Rotten Mango - #130: The Murder Planned In The Psychiatric Ward (Case of Celeste Beard)

Episode Date: January 12, 2022

The two women met in the psychiatric ward and instantly sparks were flying. Their hair was wild, they were heavily drugged up but they knew that it was only a matter of time before they had s*x. They were so different but it worked. One woman - the wife of a millionaire. The other woman - was struggling with life and addiction. But they just knew that they would be together. They just didn’t know it would be in jail… for murder. Book Rec: “She Wanted It All” - by Kathryn Casey (an amazing deep dive on this case I was hooked). Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to this week's main episode of Rotten Mingo. I'm your host Stephanie Sue, and let's just jump right into it. Celeste was a bit of a wild soul. She was 30, married to a rich millionaire in her 70s, and every single Sunday after brunch at the country club. Yeah, she would get brunch at the country club. She would get up and say, well, ladies, sorry to cut it short, but I have to go make some money. I call it the Sunday Suck. And she would leave the table. Drift in Jules and Jullery, okay? Drift in fur and jewelry. Yes indeed. She was headed to give Oral sex to her husband Steve. She was a busy woman, you see?

Blowing through $500,000 every five to six months, and when she wasn't doing that, she's peeing on her ex-husband's lawn, because naturally, where else do you release your bowels? And if she was ever told no, stop doing these things. You're a grown adult, stop urinating on people's lawns. You're killing the grass. She would attempt to take her own life. Her twin daughters and her rich husband would put her in a psychiatric care facility

and that is where she ran into Tracy. I know it sounds like a movie just hold on to your tits, okay? They meet in the courtyard, hire a hair all wild, they're both heavily drugged out. It was one of those facilities. And they both instantly knew they were gonna have sex. They were gonna do it. It's like they could see into the future.

They were destined to be together. But I guess they didn't see the part where both of them would end up in jail for murder. Now, this is actually a quite scandalous case when it was happening because it revolved around a millionaires wife who turned out to be lesbian. I love that's what society took from this case. They're like, how could she be a lesbian?

Her high-spinnice rich! None of this makes sense! The world is upside down! So as always, full source notes are available at rottingmingopodcast.com, but wow, there is a book on this that is something else. I feel bad even calling it a deep dive because it felt like a full force just front flip cave dive. It was intense. It's called She Wanted It All by Catherine Casey. I tell you it's meticulous, well researched, but it's so juicy. Can I say that? I mean like the sheer amount of ridiculousness the sheer amount of drama that takes place even before a crime is committed is

Absolutely insane. All of those intense details are in this book, so I highly recommend giving it a read. It's truly something else But I guess we're just gonna get into this 30 year old. Can I say gold digger? I feel like that's like not a word I can say these days. Which she was kind of the epitome of that. You'll hear, okay? Oddly, the story does not start with Celeste though. It starts with her adoptive parents instead. Edwin and Nancy. You know, they were a cute couple.

They had been married for six years. Edwin owned a Volkswagen repair shop. Nancy was a stay-at-home mom. They lived on a small ranch and a cold ass sack. It's a pretty perfect life, no? But they were going through a lot behind closed doors, like a lot of couples. They were struggling with conceiving a child. So Nancy had three miscarriages, and that is when they decided, let's just adopt. Why go through the pain? Now this is in the 60s when there were a lot more relaxed laws about adoption. So the two, Edwin and Nancy, adopt four babies in less than four years.

They were adopting a baby literally every nine months. They're like, that sounds cute. They're like giving this baby a home. Well, Nancy the mom, she was a little wild. If any of her adoptive kids were like, hey mommy, just wondering, where are my biological parents? Why was I adopted by you? Like, I love you, thank you, but like, what mommy, just wondering where my biological parents why I was adopted by you. Like I love you, thank you, but like what's going on? And she would sit them down, she would, you know, put their hair behind their ear and say,

your mom was a sex worker. And you were the son of a wife, Peter. He was a no good, no having no life loser. I gave your mom $5 to not abort you. $5, that's all it took. You're with me because your real parents didn't love you. Guess what? I don't love you either. And she would walk away. So the kids were often sitting there like, why the hell did she freaking adopt us then? If she hates us so much, I don't understand.

So from the outside, nobody sees this though. They see this perfect cute family. Nancy would go around telling everyone, oh I'm just so tired I baked cookies with the kids. Oh I took them rock climbing. Did I mention I've taken the kids twice to Disneyland, not once, twice to Disneyland. But our kids remember a very different life they said, yeah, dad was really strange. Mom was always troubled. She had some psychological problems. Being home just was never a happy place. Ever. The oldest adoptive child, his first memory was when he was like

five or six and it was, um, he was in the bath with the rest of his siblings and Nancy is washing their hair, but she would randomly grab their heads, the back of their heads, and just shove it down into the water. And they would start crying, they would be flapping around, like their arms are flapping up and down, like, get me out of here, and then she would bring them back up, and then do it again. It was so terrifying, they're told they're dead, and soon afterwards Nancy gets admitted into a psychiatric hospital, where the doctors were like, well, what's going on? Like, why did you try to drown your kids? Let's talk about it. And she said, well, at the time, I was thinking of this Bible passage called to wash away your sins. So that's what I was doing.

But I would never kill them. And they just took her word. They said, okay, that's fine. Abuse is great. Just don't kill them. And she's, they sent her off. They sent Nancy back to her kids. Not all of her kids suffered the same way though. There were favorites from the get go. Celeste was the golden child. She was daddy's little girl. She did well in school. She volunteered during the holidays. She baked cookies.

For school, she won ribbons at competitions. She had this beautiful dark blonde hair with these blue eyes. She would later grow up to be Super's tall, have long legs, and everything she wore had to be pink. She was just that type of girl. Everybody loved her except for her brothers. And it wasn't innocent annoyance. Like, ah, she likes pink. She's so girly. I don't like her. No, they were terrified of her.

They said it's because she is just so calculating. One minute, she would do everything for you, bend over backwards for you. Then she just turns into this horrible, positively psychotic person. Those are their words, not mine. Now, Nancy was angry at one of the other kids, Celeste would jump up and grab the giant wooden board. She said, I got it, I got it, I got it coming. And she'd bring it.

There's the family's spanking board. It's like she wanted. She like yearned for her other siblings to get spanked. Now Nancy seemed to encourage it because there were other adults who saw this happen and they're like, wow, something's wrong with your daughter. That's bizarre. You should talk about it. I mean, nevertheless, something's wrong with you, Nancy, but why is Celeste jumping up and down for this? So if they pointed it out, Nancy would just say, well, you know, the whole family is just different. So when Celeste turns 11, her whole life comes crashing down

on her. Edwin had to close down his repair shop. And now he is no longer the CEO of a Volkswagen repair shop. In fact, he's now unemployed. So he decides to go back to school further his education, which was not a good idea. It just gave the family even more debt to deal with any majored in speech.

So all that happened was he didn't really get a job with this degree. He just got really snobby. He started using big words. He dressed in press. He wanted to look like a professor all the time. He started going by the name because, you know, he's like, Edwin's not cool. It's not classy He said call me jedadaya

One more time Jedadaya Jedadaya Jedadaya, it's a biblical name, okay? And he just turned into the biggest ego-tistical dude ever He started to beat the kids more because he's like, what do you mean? You don't understand the word. What do you mean?

Look for a synonym for cool. What's wrong with you? Stop talking like you have no education. And it got so bad that on Christmas Eve, Nancy kicked him out of the house. And for the next three years, I am talking a bitter, bitter divorce. They fought over everything.

Yeah, they usual, money, the kids, but they also fought about like Edwin's old shop tools. I don't know. I don't know what Nancy would wanna do with that wrench. I don't know what she would want to do. Like, they just fought over every little possession. And the kid said, Dad was crazy, sure. Yeah, he was.

But mom was vindictive. She tried to brainwash us to hate dad. So Celeste, she's going through her own problems. You know, she had made a friend at church named Louise and Louise was from a rich family. Celeste is not. Louise's family would take her on all of these fancy trips, these vacations, and Louise would even buy her expensive presents on her birthday. And Celeste just, this was her first very very sweet taste of money and now she expected it. She felt entitled to it. She felt like she needed it and deserved it and people should be throwing wads of cash at her as she walks by. Okay maybe that's not the worst thing though. Maybe you're

thinking okay this is great maybe this is a rags-to-riches story she's gonna work hard for her money. She develops a great work ethic. Like, wow, it's gonna be one of those. No, she just became more and more entitled and intolerable. She started beating up her siblings to the point where they would call the cops on her. Celeste would even start beating her own mother. Ugh, no.

Over the smallest things, Nancy would wake her up for school and I guess... I guess Celeste wasn't ready I guess the less was sleepy so she would punch Nancy punch her hand through the front window of the house shattering the glass and she would just go around punching people because she was woken up for school so this is when Nancy is like I think that it's time to get a therapist for the last so she brings her. I don't know what kind of therapist she chose, but the therapist sat down with Celeste and after one session said, we have no idea how to help her. So I mean sure you could keep bringing her in, but I don't

know what to tell you. So they don't bring her in. They just let her do her own thing. Now fast forward to high school. Celeste is actually very popular in high school. She had these super high cheekbones. She wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but she had this very enticing smile. Kind of like a husky voice with a- this isn't according to people who knew her with a hint of a lisp. I don't know why they- Okay, that's really rude. A husky voice with a hint of a lisp. And it was just enticing, people liked it. She knew how to draw people in, she did it powerfully. She loved the attention.

