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[Music] this is where it all began right this is where it all began April 23rd 2018 I received the call that body was
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located off of Highway 98 I come over to this area and approximately here was about where the
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head of the body was at and stretched out across the ditch with the feet facing in that direction she had bruises
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from head to toe covering her entire body she had lacerations on her face stomach legs so this woman suffered
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before she died she suffered I've never seen anything like it it was extreme violence extreme violence
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Overkill and who would do something like that at the time you don't know and what
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you worry about then is are they loosen our community what type of individual am I
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dealing with or individuals is there one person is there two you have a million questions that
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you can ask but you have no answers at the time the next day they identified the
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woman is eileene siden a young 31 one-year-old female in the Miami area I've known Eileen siden for 25
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years she was my best friend Alina called me she had told me it was pretty where she was the last
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talk I had with eileene was very different she told me just these horrific things you never think you'll
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hear from your best friend she said I need your help it was like a movie my sister's
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involved and I don't know what's happening I told her to run you use the word run did you say run 100% I said run
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get the get out of there go she's like I can't she was scared to death this doesn't happen this doesn't
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happen to us this doesn't happen in real life we received a call from the Sportsman's Lodge Motel there was a room
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that they were in the process of compling there was blood and what goes through your mind as
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you walk through all this beauty this right here would be the last place that you could ever imagine a homicide taking
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place especially right here in this piece of paradise I'll take you to room number
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15 now when the housekeepers first came through this door what did they see uh they said the furniture was
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knocked over onto the floor as they started cleaning the room they found more and more stuff to be wrong they
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noticed stuff missing from the beds the sheets anything like that this bed here was completely covered in a blood stain
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so that tells you there was a violent scene going on in and what happened in room 15 it's
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unn if these walls could talk right oh if they could talk I'd like to hear them [Music]
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[Music] appalachicola Florida is a wonderful small place for Franklin County assistant
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prosecutor Jared Patterson the Sleepy Gul Coast Town of appal laa Cola and surrounding Countryside are among the
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last remnants of a bygone era it's certainly still hearkens back to a time before there was condos on every inch of
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the beach and before there were highrises we're referred to here the counties along this area of the coast as
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the Forgotten Coast but when a couple heading to a nearby fishing pond discovered eileene sidon's battered body
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on April 23rd 2018 Patterson wondered what had brought a killer to Florida's forgotten Coast the horror that it
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really was it absolutely shocked people it looked like someone was in a hurry whoever it was dumped the body and
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took off lead investigator Lieutenant Ronnie Jones then with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office says documenting
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Eileen's unsettling dump site was the first of two ominous events over the next 24 hours he was soon dispatched to
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the second crime scene at the Sportsman's la large motel and that Bloody spectacle inside
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room [Music] 15 so what's it like for you to be back in here uh brings back some pretty bad
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memories Janes memories live in stark contrast to the tree shaded grounds of the otherwise peaceful Motel as soon as
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I came in I noticed the bed I it's you couldn't miss it I mean this whole area was covered and had blood stains on it
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and when you saw that kind of blood loss what did that tell you I just put two and two together and I automatically put
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that back to the um body that was found the day before you did that quickly like
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that had to it wasn't just somebody cut theirself and bled a little bit on the bed I mean the amount of blood that was
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on this bed tells me that whoever was here was probably deceased Jones recalled there was a smell of vinegar in
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the room and what did that tell you that someone attempted to clean the crime scene a luminol test for traces of human
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blood revealed what an apparently Hasty cleanup couldn't hide the whole entire bathroom lit up so that was the scene of
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perhaps some of her most vicious attacks was inside that bathroom yes and Janes says the shower curtain rod was a
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possible weapon on the rod was located a palm print and also uh blood and that's
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significant evidence right that's right testing would soon confirm that it was Eileen's blood in the motel room now
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came the gut-wrenching duty to notify Eileen's sister Francesca sidon he said my sister was murdered I don't know like
