EP. 263 - ILLINOIS: The Catfish Cartel Family Murders

On September 18th, 2023, officers in Romeoville, Illinois, knew they were facing something they had never seen before. As they peered in the windows of a darkened family home, the flashes of what lay inside made their stomachs churn. Three dogs, shot. Furniture turned over. Belongings strewn across the room like a robbery gone wrong. The young family that lived in the home: 32-year-old Alberto Rolon, 38-year-old Zoraida Bartolomei, and their boys, nine-year-old Adriel and seven-year-old Diego, were missing. As police looked inside, nothing could have prepared them for where the family ended up: Or why. - Sources:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eTYeCoYyxm58DXXdoFbHQyWHlWbcH9iKGIefFcQToW4/edit?tab=t.y2yayotxnlcb Listen to our new show, "THE CONSPIRACY FILES"!: -Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl -Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844 -Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files -Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101 -iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/ -PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca -CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This October, DC Studios presents a brand-new horror thriller, Clayface. Rising Hollywood star Matt Hagan's career is cut short after a vicious knife attack by a local crime boss leaves him horribly disfigured. Soon after, his friends turn their backs on him, and Matt finds himself poor and outcast to the slums of Gotham. Desperate to retake control of his own life, Matt seeks out a cutting-edge treatment that miraculously returns him to his former self. What Matt doesn't know is that his new powers are also affecting his grip on reality and sending him spiraling down a destructive path of all-consuming revenge against those who wronged him. On October 23rd, Look Fear in the Face with Clayface, starring Tom Reese Harrys and Naomi Ackey, only in theaters. Rated R, 17 and under not admitted without a parent or guardian.

• 0:44Courtney Brown?

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• 1:29Courtney Brown?

  It gives you the most perfect, natural, rosy cheek. I'm serious, I can put all of my Merit products on in less than five minutes, and you just look so put-together with the least amount of effort possible. So if you're looking for makeup that is amazing quality, whose products are clean, vegan, and cruelty-free, then I got you. Right now, Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their signature makeup bag. Which, if you've seen it, it's not just a makeup bag, but really an accessory, free with your first order at MeritBeauty.com. That's M-E-R-I-T beauty.com. MeritBeauty.com.

• 2:12Speaker 02

  When fall comes back around, there's a sense of a reset. And new pieces from Lululemon's Fall Drop are an inspiration to push your goals and elevate your routines. As your calendar fills, easy-to-layer styles meet the demands of your day. And as you challenge yourself to try even more, versatile sets transition with you. The Lululemon Fall Lineup brings new levels of comfort and confidence, whether you're starting something fresh or starting something over. Check out the latest arrivals in-store and on Lululemon.com now.

• 2:41Colin Brown?

  Warning: The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.

• 2:53Courtney Brown?

  Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children.

• 2:59Colin Brown?

  This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

• 3:04Courtney Brown?

  So often, true crime stories stem from emotions we're all familiar with: jealousy, anger, fear, love. But it's the extent people are willing to go for these emotions and these stories we cover that make them an anomaly. Many of us have done stupid things for love, and looked back embarrassed by the choices we've made. But there are people out there that are willing to do anything for love. And today's story, it's about just that. A person not only willing, but eager to do the unthinkable, all under the guise of unconditional love. So this is the story of the Bartolome Rolone family. I'm Courtney Brown.

• 3:43Colin Brown?

  And I'm Colin Browning.

• 3:45Courtney Brown?

  And you're listening to Murder in America.

• 4:48Colin Brown?

  Some cases that we cover have new pieces of information everywhere we look. Every newspaper article, every interview, every quote, opens up a brand-new wormhole of information. People seem to come out of the woodwork to talk about the perpetrator, their thoughts on them, and who they were, deep down. But today's case wasn't one of those. In fact, in a lot of ways, the perpetrator that we're talking about today is a mystery, from the beginning until the very end. We know that Nathaniel Coleman Huey Jr. was born in 1991 in Illinois, but everything after his birth comes in snapshots. Not in family photos, or accolades, or fond retellings by people who loved him, but in

• 5:31Colin Brown?

  arrest records and crime blips in the local newspapers. He grew up in St. Charles, a suburb of Chicago, where he very quickly began to show his rebellious streak. In 2008, when he was just 16 years old, he was arrested for disorderly conduct. After that came not one, but two arrests for underage drinking. And evidently, he didn't learn his lesson. Because in 2011, when he was 19, he was arrested for driving under the influence not far from his home. The pattern of destructive behavior that had followed him from his early teens only grew stronger the moment he became a legal adult. Details are scarce, but soon after the DUI, he was charged with criminal trespass at

• 6:13Colin Brown?

  an apartment complex in St. Charles, where he was reportedly harassing a woman who had an order of protection against him. Nearly every year of his teens and early twenties, Nathaniel was racking up new charges or facing lawsuits. In 2014, he was evicted from his apartment and forced to go to court due to severe damages he inflicted on the property. In 2015, he was charged with battery. Every single arrest paints a picture of a man who constantly pushed boundaries, and who felt, time and time again, that the limits didn't apply to him.

• 6:47Courtney Brown?

  Perhaps that's exactly why Nathaniel began looking at careers that would allow him to ignore boundaries entirely, all while enforcing them for others. Sometime in his late twenties, he began his own company, named Black Bear Security. And we use the term "company" loosely here. According to state records, Black Bear Security was never licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professions Regulation. Regardless, Nathaniel took his job incredibly seriously. On his business Facebook page, he described the services offered as "armed security guards", "unarmed security guards", "retail security", "event security", "residential security", "private security", and "security consulting services".

• 7:32Courtney Brown?

  Now, for the most part, he was contracted by local bars, one in Barlet, Illinois, and one in Dundee called The Milk Pale. When he wasn't working at those bars or private events, he was posting frequent photos on his business page of himself in body armor suited up with guns and ammunition. One picture showed a pistol, magazine, and knife, captioned "I can and I will". Some believed that Nathaniel took his job a little too seriously. There were claims that he could be irrational and erratic, and that he was obsessed with firearms. Which is a problem, because Nathaniel shouldn't have had weapons in the first place. Because of the numerous charges he amassed throughout his teens and twenties, he legally

• 8:15Courtney Brown?

  wasn't allowed to own any firearms. And yet, he posted selfies constantly on Facebook, flashing not just guns, but in one case, a gun with a silencer, which is illegal in his home state of Illinois. Once again, Nathaniel proved that he didn't feel the rules applied to him.

• 8:33Colin Brown?

  And that belief seemed to carry over into Nathaniel's relationships as well. By the time he started Black Bear Security in 2021, he was five years deep into a relationship with a woman named Irma Linda Palamo. The two lived 40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago in a quiet suburb called Streamwood, along with Irma Linda's adult daughter from a previous relationship. Both Nathaniel and Irma Linda had children from past relationships, though, according to reports, Nathaniel hadn't seen his children in several years. And, in Irma Linda's case, there weren't just kids in the picture, but grandkids. You see, she was 19 years older than Nathaniel when the two began dating in 2016.

• 9:15Colin Brown?

  She had previously been married and raised five kids with her ex-husband, who told NBC, she was a loving mother. She tried to be there for her kids as much as she could. When her kids went on to have kids of her own, she took on the role of grandmother like a fish to water, and was viewed as the center point of the entire family. The Chicago Sun-Times described her as "a loving mother, sister, daughter, and the most loving grandmother her grandchildren could have". Because of her tight-knit relationship with her family, many of them were very wary of Nathaniel at first. The fact that he was nearly two decades younger and had a criminal record didn't necessarily help, either. Irma Linda's daughter, who lived with the couple, told NBC, "When I first met him, he wasn't too bad of a guy."

• 9:59Colin Brown?

  Which isn't exactly a glowing review. And as time went on, those reviews got even worse.

• 10:05Courtney Brown?

  In 2018, two years after they began dating, Irma Linda and Nathaniel got engaged. But wedding bells weren't exactly on the horizon. There were never any concrete plans for a wedding. And though we aren't certain how Irma Linda felt about that, her family was outspoken. They would tell Irma Linda that she deserved more stability and more respect from her partner. Irma Linda had rebuilt her life after a divorce. She raised five children on her own, and she kept her life on track. Meanwhile, Nathaniel had shuffled from job to job, dodging court dates and going in and out of prison. All the while, Irma Linda was left wondering if Nathaniel loved her at all.

• 10:47Courtney Brown?

  For several years, she watched other women's name pop up on Nathaniel's phone late into the night. Other nights, she would wake up to find his side of the bed cold and empty. She knew early on that he was having affairs. Here she is, talking to investigators about his history of stepping out with other women, including having a child with another woman, soon after their relationship began.

• 11:10Speaker 04

  When's the last time that he had an affair? So I know this is not the first time.