She was the type that would act so sweet and innocent, but at night, she would strut around the streets in her nightgown and she loved being cat-called. She loved people, you know, showering her with compliments. Now this is bizarre though. When Cole, this is her older brother. When he finally got into bed with his first sexual connection, his girlfriend told him, hey, Justin, you know, since we're going to have sex now, I've already had

sex with your sister Celeste. Yeah, to clarify, I'm not bothered at all that his girlfriend or Celeste had a same sex encounter But I'm cringing at the fact that imagine you're about to have sex for the first time and the person you're about to do it with tells you Oh, yeah, I already forked your sibling just thought you should know I would die. I mean, how would you even react? And he proceed? Yes, he did. He absolutely did And he proceed? Yes, he did. He absolutely did. Okay.

So by the time that Celeste 17, she meets her very first future husband, don't worry, there's going to be lots. 19-year-old Craig, they met at a bar and she made the first move. He thought that she was just so pretty. Craig stood no chance. Some even said that Celeste was his road to suicide. He was in a, inover his head. She did a lot of dangerous things with him, but I guess more so to him, she would tell him

like, my boss at the pizza shop, he keeps assaulting me, like he keeps touching me and grow being me and, you know, of course, Craig is not just gonna sit around and listen to this. So he grabs his friends and they grabs some weapons and they go to the pizza shop and an altercation happens And it ends up with Craig being hit on the head with a hammer Come to find out Celeste had lied the pizza owner had never assaulted her She also lied that a guy at a party had kissed her and

Craig went on to go try and beat up that guy But then the truth came out everybody at the party no, that did was minding his own business, and Celeste kept coming up to him on the couch and just try to make out with the guy. Like, we saw it, we're not even drunk, we saw it. So eventually a lot of those around her, they start seeing through Celeste, and she gets kicked out of parties, people start being her friend, and she was just left with like a handful of friends, a handful of people who were just so confused. Why does nobody like Celeste? She's so cool. Gail was one of those people, one of those close friends, and then it happened to her.

One night Celeste takes Craig's car without asking him. She's just going for her joyride. Now Craig loves his car, so this is important. She picks up Gail and they start driving around and suddenly Craig's friend's car pulls up behind them with Craig in there. So they keep following this car and she's like, I'm not gonna pull over Instead of pulling over and admitting what she did and saying sorry to Craig. She peddled to the metal She's booking it. Now the problem is they were like on the side street and the passenger door was open a little bit I think that they were probably smoking and Gail had fallen out of the car Her pants were caught on the door and Celeste did not stop so she kept driving for another like 300 feet with Gail

Just scraping on the road Thankfully this was during winter and Gail was just all covered up in layers like she had on layers and layers and layers of clothing otherwise, she would have been incredibly injured. And then they crashed the car. Now, it's so funny, is that Celeste does this to Gail. I mean, this is like horrendous. How dare you do this to someone, right? But for weeks, it was Celeste, who came to school wearing a thick, cervical collar.

Still, everyone that her neck was broken from the crash. Let's be real, most of the people who knew her did not believe her at all. So, last was just the type of girl that loved to pretend like her neck was broken, or that it was sprained or hurt. I mean, she always did stuff like this. During one of the court hearings for her parents' divorce, she shocked the socks out of everyone. So, she got up on the stand so nonchalant, and she says, well, Judge, yes, my father, he's great.

But when he's not great, I guess it's bad. Like, he always grounds me, he takes away our money, and she looks around and everyone's getting bored. You know, they're like, oh, this is another normal divorce proceeding. And she looks and sees that some people are not even looking at her. The judge is, you know, kind of checking out.

So she says, once he stabbed me, he stabbed me. Mm-hmm. Right here. The scar is long gone, but he stabbed me. And she makes this whole fictional story, but how she was stabbed by her own father. Now, nobody remembers this. There's no hospital record, no sibling remembers this. The only thing that her siblings remember is that one time when she was young, she was still mad at her dad. That she put her arm where the car door slams shut and slam the car door over and over again on her own arm until it broke. Who does that? Yeah, and she later complained to her dad did it.

And whenever he said anything, she would say, Well, I'm gonna call the cops because you broke my arm. It's like, no, you broke your own arm because you're so terrifying. That's scary behavior. Yeah, can you imagine sitting there and seeing like little 7-year-old do this, just making eye contact? Yeah, breaking their own arm. Yeah.

What? I thought you would like have a mental, you know, like block to not do stuff like that, but she was all in so at 17 Celeste gets pregnant with Craig's baby And she calls it a one in a million miracle. That's what she keeps telling everyone She said you guys should be so blessed and happy to know me because I'm pretty much Virgin Mary The doctors told me that I would never be able to have kids But here I am pregnant Everybody was confused because they said, and I quote, I can't imagine why a doctor would say that to a seven-year-old.

I mean, there was no accident that happened. That's just really bizarre. The whole thing seemed really odd. So Celeste, pregnant with Craig's child, marries him in December 6th, and she was pregnant at the time with twins. They get a little small house in California together and Celeste was told non-stop, hey you gotta be on bed rest. You're gonna give birth prematurely, you got these twins, we want to prevent that at all costs. Now what is Celeste do? She refuses to listen, she still goes to parties, she's doing her thing, probably

drinking, and two months early she gives birth to identical twins. Jennifer Lynn Bratcher and Christina and Bratcher. Because they were born premature, the girls only weighed about two pounds each. They had to be put on respirators. Thankfully, they recovered, but it was just a rough start to an even rougher childhood. Think about it. Their parents are young. 15 or 18 and 20. They have no money. They start moving around a lot because, well mainly because they get evicted, they moved like 7 times in 6 months, truly there was no stability there. Did they make it up to the kids with love?

No, Celeste would just cheat on her husband. She was a waitress at one point and she loved, this was her favorite pastime, was sleeping with hot customers. Sometimes even neighbors. Craig knew this. Sometimes she would just leave Craig in the twins for days for weeks just to be with a new guy. And then she would come back and crying and say, please forgive me, it's because I was

raped as a child. My father raped me and that's why I'm like this. Which by the way, Craig is the reason I don't have sex with you. I just can't get used to it, it's just PTSD. But that was kind of odd for everyone to hear because she loved having sex with other women. She also loved having sex with Craig before they got married. It just seemed like she was over Craig. Now, back to the assault thing, right?

Uh, none of Celeste siblings or families believe this is true. But I guess we don't really know. I just know that it's kind of hard to take Celeste words for things because she has an intense track record of lying. She claimed even her own husband Craig was abusive. That he liked to stalk her and rape her. Which, I'm okay. It's not all fake.

So Celeste would go to parties and she would leave her husband with the two young kids. And one time he found out where Celeste was and she was staying at her side piece, her side man's house, and he broke in and threatened to beat up the dude. So I guess it's kind of stalking, right? Maybe not really. I wouldn't call that stalking. Yeah, so it's like a very, yeah. It's like catching your cheating wife.

Exactly. And they turn around like, why are you stalking me? I mean, you slay me alone alone. It's confusing, right? So then another time, this one gets a little worse. Craig finds the house that Celeste is staying at, and he stands outside the window and points a gun at Celeste and her lover. That's a little threatening.

Yeah, that's a little extreme behavior, but still. He's thrown in jail for that for four months. And so now Craig has this track record. He has this criminal record. So if he does something that Celeste doesn't want, she says, one, call the cops. I'm gonna call the cops on you. You're gonna be thrown in prison.

And they're not gonna believe you. They're gonna believe me. And she abused this. She would call the cops all the time. And she would say, crying, just sobbing. One time I was asleep and my husband shoved cat poop in my mouth. Cat feces in my mouth. These police are looking at Craig like you scum of the earth. What's wrong with you? To your innocent young wife. How dare you? She also

called the cops and said, one time he broke my arm. There we go with that damn arm again. So some of the final straws for Craig in this relationship Yeah, oddly the cat poop allegation was not a final straw, but I guess everybody's a little different But the final straw is when Craig's mom gets a call Hey, I'm so sorry for what happened. You must be so upset if there's anything I can do for you Let me know. Um, I actually know someone who lost her granddaughter She's so confused like What are you talking about? So she calls Craig and she calls Celeste frantically. Like did somebody die?

What are the twins doing? Celeste says, oh that? Wow, people talk a lot. No, I, I, the time period to get my tuition back, to get my tuition refund from the college was over and they asked me, why didn't you cancel it earlier before the cutoff date and I just blurred it out. Well one of my twins daughters died. Like what are you gonna do? My twin daughter died huh? That's why. So after 18 months Celeste and Craig they divorce. Because of well I guess the cat poop allegations, the firearms charge, Celeste gets primary custody.

Craig was allowed weekends, holidays, and he was ordered to pay child support. So Celeste takes the kids and decides to move in with that old high school friend. Remember Gail? The one that was dragged in the car. Yeah, for some reason. Gail was down to move in with Celeste, so they get an apartment together and it was hell from the get-go. Gail would come home from a long day of work

and Celeste would just walk out the door. Just expecting Gail wouldn't let the kids die. So then she'd be babysitting for free. She was never, she never had a loan time. The apartment was so small, so Celeste and Gail, they shared one room, they even shared the bed. The twins got one room and Gail would remember so many odd things happening.

One time she wakes up to see Craig just standing above them, just watching them. She's like, what the heck are you doing? She's screaming. What are you doing in here? And you just calmly says, oh, you're lesbian. That's why you never want to have sex with me. And Celeste looks like Gail. Celeste looks like Craig and she just giggles. Gail's like, get out of here. What's wrong with you And Celeste looks at Gail, Celeste looks at Craig, and she just giggles. Gail's like, get out of here! What's wrong with you? Celeste even started treating Gail more like a daughter, maybe even a girlfriend I don't

know. It was just cleaning non-stop smothering. Constantly, where are you? What are you doing? Who are you with? So finally, one day while Celeste's at work, Gail packed up her bags and snuck out. It didn't go without a fight though, Celeste found out somehow chased Gail down and threw a knife at her.

It didn't hit her thankfully, but that's crazy. The next day Celeste also reported to the police that Gail stole her purse, her welfare, and her food stamps. So it's just a classy lady. And Celeste was devastated, not in who she had become or her friend leaving, but that she had to take care of her own kids. Like seriously, this is my life now, so she starts dropping them off at foster homes. Jennifer said her first memory was being left with strangers.

She never knew if her mom was going to come back, she didn't know anything. Sometimes, Celeste would come back whenever she got bored. She would bring them back home and say, Okay, now you're gonna live with mommy. And daddy's even gonna come. She would get back together with Craig, but it always ended with Celeste ditching her whole family for another guy. This time, it was an electrician named Pete Tim.

She was, oh, she was so in love. She immediately shipped the kids off to foster care, which by the way, they were placed in different foster homes every single time. And it wasn't good. Some of them were evil. They laughed at the girls for wedding the bed. They would also push the girls into the pool and say, that should teach you your lesson. The girls also started doing very alarming things. They spent all of their time digging a hole in the foster parents' backyard. They said they want to get to China. So whenever Celeste went to visit the kids, they would cry, they would tug at her like,

Mommy please take us back, like we'll be good kids! And Celeste never even attempted to look sad. She was too busy, hanging out with Pete. Now Pete believed, Celeste was this innocent, beautiful woman who had suffered so much abuse from the hands of her own father I mean she just needed help but then one day he opens up his bank account $7,000 is missing so he calls up his bank and he's like hello? What happened? Where's all my money? Let me see. Oh your wife withdrew all the money That's what it says on the account She would go through the drive-through ATM and

take out $2,000 for a week, like every day for a week until you were gone. No money. He's like, I'm not even legally married. She's not even on the account. So how did she get past all the security? So Pete confronts her and she said, oh, I needed that money to get custody of the girls again. So he forgives her. But one thing that bothered him was that Celeste absolutely hated sex. Yeah, I know, not the $7,000 missing, but the fact that Celeste hated sex really bothered him. She was good at it, but why do you hate it so much? So he kept asking her and she would just cry and he thought, oh, well, I guess when

you're depressed, you don't want to do anything including sex. So he wanted to help her, he wanted to make her feel better so he proposed to her and a few months before their wedding, Celeste says, hey, I found an apartment and I really wanted. I just need to borrow some money for the deposit, is that okay? Now he was hesitant but he loaned her the money and she moved in and in reality she had dipped out of town But Pete's name was on the lease and he was stuck paying for it for the rest of the year Oh my god It's so confusing because she needed the down payment that he gave her to put down on the to put like she didn't get anything out of it She was just born to act. Oh yeah, she actually oh yeah, yeah, yeah

She didn't take the money around away. No She also didn't get her rent paid for free like she is getting nothing out of this, but pure. I hate you So here you go Like I'm just gonna mess you up and then she just dipped He kept looking for her everywhere not because of the money, but he still loved her See that's the thing was the last she was so good at stuff like this. Now, Craig is also falling apart over Celeste too. She was constantly stringing him along, calling him, saying, I can't wait for us to get back together, reunite the girls, reunite the family.

And he was so sick of this back and forth. So one day she'd call and say all of that, right? Romance. Romance, she said. And then the next day, she'd be like, you're a horrible father. You don't deserve to have kids. Like, I can't believe the girls have to call you a dad. Like you're disgusting, you're vile, you're despicable. So because of that, he gets drunk in a motel stairwell one day. And he puts a shotgun under his chin. And his friend keeps trying to talk him out of it. But Craig kept screaming, I love her. Why does she do this to me? Why does she do these things? Why does she keep hurting me?"

Thankfully, his friend did talk him out of it. This time. A few days later Celeste calls and back and says, I want you back. I'm gonna move to Arizona to be with you. She brought the twins, they were both happy for a little while and Celeste even had another child. She gave birth to a third daughter, who she immediately gave up for adoption, and she made like $10,000 from this. Yeah, Craig was really upset, and then soon she leaves the whole family again, for another guy.

So Craig, I mean, the trauma of having another child and the excitement of Celeste being pregnant and the possibility that maybe we'll be happy again, and it's just all ripped away, and you realize that she sold essentially. She sold their third daughter for $10,000. He could not deal with it so he started to self-harm. Now Celeste gets remarried to a herald wolf and this guy's an Air Force jet mechanic. He's tall, he's over six feet, he's got this prematurely graying hair,

he traveled the world He already went through a divorce just like Celeste so maybe maybe they're gonna fight it out It wasn't love at first sight Harold always said that he never really liked Celeste the minute that he met her He felt like something was off about her But after a few months of dating he couldn't break it up because she was pregnant Or so she said So he marries her. She's 25, he's 29, and soon after his wedding, Celeste calls him and says, well, I lost the baby.

But he stays with her in Glendale near the basin. Is it for love? I don't know. Celeste didn't really love Harold. She just liked that she could get a little more things from Harold. Craig had no money. Harold could at least afford a car. He bought her a bright yellow Ford as a gift.

That she despised. She hated it. She got a license plate that read lemon on it. Just to spite him. She always bachelored him like, why the hell did you pick yellow? Which one with you? Who picks a yellow car? What?

Yeah, one day the car is attacked according to Celeste. Those are the words she used. Oh my god, my car is attacked! The fenders were scratched, the seats were slashed, and it was bizarre because it didn't look like a real attack. Even the cops said it was strange, but everybody just let it go. Besides, Harold had much bigger issues. Sex was a huge issue.

Harold said Celeste was really good at sex, but she just did not seem to like it. If you ever wanted to talk to her about it, she would cry. So finally she opens up and tells them it's because of my abuse, and she's crying, and she's reliving all this trauma, and he remembers this moment where she looks up at him and says,

don't you feel sorry for me? But I guess it worked, because he did. So Celeste wasn't just manipulating her partner, so she was manipulating her co-workers. Don't you feel sorry for me? But I guess I worked because he did. So Celeste wasn't just manipulating her partner, so she was manipulating her co-workers. She started working at this ice company called Crystal Ice and it's like this ice wholesaler. I didn't know there's ice wholesalers.

Yeah. You know, like buying bulk. Yeah. Do you think they like supply those gas station ice freezers? Because somebody's gonna do that right? Yeah, exactly. What is there like an ice trade show? Traceau, yeah for sure There's gotta be like how do the gas stations pick out which ice to get? Why does every fast food chain have different ice? I think that's ice machine who sells these ice machines?

Do you go to a trade show? Come on. I need to know this. Okay. Why would you break into these apartments? For money, for drugs, whatever was in there? Why aren't you afraid of getting caught at doing this? No. Who's going to catch us?

What a police. It was the height of the crack era, and instead of locking up drug dealers, some New York City cops had become them. I would suit up in my uniform and we're going to want some drug dealers, and I know how to do it really well. This is the inside story of the biggest police corruption scandal in NYPD history and the investigation that uncovered it all. Did you consider yourself a rat?

100%. I saved my soul just like everybody else does. Listen to and follow the set, an Autosy Originals documentary podcast series available now in the Autosy app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. I'm not a big guy man, but I love being a dirty mother f***er. Now this is around the time, oh she convinces her coworker Lou to babysit her kids for free and she does this because she knows that Lou has two full grown sons but she's always, always wanted a daughter so Celeste fills that role. Celeste says, I've never had a mom of my own.

I've never had a good mom and you, you're perfect, Lou. If I had you when I was growing up, I wouldn't be this traumatized and this broken and this helpless. She started calling Lou mom. So Lou and Gary, her husband, would watch the kids. And honestly, the kids loved being there. Like, they would drive them to softball practice. They would be at the softball games. Lou and Gary, like, they were acting like grandparents or parents to these twins. And this is around the time that a split starts happening.

Jennifer loved being at Lou's, or even Craig's parents house. She loved her grandparents. She loved the stability. She hated her mom, especially because Celeste refused to let them go to school. What? Yeah, whenever they were with Celeste, they never went to school because they needed to be home to do errands for Celeste. Like at eight years old, they were folding laundry. But Celeste was miserable without Celeste. For the past little while Celeste had been telling

Celeste, you're my favorite. You're the only one that I love. And I know that you're the only one that loves me. I gave birth to both of you, but your sister, she just... She hates me, nobody gets me. But you get me, Christina. And so she just couldn't pull away. When Celeste hit and beat the kids in anger, Jennifer would sit in the corner, freaking pissed.

Like, how dare she? You're not even a mom, but Christina would be devastated. She would think, what did I do? Why is she mad at me? Celeste starts treating Christina like she's the adult and Celeste is the child. As an eight-year-old, whenever Celeste was upset or sad, Christina was her therapist. She would even take it a step further and Celeste would threaten to take her own life in front of Christina. She would take like a handful of pills and drop a hair dryer into the bathtub and it was

always Christina who came to the rescue. It seems like Jennifer saw right through Celeste but like nobody else did. Christina loved her, Lou loved her, Harold loved her, Craig loved her. But eventually, eventually her second husband decides he can't do this anymore. He was being thrown into jail too many times on allegations of abuse. She just was too much, so he tells her I gotta get a divorce, and she would not let him go. Literally, she would dig her long nails into his arm until it blood.

So Celeste moves on to marriage number three. She meets a guy by the name of Jimmy Martinez, who is three years older than her. And he had a super stable job, planning, managing security systems, and they met at one of those bars where they have mechanical bowls. And Celeste was riding that bowl, okay. And he was drawn to her. And Celeste would say that she was drawn to his little Jimmy. And then she would wait a pause and say, well, his big Jimmy and she would wink at you.

Yeah, that was the type of woman Celeste was. She let her kids know that she was getting married on a postcard. So she split the kids time between her house and Craig's parents' in Washington And Celeste would literally only fly them back to do chores Like she had to pack for Austin, Texas because that's where Jimmy was living So to be with Jimmy, she needed to pack all of her things by tomorrow So she flies the kids in from Washington Starts them on their packing and she says girls I need the stun before tomorrow morning, but I'm going out on a date With somebody who is not Jimmy Yeah, wow the girls were 11 Girls, I need the stun before tomorrow morning, but I'm going out. On a date.

With someone who is not Jimmy. Yeah. Wow. The girls were 11. They tried to pack a little bit, but they got hungry. There was no food in the house. So they went over to the store to buy dinner, like a TV box dinner, and thankfully their grandparents had given them some money.

They fell asleep, and when Celeste gets home, she starts yelling at them. You never do anything for me. You don't even like me. So she makes them pack all of their things. They get in the car and they start heading for Austin. During this car ride she starts coaching them by putting memories in their heads. Remember when I got cancer and all my hair fell out? Remember? Because if Jimmy asks, you remember right? Right? Jennifer was getting so fed up by this. She just straight up asked, why do you want Mary Jimmy anyway?

And Celeste responded because of his BMW. And the girl said, wait, he doesn't even have one. He has a Pontiac. And Celeste looked in the little rear view mirror and she said, no, his BMW, his big Mexican wiener. The girls are 11. Yeah, the girls are 11. So they help Celeste move into the three bedroom house in Austin and they, uh, the twin

share room, the couple shares room and there was another room for all of Celeste things. She had 160 pairs of shoes, clothes with still their tags on them. And every single day Celeste and Jimmy fought from the get-go. I mean, she would do crazy things, she would grab sharpies, crayons, right all over the walls of their house. I hate Jimmy Martinez. And then the next day, if he threatened to leave her, she would stab herself in the wrist with a pair of scissors, threatening to end her own life while Christina was off on the side just sobbing away. She liked to do things where she attempted to jump out while Christina was off on the side just sobbing away.

She liked to do things where she attempted to jump out of the moving car on the highway of her and Jimmy were on a fight, or where in a fight and Jimmy would grab her just in time, yank her back into the car by her arm and later that night she called the cops on Jimmy, showing the bruise on her arm as proof. Jimmy would beat Throne in prison for the night or multiple nights and it was just it was crazy. So Jennifer could not wait to go back to Washington to be with her grandparents, but Christina, she wanted to stay. She felt bad. She said, my whole life, I just felt bad for my mom. I felt like one of us needed to love her and she always said that she loved me and needed me and

I needed to stay. But then two seconds later she would be screaming at me that I wasn't good enough or I didn't have enough and then the next minute she'd be apologizing saying, oh my god I can't believe I said that to you, I don't know what's wrong with me and it was confusing. So for the first time ever the twins were separated. So with Jennifer Gond Celeste decides to get a job waitressing at a very exclusive Austin Country Club, where the city's wealthy play tennis, golf, dined, mingled, networked, robbed shoulders with other millionaires and billionaires, and this is when Celeste starts dreaming about how she's the one that should be waited on. She deserves that life, not THESE random women.

What's wrong with these women? They're like in their 60s, they're too old to be enjoying it. It should be her. She should be pampered. She should have a chauffeur. She should spend her days lounging around dripping in jewels. She deserves it. She start spending more money on her husband's card, Jimmy's card. They were tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Jimmy had always been a financially responsible person. He didn't make a lot of money, but he was good with his money But now now it was crazy and when he tried to talk to her about it like we got to stop spending money She would say it's my only happiness Jimmy because I'm diagnosed with cancer

Did I not tell you she even told this story to club members and they felt so bad for her her throat cancer that Wow and you're taking care of twins with an abusive husband who beats you every day. Jay-Zawiz, the rich felt, they felt sad. So they would tip her heavily. Sometimes they would even slip her a few hundred dollar bills. After a nice little lunch at the country club and they would walk away, feeling so good about themselves.

Eventually Celeste gave up the charade and the job and she moved in with a 70 year old man by the name of Steve Beard. Straight into his mansion to be his housekeeper and very soon if all goes according to her plan, his girlfriend. So who is Steve Beard? Steve was born November 27th. He was born in a very traditional house. When he was taught that men are breadwinners and women take care of the house. But Steve was- Did you just say November 27th? Yeah, it's my birthday.

I was really trying not to do that, to be like, which is like my birthday. So. So that was a test for me though. Exactly. Okay. So he was a misogynist though. He didn't think that women need to know

their place in the kitchen. He just felt like he needed to work hard to make a living. So immediately from the get-go, he starts working hard. His parents had nothing, but he went to three different colleges, majored in advertising and marketing and he worked from the bottom up. He started mopping floors at radio stations and eventually he was producing some of the nation's best ads for massive companies. He later marries a woman by the name of Elise Adams, they have three kids together, and by the time that Steve is 26, he's one of the top producers at John Blair in company.

People were drawn to his lively personality, he was easy to remember hard to forget. That's what they said. Steve could walk into any of the city's top restaurants without a reservation, and he would get the best table that night. He was witty, he was successful, he was easy going, he was fun. Steve wasn't home a lot, but he was a good dad. He loved his kids, and he loved his wives. He always showered her with gifts.

They had a lake house, they went on vacations all over the world, and life was good. But as they're getting older, Steve starts putting on a lot of weight. Now this is pertinent to the story, and that's the only reason I mention it. He was heading into well over 300 pounds. It never really bothered him or his friends and family,

but he wasn't the healthiest per se. And just like that, the years flew by, and at this point Steve is nearing 60 years old. He's not getting any less ambitious, he's not working any less. The kids have grown up, they've moved out. Their kids are doing their own thing, moving across the country and Steve and Elise, they're empty nesters. They have this very bougie house in West Lake Hills, one of the best areas of Austin, Texas to this day. They have this scenic view of the skyline.

It was their dream house, and they were living the dream. For Christmas, they got Christmas card from the Reagans, from the White House. What? Yeah, so they were well connected. They were very smart people. And every day, no matter how much money he was making, every day, for decades, at exactly 5.30 PM,

he would stop everything he is doing, pick up his work phone, call his wife, and say, do you want me to bring you home anything from the grocery store? And every night, him and Elise, they would either take a dip in their pool or drink cocktails in the hot tub. They were living the dream.

They made a ton of money. It's estimated that Steve's net worth was, I would say within, in today's money, close to like 20 million dollars So they're making a lot but they were very careful spenders like they weren't frugal They weren't cheap they loved buying gifts. They love spending money on their family But they didn't throw it around that like Elise wasn't the type of woman who wanted to be dripped in fur head to toe She just wanted to golf. Those are favorite thing

So life is great. But like every movie, you know that something bad is about to happen. Elise gets really sick. She had suffered a small stroke. She started slurring her words, but that wasn't all. Her biggest problem was that she had a brain tumor. And Steve couldn't even tell anyone. He literally couldn't even bring those words out of his mouth. So Elise goes through chemotherapy and for the first few months, the cancer receded.

And they were so happy, they celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. They were so excited to spend more years together. This was like a life is too short moment for them. They realized, and they're in their 60s, okay? But then a couple months later, the cancer comes back with a vengeance. And Steve doded over her, massaged her, did whatever he could, but it just kept spreading and at least only got weaker. The chemo made Elise's hair fall out, and from the hospital bed, she called her daughter, Becky, and said,

Becky, you bring me a wig and you bring me make up to the hospital. She felt like she was gonna die soon, Becky, you bring me a wig and you bring me makeup to the hospital. She felt like she was going to die soon, and at least didn't want Steve's last memory of her to be anything less than the woman that he fell in love with. She died at 67 years old, and Steve was crushed. Like he was a shell of a man. None of the kids could leave their families and come and live with him because, you know, they're like in their 40s at this point, his kids. They've got their own lives. He was a shell of a man. None of the kids could leave their families and come and live with him because, you know,

they're like in their 40s at this point, his kids. They've got their own lives. So he's getting lonely and lonely in his house. It's just dark and empty and it's not like he isn't an eligible bachelor. A ton of older women always approached him at grocery stores at the country club that were like, oh my god, my condolences. But like, you want to go out to dinner? And he never said yes.

It always made him uncomfortable. So he spent most of his time at the club staring at the golf field where at least just love to be Now he has one of the waitresses. Hey, uh, do you need another job? I need a housekeeper and she said sorry Mr. Beard No, I'm a full-time student. I can't but I guess I could ask around to the other waitresses and a full-time student and I can't but I guess I could ask around to the other waitresses and that is how Celeste moved in to the beard household with absolutely no housekeeping experience. In fact she hated doing house tours with a passion. So get this, Steve is 70 Celeste is 30 and all Steve's kids are in their 40s but from

the get-go the relationship was not professional. The two start dating and Steve's friends are even thrown off like what is going on? Like, where in our 70s, why are you dating this 30 year old? What's going on? And he would just say, oh well I just needed someone to let in the repairman and do some like cooking and laundry in the house and that's how I met Celeste. And she would butt in, except that I don't cook and I send out the clothes. It's just not me and she would put her jewelry dripped hand around Steve's arm and throw

back her head and laugh. And his friends were like, what the heck? We don't like this girl. Even her kids asked her, mom, why are you always such an old guy? And she would turn to her twins and she would say, because he's rich. One time Craig talked to Christina and Steve picked up and Craig tried to warn him. Listen, Celeste is not who you think she is. Be careful.

You think she's great now, but she's going to hurt you. You have no idea what you're dealing with. If you're not careful, you're a dead man. And Craig hung up, thinking to himself, nobody's going to believe me. Nobody does till it's too late. So to everyone, Celeste would go around saying, Oh, Steve is absolutely wonderful. Listen, money, yes, it's a side thing, yes, money is important, but I fell in love with how funny he was. You know, when we would have breakfast together

after I started working for him and he was just so intelligent. But Steve's kids, they could see right through her. They hated her. They knew she was gold digger. She would even wear their late mom's gold watches, like anniversary presents that Steve had given Elise. She would just flaunt it around. Celeste even put Steve on a very strict diet and exercise regimen.

She also forced him to take vitamin T shots. That's what he called it. It was just testosterone so that he could have sex with Celeste. He also started spending money on Celeste like showering her in lavish, expensive gifts. Christina was sent to a local rich kid school, Celeste would throw these massive parties for Christina's new friends and she would sit around with them during their sleepovers and she would say, yeah, my husband is fat and is old, but his money makes him look good. Listen, why don't we go to the store, pick up some toilet paper,

and if you have any girls that you hate, we'll go TP their houses. She would drive them around to TP their houses, such an inspiring mother, right? So last also never had any friends her own age. She was either doing this with all of Christina's friends or asking Steve's friends' wives to lunch, who are all like in their 60s or 70s So they would tell her they would try to tell her nicely like I Celeste I don't we don't think that we'll have fun. You won't have fun. We're old

She would say no, no, no, let's do it. They would go to the country club and immediately They regretted it because the minute that's a less but her little but hole sat down on that chair It was just non-stop. God. Steve is such a fat slob He calls me non-stop. I can't even get a moment of peace to myself. He's so annoying Do you know how hard? Do you know what the Sunday suck is? They're like oh my god Like these are just 70-old women who married for love. Yeah, why is she doing that?

I know, his friends. Steve's friends wives, yeah. So finally, Steve surprised us the last, yeah, surprises, by popping the question. She begged and she begged and finally he'd decided to marry her, but they would have a prenum. If they were divorced before their third wedding anniversary, Celeste would get nothing.

But if the marriage lasted a minimum of three years, Celeste was entitled to a one-time payment of $500,000. If he died while they were married, she would get $1 million. This is only a fraction of Steve's net worth, which was estimated to be anywhere near $20 million, right? So he hasn't been, he's not head over heels for this girl. He's trying to be logical. He's got his own kids. He's got grandkids, right? So he hasn't been, he's not head over heels for this girl. He's trying to be logical. He's got his own kids.

He's got grandkids, right? He's not going to throw his life's work at this woman. Come on, she's got to work a little bit harder than that. So they get married at the country club, and right after the honeymoon, Celeste's in the kitchen grinding something up. And like one of those, you know, pestle and more, you know what I'm talking about.

Christina's confused. Mom, what's that? Sleeping pills? Why? Listen, I can't stand being here all night with that fat fuck. This way, he'll have a few drinks, pass out, and then I can go out. So while he was knocked out, Celeste would go clubbing.

Steve's friends knew, I mean, some of their kids saw her out clubbing. Their kids. Nobody told him. They felt bad for Steve. They didn't want to hurt him. Celeste did cross the line though. She once overdrew her personal credit card and decided to fix this and pay off her credit card by emptying out Steve's safety deposit box and selling all of it. It was all of the least this jewelry. You don't mess with

the lease. So Steve kicks her out the same day and within a week he hires a divorce attorney. So Celeste had pulled out all the usual cards. She pulled out the fact that she was abused allegedly. She wrote him a letter about how her dad ruptured and she said, I'm hurting so much. I heard so much that I screw everything up and I need to get help. Whatever you want to do to me, I'll accept it. I love you. I will change. And as proof, I'll accept it. I love you. I will change.

And as proof, I'll even, I'll even admit myself into the psych ward, which she did. And she was diagnosed with bipolar personality disorder, as well as narcissistic personality disorder. After a few weeks, Steve takes her back. He was a goner. He wasn't just in love with Celeste, but he was also in love with Christina too, as his own daughter. Like, he was honestly a nice person, like, he felt bad for Christina, he did a lot for her.

He paid off all of Celeste's credit cards and she moved back in. And Celeste knew that Steve loved Christina, so she started using it to her advantage. She would tell Christina, you've got to get him to sell this house. We have to get a new one. Why mom? This house is nice, so it's the point. If he dies right now, the kids are going to get a new one. Why, mom? Like, this house is nice. So it's the point. If he dies right now, the kids are gonna get this house. If he builds or buys us a new one, then it becomes community property, and we'll get the house.

Within a few days of kicking Celeste out of the house and her moving back in, he puts the place up for sale. Celeste kept telling him, Sweetie, it just feels like it's Elise's house and not my house. I feel like everyone wants me to be Elise and it's so sad. Celeste starts racking up the bills again. Sometimes she would go shopping and spend $50,000 in one day, a single day. She would even pour out half of Steve's vodka and refill it with ever clear.

That's like pure grey alcohol. She said that this will help him pass out early. And she would be laughing while she said that. Then I can do whatever I want for the rest of the night. So instead of him drinking 80 proof vodka in his cocktail, he was drinking 190 proof vodka. Or ever clear. The two of them bought land and the deal was that Steve was going to build the house, and Celeste was going to design and furnish the place. She said sure, I don't care, but I need a room for at least 500 pairs of shoes. So they built the place. She said, sure, I don't care, but I need a room for at least 500 pairs

of shoes. So they built the place from the grounds up. They put in a koi pond, a man-made stream, a pool, the house cost millions to build. Celeste went on to spend so much money, she bought herself a custom made bed, custom everything, and then she wanted a mini version of all the furniture for her dog. She spent $7,000 on pillows. Sometimes if Celeste went to the bank with no idea and they refused to cash her checks, which is protocol, she would scream at them, do you fucking know who I am? She would get Steve's banker on the phone and she would yell at him too. What the fuck is this? It's really aggressive but I'm trying to get the point across. And then Celeste started talking to Craig.

She said that he was going through a weak spot. So during all of this, Craig had actually gotten remarried and was happy for a little while, but recently he had a divorced. He was depressed, he was drinking again and Celeste slid right in. And within a few weeks of them reconnecting, he was getting more and more depressed.

And Jennifer noticed this. So Jennifer said, hey, I know I'm supposed to go see Celeste in Christina like it's summertime, so I'm supposed to go every summer. But I don't think I should go this time. I kind of want to be with you, dad. You seem like you're going through a rough patch. And he just said, no, no, no, just go. The day that Jennifer arrives at Celeste, her dad is not picking up the phone.

And she panicked. And Craig's family, they went over there to check upon him and they opened the door. They saw blood splatter on the walls. and they knew they didn't go any further. He had shot himself in the head. Everyone believes that Celeste made him do it. She was the last person to talk to him. She probably, the last time one of Craig's friends talked about it, she had told Craig, I'm married a rich man who's going to take care of the girls better than you ever could

because you're a lousy father. So those who knew Craig said Celeste didn't pull the trigger but she loaded the gun. And this is how she dealt with her loss. She was so excited because she could have full custody of Jennifer, another person to boss around. She spent all of her time grieving for Craig by calling his mom to ask for his ring, his watch, and all the letters that she had ever written him. When they refused, Celeste put an ad in the newspaper about wanting Craig's pictures, like wanted any photographs of Craig like his 15-year-old daughters are distraught. We did not receive any physical memories of our father.

Just one photo will help ease the pain of his death. So the local reporters, they saw this and they thought, wow, that could be a good story. So they questioned the girls and they were coached to say that Craig's family wasn't giving them many pictures of their own father and they were so depressed. This caused the daughters to be alienated from their dad's side of the family. And now, really, all they had was the lust.

The only silver lining was that Steve was there for them. He was a great father figure. He would take them to their, you know, he would take them to breakfast at the country club to their soccer practices. He loved the girls. I mean, it was to the point where one day the girl sat down and asked him, Steve, we'd like for you to adopt us. We love you.

And his eyes filled with tears and he said, I love you too. And he adopted them. Whenever Celeste threw a tantrum at the girls, he tried to calm them down. She doesn't mean what she said to you. You know, your mother's a firecracker. Sometimes she blows up, but don't pay her any attention, okay? She'll get over it. So the four of them, they move into this new house that Steve built for them and in the living room on the fireplace was a giant painting of Celeste that she had commissioned for Steve for Father's Day. Yeah, okay, very fascinating.

Celeste also refused Steve from going to the hallway with the girls' rooms and then, because she said, you're not your biological father, they're growing girls, that's creepy, don't do that. But in reality, she was hiding her credit card bills, plus her clubbing clothes in the girls' rooms, but Steve never went in there. To give them their privacy because they're growing girls.

So whenever Steve fell asleep, she would sneak into the girls' rooms, change, and head out. Steve was so touched by how wonderful this family was that he funded a $500,000 trust for Celeste. This was on top of the prenum. Every single penny was gone in six months. What? Yeah. What did she spend her money on?

Well, she got her hair done twice a week. She had a, like, one-to-week nail appointment. She would impulsively fly around the world, buying first-class tickets. She was wild. She spent money on everything. Everywhere she went, though, she continued to badmouth her husband. She would always say, Listen, I have to give him oral sex once a week, every Sunday.

I call it my money-making day. I call it my money making day. I call it the Sunday suck. Super romantic? Yeah. Does it get more gross? Absolutely. So Les was known for flirting with her daughter's teenage boyfriends. Whatever they would come over, she would pretend that she was getting ready to have sex with

Steve and she would put on the scandalous lingerie, lotion up her body and she would complain to them. He takes way too long if he gets distracted. That fat old man, I never thought he'd live this long. And then she would give them tips on how to have oral sex. She'd also brag about how she was still sleeping with her ex-husband. One time she had these really scratched up knees. And her kids were like, oh my god, mom, are your knees okay?

And she said, oh, yeah. It's because I had sex with my ex last night, it was wild. Then one other day, she went over to Jimmy's place and saw a car in the driveway that she did not recognize, and she assumed it was another woman. She was so pissed that she took off her pants, crouched down, and urinated on his lawn. All the while, she was complaining to the girls that she doesn't like Steve's will. After all, she is his wife and it's only fair. I deserve more money, don't you think?

I'm gonna have to do something about this. Something has to change. So whatever she did, it worked. On July 30th, Steve finalized his trust, naming her a beneficiary. He drew up a new will that if he died while they were still married, she would get both houses paid for by the estate and she would be entitled to his personal property

so all of his belongings, his IRA accounts, his club memberships and the $500,000 original gift. But if he died while they were divorced, she would get much less than that. So she milked him dry in the meantime. She would throw parties for the twins like for their 18th birthday. She drugged him with sleeping pills in his dinner and she threw the girls a surprise party with strippers and jeez drinks that were giving her kids lap dances

and guess who her date to the party was? Jimmy, not Steve. So eventually Steve finds out about the affair and soon Celeste is in the kitchen holding a pistol turrets at her head screaming, I'm gonna kill myself, you don't love me, nobody loves me. So Christina's begging her to stop, calls the police, Celeste is taken to a critical care psychiatric unit, and this is where she crossed paths with a Tracy Tarleton. Now who's Tracy?

Tracy was born to a very wealthy family. Her dad was a high-powered attorney, her parents were not involved in her life. She was very unloved. Tracy's mom was very similar to Celeste. Tracy's mom would hang out with the neighborhood kids, treated them like their friends. We don't really know much about this, but we do know that Tracy's mom sexually abused her since she was eight. Ironically around this time, Tracy's mom accused Tracy's dad of assaulting her. So in turn, he just starts completely ignoring his daughter.

Tracy drank practically every single day since she was 14, and she felt like there was this little voice in her head that constantly told her to kill herself. And it was her destiny, that's what her mom would want. And then freshman year of college, Tracy walks into a hair salon to get her hair done, and the owner Alice looks at her and says, Honey, you're gay. So she introduces Tracy to her friends, all lesbian women, and finally Tracy felt like a sense of belonging. And honestly, they loved her too. She was a catch. She had more of a masculine vibe about her, a husky voice. She was athletic, and from that point on in college,

Tracy starts drinking more, experimenting with a lot of women, and sometimes she had multiple girlfriends at once. One time, Tracy bought her girlfriend over. Her parents had approved of her, you know, being gay, which, thank god, right? But her phone rings in the middle of the night while her partner's sleeping over, and it's her mom. And her mom is whispering into the phone, I know what you're doing up there, and it's sick.

You blessed pians. What? Yeah. Just bizarre. Like she had just had a nice dinner with her mom and her girlfriend. And now her mom is like calling upstairs into her room like you lesbian. It's sick. So at just 24 years old Tracy tries to take her own life, she attempted to overdose. She was sent to a rehab and things after she gets out things look like it's gonna get better. She starts working as a biologist at a bat conservation international laboratory or something of that sort.

So she was traveling to Africa, South America to do incredible work and she loved it. She always felt like she was an advocate for an animal that's misunderstood. People hate bats and she is advocating for them. But it all went wrong when one day in the hallway, she saw two men walking ahead of her and she came up behind them and said, how they hanging. Balls. Their balls. One of those men was the owner, like he was the boss. He did not find it funny.

Yeah, so she was fired. She was upset. She didn't think it was sexual assault at all, but they said that it was. Said some sources say that she grabbed his balls, so either way they're inappropriate. After 14 years of sobriety, she starts drinking again because she had just gotten fired, and her drinking is a lot worse than ever. She starts playing Russian roulette. She would call her friends and say, I've got one life bullet in the chamber.

So thankfully, one of them picked her up, took her to the psychiatric ward, and that's where she met Celeste, who was also being treated in the chamber. So thankfully one of them picked her up, took her to the psychiatric ward and that's where she met Celeste, who was also being treated in the hospital. But she treated it more like a hotel. She was rude to the staff, she ordered them around, she ordered Steve and her kids to bring her meals because she hated the food there. She would always say, I ought to bring my maiden, it's filthy in here. She turned to another patient and said, listen, you're probably here on insurance, but my husband is paying cash Wow, what a weird flex. She's got a flex. Oh, no, she was wearing fur coats the whole time big jewelry and for the first time Celeste was alone in the courtyard and Tracy walked out and they said that it was sparks flying sure They were drugged out on heavy medication in the ward, but they felt it.

The attraction was there. It was stronger. Celeste would start opening up to Tracy. I hate my husband. He's the cause of my depression. He's the one with the money and the power and he's constantly rubbing it in my face. He'd threaten me with divorce, but I know he'll never let me go that easy. I just didn't even think that he would live this long. I despise him. I only married him because he helped me get custody of my kids. My father molested me and my brother's ripped me. This one's new. She soared in my first husband and she started kind of ranting slowly, more and more,

to Tracy. She would also kind of in between these rants, so one mating it'd be a rant. The next mating she would sneak up behind Tracy and make out with her in the bathroom. Tracy would kiss your bag. they started touching each other, groping each other, and now relationships are not allowed in this hospital. So the two of them would have to sneak around to do all this for play. And Tracy latched on to Celeste. And from the Steve Rance, the hatred only got worse from there, you know?

Celeste would say, Steve's an old man, and if he's gonna die soon, I wish I could just help him along the way. When he dies, I get all his money. And Tracy slowly started feeling like it was a normal conversation. Because, you know, if you start with a conversation like this, it's really alarming, especially in a psych ward, but... Celeste was smart. She played Tracy. Tracy was just so in love that both of them plotted to get transferred to a longer term facility, where they would hopefully be placed in the same room after months of scheming it worked. And they went to be together.

They started moving fast. Celeste told Tracy I love you. She opened up about everything in her life. Tracy at this new facility, she did want to get better. She kept a journal. She did everything her therapist told her, but Celeste refused. She braked to everybody again My husband is paying cash so I can do whatever I want

Honestly, it was a slap in the face to the other patients because this is not the flex that she thought it was These people were here on their last dollar and dime to try to turn their lives around Celeste also kept begging her kids to smuggle in goods, like razors, for Celeste to use to shave. Jennifer would later say, it was awful. We were smuggling in razors to a unit where people were suicidal. I feel disgusted with myself. I can't believe I did that. I can't believe she made me do that.

Anyway, Celeste, you know, she starts having sex with Tracy. And she told her that she's never had sex with a woman, which I don't know. I don't really believe to be true because you know the brother's girlfriend. And she hated sex with men, could never have orgasms and she wanted Tracy to teach her the way. So they kept doing it. Meanwhile, while she's in this psych ward, Steve's thinking about divorcing his wife. He realized life is so much more peaceful without her.

And he asked the girls, would you guys still stay with me if I do? If I divorce your mom? So after Celeste and Tracy are both released from the program they're still writing to each other they're doing long distance from Austin Texas to Dallas Texas and Celeste starts sneaking off to Austin to be with Tracy she would throw parties for Tracy at Steve's Lake House and of course Steve was never there and he was so concerned he would say things like we are husband and wife But I barely see you anymore. He thought maybe they just needed to

Rekindle their love he went to his assistant and he booked a trip all through Europe all of October They will travel from Berlin to Munich to Paris London You know York Scotland Dublin that we're gonna travel all over Europe So so he's not trying to divorce her anymore? No, he thought maybe they just need to rekindle their romance. They would eat at the best restaurants, only drive around in the machines. Stay at the finest hotels. The travel itself would cost $50,000, not including all the food,

the extra cost. It was a dream trip. The travel agent, yeah, but she spends that in two weeks yeah yeah yeah the travel agent asked her you know do you need trip insurance and he said no no no I'm going no matter what this time we won't be canceling I got to rekindle my love and Celeste was surprised with this trip and she immediately turned around she didn't want to go she said God it can't spend another entire month of him. This is torture. She called Tracy and said that old bastard needs to die. He's got to be out of the way.

She always left a scream. When that fat fuck is gone, we can finally be together. So Celeste buys a book called The Poisoner's Handbook and asks Tracy on how to make one of those Poisons listed, called Bautilusum, I think. It's a dangerous nerve toxin produced by bacteria found in soil Death is quick and relatively symptomless it says Tracy gets to work. She makes it an airtight jar mixing corn raw hamburgers dirt And then she adds water to the jar. She seals it leaves it in the Texas Sun for it to bake

Oh, so she she has the background. I guess What was she working? Where was she working at? A hairdresser. She does not have the background. They read it in a book. Oh my god. But maybe if you're like mixing hair dye chemicals. Listen, does anyone have a background in murder?

The last one's ten hours. So the last would say, okay, you need to get three rats from the store, feed this to them and see if it works. Tracy calls her. It didn't work. The rats aren't dead. Give it to me anyway. So, as she feeds it to Steve, and she's so pissed.

She calls Tracy and says, I put it in his chili hot dogs and that fat- I didn't even notice. I didn't even upset his stomach. But she was feeling stressed. She needed it to work. That Europe trip was hanging over her head. In just a few months, she would be alone with Steve for an entire month. So she comes up with a new plan. Tracy,

you gotta buy some ecstasy. I'm gonna take it to the bar, slip it in his drink, and then tell the police that someone else did. He's gonna overdose on ecstasy. But it didn't work. They tried. She later complained that fatso-bag that nothing will kill him. It's like trying to kill an elephant. Oh my gosh. Tracy laughed it off, but then one day the call came. You need to come over right now. He's passed out. I need help to kill him. Tracy rushes over there. Steve is knocked out on the chair. What happened? I drugged him. Help me. I need to get him out of the chair. Wait, wait, wait, what?

Celeste puts a garbage bag over his head and she says, I saw this on TV. The bag's not going to leave marks. We just have to suffocate him. So they put him on the floor. They attempt to suffocate him. The bag goes in and out with each breath. Tracy tells Celeste, wait. I can't do this.

I can't do this. I can't hold the bag. I just can't. Celeste couldn't do this, I can't do this, I can't hold the bag, I just can't. And Celeste couldn't do it either. So they call an ambulance and they told 911 that Steve had a seizure. When he was admitted into the hospital, his blood alcohol level was .168 and his oxygen levels were dangerously low. So a social worker comes to talk to him and he says, I'm so shocked.

Only had 2-3 vodka cocktails, no this makes sense. And they all thought that Steve was in denial because his alcohol level was way higher than that. So they send him back home. Nobody suspects Celeste at all. Five days before the trip is due to head out, Celeste begs Tracy. You have to help me. I can't go with him.

If I go, he's gonna kill me. If I don't go, he's gonna kill me. He's gonna hunt me down. I will never survive this trip. So when she says he's gonna kill me, he's gonna hunt me down. I will never survive this trip. So when she says he's gonna kill me, it seems like it's more implied even to Tracy, not that he would physically kill her, but just being alone with him for a month is gonna kill her.

Now, Celeste bags and bags, just shoot him, please! Tracy says, I can't do that! Then you might as well say goodbye to me. I'll never come back from that trip. Go get my gun, I'll kill myself right now. At least that way he'll never touch me again. Listen Tracy, I have nobody else to turn to. And so with that pressure, the heat, the stress, the idea of losing Celeste, who honestly, to Tracy reminded her so much of her own mom that she hated, but desperately

wanted to be approved by, Tracy said, okay fine, I'll do it. Celeste smiled and took Tracy's face into her hands and kissed her on the lips and said, well you'll never be caught. You won't even be a suspect. I read so many books on things like this, I've watched so many movies, I know what I'm doing, just you wait and see. So two days before that big Europe trip, Steve was packed. Celeste never even started.

Tracy came over at night. After work, she had on gloves, a sheet of plastic to cover the seat of her car, and Celeste had a request. I want Steve to be shot in the stomach. I heard there's less blood splatter that way, and I don't want to redecorate. Now this is the early similar to Pamela's smarts case, but Tracey snuck into the house through the back door. That Celeste left unlocked. They had already staged it to look like a robbery, and Tracy felt sick. She said when she was inside she thought to herself, I can't do this. But it was the only way to save Celeste. She stood above Steve's sleeping body, Celeste was sleeping in Christina's room, and Christina was drugged up that night so she heard nothing. Tracy shot Steve in the stomach, and he groaned. He starts moving and he reaches for something on the nightstand and she was so worried it was a gun that she doesn't shoot him again. She rushes out of there.

He picks up the phone and calls for an ambulance. He says, my guts blew out of my stomach. He has no idea he's been shot. He just woke up and his intestines are out of his stomach. Are you alone? My wife is somewhere in the house. Okay, help is on the way. I just woke up and my guts blew out of his stomach. Are you alone? My wife is somewhere in the house. Okay, help is on the way. I just woke up and my guts blew out of my stomach. I can't move. I'm holding them all. Call my wife. She's in another part of the house.

They tried his wife's number. No response. The police arrived very quickly and they surround the place. They called for an emergency helicopter to get Steve airlifted to the hospital and they administered first aid and that's when a deputy bent over. Saw something shiny on the floor. What is that? It's a shotgun bullet shell. Pack it up. It's a crime scene. So this commotion wakes up Christina and she's like, what's going on? And Celeste says, I think someone's at the door. They rush outside

and the EMTs arrive to help Steve and Celeste isn't here. She's sobbing. Please don't let me husband die. Please don't let my husband die. Christina Rush's timid says, Dad, they're going to take you to the hospital. We all love you. I love you. Steve smiles at her and says, is your mother all right? Yes, she's fine. Don't worry. Just get better. So, Les goes outside to smoke a cigarette and she looks at an EMT worker and goes this perfect timing. We were supposed to leave for Europe tomorrow. They thought it was such a bizarre comment. Like what? So the police escort her to the hospital and they knew this is a crime scene, right? And the crime scene was really badly staged. The place looked like a staged burglary. It looked like a burglar cared about not making a mess

for the owners. Really? Are you freaking kidding me? Like someone who didn't want to clean up afterwards? I mean, there was no overturned furniture, there was nothing ransacked, nothing was even stolen. It just looked like someone kind of moved things around. Throwing the pillow onto the ground. The $7,000 throw pillows onto the ground? Yeah, pretty much like that. Like nothing was ransacked. Like what? So Steve is rushed into the OR and the doctor said that his stomach looked like shredded meat. Parts of his skin were already decaying. He had a weak lungs, weak heart. The longer he spent in the OR the worse it was looking for him.

The doctors gave him a 50-50 chance at best. Celeste warned the kids, don't you dare tell the police anything about Tracy. She has nothing to do with this. Thankfully they didn't listen to her. Jennifer told them straight up, you need to talk to Tracy Tarleton. Like, I don't know this woman, but she's... she's weird. And Jennifer said it in a way that was like, I'm suspicious of my mom and I'm suspicious of Tracy. Christina, on the other hand, said, Tracy's in love with my mom and I'm scared she's gonna go after my mom next. She wants to do something to be with my mom like she's jealous of Steve. You need to get her so we can protect my mom.

That's how Christina felt. So the police go into the OR to talk to Steve and they said Mr. Beard. Blink once for yes and twice for no. Did you see who did this to you? He blinked twice. Do you think it has anything to do with anyone in your family? And he blinked once for yes. The police do a background check on Tracy.

They find out that she was a registered 22 shot gun. The same one that was used at the crime scene. And it was time to bring her in. And when they do, she just didn't seem that surprised. She immediately asked if she needed a lawyer. They asked to see her shot gun and she brought it. And the smell of cleaning fluid was so strong that they didn't even need to ask, did you clean it recently? They rushed it into testing.

Tracy knew her fate was sealed. It was over. So she gets an attorney and they advise her, you need to testify against Celeste. Get a plea deal. She said, absolutely not. Do what you can, but if this thing goes bad, I don't want Celeste involved Meanwhile Celeste is busy making calls of her own not to save Tracy No, no, no, it's the bank Steve is in the higher sped ol I need my name put on the bank accounts so I can you know pay the bills But the bankers refused she was pissed she felt like she had every right to Steve's money

Meanwhile the twins are horrified This is like their second dad that's about to die in three years pissed, she felt like she had every right to Steve's money. Meanwhile, the twins are horrified. This is like their second dad that's about to die in three years. I mean, they're distraught, they don't even know what to do. He was depressed, he had tears running out of his cheeks, anytime they saw Steve outside the OR and, Sles played that part, she would jump to his side and say, oh, Steve, you'll be alright, I love you. And when she was grieving, she would leave the hospital and do what she does, which is sink her sadness into retail therapy.

She spent over $500,000 in just four months while he was laying in the hospital. She even cashed a $50,000 check. You're like, how did she get that? Is she working? She just spends money. Where did she get the cash, right? Well, before the Europe trip

She had called Steve's travel agent and gotten trip insurance on the whole trip almost as if she knew that they weren't gonna Go. She made sure that Steve's kids were never allowed to see him even though their own father was in critical condition She had power of attorney and the kids couldn't do much. Becky Steve's daughter screamed. He's been my father a lot longer than he's been your husband get out of my way. And Celeste pushed her and said, he has a new family now, he doesn't love any of you. And Steve was not getting any better. After his surgery, he was so vulnerable to infection. So any common cold or any sniffles that a normal healthy human might feel because he is on all of these meds, he just had life-saving operations. It could kill him. Any small infection could literally kill him. So hospital personnel,

they were told to wash their hands, wear surgical gowns when they go into his room. Guess who didn't care about that rule at all? Celeste. She actually went to see him with a sore throat and when she got on the side, she ripped off her mask and made out with him on the lips. Steve cried most days. He was just depressed. Sometimes the twins were there and he tried, they tried to lighten his mood, he tried to lighten their mood actually. He would always say, Ivy fluids and ice chips don't match the real food. And he whispered to Jennifer, I see hamburgers in my dreams. And she started giggling and he did too, but yet to stop because this stomach was an agonizing pain. A week later, Tracy is arrested, facing life in prison

for attempted murder. She did get out on bond though. Now, because of that, Celeste made a whole deal of getting tight security on the house, making it seem like un-terrified Tracy's gonna come after me. So she had a Jimmy Martinez, her ex-husband, set up security cameras all around the house. She paid $7,600 for a chain link fence in this nice area of Austin, like a chain link fence with the barbed wire on top, like not a gate. I don't know, I think her neighbors

were really pissed at her, right? Nothing's wrong with a chain link fence, but just do with that what you will. And then she also bought a gazebo because she said that Steve is going to be wheelchair bound and he needs to sit on the gazebo and look out into the woods. She also paid $26,000 for a new wheelchair accessible stair railing, but that one would not get installed for a really long time. She bought two catalax for the twins and one for herself. I don't know how she justified this one, but she did.

Like the one month since his shooting, she spent nearly $300,000. Steve was on to her though. At the hospital one day, he whispered in her ear, did you put Tracy up to this? And Celeste called him crazy and said, of course not! What are you saying, sweetie? And the next day Celeste had Christina go read Steve a letter that she wrote, proclaiming

her innocence, pledging her love and devotion, and at the end of it it only pissed off Steve. He picked up a glassful of ice and threw it at Christina and screamed to get out. Christina also wasn't really doing well. Celeste was threatening to take her life every two seconds. At one point Celeste threw a glass up against the wall, took a shard of that glass, pointed at her wrist and yelled at Christina, you know what your father looked like when he blew his brains out, his face, his whole head was gone. I read the autopsy, his whole face was nothing but a big hole.

Christina was screaming, stop it. And he said, why do you care? You don't care about your dad. Your Christina beard now. She didn't like that Christina was being so nice to Steve. Celeste met up with Tracy again and told her soon it'll all be over. He's gonna die. Tracy said no, you can't, so that I'm gonna be charged with murder, not just attempted murder. It's fine, don't worry about it. When he comes home, it'll be so easy. All I have to do is spit on my hands and touch him all over the place. He's gonna get an infection

and die. I just wish you'd fucking die. Die and leave me the hell alone. I hate going to the hospital see him. It just interrupts my day. It's so inconvenient. Tracy begs her please, please just let it be. Let him live. Sure enough, Steve was healing very slowly. It was painful in one month he had lost 100 pounds. He was pale, he hadn't seen his kids, he was able to talk to his banker though, who told him that Celeste was selling all of his stocks. And his friends were worried and he said, no, no, I don't want to divorce, I'll talk to her, I'll put the brakes on. And soon enough, Steve was discharged.

Celeste left the kids to take him back home because she had errands to run and since the wheelchair stair railing was the last thing installed, it wasn't completed yet. She didn't even have that done, that was in a priority. So, Steve had to walk up the stairs, and each step was agonizing pain. It took him 30 minutes to go up a flight of stairs. Regardless, he was so excited to be home. But it would only last 24 hours. Because the last soon realized, she couldn't let him pee the bed. It's a custom mattress. He needed a lot of care, and she didn't want to give it to him. So she lied to the doctor and said, ah, the dude's sick just taken back in, and he was

re-admitted into the hospital. In the hospital, they did find a rash on his groin. Now, sure, Steve was feeling fine, but the doctors were concerned that this was an infection in the making. So they wanted to monitor him for a few days. His temperature was rising, his pulse was rising, he was becoming delirious, he told Christina, you owe me money, $20. And at one point, he whispered into her ear, hello Elise.

And soon Steve was back in the ICU. His heart was beating at 162 beats per minute. His oxygen levels were Dangerously low for four minutes his pulse dropped to 60 and then it simply stopped He was dead So less cried and screamed through the hallways of the hospital and then she snapped out of it to call the banks to put her name on the accounts She refused to plan a big funeral because she didn't want Steve's damn kids in her house. So let's put the kids to immediate work. She had things, all of Steve's things either gifted,

given to friends, or thrown away. He hadn't even been dead for a day. But she soon realized that Steve was worth more alive than dead, at least to her. None of the bankers were listening to her. She couldn't just sweet talk them. It was up to them to decide how much she could withdraw at a time, since this was a trust. It wasn't just a bank account. It was a trust. She lied to one of them and said she had breast cancer and needed the money for

treatment and they still denied her and she screamed, I'm gonna cut my fucking breast off and mail it to you. The trust was paying for all of her bills. So the mortgages on all the houses everything was paid for by the trust every single month But she was getting about ten to fifteen thousand dollars a month in spending money and that wasn't enough for her Crazy yeah, she said it wasn't enough. It's my money my money. No the banks Thankfully for her Steve already had planned his funeral when Elise had died He was gonna be buried with Elise, but Elise had to pick up a new coffin So while she was there with the girl, she told them,

why don't you guys pick one up too? What do you mean, pick one up for who? Them. For the girls. And she said, they said, what? Why would we do that? We're like 19. Just pick one up.

So last, I always had a strange feeling like that, that the girls were always gonna die early. She always kept special burial clothes in her closet for them just in case. So she bought them coffins. Matching coffins that day. So when the funeral came, Celeste rented a limo for her and the girls. And before the funeral, she asked the driver to stop at a local pharmacy for a few seconds. Everyone assumed it's because she had to pick up something, but instead she went in there and told the head pharmacist, now I own this place. It's time for you people to kiss my ass like you kiss Steve's.

So the pharmacy was owned by Steve. You're a sh** in me. And then she left. And at the funeral, the girls put in small gifts into the casket for Steve, a photo album with pictures of them during happy times at Teddy Bear that they had bought him at the hospital and Celeste put in a small bottle of vodka and said, you know, for the trip. And she later bragged about how funny and witty that was because he would never go on

that Europe trip and she knew it. A few weeks after this Celeste sits down her kids and their boyfriend says, Tracy and I made a pact. When things get tough, we're going to kill ourselves together. But I don't want to die alone and I can't die with her. So will you guys die with me? Remember just weeks ago she had bought her kids coffins So they start kind of freaking out. So they leave the house and they kind of run away from home

Same with Tracy Tracy's freaking out because she's getting served with murder charges Now Celeste decides now's not the time to die. I can just meet another rich man So she brags to the kids that this new guy that she's seeing is richer than Steve Please come home. I want you guys to meet him. So they come home and they meet him and She just said some weird things like she was hanging out with friends and Celeste would say you guys are looking at a woman Who fucked her way to the top? She even performed filatio on this guy this rich guy while her kids were in the room In front of the kids. Yeah, but then the next day they went to the guy's house,

and instead of a mansion, it was an apartment complex. So then she dumped him. She was just upset. She thought that he was rich because he drove a jaguar, but he was poor. So she said, oh well, onto the next one. She also hired a woman by the name of Donna to be her assistant.

But this person was mainly hired to be a hitman. So Donna, her whole job was to find a hitman for Celeste to kill Tracy. And Donna was like, yeah, I know a lot of people, I know people in the mafia, but in reality, Donna did not. Donna just wanted to pocket the cash. So the twins, they, they want nothing to do with this. They're terrified. They skipped town.

They leave with their boyfriends, but they have no money. Celeste cleared out their trust funds that, yeah, Steve had set up trust for them. They also had no credit. Celeste had started using it before they were 10 years old, before they were even adults, so their credit was so messed up. And she left a message on one of the girl's boyfriends' phones.

And it said, Christina stole Casey, the puppy. She's valued at over $500, so that's a felony. Listen, I don't want to do this to my own children because I love them. And, you know, Mother's Day is coming up, but they're leaving me no choice. The other thing is if they don't come home by five Listen, I'm not psycho or anything. I'm as calm as I can be so they can come home But if they don't I will report them for stealing the keys to my house and everything else

I will hire a private detective and track them down because they were stupid enough to charge on the gas card And I've disconnected their phones neither one of them has car insurance anymore. Please make sure to tell the girls that I love them, but I will have them arrested at school. Because they've hurt me and it's only fair that they too get humiliated. Listening to this, Christina kind of opened her eyes for the first time and saw her mom for who she really was. So she called and she had to ask, what is the deal with Donna? Christina, I'll tell you when you get home. Did she have something on you?

Just tell me. Tell me now. I can't. You'll just go and tell everyone else. You'll go tell your sister. Mom, I won't. I won't. Okay.

I hired someone to kill Tracy. Celeste had no idea Christina was recording their calls. The girl's lawyer done. Told the lawyer everything, played the recording of Celeste and the lawyer said, That's all circumstantial evidence. As of right now, you just have to go into hiding for this to work out. Meanwhile, Tracy was still protecting Celeste. When she found out through the newspaper that Celeste was planning on killing her, that

she had hired a hitman, Tracy downed a bottle of pills in vodka and she was taken to the hospital. Celeste would not be there because she was on her honeymoon. Yes, she married her fifth husband. So after Tracy's suicide attempt, she was re-arrested and she finally decided to plead guilty to murder and testify against Celeste for a reduced sentence of 20 years. The police rushed her rest Celeste and her bail was set at 8 million dollars, one of the highest in the history of Travis County, Texas. Celeste wasn't sweating though, she had the best attorney Steve's money could buy, and her whole argument was, listen, Tracy's bat crazy,

she's insane, she's obsessed with me. She wanted Steve out of the picture. But even Celeste owned daughters, testified against her. Meanwhile, the defense argued that the twins were spoiled brats who just wanted their adoptive dad's money. Yes, Celeste cheated on Steve, but Steve knew it. He was sexually impotent. He couldn't get a bonbon. So of course, he let her do her own things sexually speaking, but emotionally and mentally they were together all the time He knew that Celeste married him for supported money and he didn't care He was happier than he'd ever been with her the defense claim that Celeste never said she hired someone to kill Tracy One of the girls boyfriends was really good with computer. So obviously it was edited

Well, what about that audio recording or of him, you know talking to the kids? What do you mean? So the kids had recorded this from one of their phone conversations. And it was played to the jury and it was not a good look. She said, do you know what it feels like? Do you? Do you know what it feels like when you're four years old? You're not even kindergarten and some guy has a big stick sticking in you?

Do you know what that does to you? I don't think I can ever forgive you for what you said to me tonight. Because as soon as I get home, I feel like just fucking sticking an knife down my throat. You b- There's a lot of, sorry. I got really into that role. Celeste said this to her own kids.

So of course, the jury is listening to this going, wow, this is not a regular woman we're dealing with. Celeste was found guilty. She was given two life sentences and the possibility of parole in 40 years. Christina gave a victim impact statement and she said, I have a lot of things to say to you. What did I ever do to you?

What did Jen ever do to you but love you? You don't deserve us, you never deserved us. You said we turned on you, but you turned on us. Steve gave you his love and he took you into his family, and you violated him. You murdered him. You're guilty. Shame on you! Celeste hands were shaking as Christina walked past her. Her eyes were fixated on Christina, her favorite daughter.

But it was just eyes filled with utter rage. So Celeste now has 20 more years to go before parole. She has never admitted guilt. She said that her biggest regret is raising daughters who love money more than people. Wow, there are some people just, there's no going, there's no cure for that. Tracey was released after 20 years. She now lives a very private life. In Jennifer and Christina, they do have a Christmas ritual.

Every year they get together with a church, with other victims of violent crimes, and they decorate a tree. They have a gold ornament in honor of Steve. In 2017, Jennifer was shot multiple times by her roommate at the time in her stomach at a Halloween party. What?

She did survive, but she needed a lot of surgeries. And I can't imagine how traumatic that was, not, but also the stomach part. Yeah. Do we know what happened? It was just like a Halloween party gone wrong. He shot up multiple other people too. One person did die from the party. Yeah, and I feel so bad for you to win. And that is the story of Celeste. Let me know.

What are your thoughts? She just really never stops, like you said. How is she so shameless? Do you guys know people like that? Do you find that these people are particularly scary versus, sometimes I think these stories are scarier than other ones that we talk about? Because it's like, how do you just blatantly disregard the way humans work? What are your thoughts?

Let me know and I will see you guys on Sunday for the mini-sode. Bye!