True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 2: College Nightmare: Were Sorority Girls Targeted? The Case of Shannon McNamara

Episode Date: August 14, 2026

WATCH PART ONE: HERE - The Shannon McNamara case is one of the most haunting and ultimately most inspiring true crime stories to come out of Eastern Illinois University. In June 2001, 21-year-old Shannon McNamara, a bright athlete, physical education major, and beloved Alpha Phi sorority sister, was attacked in her off-campus apartment in Charleston, Illinois. She was just weeks into her summer, with her whole life ahead of her. For a brief time, the small college town was gripped by fear and unanswered questions. Who could have done this, and how close to home was the danger, really? What Shannon left behind would lead detectives straight to the truth, and her memory would go on to inspire a movement that has protected women across the country ever since.In this episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, we trace the full Shannon McNamara case: who she was, the night that shattered a campus, the investigation that followed, and the extraordinary legacy of a young woman who refused to be a victim.🚧 Binge My Other True Crime Show: ⁠DARKLIVITY⁠🔍 Come Find Me: 📱IG: https://www.instagram.com/kimbyrleigha/💻 FB: https://www.facebook.com/KimbyrleighaYouTube/📚 SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/DbUgDbr1⭐️ Content contributor: Molly McGuigan 👩🏻‍🎓 ABOUT ME: I'm Kimbyrleigha. Thanks in advance for reading this. I think it's important to know someone's background and education because it helps explain how they view situations and why they may have a particular point of view. I hold a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Sociology. I graduated from law school in 2010 and have a Juris Doctor (law degree). I'm also currently in school studying Medicolegal Investigation.

College life, hopes of getting recruited into your dream sorority, the thrill of Rush Week, the freedom of being away from your parents and partying with friends, but would you attend a university where a girl had just been murdered nearby, and the case was still unsolved? This is part two of a two-part series. If you haven't watched part one yet, it's linked right below in the show notes, so you can easily jump back to catch up on the case before this final episode. So at this point in Shannon's case, they have arrested their first suspect. Now going even deeper into the search of Anthony's apartment, they find books like Mine Camp about killing.

There were some titles like pipe and fire bomb designs. The Anarchist Cookbook, SS blood-soaked soil, Hitler's enforcers, as well as Marine Corps training manuals. Okay, that does sound really suspicious. There's a lot more to go, so I really hope you can hang on and hear some of this because I really want your thoughts, as I always do. So listen to what else they find. Anthony's computer is seized.

Computer data reveals that he logged off his computer at 329 a.m. on June 12, 2001, the morning of Shannon's murder, or the middle of the night. But get this. Anthony's Yahoo identification name was serial killer 2000. I am not kidding. Yeah. But not cereal with an S. Serial with a C.

The type that you eat, I'll put it up. up on the screen the exact way he spelled it was cereal with a C and then Killer was spelled K-I-L-R abbreviated and then the year 2000 what the F seriously it's stranger than fiction I am telling you and they also found images of females with no clothing and then them doing some very perverse activities that I cannot go into because they don't involve humans I think you catch my drift it was said that there were other pictures that and they were really bad because of the people's age. Yeah, they found that too, as well as cartoons doing the deed.

A year before the murder on June 11, 2000, someone accessed information on the non-consensual act that is committed on dates. And then just a day before Shannon was murdered on June 11, 2001, someone went to read articles about Timothy McBay and his trial and activities. Timothy James McVeigh was an American domestic terrorist. He's responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. It killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children. And it injured more than 680 others.

So yeah, someone was looking into that case. But to be fair, that was literally the day that Timothy McVeigh died by lethal injection, June 11, 2001, the day before Shannon was murdered. So that might not have been connected to anything related to her. Nevertheless, that was noted as evidence. There were also websites access pertaining to manufacturing meth. All of that evidence does seem concerning, but it does not make Anthony a murderer. It's time for investigators to get some help from the people that know Anthony to shed some light on who he was as a person. They also search their criminal database to see if Anthony has ever been convicted of a crime.

And it turns out he had been arrested for drunk driving on four occasions. And he had violated a city ordinance when he was found passed out, drunk and naked. in front of his apartment building, and had previously been convicted of a battery the year before in 2000. The officers definitely want to know more about that incident. Just a few months ago, on April 12, 2001, at approximately 3.45 a.m., police were dispatched to 1128, 4th Street in Charleston to investigate a report of two men that were fighting. This is Anthony's building. Upon their arrival, one of the officers, John Blevins, heard a woman scream, and he saw Anthony struggling with a man that he later found out was named Brian Kat.

The woman was Amy Joyner. She pointed out Anthony and Blevins grabbed him and that's when he noticed that Anthony had a knife at his side. Amy later informed Blevins that she and the guy that Anthony was fighting with had just been walking by the building when Anthony said, hey, do you want to come up to my apartment and party? Amy and Brian Kat took him up on the offer. They went to Anthony's apartment and they had a few drinks.

However, Anthony, started to flirt with Amy and she and Brian felt uncomfortable so they started to leave and that's when Anthony wasn't very happy all of a sudden he called Amy a narc and then he pushed her down on the floor and she looks up and realizes he has a dagger in his hand at that point Brian Kat and Anthony started to fight officer Blevins interviewed Brian as well and his version of events lined up exactly how amies did however when Blevins attempted to question Anthony about what happened Anthony said he could not remember amy me suffered an abrasion on her forehead and on her knuckles as a result of this incident. So Anthony was charged with aggravated battery, a charge that was still pending at the time of

his arrest. This guy sounds very unstable, but of course, police still want to track down people who knew Anthony personally so they can get a full picture of who he is. And they are doing the same thing right now with the suspect in the Idaho case. I'm sorry if that's bothering you that I'm mentioning it, but these are very interesting similarities, things that are happening unfolding right now. and they're both on my mind. That's how I ended up finding this case.

They are asking the public to come forward if they know the guy that's been arrested. They need all the information that they can get. With this case, so many people started to come forward. I want to share some of the most significant interviews because I think you will find them very interesting. The police know from digging up Anthony's records that he was in the United States Marine Corps

from 1999 when he was 18 until 1998 when he was 22. They want to track down people that knew him in the Marines. They want to ask, what was Anthony like? They find this guy named Lyle Farnham. Him and Anthony were roommates and best friends, according to him, in the Marines. So Lyle described Anthony as an excellent Marine. He said that Anthony was disciplined, fair, and honest. He had strong leadership skills and a mind for organization.

