True Crime All The Time - Sammy Almahri

Episode Date: April 8, 2024

In 2012, Nadine Aburas met Sammy Almahri through an online dating website. Nadine was looking for love, and her sister suggested that online dating might be the way. At first, the pair hit it off even though Nadine lived in Wales and Sammy lived in the United States. But it soon became apparent that Sammy had a controlling nature. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Sammy Almahri. Nadine sensed that Sammy was too controlling, so she tried to end the relationship. That is when the full extent of Sammy's nature became known. He tried to blackmail Nadine by telling her he would post risque photos and videos of her online for her family and friends to see. The controlling, stalking, and harassment escalated to murder.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 378 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And with me as always is my partner in True Crime, Mike Gibson, Gibby, how are you? Good. How about you? I'm doing great. Yeah. You know, we just talked on our Patreon weekly thing where my wife's on vacation. So I'm here at the house by myself. I got a lot of time. You do. And I started watching Mind Hunter for the umpteenth time. And I watched all, you know, two seasons. and I just remembered how great it was. It was just a great show. Did the ending change? It did not.

Okay. And I was sad that again, it didn't continue. That's a show, you know, some shows go on too long. Yeah. But that's a show that was way too short. Yeah, needed a few more seasons. Absolutely. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts.

We had Caitlin Chakos. Hey, Caitlin. Sue. Hey, appreciate that, Sue. Khalil Jones There's Khalil Jillian Ogilvie Ah, Jillian

Riss What's going on, Riss? Luca Peterson Hey Peterson Scott Reboing Ah, Reboing Ashley Horner Hey, thanks Ashley

Tasha Deacons There's Tasha Shelby Hey thanks Appreciate that Shelby Shanna Shaw Uh Shana

Dana McNeil Hey Dana Fiona Fiona jumped down to our highest level Hey look at you Philana thank you Will Jennings Well hey thanks

Will like Jennings, Will Jennings. I feel like it's like that country singer. What's his name? Willie Nelson? No, Jennings. You're crossing Willie Nelson with Waylon. Yeah, Whalen Jennings.

Yeah. How about that, huh? No. Yeah. You don't see it? Yeah, I see the cross between the two, I guess. Beverly Satellek. Hey, Beverly. And last or not least, Mike on mute. That will never happen. Never on mute you will be. then if we go back into the vault, this week, we selected Connie Clark. Hey, Connie. Yeah.

So we appreciate all the support that we get. Gibbs right now, we have an episode out on true crime all the time unsolved where we're talking about Bobby Fuller. And speaking of music, this guy was a rising star back in the 60s in the world of music. He died under what you would have to describe as mysterious circumstances kind of right before he was thought to maybe have exploded onto the scene. But this is one of those where, you know, the police think one thing, the family thinks another, and we'll get into all of it.

You get the way in yourself. Yeah. Yeah. So definitely make sure you check that out. All right, buddy. Are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime all the time? I'm ready. We are talking about Sammy Al Mary.

In 2012, Sammy Al Mary met Nadine Abaris through an on-the-on-weary. through an online dating website. You ever been on one of those sites? No, I have not. It's a good answer since you... Since I've been married for like 28 years. Yes. And they wouldn't have been around when I got married, I don't think.

My wife would not have liked it if I had to answer that any other way. Which is a good test for you. But this is a strange case. You know, he became controlling. He lived in New York. She lived in Wales. and it ended with murder. Nadine Abris lived in Cardiff, the capital of Wales for most of her life.

You tried to do an accent of what you thought was someone from Wales on Patreon? I did. It did not go well. No. I can't even know how I did it back then. It's not even coarse. No, that's what, I don't know what. You came out sounding more like,

the old sea captain from jaws, I think, than anything else. Yeah, it did not turn out well. But Nadine was loved by, you know, many people. She was described as kind and warm. And she had the ability to make other people feel good about themselves. And that is a very valuable thing. It's also a great thing to be able to do. But think of how valuable it is.

that when you can make others around you feel good about themselves, well, how are they going to feel about you? Yeah, they're going to be happy to see you. If you can lift somebody up, you know, people are going to be like, you know what, I can't wait to see that person because I know I'm going to feel good. And you also have the opposite of that, too. There's some people who are like, oh, do I really want to see this person? Because they're going to make me feel really bad.

Yeah, bad about myself. and they may not be a bad person per se, but there are some people like that who their nature is kind of to cut you down a little. Yeah. And maybe it's in small ways, but it's enough. It's noticeable. And it can have an effect on,

you know, how you feel about yourself. Yeah, you shouldn't leave somewhere feeling worse than you did when you got there. This way I look at it. Unless you do something wrong, you deserve it. That's different.

Well, I can tell you right now, I never feel. better leaving the dentist than I did getting there. That's because you're. Because they've poked. They prodded. You don't like the tentative.

I do not like the dentist. And the people there are great. Yeah. It's just jamming metal, sharp metal objects into my mouth repeatedly is not my idea of fun. No. I think there's probably a lot of people on that page. Yeah. Yeah.

They take your blood pressure every time at the place I go. to right before they start. And mine is always sky high. I bet. And I tell them every time. It's because I don't want to be here. Yeah. Yeah.

Mine doesn't take mine. I have to mention that to them. Hey, I mean, not taking my blood pressure. And I don't really even know why they do, but they do that. Nadine's mother, Andrea, said that Nadine loved life

and was very happy. She loved art and architecture and was a talented sketch artist. She wanted to pursue a career as an architect. But that was said to be difficult in Cardiff. You know, I wanted to pursue a career as an architect at one point. Did you? Yeah.

Why didn't you? I realized I didn't have the talent needed to pursue it. Yeah. And that's a very good trait to have to recognize your limits. I mean, I took some drafting classes and did okay, you know, but I just knew I didn't have what it really took. But you know what you were really good at? being a UPS delivery driver. Oh, I know that, man.

I've heard from many people who knew you. Oh, man. That you would slide out in those brown short shorts. That's right. Deliver those packages, hop, skip back into the truck, and it was like a flash. They only had ring door cameras or whatever they're called now. You'd probably be an internet sensation. Maybe.

