123: 11 Year Old Girl Tied with Rock in River, Ruby Franke & Jodi Hildebrandt, Delphi, Madeleine McCann, Selena & Yolanda
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Hey everybody, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise.

Your true crime bestie here to break down more stuff going on in the true crime world. Now, for those of you who have listened to the podcast before, you may know that on Thursdays, the episode that we release typically starts with a couple of highlights out there in existing cases, new cases, some of the newest headlines, and then we do a mini deep dive onto a case, whether it's an update in a case or it's a brand new case.

However, there's so much shit for us to talk about today, guys, that it's kind of going to be like a little mini deep dive of all of these cases. And they're all cases that I would imagine most of you are aware of, but they're ones that are like so, so crazy. It's almost crazy.

Like the true crime universe, metaverse, whatever you would call it, decided, you know what? This is the week. This is the week that we are going to drop some fucking bombshells. Because when I tell you we tried to scale it back and be like, what should we talk about? What should we make longer?

There's just too much to talk about. So I hope you're comfy because you're going to be with me for a minute today. I mean, we are going to be talking about updates in the Ruby Frankie and Jodi Hildebrandt case, those two fucking nutjobs.

that believe in distortion and cult stuff and all this stuff who and they were like abusing Ruby's children shackling them horrific things we're going to talk about all of that and some updates that have come out in sentencing and some of the honestly just like batshit crazy stuff they said while they were in court for the sentencing we also are going to talk about the case coming out of Texas with Audrey Cunningham she's the little girl who went missing earlier this month

There has been like this super predator involved in her disappearance. Unfortunately, she has now been found and she was murdered. More details have come to light with that. We got our hands on the probable cause affidavit today. So more to go on into on that.

There's also been some really insane updates coming out of Delphi, Indiana and the case against Richard Allen. Now, I didn't even have this on my radar. And as I was doing some research today and pulling different things, this popped up and I was like,

Like, it's just truly unbelievable. We also are going to talk about, you guessed it, new updates in the Madeline McCann case because as if that case hasn't been like a carbon copy of Suspicion with JonBenet Ramsey and just like it makes no sense, there's more updates in that case. And then we are going to also talk about a brand new docuseries that came out

Regarding Yolanda and Selena, Yolanda is of course Selena's murderer. She's now speaking out, giving her first interview in decades and says that there's actually a lot more to this situation than anybody knows. And she was saying basically, I'm about to drop some secrets and I'm about to drop some bombshells. So we've got a lot to talk about.

Let's start with Ruby and Jodi and their sentencing. For all of these cases, just in case you are a new listener or you haven't been like fully immersed, entrenched in the true crime world, I will give a very top line brief summary of what these cases are all about. And then in the show notes, I will link the full deep dive episodes to the individual cases for you if we've covered them so that if you want to do a deeper dive, you can.

But let me break it down. So Ruby Frankie and Jodi Hildebrandt were like these super crazy nutjobs out of Utah. They were some of the LDS faith believers, but the ones that took it to the extreme. And I want to be very clear when I say that. Not all LDS members have these types of beliefs. There is a very specific group of people who take it to the extremes. And enter Chad Daybell, Lori Vallow, and Ruby and Jodi Hildebrandt.

And several months ago in the fall of 2023, one of Ruby's children escaped from Jodi's basement. He had duct tape on his wrists, he had looked very malnourished, and the child abuse allegations of what really had been going on were truly, truly haunting.

So they were sentenced this week, and they were sentenced for their four counts of aggravated child abuse. And they were sentenced for each one of these counts to 1 to 15 years, and they were to be served consecutively.

So this means that in total, each one of them will serve four to 60 years. It's a pretty wide range, right? And the thought of somebody being up for parole after four years for some of the behavior and true horrific things they did to these children, it just enrages me. I'm sure it does you as well. PenFed free checking offers zero fees and zero balance requirements for zero hassle. PenFed Access America checking lets you earn money on your balance for dreams big and small.

Choose the best account for you and start making the most of your money. Learn more at PenFed.org. Federally insured by NCOA. To receive any advertised product, you must become a member of PenFed Credit Union. However, let me kind of break this down a little bit further. Per Utah law, when consecutive sentences are issued, their imprisonment terms cannot be more than 30 years.

Now what I want to do is I want to play for you guys just a couple of clips of what they said when they were in court because it's the lack of accountability for me. So here is what Ruby said in her statement to the court.

