Sword and Scale - Episode 236

Episode Date: March 20, 2023

On March 11th, 2018, 15-year-old Kyle Bancroft and his younger brother invited two teenage friends to a sleepover at their home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. By about 1:30 AM the following morning, everyone had gone to bed, but nobody would get a full night’s rest. Around 4 AM, a knife-wielding manic decided to go on a bloody rampage, fully intent on stabbing everyone in the house to death, as they slept.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 The whole time he was hitting me with a knife stabbing he was looking at places to knife me to kill me And he won't stop just kept stabbing and stabbing stabbing you just get it kill me You're just going to kill me. Hello and welcome to season 10 episode 236 of Sword and Scale. The show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. Well, we have a new show. It's called Sword and Scale Nightmares. In case you haven't heard about it, for some reason I don't know why.

But you can only get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and a few other places. But not here on Plus. So head on over there right now. It's free. You don't have to pay anything. And you can listen today I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm not a bad guy, I'm Have you ever said a prayer? Have you ever avoided walking under a ladder to spare yourself a little bad luck? Have you ever followed the guidance of your daily horoscope or taken extra precautions on Friday the 13th?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then your actions demonstrate the power of blind or unquestioned faith. For better or worse, our beliefs have a tendency to drive some of our behavior and can often explain why we do certain things. In many cases, this correlation between belief and behavior is pretty harmless. After all, so what if you picked up that supposed lucky penny you found on the ground? And so what if you threw it in a wishing well and made a wish? Who's it hurting?

Unfortunately, not all superstitious and faith-based beliefs lend themselves to innocuous or trivial behavior. Some beliefs, especially when they are extreme, can be pretty dangerous. An extreme belief might lead a person to refuse life-saving medical treatment or deny their children that same treatment. A strongly held belief might cause someone to develop a deep hatred for another person or even a group of people. I'm assuming you have Twitter.

Follow me by the way, at Sword and Scale. A hardened and unquestioned belief can even provide someone with a justification they're looking for to commit murder. In 2018, 15-year-old Kyle Bancroft was living with his mother and younger brother at their home in the tropical, ballon Isles community, a private club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In the early morning hours of March 12, Kyle was fast asleep in his bed when he awoke to the sound of someone yelling. After these loud police commands echoed throughout his home, Kyle pulled himself out of bed to see what all the commotion was about. And when he stepped out of his bedroom he and I went to heck and then I looked over and I see like put your police officers and they tell me it's in the air then they put me on the ground and cut them.

So you went downstairs and they say come here with your hands up and then they have the handcuffs made by me on the floor of it. Kyle told police that he found his younger brother 13-year-old Dane Bancroft lying on the floor, covered in blood. Kyle could barely process what he was seeing before, heavily armed police officers through Kyle to the ground and handcuffed him. And where was his blood coming from?

Like, what was his interest? I didn't see how they had quick lands, kind of. So if you were to guess, was it from his hand? Was his leg what was bleeding on him? I'm not sure, I thought it was just like thoroughly... I'm not sure, but it's a bunch of blood. What was he doing? Was he laying there?

Was he like... No, he was just laying there. Face up, face down. Face down. Not moving. Not on his knees, but like... As if he looked at his sleeping. And blow it all over the floor. No, over him.

Yeah, I... yeah. I don't know. I was going on so much to use. Okay, so you didn't hear anything or saw anything prior to that. you woke up into the loft and there was somebody on the floor with blood. I don't know, the other one, okay. The last thing you saw was he was on the floor and there was blood marks all over the place.

Where were the other kids? I didn't know or anyone else was. I just saw my brother and then. There was, of course, a reason that police were inside Kyle's home. Earlier that same morning, Kyle's neighbors had placed a frantic and frustrated call to She said somebody attacked her but you gotta get somebody a quick I call. Bowen is but then I hit you. Okay, I'm gonna get helpster. I'm gonna get helpster.

I'm gonna get helpster. I'm gonna get helpster. I'm gonna get helpster. I'm gonna get helpster. She said somebody attacked him, but you got to get somebody a quick, I call. I don't want to ask, but I'm not here yet. Okay, I'm going to get help started that way, but I need to know if there's any weapons or anything. She doesn't have any weapons. She says there's a killer outside. I don't know what she's talking about. She's delirious. He had a knife. He had a knife. How long I got at this happen. How long ago did this happen?

How long ago did this happen? A few minutes ago. She's bleeding like crazy. I'm already certain hope I need to know what the person with the knife is. I don't know where he is. I'm going to need more information from that female. Can I talk to her? No, she's just spherical. Before the 15-year-old Kyle found his blood-covered brother Dane lying on the floor, and before the

police took Kyle into custody, Kyle's mom had staggered to their neighbor's house. She was covered in blood, bleeding profusely, and explained to her neighbor that a knife-wielding killer had attacked her and her son Even worse, she also explained that both of her sons were still inside the house with the attacker I can't let you talk though. We just send somebody. Can I get a description or anything of the person that had a knife? No, she's dying over here. There's a murderer here. You got to get somebody here. He's a murderer.

