AMERICAN IDOL KILLER INDICTED; BROTHER'S EXECUTIONER FOUND INSANE; PREGNANT TEEN & BOYFRIEND LEFT TO ROT

0:03 Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Garrett Fisher. Monday, March twenty third, twenty twenty six. Let me walk you through this week's lineup. First, Caleb Flynn a name. We brought you back in February. Former American Idol contestant, thirty nine years old, music pastor, worship leader. Devoted family man, at least that's what he told the cameras in twenty thirteen. On February sixteenth, his wife Ashley, was shot twice in the head in the master bedroom of their Tip City, Ohio home. Their daughters were sleeping nearby. Caleb called nine one one said someone broke in. Police say, that's not what happened. Last week, a grand jury agreed eleven counts aggravated murder. Bond raised to three and a half million dollars.

0:56 We'll catch you up. Second, Matthew Hurtkin, Princeton, New Jersey. Last February, he killed his younger brother Joseph, knife golf club and worse, removed his eye, killed the family's cat. This week, a judge found him not guilty by reason of insanity, not because the defense said so, because both sides agreed we'll talk about what that means and where he goes from here. Third San Antonio, Texas, December twenty sixth, twenty twenty three. Two bodies found in a car at an apartment complex parking lot, five days they'd been there. Savanna Sota was eighteen years old and nine months pregnant.

1:39 Her baby boy was supposed to be born the next day. His name was going to be David. Her boyfriend, Matthew Guera, was twenty two. Both shot in the head, covered in trash, left like they didn't matter. The trial of Christopher Preciato, charged with three counts of capital murder, began last week. Walk you through it. I'm Garrett Fisher. This is Daily Crime and Justice. We first brought you this case in February when Caleb Flynn was charged with his wife's murder a few days after it happened. Let me bring you up to date. Quick recap for anyone who's new. February sixteenth, twenty twenty six, two thirty in the morning, Tip City, Ohio, a small town twenty miles north of Dayton, Caleb Flynn calls nine one one, frantic, hyperventilating, says someone broke into his home and shot Ashley in the head, says he doesn't know if the intruder is still inside. There's blood everywhere.

2:39 Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god. Police arrived and found Ashley Flynn dead in the master bedroom, two shots to the head. Their two daughters, both elementary age, were asleep in nearby rooms and had not been harmed. The Golden Doodles were fine. What police found when they looked around two shell casings on the floor near the foot of the bed. The center console of Caleb's twenty twenty four to Ford pickup open. He told police that's where he kept a handgun, and the side door to the garage, the one that supposedly gave an intruder access. A large refrigerator had been positioned directly in front of it. To enter that way, someone would have had to push it aside. They didn't. Nobody did because there was no intruder.

3:23 Caleb Flynn was arrested three days later, charged with murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence. Bond said at two million. He pleaded not guilty. His attorney said the investigation moved too fast, called it a rush to judgment. On March third, police released body camera footage. You can hear Flynn in those videos calling his mother, calling Ashley's mother, telling them both that someone broke in and shot her, asking about his phone, asking if she's gone playing the part. Last week, the grand jury finished its work. Eleven counts returned against Caleb Flynn. One count of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, three counts of tampering with evidence, and this is the one that stands out. Two misdemeanor counts of intimidation of an attorney, victim, or witness. That last charge is notable. It says someone reached out to someone they shouldn't have from jail. We don't know yet who or what, but that charge doesn't get filed on a whim. Caleb was arraigned Thursday, March nineteenth, Bond raised to three and a half million. Pre trial hearing is set for March thirtieth before Miami County Common Please Judge Janine Pratt. If convicted on aggravated murder, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. His defense attorney called it what defense attorneys call everything, an overreach, said he's looking forward to defending the case. Of course he did.

4:56 What we know about Ashley Flynn thirty seven years old, Tipicanu High School and Lee University graduate. She coached seventh grade girls volleyball at Tippecanu Middle School. Taught at LifeWise Academy, a nonprofit that brings Bible based lessons to public school kids. She was described by her district as someone known for her beautiful smile, warmth and kindness. A GoFundMe for her daughters raised nearly one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars. Her family celebrated what would have been her thirty eighth birthday, eight days after she was killed, with balloons and cupcakes. Her daughters blew them out. Caleb Flynn stood on national television in twenty thirteen and told the world, I absolutely love the Lord. I love my wife more than anything.

5:48 She is very, very pretty. I love her. Someone should have said something, but sometimes the person who should say something is the one who says it on TV. Ashley Flynn was thirty seven years old, a teacher, a coach, a mother. She should be planning her spring season right now. Rest in peace, Ashley coming up A Princeton man stabbed and beat his younger brother to death, removed his eye, and burned the family cat, and a judge just found him not guilty. We'll explain why and why the system actually worked exactly as it was designed to. Let me tell you about a verdict that came down this week in New Jersey that I want to handle carefully because the instinct when you hear the facts is outrage, and then you learn more and the outrage becomes something harder to name. Matthew Hrkin is thirty two years old. He grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, the kind of town you think of when you think of old money and ivy walls. He and his younger brother, Joseph twenty seven, were family who knew each other their whole lives. February twenty second, twenty twenty five, a Saturday night, a third Hrkin's sibling had spent the afternoon with Matthew, picked him up around four thirty, spent time with him, and dropped him back at Joseph's apartment, a unit at the Michelle Muse luxury apartments in the Princeton area. Around ten pm,

7:19 Joseph was home alive. The third sibling saw him Before leaving, That sibling sent a text to Joseph. It said that Matthew was having trouble with his visions and to reach out for help. He also texted Matthew directly just before ten thirty, saying hang in there and inviting him on a hike the next morning. Matthew didn't text back. About an hour later, Matthew Hurkin called nine one one told the dispatcher that his brother was dead on the floor and had been there for approximately thirty to forty minutes. When the dispatcher asked how Joseph was hurt, Matthew said, I'm not going to go into any more details right now.

8:01 Police arrived at the Michelle Muse apartment and found Joseph Hurtkin on the floor in a pool of blood, next to blood covered dinnerware. He had suffered extensive head and body injuries. His right eye appeared to have been cut out. He'd been beaten with a knife and a golf club. The family's pet cat was also found at the scene, beaten, stabbed, and set on fire. Matthew Hurkin's hands were covered in cuts and scratches. He admitted to killing his brother, told his family told, the doctors told the defense said he had been experiencing visions. He was charged with first degree murder, weapons offenses, and third degree animal cruelty. Here is where it gets complicated and important. This week, the case went to a one day bench trial just to judge no jury before Superior Court Judge Robert Lytel in Mercer County.

8:56 One witness took the stand a clinical and forensic psychologist, and that psychologist testified that Matthew Hrtkin had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, that he had been struggling with his mental health since twenty twenty one. And then he said something that the courtroom sat with for a moment. He said that when he evaluated Matthew Hrtgin and reviewed his records, he had quote one of the most severe mental illnesses that this psychologist had ever seen in his career. Here is what is unusual about this case. The prosecution agreed both sides, the state and the defense, presented the same conclusion to the judge. Matthew Hertgin was legally insane at the time he killed his brother, not just mentally ill, legally insane under New Jersey law, meaning he did not understand that what he was doing was wrong. Judge Lytel heard that consensus and rendered his verdict not guilty by reason of insanity. Now I know what some of you are thinking, because it's what most people think when they hear those words. He did it, he admitted it, and he's walking. He is not walking. Matthew Hurkin has been in custody since his arrest. Because the verdict is not guilty by reason of insanity. He will remain in custody through sentencing scheduled for May first, at which point he will be committed to a statemental hospital, not a cell, a psychiatric institution for an indeterminate period, which, given the

10:27 severity of his illness, is described under oath by an expert, is unlikely to end soon. That is not a loophole. That is a system working exactly as it was designed. The insanity defense exists because we as a society have decided that punishment requires moral culpability, that you have to know, actually know that what you're doing is wrong. When someone is so severely ill that reality has collapsed entirely. A prison sentence doesn't deliver Jill justice. It just delivers a cell. Does that make any of this easier? No. Joseph Hurrikin was twenty seven years old. He let his brother into his home. He was someone's son, someone's sibling. The family described him as part of a large and loving extended family.

11:18 The third sibling sent that text said Matthew was having trouble with his visions, told Joseph to reach out, tried to flag it, and yet someone should have said something. Someone tried, it wasn't enough. This is a case about what schizophrenia looks like when it goes untreated, when the visions become indistinguishable from reality, when the person you knew is still standing in front of you but is no longer there. Joseph Herkin was twenty seven years old. He deserved to grow old. He deserved that hike. The next morning, coming up, a pregnant teenager was scheduled to be induced on to Say twenty second, twenty twenty three. She and her boyfriend never showed up. Five days later, they were found shot to death in a car covered in garbage.

12:10 The man accused of their execution is now on trial in San Antonio. December twenty first, twenty twenty three, San Antonio, Texas. Late at night, a twenty two year old man named Matthew Guera and his girlfriend, Savannah Soto, eighteen years old and nine months pregnant, got into their gray Kia Optima together. The next morning, Savannah had a hospital appointment. She was scheduled to be induced. Her baby boy was due. Her family had been told people were coming. The name had been chosen, David. They never made it to the hospital.

12:54 They never made it anywhere. For five days, nobody knew where they were. Savannah's family reported her missing. A statewide clear alert went out on Christmas Day. On December twenty sixth, the day after Christmas, a woman approached a gray Kia Optima parked at a Leon Valley apartment complex. She looked inside. She saw Savannah in the passenger seat dead. Matthew Guero was there too. They had been shot in the head and left. Garbage had been thrown over and around the car, junk like they were trash, like they were nothing. Savannah Soda was laid to rest with her son in her arms. Her family said it that way. They buried her holding David.

13:37 They didn't bury him in her stomach. He was a person, he had a name. He was buried as one. That is where we're starting. Let me tell you about the man now on trial, Christopher Priciato. He was nineteen at the time of the murders. He knew Matthew Gera, not as a friend, but as a dealer. Guera sold marijuana and the two had an arrangement. The night of December twenty first, Savannah and Matthew drove to Priciato's house for a transaction. Prosecutors say that was by design. In opening statements last Tuesday in Begzar County, co prosecutor Melissa Albin told the jury, you're going to hear that they made choices that many of us would not make, but the penalty for those poor choices should not be execution. He executed them, and for no other reason than he needed money and Matthew had a lot of it. The prosecution's theory is straightforward. Pritciado needed cash, Gara had it. Pritciato lured them to his house, shot them both in the head, and then called his father, Ramon Pritciato, to help deal with the aftermath. Ramon, who was not present for the murders, allegedly helped move the bodies and the car. He is charged separately with abuse of a corpse. The gun used in the killings was recovered from the Pritziato family home, specifically from the parents' bedroom closet. Christopher P. Preciado is charged with three counts of capital murder the death of Matthew Gera, the death of Savanna Soto, and the death of their unborn child, David. Under Texas law, an unborn

15:11 child is included in the definition of a person for purposes of capital murder three lives, three counts. The defense, in opening statements, told the jury a different story. Defense attorney Joseph A. Sparza described what he called a chaotic situation, a drug transaction that went wrong, a gun pulled by the dealer, a struggle, and shots fired in the chaos. He said, that's not capital murder. He said his client talk to police, but never confessed. He also pointed the finger at Ramon Priciato, suggesting the father had more involvement than the state is alleging, and that the gun found in the parents' bedroom doesn't belong to Christopher. Then, he told the jury, at the end of this trial, my partner and I will ask you to return a verdict of not guilty after you examine all of the evidence.

16:02 Day two of trial continued Wednesday. Jurors heard from crime scene investigators, a gun residue technician, a detective who worked the case, and a cyber analyst walking through messages from the defendant. Graphic crime scene photographs were shown in court. Family members of Savannah and Matthew were present. They reacted visibly. There is no video evidence of the crime itself, no DNA connecting Christopher to the scene, no blood spatter, no fingerprints, no gunshot residue, at least not according to the defense's preview of what the jury won't see. What there is phone records, messages, the recovered weapon, and the account of what happened that night. The trial is ongoing. We will follow it. Here's what I want to say about Savannah Soto and Matthew Guera before we close this segment. Her brother said that he didn't approve of the relationship, that the family tried to tell her she deserved better, that at her age, love feels like everything. He couldn't separate them.

17:03 He also said, we're bearing her with her baby in her arms. They were not perfect people. They were nineteen and twenty two years old. They were young, they were in love, they were about to have a son, and they drove to someone's house for a transaction, not knowing they were going to die there, not knowing they would sit in that car for five days, covered in garbage, while their families spent Christmas waiting for news. The penalty for poor choices is not execution. Prosecutor Alban said that to the jury, I'm saying it to you. Savannasta was eighteen years old, Matthew Guera was twenty two. Their son David was never given the chance to be anything at all.

17:47 Remember them. I'm Garrett Fisher. Do better.