Sword and Scale - Episode 187

Episode Date: May 17, 2021

21-year-old Alisha Bromfield had it all. She had a supportive friend group, a family who loved her, a nearly completed bachelor’s degree, and a baby on the way. When she didn’t arrive home from an out-of-state wedding on Sunday, August 19th, 2012 as planned, friends and family soon learned that someone in her life did not have her best interest at heart.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. Hello? Yes? I like to report a murder, please. A murder? Yeah. Okay, it's season 8. And it's episode 1 of the 7 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. Something about this story really triggered me and God damn it, I hate that word triggered,

but yeah, I can see where you were going with there. Yeah, it's triggering, unfortunately. I prefer to call it getting really, really pissed off, to be honest with you. But your kids with your words and your things, you know, you're gonna come up with your own stuff, that's fine. Anyway, give it a listen. I think at the end of this, we will find some common ground, whether you think it's being triggered or just really fucking angry.

And in any case, it's a beautiful day for a murder story. So here we are. Enjoy. For decades, coming of age movies have portrayed this image of middle school and high school female friendships that is downright and viable to the average viewer. You know, the ideal friendship. The kind shared by so many characters in those 90s and early 2000s teen films. A trio of female friends is often depicted spending every waking moment together, rotating homes and taking turns hosting the hangouts.

All three families become close as the girls take turns each weekend acting as the hostess. Pillows on the floor, and a boom box in the corner make for the perfect setting to play mash or a game of truth or dare, while everyone waits for mom to make snacks. Adolescence doesn't seem so scary with a couple of great friends by your side. Friends that always have your back. It's nice to never question your trust in someone. Reality though, looks a lot different from most high schoolers. High school is fraught with drama, gossip, rumors, and insecurity.

Two high school best friends with a relationship lasting into adulthood is rare enough, but a trio is nearly impossible. It seems like the addition of that extra person leaves too much room for loyalty issues, miscommunication, and hurt feelings when someone is inevitably left out of social plans. At a high school near Chicago in 2004, three best friends lived, everyone's dream.

An idyllic, perfectly balanced, drama-free friendship is what they enjoyed from the moment they met in freshman year. But sadly, it didn't last forever. And when one of the address of your emergency, I like to report a murder. A murder? Yeah. OK.

Do you know who it is? No. You don't know who the person is that was murdered? Yes, I do. Oh, OK. Who is that? Her name was Olegov. What is it? Alicia? Yeah Marissa Olivia Analysia, or the perfect trio. Now getting high school in a suburb of Chicago in the early 2000s was no easy feat.

My space was at its peak, and the internet was quickly growing into the monstrosity that it has become today. These three friends made it through by focusing on school sports and their after-school crime show benches. My name is Olivia. I met Alisha in high school. We became really close friends when we were probably freshmen in high school and we're

best friends ever since. We used to always hang out together, whether it be driving around doing nothing or sitting around at one of our houses, watching different TV shows and just hanging out together because there was never a dull moment when the three of us were together. Alicia Bromfield loved all of those scripted crime dramas back when everyone had cable television. But no matter what the girls were doing, Alicia always provided additional entertainment for her friends.

My Nolicious favorite was so much slaughter and order. So that was one of our shows that we watched together. That and friends was another one that we used to watch all the time. Here is Marissa. She could really honestly just make any situation better, like with her jokes, and being funny and soft and she would, her sound effects. She'd always have some crazy sound effects. We just kind of clipped. We were all kind of from different different areas. I was in sports, Alicia played a different sport, and Marissa was the book where I'm the smart one of us three.

So we all kind of came from different groups, and then we just started talking together and hanging out in classes, and then I just kind of grew to outside of school as well. This was the dream. These three girls were floaters in high school, so to speak. They didn't fit in with anyone singular stereotype. They accepted everyone for who they were, and were able to get along with very polarized groups of kids. Usually the jocks stick with the jocks, and the kids who play the same sports end up in the same friend groups. The kids who were involved in theater, or band, or chorus all stuck

together, but from Marissa, Olivia, and Alicia, that just wasn't the case. She was friends with everyone, and so as I, we really didn't have a certain click or group. We were kind of friends with everyone. Alicia was beautiful inside and out, and her smile is contagious and her laugh. And she just light up a room, and she was very funny, and she could just make a bad situation better like she'd always like if something really bad happened she would always laugh and she'd be like well and it was always what are we gonna do she never said well what are you

gonna do because we're best friends it was always well what are we gonna do and we'll get through it both Marissa and Olivia remembered the way Alicia would diffuse any problem the trio encountered Alexa and Olivia remembered the way Alicia would diffuse any problem the trio encountered. She could take the worst possible situation and turn it into something the three could laugh about as they came up with a solution together. I think the biggest thing that I drew me to, I mean, there was never, she was never angry that was never upset, just always bringing that positive energy to a friendship. Honestly, I can't really remember a time where Elisabeth was upset. I mean, even if it was something so awful, she just knew how to make it okay. She just always had that outlook of something is going to be okay. It was just easy. It was easy to be friends with both of them. Just because we both, we all just didn't

really have, we're in about drama. There was no extra. It was just us being normal and just enjoying being around each other. So it was just an easy friendship to maintain. This is Alicia's stepdad Joe. He's been in her life since she was a baby, raising her right alongside Alicia's mother, Sherry. When it came time to start discussing post-high school graduation plans, both Joe and Sherry weren't sure what Alicia would decide to pursue. Alicia liked to try different things. One thing that when she was in high school, she really started getting interested in history. She really liked learning about the women that played a role in the Underground Railroad. She thought that was really interesting. She thought the World War

2 was interesting. So when she was talking about going to college, she was thinking of going into studying history, majoring history, and potentially being a teacher. What really piqued your interest, though, was not history, not for a career at least. All those fictional crime shows Alicia watched with her friends gave her a taste of what that career path might be like, and she was intrigued. For this reason, she began to consider a career and forensics. But she felt she wouldn't be able to handle deceased bodies. That was until a death occurred near Alicia's job. She worked in the garden center of Home Depot.