You're not going to be a murderer. You're not being helpful, Hillary. I need to get information for their assistance in helping you, OK? And the people that have had it. I don't have a particular killer. You're on the right side. Ladies, bleeding on the floor here.

And you want a description of 30-percent. Where is he bleeding from? I love this guy. These questions you're asking me are ridiculous. What the caller was probably unaware of is something that I'm sure most SNS listeners like yourself already know. The reason dispatch asks all these questions is of course for the safety of the officers arriving at the scene. I mean the hell with the person that's bleeding on the ground. Cops don't want to get hurt. After the police and an ambulance arrived on the scene, Kiles mom was rushed to a hospital. While lying in her hospital bed, she was able to shed some light on what had happened. Kiles mom told police that her two teenage sons had invited friends over for a sleepover

the night before, and after everyone went to bed she awoke to the sounds of someone moaning in pain. I said, what do you guys think? How do you guys think? Oh, why do you make so much noise? Stop, I'm trying to sleep. What's up? And I just went up to see what the matter was. I started going up the stairs. And what is up? I keep going up the stairs.

I'm like, what's going on here? He jumped down the stairs, literally. Like, he's this big kid. And he just went down the stairs, who I passed with a knife in his hand, and started knifeing me? What kind of a knife can I make?

I couldn't see the kind of, I couldn't make out a knife. Was it, did it look like a kitchen knife or a pocket knife or you don't, you don't know? I don't know. I, I, he was, he's much bigger than I am. Kyle's mom claimed that one of her son's friends had attacked her and repeatedly stabbed her with a knife. Who knew sleepovers could be so dangerous? The only reason that she was able to get away and the only reason that she was still alive was because her son Dane had stepped in to fight off her attacker.

He saw her and he came downstairs and he said, Mom, mom, you started fighting, which allowed me to get out of the house and go next door, practically crawling and asking for help. I mean, I was bleeding all over. I thought, I didn't know what was gonna happen. I was just gonna get help. How many stab rooms do you have? Quite a bit. Quite a bit.

Quite a bit. I could barely get to the neighbors. While all of this was happening 15 year old, Kyle Bancroft remained asleep in his bed. It wasn't until the police arrived that he woke up, walked out of his bedroom, and briefly saw his brother Dane, bloodied and unresponsive on the living room floor. Then Kyle was handcuffed and taken into police custody. So you have no idea what happened today.

So you have no idea where you're here. I know why I'm here. Why? I know why. Can you tell me why you're here? Just so that we make sure I just want to make sure that you understand what we're hearing you're wearing that. And you're talking to it detective. I don't want to say it. that and you're just talking to it detective. I don't want to say it. It's very cute. Right, so let's let's assume that I know we're talking about what if you were to guess what happened last night, what do you think? I don't like that. I'm sorry, but I don't like the thing. But it's very important that you say that you're we're not going to make you repeat it a bunch of times, but it's very important for you to tell me that we can finish this and go a lot and go forward in our investigation.

As the police continued their investigation, they came to learn that when this violent and bloody attack happened, there were five people in the home. Kyle, Kyle's mom, Kyle's brother, and two other teenagers. Kyle's mom had been stabbed several times, but she did manage to escape the chaos and get to safety. Thankfully, after she was taken to the hospital, her condition stabilized and she ultimately survived the stabbing. As for Kyle, he was taken into police custody and had somehow avoided being attacked at all. Sadly, the same could not be said about the other teenagers that were in the home.

A knife-wielding maniac had gone on a bloody rampage, fully intent on stabbing everyone in the house to death as they slept. At the end of that rampage, not everyone was lucky enough to make it out of this violent and bloody nightmare alive. In the early morning hours of March 12, 2018, police were called to a home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. After the mother of that home ran to a neighbor's house and explained that a knife-wielding murderer had attacked her and one of her two sons. After the police arrived, several people were either rushed to a hospital or taken into

police custody. One of those people was 15-year-old Kyle Bancroft. Kyle explained to the police that he and his younger brother Dane had two teenage friends over the night, one night, two nights, how many? One night. So you guys are sleeping over, they were doing a sleepover at your house. You guys go out last night. You guys go somewhere? Where do you guys go? It's near a town town. I don't have to go out. OK, but my mom thinks that's a good thing. Earlier that day, Kyle and his brother had been downtown,

celebrating a friend's birthday party. At some point during the celebration, Kyle got a phone call from a different friend, 17-year-old Corey Johnson. And during this phone call, Corey asked Kyle if he wanted to hang out. All right, so he called you up, what time you think it was, like four, so he was at public fine stuff stuff and he said, hey, meet me at downtown

towards your mom and everybody up and take everybody to your house. Kyle agreed to meet up with Corey and they both ended up at Kyle's house for a sleepover. Once there, Corey asked Kyle's mom if he could take a shower. I was in my house, probably on the sofa, I think some of you here, so I went to the shower and we're back outside showing the boys. Yes, okay. You remember what was going on or what was being said upstairs, anything that changed anything between the boys?

