Episode 358

Jan on the Street! Hi, it's Jan from Toyota. Summer's not over at the National Sales Event, so I'm taking to the streets to see how people are keeping summer fun going with a new Toyota. Excuse me, sir, how are you making summer last longer with your Toyota? Driving my BZ to the park to play kickball with friends. Kickball is life! Love the passion! Jan on the Street! Event ends August 31st. Dealer inventory may vary. See your participating Toyota dealer for details. Toyota. Let's go places. This episode sponsored by She's Birdie. You know that little wave of relief when someone texts, made it home safe? That's exactly the feeling She's Birdie was designed for. The Birdie Disc is a clip-on personal safety light and alarm made for everyday moments where visibility and attention matter most. Night walks, early morning runs, parking garages, college campuses, dog walks, travel. It features bright flashing LED light modes, a built-in flashlight, and a 130 decibel siren that can quickly, draw attention if something feels wrong. And because it's lightweight, rechargeable, TSA-friendly, and easy to clip onto jackets, bags, strollers, bikes, or keychains, it actually fits into real life without being bulky or complicated. More than 4 million people already trust She's Birdie for added peace of mind. For the people you care most about, daughter, partner, friend, student, or parent, this is one of those simple things that can make a real difference. Go to She'sBirdie.com. Again, that's She'sBirdie.com. Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. And then he gave me the night, and even then he was concerned about me walking behind him. And I'm like, well, we both got trust issues now, don't we? There is no honor amongst thieves. Or murderers, really. Sometimes people that listen to this show get things, they think I hate this race, or this sex, or this pansexual binary dogkin, or whatever the fuck you want to be. I really couldn't care less. Sure, you're unusual, but I think that's what you're going for. But this show is about murder, not your personal political causes. So if I make fun of some asshole that's pretending to be a victim, and is instead a killer, well, too bad. We're going to keep doing what we do. And if you don't like it, well, you know where the door is. You don't have to announce your exit. If you've been sitting on a business idea, Shopify makes it easy to turn it into something real. Kind of like one of our monsters here. At TornScale, we use Shopify for our storefront, where listeners can browse our merch and check out without a bunch of friction. That matters because once someone decides they want something, you don't want to stand in their way. You don't want to make it complicated. And payment processes can be complicated. Shopify Checkout helps more customers complete their purchase. And returning customers can check out with their details already saved. That gives us more time to focus on creating, promoting, and growing, instead of wrestling with the technical side. See what you can build at shopify.com/swordandscale. With Shopify, nothing stands between your idea and a real business. So, go make one. Start your free trial at shopify.com/swordandscale. Again, that's shopify.com/swordandscale. It's Monday, September 23rd, 2020, Keene, New Hampshire. That's the day 25-year-old Jonathan Amiralt was reported missing. At first, nothing about it seemed urgent. John was a hiker, one of those "obsessed" types. The mountains of New Hampshire were his second home. Long, grueling day trips, sometimes stretching into the night. That was normal for him. He had already conquered 99 of the 100 highest peaks in New England, and nearly every 4,000-footer in the region. So, when his mother didn't hear from him over the weekend, she wasn't that alarmed. Maybe he was just out of service. Maybe he was with friends. He had plenty of them. John had a full life. But then Monday came, and John didn't show up to work. That's when the unease set in. Because that just wasn't like him. John was dependable, focused. At just 25, he was already a biomedical engineer at Teleflex Medical, building devices that helped save lives. He showed up for work, he checked in, and he loved it. He loved his career. So, his mother made the call. She asked the police to check in on him. But when officers arrived at his quiet, cape-style home, John was gone. And so was his Subaru Impreza, the one with the "Run Happy" bumper sticker. State police looking for a missing 25-year-old man from Keene. Police say that Jonathan Armeralt was reported missing after he failed to show up for work in Jaffray. His family hasn't heard from him since Saturday. He may be driving a gray Subaru Impreza with New Hampshire plates. Anyone with information asked to contact state police. While John's friends rallied on social media to try to find their friend, the police pinged his phone and discovered its last known location was near a hiking trail in Jaffray, New Hampshire. A desperate scramble started. Most of John's friends and family were concerned that something had happened to him out on the trail. He was just sitting there with a broken leg, waiting for help. But the police got to work, chasing down leads. When they spoke with Teleflex, they learned that not only had John mysteriously been absent from work, but another Teleflex employee, 31-year-old Brittany Barron, had also failed to show up on that same day. On Monday, September 21st, Brittany had called HR. Not to call out sick or a personal day, but to quit. Just like that. After six and a half steady years at Teleflex, she walked away without a warning. It didn't make sense. Brittany was a married mother of three young girls. Her husband did not work. She was the sole earner for the family, and she loved Teleflex. She too had been moving up in the ranks over the years. Brittany Barron lived in Jaffray, New Hampshire with her husband Armando and their three kids. They lived modestly on one side of a duplex house, and Armando's parents lived on the other side. When the police arrived at the Barron house, they found Armando's mother, her hands full, watching her granddaughters because apparently Brittany and Armando were on a hiking trip. Brittany's mother-in-law told the police that she hadn't seen Brittany since Saturday, when the couple left for the mountains. I think it was Sunday when she called my cell phone but unfortunately, you know, so bad with listening to the messages that it's full. I don't bother to delete it, I guess what's the point, you know, get something full. And then she just texted me and she says, "Mama, please let the phone ring to get to the voicemail. I want to leave a voicemail to the girls." Brittany had called and asked her mother-in-law to let the phone go to voicemail so she could leave a special message for her daughters. But her mother-in-law couldn't figure out how to delete her old messages. So, she just had