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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
00:02:01
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
00:02:07
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website today's episode involves crimes against
00:02:15
children and won't be suitable for all listeners edward lived in the czech republic town of
00:02:25
korem on monday may 7 2007 edouard was home alone making some last minute preparations
00:02:35
his partner had recently given birth and eduard was trying to set up a baby monitor before she and their baby
00:02:42
daughter were discharged from hospital at around 11am eduard connected the device to his television
00:02:52
he scanned the channel selector waiting for the live feed from the monitor's video camera to show on the screen
00:03:00
an image did appear but it wasn't coming from inside eduard's home the baby monitor had intercepted another
00:03:09
camera's signal the black and white feed on the television showed a young boy who eduard
00:03:15
didn't know he appeared content as he sat naked on a concrete floor playing with a roll of
00:03:22
duct tape believing the baby monitor had a technical fault edouard set it aside and
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carried on with his day he returned to it later to try again but it intercepted the same feed from
00:03:37
earlier this time the naked boy was being fed torn pieces of bread by a woman whose
00:03:44
face was out of view edouard heard her say here you go but didn't recognize her voice
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it dawned on eduard that the boy's hands were tied behind his back edouard told his partner what he'd seen
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and they decided that they should notify the authorities before doing so eduard switched on the
00:04:09
baby monitor and tv to assess the situation one last time this time the boy was clearly hog tired
00:04:18
and licking what appeared to be vomit from the floor [Music] in the summer of 2005 28 year old clara
00:04:49
maurova was working at a youth center in the czech city of brunei the center was run by her older sister
00:04:57
katarina who approached clara one day to discuss a child who had just arrived from norway
00:05:05
her name was anitchka she was around 12 years old sickly and in need of special foster care
00:05:14
katarina believed her sister would make an ideal foster mother for the girl it wasn't an unusual thought
00:05:23
clara melrova was successfully raising her sons seven-year-old jakub and five-year-old andre as a single mother
00:05:32
the boys attended the same youth center where their mother worked participating in games sporting activities and a
00:05:39
language studies energetic and sporty andre loved hockey his older brother jacob played
00:05:48
basketball as well as the flute he was an avid reader who was especially fond of dinosaurs
00:05:55
[Music] clara's other sister gabriella spent time with the family at least twice a
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week she described her nephews as sweethearts and clara as a great mother and a role
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model working at the youth centre had fostered clara's interest in child education and
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she was in the process of gaining professional teaching qualifications balancing studies with everyday life
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wasn't easy jakub and andre often had to accompany their mother on her class field trips
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they'd also hang around campus quietly entertaining themselves while clara completed her assignments
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it was chaotic but life was good and the boys were happy clara's university supervisor who had
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met jakub and andre many times noted that clara was raising her boys beautifully
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[Music] after clara's sister told her about anitchka clara went to meet the girl
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she found her painting in the woods by the youth center anichika was short and very thin with
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mousy brown hair and glasses she spoke quietly and nervously in a mixture of czech and norwegian
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while she didn't reveal much about herself clara could tell that the girl was severely traumatized
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[Music] clara spent the next few weeks building a rapport with anitchka who eventually
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opened up about her past following the death of her parents anichika was placed in an orphanage
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where she was mistreated by those who ran the facility eventually anecho along with some other
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children had been sold into a pedophile ring and endured horrendous acts of sexual abuse and torture
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she had also been forced to participate in the torture of the other children when the pedophile ring was finally
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exposed a nietzsche was sent to katarina mauerova's center for children as she had no parents or guardians to claim her
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anecho was being treated by andrei zanalov a psychiatric doctor from azerbaijan who specialised in helping
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children with traumatic histories he allowed clara to take a look at anitchka's medical file
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dr zainalov explained that in addition to her psychological traumas anichka also had leukemia
