The Twisted Murder of Brandi Celenza | Killers Caught On Camera | Forensic Files

[THEME MUSIC] MAN: It just sounds like something bad is happening to her. WOMAN: I heard her scream, no, stop it.
MAN: I heard some gunshots. OFFICER: Drop that! Whatever it is, drop it! MAN: That is not true, that I killed my wife.
WOMAN: We know what happened because the video tells us what happened. MAN: The camera doesn't lie.
NARRATOR: This time, on "Killers-- Caught on Camera"-- NARRATOR: --in Jacksonville, Florida,
a woman is found dead in her home. NARRATOR: A history of violence is revealed by cameras
hidden in plain sight. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: Some of the most shocking footage that I've ever seen in my entire law
enforcement career. NARRATOR: And in Manchester, in the UK, a family become the unintended victims--
AMBER HAQUE: Michelle's eldest son, Kyle, was getting into a bit of a bad crowd.
NARRATOR: --of an unimaginable act of revenge. VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: This is a very heartbreaking
story that shocked the nation. Palm Coast-- a small community an hour south of Jacksonville,
home to 25-year-old Brandi Celenza, her six-year-old son, Ryland, and Brandi's sister, Amber.
AMBER CELENZA: These photos bring a lot of memories back, happy ones. I can't really remember a sad day with her.
NARRATOR: Brandi became pregnant with Ryland at just 19. My favorite photo of when she had her baby.
She was young, not even out of high school, and was getting pregnant so she had nothing.
She played like a child, and Ryland got to just, have a fun mom. She was always around.
She was carefree. NARRATOR: A few years later, in May 2014, she met Keith Johansen.
They fell in love and married in 2017. [MUSIC PLAYING] Nicole Quintieri was part of the community's
police force in Flagler County. NICOLE QUINTIERI: They were just this big, happy family that
went out and did family activities, and everything was just amazing. Brandi's son, who was not Keith's son,
according to Keith, referred to Keith as daddy. AMBER CELENZA: Everybody was happy.
They had their life all right there. NARRATOR: After getting married, Brandi, Keith, and Ryland
moved into a new house in the suburbs. Even though, it's cold, it's still beautiful to be here.
[KISS] [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: Detective George Hristakopoulos knew the area well.
GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: I worked this zone on patrol for about, a year or so. Very quiet neighborhood, retirement
community, very quiet area. AMBER CELENZA: She was friends with everybody, just had that personality.
No judgment, ever. She loved laughing. She just, I think, she liked hearing herself laugh,
and that made everybody else laugh. She had that giggy laugh. It was this beautiful, perfect marriage.
They were getting ready to have a vow renewal. They had just gotten a new home. NARRATOR: On April 7, 2018, they were all at home.
Brandi was making breakfast for her son, Ryland. NARRATOR: Two religious visitors knocked at the door.
Good morning, ma'am. How are you doing? Hello. NARRATOR: A very normal morning, but just
a couple of hours later-- [SIRENS] NARRATOR: --Emergency Services responded to a 911 call
about a shooting in the home. NARRATOR: When they arrived at the house, they found Brandi in the bedroom with two gunshot wounds
to the chest. Keith was distraught. NARRATOR: There would be no renewal of wedding vows.
[MUSIC PLAYING] Brandi was pronounced dead at the scene. AMBER CELENZA: The phone rang at work,
and I just basically, dropped the phone and just fell right then and there at work, in front of everybody.
NARRATOR: Police body cams recorded everything. NARRATOR: With everyone in shock,
Keith's dad turned up to comfort his son. Keith was worried about the guns in the house.
I understand. Yeah, I understand. NARRATOR: Police discovered Brandi's six-year-old son, Ryland, was in the house when his mother died.
NARRATOR: Keith was the only adult witness, his account of events was vital-- NARRATOR: --but Keith's physical appearance confused officers.
NARRATOR: The medical examiners began to determine exactly, how Brandi died. Keith explained to detectives, what he thought had happened.
NICOLE QUINTIERI: We're interviewing Keith and he says that Brandi was probably, just being
a good housewife and tidying up moving the firearms, and they both fell and both went off and both shot her.
He described, the most perfect marriage, the most perfect relationship in the world, and he said that they never argued,
and they were thinking about renewing their vows. NARRATOR: But the picture perfect family life Keith
described started to unravel. NICOLE QUINTIERI: When I started asking the deeper questions of,
were there any issues in your relationship? Were you guys faithful to one another?
Keith Johansen told us that Brandi, very nobly, came to him and told him that she might have had an online relationship
or some sort of online affair-- NICOLE QUINTIERI: --but that was nothing, no big deal.
