SERIALously - 163: Madeline Soto Body Cam, Chad Daybell Gets Death, Teen Stabs Friend At Sleepover & Castration for Pedos!

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

Headline Highlights: Today’s episode dives into everything happening this week in true crime. From new cases to updates on existing ones and more. Madeline Deep Dive: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/...podcast/10-to-life/id1519456164 Beam: Head to https://www.shopbeam.com/ANNIEELISE and use code ANNIEELISE for an additional 40% off. Don’t forget supplies are limited and you can only shop it through my link Follow the podcast on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcast        Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_      SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/    Shop the Merch: https://annieelise.com/ About Me: https://annieelise.com/      For Business Inquiries: 10toLife@WMEAgency.com

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, True Crime Besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise, headline highlights edition. Guys, we have got a lot to talk about this week, not only because there's so much happening obviously in the true crime world, but I am fresh back from Crime Con in Nashville and oh my god, it was so amazing. I met so many of you guys who are listeners, who watch the YouTube channel, I met so many victims families, and it was my first time ever going to CrimeCon so I didn't really know what to expect, but it truly was so valuable and unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:00:59 Not only all the conversations that I had with all of you guys who are listeners or viewers, but like I said with so many different victims' families who expressed their appreciation for the coverage that we do, who want their story told and their case heard. And it was just really, it was a really moving weekend. We also heard some really great presentations, speeches, and panels from Gabby Petito's parents who were there, John Benet Ramsey's father, my good friend Mike King over at Profiling Evil did a presentation about how he took down a polygamist cult. I did a live episode recording featuring Dr. Leslie on Friday night, which
Starting point is 00:01:38 hopefully will air on this channel pretty soon, and it was all about how to spot a psychopath, and it was just really a great weekend. So they've announced that next year they will be doing CrimeCon in Denver so I hope anybody who is planning to go goes to that. I think tickets go on sale. When do they go on sale? I think they go on sale to the general public on the 10th this month but I will have a discount code that I can share with you guys so I'll make sure to post that in whatever episode is closest to the 10th. I'm guessing that'll be Monday. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:02:08 But anyway, I'll make sure to let you guys know that. But we have got so much to talk about today because I wish I had like a drum or like something, but let's do a drum roll really quick. I don't know if you could hear that, but I was doing it on my chair. But Chad Daybell, Chad loser face Daybell dumbbell. I've got to say guys, I did not see this one coming and I was dead wrong
Starting point is 00:02:32 with what I thought was gonna go down. No pun intended. I was sure that Chad was gonna get life in prison just like Lori, but no no no no no no no. This scumbag loser douche canoe got the death penalty. So during the sentencing hearing, John Pryor ended up asking the jurors to judge Daybell on his life before he met Lori Vallow. He described her as this bombshell that blew him off this trajectory of his otherwise wholesome life, that she was the catalyst in all of this and had it never been for Lori, Chad would have never done any of this. But also then Chad declined to offer any mitigating evidence during the sentencing hearing, which kind of struck me as odd because mitigating evidence is often used to encourage jurors to have sympathy for a defendant, all in effort to really show that a life sentence would
Starting point is 00:03:18 be more appropriate than, I don't know, capital punishment. So when they weren't presenting any of this, it kind of surprised a lot of us, especially me, but it also made me kind of feel like maybe Chad wanted the death penalty after he was found guilty. Maybe he wanted it so that things would be easier for him or faster, I don't know, but I was pretty surprised by it.
Starting point is 00:03:39 But ultimately, when the jury went off and deliberated, they came back and they unanimously agreed last Saturday that Chad Daybell deserves the death penalty for not only the gruesome murder of his wife Tammy Daybell, but we also know of course for Lori Vallow's two youngest children, JJ and Tylee. And when this news came in, we were literally at CrimeCon. We were standing around. Everybody was at their booth when the sentencing came in and the entire
Starting point is 00:04:06 Convention Center guys erupted in cheering everybody was so happy It truly was unbelievable and so many of you guys who are listening now who were there you stopped at my booth You were asking what I thought if I heard and the whole feeling of it felt a little bit off and a little bit odd because It was almost like everybody was kind of celebrating in a way, but celebrating in a way that there was a sense of closure and a sense of justice. I don't know if that makes sense. I'm trying to convey what that room felt like in that moment, but he was sentenced to death. I was surprised, I think a few people were, but a lot of people pleasantly surprised.
Starting point is 00:04:45 Now meanwhile, as he was sentenced, loser Chad just sat with his hands in his lap at the defense table, and he showed no emotion whatsoever when he learned that he would face the death penalty. And when asked by the judge whether he wanted to make a statement, he completely declined. Which kind of also was like, okay what, you have nothing to say now? No doomsday prophet speech? Cat got your tongue? What's going on here? Now, what's interesting is people are now,
Starting point is 00:05:09 of course, wondering like, okay, so what happens next? How soon will we be rid of this asshole, right? Well, let me break it down because it kind of gets a little bit complicated, not complicated, but a little blurry. So in Idaho, when there is a death sentence, it's followed by a mandatory post-conviction review, and then the defendants are also able to pursue an appeal after the filing of a
Starting point is 00:05:31 death warrant. Now, for the post-conviction review, let me break down what that exactly means. But basically, immediately following the imposition of the death penalty, the district judge who sentenced the defendant must appoint at least two attorneys to represent the defendant for the purpose of seeking any post conviction remedy. The attorneys appointed though must be somebody other than the counsel who represented the defendant prior to the imposition of the death penalty. This new counsel will also not be considered to be co-counsel with any attorney who represented the defendant prior to the imposition of the death penalty. And they also might be appointed to pursue the direct appeal for the defendant. So we're gonna see what comes out if they're gonna appeal.
Starting point is 00:06:11 My guess is they would, but again, because they didn't try to also insert any mitigating evidence, maybe not. I don't know. I feel like now I kind of am surprised at all the moves that they're making. But there were some mixed feelings from everybody when Chad got the death penalty about him going to death row. If it was going to be easier for him, if it was going to be a little bit more cushy for him, a lot of people were kind of hoping that maybe he would go to gen pop, that he wasn't going to have this cushy life on death row and have the nice meals, have the nice place, all these things. but I want to read you some details about the exact facility that he's going to
Starting point is 00:06:49 because I think that that will help curb me worries or any frustrations. Now this is all according to somebody who worked there, so I'm just relaying that info. I don't work at the prison. I can't verify it 100%. I'm just passing it along, but basically this person wrote, and this was on Facebook, they said, I worked at the prison that Chad is going to. I think that death row would be worse. Death row is 23 hours a day in a tiny cell with a tiny window.
Starting point is 00:07:18 One hour of recreational time that's in a cage. No going to the gym, no library, no walks on the yard, no chance at finding any friends or starting a new cult, no job making license plates or woodworking to make furniture for government buildings, and they go on to say that there is actually a lot of perks to being on the yard. I'm gen pop. Because on the yard, yes Chad might get beaten, killed, sexually assaulted, but in reality nobody really wants to do that because then they're gonna be sent to Max, to Max security, and go to segregation. There, and there
Starting point is 00:07:54 there's no library, no gym, no jobs, exactly the same. So there's a good chance nothing would happen to Chad if he was on the yard or in Genpop because nobody wants to lose their privileges. So they go on to say that she says, I'm all about the psychological toll being segregated is going to cause him. Alone, day after day, year after year, decade after decade. Really bad for a person psychologically. They close this by saying, death row is my preference for Chad, but the yard is bad too. Maybe somebody will serve him prison justice, but either way is fine, but in my opinion,
Starting point is 00:08:28 death is better." So I don't know what I really think. I personally, I like the idea of him being off this planet because I just think he's so evil and so cold and calculated and callous, but I also really don't mind the idea of prison justice and being tormented year after year, decade after decade. So I don't know, I'm still torn. But families have now spoken out once that sentencing verdict was read, and it's interesting
Starting point is 00:08:54 because it seems like the shared sentiment across the board is that they finally feel a sense of closure. They all gave statements that were not super lengthy, but pretty long, but I do want to read like a one-sentence excerpt, excerpt, excerpt, excerpt, can't talk, from a few of them. So Tammy's extended family said, We can all start to heal from the terrible losses that we have suffered. We will miss Tammy every single day of our lives, but we have some comfort knowing that we will see her again. Brandon Boudreaux's family said,
Starting point is 00:09:25 "...one year ago we sat as the first person was held accountable for what will be a never-ending void in the lives of so many families. We once again have someone being held responsible." Then, Matt and Heather Daybell said, "...the jury's unanimous verdict and sentence brings a close to nearly 10 years since this all began for our little family. The Cox and Shifflett family said, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for all who worked so hard to achieve this true and just verdict and sentence. And then Colby Ryan, Lori's son, said, this is the best justice that we can possibly get.
Starting point is 00:10:01 And again, it doesn't change the outcome, but it is good news, and it brings closure for everybody that has been hurt. So what I have to say to you, Chad Daybell, even though I know you're not listening to this and it's just little me, sayonara, asshole. See you later, won't miss you. Adios. Now moving into another case, we are going to talk about some updates happening in the Madeline Soto case because there is new body cam footage that has been released and it is wild. In this body cam footage, it was taken right when she was reported as missing and it's disturbing to say the least, and so many of you guys have been asking for my take on this. I mean, it really is just very
Starting point is 00:10:42 upsetting. Now as a reminder, I know you don't need the full rundown of this case, but just to give you a brief, brief, you know, high level reminder. Madeline is a little girl who just turned 13. She went missing when she was reportedly dropped off at school by her mom's boyfriend. She never was there when the mom went to go pick her back up from school, so she reported her as missing.
Starting point is 00:11:03 Come to find out all of these things started happening. His device was seized. There were all sorts of explicit images and pictures depicting sexual abuse, all sorts of things on his device. Then her body was recovered. She unfortunately was dead. They found all of this footage where it showed him driving out of the, away from the house that day before school, which and it looked like Madeline was in the car but that she had already been killed.
Starting point is 00:11:30 Then he was seen on footage dumping her school issued devices, her backpack returning to the house and it just it painted a really haunting picture. You have this creepo boyfriend who has all of this material, explicit material on his phone, so it's pretty obvious what was happening and what the dynamic of his relationship to Madeline was. Then you have this mom who was reporting her as missing, but seems like she might be covering for her boyfriend. You now have this little girl who was found dead, and you wonder what the motive was there. Was it accidental during one of these assaults? Was it to silence her? There also was a at the time rumor that maybe she was pregnant. We haven't received any sort of confirmation or you know anything
Starting point is 00:12:13 about that. We don't know if that's true or untrue. But anyway the full deep dive of this episode I will link it. That's just the high takeaway. So now we have this body cam footage that's showing what happened the evening that she was reported as missing. The demeanor of her mother Jen and the boyfriend Stefan. And I want to go back really quickly to, as we're talking about, I'm trying to gather my thoughts here guys, as we're talking about what he was arrested for initially and what was found, the arrest affidavit that was released in early March had revealed that Stefan was had is to believe to have started sexually abusing Madeline back in 2022 when she was just 11 years
Starting point is 00:12:51 old. And as I mentioned he also had nearly 2,000 digital pieces of evidence on his device that showed this abuse that he had inflicted on her. And what's crazy is he actually tried to get rid of all of this evidence, which I guess isn't that crazy. Obviously he tried to get rid of it. But basically when they found it, this creep had said that he accidentally performed a factory reset on his phone the day that Madeline disappeared, which hello, big coincidence. I'm sure that's not the truth. We all know that's not the truth, right? So now in this body cam footage, Stefan, who was dating Madeline's mother, Jen Soto, he's
Starting point is 00:13:23 seen standing quietly with his arms crossed while her, who was dating Madeline's mother, Jen Soto, he's seen standing quietly with his arms crossed while her mom is explaining that Madeline had been dropped off near her school that morning, but that she never made it to class. However, we now know that Stefan is alleged to have already killed Madeline, and already had disposed of her body in a wooded area by this time, by the time the family was speaking to the police in this footage. What's really interesting about this footage is her mom feels very, very calm. The story also almost seemed rehearsed. It like she was sharing details that you might not think to immediately say, such as we watched her walk away. They say, I thought that she was putting her headphones in. She took a turn, like very, very detailed, very, very calm.
