The Photograph That Solved the Presti Family Murders

There are monsters that walk among us every day, evil, personified. We unknowingly pass by them without a second glance. You never know who could be watching you waiting to make their move. Hi everyone, it's Kimber, and no, this is not an ad. It's a very important personal message from me to you. If you've been tuning in over the past couple of years, I want to talk to you honestly for a minute because you deserve to know this. There's something that a lot of you have probably felt, but you couldn't really put your finger on it, episodes that cut off out of nowhere, cases showing up in a way that felt disjointed or just did it make sense. Maybe my set looked different than it does right now, because maybe in one video I'm here, and then in another video I'm sitting somewhere completely different and look maybe five years younger. There's a reason for that, and maybe you have felt like I've been distant as a creator, so I'm going to give you the truth. For that entire time, I have not had control over this show or how it was published here on Spotify. I produce my content, I take so much pride in it, I write, research, film, edit, everything, but I had absolutely no input on how my episodes were being cut further, how they were ordered, or how they were released, titled, none of that was in my hands. And I feel like I needed to be honest with you because it has been so hard to sit back and not being controlled my own creation and watch comment after comment like this one come in without a way to truly explain myself. So here's what I can finally say, that stops now. I'm back in control and things are going to change for the better. No random cuts in the middle of an episode, and if that's the case, if it is genuinely long enough for a real deep dive, which I'm already known for, you'll know right up front if I'm making a part two, because I'll tell you, I'll be clear in the beginning, I'll say, this is part one of two. So you're never left hanging on without a warning. Also, I have distinctive types of episodes, some are called deadly deep dives and some are evil minds, and these are two different style videos. And you can always tell by my intros, I've also got something that I'm really excited about. I'm going to be doing exclusive Spotify only episodes, cases and content that you will only find right here that I'm making just for you. I'll let you know when those launch plus, these will not have to be censored like my YouTube videos. I'll get the full story, and I'm going to be around more. I'll do my absolute best to get into the comments, talk to you, because that connection is the whole point of why I'm doing this. And before I go, I just want to say thank you. You made this show, the number one true crime podcast, and the number two across all podcasts in the United States and Canada last year. And I don't even have words big enough to express my gratitude, but I do want to thank you. These stories have always been about the people at the heart of them honoring their lives and telling their truth with care, not just how they died. And I have been seeing plenty of rude comments about how I should just get to the point. Well you missed it. The point is how they lived. And now I finally get to do everything the way it was meant to be done. So I'm glad you're here. Let's get back into the case for today, which I'm just letting you know is from my backlog. It has never been on Spotify. So it's new to Spotify. You may or may not have seen it before, but I will be putting out a mixture of things from my backlog, things that have never been on Spotify, and also new releases. So stay tuned. I can't wait for what's to come. For today's video, I want to introduce you to Joanne Camille Presty. She was born on March 7, 1969 to Peter and Annette Presty, who lived in Stona, Massachusetts. Joanne has three brothers, Peter, Jr., Steve, and Mark. And the Prestys were a very close, large Italian family with thick, Boston accents, and I'm half Italian. So this family reminded me so much of my mother's side of the family. And I just remember what it was like to grow up surrounded by all of my cousins, how close we were, how much fun we would have together. So Joanne's family was the same way, and that is what drew me into this case. As well as the fact that it took place in Massachusetts where my dad grew up. I could personally see myself in Joanne, and maybe some of you feel the same way. So in 1990, Joanne started dating a professional hockey player. He was from the area he played for the Boston Bruins, and his name is John Carter. He was an NCAA star in the late '80s, and he was known for his speed and his powerful accurate shots. He had a 10-year professional career. In 1990, he was actually the second leading scorer in RPI history. So all that is to say, John Carter was very successful and well known. Joanne was studying to become an eye doctor at the time, and so the two never got married, but they did end up having a daughter together. She was born on February 20th, 1991, and they named her Alyssa Ann. However, John was never involved in Alyssa's life. I'm not sure if this was his or Joanne's choice, but as a result, Alyssa took Joanne's last name, Presti, and she raised her on her own. Joanne didn't even keep in touch with John. Just to correspond in regard to their court ordered child support, and that's it. But sadly in 1993, John suffered a career ending injury to one of his eyes. And I found that ironic since Joanne ended up becoming an eye doctor, but he needed intense ocular surgery. I'm talking eight surgeries. And unfortunately, the trauma caused way too much damage to his eye. And as a result, he had to have his eye removed in 1996, leading to his retirement. Life definitely ended up changing for John after this. And we will get into more of that later. It's important for me to go back to what was going on in Joanne's life. Not too long after Alyssa was born, Joanne met a guy named Frank Martenew, and they began a romantic relationship together. This time, it led to her very first marriage. And then around 1993, they had a little boy that they named Justin, and Frank was a great dad. He loved Justin so much. The only problem was he and Joanne, they totally clashed. They did not see eye to eye on things, and therefore their marriage did end up in divorce. By 2002, Joanne was divorced for a second time, and this was very soon after getting married. And this time, the relationship went well beyond not seeing eye to eye. It had become physical. And Joanne was married to a man named Thomas Pollock, and she ended up getting pregnant. I don't know if Thomas was very thrilled about this considering what happened to his ex-wife, Cassandra, when she was pregnant. It was said that he slammed her head into a sink, lost her pregnant, which left her with two black eyes, and I don't have many details on this. But apparently, according to Joanne, he had put his hands around her neck, hit her with a phone, tied that phone cord around her neck. And then when she tried to call the police, he threatened to blow up her car. And he did all of this in front of her daughter Alyssa. And this was all going on while Joanne was pregnant with Thomas' baby. Her friends actually witnessed the bruises on her arms on several occasions. Joanne gave birth to baby Sean Pollock in 2001, and at very same year, she filed a restraining order against Thomas, and then their divorce was finalized in 2002. That wasn't the end of their issues, though. The relationship had been so bad. Joanne didn't even want child support. She just wanted Thomas out of her life for good, and sometimes it's hard when you share a child. So she was terrified that Thomas would harm her. She actually slept on the couch so that she could potentially hear him come through the door. In the event, he broke in to attack her, and I was thinking that it's pretty intense to alter the way you do things as far as even being comfortable in your own home, while sleeping, because you are that fearful. As they say, sleeping with one eye open and her doors were never unlocked, she double-checked everything all the time, just in case. The reason she was so scared was because Thomas would not stop harassing her. He would threaten to find her, beat her up, and then take baby Sean away. So by 2004, it's safe to say that Joanne hasn't had the easiest life, but her career was going well. She's working single mom of three children, living in a quaint little town in Wuburn, Massachusetts. She chose this area since one, it was close to her parents, who lived about 15 minutes away in a nearby town of Bilarica. And two, and maybe most importantly, it was known as a very family-friendly community. It's the type of town that people will move to and they'll stay there for the rest of their lives. It's a very close-knit community full of hardworking, blue-collar residents that pretty much have each other's back. And Joanne was adamant about living in a safe neighborhood. She moved to Tottenham Drive and I want to show you how cute this little area really is. It's lined with manicured lawns and look-alike little duplex apartment buildings with several basketball hoops that invite the little local kids to play right on the street. There are no through-streets here either. At the end of the road, there was a cul-de-sac, which means it's closed off on one side. This one had a home right at the end and this was a place where kids could ride their bikes, turn around, go back down the road, not worrying that there were too many cars passing through. That was perfect for Joanne. Since she was overly protective of her kids and rightfully so, she was paranoid. Definitely after that relationship with Thomas, she never knew what could happen to one of her children. As a matter of fact, everyone in New Joanne knew that