Sword and Scale - Episode 163

Episode Date: June 1, 2020

8-year-old Isabella Cipriano woke up in the middle of the night in April of 2012 to find that her father, mother, and brother were being attacked in the family home in Farmington Hills, Michigan. On the surface, this seemed to be a random home invasion, until Isabella saw the perpetrator. The truth behind who committed these atrocities, and why, would cause pain for the Cipriano family that may take longer to heal than their many physical scars.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences Listener discretion is advised Welcome and my one-dance scares and I saw this boy and Poggy my mom on my mom was at that Well, hello and welcome once again to a show that reveals the worst monsters are real. This is season 7, episode 163 of sword and scale. We have an incredible story for you today. One which ends with the unbelievable compassion of a beautiful family. It's really something, so I think you're going to want to stick around. So let's go ahead and get right into it right now. It was almost three and the morning, on April 16, 2012, when eight-year-old Isabella Sipriano heard her family's Golden Retriever Emmy, barking downstairs. She sat up in bed as she then heard the various loud clattering noises towards

the kitchen of her family's Farmington Hills home in Michigan. She fully awoke from her deep slumber and pulled away her pink and purple fairy princess printed sheets. She slowly crept out of her bed, down the stairwell, and peaked her head around the bend, where she saw someone, a man attacking her father, Bob Sipriano, a beloved school administrator and sports coach. She quickly realized that there was not only one assailant, but two. Isabel's dad was being pummeled by a metal baseball bat, while one of the men held him in place. Her pleasant dreams while sleeping just moments before were interrupted by the sounds of her dad literally being

beaten to death, and the room where the family normally enjoyed cereal and coffee. Soon Isabella's twin brothers, 17-year-olds Tanner and Savator and the children's mother Rose came down the steps to see what the commotion was. Savator stepped in to try to save his father while Tanner took to a closet and dialed 911. Hello. Hello. This is an 911 operator. Do you need help? Good. Pardon me? Of course. Thank you, Ralph.

I can't understand you. Do you need help? Don't hang out. Pat the tone. Please record your message. When you have finished recording, you... Hello. Hello.

This is an 911 operator. Do you need help? Good. Pardon me? Of course. Thank you, Ralph. I can't understand you. Do you need help? Don't hang out. message when you have finished recording you eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee We sure do hear a lot about these, annoyed 911 operators don't we? Tanner was hiding in the closet trying to be quiet so no one would find him, and this operator was yelling so loudly through the phone that she might as well have driven over to the Cipriano house and flung open the closet

door herself. By the time law enforcement arrived, the family of five living in the home had only two members still upright and conscious, say from harm, three if you include the dog. The other three, Rose, Sal, and the patriarch Bob were laying in their own respective pools of blood. Bob Cipriano, before they had any biological children of their own, adopted a little baby boy, just four days old, and named him Tucker. A couple made a good income, Bob being an administrator for the Farmington Hills school district, and Rose a fitness instructor and stayed home mom. The bottom line is, the children within this family were never at risk of becoming latch-key

kids. That's for sure. Rose's and always has been known as a loving, caring, attentive mother. Bob and Rose went on to have a set of twin boys, Zavator and Tanner, two years after Tucker's adoption, and a little girl named Isabella, about 10 years after bringing their first child home. Despite the couple's dreams coming true of finally having biological children of their own, Tucker was never treated any differently than the other children. The kids were put into various extracurricular activities and wanted for nothing.

Unlike many children, the Cipriano kids grew up as part of a loving, intact family unit. They had someone help them with their homework after school, someone to drive them to and from sports practices, someone packing their lunches, and someone to pick them up when they fell down. When Tucker began to show signs of a learning disability and emotional issues, his parents immediately sought the help of specialists, coaches, and therapists. They placed them into a private school that specializes in working with children who have diagnosed learning disabilities.

This was a loving home. The Cyprianos took every step necessary to help their son thrive, despite his burgeoning intrinsic struggles. No one could ever say that they didn't get him the support that he needed. He had everything handed to him, and really could be considered one of the luckiest kids to come out of the luckiest kids to come out of the system and be placed with a family. We often hear of foster children and adopted children being placed in homes of abusers

and neglectful parents, but Tucker was taken in by genuinely good people who were just happy to have a child to call their own. As the kids grew into teenagers, all three of the boys became handsome young men. Tucker grew to be shorter than his younger brothers, about five foot seven, while the twin boys two years younger were already six foot one. The twins, Savator and Tanner,

were doing really well in school, both excelling in the classroom and as athletes. South specifically was a star baseball player. They were popular, big, masculine men, and some of remarked that Tucker, despite being the oldest, constantly felt that he was caught in the large shadow of his younger brothers, who in Tucker's mind were Bob and Rose's real children. The growing divide between Tucker and Asiblings was palpable.

Tucker was going to a special school for his learning disability while Saul and Tanner were going to a normal high school. The family photos on the walls were of the brothers in their sports gear and of Isabella. His children described Bob Cipriano as hardworking, respectable, and virtuous. He was a sports coach who pushed his own children and his athletes to do their best in life. He offered them all the support and love they could possibly need. He was one of those dads that could be very firm in his expectations, but he made his children want to listen to him, want to impress him.