Nothing, I don't know what it is. It will be all the things. For Kyle's mom, there seemed to be nothing unusual about this night. It wasn't uncommon for either of her sons to have a friend spend the night. They had had many sleepovers before. According to Kyle, the same was also true. For him, this seemed to be just a typical night. I mean, how have you done many slip-ups? Okay, so you guys were hanging out, listening to music, and all that stuff.

I went with you guys, went to sleep, your mom went to sleep, and that would happen after my mom went to sleep, then I went to sleep around one in the morning. Okay. Only a few hours after Kyle's mom went to bed, her sleep was interrupted by some strange noises outside. At first, she couldn't quite make out what she was hearing, but she knew the sound was coming from inside her home. After sitting up and shaking off her disturbed sleep, Kyle's mom realized that what she was hearing was someone groaning and pain.

Concerned and admittedly a bit frustrated. She stepped out of bed and followed the sound in an attempt to find out what was happening. So the weather's coming from the wash, the water's running, and I said, what do you guys do now there? It seems to be around 4, 5 and 9. We were really early in that morning, and I said, what are you guys doing up? What do you guys, what are you guys doing? What's going on? Why are you so loud up there?

I asked him to go to sleep, what was going on? Where they planted, what was going on? And to the end, Cory said, go back into your room. We're going to go to sleep. I'll take care of this." From the upstairs loft, Kyle's friend, Cory Johnson, shouted down at Kyle's mom. He told her to go back to bed and assured her that the moaning would stop. Kyle's mom then headed back toward her bedroom.

But the painful moans only grew louder. Cousmom raced up her stairs towards the loft, but before she could see what was happening, Cory lunged at her, with a large knife, and began a full-on meticulous attack as he began stabbing Kyle's mom over and over again. I was fighting him, I was like, Corey stop, Corey stop, why are you doing this? Why are you doing this? I kept fighting him, and then he got my foot. He fell to the ground.

The whole time he was hitting me, so the knife was stabbing. He was just looking at me, staring at me. He was looking at spaces, places to knife me, to kill me. He hit me here. He hit me here. He went from my heart.

He was hitting me here, hitting me. He hit my arm. I didn't feel like I could punch anymore. I was on the floor. I thought my arm was just looking at. I couldn't punch. I couldn't walk. He was going to kill me.

Anyone stuck. He just kept stabbing. He kept stabbing. He kept stabbing. He kept stabbing. He kept Anyone stop, just kept stabbing, stabbing, stabbing. So you made it down the stairs and you were still interacting with you? So you made it back down to the first floor.

And I was fighting him on the stairs when I was standing and I was trying, I was screaming at him, like, stop. What are you doing? I was fighting and I, and I, so you were loud. Yeah, I was like, stop, or what are you doing? I'm not with loud. He was quiet. He was saying anything at all. Just focus upon just killing me and we're just stabbing just quiet. According to Kyle's mom, Cory's attack was methodical. Each stab seemed deliberately placed

with the clear intent to quickly incapacitate her, and ultimately kill her. She likely would have died right then and there, had her a 13 year old son, Dane, not heard the commotion and stepped in to fend off Cory. So what made him stop attacking you? Fame? Well, when Dean came out yelling mom, mom, I think he said to Dean I'm not going to hurt you.

I'm not going to stab you, I'm not going to do it. He said that to me. He's trying to get Dean not to fight you. And then, Dean bought him. And basically, he's got thinking and dangled fighting. Was that down stairs? That was downstairs. After Cory and Dane began fighting, Kyle's mom was able to flee.

She ran to a neighbor's house and frantically began ringing the doorbell and banging on the door. and ring the doorbell and bang on the door. Mom, mom, mom, and you just tapped him when I was on the floor and then they started struggling and moving in the other direction. And Cory wasn't facing me. I just bought him my head, he knew to run and get help. I got out the door and I had trouble walking but I got there as best I could to the neighbor.

The doorbell rang. I went to the doorbell, I looked out through the glass and there's a woman slouched over bleeding from her head. Her arms were bloody, her legs were bloody. I opened the door, she said, what happened? She said, I got stabbed. She said, my boys are there. I said the door, and said, what happened? She said, I got stabbed. She said, my boys are there. I said, well, let me get an ambulance first. Then I saw one of the boys. The neighbor called 911, and as he waited for help to arrive, he saw 13-year-old Dane emerge from her home.

Dane had also been stabbed several times and was completely covered in blood. Then I saw one of the boys come out of the back yard. This is the metal case. What was he wearing, you remember? He was so full of blood, I didn't see any clothes on. He might have shorts on, but he had nothing on the top of his arms. From back yard, he was bloody. From where?