She worked outside in the flower department. She noticed a man in a car and that he was there for quite a long time. The man appeared to be hunched over his steering wheel. So Alicia gathered a group of co-workers and attempted to break into the car to get the man out. Finally, they got the door open. They asked her to go in and see if he's okay, check his pulse, and she knew immediately that he had died.

You know, so at the Duce CPR, and she's like, I could tell he's already passed. So after that experience, she realized she could handle being around a deceased body, and then so she changed what she wanted to study in college. Alicia eventually decided to go to college a few hours away, but she wasn't totally alone in a new environment.

She had her best friend Olivia with her. I remember in high school, we were deciding where to go to college, and I always knew that I was going to go to West Illinois because my brother went there, I had visited there, so I just knew that was where I was going to go. Alicia was deciding between two different state colleges and I like to think that I convinced her to come with me to college and then just because she knew she wanted to do forensic psychology and Western just had a really good program for that. So I think that ultimately helped make her decision to go there as well. Western Illinois University is a public college in Macomb, Illinois, which sits almost 200

miles outside of Plainfield where Alicia, Olivia and Marissa grew up. Though Marissa took a different path, the three remain friends throughout college. Olivia and Alicia started off their freshman year year rooming together at WIU. We were roommates for we did one semester and although we loved each other, we knew that roommates was not mine and Alicia's saying, especially not in a box like that size. So we were roommates for one semester and then we ended up splitting up and moving in with two different people, but in the same hall, in the same place. So we were still two doors down from each other and it just worked

out so much better for us. College was going smoothly for both girls. It was inevitable that Alicia would soon meet a boy, she liked, and she did. It was the start of her junior year. He went to college with my boyfriend at the time and it was a different college than us, but it was about two hours away. So we would go visit consistently in Alicia. Actually I'm still dating the work actually getting very know, the guy from high school. And so Alicia knew my then boyfriend before I did.

So she was friends with him as well, so she would always come visit him with me. And that was just one of his friends from school. The girls continued to visit their friends two hours away, but kept things casual. They were, of course, supposed to be focusing on their studies. Alicia and this boy never entered into a formal relationship, but they didn't realize they were about to be linked for life anyway.

She was at my house and it was St. Patrick's Day weekend and my parents were in Vegas. So she was just coming over to my house to hang out and she looked at me and she said, you know, I haven't gotten my period in a while. And I was like, well, I had an extra pregnancy test in my room because everyone got those scares when you were in college. So I had one and I said, well, what's up, stairs, just go take it. And I remember her walking down the stairs when she was done and she looked at me and she goes, I don't know if this is good, but it has two lines on it.

And I said, that's not good. So that was how I found out right alongside her that she was pregnant. Now, Alicia had to figure out how to tell her parents, specifically her mother. I was studying at that time to become a naturopathic doctor. I was studying and Alicia said on the floor, and she said, I have something that I need to talk to you about when you're gonna be done studying. And I said, in about three years, and she said, well, I have to tell you something,

and right then in there, I knew. And I got this, like, very anxious, and she started crying, and on my new then and I said no and she said yes. And I did not want to do what my mother and father did. They were very disappointed and kind of you know weren't there for me during my pregnancy. I didn't want to let you to feel that disappointment and I wanted to know that we would support her and Joe walked in the room and he said, I don't care if it's a girl or a boy, I'm going to teach him out of fish and we're going to do this and we're going to do that. And at that time she said she hadn't known

what the decision she was going to make, you know, whether to keep the baby, give the baby up. But I knew that she was going to keep the baby because I had seen up. But I knew that she was gonna keep the baby because I had seen prenatals when I went in her room. So she was already taking care of her baby. Alicia was excited to be a mom. And everyone in her life knew she would make a great parent. No one questioned her capability, not even for a second. She really took such good care of herself. I had made her green drinks every day.

She drank them. She went to bed early. You know, her friends were still going out and she did not go out. You know, she would stay home every single night. And she was just so, so excited to be a mom. And, you know, when I got pregnant, young, I worked in this volunteer in this pregnancy center

later on, and I truly have never seen anybody so devoted, you know, to their baby as she was. By July of 2012, Alicia was in the throes of pregnancy. Morning sickness seemed to be the ailment that caused the most stress, and she often confided in her friends about her pregnancy struggles. The following is a text conversation between Alicia and Marissa. Yeah, but hey, at least we're alive, so that's all that matters.

Alicia. Yeah, I guess, LOL. At this point in time, Alicia had no idea that she had only a mere month left to live. Despite Alicia's obvious readiness to become a mother, this pregnancy did bring forth some concerns. Alicia held the same job since she was 16 years old. She worked for a third-party company that sent workers to various home depot locations to care for the plants in the garden center. The job required a decent level of physical strength, and Alicia knew she wouldn't be able to complete all of her duties once she was late into

her pregnancy. I don't think she was planning to quit right off the bat because Alicia was just a type of person who always had everything planned out so she wasn't going to leave a job without another, especially with having a child. But I think it wasn't going to be far after. I think she was waiting until she graduated college to get her degree And then start working in her field, which would have been fairly quickly after she had the baby Alicia liked her job for the most part

It was one she returned to during the summer between semesters She was interested in botany and genuinely enjoyed taking care of all the plants At one point she even got Olivia, a job working for the same company. Alicia had a pretty close working relationship with her boss, Brian Cooper. The plant care company didn't have very many employees in the area Alicia was working in,

and as a result, she spent a lot of time around her supervisor and her sparse co-workers. She actually put me in contact with him the summer that we graduated from high school, and I ended up working there, but I only worked there for about a month, totally different store, but yeah, I met him. The day of my high school graduation party,

I went and interviewed in the morning before to start working there over the summer, before college. With one of her best friends having firsthand experience being around her co-workers and manager, Alicia was more reticent to confide in her two best friends about her workstressors and co-worker drama. Those workstressors grew exponentially as her due date approached.