Tanner Sipriano remembers that Bob impressed upon Tanner and his siblings that it's more important to have character than to be a character. He expected a lot from his family, but he practiced what he preached. He never expected the kids to do anything he wouldn't do. Tucker found it difficult to live up to some of these expectations and not being as gifted as as siblings in many ways. He found himself falling behind and he saw himself as the family disappointment. That's before he lived up to that perception. During the summer of 2011, things began to get worse for Tucker.

He was making all sorts of bad decisions more regularly, and by December of that year, he found himself in jail on drug charges. He remained in jail until February of 2012, when he was released, and his probation period commenced. At some point Tucker met and latched onto a woman named Christine Frederick. He thought of her as his mentor, though she really wasn't any better than Tucker in terms of a troubled background in drug use. He lived with her for just under two months. Tucker, be patient with me because my mind breaks

to friendly with everything that's happened. It's just what happened was, Tucker and I started talking and he was like all over the place emotionally. He was angry, he was frustrated, and we would stay up to like 3, 4 o'clock in the morning talking about, you know, his stepmom and his dad and how much he loved his dad and his sister, how he wanted to go to Mexico, but he didn't want to leave his sister. His sister was his life. And I think I know I speak into his girlfriend, Jen, who meant a lot to him.

I had a great impact on him because here I am for a shout out surgery, stables in my head and talking to him till 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning. And I connect with him. And so many of the other kids, because of the life I've lived, and an emotional level. He was very angry that his parents do not mind any depressions. And then when they had taken him off, his feelings was no longer suppressed. And they came out, anger, frustration. Did they take him off or did he just put taken him? I'm not sure.

Still do that. I'm just asking you a little bit. Thank you. At 11 years old, so I'm pretty sure they might have taken them up, but I'm not absolutely sure because he was only 11. So his parents noticed problems emerging at a young age, and in an attempt to remedy the emotional disturbance, they had put him on anti-depressants. But he was angry about that.

He was angry about a whole lot of things, in fact. Then, they took him off the antidepressants, and he was angry again. Are you seeing a pattern here? It seemed that nothing his parents could do was satisfactory. They were damned if they did, and damned if they didn't. I took her head a lot of issues with adoption, and with the fact that what did he do wrong for his mom and dad to give him off? When a child is given copious amounts of support and help and then still chooses to walk

down the dark path, that's on them. We all make choices in life and we're all responsible, personally responsible, for our own choices. Tucker, for example, doesn't have the right to use his adoption as an excuse for his bad decisions. There are thousands of adopted children who never grow up to do drugs or steal or much worse. During the first months of the year back in 2012, Tucker and some of his friends had been staying at a local motel on and off. Tucker's friend Mitchell Young would sometimes sleep in his truck. off. Tucker's friend Mitchell Young would sometimes sleep in his truck. Just to give you some idea, that was the kind of motel that quite literally offered a midnight special of $38. It was a kind of place that after visiting, you might find yourself unpacking your bags and introducing an army of bedbugs into your home, along with possibly a few STDs.

But it was the perfect spot for Tucker and other kids his age with little or no direction in life to hang out and party. Mitchell, I felt sorry for him because he looked very distraught. He said he was homeless. He had been sleeping in his truck. He was working as a waiter. And I just saw that they were a victim Almost had been sleeping in his truck, he was working his way to the water.

Mitchell Young was a year older than Tucker Cipriano, and they had only met just a few months prior. Tucker is not as bright as Mitchell, who is extremely astute and well spoken, but both had the common bond of partying, late nights, and city people, and places. Sophia Baskin, a close friend and former girlfriend of Tucker, gives a really good overview of Mitchell Young, who often went by his middle name, Rodrick. I met Tucker. I know Tucker for a while. Mitchell, we knew about two months ago. We met on, we were like at a party, you know. I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't do anything.

I'm just a man. They drive testically like multiple times. But Mitchell didn't have a place to live. At the time I was saying, can't Tucker. I almost like, all right, well, when I move to Battle Creek, or wherever I move, I'm going to see if you can live there until you get back on your feet. So Mitchell would spend all his money on K2. And Tucker was trying to stay away from it, but I feel like, you know, when he hangs out with a background, that's just what happens. K2 or Spice, if you don't know, is synthetic marijuana.

Basically chemical sprayed onto shredded, dried plant material. Just a few years ago, you could easily find it and purchase it at your local gas station. But it's no joke, it's some serious shit. It will fuck you up and has been proven to be pretty dangerous in terms of side effects. So Mitchell was with us and Mitchell told us that he never placed a live so-and-so. But I mean, I've used this phone before in text and I know it's like that to look through

the phones. But his mother would text him and say bear, which is a snack time bear. Why did you leave? Why aren't you coming home? I miss you. And he said that he got kicked out, supposedly, because he stabbed his stepfather in the face, and killed him. And that's why he went to O.C.J.