According to the BBC, Nadine briefly studied. at Cardiff University, but left after a few weeks. She wanted to move to a bigger city where she'd have better job prospect. And that makes a lot of sense. I mean, depending on the field that you're going into, it does make some sense to, you know, let's say live in an area where the opportunities for whatever that is are going to be there. Yeah, it's a smart decision. Yeah, sometimes it's just a numbers game.

Nadine liked her independence and lived alone in an apartment, but she saw her family often. Nadine was described as a beautiful young woman who got a lot of attention from men, according to her sister Anisa. However, her mother, Andrew, said she experienced disappointments with her love life. And I don't know that that's all that uncommon. Yeah, I don't think anybody should be shocked by that. Well, how many people, when you really think about it, find their one true love, like right out of the gate? Very few, right?

You have to experience all kinds of different things, go out with people, get your heart broken, maybe for a lot of people before you find that person. Yeah. Your perfect soulmate. Yes. And or the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with. Yeah. Hopefully they're one and the same. You would hope.

You would hope. Nadine got married when she was 21, but the marriage didn't last. She ended the marriage because it wasn't a healthy relationship, according to Anisa. That's a good reason it ended. It is. And I think it goes back to what I was saying, right? You're going to go through some heartache. Most people are in the pursuit of love.

Because my thought is, you know, at the onset, people seem great a lot of time it's not until you kind of get further into the relationship sometimes it's not even until you maybe share residence with someone or you're married that you fully kind of understand or know what they're all about yeah no i agree you know the true individual comes out when you're around them 24 seven in a sense yeah it can definitely be that way. Nadine wanted to find someone she could spend the rest of her life with. But she also wanted someone who would give her the freedom to pursue her career and artistic interest. It's not a big ask. I don't think that's a big ask at all. But let's face it,

not everyone can live up to that billing. You know, there are, there are times when one person in the relationship is so controlling over the other person. that it's almost like there's no room to breathe. There's no room to be yourself. And therefore, you know, you're not able to pursue some of the things that you want to do because you're enveloped by this other person. Which is never good. You got to be able to be yourself.

And do some of the things that you want to do. In her interview for the show, Deadly Dates, Andrea said she didn't want Nadine to feel limited to the men in their city. So she suggested that she try online dating. The dean told her mom she didn't want to use dating sites because she didn't know what might happen. But Andrea helped her set up a profile and told her to try it out. The dean wasn't very enthusiastic about it at first, but she was willing to try. After a while, she became a little more enthusiastic. And we just talked about it, right? I've never used. used a dating site or anything like that. They weren't around back when I was dating. I could see how

someone who has never used one might be a little concerned. Yeah. Especially knowing some of the things that we know or some of the things that we've studied. There are some strange people out there. There are many. And you were meeting someone solely based off of their profile. But what is that, Gibbs? it's what they want you to see. Right? Nobody's going to put in their profile that they're this very strange person with all these piccadillos

and controlling habits and the fact that they like to run around naked outside under a full moon. Strange that you bring that up because that's something you like to do. But I would not put it on my dating profile. Right?

That's my point. We don't know. Well, if I wanted to get a date, I wouldn't put it on there. That's probably true. But then again, there could be somebody looking for that person that likes to do that. I think the odds are low, but you see what I'm trying to get at, right? Absolutely, yeah. It's just like anything else.

People are always putting their best foot forward. They're never showing you or telling you everything about them because you might run if you knew everything. Yeah, I think people probably massage the verbiage that they put out there. It's like your resume. Oh, you don't put exactly what you've done on your resume. I don't know if my resume has anything I've ever done. But it looks good. You always have to bump it up a little bit.

Yeah. It was said that Nadine was open with her mom and her sister about her online communication. She showed them her matches and messages with men. And that makes some sense to me just because, you know, her sister was the one who got her into this. She wasn't real open to it at first. So maybe she wanted a little bit of help, right? Navigating this online dating world. In 2012, Nadine told them she met a man named Sammy Al Mary, who was about 17 years older than her.

Sammy was from New York City. The two matched on a dating website. for Muslim people called Muslimmatch.com. I always find these dating site names funny. I mean, they're just so like not a lot of thought put into it, right? Muslimmatch.com or farmers.com or... Or is there a lot of thought put into it? You are spelling out exactly what this site is all about.

Well, that's true. I mean, at least you know what... You're going to meet farmers or you're going to meet people of the Muslim faith. You're saying not a lot of thought. I'm saying, you know, maybe there is thought. It's straight to the point. How about murderpodcast.com? Murder podcast listener match.

Okay, see, now that's way too long. With other murder lovers. That's way too long. If anything, you've put too much thought. into it. Yeah, I would not be a good CEO of a dating site. Their relationship would last about three years. The majority of their interactions occurred through apps or over the phone. And I think that is so much more common today than it was when you and I were in our early 20s. And there's a reason for that, right? We didn't have cell phones

or if we did, there was no apps. There was no messaging. No. Even if we did have a cell phone. back in those days. It was you could call someone and that's about all you could do. That's exactly what you did, right? I mean, for me, it was like, you either wrote a letter or you picked up the phone and then, of course, you eventually met and... Or you drove to that person's house and stood outside with binoculars. Oh, yeah. That was not okay, was it? No. You know, you got in a lot of trouble for that. Yeah, yeah. But think about how far we've come. Sure. You can have in entire relationships where you rarely meet the person face to face. Oh, yeah.

I mean, you know, you can use one of your social media apps, you know, DM, whatever they call it. And that's how you communicate or WhatsApp and, you know, FaceTime or WhatsApp time or. What do you keep saying WhatsApp? Not everything is called WhatsApp. Somebody was telling me the other day that there's software where if you're in a long distance relationship, you fire up this software and you can watch like one of the video streaming services together with someone. Oh yeah. And they're seeing it at the exact moment you are. Yeah, real time. And there's a camera so you can talk. Oh, okay. While the movie is playing. That is so cool.