Her manager, Brian Cooper, wasn't happy to hear that Alicia had become pregnant. That's spring of 2012. She had told him because obviously we all, you know, we sat there and talked about it and she was going to work up to what she can and so she wasn't on heavy duty, you know, lifting all this stuff because she would have to lift stuff sometimes and she didn't want to take any risk to, you risk to hurt the baby on her, but she had planned on working as long as she can up to it.

And wanted to let him know, like, hey, you know, I'm pregnant, I'm gonna have to have like duty, you know, within the near future. And eventually I'll have to take off work, you know, when she had it. And just like duty and stuff, and he just didn't, he didn't like that too much. Alicia's 35 year old manager was not upset

because he'd be losing a set of hands on the job. No. Alicia's co-workers were called at Brian Cooper. Yield out some derogatory words at Alicia when she revealed to him that she was pregnant. They remember that he called her a slut and a whore at work in front of co-workers and customers alike. Cooper threw things as he verbally abused Alicia, reprimanding her for having fallen pregnant

in the first place. You go into the working world at 16. You are not equipped to deal with anything like that. You don't know what's acceptable, what's not acceptable. You don't want to raise a fuss because you don't want to lose your job. You don't know. You're not equipped. Though Alicia was no longer 16 years old, the toxic relationships she had with her boss had been developing since she got the job in high school.

You're not secure because it's your first job, so you don't feel confident enough to bring up what you might be concerned about. And then, yeah, throw in things that are just on the edge, whether it's acceptable or not, and you're just, you just, you know, probably have a tendency to brush it off. And that's exactly what Alicia did at first. This particular encounter inside the store was the most concerning, not only because the foundational boundary between manager and subordinate have been crossed, but because it finally reinforced the sneaking suspicion held by Alicia's friends and family,

that Brian Cooper may have some sort of attraction to Alicia. Couldn't jealousy have been a possible reason for Brian Cooper's inappropriate outburst at work? I feel like she started talking about him almost instantly after she started this job. We knew he was her boss. We knew that he was around her all the time. He was training her.

So it was fairly quickly after she started working there that we knew who he was. We knew he could just tell he really wanted to be around Alicia all the time. He trained her. He trained her at different stores. He would make sure that he was with her when she was going to different stores. Things didn't just end with Brian Cooper as the annoying puppy dog following Alicia around everywhere. He began to try to control her schedule even more closely after his outburst inside one of the stores.

One of the first things I remember of being off, he would get mad that she was sitting there talking to us if Marissa and I would go together and we'd go, hey, let's go get some McDonald's or something because she only had a half hour lunch and he was always rushing her and no, you can't go out to lunch today. Just kind of very odd that she can't do things

on her own break time or that she was taking five minutes of her time to stop and talk to us in the parking lot. You know, we weren't trying to pull her away from her job, but he was just very overbearing and always knew what she was doing where she was doing it. So he was real quick to make sure that she wasn't doing anything that he didn't like, I guess. Last time I checked, it's not a manager's job to keep tabs on where their employees are going for lunch or who they're eating lunch with. Cooper escalated his requirements of Alicia who had become his right hand woman on the job. When he asked her to go to his house and take care of his dogs when he was away, she obliged, and the task became a regular occurrence. Alicia was, after all, a nice person,

sometimes to her own detriment. She likely felt bad for Brian Cooper and tried to be a friend to him. He returned the favor by continuing to make her life more stressful as he tightened his grip. Obviously with the doctor's appointments, he was not happy that she was pregnant and it just got weird. He wanted to feel like that was his kid and that he was going to help her. He kept telling her that he was going to help her take care of this baby. And it just was very odd. But if she had to go to a doctor's appointment, he would get really upset

and there would be name calling and text messages. And, you know, I can't believe you have to miss work. And so it just was never an easy thing for Alicia to have to go to a doctor's appointment and miss work. But it was just very, a very hot and cold one minute. He would be super upset that she was going to a doctor's appointment and that she was pregnant. And then the next he was would say that he was you know excited and he was going to help her

and it was weird because he had nothing to do with a baby. Hey, I have been having a lot of thoughts going through my brain too lately. And currently waiting on hearing back from this guy who has done work on previous homes in my neighborhood. Since I am stuck here for a couple more years, I'm thinking of getting some work done in my home by adding another room. I know there are a lot of thoughts you are going through too, and with your situation, where you are living is not the greatest.

I'm mentioning this to you because I have spoke to you that you are always welcome to stay with me. But with me adding another room, I thought this may interest you on thinking about actually staying with me, with another room it would give even more freedom for the both of us and your daughter. I'm not trying to pressure you at all only giving you another option to think about. Just think about it and we can talk more about it later. How would you add another room? There's not enough space for that. Yeah there is. I've seen it at my neighbors across the street. It's a small room but it really

opens up the upstairs. Pretty nice. Oh, where would it go though? Because the bathroom is there and then the other two rooms. Think of when you first walk in, then look up. And there's that open space, adding a floor right there. Can you picture it? Yeah, kinda. Brian Cooper and Alicia Bromfield had known each other for almost six years when he invited her to attend his sister's wedding with him. It was to take place in August of 2012. I remember that she didn't tell me until a couple days before she was going. I think because she knew that we as a friend group and as people who knew her knew that it wasn't a good idea.

So I remember telling her that it wasn't a good idea for her to go and I thought it was weird. Which she didn't deny, she knew it wasn't a good idea. She knew it was strange that she had to go. But at that point, he had told her that if she didn't go, he was going to fire her and being six months pregnant, you don't really have a choice but to care for your child. So she went, so that she wouldn't lose her job because she needed it for her, the maternity leave. She needed it for her benefits. She needed it for a lot of things. So she ended up going, I mean, from pushback from myself and all of her friends and family.

We knew it wasn't a good idea, but Alicia wasn't only thinking about herself. She was thinking about her child at that point and knew that she had to do what she had to do. It's important to remember here that she trusted Brian, as creepy as he was, and she tried to be a friend to him. He was somewhat of an odd duck, and Alicia had a thing for vouching for the underdog. That's who Brian Cooper was, an underdog. Having Alicia Bromfield on his arm for his sister's wedding would surely be impressive

to everyone attending. For Alicia, attending this event with Brian meant that she would remain in his good graces for at least a while, hopefully long enough to have her baby and figure out what to do next. That's all this was to her. A task, she wasn't looking forward to, but felt she had to complete. He asked her earlier in the year, and she, Sherry said, you don't have to go, and she said, I told him I would go, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna keep my word.

