Search Captions & Ask AI

An American fugitive in Italy. A detective's alleged Instagram account. Plus, Kristil's Law.

May 21, 2026 /

This episode covers the murder trial of Lee Gilly, the case of Brian Pata, and updates on Luigi Mangione and Corey Richens. Guests include Caitlin Cutt and Alex Leray.

In Miami, Florida, Lee Gilly is accused of murdering his pregnant wife Krista and their unborn child. After being released on bond, he fled to Italy, where he was apprehended using fake documents. Caitlin Cutt discusses Gilly's background and the circumstances surrounding Krista's death, including a 911 call made by Gilly.

The episode also highlights the ongoing murder trial of Brian Pata, a college football player who was shot in 2006. Alex Leray provides updates on the pre-trial hearing for Rashawn Jones, who is accused of Pata's murder. The defense is challenging the prosecution's evidence, including witness testimonies and the credibility of a detective.

In the Dateline Roundup, updates are provided on the Luigi Mangione case, where a judge ruled on evidence related to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Additionally, Corey Richens was sentenced to life in prison for the poisoning of her husband, with emotional statements from the victim's family.

Lastly, the episode discusses Christelle Krug's cousin, Rebecca Ivanoff, who successfully advocated for Christelle's Law to expedite responses from communications companies in stalking cases, aiming to prevent future tragedies.

TLDR

Lee Gilly, accused of murdering his pregnant wife, fled to Italy; updates on Brian Pata's murder trial and Corey Richens' sentencing.

