Case 349: Michael Wallace & David Castor

In 2000, the Wallace family is shattered when patriarch Michael dies of apparent heart disease. Years later, his widow Stacey remarries David Castor. Tragedy strikes again when David is found dead in a pool of his own vomit, apparently the result of suicide. But as inconsistencies begin to surface and investigators take a closer look, attention turns to Stacey herself… --- Narration – Anonymous Host https://www.instagram.com/caseys.snaps/ Research & writing – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas http://mikemigas.com/ Audio editing – Anthony Telfer Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/casefile-true-crime/id998568017?ign-itscg=30200S&ign-itsct=casefile_podcastsSpotify Premium https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/9gSwcv7USsbPatreon https://www.patreon.com/casefileFor all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-349-michael-wallace-david-castor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  At 2:00 PM on Monday, August 22, 2005, 38-year-old Stacy Castor called the police. She was the office manager at her husband David's heating and air conditioning business, and he hadn't shown up for work that day. Stacy was concerned because David had been acting erratically lately. Over the weekend, the couple had an argument that culminated in David yelling at Stacy to take the kids and get out. He also warned her that if she ever left him, he would make her sorry. Afterward, he locked himself in the bedroom of their home in the town of Clay, New York.

• 3:46Speaker 00

  Stacy hadn't heard from David since. She tried calling him at home, but he didn't answer. She told the police she couldn't understand why he was acting this way, but admitted that he had been depressed lately.

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  She agreed to meet an officer at the house so they could conduct a welfare check. Sergeant Robert Willoughby arrived at the Castor's home and found Stacy sitting in a lawn chair out the front. Given the situation, her body language was unusually relaxed. She explained that she'd been waiting for the police to arrive before she entered the house. Stacy let Sergeant Willoughby inside, stopping in the kitchen while he continued toward the main bedroom. He found it unusual that she showed little interest in checking on her husband herself. Willoughby tried the bedroom door and found it locked.

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  He knocked loudly and identified himself, but received no response. Unsure whether David was inside, Willoughby walked around the outside of the house to see if he could look into the room through a window. The blinds were closed, so he retrieved a ladder to check a higher window, but still couldn't get a clear view.

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  Sergeant Willoughby went back inside. Stacy followed him for a moment before inexplicably disappearing into the garage. With no other option, Willoughby kicked open the bedroom door.

• 5:23Speaker 00

  Inside, he found 48-year-old David Castor lying naked on the bed. He was motionless, turned on his side, and facing the wall. What appeared to be reddish-brown vomit had pooled around his head and was caked on his hands. Clothes and bedding scattered messily throughout the room also appeared to be stained with vomit. One of David's hands was stiff and curled in a claw-like position, as though he had been gripping a glass. On the nightstand beside the bed were remnants of cranberry juice, a bottle of apricot brandy, and a short glass half-filled with a bright green liquid.

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  From outside the room, Stacy called out, asking whether her husband was okay.

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  Willoughby checked David's pulse before responding. No, he's not.

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  Stacy Castor appeared at the bedroom door, saw her husband on the bed, and screamed. She started yelling hysterically, "Bring him back, bring him back. He's not dead. He's not dead."

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  A forensic examiner who soon arrived at the scene concluded that David Castor had only been deceased for a short time. Mucus dripping from his mouth and nose suggested that he had died from some type of poison. The focus turned to the glass of bright green liquid on his nightstand. It didn't smell like liquor, but appeared to be antifreeze, a liquid used in vehicle cooling systems to regulate engine temperature.

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  A blue plastic bottle of Peak brand antifreeze was discovered on the bedroom floor, partially tucked under the bed frame directly underneath David's overhanging feet. It appeared that he had consumed the poisonous antifreeze and taken his own life. But something was off about the scene. On the side of the bed closest to the door, a trail of vomit ran down the bare mattress and pooled on the rug below. The bottle of antifreeze was positioned on its side on top of the pooled vomit, but the container itself was notably clean. It appeared as though the bottle had been placed there after David vomited.

• 8:14Speaker 00

  Even the glass of antifreeze on the nightstand looked remarkably clean, given David's state and the room in general. A loaded shotgun was also found under the bed. Stacy hadn't mentioned it, so the police were surprised to find it.

• 8:32Speaker 00

  In the adjacent bathroom, a towel rack had been torn from the wall, but nothing else appeared amiss in the rest of the house. Meanwhile, Stacy remained in a state of denial about her husband's death, demanding that paramedics come to the house and save him.

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  When questioned at the scene, she revealed that David had been drinking copious amounts of alcohol that weekend and had not been acting like himself.

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  Stacy said she hadn't been at home the day before, as she'd been out shopping. She said she'd gone to Walmart and had a receipt to prove it, but couldn't remember what she had done with it and that she must have thrown it away. Police searched the kitchen bin in an attempt to find the receipt. Barely hidden beneath a few pieces of paper, they discovered a turkey baster. It appeared to be brand-new and contained a few small drops of green liquid, confirmed to be antifreeze.

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  Stacy Castor went on to provide an eight-page statement detailing the lead-up to her husband’s death. While she appeared shaken, her account was coherent, clear, and highly detailed, not something typically seen in newly widowed people experiencing shock. Simply stating that she had gone to a fast-food restaurant wasn’t enough. She described pulling into the drive-thru and listed every item she purchased, including the sizes. She recalled the specific brand of cigarettes she bought at a convenience store, the people she spoke to on the phone, and the names of friends she ran into.

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  Stacy repeatedly described David as being depressed, anxious, and stressed, something she said was exacerbated by the recent death of his father and business troubles. Referring to David as melancholy by nature, she also claimed he was unhappy with himself and his perceived inadequacies, which led to low self-esteem. According to Stacy, David often lamented that he didn’t have long to live. He believed his blood pressure was dangerously high and that he could drop dead any day. Although David often talked about what would happen if he were gone, asking Stacy what she would do and how she would survive,

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  he didn’t seem afraid of death itself. What really frightened him was the prospect of a medical episode that would leave him incapacitated. He didn’t want his family burdened with his long-term care or medical expenses.

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  While Stacy admitted that she and David were prone to arguments, she said they had become more frequent in the week before his death. Their second wedding anniversary passed without celebration, and she described the relationship as having lost its spark. Stacy even admitted that she had begun seeing another man. For his part, David had tried to bring some romance back into the relationship by suggesting they go on a second honeymoon, but Stacy didn’t think it was practical. She felt they would have to take their daughters with them, as the youngest was 15, and Stacy thought she was still too young to stay home alone for two weeks. This led to their biggest argument yet.

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  David had always carried some resentment about being a stepfather to Stacy’s two girls, and he often expressed jealousy when she gave them attention instead of him. It was this latest fight that led to David locking himself in the bedroom on the night of Friday, August 19.