I, 100%, did not agree with it. She was 21 years old. Actually the day that she was leaving, I don't know if some other's instinct or what, but I said, I asked her not to go. She was walking out the door. I was having a birthday party for my daughter. She was gonna be nine.

And I was having like 25 girls over. And I ran downstairs. She said, bye. And I ran downstairs, she said, bye, and she was gonna leave without even, you know, giving me a hug or anything. I said, wait a minute. And because I had already had people there. And so I ran down and I gave her a hug

and I said, you know, tell me you don't feel good. And she goes, I can't do that. And I said, yeah, you're pregnant. Just say you don't feel good. She goes, no, I have to go. And then I hugged her and I said, bye, Eva. You know, because she had already known she was having a girl. And I don't know, call it Mother Instinct or something, but I was not on board with her going

at all, at all. The wedding Alicia Bromfield and Brian Cooper would attend, the weekend of August 18, 2012, was located in Wisconsin. They planned to stay at the San Bay Beach Resort in Sturgeon Bay. The resort was a little over six hours from Plainfield, Illinois. It was nice enough lodging. It was right on the lake and there was a San volleyball court and beach lounge chairs. A nice fire pit. The photos made it look like a great middle-class family vacation spot. She said that she was afraid to get fired and you know of course we had the money to help her.

You know in my eyes it was she was getting away on a beach unlike Michigan going to be able to relax a little bit not you know you know, doing her job and, you know, and have to attend a wedding. And you know, it was separate sleeping areas, you know, in this resort. When Alicia left for the wedding, her mother was having a birthday party for Alicia's little sister. The next day, the morning of the wedding, Sherry got a call from Alicia. She was telling her mother that she and Brian had gotten into an argument, and things were not going well.

I believe it was over TV because I can't remember everything. He said that she's going to be able to watch TV when she has a baby, and she said, no, no, I can't. A baby is full-time, and you know, she said that he was packing up the car. I said, I told you not to go and that he was crazy. So I was telling my sister-in-law, you know, let's show it went to this wedding and she just called and she's on her way home. The wedding was at like early two. And so I texted her and I said, what's going on?

Are you coming home? I didn't bring my phone into the party. And when I got out in the car, I noticed that she had texted me and she said, he's crazy. I can't wait to get home tomorrow. And I never texted back because it was like 10.30, 11. And I knew the wedding was a day wedding.

And I know what she used to get home from work. She used to go to bed at 7.30 at night. So I didn't want to wake her up with the text. The next morning we went to church and then after church I said, when are you coming home because I didn't have the crib bumper. Alicia's mother and stepfather planned to surprise her with a full decorated and put together nursery. It would be complete with a large exquisite crib

that Alicia had purchased with her own hard earned money. They planned to unveil the newly renovated room as soon as Alicia arrived home from the wedding in Wisconsin. It would be such a great surprise. She would be so happy. Alicia never responded to her mother about the crib bumper. It was a day that she was supposed to come home and one of my friends, she knew Olisha.

She had called me and she said, hey did you hear about Olisha? And I was actually in the car with my mom. We were coming back from the hospital and I never forget it. And she said, did you hear about a listen? I said, yeah, I've known. And I was in my brain, I'm thinking, yeah, she's pregnant. Of course I know.

Like, it's not news. And she's like, you know, she's like, no, she's not the pregnancy. And I said, what? She said she's dead. And I said, no, she's not. And she said, no, something happened. I said, how do you know that?

I'm going to call Sherry. And I'm sitting there. And as I'm trying to call Sherry, my dad came outside. And he was crying. And then as he was coming out to tell me, I finally got a hold of Sherry. And I said, what's going on? And she said, she's dead.

She's gone. And I just dropped to the floor and started crying. And my dad said, OK, oh my dead, she's gone, and I just dropped the floor and started crying. And my dad said, okay, oh my God, she knows. Elisha Brumfield had been murdered. And when one of it is the address of your emergency? I'm calling for somebody else and calling from Burdo's death basin. 107-448, I'm gonna put the person on the phone.

Okay. Well, yes. I like to report a murder, please. A murder? Yeah. I'm going to put the person on the phone. Okay. Hello? Yes. I like to report a murder, please. A murder? Yes. Okay. And where did this happen at?

At the Bay Beach Resort. Bay Beach Resort? Yes. In Green Bay? I'm not sure where it's at. Okay. And you said when did this occur? I'm not sure. I think. Okay. And you said when did this occur? I'm not sure. I see you're talking to her please.

Okay. And you say, so you know for sure that a murder occurred? Yeah. Okay. And you don't know when it occurred, but it occurred at Bay Beach? Yeah. Okay. All right. And you're calling from Burtos Gas Station. You don't have a cell phone? I do not have a cell phone. OK, what we're going to do is we're

going to send the deputy to you. OK. And you can give him the information, OK? OK. Do you know who it is? No. Do you know who the person is that was murdered? Yes, I do.

Oh, OK. Who is that? Her name was Olisha. What is it? Olisha? Yeah. Is it ALI-SHA? Yeah. Oh, okay. Who is that? The name was Olisha. What is it? Alicia? Yeah. Is it ALI-SH-A?

Yeah. And do you know Alicia's last name? Ramadil. Is Alicia from Wisconsin? Illinois. She's from Illinois. Do you know Alicia's middle initial? I do not. Okay.

And do you know about whole cheers? 21, 22. 21 or 22? Okay. All right. I'm just going to keep you on the line until somebody gets there, okay? Okay. I got a phone call from Larissa when I was sitting at home, which was weird because it was Sunday night and not that we didn't talk on Sundays, but it was late. It was, I actually had to be like eight or nine. I went outside and I called Liv and she's like, what's wrong because it was late. And she's like, what's going on?