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in his opinion she would be lucky if she lived to the age of 16. from around september 2005 anitchka
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began living with clara full time as part of this new arrangement clara's sister katarina took anitchka to the
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hospital for chemotherapy sessions dr zainalov continued to treat her nietzsche remotely sending therapy and
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care instructions to clara via email and text messages it wasn't long before clara wanted to
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formally adopt a niche car 12 months later in october 2006 clara and katarina mauerova sat in the office
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of brunei's deputy ombudsman katarina had used her standing as the director of a youth center to arrange
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the meeting sisters explained that they had spent the previous year doing everything they
00:09:39
could to have a nietzsche adopted by clara unfortunately their efforts were hindered due to the fact that a niche
00:09:47
car didn't possess a birth certificate or passport without legal identification it was
00:09:54
almost impossible for clara to adopt an her the sisters had approached multiple institutions seeking help but no one was
00:10:04
willing or able to assist them one was the endangered children fund a non-government non-profit organization
00:10:14
that provided social and legal protection to children in the czech republic in order to receive their help anichka
00:10:22
needed to stay at the fund's children's shelter while her case progressed given anecha's traumatic history and ill
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health clara and katarina expressed to their concern that such an upheaval could have devastating effects
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from a procedural standpoint the deputy ombudsman should have referred anechois case to departmental social workers
00:10:48
however she agreed that removing anecho from her foster family was not in her best interests
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the deputy ombudsman provided the maura rover with a device on how to proceed the first step was for a nietzsche's age
00:11:06
to be verified over the course of several weeks katarina accompanied an aneeshkar to
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university hospital in brene where she was subjected to various medical examinations
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x-rays of her forearm and hands were taken and her dna was also tested it was determined that a niche car was
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between the ages of 13 and 14. armed with a medical certificate confirming aneechka's age the maura
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rover sisters applied to bironas municipal court they sought a judicial ruling on whether
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anecho could remain with clara and be legally adopted by her the hearing was scheduled for march the
00:11:54
following year of 2007. as part of the court process social workers inspected clara's small flat in
00:12:03
bernare they found everything to be in order by january clara had moved her family
00:12:11
into a larger two-story terrorist house on a quiet street in kurim 15 kilometers
00:12:17
north of brene the house was arranged and paid for by inejka's doctor andrei zanalov with the
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help of clara's sister katarina clara made sure that an each girl felt at home painting her room bright yellow
00:12:34
and filling it with toys anitchika's case was heard in the municipal court on march 26
00:12:43
the presiding judge reviewed all the relevant medical and social work documents as well as some additional
00:12:50
reports katarina had commissioned in support of clara's application both sisters provided statements and
00:12:58
anecho was interviewed by the judge in reaching her decision the judge concluded that aneechka's biological
00:13:06
mother was likely a drug addict who had given birth to anecho at home as aneechka had never attended school it
00:13:14
was unlikely there were any formal records in her name the judge granted anecho the legal birth
00:13:23
date of december 2 1993 making her 13 years 3 months and 24 days old a birth certificate would be created and
00:13:34
anecho finally had legal recognition [Music] clara's application for adoption was
00:13:41
also approved anitchka was given clara's surname maurova [Music] six weeks later on monday may 7 2007 a
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call was placed to the kurim police the caller was a local man named eduard trudy
00:14:05
he had been attempting to connect a baby monitor to his television when it intercepted another camera
00:14:12
its footage showed a naked boy hogtied on a concrete floor edouard had started recording the live
00:14:20
feed to preserve evidence which he then showed police when they arrived at his house
00:14:28
given the operating range of the baby monitor was only about 30 to 50 meters police believed that the boy must be in
00:14:35
a neighboring house as one officer focused on the footage he recognized the song playing in the
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background realising that if they knew which house the music was coming from they might
00:14:48
find the boy the officers turned down the television's audio they then pressed their ears to cups
00:14:55
they held against the walls the cups amplified sound allowing them to hear noises from the houses that
00:15:03
shared a wall with eduard's home emanating from behind one wall was the same song that was captured in the
00:15:12
