Rotten Mango - #198: The PTA Mom Turned Stalker - The Sinister Side of Rich Housewives, Obsession, and Conspiracies

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

They say when you seek revenge, you should dig two graves. One for yourself as well. The PTA moms didn’t think of that when they raged war. Jill was said to have gone up and down the hallways of the... wealthy school to pass out flyers. Flyers that were printed with baseless accusations against another PTA mom. It’s said that she was jealous of the other mom. Some say it’s because she was trying to distract the community from the fact that she was cheating on her attorney husband with 4 firefighters - at the same time. Regardless Jill’s obsession will turn into a web of conspiracies involving child abuse, cheating with the tennis coach, drugs, and death. The result? Two behind bars and millions of dollars on the line. This is the PTA mom nightmare. (Book Red - “I’ll Get You” - by Kelli Peters & Riley J Ford. Such a good book I couldn’t put it down and the emotions were so raw and so real. Please check it out) 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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Starting point is 00:00:32 Welcome to this week's main episode of Rotten Mango. I'm your host Stephanie Sue. What do you know about revenge? There's a quote it's frequently credited to Confucius, when on the journey of revenge, dig two graves. One for them, one for yourself. It's often said that revenge is a dish best served cold, but sometimes it's served in the form of flyers. The flyers were being passed around to everyone Jill ran across at the local school.
Starting point is 00:01:00 One for you, one for you, all can't forget about you. The flyers were not about the big sale that weekend or the football game, or even a missing person's flyer. It was a campaign to have Kelly Peters' life destroyed. Jill accused Kelly Peters of some pretty heinous things. She had typed it up, printed it out, and now she was walking through the hallways of the school with a staka flyers in her arms, passing it out one by one. Allegedly.
Starting point is 00:01:26 And this was just phase one of her plan. Jill was just getting started. She was just starting to warm up. It seemed like she was on a mission to take down Kelly Peters. Maybe she was just a person of her word, you know. According to Kelly, Jill had screamed at her, I'll get you. And she would. Did I mention that this is all taking place
Starting point is 00:01:46 in an elementary school in the prestigious area of Irvine, Orange County, California? And that Jill and Kelly beaters are not elementary schoolers. But parents, PTA moms. And this case would end up with two people behind bars and millions of dollars on the line. This is the case of PTA moms gone wrong. Or I guess gone to jail.
Starting point is 00:02:07 PTA but make it true crime. As always, full show notes are available at ronminglepodcast.com, but there is a really good book on this case called I'll Getcha by Kelly Peters and Riley J. Ford. Listen, this book was insane. It was incredibly touching. I mean, there were so many moments where
Starting point is 00:02:23 it was so heartfelt, so raw, the amount of emotions that were eloquently put into this book. I love that you can hear Kelly's voice throughout the entire book. It felt deeply personal. It's very open to interpretation and it honestly just gets you thinking. I felt like I was listening to Kelly share her life story with me and it was gripping. I couldn't put it down and just the amount of trauma that she went through. I really feel for her and her family. So I highly recommend that you check out this book. Not only would you be reading a fantastic book, but you would be directly supporting Kelly
Starting point is 00:02:53 and her family. And trust me, after what you listen to today, you're going to want to support them because I know I did. So with that being said, she was scared of being murdered. It kind of started with her dreams. I mean, it really started with her dreams. Kelly would wake up, drenched in sweat, panting. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She would frantically look around the dark room, and it would take a minute to register that she was safe, that she was okay. Everything was
Starting point is 00:03:18 going to be okay. She always had the same nightmares. The killer would sneak into her bedroom and slit her throat. So simple, yet so terrifying. Kelly would have a hard time falling asleep unless her neck was covered. She wanted the blanket as a literal security blanket. When she was doing errands around the house in the sweltering orange county summer heat, she would wear a scarf. She felt like as long as she covered up her neck, you know, it would be okay. Something about those nightmares.
Starting point is 00:03:43 Just felt so real. Like she was seeing into the future or something. And then those words, I'll get you, would ring over and over and over in her head. I mean, it sounds crazy to think that you would be scared of a blonde-haired former attorney housewife from Orange County. I mean, the worst she could do is spread nasty rumors about you and try to get you kicked off the PTA board, right? There's no way that you try to kill Kelly, right? I mean, that's a lot Kelly wasn't really someone with a lot of enemies. Okay, in fact if we start from the very beginning Kelly probably has one of the most
Starting point is 00:04:17 Ideal like happiest childhoods that we will ever talk about on a rotten mango episode Kelly's parents Mr. and Mrs. Storms, are you freaking kidding me? They even have like the perfect family name, the Storm family. Mr. and Mrs. Storms, they were loving. Kelly had three younger brothers, which I know. It sounds like an Imerit, and at times it was.
Starting point is 00:04:37 Like the brothers would always put a cup of water above Kelly's door. So when she opened it or pulled it, the water would fall and she'd be drenched in cold water. Okay, in those moments, it wasn't great. Bikali and her brothers got along. They were the definition of that suburban, ideal-like family, like the types that would sit around the dinner table every single night, and instead of it being awkward and quiet,
Starting point is 00:04:59 they were giggling on stop. They had that quick witty banner and they weren't afraid to make fun of each other. They would go on these camping trips and these annual vacations that they actually look for. I mean, they were really cool. They just had main character vibes. Kelly's dad was an insurance agent by day and then played in a band by night. And the band's name was unpredictably called the band.
Starting point is 00:05:21 Okay. Listen, don't giggle, because the band actually had a pretty big hit. Okay, they had gigs all over Seattle last day, guys, and just up and down the west coast. The family even had a freaking pony for crying out loud. I mean, literally what? What does this family not do? Kelly herself was multifaceted, multi-talented. She was a horseback rider that won ribbons.
Starting point is 00:05:43 She played softball at school. Her dad was the coach of the softball team team and on this side, Kelly was cheerleading. And then get this. Their house was perfect too. They lived in a suburban house that had fruit trees in the front. So after school, the kids would run home after softball practice, pick some fresh fruit to eat, pull up on the couch and do homework. They lived in a safe family-oriented area, and everybody loved the storms. They loved even vanilla flash. You're like, who? What is that?
Starting point is 00:06:10 Kelly's little brother, Bobby, was kind of a handful. He was nicknamed vanilla flash, because he just had this weird energy about him. He was like the flash, and he had this white blonde hair, and a very strong perclivity towards nudity. Okay, you know I'm dead serious. So wherever the family went, if they trunk their backs for just one minute, vanilla flash would rip off all of his clothes and run around stark naked.
Starting point is 00:06:33 Oh, for himself, got it. And his favorite place was to do this at department stores. So imagine you're in the perfume aisle of Nordstrom and you just see a naked flash child running by like a feral child. This storm's family had to be on the lookout at all times to make sure that vanilla flash didn't strike again. But vanilla flash wasn't the only menace of the family. Kelly's younger brother, Kevin, he loved to go to the mall with his family, secretly
Starting point is 00:06:57 run off when they didn't notice. He would run to the nearest bakery shop. Wherever they had good food. He would peer out from the tall stands of the counter, because he's nothing but a short, little, five-year-old boy. And he would do his best puppy dog, guys, and he would say, I'm so hungry. I have an int in a single thing all day.
Starting point is 00:07:17 All day. And almost always, he would walk away holding the world's biggest cookie, the cookie the size of his face. And his family would be stumped, they would literally be scratching their heads in the middle of Nordstroms, where on earth does this kid keep getting these freaking cookies? Every day on time we come to them all! And Bobby, put your shirt back on. One time at the mall, a bakery worker approached Mrs. Storms and almost cussed her out. She's like, you're despicable! You should be ashamed of yourself. Whoa, what, what, excuse me? What, what just happened?
Starting point is 00:07:48 What kind of woman? What kind of mother? Let's, her child star feed your child. And Kathy Storms, which is shake her head and say, oh honey, you've just been fooled by a five year old con. And Kevin would be off to the side, mouthful of chocolate chips. Bobby would be stark naked.
Starting point is 00:08:06 And that was the storm's fate. Can I just say I love the storm's family? Like it's giving modern family, but in the best way possible. But it wasn't always sunshine and rainbows. There was a hospital incident. Okay, let's talk about it. Like I mentioned, Kelly was on the softball team throughout high school and she was really good.
