Serialously with Annie Elise - 274: Diddy Trial Bombshells, Network 764, Serial Killer Update & Graduation Nightmare

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's the Lexus Demonstrator event at Don Valley North Lexus. During May, Don Valley North Lexus has rates as low as 1.9% with savings up to $9,000 on select remaining 2024 demonstrator models while supplies last. See DonValleyNorthLexus.com for details or visit them at 7200 Victoria Park, just north of Steeles. A proud member of Wayne's Auto Group. at 7200 Victoria Park, just north of Steeles. A proud member of Wayne's Auto Group. Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise.

Starting point is 00:01:01 I am here to break down everything that is going on this week in true crime. Once again, it is a jam packed week. You already know that we are in full swing with the Karen Reed trial, so I'm not going to bore you with those updates. If you want the recaps, they come out every single Friday, but that's expected to go quite a few more weeks. But today we're going to be talking about the Diddy trial, some of the very explicit and graphic allegations that have come out during the testimony of that trial so far this week, which that trial is also expected to last about 8 to 10 weeks. So we're going to talk about the Diddy trial. We're going to talk about a new case that is breaking regarding family annihilation, which is just devastating and heartbreaking.

Starting point is 00:01:46 And then there's a couple more cases and one that I really wanted to share with you that I've been going back and forth on if I wanted to do a deep dive. So I think it probably will be a little bit longer today, but then I probably will follow up on it with a deep dive because it is very complex and you may have heard of it. It's the 764 Network case. If you haven't heard about it, thank your lucky stars, okay? Because this case is so terrifying as an adult and as a parent because it shows you what true monsters and predators are using technology for. Getting teenagers, children, to do the most vile things on their behalf. And so I want to break down this whole network, what it all is, give you some

Starting point is 00:02:33 of the statistics, and when I tell you some of the case examples of what they have enlisted and pressured these kids to do, it's going to make your stomach turn and it's going to probably infuriate you, so just I want to give you a little bit of a warning to that. And then as I mentioned we're gonna talk about some other cases as well. So why don't I actually kick off and start this with the 764 case? Because it truly is insane and it's also kind of just a slap in the face because it is so scary. And I don't know about you guys, but I had no clue this was even a thing. But it is showcasing the dark side of the digital age. I have done a lot of studies,

Starting point is 00:03:12 a lot of research about the misuse of AI, how predators out there are using AI for their own gain, how there is sextortion out there, how there is worse catfishing now with AI. This isn't even AI, and it's way scarier than any of that. So let me break this down. According to the FBI, there is a network that is going crazy right now and predators are using this network to target teenagers. Now this network is called 764 and one of the FBI officials that spoke out even said, quote, this is one of the most disturbing things

Starting point is 00:03:47 that we are seeing. On this network, these predators will basically try to befriend these teenagers on social media platforms, you know, gaining their friendship, talking back and forth with them, pretending that they're like-minded, and then they will coerce them into either violent or very sexual acts.

Starting point is 00:04:04 They'll try to get these teens to make porn content, to force them to self-harm with sharp objects, to hurt their pets. Some of them are even being forced to commit suicide. And as one police officer said, it basically is psychological warfare. And that is a true term. I feel like that is dead on for what some of these case examples are. They will encourage them sometimes to commit suicide. They will encourage them to do cutting. They will encourage them to harm their pets.

Starting point is 00:04:33 Using basically psychological warfare on children. That's right. They gain the trust and then they continue to build that trust to the point where they have power and the ability to blackmail the child basically. So the predators will make these victims send photos or videos of all of these acts that they are enlisting them to commit, you know, the cutting, the porn, all of it. Then they share those photos and videos with other network users. And remember how like, you know, back in the day,

Starting point is 00:05:01 the dark web was where pedos would exchange photos and videos of underage kids, and that still exists. It's still there, and it's disgusting. But now there's this network, which is almost like a sidestep to it, where they also are exchanging material, sharing it with one another, but it's not limited to explicit CSAM material, which is awful. Don't get me wrong. I mean, it's the most vile thing somebody could do. But it also is now forcing kids to hurt themselves, to hurt others. Also, they can watch for their sick pleasure and almost like get off on the act, but they don't have the balls to do it themselves. So instead, they force these young and very impressionable kids to do it on their behalf.