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  When he eventually emerged, he and Stacy spent the next seven hours arguing on and off about their many issues. Stacy recalled David drinking a glass of soda during the ordeal. When she asked for a sip, he told her, “Get your own.” She thought he was simply being difficult, but in hindsight, she wondered whether he had put something in the drink to harm himself and didn’t want her to be affected as well.

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  While David had never been violent towards Stacy, she said that the recent change in his demeanor made her feel as though he could lash out at any moment, and she became afraid to talk to him.

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  Over the weekend, David continued to isolate himself in the bedroom and to drink heavily, at times vomiting all over himself. Stacy said she tried to help by cleaning up, keeping David hydrated, and rubbing his sore feet. As his condition worsened, she repeatedly asked whether he needed medical attention, but David refused. On Saturday, David passed out on the bedroom floor, and Stacy had to call a friend to help lift him onto the bed. The friend verified this account, stating that David was completely out of it and didn’t even recognize him despite having known him for years.

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  Stacy was in and out of the house throughout the day, but said she checked in on David whenever she was home.

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  She also claimed she called him regularly while she was out.

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  At 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 21, Stacy said she heard David dry ratcheting in the bedroom and went in to make sure he was okay. She found him naked and convulsing. He yelled at her to leave him alone and to get the fuck out of the house, ordering her to take her children with her. Stacy shut the door and left the house with her daughters, fearing what David might do if she didn’t. It was the last time she saw him alive.

• 14:33Speaker 00

  To Stacy, it seemed that David wasn’t going to stop until he had drunk himself to death. At 7:30 on the morning of Monday, August 22, she went to their shared workplace alone. She gave David time to sort himself out, but as the day wore on and he failed to appear, she began to have a bad feeling. When she was unable to reach him, that’s when she decided to call the police. The Castor family’s relatives and friends painted a very different picture of David and Stacy’s marriage. When the couple had tied the knot two years earlier, things had reportedly started well, with David described as treating Stacy like a princess.

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  Aware that people could behave very differently in public than behind closed doors, investigators started looking into David’s background for any red flags. There wasn’t anything particularly unusual about him. David had lived in the general area all his life and knew a lot of people. He was an avid outdoorsman with lots of hobbies. He particularly enjoyed snowmobiles and motorcycles, interests that Stacy outwardly supported, riding with him as his passenger. As time went on, cracks in David and Stacy’s marriage began to show. Most of their issues revolved around Stacy’s two teenage daughters, Ashley and Bree,

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  who didn’t get along with David. Stacy described her husband as having a “king of the castle” attitude towards her girls. They saw him as dictatorial and resented his lack of patience and his “my-way-or-the-highway” approach. Stacy tried to warn David that the girls wouldn’t obey him without question, but he didn’t listen. Conflicts and arguments were frequent, especially between David and Ashley, who was more upfront about her feelings. David told others that Ashley was selfish and disrespectful.

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  Ashley openly admitted that she didn’t get along with David. He constantly alternated between wanting to be a father figure to her and her sister and not wanting anything to do with them. Ashley and Bree missed their lives with their mother before David came into the picture and resented that he took up most of her time. They had overheard the fiery arguments between the two, which usually took place in the garage in an attempt to keep the girls out of it. Ashley told the police that she didn’t see David at all on the weekend before his death, while Bree admitted to opening his bedroom door and seeing him on the floor in his underwear.

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  Regardless of their family issues, the girls were shocked and upset to learn that David had taken his own life. They’d been completely unaware that he was depressed, yet their mother assured them that he was.

• 17:39Speaker 00

  David Castor’s autopsy revealed the presence of microscopic crystals in his kidneys, which confirmed he had consumed a fatal amount of antifreeze. Antifreeze poisoning results in a gradual buildup of symptoms, starting with slurred speech, confusion, poor coordination, nausea, and drowsiness. As the substance is metabolized, it breaks down into highly toxic acids that rapidly attack the body, leading to severe metabolic acidosis, dehydration, abdominal and back pain, and increasing neurological decline. The most serious damage typically emerges in the kidneys, where crystal formation can cause acute renal failure,

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  dramatically reducing urine output and triggering further systemic collapse. In its final stages, untreated poisoning can progress to heart rhythm disturbances, seizures, coma, and ultimately death from multi-organ failure. It was a horrific way to die, but Stacy Castor didn’t find it particularly unusual that David had chosen this method to take his own life. She said they had recently watched an episode of the true crime series 48 Hours, in which a woman killed her two husbands by spiking their food with antifreeze. She and David had seen the episode twice. Given the context, this admission stood out to investigators,

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  but the medical examiner didn’t find any signs of foul play and concluded that David had indeed died by suicide. David’s loved ones weren’t convinced. Given that David worked in the heating and cooling industry and spent a lot of time around cars and motorcycles, he was fully aware of what antifreeze could do. His loved ones didn’t believe he would willingly subject himself to such a painful death, and they viewed the entire suicide theory as preposterous. As far as they were concerned, David was a happy man, living a life he enjoyed, and was far from depressed, let alone suicidal.

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  Even if he was, they questioned why he would choose a slow, torturous death when a loaded shotgun was readily available beneath his bed.

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  They also took issue with the way Stacy portrayed David as an alcoholic. According to those who knew him well, he wasn’t a regular drinker and only consumed alcohol on special occasions. From the outset, suspicions lingered that there was more to the story. Not only did the antifreeze bottle and glass in David’s bedroom appear unusually clean, almost like they’d been staged, there was also the question of why a turkey baster containing antifreeze was found in the kitchen bin. And why did Stacy call for a welfare check from her office instead of going to the house to check on David first? Investigators were convinced they were dealing with a murder.

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  They presented their suspicions to the medical examiner. While he wasn’t convinced enough to change David’s cause of death to homicide, he did think there were sufficient grounds to amend it to inconclusive.

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  This opened up further investigative opportunities for police, and evidence taken from the Castor home was promptly sent for testing. A sample of David's blood returned surprising results. At the time of his death, he had very little alcohol in his bloodstream. Samples of his vomit also indicated that he had been sick shortly before his death, rather than continuously vomiting over a two-day period. These results contradicted Stacy's account of the weekend, in which she described David as consistently binge-drinking and repeatedly vomiting. Fingerprints were lifted from the glass containing the antifreeze that David had allegedly drunk from,

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  and an examination revealed they belonged to Stacy. While there could be numerous innocent explanations for her fingerprints being on a drinking glass in her own home, what struck detectives was that none of David's fingerprints were found on the glass, nor were any discovered on the bottle of antifreeze. A palm print was recovered from the bottle, but investigators were unable to conclusively determine who it belonged to.

• 22:16Speaker 00

  Phone records revealed further holes in Stacy Castor's account. While she had told police that she regularly called home over the weekend to check on David, records from her cellphone, work phone, and the various landlines she had access to showed that she only called home once. The call was made from her work phone on the afternoon of Monday, August 22, right before she called 911. Investigators also found it odd that Stacy had arrived at work at 7:30 a.m., but didn't call the police to conduct a welfare check until 2 p.m. They wondered whether she was giving David ample time to die before notifying the authorities.