Starting point is 00:08:24 She made the all-star team and her late teens and that evening she had this big game coming up. She's getting ready and she knew that her crush was going to be there on the stands. Watching her. She's like, okay, well let's call this kid Mike. She's like, Mike the hottie is going to be interested in me so I need to woo him on the field. She was convinced that curling her bangs would make him notice her while she was playing
Starting point is 00:08:44 softball. Even though you can barely even see her bangs through her softball hat, but she didn't care. She's like this way to get his attention. She's nervous, she's on a time crunch, she's curling her hair, and the curling iron slips from Kelly's hand and burns her eyeball. She was rushed to the ear, missed the softball game, and she was so sad about it that Kelly's mom offered to take Kelly and Mike the hottie, her crush, on a date, the three of them to a restaurant. I guess Kelly was so happy. She didn't even wait till her eye healed because the three of them end up sitting down and Kelly had a night patch over when I, and she was excitedly telling what on earth happened to her eye. And she just casually goes. Anyway, so that's
Starting point is 00:09:23 on the curling iron, slip from my hand and burn my rectum. And Kelly's mom calves out her food. Mike is frozen, spoonful of food halfway to his mouth. And he looks at her, eyebrows crinkled, confused. Kelly thought that Mike was looking at her because he was like, oh my god, that's so crazy. I mean, I'm so concerned about your eye and she just kept talking.
Starting point is 00:09:42 Well, don't worry though, they said my rectum's gonna be just fine. There's gonna be a scrap, there's gonna be like a bit of a scab and then, you know, I'm going to have to, and then Kelly's mom interrupt Kelly, just stop talking. You did not burn your rectum. You burnt your retina. You list to say, Kelly never saw Mike again after that. And honestly, he's lost.
Starting point is 00:10:02 Yeah. Yeah, you know, when you talk about your scabby wrecked him, it's hard to go back. I thought it was a plus. I thought it was a pro. Put that on the pro list. So after high school, Kelli ends up being a professional racquetball player for a little while, like literally, what does this family not do? Please, I need to know.
Starting point is 00:10:20 And then she had the opportunity to visit a friend in Hawaii for two weeks and Zubstani two years. She loved it. I mean she's couldn't leave. So two years later she gets back to the mainland, moves to Newport Beach in California, and she's focusing on herself settling down, finding a career path that she likes. She goes on a few dates in here and there mainly group dates with a bunch of guys and her girlfriends and was on one of these dates, a whole group of Kelly's friends and their dates went to a place called El Torrito Grill for Taco Tuesday.
Starting point is 00:10:50 And at the end of the night, Kelly's day wants to take her across the street, whereas Uncle is having this private wine tasting at a restaurant called Five Feet with an F. And it was an F for fancy. It was crazy, okay. I mean, Kelly walked in there. Five feet with an F.
Starting point is 00:11:04 Oh yeah, five feet with an F. Like, you know how you spell five with an F. Okay, got it. And the minute that she stepped in there, I mean she's blown away. This place was fancy. The fanciest wines that you could think of were laid out on the table. The wine glasses felt fancy and heavy.
Starting point is 00:11:20 And there were fancy foods to go with like caviar, finger foods like Kelly didn't even know how to pronounce. And Kelly was about to sit down when someone catches her eye. A young man, he's tall, six foot five. Kelly is barely five feet tall. This guy's six foot five. He's in a perfectly tailored black suit.
Starting point is 00:11:39 I'm telling you, the suit'll get him, okay. Red hair, but tied up in a neat ponytail. He looks like straight out of a movie, like he's a villain, you know. He was a him, okay. Red hair, but tied up in a neat ponytail. He looks like straight out of a movie, like he's a villain. You know, he was a side, okay. Kelly said he was so handsome, I was immediately drawn to him. Like trans-fix captivated, it was like a movie moment. And the young man, he felt it too. He could not take his eyes off of Kelly.
Starting point is 00:11:58 I mean, the instant attraction between the two was palpable. He walks straight up to Kelly and introduced himself. Hi, I'm Bill Peters. Kellyanne shook his hand and smiled. And that moment right there, she said, she had met her soulmate, and she freaking knew it. She said, this might sound crazy, but I knew Bill was the love of my life the minute I saw him. Not met him, the minute I saw him. Like, how is that even possible? I don't know, but I just knew. I've been in lust plenty of times, but never have I looked at a man and immediately thought marriage, kids, lifelong partners, all made. That's what happened when I saw Bill. It wasn't butterflies, I wasn't giddy, I didn't get flustered. It was something else. I just, I felt so comfortable around him. But it was, it was more than that. I mean, he just felt completely irresistible. And the two of them
Starting point is 00:12:45 spent the rest of the night chatting it up. And if you're thinking, oh my God, did she really do that to her date, that's shady. Don't worry. Kelly noticed that her date was having a very enthusiastic conversation with one of her single friends at the Taco bar. So she ran over to the Taco bar and was like, hey, friend, you want to come over and talk to my day because he's really interested in you so her date and her friend hit it off and Kellyanne Bill rest his history they sit there for hours talking Bill is a restaurant owner he owns the Crown House with his father Bill was also in the wine business since why he was here tonight he even gifted her a fancy bottle of wine to take home that night and I mean he was just really impressing her, really.
Starting point is 00:13:27 And from that moment, Kelly and Bill were inseparable. Kelly started hanging out at the family restaurant more since Bill had to work there. And she would tag along to all his business trips. It's really like the movies. I mean, you get that montage of them having so much fun and drinking wine and being in love and then cue the record sketch. Not everything was smooth sailing because Bill has had some young financially doing well. He owns a nice restaurant so of course the guys catch and I guess a lot of people didn't
Starting point is 00:13:54 care that he was taken. He overall just had a ton of female friends too. Like too many. It's like he knew every young attractive woman in town and like when you're in Orange County that's like a lot of people. It's a lot of attractive woman in Orange County. Bill and Kelly would sit down at a restaurant. Would you like it that?
Starting point is 00:14:10 The most beautiful waitress ever? Oh yeah, Bill's ex-girlfriend. King Grey, okay. Sometimes girls would just come up to Bill and shamelessly flirt with him right in front of Kelly as if she didn't exist. And you know what? Sometimes Bill entertained the flirting.
Starting point is 00:14:25 I mean, he was dumb, young, he loved the attention, and yeah, it annoyed Kelly, it really did, which she tried not to show it. Because at the end of the day, she trusted Bill, he loved her, and he only had eyes for her, right? About three years into dating. Kelly gets a call from Bill. He was unexpected. She thought that he was at work.
Starting point is 00:14:44 And she picks up and he sounds so strange. Weird. Is something wrong, Bill? No, Kelly, of course not. Why would you even say that? I don't know. I guess you just sound so strange, different. No, everything is fine.
Starting point is 00:14:56 And just then, Kelly hears a female voice in the background say, do you want me to leave? And Kelly's heart dropped to the floor. She finally pushed out the words, who was that? Just a friend. But she knew, she knew that his voice when he initially called was guilt.
Starting point is 00:15:14 That's why he sounded so weird. The woman was in just a friend. Bill had cheated on her and then he called her out of guilt while the woman was still there. Like immediately after he called her. So she sobbed into the phone and she was like, how could you? And before he could answer, she told him, I'm done. And she hung up the phone.
Starting point is 00:15:30 She was so hard-broken, she went straight to bed, cried her eyes out. She didn't even take off her makeup. And in the morning, she wakes up, wore a movie-level shock. Her makeup had come off onto the pillow, almost in the perfect outline of her face. Now, Scaris smearing down with tears, eye-bowls lipstick, everything. And the expression on the pillow almost in the perfect outline of her face. Mascara smearing down with tears, eye-bout slips to everything, and the expression on the
Starting point is 00:15:47 pillow looked miserable. So what does Kelly do? She takes the pillow and hangs it up on her walls. She said this would serve as a reminder that if Bill ever came around, she would be strong, she would remember how he made her feel and that she would done with him. Honestly, I love that, even if Kelly did end up forgiving Bill. But she stayed strong, okay? Nine months later, around Christmas time, Kelly had bumped into Bill at the store and she said, you could literally see the pain in Bill's eyes. Even though
Starting point is 00:16:15 they didn't talk about what happened, Kelly was emotional. I mean, the guy sounded broken and I guess Kelly was in the holiday spirit, the forgiving mood. She invited Bill over to her mom's Christmas party. And he showed up with four bottles of wine. And now, the rest was history. I think the breakup is almost necessary. I mean, it sucks saying that because it was so utterly painful for Kelly, but when they got back together, Bill was over it. Bill no longer entertained any flirting. He dropped all of his female friends. He didn't like the attention. He was all eyes on Kelly. He cut off everyone. Literally the man devoted himself to Kelly after this.
Starting point is 00:16:48 He realized what he had almost lost in, he was determined to make sure that it never happened again. So the two of them, they start living the frickin' dream, okay? Kelly's a graphic designer, builds an entrepreneur, they're traveling around, they adopt two cute little corgis, they went surfing every single morning before work at Newport Beach. This is literally like the dream life of a man. This is literally what people think living in OC is like, but it's not. Trust me, I've lived there for like two months.