footage edouard wasn't familiar with the neighbors on that side and had never seen any boys coming in or out of their
00:15:20
house [Music] officers attended the property and two women aged in their 30s answered the
00:15:28
front door [Music] they refused police requests to enter the premises although the officers didn't have a
00:15:36
search warrant the situation was exceptional ignoring the women's protests the police
00:15:43
forced their way in and came across a storage cupboard beneath a staircase it was padlocked
00:15:52
the women insisted that no one was in there but refused to hand over a key they had to be pulled away from the
00:16:00
cupboard as police began trying to remove the padlock suddenly a young girl in pyjamas ran
00:16:08
into the room screaming mama mama after hugging one of the women the girl started holding onto the officer's legs
00:16:17
hindering their efforts to access the locked cupboard the padlock was eventually removed and
00:16:25
the cupboard opened inside was a dark room about two meters by two meters in size
00:16:33
it had no ventilation and an odor of vomit and feces wafted out a bucket sat in one corner
00:16:43
there was little else aside from a high-tech security camera that was actively recording the space
00:16:51
next door edward tradie's eyes were glued to his television when police had begun knocking at his
00:16:58
neighbor's door the footage of the little boy had abruptly gone dark someone had suddenly turned off a light
00:17:06
within the confined space now that a door had been opened light filtered back in
00:17:14
edouard watched alive as it illuminated the naked restrained boy police scooped him up removed his
00:17:22
restraints and took him to a waiting ambulance the boy's name was andre and he was seven years old
00:17:35
he told officers that he was kept in the cupboard under the stairs while his mother clara maurarova and his sister
00:17:42
anitchka maurova lived freely in the rest of their house the other woman at the home when police
00:17:50
arrived was andre's aunt katarina maura rover she visited often [Music] neither clara nor katarina inquired
00:18:00
about andre's welfare following his rescue clara maurova was placed under arrest
00:18:08
for child abuse and was remanded in custody as an investigation commenced clara's other son nine-year-old yakub
00:18:18
wasn't at the family home when police stormed the premises concerns for his welfare grew even more
00:18:25
so upon the discovery of a locked garden shed in the yard gaps in its frame were covered by the
00:18:32
same type of duct tape that had been used to bind andre's hands and feet the police broke in but jakub was not
00:18:41
inside he was soon located and deemed safe as their home life was investigated jakub andrei and anitchka were sent to a
00:18:53
children's shelter in brene run by the endangered children fund during their first day aneeshka remained
00:19:02
with the drawn and fearful of social interactions while her brothers played together and appeared to be adjusting
00:19:11
by the following afternoon andre began exhibiting post-traumatic stress and high levels of anxiety
00:19:19
he was returned to hospital where he was stabilized and held for further observation
00:19:26
that evening staff at the shelter commenced their nightly rounds as the children slept
00:19:33
they found jakub sound asleep in the room he shared with a niece car but her bed was empty
00:19:40
a search of the facility failed to locate her it was soon realised that one of the
00:19:47
windows in inejka's room was open it was not possible for a child to open the window on their own
00:20:07
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hundreds of police officers searched for a niche camara rover she was known to feel comfortable in the
00:23:43
wilderness so a helicopter with heat-seeking capabilities scoured nearby wooded areas
00:23:50
a spokesperson for the children's shelter publicly voiced concern that anecho had been kidnapped and said they
00:23:56
were worried about her fragile health meanwhile with his brother hospitalized and sister missing nine-year-old jakub
00:24:06
remained at the children's shelter alone none of his relatives were permitted to
00:24:12
visit him so he was mostly left to his own devices he watched television one day jakub saw
00:24:20
the footage of his brother's imprisonment it had been leaked to the media along with a statement andre gave
00:24:27
police that detailed his ordeal in his statement andre said he'd been abused for a long time in a number of
00:24:35
locations and by more people than just his mother eventually jacob revealed to police that
00:24:44
he too had been treated the same way it all began shortly after a niche car was brought into their home in the
00:24:53
autumn of 2005. clara maura rover cared for inejka on the instruction and guidance of inejka's
00:25:01
doctor andrei zanalov he said that in order for her nietker to heal from her past trauma she would need
00:25:09
to feel completely safe and welcome in clara's home clara had to lavish a niche car with
00:25:16
attention praise and reassurance dr zanalov also diagnosed the nietzsche with a condition that caused spinal
00:25:25
fluid to build up but could be treated with massage therapy clara was instructed to regularly
00:25:33
massage anechoi's entire body the doctor explained that massaging inejka's intimate areas would also
00:25:41
desensitise and reprogram her past sexual trauma over time aneecha began to improve
00:25:51
but clara's efforts to help the young girl had become an obsession she began neglecting her sons often
00:25:58
sending them to stay with their grandparents [Music] by the summer of 2006 clara had been
00:26:06
trying to adopt a niche car without success for almost nine months meanwhile dr zanalov was growing
00:26:14
concerned about the family's situation anecha had told him that andre and jakub were being mean to her and he felt that
00:26:23
she would never truly be a part of the family if they didn't accept her he recommended that clara use corporal
