264: New East Coast Serial Killer, TikToker Murders Family, and Celebrity Hairstylist Murder Plot

This week on Headline Highlights, a celebrity hairstylist is found murdered in cold blood. A poisoned Easter gift meant for revenge ends in the tragic death of a 7-year-old boy. Seven bodies have been discovered across New England—could a serial killer be on the loose? An Australian mother is kidnapped and assaulted in front of her kids in a horrifying home invasion. And a TikTok influencer is accused of slamming her car into a mother and her three kids who were pedestrians.🔎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/id1519456164Follow Annie on Socials 📸 🩷Instagram: @ _annieelise💜TikTok: @_annieelise🗞️ Substack: @annieelise💙Facebook: @10tolife⭐️Sponsors ⭐️Smalls: For 35% off your first order, head to http://Smalls.com and use code AE. Factor: Get started at http://Factormeals.com/ae50off and use code AE50OFF to get 50% off your box plus free shipping! 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 🔗7News Australia9 News AustraliaABC NewsABC News (Australia)Boston 25 NewsCBS NewsCourt TVFox NewsLaw & CrimeLocal 12 WKRCLondon Evening StandardLos Angeles TimesNew York PostNews.com.auPeople.comTrue Crime News*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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• 1:07Speaker 01

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• 1:34Annie Elise?

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

• 1:57Annie Elise?

  Hey, everybody. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serial Sleek. I am your host, Annie Elise, and we are breaking down everything that is happening in true crime this week. And if you are a true Crime enthusiast, I guess we'll call it like myself. You know, this week there has been no shortage. I mean, we have Lori Vallow's trial wrapping up. Karen Reed's trial is well underway. There is so much going on and there are so many new cases that we need to talk about. But let me just start really quick with Karen Reed. Whether you are familiar with this case and have been following it, or if maybe you just now are starting to get interested in the case as it's going to retrial. I did do this last episode on Monday where it wasn't like a full, like crazy nitty gritty,

• 2:42Annie Elise?

  deep dive into the case, but I wanted to do an episode where all of the information was in one place. So that if you wanted to watch this retrial, now that there's so much interest in it, I want you to feel like you can jump in at any moment and be fully versed on what's going on. So in the episode, we talk about, you know, the Google searches, the shady text messages, the phones that were conveniently destroyed, all the red flags, all the shadiness and like everything going on in the case. So again, that way, if you want to now watch the retrial, because if you didn't watch the first trial, which was last spring, it ended with a hung jury in a mistrial and now they are retrying her. And this case has just gone viral everywhere because so many people are screaming corruption, cover up.

• 3:26Annie Elise?

  You know, why are people Googling how long to die in the cold at two in the morning? When the body wasn't found until six in the morning, there is a lot of shadiness going on. So broke it all down for you on Monday so that now you can jump in if you want and follow the new trial. We also are live streaming the trial every single day over on my YouTube channel, 10 to Life, where we have a live chat going. I jump on screen in between breaks and talk with you about what we're hearing. And so if you want to, you know, really get in the true crime weeds of it with us, you definitely can over there. Now, before I jump into all of the new cases and things that we need to talk about, about what's happening this week in true crime, if you're a brand new listener, I just want to let you know what it is we do over here on Serialistly.

• 4:10Annie Elise?

  Basically, it's your true crime headquarters. I give you guys full case deep dives every single Monday. Every Thursday, we do headline highlights where I break down what's happening this week in true crime. Some of the viral cases and other cases that maybe you don't know about. And I try to just have the conversation with you like I'm talking with a friend or like I'm talking with my sister Amy, just breaking it down for you in a casual way, calling out the red flags and just kind of having a conversation about it. So like you're talking with a friend. So hopefully I hit the mark with that, but you tell me, I guess. But that's what we do over here. So there are a lot of cases we need to get into today. I'm going to stop talking. I'm going to jump right in because they are wild. I mean, we're talking jealousy, deceit, a possible serial killer in New England,

• 4:53Annie Elise?

