Sword and Scale - Episode 315

Episode Date: September 2, 2025

At just 16 years old, Daniel Gore had already fallen through the cracks. While homeless in Beaverton, Oregon, he kept mostly to the confines of his tent in the woods while looking inward for a sense of belonging. Survival on the fringes wasn’t easy - especially when a body was discovered near his camp in May of 2022. While the community demanded answers, investigators worked to piece together a timeline...Get instant access to all episodes, including premium unreleased episodes, commercial-free at swordandscale.com

Sword and scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. And then I noticed some red in the water and a blanket, a blue blanket with hair underneath, which I had convinced myself as moss. Well, I hope you appreciate this one because I had to drag my depressed ass out of bed. what happened in Minneapolis this week. This is Soren Scale, episode 315. Let's go, I guess. In the quiet city of

Beaverton. Oregon. Life moves at a predictable pace. Those who live there usually know what to expect. Families dine in cozy restaurants. Children play in well-kept parks, and parents only rarely have to worry about the few dreadlock gypsies that have migrated from downtown Portland. And before you complain about me using the word gypsy because it offends you, just realize that I don't give a shit. But despite a few dirty hippies here and there, Beaverton seems like a wonderful place. I mean, it was originally named after all the beaver dams they had. What's cuter than that?

Once a relatively small community, Beaverton has maintained its reputation as a safe place for both residents and business owners. It's also quite beautiful, naturally. A lot of the West Coast is, except for the people, of course. Citizens value safety hugely here, but our department shines. It keeps us safe and it's highly valued, and that's absolutely another key reason to why businesses locate here and value being here in Beaverton. Aside from becoming home to corporate giants such as Nike and Tectronics, the city's public transit is another unique contributor to its booming economy. Beaverton is on the easterly edge of Washington County and is really the hub for transportation choices. We've got great transit options here.

We have the max train, the west train. We also have a tremendous bus network. Despite its growth, Beaverton's wooded trails, quiet streams, and parks are what make the city unique. It's got the best of both worlds. But like anywhere, there are aspects of Beaverton that aren't exactly. advertised on postcards or in travel brochures. It's not an escape for everyone. For many, the forests of the Pacific Northwest are less a refuge and more of a last resort.

A place where the ever-growing homeless population struggles to survive when there's nowhere else to go. 16-year-old Daniel Ryan Gore was one of the city's underbelly residence. But he wasn't living in the woods out of necessity. He was there by choice. In his eyes, anything was better than living at home with his parents. He was born in Oklahoma, and his family moved to Beaverton when he was only 11 years old. A short time later, they relocated again, this time to the more affordable town of Salem. What brought you guys to the one of Salem?

Um, see, yeah. Oh, okay. I think it was one of my parents' jobs. Okay. And then you guys moved, was it the Beaverton area initially? Yeah. Okay. All right.

And so mom and dad are down there. Do you have any family up in this area? Uh-huh. Allegedly, his parents did what they could to provide him with better opportunities. I have my doubts. But Daniel wasn't like most kids. He started feeling more like an outsider with each passing year. Constantly moving around and being placed in new school districts made it hard.

hard for Daniel to make friends. He struggled academically and spent most afternoons at the lunch table alone. He was often seen wearing headphones, blaring heavy metal and rap music to block out the world around him. Eventually, Daniel did break out of his shell, but not in a good way. By the time he entered high school, Daniel had established a reputation as a class clown, and instead of being the popular funny guy, he was more known as the weird goth kid who would randomly scream in class for laughs that were rarely received.

As he strayed further from his peers, he leaned more into music, connecting with underground artists more than any of his classmates. That's when Daniel discovered Seven, a progressive metal rapper out of Atlanta, Georgia. He was pretty obsessed with this artist, like, loved everything he did, every song he came out with, every post he made. He would repost, like, Instagram videos or TikToks about people, other people obsessing over this artist.

On the rare occasion when Daniel did converse with other students, Seven and his latest song became the only thing he cared to talk about. He was fixated. Unfortunately, the other kids weren't that interested. It wasn't long after that. Daniel convinced himself he just didn't belong. Not just in school, but in society. Right around that time, he dropped out and had plans to run away from home. Shortly after his 16th birthday, he packed an oversized duffel bag and bought a bus ticket to Portland.

Without any savings or a place to go, he ended up living on the streets of Oregon's busiest city. I'm sure you've seen the homeless encampments out there and all the rioting and drug use. Daniel found himself sleeping in parks or underneath the overhang of the first interstate bank. After a few months, he eventually got sick of being woken up by cops or having business owners kick him off their property. That's when he decided he needed to move somewhere more remote, somewhere quiet and safe from all the tweakers roaming around downtown Portland like zombies. Nothing says compassion like continuing to let that happen.

Anyway, while he certainly could have gone back home to his parents in Salem, that thought never crossed his mind. After hopping on one of the computers inside the city library and a few Google searches later, it was settled. 16-year-old Daniel was headed back to Beaverton. Okay, so you take a bus from Salem to Wilsonville, and then you get on the max from in Wilsonville and get out here. And it's three bucks for that, long, that shot.

About. Okay. By now, he was well-versed in public transportation, so hopping on a bus at Union Station was nothing new. After panhandling long enough to afford a one-way ticket, Daniel was on the next bus out of the car. town. When he arrived, Daniel spent the little cash he had left on supplies with plans to set up camp in the woods. After walking for miles, he eventually came across the Progress Ridge Shopping

Center in Beaverton's South End. At an Ace Hardware store inside the plaza, he purchased a camping tent and blue blanket before walking through the parking lot towards the tree line. As he finished setting up camp, Daniel felt a sense of calm wash over him. His new home was quiet, serene. Besides the faint noise of cars and the shopping mall, roughly two football fields away, Daniel had the woods all to himself. If he needed something to eat, he'd walk the short distance to the shopping center to dig through the dumpsters for food that had been recently tossed away. When that didn't work, he'd hit New Seasons Market, an overpour Price Grocery Store located in the plaza where the rich folk of Beaverton shopped.

Luckily, for Daniel, money was no object, literally. He had none. Right before the last register was about to close, Daniel would stroll the aisles pretending to shop before secretly stuffing a package of hot dogs or a can of chili in his coat pocket. After that, he walked across the parking lot into the woods, where he'd start a campfire and cook himself a meal, a stolen one. Doesn't sound that bad, to be honest. How long have you been staying in a text?

