SERIALously - 392: Murdered USF Students, D4vd 40TB of Evidence & Influencer Dies After Proposal

Starting point is 00:00:01 Hey, true crime besties, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialously, your favorite true crime podcast. Happy Thursday. I hope you're having a good week. Today, it's Thursday, like I just said, hello. So today means it is headline highlights day where we are going to break down everything happening in the true crime world together.

Starting point is 00:00:46 And not just together. Not just you and me, my friend, or is it you and I? I don't even know. Grammar police come for me. But you, me, and Dupree. No, I'm just kidding. You, me, and Amy. Have you seen that movie?

Starting point is 00:00:58 Yeah. You mean, Dupree? I mean, it's been a long time, but yeah. Okay. Hi. Hi. Heller. Heller.

Starting point is 00:01:04 Heller. Guys, I don't even know what to say. What do we say? What do we need to catch up on right now? A lot. I feel. Well, no. No.

Starting point is 00:01:15 I went back to the long nails. Oh, I actually like those. But I got a mom haircut, so it balances each other out. I saw you posted earlier this week a poll online. What's it trend in? The people want dark hair. I had a feeling. Dark hair is happening at 12 p.m. today?

Starting point is 00:01:33 Oh, today? It is. Oh, my goodness. I know. It's a big change. It's a big life change. Not really. You've gone like black.

Starting point is 00:01:40 No, I know. And I'll probably be like back to platinum blonde in like six months and my hairdress will murder me. I'm actually on the verge of a new do as well coming in a couple of weeks. So stay tuned. You know me. You know me. A big change is like I've added some highlights. You're going to get like a half an inch trim. No way, O'Brien. You'll just have to wait and see. Okay. Okay. So before we get into today's cases, I do want to give you guys a little bit of some exciting news. As you know, we're about like a month out from CrimeCon, which CrimeCon is going to be in Vegas this year at. the historic Caesar's palace. I wanted to put in a hangover quote there. Like a bank of pay phones or what the hell to say? I don't even know. But like where he's like, did Caesar really live here? Oh, I don't know. When he's like they're checking in, he's all, so did Caesar really live here? And he's all, do a phone I could borrow like a bank of phones or like pay phone banks or whatever. God, that's a classic. I used to be able to quote the whole thing. That was like my drunk movie when I'd get home from the bars every day.

Starting point is 00:02:45 I knew it by heart. But anyway, it's going to be at Caesars at the last weekend in May, starting, what, the 29th through the 31st. And it's going to be a really great weekend. A lot of people are already committed to going. The Petito family goes. John Mene's dad goes, court TV goes, Nancy Grace goes, Chris Hanson's going to be there. A ton of other creators are going to be there. And we did a giveaway here a couple months ago.

Starting point is 00:03:13 And we thought, you know, let's do it. another one. Let's run it back. So we have decided that we are going to give away two weekend passes, but to one person, right? Yes. There will be one winner. Yes, you can bring a guest. Travel will not be included, but the weekend passes for you and your guests will be included. And here's the best part. All you have to do to enter is fill out a super easy form over on Patreon. And you don't even have to be in Patreon to fill out the form. It's for free members too, because we got you covered all my little freebie signing uppers. We do giveaways, we do, you know, bonus things.

Starting point is 00:03:46 So all you have to do is go to Patreon.com slash Annie Elise, or you can go to Patreon and search Annie Elise. Sign up at the free level. Again, it's not like a gimmick. You don't have to pay anything. No credit card down. Nothing like that. And then fill out this little simple form and you'll be entered to win those two passes. A reminder, quick note, travel is not included. Only one winner will be selected.

Starting point is 00:04:07 And entries close on Tuesday, May 5th. and then we will announce the winner in the episode description of next week's headline highlights. So on May 7th. But cannot wait to see you there. A lot of exclusive merch will be there too. Amy will be there. Jess will be there. Elizabeth will be there.

Starting point is 00:04:24 Our whole team will be there. We'll be in the hotel lobby drinking after CrimeCon. We're doing a couple fun Patreon things too. We are going to be doing some fun Patreon things as well. It's always just like a good weekend with, you know, a lot of benefit as well. Mike King will be there, our favorite. And he's doing a big president. So I'm going to obviously sneak away to watch that. He's just so smart and amazing and great and I love him. So yeah, so hope to see all of you there. Now with that out of the way, let's start moving into some case updates that I want to share with you. And I want to start with Michaela Settles. Now, you know we talked about this a little bit last week. We also talked about it the week before when I had a guest on and we dedicated the entire Thursday episode to Michaela's case. But I want to just get us started here on this

Starting point is 00:05:10 update because we have talked about it recently. And more specifically, last week we talked about if there was going to be enough evidence to support a sexual assault charge against Michaela's father. Now, just to recap, if you missed the last two Thursday episodes, which if you did, what the hell are you doing? No, I'm just kidding. But if you missed it, Michaela had moved to California from North Carolina to live with her biological father. This is back in July of 2025. So she moves in with her father, Stephen Chavez, in Moore Park, California, but then she called her mom just two days after moving in with him, crying, distraught, asking her to come pick her up. She also confided in her mother that her father had violently sexually assaulted her. And because of that, she was actually