It was all water under the bridge. NARRATOR: Back at the house, officers discovered
a home rigged with cameras-- NARRATOR: --and an armory of small firearms monitored 24/7.
NICOLE QUINTIERI: We noticed multiple gun safes, multiple cameras on every angle of the house.
NICOLE QUINTIERI: To go into a house where the residents have cameras in all of the rooms,
like the bathrooms, was very abnormal. NARRATOR: Police discovered recording devices
close to where Brandi was found. Surveillance cameras are an absolute game changer in law enforcement.
The Sheriff instituted a real-time crime center here at the Flagler County Sheriff's Office,
and we have analysts almost around the clock so we can conduct a better-informed investigation.
NARRATOR: Detective's new analysis of the footage would be key to solving the case,
but when they asked Keith to view the recordings, he was uncooperative. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: None of the passwords
that he gave us worked, and he gave us several different variations of the same password.
NARRATOR: The detectives had no idea, what the footage would show, but they knew it could be crucial.
They issued a warrant for the video from the surveillance company. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: I tried for seemingly,
forever to just try to get a human being that I could serve this legal process to and get this search warrant.
NARRATOR: It was a frustrating delay in the search for evidence, but the autopsy provided detectives
with their first breakthrough. NICOLE QUINTIERI: We received information from the Medical Examiner's Office that
said there were two gunshots, which it's very uncommon for somebody to shoot themself two times.
One time, suicide-- understandable. Two times-- unlikely, but still possible. But the big kicker was, one of the shots
was a distance shot, which you can't shoot yourself from a distance. NARRATOR: The forensic pathology revealed a major discrepancy
in Keith's version of events. Brandi's husband was now, the prime suspect. The home surveillance camera system had become
a vital electronic witness. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: If we were successful in getting
this footage, we knew that it would be absolutely, absolutely groundbreaking. [MUSIC PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Dunton was brought in. She knew the digital recordings could help her go back in time.
JENNIFER DUNTON: In this case, we didn't have an eyewitness, which we rarely do, so it was very important to piece
together all the evidence. The video evidence was sort of, like-- it was an eyewitness to events.
NARRATOR: When the footage eventually arrived, it revealed what had gone on behind closed doors.
GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: What we saw was some of the most shocking footage that I've ever seen in my entire law enforcement career.
NARRATOR: An argument about alleged flirting online had been escalated by Keith.
NICOLE QUINTIERI: Watching these videos, the drastic difference between what the suspect portrayed to us
and what was actually going on, I don't know that I've ever had a lie so in-depth to the contrary
of the actual incident. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: I think, we could see whether he was
portraying his sniveling, begging us to see his side of things version versus this version,
where he absolutely, looks like a monster. NICOLE QUINTIERI: Never, in a million years,
would I have thought that Brandi Celenza was going through what she went through for the days leading up
to her death. NARRATOR: Brandi's body language was revealing. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS (VOICEOVER): She just sat there
and cried in a fetal position much of the time. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS (VOICEOVER):
Even the way he positions himself on the bed-- looking at her, threatening her. It's just a--
it's completely different. JENNIFER DUNTON: You can try to envision what that life is
like, but you don't know until you live that, and so this was a true insight into what
domestic violence looks like. So people typically stay in abusive relationships because there is a gradual shifting baseline.
So you experience more and more abuse over time. The violence escalates. It usually starts as psychological or coercive
control, so belittling a partner, as psychologically controlling their behavior, maybe controlling finances,
mocking them when they try to go out and see their friends, and then, that often escalates into physical violence
and/or sexual violence, which then can escalate even further, to murder. [MUSIC PLAYING]
NICOLE QUINTIERI: At this point, he's so enraged that he's telling her to use a gun on herself
so he doesn't have to. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: And giving her a gun and telling her to use it, you could tell,
she's just absolutely broken at this point. He's totally broken her, her self-esteem,
and she just looks in disbelief, like, what's happening? She can't believe it. JENNIFER DUNTON: It was horrible having to sit there and go
through those videos and watch and imagine, what she was going through. NARRATOR: Brandi's whole family had no idea
what she was going through. AMBER CELENZA: She was happy. That house is a happy house.
I don't understand. AMBER CELENZA: There, everybody was happy. Why didn't she say anything?
I grew up with you for ever, we've done everything together, and you can't even say one thing or, like, hint?
I never got a hint. Telling your loved ones that you're in an abusive relationship is often, an incredibly difficult
thing to do, and it's because of the barriers to reporting being really high. So for one, as a victim of intimate partner violence,
you often feel, like, it's maybe your fault so there's an internalization of the perpetrator's coercive control
and psychological manipulation. So the perpetrator has convinced you that, maybe, you do deserve
to be violently treated because they've belittled you for so long that you've internalized that.