Starting point is 00:14:06 Whereas again, everybody reacts differently. But if it was your first time reporting to the police what happened that day and you're frantic, you're wondering if she's okay, I would imagine that the story might go something like, I don't know, we dropped her off and I saw her walk to class but then I went to pick her up and she wasn't there. Not, she was rifling through her bag. She picked up her headphones. She took a left.
Starting point is 00:14:28 Again, it just seemed almost practiced, rehearsed, too detailed, too specific, if that makes sense. Especially for how calm they were being, right? Another interesting piece is when they're on the phone when the principal calls, there's almost like a little bit of laughter and the response to the principal who's on the other end of the phone is Hey, I'm okay. How are you not? Hey, did you find her? Have you heard of anything? There was no real frantic nature about anyone and that was very unsettling and you know what it kind of brings me back to a little bit it Kind of gives me the vibes, if you remember, the Oren and Orson West case.
Starting point is 00:15:07 We covered that over on my YouTube channel when that first happened. Gosh, what was that? I think it was 2020. It had to have been 2020. And these two parents were just eerily calm, eerily, eerily, did I say that right? Eerily calm to where it was very matter of fact.
Starting point is 00:15:25 It was cold, it was dark, we went outside, they weren't there, I opened the gate. Again, just very rehearsed and scripted almost. And the reason I keep bringing up that is because we know that this dirt bag is obviously guilty, right, and like he was shady and he knew what was going on. But the behavior of the mom is what is really coming into to focus for me now because we've been asking this whole time was she complicit was she a
Starting point is 00:15:54 co-conspirator was she a witness after the fact who helped with the cover-up what was her alleged involvement in any of this and unfortunately my opinion and again this is just my opinion guys do your own research but based on this footage I do think that she knew more of what was going on. She seems too calm to me, she seems too rehearsed to me and that breaks my heart for Madeline all over again. So after this footage was happening and was taken Madeline's body was then found several days later after the two of them had reported her missing. We now know that Stefan Stearns has been charged with her murder as well as capital sexual battery,
Starting point is 00:16:32 lewd or lascivious molestation, and also unlawful possession of child sexual abuse materials, and he's expected to go to trial in Jalisco. I think we're gonna go to that trial. There's something Jalisco. I think we're gonna go to that trial guys. I for there's something pulling at me I think this little girl needs as much support as possible not that the whole world isn't rallying around her but If her mom was involved in this and again, there's no proof that she is to any extent but if she was it feels like I Don't know. I just feel like a calling. I'm kind of rambling now
Starting point is 00:17:04 I feel like there's like something in kind of rambling now. I feel like there's like something in my gut telling us that we should go and that we should be there. We should be advocating for her. We should be calling these people out but I will let you know if that happens. The trial is currently scheduled for July. We'll see if it gets moved out and it'll be in Florida but let me know what you think and if you want us to go to that. We recently covered Chad Daybell. As you know we're also covering Karen Reed but there's just something telling me we should and the biggest question now that remains is will her mom Jen be charged? Is she cooperating maybe
Starting point is 00:17:35 now, now that she's away from her boyfriend, now that he's incarcerated? Is she realizing he doesn't have any sort of influence or pull over her? Will she cooperate? Will there maybe also be an immunity deal if she testifies against him for his upcoming trial? And what do you think? Do you think she knows more than what she was letting on? And again, if the abuse was happening in that house for years and years, as indicated, it makes me wonder how didn't she know? But unfortunately that does happen all the time, but also it just, if she did know and if she was involved in this cover-up, even after the fact, every parent failed this little girl, every adult, and it's just, it's really sad. She was just 13 years old. She literally just celebrated her 13th birthday.