• 11:14Speaker 05

  No, it's not.

• 11:16Speaker 04

  Okay. When's the last time you knew he had an affair?

• 11:22Speaker 05

  When we first started dating.

• 11:24Speaker 04

  2015?

• 11:26Speaker 05

  2015 to maybe 17, you know what? His son was born and he said, I'm not having any more affairs. I'm not cheating on you.

• 11:35Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 11:36Speaker 05

  Stupidly.

• 11:38Speaker 05

  Do I know if he stopped? No, I don't know.

• 11:41Speaker 04

  Okay, so the last time you knew?

• 11:45Speaker 05

  So then I had a party at my house.

• 11:48Speaker 05

  And I fell asleep and apparently he said someone kissed him and that was all that. So I don't know, maybe it was 2019?

• 11:57Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 11:58Speaker 05

  And he said, no, she kissed me and that was it. Come on. We're all drunk.

• 12:03Speaker 04

  You know him better than we do, so.

• 12:07Speaker 05

  Anyways, he said that he.

• 12:11Speaker 05

  He said that he was no longer gonna do that.

• 12:15Courtney Brown?

  In spite of Nathaniel's affairs, he and Irma Linda continued their relationship and they built a life together. By 2021, he was working at his company, Black Bear Security, part-time. He was also working as a contractor in the warehouse of a nearby company, Avanti Engineering. Now Irma Linda's children and grandchildren came and went from their home on a near daily basis. And though Irma Linda and Nathaniel mostly kept to themselves, their neighbors were fond of them. They viewed them as tidy, respectful, and family-oriented, telling CBS News, quote, "They were sweet. The entire family was amazing." And while on the outside, the family looked healthy and happy, internally, things were beginning to crumble more than ever before.

• 12:58Courtney Brown?

  For Irma Linda, Nathaniel's affairs and refusal to set a concrete wedding date were one thing. But heading into 2023, he almost seemed to be a different person. Irma Linda's daughter, Cristiana Espinoza, told NBC that suddenly Nathaniel became more controlling and reclusive. She said, quote, "He was shutting us all out, including my mom. He started becoming suspicious, keeping to himself, staying in the garage. He started not being himself, pushing us all away, even my mom," end quote. It was strange because his paranoia seemed to come out of nowhere and it didn't seem to be aimed at one person in particular.

• 13:37Courtney Brown?

  Despite living in Streamwood, a relatively safe neighborhood, Nathaniel put security cameras all over their home, floodlights, and multi-lock systems on all the doors. Now, from the outside, you'd think he was just being precocious. But in the summer of 2023, he started telling everyone that people were watching him, tracking his every move. A former coworker of his, who remained anonymous in the media, disclosed that he had been using cocaine. And in his words, quote, "A lot of it." It seemed as if that alleged cocaine use was only exacerbating the paranoia he was already feeling. And heading into the tail end of 2023, he didn't trust the people around him, not his friends, not his family, not even Irma Linda.

• 14:22Courtney Brown?

  But there was one person he trusted, 32-year-old Zoraida Bartolome.

• 14:28Colin Brown?

  Zoraida Gabrielle Zori Bartolome was born in Puerto Rico. Growing up there, she was described as bright and ambitious, the type of woman who worked extremely hard to provide for herself and eventually her family. When she was just a teenager, she laid eyes on Alberto Tito Rolon and knew that he was the one. He was described by loved ones as strong, quiet, and wise, the kind of man you could depend on, no matter the hour, no matter the situation. He had dreams just like she did, dreams to move to the mainland, raise a big family, and build a life they could be proud of. So, in the 2010s, the newly married couple made the move to Illinois, where they soon welcomed two boys into the world,

• 15:10Colin Brown?

  Adriel Noah Rolon in 2014 and Diego Isaac Rolon just two years later. They wanted to give their children the lives they hadn't had growing up. So, they both worked as hard as they could to claw their way out of the $29,000 worth of student loan debt and build a stable, prosperous life for the boys. To do that, Alberto worked at Euclid Beverage in North Aurora, where his coworkers called him "a great employee who never missed a day of work." One of the perks of working for a beer and wine distributor was seemingly endless free samples and product vouchers, but Alberto never used his. The family didn't drink alcohol, so he would instead pass the samples along to extended family and friends.

• 15:52Colin Brown?

  Meanwhile, Zoraida worked in quality control at Avanti Engineering, the same business where Nathaniel Huey was a contract worker. Now, she was known by her coworkers to be incredibly dedicated, and by early 2023, that hard work paid off. In April, Zoraida and Alberto were finally able to purchase a home of their own. They relocated to the Hampton Park neighborhood in Romeoville and purchased a modest blue home at 512 Concord Avenue. It was their first owned home, and the family was able to plant roots in a place that felt safe. Their two energetic sons had a yard to play in for the very first time and a whole neighborhood to explore with other kids on the street. It felt like the picture-perfect American dream.

• 16:37Colin Brown?

  They even had three dogs who they loved dearly.

• 16:41Colin Brown?

  Alberto, Zoraida, and their children, Adriel and Diego, were welcomed in the Hampton Park neighborhood with open arms. Neighbor Lynn Phillips told the New York Post, "They would be outside working in their yard and we'd wave hi and bye, that kind of thing." Another neighbor, Carol Love, added, "They were nice people. They didn't bother anybody." Neighbors also watched the couple pass each other like ships in the night. Zoraida worked during the day and Alberto worked the night shift. It was hard, but for them, it meant something important. Their kids would always, always have one of them home. For Zoraida and Alberto, it was worth the conflicting schedules and the stress that came along with, at times, having to operate like a single parent.

• 17:26Colin Brown?

  Yet Zoraida juggled working full-time and being a wife and mother with ease. She was extremely dedicated not only to her career but also her family. She loved family gatherings and anything that involved her children. Those closest to her said that she always appeared happy and fulfilled. She made it all look easy. But behind closed doors, it was anything but, because for years, Alberto and Zoraida's marriage had been crumbling.

• 17:52Courtney Brown?

  Alberto confided in his brother that Zoraida had been unfaithful multiple times. He made it clear that the only reason he was staying in the marriage with her was because of their sons. He didn't want a divorce. He didn't want every other weekend or alternating days. He wanted to come home from working the night shift and spend time with his children every single morning. And all the while, Zoraida was at work, looking elsewhere for what was lacking in her relationship. And sometime in the spring of 2023, she found that in 32-year-old Nathaniel Huey Jr. The relationship had evolved over time. In the beginning, it was just work conversations and inside jokes, but soon enough, it turned into longer conversations,

• 18:37Courtney Brown?

  late-night text messages, phone calls, and then finally, meeting up outside of business hours. By the summer of 2023, what started as flirting had unraveled into a full-blown passionate affair. According to Zoraida's sister, she often called Nathaniel "her soulmate." She compared her relationship with him to Romeo and Juliet. They were star-crossed lovers, desperate to be together, and they kept reminders of one another everywhere they went. Nathaniel kept Post-it notes at his workstation, not from his fiancee Irma Linda, but from Zoraida. They read things like, quote, "You mean so much to me. I don't think you understand how much I actually love you."

• 19:17Courtney Brown?

  Several other notes talked about them running away together, leaving their current partners behind to start a brand-new life with each other. But the two never got a chance, because on September 17th, 2023, their relationship came to a sudden, unexpected end.

• 19:34Colin Brown?

  It was 6:00 PM and at Euclid Beverage, Alberto Rolon was nowhere to be seen for his scheduled shift. His coworker and supervisor knew immediately that something wasn't right. Over his several years of employment, Alberto had never missed a single day, not for sickness, not for family problems, not for anything. The idea that he would no-call, no-show was completely incomprehensible to everyone at his job. Alberto's boss called him, but got nothing but his answering machine. Worried, he then called Alberto's emergency contact. Quickly, word got back to Zoraida's relatives in Puerto Rico that Alberto hadn't shown up to work, and alarm bells rang loud and clear.

• 20:14Colin Brown?

  Zoraida was usually in constant contact with her mom, sending pictures of the boys, calling on her way to work, and just checking in. But since the night of September 16th, her mother hadn't heard a word from her. With news that Alberto hadn't shown up to work, she started to panic. So she did the reasonable thing. She contacted Romeoville Police Department and requested a wellness check on her daughter, son-in-law, and two beautiful grandsons. Here's that call.

• 20:40Speaker 06

  I'm calling for my daughter Zoraida Bartolome. She leaves Concord Avenue, Romeoville, Illinois. And we haven't heard from her or her husband or her children during the whole day. No answer in the phone. If somebody can go by the house and check them. So the husband, they called from his work that he didn't show up to work. And he never, you know, he's always at work.

• 21:09Speaker 07

  Okay, give me one second. Did you last hear from your daughter?

