Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Georgia Nursing Student On Morning Jog Is Kidnapped and Murdered: Police

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. But I'm here to share that we have a suspect in custody for Lakeland's murder. We are obtaining arrest warrants for Jose Antonio Ibarra. Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University in Georgia, attacked and murdered while running near campus. We have five things we've learned about her, the case, and the man charged with murdering her.

Starting point is 00:00:37 I'm Anjanette Levy, and this is Crime Fix. Laken Riley was a happy, vibrant young woman studying to become a nurse at Augusta University in Athens, Georgia. Last Thursday, a friend of Lakin's reported her missing just after noon when she didn't return from a run at the intramural fields. 30 minutes later, a police report says an officer found Lakin lying on the ground unconscious while searching some woods. He called out to her, but she didn't respond. The University of Georgia officer said Lakin had visible injuries and no pulse,

Starting point is 00:01:11 so he started CPR. From there, UGA police launched its first homicide investigation on campus in nearly 30 years. Police Chief Jeffrey Clark said video from campus security cameras led them to Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old man in the country illegally from Venezuela. Ibarra was living at an apartment building in Athens. Investigations suggest that they had no relationship. He did not know her at all. I think this was a crime of opportunity where he saw an individual and bad things happen. Chief Clark calls the evidence in the case robust.

Starting point is 00:01:52 Abera faces a number of charges, including malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and aggravated battery. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirms Jose Antonio Aberra was arrested in September of 2022 after entering the country illegally. He was paroled and released. Then the NYPD arrested Ibarra in August of 2023 for acting in a way that could injure a child younger than 17, but he was released before an immigration hold could be placed on him. Then he was arrested on Friday for Lake and Riley's murder in Georgia. Meanwhile, Lake and Riley's family is preparing to lay her to rest at a funeral service in Woodstock, Georgia this Friday. Joining me to discuss the very latest in this investigation is somebody who's handled a lot of homicide investigations.

Starting point is 00:02:43 He is retired NYPD Cold Case Sergeant Joe Giacalone. Joe, first of all, they made some very quick work of making an arrest in this case. Your thoughts on how quickly they were able to piece this together? It sounds like the video surveillance on campus was really the key that led them to this guy. Yes, Ingenit, the video has played a key role in this,

Starting point is 00:03:07 as well as many other cases that we see moving forward, and it's becoming an invaluable tool for investigators, right? So they're going out for these canvases pretty early, and when you're dealing with a college campus, we do know that there's video surveillance everywhere. So the idea is finding which one's capturing that video and making sure you can secure it as evidence becomes an important part of it. And the police chief did allude to other potential evidence, including maybe some electronic evidence, too.

Starting point is 00:03:33 So there might be cell phone information. There's a couple of things at play here yet that we don't know about. But I think they have enough evidence right now. One thing we saw in some of the paperwork that's been released so far is the fact that they took a DNA sample from this guy, Jose Antonio Ibera, and that DNA sample will be entered into CODIS, of course. They will compare it, I'm sure, to any evidence found on Lake and Riley's body. We know that he is charged with aggravated assault and her homicide and a lot of other charges, false imprisonment, kidnapping, malice murder. So what else do you expect to happen

Starting point is 00:04:16 since they've collected that DNA sample? Will they run it through CODIS and see if maybe he's connected to some other crimes? Yeah, absolutely. And when you're dealing with this kind of standard operating procedure now, right? So certain states could take DNA upon arrest and certain ones still wait for that conviction, right? So you have differences between different jurisdictions and states. So you have two main databases in CODIS, right?

Starting point is 00:04:43 So CODIS is the Combined DNA Index System. You have what's called the forensic database, which is the DNA that's found at crime scenes that we don't know who it is. And you also then have the offender database, and those are the ones that we know who it is. So they will try to match up if anything comes back in the forensic database or that unknown database, if it comes back to any other crime scenes across the country. And it's a good first step to see if he's responsible for any other serial crimes, let's just say, that has happened throughout the United States since the time he's been in the

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Starting point is 00:05:54 It was 34 times higher, the highest insurance offer. In Philly, Morgan & Morgan won a $26 million verdict. That was 40 times the highest insurance offer. And in New York, Morgan & Morgan won a $6.8 million offer. That was a whopping 25 times the highest offer. There are no upfront fees. It's free to submit a claim and you only pay if you win. Log on to www.forthepeople.com slash crime fix or click the link in the description to sign up and submit a claim. Let's talk a little bit about his time in the United States. We know he was arrested in September of 2022 in El Paso, Texas, where he where he crossed the border illegally.

Starting point is 00:06:39 He was paroled, as they say, and released pending further proceedings. Obviously, those further proceedings never happened or else he, I think, would have been deported. He's later arrested. Fast forward to August of 2023. He makes it all the way to New York City, where he's arrested on a driver's license violation and this endangering somebody younger than 17 charge. That's that last year. and this endangering somebody younger than 17 charge. That's that last year.

Starting point is 00:07:11 And now he's down in Georgia, in Athens, Georgia, in a college town. So he's traveled across the country quite a bit. He's made quite a path. This is a really heinous, violent crime that he is accused of. So does somebody just kind of come out of the woodwork like this and commit a crime like this? Just all of a sudden, I mean, it's, it seems very unusual that somebody would do such a thing just once. I mean, we don't, we don't know exactly how this unfolded or what happened. We will probably learn more about that in the future. Well, yeah, we don't know exactly what transpired at the crime scene or what its motive was yet.