• 23:02Speaker 00

  The most compelling evidence came from the turkey baster found in the Castor family's kitchen bin. David's DNA was found on the tip, in quantities far greater than would be expected from casual contact. Testing showed the DNA was from his saliva, suggesting the tip of the baster had been in his mouth. The idea that David had administered antifreeze to himself in this way, especially if he had been as heavily intoxicated as Stacy claimed, seemed far-fetched to investigators. They concluded that David was likely lying incapacitated on the bed while someone stood over him, using the baster to drip antifreeze into his mouth.

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  And while they believed that person was Stacy, they also explored other possibilities. Investigators looked into whether David had any enemies, debts, affairs, addictions, or a secret life that his friends and family might not know about.

• 24:05Speaker 00

  Finding no evidence that he did, Stacy Castor remained the primary suspect. This theory was bolstered by the discovery of David's will, in which he left Stacy his entire estate, including his business.

• 24:21Speaker 00

  In the event that Stacy died before him, the will stipulated that David's estate would pass on to her two daughters, or their offspring. Notably, David's own son from a previous marriage was omitted from the will. This was perplexing, given that they had a good relationship, and in a previous will, David had left everything to his son and ex-wife. None of his family members were mentioned in the will either, which was highly unusual, given how close he was to them. The will was apparently signed by David and two independent witnesses the day after he married Stacy. But David's signature appeared rough and uncertain,

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  as though someone else was trying to replicate it.

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  Legally, the two witnesses were required to sign the document in David's presence. However, when questioned by investigators, they admitted that Stacy had brought them the document for the first time after David died and asked them to sign it. Even though they knew it was wrong, they felt that Stacy had been through enough, and they didn't think it would be a big deal. Neither of the witnesses said they had considered the possibility that Stacy could be using them as part of a larger scheme. By the time of David's funeral, his loved ones were still confused about the circumstances of his death. To them, it all felt like a bad dream.

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  They couldn't reconcile what they had been told about David with what they personally knew about him. Many were also left with an uneasy feeling about David's final resting place. Stacy had arranged to have him buried in a plot right next to a man named Michael Wallace, who happened to be her first husband.

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• 30:13Speaker 00

  Michael Wallace was introduced to Stacy by mutual friends in 1985. Stacy was in her senior year of high school and 24-year-old Michael was regarded as the life of the party. She was immediately smitten and not at all concerned that Michael came with a history. He had spent time in jail for driving while intoxicated, had several children from a previous marriage, and was reportedly abusive to his ex-partner. While Stacy knew that Michael wasn't perfect, she viewed him as a big-hearted guy who would do anything for anybody. Stacy said she knew she wanted a future with Michael within five minutes of meeting him.

• 30:57Speaker 00

  A whirlwind romance ensued and Stacy thought of Michael as the love of her life. But when she became pregnant at 19, Michael wasn't willing to commit. The pair separated before Stacy gave birth to their daughter, Ashley. Stacy focused her attention on her baby, feeling that her purpose was to take care of her. In time, Michael and Stacy reconnected, and to Stacy's delight, he proposed. With their rocky start behind them, they became inseparable. Others recalled how joyful Stacy was at the time, saying that with Michael, she was the happiest she had ever been.

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  She spoke about him as though he were a Hollywood movie star. She didn't even mind Michael remaining close to his first wife and other children, inviting them to parties and events. Michael appeared to be a changed man. While his ex-wife reported that he had been abusive to her in the past, she noted that he didn't display the same temperament with Stacy, who came across as being in charge in the relationship. In her words, Stacy had tamed Mike. But although Michael had become a more settled family man, he was unable to leave his partying ways behind.

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  He still occasionally drank and used drugs, issues he had dealt with throughout his life, which sometimes brought out the worst in him. But at his core, Stacy still considered Michael to be a good man, and to those close to them agreed that he adored Stacy.

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  While they disagreed at times, the first few years of the Wallace marriage were good. Three years in, Stacy gave birth to the couple's second daughter, Bree. Michael took to Bree immediately, considering her his little angel. As Bree quickly became Michael's favorite, his oldest daughter Ashley started to receive less attention from him. Stacy noticed and stepped in to fill the gap, spending as much time with Ashley as she could. They formed a strong bond that Stacy described as going beyond mother and daughter to that of best friends.

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  While Ashley felt the same way, she didn't entirely agree with how her relationship with Michael was perceived. She didn't recall ever feeling rejected by him, and remembered her childhood with him fondly. Throughout this time, Stacy was employed as an ambulance dispatcher and Michael worked as a mechanic.

• 33:42Speaker 00

  They didn't have much money, but they were comfortable.

• 33:46Speaker 00

  From the outside, the four-member Wallace family appeared to be a normal, functional unit. But by the time Stacy and Michael had been married a decade, the dynamic between them had shifted, with accusations of infidelity on both sides. Stacy confided in a friend that she was considering divorce, but always had reasons for not going through with it.

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  Then in late 1999, Michael began to get sick. He told a doctor that he felt like he was constantly drunk, even though he hadn't been drinking. He described feeling dizzy and recalled one instance where he couldn't stand up from the toilet. Tests ruled out low blood pressure, infection, and diabetes, but no clear cause was found. As time wore on, Michael's condition worsened. He developed a hacking cough, became short of breath and bloated, and his skin turned dark purple. He complained of shoulder and back pain and had no energy.

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  Doctors still couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, but others suspected heart disease. Perhaps his lifestyle was finally catching up with him.

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  On Tuesday, January 11, 2000, 12-year-old Ashley recalled seeing her father lying listlessly on the couch and making unusual movements. At one point, one of his arms shot up into the air, then held out to the side before dropping back down. Ashley went to pick up her younger sister Bree from school, and when they returned home, there was an ambulance in the driveway. Their mother came out and told them to go wait at a neighbor's house. They were later told that their father had died.

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  Michael Wallace's death was presumed to have been the result of a heart attack, with the shoulder and back pain he reported being seen as a warning sign. However, it was never confirmed because Stacy didn't request an autopsy. At Michael's funeral, attendees were struck by how stoic she seemed. In fact, no one recalled seeing her cry at all. In their view, she didn't present as a typical grieving widow. Even Ashley and Bree noticed their mother's unshakable composure, though they assumed she was just trying to stay strong for them. Stacy explained that she had intentionally chosen to remain calm in the face of tragedy

• 36:29Speaker 00

  as an example for her daughters. She didn't want to act like a widow, but a mother, which was her priority. Others were impressed and admired her strength. Stacy collected Michael's $50,000 life insurance payout and used the money to pay for his funeral, settle some debts, and take her daughters on a vacation.

• 36:54Speaker 00

  The trio appeared to adapt to Michael's absence surprisingly quickly, seeming happy again almost overnight.