• 21:14Speaker 06

  All day today, I haven't heard from her.

• 21:17Speaker 07

  But when did you last talk to her?

• 21:20Speaker 06

  Last night.

• 21:21Speaker 07

  Last night? Okay. Okay, I'm gonna send officers over to check on her and somebody will give you a call back, okay?

• 21:29Speaker 06

  Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

• 21:32Speaker 07

  Oh, no problem, that's what we're here for.

• 21:35Courtney Brown?

  Around 8:43 PM, Romeoville police officers arrived at the Bartolome Rolon house at 512 Concord Avenue. Right off the bat, things didn't look right. Two cars sat in the driveway. Despite it being almost 9:00 PM, there were very few lights on in the home. It was quiet, dark. An officer made his way to the front door and knocked, but he only heard echoes in return. There were no footsteps, no movement beyond the door, just silence. He turned on his flashlight and peered in through the front windows to the side of the door, scanning the dark room for any signs of life or the opposite. And what he saw told him it was going to be a long, sad night.

• 22:17Courtney Brown?

  The television flickered to an empty room, having been knocked off the stand onto the floor. Beside it, the coffee table had also been knocked over.

• 22:37Speaker 07

  See a little bit better now.

• 22:41Speaker 07

  All right, nothing in this room.

• 22:42Colin Brown?

  Pumped in a little bit. Lights are off at five o'clock on a Sunday.

• 22:45Speaker 07

  And, uh, no, there's lights on in the back room. We can see it through that.

• 22:48Colin Brown?

  Uh, second. Come in the backyard.

• 22:52Courtney Brown?

  In the backyard, officers entered a screened-in porch through an unlocked door. As they made their way through the porch to the door leading into the home, their hearts dropped. Beside the door were two windows, both of which had screens that had been sliced open from the outside. They had known something wasn't right from the get-go, but this confirmed it. As they looked through the windows, flashlights lighting up the dark room, they realized just how wrong the scene in front of them was. Here is the moment officers saw what laid inside the kitchen.

• 23:24Speaker 07

  Uh, oh, oh, God. Dogs are dead. Two dead dogs.

• 23:29Speaker 04

  I need more units here. Need more units here.

• 23:31Courtney Brown?

  On the floor, in the beam of their flashlights, officers illuminated the bodies of two of the family's dogs. Dead, pools of blood surrounded them and flecked the walls. Whatever had happened, it had been incredibly violent, and they still didn't know if the family had suffered a similar fate. On top of that, officers had no idea if there was still a threat inside the house. They rushed back to their patrol cars and grabbed more gear, guns, and shields to safely enter the residence. One of the officers noted that he didn't want to wait for a ramming instrument. They were going to force entry without one. With the door down, officers swarmed the residence, announcing their presence and cautiously

• 24:12Courtney Brown?

  stepping through, guns drawn, as they called out to make contact with anyone inside.

• 24:19Speaker 07

  Romeo, please, anybody here? Move, move, move. Romeo, please, anybody here? Body. All right. Wait, you got one? No, no, no. Hold it, Cory, hold it. I got you.

• 24:32Speaker 07

  Forty-three, yeah. One, forty-two, body. What do you got? Cory, you got lights over there?

• 24:41Speaker 07

  Nothing's working. All right, cool. Lights, all right, this lights on. Okay, cool. Is that over right there? Is that, you know, sorry, tag out? Romeo, first. All right, Cory. Cory, Romeo, first.

• 24:53Speaker 07

  Body's gonna be down on the floor on your right. Got you. All right, here we go. All right, mail. What do you see? We got a mail. We got...

• 25:00Courtney Brown?

  Hello?

• 25:01Speaker 07

  Open doors. Romeo, please.

• 25:04Courtney Brown?

  In the hallway, officers discovered the body of thirty-eight-year-old Alberto Rolon. He was lying in a pool of blood. He had been shot at close range, and just beyond him was a bedroom door that appeared to have been kicked in. The officer crept towards the bedroom, unsure of what he would find on the other side. As they entered, it came into full focus. Thirty-two-year-old Zoraida lay on the floor, hands covering her face, surrounded by her own blood. Heartbreakingly, her sons, nine-year-old Adriel and seven-year-old Diego, both laid on the bed, lifeless. And near their feet was the body of the third and final dog. No one in the home had been spared. Every single family member was killed.

• 25:48Courtney Brown?

  It was a level of carnage that was hard to comprehend, an entire family erased in an instant. And whoever had done it had left a chaotic scene behind. Furniture had been tossed, and strangely enough, there were profanities spray painted on the wall in black ink. The killer had evidently tried to write another swear word on the wall, but their paint ran out on the letter F. It appeared as if after that, they tossed the can on the floor. Alongside it, there were over a dozen spent nine-millimeter shell casings. It was clear that the family's final moments had been in a cloud of gunfire. Police estimated that between everyone, the family had been shot a combined twenty times.

• 26:29Courtney Brown?

  It was beyond all understanding, and yet, police had to break the news to the public quickly, because if they didn't, panic would ensue in the quiet community, and the family members of the deceased would find out in the worst way imaginable. Police called those they could, mainly from Zoraida's side. Her brother, who lived nearby, raced to the scene to speak with officers. His devastation was clear. His sister had not only been his only sibling, but one of his closest friends. And now she, her husband, and his nephews, they were gone. But with the news out to the family, Romeoville Police quickly called a news conference.

• 27:06Speaker 07

  On Sunday, September seventeenth, at approximately eight forty-three P. M., the Romeoville Police Department was required, requested to conduct a well-being check on the five-hundred-block Concord Avenue. A member of the family did not show up for work at six A. M. on the morning of Sunday, September seventeenth, and did not respond to phone calls throughout the day, resulting in family members becoming concerned.

• 27:29Speaker 07

  Upon arrival, officers discovered four deceased individuals with gunshot wounds. The deceased have been identified as Roberto Rolon and Zoraida Bartolome and two children.

• 27:43Speaker 07

  Preliminary investigation leads police to believe this happened between nine P. M. on Saturday and five A. M. on Sunday morning. The investigation is still in its early stages. Due to the sensitivity of the case and to maintain the integrity of the investigation, we are not releasing further details. Anyone with information should contact the Romeoville Police Department at eight-one-five-eight-eight-six-seven-two-one-nine. There will be no further press conferences today. All updates will be made via news releases.

• 28:14Colin Brown?

  As yellow crime scene tape wrapped around the home that was once filled with love and the sound of children laughing and playing, neighbors stood on the sidewalks, stunned. The family had only lived there for five months. It had been their dream house. It had a yard for their dogs and kids, friends up and down the street for their boys. It was their slice of the American dream. Yet inside of it, they were gunned down, and no one saw a thing. Neighbors who were interviewed all said the same thing. No one even heard anything that night. No screams, no gunshots, which meant it was likely that whoever was responsible had used a silencer. But who would even want to harm the family was a complete mystery. Neither Zoraida nor Alberto had any criminal history. They didn't own any weapons or have any enemies.

• 28:59Colin Brown?

  And the fact that there was nothing of value missing in the home, despite the staging of the scene, told police that murdering the family had been the goal, nothing else. Romeoville Police Chief Chris Byrne updated the public on what they knew, but believing there was no threat to anyone else, they did not issue a shelter-in-place order.

• 29:18Speaker 07

  Preliminary investigation leads police to believe this happened between nine P. M. on Saturday and five A. M. on Sunday morning. We are not asking anybody to shelter in place. We are not actively looking for anybody in the area. But we do always ask our residents to have a good sense of self-awareness and to report anything that they might see as suspicious.

• 29:37Colin Brown?

  In front of the Rolon Bartolome house on Concord Avenue, a small memorial appeared, balloons, teddy bears, and candles. A GoFundMe was created to help with the funeral costs, and over forty thousand dollars was raised. The tragedy hit the community hard because it happened in a safe, family-friendly neighborhood where violent crime was almost nonexistent. One neighbor admitted, "It's definitely made me have a whole new perspective on trust on the people I surround myself with. I have two children, a twelve-year-old and a four-year-old, so every day my daughter walks to school, I'm in fear, and it's kind of just put more fear into my head now." After the murders, Adriel and Diego's school, R. C. Hill Elementary School, issued a statement

• 30:18Colin Brown?

  saying, "It is with deep sadness that we inform you about a recent loss to our V. V. S. D. school community. Today, on September eighteenth, two thousand twenty-three, we were informed that two of our R. C. Hill Elementary School students tragically lost their lives in a senseless act of gun violence at their residence in Romeoville. This violent incident and loss are sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school community. We are deeply saddened by this tragedy, and will do everything we can to support your child, your family, and the safety of our school community." Romeoville Mayor John D. Noack also issued a statement. This is Mayor John Noack of the village of Romeoville. Our entire community is grieving with the family over this tragic incident.

