Love Triangle Ends in Horror Because of This Psycho… the Case of Alex Woodworth

On March 22, 2018, 24-year-old Alex Woodworth was stabbed 16 times and killed by 20-year-old Ezra McCandless. The two had an unusual relationship with one another, in that McCandless left her boyfriend Jason Mengel for Woodworth, who was a barista at a local coffee shop that she and Mengel frequented. But eventually, McCandless wanted to get back together with Mengel, and figured she would look more sympathetic if she was a victim to Woodworth attacking her. So she violently killed him and staged the whole thing. This episode is sponsored by: -Cash App https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/4g1zpylb - Download Cash App Today: [https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/4g1zpylb] #CashAppPod As a Cash App partner, I may earn a commission when you sign up for a Cash App account. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. -SKIMS https://skims.com/- After you place your order, be sure to let them know I sent you! Select "podcast" in the survey and be sure to select True Crime with Kendall Rae in the dropdown menu that follows. -Rocket Money https://onboarding.rocketmoney.com/infl/?_forward_params=1&_smtype=3&utm_campaign=kendallrae&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=podcast&wpcid=kendallrae&wpcn=kendallrae&wpsnetn=podcast -Function Health https://www.functionhealth.com/a/tckr - promo code: TCKR100 Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0Form for people directly related/close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - [email protected] mailto:[email protected] Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112

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• 0:00Kendall Rae?

  This podcast covers some tough cases, but it also highlights the heroes in every story. Advocates, investigators, first responders, people who know their purpose and are using it for good. If you want a career that helps others, Southern New Hampshire University can help you. Their online programs are designed to give you job-specific skills that you'll actually use in the field. With a cybersecurity degree, you could analyze digital evidence. With a criminal justice degree, you could guide victims through the legal process. With a business degree, you could start a nonprofit. And no matter your goals, SNHU makes college feel possible. There are no set class times, so school fits your schedule. And their online tuition is some of the lowest in the U.S. Put your purpose into action with a degree from Southern New Hampshire University. Visit SNHU.edu/ Kendall Rae.

• 0:45Kendall Rae?

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• 1:29Kendall Rae?

  Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you're new to the show, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you. Well, guys, today, I've got to say, the case that I'm going to be covering, I'm going to be telling you about, is one of the weirdest cases I have ever come across. There were so many moments when researching this case where I just felt flabbergasted. I mean, I've covered plenty of toxic love triangles, unfortunately, but it will never cease to shock me how far some people are actually willing to take things. I'm going to be telling you about the murder of Alex Woodworth, who seemed like such a sweet soul.

• 2:10Kendall Rae?

  And his life was brutally taken by someone who was selfishly just trying to fix their own reputation. Now, getting into the case here, of course, as always, I like to start by telling you as much as I can about the victim. And Alex, like I said, he seemed like a phenomenal human. And it made me really sad when prepping for this episode because in pretty much all of the coverage on the case, he is very overshadowed by his killer. And it's, I think, because her behavior is so outlandish and insane that most of the coverage spends most of the time talking about her. But he gets kind of lost in the storytelling oftentimes.

• 2:52Kendall Rae?

  And he was a really, really cool person that deserves to be highlighted and talked about. So I want to start out by telling you about him, of course. So Alexander Woodworth was born on January 1st, 1994, in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, to John and Kimberly Woodworth. And he grew up in Osceola, Wisconsin. He was the oldest of four, and that is a role that he really seemed to be amazing at because all of his siblings just adored him. And here's a sweet example of that. Okay, so his sister Sarah said that when they were kids, she ended up cutting her hair very short because she wanted to fit in with all the neighborhood boys so that she could play with them, but also to spend more time with Alex. And another thing you'll pick up about Alex is he was super, super smart. And he really used that gift to try and help his younger siblings in school.

• 3:36Kendall Rae?

  And his sister said that she really struggled with English and math, girl, same. And Alex would spend hours tutoring her and even created her worksheets to help her learn, which I thought was just so cool that he was willing to go the extra mile like that. And it really paid off because she ended up getting the highest score on the English portion of the ACT, which I remember being very hard, and she credits him for that accomplishment. And his natural talents and really just love for academics carried on as he got older. After graduating from high school in 2012, he attended the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, where he received his bachelor's degree in philosophy and a minor in biology. And his fellow students describe Alex as astonishing and impressive, but also very kind, which

• 4:20Kendall Rae?

  I think is the most important quality to have. And one of his good friends said that Alex was just remarkable in class and really drew attention for his intelligence. And he recalled wanting to be friends with him so bad that he ended up joining the philosophy book club that Alex had started just to make that friendship happen. And then another friend said he was kind of like this super intellectual, very sensitive person. He just knew everything. So clearly Alex was an overall very driven and passionate person. And he also seemed to be a very deep person. So naturally, philosophy ended up being just a great passion of his. Everyone who knew him said that he was fascinated by different philosophical concepts and could

• 5:04Kendall Rae?

  often be found reading or journaling about them. He loved to engage in conversations and debates about different theories and not because he cared about being right or wrong, or like proving his point at the end of the day, but because he really just wanted to exercise his mind. And, you know, at the end of the day, most people described him as so much more than just being smart and having a lot of, you know, knowledge up in his noggin and a lot of things to say. But he was also just very warm and a caring person who many described as very understanding and truly thoughtful. He just honestly sounds like someone I would love to be friends with. He sounds like a real salt of the earth, good person. And oh, I love this.

• 5:48Kendall Rae?

  His father once said that Alex loved the unlovely, which I've never heard that before, but that's such a beautiful way to describe someone. He said that his thing was to find stuff that people didn't care for and make sure that they were taken care of. Like, for instance, he loved insects and he would never kill bugs or spiders that were inside. And instead, he would, you know, transfer them kindly outside, relocate them, rehome them, however you want to put it, which honestly is something I should probably try to do, but I am terrified of spiders. Anyway. I can try to be more like Alex, I guess. And then another friend once talked about how he shared his writing with Alex because he trusted his opinion, which can be a pretty vulnerable thing for a writer to do, but he gave him

• 6:33Kendall Rae?

  the support he needed to feel good about the direction of his writing. And that just truly seemed to be who Alex was. He was someone who wanted to help others and make the world a kinder place. And after graduating college, he wanted to go on to graduate school, of course, and work towards eventually becoming a philosophy professor at the University of Oregon. So he decided to stay in Eau Claire while applying for schools, which makes sense because he had built a wonderful community for himself there. So in 2017, while working towards his dreams, he tutored on campus, he filled in as a substitute teacher, and he also worked as a barista at a coffee shop called Racy Delaney's. His coworkers and regular customers loved his presence there and described him as friendly, welcoming, and funny.

• 7:16Kendall Rae?

  And I guess one of the regulars there said that everyone knew him as the barista who would always listen to weird music and read about philosophy for hours. And to me, it seems like Alex was the type of person who just really didn't give a damn about what anyone thought about him, and he was just proud to be who he was. And I think people really admired that about him. But unfortunately, it was during this time, which seemed to be a great time in Alex's life, that he met the worst person to ever come into his life, and that is Ezra McCandless. Now Alex first met Ezra at this local bar in Eau Claire called The Joint. And she said that she saw Alex intensely writing and was so curious that she basically just walked up to him and said, "What are you writing?"

• 7:58Kendall Rae?

  And then he started telling her about the philosophical ideas he was taking notes on, which led them to having a deep conversation. And Ezra was actually there with her boyfriend, Jason, who eventually came over to check in, but that didn't stop the two of them from chatting. And according to her, the two of them talked for hours about their love of spiders, theoretical concepts, and common interests. And after that night, their friendship formed. But before I tell you more about how things evolved between the two of them, I need to tell you more about her. So Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, oh my god.

• 8:32Kendall Rae?

  Here we go. So her full name is Ezra McCandless, but she was actually born Monica K. on October 6th, 1997, to a single mother, Rosalina, who was just 14 years old when she gave birth. And the two of them lived in the small town of Stanley, Wisconsin. Her biological father was never part of her life, but when she was four, her mom's partner, Joe Shane Carlin, adopted her. So then she became Monica Carlin. And then shortly after that, Joe Shane and Rosalina had Ezra's younger brother. But the two of them had a very toxic relationship and ended up having a very messy divorce when Ezra was 12 years old. They ended up splitting custody of their young son, but Ezra stayed with her mother, who then started seeing a guy named David Gunnelson.

• 9:16Kendall Rae?

  And he would eventually move in with them, marry Rosalina, and they would have a daughter, Ezra's half-sister. So when you hear all of this, obviously Ezra's early years seemed to be rather tumultuous, but she definitely found an outlet in art. And she was really interested in painting, drawing, and also photography. And while she was in high school, Ezra began exploring her gender identity and experimented with more traditionally masculine hair and clothes. And I want to be very clear on something. Ezra has called this part of her life a "phase", and I also want to be clear that those are her words, not mine. And she now identifies with she/her pronouns, which is why I'm obviously using those today. But anyway, let's just say Ezra's friends described her as

• 10:02Kendall Rae?

  very different from the way that Alex's friends described him. People who knew her described her as a sort of zany person who loved attention, which will become very clear. She liked to stand out, so much so that she covered her car with all these original drawings and doodles that made it very distinct. And then after high school, Ezra attended college in Marionette, Wisconsin, but she ended up dropping out during the first year and moved back in with her mom in Stanley. And it was around this time in 2015 that she got her name officially changed to Ezra McCandless. Now, she decided on the first name, seeing it in a book during...

• 10:41Kendall Rae?

  A family vacation and I guess the name just gave her a wonderful feeling, which I will say I do love the name Ezra. I think it does give me a wonderful feeling as well. Well, maybe not after learning about her. But I do know some great Ezra's. Anyway, the last name, I guess, was inspired by Christopher McCandless. And if you're not familiar with him, because I was not, he was a young man who traveled across North America with only his essentials in the early 90s to explore different areas of nature. But unfortunately, he passed away in an abandoned city bus on the Stampede Trail in Fairbanks, Alaska. And ever since then, he has become a really fascinating character, especially to nature enthusiasts.

• 11:24Kendall Rae?

  So much so that he was the central figure of the popular 1996 book Into the Wild and the 2007 movie adaptation, which really popularized him more for the younger generations.

• 11:39Kendall Rae?

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• 12:24Kendall Rae?

  And like my husband is doing, nighttime-only aligners mean you can straighten your teeth while you sleep. And monthly payments start at just $89. There have been over 2 million smiles treated with this technology. And they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee after starting treatment. Listeners of my show get an additional 35% discount when they go to smileset.com/tckr. With this discount, you can get the smile of your dreams for under $1,200 bucks. Go to smileset.com/tckr to get started. Everyone talks about how challenging it is to raise kids. But what about protecting them? Outlet covers, kitchen cabinet locks, baby gates. Where do you even start? Well, protecting your home and auto is a great place to start.

• 13:09Kendall Rae?

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• 13:35Kendall Rae?

  Now Ezra claimed that she related so deeply to Chris's love of nature and philosophy that she took his last name to honor him. But even though she now had this new last name, she was still very indecisive about what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. So after dropping out, she wasn't in a hurry to find a job. So she ended up spending a lot of her free time just hanging out in Eau Claire. And it was there that she met her future boyfriend, Jason Mangle, who was an Army Reserve medic living in town. And I did mention him earlier. But the two of them met one night outside of Racy Delane's when Jason stopped in after his bike got a flat tire on his way home from work. The place was closed, but his friend, Alex Woodworth, was working. So he let him in to grab some coffee.