Starting point is 00:05:57 taken to the hospital and was in such bad shape her uncle had to physically carry her into the hospital. While she was there, a sane exam was performed, which if you have heard of any other really horrible true crime cases or cases involving sexual assault, you know that a sane exam is extremely invasive, but it also is something that yields a lot of results. And it's great if you decide you want to file a report in the future or even at that point. It's just a great way to collect and preserve evidence. And these nurses are skilled and highly, highly trained. It's not just a regular nurse. It's an actual sane qualified nurse. But the exam is not easy. It takes hours. So they performed this sane exam, and Stephen, her father, his DNA was found inside of

Starting point is 00:06:46 Michaela. He was arrested shortly after, and he was charged with felony incest and also abuse of a position of trust. But then, fast forward a few months. And in December of 2025, because of the trauma that Michaela had experienced from all of this, she took her own life. Now, there was a court hearing that had been set for the 21st of April. So literally just a week ago. And Stephen, like the true coward he is, did not show up. And a lot of people did show up because that has really been the call to action in all of this on social media, even in our last episode, as people are so enraged by this case and the possibility that there may not be any real accountability that so many people showed up with posters, with signs just trying to advocate for Michaela and her family. Stephen, though,

Starting point is 00:07:33 didn't show up. However, some information did come out a few days later about where this case now stands after that hearing because his attorney did go there. And according to Michaela's family, Stephen is officially not going to be charged with sexual assault. And I want you to actually just listen right now to Michaela's mother speak on this because it is incredibly not only insightful, but impactful. So take a listen. As far as the case goes, I really don't know how to feel if I'm being honest. So they did set a date for the preliminary hearing. That's May 19th.

Starting point is 00:08:14 That's the first time that that's happened. So we are moving forward. They did, however, inform me that based on the charges, the most that he can get is three years and 20 years as a registered sex offender. I said he's 40. In 20 years, this is going to all go away for him. And, you know, they really couldn't really answer me, but they just kept saying, based on the charges,

Starting point is 00:08:43 that's the most that he can get. So then I said, why can't we do involuntary manslaughter? They said, based on the evidence, this is all we can charge. My daughter then asked, why can't we do rape? And they said, based on the evidence, this is all we can charge. so I don't know what evidence they're talking about, maybe what Michaela said, you know, the day it happened. But at the end of the day, he got her drunk. And even if, you know, he said, let's go to this room or let's go upstairs or whatever she said.

Starting point is 00:09:17 And even if she did, she was intoxicated. She was taken advantage of physically and mentally. So if that's not rape, I really don't know what is. I'm not really sure why they can't, you know, put that as a charge. As you just heard, ultimately, it comes down to what prosecutors believe that they can prove in court. Even with the DNA evidence inside of her, they still have to prove that it was not consensual. And also, there was a part during Michaela's mother's full interview in which she did say something of like how he tried to get her drunk, he did get her drunk, that even if she's the one who said like, oh, let's go hang out in my room or whatever. Obviously, she was young. She's impressible. He's a position of trust. He got her intoxicated, all of these things, which I'm not saying that it was consensual. Obviously not. There's no possible way it could have been consensual with how impaired she was. But now the prosecution has to prove that, which becomes difficult when Michaela's not here to speak for herself. So they're moving forward with the charges that they believe will stick. And I will say this has a lot of people upset, especially her family who,

Starting point is 00:10:26 they feel like these charges just aren't enough for everything that Michaela went through. Because right now, with what he is actually facing, get this, he's only looking at a maximum of three years in prison and then 20 years on the registry. But even that, if he has good behavior for those three years, he could be released in as soon as a year and a half. Meanwhile, Michaela is no longer here. Meanwhile, he is this sick, twisted freak, in my opinion, who did deplorable, disgusting things with his own daughter, so much so, not just the act itself, so much so that she was so internally damaged, she had to be carried into the hospital, and he can what, after a year and a half, like, go back to living a normal life, go back to

Starting point is 00:11:09 going on vacations, have a job, have a life, have a relationship, have potentially even more children? I mean, how fucking scary is that? So lots of people are upset. This is one that we are going to follow very closely. as of now he has pleaded not guilty, but there is another hearing that's scheduled to happen in a few weeks. So I will continue following this. I will keep you updated as more information comes out. I freaking hate this man. Same. I mean, you saw I put in the group chat immediately when that came out that that was the most he was going to possibly get. I couldn't believe it. I know, which it's like, you know, I get everybody is cloaked in innocence until they're proven guilty. But the innocent. factor here isn't that you even like it's the consensual piece you still had sex with your own daughter you violently attacked her or assaulted her whatever word you want to use and she took her own

Starting point is 00:12:06 life because of it like you are scum regardless the actual legal you know conviction or not or whatever what a sick my heart is broken for her family i can't even imagine the feeling that they must feel that frustration and just the lack of justice for Michaela. And I understand they've been very tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding Michaela taking her own life, the method, if she did or did not leave any notes behind. I know she was journaling a lot. She was trying to work through in her mind while all this happened. So I don't want to put words in her mouth or in her family's mouth, but I would imagine that when she got to that point of feeling like there was no other option but to leave this earth, that there was a level of like confusion, betrayal,

Starting point is 00:12:58 possibly even shame, which she should certainly never feel that shame. And it's just, it's heartbreaking. So I hope this piece of scum rots. But and you know what, even though he's only facing three years and it'll be a year and a half, maybe if good behavior, we know people like that do not bode well in the prison system. People who are current inmates and see a child predator walk in, we'll just leave it at that. You know exactly where I'm going with that. He's not going to have an easy time. It's not going to be easy, breezy, beautiful cover girl in prison. Yeah, let's hope not. I mean, it's hard to imagine when things like that happen and then they don't get the punishment they deserve. So if it happens in other ways. Yeah, it happens in other ways. You know what,