From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where there, and he was bloody. From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where?

From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where?

From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? From where? She was questioned by the police who were still trying to piece together what had happened and why. So from what I understand, they're trying to figure out right now because Corey locked himself in your house or inside a bedroom, so they had a deal with it for a little while

to get him out. So do you know, I mean, what would have had Corey do something like this? Do you? I don't know. What was everybody doing when do something like this? Do you? I don't know. What was everybody doing when you went to bed? Do you remember? I don't know that when he put that, so you don't know what happened or what caused him.

Was there any fighting or anybody arguing last night? Prior to going to bed, everybody. What was everyone doing when you went to bed? There were upstairs. I didn't see anything on you. Have you ever seen this side of Cory like where he would hurt you? Cory has a lot of his, he has three problems with, I guess he's just making comments about Muslim things. 17 year old Cory Johnson had recently taken up a very intense interest in

Islam. And according to his friend Kyle, Corey was extremely committed to this religious ideology. And then he prayed every morning, like, I don't know, he says, I mean, I've seen him many times do it, but I just mind my own business on this thing. What is the consistent of? He puts a thing down and a forward and what does he do with it? I don't know, he does like the muscle prayer. I don't know.

I mean I've seen him do it. What does it look like? Like he kneels down? Yeah he kneels down, gets up, rises up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets up, gets, he yells down, gets a rust of our skin, different things, and like whispers something. Yes. So is it a different language? Yeah, and it definitely puts you.

Kyle told the police that this wasn't the first time that Cory had developed an interest and became committed to a potentially dangerous ideology. Before practicing Islam, Cory had been parroting the anti-Semitic and authoritarian views of the Nazis. It seems that for Cory, any belief was just fine as long as it was extreme. You said you know Cory for 99 years first on the okay. And what do you think about him? He's always been, not always, but he's been all of a time, what kind of, when you say off what do you mean?

Like just police systems, can you elaborate on that? Can you tell me what does that mean? When you say belief system, what do you refer to? Like Arabic, police systems, not police systems, or that he used to believe. Nazi? Nazi? Nazi?

He used to believe that. He used to believe in it. Now he believes in Arabic stuff. Like what type of Arabic stuff? Like ISIS? Yes, I mean. Does he ever try to get you to believe the same thing? Yeah, he has.

According to Kyle, these beliefs that Cory had developed did not come from his parents or any other adult. They were ideas that he simply stumbled upon on the good ol' glorious internet. What a wonderful place it is. Does his parents know that do you know his parents? this internet. What a you thinking about? I mean, I don't agree with that. Kyle and Cory had known each other since before kindergarten, and while they didn't always attend the same school, they remained friends. When question, Cory also confirmed that he and Kyle had remained close for many years.

Kyle had remained close for many years. In fact, Cory claimed that Kyle was his only friend. I can't imagine why. So you went to school to go to Fowl. And then there was a place called ABC. You want to say it was a daycare at home of this store. I met him then. What do you in now? You're a role now.

I was in a 11th grade at the wire, but I dropped out. I was going to take a long hour. Corey Johnson had come from a somewhat broken family. His parents were divorced, and Corey didn't get along with his mom's new boyfriend. Corey first drew concern and attention to himself while in middle school, where he made anti-Semitic and anti-homosexual statements and also admitted to holding beliefs similar to the KKK. By age 17, Cory had dropped out of high school, got a job as a grocery store stockboy, and

was living a kind of nomadic life, bouncing from one bed to another nearly every night. When Cory couldn't find a comfortable place to sleep, he'd usually spend his nights inside an old abandoned plaza. I haven't been home for about a week or so. I've been sleeping in different places. Sometimes I slept at sunset where I got arrested, and sometimes I slept. One time I slept in my grandma's house, and every all the other time I slept at,

I broke into this abandoned plaza. As he was being questioned, Cory confirmed many of the things that the other witnesses had already told police. He admitted that he actively practiced Islam and that he had picked up this ideology from things he had read and watched online. Okay, how does that work? I'm not sure if you go to a mosque, you contact somebody locally. I'm glad I used to go to a mosque maybe. So, you say fully, what does that mean? As opposed to like just dropping in, what's the difference? It's from people that claim to be Muslim. They just, to the extent that they maybe don't eat pork and they don't drink

I don't do any of that So you read the Quran you follow the tenets Okay, um, are you you only one your family? How did you get into that? Um, I got into it online There are a lot of things you can say about Corey Johnson, but you certainly can't call him a liar. When questioned by the police, Corey was especially straightforward with them. He told them all about his strongly held beliefs, and he also told them that these beliefs landed him on the FBI's terrorist watch list.

