Jan. 27, 2026

"AU PAIR TRIAL TAKES SHOCKING TURN, OLYMPIC SNOWBOARDER DRUG LORD ARRAIGNED & MOM HELPED SON STRANGLE TEEN GIRLFRIEND"

Show Notes
Transcript

Reid Carter covers bombshell developments in the au pair murder trial as defendant Brendan Banfield prepares to testify - defense claims wife wasn't catfished while prosecution points to 4-year-old daughter asking the au pair "Can I call you mommy now?" Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding was arraigned today in California after FBI captured the Ten Most Wanted fugitive who moved 60 metric tons of cocaine annually and orchestrated multiple murders including a witness shot in the head at a Colombian restaurant. Detroit mother and son bound over for trial after another ex-girlfriend testified son confessed "Mom told me to kill her."

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Caalarogu Shark Media. Three stories converging today, let me tell

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you where we are, Virginia. The O Pair murder trial

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enters a critical phase. Defendant Brendan Banfield will take the

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stand in his own defense, accused of masterminding a plot

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to kill his wife, Christine by luring a stranger to

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their home for a rape fantasy, then framing that stranger

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for Christine's murder, which prosecutors say Banfield committed himself. Defense

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spent two days attacking police investigators and presenting forensic analysis

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claiming Christine wasn't catfished, but the prosecution has a devastating

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piece of evidence, the defendant's four year old daughter asking

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the O Pair can I call you mommy now? California.

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Former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding appears in federal court today.

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He's an FBI ten most Wanted fugitive teen million dollar

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reward arrested Thursday night in Mexico after turning himself in

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at the US Embassy. Accused of running a billion dollar

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cocaine empire that moved sixty metric tons annually through southern California.

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FBI Director Cash Patel called him a modern day el

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Chopo Wedding allegedly ordered multiple murders, including a federal witness

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shot in the head at a Columbian restaurant after Wedding

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posted his photo online so assassins could identify him. And Michigan.

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A mother and son bound over for trial in the

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murder of seventeen year old London Thomas. The victim was

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the son's ex girlfriend. Another ex girlfriend testified that Jalen

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Pendergrass confessed to her his mother told him to kill London.

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He pulled her out of bed, grabbed a belt, and

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choked her until she fell. Then his mother asked a

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friend to transport a sealed plastic bin. Inside that bin

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London's body. I'm reed today a defendant about to testify,

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an Olympic athlete turned drug lord, and a mother who

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allegedly ordered her son to murder his teenage girlfriend. This

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is celebrity trials. Let's start in Fairfax County, Virginia, the

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O pah Affair murder trial of Brendan Banfield. We've been

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following this one since jury selection day seven rapped Friday. Today,

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the defendant takes the stand. Quick recap for those just

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joining us February twenty twenty three Herndon, Virginia. Christine Banfield,

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thirty one years old, stabbed to death in her home.

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Joseph Ryan, a stranger who came to the house for

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a sexual encounter, shot twice dead at the scene. The defendant,

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Brendan Banfield, Christine's husband, called nine one one, claiming he

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shot Ryan because Ryan was attacking his wife, but investigators

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discovered something else. Entirely. Ban had been having an affair

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with Juliana Paris Magglehayes, the family's o pair. Prosecutors say

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Banfield and moggle Hayes created a fake profile on Fetlife,

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a fetish dating website, posing as Christine. They lured Ryan

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to the house under the pretense of fulfilling a rape fantasy.

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Then Banfield shot Ryan, stabbed his own wife to death,

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and tried to frame Ryan as the attacker. Magglheys pleaded

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guilty to manslaughter. She's the prosecution's star witness, testified that

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Banfield masterminded the entire scheme to avoid a divorce and

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the prospect of sharing assets and custody of their four

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year old daughter. The defense says she's lying, says police

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pressured her to flip on Banfield, says the forensic evidence

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proves Christine created the fet life account herself. Day six

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and seven were all about undermining the prosecution's case. Let

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me walk you through what happened. Wednesday. Day six, Defense

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attorney John Carroll continued his attack on the investigation itself,

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called John Patrick Brush, who headed the Major Crimes Unit

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of Fairfax County Police and oversaw the Banfield investigation. Carrol

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grilled Brush about reassigning Brendan Miller, the forensic digital examiner

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who analyzed electronic devices in the case. Miller, you'll recall

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from day five, concluded that Christine Banfield was in control

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of her devices when the Gmail account and fetlife profiles

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were created. His analysis suggested Christine was the one creating accounts,

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not Banfield and Maggil Haynes. The defense argues Miller was

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transferred because his findings didn't fit the prosecution's theory. Brush disagreed.