Episode

34:25
00:00:00
Good morning. You're listening to the Dateline Story Meeting. We'll get going. It's a busy day here.
00:00:07
Our producers are swapping tips and ideas. What do we think he means by chaotic and hectic?
00:00:12
Everything turns south real quick. Goodness knows what's going to happen with this story.
00:00:18
Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. I'm Andrea Canning. It's May 21st, and here's what's on our docket.
00:00:24
In Miami, Florida, 20 years after the murder of college football star Brian Pata,
00:00:29
His former teammate is set to go on trial for the second time. This week, the defense and prosecution battled in court over a new witness and a mysterious Instagram account.
00:00:40
Comments on that Instagram account were being posted during the trial as it was happening.
00:00:45
In Dateline Roundup, a pivotal ruling in the case of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024.
00:00:55
and defiant words from Utah grief author and convicted killer Corey Richens at her sentencing.
00:01:02
Never apologize for something you didn't do. Never admit to something you didn't do.
00:01:06
Plus, last year in his Dateline episode, The Phantom, Josh Mankiewicz told the heartbreaking story of Christele Krug,
00:01:14
a Colorado mom who was stalked and murdered by her own husband. Recently, Josh sat down with Christele's cousin,
00:01:20
who is now on a mission to protect other stalking victims. I've seen a lot of families advocate for changes in the law.
00:01:29
And in your case, it not only happened, but in what to me felt like just about record time.
00:01:35
I just felt so deeply at my core that it would happen. And I just trusted. But before all that, we're heading to Italy for the unfolding story of a Houston entrepreneur
00:01:44
accused of a double murder who's now on the run. Last week, 39-year-old Lee Gilly appeared in front of a judge in the Palace of Justice in Turin, Italy.
00:01:56
He was arrested by Italian customs officials trying to get into the country using what appeared to be fake travel documents.
00:02:04
But that wasn't why Gilly was standing before the judge. He was there because of something he's accused of doing back in Texas, where he's from.
00:02:11
In October 2024, Gilly was arrested by Harris County Sheriff's investigators for the murders of his pregnant wife, Krista, and their unborn child.
00:02:21
He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $1 million bond with an ankle monitor.
00:02:26
But earlier this month, Texas prosecutors say Gilly cut off his ankle monitor and fled the country.
00:02:32
An American fugitive in Italy. A Texas man accused of strangling his pregnant wife is now claiming asylum abroad.
00:02:39
With his murder trial set to begin in the United States in just a few weeks, it's unclear if Gilly will be coming back anytime soon.
00:02:46
Here to tell us more about the case and what Lee Gilly told the Italian judge is Dateline booking producer Caitlin Cutt.
00:02:54
Caitlin, thank you for being here. Thank you so much for having me, Andrea. All right. So to start, Caitlin, fill us in on Lee and Krista Gilly.
00:03:03
What do we know about this couple? They were a beautiful couple. They had met when they were younger.
00:03:10
They reconnected, had a whirlwind romance, relocated to Houston where Krista was a physical
00:03:17
therapist and Lee was a founder of his own engineering firm. They had two kids. And at the time of Krista's alleged murder, she was carrying their third child.
00:03:28
She was eight weeks pregnant. So the first indication that something was wrong with Krista came from Lee.
00:03:34
It was a 911 call that he made on October 7th, 2024. Tell us about that call. So Lee called 911.
00:03:42
When the authorities arrived, he said that he had discovered his wife unresponsive.
00:03:46
The two had gotten into an argument, and he said he had given her some time to herself
00:03:51
in their room. So about three hours after this argument, he said he found Krista unresponsive, and he
00:03:59
said that he believed that Krista had died by suicide. Caitlin, he told authorities he thought it was maybe some type of drug overdose.
00:04:06
Correct. That is what he said. And they rushed her to the hospital where she, of course, was pronounced dead.
00:04:13
When did people start questioning Lee Gilley's story? Almost immediately. When Krista arrived at the hospital, they found bruising on her face.
00:04:24
an autopsy very quickly revealed that she had actually died by compression of the neck or
00:04:32
strangulation and her death was ruled a homicide investigators say when they talked to lee he
00:04:38
changed his story saying krista was not suicidal and didn't use drugs days later he's taken into
00:04:47
custody charged with capital murder for the deaths of krista and their unborn baby have prosecutors
00:04:53
Caitlin said yet why they believe he killed his wife? Based on documents that had been submitted
00:04:59
by the prosecution, it seems like their argument is that Lee was unhappy in his marriage. So in 2023,
00:05:07
they say there seems to be evidence of an affair that he had with a woman named Anna Barnes in San
00:05:13
Diego. Then in 2024, only about seven months before Krista was murdered, Lee allegedly posted
00:05:20
on Reddit that he was bored in his marriage and that he was openly seeking, as he put it,
00:05:27
a college-age female for a friends-with-benefits relationship. Lee pleaded not guilty to capital murder. He was released on bond and placed on house arrest with
00:05:36
an ankle monitor. That's where things stood for a few years. By this year, 2026, he had a new
00:05:44
defense attorney, someone our listeners might know from other high-profile cases. His name is
00:05:49
Dick DeGarren and he has a whole new theory of the case He said that there had been no murder at all that Krista had died from a rare blood disorder Caitlin where is that coming from Technically Krista was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder But based on the documents that had been submitted by the prosecution that we got a chance to look at