to relay what Brittany said. And then she says, "But please tell my girls I love them with all of my heart." And then she mentioned all the names of the girls. And then she said, "Remember, girls, you're a team. Please pray, continuously pray to Yahuwah, that we call God Yahuwah." And then she goes, "Be good to your grandma, abuelita, Spanish grandma, abuelita, and to your papa. And I'll see you guys soon. I love you, my girls." Her message was less like an update from her mom on a hiking trip and more like a dark goodbye. She called back on Monday. Yeah, she called back on Monday earlier. And then she goes, she talked to them, she talked to all of them, all of them. And then she says that, "We love them and she's taking time off, taking a little time because she wants to heal. She wants to get the marriage, you know, being a better mother." That's when Brittany's oldest daughter jumped on the phone. "Where are you at, mom?" Then she goes, "I am in a safe place." Though Brittany had told Teleflex she was quitting, she also made sure to text a group chat with close friends and coworkers to let them know what was going on. She told her friends she had left Armada and that she was going home to New Mexico to stay with her family. She said she needed to get herself right again. When her friends asked about her daughters, she said she didn't want to bring them along on, quote, mommy's mental breakdown. She claimed that Armando was being extremely patient and nice about the whole thing, which is interesting. She confessed she felt like a failure as a mother. But here's the thing. Armando and Brittany left on Saturday. That same day, people stopped hearing from John. By Monday, Brittany was communicating with people only by phone or text, but Armando had returned home without his wife. And Brittany was here as well yesterday with Armando? No. No, she wasn't. No, she wasn't. And yesterday, when did you first see Armando? Was he here all day yesterday? Yeah. He got here Monday night. Monday night? Armando's mother didn't find it strange. She thought this whole trip was a spiritual way to bring the couple closer to God. Yeah, that's what she thought. It's because he told me that he needed, also, he said that he needed some space, some time off, you know, because we pray and fast. I think that this, I was thinking that this is like a spiritual thing, right? That they want time to pray and be better. Right. Because we believe Jesus. And we have been trying our best to be spiritual beings. Right. And was he here in the morning and then left and came back? When? Yesterday? Yesterday. Or Monday? Monday, he slept here in his bed with the girls and me. I slept in the bed with the girls. Something about Armando's mother felt a little off. Maybe it was the language barrier. English wasn't her first language, but it didn't feel like confusion. What mattered was this. Armando came home without his wife. Behind him was a trail of strange phone calls and what sounded like a goodbye message from Brittany to her girls. Then, after grabbing some food and supplies, Armando took off again, saying he, too, needed space. A little while later, he called his mother. This time, though, he didn't sound like himself. Then he called me. No, no, no, no, no. And then he says, Mom, Brittany's not with me. And then he said, I left her. I don't know what he says. I left her and I'm just going, I'm just going to be okay. And I said, okay. Then I said, what happened? And then he says, it's because she says that she needs time. But she's not with me. I don't know. And I said, okay. And I said, how are you doing? And he was crying. He was crying and he says, I don't feel good, Mom. I don't know. He says. In her text chain with her friends, Brittany also mentioned that Teleflex had sent a police officer to her house despite her having called in and quit. They knew her that well and were concerned that her impromptu exit felt wrong. Her friends let her know that John also hadn't shown up to work and that people were actively following her. They were actively searching for him. Brittany never called her friends. She just texted. And her friends thought that the messages didn't sound like her. But was there a connection between Brittany and John beyond the fact that they both worked at Teleflex? It was a massive company. Brittany worked as a machine operator and John was a biomedical engineer. They weren't even in the same divisions. Brittany was six years older than John with a husband and kids. In what world would they be friends? But something was pulling their stories together. Then on Tuesday morning, just 24 hours after John's mother had reported him missing, New Hampshire Fish and Game found something in the woods of Jaffrey. It was a woman. All alone. Just her and her dog. She'd set up a makeshift camp in a place no one was supposed to be. She was shaking. Her face was destroyed. Both eyes were black. The bruises flooding down to her puffy cheeks. One eye was completely swollen shut. Filled with blood. She couldn't even see out of it. The top of her head was split open, still bleeding. And she was crying as a bloody saw sat a few feet away on the dirt. This was Brittany Barron. She was a woman. A few feet behind her, Fish and Game found John's missing Subaru Impreza. Payment processes can be complicated. That gives us more time to focus on creating, promoting, and growing instead of wrestling with the technical side. See what you can build at shopify.com slash sword and scale. So, go make one. Start your free trial at shopify.com slash sword and scale. Again, that's shopify.com slash sword and scale. This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. If you travel a lot with your dog like I do with Doug, feeding them well on the road can get surprisingly complicated. Especially when you're touring 30 plus cities, staying in hotels, flying, driving, and basically living out of a suitcase. Frozen dog food sounds great until you realize you don't exactly have a freezer backstage. That's why I started bringing Just Fresh from Just Food for Dogs. It's real fresh dog food made with human-grading, organic ingredients with meat and vegetables you can see in the bowl, but the difference is it's shelf-stable, which means I don't need a freezer or a cooler and there's no prep. So now I can throw a few packs in my bag and Doug still gets a healthy meal wherever we are. Doug absolutely loves it and I like knowing I am feeding my baby something that's actually good for him. It's also the number one vet-recommended fresh dog food made without preservatives or fillers. Go to justfoodfordogs.com and get 50% off your first order. A burst pipe. A dead water heater. The A.C. calling it quits. Who do you call? HomeServe is an easy way to handle unexpected home repairs. With plans covering stuff basic homeowners insurance usually won't. Instead of scrambling for a contractor, you make one call to get the repair process started. Join the millions of customers who trust HomeServe right now. Go to homeserve.com slash podcast for 50% less your first year. That's homeserve.com slash podcast. Savings compared to renewal price void in Florida. 