He was asked whether Anthony ever acted oddly, and Lyle said that they both got really sick after they were giving shots and pills prior to going overseas to prevent, among other things, malaria. Lyle was also asked about Anthony's choice in books. And interestingly, he explained that the Marines had suggested a reading list and mine camp was on that reading list. When asked about whether Anthony was ever violent, Lyle said that they drank a lot of alcohol in their spare time and that they would get in fights, but it was nothing that really stood

out. However, the last thing Lyle says really does stand out to authorities. He says that when you went to Charleston to visit Anthony once he started living there for college, he was inside Anthony's apartment and he remembers seeing some kind of poster board. It was above Anthony's computer and it had an article on it about a girl who had been murdered in Charleston. Matching the dates together, they conclude that article was most likely in relation to the unsolved murder of single mother Amy Warner.

This raises a red flag. Officers who worked on Amy's murder and were also working on Shannon's had already seen similarities between the two cases. This just gave them even more reason to look into whether there were any solid connections that may link Anthony to that crime as well. But what's his connection to Shannon? Well, they think they might have found one. Even though I think living right across the street is enough of a connection when they were digging

into what Anthony did at EIU, they find out he's a junior. history major, but get this. He works on campus just like Shannon did. When they asked where he worked, he told them it was at the Recreation Center. They know that Shannon also worked at a gym on campus. They think that this may be how Anthony became acquainted with Shannon. However, when they interview Ken Baker, the University's Director of Campus Recreation, he explains that the two facilities are not related. Anthony and Shannon are not working in the same department. Yes, they're in the same building, but totally

different facilities and looking through Anthony's work shifts, he would have never been in the building at the same time Shannon was there. Okay, fair enough. I understand that's. But is that really accurate? How do you know? She never came in to use recreational facilities on his side being an athlete? I don't know. Officers are still interested in speaking with some of Anthony's coworkers. Since they may have more insight into his activities while at work because they worked closer and like more directly with him. Roger Hudson was a foreman who worked at EIU, and Anthony was a student worker under his supervision. When asked if he noticed anything that would connect Anthony to Shannon's murder, Roger said he recalls an incident involving another female athlete. He said that Anthony had made comments about thinking some of the women athletes at the facility were attractive.

Specifically, the basketball coach's daughter. In the summer of 2000, she had walked up and Anthony tried to say something to her, but she ignored him and kept walking. Well, according to Roger, Anthony made the comment and I quote, ought to slap that tan off her face. End quote. Well, that's quite rude. What's even more interesting is that Roger lets them know that he's aware that another building services worker had sold Anthony a 9mmy pistol. Now a 9mmas was not used in the murder of Shannon McNamara or Amy Warner, but officers are still interested to know more. They interview another building service worker that worked alongside Anthony. His name was Bobby Livingston, and according to him, other employees were afraid of Anthony,

but Bobby told him he wasn't. He had actually been in a conversation with Anthony about the tragedies of Waco and Ruby Ridge. Now, Waco happened early in 1993. It involved a cult led by David Korsh, where they set fires that killed more than 80 people, including 22 children. I watched a documentary. It was so sad. and Ruby Ridge was a similar event.

It was the site of an 11-day standoff in 1992 in Idaho. I don't want to get into all of the details and the whole thing, but Bobby said that Anthony expressed sympathy for the people in both of the tragic situations. But he went on to say that fellow employee Lacey McDaniel had just told Bobby the other day after Anthony was arrested that she opened a closet door and she had seen Anthony standing on a sink doing something up high. So he and Lacey went down to the janitor's closet, where Bobby lifted a ceiling tile and saw the butt of a gun.

At this point, Officer Blevins, remember him? interviewed Lacey and she advised him that on June 12, 2001, at approximately 5.30, she did observe Anthony standing on the sink in the janitor's closet with his hands above his head. So Blevins went into the janitor's closet, removed a 22 caliber revolver from the ceiling tiles. Wow. I wonder why he was hiding that gun there on that particular day, but it gets more and more interesting.

Now, another Marine friend of Anthony's comes forward. His name is Brad Adams. I know there are a lot of names being mentioned and you know what? You really don't have to remember any of these, but it would be helpful to remember what they said if you want to get a full picture of Anthony Mertz. Brad said he met Anthony in the Marines and they remained friends thereafter.

Brad was Anthony's roommate in Camp Pendleton. He said, you could trust Anthony. You knew he had your back. You knew he could carry his own. He wasn't going to drop the ball and you could depend on him. In regard to substances, he said that after their first deployment to Japan, they began to drink excessive amounts of alcohol. Excessive. At one point, he said Anthony was drinking a fifth of whiskey and a case of beer during a single session of drinking. When asked whether Anthony was ever violent, Rad said yes. Anthony could become violent when he drank. When they asked for examples Brad said Anthony got into a fight with a sergeant and Brad had to

physically restrain him by punching him a couple times in order to subdue him. The investigators want to know why Anthony did this and Brad said I don't know because when he asked him about it the next day Anthony did not remember what had happened at all no memory Brad said there were many occasions when Anthony could not remember what had happened the night before when drinking he could be obnoxious, irritating, and hard to control. Brad admitted that both he and Anthony had also gotten in trouble for methamphetamine use while they were in the Marines, and that Anthony had been demoted in rank as a result.

He also had been ordered into rehabilitation against his will, but when he got out, he continued to drink. When asked about how Anthony treated women, Brad said that he had a number of girlfriends and hookups with women while he was in the Marines and thereafter. He mentioned the ones he recalled by name. There was one most recently. It was the longest relationship to a girl named Tara Hoffer. He also recalled a flight attendant, Darsan Baker, that came and hung out at Camp Pendleton back in 1996, but neither one of those relationships were positive.

Brad said that Anthony was disrespectful to his girlfriend, Tara, and that Darsan came to visit. And her and Anthony got into a heated argument, but it was actually Darsan that was out of control. The military police had to subdue her. Lastly, And the most unsettling was that Brad told them about the way Anthony traded his own girlfriend, Carrie. Apparently, she did not care for Anthony at all.

After he got out of the Marines, Brad lived in Louisiana with his girlfriend, Carrie Guillory. Anthony would come to visit during the Christmas holidays. When he did, Carrie and Brad allowed him to stay at Carrie's. The first time, there really didn't seem to be an issue, but the following year during Anthony's second visit in 1999, he brought his girlfriend Tara. Carrie did not like the way that he treated Tara. She went to Brad and she complained that Anthony was irritating and disrespectful. She told Brad she did not want him to come back.

But Brad invited him the next year against her wishes on that third visit to Carrie's during Christmas of the year 2000, just a few months ago. Anthony was drunk every single day. And shockingly, when he was drunk. he got into a physical altercation with Carrie, apparently hitting her in the stomach at one point and then later attacking her in her home. What the actual F? Why was this guy allowed around Brad's girlfriend in the first place?