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what do you do you look for support that's all I could do I didn't understand why like it was
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given to me again like to handle another loss while growing up in Miami then 16-year-old Francesca and 99-year-old
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eileene faced their first tragedy when their beloved mother Mera passed away from cancer how did the two of you deal
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with this we didn't talk about it because it was so fast six years later their father Frank a
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successful furniture manufacturer who Francesca says shared a special bond with iile suddenly died from a heart
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attack it left eileene then 14 and orphan and 22 year-old Francesca with a decision to make I signed the papers and
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I became her legal guardian and what did that mean what were your responsibilities I became a parent I had
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to take her to school I to pick her up from school I to finished my own school I was working I didn't have time to
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grieve and I don't think that she did either 7 years later Franchesca moved to Los Angeles on her own that's when she
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says eileene now in her 20s began grieving their parents she started to think a lot she became more sensitive
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something like losing your parents has longlasting effects throughout your life it's obvious that it did this is E's
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best friend not wanting her name associated with this case she has asked 48 hours to refer to her as Ally she
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remembers a strong and determined eileene making it on her own in Miami she worked as a property manager she
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lived in a great apartment you know she paid her own rent she made her bills she
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was very independent Franchesca saw that Independence firsthand when eileene made
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an extended visit to La in 2016 looking back do you wish she had stayed with you
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100% because whatever happened when she went back to Miami is when she reconnected
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with Zach Zach was Zachary Abel who eileene had known since they were teenagers I'm not sure if I had the best
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reputation in high school at first she wasn't really sure about him but years later she and Zach Abel started dating I
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think in the beginning eileene found Zack fun but I think it changed pretty quickly investigators in Franklin County
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would soon learn all about Zach Abel they discovered that Zach eileene and this woman Christina araho had all been
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seen in the appalachicola area detectives also learned the three sharer room at the Sportsman's Lodge
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room number 15 we needed to know what happened inside that hotel room outside of three people
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entered and two came out carrying a body off the coast of Lauderdale Florida Captain Mike pette set sail on his
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50-foot boat it's kind of weird uh trying to remember any good times they just weren't there was always some issue
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back in 2018 Mike would play a central role in Eileen sidon's murder investigation he knew eileene and her
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boyfriend Zach Abel well Zach is just um very entertaining he's very extroverted
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Mike had met Zach by chance at a bar about 7 years earlier he came up to me at Duffy and said hey I like your shirt
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and I'm like okay then uh Christina came up Christina araho Zach's girlfriend at
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the time the two had been dating for about 4 years Mike says Christina immediately started boasting about her
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powerful father right out of the gate she said oh yeah my dad's a major with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's
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department and if we ever get into any trouble with the law he can take care of it I was like what who says
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that despite their odd first meeting Mike says he began hanging out with the couple What followed were years of wild
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nights wild parties and lots of heavy drinking that was their go-to thing okay we got to do shots of this shots of this
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but Mike says there was an interesting power dynamic in the couple's relationship with Christina who is 8
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years older than Zach calling the shots she was very controlled in and very directing he would follow her lead with
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stuff One Day in 2016 Zach stopped by Mike's boat but not with Christina instead Zach introduced Mike to Eileen
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siden Mike could tell Zach now had two women in his life it was the weirdest thing if your
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relationship's not working just end it and move on however Mike says that Zach couldn't make a clean break from
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Christina who was also his business partner he tried so many times he just didn't know how to and then also all the
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threats all the time that she could make him disappear every time she got drunk she'd say some weird
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things Eileen's best friend Ally says Zach and eileene began to secretly date she seemed to love him so much that she
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was still hoping that he would you know decide to be with her he would lead her on to things he was trying to end with
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Christina in 2017 eileene unexpectedly lost her job as a property manager she was really starting to lose control of
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her own life Ali says that may explain why Eileen eventually started working at Zach and Christina's used car dealership
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it wasn't the independent life that she had always lived Ally says eileene continued to pressure Zach to break up
