416: Incest Dad Basically Walks Free, Teen Marly Kinney Vanishes At Boat Party & Sisters Murder and Smile After

Hey true crime besties! Welcome back to an all-new episode of "Serialist's Suite" Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all-new episode of "Serialist's Suite" with me, your host Annie E. Leece, coming to you from New York, and I can't really do a big tee up intro because you're on the screen right here. There's no surprise. So, hello, hello, hello! Can you just like show how close we are? It's like, hey, we're really close. No, welcome back. So, happy Thursday. That means headline highlights today and there are so many cases to discuss, which I swear. I feel like I say that every single week, but it's because there are so many cases to discuss every single week, and there are certainly no shortage in cases today, or certainly is no shortage in cases today. Is, are, is, is, yeah, is. Guys, you can already see I have brought on my camera. I'm here, I'm clocking in for duty. No, there is so much to talk about, but really quickly, before I get to the housekeeping of like case updates, I gotta give a shout out, my girl CJ, if you are listening right now, I want to tell you it was so, so, so nice meeting you on Sunday. I love, I've told you guys this before. I love when people will come up to me in the wild and be like, oh my gosh, I listen or I have followed you for years, and kind of a little bit of an embarrassing story on Sunday. We were recovering from palm tree festival out here in New York, and my husband Jeremiah ordered a massive McDonald's delivery. And when I tell you massive, I'm talking handle bag massive. It was okay. It was very heavy. And CJ, she came through and we started chatting at the door. She recognized me. We were talking, she's like, oh my gosh, I've been listening to you for years. She met Amy. I want to apologize CJ as well. I didn't look my best that day better. I just woke up from a nap. Yeah, it was rough. And like, of course, in true Emmy fashion, as I'm at the doorway talking with CJ, she just walks up grabs the McDonald's bag and like walks away. I'm all, okay, get out of my face. But yes, so nice meeting you. Thank you so much for listening with your daughter. And for taking the time to chat with me that afternoon, it was just I loved getting to know you and glad we got some pictures together too. And just like I love meeting you guys out in the wild. Shout out to CJ. And and please don't share my address since you obviously know right now. Okay, other housekeeping news. Okay, Alex Murdo. He had a hearing earlier this week. And we all know that his double murder conviction was thrown out and that he's going to retrial. And officially a retrial has been set for tentatively beginning on April 5th, 2027. And there's not too much I want to go into this case on right out of the jump but are right off the jump. But like what I do want to say here is I'm confident that he will still be found guilty. However, I want to put that big however in there. I am a little bit concerned only because I don't believe that they're allowed to bring in the financial crimes as much as they did in the last trial. I think there's going to be more I don't know if I want to say accusations or speculation brought up to create the reasonable doubt that Buster is the one who did this and that he's covering for his son. And so while I'm confident there will still be a conviction I am a little bit not nervous but like apprehensive like, Oh, I could see where maybe there's like a thin line where maybe it won't have it. Yeah, which with a latisha stout. I think it's a no brainer. I think that bitch is going down, down, down and like fat chance. You're ever going to be released. But there is something with him. I could see them whizzling their way out. They tend to always weasel their way out. Weasel is the best way to describe him in his face. Like your weasel. Yes. And yeah, especially if they're not able to really like harp on the financial crimes as much this go around. I don't know. There's something that gives me a little bit of pause, but you guys tell me what you think. Now in other housekeeping news and some good news that I think a lot of people are going to be happy about. We have an up wall. I shouldn't say some people will be happy. Some won't. We do have an update in the McKenzie Cherilla case. And before I go any further, let me just say this. I hear you when you say I'm so done talking about this trashy brat. Why are we bringing her name up. I get it. I hear you. We are leaving her behind. But I do have some good news right now to share with you about her because it has it's good news and it has pretty much closed the door on her most recent appeal completely. So we talked a few weeks ago about how McKenzie and her team were asking to have the Ohio Supreme Court review her appeal after it had been rejected by the lower court for being filed a day late due to the, you know, quote unquote miscalculation because of the leap year. And the appeal was based on the quote medical evidence that McKenzie had suffered from a pre existing medical condition that could have caused her to blackout while driving. However, there are so let me backtrack a little bit. They filed it one day late. Rules are rules. And if they made exceptions for everybody who filed a little bit late, it would create chaos. So I get that. However, because it was a leap year and it was only one day late, I think people thought like maybe there would be a way for her to also weasel her way in and get that appeal going. But now the Ohio Supreme Court has officially declined to hear the appeal, meaning they won't even take the case up for review. I know now this is the second time that the Supreme Court has declined to hear her appeal the first being back in May of 2025. So like I said, good news. This is yet again another major legal loss for McKenzie and her family. She's now had three appeals be rejected since she was first convicted. So as of now, she's going to continue serving her sentence of 15 years to life and her first opportunity for parole is scheduled for 2037. I mean, this goal doesn't do herself any favors. Well, I was just going to say that I get the anger or annoyance I should say of people being like stop talking about her case. She wants her 15 minutes of fame. We don't want to hear this girl anymore. We know she has no remorse. We know that she's an asshole. All these things. However, she doesn't do her any, herself any favors. Yes, with all of these jail calls being released and all those things. Also, her parents did not do any favors with doing the Netflix documentary. And I think that not by continuing to talk about it now, because the ritual, the ritual, the appeal has been rejected, but leading up to that, it is important to put it out there as to who this girl truly is. There is no remorse here are her actions here are her parents actions. Yeah, they're enablers because all of that goes and ties directly into somebody's character when you're taking things into consideration and all of that. So now that that's been rejected, I feel like Adios, good riddance. We don't care about you at all. See, never. I mean, she just needs to fly under the radar beyond her best behavior and like pray that when her parole hearing is there that she's like. She's got 10 year 11 turn to corner and hopefully. She got 11 years to get her shit together. Yeah, and just stop being like, yeah, stop being Regina George. So can you do what McKenzie, can you stay off the phone? I'm not going to hold my breath now in another quick before we get into all the cases, another little housekeeping update. This one pisses me the hell off. And so I'm very angry about this, but this is related to another case that you have been following very closely with me for the last several months. And we just received the sentencing and it's pretty disheartening if I'm going to be honest. And I'm sure you'll be frustrated by this as well. But if you remember, we talked a couple weeks ago, and actually we've been talking over the last couple of months, internally. But we talked about Michaela settles. She's the girl who moved from the Carolinas to California to live with her biological father to go to school and to, you know, have a California life only to then be sexually assaulted by her biological father for over four hours. So badly that she had to be carried into the ER. And then she took her own life over it. And this scumbag, and I know it's in raging, but just for those who have not followed in. I'll link the deep dive into this. Actually, did we do a deep dive? I can't remember if I just talked about it on headline highlights or if we did a deep dive. But if you aren't familiar with this case, basically because she took her life, there wasn't any witness testimony to say that their exchange was not consensual. Which is infuriating to hear like, yeah, it's her father. She is technically 18, so not a child, but still pretty much a child, right? But he was arguing that it was consensual that they got drunk all of these things. Meanwhile, hello, she had to be carried in by her uncle into the ER. She was so physically damaged by this. And then so emotionally damaged that she took her own life, but my point is because she was no longer there to testify against him, even though she did file the police report, the state just didn't believe that they had a strong enough case to pursue any sort of manslaughter. murder, anything excess or whatever it is. So all they were going to pursue were these incest charges and abuse of a vulnerable person by a trusted adult. And so like, let me read what that means for him in terms of sentencing because we knew that based on now these minimal charges that he was only going to face, I believe it was like three years and then time on the registry. However, even though he faced up to three years, he could have only, he, there was a chance he may only be sentenced to a few months or a year. And it's just again infuriating. And so now he has officially been sentenced and he's been sentenced to one year in county jail, three years of probation. And he is going to be on the registry for the next 20 years. Now this sentence was in exchange for him pleading guilty to felony incest and to misdemeanors for giving alcohol to a minor because remember, although she was 18, she was not 21. He also admitted to abusing a position of trust and that Michaela was particularly vulnerable. Now prosecutors had asked for that maximum sentence of three years in state prison. But the judge, I guess, just decided ultimately that because of Stephen's lack of criminal history one year would suffice which disgusting. It is. And he was in, I believe he was an electrician if I'm remembering correctly, meaning he was like going in and out of houses, which he'll owe this guy's a predator. Now that he's on the registry, I know you're not allowed to go to schools and parks and things like that. I would imagine he's not allowed to go into any sort of houses since he pled guilty to a felony. I think usually you have to disclose that on an application. That's true. Yeah. So I mean, at least he won't be in a position to pray on people as easily. And I say that as easily, he still is certainly going to be able to pray on people because he is going to be out in a year probably even less because hello, let's talk about California overpopulated people end up serving a couple of weeks or a couple of months. And they're letting the creepiest of the creepy guys out like not saying this guy isn't one of those, but like they're letting serial killers and serial abusers out saying that like, oh, they age out of it at 60 years old, which that's a whole other fucking argument I could go into on another day and why this system is so broken. But this is incredibly frustrating. It's like, oh, you get to rape your daughter for four hour straight. She takes her own life and you get a slap on the screen. And even if your argument is it's consensual, which it's not and that's irrelevant, but she was so injured and it's your own daughter that I can't imagine that those two things didn't equal more than a year. No, it's unbelievable. And like, hi, I'm just going to say like felony incest is a crime for a reason. And I am so sick of talking about these incest cases, which I feel like are just like up up up up like there's so many and it's like stop having sex with your family. Like is that the new town? Like is it really exactly hard to get? Well, it's must be some sort of a like it's like a control thing if that yeah, it's sick. I also was like thinking hopefully or I was hopeful that the uncle would break and like that the father would have confided in the uncle if the uncle was the one carrying her into the hospital like in a moment of weakness say what had happened and that he would then come forward. I know it's it's one of those cases that just like you would sleep at night over it. So the Ventura County District Attorney's Office later released a statement saying of course they were very disappointed with this outcome and that a prison sentence not county jail, which is what he was sentenced to, but a prison sentence was the only punishment that truly reflected how serious this crime was and also reflected the devastating impact that it had on Michaela and her family. During the hearing several of Michaela's loved ones also addressed the court asking the judge to impose the maximum sentence, but as we know those requests were ultimately denied and my heart breaks for Michaela's mother all the way from that first moment of getting that phone call from Michaela flying out to California seeing her trying to repair the emotional damage when you brought her back home and like then to lose her it's just not that I would ever advocate for vigilante justice, but this is one of those moments where as a mother I don't even know how you would restrain yourself from going after this creep. Well and that's I was thinking you know there's no way in hell he's going to be able to enter society when he's out of prison and anyone is going to I hope that they right I don't know there's a lot of freaks out there they um take care of things well the good news is yeah prison justice is a real thing however county jail justice sometimes is a little bit different there's different restrictions in terms of like when you're like socializing and it's just like it's not as hardened criminals in county jail usually which is kind of I think why the prosecutor's office is or the district attorney's office is so angry because they're like high the severity of this crime he belongs in prison with these like minded offenders whereas he's going to county jail where people go when they get a DUI which it's like DUIs are obviously serious and dangerous and like take lives too yes but like that's not necessarily someone who is going to attack it I think it's the community of dads when he gets out yeah that like you're not coming around our kids you're not coming around our families and then for life he disappears disappears disappears under my driveway slab no yeah it is what it is it is what it is I'm actually I shouldn't have said that because the story you're about to talk about is about sisters who killed together well I know no I know when I was reading I was like oh so maybe we shouldn't joke about no I know I know because people take us seriously well you guys have probably seen this one all over social media because the last few days it's kind of what everyone's talking about it's you saw it right it's the two sisters that were smiling I don't know all the details but I saw it and I saw that it happened at like a sonic drive through yes in the middle of the day well yeah so it's not just super crazy because of what happened basically in broad daylight in a very small town outside of Texas right actually close to the border of Mexico but what has everybody talking is actually the videos that surfaced after the police made the arrests authorities say that three women including two sisters were identified and taken into custody within just a couple of hours but even though investigators were able to arrest them quickly the biggest question is why and they still don't really have any answers as to why so this all happened in the afternoon of June 25th in Del Rio, Texas around 2 10 pm when officers were called to Val Verde Regional Medical Center after a woman by the name of Caroline was brought in with multiple stab wounds she had been attacked in broad daylight and was stabbed twice in the back and once in her side and one of those stab wounds had actually punctured Caroline's lung and because of how severe these injuries were she was airlifted to a hospital in San Antonio for emergency treatment but sadly despite all of the doctor's efforts 32-year-old Caroline Peña died later that evening just after 9 pm so police pretty quickly learned that the attack happened about five minutes away at an intersection near the local sonic drive-in and so from there they immediately started reviewing all of the surveillance footage and interviewing witnesses that might have been in the area and it only took two hours for them to identify the three suspects so around 4 pm officers arrested 21-year-old Kitty Mia Diaz and her 19-year-old sister Amaya Cookie Diaz and then shortly after they arrested their 21-year-old friend Coyanda Renee Faz so after Caroline died from her injuries later that night all three women were formally charged with murder and they're being held as the investigation continues and police say there could be additional charges that are possible because they still don't have all the answers yeah like where they stalking her where they following her was it road rage they have no idea and investigators haven't released any type of answers or any context that led up to the confrontation or if the girls even knew each other and her loved ones are also trying to make sense of what happened and trying to make sure that the public just really knows who Caroline was and that she was a twin a mother to five kids and someone they said she would absolutely do anything for anyone that she loved she was just an amazing person and took such great care of her children and two of their her children have autism and now all five are left without their mom it's so sad she was described as someone who greeted everyone with the biggest smile and hug no matter how much time had passed they say that she was fiercely protective of her family and would give someone her last dollar without even thinking twice one of Caroline's close friends Christina said the two had just spent the evening together the night before cooking with Caroline's daughter then just minutes before the attack Caroline had called her but Christina had missed the call and Christina feels like of course as we all would like had I been able to get that call could I have done something and then later that afternoon she came across a photo that was circulating across a Facebook page showing a woman covered in blood She said her hair was in the same bun. That's all I needed to see I knew it was her right off the bat. I have the chills. Can you imagine? Like hanging out with your friend and you see her and you're like oh my god And like that's how you find it. I have the chills right like I just saw her. Oh my gosh She also said that after being stabbed Caroline was still standing her ground and fighting Yeah, she was going down without a fight which I mean, I know we don't know how motivated yet But it's also crazy to think like These three girls 19 to 21 years old Like young girls. Yeah young girls. Maybe they knew she knew her somehow maybe not But like what would motivate these young girls not only to attack someone but like attack a 32-year-old woman in broad daylight So I have a theory. I don't know. I just I guess it's to me. It kind of sounds a little bit potentially like gang-related maybe Okay, I don't know. I'm just thinking like three girls On the border near Mexico. Okay, and I'm just thinking three girls. It's like a like a Gang I mean, it's a big attack three on one and like if she is somebody they didn't know and it's unplanned It's like was it this I don't know what again. You call it like a challenge or like whatever they have to do And possibly and maybe that's why they were smiling after yeah, like it was like an accomplishment or something Yeah, so then came the video arrest and this is what is so viral Because there isn't a lot of audio in this video So if you want to watch it head over to the video version on YouTube But it's disgusting and chilling and you actually can see one of the girls like flash a peace sign at the camera Yeah, she's smiling and then she's all stop recording or says something like that and like And they're in these little booty shorts and she has that shirt that has like hands on her chest and I'm like Who are these trash? Crash, yeah, let's yeah, let's play that video. So within hours these videos had spread all over Tiktok as you can imagine Facebook Instagram all over social media pretty much everywhere and people have just been flooding the comments saying they were shocked by the whole thing And a lot of people described the sisters as smiling Joking and just cold and it was unsettling completely disconnected from this obviously incredibly serious Crime that they're facing so like I said police haven't said what actually led to the attack so we don't know that yet They haven't said whether Caroline knows these three suspects or what may have caused the violence But the investigation is still continuing so as more court documents become public Hopefully we'll get some answers the gang initiation theory is an interesting one because Yeah, it will be interesting to know if they knew her or yeah if there was I would imagine if they collected all the surveillance They would have identified if it was a road raid and road rage incident or something like that at this point Which it doesn't sound like but It's like these kinds of crimes the only word you can even use to describe it is Senseless like you ripped this mother away from her five children No, you she had her whole she was 32 years old had her whole life ahead of her thing with her daughter Yeah, and you're just like laughing about it after well That's what kind of made me think potentially a gang thing because it it's like I think they weren't shocked that they were caught obviously they did it in a way where they weren't trying to conceal it Yeah, there wasn't any type of messaging or any obvious friends coming forward saying yeah There was a rivalry or there was some sort of argument that led up to this crime of passion or wherever they're going Intentionally to hurt this person so well and who knows maybe by the time this episode releases there will be more information out there But yeah, as of right now not much Okay, so this next case is from Connecticut, and it actually first happened back in March But there has been a very significant update and we haven't talked about this case before so I want to like take it back and walk you through Everything so a young woman had been found dead at the bottom of a staircase and at first Investigators weren't really saying much beyond the fact that her death was yes a little bit suspicious However, as they began digging into what happened inside the home where she was found the evidence started pointing to something very very dark So again back on March 29th police were called to a home in Burlington, Connecticut after 28-year-old Cole were hands father called 9-1-1 In this 9-1-1 call he said that his son had told him that his girlfriend had fallen down the stairs and that she needed medical attention Now in first responders arrived they found 26-year-old Janina Brooke Murphy dead inside the home after what appeared to be this fall down the stairs Now at the time as I said her death was labeled as suspicious But the investigators needed to spend some time investigating it piecing things together and they spent the next three months Really trying to put the puzzle pieces together to figure out what had happened as they were investigating everything Cole had told the detectives that he and Brooke had been drinking They had been smoking marijuana together and he claimed that he woke up after Brooke had found old deleted text messages between him and two women When she saw these text messages of him talking to other women according to him She became so enraged that she started hitting her own head against the wall Then through her body down the stairs just almost one of those things like if I can't have you no one can or like But doing it to herself and self-harm trying to get him to pay attention to her all of these things that Cole was saying to the detectives He said that he then carried her into the living room after she threw herself down the stairs It we're in the living room. She was apparently still alive still trying to breathe He said that he didn't know what to do so he called his parents and that's when his dad called 911 However as the investigators were building the case behind the scenes after Cole admitted all of this and In autopsy was performed on Brooke and on June 23rd the medical examiner officially ruled Brooke's death as a homicide Not as an accidental fall down the stairs and well Yes, she did say she was banging her own head against the wall They ruled the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head so that same day Cole was arrested and he was charged with her murder because investigators say that Cole's version of the events and what really happened inside that house are two very different stories According to court documents police found blood in several rooms throughout the house Including the bedroom the bathroom the kitchen the hallway the living room Okay And also outside on the deck and at the driveway so not just Right here begging my head against the wall throwing myself down the stairs, but blood all throughout the house Which you could argue it was blood that was transferred to him as he's panicking. He's walking through the house Like it's a it's a lot Brooke also was found lying under a blanket in the living room with a visible injuries to her face Arms and legs her phone also was found with a smashed screen the autopsy also reported multiple bruises in all different stages of healing Suggesting that some of these injuries have had possibly occurred before the night that she died that she was in this ongoing abusive relationship and then as investigators dug deeper They also started to hear from the other women Prosecutors say that Cole currently has several pending domestic dispute cases with several different women and his arrest warrant Shows that the allegations against him date all the way back ten years back to 2017 so nine years, but almost so there you go. Yeah history pattern Skizy guy several women who met Cole through dating apps have described having relationships with him that allegedly became Controlling and violent some say he physically assaulted them that he strangled them held them against their will and even gave them death threats One woman told investigators that she believed that if she had gone back to him She would quote end up dead and then another woman came forward after Brooke's death And she told the police that she just felt like she could not stay silent anymore Now Brooke's mom Beth said that her daughter had only recently moved in with Cole when all of this happened The two of them were supposed to come and visit for Easter weekend so that she could finally meet him because She hadn't met him yet, but instead she got a phone call from the detectives telling her that Brooke Quote didn't just fall down the stairs now Cole has pleaded not guilty and he's being held on a five million dollar bond while the case moves forward But many of the domestic dispute allegations against him are still pending and the investigators are continuing to look into whether they show a pattern Leading up to Brooke's death because I do think although it seems like the writing is on the wall The pattern and the history is what's gonna really come into play here because I could see a very good defense Attorney saying the blunt force trauma was from her hitting her own head The bruises and injuries on her arms and legs are from the fall down the stairs the smash phone screen happened from the fall down the stairs Or she smashed it herself the blood in all the different rooms is because he had picked her up carried her to the living room It transferred then he went outside to greet EMS and that's why he got on the deck like I could see that but what's gonna Seal the deal Assuming that he is guilty and it's an interproven guilty. I'm trying to be better about that guys What we'll seal the deal is the pattern establishing history and determining if those old bruises Were inflicted once you get expert testimony in if it appears that she would yeah Was she in an ongoing abusive relationship? Well, I have a few thoughts number one I think to your point a hundred percent the pattern and it just speaks to why it's so important to report things even if you don't feel like it matters, and unfortunately, if it doesn't rule in your favor, and we've seen how those things go unfairly all the time, but at least there's then a record of it, so if it happens again, and so thank God for that. But then also, you know, you hear of these toxic relationships, and like I've seen or heard, you know, you're frustrated, you hit your head on whatever, like, not me, but you know, I've never seen like kids that you maybe like throw a tantrum, and they're like, yeah, I'm so, you know, I don't know. But when there's blood gushing out, you're not doing that, because usually I think people do that for like attention, and as like a coping in the moment, it's not something where you're starting to injure yourself to the point of like blood flying everywhere, and you've got scrapes on your face. I mean, that doesn't sound at all likely. I also have to say, like, is it easy, and this might be a really ignorant question, is it easy to throw yourself down the stairs? No, but I can realize this again. Imagine like, if there, if the source of this argument was text messages, so that was actually what I was going to say next, once we have more information about the text messages and things coming out, I wonder if he found messages on her phone, right? Or the way around, but they're fighting, they're grabbing the phone, they're at the top of the stairs in the landing, and then somebody falls. So it could have been like accidental. Obviously, there's signs of abuse. But not her being like, I'm going to throw myself down. No, no. You know what? I don't trust him. Innocent into a proven guilty. I don't think so. But guilty in my eyes. But guilty does. Yeah. All right, this next case is one that just keeps getting more and more disturbing with every detail that's released, because what started as a missed check out at a luxury apartment, quickly turned into a homicide investigation, spanning through multiple countries. I know. So 36-year-old Natalia Vialba, a Colombian model and influencer, had been staying at a luxury short-term apartment in an upscale Bogota neighborhood since June 3rd. She was scheduled to check out on June 21st, but when she never did and no one could get in touch with her, staff became very concerned. And the next day when a cleaner went into the apartment to clean it, expecting to prepare it for the next guest, that's when they walked in and found something that was just straight out of a horror movie. According to authorities, Natalia's body had been stuffed inside of a suitcase, which had then been placed in the shower with the water running. Okay, what was the grand plan here? Well, yeah. That's kind of, I was confused. Obviously, well, we'll get into it. But the water running to me, I'm like, I don't understand, they're in the suitcase with the water running. What is that going to do? To wash away evidence, but also like what? But you're in the suitcase in the shower. Okay, yeah, keep going. What? So a homicide investigation was started immediately. And according to Columbia's Attorney General's Office, investigators found evidence in the apartment that ultimately did point them to a suspect. The suspect was identified as 46-year-old British man named Matthew Foster Smith. And according to Columbia prosecutors, Matthew had entered Natalia's apartment on June 18th while she was alone, beat her, then allegedly concealed her body inside the suitcase before attempting to stage the scene to hide what had happened. Hold on. That's not how you stage this thing right now. I know. Okay. Well, just wait. Okay. He didn't give very far. Yeah. He then left Columbia soon after. So authorities quickly issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol to issue a red notice to help find him turning this into an international search. So authorities in Columbia, Ecuador and the UK were all working together to track Matthew down. And just days later, he was arrested in Keto International Airport in Ecuador, where investigators say he was actually getting ready to board a flight back to the UK. He was charged with aggravated femiside and tampering with evidence. Now I had never heard femiside have you. Oh, yeah. So I didn't know that there's actually a specific crime, which for those of you that might not know, maybe I'm the only one that didn't know. It's a homicide, but that's intentionally towards female. Yeah. It's not just like if you happen to kill a female. It's like if you kill them because they're only female. And it's like proven that it was based on gender. Yes. I had no idea about that. Yeah. Wild. That is wild. And Matthew knew this was coming because just hours before his arrest, he was giving interviews. And this is what's bizarre. My God. He was giving interviews to media outlets denying involvement with Natalia's death. He claimed that he'd been watching England's World Cup match at an Irish pub before spending the rest of the day walking through a shopping center, buying an ice cream, and returning later to watch more games. He also claimed to get this that he had been receiving death threats over an unpaid debt. So a few things. Why are media outlets even coming up to him before his arrest? Like how did they know that he they were searching for him? So they obviously it was public. It was an international search. And so he's being interviewed by outlets, but they're still searching for him. That's what I was kind of confused about. Yeah. Maybe they still couldn't find him kind of like even when Caitlin Armstrong went on the run. But yeah, if they're if he's giving interviews, it's like, hello, obviously you know the location he's at. Maybe there's something weird with that. But the fact that he's bringing up the unpaid debt, that's what struck me is on him. Like, oh, sorry, are you going to say that somebody was afk going after you, but I could kill her instead. Yeah, because that's what I'm thinking. I'm like, okay, you're alibi. You went to a game. You got an ice cream. You're shopping. I would imagine there's plenty of cameras around. There are witnesses. There's receipts. There's all of that. Tell us the details of the game. So I feel like you could probably check out that alibi, but what's this unpaid debt? Yeah. I feel like that's bullshit. So after the announcement of his arrest, people started really, as you could imagine, digging into Matthew's criminal history. So here it is, guys. Court records show that he had only recently been released from prison in the UK after serving more than two years for stalking offenses. Good. And there you go. There's the pattern. And even after his release, he was still under a court ordered stalking prevention order that prohibited him from contacting any of his previous victims. It also required him to make regular check-ins to report his address and vehicle information to the police so that they could obviously keep an eye on him. And placed also restrictions on his electronics. So I'm like, is that why he then went to another country? Because he was so tightly monitored in the UK. Investigators haven't publicly explained how Matthew and Natalia knew each other or what possibly led up to this attack. But officials in Colombia are very clear that they are going to pursue justice. And the city mayor has even gone on to say that this painful case will not go unpunished, which that feels good that they're taking it seriously. But yeah, I'm curious what's the connection or did he follow her? And as someone who does solo traveling and sometimes wants to like cut costs, you get an Airbnb, it's like, those are kind of the reasons I don't because I like the idea of being in a hotel, even though things happen everywhere. Yeah. But was he watching her? Because she was saying there since June 3rd, and this happened on the 18th. So that's two weeks. And if he's a stalker, was he watching her? Maybe she was at the pub watching the game too, and he followed her home. Who knows? But this is actually, I don't know the details. This is the second suitcase case I've heard about in the last few days. There was another one with an Australian man. And I believe did he kill a 17 year old girl? It was not and put her into suitcase and they ended up arresting him as well after he, but maybe she wasn't 17. Again, I don't know the details. You guys probably know more than I do. But I like these are back-to-back happening. I'm like, what in the ceremony is going on here? Why are people using suitcases? I don't know. So this next case that we're going to be talking about is one that I know so many of you have been following. We have been following it internally, very, very closely. It is so sad and devastating. And I got to say pretty shady, pretty freaking shady. So this next case out of Kentucky basically had everybody glued to their phones for days, looking on social media, scrolling for updates, hoping for a miracle. And what makes this one especially heartbreaking isn't just the fact that 19-year-old Marley Kenny vanished without a trace after spending the day at the lake or I should say, well, spending the day at the lake. But it's that her family had documented the search in real time. So as they were getting updates, they were sharing them on social media before any official announcements were being made. And like, everybody was just collectively following this case together. So let me break down what happened, where the red flags are, and where things stand as of now at the time of this recording. So on Wednesday, June 24th, 19-year-old Marley had spent the day on grace and lake with a group of her friends. They had rented a pontoon boat, they went out on the lake. It's summertime having fun, doing their thing. Now, according to early reports, the group had stopped right along the shoreline so that Marley could hop off the boat and use the bathroom. There was some mixed messaging too that she hopped off the boat and what used the bathroom in the water, you know, just paying in the lake. Then some people saying she hopped onto the actual land to like cop a squat, different reports. But however, the point is, after some time, allegedly, according to the report early on, everyone got back on board of the pontoon boat and then headed back out onto the lake. But then they realized that Marley was no longer with them. The problem was, nobody could say exactly where she was or where she had last been seen. So after everybody realized that Marley was missing, authorities were notified around 4pm that afternoon. According to investigators, 23-year-old Cameron Conley, the man who was operating this pontoon boat, told the Marina staff that nobody could find her. When Kentucky State police arrived, they then began speaking with Cameron about what had happened. And according to police, they immediately noticed signs that he had been drinking, which I get not a big surprise. I think like kids who are renting a pontoon boat going out on a lake, you expect there to be drinking, you hope that whoever is operating the boat is not under the influence, but you would expect people to be drinking beer, listening to music. My first question was, is there drinking, but then I'm like, obviously they will be. So the investigators reported smelling alcohol on him and also saying that he had bloodshot eyes, so I mean, he was intoxicated. So they asked him if he had been drinking, and Cameron allegedly said that he had been drinking, and he agreed to take a breathalyzer test. Now, the results came back. The results were a point 137%, which is well above the legal limit of a point 08%, which that's for operating any kind of vehicle, boat, car, fucking scooter, I don't know, you name it. So he was clearly wasted. Then by about 5.30 that evening, Cameron ended up being arrested, and he was charged with operating a boat under the influence. Now, investigators were very careful to point out that the boating under the influence charge was separate from Marley's disappearance, because at that point, they still had no idea what was going on, where Marley was, who if anyone else was responsible, if it was accidental, but they knew that he had been operating this boat while drunk. So what investigators did know during all of this was that they had a major problem here. People had been drinking. People's memory was foggy. The group couldn't tell them exactly where Marley had last gotten off the boat, which that would make the search incredibly challenging if you don't even have an area necessarily of like where to begin when you're searching like this huge lake and deep waters and all of these things, and you have like what? These drunk kids who can't remember where they were, we're parting probably didn't even like sink to clock where they had to go the bathroom. I just have to go. Yeah, we're just going to pull it over and where we are. Yeah, exactly. The lake looks the same everywhere, you know, who knows? So instead of having one specific area to search, they now knew that they needed to start piecing together her last known movements. So within hours, Kentucky State Police, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, local first responders, and specialized search and rescue teams launched a massive search operation. Divers went into the water, helicopters flew overhead, thermal drones, scanned the shoreline, canine teams, searched the surrounding wooded areas, boats were also on the lake, combing through the water. And investigators also started reviewing phone data and other digital evidence, just really hoping to narrow down a timeline as to where Marley may have last been seen. When the time stamp was a lot, the last photo taken, anything that could help them start to build out this timeline. And as the search grew with that so did public attention around noon the next day on June 25th, Marley, sister Willow shared on her own Facebook post to spread awareness about Marley being missing. She said that Marley had now been missing for almost 20 hours. She also asked people not to spread rumors or any sort of misinformation. She wanted only legit facts being spread. She didn't want it to impede on the investigation. She wanted to find her sister. Search crews were doing everything that they could, but at this point, it's like hello, the family needed facts, not speculation. That certainly was not going to help, right? So Willow shared every identifying detail that she could think of, hoping that someone had seen Marley. She said that Marley was last seen wearing a pink and orange strapless bikini and was also, quote, likely to have no shoes. She also said that Marley wore gold jewelry, usually had on a gold cross necklace, and she even shared as many photos of Marley's tattoos as she could find. Just any identifiable type markers, right? Meanwhile, investigators continue trying to piece together what had happened that afternoon. And at this point, they were covering a massive area of nearly, I think it was like 1,500 acres of this like vast lake. And again, using helicopters, drones, sonar equipment, boats, divers, canines, off-road vehicles, crews on foot, anything they could, but like hello, a 1,500 acre lake, that is massive. So as the search moved into its second day, Marley's family continued, of course, to hold on to hope. In a statement, they thanked the overwhelming amount of law enforcement officers, first responders, volunteers, and community members who had joined in on the search, saying that they didn't even know how to express their gratitude, and that they had faith that the people searching were doing everything that they could do to bring Marley home. But as Thursday turned into Friday, there was still no sign of her. Then just 48 hours after Marley disappeared, her sister Willow made another Facebook post. She said that there still weren't many updates, but she thanked everyone who continued searching, and she said that she hoped that she would have better news to share soon. Can you imagine having to like, muster up the courage to post this type of updates and just putting together any identifying marker, just that, like that's giving me chills, because I think obviously as a sister having to do that. And like you feel that sense of responsibility of obviously trying to help and find, but also updating people, right? It's awful. So by Saturday morning, the search had become so widespread that people from all over the area were offering to drive to grace and lake to help. Willow addressed those messages directly in her post, explaining that investigators were incredibly grateful for their support, but they were asking people not to launch their own searches, saying that extra boats could interfere with the divers who were already in the water, and that people who were walking through the woods could trigger the thermal drones, and that it would just kind of throw a wrench into the investigation forcing crews to then chase false leads. Even privately flown drones could make law enforcement have to ground their own air searches because of safety regulations. So as much as everybody wanted to help, investigators said that the best thing that people could do was let the search continue. But by Saturday evening, Willow shared another heartbreaking update. Only this one had less to do with the search itself, and more to do with the misinformation that had been spreading across social media. She said that she had to step away because she had become overwhelmed by fake videos, accusations, rumors, and complete strangers claiming they knew exactly what had happened. Which honestly, one line from that post really stuck with me, she wrote, "I could care less about how it happened. Who did it right now? I just want her found. I will place the blame later when she is found." Which to me, that really just showed that while the internet was doing what the internet does, it was interneting, trying to solve the mystery just two days after Marley had disappeared, Marley's family wasn't even thinking about blame yet. They weren't trying to say it was the driver of the boat or it was the friends who dropped her off or pushed her in the water because that's some of the rumors that were going around on social media. They were like, "We don't even care who did what? Who's responsible? We just want to find Marley." You know, that's all they cared about. So then, on the afternoon of June 28th, after almost four days of searching, the update that everyone had hoped would never happen did happen. Marley had been found deceased in the water. Now even through the unimaginable grief that her family was now feeling, they thanked every first responder, every diver, every volunteer and the search team that had spent days searching for Marley. But they also made a final request. Stop speculating. The family said that they would share more details when they were ready, but that until then, they asked people not to spread theories or claim to know how Marley died, calling that kind of speculation disrespectful. As of now, investigators have not publicly announced Marley's official cause and manner of death, and they have not said whether any additional charges are expected. So while the search for Marley has unfortunately come to an end, many of the questions surrounding what happened on Grace and Lake that afternoon still remain unanswered. So I definitely will keep an eye out for updates, and I'm sure there probably will be updates as this episode airs and is published. And I know I spoke to Red Flags earlier. I don't want to speculate, because I want to honor the family's wishes. So I'm going to kind of just leave it at that. Let I want you to form your own conclusions and thoughts, but given the information we have and we know and what transpired, there are a lot of Red Flags. And let's leave it there. I was going to say I have some questions and some thoughts, but I think out of respect for the family, like when they're obviously they must have information, and they want to share it when it feels right, and in the way they want. So I think we should definitely give them that. Yeah, devastating. But so sad, regardless. And you know, obviously just a reminder as we're in summer to be careful. Yeah, I know. Okay, so before we go, we should confess to your BFF or ask advice. If you haven't listened to one of these episodes in the last few weeks at CrimeCon, we had a phone booth for when the booth was shut down, where people could leave a message asking either for advice or confessing to us, which if you invest in actual crime, I'm going to report your ask to the police, but we are going to cycle through these and what do we have today? Okay, I don't know. It's labeled by our team as high school. Okay, I need to put them. I'm going to move the mic down towards the speaker. Okay, in high school, I put an air in my stepfistor's shampoo when she ratted me out one night. I thinned it out a little bit, but she was fine. Okay, for us. Okay, number one, Annie has to thin out her hair. I do. I do. I do. I have a lot of trouble. If you guys follow me on Instagram, first of all, if you don't, you should. It's underscore Annie at underscore Annie, at least you know how thick my hair was. Let me just show those who don't follow me on Instagram. A photo that I posted. Open that baby. There you go. So for Annie, she'd probably welcome a little surprise, near treatment. That's not one way I'd get back to you, but if you did that to you, we'd still be in a fight over it. I know you'd blame me forever. That's kind of diabolical. I get it's your stepfistor and that like she ratted you out, but like, and that, you know, that is like the cliche though, right? In all the movies, they put hair loss stuff or like hair coloring stuff. Yeah, but like, damn, or are you guys still friends? Like, where's the follow up here? If this, if you're listening to this, follow up with us, email us at hello at Annie, Elise and in the subject, but follow up to the near story. And I want to know, are you guys still cool? Did you ever tell her about it? Like, what would your parents say? Yeah, you get in trouble. And like, near smells sick nasty. Yeah, I remember like mom telling us that because I wanted to try it. So it'll peel the wallpaper off the walls. It's so strong. Yeah, mom, your mom, the quarter-roy wallpaper that we had like, yeah, that's, that's a real strong ass shit. All right, guys, thank you so much for tuning into another episode of headline highlights, New York edition. We will be back with you next week on Thursday with another headline highlights, but before then, full deep dive brand new case this last Monday. It's out on the feed right now. And for all of you OGs who have been listening to me for a while or have been following true crime and are familiar with the Harmony Montgomery case. I don't know if you knew this, but Adam Montgomery, her ass hat father, the murder conviction has been overturned. And so I did a full deep dive into what that means, not only what that means, but the whole case, which if you aren't familiar with that case, guys, it's so disturbing. I want to warn you, this guy murdered his daughter, disposed of her, carried her body around from placeways and then disposed of her in a new trouble lit. Okay. So anyways, my point is that case I released on Tuesday on my second true crime channel called 10 to life for all my podcast listeners for anybody watching on YouTube. It's right here on the same channel, but you have other cases you can go back and binge right now over the holiday weekend if you are bored and not doing anything fun and need things to binge brand new one here on this feed from Monday, which is a bad shit crazy one. And then the Harmony Montgomery case as well. So they're just between the two feeds. So if you again, if you're a podcast listener, make sure that you're following both of the podcast so that you don't miss those new episodes as I post them. I will be back with you on Monday with an all new case. I hope you all have a very safe holiday weekend for those of you who are celebrating the 4th of July. I know a lot of listeners are international, but have a safe weekend. Do not drive boat or do anything while intoxicated and watch your back and CJ. I love you. Yeah, travel safely. All right, guys. Thanks so much. Bye.