• 14:20Kendall Rae?

  Then Jason sat on a bench outside and let out a huge sigh. And that's when Ezra, who was lying down on another bench nearby, popped up and asked him what he was so upset about. They talked for a while. They exchanged Instagram handles before parting ways and then they started DMing. And just two weeks later, the two of them already started dating. And here's the real kicker, you guys. Ezra was 19 and Jason was 34. And look, sometimes age gaps in relationships oftentimes can work just fine. I'm not here to judge. Oftentimes they're healthy and not a problem. But I gotta say, in my opinion, this specific relationship and the age gap here was kind of sus. Because. I mean, this is in my opinion, but Ezra was a legal adult.

• 15:05Kendall Rae?

  But she was 19, she's still a teenager and Jason is 34. It's a pretty big difference. I mean, to think about the life experience and emotional maturity that you go through from 19 to 34. But it is really important to note here that Jason claimed that Ezra led him to believe that she was actually older than she was and that he didn't learn about her exact age until they were deep into their relationship. And I'm not entirely sure if that's how it actually went down. That's according to him, but knowing her track record, which we haven't even gone into yet, I would not be shocked if she lied to him. But either way, whether age was a factor or not, things between the two of them took off very quickly.

• 15:50Kendall Rae?

  Before long, the two of them were calling each other wife and husband and saying, I love you. Ezra confided in him that her home life was toxic and that her mom would pressure her too much. So Jason offered for Ezra to come stay with him and his roommate. And he said that she could just chip in whatever she could until she was able to find a job. And she fully took him up on this offer. And that brings us back to when Ezra met Alex at the joint. Ezra and Jason also regularly went to Racy Delaney's and would often see Alex working there. And like I mentioned, Alex and Jason were friends. And it seems like Racy's had many regulars who became sort of this tight knit community, even nicknaming themselves Racy's Rats. And Ezra and Jason kind of integrated themselves into this group.

• 16:34Kendall Rae?

  But behind closed doors, things were getting rocky between them. And in October of 2017, she ended up finding out that she was pregnant and he completely gave her the choice on what to do. She decided not to go through with the pregnancy and the appointment for that unfortunately fell on her 20th birthday. And going through all of this really took a strain on their relationship. And Jason, I guess, started sleeping on the couch and really isolating himself while Ezra started to seek comfort in her relationship with Alex Woodworth. The two of them, Alex and Ezra, started spending a lot of time together. And at first, Jason really encouraged this because he thought the friendship would Be a good source of support during this hard time. But somewhere along the way, it turned into a sexual relationship.

• 17:18Kendall Rae?

  And the two of them started to develop feelings for each other. And Alex even told some of his friends that he was falling in love. But things weren't exactly smooth between the two of them either. And before long, things took a very intense turn. At some point, she was over at his house when he got a cut across his wrist. And I am purposefully being very vague phrasing this because it's not fully clear what happened here. Alex told his friends that it was an accident, yet she told people that he was self harming because she wouldn't leave Jason for him. But Ezra, as I've already really hinted to here, and is going to become even more clear as we go, is a super unreliable narrator. She is someone that I just don't trust at all.

• 18:03Kendall Rae?

  So I wouldn't be surprised if she made that up, but it also, it could be true. I don't know where Alex was at mentally at this time. But I tend to want to just believe what he said because I have no reason not to believe Alex. But either way, she ends up calling Jason to come help because he has experience as an army medic. So he knew how to tend to wounds and he came right over. And at this point, you got to remember, he has no idea that Alex and Ezra are having an affair. He thinks he's just a friend helping out a friend. And if you think this is all complicated now, it's only going to get more so, so hang in there. And this is when another man enters the mix. In February of 2018, Jason had to go to a field training for a few weeks.

• 18:47Kendall Rae?

  So he asked his friend, John Hanson, to come look after Ezra while he was gone because she had a tendency to isolate herself. Now, John and Jason were very close and spent a lot of time together playing Dungeons and Dragons. And sometimes Ezra would join them, or she used to, because at some point along the way, she got very self conscious about not fully understanding how to play the game and started just refusing to play. Anyway, I guess whenever Jason would want to go play Dungeons and Dragons, she would like freak out, throw a complete fit and eventually he would agree to stay home. And so he stopped playing one of his favorite games with his friends as much as he used to, which I think is really sad and manipulative and so Ezra.

• 19:29Kendall Rae?

  But anyways, I guess since the three of them knew each other well, John was trusted to spend time with Ezra while Jason was away. Why she needed someone there, I don't know. I don't know. So one of these nights, John invites Ezra to come over to his house and the two of them start drinking along with his roommate. And yes, she was still under 21 at the time. And well, turns out Jason shouldn't have trusted Mr. John because uh, they ended up sleeping together that night. And it wasn't the only time because when he dropped her off the next morning, they hooked up again in Jason's bed. So yeah, super fucked up. And then shortly after that, she texted Jason that she was moving out of the apartment, which he was of

• 20:14Kendall Rae?

  course shocked by. And she went to go stay with her mom. And after he got back in town, Ezra was having a hard time in Stanley, but couldn't come back to Jason's because his roommate didn't like her. But even though things weren't great between them, he ended up renting a hotel for the two of them to stay at. And while they were there, Jason ends up taking a look at Ezra's phone. And what does he see? He sees text messages between her and John talking about how they hooked up and wanting to do it again. Brilliant this one, I'm telling you. Now Jason, of course, was super pissed off and really upset about this whole situation. And the two of them started fighting. And that's when Ezra decided to tell him that John had actually sexually assaulted her. And I want to quickly clarify here. And this is something that I'm sure a lot of you have

• 20:59Kendall Rae?

  already guessed, given the nature of Ezra. And you will definitely understand this fully as we continue to go through this case. But these claims about John sexually assaulting Ezra are not true. And I have to just take a moment to say how much I honestly hate people who lie about instances of abuse like this. It's just victims have a hard enough time as it is being believed. And people will point to people like Ezra, the Ezras of the world, as a reason to not believe others. And it just makes it even more challenging for people who have actually been sexually abused, assaulted, raped, whatever the case may be. And anytime I talk about something like this,

• 21:43Kendall Rae?

  I just feel the need to point out that false claims about sexual assault are very, very rare. Okay. And what Ezra Did here just pisses me off for so many reasons. Obviously, the reason that I'm telling you about this case is because she does much worse things as time goes on. But yeah, she's just a pathetic, manipulative liar who used these allegations of abuse and assault to excuse her terrible choices and behavior so that her boyfriend wouldn't be mad at her and would stay with her. That's pathetic and disgusting.

• 22:21Kendall Rae?

  My husband had braces growing up and like so many people, he did not continue to wear his retainers as he got older. And he didn't want to go through the whole braces process again. So that's how we found SmileSet and it could not be easier, you guys. My husband is currently straightening his teeth while he sleeps. SmileSet delivers doctor prescribed clear aligners for under $1,900. That's 60% less than traditional braces or in-office treatment. And what's so cool is a licensed doctor reviews your case and builds you your own custom treatment plan. You start with an at-home impression kit and your aligners chip straight to you. Progress is then monitored remotely through the SmileSet app with doctor check-ins available whenever

• 23:02Kendall Rae?

  you want them. SmileSet has treatment options and payment plans that fit around your life. And like my husband is doing, nighttime-only aligners mean you can straighten your teeth while you sleep and monthly payments start at just $89. There have been over 2 million smiles treated with this technology and they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee after starting treatment. Listeners of my show get an additional 35% discount when they go to smileset.com/tckr. With this discount, you can get the smile of your dreams for under 1,200 bucks. Go to smileset.com/tckr to get started. smileset.com/tckr. Everyone talks about how challenging it is to raise kids, but what about protecting them?

• 23:42Kendall Rae?

  Outlet covers, kitchen cabinet locks, baby gates, where do you even start? Well, protecting your home and auto is a great place to start. Progressive offers customized coverage options. You can be sure you have the right coverage for you and your loved ones. They're basically the outlet covers, the kitchen cabinet locks, and the baby gates of insurance. Don't wait. Get your quote today at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, affiliates and other insurers, not available in all states.

• 24:17Kendall Rae?

  But anyway, Jason, of course, didn't know this at first. And so understandably, he believed her and he was beyond angry at his friend for doing this. So he went to his friend Josh's house, I know another J name, and he goes over there to confide in someone. And for some reason, which doesn't make sense to me, she came along with him to Josh's house. And while they were there, Jason started to tell him what had happened. And he was getting so worked up that Josh became worried about what he might do. So he ended up calling 911 to defuse the situation. And when the police arrived, Ezra began telling one of them what was going on. And she asked an officer if she could speak with him privately at the police station. And at this point, obviously, her story is just starting to snowball out of control. But of course, she still kept up with it.

• 25:03Kendall Rae?

  And at the station, she told Officer Mark Vane that John had taken advantage of her when she got too drunk. And I have to give it to him, he was incredibly sensitive and supportive towards her during this interview. And an official investigation was opened and assigned to Detective Ryan Prock, who asked Ezra for the texts between her and John, but she refused. Which I'm sure the moment that she refused to share the text messages, they really started to doubt her story. And John, however, was more than willing to give over the text messages, you know, whatever he could do to clear his name. And the texts told a completely different story than the one that Ezra was telling them. Here are a few examples of what she sent him when they were together.

• 25:45Kendall Rae?

  Now, I have to just give you a warning, these are very graphic. I sometimes cuss in my videos and people get mad at me and are like, I'm watching this with my kids, I'm listening to this with my kids, please don't cuss. Are you, kids should not be watching this show, okay? It's really explicit, it's, no, no, no, no, no. So if your kids are in the room, tell them to leave. But truly though, this is not a show for kids, okay? I cannot make that more clear. Here are these text messages. Are you going to pound this anytime soon? Working out again does really make you wanna fuck everything that's moved. And yes, it said moved. Just let me know when I get my next In-N-Out, winky face. Also, hanging and doing art again would be nice because you're more than a good dick.

• 26:29Kendall Rae?

  You're more than a good dick. That's so sweet. Now, of course, those texts, they say a lot, but they don't negate a possible assault. But Prock did learn something else that did. He actually interviewed Alex, who said that Ezra told him that she had consensual sex with John, but later really regretted it. And because of that, the case was closed with no charges brought against anyone. So now Jason, understandably, was very confused. So he confronted John and Alex while they were all at Racy's one day. And he later confirmed that's when Alex came clean about their relationship, which just caused more pain to everyone involved. Rumors started spreading across Racy's community,

• 27:11Kendall Rae?

  and people she once considered friends no longer trusted her and didn't want to be around her. In fact, a fellow friend and barista was so freaked out by everything that she even asked Alex if he was worried about Ezra filing a false report against him as sort of retaliation for talking to the police. But he told her that he didn't think she actually would do that. And I think that just shows you that even in the worst times and worst situations, he tried to see the best in people, even people like Ezra. Now, as for Ezra, she wasn't doing well with everything, and she found out that someone had written her phone number and the words "fuck me" on a stall in the men's bathroom at Racy's. And this really sent her into a spiral. And I just gotta put in a little of my opinion.

• 27:55Kendall Rae?