Well, we used to play on a computer all the time video games, and we talked over the Skype. We don't really talk about it, it's actually talk about the telegram mostly. So I know I'm on the FBI terrorist watch list. In October of 2016, Cory was investigated by a European counterintelligence agency that believed that Cory was responsible for threats made to a high school in England, which resulted in over 100 people being evacuated from the school. Soon after, Cory caught the attention of the FBI, who interviewed his parents. Cory's parents explained that Cory was fascinated

with dictators like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. To horrible dictators that were diametrically opposed politically, the only link being, of course, extremism. By March of 2017, the FBI was closely monitoring Cory's internet activity, noting that he had a swastika as his Facebook profile picture and was sharing videos of Anwar al-Aleki, an Islamic leader who encouraged his Muslim followers to kill all Americans without hesitation. Onwar was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011, but his extremist, hateful and violent teachings remained prevalent even to this day, mostly due to his fluency in the English

language and, I guess, you would call it charisma. I guess I will stumble on some of his videos and then after attention he goes. After Cory started watching these Islamic videos and encouraging violence and mass murder, the FBI started investigating him, and they eventually ended up speaking with Cory's friend Kyle. They even warned Kyle to stay away from Cory. I don't know if you can tell. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. interest in him very seriously. He maintained his extremist beliefs and continued studying the teachings of on-war all-alike, while frequently sharing those teachings with Kyle. So when you guys sit there and listen to this, what is it all about? What are they telling you? What are they telling you? They like telling you to go do things to and put else and stuff like that. Yes. He's all into it. He.

The only told you that he wants to do what they tell him to do? It seems like it. Yes. And what type of stuff do they tell you to do? So long. Okay. Okay. Like half.

John's and them. Okay. Yeah? Okay. Like half. John's and nice. Okay. And they tell you specifically how to use the knife because there's different ways you can stab right here, stab here, and stab here. Okay. And that's because of what, what, what are that do? I think it stops you from screaming here, from walking, right, and then it's finally

below. And there's a lot of videos with him, and many of them encouraged violent acts against non-believers and anyone who did not adhere to the Islamic faith. I hear they also don't like cartoons very much, so there's that. Then came the evening of March 11, 2018. Originally, Kory had intended to go to work that day, but decided instead to call Kyle. When he made this call, Kyle was downtown celebrating a friend's birthday party at a local pizzeria. Kyle invited Cory to the. And so I just walked to downtown. We were mostly walking around, but it was someone's birthday today. It's still fine. Were you invited?

Or were they just invited you in when you showed up? They invited me to sit down and sit on the grid and me. The parents at this birthday party welcomed Cory and invited him to join the pizza eating festivities. Before long, Cory was also invited to sleep over at Kyle's house with the other teenagers. Once there, Cory took a shower and began watching those extremist videos that he is so very fond of. Did you guys watch some of that last night, right? You guys watched some of that? Cory was watching it? that he is so very fond of. As for the other teenagers that were at the sleepover,

none of them took much interest in what Corey was watching. I suppose that we're probably more interested in watching trans women dance on TikTok. Kyle even asked Corey to turn that shit off. But then Corey did and said something that should have set off some alarms. The fun thing I do remember when I was saying it was like I feel like stabbing something. Okay. And what was that? I don't know. So he was sitting there watching this Islamic thing on his phone and he grabbed the knife.

Is it actually like stabbing something? Right? And he was like 30 reds after. And you said put it away. Uh-huh. And was it, did you get scared a little bit? You thought he was like just like playing around or he was serious? I thought he was playing around.

What is it? What kind of knife is it? I think there's two knives. There was like kitchen knife but it also had like a cover for like a sheet. Like a black sheet that goes over it. Was it serrated? Was it just plain edge? You know what the difference with 10 is? So serrated is the one like when you cut like a steak

or bread that has little teeth on it. And then the plain edge is just like a razor. Like I'm not too sure. That night, Corey showed the other teenagers a long, plain-edged knife that he recently purchased from a supermarket, and later told Kyle that he felt like stabbing someone. I mean, we can't make these red flags any clearer, guys.

Thinking that Cory was just being Cory, Kyle didn't think much of it, and eventually he just wants a bet, as did Kyle's mom and the other teenagers. How you just go to bed when someone in your house says that they feel like stabbing someone, I have no idea. But apparently, this generation is brain dead. Anyway, just a few hours after that, Cory decided that he was going to live out his fantasy of quote, stabbing someone. Everything was fine. They were listening to music. They were using jewelry, which is a thing. Just stuff with the rage. Everybody sharing the vape with some of the music? Yes. Okay. What happens?

