Pod Insights True Crime All The Time Libby Adame About this episode Known as “La Tia” or “the butt lady,” Libby Adame and her daughter Alicia Galaz built a social media following offering silicone buttocks injections at a low price. This illegal cosmetic procedure killed at least three women and disfigured dozens more.
Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Libby Adame. What happens when someone builds a social media following, gains credibility, and then uses that to scam people out of their money? Adame's greed knew no bounds and ended in death, mayhem, and disfigurement.
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Transcript 0:05 Speaker 00 Hello everyone and welcome to episode 473 of the True Crime All the Time Podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you?
0:16 Speaker 01 Hey, I'm doing pretty good, man. How about you?
0:18 Speaker 00 I'm doing great.
0:19 Speaker 01 Yeah.
0:19 Speaker 00 We're in the new studio.
0:21 Speaker 01 We are. Yeah.
0:22 Speaker 00 So we got a lot of firsts here.
0:24 Speaker 01 Yes, we do.
0:25 Speaker 00 This is our first episode.
0:28 Speaker 01 Yeah.
0:28 Speaker 00 In the new studio. It's also our first video episode that's going to be up on YouTube.
0:37 Speaker 01 Right.
0:38 Speaker 00 And it's our first episode, second episode of TCAT a week.
0:43 Speaker 01 Yeah.
0:43 Speaker 00 A lot of, a lot of firsts.
0:45 Speaker 01 A lot of, yeah.
0:46 Speaker 00 And you know, trying something different. I'm not doing the music that, that I normally do on TCAT. There's no shout outs. There's no voicemails. There's no nothing. It's just the story.
0:56 Speaker 01 This is just the story for the extra episode that comes out. Yeah.
1:00 Speaker 00 And so, and I could play around with it. We could change it if we don't like it, but uh, you know, we're talking about this woman named Libby Adame. And Libby was known as Latia or the Butt Lady. And she and her daughter, they built this social media following, offering silicone butt injections at a low price.
1:27 Speaker 01 How low?
1:28 Speaker 00 I don't know.
1:29 Speaker 01 I had to pay a lot for mine.
1:30 Speaker 00 I know. Well, we'll get into it. Cause I know this is something that you've dabbled in.
1:37 Speaker 00 They used to call you No Buns Bobby and they don't anymore. So there is a reason for that.
1:43 Speaker 01 Well, exactly. But you know what? It's, it's helped my weekend shows.
1:48 Speaker 00 I guarantee it has.
1:50 Speaker 01 You know, plus now my pants don't fall down when I, during the day, like, you know, like they.
1:57 Speaker 00 Cause you literally had no, no butt whatsoever.
1:59 Speaker 01 I had no butt.
2:01 Speaker 00 But the problem was. These procedures were illegal, right? And three women ended up dying and dozens more were disfigured.
2:13 Speaker 01 Yeah.
2:14 Speaker 00 Twenty six year old Carissa Nicole Rajpaul died on October 15th, 2019 at a home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles. Carissa moved from South Africa to Southern California with a dream of becoming a social media star and making it in the adult entertainment business, per the LA Times. And, you know, let's face it, in the world we live in and have lived in for the past, what, five, 10, 15 years?
2:44 Speaker 01 Right.
2:44 Speaker 00 Social media has played a big part in the aspirations of a lot of people.
2:52 Speaker 01 Huge, huge. And it's all, it's driven image, it's right, it's driven by image.
2:56 Speaker 00 It is. And that's, I think, part of the issue that we're gonna be dealing with in this episode.
3:02 Speaker 01 Yeah.
3:02 Speaker 00 But you think about kids coming out of high school now, saying, ah, I don't want to go to college. I want to be a YouTube star.
3:10 Speaker 01 Sure.
3:11 Speaker 00 Or I want to be a podcast star or whatever it is.
3:16 Speaker 00 And then obviously also she, she was trying to make it in the adult entertainment business. So Carissa reached out to 51 year old Libby Adame, 23 year old Alyssa Galaz. This was a mother daughter team.
3:33 Speaker 01 Okay.
3:34 Speaker 00 Advertising cosmetic procedures at discounted rates on Instagram. And, and I said it, right? On social media, Libby Adame was known as the butt lady or La Tia.
3:47 Speaker 01 Ooh, the La Tia.
3:48 Speaker 00 So first of all, I get it. Some of these cosmetic procedures can be very, very expensive. You see something that's, seems like a great discount, you might want to jump on that. I'm a little worried about finding your, uh, place to go based on a, an Instagram post.
4:11 Speaker 01 Kind of scary. It's, that's how you're shot. Your surgical procedure.
4:15 Speaker 00 Yeah, I mean, we're not talking about a, a beauty cream, right? Or something that some influencer is saying, hey, use this, you'll, you'll look younger. That's one thing.
4:28 Speaker 01 Right.
4:29 Speaker 00 A lot of people will try that because they follow an influencer and they respect them and they'll try it. We're talking about like a procedure.
4:39 Speaker 01 Yeah.
4:40 Speaker 00 That somebody has to perform. Okay, that's, I don't think that's the way that I would go. The women met with Carissa, who was seeking an enhancement of her buttocks.
4:53 Speaker 01 The buttocks.
4:54 Speaker 00 Yeah, and you know how much I love to say the word buttocks.
4:57 Speaker 01 Say it a lot, actually.
4:58 Speaker 00 I do say it a lot, and you know what? For people who are just finding us on YouTube, go back, listen to our podcast. We've been doing this for 10 years.
5:08 Speaker 01 We have.
5:09 Speaker 00 We have over 470 episodes. Um, I just wanted to put that out there. But the other thing, Gibbs, is I guess I'll say the female butt.
5:21 Speaker 01 Yeah.
5:22 Speaker 00 Is, is, I think a, a big source of, what's the word I want to use?
5:29 Speaker 01 Um, attention?
5:31 Speaker 00 Well, well, it can be attention for sure. I'm talking more about the female side.
5:37 Speaker 01 Yeah.
5:37 Speaker 00 Because I think a lot of females, they want that certain look.
5:44 Speaker 01 Well, I think if, yeah, if, if they've seen it in the magazines and they see it on TV and all that.
5:52 Speaker 00 I mean, look at a Kim Kardashian. You look at some of these stars.
5:57 Speaker 01 Yeah.
5:57 Speaker 00 Who, you know, kind of have this certain look around the posterior area.
6:04 Speaker 01 Well, I definitely don't think. Men really care about their rear end? Like, I don't think.
6:11 Speaker 00 Not as much as women.
6:13 Speaker 01 Yeah, I just don't. I think one day, like.
6:15 Speaker 00 You're the exception. I would never, you know.
6:18 Speaker 01 Yeah.
6:19 Speaker 00 Have anything injected into my rear end, but it's because I don't care.
6:24 Speaker 01 I just think most guys like, think they're good with it. And then one day they wake up and they're like, I don't have an ass anymore.
6:30 Speaker 00 It is completely gone.
6:33 Speaker 01 You know, it's all back and legs now.
6:34 Speaker 00 And that literally is, is what happens.
6:36 Speaker 01 Yeah.
6:37 Speaker 00 But it's also kind of that, and my wife and I were talking about this the other day. When you look at actresses in Hollywood, and this is a horrible thing to me. Guys are allowed to age any way they want to, apparently.
6:52 Speaker 01 Yeah.
6:53 Speaker 00 Right? Harrison Ford was just in a Marvel movie.
6:56 Speaker 01 Yeah.
6:57 Speaker 00 He, he was in the, the nineteen twenty-three. Now, he's a great actor.
7:02 Speaker 01 Yeah.
7:02 Speaker 00 But he doesn't look like he looked when he played in Star Wars.
7:06 Speaker 01 No, not at all.
7:08 Speaker 00 The issue I have is women are not treated anywhere near the same. They're, they're not allowed to age gracefully in Hollywood.
7:17 Speaker 01 Not in that space at all.
7:18 Speaker 00 And or in the entertainment business.
7:21 Speaker 01 Yeah.
7:21 Speaker 00 Anyway, and I, I feel horrible about that. I mean, it's not my call. I'm not a casting director.
7:27 Speaker 01 No.
7:27 Speaker 00 Anything like that, but I do think it's very unfair.
7:30 Speaker 01 Yeah, but I mean, that's probably the biggest chunk of plastic surgery's business is women.
7:37 Speaker 00 I would say more women get plastic surgery than men. I mean, I think a lot more men nowadays are probably getting it, but uh, you know, I, I don't know, maybe more in the face. I keep hitting my mic.
7:49 Speaker 01 Yeah.
7:49 Speaker 00 More in the face area.
7:51 Speaker 01 I mean, I have the buttocks.
7:52 Speaker 00 You do have the buttocks.
7:53 Speaker 01 I got the calf implants.
7:54 Speaker 00 Mm-hmm. The penile enlargement, I thought was a.
7:57 Speaker 01 That was a reduction.
7:59 Speaker 00 That was a, uh, over the line, but hey.
8:02 Speaker 01 The sores, the biceps.
8:04 Speaker 00 You do what you gotta do.
8:05 Speaker 01 You know, thinking about getting the extended chin for the chisel look.
8:09 Speaker 00 Oh, okay. I thought you meant down here. You don't need, you don't need that, brother.
8:14 Speaker 01 But yeah, I've, I can't do anything about the hair loss.
8:17 Speaker 00 Now, I, I wear a hat. That's why I wear a hat.
8:20 Speaker 01 Do for it, huh?
8:21 Speaker 00 So they met with Chris.
8:23 Speaker 01 Yeah.
8:23 Speaker 00 You know, and, and although they weren't licensed to perform surgery, or really any cosmetic procedures.
8:32 Speaker 00 Carissa scheduled three procedures with Adame and her daughter in the fall of 2019. During one of the procedures, Carissa took selfies and videos showing herself smiling while she was kind of lying on a cloth covered table in a private home in Encino. Adame and Galaz were seen in the video injecting a syringe into Carissa's buttocks in the background. Okay. During her third procedure on October 15, 2019, something went terribly wrong. According to LA Times, Carissa was injected with a type of liquid silicone comprising materials
9:16 Speaker 00 commonly found at home improvement stores. Okay, I already, you know, talked about my fear of finding your cosmetic surgeon type person on Instagram.
9:30 Speaker 01 Right.
9:31 Speaker 00 I, I, I don't think a lot of cosmetic surgeons are walking the aisles of Home Depot, Lowe's, picking up their supplies.
9:41 Speaker 01 This is toxic chemical that you're injecting into your body. Your body is not going to want to accept it.
9:46 Speaker 00 Cause it's not medical grade.
9:48 Speaker 01 Exactly.
9:49 Speaker 00 It can't be. Carissa suffered acute cardiopulmonary dysfunction on the makeshift operating table that was set up in the house. Adame and Galaz called 911, but then they fled, leaving paramedics and physicians unaware of the silicone injection. Carissa later died in the emergency room. So, I mean, to me, it's obvious, right? They were doing something or had done something that they 100% knew they shouldn't have been doing.
10:20 Speaker 01 Yeah, they, they knew it was wrong.
10:22 Speaker 00 Yeah. Now to call 911, that, that's good. But then to flee.
10:27 Speaker 01 Yeah.
10:27 Speaker 00 Basically, what are you saying? I didn't stick around because I didn't, I knew I was going to get in trouble and I didn't want that.
10:33 Speaker 01 Exactly. I mean, but like you said, they, the police would show up. How are they going to know what happened here?
10:40 Speaker 00 Right.
10:40 Speaker 01 Do you leave like the, the caulking tube, you know, the caulking tube that you used or whatever you used out?
10:46 Speaker 00 Well, and the other thing is, what would have happened if they had stayed? Would that have, would that information have?
10:55 Speaker 00 Allowed, you know, emergency personnel to possibly save Chris's life.
11:01 Speaker 01 I think you have a much better chance if they know.
11:04 Speaker 00 Yeah, we don't know for sure, but it's a possibility.
11:07 Speaker 01 Your odds improve.
11:08 Speaker 00 Yeah, no doubt about it. Back in 2017, the FDA released a warning about the illegal use of injectable silicone for body contouring and associated health risks. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the risk can include reversible disfigurement and even death. I don't want either one of those.
11:31 Speaker 01 No, it's not worth it. You know, it's not worth dying over or being, you know,
11:39 Speaker 01 really ill sick with it. And it's not worth the fact that they they inject you and maybe for a minute, it looks like you have a really nice, you know, buttocks that you wanted. But as soon as you sit down and move around, it hardens and next thing you know, you have a deformed.
11:57 Speaker 00 Boulder. You got a boulder on one side. Who knows?
12:00 Speaker 01 Exactly.
12:01 Speaker 00 But, you know, procedures, any type of procedure is somewhat risky in and of itself.
12:07 Speaker 01 Yeah.
12:08 Speaker 00 Now, if you're going to somebody's house, using a makeshift, you know, operating table, and you're getting injected with who knows what? Okay, well, you're upping the risks significantly.
12:22 Speaker 01 It's kind of like that old saying, you get what you pay for.
12:25 Speaker 00 Well, there's no doubt about it. That's absolutely correct. Injectable silicone is different from the silicone contained within approved breast implants because the breast implant shell keeps the silicone from migrating, you know, within the body.
12:44 Speaker 01 Yeah.
12:45 Speaker 00 Injectable silicone is only FDA approved for a specific use inside the eye. I don't know what that is, but I think that's why people kind of freak out if, you know, a breast implant ruptures.
13:02 Speaker 01 Right.
13:03 Speaker 00 If it's a silicone breast implant, well, then you've got that silicone.
13:08 Speaker 01 Seeping.
13:08 Speaker 00 Seeping or leaking. When seeking to enlarge the size of their buttocks or breasts, some consumers are falsely told they're receiving FDA approved dermal filler, but they're injected with silicone.
13:24 Speaker 00 So, I mean, what do you do if you're lied to, man?
13:26 Speaker 01 Well, that's the thing too, right? I mean, if you don't know, if you're just, if you're told, we get this exactly where the doctors get it from, we're just not charging you what they charge.
13:37 Speaker 00 Yeah, which is, I'm sure what they're saying.
13:39 Speaker 01 Yeah.
13:39 Speaker 00 According to the FDA, side effects can include ongoing pain and serious injuries, such as scarring, tissue death, permanent disfigurement. If the silicone migrates beyond the injection site, it could cause an embolism, which is a blockage of a blood vessel, stroke, infections, and death. So, those are serious things.
14:04 Speaker 01 And these are things that a non-doctor wouldn't be aware of, you know? I mean, if you're not a doctor performing this, are you gonna know all that?
14:13 Speaker 00 No, possibly, but for certain people, even if they knew.
14:18 Speaker 01 Yeah.
14:19 Speaker 00 They're making money, and so, maybe they're gonna roll the dice, but you're rolling the dice with another person's life.
14:28 Speaker 01 That's right.
14:28 Speaker 00 And I think that's where it gets really, really scary. It would take nearly two years for the LAPD to identify Libby Adame and Alicia Galaz as the women responsible for Carissa Raj Paul's death. Over 50 women had reported botched surgeries in that time period.
14:51 Speaker 01 Wow.
14:52 Speaker 00 The mother and daughter were arrested at their home on August 5th, 2021. After the arrest, the LAPD had to increase staff to handle the sudden influx of calls reporting botched cosmetic procedures. Many of the victims who spoke to authorities were permanently disfigured, according to LAPD Chief Alan Hamilton. They all shared pretty similar stories, alleging that the duo performed surgeries from private homes and transferred medical equipment to and from each location.
15:29 Speaker 01 This was a fairly large problem.
15:31 Speaker 00 It was a big operation, which resulted in a really big problem. It didn't sound like their success rate was very good, but that doesn't surprise me. They're not using what they should have been using. Chief Hamilton explained that saving money is what draws many people to get, you know, illegal, unlicensed, plastic surgery or cosmetic procedure. The average cost of a butt lift by a board certified surgeon is somewhere probably around $10,000, $15,000.
16:10 Speaker 01 It's expensive.
16:11 Speaker 00 But these ladies were charging about $3,000 to $4,000.
16:15 Speaker 01 So a third of the cost.
16:17 Speaker 00 Yeah, roughly somewhere around there. Libby and Alicia's trial started on February 20th, 2024. The jury heard that the two defendants had seen the silicone injection procedure go horribly wrong before. But they continued advertising and performing the procedure anyway.
16:39 Speaker 01 Cause it was easy money for them.
16:41 Speaker 00 Yeah, $3,000 to $4,000 a pop.
16:43 Speaker 01 I mean, if all you're buying is some syringes and
16:47 Speaker 00 The silicone?
16:47 Speaker 01 Silicone. I mean, your profit margins are huge.
16:50 Speaker 00 Yeah, if, and it's because they're doing the work.
16:53 Speaker 01 Yeah.
16:54 Speaker 00 Right? They don't have doctors and nurses and anybody else there. The prosecution accused the two of implied malice murder. The risks of the procedures were so well known that they showed malice in injecting Carissa with the silicone liquid. They continued putting people at risk for money. They performed this procedure for about a decade. And like I said earlier, they build a following on social media.
17:24 Speaker 01 Yeah.
17:24 Speaker 00 And I think that's what's scary, right? You get a following, well, what comes along with that? Is there, you know, at the very least, some sort of implied knowledge or what's the word I'm looking for? Like they're, they're not scam artists.
17:44 Speaker 01 No, they're showing that they have some type of expertise in this.
17:48 Speaker 00 Right?
17:48 Speaker 01 I mean, there's
17:49 Speaker 00 How could, if, how could they have these many followers, right? I think a lot of people would look at that.
17:54 Speaker 01 You gotta be successful.
17:56 Speaker 00 Yeah.
17:56 Speaker 01 All these people are following you and you're showing all these different
17:59 Speaker 00 Doesn't mean, doesn't mean it's true, but I think that could hook some people who might be on the fence or might not otherwise do it. According to the LA Daily News, Carissa was told that the injections would prompt the growth of fat cells in her buttocks, making them look fuller.
18:19 Speaker 01 Okay.
18:19 Speaker 00 And, and let's be honest, there, there were a lot of women who are after that.
18:24 Speaker 01 Yes.
18:24 Speaker 00 You know, just a fuller looking backside.
18:29 Speaker 01 Yeah, it's all Tony Loc's fault. He started it, but maybe he's got back.
18:34 Speaker 00 Yeah, way back in the day.
18:36 Speaker 01 Yeah.
18:36 Speaker 00 And then, you know, you had the, the Kim Kardashians and the, you know, the trend has kind of gone that way. Like, that's the in look, I guess, for the lack of a, a better term. You and I are not really in on anything, but we're aware of things.
18:52 Speaker 01 Yeah.
18:53 Speaker 00 And so I'm, I'm aware of it. The defense argued that the women could not be held criminally liable because California law does not outlaw butt lift procedures and Carissa sought out the treatment and she consented to the treatment.
19:12 Speaker 01 Yeah, but did she know what she was consenting to?
19:15 Speaker 00 Right. That's going to be the argument, but I understand where the defense is going, right?
19:21 Speaker 01 Oh, of course.
19:22 Speaker 00 She came to them. She gave consent to be injected, to have this procedure done. I think the prosecution is going to say the exact same thing that you said. Well, yeah, you, but you told her it was going to be X.
19:40 Speaker 01 Right.
19:40 Speaker 00 And what you delivered was something completely different.
19:43 Speaker 01 Let's don't forget that, I mean, her Instagram, her social media is marketing this, right? I mean, so she, she-
19:51 Speaker 00 It's not a secret.
19:52 Speaker 01 No, she's-
19:53 Speaker 00 It's not underground.
19:54 Speaker 01 She's trying to draw them in, hook them in.
19:56 Speaker 00 Mm-hmm.
19:56 Speaker 01 You know, saying, this is, this is what we do. Come and see me and watch what I do for you.
20:02 Speaker 00 So prosecutor showed the jury autopsy photos of Carissa Raj Paul and another woman, Kenya Arias, a woman who died in 2018 after also receiving silicone injections from Adame and Galaz. Both women had puncture wounds in their buttocks where the syringes went in. Examiners also extracted liquid silicone from Carissa's buttocks. The jury heard details about the death of Kenya Arias, who got the procedure done at a salon in Southgate. Adame and Galaz were captured by security cameras in the parking lot behind the salon
20:46 Speaker 00 as paramedics rushed in through the front door to treat Arias, who had lost consciousness after getting an injection. Paramedics unsuccessfully attempted to revive her.
20:58 Speaker 01 I mean, they knew what they were doing was wrong. You can, you can try to make a case for the first time, like, oh, maybe this stuff shouldn't be used.
21:09 Speaker 00 Yes.
21:10 Speaker 01 But when you continue and it happens again, right there, I mean, it's on you.
21:16 Speaker 00 Well, just look at the numbers, right? 50 botched surgeries, three deaths. I mean, at some point, right? That, that argument just completely goes out of the, out the window that, well, we didn't know.
21:28 Speaker 01 Yeah.
21:29 Speaker 00 This wasn't right. There's just no way you can, you can say that. Prosecutor said Galaz helped two other women administer the procedure on Arias. After Arias died, prosecutors traced her cell phone back to Adame and Galaz's home in Riverside. Later that night, her phone pinged the cell tower one last time before it was turned off. It was unclear why no charges were filed, but Deputy DA Lee Sernok told the jury that the case was under investigation when investigators became aware of Carissa Raj Paul's death. Chris's husband, Marco, testified that he was aware of his wife's first two procedures,
22:13 Speaker 00 but she hid the third one from him because she knew he objected to it. And I can tell you right now, If my wife said, I want to have a butt lift, I'd be like, okay, you don't need it, but if you want it, if it's going to make you feel better, that's kind of how I feel about anything she wants to do.
22:31 Speaker 01 Sure.
22:31 Speaker 00 Where I would have a problem is the source.
22:36 Speaker 01 Yeah.
22:37 Speaker 00 Of the advertisements.
22:39 Speaker 01 If she's like, hey, Gibby's got this buddy that does butt lifts in his, his alley garage.
22:45 Speaker 00 Out of his van, out of his windowless van.
22:48 Speaker 01 Yeah.
22:49 Speaker 00 No. And a lot of times, okay, if it's 10 to 15,000 and this one costs 3,000, well, there is that old saying, right? Sometimes things are just too good to be true.
23:01 Speaker 01 Absolutely.
23:03 Speaker 00 In March 2024, Adame and Galaz were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. They were both acquitted of the more serious charge of murder. Adame was convicted of three counts of practicing medicine without a certification and Galaz was found guilty of two counts of the same charge. And, I mean, nobody really wants involuntary manslaughter, but it's a, it's a long way from murder.
23:30 Speaker 01 Yeah, I mean.
23:32 Speaker 00 It's a lot less serious, obviously.
23:34 Speaker 01 Better outcome for them.
23:36 Speaker 00 Because on April 18, 2024, they were both sentenced to just three months and, no, three years.
23:43 Speaker 01 Yeah.
23:43 Speaker 00 And eight months for involuntary manslaughter. So you're not going to get three years for murder.
23:49 Speaker 01 No, no. Kind of a light sentence, honestly.
23:53 Speaker 00 Oh, yeah. I mean, for what they did, they were ordered to be taken into custody. But hours later, the judge agreed with the defense that they were entitled to credit for time spent under electronic monitoring and they were subsequently released from prison.
24:11 Speaker 01 Wow.
24:12 Speaker 00 So you figure they were probably out on bail.
24:15 Speaker 01 Yeah.
24:16 Speaker 00 They were required to wear an ankle monitor, which I know you've worn one. We've talked about that for years.
24:22 Speaker 01 Sure, yeah.
24:23 Speaker 00 On the podcast. So they were probably at home, right? Living their life. And then all of a sudden they're like, yeah, you're convicted, but because you spent this much time at home wearing the ankle monitor, we're going to set you free.
24:38 Speaker 01 It's just not the same.
24:40 Speaker 00 No, no, and I don't like it. Despite her conviction and a warning from the judge, Adame continued performing unlicensed cosmetic procedures.
24:53 Speaker 01 See, people just don't learn.
24:54 Speaker 00 And that's the thing, right? She knew what she was doing was wrong.
24:59 Speaker 01 Yeah.
24:59 Speaker 00 She got caught, she got convicted. But this is something that you and I talk about on all of our podcasts, right? When the sentence isn't stiff enough. Well, what are you telling that person? If you get caught, okay, it's not going to be that severe.
25:20 Speaker 01 Yeah.
25:21 Speaker 00 And I think a lot of times what that does, it emboldens them to keep doing the things that they were doing.
25:27 Speaker 01 Well, hey, if I did something severe like that and just had to put the monitor on and had to sit at my home, enjoy my life with all my luxuries.
25:37 Speaker 00 Mm hmm. Do you have a lot of luxuries?
25:41 Speaker 00 You act like you're the king of Monaco or something.
25:44 Speaker 01 Whatever those luxuries are.
25:46 Speaker 00 I've seen your house. It's not like a mansion or anything.
25:50 Speaker 01 Dinner.
25:51 Speaker 00 Oh, now you're down to TV dinners. Okay.
25:54 Speaker 01 I was saying, whatever you have.
25:56 Speaker 00 Yeah.
25:56 Speaker 01 It's it's still better than what you would get if you were in prison.
26:01 Speaker 00 Jail, jail, prison, whatever.
26:03 Speaker 01 You know, you actually got a real mattress to lay on. So you don't have to, you don't have to use the bathroom with a bunch of people around you, right? But so what's, what's going to keep you from doing it again?
26:11 Speaker 00 Well, that's my point exactly. I don't think it does.
26:14 Speaker 01 Yeah.
26:15 Speaker 00 In March 2025. Adame was responsible for the death of actress Cindy Anna Santangelo. Cindy Anna was born Cindy Lehrer in 1967. She was raised in LA. In the late eighties and early nineties, she worked as a dancer and appeared in various music videos. She was in Young MC's Bust a Move.
26:41 Speaker 01 Oh.
26:41 Speaker 00 Remember that?
26:42 Speaker 01 I was in that too.
26:43 Speaker 00 Yeah.
26:43 Speaker 01 Yeah.
26:44 Speaker 00 Yeah, that was pre buttock implant for you.
26:47 Speaker 01 Yeah.
26:48 Speaker 00 I actually did listen to Young MC back in the day.
26:52 Speaker 01 I know you did.
26:52 Speaker 00 I had a rap phase.
26:54 Speaker 01 Yes, you did.
26:54 Speaker 00 Before I turned to country. She also delivered the Spanish introduction to the music video for the song Stop by Jane's Addiction.
27:03 Speaker 01 Okay.
27:04 Speaker 00 So, you know, some big artists at the time. Frontman Perry Farrell later described her to Spin Magazine as the Latin Marilyn Monroe.
27:13 Speaker 01 Oh.
27:14 Speaker 00 So that's a, that's pretty heady praise.
27:16 Speaker 01 I think so too.
27:17 Speaker 00 I would say. Cindy Anna also appeared on the shows Married with Children, ER and CSI Miami.
27:25 Speaker 01 Okay.
27:26 Speaker 00 So she had some impressive credits.
27:28 Speaker 01 Sure she did.
27:29 Speaker 00 To her name. I don't know how big, you know, of roles these were. She married Frank Santangelo in 2001 and they had two sons together. Cindy Anna was later the director and chief executive of Mermaid's Cove Malibu. And all women's luxury sober living facility.
27:50 Speaker 01 Okay.
27:51 Speaker 00 So, you know, a place where people will go to, um, you know, try to get over their addiction. Or I don't know if you get over it, but you know what I mean? Get clean and.
28:01 Speaker 01 Yeah, it's needed. It's a, I mean, it's a good thing that she was trying to do there.
28:05 Speaker 00 Yeah, start down a different path. In a reality show style promotional video on Mermaid's Cove, she described herself and discussed why she wanted to help others. Saying, I'm Cindy Anna. I'm a great mommy, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a CEO and a recovering addict. I had kind of the party rock star life. But I ended up as sort of, everybody knows, a low bottom junkie. And unfortunately, that does happen to a lot of people.
28:36 Speaker 01 It does.
28:37 Speaker 00 She went on to say, when I had the blessing to get clean and sober this time, I realized that there was a niche in this market of recovery for people like me, that someone like me could touch only a certain ilk of women, that they would believe it and hear it only from me. So you said it's a good thing, and I do agree with that. I also think this could probably be a pretty lucrative business.
29:03 Speaker 01 Oh, I definitely think it's lucrative.
29:05 Speaker 00 I don't think it's cheap.
29:06 Speaker 01 No.
29:07 Speaker 00 That type of, you know, service, but it is very needed, as you said. Cindy Anna Santangelo died on March 24, 2025, at her home in Malibu. She went into medical distress after Libby Adame administered a silicone injection. Her husband Frank called 911 after Adame said Cindy Anna was having trouble breathing. The LA County Fire Department responded to the home around 7:15 PM. Video from the home, which was introduced as evidence at trial, showed Frank seeing his wife bleeding from the injection sites
29:48 Speaker 00 on her buttocks and running to get material to clean them. He called 911 as his wife was drooling, lying on her side and having difficulty breathing.
30:02 Speaker 01 Tragic.
30:03 Speaker 00 Yeah, and, you know, obviously heartbreaking for her as she's going through this, but also extremely rough for him, right? He's seeing this and he's like, what can I do?
30:14 Speaker 01 Yeah.
30:15 Speaker 00 You know, he's, he's in the middle of it. Adame left and took her bag with her. Cindy Anna was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. So to me, very similar, right? Adame is again, still doing these illegal procedures. Something goes wrong and what is her first inclination?
30:38 Speaker 01 To flee.
30:38 Speaker 00 Oh, I'm getting the heck out of Dodge because I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing and I don't want to get in trouble.
30:47 Speaker 00 San Diego's cause of death was a silicone embolism. According to ABC seven, the silicone oil had migrated from the injection site to the bloodstream. The circulatory system moved this oil into her lungs, which prevented the lungs from providing oxygen to her body.
31:10 Speaker 01 Yeah, I'm assuming it acted like a barrier.
31:13 Speaker 00 I don't know, but it's not good.
31:15 Speaker 01 No.
31:16 Speaker 00 Frank told police that the quote unquote nurse who performed this injection was named Libby. And it probably didn't take police, right? Too long.
31:29 Speaker 01 To figure that out.
31:29 Speaker 00 To figure it out because who had been busted before for doing this exact same thing? The trial started in October 2025. Adame's defense argued that she had worked as a consultant for doctors who can legally perform buttocks injections in Mexico, but she was not practicing in California.
31:52 Speaker 01 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. There's a big difference between medical procedures in Mexico and California. Right? We know that. I mean, we know a lot of people, at least back in the day, would go across the border to get certain medical procedures done because.
32:12 Speaker 00 Or medicines.
32:12 Speaker 01 Or medicines.
32:13 Speaker 00 Cause they were cheaper.
32:14 Speaker 01 Much cheaper.
32:15 Speaker 00 Yeah. But I think what they're arguing is she wasn't practicing.
32:21 Speaker 01 Yeah.
32:21 Speaker 00 I mean, it might be wordplay.
32:24 Speaker 01 Right.
32:25 Speaker 00 But I think that's what they're saying. They also argued that she didn't personally administer the injection and was only there as a consultant.
32:37 Speaker 01 Oh, okay.
32:39 Speaker 00 The timeline of events didn't provide enough time for the procedure to have been done. So this is all according to the defense, right? Someone else must have performed the injections before Adame arrived. So they can't argue that she wasn't there.
32:57 Speaker 01 Right.
32:57 Speaker 00 Frank saw her.
32:58 Speaker 01 Yeah.
32:59 Speaker 00 He'd already told the police she was there. They got to come up with something else. Additionally, the defense argued that Cindy Anna might have already had the silicone injections, but hid them from her family. However, an examination of her body after death indicated that the injections had been done recently. So something you and I talk about a lot, right? You got a defense attorney, they're trying to do their job. And part of that job is to, you know, raise reasonable doubt.
33:30 Speaker 01 Yeah.
33:31 Speaker 00 In trying to do that, it's like they're throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall, hoping something sticks. Right? Prosecutors and investigators pointed to inconsistent statements from Adame in messages between her and Cindy Anna discussing upcoming appointments as evidence that Adame was there to administer the injections. And I get it, right? You know, if it was 1970, would you have that type of electronic trail? No, you wouldn't. But in 2025, you're going to have a lot of different electronic trails.
34:07 Speaker 01 You sure will.
34:08 Speaker 00 From, you know, your cell phone tracking you, what cell phone towers is hitting? You know, what text messages are you sending? Emails, things like that.
34:18 Speaker 01 I'm just thinking how compelling her website and all that had to be for even somebody that lived in Malibu, I'm assuming was successful.
34:28 Speaker 00 Had the money to go.
34:29 Speaker 01 Yeah, probably had the money to go, but they probably said, why would I spend this? If I can get it done for this.
34:34 Speaker 00 Yeah.
34:35 Speaker 01 You know?
34:36 Speaker 00 Well, let's face it. Who doesn't want to save money?
34:38 Speaker 01 Absolutely.
34:39 Speaker 00 Everybody wants to save a little money, but
34:41 Speaker 01 Especially me.
34:42 Speaker 00 I'm with you. Again, does it go back to the following that she had developed? And how misleading can that be? You know, she's got X amount of followers. Well, obviously she's not a fraudster, but that doesn't mean, that doesn't mean that's the case.
35:00 Speaker 01 It kind of gives you some instant credibility.
35:02 Speaker 00 It does. And I think it did for her. In closing arguments, Deputy DA Lee Sernak said Adame had been warned by a judge in her 2024 trial. That because she was aware of the dangers of silicone injections, she could be convicted of murder if another client died. So, you know, we just got done talking about it, right? You were kind of dealt what we thought was a pretty low sentence. At that point, maybe you want to make a change in your life.
35:35 Speaker 01 Yeah.
35:36 Speaker 00 But she doesn't. She goes back to what she had been getting away with. And essentially got not much more than a slap on the wrist, in my opinion. But she was warned. And you would think that warning alone would kind of cause her to be like, oh, yeah, I don't want to take that chance. And to most people, it probably would.
35:57 Speaker 01 But when the punishment is so light.
36:00 Speaker 00 Yes.
36:01 Speaker 01 I, I, I think she walks away thinking, I'm not worried about it. I'm just not worried about it.
36:07 Speaker 00 Yeah, she must have because she kept doing it.
36:09 Speaker 01 Yeah.
36:10 Speaker 00 On October 9th, 2025, Libby Adame was found guilty of second degree murder and practicing medicine without a license. On November 5th, she was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. So, you know, far cry from the time served under.
36:29 Speaker 00 Essentially, house arrests or house monitoring that she had gotten before. Adame's attorney filed a motion for a new trial, saying, there is no direct evidence of her guilt. She's never admitted to anybody that she, you know, did the injections. Nobody's ever seen her do the injections. But the judge denied the motion before delivering the sentence. Cindy Anna's son Dante Santangelo said in court per ABC seven, I didn't expect this to happen in my wildest dreams. I'm all for the law and everyone to get a fair chance. But I don't think someone who has no regard for human life or anything like that, should be allowed back on the street because clearly this is something that's happened multiple times.
37:14 Speaker 01 Right.
37:15 Speaker 00 And he's not wrong. I think, you know, when you're the victim's family member of a person who was murdered, and you find out that the perpetrator had done this time and time again, and had been essentially allowed to walk free. You are not going to be a happy camper, Gibbs. I mean, none of us would be because it's just not the way it should be. Frank also alleged that Adame fled their home. As soon as she saw his wife beginning to convulse, he filed a civil suit wrongful death, right, against Adame.
37:56 Speaker 01 Yeah.
37:56 Speaker 00 And he said in his civil suit that his wife was, quote, "killed in the prime of her life in her own home, after being unlawfully injected with unsafe and unapproved substances by Libby Adame. An unlicensed individual falsely holding herself out is qualified to perform cosmetic procedures."
38:19 Speaker 01 Yeah.
38:19 Speaker 00 And I think that spells it out pretty well.
38:21 Speaker 01 Me too.
38:22 Speaker 00 He also testified against her at her criminal trial. Now, it seems that this wrongful death suit is still ongoing. This is a fairly recent case, right?
38:34 Speaker 01 Oh, yeah.
38:35 Speaker 00 2025, and we really couldn't find any recent updates. But as we wrap this one up, Gibbs, you know, you have this person in Libby Adame, and we can't forget about her daughter. She, I think she got her daughter into this stuff as well.
38:51 Speaker 01 She did.
38:52 Speaker 00 Practicing cosmetic procedures for about 10 years with, without a license, something she shouldn't have been doing during that time. You know, she built up a pretty good following on social media, mainly because of her low prices.
39:10 Speaker 01 Yeah.
39:10 Speaker 00 Probably. And then her daughter came in, joined the business. And I don't think there's any doubt that even though she knew the dangers of injecting this type of silicone, they continued to perform these injections for years and years, using these same procedures, essentially putting their clients at risk for money.
39:38 Speaker 01 It's easy money is why they did it. You know, just like these people that do the lip injections illegally. It's easy money for them until something like this happens or somebody gets to fig, you know.
39:51 Speaker 00 Disfigure.
39:51 Speaker 01 Disfigure.
39:52 Speaker 00 Yeah.
39:52 Speaker 01 From those injections. It's a shame.
39:55 Speaker 00 Yeah, but you assume if you're going to that type of place, they're licensed, right? They're supposed to be licensed.
40:03 Speaker 01 You're hoping.
40:04 Speaker 00 And maybe that's upon you during some type of due diligence process to make sure that they are, but.
40:12 Speaker 01 Try to do some research.
40:13 Speaker 00 Yeah, I mean, I, I'm definitely not blaming the victim here. But, you know, I, I think for some people who are thinking about it, that, that would be a good piece of advice, probably, is to make sure that whoever you're going to is licensed. But, so, you know, doing these procedures, putting clients at risk, people died.
40:37 Speaker 00 They're disfigured, um, dozens of botched surgeries.
40:42 Speaker 01 Right.
40:43 Speaker 00 And, and the deaths of three clients. And I think when you boil it down, and you've already said it, right? It's just pure greed.
40:52 Speaker 01 Exactly.
40:53 Speaker 00 You knew it was wrong. The judge told you it was wrong. Don't do it. If you're convicted again, you're going away.
41:01 Speaker 01 Yeah.
41:01 Speaker 00 For murder. But the allure of that type of easy money. If you think about it, Gibbs, how long does it take? How long did that procedure take? I have no idea.
41:11 Speaker 01 Yeah, it's not very long.
41:12 Speaker 00 But is it $3,000 worth of your time? I think most people would say, ooh, that's a quick $3,000 or $4,000 or whatever it was.
41:21 Speaker 01 Yeah, depending on what you're doing. Yeah, that's easy money for them.
41:24 Speaker 00 But you know, it's, it's hard for a lot of us to kind of get to that point in our minds where we can understand how someone could put another person's life in jeopardy over money.
41:39 Speaker 01 Well.
41:40 Speaker 00 But it happens all the time.
41:42 Speaker 01 It does. 10 years ago, I probably would have been a little less, I'd be like, oh, that seems so weird.
41:47 Speaker 00 Oh, yeah.
41:48 Speaker 01 Now I'm like.
41:49 Speaker 00 Hmm. After 10 years of doing true crime podcasts, yeah.
41:53 Speaker 01 I'm not, I'm not surprised that much anymore.
41:55 Speaker 00 No, I'm not either. I'm not. But that's it for our episode on Libby Adame and our first.
42:03 Speaker 01 Yeah.
42:04 Speaker 00 Second TCAT of the week. I don't even know how to say that. That's the best way I can think of to say it.
42:09 Speaker 01 It's awesome, man. You broke the desk in.
42:12 Speaker 00 Yeah.
42:13 Speaker 01 You've broken everything in, you know? You've broken it.
42:16 Speaker 00 And you didn't break anything. So that's so far, we're doing great.
42:20 Speaker 01 Really well. Yeah.
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