50 inches? 50 inches. Okay. Daniel had been living outside for a couple months up to this point. As much as he enjoyed the privacy, he was still a 16-year-old boy, and eventually Daniel got bored. That's when he started frequenting the shopping mall, more often. often. Not to steal hot talks, but to socialize. The AMC movie theater at the plaza was one of the main places Daniel started hanging out. Eventually, he met some kids his age, who, like him, had nothing

else to do on a Friday night, but catch the late night showing of Avatar 2. Didn't see it, but I heard that was shit. Finally, Daniel had a solid group of friends. For the first time ever, he felt accepted. Imagine that. The local teens who attended high school in Beaverton a few miles down the road knew he was homeless but never judged him. If anything, they were concerned for his well-being, especially when the colder months rolled around. One day in January 2022, Daniel arrived at the AMC theater to meet up with his new friends. But they noticed his clothes were soaking wet. It was clear he'd been struggling to survive in this tent just a couple hundred yards away. Daniel told his friends he was fine, but after visiting the camp, they knew from the damaged

tarps, ready to cave in from the fresh snowfall, that they really needed to get Daniel out of the woods. I wonder what his parents were doing around this time. I was having friends over. I had recently met a new group, and they asked me to invite one of their friends over. And I said yes. During one particular visit to a friend's home, Daniel and a group of others were hanging out watching TV. At one point, while the group was eating a meal, the mother prepared. Daniel's friend mentioned that he was homeless. I was made aware that he didn't have a house.

And I told my mother that, and she started crying and told me he could do his laundry whenever he wanted. The girl's mother instantly broke into tears. and insisted he stay with them that night. While he wasn't used to accepting a helping hand, this time he did and was genuinely thankful. From that point forward, any time the weather was harsh, the mother of Daniel's friend insisted he stay with them.

Eventually it started snowing, and my mom was even more sad and wanted him to be safe and let him stay the night every once in a while when it was really cold. Different times when he was hung up. She would, of course, let him eat our food, and sometimes I'm pretty sure got him canned food from either pantries or our pantry.

One night, when Daniel showed up at the door, the mom surprised him with a gift. It was a brand-new orange puffer coat. Daniel couldn't have been more grateful, as the weather was only getting worse. To return the favor, Daniel would offer to help around the house during his overnight stays. He was polite and came across as a genuine teenager who just needed some help. Accepting it, though, was something Daniel struggled with. After retreating back to his campsite and vanishing behind the trees, Daniel started to isolate himself again, left with nothing but his thoughts and dark lyrics

from heavy metal music crackling through his cheap headphones. As the snow continued to fall, his friends and their families feared that Daniel might not make it through the night. But it wasn't just the harsh elements that they had to be concerned with, as there was no way of knowing the sheer violence that was about to unfold in those very same Oregon woods. So when I started this podcast, I didn't realize I was actually starting a small business. Yikes.

There's nothing small about a small business. You're working all of the time. Thankfully, though, I have a partner with all the tools that I need to be successful. You may have heard of them. Their name is Shopify. Shopify's point-to-sale system is a unified command center for your retail business. It brings together in-store and online operations across up to a thousand locations. Imagine being able to guarantee that shopping is always convenient.

Endless aisle, ship to customer, buy online, pick-up, and store. All these things are made simpler to customers so they can shop how they want, and staff have all the tools to close the sale every time. And let's face it, acquiring new customers is expensive. With Shopify POS, you can keep shoppers coming back with personalized experiences and first-party data that give marketing teams a competitive edge. In fact, it's proven. Based on a report from EY, businesses on Shopify POS see real results, like 22% better total cost of ownership and benefits equivalent to an 8.9% uplift in sales on average

relative to the market set surveyed. So if you have a retail or online business, then I'll tell you what? Shopify is a fantastic partner to have on your side. Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 a month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash sword and scale. All one word. Just go to Shopify.com slash sword and scale and sign up. You'll thank me later. You will. Shopify.com slash sword and scale. For Daniel Gore, life wasn't easy. At just 16 years old, he left home with no plan and barely enough cash to purchase a bus ticket to Portland, Oregon. When life on the streets became too harsh, he sought refuge in the nearby woods.

of Beaverton and set up camp behind the Progress Ridge Shopping Center. Unfortunately, with homelessness often comes danger and sometimes the threat of extreme violence. While he struggled to find his way in the world, any chance of starting over for Daniel was inevitably destroyed when a harrowing discovery was made on May 10, 2022. Just past 3 p.m., a group of local residents was walking along Barrow's run. road before veering onto the westside regional trailhead, directly located behind the Progress Ridge Shopping Center in Beaverton. We walked through into the forest, wooded area, and walked around for a while.

We didn't see much. After a short trek, they came across a pair of ripped sweatpants hanging from a branch, as well as a pair of high-top converse sneakers that were stuck in the mud. The group became worried almost immediately. After walking towards the items, they noticed something else. And then I noticed some red in the water and a blanket, a blue blanket with hair underneath, which I had convinced myself with moss. The blanket was draped over a shallow creek that ran through the woods.

As they neared closer, they noticed the raised impression of something underneath. What was even more suspicious was that the blanket had been weighed down by several logs and rocks. It was at this point that the group stepped back in shock before running out of the woods and notifying police. Are you talking about this whole spot way down here? Yeah. Okay. I didn't touch anything. I may try not to touch something.

I saw. Okay. Do you guys want to wait up here for me? And then we'll come back up and chat with you just a few minutes. Yeah. There's also like just like a little blanket in the water. I don't, doesn't look like there's anything out of it, but... Okay, are you good to see it, for then?

Yeah. Okay. When authorities arrived, the scene was immediately secured as people started to swarm around the caution tape perimeter. I saw, like, a bevy of cops in, like, a circle. It seems like they were doing a search. I was very surprised to all the police here. I mean, I had to connect the dots. They're being very, you know, quiet about it, all that.

While the vast presence of SUVs and police cruisers line the streets, Just behind them and down the small ravine, crime scene tech started carefully gathering evidence in the woods. Well, I could tell about the blanket that it appeared, it was weighted down, and there was definitely something under it. It looked like I noticed human hair in the water, and at some point I think I point that out. Upon examining the blanket wading in the water, forensics started lifting the stones and debris. We removed the blanket, and it was photographed in place. There are multiple branches and large rocks that had been placed on the body to hold it down and in place in the water. The body of a deceased teenage victim was found.

