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When a 24-year-old woman falls down a trash shoot from the 12th floor of her luxury apartment building, the coroner
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rules her death an accident. But her family and nearly everyone else who's familiar with the case believes
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something much more sinister is at play. I'm Britt Preyatt, co-host of the number
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one true crime podcast, Crime Junkie. And the story I have for you today is one of the strangest cases we have ever
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come across. The mysterious death of Phoebe Hanschuk. On December 1st, 2010, Phoe's family,
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her boyfriend, and her boss get a strange group text from her. It reads, "Hi, family. I am in bed about to sleep,
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and when I wake, I will transform into the most incredible human being you've ever seen." Not. I will go to the
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hospital. It's safer there. And I hear the special tonight is tomato soup. Delicious, nutritious. I love you all
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very much, but not enough to send an individual text. Sorry about that, but time is sleep and I must be on my way.
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[music] Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream. Exo. Now, even if you know nothing about Phoebe, this text is
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bizarre, alarming even, but it is especially concerning for those who do know her because Phoebe struggles with
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depression and anxiety and sometimes turns to drugs and alcohol to cope. So, fearing for her safety, Phoebe's
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grandmother calls Phoe's boyfriend Anthony, or aunt as he's more commonly known. You see, Aunt and Phoebe live
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together in this very fancy high-rise apartment in Melbourne, Australia. So, her grandmother assumes that if anyone
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can provide more details about what's going on with Phoebe, it's probably Aunt. Aunt answers the phone and says
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he's not currently with Phoebe, but he tells her that when he left this morning, Phoebe seemed just fine. He
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says she was sleeping, but he isn't concerned. To ease her grandmother's worries, aunt says he'd go check on her.
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Now, [gasps] this is where things start to get murky. It's unclear if Aunt [music] actually goes to the apartment
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to check on Phoebe or if he ever calls her grandma back, but it seems as if his initial answer that Phoebe was fine,
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just sleeping, was enough to put the family's mind at ease. The next day, Phoe's dad, Len, is supposed to meet her
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and aunt for dinner. When he calls Phoe's phone to let them know he's running a little bit late, Phoebe
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doesn't answer. Instead, he's surprised when only 30 seconds later, his phone rings, but it's not Phoebe. It's Aunt,
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which is especially odd considering Aunt has never called Len before. When Len answers the phone, Aunt says that
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[music] Phoebe isn't home, but her purse and keys are still there. And like any concerned father, Len is like, "What do
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you mean she isn't there? We We had plans." And with a [music] text message from the previous day still in his mind,
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Len urges Aunt to report Phoebe missing. But Aunt doesn't think the police would
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take the situation seriously. So [music] when their call ends, Len takes matters
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into his own hands. He begins calling everyone who knows Phoebe, asking them if they've seen her, but call after call
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is a dead end. Then that night, [music] Aunt calls Len back. Phoebe had been found, but any momentary relief that
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that statement may have provided is quickly dashed. Phoebe had been found, but she was dead.
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No parent is ever prepared to hear the news that their child has died. But when Phoebe's parents learn how she died,
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they're even more baffled. The story they get goes like this. At 7:00 p.m. on December 2nd, the apartment building's
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concierge goes to the ground floor to look for a broom in the room where the trash compactor is located. But as the
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concierge tries to open the door to the room, she can't. It's like the door is like jammed or there's something
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blocking it from fully opening. And no matter how hard she pushes, there's still something like there, but she
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manages to shift it enough to peer inside. And she sees the body of a woman lying on the floor with blood [music]
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everywhere. And that woman is Phoebe. According to police, Phoebe had fallen 11 stories down the building's trash
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shoot, and her foot was nearly severed by the compactor at the bottom. Investigators say she likely bled to
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death while crawling toward the door and that it probably took about 5 to 10 minutes for her to bleed out. The
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official explanation from investigators either a suicide or a tragic accident potentially caused by alcohol and
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sleeping pills. Her blood alcohol level was a.16 and she'd taken a strong sedative called Stilnox which is
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typically used to treat insomnia. [music] But to Fit's family, especially her grandfather, a retired detective,
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the investigator's theory makes no sense. So, let's break this down. First, let's talk about this trash shoot. Now,
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this trash shoot isn't a big open hole in the floor or wall like you would envision like a laundry shoot to be.
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It's a small steel hat just about 11.8 8 in tall by 21 and 1/2 in wide and more than 3 ft off the ground. And it doesn't
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open up all the way out like a drawer. It kind of just like fans open. So the top gets wide but the bottom is still
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connected to the chute built into the wall. So to get in, Phoebe would have to pull it open, hoist herself up, and then
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slide in feet first. And honestly, I think that even sober, a person could barely fit into this thing. And Phoebe's
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grandfather actually builds a replica and has a friend try it. And as he expects, it's nearly impossible to
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enter. And also, Phoebe has no cuts or bruises on her fingers, which you might expect if she'd pulled herself up. Her
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jeans are also found pulled down to her knees, which makes climbing in even more
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impossible. >> [music] >> And finally, no fingerprints are found on the shoot, not Phoe's or anyone
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else's. So, this leaves everyone except the investigators apparently wondering how Phoebe could have gotten in there on
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her own. But that isn't the only unanswered question Phoebe's family raises. Let's talk about the apartment.
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When Aunt got back to the apartment that night around 6:09 p.m. on December 2nd,
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something about the apartment was off. There was broken glass on the floor, blood on a computer mouse and a door
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frame, and a hair straightener left on. And remember, Phoebe's keys and bag were
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still there. And then there's what media refer to as a shrine on the bed with pictures and incoherent messages written
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on post-it notes. But Aunt, even after seeing all of this, does nothing. Instead, he orders takeout from the Thai
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restaurant that he and Phoebe were supposed to meet her dad at that evening. Aunt says he didn't learn
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Phoebe was dead until the delivery driver told him police had blocked off the building, at which point he begins
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to put the pieces together. But the investigation that unfurled did very little to answer the questions that are
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like staring Phoebe's family in the face. Exactly. When did she die? Was anything captured on CCTV footage that
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could help explain what happened? Was the blood in the apartment Phoebe's? Where did the broken glass come from?
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And what do her phone and computer records show? Now, according to reporting on the case, when they found
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her, no one had checked Phoebe's body to see if she was still alive. We have no idea how long she was lying on that dark
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basement room floor. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. Authorities reportedly don't collect the
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nearby trash bags either or pull CCTV footage before it's erased. They don't even test all the blood present at the
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scene. and Phoe's phone and computer are both left with Aunt and not examined by
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law enforcement for months. By the time police try to investigate further, all of Phoe's emails had been deleted and
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crucial information is gone forever. But as it turns out, there is one question that the investigation is able to
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answer. There is video footage of the last time Phoebe was seen alive. Now, let's talk about this last piece of the
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investigation. a little bit of CCTV footage. At 11:43 a.m. December 2nd, the fire alarm in the apartment building
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goes off. It wasn't triggered by a real fire, but Phoebe and the rest of the residents file out of the building. And
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then just a few minutes later at 11:50, she's seen going back into the building.
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[music] And from what everyone can tell in the video, she seems fine. According to
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investigators, Phoebe could have died anytime between noon and 7:00 p.m., which is a large time of death window,
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considering how quickly they discovered her body. And honestly, did anyone even touch her when she was discovered? I
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feel like we could have gained so much more insight into when she actually died if they had. Years later, her family
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fights for and is ultimately granted an official inquest. And that's how I have enough information to tell the story at
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all. During the inquest, everyone from the case is called to speak [music] and every last detail is analyzed. As part
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of the inquest, they appoint council to serve as a second set of eyes and ears on the [music] case, ensuring everyone
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hears and sees the same thing. And at the end of the inquest, council provides a formal recommendation to the coroner.
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So, you're probably asking, what's the council's recommendation? As it turns out, she recommends the
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coroner rule Phoebe's death undetermined, but in the end, the coroner overrules her recommendation,
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maintaining that Phoe's death was an accident. Now, admittedly, I don't know a ton about the Australian legal system.
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But from what I've been able to find, it's super unusual for the coroner and assisting council to disagree. And then
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came a twist that reignited everything. [music] In 2018, 7 and 1/2 years after Phoe's
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death, another young woman, 25-year-old Bailey Schneider, is [music] found dead.
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And guess who Bailey was dating at the time? You [music] guessed it, aunt. Bailey had been out all night and
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arrives home between 8:30 and 9:30 in the morning. She crosses paths with her parents, who she lives with, just as
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they're about to leave to run some errands. And on their way out, they notice that it sounds like Bailey is
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having an argument with her boyfriend. When Bailey's parents get home later that day, they found her slumped over on
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the floor with a cord around her neck in a kitchen where there was nothing to hang from. Her death is quickly ruled a
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suicide. [music] But just like Phoebe's family, Bayileleyy's parents fight back.
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They pushed for Bayileleyy's case to be re-examined. And in 2020, the corner said an experienced homicide detective
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reviewed the circumstances of Bayileleyy's death and also determined that Bailey took her own life. two
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women, both young, both dating the same [music] man, both dead under bizarre circumstances.
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And one little note I will just add because you may find it interesting. As it turns out, Aunt's father was a
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retired Supreme Court judge and his stepmother was a current sitting county judge at the time of Phoebe's death.
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Aunt denied [music] any wrongdoings in Phoebe's death and was found not responsible in both Phoebe's and
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Bailey's [music] deaths. And to be clear, we're not suggesting otherwise. Now, we just passed the 15th anniversary
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of Phoebe's death December [music] 2nd. And to this day, Phoebe's death still is
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officially an accident. But with missing evidence, impossible physics, and unanswered questions, it's hard for many
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to believe that's the full story. Maybe one day her family will get the answers that they've fought so hard for. But for
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now, all we have are questions. If you want to dive deeper into this case, listen to the mysterious death of Phoebe
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Hanschuk wherever you listen to Crime Junkie. And don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell so you never
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miss our next investigation.