit card statements.
It appeared he was really out of state that particular

(08:43):
evening and had no way of being connected to Kira's disappearance.
He was released and dropped from the list of suspects
on that basis. The time stamp of the messages revealed
that Kira was still texting with Ryan even when she
arrived home with her husband. However, their communication ended after
eleven forty four pm, and since then, Kira's phone has

(09:04):
been inactive. Meanwhile, a different team of investigators was getting
ready to examine the video footage from the surveillance camera
installed on Kira's neighbor's residence. This camera captured much of
the street, sweeping left and right. However, it was turning
much too quickly, and that made observation difficult, since if

(09:24):
the investigator spotted something suspicious, the camera would rotate to
the other side in an instant. Jeffrey and Kira's house
was seen only for a brief few seconds as the
camera shifted to the right. Jeffrey stated that after eating
dinner and bowling, he and Kira went home, watched a movie,
and retired to bed. However, when investigators reviewed the video footage,

(09:48):
they noticed that right after two am, Kira's car reversed
into the yard. Because of the low quality of the
footage and the constant motion of the camera from side
to side, it was hard to tell precisely what was
happening on screen at that time, but the car soon
moved away from their house. Jeffrey attributed the night drive
to the fact that Kira had told him to pump

(10:10):
gas in her car prior to her commute tomorrow, so
he went to the gas station. Surprisingly enough, his story
was true. He was really seen at the gas station
at around half past three at dawn. However, the detectives
discovered that after leaving the gas station, he didn't return home,
but for some reason made his way towards the highway.

(10:32):
It is unclear where he headed next. The neighbor's camera
did not record him coming home, but it could have
been a mere coincidence as it was rotating constantly. Thus,
it is possible theoretically that Jeffrey could have gotten back
home later in the day when the camera was facing
the other direction. When investigators looked at the footage further,

(10:53):
they observed that Kira's Chevrolet drove away at nine to
twenty one am. Disappointingly, there was no way to see
who was at the wheel. A missing person report was
filed with police on Saturday, February twenty third, and the
police department got a call on Monday, February twenty fifth
to report the finding of a suspicious vehicle. Near the

(11:16):
shopping center where Kira was employed. There are two multi
story parking lots. Security guards noticed that a certain car
had been parked there for several days and requested a
tow truck. The tow truck driver proceeded to examine the
car before picking it up, and spotted suspicious looking red
smudges on the trunk lid then called the police. That

(11:37):
vehicle turned out to be Kira's white Chevy. There wasn't
that much blood, just a few small stains, but it
was there, and that was a very bad sign. Kira's purse,
which was recovered from her dumped car, had divorce court
forms that looked like they had been downloaded from the internet. Additionally,
a small dark item lying in the snow behind the

(11:59):
car caught the investigator's attention. When they got closer, they
saw a rolled up trunk mat that had dark colored
stains on the reverse side. DNA testing determined that it
was Kira Steeger's blood. With regret, the investigators began to
realize that Kira was most likely no longer alive. This
horrible discovery was a severe shock to her family and friends.

(12:23):
Their last hope of seeing Kira again was lost. But
with this, myriad questions arose in their minds. How did
she die, did she suffer? And who could have resented
her enough to have robbed her of her life? The
absence of Kira's body compounded the matter, for it was
much more difficult to endure the sorrow that had befallen

(12:43):
them without it. The detective's top priority now was to
identify the person who abandoned the vehicle in the parking lot.
The car drove away from the house at nine twenty
one am, approximately twenty minutes later, the mall's cameras captured it.
There were no cameras in the lot where the car
was discovered, but there was a camera directed at the

(13:05):
path that led to the car. The camera was located
near where Kira's car was located. After viewing the footage
from that camera, the detectives noticed that a few minutes
after the white Chevrolet drove into the parking lot, a
man with a hood covering his head appeared in the footage.
It was fairly cold and it didn't seem odd that

(13:25):
the man was in a hoodie, but the detectives wanted
to track where he was headed. It was seen that
the hooded man made it across the street and walked
to a taxi stand, where he had a brief conversation
with one of the drivers, then got into the car
and drove off. The police were able to determine which
company the cabs parked in the parking lot of the

(13:46):
shopping center belonged to based on the time of the
hooded man's interaction with the driver. It was not difficult
for the police to identify the license plate number of
that particular vehicle. All of the cabs were out fitted
with GPS tracking devices, which revealed that the hooded man
concluded his trip a block away from Kira and Jeffrey's

(14:07):
house and then got out of the car after paying cash.
As it left the neighborhood, the cab was caught in
the lens of the same camera that had partially filmed
Kira and Jeffrey's home. After two minutes, a hooded man
entered the frame. The low resolution of the footage made
it difficult to see his face, but what was striking
was the white logo on his hoodie. As the investigators

(14:30):
kept viewing the footage, they saw the hooded man walk
into the house where Kira and Jeffrey lived. Kira had
been missing, which made it nearly certain that the hooded
man was Jeffrey. After securing a search warrant, the law
enforcement officers headed to the house. At first glance, it
looked like an ordinary, unremarkable house, but that was only

(14:52):
at first glance. Under closer examination, the criminalists started to
find dark red stains in the bedroom of the spouses.
There were a few stains on the wall beside the
bed and around one hundred of them on the mattress.
It was apparent that the bedroom had recently been rearranged
and cleaned. When the forensics team sprayed luminol, the floor

(15:16):
carpet was practically glowing. It had a lot of blood
stains on it that could not be detected by the
naked eye. These stains originated in the bedroom and extended
into the other side of the house. Forensics confirmed that
it was Kira's blood, and this further convinced investigators that
she was no longer alive. Beside searching the inside of

(15:37):
the house, police also examined Jeffrey's car. The car itself
didn't have any blood in it, nor did they notice
any evidence of a struggle, yet they still managed to
find something of interest. A gas station receipt was found
in Jeffrey's car, issued an hour and forty minutes before
Kira's car was left in the mall parking lot. Based

(15:58):
on the receipte information the purchase was made with Jeffrey's card.
Detectives proceeded to that gas station to review the security footage.
The footage captured Jeffrey filling up his car, then going
inside and withdrawing cash from an ATM. This footage provided
a glimpse of Jeffrey's face and showed that he had

(16:19):
a logo on his jacket in the chest area that
looked like the logo on the man from the earlier footage.
On the basis of this recording and all evidence found
in the house, thirty nine year old Jeffrey Trevino was
placed under arrest. He was brought to the station for
questioning and was now the prime and only suspect. Immediately
from the interrogation room, Jeffrey reached his attorney, who advised

(16:43):
him to exercise his right to remain silent. The police
had sufficient evidence to charge him, but the most compelling
evidence of his guilt would be the body. No one
had any doubt that Kira was dead. The police to
get other with Kira's family and some volunteers spent months
searching for her. In late March, as the snow drifts

(17:06):
started to clear. Volunteers discovered a strange bag by the
roadside at Keller Lake, a few miles from Trevino's house,
and called the police. The bag contained a bloodied pillow,
a shirt, and a bra. The forensics team linked the
finding to Kira, as her DNA was detected on the items.
The lake was still encrusted with ice, which hampered the search,

(17:28):
but still divers surveyed the water body Still, they found
no remains in it. The area around the lake was
searched multiple times using four search dogs trained to find bodies,
but this too was fruitless. Two and a half months
following Kira's disappearance, on May eighth, twenty thirteen, the Saint
Paul Police Department got a disturbing call. The mail caller

(17:52):
told the operator that he had seen what appeared to
be a dead body in the Mississippi River. What police
officers recovered from the water did actually proved to be
a body. There were no clothes on it. Dental records
determined that it was the body of Kira Steger. She
suffered severe blunt force trauma to her forehead and a
fractured index finger on her left hand. Because of the

(18:14):
degree of decomposition. The medical examiners were incapable of establishing
an exact cause of death. Using the new evidence, investigators
tried to reconstruct the timeline of events leading up to
Kira's death and the events that followed. They speculated that
when Kira and Jeffrey came home, he became aware or

(18:34):
saw that she was texting someone else. Kira was unwilling
to show the correspondence to her husband, at which point
he forcefully snatched her phone away from her and broke
her finger. After seeing the romantic correspondence, Jeffrey grew even
more enraged and, in a fit of anger, took Kira's life,
and then tried to conceal evidence of the crime. He

(18:55):
used her car to drive to the house, put the
body in the trunk, then went to a gas station
and from there to the river, where he disposed of
the body. He subsequently drove back home, dumping the bag
containing Kira's pillow and clothes along the way. The next morning,
he went to a gas station and took out cash
from an ATM because he knew that after he left

(19:16):
Kira's car in the mall's parking lot, he would have
to pay for a cab and it would be better
to do so in cash. After disposing of Kira's car,
Jeffrey went home and worked the rest of the day
on cleaning the house. With his trickery, Jeffrey intended to
convey the impression that Kira had driven away in her
car by herself that morning and that she was perfectly fine. However,

(19:40):
thanks to surveillance cameras, his plan failed. In October twenty thirteen,
a jury convicted thirty nine year old Jeffrey Trevino, concurring
with the defense that his acts were not premeditated and
that the crime was the outcome of a heated and
sudden argument following the discovery of his wife's infidelity. Prior

(20:02):
to the sentence being announced by the judge, Kira's family
members made their statements. This monster is a calculated criminal,
said Carrie Anne Steger, Kira's sister. He deserves no mercy.
Kira's mother, Marcy, stated that Trevino certainly showed her daughter
no mercy. He dumped my daughter like a piece of
trash into the nation's most polluted body of water, she said. Still,

(20:26):
her father, Jay said, whatever the punishment, it will never
make up for the pain Trevino has caused their family.
No matter how much time you give, mister Trevino, it's
not enough, never enough, he said. In November twenty thirteen,
Jeffrey Trevino was given a twenty seven and a half
year prison sentence. He will become eligible for parole in

(20:48):
twenty thirty one. In this video, we'll discuss the events
that occurred in twenty twenty one in Georgia, USA. Mariam
Abdul Rob was returning home after a work shift at
a bar. She reached her house but did not have

(21:11):
time to enter it. What happened to her caused a
great resonance in society. Unfortunately, Mariam became one of those
whose death forced the authorities to realize that the laws
against some categories of people weren't harsh enough. Georgia passed
Mariam's law even before the criminal appeared in court, and
they closed this case just a few days ago. Mariam

(21:45):
Abdul Rob was a twenty seven year old bartender who
worked at the Reverie VR bar in midtown Atlanta. Her
colleagues and regulars loved her very much. Mariam was an
outgoing person who could always keep up a conversation. That's
how her best friend Alicia Kim described her. She is
the most caring person in the world. She would literally

(22:07):
give you the shirt off her back. She was a daughter,
a younger and older sister, a girlfriend, our best friend.
She was in the service industry, so she knew how
waiters and bartenders live off tips too, so she's always
been so generous with her own earnings. Mariam lived with
her boyfriend Jerry Antoine in Chosewood Park, Atlanta. On August thirteenth,

(22:30):
twenty twenty one, she finished her night shift at about
five am and then drove home. She had to drive
about five miles and it was a route she knew well. Unfortunately,
everything went wrong this time. When Mariam reached her house,
another car pulled up behind her. She didn't have time
to go inside. Someone abducted her in front of her boyfriend.