So that's what he told Tucker, and you couldn't ask Tucker. So Mitchell, young, his real man, he would say that he had a fake name, name Roderick. He said that he had a fake passport and his fake name is Mitchell. And then he's going to Roderick something. I don't even know. I knew he was lying and I knew he was a troubled kid and Tucker even knew a two. We didn't even want to hang out with him. Like Tucker was going to stop hanging out with them as soon as we moved. Nevertheless, the group, including Tucker, Sophia Mitchell, and Tucker's best friend, Ian Zinderman, continued to party together, and would fill up the room at their preferred

motel, packing it beyond capacity for many of their late-night parties and group sleepovers. The motel manager often had to boot the whole crew from the rooms they rented, only to see them come back on subsequent nights and rent out the room again. The ones that are well-mannered, the ones that have respect. Tucker, as we know it, was raised by a good family, a great family, in fact. But he lacked the respect this motel manager claims she witnessed in some of her young derelict guests. More than likely, Tucker was able to put on a facade, something that made him seem like a respectful, humble, poor young kid who was just down on his luck. Those who didn't know

him and didn't know the family he came from would have no idea the silver spoon this kid was offered, only to turn his nose up at it. Those who did know him were often told a different story about his upbringing. Tucker flipped the script to make himself seem more like the ultimate victim. Now, you know he didn't get along with his parents. I know he did like it on Thomas Kance. Kance supposedly beat him when he was younger.

He had post depression. Tucker did tell me some stuff but I don't really want to say it, I don't have to say it. Who told you some stuff? Tucker, he told me some stuff about it because it might help mouth. He's probably just gonna make him seem creative but his birth brother, I don't even know if this is true, like I really don't but if you guys find out background information that he does have biological brothers and this, and that he's dead, I don't know how he died, but the supposed little story is that Tucker killed his biological brother and his parents have been covering it up.

I don't, I don't think that's true. Both Tucker and Mitchell were claiming that they had killed people in the past. How many times have we heard that before? It's a big red flag when someone starts saying that they've killed people in the past, isn't it? It's also just downright weird. But I know for a fact that Tucker has taken a gun to his head and he tried to kill himself

ones, but the bullet got jammed. That's almost all I've done. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, When did Tucker get adopted? Um, I don't know. I think he was like five years old. I don't know. He's really good. Where do you still live? Uh, I don't know. I don't really ask him, you know, like, I don't know. I know, I know he was adopted. I know his parents are in town. I don't, I don't really know like where he used to live. I forgot. But the reason, I was talking to my bug came out this, sometimes I was pretty much tired of everything. But he said that he had his frown.

I know when he was really little, he saw his biological brother, a very disbursed frown. And he got pissed and he got into a fight with his brother. He said they killed his brother. But I don't know if he actually killed him. I just think that you know, this is before he got adopted. Yeah, this is before he got adopted. So he was four or five

years old. Yeah. So I don't think that's, you know, true. But I think that he did see that happen. He's probably stressed about that because he's woken up. I, I slumped with the next to his kid like, for a month straight and he would wake up every single night having nightmares and he would freak out. And I would just sit down and just be like, just calm down on the drink water. The problem with this whole story is that, as we've mentioned before, Tucker was adopted as an infant. He was just days old. This event could not have occurred. But it was a story that he told not only to Sophia, but also to Christine Frederick. He had issues with watching his brother Ray Bacurall at 11 years old. His real, real brother, not his adopted brothers.

His real brother. I don't know his name. He just told me I watched my brother rape a girl. Wasn't he adopted at birth? I believe so. How's he gonna know his real brother? I don't know. He never told you how he knew. I don't remember.

Okay. I don't remember. This will be important later on, but here we can see a clear tendency towards dishonesty in both Tucker and Mitchell. When the beginning of April rolled around, Tucker was already on probation for a drug offense, and he was supposed to meet his probation officer on the 5th of the month. He skipped this meeting. Usually when a person skips out on a meeting with their probation officer, a probation violation

gets filed with the court. In this case, the court may decide to send the person to jail for missing their appointment without a valid excuse like an emergency. Motel Room Parties are not considered a valid excuse. Thank God. In this case, Tucker's probation officer was supposed to follow a particular protocol. Given that his whereabouts were unknown after missing his probation meeting, his officer was to locate him within two days of the missed report.

If his probation officer wasn't able to find him within that two-day window, he was supposed to ask the judge for a warrant. But hey, it's a government job. You know, things don't always get done. Tucker's probation officer didn't do any of those things, and after the events that followed this missed meeting, his officer was suspended for his neglectful actions. He got a little slap on the wrist. Had he been taken into custody for missing the meeting with his probation officer, Tucker and his friends, including Mitchell Young and another man named Ian Zinderman, were gathered in one of the boy's parents' house, where the whole group of deadbeat young

adults liked to hang out and drink when the parents weren't home. On this particular night, Ian Tucker and Mitchell broke away from the group and proceeded into the garage. It was then that Tucker told his friends about his probation violation. He had knowingly skipped the meeting with the officer, and he knew this meant he would probably be going back to jail. The boys had multiple goals in this discussion. First of all, Tucker wanted to skip town to avoid going back to jail, and he needed some money for his plan.

Second of all, according to the friends, one or both of the boys had an internal urge to kill people. So what better way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak? They would break into a house, kill the whole family, and take their money, and vehicle. One family friend of Tucker's claims that he would talk about killing people and wanting to bludgeon someone to death so often that she began to think he was joking and brushed it off. That reminds me of a great joke. What did my stepdad say before bludgeoning my brother to death with a vacuum cleaner? Dyson? Dyson?