The individual was completely nude except for their socks. Ligature marks were visible on their neck. The face was swollen and bruised. Investigators then took notice of one of the victim's fingernails. It actually had been snapped back at the next. nail bed, and it was just kind of hanging. The victim's family was notified immediately. That same evening, the city of Beaverton, Oregon, fell into a collective state of shock

when authorities released the name of the teen found dead in the woods. We want to get straight to some breaking news out of Beaverton tonight. Police say they've found the body of a missing student. Tonight, we know the circumstances surrounding the girl's death are suspicious. At around 7 a.m. on Monday, May 9th, Asel Lee arrives home from her overnight shift at the Nike store in Beaverton. She hasn't seen her daughter, Milana, since the evening before when she left for work. She calls out for her, but there's no answer.

Thinking Milana must have simply left early for school, she decides to check her daughter's bedroom, just to be sure. When a cell cracks open the door, an easiness sets in when she notices Malana's book bag is still in the corner of the room. A cell starts making phone calls

and reaches out to Malana's friends. But no one is seen or heard from her. Her worry deepens. She calls the school hoping for reassurance, only to learn that Malana never showed up that day. This is when panic

starts to set in. After nearly 24 hours, still no sign of her. A cell in a group of Milana's friends take to the streets in nearby woods, retracing her usual route. But then they find something. Off the wooded trails of Barrow's road scattered along the damp forest floor are Milana's shoes and torn pajama pants, the same items she was last seen wearing. Moments later, they spot a blue blanket, lying flat, over a slow-running creek, unaware at that moment that beneath that pile of debris is Milana's savagely beaten body.

Yeah, it's just horribly sad. Officers say that that young lady was Milana Lee, and we're just finding out about this in the past hour or so, and already some community members have put flowers here near where her body was found. They found her body in a small stream over here. This is the West Side Linear Park near the West Side Trail. Police just left this scene. They had this all blocked off near Barrow's Road for this investigation. Once the body was removed from the water and transported by the coroner in preparation for an autopsy, a group of investigators expanded their search and proceeded further into the woods.

It wasn't long before they came across a homeless encampment, roughly 200 yards from Progress Ridge Shopping Center. The site appeared to have been someone's long-term dwelling, as indicated by a series of tarps meticulously tied from various trees covering the small camping tent. Fresh food wrappers and recently burnt embers inside a small fire pit suggested that whoever was staying there hadn't left long before police arrived. Directly adjacent to the camping tent was the discarded packaging of a blanket, consistent with the same blanket used to conceal

Milana's body. The authorities searched inside the tent. They found a diary. Upon reading it, they immediately took notice of the phrase, I feel like Dexter, ominously written inside the journal. Something else that struck the deputies Azad was a collage of artwork

found etched into a nearby tree. Chiseled into the bark were several skulls with Joker-type smiles, adorned with a unique set of devil hordes atop each of the cartoon's heads. It was unclear what the images were, but all the pocket-knife carvings depicted a rendition of the same character.

Back at the primary crime scene, additional items of evidentiary value were being collected. In addition to the clothing and broken fingernail, the victim's purse was found a few minutes. meters north, waiting in the creek. The bag was partially filled with water and missing one of its leather straps. Investigators eventually recovered the missing strap in a nearby bush. Inside the purse was Milana's phone case, but her device was missing.

We did an emergency connection with her phone through T-Mobile to try to get her Latin longitude where her cell phone was less seen, so we would have an idea of where to start looking. Once a subpoena was successfully filed through Malana's phone carrier, authorities learned that her device showed activity throughout Beaverton, several hours after the murder, and had just recently been powered off. Upon accessing the victim's final texts and online messages, they found a Facebook correspondence that started the afternoon she disappeared. This conversation was between Milana and a 16-year-old named Daniel Gore.

Surprised? Huh, come on, this is sort and scale. On May 8, 2022, Milana contacted Daniel at around 2.30 p.m. She asked him what his plans were that afternoon. Daniel responded to the message, stating he was at the local. library so that he could use the internet. What the fuck is the purpose of libraries in 2025, now that we have the internet? Oh, right.

Masturbatoriums for homeless people. And a huge waste of taxpayer money, you ask me. Leave your outrage in the comments, Karen. Anyway, eventually the two arranged to meet up, Daniel and Milana, with the intention of getting drunk, with some mutual friends. Over the course of several hours, Milana and Daniel continued to communicate on Facebook. Milana sent several more messages asking Daniel

who would be joining them that evening. Daniel responded by providing the names of one male and at least two other girls, but said he wasn't sure if they were going to make it. At around 6 p.m., location data placed Milana at her residence before traveling towards the shopping plaza less than half a mile away. At 6.30 p.m., Malana's cell phone pinged at Menchie's frozen yogurt at the Progress Ridge Shopping Center.

Surveillance footage from inside the business corroborated Malana's location when she was seen entering Menchies, accompanied by a male teenager. It depicts May 8th, 2022. It will show Daniel Gore and Malano Lee together around 6.40 p.m. enter the location, and they'll leave three minutes later. Milana is seen in the footage wearing pajama pants and high-top converse sneakers as she orders a cup of frozen yogurt, while the male suspect is captured on camera wearing a bright orange puffer jacket. Minutes later, surveillance captures Milana and the suspect walking through the parking lot to a bus stop. The two are seen boarding a bus before its doors closed.

and they start traveling eastbound. Minutes later, they're captured on surveillance a few blocks away, exiting the bus at a nearby intersection before boarding another one. The evidence indicated that the pair rode a series of buses for a total of 25 minutes before finally getting off at a Walgreens less than a mile north of where the trip started. Imagine riding public buses for fun. What it is to be young and stupid. The next time the pair was spotted was at 7.45 p.m. walking south in the vicinity of the shopping plaza

and approaching the west side regional trail. This is the very last time Milan Lee is caught on camera. It was haunting about this inmate. She has no idea that in just over an hour, her life would be taken from it. After identifying the individual, who was believed to be Daniel Gore, of course, investigators started looking into his online activity. Through both his Facebook and Instagram messages, authorities were able to track down friends of the suspect who he'd been communicating with before and after the murder.

