The Murder Of Elizabeth Riser & The Attempted Murder Of Brandi Hicks | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Elena I'm Ash and this is morbid [Music] this is morbid we are here I'm here in my comfy chair
right now yeah we're in comfy chairs we don't have squeaky chairs anymore I know
it takes us a long time to figure these things out and to remedy them but we get
there eventually we are who we are and that's all we are it's true Popeye you know I am who I am uh guys
did you I'm not gonna talk about it because Ash hasn't seen it yet have you seen the finale of succession no please
let me know I have four left I have a lot of feelings about it and I need to talk to someone I have four left and I I
like want to get through them because I'm excited but then I don't want to get through them because then it's over you
do want to get through them no I do I want to get through them you're gonna get through them you're gonna I feel it
you're gonna make it gonna make it gonna make it through but yeah we're um this is a succession household over
here oh hell yeah so everybody let's talk about it because I need to try talk to somebody John and I are just like
want to talk to everyone about it but no one's seen it did you talk today about it did you text them separately I
haven't yet but I'm going to I figured I'm going to break the seal um but yeah so that's that's where I am and then
tomorrow night is the uh yeah this weekend GPR uh I ran home for a little bit while you were doing your thing yeah
our rotten hail was delivered oh Ash got us some uniforms to wear rotten hail sweatshirts for the Vanderpump Rules
reunion part two part new um and then I ordered John and Drew number one guy in the group because
they're tied obviously but those didn't come yet maybe they'll come in time I think they're going to I feel it and
then what oh I I watched the summer house finale last night really [ __ ] good oh there you go Paige forever just
giving you a little update on our lives the Celtics lost game seven last night um about that Sports heads John and I
were very sad yeah it was a pretty rough one we were yeah it was a really sad moment I I just want everybody to feel
that with me I'm sorry they didn't show up so they really didn't sometimes you can't they really didn't I thought we
were good you can't sometimes you don't you know what maybe we just weren't specific in our manifesting when uh when
because you know like the whole thing going into game seven for the Celtics was like we're gonna make history and
it's like maybe we should have been a little more detailed with that because I feel like that was a historically awful
game oh no so like maybe we did make history as like blowing it in the worst way possible so like you know next time
we'll get them because we'll be a little more a little more specific with our Manifesto yeah yeah it was a rough one
it hurt I love the Celtics so this was really sad but here we are here we are today I was like how many playoffs until
the five yeah Ash was like are we in the is this the championship I did not understand I am gay she said go sports I
said drag race is on on Friday so yeah there's that that's the update on our lives and I'm about to tell you a really
[ __ ] terrible story and I think I was just stalling before telling you it because it's really sad oh good mind
this week is also very terrible so fantastic oh good okay so this one is one that I had not heard of which is
incredible yeah it usually doesn't happen this story is so awful that I was like why was this not more highly
publicized okay you need to shut your mouth right now because she was the same had that no not only is it the same I
had that conversation with Dave and typed out why is this not more uh highly publicized wow look at us weird that's
weird we've been on the same case wavelengths the last couple yes which is very odd yes very strange
um and you know what I moved out of my comfort zone I'm in 2000 today she said I've been to the year 2000 and it's
[ __ ] terrible so um we were there mama will be moving back out to the to the old times after this but you know I
came I came here for all of you pause for the collective groan there you go exactly so I'm going to be talking today
about the brutal murder of Liz Riser and the attempted murder of Brandy Hicks oh
[ __ ] this is it's it's awful it's okay so in the early morning hours of May 24th 2000 that that's the other reason
why I'm shocked I've never heard of it it's like it was in an error when I feel like I would have heard it happen
um but on May 24th 2000 the Riser family was roused out of dead sleep in the absolute worst way
twelve-year-old Jordan Riser was the one who heard the knock at the door it was 4
AM and his bedroom was happened to be closest to the door so he was the only one who heard it
no one is expecting to hear anyone want to be let in to your house at 4am no and
if they are they're not coming in they're not coming in but he peeled himself from his bed and he opened it
and he was stunned because standing in front of him was a uniformed police officer oh no at 4am that's not a good
thing no he couldn't even formulate a sentence he was just like staring at this officer for a minute being like I'm
12. and the officer asked something about Jordan's 17 year old sister Liz who hadn't come home that night and
Jordan was like uh I'm confused I don't understand what you even want so he kind
of muttered something to the officer and was like I'll just get my parents like hold on yeah but his parents Becky Riser
and her husband Jeff Riser were obviously very much asleep at 4am and so Jordan walks into their room and is like
hey a police officer is at the door and wants to speak to you which has to be like in the in the grand scale of things
that you don't want your child to walk into your room in the middle of the night and tell you it goes that and then
way down as I threw up yeah like that's that that is I can't fathom my child walking into my room and saying there is
a police officer at the door no at 4 00 am and when you have a child who is not in the house that night nope nope the
worst nightmare that you could ever fathom so Becky Reiser said he says this is what Jordan had uh said to his mother
this is Becky Riser yep she said later that he he had said to her he says that Brandy was in the river and Liz is
missing what so Brandy is Liz's best friend who she was with that night okay so he comes in there and he goes
Brandy's in the river and Liz is missing Jesus Christ at first none of this registered again middle of the night
what the [ __ ] but all of a sudden the words hit and she came tearing out of bed launched herself down the stairs and
out the front door to the front porch to find a police officer standing on the front porch so she was like because At
first she must have thought like Am I Dreaming yeah she's sleepwalking is he having a nightmare what's going on here
and then she walks out there no no lo and behold so the officer introduced himself as officer Gentry of the Dover
Police this took place in Ohio oh my God weird is yours in Ohio yes what the [ __ ] weird
what that's really weird that we're doing that we're not like communicating about cases we never do that that's
really weird but officer Gentry asked whether the couple's daughter Liz had been home that night and Becky said no
she's staying at her friend Brandy's house for the night oh no and the officer said okay well we checked at
Brandy's house and Liz isn't there but that's the only explanation that they got at first so like nothing to
tell her hey why are you looking for her yeah like he was just like which I can't
say this is like the officer's fault because you'll find out he also didn't have a lot of information he was just
kind of sent there to wish they had sent check somebody with information well that's what I mean it was more the
person who gave him the information like the lack of information yeah but like so
this woman is just hearing hey is your daughter home no she's at her friend's house for the night okay well we went
there and she's not there and at this point he didn't even say anything to her about Brandy being in the river well and
you're like okay why are you looking for her what do you mean she's not there what are you talking about but he was
like it's just really important that you he's like are you sure she's not she didn't come home and she's like well
like I guess she could have like while we were sleeping it's like let me check and so he was like I really need you to
go check and see if she's home oh my God and she's like okay so she's confused and now she's panicked so she goes and
she she's hoping Beyond hope that she's gonna find Liz in her bed and no she didn't find her
so she goes back to the porch and at that point her husband Jeff Liz's dad was down there too talking to the police
officer and when she said no Liz isn't in her room they both looked very concerned and this is when the first
small amount of really awful truth came to light oh no officer Gentry explained that Liz's best friend Brandi Hicks had
been had been walking down the road and had flagged down an officer off duty hours earlier and she had been taken to
Union Hospital that's the information they got was that they found out Randy hours ago walking
down the road in the middle of the night and had she had flagged down someone and
was brought to the hospital this is like the beginning of an absolutely horrific
movie that's it's like you're trying to pee as a parent I can't even fathom this
like put these poor people no like Becky and Jeff were probably like what the [ __ ] is going on what do you mean so
officer Gentry unfortunately didn't have a lot of information but Brandy had told
them when she was picked up that she had actually been in the Tuscarawas I believe that's how you say it River she
was soaking wet she was freezing oh my God and she was hurt but she was alive Liz however was not with her and all
Brandy could tell the police was that she was missing and she didn't know where she was okay so
that's all the risers were able to get in that moment oh my God and officer Gentry you know said thank you for your
help gave them his card said I'm gonna be in touch with you you call us if she shows up they're just stunned of course
and probably like nauseous and Confused panicking yeah and Becky and Jeff just like were like okay and just like
watched him leave and now we just sit here and try to figure out what any of that meant and what is about to happen
for the rest of the day and I guess Becky later said she was like in retrospect I was like why didn't I press
him for more information but like why would you I don't I don't know how I would read like that's a weird situation
I feel for them a lot like that is what do you do with that you're like you're 17 year old you know like I don't that's
a very stunning thing and she said the last thing in my mind was that Liz would have acted out in some way that would
have caused trouble because like when the police come you think something is wrong that way
um Liz Reiser and her entire family were very devoutly religious okay so she was
basically the last person that Becky or anyone else was gonna picture getting into trouble with the police or doing
something that would have caused an issue um and of course hearing all this after
being shot out of bed at 4am by a police officer at your door again so jarring and confusing mixed with the idea that
you're like she couldn't have done anything like she's a good kid I don't know what this is I really don't blame
her for not having questions ready no um but this was actually the first time that Becky had allowed her daughter to
stay day overnight at a friend's house on a school night oh my God and it's like but I think Brandy lived with
roommates so like this was kind of a big thing that she was allowing her to do this yeah and
she knew Liz was a really smart a really good girl but she was like something like she said like her mother's
intuition told her like okay like it's this isn't like an ax like something bad happened here like something really bad
and like she said immediately she was like something really bad happened here but she said At first she was hoping
that and she was like of course I'm hoping she got into trouble like she did something bad like I would I was hoping
that was the feeling and that like we could deal with that as a family I just was not hoping that something had
happened to her no I was honestly hoping that she had done something but I guess
they they they said they got together they immediately prayed together that was how they were able to cope with this
and she said she was fighting off all those feelings feelings that maybe something really really bad had happened
she said by she was like you know what I'm just gonna rehearse the lecture that I'm gonna give her as soon as she gets
home like I'm gonna I'm gonna picture exactly what I'm gonna say to her about whatever she has done wrong she probably
needed to do that to put our mind somewhere else and 100 to like self-preserve and be like she's still
here because you're just sitting there going she's in trouble you know what I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind when
she walks in the store because she's going to that's the I don't blame her at all like that is and it breaks my heart
that that's the only way that she could cope with this because she had nothing to go on no I can't fathom and you can't
let your mind go there before no of course not for sure a hundred percent your mind can be there so you're just
saying she's gonna walk in this door and she's gonna be grounded because she got
into trouble I know it yep but she was just assuming and hoping this and I don't blame her at all but then hours
were going by and she wasn't hearing anything and she's not getting any more answers and Liz is not walking in that
door and Becky was starting to worry okay I don't think she got into trouble I think trouble found her so officer
Gentry like we said may have seen like a little cagey with that but that's only because he honestly didn't have the
details of what was happening around 1 30 a.m that night so a couple of hours earlier that was
when an auxiliary police officer was on his way home he was off duty and he spotted someone walking down the side of
the road and of course that's already at least cause for further inspection because
this is at 1 30 in the morning and yeah and he said that this person looked a little unsteady on their feet so she so
this officer was like I think this is like a drunk person trying to walk home yeah and they're gonna get hurt maybe or
worse so he got a little closer and was just trying to inspect to see if he could like help or anything and then he
realized this is not a drunk man or like an adult this is a teenage girl oh [ __ ]
oh it's Brandy and he said as he passed by her she started frantically waving him down like looked and she looked like
she was injured upset she and so he pulls off on the side of the road and he and so she comes closer to the car and
she was again unsteady on her feet she's soaking wet from head to toe no shoes or
socks on and she was bawling her eyes out crying hysterically it and the officer is like what the hell is going
on and he was like she's obviously been in water yeah and he she he was able to get that out of her that I've been in
the river and that she was hurt but he said she was far more concerned about her friend oh and she was saying like I
don't know where she is we have to find her like something bad happened to her and according to the officer she wasn't
making a ton of sense and he couldn't understand a lot of it she was like really upset hysterical as we'll find
out very traumatized and was dealing with the aftermath of a [ __ ] terrible thing oh no so regardless of what was
going on he just knew she needed a lot of help so he was like you can come in my car I'm gonna drive you to the police
department she later said that this police officer was like her hero because she was like he listened to me he
comforted me when he brought me to the police station remember he's an auxiliary police officer and he's off
duty right now yeah brought her to the police station and he's she said he stayed with her like would not leave her
didn't just drop her off and say like okay I'm off here see you later he sat there with her like would not well yeah
one of the good ones so on the drive he tried to find out more of what was happening like tried to
calm her down a little bit but all she could say was that her name was Brandy Hicks and her friend Liz rizer was
missing but he didn't need the whole story to know that something violent had clearly happened to her because one of
her eyes was completely bloodshot oh my god there was a big wound near her mouth
like she had been struck in the face really hard oh God and she had deep red marks around her throat as though she
had been strangled by something like a ligature oh now when they arrived at the station the dispatcher said they had
actually just received a call about a girl wandering along the side of the road near the Tuscarawas River and a
bunch of cars had actually been sent out to look for her so they were glad that he had picked her up because calls were
starting to flood in people had seen her now Brandy was taken into Captain Robert
Everett's office and she was given blankets they tried to warm her up like make her comfortable
um because again she's like soaking wet in May in Ohio in the middle of the night
so it took some time for her to calm down and be able to even begin to tell the story but she was able to explain
that someone had taken her to the railroad trestle over the Tuscarawas River and had attempted to rape her then
he had tried to strangle her with a shoelace she had lost Consciousness a couple of times
the man thought he had killed her because he then pushed her body over the railroad Trestle but her foot got caught
on the railroad tracks and she dangled upside down from the bridge for a few seconds before he kicked her off where
she fell 30 feet into the water below oh my God she explained that she had felt fallen down near a log Jam in the water
like a big like area with a bunch of like debris yeah and so she had clung to the logs and pretended to be dead like
tried not to breathe didn't move and was hoping that her attacker would just leave yeah but he stood above her
on the bridge for a time she was like a long time smoked some cigarettes kicked stones into the water at her and just
like like casually at the water and then finally walked off and she waited even longer before she was able to get
herself out of the water and up to the road and that's where she had flagged down the police officer she must have
been terrified wondering like has he been watching me this entire time from like a further away like his year-round
and just waiting is he gonna pick me up right immediately everyone was like what the
[ __ ] are you kidding me and they were like who is this man like what happened how did we get here right like did she
know him like what are you talking about and so Brandy's calming down more she's
starting to explain more of the story to Captain Everett and she said she and her
best friend Liz had made plans for a sleepover that night at her house so around 9 30 p.m they went to a Hollywood
Video oh my God I worked at a Hollywood Video love Hollywood Video um so it was a Hollywood Video at the
New Town Mall in New Philadelphia and they were gonna rent some movies they had a whole night planned it sounds like
a chill like regular sleepover with your friend like having a blast so they're walking back to the car and they said
this man in his mid to late 20s came up to them and said I'm so sorry I'm trying
to get a ride home to the south side of town and he said if gas is an issue because they were
like uh at first like and like honestly if he approached me like you once um his
name is uh Matthew Vaca vodka and uh if he approached me I would also have been um very hesitant to allow that man near
me but he they were so they were like uh and trying to think of like a polite way
to say no which by the way that is very like admirable that they felt like they had to be polite you do not need to be
polite don't worry about it yeah but he was like if gas is an issue I can give you 20 bucks for gas if you'll just
drive me there and he was like really ask acting desperate and he even mentioned that he wanted to get home to
his wife and kiss his kids good night oh he did have a wife and kids are you serious by the way
so the girls talked it over and they ended up agreeing because they were like this is the right thing to do like we're
supposed to help people like that's what we've been taught our whole life so remember Liz is very religious she comes
from a religious family yeah she was taught you help your fellow man right of course um and so they got into the car
and they said sure we'll drive you home and Brandy was driving Liz was in the passenger seat and this man who said his
name was Mark went into the back seat liar now they had only been driving for a few minutes and suddenly Mark was like
hey can you stop by this nearby bridge and he said he had stashed something in a plastic bag there and he wanted to
pick it up and he was like it was just really heavy and I was hoping I could just pick it up on my way home
so she's like Brandy's like this is a little weird but she's like okay whatever so she stops and she's like
okay go get your bag and it turned out he was like it's a six-pack of beer I just didn't want to carry it with me so
once he was back in the car he was like Hey we're only like a mile away from my house so they were like great yeah like
cool so they drive about a mile and Brandy's like how much further and he's like oh only like a mile or so and she's
like we just drove a mile and he's like oh yeah it's close so but now he's made them stop for this
weird bag mystery bag which at the time they didn't know it was beer okay and then he's all of a sudden giving these
weird directions and saying it's a mile more and a mile more and a mile more so finally after a while after like
obliging him through all of this Brandy stopped the car and was like I'm so sorry we have to get home I'm gonna drop
you off here I hope you're close to your house but like you need to walk the rest
of the way yeah which like good for her you keep saying it's a mile so it shouldn't be too far exactly now this is
when he pulled out a gun oh and he said you're gonna keep driving so I want to know what his original plan
was here and no one will ever know because as we'll find out he doesn't give a reason for this huh like I don't
know what his plan was here like did he think they would just continue driving forever do you think he was trying to
get them somewhere more remote that's the thing you would think that but they were like just driving in random
directions no it was just like driving in normal places that's weird like was he always
planning to pull out a gun at some point at this point at another Point yeah yeah
like it's a strange and Reckless series of events that he takes now this is when the man named quote
unquote Mark took over navigation and directed Brandy now to a remote location he made the Brandy drive to a field off
of Harmon Hill Road in Auburn Township um later Brandi told Captain Everett that she thought the man was definitely
familiar with the area he was not somebody who was just blown through because she said when they reached where
the field was he said slow down there's bumps in this road so she was like you've been here before
so like you know your way around here and they finally go they get to this opening of this field which is
terrifying and she said that there was clearly like beer cans around trash around like it was very clearly like a
party spot and that this man knew where this was like he had obviously been here
and so he tells Brandy stop the car and then he demands that she and Liz remove their shoelaces
then he uses the shoelaces to bind Brandy's hands to the steering wheel and uses the other shoelaces to tie Liz's
hands behind her back oh no so Brandy is now stuck bound to the steering wheel and Mark takes Liz with him down the
path towards the field Brandi said she just had to watch helplessly and like cry as like she
wasn't even disappear with her bound with her hands behind her back and Brandi didn't know it at the time
what was gonna happen but she later found out the details and she had to face them like as we're gonna see head
on because what happened was once they had reached a little clearing in the fields Mark which is Matthew but they
knew him as Mark at this point sure forced Liz to kneel on the ground which she did he smoked a cigarette and said
he can later said he just considered what to do okay and he thought you know what maybe
I should let just let her go and tell her to just like start walking back to New Philadelphia but he was like it was
too late like she had already seen me no it's no it's never too late no so instead he after contemplating this for
a couple minutes he pulled out a curved linoleum cutting knife from his pocket and slashed Liz's throat three times
what the [ __ ] this the um injuries were 10 inch long and inches long and two and
a half inches deep oh my God he severed her trachea I was gonna say that takes incredible like pressure and strength he
wasn't done after cutting her throat he stabbed Liz in the neck the back and then stabbed her five times in the head
and then just walked away from her and he had never done anything like this before not that we know of what so he
goes back to the car after doing this okay and Brandi said he she just saw him return without Liz and the first thing
she did was say where's Liz and he wouldn't answer so he grabs he unties Brandy and bleeds
her to the place where he just killed Liz no literally brought her to force her to look at what he had just done to
her best friend and he said I killed your friend oh my God like just and she said he just
with no emotion like literally no nothing to his voice I killed your friend oh my God now foreign
