True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 2: Young FUNERAL DIRECTOR Found DEAD in Bedroom Closet | Rachael Anderson

Episode Date: February 1, 2026

The mystery deepens. In True Crime with Kimbyr, Part 2 of the Rachael Anderson case takes a closer look at the unanswered questions surrounding her death. As investigators piece together the timeline after her disappearance, troubling inconsistencies, overlooked details, and potential motives begin to surface. How did a young funeral director celebrating her 24th birthday end up hidden in her own home with so few answers left behind? Join True Crime with Kimbyr as Kimbyrleigha continues her compassionate, analytical deep dive into a case that remains as haunting as it is unresolved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was also used at a Kroger and a Hollywood casino. Rachel's debit card was used two more days, Tuesday, January 30th, and Thursday, February 1st. And we know Rachel is deceased. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history.

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This is also the video where they see a person's hand in the driver's side of the car, but that person never gets out. So who is driving this vehicle? Well, they go inside, and they start to interview the store clerk that was there when this transaction was happening. And they show the clerk the video camera footage, and he says, I know who's getting out of the passenger side. His name is Anthony Sleat. The clerk explains that he sees this man Anthony around all of the time panhandling in the area,

and he believes that he doesn't have a home and sleeps in the store parking lot. So this is going to be hard for detectives because you have a person that doesn't have a residence. You sort of just have to wait around and see if they come back. So that's exactly what they're going to do. They also tell the store clerk, if you see this Anthony sleep person, notify them immediately. Sure enough, February 6, 2018. Detective Hughes gets a call. It's from the store clerk.

He says Anthony's in front of the food mart. So patrol officers go out and they find Anthony's sleet in the front of that store. They bring him in for questioning. Now wait until you hear what this man tells investigators. I could not believe it. I didn't know if it was a lie or if this was the truth because it sounded really unusual, almost like it was rehearsed. He says that on the night of Sunday, January 28th,

He was outside on Main Street when a man came out of the food mart and called out to him. He said he'd never seen this guy before. He was just a stranger. He told them he was probably in his 30s, possibly early 40s, 5'7, dark skin, kind of slanted eyes, sort of chubby cheeks, short hair, a stocky frame, and a little bit of a southern accent. He said that the guy was in a car that was small and green and four door, kind of like a station wagon type car. The man told Anthony that he just got in a fight with his girlfriend and the girlfriend had been trying to steal his money. So he needed help getting money from her debit card. He said, listen, it's my girlfriend's card.

I know the pin. I just don't want to be the one to do it. Can you give me some help? And in exchange, I'll give you a hotel room for the night. So of course, Anthony being someone without a home, this sounded really enticing him. And he agreed. All he had to do was push in the correct pin number and get the money out of the ATM. So he tells investigators that he attempted to get $2,000 from an ATM using Rachel's debit card.

But he could only get 40. And when I heard this, I was sad because I knew they were dealing with Rachel's debit card. She's a 24-year-old. She's working really hard. She just recently graduated. It made me upset because it just showed that this person who wasn't rich, wasn't around flaunting money, she probably couldn't even afford to give someone $2,000 or even spend that on herself. And yet, they're trying to use her debit card, only getting 40 out.

Anthony Sleet tells investigators that this guy was like, okay, let's try at some other locations. So they went to another food marked. Still, they were only able to get a little bit of money out. And this continued until they got around $400 and some cigarettes and some other miscellaneous items with Rachel's debit card. And guess what this Sleet guy says? That the guy never gave him a hotel room. He literally just dropped him back off at the exact same place he picked him up. Police were like, are you sure about that?

Are you sure you didn't go anywhere else? Are you sure you didn't go to a woman's apartment? And he's like, no, I didn't go anywhere else. And he agrees to submit for a DNA sample, which they do collect. So Detective Hughes has a lot of information. He's got a pretty good description that detectives can use and they can run it against other suspects or potential people in mind, but they also continue to look at the locations where the card had been used.

One of the video shows a man that's trying to conceal his face while he's using the debit card at an ATM, but then when they look at some additional footage from other locations, they realize that there's a woman coming out of the car. And sometimes it's just a woman that's using the card and there's no man in sight. I don't know about you, but I just kept going back to Jonathan and Tina. But investigators are diving into this and they finally get a lead, a name. Deborah Pardin. Someone identified her as the woman. that was seen entering those doors and using Rachel's debit card.

But who is Deborah Pardin? Detective Hughes tracks Deborah down. It turns out she lives in a place called Lyndon and it's only 15 minutes away from Rachel's apartment complex. So they pay her a little visit. Investigators tell her they're investigating the murder of Rachel Anderson and Deborah is caught off guard. She has no idea what's going on.