Hours after Milana's body was found, detectives arrived at an apartment complex in Beaverton, where a female friend of Daniels met them in the doorway and welcomed them inside. As they entered the home, one of the officers immediately noticed what was hanging on a nearby coat rack. There was an orange goose-down puffy coat hanging at the entrance.

The coat had a noticeable amount of mud on the hood. And there was also a bag of laundry in the living room that I later learned was potentially relevant. When authorities asked the girl who the jacket belonged to, she said, Daniel. She went on to say that he regularly stayed over on cold nights due to the fact he was homeless. When asked when she saw him last, the suspect's friend told police on May 8th at around 8.45 p.m. wearing the orange jacket. I noticed scratches on his face and I asked him how he got those along with how he had mud on his pants and he said he fell. According to her statements to

police. He was acting a bit strange at the time. He was more standoffish, which was another observation my mom and I talked about, but I was definitely disappointed because he's usually really respectful to my mom. It was abnormally quiet and at one point retreated to the bathroom. He went to the restroom to make a private call, which wasn't normal for him, and so it was kind of secretive. According to the witness, Daniel changed his clothes a short time later before leaving the residence. After gaining permission to search the property, investigators made their way to the garage. Inside one of the trash cans was a pair of men's jeans, soaked in water, and covered in dirt. After tracing Daniel's call made from his friend's bathroom, investigators were led to a young

woman named Eva, Daniel's ex-girlfriend, who had known him since the third grade. It was a really, really unhealthy relationship. There was a lot of codependency from both sides. In my relationship with him, I was very isolated from the people in my life, including my parents and friends. And really, he was the main support that I felt I had. Long before Daniel was homeless and wanted for suspicion of murder, Eva was one of the few friends he had. She herself was a loner, which led the two of them to form a deeply codependent and emotionally unstable relationship. When they first started dating years before,

Eva became increasingly defiant towards authority figures. A character trait surely mimicked and learned by her boyfriend, Daniel. Over the years, they fed off each other's chaos, cycling between intense closeness and explosive arguments. We were both very extremely reliant on each other emotionally. We needed to be in contact almost constantly. There were times where if I wouldn't answer him, he would always find a way if it wasn't text, he would find, ever since we started dating in eighth grade,

he would find a way to email me or even text me from an Xbox. Like most toxic relationships, Eva and Daniel brought out the worst in each other. And when she inevitably started to pull away, Daniel became increasingly erratic and controlling. He was an extremely jealous person. He didn't want me having guy friends or really contact with any guys. Anytime I mention any guy saying anything, like one just called me a nickname. He would threaten them and literally say, like, oh, I want to kill them. These behaviors didn't go unnoticed by Eva's friends.

But more notably, her parents. You see, they were actually paying attention. He would make me feel like he was the only person that could make me feel loved or happy and would encourage me to do things to go against my father or my parents in general, which really created a big divide. me and my family. Eva's parents were so worried about her safety that they eventually put the relationship to an end for her. Sometimes you got to just do what you got to do even if your kids hate you for it. As long as she was living under their roof, Eva was no longer allowed to see

Daniel from that point on. While she may not have seen it at the time, being exiled from Daniel very well may have saved her life. But it wasn't just women. Daniel had a problem with. It was the law as well. Roughly three months before Milana was found dead, faced down in a creek, Daniel was placed on probation in February 22. At the time, the juvenile courts of Salem, Oregon found him guilty of multiple offenses, including second-degree theft, criminal mischief, and arson. According to court records, Daniel was arrested after attempting to burn down a movie theater in the Portland area. As a result, the Washington County DA recommended that he be held in juvenile detention.

But despite the DA's concerns for public safety, the Washington County Juvenile Department released him back to his family in Salem. I mean, they'd done such a great job up until this point. Weeks later, Daniel ran away from his home to start a new life as a homeless person living in the woods of Beaverton. What a life. In April of that year, Daniel's father emailed Salem's juvenile department to inform them that his son might be somewhere in the Beaverton area. But for whatever reason, Daniel's father was ignored and a juvenile department failed to notify the DA or the local police. Despite their breakup, Eva and Daniel continued to communicate regularly. And while

there was physical distance between the two, he managed to keep an emotional hold on her. But as time passed, she was able to see the situation for what it actually was. Over time, I had separation from Daniel, and so there was a lot less of that fear in that also, like, I loved him, and I wanted to be able to have him in my life. And so as there was time in my life where he wasn't a part of it, it became a lot easier to see the situation without the emotional lens. When Eva was ultimately questioned by police after a body was found in the woods, she admitted that Daniel called her from his friend's house not long after Milana was last seen alive.

He's calling me, and he sounded stressed or upset in some way, and he started telling me that, like, he had done something, and he couldn't tell me what it was. And so I kept, like, pressing and pushing being, like, what did you do? Where were you? Because at this point, like, I have no idea what's going on. And he's just telling me, like, I did something bad. Like, I can't tell you what it is. It was just telling me that he had gone to hang out with Milana and was just telling me that he did something.

He took care of it. He handled it. and was implying that he had done something bad to her. After speaking with the suspect's ex-girlfriend, locating him became that much more dire, as he was still at there, walking amongst the public. We were following up on every lead. I would encourage people, no matter how small they think that their tip is,

to call us in because it could be, you know, that thing that leads us to the portion of the case that we need to solve. It became clear from the very start that Daniel Gore was much more dangerous than the innocent drifter he portrayed himself as to his friends around Beaverton. His exact connection to the victim was still unknown, but as someone who knows the woods of Beaverton, better than anyone else, there was no telling where he was. Given the state in which he left Milana's body, not far from his campsite, authorities weren't blind at the fact that provided the opportunity there wasn't much stopping Daniel from committing

further acts of violence. Then, on the evening of May 10th, authorities received a call from a state member of the Murray School's Branch Library and Master Batorium in Beaverton. The caller told dispatch that he believed a man matching Daniel's description was using the internet and sitting at one of the computer kiosks. When officers were dispatched, Daniel spotted police with their guns drawn as they made their way through the front door. As I approached kind of more of the back side of the library,

I saw a gentleman that kind of matched his description, get up, and run out the back door. As he fled through an emergency exit, deputies chased after him. But somehow Daniel managed to escape. That little fucker was fast. Back inside the library, one of the staff members stood guard at the computer the suspect was using, only to notice a Facebook Messenger tab still active on the source.