00:06:09
it was something that only had begun to crop up about a year before her alleged homicide.
00:06:14
And also, it doesn't seem like it's connected if they're saying that she died by compression of the neck or strangulation.
00:06:22
Gilley's defense attorney is saying that this rare blood condition could actually present symptoms that mimic strangulation.
00:06:29
So they're arguing that she did die from this pre-existing condition, this rare blood disorder.
00:06:34
So that brings us to the beginning of May. What do we know about Lee's movements before he fled to Italy?
00:06:40
Well, on Friday night, May 1st, his ankle monitor did record an anomaly. Pre-trial services was in charge of tracking Lee's ankle monitor, and they did not notify anyone right away.
00:06:54
So what struck me the most about this really jumped out at me right out of the gate was why was Lee Gilly out on bond in the first place?
00:07:04
He was facing the most serious of murder charges. We're talking about capital murder where you can face the death penalty.
00:07:12
And the crazy thing is apparently he wasn't even keeping his plans a huge secret.
00:07:17
Prosecutors filed a court document alleging Lee was communicating with his alleged mistress
00:07:22
about trying to leave the country while he was on house arrest. Yes, according to the court documents, he had communicated to this woman
00:07:31
that he was interested in fleeing to Mexico. He discussed his detailed plans of removing his
00:07:38
ankle monitor. We mentioned the ankle monitor, but did they not take Lee Gilly's passport?
00:07:44
That's the weird thing. Gilly surrendered his passport. It was one of the conditions of his bond.
00:07:49
So does anyone know then how he gets to Italy without a passport? Great question.
00:07:55
So we know that somehow Gilly was able to leave Houston, travel to Canada, travel to
00:08:03
Toronto, and then from Toronto, he landed in Milan. We do not know how he was able to take a flight out of the United States.
00:08:11
If it was a flight. Yeah. I mean, I suppose he could have driven from Texas to Canada, but you still need some type of ID to get into Canada.
00:08:20
I'm Canadian, so I know this. But anyway, I guess those details will come out eventually.
00:08:27
Where exactly was he apprehended in Italy? From what I understand, when he landed in Milan, he handed over a fake passport from Belgium.
00:08:36
And he was actually taken aside by immigration in Italy. Once he realized that he had been caught, he then fully identified himself as Lee Gilly.
00:08:45
He explained that he was there trying to seek asylum. Basically, Italy generally will not extradite anybody on EU soil facing the death penalty
00:08:55
unless the U.S. guarantees that it will not seek or carry out the death penalty.
00:09:01
Wow. So as we said up top, Lee Gilly was brought before an Italian judge for an extradition
00:09:06
hearing. Caitlin, what happened? So Lee appeared in court wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The judge asked Gilly whether he would consent to being extradited back to the U.S. And Lee said, quote, I do not consent. My wife is dead and they wrongly blame me. That's why I no longer have faith in the justice system. I am innocent. I did not kill my wife.
00:09:27
And according to our NBC reporter who was in court, Lee said thank you to the judge in Italian twice.
00:09:33
Wow. Lee's trial was supposed to start at the beginning of June. It was right around the corner.
00:09:39
Yeah. Krista's family has to be so frustrated by this. They are. They are. Caitlin, thank you so much for bringing us all this updated information. We will absolutely be keeping an eye on this one.
00:09:51
Thank you, Andrea. Coming up, things get testy at a pretrial hearing ahead of the second murder trial of a former college football player accused of shooting his teammate 20 years ago.
00:10:04
On November 7th, 2006, a student at the University of Miami found his roommate gravely injured in the parking lot outside of their apartment complex.
00:10:24
He made a frantic call to 911. Somebody got shot. The guy's on the ground. I don't know where he's bleeding from, but he's on the ground.
00:10:30
The man on the ground was star college football player Brian Pata. The 22-year-old defensive lineman had been shot in the head and was dead by the time help arrived that night.
00:10:39
Did you see what happened? No, I did not see what happened. Nobody did see what happened, man.
00:10:44
For years, the murder remained unsolved. Then, in August 2021, 15 years after Pata's murder, authorities arrested one of his former teammates from the University of Miami, Rashawn Jones.
00:10:58
NBC6 had the story. Yesterday, police arrested Jones near Ocala. And according to investigators, Pada and Jones had ongoing issues.
00:11:06
Jones pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and finally stood trial in February of this year.
00:11:12
After five days of testimony and two days of deliberations, jurors told the judge they were deadlocked.
00:11:18
At this time, I will declare a mistrial and a home jury. This week, Rashawn Jones was supposed to go on trial for a second time.
00:11:26
But instead, attorneys were back in court for a pre-trial hearing, arguing about a new prosecution witness.
00:11:32
and a mysterious Instagram account. Here to bring us the latest is Dateline Field producer Alex
00:11:38
Leray. Hey, Alex. Hey, Andrea. So I know you've been on court on this case. So thank you for
00:11:43
coming on the podcast to break it all down for us. First off, Alex, what do prosecutors say
00:11:48
Rashawn Jones and Brian Pata were fighting about all those years ago? Yeah, so Brian Pata and
00:11:54