00:26:31
punishment against her sons to make them behave starting in july 2006 clara dutifully
00:26:40
began to beat andre and jacob with a wooden spoon and a metal belt buckle the boys were also made to kneel for
00:26:49
hours at a time or else be locked in a cupboard with no food water or toilet access
00:26:56
at night they had to sleep on a mat on the floor they were completely isolated from
00:27:03
family and friends this abuse continued for around five weeks then dr zanalov advised clara to bring
00:27:14
the boys to a cottage in viverska batiska a town about 20 kilometers northwest of brener
00:27:21
there the re-education would begin andre and jacob arrived at the cottage in late august 2006
00:27:36
it was an isolated property at the end of a small country lane on the outskirts of town
00:27:43
trees concealed the residents from view boy's aunt katarina mauerova was already
00:27:51
there when they arrived she'd brought with her two dog cages one for each brother
00:27:57
[Music] they were locked in the cages which forced them to remain bent or kneeling
00:28:03
and unable to move they were only fed scraps of food and were not released to use the bathroom
00:28:11
if they tried to communicate with one another they were beaten that night the first re-education
00:28:20
session began the boys were bound blindfolded and beaten clara scratched and stabbed her sons
00:28:29
with a fork and forced their heads underwater while katarina held them in place andre and jakub had to memorize vulgar
00:28:38
passages and were hurt if they failed to recount them word for word the torture continued into the next day
00:28:49
as well as being victimized andre was also made to hurt his brother but when anecho accused andre of
00:28:57
physically harming her he bore the brunt of the abuse at one point aneetka even joined in
00:29:08
while dr andrei zanalov wasn't present at the cottage he kept in touch with clara via text messages and emails
00:29:17
when clara informed him that andre's re-education was not working dr zanalov devised a plan
00:29:25
as per the doctor's orders clara handed andre a glass of water and told him to give it to jacob who was thirsty
00:29:34
andre did as instructed and yakuba drank from the glass he was then taken away andre was then informed that the water
00:29:45
he had just given his older brother was actually poison he was led outside to the back of the
00:29:51
cottage where jacob's lifeless body lay in a freshly dug grave andre was told that if he behaved
00:29:59
himself and obeyed all instructions then jacob would come back to life andre promised to be good and jakub
00:30:08
who'd been forced to play dead by the adults got up dr zanalov reassured clara that these
00:30:18
re-education practices were scientifically proven to be effective in modifying bad behavior and insisted that
00:30:25
the program was nearly complete his next demand was for clara to burn andre's buttocks cut off a piece of the
00:30:34
wounded flesh and forced the young boy to weed it this was too far for clara who couldn't
00:30:41
carry out the order disappointed in her dr zanalov decided to send out reinforcements
00:30:51
two men and a woman soon arrived at the cottage twenty-nine-year-old yan turak was a
00:30:58
scout leader at katarina maurova's center for children his friend twenty-three-year-old yan
00:31:06
shklar occasionally worked there as an assistant the woman was 26 year old hannah bashova
00:31:14
she too was a scout leader at the center andre and jakub knew her as aunt nancy clara maura rover handed her sons over
00:31:26
to turak shekla and bashova she thanked them for the work they were about to do then left
00:31:35
turret and schla proceeded to gag strip restrain mutilate and torture the boys as per dr zanalov's instructions
00:31:46
meanwhile hannah bashova made lots of noise in the background to give the boys the impression more people were present
00:31:56
when clara returned she knelt beside andre and jakub and said that if they ever told anyone what had happened at
00:32:03
the cottage she would bring them back there [Music] clara took an ichiga back to their
00:32:14
bernair flat and continued trying to adopt the girl while andre and jakub were left with
00:32:20
their aunt katarina as well as hannah bashova and ian shklar they took the boys to an after-school
00:32:29
clubhouse in baranas south where katarina bashova and shekla sometimes worked as group leaders
00:32:37
andre and jacob were kept separate and their abuse continued their mother never visited and the boys
00:32:46
were not allowed to see or speak to other family members on september 10 andre turned seven
00:32:56
almost a month later on october 6 jakub had his ninth birthday then four months into the brother's
00:33:05
imprisonment at the clubhouse things changed in december andre was allowed to live
00:33:12
with his mother and anecho in their new house in kurem jakub remained at the clubhouse
00:33:21
as time wore on he was sometimes permitted to attend school but was threatened into remaining silent about
00:33:28
the abuse meanwhile 15 kilometers away in korean andre was kept naked and bound in a
00:33:37
small windowless storage cupboard under the stairs no one suspected anything was wrong in
00:33:44
the maura rover household until may 2007 when neighbor edward 3d connected his baby monitor to his television
00:33:55
andre and jakub's bodies were riddled with burns scratches and scars both boys exhibited symptoms of
00:34:03
post-traumatic stress as well as phobias and other developmental mood and sleep disorders
00:34:10
their ability to concentrate was impaired and they grappled with feelings of loneliness isolation guilt and
00:34:18
abandonment psychologists determined that andre and jakub would require long-term if not lifelong psychological
00:34:27
care despite what they had endured the brothers were remarkably resilient they started school within days of their