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Testified he has a master's degree in digital forensics. Himself

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found Miller's conclusion so flawed he barred Miller from performing

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digital analysis on any future major crimes case. Said Miller

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was mistaken in attributing activity to a person rather than

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the device without corroborating evidence. Carrol also questioned Brush about

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transferring the lead detective off the case, about bringing in

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supervisor David Giaccio to report directly to him. Defense suggests

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this was a way to manipulate the investigation toward a

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predetermined conclusion. Jiacho took the stand next. Defense pressed him

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on adopting the catfish theory early and needing Magalaes to

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implicate Banfield. Jiacho testified that her proffer helped fill in blanks,

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but he didn't think they needed her testimony to make

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their case. The blood evidence was significant enough. Then came

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the most damaging testimony of the day. Sally Fayees, director

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of Victim Services for Fairfax County Police. She was part

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of the management team, agreed the catfish theory came up

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in discussions, but on cross examination, she revealed something devastating.

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Fayes testified about an exchange between Banfield's four year old daughter,

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Valerie and Juliana Magalaes. The little girl asked, can I

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call you mommy now? Magalas allegedly responded yes. The girl asked,

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are you going to marry me? My father? Magglheines said,

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I wish let that sink in. Christine Banfield is dead.

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Her four year old daughter is asking the O pair

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if she can call her mommy now, asking if she's

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going to marry daddy, and the O pair says yes,

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And I wish that's not evidence of police pressure, that's

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evidence of motive. Banfield wanted his wife out of the

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picture so he could be with his O pair, and

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his daughter, too young to understand what happened, was already

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being groomed to accept her new mommy. Day seven Thursday,

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Defense called Harry Lidsky, a digital forensic analyst, who testified

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that Christine was not a victim of catfishing. Lidsky's analysis

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focused on timeline gaps. He noted Christine had taken a

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selfie in a bathing suit on January seventeenth, twenty twenty three,

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and shared it with her husband on Facebook. That same

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photo was later downloaded, edited and posted to the Anastasia

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nine fet life account, which was opened the same day.

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But Lydsky argued that based on pattern usage, there were

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no significant gaps during what he claims was Christine's use

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of her laptop to allow for someone else to take

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over her device to do what magalenk says she and

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Banfield did. He pointed to February twentieth, twenty twenty three,

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devices belonging to Banfield and Magalhis were out of the

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house between nine pm and eleven pm. Geolocations put them

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at a gym. Christine's laptop logged into her work website

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at approximately eleven oh seven pm, about twenty four seconds later,

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activity on fetlife. We've gone from activity unrelated to the

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scheme to activity central to the scheme in a twenty

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four second window, Lidsky told the jury translation Christine couldn't

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have been catfished because she was actively using her laptop

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when the fetlife activity occurred, no time for Banfield to

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take over. The defense also called Nick Barrero, a forensic

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audio visual expert. He analyzed the nine to one one call,

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specifically a one point five second audio segment where the

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prosecution contends Joseph Ryan is groaning after being shot. Defense argues,

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it's not Ryan groening, it's the Banfield's dog, Lily. Barrero

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was asked to compare the sound to an exemplar recording

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of the dog. But here's the problem. The dog exemplar

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was recorded by Banfield's mother, who's been excluded from the

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courtroom because she's on the government's witness list. Prosecutor challenged

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the foundation for the comparison, so Barrero didn't complete his testimony.

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He'll return to the stand. Finally, during the charge conference Friday,

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defense attorney Carol announced his client would testify. Brendan Banfield

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will take the stand in his own defense. This is

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a massive gamble. Defendants rarely testify because it opens them

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to cross examination. Prosecutors can tear apart their story, but

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Banfield apparently believes he can convince the jury. What's his

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story going to be? Presumably that he came home found

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Ryan attacking his wife, shot Ryan in self defense, and

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Christine died from wounds Ryan inflicted. But that story has problems.

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Magglhai's testified she saw Banfield stab Christine multiple times. Blood

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evidence shows cast off patterns consistent with a bloody object

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in motion. DNA on the knife belonged to Christine. Magglhi's

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testified she shot Ryan in the chest after Banfield shot

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him in the head. If Banfield's story is that he's

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an innocent man who saved his wife from an attacker,

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he has to explain why his O pair lover confessed

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to participating in a murder plot, why his wife's blood

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was on his genes, why there's evidence suggesting bodies were

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manipulated after death. Why his four year old daughter was

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asking the O pair if she could call her Mommy

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prediction guilty. Banfield created the scheme, lured, Ryan killed, Christine,

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tried to frame a dead man. The forensic evidence and

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Magales's testimony are overwhelming, but we'll see what he says

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on the stage, and cross examination should be brutal. Christine

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Banfield was thirty one years old, mother, wife, daughter. She

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trusted her husband, trusted the OU pair helping raise her daughter.