Starting point is 00:18:18 And to have been being abused from the time she was 11 years old, possibly earlier, it's just absolutely disgusting. And you know what, that actually is kind of a good lead-in into some good news that I want to talk about. Some good news happening out of Louisiana for creeps like this. Creepy disgusting pedophiles. Because Louisiana lawmakers on Monday approved a bill that would expand judges' powers to sentence people convicted of certain sex crimes against children to physical castration. We talked about a case a couple weeks ago where somebody was getting physically castrated and I was like, this is the best news I've ever heard. I love this so much.
Starting point is 00:18:57 But now Louisiana is actually making headway with this because the bill, which specifically targets those who have been convicted of sex crimes with victims under the age of 13, it would allow for surgical castration as a punitive measure. Louisiana is one of only a few states that already do have laws permitting judges to order chemical castration in certain cases, but if this bill becomes a law, Louisiana would be the first state to allow judges to impose surgical castration. A handful of U.S. states, including California, Texas, and Florida, do permit the castration of people who are convicted of sexual offenses against children, though some of them only allow chemical castration, while others do offer physical castration as an elective option. Countries such as South Korea and Poland also allow chemical castration for some sex offenders,
Starting point is 00:19:49 but others have discontinued the practice. Now, chemical castrations involve the administration of hormonal drugs that lower sexual performance, lower libido, whereas surgical or physical castration involve removing testes or removing ovaries to then stop the production of sex hormones altogether. Chemical castrations, unlike physical methods, are generally impermanent and they're only allowed, I'm sorry, and they're already allowed in Louisiana for sexual crimes against children such as rape, sexual battery, and molestation. And if a person refuses the procedure, they may face charges that carry up to five years in prison.
Starting point is 00:20:27 So if this is passed into law, the bill would permit judges to order surgical castration, which is a very much more invasive procedure compared to the chemical methods that were outlined in the 2008 law. The surgical castration orders would apply to cases involving victims under the age of 13. So like to the sickest of the sick, which I have to say, hell, mother effin yeah. Like, amen. I've been saying this from the dawn of time. I think that all sex offenders should be castrated. Like chop their dick off, chop their balls off for women, because now it seems like we're on this uptick of women offenders who are teachers. So I'm shut. Sorry, I'm getting really graphic. But it's disgusting. It is disgusting. People who prey on innocent, vulnerable, defenseless children, if they're not just put out of their misery all together, this is, in my opinion, the least we could do. And that might be a controversial take on it, but honestly, it's my thoughts. And the Senator for the bill, the Senator and the bill's sponsor, I should say, spoke out in a hearing last month and said, and I quote,
Starting point is 00:21:33 We have a responsibility and a duty as it relates to the most vulnerable among us. I don't feel that our kids are safe. Which, again, amen. Let's castrate them all. I'm getting wild, guys. Let me take a quick break, amen. Let's castrate them all. I'm getting wild guys. And let me take a quick break guys. I need to just like grab some water if you've been, I'm getting a little wild here. So we're gonna take a quick break
Starting point is 00:21:51 and then we are gonna come back to the rest of the cases today. Do you guys ever struggle to fall asleep or do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and then you have trouble falling back asleep? Because that used to happen to me all the time. I tried Ambien, Melatonin, you name it. But then my husband told me about Beam Dream Tea
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Starting point is 00:23:36 So let's move into a case involving teen violence out of Florida. Because a 16-year-old is accused of a premeditated attack on a 15-year- old after allegedly walking several miles to this victim's house forcing his way inside and then fatally stabbing the teen while also injuring a 48 year old man. So let me break down what went down on Saturday June 1st at 10 11 p.m. deputies responded to a stabbing call at a home on County Road 148. Inside, they
Starting point is 00:24:05 found two victims who were injured and then they airlifted them to the nearby hospitals. However, one of those victims, 15-year-old Connor Gill, was pronounced dead at 1 19 a.m. So the sheriff's office alleges that the suspect, 16-year-old Alexander Hernandez, went to Connor's house unannounced, all while Connor was having a sleepover, and then started banging on the door. When Connor opened the door, Alexander attacked him before then threatening somebody else. Alexander reportedly stabbed the adult as well when he came to check in on what was
Starting point is 00:24:36 going on when he heard all of the commotion. Now Connor and Alexander knew each other before this attack too, which is what's so odd, because the Sheriff's Office said that both teens were no longer enrolled in the county schools, but they had been being homeschooled at the time, but they did have a past relationship with each other. After the stabbing, Alexander reportedly fled the scene on foot right after, but then the Sheriff's Office helicopter was able to locate him. And according to the authorities, Alexander still had the weapons on him when he was arrested. So he was taken to the county jail and he was booked on charges of premeditated
Starting point is 00:25:09 first degree murder for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill and armed burglary. Now here's what gets interesting about the weapons. The authorities say that Alexander allegedly ordered the skife and pocket knife, the two weapons, he ordered them online on Thursday, and then they arrived on Saturday. So he quote, then unpacked the weapons, played with them for a little bit, and then he walked nearly six miles to the victim's residence.