I would like to make a statement without any intent to change my stipulated sentence. For the past four years, I've chosen to follow counsel and guidance that has led me into a dark delusion. My distorted version of reality went largely unchecked as I would isolate from anyone who challenged me. I was led to believe that this world was an evil place filled with cops who control, hospitals that injure, government agencies that brainwash,

church leaders who lie in lust, husbands who refuse to protect, and children who need abused. My choice to believe and behave this paranoia culminated into criminal activity for which I stand before you today ready to take accountability. Jody Hill DeBrandt was never my business partner, nor was I ever employed by her. I have never received wages from her or connections.

Jodi was employed as my son's counselor in 2019 and in 2020 I paid her. It is important to me to demonstrate my remorse and regret without blame. I take full accountability for my choices and it is my preference that I serve a prison sentence. Thank you to the officers in Santa Clara and the Ivan City Police. Nick Halman, Brian Palufo, Si Pikuvit,

mike pandolio in tober john ward d luis and chief flowers you were the angels who came and saved my children i especially want to thank detective j she plucked me out of a situation i didn't know how to get out of and the moment she handcuffed me was the moment i gained my freedom you were not the controlling ones i was

Thank you to the medical staff at Intermountain Hospital. Your skill, tenderness, and professionalism helped to heal my children. Jody and I inflicted the injuries, not the hospital. Thank you to DCFS, the Children's Justice Center, Judge Basil, and other key adults. You've gathered my children under your wing and offered them love, compassion, encouragement. You were not the ones who were doing the brainwashing.

Thank you to my Bishop Tom Hawkes and my State President Jim Nelson for reminding me of the Lord's love for the lost. So much pain and suffering would have been avoided had I followed and heeded your counsel. I was the one who was deceived, not you. Thank you to the Washington County Prosecutor's Office, Ryan Schaum, the Legal Assistance and Discovery Clerks, Eric Clark,

You exemplify to me how justice and mercy are meant to coexist. My charges are just. They offer safety to my family, accountability to the public, and they did show mercy to me. Thank you to my attorney Lamar Winward and his staff. I would not be where I am today without them. Thank you to Randy Kester for your limitless energy in healing my family.

My dear friends, Pam and Roy, I'm so sorry for letting you down. Because of your association with me, your innocence was called into question. My mother-in-law, father-in-law, Kevin's family, my cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and neighbors, you all saw the warning signs long before I did, and you did what you could. You wanted to help, but I pushed you away. My mother and father...

i have been utterly wretched to you you have offered me unconditional love and for that i have offered you unconditional contempt my siblings and their spouses because of my decision to roll around in a pigsty i have drug your families through the mud in public yet when i desired to return as the prodigal sister unlike the prodigal's brother in the bible you sinked stuck with my parents and ran out to greet me

your capacity to love is unprecedented kevin my husband of more than twenty-three years you are the love of my life so sorry to leave to you to finish what we both started together the ending of our marriage is a tragedy and you will rapture on my heart and i will never be able to undo to my babies my six little chicks with me

I was the mama duck who was consistently leading you to safety. Listen, mom, over the past four years I was in a deep undercurrent that led us to danger. I went to the world, went straight to darkness knowingly. I was so disoriented that I believed dark was light and light was wrong. I would do anything in this world for you. My willingness to sacrifice all for you was masterfully manipulated into something very ugly.

I took from you all that was soft and safe and good. I took from you your mother, how terrifying this must have been for you. And I will still cry in your tender songs. You are so precious to me. I'm sorry. My choice to live in fear of the world has created a great vulnerability and a blind spot for me where I have broken hearts and I've caused people to suffer and I have betrayed sacred trust.

watching my community respond to my charges with justice and mercy and grace and love is all that i want to know is today how long i've been this world is full of really good people i'm sorry for twisting god's word and distorting his doctrines i am humbled and willing to serve a prison sentence as long as it takes

to continue unraveling all of the disinformation I have believed and bought, swallowed and acted out. I'm committed to continuing my learning until all of my toxic layers are shed and I am ready to re-enter as a contributing member of our beautiful society.

Thank you, Judge Walton. Now for Jodi, prosecutors told the judge that she did not participate in the pre-sentencing report interview and that she had been on recorded phone calls while in jail saying that she was the victim, that the children were perpetrators, things like that.

which, yes, you heard me correctly. She was also heard saying that all of the legal proceedings in this case were misrepresented by the media and that they are complete lies. Now, her statement to the court, it was much shorter. In answer to your question, Your Honor, I knew that whatever she might say to the author of the pre-sentence report was

would probably sound hollow and self-serving, and perhaps it does today. But I know that my client, in the statement that she makes to the court today, that that statement is absolutely sincere.

