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Speaker 1: Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is not.

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Speaker 2: Intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

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Speaker 3: Many gave me the night.

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Speaker 4: And even then he was concerned about me walking behind it, like, well,

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we both got trusted just now, don't.

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Speaker 5: There is no honor amongst thieves or murderers. Really, Sometimes

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people that listen to the show get things a little confused.

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They think I hate this race, or this sex, or

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this pan sexual, binary dogkin or whatever the fuck you

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want to be. I really couldn't care less. Sure you're unusual,

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but I think that's what you're going for. But this

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show is about murder, not your personal political causes. So

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if I make fun of some asshole that's pretending to

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be a victim and is instead a killer, well too bad.

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We're gonna keep doing what we do. And if you

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don't like it, well you know where the door is.

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You don't have to announce your exit. It's Monday, September

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twenty third, twenty twenty Keene, New Hampshire. That's the day

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twenty five year old Jonathan Emerald was reported missing. At first,

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nothing about it seemed dirgent. John was a hiker, one

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of those obsessed types. The mountains of New Hampshire were

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his second home. Long grueling day trips, sometimes stretching into

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the night, that was normal for him. He had already

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conquered ninety nine of the one hundred highest peaks in

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New England and nearly every four thousand footer in the region.

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So when his mother didn't hear from him over the weekend,

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she wasn't that alarmed. Maybe he was just out of service.

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Maybe he was with friends. He had plenty of them.

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John had a full life. But then Monday came and

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John didn't show up to work. That's when the unease

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set in, because that just wasn't like him. John was dependable, focused.

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At just twenty five, he was already a biomedical engineer

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at Teleflex Medical, building devices that helped save lives. He

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showed up for work, he checked in, and he loved

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his career. So his mother made the call. She asked

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the police to check in on him. But when officers

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arrived at his quiet cape style home, John was gone,

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and so was his Subaru and Preza, the one with

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the runhappy bumper sticker.

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Speaker 6: State Police looking for a missing twenty five year old

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man from Keen. Police say that Jonathan armor Ault was

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reported missing after he failed to show up for work

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in Jaffrey. His family hasn't heard from him since Saturday.

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He may be driving a gray Subaru Impreza with New

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Hampshire plates. Anyone with information asked to contact state police.

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Speaker 5: While John's friends rallied on social media to try to

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find their friend. The police pinged his phone and discovered

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its last known location was near a hiking trail in Jaffrey,

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New Hampshire. A desperate scramble started. Most of John's friends

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and family were concerned that something had happened to him

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out on the trail. Maybe he was just sitting there

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with a broken leg, waiting for help. But the police

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got to work chasing down leeds. When they spoke with Teleflex,

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learned that not only had John mysteriously been absent from work,

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but another Teleflex employee, thirty one year old Brittany Baron,

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had also failed to show up on that same day.

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On Monday, September twenty first, Brittany had called HR not

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to call out sick or a personal day, but to

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quit just like that. After six and a half steady

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years at Teleflex, she walked away without a warning it

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didn't make sense. Brittany was a married mother of three

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young girls. Her husband did not work, She was the

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sole earner for the family, and she loved Teleflex. She too,

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had been moving up in the ranks over the years.

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Brittany Baron lived in Jeffrey, New Hampshire with her husband, Armando,

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and their three kids. They lived modestly on one side

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of a duplex house, and Armando's parents lived on the

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other side. When the police arrived at the Baron house,

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they found Armando's mother her hands full watching her granddaughters

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because apparently Brittany and Armando were on a hiking trip.

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Brittany's mother in law told the police that she hadn't

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seen Brittany since Saturday when the couple left for the mountains.

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Speaker 7: I think it was Sunday when she called my cell phone.

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But don't for telling it, you know so badly listening

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the messages that I is full. I don't bother to

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delete it, believe guess what's the point, you know, gets

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something through and then she just she just tegts me

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and she says, Mama, please let the phone ring it

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to get to the boy's mail. I want to leave

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a boy's mail to the girls.

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Speaker 5: Brittany had called and asked her mother in law to

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let the phone go to voicemail so she could leave

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a special message for her daughters. But her mother in

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law couldn't figure out how to delete her old messages,

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so she just had to relay what Brittany said.

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Speaker 7: And then she says, but please tell my girls I

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love them with all of my heart. And then she

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mentioned all the names of the girls, and then she said, remember, girls,

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you're a team. Please pray continuously, pray to Yahooa we

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call God Yahula. And then she goes, be good to

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your Grandmaita Spanish grandma, and to your papa, and I'll

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be I'll see you guys. Should I love you my girls.

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Speaker 5: Her message was less like an update from her mom

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on a hiking trip and more like a dark goodbye.

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Speaker 7: She called back on Monday, Yeah, she called back on Monday,

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more earlier. And then she goes, she talked to them.

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She talked to all of them, all of them. And

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then she says that she loved them and she's taking

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time off, taking little time because she wants to heal.

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She wants to get the marriage, you know, being a

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better mother.

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Speaker 5: That's when Brittany's oldest daughter jumped on the phone.

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Speaker 7: Where you at, mom? Then she goes, I am in

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a safe place.

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Speaker 5: Though Brittany had told Teleflex she was quitting, she also

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made sure to text a group chat with close friends

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and coworkers to let them know what was going on.

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She told her friends she had left Armando and that

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she was going home to New Mexico to stay with

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her family. She said she needed to get herself right again.

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When her friends asked about her daughters, she said she

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didn't want to bring them along. Unquote mommy's mental breakdown.

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She claimed that Armando was being extremely patient and nice

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about the whole thing, which is interesting. She confessed she

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felt like a failure as a mother. But here's the thing.

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Armando and Brittany left on Saturday. That same day, people

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stopped hearing from John. By Monday, Brittany was communicating with

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people only by phone or text. But Armando had returned

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home without his wife, and Brittany.

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Speaker 1: Was here as well yesterday with Armando. No, no, she was, and.

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Speaker 8: When when did yesterday?

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Speaker 9: When did you first see Armando?

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Speaker 1: Was he here all day yesterday?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 7: He got here Monday.

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Speaker 5: Night Armando's mother didn't find it strange. She thought this

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whole trip was a spiritual way to bring the couple

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closer to God. Yeah, that's what she thought.

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Speaker 7: That's because he told me that he needed Also, he

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said that he needed some space, some time off, you know,

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because we pray and fast. I think that is I

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was thinking that this is like a spiritual thing, right,

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But they were not time to pray and be better

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because we believe Jesus common swoman, okay, and we have

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been trying our best to be spiritual means right?

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Speaker 1: And what was he here in the morning and then

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left and came back yesterday?

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Speaker 3: Yesterday here Monday.

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Speaker 7: He lived here with his bed, with the girls and

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me I slipped on the girls.

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Speaker 5: Something about Armando's mother felt a little off. Maybe it

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was the language barrier. English wasn't her first language, but

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it didn't feel like confusion. What mattered was this, Armando

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came home without his wife. Behind him was a trail

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of strange phone calls and what sounded like a goodbye

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message from Brittany to her girls. Then, after grabbing some

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food and supplies, Armando took off again, saying he too

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needed space. A little while later, he called his mother,

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this time though he didn't sound like himself.

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Speaker 7: Then he called me and then he says, Mom, really

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not with me, and then he said I left her.

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Speaker 1: I don't know what.

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Speaker 7: He says, I left her, and I'm.

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Speaker 8: Just going I'm just gonna be okay, that's okay. Then

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I said what happened? And then he says it.

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Speaker 7: Is because she says that she needs time, but she's

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not with me.

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Speaker 8: And I said okay, And I said, how are you doing?

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And who was crying? He was crying and he said,

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I don't feel good, Mom.

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Speaker 3: I don't know, he says.

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Speaker 5: In her text chain with her friends, Brittany also mentioned

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that Teleflex had sent a police officer to her house

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despite her having called in and quit. They knew her

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that well, and we're concerned that her impromptu exit felt wrong.

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Her friends let her know that John also hadn't shown

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up to work and that people were actively searching for him.

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Brittany never called her friends, She just texted, and her

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friends thought that the message, which didn't sound like her.

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But was there a connection between Brittany and John beyond

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the fact that they both worked at Teleflex? It was

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a massive company Brittany worked as a machine operator and

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John was a biomedical engineer. They weren't even in the

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same divisions. Brittany was six years older than John, with

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a husband and kids, and what world would they be friends?

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Speaker 1: But something was.

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Speaker 5: Pulling their stories together. Then on Tuesday morning, just twenty

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four hours after John's mother had reported a missing New Hampshire,

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Fish and Game found something in the woods of Jaffrey.

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It was a woman all alone, just her and her dog.

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She'd set up a makeshift camp in a place no

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one was supposed to be. She was shaking. Her face

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was destroyed. Both eyes were black, the bruises flooding down

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to her puffy cheeks. One eye was completely swollen, shut,

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filled with blood. She couldn't even see out of it.

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The top of her head was split open, still bleeding,

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and she was crying as a bloody saw sat a

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few feet away on the dirt. This was Brittany Barren.

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A few feet behind her, Fish and Game found John's

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missing Subaru and Presa. Twenty five year old Jonathan Emerald

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had been reported missing in September of twenty twenty. He

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was a biomedical engineer who worked at a company called

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Teleflex in Jeffrey, New Hampshire. Smart driven and aspirational, John

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had climbed the ladder at work, purchased his first home

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and was living life to the fullest when he disappeared.

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But now police had found his coworker, thirty one year

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old Brittany Baron, in a desolate area of the New

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Hampshire Wilderness, beaten to a pulp and camping out with

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John's car parked behind her. The police brought her into

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the station. They knew this woman was the key to

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finding John, and time was of the essence, but coaxing

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things out of a woman who had seemingly been battered

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and abandoned wouldn't be quite so simple.

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Speaker 1: How you doing, okay? You need an ambulance or anything

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for your Are you sure? Okay?

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Speaker 5: Brittany sat with her head down Beside her was her

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panting and lying at her feet. The officers offered her

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medical help, but she refused. She insisted she was fine.

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Speaker 1: Brittany, what brings you? What brings you up up here? Camping?

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Just trying to clear my head, clean your head? Okay?

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You have some stuff going on?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I just needed to get away for a while, Okay.

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Speaker 1: So we did.

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Speaker 2: Okay, do you mind me asking what happened to your

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eye and your.

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Speaker 1: Okay?

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Speaker 2: And you don't have to and that's that's you did

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the exactly the right thing. If if if I ask

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you a question you don't feel comfortable, then just don't.

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You don't have to talk about it, okay, But I

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want to make sure that you get whatever help that you.

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Speaker 1: That you need if you need it.

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Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, So you wanted to to clear your head

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and that's why you would you would come up?

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Speaker 1: And where did you go?

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Speaker 3: I went to I don't know what it's called.

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Speaker 1: I am moose fuck, moose.

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Speaker 3: Buck, something like that. Cabins, but you turn off on

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like a logging road.

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Speaker 1: Okay, that's pretty far out.

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Speaker 3: Okay, Just I knew no would would really be there.

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Speaker 1: So okay, what kind of when did you come up?

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Speaker 3: Sunday morning?

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Speaker 1: Sunday morning? And who did you come up with?

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Speaker 5: Her speech was slow and removed. The thirty one year

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old mother slowly tucked her brown hair behind her ear

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and closed her eyes. The white of her right eye

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wasn't even white anymore. It was a deep blood red.

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It was uncomfortable to look at.

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Speaker 1: What kinds of what kinds of things are you going through?

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I don't know. Okay, is everybody with are your three kids? Okay?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, okay there with my mother.

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Speaker 5: Brittany assured the officer that she was only taking some

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time alone to clear her head. There was too much

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going on, but her face told a different story.

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Speaker 1: Nobody knows where I am. Okay.

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Speaker 2: Well, part of the concern was people want to make

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sure that you were okay.

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Speaker 4: They know that I'm safe and okay, but that I'm

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choosing to not come home for now. I wanted, like,

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I just didn't want my girls to see my face, okay, honestly,

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So I was like, if I can spend at least

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a couple of weeks trying to get it done, and

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when I look at them, they're not going to be

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afraid of me.

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Speaker 2: Sure.

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Speaker 5: When Fish and Game found Brittany in the woods, they

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handed her over to New Hampshire deputies, who arrested her

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for illegal camping, not so much for the crime, but

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as a cover. It was the only way to get

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this beaten, terrified woman somewhere safe to find out what

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happened and why exactly she had John's car. Now, she

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sat under fluorescent lights shaking, insisting she'd only gone into

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the woods so her girls wouldn't have to see her

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face the way it was.

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Speaker 2: You said that you had come up here with someone,

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but you didn't want to get into who that person was.

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We know that there's a car that's where you're, where

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your camp was. Did you come up with that person

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that's that car belongs to? I don't Okay, Well, Brittany,

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the thing is obviously you've been injured. You know, we

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know that the person who owns that car is missing.

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I know that you think that you might be in trouble,

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and what I don't know is kind of what the

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circumstances were that led up to that and why you

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feel that way. And my guess is that your your eye,

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your eyes, something happened that led to to that, And

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I think that that's important to explain that what happened

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to you. Did John cause those injuries to you?

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Speaker 1: No? Yeah, did, Armando.

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Speaker 5: Brittany looked down and whispered, I don't want to talk

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about it. That's when the cop knew what was happening.

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He knew he had to get through to this damaged,

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battered woman to find out the truth about where John

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was and what exactly happened in those woods.

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Speaker 1: Well before before you leave here today.

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Speaker 2: And you're leaving here today, regardless of what we talk about,

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regardless of what you say, You're you're going to leave today, Okay,

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regardless of what you say.

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Speaker 1: You have my word.

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Speaker 2: I'm telling you now, you're leaving here as long as

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I have your word that you'll stay in contact.

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Speaker 1: With me if we need to. Okay, Is that is

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that fair? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Okay, it's kind of a good faith thing if you

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if I can take your word and you can take

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my word.

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Speaker 3: Then do I get to go back?

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Speaker 2: Yes, as long as we can establish that it's safe.

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But we need to we need to make sure that

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it's safe. But you understand why, I'm kind of in

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a difficult position right now.

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Speaker 1: I'm don crank because I can.

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Speaker 3: Girls.

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Speaker 5: That's when Brittany broke everything she'd been holding inside slowly

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started coming out at the thought that if she told

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the truth, she'd get to go home and hug her

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children once again.

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Speaker 1: All I want is the truth. I don't want any

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more or any less. I just want. I just want

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the truth, whatever that may be.

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Speaker 2: And if that means that you were in fear you

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00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,240
were in danger if it means that you were, you know,

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in a relationship with you know, John from work. Whatever

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00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:03,640
it may be, Whatever the truth is is all I want.

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If that's not the truth, that's not what I want,

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you know. But I also don't want to be reliant

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on what other people tell us, you know.

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Speaker 10: I mean, I'm going to find out that.

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Speaker 3: Me and John were talking to each other.

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Speaker 4: We only talked for like a week, and he was

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really serious.

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Speaker 1: What do you mean by he was really serious? She

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just really liked.

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Speaker 3: Me, okay, And I didn't realized that he liked me

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a lot like that.

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Speaker 4: We worked together for a long time, but I didn't

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talk to him because I was attracted to him.

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Speaker 5: John liked Brittany. He had made it known, and though

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she felt the same way, she avoided him. After all,

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she was a married woman who had been with her

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husband since she was eighteen. She grew up in faith,

333
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adultery was out of the question, no matter what problems

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were brewing inside her marriage. Supposedly that is.

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Speaker 4: And then like beginning of the month, I made it

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00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,039
a stupid nickname for him at work, and I felt

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really bad. I called him Abercrommie because he looked like immortial.

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Speaker 3: It's really handsome.

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Speaker 4: And he found out about the nickname because somebody called

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00:21:26,279 --> 00:21:28,000
him that and they.

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Speaker 3: Really, isn't that your last name?

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Speaker 4: It is because I called him Armani at first, and

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then I said he's way too young.

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Speaker 3: He's an Abercromie model, and we laughed and it stuck.

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But he didn't know because I was not going to

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tell him that I caught that.

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Speaker 5: Is this normal behavior for women in the workplace. I

348
00:21:45,599 --> 00:21:48,119
wonder how many times former coworkers referred to me as

349
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Adonis back in the day. Bets You think the Abercrombie

350
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nickname Brittany made up for John spread throughout the office,

351
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as things do, and eventually it got back to him.

352
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At first, he thought people were making fun of him,

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Brittany explained, because as a kid, John was often made

354
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fun of for his outfits. You see, he was color blind,

355
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so he didn't really match very well. So when Brittany

356
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found out about all of this, she felt bad and

357
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decided to talk to John. Big mistake.

358
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Speaker 4: I always felt bad and I told my friend to

359
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just tell him the truth, like, just tell him that

360
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it was because he's really hard. I mean, I don't

361
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want to be a jerk, you know, and make him

362
00:22:31,559 --> 00:22:35,920
think that people were saying many things about him, right, so.

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Speaker 3: She told him, but I never really apologized.

364
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Speaker 4: The beginning of the month, I messaged him on Facebook

365
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and I apologized for the nickname.

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Speaker 5: That first Facebook message opened everything. John had always had

367
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a crush on Brittany, and now she responded. By early September,

368
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they were talking online and then at work they took

369
00:22:57,319 --> 00:23:01,440
breaks together. But this mutual attraction and communication had only

370
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:03,640
been going on for about two weeks.

371
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Speaker 3: So let's just we were just talking anyways, you know

372
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,200
what I mean, Like we weren't dating because we couldn't.

373
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But he really liked me.

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Speaker 1: I really liked him. What did he say to you?

375
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What do you mean? Like, what do you how do

376
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:19,799
you know that he really liked you?

377
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,519
Speaker 3: He wanted me to go with him, like be with him.

378
00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:27,480
Speaker 1: Like leave your leave your husband and be with him.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Like basically my husband admitted to me like last

380
00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,599
year that he cheated on me.

381
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Speaker 1: Like our whole marriage since coming to New.

382
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,559
Speaker 4: Hampshire, like you know, like the whole time, Like yeah,

383
00:23:42,599 --> 00:23:45,240
like a year in he messed with somebody else.

384
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Speaker 3: And then I knew that he was like hitting on

385
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,039
my like he would hit on my friends and stuff.

386
00:23:50,079 --> 00:23:50,640
Speaker 1: But like.

387
00:23:52,319 --> 00:23:54,839
Speaker 4: I didn't know that he was accounting sex with other women.

388
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,039
And then he told me about like two other times,

389
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and so we were.

390
00:24:00,319 --> 00:24:04,400
Speaker 2: Like, when when was the when was the you said

391
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,559
I uarantee of marriage? When was the most recent since

392
00:24:07,599 --> 00:24:08,440
you've moved here.

393
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:10,200
Speaker 3: When I was pregnant with my last baby?

394
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:18,079
Speaker 1: Okay, sorry me too. So John knew that you told him.

395
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:22,119
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was kind of your somebody that you trusted

396
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:23,400
that you could confide him.

397
00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,799
Speaker 4: He became in really short time. Like again, I hadn't

398
00:24:26,799 --> 00:24:29,519
really spoken to him until this month. I didn't say

399
00:24:29,519 --> 00:24:31,240
a word to him. I avoided him at all. Class

400
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,440
I'd really weird. He used to laugh at me because

401
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,960
I acted really weird. I just avoided him.

402
00:24:36,039 --> 00:24:39,119
Speaker 2: You were just initially physically attracted to him, and then

403
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,000
once you got to know him over the last couple

404
00:24:41,039 --> 00:24:41,759
of weeks.

405
00:24:41,559 --> 00:24:45,839
Speaker 4: Wow, you're actually really cool too, like genuinely, genuinely nice.

406
00:24:46,599 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 5: Brittany found in John what she'd been missing, a partner

407
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,079
who felt like a friend at home. Her marriage to

408
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:59,000
Armando was unraveling years of cheating, no financial support from

409
00:24:59,039 --> 00:25:03,680
this lazy douchebag Armando unless his parents gave him some money.

410
00:25:03,759 --> 00:25:07,559
That is, there was no way out. She'd been with

411
00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:12,559
this adult toddler since she was very young, their families

412
00:25:12,599 --> 00:25:17,960
living side by side. But Brittany had changed. She'd lost

413
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,480
over one hundred and thirty pounds in the last two years.

414
00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,519
She'd built up her confidence and started building a career.

415
00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:28,839
She was building a life, you know, and in John

416
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:34,440
she saw something potentially dangerous, a way out of her

417
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,880
life with Armando. So Brittany told Armando that she wasn't

418
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,519
in love with him anymore. He begged her for forgiveness

419
00:25:42,559 --> 00:25:47,039
about the cheating. He promised he would change, but she

420
00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,799
told him she was not interested in trying. She was

421
00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:54,400
just exhausted, which is understandable.

422
00:25:55,079 --> 00:26:07,440
Speaker 2: So Saturday leaving, did Armando go with you? I know

423
00:26:07,519 --> 00:26:10,960
that when the fishing game person came up to today,

424
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:19,480
you were digging, digging a hole today, and you told

425
00:26:19,559 --> 00:26:21,240
him that you felt like you were in a lot

426
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,279
of trouble, that you were going to be in a

427
00:26:23,319 --> 00:26:30,119
lot of trouble. That there there are clearly some some

428
00:26:30,319 --> 00:26:34,200
answers that that we need to give to John's family.

429
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:37,720
You know, they're looking for They're looking for their son

430
00:26:37,799 --> 00:26:41,960
right now, that man Jonah dead.

431
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,200
Speaker 3: I did not kill him.

432
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 1: How do you know that he's dead?

433
00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 5: Brittany broke. Her tears were soft at first, and then

434
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:56,240
the truth slipped out. She said she'd be betraying him

435
00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,519
if she spoke, but the officer already knew she wasn't

436
00:27:00,519 --> 00:27:06,079
a killer. The bruises on her face, the blood tangled

437
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:11,359
in her hair, the way they found her alone in

438
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:17,359
the woods, digging a hole and crying. This was not

439
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:18,279
a choice.

440
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:25,559
Speaker 3: He found my phone on Sorday, Armando did, and he opened.

441
00:27:25,279 --> 00:27:28,640
Speaker 4: My stop chat and saw my messages, which held me

442
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,519
to the bathroom where he was when he found it.

443
00:27:33,319 --> 00:27:35,319
Speaker 3: He grabbed me by my neck and threw me down,

444
00:27:36,559 --> 00:27:40,839
and he showed me the phone and he was choking me.

445
00:27:44,279 --> 00:27:48,160
Speaker 5: Armando choked Brittany until she saw black specs and stars.

446
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,880
She told the officers she was surprised that he let

447
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:52,240
her live.

448
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:53,680
Speaker 1: My face was.

449
00:27:53,599 --> 00:27:57,599
Speaker 3: Already pretty school and he opened the middle door.

450
00:27:58,440 --> 00:27:59,160
Speaker 10: We fought for why.

451
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,240
Speaker 3: I struggled and put the gun.

452
00:28:01,079 --> 00:28:01,599
Speaker 1: In my mouth.

453
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:07,359
Speaker 3: I was just praying and I kept screaming, so he

454
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,359
kept joking me so that I wouldn't scream. So the

455
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:16,000
girls looking in they were upstairs. He told the girls

456
00:28:16,039 --> 00:28:17,440
to go into Grandma's house.

457
00:28:19,279 --> 00:28:23,200
Speaker 4: And then he went and he told his mom, like.

458
00:28:23,279 --> 00:28:25,680
Speaker 3: We stot in the doorway, and he's like, stay right there.

459
00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,839
Speaker 4: And he was holding me, and I saw my oldest daughter,

460
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:32,960
and I just I was telling her, help me, help me,

461
00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:38,200
like without words, like without saying it. And my poor baby,

462
00:28:38,319 --> 00:28:39,920
she just looked at me and her eyes rolled back

463
00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:41,480
in her head and she fainted.

464
00:28:43,039 --> 00:28:44,519
Speaker 3: And I was like, fuck, I'm gonna die.

465
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,359
Speaker 4: He just told his mom, Hey, mom, going out, and

466
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,240
she didn't ask any questions. She was in the living

467
00:28:50,279 --> 00:28:51,920
room with the baby, and she just thought we were

468
00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:53,119
having relationship problems.

469
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,119
Speaker 3: So she was like, of course, go out, have a date,

470
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:58,759
you know, do whatever you guys need to do. I

471
00:28:58,839 --> 00:29:01,559
screamed so loud, and no one heard me.

472
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:03,680
Speaker 9: No one heard me all.

473
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,440
Speaker 5: Armando walked Brittany outside to her car and started driving.

474
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:13,200
He continued reading through her messages as they drove, administering

475
00:29:13,279 --> 00:29:17,599
blow after blow to her face with each flirty text.

476
00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:21,400
He discovered by the time they got to Annette State Park,

477
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:26,319
her face was dripping with blood. After they parked, Armando

478
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,640
started texting John from Brittany's phone, and.

479
00:29:29,599 --> 00:29:34,440
Speaker 3: He messages him and I'm just like please, and he

480
00:29:34,519 --> 00:29:36,160
messaged him, Hey, can we meet?

481
00:29:36,559 --> 00:29:39,240
Speaker 4: And of course John was super stoked because it was me,

482
00:29:39,599 --> 00:29:41,279
and he was like finally regaining That was.

483
00:29:41,279 --> 00:29:43,359
Speaker 3: Probably ten o'clock. It's probably around ten o'clock.

484
00:29:44,279 --> 00:29:47,839
Speaker 5: John replied he'd be there in thirty minutes.

485
00:29:48,319 --> 00:29:48,720
Speaker 1: He said.

486
00:29:49,759 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 5: Brittany waited, praying for anything to stop him, but nothing did.

487
00:29:56,279 --> 00:29:59,079
Soon John's car pulled into the lot.

488
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:00,799
Speaker 1: He gets out of the car.

489
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,319
Speaker 4: He saw my face, like he saw me sitting because

490
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:08,640
I was sitting in the driver's side, and Armando got

491
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:10,839
out before he got there, and.

492
00:30:10,799 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 3: He stood behind the car so that John wouldn't see

493
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:14,240
that he was there.

494
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:20,599
Speaker 4: Booh, I could tell John who something was wrong. And

495
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,799
then when he saw my face, he definitely knew something okay.

496
00:30:24,559 --> 00:30:26,519
And then that's when Armando came around the car and

497
00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:27,720
he pointed the gun at him.

498
00:30:28,519 --> 00:30:32,359
Speaker 5: John threw his hands up, pleading for his life. Armando

499
00:30:32,559 --> 00:30:36,000
was in control. He had a loaded gun.

500
00:30:37,079 --> 00:30:37,799
Speaker 1: He punched him.

501
00:30:38,319 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 4: John fell and then he just started kicking him and

502
00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,079
kicking him and kicking him. He stomped on his face

503
00:30:47,799 --> 00:30:50,359
at one point, just killed me because I've been thinking

504
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,759
about a NonStop. At one point, Armano looked at me

505
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:57,839
and said, yeah, so you're gonna fuck my wife.

506
00:30:57,920 --> 00:30:58,079
Speaker 7: Bro.

507
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 3: He's like, look at it, now, do you still think

508
00:31:00,519 --> 00:31:08,480
she's pretty? Jah looked up at meaning yeah, she's still right.

509
00:31:12,839 --> 00:31:17,599
I like, even when your life was like you, we're

510
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:19,039
still so nice to me.

511
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:23,160
Speaker 5: But the memory of John standing up to Armando was

512
00:31:23,319 --> 00:31:27,319
too much for Brittany. She had never experienced a man

513
00:31:27,759 --> 00:31:28,960
being that chivalrous.

514
00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:14,400
Speaker 4: Started asking you questions about us to see if the

515
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:18,680
story's matt and I didn't tell him everything because I

516
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:23,160
didn't want to die. And then John admitted stuff that

517
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:28,960
he didn't know. He got even angrier. At one point,

518
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,920
he handed me the gun and he told me to

519
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:32,240
do it.

520
00:32:34,119 --> 00:32:36,240
Speaker 1: Rondo handed you the gun and told you to shoot John.

521
00:32:36,279 --> 00:32:41,319
Speaker 4: But we were outside and I was like, I can't

522
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:46,680
do it. He's like, no, no, you want to. You

523
00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,000
want to do this, and I was like I don't.

524
00:32:50,599 --> 00:32:53,240
Like he's trying to make me prove who I was

525
00:32:53,359 --> 00:32:58,960
loyal to. And then he said fine, stand on his throne.

526
00:33:00,519 --> 00:33:04,279
He said, come on, hurry, he's not dying fast enough.

527
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:09,319
Speaker 5: Brittany was crying, begging Armando to stop, but he said

528
00:33:09,359 --> 00:33:10,519
he'd kill her too.

529
00:33:11,599 --> 00:33:13,960
Speaker 3: I wasn't heavy enough to do anything to him.

530
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 5: Humble brag.

531
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 4: I don't know. I guess, I don't know. He had

532
00:33:18,759 --> 00:33:21,759
me stay on there for a while, and then finally

533
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,759
John like actually had the ability to like move like

534
00:33:24,759 --> 00:33:26,400
like just jerked me off, and I.

535
00:33:26,359 --> 00:33:28,799
Speaker 2: Was like, you think you when you had your foot

536
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:34,279
on his threate? What was Armando doing standing there watching?

537
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,559
Where does he have the gun pointed out us?

538
00:33:37,759 --> 00:33:38,079
Speaker 10: Okay?

539
00:33:38,279 --> 00:33:40,960
Speaker 1: Is it still in his hand? Okay? Is he pointing

540
00:33:41,039 --> 00:33:42,119
at you? Pointing at him?

541
00:33:42,599 --> 00:33:44,799
Speaker 3: I'm not exactly sure. I was trying.

542
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,720
Speaker 1: And that goes on for what feels like a long

543
00:33:47,759 --> 00:33:48,240
time to you.

544
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:53,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it wasn't long enough. And then what happens,

545
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:55,480
like finds is taking too long? Get off.

546
00:33:56,279 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 5: Armando was frustrated. He wanted Britney's stuff up on John's

547
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:05,599
throat to be the final pain that killed him Shakespearean

548
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:09,480
this guy was. But John was still jerking and moaning,

549
00:34:09,559 --> 00:34:12,880
fighting for his life under her heel. That's when Armando

550
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,719
picked John up like a sack and pushed him into

551
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,559
the back of his own car. Then Armando handed a

552
00:34:19,639 --> 00:34:23,840
knife to Brittany and told her to slit John's wrists.

553
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:30,920
Brittany refused, but then he threatened her again. So Brittany here,

554
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,920
who couldn't point a gun at a perpetrator that was

555
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,920
threatening her life, gave her new boyfriend what she calls

556
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:41,719
a shallow cut, just deep enough to satisfy Armando yet

557
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:42,639
keep John alive.

558
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:47,800
Speaker 1: Which way did you cut like that? Down? Like down

559
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:48,320
the floor arm?

560
00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:50,960
Speaker 3: But I couldn't get I couldn't.

561
00:34:52,079 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 1: It was really hard to cut, like, it was really

562
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:58,880
hard to cut. It wouldn't just how many times do

563
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,480
you go down as soon as it was open?

564
00:35:01,559 --> 00:35:02,119
Speaker 3: I just once.

565
00:35:02,159 --> 00:35:03,320
Speaker 1: I didn't both sides.

566
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,320
Speaker 4: Okay, I don't even think the second one, or I

567
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:07,519
even didn't.

568
00:35:08,519 --> 00:35:10,559
Speaker 3: I don't even think I.

569
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,400
Speaker 4: Cut him, cut him deep enough to actually do any of.

570
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:15,920
Speaker 1: You cut anywhere else?

571
00:35:16,119 --> 00:35:19,280
Speaker 4: No, No, that was the only thing. I stood on

572
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,000
his throat and he made was.

573
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,840
Speaker 1: This inside the car outside the car.

574
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,239
Speaker 3: Gris was inside the crent standing on his throat with

575
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:25,920
outside the car.

576
00:35:26,039 --> 00:35:29,639
Speaker 1: Okay, where is he inside the car? From the back?

577
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:32,199
Speaker 5: They say, if you want to slit your wrists and

578
00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:35,199
have it actually be effective, you should cut down the

579
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:40,320
forearm lengthwise. Not across has so many unsuccessful suicides do

580
00:35:41,199 --> 00:35:42,519
suicideise suicide.

581
00:35:42,519 --> 00:35:45,360
Speaker 1: E's is John fighting at all?

582
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:48,079
Speaker 3: He knew I didn't have a choice.

583
00:35:48,559 --> 00:35:51,519
Speaker 4: He was like please, no, please, but he wasn't like

584
00:35:51,639 --> 00:35:54,480
struggling to get his arms away from me or fight

585
00:35:54,599 --> 00:35:56,400
me words.

586
00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,800
Speaker 5: Armando grabbed Brittany, forced the trunk shut, and the two

587
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,639
of them got in the front of John's car with

588
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:04,840
him stuck in the back.

589
00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:07,679
Speaker 4: And we were both in the car, and at one

590
00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:10,719
point Armando got out of the passenger side.

591
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,280
Speaker 1: To go get you close the who closes the background?

592
00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,280
Speaker 3: I don't remember. It might have been or it might

593
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:18,519
have been me, I don't remember.

594
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,360
Speaker 1: So the back hatch goes down, and then we.

595
00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:23,519
Speaker 4: Go into the front of the car, and then Armando

596
00:36:23,559 --> 00:36:26,440
puts the machete in the car, which I believe he

597
00:36:26,519 --> 00:36:27,920
hit him a couple of times with that.

598
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:33,960
Speaker 1: Too, okay, with like the the blade, Yeah, but.

599
00:36:34,079 --> 00:36:36,719
Speaker 3: It didn't do a crazy amount.

600
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:37,519
Speaker 1: Of you don't worry him.

601
00:36:37,679 --> 00:36:39,159
Speaker 3: I don't I know his hands.

602
00:36:39,199 --> 00:36:42,639
Speaker 4: Probably he was like covering, so like whatever was covering

603
00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:43,199
got hid.

604
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,119
Speaker 1: Okay, And you guys go in the car, yes, And

605
00:36:46,159 --> 00:36:47,599
then who goes in sea.

606
00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:49,599
Speaker 4: I went in the driver's site and Armando went in

607
00:36:49,679 --> 00:36:52,039
the passenger and he put the machete down on the

608
00:36:52,039 --> 00:36:54,239
floor and he's like, get some.

609
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:55,440
Speaker 3: I don't know why he left me.

610
00:36:55,639 --> 00:36:56,280
Speaker 1: I don't know why.

611
00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:58,000
Speaker 4: And he looked at me too, like I don't know

612
00:36:58,039 --> 00:37:00,880
if I should And when he like John sent him,

613
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:04,880
He's like, just pick up the machete and kill him.

614
00:37:06,079 --> 00:37:08,079
Just pick up the machete and kill him. And I'm like,

615
00:37:08,159 --> 00:37:11,079
he don't understand, man, I'm not going to kill him

616
00:37:11,079 --> 00:37:13,760
with that blow. And We're both gonna die in this car.

617
00:37:14,519 --> 00:37:17,320
And I just told him just to be quiet, just stop,

618
00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:20,320
don't just stop, because he hadn't killed him yet, and

619
00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:23,079
he told him that he wasn't going to it. He

620
00:37:23,199 --> 00:37:25,159
was like, I'm thinking, He's like, I just might let

621
00:37:25,199 --> 00:37:28,320
you live. Like he kept on playing with him. He

622
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,639
even said something about the judge. He's like, do you

623
00:37:30,679 --> 00:37:31,280
know what this is?

624
00:37:31,519 --> 00:37:32,320
Speaker 1: Like he was just so.

625
00:37:34,599 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 4: He came back to the car and he sat in it,

626
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:42,199
and I don't remember what he said after that.

627
00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:44,599
Speaker 3: All I remember was hearing.

628
00:37:46,159 --> 00:37:49,440
Speaker 4: He pointed the gun at him, and I.

629
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:50,400
Speaker 3: Heard the one gun shot.

630
00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,800
Speaker 1: You're on the driver's driver's seat. I didn't look back

631
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:57,159
to see does he go back and open up the back.

632
00:37:57,559 --> 00:37:58,679
Speaker 3: He did it from the passager.

633
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:01,880
Speaker 2: He did it from the passenger seat. He was turned

634
00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:06,239
back andamed, how do you know where he shot him?

635
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,280
He told me, after how many shots did you hear?

636
00:38:11,079 --> 00:38:14,400
Speaker 5: Two in the body and one in the Brittany claims

637
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,719
she kept her face forward as the shots rang out.

638
00:38:18,039 --> 00:38:20,159
She said she couldn't bear to turn her around. Yet

639
00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:25,079
somehow she knew exactly where her boyfriend was shot. She

640
00:38:25,159 --> 00:38:29,119
told detectives she thought she'd be next, But then Armando

641
00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:31,800
told Brittany to start the car and take them home.

642
00:38:32,679 --> 00:38:36,239
Brittany's mind raced with all the possible scenarios, each one

643
00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:41,079
more graphic than the last. According to Brittany, as they

644
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:44,280
pulled up to their house, Armando instructed her to go

645
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:47,519
inside and pack up all their camping gear. He stood

646
00:38:47,559 --> 00:38:51,119
there and watched her holding the gun down the hallway.

647
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,599
Their girls and Armando's parents were fast asleep.

648
00:38:56,079 --> 00:38:58,199
Speaker 3: Every time we went outside, I could hear John.

649
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:01,239
Speaker 1: So John was still making noise. What was he? What

650
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:05,920
was he doing or saying? Er?

651
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:12,280
Speaker 5: Armando told Brittany they'd be going deep into the woods

652
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,519
in Jeffrey. He had her follow him in the jeep

653
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:20,800
and she drove John's car again. She's in a car.

654
00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,360
She has control of the car. She doesn't have to

655
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:29,039
follow him, but she does. He handed her phone back

656
00:39:29,119 --> 00:39:31,519
so he could stay on the line the entire time.

657
00:39:31,559 --> 00:39:35,039
And it was one o'clock in the morning. The sky

658
00:39:35,159 --> 00:39:39,559
was black, the roads were vacant. Armando stopped at a

659
00:39:39,639 --> 00:39:43,119
store to get a shovel and buy some supplies, all

660
00:39:43,199 --> 00:39:46,719
the while Brittany's in John's car with his body in

661
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:51,840
the back. She thought she was next, she says. Armando

662
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,199
kept talking on the phone, asking questions she had to answer,

663
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:58,800
keeping her paralyzed with fear. When they finally got to

664
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,719
the forest at the end of the long logging road,

665
00:40:02,519 --> 00:40:06,840
Armando guided them deeper into the thick, cold woods. This

666
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,239
was a place only a hunter would venture.

667
00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:11,800
Speaker 4: I was waiting for him to shoot me out there,

668
00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:15,400
like I was waiting for it. I was afraid for

669
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:20,039
him to walk behind me, and so he told me

670
00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:26,000
to get rid of the body and to hide the car,

671
00:40:26,559 --> 00:40:27,800
and that he would be back Freddy.

672
00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:31,679
Speaker 5: But before he left, Armando said something chilling.

673
00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:34,159
Speaker 4: As soon as the sun comes off, I'm going to

674
00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:37,920
forgive you, like I decided I forgive you. He was like,

675
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:40,039
even after all this, I'm still in love with you.

676
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:45,679
Speaker 5: Isn't that sweet? And they say romance is dead. Brittany's

677
00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:49,000
phone had died, so he left it with her, Knowing

678
00:40:49,039 --> 00:40:52,039
she couldn't get help, he took off in their car.

679
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:55,559
He planned to go home and resume life as usual,

680
00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:59,159
tell his mother some lies about Brittany needing some space,

681
00:40:59,199 --> 00:41:02,360
and his kids off to her while he plans his

682
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,159
next move. By now, though it was Monday and Brittany

683
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,480
was expected at work, you know the thing that Armando

684
00:41:09,519 --> 00:41:12,880
doesn't do. Armando had sent an email to her boss

685
00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,199
on Saturday night saying she wouldn't be there. But what

686
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:20,000
Armando didn't know was that Brittany's boss was aware of

687
00:41:20,119 --> 00:41:25,679
Armando's violence. This wasn't the first time he had beat Brittany.

688
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:28,199
He had done it once before, and Brittany had confided

689
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:32,280
in her manager. So when Brittany mysteriously didn't show up

690
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:37,039
for work, her manager sent police to her house. As

691
00:41:37,119 --> 00:41:40,400
Armando drove away from the campsite, he hit a cell

692
00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:43,639
service area and his mother started calling, freaking out that

693
00:41:43,679 --> 00:41:50,199
the police were at her door. So Armando backtracked to Brittany.

694
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:53,400
He needed to get her to call HR and stop

695
00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:56,920
the police from sniffing around so I called Jen.

696
00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:58,519
Speaker 3: And again he's sitting with me the whole time, so

697
00:41:58,519 --> 00:41:58,800
I'm like.

698
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:01,519
Speaker 1: He called gen den Bell from my work.

699
00:42:01,559 --> 00:42:05,079
Speaker 3: She's the HR lady, and she was just like, are

700
00:42:05,119 --> 00:42:09,840
you okay? And I'm like I am. She asked me

701
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:11,800
when I had heard from John last, and I lied

702
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:12,159
to her?

703
00:42:12,599 --> 00:42:13,280
Speaker 1: Would you say?

704
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:15,559
Speaker 4: I told her the last time I talked to him

705
00:42:15,639 --> 00:42:18,280
was on Saturday and that we met at Temple Mountain

706
00:42:18,679 --> 00:42:21,119
because that's what Armando was writing down for me to say.

707
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:26,119
Speaker 5: HR was actively looking for John at this point and

708
00:42:26,159 --> 00:42:29,199
they knew something was going on between him and Brittany.

709
00:42:30,079 --> 00:42:33,199
She lied, She said she hadn't heard from him. Then

710
00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:38,480
Armando texted her friends a strange message from Brittany saying

711
00:42:38,599 --> 00:42:42,159
she was leaving and going to New Mexico alone. He

712
00:42:42,199 --> 00:42:46,159
thought he had all his bases covered. Armando took her

713
00:42:46,159 --> 00:42:48,559
back to the campsite and left her with their dog

714
00:42:48,679 --> 00:42:52,920
in a twenty two for protection. Yeah, he gave her

715
00:42:53,199 --> 00:42:55,760
the gun he used to kill John and told her

716
00:42:56,239 --> 00:43:00,159
what to do next. So once again she's standing there

717
00:43:00,159 --> 00:43:04,280
holding a gun and not pointing it at her aggressor.

718
00:43:05,079 --> 00:43:08,239
That's twice now for you keeping score at home.

719
00:43:09,079 --> 00:43:12,599
Speaker 1: And what was the plan for you to bury that.

720
00:43:13,159 --> 00:43:14,639
Speaker 4: Yeah, he wanted.

721
00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:18,639
Speaker 3: He made me cut off his head.

722
00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:21,239
Speaker 5: Who wha, wha wha Hold on a second, you did

723
00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:23,159
what because he wanted.

724
00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:24,559
Speaker 3: The dental records to knock be found.

725
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:29,960
Speaker 1: Okay, So where is John's head? It's it's in the woods.

726
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:33,719
And what did you use to cut?

727
00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:35,679
Speaker 3: A saw? They're going to find it right next to

728
00:43:35,679 --> 00:43:37,840
the car. It's a saw. It was a saw.

729
00:43:40,719 --> 00:43:41,760
Speaker 1: Now, when did you do that?

730
00:43:42,039 --> 00:43:42,840
Speaker 3: Yesterday morning?

731
00:43:43,679 --> 00:43:48,679
Speaker 5: Armado stood back and watched. After all, he wasn't big

732
00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:52,599
on things like working. He claimed he couldn't do it himself,

733
00:43:52,639 --> 00:43:55,159
so he made her do it. He put the saw

734
00:43:55,199 --> 00:44:00,840
in Brittany's hand and waited and she obeyed. Now people

735
00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:04,679
like to believe they'd fight, they'd refuse, they'd run, But

736
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:07,920
in that moment, with death standing right in front of you,

737
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:13,079
sometimes survival doesn't look like bravery. Sometimes it looks like

738
00:44:13,159 --> 00:44:18,280
doing something absolutely demonic, just for the slim chance to

739
00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:22,599
see your children one more time. And anyone who thinks

740
00:44:22,639 --> 00:44:24,679
that they know what they would do in a situation

741
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:27,800
like this is deluding themselves.

742
00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:33,000
Speaker 10: So you, guys, together, you and Armando cut his head off.

743
00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:34,719
Speaker 1: It's just it was just.

744
00:44:34,639 --> 00:44:36,480
Speaker 3: You but you said Armando was still there.

745
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:40,920
Speaker 1: He was there, so he made you do that. He watched. Okay,

746
00:44:41,039 --> 00:44:43,360
that was you said anything? Correct me wrong? That was

747
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:44,519
part of your punishment.

748
00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:46,039
Speaker 3: He said it wasn't.

749
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:48,280
Speaker 10: Oh he said it wasn't the punishment.

750
00:44:48,480 --> 00:44:50,800
Speaker 1: He made you do that.

751
00:44:51,199 --> 00:44:53,599
Speaker 4: Yeah, you didn't have the stomach for it. He expected

752
00:44:53,639 --> 00:44:56,320
me to cut the whole thing up. What do you

753
00:44:56,599 --> 00:44:57,599
like to chop him up?

754
00:44:57,800 --> 00:44:57,880
Speaker 1: So?

755
00:44:58,119 --> 00:44:59,679
Speaker 3: Was that the planet areas well?

756
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:02,840
Speaker 4: He he's mentioned that, and once I did it, I

757
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:09,199
was like what, like, I ah, what, No.

758
00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:13,440
Speaker 3: I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that anymore never again?

759
00:45:13,599 --> 00:45:15,039
Like lah, no what?

760
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:20,199
Speaker 4: And then he said, okay, like just bury him, Like

761
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:22,280
but you need like, no later than tomorrow.

762
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:23,039
Speaker 1: It has to be done.

763
00:45:23,719 --> 00:45:27,400
Speaker 5: Armando told Brittany what to do. She had the guns,

764
00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:31,000
her bloody saw, a shovel, and her dog to keep

765
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:37,199
her company. She stared at John's decapitated body, raw and ragged,

766
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:42,639
unable to process exactly what she'd done. Armando hugged her,

767
00:45:43,119 --> 00:45:45,039
told her it was hard for him to leave, but

768
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:48,679
then he did. Anyway, I hate myself.

769
00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:54,079
Speaker 3: It's wonderfault. I should have just left to kill alone.

770
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:58,480
He's twenty five in twenty five. He was so nice

771
00:45:58,519 --> 00:46:02,880
to me, But you didn't know this was gonna happen.

772
00:46:03,079 --> 00:46:03,679
I didn't.

773
00:46:04,039 --> 00:46:06,519
Speaker 1: I didn't know. I didn't know that talking him, I'm

774
00:46:06,559 --> 00:46:08,119
gonna call him his life dude.

775
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:11,920
Speaker 11: No, he who does that?

776
00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:14,000
Speaker 1: Who kills somebody like that?

777
00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:15,000
Speaker 5: Oh?

778
00:46:15,079 --> 00:46:19,280
Speaker 11: God, he's so stupid. He could just left him alone.

779
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:20,920
He could have just been like, you're quitting your job,

780
00:46:21,000 --> 00:46:25,280
you're never going back. Yeah, that's all he had to do.

781
00:46:26,679 --> 00:46:28,519
When you're quitting your job, you're never going back. You

782
00:46:28,519 --> 00:46:29,679
can't talk to him anymore.

783
00:46:30,119 --> 00:46:30,960
Speaker 1: Leave the guy.

784
00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:36,800
Speaker 9: Alone, Leave him alone. He was such a gentleman. He

785
00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:39,599
was so nice, so sweet, he was so good at

786
00:46:39,639 --> 00:46:45,559
his job. He didn't deserve any of it. And I

787
00:46:45,679 --> 00:46:50,559
didn't do I didn't do I heard him do. I

788
00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:55,280
really shocked that I'm even still alife. And I was

789
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:57,519
all one thinking to him, like where he comes back,

790
00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:00,440
when he comes back after I dispose of it? And

791
00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:01,559
then he just lost me too.

792
00:47:02,599 --> 00:47:06,679
Speaker 5: Without Armando hovering over her, putting her under pressure, she

793
00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:08,840
just sat at the campsite, trying to figure out what

794
00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:12,480
to do next. A million thoughts ran through her head

795
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:17,199
about John, his family, her girls, back home, Armando, all

796
00:47:17,239 --> 00:47:19,280
of it before Saturday.

797
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:23,079
Speaker 10: Has Armando been physically abusive to you in the past

798
00:47:23,199 --> 00:47:23,760
is a past?

799
00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:27,920
Speaker 4: Yeah, the early past, like in team past, so in

800
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,360
the beginning of your relationship, and it's abusive.

801
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:31,199
Speaker 1: It was just like a.

802
00:47:31,119 --> 00:47:35,519
Speaker 4: Control thing, like he wanted me to be a certain way,

803
00:47:36,039 --> 00:47:41,840
like I wanted to smoke him, party and drink. He

804
00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:48,519
didn't want me to want that. But he he gave

805
00:47:48,559 --> 00:47:51,400
me a black eye once before, one time, and when

806
00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:54,760
I was nineteen and he was still out of nowhere.

807
00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:57,840
And that was the scary part about him is that

808
00:47:58,119 --> 00:48:00,519
he has emotion, but he doesn't show it. So when

809
00:48:00,559 --> 00:48:03,000
he blows up, it's like you didn't even see it

810
00:48:03,039 --> 00:48:07,880
coming because there was nothing there before. And he said

811
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:09,719
something to me, and I kind of pushed him, like

812
00:48:09,800 --> 00:48:12,719
I like pushed him like that, and he got on

813
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:15,199
top of me and he just started launching and this

814
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:17,400
when to me, Oh, yeah.

815
00:48:17,880 --> 00:48:18,519
Speaker 10: This I too.

816
00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:21,920
Speaker 4: He's slapping the hell out of me, basically just slapping me,

817
00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:24,960
and I was just like staring at him like I

818
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:27,960
had no idea what was going on, Like no idea

819
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:33,800
what was going on? And then he said sorry and

820
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:35,840
he was super apologetic.

821
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:37,920
Speaker 3: And but now was it?

822
00:48:38,199 --> 00:48:39,360
Speaker 1: And then.

823
00:48:40,559 --> 00:48:43,519
Speaker 4: Up until that Saturday that I said I wasn't in

824
00:48:43,559 --> 00:48:44,920
love with him anymore.

825
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:50,360
Speaker 10: Which was the Saturday before last when he slapped before.

826
00:48:50,119 --> 00:48:52,840
Speaker 4: This and he slapped me then and that was that

827
00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:56,519
was then, and then Saturday night and Sunday morning ages.

828
00:48:57,199 --> 00:49:01,360
Speaker 10: So from age nineteen till two sad days ago there

829
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:02,480
was no physical abuse.

830
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:03,800
Speaker 2: Wow.

831
00:49:04,639 --> 00:49:07,840
Speaker 5: No, here's the thing about a man like Armando. He's

832
00:49:08,639 --> 00:49:14,000
deeply insecure, but his insecurity doesn't show up as tears.

833
00:49:14,039 --> 00:49:19,000
It comes out in rushes of rage. Brittany said that

834
00:49:19,199 --> 00:49:22,719
until two Saturdays ago, he hadn't been her like that

835
00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:26,639
since the early days of their marriage. Maybe she had

836
00:49:26,880 --> 00:49:29,920
just learned how to stay in line just enough to

837
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:33,480
avoid punishment, or maybe it was that his mother was

838
00:49:33,519 --> 00:49:38,719
living next door, always close, always watching for bruises. But

839
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:42,480
then Brittany changed. She lost one hundred and thirty pounds

840
00:49:42,519 --> 00:49:47,280
to control of her diet, started exercising, and started getting attention.

841
00:49:48,239 --> 00:49:50,960
And when Armando saw proof of that new life in

842
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:56,519
her snapchat messages with John, something in him snapped. Because

843
00:49:56,559 --> 00:50:00,440
in his world there were rules. He could cheat, he

844
00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:04,880
could call prostitutes, he could not work for years, basically

845
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:08,000
be a complete deadbeat piece of shit. He could do

846
00:50:08,039 --> 00:50:11,880
whatever the fuck he wanted, because he's the man. But

847
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:16,159
Brittany was never supposed to become someone else. She was

848
00:50:16,199 --> 00:50:19,960
never supposed to have options besides him.

849
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:22,679
Speaker 3: Like, I don't know when that decision to not kill

850
00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:23,360
me happened.

851
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:25,480
Speaker 4: I don't know, because he's like on his own, he

852
00:50:25,519 --> 00:50:27,159
told me that, He's like, you were both gonna die

853
00:50:27,199 --> 00:50:27,840
that night, he.

854
00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:30,920
Speaker 3: Told both of you, So you were both going to

855
00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:31,480
die that night.

856
00:50:31,519 --> 00:50:32,079
Speaker 1: I hope you know.

857
00:50:32,639 --> 00:50:35,719
Speaker 4: I really didn't expect you to say you surely proved

858
00:50:35,800 --> 00:50:37,400
and really cared about the family.

859
00:50:37,719 --> 00:50:39,199
Speaker 3: He said the same thing about the head.

860
00:50:40,079 --> 00:50:46,320
Speaker 5: In Armando's warped mind, Brittany had proven herself. Every order followed,

861
00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:51,079
every step obeyed. It all feed his delusion of loyalty.

862
00:50:52,039 --> 00:50:57,199
But none of this was loyalty. It was just pure survival,

863
00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:01,719
and that delusion, his inability to see the truth, may

864
00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:04,719
have been the only reason she lived.

865
00:51:05,119 --> 00:51:07,079
Speaker 2: I am going to ask you for a couple of

866
00:51:07,159 --> 00:51:12,599
more things, one being to bring us out to John's

867
00:51:12,639 --> 00:51:17,760
head and show us where that is, and the other

868
00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:20,920
being I would like to be able to document your

869
00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:24,760
injuries with some photographs.

870
00:51:25,119 --> 00:51:29,719
Speaker 5: Brittany nodded and agreed. Now the police had the story.

871
00:51:30,400 --> 00:51:35,360
They knew what had happened, but knowing wasn't enough. They

872
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:39,079
had to retrace every step, lock down every piece of evidence.

873
00:51:39,880 --> 00:51:43,239
They had to move fast because Armando Baron was still

874
00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:51,119
out there, still armed, still unstable and unraveling, and no

875
00:51:51,159 --> 00:52:26,000
one knew exactly what he might do next. When Jonathan

876
00:52:26,039 --> 00:52:30,039
Emerrault went missing in late September twenty twenty, no one

877
00:52:30,119 --> 00:52:34,239
suspected foul play. The assumption was simple. He was lost.

878
00:52:35,119 --> 00:52:38,800
An avid outdoorsman and biomedical engineer, John spent as much

879
00:52:38,880 --> 00:52:42,800
time as he could on the trails. If anyone could

880
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:46,800
vanish by accident, it was him. But then something just

881
00:52:47,199 --> 00:52:50,880
didn't add up. Around the same time as coworker Brittany

882
00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:55,360
barn abruptly quit and disappeared inside the office, rumors had

883
00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:58,960
already started circulating. They had grown close in the weeks

884
00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:02,480
before he went missing. What felt like a coincidence started

885
00:53:02,519 --> 00:53:06,880
to feel connected. Then Fish and Game made a discovery.

886
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:12,280
Deep in the woods. They found Brittany at a remote campsite, alone,

887
00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:17,440
beaten and terrified. Nearby was John's Subaru, and not far

888
00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:22,559
from that John his body had been dismembered and decapitated.

889
00:53:23,360 --> 00:53:27,199
Brittany told investigators that her husband, Armando, had discovered the

890
00:53:27,239 --> 00:53:32,239
flirtation and snapped out in the woods. Under constant threat,

891
00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:36,480
he forced her to cut off John's head herself. She obeyed,

892
00:53:36,639 --> 00:53:40,960
only to survive. Before leaving the campsite for the final time,

893
00:53:41,039 --> 00:53:45,079
Armando told her he forgave her. In his mind, she

894
00:53:45,119 --> 00:53:49,440
had proven her loyalty to him, to their family. He believed,

895
00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:53,519
in his dumb, underdeveloped mind, that they could simply return home,

896
00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:56,519
resume their lives, and move forward as if none of

897
00:53:56,519 --> 00:54:01,119
this had ever happened. But nothing about this was forgettable.

898
00:54:02,159 --> 00:54:06,239
Armando had taken the life of Jonathan Emerald, who was

899
00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:09,559
deeply loved by his family, his friends, his colleagues, and

900
00:54:10,519 --> 00:54:13,440
everyone who ever met him. He wasn't someone who would

901
00:54:13,519 --> 00:54:17,159
fade into the background. He was someone whose absence would

902
00:54:17,159 --> 00:54:23,199
be felt forever. The police found Armando quickly. It was easy.

903
00:54:24,159 --> 00:54:25,480
He wasn't that smart.

904
00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:31,119
Speaker 12: You're under arrest for domestic violence assault. So a domestic assault?

905
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:33,079
Speaker 1: What's that? Who?

906
00:54:33,280 --> 00:54:35,679
Speaker 3: I'm Brittany, Brittany.

907
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:40,480
Speaker 12: Okay, Okay, So that's that's what you're charged with. So

908
00:54:40,519 --> 00:54:41,840
that's what we want to talk to you a little

909
00:54:41,840 --> 00:54:47,199
bit about. Okay, So where is she Brittany. Brittany is

910
00:54:47,360 --> 00:54:49,199
at another police department right now?

911
00:54:49,679 --> 00:54:50,559
Speaker 3: Okay, okay.

912
00:54:51,559 --> 00:54:55,280
Speaker 5: The officer started reading Armando his rights, informing him that

913
00:54:55,840 --> 00:54:59,400
they already had Brittany in custody and had her testimony.

914
00:55:00,360 --> 00:55:03,000
Then he interjected, so when do they get to call?

915
00:55:03,119 --> 00:55:06,679
Speaker 1: He? Well, like, so do you understand these are these rights?

916
00:55:07,239 --> 00:55:10,280
All right? I'm gonna just ask you to initial next

917
00:55:10,280 --> 00:55:10,840
to yes.

918
00:55:13,239 --> 00:55:15,760
Speaker 12: And then understanding these rights, are you willing to answer

919
00:55:15,880 --> 00:55:17,719
questions a lawyer?

920
00:55:17,880 --> 00:55:18,039
Speaker 7: No?

921
00:55:18,280 --> 00:55:18,599
Speaker 1: Okay.

922
00:55:19,559 --> 00:55:22,119
Speaker 5: Armando may be dumb, but asking for a lawyer was

923
00:55:22,119 --> 00:55:24,800
a surefire away to tell he knew the difference between

924
00:55:24,880 --> 00:55:28,599
right and wrong when it came to abuse, torture, and murder.

925
00:55:29,559 --> 00:55:34,159
He wasn't crazy, he was just evil. But still, Brittany

926
00:55:34,159 --> 00:55:37,039
told the officers she knew he would never hurt their children.

927
00:55:37,880 --> 00:55:40,719
Then again, I'm sure she would say she never thought

928
00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:44,199
any of this would happen either. That exactly a great

929
00:55:44,280 --> 00:55:45,000
judge of character.

930
00:55:45,440 --> 00:55:48,000
Speaker 1: You don't think he would do it with Oh no, no, no, no, no

931
00:55:47,519 --> 00:55:47,880
no no.

932
00:55:48,639 --> 00:55:52,800
Speaker 4: I just I'm like, I hope they're not there when

933
00:55:52,840 --> 00:55:54,480
they arrest him.

934
00:55:54,719 --> 00:55:55,960
Speaker 1: I hope they're not there.

935
00:55:56,039 --> 00:56:01,119
Speaker 3: I hope they don't see it. I feel so bad

936
00:56:01,159 --> 00:56:04,239
for him.

937
00:56:04,360 --> 00:56:07,119
Speaker 4: Even I know it's stupid, but even after all that,

938
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:09,519
I feel bad for him, Like I feel bad for

939
00:56:09,599 --> 00:56:10,400
what's going to happen.

940
00:56:11,159 --> 00:56:15,320
Speaker 5: She felt bad for him. Let that sink in. We've

941
00:56:15,320 --> 00:56:19,199
covered so many domestic violence episodes on this show, and

942
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:22,039
any expert worth their salt will tell you that most

943
00:56:22,039 --> 00:56:26,119
domestic violence homicides are preventable. If someone strangles you to

944
00:56:26,159 --> 00:56:28,880
the point of passing out and puts a gun in

945
00:56:28,920 --> 00:56:33,320
your mouth, death is the next step. But Armando had

946
00:56:33,320 --> 00:56:36,039
only given Brittany a taste of what he was capable

947
00:56:36,079 --> 00:56:40,840
of at age nineteen. Then he hurt her in other

948
00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:44,360
ways by not being a provider, by cheating on her

949
00:56:44,719 --> 00:56:49,079
and harming her emotionally. But that violence never reared its

950
00:56:49,079 --> 00:56:55,320
head again, although it had clearly been brewing seething inside Armando,

951
00:56:55,400 --> 00:56:57,840
and on the night he found the texts, he lost

952
00:56:58,639 --> 00:57:02,039
all control. Armando did a very good job at hiding

953
00:57:02,079 --> 00:57:05,519
who he really was, but we can only hide pure

954
00:57:05,559 --> 00:57:09,920
evil for so long. The police put Armando in a

955
00:57:09,960 --> 00:57:13,960
holding cell and he requested his phone call, so they

956
00:57:14,039 --> 00:57:16,719
let him call his mother, and of course it went

957
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:19,360
to voicemail. I'm sure she never got it.

958
00:57:20,119 --> 00:57:23,920
Speaker 3: Mom, is me they're taking me to m.

959
00:57:25,920 --> 00:57:29,639
Speaker 12: Cheshire House of Corrections, which is in Marlboro.

960
00:57:30,400 --> 00:57:32,280
Speaker 7: House of Corrections in Marlboro.

961
00:57:35,599 --> 00:57:37,599
Speaker 2: They're charging you more than.

962
00:57:40,119 --> 00:57:45,079
Speaker 3: If I guess I just I love him.

963
00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:46,440
Speaker 7: You can get a lawyer from me.

964
00:57:47,480 --> 00:57:47,840
Speaker 1: Thank you.

965
00:57:48,880 --> 00:57:53,920
Speaker 5: Jonathan's family was devastated. They avoided the media entirely as

966
00:57:54,039 --> 00:57:57,079
news of his brutal murder spread across local headlines and

967
00:57:57,440 --> 00:58:01,480
flooded the internet. His friends were great trying to process

968
00:58:01,519 --> 00:58:06,119
the loss. At Teleflex, John and Brittany's coworkers were unable

969
00:58:06,159 --> 00:58:10,559
to comprehend how a rumored workplace flirtation could spiral into

970
00:58:10,559 --> 00:58:16,039
something so horrific. Even Brittany said it herself. Armando didn't

971
00:58:16,119 --> 00:58:20,199
have to do this. There were other options. He could

972
00:58:20,239 --> 00:58:23,119
have forced her to quit, made her find another job,

973
00:58:23,440 --> 00:58:29,000
put distance between them, But he didn't. Armando let something

974
00:58:29,639 --> 00:58:36,400
much darker take hold. Jealousy rage. It consumed him completely,

975
00:58:36,639 --> 00:58:40,800
spreading fast like a cancer, and in that spiral he

976
00:58:41,159 --> 00:58:45,320
never stopped to think. Perhaps he was incapable of it.

977
00:58:46,159 --> 00:58:50,159
Armando was charged with capital murder and twelve additional charges.

978
00:58:50,840 --> 00:58:56,320
Brittany was charged with falsifying evidence. Armando faced life. Brittany

979
00:58:56,360 --> 00:59:00,000
was looking at three to seven years. They were both

980
00:59:00,239 --> 00:59:02,239
put in jail, leaving their kids in the care of

981
00:59:02,360 --> 00:59:06,679
Armando's broken, helpless mother who didn't even know how to

982
00:59:06,760 --> 00:59:11,280
check her voicemail. But as clips of Brittany's bruised, battered

983
00:59:11,320 --> 00:59:14,679
face in that arraignment room spread across the internet, a

984
00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:18,800
question lingered, did she really deserve to be locked away?

985
00:59:19,840 --> 00:59:23,199
I mean, this was a woman who had been brutally beaten, strangled,

986
00:59:23,320 --> 00:59:25,480
and had a gun forced into her mouth inside her

987
00:59:25,519 --> 00:59:29,440
own home. She was made to watch John die and

988
00:59:29,519 --> 00:59:33,400
forced to participate in his torture. She was dragged miles

989
00:59:33,440 --> 00:59:35,920
into the woods, where the man she'd been married to

990
00:59:36,039 --> 00:59:39,199
for twelve years stood over her and forced her to

991
00:59:39,239 --> 00:59:43,079
cut off John's head. Just imagine that for a moment,

992
00:59:43,840 --> 00:59:48,559
the isolation, the fear. If Brittany had screamed, no one

993
00:59:48,719 --> 00:59:53,000
would have hurt her, no one would have come. In fact,

994
00:59:53,159 --> 00:59:55,719
it's a miracle that Fish and Game even found her.

995
00:59:56,559 --> 00:59:59,360
Armando made the mistake of taking them to what he

996
00:59:59,480 --> 01:00:04,280
thought was public hunting area, but it wasn't. The landowner

997
01:00:04,480 --> 01:00:08,000
saw them and contacted Fish and Game. And look, Sure

998
01:00:08,039 --> 01:00:11,480
she could have gotten away multiple times. Sure she could

999
01:00:11,480 --> 01:00:14,079
have pointed the loaded gun she was given by Armando

1000
01:00:14,280 --> 01:00:17,199
too Armando and ordered him to stop doing what he

1001
01:00:17,280 --> 01:00:19,800
was doing. But that would have meant she would have

1002
01:00:19,800 --> 01:00:23,320
had to have been capable of pulling the trigger, and

1003
01:00:24,239 --> 01:00:27,119
she just wasn't. I mean, she could cut off a

1004
01:00:27,199 --> 01:00:30,760
human head, but she couldn't squeeze a trigger. I still

1005
01:00:30,800 --> 01:00:35,880
don't fully understand why. Maybe I never will. Maybe I

1006
01:00:35,920 --> 01:00:40,079
am lucky to never have to know, I asked the audience. Though,

1007
01:00:40,199 --> 01:00:45,000
what do you think is Brittany a victim or does

1008
01:00:45,039 --> 01:00:49,800
she hold some culpability here? Brittany's lawyer started working on

1009
01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:53,880
a deal. In exchange for her testimony against Armando, who

1010
01:00:53,880 --> 01:00:57,000
we all know is really the bad guy, she would

1011
01:00:57,039 --> 01:01:01,639
be granted parole until his trial. Jonathan's family was adamant

1012
01:01:01,639 --> 01:01:05,880
that this was unacceptable, and the prosecution fought hard for

1013
01:01:05,920 --> 01:01:09,400
Brittany to remain locked up. Brittany was put before the

1014
01:01:09,440 --> 01:01:11,039
parole board to make her case.

1015
01:01:11,800 --> 01:01:16,079
Speaker 13: Baron's parole was vehemently opposed by Amerol's parents. They wrote

1016
01:01:16,079 --> 01:01:19,000
a letter that was read by the victim's advocate urging

1017
01:01:19,039 --> 01:01:22,360
the parole board to keep Britney in custody until after

1018
01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:24,559
she has testified against her husband.

1019
01:01:24,719 --> 01:01:27,079
Speaker 4: So if you think chances are low that someone capable

1020
01:01:27,119 --> 01:01:30,000
of doing all that wouldn't simply just run before testifying

1021
01:01:30,039 --> 01:01:32,519
next month, or simply go back on her word at

1022
01:01:32,519 --> 01:01:33,039
his trial.

1023
01:01:33,360 --> 01:01:34,199
Speaker 1: Please think again.

1024
01:01:34,440 --> 01:01:37,159
Speaker 13: In granting parole, the board made it clear that Baron

1025
01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:41,719
must fulfill her obligation to testify truthfully at her husband's trial.

1026
01:01:42,079 --> 01:01:45,280
Brittany told the board she understands and that her actions

1027
01:01:45,320 --> 01:01:47,480
over those days continue to haunt her.

1028
01:01:47,559 --> 01:01:50,800
Speaker 4: Something that I continue to struggle with is forgiving yourself

1029
01:01:50,840 --> 01:01:52,400
for the choices that you.

1030
01:01:52,440 --> 01:01:53,079
Speaker 1: Make and.

1031
01:01:55,119 --> 01:01:58,920
Speaker 4: Being able to own, like, just really accept that it happened.

1032
01:02:00,119 --> 01:02:04,960
Speaker 5: Should Brittany forgive herself as a religious woman? Is that

1033
01:02:05,039 --> 01:02:09,360
even her place? Or is that something that only God cangrant?

1034
01:02:10,440 --> 01:02:14,480
Maybe self forgiveness is necessary just to survive, just to

1035
01:02:14,480 --> 01:02:16,599
get out of bed in the morning, to eat, to

1036
01:02:16,679 --> 01:02:19,880
face the courtroom. Maybe it's just something she has to

1037
01:02:19,880 --> 01:02:23,400
say out loud to keep going. But could you ever

1038
01:02:23,559 --> 01:02:28,440
truly believe it? Could you ever forgive yourself for something

1039
01:02:28,639 --> 01:02:32,599
like this? Because I don't think I could. I think

1040
01:02:32,639 --> 01:02:37,039
I'd be begging God and the universe and everyone in

1041
01:02:37,079 --> 01:02:40,639
it for forgiveness every single minute of every single day

1042
01:02:41,559 --> 01:02:45,880
until I didn't have a breath in me anymore. Brittany

1043
01:02:45,920 --> 01:02:50,000
was a victim of Armando that night, but John was

1044
01:02:50,360 --> 01:02:54,880
the victim. The only thing anyone could possibly fault him

1045
01:02:54,920 --> 01:02:58,320
for was getting involved with a married woman. But John's

1046
01:02:58,320 --> 01:03:02,480
presence lit something in Britain. It gave her the confidence

1047
01:03:02,559 --> 01:03:06,239
to finally tell her cheating, deadbeat husband that she was

1048
01:03:06,280 --> 01:03:10,000
done trying to fix their marriage. And that shift is

1049
01:03:10,039 --> 01:03:15,719
what set everything in motion, that push for her empowerment,

1050
01:03:15,800 --> 01:03:21,599
her independence. It's what triggered Armando's suspicion and his need

1051
01:03:21,679 --> 01:03:25,280
to start digging into his wife's phone. The plea deal

1052
01:03:25,480 --> 01:03:28,760
allowed Brittany to skip straight to sentencing in exchange for

1053
01:03:28,800 --> 01:03:32,400
her testimony. In twenty twenty one, she pleaded guilty to

1054
01:03:32,519 --> 01:03:36,960
falsifying evidence, which included removing John's head and putting it

1055
01:03:37,000 --> 01:03:41,079
into a hole that Armando duck, but she was granted

1056
01:03:41,079 --> 01:03:45,679
parole in April of twenty twenty two. Armando's trial took

1057
01:03:45,719 --> 01:03:49,320
place a month later. His team argued that Brittany was

1058
01:03:49,360 --> 01:03:53,840
a liar. She had participated much more in Jonathan's murder

1059
01:03:53,840 --> 01:03:56,960
than she led on. Armando slumped in and out of

1060
01:03:56,960 --> 01:04:00,400
the courtroom every day with his scraggly prison beard pot

1061
01:04:00,480 --> 01:04:05,320
belly and snarling face. He was vile. No one felt

1062
01:04:05,320 --> 01:04:08,880
a drop of sympathy for him, except maybe his own mother.

1063
01:04:09,920 --> 01:04:12,719
In the end, Armando was found guilty and the judge

1064
01:04:12,719 --> 01:04:14,079
spared him no mercy.

1065
01:04:14,639 --> 01:04:17,960
Speaker 14: The depravity of your actions and single handedly causing the

1066
01:04:18,159 --> 01:04:22,679
immense suffering and the death of Jonathan Emerald show an

1067
01:04:22,719 --> 01:04:26,440
extreme indifference to the value of human life. Your actions

1068
01:04:26,679 --> 01:04:31,800
were brutal, they were absolutely horrific, They were selfish, and

1069
01:04:31,840 --> 01:04:37,159
they were completely senseless. The abject cruelty, the pain and

1070
01:04:37,239 --> 01:04:41,039
suffering and all that you inflicted on Jonathan that night

1071
01:04:41,159 --> 01:04:45,480
is unfathomable. As his parents just said, he did not

1072
01:04:45,679 --> 01:04:49,400
deserve to die in that manner. One of the hardest

1073
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:53,239
parts of my job is often sentencing in cases and

1074
01:04:53,280 --> 01:04:59,159
finding the appropriate balance to strike and imposing the fair sentence. However,

1075
01:04:59,199 --> 01:05:02,599
I have absolutely known hesitation or reservation imposing the sentences

1076
01:05:02,599 --> 01:05:06,320
that I'm about to impose on you, given your actions

1077
01:05:06,440 --> 01:05:08,960
and the crimes that you committed and that you were

1078
01:05:09,000 --> 01:05:09,639
convicted for.

1079
01:05:10,000 --> 01:05:13,400
Speaker 5: In this case, the judge gave Armando life with no

1080
01:05:13,519 --> 01:05:18,079
possibility of parole for Jonathan's murder. She tossed on even

1081
01:05:18,159 --> 01:05:22,280
more years for the kidnapping and domestic violence, but in essence,

1082
01:05:22,559 --> 01:05:25,679
he was never leaving prison unless he was in a

1083
01:05:25,719 --> 01:05:30,079
body pack. The judge also instructed that he received counseling

1084
01:05:30,159 --> 01:05:34,039
in prison. Maybe they could beat morality into him somehow,

1085
01:05:35,079 --> 01:05:36,639
not that it mattered anymore.

1086
01:05:37,239 --> 01:05:40,159
Speaker 14: So that is the sentence. You will be spending a

1087
01:05:40,280 --> 01:05:43,280
very long time at the state prison for these heinous crimes.

1088
01:05:44,199 --> 01:05:47,480
Speaker 5: Instead of taking the punishment he deserved, Armando spent the

1089
01:05:47,480 --> 01:05:52,960
next three years filing appeal after appeal after appeal, all

1090
01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:56,000
of which were denied. Now that he's exhausted all of

1091
01:05:56,039 --> 01:05:59,400
them and spent all of our taxpayer money, he will

1092
01:05:59,400 --> 01:06:03,519
sit quiet in prison, waiting to die. No one will

1093
01:06:03,559 --> 01:06:08,639
ever hear about him again. Jonathan, on the other hand,

1094
01:06:08,679 --> 01:06:12,519
continues to be remembered for the incredible young man that

1095
01:06:12,559 --> 01:06:16,880
he was. After the Barons were arrested, eighteen of his

1096
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:20,000
friends honored him in a way he would have wanted

1097
01:06:20,960 --> 01:06:24,239
by hiking. They took a six and a half mile

1098
01:06:24,320 --> 01:06:26,960
climb up one of his favorite trails in New Hampshire

1099
01:06:27,400 --> 01:06:30,719
and built a small altar for his worn trail shoes.

1100
01:06:31,679 --> 01:06:35,400
By the end, their legs were shot jelly. They told

1101
01:06:35,400 --> 01:06:38,679
the local news reporters, but it was a release of

1102
01:06:38,800 --> 01:06:43,760
grief and a path towards healing. Out there, surrounded by

1103
01:06:43,760 --> 01:06:49,519
the elements, John loved so much. They shared stories, they laughed, cried,

1104
01:06:50,639 --> 01:06:54,280
They set their prayers out into the mountains, hoping somehow

1105
01:06:54,280 --> 01:06:58,880
they'd reach him, And now every time they returned to

1106
01:06:58,920 --> 01:07:04,519
those trails, they carry him with them. John loved life.

1107
01:07:04,679 --> 01:07:08,880
He chased it into the unknown, down unmarked trails, with

1108
01:07:09,000 --> 01:07:12,599
nothing but a paper map and the confidence that he'd

1109
01:07:12,639 --> 01:07:17,440
find his way. He was smart, driven, and unafraid of

1110
01:07:17,480 --> 01:07:22,760
what might be ahead. Then he met Brittany Baron. What

1111
01:07:22,880 --> 01:07:26,480
started as a flirtation a few messages and a couple

1112
01:07:26,480 --> 01:07:30,400
of kisses in a parking lot grew into something much more.

1113
01:07:31,320 --> 01:07:35,480
John saw something in her, something worth caring about, and

1114
01:07:35,519 --> 01:07:40,480
he couldn't quite pull himself away. John was a kind man.

1115
01:07:41,599 --> 01:07:46,400
Brittany had never known that kind of kindness before. She'd

1116
01:07:46,400 --> 01:07:48,800
spent her adult life with someone who cheated on her,

1117
01:07:48,840 --> 01:07:52,960
who failed her, who just was one disappointment after another,

1118
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:59,880
and ultimately showed just how dangerous he truly was. John

1119
01:08:00,320 --> 01:08:05,239
didn't see a situation to avoid. He saw a person

1120
01:08:06,159 --> 01:08:12,480
in Brittany, and tragically, that was what put him in

1121
01:08:12,639 --> 01:08:34,039
Armando's path. You know, we've got a lot of feedback

1122
01:08:34,079 --> 01:08:39,479
on our new animated true crime history thing called Tails.

1123
01:08:39,560 --> 01:09:15,479
Speaker 15: Go check it out Sword and Scale dot com.

1124
01:09:01,199 --> 01:09:11,720
Speaker 2: The S S S.

1125
01:09:14,399 --> 01:09:34,520
Speaker 16: Side against stambout Boot.

1126
01:09:39,239 --> 01:09:42,960
Speaker 3: Said, the side in the

1127
01:09:45,119 --> 01:10:28,920
Speaker 16: Book sees ssssssssssssss