Starting point is 00:13:44 though? I am happy he'll be on the registry for 20 years, which also, high, like, that's kind of admitting that you did do something wrong if you're going on the registry, obviously, which that's great. It's like you can't go around schools. His job is an electrician. You probably can't do that anymore because you can't go into a home and has children. There should be a rule if there's not. And I know some people who are listening are probably going to be like they know what the law is around this. If you're on the registry, you shouldn't be able to have kids. Is that a hot take or like, is that real? I mean, I get sometimes, I guess now that I think that's real. I mean, I don't know how you'd be able to control. Well, actually I do. But yeah. But like, and I get that.

Starting point is 00:14:21 Sometimes there are not loopholes is the wrong word, but somebody where maybe there's like a case where it's an 18 year old man and a 17 year old girl and then he gets on the register. Or like there's like the technicality. Yeah. But if there's something involving incest or like and you're on the registry. Or any type of assault. Right. Anything involving a child too, which I get issues technically 18.

Starting point is 00:14:45 But like you should be able to have kids because in my opinion you're a predator and you pose a danger. Absolutely. And like we obviously know it's not beyond you to hurt your own child. And like, incest isn't beyond you. So who's to say you wouldn't breed some other children and then do something? You know? I don't know. I could go on and on about that. And my thoughts on castration when it comes to people who hurt children. But same. Now speaking of people who hurt children, we have some updates in the David case. This guy's like the bane of my existence. And I want to talk about some of the newest developments in the case against D. David Anthony Burke, otherwise known as David, D4VD. Because in last week's episode, we talked about this. Since then, there have been some very disturbing things that have come out, and it's a lot. First, we need to talk about Celeste's autopsy. At the time of last week's episode, and even when I did the live stream on Monday, the coroner's report had not been made public.

Starting point is 00:15:45 Then it was made public, I believe, either late on Wednesday or early Thursday, right, when our episode went live. However, it's now been released, and it is one of the most important pieces of information in this case so far. And it also adds a lot more weight to this case, because now there's not only actual confirmation of Celeste's manner of death, but also her cause of death. The medical examiner has now determined that her cause of death was from, quote, multiple penetrating injuries, otherwise known as stab wounds. And of course, as we know, the manner of death was ruled a homicide. However, we looked into this report, and when you dig a little bit deeper and you look a little bit further into the report, that is where things really start to sink in. Because according to

Starting point is 00:16:31 the autopsy, she had, quote, two penetrating wounds of the torso with smooth edges that may represent sharp force injuries. One was on the right side of her abdomen, and the other was on the left side of her chest. The report also goes on to say that Celeste also had injuries to her arms and legs. And And then it notes something that I know has been widely talked about a lot, but hadn't really officially been confirmed until that press conference. But it's a detail nonetheless that is extremely difficult to hear. But it has been confirmed that her body was dismembered, this 14-year-old little girl. And according to the report, without getting too graphic, her arms and legs had been cut into

Starting point is 00:17:13 multiple pieces, which that really shows the level of violence that was involved in this case. And it's truly horrifying. And I have to say, before I go any further, too, about, like, her talks report and all of that, there have been videos now surfacing, too, where he played Coachella in 2025, I guess it was, just four or five days before what they presume the death date was of Celeste. And was it before after? No, it was before. It must have been before. And then we all, we know he went on tour. And, like, all of these things that just, in my opinion, show, zero remorse, zero care, and just like this level of like entitlement and audacity that you're going to get away with all of this. Which again, innocent until proven guilty. So there were also talks reports that were run as part of her autopsy. And those test results showed, and I want to be clear when I say this, quote, presumed positive for multiple substances. There were, it was benzos, methamphetamine, shoot, what was the other one? There was another one involved in there as well. but they had said they were still waiting for, I think, concrete confirmation on that,

Starting point is 00:18:22 but it looked as though there was a high level of drugs in her system. I saw a lot of comments online of people thinking that that possibly indicated that maybe there were intentions of or a history of the past year that she had been with him of, like, trafficking her to his friends, to other things. My only hope is that if all of those drugs were in her system, I hope she didn't feel or wasn't aware of what happened to her when it happened. that I feel like would be the only possible silver lining in all of this. So this is obviously being treated as a very clear, very deliberate, brutal murder.

Starting point is 00:18:57 But at the same time, there are, of course, still some limitations because of the condition that her body was found in. So there may be some gaps when it comes to exact timing and certain details. But that's also not to say that prosecutors don't have a ton of evidence in this case. And I am talking massive amounts of digital evidence. Not just, which actually I'm getting ahead of myself, so let me just leave it there, a lot of digital evidence. Because during David's first hearing, which happened at the end of last week, prosecutor said that they are working with somewhere around 40 terabytes of digital evidence. 40, which to put that into perspective a bit, I even brought an illustration with me. Where is it?

