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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 that 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 Elina called me she had told me it was pretty where she was the last
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talk I had with Eileen 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 the call from the Sportsman's Lodge Motel there was a room
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that they were in the process of cleaning 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 I started cleaning the room they found more and more stuff to be wrong they noticed
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stuff missing from the beds the sheets anything like that this bed here was completely covered in a blood stain so
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that tells you there was a violent scene going on yes 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] appleola Florida is a wonderful small place for Franklin County assistant
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prosecutor Jared Patterson the Sleepy Gulf Coast Town of appal laola 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 Eileen 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 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 9-year-old
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Eileen 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 had to finished my own school I was working I didn't have time
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to grieve and I don't think that she did either 7 years later Franchesca moved to
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Los Angeles on her own that's when she says eileene now in her 20s began grieving their parents she started to
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think a lot she became more sensitive something like losing your parents has long lasting effects throughout your
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life it's obvious that it did this is E's best friend not wanting her name associated with this case she has asked
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48 hours to refer to her as Ally she remembers a strong and determined eileene making it on her own in Miami
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she worked as a property manager she lived in a great apartment you know she paid her own rent she made her bills she
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was very independent Francesca 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 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 Eileen found Zack fun but I think it changed pretty quickly investigators in Franklin County
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would soon learn all about Zack 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 Shar a 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 Zack 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 controll R in and very directing he would follow her lead with
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stuff One Day in 2016 Zack 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 Eileen 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 eileene eventually started working at Zach and Christina's used car
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dealership it wasn't the independent life that she had always lived Ally says Eileen continued to pressure Zach to
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break up with Christina for good but when Zach finally tried to end things withr 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 thropple 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 P vet 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 Franchesca was Furious when she learned
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of the abuse I wanted my sister out of the situation I wanted her out it's hard to leave it's hard to leave and I had
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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 e you have to break up with
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this guy someone's going to end up dead when eile was in real trouble it was hard to get anyone to come rescue
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her the path that led to Eileen sidon's murder may have begun weeks earlier in 2018 Ally was surprised that despite the
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physical violence in their relationship I had decided to move in with sack Abel and Christina araho the thruple was now
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working together sleeping together and living together eileene was trapped in the relationship because she was trapped
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financially but she felt that that was one last chance to make it work it was like a one month or two month trial but
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within a few weeks Ally says Eileen had had enough B was just going to move out she
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was really done with the Rel ship but Eileen's plans to leave were halted on April 7th 2018 after Zack and
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Christina had gotten into a violent fight Ally says she got a call from eileene on Zach's phone she was going to
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leave and get Zach out of the house but like to go to a coffee shop the next call I got was from Christina she was
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angry and Furious Ally says Christina threatened to report the car Eileen and Zach were driving in as stolen in an
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apparent attempt to keep them from leaving her behind Ali immediately warned eileene and
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Zach instead of coming around and coming back like I thought they would they hit
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the gas and went to Georgia I said what are you doing iene you don't have your phone you don't have a wallet this is
