271: Locked in a Toolbox, Trapped in a Cave, and a Murder Caught on Voicemail

This week on Headline Highlights, a Missouri woman fatally stabs a paramedic during an ambulance ride to the hospital. In New Mexico, a couple is exposed for forcing their seven children to live in underground caves, enduring years of horrific abuse. A convicted felon in Florida brutally attacks two women, beating one and kidnapping the other, who is later hogtied inside a giant toolbox. A Florida teacher crosses the line by writing a disturbing love letter to a female student. In California, a woman is murdered, and the chilling crime is captured in a voicemail she left for a friend.🔎Join Our True Crime Club & Get Exclusive Content & Perks 🔎 Join The Club: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to EXTRA deep dive episodes every week on Apple!https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/serialously-with-annie-elise/id1519456164🌸 SPRING MERCH IS OFFICIALLY HERE! 🌸Shop now at https://annieelise.com/collections/shop-allDon't miss out before your faves sell out! 🛒🌷Follow Annie on Socials 📸 🩷Instagram: @ _annieelise💜TikTok: @_annieelise🗞️ Substack: @annieelise💙Facebook: @10tolife⭐️Sponsors ⭐️Ancient Nutrition: is offering 25% off your first order when you go to http://AncientNutrition.com/AE. Mint Mobile: Grab 3 months of service for just $15 a month at http://MintMobile.com/ae. Shop Annie’s Closet & Must-Haves! 👗Poshmark: https://posh.mk/Tdbki6Ae0RbShopMY: https://shopmy.us/annieeliseAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/shop/10tolife?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_aipsfshop_BKN1ZMCMEZHACVFQ2R75&language=en_USDisclaimer ‣ Some links may be affiliate links, they do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Thank you so much for watching and supporting me.🎙️ Follow the podcast for FREE on all podcast platforms! Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/serialously-with-annie-elise/id1519456164Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6HdheEH8WeMTHoe5da34qUAll Other Platforms: https://audioboom.com/channels/5100770-serialously-with-annie-eliseGet Involved or Recommend the Case 💬 About Annie: https://annieelise.com/For Business Inquiries: [email protected] Sources 🔗Court TVDaily MailKansas City StarLaw and CrimeLos Angeles TimesNew York PostPeople.comWMBB News 13*Sources used to collect this information include various public news sites, interviews, court documents, FB groups dedicated to the case, and various news channel segments. When quoting statements made by others, they are strictly alleged until confirmed otherwise. Please remember my videos are my independent opinion and to always do your own research. ••••••••••••••••••Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this video are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the creator(s). These views are subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and are not to be held in perpetuity. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this video and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. It is the reader’s responsibility to verify their own facts.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Annie Elise?

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• 0:42Annie Elise?

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• 1:09Speaker 01

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• 1:39Annie Elise?

  Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serial Insane.

• 2:02Annie Elise?

  Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly. With me, your true crime bestie, Annie Elise. And I am here to talk to you today because I need to talk to you about all of the cases that are going on this week in the true crime world. There are some truly batshit crazy and unhinged things happening out there. And look, every single week I talk with you, I feel like there are a lot of crazy cases going on. This week, it just kind of takes the cake. There are so many different things to discuss. And I also just wanted to remind you that the Karen Reed retrial is still in full swing. I'm putting out recaps for you every single Friday where I'm breaking down the highlights

• 2:46Annie Elise?

  and biggest takeaways of the week. Because, you know, I know you don't have seven hours a day to watch the trial. So I'm here to help you out and just like give you the Cliff Notes version, almost like you needed to write the essay in high school but didn't have time. I'm your bestie. I got your back. So those recaps are coming out every single Friday as a reminder. And we already are only a couple of days into this week, and it has been wild. We've been talking about the leaf blower, the solo cups that they used to collect evidence, some credibility issues. I mean, you name it. But anyway, I'm not here to talk with you about that today. I am here today to talk to you about everything happening this week. And this first case I want to share with you, it's a little bit jarring because it makes you just kind of fearful of humanity. And it also takes place

• 3:31Annie Elise?

  in Missouri. So let me just set the scene for you. Okay, so it takes us to Kansas City, Missouri. And honestly, I don't think I've ever heard of a case like this one before, which is why I wanted to talk with you about it. But on April 27, police responded to a call at 12:40 a.m. with about a woman who was walking on the shoulder of the freeway. So they're dispatched, they go, and upon arrival, they noticed that this woman, 39 year old Shanetta Bocell, had a laceration on her hand. And she was bleeding extremely heavily. So the police decided they needed to call the police. paramedics so that they could come and treat her. Then, once the paramedics arrived on the scene, they decided, you know what? This looks really bad. This is pretty deep. There's a lot of blood loss. We need to transport her to the hospital for further evaluation. Like,

• 4:17Annie Elise?

  we can't do all the things here. We gotta take her in, right? But then she began becoming uncooperative with both the police and the paramedics. It was almost like she just was refusing their offers for help. She didn't want to go with them, for whatever reason. But then, after a short while, after they were convincing her, being like, "Look, you gotta go to the hospital. You gotta get this checked out. It doesn't look good." She finally gave in and was like, "Fine, I'll get in the ambulance. I'll go with you." Like, you know, "Uncle, uncle, like, game over. I'll go with you." Now Graham Hoffman was the paramedic and firefighter who was treating her in the back of this ambulance. But for whatever reason, although now she was being cooperative and going with them willingly, on the way to the hospital, she grabbed a knife and she stabbed Graham, the paramedic, with it.