screen. While he glanced at the conversation between the suspect and one of his friends, the library employee retrieved a roll of scotch tape and a piece of computer paper to cover the screen until police could take a closer look. I saw two lines of print. They said, cops are here. I think they're looking for in Milana. Immediately following his escape, all units were dispatched to the surrounding areas. Within the hour, police retrieved a tip that the suspect had been spotted entering a nearby apartment unit located a few blocks away. As officers surrounded the complex, they eventually noticed movement up on a second-story balcony. The individual pressed against the wall attempting to hide and was quickly identified

as their suspect. Daniel was surrounded, and after realizing there was nowhere to run, he walked out of the building's main entrance with his hands in the air. As he made his way towards the officers, they could see he was holding something. While being placed in cuffs, one of the deputies ripped the object away from him, only to find what appeared to be a white Halloween mask that was an exact replica of the skull drawings etched into a tree at Daniel's campsite. So when I started this podcast, I didn't realize I was actually starting a small business. Yikes.

There's nothing small about a small business. You're working all of the time. Thankfully, though, I have a partner with all the tools that I need to be successful. You may have heard of them. Their name is Shopping. Shopify's point-to-sale system is a unified command center for your retail business. It brings together in-store and online operations across up to 1,000 locations. Imagine being able to guarantee that shopping is always convenient.

Endless aisle, ship to customer, buy online, pick-up, and store. All these things are made simpler to customers so they can shop how they want, and staff have all the tools to close the sale every time. And let's face it, acquiring new customer, is expensive. With Shopify POS, you can keep shoppers coming back with personalized experiences and first-party data that give marketing teams a competitive edge. In fact, it's proven. Based on a report from EY, businesses on Shopify POS see real results, like 22% better total cost of ownership and benefits equivalent to an 8.9% uplift in sales on average relative to the market set,

So if you have a retail or online business, then I'll tell you what. Shopify is a fantastic partner to have on your side. Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 a month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com slash sword and scale, all one word. Just go to Shopify.com slash sword and scale and sign up. You'll thank me later. you will. Shopify.com slash sword and scale. In early May of 2022, Asel Lee returned home from an overnight shift to find that her daughter, Milano, was missing.

At first, she assumed she may have left early that morning for school, but as the hours passed and Milana failed to answer her phone, concern turned into panic. A cell and a group of Malana's friends started searching the neighborhood, calling out for her. Their efforts led them to a trailhead off of Barrow's Road, where they found her shoes and torn pajama pants scattered near a wooded area. The search came to a tragic end on May 10th, when Milana's loved ones stumbled upon a blue blanket in a shallow creek just off the

west side regional trail. Underneath it, weighed down by rocks and logs, was Milana's lifeless body. She'd been beaten, strangled, and left for dead. The discovery triggered a full-scale homicide investigation, prompting authorities to piece together her last known movements. Data, pulled from Milana's device, showed that she'd been active on Facebook the afternoon she disappeared, chatting with a 16-year-old named Daniel Gore. Their conversation revealed plans to meet up that evening, and surveillance footage later confirmed they'd spent the night wandering through Beaverton, boarding buses, and eventually making their way into the woods.

Authorities ultimately tracked their suspect to a public library. When police arrived, Daniel fled, only to be arrested a short time later when he was found hiding at a friend's apartment. With their suspect now in custody, detectives finally had the opportunity to speak with Daniel when he was brought in for questioning and tried to piece together why. You have the right to remain silent. Do you understand what that means? Yeah. Okay, tell me what your words with what that means. Right.

off the top of the phone I don't do. Right. So when did you, are you willing to talk to me about where you've been staying and stuff? I was just staying in the Beards an area. The conversation started off casually with detectives asking Daniel about his day-to-day life. He seemed excited when the topic of the library came up. I wonder why. He was eager to tell detectives how he spent a lot of his time watching police body cam footage

True Crime videos on YouTube, of all things. I guess I just want to take the body cam. Yes. Oh. No, we don't, we're not in, we don't like the acting stuff. Like 3rds 48 or anything like that or nothing like that, huh? Body cams done. Oh, is it really that interesting?

Usually. What's the most fascinating thing you've seen? Oh, that's tough. I've seen so many. I've seen so many. What comes to top of your room? Talk of your mind. I don't remember how, though. I just remember watching. I don't remember. Can I have a minute

about it? Oh, actually, no. I don't want to get any a lot. I watch. It's called Code Blue Camp. No, I don't know that. Eventually, the conversation shifted to the night of May 8th, 2022. The last night, Milana Lee, was seen alive. Daniel admitted that he and Milana had been drinking alcohol together that evening, and that he was drunk before the two boarded the first bus. Now, here's an idea for a law that makes sense. I'm sure you legal experts will tell me in the comments. Why is it legal to sell alcohol or any other vices for that matter to the homeless?

Can you give me a good reason for that? Why don't we just make it illegal across the board federally? That sure as hell would be a deterrent to becoming homeless in the first place. And then you said you were drinking skinny margaritas? Yeah, just a bottle of skinny. Was it like mixed or did it actually alcohol in it? No, alcohol. It's like an ice or so.

So how did you get your hands on that? Yes, friends. Won't friends? I have a quick connections. Sounds like it. Daniel described how it was raining heavily that night, yet struggled to recall any other key details. He insisted that he and Milana eventually parted ways

and that when the night was over, he simply went back to his tent alone. That's when detectives decided to confront Daniel about the blatant scratches covering his face and arms. Help me understand how you got the scratches on the outside of your right hand. These? Yeah.

These are just from punching walls. What walls were you punching? There was, like, brick walls. Why were you punching wash? I just looked at other pain. When did you do that to your head? Uh, there you go. There you go.

Nice. Though authorities were certain Daniel was already well aware. Detectives chose to inform him that Milana had been found dead in the woods just hours before. So, I have some news about Malana, okay, that I want to share with you. She was found today. She was deceased. Like, deceased? Yes.