After their hearings, a reporter from the Today Show spoke out with one of the prosecutors. And he said, I think that a four-year minimum for Ruby's actions are entirely appropriate. I hope that Jodi serves more time than that, and I hope that she isn't out of prison until everybody is completely confident that she is no longer a risk.

And to get there, she's going to have to acknowledge that she has done wrong and that you can't use religion as a means to justify your crazy behavior.

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Which, hello. I mean, I think we all know that you can't use religion to justify abusing a child or starving a child or tying a child up, right? But what's so interesting to me is that Jodi is blatantly saying that the children were the perpetrators. And then what's so interesting to me too is that

When Ruby is up there making a statement, she's talking about how she was a victim of Jodi's as well and how she was saved when the handcuffs were put on her, which, no, no, no, my friend. Let's not get it twisted. Your children, your children were the ones who were saved when the handcuffs were slapped on your grimy ass little wrists. Sorry, I know I'm cussing a lot this episode, guys. It's just apparently it's like the week of the scum of the universe, so I can't help it.

Now, Ruby's parents wrote a letter to the parole board, and I want to read it to you and see what you make of this, because I'm pretty shocked, to be quite honest.

Dear Judge and Parole Board, We are Ruby Frankie's parents. We are currently serving a full-time mission in Serbia. Before Ruby became involved with Jodi Hildebrandt, she was a wonderful mother, daughter, sister, and member of the church. All she ever wanted from the time that she was a little girl was a family to love and nurture. When she began having troubles with her teenage son Chad, she sought out a family therapist and counselor to help them.

We noticed a shift in Ruby's thinking the summer of 2020, and by that fall, she had cut all ties to us, her siblings, and her close friends. For three years, what brief communications we had with her, she accused us of either things that never happened, or she grossly exaggerated the events that did. She was delusional. She was so deeply brainwashed that we could not recognize her."

We received a postcard from Ruby two months after the terrible news of the children. We read her tender apology and humble acceptance of accountability. She expressed her gratitude for being incarcerated and felt that the mighty wake-up call was a huge blessing. Since then, we have seen a return to the Ruby we once knew. Her thoughts and views are her own now. Her love, her appreciation, and commitment to her family is stronger than it has ever been.

Ruby is more concerned about her eternal salvation than her imprisonment. Her testimony of the Savior and his atoning power means everything to her.

As her mother and father, we plead with you to show her as much mercy as you possibly can. Hopefully in time, she will have a relationship with her children, and they will remember the mother that she once was to them, and they will find it in their hearts to forgive her. This would be the greatest healing balm for all of them. Sincerely, Chad and Jennifer Griffiths.

Now, I don't know what to make of that because while on one hand I do believe in the power of brainwashing, certainly, I have dissected cults many a times on this podcast. However, I think there is a very fine line between saying you were brainwashed for years, abusing your own children because of this technique, and saying you were brainwashed for years because of this technique.

banishing your husband because of it pretty much thinking he's the problem too. I mean, I don't know. I've never been brainwashed, guys, at least to my knowledge. So I don't know if there is any excuse and reason behind that. As a mother, that's the only thing I can relate to Ruby on. I cannot ever imagine any reason

seed being planted in my mind that would ever in a million trillion years cause me to react and treat my children that way. Never. Call it maternal instinct. College is being a decent freaking human being. I don't know, but...

maybe there was an element of brainwashing but I don't give her a pass regardless I think this is a farce I think she is pissed that she got caught she's scared that she got caught and I think it's easy for her to make Jodi the fall guy no pun intended but Jodi is kind of the butchier one of the two I guess um but you get what I'm saying like and if you know Jodi's history I mean maybe you get what I'm saying anyway

So I think that it's just easy for her to point the finger at Jodi and pretend that she is this like meek little victim who is doe-eyed Bambi and was taken for a ride by this big bad cult leader but I'm not buying it. That doesn't land with me.

There have also been reports that after their first charge, per Utah law, that they will only have to serve 40% of their remaining sentences. Now, one woman made a really interesting TikTok explaining all of this, so I will link it in the description if you want to watch it, but also take a listen.

So this person is wanting to know why do I assume that Jodi Hildebrand and Ruby Franke will get the lowest sentence possible. Today they were both sentenced to four counts of one to 15 years. So they all will be running consecutively one right after the next.