• 5:01Annie Elise?

  Just attacking him, full-blown attack, stabbing him straight in the heart. Which, how freaking awful and unhinged is that? I can't even imagine how scary that must have been for him. Like, you're trying to help this woman, and then she just grabs a knife, attacks you, and stabs you in the heart. Like, what the heck is going on? Now thankfully, Graham was able to alert the driver of the ambulance, and he was frantically calling out for help, yelling, you know, "She has a knife! She has a knife!" Like, "Help, help!" So the driver immediately pulled over, and then in a full-blown panic, he ran to the back of the ambulance to try to help. And as soon as he opened the doors, he heard Graham just shout out, "She stabbed me in the heart." Meanwhile, an officer who was following the ambulance then saw her run to the front driver's side of the ambulance

• 5:44Annie Elise?

  in an attempt to like, start driving away, as though she was going to hijack an ambulance and have this like, massive, high-speed chase and get away from the scene, right? However, spoiler alert, she didn't know how to drive an ambulance, because when she was trying to start the ambulance, she was struggling, so much so, that it delayed her plan, foiled her plan, and the police were able to apprehend her. However, this woman was not gonna go down without a fight, because when the police were wrestling her to the ground, she proceeded to Bite the officer in the arm. At that point, she didn't have a weapon on her anymore. So the only weapon she could use was, you know, I guess her teeth. So she tried to bite him in the arm. I mean, just full bore, crazy behavior, just fighting all these people who, remember,

• 6:28Annie Elise?

  literally, were just trying to help her. And apparently, this isn't her first time assaulting a first responder. Because just days before this horrific tragic event, she actually bit another police officer while he was attempting to arrest her for something completely unrelated. So she bites a lot, often. It seems like, I don't know if that is a component of mental health, just her being vicious and, you know, resistant. I don't really know. But for that instance, she was charged with second degree assault and resisting arrest. However, she posted her $10,000 bond. So she was released only two days before this new incident. Clearly a pattern going on, right?

• 7:10Annie Elise?

  Now, unfortunately with Graham, the paramedic that she stabbed in the heart. Tragically, despite the efforts and the attempts to save him, he sadly died from his injuries and he passed away at the hospital. Which Graham was only 29 years old and he had been with the Kansas City Fire Department since 2022. His colleagues described him as being a, quote, "dedicated professional who loved serving his city."

• 7:34Speaker 02

  A good, young, young man who wanted to serve his community, wanted to be a firefighter. Speaking with his classmates and fellow firefighters yesterday, the same words kept coming up, you know, leadership, a leader on and off the job, compassionate, passionate about the fire department, passionate about being a paramedic. So it's a devastating loss for our department and for our community as a whole.

• 7:56Speaker 03

  He was just, he was so passionate. He wanted to learn so much. One of my favorite students. He came in with a smile every day and all he wanted to do was learn, be a sponge. I think as a dedicated, you know, paramedic, somebody that was always going to do the right thing no matter what, no matter if it was three in the afternoon or three in the morning, he was going to be there taking care of you and your family and making sure that you had everything that you needed. That was, he was going to do that every single time. You know, he never got a complaint. In three years, I never got a complaint on that man, ever. All I heard was what a good job he did. And that's amazing.

• 8:29Annie Elise?

  Shanetta is now being charged with first degree murder and she's being held on a $1 million bond, which I just want to say this, and let me be very, very crystal clear, in absolutely no way, no, you know, tiny bit, not at all, I'm not trying to blame the police here, but I also can't help but wonder, why didn't they frisk her or ask her if she had any weapons on her before bringing her into the ambulance? I mean, I get it, maybe in that moment, you're looking at her as of course a victim, she's bleeding, she has a laceration on her hand, but I also can't help but wonder, what is that laceration from? I would argue, because we don't know the details yet, probably her own knife. So on the scene, wouldn't you ask her like, okay, well, what caused this? And if she said a knife, like, do you still

• 9:13Annie Elise?

  have the knife on you? Are you frisking her? Which I'm sure she probably lied to them at that point, right? But I just can't help but wonder, should other precautionary measures have taken place before putting her in the ambulance? And would we be in this situation? Would Graham have lost his life at just 29 years old? And again, that's not to shame the police at all. I truly don't know what the protocol is for that. When you're a paramedic and a police officer, if you're responding to the scene and it's a person who appears to be a victim by all accounts, is that out of the scope to try to frisk them or pat them down and ask them if they have any weapons? Or should that be something that's implemented just so that you err on the side of caution? I don't know the answer to that. But hopefully

• 9:54Annie Elise?

