48 Hours - The Plot to Eliminate Alyssa Burkett

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

A toxic couple orchestrates an elaborate plan to kill a mother. Peter Van Sant reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Go to ConstantContact.ca for your free trial. ConstantContact.ca What was lost when Alyssa was taken? What was lost with her murder? My daughter, Willow's mother, everything. How do you keep Alyssa alive for her daughter, Willow? Show her pictures, this is your mom, this is your mom. Every Mother's Day, we visit the grave, we take flowers, we take cards, you know, we talk about her all the time. What does this say? Mother of Willow Ann. I hope that when she learns what happened, she doesn't let it tear her apart. October 2nd, 2020.

October 2nd, 2020. Any crime scene is going to be inside that tape? It's inside that tape. I remember my phone was continuously ringing, ringing. And I finally answer it because it's my supervisor. And she's frantic and she's telling me, you've got to get to Green Tree Apartments. I heard that pop and I turned around and I knew it was a gunshot.

And she says, something has happened to Alyssa. What happened to her? We're gonna start having family members show up here. I pull up, police, fire trucks, ambulance, everywhere. She got shot in the car. Okay. She can see her hand prints. Who are you? I'm Detective Harding.

I remember asking that officer. I said, she didn't make it, did she? And he said, no, she didn't. And I just lost it at that point. When you learned that your sister was dead, did you have a suspect in mind? I knew immediately it was Andrew Beard. I knew that the only person I could think that would want her dead was Andrew Beard. She even said, I think he's the kind of person that's going to try to kill me.

And he did. And he did. Oh my God. person that's gonna try to kill me. And he did, and he did. Oh my God. It was one of the most brutal scenes that I've been to in 32 years of law enforcement. You could see the rage. Don't touch anything, okay? What does it tell you when it's this vicious

about the killer? It's personal. She apparently has had a history with baby daddy. Within an hour of getting to the crime scene, we knew that we needed to look for Andrew Beard. Andrew Beard is the suspect? Yes. He cannot get away with this.

He cannot get away with this. At first this seemed like an open and shut case. But as it turned out, Andrew Beard was only half the story. Peter Van Sant reports the plot to eliminate Alyssa Burkett. In the months after Alyssa Burkett was murdered, she appeared to her mother Teresa Collard in a dream. I see her across the room and in my dream I knew she was gone. But I was hysterically happy that I was seeing her and I was thinking, you're back.

She came to me and said, no I'm not back and I don't want to come back, and I never want to be there again. I was puzzled, why don't you want to come back? And she said, because I was always afraid there. Although 24-year-old Alyssa Burkett had been afraid for months, the attack at this apartment complex where she worked in Carrollton, Texas, Burkett had been afraid for months, the attack at this apartment complex where she worked in Carrollton, Texas, north of Dallas, came as a surprise.

So when you arrive here, what do you see? According to one of the lead detectives, Michael Harding, Alyssa pulled into her usual parking space at around 9 a.m. Alyssa's car was actually parked right here where this green van is, right here, and the assailant's vehicle had parked right next to her in this spot. Were you here when everything happened? Yes, I was sitting at my desk. Witnesses say the assailant exited his vehicle,

a black Ford Expedition SUV, with a gun in his hand. She had the window up and he shot right through the window. Maintenance supervisor Darren Eichler, about 15 feet away... It's horrible. ...heard the gun blast and turned around. What do you see? I see a black SUV starting to back out of the parking spot. Investigators believe the shooter thought Alyssa was dead.

The blast had destroyed her left eye and part of her face. But Alyssa Burkett was still alive. She gets out of her car and she walks up to this landing to try to get help, because she knows her co-workers are here. The shooter, described by some as a black man... I would like to say the black man... Got out of the vehicle and began sprinting toward Alyssa, this time with a new weapon in his hand,

something more personal, a large hunting knife. Did you see him holding the knife? Yeah, in the hand. After he starts to stab her, she's still fighting. On this window right here, there was a blood, hand-print smear where Alyssa was trying to get anyone to come out and help her. But fearing it was an active shooter situation, they stayed inside. We're just getting our day started.

And the attacker launched into a rabid killing frenzy, plunging his knife into flesh and bone again and again. Incredibly, Alyssa was still breathing when her assailant fled. Once the suspect left, her coworkers came out to try to render aid. One of her colleagues made this call to 911. 911, what is the address of the emergency? Someone came up and just shot my assistant manager. Where is the shooter?

I don't have enough information. He's gone. He left in his car. He literally left a second ago. Fire department pulled up first. They come up. I get out of the way and let them do their thing. They start working on it right here? You know where she was standing? Immediately, yeah. And it was too late. She was gone.

Alissa had been stabbed and slashed a total of 44 times. Alissa's mother, Teresa, immediately gave the police a name. And it wasn't a black man. It was Andrew Beard. I know he did this. He's an evil person. Teresa told detectives that Andrew Beard and Alissa were in the throes of an ugly custody battle over their one-year-old daughter, Willow Ann.

A battle that began when Alissa was still pregnant, says her friend, Brandy Reagan. He initiated by asking her if he could have full custody of the baby after the baby was born. And what did Alyssa have to say to his idea of him getting full custody? I think you better be effing kidding me. Alyssa and Andrew were worlds apart from the beginning.

He was almost nine years older, established with a good job at a tool company, a nice house, even had a plane. She was 22, loved eating turkey legs at state fairs, and was still figuring life out. After meeting on a dating app, they had a fling, nothing serious. But then she found out she was pregnant, says her friend and roommate, Shelby Wright. I'll never forget. She's just standing there hysterically crying and upset.

She couldn't even speak. And she hands me a pregnancy test that said positive. And I honestly had no words for her. But as the pregnancy progressed, Alyssa's fears turned to excitement, says Shelby, especially when she learned it was a girl. On July 23, 2019, Alyssa gave birth to a baby girl she named Willow. And when you saw them together, Alyssa and Willow, what was that experience like? Amazing. Motherhood looked great on her.

Yes. Just looking at the two of them, you could tell that their relationship was, I mean, everything. I always love how she's looking at her in this picture. Madison Grimes is Alyssa's younger sister. Willow clung to her every second of every day, and I think that tells you a lot about the mother Alyssa was.

Alyssa went back to college and got a good job as an assistant property manager. I think everything she did at that point in her life was for Willow. She wanted to be successful for Willow. She didn't want Willow to grow up and struggle. She just wanted Willow to have an easy life. Andrew, who had joint custody, had Willow a few days every week, but he kept pushing for primary custody, dragging Alyssa in and out of court

hearings, emptying her bank account. She was terrified. Willow, at this point, was the most important thing in her life. And when she looked at the bigger picture, Andrew, he made more money than her. You know, he had a house. He had all the nice things that she didn't have. So she was afraid that, you know, he wanted Willow and he was going to get her. Andrew's mother, Lizette Bowers, says her son was acting out of love, not malice. My son, Andrew Beard, is a loving, warm individual

who always operated from his heart, from his core center. When he had Willow, she was constantly strapped to the front of him. He was reading to her. He wanted her to see the whole world every day. He just felt that he could provide her more stability. In March 2020, when Willow was eight months old, things seemed to change for the better.

The feuding parents found common ground, finally reaching an agreement on visitation and child support. And so things seemed to calm down. Things calmed down, yeah. But a gathering storm was about to come barreling in. It was 1983. Power suits and perms were all the rage. Nightclubs pulsed with energy. And from bedrooms to boardrooms, cocaine was the drug of choice. One woman was raking in cash to keep that supply chain moving.

Her name was Laney Jacobs. But Laney had her sights set higher. She dreamed of becoming a Hollywood movie producer. That's how it starts. Before it ends, someone will be shot dead. From Wondery and the team behind the hit series Hollywood and Crime comes a gripping tale

of ambition, betrayal, and the dark side of moviemaking. Follow Hollywood and Crime, the Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen everywhere on December 2nd, wouldn't crime the Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen everywhere on December 2nd, or you can binge all episodes early and ad-free on Wondery Plus starting November 11th. Did you know that after World War II, the U.S. government quietly brought former Nazi

scientists to America in a covert operation to advance military technology? Or that in the 1950s, the U. the US Army conducted a secret experiment by releasing bacteria over San Francisco to test how a biological attack might spread without alerting the public? These might sound like conspiracy theories, but they're not. They're well-documented government operations that have been hidden away in classified files for decades. I'm Luke Lamanna, a Marine Corps recon vent, and I've always had a thing for digging into the unknown.

It's what led me to start my new podcast, Redacted, Declassified Mysteries. In it, I explore hidden truths and reveal some eye-opening events, like covert experiments and secret operations that those in power tried to keep buried. Follow Redacted, Declassified Mysteries with me, Luke Lamanna, on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

To listen ad-free, join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. In the spring of 2020, it looked like the bitter custody battle between Alyssa and Andrew had finally come to an end. Alyssa had a new guy named Ben, and Andrew fell hard for a woman named Holly Elkins, someone his mom Lizette was thrilled about. I adored her from minute one. she just has this charm and energy. I warmed to her very quickly. Alyssa was happy that he started dating someone else. I guess hopeful that Holly would help this situation,

that Holly would be supportive of the mother that's involved. Holly sent this text to Alyssa. Look forward to having a super healthy relationship with you and Ben. Alyssa responded, I hope your influence helps, because I'd love nothing more for us all to have a healthy relationship. Despite Holly's message, Andrew suddenly became hostile with Alyssa. He was once again demanding primary custody of Willow,

dragging Alyssa back into court. He was always very short, very rude, very hateful. It just totally changed the way that they communicated together. Alyssa couldn't shake this uneasy feeling that she was being watched, and began telling family and friends that Andrew always seemed to know what she was doing. He knew where she was.

He knew where Willow was. He knew just other places that she had been. I remember one night she was out with one of her friends and they were at a bar in downtown Dallas. And she's like, text me, oh my gosh, Andrew is here. And in my mind, I'm like, the odds of that happening are slim to none. You know, she didn't know how he was tracking her.

She just knew that she was being tracked. How would you describe what she went through? Hell. I mean, every day you feel like you're having to watch over your shoulder. That's how I felt she lived. Hi everyone. My name's Alyssa. Madison found this video after Alyssa's death. It was never posted. This past year I have been going through a custody battle, a very ugly one. I have a one-year-old child. It's taken a toll on my

mental and physical health. With that being said, I've become a lot stronger in the process. And I guess just my message is no matter what you're going through, stick it out. You can do it and stay strong. But she would continue to be tested. In September 2020, one month before her murder, it reached a whole new level. A man who said his name was Frank Morrow called 911 and reported that Alyssa was selling drugs out of the trunk of her car at work. I saw what I thought looked like someone just selling some drugs out of their truck and I could smell it and I could see it. Okay, what kind of vehicle is it? It's a little Toyota Corolla.

I have a license plate at that house. Okay, great. What was your last name? Maro. Acting on this tip, Carrollton police officers descended on the Green Tree Apartments leasing office and confronted Alyssa. She gave them the keys to her car and they opened the trunk. Inside they discovered drugs, a pistol and some cash, exactly where the caller said they

would be. So your daughter suddenly now looks like a drug dealer and a dangerous one as well. She's armed. Yes. I mean, is Alyssa worried that she's going to get arrested, lose her job? Yes, all of the above. She's worried about her job. She thinks, yeah, she's going to be arrested.

Now he's going to use this in court. So she's for sure going to lose Willow. After questioning Alyssa, it was clear to police that she knew nothing about the drugs and pistol in the trunk of her car. They concluded those items had been planted. The caller had tried to frame her. Alyssa knew in her gut that caller was Andrew Beard. Later that day, she texted her roommate, Shelby.

Alyssa messaged me and said, he is going to try to get someone to kill me next. And when you read those words? My heart dropped. That wasn't who she was. She wasn't a fearful person. Showing and asking for help shows me that she was genuinely scared.

She knew that, you know, whatever was coming next was going to be serious. The once fearless young woman had become scared for her life. These are some of the texts she sent to her sister Madison. Come over while I walk inside. Lock the door behind you. Do you see anyone around you? And Alyssa wasn't the only one who was terrified.

It kept progressing. Each thing that he would do just kept getting worse. And after this point, framing her and she didn't get arrested, I thought, well, what else is there to do besides kill her? One month after the drugs and gun were planted in Alyssa Burkett's car, she was dead. I knew that it was him when the drugs didn't work in the car

for him to get the baby. Once we talked to Alyssa's mom, we had an idea who we were looking for. And who was that person? That person was Andrew Beard. Oh, my God! And to Teresa's horror, he had visitation with Willow that day. The baby was with him.

Yes, I want my green baby away from him. My first thoughts were if he's gonna kill Willow. Within hours of the murder, the police pulled over Andrew Beard's F-150 pickup truck for an alleged traffic violation. Andrew and his fiance, Holly Elkins, were asked to get out of the vehicle.

The daughter's in a car seat in the back seat. Much of the body cam footage in this program has been resized so you can see it better. They've been pretty cooperative. Andrew seemed unfazed by the whole thing, says Detective Harding. He was very calm. He wasn't amped up.

He didn't seem nervous. My part was to just find him. That's all they asked me to do. Ultimately, Andrew and Holly were allowed to go. And because he had court mandated visitation rights, take Willow with them. But the police seized his F-150 pickup and instructed him not to return home.

Andrew, Polly, and Willow went to a hotel. You have your garage card. And that night, a search of Andrew's house turned up critical evidence. This was found inside a living room in one of Andrew Beard's backpacks. Such as this envelope, scribbled with incriminating notes. Upon reading the notes, we realized

those were tied to the Frank Morrow 911 call. Frank Morrow, the caller who had reported Alyssa was selling drugs out of her car. Alyssa's license plate number, the color and model of the vehicle, Frank Morrow, everything that he needed to make that 911 call was on this back of this envelope. It's like you discovered the screenplay to this fully call to 911. I was kind of shocked.

I was like, he kept this? So we found this GPS tracker box. Also in plain view, says another lead detective, Jeremy Chevalier, charging stations and batteries that match the tracking device detectives discovered on Alyssa's car after the murder. So this is the device that was put on her car. That was all part of his plan to catch her doing something that he believed that she shouldn't be doing. To gain an advantage in that child custody dispute.

A search of that Ford F-150 seized at the traffic stop turned up more jaw-dropping evidence. So this is one of the makeup vials that were recovered from inside one of the bags in the F-150. It was a foundation called Java. It's really dark. Very dark. And the purpose of that was what do you believe?

Was to disguise Andrew Beard's face, to make him look like an African American. The police found the knife sheath at the scene, but never found the knife or the gun. But the day after the homicide, they found something just as important, that black SUV. They learned Andrew had bought it specifically to commit the murder.

And there it was, abandoned less than a mile from Andrew's house. He drove it to that location and he fled back to his house the morning of the murder. That's Andrew Beard captured on a home security camera, fleeing through the neighborhood. He is doing the Bigfoot run from this vehicle. What'd you find when you guys processed

the inside of this vehicle? We were able to recover multiple spots where blood was recovered. That was later tested to be Alyssa's blood. They also found another part of his disguise, a fake beard. That looks like a Halloween kind of beard. It is. Exactly, yes.

He purchased a Halloween costume. So that's what led us to get the arrest warrant for Andrew Beard. Andrew Beard, who still had Willow, had been staying in an Airbnb with his fiancee Holly Elkins and mother Lizette. When we were at the Airbnb, he got a call. He was going to be arrested. Just three days after Alyssa was killed, Willow was sent back to Teresa.

And Andrew Beard turned himself into the police. Andrew Beard, come over here. He was charged with murder. I was confident they had the wrong man. So was Holly Elkins. She volunteered to speak to the police. I want to help. I really do. But I don't have any answers. Incredulous that the man she planned to marry

was capable of murder. So I just told all my friends and family that I'm engaged to the most wonderful man on the planet. And now people want me to believe that he's not that. And there are so many emotional roadblocks for you to try to believe that. I get that. I can't believe that my fiance would do something like that

to a woman or to anybody but a woman. Detective Chevalier on the right and Detective Harding on the left interviewed Holly for about an hour, hoping to turn her into a witness for the prosecution. I'm telling you, there's a side of him that you do not know. But she stood by Andrew, insisting that he had an alibi.

He was home with her when the murder took place. There are a few hours that you know he was not in that house. You cannot tell me that I feel that way, sir. I can tell you that because I know that for a fact that he was out of the house, Holly. I don't know that for a fact. That's what my problem is. Holly remained adamant that she would have known if he had left. I am a total stage five clinger girlfriend.

I'm always up his ass. I find it hard to believe The interview ended with Holly standing by her man She and Andrew's mom Lizette Continued living together in an Airbnb They became extremely close and bonded over their shared belief that Andrew was innocent, says Lizette. We stayed so close, we were just connected at the hip and made agreements to never go anywhere without one another. Finally, after two weeks behind bars, Andrew was released unbond. Lizette was overjoyed. Holly, as Lissette would soon discover, not so much.

They told us he's coming home tomorrow, and Holly says, I'm going. She's holding her suitcase. And she goes, I'm going, I'm leaving. I'm going home. But the day before Andrew gets home, why are you choosing now? During this scary, scary time in his life. She'd already ordered her Uber and never came back. Detective Chevalier says he was so worried about Willow's safety,

he reached out to the federal government to take the case under federal firearm laws. Because an unregistered silencer was found in Andrew's home, the feds agreed. Andrew Beard was re-arrested eight days after he bonded out. Ultimately, at that point, our goal was to get him back into custody. Andrew was ultimately charged with cyber-stalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in death. One year and eight months after Alyssa's murder, Andrew called his mother with unimaginable news.

He said, you know, Mom, I'm gonna plead guilty. So I immediately said, well, Andrew, you're not gonna plead guilty to anything you didn't do because clearly he didn't murder her, in my mind, because that's out of character and not who he is, and it was stupidly done, and he's not stupid. So it never was him. But she would learn it was him.

He admitted he did it. He killed the mother of his child. I have physically dropped to my knees sometimes feeling like I've gotten punched in the stomach. And I have to tell myself, I have to tell myself that that was a moment, a heinous, awful, out ofacter, broken moment. Andrew Beard pleaded guilty. But the investigation wasn't over. Andrew Beard was talking and he had a lot to say. How come you waited so long to talk about what Holly did?

What do you make of Holly Elkins' interview with detectives? See more evidence from the case at 48hours.com. Did you know that after World War II, the U.S. government quietly brought former Nazi scientists to America in a covert operation to advance military technology? Or that in the 1950s, the US Army conducted a secret experiment by releasing bacteria over San Francisco to test how a biological attack might spread without alerting the public? These might sound like conspiracy theories, but they're not.

They're well-documented government operations that have been hidden away in classified files for decades. I'm Luke Lamanna, a Marine Corps recon vent, and I've always had a thing for digging into the unknown. It's what led me to start my new podcast, Redacted Declassified Mysteries. In it, I explore hidden truths and reveal some eye-opening events, like covert experiments and secret operations that those in power tried to keep buried. Follow Redacted Declassified Mysteries with me, Luke Lamanna, on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

To listen ad-free, join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. From the award-winning masters of audio horror. I see a face right up against the window. Bleach white, no hair, black eyes, a round hole for a mouth. It's flat, Taylor. It's completely flat. I don't know what that is. I don't know what kind of a head is flat. Comes the return of Dark Sanctum. Look. What is that coming under the door?

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Join Wondry+, and the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Polly Elkins left Texas and returned to her home state of Michigan two and a half weeks after the murder of Alyssa Burkett. She gave no hint of what she'd left behind, says her best friend from childhood, Stephanie Goddard. Did she ever mention the name Alyssa Burkett to you? Never. Never? Never. Never. Never.

Not once. She didn't talk about Andrew Beard either. Not even once, nope. Stephanie, who met up with Holly about seven months after she returned to Michigan, says her old friend appeared to be starting life anew. A new condo, a new Lexus, a new man. She had this boyfriend with her, so everything just seemed really normal. A new, a new condo, a new Lexus, a new man.

She had this boyfriend with her. So everything just seemed really normal. Stephanie says from the time she was a teenager, Polly always had a guy and she knew how to wrap them around her little finger. It was like a cat and mouse thing. When you say cat and mouse, she was the cat. Oh, absolutely.

Yes, she was the cat. Oh, absolutely. Yes, she was the cat. She controlled the relationship. Absolutely. She was the one in the driver's seat. Back in Texas, investigators were just beginning to learn more about the fiancee who had skipped town after the murder. One year and nine months after Alyssa was killed, Andrew Beard spoke to the FBI as part

of a plea deal. I'm assuming absolutely. It does look planned out because it was. The process was planned out. It quickly became clear to investigators that this Holly Elkins... I'm trying to help. I know it's helping me. The Holly Elkins seemingly torn apart by Alyssa's death.

I just feel bad to not... I just feel bad to not help something that I think is very sad that happened. ...was giving the performance of her life. I literally cried myself to nauseam every single night over this. What did you learn about her true feelings about Alyssa? She hated Alyssa. She hated Alyssa with a burning passion. Investigators dug back into Andrew and Holly's text messages, many of which Alyssa's family also saw. Both of you learned that Holly had some derogatory words about Alyssa.