  a lot to go over. And let's talk about this first case that it has to do with a celebrity hairstylist who was found murdered at his own home. Because this first story, it is a wild one. And it's a case that I've been watching and keeping my eye on for quite some time. It involves all the things too, right? Sex, money, murder, betrayal. I mean, you name it. So Fabio Semenelli was a 49-year-old man who was originally from Toronto, Canada, but had moved with his wife Monica and his two teenage daughters to the Woodland Hills area of California. They moved back in 2007. He's a celebrity hairstylist. He even had recently been promoted to the Vice President of Education for Wella, which if you're not familiar with Wella, that is like a salon brand where they have hair products,

• 5:37Annie Elise?

  color, it's just, you know, a professional brand. So he was doing really well for himself. He even styled celebrities ranging from J-Lo all the way over to Russell Crowe. I mean, just kind of a big hitter in the space, the real deal. And everybody who knew him, they just described him as this incredibly charismatic guy, this fun-loving guy, just as cliche as it sounds, a real joy to be around. That was him. And even though he was, yeah, this busy, very well-renowned hairstylist, his family is really what mattered to him the most. He loved being a father, loved being a husband, and was truly just devoted above everything else.

• 6:13Speaker 02

  He was a blessing and a positive influence to people around the world.

• 6:18Speaker 03

  A hard-working, self-made man who loved and treasured his family more than anything, who deserved better than to be betrayed by the person he loved and murdered in his own home.

• 6:30Speaker 04

  Sam and Tilly was known for his big personality and motivational advice. Here he is in 2015 telling American Salon how he would like to be remembered.

• 6:41Speaker 05

  I think about this a lot, you know, and you, you, you kind of sit in the backyard and I say to myself, you know, what do I want to be remembered for? Family, my, my friendship, my real close friendships. And then I think the third is for me, all the, all the stylists that I've touched in my life.

• 6:58Annie Elise?

  So on the surface, it looked like Fabio was living his dream life, right? I mean, he was married, he had two teenage daughters, he had this incredible career and he and his wife Monica seemed to be happily married at that. Monica was a stay at home mom, she stayed at home with their two daughters. She would fill her days, you know, playing racquetball, she had a tight knit group of girlfriends that she would spend time with and just had a picture perfect life. But what nobody realized, not even her closest friends, was that Monica was living a double life. Because it turns out that, once again, as cliche as it sounds, Monica was having an affair with her racquetball coach. His name is Robert Baker and this affair was back in 2016. And let me just tell you a little bit about Robert Baker, okay?

• 7:43Annie Elise?

  Not that he's a bad, well, no, he is, he is a bad guy. He was a convicted sex offender. He also has this history of being an adult film actor, if you catch my drift. And then for whatever reason, I don't know if like he was a failed porn star or if he just wanted to get out of the game or what it was. But then he decided to be a racquetball coach. So the two of them start having an affair, whatever she was drawn into, not quite sure, he kind of has a checkered past in my opinion, especially the fact that he was a convicted offender. But, you know, do you, do you all the live long day? So they're having an affair. But then, on the morning of January 23rd, 2017, her husband Fabio, remember, only 49 years old. He was found stabbed to death in the backyard of his beautiful California home.

• 8:28Annie Elise?

  And Fabio had suffered from seven stab wounds. They were on his neck, his chest, even his thigh. And two of his main arteries were cut during the stabbing. So these are, were essentially two. The main arteries to your body. So when you suffer a stab wound to either one of these arteries, it immediately causes massive amounts of blood loss, making it almost impossible to survive it. So they find him and they're devastated. They don't know what happened, but at first the investigators believed this was a home invasion gone wrong. I mean, there had been a string of robberies in the area around the same time, so it seemed to fit. Their home had also been ransacked, which made it appear as though that it had been burglarized. I mean, things were turned over, things were amiss. It just looked like

• 9:12Annie Elise?

  a disaster. Whoever had been in this house also stole the family's DVR from the garage where their home security footage was stored, so wanted to make sure they left with any evidence of them coming or going. And Fabio's beloved Porsche was also missing. However, as the investigators dug deeper, things started to feel a little bit off. I mean, aside from the Porsche missing, nothing of real value had been taken. Fabio was even found still wearing his Rolex. So now the pieces just weren't adding up. Surely if this was a robbery or a home invasion, they definitely would have taken his Rolex off of his wrist, right? They would have taken other things of value. Why only the vehicle? Why only the home security footage? So they started digging a little bit deeper, but

• 9:54Annie Elise?