  we'll learn more details as they are released. The entire story is just incredibly upsetting. I mean, talk about truly a senseless murder in every definition of the word. I mean, here you have this 29-year-old guy, Graham, who had his whole life ahead of him, who wanted to be a first responder, who just wanted to help people, and he died at the hands of the very person that he was trying to save, trying to convince to get in the ambulance so that he could take her to a hospital to seek medical treatment. I mean, it's just truly heartbreaking. Now, I'm gonna switch gears a little bit, and this next case takes us to New Mexico. But it is equally, if not even more so, disturbing, because this is a case about parents who forced their seven children to live in underground caves. You

• 10:39Annie Elise?

  heard that right. Underground caves, seven kids, and the crap that they were doing to these kids, when I tell you... I hope you didn't eat before listening to this because you will not only want to vomit, but you are going to want to punch whatever is close to you. I don't suggest punching a person, obviously, maybe a pillow, maybe a couch, but it is infuriating. It's just a very seriously disturbing case. So, a New Mexico couple is now being accused of abusing their seven kids and sexually assaulting their 16-year-old daughter. They allegedly forced all of these kids of theirs to live in these like filthy underground caves that were also just like covered and littered in trash. Now, this all surfaced thanks to the bravery of their 16-year-old daughter, who reported

• 11:24Annie Elise?

  the abuse while attending the New Mexico National Guard Youth Academy. Once she reported this, the police then began a four-month investigation into the allegations, and that is when they learned of the truly deplorable conditions that the kids were forced to live in. According to the 16-year-old daughter, she claims that her parents forced her to engage in sexual acts with her siblings, engage in sexual acts in front of other adults, which I don't know who these "other adults" were, but I mean, how truly sick can you be? Which the kids range in age from six months old to 16 years old. So, a literal baby all the way to a 16-year-old, and they forced their 16-year-old daughter to engage in sex acts with these siblings.

• 12:08Annie Elise?

  What kind of grotesque human being are you? Honestly, like, if that's the kind of crap you get off on, or because they had to engage in these acts with other adults or in front of other adults too, like, are you getting a kickback from them? Are you getting paid? Like, how much are you exploiting your children? And what kind of sick freak and disgusting perversions do you have? It is fucking foul, and I apologize for cussing, but like, I don't know what other term to use for this, I truly don't. Now, you might be wondering, if you're anything like me, like, okay, well, who are these god-awful parents? Well, Valerie and Melvin Cordell live in Deming, New Mexico, and they have a almost half an acre plot of land. So, they had plenty of space to, you know, inflict this...

• 12:51Annie Elise?

  Horror. So Valerie, the mother, was arrested and charged and she ended up pleading not guilty. This was on April 28th, but let me just read her charges to you because I think it'll illustrate how disgusting this is even more. She's being held on multiple charges, 16 counts of child abuse, one count of sexual penetration, and one count of conspiracy to commit child abuse. Meanwhile, her trash husband Melvin is also being charged with 24 counts of child abuse, criminal sexual contact of a minor, criminal sexual penetration, abuse of a child, aggravated battery, and tampering with evidence. Now, according to the authorities through their very thorough investigation and according

• 13:33Annie Elise?

  to the daughter's outcry and what she had said, these kids were forced to live outside year round, round the clock in these like semi-underground type of caves that were all four to six feet in length, like kind of almost like tunnels, if you will. And prosecutors have actually compared this compound that they are calling it to a city trash landfill. That's how littered it was with garbage. That's how dirty it was. And on this property, there were a few unlivable camping trailers, broken down cars, animal skeletons, bags of trash, rotten food everywhere, and then buckets throughout the property containing human feces. I mean, like I said, you probably want to vomit right now.

• 14:16Annie Elise?

  It is so disgusting. And these poor kids were forced to live like this year round, which let me just throw this question out there for, you know, good old Val and Mel. Why are you continuing to have more children? Stop reproducing. Although they have six-month-old kids to 16 years old. Stop. Stop having kids. You have seven kids. You clearly can't even care for one of them properly. So like, time to lock it up. Time to lock it up. But again, if they were exploiting them for their own perversions or for monetary gain somehow with the other adults who would allegedly watch these acts, maybe they just saw them as dollar signs. It's sick. It is so sick. And as if that weren't bad enough, just wait until you hear about all the horrific things that these kids endure.

• 15:01Annie Elise?

  Even more so than what I already rattled off to you. Because the 16-year-old told police that she had suffered the sexual abuse from her father for the past four years. She also told police that she had "unwanted sex" with two other adult relatives, and that that unwanted sex with her relatives resulted in two pregnancies. One at 14 years old and one at 16 years old. And beware, trigger warning right now, you're probably not ready for this, but her dad, Melvin, in response to these pregnancies, rather than being like, "Oh, hmm, maybe I shouldn't pimp you out to other relatives. Maybe I should stop. Maybe I'm a scum human being. You're pregnant now. I've seen the light." That wasn't what Melvin thought at all.

• 15:46Annie Elise?