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  That sense of stability was shaken when Stacy met David Castor two years later, in 2002. Another whirlwind romance followed, and they married the following year. While Stacy was happy with David, her daughters were not, and tension within the household persisted up until his death.

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  Just as she had after the death of her first husband, Stacy appeared to recover from the tragedy quickly and with little outward mourning. Once again, she maintained that she wanted to set a good example for her daughters. Ashley and Bree were relieved that life felt peaceful and happy again, like it had before their mother met David.

• 37:50Speaker 00

  Privately, some people thought it was strange that Stacy had lost two husbands within the span of five years. They told themselves that she simply had bad luck, but in the weeks after David Castor's death, investigators weren't so sure. The similarities between David and Michael's deaths were too precise to be dismissed as mere coincidence or misfortune. They were particularly struck by the fact that Michael had exhibited symptoms of alcohol intoxication while insisting that he hadn't been drinking. David's death had been similar, with antifreeze poisoning mimicking the effects of alcohol intoxication.

• 38:34Speaker 00

  The possibility that Stacy could have also been responsible for the death of her first husband intensified the investigation into her. Her phones were tapped and covert surveillance cameras were installed in locations she frequently visited, including the cemetery where her two former husbands were buried side by side. This camera was useful for what it didn't capture. At no point was Stacy recorded visiting either man's grave, not even on the anniversary of David's death.

• 39:09Speaker 00

  Given that Michael Wallace's body hadn't undergone an autopsy, investigators made the decision to exhume his remains. What was left of Michael's organs were tested, and no sign of heart disease was found.

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  A sample of his kidney was examined under a microscope and crystals were identified. The crystals were compared to those found in David Castor's kidneys, which had been caused by the antifreeze. To the shock of investigators, they were a match.

• 39:43Speaker 00

  While this discovery confirmed that Michael had also died as a result of antifreeze poisoning, testing also revealed that he had ingested rat poison.

• 39:54Speaker 00

  This weakened the already highly unlikely possibility that Michael might have impulsively taken his life using antifreeze, and pointed toward a more sustained and deliberate pattern of poisoning over time. And because Michael had sought medical help for his worsening symptoms, it further suggested that he didn't want to die and wasn't fully aware of what was happening to him.

• 40:21Speaker 00

  Stacy Castor was informed that Michael Wallace’s body had been exhumed and that evidence of antifreeze had been found in his remains. But investigators intentionally withheld the information about the rat poison.

• 40:35Speaker 00

  In response, Stacy made a cryptic comment, saying: “I’m sick of being controlled by someone from the grave.”

• 40:44Speaker 00

  In a subsequent three-hour interview, Stacy was asked to clarify how many times she had called David Castor between Friday, August 19, and Monday, August 22, before she called the police to request a welfare check. She stated that she had called from her cellphone every 30 to 45 minutes.

• 41:05Speaker 00

  Investigators already knew from her phone records that no such calls had taken place. They then asked Stacy to repeat details from her original statement regarding David’s death, some of which she now described differently. When shown an image of the glasses on David’s nightstand, Stacy pointed to an empty one and began explaining that she had brought him cranberry juice, but then misspoke. She said: “Well, I poured the antifreeze, I mean, I poured the cranberry juice into this glass.”

• 41:42Speaker 00

  When told her fingerprints were found on the glass containing the antifreeze, Stacy abruptly replied: “That’s it, I’m done. I want an attorney.”

• 41:54Speaker 00

  She stopped answering questions and got up to leave.

• 41:58Speaker 00

  Before she left, she noticed a close-up photograph of the turkey baster recovered from her kitchen trash bin. Clearly unsettled, she wanted to know about it, but an investigator replied: “Sorry, you’ve discontinued the interview. I can’t talk to you anymore.”

• 42:17Speaker 00

  Stacy denied any involvement in either Michael or David’s deaths. While she remained under suspicion, she eventually visited their graves. Cameras recorded her showing little emotion, and she left shortly after. Investigators interpreted the visit as being less about paying respects and more about confirming whether Michael’s body had been exhumed. Phone taps captured her speaking with friends, expressing anxiety about the investigation and insisting that she hadn’t killed either man. She also said she didn’t believe the claims that antifreeze had been found in Michael’s body.

• 43:02Speaker 00

  A little over a week after the discovery that Michael Wallace had been poisoned, on the morning of Friday, September 14, 2007, Bree Wallace was walking down the hallway of her home when she heard something strange. It sounded like shallow gasps and strained moans coming from her older sister’s bedroom. Bree opened the door and saw a 20-year-old Ashley lying at the foot of the bed with pillows piled on top of her head. Bree removed them and found Ashley in a catatonic state. Her eyes and mouth were open, but her gaze was unfocused and her expression was one Bree had never seen before: fear.

• 43:47Speaker 00

  Ashley didn’t respond when her name was called. As Bree screamed louder, their mother rushed into the room. On seeing Ashley, she immediately called 911, telling the operator: “I think my daughter took some pills. My youngest daughter came into her room and screamed, and I just woke up. She’s having trouble. It sounds like there’s something in her throat.” At that moment, Ashley began vomiting. Stacy was instructed to roll her onto her side so she wouldn’t choke. She remained panicked, but was able to answer the operator’s questions clearly. As an ambulance was dispatched,

• 44:31Speaker 00

  Stacy admitted that she had left Ashley sleeping for almost 20 hours without checking on her.

• 44:38Speaker 00

  She suspected Ashley might have overdosed on sleeping pills, but couldn’t estimate how many she had taken. She also added that Ashley had drunk an entire bottle of vodka.

• 44:50Speaker 00

  Bree, who had initially left the room in distress, finally returned and noticed a folded piece of paper near the head of Ashley’s bed.

• 45:00Speaker 00

  She hadn’t seen it earlier, but now it was obvious. She picked it up and began to read a typed message, but her mother quickly took it from her.

• 45:11Speaker 00

  “What do I have to read?” Stacy asked while still on the phone with the 911 operator, adding: “She left a letter.” The letter read: “Mummy, when you read the letter, just remember I love you and everything I did because I love you. I’m sorry all of this is happening to you, but now everyone is going to know what really happened, and they know it wasn’t you, it was me. No one was ever supposed to know about Daddy. I told you when Daddy died, it was all my fault, and Daddy was doing things you never knew about. He was drinking. He was smoking pot again. I saw him.

• 45:56Speaker 00

  He was mean to you and me, and he only ever loved Bree. I couldn’t let him do those things to you anymore. You think I don’t remember how things were, but I do, and I didn’t ever want to live like that anymore. It wasn’t fair to you or me. Daddy wasn’t going to be good to you, only Bree. I couldn’t stand it anymore.