Rashawn Jones both played football at the University of Miami But by 2006 the two were in very different places in their lives Brian was a standout defensive lineman with real NFL prospects ahead of him
00:12:06
Rashawn, on the other hand, wasn't a starter, and he had recently been suspended from the team.
00:12:10
Brian was also dating a girl that Rashawn had once been involved with, which investigators and prosecutors believe made Rashawn angry and jealous.
00:12:18
We followed this trial in February. Prosecutors put on witnesses that they said backed up this motive. Yeah, so the state actually put on a few of their former teammates
00:12:26
and they testified about friction between Rashaun and Brian, including a physical
00:12:33
altercation they had in a dorm room a few years before the murder. I was just like
00:12:37
shocked that it got to that point. Did Brian feel like he did run with him? Yes. The prosecution
00:12:44
also called someone they claim was an eyewitness from the night of the murder. Yeah, so he was
00:12:50
actually one of the biggest parts of the prosecution's case. The man was a former UM
00:12:53
professor who said that he was in the parking lot, heard what sounded like a gunshot, and then saw a
00:13:00
man briskly walking away from the scene. The witness identified Jones as the man that he saw
00:13:05
that night in a photo lineup. What was the defense's response to that and also the witnesses the state
00:13:11
called? The defense pushed back hard on the prosecution's theory. They argued, first of all,
00:13:16
that there was no DNA, no murder weapon, and no direct physical evidence that tied Jones to Brian
00:13:22
Pata's murder. They said that the two men had no real beef and that that dorm room fight was
00:13:27
actually instigated by Brian. The defense also heavily challenged the eyewitness's identification.
00:13:34
They said that the parking lot was not well lit enough to see anyone clearly. The man's vision wasn't the best, and the eyewitness also acknowledged that he wasn't
00:13:43
100% sure that it was Jones. One of the detectives, how sure I was that that was the defendant, and I answered my percent.
00:13:54
So, Alex, we know that this ended in a hung jury. Rashawn Jones's new trial was expected to begin
00:14:00
this week. Of course, we know that didn't happen. Instead, the prosecution and defense were in court
00:14:05
battling over some motions that will affect the retrial. You were in the courtroom. Set the scene
00:14:11
for us. Yeah, so the hearing was packed with spectators and the media and family alike.
00:14:15
And honestly, at times, things got pretty heated. At one point, the judge even seemed to laugh while
00:14:23
the defense was addressing the court. The judge even joked that there were more motions in this
00:14:35
case than any other case she has currently pending. Okay, so tell us about the motions.
00:14:40
What are the prosecution and defense arguing over? The first one was that the defense wants to access
00:14:46
more records tied to communications between prosecutors and a jailhouse informant by the
00:14:50
name of George French Jones. He claims that Rashawn Jones confessed to killing Brian Pata
00:14:55
while the two were housed in jail together in 2021. The defense is saying that they have serious
00:15:01
questions about whether or not this witness is expecting some sort of benefit in exchange for
00:15:06
cooperating with prosecutors. Prosecutors are insisting that no deals and no promises were
00:15:11
ever made. The judge ultimately denied the defense's motion and said the prosecutors
00:15:15
don't have to turn over any more evidence to the defense. In another motion, the defense wants to
00:15:20
take a look at the lead detective in the case. What is going on with him? Yeah, so Detective
00:15:26
Juan Segovia took over the case back in 2020 before Sean Jones was ultimately arrested.
00:15:31
In the first trial, the defense argued that he had tunnel vision with Jones and that he never
00:15:36
properly looked into any other suspects. The detective denies that. Now the defense in these
00:15:41
motions is raising concerns over an anonymous Instagram account they say belongs to the
00:15:47
detective. Comments on that Instagram account were being posted during the trial as it was happening.
00:15:53
What is the handle on the Instagram? Do you know? Yeah, it's called Balance of Justice.
00:15:58
What kind of comments are we talking about that they're alleging the detective made?
00:16:02
Yeah, there were a few different comments. One comment on a video read, quote, I've watched a lot of the trial. He's guilty of sin. Another just said guilty in all caps.
00:16:12
Okay, and the defense is arguing that those posts could point to two things. Yes, exactly. So first, what they describe as a bias against Jones. And second, that Detective Segovia may have been following testimony and online commentary during the trial before taking the stand himself.
00:16:30
So one point we should make, Alex, is that the defense is saying they only believe the account belongs to the detective. It sounds like they don't have hard proof then.
00:16:40
The defense attorneys say that they use technology to trace information connected to the account, including the email address, phone number, and IP address that they say are all associated with the detective.
00:16:51
But they're still trying to access additional information directly from Meta to further verify that connection.
00:16:57
What about prosecutors? What are they saying about this? Prosecutors are saying that even if he did make the post, it doesn't really change the quality of his work on the case.
00:17:06
Has Detective Segovia commented on this at all, this account? He hasn't commented on these allegations, and I think we should mention that he's currently the subject of an internal affairs investigation by the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.
00:17:17
We asked the Sheriff's Office if the investigation is connected to Segovia's alleged Instagram account and did not hear back.