Starting point is 00:19:39 First, let me tell you this. So it's not one phone. It's not two phones. It's not, you know, because I think what, you can get like a phone with like 32 gigs, 6,000. 64 gigs, that's not even a terabyte. So this is multiple hard drives worth of data, meaning tens of millions of photos, hundreds of thousands of hours of video, 40 terabytes, which I'm going to show you right now for those of you who are watching the video version of this. This is a one terabyte hard drive. This is what I record into every day when I record my episodes. And then I upload it. In a given hard drive that is just one terabyte, I have on average, I'm thinking through the thumbnails that I always see when I open this on my computer, at minimum 20 hours of

Starting point is 00:20:23 footage, and I still have room. So this is just one times that by 40 when it comes to, and videos are obviously larger files than photos. So think of how much material that is of digital evidence they have against him. And apparently they obviously haven't even gone through all of it yet. How could you? that is such an overwhelming amount of files and data and just so much to sift through. So it's not where they just have like a couple key pieces of evidence. There's a very high likelihood that they are going to find more stuff, more incriminating stuff, which leads us to one of the parts that has a lot of people talking. Prosecutors have said that on David's phone, specifically on his iCloud accounts, plural,

Starting point is 00:21:09 multiple iCloud accounts, they found what they described as, a significant amount of CSAM material. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the acronym, CSAM, you can look it up, but it is child sexual assault material. And I'm saying assault. It's really a different word. But I guess it could be interchangeable, actually. But it's basically child explicit material. And that's the exact language that was used with the prosecution. they were saying CSAM material and that there was a ton of it. Now, when I first heard this, I'll be honest with you. I didn't know if that just meant that David's a predator, that he has been, you know,

Starting point is 00:21:50 he has all sorts of this material like a dougar situation of all sorts of children, or if it's all material involving Celeste and that because she was a child, it is considered CSAM material. We don't know at this point, though, I want to be very clear whether any of that is directly related to Celeste or if it involves other individuals. but regardless, disgusting. And regardless, it will come out. And then another thing came out during this hearing.

Starting point is 00:22:18 A wiretap. Prosecutors also had confirmed during this hearing that a wiretap had been used during the investigation. So allegedly, there are recorded conversations that are going to be used as part of this case. However, they didn't say what these conversations were that were recorded or exactly who was involved, but they did say that they have them.

Starting point is 00:22:38 So obviously there are still a lot of moving parts in this case, but with the way that things are going, it looks like there might be a lot more to this situation than anyone ever imagined or anticipated. So I am going to be all over this because we have been following this for nearly a year now. Celeste deserves justice. Her family deserves answers. This scum, whoever was involved, David, David and his entourage, whomever, whatever, everybody deserves to be held accountable. So I will keep an eye on this as it plays out.

Starting point is 00:23:10 Fuck this guy. I can't believe the 40 terabytes. It's so much data. I saw the external hard drive sitting here when we started. I was wondering, I'm like, what is this prop here for? And you're like, I actually have it right here. I'm like, oh, that's why. Show and tell.

Starting point is 00:23:26 No, because I feel like people don't understand how much that is. Like on this, if I plug it in at minimum, 20 hours will be on here. And that's even like at 50% capacity. This is one terabyte. So 40 of these. And that's all video files that are hour long episodes, you know? It's like, who needs that much material? I've always not like wondered.

Starting point is 00:23:47 I mean, these people are sick. So you're never going to understand it. But yes, like for the amount of content they have and saved and stored, which I do know there's like people that sell it and share it and things like that. So, but like, why not just watch it? Why not download it? Not the, you know. Because they want to relive it. That's disgusting.

Starting point is 00:24:06 But then like what's so disgusting is they become desensitized to it. So then they have to get grosser material. And that's like Dugger who has the worst video that's even out there. Yeah. So regardless, look, I think the writing is on the wall. I believe that David killed Celeste. Okay. That is my opinion.

Starting point is 00:24:26 If I'm proven wrong, I will come and eat my words. Even without that. If he's proven innocent and exonerated and he didn't kill Celeste, I don't care, you're still scum because you have all this material on your phone. You're still a pervert. Exactly. And the 40 terabytes isn't specifically 40 terabytes of CSAM. It's 40 terabytes of digital evidence that they have. But he does, that is inclusive on the ICloud accounts of CSAM. So I just want to like make sure I'm making that, you know,

Starting point is 00:24:54 clarification. Oh, well, then I guess that's good to know they have that much evidence. Oh, yeah. I think, and like in his hearing, I like saw him like sitting back while his like lawyers were talking for him in the hearing. And like he just sees. so smug and they're and they're asking they're like we want a speedy trial we want all this we're going to prove his innocence which like good luck i roll like yeah have at it but i don't think it's going to play out the way this guy hoped that it would and it's like for what well it's taken so long that maybe there was a part of him that thought he was going to get away with it oh i'm sure he thought he was going to get away with it especially because all of the grand jury meetings in the beginning of

Starting point is 00:25:28 the year where they have witness statements now he was pissed about that and his attorney even said something in the hearing. Like, this was all unbeknownst to him. I'm like, they were all these secret meetings behind closed doors. Like, obviously, that's how you build a case. Like, who knows what he would have done if he knew that his friends were, you know, turning on him and sharing things, witness intimidation, silencing them, whatever he would do. Like, and so I think he thought he probably was getting away with it. And I'm like, when they're like, oh, no, bro, you know, here's 40. Here's 40. You couldn't wait to use that again. I couldn't wait to do it. They're like 40 terabytes, like, go get in lock.