00:34:37
rescue andre was home schooled at the children's shelter while jakub attended in-person classes
00:34:45
their older sister anitchka didn't cope as well while she hadn't endured any of the
00:34:52
abuse instigated by dr andrei zanalov she was very unsettled in the shelter that was supposed to be their refuge
00:35:01
then she vanished all together nine days later three identical envelopes arrived at the berenai
00:35:12
ombudsman's office the malada frontal dense newspaper and to the office of the czech republic's president
00:35:21
each contained a photocopy of the same nine page handwritten letter dated six days earlier and signed with the name
00:35:28
and maurova it read my mother is not at all bad as shown on television and in the newspapers
00:35:39
i don't understand everything but i will write the truth as i know it please forgive my mother
00:35:47
i know that the police and everyone are looking for me but i'm afraid of everyone
00:35:53
nobody wants to hear how it really was the letter detailed inejka's time living with clara andre and jacob
00:36:04
she insisted that andre was not abused or locked away she accused andre of lashing out at her
00:36:12
mostly at night when there was no one around to witness it he had threatened anecha to stay quiet
00:36:19
saying that she would be taken away if she spoke up the letter explained that clara
00:36:26
desperately wanted andre to treat anecho nicely she feared that his misbehaviour would
00:36:33
compromise anecha's adoption upon learning that her adoptive mother could be imprisoned for eight years
00:36:42
anitchka fled the children's shelter her letter didn't shed any light on where she was currently
00:36:50
however postage marks indicated the envelopes were sent from a town just north of brunei
00:36:58
the country's president expressed skepticism that the letter was penned by a 13 year old
00:37:05
psychologists agreed that an adult had likely helped denise go ride it then deliver it to the post office
00:37:16
[Music] anecha's former room at the children's shelter in brene was thoroughly inspected by forensic investigators in
00:37:26
an effort to identify the person who had facilitated her escape they swabbed surfaces and were able to
00:37:33
detect foreign dna which was cross-checked against everyone embroiled in the case
00:37:40
while it wasn't a direct match to anybody involved it was a familial match to jan schla
00:37:48
he had joined in the abuse of andre and jakub at the viverska batishka cottage the dna belonged to his older sister 32
00:37:59
year old babora shglova like her brother baborosh glover worked at katarina maurova's youth center
00:38:11
the amount of barbora's dna found throughout anecho's room indicated she must have lived there for a number of
00:38:18
days though barbora's current whereabouts were unknown investigators were certain
00:38:25
that she was with anecho maurova [Music] anichika maurova's disappearance was covered extensively in czech newspapers
00:38:37
articles featured a photo of a smiling clara maura rover with an arm around anecha's shoulders
00:38:45
anecho's brown hair was parted down the middle with each half woven into thin braids
00:38:51
she looked nervous with an emotionless face and a downward gaze [Music] upon seeing this photograph a staff
00:39:01
member at katarina mauerova's youth center phoned the police she reported that the person next to
00:39:09
clara maurova was not a teenage girl named anitchka she was actually a woman who had worked
00:39:17
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you support case file to continue to deliver quality content [Music] barbara shklova was the oldest of three
00:44:39
children her mother was a doctor who had a severe drinking problem and her father was
00:44:45
mostly absent choosing to prioritize his work as a boy's youth group leader barbora found solace in nature as she
00:44:55
generally felt uncomfortable around people growing up she was treated for neurological and cardiac conditions as
00:45:03
well as epilepsy she also had an underactive thyroid which inhibited her physical growth
00:45:11
no matter her age barbara had a tendency to form child-like attachments to others
00:45:20
when barbora was in her early twenties she met katarina mauerova the young women became friends and
00:45:27
eventually moved in together at 26 barbora started work as an educator at the youth center katarina
00:45:36
ran barbora's younger brother yarn was also hired sometime later in 2005 with the assistance of katarina
00:45:48
mauerova barbora began creating a new identity for herself as a 13 year old named anitchka
00:45:56
they invented a backstory for the fictional anecho one so traumatic it would elicit compassion from others and
00:46:03
be difficult to disprove barbara spent months starving herself until she lost half her weight and had
00:46:11
the appearance of a sickly teen she wore children's clothing hats and colorful eyeglasses and styled her hair
00:46:20
in ways popular with teens then in the summer of 2005 katarina introduced danica to her younger sister
00:46:30
clara for the next two years barbora played the role of anecho to perfection the stories about her deceased parents
00:46:41
time spent in an orphanage and the abuse by a pedophile ring were all made up as was her leukemia diagnosis
00:46:50
[Music] katarina gave clara fake medical documentation to support aneechka's cancer diagnosis
00:47:03
she would regularly collect barbora from clara's home claiming she was taking nanichka to chemotherapy
00:47:11
although she never attended the hospital barbora would return looking weak wrapped in a blanket with the tube
00:47:18
sticking out of her anecho's psychiatrist dr andrei zanalov from azerbaijan didn't exist either
00:47:29
while never conclusively established it was thought that barbora's younger brother yan shklar played this role
00:47:37
he had disguised himself and produced fraudulent credentials when meeting clara anitchka's medical file that he let her