Get it? Dyson? Okay. Yeah, there's really nothing funny about bludgeoning jokes is there. This group of angst-riddled, drug-taking boys finally decided they would kill Tucker's family. Well Tucker and Mitchell decided actually. After all Tucker was pretty sure that his folks had a little bit of money or something in the house that they could steal and help them get away after the group slaughtered all the family members. Mitchell and Tucker agreed that they would cut

Ian Zimmerman into the deal if he agreed to be the getaway driver in their newly stolen car. Here's the kicker though. Tucker estimated that they'd be able to steal approximately three grand from his family. And divided three ways, if I got my math right, that would leave $1,000 per person. Is that enough money really to escape and start a new life in Mexico? Is that the amount of money worth killing an entire family for? Obviously, they didn't plan this

crime to obtain cash. That was a byproduct, that was an added bonus. They just really wanted to kill a family. The group had already broken into the Cyprianna home on a few other occasions to steal some worthless items. A couple of bucks here and there, a gift card that had some changed left on it. Nothing of substance. It's possible though that Tucker was planning out exactly how he would get into the house on that final night, the night of the killing.

He was probably looking around, trying to see what he could use as a weapon, and what the best escape route would be once the deed was done. The night of the murders, April 16th, after Ian, Tucker, and Mitchell broke into the Cypriano home and stole some things, they returned back to the home they were staying at, and sat in Mitchell's truck. The discussion of what they would do next became deeper and darker. Mitchell and Tucker decided that this would be the night everyone would die. They began to delineate tasks and how they would dispose of all of the bodies. Ian Zinderman, at this point, got freaked out.

Ian Zinderman, at this point, got freaked out. It's possible that he didn't think Mitchell and Tucker were actually serious about killing the Cipriano family, but when he realized that they were, he told the two that if they wanted to go and ruin their lives, they could do it without him. He wanted to throw him in the river, be tried river, and weigh him down by barrels or something like that. Discuss about picking assignments on which jamming member to kill. Young was supposed to take the parents, and Sipriano was going to take his brothers. That was Ian Zimmerman, talking about the conversation that occurred shortly before Mitchell Young and Tucker Sipriano made their way over to the Cipriano House on April 16th to wreak havoc.

Ian chose not to participate. Mitchell volunteered to kill Tucker's parents. Tucker mentioned that he was concerned that his dad Bob would be the biggest threat. He told Mitchell that Bob would have to be killed first. Tucker proclaimed that he would kill his 17-year-old twin brother, Sal and Tanner. That left only one person in the family, Isabella. Some sources claim that out of everyone in his adoptive family,

Tucker made the closest connection with his little sister Isabella. She was the youngest, and he felt protective of her. Mitchell said that he would take care of her, assuming that Tucker would not be able to, or didn't want to kill her himself. Still though, he was agreeing to allow his friend to murder his little sister, an eight-year-old, that he said he loves. The two drove up the large multi-story home, wearing dark clothing and plastic gloves. Both of the boys allegedly had knives on them. Mitchell stood under a window on the side

of the attached garage and boosted Tucker up into the window so he could enter the house through the garage. The family dog, Emmy, started barking and bit Tucker. Her barking alerted Bob Sipriano who was the first to wake up to see what was going on. Woke up and my one-dub stairs and I saw this boy hugging my mom. My mom was a bad and Tucker was here too. Tucker said, go back up stairs but I did, I went down stairs. And then he said, you could take my purse but then I went around and the purse is we would have found him to take it. The little girl is a Bella. Her mother, Teltucker and Mitchell, that they could take her purse if they were after money.

tell Tucker and Mitchell that they could take her purse if they were after money. But Isabella heroically found and hid the purse from the boys. Tucker insisted that Isabella go back upstairs, but she didn't want to. She wanted to protect her family. Tanner quickly awoke to the noise right outside his bedroom on the first floor. What happened? What did you do? Well, first I heard the screaming so I woke up and then I went out to open my door and I saw to I'm on right next to the hall where everything was. So I opened it up and I looked out and I saw someone it was dark, I saw someone with all black and see which one was beating somebody else

I don't know who it was I was a bad and so I don't know I mean I got right just down I got right exactly a periodically So the person he seemed was wearing all black and he was hitting somebody you can tell who it was with that Positive it was baseball bat. Yeah So you see them hitting them with their hitting somebody with a baseball bat. Is anything being said to somebody who can't hit with a baseball bat? Yeah, just by the person that's worn out black or by a fool who's getting hit.

I think so. Could you tell voices? Yeah, I think my mind was a young stop. Meanwhile, Tucker was holding his father to keep him in place while Mitchell bludgeoned him over and over with a baseball bat. Blood sprayed on the walls and the ceiling, and when Bob was finally left on the ground, dead, a pool of red liquid began to gather on the floor and the formerly clean kitchen mat. Bob was faced down and is under wear. His arm twisted unnaturally behind his back.

The other arm stretched out to his side. The amount of damage caused to his body by just a simple baseball bat was astounding. Once the patriarch was taken down, the attention turned to Salvatore and Rose Cipriano. And I went back there and help us to go downstairs, but I didn't want him. So, but then he's carrying me downstairs, and he's gone before on a floor to sit at his seat. And then he goes back and came downstairs. That was putting on my mom and took her one upstairs. And he turned the power off, and he was going to take her and then he just other kids bought me up.