They go to build. Okay. Then what happens? You do your thing. What is that? You specific for me. I wasn't there. During his interview with police, Cory is sometimes soft-spoken. If he didn't catch what he said there, he told detectives that after everyone went to bed, he did his thing. That thing was brutally stabbing and attempting to murder everyone inside the home,

starting first with a teenage victim that we have not yet named. He was Giovanni Sierra, and the birthday party that everyone had just come from was his. Giovanni had just turned 13 years old, and on the morning after his birthday party, Corey Johnson, at his friend Kyle's house, motivated by his strongly held Islamic beliefs. You know, the religion of peace, Cory decided that he was going to stab and kill everyone in the house. On the evening before Cory made this decision, Giovanni Sierra, or Geo as he was known,

celebrated his 13th birthday. He and a few of his friends played paintball. Then they all went to Pizzeria for dinner. Prior to your son sleeping over, I was told that he had a birthday party. Yes. We didn't really have a plan. We got it. No, you know, what you want to do for this weekend So I can I can you know start planning this He had said mommy. I wanted to go to

Paintball again Although the arrangements were somewhat last minute Geo's mom booked a paintball competition for her son and his friends before they all ended up at the Pizzeria for dinner. Once there, 17-year-old Corey Johnson and 15-year-old Kyle Bancroft asked if they could join the dinner party. The other connection that these older teenagers had to Gio was that Kyle was the older brother of one of Gio's friends.

Gio's mom had never met Cory before, but Gio insisted that the older teens should be included. We had just a table reserved for 12 at Giovanniass, his mom can contain his brother and his friend join us, and I was like, okay, you know, we only had 12, but that was Giovanni. He always wanted everyone to feel welcome. After the pizza party ended, Geo asked his mom if he could spend the night at the Bancroft

House, which was the same house where Corey intended to spend the night. Geo's mom was hesitant to allow Geo to go there But she didn't want to say no to her son on his birthday Look, you want me to thank you so much. This is was the best day. I have so much fun Thank you so much for doing this for me. I love you so much I become home. I want to you know I want to be the first one to say happy birthday to you in the morning. I want to hug and kiss you and I have a little present for you. And he's like, let me be home.

I'll be home. Okay. I'll text you after you get off work. You can come get me in. So it wasn't pre-planned. No. Geo's mom allowed her son to have his sleep over. And later that night when Gio's mom returned home without her son, she was so exhausted from the day's activities that she went right to bed. Sadly, she had no idea what horrific events would soon unfold at the home where she had sent her son. Can you imagine the guilt and heartbreak?

That night I was just so tired when I got home that I didn't text him. I didn't say, you're okay. Are you guys there? I actually went home and was like, don't go to sleep yet and as soon as we got home, I fell asleep so I was tired. After Geo arrived at his friend's house for the sleepover, the four boys stayed up late, mostly just talking, listening to music and secretly sharing a vape pen. Then at about 130.30 a.m., everyone went to bed. Well everyone except Corey Johnson, that is.

Instead of going to sleep, Corey stayed awake and watched his Islamic videos. Then he unsheathed the knife that he purchased earlier that day and walked over to Geo, who was fast asleep. Following the instructions he had learned online about how to best stab and kill someone, Corey began repeatedly stabbing 13-year-old Geo before ultimately slitting his throat. Do you have an argument with you? You would just leave. Did he insult you in any way? I did. Did he insult Islam?

No, he was one of the main, like the biggest thing you could do is hold sheer, and they could either translate it polytheism or idolatry and like just like a scribing post God's, and he's taller people, guys. Did he say that to you? Just general, he was talking to me and then he made you upset, that's what everyone did, it was just some used to hear and stuff like that. Then they can be in great shape, just like in the Lord Jesus. How did you acknowledge it? Just in my head, no, you think.

You even want to try and convince them or show a new point of view? Not because people like that generally don't. According to Corey, his justification for stabbing this boy to death was because earlier in the night, Geo had referred to celebrities as gods. For followers of Islam, the worship of anyone or anything other than Allah is known as Shirk.

And it's one of the worst sins that a person can commit. No wonder they hate Western culture. You said you didn't try and convince him. Did he know about your religious beliefs? Did you know how strong you felt? No, I hide it because it's a people. You never knew him before. I've heard about him. I just met him. I'm just trying to figure out why you would attack him first if he had the person you met the most recently. Because he's just the easiest. Shamelessly, Corey admitted that geo was the easiest target, which was why he chose geo to be his first victim of the night.

But beyond that, he also felt like Geo was just an all-around bad person. What was going through your mind? What were you thinking when he's sleeping on the floor? Is it all the insults to Islam that kind of delt up? Well, no, it's not even that it's just one of the reasons, but just I know he's not a good person. You can say it. He's not a good person. He does weed. He does stuff with girls, fornication, and today it was a birthday. He just turned 13.

Just a bad person overall, and I need to win, and set people or whatever it got. So just all that stuff together. Keep in mind, Cory had never met Geo before that night. And Geo was the one that insisted Cory should be allowed to join his birthday pizza party. In Cory's warped mind, this was the bad person that deserved to be stabbed to death. And the knife is still in your pocket when you leave the room? The bedroom?

Yes. Okay, and how did you do it? You were sleeping and I think I had the knife on Chief and I stabbed him in the stomach. and then he woke up and started screaming and then Is that what happened after that? It just happened again? Yeah, I stabbed him in the pocket. I think they were everywhere, mostly in the neck and stomach.