So they could get anywhere between four to sixty years, but there is a cap at thirty years in these kind of sentences. So it's anywhere between four to thirty years that they could each possibly be serving. But in my previous video I said that I think that they'll be out in three and a half years.

But don't get me wrong, I want them to serve the maximum. I think they deserve the maximum for what they did to those children. So here's an article that I found back when they pleaded guilty to the four counts of aggravated child abuse. And it breaks down mathematically how the sentencing works. So they take a look at things like, do they have a criminal history?

and they don't. Neither of them have a criminal history. This article says that the minimum sentence for the first aggravated abuse charge would be 18 months, but that doesn't mean that all four counts would be 18 months, 18 months, 18 months, and so on. It just applies to the first count. Then check out what this next part says. Frankie and Hildebrand would only have to serve 40% of each of the three remaining charges after that.

So when you calculate it all out, it comes out to about 40 months. So that works out to be about three years and a bit, but they also could include the time served that they've been in prison since August. The maximum would be 30 years, but this person doing this article doubts that they would serve that long, even though the facts of this case are really egregious. They look at things like people's behavior in prison, so whether or not they are

you know, behaving, whether or not they complete all the programs that they're supposed to when they're in prison. So the Frankie children will probably be invited to give their input at the parole board, but they're not required to. I'm sure that they will. At least the older children will want to speak. So that was my reasoning behind why I thought they would probably only have to do

four years or less. Although, like I said, I really hope that they have to do the maximum. I think that they deserve it. But I just don't think that the system is going to work out that way.

So we will see what comes out of that. If they get eligible for parole after four years, I personally will be irate because I definitely do not think that the punishment fits the severity of the crime, but maybe I need to go into law. I don't know. So the next case we're going to talk about is out of Livingston, Texas, which is north of Houston.

Audrey Cunningham was first reported missing on Thursday, February 15th, around 5.30pm. She was last seen at 7am that morning, and it was believed that she took the bus to school. So then, when she didn't get off the bus that afternoon, there was obviously something wrong. However, apparently, she never made it on the bus to school in the first place.

Now, a lot of new details have come out in this case. As I said, we got our hands on the probable cause affidavit this morning. There has been so much more that has come to light, more text messages, shady details. So I want to go through all of it. Let me kind of backtrack, though, and start a little bit at the beginning. So on February 17th, DPS released a picture of a vehicle of interest, and they announced that they had found a backpack that they believed could be Audrey's, and it was near a river.

It didn't take long for social media to figure out that a man who was living near Audrey's father owned the same type of car that the police were looking for. So later that day, Don Stephen McDougall, a 42-year-old man, was announced as a person of interest.

Officials say that he was a friend of Audrey's father and he was allowed to live in a trailer behind their house. So he was arrested on Friday for an unrelated aggravated assault charge, which if that's unrelated, that is kind of crazy, right? Well, I should say it's crazy when you first hear that, but when you go through the laundry list of charges and arrests dating back to the 2000s, it's not that surprising.

So later on, after being questioned by the police, Stephen admitted that he left the house with Audrey on the day that she went missing. Extensive searches went on the entire time that Audrey was reported as missing. However, it soon became apparent that this was a recovery and it was not a rescue.

On February 20th, Audrey Cunningham was found dead in the Trinity River. And Stephen McDougal, who I believe was already in custody at the time and still in custody for those aggravated charges, well now he was charged with capital murder.

Now, while we don't know Audrey's cause of death, the arrest affidavit said that the authorities started zeroing in on Stephen after reviewing cell phone video as well as cell phone locations, which showed that he lied about where he was on the 15th, the day that she disappeared.

Then, when Audrey was recovered from the river, her body was found and it was tied to a very large rock, and that same rope that was used to tie her and the rock had been found in Stephen's car just two days earlier during a traffic stop.

Now I'm going to go into his criminal history in a little bit and some of the text messages, but it is pretty interesting because this guy clearly was a predator. Maybe not clearly. Maybe the father didn't know, but he had direct access to this little girl. And when I tell you guys, this guy looks fantastic.

freaking scary I mean it if you haven't seen the pictures you maybe want to google it I don't know maybe you don't if you don't want nightmares but this guy is horrifying and I know the expression is don't judge a book by its cover I would never in a million years allow this person to

to come anywhere near my children. And sorry if that makes me an asshole, but it's the truth. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I don't like to judge, but this guy who has like swastikas tattooed all over him, he looks really scary. I mean, I would err on the side of caution, especially if I did not know him well enough to know that he could not be a risk or danger to my child. And that's not to blame or to shame her parents, but

We still don't know what that dynamic was and what that relationship was. And it's just a reminder, guys, you've got to always be protective of your kids. You have to go the extra mile to be like triple careful. Now, let's talk more about who this guy is. And I think you'll understand why I'm saying all of this.

