WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.160 Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is not. 2 00:00:04.120 --> 00:00:08.480 Intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. 3 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:13.679 Many gave me the night. 4 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:17.760 And even then he was concerned about me walking behind it, like, well, 5 00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:19.960 we both got trusted just now, don't. 6 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:28.039 There is no honor amongst thieves or murderers. Really, Sometimes 7 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:30.879 people that listen to the show get things a little confused. 8 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:34.920 They think I hate this race, or this sex, or 9 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:39.560 this pan sexual, binary dogkin or whatever the fuck you 10 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:44.479 want to be. I really couldn't care less. Sure you're unusual, 11 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:46.640 but I think that's what you're going for. But this 12 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:52.560 show is about murder, not your personal political causes. So 13 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:55.880 if I make fun of some asshole that's pretending to 14 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:59.560 be a victim and is instead a killer, well too bad. 15 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:12.840 We're gonna keep doing what we do. And if you 16 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:14.840 don't like it, well you know where the door is. 17 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:39.439 You don't have to announce your exit. It's Monday, September 18 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:45.120 twenty third, twenty twenty Keene, New Hampshire. That's the day 19 00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:49.959 twenty five year old Jonathan Emerald was reported missing. At first, 20 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:54.040 nothing about it seemed dirgent. John was a hiker, one 21 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:58.319 of those obsessed types. The mountains of New Hampshire were 22 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:02.560 his second home. Long grueling day trips, sometimes stretching into 23 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:06.599 the night, that was normal for him. He had already 24 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:09.439 conquered ninety nine of the one hundred highest peaks in 25 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:13.680 New England and nearly every four thousand footer in the region. 26 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:16.800 So when his mother didn't hear from him over the weekend, 27 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:20.599 she wasn't that alarmed. Maybe he was just out of service. 28 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:24.000 Maybe he was with friends. He had plenty of them. 29 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:28.240 John had a full life. But then Monday came and 30 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:32.360 John didn't show up to work. That's when the unease 31 00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:39.039 set in, because that just wasn't like him. John was dependable, focused. 32 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:43.439 At just twenty five, he was already a biomedical engineer 33 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:48.159 at Teleflex Medical, building devices that helped save lives. He 34 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:51.400 showed up for work, he checked in, and he loved 35 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:55.919 his career. So his mother made the call. She asked 36 00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:59.120 the police to check in on him. But when officers 37 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:04.080 arrived at his quiet cape style home, John was gone, 38 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:07.960 and so was his Subaru and Preza, the one with 39 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:10.599 the runhappy bumper sticker. 40 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:13.680 State Police looking for a missing twenty five year old 41 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.919 man from Keen. Police say that Jonathan armor Ault was 42 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:19.680 reported missing after he failed to show up for work 43 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:22.919 in Jaffrey. His family hasn't heard from him since Saturday. 44 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:26.039 He may be driving a gray Subaru Impreza with New 45 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:31.840 Hampshire plates. Anyone with information asked to contact state police. 46 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.680 While John's friends rallied on social media to try to 47 00:03:33.719 --> 00:03:37.360 find their friend. The police pinged his phone and discovered 48 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:40.800 its last known location was near a hiking trail in Jaffrey, 49 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:45.560 New Hampshire. A desperate scramble started. Most of John's friends 50 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:48.240 and family were concerned that something had happened to him 51 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:51.639 out on the trail. Maybe he was just sitting there 52 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:55.400 with a broken leg, waiting for help. But the police 53 00:03:55.479 --> 00:03:59.840 got to work chasing down leeds. When they spoke with Teleflex, 54 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:03.319 learned that not only had John mysteriously been absent from work, 55 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:07.439 but another Teleflex employee, thirty one year old Brittany Baron, 56 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:10.240 had also failed to show up on that same day. 57 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:15.680 On Monday, September twenty first, Brittany had called HR not 58 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:18.160 to call out sick or a personal day, but to 59 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.839 quit just like that. After six and a half steady 60 00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:27.720 years at Teleflex, she walked away without a warning it 61 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.560 didn't make sense. Brittany was a married mother of three 62 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:36.079 young girls. Her husband did not work, She was the 63 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:40.920 sole earner for the family, and she loved Teleflex. She too, 64 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:43.319 had been moving up in the ranks over the years. 65 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:48.959 Brittany Baron lived in Jeffrey, New Hampshire with her husband, Armando, 66 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.680 and their three kids. They lived modestly on one side 67 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:56.560 of a duplex house, and Armando's parents lived on the 68 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:00.000 other side. When the police arrived at the Baron house, 69 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:04.600 they found Armando's mother her hands full watching her granddaughters 70 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:08.240 because apparently Brittany and Armando were on a hiking trip. 71 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:11.360 Brittany's mother in law told the police that she hadn't 72 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:15.920 seen Brittany since Saturday when the couple left for the mountains. 73 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:20.920 I think it was Sunday when she called my cell phone. 74 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.000 But don't for telling it, you know so badly listening 75 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:27.040 the messages that I is full. I don't bother to 76 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:30.560 delete it, believe guess what's the point, you know, gets 77 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:35.480 something through and then she just she just tegts me 78 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:39.720 and she says, Mama, please let the phone ring it 79 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:41.800 to get to the boy's mail. I want to leave 80 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:43.439 a boy's mail to the girls. 81 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:46.120 Brittany had called and asked her mother in law to 82 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:48.279 let the phone go to voicemail so she could leave 83 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:51.720 a special message for her daughters. But her mother in 84 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:54.560 law couldn't figure out how to delete her old messages, 85 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.360 so she just had to relay what Brittany said. 86 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:01.560 And then she says, but please tell my girls I 87 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:03.720 love them with all of my heart. And then she 88 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:11.120 mentioned all the names of the girls, and then she said, remember, girls, 89 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:17.480 you're a team. Please pray continuously, pray to Yahooa we 90 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:21.519 call God Yahula. And then she goes, be good to 91 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:27.720 your Grandmaita Spanish grandma, and to your papa, and I'll 92 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.879 be I'll see you guys. Should I love you my girls. 93 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:33.319 Her message was less like an update from her mom 94 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:36.560 on a hiking trip and more like a dark goodbye. 95 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.720 She called back on Monday, Yeah, she called back on Monday, 96 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.920 more earlier. And then she goes, she talked to them. 97 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:49.000 She talked to all of them, all of them. And 98 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:53.199 then she says that she loved them and she's taking 99 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:58.519 time off, taking little time because she wants to heal. 100 00:06:58.759 --> 00:07:02.879 She wants to get the marriage, you know, being a 101 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:03.680 better mother. 102 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.040 That's when Brittany's oldest daughter jumped on the phone. 103 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:10.439 Where you at, mom? Then she goes, I am in 104 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:11.279 a safe place. 105 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.560 Though Brittany had told Teleflex she was quitting, she also 106 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.319 made sure to text a group chat with close friends 107 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:20.480 and coworkers to let them know what was going on. 108 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:24.360 She told her friends she had left Armando and that 109 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.959 she was going home to New Mexico to stay with 110 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:30.759 her family. She said she needed to get herself right again. 111 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:33.800 When her friends asked about her daughters, she said she 112 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:37.600 didn't want to bring them along. Unquote mommy's mental breakdown. 113 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:42.240 She claimed that Armando was being extremely patient and nice 114 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:46.519 about the whole thing, which is interesting. She confessed she 115 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:50.560 felt like a failure as a mother. But here's the thing. 116 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:55.600 Armando and Brittany left on Saturday. That same day, people 117 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:59.800 stopped hearing from John. By Monday, Brittany was communicating with 118 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:04.079 people only by phone or text. But Armando had returned 119 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.439 home without his wife, and Brittany. 120 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:11.639 Was here as well yesterday with Armando. No, no, she was, and. 121 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:15.079 When when did yesterday? 122 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:16.920 When did you first see Armando? 123 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:19.079 Was he here all day yesterday? 124 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:19.839 Yeah? 125 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:22.800 He got here Monday. 126 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:28.720 Night Armando's mother didn't find it strange. She thought this 127 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:32.360 whole trip was a spiritual way to bring the couple 128 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:36.240 closer to God. Yeah, that's what she thought. 129 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:39.519 That's because he told me that he needed Also, he 130 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.399 said that he needed some space, some time off, you know, 131 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.000 because we pray and fast. I think that is I 132 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:48.679 was thinking that this is like a spiritual thing, right, 133 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.799 But they were not time to pray and be better 134 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:56.639 because we believe Jesus common swoman, okay, and we have 135 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:02.240 been trying our best to be spiritual means right? 136 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:05.360 And what was he here in the morning and then 137 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.720 left and came back yesterday? 138 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.120 Yesterday here Monday. 139 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:15.320 He lived here with his bed, with the girls and 140 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:18.440 me I slipped on the girls. 141 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:22.840 Something about Armando's mother felt a little off. Maybe it 142 00:09:22.919 --> 00:09:26.480 was the language barrier. English wasn't her first language, but 143 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:32.919 it didn't feel like confusion. What mattered was this, Armando 144 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:36.759 came home without his wife. Behind him was a trail 145 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:39.679 of strange phone calls and what sounded like a goodbye 146 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:44.279 message from Brittany to her girls. Then, after grabbing some 147 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:47.559 food and supplies, Armando took off again, saying he too 148 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:51.440 needed space. A little while later, he called his mother, 149 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:54.879 this time though he didn't sound like himself. 150 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:59.879 Then he called me and then he says, Mom, really 151 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:05.320 not with me, and then he said I left her. 152 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:06.399 I don't know what. 153 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:09.600 He says, I left her, and I'm. 154 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:15.480 Just going I'm just gonna be okay, that's okay. Then 155 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:17.679 I said what happened? And then he says it. 156 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:21.519 Is because she says that she needs time, but she's 157 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:22.039 not with me. 158 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:26.279 And I said okay, And I said, how are you doing? 159 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:29.679 And who was crying? He was crying and he said, 160 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:31.320 I don't feel good, Mom. 161 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:32.960 I don't know, he says. 162 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:35.919 In her text chain with her friends, Brittany also mentioned 163 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:38.960 that Teleflex had sent a police officer to her house 164 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:42.480 despite her having called in and quit. They knew her 165 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:47.279 that well, and we're concerned that her impromptu exit felt wrong. 166 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:51.039 Her friends let her know that John also hadn't shown 167 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:54.600 up to work and that people were actively searching for him. 168 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.720 Brittany never called her friends, She just texted, and her 169 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.039 friends thought that the message, which didn't sound like her. 170 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.200 But was there a connection between Brittany and John beyond 171 00:11:06.279 --> 00:11:09.759 the fact that they both worked at Teleflex? It was 172 00:11:09.799 --> 00:11:13.559 a massive company Brittany worked as a machine operator and 173 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:17.559 John was a biomedical engineer. They weren't even in the 174 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:21.519 same divisions. Brittany was six years older than John, with 175 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:26.320 a husband and kids, and what world would they be friends? 176 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.159 But something was. 177 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:33.320 Pulling their stories together. Then on Tuesday morning, just twenty 178 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:37.399 four hours after John's mother had reported a missing New Hampshire, 179 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:40.879 Fish and Game found something in the woods of Jaffrey. 180 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:45.960 It was a woman all alone, just her and her dog. 181 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.840 She'd set up a makeshift camp in a place no 182 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:54.240 one was supposed to be. She was shaking. Her face 183 00:11:55.080 --> 00:12:00.679 was destroyed. Both eyes were black, the bruises flooding down 184 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:05.600 to her puffy cheeks. One eye was completely swollen, shut, 185 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.120 filled with blood. She couldn't even see out of it. 186 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.600 The top of her head was split open, still bleeding, 187 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:16.559 and she was crying as a bloody saw sat a 188 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:22.279 few feet away on the dirt. This was Brittany Barren. 189 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:26.200 A few feet behind her, Fish and Game found John's 190 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:59.960 missing Subaru and Presa. Twenty five year old Jonathan Emerald 191 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:03.879 had been reported missing in September of twenty twenty. He 192 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:06.639 was a biomedical engineer who worked at a company called 193 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:13.240 Teleflex in Jeffrey, New Hampshire. Smart driven and aspirational, John 194 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.480 had climbed the ladder at work, purchased his first home 195 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:19.759 and was living life to the fullest when he disappeared. 196 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:23.879 But now police had found his coworker, thirty one year 197 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:26.759 old Brittany Baron, in a desolate area of the New 198 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:31.559 Hampshire Wilderness, beaten to a pulp and camping out with 199 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:35.879 John's car parked behind her. The police brought her into 200 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:38.960 the station. They knew this woman was the key to 201 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:43.559 finding John, and time was of the essence, but coaxing 202 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:46.320 things out of a woman who had seemingly been battered 203 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:49.799 and abandoned wouldn't be quite so simple. 204 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:53.519 How you doing, okay? You need an ambulance or anything 205 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:56.279 for your Are you sure? Okay? 206 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:59.840 Brittany sat with her head down Beside her was her 207 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:04.240 panting and lying at her feet. The officers offered her 208 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:08.200 medical help, but she refused. She insisted she was fine. 209 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:12.480 Brittany, what brings you? What brings you up up here? Camping? 210 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:17.600 Just trying to clear my head, clean your head? Okay? 211 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:18.799 You have some stuff going on? 212 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:26.440 Yeah, yeah, I just needed to get away for a while, Okay. 213 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:27.759 So we did. 214 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.840 Okay, do you mind me asking what happened to your 215 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:37.879 eye and your. 216 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:39.639 Okay? 217 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:41.480 And you don't have to and that's that's you did 218 00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:43.200 the exactly the right thing. If if if I ask 219 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:45.039 you a question you don't feel comfortable, then just don't. 220 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.679 You don't have to talk about it, okay, But I 221 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:50.759 want to make sure that you get whatever help that you. 222 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:51.679 That you need if you need it. 223 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:56.960 Okay, Okay, So you wanted to to clear your head 224 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:58.399 and that's why you would you would come up? 225 00:14:58.399 --> 00:14:59.159 And where did you go? 226 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:03.080 I went to I don't know what it's called. 227 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:08.320 I am moose fuck, moose. 228 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:10.840 Buck, something like that. Cabins, but you turn off on 229 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:11.919 like a logging road. 230 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:14.080 Okay, that's pretty far out. 231 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.799 Okay, Just I knew no would would really be there. 232 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:19.200 So okay, what kind of when did you come up? 233 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:20.200 Sunday morning? 234 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:24.399 Sunday morning? And who did you come up with? 235 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:28.480 Her speech was slow and removed. The thirty one year 236 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:31.279 old mother slowly tucked her brown hair behind her ear 237 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:34.919 and closed her eyes. The white of her right eye 238 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:38.919 wasn't even white anymore. It was a deep blood red. 239 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:41.320 It was uncomfortable to look at. 240 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.000 What kinds of what kinds of things are you going through? 241 00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:50.919 I don't know. Okay, is everybody with are your three kids? Okay? 242 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:52.559 Yeah, okay there with my mother. 243 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:56.639 Brittany assured the officer that she was only taking some 244 00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:00.559 time alone to clear her head. There was too much 245 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:04.159 going on, but her face told a different story. 246 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:08.240 Nobody knows where I am. Okay. 247 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:10.159 Well, part of the concern was people want to make 248 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:11.320 sure that you were okay. 249 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:14.759 They know that I'm safe and okay, but that I'm 250 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:18.759 choosing to not come home for now. I wanted, like, 251 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:22.080 I just didn't want my girls to see my face, okay, honestly, 252 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:24.360 So I was like, if I can spend at least 253 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:26.919 a couple of weeks trying to get it done, and 254 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:28.320 when I look at them, they're not going to be 255 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:28.759 afraid of me. 256 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:29.240 Sure. 257 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:32.240 When Fish and Game found Brittany in the woods, they 258 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:35.679 handed her over to New Hampshire deputies, who arrested her 259 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:39.399 for illegal camping, not so much for the crime, but 260 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:42.399 as a cover. It was the only way to get 261 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:45.840 this beaten, terrified woman somewhere safe to find out what 262 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:50.440 happened and why exactly she had John's car. Now, she 263 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:54.759 sat under fluorescent lights shaking, insisting she'd only gone into 264 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:56.679 the woods so her girls wouldn't have to see her 265 00:16:56.679 --> 00:16:57.919 face the way it was. 266 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:01.200 You said that you had come up here with someone, 267 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:05.200 but you didn't want to get into who that person was. 268 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:09.799 We know that there's a car that's where you're, where 269 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.960 your camp was. Did you come up with that person 270 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:23.039 that's that car belongs to? I don't Okay, Well, Brittany, 271 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:28.799 the thing is obviously you've been injured. You know, we 272 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.799 know that the person who owns that car is missing. 273 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:38.440 I know that you think that you might be in trouble, 274 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.480 and what I don't know is kind of what the 275 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:46.359 circumstances were that led up to that and why you 276 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:50.480 feel that way. And my guess is that your your eye, 277 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:57.240 your eyes, something happened that led to to that, And 278 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:02.640 I think that that's important to explain that what happened 279 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:07.400 to you. Did John cause those injuries to you? 280 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.240 No? Yeah, did, Armando. 281 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:16.559 Brittany looked down and whispered, I don't want to talk 282 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:20.240 about it. That's when the cop knew what was happening. 283 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.799 He knew he had to get through to this damaged, 284 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:28.279 battered woman to find out the truth about where John 285 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:32.200 was and what exactly happened in those woods. 286 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:35.119 Well before before you leave here today. 287 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.079 And you're leaving here today, regardless of what we talk about, 288 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:42.119 regardless of what you say, You're you're going to leave today, Okay, 289 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:44.079 regardless of what you say. 290 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:44.680 You have my word. 291 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.680 I'm telling you now, you're leaving here as long as 292 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:50.079 I have your word that you'll stay in contact. 293 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:52.640 With me if we need to. Okay, Is that is 294 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:53.759 that fair? Yeah? 295 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:58.200 Okay, it's kind of a good faith thing if you 296 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:01.319 if I can take your word and you can take 297 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:01.880 my word. 298 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:03.640 Then do I get to go back? 299 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:07.559 Yes, as long as we can establish that it's safe. 300 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:12.160 But we need to we need to make sure that 301 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:16.680 it's safe. But you understand why, I'm kind of in 302 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:18.759 a difficult position right now. 303 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:24.400 I'm don crank because I can. 304 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:29.359 Girls. 305 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.920 That's when Brittany broke everything she'd been holding inside slowly 306 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:38.279 started coming out at the thought that if she told 307 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:40.599 the truth, she'd get to go home and hug her 308 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:42.160 children once again. 309 00:19:42.839 --> 00:19:47.319 All I want is the truth. I don't want any 310 00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:49.279 more or any less. I just want. I just want 311 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:50.920 the truth, whatever that may be. 312 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:54.599 And if that means that you were in fear you 313 00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:57.240 were in danger if it means that you were, you know, 314 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:01.319 in a relationship with you know, John from work. Whatever 315 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:03.640 it may be, Whatever the truth is is all I want. 316 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:05.480 If that's not the truth, that's not what I want, 317 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:08.400 you know. But I also don't want to be reliant 318 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:10.720 on what other people tell us, you know. 319 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:14.920 I mean, I'm going to find out that. 320 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:18.759 Me and John were talking to each other. 321 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:23.640 We only talked for like a week, and he was 322 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.200 really serious. 323 00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:27.599 What do you mean by he was really serious? She 324 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:28.559 just really liked. 325 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:32.079 Me, okay, And I didn't realized that he liked me 326 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:32.640 a lot like that. 327 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:36.079 We worked together for a long time, but I didn't 328 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:38.400 talk to him because I was attracted to him. 329 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:42.880 John liked Brittany. He had made it known, and though 330 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.920 she felt the same way, she avoided him. After all, 331 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.559 she was a married woman who had been with her 332 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:53.720 husband since she was eighteen. She grew up in faith, 333 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:58.599 adultery was out of the question, no matter what problems 334 00:20:58.599 --> 00:21:02.119 were brewing inside her marriage. Supposedly that is. 335 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:07.119 And then like beginning of the month, I made it 336 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:09.039 a stupid nickname for him at work, and I felt 337 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:12.559 really bad. I called him Abercrommie because he looked like immortial. 338 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:15.480 It's really handsome. 339 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:26.240 And he found out about the nickname because somebody called 340 00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:28.000 him that and they. 341 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:29.200 Really, isn't that your last name? 342 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:32.240 It is because I called him Armani at first, and 343 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:33.440 then I said he's way too young. 344 00:21:34.119 --> 00:21:38.240 He's an Abercromie model, and we laughed and it stuck. 345 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:40.319 But he didn't know because I was not going to 346 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:41.279 tell him that I caught that. 347 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:45.519 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 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:52.640 Adonis back in the day. Bets You think the Abercrombie 350 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:55.960 nickname Brittany made up for John spread throughout the office, 351 00:21:56.039 --> 00:22:00.240 as things do, and eventually it got back to him. 352 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:03.519 At first, he thought people were making fun of him, 353 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:07.359 Brittany explained, because as a kid, John was often made 354 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:11.240 fun of for his outfits. You see, he was color blind, 355 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:17.079 so he didn't really match very well. So when Brittany 356 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:19.759 found out about all of this, she felt bad and 357 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.640 decided to talk to John. Big mistake. 358 00:22:23.319 --> 00:22:25.599 I always felt bad and I told my friend to 359 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:27.279 just tell him the truth, like, just tell him that 360 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:29.519 it was because he's really hard. I mean, I don't 361 00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:31.519 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. 363 00:22:35.799 --> 00:22:37.680 She told him, but I never really apologized. 364 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:39.920 The beginning of the month, I messaged him on Facebook 365 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:41.519 and I apologized for the nickname. 366 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:47.200 That first Facebook message opened everything. John had always had 367 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:52.680 a crush on Brittany, and now she responded. By early September, 368 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:57.279 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 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:07.359 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 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:13.359 But he really liked me. 374 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:16.359 I really liked him. What did he say to you? 375 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:18.640 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 He wanted me to go with him, like be with him. 378 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.480 Like leave your leave your husband and be with him. 379 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:33.920 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 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:39.000 Like our whole marriage since coming to New. 382 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:42.559 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 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:48.160 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 But like. 387 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:54.839 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 00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:00.480 and so we were. 390 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:04.400 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 When I was pregnant with my last baby? 394 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:18.079 Okay, sorry me too. So John knew that you told him. 395 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:22.119 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 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