Morbid - Episode 444: Rebecca Aylward

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

On the afternoon of October 22, 2010, fifteen-year-old Rebecca Aylward left her house in Maesteg, Wales. She had plans to meet her ex- boyfriend in a wooded area just outside of Aberkenfig, under the guise that they were reconciling. She told her mother, “Bye Mam, I love you,” as she grabbed her purse and walked out the door—it was the last time her mother would see Becca alive.Thank you to the ravishing David White for research assistance :)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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Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry.

Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry.

Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, you know what, there's been a lot of stuff going on lately, not with us, not with us. But with a certain reality show that we have talked about many, many times, that I know a lot of you all. I'm sorry, but it's our time. We've had the best days of our lives. These are not the best days of their lives. Maybe the worst of some of their lives, which makes my heart hurt. Like, first and foremost, I think we said it

on the JVN episode, but team mother fucking Ariana. Yeah, in case you don't know, we're talking about Vanderbilt. We just went right into her, like team Ariana. Yeah, but like, honestly, at this point, it really doesn't even need to be. You described. I think somebody described it as Chandler cheating on Monica with Rachel and Joey knowing the entire time. In case you do not watch Vanderpump rules and you need a frame of reference.

Yes, but like I feel like even if you don't watch Vanderpump rules, you've been hearing like that goes, I was actually getting my Botox done yesterday and I had a new girly like injecting my face. And she said, I was like, do you watch Bravo? Like, do you know what's going on? She was like, so I don't, but I know everything that's going on. But I know the exact situation you are referring to. And I think a lot of people are in that situation. Like the people that don't watch. And here's the thing, if you don't like, if you don't watch it and you don't give a shit the people that don't watch. And here's the thing, if you don't, like, if you don't watch it and you don't give a shit about this, don't worry.

We're getting into a true crime case in a couple minutes. We just, I know a lot of you do. I know a lot of you with me, so we're going to chat about it for a minute because I swear if I say to John on the couch at night, one more time, if I just look up from my phone and go, all right, so one more thing happened. He's good and he bless him. Well, so one more thing happened. And he blessed him.

Oh, he's good at, like, he's great. What's up? He was like, okay, because I looked over at him the other day and I was like, you're my best friend. You need to hear this. And you were like, okay, all right. I was like, I knew that would get you. But it's never the same as talking to somebody who's been there since the beginning.

Because we started Vanderpump Rules together in 2014. I had just graduated high school and I would skip going to college all the time and just do like my college classes on the notebook they were called and I just would go to your house and we would like literally eat sleep-breathed Vanderpump Rules.

It's a really unique reality show in the way that it just rarely stops giving. Rarely. And there are a couple times like here's the thing. She were three years, but we stuck through the valley village, you know, purchases. We stuck through them trying to introduce an entirely new cast. That didn't work out. But we hung in there. And we got Charlie out of it. We got Charlie out of it. I'm a Charlie stan. We, you know, and now we have always loved Ariana. Never wavered. I have loved Ariana, you have loved Ariana. She's always been our girl.

Cause she's real. She is. I mean, she's like the realest one out of everyone. And you know what? It's like you get your ups and downs of people in this crew, but like Ariana's always been a writer, die. Yeah, she's like a steady, steady girly. And I am horrified by Tom Sandeval and Rachel.

And Rachel. But it's like, like we need to talk about this just for a second. Tom Sandeval dressed as his mistress for Halloween in front of Ariana. That's another level of like deep seated evil. Like she is evil. That's false. Posed for a picture with him dressed as her knowing

full well, they were having a full blown affair at the time. Yeah. In front of Ariana, do you understand that when the two of them come out and go, guys, we're so sorry, we're so sorry that we hurt people and Rachel's like, I'm gonna work on myself. It's like, fuck both of you. And you're kidding me. You're saying that she needs to heal?

Ah, what about Ariana, dog? Well, it is just, I'm sorry, you're coming out and you two are saying, we're sorry. We never meant to hurt anyone. Oh my goodness, but you dressed as your mistress for Halloween in front of Ariana while you were having an affair. No one believes that you're sorry. You created an entirely false story to make it seem like Schwartz was the one

like fucking around with Rachel. And also that was fucked up in and of itself because he was hot off a divorce with one of their fucking cast members and friends. And I like Katie. I like Katie too. And I feel like that was created and hurt Katie. I could get it.

I did hurt Katie. You put Katie in a position to be hurt just so that you could save the weird bro code that these dudes have is unlike anything I have ever seen. Oh my God, I was just gonna say I've never seen anything like it. It goes beyond this plane of reality. It does.

Because they will sacrifice everything about themselves for their dudes, for their bros. And it's like, no, there is a time where you need to go time out. This is bad news bears. And I'm not gonna create a fake fucking fucking scenario and dump my life down the dumpster because you want to fuk somebody on the side and step out on your girlfriend. And it's also like they were together for nine years. Our honor and Tom were together for nine years, purchased a home together.

She has a dog that I'm sure Tom Tom became like a dad to married for all intents and purposes. I mean that's common law marriage. What is it? It's seven years, right? Yeah. And it's and just that existence is married for all intents and purposes without the paper. I mean people ask them all the time. Like people think they're married. Yeah. And that's so fucked. And yeah, it's just a real bummer. And then like seeing in the episode where I think Lala was saying like, you know, to Rachel, she was saying, you know, like when you're drinking, I wouldn't let you around my man, which is like, whoa, you got to really take a look in the mirror of somebody saying that to you.

And then Rachel's response was good thing you don't have a man. First of all, in Saltay. First of all, in Saltay. Whoa, you are gross, my friend. She's gross. Chris Vita Kelly wrapped it up perfectly when she just pulled back the covers to protect herself from Rachel. I was like, Rachel.

She literally goes, Oh my God, Rachel. Christine Akeli. She's a wreck. Christina Kelly's like coming back this season is everything to me. I always thought she was the only thing. Everything. And we never got enough Christine Akeli. But you, if you listen to somebody else's podcast like back when you could, you would get a

lot of Christina Kelly. Yeah. And I loved that. It's true. We love a Christina Kelly. We do. But honestly, the whole thing is wild. It's insane.

It's getting wilder by the day. And the other thing too is like, so everything is coming out online. But then the season is airing right now and we are watching it now through such a different lens. Because as things are happening right now, the affair is already happening. Like right now. You're watching it and you're like, oh no. And it just breaks my heart for our, it's so nice to see that all the women are just

banding around her. Walking around her. And she looks like she's thriving. She's gonna come out of this. You never needed him to begin with her. I can't wait to see her revenge story. Oh, wait. Just like living.

Because she's gonna be just fine. Of course she is. She's gonna be just fine. Arianna. And she's gonna be just fine. She's got like a good heart, you can tell. Come on the podcast, Ariana. I would shit myself.

We'll talk about everything but this. Yeah, we don't even have to talk about it. We don't even have to talk about it. Should we just like start a bravo podcast? I know, I would love to. Oh my God, that's my actual calling. I just sit here and do this. That is my actual calling.

But I know a lot of you are with us and you've got, because we've got a lot of messages that are like, I am a bravo. I like head and I want to talk about this. So yeah, we just had to get this out because guys, guys, fucking wild dude. It doesn't feel real, but it is. There's court documents. There's court documents.

And it's not just Rachel. No. There have been other women allegedly. Allegedly, of course. Allegedly. There have been other women. But it's just keeps coming out more and more and more and it's getting worse and worse and worse. Every day. Yeah, it's wild.

Yeah. But you know what, we just, we had to get that out. I'm so stressed. And you know, I'm sure we'll have something else to bring forth about this on the next episode. Probably. I mean, we're probably like, when this comes out, it's gonna be a little old, I think. Come on, we can be like, okay. But all that information is two years old,

and you didn't even touch upon this huge, that would happen. We're two weeks behind, so. Well, ahead, technically. But you know, I had technically on our schedule, we're not behind. But yeah, so we had to talk about this. We just had to get it off our chest, honestly.

Yeah. Because we've been screaming about it to Mikey all day. And Mikey is like, I don't watch Bravo, but I would. But he's into it now. He will be. We're gonna win to it. He will be. Honestly.

No really a good way to transition out of that and a future crime case. It's just that's a terrible situation, but my goodness is this a worse situation. This is a very sad situation. This case is rough, it hurt me. I don't know this one at all. Oh, you don't? No. I didn't either before I looked into it. I think I found this while I was researching something else. That always happens to me. Yeah. Then I was like,

oh, when I fell down this rabbit hole, because we'll talk about it. One of the headlines in this case, you read it and you're like, wait, what? So then you start reading more and you're like, oh, okay, well, that's layered. Yeah. So it all starts on the afternoon of October 22, 2010. So it's not old-timey, guys. It's 2010.

Ash brings it newer, of course. Sometimes, most of the time, but today. So 15-year-old Rebecca, Alward left her house in Mystig. I looked that up and I really hope I'm saying it correctly. Mystig is in Wales. Rebecca had plans to go meet her ex-boyfriend in a wooded area just outside of Abercenn fig, which I also looked up

and I hope I'm saying correctly. Now, she was under the guys that they were actually going to be reconciling because they had recently gone through a breakup. They were going through hard times, you know, and but this she was really excited about. Okay. So she told her mother, bye none. I love you as she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. And unfortunately, that would be the last time that Rebecca's mother would see her alive. So let's talk about who Rebecca was. She really went by Becca.

So Becca, Oatley Elward, was born on February 25th, 1995 to John and Sonia. She was the first child of what would eventually be three kids. And she was beautiful. And she had one of those faces, and we always say this, but I mean it, she had one of those faces, and we always say this, but I mean it, she had one of those faces where you would see her in a crowd and be like, I wanna be that girl's friend.

Like that girl looks cool. She had the perfect scene manks, because this is 2010. Yes. And I tried to cut those and I was like, we all tried to have those. We all did, but Becca had them. Yeah, she did.

And she fucking rocked them. But beyond look, she was also a very smart girl. Her mother, Sonia said, she was born inquisitive. And I knew from well before she could even speak that she was a bright girl, a girl who took everything in. Like she was very astute. She was also just a really easy child to raise and to be around. She loved being with her parents. She was really close with her mom. And when she was little,

she loved playing dress up in her mom's closet. She put together like different outfits and accessories and she threw the heels on. And it's just like pure. I love it. I love that. Now when she entered primary school, she was still known to be pleasant and easy going.

Her teachers would always tell her parents that they wish they had a class full of her backers. Oh, right.. And then of course as a parent, that's everything you want to hear. That's exactly what you want to hear. And of course, again, it speaks to who Beca is, but it also speaks to who her parents are. Yeah, absolutely. Raising a great daughter. For sure it does. So her natural curiosity and love for things like reading and writing, those things made her a good student. But she also stood out in other ways. She would always stand up for other students. If they needed to be stood up for, she would offer her help in the classroom. Like, once she got her work done, she was always helping somebody else that needed it.

Just a good person. She was just willing to be there for someone. And for willingness to help, was extra appreciated at home because like I said, she was the oldest and she took that role as oldest very seriously. Her mom would always say that she was like a little mum. A little mum. So when her sister Jess was born in 1988, or excuse me, 1998, Becca loved helping with the little baby. And it was just like awesome. She would get her, her like dressed, she loved all her little clothes, and she wanted to always feed her little sister.

Oh my goodness. She was so little and she was such a big help. Yeah, that's how my twins are with the littleest one. Oh my God, literally reminded me of that. It's so funny. It's the same thing. And then five years later, she had a little brother Jack and he was born

and her little mum instinct had not gone anywhere. It was still there. And given the age difference between Becca and Jack, he really started relying on her kind of like a second mom. Oh, I love it. Like his mom was a wonderful mom. Of course. He did beat a second mom. But he just got a bonus.

But he got a bonus for sure. And he would go to her if he couldn't sleep or if he was anxious about school. Oh my goodness. And just like confide in Becca and look to her to like feel safe and happy. And think about what like a nurturing child you have to be to have that kind of instinct to that young. Yeah. Until like act on it, how she did.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So when she entered her teen years, she started thinking more and more seriously about her life beyond secondary school. And by the time she went into high school, her mum recalled that she had already got her life mapped out, she said. My life can get a little hectic sometimes. At this point, I'm hosting like 42 different podcasts. But thankfully, Daily Harvest does more so that, ash-kell can do so much less.

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So, Nia wrote that in her book and she said that Becca was a great student who studied hard. She wanted to pursue a law degree when she went to university. Damn. And her ultimate goal was to one day become a barrister. Which is like an intense lawyer. A very intense lawyer, you know? That's how I looked it up. That's the definition. That's what Google says.

It says barrister, very intense lawyer. Look it up, Esquire. Esquire. Yeah, I forgot that part. Of course. Now, of course, she also had less career oriented and like more romantic goals for herself. Yeah, of course.

Relatable. Now, according to her mom, she would, quote, spend lots of time planning every last detail of her wedding, drawing her ideal wedding dress right down to the flowers that she'd have in her bouquet. She's multifaceted. Multifaceted. And I just like, I feel like you know who she is based off

everything you get from her mom and like what you see of her in pictures. Like, she just seems fucking rad. Yeah, she's got that romance gene. Yeah. Or she can be whimsy and romance. And you can talk love. But she can also sit there and be like,

listen, this is what I want to do. I want to be a serious barrister. I want to work my ass off. And also, I have this motherly in state. And also, I can mum my little siblings because I'm this nurturing, wonderful, encouraging human. Like, what couldn't she do? Like, I'm sorry. like, do you exist?

Right? Seriously, she just sounds like an angel. Yeah, I feel like she was an angel. Yeah. Now, she met a perspective love interest named Joshua Davies in 2008. Oh. And he quickly became a regular presence in their family home. This family welcomed him with open arms.

That makes me even sadder, because I don't think this is going to be a good thing. That's a pretty good feeling you had right there. Mom Sonia would later say, pretty much right off the bat, Josh was loved and accepted by everybody in the family. And especially that Becca's little brother, Jack, really started to look up to Josh the more and more time they spent together as like a big brother. And Josh really seemed to be equally as fond of them. At a age where most teenagers started kind of pulling away from their parents, Josh actually seemed like he enjoyed hanging out with Becca and her family and like wanted to be like as a family. And that's you want that totally. And he especially liked Sonia. Like he found it easy to talk to Sonia and at the time Sonia felt like it was easy to talk to him.

They would talk about music a lot together because they both really loved music. And Sonia would end up telling reporters in 2018, I liked him before it happened. He was okay. He was always polite and nice, no bad language. He seemed like a decent boy. We all knew his family.

His younger brother was friends with my two younger ones. So this is like a community of people. And these are always the things that stress me out. So much is when you hear them, like people be like, he was in my home, like I liked him. There was no reason to think anything different. It's like that is the scariest thing. And that's no warning sign.

That's exactly it because I think a lot of times when we say this, like murderers and serial killers, people are like, oh my god, like, how could you not know? Yeah. They were so evil, like, look at them. And it's like, no, the thing is they can switch that charming, like, I'm an amazing person. We'll switch on so easily. Exactly. And blend right in.

They are master manipulators, master. And that's an alliteration. There you go. Now in retrospect, obviously, Sonia could see that there were red flags indicating that Josh might not have been as nice and polite as he appeared to be. There were times where he would stay over

for like no reason. And Sonia didn't know why, but she would tell Jack to put his things away, especially his toy swords, or like potentially hurtful items. It was like she subconsciously wanted to keep these things away from Josh, like a mother's instinct. Now, this is, this is like he was racist.

So if you don't want to hear that, I'll get forward a little bit. There was an incident where they were watching television together, and they saw members of the KKK, and Josh commented that he wanted to join the KKK. Time to get out. Time to get out. Time to get the fuck out of my house and time to get the fuck away from my kid. And his actual comment was like way more explicit

to the point where I didn't even feel comfortable repeating. And here, I'm sure you can find it at an article if you would like to know. But it was horrible. So in the moment, Becca being, I mean, this is in front of her family. So that's putting her in a real shit position of like, she's like, what the fuck? Where did that come from? Yeah.

So she lightly scolded him, but she tried to play it off like he was kidding. Remember, she's 15. And she's probably hoping. And she's exactly hoping she is. But Sonia was made really uncomfortable. Yeah. She was like, what, that came out of love. She's exactly hoping she is, but Sonia was made really uncomfortable. And she was like, what, that came out of left. She's like, that is not a joke.

And that's not what we are about in our house. Like, that's not our humor. Yeah, she didn't like that. So she ended up when Josh had gone home talking to Becca about it. And she was like, what was that about? And Becca ended up telling her mom how uncomfortable she was and how shocked she was.

And she said later on actually her and Josh got into an argument about it. Oh, and it makes me so sad because that's exactly how this should have gone. Where like you didn't escalate things, you didn't make it a scary situation because if he says something like that, you're like, okay, I don't know where you're capable of here.

So when he leaves, the mom did the right thing. Sonya did the right thing. She walked, she told her daughter that made me very uncomfortable. What was that about? Her daughter agreed and said it made me very uncomfortable. Like that's a really good, that shows a really good relationship

and a really good like line of communication between mom and daughter. Clear communication. She didn't blow it up to make it weird for her kid. She talked to her afterwards and her kid felt the same way. It's like that is like a really good relationship and it makes me so sad that it couldn't have translated into because what that's such a difficult situation after that because it's like now you have to hope that your 16 year old has the strength right to walk away from that but then at the same time someone who will say something

like that that's dangerous and scary and leaving them can create a more dangerous situation. So it's like that's a really difficult set of things. Exactly. And at the same time where Son Sonia was so stressed out about this, she also can't force her daughter to break up with her boyfriend. Well, that's the thing, and it's like, you are helpless. And you don't want to try to go down that route, and then lose that clear line of communication with her. Exactly.

I feel like she's hiding things from you. So I think, personally, just like you, I think Sonia went about this the best way she does. I think she did. I think she did the very right thing. And I think if she had pushed, if you pushed too hard, especially at that age, like 16, they're gonna put on terrified for teenage years,

just because I know it's a precarious time. I remember how I was like, Oh God, I was awesome. You don't listen to anybody. And it's like, if somebody pushes too hard one way, you might go down the same way. And it's like, so I know she probably didn't want to push the issue and make her want to cling to him more

just out of going against. Defiance, you know, even though it doesn't sound like Rebecca was that type of kid? Not at all. You just don't want to play with fire with that stuff. And you never know is the other thing, like we covered cases where like they were never that kind of kid and then what it was.

And this happens and you go down a trail. Exactly. That wasn't the case here luckily. Yeah, it sounds like it was with Josh like things just started going around with him. And the change in his personality was happening slowly gradually. Like little things. Sonya was starting to pick up on Beko was starting to pick up on and just getting like more and more uncomfortable. And that's worse. Yes. Because you're not able to absorb it all at once. So it's not, it's harder to manage kind of thing. They've already shown you such an amazing side of them.

And they love bombed you exactly in, you're in this now. So now they can start peeling back those layers. And it makes it harder to rip away. Exactly. Exactly. So yeah, it happened gradually, but Becca and her mom were seeing a slightly darker side of Josh emerging. He started spending hours in the woods with his best friend, Daniel, and they would occasionally camp out in the woods overnight. And this just made Sonia really uneasy. Yeah, like what the hell are you doing? And then it made her particularly uneasy because they started trying to convince

girls from school to come camp out with them in the woods. And Sonia told Becca she insisted she was like, you never, ever go into those woods with them alone or with anybody else, even if you think there's going to be other kids there, do not go into the woods with them. No. So, oh, how scary. Things were getting weird. Now, Josh, obviously, like I was saying earlier, he seemed to love Becca's family. He seemed to like spending time with them. But at school and around their friends, he didn't really seem to be proud to be with Becca. And he also wanted to hide the fact that they were a couple. It reminded me of when we were talking about the Betty story.

Yeah. A couple weeks ago. It's like, why would you not be proud of that? Yeah, it's like, fuck you, Becca's awesome. She is, and you're not, and you are not my friend. So the relationship really fell apart in January 2010. And Josh was the one actually that ended up breaking up with Becca and immediately started dating another girl.

Now, the reason for the breakup, or the reasons, they're still unclear, but Josh occasionally told his friends, it was because Becca had, quote, tried to trick him into getting her pregnant, which was not true. Doubt it. Doubt it.

Doubt it. That's the thing. Most people, including us, who heard this explanation, thought it was complete nonsense. And even Becca was like, no, he broke up with me actually because I wouldn't have unprotected sex with him.

Thanks, though. Complete opposite. Yeah. Thanks, though. Now, they had only dated three or four months, but Becca was really heartbroken over this. Of course, you're 16. It was probably one of her first loves

or potentially her first love. Yeah. She was devastated by the end of it, and she was going through it, you know? Of course. But Josh, on the other hand, he seemed angry with Becca. And it's like,

but you're the one that broke up with her. Yeah, I'm not confused here. Yeah. And then he, after the breakup, he started making comments to his friends about killing Becca. What the fuck? We started joking about killing her.

Guys, no one jokes about killing someone. That's a flat out blanket statement. One of the biggest themes in this case is joking. Quote a quote about killing somebody. Murder is not funny. Yeah. Murder is not a joke. Murder does not have a punchline.

Yeah. And those are your three rules. If someone's, and especially if someone is consistently joking about murdering someone, a particular person, call the fucking authorities. Call the authorities. Tell your mom, tell a trusted adult. Tell someone.

Call someone. Tell the mailman, tell someone. Tell someone. And especially if the comments are starting to build and build to be more and more specific like what happened here. And he told one friend after their breakup, I'm just gonna kill her.

Wouldn't life be a lot easier if she wasn't here? Just, no, she's not, like, go away. Also, your fucking 16 years old life is as easy as it's possibly gonna get. You're gonna live the rest of your life probably never have to see her again. You could walk yourself down to the principal's office and say, hey, I don't really want to be in classes

with her anymore, and they'll probably rearrange your whole fucking schedule. Exactly. And even if they don't, hey, I don't really want to be in classes with her anymore, and they'll probably rearrange your whole fucking schedule. Exactly. And even if they don't deal, set out a different fucking table. Like you're 15, get a broke up with her, remove yourself from the situation. I don't really think she wants to be around you

at this point. Exactly. Well, I just said exactly like you. I've been finding myself doing that. I love that. I think you've rubbed off on me. We love a little tea. I just realized that I did.

I was like, good job. I pronounced that tea. Matt would be so proud of you. She me. We love a little tea-pronzied relationship. I just realized that I did have a good job. I pronounced that tea. Matt would be so proud of you. She would. We love pronouncing things. So Josh's friends, we were just saying, thought the comments and the threats were just a joke. But I was kind of alluding to earlier.

As time went by, they started getting more and more detailed, more and more specific and more intense. He was talking about how he could poison Becca with deadly plants and nightchades, or quote, push her over a quarry into a river. What the fuck? Are you like the mad scientist from a nightmare before Christmas?

Like what the fuck is wrong with you? Why the fuck are you gonna get nightchade? Dead nightchade. And the reason he wanted to push her into a river is because she couldn't swim and he knew that. Oh my God. How fucked is that? Guys, call someone.

Now, one friend would later tell the court, it was no secret that he hated Rebecca for quite a long time after their relationship finished. But it's so confusing because you broke up with her. Like, I don't understand. That's what a breakup is. You don't like each other anymore. So you break up and you move on.

And it sounds like didn't he start dating someone else? Like if I was that girl, I'd be like, can you not have pre-assetally talk about killing your ex girlfriend? Yeah, I'd be a little more. Where was your brain girlfriend? Jesus. Now, it seems like despite his charming personality

with adults, Becca had seen Josh's darker side probably more times than she ended up admitting to her mom, most likely out of uncomfortability, if that's a word. Yeah, of course. Of course. Yeah. Now, during the investigation into her murder, detectives with help from Sonya actually found several pieces of evidence

indicating that Josh was actually abusive toward Becca. Fuck that guy. There were countless pages of threatening and abusive MSN chats. Do you remember those? Oh my god, MSN chats. He used to chat over that and like he was awful to her. And actually there was one incident where he used colored hairspray to write Becca is a slag on her bedroom wall.

What the fuck? Do you face her parents' property and in her room, wrote Becca is a slag. I cannot imagine having to deal with this shit as Becca, but I can't imagine having to deal with this shit as the parents. No. Because there's what a helpless feeling. And I don't know if Sonya realized that,

like that had happened when it did. It'll after the fact that she found out about the thing. It's like, I can't even imagine knowing that later. Right. It's awful. Now, even adults obviously struggle to keep it friendly and amicable after a breakup. So the fact that there was some animosity

and heartbreak between Josh and Becca who were two teenagers, it's understandable. Or would have been. But this situation is completely different. His hatred of Becca was just like, very overblown, very unusual, again, especially considering the fact that he was the one to end it. Yeah, like move on.

And Sonia thinks this anger all stems from Josh's ego, because once he got what he wanted from Becca, and she started setting boundaries around things like sex, Josh ended the relationship. Yep, intending to hurt Becca. And he did hurt her, but not for very long. I think he thought like this was just gonna be the end all be all for her.

Oh yeah. But when her heartbreak started to wear off, she proved herself to be way more resilient than Josh had ever expected. Of course, she completely bounced back. Yep. She was doing incredible in school, so much so actually that she was doing better than him.

And I think that miffed his ego. Yep. If he had intended their breakup as another way to control Becca, his plan was backfiring, and that's what pissed him off. He failed. And it was backfiring in a very public way. So I think he felt embarrassed.

Oh my god, get over your fucking ego seriously Jesus Christ If you look up a picture of him. Oh, I did ego ego ego ego ego. It's oozing out of his pores Hey there fellow podcast listener, it's Elena. And Ash, and we're taking you back to the days before streaming services. Whoa! You know when you would come home from high school and it was only a few hours until that TV show, everyone was watching was about to come on. Well in 1999, that show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In our podcast with Wondery, the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we take it back to 1999. So get out your knee high boots and paste that poster of Angel on the wall. It's time to enter the Buffyverse. Some of you avid morbid listeners already know what we've gotten store.

Hey, Lennon. Join us as we sway our way through Buffy's drama, action and romance. Episode by episodes. Slacy, follow the rewatcher, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free

on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. Darn, ee- the end of the school year, Becca had actually already started dating another boy, another Josh, actually. Ooh. But this is Josh Humphries. Better Josh. Better Josh. The new relationship really seemed to piss Josh Davies off because she had moved on. And when it came, and I think he was really specifically angry about Becca's family welcoming this new Josh in. And he would constantly ask her

if her mom liked this new Josh as much as she had, as much as she had liked him. And it's like, are you all right? Exactly. It's also like, you could still be a part of this family if you weren't a question. Exactly. But you suck., you could still be a part of this family. You weren't a question. I think it's a good thing, but you suck. It was like he felt some kind of ownership, not only over Becca, but her family. Yeah, it's all ego. He felt like he deserved their love. So weird.

And he would say things to her like, I bet she prefers me to be your boyfriend. Talk about that. Probably not. No, I don't think so. I'm gonna say that's a no. And Becca would be like, no, actually she does like New Josh. She's a big fan of him.

You know what Josh doesn't do? Joke about being part of the KKK. So, one of his most wonderful qualities. It's pretty shining quality to me. But when she would tell him, like, yeah, my mom actually does love him. And so does my brother and everybody else. He would like storm off away from her and anger

and like make a spectacle. What a child. Literally. What a literal toddler. So Sonia thinks again that it wasn't only just the ego, but that it was Becca's resilience too. That made Josh Davie so pissed off. Oh, yeah.

Yep. He hoped that this was going to devastate her, but just a month or so after he'd broken up with her, Sonia said she was doing better than him in school. She was popular and had a boyfriend. And perhaps most of all, she was always her own person. Go back, I know. Now while she may have been resilient and independent, unfortunately, she wasn't entirely free from Josh's influence and control over her. It's hard, especially at that age. When you're 15, this was 15 years old. I remember being there and dating awful people, not as awful as this luckily,

but you're in a cloud, in a haze. And you just don't know any better, you'll believe a lot of things. Exactly, and especially as a romantic. You will like things are romantic. And so it's like, you just have that. Exactly. Now just a few months after she had started dating

new Josh, she actually ended the relationship because old Josh started hinting that he wanted to get back together if she would like get rid of her current boyfriend. So she did because, remember, she knows old Josh and whatever piece of her still loved him, loved him. Yeah. I guess like that. He showed you the good parts and that's what you hang on to.

And I think because she was a romantic and this is just an inference because like speaking from experience, I wonder if she had the like, I can fix him and tell him. Oh, I wonder too, yeah. Like my mom really did like him. So like, there must be some good piece of him

and it was all these good times. And like, I'm good. So I can show him how to be good. I think it was that. Yeah. So when their relationship ended toward the end of summer, Becca stayed friends with Josh Humphries luckily, but she was still holding out hope that she and Josh Davies would get back together. Now bad Josh was still

privately quote unquote joking with his friends that he could kill Becca and get away with it. Friends, you got to speak up like these friends are pieces of shit. I was going to say, this is on your shit too. Yeah. So by that fall, even his friends had joined in. Oh, fuck all you. They would say later that they thought it was all a joke, but it can joke you assholes.

Louder for the people in the back, joking about murder simply is not funny. Yeah, if you got friends that are joking about specifically murdering one person and they're really like, you gotta move on. Get out of there. We're on someone, we're put that. Let people know.

That's not just gonna go away, especially as like a teenager. If you're a young kid, that's not normal behavior. No, and you know just like stop joking about murder. No, it's never a joke. Gonna escalate. Like I never had any friends who joked about killing someone. It never happened. Never.

Don't let it happen. No. So back to the morning of October 22nd. Becca woke up early on that morning and she told her mom she was just too excited to stay to sleep because she had plans to meet up with Josh that afternoon. And he was still hinting heavily that he wanted to get back together. She actually went out shopping with her aunt Linda the day before and bought a new outfit for the date. She bought a red jacket and brown ankle boots. That just destroys my heart. And she just

hoped that that would impress Josh and that they could start things up again. She spent most of the morning just anxiously killing time. At one point, Sonya drew a bath for her to try to get her, like, you know, like excited. She was like, okay, like let's have like a fancy bath. And you know, like, we'll really do this. See, that's so sweet. Yeah, she was just killing time until she was supposed to meet Josh and the woods

just outside of Eberkinfig. Now, as the morning went on, Becca was starting to get more and more concerned because she hadn't heard from Josh about these plans. They had made these plans earlier this week, or earlier that week, excuse me, that he was going to text her when he was ready, but by that afternoon, she still hadn't heard from him.

So Becca tried to reassure her and she said, you know what boys are like, he's probably still in bed. Yeah. Now when Josh finally did text, it was around 1 p.m. And Becca immediately called her out, Linda, who was going to be driving her to the park. And she was like, it's time to go and she was so excited. When Linda arrived, she grabbed her handbag, Becca did, and rushed out the door. But just as she was about to head out, she looked at her mom and like I said,

she said, bye, mom, I love you. That's the part that just ruins you. Right. It just my heart, I know, ruins you. I mean, thank goodness she said that, but like seriously. No one should ever look at their kid for the last time. Never. You know, like it's just that like walking out the door. No, that's just awful.

So when Sonia heard about the plans that Becca had made with Josh that afternoon, she was immediately suspicious and uneasy about it because she knew how badly the breakup had affected Becca. And again, she had learned some of those manipulative and abusive things that he had said and done both before and after the relationship had ended. And yeah. But Becca had been working on her mom

and trying to convince her that things were better. She said things had changed and she said, he's okay now, he's back to the old Josh again. Oh, we've all done that. We totally have. And you just want your mom to like, you're like, come on, like, I know, like I've always that classic, I know him.

He's different when he's just with me. You know, like it's always, I've said those words before. Of course, you know, like I remember trying. I've been trying so many people out. Yeah, I remember trying to convince my parents that like, like bad John was like, no, no, you don't understand he's so sweet. Like he's like, no, he's so good to me.

He does that and it's like, you know in your heart that it's not the truth, but you want it to be the truth. And a mama knows. And a mama always knows. And Sonia knew. But at the same time, I think she was I just think she was like a really good mom. And I think she wanted to tell Becca,

like, you know, I'm really cautious about this, but I want you to be happy. That's the impression that I get. Exactly. And you also want your kid to experience and learn from situations instead of just directing them what to do. Right.

And it's like, you would never think something like this would happen. Not really about you. It's about to happen. And it's like you would never think something like this would happen. On what ever it's about to happen. And it's like you think, okay, there might be some heartbreak out of this. I am predicting it. But I, I will just be here for her. I can only give her so much to go out there with. But if she is dead set on trying this again, I will just be here to pick up the pieces. And it's like, that's all you can do. Right. And then hopefully they learn from that

and they take it into the next relationship or whatever. Exactly. And so I think she was doing all the right things in my opinion. And that's really all you can do is apparent. I completely agree. That must be a really hard position to be in. And I think it was because everything in her was telling her,

like, I don't know about this guy. But nothing inside of her was telling her, like, I think Becca could get physically hurt. No. Emotionally, absolutely. Physically? No. Physically? No. You never would believe that. No.

But the suspicions that things weren't going to really go well crept back up when Becca called her mom about an hour after she had been dropped off at the park to say that she still hadn't heard from Josh. So he texted her at one and said, I'm ready. Like, let's go meet. She got dropped off at the park. And again, I don't think I'm pretty sure Sonya didn't realize that they were going to go off into the woods because she had told Becca, like, don't go into the woods. She thought this was the park.

And now she's been waiting at that park for an hour and hasn't heard anything. So Sonya's like, what the fuck? She's worried. She doesn't want Becca hanging around a random park all afternoon by herself. So she's getting more and more frustrated. She's like, this is getting ridiculous. He's giving you all these elaborate directions

of where to go and what time to be there. He's not even showing up. She was like, it was some kind of mission between two secret spies. Like, it was ridiculous. No. On his end. Now Becca was like, no, mom, it's okay. Like, I'm safe. There's actually a police woman walking right behind me. Like, I'm okay. And so they chatted for a bit because I think Sonya was like, well, stay on the phone with me a little bit. Yeah. I'm nervous. And as they were on the phone, Becca finally spotted Josh walking

down the street in her direction. So she was like, oh, I see him. Like, we're good. And I'll talk to you later. And so he was like, okay, like, be careful. I love you. Now, what happened next is not entirely clear. Josh Davies would eventually admit to killing Becca. He did kill her.

But the confession actually came well after a trial was over. And his confession was rather light on the specifics. So because of that, the details of Becca's murder would end up being kind of cobbled together from the forensic evidence and testimony of his friends. From what the investigators piece together, Josh and Becca had walked to his house actually and spent a little bit of time there. And while they were there, this breaks my fucking heart because I picture us doing this. Becca gave her sister a call to give her an update and said, it's going well.

This is what we're doing. My God, this kills me. It's just so pure. It is. She's just, this is everybody. Just like a typical teenage girl. So excited about like rekindling a relationship and calling your sister like your best friend

to be like, it's all happening. You know? Like, oh, it kills me. It's awful. So at some point, they left Josh's house for the woods nearby. And they made their way to an isolated area in the trees. And this probably kills our mom too,

because her mom was so specific about Dunaqo and those ones. Exactly. 15 year olds gonna 15 year olds. Of course. And nothing would have ever gone through Becca's mind. Like, I shouldn't go into the woods because he's gonna kill me.

She would have never walked into those woods if she had any inkling that he was gonna do something. She probably was just like, oh, this is like a fun little romantic, romantic little rendezvous. Of course she made it a romantic little rendezvous. Exactly. That's like, you know that's what she was thinking in her head. Yeah, like, oh my god is like a fun little romantic, romantic little rendezvous. A romantic little rendezvous, exactly. That's like, you know, that's what she was thinking in her head. Yeah, like, oh my god.

Take it after you're walking around the woods with boys. No, I didn't actually. Like, I would have like little meetups that like, there was this really cute boy. But I could get it. Like, I could get why that would be. Yeah. And like, why it's exciting? Like, I have had that experience and you're so excited.

Yeah, of course. But, they'd either been talking or potentially arguing, we don't know, because again, their relationship did get to contentious at points. And Becca turned away from Josh for a moment during this. With her back turned to him, he grabbed her around the throat suddenly out of nowhere, and actually was attempting to break her neck. But he didn't know how to. And she started screaming, obviously.

And he was afraid that her screams were going to jaw attention, he said. So he grabbed a rock that was, quote, unquote, the size of a rugby ball. What the fuck? And while Becca was still facing away from him, he hit her on the back of the head with that rock. My God. So she fell to the ground and started screaming

because probably most likely her skull was fractured at that point. And he just kept hitting her and hitting her while she's down on the ground, like face down. Wow, what a big tough guy. Exactly. And he would later tell his friends and this is very graphic

that the worst part of all of it was quote, seeing Becca's skull give away. Oh my God. This was brutal. Brutal on a level that I can't believe he's a 16 year old boy. That's what is really getting me. This is a 16 year old that did this to a girl he claimed to love. Oh, he had her total of six times, which caused obviously significant

head trauma and breed damage that would ultimately be the cause of death. And after the sixth strike he realized that the rock was covered in blood and hair so he tossed it into some nearby bushes. Wow. Just so callous. Awesome. So callous. You're disgusting. And he also told friends that there was blood on Becca's face, so he flipped her over to lay face down at one point So that quote nobody would see it What you're leaving her in the middle of the woods somebody's going to see her like what if somebody finds her They're gonna examine her body you idiot. It's like no I think you flipped her over because you're a piece of shit and probably couldn't look at what you just did look her in the face

I think you flipped her over because you're a piece of shit and probably couldn't look at what you just did. You had to look her in the face. Exactly. Ask hole. Then he left her and just went back to his aunt's house. Just left her in the middle of the woods. And he started working on an alibi for himself immediately. You're a piece of shit, you know? Immediately.

He changed his Facebook status to say that he was chilling out with friends. And they just watched strictly come dancing on TV. And then he sent a bunch of texts to Becca's phone saying that people were starting to worry about her and that she better get into contact with someone to let them know where she was. Gaslighting her even in death. My God. Even in death still gaslight. That is so much like thought.

And so much like thought and so much like wow. And it proves that you were, you like you can't go on later and say that you were, had gone quote unquote insane in that moment. Yeah, you can't. Like you don't have an insanity defense. You took very serious and very intentful steps to cover this up and make it look like you didn't do it

because you knew that you had just murdered someone in cold blood. And it wasn't even just like he flipped in the moment kind of thing. He had been talking about killing her for weeks. Of course. And we'll find out there are entire text chains that will support that when we get time to talk to a jury.

Who are these people that are texting with him about this? Pieces of shit. Like come on everybody, Jesus. Jesus of shit. It always bums me out when you hear that like a whole group of people are like this. It's like, what the fuck? Where did you find each other?

Yeah. So it was that afternoon started turning over into the evening Linda, who was the aunt of Becca and Sonia sister. So Linda calls Sonia and she's like, I haven't heard from Becca about where she wants to be picked up. And I'm starting, I just have this gut feeling.

Like Linda just felt like something was off. Yeah, this family's close. And she actually told Sonia, she isn't coming home tonight. Oh. She just knew it. I'd actually just, I've read that. Yeah, that just gave me full chills.

And I still just got them. And Linda couldn't put into words why she felt that way. It was just something she knew. That's so scary. And Sonya was like, of course, she's coming home tonight. Like she's gonna be home later. She probably just got held up somewhere.

Because I think in her mind, she was like, I can't go there without. Oh, of course not. And then she remembered that Becca had mentioned something about Josh's mom driving her home if it had gotten too late, like into their hangout. But still, Dacunant shake the feeling. The first indication that something definitely wasn't right came later that night. When Sonia,

again, or excuse me, Linda again called Sonia to tell her that she had actually talked to Josh's dad, Linda had. And the dad told her that he hadn't seen his son or Becca at all that day. Oh. So by that evening, panic really was starting to sell. Every call to Becca was going unanswered and that was very unsettling. Because before Becca had left the house earlier that day, Sonia had actually given Becca her cell phone to use. Because remember, this is 2010. Becca's cell phone had run out of minutes. But Sonia didn't want her without a cell phone, so she was like, take mine.

Good mama. Now since Sonya didn't have her own phone, she had to borrow a phone from her brother, and it was running out of battery, and it wasn't like you could just throw it on a charger, and it was like, good to go. Yeah. Those were the days when you had to throw it on a charger

and let it sit. Oh, yeah. So that made her totally reliant on information from others, and especially so, because she was afraid to leave totally reliant on information from others. And especially so because she was afraid to leave the house in case Becca came back. She showed up. Right. So Sonia ended up calling the police at 7.15 p.m. to report her daughter missing and the

search for Becca officially began. This is horrifying. It is. Now, as the night unfolded, friends and family, they search for Becca everywhere they could think of looking anywhere she could possibly be. Linda and Becca's little sister Jess went to Josh Humphrey's house that the new edge. Good Josh, but nobody was home. So from there, they went to Sarn where Becca was supposed to meet with Josh Davies that afternoon, like the park. Now, all that was going on. Sonia was able to charge the phone

from her brother, and she was just calling Becca and Josh's numbers over and over and over, desperate to get an answer, but getting nothing. So Josh is just seeing millions of phone calls from this girl's mother. Yep, and ignoring you. Yep, totally. And she also tried to get into contact with good Josh, but each time she would say who was calling, he would hang up on her and eventually stop answering calls. There's an answer for that later. Because I was like, Josh, I know I was too. Good Josh, why am I calling you that? Don't get mad at him. Okay. Don't get mad at him. Okay. There was a reason. Now, Sonia was finally able to reach Josh Davies at his grandmother's house. It's

kind of confusing because he like, he's at his house at one point, he's at his aunt's house, he's at his grandma's, I don't know if they all wear the same street or what, but he finally, she was able to get in contact with him at nine o'clock that night. My God, her panic. So Becca had left the house around one. She's been gone for like eight hours at this point. And he told Sonia that he actually wasn't able to meet up with Becca that afternoon. And so maybe she had gone to kill some time with Joshua, the good Josh Humphrey. Josh Humphrey. No, for a minute, Sonia was like, I guess that makes sense. And she's in a state where she's desperate to find her daughter safe. And that's

a reasonable answer. So she's like, okay, like in her head, kind of trying to figure it out. But then she remembered that earlier when she was talking to Becca on the phone, she had said that she saw Josh coming down the street. So she said, are you telling me you weren't standing in front of her while she was on the phone to me? And he paused and then said, no. Wow, liar. So Sonia asked again, like, so did you see Becca today? Giving him another opportunity to come clean here? And he just repeated the story that he had already told. He had seen Becca and as far as he knew, she was with Humphreys.

Your pants are on fucking fire. God, I wish. So the police finally arrived at Sonia's house around 9.30 and they ran the usual battery of questions. Did she have any reason to run questions. Did she have any reason to run away? Did she have any reason or history of doing something like this and so on and so forth? Yeah. It's like, yeah, let's just paint her to be somebody who just runs away. Yeah. Things get tough. Like, it's like the answers. No. No, no.

No, Vaughn. And so at first, of course, the officers kind of suspected that Becca had gone to a party and drank too much. So now she was waiting to sober up before coming home, not wanting to get into trouble. Yeah, seems legit. And Sonia was like, no, Becca doesn't drink. Probably not. Becca doesn't drink.

She said, actually, Becca did drink over the summer, this past summer, and she had a really bad experience. She actually ended up blacking out, and she fucking hated it, and she never wanted to drink again. Yeah, so no, that's all I can do. So I can do this. But the police, they still insisted She actually ended up blacking out and she fucking hated it and she never wanted to drink again. Yeah. So no, that's not the case.

But the police, they still insisted that this was the most logical explanation and they were going to go around and check the usual party spots. So they wasted time after her mom told her she's not a party. She's not at a party. And they were like, okay, we're going to go check. We're going to go check some parties, which like I get to an extent, I know you have to rule it out, but it's like, do you have to spread all your resources? Well, that's, I was gonna say,

you wanna check party spots by all means check them. Shend a couple of things. For sure, but you gotta split up your resources and start checking other places too. You can't narrow it down right now. Exactly, especially when you're being told, but that's probably not where to go. Yeah.

Now, the rest of the night was just a flurry of phone calls, late night drives around town, just desperately searching for her. Literally horror. No results. So at 7am, the next morning, Sonia called the police again, but they had no update for her. Now, when she called again an hour later at 8am, she was told that the officer handling

this specific case had been called away, quote, on a rapid response. Oh, no. So she knew as soon as she heard rapid response, she was like, I know, it was harrowing. Her heart sank into her stomach and she was like, this emergency absolutely has something to do with Becca's. Oh, God. And unfortunately, she was right earlier that morning, officers were searching near the park where Becca was last seen and they found her.

She was obviously, as we know, lying face down in that isolated area of the woods. They'd spent all morning following up on leads they'd gathered throughout the night. And they spoke to Joshua Humphries who told them he had been at a club the night before. So when Sonia called from an unknown number, he kept hanging up because he couldn't hear her over the music. And he thought it was somebody who had the wrong number. Oh, okay. That makes sense. I'm not going to yell at you Josh. Exactly. Maybe just say. Also, like, why were you at a club? I think he might have been a little older. I was going to be like, and also you go home. I think you can go to clubs a little bit. I think it's like, it probably means something a little different than what I'm thinking. Yeah.

Also, they used to have like, teen nights at clubs. TBT to whom I self, I'm got stolen at one. Yep. Good times. Anyways, he couldn't near her, so that's why he was hanging up. Now they then explained to Sonia

that they had found Becca's body through information from actually one of Josh Davies friends, Liam Thomas. Liam told his mom that he knew Josh had done something in Rebecca, so Liam's dad immediately called the police to report the information. And after hearing a little more from Liam, they were able to locate Becca's body. Now I'm glad that Liam finally said something.

Took a long time. Yeah, it's a little too late. Oh, it's, I would say. Yeah. And, it's a little too late. Oh, it's I would say. Yeah. And also, it's like very interesting that you were able to send them right to where she was. Oh, we know why. Mm-hmm. The detectives also told Sonia that they had arrested two boys that they believed were responsible, not Liam, Joshua Davies and Daniel Ninnis. I, you can just imagine that if I was Sonya, I'd be like, just put me in a room with them.

Just put me in a room with them. And she's sitting there in complete disbelief that a boy she had welcomed into her home that had played with her younger, sit laid with her youngest children. Who she treated like she would treat her own son. Yep, could be responsible for this. And she actually assumed that Daniel Ninnis

was the one who was truly responsible. Yeah, because why would you ever think it's the boy that you knew? Right, and Ninnis actually hated Becca because Becca had turned him down on a date a year previous. Oh my God, the fragility of these fucking boys. Right, the fragility.

My God. So Sonya's assumption was reasonable, but the detective actually corrected her when she was like, it must have been Daniel. He was like, no, it's Josh who's actually responsible. And the detective chief inspector, John, I believe it's Penhill, told Sonya, I've not seen anything like it.

So Liam had been the one to also bring up Daniel to the police. And now both Daniel and Josh, like I said, had been arrested. And of course, they were sitting in separate rooms blaming each other. Of course. So it was going to take some digging and pressing to get the truth out of them. But now let's get into the dynamic between the three friends and what happened the day of the murder before it happened. That morning, Josh actually wasn't in bed. He had met up with those two friends, or excuse me, he had met up with Liam Thomas at Cafe 107 in downtown Abercone Fig. They usually

met on Saturday mornings for breakfast. So they waited about a half hour for Daniel who was supposed to meet them, but he didn't show up. So they walked to, I believe, Josh's house. Now during their walk, that was when Becca started texting Josh about the plans. So later on they ended up meeting with Daniel and Josh told his two friends, his plan to meet Becca that afternoon in the forest and said, I'm finally gonna go through with my plan. Guys, call someone.

No, Alina, they said that they thought he was joking. My God, I can't. And they said, actually, they thought he was joking and informed investigators, actually, that they joined in themselves and suggested various ways for Josh to kill and dispose of Becca. What is wrong with these little fucks? Like, just typical breakfast behavior.

Yeah. The fuck? I guess by this point everybody knew about Josh's hatred of Becca and killing her was just a regular topic of their conversation. So fucked up. Because a few weeks later, excuse me, a few weeks earlier, when the three of them had met up at that breakfast cafe, the subject had come up. And when they all parted ways after breakfast,

Josh texted Liam, who I don't like, and said, what would you do if I actually did kill her? And he responded, Liam said, oh, I would buy you a breakfast. I would buy you a breakfast. If you murdered a human being. Wow. So like, round him all up, cool that you told your daddy and your mommy that you were so scared. Yeah. And that Josh had done something. You knew that he was gonna do something. Yeah.

The entire time and you lulled and said you were gonna buy him breakfast for it. These are disgusting little shit. So go fuck yourself Liam. Truly. Now around one o'clock that afternoon, Josh headed out as we know to meet Becca. And before walking off, he solidified

what he was gonna go do and said to his friends, the time has come. Straight up implying that he was about to go head off and kill his ex-girlfriend. And not one of them said shit to their parents. Yeah, no, I'm not impressed. Not impressed by these kids. It's like, sure, maybe he was joking the first 99 million times, but if your friend is walking

away from you and applying that they're heading off to go murder someone, call someone, and then reevaluate your friendship. That's the thing. I'm like, what are you doing? So about an hour and a half had gone by and Liam decided to text Josh to find out what was going on. It's like, were you excited? Yeah, like, did you do it? So his text went unanswered because as we know, that was going on. So Josh's silence prompted both boys to actually leave Daniel's house and walk down to the park

where Josh said he was going to meet Becca, which to me says they were starting to worry that he was going to do something. Absolutely. They were going down to see if it was happening. But after finding nobody there, they moved, are they returned to Daniel's house. And a short time later, they ended up calling Josh and he actually answered and they were like, are you still with Becca? And his answer was, define with. I want to whale on this kid.

I can't I would. Vlogging. I would get on a plane to whales just to like just roll a cup of piss in his face. Just to spit in his eye. Literally. My God. So he said, define with.

And then he asked both boys to come back to the area to meet him, which they did. And they got there just after 230. So this all happened very quickly. Yeah. So standing at the entrance to the forest, Liam called Josh again. And when he answered, Josh demanded to speak with Daniel.

And he said, Daniel needed to come meet him in that remote part of the woods. The only reason that Liam didn't go with him is because he was on crutches because of a rugby injury. So off Daniel went into the forest, mark my mother fucking words if that boy hadn't been on crutches. You would have gotten us what had been following like the little piece of shit follower he was. Like the little lamb that he is. So Daniel returned a little bit later and told the him that he had seen Becca's body lying face down on the ground and said that Josh didn't

seem phased or upset by any of it. My God. And then they all went back to Daniel's house to hang. Okay. He had just taken a human life. And showed you. Showed you it, and now you're all just gonna bro out this afternoon?

Disgusting. What the mother fuck do? Truly disgusting. So at the house, Josh told them everything that happened. I don't know if Daniel was like overwhelmed or couldn't accept it, or if he's a fucking piece of shit, I think the latter, but he didn't seem at all emotional. Liam said, now Liam was starting to freak the fuck out as you should.

He couldn't tell whether Daniel and Josh were telling the truth, but at the same time nothing about what they were saying felt right to him. So he called his mom and asked him, asked her to pick him up as soon as possible. And before he left, Josh made Liam delete all the text messages between them and told both of his friends, if anybody asked to say that they had all been together all afternoon. Oh my god, this kid is diabolical. And also, sweetie pie sugar buns. Text messages don't go anywhere. Exactly. If they want those, they're going to get those. So when he was arrested, Josh Davies told the police, Oh, it was all Daniel.

Oh, yeah. He murdered Becca. I had nothing to do with it. No, of course not. He said he had only told Daniel that he killed Becca in order to prank him because LOL. And then when Daniel arrived at the scene and discovered that Becca was in fact not dead, he went into a rage and grabbed a rock from the ground

and murdered her in anger. Yeah, he went into a rage and grabbed a rock from the ground and murdered her in anger. Yeah, that's likely. What? Seems like a legit scenario. Uh, didn't take long for investigators to determine that, uh, that was a lie. Yeah. And Daniel Ninnis was actually released into his parents custody 36 hours after he was

arrested. He shouldn't be. No, and I think Liam should have been arrested in the live and in your own accessory. I agree. He were there. So the news about Becca's murder and I think Liam should have been arrested in the event in your own accessory. I agree. He were there. So the news about Becca's murder and the arrest of the two local boys was reported a few days later

to the absolute shock and horror of this small community. Orifying. The area actually had recently seen a large uptick in the number of murders that year. And at that point, it was second on the list to the village of Puntrypet, I believe, as Wales murder capital. Oh my God.

So they were like, what the fuck is going on around here? And then the details in Becca's case, they seemed worse than anything else that had gone on that year. And it would only get worse when more details would come out in trial. Oh God. Now, because Josh was a minor at the time of this,

the police actually couldn't release his name to the public. So nobody knew who this was. But they were able to release his age, which again came as a major shock to this community. He was, I think I may have accidentally said earlier that he was 16, he was 15. Oh my God. 15.

That's horrifying. Like it's one thing for a teenager to be murdered by an adult, but like that's horrific and terrifying and scary. But for a teenager to brutally kill another teenager for quite literally zero fucking reason. That community was raw. Yeah. They were terrified. And they were like, of course, is this the start of some kind of social shift that no one wants to go through? Fuck. So Josh actually pleaded not guilty to Becca's murder. Oh, okay. Even though there was a ton of evidence against him and interviews to the contrary. Mm-hmm. But he continued to insist that it was Daniel who had killed Becca. And since his arrest, he had been housed at, I believe it's Vinny Green.

It's on the outskirts of Bristol, and it's for young offenders who have committed like really serious crimes. Okay. So like an intense Juve. Yeah. Now the authorities were actually so nervous that the inmates might wanna take revenge

like the local inmates who maybe would have known Becca or even still just like knew where she was from. Yeah. They were scared that they were gonna wanna retaliate. And so they couldn't tell anybody that Josh was in there for the murder of a local girl. So instead they said that he was being held on possession of GHB.

I was like, okay. Let's not do that. Like let's not protect him. I agree, but at the same time, I'm like protect him during the trial so that the family can get peace and feed him to the fucking walls. But then you deal with the consequences of your actions, like I'm saying.

And I think that's kind of what this was. It was like, let's get some trial. No, it makes sense. It's just like an initial reaction. You're like, no, don't hide what he did. Oh, that's my initial reaction, too. But you're absolutely correct. So he was mostly kept away from the other inmates to avoid any issue before trial.

Now after eight months of negotiations, planning, pre-trial hearings, it all took forever. Josh Davies trial finally began at the crown court of Swansea on June 22, 2011. And it was expected to last her on five weeks. So the prosecutor was Greg Taylor, and in his opening statement, he told the jury all about the breakup, how Josh had bragged about wanting to kill Becca for a while now.

He continued to place the blame for her murder on his best friend, and he said to the jury, quote, there's no doubt Rebecca was murdered. She was hit a number of times to the head with a rock and a forest and Abercane fig. It was raining. She was left for dead on the forest floor

in new clothes spot for her the day before. The prosecution says this boy sitting on the bench before you committed the murder. And then he went on to tell the jury in full detail about all the abuse that Becca had suffered from Josh in the months after their breakup and during their relationship. Fuck this kid.

He included when he was telling the jury that Josh had told a friend, I wanna make her life hell and you won't convince me otherwise. What the fuck was wrong with him? So many things. Oh. Now to close out his opening statement,

Taylor drove home just how callous and cold Josh was by telling the Jerry about the breakfast bet between the friends. That's truly incredible. Mm-hmm. And then told them about the group chat that the three of them shared, where they went back and forth with ideas

on how to kill Becca. You know jokingly. That's why these other two should be in trouble. I agree too. You already said, what are you doing? And I'm worried about you too, if you were talking about that. And I don't understand why they couldn't have been got

on conspiracy to commit murder. That's exactly what this was. They were planning it. Exactly. It's so messed up. You wanna pretend it was a joke? It's not. She was murdered.

So now you're in trouble. And you should be. Yeah. So that's really frustrating to me that they weren't. It's infuriating. The first two witnesses called on the first day of trial were Becca's friends, and they were able to give even more details about the abuse and the constant talk of killing Becca. One of the friends actually who was testifying had even been in a fight with Josh over how he was treating Becca, but things were getting so contentious that Becca actually texted him,

thanking him for standing up for her, but saying not to because it was basically I'm fine, it would just make things worse. Yes. Now the third witness called that day was Becca's mom, Sonia. Among other things, she told the jury about her daughter's relationship with Josh, the way he had been welcomed into her family. And she's told the jury how she had been,

and she said she was very cross with him in that past year for how he was treating Becca after the breakup. And she told them how she was anxious that fall when Becca started bringing up the idea of getting back together with him. And finally, she told the jury all about the morning that Becca had spent getting ready so excitedly to meet Josh.

That kills me. She said how she was so excited. She couldn't even sleep. She told them about the bubble bath that she had prepared for Becca to get ready, just like a little girl time. And how nervous Becca was, but excited to start the relationship back up again.

That kills me. And I must have been fucking gut-wrenching for her to go through that. But I'm so glad she got the opportunity to paint that picture for the jury. Yeah. Like, my little girl was so fucking excited for this. And this is what he did to her. Oh, that, oh.

It's fucked. So when she finished answering the prosecutor's questions, Sonia prepared herself for the cross examination by Josh's defense lawyer, Peter Rouch. Since Josh had tried to place all the blame on Daniel, Sonia was expecting a ton of questions about Daniel and his relationship with Becca. But he only had one singular, very bizarre question for Sonia, just one. He asked her, could Becca swim? And when Sonia said, no, she couldn't, he declared he had no further questions.

That's chilling. How weird is that? Now, the question confused Sonia, and it would actually be weeks until she learned, it was asked because there was a supposed plan that Josh Davies had developed with Daniel Ninnis to throw Becca into a lake or quarry, which he thought would be easy because of her inability to swim. That is my brain won't even comprehend this. I don't really understand what the defense thought they were doing here. What was the rest of your line of questioning? Was it bolstered when she said no, she couldn't swim?

Well, I think that's probably, but what a risky yeah I moved to backfired because it's like that was a 50-50 shot. If she says yes, then maybe you can say well then this wasn't him planning her death, she can swim like they were just gonna that most to be playing her. Right, but if there's a 50 shot. She says, no. Mm-hmm. And then you've just outed the fact that he was definitely planning to kill her because she couldn't swim.

Well, and I think that's why he had no line of further questioning. But like, why would you even give that a shot? That is a risky, that's bad lawyer. Bad lawyer, bad lawyer. Bad lawyer. Now, there was a ton of testimony given in court. But once they had adjourned for the day,

all the press could report on was the ridiculous joke about Josh winning a free breakfast, and that was actually the headline that I saw, and I was like, what the fuck? So I started reading about this case. It was like, what the fuck? Now, the headline of the Times, the next day, read, youth murdered girl after promise of a free breakfast.

So fucked up. Like, sensationalizing this entire thing. Yeah. And also completely ignoring the detailed accounts of abuse and threats that led up to the murder. Yeah. He didn't just murder her for free breakfast. There was a way more at play there. But of course, following lead, countless other news outlets honed in on the free breakfast. It's just concentrated on that. And this became the free breakfast case. Of course. It's like you're completely ignoring

the themes of domestic violence and abuse here. But cool. Can we please talk about that? Now, of course, while it may have been blown out of proportion, the comment about the free breakfast was of significance to the prosecution's case because it shows how callous and cold it are. No, it's definitely important for sure.

But it's the fact that I was sensationalized by the media is not cool. And the fact that it's being like touted as like, this is why he did it. It's like, no, it's even worse. Yeah. But like, there really is no reason. Like, that was just a joke.

Mm-hmm. But for the prosecution, they were like, we can use this because it shows intent and crem meditation. That, I understand. I totally get that. A little malice of forethought for you. So the jury was actually shown two text message chains between the friends.

The first messages shown were sent the week before and included that original comment about the breakfast. And the second chain occurred the Thursday before the murder and I'm gonna read it to you. Okay. So Josh Text Liam and says, don't say anything, but you may just own me a breakfast. What the fuck?

And Liam says, best text I ever had made, seriously. If it is true, I'm happy to pay for a breakfast. Pick up Liam. Yeah. Everybody, let's go pick up that wool shit stain. Then Josh said, I hope by then it will be done industed. Liam said, I want all the details you sadistic bastard smiley face. Josh said large breakfast with extras of everything.

And Liam writes back, six sick boy. You have no heart. Fucked. Fucked and you are just as mother fucking guilty. That, that's like shocking. That kid was just out fine. Like, free. Six sick boy. Also, you guys are being fucking weird. Well, I was just gonna say, are you all right? Yeah.

Like, okay, you need a minute. And then to act like you're this terrified little puppy dog who's so scared that you're gonna get in trouble that you had to call mommy to come get you. Go fuck yourself. It's like here you are talking a big game to your friend, the murderer. And did you tell your mom that part?

You scared of yourself. Did you tell your mom that you wanted every detail and you told him that with a winky smiley face? And that you were the one gonna get the free breakfast. Yeah. Did you let mommy and daddy know that? Did you let them know? Leo. You piece of shit. I'm like right in the face, get the free breakfast. Yeah. Did you let mommy and daddy know that? Did you let them know? Leo.

You piece of shit. I'm like, right in the face. I'm so angry. I can feel it. I'm so excited. So in the next day at trial, Daniel, Ninnis and Liam Thomas' statements were given in two parts. First, the jury saw video testimony where both boys gave their accounts of what happened. And then each boy was called to the stand to testify again to what they had seen and heard on the day of the murder.

And I hope they were shaking in their fucking boots. Yeah. And I hope everyone on that jury saw them for exactly what they were. Assessories to murder. Exactly. There were slight variations in their stories, of course, because they're two teenage boys and they're not going to see things the same, but they're pretty much the same. And like many of the other teenagers who gave statements and testimony, they both said they never took Josh seriously. Daniel told the prosecutor, I thought it was a joke, a sort of slag-off sort of thing. Oh god, shut the fuck up. But he did admit to the jury and to the prosecutor that in the weeks before the murder, Josh's violent rhetoric got, quote unquote,

a lot more weird and specific, but still everyone just thought he was angry and just talking shit. But still we decided, let's not say anything. Yeah, whatever. So after the testimony from Ninnis and Thomas to pieces of human garbage and what let us and everything awful in the world,

it's like that junk that gets caught in your dish. Strainer, when you're like in the sink and everything awful in the world. Like that junk that gets caught in your dish. Yep. Strainer when you're like in the sink, and it starts to smell bad. Absolutely. That. After that, a forensic analysis provided the jury with an overview of the physical evidence collected at the scene, which included 12 fibers from Josh's jacket

on the rock that had been used. So you really want to sit there and say it was Daniel? Good try. Not going to lie, Daniel's a piece of shit. to sit there and say it was Daniel? Good try. Not gonna lie, Daniel's a piece of shit. I was gonna say they were all pieces of shit, but varying levels of pieces of shit. Exactly. Now the pathologist, Dr. Steven Ledberter,

I believe it is, provided a detailed account of the injuries that Becca had sustained. He told the court, given the fragmentation of the skull that had been blunt impact to the back of the head. But the grays is bruising in splits to the face might not have been due to direct impact, but from the surface against which the face was lying against further impact from the back of the head.

Okay. So basically what he was saying was like, there was a lot of damage to the back of the head, but then when we looked at the front of her face, there were scratches and bruises everywhere, but that was because he was essentially beating her into the ground. From the like, as she was lying face down. Oh, that's awful. Brutal. Absolutely. Brutal. Brutal. And his testimony stressed how brutal this was, because not only had Josh tried to break Becca's neck, he also continued this assault on her after she was motionless on the ground. This was overkill.

So closing arguments were given by the prosecution and the defense on July 21st, and then the jury adjourned to deliberate. And they actually deliberated for nearly three days. Oh wow. And they returned to their verdict on Wednesday, July 27th. Guilty as fuck. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. So on September 2nd, 2011, Josh headed back to Swansea for sentencing. And the judge in the case, Justice Lloyd Jones, read him to fucking fill.

Good. And showed just how disgusted he was with Josh's complete lack of remorse for the murder. He described him as devious, calculating and controlling, and added that he robbed the ill-word and Oatley families of watching their, quote, precious and perfect girl flourish into a successful young woman. It's so true. It is. She would have been like a star in this world. Yeah. She would have. She would have gone on to do pieces. And just and she would have added like so much kindness to wherever she was. She just seemed well. Makes me so sick. Now when he finished with Josh, he sentenced him to life and prison

with a minimum of 14 years, which was the maximum penalty allowed for an underage offender. By bitch. And when the trial concluded, Sonia was able to make a statement to the press where she called for the return of the death penalty. Oh damn. And told them she hoped Josh would never see the outside of prison again. She said, I don't blame her. I don't blame her at all.

I would have said the exact same thing. Yeah. She said, we will never forgive him for tearing our world apart so brutally. And I would welcome the return of capital punishment for the likes of Joshua Davies who forfeited his human rights when he chose to take my daughter's life.

Yeah, and I don't blame her one bit. I still, like, my goosebumps have goosebumps. I don't blame her one bit. Nope, that's her baby. That's her baby. That's her baby. And that's, that's like her first baby. Yeah, that is your baby girl.

You have a right to say whatever the hell you want to this piece of filth. Like Becca made her a mom. Yeah. And he took that away. Oh, I can't, it's, he could never take that away. And he took that away. Oh, I can't. He could never take that away. But that took Becca.

Took that baby away from her. So at the end of the day, Sonia was as happy as she could be with the outcome of the trial. And she knew that the judge imposed the maximum sentence allowed. So there was that. Now, overall, just the fact that a teenager could be so cruel to murder his ex-girlfriend for what they thought was a free breakfast was totally sensational like I was saying and readers were shocked around

the UK. But I think it's so important to stress that it wasn't about free breakfast. Josh was controlling and he was abusive and he manipulated Becca during their relationship and after it. I think he hoped that dumping her would be devastating to her, but it wasn't. So this was like a final dig when he didn't have any use for her anymore. If she didn't need you, then that's what upset him. That's exactly what it was. He was an abuser, and I think killing Becca was his final act of control. Absolutely. Now, when the trial ended, Sonia actually ended up moving her family away from the area to start the grieving process. And in 2014, she published by Mom, I love you,

which is a memoir about her experience with the justice system in the wake of Becca's murder. Oh my god, destroy my heart. And I actually ended up using it a lot for research on this case. And so did Dave. Dave. Now in 2018, Josh Davies actually finally confessed to Becca's murder. Interestingly enough, he actually confessed in 2018. Oh, but you had said he didn't get, he was very vague. He was very vague. His reasons for murder still remain unclear. Piece of shit to the end. And Sonia believes that his confession was only made in preparation for an appeal. Yeah. Which I agree. I absolutely agree with that.

She told reporters he's only doing it for his own benefit. Not that he has any empathy for this family. It's cruel. It is cruel. Now, if that is the case, like if he does try to go up for an appeal or probation or anything like that, Sonia and Becca's sister Jess are ready and waiting with their own victim impact statements. And they are hoping that that will keep Josh and Jail

for as long as humanly possible. Hell yeah. And I will get on a fucking plane to Wales if they need me to. Seriously. And stand there next to them. After hearing this, I'm like, hell yes. Like keep that mother fucker in jail.

Is there a petition? I don't, I don't think anything has that motherfucker in jail. Is there a petition? I don't, I don't think anything has happened yet. Like, no kind of a peel-to-peel time comes if there's an appeal. We're doing it. Got that shit going. Hell yeah. Because that is a horrifying tale.

A horrifying, horrifying tale. It, it reminds me of the Slenderman stuff. It does like that. It's got that same vibe. It does. But even it's just the kids stuff. Kids hurting kids like always. It's just off. It destroys me. And it's like so so soft. Yeah. For what? For your ego? For your piece of shit and exactly for your ego. How is your ego doing now? Yeah. How's

you doing? How's it doing? How are you doing in there? And you thought he was going to get away with it. Yeah, of course he did. He thought he was diabolical. He was like, oh, I got this. I'm cunning. I can do it. And then I'll just go get free breakfast. Yeah, I'll get free breakfast, and I'll blame it on my friend.

And it will be fine. I hope that every breakfast he has gives him food poisoning. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Fuck you. Diarrhea. Fuck you.

Fuck you. Oh, yeah, guys. Horrifying. That was the sad sad case of Rebecca L. Ward. Wow, well thank you for sharing. No problem. So yeah guys, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird.

I don't have to tell you not to keep it this weird. And if I do, oh my god. Call someone, everyone. Or someone to call someone for you. Call, call, call. Yeah, nine more one. What's your emergency? This. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download

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