326. The Last Message of Sara Raras

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Join the more than 6 million people who entrust SimpliSafe with their home security. Right now, save 60% off with professional monitoring when you visit SimpliSafe.com slash husband. That is an amazing code, guys. 60% off. That is SimpliSafe.com slash husband. And when you order, again, just please let them know Murder With My Husband sent you. Write it in at the checkout survey. It just lets them know we sent you and it helps support the show. SimpliSafe, ahead of crime and in real time. You're listening to an Ono Media. A Ono Media podcast. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Moreland. And I'm Garrett Moreland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. Hey, everybody. How does it go? Happy Monday. Happy Tuesday. Happy Wednesday. Babe, you're just this unhappy when you do that. Oh. Happy Monday. You're not very good at that. Like this. Happy Monday. Happy Tuesday. Happy Tuesday. Thank you for being here. Babe, I'm not like just a girl. You're just a girl. Yeah, like that's just not me. Thank you guys for watching. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for listening. I do need to say something real quick. I just met some people at the bagel shop that listen to the podcast. And I got in the car and guess what? What? I had something huge in my teeth the entire time. From lunch? From lunch. Oh. Listen, guys. If I have something in my teeth, I'm going to eat it. If I have something in my teeth and you're talking to me, you need to tell me. Big? Yeah. And I smiled for a picture. Oh. You guys got to tell me. What tooth? The top one right here. Oh. You need to tell me. You just need to be like, hey, Garrett, you have something in your teeth so that I can clean it before we take pictures or I talk to you. I don't like it. I hate when I have stuff in my teeth and I'm talking to people. And I could kind of sense that I did, but I wasn't sure. I know what you're talking about when you're talking to someone and you're a little, you're a little self-conscious that you're either like something's just a little off. And guess what? Went to the car, huge piece of food in my teeth. Did you immediately check because you had had that feeling? Yep. Yep. Immediately got in the car and I went, I bet you I got something big in my teeth. Boom. Huge. Right in my teeth. It's okay. Today when I showed up at the bagel shop, I had put dry shampoo in my hair and apparently the bottle had splattered a little bit and I had brown specks all over my head. Oh, really? I didn't notice that. I went and wiped it off. Oh. Because I went and washed my hands. Immediately. Luckily, I caught a glimpse in the mirror. Anyways, tell me if I have something in my teeth. Thank you. Thanks for saying hi. That's not really my 10 seconds, but I guess it can be. Other than that, no announcements. Reminder, we have bonus content and ad-free content on Apple and Spotify and Patreon. If you are wanting to watch a video, our video is on Netflix. So go to Netflix and check it out there. Just type in Murder With My Husband. Those are all the announcements. Yeah, you got anything, babe? No, I don't think so. I just love you all. I hope you're having a really good, positive day. Nice. I like that. My 10 seconds, I guess, was kind of that. If anyone ever says hi to me and I have something in my teeth, please tell me. Also, thank you for saying hi to me and thank you for listening. Always, always ask us for a photo, too. We're really big on that. If you want one. If you want one, ask us for a photo because Peyton and I won't ever ask anyone because it would be awkward if you were like, hey, do you want a photo? And they're like, no, I don't want a photo with you. Yeah, sure, I guess. Yeah, so the reason we don't ever say anything is because we just want you guys to ask because we don't want anyone to ever feel uncomfortable. So always ask us as well. What else? We got anything else? Any other rules? I feel like we're like laying down rules, but they're not rules. I promise. Um, no. I love you. I think you're beautiful when you say hi to me. Me? Yeah, and everyone. Okay, guys. That's all we got on that note. Oh, also, I forgot to say, um, this, the, I was walking to the bagel shop and I was walking in and there was this family sitting to the left and I hear Garrett scared the crap out of me. Really? I turned over. They were just saying hi to me because of the podcast. I went, oh, you scared the crap out of me. Anyways, it was kind of funny. So figured I'd tell you. All right, let's get started. Let's get into it. Our sources for this episode are caselaw.finelaw.com, The Cinemaholic, findagrave.com, oxygen.com, baltimoreson.com, truecrimediscussions.com, and peacock.com. Becoming a parent can be one of the best gifts you can receive in life. Whether that's a pet parent, a human parent, there's nothing like the love we have for our babies. But becoming a parent comes with a whole bunch of new challenges. We worry. We worry about facing a lot of judgment. Are we disciplining right? Are we working too hard and not spending enough time with our babies? For some moms, the question is, will my body ever go back to the way it was? And don't get me wrong. It's not just women. I know dads can feel this way too. The point is being a new parent is a vulnerable time in life, which is why new parents need all of the encouragement they can get. But not everyone is willing to offer up that support. Some people have steadfast ideas on what it means to bring up a good person in this world. And opinions that are that strong can have the ability to fracture even the closest