She said she does not know who that is. They show her a picture. she doesn't recognize Rachel at all. But then they start asking whether or not she knows anything about a debit card. And that is when Deborah gives them some information about the fact that she had been using a debit card that didn't belong to her. They asked her where? And she says city trends, Kroger and the casino. That's when they showed her a snapshot of the surveillance video. And they said, is that you? And they pointed to the woman in the video and she admitted it was. So of course they're like, well, Deborah, you have Rachel Anderson's card. Why? You're in the

possession of a card of a woman who was murdered. And that's when she's like, wait a minute. I was given this card from my brother. Again, they're pressing her. This is a murder investigation. They're like, okay, and you just use this card? Is your, is your brother's name? Rachel Anderson? No. So what gave you the right or the thought that this was okay? She's like, okay, okay, okay, wait. Wait a minute, let me explain. My brother dates a woman named Bernita Anderson. I thought because I saw the name Anderson, it was somehow related to his girlfriend,

plus he knew the pin number. I assumed he was allowed to use the card. So they're like, okay, here's the deal. You're going to either tell us everything right now or we're going to charge you with credit card fraud. And it turns out, Deborah has a lengthy criminal record and she doesn't want to get in more trouble. So she lets detectives know everything she knows.

Or, I should say, everyone she knows. She says, listen, my brother, he comes and stays with me every now and then. And sometimes I let him drive my green Ford or my Hyundai accent. But he also stays at his girlfriend's house. The one I mentioned, Bernina Anderson. They did have a back and forth relationship. Sometimes they were on good terms. Sometimes they were not.

Then she says she's still in possession of some of the items she bought with Rachel's debit card. And officers were able to recover. clothing with tags on them from city trends and were able to find casino receipts. The next thing they want to know is who Bernita Anderson was. And it turns out, I couldn't believe this, but it's true, Bernita Anderson lives in the exact same apartment complex on the exact same street as Rachel Anderson. Not only that, the back door of Rachel's apartment can be seen from the back door of Bernita's apartment. But more importantly, who is Deborah Pardon's brother. She finally gives them a name, Anthony Pardon. Now I understand there are two Johns.

Essentially, there's a John that's Rachel's brother and a Jonathan that's Rachel's friend. And now there's two Anthony's. There's Anthony Sleet, who we talked about. He doesn't have a home. He was approached by a man at the food mart, saying that his girlfriend had gotten to a fight with him. And now there's Anthony Pardon, who's allegedly the man seen driving the car on the surveillance camera. And supposedly the person who approached Anthony Sleet at the food mart. So now they need to contact two people, Bernina and this Anthony pardon person. And they need to do it fast. Meanwhile, while cleaning out Rachel's apartment, her poor mom ends up stumbling upon what is believed and later determined to be the murder weapon.

She opened up a shoe box and she found a nine inch knife. There was blood and hair on it and then matched the set in Rachel's kitchen. It was tested and it came back positive for Rachel's DNA. We're now in the first week of February, and they run Anthony Parton's name in the system. And it turns out, just like his sister, he has a lengthy criminal record. I'm talking several times where he's forced intercourse on a woman. And I don't even want to go into the other people because of their age. Let's just say lower than double digits guys.

That's absolutely disgusting. It's not something I will discuss. Along with things like robbery, attempted murder. At the time that Rachel was murdered, this man had spent a total of 33 years in prison for his crimes. And he was a registered offender, a tier three. And if you don't know what that is, there's someone here that does, and that person can leave it in the comments. Because I can't say it in this video. But when you're a tier three registered offender, it's bad.

It has to do with what I was talking about earlier, lower than double digits. As detectives are going through Anthony Parton's criminal history, they trace it all the way back to March 1979 when he was only 14 years old, and he forced himself in someone much younger. That year he was made a ward of the court, and he was committed to the Franklin County Children's Services. Unfortunately, he was placed in foster care, and life was not easy for Anthony. But it was what happened in 1980 that I won't talk about, because it has to do with someone under the age of one. I can't. This was the son of the foster parents that were taking care of this boy. He was 15 when he committed this crime. He was babysitting while his foster mom went out to the grocery store and you know what he did? He told police, and this is going to give you an idea of the mind

of this person, he told them he did what he did because he got in a fight with his girlfriend and he was upset. This time he was convicted of the crime as a juvenile. A year later at 16, he's out and about already. And he was inside his girlfriend's house to use her phone. And you know what he did? Something to his girlfriend's mother. She was 39 at the time. He pulled out a knife and forced himself on her.