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with Christina for good but when Zach finally tried to end things with Christin Ina she countered with an
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unconventional proposal it was not the answer that anyone expected Christina came back and said well why don't we try
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and all be in a relationship that it now became this opportunity for this thruple
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three-way kind of relationship a thruple is a romantic relationship among three people Ally says eileene was against the
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idea Nene said absolutely not there's no way it's never going to work and there was kind of a
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crickets for a few weeks but Ally says eileene later changed her mind the trio was now a thruple I was in shock really
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but also a little bit happy for them that maybe this could work but it didn't work before long there was trouble this
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whole dynamic started to change where one of them always seemed to be the odd man out or was jealous at that point it
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just started to spiral out of control according to Mike pikov V things escalated leading to irrational behavior
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and fights fueled by alcohol he says Eileen and Christina traded punches often usually resulting in black eyes on
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one or both of the women that they'd sometimes hide behind big sunglasses it was a everyday thing
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pretty every second day thing I could say Ali remembers things differently she says Zach was the main aggressor in the
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relationship eileene would call me and say you have to come over here like he hurt me again
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and I'd rush over there and photograph her and beg her to go to the police but Ally says Eileen refused fearing
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Christina's law enforcement connections would work against her Eileen's sister Francesca was Furious when she learned
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of the abuse I wanted my sister out of this situation I wanted her out it's hard to leave it's hard to leave and I
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had this feeling that Christina was more violent of the two it was really difficult to see her going through a
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time like this it was just so hard and she was scared to death once Ally says the abuse got so bad she took eileene to
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the emergency room they took her to the hospital because they have to report things but she wouldn't say where the
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bruises came from Eileen's best friend had to deliver a hard truth iile you have to break up
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with this guy someone's going to end up dead when eileene was in real trouble it was
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hard to get anyone to come rescue her the path that led to Eileen sidon's murder may have begun weeks earlier in
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2018 Ali was surprised that despite the physical violence in their relationship I had decided to move in with sack Abel
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and Christina araho the thruple was now working together sleeping together and living together eileene was trapped in
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the relationship because she was trapped financially but she felt that that was one last chance to make it work it was
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like a one month or two month trial but within a few weeks Ally says eileene had
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had enough B was just going to move out she was really done with the relation ship but Eileen's plans to leave were
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halted on April 7th 2018 after Zack and Christina had gotten into a violent fight Ally says she got a call from
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eileene on Zach's phone she was going to leave and get Zach out of the house but
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like to go to a coffee shop the next call I got was from Christina she was angry and Furious Ally says Christina
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threatened to report the car eileene and Zach were driving in as stolen in an apparent attempt to keep them from
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leaving her behind Ali immediately warned eileene and Zach instead of coming around and coming
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back like I thought they would they hit the gas and went to Georgia I said what are you doing iene you don't have your
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phone you don't have a wallet this is crazy she said we're going on a road trip this is a good
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thing but the road trip wasn't a good thing to Christina araho she began her harassing Zach and eileene sending a
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storm of angry texts you two deserve each other Christina sent more than 150 texts in roughly 24 hours all went
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unanswered including this one my dad will be calling you later Christina issued this threat you effed me over and
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now I'm effing you over I was just trying to tell her Christina why don't you worry about your own
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life about 48 hours into the road trip Zach and eileene were heading to Texas and Christina seemed to have a change of
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heart texting if you want to come back home come back you never have to question my love for reasons that are
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unknown instead of coming home Zach invited Christina to join them and she flew to Dallas but with a thruple United
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the old problems returned I Le started to call me from Zach's phone at night saying you know
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this is getting bad and I I don't know what to do it was until Christina arrived that that started to happen I
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was really worried someone would get hurt by day 10 of the road trip Eileen's older sister Franchesca was also worried
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she hadn't heard from Eileen in a while when the trio stopped in New Orleans Eileen finally called Franchesca and