So officials say that after arresting him, he led them out to multiple locations near Lake Livingston and Trinity River. That's where he gave them, quote, information. Now we don't know why he led them to those locations or what he disclosed exactly.

There have been different reports on how exactly law enforcement knew to lower the river to lower the water levels and if it was something that Stephen told them that they would have to do or not, but the district attorney said that the Trinity River Authority assisted them by lowering the river water levels, which ultimately led to Audrey's discovery.

So I want to talk about Stephen for a second. It's been reported, like I said, that he was a family friend and he apparently sometimes babysat Audrey and he had taken her to the school bus in the past. Like I mentioned earlier, he is 42 years old and frankly has quite the criminal record and very disturbing past.

His criminal record goes back to 2001, and it ranges from a variety of charges, like possession of drugs, aggravated assault, resisting arrest, etc. However, he was also convicted and sentenced to prison for two years after two counts of enticing a minor.

The details surrounding those charges are still a bit unclear. I am waiting on a few documents, and once I have those, I will update you. However, apparently those charges do not require you to be on the sex offender registry. Stephen has also been in prison multiple times, and the last time that he was in prison was in Huntsville between September of 2020 and September of 2022.

Fox 26 Houston spoke to the victim involved in Stevens' aggravated assault with a deadly weapon conviction from back in 2010. And he said,

And I think South is the understatement of the century, because one night after having some drinks at his house, Stephen tried to attack him with a knife.

He said,

I didn't want to do it then because it would make you feel bad, but now looking back, maybe I should have. With all of the allegations against him, he's not a nice guy. Apparently, he's not at all. Something is wrong with him. Something is wrong in the head. PenFed Free Checking offers zero fees and zero balance requirements for zero hassle. PenFed Access America Checking lets you earn money on your balance for dreams big and small. Choose the best account for you and start making the most of your money. Learn more at PenFed.org.

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Now, there have been some reports that Stephen may have had an affiliation with the Aryan Brotherhood, which certainly seems like it could be possible since he had a swastika tattoo on his chest and shoulder area. And while we don't know if he was involved with that before prison or not, it's not uncommon for people to join gangs while they are in prison so that they can get some sort of protection.

Now, I also want to talk about those text messages I mentioned between Stephen and Audrey's mom. Apparently, and I don't know the details as to why, but apparently Audrey's mother didn't have custody, and I believe she didn't have regular visitation of Audrey. So there were some messages that had been published publicly pretty quickly after Audrey disappeared.

In these messages, Stephen is trying to facilitate a meetup between Audrey and her mom. And her mom is very reluctant to do this. Some of her messages say, that's asking for trouble and it's setting me up for failure. To which he says, no, not at all. And she says, I do not in any way need to be set up to lose my child even more. Lucky would lose it if he knew. And is this what she asked you to do?

Stephen responds in a true creepy fashion, I'm your daughter's favorite person and she will not tell.

So then the mom responds basically asking like, what, did she say that she wants to see me? And he says, she wants to meet you. I told you, I'm on your team. I will do what I can. Her mom responds and says, I want to meet her too. But if this comes back on me bad in any way, I can lose her forever. And I would kill you and then kill myself. It's not a threat, but it's a promise. He says, it would not. As long as no one says anything about it being set up, nobody would even know. And she won't say anything to them.

So she responds and says, there is a park down the road from my house. Would that be okay? She says that he and his friend would kind of have to sit nearby. They'd have to bullshit, pretend to be around and listen in just apparently for her protection by saying she couldn't be alone. And then he responds saying, I mean, Justin can walk around the park and we can talk to you. She says this whole thing scares me and that's fine.

So, a lot of people were speculating that these messages felt a lot as though he was trying to pin this crime on the mother. Now, at this point when this conversation was happening, Audrey was not missing, okay? But...

People are suggesting that maybe this was perhaps premeditated, not a crime of opportunity, and he had plans to abduct Audrey for his own sick, twisted pleasure, and that because of these messages, he wanted to make the mom the fall guy. She didn't have custody. She wanted to see her. She was desperate, so she's the one who abducted her. It was custodial interference. It was a parental kidnapping. There's no proof indicating that that's what the motive was. Again, that's just what people are suggesting based on these messages.