Starting point is 00:26:03 up. And I think it's too with his restrictions right now, we obviously know they're not allowing bail, but he gets like, he gets to shower either every other day or every three days. He gets, I think, three hours and total of yard time for the week. I think he's in segregation. Is he getting the fan girls coming after him? Not that I've seen. Thank God. Not like a Wade Wilson situation, but also like gross. But they're both gross. They're both discussing. Wade Wilson has. I'm just thinking because he's famous, you know, there's a lot. You know, there's all those girls. There could be. Like, those thoughts. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:26:35 Yeah. Is that what they're called? Is that what the young kids call it? I was going to say Stan, but then I'm like, I don't know if that's the right way to say that word. Are you so hard? I think it's like thoughts, which I don't even know what that means. I think it's like thirsty girls. Like, I don't know. Or not thoughts. Talk to me in my 20s. Just kidding. Yeah, I was like, not anymore. Yeah. So we will keep a close eye on this.

Starting point is 00:26:59 So this next case is one that a lot of people. have been talking about, but it also has a lot of unanswered questions right now. It's about a 31-year-old lifestyle influencer, Ashley Robinson, better known as Ashley Janae online, who had just traveled to Zanzibar, Tanzania, for what was supposed to be this big birthday trip with her boyfriend. But then that quickly turned into something much, much bigger. Because while she was there, her boyfriend, Joe McCann, proposed to her during a safari. And that obviously sounds like a great thing.

Starting point is 00:27:32 from all her pictures on Instagram, everything about this trip seemed like a dream. There were photos of the couple celebrating, smiling, having a great time. This was a huge life moment for both of them. But then just days later, Ashley was found dead. And according to reports, on April 9th, she was found unresponsive in the villa

Starting point is 00:27:50 where she and her boyfriend were staying. And later, she was pronounced dead at the hospital. At first, authorities were saying this might have been a suicide. But then something about the whole situation felt off. because reports say that the night before Ashley died, she and Joe had gotten into a pretty serious argument. And it was a big enough argument that the hotel staff actually had to step in and separate them into different rooms. And Ashley had even spoken to her mom right after this happened, telling her about the argument, letting her know that they were staying in different hotel rooms.

Starting point is 00:28:22 And Joe had also contacted Ashley's family to tell them that she was in the hospital, but didn't provide any details other than something had happened. 11 hours ago, but no other context as to what had happened. And it was ultimately the hotel who reached out to Ashley's family to let her know that she was deceased. So when you line that all up, you have this argument, this couple that's on this happy trip, they just got engaged, then they have this serious argument, a separation into different hotel rooms, and then her being found unresponsive the next day. It immediately raised all these questions. Now, Joe has been questioned by the police and the most recent reports say that his passport has been held while the investigation continues. But he still has not been charged with a crime. At the same time, though, there are

Starting point is 00:29:10 some conflicting narratives and theories coming out because Joe has allegedly told Ashley's family that she, quote, did something to herself. And her family is pushing back on that. Take a listen. He told me that Ashley did something to herself and that she was being taken to the hospital. I said, what happened when? And he told me it had been. 11 hours prior. They've said that Ashley was happy, that she had just gotten engaged, that this was a big trip for her birthday and something that she had really been looking forward to, and that nothing suggested that she would have done something to hurt herself.

Starting point is 00:29:43 In a statement, they said, one moment she was celebrating love and life in true Ashley fashion, and the next she was gone. And that's where that uncertainty really sits right now. There's no confirmed official cause of death that has been publicly finalized. No one has been arrested. And the investigation is still ongoing. So this is really one of those situations where everything on the surface looks kind of perfect. And then overnight just turns into something that feels very unresolved.

Starting point is 00:30:12 So we'll definitely be keeping an eye on this story. And as more information comes out, we'll keep you posted because there's clearly still a lot of unanswered questions. And depending on what investigators find, who knows, this story could shift in a big way. I know. I feel like I don't have a gut read either direction. I feel like it could have been self-harm or it could have been something more nefarious. Who really knows? But for some reason, it did bring me back to, and I forget the victim's name in this case. I'm sorry. It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't think through it. Somebody will know it. I believe it was in the Bahamas or it was somewhere tropical as well.

Starting point is 00:30:51 And they got into an argument. He took the top of the toilet seat, the tank, and like bashed her head in. This was like two years ago, maybe, maybe three years ago. And they had gotten into a fight. And then he fled and he took like a dingy boat to another island and like tried to like pass it off. I don't even know, which obviously we don't know the cause of death. We don't know anything like that. But there's something weird here. Definitely. So yeah, I guess we'll just keep an eye on it. That's so sad. What really struck me is weird. I mean, obviously the whole thing is unsettling. But you think, you know how it is. You plan a big trip for your birthday. you have everything planned down to the detail of what you're wearing, what you envision this trip,

Starting point is 00:31:32 you're so excited for, you're not planning obviously to harm yourself. You've got all these details lined up. And then on his side, he's planning a proposal. So I would imagine this is something he's excited for, planned all the details. So it's like you have these two people going on this trip and they're so excited and looking forward to what seems to be this bright future. And then all of the sudden, I mean, it turns. Well, that's, I want to know what's the time. the argument was about. So dark. And then even, yeah, if the dark, you know, you separate, you have a breather, you take a night to sleep apart and then come together in the morning and hope to resolve it. So yeah, what happened in the middle of the night to cause her? An argument when you just got