  nothing was really turning up. His Porsche, I will say, was found a few days after he was found, but other than that, they didn't really have any real evidence to go off of. But then, a few months after the murder, police had linked DNA evidence that was recovered from the Porsche and from the crime scene back to a person, a person who was already in their system. And that person was none other than the racquetball coach, Robert Baker. Now, if you remember, he was already a convicted sex offender, so that meant that the police were able to find a match to his DNA or to this DNA evidence, I should say, very, very quickly. He was already in their system. So normally, the next step would be to bring him in for questioning, right? However, thanks to some very smart detective work on the

• 10:38Annie Elise?

  police's end, they made the call not to bring him in for questioning. They also didn't want to bring Monica in for questioning, the wife, because they thought maybe there's something more to their relationship. So Maybe we should just keep an eye on them for a while. I mean, his DNA had been linked to the crime scene. They knew that he was Monica's racquetball instructor, or coach, whatever you would call it. Pretty safe to say, there's some sort of dynamic or relationship going on there, even though the relationship wasn't known at this point. It's like, they're connecting the dots, right? So instead of bringing him in, or bringing Monica in and letting her know that they were on to him, they just started watching the two of them. And it didn't take long before they had hours worth of footage of Robert and Monica

• 11:21Annie Elise?

  just sneaking off for all kinds of secret little rendezvous. They even went on a trip to Las Vegas together. And this was just months after Monica's husband was murdered. Meanwhile, she was out there just posting these long, dramatic Facebook tributes, these posts about how she's mourning, she's grieving, she's heartbroken, she misses him so much. Yet, she's gallivanting out and making out with her racquetball coach, going on Vegas benders with him. I mean, it did not look good. Not only was this affair now confirmed, but seemingly, it also appeared that there was this non-grieving wife involved as well. Which I get it. If you're not a pessimist like me, you might be thinking, "All right, Annie, just because she was having an affair doesn't mean that she conspired with her boyfriend, Robert, to, you know, plan this actual murder.

• 12:06Annie Elise?

  It doesn't make her guilty of that." However, as they started putting all of the pieces together, the prosecutors came up with a theory. And they alleged that Monica had masterminded this entire plot to kill her husband, Fabio, all so that she could continue her affair with Robert. And even more than continuing the affair, what do we always say? Is the root of all evil why you should just get a divorce? The life insurance policy. Because sure enough, there was a $1.6 million life insurance policy that she was hoping to collect. This according to the prosecution. So it's believed that Robert, along with his friend and accomplice, Christopher Austin, had jogged to the family home that morning, both wearing hoodies that had covered their faces,

• 12:51Annie Elise?

  and then snuck into the property. Then, as they saw Fabio right there while he just sat outside in his favorite chair, watching TV, they attacked him. Then they ransacked the house to make it look like it was a robbery. They took that home surveillance footage, they stole the Porsche and they took off. Now, seems like a pretty smart plan. And on the surface, it might have worked, right? There was a string of burglaries in the area. They didn't have any concrete proof that they were on the scene because they had stolen all of that footage. But here's what Robert wasn't expecting. His accomplice, Christopher, flipped on him. Robert's accomplice, Christopher Austin, came forward and testified that Robert had actually told him Monica was the one who directed the entire murder.

• 13:34Annie Elise?

  Austin said that he never spoke to Monica directly, but that Robert made it clear that his girlfriend Monica wanted her husband, quote, "gone."

• 13:43Speaker 06

  Austin says on the day of the murder, Baker was getting calls from Monica.

• 13:47Speaker 07

  It was like, we can go up there now. She told me he was gone. So, he had been on his phone, talking and texting. Like I said, he don't really talk around me like that, does he? But it seemed like he was getting all that information from her.

• 14:03Speaker 06

  He says Monica was giving them the green light to head over to Fabio's home because he was home alone.

• 14:09Speaker 07

  He said, "We're gonna go up to the other thing. I got a call." That's when he kind of started revealing all the whole plans. Like, remember this girl? Like, "What about it?" He's like, "Yeah, I was visiting." How did he know she was there? He was there? I believe, I believe the woman called him and told him, and he told me. And what makes you believe that or is this? It's what I believe. Okay, did he tell you she said he's home? Yeah. Did he use those words? Yeah, he's like, you know, he's home.