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shared an alarming SST suspicion she's like I think they're going to kill me no joke so's like Eileen run to the nearest
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gas station go tell the person all 911 yeah run to like I said run get the get out of there go she's like I can't
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Francesa desperate to help tried to get more details from Eileen if I had where the address was I would have called the
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police then and there but she had to go she had to get off and she hung up I was
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extremely frustrated but I and and I was scared with no way to help her sister Francesca hoped eileene would stay safe
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the road trip continued into its second week the trio then headed to Panama City
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Florida but a missed exit LED them to the Forgotten Coast the road trip is difficult to
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understand partying one day and murdering the next David adlerstein is a reporter for the appalachicola times one
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of the oldest newspapers in Florida I've been covering the Eileen siden case since the week it
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happened on the evening of April 21st the trio seen here in this screenshot from surveillance footage stumbled into
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the quiet peace of Franklin County they went to a popular restaurant the red pirate played miniature golf
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partied at the recommendation of a local the thruple headed to the nearby Sportsman's Lodge Motel they reserved
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the last vacancy of the night room 15 the next morning on April 22nd 2018 the thrubble made a plan they decided they'd
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spend another day there not get back on the road and make it a a party so they got up in the morning and went to the
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liquor store here they are in these screenshots from the store's surveillance footage while
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there the trio purchased large bottles of vodka and Fireball whiskey when I went to investigate their path that day
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and went to the liquor store the clerk she pointed out that the fireball that they bought was the largest bottle you
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could buy and this is just the three of them the thruple then returned to the Sportsman's Lodge Motel I don't think I
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know was having fun I think she was just trying to maybe get by and stay alive Ali says she spoke to Eileen that day I
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said I need to leave him I'm telling you I'm like a sex slave he has this really
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scary look in his eye it's very scary it's different and she said I need your help Ally says the two friends had
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crafted an Escape Plan eileene would get on a bus from Tampa the Trio's next destination I bought her a Grayhound
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ticket because she didn't have a wallet the bus would drop Eileen off near Miami
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and Ally would take her home eileene just needed to get on that bus and she'd be safe and then you know I never heard
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back I never heard anything after that the next night hundreds of miles away in Fort Lauderdale Mike pikovit was
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home and alone there was a knock at the door it was Christina araho and back able I was like okay where's Eileen and
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right away Christina says oh she ran away and I said bull I said where is she and Zach right away it started to choke
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up and he said she's dead the news was shocking enough but Mike says once Christina was out of
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earshot Zach told him what happened he said Christina killed her he woke up She Was Dead next to him and uh he tried to
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give her CPR then uh wanted to call 911 Christina said no and told him you can't call 911
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for some reason he kept on saying he had to protect Christina like what do you got a protect her for Mike says he
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wanted to protect both of his friends he feared a violent outcome if he called 911 I didn't want them to get killed
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just wanted to make sure that they were brought in a safe way and the only thing
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that I could think about is go talk to her father Christina's father Colonel Tony
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araho the one Mike says Christina had always bragged could make her problems go away when Zach and Christina fell asleep
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Mike took this photo and says he went online to search for Christina's father a man he had never met so I was
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panicking trying to find his phone number when Mike finally got a hold of Colonel Aro he didn't immediately reveal
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the deadly news I said I got to talk to you it's about Christina it's very important Mike says Christina's father
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directed Mike to meet him at an odd place a gas station so I went up there I said Christina killed somebody and he
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says you know I'm a cop right I'm like yes sure I do he raid away and said wait right there Mike says Christina's father
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then brought him to the Sheriff's Office to make a formal statement he did what was the right thing to do he got two
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other people to ask me all the questions later that day Mike was shown a photo and he was the one to identify
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the battered body of eileene siden with that confirmation police descended on Mike's home as Zack and Christina were
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about to leave they were arrested and brought back to Franklin County the pair were
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later charged with first-degree murder it would take almost 6 years before Zack Abel and Christina araho
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would face a jury and by then only one of them would stand [Music] trial you're healing you're doing the