(22:52):
Let's listen to Jerry Antoine's conversation with the nine one
one operator released by the Atlanta Police.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Department on one of her Hello, Hey, I'm not five
o one Borrow Street and somebody just my girlfriend just
got out of a car and somebody just came and
just kidnapped and just left, said the kidnapped her and left.
There's somebody just left with my girlfriend.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
Where are you?

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Where you look? Old mom? I'm at five oh one
Burrows five oh one Borrow Street, Sophie. Yeah, they just left.
He was ben like a like a like a Ford
Escort looking type of corner. What kind of car was

(23:42):
he in? He said it was like a like a
jeep car, like a jeep.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
So what how did he?

Speaker 1 (23:50):
She?

Speaker 3 (23:50):
What?

Speaker 2 (23:51):
She snatched broke and she just pulled up and then
I heard somebody here earlier. Bro. Oh my god, my
car is blocked in. What's up? Oh my god? Bro,
sir bro So, I need you to stay with you.

(24:14):
What's up? Can you hear me? Or you?

Speaker 3 (24:18):
Oh my god, bro, I just watched her get kidnapped
from in front of my house.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
What's up?

Speaker 4 (24:29):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (24:30):
What a mind? Oh god? I mean the Jerry Antoine,
oh four year old four seven ninety seven girl three
second forty when she forced into the car, that she
get in the car, that she walked. Yes, I watched
it all. I watched it all. I watched it all.

(24:51):
I watched everything. I watched everything. He had a gun
to her. I watched everything. I watched every hold on
Jerry hold on. He had he had on a security shirt.

Speaker 4 (25:07):
Oh my god, I need you to listen to me
very carefully. I need you to calm down as best
you can.

Speaker 3 (25:13):
And I have a series of questions that.

Speaker 4 (25:15):
I need to ask you.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
I need you to answer. I need to answer to
the best of your ability. Do you understand me?

Speaker 4 (25:22):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (25:22):
All right?

Speaker 2 (25:23):
You said you saw your girlfriend get kidnapped by the
driver of a black SUV style vehicle.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
Is that correct?

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yes, it looked like a Ford Escape kind of car,
like a small suv. Because he called She just called
me five minutes ago, and she said, well, I'm about
to be here, and I heard her car pull up.
Hold on, Jerry, I hear a commotion. I hear a commotion.
Hold on, Jerry hold So she had a gun pointed

(25:51):
to her. Yes, I watched it all through my windows
in my front yard. He had a gun to her
and he forced her into a car. He hadn't a
security shirt. Yeah, what's the.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
Ya?

Speaker 2 (26:20):
All right? All right? Jade? Where are where? Where are
you located?

Speaker 3 (26:25):
Are you in an apartment complex?

Speaker 2 (26:28):
No, it's five oh one Borough Street South, So this
is a house. It's a house, okay, all right? Yeah,
all right, all right, So when I have her location
in my phone, I'm gonna check it like period, I
can check it. You're checking her location from your phone?
Is that correct?

Speaker 3 (26:50):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (26:51):
I'm I'm loading it up right now. I don't know
if she dropped it or not. Oh, I think it's
in your car. I think she dropped it. All right, Jerry.
We'll get a unit at the two shortly. Okay, we'll

(27:11):
get a unit at the two shortly, Jerry. Now, what's gone?
All right, Jerry? Jerry, Well, Jerry, we'll get a unit
at the two you as soon as we can, Okay.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
Shortly after that call to nine one one, the police
officers crowded the area where someone abducted Mariam. The authorities
tried to take all necessary measures to solve this case
because the chances of finding the girl decreased with every
new minute. No one knew the criminal's motive or what
they were up to. As it relates to motive and

(27:48):
things like that, I don't know, Deputy Chief Charles Hampton
Junior told reporters. Right after the incident. Mariam's best friend,
Alicia Kim, wrote these words on one of her social
network pages. My best friend got kidnapped last night at
her home in Grant Park. She's a bartender at Reverie
and was a bartender at mother and Church. If you've

(28:09):
met her, you know she's an incredible human being. After
her shift, she stopped by a gas station and someone
followed her home and as she was walking up to
her door, she was taken. Please if you saw her
last night and have any videos, send them my way.
If you see her in any vehicle, call the authorities.
Detectives tried to identify the abductor. One of the versions

(28:32):
was that Mariam was a random victim whom the perpetrator
first saw at a gas station. Investigators were able to
find CCTV footage that captured the moment of the abduction.
The video shows Mariam reaching her house and getting out
of the car. A moment later, another vehicle approached the house.
The driver gets out, grabs Mariam and leads her to

(28:54):
the car, and then the car did disappears backing away.
Everything happened in a matter of seconds, and it's terrifying.
Mariam was practically at the door of her house when
someone abducted her in such cold blood. While the police
were talking to Mariam's boyfriend. Nine one one received two

(29:17):
more phone calls from the same area. The woman told
the operator that she heard at least four loud bangs,
which she believed were gunshots. About five hours after Mariam's abduction,
another man called nine one one and provided crucial information.
Let's listen to the recording of this call.

Speaker 4 (29:41):
I am actually at the corner of Lakewood Avenue Southeast
and Terris Way Southeast.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
I am walking Lakewood Avenue Southeast and Terri's Way Southeast.
Police an ambulance.

Speaker 4 (29:56):
I think I may need police and ambulance. I'm walking by.
I see a woman take down near an abandoned home.

Speaker 2 (30:05):
Let me get.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
So don't hang up.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
Oh hello, MS, what's the addresses?

Speaker 3 (30:18):
Emergency Helena want to transfer Collis Lakewood Avenue Southeast and
Terry's Way Southeast.

Speaker 4 (30:25):
It's it's like an abandoned home at the corner. I
don't know the exact UH address of it, but it's
when you turn on to Terrace off of Lakewood Avenue
on the right side if you're coming from I guess
the inner state. It is near like an excellon gas

(30:45):
station and right across the street from I think the
Boys and Girls.

Speaker 3 (30:49):
Club okay, and you set the houses across the street
from the Boys and Girls Club.

Speaker 4 (30:55):
Yes, ma'am, it's abandoned, a boarded.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
Up Okay, what's the fun? What's your name?

Speaker 4 (31:00):
My name is Robert Stixon, the I.

Speaker 3 (31:02):
X O N Robert, tell me exactly what happens.

Speaker 4 (31:06):
I'm walking my dog in the neighborhood. I actually live
not too far from here, off of Olive Street, and
Lord Jesus, I walk I see a Caucasian woman's face
down near a mailbox. She is not moving, looks like that.
She has on black pants, some white checkers tennis shoes,

(31:29):
white tube socks, and a what appears to be like
a gray tank top.

Speaker 3 (31:36):
Okay, and with a patient Now.

Speaker 4 (31:39):
I'm near her. I have not touched her, okay. And
I don't know. She might be like a teenager or
early twenty. I can't Her face is obscured by like weeds,
and that's what makes me think she's deceased.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
Okay. Is she away?

Speaker 4 (31:59):
No? Not away at all? Is breathing I've not gotten
that close to No.

Speaker 3 (32:05):
Okay, Atlanta, I'm not too for Can we go ahead
and start fire? Repeating for nature? I know, yes, Okay,
I'm saving one. Okay, s Okay, hold for one second.

Speaker 4 (32:20):
He does not appear to be breathing, though I do
not tell any best going up and down or even
the fact.

Speaker 3 (32:26):
Okay, did you ever hear her talk of cris?

Speaker 4 (32:29):
I did not.

Speaker 3 (32:31):
Okay, hold for one second.

Speaker 4 (32:33):
Oh Jesus.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
Uh hold for one second, sir.

Speaker 4 (32:39):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (32:43):
And can you direct the emergency crews to her?

Speaker 2 (32:46):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (32:46):
Yeah, okay, I'm sending the paramedics to help you. Now
say balon and I'll tell you.

Speaker 4 (32:51):
What did Oh my god, that see bloods around her,
a pro body and harms.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
Okay, sir, reassure her. Okay. Second, is she breathing?

Speaker 4 (33:03):
Sorr No that I can not that I could do.
Oh for one second, Lord, this is somebody's baby.

Speaker 3 (33:15):
Okay, And please tell me why does she looked at.

Speaker 4 (33:19):
She gets face down, Her face, her nostros and mouth
are directly into the ground.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
Okay not.

Speaker 4 (33:28):
I don't believet be able to receive oxygen.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
During a press conference on the same day, a police
spokesman confirmed the worst fears of Mariam's family and friends.

Speaker 5 (33:42):
A Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Junior h AMPTO n UH
Division commander for a criminal investigation when we get to
that scene, we were able to locate an individual, a
female mid twenties UH deceased on scene and what we

(34:02):
now believe that that is the same female that was
kidnapped from the five oh one Bird Street. We are
been in constant contact with the victim's family and as
you can imagine, this is extremely difficult for them and
so we absolutely have to send our cadoleses to them.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Unfortunately, Mariam had no chance to survive. The perpetrator fired
several fatal shots at her. They found Mariam's body next
to an abandoned house just a mile and a half
from her home. During the same time, the police officers
were chasing at high speed. The driver violated traffic rules
and did not respond to the officer's demand to stop.