• 14:40Annie Elise?

  Police allege that Monica's motive was a flat-out greed. That she wanted to collect on his $1.6 million life insurance policy and she wanted to start a new life with her lover, her racquetball coach instructor, former porn star, former offender, Robert Baker. Which, how selfish can you be, right? I say it a lot, and if you're new to this podcast, you'll definitely hear this phrase again, but just get a divorce. Just get a divorce. Which apparently Monica didn't really believe in divorce due to her Irish Catholic. Like upbringing, but I guess murder was on the table even though divorce was frowned upon. I mean, it makes no sense. So finally, six months after the murder, Monica and Robert were both arrested. They were both charged with first degree murder with special circumstances

• 15:25Annie Elise?

  of lying in wait and financial gain, making them eligible for the death penalty. Now, Robert pleaded no contest and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Meanwhile, Monica denied all wrongdoing and she publicly denied the affair as well, which hello, why am I not surprised? I mean, it didn't seem like this woman has an ounce of remorse in her entire body, but it was out there. It was fully, you know, public consumption at this point. Meanwhile, Robert denied that Monica had anything to do with the murder. He was trying to protect her at all costs. He even claimed, quote, "I murdered him because I wanted her. She had nothing to do with it." Now thankfully, the jury is smart and they didn't buy any of this. They didn't buy any of this that Monica wasn't

• 16:09Annie Elise?

  involved, that it was just him. And just last week, Monica was found guilty on all charges. Her sentencing is scheduled for May 2nd, so we will see what the judge hands out to her. I will definitely keep you posted. We may even do a deep dive into this case to talk through like the affair, the footage, the trips, how they caught them, everything. So if you want that deep dive, let me know, but I'm guessing we probably will do that in the coming weeks. But again, you tell me. Now let's move into another crazy case. And this one truly is bat shit crazy because a seven-year-old boy died after a woman sent poisoned Easter eggs to her ex, all out of jealousy. Let me break this down for you

• 16:51Annie Elise?

  because it truly is so unbelievable and just incredibly sad. Police arrested 35-year-old Zordelia Barboza of Brazil back on April 16th. This was after she allegedly sent poisoned Easter eggs to a new family of her ex-boyfriend. Now, police have CCTV footage of her purchasing these chocolate eggs while she's like dressed in disguise, trying to hide herself. She's wearing like this black wig, sunglasses, hiding her dyed blonde hair underneath. But then after she buys the eggs- She goes home and she laced these chocolate eggs with poison. Then she sent them to this family via, you know, a motorcycle courier service, kind of like a DoorDash almost, and it was addressed to her ex's new partner, Miriam Lira.

• 17:35Annie Elise?

  Now, it being Easter, there being a lot of candy, a lot of cause for celebrating, Miriam shared these eggs with her children, seven-year-old Luis and 13-year-old Evelyn. Now, get this, this unhinged lunatic not only sent these poison eggs, but she also included a note with them. The note read, "With love to Miriam Lira, Happy Easter." Almost as though it's like you're receiving a flower delivery or an edible arrangement like, "Oh, my gosh, Happy Easter, this is so nice, with love." Like, "Oh, my gosh, how thoughtful, who would have sent these? Here, guys, have some eggs," never suspecting that there would be poison inside of them. So, of course, her children were obviously really excited to get these chocolate Easter eggs.

• 18:17Annie Elise?

  But then shortly after eating them, Miriam's seven-year-old son became violently ill. And tragically, Luis passed away the very next day at the local hospital. Miriam and her 13-year-old daughter also became extremely sick, which they are both apparently in currently in critical condition. Which I can't even imagine what the father of this family must be dealing with right now and how livid he must be at his ex for doing this to his family. I mean, it truly, every definition of the word, it is diabolical. And I know I've said this before, but I'm sorry, if you mess with kids, you deserve to be locked away for life. There should be no ounce of bail, bond, restriction, supervised release, nothing.

• 18:59Annie Elise?