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crazy she said we're going on a road trip this is a good thing but the road trip wasn't a good
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thing to Christina araho she began her harassing Zach and eileene sending a storm of angry texts you two deserve
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each other Christina sent more than 150 texts in roughly 24 hours all went unanswered including this one my dad
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will be calling you later Christina issued this threat you effed me over and now I'm effing you over I was just
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trying to tell her Christina why don't you worry about your own life about 48 hours into the road trip
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Zach and eileene were heading to Texas and Christina seemed to have a change of heart texting if you want to come back
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home come back you never have to question my love for reasons that are unknown instead of coming home Zach
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invited Christina to join them and she flew to Dallas but with a thruple United the old problems
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returned I started to call me from Zach's phone at night saying you know this is getting
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bad and I I don't know what to do it was until Christina arrived that that started to happen I was really worried
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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 Francesca 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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Franchesca desperate to help tried to get more details from Eileen if I had where the address was I would have
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called the police then and there but she had to go she had to get off and she hung up I was extremely frustrated but I
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and and I was scared with no way to help her sister Franchesca hoped Eileen 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 is a reporter for the appalachicola
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times one 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 thruple 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 eileene 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 allly 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 grand ticket
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because she didn't have a wallet the bus would drop eileene off near Miami and Ally would take her home eileene just
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needed to get on that bus and she'd be safe and then you know I never heard back I never heard anything after
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that the next night hundreds of miles away in Fort Lauderdale Mike pikovit was home and alone there was a knock at the
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door it was Christina araho and back able I was like okay where's Eileen and right away Christina says oh she ran
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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 you got a
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protector for Mike says he wanted to protect both of his friends he feared a violent outcome if he called 911 I
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didn't want them to get killed just wanted to make sure that they were brought in in a safe way and the only
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thing 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 sir I do he rid 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 Zach 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 stopped for almost 6 years Franchesca siden lived in agonizing limbo as her
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sister Eileen's case Complicated by having two defendants face delay after delay after frustrating delay and now
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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 appalachicola Florida Zack Abel was about to face trial he had pleaded not
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guilty to first-degree murder and would stand before the jury alone 8 months earlier Christina araho took a plea deal
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for a lesser charge of second degree murder so she admitted taking part in this yes she implicated herself in the
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actual beating of Eileen after studying the mountain of evidence prosec U Jared Patterson
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believes Zack Abel was more responsible in Eileen's murder and the state is relying on the jury believing Christina
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aro's version of what happened inside room 15 the only one who has told us anything
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about what happened in that room is Christina araho once Christina made her plea deal she would become the
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prosecution star witness print reporter David adlerstein camera in hand was there as Christina araho transported the
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courtroom back to the evening of April 22nd 2018 araho testified that she Zack Abel
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and eileene were relaxing in the room at the Sportsman's Lodge after a day of heavy drinking when Zach drinks does he
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act differently it becomes very aggressive very mean Zack Abel became violently enraged says
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araho when eileene 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 just
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yelling at her telling her you always start problems araho admits to also hitting eileene as she demanded to know