Well, of course, the investigators have to know more. They now have a couple new names, Carrie Gilroy and Darsan Baker. So they sought out to track both of these women down. He definitely seems to have issues with alcohol and substance abuse and blacking out while drunk and becoming violent, towards women. Why isn't he already behind bars? Well, maybe when you find out what happens next, it will explain some of that. Brad gives them his girlfriend Carrie's information and they bring her in for questioning. And she had a lot more to say about Anthony than Brad did. And it's much

worse. I feel so bad for her. She explains that she met Anthony through her boyfriend Brad. We already know that. We know about Anthony, how he was invited for the holidays the past three years in a row. they want to know about this incident that involved a fight. And she said that on his second visit, Anthony brought his girlfriend Tara. He treated her badly. He would talk down to everyone. And when he drank, he got mean. She did not want him to come back after the second visit, but Brad did not listen to her. When Anthony came back to visit this last Christmas, he was drinking excessively every day. Brad was at work and Carrie was kind of in charge of entertaining and looking after Anthony, this grown, this grown ass man.

They went to a bar where he began to get belligerent. He ends up punching her in the kidneys two times. She didn't know what to do. She calls up a family member and they say, bring him over to a family friend's house until Brad got off work and could handle it. Well, Carrie's 15-year-old sister was over there. Anthony goes over there. He starts flirting with her, whispering in her ear.

Carrie is pulling him away from her. And just when she thinks she has things under control, Anthony put his hand on the thigh of an older woman in the household, and she gets up, Anthony spills his drink everywhere all the carpet. It was a mess. Carrie fell like she had no choice, but to take him back to her own apartment alone. He's a six foot two man that's over 200 pounds, and he's trying to get his drunk self inside, and he falls.

He split his eye open. Damn, so she's trying to help him, and he is screaming at her. And at this point, he's saying things that don't even make sense. He was yelling, don't you know how much Brad loves you? And he pushed Carrie. She got scared. She tries to run out of the house. And Anthony tackled her to the ground, forced her to the kitchen on the floor in the kitchen.

This is when things get really scary. Carrie said that he put her in some kind of wrestling holds. And that is horrifying. He put his fist into her mouth. And as he did this, he scratched her mouth, her face, her gull, were torn, the back of her throat was scratched. What is this man thinking? Maybe he's not. But thankfully, Carrie's dog was going nuts and it distracted Anthony long enough for her to run out of the house to a neighbor's where she called the police. Finally, they arrive on the scene at the same time as Brad was coming home and they arrested Anthony. But get this.

They dropped all the charges because Carrie told him to. It was because Brad, good old Brad, military buddy Brad, convinced her to drop the charges if he promised that Anthony would never come over again. And now look, he has just been arrested for murder. Carrie adds that Brad tried to get Anthony to at the very least apologize for what he did, but he never has. They really want to track down Anthony's girlfriend Tara Hoffer, but before they can, there are a ton of other tips coming in. They conducted even more interviews with people who knew Anthony and had important things to share about him. This was going all the way back to when Anthony began college at EIU. He started in the fall of 1998.

That was the same year he began dating Tara as well. I'm not sure where he was living. It could have been where he was now, but I believe it might have been a different location the first couple of years before moving to his current apartment where he was at the time of Shannon's murder. But Tara's cousin, Jeremy Deck, comes forward, and he tells investigators that back in 1998,

he used to hang out with his cousin Tara and her boyfriend, Anthony, on several occasions. and Anthony would open up his apartment as well as his friend's apartment doors using credit cards. That's interesting. He also told them that he saw the same poster above Anthony's computer that mentioned Amy Warner's murder. Is this normal? Because I've definitely purchased those trashy gossip magazines from the grocery store that have articles relating to murders. But collecting articles and putting them on poster boards, that seems odd.

A guy named Christopher Howard was questioned by police when they went to Anthony's apartment and they were canvassing the building. Christopher said Anthony was verbally abusive to his girlfriend Tara. He would call her the B word and the C word. Yikes. Sometimes after they argued, Tara would come to Christopher's apartment and cry and complain. And there were times when Tara's neck would be red. But get this.

Christopher told them that Anthony admitted it was him who started that fire at the apartment building that was under construction across the street. Wow. The fire was him? Why would he do that? The first thing I thought of was maybe if he was stalking these girls, he knew they were planning on moving there and that it was a more secure building that he couldn't get into easily. So if he burned it down, would that force them to move somewhere less safe? I don't know.

Maybe that's a stretch. That's kind of extreme. But so was this guy's actions, especially if he really did murder Shannon and Amy. They have yet another link to Amy's case as well. So investigators are actually going back to that case. It had gone cold and now they're opening it back up. They're ready to figure out if there are any more solid leads between Anthony and Amy's murder as well.

Another woman who dated Anthony comes forward, Lisa Hislop. She met him in a bar in 1999 while he was dating Tara on and off. He and Lisa started talking. They were hanging out and eventually they got into a relationship which became sexual. However, surprisingly, she described him as affectionate, cuddly, and passionate, which not what the investigators were expecting. When they asked her if Anthony was ever violent when he was drinking, she said she saw him drunk, but never violent. Even after the relationship ended, she kept in touch with him. She even saw him after the incident with Brad and his girlfriend Carrie,

and he told her that he could not remember what happened. Lisa gives detectives another woman's name, Summer Jacobson, Summers. Apparently Anthony was in a relationship with Summer as well. How does he keep track? Because I'm having a really tough time getting through this. He definitely doesn't sound like an in-sell to me. Lisa explains that Anthony would date Tara on and off. They had a rocky relationship. They would break up. They would get back together. And sometimes there would be months in between. At the time when Lisa met him, he was with Summer. But he did not openly admit that to Lisa. She found out later after she stopped seeing him. She also told them that she used to email Anthony at the Serial Killer 2000 email

address but he thought it was funny it was a joke he had seen it somewhere and he adopted it as his own and i have to admit i actually do recall seeing this back in the day i still see it it's a joke related to eating cereal just killing a bowl of cereal because it's so good here are a few memes i think you get the picture but i think it's different if you or i were using this as a joke with anthony i just think it's it's a lot less innocent don't you think police do next they spoke to Summer Jacobson Summers. And she tells them she met Anthony way back August of 1996 and they dated and yes, it was on and off. They had a sexual relationship, but it was never aggressive. Summer described their relationship as emotional, but never violent. Summer was actually a single

mom and Anthony helped her with her young daughter and she considered the three of them a family unit. Summer had definitely seen Anthony drunk, but he never became aggressive or violent. She ended the relationship when he went overseas, but she kept in contact with him and would go see him on and off here and there afterward. She described him as intelligent, hardworking, organized, supportive, caring. Wow, that is definitely not what I was expecting to hear. Could it be that he became more aggressive as time went on because this was back in 1996 and 1999, but we know why Christmas of 2000 he was punching Carrie. So what gives?