00:17:25
In a previous statement to a local news station, the Sheriff's Office said they are committed to transparency, but because the case is still pending, it would be inappropriate to comment.
00:17:35
So what did the judge decide on this motion, Alex, involving the detective and Instagram?
00:17:41
So the judge ultimately reserved ruling, which basically means that she did not decide anything yet.
00:17:46
This must be so difficult for Brian Pata's family, who have been waiting decades for justice.
00:17:52
Yeah they have I mean it been a really long road for them and Brian siblings were actually in the courtroom for the hearing Brian brother Edwin told me that he eager for the retrial to begin and they will be there to the end Okay lots of developments in this case Alex Thank you so much for bringing them to us
00:18:08
Yes, thank you, Andrea. Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup. We've got updates for you in the Luigi Mangione case,
00:18:16
and details from the sentencing of Corey Richens. Plus, Josh Mankiewicz will be talking to a former
00:18:21
domestic violence prosecutor working to change the laws around stalking after her cousin's murder.
00:18:38
Welcome back. Joining me for this week's roundup is Dateline producer Mike Nardi. Hey, Mike.
00:18:43
Hi, Andrea. How are you doing? Good. For our first story, we are here in New York City, where a judge issued a major ruling
00:18:49
this week in the Luigi Mangione case. Mangione is the 28-year-old accused of gunning down
00:18:54
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan back in 2024. Mangione is currently
00:19:02
behind bars awaiting trial in state and federal court. So, Mike, first off, this major ruling
00:19:09
we're talking about came from state court, right? Right, right. Yes, the ruling came down from his
00:19:15
trial judge in state court. Mangione is facing multiple state charges, including second-degree
00:19:21
murder, and he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. What's at stake here with
00:19:26
regards to this state case? Well, the prosecution and defense have been battling for months over
00:19:33
items police officers in Pennsylvania found in Mangione's backpack at the time of his arrest.
00:19:38
The defense wants it all thrown out. Let's set the scene of the arrest because it's key to
00:19:43
understanding all of this. Five days after Brian Thompson was murdered hundreds of miles away at a
00:19:50
McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, an employee called the police to tip them off. There was
00:19:55
someone in the restaurant who resembled the suspect that the police had been looking for.
00:19:59
And sure enough, it was Luigi Mangione, Mike. That's right. Officers testified that they
00:20:05
questioned Mangione and then detained him. He had a backpack with him that was searched both
00:20:10
at the McDonald's and again when he was taken to the police station. We know that the officers found slightly different things during both searches of the backpack.
00:20:19
At the McDonald's, they pulled out Mangione's notebook and a waterproof bag containing things
00:20:24
like his cell phone, passport, and wallet. When they searched the backpack at the station,
00:20:29
they looked into a different compartment of the backpack and found a 3D printed gun.
00:20:35
They also took a look inside the notebook, photographing it page by page. So, Mike, tell us, why does the defense think these searches were not okay?
00:20:44
Well, the defense is citing the Fourth Amendment, which, as you know, means the police aren't allowed to conduct searches without a warrant.
00:20:51
We know that the officers at the McDonald's didn't have a warrant when they first looked in his backpack, and they didn't get one before searching it at the station either.
00:20:58
So, Mangione's defense has been arguing this means game over. Whatever the police found during either of those searches can't be admitted as evidence.
00:21:06
The prosecution has said not so fast. A warrantless search is allowed if there's a chance that the officers or the public might be in danger.
00:21:14
And the prosecutors argued that the officers went through Mangione's backpack at the McDonald's to make sure there weren't explosives.
00:21:21
As for the second search at the police station, prosecutors argued it was part of established protocol at the Altoona Police Department,
00:21:29
that when they're taking someone into custody, officers routinely do an inventory of what the person has in their possession.
00:21:37
OK, so what did the judge rule on this big moment in this case? Well, it was sort of a split decision.
00:21:42
The judge sided with the defense over the first search in the McDonald's. He said he just didn't seem to buy the idea that the officers felt unsafe or were looking for explosives.
00:21:52
I find that the search of the backpack at the McDonald's was improper, warrantless search.
00:21:59
Therefore, those items found in the backpack during the search at the McDonald's will be suppressed.
00:22:06
That means some of the items officers found, including the loaded magazine, the cell phone,
00:22:11
Mangione's passport and wallet, won't be introduced at trial. Okay, so there was a second search though, Mike.
00:22:17
And what from that will be allowed or not allowed in trial? Right. So the judge said that the search of the backpack at the police station was valid.
00:22:27
And that's potentially a big deal, Mike, because it means the jury will get to see that 3D gun,
00:22:31
which prosecutors say matches the gun used to kill Brian Thompson. And they'll get to see Mangione's notebook, which authorities have described as a kind of manifesto against the health industry.
00:22:43
And they say it speaks to his alleged motive for the shooting. That's right. That's right. The jury will see all of that evidence.
00:22:51
