Dateline NBC - An American fugitive in Italy. A detective's alleged Instagram account. Plus, Kristil's Law.

Episode Date: May 21, 2026

Lee Gilley, a Houston entrepreneur accused of murdering his wife and unborn child seeks asylum in Italy after cutting off his ankle monitor and fleeing the US. Now questions loom about when or if he'll be extradited back to Texas to stand trial. In the run up to the retrial of a former college football player for murdering his team-mate, his defense attorney raises questions about a potential new prosecution witness and the lead detective. In Dateline Round Up, a pivotal ruling in the case against Luigi Mangione. And Utah grief author and convicted killer, Kouri Richins speaks out at her sentencing. Plus, the cousin of a woman who was stalked and then murdered by her own husband, sets out to change the law on how stalking is investigated.   Listen to the full episode of “The Phantom” on Apple: https://apple.co/4mGwFYA   Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1aD1jMdHTYYbM6iywq62sU   Find out more about the cases covered each week here: www.datelinetruecrimeweekly.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Good morning. You're listening to the Dateline story meeting. We'll get going. It's a busy day here. Our producers are swapping tips and ideas. What do we think he means by chaotic and hectic? Everything turns south real quick. Goodness knows what's going to happen with this story. Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly.

I'm Andrea Canning. It's May 21st, and here's what's on our docket. In Miami, Florida, 20 years after the murder of college football star Brian Pata, his former teammate is set to go on trial for the second time. This week, the defense and prosecution battled in court over a new witness and a mysterious Instagram account. Comments on that Instagram account were being posted during the trial as it was happening. In Dateline Roundup, a pivotal ruling in the case of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024. And defiant words from Utah grief author and convicted killer Corey Richens at her sentencing.

Never apologize for something you didn't do. Never admit to something you didn't do. Plus, last year in his Dateline episode, The Phantom, Josh Mancoitz told the heartbreaking story of Christiel Krug, a Colorado mom who was stalked and murdered by her own husband. Recently, Josh sat down with Christel's cousin, who is now on a mission to protect other stalking victims. I've seen a lot of families advocate for changes in the law. And in your case, it not only happened, but in what to me felt like just about record time.

I just felt so deeply at my core that it would happen. And I just trusted. But before all that, we're heading to Italy for the unfolding story of a Houston entrepreneur accused of a double murder who's now on the run. Last week, 39-year-old Lee Gilly appeared in front of a judge in the Palace of Justice in Turin, Italy. He was arrested by Italian customs officials trying to get into the country using what appeared to be fake travel documents. But that wasn't why Gilly was standing before the judge. He was there because of something he's accused of doing back in Texas, where he's from.

In October 2024, Gilly was arrested by Harris County Sheriff's Investigators for the murders of his pregnant wife, Krista, and their unborn child. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $1 million bond with an ankle monitor. But earlier this month, Texas prosecutors say Gilly cut off his ankle monitor. and flood the country. An American fugitive in Italy. A Texas man accused of strangling his pregnant wife is now claiming asylum abroad. With his murder trial set to begin in the United States in just a few weeks, it's unclear if Gilly will be coming back anytime soon.

Here to tell us more about the case and what Lee Gilly told the Italian judge is Dateline booking producer Caitlin Cut. Caitlin, thank you for being here. Thank you so much for having me, Andrea. All right. So to start Caitlin Phyllisin on. Lee and Krista Gilley. What do we know about this couple? They were a beautiful couple. They had met when they were younger. They reconnected, had a whirlwind romance, relocated to Houston where Krista was a

physical therapist. And Lee was a founder of his own engineering firm. They had two kids. And at the time of Krista's alleged murder, she was carrying their third child. She was eight weeks pregnant. So the first indication that something was wrong with Krista came from Lee. It was a 911 call that he made on October 7, 24. Tell us about that call. So Lee called 911. When the authorities arrived, he said that he had discovered his wife unresponsive. The two had gotten into an argument, and he said he had given her some time to herself in their room. So about three hours after this argument, he said he found Krista unresponsive. and he said that he believed that Krista had died by suicide. Caitlin, he told authorities he thought it was maybe some type of drug overdose. Correct. That is what he said. And they rushed her to the hospital where she, of course, was pronounced dead.

When did people start questioning Lee Gilley's story? Almost immediately. When Krista arrived at the hospital, they found bruising on her face. An autopsy very quickly revealed that she had actually died by compression of the neck or strangulation, and her death was ruled a homicide. Investigators say when they talked to Lee, he changed his story saying Krista was not suicidal and didn't use drugs. Days later, he's taken into custody, charged with capital murder for the deaths of Krista and their unborn baby. Have prosecutors Caitlin said yet why they believe he killed his wife?