I said, are you sitting down? And she's like, no, no, Mike, no, Liv, you know, you need to sit down and she's like, what's wrong? What happened? Because she could hear my voice. And I said, oh, it's just gone. And she said, what, no? And she was immediately crying. And she said, where are you? I said, oh, it's just gone. And she said, what? No, and she was immediately crying.

She said, where are you? I said, I'm at her house. And she said, I'll be right there. After that phone call, I was with my brother and my stepmom and my dad. And he came downstairs and I was like, it sounds like a bomb went off in the house. And I don't remember anything.

I guess I fell to the floor. And I just remember standing up. And I said, I have to go over there, I have to get over to a delicious house. My family was like, you can't drive, you can't drive and I said I have to go right now and I drove over a delicious family's house, was five minutes from my house. So I drove over there and I remember walking in and I just remember seeing Sherry and I just lost it and she's like, I don't know what we're gonna do. By the time Olivia and Marissa arrived at Alicia's parents house in Plainfield Sherry already had the details. In fact Sherry knew inner gut

what had happened as soon as she opened the door to the police officer with a solemn expression on his face earlier that afternoon. I was laying on the couch. My daughter was playing outside and she said, you know, Guy Jones is here and I said, oh, okay. Guy Jones was a local police officer and a friend of the family. A visit from him was an entirely out of the ordinary. So I came downstairs and he was standing

at the bottom of the stairs and he had tears in his eyes. And I knew, I knew Alicia was dead. And I the bottom of the stairs and he had tears in his eyes, and I knew I knew Alicia was dead. I started walking down the stairs and I ran back up because I figured if I didn't run down the stairs it wouldn't be true. He kept yelling at me to sit down, sit down, sit down. That's all I remember is him pulling out the chair and telling me to sit down and I remember swearing, saying, I'm not... I fricking sit down, I'm not sitting down. And he said, come here, come here.

And then I finally came down the stairs and I just crossed my arms and I said, what? And I just remember, I knew that life is just gonna be over for me. And, you know, and for our family and her. And he said, there's been a homicide and I just screamed because I thought he was going to say she died in a car accident. Sherry then realized who killed her daughter. It wasn't a freak accident. It wasn't a drunken mistake.

It was the end of a toxic obsession. The years and years of unrequited love had finally come to a little gas station in Sister Bay, Wisconsin, and asked the attendant if she would call 911 for him. This gas station was about an hour from the San Bay beach resort where Alicia Bromfield was staying with her boss Brian Cooper after attending his sister's wedding the previous evening. And where did this happen at?

At the Bay beach resort. Bay beach resort? Yeah. In Green Bay? I'm not sure where that is. Okay, what is your name? Brian Cooper. Brian Cooper.

Brian Cooper? Yes. Are we surprised? Now you came up to Dorr County, were you at Babydson that happened? Yes. Okay, and did you witness that? Yes. You witnessed it.

Okay. Do you know if it was today that this happened? Where is that? Okay, it happened last night. Do you know where, if she was murdered, do you know where her body is? In the room. Is in the river? In the room? In the room.

In the room. Brian Cooper called 911 with one simple intention. He wanted to speak to police. He surely didn't expect the 911 dispatcher to lead him down a path of direct confession right then and there. But she had to keep him on the line so he didn't run before police arrived. I can only imagine the gas station attendant's face as she heard him speak. Do you know who murdered her?

I did. You did. Okay. Now what room number? Room 210. Room 210? Yeah. Okay. All right. I just want to keep you on the line. Okay. So somebody is there. Do you know what was, and why did this happen? How did you murder her?

I like to talk to the police about that. Weirdly, I was at my brothers after church and I said, Alicia's not texting me back, he killed her. And my brother goes, why would you ever say that? Oh my God, that's so dark, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I said, I don't know, she's not texting me. She always text me back. And she knows I worry, I have a worry ward. When Sherry's gut feeling was confirmed by her police officer friend that afternoon.

She lost it. My mother's intuition is a dubious phenomenon, but we hear about it so often. It's got to be something to it, right? I said I told you he killed her. I knew it. I knew it. I remember running around my island in my kitchen screaming and then Lou came down. Brianna, my daughter says, I don't know why did you have to scream so loud like that?

You scared me and to this day she says she'll never forget that. Over in Wisconsin, Door County law enforcement arrived at the gas station about half an hour after the call was initially placed, during which Brian Cooper continued to talk to the dispatcher about what he had done. His telephone confession was nothing compared to the conversation he would later have with police inside an interrogation room. First of all, my name is Tindy Mark Winkel

or investigative Mark Winkel. I work with the Sheriff's Office here in York County of the FNF asking some questions. But you're counting. Okay. I don't want to ask you some questions. But you're probably aware that before we ask questions, you have to be advised to be right. Okay. You've seen the police shows and everything like that.

I know you've already been cooperative. So I just hope that you'll continue on with that cooperation. I just want to advise you if you're right. Okay. It looks to me that you'll continue on with that cooperation. I just want to advise you a few rights. Okay. It looks to me that you... You could use somebody to talk to. And I'm here to listen.

Okay. A tearful Brian Cooper sat in a plastic chair in the compact white brick room. His back hunched over his handcuffed wrists. It was about 3.30 in the afternoon, about 13 hours after Alicia died. His face was red from crying. His hands and arms sported scratch marks, scrapes, and would appear to be bite marks. He wore his black aviator sunglasses everywhere. There's rarely a photo of Cooper without the morn. He explains to the officer that he has to keep them on because they're prescription sunglasses,

and he can't see without them. And how do you know Malaysia? We're co-workers and we're somewhat dating. What's... And She's pregnant. She's pregnant with your child. Right off the bat, Cooper lies to police. He seems very open about the fact that he murdered Alisha, but lies about their relationship, making it seem as though they were involved romantically.