Not telling family and friends is often, also because maybe you're dependent on your partner,
and you don't want to dissolve the relationship. You don't want to break up or maybe
you're worried that it'll get worse. So there's lots of different barriers, some are more because of dependence
on the person than others. And there's also shame and guilt and feeling like you shouldn't have gotten yourself into the situation.
[MUSIC PLAYING] NICOLE QUINTIERI: You can see when Keith Johansen is just mentally abusing her, that she's staring off,
you know, a thousand miles just to not feel what she's going through. You can see the tears rolling down her face,
but she's emotionless, almost, on her face because she just has nothing left. NICOLE QUINTIERI: When someone is mentally and emotionally
controlled by their partner or by their spouse, it gets to the point of where they feel like they are
actually the person that their spouse is telling them that they are-- that they'll be nothing without their spouse,
that they will make nothing of themselves, that they are nothing, that they're not worthy of anyone
else other than them. Behind closed doors, you don't know how far bickering can go.
We had never seen, on video, in such great detail, somebody being so evil towards another human being,
who he supposedly, loved. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: There was almost, no doubt in my mind
that he killed his wife. NARRATOR: But there was a crucial element missing from the recordings.
JENNIFER DUNTON: The murder was not caught on video so you have to piece it all together
and prove your case in a different way. NARRATOR: Investigators believed Keith deleted the footage
from the day of the murder. The question remained-- was there enough video evidence
to prove a motive? JENNIFER DUNTON: If he did it, what points to premeditation? So every time I'm looking at something, that's the lens
that I'm looking at it through. JENNIFER DUNTON: Every time the word "I'm going to kill you"
comes out of your mouth, that clip's coming out. Any threat to do harm-- --and then what-- to give context, what
the fight was over, what the motive was, what he was upset about. NARRATOR: Every threat made by Keith was building evidence.
NICOLE QUINTIERI: It gave a very clear picture that, Keith Johansen had it in his mind days
before that he was going to kill Brandi Celenza. He said it several times, on video,
that he needed to leave the home so that he wouldn't kill her. She needed to kill herself so that he wouldn't kill her.
JENNIFER DUNTON: The video evidence showed both motive, a reason why he would want to kill his wife.
He was very, very upset with her in the days leading up about this perceived or apparent cheating
she may have been doing. JENNIFER DUNTON: We were confident that Brandi Celenza didn't shoot herself.
This wasn't an accident. This wasn't suicide. NARRATOR: The team then, combined the video with the 911 call.
It revealed a difference between his words and his actions. NARRATOR: Keith never actually tried to save his wife's life.
GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: Our 911 operator tried to have Keith check if Brandi had a pulse
and things of that nature and tried to get him to stop the bleeding. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: Keith was saying, Brandi, Brandi,
stay with me, stay with me. NARRATOR: CCTV footage showed Keith wasn't even in the same room as Brandi when he
talked to the 911 dispatcher. NICOLE QUINTIERI: Here he is in the living room hiding
his narcotics because he was more worried about getting in trouble for the drugs in his house
than saving his wife's life. The connection between substance use and alcohol and intimate partner violence,
particularly intimate partner homicide, is so strong. People who already have violent tendencies are going
to act on them because you're-- the front part of your brain, your prefrontal cortex,
is usually, sort of diminished, and so you're making worse decisions, and you're less likely to inhibit
things like violence. [SIRENS] JENNIFER DUNTON: In the videos, you had verbal abuse--
that demeaning type of treatment of her-- but it very, very, quickly, escalated to actual threats of harm and threats of death,
and then, ultimately, two days later, unfortunately, deadly violence was used. NARRATOR: The footage of Brandi just
moments before she died revealed a calm and loving mother. JENNIFER DUNTON: We were looking at as many pieces of evidence
to show that minutes before she was killed, she was functioning completely normal.
We had her on video just three or four minutes before he calls 911 acting completely normal.
JENNIFER DUNTON: She had the interaction at the door with the religious visitors and answered questions,
and you can see her picking up a cat. JENNIFER DUNTON: And then, feeding her child,
talking to her child about going to the fair, just a normal sleepy, slow morning in her house.
AMBER CELENZA: We made plans for the fair coming up that weekend. She was being a very loving mother.
Her son was just being a typical little boy-- GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: Telling his mommy that he loves her.
They parted ways in the kitchen, and Brandi's son would never see her, again. NARRATOR: Individual cameras brought into focus, the control
Keith had over Brandi's life. GEORGE HRISTAKOPOULOS: Keith apparently frowned on her having friends and wanted to isolate her.