It's like Netflix and chill. WhatsApp. What's app? What's app. Anisa said that her first impression of Sammy's profile was that he was similar to. He was similar to. to Nadine. He was charismatic and witty in his messages. It seemed like he had a stable job and he was a responsible person. So, I mean, I think if you're just looking at it from first impressions, okay, pretty good, right? Yeah. Nothing alarming. Nothing really standing out. Andrea felt that he came across as professional and confident. Nadine thought she could have a real relationship with Sam. Per the Guardian, Sammy was besotted with Nadine. He sent her money and expensive gifts, including cell phones, a laptop, and cash.

Man, when was the last time you were besotted? That's a word that you don't hear use very often anymore. According to the show, deadly dates, Sammy told Nadine he came from a wealthy family. He made himself out to be a millionaire. Nadine believed him because of all these gifts. that he sent her. Additionally, when they had video calls, he showed her around his house, which seemed very luxurious. Sounds like he kind of loved bombed her. Oh, that's maybe a good word for it. Yeah. The Guardian reported that Sammy told Nadine he worked for the FBI and traveled often.

You know, the FBI, CIA, a few other agencies, they do make you travel a lot. But if it's not true, why would you want the other person to think that you travel a lot? Well, I think it allows that individual to do other things. Gives them flexibility. Sam and Nadine talked for hours every day and night. Anisa and Andrew were a bit concerned by the intensity of the relationship, but accepted that the two had strong feelings for each other. So I don't know that your love bomb thing is maybe all that far off. About a year into the relationship, they started talking about marriage.

Sammy even traveled to the UK three times to visit Nadine. He told her that once they were married, he would support her and pay for her college education. He said she was talented and should pursue a career. And Nadine was thrilled because Sammy was the first man who, really supported her dream. And we said it earlier, right? That's what she was looking for. She didn't want someone to stifle her dream. She wanted someone to support them. And she's found that. Nadine told her family that she didn't feel comfortable taking money from Sammy, but her sister told her that if they were going to be married, she should accept his support

because she deserved to be treated well. Nadine truly believed she and Sammy would have a good life together. Andrew recalled that the promises just kept stacking up and they were immense. Yeah, I think that's a problem too in some relationships when someone keeps promising all these wonderful things. Well, at a certain point, do you start to question whether, you know, this is too good to be true? I think you kind of have to. I think sometimes people don't want to believe it's too good to be true, though. Yeah, I would say that's correct. experts have said that the gifts from Sammy were likely a method of control. He might have been trying to make Nadine feel indebted to him.

So she felt she had to continue their relationship. And that word control to me is such a scary word. It comes up in a lot of the different elements of true crime. People wanting to control others. And there's obviously many different ways to, make that happen. Now, this one's not illegal, right? You can send people gifts and you can pay for their tuition and you can do all of that stuff. Yeah, you can. And I think on the surface, kind of like you said, a lot of people might look at that as, oh, this person really loves me.

They're willing to do all of this for me. Might not be that easy to see that maybe something under the surface is happening, this control aspect. It was said that Sammy became more intense. After that first year, Nadine woke up at all hours to answer his calls. Her family started to worry that he was overly controlled. He called Nadine repeatedly when she didn't answer. The show Deadly Dates played a police recording of Nadine's voicemail that said she had 45 messages. Wow. It's incredible. 45.

Especially if they're all coming from the same person, right? 45 messages from different people, well, you're just very popular. Forty-five messages from the same person, that's overboard. It is. In one message, Sammy said, pick up, pick up, I love you. And another, he said, hello, are you there? Hello, hello. Okay. I don't know if this is landline. voicemail or if this is cell phone voicemail. I don't think you can say, hello, are you there on a cell phone voicemail? Right? I don't hear my cell phone voicemails as they're occurring. Maybe some people can. I don't know. Maybe that's a function. I don't know. Oh, can you? Yeah, on some phones, yeah. I don't. I just hit the button. It goes to voicemail because I don't want to

talk to whoever it is, but I don't hear the voicemail in real time. Like you used to when you had a landline answering machine. Oh, yeah. Remember that? It used to come through. You could hear what the person was leaving. Those were kind of good back in the day because I could hear what they were saying. And maybe what they wanted.

And I could get rid of the recording before my mom or dad got home back in the day. Because I heard what they said. Or evidence. The evidence. the messages became more frantic. At one point, he left Nadine a pleading voicemail saying, pick up the phone, you want money. You want a car.

I will do anything. Hello. I love you. Hello. So the first two, it just sounds like he's trying to get a hold of her. But this third one that we talked about, I think it's pretty easy to start to see kind of some of the control that people

were talking about. You want money. You want a car. Well, if you want all those things, you need me because I'm going to be the one to provide that stuff for you. And therefore, I'm in control. In July 2014, Sammy paid for Nadine's plane ticket to visit him in New York. She was eager to go because she had always wanted to travel to New York City. It's really make that good salsa. In New York City? That's what I've heard. The trip was not the romantic, exciting vacation that she thought it was going to be. Once Sammy had her isolated in the U.S. without her family nearby, he became violent. Nadine called her family and told them she was coming home. She told them that she and Sammy got into a fight and he punched her.

She sent pictures that showed her with a bruised lip and a black eye. She also had bruises on her torso. So what we talked about so far, there were some signs there, right, of control, maybe things that you would say were not great indicators of a lasting relationship. But this is taking it to a completely different level. Now we're talking about physical violence. You know, he punched her in the face. She's got bruises all over her.

her torso. This is not a relationship somebody should want to be in. No. And it's gone from, well, maybe he's, you know, a little too controlling to this person's violent. Nadine was tired and drained. When she returned to Wales, per the guardian, she later reported that she was raped, but the complaint was not pursued by Nadine or the police. She decided she was done with the relationship. And how could you blame her? She was beaten. She was raped, according to her. Now, I had a thought or a question maybe is a better term to use.