unfortunately it was so dark that Brandy said she couldn't see exactly like she couldn't see the tremendous amount is
what it was described as blood that had soaked everything around Liz and her and
she could but she could definitely tell she could see her if she could see that something had happened she wasn't moving
and she was on the ground so after forcing her to look at the brutalized body of her best [ __ ] friend Mark
then directs Brandy back to the car where he forced her to get in the passenger seat he drove
he demanded that she remove her socks and shoes now he then placed the socks over his own
hands before touching anything in the car because he didn't want his fingerprints
on the steering wheel and I'm like you were in the back seat yeah like you've already been in this car like why her
handprints are here sir yup but then he leaves the he pulls the car away leaving
Liz's body there alone he then drove them to a parking lot next to the East Ohio gas company he parked the car and
he forced Brandy to walk with him along the railroad tracks towards Dover she must have just been absolutely terrified
I my brain can't even understand she must have been such a minimal detail but she's walking barefoot now along these
tracks oh yeah because this is terrifying and also like you said as they're walking the tracks
Brandi told him like my feet hurt this hurts my feet so at one point he removed his shoes and
gave them to her what and so she's like okay it always weirds me out when they when they do something kind of comfort
thing not like kind but like Comfort things but then moments later he was like give me those back and she was like
okay and then he gave her his socks and was like wear these no thank you I'd be like no thank you then he also demanded
that she carry the plastic bag that they had stopped for with the six-pack in it
so she had to carry his six pack of beer in a plastic bag wearing his socks walking down a railroad track the most
bizarre situation truly nightmarish and through the whole thing she said he kept
his baseball cap really low like trying to obscure his face but he's already seen it exactly and he talked very
normally to her like casually even like got to know her yeah was asking her if she was going to college
and she was like and she had said like no I don't think I'm going to college I think I'm gonna go to work like she
already had and he was like he was like annoyed and like put off by that like you had this weird conversation with her
it's so weird and he it's like he had just brutally murdered her best friend yeah and then showed her her best
friend's brutalized body he said I killed her and now he's sitting here having like a weird like hey are you
going to college conversation with her it's like what the [ __ ] is wrong with you so after walking for a little while
they reached this abandoned train car it's gonna get really rough here I'd just like to let you know there is a
trigger warning for sexual assault and rape okay um he instructed Brandy to get inside
and then he made her give over her three rings that she was wearing okay so she did and then he made her strip out of
all of her clothing and then he began sexually assaulting her um he was unsuccessful
on his end trying to rape her so he demanded that she perform oral sex on him however he was also unable to do
that so he told Brandy to put her clothes back on and continue walking down the railroad track so that just
happened to her an abandoned train car and then she just after she just saw her best friend's dead body
and now he's like walk like unfathomable this woman unfathomable I wouldn't even be able to
stand up truly so after this whole thing happens they reach the railroad trestle
over the Tuscarawas River and the man then instructs Brandy mark As We Know Him instructs Brandy to get
on her knees and face out towards the water so on the edge of the trestle so she does this because she doesn't
know what else to do at this point and Mark pulls Brandy pulled Brandy shoelace from his pocket put it around her neck
and started choking her and he did it until she's on her knees on The Trestle and she lost Consciousness briefly
so he hadn't taken into account how hard it was to manually strangle a person to
death so he tried so she wakes up from unconsciousness he's still trying to choke her then he gets frustrated and
tries three different times to snap her neck oh my God oh my God oh my God I oh my God this woman what she has been
through in this short period of time he tried to snap her neck three times wrangled her to unconsciousness and then
tried to snap her neck three seconds holding her head trying to snap her neck oh my God and she's just sitting there
helplessly as he does this and hoping that the next time and the next time and the next time isn't it
oh my gosh so again he isn't able to successfully do that so he begins strangling her again with the shoelace
she lost Consciousness again Brandy to be clear he raped her in a train car and then made her kneel over a railroad
Trestle where he tried to strangle her so brutally she lost Consciousness twice and he also tried three separate times
to snap her [ __ ] neck and this is all after killing her best friend killed her
best friend and showing her the body and this is because they were kind enough to give this [ __ ] swamp
creature a ride right well in the weirdest I mean not the weirdest but one of the weird things here too is he's got
a gun and a knife and he's not now he just isn't using well what we find out later was that he so brutally stabbed
Liz that he snapped the blade of the knife off oh my God and what about the gun the gun that's the thing that I'm
not I've heard two different stories about this so I don't know which one it is if he just said he had a gun or if he
showed them a gun and perhaps maybe it wasn't loaded or perhaps not that's the thing so I'm not positive because I've
seen it both ways but either way he did have a knife on him he did use that knife and he broke it that's how brutal
it was wow now after the second time of strangling her into unconsciousness with
her own shoelace she came too but she came too without him realizing it and just in time to see him hovering
over her to determine if she was alive or not so she was quick enough after all she's [ __ ] been through to play dead
to realize this and smartly she held her breath to appear as though she wasn't breathing like thought to do and
meanwhile all her body at that point wants to do I'm sure is take a [ __ ] breath exactly
she managed to continue holding her breath even as he was slapping her on the back to try to force air out of her
lungs oh my God like it was literally trying to force her to breathe and she was holding her breath wow so because of
her quick thinking he was like oh she's dead so Mark picked Brandy up and threw her
from the train trestle this is when her foot got caught in the tracks and she hung by her foot over the water
it truly is and she fell 30 feet below to the water and she's like you shouldn't even die that way just like
exactly so she's floating in the water and like we said before she played Dead trying to
keep this repulsive [ __ ] from realizing that she's alive and from her position
in the water she said she could see him through the slats of The Trestle and he was just walking back and forth
smoking she was talking to himself kicking rocks at her into the river after like like a long time like about almost
an hour mark finally started to walk away I had to play dead for an hour so Brandy
waited a few more minutes because she was so worried he was gonna come back and then she made her way to the
riverbank and she tried she said several times to pull herself out of the water and couldn't do it at first like she had
nothing she must have been so weak at that point eventually she was able to flop herself onto land and get to the
road and that's when she passed down the auxiliary police officer who drove her to the police station yeah what's Wild
is some of the officers on duty doubted her story [ __ ] them one officer told the
ambulance driver when he showed up I think she might be making this whole story up she says she doesn't know this
guy but I think she does she must have you never heard of a random crime occurring like what the [ __ ] makes that
up and like that's when she tied a ligature around her own throat like that's I'm
like what are you talking and she punched herself in the face and broke skin like go [ __ ] yourself well luckily
Captain Everett who she was talking to very much believed what she had to say can you imagine if he didn't and she
could you imagine all of that yeah for nothing wow shame on that office yeah and Captain Everett was like I really
didn't want to believe her like I didn't want to believe that any of that had happened but I did and he said he had
actually known the Riser family for years and so he said Liz had been friends with his daughter oh God and so
Brandi had told him that she thought Liz was dead but she couldn't be sure and so
he was like we gotta go out there and see and he was like I really didn't want to do this but like obviously we have to
but he was like I was hoping she was mistaken so the area that Brandy described like where Liz was It was kind
of vague because trauma and it's also I mean it's a feel pitch black trauma stress Terror yeah so local police
actually got the help of the Ohio State Police to search for Liz once they were all together Captain Everett explained
to all of them all the search and rescue officers and everyone that was there that everything that Brandy had told
them and they used a big map and then they just broke it off into several little bits for everyone to look at and
it was just after 4 a.m when Ohio State Sergeant Ryan Sergeant Ryan and Trooper Richmond actually made their way down
Harmon Hill Road so this was just after 4 a.m 4 a.m is when one officer had gone
officer Gentry had gone to the risers home to look for Liz right about four miles away from where they started the
search the officers Came Upon a dirt Service Road and they said it looked like it had been driven down recently
and they said it kind of resembled what Brandi had described so armed with only flashlights they went down the tracks a
little way and they immediately started noticing that there was a lot of potholes and
divots in the road this was part of Brandy's story that he had said that so the troopers were like uh they didn't
see anything at first so they were like okay let's just leave this is maybe this
isn't it but then as they were shining the flashlight around they caught something quickly in the beam and they
said at first they thought it was just a pile of something but when they got closer they realized that it was a young
teenage girl's body it was clear to both of them very quickly that she was dead but they did
check her for Vital Signs obviously but what they said her eyes were fixed and dilated her mouth was open it was clear
she was gone they saw several very severe cuts to her neck immediately and officers also noted
several deep scratches on her back one long cut down her spine what and they photographed the scene and they called
for additional officers and an ambulance who arrived a short time later and she was taken to the coroner's
office meanwhile Becky and Jeff Reiser were getting more and more anxious at home they're getting more and more
restless so they left their home around 6 a.m because it's been two hours yeah they heard this and they went to the
hospital hoping that maybe they would find Liz in the hospital or at the very least find Brandy to try to get what
happened here apparently nurses were like a little ill prepared for their arrival because they
just kind of showed up so they just LED them into the waiting room where Brandy's family members were waiting oh
God and no one said anything for a while I guess in there but then they said Jeff
Riser just blurted out I know Liz is dead and then he said God told me she was I
believe this is a war it's a war against our beliefs and what we stand for and everyone in the room just like
didn't know what to do but they said he was just like he was just going it's a war it's a war like he was just I think
he was just like yeah completely out of touch at that point because he was just like this is his child yeah and for him
and I I very much think that like parents have an intuition when it comes to their children and you know that he
just knew like he knew something bad had happened and that's all that was where he was thinking of it now uh they they
also they were probably taking some Context Clues here everyone's very somber quiet
there's a heavy police presence no information is being shared I mean like intuition was definitely a thing here
unfortunately he was going to find out that he was very correct only a few minutes later because the detective from
the Dover Police Station confirmed that they had found a body matching loses description and then they told them what
clothing she was wearing and it matched the clothing that she was wearing that night absolutely terrible Becky Riser
her mother gave the detective a recent picture of Liz and he confirmed yes this looks a lot like the girl that we found
oh no the risers apparently took you know the time to answer some questions that they had and then they returned
home and because it was all confirmed yeah and they had to break the news to their other children that their sister
was dead oh my God it had been brutally murdered now despite what had seemed at the time
and what still seems when you look at it as a very chaotic very impulsive random
by a very disorganized killer there really wasn't any evidence left so it's like that it was disorganized in a way
but it was also organized and so there was very little evidence to work with here Brandi tried really hard to give a
good description of the killer but the trauma and his attempts to like obscure his face with his cap yup she had a
description but it was kind of vague name yeah and she's saying Mark that wasn't even his name what about the car
uh that the car was their car but like any any hell like did they didn't find anything I think they didn't
find anything but Tuscarawas County Sheriff Harold mckimmy told reporters we think it's somebody from this area this
guy knew where he was going when he went to Auburn Township so immediately they were like we know it's a local
but while police were searching the hayfields where Liz's body was found um a technician from the Stark County
coroner's office began the autopsy on lizarizer the cause of death was a 10-inch quote incised wound of the left
posterior of the posterior left neck that extends from the left lower neck to the right posterior neck causing almost
complete transection of the trachea and right sternomastoid muscle that is a very intense cut like nearly
decapitation right so that's like and the corner also recorded an eight inch incised wound midline on the upper
back and abrasions in the shape of an X at the base of the neck and upper back measuring seven inches by four and three
quarters inches what was that yeah he was very brutal I think because that wasn't it they also
recorded a partial transection of the right thyroid in your neck uh five stab wounds to the
top of the scalp and several scrapes and cuts I just stabbed her in the top of the
head yes what the [ __ ] is this guy doing and the technician found no evidence of
defensive wounds because remember and he had slit her wrists first too I mean her neck first now the news went
out to New Philadelphia and Dover that morning and it was sheer Panic everyone was like what the [ __ ] is going on here
who is this and this is she's a teenager yeah so her peers were informed at high
school oh God and grief counseling was offered immediately well that's right because it was the first time she had
gone for a sleepover on a school night oh my God one counselor of grief counselor at the school said some of the
students are okay but others have had a tougher time of it our whole Community has been rocked there's a lot of fear
the biggest thing we're trying to do is reassure them they want to feel safe again yeah because they don't know what
the [ __ ] happened here and was she taken out of her room what the hell happened
right so one student told reporters for the Akron Beacon Journal people keep saying everything happens for a reason I
don't think anyone can give me a reason why a church going loving a courage going loving girl needed to be cut to
Pieces no I don't think anybody I think of any reason for anybody to be cut to Pieces Church going or not I hope nobody
can but yeah like she seemed like a very sweet kind smart charismatic yeah good just decent human like you know what I
mean like all around just like one of the good ones you know life ahead of her and she was so sweet looking you look at
her you're just like [ __ ] she's like I want to know Liz you know like Liz seemed like such a sweetheart no she
looks like somebody that like would come and sit with you if you were sitting alone it does she just seems like that
person that would like give you that hug that you need when you're upset like even if you don't like hugs like Liz
would give you that I just get that back I got you yeah you know she's so sweet looking fortunately the
unknown wouldn't linger for very long people wouldn't have to ask questions for very long because very soon after
all of this A call came into the Dover Police Department and it was from a woman named Sheila Davis and she said
she needed to report a murder according to Sheila Davis she had received a call from her son's
brother-in-law Jeff mullinix okay this guy Jeff Mullenix her son's brother-in-law had told her that her son
27 year old Matthew Vaca had been involved in a terrible crime and mullinix thought they needed to speak to
police okay so Sheila Davis is Matthew vaca's mother thank you but the person who had
told her this was her son-in-law okay essentially so basically he told his brother-in-law yeah exactly
so police immediately got in touch with Jeff malinix who had a story to tell according to mullinix he said he had
been at home asleep in the early morning hours of May 24th and he said he shared
that house with his sister and her husband Matthew Vaca they also had three children
him and his wife so he really did have children he really did have children three of them three children
what and he said yeah this was in the early morning hours remember and he was awoken by vodka who said get dressed
you're going with me and he said he said it was weird but he said also like we would go out driving
aimlessly a lot and like smoke pot together listen to music like he was a weird guy sure so like we just and every
once in a while we would just like wake up and he'd wake me up in the middle of the night we'd Drive okay to each their
own I love going for drives but if anybody woke me up but after they'd been driving for a
little while around Jeff was like where are we going Matthew like what do we do like what's the plan here like what are
we doing and he said nothing and he was like and it was very silent and it was weird we weren't talking and he goes and
then out of nowhere he just says I killed the girl what the [ __ ] and Jeff was like [ __ ] you no you didn't like he
was like I didn't believe him don't say that to me but then he said okay let me bring you to the field no thank you no
he brought him to the field and showed him Liz's body holy [ __ ] yep he just wakes this guy
this guy has nothing to do with it and he just wakes him up in the middle of the night and oh my God and then it gets
even worse because he says he actually needed his help no and he said that he in order he said he had to find the
blade of the linoleum knife that had snapped off during the attack no yep now it was really dark and vodka
wasn't able to find the blade even with Jeff's help so they both drove to a truck stop that
was open all night and they were gonna buy flashlights why which I'm like Jeff what the [ __ ]
are you doing yeah when they went inside though Matthew was like oh [ __ ] his wife's aunt was working at the truck
stop okay and he was like she's gonna be like what the [ __ ] are you doing well
she's gonna see the my his clothes were covered in blood oh yeah of course yep so they left the truck stop and instead
went to a 24-hour Walmart and vodka removed his jeans that were covered in Liz's blood and wore a pair of shorts
into Walmart where he purchased the flashlight he also purchased a ceramic coffee mug
and a lighter shaped like a gun and he did this because those two have a little weight to them and as we'll see he was
going to use them for something now they went with their flashlights and they found the knife blade back at Liz's
body and vodka put it into the Walmart bag and they put his bloody jeans in there as well the coffee mug and the
lighter which was very heavy and they threw the entire bag into the river that they bought those things so it would
sink yeah you would think now based on what Jeff mullinix had just told them that entire story it was
pretty clear that the man that Brandy knew as Mark was actually Matthew vodka also like hey Jeff there's this number
it's called um 9-1-1 the authorities are there you can reach them yeah what the [ __ ] are you doing calling his mom
exactly call the [ __ ] police you [ __ ] I'm saying now just before 5 a.m on May 25th the
car and so this all happened within like you know the day of it happening it was
very quick right um and this was on May 25th the um Sheriff's Office issued a warrant for
vodka's arrest and a bunch of plain clothed and uniform sheriff's deputies tracked Baca to a nearby lake Park and
they arrested him without incident as soon as he came out of the park to the parking lot no incident this
[ __ ] is just at a park the other day after he murders two girls or thinks he's murdered two girls yeah because
remember he thinks he's murdered both of them yeah now when the news came out about what
had actually happened the residents of Dover were like what the [ __ ] and they were like this has to be an outsider
he's got to be some hitchhiker that just came through this town and like you know
he he must have moved on after this like that's wild but no when they heard it was Matthew Vaca everybody in the
community was like oh [ __ ] we know who that is he was a husband again a father of three
he'd grown up in the area he knew a lot of the people in the area also at the time of the murder he was
actually known by the Dover Police not just for being like a good citizen he had convictions for drunk driving and
driving on a suspended license in 95 and 96. in November 96 he actually pleaded guilty to 15 counts of felony forgery
damn and for that he ended up serving a one-year sentence at the Stark Regional Community Corrections Center and after
that he went on probation and he was on probation since 1998 at this point and he was a couple years he was still on
probation when he did that so he'll get a violation he loves it now luckily his arrest on May 25th like you said was a
pretty obvious violation of probation so they had due cause to detain him well they investigated further fantastic now
the news of the arrest made vaca's neighbors lose their minds because you want to move out of my house most of
them a lot of them knew Liz Riser too like this was a community each other so one of his neighbors Mark Hines was
stunned by this he said there was never any noise or fighting no problems with the little kids his wife was real pretty
I don't know why he would have done anything like that to those girls but you never know what people are up to
like why did we have to throw in that his wife was pretty they're just like he's a pretty wife like I think it was
just like he has a pretty wife he's got three girls you're like what's he doing I don't I'm in for him to say like
there's never a problem with the kids like I don't hear people yelling that's not like it's not an outwardly abusive
situation yeah like you would think they'd be like oh like that's a pretty [ __ ] up house you know like no well
and especially with all the drunk driving charges and all that kind of stuff too yeah and for him to say like
but you never know what people are up to I'm like true words never [ __ ] sure no that's why I mind my [ __ ] business
because you don't [ __ ] know you don't know people mind my business until I have a reason not to yeah exactly now
wildly vodka himself also seemed shocked by his own actions to he never resisted he quickly
confessed to the entire thing what and detective Walt Wilson told reporters he said he didn't know the young women and
they didn't know him the original motive he said was robbery and it just went bad
from there but no that's not true at all yeah he actually later said and they'd bring this up later he fluctuates
between he has no idea why he did it and then at one point he said he just wanted
to know what it would feel like to kill another human being I think it's that yeah I think he's [ __ ] in the head and
yes that's the problem and in his statement to police Vaca said he planned to Rob them but he didn't know what led
him to kill Liz riser in that hay Fields he was like I don't know why I did that
I just wanted to Rob them that's even more maddening it is it's oh it's so maddening and no you didn't just want to
Dr to Rob them you made them drive for miles and miles exactly and could have just robbed them and left the car and
you came with a knife you came with a gun that's the thing new to have them take their shoelaces off like this was
at least thought about before you were aggressive right from the jump and he said he had planned to Let Her Go
when they got in the field which is what you know he claimed forever but for some
reason that he couldn't pinpoint he said he just decided to kill her like he contemplated it for a minute and then he
decided he was going to kill her okay detective Orvis Campbell told reporters he said he doesn't know why he just
decided to do it and cut her throat he told us he was planning on letting her go I don't believe that I don't either
on June 5th Matthew Matthew Vaca appeared before a judge in the Common Pleas Court and the judge said a June
30th hearing date to revoke his probation officially um although Vaca had not yet been
formally charged with any crimes during the preliminary hearing uh that happened
assistant Tuscarawas County prosecutor Scott Mastin announced that they had every intention of seeking the death
penalty in this case in the meantime vodka was going to remain in the Tuscarawas County jail and
he was not going to have any opportunity for bail he was stuck there until he had
trial good now Vaca appeared before grand jury on June 13th and that's when he was officially charged and he was
charged with one count of aggravated murder one count of attempted aggravated murder one kind of aggravated kidnapping
two counts of kidnapping two counts of rape three counts of tampering with evidence and one count of abuse of a
corpse knowing the prosecutor's office actually wanted the death penalty he instead
decided to agree to a plea to what would essentially be a life sentence he wasn't
going to be eligible for parole until 2096 he would be 123 years old so loves it Sheila Davis vaca's mother said this
has been his decision from the start he said he didn't want to victimize Brandy a second time or the Riser family and
this is the only way he will have any possibility of seeing his children in the future
one so sweet of him to not want to re-victimize the woman he was sure he had [ __ ] murdered after he raped her
twice so sweet of him to not want to victimize her again [ __ ] you two this is the only way he's gonna see
his kids you think anyone gives a [ __ ] I'm sorry but if I was his wife I'd be like we're not ever seeing dad again
like are you kidding me no this is the only way he's gonna see his kids I don't give a [ __ ] you know who doesn't get to
see their kids again [ __ ] Liz's parents exactly you know who has to deal with trauma for the rest
of their lives even as a mother now Brandy Hicks yup [ __ ] off yeah I don't give a [ __ ] about you no or you're
saying yeah you're a real great dad no you left the [ __ ] house in the middle of the night to brutally rape and murder
[ __ ] teenage girls you piece of [ __ ] seriously what the [ __ ] that pissed me
off so much that makes me so mad and to make it seem this was his plan all along
later on like it's not that he doesn't want to re-victimize he wants you just told me he wants to see his kids and it
has nothing to do with Brandy and he doesn't want to get gassed to death he doesn't want to die exactly let's call
it what it is my friend okay like come on and that's the thing like don't put that
in there about seeing your kids yeah because you just I just now I know exactly why you did it like and I don't
give a [ __ ] I don't want you to see your kids I'm just kidding like you just said
like Liz's parents parents would love to see their child alive again like [ __ ]
you how dare you be so careless Brandy's parents Brantley family Brandy's loved ones would probably love to see her not
have to deal with this for the rest of her life yeah [ __ ] you how kind of him yeah thank you for not re-victimizing
douchebag so the prosecutor like I said had planned to pursue the death penalty but it was ultimately the victims in the
case who talked them out of it well even though like The Plea was like went through anyways they wouldn't have like
sought it because the victim said no uh County prosecutor Amanda spies-born hosts Horst I think it is said Brandy
Hicks indicated that she is satisfied that Baka will spend the rest of his days in jail she taught she's tired of
talking about it and doesn't really want to go through a trial and the risers said they would just leave it up to me
right so they were all just like whatever I just I don't know please don't put us through this
um also a plea deal would mean that vodka would simply go through the Sim the sentencing process and then begin
serving his time kind of like out of the public eye it would just go through right but a death penalty case would
drag on for years and years and the media would get automatically yeah and they would automatically get a ton of
appeals before the execution happened so as far as everyone in the prosecutor's office was concerned Liz Riser was not
going to be brought back by him being killed no but they could they could do something meaning they could spare
Brandy being re-traumatized every time she has to sit and testify and she has to read and she has to see reports and
she has to look at his face yeah no she doesn't so they were like you know what we can do that and at least help one of
these women so we're gonna do that exactly so Matthew Vaca appeared before a judge on June 22nd and he pleaded
guilty to all 11 accounts against him the courtroom was packed with friends and family of the victims they came to
support Brandi and the risers in a statement to the Press Brandy actually said I knew it was bad news as soon as I
told him to get out of the car and he said well I've got a gun I didn't think he was going to actually kill us oh
which how would why would you and she's told reporters that she was working on forgiving vodka but she said she was
struggling with it and you know what which you have every right to she doesn't ever have to forgive him and
that doesn't make her any less of a good person not at all you don't have to forgive someone no you do not you do not
and I know that these um all of these people were like church goers they were religious that is part of the
Forgiveness their religion so I understand that that was something that was very important to them but you by no
means have to I just feel like I I hope everybody knows that you don't need to forgive people you don't you really
don't and but if you feel like past it if you feel like that's something you absolutely need then like more power to
you but like I just don't I feel bad when people put pressure on their own on their hearts to forgive someone when
like they don't have to no you don't have to I promise you you don't have to that's not an action that you asked for
no you did not ask you to figure out how to forgive somebody for doing something
to you that you never wanted exactly exactly it's not that's not my problem and what she said was I know I should
forgive him I'm trying really hard but at the right at this moment I can't that's what she said she knows now that
she doesn't have to well in Brandy's mother Kimberly Klein said none of this makes anything better we're thankful
Brandy lived but we miss Liz and always will absolutely so a week later on June 30th Vaca went back to court for
sentencing and this time he had to face the tsunami of testimony and Victim Impact statements from all the people
whose lives he had blown apart here for it so to be honest for most it was the lack of motive that was the incredibly
frustrating aspect here so course there was a lot of people outside of like you know especially outside of like the
family and friends here just like people seeing this whole thing that were assuming it was his interest in heavy
metal music and you know horror movies or vinyl movies we've been down that road but addressing you know like you
know they went like the porn root and all that which I don't know a lot about like what he was doing in that situation
but porn doesn't make you kill people he's just a bad person movies don't make you kill people no exactly songs don't
make you kill people people kill people do that yeah now addressing vodka the judge Edward O'Farrell asked him you
know what why can you give us a motive give this family he's the reason why you did that and he said Matt you understand
what you are about to face you already acknowledged it you know there is not going to be a surprise here but you know
facing what you're gonna face can't you in this final act before you're banished
from this County from the lives of these people physically can't you tell them why you this to their children
and so Vaca just stared down at the floor and muttered I don't know I don't know myself why yes you do so judge
O'Farrell was [ __ ] thoroughly irritated by that me as well and he said what were you thinking Matt you told
people you wanted to experience killing a human being that is what they told us why did you say that to them why did you
want to experience killing a human being was it drugs was it me was it the music
was it the pornography is that why you can tell the young people in this community like he's like give a reason
um like so Matt finally interrupted the judge and said I am responsible you gotta know that I'm willing and then he
stopped for a second and said I'm willing to give my life oh thank you weren't though you took a
plea deal yeah so judge O'Farrell was pissed but uh nothing comes close to the uh statement that the prosecutor Amanda
spies bornhorst had prepared for him he said the she said the death penalty does
not provide the Swift Justice it was intended to do I think you deserve to die for the crimes you committed
absolutely and then she said I want you to understand what you have to look forward to forward to in prison you will
be beaten repeatedly and you will be brutally raped and you will lose every ounce of dignity that you have left in
your body and you will live in Terror not for the hour or so that Liz Reiser did or the hour that Brandi Hicks did
but for every minute for the rest of your life soccer and I said whoa yeah that's wild that was heavy like [ __ ] so
funny okay Amanda so finally Brandi Hicks took the stand and read her Victim Impact statement oh yeah how [ __ ]
Brave of her and she's a teen to face the man that raped her twice and thought he had killed her she's a teenager yeah
she had gone through Unthinkable unspeakable trauma and she stood there looking at the man who did this and said
I guess I have to forgive you I don't really want to but it's like my mom said if you don't if I don't forgive you God
won't forgive us I do forgive you I just want you to know that wow like that's whoo that hurt my heart
that hurts my heart but she's a she's a tough tough girl it hurts my heart that it sounds like she didn't necessarily
feel that to forgive yeah because you're just like I just want you I just want Brandy however that comes to feel what
she needs to feel about it God wants her to feel or anybody else and again not dogging it because it's
not at all if that's what you believe in and the Forgiveness thing is important to you to move past these kind of things
or move forward through all the power to you then that if that is important to you then that should be what you work
towards because that is important to you yeah but if it is not important to you specifically and is only important to
someone else you don't have to do it that's something worse that's not for you either way if Brandy did end up
feeling like she could forgive him I hope that I hope that's what happened and I hope she feels great about it
absolutely but if not if she didn't feel like she really forgave him that's okay
too yeah like I hope she's just whatever she is feeling I hope she's happy me too
that's all I want I just wish her happiness and peace yeah and I know that she like I think she's married I think
she's a mother now so like I hope she's just happy good for her and that's all I
want for Brandy but once everyone had made their statements judge O'Farrell asked Vaca whether he had a final
statement to say before the sentencing was going to be passed down and um the public defender those defending him
actually read his personal statement and said I know I destroyed three families in one night I know the Lord is with us
watching over us I'm ready and willing to face the consequences of my actions okay I'm sure Jim
so when all was said and done the judge put down the maximum sentence on him of 96 and a half years for all 11 counts
against him and later the same day he had to go before another judge for the probation violation where he would
receive another 22 and a half years on top of that I konik goodbye don't let the door hit you on the way out [ __ ]
so because he pled guilty to the charges he was ineligible to appeal any of his sentencing because he pled guilty he
said he did it yeah he remains incarcerated at Mansfield Correctional Facility in Mansfield Ohio he is still
to this day never given an actual coherent explanation for why the [ __ ] he killed Liz Reiser and why he tried to
kill Brandy Hicks that is that he still has not done it that's the most maddening part about
this whole thing is like sure you just you like you said I just wanted to know what it was like but yeah that there's
more to that yeah it's not just one day you said gee I wonder what it would be like to murder something exactly that
does it doesn't make any sense but the fact that he won't give an actual any kind of explanation is so infuriating
but since the years that this has happened this was in 2000 so 23 years ago Brandi has tried to move forward
with her life like I said she's married she has three children now um one of them she has honored part of
their name with Liz's name beautiful um and the risers have also tried to move forward through unspeakable tragedy
and pain I can't imagine um but they've used it to kind of inspire their you know their Ministry that they do yeah
they've tried to kind of inspire other people good for them um Becky Reiser started a Blog in 2007 and she shares or
Liz's memory in that blog in 2014 she published a book through my tears Awash in forgiveness which is a self-published
memoir that was co-written with Michael Camella uh it basically talks about the family's experience of losing Liz and
their experience with the justice system after that okay now they lit um excuse me Becky and Jeff actually speak
publicly still about the experience whenever they can and they still say they have completely forgiven Matthew
Baca for the murder of Liz rizer and again good for them if that is what is important to them then good for them
like there I am better people than I am truly truly they are so like I feel that
way too and honestly like the fact that they have turned it around to be a thing
where they are just sharing her memory to inspire people like family good for them and good for Brandy yeah and I hope
everyone's [ __ ] thriving I really do and this just really broke my heart I feel so [ __ ] bad for the risers I
feel so [ __ ] bad for Brandy and her family but it looks like they were able to at least like keep Liz's memory alive
in like a positive way and that's really and Brandy seems to be like thriving so
what a tragic tragic senseless case Matthew Vaca is a [ __ ] animal swamp creature like he's an animal he's the
[ __ ] slime on the bottom of the swamp like lettuce truly it's he's [ __ ] horrific the [ __ ] he did is unspeakable
never see the light of day again that man is a [ __ ] dangerous creature seriously oh wow yeah I hope he's
[ __ ] miserable but that is the story of the brutal murder of Liz Reiser and the attempted murder of Brandy Hicks
damn well yeah thank you for that you're welcome that's so so sad amazing it's so
horrible for both of those families but again so happy that Brandy is thriving and that lizard the risers are really
found pushing through this and yeah and can speak about this memory alive wow yeah well guys that was Bonkers I hope
that you all enjoy the rest of your day and make somebody's day better yeah do a
positive act exactly um and we have to keep listening and we hope you keep oh whoa I just almost said
on it weird weird I'm sorry I don't have coffee in me right now you there's a coffee in
front of you I know and it's full I know she hasn't had it all right love you guys bye
foreign [Music]

On May 23, 2000, teens Elizabeth "Liz" Reiser and Brandi Hicks went down to the local video store in New Philadelphia, Ohio to rent a movie. While there, they met a man who told them he had no way to get home and would pay them $20 if they would give him a ride. Both girls believed in helping their fellow human, so they agreed after a bit of hesitation. What began as a routine act of charity quickly spiralled out of control, resulting in the murder of Liz Reiser and the attempted rape and attempted murder of Brandi Hicks by the man they had intended to help, Mathew Vaca. The crimes committed against Reiser and Hicks were brutal and sent shockwaves through the small Ohio community.

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Brief Summary

The episode covers the murder of Liz Riser and Brandy Hicks' survival, detailing the attack and its aftermath.

Key points

The Awful Truth Unfolds. A police officer arrives at the Riser home with devastating news about Liz.
Brandy's Terrifying Experience. Brandy Hicks recounts her harrowing encounter and the fate of her friend Liz.
The Encounter. Brandy and Liz meet a man who asks for a ride, leading to a terrifying turn of events.
The Abduction. Mark takes control, forcing Brandy and Liz to drive to a remote location.
The Brutal Attack. Mark brutally murders Liz in front of Brandy, leaving her in shock.
Brandy's Escape. Brandy plays dead after being thrown from the trestle, managing to survive.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What do you mean she's not there?

Becky Riser's confusion about her daughter Liz's whereabouts.

8:51WatchJun 13, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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