Starting point is 00:17:14 Okay, it's just a lot of errands. You know, Bill would always cook for Kelly and they would always share a nice glass of wine. Everything was perfect until Bill's restaurant burned down. His family restaurant, his passion, the one that had been around since he was a kid, it burned down. One night during closing, one of the employees emptied an ass tray into the trash can. Oh my gosh.
Starting point is 00:17:36 And the whole link got on fire. 4 a.m. Bill gets the call. They rushed to the restaurant, but it was too late. All they could do was sobbing to each other's arms as they watched it burn down. It was a life-changing moment Bill had worked there since he was a child and now is all gone, and they had fish in the fish tanks that died in the fire. It was devastating.
Starting point is 00:17:54 Which wild is that Bill and his dad never blamed anyone for the fire. There was no drama about it. No, why did you empty it in the trash can? In fact, Bill's dad spent every last time of his own retirement money to keep the paychecks going for all the employees for as long as they needed. They were really good people, and it was devastating for everyone. After that, Bill's dad decided no more restaurant business, and Bill was going to go full force into the wine business. But without this table income from the restaurant coming in, I mean, you know, finances are going to get a bit tough. They're doing well for themselves, but it's going to get a
Starting point is 00:18:24 little bit tight around here. So when they get married, they decide on a smaller venue in Lake Tahoe, and it was like the cutest little wedding. I mean, their whole relationship was so endearing, I think people were just so happy for them. They had a romance that most people dream of, and you know what, they were a bit cringy.
Starting point is 00:18:39 I'm gonna be honest. Kelly called Bill, my hot tea, my fuzzy slippers and my warm slippers, and my warm blanket. And Bill called Kelly his toenail clipper nose hair trimmer finger cracker and hot mama. Listen, I want a gag, but it's like the best way possible. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but also I'm gagging. I love that. So it just made sense that the couple want to have kids, right?
Starting point is 00:19:04 But Kelly is 39 at this point, and the doctor straight up tell her, yeah, you have a better chance of winning the goddamn lottery than getting pregnant, so, you know, if that's great, we love an optimistic MD. So when Kelly starts feeling fatigued and sick, clearly, clearly, it was cancer. I mean, it had to be. She's like, oh my god, I'm a freaking cancer.
Starting point is 00:19:23 She was so terrified. Went to the doctors. She was cancer. I mean, it had to be. She's like, oh my god, I'm a freaking cancer. She was so terrified. Went to the doctors. She was pregnant. And that is how the couple welcomed baby Sydney into the world. I mean, she really was a miracle baby, not just for the parents, but like both sides of Bill and Kelly's family.
Starting point is 00:19:35 She was the first grandchild. Everyone was over the moon. The Kelly realized, okay, being a mom is not that easy. Like, it's fulfilling, don't get her wrong, but I think that Kelly really was meant to be a mom. You know those people that just kind of meant to be a mom. And you can tell, because I mean, Kelly never got sleep. She's busy running around the house, taking care of her child. She loved every second of it.
Starting point is 00:19:59 And every day, Kelly would go to work and she would cry in the car because she missed her baby. She wanted to be there with her baby. I mean, her baby is so much is changing every single day when they're that young. You know, they're learning to walk and crawl and do all these things. And she felt like she was missing all of it. And she realized she doesn't even care about work anymore.
Starting point is 00:20:18 Her priorities had completely changed after she had Sydney. So one night Bill asked her, how is work today? Fine. really? What did you do at work? Just drive around making some calls. Kelly, be real. Let's not what the preschool said. Oh, you talked to them?
Starting point is 00:20:34 They said that you spent half the day there. Again, it was happening so much, Kelly would leave work to go spend time at Sydney's preschool. And Kelly was so miserable at work, Bill sat her down, they went over their finances, and they figured, you know, it's tough. But if we watch every single penny we eat at home, we skip the avocado toast, we could make a work on one income. It might work! What if comparing car insurance rates was as easy as putting on your favorite podcast?
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Starting point is 00:21:26 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.
Starting point is 00:22:10 Listen to and follow the set, an Odyssey originals documentary podcast series available now in the Odyssey app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. I'm not a big guy man, but I love being that dirty mother f***er. I mean, it didn't help that they were living in Orange County at the time in Irvine, which Irvine, if you've never been, is like Paradise, Serberbia. It's like what Serberbia is supposed to be, but like the Paradise version, it's close to all the fun parts of OC without being fun itself. It's super well planned out, very clean. It's been rated by the FBI as the safest largest city in the US for like the 11th consecutive row. I mean, every house is pristine. The streets are clean. The lawns are well manicured. It's intense. Honestly, kind of a dream retirement
Starting point is 00:22:56 for us sounds like Irvine. They've got good schools. But for those reasons, and for the reason that it's an orange County, California, like a stone's throw away from Los Angeles, it's incredibly expensive. The average home price in Irvine is 1.3 million dollars. 1.3 million dollars. It's wild. But it's also one of those areas where majority of the place feels safe, so you can go shopping, grab in and out burger, and then go surfing over at Laguna Beach, and then come home to grill up in your backyard. Like, that's the energy. Not a cheap place to live, but Kelly made it work. She was so good with budgeting,
Starting point is 00:23:29 she never wanted Sydney to feel like they were struggling, right? So Kelly would scour the internet for all the free things to do. On the weekends, she would take Sydney to the zoo, the fair, she did all of that. And then tragedy struck again. The saddest moment of Kelly's life, okay. Sydney was due to start kindergarten, at Plaza Vista Elementary School. Kelly was sad, conflicted, I mean she knew this was the right thing to do.
Starting point is 00:23:51 Sydney was excited, she would learn, she would socialize, and be great for her. But Kelly would feel so empty. Kelly loves spending every day with her. So the first day of school, super emotional. Kelly takes pictures of Sydney, takes her to the elementary school to drop her off, and Sydney is so freaking excited She drops Kelly's hand at the drop-off section and just runs off Kelly started crying at the drop-off
Starting point is 00:24:13 Sydney didn't even say goodbye. Was this to start? I mean, they only pull away more as they get older She's gonna forget about me. But then a few seconds later She heard stomping on the pavement and Sydney ran back and said, oops mom, forgot to kiss you, goodbye, love you. And that made Kelly cry even more because Sydney remembered. So Kelly goes back to the apartment and she just feels so lonely and so emotional. I mean, she had quit her job to be in Sydney's life and now Sydney's in for kindergarten like, what is she supposed to do?
Starting point is 00:24:41 The day goes by in a blur. And when Kelly goes to pick up Sydney after the first day, the teachers are looking around at the parents. The parents are avoiding eye contact. That's me. Oh yeah, they know what's about to be asked of them. Does anyone want to volunteer to help around the classroom? Any parents free to volunteer? All the parents are looking like they're doing emails on their phone, talking to each other like, oh, the new grocery store just opened up. That is like the most intriguing information I've ever heard tell me more don't look over there okay these are all the parents not Kelly immediately Kelly shot up her hand shot up I'll like to volunteer she just wanted to be useful
Starting point is 00:25:17 you know she want to do something with her life the teachers like oh my god thank god okay Kelly right now we have 30 kids and kids in kindergarten and only one teacher assigned to look after them so the teacher is heavily relying on volunteers to help them look over the kids. I mean there's always something to do we're gonna be cleaning up messes stopping the kids from injuring themselves taking kids to the bathrooms helping them tie their shoes and yeah learn Kelly said she was in over her head the kids were so needy they would cry about missing their moms so Kelly was always holding one or another, comforting them. When they weren't crying or asking to go to the bathroom, they were wiping boogers on the walls and running around like crazy
Starting point is 00:25:51 monkeys. She said I was constantly cleaning the bathroom, or the classroom, or chasing one of them down, or soothing wounded feelings, or tending to booboos. It was non-stop, organized chaos. But I loved it. For Kelly? She's basically working there now? For free. What? Yeah, Kelly, this was the start of her volunteering career.
Starting point is 00:26:11 Well, I guess not a career because she's not getting paid. Her volunteering journey. For Kelly, it wasn't just about filling her empty days so she didn't feel lonely, or even being closer to Sydney, she just loved having an impact on people. Like nothing was more fulfilling to her than when a kid ran up to her with a big smile eager to give her a hug. Like the fact that she made children feel safe enough to, you know, be at school without their parents and want to learn That made her feel so good. And at the end of the year, she had these cute little t-shirts that read, I survived volunteering in Mrs. Jones class. And she wore them around and everyone would smile at her.
Starting point is 00:26:43 Because if you can survive a year of helping up 30 kindergartners, you can practically do anything. Most parents quit volunteering that year. I mean, it was traumatic. They thought that they could handle it, but it was a lot more. But not Kelly. She's eager to volunteer again for the first grade, and everyone's like, you know what, Kelly, you are so organized, you're so good at this.