  This is purely speculation in my opinion. Um, I just have to say, I kinda feel like she was the one to write that. Just with everything I know about her and as this case continues, I think you'll agree with me because she has, it'll make more sense later. I will say though, I could be wrong. Someone may have really written that about her and obviously that's terrible. But to make things even worse, her mom kicked her out of the house and based on what I could gather, her mom Rosalina had found out that she and Jason were still in contact, which for some reason started this huge argument and she left and started to stay with her dad, Joe Shane, who seemed to be supportive and helpful towards her.

• 28:37Kendall Rae?

  She was also hired by the Stanley Boyd School District and while I couldn't figure out exactly what she was employed to do, it seemed like it would be her first steady employment. So even though things were pretty bad on the outside, it seems like internally, there was at least an attempt to turn things around, but unfortunately, things would only get tremendously worse. So on March 22nd, 2018, Jason was hanging out with a friend of his at Racy's, his friend Max, and all of the sudden Ezra came in and he immediately thought this was weird because the two of them had texted 600 times the day before and spoke on the phone that morning, but she never mentioned plans to come to Eau Claire.

• 29:18Kendall Rae?

  And no, that's not an exaggeration. The two of them literally texted each other 600 times during one day while broken up. Anyway, though, Jason said that that day her demeanor seemed odd. He described her as fired up and agitated and she told him that she was looking for Alex because she wanted to return a hot pad and a bookmark to him. Ezra then approached Jason's friend Max to say that she had a painting for him and asked if he wanted to do an art swap that they had previously talked about. And he agreed, so she drove them to his house. Now Max later said that she seemed sad and low that day and that she had told him that she was in town to deliver letters

• 30:00Kendall Rae?

  that she had written in therapy to different people, which is quite a different reason than she had told Jason. Then after their art swap, she dropped him back off at Racy's and continued with her plan to find Alex. And Jason just still couldn't Shake the feeling that something was very wrong and he became very concerned that something terrible might happen. So he followed his intuition and he rode his bike over to Alex's house to see if she was there and check in on them. And when he got there, he saw that Ezra was there and he specifically saw her car outside with the engine still running and the driver's side door just wide open hanging out. Now, for some reason, when he got there, he paced around

• 30:43Kendall Rae?

  the area for 45 minutes, which understandably looked weird and he drew the attention of a neighbor who called the police on him. But before they arrived, he actually heard Ezra say, he can help you. So he ran in and went upstairs to Alex's room where he said the two of them seemed weird. And they weren't screaming or fighting or anything, but they were acting as if everything was okay. And it seemed like a front, uh, which gave him an eerie feeling. And he suggested that if they wanted to talk, that they should do it in public. And by the time that the three of them were walking out of the house, the police arrived. One officer spoke with Ezra and Alex and another listened to Jason explain why he was so concerned about them. But after assessing the situation,

• 31:27Kendall Rae?

  they found no reason for them to intervene. So the police and Jason left while Alex and Ezra got into her car and drove off. And this would sadly be the last time anyone other than Ezra would see Alex alive again. Hours later, around 4:00 PM, an elderly dairy farmer named Don Sipple was getting ready to sit down for dinner when his doorbell frantically rang about six or seven times. And when he answered the door, he found Ezra standing on his porch, barefoot, covered in mud, her clothes torn and blood around her mouth. And she told him that she had been attacked in the woods and asked him to bring her to the hospital. So he brought her inside, got her a chair and called 911. And during this call, which I'm about to play for you, you can hear him just

• 32:12Kendall Rae?

  trying to get basic information from her, like, what's your name? Who did this to you? And she just said that she didn't know.

• 32:24Speaker 01

  This is Don Sipple calling and I have a, a young lady that just came to my house and somebody attacked her and she needs a doctor. Her clothes are all torn and- Okay, and is she injured? Yeah, she's injured. Her, her mouth is kind of, uh, got some blood around it and her to- clothes are all torn. Okay, and she's by herself? She's by herself. She walked to my house here just recently. Okay, and can you ask her what her name is? Just hold on a second. Okay.

• 33:04Speaker 01

  What's your name ma'am? What?

• 33:10Speaker 01

  You don't know?

• 33:14Speaker 01

  She's in kind of bad shape. She says she don't know.

• 33:19Speaker 01

  And so she came on foot, correct? Yes. Okay. Yep, she just walked to my door. Okay.

• 33:28Speaker 01

  Can you ask her who did this to her?

• 33:33Speaker 01

  Or are you not gonna- Repeat that, repeat that please. Can you ask her who did this to her?

• 33:38Speaker 01

  Oh, just a second.

• 33:41Speaker 01

  Do you have any idea who did this to you?

• 33:50Speaker 01

  Just, just hold on. No, no she can't. She's, uh- Pretty distraught. Upset and, uh, uh, this is a strange situation one I've never seen and I've been around a long time. Yeah.

• 34:04Kendall Rae?

  And I just want to say, Don Sipple seems like such a sweet person and he was really amazing in this moment. He was really trying to do everything that he could to help someone who he thought really needed it. But anyway, first responders arrive and they begin to treat her and when they asked her where she was hurt, she just said, "All over." And then they asked her if there was someone that they should call for her and she just kept saying, "Jason Mangle," which is interesting because she said that she didn't know her name, but she sure didn't- Forget Jason's name. And one of the responding officers asked her what the last thing she remembered was. And she said, getting them off of me, which made them think multiple people possibly had attacked her. They also described seeing scratches, but no wounds or lacerations.

• 34:49Kendall Rae?

  And the most significant injury was the word boy carved into her arm. And aside from all of that, Ezra said that she did have severe abdominal pain, but she was okay enough to walk from inside Dawn's house to the ambulance stretcher outside. And then she was taken to the Mayo Clinic in Eau Claire. And while there Ezra started to remember a bit more, kind of. She told workers that her name was Monica K, which if you remember is her birth name. And then she also asked them again to call Jason Mengele. Then she remembered that Alex carved boy into her arm while they were at Owen Park. And so, once they had his name, police began to search for him because they're thinking that a possibly violent criminal was on the run or hiding.

• 35:33Kendall Rae?

  And they wanted to prevent this from happening to other people, of course. So officers searched Owen Park and they didn't find anything. So they went to Alex's house and his roommate informed them that he wasn't there. They also called his friends and family, but nobody had heard from Alex and no one had any idea where he was. And his parents were so confused that they thought maybe he and Ezra had been in a car accident, but she wasn't able to remember it. And some of his friends in the Eau Claire area immediately got to work putting missing persons flyers and spreading the word around town. I just have to say, this seemed like such a chaotic night. And I'm just really impressed by the way that law enforcement, hospital staff, detectives, handled everything because it had to have been really confusing trying to figure out what was going on.

• 36:18Kendall Rae?

  And I'm really happy to report that based on everything I've learned, everyone working on this case, like from start to finish, handled it all with such care and urgency, which is just reassuring when we get to say that about a case.

• 36:35Kendall Rae?

  My husband had braces growing up and like so many people, he did not continue to wear his retainers as he got older. And he didn't want to go through the whole braces process again. So that's how we found SmileSet and it could not be easier, you guys. My husband is currently straightening his teeth while he sleeps. SmileSet delivers doctor prescribed clear aligners for under $1,900. That's 60% less than traditional braces or in-office treatment. And what's so cool is a licensed doctor reviews your case and builds you your own custom treatment plan. You start with an at-home impression kit and your aligners chip straight to you. Progress is then monitored remotely through the SmileSet app with doctor check-ins available whenever you want them. SmileSet has treatment options and payment plans that fit around your life.

• 37:20Kendall Rae?

  And like my husband is doing, nighttime only aligners mean you can straighten your teeth while you sleep. And monthly payments start at just $89. There have been over 2 million smiles treated with this technology. And they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee after starting treatment. Listeners of my show get an additional 35% discount when they go to smileset.com/tckr. With this discount, you can get the smile of your dreams for under 1,200 bucks. Go to smileset.com/tckr to get started. SmileSet.com/tckr. Everyone talks about how challenging it is to raise kids. But what about protecting them? Outlet covers, kitchen cabinet locks, baby gates. Where do you even start? Well, protecting your home and auto is a great place to start.

• 38:05Kendall Rae?

  Progressive offers customized coverage options. You can be sure you have the right coverage for you and your loved ones. They're basically the outlet covers, the kitchen cabinet locks, and the baby gates of insurance. Don't wait. Get your quote today at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, affiliates and other insurers. Not available in all states.

• 38:30Kendall Rae?

  And also keep in mind, this case involved two separate counties because Alex lived in Eau Claire County, but Ezra was discovered in Dunn County. And sometimes in cases that I've covered with multiple counties, there seems to be tension or confusion over jurisdictional issues, but that was absolutely not the case here. It seemed like all of these departments just shared a common goal and were working really well closely together. So it was just really refreshing to see such cohesive cooperative work. And it's just frustrating that all of those resources couldn't lead to a better conclusion for Alex in the end. So the next day, March 23rd, officers still hadn't found Alex, so they decided to just start from square one.

• 39:13Kendall Rae?

  Officer Justin Gruel and Detective Mark Piper returned to Don Sipples' farm to speak with him. And while Officer Gruel was inside talking, Detective Piper waited in the car and started slowly driving down the road to see if he could find anything. And that's when he noticed footprints in the mud. So he followed them down an isolated farm road and found Ezra's car with shoes, blankets, and other objects around it. But then he discovered something truly awful, and that was Alex's body halfway hanging out of the wide-open backseat driver's side door. So of course, when he sees that, he immediately stopped walking and called for the crime scene team. And shortly after they arrived, Alex was pronounced dead by the Dunn County Medical

• 39:54Kendall Rae?

  Examiner, while the Wisconsin State Crime Lab began assisting in collecting evidence. And it quickly became obvious that he was never a perpetrator, but actually the victim of an incredibly brutal murderer. This actually makes me feel sick to say, but he was stabbed 16 times, including in the head, genitals, and torso. And his throat had been slit three times, with some of the wounds inflicted post-mortem. And I'm going to say that again, some of his wounds were inflicted post-mortem. Okay? That's what we're dealing here with Alex. So the investigation was quickly underway, but first came the horrific task. I cannot imagine doing this, of having to tell his loved

• 40:39Kendall Rae?

  Ones that they had found him, but in the worst way imaginable. And this is really, really heartbreaking, but Alex's uncle Dale Hole was a member of law enforcement. And the family asked him to be the one to communicate with the police while Alex was missing. So when he was told about the condition they found Alex in, he had to be the one to tell the rest of his family. I cannot even imagine what that would be like. And he later went on to talk about how traumatizing and painful it was to have to give his beloved in-laws the worst information that they could ever receive, that they probably would ever receive in their lives. And of course, it was massively heartbreaking to lose him. But the way that they lost him just didn't make any sense. They were all so confused.

• 41:24Kendall Rae?

  So obviously investigators needed to speak with Ezra to try and find out what happened here. And the day after the discovery, Detective Ryan Proch went to interview Ezra at the Mayo Clinic's Behavioral Health Facility where she had been transferred. And yes, if you remember, that is the same detective that was the lead on her sexual assault case. And he was actually assigned to the case because he had experience dealing with everybody involved. So he starts the interview by asking Ezra to walk him through everything that had happened the day before. And she tells him everything I've already told you. Meeting Max at Racy's to exchange art, going to Alex's to return some stuff, and then Jason and the cops showing up. Then she says that when Alex got into her car, they were planning to go to a nearby park, but ended up just driving around aimlessly.