OK. And Mangione's state trial is currently on the books for September 8th. Any idea what's going on with the federal trial?
00:22:57
That one is scheduled to start sometime in the fall after the state case concludes.
00:23:05
Next up, Mike, we are off to Park City, Utah, where Corey Richens, the mom and author of a children's book on grief, was recently sentenced.
00:23:14
She was convicted in March for the 2022 poisoning death of her husband, Eric Richens.
00:23:19
Mike, her sentencing was held on what would have been Eric's 44th birthday, which was really hard for his family.
00:23:26
And they were, of course, there as they have been throughout all of this. This was the final moment for them as far as these legal proceedings.
00:23:33
That's right. and they gave tear-filled victim impact statements. Eric's sister asked the judge to hand down the maximum sentence,
00:23:40
warning that Corey was a danger to Eric's family, but also Corey and Eric's three sons.
00:23:46
Please do not create a possibility for Corey to endanger Eric's boys, my daughters, my family, or anyone else ever again.
00:23:56
At the time of Eric's murder, Corey and Eric's three sons still relatively young. Were they at Corey's sentencing?
00:24:03
They were not. The oldest is only 13 years old. The other two are preteens. But they did give written statements, which were read aloud by therapists.
00:24:12
And one of the therapists read what the couple's middle son wrote in his statement to his mother.
00:24:18
You took away everything from me and my brothers. I don't want you out of jail because I will not
00:24:25
feel safe if you are out. You have never said sorry for anything that you have done to me and
00:24:29
my brothers. I don't want you to hurt anyone again. A different son even wrote, I want her to go to
00:24:35
prison forever. These are pretty powerful words from Corey and Eric's sons. Mike, did Corey have
00:24:42
any reaction to hearing all of this? She did. She did. And I could paint a picture of that for you.
00:24:49
She was handcuffed, wearing a lime green t-shirt over a gray long-sleeved shirt, her hair down long, and she made several facial expressions.
00:24:59
At points, her mouth was wide open or her chin was tipped down with her eyebrows raised.
00:25:04
She was extremely expressive, almost dumbfounded by the comments made about her ruining Eric's loved one's lives.
00:25:12
And then Mike Corey herself decided to speak, and she spoke for a long time. She did. She spoke for nearly 40 minutes and professed her love for Eric and her sons over and over.
00:25:23
And for even one second, you thought that I didn't love you. Because that couldn't be further from the truth.
00:25:31
You boys are my world. The reason I continue to wake up every day and fight to come home.
00:25:37
But she also continued to maintain her innocence. Never apologize for something you didn't do.
00:25:43
Never admit to something you didn't do. and never beg for mercy for something you didn't do.
00:25:49
All right, then it was time for the judge to hand down his sentence. Mike, what did he decide?
00:25:54
Corey Richens was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
00:25:59
Her defense team already said they'd file an appeal. Okay, thank you so much for these updates, Mike.
00:26:04
Lots going on. Yep, anytime, Andrea. Back in February, Rebecca Ivanoff stood in front of Oregon state legislators and told them about her cousin, Christelle Krug.
00:26:19
Christelle was a fighter and a true force. I know she would want something positive to come for other survivors who are experiencing the terror and trauma of stalking.
00:26:30
In the fall of 2023 Christele a 43 mom and chemical engineer started receiving threatening messages from a man claiming to be her old boyfriend from decades ago She contacted the police
00:26:42
who reached out to phone and social media companies asking for help tracking down the
00:26:46
sender. But weeks passed with no answers. Then, Christelle was found stabbed to death in her home.
00:26:53
This time, when police contacted the same companies asking who had sent those messages,
00:26:58
they got their answer in less than 15 minutes. It wasn't Christelle's ex. It was her husband, Daniel Krug.
00:27:06
Daniel was convicted of Christelle's murder and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
00:27:11
But Christelle's cousin Rebecca agonized over what could have been done differently,
00:27:15
if Christelle's life could have been saved. She spoke to Josh Mankiewicz for his Dateline episode
00:27:20
about Christelle's case called The Phantom. She marshaled the support of law enforcement.
00:27:26
She tracked every single contact. Law enforcement wrote search warrants, issued those search warrants.
00:27:32
And she's dead. And she still got killed. Rebecca says that interview lit a spark in her and drove her to take action.
00:27:39
About five months later, she stood in front of Oregon legislators advocating for what she called Christiel's Law.
00:27:46
This month, the law went into effect. Rebecca sat down with Josh recently to tell him what the law does and what she hopes others will learn from her journey.
00:27:54
Here's Josh. So a lot has happened since you and I last spoke. Yes, a whole lot.
00:28:02
Where do you want to start? Tell me sort of how this came about. Yeah, so the family doesn't actually get to know the evidence until the trial.
00:28:11
And so alongside the jury, we were learning all of the evidence that they had against
00:28:16
Christelle's killer. And what became clear is that had the communications companies responded to the search warrants that law enforcement issued pursuant to the stalking investigation and had those companies responded timely,
00:28:33
Crisil would have had the information she needed to make a safety plan and law enforcement would have had the information they needed to arrest her true stalker and ultimately, unfortunately, her killer.
00:28:44