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things that you need to heal and then you're stopped for almost 6 years Franchesca siden lived in agonizing
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limbo as her sister Eileen's case Complicated by having two defendants face delay after delay after frustrating
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delay and now you're going to get ready for this big moment and it stops again finally in January of 2024 at the
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Franklin County Courthouse in Appalachia Cola Florida Zach Abel was about to face
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trial he had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and would stand before the jury alone 8 months earlier
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Christina araho took a plea deal for a lesser charge of second degree murder so she admitted taking part in this yes she
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implicated herself in the actual beating of eileene after studying the mountain of
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evidence prosecut Jared Patterson believes Zack Abel was more responsible in Eileen's murder and the state is
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relying on the jury believing Christina aro's version of what happened inside room
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15 the only one who has told us anything about what happened in that room is Christina arahu once Christina made her
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plea deal she would become the prosecution star witness print reporter David adlerstein camera in hand was
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there as Christina araho transported the courtroom back to the evening of April 22nd
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2018 araho testified that she Zack Abel and eileene were relaxing in the room at
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the Sportsman's Lodge after a day of heavy drinking when Zach drinks does he act differently
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yes it becomes very aggressive very mean Zack Abel became violently enraged says
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araho when Eileen posed a seemingly innocent question she said Christina guess what and she looks over at
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Christina and says hey Christina guess what how would that sentence be finished I have no idea cuz she never got to
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finish it Zachary got up immediately and went over to her and was in her face hitting her he
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just yelling at her telling her you always start problems araho admits to also hitting eileene as she demanded to
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know what she was about to say she never got an answer and I got so frustrated I
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just what to go I left the room after stepping outside room 15 for a few minutes araho claims she returned
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to find Abel and eileene in the bathroom when I opened the door he had something white in his hand like if he
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was poking H her the medical examiner was able to identify small circular bruising to the body of Eileen that
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could be consistent with a shower curtain rod like the shower curtain rod investigators recovered that had palm
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print impressions in Eileen's blood whose Palm was it the palm print belonged to Zachary
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Abel the assault continued near the bed says araho where she says Abel reached for his wooden walking stick hey hit
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several times with it when he hit her in the the back though the stick broke we had actually found pieces of that wooden
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staff in the hotel room we didn't realize the significance of it until we found the other piece in the vehicle
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that contained our victim's DNA Aro says she watched in in Terror as Abel began using that stick to sexually assault
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eileene Christina's description of the crime was horrifying to listen to Eileen clearly suffered terrible death
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adlerstein recalls the medical examiner saying Eileen's injuries reminded him of
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those he had seen in motor vehicle crashes as a reporter I try very hard to not be emotional
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I distinctly remember fighting back tears araho claimed she eventually put herself between Abel and eileene and the
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attack finally stopped eileene was badly beaten but still alive she says and the
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exhausted Trio just fell asleep I didn't make she leave and araho claims it wasn't until she
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woke up the next morning that she realized I Eileen was dead she says she only participated in the coverup out of
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fear of what Abel might do to her she seemed to me genuinely remorseful others had different opinions who is Christina
00:31:42
araho in your book manipulative cunning uh chameleon I think that there's evil in
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her Alex Morris is Zack ael's attorney he says Christina Aro acted alone I believe that she is the murderer let's
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talk about her story Morris says it was Christina araho who beat eileene and that photo taken by Mike pavet at his
00:32:13
home after the murder shows she had injuries to her hands and feet which tells you Christina must have been the
00:32:21
attack that's right Christina araho was the one with homicidal intent says Morris triggered
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when Abel and eileene took off with her in the rearview mirror and he says those
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threatening text that she sent to Abel's phone before joining them on the road trip read like a
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confession there are threats of bodily harm to both eileene and Zach in the messages you come near me ho I will kill
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you I think it speaks for itself and that's exactly what happened after Eileen's murder Morris says araho
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wiped down the motel room using the vinegar that Ronnie Jones would later smell he says Abel's palm prints on the
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curtain rod got there when he moved it during the cleanup he was instructed to pick the curtain rod up over there and