relationships, sometimes to the point of no return. So our case today starts in Elk Ridge, Maryland. This is an upscale town in between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and it's here that 35-year-old Sarah Raris is trying to restart her life. Now, Sarah was originally born in Florida on a military base. She was actually the daughter of an Air Force sergeant, which meant she moved around quite a bit as a kid. When she was about seven years old, her dad's work took the family to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and that is actually where she stayed until high school. And it was a pretty early age that Sarah found the thing she wanted to do. I mean, the thing that she was just meant to do. That was mathematics. She was incredibly smart and talented, but everyone who knew her said she had another useful skill, too. She was also incredibly social. Sarah was an extrovert, selfless, someone who put others first. And because of that, even though she was moving around a lot as a military kid, she made friends every step of the way in life, including at the New Mexico Institute for the Health and Safety Institute of Mining and Technology, where she eventually met her first husband. Sarah earned her degree in math with a minor in English and was planning to get her master's until she got a job working with the military at White Sands Missile Base instead. And then just a few years later, Sarah's husband got a job in Maryland and Sarah went with him. And then that's how we end up there. She landed herself a job that combined both her skills in math. And a duty for her country, just like her father. She was working for the NSA, the National Security Agency. But even while working this very challenging job, Sarah used her free time outside of work to just continue building her skill set as she got older. Every time I hear NSA, I think of Snowden. Remember the movie? Yeah. I watched. Yeah. Good movie. Now, unfortunately, it seems like her first marriage wasn't going as well as she hoped. And around the mid to late 90s, she was married to a man who had been married to a man who Sarah and her first husband actually parted ways. But she didn't let that stand in the way of her ambitions. She continued getting her education at John Hopkins College and actually went on to earn that master's degree after all. The 31-year-old Sarah graduated with her master's degree in 1994 with a degree in operations research and also graduated with a new love interest. A 29-year-old named Lorenzo Rariz. Now, that same year, Sarah and Lorenzo tied the knot. They moved to that affluent little community that I started off the story with known as Elkridge. And then three years later, they actually had a son. Now, from the outside, it looked like Sarah had a bright future ahead of her. She had a lucrative government job, a new baby, a loving husband. It's the late 90s. But cracks were also found. forming in her second marriage as well. Shortly after having their child, Sarah and Lorenzo felt like it was just no longer working out. And in the summer of 1998, Sarah filed for divorce and hoped to get full custody of their almost one-year-old son. And while she might have been nervous about becoming a single mom, Sarah believed she could juggle it all on her own. High-stress job, being a mom, being head of household, it's a lot. But friends of Sarah's said she seemed excited about this new independence, empowered even. But in November of that year, all of Sarah's plans for herself and her bright future as a single working mom were taken from her in a single night. It was a chilly fall day on November 15, 1998, when a woman named Laura Billeter called the Howard County Police. She told them she had a good friend from work. That she spoke to every single day, but that day she hadn't heard from her. And it was worrisome to her because the night before, that friend had left a really disturbing message on her answering machine, one that just felt more unsettling every time she listened to it and considering now that her friend didn't show up to work. She says the message on this answering machine almost sounded like there was some sort of struggle. Obviously, that friend, she was worried, was, of course, 35-year-old Sarah. Laura told the police Sarah had a one-year-old son, but she thought maybe he was with his father that weekend. Regardless, she was just hoping the police could stop by Sarah's house to perform a welfare check. So authorities went over to Sarah's place in Elkridge. And when they got inside the house to perform this welfare check, they saw a giant broken window, along with some bloody shoe prints, on the carpet. So they followed those shoe prints up to the family room, where they saw a woman lying on the ground face up. Now, this was obviously 35-year-old Sarah. She had been stabbed several times in such a brutal fashion that these officers said it was a first for them. There was a cut to her throat so deep, it was just short of decapitation. Her wrists were slit so far, her hands were nearly removed. She'd also been stabbed repeatedly in the stomach. It was definitely a scene out of a horror film. A pathologist later determined that Sarah lost over 80% of her blood volume in this attack. As the authorities described it, it was definitely overkill. Whoever came in here forced their way inside and killed Sarah with unparalleled hatred. Now, there were quite a few details that police immediately gathered, from the scene. The fact that the blood had mostly dried told them that Sarah had been dead for at least a day or so. They also collected evidence of bloody shoe prints, as well as some bloody fingerprints that were found on the wall. Fingers that seemed to be wearing gloves during the murder. Plus, there were a few things missing around Sarah's home. Her VCR player, a phone from the wall. However, Sarah's computer was not working. Sarah's computer was not working. Sarah's computer and purse were still out on her kitchen table. They were in clear sight. So, if someone came in to rob her, you would think they also would have taken that stuff, too. But, by the nature of the crime, and just how violent it appeared, this seemed like a lot more than a robbery. It felt like someone actually came here to kill Sarah. Maybe just the stolen VCR was an afterthought. Unless someone also wanted to make it seem like a robbery gone wrong. So, after Sarah's body was removed from the crime scene for an autopsy, detectives started knocking on neighbors doors. And what they found immediately strange was that even though this was a quiet, tight-knit neighborhood, fairly safe, nobody saw or heard a thing. You didn't see a struggle, not a smash, not a scream. But there was one person who did hear something. Someone who was a few miles away. The person who had first made that phone call to police. Okay. Obviously, Sarah's friend, Laura, had said, she left me a strange voicemail that sounded like a struggle the previous night. Now, unfortunately, officers had to head over there to break the news to Laura in person. Like, we went and did this welfare check. Sarah's definitely not okay. Yeah. And while she was having to sit there in shock, processing that information, she also had to re-listen to that voicemail with the police a few more times. At least they get a more concrete answer. So, as you can see from the concrete timeline from this recording, it was left at 8.46 p.m. the night before. And the police felt pretty certain that Sarah had managed to call and leave this voicemail to Laura while she was being attacked in her home. It was just a quick 30-second voicemail, but you can hear sounds of a struggle, maybe some, like, garbled screams. Officers thought Sarah was probably trying to just die. And this is just a heartbreaking realization. But Laura had something else she thought might be good for the police to know. There's only one person in this world that Laura thinks would do something like this to her good friend, Sarah. And that was Sarah's ex-husband, Lorenzo. Could you imagine having an ex where you're like, yeah, like, they might kill me one day? Or, like, your best friend finds out that you're murdered. And they're like, yeah, it was her ex-husband immediately. Which is crazy because, like, it's scary. You don't see, like, those signs aren't there. Yeah. Like, when you marry someone. But they will show up in a divorce. But they show up. Yeah. I mean, even in, I feel like early on in any relationship or marriage, right? Like, you, people's friendships, too. People's true colors and true personality, like, comes out the longer you're with someone. Because you see them get frustrated. You see them get annoyed. You see them get anxious. Whatever it may be. Also just change as a person. And you're like, whoa, this person's different. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. There are plenty of reasons we put off getting support. And for a lot of people, cost is one of them. With BetterHelp, insurance options may now be available nationwide with an average copay for eligible members of just $23 per session. And while we're talking about insurance, we're talking about insurance. So if you don't have insurance or don't have insurance, you don't have to worry about it. If you don't live in the United States, you can still get 10% off your first month. And Peyton and I are big advocates for therapy. Give it a try. Life can be crazy. There's a lot going on. 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And I really trust I am a and I think you should to go to I am a health.com slash husband right now. Or just click on the link in the description and use code husband for a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets plus 10% off your order. That's code husband at I am eight health.com slash husband. Code husband at I am a health.com slash husband. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. So Laura offering this does make a little sense. Lorenzo and Sarah did not end things on the best of terms. They were going through a heated custody battle over their one-year-old son. And Lorenzo had gotten the short end of the stick. Sarah had probably been the first one to get into primary custody while he got every other weekend and Wednesdays. Still, Lorenzo was fighting against that ruling and the two were supposed to return to court on December 3rd. Now, in the meantime, apparently Lorenzo had made some pretty scary remarks that just terrified Sarah. He threatened to run off with their son and take him to Switzerland so she couldn't get custody or back to his family's native country, the Philippines. But the court the Philippines. Lorenzo had even applied for a passport for their son so it didn't really seem like an idle threat which is why the police dug deeper into the couple's history. They heard that the relationship started to deteriorate after the birth of their son and honestly according to friends and family a lot of it had to do with the fact that Lorenzo became jealous over their baby. I guess their son was taking away all of the attention Lorenzo used to get from his wife Sarah and as a result Lorenzo wanted his own mom who lived nearby to help out more so that him and his wife could get more quality time together but this only made things worse because Sarah felt like Lorenzo's mother Amelia was too overbearing. She would tell her what to do with their son how to raise him and meanwhile Lorenzo took even more of a step back as a father now that his mother was a mother. Lorenzo's mother was a mother and his mother could step in and do the work for him. So eventually things escalated from verbal altercations to physical ones. Laura told police that there was one day when Sarah called her in the morning to say she and Lorenzo had gotten into a huge argument and this time she had been holding their son in her arms and Lorenzo had tried to hit her and she had turned her body to protect the in the back. Okay. But Sarah did not stand for it. She went right to court that day the day that he kicked her in the back while she was holding their baby and she got a restraining order against him. Looking back at their records police actually realized this wasn't a first. They had been called out to Sarah and Lorenzo's home on at least one occasion regarding a domestic dispute. It happened a few months after their son's birth. So they had been called out to Sarah and Lorenzo's home on at least one occasion regarding a domestic dispute. So around January of 1998 Sarah told police that Lorenzo was making quote murderous threats to her and that he was refusing to take his medication for depression and she'd also mentioned to police that he owned several guns. Now after the restraining orders granted Lorenzo was not allowed back in the house which made him so angry that Sarah then told Laura her friend from work she was afraid for her life. So Lorenzo was not allowed back in the house which made him so angry that Sarah then told Laura her friend from work she was afraid for her life. So you can understand why Lorenzo was immediately brought in for questioning when Sarah turned up dead. Police felt like this was going to be a pretty open and shut case. They figured we have our guy he's going to confess right away. We are only 25 minutes in so I doubt this is him. Now when police bring him in and they're like do you know why you're here and he's like no and they're like well Sarah's dead. Break the news to him. He puts his hands over his face. He falls to his knees. He seems completely gut wrenched. However when he stands up police are like there's no evidence of tears which again I hate hate hate when this is brought up. I hate to because again you just never know how someone's going to react. Also I just I don't tear. So when people are like oh she's crying but there's no tears. Oh he was crying here a little bit. I don't ever have tears roll down my face. So if I was crying like my eyes might look watery but I wouldn't have tears like people be like no tear in sight and it's like yeah well when I cry I don't ever have tears roll down my face. So people would think I literally was a heartless murder. Yeah. Yeah. So what. Yeah. So no evidence of tears and non tears babe. Maybe his tear ducts are broken. You don't know. You don't know. Yep. Now once he got to the interrogation room his demeanor shifted quite a bit. Now there was no performative waterworks. Honestly no real emotion at all. And yet the 33 year old Lorenzo insists he had nothing to do with Sarah's murder. He claimed the last time they saw each other was when he picked their son up on Friday November 13th for his weekend with custody. And he's like the night of the murder I have an alibi. He was at his family's home. The one he shares with his parents and brother the night Sarah died. So detectives took a little trip to the family home. It was 30 minutes away in the town of Parkville. Like we just have to go confirm his alibi. And while his mother Amelia said she was at work at a local nursing home that night Lorenzo's younger brother Mike is like yep I can confirm Lorenzo was here at this house on the night of Sarah's murder. Apparently Mike had worked a shift later that night but when he left for work Lorenzo was at home with his son. Now a family confirming someone is at home isn't exactly what the police would consider a solid alibi because this is a very easy lie for a family to tell. So they also seized Lorenzo's car and then they got a warrant for his person meaning they were able to fingerprint and photograph him as well as gather Lorenzo's DNA through hair samples. It was going to take some time to get these results back and compare them to the evidence that was found at the crime scene. But Lorenzo did give the police something to do in the meantime. He said okay I understand you're looking at me but there's someone else you should also be looking into. Someone he says was certain Sarah was having an affair with. So now we've brought in the love triangle. He's like yeah I didn't kill her but she was cheating on me with this person and you should look into him. It was her old supervisor and mentor at the NSA. 51 year old Don Lewis. Almost immediately though police are a little skeptical about this lead that was brought to them by the ex-husband. Not only had Don since retired from the NSA he was now living in an entirely different state up in Cape Cod Massachusetts. Still detectives made the trip so they could talk to him about this alleged affair and cross him off the list. And when they get there and knocked on his door to ask him about Sarah he was completely shocked about the news of her death. What he wasn't shocked about though was that Lorenzo had told them that him and Sarah were having an affair. Apparently Lorenzo had emailed him in the past accusing him of the same exact thing. But Don insists to police that's just not true. That wasn't the nature of his relationship with Sarah. There was never anything romantic going on between them. And Lorenzo was literally just controlling and paranoid he was paranoid over Sarah. Interesting. Don even says I've always been more of a father figure mentor to Sarah like this has definitely never been a work fling. Plus he had a rock solid alibi. He was at a dinner party in Massachusetts the night Sarah was killed. So police go back to some of Sarah's co-workers just to see their take on this alleged relationship. And Laura who also worked at the NSA with Sarah and Don and was one of her best friends. Said it's not true like it's a ridiculous accusation. There were no romantic feelings whatsoever. Lorenzo made this entire thing up in his head. He was spiraling which makes sense since we heard that Lorenzo was jealous over his own one year old son for taking attention away from him. I mean I understand that having a baby can be complex but also there's no one a baby needs more than their mother. And their parents or their mom. Yeah true. At one years old that baby has barely lived life. It is attached to the mom. It's going to be a lot of years before that mother begins to gain some independence. You know I bet that happens a lot though. Oh yeah. I bet it happens a lot. I mean you know. And that's why I say. Peyton I don't have a kid yet but I bet it happens a lot. Well that's why I say it's complicated feelings because everyone knows introducing a kid into a marriage brings change no matter what. Right. But the reality is is when you make the decision to bring a kid into a marriage you. Are understanding that that baby is going to need its mother. It's going to take up the mother's attention for quite a while. Yeah. I mean a lot of people don't realize that too. No. But yes you're correct. Yeah. So he's jealous over his little son. He's jealous over this affair partner that was a complete. That was not an affair partner. It didn't exist which only then cast more suspicion on Lorenzo because it seems like he really was in a very bad downward spiral regarding his marriage. And he didn't do anything. He didn't do himself any favors when he failed to show up to Sarah's funeral. In fact his entire family was absent from those services. At that point police really needed the results of those DNA tests to move forward. But in the meantime they decided to reanalyze the one solid piece of evidence they had and that was the voicemail message. So detectives started playing this tape over and over looking for any tiny details they might have missed and the more they heard it the more they. I think they picked up on something. Something Sarah appeared to be trying to say during the struggle. Now it's muffled which is why they didn't catch it the first time and it does take a while for them to make it out. But eventually they came to the conclusion that she was saying the name Mike. Mike. Okay. And immediately the pieces start to fall together because police are like why would she be saying Mike not Lorenzo. Well Lorenzo's brother the one who supported. recorded his alibi, the night that she was killed, said, yeah, Lorenzo was at home with me. His name's Mike. Interesting. Okay. So now investigators are wondering, are the two brothers in this together? When an intruder steps onto your property, SimpliSafe's AI-powered cameras detect the threat and alert a live US-based agent who can then intervene to stop them before they even get into your door. Like I said, unlike traditional security cameras that only alert you after a break-in, SimpliSafe is built to stop it before it starts. And they have so many different options. If you haven't got on and checked it out, just do it, guys. If you've been waiting for a sign to get some security, this is it. 60% off. And when you order, again, just please let them. No murder with my husband sent you. Guys, we're getting into an ad and waiting sucks. I hate waiting for things. But EarnIn is an app, not a bank, that gives you access to money that you have already earned. Okay, if you don't understand, let me explain it. Up to $150 a day and up to $1,000 between paychecks. Tips are optional and standard transfers take one to two business days with no mandatory fees. There have been many times in my life where I literally was waiting on my next paycheck. I needed to go to the grocery store, but I had to wait until Friday. EarnIn definitely would have been beneficial for me at a time like that. Time just feels different when you're not waiting around to make moves. You have already earned this money, so collect it. Download EarnIn on the App Store or Google Play. Spelled like earning money, just without the G. And then type in murder with my husband under podcast when you sign up. It just lets them know we sent you. It really helps out the show. EarnIn is a financial technology company, not a bank. Access limits are based on your earnings and risk factors. Standard cash outs take one to two business days with no mandatory fees. Expedited transfers available for a fee. Tips are voluntary and don't affect the service. Available in select states. Terms and restrictions apply. Visit earnin.com for full details. Well, detectives pulled Mike in for an interview next. And while he completely denied having anything to do with Sarah's gruesome murder, police took hair samples and fingerprinted him as well. And again, we're now back to a waiting game. But when they drove Mike back to his job later that day after questioning him, he immediately got out of the police cruiser and threw it. Threw up. Oh. Gets out and throws up all over the place. Mike. Mike, okay. Which said to the police, like, this worked this guy up so much. He denied having anything to do with it. No, that's a red flag, yeah. But he got worked up so much that he threw up the second he got out of our car. But no offense, I feel like you would do that. I know. Yeah, that would be nerve-wracking for me. Yeah, it would be kind of nerve-wracking if, yeah, yeah. So. Police, after this, after he's done throwing up, everywhere, they give him their card and they say, hey, as soon as you're ready to confess, give us a call. That's what they said? Yeah. Dang. But things hit a snag with Mike pretty soon after that. The attorney who was representing Lorenzo stepped in and told the police, yeah, you're also not speaking to Mike without an attorney present as well. So once again, the police had to pivot if they wanted to get one brother talking, which was when they turned to an unlikely cohort. Someone who had their own grievances with Lorenzo, but also knew him pretty well. His first wife before Sarah, a woman named Becky. They're like, let's bring in the ex-wife. Now, when the police sat Becky down and told her about Sarah's murder, she's pretty eager to help because she insists I've seen the dark side of Lorenzo. I wonder how many. I feel like Becky's a very common name in these cases we do. Really? Really. What I was going to say is I wonder if. I don't know if there's one name. That's tied to murder? No, that has more divorces than others or like tied to murder more than others. No. Like statistically, it's that name you have on fire. I'm going to go look those up. Yeah. Wait, that's kind of smart. It's like signs, horoscope signs. Yes, I guess so. But honestly, it's probably going to come down to what name was popular during that time. You're always thinking of every angle. I'm always thinking. So now I will say, I think it's hard. It's hard when police bring in an enemy of a suspect and are like, yeah, tell us. But also at the same time, an ex-wife does know a lot about him. So I do think her point of view is also important. So it's just difficult. But she's like, yes, my ex-husband Lorenzo has a dark side. And lucky for investigators, she wasn't on such bad terms with Lorenzo that it would feel random for her to call him. She's like, we actually have stayed pretty friendly after our divorce. So police are. Like, listen, can you call him and we tap into it? Can we just record a call between you and your ex-husband? Ask him about Sarah's murder. You know, just talk to him about it. So Becky called him to extend her condolences about Sarah. In fact, they actually spoke a couple times over the next few days or weeks. And each time the police listened in and they claimed Becky was a great informant. The problem was Lorenzo never said a single thing that incriminated him on those calls. If anything. They made the police feel like maybe he was innocent after all. Something that really solidified for detectives when a few weeks after Sarah's death, they got some results back from the crime scene. Now, remember those bloody glove prints they took from Sarah's walls? Well, the DNA results said the mixture belonged to Sarah, the blood, and an unknown male. So they compared that male sample to the DNA they collected from Lorenzo and Mike. The brothers and the results said neither of them was a match. They'd been telling the truth. There was unknown DNA at the crime scene mixed in with the blood. Someone else had to have been there and killed Sarah. It is a massive setback for the investigation because they've been spending all their time on these brothers. Basically, this discovery puts them back to square one. It's hard. I feel like if I was a detective, easier said than done. I know nobody come at me. Logically, obviously, it probably can't work this way, but I feel like it would be hard for me to go after people until I had DNA back. Right? Because you do. You spend all this time thinking, oh, it's them. Then you get the DNA and you're like, oh, never mind. Talking to the X, Y. But I just wasted 30 hours for no reason. Right. I don't know. Now, it's at this point when they get this back that they're like, yep, we're bringing in the FBI. Yeah. Yeah. Especially because Sarah was killed so brutally. They wondered, I wonder if this matches any other FBI cases. That's so sad. They're thinking maybe this is just one of those rare things where this was a serial killer. So they ask and the FBI is like, no, this doesn't fit any MOs we've seen. But they wanted another favor from the FBI. They wanted them to try and enhance the voicemail to see if there was anything their tech could pick up. That maybe the local police didn't have access to. But again, there was nothing. In fact, the FBI is like, we're not even sure we're hearing the name Mike. They believe the detectives were probably imagining it, knowing that Lorenzo's brother was named Mike. So after this, seven to eight months go by. Police are no closer to making an arrest. If anything, they had taken a few steps back. It seemed like Sarah's case was never going to be solved. But then police got one really lucky break. It was around May of 1999 when the Baltimore County PD got a call from someone at the Baltimore County Detention Center. It wasn't an officer. It was a jailhouse informant named Edison George. Edison said he was talking to a fellow inmate there who was currently serving time for an armed robbery at a McDonald's a few months earlier. But this informant. He was talking to a fellow inmate there who was currently serving time for an armed robbery at a McDonald's a few months earlier. Armed robbery at McDonald's? Yeah. Out of all the places to an armed robbery and we're going to try McDonald's? That's crazy. That's a heavy charge. At McDonald's. Go to Bruce Chris or like. Maybe he thought he could get away with it. I guess they probably don't have much cash there, but I don't know. That's hilarious. Now, the informant's like, listen, this McDonald's robber. He allegedly confessed to a murder that he had committed prior to the McDonald's robbery. The person who confessed was a 19-year-old man named Ardell Tickles. yeah it goes is that like a play on words or his name's ardell tickles that's his name okay now the baltimore police knew better than to take an informant's word for it so they're like yep we're gonna need you to wear wire and get mr tickles talking again i can't do not call mr tickles no you can you can which edison did and ardell started mentioning very explicitly the way he committed that previous murder he had talked about he described how he'd busted through his victim's window while she was studying he surprised her he stabbed her in the stomach he talked about nearly decapitating the female victim with a knife what the talks about slicing her wrists and while he doesn't mention sarah's name he's just he's referring to her as like girl police were thinking he's basically describing sarah's murder not to mention sarah's name but he's basically describing sarah's murder not to mention these details he's confessing had not been known to the public like the the the graphic nature of the crime her hands almost being cut off her head almost being cut off that hadn't been released and yet it sounded like a step-by-step play of what the police analyzed at the crime but that's not even the most shocking detail mentioned in the tape when ardell is asked okay like why did you do this though like why did you commit this random murder he goes oh no like this for me i was hired to kill this girl i'm a hitman okay and he said the woman who paid him to make the hit was someone who had worked with him so police are like looking at each other stunned wondering what woman in sarah's life would have paid for a hitman to kill her so next they're and see if there's anyone that crosses over into sarah's life and they discover something of interest and honestly i'm like low-key shocked you haven't pieced this together the ex-wife no ardell worked in the laundry room of a local nursing home you know who else worked at the nursing home as a nurse lorenzo and mike's mother sarah's mother-in-law 63 year old amelia the mother-in-law we haven't really talked about the mother-in-law who's been watching this son through this custody battle who stepped in and tried to help that that is not the mother-in-law insane the mother-in-law who told police she was at work the night of the murder so now they find a connection they're like what are the chances mike and lorenzo's mom works with ardell and then ardell tells this jailhouse by someone he worked with to kill sarah okay so they start gathering witnesses it's not hard to confirm amelia and ardell definitely knew each other they worked a lot of the same hours at the nursing home when questioned other employees said they had seen them talking on multiple occasions before sarah was found dead one nurse claimed ardell came around the nurse's station a lot looking for amelia it seemed they kind of had a mother-son type of relationship which adds up when you look at ardell's background i mean he had a pretty good relationship with her and she was unstable home uh he had been in foster care for quite a while so it's not that odd that ardell looked up to amelia as a mother figure in some ways and i guess that's why he agreed when amelia made him an offer three thousand dollars to murder her ex-daughter-in-law who was trying to gain full full custody of her grandson three thousand dollars no way so that is not worth it the baltimore county pd share all of this with the howard police who are still like jurisdictionally in charge of sarah's i can't believe that she just got killed because the mother-in-law wanted to kill her yeah that's horrible because of custody battle that's absolutely horrible don't get me wrong custody battle does feel like just crazy now this kid just doesn't have a mom yeah because of horrible his grandma yes yeah now on august 24th 1999 they arrest ardell they bring him in for questioning they play him the confession they're like listen you're facing first degree murder charges which in maryland also could equal the death penalty but if you decide to help us out tell us who hired you maybe that can change they show him a picture of amelia they're like is this the woman who hired you and he's like yep that's her he told them that amelia paid him three thousand dollars in cash to kill her daughter and ex-daughter-in-law but here's the thing they don't really know how reliable ardell's statement really was could they take his word that amelia hired him was he just blaming things on her well the police had a method to confirm his statement and that was following the money they get a warrant for amelia's financial records and sure enough right before the murder amelia wrote a check out to cash in the amount of three thousand dollars which obviously is pretty good evidence helps them secure an arrest warrant for amelia okay on the same day the of ardell's arrest police picked amelia up and brought her to the police station and they were able to get her to the police station and they were able to get her down to the station they're like listen you're going to be charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder they told her they already had gotten a taped confession out of ardell tickles and then they placed crime scene photos of a deceased sarah in front of her and told her hey this is what your three thousand dollars paid for and shockingly amelia admitted she did pay ardell tickles but not to kill her daughter-in-law she's like i only paid for him to scare her maybe throw a couple of rocks at her house now police aren't buying it who pays someone three thousand dollars to throw rocks at someone's home but it's the reason why she wanted this that actually comes as a real shock because they're like obviously it's the custody dispute right but amelia's like no i wanted to scare sarah because after having the grandson she completely disrespected her mother-in-law felt like daughter-in-law sarah questioned her maternal father-in-law and she said no i'm not going to experience and didn't like her grandparenting style she made comments about how sarah was handling breastfeeding and bathing her son and amelia said i tried to help her do it the right way and sarah just rejected all of my advice oh my gosh so do not be the crazy mother-in-law please don't do it everyone's allowed to parent how they don't be a crazy mother-in-law also or father-in-law more sense yeah more sense than you being offended by the way your daughter you have your daughter killed that's insane because you don't like the way she breastfeeds no that's prison for life also being a mom's already hard enough chop her legs off yeah so sounds like amelia was just overbearing and jealous and hurt and maybe just had some narcissistic tendencies but amelia took the offense to a whole new level she said in her call she was just overbearing and jealous and hurt and culture back in the philippines mothers were supposed to be revered and respected and sarah's behavior towards her was a slap on the face and quote showing disrespect to a mother is death that's what amelia says in her interview ultimately amelia is portraying herself as the victim in this situation but amelia's issues obviously don't stop there she spoke about how she also wasn't a good wife to her son she felt like sarah was cheating on her son and then she finally mentions the ongoing custody battle but police weren't buying her excuse that she hadn't hired ardell to kill sarah they're like we don't believe you hired him to throw rocks they also weren't sure about one other detail do mike and lorenzo know about this like do they know their mother oh okay did this but amelia is like no i never told either oh my gosh and after hours of wiretaps and constant surveillance on the house police actually think she's the one who did this she's telling the truth they also confirmed the unknown male dna inside sarah's house was a match with ardell tickles and a friend of ardell's came forward to say she helped him rent a car for the crime and helped him burn his bloody boots after the murder this source even takes police to the exact spot where they burned the boots and after recovering one they found it was a match for the bloody prints found inside sarah's home what did lorenzo and mike say that's crazy so i'm gonna start with amelia's charges first she's found guilty on all charges um during her sentencing she said quote i would like to say to the honorable court that i had no intention at all to kill sarah i'm very very sorry that it happened but meanwhile the judge calls amelia quote an evil person without quote real remorse amelia was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for hiring this hitman i don't get how she gets life but we have people who are killing people we like 15 years i know well i mean she deserves life no she does i'm just i don't understand the inconsistency then in march of 2000 ardell tickles pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty and with so much evidence stacked against him he didn't stand a chance against a jury anyways amelia has tried to appeal her sentence but is currently as of this recording still in custody at the maryland correctional institution for women and in a strange heartbreaking twist of fate amelia got what she wanted out of all this. Lorenzo ended up getting full custody custody of the son he shared with sarah because he didn't do it that is so i mean i do feel kind of bad for lorenzo because it wasn't him this isn't he wasn't involved so it's like he lost his ex-wife he also lost the mother of his children like and all this trauma and then he also lost his mom also no parent wants full custody because their mother murdered their ex wife it's horrible at the beginning we talked about how becoming a parent is one of the greatest gifts in life but also definitely one of the most vulnerable but when love turns to control when opinion turns to judgment when support is undermined by frustration resentment and hatred those fractures don't just hurt a family i mean it just proved they can literally lead to outcomes that fail everyone involved and that is the murder of sarah rarice that's crazy that the mother-in-law did it they're not even involved like lorenzo and mike and all them nope it's insane it's heartbreaking i mean there's survivors that this is very nuanced and complex and there are survivors of this story that i can't imagine how they've navigated living with this so let's just take a minute to remember them and remember and remember sarah who did not deserve any of this thank you guys so much for listening to today's episode or watching and we will see you next time with another one i love it i hate it goodbye this monday.com ad was created by a team of people and ai agents reese our content agent wrote the copy based on our best practices like mentioning monday.com three times that was the second johnny our coordination agent built the timeline and kept everyone aligned olivia our human creative director stayed in the loop because agents are great but they don't always know when a joke lands she had one note tell listeners it only takes minutes to build an agent so minutes create your own ai agent today on monday.com