  Instead, he took it upon himself to perform two at-home terminations without his daughter's consent. It is the most, I don't even know, demonic, like, subhuman type of behavior. I mean, this poor 16-year-old girl, my heart literally shatters for her. Can you even imagine? Your father is forcing you to have incestual relations with relatives, grown adult people. You get pregnant. Your father then performs an at-home termination against your will, all so he can keep his secret disgusting perversions quiet and continue to do this to you. It is haunting. I mean, thank God, the parents have now been arrested because all of the seven kids

• 16:31Annie Elise?

  have been placed in the protective custody with the state. So I just hope that we don't have another Turpin situation, where, if you're familiar with the Jordan Turpin case, the Turpin children, they too were removed from the home for different allegations, different thing, but still, house of horror type situation. But then, the foster families, literally, like a freaking carbon copy, inflicted the same and even arguably worse abuse on them. Because it was almost like an easy target, because they had already gone through so much. So I pray that history does not repeat itself with this case, and that these children actually go to loving homes, protective homes. It's just sick. Meanwhile, the parents are being held without bond, and they are in jail as they await their next court date,

• 17:16Annie Elise?

  which, what I have to say to that is, good riddance. I've said it before, I will say it again. Anytime there is a case involving children, and children are the victims... Bail should not even be allowed, ever. It's like air on the side of caution. Lock these monsters up. It's so sick. And I will never understand how anybody can do that to a child, especially their own parents. Like, it just takes it next level. It blows my mind. And thinking of all of the years that these children have had to go through all of this, the torment, the torture, witnessing their other siblings going through it. It's appalling. It really is. Okay, now let me take a breather really quick. And we are going to talk about this next case.

• 17:58Annie Elise?

  Because now, we are talking about a woman who was kidnapped and held in a storage container. So this next case comes out of Florida. And it's about a man by the name of David Gibson, who has been accused of brutally attacking two women. So in the late evening of April 27th, David allegedly knocked on the front door of a home in Vernon, Florida. He like barges into this home. He's completely irate, yelling, just going on and on about how her husband and her brother-in-law are thieves, how they owe him money, just this crazy unhinged rant. Then he began to attack the two women inside the home. He handcuffed the younger victim, whose name, by the way, has not been released. And then he went on to strip her naked. And while she laid there, just helpless on the floor,

• 18:43Annie Elise?

  he proceeded to beat this woman's mother-in-law, who is 74 years old and her name is Letty Collins. He was punching her and just wailing on her, just brutally attacking her. David then dragged the younger woman out to his car, a purple PT Cruiser, and he covered her mouth in duct tape. Once he had her in the car, and once he had tape over her mouth, he proceeded to rape her. All the while, threatening to kill her if she didn't comply. He then kidnapped her and drove her back to his house, where he locked her inside a shed and put her inside this like oversized toolbox kind of container. He handcuffed her naked, tied her up in rope, and basically hogtied her with her legs tied over the back of her body back to her wrists.

• 19:28Annie Elise?

  He then put plywood on top of the toolbox so that it would close it and trap her inside of it. I mean, monster behavior, right? It reminds me of Girl in a Box, like... You're treating not even like an animal. You're treating them like garbage. It's just so sick. So she was locked inside this makeshift toolbox type container situation for most of the day. And she told the police she thought that she was going to suffocate to death and die. She was scared for her life. I mean, locked inside this container, inside a shed in Florida. I can't even imagine how horrible that must have been. So after hours and hours, she was finally able to free her legs and she was able to kick the box open. Which remember, she was hogtied. So to free your legs from that kind of position, that's not an easy feat.

• 20:12Annie Elise?

  You can't really see much behind you. You're wiggling, you're in a tiny container. That would be very difficult. But miraculously, she was able to break her legs free and then kicked this storage container box thing open. And then she just booked it and ran for her life. All while still naked, still handcuffed, still had duct tape over her mouth, but just fearless, obviously. Just wanted to get the hell out of there. And she just took off and luckily was able to flag down a car who helped her and got her to safety. Which imagine being the person driving that car, right? Can you imagine driving down the road and seeing a naked woman run out full charge at you? Handcuffed, duct tape over her mouth, fully naked? That would be incredibly scary and very traumatic.

• 20:56Annie Elise?

  So the woman explained to the police the absolutely horrifying experience that she had endured. And she urged them to check on her mother-in-law. Remember, the 74-year-old woman who had been beaten and left behind at home. And unfortunately, when the police arrived at the home, they did find Letty, the mother-in-law. But she had died from her injuries. And she had apparently, and according to the police report, quote, "was beaten to a pulp." A 75-year-old woman. It's horrible. Now let me tell you about this evil deranged monster, David Lipson. I mean, first of all, he is beyond creepy looking. I mean, he has a tattoo across his chest that says, "Trust no bitch." Which, get a life. I have tattoos and some really bad ones at that, but like this.

• 21:39Annie Elise?

  I mean, takes the cake, trust no bitch, across your whole chest, like, give me a break. So, that should, right away, give you a little bit of an indication as to who this guy is. But, he's 40 years old, and he's described as a habitual offender. Prior to his arrest for this case, he already had 33 previous felony charges. He's also already been in prison eight times, and those prison stays were for charges that included arson, resisting an officer, even possession of drugs. I mean, and that's just to name a few. So after a two-day manhunt with multiple, and I mean multiple, law enforcement agencies, ranging from sheriffs of three different counties to the US Marshals, I mean, you name it,

• 22:20Annie Elise?