How hard would it be to pursue a rape complaint that happened in New York City when you live in Wales? I'm sure there's a way to do it, but it can't be as easy as if you lived in the same, you know, vicinity. I'm sure present some problems. Challenges, right? It would be a little tougher, I would think. Eventually, Nadine started seeing other men. The police later learned that Sammy installed spyware on the phone and laptop he gave Nadine, which he used to track her activities minute by minute all the way from New York. So at first you think, well, he's lavishing her with gifts. Yeah. You know, he's love bombing her as you, you know, surmised. And maybe that was part of it. But at the same time, he's using these gifts to track her

activity and spy on her. Yeah. She doesn't realize it, right? Most people don't when that stuff's kind of hidden. She's thinking, man, he really loves me, give me this new phone and all this. And really, it's just because he wanted to make sure he could know where her whereabouts were. So I mentioned it, right? When she got back to Cardiff, she started seeing other men. And he was just, in, Sammy became jealous and sent Nadine abusive and threatening messages. Because let's face it, he's going to know pretty much everything she's doing. If he has access to her phone and her laptop, you know, every text, every WhatsApp, apparently, according to you, he's going to see it. Yeah, he's going to have the awareness of it.

according to the guardian when he found out she went on a date with another man he sent her messages calling her a hooker and a whore another message said you will be in hell nadine's mother andrews said that sammy took nude photos and videos of nadine but you know the sources that we looked at they weren't completely clear on whether she consented to have these photos and videos taken and even if she did I don't look at that as, you know, oh my gosh, she did something wrong, right? These were two people who, you know, I think they thought they were in love. Yeah.

I mean, nothing wrong with what they were doing. She trusted him and thought, you know, this is something we're doing in our own private time together. Yeah. I think when that occurs, you're trusting that that other person, even if later on down the road, things go south and you break up, there's a trust there that, you know, that person's not going to betray you. Yeah, you can trust them. And even when things aren't working out that they're going to at least care enough not to do something with those photos or videos.

But that's exactly what Sammy did. He tried to blackmail Nadine the dean and to staying with him by threatening to post everything on Facebook and send the photos to her family. friends. See, that doesn't make any sense to me. Okay, just say you do that. And she goes along with that. So now she's only staying with you because you threatened her. And blackmailed her. Is that the type of person you want to have a relationship? But you know, I know she wouldn't want a relationship like that. But are you okay? And the only reason she's with you is because you've made threats. But I think for a person like Sammy Almeri, that's exactly what he wants because he wants the control what better way to control someone

than to have you know these nude photos and videos of this person and if she doesn't do exactly what you say you're going to post them all over social media you're going to send them to her mom her sister her the rest of her family i think this guy was about control oh for sure I don't think he had any illusions that this was going to be a long-term love story. Because those aren't the actions, right? Like you said, of a person who's trying to build something great for the long term. And no doubt Nadine was upset and distressed. She said she was going to have to flee Cardiff and change her name.

And I don't know if you've seen it, Gibbs. I think it's on Netflix, but there's a show that I watched. I believe it's called Can I Tell You a Secret? It's only two parts. It's in the UK, but it's all about this guy who was messing with all of these different women. He was pretending to be them, flirting with other people who thought they were these girls. It's a very interesting documentary, scary. what these women went through.

They felt completely helpless because they couldn't figure out how to get this guy out of their lives. Well, he wasn't going to make it easy. No. And I think that's the point where Nadine is, you know, hearing this story. She didn't know what to do to resolve the situation. She told her mom that Sammy was a liar and an abusive psychopath. And from what we know, I think she might have been on the right track there. Nadine's brother, Amman, saw the photos on her phone.

He was, of course, angry that Sammy was threatening his sister, but there wasn't much he could do at the time. Days before Nadine was killed, Sammy sent her a message saying, you will be so sorry. I know you're with someone else. And I'm just trying to kind of put myself in Nadine's shoes. This is a very horrible situation because how do you get out? out of it. How do you get this person out of your life with this threat hanging over your head that he's going to, you know, put all these photos and videos out to the world? And what's that going to do

for the rest of your life? Yeah, I think he almost have to just be willing to call his bluff and be okay if he does put it out there and do damage control. But I don't think there's too many people that can do that. Now, I was going to say, I think that's easier said than done. For sure. I think the threat of that for most people would be excruciated. It would be one of the last things that they want to have happen. But Nadine did decide that she had to take control of her life so that she could be free of Sammy. She made a plan to invite him to the UK so she could confront him and tell him she wasn't

afraid of him anymore. She wanted him to know that blackmailing her was unacceptable. and she wanted him to acknowledge that he destroyed their relationship. So I think to your point, Gibbs, you know, she came to the decision that she wasn't going to let this man ruin her life, run her life, keep her from doing what she wanted to do. She was going to try to take control. Sammy agreed to fly over after Christmas. Nadine agreed to pick him up in London.

Another aspect of her plan involved getting a lot of. access to the pictures. So she could take back control of her life. She promised her family. She would see them soon. And she took Sammy to her apartment. Sammy entered the UK on December 26th and traveled to Cardiff with Nadine on December 28th. They got to her apartment around 4 p.m. that day. And that couldn't have been easy. You know, here's a man that I'm assuming she had come to low. But yet, in her plan has to pick him up, drive him to her apartment, let him stay at her apartment. Well, there's that too. Around 7 p.m. on December 30th, Nadine's brother, Amman, came to her apartment. Amman was the brother who saw the blackmail photos of Nadine. He saw

that Sammy was staying with Nadine and the two men allegedly got into a fight. And, I think if you're the brother, how could you not hold just a tremendous amount of animosity towards this guy? You would want to tear this guy's head off. Oh, I rip it right off. You want to protect your sister. CCTV captured Amman leaving the apartment with Sammy. At 7.43 p.m. Sammy was carrying a suitcase. Amon told Sammy to leave Cardiff. According to Andrea Aboris, he warned Sammy. Don't. come back because should you come back, I fear for what's going to happen to you because I'm Nadine's brother and I will not have her harmed by any man while I'm a lot.