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Both of them allegedly conspired to murder her. Rest in peace, Christine.

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Someone has to say your name. We'll be right back

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with the Olympic snowboarder turned cocaine kingpin FBI's ten most

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wanted sixty metric tons of cocaine, multiple murders, and today

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he faces a federal judge. Welcome back to celebrity trials.

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I'm reed Carter, Ontario, California Federal Court. Today, Ryan James

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Wedding makes his first appearance before a federal judge if

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you missed the news. Wedding, forty four years old Canadian

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citizen was arrested Thursday night after turning himself in at

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the US Embassy in Mexico City. Ten most wanted fugitive

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fifteen million dollar reward flown to California. Friday morning. FBI

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director Cash Patel held a press conference in Ontario called

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Wedding a modern day El Chapo said he's a modern

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day Pablo Escobar who thought he could evade justice. So

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who is Ryan Wedding? February two thousand and two, Salt

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Lake City, Utah, Winter Olympics. Twenty year old Ryan Wedding

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competes for Canada in the men's parallel giant slalom snowboarding event.

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Finishes twenty fourth, not a metal contender, but still an Olympian,

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representing his country on the world stage. His grandparents owned

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a ski resort in thunder Bay, Ontario. His uncle coached

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the Canadian women's national alpine ski team. His father was

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an engineer and competitive skier. Ryan was raised on the slopes,

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won the first snowboarding race he ever entered. Made the

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Canadian national ski team at fifteen, bronze medal at the

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nineteen ninety nine Junior World Championship silver. In two thousand

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and one, after the Olympics, Wedding moved back to Vancouver,

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attended Simon Fraser University, got interested in bodybuilding, started working

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as a bouncer. After two years, dropped out of college.

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Here's where the story turns dark. Wedding started speculating in

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real estate, financed it by growing marijuana at a warehouse

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called eighteen Carrot Farms. In two thousand and six, Royal

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Canadian Mounted Police raided the property, found a shotgun, ammunition,

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and ten million dollars worth of cannabis. But that was

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just the beginning. Wedding traveled to San Diego with two

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other men to buy cocaine. The dealer they met was

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working under cover for the FBI. Wedding was arrested, found

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guilty of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in November two thousand

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and nine, sentenced to forty eight months in federal prison,

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released December twenty eleven. Most people would learn their lesson,

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Wedding didn't, according to federal prosecutors. After his release, Wedding

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founded a transnational criminal enterprise worked under the protection of

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the Sineloa cartel in Mexico became the largest supplier of

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cocaine to Canada. Here's the scale, sixty metric tons of

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cocaine annually. That's one hundred thirty two thousand pounds every year,

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moving from Columbia through Mexico to southern California, then up

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to Canada using long haul semi trucks. Weddings aliases tell

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you what kind of operation he was running. El hefe

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giant public Enemy James Conrad King. October twenty twenty four,

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Wedding was charged in federal court with running a continuing

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criminal enterprise, murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to distribute cocaine,

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part of an investigation called Operation Giant Slalom. Sixteen people

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charged initially. The murder charges are horrific. November twenty twenty three,

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Wedding allegedly ordered the killings of Jogtar Sidu fifty seven

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years old and his wife, Harbad jhn Sidu, fifty five,

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a married couple murdered in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment.

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May twenty twenty four. Mohammed Zafar, thirty nine years old,

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killed over a drug debt. April twenty twenty four, co

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defendant Andrew Clark allegedly ordered the murder of Randy Fader,

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twenty nine years old, but the most brazen killing came

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in January twenty twenty five. Wedding wanted to avoid extradition

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to the United States. There was a witness who could

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testify against him. Wedding's solution have the witness killed. According

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to the superseding indictment, Wedding and co conspirators used a

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Canadian website called The Dirty News to post a photograph

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of the witness, posted it publicly so assassins could identify him.

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The witness was then followed to a restaurant in Medeleine, Columbia,

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shot in the head murder as a method of witness intimidation,

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that's cartel behavior, that's El Chopo behavior, and the FBI

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says that's Ryan Wedding behavior. March twenty twenty five, Wedding

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was added to the FBI's ten Most Wanted Fugitives list,

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the five hundred thirty fifth person ever added to that list. Reward,

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initially set at ten million dollars, increased to fifteen million

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in November after the witness murder. Charges for over a decade,

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Wedding allegedly hid in Mexico under Sineloa cartel protection. The FBI,

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dea Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and authorities in Colombia and

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the Dominican Republic worked for more than a year to

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track him down. Then Thursday night, January twenty second, Wedding

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walked into the US Embassy in Mexico City turned himself in.

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Why pressure from law enforcement Mexican cooperation with American authorities,

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maybe Wedding realized running was no longer an option. Attorney

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General Pambondie said Wedding was flown to the United States,

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where he will face justice. Akil Davis, Assistant Director in

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charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said Weddings

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organization tormented several people and several families that will never

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be the same, but today they get the justice that

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they sought. So far, authorities have arrested thirty six people

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for their alleged roles in Wedding's criminal organization. Last November,

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ten more defendants were arrested, including one of Wedding's attorneys,

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a Regaeton musician, and the operator of a gangland news website.

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What does Wedding face if convicted running a continuing criminal enterprise.

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Mandatory life in prison. Murder charges mandatory minimum twenty years each.

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Drug trafficking charges, mandatory minimum ten to fifteen years. Ryan

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Wedding went from Olympic athlete to cocaine kingpin, from competing

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for his country to ordering murders from Mexico, from the

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slopes of Salt Lake City to the FBI's most wanted list. Today,

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he faces a federal judge. Eventually he'll face a jury,

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and unless something unexpected happens, he'll spend the rest of

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his life in federal prison. FBI Director Patel put it bluntly,

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the former Canadian snowboarder unleashed an avalanche of death and

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destruction here and abroad. Jagtarcidu was fifty seven. Harbajansidhu was

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fifty five, Mohammed Zafar was thirty nine, Randy Fader was

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twenty nine. The witness in Columbia whose name we may

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never know, real people, real families, all allegedly killed because

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Ryan Wedding wanted to protect his cocaine empire. Make it

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make sense. An Olympian, someone who stood on the world stage,

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and he chose to become a drug lord who orders murders.

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Some people can't be rehabilitated. Some people are just evil.

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Coming up. A mother and son bound over for trial

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in Detroit. The victim was seventeen years old. The sons

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ex girlfriend testified he confessed mom told me to kill her.

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Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm reed Carter, Detroit, Michigan.

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A mother and son will stand trial for the murder

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of seventeen year old London Thomas Friday. Judge Sabrina Johnson

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bound over Jalen Pendergrass twenty four and his mother, Charlotte Pendergrass,

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forty nine, on charges of first degree murder, felony murder,

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unlawful imprisonment, and tampering with evidence. The upgrade from second

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degree to first degree murder came after devastating testimony at

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the preliminary hearing. Let me tell you what prosecutors presented.

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April fifth, twenty twenty five, around four a m. London

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Thomas is dropped off at her boyfriend Jalen Pendergrass's house

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in Inkster. Her sister, Jayla Hatcher testified she drove London.

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There was the last time anyone in London's family saw

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her alive. The relationship between London and Jalen had allegedly

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ended by the time she arrived at the house that morning,

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but she went anyway, maybe to talk, maybe to get closure,

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maybe for reasons we'll never know. Within hours, something terrible

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happened in that house. April sixth, London's mother reported her

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missing to Detroit police when she didn't come home. The

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Inkster Police Department had already gotten a report from London's sister.

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Multiple agencies started investigating Inkster p D, Detroit p D, FBI,

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Michigan State Police. For three weeks, London was missing, her

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family desperate for answers. Her grandmother, Justina Martin, said she

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couldn't sleep. I've been praying for justice. I miss her

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so much. I missed talking to my grandbaby because she

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always called me and was like, Grandma, I love you.

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April twenty sixth, a tip came in. A male friend

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of Charlotte Pendergrass contacted Inkster police. What he told them

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blew the case open. The friend said. Charlotte called him

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on April seventh, two days after London disappeared, asked him

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to transport a sealed plastic bin with unknown contents. He agreed.

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On April eleventh, he placed the bin in an suv

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parked at a house on Millard Street in Southfield. The

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friend never asked what was inside, never opened it, just

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did what Charla asked. Later, Charlot called again, told him

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to get rid of it, burn it, but he didn't.

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When the friend began to suspect what might be inside,

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he contacted police through a lawyer. Michigan State Police, FBI

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and Detroit Police responded to the Millard Street address, found

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the suv, found the plastic bin, opened it inside. London Thomas,

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seventeen years old, tied up, bruised, dead for weeks. Medical

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examiner determined cause of death asphyxia. Manner of death homicide.

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Let me paint you the picture. A seventeen year old

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girl goes to her boyfriend's house. She's murdered. Her body

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is placed in a plastic bin. The boyfriend's mother asks

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a friend to transport the bin. The body sits in

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an suv in Southfield for two weeks while London's family

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searches desperately for her. Initially, both Pendergrasses were charged with

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second degree murder, but at the preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented

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evidence that warranted the upgrade to first degree. The key

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witness Lenijah Wilkerson, another former girlfriend of Jalen Pendergrass. Wilkerson

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testified that Jalen confessed to her, sent her specific song lyrics,

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then told her what happened. The prosecutor asked, did he

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tell you she, referring to Charla, told him to do

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anything else. Wilkerson's answer to kill her. She continued, He

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told me that he pulled her out the bed, He

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stood her up, grabbed at and choked her until she fell.

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A mother telling her son to kill his girlfriend, the

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son obeying, using a belt to strangle a seventeen year

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old girl, putting her body in a plastic bin, asking

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friends to dispose of it. The call is coming from

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inside the house. Wilkerson didn't come forward with the alleged

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confessions until October, which is when both Pendergrasses were charged.

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Defense attorneys challenged her credibility, noted she testified that both

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she and Jalen were under the influence during the alleged confession.

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Attorney Terry L. Johnson argued the autopsy didn't support her story,

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but judge Johnson found the evidence sufficient to bind them

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over for trial on the upgraded charges. Another witness, the

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friend who transported the bin, testified that Charla gave him

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the tote containing London's body and asked him to hold it,

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then to burn it. DNA evidence allegedly shows Jalen's DNA

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on the handles of the bin. London's stepfather, Darnell Johnson,

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was in the court room, said everything shocked me, how

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the story unfolded, what they did to her. It's crazy.

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How can you do that to a child when you're

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a mother yourself. It's sickening to believe somebody's parent can

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be that evil. That's the question, isn't it. How does

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a mother order her son to kill his girlfriend. How

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does she help dispose of the body. How does she

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call a friend and casually ask him to transport a

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sealed bin containing a dead teenager. Some people just can't

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be rehabilitated. Some people are just evil. The defense maintains innocence.

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Jalen's attorney, Adam Clement, said, while it seems so many

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have rested judgment and already arrived at the conclusion that

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he is responsible and that he's the killer, I hope

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people will let the evidence play itself out and respect

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the process. Charlott's attorney, Terry L. Johnson, sounds like the

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same recycled case from April when they couldn't prove anything then,

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and I don't believe they will be able to prove

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anything now. We've gone through this twice. We started out

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in this court, it was dismissed. We went out to Romulus,

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it was dismissed. He's right that earlier charges were dismissed.

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Charla was charged with lying to a peace officer, but

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the charge was dropped because she allegedly lied to FBI agents,

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and federal agents don't meet Michigan's definition of peace officers technicality.

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But this time the charges are murder, first degree murder.

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The evidence includes a confession to another ex girlfriend, DNA

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on the bin, the timeline, the witnesses. Jalen Pendergrass remains

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in custody without bond. Charlotte Pendergrass has a five million

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dollar cash bond. London Thomas was seventeen years old, a daughter,

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a granddaughter, a sister. She went to see her boyfriend

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at four am and never came home. Her grandmother said

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it best I want justice for my granddaughter. I want

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them to get the max maximum penalty they can get

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if convicted of first degree murder. Both Pendergrass's face life

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in prison without parole. London. Thomas was seventeen, should be

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graduating high school this year, should be applying to colleges,

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should be planning her future. Instead, she's gone and her

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boyfriend and his mother allegedly put her in a plastic

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bin and asked someone to burn it. Rest in peace, London.

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Someone has to say your name. That's celebrity trials for Tuesday,

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January twenty seventh, twenty twenty six. O Pair murder trial

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enters critical phase. Defendant Brendan Banfield will testify in his

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own defense after two days of forensic testimony. Prosecution's best

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evidence may be a four year old asking the O

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Pair can I call you mommy now? Olympic snowboarder Ryan

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Wedding arraigned today in federal court. FBI's most wanted fugitive

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turned himself in Thursday, accused of running sixty metric ton

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cocaine operation and ordering multiple murders, including a witness shot

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in head at Columbian restaurant and mother son duo bound

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over for first degree murder trial in Detroit. Jalen Pendergrass

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allegedly confessed he strangled seventeen year old London Thomas with

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a belt after his mother told him to kill her.

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Body found in plastic bin after three weeks. I'm reed,

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Carter tomorrow. Updates on all three cases and whatever else breaks.

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This is celebrity trials.