Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 04.12.24

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

Father kills son, torches body in failed murder-suicide plot. 9-year-old boy caught trying to drive himself to school.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Manuel Rivera and his wife get in an argument at their New Jersey home. He takes off with their son Christian, driving the nine-year-old to a nearby school. He sends a video to his wife asking her to cremate him and their son, then sets the car on fire with little boy Christian inside. Cops find Rivera still alive near the car with severe burns. Little boy Christian Rivera found dead in the back seat. Nancy, Rivera left a suicide note with a similar message at home, reading, Today is the day that death does us part. Police believe Christian Rivera was dead before his

father set the fire but have not released how the child died. Surveillance video caught Manuel Rivera pouring gasoline over the car and setting it on fire. He remains in the hospital receiving treatment for his self-inflicted injuries. Manuel Rivera, 43, now charged with murder. A California Highway Patrol officer tells the driver stopped in the middle of an intersection to move forward and pull over, but instead the driver speeds off. After a short and erratic chase, the car finally pulls over on a dirt parking lot. The officer pulls in behind, then the car reverses, ramming the patrol car. The cop pulls his weapon, approaches the car to find a nine-year-old boy driving.

The boy is attempting to drive himself to school. The officer kindly gives the student a ride and informs his parents to pick up the car and have a talk with their son about why driving at age nine is not a great idea. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. A prosecutor has stated to jurors that an Idaho man accused of three murders in an unusual doomsday case created an alternate reality in order to satisfy, quote, his desire for sex, money, and power. With more, here's Sydney Sumner with Crime Online.

55-year-old Chad Daybell is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, insurance fraud, and grand theft in relation to the murders of 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, 7-year-old Joshua J.J. Vallow, and 49-year-old Tammy Daybell. Lori Vallow Daybell, the children's mother, was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole last year for the killings. The prosecution claims that the couple developed a comprehensive and apocalyptic belief system to justify the three killings. This was all part of a complex plan to remove any barriers to their relationship and to collect money from life insurance and survivor benefits. During Vallow Daybell's trial, a friend testified that the defendant called her two youngest children

zombies. John Pryor, Daybell's defense lawyer, painted a contrasting picture for the jurors, pointing out that while Daybell was a devout Christian, his beliefs about things like premonitions were more commonplace. Additionally, Pryor disclosed to the jury the violent past of Alex Cox, the brother of Lori Vallow Daybell. Cox was convicted of shooting and killing Vallow Daybell's fourth husband after he had also been found guilty of assaulting her third husband. Daybell's lawyer contended in the opening remarks that his client was a regular, devout man before he met Lori Vallow Daybell, who, according to the attorney, showered Daybell with attention. She was a, quote, beautiful, vivacious person who enticed Daybell into an illicit relationship, this according to his defense team. Daybell's lawyer said that he will call in multiple forensic, medical, and genetic specialists to attest to

the fact that no DNA from Chad Daybell was discovered with the children's remains, and that it is hard to pinpoint the cause of Tammy Daybell's death. In his summary of the case against Daybell, the prosecutor, Rob Wood, organized his remarks for the jury like chapters in a book, seemingly alluding to the defendant's past writing endeavors. Chad Daybell wrote fiction that he self-published and that was mostly based on his beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now to Arizona as a man found guilty of the murder of a six-year-old Tucson girl whose body was discovered in a remote desert area years later has now been sentenced to

life in prison. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. Christopher Clements gave a meandering statement in court prior to his sentencing, expressing his dissatisfaction with his trial process. The 42-year-old was convicted two months ago of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and burglary in connection with the 2012 disappearance of Isabel Solis from her parents' house. According to Tucson Police, Clements emerged as a suspect in the death of Isabel Solis in 2017 after he offered to guide FBI investigators to the girl's remains in exchange for having charges dropped in a separate burglary case. Clements claimed he had no connection to the girl's death. After a separate Pima County Superior Court jury was unable to

reach a judgment in 2023, Clements was found guilty on February 29 in a retrial of the Solis case. Clements was also given a 17-year prison sentence for kidnapping and a three-and-a-half-year sentence for burglary by Judge James Marner. These sentences are to be served consecutively to other convictions. Since 2014, Clements has been serving a natural life sentence in prison for the murder of 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez, who vanished while on her way to a friend's house. Days later, her body was discovered, also in a desert location. It was in 2018 that Clements was taken into custody in relation to the two girls' deaths. In 2022, Clements was sentenced for kidnapping and murdering Gonzalez. Thanks, John. Mark Gasso

doesn't show up for work. A friend and co-worker heads to Mark's Southbury, Connecticut home to check on him. The friend finds Mark's door unlocked, TV on, shower running, his cell phone and wallet in the home, but no Mark. The friend spoke with Mark just two days earlier, the same day Mark called 9111 claiming a woman was inside his home but when police arrived no one was there but Mark. Gasso admits he takes muscle relaxers for an old injury and was drinking that night. Other than a small dried red stain on his mattress there's no other leads on Mark Gasso. Southbury police call his home a crime scene but no more details. Mark Gasso now missing over three years. If you have info on Mark Gasso please contact

Southbury Connecticut PD 203-264-5912. For the latest crime and justice news go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.