her children were her world. She was a very loving mother. She worked really hard to provide for her children the best way that she knew how. No matter how bad her relationships were with her children's fathers, she never took it out on her children. They were the light of her life. They brought so much joy. Because family was so important to her, especially growing up in a traditional Italian household, we're talking big family dinners, sitting around the table, sharing anything and everything that's going on in your life and being protected by the people closest to you no matter what. That loyalty to your own blood is strong and she passed that on to her own children. Some people thought that she was a little too overprotective. She definitely wouldn't let her kids play outside alone, even in her own front yard and that sounds kind of normal for a lot of parents, but in 2004, her daughter was 12 and Justin was 10. The baby was only 2 so I can totally understand that. However, Joanne's friends knew that there was no way she would let her children out of her sight. So instead, she would invite all the neighborhood kids to come to her house to play and everyone loved that. They loved Joanne. She was a type of mom that would not only watch her kids play in the pool, she would jump into the pool and play with them. She was very involved. And there was always something fun happening at the Presti's home, like Slip and Slide during the summer or birthday parties, holiday get together, you name it. Now that you know what Joanne was like as a mother, what about how she was as a person, as a friend, as a daughter and a sister? Well, Joanne was very extroverted. She loved to laugh, she loved to spend time with her friends and go out and have some drinks, some fun at nightclubs. She enjoyed things like the neighborhood cook out and she's a type of friend that would touch base every day to check in with those that she heard about most. She was known as the Pied Piper of her neighborhood because she was very charismatic and it would just attract people to her. She also loved those traditional Italian holidays, especially the traditional Italian Christmas. She loved when her mother Annette would make ravioli's and meatballs and one of my personal favorites, artichokes. Joanne was also very generous. One time when she was struggling to make ends meet. She had to resort to moving back in with her parents, however, she heard that her brother Pied her had fell in some really hard times financially after leaving the military and going to college. So she gave up her entire tax refund check and gave it to Pied her. That's the kind of person she was. And to top it off, according to her landlord, Herender Mohan Singh and his wife said, "Nom Singh, who they called Sandy." They thought Joanne was a model tenant because she had just recently upgraded to a bigger apartment. It was just a few houses down from her previous one in other duplex. This one was located at 13 Topman Drive. It had three bedrooms and one bathroom and it was a pretty nice size. It had a kitchen that was perfect for cooking and a nice big backyard for the kids to play in. The Singhs lived on the other side of the structure. It was attached and they had a really fun time having Joanne and her children as neighbors, especially because they had children of their own. Joanne actually offered to help the Singhs repair her unit because it had just been damaged by the previous tenants and Joanne got to work right away. She repainted all the walls in each room and she put up some new blinds in the living area. Joanne and Sandy would watch their kids play together and the families became really close. They would even spend holidays and some birthdays together and have fun together and even exchanged gifts. The Singhs actually owned a gas station and they would give Joanne gift cards so that she could shop there for free. I'm so glad that I got to paint a really thorough picture of who Joanne was because it's very important to me. This is Joanne's story. Joanne was passing all of her traits onto her only daughter Alyssa and she was already becoming a bright, smart and talented young lady. Joanne and Alyssa had a very close relationship and a very close bond. They were seen by others as the perfect mother/daughter relationship. Joanne was attentive, she listened, she spent quality time with Alyssa and she just doated on her. She adored her so much. In January 2004 Alyssa was in seventh grade, she was attending Daniel L. Joyce Medal School and she was a pop-warner cheerleader and she was about to turn 13 and that's pretty exciting. You're going from a pre-teen to a full-fledged teenager. Alyssa was also a net impetus only granddaughter. She was the light of their lives. And that noticed how mature Alyssa was. She was always helping her mom with her two younger brothers who were actually quite a handful, especially little Sean who was only two. She was very responsible for her age and just like her mom she was protective over her family. She would watch over the boys when they were both there because ten year old Justin actually spent weekends with his father who lived about 30 minutes away in a town called Revier. His father was actually in the process of attempting to get full custody of Justin and it did seem like it was going to lean in his favor. And without knowing all the details, I'm assuming that the court had their reasons, perhaps they agreed to allow Justin to be a Joanne in a few years and then switch over to Frank's care. I don't know because every state has different family lost populations and custody orders. Alyssa was a straight-a student and she wanted to become a pediatrician and maybe that desire came out of caring for her own siblings, but she was extroverted just like Joanne. She would light up a room with her big smile and she was always laughing, dancing with her friends. And she was also at the age when you begin to have crushes on boys. So it was typical for her and her friends to get together and talk about their crushes, have a sleepovers, but Alyssa wasn't interested in having a boyfriend. I might be a little bit too young, I'm not sure, but she was focused on school. She was just a really good kid. It was New Year's and everyone was gathered around the TV watching the ball drop and ringing in 2004. The Presti's lives seemed to be bright and full of opportunities, but they didn't know that something tragic was about to unfold in just a few days' time. Their safe, cozy home would be invaded by evil personified. In order to piece together what's about to happen, we have to go back to the spring of 2003. Joanne and the kids were living in their previous apartment that I mentioned, just a few houses down from their new one on the opposite side of the street. And like always, I'm going to get as detailed as possible so that you get to know everyone in this case. As usual, the kids are having fun playing outside when another single mom named Bobby Joe Miller came by and introduced herself to Joanne. She lived right across the street in 21B Tom and Drive. They began talking and they realized that they had a lot in common and soon they became very close friends. Bobby Joe had kids and most recently in May of 2002, she gave birth to a little girl who was still an infant at the time and she was the daughter of Bobby Joe and her ex-boyfriend Michael Bisonowicz that she had broken up with earlier in the year. They had been friends first, they actually met in 1995 when Bobby Joe was working at a convenience store. So they knew each other for a pretty significant amount of time and then they eventually started to date. So this breakup was hard on her. She wanted it to work but it just wasn't and sometimes when you are in that long-term relationship you kind of grow up together in a sense and it's hard to stay for the long haul because you change so much. And just like Joanne, Bobby Joe was a giver. We could maybe even call her a people pleaser because she did everything for everyone, especially for someone like Michael who she loved. So while they were together, she helped him with everything and when they broke up she was still helping him with all of his bills, helping him balance his checkbook. She even registered his truck for him in her name. However, sometimes that can be emasculating. And who knows exactly what happened but eventually they broke up, Michael moved to another town which was like 20 minutes away called Lowell and the women both were on their own. And they would bond over sharing their stories and venting about what a hassle it was sometimes dealing with their exes and many of us know I was a single mom so I know how it can be. The two best friends and their kids. were together almost every day from here on out and they were pretty good support systems for one another. They would watch each other's children which was a big step for Joanne because we know she's protective. It is nice to have a friend that literally steps away from your house right across the street but that changed just slightly in November of 2003 when Joanne decided to move like I said a couple of houses down to 13 top men drive. It didn't change that much. They still lived on the same road and they continued being there for one another. They would give advice and they just really wanted the best for each other. Bobby Jo had even softened her heart a little bit and she began to allow her daughter to have a visitation with Michael. The women were just a really good influence on one another. Joanne would even tell the children that they should always respect and listen to their parents even if they were divorced. So if Michael came by to spend time with Bobby Jo and the baby everyone should be kind and Joanne really didn't get involved in all that but she was always cordial any time Michael came around. Even though Bobby Jo would still argue with him right in front of everyone. Michael seemed to be doing his best. He even helped install some new cabinets in Joanne's apartment when she moved in. So as a thank you she invited him and Bobby Jo over with the kids one night and on that night. He agrees to help Joanne hook up her cable TV. He worked for Bobby Jo's mom Linda's boyfriend at his shop as an apprentice electrician and since Linda had known Michael a long time. She did this kind of out of the kindness of her own heart to help him pay the child support that he owed her own daughter. So Michael definitely wanted to stay employed and he needed the practice but sadly those good vibes went completely bad when Michael didn't bring over the right cables and Bobby Jo kind of blew up on him and yelled at him in front of everyone and then she stormed right out of the house. So Michael he follows right behind her like a little puppy dog trying to catch up to her and make things right and I couldn't help but think was Bobby Jo maybe just a little bit jealous then Michael took an interest in helping Joanne. I don't know it's just a thought but moving on there's another couple that I introduced you to and that is the sings remember them. These are Joanne's landlords it was the landlord and his wife. Well I did tell you that they were very close but perhaps Joanne and Mr. Sing were a little bit more than landlord and tenants and that kind of relationship but of course I want your opinion. Herender was someone that came and went as he pleased because he owned the building. He would always be there to promptly fix anything that Joanne needed repaired and they got along really well. Joanne had that charismatic personality. She made friends with everyone and perhaps sometimes men might think that she wants more and there were rumors that were already going around among her friends that the seemingly happy married man had a romantic interest in Joanne. Most of these rumors swirled when they found out that Joanne would go over horrendous basement for drinks when Sandy went to bed so his wife's in bed and he is in his basement inviting another woman over to have drinks. I don't know. Maybe Sandy didn't like drinking. There's nothing wrong with having a drink with a friend right but I don't know. Herender would bring a bottle of cognac down and they would just chitchat from time to time. Joanne really did have a lot to talk about and sometimes we just need to vent to someone that's not directly involved in our lives. Kind of like at arm's length and one thing Joanne was facing at the time was one of her children's fathers in court. We all know it's not Thomas. She said good riddance to him and fear for her life but it's actually the former hockey player star ex-boyfriend John Carter. She tried to stay out of his life and his business but he decided to stop paying his child support. Everything had been going well for the last 12 years in regard to his otter lissa but after his career ended up struggling he started to drink a lot. He was supposedly an alcoholic and he fell in some tough times. At this point one of John's business deals fell through and he had spent all of the money that he had left over from his celebrity hockey days but as for the relationship between Joanne and her landlord the word travels fast in a small neighborhood like theirs and when everything unfolds I think you may question whether or not Sandy knew about this little friendship between them. As a matter of fact all the neighbors pretty much knew each other's routines. They knew everyone's comings and goings. The minute Joanne would wake up in the morning she would open up those blinds that she had installed herself and let the sunlight in and neighbors knew this. They would even see her and wave as they walked by. Jumping back to the new year. It was Saturday, January 3rd. Joanne asked Bobby Jo's sister to go to a local bar in Lin which is about 35 minutes away and this area looks really cool. I looked it up and it has some really cool clubs and a fun nightlife that's perfect for a girl's night out. Bobby Jo had to be up early in the morning to prepare for Michael to come pick the baby out so she offered to stay back and watch the kids now just in. Joanne's 10-year-old he was at his dad's that weekend so it was just Alyssa and Sean. They ended up sleeping over that night and the next morning in January 4th Joanne picked the kids up around 10 or 11 a.m. later that night around 7 30 p.m. Joanne stopped by Bobby Jo's to hang out for a bit. However Bobby Jo notices that Joanne's not acting like herself. She looked sad as though she had been crying. So Bobby Jo asked her what's wrong and she said you know what I'm just tired. I had a long night last night. I have a really bad headache and therefore Joanne only stayed around 15 minutes and then went home. She wanted to get some rest since she and Bobby Jo planned to go shopping the next day and return some of their Christmas gifts. Other than Joanne looking a bit tired nothing was out of the ordinary as far as Bobby Jo was concerned. That is until the next morning. She wakes up around 8 o'clock and then she calls Joanne to check on their shopping plans but Joanne doesn't answer so she leaves a message. Then she calls back a few more times and there's still no answer so she left a few more messages assuming Joanne had just slept in due to her being so tired from the night out. Later Bobby Jo drives past Joanne's place and that's when she does notice that something is different. Joanne's blinds were not open and by this time of the day her plans were always open especially because Joanne smoked cigarettes so she would open the windows to let the smoke out and let the fresh air in. So Bobby Jo couldn't help wonder what was going on with Joanne but she had her own priorities to deal with and she just figured Joanne was busy as usual and had forgotten about their plans however. Over the next couple days, January 6th and 7th, Bobby Jo started to become concerned. She had still not heard from Joanne and that was out of character for her. She drove past her house again. The blinds were still not open and Joanne's minivan was kind of collecting because it was wintertime. It was kind of like collecting like an icicle on it. It had not moved from that position the entire time and that was really odd because if Joanne was home, those blinds would be open so something wasn't right. And at this point, she thinks that maybe Joanne is ignoring her on purpose for some reason. A lot of times we make excuses because we really don't want to assume the worst. That's something more sinister could be going on but she was concerned enough to go to the door and knock. No one answered. That afternoon on January 7th, Bobby Jo was so worried about Joanne that she reached out to Joanne's mom and she informs her that she hasn't heard from her for a few days now and she adds all those peculiar things that she saw at Joanne's home and that knew her daughter. She knew about the blinds and thought she would not be leaving those down into the afternoon that was just way out of the ordinary. It was not normal so she starts getting worried. She's imagining that something horrible might have happened so she calls out to her husband Peter that they needed to leave right then and there to check on Joanne and the children. They jump in the car and they make that nine mile drive but Annette had this sickening feeling in her gut. Maybe it's mother's tuition. I don't know but it seemed like an eternity before they actually pulled into Joanne's driveway and this was around 4pm. They had no clue just how horrified they would be when they find out what is waiting for them inside. The entrance of Joanne's unit is on the side of the house right here. The door was unlocked. They walk inside and the door opens right into this kitchen area. They don't see anything there so they proceed into the living room where Joanne routinely sleeps on the couch which is what it probably looked like to Annette as she first glanced in that direction as she's scanning the room. She saw Joanne face down on the couch as though she was asleep but that would not make sense at 4pm so as she gets closer that's when she saw it. That's when she knew that Joanne wasn't sleeping. Annette saw a pool of blood beneath Joanne's head so she screams for her husband. She said you have to touch her. She might still be alive and I cannot even fathom stumbling upon the scene. your daughter, your only daughter. The one that you raised for 34 years of their life is lying lifeless in front of you and there is nothing that you can do. And I can't even begin to imagine what this would be like. It's your job as a parent to protect your children and your grandchildren. They become a part of you. They're a huge part of your life. And now there was nothing to do but to panic and to call the police. I do have a portion of that 911 call and I can tell you right now, it is heartbreaking. A net could be heard on the line. So I'm going to play that for you now. Oh, I need emergency. Oh my god, oh my god, she's dead. She's not breathing at all. Oh no, I can't tell. Is she breathing, Peter? My husband's here, he said no. A children, I don't know where her children are. Where's the list? We have two cars and an ambulance on the way. That is completely gut wrenching. It's actually hard for me to listen to but at least help is on the way. The next thing Peter and Annette want to do is locate the children. Where are the children? They begin to leave the lower level and search upstairs where the bedrooms are. Meanwhile, police and medical are on their way so Peter gets upstairs before a net. The door to the baby's room is shut and when he opens it and runs in, he sees baby Sean in his crib. He is crying and when he picks him up, he could tell. He's dehydrated and his diaper, it was heavy with what seems like days, days of feces and urine inside. But he's alive. He's unharmed. Annette is downstairs but on her way up. And Peter had picked up Sean and he rushed into the very next room which was Alyssa's room and what he witnessed will probably never be erased from his mind. It was a sight he definitely did not want his wife to see and she was screaming up to him that she wanted to see Alyssa and he screams back down that there's a no way because she's dead. He would not let his wife go up there. So he came downstairs as Annette was in complete shock. She lost it at this point. I can't imagine. I have a daughter, I cannot imagine. And this was her granddaughter. Her daughter and her granddaughter. It's a snowy winter evening. The first responders come up to 13-topman drive and they were there within minutes of receiving that call. Annette is holding Sean. And when the paramedics arrive, things are happening so fast. She hands the baby to them. And then they ask if she's okay and she doesn't even know what to say. And not knowing what was inside. They didn't know if maybe she was hurt. Annette can't even speak. She doesn't know how to respond to them. But she just turns to the paramedic and she mutters, please just hold my hand. And that is exactly what the paramedic did. Then they take Sean and they rush into the hospital for treatment and Annette follows close behind to be by his side. Now I'm about to get to the part of the case where we will get the very first set of clues that will lead to what could have happened. This is when I can't help opponent myself into these investigator's shoes. And I like when you do the same and analyze what they find. Leave it in the comments especially if something just doesn't add up to you. They proceed into Joanne's apartment. They notice that the side doors unlocked and there are no signs of forced entry. All the windows are closed and they're also locked. So they make their way through the kitchen, taking notes regarding the way everything appeared. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary regular kitchen. It looked lived in, there were dishes in the sink, there were some tools on the floor, a full and tied up garbage bag on the floor that looked like somebody had been in the middle of doing a project or some light cleaning. And before they could finish it, something occurred that took them away from their work. The kitchen table was fairly tidy. They see a baby's booster chair in one of the seats. And they don't notice any obvious signs of struggle. No blood, nothing but as they walk into the living room area. They see a love seat, children's toys scattered and the couch where Joanne's parents found her lying face down. Detectives finally see just how horrific this scene really was. Joanne wasn't just lying on the couch in like a normal position, she wasn't. The left side of her upper body was hanging slightly off of the side of the couch and her head was on one side and her feet were on. The other, so she was laying across the couch. Her head was also kind of dangling off one side. And it was hanging above a pool of blood on the carpet. The couch cushions that were underneath her near her upper body were saturated with blood. Joanne's hands and feet were tied behind her back with rope as well as duct tape. And she was only clothed from her waist up. Her bottoms and her panties were found on the floor and the panties were rolled up. You know the way it looks if someone takes them off in a hurry. And this indicated that there was some kind of struggle and that was confirmed when they found a rolled up towel near where her head was. This was identified as being used as a gag so that she couldn't scream. When they turn her body over, that's when they see what they believe was her cause of death. She had multiple knife wounds to her neck. Everything they observed so far leads them to believe that Joanne had been bound and gagged so she could not put up a fight. And then she was forced into intercourse. Finally, she was stabbed and left for dead. Was the sole reason intercourse. That was one of the questions. They don't know, but every clue matters when you're piecing everything together. They have a lot more to analyze downstairs but they move on to the second floor. This was really sad, really horrifyingly sad. The crime scene investigators moved into an upstairs bedroom. It belonged to Alyssa and they saw a desk with papers on it and a chair that looked as though it was scooted out. You know how somebody would have to stand up in the middle of their work. And this was because there were, you know, a pens, pencils, things that looked like she was using them and a couple of drawers open. There was also a dresser with some open drawers as well. And it looked cluttered. It looked like a normal teenager's room, the way they would keep it. There's a lava lamp. There was a TV. And there were other miscellaneous young girls items. However, the room was a mess in a way that proved there was probably a very intense struggle that went on and I'm talking complete disarray. You could tell that the bed had been moved. It used to be in the wall and it wasn't in its original location and there were pillows and blankets all over the floor. Even the bed sheets had been pulled off and like rolled into a ball. One of the saddest things for me was to see all of Alyssa's items on the dresser, the things that she used every day, the things that she collected and loved. They were all standing still in time just like Alyssa because to the investigator's shock and terror, they see the young girl lying face down on her bedroom floor between the bed and the dresser and there is a massive amount of blood underneath her. When they examined her closely, they realized that her throat was slipped from ear to ear and there were smears and spatters that were located all over the bedroom, all over the mattress. Even on the sides of the mattress, smears across the wall. This was a 12 year old girl. Who did this and why did they do this? It just doesn't seem like this can be real. How does something like this even happen? From what I could gather, it seemed as though Alyssa had been chased into the room and that she was trying to get away, she was opening drawers like block the person's path, moving her bed to hide behind it and she put up quite a fight but she was no match for the evil monster who did this to her. Both bodies were removed and transported to the coroner's office for complete autopsies and that is just a waiting game. I will come back to this when they get the results. Meanwhile, there is a lot of work for investigators to do so they begin looking all around the apartment for clues. They examine the area that Joanne sits in to work on the computer and there's a pile of money on the desk and it hasn't even been touched or taken. It was just laying there. There was also money in other places around the house so they begin to think that the motive was something different. It was something other than burglary. By this time, the rest of Joanne's and media family have been notified of the tragedy and they rushed to be by Sean's bedside at the hospital. They were in utter disbelief that this could happen to people that they love so much. They didn't understand how this could happen to right inside Joanne's home. This is a place where her and her children are supposed to feel safe and there's just one wall between them and another family just like theirs with innocent little children inside and there's so many questions and they want answers fast. Bobby Jo was the next person notified that Joanne and Alyssa were dead. It's unreal. She's completely shocked. She had just seen both of them so how can this be real? And she's completely distraught. She just can't be alone and she's so scared. Scared that she might be next because she was the closest one of Joanne's friends. She just couldn't be by herself. So at that time, she went to go stay at her mothers and then met up with Michael who arrived immediately to console her and help her with her kids. that same night before they leave, investigators decide to canvas the entire area around Joanne's house. They wanted to see if anyone had seen anything. If they saw someone lurking in the neighborhood, that person might still be there, and not only that, they want to question residents that are close by in case they witness anything else that was concerning while it's still fresh in their minds, but to their disappointment, no one seemed to have heard or seen anything. Some of them do mention that they saw Joanne a few days earlier, but nothing after that, which kind of makes sense. Most of the residents were inside. It was cold. It was snowy. This was the winter. They were enjoying dinners and movies and the warmth of their cozy beds. It's just too bad that that night wasn't the same in the Prestee's household. Investigators believe that this was a crime of passion, that this crime was carried out by someone close to this family. Someone that knew Joanne, someone that Joanne must have trusted. We know how protective she was, even sleeping on the couch for this exact reason. She was scared of something that was going to happen, and it did. It's time to start to put together a list of suspects and interview them one by one starting with anyone that may have had a problem with Joanne, and that list comes together pretty quickly. Especially after talking to Joanne's family, and I'm sure you can probably guess some of the people that are on it that they're interested in talking to. Joanne had not had much luck when it came to the men in her life. Also, there's a timeline coming together. They think that they know approximately when the crime was committed. The next day they call a list of school because they're trying to piece everything together. It turns out she wasn't in class on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of that week, which leads the investigators to believe Joanne and Alyssa have been deceased for several days before they were found, and that is so sad. They think they might have been murdered sometime between Saturday night on January 4th and Sunday, January 5th. I want you to think back and remember how Bobby Joe didn't hear from her on the morning of January 4th. That was after Joanne left the night before with a headache. They were supposed to go Christmas shopping, and that was on Sunday, so things are starting to come together, but they're also looking really confusing. How could no one notice this? Not even her next door neighbor, the landlord with an attached home, with like thin walls, nothing, no noises, nothing. This couple spent time over Joanne's, and Joanne's went to, you know, the landlord's basement on a regular basis, and they heard their kids play together, so what is going on? So police want to pay her under a visit. He tells police that he didn't hear anything at all. Really? They aren't so sure, but he insists that he and his wife were at home watching TV that night. And since he was a friend of Joanne's, and she confided in him, he tells police that one of her children's fathers may have something to do with it. However, police want to know if he had something to do with it. And this was because of his proximity and the fact that they thought it was impossible for him not to hear anything. Was it because he was carrying it out? They get a search warrant for his house and cell phone records. And this is where it gets a little interesting. They find out a few things that turn out to raise some red flags. First of all, they find a rule of duct tape, and it visually matches the duct tape that's found on Joanne's body. So they collect it for forensic testing. Then the phone records come in. Joanne called Herender at around 10 p.m. on Sunday night. And this call only lasted a few seconds. Why would she be calling him so late a night? Was it for another drink in the basement? They were starting to build out the timeline even more. It seems like their deaths occurred between Sunday night and Monday morning. Because as they're getting more information, the timeline is coming together. When they ask Herender, he says in none of that is true. He says she called about a clogged sink in the bathroom and asked when you could come repair it. That lighted night though? Attending something she's calling the li-- I mean, maybe it was an emergency. Herender could be the last person who talked to Joanne or saw her on Sunday night. So they need to dig in deeper. Before they can, the autopsy reports come back in. The manner of death for both Joanne and Alyssa is homicide. We could have guessed that. But what about the cause of death? The medical examiner concluded that Joanne had been gagged with a towel, found with duct tape and rope, and then forced to have intercourse. The cause of her death was the seven wounds to her neck, one of which had nearly severed her carotid artery. Blonde forced trauma to her head was also a contributing factor. DNA was collected from three places of the crime scene, two of which had been retrieved from Joanne's body. While the third was taken from a shirt that she was wearing at the time of her death, this would be used as a comparison as the suspects are located. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Alyssa sustained trauma to her face and damage to the inside of her lip from her braces. This indicated to police that she had been punched in the face multiple times. Like her mother, she had also died from wounds on the neck, which had severed both of her carotid arteries. DNA was collected from underneath her fingernails. There was no sign of forced intercourse. From what they had gathered, it seemed like Joanne was the real target. The reason being, Alyssa sustained, in their opinion, much less trauma. But a more cut-and-run type of injury, almost as though she got in the way of what the perpetrator was doing, and he just had to quickly take care of her. We will dive deeper into this theory a little later. Right now, the investigators are ready to get back out there and find their killer. They begin a background check, and I'm sorry, I'm gonna call him Mr. Singh. I don't know if it's Harrender, Harrender, Harrender. No, so Mr. Singh, they wanted to do a background check. And they also want to interview Joanne's friends, as well as some previous tenants about him, so they can find out because things are starting to seem a little bit suspicious, and it turns out. His last tenant, she described him as a creep, and she tells police that one night, she caught him hiding underneath her porch. Could there be a reason? I thought to myself, was he fixing something? Was he really just a weirdo hiding under the porch? Then, Joanne's friends revealed their little rendezvouss in the basement together in a investigator's search, and they find two glasses, which they collect for DNA. Then, they get a break in the case, a connection, phone records, and reports from friends that show that Mr. Singh wasn't just providing a place for Joanne to live. He was also providing for her financially, not fully just here and there he was giving her money, and he helped furnish her home. Sometimes landlords do that, I don't know. Sometimes you rent a furnished home, but the investigators want to confront him. He denies any romantic involvement whatsoever. He tells them, you know what? I cared about her and her children. I'm her friend, and he knew that she didn't have a father figure for her kids. He didn't want them to be without things, especially with Joanne losing the child support from John recently. And it was that simple. He was the kind of man that just wanted to help out his tenant, however. He checks off many of the things on their list. He had access to her apartment. He was someone she trusted. She would have let him in. No questions asked, and perhaps there was more going on between him and her. And maybe he needed to stop Joanne from telling his wife. That seems a little far-fetched, but stranger things have happened, and ones that make less sense for sure. So Mr. Singh was their very first real suspect, and he willingly gives police his DNA, and now they wait. While all the evidence is being collected and tested, and next on their list was her ex-husband. Well, which one? Well, Thomas, because friends believe he could be responsible. Remember him? The one that harmed both his ex-wife and Joanne while they were pregnant. It sounds like he's a monster to me, and the investigators felt the same way. The fact that Thomas' two-year-old son, Sean, was unharmed? He leads them to have a theory that he may have done exactly what Joanne feared, that he came to get revenge. They track him down, but he's all the way in Delaware. He's a caretaker for the estate of the wealthy DuPont family. So he's informed about what happened to Joanne and Alyssa. At first, he seems pretty indifferent. He denies that he has anything to do with this crime. He also denies ever laying his hand on Joanne in the past. In regard to the nighting question, he insisted that he had an alibi. He wasn't anywhere near that area. He says that he has a receipt from a store in Delaware from early Monday Morning Plus. Someone did see him that Sunday night. It would have been impossible for him to cross overstay lines and get back to Massachusetts to just carry out this crime. He told them, "You know what? Maybe I'm not the greatest boyfriend or husband, but I am certainly not a killer." Then he added that even though Joanne and him didn't get along, she was the mother of his son. And he would never ever harm her. He would never want his son to be without a mother period. And then he goes on to say, He would have never harmed Alyssa that she was beautiful. She was sweet, she was kind, and it ripped his heart apart. So he submits his DNA for testing. But these lies, they come easily for men who allegedly harm their wives or women. They like to blame things on others. Nothing is ever their fault. So they take Thomas's interview with a grain of salt until they have the DNA tested. There's two down and many more to go. And by this time, the duct tape that was found at Mr. Singh's house was not a match. They go ahead and let him know, but they tell him we're still waiting for the results of your DNA. And that's when he tells the police the fact that Joanne had just been in court with her ex-boyfriend John Carter, Alyssa's father. Apparently, that was the very first time that he had ever met her, the first time in her whole life. And maybe this triggered him. So investigators get all the same info we already know. It really does seem like John may have the most to gain from both Joanne and Alyssa being out of the picture. He definitely wouldn't have $25,000 to worry about. That's for sure. But would he risk prison or death? So they need to dig deeper into his life and track him down as soon as they can. They bring him in and right away, this guy is sweating profusely. He just does not look right. He's just dropped. He's completely upset. He seems totally believable. It is true. I mean, he just found out his daughter has been murdered along with her mother, his ex, but he wasn't close to either one of them. So what is he really nervous about? Well, they think they might know. A witness comes forward and they give them information about John. They said he was so close to Joanne's on the night of the crime. John was drinking at a bar, only 100 yards from her house. They thought there probably wasn't anyone they would find that was going to be that close as close as John was to Joanne's at night. So they really think that they have their guy. He's got the motive and the proximity. So they have a theory. He went there to have an ally. He went drinking so that people would see him and then he left without anyone noticing, especially if by that point in the night, his friends were drunk. This all happened close enough to Joanne's for him to leave the bar, walked her house out being noticed in the dark, carried out these words of max to take the law into his own hands instead of forking over 25 grand. They questioned him about the court proceedings for the child support. And he tells them that was eight months ago. And he admitted that him and Alyssa did not have the traditional father-daughter relationship. But from what he knew about her, she seemed like the sweetest girl. And he really did regret that he wasn't a part of her life. They're able to get his DNA, but they don't have anything to hold him on so they have to let him go. They're hoping that he doesn't skip down. He's their number one suspect right then. And they tell him, don't go anywhere because we're not done with you yet. The community is full of fear. People aren't even coming out of their homes. Their children aren't riding their bikes or playing basketball in the streets because there could be a killer among them. They want answers. Even the children at Alyssa's school can't sleep at night. One of her friends, Kelly Lurick, said that she looked over at Alyssa's empty seat in class and that she couldn't help but be overcome with sadness. She said that Alyssa was always laughing that she had such an upbeat personality. She was just always there for her. And it was the type of friendship that you never wanted to lose. That loss really shook this tight-knit community. Police were confident that they had their man with everything they found out about John Carter. But they were about to hit a wall and the entire investigation is going to come to a halt. And I hate when this happens but all three DNA samples come back and they're negative. None of the men, not the landlord, Thomas, or even John are a match. So who did this? Joanne was a sweet person. Alyssa was a child, an innocent little girl. So investigators want someone to make it make sense. They thought that whoever did this was someone with rage, just this rage inside of them. That made investigators think that this was probably a lover. So they started to wonder whether Joanne had a boyfriend that no one knew about or maybe she met someone when they went out on Friday night to that bar with Bobby Joe's sister. Bobby Joe did say that Joanne looked like she had been crying the last night she saw her. So why? Could it have been something to do with her 10-year-olds on Justin and the custody battle between her and his father, Frank? It's kind of convenient. The Justin, he's not in the house when all these horrific things happened to his mom and his half sibling. Wouldn't it be easy if Joanne was just out of the picture? And Justin was free to live with Frank without ever having to deal with another conflict with his mother? Maybe she wanted Justin to come home on Sunday night with Frank refused to bring him and then maybe she threw a fit causing Frank to become trickered. These are all just theories that they had. And then Frank was informed of what happened to Joanne and Alyssa and his entire family was in shock. Frank was completely cooperative but he also retains an attorney who speaks on his behalf going forward during this case. Frank submits his DNA and it ends up not being a match. After this, his attorney tells the media that the Martin news want their privacy. They're in shock and they're focusing all their attention on Joanne and Frank's surviving son, Justin, because it's traumatizing. This family now has to pick up the pieces and care for a little boy who wasn't home and he comes back to find out he doesn't have a family. Like, a portion of his family is erased. The trauma that he has to deal with, that's a lot. The PTSD, that's a lot. So rightfully so, this family wants their privacy and investigators are back at square one. They have no choice but to go back to the crime scene and take an even more in-depth look around the entire house. During this time, the Presti family gets together to say goodbye to Alyssa and Joanne at St. Barber's Church. The family weren't the only ones to pay their respects. There were more than 400 people in attendance, including many of Alyssa's classmates. Joanne's close-knit family stood together. They were hugging each other while they were standing around the two white linen draped caskets. Following the church service, the funeral and the burial were held at Fox Hill Cemetery, where both Joanne and Alyssa were finally laid to rest. The police chief was a neighbor of Joanne's and he was at the funeral. And when he was interviewed, he said that the relatives and the mourners and the entire town remained in a complete state of shock. They were plagued by questions more than a week after these slangs had took place. And he said, "It's a tragic shock to the whole community and their families and their friends and that the schools and the entire town were in fear." They hadn't had anything like this happen before. And he said that he's had sleepless nights. This whole week, he's been wondering how something like this could happen. And this is coming from a police chief who has seen a lot of things in his career. And as you're watching this, you're probably wondering the same thing. Will they ever get to the bottom of this? Well, back at the crime scene, they're gathering even more potential evidence and their focus is on Prestee's computer. And it turns out someone in the household had been chatting online the night of the crime. So now, police are wondering whether Alyssa may have been the target of an online predator. But as they did deeper, they realized it wasn't Alyssa. It was actually Joanne that was doing the chatting with someone very unlikely. A person that definitely raises an eyebrow and that's because of his age. That's right. She was having a conversation with a 16 year old boy from the neighborhood. And police think that that's kind of odd. Alyssa, okay, Joanne, they're questioning it. However, Joanne's friends say, "That's not weird at all." A lot of times, kids from the neighborhood would come to Joanne for advice, especially if their parents weren't around. Or they just needed some guidance from someone. Someone that's outside of their situations. However, the police still need to rule this boy out. For all they know, something had happened in that conversation and it could have drove him into a rage. They just don't know. So they have to check out every single lead, so they interview him. And he admits he was talking to Joanne that night, but it was innocent. It was just in regard to Alyssa and when classes were going to begin after winter break. Police confirmed this. They release him and move on. So they're really at a loss. They have no choice but to spread out and go wider. So they look at things from the forced intercourse point of view and they decide to look into offenders that are in the area that had recently been released from prison that were on parole or any of them that were on the registry. So they interviewed every single one they could find. Each one of them had to give their DNA and none of them were linked to the crime. The leads are going nowhere and at this point, they're examining even the most unlikely items in the pressies household. One of which is a few of undeveloped roles of film that were found in a desk drawer. They have them all developed. And as they're looking through each picture, They're looking. for anyone that stood out. Anyone that were in pictures with a family that had not been interviewed or anything that could point them in a new direction. They find photos from age children's birthday party and they recognize someone, Bobby Joe. There were other individuals in the photos, so they call in Bobby Joe so that she can easily identify each one. They assume she's gonna know who they are. Now, if you're thinking of leaving and stopping the video, don't. You have to find out exactly what happens next. Don't fast-forward because this case is all over the place and pretty shocking to me. So Bobby Joe is naming every single person as the investigators are making a list and her boyfriend Michael is one of the people in the photos. And of course, just like everyone else, he has to be included and eliminated. And that's tough. You don't want your own boyfriend to be caught up in all this. This happens all the time, especially when people are close to the victims. If you're the boyfriend of a victim, husband of a victim, close to them in any way, you're gonna be focused in on nobody likes it. But they explain we have to rule him out. So she tells them his name and explains they have a daughter together. And the last time they all hung out with Joanne was on Christmas Day. Oh, they definitely have some questions from Michael, but since they have Bobby Joe there and she can vouch for him, they ask her some preliminary ones. It's hard when everyone's a suspect. It can be very uncomfortable and soak in the questions. Bobby Joe tells them everything we already know about her and Michael, how they met, how long they dated, when their daughter was born, the breakup, her inviting him kind of like back into her life to see the baby and how Michael works for her mom's boyfriend as an apprentice electrician to make ends meet and pay child support. She also says, her, him and Joanne are all friends. The investigators do not think Michael is a viable suspect, but they have to keep asking questions until they can completely clear him. They ask Bobby Joe about his whereabouts that weekend. To refresh your memory, Joanne went out with Bobby Joe's sister on Saturday night, January 3rd. The next morning on the 4th, she came over to retrieve Sean and a list of between about 10 and 11 a.m. Bobby Joe says she didn't end up seeing Michael that day. He was planning to come over to see their daughter, but he was busy looking at apartments to move into. She talked to him later that day. That was the same night that Joanne came over to Bobby Joe's around 7.30 p.m. and it looked as though she'd been crying, but Joanne says she's just tired and has a headache. Before going to bed that night, Bobby Joe called Michael. This was around 11.30 p.m. and they chatted for a few minutes so investigators go and confirm that this was accurate. They asked her how he sounded, and she said he sounded like he had been drinking, which wasn't unusual. Now here's where things get interesting. Still, no real cause for concern, but the next morning on Monday the 5th, that's the day that she and Joanne were supposed to go shopping, but she couldn't get a hold of her. Well that day she got a phone call from her mother's boyfriend, Michael's boss, and he informs her that Michael didn't show up for work that day. Bobby Joe is mad. She is mad over the fact that he skipped out on work so she calls him and he doesn't pick up so she leaves a few messages. Eventually he does call her back and he says yeah he didn't go into work because he was too hungover from the night before. Bobby Joe, who owns his truck basically threatens to return it to the dealership if he keeps messing up. It had already happened a few times in the past and the next thing Bobby Joe recalls is on the evening of January 7th when she heard a neighbor's child screaming and running towards her. When the child got close enough that's when Bobby Joe realized what they were actually saying that Joanne and Alyssa were dead and that is how she found out that her best friend was murdered. So she ran over to Joanne's house and at that point she's questioned by a couple officers and she's scared and she's very emotional and after that she raises over to the hospital to check on Sean's condition. She told detectives that the baby looked tired and weak and that's when she made her way over to her mother's house. When she arrived and her mother heard the news she immediately calls Michael and tells him to come over quick and he says oh my god what happened and that's when Linda told him he says I'm on my way. Detectives start to press Bobby Joe about Michael's demeanor that night. She said that he seemed kind of quiet. He was just sitting there trying to console her but most of the time he was just staring at her and he looked stressed. They asked her if she noticed anything out of the ordinary in regard to his physical appearance and she says that she remembered seeing what looked like hives on his forehead. He let her know they were caused by stress and he had a lot on his mind. I mean who doesn't but Bobby Joe didn't know what it could be. However detectives are also questioning Linda Bobby Joe's mother at this point. After hearing that she had also seen him that night. Linda says she saw cuts and abrasions on Michael's hands and knuckles. Yeah of course he worked with his hands a lot but at his job he wore gloves so this was very significant and they had heard enough at this point they include Michael in their list of suspects and now they needed to dig into his past to a background check and find out exactly who Michael Bessonowicz is. This is not over and maybe you want it to be. I do know that a lot of you like long videos with a lot of details but we're not done yet. I want you to know everything. While they're interviewing Bobby Joe they show the photo of Michael to officers asking if anyone had already interviewed him or cleared him and one of the officers looks over and he recognizes Michael he says I've arrested him in the past but he couldn't quite remember the details however he said if his memory served him right it was a crime that was sexual in nature so now they are really focusing in on him. They decide to pay Michael a little visit unannounced so they can get his rendition of that weekend. He agrees to speak to police at his home but he doesn't want to come down to the station. He says he doesn't even know Joanne that well that she's just a friend of Bobby Joe's which I mean is true. He says they've only hung out a handful of times. As they spoke to him they were watching his demeanor his body language and looking at his hands and sure enough they have cuts on them. A telltale sign that he had been in some kind of physical altercation could this have been as a result of Alyssa scratching him. This is the closest that they had gotten to possibly being in front of the person who did this to Joanne and Alyssa so they have to keep him talking. When they ask him about the cuts he says he sustained them while working but they already know from Bobby Joe's mom that he worked gloves while he was on the job. Now they wanted his alibi. He says and this is like the worst alibi ever for every time you're a case and you say this I'm like worst alibi. He was home by himself all the way back in low L and then most of the night consisted of him on the phone arguing with Bobby Joe. They know that Bobby Joe did speak to him but she failed to mention any arguments but there's also an issue. The phone call was before midnight. They know Joanne was on the phone with Mr. Singh at 10 pm so there would have been enough time and a matching timeline if Michael would have gotten to Joanne's after speaking with Bobby Joe but why would he? What connection do Joanne and Michael have besides both being close to Bobby Joe? Michael also tried to pull a fast one on the detectives by claiming that oh he didn't own a vehicle and it's true his truck isn't in his name but he has possession of it so why lie because this made it look like he had no means to get around like there was no way he could get to Joanne's and that simply wasn't true so they get a warrant for the truck and they obtain a DNA sample from him. Sure enough they find rope and duct tape in the truck and they send it in to be compared to what they found at Joanne's and while they wait they decide they need to ask Bobby Joe if you follow up questions they confront her about the argument she admits yeah they had been arguing for weeks if not longer they had been in somewhat of a back and forth relationship they asked her if there would be any reason for Michael to have anything against Joanne. The only thing that Bobby Joe mentions is that her and Michael seemed to argue a lot more once Joanne came into the picture but it was because Michael felt like Joanne was coming between them maybe as though he was like the third wheel so detectives begin to think Michael may have blamed Joanne for the breakup with Bobby Joe or that it swayed Bobby Joe into not getting back with him they ask if she was on the phone all night with Michael since Michael said that he couldn't go in the next morning for work on account of staying up late arguing with her and that is not true. The phone records confirm he's lying oh but there's a bigger bombshell that's about to be revealed remember that cop that recognized Michael he jogs his memory and realizes Michael is a level 3 predator and I think you know what that means when I say they predator detectives need to confirm this. If this is true, It means that at this level, Michael would have had to do the worst of the worst, if offending alone isn't enough. And after running his name, it turns out that it's true. That is gross. This monster among these innocent children on top and drive was convicted of eight counts of force intercourse with underage individuals i.e. children, as well as deviant sexual acts in the past. When someone is classified as a level three offender, this means that they're most likely going to re-offend, so why do they let a person like him out of prison? But wait, they checked the registry already, and they didn't find him. And that's because his residence was registered as being located in Lauel. However, he practically lived with Bobby Joe, and you've got to wait, because this changes everything, not just in this case, but in the entire state of Massachusetts. It all makes perfect sense to detectives. This man is motivated by sex, and deviance. He doesn't need a reason to harm anyone, he just does it, but they know they need to find out exactly what happened and need to be 100% certain that they have the right person. It turns out not only did the rope and the duct tape match the ones on Joanne's body, but his DNA matched the samples taken from underneath Alyssa's fingernails and from Joanne's body. The team of police and detectives are overcome with emotion. It's a mixture of happiness and excitement that they caught their killer, but it doesn't bring back these two amazing people that lost their lives, plus they want to know the answer to the biggest question of all. Why? Maybe a note they found in his apartment when they completed their search would give them clues. It was a note written by Michael. It was addressed to his daughter, Angela. It said, quote, "You will hear bad things that Daddy did, but Daddy would never harm or hurt a child, and it was signed just Daddy." The date on the top was January 5, 2004. This means that it would have been written right after he committed the crime. Michael was arrested on January 16, 2004. Even though they had so much evidence against him, he has always maintained his innocence. But detectives have been doing this long enough to have a pretty solid theory on what happened that fateful winter night. They believe that for months, Michael began building resentment towards Joanne, thinking that she was taking Bobby Joe away from him, that she was the reason the relationship was going downhill. Perhaps, as I mentioned before, these type of people they love to blame things on others, even the reason for taking their lives sometimes. So this would be Joanne's fault, right? Detectives believe that as things progressively went downhill for Michael, he began drinking more and more. The night of the crime, after drinking excessively and arguing with Bobby Joe, he knew he wasn't going to get sex from her. So instead, he drove to Joanne's. He wanted to take out his aggression and also take advantage of a woman. When he knocks on the door, she most likely opened it because she knew him. She may not have let him in, he probably pushed his way inside, and he either tried to get her to willingly sleep with him or he knew from the start what he was going to do because he had rope inductive with him and it's highly unlikely that he came into our house and went back out to his truck to retrieve it. Whether or not he planned to take her life, we will never know. However, he gagged her with a towel, bound her, and had his way with her. The news and knife leaving seven wounds on her neck. All the while, baby Sean and 12 year old Alissa were in their rooms. They don't think Alissa was part of this. They think that she heard what was happening and came downstairs and at that point, Michael realized there's a witness and he doesn't want to go back to jail. So he rushes up there to take care of Alissa but she puts up an unexpected fight for her life. Unfortunately, Michael won. They think the brutal act was one out of quickness, one swift slicer of throat, and then he just closed the door to Sean's room and left. Maybe this is why he says in his letter to his daughter that he would not harm a child. Maybe he didn't consider Alissa a child but was referring to baby Sean. He's a monster. All for his own desires and urges. And I want to briefly let you know two more things. What happened in court and how the laws and Massachusetts were changed because of this. Michael's trial was held at the Middlesex Superior Court. It began on February 27th, 2007 more than three years after Joanne and Alissa were discovered. The defense's main argument was that the police failed to thoroughly look into Joanne's landlord. Mr. Singh. Before beginning the trial, the defense went ahead and filed a motion to exclude all the DNA evidence from the proceedings. It's kind of a bold move. Attorney Stanley Norkunas said he didn't deny that Michael's genetic sample matched. However he argued that the samples were unreliable because their age kind of be determined and I'm saying you're going, okay, I don't understand that. They were collected right afterwards but he claimed that meant the murder charges against Michael should be dismissed the audacity because the prosecution's case against Michael was being held on by a string mainly just on the semen samples. I think that's some pretty good evidence but he argued that the prosecution was relying on what they called misstatements made by Michael to the police when they questioned him about his sexual relationship with Joanne. His lawyer said presidents had made mistakes about sex. That doesn't mean it leads to something criminal. So essentially what he's saying in my point of view was that Michael was actually having a sexual relationship with Joanne this whole time and that he didn't harm her that it was the landlord. But Michael's the offender so that doesn't make sense. Luckily the judge rejected this motion. Judge was unconvinced that the DNA samples from the crime should be considered circumstantial. No. They were critical. They were significant. Then Michael's attorney questioned saying about his failure to act on the unusual circumstances and what they meant by this was that he hadn't checked on her. This was your neighbor and tenant and her shades were drawn on her windows. There seemed to be no activity coming from her apartment so what was your reason for not checking? Mr. Singh said that it was out of respect and he said that he had problems of his own going on. I don't know, seems plausible. When the defense was cross examining his wife Sandy they brought up the incident that I mentioned with the previous tenant and the facts of that situation were that on August 17 2003 her husband Mr. Singh had used a spare key to enter the apartment after midnight. Sandy refused to answer this question because she thought it had nothing to do with the prestige. But the judge says yeah God answer Sandy says he did not go into that apartment. The tenant was making so much noise fighting with her boyfriend. I don't know how that amounts to anything but she says he never went inside. Now the defense attorney wants to question Mr. Singh because he's opened this upright and the judge said no. You can't do that. These questions are off limits. I only have a few more things to say because I think they're interesting but the defense tried their best to paint Michael believe it or not as the victim right? A victim of an incomplete and rushed investigation but this didn't work. On March 22nd 2007 following a 17 day trial Michael was found guilty of his charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in their victim impact statements which I think are very important. Joanne's family did not hold back their hatred for Michael. Her mother in net called him evil personified which is why I use those same words in this story. She pointed out that he had stabbed her daughter not once but seven times. Her cousin Marie said that Michael had bound and gag Joanne to strip her of her dignity and this cousin had to cut her honeymoon short because she was notified about the murders and she told the court that she could only imagine Joanne's horror when she realized that her children were upstairs and she was powerless to help them. That's not something I even thought about until reading that and then I realized while she was fighting or trying to fight or having these things happen her cousin's right she couldn't do a thing. These same thoughts were shared by Joanne's father Peter. He described Michael as a disgrace to the human race and he said when God finally calls you I hope you rot in hell. Joanne's brother Peter also delivered a victim impact statement. He mentioned and this was so sad. He mentioned that him and his wife had adopted Joanne who was five years old by then. He shared with everyone in the courtroom that the little boy would often draw a two story house with scribbles on the stairs which he said were noise. Peter told the court, this gets me so emotional. I constantly wonder if the noise he heard is his sister being chased up the stairs and murdered. And they will never know how much John heard and saw, but they hope with love that he will recover. Mark, Joanne's other brother, delivered, well was perhaps the harshest victim impact statement of them all. He encouraged Michael to finish what he had started when he allegedly wrote that note on the day of the murder. He told him, "Rid us of your evil and take your own life." In 2010, attorney general Martha Cokley filed a bill. And this was to include an addendum to the victim compensation fund. And I want you to know what this is because I found it very interesting and I did not know about this. So when a crime like this happens, there's usually things left behind and what I'm talking about is this. They want a fund to spare friends and family members from having to relive their trauma. When the prestige returned to the duplex to collect all of Joanne's things, the crime scene investigators covered the place with fingerprint dust because it was blood in the sink. They tore the entire kitchen apart. They punched holes in the walls looking for weapon that they never found. But the worst part is that one of her sons called the same mom. The couch is still here with Joanne's blood all over it. Nobody took it away. It's bad enough that they had to go there and go through all of it the first time. But then hearing the pain in her son's voice says he came across basically the same scene having to see that is just too much. With this bill, the attorney general hoped that no one else would have to experience that trauma that a net in her family went through in the days following the horrific murders. Remember I said something else came out of this case, something about the state law. Massachusetts changed its offender registry to better classify and track offenders, particularly the most dangerous ones. For instance, one of the amendments was that the offenders now had to have secondary addresses listed. But I'm sitting here thinking, if it's up to them to read, I don't, how does this work? I'm so unfamiliar. Tell me if you know. If they're providing the addresses, can't they just lie? This was in direct response to this case. Michael was a level three offender. He hadn't been required to register in the city that he was living in with Bobby Joe. Only in the one where like his mail went, etc. In January 2011, Michael filed an appeal, of course he did. With the Supreme Court of Massachusetts and his claim, was that authorities had failed to thoroughly investigate the landlord. He argued that they should have looked into him more. Basically his attorney said, you know, Mr. Singh had this inappropriate relationship and that was the motive. Three months later, in April 2011, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts dismissed Michael's appeal and rightfully so and they upheld his conviction. They went on to say they found no links, significant ones anyway, between Mr. Singh and anything that happened to Joanne. Michael remains imprisoned to this day, and he will remain there for the rest of his life. Wow. This case was intense and I thank you so very much for hearing about Joanne and Alyssa. There are monsters walking among us every single day. So please be safe. Do background checks on everyone that comes into your life, especially if you have children. This doesn't mean that you're paranoid or invading someone's privacy. It means that you are diligent to protect yourself and others. So thank you so much for watching. I will see you in my next video. Bye.