• 46:22Speaker 00

  The cops said there was antifreeze in Daddy’s body, but did they tell anyone about the rat poison too? When I got home from school that day, I knew what was going on. Daddy was barely breathing. I knew he was going to die. That’s why I didn’t call you for help or anyone else. I wanted to make sure he couldn’t be mean to you or me anymore. He died before I went to pick up Bree from school. I watched him, and I knew he couldn’t hurt you anymore. Then we were happy for a while, just the three of us. And then you married David, and he was mean to you. He was mean to all of us, meaner than Daddy,

• 47:07Speaker 00

  and I knew you loved him like you loved Daddy, and you were going to let him treat you like he did, and you wouldn’t leave. It wasn’t fair, Mummy. He didn’t love you or me or Bree. I never thought anyone would miss David. No one but you loved him. It was harder than with Daddy because you were always home or with him, but I did it. I made sure he would never hurt you anymore too. That Friday when David came home so you could go to the post office is when I first did it. It was easy. I asked him if he wanted something to drink, and I put the antifreeze in his glass with some soda. He drank two whole glasses.

• 47:52Speaker 00

  That was it. Only, it took longer for David than with Daddy. Once I poured the antifreeze in Daddy’s Gatorade, it only took a day or so, and that’s when he died.

• 48:05Speaker 00

  When you were sleeping on the couch after David locked himself in the room, I got the extra key because I knew where he hid it, and I put stuff in the room. I tried to get him to drink some of that booze with the dropper thing, but he was out of it and wouldn’t. I poured the antifreeze in the glass and on the floor and left the bottle in the room, and then I put the gloves back in the kitchen and got ready for work.

• 48:31Speaker 00

  You never knew. All these cops are saying all of this stuff about you to everyone you know, and, Mummy, it’s just not fair when you told me they dug Daddy up. I knew what was going to happen. No one was ever supposed to know, Mummy, and now that they do, and they think you did, but you didn’t. It was me. When the cops came to my school today, I thought they had figured it out and I was going to jail, but they didn’t take me. Mummy, I can’t live like this and watch what they are doing to you. Not anymore. But I can’t go to jail for the rest of my life. I can’t put you through that.

• 49:14Speaker 00

  I did the only thing I could to help you, Mummy. I know you hate me for doing what I did, but, Mummy, remember, I love you more than anything, and I did it for you and for us. Please forgive me. Mummy, someday when all of this is over, please forgive me. Make sure you take care of Bree. She is all you have left now. Remember how happy we all were together, and you will be happy again, I promise you. Mummy, tell Matt I love him and I’m sorry. Tell Bree to be a good girl for you, and I love her. Please don’t hate me. Remember, I love you. Ashley.

• 50:03Speaker 00

  Ashley was rushed to hospital. She was drenched in sweat, trembling, her teeth chattering and her body convulsing. Tests confirmed elevated levels in her blood work and her heart rate was dangerously high. If Bree hadn't discovered Ashley when she did, doctors thought she would likely have died before the morning was through. In the hospital, Bree told police that she had been worried about her older sister since the previous day. She mentioned the note she had found on Ashley's bed, believing it might have been a suicide note, but said she only managed to read the first few lines before her mother took it.

• 50:44Speaker 00

  With nothing to suggest that Ashley was depressed or suicidal, it was a very unusual turn of events. She had been looking forward to starting college and had recently told her boyfriend that she would never consider taking her own life. And yet, doctors described the variety and quantity of drugs found in Ashley's system as a smorgasbord.

• 51:07Speaker 00

  She was found to have consumed over sixty sleeping pills and painkillers. After undergoing dramatic life-saving efforts, Ashley's awareness of her surroundings slowly began to improve. She could hear questions being asked, but wasn't conscious enough to respond. Finally, she managed to ask: “Was I in a car accident?”

• 51:32Speaker 00

  Investigators explained that a typed suicide note had been found at the head of her bed, confessing that she was responsible for the deaths of her father, Michael Wallace, and her stepfather, David Castor. After being told she had overdosed, Ashley looked at the investigators like they were crazy. “What note?” she asked. “What pills?” “Mum gave me an Ambien pill. I didn't write any note. I didn't try to kill myself. Why would I?”

• 52:05Speaker 00

  Ashley was shown her purported suicide note. She maintained that she had never seen it before. Outside the room, when Bree and Stacey Wallace were informed that Ashley was going to survive, Stacey became increasingly focused on gaining access to her daughter. She told investigators and hospital staff that it was wrong to separate a mother from her sick child. When she was denied, her agitation increased. On the other side of the door, Ashley was beginning to recall the events leading up to her hospitalisation. As she remembered the foul-tasting alcohol her mother had encouraged her to drink, it

• 52:48Speaker 00

  became clear to her that something was very wrong.

• 53:00Speaker 00

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• 54:28Speaker 00

  Ashley recounted her memories of the days leading up to her hospitalisation to investigators. She was on campus, about to start her first day of college, when detectives paid her a visit and told her that her father, Michael, hadn't died of a heart attack, but had in fact been poisoned. She found this difficult to believe and immediately called her mother.

• 54:54Speaker 00

  Unbeknown to them both, the call was being monitored.

• 54:59Speaker 00

  Ashley complained about having been questioned by police when all she wanted to do was go to class. Stacey was sympathetic and agreed to pick her up. Once they got home, Ashley was surprised when her mother suggested: “Let's get drunk, because we've had a hard day.” It was unlike her mother to suggest such a thing, as she had never previously encouraged Ashley to drink alcohol. Ashley could recall only one other instance in which she was allowed to try a beer, and even then, her mother monitored the situation closely and didn't let her drink any further. But because Stacey was her best friend and because she had no reason to doubt her, Ashley agreed.

• 55:45Speaker 00

  Stacey poured her a glass of watermelon-flavoured vodka. It had a strange taste, but Stacey assured her daughter it was just the fruity flavouring. Ashley continued to drink, but after a while, she began to feel lightheaded and threw up. Stacey told her this was normal and offered her a pill to help her sleep it off. The next day, Ashley felt somewhat hungover, but otherwise able to function. When she returned home from class later that morning, Stacey immediately suggested: “Let's get drunk. Let's just get totally drunk.”

• 56:26Speaker 00

  It wasn't even midday, but Stacey was insistent.

• 56:31Speaker 00

  She sent Ashley out of the room to do some chores. When she returned, a vodka cocktail was waiting for her in a large cup with a straw. It looked unusual, with the chalky material floating in it. Stacey encouraged her to stir it, saying it contained vodka, orange juice and soda.

• 56:53Speaker 00

  Ashley stirred it and took a sip, but found the drink unpleasant and gagged. The taste was so foul that she couldn't bring herself to take another sip, saying: “I can't drink this. It doesn't taste good.”

• 57:09Speaker 00

  Stacey replied that there was likely too much vodka in it and encouraged her to try again, showing her how to place the straw further back in her throat to avoid tasting the alcohol.

• 57:21Speaker 00

  Ashley followed her instruction and finished the whole cup. Shortly after, she began to feel unwell again. She felt as though she was in a tunnel and went to her room to lie down. Later that day, Stacey took a phone call from Ashley's boyfriend, Matthew. Phone taps recorded the conversation, during which Stacey said Ashley was in her room asleep and “drooling normally”.