And then he stole $100 from her purse. Then he bound her feet and her hands and gagged her and put her in the trunk of her own car. Then drove her to a creek and threw her in it. But when he looked back, he realized that she wasn't going under, even the way that he tied her. hide her. She was floating. So he went and physically held her head under. The only reason this woman survived is because a stranger, someone walking by a good Samaritan, came over there and Anthony got

scared and ran off. He ran right to the store to buy shoes and a jogging outfit before he was apprehended by police. This time he was tried as an adult. But only a year later, at 17, He was convicted of robbery and attempted murder. That's when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. And while he was there, he had several disciplinary infractions, possessing weapons, setting fire to mattresses, and fighting with other inmates.

Ultimately, he spent more than 24 years in prison for that crime and was released November 2006. That's when he moved to Georgia. And he gets a job under a year. fake name. Why? Because he's trying to circumvent the system. He didn't want to register. You know what I'm talking about. Register for his offenses so that the people in the community could know who they're living there. What kind of person is living among them? Well, he got in trouble for that. He got in trouble for forgery and failure to register. And he was convicted in Floyd County, Georgia. He spent another nine

years in prison. Why are they letting this guy out? Why? Why? And when they did let him out, the judge gave him 20 years of probation. He was required to wear an ankle monitor. But in 2017, a year before Rachel was murdered, this man was released from prison. So he was out of prison and had the opportunity to commit this crime. He returned to Ohio in June. And at that time, he did have to check in with the sheriff's department every 90 days as part of his parole.

But you know what? remember when the judge back in Georgia said he needs an ankle monitor 20 years parole probation well Ohio never gave him one nope because they said it was an expense issue because he had to be monitored as long as that sentence said it was an expense issue well guess what on august 21st 2017 just a few months before rachel's murder he was caught in his car doing a an indecent act and they asked him, who is this woman? Is she a professional? What's going on? And he's like, no, it's just a friend. Just giving her a ride home. But later, the woman contacted the police and said, no, he was paying me. Well, nothing ever came of that. Again, at 4 a.m. on January 27th,

2018, I'm literally talking about the morning before the crime happened at Rachel's. He was caught by police for driving without a license during a traffic stop. He had a pocket knife on him, a kitchen knife, and a pellet gun, and you would think that he would be arrested, especially for his freaking record that he has. He wasn't. And these are the kinds of cases that bother me so badly, because I'm sitting here thinking, this could have been avoided.

Because at this point, police are like, this has to be our guy. Everything adds up, the location of his girlfriend's apartment, the fact that her backdoor and Rachel's back door are facing each other, the fact that he was in possession of her debit cards. But you know how the law is. It doesn't matter what it looks like.

You have to prove it. Well, that wasn't going to be hard because they have his DNA on file from previous crimes. So they go ahead and they run his DNA against what they collected on Rachel's body, as well as what they collected from the cords of the crime scene and other areas, and it's a match. So police are at Deborah's house waiting for Anthony to come out. And as he's leaving and getting into his car, they arrest him. The car that he was getting into was searched, and they found a baseball house. hat and gloves that were consistent with the hat and gloves worn by the man in their

surveillance videos. They also found clothing with tags on it, a cell phone, a knife, and an air pistol, which they did not classify as a firearm because technically even though it looks like one, it's not. The first thing they do is they get a hold of the phone records and the BCI and forensic team are able to pinpoint where his cell phone was pinging off on the evening of Sunday, January 28th. The phone was located in the area near Rachel's apartment. And all of the locations where her debit cards were used. On Sunday, January 28th, Anthony Pardin's cell phone was pinging off of the cell tower closest to Rachel's house. But you know his girlfriend lives there as well. So was he at Rachel's or was he just where he calls home

at Bernina Anderson's house? Well, between 7.59 p.m. and 9.25. Not only did the cell pick him up but Wi-Fi and GPS put Anthony near Rachel's apartment so they really felt like they had it all then the cell phone records showed there's an outgoing phone call on Monday January 29th that's in the same place where the clothes were bought at City Trends and DSW then on Tuesday January 30th his cell phone is associated with the cell tower near the Fair Food Mart and his sister's house Thursday February 1st his phone is associated with a tower near Rachel apartment in the morning and later pings off of a tower near the east side market where