Based on documents that had been submitted by the prosecution, it seems like their argument is that Lee was unhappy in his marriage. So in 2023, they say there seems to be evidence of an affair that he had with a woman named Anna Barnes in San Diego. Then in 2024, only about seven months before Krista was murdered, Lee allegedly posted on Reddit that he was bored in his marriage and that he was openly seeking, as he put it, a college-age female for a friends with benefits relationship. Lee pleaded not guilty to capital murder. He was released on bond and placed on house arrest with an ankle monitor. That's where things stood for a few years. By this year, 2026, he had a new defense attorney, someone our listeners might know from other high-profile cases.

His name is Dick DeGaron, and he has a whole new theory of the case. He said that there had been no murder at all that Krista had died from a rare blood disorder. Caitlin, where is that coming from? Technically, Krista was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, but based on the documents that had been submitted by the prosecution that we got a chance to look at,

it was something that only had begun to crop up about a year before her alleged homicide. And also doesn't seem like it's connected, if they're saying that she died by compression of the neck or strangulation. Gile's defense attorney is saying that this rare blood condition could actually present symptoms that mimic strangulation. So they're arguing that she did die from this preexisting condition, this rare blood disorder. So that brings us to the beginning of May. What do we know about Lee's movements before he fled to Italy?

Well, on Friday night, May 1st, his ankle monitor did record. an anomaly. Pre-trial services was in charge of tracking Lee's ankle monitor, and they did not notify anyone right away. So what struck me the most about this really jumped out at me right out of the gate was why was Lee Gilly out on Bond in the first place? He was facing the most serious of murder charges. We're talking about capital murder, where you can face the death penalty. And the crazy thing is, apparently he wasn't even keeping his plans a huge. secret. Prosecutors filed a court document alleging Lee was communicating with his alleged mistress about trying to leave the country while he was on house arrest. Yes, according to the court documents,

he had communicated to this woman that he was interested in fleeing to Mexico. He discussed his detailed plans of removing his ankle monitor. We mentioned the ankle monitor, but did they not take Lee Gilley's passport? That's the weird thing. Gilly surrendered his passport. It was one of the conditions of his bond. So does anyone know then how he gets to Italy without a passport? Great question. So we know that somehow Gilly was able to leave Houston, travel to Canada, travel to Toronto, and then from Toronto, he landed in Milan. We do not know how he was able to take a flight out of the United States. If it was a flight. Yeah. I mean, I suppose he could have driven from Texas to Canada, but you still need some type of ID to get into Canada. I'm Canadian, so I know this.

But anyway, I guess that'll be, those details will come out eventually. Where exactly was he apprehended in Italy? From what I understand, when he landed in Milan, he handed over a fake passport from Belgium. And he was actually taken aside by immigration in Italy. Once he realized that he had been caught, he then fully identified himself as Lee Gilly. He explained. He explained. that he was there trying to seek asylum. Basically, Italy generally will not extradite anybody on EU soil facing the death penalty unless the U.S. guarantees that it will not seek or carry out the death penalty. So as we said up top, Lee Gilly was brought before an Italian judge for an extradition hearing.

Caitlin, what happened? So Lee appeared in court wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The judge asked Gilly whether he would consent to being extradited. back to the U.S. and Lee said, quote, I do not consent. My wife is dead and they wrongly blame me. That's why I no longer have faith in the justice system. I am innocent. I did not kill my wife. And according to our NBC reporter who was in court, Lee said thank you to the judge in Italian twice. Wow. Lee's trial was supposed to start at the beginning of June. It was right around the corner. Yeah. Christa's family has to be so frustrated by this. They are. They are. They are.

Caitlin, thank you so much for bringing us all this updated information. We will absolutely be keeping an eye on this one. Thank you, Andrea. Coming up, things get testy at a pretrial hearing ahead of the second murder trial of a former college football player accused of shooting his teammate 20 years ago. On November 7, 2006, a student at the University of Miami found his roommate gravely injured. in the parking lot outside of their apartment complex. He made a frantic call to 911. Somebody got shot.

The guy's on the ground. I don't know where he's bleeding from, but he's on the ground, man on the ground. The star college football player Brian Patta. The 22-year-old defensive lineman had been shot in the head and was dead by the time help arrived that night. Did you see what happened? No, I did not see what happened. No, I didn't see what happened, man.