Starting point is 00:05:46 It is sick. So all of these 764 users can watch and share all of these disgusting videos, and the majority of these videos, like I said, are vulnerable teenagers. Some of these 764 predators even will host watch parties, where during these watch parties, people can watch the host of the watch party torment the young teenagers.

Starting point is 00:06:08 Sort of almost like a livestream where I'm sure you know what a livestream is and you've been on one before, but now it's adults torturing these kids through the safety of their own laptop or the safety of their phone screen. It's just sick and so twisted. And so far, the FBI has opened up over 250 investigations into the 764 network. 250. They also said that every single one of their 55 offices across the country is handling a case related to this network. That is so alarming and beyond terrifying as a parent, too. Authorities have said that some of the youngest victims are only nine years old

Starting point is 00:06:49 and that there could be thousands of more victims internationally. And what is so scary about this is that a lot of these predators never actually meet these victims in person. They just communicate with them through a screen, yet they are so manipulative, so convincing that they convince these kids

Starting point is 00:07:04 to do crazy, insane things all through social media. And aside from just getting off from it or getting whatever sick, twisted pleasure they're getting from it, the predators will also measure their success based on how much harm they can do to their victims, both mentally and physically.

Starting point is 00:07:21 The more gory, the more graphic, the more all around devastating the videos or photos that they get from these victims, the better. The more satisfied they are with themselves. And the predators are also trying to recruit children this way too, not just teenagers. They want these victims to trust them. They want to have them confide in them. Essentially, they want to own these victims. And they want these teens and, like I said, these children as young as nine years old to feel so connected with them that they go out and commit these terrible, terrible acts all on the Predator's behalf. Almost

Starting point is 00:07:57 like to make them proud. So in a weird way, it's like grooming, it's exploitation, it's solicitation. Also that this person who is thinking that they're meeting a friend or feeling like they're building this connection with them, that they want to make them proud. They want to make them happy so they do some very horrible things. Take for example this case out of Connecticut. Last year in Vernon, Connecticut, police arrested a girl for working with a 764 user, and what they were doing together to work together was to direct bomb threats at their own community. And this girl was a good kid and honor roll student, yet she got tangled up in this network. And take a listen to this.

Starting point is 00:08:39 Hello. I have placed two explosives inside of Rockville High School, okay? And if they fail to detonate, I'm just going to shoot every kid I see, okay? This call was a hoax, but part of a series of nightmare threats terrorizing Vernon, Connecticut. Investigators determining the threats came from overseas, but with the help of a teenage girl living right in town. He was doing these threats with her knowledge and with some of her input. So then when the police searched this girl's phone and all of her devices, they found several nude photos of herself. Also pictures of her cutting herself self harming and also a photo of a nude Barbie doll that had 764 written across her forehead.

Starting point is 00:09:25 Again, almost as though they're identifying them as property. There was also a letter that she had allegedly written in her own blood. Meanwhile, she said she thought that this predator was her boyfriend all along. She met him in that game, Roblox, which let me just tell you,

Starting point is 00:09:40 nothing good comes from Roblox. And if your kids are on that game, please snoop, be paranoid, and look, because I have heard of hundreds of cases that stem back to Roblox. So please be careful. So this girl meets this guy on there and she thinks that he's her boyfriend,

Starting point is 00:09:58 and then he starts enlisting her and grooming her to commit bomb threats, to send nude photos of herself, to show videos of herself harming. And sure enough, like a lot of the sextortion cases that we have talked about, I would imagine that there was some sort of leverage used at that point. I'll release these photos unless you do this.

Starting point is 00:10:16 I'll send your family these videos unless you do that. We have seen that time and time again. And this is what the girl's parents had to say about it, which I will say their voices have been altered in this interview, so the sound quality might be a little bit low, but take a listen. It was very difficult to process.

Starting point is 00:10:33 I wanted to scream, not my child. Before it started, she was a child who was on the honor roll. She had a lot of friends, and then slowly that started to change. So as of now, the girl ended up cooperating with the FBI and the case is almost completely wrapped up. Her mother also said that she is getting treatment, she's getting help, and she's working

Starting point is 00:10:53 on getting back to normal, which I don't even know how you get back to normal after something like this, where you are essentially brainwashed and groomed, but she of course needs to be held accountable too, which it's tough to hold somebody like that accountable because she basically was this man's victim and he convinced her to do these crazy things, but at what age does free will kick in? That's a whole different argument