She would have known it was her husband, not her ex-boyfriend. She certainly would not have been in her home with her back turned to him at the moment of her death.
00:28:55
Exactly. She would never have been in a position for him to get behind her. And that was what was so devastating.
00:29:01
As we learned what happened it just became so clear that there was this gap in the system that if we could have closed it earlier I firmly believe she be alive today So that was the mission And so what Christine law does is it says when any communications company receives a
00:29:22
search warrant pursuant to an underlying crime of stalking or any crime constituting domestic
00:29:28
violence, companies must respond in an expedited manner. So in the case of social media companies,
00:29:34
It's 72 hours. And for all other companies, the response must come within five business days.
00:29:40
And we did that because we know these crimes can so quickly escalate to serious physical injury
00:29:46
and death. And I never want to see another family lose a loved one, another child lose their mother
00:29:52
when we have actionable information available and it can be timely provided to law enforcement.
00:29:59
So that was the impetus of the bill. I've seen a lot of families advocate for changes in the law based on something that happened to a family member of theirs or some loved one.
00:30:09
In your case, it not only happened, but in what to me felt like just about record time.
00:30:15
You know, when I said out loud that we were going to pass Christiel's law, I had never had any exposure to legislative action.
00:30:22
I really didn't know much about how it was going to get done, but I just felt so deeply at my core that it would happen.
00:30:28
And I just trusted. You passed Christelle's law in Oregon because that's where you're from and where you have the most influence.
00:30:35
Christelle was murdered in Colorado. Was it difficult to bring this issue to the fore in a state where it didn't happen?
00:30:44
I mean, it hadn't really been in the headlines there the way it was in Colorado.
00:30:47
I had the advantage of being a former domestic violence prosecutor in Oregon. So I had a baked in network with folks that operate in that space.
00:30:56
I had friends in law enforcement, and I had access to our local Democratic senator, who's also a lawyer, that I saw at an event.
00:31:04
And I kind of just waited for him outside because I'd been trying to get him by email for months.
00:31:09
And once I was able to tell the story, people get it right away. So tell me now about the legislature.
00:31:15
So the process was that we provided testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee,
00:31:19
and then it has to go to the full House floor for a vote before it gets sent over to the Senate side where it goes through the exact same process.
00:31:26
And in the Oregon legislature, in the House chamber, there's a screen up on the wall that has all of the names of the legislators.
00:31:33
And as they vote, the color of the name, if they vote yes, it changes to green. And I was sitting there with my mom and dad watching as slowly as every single name turned to green And there this decorum rule where they don allow people to clap But at the very end it was just kind of spontaneous One legislator rose and faced us
00:31:57
and then slowly all of them rose and faced us. And I'm going to get emotional even talking about
00:32:03
it because that was the moment that I felt like, wow, this is real. This is really happening right
00:32:08
now. And, you know, all this work and effort to bring it forward, it just became crystal clear
00:32:15
that it was happening. And so with that unanimous support and that rising, they honored Christiel
00:32:21
and they turned and honored our family. And it was an incredibly special moment to share with my
00:32:27
mom and dad. I know you would have preferred that this wasn't needed because Christiel was still
00:32:32
with us. But this did kind of end up choosing you. And this is a wonderful step. And it's also
00:32:39
a first step. So the goal here is to have Kersil's Law serve as a model for every other state in the
00:32:45
country and ideally countries around the world. You think you and I are still going to be talking
00:32:49
about this five years from now, 10 years from now? My hope is that we're across the country
00:32:54
in under 10 years. And again, I think all things are possible when the right people come together.
00:32:59
So thank you. You and your team at Dateline are among the group of people for whom I will be forever grateful for the support for this.
00:33:08
Thank you. But this is 100% your work and I'm blown away by it. Congratulations to you.
00:33:13
Thank you. That's it for this episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly. To get ad-free listening for all our podcasts, subscribe to Dateline Premium.
00:33:23
And coming up this Friday on Dateline, Keith has a brand new twist to tell you about in the incredible tale of Sante and Kenneth Kimes, the mother and son grifters who became killers.
00:33:35
There's a lot of times over 35 years where you just, you know, your mind kind of runs wild.
00:33:44
It's nice to be able to put it to rest. Watch The Devil Wore White, airing this Friday at 9, 8 central on NBC or stream it starting Saturday on Peacock.
00:33:54
Thanks for listening. Dateline True Crime Weekly is produced by Carson Cummins, Caroline Casey and Keanu Reeves.
00:34:01
Our associate producers are Ellery Gladstone-Grath and Aria Young. Our senior producer is Liz Brown-Kurloff.
00:34:07
Veronica Mazzica is our digital producer. Rick Kwan is our sound designer. Original music by Jesse McGinty.
00:34:14
Paul Ryan is executive producer, and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.
00:34:19
Everyone have a great day.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 85
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 80
    Most intense