And they turned the power back on. And then, wait, before that, my brother tore. He was upstairs and took her to get up to get a 3D gun and then the tour was on the floor and he was trying to step on the baby gun. And I got my back so I was trying to get Tucker. But then Tucker took my back and started to pound pound to wear my mom with my other kids and then that whole thing they would have to do. Isabella tells this story very quickly, exactly as she probably remembers it. It all happened so fast and to witness this violence at such a young age in the middle of the night inside your own comfortable home must have been

disastrously traumatizing. Savator grabbed his BB gun. The only thing he could think of to use, but Tucker quickly took and broke it. In an attempt to defend her family members from the older brother, she thought loved her. Isabella grabbed her own softball bat older brother she thought loved her. Isabella grabbed her own softball bat and came at Tucker with it. Tucker grabbed the bat from her and began to use it to bludgeon his brother Savator and his mother Rose. A weapon introduced to this family feud by tiny Isabella was so rapidly used against her family to end their lives. While Tucker was beating Savator and Rose with his little sister's bat, attempting to immobilize them both, Tanner was in his bedroom hiding a closet, trying to call 911. Like there so I did call again and during that there's silly smashing around

So I was talking to the operator and as I was talking to her my brother ran in my room as they were looking around for me Okay, he didn't see it first time then you left now when you say brother. I hold it right hold it right now This is can or tongue. I do yeah Hold it, hold it, hold it. This is, can, or tongue-huntered, yeah. All right, now I'm going to slow you down here. So the second time you called is when you see Tucker. Yeah. I talked to the lady for about a couple of minutes, and then he runs in.

That's he's going out there. I call him here. You tell that? I can't. I can't. Well, I can't understand you. What is going on there? As we mentioned before, Tanner was already hiding in the closet trying to be quiet. This operator was yelling on the phone to Tanner when he heard Tucker come up the steps and yell, there's still one more, instructing Mitchell to look everywhere.

Tucker flicked his lighter on and used it to look underneath the bed for Tanner. The power was still off, so the flame was his only source of light to search for his final Hello? Hello? Hello? Yes. Okay, next. Listen, please, just answer my question. Okay? Yes, sir, your answer and it's under there, correct? Hello? Can you hear me? Yes.

Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Yes. Your brother? Yes. Your brother and his friend are there I, who are they assaulting? Yeah, it's my turn.

I can assist you, maybe. You have to stand for them, please. I've got them on the way. I can see you. I'm, I'm so in peace. Okay, go into another room. No, I see just walking. He doesn't think I'm in.

Okay, I'm hungry. Where are you at? Mad building. You're in your bedroom. Okay. All right. All right. All right.

All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. No, he just walked in, he doesn't think I'm in. I'm 100. Where are you at? Madden River. You're in your bedroom. All right. All right. Hi, this is your brother.

He's 1892. I think he's in the house for a while. He's an out-of-the-house. Is he gone drug? Yeah. Okay. How about you? Where's the parents' house?

Outside. Okay, outside. Okay, so your parents are outside and so is your brother in a friend? They're like out in the hall with family room. Okay, so they're not outside of the house, that's not the case. No, they're in fact. Okay, I don't know if they got in there. They're going, did you start someone?

Their officers are on the way. Okay, can you put any parents on the phone? No. Why? I had to end it, they didn't think I'd hear. Okay, can you put any of your parents on the phone? No. Right. I had to end it. They didn't think I'd hear. No, your parents. You said your brother left.

No, no, he didn't leave it. Okay, so he's going to the house. The brother and his friends were beating up the kids' parents. He's been in the house for about a year. He's 19, and he's on drugs. Okay, what is your brother's name? Helker. Helker Web.

Hi, Priyade. So, the last? Here, please. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Hey, Daniel. Okay. And you don't want to go out and make sure your parents are okay?

No. Okay. She left. No. Okay. Should I? No, I mean, can you hear anything? I mean, I just hear. Okay. What did they do that? They're just talking real? They're just talking real. Okay.

This operator clearly did not understand the gravity of the life-threatening situation Tanner was in. She labeled the call as family trouble. What's in what is your name? Tanner. Okay. I'm kind of drunk as you're driving. Usually do. Yes, that's the name of the piano. Okay, he still doesn't know your home. I call

his brother. His older brother doesn't know his home. I'm calling. Okay? Okay. They're still in the house. You think they're still in the house? They just came back out. If you were in the house, they'd be here. I think they'd leave it to the doctor. Did you have L.S. here? Oh, I let you know. Okay.

Let me know as soon as you've made contact with your parents or you feel secure enough to go out. But you think he's still in the house? He's filming your room. Does he know his home or he doesn't? He didn't see you. Okay. He put his leather just came in his room but he's hiding so that he can't see him.

Okay. Has your brother ever been known to use any weapons? I don't know if I have to do it. Okay. Okay. That's how officers are out. Tanner. I can't see. Tanner, I'm sorry, I can't sing.

You locked the door. Oh, you better. Yeah. You can hear the weather saying locked the door. You can hear the weather. I'm trying to comfort the back. Come into the back. I don't know how you tried to get through the front. Okay, I can't hear you, Tanner. Do I go a little bit to the back? Maybe there's class course dance. Class course number close. This is the class door.

Isn't the back never closed? Yes. Who's screaming? I just remember. Okay. How old is she? I'll give you a little sister. Okay.

I'll give you a little sister. Okay. I'll give you a little sister. Okay. I'll give you a little sister. Okay. I'll give you a little sister. Okay.

I'll give you a little sister. Okay. I'll give you a little sister. Okay. I'll give you a little sister. Okay. I'll give you just heard him. Okay, how old is she? I'll do a little sister. She's about to leave. Yeah, that's police. He thinks he thinks they're about to leave, but...

Do they know the police are there? Yeah. Okay. Like, you look up underneath the bed, doesn't see you. So, the ground's back out of the room, goes back and we... It's first pretty much stuff. More yelling. And, yeah.

Now, when you say yelling, what was being said? Just like, staff. No more. And as long as yelling is what was like, I'm saying, I thought he was like, I thought he loves me. Why are you doing this? I'm on the way out. I don't know. So you could hear your mom talking at this point.

I think I'm part of my sister. Isabella pleaded to her mother who was severely injured and bleeding all over the floor, asking her why Tucker would do this when she thought he loved her. When police arrived, Isabella met them at the door, standing in the hallway. Tucker and Mitchell had both been hiding in the basement, but only Mitchell remained in the house when police entered. Officers saw him run up the steps, knocking Isabella down on the way up. Tucker

had fled from the rear of the house and jumped into Mitchell's truck, leaving him in the dust. Mitchell was promptly arrested and taken into custody. The arrival of police was the only thing that caused Mitchell and Tucker to cease their attack. When emergency medical responders arrived to survey the damage, they found Rose and Sal at the bottom of the basement steps. They had been dragged there and dumped on top of the aluminum bats that had been used to kill them in an attempt to hide their bodies from police. Savitore's injuries were so severe that responders were unable to identify him, or even tell if he was male or female. They had no idea how old he was,

but he and Rose had multiple depressed skull fractures, meaning that the bones of the skull broke inward in multiple places on their head. When the house was finally cleared of all perpetrators, witnesses and victims needing medical attention, Bob remained, alone, then faced down in the kitchen. He had been pronounced dead, and the house quickly became an important and vast crime scene.

It was clear that the dog had walked through the puddles of blood, smearing them in various places. Full of anxiety but not really understanding what had just taken place. Investigators were securing the house, while Tucker evaded police at a friend's house in Kigo Harbor. Several local schools were put on lockdown that Monday morning while police searched for Tucker. But he was located later that morning and taken into custody. As expected, both perpetrators immediately began pointing the finger at each other, claiming

that they didn't know this would turn into an attack on the family. Tucker said he knew nothing about what was going on, and that Mitchell was the one beating his family with a baseball bat. But Mitchell claimed that Tucker was the orchestrator of the event, and that Tucker had even hit him at one point. Unlike many other murder cases, this one had two fully conscious and un-injured witnesses. So Tucker and Mitchell's fabricated stories were paper thin from the start.

So these are 15 and 10, I have to ask the question, how do you know my sister is? Yeah, what you think, and say, okay, we need to know what's going on or what, you know, what you know about what transpires. But what I want to do is I want you to start delivering a doctor, a shitload of people.

It was at this point that Tucker wove his tail of unfortunate events, casting himself as the victim again. He claimed that Mitchell picked him up and began driving, telling Tucker that he had a special job that needed to be completed. They arrived at the Cipriano family home and Tucker assumed they would just be stealing things. When they got inside, Mitchell started bludgeoning everyone, which shocked and confused Tucker. And he fled when police arrived, eventually finding refuge at a home in Kigo Harbor. That's where he went to sleep that night. Sweet dreams.

The very important thing to note here is that in this interview, Tucker confirms that he was not on drugs. New sources reported that the boys were high on K2 during the attack, but Tucker refutes this claim. The fact that the boys liked to smoke spice became a huge piece of information that kept getting mentioned every time the news story was reported. But the fact was that this was just a minor detail and really had nothing to do with the pre-planned and orchestrated murdering of a family. I didn't. You didn't. No. I spoke to you. I didn't talk to you. I spoke to you.

Okay. Were you high at all that time? No. I had a whole bunch of cigarettes. Whether he was admitting to being a perpetrator of this crime or not, Tucker went on to admit to one of the most heartbreaking facts of this case. You can understand you're shaking, you're upset. I'm sure it's pretty traumatic thing to see.

But you're trying to try to end it right there, and I need to know what happened. Okay? It went on for a while, screaming, yelling, I went and grabbed my sister, took her upstairs. She said, I thought I loved you. I thought you loved me. I thought you loved me.

I'm like, I do. I do. Please stay up here. So before you went outside, you took your sister upstairs. All right. Then what happened? I told her that I told her stay up here. Please stay up here. You didn't go to the police? Are they like that? Him? No, you. Did they? Oh, shit. No, I knew something was going to happen. I knew something was going to happen. And when I had the stamp, I was hanging out with her, she was like, what are you about to do?

You see what's on the news right now? I'm like, sooner or later I'm going to go in, I have to, I mean, I have to at least get it out and then hop to that, like, if you do an investigation, you're almost there, but you're not there. You're taking yourself out of all this bad shit that happened last night? And listen, just listen, listen. I know shit probably popped off a lot faster. This was not.

I didn't want the damn thing to happen. I didn't turn the power off. I mean, I turned the power off last. Turn the power off. And turn it back on. I didn't do any of that. You didn't do it, then. Who did?