00:47:46
read was also fake the deputy ombudsman who assisted the maura rover sisters the doctors who
00:47:55
examined aneeshka and submitted reports to the court and the judge who gave anitchka a legal identity and formalised
00:48:02
her adoption were all deceived as well the judge had made her decision based on false medical reports
00:48:12
the doctors who examined anitchka took x-rays and samples of her dna and had correctly determined that their patient
00:48:20
was between the ages of 13 and 14. however their patient had not been barbora shklova masquerading as a
00:48:29
nietzsche katarina had duped a friend and used his thirteen-year-old daughter to
00:48:36
impersonate an age guard during the assessment clara was aware of this specific con and
00:48:44
went along with it based on the guidance of dr andrei zanalov he explained that if the real inej girl
00:48:52
attended the examination then doctors would discover her leukemia and the adoption application would be
00:48:58
immediately rejected all of the emails and text messages from dr zanalov to clara were later found to
00:49:07
have originated from accounts belonging to katarina mauerova every instruction to abuse andre and
00:49:15
jacob had come from their own aunt barbara shklova as a nietzsche abetted the abuse by saying their brothers were
00:49:25
harming her clara maurova insisted that she was completely oblivious to the web of
00:49:33
deceit woven by her sister she was unaware that her cancer-stricken teenage daughter was in fact a woman in
00:49:41
her early 30s in a media statement clara said all my actions of which i am accused
00:49:50
were led and directed by other persons whose identity was kept secret from me and who at the same time took advantage
00:49:58
of my very bad mental state into which they brought me and in which they kept me
00:50:06
clara was supported by her parents and other sister gabriela who condemned katarina
00:50:13
they claimed that katarina both directly and via the fictional doctor had kept clara in a constant state of fear
00:50:23
clara was led to believe that if she didn't follow the orders of those she trusted aneechka would die
00:50:31
clara mourarova quote until the last moment i believed that the doctor would show up and everything
00:50:39
would be explained that i was just helping a niche car and that it made sense i have nothing now i just hurt my kids
00:50:49
terribly and ruined their lives [Music] in the weeks and months after andre and jakub were rescued those responsible for
00:51:02
their suffering were located and arrested the boy's mother and their aunt faced abuse and torture charges as did center
00:51:12
for children's staff members yan turak yan shekla and hannah bashova [Music] however barbora
00:51:21
was still missing the last anyone had heard of her was the letter she'd sent to the country's
00:51:29
president deputy ombudsman and a national newspaper while still masquerading as a nature
00:51:36
[Music] on friday june 15 nearly five weeks after she had fled the shelter barbora
00:51:43
shklova showed up at the czech embassy in the danish capital of copenhagen [Music]
00:51:50
was accompanied by her father their lawyer and two journalists barbora had been laying low in the city
00:51:58
for about a month at the embassy she provided id and requested that hair and saliva samples
00:52:06
be taken in order to prove that she was barbora shlovar after barbora and her entourage left
00:52:14
embassy staff contacted the authorities in the czech republic despite her stated fear of people and
00:52:23
the media barbora arranged an interview with the lidova novena newspaper she admitted to her fictitious life as a
00:52:32
nietzsche she felt happier and more comfortable being a nietzsche and preferred the way
00:52:38
people treated her when they thought she was young barbora said that the original intention
00:52:45
behind the con was to supervise the children at katarina mauerova's youth center while blending in with them
00:52:53
the situation then quote evolved to her inserting herself into clara mourinho's life and family
00:53:01
she didn't elaborate any further [Music] barbora denied that clara abused her sons
00:53:10
she claimed that andre had only been locked up for a short time on the day he was discovered and was disciplined on
00:53:17
just one other occasion barbora held little sympathy for andre implying that his punishment was rightly
00:53:25
deserved [Music] pressed on that point barbora claimed that the then six-year-old andre had
00:53:32
beaten both her and jakub she couldn't explain what prompted the attack only that andre had suddenly
00:53:40
started shouting kill yakub kill aneechka barbora remarked andre has such power that no one would
00:53:51
believe it he has enormous power barbora had no plans to return to the czech republic saying that she would
00:54:02
provide the authorities with a statement through her lawyer when asked if she would continue being a
00:54:08
nietzsche barbora said no anech is gone after this interview barbora shklova disappeared again
00:54:25
five months later in december 2007 a 13 year old boy named adam farner who lived
00:54:32
in oslo norway approached his school teachers and confided that he had been abused
00:54:39
believing the perpetrator was adam's father adam was sent to a children's shelter
00:54:46
then on sunday december 16 adam vanished police were contacted and a nationwide search began
00:54:56
adam barna was eventually located in the czech republic where he was found safe and well with his mother
00:55:04
adam had never attended school in norway teachers 600 kilometers away in oslo had
00:55:13
no idea that the 13 year old boy they thought was adam fauna was in fact 33 year old barbora shklova
00:55:22
she had stolen adam's identity and had been masquerading as him for several months
00:55:28
to appear more masculine barbora had gained weight shaved her head and dressed in loose fitting oversized