• 31:03Colin Brown?

  It is always heartbreaking whenever there is a loss of life, but when children are involved, it's much more painful. I have directed our social services staff to make themselves available to our community to help begin the healing process.

• 31:20Speaker 06

  It is important that we conduct a thorough investigation.

• 31:24Courtney Brown?

  That investigation began with a look into Zoraida and Alberto's cellphones, which were discovered alongside their bodies. And it was in Zoraida's cellphone that police found their first lead, because there were endless call logs and romantic texts from this one specific number, a number belonging to Nathaniel Huey Jr. And that's when police discovered that Zoraida had been having an affair. When they interviewed Zoraida's coworkers, they confirmed that affair. It was no secret in her office. The only thing that was a secret was Nathaniel's criminal past. And when police looked at his history, including the battery charges, they had even more reason to suspect him of the murders. So from there, they set out to speak with him immediately.

• 32:09Courtney Brown?

  Around 1:00 PM on September 18th, the day after the bodies were discovered, Nathaniel was located at his job and taken to a private room for questioning. He never denied his affair with Zoraida. In fact, he admitted that their relationship was special. He even referred to her as an angel. At one point, he mentioned that their intentions were to, quote, "move forward with their relationship", which four investigators rang alarm bells, because a man moving forward with a married woman can only happen a few ways. Here are police questioning him about what his vision of the future was with Zoraida.

• 32:47Speaker 04

  When you say you guys are gonna like move forward, were you guys actively looking to find a place together or something?

• 32:54Speaker 06

  Yeah, like, you know, it was going, it was slow. We're just kinda like, it was only called a month kind of thing. So, you know, just like, just.

• 33:08Speaker 04

  No, I get it.

• 33:09Speaker 06

  A woman can explain it better.

• 33:11Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 33:11Colin Brown?

  Police asked Nathaniel if they were going to find any evidence of problems in his relationship with Zoraida, but he remained firm, stating that the two never had any issues. When police pushed him, stating that they were going to look through all of their messages, even deleted ones, he didn't seem concerned. He reaffirmed what he had stated earlier. The two never fought. The only thing police were going to find were lots of lovey dovey messages. However, when police asked for consent to search his phone so they wouldn't have to get a search warrant, Nathaniel's confidence seemed to wane. He pushed back. Here are the police confronting him.

• 33:46Speaker 06

  On our side of it, we can get a search warrant, you know, to go through the phone and it's take a little longer. But the fastest way would be consent, pull it off and get your phone back than it would be to, and again, I explained to you earlier, I'm trying to eliminate you. Yeah. I mean, we have a deceased girl and her last slinger boyfriend or whatever is you. And I'm sure that, you know, if you're an outsider looking in, who's your suspect? You know what I mean? And so I'd like to eliminate that. I'd like to say, well, no, we went, we looked through stuff. He didn't have nothing to do with it. We're done with it.

• 34:31Speaker 06

  It feels like every suspect enough. Well, I mean, I'm not joking with you. We, anytime somebody dies, you look at the husband, the boyfriend, if it's a girl, if it's a guy, you look at his wife and any lovers he had. And we look, that's what we look at. We start there. And then this person was at work. We eliminate that. This person was, you know, we went through the phone. There's nothing between those two, no threats, no. I mean, you're telling us there's no threats, but I can't go to, you know, to our bosses, I can't go to a station and say, no, I verified that there's no threats. I have to, if I can verify and say, no, I went through this phone. There's no threats.

• 35:15Speaker 06

  They were, seemed to be good together. There was no threats. There was no animosity between the two of them. There was no fighting. There was none of that stuff. Eliminate it.

• 35:29Speaker 06

  Just go on the computer. I don't, I don't want to give up my phone. You know what I'm saying?

• 35:38Colin Brown?

  At the end there, Nathaniel rounds up his decision by saying, "Just go on the computer. I don't want to give up my phone. You know what I'm saying?" Eventually, when faced with the reality that police can and would get a warrant to search his phone, Nathaniel agreed to drop it off after he finished his shift at work. But to conclude the first interrogation, police hit Nathaniel with a favorite line of every law enforcement officer.

• 36:01Speaker 06

  I'm asking, I'm sure you would like to see this get solved just like us. You know what I mean? Yeah, because I'm pretty fucking angry. It just.

• 36:14Speaker 06

  I would, I would, like I said, nothing against my wife. I mean, it's just a different, like different connection with someone.

• 36:23Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 36:24Speaker 06

  You know, that, that.

• 36:28Speaker 06

  I just felt like really strong, you know what I'm saying? And you're right, you're better off here at work, you know, working and keeping your mind up than sitting at home and dealing with, you know, just sitting there alone or with her, thinking about this, so. Yeah. All right, well, thank you.

• 36:44Colin Brown?

  Nathaniel may have thought that it was the end of it, but police were far from done with him. As the hours ticked on, they contacted him again and again, and eventually returned that very same day, September 18th, asking for a DNA sample and for permission to search his vehicle. When faced with that, Nathaniel wasn't happy, to say the least. Here's a clip after police asked to search his vehicle and he refused consent.

• 37:08Speaker 06

  I, to a certain extent, I do get it, I do get it. But like, from my side now, like, now you guys are calling back like three, four times now, now I'm like, okay. I understand how it feels that we're accusing you, but again, dude, we're not doing that. We literally have to check our list for everything that we gotta cover before we leave here. You were Romeo to that? Yeah. It's far. So we drove from Romeo to here. And I don't want, when I get back there and I tell my bosses, okay, well, you know, we asked them for this, we did this. That's why we're back in here again, because my boss called and said, well, did you ask them this? You'll know, like, if fucking I like cleaned my car or some shit. You know what I'm saying? Right? Yeah. So. Yeah, so. Well, no, but I mean, we would, we would.

• 37:52Speaker 06

  The point being is that when I go back there again and my boss goes, "Okay, so did you, you guys check this car?" I'm gonna say, no, he said, no. Well, you've just gone way up the chart of who they're looking for, because why, if you did nothing wrong, why would you be hesitant? I know and he knows. I know, I don't want to lay around my car, but I, if I didn't do nothing wrong, I'd rather have that later on as a defense. If I'm accused of something later on, I'd be like, I cooperate with the police. Right. Game's over. I'm not saying that. I won't let you guys look at my car, but I would just like to have some fucking, like, some legal representation. And they'd stand outside there and watch this movie? It's like, what? So everything is audio recorded too, just so you know? And shit don't come in the field, do they, right? Yeah, they do. Yeah, if you want it to, but I mean, we're worried about it.

• 38:36Speaker 06

  I don't think so, but like, it's just, I would rather, I would, that's, that's just the route that I would rather go, guys. Um, I don't mean any disrespect, I promise you that. I'm just saying, like, I think it's just better if, at this point, not speak to a lawyer. This is fucking, this is the same. It's crazy. Yeah, I get you. No, I get you.

• 38:59Colin Brown?

  With no other options, but their suspicion at an all-time high, investigators worked to secure a search warrant for Nathaniel's cellphone data and access to his vehicle. While they waited for the warrant to be issued, they began questioning those close to Nathaniel. And with each round of questioning, they came back with more and more damning information. It turned out Nathaniel had called in sick on September 14th and 15th, the two days before the murders. He also called in sick the day of the murders, September 16th, and the day after, September 17th. The day that the police were questioning him, September 18th, was actually his first day back at work. On that very same day, following all these revelations, several officers were instructed to keep surveillance on him.

• 39:43Colin Brown?

  When he left work, they followed him, hoping that he would drive to the Romeo Ville Police Department to hand over his cellphone like he had promised. Instead, when he realized he was being tailed, he pulled over and asked to speak with the officer following him. When the officer explained why he was following him, Nathaniel responded that he was just going home to eat before he surrendered his phone to the station.

• 40:05Speaker 07

  Because I think he was under the impression that you're gonna do it right after you got off of work. I don't know what you guys discussed, but maybe you want to let him know that you're gonna go home and eat? And then you're gonna meet with him. Do you have his work phone number?

• 40:19Speaker 07

  Cause on the card, give him a buzz, let him know.

• 40:22Courtney Brown?

  While police waited for Nathaniel to surrender his phone, they continued to dig further into Alberto and Zoraida's phone records. And what they uncovered went even deeper than an affair. Months before the murders, Zoraida was getting flooded with texts from unknown numbers, warning her to stay away from Nathaniel because he was dangerous. The texts alleged that he carried weapons everywhere he went and that he was sleeping with multiple women. Now, whether Zoraida acknowledged these messages, we don't know. But soon, the messages started going not just to her, but her husband as well. In June of 2023, Alberto got a flurry of messages from an unknown number, informing him that Zoraida was cheating on him.

• 41:06Courtney Brown?