  David was ultimately found in a wooded area, and he was just like hiding in this like makeshift mudhole, like the true coward that he is, which, I gotta just say, David, trust no bitch? You're the bitch. You're the coward. You're the one hiding out. Like, what a little scrawny loser you are. So he now faces six felony charges, including kidnapping, sexual battery, and potentially murder. Which, I gotta just say, 33 past convictions? What was this loser still doing out on the street? Why wasn't he locked away at this point, throw away the key, and like, just wait for him to die in prison, right? What a true monster, through and through.

• 22:58Speaker 04

  He's charged for what he's charged with for doing to what he done to two of our residents here in our county. And what it took was what you're looking at right there, to make this happen with this group of people. There's everything from three or four counties wide, to the US Marshals, FDLE, Jackson County, Holmes County, and I'm probably gonna leave some out, but it means the world to me for them showing up, and on behalf of the Washington County Office and the citizens...

• 23:36Speaker 04

  Of Washington County, I can't think enough. This man needed taken off the street. And it didn't need to go another day. It needed to happen today. And I told you at that press conference today. We're gonna get him. And we got a lot of hours of daylight left. So, in a nutshell, unless you've got some questions for me, these men are give out. They're burnout. This has been going on for hours. When you were at my office earlier this morning, this was going on. And it's finally come to a closure. And we thank you all for being up here to cover this. And again, I think the men sitting behind me for bringing this scum off the streets today.

• 24:21Annie Elise?

  And just a quick question for you. What were those last moments like before you captured him, before your team caught him?

• 24:26Speaker 04

  Well, it's hot. The dog teams didn't give up. And he didn't give up. He kept running and kept running. At one point, we come to a place in there where he got down in a mud hole and tried to cover himself in mud. You seen him? And all he's doing is trying to throw the scent of the dog off, is all he's trying to do. Avoid capture. But it didn't work. And we got him.

• 24:52Annie Elise?

  So David is currently being held without bond and he is scheduled to appear in court on June 2nd. Now, I have a couple more cases I want to go over with you, but first, we're going to take a quick break and hear from the sponsors of today's episode. Whoever says saving money is hard doesn't know that new customers who bundle and save with Progressive save hundreds. Because switching your home and auto insurance is way better than cutting down on the things you love, like those iced lattes that help you get ready to face the day. So switch your home and auto to Progressive and see if you could save and keep sipping away. Get your quote today at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers not available in all states.

• 25:45Annie Elise?

  Okay, so now I want to talk to you about this case that I saw come up on my TikTok feed, on my YouTube, on my Instagram, like on all of the news people I follow, and it creeped me out so badly because when I really started going into it, not even just the surface level information, but like analyzing the writing style, the font that it was written in, or however you would say that, if it's not a computer generated thing, it is so disturbing. And this is another story out of Florida. Sorry for all my Florida listeners, but what the hell's going on over there this week? But this one is just straight up creepy and very, very wrong. So, an elementary school teacher named Jarrett Williams is accused

• 26:27Annie Elise?

  of writing one of his fifth grade students a two-page handwritten love letter. And let me just tell you, this guy literally tells this little girl, quote, "You know I truly love you, and no matter what, that will never change." Like, what in the world is this guy thinking? A fifth grader? So what, she's like 10 or 11 years old, and this creepo is writing her this handwritten letter? Which I'll just say, and I've said it on here before, I, in sixth grade, did have a creepy teacher. I'm not gonna name him, but if you went to school with me, maybe you know. But he did, he never wrote me a love letter, but he did do things that now, like questionable shit, where now that I'm an adult, I'm like, what the hell was going on? Like, for example, when it was like movie day, you know, where

• 27:10Annie Elise?

  they would turn off the lights, they'd wheel the big tube TV out on like the big thing that's like strapped in and harnessed in, and you'd watch a movie, and it's like the day you always look forward to because you don't have to do any real work. On those days, he would allow me to get out of my desk, go sit with him, next to him at his desk. And it was right when computers were really first on the scene, he would open up his, I can't even remember, it was a laptop, was it a laptop? Maybe it wasn't, maybe it was a regular computer. But anyway, the grading systems were inside, they were electronic, which sounds like, obviously, Annie, they're electronic, but like back in my day, when I was in sixth grade... They weren't. That was new. So he would open his thing up and he would allow me to like go to my name in his like grading report and change my scores on different things and change my grade.

• 27:55Annie Elise?

  And he always kind of was like flirtatious with me and would treat me different than everyone. And back then I was like super hyped on it, right? I was like, hell yeah, he's letting me change my grade. Like I'm actually getting an A in this class rather than a C minus. Like this is tight. But now that I look back, I'm like, what a freak. Like ew, what a complete disgusting douche. But this story is like next level, which is why I wanted to talk with you about it because he actually gave a handwritten letter to this little girl. Now, this poor little girl's mom is the one who found the letter. It was inside her daughter's backpack and she could not believe what she was reading. She was obviously appalled, disgusted, horrified, and went straight to the county sheriff's office and even told the school board. Now, the letter goes on to say, quote, "I really love being your teacher and more importantly,

• 28:38Annie Elise?