00:55:35
clothes favored by teenage boys according to the school's principal some teachers thought adam looked more like a
00:55:44
girl but they attributed this to 13 being a tricky age barbora was eventually tracked down
00:55:55
north of oslo and arrested she was transported back to the czech republic where she was photographed
00:56:02
being led into a police station clutching a children's book and teddy bear barbora was charged for the abuse of
00:56:10
andre and jakub the prosecution and defense had barbora examined by their own experts
00:56:19
the prosecution's expert concluded that barbora didn't suffer from any psychological conditions
00:56:26
rather she was an expert at manipulating the people around her the defense's expert disagreed claiming
00:56:35
that barbara was mentally ill and in need of treatment to resolve the matter the court ordered
00:56:44
its own evaluation their panel of eight independent psychologists and psychiatrists assessed
00:56:51
barbora and found she had no signs of mental illness barbora was declared competent to stand
00:56:59
trial as were her co-accused clara maurova katarina mauerova hannah bashova yan turak and yan shkla
00:57:11
they had all been charged with the abuse of andre and jacob clara katarina hannah bashova and yan
00:57:19
shklar were charged with deprivation of liberty and yan turak faced an additional charge of causing bodily harm
00:57:28
katarina also faced charges for perjury and providing false expert testimony to court when helping clara adopt a nature
00:57:42
the trial opened with a full read of the indictment which detailed all of the abuse allegedly perpetrated against
00:57:49
andre and jacob at the conclusion of the reading a noticeably thinner clara maurova took to
00:57:56
the stand sobbing clara agreed with everything that had been read from the indictment
00:58:05
she claimed that she had put complete faith and trust in dr andrei zanalov and her sister katarina
00:58:13
quote i tried to help anitchka then the problems with the boy's behavior towards
00:58:19
anejga began i believed that they were serious and i was convinced that i had spoiled them
00:58:26
with my education and actions that andre was behaviorally sick and would not have a normal life
00:58:35
i was grateful to the doctor for offering to help me with my boys i wanted very much to help a nietzsche
00:58:42
too so that we could be like a family i believed that if i did everything right and well i would say venetka and
00:58:51
andre would not have to go to an institution for his bad behavior and that jacob would be a good person
00:59:00
despite claims previously made by barbora shklova clara admitted that andre was almost always locked inside
00:59:08
the cupboard under the stairs at their kurim house he was only let out on rare occasions as
00:59:15
a reward for good behaviour clara's maternal focus was so warped that by the time police banged on her
00:59:24
front door to rescue andre she actually feared they were there to take anecho away
00:59:31
trying to explain her actions clara stated i hurt my children but i didn't want to
00:59:39
hurt them i tried to be a good mother i never liked violence terrible things happened
00:59:47
i am aware of it and i cannot understand how i could have allowed it psychological experts testified that
00:59:57
clara maurova had a tendency to make decisions based on emotions and feelings alone
01:00:04
they acknowledged that the constant and increasing pressure placed on her caused
01:00:08
a quote kind of brainwashing although they conceded that clara did not suffer from any disorders and was
01:00:17
able to control her actions they agreed that she had been deceived abused and manipulated
01:00:29
clara was the only defendant who admitted to her actions the others fully denied the allegations
01:00:36
against them barbarosh glover testified briefly in person and the rest of her statement was
01:00:43
read out by the judge she stated that she was not a perpetrator of deception or abuse but a
01:00:50
victim of it [Music] she claimed that she had been repeatedly locked up beaten tied to tables sexually
01:00:59
abused and cut with knives by the mauer rover sisters and hannah bashova other strangers took part as well
01:01:09
barbara also claimed that sometimes andre would stab her and beat her with a stick
01:01:17
barbora's brother yan shikla said that he had seen evidence of injuries and abuse on barbora's body
01:01:25
however the eight independent psychologists and psychiatrists who assessed barbara had concluded quote
01:01:34
barbour glover suffers from histrionic personality disorder which is accompanied by theatricality
01:01:41
dramatization exaggerated expression of emotions and manipulative behavior to achieve one's
01:01:48
own needs [Music] the panel also believed barbora's supposed history of seizures had been
01:01:56
caused by convulsions associated with a disassociative disorder not epilepsy they determined that barbora did not
01:02:06
have multiple personality disorder as she consciously and purposefully played the role of a nietzsche and later adam
01:02:16
it was their opinion that for the purpose of the trial barbora was once again playing the role of a victim
01:02:27
as the trial drew to a close katarina maurova told the court that she could no longer sit quietly while accusations
01:02:34
were made against barbora katarina admitted that in 2005 she introduced barbora to her sister
01:02:44
she said that she had mistakenly called barbora a nachka and referred to her as being younger
01:02:52
it was then katarina helped barbora develop the anecho identity katarina encouraged clara to bond with
01:03:00
the though claimed that clara allowed herself to be convinced by anecho's story katarina denied barbora ever
01:03:11
participated in or influenced the abuse of andre and jakub she told the court that in the summer of
01:03:19
2006 she and clara devised the punishments used against the boys based on instructions from a person she