For years, the murder remained unsolved. Then, in August 2021, 15 years after Parenthood, Pata's murder, authorities arrested one of his former teammates from the University of Miami, Roshan Jones. NBC6 had the story. Yesterday, police arrested Jones near O'Callop. And according to investigators, Pada and Jones had ongoing issues. Jones pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and finally stood trial in February of this year. After five days of testimony and two days of deliberations, jurors told the judge, they were deadlocked.

At this time, I will declare a mistrial and a home jury. This week, Roshan Jones was supposed to go on trial for a second time. But instead, attorneys were back in court for a pretrial hearing, arguing about a new prosecution witness and a mysterious Instagram account. Here to bring us the latest is Dateline Field producer Alex Leray. Hey, Alex. Hey, Andrea. So I know you've been on court on this case. So thank you for coming on the podcast to break it all down for us.

First off, Alex, what do prosecutors say, Roshan. Jones and Brian Padda were fighting about all those years ago. Yeah, so Brian Patta and Roshan Jones both played football at the University of Miami. But by 2006, the two were in very different places in their lives. Brian was a standout defensive lineman with real NFL prospects ahead of him. Rishon, on the other hand, wasn't a starter, and he had recently been suspended from the team. Brian was also dating a girl that Roshan had once been involved with, which investigators and prosecutors believe made Rishon angry and jealous. We followed this trial in February. Prosecutors put on witnesses that they said backed up this motive. Yeah, so the

state actually put on a few of their former teammates and they testified about friction between Rashon and Brian, including a physical altercation. They had in a dorm room a few years before the murder. I was just like shocked that it got to that point. Did Brian feel like he been threatened? Yes. The prosecution also called someone they claim was an eyewitness from the night the murder. Yeah, so he was actually one of the biggest parts of the prosecution's case. The man was a former UM professor who said that he was in the parking lot, heard what sounded like a gunshot, and then saw a man briskly walking away from the scene. The witness identified Jones as the man that he saw that night in a photo lineup. What was the defense's response to that and also the witnesses the

state called? The defense pushed back hard on the prosecution's theory. They argued, first of all, that there was no DNA, no murder weapon, and no direct physical evidence that tied Jones to Brian Pada's murder. They said that the two men had no real beef and that that dorm room fight was actually instigated by Brian. The defense also heavily challenged the eyewitness's identification. They say that the parking lot was not well lit enough to see anyone clearly. The man's vision wasn't the best, and the eyewitness also acknowledged that he wasn't 100% sure that it was Jones. One of the detectives, how sure I was the death was, and answered a minor percent. So, Alex, we know that this ended in a hung jury.

Roshan Jones' new trial was expected to begin this week. Of course, we know that didn't happen. Instead, the prosecution and defense were in court battling over some motions that will affect the retrial. You were in the courtroom. Set the scene for us. Yeah, so the hearing was packed with spectators, then the media and family alike. And honestly, at times, things got pretty heated. The defense is trying to cloud this whole issue.

At one point, the judge even seemed to laugh while the defense was addressing the court. I'm sorry, Judge. I see that you're... It's not only that I am amused, but I am. Okay, I will agree. I amused by the argument. The judge even joked that there were more motions in this case than any other case she has currently pending. Okay, so tell us about the motions.

What are the prosecution and defense arguing over? The first one was that the defense, wants to access more records tied to communications between prosecutors and a jailhouse informant by the name of George French Jones. He claims that Rashon Jones confessed to killing Brian Padda while the two were housed in jail together in 2021. The defense is saying that they have serious questions about whether or not this witness is expecting some sort of benefit in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors. Prosecutors are insisting that no deals and no promises were ever made, the judge ultimately denied the defense's motion and said the prosecutors don't have to

turn over any more evidence to the defense. In another motion, the defense wants to take a look at the lead detective in the case. What is going on with him? Yeah, so Detective Honsigovia took over the case back in 2020 before Roshan Jones was ultimately arrested. In the first trial, the defense argued that he had tunnel vision with Jones and that he never properly looked into any other suspects. The detective denies that. Now, the defense is, in these motions is raising concerns over an anonymous Instagram account they say belongs to the detective. Comments on that Instagram account were being posted during the trial as it was happening. What is the handle on the Instagram? Do you know?