• 42:06Kendall Rae?

  And at some point, she said she got really anxious behind the wheel, so Alex took over driving. And she said that she had no idea where he drove them to, but she can remember getting out of the car and walking around the woods before, quote, "ending up at that old man's house." And then after this, Proch asks about the word "boy" being carved into her arm. And she tells him that Alex would use "boy" and other male pronouns for her as a way to make fun of Ezra's past gender identity. And I just have to say, this does not at all sound like something Alex would do. I just flat out don't believe this. I think it's total bullshit. And obviously, I never knew him, but based on everything people say about him, it's, I mean, no one had anything bad to say about Alex.

• 42:48Kendall Rae?

  And he was, you know, into philosophy and well-read and it seemed like such a deep soul. I don't see him being cruel like that or being judgmental. And making fun of someone's gender identity or past gender identity. It just doesn't make any sense. Um, but back to her bullshit Ezra claimed that Alex was sitting in the driver's seat when he took this type of weapon called a tiger claw out of her center console. Now, if you don't know what that is, it's basically multiple little daggers that go on knuckles to give someone like Wolverine type claws. So she says that he put these on, grabbed her by the arm while she was in the passenger seat and carved the word into her arm.

• 43:28Kendall Rae?

  But here's the big flaw in her story. Okay. Boy was on her left arm facing inward. And if you have that type of brain, you can already see why it's a problem. If you don't like me, let me break down why this makes no fucking sense. If Alex really had carved the word boy into her arm and remember, he's in the driver's seat. She's in the passenger seat. He would have had to use that claw tool to carve it upside down and backwards from his angle. Not to mention Alex was right-handed. So with how they were seated in the car, it would have been just very awkward to accomplish this. It just makes no sense. Also, I have to point out the lining of the letters is

• 44:10Kendall Rae?

  pretty damn clear as if it was done by a knife, not a bunch of these small little razors from this weird claw knife thing. And you can just tell by this point in the interview that Detective Prock is not buying any of this shit. So he just goes ahead and lets her continue to lie. And she really seems like one of those people who cannot stop lying. Like anything that pops up into their brain, like, oh, I could potentially lie about this. They just do it. They don't think it through. They just fucking do it. And at some point, this is so weird and unnecessary to lie about this, but they're talking about the clothes that she was wearing during the attack and she tells him that she was wearing a pair of pants that she made. She didn't. She didn't make them. I don't know why she wanted to tell him this, but she also told him that when she got to the hospital, she kept throwing up,

• 44:55Kendall Rae?

  which he knew couldn't have been true because on the ambulance ride, medics had administered Zofran, which is an anti-nausea medication. And she said that she had peed her pants during the ordeal, but her pants were tested and that was False. But yeah, for the first half of the interview, he just let her, you know, talk in circles and spill any lies that her stupid brain could create and didn't really seem to question anything that she was saying. Of course, in his head, he definitely is. But then about halfway through, he reveals to her that they had found her car and that means that they had found Alex's body lying on the muddy road, hanging outside of her car. And then, wouldn't you know it, Ezra Sunley remembers everything that happened.

• 45:42Kendall Rae?

  My husband had braces growing up and like so many people, he did not continue to wear his retainers as he got older. And he didn't want to go through the whole braces process again. So that's how we found SmileSet and it could not be easier, you guys. My husband is currently straightening his teeth while he sleeps. SmileSet delivers doctor prescribed clear aligners for under $1,900. That's 60% less than traditional braces or in-office treatment. And what's so cool is a licensed doctor reviews your case and builds you your own custom treatment plan. You start with an at-home impression kit and your aligners chip straight to you. Progress is then monitored remotely through the SmileSet app with doctor check-ins available whenever

• 46:23Kendall Rae?

  you want them. SmileSet has treatment options and payment plans that fit around your life. And like my husband is doing, nighttime only aligners mean you can straighten your teeth while you sleep and monthly payments start at just $89. There have been over 2 million smiles treated with this technology and they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee after starting treatment. Listeners of my show get an additional 35% discount when they go to smileset.com/tckr. With this discount, you can get the smile of your dreams for under 1,200 bucks. Go to smileset.com/tckr to get started. smileset.com/tckr. Everyone talks about how challenging it is to raise kids, but what about protecting them?

• 47:03Kendall Rae?

  Outlet covers, kitchen cabinet locks, baby gates, where do you even start? Well, protecting your home and auto is a great place to start. Progressive offers customized coverage options. You can be sure you have the right coverage for you and your loved ones. They're basically the outlet covers, the kitchen cabinet locks and the baby gates of insurance. Don't wait. Get your quote today at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, affiliates and other insurers. Not available in all states.

• 47:39Speaker 01

  Okay, what do you think we found at the end of the road, Ezra?

• 47:42Speaker 02

  Was it me? I mean, my stuff?

• 47:44Speaker 01

  What stuff?

• 47:45Speaker 02

  Was it my, like, car or anything?

• 47:48Speaker 01

  We did find your car.

• 47:52Speaker 01

  What happened back there, Ezra?

• 47:54Speaker 02

  My car?

• 47:55Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 47:57Speaker 02

  I don't fully remember.

• 47:58Speaker 01

  Well, what do you remember?

• 48:00Speaker 02

  I remember being really scared.

• 48:02Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 48:03Speaker 02

  And in a lot of pain.

• 48:05Speaker 01

  Okay. You know, people make mistakes, Ezra. You know? The best way for us to help you is try to figure out what happened in that car. Okay? And I think you know what happened. I really do. I think it did. And I think you know something happened in there. Right?

• 48:27Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:28Speaker 01

  I know. And I think something happened to Alex, and you know that too. Right?

• 48:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:34Speaker 01

  Okay. What happened to Alex?

• 48:37Speaker 02

  Um... I got him off of me.

• 48:40Speaker 01

  Okay, walk me through this. What happened?

• 48:45Speaker 02

  It was just really painful.

• 48:46Speaker 01

  Well, we kinda need to know what happened, okay? We need to know the truth. We need to know what truly happened, okay?

• 48:54Kendall Rae?

  So now, her story is much more detailed, very dramatic, but still nonsensical. And I feel that the best way for you to get the picture here is for me to just keep playing the clips for you so you can really understand who we're dealing with here. But of course, I want to warn you that she is purposely painting Alex as a predator, which is very much not true. Um, so hearing her talk like that is upsetting.

• 49:19Speaker 01

  All right, walk me through, Ezra, what happened? With the truth, please.

• 49:26Speaker 02

  When I got to the road, Alex wanted to keep going down the road to have some privacy to talk. And I said, "Well, there's a lot of nature. I'm sure you'll be fine to talk, because I really like to talk and nature."

• 49:40Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 49:41Speaker 02

  And when he grabbed me, and he grabbed me again, and he put me in the back of the car. And he seemed really upset about stuff and he kept, he kept grabbing me and I didn't know what to do and he started cutting my pants.

• 50:02Speaker 01

  Who did?

• 50:03Speaker 02

  Alex.

• 50:04Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 50:05Speaker 02

  He started cutting my pants open and stuff and I didn't know what to do and it was really scary and then he started cutting my shirt off of me and I didn't know what to do and I went to go make him stop because he had this arm and I cut my hand because I kept trying to grab him and so he kept grabbing me and stuff and then I finally got free and I finally got the knife away from him and then he kept trying to grab me in the back of the car. So I just started to defend myself as fast as I could and then just, it's like it got dark and then everything, then I woke up and he just kept trying to attack me and

• 50:49Speaker 02

  attack me and I didn't know what to do.

• 50:51Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 50:52Speaker 02

  And it was the scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life because I've never ever fought back in my whole life.

• 50:59Speaker 01

  Okay. So, so what, you said you had the knife, where were you cutting him?

• 51:09Speaker 02

  I just was going anywhere and everywhere I could just to get him off of me and get away from me.

• 51:15Speaker 01

  And did the knife actually make contact with him?

• 51:18Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 51:19Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 51:20Speaker 02

  And then he just kept grabbing me and grabbing me and grabbing me.

• 51:22Speaker 01

  Okay, so he kept grabbing you after you were stabbing him?

• 51:25Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 51:26Speaker 01

  Okay, and then what happened?

• 51:28Speaker 02

  And then after that I just, he left the car and he was laying there and I didn't know what to do.

• 51:37Speaker 01

  Okay, so then what happened?

• 51:38Speaker 02

  And then so I just waited and I was confused and scared and I was just like coming in and out of it like it would get dark for a little bit and then I'd come out of it and I'd panic again and hyperventilate and then it'd get dark again.

• 51:48Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 51:49Speaker 02

  And then I just started running.

• 51:51Kendall Rae?

  Okay, I just have to stop here for a second and say that what Ezra is doing here is beyond disgusting. Evidence did not point to him attacking her out of nowhere, the way that she is describing. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Investigators were able to conclude that the first stab wound was to the back of Alex's head, and he had no defensive wounds, so that means he was more than likely just caught off guard by her first initial stabbing. But of course, she doesn't want to admit that, so instead she's smearing his name while standing on the back of real survivors' stories to try and get away with murder. And she just keeps trying to spin everything that she did in her favor.

• 52:34Speaker 01

  Your car, where we found it, how did it get to that underroad?

• 52:38Speaker 02

  Alex drove it up the hill a little bit, and then it started getting stuck. So I was like, I can fix it, I can get it out of here. I just need to drive up the road a little farther where it looks like the frost hasn't given out yet. And so I drove up the road a little bit, and then I got out of the car to try to get, like, try to see what was going on, because it was stuck again, and I was like, I don't know what to do about this car being stuck.

• 53:02Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 53:02Speaker 02

  So I was looking in my car for, like, maybe a board or anything to put underneath the tire to get traction.

• 53:09Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 53:10Speaker 02

  And that's when everything started happening.

• 53:12Speaker 01

  Okay. And walk me through again what happened there, Ezra.

• 53:17Speaker 02

  After, um, in the back of my car looking for stuff.

• 53:22Speaker 01

  Okay, so the car gets stuck. Do you remember what's around you?

• 53:27Speaker 02

  No, I just remember there's a lot of trees.

• 53:30Speaker 01

  Okay. So you're in the backseat.

• 53:34Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 53:35Speaker 01

  Or you're looking for something, you said, right? What happens then?

• 53:39Speaker 02

  Alex killed me.

• 53:41Speaker 01

  Okay, walk me through. That place like how it happened.

• 53:45Speaker 02

  I was in the backseat and I was looking for stuff and I was moving things out of the way, trying to find anything to get my car over there because I was already anxious as it is. And then Alex came up from behind me and then he just started grabbing me.

• 54:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, how was he grabbing you?

• 54:03Speaker 02

  He grabbed me by the throat.

• 54:06Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 54:07Speaker 02

  And then he pushed me down.

• 54:10Speaker 01

  When he said he pushed you down, where did he push you down?

• 54:12Speaker 02

  In the car.

• 54:13Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 54:15Speaker 02

  And then he was on top of me and he started cutting things.

• 54:20Speaker 02

  And it was really scary.

• 54:23Speaker 01

  Okay, so he was cutting things on you. What was he cutting again?

• 54:26Speaker 02

  My pants.

• 54:27Speaker 01

  Okay, and then what happened?

• 54:29Speaker 02

  He cut my pants and I tried to grab it and I hurt my hand.

• 54:35Speaker 01

  Okay, let's see the hand, please. Okay.

• 54:40Speaker 02

  And then

• 54:42Speaker 02

  I was moving a lot and he cut my leg right here.

• 54:46Speaker 01

  Okay. And then what happened?

• 54:49Speaker 02

  And then after that, I started trying to wrestle him and fight him off of me. I kept doing whatever I could, but I got the knife and then I just started.

• 54:58Speaker 01

  How did you get the knife from him?

• 55:00Speaker 02

  I grabbed it. I grabbed it from a mini pole.

• 55:04Speaker 01

  What did you grab? The blade or?

• 55:06Speaker 02

  I grabbed the blade the one time and that hurt a lot.

• 55:10Kendall Rae?

  Okay, I just have to pause and say that this is one of the most ridiculous parts of her story. If she grabbed the knife by the blade and yanked it, you would expect her hand to be very messed up, right? Well, wrong. It must have been made of steel because it was in pretty good shape. There were some scratches on it, but it almost looked like deep paper cuts. I mean, I've literally seen worse hand injuries that people, including myself, have gotten from chopping vegetables. It obviously didn't add up at all to what she was saying in the lies. Of course, they just kept coming.

• 55:43Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 55:44Speaker 02

  So freaking out. I was just freaking out.

• 55:48Speaker 01

  Do you remember where you ended up stabbing him?

• 55:51Speaker 02

  I don't really fully know because it was anything everywhere.

• 55:56Speaker 01

  Okay, anything and everywhere is where you're stabbing him. So was he on top of you? So you have it here. Do you know if you stabbed him in the back or any place?

• 56:06Speaker 02

  I don't know if I had it facing up or down, but I just.

• 56:12Speaker 02

  Everywhere.

• 56:14Speaker 01

  Did all the stabbing take place in the car or outside?

• 56:17Speaker 02

  More of it took place outside of the car because he went on top of me again.

• 56:22Speaker 01

  He went on top of you again outside? So, most of the stabbing you said took place outside?

• 56:28Speaker 02

  It was inside the car, a lot took place, and then not that much else took place outside of the car. After he tried, he was on top of me again.

• 56:38Speaker 01

  Okay, so you kind of lost me on that part, Ezra. So, some of the stabbing took place in the car?

• 56:46Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 56:46Speaker 01

  A lot of it took place outside?

• 56:49Speaker 02

  Not a lot. A lot of it took place in the car, and then outside the car, he came after me again.

• 56:56Speaker 01

  Okay, so when that happened, the car was, he was on top of you?

• 57:03Speaker 01

  How did you end up getting out?

• 57:07Speaker 02

  Just kicking and stabbing anywhere and everywhere.

• 57:13Kendall Rae?

  Now, this also just does not make sense because according to expert testimony, there simply just wasn't enough blood in the car to suggest that multiple brutal stab wounds occurred in there. And investigators believe that it's possible that blood ended up getting in there because Alex had climbed into the backseat to try and get away from her, and that's why he was found in such an odd position. And at this point, we're at countless lies, but Detective Prock just, you know, lets her keep going.

• 57:47Kendall Rae?

  My husband had braces growing up, and like so many people, he did not continue to wear his retainers as he got older. And he didn't want to go through the whole braces process again, so that's how we found SmileSet. And it could not be easier, you guys. My husband is currently straightening his teeth while he sleeps. SmileSet delivers doctor-prescribed clear aligners for under $1,900. That's 60% less than traditional braces or in-office treatment. And what's so cool-

• 58:15Speaker 03

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• 58:57Speaker 03

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• 59:03Kendall Rae?

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• 59:45Speaker 01

  How come you didn't tell me this yesterday when we talked Ezra?

• 59:49Speaker 02

  Because it's too scary.

• 59:52Speaker 01

  I know it's scary, but we needed the truth, right? See, it's better to come and tell us the truth so we know what happened.

• 1:00:00Speaker 02

  Because it's so scary and I can't get it out of my head.

• 1:00:03Speaker 01

  And we're sorry that you went through this.

• 1:00:07Speaker 01

  What happened to the knife afterwards?

• 1:00:09Speaker 02

  I think I dropped it when I was running.

• 1:00:12Speaker 01

  When you say dropped it, where do you think you dropped it?

• 1:00:14Speaker 02

  In the grass.

• 1:00:16Speaker 01

  Like, okay. So, you know how it's a big mud? You drove up there, like, in the grass, along the mud trail?

• 1:00:27Speaker 02

  I think so.

• 1:00:28Speaker 01

  Or, like, along the highway?

• 1:00:30Speaker 02

  I think along the highway when I was running, because I remember falling down a few times, because my legs were really weak.

• 1:00:36Speaker 01

  Okay. Did you throw it, like, into the field, like, a long ways away?

• 1:00:41Speaker 02

  No, I think it just dropped.

• 1:00:43Speaker 01

  Okay, so someplace between the car and Don's house, you dropped the knife? Okay. Where's his cellphone at?

• 1:00:54Speaker 02

  I don't know, because I think I grabbed it with my phone when I was running.

• 1:00:58Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:00:58Speaker 02

  And it fell a couple times. So I know that my phone broke, but I don't know, because if his phone broke or not.

• 1:01:04Speaker 01

  Why'd you grab his cellphone?

• 1:01:07Speaker 02

  Because I needed to bring it to somebody.

• 1:01:09Speaker 01

  Why?

• 1:01:10Speaker 02

  So that it could call.

• 1:01:16Speaker 01

  So you took his cellphone to call? You don't know where it is? So did you throw that in the ditch too with the knife?

• 1:01:24Speaker 02

  I think I dropped it with my phone.

• 1:01:26Speaker 01

  But I think you guys got her phone, right? Yeah, because you just had an iPod. Correct. So...

• 1:01:33Speaker 02

  It might be in the ditch. Because I don't know if I dropped it in Don's yard or anything.

• 1:01:38Kendall Rae?

  Okay, so here she is making it sound like she just happened to drop it. But Alex's phone was found broken into pieces on the side of the road, in the mud, which, obviously, is too soft of a surface for that to make any sense. And she claims that she grabbed the phone to call for help, something that she actually never attempted to do. So investigators believe she took it and smashed it so that he couldn't use it. And at this point in the interview, Detective Prock is starting to wrap things up, but there is one last significant moment.

• 1:02:07Speaker 01

  Um, one other question I have is, after this incident, did you do anything to yourself? Did you harm yourself in any way?

• 1:02:15Speaker 01

  You said, "But what happened?"

• 1:02:17Speaker 02

  I didn't harm myself.

• 1:02:18Speaker 01

  You didn't?

• 1:02:20Speaker 02

  No, when I fell, I hurt my hand and I bit my toe.

• 1:02:23Speaker 01

  Okay. And then the boy carved in your arm. Okay, the part that throws me off on that is if I'm sitting here and he's gonna be carving it in. He, it's written, written perfect with a right hand person like this.

• 1:02:44Speaker 01

  Okay, if he would write it in, it would have been reversed, right? How did boy get put in your arm?

• 1:02:55Speaker 01

  He didn't do that to you, did he? You, you carved boy into your own arm. Is that right? Okay, when did that happen?

• 1:03:05Speaker 02

  That happened when I was in the car.

• 1:03:10Speaker 01

  In the car with him? Or when?

• 1:03:14Speaker 02

  When I was in the car after I woke up the second time.

• 1:03:20Speaker 01

  So after you stabbed him and you came back into it as you put it, as you blacked out, that's when you carved this in? Okay. How about the cuts to your legs, when did those happen?

• 1:03:36Speaker 02

  Those happened before the stab.

• 1:03:39Speaker 01

  And who did those?

• 1:03:41Speaker 02

  He did those.

• 1:03:42Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:03:44Speaker 01

  So he cut you here.

• 1:03:47Speaker 02

  And here.

• 1:03:47Speaker 01

  And, um, he cut you on the legs, you're saying, but the boy was done by you? Why?

• 1:03:55Speaker 02

  Because I felt really bad.

• 1:04:00Speaker 02

  Because I didn't want that to happen and I felt really bad.

• 1:04:03Speaker 01

  You, you didn't want what to happen? That's right?

• 1:04:06Speaker 02

  I didn't want any of it to happen.

• 1:04:08Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:04:12Speaker 02

  So I wrote it so that I didn't have to remember what happened and feel bad about it.

• 1:04:17Kendall Rae?

  It's honestly pretty unbelievable just how quickly her story unraveled. But I'm glad that she's such a stupid liar because now investigators could see very easily who the real perpetrator was. Now, while investigators are putting all the pieces together, unraveling the lies, Alex's loved ones are just reeling from how shocking and horrific everything was. And they held a memorial service for him on March 31st at the Osceola Community Church, and around 300 people attended. Their family also received around 500 cards expressing their condolences. Alex's dad said the most impactful one was from a man who said that his son was friends with Alex and at one point was contemplating ending his life.

• 1:04:59Kendall Rae?

  He told Alex about it, and he listened, and he talked him out of it and helped him to find mental health resources. And the card ended with him saying that his son is alive because of Alex, which made his dad think about the strong impact he left in just 24 years. And what his legacy could have been if he got to have a full life. And this was just one of the many instances where Alex helped someone who was going through a hard time. I think his friend Court Fox worded this loss really well when he said, "The one person who would be the best at helping me get through this is gone." And while grappling with all of this, his family couldn't even properly put him to rest yet because his body was held as evidence for about four months after his murder. And unfortunately, his loved ones would have to go through many struggles in the fight to get him justice.

• 1:05:44Kendall Rae?

  Now, I'm happy to say that two weeks after the murder, Ezra was arrested and charged with first degree intentional homicide, to which, of course, she pleaded not guilty. In early April, she appeared in court over a video call for a bond hearing, and I gotta say, she looked pissed that she even had to be there. She looks completely unamused and annoyed. And during this, the state was asking for a $750,000 bond because of the severity of the crime. But the judge ended up setting it to $250,000, which no one ever paid anyway, so Ezra remained in jail. Then, on April 25th, following a preliminary hearing, Judge James Peterson ordered her to undergo a competency evaluation, which ultimately led to her being declared fit to stand trial. That didn't stop her from trying it.

• 1:06:29Kendall Rae?

  In October, one of her lawyers sent a letter to the judge saying that Ezra wishes to change her plea to not guilty by mental disease or defect. But then in February of 2019, Ezra and her lawyers appeared in court again, and after smiling and greeting her mother, she informed the judge that the plea was changing back to not guilty, and she planned to testify at trial. And it seemed like during all the pretrial hearings, the defense was really struggling to come up with a strategy until they eventually, of course, settled on self-defense. Now, the trial started on October 15th, 2019, and the whole thing was just contentious and dramatic right from the start. In opening statements, the DA argued that Ezra intentionally lured Alex to be alone

• 1:07:10Kendall Rae?

  with her so that she could kill and frame it as an act of self-defense to get Jason back. Which is exactly what I think happened, and Detective Prock definitely agrees. He later said she was saying anything she could to make herself look like a victim. She thought Jason would maybe look at getting back together with her if she was a victim. Which, for Ezra, that makes sense. That motive makes sense, but when you really think about it, it's like, oh my god. And, I mean, Ezra's not the only one. I've covered cases with crazy motives like that before, where you're just like, wow. You were really willing to take someone's life, their entire life, as like a chess piece in your relationship game. It's just, it's hard to wrap your mind around that type of evil.

• 1:07:55Kendall Rae?

  And, anyway, in the defense's opening statements, they argued that she was really in a horrific battle for her life and had no other choice, which is bullshit, in my opinion. I think you all probably agree. So as you can see here, no one was arguing whether or not Ezra killed Alex. Obviously, she did, everyone agrees, but they were arguing why she did it. And the defense used such a gross strategy here, I mean, we do see it all the time, but they decided to attack Alex's character. They tried to make him look like a deviant who had no regard for other people's feelings and was capable of violence. And to try and argue this, you guys, I can't, this is so low. They read his philosophy. journals in court.

• 1:08:38Kendall Rae?

  Obviously, as a philosophy major and just overall passionate person about philosophy, he would often study philosophers' works and take notes on them. So his journal contained his interpretations of very abstract ideas, including cannibalism and crime and power. And the defense spun it like he was writing out his own thoughts, like it was a diary or something. And obviously, the prosecution clarified that these were his studying materials, not like his personal journal. Just ridiculous. But they also called many of his family and friends as witnesses to testify to his true character. And it went against everything the defense was trying to say about him. Now, one of the most significant prosecution witnesses was Jason, which made the energy

• 1:09:23Kendall Rae?

  of the courtroom very bizarre. Of course Ezra had to act so strange and so extra when Jason came into the room. And I don't think you will be surprised by her behavior at all because right before he walked in Ezra had pushed aside the pink blazer that she was wearing and rolled up the sleeves to show that underneath she had on this green cardigan that he had given her. And when he entered the room, she like straightens up, she looks so excited to see him. It's very flirtatious. You can see her straightening up in her seat and making these weird flirty facial expressions. And while he's on the stand, Jason talked about their tumultuous relationship, his friendship with Alex, finding out about the infidelity, and most importantly, what he witnessed just hours before the murder.

• 1:10:07Kendall Rae?

  And the whole time Ezra's just looking at him like he was someone that she had a huge crush on, not like it was her ex-boyfriend testifying at her murder trial. And Jason later said, "It was emotional to see the games never stopped. It was deliberate. It was just shocking. I don't understand what her tactic was, but I definitely felt uneasy. It just felt like more of the emotional manipulation that I had been put through. I definitely felt like she thought that showing that to me, like, this is how much I love you still." And once the prosecution rested their case, it was the defense's turn to bring in their star witness, Ezra McCandless. Now, of course, as we've talked about many times, it's always incredibly risky for the defense to put their client on the stand.

• 1:10:51Kendall Rae?

  And I gotta say, this choice Probably didn't pay off the way that they thought it would, but unless they're stupid, they had to have considered that it probably wouldn't have gone very well anyway, but maybe it was just their last ditch effort. But yeah, her demeanor up there was disgusting. I mean, she seemed like very light and happy. Didn't give the vibes of, hey, I'm at a trial right now. I'm testifying in my own murder trial. You can see her smiling and giggling while describing a situation that she said was so violent, it required her to take someone's life. And at one point, she even starts laughing after she and her attorney interrupted each other. And of course, I understand that people who've been through traumatic situations sometimes,

• 1:11:32Kendall Rae?

  you know, react when talking about it in a way that wouldn't always make sense. But I promise that is not what is happening here. This is like a strange attempt at main character energy. And I just cannot even imagine what it must have been like for Alex's loved ones to sit there while Ezra is talking about how she killed him and she's acting as if she's like reviewing a movie or something. But anyway, she was on the stand for hours and eventually time came for her to recount the events of his actual murder. And when it was that time, her story changed yet again.

• 1:12:11Speaker 04

  Um, Ezra, before we broke for lunch, I was just, I think we were at the point where the police had left and you and Alex are now leaving his house.

• 1:12:23Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:12:24Speaker 04

  All right. Whose car were you in?

• 1:12:26Speaker 05

  My car.

• 1:12:27Speaker 04

  Who was driving?

• 1:12:28Speaker 05

  I was driving.

• 1:12:31Speaker 04

  When you left Alex's car, did you go to drive, Alex's car, excuse me, your car, Alex's house? Sorry, I'm talking too fast. Did you go to drive anywhere in particular?

• 1:12:43Speaker 05

  No.

• 1:12:44Speaker 04

  What was your intentions?

• 1:12:48Speaker 05

  It was briefly discussed about maybe possibly going to a park or just somewhere in common to speak. We didn't settle on something.

• 1:12:59Speaker 04

  As you were driving, were you paying much attention to where you were going?

• 1:13:02Speaker 05

  No, just driving.

• 1:13:04Speaker 04

  What was the subject of the conversation between you and Alex as you're leaving his house and starting to drive?

• 1:13:11Speaker 05

  What we had started talking about is like feelings towards the relationship we had had and he started to now speak about how he felt about my relationship with Jason and how he felt about our relationship ending.

• 1:13:32Speaker 04

  As he was talking and you were talking,

• 1:13:34Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:13:35Speaker 04

  what was happening to you and your feelings?

• 1:13:38Speaker 05

  I started feeling anxious after our conversation being abruptly interrupted. I just, and now we were driving and talking about me and Jason and things like that, I started to feel anxious, just uneasy.

• 1:13:55Speaker 04

  What did you do as a result of that anxiety?

• 1:13:59Speaker 05

  As a result of my anxiety, I asked him if he'd be all right if he could drive for a while.

• 1:14:05Speaker 04

  How did he respond?

• 1:14:06Speaker 05

  He said, "Yes, yeah, I can drive. It's fine."

• 1:14:10Speaker 04

  So what happened after he told you he could drive?

• 1:14:13Speaker 05

  After we briefly parked, we switched drivers and he started to drive me.

• 1:14:19Speaker 04

  Do you know where you were at that particular point?

• 1:14:21Speaker 05

  No.

• 1:14:22Speaker 04

  When he was driving at that point, did the conversation continue?

• 1:14:26Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:14:27Speaker 04

  Were you paying attention at all to where he was going?

• 1:14:30Speaker 05

  No, I was trying to focus on what he was saying.

• 1:14:33Speaker 04

  Did you know where he was going or direct him to a certain direction at all?

• 1:14:37Speaker 05

  No, we were just driving.

• 1:14:39Speaker 04

  What was the conversation about then?

• 1:14:42Speaker 05

  The conversation was more led by him at this point and he was voicing his opinion about my continuation of the relationship with Jason.

• 1:14:54Speaker 04

  And as that conversation continued, was there at some point that Alex stopped the car?

• 1:15:00Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:15:01Speaker 04

  Do you know where that was?

• 1:15:03Speaker 05

  It was just some road. We just stopped.

• 1:15:06Speaker 04

  When he stopped the car, what happened?

• 1:15:08Speaker 05

  When we stopped the car, well, when he stopped the car, he just, we sat there for a moment. And a car passed us. Not much happened, other than he started to pull into what seemed like a driveway.

• 1:15:24Speaker 04

  And was this, okay, just to clarify, where he initially pulled the car over, was it on the muddy road, or was it on a paved road?

• 1:15:33Speaker 05

  It was on a paved road, leaning, turning into the muddy road.

• 1:15:38Kendall Rae?

  Hmm, did you catch that little slip at the end? Where she said, "we parked," and then quickly changed it to, "he parked"? Nice. That, in my book, is a little accidental admission of guilt, not just misspeaking. And the prosecution was arguing that she was the one driving the entire time, which I think is the only way it makes sense. And a witness even took the stand to say that he drove past Ezra's doodle-covered car right before they turned onto the farm road. And he saw a female driver in the driver's seat. And the prosecution argued that she didn't drive all that way just to find a park to talk at, because they would have passed so many parks on their way out of Eau Claire. And it truly seems like she was actually driving with the purpose of finding somewhere

• 1:16:23Kendall Rae?

  isolated, so no one would see her attack him. Which I'm sure most of you agree would make sense if that was her plan the entire time. But of course, she has to completely distance herself from those actions while she's on the stand, otherwise it won't align with her self-defense narrative. And here's the next big part, that just makes no sense.

• 1:16:43Speaker 04

  So you're in the mud, you're stuck.

• 1:16:49Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:16:49Speaker 04

  What is Alex doing to try to help you get unstuck?

• 1:16:54Speaker 05

  At that point, he was very quiet. He wasn't doing really much. He was, he kind of stepped back and he seemed like he was just letting me look and try to figure this out.

• 1:17:05Speaker 04

  Um, the things that were in your trunk, I know there's been some pictures shown that there's a couple of knives back in the trunk?

• 1:17:14Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:17:15Speaker 04

  Were you aware those were in there?

• 1:17:17Speaker 05

  Not consciously, no.

• 1:17:19Speaker 04

  Do you know how they got in the back of your trunk?

• 1:17:22Speaker 05

  There's always various knives from moving place to place between my mom's and my dad's and from, there was a lot of things in my trunk from moving out of my apartment. So they, somewhere between moves.

• 1:17:38Speaker 04

  After not finding anything to move the car,

• 1:17:41Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:17:42Speaker 04

  What was, what were you going to do next?

• 1:17:47Speaker 05

  Breathe. I was feeling, I was like, how great. I don't know where I am. I have no idea. I'm stuck in the mud. I don't know what to do. Just, I need to breathe. I went over to the hitch of the trailer and I decided to sit on it. And I was just trying to breathe through the anxiety and the feelings of being stuck, not knowing where I am. And I was just kind of looking out into the woods, sitting on this hitch of sorts.

• 1:18:16Speaker 04

  During this time, were you facing towards Alex or away from Alex?

• 1:18:20Speaker 05

  I was facing away from Alex towards the woods.

• 1:18:22Speaker 04

  Did there come a time where, as you were facing away from Alex towards the woods, that he approached you at all?

• 1:18:32Speaker 05

  Yes, he had approached me from behind.

• 1:18:35Speaker 04

  Well, since he's from behind, how do you know he's there?

• 1:18:38Speaker 05

  I could feel him. I could feel that he was there. I could hear him approach. I could feel just that somebody was behind me.

• 1:18:47Speaker 04

  When he approached, what happened?

• 1:18:51Speaker 05

  As I was sitting there, he approached me from behind and he, he wrapped his arms around me. It was kind of a hug. He held me there for a little while.

• 1:19:03Speaker 04

  Did you say anything?

• 1:19:05Speaker 05

  I, I kind of tensed. I didn't really reciprocate the hug. And it was, it was kind of a silent moment between us, but I felt... Awkward and uneasy and I wasn't, I wasn't in a, it wasn't a time for me to feel like I wanted a hug, I guess.

• 1:19:26Speaker 04

  And let me ask you something else. Do you know whether or not Alex had a phone with him?

• 1:19:30Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:19:31Speaker 04

  Did you have a working phone with you?

• 1:19:33Speaker 05

  No.

• 1:19:35Speaker 04

  You had your iPod, I guess.

• 1:19:36Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:19:38Speaker 04

  And the phone without the minutes?

• 1:19:40Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:19:40Speaker 04

  Alright. Did you ask Alex at any point to make a phone call on his phone to try and get a tow truck?

• 1:19:47Speaker 05

  No.

• 1:19:49Speaker 04

  Did he offer to make any calls or try to get a tow truck?

• 1:19:52Speaker 05

  It was a very brief, kind of, quick conversation about should we call somebody for this? And I was like, I can handle it, I think.

• 1:20:02Speaker 05

  So, no, we did not make a phone call.

• 1:20:05Speaker 04

  Did Alex say anything else to you after he had eventually come over?

• 1:20:10Speaker 05

  He suggested that I might want to lay down for a while and maybe just relax.

• 1:20:17Speaker 04

  What did you think when Alex said that?

• 1:20:19Speaker 05

  I just shrugged and was like, alright, maybe, and I decided to walk back towards the car.

• 1:20:26Speaker 04

  When you walked back to the car, did you go in the car?

• 1:20:30Speaker 05

  I went into the car, yes.

• 1:20:32Speaker 04

  Where in the car did you return?

• 1:20:35Speaker 05

  I returned to the car, I returned to the driver's side, back door was open, and I approached into the car. Kind of looked around a little bit, moved some things a little more, and that's how I was getting into the car, was from the back.

• 1:20:52Speaker 04

  Why were you going to the backseat and not the front seat?

• 1:20:56Speaker 05

  I was thinking, maybe he's right, I need to lay down for a little bit.

• 1:21:00Speaker 04

  Did you lie down?

• 1:21:02Speaker 05

  I did.

• 1:21:02Kendall Rae?

  Okay, so we have to unpack this. So, first things first, the knives, all the knives in the trunk. It's pretty wild to hear someone say they just have several knives in their car for no particular reason. Like, what? But I think the defense was attempting something with this. When the police were searching her dad's home, he mentioned to them that one of his knives was missing, and it was later discovered to be the murder weapon. It seems like Ezra took the knife before meeting with Alex, which the prosecution would use to point towards premeditation. I think the defense was like trying to argue, "No big deal if that knife end up in her car. She has a habit of just keeping knives in there." And I don't think that questioning did any favors for her, clearly.

• 1:21:46Kendall Rae?

  But anyway, the next bit I want to focus on is how unbelievable it is that Alex would just sit there watching her frantically look for things to get them unstuck and that he wouldn't just call for help. I mean, come on. She describes herself as being on the verge of a panic attack, but they both just ignore the easiest solution? And instead, he just tells her to rest and relax? I mean, their car is stuck in the mud. They're not on some deserted island. They could just call someone before deciding to lie down and give up. And we'll never know what happened right after the car got stuck, but I don't believe this version for a second. And I think she is actively committing perjury on the stand because she's Ezra. Of course she is.

• 1:22:29Speaker 04

  At some point after lying down, did Alex join you?

• 1:22:34Speaker 05

  Yes, he did join me.

• 1:22:35Speaker 04

  Was Alex speaking to you at that point?

• 1:22:38Speaker 05

  Yes, he started to speak to me at this point. Yes.

• 1:22:41Speaker 04

  Can you tell us the words you heard Alex speak to you?

• 1:22:47Speaker 05

  What he said to me at this time was, he started to describe me and not in a third-person sense. And he also started to speak of how he deserves this.

• 1:23:03Speaker 04

  Well, let's just stop because I don't know what you mean by "he describes you in a third-person sense." Can you tell us specifically what you remember him saying?

• 1:23:11Speaker 05

  Specifically, what I remember him saying is, "Ezra is beautiful. Ezra is my shining sun." Ezra, in the sense, he kept saying my name and then something after that. Ezra is so handsome.

• 1:23:28Speaker 04

  Did he do anything with respect to...

• 1:23:33Speaker 04

  Your glasses.

• 1:23:35Speaker 05

  Yes, he started to do things slowly and methodically. He first removed my glasses. After, he asks me a few times if I can see him, and I tell him, "No, I can't see you, Alex." I, I can't see him, but I can feel him start to touch my clothes.

• 1:23:58Speaker 04

  What's going through your head?

• 1:24:00Speaker 05

  What's going through my head at this time is, I don't know what he, I'm, I was assuming what, I thought I knew what he wanted, and I wasn't sure, and I was anxious, and I, what was going on was going through my head.

• 1:24:16Speaker 04

  Okay, I want to get back to his actions as you were quiet.

• 1:24:19Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:24:21Speaker 04

  What is he doing, besides kissing you? What does he do?

• 1:24:26Speaker 05

  After he kisses me, and I pull my head back a bit, I felt he touched the hem of my sweater. I could feel a pull on it. And I wasn't sure at the time, really, what he was doing, but I could feel it start to give away. The, I, it felt looser, and my sweater had been opened.

• 1:24:48Speaker 04

  Did you know how he had opened your sweater?

• 1:24:53Speaker 05

  I, after I felt my sweater start to give away, I took off the scarf, and I could see that he was cutting my sweater.

• 1:25:02Speaker 04

  He's cut through your sweater, he's cut through your shirt, he's cut a little bit into your t-shirt. You have felt something on your neck-

• 1:25:09Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 1:25:09Speaker 04

  -stomach, I believe. And after that, what does he do next?

• 1:25:13Speaker 05

  After that, he starts to cut through my pants. He's starting near the button, well, below that. It's on the front of my pants, or the inner thigh, you can say. I can feel that he's pulled on it to give room, so that he can cut through.

• 1:25:32Speaker 04

  Was there, besides your pants, was he cutting through anything else at this point?

• 1:25:36Speaker 05

  At this point, he had cut through my tights as well.

• 1:25:41Speaker 04

  Where on your pants and your tights has he cut through at this point?

• 1:25:44Speaker 05

  At this point, he had cut through the inner thigh area of my pants and tights.

• 1:25:50Speaker 04

  After he's cutting through your pants and your tights, what happens next? Do you feel anything different at some point?

• 1:25:57Speaker 05

  What was different at this point is that I could feel the knife start to graze and cut into my skin.

• 1:26:05Speaker 04

  What are you afraid of now?

• 1:26:08Speaker 05

  I'm afraid he's going to kill me.

• 1:26:10Speaker 04

  As you're afraid he's going to kill you, at some point, why are you afraid he's going to kill you? Let me just first ask that.

• 1:26:18Speaker 05

  I'm afraid he's gonna kill me because he has a knife. And I'm afraid that he's going to take whatever he wants and he's just going to finish this. I...I was wondering if he was going to kill me and then he was gonna kill himself so that he didn't have to be alone.

• 1:26:35Kendall Rae?

  God, she is just so infuriating. This doesn't even make sense. Just a few days ago, Alex was separating himself from her and didn't show a single sign that he so desperately wanted her. And the way that she's describing him is just so over the top, like he's some maniacal villain in a movie. And then moments after this, Ezra talks, well, lies, about the attack. But I'm hesitant to play more of it because it's honestly just disturbing and upsetting to hear her try to spin such brutal violence in her favor. But just know, it's all nonsense and paints Alex as a violent deviant, but paints her as an angelic victim who had no choice but to hurt him to save herself.

• 1:27:18Kendall Rae?

  Like, for instance, in this version, she knees him in the groin so that he drops the knife and she quickly grabs it to start stabbing him, which is very different from her grabbing the blade, but this story fits better with the evidence. Then she stops stabbing him, they somehow end up outside of the car, and Alex tells her that he needs help going to the bathroom. So of course, she wants to help him because she's the best person in the world. After all, but when she approached him, he began attacking her again. So she had no choice but to deliver one last stab to the side of his stomach, which forced him to stop. And after all of this violence, she says that she sat down in the backseat of the car while Alex was still outside with multiple stab wounds. He took off his jacket, put it on the ground and laid down on it.

• 1:28:03Kendall Rae?

  And one of the most upsetting parts about this case. Oh my God, this like truly disturbed me thinking about it, but there is actually a good chance that Alex could have been trying to walk and talk after the attack. Like he was still aware of what was going on. And that is coming from a forensic pathologist who testified that because none of the stabs were to his heart or his spinal cord or any major artery that he could have still had function of his motor skills and he wouldn't have died right away, which means he suffered. He was probably in a lot of pain and, and really suffered. And not only that, oh, this is just hard to talk about, but he was probably conscious,

• 1:28:45Kendall Rae?

  according to experts, while she was cutting herself and trying to stage the scene to make it look like it was all self-defense. Um, which just makes me feel sick. Now, at this point in her story, she's preparing to run off, but before she makes a break for it, she cuts boy into her arm.

• 1:29:03Speaker 04

  What do you do with that knife?

• 1:29:05Speaker 05

  What I did with that knife is I looked down and I opened my sleeve with the tip of it and I hastily scratched the word boy into my arm.

• 1:29:17Speaker 04

  Okay, everyone wants to know, why did you scratch boy into your arm?

• 1:29:22Speaker 05

  I've thought about it and when I think about this, I don't know. At that time, it's something that just happened. It was just a reaction. I really, I don't know why I did this.

• 1:29:38Kendall Rae?

  So there you have it. She said that she was the one who cut boy into her arm and she says she doesn't know why she did it, but. I'm sure it had nothing to do with her initial plan to try and frame Alex before she realized what an idiot she was setting it up that way. And I really do wonder, because she seemed so confident in her lying and like always has been, if maybe after this testimony, she really believed that she fooled everyone? Like she really just nailed that? And I wonder if she really thought maybe she would get away with it? But anyway, after three weeks of testimony, 50 witnesses and over 500 pieces of evidence, the jury took only three hours to find Ezra McCandless guilty. Ms. McCandless, please rise.

• 1:30:21Kendall Rae?

  We, the jury, find the defendant Ezra J. McCandless guilty of first-degree intentional homicide as charged in the information. And the answer to the special verdict question is yes. Use the dangerous weapon. And you may be seated. All right, ladies and gentlemen, is this your verdict? All right. Now, if you're listening to the podcast version of the show, let me tell you, her reaction to this was the first time that she showed sort of some remorse for her actions. Then in February of 2020, it came time for Ezra's sentencing. And I just have to say, the victims' impact statements during this hearing were incredibly emotional. They're very tough to listen to. And you can just hear how loved Alex was.

• 1:31:05Kendall Rae?

  So many of his friends and family spoke about what an amazing person Alex was and what a devastating loss they felt.

• 1:31:12Speaker 02

  He was such a kind and loving man that despite him knowing how unstable you were, he was still willing to give you compassion.

• 1:31:25Speaker 02

  He left with you that fateful day believing he was going to help you in some way. And instead, you took his life. He definitely is not the monster you attempted to portray him as.

• 1:31:39Speaker 02

  There's a quote that I read not long after Alex's death, and although I don't recall the author, I wanted to share it today because of its simplicity, which rings true in regards to grieving.

• 1:31:50Speaker 02

  Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love.

• 1:31:55Speaker 02

  As we continue to mourn for Alex, and will continue to honor his life by sharing the memories he left us with over the years. It's been one year, ten months, and sixteen days. And Ezra, while we continue to mourn Alex's passing, it's hard not to notice that throughout the trial, we never saw any sign of sadness, shame, compassion, or the slightest bit of remorse in what you had done.

• 1:32:23Speaker 02

  You're still caught up in your own lies and behavior or consistently taking advantage of those around you. You took somebody's life. I could tell you and tell everybody in this courtroom that Alexander Woodworth never raised a knife to you to hurt you in any way. There was no self-defense. He just didn't have it in his character to hurt anyone.

• 1:32:48Speaker 02

  So, if the knife was never in his hand, then Ezra attacked and destroyed one of the most caring people in this world. She took away one of the most beautiful minds that I've ever known.

• 1:33:01Speaker 02

  The morning we found out Alex was dead,

• 1:33:05Speaker 02

  I knew it was the defendant. I don't know how, I just knew. I sat in a living room full of our old friends, my friends, and cried. For months, we held one another, sobbing,

• 1:33:20Speaker 02

  struggling,

• 1:33:23Speaker 02

  trying to understand the sweetest man that we all loved.

• 1:33:29Speaker 02

  He was soft and gentle. He never once made me feel bad. He was receptive to my feelings, understanding, kind, compassionate.

• 1:33:41Speaker 02

  And I'm not only heartbroken,

• 1:33:45Speaker 02

  but I'm full of rage.

• 1:33:53Speaker 02

  I'm sad that

• 1:33:56Speaker 02

  so many times Alex told me about his siblings who he loved so much, and to see them at his funeral...

• 1:34:10Speaker 02

  Something that I can't grasp. I knew I wanted to be this man's friend 'cause his kindness, his empathy, his humor, his ungodly intellect just radiated out from him. And becoming his friend was the easiest thing. Because he so loved people. He just... As people have spoken, his joy came from other people. His

• 1:34:52Speaker 02

  most enjoyable moments in life were just interacting with people. And when you did,

• 1:34:59Speaker 02

  his face lit up and all of that incredible intellect and mind was trained right on you. He was so engaged and interested, it could almost be daunting to have such an intellect fully focused on you. But it was out of genuine kindness and interest.

• 1:35:22Speaker 02

  And to say that he was my best friend is almost

• 1:35:29Speaker 02

  limiting what he was to me. We'll never see Alex again, never see his smile, never hear his wearied hair and with humor, or see the hope that he had and shared with so many others.

• 1:35:48Speaker 02

  We will never know where life is leading him. He's gone, and so is a good part of our lives as well.

• 1:36:00Speaker 02

  A hole that can never be filled.

• 1:36:03Speaker 04

  We ended each one of our Witness Preparation meetings with one question. Was Alex the type of person who was more concerned with himself or more concerned with others? And every single response was a resounding "more concerned with others." Without a doubt, Alex was only 24 years old and was going places.

• 1:36:30Speaker 04

  He was pursuing his dreams to become a performer.

• 1:36:32Speaker 02

  Some of his writings were getting published and no doubt he was going to make this world a better place.

• 1:36:39Kendall Rae?

  And there were actually quite a few people who spoke on Ezra's side during the defense impact statements, but the most significant one probably came from Don Sipple.

• 1:36:48Speaker 04

  Late November, I didn't know what prompted me to do it, but I wrote Ezra a letter at the jail.

• 1:36:59Speaker 04

  And a couple, three weeks later, the sixth of December, she responded with a big brown envelope and a letter and two different pieces of art like I'd never seen before. She drew them herself.

• 1:37:19Speaker 04

  That was the nicest art I've ever seen and one of the nicest letters I've ever seen.

• 1:37:26Speaker 04

  And after I read them all, I wish you guys could see them, otherwise I still have them. We continued on and now there's five total letters back and forth. I sure wish you could see them. But that first letter I got, don't happen too easy for me, but it brought me to tears, that letter I got from her.

• 1:37:52Speaker 04

  We all make mistakes in this world.

• 1:37:56Speaker 04

  If you haven't, you haven't done much.

• 1:38:00Speaker 04

  But hopefully we learn by the mistakes.

• 1:38:04Speaker 04

  I'm sure you all can think of something, maybe some more than one, but we've all made some mistakes.

• 1:38:13Speaker 04

  All I can hope for Ezra is that someday she can come out of this and be a beautiful, wonderful citizen in our area.

• 1:38:26Speaker 04

  I'm sure hoping that might happen.

• 1:38:28Kendall Rae?

  And look, we might be quick to judge someone who kept in contact with a murderer like this, but I kind of understand why he would. I mean, she showed up at his home, covered in blood, seemingly traumatized and attacked, only for him to learn that she was a violent criminal. I mean, that must have been just a real... Mindfuck. So I can sort of understand how you would feel some sympathy for someone that you saw in that state and want to talk to them to try and I guess make sense of everything. I mean, I've never been in that position and Dawn's older. I just, I give him a pass on it. Then Ezra took her turn.

• 1:39:08Speaker 02

  Hi.

• 1:39:13Speaker 02

  I would like to address your honor in the courts and Alex's family, but most of all, Alex's parents. I want to say how sorry I am that they have lost their son. But sorry doesn't cut it in my mind. That word is not enough and never will be enough for this loss. And I recognize that. I don't think I could ever find words that will be enough to express this, especially to them. The pain they feel is unimaginable. I want to

• 1:39:50Speaker 02

  express how sorry I am for this loss because it is such a great loss. I recognize and completely acknowledge this pain and I'm so sorry. I loved Alex very much. And I also feel a great loss. And I'm so sorry. Thank you for letting me say this.

• 1:40:20Kendall Rae?

  Just when I thought I couldn't be any more infuriated by this bitch, she had to go and say that. I mean, after everything that's happened, she still is so desperate to find a way to make herself look like the victim. It's like, I feel everyone in life knows people like that who are just so set on being a victim. Of course, not everyone in our lives like that goes and does something like this, ends up being a murderer, but you know what I mean? I just can't stand people like this, but especially Ezra. Oh my gosh, if I was in that courtroom. Hmm, but thankfully, the judge was not at all swayed by her little performance there. And he sentenced her ass to life in prison, unfortunately with the possibility of parole

• 1:41:05Kendall Rae?

  after 50 years. But thankfully Ezra McCandless will be spending a very long time behind bars, exactly where she belongs. And even if she's eligible for release, it won't be until 2070, when she's in her 70s. And what's interesting here is Alex's friend Court Fox actually asked for this type of sentencing in his victim's impact statement. And I thought his reason was unlike anything I'd ever heard before, so I really wanted to share it with you.

• 1:41:35Speaker 03

  But I am absolutely certain that Alex would have asked for some sort of leniency because he did fully believe that every human being is possessed with infinite potential and to squander that potential is perhaps the greatest sin.

• 1:41:55Speaker 03

  But I'm not a kind of man as Alex was, but I still have to agree with him. I would like to see Ezra released from prison at some point in her life, I care not when, not for a chance of forgiveness or to, you know, find some sort of salvation, but because after decades in prison, she will find inevitably some sort of normalcy, some sort of stability. It will become her life and she will, if not be happy with it, be acquainted with it.

• 1:42:33Kendall Rae?

  I would like to ruin that for her again and cast her out into the wider world. I would like to see her struggle for friends, employment, housing, knowing that the pall of her actions lay over her. I want her to agonize with each new person that she meets. Is she upfront about what she's done or does she hide it and have to live with the anxiety of, oh my God, what if they find out? I want more chaos in her life after she's found normalcy. Consequences, actions have consequences and to simply lock her away for the rest of her life will bar her from the full complement of consequences that she could suffer for this.

• 1:43:17Kendall Rae?

  And I would like to see that. I don't care when, but personally, that is what I would like. I totally understand why he would want this and I think Ezra is exactly where she belongs. I mean, someone who is willing to take someone's life in this extremely brutal way, letting him slowly suffer while you're staging the scene and then lie about it in such a dramatic way to make it look like he's this monster who attacked her, which couldn't be further from his character, clearly. And just trying to damage anything that's left of his reputation when he's not even alive to defend himself. It's so sick. It's so evil.

• 1:43:59Kendall Rae?

  Everything about her is evil and I think she's just a massive danger to society and needs to be locked up for a long ass time. I mean, I would say life in prison without the possibility of parole would be my ideal situation for Ezra, but you know, we'll take what we can get here. And not to mention, and I know this isn't part of the case, but she also lied about being sexually assaulted. I mean, endless people go through the hell of trying to get their story believed in a world where it's already hard to be believed and we don't need the Ezra's of the world making it even harder and making people believe that everyone out there just wants to lie for personal gain. But honestly, I can't waste a single moment more of my energy talking or thinking about Ezra McCandless.

• 1:44:43Kendall Rae?

  So I'm done speaking about her. I did, I guess I'm not done. I have one more thing to tell you. She didn't stop her nonsense after the conviction. She did release a statement shortly after her sentencing and I've decided I don't even want to read it because I don't want to glorify it. There's no point. If you want to look it up on your own, you can, but she basically just blamed the media for painting her terribly and said she didn't deserve any of this. Big shocker. Exactly what I thought. And of course, I'm sure you guessed it already, but she did file an appeal, but it was denied. Not tell you this, not only did she dye her hair bleach blonde in jail, which actually doesn't matter at all, whatever, it just looks kind of funny to me. But she did decide to start selling her art from prison. It seems like someone from the outside is running pages online to help her.

• 1:45:26Kendall Rae?

  And I really hate to say it, but it appears people are actually buying this shit. And I just have to say, who is buying Ezra's art? It's not even good. People who like communicate with and purchase things from people in prison. Blow my mind, at least for like murderers, you know what I mean? But anyway, we're done talking about her. I do want to quickly talk about Alex again before I go because like I said, he just so often gets overshadowed in his own story. So I would just like to reiterate one more time that Alex Woodworth was a beloved son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend, who made a profound impact on those who knew him. And the world really could have used more time with him. God, this case is just so brutal.

• 1:46:07Kendall Rae?

  It was um, really interesting at times, but really, really difficult. And I'm just so heartbroken for Alex and everyone who loved him. And I've been really trying to think of a way to sort of honor him after all this, especially because I thought the coverage on this case from like most of the big networks and whatever publications and stuff was like pretty disgusting, that he was barely even mentioned. So anyway, maybe this is cheesy, I don't know. But perhaps one way that we can honor him is just by being kind to one another today. Like maybe go on and go compliment someone, give them a smile, offer to help them with their homework or whatever it is in their lives. Go do something the way Alex would do it. The world can be really tough sometimes.

• 1:46:53Kendall Rae?

  Feel like it's been very rough lately and it's easy to get jaded by it. But small acts of thoughtfulness towards someone can really make all the difference. So if someone pops up in your mind, someone that's going through a hard time, pull a page right from Alex's book, do exactly what he did for his friend and maybe reach out and give them support because you never know, it could, it could make a major impact on them. Alex just seemed to spread so much kindness in his life. And since he's not here to do that anymore because of an evil person, maybe we can carry that torch for him.

• 1:47:30Kendall Rae?

  That is gonna be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode. And make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.

• 1:47:59Kendall Rae?

  She's been thinking about this sleepover all week, but I think about her food allergies all the time. Fortunately, her doctor prescribed Zolair, omalizumab. It's proven to significantly reduce allergic reactions if a food allergy accident happens. Zolair 150mg is a prescription medication used to treat food allergy in people one year of age and older to reduce allergic reactions due to accidental exposure to one or more foods. While taking Zolair, you should continue to avoid all foods to which you are allergic. Don't use if you are allergic to Zolair. Zolair may cause a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Tell your doctor if you ever had anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have trouble breathing or if you have swelling of your throat or tongue. Zolair should not be used for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Zolair is for maintenance use to reduce allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, while avoiding food allergens.

• 1:48:44Kendall Rae?

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• 1:49:28Kendall Rae?

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