  Like, you hurt a child, lock him up forever. Now thankfully, the police didn't waste any time arresting her. They arrested her that same day, which is pretty amazing. And they reportedly also found the receipt for the chocolate eggs, the two wigs, scissors, cards, a saw knife, and the suspected drugs. The receipt was literally just in her possession. She didn't even try to get rid of it, which, thank goodness, right? We love to see a paper trail, but obviously, that's also very indicative of her guilt. Clearly, she's not the sharpest tool in the shed. So it appears to the investig- That this awful crime all stemmed from jealousy and from the desire for revenge on her ex-husband, which that just breaks my heart. It's like because you're a psycho ex-girlfriend

• 19:41Annie Elise?

  or ex-partner who can't move on with your life. Now a seven-year-old child has lost his life because you wanted to poison your ex's new family? How selfish and unhinged can you be? It is just appalling and heartbreaking and just so disgusting. Now, I want to talk to you too, because I've been getting so many DMs from you guys about this potential serial killer in New England. I want to break down what is going on there in addition to some other cases we have to talk about. But before we do that, we are going to take a quick break and hear from the sponsors of today's episode.

• 20:20Annie Elise?

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• 21:04Annie Elise?

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• 21:49Annie Elise?

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• 22:33Annie Elise?

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• 23:17Annie Elise?

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• 24:11Annie Elise?

  Okay, so let's talk about this alleged serial killer in New England, right? Because this next story has been blowing up this last week, and honestly, rightfully so. Since March 2025, police have now recovered the remains of seven bodies. This is across Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, which it's of course now ramping up concerns that there might be a serial killer in the area. And you guys, it's now only April and seven bodies have been discovered since early March. I mean, that's not just unusual, it is very alarming. I don't even know what the statistics of that would be, but I gotta say, probably pretty rare. Now, it's unclear if the deaths of these seven victims are related in any way, and police are saying that there's no cause for concern,

• 24:55Annie Elise?

  that they aren't seeing any connections between the seven different cases. They're actually adamant that there's no known threat to the public at this time. However, we've heard that before, right? Like, of course, they're not gonna be like, "Yeah, be on alert, there's a serial killer out there." If they don't have concrete evidence of that, they're not gonna like fear monger and put that out into the universe, and nobody's buying what they're selling. Everybody believes that there's something more to it. Speculation across the internet is growing significantly. There's even a Facebook page that has been created called "The New England Serial Killer", and it has over 15,000 members. Members of this group are very convinced that there is indeed a threat to the public out there in the New England area. They even compare notes and possible links and connections among all of the different cases,

• 25:37Annie Elise?

  like weaving them together, being like, "Uh, there are connections, there are ties." Like, why isn't the police saying anything? Apparently, at least four of the victims have been identified as women, and the remains of the other victims have not yet been identified. But I can't help but find this eerily similar to the deep dive that I did a couple of weeks ago about the possible serial killer in Austin, Texas. And you guys like blew that episode up because it is so concerning. And the day that that episode was released, it was announced that there was another body found. And sure enough, similar to this case, police are denying that there's any possibility of a serial killer. So I don't know if they're just trying to prevent mass panic at this point, or if maybe-

• 26:17Annie Elise?

  They're trying to sweep it under the rug, you tell me, but seven bodies in like a month feels like grounds for a little bit of concern. Now, I will say that the family of one of the victims, 56-year-old Michelle Romano, they did state that they do not believe that Michelle's passing had anything to do with a serial killer. They even followed that up by saying, quote, "We have complete faith in the Rhode Island State Police and our private investigator that the person responsible will be brought to justice sooner rather than later." Which I don't know, you guys have all been requesting this, you have been pinging me left and right, and I want to know what you guys think on this case. Do you think that the discovery of seven bodies in less than two months now, probably even less than that actually, could just be a coincidence?

• 27:01Annie Elise?

  Or do you think that there is cause for concern and that there is a potential serial killer out there? I'm going to dive in deeper to this too, like, you know, you know, I'm already in the Facebook group, guys, you know me. So, we are going to dive in deeper and we probably will do a follow-up on this, but wanted to at least bring it to your attention now. Now, let's talk about this next case because it takes us over to Sydney, Australia, and it is truly terrifying. But on April 17th, around 10:30 PM, five masked men forcibly entered a family's home in Bankstown, which Bankstown is a suburb right outside of Sydney. Now, there were two young children in this home as well, ages eight and 15, and heartbreakingly,

• 27:41Annie Elise?

  they just sat back and had to watch in horror as their mom was stripped naked and held at gunpoint. And at some point throughout this home invasion, the eight-year-old boy was severely injured with a baseball bat. These masked intruders, who first arrived in a white sedan and a black SUV, then dragged the mother outside into the back of the car that was waiting for them. And there's even CCTV footage of this, which you guys can see on the YouTube version of this episode, where you see them, like, the actual kidnapping happened, where they drag her out of the house and into this car, it is horrifying. A neighbor's doorbell camera across the street is what caught the incident, and it's a little bit difficult to see because there are trees and cars kind of blocking part of the view, but you can make out five men entering the home.