Starting point is 00:11:17 for another day, but this is just one of the very many cases related to 764. Now another case that I want to talk with you about took place in Arkansas, and this was involving a 24-year-old man who attempted to kill a 14-year-old girl after she stopped listening to his demands. And get this, in his trial, he claimed that if he actually did murder this 14-year-old little girl that he would have gained more, quote, street cred on the 764 network. Street cred for killing a 14-year-old girl. That was his motive. That was the whole reason he wanted to do it, which what the hell is this, right? We have talked even about teenagers

Starting point is 00:11:55 who unfortunately are committing more and more murders because they want social media fame. They want some sort of celebrity status or notoriety, they're seeing all of these other cases that are glamorized, the Menendez brothers, things like that. So as a child without their full frontal lobe formed, they make these impulsive and very dangerous and very scary decisions to murder, to sexually assault, to do all these different things because they want that fame, they want that social media notoriety too. Here was a 24 year old man who was trying to kill a 14 year old girl because he wanted the street cred on this social network.

Starting point is 00:12:32 It's unhinged and so diabolical, which his sentencing is set for August and we will see what comes from that. Now in one more case that I wanna talk with you about, a 19 year old had more than 8300 videos and photos on his devices. And these photos and videos were described as some of the most horrific and evil content that is available on the internet. He ended up being sentenced to seven years in prison. And when I talk about some of the most horrific and evil content, I'm talking about

Starting point is 00:13:03 prison. And when I talk about some of the most horrific and evil content, I'm talking about carving things into people, videos of the KKK and white supremacy groups, beheadings, all sorts of just truly monstrous stuff. And you would think that with how advanced this all seems—the manipulation, the grooming, all of this, that whoever is responsible for this, they must be some adult master manipulator, somebody who is calculated and strategic. But get this, the founder of this entire network is a guy named Bradley Cadenhead. And get this, he was only 15 years old when he launched this online community. 15 years old, which the fact that a 15-year-old has these kinds of thoughts and motivations and aspirations to create a network that is so dangerous and violent, that is a 15-year-old that thankfully is off the streets and locked up, but so scary.

Starting point is 00:14:05 And here's a little piece of information that kind of I guess just goes to show that this is a 15 year old kid and he isn't that creative, he just has these sick and twisted fantasies, but the network being called 764 was because at the time he started it he lived in Stephenville, Texas. And the zip code begins with the number 764. That's the only reason. There wasn't some big crazy reason for naming it this or numbering it this. It's because, hey, this is where I live. This is the first three digits of my zip code. It's just, again, horrifying. So he pleaded guilty in 2023, and he is currently serving an 80 year prison sentence. Yet the network carries on, it hasn't been stopped.

Starting point is 00:14:47 And over the past few years, it's actually gained a lot more followers. The whole contest of it all, of trying to get the street cred, trying to one up, measuring your success and results based on the content you're receiving back from these kids, it's only gotten more extreme and more disturbing. As it stands currently,

Starting point is 00:15:04 there are over 250 open investigations related to 764. And so far, at least 15 people have been arrested on child CSAM material or weapons charges. Which again, I'm probably gonna do a deep dive into this because it is such a truly scary case and it showcases just how dangerous social media can be. And the reason that I think it is so important to talk about this is because you need to keep your kids safe and

Starting point is 00:15:32 so much of this happens under the radar. It's not just the dark web anymore to be worried about or somebody leaking a nude photo of your child whether it's real or AI generated. It now is on a whole other level. And I'm not going to harp too much on this, but there was a case we had talked about, maybe a couple of them actually, over the last year where it's more related to nude photos being exchanged, or deep fakes even being created with these nude photos, where the person on the other side makes an AI-generated nude photo of a teenager or a child. And as they're talking to them after befriending them on social media, they say to them,

Starting point is 00:16:10 send me 500 bucks. Venmo me 500 bucks or I'm gonna leak this photo. Venmo me a thousand bucks or I'm gonna send it to your parents. Send me this or I'm gonna send this video to your parents. So much so that unfortunately in many of those situations, it ends with the child taking their own life, simply out of shame. Because they don't want to have to go to their parents and explain that they sent a nude photo of themselves. Or many of the times, it's AI generated. It's not even them, yet they still carry guilt and shame. And a 13-year-old, they don't have $500 that they can Venmo a stranger over the internet.