Good for him. What's kind of brother you want, one that's going to have your back, stand up for you. And I think if you're Sammy, you probably have to take this threat pretty seriously. You've crossed the line, no doubt. and, you know, Nadine's brother is calling you out and saying, I'm not going to put up with it. Amon drove Sammy to Cardiff's Central Rail Station. They arrived at 7.54 p.m. CCTV captured Amman leaving the station. He told the family what happened. And they assumed Sammy would be back in the U.S. by morning.

And I think that's a fairly safe assumption to make. again, most people would be scared that Amman, you know, let's say pretty much threatened you, but you know who's not going to be scared off, Sammy. Yeah. Because what is he all about? Control. Yeah, he's all about control. So is he going to leave Nadine alone?

Is he going to be scared off by, you know, the threats made by Amman? Probably not. to the point where Sammy did not leave Cardiff. He went into a store at the front of the station. He realized he left his cell phone and passport at Nadine's apartment. Sammy bought a bottle of gin and left the train station, hailing a taxi to take him to the future end hotel, which was just a few hundred meters from Nadine's apartment.

He checked in around 8.25 p.m. and went to the bar where he drank nine shots of 10,000, tequila. Oh man, that's a lot of tequila. It is. Now, I could have done that back during my Frank de Tank days. Yeah. If I drank nine shots of tequila today, I wouldn't even know where I was because I'm not a big drinker. If I had nine shots, I'd be probably sitting here with no clothes on. And that's why I don't have tequila out in front of you because I don't want to see that. While doing a handstand. Well, that makes it even worse. Now you got that picture. my head. I'm just trying to give you some nightmare thoughts. So he drank all this tequila.

He called Nadine and asked her to bring his passport and phone to the hotel. The dean arrived at 9.10 p.m. She did not bring the cell phone with her. She and Sammy were captured on CCTV, entering room 203. They left the hotel together at 9.48 p.m. The dean drove to a restaurant called Lilo's. She used to work there and her mother speculated that she chose the restaurant because the staff would recognize her. I bet that restaurant's a stitch man. Lilo and Stitch. Yeah, I just see if you would get it. I got it. I got it. But how smart is this? Oh, it's really smart. Of her. Yeah, it goes somewhere where you would feel comfortable, safe. Well, number one, it's a public place, but it's also a public place where people are going to know who you are.

they're going to recognize you. They sat down at a table. Sammy was visibly drunk. They stayed for about 20 minutes and left before they finished eating. At 11.11 p.m. Nadine and Sammy were captured entering room 203. This was the last time she was seen a lot. Investigators believed she was killed between 1115 and midnight.

At 12.09 a.m. on December 31st, CCTV, captured Sammy leaving the room alone, carrying a bag. He went to a casino near the hotel where he withdrew money and drank more tequila shots and beers at the bar. There's a lot of alcohol. It is, man. Being consumed. It was also noted that at this point, he had injuries on his face.

Sammy then stole Nadine's car and left the city at 3 a.m. At 9.49 a.m., he arrived at London's Heathrow Airport. He purchased a ticket on arrival and flew out of the UK around 10 a.m. And I'm amazed that this guy was able to drive a car after, you know, drinking that much. That's a lot, yeah. Well, maybe he wasn't able to drive the car that great, but he found his way to the airport. He first traveled to Bahrain in the Middle East before he flew to Tanzania, a country in East Africa. The dean was found dead in room 203 after Future Inn around 12 p.m. on December 31st, 2014.

She was lying on a bare mattress fully dressed. Her hands were interlocked on her chest. Investigators initially thought her death was a suicide. A note was found in the room addressed to My Love Sammy. The note said, sorry have come to an end. I love you. But investigators were suspicious that the note was not genuine because Nadine had marks on her neck and her clothing was in disarray. The major crimes investigation team was called to the hotel at 3 p.m. Nadine's death was now considered a homicide. An autopsy later confirmed that she was strangled. And I could see how, you know, maybe at the onset, police could have thought, well, maybe this is a suicide. We have a note. I think at some point the handwriting probably wasn't going to match. They were going to figure it

out. But then you take into account the marks on her neck, her clothing, and then the autopsy, and it all becomes relatively clear that she was murdered. Detectives broke the news to Nadine's family. Andrea and Anisa were insistent that Sammy killed her. And I don't think that's too much of a stretch for the family. You know, after everything we talked about that Nadine went through with Sammy, it seemed like she kept her family pretty much in the loop. They knew a lot of it. Her brother obviously knew a lot of it. Yeah, I don't think she was trying to hide anything from them. No. So if she winds up dead thought to be murdered, who's the family going to point to finger at? this man who she's been having all this trouble with.

Detective searched Nadine's apartment and found Sammy's cell phone, which had a wealth of incriminating evidence on it. Police could see the blackmail photo in Sammy's threatening messages. One message read, Don't mistake my kindness for weakness. I will choke you with the same hand that feed you. Detectives also discovered a threatening message on Nadine's voicemail. Sammy said, pick up the phone.

You'll be very, very, very, very sorry. You'll be very, very sorry. Very, very sorry. But how incriminating, you know, are these things after Nadine, you know, is found dead? I mean, let's go back to that first message. I will choke you with the same hand that feed you. Who says that to another human being who you're supposedly, in love with. Well, I think we could pick a few people that would say that, but nobody should say that, though.

Well, and how smart is it to keep all of this incriminating evidence on your phone? At some point, maybe you want to think about deleting some of these very incriminating messages. Yeah, he should have deleted some things, a lot of things, actually. But I think maybe he felt like he was just not going to get caught. And I think a lot of killers think that way. You know, look at back at some of the serial killers that we've covered. Is it in their best interest to keep all these trophies that directly kind of tie them to a number of murders? And the answer is no. Obviously, it's not, but either they don't think they're going to get caught or the need to keep that stuff and have it with them kind of overrides all of the danger.