25-year-old Jonathan Emerald had been reported missing in September of 2020. He was a biomedical engineer who worked at a company called Teleflex in Jaffray, New Hampshire. Smart, driven, and aspirational, John had climbed the ladder at work, purchased his first home, and was living life to the fullest when he decided to leave. But now, police had found his co-worker, 31-year-old Brittany Barron, in a desolate area of the New Hampshire wilderness, beaten to a pulp, and camping out with John's car parked behind her. The police brought her into the station. They knew this woman was the key to finding John, and time was of the essence. But coaxing things out of a woman who had seemingly been battered and abandoned wouldn't be quite safe. So simple. How you doing, okay? You need an ambulance or anything for your. I'm okay. Are you sure? Okay. Brittany sat with her head down. Beside her was her dog, panting and lying at her feet. The officers offered her medical help, but she refused. She insisted she was fine. Brittany, what brings you up here camping? I'm just trying to clean my head. Clean your head? Just clear my head, yeah. Okay. You have some stuff going on? Yeah, I just needed to get away for a while. Okay. So I did. That's about it. Okay. Do you mind me asking what happened? To your eye and your. I don't want to answer it. Okay. And you don't have to. You did exactly the right thing. If I ask you a question that you don't feel comfortable with, then you don't have to talk about it, okay? But I want to make sure that you get. whatever help that you need if you need it. needed okay okay um so you wanted to to clear your head and that's why you would you would come up and where did you go i went to i don't know what it's called okay i'm moose buck moose buck something like that cabins but you turn off on like a logging road okay it's pretty far out okay i knew nobody would really be there so okay that's kind of when did you come up sunday morning sunday morning um and who did you come up with her speech was slow and removed the 31 year old mother slowly tucked her brown hair behind her ear and closed her eyes the white of her right eye wasn't even white anymore it was a deep blood red it was uncomfortable to look at what kinds of what kinds of things are you going through okay um is everybody with are your three kids okay yeah they're there with my mother britney assured the officer that she was only taking some time alone to clear her head there was too much going on but her face told a different story nobody knows where i am okay um well part of the concern was people want to make sure that you were okay they know that i'm safe and okay but that i'm choosing to not come home for now okay i wanted like i just didn't want my girls to see my face okay honestly so i was like if i can spend at least a couple weeks trying to get it down then when i look at them they're not going to be afraid of me sure when fish and game found britney in the woods they handed her over to new hampshire deputies who arrested her for illegal camping not so much for the crime but as a cover it was the only way to get this beaten terrified woman somewhere safe to find out what happened and why exactly she had john's car now she sat under fluorescent lights shaking insisting she'd only gone into the woods so her girls wouldn't have to see her face the way it was you said that you'd come up here with someone but you didn't want to get into who that person was we know that there's a car that's where your where your camp was did you come up with that person that's that car belongs to okay um well britney the thing is obviously you've been injured you know um we know that the person who owns that car is missing um i know that you think that you might be in trouble and what i don't know is kind of what the circumstances were that led up to that and why you feel that way and my guess is that your your eye your eyes um something happened that led to to that and i think that that's important to explain that what happened to you did john cause those injuries to you no no that armando britney looked down and whispered i don't want to talk about it that's when the cop knew what was happening he knew he had to get through to this damaged battered woman to find out the truth about where john was and what exactly happened in those woods well before before you leave here today um and you're leaving here today regardless of what we talk about regardless of what you say you're going to leave today okay regardless of what you say you have my word i'm telling you now you're leaving here as long as i have your word that you'll stay in contact with me if we need to okay okay is that is that fair yeah okay um it's kind of a good faith thing if you if i can take your word and you can take my word then do i get to go back home yes as long as we can establish that it's safe but we need to we need to make sure that it's safe but you understand why i'm kind of in a difficult position right now that's when britney broke everything she'd been holding inside slowly started coming out at the thought that if she told the truth she'd get to go home and hug her children once again all i want is the truth i don't want any more or any less i just want i just want the truth whatever that may be and if that means that you um were in fear you were in danger if it means that you were you know in a relationship with you know john from work whatever it may be whatever the truth is is all i want if that's not the truth that's not what i want you know and but i also don't want to be reliant on what other people tell us you know i mean you're gonna find out that me and john were talking to each other we only talked for like a week and he was really serious what do you mean by he was really serious just really liked me okay and i didn't realize that he liked me a lot like that we worked together for a long time but i didn't talk to him because john liked britney he had made it known and though she felt the same way she avoided him after all she was a married woman who had been with her husband since she was 18 she grew up in faith adultery was out of the question no matter what problems were brewing inside her marriage supposedly that is and then like beginning of the month i made up a stupid nickname for him at work and i felt really bad uh i called him abercrombie because he looked like a mortal okay he's really handsome like really really handsome i thought it's not so bad today and uh he found out about the nickname because somebody called him that and they were like isn't that your last name that it's because i called him armani at first and then i said he's way too young he's an abercrombie model and we laughed and it