Female where? Well, that's what I'm. yeah I do but you know we're out chatting with people to find out you know as much information as they can she would sound kind of in the progress area so I wanted to talk to you about what you may know that you give us you know points in a direction of who we can talk to or would you know anything about how she may have died no because I'll be honest with you too because like chat said I've been doing this for quite a while if you're pretty um i guess unemotional when we gave you news that you were the last person seen with someone who is now deceased to me i there doesn't seem to be any worry or it's just

kind of this flat affect i mean it's sort of like i don't know i decided it's just like i don't know on each other. It's just like, because I didn't know that well. And there's stuff like that. And stuff like involving staff, I guess. I've just like, I've seen stuff. And it's just like, I don't know. And stuff like that doesn't really affect me what you want. What kind of deaths are you familiar with?

Some of my friends are just into, I'm sure you know, like, Gore videos. They would watch that a lot around me and just, I saw it on. It was just like, seen it too much. It was like. Daniel Gore is into Gore. Great. I'm going to go ahead and leave the dad jokes out of this one. The story's pissing me off more than anything.

A lot of people that would be in your position would at least be a little bit worried or concerned. They're the last person to be seen with a dead girl. I'm not. Just like I said, I've been very desensualized. Daniel was then asked if authorities could expect to find his DNA at the crime scene. The blue blanket, is your DNA going to be on that? No. What is her DNA going to be found in your fingernails? No.

Okay. There's not going to be any DNA inside her body or anywhere on her body that would have otherwise be covered up with clothes. No. Okay. While he denied any involvement in the crime throughout his police interview, the evidence doesn't lie. And the truth behind what.

really happened to Milana that night in the woods is, well, let's just put it this way. The following description of events is speculative based on all the available police reports and witness testimony and all the other information we could find. But it captures a broad truth of what happened that night. Here we go. It was just before 8 p.m. on May 8th. The rain is pouring down heavily in Beaverton, Oregon, and Milana and Daniel are approaching the woods behind the Progress Ridge Shopping Center. They'd spent the better part of the evening riding city buses and sneaking sips of alcohol hidden inside Daniel's backpack.

The 16-year-old has downed more than a few of his pre-mixed margaritas. Milana's only had a single corona, as the two make their way towards. the west side regional trailhead, they eventually exit the park's surveillance camera's frame. The distant streetlights beyond the trees slowly fade away with each step they take into the woods. As they trudged through the mud along the narrow path, the alcohol in Daniel's belly keeps him warm. The two laugh intermittently on their trek as the rain drops over the thick canopy of leaves above. Somewhere along their route, Milana's carefree demeanor shifts a bit. She looks around only to realize how secluded she is now,

alone in the darkness with a boy she barely knows. The thrill of underage drinking has worn off, and Malana tells Daniel she'd better get back home. Daniel stops in his tracks and turns to Milana but says nothing. With a drunken grin, he steps towards Milana and presses his dirt-covered palms around her waist. She stiffens in both disgust and surprise, but Daniel persists and leans in to kiss her.

Immediately she rejects his advances and shoves him. She turns to leave, but Daniel reaches for her arm and pulls her body into his. Malana swipes at his arm, and Daniel becomes enraged. As Malana turns to run, she, She's knocked to the ground from a harsh shove to the back, sending her purse flying through the air. She hits the dirt and screams for help.

Without a second to react, Daniel's fist lands on the side of her cheek. Malana raises her hands in defense, but not quickly enough as Daniel delivers a series of blows. She has a number of examples of blunt injury. In particular, we can see some bruising on her left shoulder and on the left side of her face. As the rainwater mixes with the blood now pouring from Milana's nose, she manages to get to her feet, but her shoes seat deep into the mud. With her feet planted, unable to move, Malana claws and swings her hands wildly, scratching Daniel's face and hands in the process.

This only infuriates him more, and Daniel throws another round. right hook, splitting Malana's lip as she falls to the ground again. While laying on her back, Malana continues to rake her nails across her attacker's face, ripping one of them off. And not only did it take the prosthetic nail, but it also took her native nail underneath and pulled it up. She tries to crawl away, but Daniel flips her body over and forces his way on top of her. With his knees pressed into Malana's ribs, Daniel proceeds to choke her. He then reaches for her purse just inches away. One of the last things Malana sees as the strap of the purse raise over her head

before feeling it wrapped tightly around her neck. Daniel pulls back on the leather strap as hard as he can, becoming aroused at the sight of Malana's life, leaving her body. Eventually, the purse strap snaps, and the woods becomes silent. Daniel stands over Milana's corpse with the ligature dangling uselessly in his hand, but he isn't finished, and now plans to take what he came for. Now that the victim is no longer a threat, Daniel removes Malana's mud-covered converses before ripping off her pajama bottoms

and top layers of clothing. He undoes his belt buckle before pulling down his jeans past his waist. Daniel is a necrophiliac. The source of the blood in the vagina was this laceration in the hymen. Milana's autopsy confirmed she had been raped. The postmortem examination showed visible signs

of bruising and tearing to her vaginal warm. walls along with the presence of male DNA located inside the victim's body. Once finished with his depraved act, Daniel moves methodically through the woods, the ones he knows like the back of his hand. He arrives at his campsite moments later, where he retrieves a blue blanket inside his tent. After retracing his steps through the dark and back to the crime scene, Daniel dragged Milana toward a shallow creek located just a few feet away. At the water's edge, he rolls her over

face down, for draping the blanket over her. He then rushes to gather several rocks and logs and toss them on top of the fabric to better conceal the body. Then he grabs Malana's cell phone from her purse before fleeing into the night, leaving the purse, clothing, ligature, and his DNA. behind. The medical examiner's opinion was that the primary cause of death came as a result of manual strangulation. But the water found in Milana's lungs presented the possibility that she may have still been alive at the time her body was dumped in the creek. The horror. In this case, evidence that would indicate drowning include that frothy, that was coming out of her nose, that might be seen in a drowning.

Corroborated by cell phone data, surveillance, and witness statements, Daniel arrived at his friend's house across town a short time later. After discarding his jeans in the trash and changing out of his clothes, he excused himself to the bathroom, where he called his ex-girlfriend Eva, only to be arrested roughly two days later. Tonight, we know the name of the juvenile, charged with murder. murdering Milana Lee was found dead at a Beaverton Park last week. The Washington County Sheriff's Office and the DA's office says the alleged killer is 16-year-old Daniel Gore.