  I love how close we've gotten this year. On another note, I will say that it bothers me when you look directly into my eyes and lie to me. You forget that I know you pretty well. When you put your head down and ignore me, etc., I know something is wrong. You then will typically talk to all of your friends right after you tell me that you don't feel well, which is a lie. Why do you do that to me?" He goes on to say, "I don't think you're that weird anymore." Smiley face. "I'm glad that you like school and I hope that I play a huge part of that. Starting today, I will try my best not to smile at you anymore because I know you, quote, 'hate it when I smile.'" Now, let me just tell you, first of all, inappropriate, right? Red flags all over that. But what you don't know, unless you've heard of this case or you're watching the video

• 29:23Annie Elise?

  version of this on my YouTube, is that the way he wrote this letter, he wrote it in a font, in a text, as though he was a fifth grade student himself. Like the full kind of like, not bubble writing, but like more like rounded letters where, you know, you take up the whole line on not even college ruled paper, but like wide ruled paper, like full kid writing. And I don't know if he did that to try to relate to her more in a weird groomy kind of way, or if he did that so that when the parents, if they ever found it, they would think that it's just from another Student, I don't know, but certainly intentional and extremely unnerving. And I also feel like when you start to dissect some of the letter, such as, I know you hate it when I smile, but he put hate it in quotes.

• 30:07Annie Elise?

  Like, is there something underlying there where he's trying to like flirt and be like, oh, I know you hate it when I smile because like you think I'm flirting? Or when he says like, you'll talk to your friends right after you tell me that you don't feel well. I don't like that. It's just so manipulative and weird. And when he says, you forget that I know you pretty well, all of these things, it's like gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross. And take a listen to this interview with this little girl's parents.

• 30:32Speaker 05

  This whole nightmare started when we discovered a two-page letter.

• 30:38Speaker 06

  Ann Mitchell gave Eight on Your Side a copy of a letter she says was given to her fifth-grade child from their teacher. It reads in part, quote, "You know I truly love you no matter what. That will never change." It's signed, "Love," and then the teacher's name with a note encouraging the student to keep the letter a secret. That 11-year-old girl's parents saw the letter and tell Eight on Your Side they were shocked.

• 31:02Speaker 07

  Incredibly upsetting as a father.

• 31:05Speaker 06

  As a dad, where does your mind go from there? What does that even open the door for in your head?

• 31:10Speaker 07

  What can I do legally, you know, out of frustration of being in receipt of something like this? What more could he have done to my daughter?

• 31:21Annie Elise?

  So not only did this creepy-ass teacher write this incredibly inappropriate letter to this little girl, but according to her mom, he also isolated her by keeping her alone in his classroom with him for 45 minutes, all while he sent the other students to go to the library. Which, look, I'm sorry, and I really hope that I'm wrong, but why else would you keep this little girl alone in your classroom for 45 minutes when you send all of the other students out to the library unless you are trying to groom her further or get physical with her or do something? There is no reason for that, and I really hope I'm wrong. I hope he never touched this girl, but even if he didn't, and even if he was just using that 45 minutes to groom her further, give her preferential treatment, whatever it is, it is

• 32:04Annie Elise?

  is wrong. It is so sick. There's also a very weird part in the letter where he writes, quote, "I'm sorry for putting slime all over you yesterday. I thought we could have some fun together, but I didn't think about you getting upset with me." Which slime? Why are you putting slime on a fifth grade student? Like, you are so disgusting. What exactly is the slime, too, that he's talking about? Is it true slime, like what the kids all play with? Is it something else? And you might know where I'm going with this. I don't know, but and like, maybe he's calling it something else because he doesn't want to like gross her out. And again, he's trying to manipulate her and groom her. So he's like, oh, no, it's just slime. Like, and I'm sorry, I know I'm getting very graphic here, but like, even if he didn't touch her, if he like, in those 45 minutes, like, was jerking off, and then the slime, and he made that excuse, I don't know.

• 32:49Annie Elise?

  Or maybe it was real slime, and he was like, putting it on her, trying to be flirtatious and joking. Either way, it's freaking disgusting. This guy makes me want to vomit and punch him in the throat. And it just makes me wonder what he was actually referring to. And like I said, I couldn't help but notice this guy's handwriting, because it does look like a fifth grader wrote it. And he definitely, I think, did that intentionally. It just, it's all very calculated, and very, I don't even know the word. I want to say like, yucky, but like, in a bigger word for that, like, I don't even know. Fucking foul. So a few weeks after the discovery of this letter, the teacher put in his resignation letter to the school board, which they, of course, obviously approved. But at this time, he still hasn't been charged, which I can't wrap my head

• 33:34Annie Elise?

  around that. Is it because there's nothing physical to charge him with? What about endangering a child? What about something like that? Where is the line here? How is he not being charged or reprimanded in a bigger way?

• 33:44Speaker 06

  But the student's father says he wanted that teacher to be fired.

• 33:48Speaker 07

  To us, we felt termination was tougher language, attached to somebody that we would hope would never be in a classroom again.

• 33:57Speaker 06

  Now, the fifth grader's mother has her own message for Bay Area parents.

• 34:02Speaker 05

  We are often, as parents, teaching our children, you know, to listen to our teachers, to be respectful, you know, to follow directions. So that's what I had taught my daughter. And come to find out that that may or may not be the right lesson to to teach our kids.