01:03:26
described as someone whom we trusted without limit she wouldn't admit to writing the emails
01:03:35
and text messages sent by dr andre zanalov katarina claimed that the goal was to
01:03:42
simply educate the boys but the things got out of hand during katarina's testimony clara
01:03:50
shouted at her sister accusing her of lying and demanding to know why she had done this
01:03:57
clara then collapsed and was removed from the courtroom [Music] after katarina finished her statement
01:04:05
she refused to answer any questions from the prosecution or the judge in late october 2008 the six defendants
01:04:16
were found guilty of all charges for their role in the abuse yan turek yan shkla and hannah bashova was
01:04:25
sentenced to five seven and seven years in prison respectively the boy's mother clara maurova was given
01:04:34
nine years reflecting the leadership role she played the boy's aunt katarina mauerova
01:04:42
was sentenced to ten years barbora shlovar was given a five-year sentence all of the defendants except clara
01:04:52
appealed and all were rejected this crime which has since come to be known as the kurim case remains
01:05:07
surrounded by rumors and speculation despite messages from dr andrei zanalov encouraging acts of cannibalism there is
01:05:16
no evidence that the abuse escalated that far although andre was filmed naked while in
01:05:23
captivity investigators believe this was purely for surveillance and not for sexual purposes
01:05:31
there was also speculation that joseph shla the father of barbora and yarn was involved in his children's crimes
01:05:41
joseph was once the leader of a boy scout group and according to one former member he turned the group into an
01:05:48
extremist sect under the guise of spiritual teachings joseph invented violent methods for
01:05:55
breaking the scouts down in order to build them back up despite there being a similar motive in
01:06:02
the treatment of andre and jakub josef shklar hasn't been found to have any involvement in the kurim case
01:06:13
following the trial andre and jacob continued to be cared for at the berenat children's shelter
01:06:20
a court decision in december 2008 lifted the ban on visiting family members and over time the boys began to spend more
01:06:29
and more time with their biological father and to their maternal grandparents by 2010 the boys lived with their
01:06:38
grandparents full time and were both doing well at school all of the defendants served their
01:06:46
minimum terms of imprisonment and were released on parole none were permitted to work with the
01:06:52
children barbora shklova was set free in february 2012 and changed her name soon after
01:07:03
news outlets reported she was living off a disability pension in an undisclosed location and was in the care of
01:07:09
psychologists katarina maurova was released in july 2014 and has kept a low profile since
01:07:21
andre and jakub's mother clara maurova left prison nine months before her sister
01:07:29
according to the court's psychiatrist clara made impressive psychological progress during her incarceration and
01:07:36
was not considered a danger to her children or the community while she no longer had any custodial
01:07:44
riots over her sons clara had worked on rebuilding her relationship with them while in prison
01:07:51
after some hesitation on jakub's part both he and andre wrote letters to her and visited regularly
01:08:00
by the time clara was released in october 2013 fifteen-year-old jakub and thirteen-year-old andre were reportedly
01:08:08
happy to have their mother back case file presents a new spotify exclusive podcast maddie no one is ever
01:08:40
prepared for a loved one to suddenly disappear that's the thing about missingness
01:08:46
when someone you love vanishes into thin air every family that experiences it has to
01:08:52
figure it out for themselves we started ringing around matt's friends what the hell is he not doing at work
01:08:58
and why hasn't he even called them i just sat there oh my god oh my god something wasn't right the levesons grew
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more worried by the minute he's walking up and down like a cage line and he's sweating and he's clammy the man has no
01:09:11
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01:09:17
of the missing persons advocacy network and host of case file presents podcast what's missing the police informed mark
01:09:24
and faye leveson that they're no longer considered matt a missing person they told fayna that the case had been
01:09:31
transferred to homicide and he said i've called the police i found a grave there's a mattock in the bush the
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receipt showed that two items had been purchased duct tape and a garden master brand matic i think we were in shock for
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ages after that the world just seemed to stand still hear how a family took on the system to try and find justice for
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their son for the very first time made us feel like the police and us were no longer on the same side and then he
01:09:59
sat there and said to me it was matt's lifestyle that had him murdered no i just said the [ __ ] stops now that's
01:10:04
that's ridiculous some people in this world never take no for an answer especially when they're fighting for
01:10:10
someone they love nothing is perfect we thought you know with the chance of finding that's probably one in a million
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one in 10 million but it wasn't zero so we got to give it a go he was never going to win against us
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not for finding maddie maddie the latest podcast from case file presents available september 19th only on spotify
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it's not a justice system it's just a system