Episode Highlights

  • Lee Gilly's Double Murder Case
    Lee Gilly, accused of murdering his pregnant wife, is now a fugitive in Italy.
    “An American fugitive in Italy.”
    @ 02m 34s
    May 21, 2026
  • Rashawn Jones's Murder Trial
    Rashawn Jones faces a retrial for the murder of college football player Brian Pata.
    “At this time, I will declare a mistrial and a home jury.”
    @ 11m 18s
    May 21, 2026
  • Luigi Mangione's Case Update
    A judge ruled on the admissibility of evidence in the Luigi Mangione murder case.
    “The judge sided with the defense over the first search in the McDonald's.”
    @ 21m 40s
    May 21, 2026
  • Corey Richens Sentenced
    Corey Richens was sentenced to life in prison for the poisoning death of her husband.
    “Corey Richens was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
    @ 25m 53s
    May 21, 2026
  • Christelle's Law Passed
    Rebecca Ivanoff advocates for Christelle's Law after her cousin's tragic murder.
    “This month, the law went into effect.”
    @ 27m 48s
    May 21, 2026

Episode Quotes

  • Never apologize for something you didn't do.
    An American fugitive in Italy. A detective's alleged Instagram account. Plus, Kristil's Law.
  • I've seen a lot of families advocate for changes in the law.
    An American fugitive in Italy. A detective's alleged Instagram account. Plus, Kristil's Law.
  • I just felt so deeply at my core that it would happen.
    An American fugitive in Italy. A detective's alleged Instagram account. Plus, Kristil's Law.
  • I do not consent. My wife is dead and th….
    An American fugitive in Italy. A detective's alleged Instagram account. Plus, Kristil's Law.
  • You took away everything from me and my brothers.
    An American fugitive in Italy. A detective's alleged Instagram account. Plus, Kristil's Law.
  • This is a wonderful step. And it's also a first step.
    An American fugitive in Italy. A detective's alleged Instagram account. Plus, Kristil's Law.

Key Moments

  • Dateline True Crime Weekly00:18
  • Lee Gilly's Arrest01:56
  • Mistrial Declared11:18
  • Judge's Ruling21:40
  • Sentencing Day23:14
  • Powerful Statements23:33
  • Corey's Reaction24:42
  • Law Passed27:48

Tension Over Time

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown