SERIALously - 259: Teacher Seduces 15 Year Old, Teen Murders His Parents & BDSM Sex Slaves

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

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Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly. I am your host, Annie Elise. And I am here to guide you through everything going down this week in true crime. And it's only Thursday guys, but it is a lot. There is so much happening. Not only are there a ton of new cases that we're following, but Lori Valo's trial is fully underway. I mean, we had opening statements already. She is representing herself, if you don't know that, which is just beyond me. There's also an interview

that came out over the weekend, another one that she gave after the notorious Dateline one with Keith Morrison, where she is just doubling down on everything that she's the victim in all of this. How this is all happening for a reason and how she's in jail right now to help save these women and get them through. And it's just like, gag me, honestly. It's like this self-righteous wannabe martyr in all of this. And it just, it makes me sick. We also have Karen Reid's trial going on. Jury being seated, that's full steam ahead and I'll just let you guys know right here while we were planning on covering Karen Reid's trial and giving you guys updates

it looks like we're actually possibly going to be in the courtroom now. I'm waiting on a few details but we have been in touch with Karen's family and apparently it's such a small courtroom that you can't get in like a regular trial. The only way you can get a seat is that it's very selective and you have to like get in with a family member or somebody who's a part of the trial and so we may be going with Karen's family and covering the trial. So stay tuned for that. Other than that, what else is going on? It's Thursday. My face is a little bit pink. I apologize if you're watching this on YouTube and you're like,

uh Annie, why is your face so red? I went and had microneedling done over the weekend, and usually my face bounces back after like 48 hours, but it's taking a little bit of time this time around, which life hack for all my girlies out there. microneedling has like changed my skin entirely. I feel like I've tried all the different skin cares like retinol, trentenol, and all these things, but I started microneedling, gosh when was it, I guess late fall. I just had my third or fourth session and I have noticed such a difference in my skin. So even though I'm a little pink right now, I don't have any makeup on and you can kind of see like basically what it is and sorry for anybody who's not interested, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Basically what it is, is it's like a pen that they use. It's not

filler, it's not injections, don't worry, but it's like a pen that they use and it has a ton of little micro needles at the tip of it, hence the name. And you can use exomes, you can also use like your own plasma with that's extracted from your blood. I don't go that far, I just use use exomes. You can also use like your own plasma with that's extracted from your blood. I don't go that far. I just use the exomes and they go over your skin with this pen. They numb you first, but they go and it takes about 10 minutes, maybe 15. They go over your skin with this pen and it like produces collagen. It's produced. It like triggers your skin to like resurface itself I don't know all the correct terminology obviously but what I will say is that my skin has never been clearer it has never been glowier and so you do it like every

six weeks you can if you want and only for like three times and then you can I think do maintenance maybe I don't know once a year but anyway I went and got that so I'm a little you can hear ASMR I'm rubbing my cheek right now It's a little sandpapery because the new skins turning over but I love it. I swear by it. So Everybody should check it out if you're interested. I don't know. All right, you know, obviously aren't here because this isn't a skincare podcast So let me just shut up and get into the cases. Oh, wait Wouldn't be true anti podcastcasting if I didn't get distracted. I also this last weekend went and saw Crime Junkie. They're on tour, little public service

announcement if you guys ever listen to Crime Junkie. But I went and saw them with my sister Amy and it was a pretty good show. It was long, it was really long, but it was a great case, good coverage, and I found it pretty interesting. So that's what I did with my weekend. My husband also is still in Morocco. He's running the MDS marathon. If you haven't heard of that, it is wild. It's six days, 155 miles, completely self-sufficient. You have to carry your water on your back, your food on your back, everything.

You can't shower for a week obviously because you're in the Sahara Desert and then each night when you sleep it's under a tent that you share with like six other people but you have like and you have like a sleeping mat but that's it and so all of the food he brought it's I don't what would you call it like astronaut food basically where it's like bagged and that's what he eats and yeah no showering yeah I think you have to like dig a hole and poop in it even Even there's no toilets, obviously, so he is Finishing up now. He's on what is it now? It's the I think he has one day left

Yeah, one day left. The long stage is that was yesterday and that one is like last year. He did it last year, too I don't know why he's doing it again this year. He's crazy. But it's like 27, it took him 27 hours for that long stage. But yeah, so he, that was my weekend. He's still in Morocco running because my husband's an ultra marathon runner. If I haven't told you that myself, I haven't run since I think 2019, but you know, God bless him. So that's what's going on in my life. Not that you care, but figured I would just throw it out there.

Why not give you a few little personal anecdotes of my life, right? So today I'm going to talk with you a little bit about what's happened with Lori Vallow and her opening statements, where things are at with Karen Reed as well. But I want to talk to you about some new cases that are breaking and they're really unsettling. A lot of these have been also requests coming directly from you guys, but we have once again a creepo teacher who is a special ed teacher at that who is now being accused of having sex with her 15 year old student. However, what she's saying and claiming that really happened, you will have to hear it to believe it. It's

pretty wild. We're also gonna be talking about a 17 year old teenager who murdered their parents and lived with their rotting bodies for weeks. Some college students who were unfortunately stabbed to death only days apart. A mother who killed her son after a trip to Disneyland. This is one of the most horrific stories I've heard of. And I heard about it for the first time a couple weeks ago

and I wanted to have more details before we covered it because it's just so unsettling. And then we also are going to talk about a very successful realtor who allegedly would trap women and then hold them captive as sex slaves. So we're going to talk about all these new cases, we're going to talk about Lori, talk about Karen, maybe I'll throw in some other stuff and now let me just shut up and let's get into it. So I want to start with this special ed teacher who is now accused of having sex with her 15 year old student. And buckle up because this one is a roller coaster.

Christina Formella is a 30 year old teacher in Downers Grove, Illinois. She worked at Downers Grove South High School where there she taught special ed, she was also a soccer coach for both the boys and the girls teams, and was just very well liked. And on paper, honestly, she had it all. I mean, she's beautiful, she recently married her college sweetheart, she had this great job, and she was also very well respected by all of her colleagues. However, like so many cases we discussed, you would never guess what was going on behind the scenes. See, back in December of 2023, Christina was allegedly tutoring

a 15-year-old freshman boy before school. He was also on the soccer team that she coached, and she was supposed to be in this position of trust, right? I mean, she coached him, she was tutoring him, seems like a relatively normal situation. Well, fast forward to March 15th, 2025, and this kid and his mom just like rolled up to the Downers Grove Police Department and dropped a complete bomb. Because it turns out this mom had found some very damning text messages on her son's phone. The text messages that I'm telling you like made her stomach turn and drop. These texts were really explicit, like way inappropriate for a teacher and a 15 year old student. I mean we're talking about text messages where Christina is saying stuff like, I love you so much baby even though this morning was short

it was perfect. To which then he texted back saying, I know baby it was so perfect baby, so perfect. And then she goes on to say to him, I just love having sex with you. Guys, when I tell you the level of cringe that I have from these text messages, look, I think I'm affectionate and sweet with my husband, but I don't even know that I would send him

some of these text messages. The fact that she is sending this to a 15 year old, a 15 year old student, it is beyond. I mean, honestly, I just, what was this woman thinking? What was she thinking? So of course the police started digging. And when they did, they figured out that not only was Christina allegedly assaulting this kid, but apparently she had done so in one of her tutoring sessions in a classroom. A classroom. Like, the place where you're supposed to learn algebra, not learn, like, about the birds

and the bees, right? Well, I guess technically you can, but you get what I mean. Not, like, reenacting it. So the cops, they didn't waste any time, and on March 16th, they pulled Christina over in a traffic stop near her house. There, they confronted her after she pulled into her driveway. Now her husband was in the car with her, by the way, during all of this, and they arrested her right then and there. And the cherry on top of this is it was all caught on body cam. And I want you to listen to this body cam footage because it is so unsettling. And you know what? For those of you listening to the podcast version of this, I highly encourage you after you listen to this go check out the body

cam footage that I have on my YouTube channel. You need the visual attached with it to really understand just how unhinged this woman is. Hey, how you doing? Officer Guzman with daughter girl. Do you have your license on you? Yeah, I'm nice boy. I'm sure you're confused.

I'll explain it to you. Double doors. You Christina. OK, Christina, do me a favor. Can you step out of the car for me? I know you're confused. I'll explain everything to you. You don't have anything on you? You can just grab whatever you need. Whatever I need? Yeah, whatever you need. Your phone, your purse, go ahead and grab it. Is she going somewhere? Yeah, we're gonna explain everything to you guys. Go ahead and grab out. We're not going anywhere right now.

Of course, of course, yeah. I don't understand what's going on here. I get it, yeah. You can go grab your things. Can he come with me? Yes, yes. You stay there, right for right now, or just stay there, but yes you can.

But come on back here. Should I shut the car off? Oh yeah, yeah, go ahead. It goes off. Let's go back over here. So we do have an investigation going on. We have to talk to you about it at the police department. OK?

So we're going to explain everything to you there. It's not my investigation. I don't know the full details. We do have to bring you there, though. OK? So I do have to bring you there though, okay? So I just put you in handcuffs and bring it to the police department just a dollar. Yes, unfortunately. Yes I'm like willing to go with I get it. Yeah, unfortunately. We have to do it that way do me a favor. We just take this off Can I ask you what of course yeah, it's not like I said some investigation obviously we're here for a reason So go ahead and turn around for me.

So right now you're being detained and there is a type of thing that needs to talk to you at the police department. I'm like... I get it. You have a lot of questions. I'm so scared. Yeah, everything's okay. We just need to talk to you at the police department. That's all. Nothing else on your pocket right now? Just my phone. Just your phone? Yeah.

Okay. Okay. All right. We're gonna be sitting in the back of this car on the other side. Once you get to the police department, you'll talk to the detective and he'll explain everything to you. But you can't even give me like an idea- At the moment?

... what this is about? Other than that, it's an investigation. That's all I can really tell you right now. I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more. Excuse me, is my husband coming with? Yes, yeah. He's taking his phone number down. We're staying in touch with him. We're just going to Downer's Road, so 10 minutes away. No, I know, but I really would prefer that my husband's with me. Of course.

me. Of course. Am I in trouble? Like I'm so lost right now. I'm. I'm sure you are. Like I said, I can't answer any questions. We're going to tell you that right now you're being detained for investigation and we're bringing you you in on everything. I'm just gonna put your seatbelt on. Lessa, are you able to reach it down there? How many? Are you sure you don't want a tissue or something? I'm feeling it, I'm gonna throw up. You want a bag? Let's go.

All right. Hey, can you get like a bag? I'm gonna throw up. Alright. Hey, can you get like a bag just in case she gets nauseous? Yeah. Alright, do we have any of those emisos bags laying around the fire? I figure something better than nothing. Right here, if you stay with her I'll go grab a drink. What the fuck?

Just kind of put it on the floor here, alright? Okay. A few paper towels on the floor here if you need it, alright? Okay. Thank you. Now, I know you're going to probably go watch this on YouTube if you are listening to the podcast version, but let me just describe this. She looks genuinely bewildered, shocked. She keeps asking why she's being arrested,

but they don't give her any details about the investigation. And by the time she gets to the station, she's just like crying. She's saying she's going to throw up. She can't believe this is happening, which hi, maybe don't have sex with 15 year old kids. And then you won't be surprised and you won't feel like you need to throw up. Now when the police questioned Christina, guys like the audacity, you're not even gonna believe what she said. She said quote,

Oh, I didn't do anything. Everybody comes after me because I'm good looking and I'm just a nice person who cared too much about this kid. That was her excuse, which are you kidding me? That's what you're gonna go with, which good luck with that. I think you're going to need a better defense than that one. But what's interesting is then she totally flipped the script

and she started turning it against this kid saying he's a stalker. He got her phone. He sent these text messages to himself so that he could blackmail her. I mean, really trying to sell this story, which kind of almost feels like a plot that you would see in a Lifetime movie. But I guess she had nothing to lose at that point, or really everything to lose, so she was going to try anything. But luckily the cops were not buying this story either. So Christina has been charged with one count of criminal sexual assault and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, all of which are felonies, by the way. She was let out of jail with some bond conditions though,

like not going near to school, no contact with anyone under 18. I mean, very important conditions. I think we can all agree. We are heartbroken for the victim and also for the hundreds of students, staff, and family who trusted this teacher and feel betrayed by this terrible situation.

Our top focus now is to support the victim and their family and to ensure the well-being and safety of all of our students. She's due back in court on April 14th and honestly I am dying to see how this plays out because is she gonna stick to the you know, I'm too pretty to be guilty defense that she's trying to pull which is almost like a Lori Vallow reenactment? Will there be more allegations that come out? Will we learn how long this truly going on and what really happened? I definitely will be keeping my eye on this one, so I'll let you know. This whole case is just disgusting through and through, and as a parent it's like we already have one massive thing to worry about by sending our children to school, right? Hello. I mean, it's no secret that there is a lot of violence in schools in this country and it's really scary

Which is why a lot of people are homeschooling But it's like now you also have to layer on We're being worried that these teachers who are supposed to teach, protect, and you know Look after your children are actually predators and they're preying on your children. It's just it makes me so incredibly mad and it's so disheartening right? It makes you kind of lose hope in society as a whole which sorry I know that's like wah wah wah but I don't know it just it really irks me. Now let's move into this next case with this 17 year old teenager who has been charged with killing their parents.

Nikita Kassap, a 17 year old from Waukesha, Wisconsin, has now been charged with killing his 35 year old mother and his 51 year old stepfather. Now, we don't really know many of the details that led up to the murders, but apparently these murders happened on February 11th. Then Nikita allegedly lived with his parents rotting corpses for two entire weeks. Apparently he kept their bodies right where he had shot and killed them too. Didn't bother moving them, didn't try to hide them, just lived with them as if life was going on as usual. Police said that they also found a camera memory card

that contained a video of Nikita lighting candles in the office where his stepdad's body was found. Almost like a seance or a ritual. I don't know, but they allege that he recorded this video about a week after he murdered his stepdad. So was it some type of memorial service? Again, ritual? I don't really know, but freaking weird and gives me the creeps. And what's even weirder is he was apparently talking to somebody or talking to himself as he was recording this. Because according to the authorities investigating the case, quote, the camera is turned facing a chair and the detective heard the defendant say, quote, so you can see him there. I can literally see the fucking rotten body there. Now I don't think I need to explain to anybody how next level creepy this is that

this kid was literally videotaping his stepfather's decomposing body. Who does that? It's almost like he was using this. I don't even know. Was it like a trophy to him? Did he want to then show people because he was proud? I mean, or was he just so detached and callous that it seemed almost like a movie or a prop to him? I don't really know, but what I do know is something is seriously wrong with him. Who does something like that? And as if that's not grotesque enough, after the murders Nikita was even texting people from his parents' phones, pretending to be them like they were still alive. He even texted his stepdad's work,

telling them, you know, I'm sick, I can't talk on the phone, I'm not gonna be coming into the office, really trying to get away with this, it seems. Now, during this texting frenzy or whatever it was, he also texted his stepdad's mother. However, what he didn't know was that she was already becoming increasingly

suspicious of these messages. To her, she could just tell the tone, the conversation flow, it just seemed off. So then on February 28th, his stepdad's mom followed her instincts and called the police. She said, you know, please go perform a welfare check. Something is not sitting right here. I want to know what's going on. So deputies rolled up to their house on Cider Hills Drive and the scene that they walked into guys, it was straight out of a horror movie. There they found his mother and his stepdad

and just dead and fully decomposing. Now I mentioned that the stepfather was in the office, but the police found his mom Tatiana buried underneath clothing and blankets in this hallway near the kitchen. She had suffered multiple shots to her neck, upper torso, abdomen, and her right wrist, which I would imagine the right wrist was probably a defensive move if I had to guess. Maybe putting her arm up trying to block it when he raised his gun at her. I don't know. That's just a guess, but it's haunting. And what I do think is interesting too, and maybe it means nothing, but tell me what you

guys think. His mom suffered multiple gunshots. While his stepdad, who was in that downstairs office I mentioned, just had a gunshot wound to his head, a single one. So did he go after his mother first, and that's why he shot at her so many times because he didn't know how to be effective and then he went and killed his stepfather and just was like I don't want him to fight back I'm going to do one gunshot wound to the head or if it were reversed was the anger really you know pointed towards his mom and was that why she had multiple shots like was it overkill? I don't know but anyways as the police

discovered these bodies, Nikita was nowhere to be found. Which you might be wondering, okay, well where the hell was he? He lived with these bodies for weeks, where was he now? Well as it turns out, he was halfway across the country. He fully bolted. Now thankfully, he was arrested

during a traffic stop in Kansas. And he was arrested the same day that the couple's body was found in that home in Wisconsin. But he was arrested the same day that the couple's body was found in that home in Wisconsin. But he was arrested about 850 miles away. He had been driving and fled in his stepdad's VW Atlas, and he even had the family dog with him inside the car. When the police pulled him over, they also observed, in plain view, a gun sitting right there on the passenger side floorboard. Police also discovered spent casings, his parents' IDs, cash, and jewelry. So he was, of course, taken into custody. But it doesn't end there, not by a mile, because now is where we really get

Lifetime movie, Oxygen movie, Netflix series, all rolled into one. Because apparently, Nikita had been texting somebody in Russia this entire time asking to get fake plates, maybe even trying to escape to the Ukraine, which like the Ukraine what? I mean this kid's not just running, he's really planning an international getaway. Now look, I'm just gonna say this and give my hot take on the situation. To me, I feel like it leads me to believe at least, I'll say that, that this was premeditated. And the reason I say that is because these records are showing that he's messaging back and forth with his contact in Russia for literally weeks or even months before the murder. So asking questions like, how long will I have to hide before I can move to Ukraine,

who's this quote contact that he was messaging with. So to me, that indicates that there was a plan being put in place, that there was like all the groundwork being done and like strategy. So it just, again, kind of sends a shiver down my spine that teenagers, teenagers are capable of this kind of violence. I swear guys, you can't make this kind of stuff up. So while being held in Kansas, Nikita was originally charged with one count of theft and one count of operating a motor vehicle without the

owner's consent. However, he has now also been charged with two counts of first degree intentional homicide, two counts of hiding a corpse, and two counts of theft of a movable property. So eight counts in total. And the judge in this case had this to say to the defense team. I now have charged and alleged two first degree intentional harm. The highest, the highest counts that we have, quite frankly, in our country is what's been alleged here. His bail was set at $1 million and he could spend a life in prison if convicted. The whole case is just wild and still has so many questions. So my

