Dark Intentions | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] on July 14th 2019 I woke up picked up my phone and noticed that my group chat was
buzzing about something and I looked at it and it it was a photo of my friend and it looked like she was
dead so I was reading all the messages and they're saying guys like in the Discord someone posted that Bianca is
like dead or something and I was like what some people on the Discord actually had to call the police you the police uh
good morning I uh believe someone may have been murdered okay where okay so I'm on an online group and somebody
posted a picture of uh uh someone getting murder and I believe it to be a Miss Bianca Michelle
s before I knew it the photo was being circulated around my community and then beyond
[Music] it so tell me what did you see that day I was on Twitter uh as I usually do just
to gauge what stories are trending that day and I saw that Bianca's name was trending I didn't know very much at that
point just that images had been posted and were going viral on social media and I just knew that I wanted to find out
more I think we were all just very confused someone saw something on the Internet where they thought you know
Bianca may have been hurt I am Kim devans and I'm Bianca's mother yanaa is a talented artist aspiring model I knew
she had an online presence but I found that uh granddaughters do not share their online presence with their
grandfathers so uh I I wasn't aware of the depth of it social media was a huge part of Bianca's life and online she
could be whoever she wanted to be she was definitely a social media chameleon she had multiple Instagram accounts
which is not uncommon for kids her age but you one of them was you clearly reserved for her online friends you know
was fairly edgy she was obviously very you know popular on Discord it was common for some people in
the community to try and Escape or maybe to get attention to fake their yes as this photo is circulating on
Discord and then to other social media platforms the authenticity of the photo is being debated a lot of people are
unsure whether or not it's [Music] real people were making memes out of the images they were turning them into
jokes they were sent to me they were sent to um various family members so this is a collection of different uh
Communications received by Bianca's mom and obviously every one of them meant to
be incredibly cruel incredibly hurtful this is a form of psychological terrorism I just don't understand the
cruelty and The Emptiness in someone's heart where they would get some kind of a thrill out of sending these pictures
to a family I remember just standing up and saying no it's not her I stamped up my stairs saying it's not her it can't
be it's not her it's not my baby [Music] [Music] July 14th 2019 uh it was a a beautiful day in UDA
uh was our boiler maker Road Race which is a a well-known 15K Road Race uh where
participants from across the world um come to run as the first Runners crossed the
Finish Line Udo police detectives Brian corado and Michael Curley heard alarming
reports of a possible murder certainly nothing prepared us for a homicide on that day the horrific photo spreading on
the social media platform Discord at prompted calls from around the country okay what's what's the female's
name Michelle devans you know I'm hoping the girl is just bleeding badly and maybe
still alive people didn't know if it was real or not we needed to find her to make sure to see if she was all
right police body cameras were rolling as officers arrived at 17-year-old Bianca Devon's home to perform a Weare
check when did you first learn that your daughter was missing there was an back at our
door is there a Bianca Devin that lives here yeah why my daughter Olivia answered the door she came up to me and
said Mom the police are here there's something going on with Bianca the police didn't show Bianca's mother Kim
the photo but said they feared her daughter might be in danger can you try to get a hold of your
daughter and what were you thinking at that moment I was so confused I didn't know
where biano was W ra waste now Kim told police she last Saw Bianca the day before as she headed
with friends to this concert in New York City how was her mood when she left I remember Bianca being so excited I left
her alone for most of the night um just giving her her space and this was her first real adult concert Bianca texted
her mother after the concert to say she was heading home Bianca was enjoying her Newfound Freedom
Kim says after graduating high school two weeks [Music] earlier but her journey to get there
hadn't been easy at what point did you realize she needed help BCA first saw a therapist at 9 years old she was having
some separation anxiety didn't want to go to school just wanted to stay home with me
and then around 13 Bianca started showing signs of depression as Bianca isolated herself from others she started
to spend more time on social media she really could just Escape her own mental struggles what was going on
in her head and Escape Into You Know A Different World online hi it's like 6:00 in the morning and I'm
currently editing this but I just wanted to let you know oh that I'm so funny how prevalent was Bianca on social
media she was extremely prevalent on social media she had a large presence on many platforms reporter EJ Dixon covered
Bianca's story for Rolling Stone magazine and says the internet has a name for the type of character Bianca
portrayed online what's an eirl an eirl is it's basically a term used to describe a
certain type of aesthetic is it's like a very edgy dark aesthetic different colored
hair but Bianca's Behavior was growing increasingly erratic at age 16 she was diagnosed with borderline personality
disorder an illness which Kim believes led to Bianca's varying mood swings and affected her
self-image Bianca was very smart she was very intuitive and self-aware so she always knew something
was wrong and she knew she needed help and there she is with B right on the couch in the living room
Bianca sought treatment says her grandfather Frank and eventually returned to her role as a devoted big
sister to Olivia and Maddie we all said that uh Bianca's back that's our girl and and there was this
glow in her eyes that when she talked about going to college and what she was going to do with her
life Bianca immersed herself in her art was even getting noticed as a promising young model she would you know
get lots of compliments from model and agents and she really felt good about herself when she was modeling though she
had turned a corner Bianca maintained her edgy online Persona and by age 17 had created multiple identities she also
had an active presence on forchan um which is sort of on the darker side of the web I go on the record saying
forchan is a dangerous place and it's also just an incredibly incredibly misogynistic space as Bianca's
popularity grew online so did the number of some of her male followers called orbiters says online friend Elizabeth
the reason why they're called orbiters is because they will follow like a girl they think is attractive online and you
know just like orbit them never become close to them Bianca was exceptionally patient and accessible to
her orbiters um to a fault at times one Orbiter who captured Bianca's attention was a 21-year-old lift driver named
Brandon Clark whom she met on Instagram in May of 2019 what was he like honestly
nothing notable he was just kind of like a normal one of these weird people you know one of these weird guys in the
community after communicating on social media they eventually took their relationship offline and briefly dated
but were never exclusive Bianca had made it clear to Brandon that she was not interested in a committed monogamous
relationship at this point and brandan had seemed to accept that when Brandon came around and he came around pretty
often um he just looked like a goofy nerdy boy next door Kim says there were no glaring red flags about Clark so when
Bianca told her mother he was taking her to that concert in New York City Kim thought nothing of it I took a little
comfort in knowing that she would be with Brandon cuz I trusted [Music] him W stay here
47 called as the search continued 47 47 Bianca's friends suspected the photo circulating on
Discord might be a hoax after learning it was Clark who posted the image we all just assumed that he was making a joke
or trying to scare us or something on Discord it's fairly common for people to post Gore um and disturbing images just
to sort of get a rise out of people so it was certainly with within the realm of possibility that this could have been
faked thisp the all unit but things turned very real very fast we have him on the line now when it was Clark who
called 911 uh my name is Brandon um the victim is Bianca Michelle devans [Music]
it was like an outof body experience but I was shaking I just kept thinking no no
she's fine we're we just have to find her and we're going to get her help she's going to be okay as Bianca's
family awaited news of her safety police dispatch received a call 911 what is youry uh my name is Brandon um the
victim is Bianca sh devans I'm going to kill myself the officers at the Devin home
could hear what was unfolding on their radios he was going to kill himself Brandon is that her ex or boyfriend or
apparently he's suicidal he's made statements saying that he hurt your daughter it didn't make sense to me I
remember just being very confused that they were saying that Brandon may have hurt
her it just didn't make sense that he would have hurt her investigators turned their attention
to Brandon Clark who by then had posted more disturbing pictures of Bianca including one with this message I'm
sorry Bianca we were fighting against time some we needed to find her and we needed to find her
fast and he's not telling us where he is they're basically pinging his phone the
dispatcher tried to keep Clark talking until police could pinpoint his location it's just stay Aline with me okay no I'm
not going to stand Aline with you I'm going to be dead on the ground but before hanging up Clark told
them exactly where to find him a dead end Road not far from Bianca's home describe for me where was Brandon and