Starting point is 00:27:01 If you're interested, you should run for the PTA, the Parent Teacher association. Basically, if you guys don't know what that is, how much impact a PTA has varies by school? But what they do is parents will volunteer to hold fundraisers and with the money from the fundraisers, they'll try to benefit not just the students, but the teachers as well. It's a lot more serious than just being a helping hand in the classroom. Kelly said she was totally unprepared. It was a serious business. She was the secretary. She had to record every single board meeting, general meeting, make minutes for the meeting,
Starting point is 00:27:32 type it out, rush it home to make sure every parent had it, every teacher had it. It was a lot. Yeah, but she loved it. Now, she said this one was really nice because most PTAs are notorious for being high school clicks. With the parents, the drama, the teachers, there because most PTA's are notorious for being high school clicks. With the parents, the drama, the teachers, there's arguments, there's endless fucking
Starting point is 00:27:48 bake sales, where suddenly everyone is a judge on master's chef, and they will judge you if you bring storm-made cupcakes like, how do you even know it's storm-made, huh? How the fork do they always know? They'll peer pressure you into volunteering for more fun-racers, they guilt-trip you, even though you're behind-done bills work in a full-time job, taking care of three kids you haven't washed your hair in eight days, your husband is completely useless, and you have unidentified rotten food in the backseat of your car because your kids are wild, but here you are.
Starting point is 00:28:13 Selling more wrapping paper door to door. Because, you know, the fucking PTA told you to. I'm so scared of having kids. I'm so scared. I get in homeschooled, knowing getting. Listen, sometimes PTAs have a bad rap, but not this one. Kelly said, this wasn't the PTA you hear about. Everyone was so nice, it wasn't clicky or snobby, they just desperately needed volunteers.
Starting point is 00:28:33 And we took it very seriously. Then and after school program, so the kids that didn't get picked up like right at 230, they would have other classes, like it could be tennis, basketball, or a cooking class, or maybe another language class, right? And Kelly's job was to help facilitate that after school program. She would go from class to class to make sure none of the teachers or the kids needed anything. She would basically be like a flow, like a floater, right? So if a kid in basketball had a nosebleed, she would run there and then suddenly she had to take a kid to the bathroom from the cooking class. That's what she did.
Starting point is 00:29:05 And she loved it. Everybody loved her. To give you a picture of Kelly, her friends describe her as like an earth mother hippie beach girl. She always went with the flow. She wore John Lennon sunglasses. She had a peace sign on her car. She was laid back, got along with everyone.
Starting point is 00:29:19 I mean, it was to the point where Kelly's mom had some sage advice for her. She would tell her daughter, Kelly, I love you. But you're too nice. One day it's gonna bite you in the butt. Kelly would shake her head like, okay you're a bit cynical aren't you? I doubt that day would ever come and why would being nice cost me harm. But then the day came. February 2010. Kelly of course was volunteering at the elementary school, at the afterschool program called ACE. Now she's getting the kids, it's about 50 kids each time into their classes, running around, and then at the end of that, she would have to, not, it's not her, but the kids would have to line up at the front.
Starting point is 00:29:55 There was no process, like schools were a little bit more lacks back then. So there was no sign-out sheet, there was no, the kids just line up and when they see their parents' car, they get into the car, right? And it's up to the kids to get to the front of the school. But the school is big and it's closed, so technically the kid could run a Muck if they want, right? There hadn't been an incident, but sometimes, you know, you never know. Now, one of the kids that didn't like to line up was a sweet little boy named, well, let's call him Luke. Luke was a good kid. He always liked to stay behind to help his teachers clean and he was just really likeable. No one had a single bad thing to say about Luke. Kelly described him as a neat little boy. I mean, he was just so sweet and helpful and just really cool in every way.
Starting point is 00:30:34 Like we had such a good relationship. He loved to help. He was friendly. He never caused trouble. Just really one of the nicest little kids I've ever met. So the afternoon of February 17th, 2010, Luke did not line up at the front for pickup. To this day, nobody knows why he stayed behind. Kelly believes that he was probably helping his teacher clean up or hanging out with friends, which was just very typical of Luke. He loved being helpful. Kelly herself didn't know for sure because she's busy helping all the other kids get to the line of area, and the children are being matched with their parents, and then there was no children or parents left over.
Starting point is 00:31:05 So Kellyanne Sydney couldn't go home just yet. The cooking class runs an hour later. So they go to the cooking class and this was like the routine they would eat up whatever the kids were cooking. This time it was like Chinese chicken and Chinese chicken salad and fried noodles with sesame dressing It was really good and they're eating and they're even asking for seconds. They're dipping the cornbread, the kids made, into honey. Oh, so good. They're hanging out until one of the school administrators walks in. And Janice is like, hi, Kelly, oh, one of the moms
Starting point is 00:31:33 is here to see you. Oh, sure, yeah. So Kelly gets up and she's thinking, maybe the mom had a question. More often than not, it was that. Or sometimes parents wanted to talk to Kelly to think her for being so nice. Sometimes they would even bring small gifts, because if a parent is late to pick up their kid,
Starting point is 00:31:49 it's a dollar per minute that they have to pay. But Kelly never enforced the rule. Sometimes she would wait an hour with a kid and never charge and never get mad and so people would always bring nice gifts. She just said, you know, I know what it's like to be a parent. I know it's stressful and they don't mean to so it's fine And I don't mind spending time with kids. Just so nice. Yeah. She's just nice. Yeah, so nice. Except for today. A woman named Jill Easter was waiting for Kelly by the school front doors. Jill was one of those moms. Okay, she was beautiful. She had bleached blonde hair that was always well maintained. It always looks soft and she would never see the real color of her hair.
Starting point is 00:32:28 Her roots would never grow out. She had perfectly bright white teeth, she had full lips, other moms would whisper that it was lip filler, but we don't know for sure. Nor does it matter, but you know how O.C. is. Jill had perfectly smooth tin skin, she was tall, perfectly well groomed. I mean, she looked like an orange county Pilates rang driver driving housewife, or maybe a bit more high maintenance. She was the type of mom that other moms felt intimidated by. She was an approachable standoff fish inaccessible, and she had that background too. She was a law school graduate, former attorney. she met her husband, who's another attorney,
Starting point is 00:33:06 when they worked at the same law firm. Side note, her husband now works as a securities litigation partner at a top law firm in Orange County. He went to Stanford and UCLA law school, who's really high-powered, and how do you know this? Well, she probably told you within the first five minutes of meeting you, and each time you met her, she would probably verify that you hadn't forgotten such pertinent information. Do you remember?
Starting point is 00:33:29 You honor. Your honor? Objection. Irrelevant. She, in her attorney husband Kent, lived in a multi-million dollar home in Irvine. Jill's parents came from wealth as well. They lived in one of the wealthiest enclaves of Newport Beach. Jill was the crem de la crem of Orange County society, and she knew it.
Starting point is 00:33:50 She only ever associated with people that she felt were good enough for her company. People said that Jill was the type that would size you up the minute that she laid eyes on you. She wasn't the type of woman that I've really heard no for an answer. For one, she had pretty privilege, and she knew it, and she wielded it to her advantage. If that didn't work, Jill had money privilege and intimidation tactics and knowledge of the law on her side. She was very used to getting at what she wanted in life. And if she wasn't, she probably sue the fuck out of you. Don't sue me.
Starting point is 00:34:18 Simon Kelly met Jill Easter for the first time at the front doors of the school. Kelly said, the first thing I noticed were her eyes. I think it was the look in her icy blue eyes. I mean, some people found them intriguing and beautiful, but I thought they were scary. Anyway, Jill is Luke's mom, and Luke is standing right next to her. Luke isn't crying or upset in any way. He seemed calm, which is just normally how he is.
Starting point is 00:34:39 Jill, on the other hand, was a feral. I mean, you could tell that she was agitated. She walked to meet Kelly halfway, and her eyes were wild and bouncing around, up and down hand, was Feral. I mean, you could tell that she was agitated. She walked to meet Kelly Halfway and her eyes were wild and bouncing around. Up and down Kelly and she said, my other two kids are in the car, so I need to make this quick. Do you know why my son Luke didn't make it
Starting point is 00:34:53 to the back door with the rest of the kids? Uh, hi. No, I actually don't. Did you pick him up at the back of the building? No, he came up with the tennis coach. Oh, good. Okay, well, sometimes the kids like to stay back came up with the tennis coach. Oh, good. Okay. Well, sometimes the kids like to stay back and help clean up,
Starting point is 00:35:07 so maybe Luke did that. And Kelly turns to Luke to see if he's gonna say, oh yeah, like that's what I did or no, I did something else. But he liked to confuse. And he just tugged at his mom's arm and said, can we just go? Jill didn't even glance at her son. She was staring into the souls of Kelly Peter.
