Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Teen Thought His Family Were Cannibals So He Killed Them

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. A teenager admits to murdering his own family because he believed they were cannibals who would eat him. I'll tell you how this case against Cesar Elalde unfolded and how it ended. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy.

Starting point is 00:00:25 This is one of those cases that just makes me shake my head. I can't believe it. Cesar Alalde was 18 when he killed his mother, his father, and his two younger siblings in Texarkana, Texas. Murder never makes sense, never. But the reason Cesar Alalde gave to a coworker of his sister, Lisbbeth was so outrageous,

Starting point is 00:00:47 it makes you wonder whether he really believed it or not. It was May 23rd of last year when Lisbeth Alalde didn't show up for work. Her co-worker went to the family's home to check on the family. The co-worker, Joseph Fleeter, is quoted in a probable cause affidavit describing what he saw when he went to the home. The affidavit says, He further stated that other friends and family of hers had called the church looking for information as to her whereabouts.

Starting point is 00:01:23 Fleeter stated that he and his wife responded to the family's residence but could not get anyone to the door. While there, another family member arrived on scene and it was determined that they would force entry into the residence to check on the family. When they entered, they were confronted by Cesar Alalde, who was inside the residence and was brandishing a firearm. Fleeter had his wife exit the residence and he continued to speak with Caesar. Fleeter informed me that Caesar made statements that he had killed his family because they were cannibals and they were going to eat him. Fleeter reported that the suspect pointed the firearm at him repeatedly during their contact

Starting point is 00:02:00 and that at one point he retrieved a knife and brandished that as well. I cannot imagine the fear and the shock that Joseph Fleeter, his wife, and the other family members felt when they encountered Cesar Alalde with a gun and a knife. The affidavit continues describing what police found when they arrived. As we entered the residence and proceeded to the bathroom, I could see multiple spent cartridge casings on the floor as well as blood spatter on multiple surfaces. Unfortunately, we located all four victims, apparently deceased, in a bathroom inside the residence. It appeared as if the victims had been shot at various places in the residence and drugged to the bathroom. We then exited the residence to await issuance of a search warrant to process the rest of the scene. Police then said Cesar Alalde confessed.

Starting point is 00:02:53 Further, the suspect called 911 dispatch and stated that he had pulled the trigger and shot his family. The suspect stated that he had shot four family members and then identified his father, Ruben Alalde, by name. Throughout the 911 call, the suspect stated that he had shot four family members and then identified his father, Ruben Alalde, by name. Throughout the 911 call, the suspect stated numerous times that he had pulled the trigger and that he had killed his family. Last year, I spoke with Dr. Louis Schlesinger, a forensic psychologist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, about this case. The vast majority of family mass murders are committed by adults. There is a small group, however, of youthful familicidal offenders, and Cesar would fall into this category. Cesar Alalde was 18 years old when he killed his family. This case is an absolute

Starting point is 00:03:39 tragedy. Cesar killed his father, Ruben, his mother, Ada Garcia Mendoza, and his sister, Lisbeth, also his younger brother, Oliver. And the reason he gave that he believed they were cannibals who were going to eat him is so beyond the pale and outrageous. It makes you think that he's either severely mentally ill or he just made it up. Well, as soon as I hear something like that, my immediate inclination is to think that it's just not true. However, in this particular case, it does seem to be credible because he didn't say this to the police during an interrogation. He said it spontaneously and immediately to an individual who came onto the crime scene is actually a friend of one of the deceased family members. That's basically the first thing that he said. So it does seem

Starting point is 00:04:31 somewhat credible. Now, we did a study. I have a long-term research project with the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, the folks down in Quantico, on extraordinary crime. And we did a study and published the results a few years ago on youthful familicidal offenders. It's a very rare study because it's a very small group of individuals. We looked at 16 familicides and 19 offenders, because some of these people brought an assistant in to help them kill their whole family. Familicide is basically a family mass murder. The vast majority of offenders kill their families because of anger, and they don't want to be controlled by them. But we had two cases where there was delusional ideation.

Starting point is 00:05:20 And so is it rare? Yes, but it's not unheard of. So this does ring true. Cesar Olalde was found incompetent to stand trial once, but then found competent on two other occasions. Last month, he pleaded guilty to murdering his family. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Later on, I'm going to tell you more about the victims and how they're being remembered. I want to tell you about Upside. It's a free app that gets you cash back on things like gas, groceries, and restaurants. This is real cash back. It's money that appears in your Upside app that you can transfer straight into your bank account.

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Starting point is 00:06:32 Bridget Williams is here with me. She's a former prosecutor, now a trial attorney based in Texas. Bridget, this case is not a whodunit. I can't believe that Cesar Alalde thought that his family were cannibals, including his little brother, and that they were going to eat him. It is a bizarre case. And it's not a case of, again, like you just said, who did it here? We know exactly who did it. The question becomes, was he mentally competent? Did he understand that this was something that was really happening? Was he killing his family or did he truly believe that these people were cannibals and they were going to kill him? To other occasions, he was deemed competent to stand trial. So what does that tell you?

Starting point is 00:07:35 I mean, do we think that maybe they thought maybe there was some mental illness going on and then maybe he got some medication? Because when you're incompetent to stand trial, all that really means is maybe you're having some mental health issues. You can't assist in your own defense. Maybe you're not understanding what's going on. They can send you for treatment. They can get you some medication and they can get you to a position where you're able to assist with your defense and where you're able to understand what's going on. So do you think that's what happened here? I'm not really sure exactly what could have happened. That is a possibility. However, when you have conflicting expert testimony, because that's what's happening here, one particular mental health expert deemed him to be incompetent at first, and then he got

Starting point is 00:08:16 reevaluated again. And then they stated, oh, well, yes, he is competent. When you have those two things, it could be a multitude of things. Maybe they are questioning him on different issues. Maybe he did get some assistance and then he became better. We don't know yet. And so that's not something that is privy for us to know. But it is something that we can question. And if he had moved forward in a trial setting and let's say he had lost in that trial setting that would be grounds for an appeal for him to have for a motion for appeal so he did use that or could have used that as something that could have been a grounds for appeal if had he moved forward we all know that he chose to plead out this case but it's it's something that he could have used going forward if he

Starting point is 00:09:03 chose to he did plead out in this, and the sentence was life plus 50 years. So he is never getting out. This crime was so incredibly heinous. So does this make you think that maybe he was making this up, this whole, I think my family, including my little brother, Oliver, who's just like this cute little kid, that they were cannibals. Or do you think that there was some mental illness going on here? I mean, it's hard to, I'm asking you to get inside this guy's head, but what are your thoughts? I'm going to say that I think that this is really a mental

Starting point is 00:09:41 health issue because any person who can fathom up just a story of this magnitude to say, well, my family, the people that I have been living with my entire life, you know, my mother, my father, like you just stated, his younger brother and older sister, I believe, you know, can fathom up something to think that these people are here to kill me, to hurt me. I think that there's going to be some mental health issues there. We don't know. Like I stated before, the expert person who evaluated him did state that he had some mental health issues there, right? And I do believe him agreeing to a plea doesn't necessarily mean that he thought that he did this on purpose or he intentionally did it.

Starting point is 00:10:25 Agreeing to a plea doesn't necessarily mean that. He probably just had that discussion with his attorney. And with that discussion, he decided that was what was best for him and his future in his life. It is absolutely, absolutely heartbreaking. You know, part of me thinks, because this is Texas, that the prosecutor might have thought, this is a death penalty case. As a former prosecutor, what goes into that calculus? I mean, does the mental health aspect of this come into that calculus that you don't seek the death penalty? Obviously, maybe you have family members, too too who might've been opposed as well. Well, let's go back to that original part of that question.

Starting point is 00:11:10 This is Texas, right? And whenever there is a case where there are multiple murders from the same occurrence, that's gonna be capital murder. That's a capital murder charge right there. That's what happened here. And then there's a murder of a child under the age of 10. There's also a capital murder there as well. So capital murder punishment is going to either be life without parole or the death penalty.

Starting point is 00:11:32 Right. So those were to be the things that he would be facing had he moved forward with a jury trial found guilty. Then the jury could have assessed the death penalty for him. And so when we move forward to that second part of that question, is mental illness considered in that? Then yes, it is. Going forward after that, then the person who has a mental illness or is deemed mentally incompetent, then Texas does not move forward with the death penalty for people of that magnitude. But two other individuals, two other experts found him to be competent. So there's conflict in testimony there. But that is something if I were a prosecutor in that position, I would have certainly been moving forward with requesting the death penalty from the jury after he had been deemed guilty or after he had been found guilty in the guilt sentencing and the guilt part of the face you know there there were some

Starting point is 00:12:32 things in this case that suggested you know he knew what he was doing i mean he they talked about in the affidavit um that he had he had shot and killed. I mean, he fessed up to it. He tells the 911 call taker that he did it. He tells the guy who goes there, Lizbeth's co-worker, that he did this, that he thought the family was going to eat him. He drags all of them, according to the affidavit. The bathroom. Yeah. And drags them into the bathroom and puts them in the bathroom. I mean, there are shell casings all over. I just can't even imagine. I can't even imagine what unfolded in that house. So there's a lot that shows he knew exactly what he was doing

Starting point is 00:13:19 and he didn't try to cover it up. That's true um there were several things that shows that this was done intentionally however it doesn't show that he thought that these individuals weren't bad cannibals so he could have intentionally been thinking i am intentionally killing cannibals who were going to hurt me so all of those factors show an intentional killing, but it doesn't show that he didn't think that these individuals were not what he said. He said that he thought that they were going to harm him. So he intentionally killed them. So all of those things, they just show an intentional killing. What is interesting to me is that the person who comes afterwards to check in, I believe I read that he threatened those individuals.

Starting point is 00:14:07 So why are you threatening those people, right? So that goes on further to show a little more of an intentional of what happened and not necessarily I am killing or murdering people who were going to harm me in any way. Yeah, he pulled a knife on them and showed a gun as well. And you're right. I mean, you know, the whole thing about like, oh, I think they're cannibals and they're going to eat me. It's like to me, like schizophrenia almost. And I obviously am not diagnosing this guy. I don't know him and

Starting point is 00:14:37 I'm not a psychologist, but there's a lot going on there. This this case is a tragedy, putting him in prison. What's going to happen is it's going to protect the public from him and he will never see the light of day again. Bridget Williams, thank you so much for your time and your insight. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. I had a great time. Thank you. Now I want to tell you about how loved ones of the victims are remembering them. The obituary for Rubin, Ada, Lisbeth, and Oliver described Ruben as a hardworking and wonderful man

Starting point is 00:15:09 who loved his family. Ada was a loving and caring lady, the obituary said, who loved everyone, and she adored her children and grandchildren and enjoyed planting flowers. Lisbeth loved teaching and traveling and had many dreams. And finally, little Oliver was described as a funny and playful boy who loved to and traveling and had many dreams. And finally, little Oliver was described as a funny and playful boy who loved to eat Chick-fil-A. That's it for this

Starting point is 00:15:30 episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Teen Thought His Family Were Cannibals So He Killed Them

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Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Teen Thought His Family Were Cannibals So He Killed Them

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