The need is greater. Yes. Detectives looked into Sammy's background in the U.S. and learned that he was not a millionaire businessman. He drove limos and worked in a grocery store and did not live in a mansion. Sources did not say how he paid for the gifts he sent Nadine. So their whole relationship was built on lies. Yes. According to D.C. Darren Mallard from the South Wales police with Samuel Almerie, for one of a better word, word, he came across as a Walter Middy. He was leading a different life in his head from what was reality. There's a movie I really never got into. The Secret Life of Walter Middy.

Yeah. And I know they, didn't they do a remake of that with like Ben Stiller or somebody played him? Yeah. But this is one of the real dangers, right, of some of these online relationships. I think it's a little tougher with some, especially the long distance ones. to know who these people really are. You're not seeing them on a day-in, day-out basis. So, you know, at some points, you just have to go with what they tell you.

I'm a millionaire. I live in a mansion. No, you're a limo driver who also works at a grocery store. Maybe you're driving around some millionaires. Yeah, maybe. And maybe you're breaking into homes or have access to fancy homes. you're doing face times from there every now and then or whatever. So authorities launched an international manhunt.

Detective Sergeant Paul Hurley described Sammy as dangerous and resourceful with access to funds in different countries. He pleaded with the public to provide information about his whereabouts. So I thought this was pretty interesting because he's saying he has access to funds in a number of different countries. Where was he getting this? money from? Was he just saving all his money from limo driving and his second job at the grocery store? Or did he have, you know, some maybe family money? I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. And why was it

stashed in different countries? Well, I stashed my limited amount of savings in different countries. One country, Switzerland, but that's all for tax evasion purposes. Well, yeah. Yeah. I mean, and I hope the IRS is listening. Grand Cayman's worked for a while, but then, And the movie The Firm came out. He had to switch to Switzerland. Investigators knew that Sammy fled to Tanzania because he stole Nadine's cell phone. And they were able to track all of his movements. And that does not seem like the smartest thing to me.

You know, maybe he wasn't thinking clearly. Obviously, it sounds like he had done something horrible and he's just trying to get away. But he should have known better than most after installing. spyware and all this stuff that cell phones are trackable. And like I always say, you know, go down to the local store and buy you a prepaid cell phone. Yeah, use it for a little bit and start it away and get another one. Exactly right. But I just don't know in the wake of, you know, committing a really horrific crime like murder. How clearly are you thinking? And I would say for some people probably not very clearly. Yeah. They're in kind of oh shit mode. What do I do now versus

being level headed and calculating and saying, well, obviously I can't take this cell phone with me. I've got to do this, this and this. And luckily so, because that's how people get caught. Yeah. We don't want people to be calm. Cool and collected. Because if they were, then they would, you know, get away more often than they do. You like them in panic mode. Yes, because they make mistakes. Sammy indirectly assisted the investigation because he called the future in hotel four times.

Some audio clips were presented by the show Deadly Dates. In one phone call, Sammy said, there's a woman dead in the room 203. He continued saying, we, the girl 28 years old, the Muslim girl, we was together. They're in hotel and she killed herself. In a phone call with a police officer, Sammy said, you find her body? Nadine, she's a nice woman who's dead. She's a very nice woman. She gave me pleasure in my life.

It's really weird to say all that. The phrasing. Yeah. The way that he's putting some of this stuff together is very strange. And why are you calling the police? I had a thought that he had set this up. to look like a suicide. So maybe he thought that the phone calls were going to, you know, emphasize that and he was going to control the situation. Remember, he's all about control.

So. And I also think, you know, again, a lot of these people think that they're smarter than what they really are. And I can make a few phone calls and I can really sell this thing. That yes, indeed, this was a suicide. Luckily, in real life, things don't normally work out that way. You're not as smart as you think you are and police will catch off. Yeah. Do you think you're also calling because I think in the Muslim religion, you've got so many days that you have to bury the body by? Oh, there might be something to that. Yeah, I don't know. But would it be strange that that would be one of his main concerns? Oh, yeah. I think so. When he was the one responsible for her death, but, you know, maybe he'd,

did think about that. I really have no idea. An officer told Sammy they wanted to sort out what happened to Nadine. He responded, she's already dead. Listen to me. You check the body in the room. I love her so much, you know? I'm sorry. It's just really weird a conversation. It is. It is. And I don't know what was going on his head, what he thought he was going to accomplish by making these phone calls. After Nadine was killed, Her family issued a statement that she was a lovely, bubbly girl and unique and talented woman. She always wanted to help people and everybody loved her. She has left such a massive hole in our family and we will miss her so much, according to the guardian. And I think it's the type of message you hear from families all the time when they lose a loved one.

There is now a hole in this family because this person is no longer. longer around in their life. While they were dealing with their grief, Sammy sent them insulting text messages. He told the family that Nadine's brother was the one who killed her. And he told Andrea that it was her fault and she would be next. Okay, he's just, uh, okay, so he's just being an ass. Well, and it also seems like he's contradicting himself. Nadine's brother killed her, but Andrea, it was your fault and you're next.

So does that mean that Amon is going to kill Andrea next or that Sammy is going to come after her next? It just doesn't seem like this guy was thinking clearly at all. And maybe that's an understatement because he did commit, you know, this heinous murder. Yeah. Obviously he wasn't thinking clearly. But as you can imagine, the family was terrified. They feared for their safety at a press conference on January 5th, 2015. Nadine's mother, Andrea, said, per BBC, Nadine was my baby.

She was such a beautiful and kind-hearted girl. She would never hurt anyone. She just wanted to help people. She was a born healer for people, always putting others first. The loss of Nadine has torn my heart in two. Her family and friends are absolutely heartbroken by what has happened to her. She appealed directly to Sammy, saying, I am asking you as Nadine's mother. Please hand yourself into the authorities and please help us find the answers that we need so we can let Nadine rest in peace.

You told us that you love Nadine. If that is true, please let the police help you. But does he understand that? I don't think a guy like Sammy Al Mary would understand that. But it is a pretty smart tactic, I think. It definitely doesn't hurt to maybe try to play on his emotions, his emotions, his love for Nadine that I think he had at one time, Sammy continued using Nadine's cell phone,

most likely thinking no one would find him because he was far away in Tanzania. The police spoke to him over the phone to try to get information from him. At one point, a detective asked Sammy, where he was and he laughed. He said, I'm so far, you cannot get me. I'm in Cuba.