Starting point is 00:25:38 Now, because of all of this, the authorities described the stabbing as a violent and premeditated attack. And a pocket knife, we all know what that is, but a scythe, I had to actually look into that because I was like, what is this thing? I saw a picture of it, but I was like, what is this weapon? It's described as a tool that has a curved blade on a long curved handle and is used for mowing grass or mowing grain by hand. The best way I can describe it for you to get a visual is like, what's the thing that the Grim Reaper holds? You know what I'm talking about? It's like a big tall stick with like a curved blade. It's like that but a mini handheld version. It's not exactly that, but that's kind of what it looks
Starting point is 00:26:14 like to me. So he had that and a pocket knife and those are the weapons he used. So we don't know much more about it, but we know that Alexander could face additional charges as the investigation continues. So stay tuned for more of that. But I feel like more and more we're seeing so many cases of teen on teen violence, and we don't know the motive here. We know that it was premeditated, that he went over there like it was while Connor was having a sleepover. So did he feel left out? Was he like jilted? Was he a friend who they recently ditched? What was the reason for this?
Starting point is 00:26:47 He ordered the weapons on Thursday, they arrived on Saturday, and then he walked over to the house on Saturday after he received it and walked six miles. Like, it's a pretty big mission, right? Like, you've got to be pretty dedicated and want to do this. So I just wonder what we're going to uncover. What else we're going to learn. Speaking of domestic violence, domestic disputes, friend disputes, all of this, we're going to talk about a missing girlfriend and finally some answers that we've received. So to give you a bit of a backstory on this case, on the morning of July 31st, back in 2022,
Starting point is 00:27:19 24-year-old Alania Lenore was last seen at the Peach Tree apartments in midtown Atlanta. She was reported missing the very next day, which then of course prompted a police investigation, right? And authorities discovered that Alania had been at the apartment with her boyfriend Steven and also with another suspect named Deontay. During a press conference back when she first went missing, this press conference was actually what was it? It was almost two months after she went missing. It was on September 20th, 2022. The Atlanta police stated that the investigators determined there was foul play involved in her disappearance, and he indicated that she did not leave the apartment on her own, that she was likely killed there before then potentially being relocated to an undetermined location. And this press conference
Starting point is 00:28:02 came about a week and a half after an arrest was made, but it wasn't her boyfriend. But about a week before the press conference, Deontay, the friend who was with her boyfriend at the apartment at the time of her disappearance, he was arrested and booked into the Fulton County Jail on multiple charges. The charges included murder and concealing the death of another, and at that same press conference, police had announced that they were also searching for the boyfriend Stephen, that this search was ongoing and that he was believed to be in the Atlanta area, but that they couldn't find him.