They say Gore was on probation for nonviolent charges, including theft and arson. Gore was charged with first-degree murder in juvenile court yesterday. Did that motherfucker just say that arson is a non-violent crime? What is it with the media these days? mostly peaceful protest. Get the fuck out of here. In addition to first-degree murder, he was later charged with first-degree rape. Given the fact that he was a juvenile, a key legal battle inevitably emerged concerning whether Gore would be tried as an adult. According to Oregon's original statute, juveniles 15 and older, charged with violent crimes such as murder and rape, can be prosecuted as adults.

But, so-called juvenile justice reforms that passed in 2019 introduced more leniency, prioritizing rehabilitation over lifelong incarceration, which meant that Gore could avoid a life sentence. But you see, Daniel wasn't the only juvenile in this story. And a lot of you bleeding heart assholes always seem to side with the perpetrator instead of the actual victim. You see, the victim was also a juvenile. In fact, Milana was only 13. Thirteen. Barely a teenager. Most certainly still very much a child. Malana's grandmother offered her opinion on why this piece of shit deserves zero sympathy, no matter how leftist and backwards you are.

She's not in this anymore here. So I don't want him, make her to other people. If he can plan, so he can know what he's doing, so of course he has to go to adult, as church as adult. During countless preliminary hearings, prosecutors argued the obvious, that the premeditated rape, strangulation, and disposal of 13-year-old Milano Lee's body placed Gore Farby on the scope of juvenile rehabilitation. This case is a horrific crime that occurred to a 13-year-old girl.

It is not the situation where such leniency should be granted to a defendant who has been found to have the adult-like sophistication and maturity of an adult. and there are certainly cases where a second chance should be given to young defendants, this is not one of them. Thankfully, the judge agreed, and Gore would stand trial as an adult, marking this case as a rare exception to Oregon's soft horseshit laws and propensity to protect violent assholes. The judge said Gore was sufficiently mature to understand his actions

and keeping Gore in the juvenile system is not in the best interest of Gore and society. When his murder trial finally started in November 24, the prosecution laid out a timeline of this brutal crime, as well as Gore's personal connection to the victim. He'd only known Milana for roughly two weeks prior to the murder when the two were introduced by mutual friends. According to witnesses, Daniel was well aware that Milana was only 13.

something that evidently didn't deter him in the slightest. Forensic analysts testified to both the surveillance footage and the digital footprint of the suspect leading up to Milana's last moments alive. In addition to cell phone pings, the state also established that Gore took Milan's phone and used it to send deceptive messages pretending to be her following the murder. Gore also messaged multiple friends asking them to lie about the last time they saw him and even requested photos from a recent trip to California in an attempt to create a false alibi.

Prosecutors presented evidence from Gore's Facebook and Instagram as well. Under the username Body Bag 86, yep, yeah, the defendant's profile picture shows him wearing a white skull mask. If only there were signs, you know? This image matched the skulls found carved into a tree at Gore's campsite, as well as the mask he had in his possession at the time of his arrest. So what's up with these skulls? Well, apparently the Devilhorn Joker's skull was the trademark of Gore's favorite musical artist, the trap metal rapper named Seven.

What the fuck is trap metal, you might ask? beats a fuck out of me. I'm 50. He would draw this artist and he made himself a copy of the same mask that this artist had. He definitely was less him. It made him feel very disconnected and it really didn't feel like it was my boyfriend anymore. Like all he cared about was just that mask and seven and being like seven. While the artist isn't exactly well known, it's safe to say, He had no idea that he had a superfan living in the woods of Beaverton, Oregon.

I wonder how many fans I have living out there in them woods. Hopefully none. When the media first caught wind of the defendant's journal, that was located inside his tent, the words, I feel like Dexter, written inside his notebook, made headlines everywhere. Why does every violent, dumbass idolized Dexter, by the way? Oh, right, right, right. Network television. It's accessible to the lowest,

common denominator. Must be why so many stupid opinions keep getting propagated. Local journales regurgitated inaccurate claims that Gore was inspired by the hit Showtime program. That was later rerun on CBS, I believe, distributed to the unwashed masses. They love to promote their own shows, don't they? Those networks? News at 11. But had they done the bare minimum of research, the media may have realized that I feel like Dexter is actually the name of one of Seven's songs, released just a few months before Milana was killed. So the artist, he idolizes, is just as much of a dumbass. Cool, cool. Also, a little side note here. Dexter didn't actually kill innocent 13-year-old girls. He killed bad guys. And also, shout out to Michael C. Hall. He's a,

He's a good actor, despite the show sucking. When looking at Seven's Instagram page, the theme of murder appears to make up his entire aesthetic. How edgy. He would dress up in a bunch of different kinds of costumes, but the main thing is he had a mask that, like, had the eyes cut out and a drawn-on smile on it. And usually it was paired with, like, a hat. And it just made it so you couldn't see his eyes, like his eyes were blacked out.

and in a lot of like his art or like cover art the mask would have blood on it and it was usually paired with pretty extreme clothing usually black like just big boots and heavy black clothing with a lot of like chains or chokers or stuff like that now i can't help but think that this unoriginal artiste seven gets his name from the popular very well-made David Fincher Flick starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. Great Flick, which gets its name from, oh, I don't know, the Bible? Seven Deadly Sins, that sort of thing? I mean, how many NPCs with not a speck of original thought are walking amongst us these days?

You know what? Let me go see what these fuckers are all about. Give me a second. I'll be right back. Okay, maybe I'm being a little harsh. Music's not bad if you're in a progressive metal. It's really not my thing, but it's artistic. I'll give him that.

Maybe grandpa needs to take a chill pill and have a little nap. He's getting grumpy. The murderer of 13-year-olds will do that to me. Anyway, in one photo on the artist's Instagram, 7 can be seen wearing a female nurse costume while posing over a makeshift operating table, cutting open a stuffed doll. Typical edgy metal shit. I'll be honest, if I was 17, I'd be all over it.

The photo shows 7 blowing a kiss to a wide-angle lens, while a blood-soaked scalpel, metal hooks, and hatchet are seen placed atop a large rubber-made container. His opposite hand is seen clenched around the homemade doll, i.e. his patient, which has its chest cavity exposed with a pair of scissors protruding from its ribs. For what it's worth, the doll looks oddly familiar to jigsaw. You know, a puppet that rides the tricycle around before pushing you into a pit of hypodermic needles in the movie Saw. Yeah, that guy.