To be clear, Alicia had no interest in Brian Cooper. He was way older than her, kind of creepy, and not her type at all physically. When Alicia's mother asked her about the sleeping arrangements for the trip, she was quick to clarify that they'd be sleeping separately and expressed her distaste at the idea of having sex with him. The officer interviewing Cooper asked him about the events of the day's prior. Cooper told the same story Alicia told her mother. Before the wedding, she and Cooper got into an argument about how much free time she'd

have to do things like watch TV once the baby arrived. Even then, I got pissed me off enough to start packing my bags and I told her, let's go. And then she says he can't leave because of Kelly's wedding or reception, whatever you have to go. And it's like, I said, I don't care. Let's just go. And then I was just being stubborn. I wasn't really going to go, but I was, I wanted to go.

Alicia's kind nature may have been the biggest danger to her, as it often is for victims of violent crime. Had she just agreed and allowed him to drive her back to Plainfield, maybe this wouldn't have happened? Or maybe he'd have decided to kill her on the way back, who knows? Because that's just the kind of person Brian Cooper is. Regardless, it was Cooper who made the final decision to stay and attend his sister's wedding. He was, after all, supposed to be the one to walk her down the aisle and Lou of her father.

And from that point on, from that argument, whatever, there wasn't going to be like a friendship after we got back. And that's what made me think what I did. There's really no scarier position to be in than one where you possess something that an evil, narcissistic person really, really wants. Alicia was gorgeous and smart, and Brian Cooper wanted her. Alisha didn't see the danger. She didn't feel fearful of him simply because she had no idea what kind of sick thoughts were swimming around this man's head.

How could she have known? Things only got darker, as the officer began to press Cooper about the night the murder took place. When we got back and I was drinking, obviously the reception and all it was debating what I should do, what I should do to something or not do the whole thing. We got back to the hotel and she just went back in to the bed and I was drinking and just I felt stupid because I wanted to have a real like not a like a friendship or whatever with her still and she was concrete that it wasn't going to happen and that's what made me do what I did. I thought the baby about you should do something and let it go. I wouldn't even think extremely,

okay, I know my whole agriculture is her mother. It's been her family. Okay. And I don't know. If my life is ruined, her life in my family, and her family's life is ruined forever. I told the baby, so it's not just hers, it's also the baby, it's like, I didn't know what I was doing.

This part of Brian Cooper's interrogation is very important. He makes reference to his drinking that night several times, and concludes by saying, quote, I didn't know what I was doing. End quote. Prior to the statement, he told the officer about the stretch of time he spent sitting in the room, trying to decide what he was going to do that night. Later on, he further confirms this obvious premeditation. Cooper explains that upon returning to the room after the reception, Elisha fell asleep

on the bed, and he continued drinking. And what was going through your mind when she was asleep? The reality was that there wasn't gonna be even a friendship when we got back, which was today. So you didn't want that to happen? I didn't know. Okay.

So when she was asleep, did she ever call you I don't know. Okay. So when she was asleep, did she ever call you now? She did. Okay. And I was debating what I was doing, and I was doing some prepping. I'm like thinking about her harming her. Okay. So you're doing some prepping. What kind of prepping?

Well, I put some cords on, I was thinking about maybe tying or all, but whatever. But I didn't. So there was some cords underneath the bed legs. Okay. What a fucking loser. You know, on the side here, this guy reminds me of this beta of a man that my girlfriend was friends with for a few years before we met. You know the kind of guy, he's got no real friends but he latches on to people and hovers around more than you'd like him to. He also was much older and weaseled his way into her life, acting as a concerned and caring platonic BFF, always willing to drop everything to be an attentive ear or

shoulder to cry on. Hoping that soon, he would be up to bat. He would finally get her to see that he was the perfect man for her. After she and I started dating, he suddenly realized it wasn't going to happen. He professed his unrequited love and then became possessive of her and hostile towards me, even though I'd never been anything but nice to him. Going as far as to go online and spread lies about me under anonymous accounts, making up elaborate fantasies about me being some sort of domestic abusive monster that had her virtually chained

up in my mini-mantin. Needless to say, she eventually cut ties with him entirely because of his bizarre and creepy behavior, which is a good thing because of this kind of obsession can obviously be dangerous. As many of you sassholes, surely already know. Unfortunately, good-natured Alicia didn't see the inherent evil in people. While she slept, Brian Cooper, who claims to have been drunk at the time, was gathering telephone cords and other wires and hiding them under the bed for later use. Cooper keeps using the word debate to describe his train of thought before murdering Alicia, but his mind was already made up the entire

time. Don't be fooled. So you were just going to tire up initially? Right. It was just I was actually thinking about killing her. Okay. So you were thinking about killing her. You were illustrating. Right. Cooper paced back and forth as Alicia slept. He let his feelings of frustration and entitlement grow inside of him until they grew strong enough to take over and facilitate the attack. He laid down in the hotel bed as Alicia woke up. She was still half asleep, but Cooper asked her about some plans he claims they had for

the following weekend. He tells the officer that he and Alicia planned to watch some movies that he had on DVD the following Sunday. And when he asked her to confirm those plans, she told him there would be no Sunday movie watching. After they got back to Illinois, there would be nothing between them but a professional work relationship. Perhaps this was his last ditch effort.

Cooper thought he was giving Alicia one more opportunity to suddenly change her mind and agree to be friends again. Or in his mind, possibly more. She had no interest. Then what did you do? Then I cut it just jumped on her. And then she on her back. She was, I want those shoes on her side and then I've turned her

on her back and then I jumped her and she got scared. I got stuck over there. Yeah, and you kind of strapped over her. Yeah, and then I just started strangling her with your hands of my hands. And what did she do? Did she fight back? She did fight back and then she was the only one who fought the baby and they don't do it to be the good of the hands. And when she did, she fainted, she did bite back and then she was the only above the baby as they north-do it to be the girl of the baby.