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what she was about to say she never got an answer and I got so frustrated I just
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went 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 open the door he had something white in his hand like if he
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was poking on 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
00:29:56
Abel the assault continued near the bed says araho where she says Abel reached for his wooden walking stick hey h
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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 araho says she watched 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 claims she eventually put herself between Abel and eileene and the
00:31:09
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 me araho claims it wasn't until
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she woke up the next morning that she realized Eileen was dead she says she only participated in the coverup out of
00:31:33
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
00:31:53
her Alex Morris is Zack Abel's attorney says Christina araho acted alone I believe that she is the murderer let's
00:32:04
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
attacker that's right Christina araho was the one with homicidal intent says Morris triggered
00:32:30
when Abel and eileene took off with her in the rearview mirror and he says those
00:32:35
threatening text that she sent to Abel's phone before joining them on the road trip read like a
00:32:43
confession there are threats of bodily harm to both eileene and Zach in the messages you come near me ho I will kill
00:32:53
you I think it speaks for itself and that's exactly what happened after Eileen's murder Morris says araho
00:33:02
wiped down the motel room using the vinegar that Ronnie Jones would later smell he says Abel's palm prints on the
00:33:11
curtain rod got there when he moved it during the cleanup he was instructed to pick the curtain rod up over there and
00:33:18
put it over there bye Christina this toll booth surveillance photo from after the murder shows that Christina arrived
00:33:28
and not Zack Abel was the one driving the car and therefore Morris says she was the one in control the evidence
00:33:38
indicates Christina to be the one giving the directions and had everything to be able to manipulate the
00:33:45
situation manipulating Zack 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
00:34:00
father Abel chose not to testify when Morris made his final arguments to the jury he concluded the evidence showed
00:34:09
there was only one person who wanted Eileen siden dead they haven't proven any motive as to why Mr Abel would be
00:34:17
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
00:34:26
motive being I I want rid of the person who's taken my man so jealousy yes in his closing Patterson said Christina
00:34:35
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
00:34:52
Lodge together they emptied out the room together they ran away together they got
00:34:57
arrested together the only thing they didn't do together was kill Eileen Sid no way but who would the jury
00:35:12
believe what do you make of Christina aro's testimony chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and X
00:35:26
[Music] she wasn't born here and she didn't live here but she was left here and she'll
00:35:34
always be remembered by Franklin County residents of Florida's forgotten Coast will now long remember Eileen
00:35:43
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
00:35:56
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
00:36:14
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
00:36:34
Foreman told him they just couldn't decide if Zach 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
00:36:49
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
00:37:05
just as guilty as the other now retired from law enforcement Ronnie Jones spends his days tending his
00:37:12
bar in appalachicola 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 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
00:37:52
not 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 propose to eileene during this trip I think that is just be asked I
00:38:27
it's a great story but no I have been in the justice system in one form or another for 40 years rarely have I seen
00:38:39
the sort 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
00:39:22
and a court of law and then whatever is sentenced to you that's fine there was no agreement with her as to the link of
00:39:30
sentence she gave her statement with the knowledge that she could still receive life in prison I think about that day
00:39:36
every day of my life the details H me and the memories keep the judge acknowledged her
00:39:46
cooperation and sentenced Christina araho to 25 years justice has been served they won't beat up any more
00:39:55
females neither will she I think that every woman kind of thinks I would leave if I was in that situation
00:40:04
I would just get up and leave I would never tolerate that Eileen's best friend Ally hopes there will be more compassion
00:40:11
for those trapped in abusive relationships it's always that I'm sorry it's never going to happen again and you
00:40:18
believe it cuz you're in love and things are good 90 5% of the time but the 5% that are bad are so
00:40:26
bad with your sister gone how do you want her to be remembered I want her to be remembered as a sweet loving human
00:40:36
being who unfortunately had lost her parents at such a young age but she was still so sweet like she was such a
00:40:46
sweetheart her soul was so kind [Music] [Music] CBS next Saturday a young woman found
00:41:14
dead I children but are the clues adding up the piece of the bathroom door lock under Alex's head meant the door was
00:41:21
forced open before she was shot it just didn't look right a new 48 Hours next Saturday at 109 Central on CBS and
00:41:29
streaming on Paramount [Music] plus welcome back to postmortem I'm your host anarie green and this week we are