And what was he doing? To the scream and trying to say what was he battling with his hands? Was he telling you to stop? Was he calling for help? All those things. In reality, Cory didn't care much about Gio's moral character or who he was as a person. The kid just turned 13. I mean, how much moral character could you really have at

13? Plus, Corey had only just met Geo. They had only known each other for a few hours. How could he possibly make any kind of meaningful determination about Geo? The answer is he couldn't, but we all make snap judgments about people we don't know all the time. Don't we? I'm talking to you. Think about it. The truth is that Cory's heart and mind were so poisoned with hatred and horrific ideas that he was willing and actually eager to kill just about anyone. This poisoning with

hatred and horrific ideas happens all the time via mass media, but young people and anyone with a serious mental illness are particularly affected. And Corey did have a plan to stab and kill everyone in the house that night as they slept because of it. But things didn't go as he planned. As Geo was being stabbed, he began moaning in pain and screaming for help, which woke up the only parent in the home. Kyle's mom left her bedroom and before she could see what was happening, she called out, asking why the teenagers were still awake and making so much noise.

She was just saying what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on, what's going on once the chief felt on the stairs. So I guess she ran outside and I guess she called a police from there. When Corey attacked Kyle's mom, he brutally stabbed her 12 times and almost certainly

would have killed her had her other son gain not stepped in to fend off Corey. After which Kyle's mom ran out of the house to get help while Dane and Corey continued fighting each other. Ultimately, Corey got the best of Dane and ended up stabbing him 32 times. blood. Then what happens? I run downstairs into the computer room and I am. At this point I was close to the pass out because my vision was getting all blurry. I'm here to stand. And I just sat inside the bathroom for a while. After stabbing three people countless times, Cory's adrenaline had started to fizzle out. Poor little extremist, he's getting all tuckered out after all the stabbies.

While covered in the blood of his victims, he walked into a bathroom closet, sat down and just waited for something to happen. Eventually, something did happen. The police arrived, ordered Cory out of the closet and took him into custody. I just waited there for a while, not too much happened until the police showed up and then they started telling me to come out. They say, put your hands up and then they get on the floor, and say, hit him with the shield, and smash me down on the floor with the shield. And then they put the wire and cut something.

Kyle's mom and her son, Dane, were both taken to the hospital. Thankfully, despite the multiple stab wounds, they both survived the attack, but sadly, the same could not be said about Giovanni Sierra. When emergency services finally got to him, there was nothing anyone could do. He was pronounced dead on the scene and died on his 13th birthday. Meanwhile, Cory was taken to the Palm Beach Gardens police department for questioning where he gave a straightforward and honest account

of the horrific things that he had done and also explained why he had done them as if it fucking mattered. Palm Beach Gardens police say Dane's older brother had his friend Cori Johnson over that night too. Johnson told police he waited until everyone was asleep around 4 a.m. to kill Giovanni Dane and Dane's mother.

Johnson inspired by his Muslim faith in violent jihadist videos which encouraged killing non-believers. After the police were able to piece together some of the details of this horrific attack and why it had happened They contacted Geo's mom and informed her that her 13-year-old son had been murdered When the cops were at my work asking me and I was showing them the birthday pictures He's like You know Kyle I didn't even know Corey's name until we just found out the other day. And you know, they didn't give me anything to know right there. So I just,

I was in shock and to be honest, I'm still in shock, of course. The murder of GEO Sierra was completely unexpected. and his mom was understandably left in a state of shock. But that shock eventually started to wane as she began to process the vicious and horrific events that resulted in her son's death. He was so happy, and I never thought in my wildest dream that I would get the news I got yesterday. I wonder what happened, did he wake up screaming or did he die in his sleep or did he feel pain?

About a week after Geo was murdered, a large funeral service was held in his honor. Among the attendees were several of Gio's school teachers and classmates, all of whom knew Gio as a kindhearted and talented young boy. Giovanni's impact on so many lives on our campus has become evident. And speaking to several of his teachers, there's a resonating theme of Geo, as he was known, the resonating theme of Geo's character. That theme being that he loved to help others from a new student on campus to help and teachers in the classroom, he was a giver.

Now, he has given me words when there are none. Giovanni's creative writing teacher, Ms. Green, shared with me Giovanni's poetry book. I would like to read a few of his poems, The Best Day Ever. The Best Day Ever, A Day Like Never, Sweet Sky, So High, smiles one every face, no hidden

traits in his own words. Thank you, Geo. At this service Geo's mom gracefully spoke to the attendees and attempted to put into words the indescribable impact that Geo had on her life. Wow, Giovanni is an angel now. I know he's in a better place where he doesn't have to suffer and has no regrets in what so ever in his life. I want to speak to you from how Giovanni impacted my life. As a child, I passed through many traumatic situations and things. Giovanni, I became pregnant with Giovanni and found out at the age of 17. I knew there was a purpose for him to be inside me.

And no matter what anybody said, I made the decision to keep my child and to sacrifice my youth to give him life and to be my strength. Giovanni was that, was my strength. And any moment that I was down, his sweet smile looked up at me and I kept pushing through my life because of him." As for Geo's killer, when Corey Johnson went to court, he pleaded not guilty. And his lawyers chose an insanity defense, arguing that Corey was delusional and psychotic when he began professing an interest in the Muslim faith as well as at the time of the stabbings. The case went to trial in October of 2021 and during that trial Cory's former friend Kyle Bancroft testified against Corey. He came to my room and he was told me, I know he drove around a lot, but this time I'm not

joking. Cory's trial lasted for two weeks. And when it was over, a jury found Cory was sane. He was ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder. The jury only needed about a half day to come to the guilty verdict today. Now they weren't deciding if Johnson actually killed anybody, but when he did, was he sane? And today the answer is yes. A stoic Corey Johnson, as the verdict was read, as a motion poured out from the family

of Giovanni Sierra. The state's test defined that while Johnson had a rare personality disorder, he was in fact sane. Ultimately, Jerry sided with Richard Clausey and the state. The death penalty is off the table in this case because at the time of the stabbing Johnson was 17 years old, but it's possible he could be sentenced to life in prison. His sentencing will happen in early January. In January of 2022, Corey Johnson went before a judge to receive his sentence.

But before that sentence was handed down, Corey provided a brief statement to the court. And listening to this statement, it appears that after spending a few years in jail, Corey's beliefs have changed dramatically. I was not going to bring the dog back. And once I was a little knight, I swore to the lion, friends, family, and even strengthen. I attacked the people who were like a second family. I called the stress my own family, not let them work at anything. I had to rely on the hands of the third and the other boy

and the most heinous and cowardly way possible. I could eye him and begin to rely a pain in my stomach. I wish I could take it back. I wish I could do something to make this right. But I know that I do want to apologize. Not because of the changing thing. But because I really, really am sorry. Sorry to do, but I'm sorry to do that.

But I'm just taking this lightly and then at his family, for no reason, because so young has so much potential. I truly, because I thought it felt something so terrible. That's not the way I am, not the right person. Despite Corey's apology, the judge showed him no leniency and sentenced Corey to three life terms. One for the murder of Giovanni Sierra, and two more for the attempted murders of Kyle's mom and her son, Dane Bancroft.

And the judge pointed out that John sent post for a selfie holding a knife just minutes before he stabbed Giovanni to death. One of the factors she says she considered before sentencing him to three life terms, two of them to run consecutively. The murder of Giovanni Sierra was undoubtedly tragic, especially when you consider that he was just a young boy that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and on his birthday nonetheless. For Cory Johnson, it didn't matter who was on the receiving end of the violence and murder that he wanted to commit. His beliefs were clear as was his intent. He wanted to kill someone. The only requirement was that his victim or victims didn't subscribe to his beliefs. When you bought the knife, did you have it in mind that you would have heard the next person that insulted you or religion? I guess I was maybe in the back of my mind thinking

I could do something like this. Can you describe to me now what you was thinking? What made you take those actions back? Well, I just wanted to hurt some disbelievers for what they tell me. I was just on my phone and I noticed everyone was asleep, so I figured it was actually a good time. Was there any type of formal or mental decision on your part to hurt disbelievers in general? Like prior to that time, was that just impulsive? Like at the moment it wasn't impulsive, I knew I wanted to eventually.

Beliefs are a funny thing. Well some beliefs can be completely harmless, others can lead to extreme acts of brutality and bloodshed. For this reason, it's important to regularly challenge our own beliefs, especially if we find them triggering angry emotions or suggesting some kind of justification for violence. It isn't quite as easy as it sounds, challenging a strongly held belief for even an entire belief system is often very difficult for people to do.

But remember that we can all be fooled. It's important to pay attention to our intuition, but we should never fully trust it. And we should always be wary of personal validation. At the same time, it's important not to rely on a single source of information for our beliefs. That's how you get into serious trouble. After all, our moral compasses are guided by our beliefs. And if we're not careful, that compass can guide us down a path that leads to horrific and tragic consequences. Well, thank you for joining us once again.

We appreciate you being here and hope you'll come back to joining us once again. We appreciate you being here. And hope you'll come back to join us once again. Our number is 954-889-6854 and put a plus one if you're international. Call and leave us a message. Let us know what you think of the show. We hope to hear from you soon. And until next time, remember to stay safe.

Hi my kids, this is Rebecca from Boulder, Colorado. Been a long time listener since 2017. And I just wanna say that I guess like everyone else this is one of the best V-best actually podcasts ever. Continue doing what you do. I love that you pissed everyone off. One of my favorite things to do is to go on Reddit and

look at all of the idiots like freaking out about you and making you their wife. Pretty funny. But yeah, thank you for everything, man. Um, yeah. Have a great day.