In the heat of the struggle, Alicia literally begged for her baby's life. Cooper heard her. He remembers what happened even after claiming to be intoxicated. He remembers her screams clearly and made the choice to continue to kill them both. So that's where she died, right? She ended up there. Yeah, she passed away. Yeah. her and save herself and her child. She didn't plan on letting someone kill them both before she and Eva even got a chance to meet. Brian Cooper strangled the life out of a woman he claims to have admired so deeply. He killed the baby in the process. A baby that was already over 7 pounds at 6 and a half months. Cooper made grandiose claims to Alicia that he would help her with the baby, that they'd be a family. Alicia was of course

disgusted by this idea, so he killed them both. After brutally murdering Alicia, Cooper left her body in the middle of the hotel room floor. Alicia laid under blankets. Her large abdominal area visible under the folds of the comforter. Her head laid on a pillow. She looked like she could have been sleeping, but her neck was bruised and purple. Cooper then went to sleep in the bathtub and awoke the next morning. Joven Hour from the hotel called 911 at a gas station and was arrested. Our house was packed with people, it just seemed like two weeks straight, it seemed like two weeks was like one real long day. And it was overwhelming, because I remember people

would be coming up to me and say, oh, what readings do you want? And would you want her to wear? And I remember every day about noon, I said, stop asking me questions, make your own decision. I can't take it anymore. As Alicia's family dealt with her funeral arrangements burial and the aftermath, the investigators assigned to the case were still plowing through evidence. The facts of what occurred that night soon became

much more gruesome than Alicia's friends and family could have ever imagined. I found out that in that first two weeks that he had a rater. And I just remember how do I tell my wife that her daughter was not only murder, but she was raped too. And I didn't know how to tell her. I mean, how could I break her heart even more? That's right. Of course, Brian Cooper couldn't have left his heinous act as it was and allowed Alicia to rest in peace after he took her life so ferociously. Now, he wanted to see her naked. He was right there, dead, and she couldn't do anything about it, so Cooper figured, why not? I just wanted to see her naked, I guess.

After she was dead, you took her clothes off, right? And she was wearing sweatpants, was she wearing a top? She was okay, don't wish you weren't a bra or underwear or anything. I don't think so okay so after she's dead you took her clothes off and then she's on the floor right right okay and then did you take your clothes off or were you already I just yes I just took my pants off okay and well I think I was always too drunk I'm gonna give get like a heart on the two shredder legs. I did.

Okay, and did you get on top of her? Yes. And did you try to penetrate her with your penis? Yes. Were you able to gain any penetration? A little, a little, but it was still not hard. All right, so I just decided to screw this. This guys are redditor, I can feel it.

This is stupid or what did I do? Obviously we're gonna This guys are redditor. I can feel it. This is stupid. What did I do? Obviously we're going to have to examine the bonding, everything. Did you ejaculate? I don't believe I did it inside her. You didn't ejaculate it inside her? Did you ejaculate on her? Yes.

Where on her? Right above her vagina. Okay. So you must have gotten some penetration, correct? Yeah. And then you pulled out though and then ejaculated on the right foot. It was like a soft penis and it wasn't even when I ejaculated. It wasn't really the hardest it would be whatever. Okay, well, you know, whether it was... Right, right, but that's why I stopped. And that's okay. So you stopped after you ejaculated.

Yes, thanks. Could I click in? I couldn't get inside her. It's truly chilling how nonchalant Cooper is when describing how he desecrated this poor girl's lifeless body. You know, he raped her everywhere. And it was in her colon.

It was in, and he It was in and he describes that in his confession tapes and he says we're, you know, the shirt he wiped off on and everything. The creepiest part is this wasn't Brian Cooper's only forceful attempt to see Alicia without her clothes on. For years, including this trip to Wisconsin, Cooper had been strategically placing hidden cameras in bathrooms. He had one in his own bathroom set up for the day's Alicia went over to his place to feed the dog. Knowing she may use his bathroom on one of these occasions, he placed a hidden camera

and waited. This hotel room was no different. He put a small black camera in the trash can attempting to get a glimpse of Alicia getting out of the shower or using the toilet. This is clearly someone who was obsessed. After murdering Alicia, Cooper then claims he tried to kill himself. He tells the police officer that he used a wine bottle opener and a butter knife to try to cut his throat. What's with these killers fanning remorse by using such pitiful instruments to attempt

a fake suicide? Why not go the extra mile? At least maim your soft a little bit. Make it look real. Pussy. Cooper had no more than a few scratch marks at the base of his throat. Then he passed out in the jacuzzi and woke up the next morning to discover what he had done, as if he didn't know already.

This call may be recorded and is subject to monitoring at any time. Yeah, Brian, first of all, Brian, we love you. Okay. I don't know myself. We don't care. We are here. We support you. We love you. This call was made from Door County jail by Cooper to his mother on August 21.

Just two days after his arrest. You're a nice man. You've been so cooperative. He knows it. He said it's sad, sad situation, okay? A sad situation? Please someone take ownership here. According to Alicia's mother, Brian Cooper's family seems to know there's something off about Brian. It seems like they've known this whole time. We first went to Door County. The detective had said that they think that, you know, he might have done this before. You don't just all the sudden do this. And the groom's parents, because this was, you know, his sister's wedding that they were at, had reached out to me. The groom's family held no loyalty to the Cooper family. The groom's parents allegedly had information about the Cooper family that they felt they needed to share with Door County police.

The groom's dad, or stepdad, was a detective or was a police officer. And he said, I think he's killed before, because we were in the car with his sister Kelly, and you know, with her son, who just got married, they were doing breakfast in town. They were on their way back when Kelly had received a phone call from her mother that said something had happened to Alicia. And she didn't know what, but the mom was hysterical, and she hangs up and she says to the groom's parents. Oh my god

I hope he only beat the shit out of her and The police officer said who says that only beat the shit out of her what else is there? But death like you're it's a pregnant girl. He goes my first thought was they were in a car accident and the baby died Oh baby died. So sorry about that. Brian, we know that. Brian, we know that. We know that. You have to know Brian. We love you.

No matter what is wrong, we love you. It's not like your kid is coming out of the closet or has a few inconvenient pronouns, lady. He killed a young woman and her unborn baby for fuck's sake. I wasn't drawing it, but it was something. Okay, but what I'm saying is Brian, I don't know. What I'm saying is it happens for a reason. We don't know why, but it happens and it's gone. And you're here. We're here too though. We're connecting with you.