question, as I'm sure you're wondering too as you're listening to this, is like what made this kid snap? What was his motive? I mean there was no fighting, no big blowout. Was he just done with them? Did he just want to live an adult life and he didn't want any rules or repercussions or anything like that? I don't know. And then take that out of it. How do you live with these bodies for weeks without cracking, without buckling under pressure, or even having like a psychotic break, right? It just baffles me. And this next case also just really rubs me the wrong way. Not that any of these cases ever rubbed me the right way, obviously, like duh Annie,

poor choice of words, but I just can't wrap my head around this one. There's something I can't understand because now we're going to talk about that stabbing death that I mentioned at the top of this episode about the two college students because this has just completely sent shockwaves all across Italy. And let me break it down for you. So Sarah Campanella and Ilaria Sulla were both brutally murdered in two separate incidents last week. And here's the tragic part, as if it's not tragic enough, right? But they were both 22 years old, both college students, and both just killed and disposed of far too young and in such a evil way. Now let's start with Sarah.

Sarah, first and foremost, was absolutely gorgeous. I mean, long brown hair, beautiful brown eyes. She was a biomedical student at the University of Messina in Sicily and just had her whole life ahead of her. But she was stabbed and killed in broad daylight right in the middle of a busy street just surrounded by tons of witnesses. The perpetrator was Stefano Argentino and he ended up fleeing the scene as soon as he inflicted this horrific bloodbath and he took the murder weapon with him. However, he was later captured by the

police that same night in a nearby town. But according to witnesses, Sarah, as he was trying to attack her, tried to get away. She was screaming, stop it, let me go, before ultimately collapsing right then and there. And sadly, Sarah passed away while she was on the way to the hospital. So who was this Stefano guy?

Well, according to Italian media, he was a fellow student at the university, and he had been infatuated with Sarah for years. The police detention order even states that Stefano was, quote, regularly pestering the victim, asking her to go out with him and get to know each other better and refusing to back down even when she would flat out turn him down. Now unfortunately Sarah never went to the police. She never reported him. She just tried to like get him to beat it and back off. Her friends even said that she didn't feel like this guy's behavior was particularly threatening or even pathological. She just thought that he was somebody who was persistent and wouldn't give up. She of course didn't know that it was going to end like this. You just never really know what somebody is capable of, right? You truly never know. And it is so heartbreaking and devastating to think about.

And my question too is could this have story maybe had a different ending if she had previously reported him to the police? And that's not to victim shame. Not at all. It's just when we hear about cases like this, you can't help but wonder could something have been prevented? Could it have been stopped? Then, less than 48 hours later, news of Sarah's horrific murder was pushed out of the headlines by another nightmare that was unfolding. Ilaria Sula was an Albanian student studying at the University in Rome.

She was reported missing on March 25th because her roommate stated that she left around 9 30 p.m. and strangely she didn't say goodbye she just vanished. It was odd it was definitely not in her like normal behavior. So her parents filed a report right away and the police started searching for her. Then fast forward to April 2nd about a week later and the police found her body in a suitcase. It had been dumped in a wooded ravine about 25 miles outside of Rome. The suspect is her ex-boyfriend, 23-year-old Mark Sampson. Now, according to friends and family, they describe Mark as very calm, very nonviolent. Mark lived at home with his parents in what's, quote, called the African neighborhood of Rome.

He had also just graduated as an architect student, but he really seemed to have so much going for him. But ultimately after the police brought him in for questioning, he ended up point blank confessing to the murder. He says he grabbed a knife that had been used at breakfast and then used that knife to stab her three times in the neck. Then he took the knife along with the rags that he used to clean the blood up from his apartment and he threw them in a dumpster near his house. And what he did next makes me so sick because he proceeded to put Ellaria's body in a suitcase and wrapped it in cellophane as though nobody was going to notice or find it or like dumping

her like she's garbage. Later that same day, he loaded the suitcase containing her body into his car and he drove it to a ravine and then just threw it right in. It always makes me so enraged when people just dispose of victims like they're literal garbage. The fact that he just threw her into a ravine like she was trash, like she was nothing and didn't matter. I mean, this girl was beautiful. She was smart. She had so much life ahead of her and she was just

discarded after he stole and snatched her entire life from her. And why? Because he got jealous over a text message? Like, get a grip, you twerpy douchebag. Like, it just, it's so senseless in every definition of the word. Now in the wake of these killings, rallies have been held in this country to denounce femicide and to really demand tougher measures for the government to put in place to protect women. Now in a really unsettling statistic considering we're only in April, Ellaria is the 10th femicide victim in Italy this year. 10th. It is April for crying out loud.

