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Caaleroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm read Carter. Thursday, September
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twenty fifth, twenty twenty five. Today on Celebrity Trials, Ryan
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Ruth was convicted of trying to assassinate Donald Trump, then
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tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen
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right there in the courtroom, his daughter screaming, oh my god,
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he's trying to kill himself as Marshall's tackled him. Dakota
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Van Patten is on trial for machetting his girlfriend to death,
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and the medical examiner just revealed she might have been
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pregnant because apparently regular murder wasn't horrible enough. Jose Sodo
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Escalera has been convicted of murdering his pregnant mistress with
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an electrical cord she paid for herself. The jury deliberated
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for forty seven minutes that includes bathroom breaks. Plus tomorrow
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starts our eight days of O. J. Simpson, the trial
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that taught America that with enough money and fame, you
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can literally get away with murder. This is Celebrity Trials.
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Ryan Ruth was convicted Tuesday of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump.
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The jury deliberated for less than three hours, but that's
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not the headline. The headline is what happened when they
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read the verdict. Fort Pierce, Florida Federal Court Judge Aileen Cannon,
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presiding the jury foreman, stands and reads guilty on all
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counts attempted assassination of a president, guilty, assaulting a federal
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officer guilty, possession of a firearm as a felon guilty.
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Courtroom sketch artist Lothar Spear was in the front row.
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He said Ruth showed no emotion as the verdict was read, stonefaced, accepting.
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Then suddenly chaos. Ruth's daughter Sarah screamed from behind, Oh
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my god, he's trying to kill himself. He's trying to
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kill himself. Someone stop him, please. Fifty nine years old
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had grabbed a pen and was trying to stab himself
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in the neck in open court, in front of his daughter,
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in front of the judge, in front of everyone. US
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marshals tackled him immediately dragged him out the side entrance.
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When they brought him back, he was in full shackles,
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no blood. According to witnesses. They stopped him in time,
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but the attempt was real. His daughter, Sarah yelled out
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as they dragged him back. I love you and we
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will get you out. Don't worry. She was then escorted
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from the courtroom. Get him out. He was just convicted
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of trying to kill a president. He's facing life in prison.
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There is no getting out. But let me back up
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and tell you how we got here. Because Ryan Ruth's
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path to that courtroom suicide attempt is a story of obsession, stalking,
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and the delusion that political violence is patriotism. September fifteenth,
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twenty twenty four, Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach.
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Trump is playing his usual Sunday round. What he did
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He doesn't know is that Ryan Ruth has been there
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since four am, creating what prosecutors called a sniper's nest
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near the sixth Green. Ruth had been stalking Trump for weeks.
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FBI agent Kimberly McGreevy testified that cell phone data showed
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Ruth in the vicinity of the golf club repeatedly on
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September second. He was there for sixteen hours starting at
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four am. Sixteen hours sitting waiting, planning. His Google searches
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tell the story of pre meditation. Trump's upcoming rallies. Palm beach,
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traffic cameras, directions to Miami Airport, flights to Mexico, hospitals
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in the area, how to make a tourniquet. He expected
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to be shot, He expected to need medical care. He
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expected to flee to Mexico. This wasn't impulse. This was
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a plan. The most heartbreaking evidence. At twelve fifty five
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pm on September fifteenth, less than an hour before Secret
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Service spotted his rifle barrel, Ruth texted his children. To
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his daughter Sarah, love you so much. You are the
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best daughter. To his son Adam, you are so awesome, dude,
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love you so much. To his son orin love you
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so much, man, you are so brilliant. Or an alarmed
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texted back, love you too, Dad. What's up? Everything all right?
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Ruth never responded. He was too busy setting up to
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assassinate the former president. Secret Service spotted his rifle barrel
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poking through the fence at one thirty one pm. They
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opened fire. Ruth fled, leaving behind his SKS rifle, two backpacks,
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and a go pro camera he'd been using to record
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his crime. Tommy McGhee, a witness, saw a frantic and
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disheveled man fleeing the scene. McGhee followed him, took pictures
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of his black Nissanics Terra, wrote down the license plate
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and called nine to one one. Forty five minutes later,
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Ruth was arrested on a ninety five heading north. During
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cross examination at trial, Ruth told McGee you're a good man.
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You're my hero. You're an American hero, the man who
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tried to assassinate a president calling the man who caught
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him a hero. The irony was lost on Ruth. Here's
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the truly insane part. Ruth represented himself at trial, no lawyer,
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just him trying to convince a jury he didn't intend
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to kill Trump, despite creating a sniper's nest and waiting
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with a rifle. His closing argument was delusional. If the
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attempted assassination was not taken, it is not an attempt.