What did she call her? Ugly, fat, a bad mom, all things that she wasn't, and f***ing baby mama. It was my sister's contact name and Holly's phone. See baby mama, derogatory word that any woman finds despicable. What the heck's all that? Jealousy. Holly wanted something Alyssa had, and she didn't. that any woman finds despicable. What the heck's all that? Jealousy. Holly wanted something Alyssa had, and she didn't,

says Madison. She wanted Willow. Why was she so obsessed with Willow? That was her life. She wanted a perfect family, and that was her way of getting it. Alyssa was going to stand in her way of doing that. If it was Friday, Holly would have been with us.

The more Andrew talked, the clearer Holly's role became, says Detective Chevalier. What portrait did he paint of Holly Elkins? That she was the one running the show. That she was telling him what he was going to do, when he was going to do it, how he was going to do it. Remember that drug plant? If you were to ask me whose idea was what,

drugs and the planting of drugs was Elkins. Holly Elkins even tried to get Alyssa's mom, Teresa, arrested. The incident started when Teresa and Alyssa drove by Holly and Andrew's home. Teresa says Holly and Andrew's home. Teresa says Holly and Andrew had failed to return Willow at the appointed time. We see Holly on the golf cart with Willow in her lap coming towards the end of their driveway. And I got out of the car and I grabbed Willow, went and got back in the car, handed Willow

to Alyssa and sped off. Holly immediately called the police, who arrived with body cams rolling. Holly told them Teresa assaulted her when she grabbed Willow from her lap. She literally talked me from behind, or from behind side. I was facing the lake. Teresa says she never touched Holly.

But Holly pulled up her shirt to show cops scratches she claimed Teresa had inflicted. I have a... No, no, no. Oh, you have some on your stomach? Yeah. What did you think of those pictures? That they were ridiculous, that it was so apparent

that she had done that to herself. How would they even think someone else did that to her because they're going downwards, like your own hand did it. The police agreed, concluding the injuries looked like they were self-inflicted. But it only made things more dangerous for Alyssa, says Detective Chevalier. The things that they were doing

to try to get custody of Willow wasn't working at that point. And I think that they decided we would get to up the game. And up in the game meant getting rid of Alyssa. Hollie began playing her game of cat and mouse. It was made very clear to me that your previous methods aren't working. This is what you're going to do now in order to prove that, that you're basically worthy.

Worthy of being a man who deserved her love. Holly Elkins writes to Andrew, I don't want anyone who is a b**** to some low life or a pushover. I want a man who protects his women and child before anyone and doesn't give two Fs otherwise. Your comment? It's a straightforward manipulation.

She was gonna make him do what she felt needed to be done, no matter what. And Andrew told investigators it worked. Like I was emotionally drained. And at that point, I just basically said, OK, and became submissive to whatever she wanted me to do. That's the task I did. A week and a half before the murder,

Holly left for Mexico, but didn't let up on Andrew. Here's a text. This is one week before the murders. This is September 25, 2020. Holly Elkins writes, I hope you handle it. I'm not coming home to BS. Andrew Beard says, that's my goal.

To that, Holly texted back, well, it will be a whole different conversation if I feel like you are ride or die. If not, then I don't know. What is she saying to him? To me, it means that you're either with me or you're not with me. You're either going to ride with me and die with me, or you're not going to be with me at all.

After he killed Alyssa, Andrew told investigators Paulie begged for details about the crime. Her request was that he described the murder to her while they were in bed together. It's one of the most degrading things I've ever heard. In May of 2023, Andrew Beard was sentenced to 43 years in federal prison. Investigators believe Holly Elkins thought

the case was over. I think she believed that the further she got away from this, the less involved she was going to be. But it didn't work out for her. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little known British territory called Pitcairn and it harboured a deep dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they

reached the age of 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of them. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trials I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery

App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorises Victorian London. Blood and garlic, bats and crucifixes. Even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about Dracula is that not only is it this wonderful snapshot of the 19th century, but it also has so much resonance today. The vampire doesn't cast a reflection in a mirror. So when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous abilities.

From the host and producer of American History Tellers and History Daily comes the new podcast The Real History of Dracula. We'll reveal how author Bram Stoker rated ancient folklore, exploited Victorian fears around sex, science and religion, and how even today we remain enthralled to his strange creatures of the night. You can binge all episodes of the real history of Dracula exclusively with Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus and the Wondria, Apple podcasts or Spotify. These are the photos of the grave.

We always decorated for every holiday. In July of 2023, almost three years after Alyssa's death, Holly Elkins was arrested by federal agents at the Miami airport as she was returning from a trip to the Dominican Republic. The lanterns, that was, I think, one of my favorite things that we did. An arrest a long time coming for Alyssa's family. What is that? Balloon.

I thought we were never going to see that happen. I felt relief. Pauly, who pleaded not guilty, was charged with conspiracy to stalk and stalking using a dangerous weapon, resulting in death. The FBI had built a compelling case against her, says Detective Chevalier. Hawley's phone really had a lot of stuff on it. Searching for tracking devices. There were indications that they were together whenever the ammunition and the knife were purchased. And they also tied Holly to the makeup Andrew used to disguise himself as a black man.

It was, you're going to dress up as a different person, essentially, you're gonna wear this dark makeup. That was her plan. That was how it's gonna be done. While Andrew seems harmless in this video, never forget that he was the one who chased Alyssa down like a hunter tracking a wounded animal. He furiously stabbed her with a brutality

these detectives had never seen. Andrew ends up saying about why he came back to finish her. What did he say? His statement to us during the interview with Agent Hanson was that he did it out of mercy, that he knew that she was still alive and he was somehow doing her a favor by by killing her. Andrew may have committed the murder alone, but according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, he didn't plan it alone. In April 2024, Paulie Elkins went on trial as a co-conspirator. In the courtroom where no cameras were permitted, one of the prosecutors put it like this, says Detective Harding.

Andrew Beard is a monster, but he was Holly Elkins' monster. I don't want or need a lawyer because I don't have anything to hide. US attorneys painted a picture of a woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. Well, I feel like the dumbest, most manipulated woman on the entire planet, if this is true.

Yes. And what she wanted was a little girl named Willow. And do you believe Holly Elkins was a puppet master in all of this? 100%, I do. She orchestrated this whole thing. I think Holly is wicked. I think she's wicked to the core,

that she would ever want this to happen to another woman, to a mother, to a mother of the child that she had come to love. What if these two had never come together, Holly and Andrew? Would Andrew have committed this murder? I don't think they would have. I 100% believe that if Holly and Andrew had never met, that Alyssa Burkett would be alive today.

After a one-week trial, the case went to the jury. The jury takes just 90 minutes to deliberate. When they come back to that courtroom, what is the verdict? Guilty. Holly was found guilty and sentenced to two life terms, much longer than Andrew. For Alyssa's family, the verdict was a bittersweet victory.

I was thrilled but heartbroken at the same time. I'm so happy that Alyssa is getting the justice she deserved, but at that point it's over. Our fight is over. Two families are left to grapple with the wreckage Holly Elkins and Andrew Beard left behind. Lizette Bowers will forever be known as the mother of a murderer.

He killed someone. And that is beyond awful. It's the worst thing anyone can do. But that's not who I love. And Teresa and Madison must try to make sense of a world without Alyssa in it. We don't get to live the normal life anymore. It was always me and her, my best friend. That was my person. And only getting to be with her for 20 years, that's not... just not fair.

After the trial, Teresa was allowed to take Alyssa's things out of her car. It was pretty emotional for all of us, actually. This was the mirror that she used so she could see Willow from the driver's seat. You know, just knowing that was the last place she was sitting when it happened. I want mama. Willow, who was with Teresa, had never cried over her mother until that day. She was crying, asking me if I could please bring her mom back

just so she could see her one more time. And I tried to explain to her that she's in heaven, and then she asked me if she had a phone number in heaven. One day Willow will learn the whole story of what happened to her mother. Do you know what this is? A little tree. Yep.

And when that time comes, her family hopes Willow will see the beauty in Alyssa's life, not the tragedy of her death. I hope that one day she grows up and she feels the love that her mom sincerely had for her. Teresa is in the process of adopting Willow. Mwah. hours plus subscription on Apple podcasts. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus and the Wondery

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And Don Valley North Lexus is the place. See website for details. Expect excellence. At Don Valley North, Don Valley North for Lexus. A proud member of Wayne's Auto Group. You don't believe in ghosts? I get it. Lots of people don't. It's Auto Group. higher life. I'm Nadine Bailey. I've been a ghost tour guide for the past 20 years. I've taken people along with me into the shadows, uncovering the macabre tales that

linger in the darkness and inside some of the most haunted houses, hospitals, prisons and more. Join me every week on my podcast, Haunted Canada, as we journey through terrifying and bone-chilling stories of the unexplained. Search for Haunted Canada on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you find your favourite podcasts.