(34:46):
The chase was over after the driver rammed another car.
An ambulance took him and two passengers from the second
car to the hospital. The driver, who was trying to
escape from the police, was arrested after receiving medical attention.
Investigators believed he was responsible for the abduction and death
of Mariam Abdul rab Mariam had her whole life ahead

(35:09):
of her, but now her family and friends had to
mourn her. In the wake of Mariam's death, friends, coworkers,
and family members have spoken out, describing her as a
kind hearted person. My daughter was the most peaceful and
loving person. She did not deserve this, said her father,
Khalid abdul Rob. Reverie vr bar also took to Instagram

(35:31):
to mourn the death of its employee, sharing a photo
of Mariam. The post said, our hearts are truly broken
at the loss of a dear friend and family member.
Mariam brought light to every single person she came in
contact with and will forever be missed. We will be
closed this weekend to grieve and savor our last moments

(35:51):
with her. Please stay safe, y'all. Bar manager Dylan Knight
said everyone looked forward to seeing Mariam at work on
both side of the bar. She had a huge heart
and would go well out of her way to help
out or provide for folks. The man police believed to
be responsible for the abduction and death of Mariam Abdul

(36:12):
Rob was twenty seven year old DeMarcus Brinkley. After four
days at Well Star Atlanta Medical Center, they booked Brinkley
into the Fulton County Jail on six counts, including deprivation
of life, according to the state Supreme Court ruling. As
he fled from police, Brinkley allegedly told his mother that

(36:32):
he did not want to pull over for police because
he did not want to go back to prison. Brinkley
had previously spent seven years in prison. They released him
less than a year before Mariam's death. In twenty fourteen,
he pleaded guilty to one count of child molestation and
received a seven year prison sentence. According to court records,

(36:53):
the police arrested Brinkley on suspicion of molesting a seven
year old girl in twenty twelve. In twenty third teen,
they found him on top of a naked six year
old girl. In twenty fifteen, he pleaded guilty to child molestation.
During one of the court sessions, Brinkley's defense attorney told
the judge that his client was one of twelve children,

(37:15):
according to court records, He was removed from his mother's
care by the Georgia Division of Family and Children's Services
when he was a teenager and placed into a residential
treatment program for children with severe emotional and behavioral issues.
He stopped going to school in the ninth grade. The
defense attorney added that Brinkley also had a history of

(37:36):
being abused by a stepfather. The state recommended Brinkley serve
fifteen years in prison, followed by fifteen years on probation.
Yet the court sentenced Brinkley to only fifteen years, seven
behind bars and eight on probation. He also had to
register as a sex offender. That's when offenders are assigned

(37:57):
levels one, two, or three, depending on on their risk
level for reoffense. Level one means a low risk for reoffense,
Level two is a moderate risk for reoffense. Level three,
or sexually dangerous predator, is a high risk for reoffense.
While some states level sex offenders on the day of

(38:18):
their sentencing, Georgia level sex offenders after their release from prison. Thus,
after his release from prison in twenty twenty, Brinkley was
supposed to register as a sex offender, but he never
received a risk level assessment. That's why Ali Abdalrob Marriam's
brother believed there were ways to avoid what happened to

(38:39):
his sister. What happened to my sister was preventable. Ali said,
it broke my family. She was just a ball of
joy and she always had a way of making anybody
feel special. She was finally growing into the woman she
wanted to be, and everyone around her saw that she
was getting ready to live the life she wanted to live.

(39:00):
Ali Abdorrob said it still doesn't seem real. It's still
not easy to talk about. From judges in the court
system to mental health counselors. Brinkley has encountered many state
officials throughout his life. Ali abdul Rob believes his sister
would still be alive today if any of them handled
his prior convictions differently. Marriam's family has been pushing for

(39:23):
changes to state laws to prevent similar crimes in the future.
In May twenty twenty three, while DeMarcus Brinkley was still
awaiting trial, the Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, signed into
law a series of expanded restrictions for convicted sex offenders.
House Bill one hundred and eighty eight, known as Mariam's Law,

(39:45):
created better ways to track these individuals. The law requires
sex offenders who have not received a risk level assessment
to wear an ankle monitor once they received their assessment.
The most dangerous offenders must wear the monitor for the
the entire probation period. At the same time, lower level
offenders could have them removed if approved by the state

(40:07):
Department of Community Supervision. Love always wins, said her brother
Ali Abdul rob The love Miriam left behind was a
huge part of getting this law into place. It'll be
a big part of preventing future crimes like Mariam's from happening.
I see it saving lives. There might be more DeMarcus
Brinkleys out there, Ali said, we don't want this to

(40:28):
happen to anybody else. We immediately thought, why is this
guy out walking around freely in the first place, and
we hear he has a job working security. It's insane.
Ali said, it kind of hurt even more knowing this
guy slipped through the cracks in our system. DeMarcus Brinkley

(40:48):
made a deal, pleading guilty to several charges during the
trial in November twenty twenty three. On December fifth, twenty
twenty three, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment, with
the possibility of parole after thirty years, plus another fifteen years.
Mariam's family was not satisfied with the verdict, which is,

(41:09):
of course unsurprising. A criminal with a long track record
once again has a chance of leaving the prison walls someday.
In a text message to Channel two's Michael Sidon, Mariam's
brother Ali abdulrob addressed the plea deal between prosecutors and
his sister's killer. We weren't exactly happy about the results

(41:30):
from the sentencing. After all this time of waiting for
a trial, DeMarcus Brinkley decided to plead guilty for a
sliver of hope that he may be granted parole one
day after his life sentencing is served thirty years plus fifteen.
After hearing the details of everything he's done in court,
they still let him have the one thing that would

(41:51):
keep his time in prison a little more bearable. It's
easy to blame the criminal in these scenarios, but the
whole reason why my sister was murdered in the first
place was because a judge in court didn't take the
recommendation from the prosecution for his previous charges of sexually
assaulting two children. The ruling in this recent case is

(42:12):
all too familiar and seems like another story where the
judge is only there to make everyone happy. More so,
the criminal defense attorneys, who I'm sure are taking this
home as a win I understand that their duty is
to promote fairness and justice for their clients, but at
what cost? The criminal justice system, as I know it

(42:32):
is this perpetual cycle of unfairness and reconsideration, especially for
the potential victims and the ones who suffer. Our family
feels it is not fair for the children that this
monster has hurt, not fair for my sister who had
her whole life stolen from her. Mariam abdalrob is more
than just a number in a world of crime. She

(42:55):
is a real person who had real family and friends
that loved her so very much. The defendant will spend
the rest of his life in prison and out of
our community, where he has shown himself to be a
grave danger to the public. District Attorney Fani Willis said
in a statement, while nothing we do can restore Mariam's
life that was so tragically stolen from her, her family,

(43:17):
and her friends, we hope the fact that her killer
will spend the rest of this life paying for her
murder brings some measure of solace. Hey, everyone, welcome back
to the Checkered Sky Channel, where we dive into true
crime stories. Today we're diving into a chilling case that

(43:40):
shook a small town in Brazil to its core. This
is a story of trust betrayed, a life cut short,
and a mystery that unraveled in the most heartbreaking way.
It's September twenty fourth, twenty nineteen, in Bereri, a quiet
town in Saint Paulo State, Brazil. Mariana Baza, a nineteen
year old physiotherapy student, is starting her day like any other.

(44:03):
That morning, she heads to her usual spot, a local gym.
It's around eight am and the gym is buzzing with
early risers. Marianna finishes her workout, chats with a friend,
and steps outside to her black Volkswagen parked on the street.
She's got no idea that this ordinary moment is about
to spiral into a true crime nightmare. As Marianna approaches

(44:26):
her car, she notices something's off. The rear tire is flat,
completely deflated. It's the kind of inconvenience that it annoy anyone. Right.
She's standing there, probably thinking about calling her dad or
a cousin for help. Maybe she's wondering how she's going
to get to class on time. But then out of nowhere,

(44:46):
a man approaches her. He's calm, friendly, offering to fix
the tire. To Marianna, he seems like a good Samaritan,
just a guy willing to help a stranger out. She hesitates.
Her friend, who's with her later says Marianna wasn't sure
about it, but the man insists, saying driving on a
flat could wreck the wheel. It's a convincing pitch, and Marianna,

(45:10):
trusting and pressed for time, agrees. Here's where the story
takes a dark turn. Her friend, running late, leaves the scene,
unaware that she's just seen Marianna for the last time.
Hours pass and Marianna doesn't show up to class. Her
phone goes silent, no texts, no calls, no signal. Her boyfriend, worried,

(45:33):
tries reaching her, nothing. Her family starts to panic and
goes to the police. But before we dive deeper into
this crime investigation, let's take a moment to honor the
person at the heart of this story, Marianna Basa. Who
was she? Marianna was nineteen years old, a physiotherapy student

(45:54):
at a private university in Baurru, a city not far
from her hometown of Bereri. Born in two thousand, she
was the only child of Ireton Baza and Marlene forty Basa,
a couple deeply devoted to their daughter. Her family described
her as a bright, compassionate soul, someone who always had
a smile and a kind word. Her passion for physiotherapy

(46:18):
was more than a career choice. It was a reflection
of her compassionate nature. She wanted to help people heal
to ease their pain, and her parents beamed with pride
at her dedication. At university, she was a dedicated student,
balancing her studies with an active social life. She was
the kind of person who made friends easily, whether it

(46:40):
was at school or the gym where she worked out regularly. Now,
let's talk about her relationship with Jefferson Vianna, her boyfriend
of three years. Jefferson was twenty two years old at
the time and serving in the Brazilian Navy in Saint Paulo.
The two had met in their late teens, and their
bond was strong, built on mutual respect and shared dreams.

