SERIALously - 253: What Truly Happened to Sudiksha Konanki, Influencer Murdered on Livestream, Diddy’s Prison Phone Call and Woman Held Stepson Captive 20 Years

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

Today’s episode dives into everything happening this week in true crime with @_annieelise. From new cases to updates on existing ones and more.  Come to tonight’s screening of Nicole Kidman’s new movie, Holland. Tickets are limited. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/holland-screening-hosted-by-annie-elise-tickets-1291516734319?aff=oddtdtcreator Join our True Crime Club for access to BTS, Bonus Content, Our Private Group Chat, Giveaways and More! Shop Our True Crime Merch Follow the podcast on: IG, Facebook and TikTok For Business Inquiries: [e-mail] About Annie Today’s Sponsors: CBDistillery: Visit CBDistillery.com and use code AE for 20% off. iRestore: Get $625 off the iRestore Elite with promo code AE at iRestoreLaser.com. Episode Sources:  CBS News CNN DirtTvCelebrityMedia Eyewitness News ABC7NY FOX News FOX 5 Washington DC Global News Inside Edition NBC Connecticut NBC News NBC New York New York Post New York Times People.com PIX11 News Rolling Stone

Hey, True Crime Besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise. I hope you guys are all having a good week so far that you got through midweek and you're almost ready for the weekend. I do have an exciting announcement though. If you are somebody who lives in the LA or Orange County area, I have something for you to do tonight if you're looking to like, you know, do something after work or hang out. But basically I've partnered up with Amazon Prime

and I'm going to be hosting a screening of Nicole Kidman's new movie, Holland, at the lot in Newport Beach. And I'm really excited. Tickets are totally free, but of course it's first come first serve. I will put the link if you do wanna go and claim some tickets in the description of this podcast episode. But I'm really excited. The movie doesn't release to the public for about another week and a half,

so they've allowed us to rent out the theater there, which the lot is a really cool movie theater in Newport Beach where you can order food, drinks, all of that. But they allowed us to rent the theater out and I'll be hosting it. And so you guys can come check out Nicole Kidman's new movie, hang out with me. drinks, all of that, but they allowed us to rent the theater out and I'll be hosting it. And so you guys can come check out Nicole Kidman's new movie, Hang Out With Me. We can get a group pick after and spots are limited as I said, so I'll put the link in the description of this episode. So if you do want to join us, you can go ahead and claim your tickets there, but first come,

first served. And it's for, what time is it? It's going to be at seven o'clock. So I think arrival time is six thirty and then the movie will start at seven so really excited to meet a lot of you guys as you know especially from back in the live tour days i just which i just say that like it was 20 years ago it was literally last year but i love just like getting out in the community and meeting you guys face to face and talking about cases and other things so i'm really excited this was something that just kind of was pulled together last minute.

It wasn't super planned in advance so that's why I wish I would have been able to give you guys more notice. But for those of you who can make it tonight, I am really excited and again totally free. So I'll put that link in. Now for today, and I apologize for those of you who are watching this on YouTube. It's obviously now past Thursday, so I apologize that you weren't able to get this notification. But all the more reason to listen to the podcast before it goes on YouTube, because then there's no delay in information. You get everything in real time. No, so today is headline highlights, of course, and we are going to talk about everything

going on in the true crime world this week. Not everything I guess because that would be here forever but some of the big dial-ups that I want to share with you and so many of these that you guys have been requesting for more information on. I've been able to do these quick little YouTube shorts or things over on my Instagram story and reels where I'm giving you guys updates about these cases as they're breaking but it's of course I'm limited to you know 90 seconds or three minutes so now I'm over here and I want to give you more information on these cases but as a reminder if you want any of like the

breaking news information right away and you don't want to wait till a Monday or Thursday episode you can follow me on all platforms at at underscore Annie Elise and you'll be able to keep up to date with all of that. But let me talk to you about some of these cases that we're going to be reviewing together today. First and foremost, we're going to be talking about a case that is coming out of New York City where once again somebody was lit on fire. Now last time we heard about this it was in the subway and it was a woman. This time it's a man and it was in the middle of Times Square. So we're going to talk about all of that. There's also a case that is breaking all the way over in Tokyo and it's about a female influencer who was live streaming and literally as she had

her phone in her hand, as she was like this doing selfies, walking through Tokyo, she was attacked and she was stabbed over 30 times and it was all caught on live stream So we're gonna be talking about not only what happened in that case But also the motive behind it and what really was found out after they figured out the connection between her and this man There's also some breaking news in the Kanye West and Diddy of it all which I wasn't really sure if I was gonna talk About that to be quite honest, but you may have seen that there's been some issues with Kim getting involved now. She had trademarked North West's name. Also, after I had put together what I wanted to talk about with that in regards to you know the song that's coming out or came out I should say, there's also a new phone call between

Diddy and Kanye while Diddy's been incarcerated. And I don't know, the call I have my thoughts about it so I'm gonna share it with you so you can hear it directly and then it was just released so I want you to hear it and then tell me what you think. We're also gonna of course be talking about the evil stepmom, the one who allegedly kept her son captive, her stepson captive for over 20 years. He was found, he's 5'9", 32 years old, and he weighed only 68 pounds. This is one of those cases where I jumped on Instagram

and did like some reels about it and tried to get out as much information as possible. But since then, even more information has come to light. Information about what happened when he was at school, when he was then pulled out of school, some CPS investigations, the welfare checks, different things he had to do for survival while he was then pulled out of school, some CPS investigations, the welfare checks, different things he had to do for survival while he was locked away. So we're going to go into all of the details that we have learned now in that case.

And then of course, I want to talk to you about the missing student, the missing student from the University of Pittsburgh, because as you know, she went missing in the Dominican Republic and this case everybody is referring to it as Natalie Holloway 2.0 and for those of you who are my younger listeners that might not ring a bell or strike a chord but there are a lot of comparisons and I will be honest at first glance about a week or so ago when I had heard about this case and was following it I was under the impression that because it was you know the middle of the night, they were all drinking, they went to

the beach, the clothing was left there on the lounger and his what were two. I was like, maybe they just were drunk and went swimming and she drowned and he came out and then he panicked and something like that. But now it's way different. They've actually they're naming suspects that they're talking to. They are holding passports back and it looks like there is something more at play here. So I want to go through all of those new updates too. But that was a really long-winded intro. I apologize for that. I'm trying to take things slow. I just had like a massive sneezing attack before I pressed record, where it was one

of those things where I like ate sneezes in a row. So I'm like, I'm trying not to trigger anything, and my nostrils here to where I'm gonna start sneezing which sounds so dumb I know but I'm like if I just take it slow and I don't talk super fast maybe I won't have another sneezing attack and whatever I'll shut up now and let's just get into this first case okay. So we're gonna start with the New York case because if you remember three months ago a woman was set on fire in a New York City subway. She was sleeping and this random sicko just a woman was set on fire in a New York City subway. She was sleeping and this random sicko just came and lit her on fire. Then he just watched as she burned to death.

It was so sad, so morbid, so disgusting. And now another person has been set on fire in New York City. This time it was in the middle of Times Square, which is like the Mecca. You know where Times Square is, right? It's where the ball drops. It's where it's so busy. All the lights, all the action, the big tourist spot, which what is wrong with people, right? Now it happened on Monday and it was just before 4 a.m. So police say that they quote, came across a 45 year old man who had been lit on fire. The attacker though is still unidentified, but apparently he lit this guy on fire, fled,

and then he managed to like duck away into a nightclub somewhere. Now, the man who was attacked and set on fire reportedly ran about 100 feet all while he was on fire. Then, someone finally approached him, used a fire extinguisher on him, and put the fire out. Which, can you just imagine that for a moment? You're a police officer, you're walking your early morning beat through Times Square just trying to get ready, get started

for the day, but then out of the corner of your eye you literally see somebody running through Times Square on fire. So this victim was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance and thankfully the doctors were able to perform miracles on him and he's now in stable condition. And even though the attacker has not been publicly identified, police say that the two of them could have known each other. Because get this, witnesses said that the two of them had spoken at a food cart a little bit before this attack took place. Which you know the food carts in New York, even if you haven't been there, I'm sure you've seen it in the movies. It's like the little kebab places or the little hot dog carts, they're right, all over the food carts in New York, even if you haven't been there, I'm sure you've seen it in the movies. It's like the little kebab places or the little hot dog carts.

They're right all over the sidewalks in the city. Well, something must have gone very wrong during this conversation with them. Because a little while later, that's when the attacker took something off of the food truck—maybe gasoline, lighter fluid, something like that, I don't know—but that's what he used to set the 45-year-old man on fire. The attack also happened just hours before the New York City Half Marathon was starting. So what's interesting about that is a lot of people were already out really early that morning. They were enjoying the early morning getting their coffee, getting their,

reserving their spots on the track of where people run through the city and pass through, which if you've never been to the marathon in New York City guys, I highly recommend it as a bucket list item. Maybe the half marathon, sure, but I'm talking the full marathon that happens in the fall. It is something I'm not into running. My husband obviously is. He's somebody who runs these marathons. Me, I've literally the only marathons I do are Bravo marathons on TV. But it is such an amazing experience because there's no energy like new york and i'm not saying that to be like you know some stuck-up former new yorker there really is just a different kind of

energy there and on marathon day it's just it's almost indescribable it's like the energy everybody coming together everybody supporting runners they don't even know supporting each other making signs for the runners even if they don't personally know somebody in the marathon and I've never been to Boston Marathon or like other majors like that But I would imagine it's a similar vibe and I know I'm getting a little sidetracked here But I just wanted to mention this because there's something about The community and the energy on marathon days and my point in saying that is that this was the half marathon day It was starting. So people were already out. They were reserving their spots along the road, getting their early morning coffee,

or if you're like me, maybe it's a mimosa on marathon day, and getting ready. So it's not like it was just, you know, the dead of the night and nobody was around and this person didn't think that anybody was going to be coming around, right? So it was something that definitely shocked everybody. It happened here right on my corner where I work. I'm here every day. Got me scared. That's a tragedy to hear that happen. That's not far from my age. I'm 43. I'll be 44 in June, so that was a peer to me, but it was a shame. That was very heartbreakingbreak into here. I wasn't, 4 a.m.? Like no. Yeah, that breaks my heart. I wasn't expecting it. Like I haven't, I haven't been out here long. I've been working early mornings and yeah this is so random. There was also a video released of the attack and in this video you can see this man with just horrific burns all over his face and body.

He's standing shirtless, wrapped in this blue blanket while he's also being loaded into the ambulance. And look, you can look up the video online, but PSA, FYI, trigger warning, all the things, the injuries are pretty difficult to look at. They're very intense. Now the investigation is still ongoing. So there are of course still a lot of unanswered questions, but my biggest question is how

did these guys know each other, did they really know each other before they ever even interacted at this food cart with one another? Or was it just one of them who pissed the other one off in like some random chance encounter and then it escalated as badly as it did? I don't know, I just don't understand what's wrong with people because how can you just decide to light somebody on fire? And in the middle of a public area, not that it would be okay in private,

but you get what I mean. I mean, no matter how much somebody pisses you off, you have to be not in the right state of mind to do something like that to somebody. So the police are still trying to comb through all of the security cameras and talk with all of the witnesses trying to find this attacker who maybe they're onto it and they just haven't vocalized it yet but they haven't publicly been identified but I don't know what is up with people lighting people on fire it

is just freaking crazy. Now let's go into the new Diddy, Kanye, Kim Kardashian news and I promise you it will be very very brief but not only do I want to talk to you about this song and this trademark issue but I also want to play for you this new prison call from Diddy and Kanye West because And like I don't know. I feel like Diddy I have my thoughts about him and I get it It's all alleged at this point But I also feel like he's got to get a grip on reality and what the reality of the situation is But we'll get to that in a second and I will play that audio for you. And I know a lot of you guys might be sick of the Diddy rabbit hole, but this new update does have kind of a weird twist,

so I just want to touch on it very quickly. So Kanye West released a new song over the weekend, and it's actually turning into a little bit of a scandal because here's why. The new song is called Lonely Roads Still Go to Sunshine and the song features not only Diddy but also Kanye and Kim Kardashian's daughter, North West. Now North is only 11 years old so Kim kind of sprung into action and told Kanye she didn't want North to be dragged into any of this mess, which what kind of mother would, right? She even had previously tried to trademark North's name and sent a cease and desist letter to halt this entire song's release. She's like, I don't want my daughter in this. I've trademarked her name. You can't use her name either. Whether you're going to agree with me as a parent or not about having her involved in this,

legally you can't do it because I trademarked her name. And then it got messy because as you know, anything pretty much with Kanye West these days gets super toxic and super messy. So along with the release of the song on X or Twitter, Kanye also posted screenshots of text messages between him and Kim. The screenshots basically say that Kim was trademarking North's name so that he couldn't release the song. But then Kanye was telling her that if she didn't get rid of the trademark, he would quote, go to war. Now, the biggest thing in all of this that Kim wants is for North to just be separated and not involved with all of Kanye's, you know, questionable behavior over the last few months. I mean, for example, when he went on that anti-Semitic rant, then sold t-shirts with swastikas on them. Also showing up to the

Oscars red carpet uninvited, and then making his wife strip down naked in front of the cameras. Just some weird odd behavior. Kanye also went on a social media rant about how Diddy should be released. So I can definitely imagine, mother to mother, just human being to human being, why Kim wouldn't want their 11-year-old daughter associated with all of this, right? Now in other news, sidestepping that, which this is what I wanted to add in, the shade room also just dropped some newly obtained audio of Diddy talking to Kanye West, pushing him to get back on the stage and quote, tear down the stadiums.

Diddy says to Kanye quote, when I get out and I get that fucking freedom, "'I'm not caring about anything "'but motherfucking being happy. "'And I want you to feel that.'" Now, as we know, he's facing a minimum of 15 years in prison, but he doesn't hold back as he's talking to Kanye. This call goes on for about five minutes.

He even says, "'They're definitely trying to end us. "'I'm gonna beat this shit and get next to you. He also talks about what his time has been like since being behind bars saying quote, it's like being left for dead and only one person coming to do anything to get you. That's the level of appreciation that I have for you. So I'm gonna play the full phone call here for you so that you can get the context, the tone of voice, all of those things. But there was other this one other part like at the start of the call that kind of gave me pause, and it's probably me just being paranoid

and looking into it. But he talks about how Diddy talks to Kanye about how he needs Kanye on the outside still. Like, I need you still on the outside, almost like he's his soldier in a weird way. And again, that could be me way reading into things, but take a listen for yourself. From the front line, you know what I'm saying? It's wicked, wicked, wicked. So you be careful. Yeah. You can't do nothing. I'm just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just,

just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just,

just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, just, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah. I had no fun. Give on the mic. Have fun. Chop up the samples. Get back on your bed. Yeah, have some fun. Get back to smiling. Yeah. These other mothers, they always get time. Yeah, I understand.

You know, put that love in your heart, man. Enjoy yourself man. Get out frustrating. I can't explain it. But I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music. I love music on. It's like I love music again. It was a time when it's just like everything was so frustrating. I can't explain it. you. Right? All your life fall back in love like when you making a piece of the shot and coming up to to Daddy's house and other people. Rock studio and just chop the shit up during that ST twelve hundred out next to the FTC. They get in the **** have a good time and say **** the world and all the **** man. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I hear that man. So I love you man, I appreciate you.

Thanks again, you know. I'm gonna see you soon, man. Yeah, yes sir. Yes sir. That's how it's gonna be. You're gonna definitely beat this shit. Yeah, and that's it. That's it, that's all baby.

I'm gonna make sure I call you back or something. It'll be good to hear your voice again. We got like 59 more days before trial so obviously be touching in the capital T to uh energy or something. Play me some shit over the phone, give me some fucking life. This shit is fucking sad. I fucked daddy in jail. This shit is fucking sad. This is fucking crazy. This is insane. Coming out. I love you once again. I'm gonna let you go and get back to some fun. I'm gonna bring your vibration down. Never keep it in a high frequency. Keep doing everything you're doing. Man, you got. Never. Keep it in a high frequency man. You keep doing everything you're doing man. You got that freedom. And when I get out and I get that freedom, I'm not caring about nothing but motherf***ing being happy.

I want you to feel that. I want you all to have that for yourselves man. Yeah. Yes sir. Yeah Yes, sir. That's it. Yeah. They nobody reach out to him. He nobody call. You know, man. Yeah, I miss so much. You know, then as you reached out to them, Yeah, absolutely. I love you so much, man. It's like you raised me even even when I didn't know you. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. I'm feeling alone, okay? For real. I'm feeling alone. For real. I mean, me, for once, this s*** right here is crazy. You be careful out there because they definitely trying to hit us, you feel me? Yeah. They can't do it. They can't do it. They ain't going to do it. You know what I'm saying? We're going to beat this shit and get next to him. We're going to raise our families and become the kings that we're supposed to be, you feel me?

Yeah, absolutely. But words can't explain how much it means to me. You know what I'm saying? It's like being left for dead being an only one person coming to do anything to get you. And that's the level of appreciation that I have for you. But just like, I don't care about my son. That's some next level big brother shit to me.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You ain't have to do that. I'm taking my son and like damn, I'm a big brother farm, so they can tune me a lot you know. Man I appreciate that man. Yeah there was no no no parent and they were trying to rock me you know what I'm saying. Yeah and the way you you are as a father man it's just like I looked up to the relationship

that y'all got you know I'm you know, just evil. I just always loved the way the connection y'all had. Oh, it's connection you got. I appreciate it, man. Yeah. You know, to give them the love that they need, just like it just means so much, bro. Real, I see it in your face. You know what I'm saying?

I'm here to hug you and thank you and show you for the rest of your life how much you appreciate it and always be here for you. Man, thank you man. Thank you. But it's, I just feel like as a community like we gotta take the responsibility to you know just for us. Just all us. It's like we a family. Everybody has been taken in by this just for us, just all of us. It's like we are family. Everybody has been taken in by this fame, media, music, everything. Go, Doug.

Go, Doug. I told you it was all family, man. I really told you. You know what I'm saying? You're my guy. You believe in me. I got it. You know what I'm saying?

Tell me. I don't always focus on everybody, you know? And you know, I ain't better than that. I'm just telling you how it is because you're the only one. You know what I'm saying? I mean, if you're the only one that came to get me, I just felt that energy. It's like something was channeling and doing the UIV when I like getting that mold and it's like, you gotta do it. Yeah, yeah. Something to your bag and thanks for the showing John. I'm looking too, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So this might be something to watch out for in the pop culture world, and it might turn

into the next big scandal if Kanye continues kind of going off this unhinged derailed wagon where he's like off on like another planet, right? So we're just gonna have to wait and see what all happens. But what do you guys think about this? Now next up we are going to talk about the influencer who was stabbed on the live stream, the horrific stepmother and stepson situation, and then also we are going to talk about the missing student. But first, we are going to take a quick break. It feels like the last few years there has definitely been a shift out there where we're wanting to all get clean, and I mean that in terms of cleaning up our diets,

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That's CBdistillery.com promo code AE. cbdistillery.com, not available in Idaho, Iowa, or South Dakota. All right, let's be real. I've talked to you guys about this before, but I feel like I need to talk to you about it again, especially since today my hair is up in a top knot, and that is that thinning hair is frustrating.

It can creep up slowly or it could hit you all at once. And then before you know it, if you're like me, you're scanning the mirror, you're wondering if there's anything that actually works, if it's all just fake, fake news. That's exactly where I was because I started losing my hair right in like the, I have no other way to describe this guys, but like the cul-de-sac region. Okay. Like so whenever I put my hair in a bun or pull it back, it looks like I have a receding hairline. And I've tried a lot of things, let me just tell you. But when I started using the iRestore Elite,

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Again, all while on a livestream. And this case may be one of the craziest things that I've heard of when it comes to social media. Because this female influencer in Japan named Airi Sato, she was stabbed to death last Wednesday. And like I said, the whole attack happened while she was on livestream. So Aerie was 22 years old and she has a couple thousand followers. So she was on livestream around 9.50am while just walking through a neighborhood in Tokyo documenting what she was doing, the errands she was running, the

things she was grabbing. But then all of a sudden people heard her yelling. She was yelling help, help, and then the phone screen went dark. So people who were watching her live stream, of course, got scared, got super worried. So then people started commenting things like somebody help, where'd she go? Is she okay? The next thing they knew, police and ambulance sirens were heard on the live stream. Like the whole crime, the reaction, everything was just happening live, which I can't imagine literally hearing somebody's death

on your screen when you're just trying to watch something in the morning casually and like watch somebody running errands or grabbing coffee or whatever, and then you literally hear and witness a murder. It is so chilling. So her live stream finally went completely dark. And at that point, Aerie was also rushed to the hospital. She had suffered more than 30 stab wounds.

She had been stabbed in the head, the neck, and the torso. After she got to the hospital, doctors tried to do everything that they could, but unfortunately, the damage was too extensive. Aerie was unable to make it. Then, after the attack, photos were posted online for people who were there and witnessed the attack. These photos showed Aerie lying on the ground, dead and covered in blood. Now at the scene, the police arrested a 42 year old man named Kenji Takono. And that's when the investigators learned that this attack was in fact not a random one. Kenji and Aerie actually had some history.

Now at first it looked like Aerie was just killed by some crazy fan who was stalking her. But it turns out there was a little bit more to the story. Kenji told the police that he had first met Aerie through her live streams online. He had also met her a few times in person. Then in 2022 he started loaning her money. And I'm not really sure the entire story behind it, but apparently they had some sort of understanding, some sort of financial agreement, where Kenji was going to loan her money and then eventually she would pay him back. So Kenji said that Eri had told him she was in financial trouble, and because of that,

he agreed to help her out. So he ended up loaning her a total of 2.2 million yen, which equates to almost $15,000. But then, Aerie never paid him back. Now, Kenji wanted his money back. He apparently even tried to sue her, and she received a court order to pay him back. But even so, she never ended up paying him back. So this, for one reason or another, obviously drove Kenji to some sort of breaking point. So when Eri announced that she was going to go live, she was going to go on her live stream, he drove over 60 miles, 6-0, to get to the same neighborhood that she was in. He ended up being able to track her down by recognizing the buildings that were showing

in the back of her live stream, like literally tracking her in real time. Then when he attacked her, he used a survival knife, which is very similar to a K-Bar knife, which is kind of the one that Brian Koberger allegedly used in the Idaho Four case. So you can imagine, it is like a massive weapon. And he used that and he stabbed her to death. Now when he was confronted by the police, they found two knives on him and he actually didn't even try to run, try to argue, try to cover. He admitted to the entire thing.

However, he also told them that he didn't mean to kill her, which I don't really know how that works, okay? Because how do you not try to kill somebody, yet you stab them over 30 times? You stab them in the head, the neck, the stomach, the torso, like 30 times, but you're not trying to kill them? That doesn't really make sense, right? Although I will say we also know that in a lot of these cases when it's a stabbing case and there's that many stab wounds and stab, stabbings, like individual stabbings, that

it can be considered either a crime of passion or overkill or something like that. So it's also possible that maybe he didn't mean to kill her I don't know if that's real or not, but I'm just you know playing devil's advocate here guys But maybe he wanted to just scare her or maybe just stab her once. I don't know not like that's any better I don't know why he's saying all this But anyway, my point is that like maybe he flew into a blind rage and then this was overkill It was a crime of passion, but personally, I doubt it. I think that if you're going and approaching somebody,

watching them driving 60 miles to where they are, bringing two knives with you, and then you stab them 30 times, for me, I'm gonna call premeditated. It ain't Landon for me. So as of right now, Kenji has been arrested, but he hasn't officially been charged with anything yet. However, the authorities did say that they plan to charge him with murder and I don't know

I think that maybe this is also a case of where this man became just fixated on her obsessed with her online We know they met a couple of times in person maybe she was I don't want to say sugar baby, but like she maybe she was playing to how cute she is and That she's an influencer and once again, she said she was in financial trouble. So he felt like there was some sort of parasocial connection and he wanted to help her. And then maybe he thought that if he was like saving her from her financial trouble that she would want to be with him. That maybe she would start treating him more special.

And then when he realized that she was just after his money, he got pissed and he wanted to retaliate. I don't know. I guess we'll see what happens in this case as we learn more. There are a lot of different theories and rumors out there, but at the end of the day, whether or not he was scammed or not, murdering somebody, I think we can all agree, is never okay. And he should have known better. He was what, 45 years old, and she was only 22 years old. So, I don't know, not making it right to scam him of course not but she was young she had her whole life ahead of her and maybe that's a cautionary tale for

anybody who you know is on the influencing life trying to get money out of somebody maybe this is a good reason why you shouldn't because you never can predict how people are going to react. Now let's talk about this psychotic stepmother who allegedly held her stepson captive for 20 years because this case is wild and it's being described as something literally out of a horror movie. It also takes the idea of an evil stepmother to like a whole other level,

but don't get me started on that. So in February of 2025, a 32 year old man in Connecticut set his house on fire. But you'll never guess why. Apparently, he lit his bedroom on fire on purpose because he was trying to escape. He was trying to escape his stepmom, who had been holding him hostage in that house for over 20 years. So the fire and the police department responded to it, and like I said, it all went down in February, but it's all coming to light right now which I'm sure we're going to see an episode of Dateline on this in the very near future because 20 years 20 years and this kind of goes to a Headline Highlights

episode that I recorded and aired what was it like I don't know four weeks ago maybe maybe five weeks ago where I was like are you guys like me or Do I just have intrusive thoughts because literally when I'm driving in any given place I'm always looking around the neighborhoods and looking around the buildings being like I Wonder how many people are being held captive right now or are in a tent in the backyard or if there's a house that has some Boarded up windows. I always start wondering and I asked people on that episode I'm like are you is that like you I'll that's me that's where my mind goes all the time also if I'm ever in a public area like a concert or a mall or something like that I start thinking to myself

like how many people here have killed somebody how many people here are pedophiles how many people and like some kind a lot of people were like oh my god I'm not alone I think that way too but then a lot of people are like Annie you have intrusive thoughts it's also could be a form of O were like, oh my god, I'm not alone. I think that way too. But then a lot of people are like, Annie, you have intrusive thoughts. It also could be a form of OCD. You should probably get that checked. I was also recording this from my brother's cabin in Big Bear at the time in the mountains and there was no lighting. And so people were like, speaking of, it looks like you're being held hostage right now. Are you okay? So anyway, my point is I feel like I always think about this. I always, wherever I am, I'm wondering what's really happening in these homes that I'm seeing. And this again is just like a psychotic example that it is happening. It's happening right under our noses.

I mean, she held him there allegedly for 20 years. Now, the man's name hasn't been released, but the stepmother's name is Kimberly Sullivan, and she's 56 years old. She allegedly started the abuse and started holding him captive when he was just 11 years old. So this man said that he was constantly locked in that one bedroom almost all day and all night and he had no heat and no air conditioning. He was also only given a tiny bit of food and water. He also didn't have access to a bathroom, so he said that in order to use the bathroom,

he connected a bunch of straws together, then hung that out the window so that he could pee through the straw and it would be eliminated outside. Which I don't even really understand how that works, but there are a lot of unanswered questions here. He also was never taken to the doctors for checkups, never taken to the dentist, so eventually whenever he would eat, sometimes literal pieces of his teeth would just start breaking off in his mouth. He would also have to cut his own hair because he of course never was taken to a barber. And sometimes instead of actually drinking the small amount of water that he was given, he would save it so that he could

try to bathe himself. The man said that growing up, he was constantly starving. He even said that in grade school, before he was locked away, he would always beg the students for extra food. But then, once he was pulled out of school, after the fourth grade, he was only allowed outside of his room for 15 minutes every single day, and that was in the morning to do some chores. Then he would be given two sandwiches for the entire day, that's all he was given to eat, and two glasses of water. He was kept a secret for basically his entire life. And when he was finally rescued, he, as I said, was 32 years old, he was 5'9", and he only weighed

68 pounds. 68 pounds for a 32-year-old man who is standing at 5'9". You can only imagine how emaciated that is, right? It is a horrifying thought to think about. Now the bedroom that he was allegedly kept in was a 9' x 8' room on the second floor of the house. But like I said, after 20 years of this, he finally had enough and on February 17th, he started devising his escape plan. He had a few pieces of paper, he had some hand sanitizer, and he had a lighter. So with just using those three things, he was able to set his room on fire.

And then once the fire was in full force and started burning, Kimberly woke up and she called 911. Please hurry, there's a fire. Oh my god, there's a fire. My son was at step size in his room. Did he get injured? Is he on fire? Yes, he's injured. Where is he injured? I don't know. He's I don't know. I don't know. He's kind of passed out. He's out of it. Now when the police and firefighters Responded to the home, Kimberly was standing outside the burning house holding her little pet dog She also told the police that her stepson was still inside. Then once a firefighter got to her stepson, it was pretty easy to carry him out of the house because like I said he only weighed 68 pounds. The police

said that he looked dirty, his hair was matted, and his teeth looked completely rotten. And I'm gonna play some body cam footage here from the rescue. You can listen to it here of course course, on the podcast. And then if you wanna watch the visual, you can go check it out on YouTube. But in this audio, you can hear Kimberly and she's shouting about the dog that she's holding. She isn't even really concerned about her stepson.

She literally just keeps yelling about her dog who is already outside of the fire. Meanwhile, her stepson is still trapped inside. So take a listen. Come on, come down, come down. Who else is in the house? Meanwhile, her stepson is still trapped inside. So take a safe to stay here. All right, my dog is shaking. Come on. I know. Come down here. That's two, 87-42, for your victim. My victim.

Okay. Come on. My dog is shaking. 87 is right here. Come on. I know. My dog. I know. Come on. I'm coming. Let's see next.

Got one victim right here. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming. I'm coming. I want to get some right over here. The stepson im on purpose and he said th once he was loaded into t the abuse, the lack of food and water, and then he told them about how he started the fire. The Waterbury police chief said, quote,

this is the worst treatment of humanity that I have ever witnessed. The man was immediately taken to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries along with smoke inhalation. He was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Once the police learned about how he had been living, they decided they needed to start an investigation into Kimberly, I mean, obviously. And one of the craziest parts about this whole thing, and the main thing that had the police just completely baffled, is how did this go on for so long without anybody noticing? Well, back when the stepson was enrolled in grade school, people actually had been really concerned about him. Kids were telling their parents about how skinny he was, how hungry he was, all of those things.

So a welfare check was actually performed in 2005, but apparently nothing came out of that welfare check. Then after that, in what I would imagine is a panic, his family claimed that the welfare check was harassment and that the authorities had no right to report them to the state welfare office. So the welfare officers said that they then went to the home, they talked to everybody there, and they said that there was no cause for concern. After that, the family never spoke to the police, they never had any run-ins with child welfare. Nothing happened ever again. Family members also said that Kimberly had isolated her family from everybody else.

And they remember thinking that her stepson was very, very skinny, but they didn't see him or the family ever often enough to realize the extent of what was truly going on. The boy's biological mother was also said to never be a part of his life. His biological father, who allegedly also was involved in this abuse, he died last year. And after he passed away, the abuse from Kimberly and the confinement allegedly only got worse.

So after roughly a month of investigating, Kimberly was finally arrested on March 12. She was charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons, and reckless endangerment. She was being held on a $300,000 bond, which, get this, she posted the next day. And I have to say, that's kind of crazy because she allegedly held this person captive for 20 years, but she wasn't even held in custody for a week? Why did they allow her to even have that kind of bond amount? Like it just makes no sense because now it's like obviously she's a flight risk right? I mean and I get it you don't have to post the full amount but you post 10% so even at 300,000 she had to come up with 30 grand cash that's enough to try to get a head start and flee in my opinion. So I'll never

understand it in cases like this. Anytime there is some sort of harm and physical harm or sexual harm inflicted and I'm not saying there was sexual harm but like you know what I mean like anything involving a child I think at that point it's like mm-hmm bail bond off the table you are remanded and I know that's where it gets sticky because it's innocent until proven guilty but like I don't know err on the side of caution, right? Who's gonna, you gotta protect the kid now even though they're an adult. Now as you can imagine, Kimberly and her lawyer are denying all of these charges. They're saying the entire thing is untrue. Kimberly says she's actually shocked to hear about what she's being accused of, and her lawyer said that he looks forward to showing just how false this entire thing is,

showing everybody that Kimberly is innocent. Now look, I don't know how somebody can be shocked by these accusations. Clearly you knew your stepson was upstairs. Clearly you knew what you were feeding him because you were the one delivering the food. Clearly you knew that there was an external lock on the door. So shocked by the accusations? I mean, get a grip. It also has been said that she blamed the biological father saying that he was the one who inflicted all this and she just went along with it because she was so scared. OK, maybe that argument holds a little bit of water, but here's the problem. He died a year ago. He died a year ago. So what's your excuse for the rest of the year? Like, it makes no sense. Absolutely not true. He was not locked in a room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food. She provided shelter. She is blown away by these allegations.

Now, as for the stepson, he's currently on the road to healing. But, I mean, honestly, I can't even imagine what he's going through. He was held captive for over 20 years. He was robbed of his childhood completely. He was robbed of his entire 20s. I mean and just to the extent of what he had to endure, the filth that he had to live in, it's heartbreaking. And get this, the police said that he set this fire knowing he could possibly die, but he wanted the chance at freedom and he wanted it so badly that he knew that this was his only way out, even risking his own death.

He's currently going through mental health therapy along with physical therapy and the police have also said how they're supporting him every step of the way, even pitching in to buy him new clothes, books, whatever else helps him adjust. So this is definitely a case that I'm gonna keep my eye on.

I wanna watch how this all unfolds in the courtroom and what really goes down because I'm imagining we're probably just skimming the surface right now. I would imagine this goes much, much deeper. So stay tuned for that. Now let's talk about the missing student because this is something that has been all over. Everybody's talking about it. As I mentioned in the beginning, people are referring to it as a very similar case to the Natalie Holloway case and there's been new information that has come out where it does feel like maybe there was foul play involved. Sudhiksha Karnakhi was a 20-year-old college student who went to spring break in the Dominican Republic and she's now been missing for about two weeks. She was last seen early in the morning on

March 6th and she was walking on the beach. Now she was on vacation from the University of Pittsburgh and she was traveling in a group of six girls, but now the chain of events leading up to her going missing has completely hit the rumor mill. And let me just tell you, the internet is going into a frenzy over what really happened, especially because a 22-year-old guy was the last person to ever see her alive. So according to the authorities, the night before she went missing, she was seen on security footage out drinking with friends at the local hotel bar. The hotel was the R.I.U. Repubblica Hotel in Punta Cana. And at some point during the trip, she met a 22-year-old guy named Joshua Reby.

Joshua was also on spring break. He was from coming from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, and he's from Iowa. So on this security footage, you can kind of see them flurrying. They're all drinking. They're all hanging out. And then they're walking and he has his arm around her. And it almost feels like, okay, maybe there was some romance going on, maybe they were gonna hook up, we don't really know. So the kids keep drinking, they keep hanging out. And then at around 4am, she ends up on the beach with just Joshua. All of the other college kids had left at this point, and I'm guessing they left because maybe the two of them wanted some alone time, you know, a little spring break fling. They're gonna go to the beach, have like a romantic night, you know, you know how it

is, right? You get swept up, you romanticize it. So all of the other students arrived back at the hotel at around 6 a.m. Now, I will just say, and this isn't to shame her friends, but one of the biggest rules and I'm saying this as a reminder, one of the biggest rules between girlfriends is never leave your friend alone, even if you're on vacation, especially if you're on vacation And especially if there's ever alcohol involved don't ever leave them alone And again, this isn't to shame her friends or make them feel like they did anything wrong I just want to use it as a reminder to like just remind everybody you can't trust everybody out there, you know So stick together

So Joshua told the police that the two of them were wading out into the water, sort of like waist deep. They were just hanging out, talking, making out a little. But then all of a sudden a massive wave came and it swept the two of them out to sea. They got jumbled around in the ocean for a little while and they both of course took a lot of water in. If you've ever been caught under a wave you probably know what that feels like, right? It's like you're trying to catch your breath, you catch water in because you're not prepared, and you're trying to like get your footing. Now Joshua was a former pool lifeguard, so he said he did his best to get himself and Sudiksha back to safety, back to land, back to the shore. And he said that once he got back to knee-high

water, that's when he put her down and he started throwing up all of that water that he had swallowed. He told the police, then he just passed out on the beach. And when he woke up, he was actually shocked to see that she was no longer there. He said, quote, the last time I saw her, I asked if she was okay. I didn't hear her answer. I looked around and I didn't see anyone.

I thought that she grabbed her things and left. So he finally went back to the hotel alone at around 10 a.m. And at first, police listed Joshua as a witness, then as a person of interest, but never as a suspect. And even though he's not being called a suspect and there are no charges of anything against him, he was confined to his hotel room and his passport was confiscated for the investigation.

His parents also said that he is fully cooperating with the police and they wanna do everything that they can do to help her family, to help the police get answers, to figure out what happened. Now the other students that were with her before she went missing have also all been questioned, but the investigators have maintained that they believe that none of them are suspects and that no foul play was truly involved. Later on, police found her clothing hanging on a beach chair, but there was still no sign of her. Now as you can imagine, the rumor mill is running wild and it's totally possible that foul play wasn't involved. And that's what I thought at first I thought maybe they were drunk, she drowned,

maybe he couldn't bring her back to the shore, but said he did because he didn't want to be implicated in that and thought that it would be easier for his story. I don't really know. It could just be that this Joshua guy was the last person to have seen her alive before a tragic accident took place. But also when you have a case like this, you know there are always going to be rumors and theories and a lot of people online have been accusing Joshua

of knowing more than he has shared. There also are some different versions of the story that he was telling the investigators. Like how at first he told them he went back to the hotel by himself, but then he told them that he passed out on the beach. It was also reported in a Daily Mail article that he does have a girlfriend back at school, but I mean that's Daily Mail so take it with a grain of salt and do your own research before jumping to conclusions. But he's also 22 years old so if it was an accidental drowning involving alcohol this must be traumatic for him

too and there's bound to be some shock and play. And again, maybe they were drinking, they were in the water, they were making out and the wave hit and then he panicked because he couldn't rescue her, but they had been drinking and he didn't want to get in trouble. We don't really know. But his hometown released this statement about Joshua and in this they're showing their support for him. They say, the Rock Rapids community stands behind and supports Joshua and his family. The family moved to town in 2015, and they have been active in various school and community events and organizations.

They are well-known and loved. Josh has an unwavering devotion to his faith and a genuine kindness towards others. He exemplified the values of compassion, respect, and integrity that are fundamental to our church and our community. Now this case is just so incredibly sad because it really is every parent's worst nightmare. These kids were just on a college spring break hoping to have fun. Everything was going

fine. They were trying to have a young wild night out drinking, watch the sun rise, maybe hook up a little bit, and everything just went completely wrong. And just imagine all of a sudden getting that phone call that your daughter is missing. It's incredibly heartbreaking. So now, after searching for the last two weeks, her parents have asked the authorities to declare their daughter as dead. On Monday, they sent a letter to the authorities in the Dominican Republic asking for quote a declaration of death. They also sent the request to

investigators so that they would close the investigation. This is with deep sadness and heavy. No, no. We are coming to the terms with the fact that our daughter has down. This is incredibly difficult for us to process. We kindly ask you to keep our daughter in your prayers. We still have two

young children to care of her, which I don't know if you. I don't know what you think. Do you think that's too soon? Do you think there's still hope? Do you think that's too soon? Do you think there's still hope? Do you think that they just think

she probably was swept away to sea and they're ready to have closure and move on? I don't know, what do you think? In the letter, the parents acknowledged the idea that there is no foul play. And they say that they do just want closure after this entire thing. And I mean, regardless of anything,

I just cannot imagine being in this situation at all. Her friends, her family, everybody, they must just be so shocked and devastated and heartbroken. Also, I think it's possible that the parents could know more information than what's been released to the public right now. And maybe that's why they're asking for this declaration and for the closure of the investigation. Hopefully, you know, in an effort to kind of quiet down the rumor mill and all the online conversation and chatter. So we don't really know. But we, of course, will continue to watch this and see what happens. So that's what we've got this week for Headline Highlights.

As a reminder to you guys, if you missed the Monday episode, it's a long one. It's almost two hours. And you may have seen the viral TikTok a few weeks back about this young woman, Fallon, sharing her story about how her mother's stalker broke into their family's home, held her hostage, her brother hostage, her mother hostage, her father hostage, and then ultimately killed both of her parents in front of her and her siblings. And they called the police. The dispatcher fell back asleep and they never came. So she was in this house with the stalker with then her deceased parents for hours with her younger brother. And she was only nine

years old when this happened. Unfortunately after all of this both of her brothers suffered from very traumatic PTSD, from just horrific things in their own lives, and they both ended up taking their own lives. So it's a very powerful story and she goes into detail about that night. What happened when he broke in, when they were held in the basement, how at one point the stalker looked at her mother and said you have to choose who I'm gonna kill first, your daughter or your son. It's just a very heartbreaking story and so when I had seen that TikTok of her sharing this,

I reached out and offered support, asked her if she wanted to share her story in a more deep dive of a way. And so we flew her out from Canada and she joined me in studio. And so that episode is out now. It was just released this last Monday. But I wanna warn you, it is definitely a difficult listen.

It is very emotionally charged and graphic so just be warned. And as a reminder if you need even more content to binge going into your weekend we put out extra episodes every single Friday on Patreon and on Apple podcasts. So you can get access either on patreon.com slash Annie Elise or directly through the podcast app on Apple. And we right now have a library of upwards of maybe 80 episodes and there are many deep dives into cases. It's an extra episode completely ad free too so you don't have to like get interrupted. And this week we actually talk about this very disturbing story of a kidnapper who would constantly torture these women, who would assault these women, and then this one woman who was held in his garage, or his friend's garage I should say, and thought that she was going to die. But she escaped. And you might remember even seeing that footage when this case broke. So we talk all about this case and it

does not end how you might think. So that comes out this Friday. Other than that we have a whole library of things. And again, you can get access over on Apple or Patreon. And I think right now over on Apple, we actually gave a massive discount for the annual subscription to this. I think it's like 40% off, maybe even the monthly too. So that's only lasting until what? For another week, I believe. So now would be the time to go and activate it. So you can also do a free trial. So go check that out and see if it's for you. And other than that, I will be back with you on Monday with an all new deep dive. All right, guys, thank you so much for tuning in with me today. If you guys are coming tonight, as a reminder,

come to the screening event, the movie tonight. It's free. The link will be in the description. It's Nicole Kidman's new movie. So All Might Orange County, local fam. And I will see you there, but it's first come first serve so link in the description Alright guys. Thanks again. And until the next one be nice. Don't kill people. Don't join any cults and just stay safe. Alright