Starting point is 00:16:44 And they're not going to ask their parent for that money because then they would have to explain why. So because they don't understand the evils out there and that in this age, adults would be probably most adults, hopefully more understanding of situations like that and see it for what it is and that it is sex-torsion, they just think that the easier way out is to take their own lives. Now you have this other platform coming in and amplifying that almost to say, self-harm yourself on video, kill your family pet on video, do this, do that, go kill this person, do all this, and send me video evidence of it. To where then it's like, now they're affiliated with the crime, they're tied to this person, this person has leverage over them, and it's just, it's really sad and very, very dangerous. So for any parent who is listening right now, not to be on my soapbox or anything like that,

Starting point is 00:17:36 I just really want to encourage you to chat with your children about this, to take any sort of stigma or shame out of it and let them know that you are a trusted and safe place where, God forbid, if they meet somebody on the internet who starts asking them to do uncomfortable things or tells them that they are going to share private material that maybe they did share with them, that it's nothing to be ashamed of, that you will help them fix it, that you will help them solve this problem and that they can always talk to you because it is just ramping up so much more and it is incredibly disturbing.

Starting point is 00:18:11 So share this episode too with your friend circle, your parents circle, anybody you can because the only way to combat this issue is to raise awareness about it so that these evil monsters and these evil predators don't have leverage anymore. So that if they DM my son saying, here's a photo, tell your mom, he's not scared to tell me. He'll say, mom, somebody's sending me this AI generated thing, or I sent them this photo and now they're saying they're going to do it. Take the stigma out of it, take the shame out of it, because then they lose their power. They will not have power anymore, and this group, this disgusting club, will hopefully just disintegrate over time. So again, I went on a little rant there, and I apologize for that.

Starting point is 00:18:53 It's just so incredibly important. Now we're gonna change gears for a moment, and we're gonna talk about a case that is coming out of Nebraska, because this next one, it's just all around really sad, really heartbreaking. It was Saturday, May 10th in Nebraska, and the Coach family had just woken up thinking that it was going to be a very exciting

Starting point is 00:19:14 and happy day. It was their oldest son's high school graduation day. They were going to celebrate. They were going to get together and just have a great time. However, it was a milestone that their oldest son never got to accomplish. At around 9.45 a.m. on the morning of May 10th, the police were called to this family home. And what they found was absolutely devastating and shocking. Because there inside, they found the entire family of four just lying dead, very clearly stabbed to death. The victims were 42-year-old

Starting point is 00:19:47 Jeremy Coach, his 18-year-old son Hudson, his 16-year-old son Asher, and his 41-year-old wife Bailey. Now after some investigation and after finding the bloody knife on the scene, the police believed that the father Jeremy had committed had committed a murder-suicide on his own family. The boys' school district released a statement saying, "...our hearts are with everyone impacted by a tragic event that has deeply affected us all." Now, going into the why of all of this, why would this father just kill his entire family and himself on his high school son's graduation day?

Starting point is 00:20:24 Well, just days before the murder, his wife and the mother, Bailey, had launched a GoFundMe page that was dedicated to her husband. And the fundraiser was called Jeremy's Battle, Mental Health Support Needed. The page talked about Jeremy's mental health problems, said that he had been diagnosed in 2009, but that by 2024, he had gotten a lot worse, and that his mental health was continuing to deteriorate. And the page also said that in March, she woke up and her husband was standing over

Starting point is 00:20:51 her with a knife. And how after that incident, she convinced him to agree to treatment and also agree to shock therapy. So they were trying to figure things out. They were trying to get mental health treatment. They were trying to raise funds for that and have this fundraiser going and in a Facebook update on May 8th, just two days before the quadruple killing, Bailey said that Jeremy was accepted to a mental health facility. Said that things were now getting better.

Starting point is 00:21:17 But of course, we now know that this story ended in absolute tragedy. That GoFundMe page has also since been taken down. And one of the last things that Bailey posted on social media was quote, our boys are doing well, living their lives, and for that we are thankful. Please pray that Jeremy is able to somehow be with us on Saturday for our oldest son's high school graduation. We love you all and thank you for supporting and sharing our story. So this post was of course two days before the mass killing saying he was accepted to a mental health facility, that things were looking up and things were getting better.

Starting point is 00:21:53 She also then posted, "'Pray that he is allowed to somehow attend our oldest son's high school graduation.'" So what I'm unclear on that I would, I'm curious to know is, was he in that treatment center already at that point yet? Was he granted release to go to the graduation and he met them at the home and did this instead or had he not checked into the treatment facility yet? And also killing by stabbing is a very personal and very graphic

Starting point is 00:22:26 stabbing is a very personal and very graphic means of murder. We know that based on what she had said that he had been standing over her one day in March with a knife, so maybe that was just his preferred weapon, I don't know, but in a lot of the family annihilation cases we see you don't traditionally see a knife being the weapon that is used because it doesn't take that long to kill somebody with a knife but it's not as quick as say a gun shot so the opportunity for other people to see something, hear something, or intervene is increased a bit but also when it's family annihilation usually it isn't so hands-on. Sometimes if there is a mental health issue at

Starting point is 00:23:06 play, whether it is strangulation or suffocation and things like that, but stabbing is one that isn't commonly seen. I'll just say that. But it is clear that Jeremy was fighting mental illness for a very long time, and it's heartbreaking that he wasn't able to get the help that he needed, and because of that now his entire family is dead And none of his sons will ever live to see their high school graduation It's just so tragic for the entire family as a whole and I cannot imagine What those final moments were like for those family members seeing their father and husband turn on them with a knife

Starting point is 00:23:42 Knowing that he was about to obliterate the entire family. It's devastating to think about. Now I want to talk with you about the Diddy trial and a couple other cases, but before we get into that we are going to take just a quick, quick break. I gotta drink some water. If you can hear my voice, I'm getting sick and it sounds really hoarse and disgusting, so we're gonna just take a quick break. and disgusting, so we're gonna just take a quick break. All right guys, are you ready for your next obsession? Are you done binging all the shows? There's nothing left on TV. You feel like you've gone through all your good books. You need something new. You caught up on your podcast because I've got it for you. If you

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Starting point is 00:25:25 That's audible.com slash serialously or text serialously to 500-500. Let me know what audiobook you guys get and recommend next, because like I said, I'm almost done with the tenet and I'm going to need a new one, but this is like my new go-to for binging. So again, that is audible.com slash serialously or text serialously to 500-500. Alright guys, so now we are going to talk about the ditty of it all. The infamous ditty trial has finally begun. And how this trial is beginning before Brian Coburger, I will never know. But you know what? I'm glad it's here. We're going to figure all of this out. And we're going to,

Starting point is 00:26:08 unfortunately, hear some disgusting graphic things that this grotesque monster allegedly did. So I'm going to keep the backstory a little bit brief. But if you guys have been keeping up with all of this, you know that Diddy is facing five criminal counts. These include racketeering, sex trafficking, fraud, or coercion and prostitution. And surprise surprise, Diddy has explicitly denied every single allegation. He also has been held this entire time without bail. He has been in the federal Brooklyn facility in New York, which is not a walk in the park, let me just tell you, and now the trial is beginning. So after the jury was sworn in, the prosecution and the defense

Starting point is 00:26:45 gave their opening statements. The prosecution was saying, you know, Diddy used his fame and his power to run this true criminal underground enterprise. They also alleged how he used violence and coercion to force these victims to join in on his freak-offs, which if you haven't heard the term freak-off, first of all, consider yourself lucky, but let me just tell you what it is.

Starting point is 00:27:06 It's basically like a sex party on steroids. Tons of bottles of baby oil, lube, sex workers, victims that he allegedly brought in and forced to do this and these things would be like benders. They would go days on end. He would bring tripods with cameras, lighting. He would bring people in in the mornings to give everybody IVs so that they could keep going. I mean, just totally foul. And it's been alleged that there have been multiple celebrities who have participated in these freak-offs

Starting point is 00:27:37 that Diddy, like I said, would video record these and then use those as leverage so that these celebrities would always be indebted to him. I mean, there are some really heinous allegations. Now the defense, on the other hand, they said, you know, yeah, Diddy could be jealous. He could be sometimes violent, but they insisted that all of the alleged victims all consented to this type of sex life. They even went as far as acknowledging the physical abuse and, you know, the love of baby oil and all of that, but said those are not federal crimes. Crimes, sure, not the baby oil, but the physical abuse and you know the love of baby oil and all of that but said those are not federal crimes. Crimes sure not the baby oil but the physical abuse but

Starting point is 00:28:08 they're not federal crimes. So the first witness who testified was a former hotel security guard and he said that he responded to the infamous 2016 incident in that hotel where Diddy beat Cassie Ventura. This was at the Intercontinental Hotel. This footage I believe it first went viral about a year ago. It shows him her trying to escape, getting to the elevator, him chasing her down, pulling her to the ground, kicking her, beating her, and it's really upsetting and triggering to watch. But it was alleged that Diddy also offered the staff a huge stack of cash for their silence after this incident. Prosecutors also called a male escort

Starting point is 00:28:46 to the stand. His name is Daniel Phillip. Now Daniel said that he was paid by Diddy to have sex with Cassie, who is now Diddy's ex-girlfriend, and he said that this took place between the years of 2012 and 2013. And some of the allegations and information that was shared, giving you a warning, is explicit and a bit graphic. Because he said that Diddy had forced him to pee in Cassie's mouth, to pee on Cassie, and that while he and Cassie were engaging in sex, Diddy was in the corner watching them and masturbating. That's what he got off on.

Starting point is 00:29:22 He also said that Diddy always loved the scene or the act and the freak-off to be super wet, super like liquified, so that that's why they would use those bottles and bottles of baby oil, why people would pee on people, just so that it was like a human slip-and-slide of sorts. That's my word, not his, but just you know trying to describe it to you. And he said he was fine with all of this. He was paid, he was having sex with Cassie, he didn't mind the peeing, he was cool with all of it. Until one time during one of these incidents,

Starting point is 00:29:53 he saw Diddy hit Cassie. Then he said for him, that was kind of where he drew the line. He realized this guy is way more powerful and way more in control than I thought, and that's when it started to kind of like, it started to turn for him. Now during this testimony,

Starting point is 00:30:08 it's reported that Diddy's kids walked out, that they walked out early because these testimonies got so graphic for them. Why the kids were in the courtroom to begin with, technically they're adults, I believe most of them. So I understand, but for that portion of it, I would hope that they would have been told to excuse themselves just so that they didn't have

Starting point is 00:30:27 to hear any of it, but to each their own. Now during the trial, Diddy was blowing kisses to his mom, to his kids while they were still seated in there and they were all seated in the second row behind him. So the trial is not only continuing throughout this week, but as I said at the top of this episode, it could last anywhere from eight to 10 weeks. So my question for you, do you want Diddy trial updates?

Starting point is 00:30:48 Would you be interested in that week to week? Let me know, I'll put up a poll over on Spotify too. Or you feel like you've had enough of Diddy and the whole rabbit hole that goes with it. Are we checking out, are we done? We don't really care to know all the nitty gritty details. You let me know what you prefer, if you want me to give you those updates,

Starting point is 00:31:05 or if you're like, nah, I'm set, just give me the wrap up when the trial ends and let me know the highlight reel. So now let's move into this case that is coming out of Vegas. And I don't think that I have ever covered a case quite like it. It happened a few months ago.

Starting point is 00:31:19 However, the people involved are just now getting arrested and charged. So last November, a man called the police with a truly crazy story. He had been hosting an event that was related to cryptocurrency. And he was hosting this event at a business in downtown Vegas.

Starting point is 00:31:33 Then after the event, the man drove back home to his apartment. And just as he parked his car and got out, three teenagers came up and forced him to get into the back seat of the car. They were holding him at gunpoint, basically like a carjacking, but forcing him to get into the backseat of the car. They were holding him at gunpoint, basically like a carjacking, but forcing him to get into the backseat.

Starting point is 00:31:47 So more like a kidnapping. Then these three teenagers allegedly placed a towel over his head and told him that if he complied, he would live to see another day. But he had to comply with their demands and everything that they wanted. And they told him that if he didn't comply, not only would they hurt him,

Starting point is 00:32:04 but that they had his father and they would kill him as well. So then they instructed him, give us all of your passwords. We want your usernames, your passwords, your banking info, everything. We need access to all of your financial accounts. And sure enough, he turned all of this over to them and they stole $4 million in cryptocurrency from him. So after that, these three boys drove the victim across the Nevada border to White Hills, Arizona, which that is more than 70 miles away from Vegas. They just dropped him off then in this deserted area

Starting point is 00:32:35 and kind of just left him there to basically die, which this all literally sounds like it's out of some action movie or like some crazy movie where they're dropping people off in the desert, stealing money. It's just wild. So the victim who has said he's very lucky to be alive then walked five miles all alone in the desert until he finally reached a gas station. And it was there that he then was able to call a friend to come and pick him up and then go to the police station and tell them everything that happened.

Starting point is 00:32:59 It's just an insane story because it's like one moment you're on your way home from hosting at this work event thing. Then the next you're being held at gunpoint and all of your passwords are stolen. You have $4 million that's gone or $4 million in crypto, I should say. They're threatening to kill your dad too. It's just wild. And get this, two of those teenagers are only 16 years old. Their names are Belol Ashref and Austin Fletcher, and they are both 16

Starting point is 00:33:26 years old and from Pasco County, Florida. The third teenager has not been identified yet, but the police said he is no longer in the U.S. So the three boys had become friends in high school, and apparently the three of them also would get into trouble together. So it looks like maybe they just upgraded from being these like teen delinquents to now straight up armed robbery and kidnapping. But 16 years old, that is so scary. They're literally still in high school. And I do wonder how they even came up with this entire plan.

Starting point is 00:33:54 I wonder if they had help maybe with somebody who was older, who was maybe telling them what to do. The victim did say that at one point it sounded like the three boys were talking with somebody over the phone during this kidnapping. So it would make sense. I mean, this was clearly something that was very targeted. So and it involved complicated financial transactions. So maybe there was an adult pulling the strings. I don't know. I'm just not sure if three 16 year old kids are capable of planning all of that and executing something like that. So after reporting this to the police, they tracked the suspect's vehicle and it showed that these three teenage boys had traveled from Nevada all the way to Florida and that they had also definitely made stops at both the victim's apartment and that deserted area near where the

Starting point is 00:34:34 man ultimately ended up calling for help. The two boys whose identity we know are being charged as adults, but there still isn't a lot of information about the third boy that was involved. Austin Fletcher is being held on a four million dollar bail and his buddy, Belol, for whatever reason was released, but is being forced to wear a tracking monitor. Their first hearing is scheduled for June, so we will see what happens there. And I also don't know if they were just bluffing about the victim's father or if he is now safe. I couldn't really find out either way and confirm. So hopefully he's okay and hopefully they were just bluffing.

Starting point is 00:35:09 Now let's move into another case that is possibly linked to a very notorious California serial killer. 45 years ago, two men were found dead along Interstate 5 in Oregon. It was July 17th, 1980 and the body of a 17 year old boy was found on the road. The boy was naked, his hands and feet were bound, and he had been dumped right off Interstate 5. Then, less than 24 hours later, drivers called 911 to report another body that was found off the 5.

Starting point is 00:35:37 This victim was in his 30s, and he had been left about 25 miles from where that first body was found. Both of these victims had been strangled to death. So not long after the bodies were found, the 17-year-old was identified as Michael O'Fallon. He was a recent high school graduate. He was celebrating his graduation and his freedom by hitchhiking to Alaska, which I can think of a million other ways

Starting point is 00:35:58 I would wanna celebrate high school graduation than hitchhiking, but this was also the 80s, I get it. So his mother ultimately reported him missing after he failed to get in touch with her. Now the other man, the this was also the 80s, I get it. So his mother ultimately reported him missing after he failed to get in touch with her. Now the other man, the 30-year-old man, he remained a mystery. Nobody ever knew who he was. He just was identified as a John Doe back in the 80s

Starting point is 00:36:15 and nothing ever came from it. But now he has finally been identified. And the only person of interest at the moment for this murder is the notorious California serial killer. The victim was identified as 30-year-old Larry Parks and the killer is suspected to be none other than Randy Kraft, which if you're interested in serial killers, you might know him by his, I don't know, I guess you would call it what, a pseudonym or his nickname, the scorecard killer, which don't worry, I'll get to that if you

Starting point is 00:36:45 haven't heard of that. So Randy is 80 years old now, but he is really known for torturing, sexually assaulting, and killing over 60 men. And he was sentenced to death back in 1989 for 16 of the murders. He still, to this day, is incarcerated at St. Quentin. He's on death row. Yet, of course, Randy has denied killing anybody. So back in July of 1980, police opened a homicide investigation into that John Doe. However, they weren't able to identify him, as I mentioned, so the case went cold. But now we know that the victim was Larry. And Larry was a Vietnam veteran, and his family had lost all contact with him back in 1979. The last time that Larry was seen was in Pensacola, Florida,

Starting point is 00:37:26 but other than that, there really wasn't much information out there about him, especially because all of this happened so long ago. Now Randy, otherwise known as the Scorecard Killer, was a former computer programmer, and as a disgusting trophy in all of his escapades, he would keep some of their dismembered parts in his freezer. Very similar to Dahmer in a way, right? He would keep those parts as trophies, as symbols to remember the act. He ended up being caught in 1983 after a police officer pulled him over for reckless driving. The police officer, though, of course, had no idea that he was about to discover a car full of absolute horrors,

Starting point is 00:38:02 because in the passenger seat of Randy's car, there was this dead US Marine who had been strangled to death, just like the victims who had been dumped on the side of the road off the 5. Then in the trunk of the car, there was this coated list that is believed to be a tally of 67 victims, ranging all across California, Oregon, even Michigan. So that's really what earned Randy his nickname, the Scorecard Killer. It was as though he was keeping score to himself.

Starting point is 00:38:30 So while he's only been convicted of 16 murders so far, many people think that he did kill over 60 victims, like his coded list suggested, possibly even more. Now, aside from the tally marks, Randy's scorecard had names and places on it. And the police think that each code correlates to a new victim and where he dumped them. So if he did actually kill over 60 victims, that would make him one of the most prolific

Starting point is 00:38:54 serial killers in US history, which is very insane to think about. How they identified Larry from being this John Doe for so many decades is that in 2024, police submitted DNA from the cold case to forensic genealogy labs. And you know how that goes if family members give their DNA to you know 23andMe or Ancestry Tree or whatever it is then they can get little familial hits that way. We also saw similar situations in recent cases and how they've caught people. So a match came back for Larry and that's how he was later identified, while his family of course had absolutely no idea what had happened to him.

Starting point is 00:39:30 However the case isn't exactly closed. While they do believe that Randy is their guy and he's the only suspect, they do still need to find evidence that directly links Randy to Larry. And they haven't. Now this has been the second time in the last two years that a cold case has been possibly linked to Randy, the scorecard killer. Back in 2023, there were remains found of a teenager over in Iowa, and those remains based on genealogy DNA

Starting point is 00:39:55 testing also were confirmed to they belong to, and it was linked back to Randy. Which imagine that, imagine submitting your DNA or having the police even call you because there was a different family member who had submitted DNA, and that a imagine submitting your DNA or having the police even call you because there was a different family member who had submitted DNA and that a death in your family was linked to a serial killer. How unnerving would that be?

Starting point is 00:40:13 That would be a very terrifying situation. It also just kind of goes to show how far technology has come with all these cold cases, you know, decades and decades old and now they're finally getting more attention, more traction because of these advancements and getting solved. I think that's pretty remarkable. Now if you want a deep dive on the scorecard killer, let me know. We have definitely covered some serial killers before. We've covered BTK. We have covered, did we cover, we've covered Dahmer a little bit. We've covered quite a few. So if you do want a deep dive into Randy and

Starting point is 00:40:43 everything he did, definitely let me know and we can do that. So that is it for today's updates and everything going on in the true crime world. Karen Reed, as I mentioned, is still ongoing. I am flying there on Monday, actually, to attend court in person. So I will be giving you those updates live from court. Make sure you're following me on Instagram

Starting point is 00:41:01 if you're not already so that you can see those at underscore Annie Elise. And if you need more content to binge, we always release an extra episode every single Friday as a thank you to our subscribers. So you can either get access to that directly through Apple or over on Patreon. Right now you can unlock, I believe it's probably nearly a hundred of those episodes. And tomorrow we're covering a case that is extremely current. It's about a couple from Love is Blind from Argentina who went on the show, got married, got together, and then all hell broke loose and there's abuse involved, there's potential attempted murder involved, so we're breaking down that whole case tomorrow. And again you can get that on either Apple or Patreon. Alright guys, thank you so much for tuning in to Headline Highlights today. I'll

Starting point is 00:41:43 be back with you first thing Monday morning with an all new deep dive into a case. And I think you're gonna be interested in this Monday one. I think you really are gonna want to hear it. It's a wild one. It's got some updates. And make sure if you're not following the podcast yet that you are following so that you do not miss it the moment that it drops. And to follow the podcast, all you have to do is whatever app you're listening on, just

Starting point is 00:42:04 look in, you know, the top left or right corner and click the follow button. Then you will never miss one of these episodes. All right, guys, thank you so much for tuning in. Until the next one, be nice, don't kill people, don't join any cults, definitely don't go on 764 network and just watch your back. All right, bye.

Serialously with Annie Elise - 274: Diddy Trial Bombshells, Network 764, Serial Killer Update & Graduation Nightmare

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