• 28:25Annie Elise?

  And then, a short time later, you can see the woman kicking And fighting as she's being carried away. It is so, so scary, so sad and devastating for these kids. I mean, I cannot even imagine how terrified her children were as they watched their mom being kidnapped by these evil men. And as a mom, I also can't help but think about how awful it would be knowing that your kids had to witness such a horrific crime, that they're not with you, like what's going to happen to them? Like, your mind would go a million different directions. I mean, those final thoughts would just be excruciating. And unfortunately, from there, things only got worse. Because approximately an hour later, around 11:30 PM, police responded to a call about a car fire. Fire and rescue crews worked very hard to extinguish the fire, and when they did, they

• 29:10Annie Elise?

  could not believe what they discovered inside. Inside the car were the remains of a human body. And although a formal identification has yet to take place, the police do feel pretty certain that they are the remains of this kidnapped mother, 45-year-old Kim Tran. She's originally from Vietnam, and her family says that she moved to Australia for a better life and to raise her family, which, talk about a gut punch, right? So the police held a press conference on April 18th, and they described this as a, quote, "violent and targeted attack." And I always find that very interesting. When they say targeted, what more is there to this story? Who was involved in this? Who were these five people involved?

• 29:53Speaker 04

  Homicide detectives and State Crime Command are now investigating if threats were made to associates of Ms. Tran before she was murdered, and whether she was just an innocent target killed because someone known to her had ripped off a drug syndicate.

• 30:09Speaker 06

  It's the latest in a number of incidents potentially linked to Asian crime. In December last year, the bodies of couples Sally Lee and Rex Chen were found dumped and wrapped in plastic at Botany, the couple allegedly murdered because they owed money. Open the door! And in May, four men were arrested after allegedly setting fire to a barber shop and a home in Fairfield West, the wrong targets, in an alleged feud between Asian crime gangs. In Sydney's southwest.

• 30:39Annie Elise?

  According to Superintendent Rodney Hart of the New South Wales Police, the youngest son had to be placed in a medically induced coma due to the severity of his injuries. At this time, he is currently listed in stable but critical condition. And as far as the older son, he also suffered some injuries and had to be taken to the hospital as well. But the police do expect him to make a full recovery, thank God. The boy's father, who's also the victim's husband, was reportedly out of town in Queensland on a business trip during the time of this attack.

• 31:10Speaker 03

  Now, this crime is horrendous. The level of violence is unheard of, but I want to reassure the community that we strongly believe that this is a targeted incident and that this has not been a random kidnapping. The two children are our main focus. Their welfare and their security is paramount to us.

• 31:32Annie Elise?

  Now, while I think it's great that in this press conference, they're reassuring the public that they have nothing to worry about, that this was targeted, that, you know, there's not an open threat to the community. I do think that there's an open threat to the children, right? Maybe even to the husband, unless he was involved, which I'm just throwing that out there. We don't know anything other, we have no idea. But he was out of town on a business trip, five men come, I don't know, we'll see. I'm not trying to like implicate him, but if he's not involved, it's like then there certainly is still a threat to the children and to the father, right? Who's to say these people aren't going to come back and try to finish the job and try to scrape off any witnesses who may have seen their face or heard their voices, right? It's just so disturbing.

• 32:14Annie Elise?

  It is horrifying and I cannot help but wonder what was going on in that poor woman's mind when she was being taken away from her children. It is like, it's almost unbearable to even think about. It truly is. It's every parent and every woman's mother's worst nightmare come true. Now, speaking of a worst nightmare for a mom and her kids, I want to talk to you about this next case because a mom and her two children are dead after a TikTok influencer hit them with her car. And you guys know how some of these cases can get me like. Really riled up, right? Well, this case is definitely one of them. Miriam Yarimi is a 32-year-old wig maker from New York, and she's also somewhat of a TikTok influencer.