Starting point is 00:35:23 And it was a lot. She was like burning holes into her face. That's fine, no problem, it's not like I'm accusing you of anything. I just want to know what happened. Oh, sure, I understand, but maybe he stayed behind. Jill seemed satisfied and left. Kelly didn't think anything of it. I mean, it was a little bit odd, but parents are very protective of their kids,
Starting point is 00:35:40 and they have the right to be, so maybe it's just another concerned parent. Kelly heads back to the cooking class and starts eating her food again. Janice comes back. Sorry, sorry to bother you again, but the parent is back and needs to see you. Kelly follows Janice and Jill and Luke are waiting for her at the same spot. No higher anything, Jill just goes straight in. I'm just having a problem with why Luke was brought up by the tennis coach. Well, Luke took his tennis lesson today. It happens sometimes if a kid is slow to line up
Starting point is 00:36:07 and the parents are waiting. If any of the coaches or teachers or the volunteers or child hanging back, we usually like to escort them to the line. It takes a village, and we're all just trying to help out, you know? Where he was crying. Oh, he was?
Starting point is 00:36:19 I didn't know that. And Kelly was confused because Luke seemed fine now, but maybe he was crying? Yes, he was crying. He was standing outside crying for 20 minutes. Wait, 20 minutes? That's impossible, Mrs. Easter. Class ends at 2.30 and I waited by the door till 3.25. You got here around 2.40 and the tennis coach had to leave by 2.40 for his next class, which starts at 2.45. So the coach must have walked Luke up at the same time that you got here. So I'm sure Luke was either playing with other kids
Starting point is 00:36:48 or helping a teacher like he normally does. Did you ask him what he was doing? And Jill snaps and said, well, he should have been there, waiting for me. Okay, well, we give the kids five minutes to line up and if the parent is late and the kid stays back to help, then we have no way of knowing if he was with a teacher or if the parent picked them up already.
Starting point is 00:37:06 I'm really sorry about that. But don't you think it's odd that Luke came up with the tennis coach? And Kelly immediately understood what Joe was hinting at. She had this weird look on her face and it was clear that she was hinting at that maybe Luke was molested or assaulted by the tennis coach. And Kelly felt like this is weird. Okay, first of all, Kelly knew the tennis coach and Kelly felt like this is weird.
Starting point is 00:37:25 Okay, first of all, Kelly knew the tennis coach and he was a really nice guy. Not saying that he wouldn't have, her couldn't have done it because, you know, they're all nice guys until they're predators, right? But the timeline didn't make sense. So it's like another doubt on top of that. It just, I mean, it was a baseless accusation
Starting point is 00:37:40 and then the look on Jill's face was weird. Like she was plotting something or trying to convince Kelly of something, it's just bizarre. But why is Jill taking it out on Kelly? That's what I'm saying, like, if they were me, and I thought some, yes. I thought something like that happened to my kid.
Starting point is 00:37:54 Why go to a random volunteer? I would go to the principal, the coach, the police. If I thought my kid had been molested, I would have turned the school upside down. When you were talking to a random volunteer about this, like someone you don't even know. This was the first time that they were having a conversation. Kelly did not know how to respond. So Jill just repeated herself. I just don't understand why he was brought up by the tennis coach. Okay, the coach brought up Luke because he's your son's teacher.
Starting point is 00:38:21 Luke just had his tennis lesson since Luke Luke just had an hour-long tennis lesson with the coach, maybe he stayed behind to help him clean up. I mean, have you asked your son, I don't need to. He should have been in the line and the coach shouldn't have brought him up. The coach just did what we all do. When we see kids lag behind, we bring them up so they can reunite with their parents.
Starting point is 00:38:40 Joe leans in and lowers her voice. Okay, I'm not accusing you of anything or blaming you. And now Kelly's confused and she's like, what on earth could she possibly blame me for? I didn't even do anything. Kelly's like, okay, well, I just wanna make sure that you're okay, Mrs. Easter. Is there anything else that you need?
Starting point is 00:38:58 I'm good. Kelly said that she looked over at Luke, who looked a little bit uncomfortable and a little bit embarrassed. And Kelly really wanted to say what she was thinking, which is, you know what, Mrs. Easter, this is all technically your fault. You created this situation because you were late for pickup by like 10 minutes. So, but Kelly was thinking, okay, no, let's be mature.
Starting point is 00:39:16 But the sake of the look looks completely over it right now. So Kelly walks off and goes back to the cooking class. And again, she only gets a few minutes ofiece before Janice comes back for the third time and is like, the mom wants to see you again. Oh my god. Kelly gets up this time and Jill met her alone in the hallway. Luke was no longer there. Can I speak to you outside, Kelly?
Starting point is 00:39:36 Sure. Kelly falls Jill out to the front of the school. And Jill got close to Kelly and lowers her voice and said, don't you think it's odd that my son was brought up alone by the tennis coach? No, I don't think it's odd Mrs. Easter. If a child doesn't make it into the back door before it's locked then they have to go around to the front and wear a family here, a team. So if your son took a tennis lesson and that was his coach's coach, walked him to the
Starting point is 00:39:57 front, simple as that. It would later turn out that Kelly was right. Luke stayed behind with his friends, took his time getting dressed or used the restroom, and he got to the back, the door was locked. His tennis coach saw him and was like, all right, the door is locked, let's get you to the front of the school for a pick up. Well then why was my son crying? Something clearly happened. I didn't see him crying, but if he was before I saw him, it might have been because he thought that he was going to get in trouble for not lining up. I mean you're clearly angry. He couldn't
Starting point is 00:40:24 have gotten in trouble with me. The kids get out of line and the teacher or the parents or the principal steps in. I never discipline the kids so I'm not sure why you're asking me. If Luke was crying, maybe he thought he was gonna get in trouble for being late. I don't know. Joe wasn't listening. She's glared at Kelly and said, I just think it's really odd about the coach.
Starting point is 00:40:43 Really, really odd and I don't like it. Kelly said, this is where I'd started to's really odd about the coach, really, really odd, and I don't like it. Kelly said, this is where it started to get really weird. Like she didn't like it one bit. It felt like Joe was hell bent on talking to her about the tennis coach, and like why her? Kelly was in charge of lining the kids up. I mean, that was the kids responsibility. And then the parents responsibility
Starting point is 00:40:59 picked them up on time. I mean, she had no right to discipline the kids. And it was weird. The way that Joe was talking to Kelly made Kelly feel like Jill was trying to convince her that the tennis coach was weird or something. Kelly said that Jill just kept repeating herself more and more aggressively. I just think it's really strange that the coach was alone with my son. And then she said it. Jill said, I think the tennis coach assaulted my son. Melested him. What? Why would you even say that? Because my son's face is dirty. It looks like he was
Starting point is 00:41:28 forced down in the mud. No, that doesn't even make sense, I disagree. I mean, that didn't happen and you know it. Why are you doing this? If Luke's face is dirty, it's because the kids play tennis on the black asphalt and the tennis balls are covered in dust. It's hot. The kids are sweaty. They're wiping their faces. They get dirty, there's no mud out there or anywhere for that matter. Jill Crossstra Arms and Stared Kelly Down. Kelly said she responded with, he was molested. Kelly's like, what the hell is going on?
Starting point is 00:41:57 And she was so horrified. At this point, it was a baseless accusation, the timeline didn't make sense, it was bizarre. Like, why are you telling this to me then? If you really believe so call the police Kelly was so uncomfortable she wanted to remove herself and what a lot of people think is that Jill wanted Someone with some credibility to back her statement So that the two of them could become oh my god. Oh my god. She was molested and then make a big fuss about it, right? The Kelly was just not having it. She was like, no, I don't think that's what happened.
Starting point is 00:42:27 So Kelly just put her foot down and said, you know what, I'm not doing this. I don't get paid for this. I'm just a volunteer. I don't know what you're trying to do. The coach is a nice man. He had five minutes to pack up and leave for his next lesson. I mean, it just doesn't make sense.
Starting point is 00:42:42 I'm not doing this. This is crazy. No, goodbye. And Kelly walked off. Now in regards to what happened next, a civil attorney Robert had this to say, Kelly hates confrontation by nature and could not handle Jill yelling at her. She removed herself from the situation, but Jill being a woman that always gets what she wants, she felt that as her being dismissed and disrespected. And then when Kelly said this is crazy, apparently crazy is a
Starting point is 00:43:09 trigger word for Jill because everyone calls her crazy. Maybe she acts a little crazy. But it made her, I don't know, crazy, made her lose her mind. So as Kelly is walking off, she heard Jill yelling at her from behind full-on screaming on the grounds of an elementary school, literally turning into a sick comment this point, because what kind of person actually does this? Like no parent actually does this, but Jill is screaming at her. How do you sleep at night? Kelly opened the front door to the school, and then Jill screamed, I will get you. And Kelly froze. Wow. It sent a chill up her spine. The hair is on the back of her neck, stood up.