Yeah, it's called Balance of Justice. What kind of comments are we talking about that they're alleging the detective made? Yeah, there were a few different comments. One comment on a video read, quote, I've watched a lot of the trial. He's guilty as sin. Another just said guilty in all cap. Okay, and the defense is arguing that those posts could point to two things? Yes, exactly. So first, what they describe as a bias against Jones. And second, that Detective Segovia may have been following testimony and online commentary during the trial before taking the stand himself.

So one point we should make, Alex, is that the defense is saying they only believe the account belongs to the detective. It sounds like they don't have hard proof then. The defense attorneys say that they use technology to trace information connected to the account, including the email address, phone number, and IP address that they say are all associated with the detective, but they're still trying to access additional information directly from META to further verify that connection. What about prosecutors? What are they saying about this? Prosecutors are saying that even if he did make the post, it doesn't really change the quality of his work on the case. Has Detective Segovia commented on this at all, this account? He hasn't commented on these allegations, and I think we should mention that he's currently the subject of an internal affairs investigation by the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office. We asked the Sheriff's Office if the investigation is connected to Segovia's alleged Instagram account and did not hear back.

In a previous statement to a local news station, the Sheriff's Office said they are committed to transparency, but because the case is still pending, it would be inappropriate to comment. So what did the judge decide on this motion, Alex, involving the detective and Instagram? So the judge ultimately reserved ruling, which basically means that she did not decide anything yet. This must be so difficult for Brian Pattis family who have been waiting decades for justice. Yeah, they have. I mean, it's been a really long road for them. And Brian's siblings were actually in the courtroom for the hearing. Brian's brother Edwin told me that he's eager for the retrial to begin. And they will be there to the end.

Okay, lots of developments in this case. Alex, thank you so much for bringing them to us. Yes, thank you, Andrea. Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup. We've got updates for you in the Luigi Mangione case and details from the sentencing of Corey Richens. Plus, Josh Mankowitz will be talking to a former domestic violence prosecutor working to change the laws around stalking after her cousin's murder. Welcome back. Joining me for this week's roundup is Dateline producer Mike Nardy. Hey, Mike.

Hi, Andrea. How you doing? Good. For our first story, we are here in New York City, where a judge issued a major ruling this week in the Luigi Mangione case. Mangione is the 28-year-old accused of gunning down United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan back in 2024. Mangione is currently behind bars awaiting trial in state and federal court. So, Mike, first off, this major ruling we're talking about came from state court, right? Right, right. Yes.

the ruling came down from his trial judge in state court. Mangione is facing multiple state charges, including second-degree murder, and he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. What's at stake here with regards to this state case? Well, the prosecution and defense have been battling for months over items police officers in Pennsylvania found in Mangione's backpack at the time of his arrest. The defense wants it all thrown out. Let's set the scene of the arrest because it's key to understanding all of this. Five days after Brian Thompson was murdered hundreds of miles away at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, an employee called the police to tip them off. There was someone in the restaurant who resembled the suspect that the police had been looking for. And sure enough, it was Luigi Mangione, Mike. That's right. Officers testified that they questioned Mangione and then detained him.

he had a backpack with him that was searched both at the McDonald's and again when he was taken to the police station. We know that the officers found slightly different things during both searches of the backpack. At the McDonald's, they pulled out Mangione's notebook and a waterproof bag containing things like his cell phone, passport, and wallet. When they searched the backpack at the station, they looked into a different compartment of the backpack and found a 3D printed gun. They also took a look inside the notebook, photographing it page by page. So, Mike, tell us why does the defense think these searches were not okay? Well, the defense is citing the Fourth Amendment, which, as you know, means the police aren't allowed to conduct searches without a warrant. We know that the officers at the McDonald's didn't have a warrant when they first looked in his backpack,

and they didn't get one before searching it at the station either. So Mangione's defense has been arguing this means game over whatever the police found during, either of those searches can't be admitted as evidence. The prosecution has said not so fast. A warrantless search is allowed if there's a chance that the officers or the public might be in danger. And the prosecutors argued that the officers went through Mangione's backpack at the McDonald's to make sure there weren't explosives. As for the second search at the police station, prosecutors argued it was part of established protocol at the Altoona Police Department, that when they're taking someone into custody, officers routinely do an inventory of of what the person has in their possession.

Okay, so what did the judge rule on this big moment in this case? Well, it was sort of a split decision. The judge sided with the defense over the first search in the McDonald's. He said he just didn't seem to buy the idea that the officers felt unsafe or were looking for explosives. I find that the search of the backpack at the McDonald's was improper warrantless search. Therefore, those items found in the backpack during the search at the McDonald's will be suppressed. That means some of the items officers found, including the loaded magazine, the cell phone, Mangoni's passport and wallet, won't be introduced at trial.