Starting point is 00:28:30 They had arrested the friend, but they were now looking for the boyfriend. Months went by and they couldn't find him. And then in December of 2022, Stephen was indicted by a Fulton County Court on various charges, charges that included two counts of felony murder, distribution of a Sched schedule two controlled substance,
Starting point is 00:28:47 hindering the apprehension or punishment of a criminal, concealing the death of another, and then also tampering with evidence. But despite all these developments and the indictment and all these things and the arrest of the friend, Alania still wasn't found. They couldn't find her anywhere. Then years went by and there was a huge break just this last Saturday because on Saturday June 1st 2024 Georgia Department of Natural Resources officials attempted to stop Stephen while he was jet skiing on Lake Alatuna. He had apparently been violating a rule about causing wakes like wakeboarding but you know like the wakes in the water while he was jet skiing and when they were attempting to stop him, Stephen reportedly drove over all the way to
Starting point is 00:29:29 the shore, got off the jet ski, and then fled into the woods. But he was apprehended soon after he fled. And there's actual video of this chase and the capture, which I just have to say, like if it's been years and if you're trying to like fly under the radar, you're trying to hide, maybe don't go jet skiing my guy. I don't know, maybe don't go jet skiing. The whole chase and capture was kind of pathetic and comical I have to say. Like you're an idiot in my opinion, but at least he was apprehended because then he was booked into the county jail and he was booked on charges including giving a false name, false address, false birth date of law enforcement officers, also for operating a watercraft under the influence of alcohol or drugs and he's now being held.
Starting point is 00:30:13 And it was kind of a win for the Atlanta Police Department because they had been searching for Stephen for two years as a suspect in Alania's disappearance and now her unfortunately assumed death. Now her body still has not been located but it'll be interesting to see if this arrest now leads to any answers to maybe a deal, a conviction, maybe he will tell where her body is, what really happened, what went down because it still is just very confusing. They don't have a lot of answers. They know that there was foul play. They believe she is dead but they don't know why. They don't have a lot of answers. They know that there was foul play. They believe she is dead, but they don't know why.
Starting point is 00:30:46 They don't know how. There's of course no cause of death. So it's also going to be interesting now, now that he's been arrested, will his friend who previously was arrested, will he flip on him? Will he share more information? Like what's gonna happen here? In other news, this week has also been jam-packed with updates in the Karen Reed trial, which I know so many of you are still following that. And it's interesting, I talked to a lot of people at CrimeCon about this case specifically, about Karen Reed, and people are definitely divided on it. I mean, that's for sure. People are fully divided. A lot of people think she's guilty. A lot of people think she's
Starting point is 00:31:21 innocent. But the common thread, whichever side of it you stand on, is that people think that there is a lot of reasonable doubt. And that's kind of what I've been saying from day one too. I was like, I don't really know. I have my personal opinions where I'm leaning, but I'm not quite ready to share. But I do think that there is a lot of reasonable doubt and a lot of shadiness. So we'll see what happens. Also, I do want to give a quick announcement. We had a tiny, tiny, tiny bit of merch left over from CrimeCon. It was exclusive merch that we had made and brought just for CrimeCon. So we did throw it up on the site this week. There's a couple pieces left. Grab it before it's gone.
Starting point is 00:31:55 You can get that at AnnieElyse.com, but we have new zip-up hoodies, a couple t-shirts, some exclusive merch. So check that out before it's gone. Again, it was exclusive to CrimeCon, so we won't be bringing it back. And we'll have it on there until it's sold out and then it is gone. Other than that, we have a brand new deep dive coming this Monday for a case that all of you have been DMing me about and requesting. It took me a very long time to gather my thoughts to cover it, but I did it. And it is coming bright and early Monday morning and it is a full-on deep dive.
Starting point is 00:32:25 So check in for that and if you feel like you still need another true crime fix before you go into the weekend, we do have our ad free bonus episodes every single Friday. You can get access to those either on Patreon, which is just patreon.com slash Annie Elise or through the Apple podcast app and those are ad free bonus exclusive podcast episodes. So check it out. Other than that, thank you guys for tuning in with me on another episode of Headline Highlights. And seriously, with me, Annie Elise. And until the next one, guys, be nice, don't kill people, stay safe, watch your back, stay
Starting point is 00:32:58 weird, do all the things, and I will talk with you again very soon. All right, guys, thanks so much. Bye. and I will talk with you again very soon. Alright guys, thanks so much, bye. You

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