Starting point is 00:32:12 engaged in your happy, like, what was that argument about? That's what I want to know. You know that moment when someone stops you mid-conversation just to ask you what you're wearing? Not your outfit, but your scent, like what fragrance you're wearing or why your hair smell so good or all of those things, well, that's exactly what Salt and Stone has been doing lately, because there's something about their formulas that just feel elevated, almost like you've stepped into a five-star resort. And I'm sure you've seen their products. It's like minimalistic design. It looks high-end. It looks very like spa-like. Their products are clean, rich, effortlessly confident. And what I personally love is that the scent is not overwhelming. It's just kind of this perfect signature

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Starting point is 00:33:30 so you can really explore and find what feels like you. And beyond the scent, the performance speaks for itself. It's award-winning, aluminum-free, and designed for 48-hour protection. So there's a reason that they are selling one every five seconds. It's one of those upgrades that makes your everyday routine just feel a little more refined, a little more put together. Try Salt and Stone's Discovery Set to find your signature scent. go to salt and stone.com slash a.e and use code AE at checkout for 15% off your first order. That's salt and stone.com slash AE and use code AE for 15% off your first order. If you've ever noticed your dog constantly itching, licking their paws, shaking their head, or just like seeming off, or for me, it's like when Freckles wakes up in the middle of the night and he's like digging at his paws and it's like,

Starting point is 00:34:19 it makes me iraics. I'm like, hello, I'm just trying to sleep. It can be easy to brush off as normal behavior or even just like irritating. behavior, but a lot of times it's actually something deeper going on. What many people don't realize is that allergies and dogs often start in the gut. And when that balance is off, it can show up everywhere. Skin irritation, ear issues, digestion problems, even low energy. But that's where better wild allergy relief soft chews come in. They are designed to support your dog from the inside out, helping strengthen digestion and restore balance at the source, not just cover things up. They use this ancestral advantage wolf probiotics, along with natural nutrient-rich ingredients to support gut, immune,

Starting point is 00:35:01 and skin health all at once. So instead of reacting to symptoms, you're actually helping build a stronger foundation for your dog's overall wellness. It's a simple shift, but it's one that can make a real difference in how your dog feels day to day and how confident you feel about their health. And right now, BetterWild is offering our listeners up to 40% off your order at betterwild.com slash a.e. That's betterwild.com slash a.e for up to 40% off your order. Betterwild.com slash a. Okay. So this is a case that we have not talked about yet, but I have seen you guys commenting and DMing me, and I'm just going to say this up front. It is very shocking, but also seems to be developing very quickly. I'm going to let you know everything that we currently know

Starting point is 00:35:54 at the time of this recording. If there are updates before this releases, you know, don't come for me. I will give you another update, but I want to let you know where things stand right now. So this is the case about the two University of South Florida doctoral students, Zameel Limone, and Nahita Bristee, both 27 years old, both from Bangladesh, and both working toward their PhDs. And both of them went missing the same day, which was April 16th. Now, when this first happened, I swear everybody on social media was going crazy about it. They could not figure out what was going on, how these two students went missing, what was happening. It was really, I mean, it truly was mysterious. They had last been seen at Zameel's apartment, which Nihita had gone over there to hang out

Starting point is 00:36:39 with Zameel. The two of them were in a relationship, so this wasn't anything unusual. Hello, you hang out at each other's apartments, you eat, you cook, you go out, you do whatever. I mean, she had been there before. It was part of their normal routine, just a regular visit like any other. But after that, neither of them was heard from again. No calls. no texts, nothing. And pretty quickly, people in their lives knew that something wasn't right, because this was not normal behavior for either one of them. So at first, it was being treated as a missing person's case.

Starting point is 00:37:11 Two students, both gone, last seen at the same place at one of their apartments, then just seemingly vanishing from his apartment, which that already alone, it raises a lot of questions. But then, just days later, everything shifted. because while searching for the two missing students, authorities found Zameel's body. He was found on the Howard Franklin Bridge in Tampa, and he was found inside a trash bag. And from what's been reported, he had multiple sharp force injuries, otherwise known as stab wounds. So at that point, this case, I mean, it immediately changed, right?

Starting point is 00:37:48 This wasn't just a disappearance anymore. This was a homicide. So as investigators started digging, they then discovered something pretty interesting. interesting. Zameel had a roommate at his apartment. He shared the apartment with a man named Heisham. Now surveillance footage that investigators were able to collect and gather showed his roommate Heisham moving things to a dumpster using a rolling cart, multiple trips as well, which, hello, that is suspicious. Why are you moving so many things to a dumpster, right? So at that point, after investigators saw this footage, the focus started shifting entirely on

Starting point is 00:38:26 to the roommate. And when law enforcement moved in to make an arrest, Heisham barricaded himself inside the apartment. A SWAT team then surrounded the home. Late Friday after a nearly 90-minute standoff, Hillsborough County Florida deputies took 26-year-old Hisham Abu Garby into custody. And we commanded the suspect to come out to our deputies. He refused. At that time, SWAT was activated. SWAT then mobilized and commanded the suspect to come out of the residence. At that time, he came out peacefully and was taken into custody. He was eventually taken into custody and he was charged with false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, and failure to report a death.

