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[Music] up next an exclusive yacht club gets an unwelcome guest this was a jane doe floating in the
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water i saw a female adult with stab wounds throughout her torso her face or neck the victim's
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ex-husband and daughter are both missing it doesn't take a brain surgeon you have
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a couple that's divorced you've got the rage killing but the victim had enemies too
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it was i'll get in your face i'm not afraid i will mess with your life could a killer be brought to justice
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with a sponge and a wet cardboard box well in this business we call that a clue newport beach california is one of the
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wealthiest communities in america the beach communities south of la are absolutely
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beautiful it's prime real estate costs a lot of money to live right on the water newport beach very
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low crime rate overall mostly property crimes but anything with homicides very rare but one september morning
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at the newport harbor yacht club a yacht owner saw a bed sheet covering what he thought
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was a body in the water when i arrived on the dock i saw a semi-clad female adult with
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numerous stab wounds throughout her torso her face or neck or back of the 52 stab wounds two of the
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injuries on her right neck transected the jugular vein and the carotid artery she would have
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bled to death and have been dead within minutes without prompt medical attention the
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victim hadn't only been stabbed multiple times but there were weapons still with the
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body a knife in an eye tells me that this is someone who absolutely hated this woman i've had
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numerous stabbing victims but nothing with the stabbing instruments still inside the body
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wrapped in the sheet investigators found a second weapon a knife that was caught
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in the folds of one of the beddings and still had some blood and some skin tissue on it
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but the victim had no identification and it was difficult to tell how long she'd been in the water
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in this case the effects of the water on her fingers obscured them to the point that a
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positive identification was not initially established by that method investigators found a
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potential piece of evidence about a hundred yards away there was a cardboard box near the body
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and we thought that it might have some connection to the decedent so we ceased it
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the box once held a 27-inch television and detectives thought it might have been used to transport the body
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[Music] during the autopsy the medical examiner discovered the victim had breast
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implants with medical devices be they breast implants hip implants other medical devices we can sometimes
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track it down and get a identification of an individual by that implant on each implant
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was a separate lot and serial number embossed into the clear covering this is done to
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identify where and when it was manufactured for research purposes and to notify the patient in the unlikely event of a
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product recall this serial number indicated the implants were made in france the operation was performed in oklahoma
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city and the patient now resided in california we knew exactly who she was she was
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barbara mullinix who lived in huntington beach california barbara who was 56 years old
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had an unusual living arrangement she and her 17-year-old daughter had recently moved to california
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and were living with her ex-husband bruce mullinex until they could get back on their feet
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they decided to reunite as roommates only to see their daughter go through high school so
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it was a temporary situation based on finances and information on the television box found in the water near
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barbara's body indicated the murder might have happened in bruce mullinex's home started doing
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an investigation on the sku number and the address packing label finds out that it's
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was sold in a commercial store in huntington beach that television was purchased by bruce mullin x the
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ex-husband of barbara mullinax police went to interview bruce mullinex and his 17-year-old daughter rachel
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but couldn't find them [Music] when investigators arrived at the condominium barbara mullanek shared with her
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ex-husband bruce they got a surprise visitor my sergeant came in and said that mr mullen x had
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arrived at the scene i got to be honest i was shocked i thought that that was some bravado
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he genuinely appeared to be amazed and surprised by the police were at his house
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just to have a homicide detective look you in the eye and say you're my prime suspect
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you know it's just it just doesn't feel good the medical examiner estimated barbara was murdered sometime
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late tuesday night or wednesday morning bruce claimed he left town on tuesday morning for a business trip
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and was in fresno california 260 miles away as a reporter of course it was interesting that he was conveniently
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out of town on the night that this murder was said to have occurred bruce denied any involvement in
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barbara's murder and admitted that they had their share of disagreements both of us were at fault for the divorce
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from my perspective the largest catalyst was the fact that barbara was beginning to
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drink more and more and her personality was changing radically when she became drunk
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a search of bruce's condo showed no signs of forced entry but the mattress and the
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box spring and barbara's bedroom were gone well in this business we call that a clue crime scene technicians
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sprayed the room with leucocrystal violet a chemical that turns purple in the presence of blood
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i could tell by the amount of blood spatter that was in there and the blood staining that was
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in there that someone had bled a lot in that room and it was clear the killer tried to
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clean up the blood in the kitchen was a box of latex gloves and on the bedroom nightstand was a
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yellow sponge blood was observed on a sponge a red stain which later turned out to be blood so
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that was a very significant piece of evidence in the case investigators found something else in
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the kitchen too the knives in the kitchen drawer match the knife that was found in the eye socket of barbara molinax it
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was very distinctive it was a cross cut similar to a pineapple design entire sections of the wall were removed
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for examination one very clear print survived the cleanup when criminals are in the midst of
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committing their crime they definitely sweat more producing more residue and actually
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sometimes making a clearer print in this case it was easy to determine what i was
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looking at it was actually in the shape of a full palm print it had all four fingers it had the
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side of the palm investigators compared the bloody prince to those of bruce mullinix the prince
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weren't his every crime show i've ever seen the ex-spouse is always the first person you have to eliminate
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so i wasn't shocked or surprised but where was the mullanex's daughter rachel bruce didn't know and neither did
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investigators prior to crucible and x returning home my concern was that rachel had been harmed also had been
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murdered we did not know rachel's whereabouts or her condition we tried calling her cell phone there was
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no answer we go directly into voicemail the last time anyone saw her she was with her
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boyfriend a day before the murder they went to see a movie ironically enough titled lady in the water but
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despite her disappearance bruce was convinced his daughter had nothing to do with barbara's murder i don't believe
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she participated at all i don't believe rachel participated at all in the murder
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police weren't so sure investigators questioned the neighbors living near bruce malanex's condominium
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asking if anyone saw or heard anything suspicious around the time of barbara's murder one
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of the neighbors that lived immediately next door said that he was awakened at about two
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in the morning by yelling and thumping they went on for 30 to 45 minutes he said he wouldn't be surprised if
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somebody had been murdered over there at the time he made that statement he was unaware that a murder had occurred
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since bruce mullinex was out of town the only other person who would have been at
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the condo was their 17 year old daughter rachel who was now missing because she was so young 17 i
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think the authorities might have been concerned at least very early on that something might have happened to
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her as well rachel's father told investigators rachel had a boyfriend 21 year old ian allen and that barbara
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wasn't happy about it when ian allen came into the picture and rachel not only fell in love with
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him but talked about getting married to this young man i think barbara saw herself alone
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when barbara realized that ian was having sex with her 17-year-old daughter she threatened him
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with the statutory rape charge later when cooler heads prevailed rachel asked her parents for a signed
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statement a guarantee barbara wouldn't threaten this statutory rape charge again barbara and bruce agreed
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my thoughts on this were we would probably stand a better chance of of in embracing it and having them spend
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more time with us or at least as much as we can encourage as opposed to making it a clandestine
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type of relationship it ultimately told me who was in control of that house but a week before barbara's murder
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there'd been a major confrontation when rachel wasn't home at her one o'clock curfew barbara dove
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down to ian's house and made a scene by screaming and banging on the door to wake everybody up
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she embarrassed her absolutely she deserved it and when they got home she grounded her
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and said you're not going to see this boy ian had never met anyone like this that
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was i'll get in your face i'm not afraid i will mess with your life i'm going to threaten you i'll go to
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your parents i'll go to your little brother's school i'll go to your job i mean this is the way that barbara was
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but rachel made it clear she had no plans to end the relationship no one says no to rachel malnix then
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a background check revealed a startling piece of information police in tampa florida had once
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investigated a physical confrontation between rachel and her mother two years exactly two years before barbara malnix
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was murdered in florida she was attacked with a knife by her daughter rachel her arms had been
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slashed but barbara refused to press charges barbara would say the cruelest things that anyone can say
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to anyone let alone a mother to a daughter she would say those things to rachel 99
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of the time it was only when she was drunk now after barbara's murder rachel and her
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boyfriend ian were missing investigators visited ian's parents who said they hadn't seen him for the last
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two days they also said the family's 38 caliber pistol was gone since ian lived at home the allen family
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consented to have their homes searched including their computers we found out through forensic
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examination of the computers that the day of the murder somebody used a computer
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in ian allen's home to look up directions to tampa florida law enforcement nationwide was on the
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lookout for ian allen's truck when ian used an atm card to get cash in sulphur louisiana
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police converged on the area and both rachel and ian were arrested shockingly rachel told police she had nothing to do
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with her mother's murder she claimed ian had kidnapped her against her will i was asleep it was the night i heard my
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mom scream my name i ran in her room and i saw he is sitting there on over stabbing her
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i tried to push him off and he pushed me home and knocked me out [Music] but would the forensic evidence prove
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her story true or false once in custody ian allen confessed to the murder of barbara mullanex
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he insisted he acted alone did you go there intending to kill her mother i was going there intending to threaten
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her to scare her and it got out of control very quickly meanwhile rachel mullanex insisted she
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was an innocent victim her story was that she had been kidnapped and that she had been knocked
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out by her attacker she woke up hours later in a hotel room and had no doing whatsoever with her mother's death
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or the disposal of her mother's body no one will tell me anything what's going on
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you are under arrest for the murder of your mother do you know that i was kidnapped do you
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know that i know that's what you're saying what do you mean that's what i'm saying
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we have physical evidence to the contrary [Music] what rachel didn't know was that
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investigators had forensic evidence that tied her to her mother's murder rachel's dna was found on the yellow
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sponge in barbara's bedroom [Music] the sponge used to clean up barbara's blood rachel had said that she had no
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involvement in the homicide so to find her dna on a sponge that was used to clean up
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the crime scene put her in that crime scene the television box found floating near barbara's body was closed
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using duct tape the same brand duct tape found in ian allen's truck super glue fuming on that tape revealed
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rachel's fingerprints i was able to identify three fingerprints to rachel moleneck's
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it was her left middle fingerprint and her left ring fingerprint to have rachel's prints on that duct
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tape i'm sure you know police felt as though they'd hit the jackpot there on the handle of ian's 38-caliber pistol
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investigators found his dna and they also found rachel's dna why she didn't use it to get away from
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the kidnapper i don't know seems a little strange to me the almost full handprint found in blood
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on the wall of barbara mullanex's bedroom was ian's the forensic evidence confirmed
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what the medical examiner had theorized from the beginning that at least two people were involved
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in the murder the totality of the wounds and the evidence it is more consistent with
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more than one individual than with one and text messages provided final proof of rachel's involvement rachel
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told police she went to bed around 10 p.m on the night of the murder and the noise of ian attacking her
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mother woke her up going through the text messages she is sending ian text messages up
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until 1 45 in the morning and we know the attack began at approximately two in the morning
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one message read she's taking a xanax another read she woke up so you see that they're alerting one
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another about what's going on with barbara prosecutors believe with bruce mullinex
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away on a business trip rachel and ian waited until barbara was asleep before rachel let ian into the condominium
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[Music] ian grabbed several knives from the kitchen drawer and went upstairs [Music]
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the evidence suggests they both went into barbara's bedroom she was stabbed over 50 times
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blood spattered the walls and ceiling and soaked into the mattress at some point
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one of them plunged the butter knife into her eye while she was still alive in an evil act of spite
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and content rachel used a sponge to clean the blood leaving her dna ian left his finger and palm prince on the
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wall [Music] the couple bundled the body into an empty television box which rachel then
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sealed with duct tape leaving her prince [Music] later that night they dumped barbara's
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body into the pacific ocean investigators found remnants of a burnt mattress on the railroad tracks near
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ian's workplace prosecutors think this was where rachel and ian burned what they thought
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was the last remaining piece of evidence at her trial rachel testified in her own
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defense claiming she was no killer i did not do that to my mother i'm not saying i'm completely innocent
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i made bad choices afterwards and i'll admit that but planning and killing my mom i did
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not do the jury didn't believe it rachel mullinex was convicted of her mother's murder
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neither jury in the above entitled action find the defendant rachel spartak mullenex guilty of the crime of felony
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she was sentenced to 25 years to life in a separate trial ian allen was also convicted of barbara mullanex's murder
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and he too was sentenced to 25 years to life after his trial ian admitted to police
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what the forensic evidence already proved that rachel was involved from the beginning once he realized his
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life was over and she was laying all the blame on him the loyalty stopped she killed her mother
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and ian helped her kill her mother said that that's an absolute that's not a question
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the juries expect to hear forensic evidence if you don't have forensic evidence i think you have a really hard
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time proving your case the forensics were very important especially in the case against rachel
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the forensics being able to prove that what she was saying was not true it spoke louder than anything else in
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that courtroom you