Rachel's debit card was used again. I mean, I'm going on and on and on. But of course, they always have to showcase the fact that they didn't know who was in possession of the cell phone. You never know, right? His cell phone was there, but was Anthony there? However, the most damning evidence was the forensic evidence, the DNA from Rachel's body and the cords that were used to constrain her. The DNA was from a single source, which was consistent with Anthony Pardon's DNA. DNA is interesting. I'm learning more and more about it. And why I'm saying that is because when they say it was consistent,

it means that it could be from a group of people like Anthony Pardon himself, with a Y chromosome. It could be a brother. It could be his father. It could be his paternal grandfather. But what it also says is that it doesn't extend to a group of random men. So it stays within that pool. So if it wasn't Anthony Pardon, it would have had to been,

like I said, his brother, his father, or his grandpa. and none of those people were likely to be the person who did this to Rachel. But interestingly, the swab of Rachel's inner thigh and pelvic area brought back two male DNA profiles. But Anthony could not be excluded as the major contributor. Rachel's right wrist was swabbed and there were three DNA profiles taken. But again, Anthony Parton could not be excluded. And I'm just going to say this for good measure. The curling iron cord.

Well, when it was tested, it was also a mixture of three individuals, but at least 20.5 billion times more likely to be Rachel and Anthony than Rachel in some unknown person. And the hair dryer, same thing. 14.5 billion times more likely to have originated from Rachel and Anthony than Rachel and an unknown individual. But DNA to me is very confusing when they do it like this, because it makes you think, well, wait a minute, who's the other person? And I always think, okay, the defense is going to jump on that so fast. And just to let you know, Anthony's sleet had nothing to do with this. His DNA was never found on any of the swabs, and Jonathan's DNA was found on a Pepsi can and the pipe that was taken from the apartment, but it wasn't found on any of the items used to restrain Rachel. Her brother's DNA was found on a bathrobe in the upstairs bathroom, but on nothing else. Interestingly, her car did not have any evidence of Anthony Pardon's DNA.

So Anthony was arrested, like I said, February 9th, 2018 in the Linden Neighborhood by the SWAT team, and his bail was set at $5 million. So, of course, he did not go anywhere. He was in there. And he was indicted February 15th by a grand jury on nine counts, including aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, forced intercourse, and aggravated murder, just to name a few. Because he was a repeat offender and a registered offender, the death penalty was on the table.

He pleaded not guilty on February 20th to all charges. And while he was awaiting his trial, which was set for February 4th, 2020, in December 2019, he sends a handwritten letter to a news station claiming he didn't kill Rachel. He said he didn't kill anyone, and that this case is only because of his past. He says he knows Rachel because they used to do drugs together,

but investigators found no connection between Rachel and Anthony. In their point of view, these letters and other shenanigans like him not wanting to go to his pretrial hearing and literally like locking himself in a cell holding on to the to the walls it was because he wanted to delay his trial he was desperate not to have to pay for what he did and then on january 24th 2020 right before he's supposed to go to trial he does it again he dismissed his attorneys saying he wants to represent himself but by the 27th just a few days later after being asked a bunch of questions by the judge he says never mind, I don't want to represent myself. And finally, January 27th, they started jury selection,

and his trial began February 4th, 2020. Some of the first people to testify were Rachel's friend Jonathan Kennedy. After all, he was the one that discovered her body, and he gave a heartfelt and very sad recollection of what it was like finding his very good friend the way that he did. Everyone I already talked about was also at the trial. They heard from the officers, the agents, and they also heard from all of Rachel's coworkers. Closing arguments were held on February 12th, and there was a timeline constructed. The prosecutor explained that after Anthony trespassed in Rachel's home, her place of safety, her place where she sleeps, the place where she eats, the place where she comes home to relax,

he took her life. This is what they say happened. They said that at some point, when Rachel was at Jonathan and Tina's getting her key, her door was unable to be locked, remember? That is when Anthony entered Rachel's apartment. We know that she talked to her mom around 6.30, and the receipt from Marby's showed that she was there around 7.34. So before 8 o'clock, Anthony is already in her apartment.

She was in her living room eating, and it's unclear how long Anthony watched Rachel before he grabbed her, took her from the downstairs to the upstairs portion of the apartment, and tied her up. Then forced her to tell him her debit card. pin. Then he proceeded to do everything else he did, along with the blunt force trauma, the wounds, the exfixiation, and placing her in her own bedroom closet and leaving her there. They also determined that he did take her car and her credit card and debit cards and then proceeded to go to the bank,

do all that shopping, put her car back in the parking lot and go to his girlfriend's house. The defense comes up with this story about how, yes, Anthony used Rachel's cards, but he didn't do. He didn't killer. It was all speculation. The DNA and the cell phone evidence, they're not conclusive to prove Anthony's guilt. They also suggested that Jonathan Kennedy was involved. And it's true, they did find a combination of DNA on some of the items, which is interesting to me. But in the prosecution's rebuttal, they argued that the defense was willing to admit the geolocation evidence that showed that Anthony used the stolen cards, right? Because they're like, oh yeah, he used the stolen cards, but they want to disregard that same evidence about where he was on the night of the murder.