Investigators want to focus in on people who were in contact with Anthony from the year 2000. until the present. They locate Kathy Boyer. She resided in Anthony's apartment building in September of 2000, and on one occasion, she woke up to find him sitting in a chair in her apartment watching TV. She had not invited him inside. He did not have permission to be there, and he appeared to be drunk. Kathy told investigators that Anthony had previously opened doors in the building with a credit card and a knife. She knew him to be violent when he drank. So you mean to tell me, this makes. is just going around opening up people's doors like this and no one is reporting him. Another apartment building resident that lived in Anthony's building, his name was also Anthony,

but Anthony Lurlotta, told investigators that when he returned to Charleston after being away for a weekend, he saw that the structure across the street, those apartments under construction, was burned to the ground. Anthony was joking about it and said he burned it down. When they asked, was anyone else joking about this? He said, no, none of his other friends joked about this. Only Anthony did but there's more. Anthony told this man according to him that he had been in all of the apartments in Shannon's building during Christmas break 1999, insinuating that he had broken into them. Not that he was invited in, but remember how Anthony told investigators that he never hung out with Shannon at her place or knew her, but that he had been in other apartments in the building? That's interesting,

especially since they found his credit card. Additionally, he said that he knew that there was a personal connection between Amy Warner and Anthony. He just did not know the details, but Anthony told him he knew her. Okay, there are a number of people connecting this man to Amy's unsolved murder, and it turns out. At the time it happened, Anthony lived less than a mile away. There's more. Of course there is. My video isn't over yet. Douglas Paul comes in, provides information. He said he was one of Anthony's good friends prior to Shannon's murder on June 12th, 2001 when Douglas was in Anthony's apartment prior to that date, he noticed an article pertaining to the June 1999 murder of Amy Warner. He said it was posted on Anthony's ball. Not only that,

when Douglas asked him about it, Anthony told him he killed Amy. He called her white trash. He's so pathetic. Douglas also tells them that there was a time when he and one of his girlfriends just broke up. It was January of 2000. And Anthony actually asked him if he needed his help in getting rid of her. Douglas knew Anthony to be a vengeful person. He witnessed him slashing the tires and seats of a Jeep after a party in July of 2000. He had also seen him yell racial comments to people that were just walking in the apartment parking lot. And Anthony bragged about burning down the apartment building that was under construction across the street. Okay, is this enough yet? Well, you know that they need a really solid case. And even though all of this is great, it's still just

people saying what they saw. It's evidence, but it's not solid proof of anything. It's not tangible. It's not a recording or a picture. It's not DNA. It's just he said, she said at this point. But they definitely invite more and more of these statements, especially if they happened closer and closer to the time that Shannon's murder occurred. And if any of them can connect Anthony to the murder of Shannon or Amy Warner. Remember how he said that he was with Brian Beavers on the night of the murder? Well, they talked to Brian. They collect his DNA. as well as DNA from many of the other people that were interviewed in this case.

And Brian says it's true. He had seen Anthony use his credit card to enter other people's apartments. He also told Brian without prompting he had burned down the apartment building across the street. And on another occasion, Anthony admitted to Brian

he had murdered a girl in 1999. When asked why Brian didn't go to the police, he said he didn't really think Anthony was serious at the time. I'm saying you're thinking, I have never, ever heard one of my friends joking about killing someone or committing other crimes like arson. Have you? Would you go to the police? I don't know. This seems strange to me. But a woman named Kimberly Lily comes forward. She lived in Anthony's apartment in May of 2001, which was just a month before Shannon's murder. That's a very relevant time frame. Kimberly says that she woke up one night in May of 2001 and heard sounds coming from Anthony's apartment.

Then she heard footsteps down the stairs and something like chasing. She got concerned, so she got up to see what was going on. She looks out the window and she sees Randy Morris, who she knew was a girl that Anthony was in a relationship with. Randy's sitting in her car. She's crying. She looks disheveled. And Anthony was standing by the car holding the door open.

Okay. Remember that investigators really want to know more about what Anthony was like recently? When Randy Morris is interviewed, she said she dated Anthony. in May of 2001, but the relationship only lasted two weeks. She ended it on May 26th. Randy said they had consensual sex twice, but during those encounters, she said he bit her on the neck, which left a very massive bruise, and on her leg underneath her buttocks, which also left large bruises. However, on the evening of May 25th, 2001, Randy went to Anthony's apartment where a group of people were just hanging out, and at one point in the evening, Anthony, any female,

I'll start wrestling for fun at first. But then all of a sudden, Anthony threw this woman down on top of his coffee table, breaking it. I don't understand what's going on here. He was also pulling this woman's hair, and eventually everyone left. Randy was alone with Anthony. I would be way too scared. What kind of person does that to someone? I don't know.

But maybe it wasn't as bad as it sounds to me. Well, Randy said that she and Anthony started making out and things were getting even more intense. She was not clothed except for her high heels. And okay, I cannot go into detail. But let's just say that he put her in a position where she thought that he was going to do something in an area that was off limits to her. She told him, no, not there. And he didn't want to listen. He went ahead and he began to do this.

She and Anthony had explicitly talked about this before. And she unequivocally told him she would never engage in that act. But like I said, he did it anyway. And it caused her extreme pain. She was so scared. She was screaming. She was saying no. And then she kicked him with her heels to try to get him to stop.

Well, Anthony places his hands over her mouth, shoving his fingers, up her nose, covering her nose. She can't breathe. She tries to open her mouth and he shoved his fingers down her throat. So she bites him. She's trying to get him to stop. She's continuing to yell no. And then he grabbed her and he turned her neck as hard as he could. Randy said she actually heard her neck cracking.

She thought she was going to die. She thought he was going to break it. She screamed even more, and he did it again. She was praying in this moment. She'd not want to die this way. And somehow she's able to turn onto her back. And she's looking at him right in the eyes. And she says his name. She says, Anthony, please don't kill me. And all of a sudden, it's like he snapped out of a trance. He just relaxed his grip on her. All she wanted to do was run out of this place. But he just acted like nothing happened. She was scared. So she just tried to play nice, say nice things to him, make excuses about why she had to leave that she had to go to work really early next morning. But he's like, you're not going anywhere. Even when she said she had to go to the bathroom really bad, he followed her. He stood outside of the door listening to make sure she wasn't escaping out the bathroom window. And she tried. But it was too small.

And she realized they were on the second floor. She had to tend to this painful part of her body. She was bleeding. And after she came out of the bathroom and got dressed, Anthony insisted that she couldn't go home. So she sat in a chair and he grabbed her by the legs and he pulls her on the floor and he's trying once again to force himself on her. He's literally trying to do this again. When she resisted, he finally gave up.

And Randy just kept insisting that she really had to go home. Then at some point Anthony says he has to use the restroom and he grabbed her by the wrist and made her go into the bathroom with him. When he was finished, he asked her to lie down with him and sleep. I can't even imagine this. I'd be so disgusted and scared. But Randy waited until he was asleep and she jumped up and she tried to open the door, but he woke up and he tried to stop her from leaving. And somehow she was fast enough to get past him and she ran down those steps in the front

and he followed right behind her. This is most likely what the neighbor Kimberly Lilly was referring to when she said that she heard noises coming from his apartment and then heard stomping on the stairs and saw Randy in the car crying. Randy said she got to her car. She tried to shut the door, but he prevented her from doing that. He tried unsuccessfully to take her keys, then reclined her seat and tried to get on top of her. What the hell is going on?

Eventually, Randy succeeded in raising the seat back up, closing the door, and starting the car. But somehow, Anthony jumped into the back seat, crawled into the front passenger seat, and he's like, I'm sorry. He said he couldn't remember what he did, but he refused to get out of the car. So Randy had no choice, but to drive with him to her apartment. And when they arrived at her apartment building, he followed her up there and forced his way inside. And then he laid down on her bed, pulled her down beside him. She waited until he fell asleep and then she left. And thankfully, Anthony was not there when she returned later that day.

But Randy explained how badly he hurt her, her neck, her back. They felt like she got in a car accident. When asked why she did not contact the police, she said it was because she was afraid that they would not believe her. And she was humiliated. However, after Anthony was arrested for Shannon's murder, Randy was ready to come forward. Following what happened with Anthony, she did see him at social gatherings after that, but she never, ever allowed herself to be alone with him again. She recalls that when she first met him, he told her that the Marines taught him to kill without remorse at the time. Randy thought that was pretty odd.

She did not know what it meant, though. When she saw some of the books at his place, and she asked him about that, he told her he respected Hitler for trying to purify his race. Oh my God, he cannot be for real. This man is sick. When investigators reopen Amy's case, they go back through everyone that they had interviewed the first time, and they locate a woman named Patricia Wimborn. She lived in Charleston in 1999 and used to babysit for Amy Warner's two children, the four-year-old little girl and the seven. a month old boy. Patricia would babysit Amy's kids at Amy's house, and she was babysitting them three weeks prior to Amy's murder. When they asked Patricia how she met Amy, they get the biggest

bombshell that they'd ever had in this case. Are you ready for this? She tells them that she was introduced to her by a friend who worked at a daycare facility where Amy brought her kids. This friend is none other than Tara Hoffer. Please tell me that you remember name it's Anthony's girlfriend. Patricia explained that Amy sometimes needed help with the kids when the daycare wasn't open. So Tara would babysit and eventually she introduced Patricia to Amy as well as a backup for when Tara was busy. Oh my God, this is insane. They asked Patricia to tell them about the last time she babysat Amy's children and she said it was three weeks before the murder. She went over to Amy's and then she invited Tara to come over. When Tara arrived, she was with her boyfriend

Anthony. They both stayed and watched a movie with Patricia while she watched the kids. They asked her, has Anthony ever met Amy in person? And she said she wasn't sure, but there were a lot of pictures of Amy all over the house. And when they look at this woman's picture compared to Shannon's, they look so similar. That's terrifying. This man was around this woman's kids in her home, and then she ends up dead. When asked if she knew anything else about Anthony, Anthony, Patricia said that she had gone to a local tavern with him and Tara. And while Tara was in the bathroom, Anthony grabbed a hold of Patricia's shirt and he lifted it up to expose her chest.

Patricia told them she was pretty offended. I would be much more than offended. That is really disgusting and so inappropriate. I do not want to sit here and judge Tara. But since I haven't heard anything from her yet, I was really curious as to why she would want to be with a guy like Anthony. investigators don't get to speak to her until August. But Officer Callahan finally gets to interview her and he has a lot of questions.

And unfortunately, Tara wasn't as forthcoming as they thought she would be. She's still dating Anthony. As far as she was concerned, but as people had stated, they had an on and off relationship. First, they won't ask her about Amy Warner. She had already been interviewed about this case when it happened. She said that she remembered Anthony came to bed around 2 a.m. on the night of the murder and that he was not drinking that night. She said that she would have awakened if he would have gotten out of bed after that.

However, if you recall, they estimated that Amy's time of death was actually around 10 p.m. So this means he could have been over there if he didn't go to bed until 2 a.m. The first time that she was interviewed, she told investigators that Anthony had been in bed with her the whole night. She admits that, yeah, she said that back then, but now she says it's 2 a.m. She recalls having to go to bed early that night and remembers Anthony stayed up late. She remembered the date because Amy's children went to the daycare facility where she worked and the murder was all the talk the next day. When questioned about the night of the fire, Tara said she did not notice Anthony get out of bed on that evening.

When asked if Anthony was a violent person, she said that his attitude and treatment toward her was entirely dependent upon whether he was drunk or sober. went on to say that he would have nightmares and his moods were up and down. During the year that she lived with him in 1999, he was sometimes verbally abusive when he drank heavily. And this was three or four times a week, but on occasion after he drank, he couldn't remember what he had done the night before. She told him he needed help, but she couldn't force him to get it. However, she does say that he did go to a place called Our House, which she thought was a rehabilitation center. In addition, he occasionally went to the VA hospital where he was given things like Prozac and Paxil for depression.

When she was questioned about the things that were found on Anthony's computer, she admitted that the ones about the non-consensual acts on dates back in the June of 2000, that was actually her. She searched for that for a school project related to that topic. She said that a lot of other people used his computer all the time. He allowed people to come into his apartment as they pleased and they would frequently be looking up. all kinds of things online from his computer. You'd think she's kind of making excuses for him. Well, indeed, she told Callahan she would love Anthony, even if he had murdered Shannon and Amy.

That is just crazy talk. And I feel for Tara, I really do. There must be something that she got from him that made her have feelings this strong. From here on out, she was on Anthony's side and decided she would testify on his behalf. It may not matter how many people are on Anthony's side because they had science on their side.

the DNA under Shannon's fingernails was tested against all the samples they collected, including Anthony's, and all of the people were ruled out except for him. The DNA they found was a one in 1.8 billion match to Anthony. However, admittedly, some other DNA was collected from Shannon's body, which contained a mixture of three different people's DNA, and police could not identify who the third person was. The second person was accounted for and ruled out, having nothing to do with AllPlay, and that might have been her boyfriend Keith, but the third person

was still unknown. Of course, everyone in this community is still shocked to find out that a 25-year-old fellow student is behind bars being charged with Shannon's murder. And now there are rumors swirling around that the unsolved murder of Amy Warner might also be connected to this man. Shannon's sorority sister Gretchen actually remembers seeing Anthony. They had seen him at places like Marty. bar, he was hanging out doing things on campus, even at the gym. And they were not friends with Anthony, but she remembers him being on the fringes of the places where they would hang out. When Becky finds out who's arrested, she could not help but think about all the times that they were out and about, that he may have been stalking them. He may have been watching, planning Shannon's murder. And for all

they knew, it could have been all three of the girls if they had all been home that night. However, media is not getting any more information from police about how Shannon was murdered. They continued to provide their press releases about any major developments like the arrest of Anthony Mertz. But beyond that, in order to preserve the integrity of their investigation, they did not release any other information. But there was a question that people were asking, and it was whether or not this was a sexually motivated crime, considering that she was not clothed. There was speculation that the perpetrator had forced himself upon her, but that had not been confirmed by authorities. The university had been offering counseling and temporary housing to students.