NICOLE QUINTIERI: His intentions were to have full control over everything that she did in her life.
He can see anybody and everybody that she's talking to. He bought the house. He can put cameras and stuff wherever he wants.
He made her quit her job so she has to stay home. So really, everything that Brandi Celenza wanted to do
in her life, he controlled. Get the [MUTED] out of my life. NARRATOR: The cameras in the home provided damning evidence.
Three weeks after Brandi's death, Keith was arrested and charged with murder. JENNIFER DUNTON: We initially arrested
him on second degree murder. And then, after we had a chance to thoroughly go through those videos again and we saw both the motive,
but really the premeditation that those videos outlined-- all of his threats, direct threats to kill, and to hurt
her and do bodily harm, and the removal of the camera just days before-- that really showed premeditated design from his perspective--
JENNIFER DUNTON: --so we chose to upgrade it to first degree murder at that point
and take it to a grand jury. NARRATOR: The trial began in October 2021. JENNIFER DUNTON: The video surveillance was key.
I think, without the video, you would have not seen the death threats. No one would have known about that.
Brandi was not here to tell us. So those videos spoke for Brandi in court, which we very rarely have.
With the CCTV footage, it helps the jurors and the court find Keith guilty of first degree murder.
JENNIFER DUNTON: It was a tragic example of that escalation of violence that occurs, and it can
go from just verbal abuse to deadly force very, very quickly. NARRATOR: Keith Johansen was found
guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. AMBER CELENZA: That's what we wanted to hear from day one.
That's what we knew. We knew that he did this, and just finally hearing it, it was, like, waves just crashing
and just, it was an awesome feeling. JENNIFER DUNTON: It's just relief, relief that we've
gotten justice for the family. AMBER CELENZA: She was my best friend. She was a mom.
She was an aunt. She was a daughter, a granddaughter. She was all these things-- a best friend to everybody.
Little things were big things to her-- a butterfly. Just, amazing person all the way around,
had no fear, an awesome person. [THEME MUSIC] NARRATOR: Whether it's inside or outside the home,
cameras now follow our daily lives. All-seeing digital eyes capture our words and deeds.
Often, they record crucial evidence of our darkest thoughts, like in the case of Michelle Pearson.
Walkden, Salford, in the North of England-- home to journalist Amber Haque. AMBER HAQUE: Michelle Pearson was a single mom to five kids.
The oldest was Kyle, Demi, Brandon, and Lacie, and the youngest was Leah. It's quite a tight-knit community,
lots of terraced houses. Michelle was very well-known in the area. NARRATOR: December 11, 2017.
Around 5:00 AM, Emergency Services were called to a fire. It was Michelle's house.
Mike Broadley was working for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. MIKE BROADLEY: Michelle Pearson makes
a 999 call from a mobile phone. By the time this is passed from the BT operator,
Michelle's call has dropped, and there is no information passed. The crews make a very fast response.
AMBER HAQUE: All the neighbors are out in the street, and they can see the house completely engulfed in flames,
and the neighbors know that Michelle is in there with her five children. MIKE BROADLEY: This was a very rapid developed fire.
NARRATOR: Michelle's eldest son, Kyle, was on the top floor. MIKE BROADLEY: Kyle exited via the box bedroom front window
onto just above the door and got to safety. NARRATOR: The upstairs window was wide open.
Air flowed faster through the house, and the fire accelerated. MIKE BROADLEY: And the heat, smoke, and flames just
raced up the stairs, ripped all the plasterboard off the walls, caused extensive damage, and straight out of their bedroom.
And due to the scaffolding being up the front of the property, they couldn't open the windows either to escape.
By the time the crews answered, they found Michelle next to the bath, the baby in the bath.
NARRATOR: Fire crews got Michelle and her youngest daughter, Leah, out of the bathroom,
and they were put in an ambulance. Brandon and Lacie were also pulled from the fire,
but were pronounced dead on arrival, at the hospital. MIKE BROADLEY: When the crews were searching the bedroom
that Demi and the siblings were in, it had been on fire and suffered heat and smoke damage.
NARRATOR: Demi died at the scene. Michelle and her daughter, Leah, were left in the hands
of emergency doctors. Fire investigators got to work at the scene to find out, what happened?
Mike Broadley was one of the lead investigators. MIKE BROADLEY: We go into a full investigation looking
for evidence, signs of burn patterns that could indicate where the fire started,
and why it traveled the way it did and behave the way it did. We discounted that it was accidental through electrical,
through candles, through smocking, through the cooking process. And once we discounted all the accidental causes,
we were only left with the one option of, this is a deliberate act. NARRATOR: The Pearson home was now, a crime scene.
