"UVALDE MOM'S DEVASTATING TESTIMONY, MANSION MURDERS TRIAL BEGINS & BOY IN THE BOX APPEALS"

0:03 Caalaroga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm reed Carter. Tuesday, January thirteenth, twenty twenty six. Three courtrooms, Three different kinds of horror. Uvalde, Day four of testimony in the Adrian Gonzalez trial, the first person to face criminal charges for the police response to the rob Elementary massacre. Yesterday, the jury heard from Jennifer Garcia, mother of Eleana Garcia. Everyone called her Ellie, nine years old. There was an award ceremony that morning. Ellie wanted to come home afterward. Her mother told her to stay at school. She'd pick her up later. She never got to pick her up. Ellie was one of the twenty one people murdered that day. New Jersey opening statements in what prosecutors call the Mansion murders, Paul Canaro accused of murdering his brother Keith, his sister in law Jennifer, and their two children, Sophia eight and Jesse eleven, shot and stabbed to death, then set fire to their mansion to cover it up. Prosecutors say it was about money.

1:14 Defense says police ignored another suspect, a third Canaro brother, and Florida The Boy in the Box case is back in the news. Tim Ferridder, convicted of locking his adopted teenage son in an eight y eight foot windowless room for forty five days, is appealing his conviction. Claims evidence of abuse in Arizona shouldn't have been allowed at trial. He got five years. State says that's not enough. I'm reed, Carter. Today, When mothers bury children, when brothers kill brothers, and when appeals try to undo justice, this is celebrity trials. Let's start in Nueces County, Texas, the trial of Adrian Go Gonzales, former Uvaldi School District police officer, twenty nine counts of child endangerment and abandonment. First person to face criminal charges for the police response or lack of response to the rob elementary massacre. We covered days one and two last week.

2:18 Opening statements the prosecution's case that Gonzales arrived while the shooter was still outside the building and did nothing. The defense's claimed that he did what he could in a chaotic, confusing scene. Days three and four brought testimony that will haunt you. Day three opened with drama teacher Stephanie Hale returned to the stand for cross examination after her testimony. On day two caused the defense to request a mistrial. Hale had testified she saw the shooter, a person dressed in black with long hair, near the playground close to where Officer Gonzalez was positioned, within one hundred feet. The defense claimed this was a Brady violation, that Hale never mentioned seeing the shooter in her original interviews with law enforcement, that prosecutors sandbagged them with surprise testimony. Judge sid Harll denied the mistrial motion, determined the issue was negligence, not intentional misconduct, but after reviewing the evidence, he made a significant ruling Hale's testimony would be stricken from the record.

3:24 The jury was instructed not to consider it. The judge told Hale she did nothing wrong, but her testimony, her claim that she saw the shooter from one hundred feet away from where Gonzalez was positioned, will not be part of the case. Make it make sense. A teacher saw the gunman, tried to tell the jury, and her testimony gets erased because of paperwork issues, but other testimonies stood. Emilia Marine, the school's ace coordinator, described opening a locked gate around eleven twenty a m. That morning for a dance celebration. Heard a loud vehicle crash, saw a truck going into a ditch, called nine one one to report the crash. Then she saw a man in a black hoodie throwing bags over the school fence, carrying a gun approaching campus, firing toward the south pe area where children were playing. Children screaming running inside. Maren yelled for students to get into classrooms. While on the phone with nine one one, kept asking the operator, where are the police?

4:24 Where are the police? She hid in her classroom for forty to forty five minutes, heard continuous gunfire, feared for her life. Years later, she learned something that should terrify every parent. The west door of the school, the door the shooter entered through, could not lock. She didn't know that until years after the incident. Teacher Lynn Deming testified about being in Room one oh four when shots were fired through her classroom window. She was hit by shrapnel, lost her glasses, used a desk for protection, heard shots outside and in the hall. Encouraged students to pray, told them she loved them, sent a text to her husband expressing love and concern for her own children. Eventually, officers pulled her and her students out through the classroom window.

5:13 She expressed gratitude for the officers who helped evacuate, but the implication was clear. Those officers came through the window because they couldn't come through the door because other officers were standing in the hallway doing nothing. Teacher Nicole Augburn was in Room one O two at eleven twenty one. She heard a noise like metal hitting brick, looked out the window, saw an armed individual dressed in black. No lockdown had been called. She instructed students to hide behind a black curtain. The classroom door was unlocked. One student attempted to protect her. She tried to call nine one one multiple times, succeeded on the third attempt, reported an active shooter, reported injuries, then hung up the phone. She was afraid the shooter might hear her talking. Day four brought the forensics. Texas Rangers testified about bullet defects in windows, walls, ceilings, the trajectory of shots fired through classrooms, the physical evidence of a massacre. Doctor Garrett Phillips, the forensic pathologist from the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office, identified each victim, put names to the bodies, made them real for the jury, and then Jennifer Garcia took the stand. Her daughter was Eleana Garcia. Everyone called her Ellie, nine years old, would have turned ten on June fourth, twenty twenty two, just weeks after the shooting. That morning, May twenty fourth, twenty twenty two, there was an award ceremony at the school.

6:44 Ellie wanted to come home afterward. Jennifer told her to stay. She'd pick her up later that day. A neighbor asked about her children. Jennifer said all but one had gone to school. The neighbor urged her to go to rob Elementary. Something was happening, chaos. Jennifer went to the civic center, waited for notification, prayed, hoped, waited, and then she learned Ellie was one of the dead. Let me tell you what that moment looks like. A mother who told her daughter to stay at school, a daughter who wanted to come home, A decision made in thirty seconds that a mother will replay for the rest of her life, even though it wasn't her fault, even though she had no way of knowing, even though any mother would have said the same thing. Eleana Garcia was nine years old, should be thirteen. Now, should be in middle school, should be dealing with homework and friends and all the drama of being a teenager. Instead, her mother had to sit in a civic center and wait to be told her daughter was dead. And Adrian Gonzalez, the officer charged with protecting children like Ellie, allegedly stood outside while it happened. Twenty nine counts of child endangerment and abandon Each count carries up to two years in jail. If convicted on all counts, Gonzales faces fifty eight years. His former boss, Pete Aredondo faces ten counts. No trial date set for him yet, the trial continues. More forensic evidence, more testimony, more horror.

8:20 Someone has to say their names. Eleana Garcia, nine years old, should be alive. We'll be right back with the Mansion murders trial. A brother accused of slaughtering his family over stolen money, and a defense that points the finger at someone else entirely Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm reed. Carter, Monmouth County, New Jersey, The trial of Paul Kniro began with opening statements. Four counts of first degree murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated arson and eight other charges, including weapons offenses, theft, and misapplication of entrusted funds. If convicted on all sixteen counts, Canaro faces life without parole plus an additional two hundred eleven and a half years in prison. He rejected a plea deal that would have guaranteed life without parole, said he wanted his day in court. He's getting it. November twentieth, twenty eighteen, colts Neck, New Jersey, wealthy suburb horse farms mansions, the kind of place where the worst crime is usually someone's landscaper parking on the wrong side of the street. Keith Canaro, fifty years old, lived there with his wife, Jennifer forty five, and their two children, Sophia eight and Jesse eleven. Beautiful home, successful business, picture perfect family. November twenty first, early morning fire,

9:53 the Canio mansion engulfed in flames. Firefighters responded found four bodies inside. Keith Canaro had been shot four times in the head and once in the back. Jennifer Canero had been shot in the head and stabbed repeatedly. The children, Sophia eight and Jessee eleven, had been stabbed to death. All four bodies were badly burned. But here's where it gets complicated. That same night, there was another fire at the home of Paul Knio, Keith's brother in Ocean Township, about ten miles away. Two fires, same night, same family. Investigators immediately focused on Paul. The prosecution's theory Paul Kaniro was stealing from the businesses he co owned with his brother Keith. The day before the murders, Keith sent Paul an email about missing money from the business accounts. A business associate told investigators Keith wanted to sell one of their two companies. He was frustrated with Paul. Frustrated with how much money Paul was spending from business accounts, so Paul decided to eliminate the problem. Killed his brother, killed his sister in law, killed his niece and nephew, then set fire to the mansion to destroy evidence, drove home, set fire to his own house to make it look like the whole family was being targeted by violent thugs.

11:12 Poor Paul victim of the same attackers who killed his brother. Prosecutor Nicole Wallace laid it out for the jury. Paul murdered his family, then lit fires to cover his tracks. When police searched Paul's home, they found damning evidence, a container in his basement holding clothing and a latex glove with red stains consistent with blood. A nine millimeter unspent projectile in the clothes, the same type of ammunition found in Paul's home and used in the murders. DNA analysis found a mixture from Paul and Sophia on that clothing, another mixture to which Jesse was deemed to be a contributor the children's DNA on the defendant's clothes in his basement.

11:56 But the defense has a different theory. Paul Kanero's attorney told the jury her client is innocent. Police, she said, did not investigate other suspects, including a third Caniro brother. That's right, there's another brother, and the defense is pointing the finger directly at him. The defense argued, the prosecution's theory makes no sense. Why would Paul kill his brother's entire family, including children, over a business dispute. Why would he set fire to his own house if he was trying to frame outside attackers. Why would he leave DNA evidence in his basement. The answer, according to the defense, he didn't do it. Someone else did, and police were so focused on Paul that they ignored other possibilities. This is a fascinating defense strategy. Don't just argue reasonable doubt.

12:44 Give the jury an alternative suspect, a different theory of the crime, someone else who had motive, means, and opportunity. The challenge. The defense will need to present evidence supporting their theory. It's not enough to say maybe someone else did it. They need to make the jury believe that someone else actually did it. Paul Canero sat in court, assertive and confident when he rejected the plea deal in December, told the judge he was absolutely comfortable with his decision to go to trial. Either he's innocent and willing to fight for his freedom, or he's gambling that the DNA evidence won't be enough to convict him. The trial is expected to last weeks. Will be following it closely. Keith Caniro was fifty years old, Jennifer was forty five, Sophia was eight, Jesse was eleven. A family destroyed and now a jury will decide who destroyed them. Quick update on a case we covered extensively in twenty twenty three, The Boy in the Box. Tim Farreder, forty eight years old, convicted of aggravated child abuse, false imprisonment, and child neglect for confining his adopted teenage son in an eight by eight foot window room in the family's Palm Beach County garage forty five days, no control over lights or air conditioning, forced to use a bucket as a toilet. The jury convicted him. He faced up to forty years in prison.

14:13 The judge gave him five. Now. Farreder is appealing. His attorneys appeared before Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal last Thursday, arguing that evidence from Arizona should never have been admitted at trial. Here's the backstory. Before the Farreders moved to Florida, they lived in Arizona, and, according to testimony at trial, the abuse started there. Farreder's own daughter testified that she feared her father would kill her brother. In Arizona, said she heard sounds of slapping or hitting, followed by her brother's screams. The defense argues this Arizona evidence was so much more severe than what happened in Florida that it unfairly prejudiced the jury. That once you hear a sister say she feared her brother would be killed. You can't unhear it. You can't evaluate the Florida charges Objectivelyttorney Leonard Foyer told the appellate court, once you ring a bell, you just can't undo it. He also challenged expert testimony from doctor Wade Myers, who described Farredter's treatment of his son as solitary confinement for three years and tortuous behavior.

15:17 Feyer argued this testimony went to the ultimate issue of guilt, something experts aren't supposed to do. The state fired back. Assistant Attorney General Rachel Goldbloom argued the Arizona evidence was properly admitted because Farader's primary defense was that his actions were reasonable parental discipline of an out of control child. If that's the defense, the prosecution gets to show the full context, including three years of escalating abuse, a continuing course of action, Goldbloom said, not a desperate, last minute, isolated attempt to address certain problematic behavior. The state also cross appealed the sentence itself five years for torturing a child.

15:59 The prosecut us says that's not enough. The judge called Farader's actions methodical, calculated, planned, then gave him a downward departure anyway, citing the pressures of parenting. The pressures of parenting as if locking a child in a box with a bucket toilet is something any parent might do under enough stress. At the original sentencing, the victim, now sixteen, addressed his father told him he still loved him, but described being locked up as dehumanizing and like genocide, Like genocide a child, comparing his father's treatment to genocide. Farretter told the court, I have failed his wife. Tracy took a plea deal ten years probation and three hundred hours of community service, no jail time. The appellate court didn't rule from the bench. A written decision is expected in the coming months. If Farader wins his appeal, he could get a new trial. If the state wins its cross appeal, his sentence could be increased. We'll update you when the decision comes down. That's celebrity trials for Tuesday, January thirteenth, twenty twenty six. The Uvalde trial continues with devastating testimony.

17:16 A mother told her daughter to stay at school. Hours later that daughter was dead. Officer Adrian Gonzalez faces twenty nine counts for allegedly failing to protect those children. The Mansion murders trial opened in New Jersey. Paul Kanio, accused of killing his brother, sister in law, and their two children over stolen money. Defense points finger at a third brother and Tim Farredder appeals his boy in the Box conviction, says Arizona evidence tainted his trial. The state says his five year sentence wasn't enough. Tomorrow more from Uvalde, day two of the Caniro trial, and whatever else breaks. I'm reed, Carter, hold your children close. This is celebrity trials.