what was he doing Brandon's vehicle was parked up ahead of here an officer pulled up and he observes Brandon hi
what are you doing man Brandon's armed with a knife he has his gun pointed at him yeah he engages him Put The Knife
Down man Put The Knife Down there's a conversation back and forth where's the girl where is she as the officer moved
into position Clark slashed himself with a knife he then took a selfie and posted
it to social media with the caption ashes to ashes ultimately backup arrives they engage him in front of his vehicle
after a brief struggle Clark was disarmed and placed under arrest when I arrived on scene Brandon was actually
just being wheeled out um to the ambulance as paramedics raced to save Clark's life investigators made a grim
Discovery the body of a young woman hidden beneath a tarp detective corado knew they had found Bianca
[Music] the news has got this so you better send somebody to the mom's house to give her
heads off before but before police could make that call Kim says she had already
learned the painful truth and Olivia was in the kitchen with her friend and we heard the
most excruciating scream that you have ever heard come out of a teenager someone had texted
Bianca's family the horrific photo I just kept screaming it's not her it's not her it's not my
baby I knew it was her and I said to myself I'm going to be strong get my family through this
this wasn't who done it we know who did it we had to work backwards to figure out why this happened investigators
started at the crime scene as we were learning about Brandon every single thing he did at the crime scene meant
something to him prosecutors Sarah deiler and Michael Nolan would lead the investigation for the Onida County
District Attorney's office and began with a cryptic message Clark spray painted at the scene as this case was
going one of the things we saw was that may you never forget me the first thing we did and I think everybody does now as
a prosecutor something you don't know you Google it investigators learned that message was taken from a series of
Japanese comic books called punpun that Clark and Bianca had often read together
the books are dark they're violent and it's almost a Japanese dark version of of Romeo and Juliet does he have some
very skewed picture that his relationship with Bianca is a starcross lover scenario and there was something else
investigators found unusual about the scene the other thing that I think we found particularly Eerie was the music
at the crime [Music] scene using a Bluetooth speaker Clark had programmed his cell phone to play a
particular song on repeat and that song was we later learned test drive by Joi about a person
who um is more invested in the relationship than somebody else to understand exactly what was happening
between Bianca and Clark that night investigators began reviewing their social media accounts and soon learned
the two weren't alone at the concert it wasn't just Bianca and Brandon in fact they were accompanied by another person
um another guy direct messages from Bianca's Discord account reveal she had invited a new friend named Alex and was
concerned Brandon might get jealous prosecutors tracked him down he was very helpful in explaining the last moments
that he spent with Bianca that Brandon really seemed to not want Alex there investigators learned that after Brandon
and Bianca left the concert she texted Alex to say I think he saw me kiss you when we do learn that there is a kiss at
the concert we need to explore was it a crime of of passion if you will was it a
snap Just Before Dawn as they headed back to udica Clark made this ominous post on social media Brandon has posted
a photograph of what appears to be the New York State throughway and in that post he says here comes hell it's
Redemption right super even as investigators questioned what had happened after that and where nothing
could have prepared them for what they would soon uncover and we found out that there was a video of the
murder this is a horror film playing out in real [Music] life it's early in the morning when I go
into the office and we get a call from the police department they tell us you know there's
something that you have to see here the day after the murder of Bianca Devin prosecutor Sarah deiler and Michael
Nolan went down to the Udo Police Department overnight investigators had conducted a forensic analysis of Brandon
Clark's cell phone and found something terrifying they set us up with a computer some speakers and some
headphones and push play and that's when we see that there is a video made by Brandon of him killing
Bianca I think it wasn't until that very moment that we realized this was probably the most horrible terrible
thing that either of us have ever seen in our life and as a prosecutor many of the details are too
gruesome to describe Bianca appears to be sleeping and uh the back seat is folded out so that it's
flat he then takes his camera and he Clips it to almost uh one of those vents that would be on the the
front dash what we see from there is the beginning of the homicide where Brandon
reaches into the back he collects from the back seat a knife indicating to us that something he came prepar with um
and he hides it at the right hand side of uh of the car we see that he he wakes Bianca up
and he goes about having a conversation with her then demilia says Brandon asked
Bianca about that kiss she had with Alex the other young man at the concert the night before he tells her you know you
know I saw you kiss him right and she says yeah and I'm sorry and he says well I'm sorry he's not good
enough it's just not good enough for him deiler says it's then that banca reminded Clark they were not
exclusive and she basically says are you ready to take me home yet and at this point with Brandon realizing this might
be the end of the time that the two of them are going to spend together we see him grab the
knife she does not see it coming demilia says Clark then killed Bianca and then he blames her he screams
dramatically into the camera you know Bianca why did you make me do this like it's her fault and it's not it was after
he finished filming the video that Clark took those graphic photos of Bianca and
posted them on social media and I know that if she had gotten out of that car she would have called me Bianca's mother
and grandfather father have never seen the video but heard of its contents early on in the
investigation I was 10 minutes away she had just been able to get out of that car but he caught her completely
off guard does that haunt you today it does I was so close and she fought him she fought back
that impressed me most was she fought for her life but the sickening murder video wasn't the only important piece of
evidence investigators found on Clark's cell phone they learned that he was intent on killing banca long before the
events of that night we learn that Brandon is meticulous in his categorization itemization of things
that he wants to do two days before killing Bianca Clark utilized the notes app on his smartphone and typed a
Sinister checklist I would just describe this list as the to-do list the things that
he needs to do to carry out his his plan and to Stage his crime scene setup speaker and last song question
[Music] mark and that's not all Clark did multiple internet searches some the day
before the murder researching ways to kill researched how to choke someone out uh how to hit the crowded artery to kill
someone more evidence investigators say that this was not a crime of passion Brandon had this planned he had the
video staged he had the phone staged he knew exactly what he was doing we believe that when this
relationship came to an end was when he was going to kill her Brandon wanted to be with her she did not want to be with
him and he wasn't going to let anybody else have her so no matter what she said she was
going to wind up dead that night two week weeks after the murder Bianca's family and friends packed the courtroom
wearing pink her favorite color as they waited for Brandon Clark to make his first public
appearance Brandon walked into the courtroom today wearing an orange jumpsuit and a black protective vet I
was uh in court when they brought him in and I said he just looks pathetic Clark was officially charged
with second degree murder and pleaded not guilty the defense was considering an extreme
emotional disturbance defense but authorities and Bianca's family were not buying it investigators and the
prosecutors describe him as just an evil person that wanted to murder someone and
that's who Brandon is he is a murderer he is evil and as prosecutors prepared to go to trial they had only one goal in
mind we need Justice for Bianca we need to make sure Brandon can never hurt anybody else again that's what our job
is but there was nothing they could do to stop what was going on online the horrific images of Bianca's murder that
Clark had posted continued to spread on the internet and a vile campaign of hate
was brewing on social media Bianca's family members were also being targeted as a result of Bianca's death um it was
just non-stop harassment this is a form of psychological [Applause] terrorism in the days following Bianca's
murder downtown udica was lit up in pink in her honor and a candlelight vigil was
held to celebrate her life Magic supporters gathered to sing Puff the Magic Dragon a song her grandfather
Frank sang to Bianca as a [Music] child a tradition she continued with her baby sister Maddie Puff the Magic
[Music] Dragon that's the special song but as Bianca's family grieved the images of
her dead body had spilled from the fringes of the internet into mainstream social
media I just can't understand why people would want to see it this is real Frank
believes those who shared the photos didn't see Bianca as a loving daughter or a cherished granddaughter they didn't
see her as a person at all these pictures aren't fictitious pictures taken from a movie
they of a lovely beautiful girl whose life was taken from her in a cruel way Bean's death photos spread on the social
media platforms Facebook Instagram and Twitter when you found out that your daughter's images were on Twitter it's
heartbreaking it's so exploitive of my daughter I just thought of how embarrassed she would be how
heartbroken she would be Kim pleaded with social media companies to remove the images but it took time
they stayed on Instagram and Facebook for at least a couple of weeks every time the photo was removed another one
would appear in its place says reporter EJ Dixon unfortunately extremely violent
and disturbing images can circulate wildly on social media and a lot of social media platforms don't have the in
infrastructure in place to prevent that from happening in response some social media users led a Grassroots effort to
replace the death photos with messages of hope so Bianca's supporters tried to combat people trolling the hashtag by
posting beautiful images of clouds bunnies ribbons um or fan art of Bianca like we
see here to what end they did it to push the death photos down in the search results but amid the battle to preserve
Bianca's memory Kim says her family became Vic of vicious online trolls who relentlessly sent them the horrific
photos they were sent to me they were sent to um various family members that were close to Bianca Olivia's had to
take a break from social media because there's always the risk of having to see her sister's death photo along with the
photos were hateful messages blaming Bianca for what happened to her many of which are too graphic to show it's
horrifying it's traumatizing um to see people saying that your daughter your you know this is
my baby that she deserved such a cruel end to her life they in you know direct messaging
and text messages to the family a very Twisted need is being met by continuing to share these and trying to get these
to Bianca's family it actually furthers the physical crime behavioral scientist Steven crando
believes the individuals most likely responsible for the attacks on Bianca's family belong to a community of online
men called incels incel is short for involuntary celibate incels or individuals men 21 or older who have
gone 6 months or longer without any sort of sexual activity not by their own volition incels see themselves as
victims says Commando in a never-ending struggle to win the affection of attractive women whom they refer to as
Stacy's incels believe that they don't have any chance with Stacy at all was Bianca
considered a Stacy Bianca would be considered a Stacy though Clark did not identify as an incel he was celebrated
by this dark Community for what he did to Bianca the incel feels bad ly cheated to
the point where it becomes just an obsessive thought that I need to strike back for the
unfairness in fact this violent rhetoric has led to murder in 2014 a 22-year-old
self-identified incel went on a deadly Rampage in IA Vista California killing six people since then the intelligence
Community believes there have been more than a dozen mass killings in North America resulting in 50 deaths
attributed to incel ideology and as there's been more incel killings has become more clear to us
that there is on the spectrum of incels those at the extreme end who are certainly capable of murder and because
of that it's recognized now as a terrorist threat we all knew that we were in the line of
fire and I was honestly afraid to like leave my house the response to Bianca's Murder By
the incel community served as a wakeup call for friends like Elizabeth and other young women in their online world
who realize they too could be targets you know those same Insel communities that were praising Brandon's actions um
were saying oh I wonder who's going to be next I can't wait for the next victim or you know or the next girl to be
killed as Clark's case headed to trial emotions ran high for Bianca's family who feared her murder video would be
played in court my last memory of Bianca is her full of life so excited so to have to see her in her last
moments how she was brutally murdered is absolutely traumatizing and something no
one should ever see but shortly before his trial began in February 2020 Clark pleaded guilty to Bianca's murder I know
that Sorry's not enough I know that I won't take back what I did he said he wanted to spare us
from having to see the details of Bianca's murder did you believe him I don't believe him Kim may have been
right to be suspicious before sentencing Clark changed his mind yet again and wanted to go to trial we know that he
he's playing a game with [Music] [Music] everybody just 5 months after pleading guilty to murdering Bianca devans
Brandon Clark was back in court to try and change change his plea back to not guilty this request infuriated the Devin
family who had already been through so much don't play games take your punishment give this family some peace
Bianca's mom said she knew why Clark now wanted to go to trial he found out that
there were media and production companies interested in Bianca's story and he wanted to be able to tell his
side Clark wouldn't admit to that months later he took the stand to plead his case do you soundly swear the testimony
you're about to give is a truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help
die he blamed his former attorney Luke nebus a well-respected local public defender for not visiting him enough in
prison and pressuring him into pleading guilty oh he knew that was a first time offender and had no knowledge of the
legal system knowledge about court proceedings you state your name lbsh on the stand nebus said Clark's
claims were not true I went to the United County Jail 15 times prior to his plea I there were moments where I spent
four or five hours with him there are moments where I spent two maybe an average of three he said in fact he was
the one who encouraged his former client to plead not guilty and go to trial but
it was Clark who refused again whose idea was was it to plead guilty to these charges Mr clerks
and it was your intention to take this matter to trial yes and during cross-examination prosecutor Mike Nolan
demolished Clark's argument about his supposed legal knowledge you're making claims that Mr Nish didn't do his job
but you don't know that correct with the resources I was provided it looks like he did not do his job and again what law
school did you go to Mr Clark I did not go to law school right so you don't know
that correct correct thank you the judge denied Brandon Clark's request to withdraw his guilty plea and on March
16th 2021 nearly 2 years after Bianca was murdered he was finally brought into be
sentenced are there any family members that would like to address the court yes your honor Bianca's mother and
grandfather had been waiting a long time to face Bianca's killer with the death of your child comes the most UN ible
Indescribable pain a pain that time cannot heal and only seems to worsen but Brandon for the cruel manner in which
you took my granddaughter's life for the total disregard you had for a human life
for the callous act in which you posted pictures of her murdered body on social media to gratify your own selfish
purposes you Brandon deserve to spend the rest of your life in prison before the judge read his sentence Clark gave a
statement I hate myself for what I did I'm so sorry that I put everyone through this I'm so sorry that I put Bianca
through this I I wish I could apologize to her and just apologize and apologize and just take it back
but did you all believe his apology did you think it was sincere at all no not sincere that's part of his story is to
play Old poor me it's not about what he did to Bianca it's all about him the judge also appeared unmoved by Clark's
apology and gave him the maximum sentence for murdering Bianca 25 years to life our deepest thoughts now are with
Bianca our Angel who has given so much love to this family but despite their belief Bianca's
family knows their fight may not be over after Clark serves 25 years in prison he
could be eligible for parole he will be in his late 40s did Bianca receive Justice no justice would be Bianca being
alive but the justice for Bianca now takes a different form Bianca's family is trying to turn
their grief into action they have worked with local politicians like then Congressman Anthony brendisi to try and
get Bianca's law passed and today we are putting social media companies on notice
we are taking substantive action on the federal level to bring the devans family
peace and ensure this never happens to another family again Bianca's law is a bill that would hold social media
companies accountable for violent and graphic content that they allow on their platforms so we look at that as a start
for a series of laws and policies that would prevent death photos like Biancas from being put up on social
media they also have established a scholarship in Bianca's name and that will go to a student who was going to
follow Bianca's Ambitions of helping helping adolesence with mental health struggles like Bianca
had how do you want Bianca to be remembered I want Bianca to be remembered for her smile for her bright
spirit for her huge Caring Heart Bianca always wanted to help someone even in her worst struggles when
she couldn't help herself she helped others and she will never ever be [Music] [Music]
forgotten 48 Hours don't miss an episode [Music] Aaron this is Florida nothing strange
[Music] here the house was beautiful it was 4,000 square ft it had a pool a garage apartment it was a great
house the only problem was upstairs some of the rooms were too small and just the
functionality did not work for some families I could understand why they'd want to renovate
it when did you first meet Shanti and David Dave just called me on the phone and asked if I'd come by and take a look
at the project he said that they had done some work I wasn't at all prepared for what I saw when I got
there they had fully disassembled this house to a degree that I'd never seen seen before it was rather
astonishing it was largely wide open like you're inside of a giant shoe box this house became more than just a
project to David tronis it was his life he obsessed on it this house is the center point to the story and ultimately
led to shanti's demise this case all started with a call to 911 placed it approximately 3:51 p.m.
on April 24th 2018 by Dave tronis hello and David says that he came home and found Shanti floating in the
bathtub she's not feing did that story make sense absolutely not Shati was extensively
beaten it makes me emotional I feel bad for her family and for her son it's subsetting that she won't get
that life with him clearly Dave tronis from the very beginning is a suspect absolutely Dave was asked to go to the
station thank you and voluntarily remain there for hours just have a seat there it'll be a little bit he did not request
counsel he consented to swabs to clippings to a search of his person Dave went into that interview
with an agenda he never been more in love was so happy and he just started getting confronted and confronted and
confronted I told you she was murdered murdered someone took her life from her and there's nothing you can't even fake
it that's how much you could give it and it became a war of Wills in that room I don't have any explanation for
her the severity of her injuries and didn't David win that war of Wills he was not broken well Dave didn't
confess are we boring you it seems pretty clear these two detectives they went into this room decided that David
was a murderer and then went the extra mile to try to put a file together to prove such did you guys get into an
argument was she about the house is it possible that without this house Shanti might still be alive I
think that's completely true [Music] [Music] Delaney Park is a well-established neighborhood it's been around for over
100 years Tara Stevens knows Delaney park inside and out she's a realtor who buys and sells homes
there it's a great place to live to raise a family a lot of outside activity great school system it's a it's a great
neighborhood so Delaney Park is a mile or so from from downtown Orlando Ryan vesio a former prosecutor with the
Orlando State Attorney's office got to know the area well when he led the investigation into the death of Shanti
Cooper in April 2018 did Shanti ever indicate to any friends or family that she was afraid of
anyone no so you guys knew each other approximately 5 years this month vesio and investigators dug into
learn all they could about Shanti and her husband David trones the couple had been married for
more than a year everybody we spoke to about Dave and Dave's background said that he was highly intelligent it's what
made him successful when he worked in business how would you describe Shanti Shanti Cooper was a hardworking
dedicated mom who cared deeply deeply about her son her son was her world shanti's son Jackson was then 8 years
old she shared custody with his father Jim Cooper whom Shanti had divorced in 2013 she launched a lucrative Financial
software business and worked out of her home office how did she meet Dave tronis
Dave was outside of Minneapolis Minnesota at the time they met over the internet and started exchanging messages
and profiles and that turned into email emils investigators later found this document on shanti's computer that shows
just how smitten she was Dave I will have to say I think this will be a delicious detour amazing magnificent
lifechanging detour I've had a pep in my step since we started this little email
Affair in Minnesota David just ended a long marriage but within months of meeting Shanti online he moved to
Orlando Dave fell in love with Delaney Park and the house at 28 East Copeland Drive a house that came complete with
its own gargoyles we sold it to him for 67500 which was a really really good deal how did he pay for it cash Dave put
the house in trust for himself and his mother and soon introduced Shanti to Tara they seemed very happy she was a
beautiful very nice person I enjoyed meeting her Tara did not feel quite the same about Dave Dave's personality
changed a little bit after the contract was signed I just saw a very different side of him he was like a a guy or a
child who wants to get their way and they don't stop until they do you were glad when the deal was over absolutely I
was very glad I didn't get a good feeling from him Cindy and and Dan da are shanti's
relatives by marriage they didn't like Dave at first but it wasn't long before Cindy had a change of heart I love her
so I grew to love him we absolutely adored him the first time we had lunch he walked in and he said how lucky am I
I get to have lunch with two of the most beautiful women that I know I mean that's
Charming in 2015 David Shanti moved into their new home and attempted to remodel
it with Shanti footing the bill what did Dave do all day it's a great question if
you ask Dave he says that he worked on the house and worked on the renovations and took care of the property and clean
the pool contractors came and went demolition went on and on but the renovation was an expensive failure by
2008 the main part of the house was unlivable Shanti was reduced to working and sleeping above the garage in a small
apartment where did Dave sleep I think he slept downstairs with the dogs maybe not all the time but I'm pretty sure he
was down there desperate to resolve the housing situation Dave turned to Keith ory a
local house renovator who also appeared on a reality TV show called Zombie house
flipping neighborhoods are under attack from zombie houses what is zombie house flipping
zombie house flipping is a house flipping TV show where we take houses that are the worst of the
[Music] worst is anything broken I think we have a termite problem and what we do is
bring them back to life I looked at the house I realized that the structure was suspect and uh politely stepped outside
an engineer discovered the only thing holding up the house was 2 in of Stucco it was rather astonishing they took away
all the interior Dividing Walls and basically what was left was a twostory shell weren't you tempted to just run
for the hills yeah but at the same time you rarely come across a challenge that's
that uh that bold Keith was up for the challenge and began cheing up the interior and then he got the go-ahead to
use the house in the next season of zombie house flipping this it's zombie house
flipping it was mid April 2018 and filming was set to begin in early may but there was a problem
getting Dave and Shanti together to talk in FA in person was proving to be really
difficult Keith went to the house to meet with the couple one last time to be sure they were on board and they both
said yes we understand and then she took off immediately just and left I got a sense that she was ped off at him fesio
said Shanti had been trying for years to get her name on the trust that owned the
house but Dave never followed through and it seemed like things just sort of culminated to a boiling
point it was only days before Shan's murder she desperately wanted stability in her life but was living in a house
that was anything but her name was not on the deed and she had already spent a lot of money on what was essentially
Dave's house shti was the bankroll the sole bankroll to almost A4 million doll renovation
what did she get for her $250,000 well a lot of headaches and [Music] heartaches thank you shortly after
Shanti was pronounced dead Dave tronis went to Orlando Police Headquarters go get here as soon as I
can where he remained without a lawyer for 14 hours we got to figure this out together okay of course he didn't
attempt to conceal anything Richard seski is Dave's attorney he gave the law enforcement access to everything that
they needed everything that they wanted and he laid himself out there for examination by all we want to say how
sorry we are for your loss at the start detectives Teresa sprag and Barb sharp seem
sympathetic take a minute okay I know this is super tough they're very good at building Rapport and have a tremendous
amount of experience if you have a suspect who's willing to talk you just hit play and sit back and let them go on
and on and on and that's what Dave does Dave sticks with his story he took the dogs to a park in the afternoon and
after he returned he found Shanti still wearing her pajamas floating in the tub so I
could hear the water is running I see her laying one of her legs is kind of sticking up and out a little bit and
it's just extremely awful can you tell me what your address is he tell tells the detectives that he
tried to perform CPR but couldn't get Shanti to breathe she was dead when First Responders arrived Dave has a lot
to say and a lot to say to try to convince the detectives that he wasn't involved in his wife's death I think
something went wrong either she slipt or she fell or she blacked out why did he agree to sit down and talk to these
detectives without an attorney because he had nothing to hide and he didn't think that it would hurt him but the
veteran detectives began to pick at his story and question how shanti's Bloody cheek and bruised eye came from a slip
in the tub I don't have any explanations what I found somebody who slips and Falls doesn't receive the amount of
blunt force trauma to focused areas in the head detectives also had spotted blood on shanti's
bed and suspected that's where she had been killed but Dave says the blood likely was from shanti's period it did
get on the bed spread and it did get almost through the bed there was a lot of other evidence that would be
inconsistent with this being blood associated with a menstrual cycle detectives also suspected and shanti's
autopsy later confirmed that she was strangled but celeski says as frustrating as it
may have been to authorities Dave can't explain shanti's injuries not because he's lying but
because he simply doesn't know he took his best guess based upon what he come to find he doesn't know
what happened is the point the detectives press on for hours taking turns and peppering Dave with tougher
and tougher question questions did you two argue no absolutely not did you fight absolutely not did you harm Shanti
in any way absolutely not sharp and sprag also question his timeline Dave says that he called 911 about 5 minutes
after he found Shanti you've got to help us understand but detectives insist that
doesn't match what they found at the house there's no flashing of water anywhere in the bathroom the inside of
the tub is dry completely dry and she's damp she's not even wet so you got to help us can you do that I'm told you
everything they're drawing conclusions based upon observations and they're moving forth based upon these
assumptions they try to zero in on a possible motive did she catch you with another woman did she have a boyfriend
did was she about the house no but given the sorry state of the house detectives
begin to wonder if that had something to do with shanti's murder I can't imagine
how stressful it must have been you know not living in the home you want to live
in and it's taken two plus years three years um I'm I'm sick to death about what happened but nothing happened today
because of there was no animosity between us whatsoever and he says Shanti wasn't
upset that her name wasn't on the trust that owned the house so we had kind of talked about it and debated it and we
finally just said it doesn't really matter let's just move forward Teresa and Barb are tenacious they don't stop
they're well-versed in interrogation techniques you know we saw the good cop bad cop we saw manipulation Barb sharp
even moves her hand to Dave's knee and adopts a more subtle Tong it will be okay we can't help you until you help us
before Teresa sprag begins another attack she treats you like a landscaper like the pool boy probably because she's
bringing in the money as the hours tick by what do you want your mom to think about you they try anything they can to
get him to confess are you religious PR this almost became a game of psychological Warfare in that
interview room Dave began the interview by saying how happy he had been with Shanti but almost 8 hours into the
interrogation the detectives aren't buying it you claim to love that woman I would be under the table in a
ball if I was in love with that woman and she was dead I I would be inconsolable do you think that he was
penalized because he didn't act the way detectives wanted him to act oh time time and time again you know you fake
cried for about seven or8 hours today not one tear came out of your eyes not one there's a lot of conclusions
being drawn off of what they consider to be an odd affect of Mr Tron and I think
that that's a dangerous thing to do because we all react to stress differently we all grieve differently
Dave even agrees to take a polygraph but by then it was the middle of the night and investigators couldn't find anyone
to administer [Music] it they had to let him go at the end of the interview how did they feel about
that you always want to make the arrest right up front you do with Dave tronis free police would have to keep digging
for Clues but even they were surprised by what they found is it fair to say that
Dave tronis was living a double life at least two lives she didn't slip and fall it's not
a possibility even though detectives were outright accusing Dave trones of murdering Shanti you strangled her some
of her relatives like Cindy da believed him are you kidding my bet my last dollar that it wasn't him
I thought he was innocent you honestly did Cindy why I think it was just the growth of our relationship and how she
adored him absolutely adored him and it looked very mutual to everyone did she ever express any concern or fear of Dave
never never after being questioned by detectives Dave headed straight to his home in Delaney Park and that's where
Cindy found him I stood him up and turned him around and looked at his arms and there was not a scratch on him there
was nothing Cindy did you ever ask him Point Blank did you have something to do with the death of Shanti I did what did
he say no I would not kill the love of my life defense attorney Richard zeleski says
the problem with this case is that detectives and prosecutors were convinced from the start that Dave
trones was shanti's killer zeleski says the bias of the investigators is clear from the police report they've already
suggested that they have it figured out like bull in the china shop trying to just make this work at all cost because
they've done nothing to develop other suspects but vesio denies that he he says detectives checked out every
possible suspect and got lucky when an important lead fell into their laps a worker from Club Orlando called and
shared that they knew of Dave tronis because he was a patron at the club what is Club Orlando Club Orlando is a
same-sex bath house did Dave have a membership at Club Orlando several memberships every 6 months Dave renewed
his membership detectives headed to the club to investigate and found a longtime Club
employee who in this police recorded interview says he witnessed Dave having sex at the club I was just walking
through and I saw David uh he was giving oral sex to this guy from what everybody
who knew Shanti has said she would absolutely have not tolerated it put up with it endorse it it just just wouldn't
have happened there's a significant possibility that Shanti knew all about it and why do you believe that because
none of her family members seemed to know anything about it and and her family members seem to indicate that if
Shanti did know she'd be upset and and I appreciate that but uh what you tell your mom and dad about your sex life and
what you do uh behind closed doors you know people are people adults are adults and life is
messy but vesio wonders if Shanti ultimately did discover Dave's duplicity on the night she was murdered had that
Revelation made Shanti threaten to turn off the money spigot once and for all but she would be killed because of a
house well what would somebody do when they were about to lose the most important thing in their
life because in April of 2018 the most important thing in Dave's life was that house
[Music] Dave told Cindy and others that he beli Shanti may have been murdered by a
burglar and the defense claimed that $5,000 in cash was missing from the house also missing shanti's diamond
engagement ring valued at approximately $115,000 that was highly highly suspicious the detectives wanted to get
to the bottom of it why couldn't it have been exactly as Dave said that he leaves
and someone breaks into the house beats her leaves are there and Dave comes home
why doesn't that fit well the lack of forced entry this scene did not have any sort of evidence of a struggle there's
thousands of dollars of valuables that are left in plain sight a private investigator hired by
defense lawyers can neighbors asking them about a particular homeless man who reportedly had been seen around Delaney
park it was said he resembled the actor Woody harelson what about the transient that everyone describes who looks a lot
like Woody harelson I mean when you got nothing better you throw everything against the
wall and see if something sticks this home is at 218 East Copeland Drive detective Teresa sprag tracks
Woody down and recorded this interview and you see there's a large Blue dumpster in the driveway have you ever
been there no nothing placed Woody inside Dave and shanti's home but vesio says his interview shows police chase
down every lead including checking out her ex-husband Shanti had had a bad divorce this was not an easy end of the
marriage did you look look at Jim Cooper yes Mr Cooper was interviewed and Jim Cooper was eliminated as a suspect very
early on he had an alibi on August 29th 2018 4 months after shanti's murder Dave
tronis was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder and held without bail and how did the two of you react
when you heard that I wasn't believing it what's oever I thought they were just trying to solve a murder
easily I always had the suspicion Dave's arrest gave prosecutors another piece of
the puzzle shanti's missing engagement ring the ring is probably one of the most powerful and damning pieces of
evidence in this case as long as that expensive ring was missing Dave tronis could argue that a burglar had murdered
Shanti but the day he was arrested police found found it among his possessions we searched the room at his
mother's house where he was living and lo and behold we found the Rings in his suitcase in his
bedroom still Dave's arrest was not the end of the investigation it led to a cascading
series of New Revelations that surprised even a veteran prosecutor like Ryan vesio this was a case that had so many
twists and turns I would no longer make assumptions of anything you don't learn this stuff in law
[Music] school after the arrest of Dave trones invest instigators received a tip that
took them completely by surprise it led them to Minnesota and back in time to win a much younger Dave was married to a
woman named Carol former close friends of Carol told detectives that they believed Dave may have been poisoning
her as soon as Carol got married to Dave she started suffering a bunch of unknown
health issues that made prosecutor Ryan vesio wonder if Shanti could have been poisoned in shanti's case she had
appendicitis and had to have an appendectomy Shanti had had that emergency appendectomy 8 weeks before
her death appendicitis and poisoning have similar symptoms and Dave told detectives that Shanti had digestion
problems right up to the day she died she hasn't found since the abony a diet that she can beat
regularly and feel good vesio needed more information so he and detective Teresa sprag went to
Minnesota in November of 2018 to meet Carol face to face and recorded this interview I have issues
with chronic pain and immune system issues that are not necessarily definitive Carol told vesio she also
struggled with gut issues and that Dave cooked most of their meals has it ever come into your frame of
thought that your marriage to David tronis or him cooking or making you drinks was making you sick no have you
ever thought that any of your issues related to your health problems was him poisoning you
no Carol said her health issues continued even after her divorce from Dave yet V says he remains suspicious it
very well could have been a scenario to where Dave was providing both of them with items that caused them to be ill we
just could never have real concrete proof of it fesio wondered if there was another
reason Carol seemed to be protecting her former husband and whether it had anything to do with Dave's finances we
saw thousand pages of bank records belonging to Dave tronis one thing that we noticed
was that Dave and Carroll still had a joint bank account together that account at times contained
hundreds of thousands of dollars but Carol said she simply had forgotten to take her name off that account people
who are divorcing each other don't leave assets on the table and they sure as heck don't leave them
together it's unclear where that money came from V IO believes that Carol who was not charged with any crime could be
helping Dave manage his money while he's in jail I think that Carol is involved in David's finances and has some level
of control the surprises in the case kept coming soon after shanti's death detectives have placed a surveillance
camera pointed toward the outside of Dave's house detective sprag was interested to see who was coming and
going out of that house and that camera ended up actually turning into a pretty valuable piece of evidence that camera
captured images of private investigators hired by Dave's original Law Firm coming
and going detectives believe that when one of those lawyers Robert Mandel realized that the pis were on camera he
placed a called de vesio I never ever expected that he was going to tell me that he in fact had an him of physical
evidence that he had been holding on to for 11 months never would have expected it in a thousand years and what was that
evidence they were a set of purported bloody sheets and it literally literally took
my breath away that defense attorney Robert mandelle told vesio that the defense team had acquired the bloody
sheets from the garage apartment where Shanti was found dead but had never never turned them over to the
prosecution but Ryan as shocking as that is that wasn't the only evidence that later turned out was it no I ended that
call with the defense attorney and said listen if you have anything else now is the time to tell
me and about 10 12 hours later the next morning I got another call from him and that's when he said I have one other
item that I think we have to turn over that item turned out to be a green cord Mandel told vesio that a private
investigator removed it from the house and preserved it in an Evidence bag because Dave was threatening to kill
himself does that make sense to you no makes zero sense to me why go get the item and then treat it
as if it were a piece of evidence remember the autopsy revealed that Shanti had been strangled and vesio
believed there was a real possibility that the green cord could be the murder weapon with the prosecution now in
possession of that green cord tests were conducted to see if indeed it was the murder weapon used to strangle Shanti is
there any evidence to indicate that in fact that cord was used to kill Shanti no that cord did not have any DNA on
[Music] it but the cord wasn't picked up until weeks after shanti's death and authorities believed Dave had plenty of
time to clean it investigators had spent months examining all the evidence leading vesio to craft his own theory
about when Shanti was killed we found one single earring was placed on the nightstand the other
earring was in shanti's ear and what does that say to you that tells me that Shanti was most likely sitting on the
side of her bed preparing for bed taking those earrings out and that's when the attack happened the sheets and and bed
frame did have shanti's blood on them and Shanti didn't use her phone after 11:30 p.m. the scene was consistent with
this attack happening somewhere in the midnight to 23 a.m. time period but David called 911 late in the afternoon
saying he had just found Shanti floating in the tub ceski says investigators are
jumping to unfair conclusions a few hours of time off the r doesn't allow them to shift the
timeline prosecutors continued to build their case even as Dave sat behind bars listening to anyone who had information
about shanti's death no matter how surprising the source I met David Chis in three
whiskey three whiskey is a housing unit in the Orlando jail where Edward gizi shared a cell with Dave tronz he slept
next to me and I slept next to him after getting out of jail gizi met with vesio
and sprag he says that he and Dave began talking and bonded over a shared interest in obscure
hallucinogenics including sapo a poison derived from a South American frog he said that you could use sapo to
put in people's salsa and kill them quietly killer salsa might sound ridiculous but not so far-fetched when
you can consider that authorities suspected that Dave had poisoned both his wives gizi supplied even more
information that if true was truly damning he says Dave admitted that he and chanti had a fight before she died
he just said there there was an app on his phone that there was messages on that she had found apparently that
suggested he was having sex with men and she was going to show everybody and what
did Dave say he did he snapped he said he freaked out and did what he didn't specifically say that what he did but
that he had killed his wife investigators were unable to corroborate giz mandi's story about the
app we didn't have any purchase records of apps and we did not see it on Dave's phone I've read your statement and at no
point do I see anywhere where you had told them that David actually said I killed my wife but sitting here now you
said Dave told you I killed my wife yes ma'am in jail he said I killed my wife word for word is what he told me but why
wouldn't you tell the State's Attorney's office that I did I told him that he had
snapped that's the word that I used I don't remember if she had asked me did he admit to murdering her like word for
word like that one of the few things both the prosecution and the defense do agree on
is that neither is sure they can believe gizi he pled guilty to one count of lud
or lavious behavior and is now a registered sex offender and still on probation this individual certainly has
credibility issues zeleski took over Dave's defense in early 2020 after the original attorneys
withdrew from the case raising doubt isn't going to be difficult here but shanti's family has no doubt
about what should happen to Da he has to be found guilty he is guilty Cindy da who once found Dave so
Charming feels very differently about him now he should be sentenced to death I want him to remember when he
looks at me I want him to remember every lie Every Lie when Cindy remembers Shanti her
heart still breaks she was happy giving kind fun loving person who had a mission in
this life and she didn't get to fulfill it [Music] hi this is conad Rook and I'm going to talk to you about
social anxiety social anxiety depression it's controlling me there's people that love me I have a
great mom great dad but I'm still depressed we spent the day walking the beach and we had a conversation and I
asked him about school and he's like um I'm not sure what I'm going to do and I said you know don't worry about it
everything is going to be okay okay it was a nice day out with the family nothing to give any hint of what
was to come later in the day there was no indication anything was going on I've created a monster out of
myself the past few years because of my depression racing thoughts Suicidal Thoughts do you remember when is the
last time you saw your brother he was like going at the door I thought he was just going to his friend's house you got
up in the morning and how did you know he hadn't come home he wasn't there and we just like couldn't find him this is
not like Conrad not to come home then they found his body and around 5:30 in the
afternoon and he died in his truck cabon monoxide poisoning I will live with this forever
um the pain right away we heard from investigators that medical examiner found that it was a suicide it wasn't
until they started looking at his phone that they realized that there was something else going on here because on
that phone wor hundreds and hundreds of texts from Michelle Carter to Conrad Roy
urging him to end his life you can't think about it you just have to do it you said you were going to do it like I
don't get why you aren't and Michelle Carter admittedly said do it she was kind of making fun of him for
for not taking his own life I thought you really wanted to die but apparently you don't I feel played and just stupid
you're going to have to prove me wrong because I just don't think you really want this and she kept pressuring him to
do it you're ready and prepared all you have to do is turn the generator on and you be free happy no more pushing it off
no more waiting there was one point where he actually got out of the truck mhm and
changed his mind yeah he was scared and she told him to go back in the truck yes Carter charged with involuntary
manslaughter she faces up to 20 years in prison this is totally out of left field
I coached Michelle I know her as a good kid I don't believe that she has a conscience
she knew exactly what she was doing and what she said hang yourself jump off a building
stab yourself I don't know there's a lot of ways and it's the texts that become the weapon how could she cause a death
when she was 35 mil away in these circumstances this is almost a kin to loading the gun and handing it over who
knows who knows when you have your hand on the trigger when you're sending a text
[Music] [Music] [Music] it's not realistic what what's going in my head that keeps on piling and piling and
piling one month before 18-year-old Conrad Roy took his own life when the minds of many teens wandered a Carefree
summer days Conrad's thoughts were more serious introspective I need to be comfortable
with my skin sitting at his computer in his home in Fair Haven Massachusetts Conrad recorded his thoughts on coping
with his depression I need to relax I really do he want to excel he was just wanted to to be this like great
person but in my eyes Conrad's mother Lynn explains that her son could be his own toughest critic it was rough on
himself he really really struggle with um just disappointing I think myself and his dad
the sooner I like myself the better I'm going to be linroy thought her son was getting better I I
do have a lot going for me he was getting professional help and on an anti-depressant selaa he had been
licensed to be a tugboat captain like his dad that's a huge accomplishment to be a captain had just
graduated high school and college with a scholarship was on the horizon and he was doing everything that was positive
that was you know looking towards his future but on July 12th 2014 Conrad drove to a parking lot and
using a gasoline powered water pump sat in his pickup truck as it filled with carbon monoxide knowingly inhaling the
deadly fumes killing himself all the while his friend Michelle Carter then 17 was encouraging Conrad from more than 30
mil away on her phone to take his own life I don't want understand why you would want someone that was so beautiful
inside and out that had so much that was such a kind person to die how do you describe what
this young woman did I cannot only only she she can the intersection of the lives of Michelle
Carter and Conrad Roy has left a trail of heartbreak and questions about the circumstances that led to such a tragic
death he's one of the kindest persons he grew up very sensitive very humble and kind happy
child very happy many pictures of him smiling laughing until he became a teenager and I don't know if it was the
hormon he just you know became anxious Conrad was the oldest child in the family with
two sisters Morgan and Camden Lynn and Conrad's father separated when Conrad was 16 and their divorce hit him
especially hard I think he was just more worried about me that's what boys do they worry about their moms um a lot
Conrad would confide in his friend Ariana Taylor as they spent hours walking along the water he didn't really
wasn't able to explain it to me in a way that I could understand so he kind of just described it as a darkness and how
there would be times where he just kind of wanted to isolate himself from everybody Conrad's anxiety and
self-doubt had troubled Lynn since he was 16 he started uh having trouble sleeping and we got him treated and then
he had his first uh suicide attempt a year after the age of 17 Conrad had overdosed on a cedam minen I worked in a
psychiatric hospital and I never imagine that one of my children would um have those feelings do you think he really
intended to kill himself at that point he did contact a friend that friend was Ariana he told me that he was really
sick and that his mom had just left and that he wanted her to come back Ariana immediately got in touch with Conrad's
parents who brought him to the hospital he told me Mom I will never do that again he were
sorry and I was sorry as well that he felt that way the fact that he wanted you to call his mother what is
that say to you it just says that he was calling out for help that he didn't actually mean what he was doing but he
really needed help and that this was the only way he kind of thought that he would really get help and that help
seemed seemed to be working he actually was getting a lot better he told me about how he was going out and he was
going to like you know the high school parties and just hanging out with everybody I was like that's amazing
Michelle Carter was another friend of Conrad's they met in 2012 while both were vacationing in
Florida Conrad and his sisters were visiting relatives who happened to know Michelle how would you describe Michelle
friendly yeah she's really friendly she always made conad laugh as it turned out Michelle lived just a
few towns over from the Roy in Massachusetts and the relationship continued after the vacation but while
Michelle called Conrad her boyfriend his family says that she rarely saw each other and like so many teens their
interactions were mostly over text messages had your son ever mentioned Michelle Carter yes after they met in
Florida I met her 2013 at his baseball game and that was the only time I ever met her second time was at his week
Michelle and Conrad shared something in common that Lynn did not know Michelle had her own struggles including an
eating disorder and both teens at times took anti-depressants you know probably the
attraction was they both had their issues softball coach Ed McFarland has known Michelle Carter and her family for
a decade the Michelle he knows is is an ideal teammate I've never seen her do a mean thing I've never seen her be mean
Michelle's High School yearbook paints a picture of an active well-liked student
one voted Class Clown and most likely to brighten your day but that would not be
how her actions would be described on the last day of Conrad's life that day started out seemingly
happy for Conrad spend spending time with his family that morning on the 12th what was his mood like it was fine
he wanted to you know go to the beach with the girls while there Camden at one point noticed her brother sitting alone
texting did you know who he was texting with no now you think he was texting with Michelle Carter yeah but you didn't
know that at the time and what was his demeanor I know he I don't know he kind of seemed like anxious like when he was
like texting Conrad then took his sisters out for ice cream where his mood seemed to lift and
when you think back on that would you have ever guessed there was anything wrong that
afternoon no after going home Conrad left at about 6:00 p.m. telling his mother he was going to see a friend and
I asked him if he was going to be back for dinner and he said he didn't think so and that was the last words that he
spoke to me it was July 12th 2014 The Heart Of Summer in New England Conrad Roy had
headed out in his pickup truck around 6:00 p.m. as the evening passed Lynn checked to see when he'd be home and I
texted him I don't know before I went to bed maybe around 10:30 11 and then I texted him again in the middle of the
night Conrad didn't respond still Lynn figured everything was okay she believed he had beaten back much of his
anxieties that night Conrad's sister Camden unexpectedly heard from Michelle Carter that 17-year-old who had battled
her own mental health issues and lived about an hour away how surprised were you that you suddenly got a text from
Michelle and I thought she was just like just like his friend but in the text she said like we're boyfriend and
girlfriend now and I was just like I looked at my mom I was like they are whether Teenage Love or something else
Michelle was sending out the word had anyone heard from Conrad Roy and what did she text you exactly she was like um
hey Camden like do you know where your brother is was that unusual for him not to come home oh yeah absolutely that was
not like him at all it was sunrise and still not a word so in the morning I went to by Ariana's house and he wasn't
there and so that's when I began to search where is he what happened we went by Dad's house there's no sign of him
maybe an hour later I felt like like this um Rush go through my body that I've never felt in my life and I felt at
that point that he wasn't with me on the afternoon of July 13th police found him inside his pickup truck parked
at the local Kmart his cell phone right next to him and he died in his truck cbon monoxide poisoning like got in the
car and my mom was just like crying like the most I ever seen her Kai and she was
like he's gone and like she was just like your brother's gone it still hurts just as much as it did then doesn't it
I will live with this forever um the pain I don't get why it happened why did it happen why it happened to him and
Michelle seemed to take Conrad's death as hard as anyone once again a text was her choice of
communication this time to Lynn I am so very sorry Conrad meant so much to me no
one questioned the suicide died until cops got a hold of Conrad Roy's phone it would prove to be an investigation like
no other no gun no knife no crucial DNA in this case only this a trail of words starting with those on the cell phone
messages with Michelle Carter and once investigators found this dialogue they knew that there was
something else up and they wanted to get to the bottom of it former Boston Herald legal columnist
and 48 Hours consultant Bob McGovern and so this thing turned from a suicide investigation into a homicide
investigation Michelle seemed to be encouraging Conrad not to live but to die texts flew between the two of them
for more than a week right up to the moment he took his own life I'm determined I'm happy to hear that when
you get back from the beach you got to do it no more thinking yes no more thinking you need to just do
it but now with Conrad Roy dead Michelle seemed devastated acting as if his death
was a total surprise when it came to the funeral she sat up close to kind of where the family area was I always
described her seen as The Grieving widow she was just um constantly like sobbing and two
months later Michelle even held a fundraiser to honor Conrad in her town of planville that fall investigators
interviewed Michelle Carter at her high school did you do you think you had contact with him that day I think so but
Michelle's story was riddled with holes and police weren't buying it they poured
through her cell phone her text ranged from urgent to ominous like one sent to her friend Samantha Borman on July 12th
at 8:02 p.m. just minutes after police believe Conrad killed himself he just called me I heard moaning like someone
was in pain and he wouldn't answer when I said his name that text was followed by another I think he just killed
himself Michelle was texting her friend but what she wasn't doing was calling for help and there was at least one more
text found on Conrad's phone that now seems telling only moments before he died Michelle asked him this
did you delete the messages police would extract more than a thousand deleted text messages between Conrad and
Michelle some showed his fear and reluctance to take his life on the very day he died I don't know I'm freaking
out again I do want to but like I'm freaking out for my family but even as Conrad panicked and
considered abandoning his plan to die Michelle egged him on she described it to her friend Samantha that September in
this text Sam his death is my fault like honestly I could have stopped him I was
on the phone with him and he got out of the car because it was working and he got scared and I effing told him to get
back in the road to Justice would be complicated massach etts has no law against encouraging or assisting suicide
and Michelle was miles away when Conrad died people don't realize in our generation texting does a lot it's like
having the person right there in front of you when you're texting somebody and the Supreme Court of Massachusetts seems
to agree in the summer of 2016 the Court ruled that even though Michelle was an hour away when Conrad Roy died she had a
virtual presence that night in that pickup truck it's a controversial legal Theory born out of a digital world and
so nearly 3 years later Michelle Carter will stay on trial in this courtroom for
involuntary manslaughter Michelle's attorneys fearing how the text would play advised
her to wave her right to a jury trial she put her fate in the hands a veteran judge Lawrence monz are you doing that
of your own free will knowingly and voluntarily yes see more of Michelle Carter's texts
to Conrad Roy on Facebook at 48 [Music] [Music] Hours she assisted and devised and
advised and planned his suicide inside this Massachusetts courtroom Michelle Carter now 20 years old looks
more like a prep school student than a criminal defendant and on July 12th 2014 as his truck was filling with
carbon monoxide he was scared he got out it was the defendant on the other end of
the phone who ordered him back in then listened for 20 minutes as he cried in pain took his last breath and died the
alleged weapon in this case Michelle Carter's own words what she did in theory according
to the prosecutors is she recklessly caused Conrad Roy's death the states case revolves around Michelle's chilling
text messages to Conrad as he was apparently having second thoughts the day he took his life the defendant
texted Conrad you can't think about it you just have to do it you said you were going to do it I don't get why you
aren't and then there was this 10 days before he died Michelle sent him this text message assuring him not to worry
about his family's feelings yeah they'll probably blame themselves for a while but they will get over it and learn to
accept it a notion that baffles and upsets Conrad's mother I think she needs to be uh held responsible for actions
cuz she knew exactly what she was doing ly Roy testified that on the last day of
his life Conrad was in a good frame of mind he was eating tortilla chips in guacamole on the way to the beach in um
July of 2014 did you ever mention he wanted to harm himself no I knew he was a little depressed but I thought he was
he was doing great but prosecutors contend that Michelle and her incessant texting had
immense influence over Conrad even though Michelle was more than 30 miles away from him when he took his life that
her virtual presence caused him to do it she helped him devise a plan to kill himself using a combustion engine to
poison himself with carbon monoxide gas Michelle sent Conrad this text message I'm not going to sleep until you are in
the car with a generator on yna this case is a suicide case it is not a homicide but defense attorney Joseph
catalo painted a very different picture the evidence of the texting is overwhelming that Conrad Roy was on this
path to take his own life for Years Michelle Kata was not present Michelle K had been texting with him she did not
physically see this individual for over one year the defense brings up Conrad's acetam menen overdose when he was 17 and
claims he had been suicidal for years in part because of his parents divorce and
he had a contentious relationship with his father and if the judge is considering Michelle's text messages he
should look at all the messages between the teenagers even up to a month before Conrad's Death Michelle seemed like a
concerned friend trying to help a socially awkward and emotionally fragile Conrad on June 19th Michelle texts
Conrad are you 100% positive you're never going to commit suicide be honest with me do you think about doing it no
I'm not in other messages she talks about wanting to take him to a therapist or a mental health hospital but on July
1st 11 days before his suicide text between Michelle and Conrad took a Sinister turn prosecutors let the words
tell the story she talked him out of his doubts Point by Point she assured him that his family would understand why he
did it she researched Logistics Michelle had been sending Conrad suggestions on how to kill himself for weeks hanging is
painless and takes like a second if you do it right but what would drive anyone to
send a text like that prosecutors say Michelle was desperate for friends and attention and she got it when she talked
about her suicidal boyfriend just days before he died she sent texts to girls she wanted to be close with in an effort
to get their attention and sympathy Lexi please pretending Conrad was missing do
you remember getting a message about Conrad being missing yes he's missing like they don't know where he is
prosecutors say Conrad still being alive presented a problem for Michelle she could be exposed as a liar so it was
important he kill himself on July 12th the night he did take his life Conrad drove to a Kmart
par parking lot and texted Michelle leaving now okay you can do this okay I'm almost
there that was the last text Conrad ever sent to anyone but there was also a 46-minute
phone call Michelle called him she was the last person to speak with him after that call ended Michelle
texted her friend Samantha I'm going to ask you to read that text message please
I'll loud Sam he just called me and there was a loud noise like a motor and I heard moaning like someone was in pain
and he wouldn't answer when I said his name I stayed on the phone for like 20 minutes and that's all I heard then 27
minutes later Michelle sent Samantha another text message I think he just killed
himself prosecutors say Michelle within hours began building a virtual Alibi knowing that he was likely dead she
began acting like a concerned friend sending Conrad this text message I'm scared are you okay I love you please
answer Michelle showed little emotion at the trial her defense relies on this psychiatrist Peter Brean to explain her
behavior even though he was not treating Michelle at the time he testifies that she was involuntarily Intoxicated by an
anti-depressant drug she started taking 3 months earlier Celexa she was IM mesed
in a delusion where she's thinking that it's a good thing to help him die but prosecutors completely dismiss that
theory she does not tell the Roy family about being on the phone with Conrad the
night before does she his dead body is in a car 24 hours and she withholds that information inexplicably Michelle sent
more than 80 texts to Conrad after he died in some she even apologizes for not saving him but it wasn't just Conrad she
texted the prosecution is hoping the judge pays particular attention to this text that she sent to her friend
Samantha a week after Conrad's body was discovered they have to go through his phone and see if anyone encouraged him
to do it on text and stuff they read my messages with him I'm done his family will hate me and I could go to
[Music] jail her actions your honor on July 12th 2014 caused the death of Conrad
Roy they were Reckless and she knew it a according to the prosecution Michelle Carter helped put Conrad Roy in his
grave it was a felony and she caused serious bily harm according to the defense she didn't know what she was
doing good morning she was psychotic delusional involuntarily intoxicated from taking the anti-depressant
Celexa Michelle K underwent an involuntary intoxication in June and July to prominent Child and Adolescent
Psy psychiatrist Dr Harold koplowitz that makes no sense at all though not a witness in this case he says those drugs
called ssris are remarkably safe they don't make you delusional they don't make you psychotic and they don't make
you intoxicated they don't make you drunk Dr koplowitz believes the act of texting was more mind altering than any
drug and the problem with texts is that it separates you it makes you feel less responsible but no amount of distance
can explain her behavior especially the prosecution's contention that Michelle ordered Conrad back into the truck says
the doctor it's very hard to understand where the man says to a friend listen I'm feeling pain I don't want to do this
I'm going to get out of the car there's no way to seem to make sense of the fact
that someone then says a friend says get back in the car and kill yourself this really has a vicious and a very very
malicious quality to it no matter how malicious Dr kopt says Michelle really couldn't have convinced Conrad to kill
himself if he hadn't already been suicidal so while Michelle could not force Conrad to kill himself she could
enhance his risk of killing himself she could encourage him to complete the act because he was already on his way and
simultaneously she could have screamed out for help which might have prevented this deadly outcome I want to recover
from this and I feel like I haven't recovered it from it yet I feel like I still have a long way to go clearly
these heartbreaking videos now posted on YouTube show a young man looking for that different outcome says Dr kopitz
you expose yourself like this it says please help me I've created a monster out of
myself past few years because of my depression sadly Conrad Roy is not alone according to the Centers for Disease
Control and prevention we lose approximately 4600 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 to Suicide each
year one reason is that teenagers are simply more prone to depression another reason they're more susceptible to peer
pressure which is why the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why has caused such an uproar in the show a teenage girl dies by
Suicide and leaves 13 recordings to other teens whom she blames I think it's one of the most dangerous programs on
the air right now for the simple reason that it glamorizes suicide unfortunately suicide very contagious we
know that teenagers who watch these kind of TV programs are more likely to think
about suicide or more likely to attempt suicide or more likely to commit suicide it appears that Michelle Carter
may have been one of those teens influenced by what she saw on TV not 13 reasons why but perhaps an episode of
Glee when an actor on Glee died of an overdose in real life the show wrote his death into the script listen to the
similarities between what the character Rachel says about the loss of her boyfriend and what Michelle later says
about losing Conrad I had it all planned out we would live happily ever after it's a good
plan did you tell him I didn't have to he knew Michelle's text to a friend after Conrad's death is almost word for
word I had it all planned out he knew too I didn't have to tell him he was my person Michelle writes the exact same
line he was my person pour her her boyfriend died they were going to get married one day and now she's The
Grieving girlfriend according to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts it all boiled down to
that starring role as the grieving girlfriend the comm's position your honor is that she wanted
attention after 6 days of testimony closing arguments begin the defense is up first the
evidence actually establishes that Conrad Roy caused his own death Joe catalo reminds the judge that
Conrad had attempted suicide before and points to a text Conrad wrote to Michelle
there's nothing anyone can do for me that's going to make me want to live it's very bad to hear but I want to let
you know that truthfully the decision to die was Conrad's not Michelle's says catalo he
created this situation youan most importantly Michelle was nowhere near Conrad when he killed himself there's no
evidence that Michelle K has any physical actions what ever in this case with Conrad Roy's decision it was all of
his physical activity but prosecutor Katie Raburn gets the last word although she wasn't physically
present she was in his ear she was in his mind she was on the phone and she was telling to him to get back in the
car even though she knew he was going to die she absolutely knew it was wrong and
she absolutely caused the death of this 18-year-old boy and I ask you to find her
[Music] guilty 3 days after judge monz began his deliberations two families prepare
themselves for his verdict Mr Roy for the Carter family freedom is at stake for the Roy it's about Justice for their
son she instruct Mr Roy to get back into the truck well knowing of all of the feelings that he has exchanged with her
his ambiguities his fears his concerns the judge said Carter caused a dangerous environment and under
Massachusetts law she had a duty to save him she called no one she did not issue
a simple additional instruction get out of the truck Miss K please stand this court having reviewed the evidence and
applied the law thereto now finds you guilty on the indictment charging you with the
involuntary manslaughter of the person Conrad Roy III guilty this court Comm has proved a verdict that is
groundbreaking in terms of recognizing the deadly Power of Words but one that leaves no winners just
heartbreak I know we all wish that he had the opportunity to grow up into adulthood to become a tugbo captain and
to enjoy his future nearly 7 weeks after being convicted Michelle Carter who is out on
bail arrives for sentencing tell yourself where hot hostile words greet her she could face 20 years in prison
please remain standing for one moment while you are sworn first Conrad's father and sister recall a life cut
short not to take go by with without him being my first thought waking up and my
last thought going to bed Michelle Carter exploited my son's weaknesses and used him as a pawn in her
own well-being she has not shown any remorse where was her Humanity the prosecutor reads a
statement from Conrad's mother Lynn who found it too difficult to speak I do not
know where to begin I pray that his death will save lives someday Lynn wants to make it a crime to encourage suicide
I pray that a law comes so forth so that another mother does not have to endure what I
am I do not believe that other can go on to encourage someone to take their life
and it can be okay the prosecution asked that Carter serves 7 to 12 years behind
bars she has shown No Remorse and in fact after Conrad's death she sought attention and sympathy for herself all
she had to do was say get out of the car Michelle Carter does not speak at sentencing but her attorney does and
asks for probation m does regret what happened she also sent a letter to the probation department where she accepts
uh responsibility this is a terrible terrible tragedy and uh she very much regrets this and praise your honor
Judgment of leniency then Michelle Carter learns her fate Miss Carter please stand he sentences Michelle
Carter to 15 months behind bars a sentence that does not please the defense who appealed the conviction
we're asking you urana to stay the jail sentence until we can have that day in court the judge takes the request
seriously recognizing the significance of this case the conviction may be reversible but the time spent in prison
is not and then makes a stunning announcement that a grant of a stay through the Massachusetts court system
only is warranted a stay meaning Michelle Carter would be out on probation not in
jail while her appeal made its way through the Massachusetts courts it was a decision that disappointed linroy and
her daughters which just going to honor his life um and do it in the most best way we can we want him to be proud of us
all right in February of 2019 Michelle Carter's conviction was upheld Miss Carter will now be taken into custody
and she began serving her 15mon sentence her lawyers appealed to the US Supreme Court the court declined to hear that
appeal in response her lawyers issued the following statement we are deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court has
decided not to review Michelle Carter's wrongful conviction Lyn Roy's Focus now is on
changing laws what would you like there to be what kind of law I would love one in honor of him uh his name Conrad's
law there's people that love me I have a great mom my son mattered he matters will always matter
someone that had a family and future and Mom and Dad I will never get over him [Music]
a beautiful ballerina a troubled marriage a deadly confrontation she tells the neighbor I shot Doug in
self-defense was she genuinely afraid or just trying to get her away underneath those white feathers she's an evil woman
she's the Black Swan 48 hours Saturday at 109 Central on CBS

“48 Hours" reports on cases with shocking revelations about potential reasons for murder. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "The Online Life & Death of Bianca Devins," "Home Renovation Homicide" and "Death by Text."

00:00 The Online Life & Death of Bianca Devins 41:29 Home Renovation Homicide 1:21:44 Death by Text

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Bianca Devins was murdered by Brandon Clark, who posted her death online, leading to a tragic investigation and trial.

Key points

The Police Are Called. As rumors spread, police were alerted to a possible murder involving Bianca.
The Disturbing Video. Investigators discover a video made by Brandon of him killing Bianca, revealing the horror of the crime.
Justice for Bianca. Prosecutors aim to ensure Brandon Clark can never hurt anyone again. "We need Justice for Bianca."
Clark's Guilty Plea. Brandon Clark pleads guilty to Bianca's murder, sparking mixed emotions in her family. "I know that Sorry's not enough."
Bianca's Legacy. Her family establishes a scholarship in her name to help adolescents with mental health struggles. "I want Bianca to be remembered for her smile."
Detectives Doubt Dave's Story. Detectives question how Shanti's injuries align with Dave's explanation of her death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's not her, it can't be. It's not my baby.

A mother’s desperate denial upon hearing news about her daughter.

3:26WatchMar 15, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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