So then fast forward, and there's another exchange where she writes him and says, hey, good morning. He says, good morning. And she says, I hope I hear from her this morning. And please let her know that if she changed her mind, that's perfectly okay too. And I understand. I don't want her feeling pressured.

She goes on a few hours later to say, so I know it's not going to be a thing today, but when she's ready, please let me know because she hadn't heard back from him. And then she finishes it, and this is around 3 p.m., saying have a good day. He says, yes, ma'am.

Then three hours later, those messages were all around 3 p.m. when she's like, hey, I know it's not going to work out today. Let me know when you guys are ready or when it will work out. He messages her at 6.45 p.m. and says, hey, have you seen Audrey? I dropped her off at the bus and she didn't get on and she hasn't gotten home.

Remember, he's the one who took her to the bus station. Allegedly. We all now know he did not. So make what you will of it if you think he was trying to set her up or not. It is very unclear, but I do think it's interesting that he claimed to be the good guy. He said Audrey trusted him completely. She would never tell, which is his own problem in itself. And then was trying to like coordinate this meetup. And I don't know, something just feels very off about it.

Speaking of odd behavior, let's talk about the updates coming out of Delphi, Indiana. I want to piece together the timeline of events surrounding the Delphi murders, and let's review all of the twists and turns that have now gripped the community and truthfully have captured national attention.

So February 2017, it marked the tragic beginning of this case as the lives of two beautiful young friends, Libby German and Abby Williams, were brutally cut short. For six long years, the circumstances of their deaths remained completely unknown and really in the shadows.

But now, a new Crime Nation documentary that was released this week has cast doubt on the initial main suspect, Richard Allen. He had been arrested back in October of 2022. So the spotlight in this documentary soon shifted to a new person. Well, a previous figure, I should say. Ron Logan. And if you have followed this case, that name may sound familiar to you.

Ron is the late owner of the property where the girls' bodies were discovered. Now, Ron's ex-girlfriend, Connie Dillman, has stepped forward with damning claims, saying that Ron was the one for sure responsible without a doubt.

She insisted that the voice that was captured in Libby's recordings on her phone, you know, the infamous one with Down the Hill, that that voice belonged to Ron. So Connie said that she first began her six-year relationship with Ron after they met at a bar in Delphi, Indiana. They quickly bonded over their love of horses, being outside, nature, all of those things. But she said that their relationship went downhill when he began controlling her life.

Also controlling her everyday choices, and according to her, treating her like a sex tool. She said,

Shortly after ending their relationship, well, that's when the murders of these two teen girls happened, and it absolutely rocked the entire Delphi community, and it made national headlines as well. Now, Ron, who died in January of 2022 from COVID-19, he was one of the very first suspects that investigators looked into, and he also made several media appearances in the aftermath of the murders.

because the case it was gaining national attention everybody was being looked at everybody was being interviewed and he was really no stranger a lot of people thought that he had something to do with it not only because they were found on his property but that he looked and resembled the guy on the bridge bridge guy down the hill all of those things so he was one of the very first to be investigated and

But then nothing really came of it. There wasn't really any proof. And then Richard Allen came on the scene and then Ron Logan died. And I mean, the rest is history.

Now going into some of the text messages and the details of the crime scene, which I want to be very clear as I segue into this part of it, these text messages are not linked to Ron in any way, and they're completely unrelated to him. But leaked texts from the crime scene made their way online, and they painted a pretty gruesome picture. They suggested that this was a targeted attack on Libby. Him?

hinting that she was almost decapitated in what seemed like a frenzy of rage. The text messages also were claiming that, quote, whoever did it targeted Libby for sure, and that the 14-year-old little girl, quote, fought like hell. These texts said, the only DNA would be from Libby's fingernails. She fought like hell. Whoever did it targeted Libby for sure and knew what they were doing with Abby. It was personal with Libby.

The text further read, me and my other sister's boyfriend are the ones who found the girls on Tuesday. Coroner's report stated everything was over by 3.30. No rape, and Abby was dressed. Libby was nude. Libby's top half was covered with leaves and sticks, almost like they were trying to cover her.

So as the investigation unfolded, questions swirled around law enforcement's handling of this case altogether because the critics were pointing to how they withheld details and there was just so many different frustrated pleas for information. I mean, it got very, very messy.

Then, the scrutiny intensified with Richard Allen's arrest, and it prompted a closer look at the evidence. Now, one of the main items that was a piece of evidence was an unspent shell casing, and it was found near the bodies. But this shell casing raised a lot of eyebrows, making people wonder why it was there. Then, a bombshell revelation came out, shaking the entire foundation of the case.

Reports indicated that Richard had potential ties to a super gross and sinister underworld, a local child sex ring. The report revealed investigators were looking into whether or not the girls were victims of a botched kidnapping plot by a local pedophile ring.

Sources close to the investigation claimed that Richard Allen was acting with at least two other men and was involved in this child sex ring. And Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland openly stated that he believes, quote, So, as the search for truth continues, the Delphi community remains completely haunted by so many unanswered questions.

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So what does this new documentary mean for Richard Allen? Will it cast enough reasonable doubt? Are there more suspects who will be charged in the future? It's one of those cases that has so many different theories, a lot of conspiracies out there, and at the end of the day, everybody just wants justice for these two little girls who were just so senselessly and tragically and

brutally murdered and if you didn't follow this case I definitely will link the deep dive in the show notes because the way in which they were found is something straight out of a horror movie they had like ruins there was like painting on the trees behind them their body was staged and placed I think they had like what twigs that were like positioned to be horns above their head which made a lot of people think that this was somehow cult related it's a pretty wild case so I will make sure that that is linked for you

Moving into Madeline McCann, this is a case that has also been on everybody's mind for decades.

Now, I want to talk about some very intricate details in this very twisted web surrounding the Madeline McCann case and also the lead suspect, Christian Bruckner. So Madeline had vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal back in May of 2007, and it has remained one of the most haunting mysteries of all time. Christian has long since been the prime suspect in her disappearance, and even more events have unfolded since.

It all began with a bombshell revelation in June of 2020, when German authorities pointed the finger at Christian. Christian is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for rape, but in 2020, they pinned him as the lead suspect in the disappearance of the three-year-old, three-year-old Madeline McCann. But while the spotlight was on him, even darker secrets came to light.

It turns out that he's already serving time for other crimes, including rape, as I mentioned, but it doesn't stop there. The laundry list of accusations against him spans from 2000 to 2017, involving aggravated rape, sexual abuse of multiple women, and they all range in age from 10 to 80.

Hazel Bahan, an Irish student and one of Christian's alleged victims, bravely shared her harrowing ordeal. Tied up, threatened with a knife, and subjected to hours of terror, she recounted her story, pointing the finger squarely at Christian. And she's not alone. Other victims have come forward, demanding accountability.

Now fast forward to some of the drama that's going on in the courtroom. Christian's trial is postponed, which has created a lot of frustration, as I'm sure you can imagine. However, the hope is that a conviction on these charges might just kind of crack him open. It might be what it takes to reveal the truth about what happened to Madeline. But as everybody is waiting for this to happen, a new detail emerged. Dental transformation.

A police sketch published shortly after Madeline's disappearance showed the suspect as having prominent buck teeth. Well, an investigative TV program uncovered Christian's alleged trip from Portugal to Germany. This was a trip for a jaw reset and for teeth straightening. And when did all of this happen, you might ask?

just four months after Madeline's disappearance. And not only that, guys, but Christian allegedly had surgery to remove a birthmark after he had raped Hazel.

He allegedly had the birthmark on his left thigh erased so that he could avoid identification after she told the police that her attacker had a mole in that location. So, they went back through the records, and they found a body scan of Christian that was done by German investigators. Photos of his entire body were taken, and at the time, he had a significant birthmark on his upper left thigh near his hip. So...

It really appears that any time there is something that identifies him as being tied to a crime, he tries to physically remove it. First the teeth, then the birthmark. Christian, however, is insisting that DNA and electronic evidence against him is wrong and that the witnesses are lying about him.

So this is a case that has gripped true crime sleuths' attention for decades now, very similarly to JonBenet. Many think that Madeline's parents were involved, some think it was a setup, and I mean, the list goes on. But still, 17 years later, and no charges, no arrests, nothing has been made against anyone, only suspicion. Even Christian has not been charged, he has only been named a suspect.

So it will be interesting to see if any more detail comes to light or if this will always remain a cold case. Now let's move in to Selena. Selena, Selena. We all love Selena, right? My bumper got ripped off by Selena. God, we all love Selena. Who doesn't love her?

So a new documentary was released, and Selena's killer Yolanda spoke out. She said that there is a lot more to the story than the public knows. She alluded to secrets, she alluded to covering for Selena, and she gave one of her first interviews ever. So in this new documentary series, it reexamines the murder of Selena Quintanilla Perez.