• 57:51Speaker 00

  Later that night, Matthew went to the Castor family home. From outside, he noticed Ashley's room was dark and repeatedly called her cell phone. Eventually, Stacey answered. Matthew was surprised, as this had never happened before. Stacey told him to call back on the landline, apparently unaware it was being monitored. When he did, Matthew asked to speak with Ashley, but Stacey said she was asleep and couldn't be disturbed. Thinking quickly, he asked for a favour. Without telling Stacey that he was outside the house, Matthew said that he had lost

• 58:33Speaker 00

  his ATM card and suspected it might be in Ashley's room. Stacey agreed to go and look for it. A short time later, Stacey returned to the phone to report that Matthew's card was not there. Matthew was incredulous. He'd been watching the house and hadn't seen a light go on in Ashley's bedroom, suggesting Stacey had never gone in there to look. As the night continued, Stacey hosted a small gathering in the backyard, while Ashley remained in her room, supposedly asleep. About eighteen hours after she had drunk the vodka cocktail, Ashley was found on the brink of death by her younger sister.

• 59:21Speaker 00

  An examination of the Castor family’s computer revealed that the supposed suicide note had been written in stages over time. Two drafts were saved, which differed slightly from the final version found in Ashley’s bed, with the last recorded access occurring on Wednesday, September 12, 2007, two days before Ashley was hospitalized. This coincided with the day Ashley was questioned by police and told that her father had been poisoned.

• 59:52Speaker 00

  The emerging story was that, after realising police had discovered Michael Wallace had been murdered, Ashley knew the jig was up and decided to take her own life. But first, she typed out a full confession in a suicide note, also admitting to having murdered David Castor. Yet, this theory didn’t align with the evidence. The suicide note was last accessed on the Castor computer at 2:27pm.

• 1:00:22Speaker 00

  At that time, Ashley was in class on campus. Stacy, however, was at home.

• 1:00:30Speaker 00

  She picked Ashley up at around 3:30pm to begin their impromptu drinking session.

• 1:00:37Speaker 00

  Notably, some words in the note were spelt correctly in one section, but misspelled elsewhere. This suggested that the author had deliberately dumbed down the content in order to distance themselves from it, but had done so inconsistently. It was also striking that the letter focused less on Ashley’s apparent guilt or remorse, which were typically the central themes of a suicide note, and more on asserting Stacy’s complete innocence in Michael and David’s deaths. This point was repeated at least 14 different ways throughout.

• 1:01:15Speaker 00

  But it was the mention of rat poison that really intrigued investigators. The rat poison had been discovered in Michael’s system after his body was exhumed, but authorities had deliberately kept that detail under wraps. It was information only his killer could have known, and meant that whoever had written the note was the one who had killed Michael Wallace.

• 1:01:40Speaker 00

  In the note, the word ‘anti-free’ was misspelled as ‘anti-free’. While this could have been dismissed as a simple spelling error, investigators recalled a prior interview with Stacy, during which she had referred to filling David’s glass with anti-free, before quickly correcting herself to say it was cranberry juice.

• 1:02:02Speaker 00

  They wondered whether she had intended to say ‘anti-free’ but had cut herself off mid-word, or whether she in fact had a habit of referring to it as ‘anti-free’, which would provide a strong potential link to her being the author of the suicide note. This link was strengthened when investigators compared the note to samples of Stacy’s writing, which revealed identical idiosyncratic grammar and word usage. Although Stacy said she hadn’t read the note, she still referred to it as a suicide note, clarifying that she had read the first couple of lines before stopping. While she wouldn’t openly claim that Ashley had authored the note, she maintained that she hadn’t written it herself.

• 1:02:48Speaker 00

  She accepted its contents and said she fully believed that Ashley had killed both of her husbands.

• 1:02:56Speaker 00

  Investigators had long intended to arrest Stacy, but had been cautiously taking their time to gather solid evidence.

• 1:03:05Speaker 00

  Now that it was looking like she was willing to harm her own children to avoid suspicion, they moved forward and placed her under arrest for the murder of David Castor and the attempted murder of Ashley Wallace.

• 1:03:18Speaker 00

  While investigators were convinced that Stacy was also responsible for Michael Wallace’s death, they proceeded with the charges they were most confident would secure a conviction.

• 1:03:30Speaker 00

  Stacy appeared largely unfazed during the booking process, treating the situation as though it were a big mistake. She said her children were her whole life, and insisted that anyone who knew her would attest to the fact that she’d never hurt them. She maintained that Michael had died of natural causes, that David had taken his own life, and that Ashley intended to do the same.

• 1:03:58Speaker 00

  Stacy said she was not even remotely guilty and insisted that she had loved both of her husbands. She revealed two tattoos, one on each shoulder, which she had gotten after their deaths. Each depicted a teddy bear with the man’s birth date above and the date of his death below. She continued to assert that the wrong person had been arrested and that her innocence would be proven.

• 1:04:27Speaker 00

  Even some of Stacy’s closest relatives and friends believed that Ashley was the real killer. They accepted the notion that Ashley, despite being just 12 years old at the time of her father’s death, had devised, carried out, and nearly succeeded in an elaborate poisoning scheme on two separate occasions.

• 1:04:49Speaker 00

  They portrayed Ashley as jealous of the attention Michael gave to her sister, Bree, suggesting that this motivated her to commit murder. They also pointed to her conflicts with David as further evidence of instability. “I’ve seen her temper,” one person said, suggesting it was enough to prove she was capable of double homicide.

• 1:05:13Speaker 00

  Stacy encouraged the suggestion that a 12-year-old was fully capable of premeditated murder, telling an ABC reporter after her arrest: “Children are killing children, and children are killing other people, every single day.”

• 1:05:33Speaker 00

  Ashley struggled in the aftermath of her mother’s arrest. She couldn’t understand why Stacy wasn’t defending her and instead trying to implicate her in the murders. For someone she previously considered her best friend, it was a crushing blow. “I would have done anything for her,” Ashley said. “She tried to kill me instead.” When she was discharged from hospital, reporters asked her how she felt after her suicide attempt. Ashley pushed back, clarifying that she hadn’t tried to kill herself and that her mother had drugged her. When asked why her mother would do such a thing, Ashley responded:

• 1:06:17Speaker 00

  “She must have been looking for an easy way out.”

• 1:06:22Speaker 00

  The mother-versus-daughter narrative made for compelling tabloid coverage, with both women steadfastly claiming they were being framed by the other. While the ordeal took a heavy toll on Ashley, Stacy appeared to cope well, showing little visible emotion. She seemed unfazed that neither of her daughters reached out to her in custody awaiting trial, convinced that they would eventually reconcile, even though both Ashley and Bree were vocal about wanting nothing to do with her.