00:41:54
discussing the case of eileene seiden who was brutally murdered at a motel while on a road trip with her two
00:42:02
romantic Partners so what really happened in room 15 well let us talk to people who actually visited the room to
00:42:10
report on this case joining me today our 48 Hours correspondent Peter Van Sant and producers Lauren white and Richie
00:42:17
Fetzer thank you so much it's great to sit down with you guys again hi and Marie hi Amar thank you for having us
00:42:22
hey great to be back anarie and remember if you haven't listened to the 48 Hours
00:42:28
episode yet you can find the full audio just below this episode in your podcast feed so go take a listen and then come
00:42:35
on back here for our conversation in April of 2018 Eileen siden was passing through the small town
00:42:44
of appalachicola with her Partners Zach Abel and Christina araho when they decided to make a pit stop at the
00:42:52
Sportsman's Lodge motel but eileene would never make it back home you visited room 15 where Eileen was killed
00:43:02
what was it like to be there uh I've been in a lot of uh crime scenes right and inside that room it took me back um
00:43:11
you know when I was a kid and watched psycho for the first time at the Bates Motel it was it's disturbing because
00:43:18
there ends up being kind of an energy in these rooms where where you know a battle has taken place blood has been
00:43:25
shed and a life has been lost it's just not like walking into a typical room it's also a place it's a very solemn
00:43:32
place to go into knowing all of that has happened uh and a very sad place and you
00:43:37
feel that Vibe yes and especially it's strange in contrast to the beauty of the property you know you've got these
00:43:44
peacock roaming around we're right next to the water it's really just a lovely lovely place um but that room definitely
00:43:52
you know you you went in knowing it was going to be a somber experience and it was yeah I always feel going to places
00:43:59
it's always great for us as reporters to actually be where things happened but especially when it's a crime scene or we
00:44:04
also went to where E's body was found it always feels like hollowed ground you know you're there to do a job but it's
00:44:10
also you know eerie but also solemn because you know remind you of why we're doing it I was surprised that they
00:44:18
actually let you into the room because you know it's a it's a business and sometimes people don't like that
00:44:22
Association they want people to forget that anything bad ever happened there and Mar I was shocked you know always
00:44:27
want to go to the crime scene um a lot of times it's you know a house or maybe a public area out in the open this was
00:44:34
an operational motel room we thought the chances of actually getting into the room were going to be slim to none I
00:44:41
called the motel owner um Miss Eda but you know you can't say oh is room 15 available because then she'll know right
00:44:48
what I'm trying to do so I said you know my favorite number is 14 and I would love you know how about room 15 as well
00:44:56
um you know and 14 really is my favorite number so I didn't lie um and I said you
00:45:00
know are those rooms available she said well 14's available but 15 isn't I said oh well you know 15 actually I really
00:45:07
need I work for 48 hours and she said oh why do you want to do a story on this it's such a sad case I said it is a
00:45:14
truly sad case um but you know we have found that in the work that we do going to the crime scenes really helps the
00:45:20
audience understand the case better and we would be there for a large part of it
00:45:24
with the lead detective Ronnie Jones and to my amazement she said okay I'm G to move some things around and she made
00:45:31
that room available to us I tried to book it as an actual room she wouldn't let me I tried to give her a location
00:45:37
fee she wouldn't let me so she gave us that room for two whole days for free but that room actually is being book
00:45:43
booked oh yeah oh yeah wow so this area of Florida's Gulf Coast it's referred to
00:45:49
as the Forgotten Coast but what we learned in this hour is this community has not forgotten eileene at all they
00:45:55
didn't know her in life but they've really worked hard to preserve her memory in Death In your
00:46:02
experience just how unusual is this it's very unusual generally when Outsiders come into a community and bring some
00:46:11
sense of of Ruin and and shame and shock locals want to forget those people as quick as possible but the folks out
00:46:19
there on the Forgotten Coast are gentle Souls they live in this part of Florida that is so underdeveloped it's like what
00:46:27
Florida must have been like a hundred years ago where you have much more of the tropical feel to it and and instead
00:46:35
of shunning her they they embraced her as one of their own and it was really special and you guys felt the same way
00:46:43
didn't you oh definitely and they put up a memorial to eileene near where her body was found and what struck me is
00:46:50
it's it's not like metal or stone or something that would be permanent it's basically a poster and of Eileen's face
00:47:00
yeah exactly it says Franklin County will never forget Eileen and you had artificial flowers but Sun Flowers which
00:47:06
are were Eileen's favorite flower and her sister Franchesca actually put me in touch with the person who started the
00:47:12
memorial woman named Debbie Jordan she said that when she heard the case she was just so moved by what happened to
00:47:18
eileene that she felt compelled to do something so in addition to making this really beautiful Memorial she also um
00:47:25
got about a dozen CS cards and went around the whole County and had everyone sign the cards and she sent them to
00:47:31
Franchesca and to Eileen's friends and the thing I think of is This is six years later this crime happened in 2018
00:47:38
and here's this poster that someone is actually going back and maintaining and making sure it's still there cuz it's
00:47:43
there was there when we filmed yep it really is a testament to this area because in addition to this U Memorial