Okay, so there was a second search, though, Mike, and what from that will be allowed or not allowed in trial? Right. So the judge said that the search of the backpack at the police station was valid. And that's potentially a big deal, Mike, because it means that. the jury will get to see that 3D gun, which prosecutors say matches the gun used to kill Brian Thompson. And they'll get to see Mangione's notebook, which authorities have described as a kind of manifesto against the health industry. And they say it speaks to his alleged motive for the shooting. That's right. That's right. The jury will see all of that evidence. Okay. And Mangione's state trial is currently on the books for September 8th.

Any idea what's going on with the federal trial? That one is scheduled to start sometime in the fall after the state case concludes. Next up, Mike, we are off to Park City, Utah, where Corey Richens, the mom and author of a children's book on grief, was recently sentenced. She was convicted in March for the 2022 poisoning death of her husband, Eric Richens. Mike, her sentencing was held on what would have been Eric's 44th birthday, which was really hard for his family. and they were, of course, there as they have been throughout all of this. This was the final moment for them as far as these legal proceedings. That's right.

And they gave tear-filled victim impact statements. Eric's sister asked the judge to hand down the maximum sentence, warning that Corey was a danger to Eric's family, but also Corey and Eric's three sons. Please do not create a possibility for Corey to endanger. Eric's boys, my daughters, my family, or anyone else ever. again. At the time of Eric's murder, Corey and Eric's three sons were still relatively young. Were they at Corey's sentencing? They were not. The oldest is only 13 years old. The other two are preteens,

but they did give written statements which were read aloud by therapists. And one of the therapists read what the couple's middle son wrote in his statement to his mother. You took away everything from me and my brothers. I don't want you out of jail because I will not feel safe if you are out. You have never said sorry for anything that you have done to me and my brothers. I don't want you to hurt anyone again. A different son even wrote, I want her to go to prison forever. These are pretty powerful words from Corey and Eric's sons. Mike, did Corey have any reaction to hearing all of this? She did, she did. And I could paint a picture of that for you. She was handcuffed wearing a lime green t-shirt over a gray long-sleeved shirt.

her hair down long, and she made several facial expressions. At points, her mouth was wide open, or her chin was tipped down with her eyebrows raised. She was extremely expressive, almost dumbfounded by the comments made about her ruining Eric's loved ones' lives. And then Mike Corey herself decided to speak, and she spoke for a long time. She did. She spoke for nearly 40 minutes and professed her love for Eric and her sons over and over. For even one second, you thought that I didn't love. you because that couldn't be further from the truth. You boys are my world. The reason I continue to

wake up every day and fight to come home. But she also continued to maintain her innocence. Never apologize for something you didn't do. Never admit to something you didn't do. And never beg for mercy for something you didn't do. All right, then it was time for the judge to hand down his sentence. Mike, what did he decide? Corey Richens was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Her defense team already said they'd file an appeal. Okay, thank you so much for these updates, Mike. Lots going on. Yep, anytime, Andrea. Back in February, Rebecca Ivanov stood in front of Oregon state legislators and told them about her cousin, Christiel Krug. Christil was a fighter and a true force. I know she would want something

positive to come for other survivors who are experiencing the terror and trauma of stalking. In the fall of 2023, Christine, a 43-year-old mom and chemical engineer, started receiving threatening messages from a man claiming to be her old boyfriend from decades ago. She contacted the police who reached out to phone and social media companies asking for help tracking down the sender, but weeks passed with no answers.

Then, Christel was found stabbed to death in her home. This time, when police contacted the same companies asking who had sent those messages, they got their answer in less than 15 minutes. It wasn't Christel's ex. It was her husband, Daniel Kroog. Daniel was convicted of Christel's murder and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

But Christel's cousin, Rebecca, agonized over what could have been done differently. If Christel's life could have been saved. She spoke to Josh Mankowitz for his dateline episode about Christel's case called The Phantom. She marshaled the support of law enforcement. She tracked every single contact. law enforcement wrote search warrants, issued those search warrants.

And she's dead. And she still got killed. Rebecca says that interview lit a spark in her and drove her to take action. About five months later, she stood in front of Oregon legislators advocating for what she called Christiel's law. This month, the law went into effect. Rebecca sat down with Josh recently to tell him what the law does and what she hopes others will learn from her journey.

Here's Josh. So a lot of happening. happened since you and I last spoke? Yes, a whole lot. Where do you want to start? Tell me sort of how this came about. Yeah, so the family doesn't actually get to know the evidence until the trial. And so alongside the jury, we were learning all of the evidence that they had against

Kristiel's killer. And what became clear is that had the communications companies responded to the search torrents that law enforcement issued pursuant to the stocking investigation and had those companies responded timely, Christel would have had the information she needed to make a safety plan, and law enforcement would have had the information they needed to arrest her true stalker and ultimately, unfortunately, her killer. She would have known it was her husband, not her ex-boyfriend. She certainly would not have been in her home with her back turn to him at the moment of her death.

Exactly. She would never have been in a position for him to get behind her. And that was what was so devastating as we learned what happened. It just became so clear that there was this gap in the system that if we could have closed it earlier, I firmly believe she'd be alive today. So that was the mission. And so what Christiel's law does is it says when any communications company receives a search warrant pursuant to an underlying crime of stalking or any crime constituting domestic violence, companies must respond in an expedited manner. So in the case of social media companies, it's 72 hours. And for all other companies, the response months come within five business days. And we did that because we know these crimes can so quickly escalate to serious physical injury and death. And I never want to see another family lose a loved one, another child lose their mother when we have actionable information. information available and it can be timely provided to law enforcement. So that was the impetus of the bill. I've seen a lot of families advocate for changes in the law based on something that happened to a family

member of theirs or some loved one. In your case, it not only happened, but in what to me felt like just about record time. You know, when I said out loud that we were going to pass Christel's law, I had never had any exposure to legislative action. I really didn't know much about how it was going to get done, just felt so deeply at my core that it would happen. And I just trusted. You passed Christel's law in Oregon because that's where you're from and where you have the most influence. Christel was murdered in Colorado. Was it difficult to bring this issue to the four in a state where it didn't happen? I mean, it hadn't really been in the headlines there the way it was in Colorado. I had the advantage of being a former domestic violence prosecutor in Oregon. So I had a

baked in network with folks that operate in that space. I had friends in law enforcement, and I had access to our local Democratic senator, who's also a lawyer that I saw on an event, and I kind of just waited for him outside because I've been trying to get in by email for months. And once I was able to tell the story, people get it right away. So tell me now about the legislature. So the process was that we provided testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and then it has to go to the full House floor for a vote before it gets sent over to the Senate side where it goes through the exact same process. And, you know, in the Oregon legislature, in the House chamber, there's a screen up on the wall that has all of the names of the legislators. And as they vote, the color of the name,

if they vote, yes, it changes to green. And I was sitting there with my mom and dad watching as slowly as every single name turned to green. And there's this decorum rule where they don't allow people to clap. But at the very end, it was just kind of spontaneous. One legislator rose and faced us, and then slowly all of them rose and faced us. And I'm going to get emotional even talking about it because that was the moment that I felt like, wow, this is real. This is really happening right now. And all this work and effort to bring it forward, it just became crystal clear that it was happening. And so with that unanimous support and that rising, they honored Christiel and they turned and honored our family. And it was an incredibly special moment to share with my mom and dad.

I know you would have preferred that this wasn't needed because Christel was still with us. But this did kind of end up choosing you. And this is a wonderful step. And it's also a first step. So the goal here is to have Carsteel's law serve as a model for every other state in the country. and ideally countries around the world. You think you and I are still going to be talking about this five years from now, 10 years from now?

My hope is that we're across the country in under 10 years. And again, I think all things are possible when the right people come together. So thank you. You and your team at Dateline are among the group of people for whom I will be forever grateful for the support for this. Thank you, but this is 100% your work. And I'm blown away by it. Congratulations to you.

Thank you. That's it for this episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly. To get ad-free listening for all our podcasts, subscribe to Dateline premium. And coming up this Friday on Dateline, Keith has a brand new twist to tell you about in the incredible tale of Sante and Kenneth Kimes, the mother and son, grifters, who became killers. There's a lot of times over 35 years where you just, you know, your mind kind of runs wild. It's nice to be able to put it to rest. Watch The Devil War White, airing this Friday at 9-8 Central on NBC, or stream it starting Saturday on Peacock.

Thanks for listening. Dateline True Crime Weekly is produced by Carson Cummins, Caroline Casey, and Keani Reed. Our associate producers are Ellery Gladstone Groh and Aria Young. Our senior producer is Liz Brown-Korloff. Veronica Mazzaka is our digital producer. Rick Kwan is our sound designer. Original music by Jesse McGinty. Paul Ryan is executive producer, and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.

Everyone, have a great day.