• 32:59Annie Elise?

  Which honestly, I kinda do say that very loosely, because I don't really even want to give her the satisfaction of thinking that she is some famous TikTok star. But I will say, she does have a moderate following, where she talks about her wig business, she gets some shares, some follows, things like that. But on these TikToks, if you're like me, you can just tell that this woman is crazy. Like, a lot of her videos, she just comes across as very unhinged, and she also talks about her many, many run-ins with the law. Something about her is just very off-putting. Take a listen.

• 33:29Speaker 06

  You could be watching me right now and be like, "Oh my god, this girl again." But you know what? I'm still here, bitch. After everything that I've been through, after all the bullshit, I came out on top this year. I won my lawsuit. I am where I am. I just got back from a beautiful vacation with my daughter, and yet you're still there, looking at me, hating on me. What have you done this year? Looked at me, lived through me, copied my ideas, and talked shit about me. But yet, all my supporters were there for me still. And they continue to be there for me. And I don't need anybody but my daughter to thrive in this world. But it helps when you're loving and kind and supportive. But if you're an asshole,

• 34:13Speaker 06

  I'm gonna air you out publicly this year. Nobody's going under the dust anymore. We are airing shit out. If you wanna be a dickhead, and if you wanna be disgusting, we're gonna find you, and we're gonna expose you. And that's how 2025 is gonna be.

• 34:27Annie Elise?

  Just comes across as like rude and bitchy, right? So anyway, on March 29th, 2025, Miriam was driving her Audi at 68 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone. She blew through a red light, and she slammed into another car. Now, the impact from this collision. It caused Miriam's car to roll and travel over 100 feet away from the crash. And there, her car then hit and obliterated a mother and her three children, who were just walking home. from their synagogue service. The victims of this horrific crash were 32 year old Natasha Sada, seven year old Diana and five year old Deborah, who all sadly lost their lives. Meanwhile, Natasha's four year old son Philip,

• 35:12Annie Elise?

  he barely survived. He suffered skull fractures, brain bleeding. He even had to have one of his kidneys removed. He also still is in an induced coma fighting for his life. But I mean, fortunately, he survived. But how do you even like tell a four year old that he lost his mother and his two sisters in all of this? It's so devastating and heartbreaking. And I mean, if you look at the pictures of these kids, they are so sweet, so cute. I mean, Diana, the seven year old, had this adorable toothless little grin. She was missing her two front teeth and just had like the sweetest little smile. It's just so devastating. And I need to just talk to you about Miriam's driving record because my jaw is literally on the floor. At the time of the crash,

• 35:56Annie Elise?

  Miriam had nearly 100 traffic violations on her record. 100, one, zero, zero. I didn't even know it was possible to get that many traffic violations and not have to serve some sort of jail time.

• 36:08Speaker 04

  According to a New York website that aggregates public information about traffic violations connected to license plates, Ms. Yurimi has racked up almost 100 traffic tickets in just the past three years. Quite an achievement. As Yurimi showed off in a TikTok video, her license plate is quite memorable. Guys, I just got my new license plate. It's official. I'm officially a wig maker by law.

• 36:40Speaker 04

  It looks so good. Wig maker [BLEEP]. Hit me up. Oh, my God, just pull me over. Like, get at me. Now, in 2023, records show that Yurimi got a personalized license plate that said wig maker. And not long after, she updated her plate for unknown reasons to say wig maker with an eight in place of the A. According to the website How's My Driving NY, that plate had nearly 100 traffic violations. Connected to it between September 2023 and March 2025 when Yurimi was arrested for this crash. And the site shows that Yurimi's wig maker, again with an eight, that license plate, has been associated with 70 parking violations and 21 speeding tickets.

• 37:23Speaker 04

  And she's been caught on camera running red lights at least five times.

• 37:27Annie Elise?