Starting point is 00:39:15 Then, after that, investigators executed a search of the apartment. And according to court documents, they found a significant amount of blood inside this apartment. and not just in one concentrated area, in multiple areas, which this then pointed to something pretty major and something pretty bad that had happened there. During this search, they also went to the apartment's trash compactor, the dumpster area, and they collected some of Zemiel's belongings. Those were the same items that they saw his roommate moving on that surveillance footage. They also searched Hisham's phone, and that is where another key piece of evidence comes in in all of this, because investigators said that they found searches that had been made before the murder. And this wasn't, you know, your run-of-the-mill Google search that so many idiots like to make,

Starting point is 00:40:04 but he had allegedly been asking questions to his good old friend, chat GPT. Searches like, what happens if a human is put in a garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster? Can a VIN number on a car be changed? Has there been someone who survived a sniper bullet to the head? and also, what does missing endangered adult mean? I mean, pretty specific searches, if you ask me. I ask chat GPT a lot of questions literally every day. I never have felt the need to ask what happens if a human is put in a garbage bag and then thrown into a dumpster.

Starting point is 00:40:41 And then, coincidentally, someone I know, no less someone in close proximity, is then found in a garbage bag near a bridge. Like, come on. So phone pings were also pulled from the same phone. And they showed the roommate was near the bridge where Zemiel was found in the days after both students went missing. So now they had their suspect in custody. And one of the students had been recovered and found. But at this point, Nihita was still missing. And investigators made it very clear at this point that, unfortunately, given the circumstances and the evidence and the blood,

Starting point is 00:41:16 they did not believe that she was alive. Then, just a few days later, on early Monday morning of this week, additional human remains were recovered from the water near that bridge. Authorities said that the remains are believed to be Nahita. So at that point, both victims had been found and recovered. So that is when the roommate was charged again, because up until that point, he had only been arrested on those initial charges that were tied to the investigation, the charges of false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, and failure to report a death.

Starting point is 00:41:47 But now, once both victims had been found, those charges were upgraded. and he was formally charged with two counts of first degree premeditated murder on top of everything else. Now, here's what's interesting, and here's what has a lot of people speculating, questioning, wanting answers. We still don't have a confirmed motive. That hasn't been publicly explained. And it's the piece in all of this that still feels like it's missing, right? I mean, at least at the time of this recording right now, there is no information on a motive, but based on what the investigators have laid out,

Starting point is 00:42:22 both victims were last seen at the same place at that apartment. And evidence inside that apartment and all the things that the roommate did afterward and leading up to it the searches, the blood, the, all of those things. They believe that this was deliberate and planned. This case is rapidly still developing and there is a lot more that is going to come out as it moves through the courts. But I mean like, wow, what a nightmare and what is going on and how sad for these two students who like,

Starting point is 00:42:51 we're just here trying to get their PhDs like together in all this. And then this roommate does this allegedly. And like, why? I don't know. And what I'm hung up on too is we, I haven't at this point at least, at the time again, of this recording, we don't know what Nahita's cause of death was. We know that for him it was the sharp force injuries,

Starting point is 00:43:15 otherwise known as stab wounds. but I'm a little bit hung up on the search of, has there ever been someone who survived a sniper bullet to the head? And maybe I'm reading into this too much. But in my mind, the only reason somebody would search that is if they shot someone with a sniper bullet in the head and then dumped their body, maybe by a bridge, and started panicking and freaking out, being like, could they have survived it? Could they have, like, pulled the bag off?

Starting point is 00:43:40 Could they have then got, will they tell on me? Will they go to the police? Unless, like, I'm thinking of something different. but I feel like that's when you would start spiraling. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I was like, that search is very disturbing. Yeah. And like so specific.

Starting point is 00:43:54 Yes. Like, I don't know. So I will be following this very closely, but it's incredibly sad. It's so sad. And of course, the answer or the question is why? Right. Because you think maybe jealousy, I don't know. And it's just, it's kind of wild when you think about roommates in general because it's like you

Starting point is 00:44:12 really don't know a whole lot about them. Yeah. in a personal sense and you're sharing a very close intimate space with them. Yeah. And then you're trusting, obviously. You're sleeping there. Totally. I mean, it's kind of wild.

Starting point is 00:44:25 I know. It's scary. All right. So I came across this next case out of Wilmer, Alabama, and it's a really unsettling one. It all started on April 20th when deputies from the Mobile County Sheriff's Office were called out to a home. And when they got there, when they went inside, they found three members of the same family dead. And more than that, they say that the way they were killed was brutal and unusual. The victims were 46-year-old Lisa Fields, her 17-year-old daughter, Kassaya, her 12-year-old son Thomas,

Starting point is 00:44:58 and Kassaya was also around eight months pregnant at the time. So really, this wasn't just three victims, it was four. And all three of them were found inside the home. But not all together. They were in separate rooms, and all of them had been bound with zip-torn. And that detail alone really stood out because it told investigators right away that whoever did this came prepared. This wasn't chaotic. This wasn't random.

Starting point is 00:45:26 There was control here. And when you look at how each of them were killed, that's where things start to feel even more unsettling. Lisa, the mother, was stabbed and had her throat cut. Keziah, the daughter, was shot. And Thomas, the 12-year-old suffered from extreme violent injuries with reports indicating that his throat was also cut multiple times. This wasn't one weapon. This wasn't one method. In fact, they noted that Thomas was almost decapitated. And it wasn't quick. To a lot of people, this suggested something deliberate, intentional, and planned. There was also an 18-month-old baby in the

Starting point is 00:46:04 home, Cassaya's baby, and that child was found alive and completely unharmed, thank God. And that's just one of the details that make people stop for a second, because, why? Why spare this baby's life but kill everybody else in the home? And that's why some people have kind of been speculating to say, why was that baby kept alive? Perhaps because they were too young to identify anyone. We really don't know yet. And the way this was discovered mattered too. This wasn't just a routine welfare check. Casaya's boyfriend was actually working offshore and he hadn't been able to reach her for a few hours. And then in the middle of the night, he checked Life 360. and saw that her phone was moving.