Starting point is 00:07:51 But, for instance, that triangle, so to speak, that he created from Texas to New York to Georgia, I mean, that's why those DNA profiles and the search through the database become very important. That's a huge area for anybody who's traveled across the country, specifically by vehicle, car, or what have you. That's a long way from point A to point B to point C. So there's lots of different investigations that need to be done there. And yes, it's unusual, but not unheard of, right? So people have graduated to murder very quickly.

Starting point is 00:08:21 But there are situations at hand where generally somebody progresses that way. We don't know enough about this man. We don't know anything about his history, past from his home country. So it's difficult to say exactly what really going on here. You know, there was something interesting that Chief Clark said on Friday night when announcing this. You know, he said the evidence was was robust but he also said that this investigation is not over yet so Joe uh you've handled a lot of homicides cold case homicides over the years you've supervised what did that mean when he said that because they've got their guy in custody they say the evidence is robust what else is there to investigate well to me this is a cop speak for

Starting point is 00:09:06 we believe that he's responsible for additional crimes and now that this photo has been posted everywhere they're hoping that people will come forward and saying that yes this is what happened to me or i had a bad experience with this guy and what have you so this is what they're actually looking for and unfortunately when you're dealing with the communities that are here illegally they tend not to want to talk to the police for a couple reasons right one is that they're actually looking for. And unfortunately, when you're dealing with the communities that are here illegally, they tend not to want to talk to the police for a couple of reasons, right? One is that they're here illegally and they're afraid of getting to court. And the second thing is that, you know, from their home countries, they're afraid of the police. So he's trying to, I guess, put out that olive branch to everybody and say, listen, we're not, we're really not interested in your status here in the United States, but if there's something that you know, this guy, he's committed a crime, please step forward because we want to make sure that all the victims get the help that they need.

Starting point is 00:09:51 And in looking through the jail roster, Joe, we saw somebody with the same last name as Ibera. And it turns out it's his brother. And he's a few years older, but his name is Diego Jose Ibera. And he is on an immigration holder now. They've got a holder on him. ICE does. So we assume that he will be deported, but he's accused of faking a green card. So is there any information that police can glean from him?

Starting point is 00:10:22 He's living at the same address as his brother. So is there anything they can get out of him? Or is this something where they will just kind of put him through the legal system here and then deport him? Yeah, well, unlikely. Listen, good police work has to do about debriefing and interviewing and talking to people, right? So you try to talk to or debrief anybody

Starting point is 00:10:42 that can help you with your case. Considering he's the guy's brother, he might not be forthcoming with information but that doesn't mean you go in there with a defeated attitude you give it an opportunity maybe he can give you some information to work with or maybe he can give you uh some tidbit about something else that's going on within the community that they live and come from so it's an important first step and listen I know the likelihood of him getting deported now I think it's an important first step. And listen, I know the likelihood of him getting deported now, I think it's pretty high. So maybe, you know, he wants to make a deal, too. He wants to stay in the country and he wants to be able to do something.

Starting point is 00:11:11 Maybe he can give them some information and the law enforcement can use it as leverage, so to speak. Does your gut tell you that they will find that his brother, Jose Antonio Ibera, that he will be found to have maybe committed some other crimes in the Georgia area, in the Athens, Georgia area? I mean, what is your gut telling you? Well, I mean, we don't know for sure, right? So that's why I think the police just kind of put that out there and just saying, you know, the investigation's not done yet. Because they could have very easily said, we got the evidence, we have the video we have let's say other digital evidence we have a witness let's just say you know case closed we're moving on to something else we'll see you at the trial but they didn't say that so i think they believe that there is there are other potential victims out there and that they

Starting point is 00:11:58 want them to come forward just an awful case joe i, this is a young woman. She was working toward a nursing degree at Augusta university. Just, uh, um, seems very sweet by all accounts. We've read so many nice things about her. You know, she was in a sorority. She worked hard. She does what a lot of girls do. A lot of college kids do a lot of young women, young men do. She goes out for a run and her friends get worried. And she's literally within an hour found dead. I mean, it's just, it's so senseless. And I just can't even imagine what her family is going through right now. Cases like these are always senseless, right? And unfortunately, we've seen a trend now in the last couple of years where women who have been, you know,

Starting point is 00:12:42 jogging on their own have been attacked and killed. So, you know, we want to try to make sure that these paths and these trailways that people are using are safe. They maybe need to come up with, you know, surveillance camera system on these paths and do something. But also, you know, some simple things at first, you know, jog with somebody else. Try not to have your music in your ears or not too loud. You know, these earphones do block out a lot of noise in the background. You can't hear things coming, you know, somebody coming up behind you. So you need to be mindful of that. I think the best thing to do is, you know,

Starting point is 00:13:15 go jogging with somebody else. And it's a shame that we even have to talk about that respect because people should be able to be free and do what they want to do. But we have to be mindful of those around us who wishes harm. Yeah, definitely. I mean, we should be able to be free and do what they want to do. But we have to be mindful of those around us who wish us harm. Yeah, definitely. I mean, we should be able to run around by ourselves and do what we want. But I just feel for her family, it's awful. And we'll keep a close eye on this to see where the investigation goes next. Joe Jacqueline, thank you as always. We appreciate it. And that's it for this edition of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you back here next time. Until then, have a great night. You can download Crime Fix on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your favorite podcasts and new episodes post each weeknight at 6 Eastern time on Law and Crime's

Starting point is 00:14:00 YouTube channel. Daniel Camacho does our video editing. Our head of social media is Bobby Zoki. Our senior director of social media is Vanessa Vine. Savannah Williamson is one of our producers. Diane Kay and Alyssa Fisher book our guests. And Brad Mabey is our audio editor.

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Georgia Nursing Student On Morning Jog Is Kidnapped and Murdered: Police

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Georgia Nursing Student On Morning Jog Is Kidnapped and Murdered: Police

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