  And here's the real kicker. Her driver's license was suspended, which, I mean, obviously makes sense if you have close to 100 violations on your record. But still, I mean, the selfishness and the stupidity of this woman, I can't. All because she clearly didn't think that the law applied to her. And now this innocent family is destroyed forever. And if that didn't make you hate her enough, I mean, wait until I tell you about her behavior at the scene of the crash. Because when the police and the paramedics arrived on scene, she apparently told first responders that she, quote, "had the devil in her." She also kept asking the police, "Where's my phone? Where's my phone? My phone was left in the car. My phone is still at the scene." I mean, this woman was more worried about her phone than the fact that she just annihilated

• 38:11Annie Elise?

  an entire family so recklessly, so callously. Then, once they transported her to the hospital to treat her minor injuries, she continued to just go on this crazy rant. She was yelling at the officers, you know, "Take me out of these cuffs. Why can't you uncuff me? I'm a wig maker for crying out loud. I have the devil in my eyes. I'm possessed." I mean, it's unhinged. She even started yelling out claims, saying, "The CIA is after me. I didn't kill them. God did. I'm not crazy. I'm an angel." I mean, literally enough to just make you want to just like, "Ugh." You know, it's just so infuriating. Now, due to all of these alarming declarations or remarks, whatever you would call them,

• 38:52Annie Elise?

  Miriam was sent to Bellevue's hospital psychiatric ward so that she could have a full mental evaluation. Her defense team also requested additional psychiatric assessments. Miriam was obviously arrested, and she was charged on a 20-count indictment. And just to name a few of these indictments: three counts of second-degree murder, three counts of criminally negligent homicide, four counts of second-degree assault.

• 39:17Annie Elise?

  reckless driving and the list goes on and on and on. So she appeared in court on April 16th, where she then had the nerve to plead not guilty on all 20 charges. And not only that, but it said that she was smiling the entire time that she pleaded not guilty. I told you, this woman is truly hateable, if that's even a word. I mean, through and through. Thankfully, she was denied bail and she's going to remain behind bars until her next scheduled court appearance on June 11th. But I say sayonara. I just pray that this family recovers. That poor little boy, I cannot even imagine having to tell that little boy that his family is gone. It is just so sad. It is so, so sad. All right. Now, as I said, if you want a deep dive into a

• 40:01Annie Elise?

  case, you gotta go listen to Karen Reed, which we put out on Monday. I also have another deep dive, of course, because they come out every Monday, this upcoming Monday, which is, I don't even know. It's like the definition of a roller coaster, but it is so twisted. It's about like a possessive best friend, not willing to stop it and like, who won't stop at anything to have this friend all to herself. I mean, the level of depravity and just unhingedness in this case is unspeakable. Also, if you feel like you ever need more content to binge because you're running out of things, we do put out extra episodes every single Friday where we do a deep dive into another case we haven't talked about, or like a mini deep dive, I should say. And this week's

• 40:42Annie Elise?

  case is a fairly recent one. It also is from Australia, which I know we also talked about today, but the trial just wrapped up and it's about a couple who were social media influencers who dabbled with like crypto, lifestyle stuff, had all this money, vacations, cars, luxury, you name it. But come to find out, there was incredible amount of debt, insurance fraud, recorded conversations, a murder, a cover up, a very wild case. So that comes out this Friday. And those are all ad free too. So you don't have to listen to the ads. It's just extra content for you. And you can get access to that either on patreon.com slash Annie Elise, or directly through Apple Podcasts.

• 41:27Annie Elise?

  All right, guys. Other than that, I am going to continue streaming the Karen Reed trial with you guys every single day. Let me know your thoughts as that continues to unfold, and thank you for tuning in to another episode of Serialistically. As I always sign off, be nice, don't kill people, don't join any cults, and just get a divorce. All right, guys, I will be back with you on Monday, but until then, stay safe. Bye.

• 42:02Speaker 01

  Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. It's the tangiest time of the year. For a limited time, head to McDonald's and get a McRib sandwich. Make it a meal by adding a medium fries and a soft drink like an ice cold Diet Dr. Pepper. So grab a McRib sandwich and embrace the tang. Save time by ordering ahead on the app at participating McDonald's for a limited time. Dr. Pepper is a registered trademark of Dr. Pepper, 7-Up Inc.

• 42:27Speaker 04

  Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Roof repair? Done well. Kitchen sink install? Done well. Deck upgrades? Done well. Electrical upgrades? Done well. Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled pros for nearly 30 years, so we know the difference between done and done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at angie.com.