• 1:06:54Speaker 00

  By the time Stacy faced a jury in January 2009, she had been hit with an additional charge relating to David’s fraudulent will. The defence fought hard to maintain her innocence, arguing that the simplest explanation was the correct one, that Ashley’s suicide note was genuine and she had written it herself.

• 1:07:16Speaker 00

  They didn’t shy away from the implication stating: “The guilty person is Ashley Wallace and not Stacy Castor.”

• 1:07:27Speaker 00

  The suggestion that Ashley was the killer formed the crux of the defence’s case. They framed the case against Stacy as a miscarriage of justice, arguing that the evidence against her was purely circumstantial and based on an assembly of guesses and theories. They accused police of having decided on Stacy’s guilt from the outset, arguing that this bias meant they hadn’t properly considered alternative explanations. After all, they had bugged Stacy’s phone and kept her under surveillance, but didn’t do that to Ashley. While they acknowledged it would be disingenuous to suggest that none of the evidence raised suspicion against Stacy,

• 1:08:10Speaker 00

  they maintained that if she was the killer, there were certain things about the case that didn’t fit, adding: “On the flip side of that, you will say that the evidence makes sense only if Ashley Wallace is the killer.”

• 1:08:27Speaker 00

  More importantly, they claimed there was nothing that definitively excluded Ashley, whom they described as spoiled and ungrateful, and asserted she had every opportunity to do everything she claimed in the letter. Ashley Wallace testified at her mother’s trial, marking the first time the pair had been in the same room since Ashley was hospitalized. She didn’t make eye contact with her mother once during her three-hour testimony. Ashley maintained that she loved her father, Michael, and that they had a good relationship. While she admitted she didn’t like David very much, she said she had cut him some slack just before he died, and that things weren’t as tense between them

• 1:09:11Speaker 00

  because she was working most of the time.

• 1:09:15Speaker 00

  Ashley said she was aware that David was sick in the bedroom over the weekend before his death, but maintained she was never alone in the house with him during that time. She said she didn’t see him at all and was at work when he was found dead.

• 1:09:32Speaker 00

  Ashley spoke about her mother’s unexpected and uncharacteristic suggestion that they get drunk together after Michael was found to have been poisoned. She described how the first attempt left her feeling sick. The prosecution portrayed this initial incident as a trial run for the actual murder attempt the next day, arguing that Stacy was testing whether Ashley would comply and drink something offered to her without question, even if it tasted off. Asked why she drank the drink her mother gave her even though it tasted awful, Ashley said: “Because I trusted her.” She denied attempting to take her own life, and when asked if she had poisoned

• 1:10:16Speaker 00

  her father or stepfather with anti-free, she firmly replied: “No, I did not.”

• 1:10:27Speaker 00

  The defence worked to suggest that Ashley had a motive to carry out the murders. They pointed out that she knew that her father had alcohol and drug issues that impacted the family. They also highlighted her tumultuous relationship with David and her awareness that he frequently argued with her mother, but went further by alleging that David had molested Ashley when she was 13 years old. Ashley had never made such an allegation, and there was no evidence to support the suggestion. This line of questioning stopped as quickly as it was established, with observers viewing it as an attempt to provide the jurors with a possible motive for viewing Ashley as the killer, even if the suggestion itself was baseless.

• 1:11:13Speaker 00

  The defence produced a letter Ashley had once written to a former boyfriend, in which she complained about David and expressed the desire to punch him in the face. She also wrote that she wanted to leave home, adding that when she moved out, her mother would be sorry.

• 1:11:31Speaker 00

  Ashley didn’t shy away from acknowledging these feelings. She was a moody teenager and made no pretense of liking David, but maintained that it didn’t mean she wanted him dead.

• 1:11:44Speaker 00

  She also didn’t deny having written a note during a particularly low point after her father’s death, in which she expressed a fascination with death and dying. In the note, she wrote that she had attempted suicide twice but hadn’t gone through with it because, “Each time I thought about my sister and how I couldn’t have her here without someone to protect her or someone for her to look up to sometimes.” The defence’s implication was that because Ashley admitted to attempting suicide in the past, she was therefore capable of doing so again. However, she maintained that there was no third time.

• 1:12:26Speaker 00

  Bree Wallace also took the stand. Unlike her older sister, she was far more emotional while testifying, often breaking down in tears and needing to pause to drink water and compose herself. She spoke of the morning she found Ashley on the brink of death, saying she had wanted to check on her the previous evening, but Stacy said to leave her alone. Bree had nevertheless opened the door and looked in, but Stacy quickly shooed her away, saying, “She’s fine, leave her alone. I want her to sleep through until morning.”

• 1:13:05Speaker 00

  Stacy sat impassively as her daughters testified, never looking up, but occasionally resting her head on her hand. She remained calm and steadfast as she testified in her own defence. The first question posed to her by her attorney was whether she had killed Michael Wallace. “No,” she replied. She said she had loved Michael with all of her heart, and still did. But, she maintained that he had treated their children differently, describing how he favoured Bree by being present from the moment she was born and calling her princess. Stacy said Michael didn’t have the same connection with Ashley, who didn’t receive her own affectionate nickname.

• 1:13:51Speaker 00

  She alleged that Michael had spanked Ashley, but not Bree, and described Ashley as having behavioural issues since early childhood. At Michael’s funeral, she recalled that Bree was distraught, while Ashley remained stoic. Stacy also pointed out that she wasn’t the only one who felt it was unnecessary to order an autopsy for Michael, noting that his own mother had agreed. As for David Castor, Stacy maintained that she had loved him too. She repeated her account of his final weekend, describing his heavy drinking following her refusal to go on a trip with him.

• 1:14:32Speaker 00

  She claimed that on the Friday, she had gone to the post office for an hour, during which Ashley was home with David. This was notable, as Ashley’s supposed suicide note stated, “That Friday, when David came home so you could go to the post office, is when I first did it,” implying that Ashley had poisoned David while Stacy was out. What was striking about this testimony was that Stacy never mentioned a post office trip at any point during the prolonged police investigation, including in her many informal and formal interviews. Nor did she ever tell investigators that Ashley had been alone with David at all that weekend.

• 1:15:16Speaker 00

  Stacy admitted to having friends sign David’s will after his death, a revelation that only further undermined her credibility and suggested a willingness to be deceptive. She maintained it was something they had discussed but never completed, and said she simply wanted to ensure his estate was settled the way he had intended, adding, “I could never have anticipated in a million years that I would be widowed after two years of marriage.” She also clarified that when she said “anti-free” during her police interviews, she had intended to say “anti-freeze,” but stopped herself before finishing the word.

• 1:15:58Speaker 00

  Stacy admitted she had given Ashley a vodka mixer to celebrate her first day of college, but denied giving her any pills. She also denied much of what Ashley had alleged about the events leading up to her hospitalisation, including that she had prepared drinks and forced her to consume them. She maintained that whatever Ashley had drunk, she had done so on her own, without Stacy’s involvement or approval. She also didn’t find it unusual that Ashley had a long sleep afterward, as she said she was prone to sleeping for extended periods.