The two-episode documentary called Selena and Yolanda, The Secrets Between Them, premiered over the weekend on Oxygen. It also is available to stream on Peacock. So to give you a recap, Yolanda shot Selena on March 31, 1995 at a Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi. This was when Selena was just 23 years old. And the shooting was following accusations that Yolanda was stealing money from Selena's businesses.

Yolanda, now 63 years old, is up for parole in March of 2025 after serving 30 years of her life sentence. The docuseries aims to shed fresh perspective on the connection between Selena and Yolanda, the former fan club president from San Antonio who was convicted of her murder. The series portrays her as this not-obsessed fan who lost control, as depicted by a lot of different tabloids, the movies, all of that,

but rather a friend and a confidant of Selena. According to the docuseries, although prosecutors claimed that Yolanda denied embezzling funds from Selena's businesses, which was a crucial allegation that allegedly triggered Selena's murder, according to them, Yolanda herself has never faced any charges of embezzlement, no charges of theft, anything from Selena or her businesses.

Selena's father and manager, Abraham, alleged that Yolanda stole money upon discovering checks that she had written to herself from the business. However, Yolanda said that she wrote those checks to buy plane tickets for Selena, plane tickets so that Selena could visit a plastic surgeon in Mexico with whom she allegedly was having an affair with.

So Yolanda maintains that she helped Selena in concealing the affair so that she could help safeguard her reputation. However, producers stated that they were unable to verify this. Now, while no one interviewed in the series disputes that Yolanda shot Selena, Yolanda and her family firmly state that the shooting was accidental, attributing it to emotional distress that apparently stemmed from being victimized by controlling men in Selena's life.

See, according to Yolanda and her family, Abraham, Selena's dad, exerted control over Selena's schedule and believed that her businesses, such as the clothing boutique in San Antonio that was being managed by Yolanda, that it distracted her attention from her music career.

Yolanda claimed that the reason she purchased the gun was out of fear of Abraham. Now, Abraham has denied these allegations and said that Selena's family was not involved in and did not support the docuseries. In the docuseries, Yolanda apologizes to the fans, saying that she too misses and loves Selena. She also says, "...I was convicted by public opinion even before my trial started."

Now this documentary, or docuseries I should say, has not been well received, and many, many people are criticizing it. People are saying that it capitalizes on Selena, it exploits her death, and it platforms her killer by positioning the existence of what they call secrets as a mean of rationalizing her murder, making it sound salacious, as though Selena had something to hide, kind of paints her in a bad light.

People are not receiving this well. And personally, I think that the whole motive behind this docuseries is because she's up for parole in a year. And I think that she wants to throw whatever she thinks may stick to the wall so that it may cast doubt that she is in fact a cold-blooded, obsessed, jealous fangirl murderer.

That's just my take on it, but I'm curious to know what you guys think. Do you think that there is any weight in any of the allegations that Yolanda is saying? Or do you think this is all just like some super cringe embarrassing attempt to try to save herself since she's up for parole? I think the writing's on the wall and it's pretty obvious, but I'm curious to know what you guys think. PenFed free checking offers zero fees and zero balance requirements for zero hassle.

So I know that today was a long one. We covered a lot, guys. I will link all of the deep dives, as I mentioned in the show notes. I hope you enjoyed it.

hope that this was insightful educational helpful if you have been following these cases and don't forget I will be back on the mic first thing Monday morning with a brand new deep dive case which is a case guys I'm telling you trust me on this I'm your bestie it will blow your mother effing mind

other than that if you want to get your extra true crime fix because you need a little extra dose of true crime going into your weekend I have ad free bonus content every single Friday you can access it either through Patreon or you can access it over on Apple but it's if you just need a little more true crime fix going into your weekend we have our ad free bonus episodes over there and over on Patreon too if you want to access it through there there's tons of other perks you can have one-on-ones with me you can get

access to our private group chat. You can get merch discounts. You can get all the things. So head on over there. Everything will be linked below. And thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode of Serialistly. So until the next one, guys, be nice. Don't kill people. Bye. PenFed free checking offers zero fees and zero balance requirements for zero hassle. PenFed Access America checking lets you earn money on your balance for dreams big and small.

Choose the best account for you and start making the most of your money. Learn more at PenFed.org. Federally insured by NCOA. To receive any advertised product, you must become a member of PenFed Credit Union. PenFed's got great rates for everyone.