Like, it is crazy. That means, if you do the math, that it's one woman dead every 10 days. All because some guy got jealous, couldn't deal with the text message, couldn't deal with his feelings, felt he was entitled to date her. I mean, it is so unhinged. I mean, not even unhinged, guys. I need a new word. It's just so entitled. Maybe that's the word. Like, the fucking audacity of these creeps, right? This is just absolutely awful and the victims definitely deserve justice, so I hope that they get that. Now, before we get into the next stories, we are going to take a quick break and hear

from today's sponsors. Today's episode is sponsored by Simply Safe. And with longer daylight hours, you might be like me, spending way more time outside of the house, whether you're running errands, you're going to the park with the kids, maybe staying out later in general. But the extra daylight actually is kind of scary because it gives burglars more opportunity for them to strike and to plan it. FBI crime data even shows that break-ins are more likely happening during the day than

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And right now, Ancient Nutrition is offering 25% off your first order when you go to ancientnutrition.com slash AE. That's ancientnutrition.com slash AE for 25% off your first order. Ancientnutrition.com slash AE. Okay so this next case is the one that I told you I first heard about a few weeks ago, but I wanted to gather more information before I covered it. And it actually is happening like right here in my backyard. And it's the case about the mother who went to Disneyland with her child and then killed

her son. So Reetha Ramah Raju is a 48 year old woman who moved to Virginia after a very nasty divorce. She then flew into California for a custody visit with her 11 year old son, Yatin. And let me just say, this was supposed to be a very fun visit with her son. Three days at Disneyland, enjoying the Southern California weather, just having a great time. Also, I mean, it's worth saying, Disneyland is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, right? However, on the day that she was supposed to check out of the hotel and then return her son to his dad,

everything just went off the rails. That morning, she called 911 on herself, and she calmly told the 911 operator that she had just killed her son, and that she had also taken pills trying to kill herself. When the cops arrived at the hotel, they found her right there on her phone outside of her hotel room, just calm as can be. And sadly, they found her son, her 11-year-old son stabbed to death, lying right there on the hotel bed,

surrounded still by his Disneyland souvenirs and toys that he bought on this fun trip with his mom. Police also recovered a bloody kitchen knife just laying there on the bed, which if you're wondering like I was, what Police also recovered a bloody kitchen knife just laying there on the bed, which if you're wondering like I was, what do you mean a bloody kitchen knife? She was staying in a hotel. Well, as it turns out, she bought that knife. The day before, she went with her son to a store and bought this kitchen knife, full well knowing what she was going to do. So obviously this looks like premeditation. I mean, how sick can you possibly be?

What kind of mother does this to her own child? And over custody issues? But unfortunately we have covered so many cases like that. I mean Susan Powell is one that comes to mind and there's so many where it's like that mentality of if I can't have you nobody can can. And it's just, it's so sad for the kids because they are the victims of this situation that they didn't ask for. They didn't wanna be in the middle of. And now it's like, look what happens, right? Now on this body cam footage,

which is very difficult to watch, it also will be on YouTube if you do want to look at it. But in this footage, you can hear the female officer say, quote, she has blood on her hands. I literally can't even imagine how horrifying of a scene that this must have been for the police officers. She's got blood on her hands. Blood on her hands. Who else is inside? Just your son? Sadly, this little boy was pronounced dead at the

scene. Police then took his mother to the local hospital after she had told the police that she had taken those pills, you know, all in an attempt to try and kill herself, which part of me wishes that she had been successful with that, but part of me also is glad that she wasn't because now she can face full responsibility and accountability for what she did, but I don't know. She was later released and she's now in custody at the Santa Ana County Jail. The Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a recent press release, quote, the life of a child should not hang in the balance between two parents whose anger for each other outweighs their love for their child. Anger can make you forget who you love and what you are responsible for doing.

The safest place for a child should be in their parents' arms. Instead of wrapping her arms around her son in love, she slit his throat and in the cruelest twist of fate, removed him from the very world that she brought him into. Which is such a powerful statement, but also such a haunting statement, and I couldn't have said it better. Like I said, we are seeing this more and more, these murder-suicide type of situations amid custody battles. And it's something to be hyper aware of because it's just, it's very scary, very reckless, and I don't know, my thoughts and prayers go out to the

father of this young boy because I truly just cannot even imagine how you reconcile something like this. It is just the ultimate fear come true. Now moving into another type of monster, a more, I don't want to say hands-on, a more sexual type of monster. I guess that's the best way of putting it. I want to talk with you about this realtor who has now been accused of holding women captive and using them as their sex slaves. And boy oh boy is this story a shocking one. Austin Chronister is a 38-year-old real estate agent from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and he has now found himself behind bars because he has been accused of running a sex slave operation out of his own home. Pause for reaction. I mean, I'm literally here with my jaw dropped. Like, a sex trafficking ring

out of your own home. You're 38 years old. You are a freak. He was charged with multiple felonies, including human trafficking, sexual assault, and false imprisonment. And it all started when two women came forward and detailed their experiences of abuse, captivity, and manipulation, all spanning over the course of years. In fact, these allegations stem back as far as 2020, which we know a lot of weird shit went down during COVID and people got away with a lot. And it seems like maybe that's what kicked this whole thing off. I don't know. That's just my guess. I could be wrong. But according to the criminal complaint, Austin also had an alleged accomplice. And not just a lay person or a creepy friend,

but a Milwaukee attorney by the name of Christian St. Pierre. Now, these women who have come forward claim that this attorney held onto their paychecks, their birth certificates, and even their social security cards all in a locked safe to keep them under their thumb. Austin and this freakazoid Christian apparently owned this home together

and they referred to it as creepy and cringe and ick as this is, as House Saint Pierre. Like, I can't, I get a life, you are such a loser. According to a criminal complaint that was filed in Milwaukee County, Austin wasn't living alone in this house. Multiple women resided there with him. And the investigators say that these women

were bound by more than just a lease. They were bound by an actual contract, not a rental agreement, mind you, but a document that actually laid out rules and regulations that are straight out of a freaking nightmare. I'm talking obedience, sex on demand, wearing a collar at times that's locked by the way with only a key that Austin had. I mean the works and this was apparently all done and this collar had to be worn to remind these women that they were constantly, quote,

being evaluated for service. And here's where it gets even more disturbing, if you can believe it. But these women allegedly had matching slave tattoos, and they were even assigned slave numbers, which, what does that even mean? What is a slave tattoo? What is a slave number? The first thing that comes to mind is Nexium, because if you remember that's a cult, it was a sex cult with that freak. I keep saying freak, but hello, they are all freaks. Keith Raniere. It wasn't tattoos, but they were all branded. And it's like you mark them as cattle, as though they're your territory, your product. It is so sick. And here's a really

strange twist with this one, guys, as if it's not strange enough and as if we need another twist. But Austin's defense argues that all of this was consensual. They say that all of these women were willing participants. It was a BDSM lifestyle, which is, you know, bond submissive, all of that, and that they went along with it, that they entered into this contract fully consensual, ready to do it, which maybe so, okay? Because Austin is saying they all knew what they signed up for, therefore he's innocent, and maybe so. However, if you are free to go at any time and if this is consensual, why would your passport, your social security card, your birth certificate, your paychecks, why would those be locked away in a safe?

Why wouldn't you have the freedom to just leave? But like I said, he said he is innocent and this is what they signed up for. Take a listen. Oh, this is really bad. So important to understand these women got into this relationship with this guy contracts to live in his house to engage in BDSM consensually. But then things turned criminal, police say. Police say that there was trafficking going on, sex assault going on,

false imprisonment going on, that these people were subjected to abusive treatment. This is far beyond the scope of what they bargained for and illegal. What's going to happen with this case? This is stunning. This is far b they bargained for and il to happen with this case. guy also a real estate ag a preliminary hearing on Nicole molar pushed back asked the investigators f trying to separate the co

the alleged crimes. And o admitted that one of the victims bragged about her injuries to others in the BDSM community, suggesting that she was in fact proud of them. So it makes you wonder, I don't think that anything like this could be consensual if they're holding your paycheck, your passport, your identification hostage. But, I'm just gonna give you a very small but, could this be something like a cult, likexium nexium 2.0? Where maybe that's what I'll put in the title of this where they do go into this contract saying I

Allow you to punish me how you see fit and I will give you sex on demand But I also relinquish all my privacy all my rights all my pay all my identification to you You are in complete control over me look personally. I'd lose my mind before I could do something like that I am way too anal and my husband would tell you so to like ever Allow someone to have that much control over me, but I know a lot of people are into that Oh, there's a lot of kinky stuff out there which to each their own like do you all the live long day especially ever since 50 shades. I feel like people are really into that lifestyle and like you know what not that I wish I had it in me but maybe I'm vanilla. I don't know

but I need control. I need to know that I have my passport on me. I can leave. I call me crazy, don't enjoy wearing a collar but this could be what people sign up for and what they're into. So I guess we just will have to wait and see what comes out during the trial because on March 26th, a judge ruled that there was enough probable cause for Austin to stand trial. And there's actually an arraignment that is set for today, April 10th. So currently he's out on a $75,000 bond, but I'm really curious to hear what comes out at this arraignment. He's been staying really quiet,

has refused to speak with reporters, and I wonder if anybody who was in this BDSM group, who has not spoken out against him, will speak out in favor for him. We also saw that with NXIVM. So I don't know, we've seen crazy things, guys. All right, now let's talk about the trial of it all and everything that's been going down this week so far with Lori, with Karen, and what we can expect. Let's start with Lori Valo, okay?

If you also want, just as a sidebar, if you want to watch the trial or great recaps of the trial, Lawn Crime is doing a great job on YouTube, so is Court TV. But Lori's representing herself, and I was actually on a podcast last week where the host asked me, what do you think is we should expect with Lori? And I said, you know, of course I think she's going to be self-righteous. I think that she's going to try to manipulate people and act like she's the smartest one in the room, which she is. But I also said, I have a really big feeling that since Alex murdered Charles in self-defense, or what he claims was self-defense, I think that she is going to say Charles was abusive, not only toward her, but toward the children.

And that because of that, Alex, her brother, had no other option but to intervene and defend these children. And the reason I mentioned that or said that I thought that's the direction it was going to go is because I was like, if they're already going with the self-defense thing and she's trying to get out of conspiracy to commit a murder charge, she's going to have to bolster that, right? She's going to have to really sell that to the jury. And what better way to sell that than to say he was abusive toward her or towards the kids? And sure enough, as Lori, it's a mouthful, as Lori is lawyering right now, she kind of is well put together. She's objecting, she's doing all this, but the thing that she dropped is that Charles

was coming at Tylee and that Alex had no other option but to protect her. We kind of all, I guess, knew that that would be coming, or at least I figured that would be coming, but now she has said it Interestingly enough to two jurors have been released in her trial as of day two which does not bode Well, that is not great. We will see what comes of that But it continues to just be a circus and I don't think the jury's buying any of it guys I really don't there was a lot of talk about worries that it's mostly a male jury that there's only three women. I personally do not think that's going to work in Lori's favor.

People were concerned she would manipulate them. I may have mentioned this already so I apologize if I did. But I don't think that's the case. I think that if anything she should have tried to get more women on the jury because maybe they would be able to relate to her if she was selling the story of being abused and the kids being abused. And maybe there would be a woman who had been wronged by her husband or abused or cheated on like she was saying Charles was doing. So I don't think anybody's going to buy it. I think we're going to see another conviction for Lori, but I guess only time will tell. Now, sidestepping over to Karen Reed a little bit here, I was in touch with one of Karen's family members this afternoon.

I'm not going to mention who, but this is the person who will be getting us a seat, I believe, at the Karen Reed trial since it's so tight there and how we'll be giving the updates. But they're having a little bit of a struggle seating the full jury as of this recording. Friday, they didn't agree on any jurors, Monday they didn't either, and it's just kind of been this slow process. So I believe that right now, assuming that the jury gets seated, and maybe it will be at the time that this recording goes live, but I think right now tentatively opening statements are scheduled

to begin Tuesday. Again, don't quote me on that. I could be wrong, but that's what I'm hearing. So we will keep you definitely updated on that case. And I actually think what I'm gonna do, guys, I haven't done live streaming in a hot minute here for like years. I think I'm gonna live stream the entire Karen Reed trial. I really do. I mean, I know we will be in the courtroom as well,

but there are pool cameras, there are feeds in there. I think that I'm going to live stream it so that all of us will be in the courtroom as well, but there are pool cameras. There are feeds in there I think that I'm going to live stream it so that all of us can be in the chat together as it's happening asking questions Talking about the case So if that does start Tuesday head over to YouTube beginning Tuesday and watch the stream with me watch this trial with me And let's talk about it and we will talk about it in real time So just as a little note and again, that's 10 to life over on YouTube. I wish I could stream it on the podcast, but I don't think there's any software that does that yet.

All right, guys, that is it for this week's episode of Headline Highlights. As I said, I think we are going to go and actually cover Karen's trial in the courtroom. So if you're not following this podcast yet or the YouTube channel, take a second, look on your podcast app, make sure you press the follow button. I think it's in the top right corner. Same over on YouTube. Press the subscribe button because we are going to be dropping those episodes probably outside of the normal release schedule and getting you all of the updates as they're happening in real time.

That way, too, you won't miss any other updates regarding other cases or deep dive episodes and all of that. And if you're listening on Apple and have an extra five seconds and want to leave a rating and review, I would greatly appreciate it. It's a free way to support the podcast and I would love that. So that is it for headline highlights. I will be back with you first thing Monday morning with an all-new deep dive. As a reminder, you know, there's so much more content to binge if you feel like you're running out of episodes. You can get access to those on Patreon or on Apple Podcasts. We have a library of I think well over 80 now extra deep dives that are exclusive to those subscribers so that's where you can get access. Last week I did an update on the Idaho case. I also then the week before talked about the breaking news case of the husband who is accused of

trying to push his wife off the cliff in Hawaii and like what really is going down with that case. So and then we of course just do other mini deep dives on there too. So again you can get access to that either on Patreon or Apple podcasts. All right that's it guys I will talk with you again very soon. I'm gonna go put like something on my face to cool down this redness a little bit and I hope you guys have a amazing weekend. A good rest of your week and I will talk with you again on Monday. All right, bye.