• 1:16:35Speaker 00

  Stacy claimed she checked on Ashley throughout the night, but only realised something was wrong when Bree found her the next morning.

• 1:16:46Speaker 00

  After four weeks of proceedings, the jury took 16 hours to deliberate. Stacy Castor remained characteristically emotionless, as she was found guilty of all charges. The verdict immediately vindicated Ashley Wallace, who embraced her sister Bree as both cried in relief. Outside court, Ashley expressed her happiness that the whole ordeal was over, saying, “I can honestly say this is the best day of my life, because I knew I didn’t do it. Now that I know everybody knows I didn’t do it, it’s just 10 times lighter.”

• 1:17:27Speaker 00

  While Bree admitted she felt sympathy for her mother, she added, “I was happy they decided she was guilty, because we all knew that was true.” When asked if the sisters would ever be able to move on, Ashley said, “I already have. We already have.”

• 1:17:48Speaker 00

  As for whether they would ever speak to their mother again, Ashley said, “I don’t want to talk to her ever again. I really don’t. I really have nothing to say to her. I’m glad she’ll be away for a very long time, and she can’t hurt anybody ever again.”

• 1:18:07Speaker 00

  In post-trial interviews, jurors revealed that they hadn’t found Stacy credible. Combined with the fact that she had the most access to both victims, this ultimately solidified their guilty verdict.

• 1:18:22Speaker 00

  Victim impact statements were read at Stacy’s sentencing hearing. David Castor’s son, David Junior, described his father as someone who worked hard and played hard, and who loved life, and still had so much ahead of him. He was traumatised by hearing how anti-freeze had slowly and painfully shut his father’s body down. Seeing photographs of him naked in his own vomit, knowing the pain he endured, was devastating. But, having to listen to Stacy deny and slander him after his death was even worse.

• 1:18:59Speaker 00

  The allegations that his father was a paedophile were particularly egregious. “Let me set one thing straight,” David Junior said. “My father was a good man, with a moral compass that pointed north.” He said his father’s murder had caused a chain reaction of pain to everyone’s life that he touched, and described Stacy as standing at the top of a ladder in which each rung represents a growing level of evil. He also expressed sympathy for the ordeal Stacy had put Ashley and Bree through, while praising the strength the sisters had shown throughout the trial. With Bree by her side, Ashley said she was still burdened by the question of why her mother had done what she did,

• 1:19:44Speaker 00

  but accepted that she might never get an answer. She detailed the lives her mother had ruined, not only Michael and David’s, but also those of their loved ones, as well as her own and her sisters. She spoke of how Stacy had forced family and friends to pick sides, and described her anxiety about whether the jury would believe her.

• 1:20:09Speaker 00

  Ashley continued to feel conflicted about her mother, admitting she both loved and hated her. “That bothers me,” she said. “It’s so confusing. I never knew what hate was until now.”

• 1:20:25Speaker 00

  More than anything, Ashley said she wanted her mother to apologise for everything, including the lies. Accepting that it was unlikely ever to come, Ashley promised not to shed any more tears over it. “As horrible as it makes me feel,” she concluded, “this is goodbye, Mum. As hard as you tried, I survived, and I will survive, because now I am surrounded by people who love me.” The district attorney urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence on Stacy. She highlighted Stacy’s callous conduct, including how she continued to socialise in her backyard with friends

• 1:21:08Speaker 00

  as her daughter lay in bed fighting for her life from the overdose she had given her. “She is cold, calculating, and without any human emotion for what she has done,” the DA said. “Human life is sacred. Stacy Castor places no value on human life, not even her own flesh and blood.” To Stacy Castor, human beings are disposable.

• 1:21:37Speaker 00

  The judge, who admitted to seeing all types of killers during his three-decade career, called Stacy a first. He had never seen a mother who was willing to sacrifice her own child's life in order to direct suspicion away from herself, remarking: "I have to say, Mrs. Castor, that you are in a class all by yourself. Unlike many defendants who passed through my courtroom, you're not just a danger to the general public, you're a danger to the people who love you and are closest to you. I believe that the sentence that I'm about to impose will remove that danger once and for all."

• 1:22:19Speaker 00

  Stacy Castor was sentenced to 25 years to life for the attempted murder of Ashley Wallace. She was given the same sentence for the murder of David Castor. She would have to serve over 51 years behind bars before being eligible for parole, with her earliest possible release date being June 2055, a month shy of her 88th birthday.

• 1:22:46Speaker 00

  In 2009, Stacy Castor agreed to be interviewed for a two-hour special for ABC's award-winning TV programme 2020. In it, she continued to profess her innocence and accuse Ashley of knowing what really happened.

• 1:23:04Speaker 00

  A forensic psychiatrist told 2020 that offenders like Stacy tend to deny, deny, deny, until the bitter end, and that she would likely never admit guilt.

• 1:23:17Speaker 00

  Stacy chose not to be evaluated by a psychiatrist for the purpose of her trial, which would have opened the door to a potential mental health defence. As such, she hasn't been officially diagnosed with anything that might shed light on why an otherwise seemingly normal functioning wife and mother would not only kill two husbands she professed to love dearly, but also attempt to implicate the daughter she claimed to be her best friend.

• 1:23:46Speaker 00

  The closest suggested motive is financial, but in Michael's case, he was not a wealthy man. David did have a successful business, though he still faced financial difficulties, and his $50,000 life insurance payout was not considered exorbitant.

• 1:24:05Speaker 00

  Stacy Castor was never found legally responsible for the death of her first husband, but investigators remained convinced she was responsible, and ultimately closed the case on that basis. They considered it fortunate that Michael's remains weren't cremated, as the truth surrounding his death might otherwise never have been uncovered. They also acknowledged that, had Stacy not made the mistake of attempting a second poisoning, she may well have escaped to justice for Michael's death entirely.

• 1:24:38Speaker 00

  While there has been no evidence to suggest that Stacy has any other victims, it is widely accepted that she could have killed again had she not been found out.

• 1:24:48Speaker 00

  However, she didn't display the broader traits typically associated with serial killers. According to commentators, the one pattern she did demonstrate was an ability to use her own child in a way that served her own needs. Neither Ashley nor Bree spoke to their mother again after the trial.

• 1:25:11Speaker 00

  At 6:48 a.m. on Saturday, June 11, 2016, seven and a half years into her prison sentence, 48-year-old Stacy Castor was found dead in her prison cell. Her cause of death was a heart attack, and no foul play was suspected.

• 1:25:30Speaker 00

  Stacy was laid to rest in a shared grave with her first husband, Michael. Her burial placed each of her husbands, both her victims, on either side of her.

• 1:25:43Speaker 00

  That same year, David's son arranged for his father's remains to be disinterred and reburied elsewhere.

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