00:47:50
near where Eileen was uh found uh Miss Eda from the motel also made a little Memorial morial for eile where every
00:47:58
night they put up a light they they they shine a light in honor of eile that is so they've been doing that every night
00:48:04
you know since for the past six years it's like she developed this sort of whole family that she really didn't have
00:48:11
in in life it was her and her sister basically against it all you know absolutely so so speaking of kind of
00:48:18
creating your own family this is this is perhaps one of the more interesting components of this hour right eileene
00:48:25
was in a th rle relationship with Zach Abel and Christina araho I've had to delete my search history thanks to you
00:48:34
Peter on my work computer because you know I had to do some research um and so of course this all means that they were
00:48:41
all three in a romantic relationship it's a type of polyamorous relationship which has gained some popularity over
00:48:47
the last few decades um but I think a lot of people can look at this situation and make an assumption about the
00:48:54
relationship that Abel was indiv ibly dating both eile and Aro by all accounts um from the friends that we spoke to
00:49:03
Christina and eile were in a romantic relationship themselves like really truly these three people were dating
00:49:08
each other and I think something that was interesting that David adlerstein the reporter we spoke to talked about
00:49:14
was that when this crime first happened people in the community automatically assumed without hearing anything else oh
00:49:21
Christina must be the killer right and then once we've dove into this story a little bit more and you're learning more
00:49:26
about about the evidence pointing towards Zack as an active participant in E's death there's DNA evidence his palm
00:49:33
prints were on one of the the murder weapons so people's expectations don't always match the reality of what
00:49:41
happened M I know aaho is basically saying this beating was started she participated later on right but she
00:49:49
wasn't sort of the primary person she didn't start this thing but I wondered about the forensic evidence did it back
00:49:56
up her story that she participated minimally in the beating of eileene it did and I think that's part of what the
00:50:05
prosecutor said to us when he interviewed is that she's testifying and she's telling a story but a lot of what
00:50:11
she was saying lined up with the forensic evidence they found later so they had this curtain rod that had
00:50:17
Eileen's blood on it and it had Zack ael's um pal prints on it didn't have Christina Ros then there's this walking
00:50:25
stick that testified was used in the crime it's broken into multiple pieces it has Eileen's DNA on it and it has
00:50:31
Zack ael's DNA on it didn't have Christina raho on it the defense attorney would argue she had bruises on
00:50:37
her hands and feet so that to him he made the argument meant that she participated and to her own story she
00:50:44
participated so it would back that up but in other words she was punching and kicking right and the defense also say
00:50:50
that the reason why Zach's palm print is is on the bloody shower curtain is because Christina said pick that up uh
00:50:57
and that of course his DNA would be on the walking stick it was his walking stick now you know it's a shame that
00:51:04
this is our representation of thres because most thres I'm sure don't end this way and you know or or have such
00:51:12
toxic elements seems like there was no transparency no communication no no real consideration of each other um and so it
00:51:19
was really kind of doomed from the start in many ways look Human Nature has to play a role in this
00:51:27
three people together sexually socially there's bound to be some Envy some jealousy and it seemed to explode in
00:51:36
that room and you know thle aside this is a classic you know domestic violence case this is a case where in many ways
00:51:42
she was isolated uh because she worked with them because she lived with them uh you know she was financially dependent
00:51:49
on them on making this work so she had a lot writing on this what kind of struck
00:51:53
me with this one specifically is we do domestic violence cases all the time so we've seen this story a lot of times
00:52:02
before and what struck us from the beginning was eileene was really facing it with two perpetrators she had two
00:52:08
romantic partners and therefore she really had two abusers that she was trying to navigate and deal with which
00:52:13
must have been overwhelming exactly welcome back you have a very powerful interview with Eileen's sister
00:52:29
Franchesca who even six years later seemed very emotional very raw um what was it like to speak to her Franchesca
00:52:40
um was so good to agree to talk to us about something as deeply personal and painful as this uh she's heartbroken uh
00:52:49
and so I approach this obviously with as much sympathy uh as possible and respect
00:52:54
for her I thanked her many times for participating in this think of what she's gone through along with what
00:53:01
eileene went through lost their mother lost their father then she ends up losing her sister and she carries a
00:53:09
sense of guilt and we all try to assure her she's not responsible for what happened to her sister but she um has
00:53:16
dealt with so much but she maintains her dignity and we were just blessed to have
00:53:23
her in this story why did she want to participate in this she really wanted to be a voice for eileene and represent not
00:53:30
only eileene but represent their their parents as well and we all told her she she represented her whole family
00:53:37
beautifully she showed a lot of strength um but this was very difficult for her uh to not only uh speak about the
00:53:44
brutality of what happened to eileene but to speak on camera and we we learned during the course of the interview too
00:53:50
cuz some of the questions I had yeah that I was asking gently involv details of what what had happened to her sister
00:53:57
she didn't want to hear any of it and uh she still doesn't want to know these details it's just too painful for her