I have no idea. I didn't turn the power off. You didn't turn it though. Then who did? I have no idea. I didn't turn the power off. You didn't turn it on. I'm not turning the power off. I'm not an idiot. And they hear a seat. So stop trying to think you're gonna outsmart us. I'm not as you're not. I'm not. So why would you tell me about the window? What'd you tell me about the door? I know you scared. You know what? I'd be scared too. I'm not scared for that. I'm scared for my sister sister. You know what? The worst is older for your sister. But if you love your sister, you'll tell us why I have it. Because guess what? She's going to need a lot of therapy to come up in the next few years. And the therapists are going to need to know what she saw so they can fix her. She's eight years old and seeing that. Not to mention the 17 year old also.

In the following days, during more interviews with police, they informed Tucker that they knew he hit his mom with a baseball bat. They knew that he was the one that hit his mother and anyone took my mom I mean I guess I've always had a bone to pick with her but she took me and three other weeks till my therapist needed and after I was sick she'd taken me up to school always taking me to my court things until I got older. She did too much for me, right? Well, let's talk about her. But we know that you had her with the bath. Don't we? And I was, no one looked at her with. She was saying so. No, I don't remember anything. I do remember it. The going, that's when I went on. Whether you remember it or not, I'd be fine. Whether you remember it or not, you did.

Alright, cool. I don't think you. Not that it really matters here, but if you go to a home and kill people, within a copless, it doesn't matter if you were going there to kill people, if it was your idea, or if you were just robbing the place, it's still going to be charged as murder. Tucker planned to take his case to trial, still claiming his innocence as did Mitchell. The trial was quickly approaching less than a week away. Tanner was already on the schedule to testify.

If Rose, Tanner and Isabella are called as witnesses, describe for me because I read Rose's letter yesterday, she talks about pain for the family. Describe that for me. They're basically going to relive the incident. It's been over a year since the incident, and the family has done very well. Rose has recovered. Tanner and Isabella doing very well in school. Salvatore is in recovery. You were just with him in the hospital, yeah. Yes.

It's, they're basically being assaulted a second time. And this time, it's being done by Jessica Cooper. Any sentence that's going to be served by the defendants in this case after they get their guilty verdict, that sentence is going to have to be served by Tanner Isabella, Rose and Salvador for the rest of their lives and it'll be Jessica Cooper's, it'll be on her head. Jessica Cooper in case you were wondering was the Oakland County prosecutor in charge of this case, and she was refusing to offer a plea deal.

While Tucker was in prison, his uncle Greg reached out to try to convince him not to force his family through even more trauma at trial. He knew that Tanner, Rose, and most importantly, Isabella would be forced to testify, and Greg called Tucker several times in jail to request that he change his plea. the rest of my life. The only thing I have, the only option I have of giving up is like hanging myself great. That's what it feels like to me. Well, we're dead, paid for, we're dead. And if you have any hope whatsoever, revensions of your soul, you don't do so. Don't let me like that. I ain't crying over no f***ing s***. You know, I lost my dead, I lost my mom, I lost my little sister, I lost you, I lost my brother.

In an attempt to convince him further, Greg elected to put Tanner on the phone with Tucker. It was more meaningful for me that you could think we'd last for at least for the first time in your life. Just as a tad, so we're always wanting you to. And that's open my eyes and broke my heart. I feel like the only way that I'll be able to express my love for the family enough, I'm taking responsibility and I'm sorry for treating the way I did. You know, I love you, and I'm very, very, very proud of you. The most biggest moment of your life could do right now. It would be deciding that this trial was about forgiveness, taking responsibility and loving each other. Only a few days after these jailhouse phone conversations, Tucker did in fact change his plea to no contest, avoiding trial for this family that had already been through so much. In court at his

sentencing he gave what seemed to be a to my family. And anyone affected by this tragedy. My father was a great man. And was there for me time to advocate when I had problems in school, just a lot, especially with my personal problems and my social life. My mom is an amazing mom. And did anything she could have all throughout my life. My family has done a great deal

from the Amaracic illness, which I will never be able to thank you. ونجمع المدينة من المدينة ونجمع المدينة من المدينة ونجمع المدينة من المدينة ونجمع المدينة ونجمع المدينة ونجمع المدينة ونجمع المدينة ونجمع المدينة ونجمع المدينة ونجمع المدينة

ونجمع المدينة ونجمع المدينة ونجمع المدينة So only the whole of my health and discharge is responsible, and that includes taking responsibility for my actions. That's a very good consequence. So only if you know the brother and the woman. And the woman that I've seen may understand this, and I siblings, I may not have stopped drinking. I may not have made the spots for decisions, some of which I will never regret. But we came with a last.

I might have been in your family's homes, she made a famous note, because I called the President. So I came to South and I got about the highest of the time I heard. Now, remember when the teachers had the key touches from you to be able to leave on my first day, first grade, the win, let you go. Well, mom, I wish there were a never-drecked hook. I love you and I hope for what it's worth. I did what you wanted me to do.

I'm protecting Billy and my family as much as I could. And I'm here taking this opportunity from my part calling up my head, especially I can. To everyone else, I'm sorry for taking away for such violence and being a direct cause to such a men's pain and so many people have passed President of the future. Though both boys directly part took in the actual physical bludgeoning of this innocent family, Tucker's statement in court was a direct contrast to Mitchell's statement.