• 34:19Annie Elise?

  The police say that it's an ongoing investigation, which Honestly, to me, is just very upsetting. I mean, how has he not been charged already? What are they waiting for? He was clearly, clearly grooming this innocent little girl. Which also, why are we seeing such an uptick in teachers having such inappropriate behavior with their underage students lately? I feel as though we're seeing it week to week. Not just men preying on girls, but actually a lot more of the opposite of women preying on men. Or I should say, women preying on boys. But I just don't get it. It's like, it feels like it's occurring more and more. I don't think it's necessarily a situation where we're aware of it now, finally, because we've been aware of it all the way back to even like the Mary Kay Letourneau, whatever her name was, days.

• 35:02Annie Elise?

  But, huh, it's just friggin' sick. Now, moving into this next case, this one is very local to me. I am talking a stone throw away from where I live. And it's unnerving because it's a case that is not only just heartbreaking, but infuriating. So Laura Sardina was a 25-year-old woman from Huntington Beach, California. She was beautiful, she had long brown hair, she kind of resembled Kate Middleton in a way. She just had this very like, classic and classy look to her. And in the summer of 2020, Laura began dating a guy named Craig Charon. Now Craig was a 39-year-old Air Force veteran, and on paper, he appeared to be a great guy.

• 35:47Annie Elise?

  But as I always say, things aren't always what they appear to be. So Laura fell head over heels for Craig, and pretty fast. They met in June, and by July, he had moved into Laura's apartment by the beach with her. And I mean, this was extremely fast. However, based off of text messages between the two of them, it's pretty obvious that within just a few weeks of them living together, Craig had become increasingly controlling and even abusive. In fact, by August, Craig had allegedly hit Laura hard enough that it ruptured her eardrum. This is according to a medical exam that she had done in August of last year. And while she was at the hospital, he would send her all of these text messages, just begging her, you know, "Please don't report me to the authorities, I'll change, can it be different? I promise I didn't mean it," you know, textbook abuser-type behavior.

• 36:32Annie Elise?

  Right, which she would reply to these messages and say, okay, well, would you be willing to talk to me without calling me names or hitting me? I'm scared that you just won't stop. I mean, clearly fearful and even and conveying that to him and documenting it. However, the abuse didn't end and Craig just became more and more controlling, more possessive and more abusive. And it wasn't just physical and verbal abuse either. He was also trying to take her money, financial abuse. See, Laura had gotten into a motorcycle accident back in 2019. And because of her injuries, she couldn't keep working as a bartender's assistant, like a bar back, a server, that kind of thing. So she ended up receiving a settlement from the accident and the settlement was $750,000.

• 37:16Annie Elise?

  And for whatever reason, she gave Craig 100 grand of that money, which very weirdly, his way of thanking her wasn't flowers, wasn't a thank you note, wasn't any sort of over the top gesture. Instead, he thanked her by text, saying, "Thank you for showing me that you're all mine." I mean, red flag, red flag. So they had this tumultuous relationship for quite a while. And by September, Laura had had enough. She filed a restraining order against him. She kicked him out of her apartment and she was ready to just be done with this guy. Then on the morning of September 2nd, she went to the leasing office and she requested that the locks be changed on her apartment. So later that same day, maintenance workers came, they replaced the locks, and she finally

• 38:00Annie Elise?

  felt like she had this like sense of relief and safety, like, okay, he's out of the apartment. The locks are changed. I'm safe. I'm away from him. I have a restraining order. She even called her mom and her best friend on a three-way phone call so that they could all together celebrate her freedom from this monster. However, the celebratory call was cut short because while she was on that phone call, her mom and her best friend heard Laura shout out, "Oh my God, he's here." Then that statement was quickly followed up by the sound of the phone hitting the ground. And then they continuously heard Laura screaming. Her best friend quickly hung up the phone and called 911 and then her mom ran to her car so that she could drive over there and get there, both of them kind of attacking both sides of this.

• 38:44Annie Elise?

  Now, I'm unsure of the exact details, but at some point during this attack, Laura managed to either break free or grab her phone that had fallen to the ground and she tried to call her best friend back in the middle of this attack. And she left behind a 37-second voicemail. And on this voicemail, she's heard screaming, "He's gonna kill me," and also, "Get away from me," all of which can be heard on this audio recording. It is just terrifying. And according to authorities, the entire attack was recorded. And during it, Craig never said a word. The prosecutor said, quote, "You don't hear the defendant on it. His silence is absolutely deafening. He enjoys taking his time and killing her."

• 39:29Annie Elise?

  So Craig stabbed Laura multiple times with multiple knives. He even almost sliced her nose entirely off. He also stabbed her twice in the chest and plunged another knife so hard into her head that the blade of this knife bent, very similar to the Tristan Bailey case where she was stabbed with such force that the tip of the knife broke off inside her skull. In this case, the blade bent. So with this kind of barbaric and brutal attack, by the time the police arrived on the scene, it was too late. Laura was sadly pronounced dead. Now, the trial to prosecute Craig began this past April 22nd, just a couple of weeks ago.

• 40:11Annie Elise?