They were concerned about everyone on campus, but specifically concerned for the welfare of Shannon's roommates and any students that were residing in apartments that were off campus. Because of this, the university was offering anyone that was worried and concerned about their safety to move on campus temporarily because they did have. campus security and the University Police were doing extra shifts and extra patrols throughout campus and beyond. They wanted to remind students to please be proactive and we know everything about this keeping the doors locked reporting anything suspicious not traveling alone at night only walking in well-lit areas that are highly traveled. Meanwhile as I told you Anthony Mertz 25-year-old junior that lived right across the street from Shannon was

arrested and at that moment he was being held without bond while Shanning Shannon's family was having a memorial for her. They did not want the news there. They did not allow the media to attend the wake or the funeral mass. It was held back in Shannon's hometown of Rolling Meadows. As they're waiting for the hearings and the trial date to be set, Shannon's apartment had been cleaned and it was already rented out for the next school year, along with every other apartment in that entire building. All the female neighbors who left to go stay in hotels, they'd already returned. And the media especially the out-of-town media had diminished.

So it seems like by the end of the month, this was July 29th, things were already getting back to normal, at least for the students at the university, but for people like Shannon's family, friends, her boyfriend, Keith, life was never going to be the same. The hearings came and went. He was charged with six counts of first-degree murder, and he was also charged with breaking into apartment.

Because of these aggravating factors, the death penalty was on the table. By the time this hearing occurred, there was evidence presented that he did force himself upon her at the scene as well. An individual that came forward from Anthony's workplace said that they were missing a box cutter that matched the exact description of the one that was found on the scene at Shannon's. This was just another item that was directly connected to Anthony in addition to the gloves that were found at the house. There was part of a rubber glove found at Shannon's.

And these were gloves that were used at Anthony's workplace as well. So there are items that he had access to. Eventually, they needed more time to prepare since the death penalty was on the table. So the trial was moved to January 22nd, 2002 instead of September 2001. Anthony was also appointed his own investigator, and I think he also had a private investigator as well, because I do have a few things from the trial that I definitely wanted to point out that happened, so that you can get an entire picture of how everything came together in the end. The trial was underway in the end of January, beginning of February of 2000.

There were so many witnesses for both sides. And I've already told you about everything that pretty much every witness said during their testimony. Because I read you everything they said in their interviews, it was the same information. However, you really haven't heard much from those who support Anthony, his defense witnesses. I already told you his girlfriend Tara agreed to be one of his defense witnesses. We already heard parts of her story. But you do realize that that opens her up on cross-examination. So there are some interesting things I want to point out in regard to Tara and her testimony.

However, I thought it was also important to tell you a little bit about what people who knew Anthony growing up said about his childhood and what Anthony had to say because Anthony took the stand in his own defense. I can't go into every detail. We would be here for hours. I know some of you would love that because I know that you like these really long videos, but I don't think that everything that was said. at the trial was of the utmost importance. I want to give you the Cliff Notes version, if you will. Since you're already acquainted with Tara Hoffer, I'll go ahead and tell you what happened when she testified at Anthony's trial on his behalf. She had acknowledged that she had already been interviewed by the police on multiple occasions following Anthony's arrest. She was asked on the stand whether she recalled ever telling police about rugburns that were found on Anthony's knees. If she had ever seen these before. Well, she stated that her and Anthony stayed in Anthony's grandma's house prior to Shannon's

murder. And according to Tara, she had sex with Anthony that evening and she noticed rug burns on his knees when they got up the next day. So essentially what the prosecution is trying to say is, you never told us about those rug burns that were on his knees before Shannon's murder? Because they're significant when they're discovered on his body when he's being photographed after his arrest. For obvious reasons, if you are doing something where you are strangling a victim, you're on the floor, you're hurting them, you're struggling, you would most likely be on your knees and therefore the fact that he had these marks suggested to the prosecution, it was just another piece of evidence that he was involved in this crime, especially because they were

right after Shannon's murder. Again, relevancy timeline. However, Tara is saying no, I saw them before that. And when they asked her about the credit cards being used to open doors, Tara testified that Anthony gave people permission to enter his apartment all the time and have access to his computer equipment and his belongings, even when he wasn't there. It was completely commonplace for students to use their credit cards to open doors just like Anthony did. She said other people did it as well. I've never opened a door with a credit card. I don't know if some colleges have that as a common practice. I know I wouldn't want anyone doing that to me, but this is what she said. Now, when she was being directly examined by Anthony's defense attorney, she said that the

police, in her opinion, were trying to get her to say that Anthony had a problem with women and that he was violent. She told him it wasn't true. So on cross-examination, the prosecutor comes up and he says, isn't it true, Tara Hoffer, that Anthony came home one night and you said he was drunk and then he pulled your hair and he threatened to kill you? Isn't that true? And, Tara said, yes. So they went on to ask her, didn't you tell one of the sergeants that Anthony threatened to kill you and break your neck

and threw you on a bed? She again says yes. And so the prosecutor is like, okay, and he placed his forum around your throat and he choked you. And again, she says yes. The prosecutor asks, and he doesn't have a problem with violence with women? In Toronto, every arrival is a statement,

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She answered, no. She also denied that she ever told police officers that she would still love Anthony even if he murdered Shannon. She said the police were trying to get her to say that. I want to tell you a little bit about some of the things that other people on Anthony's side said. Jack Smith was a licensed private investigator. He testified for the defense. He was supporting Anthony's contention that he had cut his hand on a broken shot glass.

Smith testified that he did in fact recover a broken shot glass from the trash in Anthony's apartment. However, according to him, the police would not retrieve it, would not take it into custody, and would not test the shot glass. They also never tested the glove that was found and test them against the ones that were from his work. Apparently, they never did that. There were plenty of character witnesses brought on by the defense. Some of them were Alan Mertz, who was Anthony's father, Brandy Mertz, Anthony's younger sister, Anthony's paternal grandmother, Dorothy French, Anthony's sister, Christina. his Sunday school teacher, Rosela Ray, Michael Mahorne, which is Anthony's uncle, friends from high school that attended church with Anthony while he was growing up.

Even one of his high school history teachers, Myron Ward, got on the stand and testified. For a more recent teacher, Jennifer Walker tutored Anthony in Spanish at Eastern Illinois University. She took the stand and talked about her recent experience with Anthony, as well as Michael Shirley, which was Anthony's undergraduate advisor and history professor at Eastern Illinois University. Now I've told you who everyone was. I'm briefly going to give you a picture of the things that were said. The Sunday school teacher, of course, said little Anthony as a young boy had a great love and respect for his grandmother, who he called mom. That was Dorothy French. Anthony came into Dorothy's life when he was still in diapers because Anthony's birth mother had no contact with him. When he was younger, Anthony's dad, Alan, got custody of Anthony and his siblings, and they went right to their grandma's house to live.

That was the most suitable place for them at the time. Alan said that he had a fantastic relationship with his son, Anthony. They went fishing together. They did other father-son things. And even though he worked long hours, Alan occasionally made it to Anthony's football games. And for his 18th birthday, he actually got Anthony a tattoo. His grandma, who he called mom, Dorothy French, went on to say that yes. He was just like any boy.

He was out playing in the dirt, riding bicycles, and they brought out family photos. It shows Anthony with his father when he graduated from high school and wanted his 17th birthday party with a birthday cake. Grandma said she took Anthony to church every Sunday. He went to Sunday school and had a perfect attendance for 13 years. She described him as a good boy in high school. He got good grades. He participated in a first. football and then after graduation he joined the Marines and after that she saw him whenever he came

home on leave and he would usually stay at her house he wrote to her very often and called her while he was in the Marines and even afterward she said to him I'm his mom his younger sister brandy testified she said that Anthony did have trouble remembering things and when they asked her why she said in her opinion she believed it was because their stepmother used to hit their heads into the walls she explained that they did not get along well with their stepmother and she was physical with them as well. Their older sister, Christina, was good to them and took care of them and acted like their mother. And they also had a step sister Rose. And according to Brandy, she was mean to them as well. One of his high school friends, Lisa, talked about how Anthony was always interested in history in high school.

And he loved to read. And he was very protective of the underclassman. But he was also picked on to some extent. And he really wasn't the most popular guy. But she saw him after the Marines when he was in college. he attended Bible classes for a while and he had a strong connection to the church and family. She had seen him drunk and used drugs, but she said she never saw him angry and she always saw him treating Tara with respect. The high school history teacher, Myron Ward, said that Anthony was average to slightly below average as a student. He really didn't have any disciplinary problems. The only incident that could be remembered was when he shot a rubber band at him. And when he confronted Anthony, he said, I don't know if he ever apologized.

but he expressed that he wished he had done better. More recently, Michael Shirley, which was the undergraduate advisor, he said that Anthony had a little above average academic ability and he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when he interacted with other students. However, when he asked about a paper, the Anthony neglected to turn in, he said he was an alcoholic and he was having some problems.

So he said, so he said, have you ever gone to Alcoholics Anonymous? And Anthony said he had. so the advisor said, you should probably start going again. That's when Anthony, who's normally smiling and laughing, was kind of passive, and he started to cry. Lastly, his older sister testified all about their childhood and how hard it was for them with their mom not being around. They had to live in a dirty insect-ridden house. It was cold. She didn't feel loved at the time. But then they moved in with their grandma and everything changed for the better until their father got remarried.

when they moved in with him, he worked really long hours, and their stepmother was the one that took care of them and she was prone to mood swings. This stepmother would embarrass the children. She would spank them with a switch from the tree and Christina would try to take the blame for everything because she did not want to see her siblings be hit. Christina did notice that when her brother went away to the Marines, he started to drink excessively and that alcoholism ran in their family. She said that their family was the epitome of dysfunction. But she always remembered Anthony as a goofy little boy who was always happy up until around junior high school. The reason why all of these witnesses are coming forward is obviously to show you that Anthony was somewhat of a normal person, right? That he could function in society.

But of course, they're picking the best of the best. That's what the defense does. And we've heard from probably the worst of the worst as well. One of the things the defense was kind of running with was that Anthony was given all these drugs in the Marines. different pills, different shots, and that he was also an alcoholic who would have alcoholic blackouts. They brought in a forensic consultant that focused on substance abuse. He evaluated Anthony and he did testify that Anthony suffered from blackouts. This is a state of mind during which an intoxicated person is unable to form memories of what he or she is doing

during the period of intoxication. So this is definitely a psychological phenomenon that does happen. and I'm not sitting here saying that I know this happened to Anthony. These are just professionals that came out during his trial to say that he experienced it. He suffered from alcoholic blackouts. But when this expert was cross-examined, it came out that alcoholic blackouts only refer to your failure to permanently record memories. It doesn't say anything about a person's ability to think and act and plan and organize while they're actually intoxicated. because of course, I think the defense was trying to say in their theory, this is maybe why this occurred, that Anthony didn't mean to do this, something to that effect. I'm not sure.

And remember, they're also trying to mitigate his potential sentence to death. So they brought up things about his childhood and the effect that it had on his social development. Being neglected during these very early years of his life would increase the risk of psychological disorders, behavior problems, and violent offenses. just want to give you the opportunity to hear not that you always want to hear this but i think it's important from anthony i mean not himself but what he said when he took the stand in his own defense he talked a little bit about his childhood there wasn't too much about that that i thought was that significant he talked about how he doesn't even have much memory of his mother and speaking of the time with his grandmother he stated that everything was perfect he considered his grandma his mom and

considered his grandfather his father he went to sunday school and he had a perfect attendance for 13 years and he still attended church right up until the week before he was arrested. He said his favorite class was history growing up and he did actually remember the incident when he shot the rubber band at his teacher. And then he made a crappy remark to him. Well, he went back six years later to talk to the teacher about the incident. He said he really enjoyed the Marines. He liked the regimented lifestyle. However, a few months in, him and his friends began to drink heavily. He would be falling down drunk on the weekends. And he would be falling down drunk on the weekends and he would occasionally experience blackouts. He also testified regarding his use of methamphetamine,

but there were times he said that he could drink and do drugs and have everything under control in the Marines, even though he was demoted in rank. Finally, he talked about Summer Summers and Lisa, the two girls who he said helped him stay sober. He said that he was madly and deeply in love with Summer, but they pushed each other apart shortly before his second deployment and he was so heartbroken over this break up. Now, some inmates always come forward. I mean, not always, but a lot of times they do in these cases. And they did in this one. And they said, oh yeah, he admitted to killing Shannon. He did all that. And Anthony said no. He denied ever admitting to anyone in jail or elsewhere that he ever killed anyone. He said that he never burned down the building either. He was only joking. He was with Tara the whole

night. He also denied ever killing Amy Warner. He was not drinking that night that had happened. And he wasn't blacked out. He said he had been to Amy's residence three weeks before the murder, but he does not admit that he killed her. However, he does admit saying to people that he did kill her, but he attributed his comments to, quote, a poor sense of humor, end quote. As far as his computer, he said that other people use the computer and yes, he visited some unsavory websites, but they were completely legal. That's something that people do. He said the name serial killer was a song from the band Insane clown posse and he also said he never hid a gun in the janitor's supply room where he worked wasn't his gun according to him explaining the books in his library they had been on a suggested list from the

marine corps and he saved the marine corps manuals kind of as memorabilia he also wanted to mention he was not an admirer of timothy mcvay or david korsh and he does not support the overthrow of government now this was important in regard to the incident with randy i am sure that you probably remember this incident. He literally told them. He remembers that night, but that quote, it slipped. It poked her and she freaked out. And that's it. I put my hand over her mouth like, shut up, man. What are you freaking out about? End quote. Are you serious? I think it says it all. I could hardly read that with a straight face. It slipped. Finally, Anthony did admit when asked if he told a counselor at the university that he tried to take his life but would not do it again. Instead, he would rather kill others to force the

police to kill him, that that was true. He told the court that he doesn't remember doing anything to Shannon, but everything pretty much points to the fact that he did. He just doesn't think he did. I think we've all heard enough, and so had the court. Both sides had rested at this point, and now it was in the jury's hands. On January 12, 2003, the jury found Anthony guilty of home invasion, aggravated criminal SA, and first degree murder. The jury also determined that Anthony was eligible for the death penalty because he had committed the murder in the course of committing other felonies. And there was no mitigating factors that warranted a lesser sentence. I know we talked about everything in regard to Shannon.

But Anthony was not on trial for the murder of Amy Warner. However, there were a lot of similarities between the two cases. And Amy's family felt that it was sufficient that he was put behind bars for Shannon's murder. because they truly believed he was involved in the murder of their daughter, Amy Warner. There were experts who gave their opinion about whether or not they believed that these two cases were related. There were some mixed opinions. It's true. He lived less than a mile away. The victim was known to him. He had been in her house three weeks prior. He could have figured out the layout of the house. But that the two crime scenes were different because one was more organized,

And the other was more disorganized. These are actually official terms that are used to describe the way that a crime was carried out. It doesn't refer to the state of the house or anything like that. It's more about how organized the crime was, how much pre-planning was involved. Did they bring their own weapon or did they find one at the scene? That's something that would be more disorganized. It's when there's no indication of pre-planning. It just looks sloppier.

However, a crime might start out organized and then become disorganized because the perpetrator might experience something unexpected. Unexpected resistance can occur and they get interrupted. So at the scene at Shannon's, they referred to this as a mixed crime scene. There was some evidence of pre-planning with the latex gloves to keep from leaving fingerprints and apparently the credit card that could have been used to unlock the door. However, a new door had been put in recently because of the fight between Carissa and her boy. boyfriend. When Anthony realized that there was a dead bull on the door, he cut the window with a box cutter to gain entry. Could this have been the weapon that he brought and intended to use? Possibly. But the fact that his original plan might not have worked right. He was able to use an alternative plan, which shows that he was still staying somewhat organized. However, because Shannon fought back in such a brutal manner, they think that this is what made the scene more disorganized. Then he had to find a weapon on the scene. He goes to into the kitchen and he gets a knife and that's how the gloves were ripped things like that things like the credit card falling out of his pocket or being left behind those are disorganized however the scene at

amy's house stayed organized the entire time they believe the two could still be related though because anthony could have organized and pre-planned amy's murder and not faced the same resistance maybe amy truly was asleep she never had the chance to fight back and therefore there was no resistance There was nothing that caused him to be interrupted or thrown off his plan. They never actually found a weapon in Amy's case, and there was no ample evidence left behind by the perpetrator to connect them to the crime. The women were also murdered in different ways, but they did have one similarity in that their arms were extended above their head, and they were both seemingly posed. As far as the fire was concerned,

the attributes of arsonists are usually individuals that want a sense of power and control and setting a fire, especially a large fire is an indication of someone that's uncooperative, belligerent, combative. And with all of Anthony's history of activities, it really does show a lack of respect for authority for other people. And the fact that serial killers usually keep things about the crimes. And he had a, I think he had an article about the fire as well. And Anthony was seen with these articles, also about Amy and things like that. It led them to believe there was a possibility that he committed all of these crimes. But they still did not have any concrete evidence linking him to them. So you can let me know what you think about all this.

Anthony was ultimately sentenced to death for the murder of Shannon McNamara and 60 years imprisonment for the home invasion. But in 2011, Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation that abolished the death penalty in Illinois. This commuted Anthony's sentence from death to life in prison. I need to mention a few things in regard to Shannon and her family just to make sure that. that I touch on something very important. So I went to Facebook and there's a page in memory of Shannon and I found a post from her mom talking about how Shannon used to inspire someone named Aaron Weed, her dear college friend and sorority sister.

And within two months of Shannon's death, Aaron decided to get involved in self-defense training. Soon after that, she felt like she wanted to share this knowledge with other women and she launched Girls Fight Back.com. This is a self-defense program for women. Its message is strength and intolerance for violence and has permeated through hundreds of cities throughout the U.S., big and small, with over 50,000 women and girls

that have learned to fight and believe in themselves in the process. And her mother, Cindy, just seems like an amazing person. She wants Shannon to always be remembered. Her biggest fear was that her daughter would be forgotten. And I just want to say this. I do this, the purpose of these videos, is to allow these individuals' memories to live on. If each and every one of us remember someone like Shannon,

their memory will not die, even though they're gone. And these are other ways you can honor Shannon's memory. You can get involved with something like Girls Fightback.com, I'll go ahead and leave that in the description box. There are seminars that happen all over, and not only that, every year, there is a Memorial 5K run walk,

and it's in Rolling Meadows High School. If you want to get involved with this next year, for example, I will leave the link. Some of you do keep track. And I think that's absolutely amazing. I want to do better with that. I want to get involved as well. That's something, it's one of my goals for this year in 2023 and going forward. I will leave a link to the Facebook page.

If you join that, it will keep you up to date. The last one I think was in October. And of course, they're going to do another one this year. So stay tuned. And I just want to thank you so very much for caring enough to listen to Shannon. story, Amy's story, Andrea's story, the story of these lovely people in their lives that were taken. As usual, please be respectful, but leave your comments, your thoughts in the comment section, and I will read as many as I can in the first couple hours.

Thank you so very much for watching. I will see you my next one. Bye.