  And the messages came with a threat. One read this.

• 41:11Colin Brown?

  "I don't believe she believes my warnings and for the safety of your family, she really needs to be honest with you. Nathaniel has rifles and guns he carries with him. The mother of your children is putting them in danger and she knows this."

• 41:22Courtney Brown?

  The texts from the unknown number came in rapid succession, claiming that Nathaniel was a street gang member who had connections to a Mexican cartel. The texts also stated that Zoraida knew all about it, but still refused to leave him, thus putting her family in danger. Other messages read.

• 41:40Colin Brown?

  "He carries a gun with him. Surely she can find another black man to entertain. Your wife did not care about the warning to protect the children."

• 41:48Courtney Brown?

  Then in September of 2023, came the last text. It read this.

• 41:54Colin Brown?

  "This will be the last I say of this, Alberto. This stupid girl will be the reason you have no children. Good luck to them because they have a mother that does not care and this stupid black man will be next. Then the world will be a better place."

• 42:11Colin Brown?

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• 43:42Courtney Brown?

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• 44:25Colin Brown?

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• 45:09Colin Brown?

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• 45:46Colin Brown?

  Anyways, y'all, let's get back to the show.

• 45:52Courtney Brown?

  For investigators, the texts added a brand new layer to the case. Was any of it true? Had Nathaniel been in a bad crowd or wrapping himself up in something dangerous? Or perhaps had the text come from Nathaniel's fiance, Irma Linda, or even someone she had put up to it? Had Irma Linda found out about the affair and tried to scare off Soraida? To get to the truth, officers went to her and Nathaniel's home around 6:30 PM on September 18th, not long after Nathaniel came home from work. When they knocked on the door, Irma Linda emerged. Here is the body cam footage of that interaction.

• 46:29Speaker 04

  Hello.

• 46:32Speaker 04

  Hi, I'm Malinda. My name is Detective Garcia. From the Romelelo Police Department. This is Detective Wagner.

• 46:39Speaker 04

  I know you know what's going on and why you're here. Okay?

• 46:45Speaker 04

  I know you were talking on the phone with your husband right now.

• 46:48Speaker 07

  Husband or boyfriend?

• 46:51Speaker 04

  Does he live here with you? How long have you guys been together?

• 46:56Speaker 05

  2015.

• 46:58Speaker 04

  Okay. We're investigating a murder.

• 47:03Speaker 04

  Okay?

• 47:06Courtney Brown?

  It's hard to make that out, but there, Irma Linda responds, who murdered someone? And response detectives tell her.

• 47:13Speaker 04

  So we have in our possession some phones. Okay? And in those phones, we're doing what it's called the phone dump. So what happens is if anybody's talking on a text app that you can download, for example, Text Now, we can retrieve those messages.

• 47:34Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 47:35Speaker 04

  We have retrieved those messages. All right, we've read them. Pretty clear that somebody's pretty upset

• 47:42Speaker 04

  at a victim. Okay? Is there any way that these text messages are going to come back to you? Or your name, or your phone, or anything associated with that?

• 47:55Courtney Brown?

  Irma Linda shook her head no when detectives asked if her name was going to come back to these suspicious text messages related to the murder. And looking confused, she agreed to speak with the detectives, but she stated she didn't feel comfortable doing it outside her home because Nathaniel was just beyond the front door. So detectives walked Irma Linda to their car and drove down the street. And once away from Nathaniel, Irma Linda crumbled.

• 48:21Speaker 04

  Why are you scared of him?

• 48:23Speaker 05

  Oh, I'm not scared.

• 48:24Speaker 04

  Okay. Why are you scared right now?

• 48:27Speaker 05

  Because when I called him because I was scared, I didn't know where he was. He said, someone's following me.

• 48:33Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 48:33Speaker 05

  So I called and I called. And then I heard him say, why are you following me? Do you want to search the car? And then, and then someone said to him, there are messages from you and it's because her husband found out you were having an affair. And I didn't know that.

• 48:52Speaker 04

  You didn't know what?

• 48:53Speaker 05

  That he was having an affair.

• 48:55Colin Brown?

  Irma Linda told police that she had no idea he was having another affair until she overheard him confront the police officer on his way home. Now, like we mentioned, there had been plenty of affairs at the beginning of their relationship, but according to her, she truly believed that they were in the past. She admitted it had been hard to trust Nathaniel and that he had a flirty personality, but she really hoped his cheating ways were behind them.

• 49:20Speaker 05

  From 15 to maybe 17.

• 49:23Speaker 04

  We believe he's had multiple or many affairs while you two have been together.

• 49:27Speaker 05

  I was hoping that they were done because I was hoping to trust because you have to.

• 49:32Speaker 04

  When you find out about them, like what happens? You guys get into arguments? Do you talk to the women that he's having affairs with?

• 49:39Speaker 05

  No, for what?

• 49:40Speaker 04

  I don't know.

• 49:41Speaker 05

  No.

• 49:42Speaker 04

  Leave your, leave your man alone kind of thing?

• 49:44Speaker 05

  No, no, I'm too old for that. I'm 50 years old. There's no reason for me to like, no. And quite honestly, it's not the female's fault. It's his fault.

• 49:56Speaker 04

  Right.

• 49:56Speaker 05

  So no, no.

• 50:00Speaker 04

  I'm gonna give you a few names, all right? You tell me if you've ever heard these things before.

• 50:04Speaker 05

  Sure.

• 50:06Speaker 04

  Soraida Bartoloni.

• 50:11Speaker 05

  I was in his car and on his thing, that name came up. I said, who is that? It was 4:00 in the morning.

• 50:19Speaker 04

  When was it?

• 50:24Speaker 05

  I don't know.

• 50:26Speaker 04

  Was that this week?

• 50:27Speaker 05

  Oh, no, July, maybe?

• 50:29Speaker 04

  Okay, so what did he say that this? Who was this person?

• 50:32Speaker 05

  He said, nobody. It's a false call or something like that. And then.

• 50:38Speaker 04

  But if it's saved in his contacts?

• 50:40Speaker 05

  Saved you. But.

• 50:42Speaker 04

  You don't.

• 50:43Speaker 05

  I'm just not gonna fight with him, quite honestly, because fighting with him, I feel like he just sits there and he'll manipulate me and I'm not.

• 50:53Speaker 04

  So when we asked your husband if he knew this person, Soraida, he said, I've never heard that name. Why, why would he be lying to us?

• 51:01Speaker 05

  I don't know.

• 51:03Speaker 05

  I don't know.

• 51:04Speaker 04

  Should I believe him?

• 51:05Speaker 05

  I don't know. Please don't tell him I told.

• 51:08Speaker 04

  We're not gonna tell him anything.

• 51:10Courtney Brown?

  To detectives, Irma Linda didn't seem like a killer or like she knew anything about the murders. In a lot of ways, she seemed beaten down, dejected. After years of facing her fiance's affairs with no wedding in sight, the fights seemed to be gone out of her. She told police that she knew nothing and that the night of the murders, September 15th into the 16th, Nathaniel was home, fast asleep. Now, she did admit that the two slept in different areas of the house, but she was adamant that she would have heard him if he had left that night. Ultimately, the police were leaving the interaction with an even more unclear picture of Irma Linda's involvement, if any. But they did have one more question they wanted to ask her.

• 51:54Speaker 04

  Do you think he's capable of taking someone's life?

• 51:56Speaker 05

  No. I'm sorry. I know.

• 51:59Speaker 04

  How sure are you of that?

• 52:04Speaker 05

  You know, Nate is a lot of things, but what he tries to do is to calm people down and stop them from fighting. So for him to just actually fight with someone, no.

• 52:18Colin Brown?

  Irma Linda parted ways with the police soon after around 7:15 PM. They had hoped they'd get something concrete from her, information about her husband's criminal activity, her anger about his affair, or her knowledge about Zoraida. Instead, they were left wondering if Irma Linda was involved, or if she was a victim who was making poor choices to protect her fiance. Because in between all the fact and fiction, police couldn't make out, there were some obvious lies. During the interrogation in the car, Irma Linda went so far as to say that her husband didn't own any guns, which, looking at his Facebook profile, was an obvious lie. And not long after police questioned Irma Linda, they got eyes on his weapons for the very first time.

• 53:01Colin Brown?

  Because that night, when Nathaniel thought police had left, he got in his car and left his home in Streamwood. But he wasn't going to the Romeoville Police Department to drop off his phone like he claimed. He was driving to his workplace, the place where he had met Zoraida, Avanti Engineering. Around that same time, one of his former colleagues at his security business, a man who was remained unnamed, received a call from Irma Linda. And as soon as he answered, he heard her sobbing on the other end. The colleague later described her as frantic and terrified. He couldn't make out a lot of what she was saying, but one thing was clear: she wanted him to meet Nathaniel at Avanti and take something from him. The colleague agreed.

• 53:42Colin Brown?

  He later told police that he didn't do it for Nathaniel, it was for Irma Linda. Irma Linda had always been good to him. Hearing her that scared, for whatever reason, had broken him. So he drove to the parking lot and parked alongside Nathaniel. There, Nathaniel set a black duffel bag in his former colleague's trunk. He thought he was being sneaky. But in reality, police were watching the entire exchange. When they later looked inside the bag, they discovered an arsenal of weapons. Eleven rounds of .45 APC ammunition, three Glock magazines, two rifles, an AR-15, two body armor plates, gloves, a knife, and zip ties. Surprisingly, however, the weapon used in the murder of Zoraida Alberto and their two

• 54:27Colin Brown?

  young sons wasn't in the bag. But the fact that Nathaniel was getting rid of weapons told police he knew what was happening. The walls were closing in on him, and they were closing fast.

• 54:40Courtney Brown?

  After passing the bag of weapons off to his colleague, late into the night on September 18th, Nathaniel called his mother. He begged her to meet him at a local Target to talk. And hearing the pain and panic in her son's voice, his mom didn't hesitate to go meet him. When she pulled up alongside him, he got into the passenger seat of her car. It was dark, silent. For a brief moment, it was just a mother and son. Nathaniel began to cry, and his mother comforted him, something she had done a million times before. But this time, it was different. Because her son told her something that is every parent's worst nightmare. Quote, "Mom, I killed those people." Under fluorescent lights in a Target parking lot, Nathaniel confessed to his mother that

• 55:23Courtney Brown?

  he had killed Alberto Rellone, Zoraida Bartolome, and their two sons, Adrielle and Diego. Why? Because according to him, quote, "People were after him." Now, one murder was shocking, four was inconceivable, and as horrified and stunned as his mother was, there was one thing she fixated on. She asked her son how he could murder two young children. He responded coldly, quote, "The kids are better off dead." Then, as if what he said hadn't mattered at all, he begged his mother to help him. But she wouldn't. She refused to give him a place to stay. She refused to help him fight his way out of the consequences of his actions. He murdered an entire family, even their dogs, and now he was going to have to face the music.

• 56:08Courtney Brown?

  But as we've learned, Nathaniel isn't the type to accept responsibility. He immediately hired an attorney, though the attorney never got the chance to actually represent him. Because soon enough, Nathaniel sealed his fate, all by himself. On September 19th, investigators banged on the door of Nathaniel and Irma Linda's home to issue the search warrant they had been working 24 hours to obtain. But by the time they got that search warrant, it wasn't just for their phones and home. It was for Irma Linda's car. Why? Because police managed to obtain damning evidence that placed Irma Linda's car at the Bartolome Rellone home at the time of the murders.

• 56:50Courtney Brown?

  A license plate reader in Romeoville had captured her black Chevy Malibu near the home at 3:48 AM. Several Ring cameras and business surveillance cameras confirmed their drive. They went from their home directly to Zoraida's home, and then back. Nathaniel was seen getting out of the car near the victim's house, and then getting back inside sometime later. And Irma Linda, she was seen on camera in the driver's seat. As it turns out, the couple wasn't home in bed, like they had claimed. And Irma Linda was, at the very least, the getaway driver of the whole ordeal. When police arrived to take her car and his evidence, she was actually walking towards it, attempting to get inside.

• 57:33Courtney Brown?

  They quickly told her that the search warrant prohibited that. And oddly calm, Irma Linda replied, "Okay," and then walked off in a sort of daze. Police knew that she was involved somehow, and that Nathaniel had been the killer. But they were at a standstill when it came to arrests. They needed concrete evidence, blood, DNA, anything. They hoped that they would find it in the car, and that in the meantime, Irma Linda and Nathaniel would stay put. But sadly, that's not what happened.

• 58:02Colin Brown?

  That very same day, at around 4:00 PM, Nathaniel and Irma Linda vanished. They took Nathaniel's car and fled into the night, crossing state lines with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Police only learned of their disappearance when Irma Linda's daughter, Cristiana Espinoza, called at 11:00 PM to file a missing persons report for her mother. In tears, she told police that her mother hadn't responded to her texts or calls, and that she feared for her safety. The Taylorville Daily Breeze Courier later reported, she stated, "I know she left with him willingly about 4:00 PM. When I saw her, she was scared. She was crying. I honestly feel she left to protect her family." For hours before fleeing with Nathaniel, Irma Linda obsessively told her family members

• 58:45Colin Brown?

  she loved them and begged them to take care of her grandbabies. For Cristiana, it was clear that her mom had agreed to leave with Nathaniel, but not because she wanted to. To Irma Linda's family members, she was a kidnapping victim. Within an hour of Cristiana making that report about her mother, a BOLO was broadcast across the country for Nathaniel Huey Jr. and his 2017 GMC Envoy with the Illinois registration DW90037.

• 59:14Courtney Brown?

  But one thing we've left out of this story is, where are Nathaniel and Irma Linda? After the walls started closing in, they fled. Now, the year was 2023, and license plate readers may not have been as widespread as they are now, but luckily, they did the job. On September 20th, just one day after the couple fled, they were tracked down through Missouri and into Oklahoma. They were over 600 miles from home, in the small town of Katusa. Surveillance footage showed them walking into a Walmart, hand in hand. They laughed and smiled as they made their way through the aisles, grabbing everything they thought they needed to start a new life together. They purchased a prepaid cellphone, hair dye, and makeup.

• 59:56Courtney Brown?

  Irma Linda was starry-eyed as she looked at her fiance. The fear she had displayed to her family hours earlier seemed to have vanished completely. This wasn't a woman who had been kidnapped. She looked like a woman eager to start over. But little did they know, just outside the Walmart door, a Katusa police officer was waiting. When their car was captured on the license plate scanner, police were immediately dispatched to sit and wait. Oblivious, the couple chatted and laughed as they slowly made their way back to the GMC. Nathaniel got behind the wheel, and Irma Linda sat in the passenger seat. But as they pulled out of the parking lot, they saw it, red and blue lights flashing in the rearview. The moment Nathaniel saw the lights, he saw a life in prison.

• 1:00:41Courtney Brown?

  So instead of stopping, he floored it. For the final time in his free life, Nathaniel put the safety of everyone else at risk. He flew through the side streets, gunning for the highway, I-44. Police cars pursued him, sirens blaring, as innocent bystanders swerved out of the way of the ensuing car chase. Nathaniel sliced in and out of traffic, nearly hitting several people on his quest to escape. All the while, Irma Linda was in the passenger seat, watching the world flash by. Was she scared, exhilarated? Was she begging him to stop and turn himself in? Whatever the case, it didn't matter, because Nathaniel was behind the wheel, and he made it very clear to police that he wasn't stopping.

• 1:01:26Courtney Brown?

  Finally, after weaving through the quaint streets of Katusa, he sped onto I-44, the freeway running through town. Cars swerved out of the way as he drove on the edges of the road, sometimes brushing just between other cars and the median, until finally, his luck ran out. Nathaniel tried to skirt around a truck, but instead, he overcorrected, slamming into the cement divider. There was crunching metal, shattering glass, and then the sound of flames. Upon impact, the GMC burst into flames near the glovebox area. Thick black smoke erupted into the sky. As onlookers watched in horror, the driver's side door was pinned shut, bent against the divider.

• 1:02:09Courtney Brown?

  And with the flames erupting from the other side of the vehicle, it looked like there was truly no escape. Multiple officers surrounded the wreckage with their weapons drawn. They knew it was dangerous, but they couldn't sit and watch. So they raced in and threw open the passenger side door. The flames grew. Thick, toxic smoke plumbed into the sky. Then, there was a sound, the unmistakable sound of gunshots. Battered and given up, Nathaniel drew a gun, the only one still in his possession. Then, he aimed the gun at Irma Linda and fired. As the flames grew around him, he placed the gun beneath his chin and squeezed the trigger. But it wasn't instant blackness and peace like he had expected.

• 1:02:53Courtney Brown?

  After shooting himself, the flames were still roaring around him. The pain was immense. And in that moment, he must have realized, the first shot didn't kill him. Desperate, he lifted the gun to his temple and squeezed once more. By the time police pulled him out of the wreckage, he was gone.

• 1:03:11Colin Brown?

  Irma Linda, on the other hand, was still clinging to life. She was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital where she was determined to be in critical condition. Immediately, officers on the scene knew what they had faced. Here's some body cam capturing officers discussing the aftermath.

• 1:03:32Colin Brown?

  Illinois, I think.

• 1:03:33Speaker 05

  Yeah, he's, he's DOA. He did shoot her, um, got her head. She's, she's a missing person, endangered, he's the murder suspect.

• 1:03:44Colin Brown?

  It looked like she was being held against her group. Soon after arriving at the hospital, Irma Linda was pronounced dead.

• 1:03:51Speaker 07

  Within hours of discovering the victims on September 17th, the Romeoville Police Department had developed a person of interest. That person of interest is 31-year-old Nathaniel Huey Jr. of Streamwood, Illinois. A second person, a female with a relationship to Huey, was also identified as a person of interest. In the evening hours of September 19th, the female person of interest was reported by family as a missing endangered person out of Streamwood, Illinois, and entered into the law enforcement agency's data system. Later that same evening, the Romeoville Police Department distributed a statewide bulletin to law enforcement agencies, believing Huey to be a credible suspect in this investigation.

• 1:04:36Speaker 07

  Do we know what the motive may be in this case? We have developed, that evidence has shown us a nexus between our suspect and the victims, as well as possible motive. Can you share that with us? Not at this time. This is still an active investigation with a sensitivity to it. So the main suspect is, is Dan, the person of interest, as you said? The Katusa Oklahoma Police Department and the Oklahoma State Police are still conducting an investigation. This literally just happened, um, very recently. So until the conclusion of their investigation and notification of family, we have not made any, made any identifications yet.

• 1:05:18Courtney Brown?

  There were still so many questions surrounding this case, questions that wouldn't be answered for a while. But throughout the investigation, after finally looking through Nathaniel and Irma Linda's phone records, the Romeoville Police Department would finally solve the mystery. And what they found wasn't just a little bit of information. It was like breaking open a dam, one that was chock full of catfish.

• 1:05:42Colin Brown?

  Shockingly, the messages started as early as December 2021, long before Nathaniel even met Zoraida. Throughout that time, Irma Linda began creating fake personas on social media. She learned the art of manipulation, studying online scamming techniques and how to use the internet to her advantage. She knew she could get Nathaniel's attention by using fake profiles of beautiful women. Using an image she found online, she sent him a message on Facebook posing as someone else. As she predicted, Nathaniel took the bait. In the beginning, the two exchanged flirtatious messages, but then Irma Linda started adding small details that scared him. Pretending to be this pretty woman, she would message Nathaniel telling him that she was watching him.

• 1:06:26Colin Brown?

  The woman would list Nathaniel's exact location. Then, when he moved somewhere else, she still somehow knew exactly where he was. She would tell him personal details about his job, schedule, and habits. When Nathaniel would ask how she knew all of this, she convinced him that someone was watching and tracking his every movement. Nathaniel started growing paranoid. He had no idea that this stranger was really his fiance. Irma Linda actually had an app that tracked his whereabouts, and it's around this time when Nathaniel began withdrawing from everyone around him. He started struggling at work. He truly believed that this random woman online was a part of this big group that was stalking him and wanting to hurt him. All the while, he was completely unaware that the messages were coming from the woman he was sleeping right next to.

• 1:07:12Colin Brown?

  What Irma Linda wanted out of this was control, and it's what she got, just not in the way that she wanted.

• 1:07:19Courtney Brown?

  Perhaps Irma Linda thought Nathaniel would come to her for comfort, and in some ways, he did. But mostly, the stress of feeling like he was being watched had Nathaniel on edge, and it drove him and Irma Linda even further apart. He constantly screened phone calls and started looking over his shoulder in public. He was convinced that someone was following him. He deleted his passwords, he erased messages. But no matter what he did, the threatening messages continued. He started putting black electrical tape over the doorbell camera, on his cellphone camera, and even on the red light on the television, thinking it would stop stalkers from watching him. According to police documents, if anyone would remove the tape from the television,

• 1:08:02Courtney Brown?

  he would become extremely angry and immediately replace it. He started asking Irma Linda to drive him places to avoid being tracked. For Irma Linda, that was a win. The more scared Nathaniel got, the more time she got with him. She got confirmation that he trusted her, but it still wasn't enough. So near the end of 2022, she decided to take things a step further. Through hundreds of messages from various profiles, Irma Linda convinced Nathaniel that she was working with both a Bulgarian gang and the Mexican cartel. She researched the dark web to prove to Nathaniel that some of her characters were skilled hackers. At times, she used Bulgarian words that she had translated to communicate with Nathaniel.

• 1:08:45Courtney Brown?

  She made it believable, or maybe he wanted to believe. Perhaps it was the paranoia or the fact that he could finally play the role of protector like he wanted. Whatever the case, Nathaniel fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. In his mind, there was no way to escape. His orders, the message claimed, were to do what the cartel and gang wanted, and he had to do it when they wanted, or he and his family would pay the price. Irma Linda created multiple characters, including organization bosses, shot callers, hitmen, and hackers. And through the characters, Irma Linda would convince Nathaniel to do whatever she wanted. And when she learned of his affair with Zoraida sometime in early 2023, she knew exactly what she wanted,

• 1:09:30Courtney Brown?

  to keep Zoraida the hell away from her fiance.

• 1:09:34Colin Brown?

  Soon Nathaniel began to get messages from the cartel and gang members, warning him about his interactions with Zoraida. The messages claimed that she was involved in shady criminal activity, specifically working for dangerous criminal organizations. The people that contacted Nathaniel wanted to let him know they were looking out for him. They wanted to warn him before it was too late. And after hearing this, Nathaniel started to question their relationship. He continuously asked Zoraida if she was with him, who she was talking to, and if she was using him. He retreated further into his own mind, constantly going over every conversation and scenario to pinpoint the truth. Everyone around him witnessed the change. For them, it made absolutely no sense.

• 1:10:16Colin Brown?

  But for Irma Linda, it was exactly what she had intended to do. Nathaniel became so paranoid that he started stockpiling weapons. He had at least 13 guns, including numerous handguns and semi-automatic weapons. He started spending more time at the shooting range, practicing for the day that something actually went down.

• 1:10:36Courtney Brown?

  Irma Linda thought she had control, but ultimately, her catfishing only ended up giving her more heartbreak. Despite repeatedly typing warnings that Zoraida was not who she claimed to be, Nathaniel continued seeing her. Apparently, his love for Zoraida was stronger than his fear of her connections. So frustrated, Irma Linda upped the ante. She tried to use her fake online personas to convince Nathaniel that his relationship with her was important. And under the guise of the cartel and gang members, she posed his loyalty to her as a test of his trustworthiness in the eyes of the leaders. Pretending to be these gang members, she would message Nathaniel telling him that he needed to be faithful in his relationship,

• 1:11:21Courtney Brown?

  that he needed to stop seeking out relationships with other women, to treat Irma Linda with respect, and to only have sex with her. She warned him that he was under surveillance, and that if he disobeyed, there would be consequences.

• 1:11:34Colin Brown?

  But still, he continued his affair. Imagine how angry that must have made Irma Linda. She was posing as a cartel leader, as hitmen, as gangsters, and she still couldn't scare her fiance into being loyal to her. Rather than cut her losses and walk away, she doubled down yet again. She started contacting Nathaniel with people she said were informants. These informants warned Nathaniel that Zoraida was a mole within the organization and that she was the one feeding his personal information to his enemies. The informant told Nathaniel that Zoraida had specifically targeted him and was working against him to blow his cover with the Mexican cartel, and Nathaniel believed every word of it. Now, sitting behind the phone, sending these messages,

• 1:12:18Colin Brown?

  Irma Linda knew she was playing a dangerous game, but it was working. Nathaniel was now convinced that Zoraida had ulterior motives. He believed that he had been set up. He believed that if Zoraida exposed him to the cartel, that his family was in danger. But the informant assured Nathaniel that the situation could be taken care of, and that's when they introduced him to a person named Turtle.

• 1:12:42Courtney Brown?

  On September fourteenth, two thousand and twenty-three, Irma Linda created yet another fake profile posing as someone called Turtle, a cartel hitman who promised to help Nathaniel kill Zoraida. With her gone, his family would finally be safe. There was never a second in the messages where their mission was ambiguous. They weren't talking about scaring Zoraida, or kidnapping her, or even hurting her. They were discussing taking her life, no matter what. For days over text, Turtle and Nathaniel researched Zoraida's neighborhood and learned where surveillance cameras were located. They discussed the layout of her home, her children, the size and breed of her three dogs. Turtle told Nathaniel that the home behind Zoraida's residence was vacant.

• 1:13:27Courtney Brown?

  It was the perfect entry point. So on September fourteenth, Nathaniel called in sick to work, and he spent the next few days planning with the fake Mexican cartel hitman. Together, the two determined that the only way to eliminate the threat was to murder Alberto, Zoraida, and their two children, Adrielle and Diego. Irma Linda, who was posing as Turtle, told Nathaniel that it would be best to go in and damage the property to make it, quote, "appear to be a burglary committed by kids", end quote. She reassured Nathaniel that, quote, "many murders go unsolved", end quote. Throughout the entire correspondence, it's believed that Nathaniel had no idea the person he was talking to was his own fiance, Irma Linda.

• 1:14:12Courtney Brown?

  He truly believed that he was being guided by the Mexican cartel, and they were reassuring him that the hit would work. Now, clearly Nathaniel was talking to Irma Linda about these plans, because as we know, she was his getaway driver. But around this time, Turtle instructed Nathaniel to, quote, "move through, locate and hit the two adults first, then two kids", end quote. Above all, there was one thing Turtle repeated, time and time again: take Zoraida and Alberto's cellphones. After all, Irma Linda hadn't just been sending threats to Nathaniel, she had sent threatening messages to Zoraida and Alberto as well, and she knew that if police found their cellphones, it could be traced back to her.

• 1:14:56Courtney Brown?

  So in the days before the murders, she went over the rules with Nathaniel time and time again, pretending to be Turtle, kill everyone inside the home, and take the phones. Then finally, on September fifteenth, in Nathaniel's eyes, the planning was complete. After several days of back and forth with Turtle, he was locked in. He was going to kill Zoraida on behalf of the Mexican cartel, at least based on his text messages. That's what he seemed to believe. And on September sixteenth, just hours before Nathaniel decided to enact his plan, Zoraida texted him. It was a text that would have made his heart flutter weeks prior. She told him, "goodnight", that she loved him. All the while, Nathaniel was planning to murder her and her entire family.

• 1:15:40Colin Brown?

  Around three AM on the morning of September seventeenth, two thousand and twenty-three, Nathaniel and Irma Linda drove to the Hampton Park neighborhood in Romeoville. Irma Linda played the role of supportive fiance perfectly. She was to be the getaway driver and promised to stay in the car while Nathaniel carried out the hit. She even had a walkie-talkie for him to talk to her. Under the guidance of the fake Mexican cartel, Nathaniel crept up to the quiet house, cut two window screens to stage it as a home invasion, and then walked through an unlocked door near the kitchen. Inside, Alberto, Zoraida, Adrielle, and Diego were fast asleep. But the commotion woke Alberto up. He walked out into the living room to see what was going on, and without warning, Nathaniel

• 1:16:24Colin Brown?

  raised his nine-millimeter pistol and fired at him. He missed, and the bullet struck a wall. Fearing for the safety of his family, Alberto turned and ran toward the primary bedroom, where Zoraida, Adrielle, and Diego had been sleeping together, all as a family. For the past few weeks, the boys had been having trouble sleeping on their own and had been sleeping in their parents' bed. It was supposed to be a safe place, but that night, because of jealousy, it was the most dangerous place they could possibly be.

• 1:16:53Courtney Brown?

  Before Alberto got a chance to warn his family, Nathaniel fired five rounds into his back. He collapsed in the hallway. Nathaniel then walked to the bedroom where Zoraida was with her two children. She had woken up from the noise, not knowing what had happened or what was going on. She rushed to the bedroom door and locked it. The sound of gunshots was terrifying. She was afraid for her husband, but at the same time, she had kids to protect. She threw her whole body weight against the door, desperate to keep it shut. Nathaniel attempted to open it with force, thrusting his shoulder against the door, but it wouldn't budge. Frustrated, Nathaniel fired several shots through the door, and one of the bullets struck Zoraida.

• 1:17:35Courtney Brown?

  She died almost instantly, falling to the ground in front of her children. Without her weight pressed against the door, Nathaniel was able to enter the room. As he stepped inside, he found nine-year-old Adrielle and seven-year-old Diego huddled together on the bed, too scared to scream or move. They were just little boys, described by those who knew him as, quote, "the sweetest and most innocent angels who could just cuddle your cares away", end quote. And yet, with no remorse, Nathaniel shot both of them. When police found the boys hours later, one of them was still wearing a sleep mask. But killing the innocent boys wasn't enough. For no reason at all, he decided to kill the three dogs as well, one in the primary bedroom and two in the kitchen.

• 1:18:18Courtney Brown?

  Then, surrounded by his carnage, he ran through the home to create more. He tossed furniture, overturned tables, and scattered their belongings on the floor, all in an effort to stage the inside of the home to look like it was a robbery gone wrong. Then, for his final act, he spray painted curse words onto the walls. When he was finally done, he walked back into the night, got into the car with his fiance, and together, they sped off into the darkness.

• 1:18:47Colin Brown?

  After the murders, Nathaniel texted Turtle and discussed what he had done. The hit was successful. Everyone was dead. However, he admitted that he forgot to carry out one specific instruction: taking Zoraida and Alberto's cellphones. It was a tiny detail that led to his and Irma Linda's rapid downfall. Investigators theorized that Nathaniel Huey Jr. died never knowing that Irma Linda was the mastermind behind it all. Romeoville detective Daniel Zacculla told NBC, "Nathaniel fully believed the information being fed to him by Irma Linda, but did not know Irma Linda was the person he was communicating with. Irma Linda never pulled the trigger, but it was her words and actions that turned Nathaniel

• 1:19:30Colin Brown?

  into a cold-blooded killer." Tragically, no one will ever know Irma Linda's full story. She died in that burning car in Oklahoma, taking with her whatever mix of jealousy, fear, love, and rage that drove her to create such an intricate web of lies. Those closest to Nathaniel and Irma Linda were shocked when it was all revealed. Alex Hernandez, a family friend, told NBC Chicago, "I don't know where things went bad or where they went sideways. I spent Thanksgiving here. I leave my kids here sometimes. It's like, my mind is lost right now." In the end, a hard-working Puerto Rican family that had only just moved into their dream home was erased. Their young children will never grow up.

• 1:20:12Colin Brown?

  Zoraida's sister told the New York Post, "These were hard-working people that had just bought their first home. In just a few hours, their lives, their family's lives, completely changed. The world is going to be a much dimmer place without them." Tragically, their loved ones are now left with only memories and questions that will never be answered. In October, two thousand and twenty-four, the Romeoville police chief released a final statement after everything had been uncovered. "The tragic deaths of a young family, including two young children, will forever impact the surviving family and those that investigated this case. Nothing can prepare a person for such an incident, and nothing can justify such a senseless act of violence." Although finalized, the finality of this case unfortunately does not mean closure for

• 1:20:57Colin Brown?

  so many trying to grieve.

• 1:20:59Courtney Brown?

  And with that, the case was closed. But for the family of Alberto Rolon and Zoraida Bartolome, there would never be any justice. The blue house on Concord Avenue stands empty. The home that once held a loving family is now quiet, and still, no more backyard barbecues, no more children playing in the driveway, no more laughter filling the home. All of that was taken by a violent man and a scorned woman who chose manipulation and lies instead of facing the truth.

• 1:21:30Colin Brown?

  For today's episode, we will be making a donation to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which provides crisis intervention, safety planning, resources for shelters, legal help, counseling, and support for victims of violence, abuse, stalking, and controlling relationships. Hey, everybody. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. Courtney and I have a lot planned from now to the end of the year, a lot of different stories we're going to cover, and yeah, we can't wait to get into them and to share them with all of you online. If you want to help support the work that we do here on the show, please consider joining

• 1:22:15Colin Brown?

  us over on Patreon. On our Patreon, you can get access to early ad-free versions of every single episode of the show, so you listen before the main crowd gets to listen, and you don't have to deal with ads. And on top of that, if you want bonus episodes, we have an entire library of bonus episodes on our Patreon account. These are full-length episodes of the show, just like the episode you just listened to with both Courtney and I, and sometimes the bonus episodes that we release end up being longer than the episodes that we release on the main feed. That just happened recently, where the main feed episode was, I think, an hour and a half, and the bonus was almost three hours. They're just like the show that you just listened to. It sounds exactly the same, but they will only be on Patreon, and by signing up for

• 1:23:00Colin Brown?

  our Patreon, you help support the team that brings this show to life, all of our editors, writers, researchers, and we greatly appreciate it. Also, please be sure to leave us a five-star review wherever you listen to the show, whether it's Apple Podcasts or Spotify. We love reading those reviews. And on top of that, if you want to see photos from every case that we cover here on the show, check out our Instagram and give us a follow there, at Murder in America, where we post photos and updates from Courtney and I's lives. It's also kind of fun if you've never seen what Courtney and I look like. People are always kind of shocked to see, and they always say that we look a little bit different than they imagine us, which is funny to me. Anyways, y'all, thank you so much for joining this week. We will be back next week with another episode of the show.

• 1:23:43Colin Brown?

  Have a great weekend if you're listening on Friday, and yeah, thanks for tuning in, and I'll catch y'all on the next one.

• 1:23:49Speaker 02

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• 1:25:12Courtney Brown?

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