(47:03):
They were the kind of couple who sent each other
silly texts and shared life's big moments. Jefferson later told
police that Marianna was his everything. On the morning of
her disappearance, they were texting as usual. Marianna and Jefferson's
relationship was steady, but like any young couple, they had
their challenges. Being a part due to his navy duties

(47:27):
meant they relied on calls and texts to stay close. Still,
there was no sign of trouble between them. They were
happy and planning a future together. September twenty fourth, twenty nineteen,
started like any other Tuesday in Bereri. It's around seven
am and the sun's just creeping over the horizon. In Bereri,

(47:48):
Marianna Basa is already up and moving. She's at the
gym with her friend Heloisa Pasarello, getting in an early
workout before her day really kicks off. The gym's a
familiar spot for her, a place to clear her head,
stay fit, maybe chat with friends. By eight a m.
They're wrapping up. At eight eleven a m. Marianna steps

(48:09):
out of the gym's doors, her friend trailing a few
steps behind. The street outside is calm lined with modest
houses and a few parked cars. Mariana's carrying her phone,
probably scrolling through notifications or thinking about her day classes, assignments,
maybe a quick text to Jefferson. She's got a full
schedule and she's not one to dawdle. As she nears

(48:32):
her car, the cameras catch her slowing down, her head
tilting slightly. Something's wrong. At eight twelve am, Marianna stops
by the front passenger side door of her Volkswagon. The
tire is completely flat, deflated to the point of being undrivable.
You can picture her reaction, maybe a sigh, a quick

(48:53):
glance at her watch. A flat tire is a hassle,
especially on a day when she's got places to be.
Her friend, still near the gym entrance, notices Marianna's pause
and later tells investigators that Marianna seemed more annoyed than worried.
Cameras capture her pulling out her phone, likely considering who
to call, her dad, who's always been her go to

(49:16):
for car troubles, or her cousin who lives nearby, But
she doesn't make the call, at least not yet. The
street isn't empty. The footage shows a man walking across
the street, moving from the opposite sidewalk toward Marianna's car.
He's dressed in everyday clothes, jeans, a plain shirt, blending

(49:37):
seamlessly into the town's rhythm. The cameras don't catch his
face clearly. The angle is too far, the resolution too grainy.
He approaches Marianna directly. His gesture's calm but purposeful. He's
got a friendly vibe. Offers to help with the tire.
Marianna's not naive, She hesitates. She's thinking maybe she'll just

(50:00):
drive it to her dad's place or call someone she knows.
But this guy's persistent. He tells her driving on a
flat could mess up the wheel, makes it sound like
he's doing her a favor. It's eight fifteen am. Heloisa's
got to get to work, so she hops on her
motorcycle and heads out. The exchange continues for a few minutes.

(50:21):
She's listening, weighing her options. The CCTV cameras capture him
talking to Mariana, his gestures more animated now. By eight
twenty eight, something shifts. Cameras outside the gym catch it all.
The guy points across the street to a small chakra,
a rural property with a house in some land. He's

(50:41):
convincing her to follow him there, says he can fix
the tire properly. She's still in control, still cautious, but
she agrees. At eight ten twenty nine, she drives her
Volkswagen across the street into the chakra's yard. The gate

(51:05):
closes behind her, and the car vanishes from the camera's view.
That's the last time anyone sees Marianna alive in public.
The house's yard shielded by walls and the closed gate
is a blind spot, out of reach of the Jim's
cameras and any nearby surveillance. The street returns to its
morning routine, oblivious to the danger unfolding just out of sight.

(51:29):
But before she disappeared, Marianna took a picture of a
guy kneeling by her car. She sent it to her
boyfriend Jefferson. The exchange was light, typical of their three
year relationship. Marianna wasn't scared when she sent the photo.
She laughed about the situation, and Jefferson didn't sense any danger.
But by noon, when Jefferson tries texting her again, there's

(51:53):
no reply. Her phone, usually buzzing with updates, is silent.
He calls, but it goes straight to voicemail. The phone
didn't have a signal. He later recalled, a detail that
gnawed at him. Jefferson's worry deepens as the hours pass.
Marianna was supposed to be in Bawru for her physiotherapy classes,

(52:14):
a thirty mile drive from Bereri. She never missed a
class without telling someone. By two PM, he's calling her friends,
asking if anyone's heard from her. No one has. He
reaches out to her family, her parents, Ayrton and Marlene,
and her aunts and cousins, who are tight knit and
always in contact. They're equally alarmed. Marianna didn't answer her

(52:39):
phone after that. We were immediately desperate with worry, one
of Marianna's aunts told the press, capturing the family's rising panic. Ayrton,
Marianna's father tries calling her repeatedly, but the phone remains off.
By three PM, the family knows something's terribly wrong. They
contact the Bereri police, reporting Marianna missing and urging them

(53:02):
to act fast. The Bereeri Police springs into action by
filing a missing person's case. Their first move is to
gather information from Marianna's inner circle. They interview Jefferson, who
shares the photo and texts from that morning. The image,
time stamped around eight thirty am, shows a man crouched

(53:22):
by Marianna's Volkswagen working on the tire. His face is
partially visible, but the angle does not allow for immediate identification.
Jefferson tells the police the exchange was casual. Marianna wasn't afraid,
and the man seemed like a helpful stranger. She just
sent it to tell me what had happened. We laughed

(53:42):
at the situation, and I sent her a picture of
me in my uniform whites because I knew she liked it.
I also told her that I loved her, he said.
The police note the photo as a critical lead, but
they need more context. They ask Jefferson about Marianna's life.
Did she have enemies, any recent conflicts. He's adamant she

(54:03):
was well liked, had no trouble with anyone, and their
relationship was solid. His alibi checks out. He was in
Saint Paulo hours away, verified by his naval duties. Next,
the police turned to Marianna's friend, who was with her
at the gym that morning. She confirms the time line.
Marianna finished her workout around eight a m. They chatted

(54:26):
and they stepped outside together. She saw Marianna notice the
flat tire. And watched as a man approached, offering to help.
The friend didn't recognize him, but he seemed friendly, not threatening.
She recalls Marianna hesitating but ultimately agreeing to let him
fix the tire, especially after he warned that driving on

(54:47):
it could ruin the wheel. The friend left shortly after,
around eight fifteen a m. Assuming Marianna was fine. She's
racked with guilt when she speaks to the police, wishing
she'd stayed longer. Her description of the man is vague,
average height, casual clothes, but it matches the figure in
Jefferson's photo. The police press her did she see anyone

(55:10):
else lingering nearby, anything suspicious? She mentions a few gym
goers and passers by, but nothing unusual. The street was
busy with morning traffic, making it hard to pinpoint anything
out of the ordinary. The police pull the gym's CCTV footage,
and there it is Mariana driving into that chakra at

(55:30):
eight twenty nine. They head to the chakra across from
the gym. It's owned by a local who'd hired a
handyman to paint the place, a guy named Rodrigo Pereira Alvez.
The owners there says Rodrigo was around that morning, but
he's gone now. The cops look around, nothing obvious jumps out,

(55:51):
No car, no Marianna, but they're not leaving empty handed.
On another surveillance tape, they saw Marianna's Volkswagen drive off.
An hour later. They saw the driver get out of
the car for a short time, and it was clear
from the color of his clothes that the car was
not driven by Marianna. The photo Marianna sent Jefferson becomes

(56:19):
the lynchpin. The police don't name him publicly yet, but
they start digging into his background. We are following all leads,
especially the individual seen in the footage, a police spokesperson
told local media, keeping details vague to avoid tipping off
the suspect. They learn the man has a history, including
time served for serious crimes, which raises red flags. Could

(56:43):
he have targeted Mariana deliberately. The flat tire's condition, possibly slashed,
suggests premeditation, not a random act. The police set up
discreete surveillance on the house, hoping to spot the man
from the photo. They also track Marianna's phone, which last
pinged near the gym before going offline, suggesting it was

(57:05):
turned off or destroyed. Shortly after eight thirty six am,
police know her Volkswagen has been moved, so they put
out an alert to nearby towns describing the car and
the man from the photo now their prime suspect. The
cars headed west towarded Tapolis, about forty miles away. That's
when they call in reinforcements, a helicopter, more officers of

(57:29):
full on search, words spreading fast. By five pm, Bereerri's buzzing.
People are talking, texting, piecing it together. They're tracking the car,
following leads from that photo. They already had a name,
Rodrigo Pereira Alvez, a guy with a long criminal history.

(57:50):
Rodrigo is a repeat offender who had already served twelve
years for robbery, kidnapping, extortion and attempted robbery, and had
been released from prison about thirty days before Marianna's kidnapping.
The photo Marianna sent it's him. The CCTV him again.
Evening falls seven pm, eight pm and the search is relentless.

(58:15):
They've got choppers in the air, patrols on the ground.
Around nine pm, they find the Volkswagen abandoned in a
Tapolis near a sugar cane farm. The car is cordoned
off and forensic teams swarm in. They find the doors unlocked,
the keys missing, and the interior in disarray. A search
reveals critical evidence. Marks inside the car suggests a struggle,

(58:38):
with scratches on the dashboard and a torn seat belt.
They also recovered a knife from under the seat, but
this is not thought to have been used in the crime.
No blood, but enough to know something went down. After
locating the car, police redoubled their efforts to find the suspect.
Alvez grew up in a troubled home, dropping out of
school early and lifting into crime by his teens. Described

(59:03):
as a loaner, he worked odd jobs construction mechanics, but
never held steady employment. His recent release from prison made
him a ghost in the community. Few knew he was back.
Investigators traced the suspect's cell phone and found that he
was hiding at his relative's home. Officers swarmed the area

(59:23):
and Rodrigo Alves, realizing he's cornered, flees to the roof
of a nearby house. He tried to escape, but we
had him surrounded, a police officer later said. After a
tense stand off, Rodrigo Alvez is arrested, his clothes disheveled,
his face gaunt. He initially resisted, claiming he was innocent,

(59:44):
but the photo, surveillance video, and tire tracks tie him
to the crime. After all, he tells where the police
can find Mariana. The search for Mariana leads back to
the sugarcane plantation where her car was found. Around midday,
a grim des discovery stops them cold. Marianna's body hidden
among the dense stalks about a mile from her car.