stuck but he didn't know because i was not going to tell him that i thought that is this normal behavior for women in the workplace i wonder how many times former co-workers referred to me as adonis back in the day makes you think the amber crombie nickname britney made up for john spread throughout the office as things do and eventually it got back to him at first he thought people were making fun of him britney explained because as a kid john was often made fun of for his outfits you see he was colorblind so he didn't really match very well so when britney found out about all of this she felt bad and decided to talk to john big mistake i always felt bad and i told my friend to just tell him the truth like just tell him that it was because he's really hot i mean i don't want to be a jerk you know to make him think that people were saying mean things about him right so she told him but i never really apologized beginning of the month i messaged him on facebook and i apologized for the nickname that first facebook message opened everything john had always had a crush on britney and now she responded by early september they were talking online and then at work they took breaks together but this mutual attraction and communication had only been going on for about two weeks so let's just we were just talking anyways you know what i mean like we weren't dating because we couldn't but he really liked me i really liked him what did he say to you what do you mean like what do you how do you know that he really liked you he wanted me to go with him like be with him like leave your leave your husband be with him yeah um like basically my husband admitted to me like last year that he cheated on me like our whole marriage since coming to new hampshire like you know like the whole time like so back yeah like a year in he messed with somebody else and then i knew that he was like hitting on my like he would hit on my friends and stuff but like i didn't know that he was like having sex with other women and then he told me about like two other times and so we weren't like when when was the when was the you said a year into your marriage when was the most recent since you've moved here when i was pregnant with my last baby okay sorry me too and so john knew that you told him yeah he was kind of your somebody that you trusted that you could confide in he became me in a really short time like again i i hadn't really spoken to him until this month yeah i didn't say a word to him i avoided him at all costs i acted really weird he used to laugh at me because i acted really weird i just avoided him you were just initially physically attracted to him and then once you got to know him over the last couple of weeks wow you're actually really cool too like genuinely yeah genuinely nice brittany found in john what she'd been missing a partner who felt like a friend At home, her marriage to Armando was unraveling. Years of cheating. No financial support from this lazy douchebag Armando. Unless his parents gave him some money, that is. There was no way out. She'd been with this adult toddler since she was very young. Their families living side by side. But Brittany had changed. She'd lost over 130 pounds in the last two years. She'd built up her confidence and started building a career. She was building a life, you know? And in John, she saw something potentially dangerous. A way out of her life with Armando. So, Brittany told Armando that she wasn't in love with him anymore. He begged her for forgiveness about the cheating. He promised he would change, but she told him she was not interested in trying. He was just exhausted, which is understandable. So, Saturday, you end up leaving. Did Armando go with you? I don't want to talk about it. I know that when the fishing game person came up to you today, you were digging. Digging a hole today. And you told him that you felt like you. That you were in a lot of trouble. That you were going to be in a lot of trouble. But there are clearly some. Some answers that we need to give to John's family. You know, they're looking for their son right now. That man is dead. John is dead? I did not kill him. How do you know that he's dead? Brittany broke. Her tears were soft at first. And then the truth slipped out. She said she'd be betraying him if she spoke. But the officer already knew she wasn't a killer. The bruises on her face. The blood tangled in her hair. The way they found her. Alone. In the woods. Digging a hole. And crying. This was not a choice. He found my phone. On a Saturday night. Armando did. Okay. And he opened my Snapchat and saw my messages. Which pulled me to the bathroom. Where he was when he found it. And he grabbed me by my neck and threw me down. And he showed me the phone. And he was choking me. And I was positive I was going to die. Armando choked Brittany until she saw black specks and stars. She told the officers, She was surprised that he let her live. My face was already pretty swollen. And he opened the middle door. We fought for a while. He struggled. He struggled. He put the gun in my mouth. I was just praying. And I kept screaming. So he kept choking me so that I wouldn't scream. So the girls wouldn't hear me. They were upstairs. He told the girls to go into grandma's house. And then he went. And he told his mom. Like, we stood in the doorway. And he's like, stay right there. And he was holding me. And I saw my oldest daughter. And I just, I was telling her, help me, help me. Like, without words. Like, without saying it. And my poor baby, she just looked at me. And her eyes rolled back in her head. And she fainted. And I was like, fuck, I'm going to die. And he just told his mom, hey, mom, I'm going out. And she didn't ask any questions. She was in the living room with the baby. And she just thought we were having relationship problems. So she was like, of course, go out, have a date. You know, do whatever you guys need to do. I screamed so loud in the house. And no one heard me. No one heard me at all. Armando walked Brittany outside to her car and started driving. He continued reading through her messages as they drove. Administering blow after blow to her face. With each flirty text he discovered. By the time they got home, they were all gone. When they got to Lynette State Park, her face was dripping with blood. After they parked, Armando started texting John from Brittany's phone. And he messaged him. And I'm just like, please don't. And he messaged him, hey, can we meet? And of course, John was super stoked because it was me. And he was like, finally, we're going to hang out. It was probably 10 o'clock. Probably around 10 o'clock. John replied. He'd be there in 30 minutes, he said. Brittany waited, praying for anything to stop him. But nothing did. Soon, John's car pulled into the lot. And he gets out of the car. He saw my face. Like, he saw me sitting because I was sitting in the driver's side. And Armando got out before he got there. And he stood behind the car so that John wouldn't see that he was there. But I could tell John knew something was wrong. And then when he saw my face, he definitely knew something was wrong. Okay. And then that's when Armando came around the corner and he pointed the gun at him. John threw his hands up, pleading for his life. Armando was in control. He had a loaded gun. He punched him. John fell. And then he just started kicking him and kicking him and kicking him. He stomped on his face. At one point, he was killed. He just killed me because I've been thinking about it nonstop. At one point, Armando looked at me and said, Yeah? He said, You're going to fuck my wife, bro? He's like, Look at her now. Do you still think she's pretty? And John looked up at me and he goes, Yeah, she's still pretty. And I was like, Even when your life was like, You were still so nice to me. But the memory of John standing up to Armando was too much for Brittany. She had never experienced a man being that chivalrous. At Torn Scale, we use Shopify for our storefront, where listeners can browse our merch and check out without a bunch of friction. So, go make one. Start your free trial at shopify.com slash sword. Sword and scale. Think about it. When it comes to your own food, you can walk into a restaurant, see what's being made, and know exactly what you're getting. But with dog food, most brands keep that completely hidden. Just Food for Dogs does the opposite. They've built their entire brand around open kitchens. You can actually walk in and watch them prepare your dog's meals with real human hands. Human-grade ingredients like chicken, beef, carrots, and peas cooked right there in front of you. No mystery, no behind-the-scenes you're not allowed to see. 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VGW group void where prohibited by law. 21 plus terms and conditions apply. ♪♪♪ He started asking you, questions about us to see if the stories match and i didn't tell him everything because i didn't want to die and then john admitted stuff that he didn't know it got even angrier at one point he handed me the gun and he told me to do it armando handed you the gun and told you to shoot john but we were outside and i was like like i can't i can't do it he's like no no you want to you want to do this and i was like i don't like he's trying to make me prove who i was loyal to and he said fine stand on his throne he said come on hurry up he's like he's not dying fast enough britney was crying begging armando you to stop but he said he'd kill her too but i wasn't heavy enough to do anything to him humbled rag i don't know i guess i don't know he had me stand on there for a while and then finally john like actually had the ability to like move like like just jerked me off and i was like when you thank you when you had your foot on his feet what was armando doing standing there watching where does he have the gun pointed out of okay is it still in his hand yeah okay is he pointing at you pointing at him i'm not exactly sure okay i was trying and that goes on for what feels like a long time to you yeah but it wasn't long enough and then what happens you're like fine this is taking too long get off armando was frustrated he wanted britney's stomp on john's throat to be the final pain that killed him shakespearean this guy was but john was still jerking and moaning fighting for his life under her heel that's when armando picked john up like a sack and pushed him into the back of his own car then armando handed a knife to britney and told her to slit john's wrists britney refused but then he threatened her again so britney here who couldn't point a gun at a perpetrator that was threatening her life gave her new boyfriend what she calls a shit shallow cut just deep enough to satisfy armando yet keep john alive which way did you cut like that down like down the forearm but i couldn't get i couldn't it was really hard to cut like it was really hard to cut it wouldn't just how many times do you go down just once as soon as it was open i just once i didn't both sides okay i don't even think the second one i i even didn't i don't even think i cut him cut him deep enough to actually do any time he didn't okay did you cut anywhere else no okay no that was the only thing i stood on his throat and he made me slit his wrist was this inside the car outside the car the wrist was inside the car standing on his throat it's outside the car okay where is he inside the car in the back they say if you want to slit your wrists and have it actually be effective you should cut down the forearm lengthwise not across as so many unsuccessful suicides do suicides suicides is john fighting at all he knew i didn't have a choice he was like please no please but he wasn't like struggling to like get his arms away from me or fight me just you know words armando grabbed britney forced the trunk shut and the two of them got in the front of john's car with him stuck in the back and we were both in the car and at one point armando got out of the passenger side to go get you close the who closes the back door i don't remember it might have been armando or it might have been me i don't remember so the back hatch goes down yeah and then we go into the front of the car and then armando puts the machete in the car which i believe he hit him a couple times with that too okay uh with uh like the like the handle no that the blade yeah okay but i didn't do a crazy amount of like you know where he hit him i don't like i know his hands probably he was like covering so like whatever was covering got hit okay and you guys go in the car yes and then who goes in what seat i went in the driver's side and armando went in the passenger and he put the machete down on the floor and he's like get some i don't know why he left me i don't know why and he looked at me too like i don't know if i should and when he left john said to me he's like just pick up the machete and kill him just pick up the machete and kill him and i'm like you don't understand man i'm not gonna kill him with that blow and we're both gonna die in this car and i just told him just to be quiet let's just stop don't just stop because he hadn't killed him yet and he told him that he wasn't going to have he was like i'm thinking he's like i just might let you live like he kept on playing with him he even said something about the judge he's like do you know what this is like he was just so ridiculous the car and he sat in it and i don't remember what he said honestly after that all i remember was hearing he pointed the gun at him and i heard the one gunshot you're on the driver's driver's seat i didn't look back to see does he go back and open up the back he did it from the passenger he did it from the passenger seat he was turned back aimed how do you know that he didn't do it from the passenger seat he did it from the passenger seat he was turned back aimed how do you know that he didn't do it from the passenger seat he did it from the passenger seat he did it from the passenger seat you know where he shot him he told me afterwards how many how many shots did you hear three two in the body and one in the head britney claims she kept her face forward as the shots rang out she said she couldn't bear to turn around yet somehow she knew exactly where her boyfriend was shot she told detectives she thought she'd be next but then armando told britney to start the car and take them home britney's mind raced with all the possible scenarios and she said i don't know what to do i don't know what to do i don't know each one more graphic than the last according to britney as they pulled up to their house armando instructed her to go inside and pack up all their camping gear he stood there and watched her holding the gun down the hallway their girls and armando's parents were fast asleep every time we went outside i could hear john so john was still making noise what was he what was he doing i was just going oh , armando told britney they'd be going deep into the woods in jaffrey he had her follow him in the jeep and she drove john's car again she's in a car she has control of the car she doesn't have to follow him but she does he handed her phone back so he could stay on the line the entire time and it was one o'clock in the morning the sky was blue black the roads were vacant armando stopped at a store to get a shovel and buy some supplies all the while britney's in john's car with his body in the back she thought she was next she says armando kept talking on the phone asking questions she had to answer keeping her paralyzed with fear when they finally got to the forest at the end of the long logging road armando guided them deeper into the thick cold woods this was a place only a hunter would venture i was waiting for him to shoot me out there like i was waiting for it i was afraid for him to walk behind me and so he told me to get rid of the body and to hide the car and that he would be back friday but before he left armando said something chilling as soon as the sun comes up i'm gonna forgive you like i decided i forgive you he's like even after all this i'm still in love with you isn't that sweet and they say romance is dead britney's phone had died so he left it with her knowing she couldn't get help he took off in their car he planned to go home and resume life as usual tell his mother some lies about britney needing some space and pass his kids off to her while he plans his next life to her while he plans his next life by now though it was monday and britney was expected at work you know the thing that armando doesn't do armando had sent an email to her boss on saturday night saying she wouldn't be there but what armando didn't know was that britney's boss was aware of armando's violence this wasn't the first time he had beat britney he had done it once before and britney had confided in her manager so when britney mysteriously didn't show up for work her manager sent police to her house as armando drove away from the campsite he hit a cell service area and his mother started calling freaking out that the police were at her door so armando backtracked to britney he needed to get her to call hr and stop the police from sniffing around so i called jen and again he's sitting with me the whole time so i'm like i could you called jen and he's sitting with me the whole time so i'm like i could jen bell from my work she's the hr lady jen bell from my work she's the hr lady jen bell from my work she's the hr lady and she was just like are you okay and she was just like are you okay and she was just like are you okay and i'm like i am and i'm like i am and i'm like i am she asked me when i heard from john last she asked me when i heard from john last she asked me when i heard from john last and i lied to her what did you say i told I told her the last time I talked to him was on Saturday and that we met at Temple Mountain because that's what Armando was writing down for me to say. HR was actively looking for John at this point, and they knew something was going on between him and Brittany. She lied. She said she hadn't heard from him. Then Armando texted her friends a strange message from Brittany saying she was leaving and going to New Mexico alone. He thought he had all his bases covered. Armando took her back to the campsite and left her with their dog and a.22 for protection. Yeah, he gave her the gun he used to kill John and told her what to do next. So once again, she's standing there holding a gun and not pointing it at her aggressor. That's twice now for you keeping score at home. And what was the plan? For you to bury that? Yeah, he wanted. He made me cut off his head. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. You did what? Because he wanted the dental records to not be found. Okay. So where is John's head? It's in the woods. It's in the woods? What did you use to cut? A saw. They're going to find it right next to the car. Okay. It's a saw. It was a saw. Now, when did you do that? Yesterday morning. Armando stood back and watched. After all, he wasn't big on things like working. He claimed he couldn't do it himself, so he made her do it. He put the saw in Brittany's hand and waited. And she obeyed. Now, people like to believe they'd fight, they'd refuse, they'd run. But in that moment, with death standing right in front of you, sometimes survival doesn't look like bravery. Sometimes it looks like doing something absolutely demonic just for the slim chance to see your children one more time. And anyone who thinks that they know what they would do in a situation like this is deluding themselves. So, you guys together, you and Armando cut his head off. It was just me. It was just you, but you said Armando was still there? He was there. So he made you do that? He watched me do it. Okay. You said, I think, correct me if I'm wrong, that was part of your punishment? He said it wasn't. Oh, he said it wasn't the punishment. But he made you do that. Yeah, he didn't have the stomach for it. He expected me to cut the whole thing up. What do you mean? Like, to chop him up. So was that the plan? He mentioned that, and then once I did that, I was like, what? Like, ah, what? No, I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that anymore. Never again. Like, ah, no, what? And then he said, okay, like, just bury him. Like, but you need, like, no later than tomorrow it has to be done. Armando told Brittany what to do. She had the guns, her bloody saw, a shovel, and her dog to keep her company. She stared at John's decapitated body, raw and ragged, unable to process exactly what she'd done. Armando hugged her, told her it was hard for him to leave, but then he did anyway. I hate myself for this. It's not your fault. I should have just left the kid alone. He's 25. He's 25. He was so nice to me. But you didn't know this was going to happen. I didn't. I didn't know. I didn't know that talking to him was going to cost him his life, dude. What the hell? Like, who does that? Who kills somebody like that? Oh, gosh, he's so stupid. He could have just left him alone. He could have just been like, you're quitting your job. You're never going back. Yeah. That's all you had to do. You're quitting your job. You can't talk to him anymore. Leave the guy alone. Leave him alone. He was such a gentleman. He was so nice. He was so sweet. He was so good at his job. Like, he didn't deserve any of it, and I didn't do, I didn't do, I couldn't do. I'm really shocked that I'm even still alive, and I was almost thinking, too, like, when he comes back, when he comes back after I dispose of everything, and then he just lost me, too. Without Armando hovering over her, putting her under pressure, she just sat at the campsite trying to figure out what to do next. A million thoughts ran through her head about John, his family, her girls back home, Armando, all of it. Like, he didn't want me to want that stuff. Mm-hmm. But he, he gave me a black eye once before, one time, and when I was 19, and it was so out of nowhere. And that was the scary part about him, is that he has emotion, but he doesn't show it. So when he blows up, it's like, you didn't even see it coming, because there was nothing there before. And he said something to me, and I kind of pushed him. Like, I, like, pushed him. Like, I pushed him like that. Mm-hmm. And he got on top of me, and he just started punching me. And he slid it at me. Oh, yeah. This side, too. He just kept slapping the hell out of my face, like, just slapping me. And I was just, like, staring at him like I had no idea what was going on. Like, no idea what was going on. And then he said sorry, and he was super apologetic, and then that was it. And then. Up until that Saturday that I said I wasn't in love with him anymore. Which was the Saturday before last, when he slapped you. Before this past one, yeah. And he slapped me then, and that was then. And then Saturday night and Sunday morning, he just. So from age 19 till two Saturdays ago, there was no physical abuse? No. No? Here's the thing about a man like Armando. He's deeply insecure. But his insecurity doesn't show up as tears. It comes out in rushes of rage. Brittany said that until two Saturdays ago, he hadn't beaten her like that since the early days of their marriage. Maybe she had just learned how to stay in line, just enough to avoid punishment. Or maybe it was that his mother was living next door, always close, always watching for bruises. But then Brittany changed. She lost 130 pounds, took control of her diet, started exercising, and started getting attention. And when Armando saw proof of that new life in her Snapchat messages with John, something in him snapped. Because in his world, there were rules. He could cheat. He could call prostitutes. He could not work for years. Basically, be a complete deadbeat piece of shit. He could do whatever the fuck he wanted, because he's the man. But Brittany was never supposed to become someone else. She was never supposed to have options besides him. Like, I don't know when that decision to not kill me happened. I don't know, because he's like on his own. He told me that. He's like, you were both going to die that night. He told him that was his plan, to kill the both of you. He said, you were both going to die that night. I hope you know. I really didn't expect you to slit his wrists. You surely proved that you really cared about the family. He said the same thing about the head. In Armando's warped mind, Brittany had proven herself. Every order followed. Every step obeyed. It all fed his delusion of loyalty. But none of this was loyalty. It was just pure survival. And that delusion, his inability to see the truth, may have been the only reason she lived. I am going to ask you for a couple of more things. One being. To bring us out to John's head. And show us where that is. And the other being. I would like to be able to document your injuries. With some photographs. Brittany nodded and agreed. Now the police had the story. They knew what had happened. But knowing wasn't enough. They had to retrace every step. Lock down every piece of evidence. They had to. They had to move fast. Because Armando Barron was still out there. Still armed. Still unstable and unraveling. And no one knew exactly what he might do next. To be continued. To be continued. - You've been sitting on a business idea. Shopify makes it easy turn it into something real. You don't want to make it complicated, and payment processes can be complicated. Shopify Checkout helps more customers complete their purchase, and returning customers can check out with their details already saved. So, go make one. Again, that's shopify.com. Think about it. You can actually walk in and watch them prepare your dog's meals with real human-grade ingredients like chicken, beef, carrots, and peas, cooked right there in front of you. Go to Just Food for Dogs. and get 50% off your first order. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing. Victory Lane? Yeah, it's even better with Chumba by my side. Race to ChumbaCasino.com. Let's Chumba. VTW Group. Void where prohibited by law. CT&Cs. 21+. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. For more information, visit http://www.chumbac.com/chumba-trail-train. When Jonathan Amiralt went missing in late September 2020, no one suspected foul play. The assumption was simple. He was lost. An avid outdoorsman and biomedical engineer, John spent as much time as he could on the trails. If anyone could vanish by accident, it was him. But then, something just didn't add up. Around the same time, his coat was torn. Co-worker Brittany Barron abruptly quit and disappeared. Inside the office, rumors had already started circulating. They had grown close in the weeks before he went missing. What felt like a coincidence started to feel connected. Then Fish and Game made a discovery deep in the woods. They found Brittany at a remote campsite, alone, beaten, and terrified. Nearby was John's Subaru, and not far from that, John. The body had been dismembered and decapitated. Brittany told investigators that her husband, Armando, had discovered the flirtation and snapped. Out in the woods, under constant threat, he forced her to cut off John's head herself. She obeyed, only to survive. Before leaving the campsite for the final time, Armando told her he forgave her. In his mind, she had proven her loyalty to him, to their family. He believed in his dumb, underdeveloped mind that they could simply return home, resume their lives, and move forward as if none of this had ever happened. But nothing about this was forgettable. Armando had taken the life of Jonathan Emerald, who was deeply loved by his family, his friends, his colleagues, and everyone who ever met him. He wasn't someone who would fade into the background; he was someone whose absence would be felt forever. The police found Armando quickly. It was easy. He wasn't that smart. "You're under arrest for domestic violence assault. So domestic assault. What's that?" "On who?" "On Brittany." "On Brittany?" "Mm-hmm." "Okay." "Okay. So that's what you're charged with. So that's what we want to talk to you a little bit about. Okay?" "So where is she?" "Brittany?" "Yeah." "Brittany is at another police department." "Right now?" "Okay." "Okay." The officer started reading Armando his rights, informing him that they already had Brittany in custody and had her testimony. Then he interjected. "So when do I get to call her?" "Well, like, so do you understand these rights? All right. I'm going to just ask you to initial next to yes. And then understanding these rights, are you willing to answer questions?" "No. I'm not a lawyer." "Oh. Okay." Armando may be dumb, but asking for a lawyer was a surefire way to tell he knew the difference between right and wrong when it came to abuse, torture, and murder. He wasn't crazy. He was just evil. But still, Brittany told the officers she knew he would never hurt their children. Then again, I'm sure she would say she never thought any of this would happen either. Not exactly a great judge of character. "You don't think he would do anything?" "Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. I just, I'm like, I hope they're not there when they arrest him. I hope they're not there. I hope they don't see it. I feel so bad for him. Even, I know it's stupid, but even after all that, like, I feel bad for him. Like, I feel bad for what's going to happen." She felt bad for him. Let that sink in. We've covered so many domestic violence cases in the last few years. We've covered domestic violence cases in the last few years. In fact, it's a miracle that Fish and Game even found her. Armando made the mistake of taking them to what he thought was a public hunting area, but it wasn't. The landowner saw them and contacted Fish and Game. And look, sure, she could have gotten away multiple times. Sure, she could have pointed the loaded gun she was given by Armando to Armando and ordered him to stop doing what he was doing, but that would have meant she would have had to have been capable of pulling the trigger. And she just wasn't. I mean, she could cut off a human head, but she couldn't squeeze a trigger. I still don't fully understand why. Maybe I never will. Maybe I am lucky to never have to know. I ask the audience, though, what do you think? Is Brittany a victim? Or does she hold some culpability here? Brittany's lawyer started working on a deal. In exchange for her testimony against Armando, who we all know is really the bad guy, she would be granted parole until his trial. Jonathan's family was adamant that this was unacceptable. And the prosecution fought hard for Brittany to remain locked up. Brittany was put before the parole board to make her case. Barron's parole was vehemently opposed by Amaral's parents. They wrote a letter that was read by the victim's. advocate, urging the parole board to keep Brittany in custody until after she has testified against her husband. So if you think chances are low that someone capable of doing all that wouldn't simply just run before testifying next month, or simply go back on her word at his trial, please think again. In granting parole, the board made it clear that Barron must fulfill her obligation to testify truthfully at her husband's trial. Brittany told the board she understands, and that her actions over those days continue to haunt her. Something that I continue to struggle with is forgiving yourself for the choices that you make and being able to own, like, just really accept that it happened. But should Brittany forgive herself? As a religious woman, is that even her place? Or is that something that only God can grant? Maybe self-forgiveness is necessary just to survive. Just to get out of bed in the morning. To eat. To face the crisis. To face the courtroom. Maybe it's just something she has to say out loud to keep going. But could you ever truly believe it? Could you ever forgive yourself for something like this? Because I don't think I could. I think I'd be begging God and the universe and everyone in it for forgiveness every single minute of every single day. Until I didn't have a breath in me anymore. Brittany was a victim. Of Armando that night. But John was THE victim. The only thing anyone could possibly fault him for was getting involved with a married woman. But John's presence lit something in Brittany. It gave her the confidence to finally tell her cheating, deadbeat husband that she was done trying to fix their marriage. And that shift is what set everything in motion. That push for her empowerment. Her independence. It's what triggered Armando's suspicion and his need to start digging into his wife's phone. The plea deal allowed Brittany to skip straight to sentencing in exchange for her testimony. In 2021, she pleaded guilty to falsifying evidence which included removing John's head and putting it into a hole that Armando dug. But she was granted parole in April of 2022. Armando's trial took place a month later. His team argued that Brittany was a liar. She had participated much more in Jonathan's murder than she let on. Armando slumped in and out of the courtroom every day with his scraggly prison beard, pot belly, and snarling face. He was vile. No one felt a drop of sympathy for him, except maybe his own mother. In the end, Armando was found guilty. And the judge spared him no mercy. The depravity of your actions and single-handedly causing the immense suffering and the death of Jonathan Amaral show an extreme indifference to the value of human life. Your actions were brutal. They were absolutely horrific. They were selfish. And they were completely senseless. The abject cruelty. The pain and suffering. And all that you inflicted on Jonathan that night. That night is unfathomable. As his parents just said, he did not deserve to die in that manner. One of the hardest parts of my job is often sentencing in cases and finding the appropriate balance to strike and imposing a fair sentence. However, I have absolutely no hesitation or reservation in imposing the sentences that I'm about to impose on you, given your actions and the crimes that you committed and that you were convicted for in this case. The judge gave Armando life with no possibility of parole for Jonathan's murder. She tossed on even more years for the kidnapping and domestic violence. But in essence, he was never leaving prison unless he was in a body bag. The judge also instructed that he receive counseling in prison. Maybe they could beat morality into him somehow. Not that it mattered anymore. So that is the sentence. You will be sentenced to life in prison. You will be sentenced to death in prison. Teksting av Nicolai Winther Teksting av Nicolai Winther Teksting av Nicolai Winther