Starting point is 00:43:49 I mean, it was weird because the words are so vague. They're so comical. It's almost like a cartoon villain. No, but that's a threat, though. Yes. That's something like imagine. So creepy. Yeah, you will lose sleep over there.
Starting point is 00:44:00 Oh, yeah, because I don't know what that means. Exactly. How are you going to get me in my sleep at Exactly. Like, how are you going to get me? Like in my sleep at night at home, like, how are you going to get me? But it's something that nobody actually says in real life, you know? So it's nothing about Jill's voice was funny. We're scary. It was determined and probably unhinged because who said it like that? And all Kelly did to get this was refused to cooperate. Jill's false narrative.
Starting point is 00:44:26 So Kelly was terrified. She walked back in shaking. The administrators rushed her. Are you okay? Which has happened. We saw her yelling through the window. What is she saying? She said she was going to get me.
Starting point is 00:44:37 She said how do you sleep? I'm going to get you. And she was so upset. I mean, someone just threatened her and she didn't understand why it was bonkers. But the administrators, they're trying to calm her down and they're like, you know, sometimes parents are wild. It's okay. Obviously, don't take it seriously.
Starting point is 00:44:53 You know, it's gonna be fine. She can't even say she don't get paid enough to do this because she don't even get paid. Yeah. And Kelly, like, they're saying that, but Kelly felt something off about the way that she'd set this.
Starting point is 00:45:06 I mean, Jill sounded really serious and unhinged and decided no. Jill denies ever using the words, I'll get you, or even threatening Kelly Peters, but uh, you'll see the full story soon. The next day though, Jill allegedly shows up at school with a big stack of flyers in her arms, and she starts handing them out, like missing persons, posters. It was a flyer on why the school needs to remove Kelly Peters as a volunteer, how she was intentionally failing to follow ace policies and was punishing Luke. In the flyer, Jill accuses Kelly of deliberately locking Luke out of the school and calling him slow to his face.
Starting point is 00:45:39 Kelly never called Luke slow. She would never do that. That is a really incredibly offensive term to call anybody, like really offensive. He was slow to line up. That's what she said. Like he was slow to line up. He was lagging behind as in he was taking his time. He was with his friends, but Jill was telling everyone that Kelly called him developmentally challenged essentially and use slow as like a slur if that makes sense. Kelly thankfully didn't see the flyer. The school staff made sure
Starting point is 00:46:05 that she couldn't get her hands on one. They felt so bad for her. I mean, Kelly was already starting to emotionally fall apart. It was just a lot. It felt like high school all over again. And just like high school, when someone bullies you or starts a rumor about you,
Starting point is 00:46:17 you feel trapped because you have nowhere to run. This is your life. You can't outrun an nasty rumor. Maybe you can, if you're a Usain Bolt or something, but not Kelly. I know you probably have the same question, which is like, but why? Literally why, right? Is it because Jill feels like Kelly called her crazy? Or like, what is the real reason she's acting this way? There was a bigger reason. It would later come out during court that Jill had been cheating on her attorney husband with a firefighter straight up having three
Starting point is 00:46:42 sums and four sums with his firefighter and his firefighter friends while her husband was not around. It's like a movie. Wow. Yeah. And that's why she was late to pick up Luke all the time. So this time when she got there late, she probably felt guilty and felt like everyone noticed when really nobody noticed because it was so hectic. And she's, I guess someone that's used to making it about her. This is my theory, right? So she's like, oh my god, everyone noticed I'm late again and my hair is disheveled. They probably are spreading rumors that I'm having an affair. So in hindsight, she might have been trying to create a diversion from her being late. So instead, you know, before someone tells her husband what's going on or tries to question it or rumors start, she thought, I will make this huge scene, create this whole drama so that my husband and everyone will feel so distracted by this and feel so bad for me that no one will question
Starting point is 00:47:28 my actions of why I'm constantly laid in disheveled and look like I just got I don't know forked by four firefighters. If that really is the case, then Jill didn't think twice of ruining some poor guy's life accusing him of child molestation, nor did she think about what that would do to her own son. It seemed like it was all about creating an issue to take the spotlight off of why molestation. Nor did she think about what that would do to her own son. It seemed like it was all about creating an issue to take the spotlight off of why she was late. And then when that didn't work,
Starting point is 00:47:50 when she couldn't get Kelly Peters on her side to create a momentum of hysteria, Kelly became the new target. It went from, my child was molested to suddenly, Kelly Peters called my child developmentally slow, developmentally challenged, and locked him outside Peters called my child developmentally slow, developmentally challenged, and locked him outside of the classroom and was punishing him. And Kelly's friends even thought there might have been a jealousy factor.
Starting point is 00:48:15 Kelly was the most popular volunteer at the school. She was loved by the kids including Luke, and Jill was a very jealous person who didn't like any attention on anyone besides herself. Allegedly. So after the initial fight, Jill spends the week handing out these anti-kelly flyers, printed with lies harassing the principal to fire Kelly, which like, can you even do that when she doesn't get paid? How do you fire someone that doesn't even- wasn't even hired? When Jill got tired of passing out the flyer, she would come to the school during pickup
Starting point is 00:48:41 times and just stare at Kelly. Any parent that walks by, she would stop them and say, you know what happened with Kelly, right? She bullied my kid. It is traumatizing. And this time Jill's story changed yet again. Jill said that Kelly had dragged Luke out of the school to punish him and made him bleed, like literally slapped him around.
Starting point is 00:48:59 I mean, it was so far fetched, the principal even asked Jill, just drop it. But Jill said, I have the right to exercise free speech. So he's literally face-pomming right now. So that's great. Kelly was so beside herself and desperate, she asked the principal, what on earth do I do? And the principal told her, take the high road, Kelly. Walk away. Don't confront her.
Starting point is 00:49:20 You're a representative of the school. And Jill is one of those people. You give her enough rope. She'll eventually hang herself. Which is really good advice, right? But tell me why it backfires. Kelly takes the advice to Hard and she tries her best to just go about her life, but it seemed like Jill was always there.
Starting point is 00:49:35 Literally, Kelly was terrified. She said she felt like she was being stalked. I mean, it was so much they would go out on outings, go to the restaurant, go to Costco, and where do you know? Jill is right freaking there, just behind them. Always, I mean Irvine is big. Orange County is a big place. Why is Jill always there?
Starting point is 00:49:53 And when she's not there, Jill was busy writing letters to school boards, principals demanding Kelly to be removed and banned from. Everything, the PTA, the art program, Plasavista, the whole school district, just friggin' ban her. When the principal refused to comply, Jillista, the whole school district, just friggin' ban her. When the principal refused to comply, Jill went to the whole school district and filed a complaint. She got her attorney husband involved. He started filing his own complaints,
Starting point is 00:50:13 even though he had never even met Kelly. Ever. Now of course, each of Jill and Kent's complaints, they had to be investigated, and each time the complaints were dismissed because there was no ground for complaints. But the afterschool program did take a hit. Kids were being pulled out and the parents felt a little bit uncomfortable.
Starting point is 00:50:32 In Kelly was so devastated she even offered to leave because maybe if she left the attendance would be back up but they all told her no, we need you Kelly, you were the lifeblood of this program at Plaza Vista. So she stayed behind even though every single day that meant that Kelly would face Jill, and she would come to school for daily, pick up and made it a point to stand there with her pilates, riding drove her driving mom, friends, arms crossed, staring at Kelly the whole time, like right in front of Kelly. Sometimes Jill being so mature, allegedly would just flick up her middle finger while Kelly stared at her.
Starting point is 00:51:05 And then Jill would go around to the local community, telling random community members, people who didn't even have kids at Plaza Vista Elementary School about Kelly Peters. And you know, not everyone knew Kelly Peters. There was a lot of people that didn't know her. So naturally after hearing that she's an alleged child abuser, people stopped being nice to Kelly.
Starting point is 00:51:21 They hated her. They started avoiding her like the plague. And with each new allegation, the school board had to reinvestigate all over. More interviews, more rumors, more discomfort, more lies, rinse and repeat. It got to the point where Kelly was so terrified, she started caring pepper spray around with her.