00:54:04
but I felt like we got her trust and um she opened up to give us details that are fascinating on our end it was really
00:54:12
watching also Peter's Humanity yeah and how to deal with someone that's experienced trauma and was very clearly
00:54:18
visibly upset and I think as you're going through an interview and we're kind of checking off questions I think
00:54:23
we all kind of experienced and we're really watching Peter firsthand make a decision of like we got enough right
00:54:28
Peter was able to tell what her boundaries were and we weren't pushing that yeah yeah we no one's trying to do
00:54:34
more damage here you know exactly it was masterful to watch because it was you know it's emotions as opposed to
00:54:40
thinking well I mean one thing that everyone at 48 hours does to a very very high level but I know that Peter's
00:54:48
always cognizant of is delivering these stories with compassion understanding that these are
00:54:55
human beings beings who are willing to relive some of the worst things in their lives in the hopes of improving someone
00:55:04
else's life right right exactly and that's what she wanted to do and uh you know these interviews are important that
00:55:12
you're listening to them and reacting to them is far more important than the initial question and I think she it was
00:55:19
almost like a therapy session you know as we talk you don't have these conversations with family members you
00:55:24
know when I lost uh my mother and I'm with my sisters I didn't interview them right we don't have those kind of
00:55:31
conversations so it it becomes a bit cathartic for them as well to finally talk about things that they've always
00:55:38
wanted to talk to someone about but have not sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers I think we've all been
00:55:44
situations like that you also interviewed alen's best friend uh she did not want her name her real name used
00:55:51
right so she's referred to as Ally um in the show given her privacy concerns was it
00:55:57
difficult to convince her to go in front of the camera right first of all she has
00:56:01
a very unique name and she was also concerned about her family she didn't want her family to be kind of tied to
00:56:07
this and when I first spoke with her she said I do not want to be on camera I don't want to be involved I will give
00:56:12
you information on background I thought oh okay that's great let's do that and then as I kept talking to other people
00:56:19
who knew uh Eileen um I realized that they didn't know the story they didn't know this case they didn't know what was
00:56:26
going through in the same way that Ally did um and you know we've all kind of experienced that the people who want to
00:56:32
speak don't necessarily have the things that you need and so um you know I went back to Ally and I and I asked her again
00:56:40
and she said you know I not really interested and then shockingly she called me uh the Sunday before we left
00:56:47
for Appalachia Cola and she said Lauren how are you and I said I'm great I'm actually heading to Florida we need a
00:56:54
voice for Eileen uh no one knows knows the story the way that you do and she said okay I'll do it and I was shocked
00:57:01
uh but I was so excited because I knew that it would really help the story and that she would provide Eileen's
00:57:08
perspective in a way that no one else could have I think it was an example of Lauren's soft persistence with someone
00:57:14
that were trying to interview because it was an ongoing back and forth and I mean
00:57:19
to Lauren's Point she knew everything and she was really Central to trying to help Eileen in her moment of need so
00:57:24
it's like that whole part of that story and even giving eile the grace that she was trying to get out of this situation
00:57:31
Ally was the voice to tell that story yeah I can't imagine what the hour would be like without her because she really
00:57:38
gave some insight into how eileene wound up there and why it would be so challenging for her to pull herself out
00:57:44
of it correct Zach Abel did not take the stand at trial but someone very close to
00:57:50
him was actually supposed to testify on his behalf his own mother Kimberly Clark
00:57:56
Park but that never happened so to explain why I want to play parts of your interview with defense attorney Alex
00:58:03
Morris that actually did not make it into the hour so what happened why didn't she
00:58:10
testify in 25 coming on 26 years I've never experienced this she was here in appalachicola prepared to testify under
00:58:20
subpoena in a motel room had been here for 3 Days 4 days she's going to testify the next day the woman who came up with
00:58:29
her get a phone call from her it's frantic says Alex you need to come to the motel why Kim's
00:58:39
dead I said you got to be kidding me so my first thought was don't call me we need to call
00:58:47
911 but I went to the motel and oh my gosh I mean she's deceased of course my brains did she
00:58:56
have a heart attack did she she didn't take her own life no um so we know now natural causes the medical examiners
00:59:05
report um heart problems and and things of that nature if Zach's mother had lived and testified might there have
00:59:13
been a different outcome yes really well I mean what was she going to say that made the defense
00:59:23
attorney so confident Abel had to be humanized and his mother was the person who was going to be able to do that um I
00:59:33
lived in England for a while where the accused very often testify in America it's just the opposite they rarely do he
00:59:41
chose not to take the stand and so when you do that you're defined by your enemies unless you have someone like
00:59:48
your mom who will take the stand and humanize this guy Alex Morris said it hurt the case because they lost that
00:59:54
element M Alex had mentioned to us too that um Kimberly Clark was potentially going to kind of back up the story of
01:00:05
Christina as being more of an aggressor in this relationship and really paint that picture a little bit clearer and
01:00:12
she wasn't just uh you know Zach's mom she was also their roommate she lived with the thruffle around the time I know