Sammy claimed he was in Havana, but investigators knew he was still in Tanzania. So they're calling him on the cell phone. Kind of toying with him, I think. A little bit, a little bit. But I'm shocked that this is a guy who was able to install spyware and do all of these things, but he doesn't have the wherewithal to understand that they can pinpoint or track him as he's carrying around this cell phone. The South Wales police were worried that he would decide to dispose of the phone and they would

no longer be able to track him. They decided to send officers to the largest city in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam. This was a risky decision because they had no jurisdiction here. But the Tanzanian police agreed to work with them. Sammy fled the city. Authorities tracked his phone calls at a border crossing. They feared he had gone into another country. After three weeks of searching, all leads were exhausted, and the South Wales police left Tanzania.

But within 24 hours of their return to the U.K., they received news that Sammy had been arrested in Dar es Salaam. He was tracked to a forest and was found hiding in a bush. Well, good, they found him. I'm picturing him, like, squatting down. in front of a bush like, you can't see me, but he's like playing his day. Looking like he's about ready to make. Yeah. Yeah.

But they can seem just like I'm looking at you right here. Exactly. But he thinks he's camouflaged. Right. On January 20th, 2015, the South Wales police confirmed the arrest. Sammy did not contest extradition and was scheduled to return to Wales at the end of March 2015. At first, he seemed arrogant. but his demeanor changed when he was back in the UK as if he finally recognized the seriousness

of his charges and the prison sentence he was facing. I think he always seemed like he was arrogant because he was arrogant. Yeah, I think he thought like a lot of killers do. I'm smarter than everyone else. I'll get away with this. Even when I'm caught, I can talk my way out of it. And that at a certain point, I think it does. hit a lot of these people. Hey, I'm in deep doo-doo here. Yeah. I'm not as smart as I thought I was.

You're like that. What's that Hannah Barbara? Hey, Boo-boo, you know. Do you say Hannah Barbara? Is that how, is that what they're from? I thought it was Hannah Barbera. Probably is. Okay. But either way, I got the reference. Yeah. Smarter than the average bear? Yeah. Is that where you were going? That's where he thought he was. I think a lot of them do. And what stands out to me, is that while there are some very intelligent killers, by and large, I don't think a lot of these people are all that intelligent. I don't think they're nearly as smart as what they think they are. It's like they have this inflated ego. Yeah. And along that with that comes arrogance and all the different things. But part of it is I think they're smarter than what they really are. Right. Yeah. I mean,

They get some confidence, and that confidence sometimes takes some well past reality. Yes. Yeah, I would say that's true. Sammy went through multiple clinical assessments and was ultimately declared fit to stand trial. He refused to plead guilty. After 18 months of legal proceedings, Sammy Almari's trial started on October 19, 2016. The jury was told that Sammy strangled Nadine in room 203 at. to Future Inn. After killing her, he hung a do not disturb sign on the door and left the hotel.

He stole Nadine's car to go to the airport and flee the country. Prosecutor Roger Thomas told the court, per the guardian, this was the killing of a defenseless woman by a jealous and dangerous man. Sammy's defense admitted to manslaughter, but denied that he intentionally murdered Nadine. Sammy claimed that voices in his own. his head told him to kill Nadine. Sammy said he was suffering from an abnormality of mental function and the voice of God told him to kill Nadine. And one thing that always grabs my attention is when something like this comes out during a trial that has never been brought forth up to that point. We talked about it. This guy had numerous phone calls with police. To

My knowledge, he never once said that the voice of God told him to kill Nadine. He didn't even admit to killing her. He tried to frame the whole thing as a suicide. So when this comes up, it kind of rings hollow a lot of times to me. It's almost like, okay, you didn't bring it up. You didn't bring it up. But now we have to have a trial strategy and this is going to be it. Yeah, now you're going to bring it up.

I'm not saying that's all the time. time because obviously people do have very serious mental health issues that are real and are brought up at trial. I just think there are sometimes like this where it seems like a ploy. And to me, it kind of seems to fit. I see Sammy Al-Mari is kind of a con man. Yeah. So is he going to try to wriggle his way out of this and how is he going to do it? Yeah, I wouldn't put it past him, right?

I wouldn't. according to prosecutor Thomas, Sammy suggested Nadine died of suicide and he helped her because she couldn't live without him. Now, does that ring true with anything that we've talked about in this episode? No. It doesn't. And like you said, she had shared a ton of this, maybe all of it with her family. So it wasn't like nobody knew what Samuel Omari had put her through. I think a lot of people knew. So him saying she couldn't live without her, she was trying everything to live without him.

She wanted him to leave her alone, but she also wanted to get those pictures, videos, whatever it was. Right. So that he wouldn't continue to try to blackmail her. She was trying to work the situation. wishing the best that she could. Yes. But at no point there at the end do I think she could not live

without him. On October 20th, 2016, the second day of his trial, Sammy Almari unexpectedly pleaded guilty to murder. Maybe he realized. And I think some people do, right? You start to hear all the evidence against you. At some point, does it become painfully obvious that, you know, you're never are going to be set free. You might be looking over at the jury and they're making, you know, these faces and you can just tell. This thing is not going to go your way.

Your voices told me to kill Nadine. All that type of stuff is not going to play. Now, detectives who worked a case theorized that he pleaded guilty because he couldn't face Nadine's family in court. And sometimes I think it can be a mix. if a person starts to believe that they're definitely going to be found guilty, do you want to sit through the rest of this trial and have to go through, you know,

all of these questions and face the family and all of that? And sometimes I think people make the decision that I just want to get this thing over with. Yeah, it's not worth it. It's not going to go my way. So on November 3rd, 2016, Sammy was sentenced to life in prison. in order to serve at least 17 years before he would be considered for release. As quoted by the guardian, the judge told him, You showed both jealousy and possessiveness of Nadine.

I am satisfied that your killing of Nadine was prompted by jealousy and anger. Her death has left a huge void in the lives of all the family that can never be replaced. Your actions will impact upon Nadine's family for the rest of their lives. lives. Their loss is immeasurable. And I think those words are so true. You can't replace that person. We mentioned the hole. They said it, right? There's a hole in our family. That is never going to go away. No, it's always going to be there. Nadine's mother, Andrea, told the court, I will never forget. When police came to tell us Nadine had been taken away from us, my life ended. We have all lived our lives ever since in a complete hate. Al-Mari knew what he was doing. By taking the dean,

Al-Mari has taken the glue that made this family. We allowed him to come into our family. And instead, he took us from my child. Yeah, he's a terrible person. Oh, absolutely. And you and I have talked about, you know, sentences, how they vary from country to country. He got life in prison. he has to serve at least 17 years. To me, if he's able to get out after 17 years, I would look at that as a kind of a travesty. For what he had done, that's just not enough time. Right.

In my eyes. Now, there is no guarantee. He'll just be considered for release. It doesn't mean he will be released. The murder of Nadine Abbas and the international manhunt that followed is one of the most high-profile cases. in recent Welsh history. Nadine was a victim of emotional abuse and violence during her relationship with Sammy.

When she decided to confront him and end the relationship in person, Sammy murdered her because he could no longer control her. And I think that's at the heart of this case. That's exactly what he wanted. He wanted to control Nadine. And we see it time and time again, this aspect. of control. And what happens when, you know, a person has it and then it starts to slip away from them. When they feel like they're losing this control that they have, things can go very badly, very quickly.

Yeah, well, you know, all these people that want to control their people, it's a big mistake. You know, you're never going to be able to have the type of relationship that you really should be having if you're controlling them. No, but they don't want, at least in my opinion, to have the kind of relationship that most people do. Normal? Normal. They want to have this type where they're controlling all aspects of their partner. Now, I don't understand it. You don't understand it.

Most people don't understand it. I don't know where it comes from. This need to be so all-encompassing when it's. comes to controlling your partner. Yeah, maybe previous relationships in their life that went bad or... I think there is some of that with some people, right? You get cheated on. Yeah.

And so therefore, you get hurt. And so when you get into another relationship, you're guarding against that so much that you're a little controlling of what your partner does or does. doesn't do. I think that does happen with some people. But I think with Sammy Almari, it goes well beyond that. Because at a certain point, I looked at it is they're really not even in the relationship anymore. He's still trying to control her. Yeah. He's spying on her through the cell phone and the laptop. Let's not forget. He lied about who he was. The whole thing is just so strange.

And I guess what I really don't understand is that when a relationship goes sour or south, because they do. Yeah. A lot of them do. Many. Why is it that some people just can't walk away and, you know, maybe start dating again or find someone else? Well, I think it's just because they feel like they love that person so much that there's nobody else out there for them. And they don't want to be with anybody else.

And they don't want you to be with anybody else. Yeah. I mean, it happens. It's so scary. It's so scary. I just have a hard time understanding, you know, how people get to that point. But obviously, we know they do. But that's it for our episode on Sammy Almari.

We got some voicemails, Gibbs. You want to check those out? Yeah, a serum. I just listened to the, I can't remember their name. now the brothers and the voicemail about the word interesting i say it all different ways too depending on the situation it's interesting interesting no i think that's just the way that word is i don't think there's a right or wrong way love y'all bye no i love you thank you for coming to my defense now what i haven't said you know my my oldest daughter is in uh

graduate school to be a speech pathologist, speech therapist, that kind of deal. And she's told me that in her classes, you're saying there's really no wrong way to say something. I don't know if I, I don't know if I absolutely ascribe to that theory, but, you know, for me anyway, the interesting is going to come out different ways. There's just no way around it. You know I prescribe to that theory. You prescribed to a lot of things. And subscribe. And subscribe. And subscribe. And whatever I said, which probably wasn't even a word. Hi, Mike and Gibby. This is Cindy Holland Beck from Pullman, Washington.

I just listened to the Anthony Garcia episode, and Gibby, the movie you're thinking of is Bad Boys. I think it's from 1983. And Sean Penn is not there to avenge his girlfriend's death. It's the death of a young gang member, like really young. So I remember the Coke-can episode or a scene you're talking about. And also what's really funny about this movie is it has a poppy from Seinfeld is in it. And he's a guy named Ramon Herrera.

Anyway, I'm a huge movie buff. Also, a huge true crime fan. I love your show. Actually, I love all three shows. But I just wanted to tell you guys how much I love you. I love your banter. I love how Mike's always picking on Giddy and Giddy takes it so well. And it's nice to have a podcast from guys that are my age.

I'm double nickels. So I am an avid listener. Love you guys. And keep your own time taken. Bye. All right. Love it. Thank you, Cindy.

So Poppy, he was the one that peed on Jerry's couch. Yes. He was a urinator. A urinator. Poppy peed on the couch. Yeah. Also, he didn't wash his hands before he made that dinner. or. Oh, yeah, yeah. And I think Jerry saw him or something in the bathroom there after he took a

sizable something. A deuce? Yeah, yeah. But I do take your abuse quite well. Now you're calling it abuse until the episode is over and then you throw me around the room like a rag doll. People don't get to. Hey, you don't talk about that. I have a, uh, we're talking about it after this is done. I have a legal case pending. Yeah. strangely, he has a restraining order against me. I cannot be in the same room if I am. We have to be recording.

We have to be recording only. As soon as the recording stops, I have to exit immediately. Too funny. But, you know, we appreciate the movie knowledge. We do. And I'm going to have to check that movie out. I've probably seen it, but it's been a long time. You got the Sean Penn part right.

Of course I get everything right. That's the only thing you, you even knew about the movie. The rest of it, she just said, was false. She just filled in the blood. You didn't know the name. You got the whole plot of the movie wrong. Says she.

I believe her. I absolutely believe her. I'm sure she's right. I'm sure she's right too. All right, buddy, that is it for another episode of true crime all the time. So for Mike and givey, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.