Mitchell, claiming innocence from the very beginning, despite his DNA being found on the handle of the murder weapon, and the multiple living witnesses of the crime, took his case all the way to trial. His statement at sentencing, he treated like an appeal hearing, stating everything his lawyer had done wrong in representing him. His voice was disgustingly cold and callous. and especially after a few years, what needs to say I'm actually quite eager to be. First of all, I'd like to go for a allowing me the opportunity to speak on the record for my sentences and post. The events brought all this here today was, not too short, I managed to create a video that affected lives a lot of people.

And, no, I never intended to bring it this to happen. And every day I keep the regret that good times are in this path." He says the phrase, this incident, like he wasn't the one who actually killed Bob Cipriano with a baseball bat, striking him over and over again, until all the life had left his mangled body. He deeply regrets the fact that he was, quote, unable to stop it, end quote, when Mitchell Young was one of the only two people who in fact started it. They started the engine on this train of disaster and acted as conductors the whole way through.

And then were surprised by the outcome. It's after this brief mention of the victims that Mitchell begins his near 30 minutes of rambling complaining about his defense attorney and the speaker in the speaker. So the fact that it was over a year later and that he could not really remember. All he was able to do was attest the general idea of the alleged conversation. This may have not been an option but I know your friend and healing. Yes. And this is not your appeal.

Every time that you're saying now is your basis for your appeal that the Peloport is here. Yes, Your Honor, I just need to get this on the record. Oh, and I make a record in the Peloport. You don't need to say all of this today because all of this is going to be on record the new send of pickup to the Peloport. You get to say I can get you on say to the Peloport. You don't have to say all of this on the now for the Elecport to clear your arguments.

I just want to make sure you understand that. Even after the judge called him out on this faux pas, Mitchell Young continued for another 20 minutes. At the end, the prosecutor and the judge both expressed that they were horrified at Mitchell's blatant lack of accountability and remorse. Both Mitchell, Young and Tucker, Cipriano were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Obviously, the lives of Rosemary Sipriano and her children will never be the same again. They lost their father.

He is gone forever. Ros was in a coma for two weeks and spent a few more recovering when she came out of that coma. Her injuries have left her permanently disfigured. She has seven plates on her face and seven more in her head. Worst of all, perhaps, was Savitore's fate. He was in the hospital for 16 months, and doctors thought he would never walk, talk, or be able to take care of himself again. He had lost all hearing in one of his years. He had a feeding tube, suffered frequent seizures, and was forced to use a wheelchair when he got out of the hospital and began his lifelong commitment to physical therapy.

He is still nonverbal, but has recovered to the point that he is able to walk and has basic mobility skills. He cannot live by himself, he cannot take care of himself, and his life was essentially cut short, just like his father's. He was a healthy, strong, ambitious athlete, and he has been hindered by his brother Tucker's choices, the black, adopted sheep of the family. What's possibly most surprising about this case is that the Cipriano family still has contact with Tucker. Rose Cipriano has vocalized that the healing their family must continue to strive for includes Tucker, and that he is and will always be part of their family.

It's absolutely both heartbreaking and heartwarming that a family like this could have so much love for someone who's done such evil to them. We reached out to Tanner for an interview, but he declined, understandably. He did, however, leave us with this statement. One thing our family would like to get out there is this. Tucker and Mitchell are not monsters. The real monster is a broken system that isn't equipped to treat or care for those with mental illness and thereby allows people who need and deserve help to slip through the cracks and get worse. Unfortunately, we are all victims in this tragedy. But the sooner we start dealing with mental health more head on and without stigma or shame, the sooner

we can start preventing these kinds of tragedies from happening again in the future. But for now, we have our family and friends, our community and Farmington Hills and Detroit, and most importantly, our faith to thank for our survival and ongoing recovery. While his forgiveness for Tucker is inspiring, we're not sure whether the mental health system is to blame in this situation. Tucker seemed to have all of the support in the world, and you heard about that earlier. So you can come to your own conclusions.

The Cipriano family truly sets themselves apart from many other victims in that they actively and publicly focus on hope and love. They have all these initials in their names on social media, JKLP. When they were asked what it stands for, the family replied it's an acronym. When they were asked what it stands for, the family replied it's an acronym. Just keep loving people. Without their father's income, and with rose and salts ongoing medical expenses, the family has started a trust fund titled Cyprianneau Children's Trust. Their website CyprianneauChildrensTrust.org posts updates on Sal's recovery and has a button for allowing people to donate toward living, medical, and schooling expenses. Let's hope that this family eventually finds peace and that Tucker, with his life sentence,

has found justice. That does it for another episode of sword and scale. Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember that if one of your friends says they've killed people before, go tell someone and stay safe. Hey, I just wanted to say I love you guys. I listen to you every day on my way into work, my way home from work. I have a 45 minute drive. I used to fall asleep all the time. Now I'm wide awake on the edge of my chair waiting to hear what's next. Thank you so much. You guys are awesome. Keep it up. Hey, my ex-crisis Rebecca from Long Beach, California.

Just want you to know that your show is awesome. It's the best to look at you through this lockdown. I specifically enjoyed the Michelle Blair episode and your voice is amazing. Thank you so much for all you do and keep up the good work. Hi my name is Taylor. I'm in Portland, Oregon, and I also just wanted to say thank you to Mike today. Swanton Scale is by far my favorite podcast, such good quality, and crazy content. I was also really bummed when you were gone for a while. I was a bit sure if you were going to come back to the podcast, but I'm so glad you did. I've listened to

every single one, probably more than one and yes, keep up the good work as I hope that this line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line of the line you