Starting point is 00:46:47 He was worried, so he asked a relative to go to the house to check on her. Her being pregnant, her phone moving in the middle of the night, he was unable to reach her. And that's when the family member walked in and saw what had happened. Sure. What can you tell us about what happened here? Well, we received a call from a family member of the victims, that there was some deceased individuals inside the house once we made entry, discovered the mother, 46 years old, had been murdered.

Starting point is 00:47:20 All three victims had their hands bound behind them with zip ties or flex cuffs. The mother was stabbed. The 17-year-old was shot, and the 12-year-old's throat was cut. So the 12-year-old's throat was cut. as was the mom. And so when investigators started going through the house, they could tell right away that something wasn't right. It didn't just look messy.

Starting point is 00:47:51 It looked like someone had been going through things, searching for something specific maybe. And that raised another layer of questions because if it was a robbery, it didn't really line up with the level of violence at the home. Law enforcement also said that this didn't appear to be a domestic situation and said that more than one person may have been involved.

Starting point is 00:48:09 And when you look at the number of victims, the zip ties, and the fact that they were in different rooms, that does kind of make sense, because realistically, there aren't really many people that could do this to three people by themselves. And another detail that kept coming up was that there are no obvious signs of forced entry, which really raised the possibility that whoever did this may have been known by the family, or at least with someone that they didn't immediately see as a threat. Now, this is where things have recently taken a turn. Authorities have confirmed there has been an arrest made,

Starting point is 00:48:40 and this came just over a week after everything happened. According to the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, 54-year-old William Graham Oliver was taken into custody on Tuesday afternoon and is now facing several charges. Specifically, he's being charged with eight counts of capital murder. And here's how that all breaks down. There's one count of capital murder of two or more people, four counts of capital murder during a burglary,

Starting point is 00:49:06 two counts of capital murder of a child younger than 14 years old, and one count of capital murder in the presence of a child. And there's already a lot of speculation online about the motive. What could have been going on, whether this was something targeted for a specific reason, or something else entirely. But as of now, nothing has been confirmed by investigators. So it's just speculation at this point. What we do know is that a mother, her teenage daughter, along with her unborn child and her young son, were killed inside their own home in a way that investigators are still trying to piece together.

Starting point is 00:49:43 And even now, there are still more questions than answers. So we'll definitely keep following this one closely as more updates come out because this is a case that feels like there's still a lot more beneath the surface and we're just not there yet. It's really sad. I wonder if it is somebody who knows them. I mean, they obviously said it was targeted. You had said like that multiple people may have been involved because who can do something like this. And I'm like, well, Ryan Coburger could, you know.

Starting point is 00:50:09 So, I mean, who's to say it's not one singular person? But I read somewhere that some of the speculation goes back to one of the children's biological fathers that there had been rumors of prior law enforcement involvement in with him and potentially even with the home, potentially drug related. And they were exploring that. So we'll see. Oh, my gosh. It's so sad. Obviously a lot of heavy cases today. And for those of you who may have missed it earlier this week on this feed, the serialistly feed on Monday, I did drop a mega episode. It was so long,

Starting point is 00:50:48 in fact, that we broke it up into two parts. It's very triggering to listen to. It's very difficult. I actually interview the survivor of that case. And it involves her being pregnant, a friend of hers, telling her to turn around and count to three, having butcher knives in her purse. it's horrific. But so if you miss that, go back on the feed, start with part one, then go into part two. And also, if you're not following my second true crime podcast yet, 10 to Life, now would be the time to go bounce over there. Check that out because on Tuesday, we released an all new episode regarding Athena Strand. You may have seen this trial going viral right now.

Starting point is 00:51:27 She's the seven-year-old little girl who was abducted by the FedEx driver. I covered that case early on back in 2022. And so we took another look at it. We talked about the updates with the trial, what's been going on, what happened with the abduction and how it happened and the logistics of everything. So that episode is currently right now on the feed, on the 10 to Life feed. And we had put that out Tuesday. As a reminder, if you're a podcast listener, everything lives under the same channel on YouTube, but it's broken up into two separate podcast feeds for audio. So if you're an audio-only listener, make sure that you're following both podcasts because you'll get new episodes every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and every other Friday.

Starting point is 00:52:10 So a lot there. But I will keep you posted on updates in all of these cases. And we have another deep dive coming out this Monday, which will be on this serialously feed. So make sure to listen to that. Before you go, if you are listening on Apple, please take a quick second rate and review. It helps the algorithm. It helps push this out. If you're watching on YouTube, like, subscribe, all of the things.

Starting point is 00:52:35 And until the next one, be nice. Don't kill people. Can't believe I'm going to say this, but like don't hurt children. And just be a good human. All right. Bye. Bye.

SERIALously - 392: Murdered USF Students, D4vd 40TB of Evidence & Influencer Dies After Proposal

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