01:00:18
she I know she lived with the thruffle around the time of April 2018 right before this road trip and she was there
01:00:25
for that big fight that kind of started the road trip so she could have really G
01:00:30
given some ins View and you know we wrestled with including this detail in the hour but ultimately why didn't that
01:00:37
detail make it in just time or it's time you know we have an hour to tell a story
01:00:41
and you know to Zach ael's credit Alex Morris offered him the opportunity you know should we see about delaying or
01:00:47
maybe seeking a mistrial because of this this was a big uh you know character witness for us and Zach said no let's
01:00:54
keep going Alex brought up to us that might be a reason that he could appeal cuz a judge might look at that and say
01:01:00
well he made that decision but he wasn't in the right head space exactly he was grieving his mother in that moment so
01:01:07
that's fascinating as we mentioned Abel didn't testify trial but he did make a statement uh during his sentencing more
01:01:15
than two months later 48 Hours was there that day what was the reaction in the courtroom like to hearing Abel speak we
01:01:24
were very excited to hear what he was going to say and his statement was that he loved eileene and that actually this
01:01:31
road trip was kind of a little bit of a a love trip for him and eileene and he claimed he proposed to her on the trip
01:01:39
with a ring pop and you know it's the specificity of it you know it wasn't just I propose I propose with a Ring Pop
01:01:45
um but we were kind of very shocked by that because by the um prosecution standpoint you killed her maybe what a
01:01:54
week or two after that but he said that they loved each other they were going to
01:01:58
start a family together and they were going to get away from Christina that was his whole thing they were their
01:02:03
whole plan was to get away from Christina yeah and we're hearing this I mean we're processing this and then the
01:02:08
judge is also hearing the statement and then sentences able and gives him the maximum and actually says that he wishes
01:02:16
I'm paraphrasing but effectively he was saying that he wished he could give him a harsher sentence and he' sentenced him
01:02:20
to life so what does that mean I mean I don't know that I've heard a judge like that before cuz remember the
01:02:30
details were explained in court with photographs and everything else of her body yes what was done to that woman is
01:02:38
as shocking a killing as I've ever seen on any 48 hours and I've been doing this
01:02:44
for a couple of decades it was a shocking killing and that that was the undercurrent for all of this so that as
01:02:50
the judge is listening to him Express regret he has the the memory of those photographs knows what was done so then
01:02:58
what about Christina aro's sentencing cuz I mean between the two of them she made out much much better Christina raho
01:03:04
in the end the her judge was a different judge than Abel's judge um sentenced her
01:03:10
to 25 years so she could have gotten life in prison like him but she got a lesser sentence of 25 years and he
01:03:16
acknowledged her uh cooperation with testifying for the prosecution a lot of Eileen's friends and loved ones were
01:03:24
really nervous that because of the connections that Christina had bragged about for all of these years according
01:03:30
to them that she might just get a slap on the wrist but clearly she did not I mean it's not life it's not life but
01:03:36
it's not a walk absolutely so araho always bragging about her dad and I thought to
01:03:43
myself I like why she keep saying this like was she a problem child before had her dad helped her out before but now
01:03:50
we've you know elevated to a level where you're like sorry kid I can't help you I
01:03:54
mean do we find out any sort of more back on her I mean there's a lot of rumors there's a lot of things that
01:04:00
friends and other people have speculated as far as evidence I mean we haven't seen any right and he spoke at her
01:04:06
sentencing it was pretty clear that he had never used his influence to help her and I mean I think was pretty eloquent
01:04:13
in saying that so for sure I think she just tried to use it to intimidate it was a power play I've got this dad who
01:04:19
can make things happen and will protect me nothing more than that he turns out to be based on all of our reporting a
01:04:28
very straight arrow guy and he told his daughter you're going to admit what you've done and you're going to pay the
01:04:34
price for what you've done so just the opposite he he did his job as a as a Lawman uh and and um he was in a way
01:04:43
kind of a hero in this case yeah for all of her bragging uh and all of the alleged threats she made to eileene
01:04:50
about her father about her powerful connections when push came to shove he turned her in the father turned her in
01:04:56
to his story was influential in her pleading guilty wow but I'm sure absolutely devastating when you dedicate
01:05:02
your life to law and order to have a child that you then have to have to turn in So at the end of the episode Eileen's
01:05:10
best friend Ally expressed her hope for more compassion towards those trapped in
01:05:15
abusive relationships and I think that you're helping to fulfill her hope for sure by sharing Eileen's story this is a
01:05:23
great hour um you know and I hope that ultimately people also learn from this hour Peter Lauren Richie
01:05:31
I want to thank you guys so much thank you thank you for having us if you or someone you know is a
01:05:40
victim of domestic violence contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline that number is 1
01:05:47
8007997233 if you like this series postmortem please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple
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podcast and follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast and you can also listen
01:06:02
at free on Amazon music wry Plus in the wry app or with a 48 Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcast thanks
01:06:11
again for listening