Seems like a bit of a cluster fuck of unoriginality, if you ask me. But honestly, there's a lot of that. Can't be too harsh. While it remained unclear if Daniel Gore drew any inspiration from this violent rap music, you can kind of see how dumb people are easily influenced by the media. The defense called a neuropsychologist to the stand to dispel this motivational theory. Well, what we find is, well, there's been great concern for musical lyrics from the point of view of predicting who will commit a crime, it does not predict.

In fact, over the last 10 years, as the music has become more explicit, the crime rate's actually going down. So the biggest concern is the misuse and misunderstanding putting people who do write rap music, for example, on trial for their lyrics when it doesn't predict at all. Ultimately, Daniel Gore's obsession with murder rap only helped paint Gore as a true weirdo to the jury. Something much more damning, though, were his internet searches roughly one month before the murder. The jury learned that on April 2022, Gore typed the words,

Girls and Homeless People Getting Raped into his library's computer terminal. It also searched for videos depicting women being strangled and suffering fatal neck injuries. Why does a homeless loser have internet access again? Oh, right, right, so that Democrats can get elected. Thanks, Obama. The DNA found inside the victim was confirmed by forensics to be Daniels. But the defense disgustingly argued that the sexual encounter was consensual, as if you could have sex with a 13-year-old consensually.

Perhaps their one and only benefit was that no deal, DNA of gores was located under the victim's fingernails, on her clothes or anywhere else at the scene. Having said that, the prosecution was sure to remind the jury that Milana had been subjected to the elements for nearly two days before her body was found. And again, she was only 13. I assume it's pretty easy to overpower a 13-year-old and walk away with barely a scratch. Probably harder to wrangle a house cat. The defendant's ex-girlfriend Eva also testified for calling her phone call with the defendant following the murder. And while he didn't say that he killed her explicitly, he may as well have. And he told me that she tried to kiss him, but that I shouldn't worry about it at all.

I know that it was rainy either that day or a couple days after because he had even mentioned like rain washing away footprints and that the rain was a good thing. He did mention going back and saying that he was going to go move her. At the end of the seven-day trial, deliberations lasted less than 90 minutes. And on November 22nd, 2024,

Daniel Gore was found guilty on all counts. His expression remained unchanged as the verdict was read. He neither protested nor reacted and maintained the same blank stare since the day of his arrest, undoubtedly mimicking the expression of some hero of his and some piece of media looping through his tiny, tiny, tiny brain. At his sentencing hearing, prosecutors pushed for the maximum penalty, but before the final ruling was handed down, the judge addressed Gore directly. And Mr. Gore, I had to misfortune if you were. will, of spending Thanksgiving weekend, trying to figure out what I was going to say to you.

I got to spend Thanksgiving with my family, including my child, who is the center of my life, and you took that away from Miss Lee. It is beyond comprehension what you did. To say, for me to say it's morally reprehensible is an understatement. I have combed through this case. I have combed through every page submitted to me, trying to figure out what on earth got into your head, ripping her hymen to shreds, and then strangling her. This was a failure on so many levels. Parenting, the juvenile system, peer groups, the community at large. How a 16-year-old lives in a tent in a suburban area of Beaverton is beyond me for as long as you did.

Anybody that watched that interview with you and the police, you were fully engaged, you knew fully what you were doing, where you tried to conceal her body, took pleasure in the fact that water would wash away some of the evidence. I find you knew exactly what you're doing. and I hope in the long sentence you serve, I hope that somebody finds out what's wrong with you. I hope I never have a person that what you did in standing me in front of again. At age 18, Daniel Gore was sentenced to life in prison.

Of course, though, that's not what he's actually going to serve. You see, this is, after all, liberal Oregon. Oh, my God, he's talking about politics again. Yeah, it's called the law. Despite his life sentence on paper for the murder of a 13-year-old child and the rape of her dead or possibly still a live body, juvenile justice reforms, as they're called, dictate that this pile of human feces will be eligible for parole in just 15 years. Daniel Gore will likely be released from prison before his 33rd birthday

just in time for the next Antifa riot. Let's just say I hope karma finds him and I hope it finds him well. Hope he's having a wonderful day that day when it does. It'll make it that much sweeter. An 18-year-old who was sentenced to life in prison this week for the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl may be eligible to leave prison

in less than a decade. That's because he was only 16 at the time of the murder, leaving him under the protection of Oregon state law. And this is drawing criticism from Washington County prosecutors. So, there you have it. Justice. J.K., JK. You can't help but laugh.

Otherwise, you have to cry. Despite his life sentence, Daniel Gore will be eligible for conditional release, meaning he will be back in the wild. after only seven and a half years. You'll be able to find them at your local fucking library. That worst-case scenario could come true as a result of a successful appeal, which Gore is currently in the process of putting society through.

I mean, why wouldn't he? It's free. Well, not to taxpayers, but to him, you get my dream. As for the question of whether violent entertainment creates a voice, violent people, it's a story as old as time, really, and perhaps an idiotic one. To put it bluntly, you are responsible for your own actions. Just because you see someone doing something on television or hear someone talking about something in a song doesn't mean you have the right to go out and do it.

Doesn't mean you have to mimic that behavior. Duh, quit blaming media for shit parenting or non-parenting. In fact, that's really the key if you boil it all down. Shit parenting is responsible for most of the ills of the world, if not all. When you start stating that sentiment out loud on Facebook, for example, you'd be surprised by the amount of outrage and self-reporting you'll get. Shit parents will adamantly defend their shit. parenting, or no parenting, or parenting via iPad. You want to cure all the ills of society,

make parents liable for what their kids do, instead of television or movies or music. That'll fix society real quick. And if you can't be responsible for your shit kids, then don't fucking have them. You'd really be surprised by how many defensive asshole parents are quick to point out that you should shut up if you're not a parent yourself. As if you're a You have to be a rocket scientist to point out that maybe the rocket shouldn't blow up on the pad. Unfortunately, all these rocket scientists' parents out there are creating more exploding rockets just to get their fuck on. Maybe one day we'll finally grow up as a society.

Maybe one day we'll wake up and start taking accountability for our own goddamn actions. Maybe. Just maybe. A boy can dream. Hey, asshole. The show's over. If we may just smile or laugh or cry or, God forbid, taught you something, Head out over to swordscale.com and check out Plus.