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put it over there bye Christina this toll booth surveillance photo from after the murder shows that Christina ared
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and not Zack Abel was the one driving the car and therefore Morris says she was the one in control the evidence
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indicates Christina to be the one giving the directions and had everything to be able to manipulate the
00:33:45
situation manipulating Zach Abel says Morris because of those threats she had been making for years about her father's
00:33:53
influence in solving her problems bottom line is Zach was fearful of Christina's
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father Abel chose not to testify when Morris made his final arguments to the jury he concluded the evidence showed
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there was only one person who wanted Eileen siden dead they haven't proven any motive as to why Mr Abel would be
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interested in murdering Miss siden but I'll tell you where motive lies in it's clear as day and that's with Maho the
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motive being I I want rid of the person who's taken my man so jealousy yes in his closing Patterson said Christina
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araho already accepted her role in this crime he asked the jury to hold Zack Abel accountable for his part by finding
00:34:45
him guilty of murder they live together they work together they own a business together they went to the Sportsman's
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Lodge together they emptied out the room together they ran away together they got
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arrested together the only thing they didn't do together was kill Eileen siden no
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way but who would the jury believe what do you make of Christina aro's testimony chat now with the 48
00:35:17
Hours team on Facebook and X [Music] she wasn't born here and she didn't live here but she was left here and she'll
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always be remembered by Franklin County residents of Florida's forgotten Coast will now long remember Eileen
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siden says Ronnie Jones almost 6 years after her death the community waited for justice for the stranger they now had
00:35:51
come to embrace as one of their own what was going through your mind as the jury
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begins its deliberation make it quick I was told by the jury Foreman that when they first went in
00:36:05
there was 10 in favor of first-degree premeditated murder with two holdouts all right everyone please be seated
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after about 5 hours of deliberations the jury reached a consensus in the case of
00:36:21
the State of Florida versus Zachary Ray AEL the defendant is guilty of the Lesser included offense of second
00:36:26
deegree murder second deegree murder just like Christina araho adlerstein says the jury
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Foreman told him they just couldn't decide if Zack Abel had actually intended to kill eileene they knew that
00:36:43
Christina had pled guilty to Second and I think they eventually said we're going
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to give him the same it doesn't tell me that they're equally responsible Mike pikovit says even with the verdict he is
00:36:57
convinced his friend played no part in Eileen's death to me there's an innocent man sitting in jail I think they're both
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just as guilty as the other now retired from law enforcement Ronnie Jones spends his days tending his
00:37:12
bar in Appalachia Cola he says he still left wondering what really happened inside room 15 is this case a mystery to
00:37:22
you it's not a mystery on exactly what happened but exactly why it happened that is is what still bothers me to this
00:37:29
day why like what eileene might have been about to say that sparked the attack it was my understanding and the
00:37:37
rumors that she was fixing to disclose the fact that she was pregnant pregnant and was she pregnant did you learn that
00:37:44
at autopsy I was at the autopsy and she was not pregnant I don't know if she thought she was or not all
00:37:52
right when it was time for sentencing Zack Abel finally spoke and told the courtroom another twist in this tortured
00:38:02
story I had stopped and I grabbed a ring pop and I proposed to her with a ring pop and asked her to marry me and she
00:38:09
said yes and me and E were going to go our way and leave Christina out of it Zach spoke at his sentencing and said
00:38:20
that he'd actually propos to eileene during this trip I think that is just BS I it's a
00:38:27
great story but no I have been in the justice system in one form or another for 40 years rarely have I seen the sort
00:38:40
of injuries that I saw on een siden the judge told Abel he wished he could impose a harsher punishment before
00:38:49
sentencing him to the maximum life in prison in the State of Florida life means life we don't have parole at at
00:38:57
her sentencing Christina aro's father Colonel Tony araho set the record straight he said he never used his
00:39:05
influence to benefit his daughter and he recalled the conversation he had with her after the murder you will own up to
00:39:13
the truth you will accept responsibility you will be the voice of the victim and you will testify under oath
00:39:21
and a court of law and then whatever is sentence to you that's fine there was no
00:39:27
agreement with her as to the link of sentence she gave her statement with the knowledge that she could still receive
00:39:34
life in prison I think about that day every day of my life the details ha me and the memories
00:39:43
keep the judge acknowledged her cooperation and sentenced Christina araho to 25 years justice has been
00:39:53
served he won't beat up any more females neither will she I think that every woman kind of thinks
00:40:02
I would leave if I was in that situation I would just get up and leave I would never tolerate that Eileen's best friend
00:40:08
Ally hopes there will be more compassion for those trapped in abusive relationships it's always that I'm sorry
00:40:16
it's never going to happen again and you believe it cuz you're in love and things
00:40:19
are good 90 5% of the time but the 5% that are bad are so bad with your sister gone how do you
00:40:29
want her to be remembered I want her to be remembered as a sweet loving human being who unfortunately had lost her
00:40:40
parents at such a young age but she was still so sweet like she was such a sweetheart her soul was so kind
00:40:51
[Music] [Music] CBS next Saturday a young woman found dead I children but are the clues adding
00:41:17
up the piece of the bathroom door lock under Alex's head meant the door was forced open before she was shot it just
00:41:24
didn't look right a new 48 Hours next Saturday at 109 Central on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus
00:41:32
[Music]