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Callaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Red Carter. Monday, December first,
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twenty twenty five. Courts are back open. The Thanksgiving break
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is over and the cases are piling up. Before we
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dive in a question for our listeners. The past two
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weeks we've been doing Classic Trials while the courts were closed.
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dB Cooper, Andrea Yates, Ted Bundy, the Manson Family. You
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seem to enjoy it, so we want to know do
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you want more Classic Trials or do you prefer the
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live coverage of breaking cases. Go to our Facebook page
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just search Celebrity trials and join the conversation. Vote tell
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us what you want to hear. We're building this show
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for you. Also, mark your calendars. End of the month,
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we're counting down the top ten trials of twenty twenty five. Diddy,
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Luigi Mangio, the cases that defined the year. It's going
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to be a wild ride, but today back to the
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daily grind. Three cases you need to know about. First,
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a Florida teenager found dead on a carnival cruise ship.
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Anna Kepner, eighteen years old, high school cheerleader on a
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family vacation. Her grandmother said good night to her in
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the casino. Next morning, Anna's body was found concealed under
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the bed in her cabin. Death certificate just released mechanical
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asphyxiation homicide, and her sixteen year old stepbrother has been
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identified as a suspect. Second, a former Marine Corps recruiter
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sentenced to prison for breaking into a Michigan home with
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the intent to kill everyone inside. Ricardo Castillo told police
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he wanted to murder the entire family, found an eleven
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year old girl at a sleepover, attacked her, planned to
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sexually assault her corpse. The judge called it a real
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life horror movie. He got two hundred and twenty five months.
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And Third, the David Burke case just escalatedmatically the singer
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known as David with a four whose tesla was found
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with fourteen year old Celeste Revas decomposing in the trunk.
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A grand jury has been convened. LAPD detective filed a
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court document calling this a murder investigation. Autopsy records have
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been sealed and police confirmed David travel to Santa Barbara
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and Spring twenty twenty five. The significance still under investigation.
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I'm reed, Carter, the courts are open. Justice is back
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in session. This is celebrity trials. Let's start with the
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cruise ship death. Anna Kepner, eighteen years old high school
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cheerleader from Florida's Space Coast set to graduate next year,
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had her whole life ahead of her. November seventh, twenty
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twenty five, Anna was on a family vacation aboard the
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Carnival Horizon. The ship had sailed from Miami, cruising the
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Western Caribbean with stops in Cosamel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica.
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Anna was traveling with her father, her stepmother, her stepmother's
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two children, and her grandparents blended family holiday trip. The
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night before she died, Anna spent time with her grandparents
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in the ship's casino. Her grandmother, Barbara Kepner, remembers the
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last thing Anna said to her mema, I love you guys,
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I'll see you later. They never saw her again. The
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next morning, November seventh, a medical alert blared over the
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ship's broadcast system. First Responders were directed to the cabin
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Anna was sharing with two other teenagers, including her sixteen
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year old stepbrother. A room attendant found Anna's body concealed
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under the bed. Her grandmother, Barbara was there when the
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news came I just screamed, she told ABC News, I
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couldn't stop screaming. For weeks, the case remained shrouded in mystery.
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The FBI, which has jurisdiction over crimes in international waters,
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refused to release any information. The medical Examiner's office stayed silent.
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Everyone was waiting. This week we got answers. ABC News
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obtained a copy of Anna Kepner's death certificate cause of
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death mechanical asphyxia, manner of death homicide. The certificate states
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Anna was mechanically asphyxiated by other person or persons. Let
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me explain what that means. Mechanical asphyxia is when an
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object or physical force stops someone from breathing. According to
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Stephen Nelson, a chief medical examiner in Central Florida who
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reviewed the certificate, in some way, shape or form, your
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airway has been cut off. This includes strangulation, smothering, chest compression.
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Something or someone prevented Anna Kepner from breathing until she died. Nelson,
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who is not involved in the case, called the death
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highly high suspicious, and he pointed to one detail in particular,
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the body was concealed under the bed. The concealment part
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alone is very troubling, Nelson said. Anna Kepner was killed,
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then her body was hidden. Someone didn't want her found.
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Now here's where it gets darker. Court documents filed in
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an ongoing custody dispute have identified Anna's sixteen year old
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stepbrother as a suspect in her death. The disclosures came
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from motions filed by his parents, offering the clearest public
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indication that federal investigators are looking at a member of
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Anna's own blended family. The call is coming from inside
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the house, or in this case, inside the cabin. Anna's
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family has been told that preliminary information indicates no signs
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of sexual assault, no drugs or alcohol in her system.
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This wasn't a party gone wrong. This wasn't a stranger attack.
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This was something else entirely. The ship returned to Port
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Miami on November eighth, as scheduled. Anna's time of death
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was listed as eleven seventeen am on November seventh. No
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charges have been filed. Nearly three weeks have passed, but
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maritime lawyers say that's not unusual for deaths in international waters.
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When I've had international marine deaths deaths on a vessel
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in the high seas. It can take quite some time
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to get the final autopsy reports, said Houston attorney Marcus Spanioletti.
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It's not unusual. The challenges are significant. Cruise ships are
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registered in one country but travel through many others. Passengers
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and crew come from around the world. Determining who has
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jurisdiction is complicated, and the crime scene floats away literally
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before investigators can fully secure it. You have a short
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amount of time to do the best you can to
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solve this case or collect all the evidence you need.
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FBI Special Agent Matt Parker has said, and then your
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crime scene leaves. The carnival horizon is bad at sea
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right now, carrying new passengers, new families, while Anna Kepner's
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family waits for answers. Anna Kepner was eighteen years old, cheerleader, daughter, granddaughter,
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should be finishing her senior year of high school, should
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be planning for prom, should be applying to colleges, should
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be alive. Instead, she was mechanically asphyxiated on a family
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cruise and found concealed under a bed, and her stepbrother,
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a sixteen year old member of her own blended family,
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is a suspect. The call is coming from inside the house.
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Rest in peace, Anna, someone has to say your name.
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We'll be right back with a former Marine Corps recruiter
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who told police he wanted to kill an entire family
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and what he planned to do to an eleven year
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old girl's body after she was dead. Welcome back to
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celebrity trials. I'm Reed Carter. June fifteenth, twenty twenty four,
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Plainfield Township, Michigan three. Am Ricardo Castillo, twenty five years old,
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breaks into a home. He's not there to rob anyone.
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He's not there because of a grudge. He doesn't know
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the family inside. He's there to kill them, all of them.
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Castillo later told police he broke into the home with
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the aim of killing everyone inside. His words admitted to investigators.
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Surveillance cameras captured what happened next. Castillo entered the home,
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took off his shoes, his socks, his pants, then walked
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to the kitchen, still wearing only underwear and a T shirt,
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and grabbed a knife from a drawer. He went upstairs
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looking for bedrooms, looking for victims. The first few doors
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he tried were locked. Then he found the master bedroom unlocked,
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husband and wife sleeping in sid Castillo told police he
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decided to quietly close the door and look for an
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easier target. Easier target let that sink in. He bypassed
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the adults because he wanted someone more vulnerable. He found her,
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an eleven year old girl sleeping at the house for
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a sleepover with the homeowner's daughter. Castillo told investigators what
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he planned to do. Kill the girl, then sexually assault
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her corpse. He took off his underwear, got on top
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of her, and started stabbing. The girl's screams saved her life.
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They woke the other people in the house. Castillo stopped
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the attack. Minutes later, a nine to one one caller
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reported that a man covered in blood was being held
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at gunpoint in a child's bedroom. Deputies arrived and found
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Castillo still in the room, bloody knife next to him,
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the eleven year old girl with stab wounds to her
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shoulder and arm. She survived required surgery, but she survived.
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Castillo was charged with assault with intent to murder, first
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degree home invasion, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct,
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and carrying a weapon with unlawful intent. Also a separate
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charge for an illegal entry incident in nearby Rockford hours earlier,
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meaning this wasn't even his first crime. That night. At
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his initial court appearance, Kent County under Sheriff Brian Muir
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called Castillo a monster. The judge set bail at two
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million dollars cash. Only this is as big as it gets,
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said Judge Sarah Smolensky. It's as scary as it gets,
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it's as horrific as it gets, and it puts all
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of us in a fear zone like no other. Here's
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the detail that makes this even more disturbing. Castillo's job.
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My job is a Marine Corps recruiter for the Marines,
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Castillo told the judge at his first court appearance. A
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Marine Corps recruiter, the person communities trust to guide young
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people towards service. The person who visits high schools to
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talks to parents, represents the United States military. And he
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broke into a home to murder a family and rape
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a child's corpse. November twenty sixth, twenty twenty five, sentencing day,
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Castillo pleaded no contest to the charges. Judge Christina Mims
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called the case a real life horror movie. Prosecutors read
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a statement from the eleven year old victim. I never
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would have guessed an innocent sleepover would have left me
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in the hospital. She said. I remember being in a
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lot of pain on the floor. I remember seeing all
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of my blood everywhere. I remember feeling warm running down
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my body from the blood. I remember the smell of it.
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I can still feel the sting of the pain. Eleven
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years old, had a sleepover, and now she carries those
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memories forever. Castillo offered a brief statement, I'm not trying
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to justify myself. I just want to ask for forgiveness
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from the bottom of my heart. I ask for forgiveness.
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I know I don't deserve it. His attorney said Castillo
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was intoxicated the night of the incident, that he's pledged
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to forego alcohol for the rest of his life. Make
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it make sense. Alcohol made you break into a stranger's home,
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strip naked, grab a knife, hunt for the most vulnerable victim,
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and plan to sexually assault a dead child. That's not alcohol,
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that's evil. Judgemm sentenced Ricardo Castillo to two hundred twenty
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five months to forty years in prison for assault with
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intent to murder, plus seven to twenty years for home invasion,
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and one point five to five years for criminal sexual contact.
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Sentences to run concurrently, two hundred and twenty five months
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is almost nineteen years before he's even eligible for parole.
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He'll be in his mid forties before he sees freedom again.
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Not long enough. Some people can't be rehabilitated. Some people
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are just evil. The eleven year old victim is alive, recovering,
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scarred forever by what a stranger did to her while
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she slept at a friend's house. Lock your doors, check
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the locks on your children's bedrooms, because monsters like Ricardo
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Castillo are out there and they're looking for easier targets. Finally, today,
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a major escalation in the David Burke case. You remember this.
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One September eighth, twenty twenty five, workers at a Hollywood
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impound lot notice a tesla emanating a foul odor, attracting flies.
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They call police officers open the trunk inside the decomposing
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body of fourteen year old Celeste Revas Hernandez in a
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black garbage bag. The remains were so deteriorated it took
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over a week to identify her. The tesla was registered
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to twenty year old singer David Burke, stage name spelled
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D four VD but pronounced David. He was on a
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world tour promoting his debut album Withered, when the body
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was found. His most famous song romantic homicide. You can't
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make this up. For weeks, the LAPD refused to call
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this a homicide. Medical examiners couldn't determine cause of death
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because the remains were so decomposed. Police said it was
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unclear if any crime was committed beyond concealing a body,
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which is just a misdemeanor in California. That's changed multiple
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developments this week. First, LAPD Detective Joshua Byers, a veteran
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of the Elite Robbery Homicide Division, filed a court declaration
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Friday describing the investigation as quote an investigation into murder murder,
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not death investigation murder. Second, the Los Angeles County District
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Attorney has begun presenting evidence to an investigative grand jury.
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According to the Los Angeles Times, the grand jury was
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in session for several days in mid November. Sources say
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Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman is leading the presentation. An
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investigative grand jury is used to develop evidence and determine
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whether charges should be brought. This is a major escalation
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prosecutors don't convene grand juries unless they're building towards something. Third,
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the medical examiner's records have been sealed by court order.
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No cause of death, no manner of death, no autopsy report,
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nothing released until further notice. Detective Buyers requested the seal
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to ensure investigators learned critical information before the media and public.
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The judge granted it. Fourth, David Burke has officially been
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named a suspect. LAPD sources confirmed this to NBC News
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last week, and despite earlier claims from his representatives that
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he was fully cooperating, police now say that's not true.
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He has not been cooperating, an LAPD source with direct
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knowledge of the investigation told NBC four. Fifth, police confirmed
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David Burke traveled to Santa Barbara County sometime in spring
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twenty twenty five. The significance of that trip is still
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under investigation. Celeste Reevas went missing from Lake Elsinore on
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April fifth, twenty twenty four, over a year before her
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body was found, and here's what police are disputing. Earlier
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media reports claimed Celeste's body was frozen and decapitated. LAPD
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Captain Scott Williams, commanding officer of Robbery Homicide Division, says
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that's not true. Celeste's body was not frozen, she was