You can't have it both ways. The jury consisted of four men and eight women. They deliberated for approximately six hours over a two-day period, and they found Anthony guilty of all charges. He was eligible for the death penalty. And that sentencing phase began February 18th. Well, this is when the defense attorney tries to bring all of Anthony's passed up and blame everything on his chaotic childhood that he was in foster care, and it was his upbringing. And they tried to blame this as to why he was so dysfunction.

and why he got in so much trouble. But the prosecution said everything this man did outweighs all of the things you're bringing up. He's 53 years old. But the defense explained that as one of six siblings, Anthony grew up in a rough environment. Anthony's mother forced him and his siblings to steal debit cards as children. And she taught the children how to use them. His family never stayed in one place for very long. Whenever young Anthony got comfortable in a new neighborhood, they had to move again.

And as a child, Anthony witnessed. and experienced his father's forceful behavior, Anthony's father beat him with golf clubs, and pull cues once breaking a stick over his back. Anthony struggled with behavioral issues, and things were not good for him at school. His third grade teacher and the principal tried to piece together what they could do,

to brainstorm something that they could do with Anthony. An idea formed. A kindergarten teacher at the school allowed Anthony to become her little assistant, She gave Anthony, whom she affectionately referred to as Tony, responsibilities, like reading time and handing out supplies. And she said that Anthony was thriving under the teacher's trust and guidance. That was when there was a notably positive change in Anthony's behavior.

He started to show compassion and kindness to children, but sadly, this arrangement only lasted a couple of weeks because Anthony's mother was in prison at the time and he was living with his grandparents. The problem was the state wanted to reunite him with his parents. biological parents. And as a result, Anthony and his siblings were returned to his mother's care when she was released from prison. She took the family and forced them to move and change schools. Things only got worse. The defense went on and said, yes, he did go to prison, but he suffered physical altercations and men forced themselves on him at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility,

which he called the worst prison in Ohio. This was a prison where there was an 11-day standoff between rioters and law enforcement back in April of 1993. The riot resulted in deaths of correction officers and nine inmates. This incident was one of the worst and most significant cases in prison history. The defense tried to bring all of this information and including a nine-hour interview between Anthony and a forensic investigator. And during those nine hours, this forensic psychologist attempted to understand Anthony's character. The psychologist received a 3,000-page document detailing Anthony's life,

just days before he was scheduled to testify, so he didn't have enough time to review it thoroughly. He just said the system filled him, his mother failed him, the school system failed him, and the legal system failed him. According to the doctor Anthony, never received treatment that he should have received, especially after he was released from prison. Despite Anthony's supposed requests for help, he never received it. And not having received the support he needed, Anthony developed a personality disorder. He only had a third grade reading level as an adult, and the forensic psychologist even suggested that he might have brain damage. However, the prosecution reminded the jury that these horrible circumstances of Anthony's childhood

do not excuse the seriousness of his heinous crime. At his sentencing hearing, Anthony spoke on his own behalf. He began by discussing his family. According to him, he came from a family where prison and drugs were commonplace. And because of his background, he was unable to secure a job. Next, he blamed the prison system. He said the prison system failed me. Social services failed me.

Everybody. As he spoke to the court, Anthony never mentioned Rachel. Anthony said he just made bad choices throughout his life. And he ended his testimony by stating that he respected the decision of the court. And all he wanted to do is for them to know his story. Well, Rachel's father also spoke at the sentencing hearing and mentioned how Anthony frequently complained about the system failing him. In Rachel's father's opinion, the system failed Rachel and her family by not keeping Anthony under lock and key and letting him roam

the streets. A day before Anthony murdered his daughter, the police gave him a ride home instead of arresting him. After ruling against the death penalty, the judge sentenced Anthony to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Rachel's murder. He also sentenced him to life without parole for forced intercourse and 33 years for all the other charges. All three sentences were to be served consecutively, ensuring that Anthony would never see the light of day again. The Rachel Anderson Memorial Scholarship was established by the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science in honor of Rachel's passion for the funeral industry. Over $10,000 were raised for the scholarship by Rachel's family, friends, coworkers, and many others that were touched by her story.

Approximately 2,500 has already been awarded as of 2019. And all remaining funds will be awarded twice a year. Rachel's scholarship will be granted to students at CCMS, who have the same passion for funeral services that Rachel did. A woman that dedicated her life to those who had passed was taken from this world much too soon. I will see you in my very next video. Bye.