Everybody, let me tell you my phone messages. Everybody. They're in shock, but they are supporting you. They said they love Brian but they are supporting you. They said they love Brian. They are with you. And they want me to tell you that. Whether or not this was Brian Cooper's first time killing someone, it certainly wasn't his first time

hurting a woman. Have you ever harmed anyone else? Yes. How? I did tie her up. Tie her up up my ex-girlfriend, Yoshika. This was non-consensual. Cooper doesn't go into detail about why he tied up his ex-girlfriend and held her hostage, but he did mention to the detective that she didn't press charges, and actually had been back in contact with him. Not to victim blame here, but factually,

had she pressed charges against him, Cooper likely wouldn't have had the opportunity to kill Alicia and her unborn baby. But according to Brian Cooper's mother, this murder happened for a reason. God works in mysterious ways, I guess. All that mattered in the aftermath was that little baby Brian didn't feel so unloved. That God forbid he might try to kill himself.

She had to remind him of all the people who still love him and think he's a swell guy. Even with the label Baby Killer, freshly printed on his reputation. More importantly, remember just a moment ago when Cooper cried to his mother that the murder wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been drunk. Yeah, that's the defense he went with, of course. Cooper was charged with two counts of first degree murder and third degree sexual assault. After 14 hours of deliberation, his first trial resulted in a hung jury. The jury found Cooper guilty on the sexual assault charge, but could not come to an agreement

about the murder charges. Despite the lack of any concrete evidence that Cooper was indeed intoxicated before or during the murder, the jury decided they couldn't say for sure that he had premeditated the crime. In their minds, alleged intoxication meant that Brian Cooper couldn't have formed intent, and his defense attorneys argued that he was too drunk to intentionally strangle Alicia. By the way, just so that you're aware premeditation doesn't have to happen hours or days before the crime. It just has to happen within enough time where you have ample opportunity to change your mind, where it's not a crime of passion that happens on the spot, where you've been toiling over the idea

for a while by hiding telephone cords for strangulation, for example. Also, how do we give out DUIs for driving? Because you're still responsible for your actions while intoxicated, but then excuse murder. Do they not have DUIs in Wisconsin? Did the judge give this jury some bogus instructions before deliberation? Or does the state of Wisconsin have some really backwards laws

on the books? In any case, delicious parents eventually got a Wisconsin law changed, a law that allows criminals to use alcohol and toxication as a defense. Brian Cooper was retried for his crimes in 2014, and this time, they got it right. The jury found him guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole. At her funeral, I was the last one with her and that's the only time I ever looked at her. And she had a bruise here and I kissed her bruise and I told her that I was sorry that I couldn't fix it this time and I say goodbye to Ava

So much Excitement was about to take place after Alicia's arrival home from the wedding Our 22nd birthday was coming up Her newly decorated nursery was about to be unveiled and of course baby Ava would be coming into the world soon. Brian Cooper ripped away all of that excitement from a multitude of people. Everyone who loved Alicia had to say goodbye to their hopes and dreams for her future

and her baby's future. When you've been looking forward to something for so long, suddenly realizing that the event will never come, almost requires a whole separate funeral. Alicia's parents didn't stop at simply changing a law in their daughter's memory. They carry on her legacy, with a non-profit organization founded by Sherry. It's called the Purple Project. We help pregnant moms and memory of Ava.

We just had one actually who spent the night here last weekend, and we had one here on Wednesday. And then we get a lot out of helping grieving parents because that helps us be around other people who are going through. They understand this pain never, never subsides, but that you can find joy and hope again in each other. So that brings us at peace.

And we just two years ago purchased a home in Oswego called the Elisha and Eva House to hope we have a shop in our basement for the moms and then we have our retreats here and we do, we offer free counseling for grieving parents. In addition, Sherry filed a lawsuit against Home Depot claiming that Home Depot is responsible for their supervisory employees and how they treat their subordinates. The details of this decision shed even more light on Brian Cooper's character. Cooper had a history of sexually harassing his young female subordinates. He fixated for a while on a recent high school graduate named Jessica.

He would introduce her as his girlfriend, make comments about his genitals to her, and rub himself against her. He once required her to ride alone with him from Juliet to Chicago while he made such comments. Jessica complained to her group leader, who told her that other employees had complained about Cooper, and that even the group leader herself felt uncomfortable working with him. Cooper became increasingly loud and abusive with Jessica, yelling and swearing at her. Ultimately, Jessica quit her job, Cooper then shifted his attention to Alicia Bromfield.

Alicia was always for the underdog, for the guy that wouldn't have friends at school. Unfortunately, you know, me being a social worker, I taught her that, you know, to always, you know, stick out for the people who don't have any friends and go sit with them and, you know, invite them over. I'm not like that anymore. I let my other daughter make her own decision. You don't like that person. You go with your gut. And, you know, and listen, they don't have to come over. I'm definitely a different person now. Crazy, unforeseen, brazen acts of violence like what Brian Cooper did to Alicia Bromfield and her unborn baby are what cause regular, normal, everyday people to feel unsafe.

Everyone who knew and loved Alicia is likely changed forever. The way their brains work and their hearts work has been altered eternally. Alicia's friends may look over their shoulders as they walk down the street at night and their younger siblings will probably question the intentions of every new person they meet. Tragedies like this tend to permanently change the world for almost everyone involved, except the person who caused it. Brian Cooper sounds remorseful on the phone with his mother. But is he?

Is he really? Well, that does it for another episode of Sword and Scale. Thank you for joining us. If you don't know, if you just don't know by now, it's called Plus. It's what keeps us on the air. I know there's no air anymore. It's just a podcast. It's hard to explain. Anyway, join Plus.

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Please consider joining and until next time, stay safe. Hi, no story suggestions here, but it's 5 a.m. and I'm on episode 38. I just wanted to say that I'm pretty sure that I'm obsessed with your show and I've done like a 24 hour fucking binge. So keep it up man, I'm happy that you're the host still. See you. you