Perpetrators of this kind of crime often think, they're not going to get caught,
and so that's a key motivator for doing it because if you think, well, the evidence is going to burn up anyway
and they won't catch me then, this is a good avenue to get justice, in some way.
It might be easier to distance yourself from the consequences of setting a fire than knowingly,
say, stabbing someone or hurting someone in another way because you have that possible, psychological justification
where you go, well, I don't know what the fire is going to do? I don't know, whom it's going to harm or not?
And so, you can distance yourself a bit from the potential consequences of that fire setting.
[THEME MUSIC] NARRATOR: Fire investigators needed to know how the fire was started.
MIKE BROADLEY: It quickly became apparent that the kitchen window had been smashed.
We found evidence of a Budweiser bottle on the kitchen counter with a bit of a burn wick.
When we went into the front room, we actually found that there was a glass bottle at the front
and near the door leading to the staircase. This was the bottle that delivered the fatal fire,
unfortunately, and where it landed, blocked the escape to the front door. This fire took less than two minutes
to develop the way it did. So as soon as our bedroom window was open, it was straight away.
It was instant. NARRATOR: Mike and his team decided, the fire was started by two Molotov cocktails.
MIKE BROADLEY: It was concluded that a bottle had been introduced through the kitchen window,
containing an accelerant, which we believe was petrol. NARRATOR: Police collected footage from any surveillance
cameras they could find. AMBER HAQUE: Incredibly, and quite crucially, the investigators found CCTV that showed the perpetrators,
MIKE BROADLEY: Shortly before two minutes to 5:00 in the morning, the offenders had lifted the back fence panel
up and made entry through the garden to the back kitchen window. NARRATOR: Dr. Vasileios Karagioannopoulos
is an expert in cybercrime at the University of Portsmouth. VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: The CCTV footage definitely
shows us how useful CCTV footage from the murder scene can be because we can see the suspect or any accessories.
The petrol bombs are thrown in the ground floor-- the first flash and then the second one from the explosion.
Obviously, it was very hard for the family to escape. NARRATOR: This was now a multiple murder inquiry
with a recording of the event. Emi Polito is a forensic video analyst. EMI POLITO: It is very rare, in a murder
case, for the police to be able to find CCTV of the actual incident. In this instance, even though the CCTV was not
of good quality, but it was able to put a number of people at the scene and actually show the extent of the incident
and of the damage that is caused. NARRATOR: The chilling footage revealed more than one person was involved
and the direction of their escape. VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: We can see the offenders
trying to get away. We can see how big the flashes are. You can see them running away.
NARRATOR: The search for evidence included the cameras on the fire trucks at the scene.
VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: They joined their accomplice in a getaway car, and we can see footage from the dash
cam of an emergency vehicle Catching the escape car as it's leaving the scene, after the petrol bombs have been
thrown in the Pearson property. Quite compelling evidence and images for the police during an investigation, and it's
very powerful. EMI POLITO: This is important information because they actually show the incident.
It really starts putting the picture together. NARRATOR: Police had no idea who the figures caught on camera
were, but new information came to light. MIKE BROADLEY: There had been an emergency call earlier on
that morning to the police because somebody had been outside shouting for one of the children and being a nuisance,
so they had called the police earlier. AMBER HAQUE: Michelle's eldest son, Kyle, was getting
into a bit of a bad crowd. He'd ended up in a feud with another young lad, and there was this cycle of sort of tit for tat revenge
violence that was going on. NARRATOR: But Greater Manchester Police still needed more information.
LEWIS HUGHES: That feud involved minor crimes and incidents, several incidents, and retaliation
between the two groups. NARRATOR: It escalated when Kyle set fire to a car. AMBER HAQUE: Kyle had caused fire damage to this guy's car,
and in revenge for that, this guy had started to threaten Kyle. He also later, turned up to the family home
and started threatening Michelle, as well. NARRATOR: The discovery of the feud gave police a prime suspect, but the CCTV
couldn't identify the man. AMBER HAQUE: The police received a tip off. They were told that the perpetrators had been seen
in an Off Licence just hours before the arson attack had happened. VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: The police
acquired point-of-sale CCTV from the Off Licence. Point-of-sale cameras are very, very useful for various kinds
of investigations. They can show us who is making a purchase so we can see their faces, for example.
We can see the way they've paid, whether they've paid with cash or with credit cards.
We can see what they've purchased and when that happened. NARRATOR: The footage showed three
young people buying alcohol. