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Calaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Reed Carter. Friday, September fifth,
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twenty twenty five. Today on Celebrity Trials, an Arkansas father
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takes his fourteen year old daughter to a deer stand
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and shoots her in the head, his motive still a
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complete mystery. A Kentucky cheerleader and beauty queen gives birth
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in secret, stuffs her newborn in a trash bag, hides
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it in her closet, then goes back to homecoming practice
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like nothing happened. And in California, three teenagers playing ding
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Dong ditch met a homeowner who decided doorbell pranks deserve
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the death penalty. He ran them down with his car.
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One didn't survive. Three cases, three different kinds of evil,
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all reminding us that home isn't where the heart is,
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It's where the horror happens. This is Celebrity Trials. Let's
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start in Arkansas, where thirty six year old Aaron Spencer
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just proved that sometimes fathers are the biggest threat to
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their own children. Wednesday evening, Spencer took his fourteen year
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old daughter, Desiree, to a deer stand on private property
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in Johnson County. A deer. Stand you know those elevated
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platforms hunters used to wait for prey. Except Aaron Spencer
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wasn't hunting deer. He was executing his daughter. One shot
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to the head, fourteen years old. Dead. Then, and this
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is where it gets even more twisted. Spencer called nine
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to one to one himself, told dispatch he'd shot his daughter,
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waited for police to arrive, no attempt to flee, no
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attempt to hide the body, just standing there next to
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his murdered child, like he'd finished a chore. When Johnson
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County Sheriff Ricky McConnell arrived, Spencer was calm, cooperative. He
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handed over his weapon, a nine millimeter handgun, showed them
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where Desiree's body was us then got in the patrol
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car without resistance, no explanation, no motive, no emotion. Sheriff
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McConnell told reporters, in thirty one years of law enforcement,
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I've never seen anything like this. A father executing his
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child and then just waiting for us. Here's what we
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know about the Spencers. Aaron worked construction. Desiree was an
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eighth grader at Clarksville Middle School. Teachers describe her as quiet, sweet,
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good student, no disciplinary issues, no signs of trouble at home.
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Neighbors said the family seemed normal, whatever that means anymore.
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The Facebook perfect family strikes again, except this time it
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ended in a deer stand instead of an oil tank.
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The sheriff's office is being tight lipped about motive. They
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won't say if Spencer gave any explanation, won't say if
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there was an argument, won't say if there were any
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warning signs. But here's what haunts me. The deer stand
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wasn't on their property. Spencer drove his daughter somewhere isolated,
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somewhere he knew they wouldn't be interrupted. This wasn't a
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heat of moment crime. This was planned. You don't accidentally
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end up in a deer stand with a loaded gun
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and your teenage daughter. Did he tell her they were
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going hunting? Did she trust daddy right up until the
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moment he pointed the gun at her? Did she have
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time to be scared or was it over before she
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knew what was happening. Fourteen years old, she should be
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worried about high school, not whether her father is going
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to murder her. Spencer's been charged with first degree murder.
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He's being held without bond. His first court appearance is Monday.
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His wife, Desiree's mother, hasn't made any public statements. Can
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you imagine your husband takes your daughter out Wednesday evening
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and she never comes home because he executed her. How
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do you process that level of betrayal. The community is devastated.
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Clarksville Schools brought in counselors. Her classmates are trying to
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understand how Desiree was in school Wednesday morning and dead
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by Wednesday night. There's going to be speculation about motive.
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Was she pregnant? Did she know a secret? Was their abuse?
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But sometimes, and this is what terrifies me, sometimes there's
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no reason that makes sense. Sometimes fathers just decide their
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children need to die. Chris Watts had a mistress, John
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List had financial pressure. What did Aaron Spencer have? What
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makes a father take his baby girl to a deer
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stand and put a bullet in her head? We may
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never know. Spencer's not talking, and Desiree can't tell us
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what her last moments were like fourteen years old, murdered
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by the man who was supposed to protect her from monsters.
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Turns out he was the monster all along. Rest in peace,
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Desiree Spencer, you deserved better than dying in a deer
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stand at your father's hands. Now to Kentucky, where being
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homecoming queen apparently doesn't mean you can't also be a
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baby Killerlacn's Snelling, eighteen, was arrested this week after police
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discovered she'd given birth in secret, allowed her newborn to die,
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then hid the body in a trash bag in her closet,
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all while maintaining her perfect cheerleader facade. This isn't a
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teen mom panic situation. This is calculated concealment of pregnancy,
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birth and death. According to court documents, Snelling gave birth
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alone in her home on August fifteenth, alone, no hospital,
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no midwife, no help, just an eighteen year old beauty
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queen delivering a baby in secret. The baby was born alive.
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Let me repeat that the baby was born alive. The
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medical examiner confirmed the infant took at least one breath.
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This wasn't a stillbirth, This was a living, breathing newborn. Then,
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instead of calling for help, instead of going to a hospital,
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instead of using Kentucky's safe haven law that would have
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allowed her to surrender the baby, no questions asked, Lake,
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and Snell let her baby die. She wrapped the newborn
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in a plastic trash bag, stuffed it in her closet,
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and went back to her life two days later. Two
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days she was at cheerleading practice, preparing for homecoming, posting
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on Instagram about game day, smiling in photos with her squad,
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all while her dead baby decomposed in her bedroom closet.
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For two weeks, this went on the perfect cheerleader by day,
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hiding a corpse by night, until the smell got too
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bad and her parents discovered the horrible truth. When questioned
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by police, Snelling admitted everything. She'd hidden the pregnancy from everyone,
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wore baggy clothes, claimed she was just gaining weight. Even
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her parents didn't know. Her excuse she was scared. She
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didn't want to disappoint anyone. She had a scholarship to
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Western Kentucky University for cheerleading. A baby would ruin everything,
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so murder was the better option. Letting an infant die
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was less disappointing than teen pregnancy. Detective Robert Sweeney testified
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she showed no emotion when describing the baby's death. She
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was more concerned about missing homecoming than the dead infant.
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In her closet. This is what happens when image matters
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more than life, when being the perfect cheerleader is more
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important than being human. Kentucky has a safe haven law.
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She could have walked into any hospital, fire station, or
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police station, handed over the baby, and walked away, no questions,
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no judgment, no criminal charges. Instead, she chose murder because
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God forbid anyone find out the Homecoming Queen got pregnant.
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Snelling's been charged with manslaughter and concealment of a corpse.
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She's out on twenty five thousand dollars bond. Her parents
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posted it immediately, of course they did. Can't have their
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princess in jail. She was in court yesterday and you
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know what, She wore her cheerleading letter jacket to court
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for killing her baby. Like she's still playing the role
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of all American girl while facing charges for letting her
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newborn die in a trash bag. The defense attorney, Marcus Carey,
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is already floating the mental health defense, claiming she suffered
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from pregnancy denial and dissociation, that she wasn't in her
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right mind. Bullshit. She hid the pregnancy for nine months.
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That takes planning. She gave birth alone and stayed quiet
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so no one would hear. That takes determination. She hid
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the body and went to practice. That takes calculation. This
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wasn't mental illness, This was image management that turned murderous.
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Her fellow cheerleaders are standing by her, wearing ribbons at games,
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posting support on social media, prayers for Lakean, we love
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you girl. Do they understand their friend killed a baby,
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or do they just see their squad made in trouble
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and reflexively circle the wagons. That newborn never got a name,
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never got a birth certificate, never got a check ants
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born into the world only to be suffocated and plastic
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and hidden like dirty laundry, all because Laken Snelling cared
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more about her reputation than her baby's life. She faces
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up to ten years if convicted. She'll probably get probation.
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Young white, pretty good family. The justice system loves defendants
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like her. Meanwhile, a baby is dead, a baby who
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could have lived if their mother had walked into any
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emergency room and said, I can't do this, take my baby.
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But that would have made Lacin Snelling look bad, and
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looking bad is worse than being a killer. Apparently, we'll
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be right back with the California case that proves doorbell
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pranks can now get you killed. Finally to Riverside, California,
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where three teenagers learned that some homeowners respond to ding
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dong ditch with attempted murder. January nineteenth, twenty twenty four,
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three sixteen year old boys, Anurag Chandra, Jacob Evascu, and
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Drake Ruiz were doing what teenagers do, being stupid, playing pranks,
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specifically ding dong ditch. You know the game, ring someone's
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doorbell and run. Harmless. Annoying, sure, but harmless unless you
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ring Craig Refugio's doorbell. Refugio, forty seven, heard his doorbell
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ring around ten pm. Nobody was there when he answered.
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The boys had run back to their Toyota Prius and
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were driving away. A normal person would be annoyed, maybe
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yell at them, maybe call their parents if you know them.
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Craig Refugio got in his Nissan Infinity and chased them down,
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not followed. Chased at speeds reaching ninety miles per hour
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through residential streets. When he caught up to the prius,
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he didn't just follow them. He rammed them repeatedly until
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the prius went off the road and slammed into a tree.
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Anurag Chandra, sixteen years old, died on impact. The other
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two boys were hospitalized with serious injuries. Rafugio's defense he
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feared for his family's safety. He thought the boys were
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going to come back and hurt his loved ones. Three
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teenagers in a prius who rang your doorbell and ran
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away were a threat requiring lethal force. This week, Rafugio
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was convicted of murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
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The jury didn't buy his feared for my safety defense
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because there's no universe where ding dong ditch justifies vehicular homicide.
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But here's what really gets me. During the trial, Rafugio
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showed no remorse none. His attorney argued, the boys started
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it by ringing the doorbell. Started it started it their
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children playing a childish prank, and your response is to
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hunt them down and ram their car until someone dies.
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The prosecutor, Samantha Pi Shaw put it perfectly. The defendant
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turned a doorbell ring into a death sentence. He appointed
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himself judge, jury and executioner over a child's prank. Anurag
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Chandra was a straight a student planning to study computer science,
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had his whole life ahead of him, dead because Craig
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Refugio couldn't handle someone ringing his doorbell. Jacob Ivascu testified
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from a wheelchair, still recovering from his injuries. He said
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they were just being stupid kids having fun on a
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Friday night. They never imagined someone would try to kill
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them over it. Drake Ruiz has survivor's guilt, can't sleep,
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keeps reliving the crash, watching his friend die all because
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they played Ding Dong ditch. Refugio faces fifteen years to life.
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He'll probably get the minimum because he's a middle aged
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white homeowner who played the protecting my castle card. But
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this is what stand your ground mentality has created this
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idea that any perceived slight, any minor annoyance, any trivial trespass,
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justifies lethal force. Someone rings your doorbell and runs, hunt
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them down and kill them. Someone's in your driveway, shoot them,
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someone knocks on your door by mistake, Blow them away.
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We've created a society where homeowners think their action heroes
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and teenagers die for being teenagers. Anaag's mother, Rashna Chandra,
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gave a victim impact statement. My son died for ringing
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a doorbell In what world does that make sense? In
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what world is that justice? In Craig Refugio's world, apparently,
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where a doorbell prank is a capital offense and a
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forty seven year old man gets to play executioner. Three
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boys went out to have fun on a Friday night.
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One came home in a body bag, two came home broken,
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all because Craig Refugio decided Ding Dong Ditch deserved the
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death penalty. This is your America, folks, Where fathers execute
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daughters in deer stands, where cheerleaders let babies die to
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protect their image, Where doorbell pranks get you killed. The
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call isn't just coming from inside the house anymore. The
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killer is behind the wheel, chasing you down for the
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crime of being a teenager. That's Celebrity Trials for Friday,
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September fifth. Three cases that prove home is where the
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horror is. Aaron Spencer turned a hunting platform into an
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execution site for his daughter Lake And Snelling turned her
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closet into a tomb for her newborn Craig Refugio turned
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his car into a weapon against teenagers who dared ring
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his doorbell. This weekend, We're examining the two tier justice
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system in America. Saturday, we dive deep into Robert Blake,
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the Barretta star who shot his wife and somehow walked free.
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Sunday we look at a compilation of celebrity violence that
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ended in nothing. Chris Brown nearly killed Rihanna, Mark Wahlberg
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blinded a man in a racist attack, Christian Slater's decade
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of assaults, Nicholas Cage's domestic violence arrests. All got slaps
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on the wrist while regular people get decades for less.
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But Monday, we're back with updates on Donna Addelson's Verdict
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Watch and the kiss and Kill trial in Wisconsin. I'm
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read Carter. This week, we've seen parents murder children, children
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murder parents, and homeowners murder visitors. Makes you wonder if
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the real danger isn't out there in the world, it's
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waiting for you at home. Lock your doors, but remember
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sometimes the monster has a key. Have a safe weekend,
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try not to ring any doorbells, and definitely don't have
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any babies. If you're a cheerleader who cares more about
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homecoming than human life, see you tomorrow.