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He told the jury there was no intent. Judge Cannon
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had to interrupt him ten times for veering outside the
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bounds of evidence. He called three witnesses in his defense,
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two friends who accomplished nothing, and a former Marine sniper
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who testified the SKS rifle found at the scene was
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prone to jamming, as if a jamming rifle means you
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didn't intend to use it. Prosecutor Chris Brown's closing was simple.
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Even though he didn't kill Trump, he wanted to. The
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evidence was overwhelming, the stalking, the preparation, the goodbye texts,
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the sniper's nest, the rifle. The jury took less than
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three hours for a two week trial with thirty eight
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prosecution witnesses and hundreds of exhibits. Three hours is nothing.
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They knew he was guilty. Everyone knew he was guilty.
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Even Ruth knew he was guilty. After the trial, his
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daughter Sarah told CNN, it's obviously all rigged and it's
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all bullshit rigged. Her father was caught with a rifle
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at Trump's golf course after stalking him for weeks. That's
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not rigged, that's caught. Trump posted on truth Social This
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was an evil man with an evil intention, and they
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caught him for once. Trump's assessment is completely accurate. Ruth
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will be sentenced December eighteenth by Judge Cannon. He faces
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life in prison at fifty nine. That means dying in
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federal custody. But he almost denied the government that satisfaction
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with a pen to his neck. Think about that he
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tried to kill Trump to make a political statement, failed,
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then tried to kill himself to avoid consequences. Failed at
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that too. Ryan Ruth is a failure at everything, including dying.
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His children will visit him in federal prison for the
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next few decades, remembering those final texts, love you so much,
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the last free words of a father who chose political
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violence over his family. Ryan Ruth wanted to be remembered
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as a patriot who saved America from Trump. Instead, he'll
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be remembered as the guy who tried to stab himself
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with a pen when the jury told him what everyone
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already knew. He's guilty. Now to Iowa, where Dakota of
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Van Patten's trial for machetting his girlfriend to death has
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taken an even darker turn. The medical examiner testified yesterday
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that Melody Hoffman might have been pregnant when Van Patten
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hacked her to death in their apartment. Let me set
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this scene of absolute horror. March fifteenth, twenty twenty five, Waterloo, Iowa.
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Neighbors hear screaming from Apartment four B, not arguing, not yelling,
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screaming the kind that makes you call nine one one
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immediately police arrived to find Melody Hoffman twenty three dead
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in the living room. But this wasn't just murder, this
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was butchery. She had seventeen machete wounds. Seventeen defensive wounds
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on her hands and arms showed she fought desperately. She
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was literally trying to grab the blade to stop him.
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Dakota Van Patten twenty eight, was still in the apartment,
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covered in blood, sitting on the couch watching TV. When
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police asked what happened, he said, I had to do it.
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She was going to ruin everything. Ruin what. According to
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the prosecution, Melody had just told Dakota she might be pregnant,
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might be hadn't even taken a test yet, just missed
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her period, and wanted him to know. His response was
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to get a machete from the bedroom closet and attack her.
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The medical examiner, doctor Patricia Wong, testified that Melody's body
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showed signs consistent with early pregnancy, elevated hormone levels, uterine changes.
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She was probably four to six weeks pregnant, too early
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to be certain, but the signs were there. Dakota had
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another girlfriend and a wife. He was separated from but
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trying to reconcile with Melody didn't know about either of them.
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She thought she was in a monogamous relationship. She thought
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telling him about possible pregnancy would be happy news. The prosecutor,
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Jennifer Martinez, showed the jury Dakota's text messages from that day.
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At two PM, he texted his wife working things out,
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Love you. At two thirty, he texted his other girlfriend,
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can't wait to see you tonight. At three pm, Melody
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texted him, need to talk when you get home important.
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By f four pm, she was dead. The machete was
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a gift from his father, an antique from World War II,
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a family heirloom. He used his grandfather's war trophy to
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murder his pregnant girlfriend because she complicated his love triangle.
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Van Patten's defense attorney, Michael Anderson, is trying to claim
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temporary insanity, that the shock of potential fatherhood caused a
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psychotic break, that Dakota has no history of violence, no
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history of violence, His ex wife has a restraining order.
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His other girlfriend filed a police report two weeks before
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the murder, saying he threatened her. Melody's friends say she
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was scared of his temper. That's not no history, that's
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a pattern. Nobody connected until Melody was dead. The crime
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scene photos shown to the jury were so graphic one
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juror vomited. Another had to be excused for medical reasons.
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The judge offered to declare a mistrial. The remaining jurors
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voted to continue. They wanted to see this through for Melody.
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Dakota's mother testified for the defense, said he was a
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good boy, had stress from his divorce, was trying to
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do right by everyone. Trying to do right apparently included
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maintaining three relationships and murdering the woman who might be
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carrying his child. Melody's sister gave victim impact testimony that
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destroyed the courtroom. She brought Melody's journal. Read an entry
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from a week before her death. Dakota is acting strange, distant,
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but I have amazing news to share. I hope it
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brings us closer. She hoped pregnancy news would bring them closer. Instead,
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it brought a machete. The jury saw surveillance footage from
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the apartment complex Melody coming home from work at three
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forty five, smiling, carrying grocery bags she'd bought ingredients for
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a special dinner. Was going to tell Dakota over his
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favorite meal. At three fifty five, Dakota arrives empty handed
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except for rage. By four fifteen, neighbors are calling nine
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to one one twenty minutes from arrival to murder. That's
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how fast Melody went from girlfriend to victim. Dakota van
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Patten faces life without parole. Iowa doesn't have the death penalty,
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which is unfortunate because if anyone deserves it, it's the
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man who misch shedded his possibly pregnant girlfriend seventeen times
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because she inconvenienced his dating life. Melody Hoffman was twenty three.
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She worked as a veterinary technician, loved animals, wanted kids,
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thought she'd found love with Dakota. She died trying to
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protect the baby she might have been carrying defensive wounds.
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Showed her hands over her stomach even as she tried
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to stop the blade. That's not murder. That's a war
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crime committed in a living room. We'll be right back
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with Jose Sodo Escalera's conviction and your preview of eight
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days of oj Jose Sodo Escallera verdict ten to twelve
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minutes Jose Soto Escala was convicted yesterday of murdering his
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pregnant mistress, Melissa Rodriguez. The jury deliberated for forty seven
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minutes that includes electing a foreman, using the bathroom, and
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probably asking why are we even discussing this? The evidence
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was overwhelming, security footage of Melissa entering the warehouse where
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she died, Jose leaving alone three hours later, his Google
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searches about electrical chord strength, the receipt showing Melissa bought
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her own murder weapon with her credit card because Jose
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was too cheap to pay forty seven dollars and ninety
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nine cents to kill her. But what sealed his fate
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was a text message Melissa sent her mother an hour
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before meeting Jose tonight. I finally get answers. Either he's
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leaving Maria or I'm leaving him. Baby Sophia deserves a
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far who shows up? She got her answer. Jose showed
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up all right, with the electrical cord she'd bought, thinking
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it was for some home improvement project. Instead, it was
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for her execution. Jose's wife, Maria was in court when
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the verdict was read, still standing by her man She
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actually smiled when they said guilty, smiled like she won something.
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Your husband murdered his pregnant mistress, and you're smiling. The prosecutor,
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Anna Martinez said after the verdict, Jose Sodo Escala didn't
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just kill Melissa Rodriguez. He killed baby Sophia. He killed
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a kindergarten teacher. He killed a daughter, a sister, a friend,
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all because child support was inconvenient. Jose showed no emotion
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as the verdict was read, just stared ahead like he
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was calculating his appeals. His lawyer asked for the jury
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to be pulled. Each one looked Jose in the eye
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and said guilty twelve times, guilty, Guilty, guilty, sentence. Next month,
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he faces life without parole at thirty eight. That means
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potentially fifty years in prison. Fifty years to think about
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the four minutes baby Sophia suffered as oxygen was cut off.
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Four minutes of a viable baby dying because daddy didn't
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want to pay child support. Melissa's family held hands as
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the verdict was read. Her mother sobbed, her father stood
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stone faced. Her sister held up a photo of Melissa's
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ultrasound baby Sophia at seven months, never born, never held,
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never named officially because her father killed her before she
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could exist outside her mother. The defense tried everything, other
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suspects rushed investigation, circumstantial evidence, But you can't argue with
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Google searches, security footage, and a receipt for your own
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murder weapon. Josey Soto Escalera thought forty seven dollars and
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ninety nine cents for an electrical cord was cheaper than
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eighteen years of child support. Now he'll spend the rest