  And three of Craig's ex-girlfriends actually came into this trial and they testified against him. All three of them described either being choked, slapped, or abused in some way by him. One of them even said that he hit her over the head with a wine bottle. All three of them had also taken out previous restraining orders on him as well. And you're not going to believe what the defense claimed during all of this, which I get it, the defense has to throw something up, trying to make something or anything stick, right? But Craig had the nerve to claim that Laura is the one who attacked him, that she was the true aggressor. That he was the one in fear of his life. So he claimed, you know what? No, this is all a complete mistake. I killed her in self-defense. Mind you, Craig is six feet tall. He also weighs 220.

• 40:56Annie Elise?

  He towered over Laura. She was only 5'3" and she weighed 120 pounds. So we're talking about an eight-inch height difference and a 100-pound weight difference between the two of them. So I'm sorry, I'm not buying it. And why would she be the aggressor on you when she kicked your sorry ass out, locked the doors, changed the locks, and was calling her mom and her best friend to celebrate the fact that you were out of her life? Right? Like, it just makes no sense. However, Craig did have shallow wounds to his body, yet an expert testified that those marks and those wounds, the like slashes, were self-inflicted. So, meaning after he stabbed Laura to death, he took a knife, you know, took it, cut himself superficially on his arms to pretend that it was some sort of defensive wound and that she was the aggressor.

• 41:41Annie Elise?

  The prosecution, of course, though, paints a much different story than Craig and the defense. They said that once Craig killed Laura, he attempted to flee the scene entirely and that it's evidenced by his blood being found at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to her apartment. Also, a pool of blood that was found near the entrance of her home. So two separate points, far from where the actual attack took place, indicating, no, he wasn't getting attacked and then called the police and he had just tried to defend himself. He attacked her, he fled the scene, and there's a blood trail to illustrate that. According to Craig's statement to the police after this incident took place, he claimed that he and Laura had argued for an hour before the confrontation. However, Laura's mom and best friend testified, no, we heard no such argument.

• 42:26Annie Elise?

  We were on the phone with her. We listened to the entire attack. There was no confrontation. Thankfully, Craig was convicted of the murder on April 29th. So Laura did get justice, although, of course, that does not bring her back. Now really quickly, I do want to let you know because if you're like me, you binge Netflix, you watch all of the documentaries the second they're released. And there is a new Netflix documentary that's releasing tomorrow called A Deadly American Marriage. And it's about Jason Corbett. Now, he was killed back in 2015 by his wife Molly and Molly's father, Thomas. She had used a brick to like smash him over the head, incapacitate him, and then her father, Thomas, beat him to death with a baseball bat. However, her father, Thomas, argued that the reason he got involved and intervened

• 43:11Annie Elise?

  was because of a domestic disturbance between the two of them. That Jason was actually strangling his daughter Molly, that they had this entire troubled marriage where he had this history of being abusive. The problem was, not everybody bought this story. And it only got more and more complex and confusing from there because Molly was actually Jason's second wife. She had been his nanny or au pair after his first wife had passed away. She even had accused him of killing his first wife. So there were a lot of different things within this case. I'm interested to know what you think after you watch the documentary. But I covered it last year on my YouTube channel, 10 to Life. I will link the episode in the show notes.

• 43:53Annie Elise?

  And like I always say, these Netflix series, documentaries, docu-series, whatever it is, they don't necessarily do the full deep dive like you know we like to do. So whether you're going to watch it or not, I encourage you to also take a look at our episode because you know we go into the nitty gritty. And maybe you've heard of this case, or maybe you've already watched my episode, but I will link it in the show notes. But other than that, tomorrow, we have an all-new episode that is completely ad-free. It is a mini-deep dive. It is a deep dive into a very interesting case, kind of involving, you know, a power couple in the making, yet they were far from perfect when you really examined the relationship. There were a lot of things and a lot of questions that investigators are still trying to answer to this day.

• 44:36Annie Elise?

  It's a more recent case, so there's a lot of unanswered questions. But it was a very shocking discovery. The discovery of a body, the... Dynamics between the two of them. I'll let you decide what you think, but it is a current ongoing case. And again, that releases tomorrow. Also tomorrow, we will release week three of the Karen Reed trial recap, where I break down everything that went down this week in the Karen Reed retrial for you. And Elaine is also going to, of course, be joining us so she can break it down to you, too. She is our correspondent in Boston, boots on the ground, and she has given us all the key takeaways from being there. So check back for that. All right, thanks so much for talking with me today. I appreciate you tuning in for another episode of Headline Highlights. I will be back on the mic with you first thing Monday morning with an all new deep dive case.

• 45:20Annie Elise?

  But I actually will be on the mic with you before then, too, because we have a lot of stuff going on in the next two days. So check the feed. And if you aren't following the podcast already, take a quick second, whatever phone, whatever app you're using, iPhone user, Android user, no shame. I love them both. But whatever podcast app you're listening on, just double check in the top corner that you're following so that way you don't miss these episodes that I do release outside of the normal release schedule. All right, I will talk with you very, very soon. But until the next one, have a great weekend, stay safe, be nice, don't kill anyone, and don't join any cults. All right, bye.

• 46:07Speaker 08

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