(01:00:07):
She's gagged, blindfolded, and her hands are bound behind her back.
The scene is devastating. The autopsy conducted in Bauru reveals
the horrific details of Marianna's final moments. The cause of
death is strangulation. Marianna's injuries are extensive bruises on her
arms and legs, scratches on her face, and broken fingernails,

(01:00:31):
indicating she fought fiercely against her attacker. The autopsy is
also looking into possible sexual assault, but the results are
not yet conclusive and require additional tests. No stab wounds
or gunshot injuries are found, ruling out the knife from
the car. The coroner estimates She died within hours of

(01:00:51):
her disappearance, likely between eight am and noon on September
twenty fourth. The bindings and gags suggests she was restrict
trained before death, pointing to a deliberate, brutal act. Rodrigo
Alves was charged with kidnapping, rape, robbery, and murder, and
prosecutors built a case on physical evidence and his criminal history.

(01:01:15):
This was a calculated act by a dangerous individual, a
prosecutor told local media. The prosecution argues he used the
pretense of help to gain Marianna's trust, then overpowered her
in the house's yard. The cops see the pattern, impulsive, predatory,
no stranger to taking what he wants. But what's he

(01:01:36):
doing in Bereeri painting a chakra? Turns out he'd landed
the gig through a friend, a fresh start, or so,
he claimed. He admits he lured her to the chakra,
says it was a spur of the moment thing. He
claims he asked her for a ride after fixing the tire,
got her inside the property, then panicked when she tried

(01:01:58):
to leave. It's cold, calculated, and the cops aren't buying
the panic excuse. It's early twenty twenty one, over a
year since Mariana Bodza's murder. On September twenty fourth, twenty nineteen,
the trial of Rodrigo Pereira Alves begins in Bouru, the
judicial hub near Bereri. The courtroom is packed family, friends, locals,

(01:02:23):
and media, all eyes on Rodrigo Alves, now thirty nine,
sitting stone faced in the dock. The prosecution, led by
seasoned attorneys, is determined to paint Rodrigo as a calculated predator.
They present the CCTV footage from the gym. The photo
Marianna sent her boyfriend Jefferson is displayed on a courtroom screen.

(01:02:46):
The prosecution emphasizes the tire likely slashed as proof of premeditation.
This was no random act. The lead prosecutor argues Rodrigo
Alves targeted Mariana, manipulated her try trust, and executed a
plan to abduct and kill her. They highlight his criminal
history twelve years in prison for kidnapping and attempted murder,

(01:03:09):
released just weeks before the crime. The autopsy reports seals
their case, detailing Marianna's strangulation, bruises and defensive wounds, painting
a picture of a violent struggle. Marianna was strangled, likely
with her own shirt, after a fight. The defense, tasked
with an uphill battle, counters with a strategy of deflection

(01:03:32):
and minimization. They challenge the forensic findings, noting the absence
of blood or DNA conclusively proving rape, and suggest the
knife found in the car could belong to anyone. Marianna's family, Ayrton, Marlene,
and their extended relatives attend every session, their grief palpable.

(01:03:53):
The prosecution calls them as witnesses to humanize Marianna, emphasizing
her bright future and the void left by her death.
She was our everything, always smiling, always helping others, said Marlene,
Marianna's mother. Jefferson also testifies, recounting their final texts and
the photo that haunts him. I'll never forgive myself for

(01:04:15):
not seeing the danger, he says, tears in his eyes.
The prosecution uses his testimony to underscore Alva's deception how
he exploited Marianna's trust, a theme that angers the jury.
Prosecutors showed another surveillance tape that showed the defendant leaning
against Marianna's car before she even left the gym. He

(01:04:37):
deliberately gave her car a flat tire to lure her
into a death trap. Rodrigo's team doesn't deny he was there,
too much evidence for that. Instead, they lean on his story.
They push his mental state. Twelve years in prison left
him unstable, impulsive, not a cold blooded planner. They're not

(01:04:57):
denying the act, just the intent. Trying to dodge the
femicide label for something less severe like manslaughter. It's a
long shot, but they're fighting to shave years off his sentence.
In March twenty twenty one, the verdict was announced. He
was sentenced to forty years, ten months, and eighteen days

(01:05:18):
in prison. Don't rush to turn this video off, because
there's something else important in this story, something that might
surprise you. Marianna's mom died in February twenty twenty two
at the age of fifty one. Marlene had been a
fierce advocate for Marianna, keeping her daughter's room untouched and
sharing her grief openly. In a twenty twenty post, she wrote,

(01:05:42):
a mother's heart will always cry for you, my angel.
On September twenty third, twenty twenty four, just one day
before the fifth anniversary of Mariana Baza's murder. Rodrigo Pereira
Alvis died of illness in the intensive care unit of
Botuko to Hospital. He was suffering from a chronic illness,

(01:06:03):
although the exact cause of death was not given by
the prison administration or the hospital. That's the end of
Mariana's story. Thank you for joining me on this journey
through one of Brazil's most heartbreaking cases. Until next time,
stay safe, stay curious, and keep seeking the truth under
the checkered sky. Today we're diving into a case that

(01:06:32):
shook a small Oregon city to its core, a story
so chilling it stayed with me for years. Picture this.
It's Tuesday, October sixteenth, twenty twelve, in Gresham, Oregon. The
heir's crisp, the leaves are turning gold, and the day's
just beginning. At six forty five am, a twenty one

(01:06:54):
year old young woman named Whitney Heikel steps out of
her apartment. She's got her keys in hand and her
black nineteen ninety nine Ford Explorer waiting nearby. She's headed
to her job at Starbucks, just a five minute drive away.
Whitney's a barista, reliable, punctual, the kind of person who
never misses a shift. She kisses her husband goodbye and

(01:07:16):
that's it. That's the last time he sees her alive.
That's where the true crime mystery begins. Whitney never makes
it to work. Her co workers wait, glancing at the clock.
Seven am comes and goes, no Whitney. By nine point thirty,
her phone's going straight to voicemail. Her husband, Clint starts
to panic. He calls her over and over nothing. Finally,

(01:07:41):
at ten am, he dials nine one one. Something's wrong,
really wrong. This isn't like her. Whitney's not the type
to just disappear. She's got a life, friends, family, a
husband she's been married to for less than two years.
So what happened in those missing hours? Where did she go?

(01:08:01):
And why did this ordinary morning turn into a nightmare.

Speaker 5 (01:08:04):
It's always something you see, and it's always distant, and
so I'm still processing it.

Speaker 4 (01:08:11):
I didn't even know what to think about it.

Speaker 2 (01:08:12):
I just hope she's okay.

Speaker 6 (01:08:14):
We're doing the best we can to.

Speaker 3 (01:08:17):
Locate her.

Speaker 4 (01:08:18):
I hope nothing has happened to her.

Speaker 5 (01:08:19):
The search continues for a missing Gresham woman, and sheriff's
deputy's are calling her disappearance suspicious.

Speaker 6 (01:08:26):
Whitney Heikel disappeared yesterday.

Speaker 2 (01:08:28):
She left for apartment.

Speaker 1 (01:08:35):
Whitney Heikel was born in nineteen ninety one in Portland, Oregon,
just a stone's throw from where this all unfolded. She
grew up in a tight knit family, the kind where
faith and community were everything. Her parents, Jim and Laurie,
raised her as a Jehovah's witness, and that faith shaped
her world. She wasn't loud or flashy. Whitney was quiet, steady,

(01:08:58):
the kind of person who listened more than she spoke.
Friends described her as gentle, always ready with a smile.
She wasn't chasing fame or drama. She was building a simple,
honest life. In twenty eleven, Whitney married Clint Heikel, who
had known her for many years. They were young, barely

(01:09:18):
into their twenties, but their bond was solid. They'd settled
into a modest apartment in Gresham, dreaming of a future together.
No kids yet, but they had time, or so they thought.
Whitney worked at Starbucks not just for the paycheck, but
because she liked it, the routine, the people. She'd been

(01:09:40):
there for years, pouring coffee chatting with regulars, saving up
for whatever came next. Her life was ordinary in the
best way, stable grounded, full of small joys. Whitney's world
revolved around family and faith. She was close to her
mom and dad. She didn't have a long list of
enemies or a trail of secrets. If anything, Whitney was

(01:10:03):
the opposite. She was open, trusting, maybe too much so.
On Tuesday, October sixteenth, twenty twelve, the sun was barely
up in Gresham, Origan, when Whitney Hikel stepped out of
her apartment. It was a day like any other, or
so it seemed. What unfolded over the next few hours

(01:10:24):
would turn a routine morning into the opening act of
a true crime saga that still haunts this small city.
It's six forty five am. Whitney's husband, Clint, watches her leave.
She's dressed for work. Starbucks apron ready, keys jingling. She
climbs into her suv, a nineteen ninety nine Ford Explorer.

(01:10:45):
She's driven one hundred times before. The route to Starbucks
is short, just a couple of miles through Gresham's sleepy streets.
She's due at seven am, same as always. Clint heads
back inside, figuring he'll see her later. He has no
idea this is the last time he'll see her. Wave goodbye.

(01:11:05):
Seven o'clock rolls around and Whitney's co workers are setting
up steaming milk brewing coffee. But Whitney's not there. She's
never late, not once. The minutes creep by, seven point fifteen,
seven point thirty. Her shift lead checks the schedule, then
the phone, no call, no text by eight am. They're worried.

(01:11:28):
This isn't like her. She's the reliable one, the barista
who's always on time. Someone tries her sell straight to voicemail.
They don't know it yet, but Whitney's morning has already
taken a turn they can't imagine. Fast forward to nine
fourteen am, nine miles east of Gresham in Troutdale, a
gas station camera catches something. Whitney's Ford Explorer rolls up,

(01:11:52):
but Whitney's not driving. She's in the passenger seat, her
face visible through the window. A man's at the wheel,
dark head, average build. He pumps gas, pays with Whitney's
bank card. Nine minutes later, at nine twenty three am,
that same card gets used again at an ATM nearby.
Two transactions eight minutes apart. Whoever's with her isn't wasting time.

(01:12:17):
But where are they going? And why is Whitney just
sitting there? Clint begins to sense something is wrong. It's
past nine thirty am. Now he's been calling Whitney's phone
for over an hour, nothing voicemail, every time. She hasn't texted,
hasn't checked in. By ten am, he's had enough. He

(01:12:38):
dials nine one one. My wife's missing, he tells the operator,
voice tight. She left for work at six forty five
and never got there. He gives them everything, the car,
the route, her phone number. The call's short, urgent. Gresham
Police log it at ten oh two am and spring
into action. Officers fan out checking Whitney's route. Her co

(01:13:02):
workers confirm she didn't show. Clint's call sets the wheels turning,
but the real brake comes around one PM. That's when
her SUV turns up abandoned in a wal Mart parking
lot in Wood Village, just a few miles from Gresham.
The passenger windows shattered, glass scattered on the asphalt, the
back seats are folded down, and there's mud caked on

(01:13:24):
the tires. Fresh and wet it's not how Whitney left it.
Someone's been driving it and they didn't care about keeping
it clean. Around the same time, another clue surfaces up
on Larch Mountain, a rugged wooded area twenty miles east
of Gresham, a hiker spots something odd, a child's sippy cup,

(01:13:45):
bright pink, lying off a trail. It's out of place,
too clean to have been there long. No one knows
it yet, but that cup belongs to Whitney's niece. It's
a thread in this unraveling mystery, a bread crumb leading somewhere.
The hiker leaves it, unaware of its weight. By afternoon,

(01:14:06):
words spreading Whitney's family. Her parents, Jim and Laurie, her
sister Chelsea, get the call from Clint. They're stunned. She
was fine yesterday, laughing with them, planning her week. Now
she's gone. Her church steps up too. Jehovah's witnesses from
the local Kingdom Hall start printing flyers, hundreds of them

(01:14:28):
missing Whitney HEIKEL twenty one last scene, October sixteenth. They
hit the streets, taping them to poles, handing them out
at gas stations. The community rallies, but there's a growing dread,
the clocks ticking past three PM, and Whitney's still out
there somewhere. Gresham p D didn't waste time. They pulled

(01:14:50):
in twenty four detectives from multiple agencies, Moltnomah County, Troutdale, Fairview,
even Oregon State Police. The State Crime LAE was on standby,
and forensic teams were already en route to that Walmart lot.
Chief Craig Junginger took the helm, calling it a criminal investigation.
From the jump, this wasn't a runaway case. The broken window,

(01:15:14):
the gas station siding, the ATM hits something was off
and they needed to move fast. But it wasn't just
the cops. Whitney's church, the Jehovah's witnesses turned out in force,
hundreds of them, friends, family, neighbors. They all hit the streets, canvassing, searching,
asking questions. By noon, they'd found the suv and Wood village,

(01:15:38):
just four miles from Whitney's apartment. That discovery lit a
fire under the police. Detectives swarmed the lot, bagging glass shards,
dusting for prints. They found some of Whitney's belongings in
a nearby dumpster. Small stuff personal items. The gas station
footage was the first big break. At nine fourteen am,

(01:16:00):
Whitney's Ford Explorer pulls in. She's in the passenger seat,
alive but not in control. Nine minutes later, Whitney's bank
card pings again at an ATM two hits nine minutes apart.
Whoever's with her knows her, pin knows her car. Police
start thinking, is this someone she knows? They pull the tapes,

(01:16:23):
enhance the images, but the man's face isn't clear, so
they go back to the source. Whitney's life. Detectives knock
on doors at her apartment complex, talk to neighbors. Most
say the same thing. Whitney was quiet, sweet, no trouble.
No one saw her leave that morning, but if you
mention a guy who lives nearby, someone familiar, part of

(01:16:46):
the community, nothing concrete, just a name floating around. They
hit up her coworkers at Starbucks next. She was always
on time, they say, never missed a shift, No enemies,
no weird customers. Friends echo it. Whitney didn't stir drama.
Her family, Jim Laurie Chelsea tell police she was happy.

(01:17:08):
Stable Clint's a wreck, but he's cooperative. Answering every question.
By Wednesday, October seventeenth, the trails heating up, Police expand
the search Dodge Park, Sandy Larch Mountain. They've got a
hunch the suv went east based on that mud and
a tip from a volunteer. K nine's sweep the apartment

(01:17:31):
complex about a mile from the gas station, two from
the walmart. Nothing big turns up there, But up on
Larch Mountain things shift. That sippy cup pink new tied
to Whitney's niece, gets flagged. Then a search team, a
mix of cops and church volunteers, finds tire tracks, broken glass,

(01:17:52):
and a license plate. It's from Whitney's explorer. The mountains
remote forested, a forty minute drive from Gresham. Why here
Police rope it off, call in search and Rescue Oregon
State Forensics. Thursday, October eighteenth brings another twist. Kids playing
near a complex in Troutdale, a mile and a half

(01:18:13):
from a gas station, accidentally found a cell phone. It's Whitney's.
Parents of one of the children told ABC that the
children found Whitney's phone in bushes outside the Troutdale Terrace
apartments Thursday evening, the family says the phone had a
screensaver of a picture of Whitney, Heikel and text messages
asking if she was okay. Police loged as evidence, but

(01:18:36):
it's not just a find. It's a link the phones
between the gas station and Walmart, tightening the net. Hours
before the phone discovery, Whitney's mother, Lorelei Rittmiller, urged people
in the Portland area to keep looking for her daughter,
who she described as the sunshine in her heart.

Speaker 3 (01:18:55):
She just take care of everybody.

Speaker 2 (01:19:00):
And I just want you guys to know how grateful
we are for any help there. Just it hurts to
breathe right now.

Speaker 1 (01:19:09):
Whitney's husband, Clinton, only managed to utter a few words
as he attempted to make a statement, but broke down
and left the podium.

Speaker 2 (01:19:19):
What am I saying?

Speaker 1 (01:19:25):
That same day, someone steps forward. Jonathan Holt, twenty four,
a neighbor from Whitney's complex. He's casual, volunteers for an interview,
says he's shaken up, wants to help. Holts, married, lives
a few doors down, goes to the same Jehovah's Witness congregation.
He tells police a story. Tuesday morning, he was headed

(01:19:48):
to work at a vending company in Portland when two
black men robbed him at gunpoint. He didn't report it,
just walked around crying all day. Detectives listen, nod, but
something off. His timeline's shaky, his details vague. Near the
end of the conversation, Jonathan Holt told them that it
was just bad timing that all of this happened at

(01:20:11):
the same time as what was going on with Whitney Hikel.
They ask for Prince DNA. He agrees, no pushback. They
let him go, but they're watching Good Morning Dan.

Speaker 3 (01:20:22):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (01:20:22):
This is what Whitney Heikel's family and the entire community
had feared most. And police say the man who.

Speaker 3 (01:20:28):
Murdered Whitney was not a stranger.

Speaker 1 (01:20:30):
He lived in her apartment complex. Friday, October nineteenth, the
pieces snapped together. Holt stops at his workplace in North Portland,
tosses a handgun in some bushes. Later, outside Gresham p
d he ditches another gun in the grass right before
walking in for a second interview. Bold move, sloppy move.

(01:20:52):
Detectives pounce they've got forensic results back from the SUV.
Holtz Prince his DNA on the steering wheel, His first
story unravels in the interview room. He cracks admits the
robbery tale was a lie. Then it spills out. He
waited for Whitney that morning, asked for a ride. They

(01:21:13):
lived in the same apartment complex. About five minutes later,
Holt allegedly took Whitney Hykel by gunpoint in her vehicle
to an area near a lake and forced her to
perform oral sex on him. According to the police report,
while Holt's talking, searchers are closing in that night, around
ten pm, they find her. Whitney's body hidden in a

(01:21:36):
remote spot on Larch Mountain. It's a wooded area off
a trail east of Gresham. She's been shot four times.
The autopsy later confirms. The scene's grim quiet. They've got her,
but it's no victory. The sippy cup, the license plate,
the tire tracks, it all led here. By Friday night,

(01:21:58):
Holt was charged with aggravated murder. The house clear the
why that's still a shadow? Who is this guy? Really?
What drove him to this? Holt's prince and DNA were
all over Whitney's SUV, on the steering wheel, the door,
the gearshift. He admitted it he took her to Roslin Lake,

(01:22:18):
then Large Mountain and left her there. The confession was cold,
matter of fact, and it gave police what they needed.
On October twenty third, Holt appeared in court. Prosecutors hit
him with a nineteen count indictment aggravated murder, kidnapping, robbery,
first degree sexual abuse, and more. Why so many counts

(01:22:41):
because this wasn't just one act. It was a chain
of calculated steps, each one uglier than the last. So
who was Jonathan Holt? Born in nineteen eighty eight. He
was a local, raised in Gresham. He wasn't a drifter
or a stranger. He was a neighbor living a few
doors down in the same apartment complex, married, no kids,

(01:23:04):
working a steady job at a vending machine company in Portland.
He and Whitney went to the same Jehovah's Witness congregation,
saw each other at meetings, shared a faith on paper.
He was ordinary, quiet, unremarkable, the kind of guy who
blends into a crowd. But there were cracks. Co workers
later said he could be off, not violent, just odd, detached,

(01:23:28):
no criminal record, no red flags waving. Yet something simmered
under that surface, something no one saw until it was
too late. The motive, that's the shadow that lingers Holt
never explained why. No grudge, no feud, no history of
bad blood, just a moment, a choice, and a life

(01:23:48):
snuffed out. Holt's family kept their distance, his wife, stunned,
moved out fast, didn't talk to the press, didn't defend him.
Holt sat in jail awaiting trial while the Hikeels buried
their daughter. Hikel's family greeted all of those who stopped
by and thanked them for their support during such a
difficult time. The family said they wanted to hold a

(01:24:12):
public memorial so the community would have a chance to grieve.
Local businesses stepped up to help out by donating food
and other things for the event. I know I won't
be able to say thank you to every single person,
but I'm going to try my best because they deserve
a thanks, said Clint Hikel, Whitney's husband. As far as
how he is handling everything, it's obviously been tough. I'm

(01:24:35):
trying to take it one day at a time, but
it's very hard because we were very much in love.
Clint said, it's very hard for me to be at
my apartment and have her not doing her little thing. Next,
we'll wrap this up Holt's trial, the sentence, and what
Whitney's story leaves behind. It's July eighth, twenty thirteen, nearly

(01:24:56):
nine months since Whitney Hikel vanished from Gresham, Oregon. Jonathan Holt,
the neighbor who confessed to ending her life, is about
to face justice in a Clackamus County courtroom. The question
now isn't did he do it? He'd already admitted that much.
It's about what happens next, how the system weighs a

(01:25:16):
crime this heavy, and what it means for a family
still reeling from a loss that never should have happened.
There wasn't a long drawn out trial here, no weeks
of back and forth, no parade of witnesses to dissect.
So when July eighth rolled around, Holt and his legal
team made a call, no trial. Instead, he'd plead guilty.

(01:25:40):
It was a move that spared Whitney's family the agony
of reliving every detail in open court, but it didn't
soften the blow of what they'd already lost. The hearing
lasted less than an hour, fifty minutes that packed a
lifetime of pain The shaggy haired Holt, flanked by his
two defense attorneys, sat with his head bowed through almost

(01:26:02):
all of the fifty minute hearing. He appeared before Judge
Robert Herndon, pleading guilty to aggravated murder, first degree kidnapping,
and first degree robbery, three of the nineteen counts he'd
been charged with, but enough to seal his fate in court.
Holt spoke short, shaky, staring at the floor. All the

(01:26:25):
things said about me are true, he said, Because of
my selfishness, I've stolen a daughter, a sister, a wife.
I'm sorry for what I did.

Speaker 6 (01:26:36):
I want to say that I'm suffered, but at the
same time I know that that doesn't mean anything. I
accept the responsibility for what I did and whatever punishment
has given me. Because of my selfishness, I have stolen

(01:27:00):
a daughter, a sister, and a wife.

Speaker 1 (01:27:05):
The defense argued this wasn't a man dodging responsibility. He'd
owned it spared everyone a trial. Judge Herndon nodded to that,
commending Holt for not dragging it out. But remorse doesn't
erase a life taken, and the defense knew the sentence
was coming either way. The verdict wasn't a surprise. Life

(01:27:25):
without parole. Oregon didn't push for the death penalty, the
state was already phasing it out, and Holt's plea deal
locked him in for good. Sentenced that day, July eighth,
twenty thirteen, he'd spend every breath behind bars at Oregon
State Penitentiary. No appeals, no second chances for the prosecution.

(01:27:47):
It was a clean win. For Whitney's family. It was
something else. Justice, sure, but not peace. Over a dozen
of them spoke before the sentence dropped. They didn't want
hold dead, They wanted him gone out of their world.
Life without parole gave them that, but it didn't bring
her back. Heikel. Family members noted that Holt's family, including

(01:28:11):
his ex wife, who divorced him immediately after his arrest,
also suffered. Both families were forced to face the unthinkable,
said Laura Lai Rittmiller, Whitney Heikel's mother. He's thirty seven now,
over a decade into a life term that won't end.
That's it for Whitney. Heikel's story a true crime tale

(01:28:31):
that started with a morning drive and ended with a
life sentence. It's the kind of case that sticks with you,
reminds you how fragile things can be. Drop a comment,
what do you think about this case? How does it
hit you? Until next time, stay curious, stay safe, and
I'll see you under the checkered sky. Today we're stepping

(01:29:00):
into a twisted tale from Fairfield, California, a quiet city
that became the backdrop for a real life nightmare in
October twenty twenty one. This is the story of nineteen
year old Leilani Beauchamp, whose life was cut short in
a way no one saw coming. It all started on
October twenty ninth, twenty twenty one, during Halloween weekend, a

(01:29:23):
time for costumes, parties, and good vibes. Leilani, a college
student from Carmel, was out celebrating in Sacramento, about forty
five minutes from Fairfield. She was last seen in the
early morning hours of October thirtieth, when she left a
Halloween party and the company of two guys she knew,
both active duty Air Force personnel. They were headed to

(01:29:47):
a house on Cascade Lane in Fairfield, a place she'd
been before. But what happened next, well, that's where this
story takes a dark turn. Her family grew alarmed when
and she didn't respond to texts or calls throughout the day,
which was unusual given her habit of daily communication with
her siblings. Leilani's family reported her missing to the Fairfield

(01:30:11):
Police Department on Saturday, October thirtieth, twenty twenty one, around
six pm. Hours later, a grim discovery in Monterey County,
over one hundred miles away, would shatter their world. Something
unthinkable had gone down at that house in Fairfield, something
that would spark one of the most haunting true crime

(01:30:33):
investigations Northern California has ever seen. Was it a spontaneous act,
a planned betrayal? And who was behind it? By the
end of this video, we'll piece it all together how
a night of celebration turned into a tragedy that still
echoes today. So if you're ready to dive into this

(01:30:54):
real crime saga, smash that like button and let's get
into it beyond the headlines, beyond the tragedy. Who was
the girl at the heart of this true crime case.
Let's take a step back and get to know her,
because Leilani wasn't just a name in a news report.

(01:31:16):
Leilani Marie Beauchamp was born June twelfth, two thousand and two,
in Long Beach, California. She grew up in El Dorado
Hills and then graduated from Carmel Valley High School in Carmel, California.
She was the oldest of three siblings, with a younger
brother and sister who adored her. Her family described her

(01:31:37):
as a true blessing. Friends and loved ones painted a
picture of a vibrant, caring soul, someone who lit up
every room she walked into. Her smile infectious, her laugh
the kind that made you feel like everything was going
to be okay. She was nineteen, a college student chasing
her dreams in San Jose, Balancing school with a tight

(01:32:00):
knit family life. Leilani kept in touch with her siblings
every day, texts, calls, little check ins that showed how
much she cared. But here's what gets me. Leilani wasn't
just some random face at that Halloween party. She knew
people there, trusted them. She'd been to that house on
Cascade Lane before. This wasn't a stranger danger story. It's

(01:32:24):
one of connection, maybe too much trust, and that's what
makes what happened next so hard to wrap your head around.
A night of celebration, a familiar crowd, and yet it
all unraveled. It's Saturday, October thirtieth, twenty twenty one. Leilani's
family is on edge. She'd gone out the night before

(01:32:48):
Halloween weekend, a big party in Sacramento, forty five minutes
from Fairfield. By Saturday evening, she's not answering texts or
calls For a girl who checked in with her siblings
every single day. That's a red flag. Her family files
a missing person report with the Fairfield Police Department that night.

(01:33:08):
They're thinking, Okay, maybe she's just caught up in the
weekend chaos, but deep down they're worried. Now here's where
things escalate fast. Sunday, October thirty, first Halloween Day, over
one hundred miles south of Fairfield in Monterey County, near Salinas,
something strange is about to unfold. Picture this Corral De

(01:33:32):
Tierra Road, a quiet, winding stretch off Highway sixty eight.
It's rural, peaceful think rolling hills and not much traffic.
Around five thirty pm, someone spots something off the roadside,
down a hillside. It's not a deer, not trash, it's
a body wrapped in a blanket. That's someone. We don't

(01:33:54):
know if it was a passerby a hiker or maybe
someone tipped off. But what we do know is this.
Monterey County Sheriff's deputies swarm the scene, They id the remains,
and it's Leilani Beauchamp. The girl reported missing just hours earlier,
is now tied to a grim find far from where

(01:34:15):
she was last seen. Details are scarce, but here's what's
out there. The Monterey County Sheriff's Office later confirmed they
got a tip that Sunday Police aren't saying who dialed
nine to one point one, but that call was the spark.
It turned a missing person case into something way bigger,
spanning three counties. Sacramento, Solano and Monterey Fairfield pds already

(01:34:40):
on alert, and now they're teaming up with Monterey County
and Travis Air Force Base investigators to figure out what
the heck happened. Locals in Salinas were floored. One resident said,
I was blown away. We live in a quiet community.
I walk here daily. This is crazy. Another said, twenty

(01:35:02):
nine years out here and nothing like this has ever happened.
They're shaken, wondering how a body ends up dumped in
their backyard, and Leilani's family they're getting the worst news imaginable.
Her mom, Violet and Grandma Monica are hit with this
on Halloween, a day that's supposed to be fun, now

(01:35:22):
forever marked by loss. Imagine that call we found her,
but she's not coming home. It's every parent's nightmare. Heartbreaking
doesn't even cover it. So how does a nineteen year
old go from a Sacramento party to a Fairfield house
then end up on a hillside in Salinas, all in

(01:35:42):
less than forty eight hours. That's the question buzzing in
everyone's mind. Was she moved right after something went down?
Why so far away? And who tipped off the cops?
The discovery itself is chilling, but it's just the beginning.
The clock's ticking and police start digging. They've got a

(01:36:02):
last known location. She left the party with two Air
Force guys from Travis Air Force Base, headed to a
house on Cascade Lane in Fairfield. That's their first breadcrumb.
Fairfield PD doesn't waste time. They team up with Travis
AFB's Office of Special Investigations OSI for short, because those

(01:36:23):
Air Force ties are screaming for attention. Monterey County Sheriff's
Office jumps in two since that's where Leilani was found.
Three agencies, three counties, one mission. Figure out what happened
between that party and that hillside. Sunday night, they're back
at Cascade Lane with a search warrant. This isn't a

(01:36:43):
casual drop by. They're tearing through the place. Roommates are
questioned and one of them, a guy named Damian Ponders,
spills some tea. He wasn't home when it went down,
but he says Leilani had been there before. She knew
one of the airmen, Juan Para Peralta, a twenty year
old cargo specialist at Travis. As I mentioned earlier, Leilani

(01:37:07):
was last seen leaving the party with two guys. One
was Para Peralta and the other was Damian Ponders. And
here's the kicker. Juan was dating someone else, Jessica Quintinila,
a twenty one year old from Pittsburgh. Suddenly there's a connection,
forming a messy web of relationships. Detectives start tracing Leilani's

(01:37:32):
last hours. She leaves the party around two am Saturday
with Juan Para Paralta and Damian Ponders gets to Cascade
Lane by three or four am. Then silence, no texts,
no calls. Meanwhile, they're pulling phone records, pinging cell towers
and guess what. Jessica's phone lights up in Fairfield that morning.

(01:37:56):
Her brother, Marco's two. He's twenty seven from Pittsburgh and
already on parole for a past conviction. Their signals bounce
from Fairfield to Monterey County over the next twenty four hours.
That's no coincidence. It's a trail. Now, let's talk evidence.
Sunday night search at Cascade Lane turns up something big,

(01:38:17):
traces of what went down. Police won't say exactly what,
but Court Docks later revealed they found signs of a
struggle and a clean up attempt. They found traces of
blood there. It ties Leilani to this house. Then there's
Marco's ankle monitor. Yep, he's wearing one because of that.
Parole data shows him moving from Fairfield to Salinas, right

(01:38:40):
where Leilani's body turns up. It's like he's leaving digital
footprints for the cops to follow. OSI's grilling Juan and
the other airman two Juan's story's shaky. He says he
was there, but clams up about details. The second airman
He's cooperative, but not in the spotlight yet. By Monday,
November one, the pieces are stacking up. Jessica's linked to

(01:39:04):
Juan romantically. Mutual friends confirm it, and that roommate Damien
backs it up. Marco's her brother, and his movements match
the timeline. Juan's at the house where it all started.
Detectives hypothesize something snapped at Cascade Lane, maybe jealousy, maybe
a fight. Prosecutors later float a love triangle theory, but

(01:39:27):
we're not there yet. They've got enough to move. Monday night,
Fairfield PD swoops into Pittsburgh, forty miles away and cuffs
Jessica and Marco. Jessica's the prime suspect. Prosecutors say she
pulled the trigger. Marco's tagged as her helper, accused of
covering tracks. Juan's nabbed two on base at Travis, suspected

(01:39:51):
of knowing more than he's letting on. Here's where it
gets slick. Police don't just stop at arrests. They're building
a case. Jessica's phone, Marco's monitor data, and anything they
can from Juan's place. Sell records show texts between the
siblings Saturday morning, cryptic stuff like it's done or meet me.

(01:40:13):
Marco's monitor ping's near corral De Tierra Road Sunday afternoon,
hours before that nine one one call. Juan's not charged yet,
but he's on thin ice. OSI and Fairfield PD are
watching him close the second airman. He's interviewed and released,
no cuffs. So who are these people? Jessica's a young

(01:40:37):
mom with a two year old son living in Pittsburgh,
a working class city east of San Francisco Bay. She's
not military, but she's tied to Juan, an active duty
cargo specialist at Travis. Friends say they'd been dating a while,
and Jessica was known as fiery protective, maybe too much.

(01:40:57):
Marco's her older brother, a guy with a rap sheet.
Marco was tried and convicted of attempted murder, a violent
felony under California law. He was on parole and wore
an ankle monitor. Juan, He's the quiet one. Born in Mexico,
moved to California as a kid, enlisted in the Air

(01:41:18):
Force at nineteen. Roommates at Cascade Lane like Damian Ponder's
say he was chill, kept to himself, but these three,
they're now the core of this tragedy. The charges hit hard.
Jessica slapped with the heaviest, accused of taking Leilani's life,
plus a special allegation for using a firearm. Prosecutors say

(01:41:41):
she's the one who pulled the trigger at Cascade Lane
that Saturday morning, October thirtieth. Marco's charged as an accessory
helping move Leilani's remains to corral De Tierra Road one
hundred miles south and trying to cover it up. Juan's
hit lighter accessory after the fact, suspected of knowing what

(01:42:02):
went down and not reporting it. He's released on twenty
five thousand dollars bail Tuesday, November two, back on base
under watch, while Jessica and Marco are held without bail
in Solano County Jail. Now, I want to clarify how
Leilani Beauchamp, Juan Para Peralta, and Jessica Quintinila ended up

(01:42:22):
in the same place and time, namely this house. While
he acknowledged that he had planned a surprise October ninth
birthday party for Quintinila Para Paralta said they had separated
for a period of time. In October, following an argument,
Para Paralta allegedly told Quintinila that he was going to
move to another residence and that she need to pick

(01:42:45):
up her things at the Cascade Lane home that he rented.
Leilani Beauchamp was reported missing on October thirtieth, twenty twenty one.
She accompanied Para Peralta to his off base residence on
Cascade Lane in Fairfield in the early morning hours. Jessica
Quintinila entered the home. She came to get her stuff

(01:43:07):
out of that house, but things got out of hand.
According to trial testimony from Para Peralta, who became a
key prosecution witness, Quintinila confronted him and Leilani in the bedroom,
where they were lying in bed together. Para Peralta testified
that Quintinila, enraged upon seeing Leilani Beauchamp, briefly left the

(01:43:29):
room after grabbing a bracelet, only to return within thirty seconds.
Wielding a semi automatic handgun. Standing just a few feet
from the bed, she fired a single shot that struck Beauchamp.
In the head, killing her instantly. Doctor Arnold Josselson, a
Fairfield pathologist who conducted the autopsy, confirmed during the trial

(01:43:51):
that the bullet entered Leilani's head and exited on the
right side, consistent with a close range shot. Following the shooting,
Quintinila allegedly threatened Para Paralta, saying she would kill him
if he didn't assist her. The pair then wrapped Leilani's
body in a blanket. Later that morning, Quintinila drove with

(01:44:13):
Para Paralta to a home depot to purchase a tarp,
though testimony did not clarify if it was ultimately used.
They then transported the body to a rural area near
Corral de Tierra Road in Salinas, Monterey County, where they
dumped it approximately ten yards off the roadside concealed amid vegetation.

(01:44:35):
Prosecutors alleged that Marco assisted in covering up the crime,
including discussions about further concealing evidence. The trial of Jessica
and Marco Quintinilla commenced in Solano County Superior Court under
Judge William Pendergast, with a jury impaneled in late twenty
twenty four, following earlier delays. The prosecution, led by Deputy

(01:44:57):
District Attorney Ilana Shapiro Presi Zenda, case rooted in a
love triangle motive, arguing that Jessica's jealousy over Para Peralta's
involvement with Leilani Beauchamp drove her to commit murder. The
state charged Jessica with felony murder and Marco with being
an accessory after the fact and illegal firearm possession as

(01:45:18):
a felon. The prosecution's case relied heavily on Para Peralta's testimony,
corroborated by physical evidence such as the autopsy findings and
the recovery of Leilani Beauchamp's body. Shapiro emphasized Jessica's lack
of remorse, noting to jurors that she shed no tears

(01:45:38):
for Leilani. During the five week trial, the state painted
a picture of premeditation, arguing that Jessica's decision to retrieve
a firearm after leaving the bedroom demonstrated intent, negating defense
claims of a spontaneous act. For Marco, the prosecution highlighted
his role in aiding his sister, pointing to his presence

(01:45:59):
at the Pittsburgh meeting and prior criminal history as evidence
of his willingness to obstruct justice. Jessica's defense attorney, William
Allen Welch, sought to undermine Para Paralta's credibility, portraying him
as a manipulative figure whose reckless gun play and lies
to investigators might have contributed to the shooting. Welch cross

(01:46:23):
examined Para Paralta extensively, highlighting inconsistencies in his initial statements
to police, such as claiming he hadn't seen Leilani Beauchamp
the night before and suggesting he may have owned the
firearm used in the crime. The defense argued that the
killing could have been an impulsive act in the heat

(01:46:44):
of passion, urging jurors to consider lesser charges like voluntary
manslaughter rather than murder. Welch also depicted the situation as
a tragic outcome of a toxic relationship, asserting that Para
Paralta's actions prove evoked Jessica's response. Based on the available
information and verified reports related to the Leilani Beauchamp case.

(01:47:08):
Marco Quintinila's ankle monitor played a critical role in linking
him to the crime. Here's what the monitor tracking showed.
According to the investigation and court proceedings, Marco's ankle monitor
data indicated that he traveled from Fairfield, California, where the
murder took place at the house on Cascade Lane, to

(01:47:28):
the Salinas area in Monterey County, where Leilani Beauchamp's body
was discovered. Specifically, the tracking showed his presence in Fairfield
on the morning of October thirtieth, twenty twenty one, shortly
after Leilani was last seen alive at the Cascade Lane residence.
Over the next twenty four hours, the monitor recorded his

(01:47:50):
movements southward, placing him in the vicinity of Corral de
Tierra Road near Salinas, approximately one hundred miles from Fairfield
on October six, thirty first, twenty twenty one. This location
matches where Leilani's body was found off a hillside along
that rural road on November one, twenty twenty one. This

(01:48:12):
digital trail corroborated the prosecution's theory that Marco assisted his sister,
Jessica Quintinila, in moving and disposing of Leilani's body after
the murder. After closing arguments on November thirteen, twenty twenty four,
the jury deliberated and returned a guilty verdict against Jessica
Quintinila for felony murder. Two days later, on November fifteen,

(01:48:37):
after the trial concluded, Judge Pendergast sentenced her to twenty
five years to life in prison. The sentence reflects the
jury's rejection of the defense's heat of passion argument, aligning
with the prosecution's portrayal of a deliberate act. Marco did
not go to a full jury trial like Jessica. Instead,

(01:48:58):
he entered a plea deal. Marco pleaded guilty to the
accessory charge on January seventeen, twenty twenty five. Judge William
Pendergast sentenced him to four years in state prison. This
sentence reflects time served over three years in custody since
his arrest and the terms of his plea agreement, which

(01:49:20):
avoided a longer sentence that a trial conviction might have brought.
Juan was not formally charged with murder or any felony
by the Solano County District Attorney's office after his arrest. Instead,
he was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony against
Jessica and Marco Quintinila. His testimony included claims that Jessica

(01:49:43):
shot Leilani, threatened him with a gun to force his cooperation,
and directed him to dump the body in Salinas. Juan,
an active duty cargo specialist at Travis Air Force Base
at the time of the crime, faced separate repercussions from
the Air Force. Both he and his roommate Damian Ponders,

(01:50:04):
another airman who lived at Cascade Lane but was not charged,
were discharged from the military under less than honorable conditions
following the incident. The discharge reflects the Air Force's response
to their association with the case. Even if Juan avoided
criminal charges, Leilani Beauchamp's murder remains a stark reminder of

(01:50:25):
how personal disputes can escalate to irreversible tragedy. What do
you think did the system work? Could this have been stopped?
Drop your thoughts below? Hit that like button. If this
hit you like it, hit me subscribe if you haven't,
We've got more stories coming. See you next time.

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5 Real Crime Cases From Reddit You Won’t Forget - True Crime Stories Compilation

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