Starting point is 00:51:36 Why is the fact that a rich, powerful grown woman with law knowledge is doing this. This is such unhinged behavior, it's unpredictable. It was scary and it was toxic. People started coming up to Kelly and said, Jill is telling people you hurt children and should be dismissed. Did you do something to her kid? But did you say something to piss her off because people just don't get that mad for
Starting point is 00:51:55 no reason. Again, the whole, when there's smoke, there's fire. No, it could just be fucking someone making up smoke, bro. So they're like, are you sure? No one like freaks out like that unless you did something. Like maybe you did something and you didn't even know. Kelly's like, I did do anything, like she's getting so frustrated. And those were the normal people. But of course you have a handle of not so normal people, the one that went out of their way to send Kelly email hate mail. The retening her, like literally threatening to physically
Starting point is 00:52:25 harm her. This was the lowest point of Kelly's life. She was an outcast in our vine. She cried constantly. She would wake up hours before her family and sit on the couch to stop. It was her way of releasing tension before another crazy day. She didn't want her kid. She didn't want her husband to see.
Starting point is 00:52:43 She would finish up crying. Why partiers prep breakfast and wake up everyone and try to act like nothing was going on, even though Sydney herself was starting to feel upset. Because she was getting bullied at school by the kids who hurt things from their parents that Sydney and her mom were not great people. Jill even tried to file a restraining order against Kelly and she wrote in the restraining order that, I'm upset because Kelly is spreading rumors about me and telling everyone that I'm psychotic and unstable and spreading rumors about me and telling everyone that I'm psychotic and unstable
Starting point is 00:53:06 and spreading rumors about me at the school. Kelly couldn't believe it. She said everything she said that I was doing was what she was doing. Thankfully, the restraining order was thrown up by the court. So Jill graduated to civil lawsuits. She had a law degree from UC Berkeley after all and this was her playing field.
Starting point is 00:53:22 So she started suing people left and fricking right. Everywhere she went, she sued people. She she sued Kelly Peters, 20 Jane Does, who the fork of these Jane Does even. Jill even fired a lawsuit on behalf of her six-year-old son Luke. The lawsuits didn't go anywhere. I mean, yes, she filed them as a threat, and it worked. Kelly said, I was worried. They were powerful people, and I didn't have money, and I knew nothing about the law,
Starting point is 00:53:44 and they knew that. But they didn't stop there Kelly started suspecting that Jill was stalking her She said that she had this horrible feeling that everywhere she went Jill was there Just everywhere she started getting anxiety attack panic attacks She'd be walking down the hallway with another teacher and suddenly her whole body would be shaking uncontrollably At home Kelly started having these episodes where she started talking to herself without even realizing it. And it was so sad because one time her daughter heard it and her face was so worried. She said, Mom, are you okay? Kelly had no idea she was even talking to herself. Bill started to crack under the stress. All three of them later
Starting point is 00:54:20 diagnosed with PTSD. They were anxious 24-7, it felt like they were waiting for the next shoot to drop. Kelly was losing weight, her hair began to thin and fall out in clumps. She felt ugly, she stopped doing her hair, getting dressed, she felt depressed. The rumors, the stairs, the hate mail, the snarky looks, it was all so much. And then the same way it started, completely out of the blue, it stopped. Just nothing. No more gossip, no police reports, no hate mail, no glare, it's nothing. I mean, Kelly had no idea why or how, but she was not to question it.
Starting point is 00:54:47 She just used this time to focus on her life, rebuild her family. She thought maybe, maybe Jill Cupboard, or God for Red, she moved on to her next target. So for six months, Kelly was free. So she thought, then the most peculiar thing happened at the dog park. Kelly was there with her dog, and the soldier woman came up. Kelly noticed a few things was off about her. She was carrying a big purse, which nobody really brought that big of a purse to a dog park, and one importantly the biggest red flag of all, she didn't have a dog at the dog park. Instead she was trying really hard to be friend Kelly's dog, and
Starting point is 00:55:19 she smiled at Kelly a lot, and the smile felt super forced. It was weird. She kept pushing a business card into Kelly's hand, and she said she was a dog sitter. She even excitedly mentioned to Kelly that she would come over anytime to babysit her cute little dog. Hmm. Yeah. A stranger seems a little bit too eager to enter her home. And then after the initial dog meeting, Kelly kept bumping into this woman, who would just have the most exaggerated reaction.
Starting point is 00:55:45 Oh my god, I can't believe I ran into you again. What a coincidence. Do you remember me from the dog park? Yeah, it's me. Jill Easter was conveniently out of Kelly's life and now was replaced by this weird dog park lady. Well, there was no coincidence. Kelly found out that lady was a PI hired by the Easter's and she was trying to gain access
Starting point is 00:56:04 to Kelly's house on behalf of the Easter's And suddenly Kelly realized oh my god. The Easter's haven't moved on. They're just switching gears And for weeks Kelly started noticing a man in a white car following her while she ran errands while she was parked near her house At all times there was that man watching her She was so terrified she could barely leave the house. And then here's the kicker. One day, Kelly tells the tennis coach about this, and the man is like, oh my God, stop. That guy has been following me for weeks.
Starting point is 00:56:32 I had enough. I went outside to him, and I was like, what are you doing? You creep. And the guy got out and explained to me that he was hired by the Easter's, and he said that he knew that you and me were having an affair. Plutch was they were not. Kelly was floored because now it seemed like the Easter's
Starting point is 00:56:47 were trying to break up their marriages and their families and pretend like they were having an affair. I don't know, I guess I would call that projecting. Kelly was shocked that they would take it this far, but they would take it up a notch. Maybe it's symbolic. Wednesday, February 17th, 2011, exactly one year after Jill and Kelly's
Starting point is 00:57:04 faithful original confrontation. Kelly left her apartment at 11.30, drove to the school, and on her way there, she noticed a blue Honda tailing her. The car would turn every time she did, and she couldn't see the driver clearly because whoever it was was a man hunched down behind the steering wheel. Yep, didn't want to be seen. She was scared.
Starting point is 00:57:22 She zoomed into the parking lot and parked, and noticed the blue Honda came in too. It drove around awkwardly and then left. She thought it was strange, but at least she's like at the safety of the squirt, right? She rushes inside and everything's okay. It's probably nothing. She starts helping out when an administrator comes in and is like, Kelly? Yeah? The police are here to see you. The police? Yeah, they need to talk to you. I can take over the class and keep an eye on the kids while you go meet with them. Are you sure they want to talk to me? Yeah, they asked for you by name. Kelly felt her heart sink.
Starting point is 00:57:51 Her initial thought was, oh my god, Bill, Bill, Bill. He's been hurt. He hasn't been himself lately, so she rushed to the front, saw the man in uniform, did something happen to my husband? No, ma'am, nothing's wrong with your husband. Well, then what is it? Someone called to complain that you were driving erratically through the school. What?
Starting point is 00:58:08 That's absurd! Literally, that's not possible. I would never do that. There's speed bumps everywhere. We discourage people from driving erratically. They're children here. I always look out for their safety. I would never do that.
Starting point is 00:58:17 Yeah, well, that's the call we got, ma'am. Well, it wasn't me. You have the wrong person. The caller told us it was you, by name. By name. Yeah. Well, when did they say that happened? 1.15 p.m.
Starting point is 00:58:31 There you go, I arrived at the school at 11.30 and I was in the office the whole time. At 1.15, I was getting the kids to their classes so it couldn't have been me. Ma'am, we need you to get your car keys out. We need to accompany you to the vehicle so that we can open it for us to inspect. Please.
Starting point is 00:58:47 Yeah, of course. Kelly was more than happy to take them out to her car. She walked out with the police and that is when she realized some shit was going down. There was a helicopter cruising overhead. There was another police car blocking her car so that she couldn't drive off and Kelly felt uncomfortable. She felt like she could cut the tension by asking the officer, is there like a dead body in my car or something?
Starting point is 00:59:09 The officer did not smile. Ma'am, someone saw you play drugs in the backseat of your car. What? That's not true. I don't do drugs. It's impossible that someone saw me do that. I can prove it to you.
Starting point is 00:59:22 Like when we get to my car, I'll open it. You can search the whole thing. There's no drugs. And almost like a movie, Kelly looked into her backseat and there it was. In clear visible view, a bag of weed. Like not even concealed. The police man opened the car, held up the bag of weed. And a few minutes, moments later, he pulled out a plastic bag of pills, followed by a marijuana pipe. Those aren't mine. I know that sounds like every other criminal, but I swear those aren't mine.
Starting point is 00:59:50 They're not mine, please. I was part of Plus of VISTAs, anti-drug campaign for crying out loud. God's sake, those aren't mine. Ma'am, we have to ask you a couple of questions. Do you recognize these drugs? No, no. Do you know where they came from? Did you put them in your car?
Starting point is 01:00:06 Please, no, they're not my drugs. They're not my drugs. I don't know how they ended up in my car. This has to be a mistake. They're not my drugs. Kelly started to feel like she was losing her mind at this point. She just kept repeating herself. When another volunteer pulled up to the parking lot, they were staring at Kelly. Kelly started begging the officers. Can you just please put the drugs away while we talk like the kids are Gonna come out for recess soon. They're gonna get out and they're gonna my daughter. I can't let her see please Just can you put the drugs away right now while we talk I'll talk to you I'll answer the questions. Can you just put the drugs away? Kelly was sobbing so loudly her cries were echoing through the school She felt her knees and she was begging the officers. Please you're kind of ruined my life
Starting point is 01:00:44 I'm innocent and this is going to ruin my life. I'm innocent. Please Man, please calm down. We have more questions for you Please, I just can't have my daughter sing those please They didn't care. They bombarded her with questions and she was sobbing. Do you do drugs? Absolutely not. Do you know someone who does drugs? No. Does your daughter do drugs? No, she's tired. Oh my god. Do any of her friends do drugs? No.
Starting point is 01:01:11 Does your husband do drugs? No, no. Kelly fell like she was suffocating. And then finally, finally, we're getting somewhere. An interesting question. Okay. Do you have any enemies? Oh my god. Yes. I do, I do.
Starting point is 01:01:26 Okay, and what is that person's name? Jill Easter. The police escorted Kelly into the conference room, which was just all windows. Had her do a drug test, and they were shining the flashlight into her eyes, having her walk in a straight line. I mean, she had the P test and everything, everything.
Starting point is 01:01:41 All of Kelly's drug tests came back negative. The officers searched her home for drugs. they found nothing, and it seemed like now they were open to talk to her about being framed. Maybe she wasn't doing drugs. But that's still not make Kelly feel any better, her life was falling apart. Her entire family was now under constant intense police supervision, it made it stressful. Kelly was embarrassed, the rumors were circulating that she resorted to drugs because of the stress of Jill Easter. But the more things escalated, the more police looked at her,orted to drugs because of the stress of Jill Easter.
Starting point is 01:02:05 But the more things escalated, the more police looked at her, and the more people were becoming skeptical of her. It tore Kelly to shreds. Sydney, who was only 10 years old at this point, was starting to feel the full effects of just full-blown anxiety attacks. At 10. And to make matters worse, Jill was still everywhere they went. One time Kelly stopped at a red light in Jill, was at the car right next to her, staring
Starting point is 01:02:25 at her, laughing. Kelly burst into tears. Bill had insomnia, his hands trembled when he tried to drink his coffee, he was distracted from work, he would sit on the couch for hours, he lost weight, he stopped laughing, he just literally, the family's already stretched income was even suffering. Bill was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Sidney had lost all of her friends. She even started skipping lunch because nobody would sit with her.
Starting point is 01:02:49 And Kelly felt powerless to even protect her own daughter. It would be a year till finally Kelly got a break. So this is now two years since that fateful conversation. The DA called to say the Easter's had been arrested. Both of them. Jill and Kent Easter, their DNA was found on the drugs in the car, the police recovered the call that had been made to the Irvine police at 115
Starting point is 01:03:11 to say that Kelly was driving erratically, and it was Kent who was putting on a very phony and offensive Indian accent, pretending to be an Indian man. He actually gave the name, they were like, what's your name, and he gave the name of a famous Indian American actor. Okay. And the call was also placed from Newport Beach right next to Ken's law firm and nowhere near the elementary school in our vine. So how do you see someone driving erratically when you're not there? Okay, so they're freaking, we're now attorneys. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:03:41 Both. So dumbass. Yes. Yeah. Both the Easter's phones were tracked the night right before the drugs were placed and they were driving around Kelly's apartment the entire night, like circulating it. Potentially planning to plant the drugs in her car that night or potentially her apartment. So the Easter's were charged with false imprisonment for trying to set Kelly up. And Kelly was in shock. She gathered herself to scream, oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you on the phone. And she started crying. She thought it was over. It actually would take another three years to be over, but it already been two. At least the truth was coming out. Kelly went from being public enemy number one in Irvine to a local superman
Starting point is 01:04:17 martyr. And it was about to get crazier. Jill pled guilty and was sentenced to just 121 days in prison. And Kent wanted to take his case to trial, and he was found guilty just 121 days in prison. And Kent wanted to take his case to trial and he was found guilty and spent 160 days in prison, which honestly, it's great, it's a victory, but it's not really a big consequence considering all the havoc that they cost. So Kelly went after them civilly. And they finally found an attorney
Starting point is 01:04:37 who would take their case with no money upfront. They sued the easter's, which dare might they need to, right? At one point Bill was even hospitalized for PTSD. He had to have life-saving procedures on him because his kidney went into failure. Luckily he survived, but he would need treatment from a neurologist, a urologist, a psychologist, and a psychiatrist. He was diagnosed with acute trauma disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder. He was put on disability from his job. He had to relearn how to write his name and shave and go to the bathroom again. They were completely broke. exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled, exiled,iled, exiled, exiled, ex himself as the man who lost everything. He did lose his license to practice law and he lost his job, but that's on him. He and Jill were getting a divorce because he found out that Jill
Starting point is 01:05:28 was cheating on him, so I guess he was losing his wife. He's also lost his pride, his community, his face, and instead of apologizing, he doubled down. He kept coming to his court in an old tattered sweater, acting poor and penniless. It was quite the performance. He would hang his head and give sad eyes to the jury, like some starving waif Kelly said. He didn't even wear a belt. Kelly said, I saw his ass crack on a daily basis. It wasn't pretty. Like, here's this man who makes over half a million dollars a year, trying to pull a fast one over on the jury. Once again, he was showing that he thought he was smarter than everyone else. Which side note, Jill showed up to the trial, but her name was now Ava Everhart. And she showed up with
Starting point is 01:06:04 a sign language interpreter and she claimed that she was now deaf. Oh my God, these two whole week out. Yeah, it was a literal show. She was also dressed inappropriately for court, and she also said that she was poor, and from an Indian reservation in Minnesota. And I quote, yeah, which, look at, listen, they're out here offending everyone. They're offending attorneys with brains. They're offending Indians, American and now indigenous people and deaf people and
Starting point is 01:06:29 Just regular housewives who don't do shit like this So February 2016 exactly six years from the day that Kelly first met Jelister Kelly was awarded $5.7 million for emotional suffering. Are they gonna pay though? So ever now every time they make money, whatever they earn, they have to pay a small percentage to Kelly. But they- I don't know if she will make that at all. They're literally scoundrels
Starting point is 01:06:54 and I feel like they're gonna try to do some shady shit to make sure Kelly never gets paid. Of course, that means nothing to her. So they never owned up to what they did to this day. And Kelly will do whatever it takes to collect every dime from them because now she's pissed. It's about respect and human decency and Jill and Kent Easter have shown her neither. That's another reason Kelly decided to write the book with the help of Riley J. Ford who is helping Kelly for free.
Starting point is 01:07:17 All the proceeds of this book will go to Kelly and her family, which is why I highly recommend you go grab the book. It's really well written, emotionally moving, and it's so raw, so please, like, you just have to check it out. With Wilde is that Jill, or Ava, or whatever, went on the Doctor Phil show. And with Wilde is that Jill is a really convincing liar. If I had not read this book prior to watching, I might have been conflicted on who to believe. Like, it's Wilde. She had an excuse for everything. She claimed she never passed on flyers, claimed she never talked shit. She said that she did confront Kelly, but she was very calm throughout the entire thing.
Starting point is 01:07:48 Jill claimed that Kelly was the one harassing her, Kelly was following her around and essentially showing up in private areas to stalk her. Even tried to kill her, Dr. Phil asked Jill how did she try to kill you? No, she didn't try to kill me, she threatened me, how did she threaten you? I don't know, I can't remember, but she was like sending death threats, I think. Jill claims that she has never seen any good evidence against her and that she's innocent. Jill then threw her husband under the bus and was like, well, I guess her ex-husband. And was like, Kent was just a woman-hater and said all women are crazy bitches.
Starting point is 01:08:18 I know it's so weird. It's weird because despite pleading guilty and court, Jill shamelessly denied everything on Dr. Phil. Psychology experts believe that Jill is a classic case of borderline personality disorder and Kent is a narcissist who wouldn't be caught dead apologizing. Which honestly, this whole case, I can't even understand. I really can't. Like, you're living the rich OC housewife life. Why don't you just continue that way? Why did you blow up everything and everyone's life in your own face? But I guess that's what they say, right?
Starting point is 01:08:48 When you seek revenge, get a really good shovel because you'll be digging two graves. And that's it for these weeks' main episode. Let me know your thoughts because this, I know it's not like a, I mean, it is crime. This is definitely a crime. And what's crazy is that this is happening in Irvine. These moms be wild, these PTA moms are crazy.
Starting point is 01:09:08 What are your thoughts? And I hope you guys enjoyed and I will see you guys on Sunday for the mini-suit. Bye!

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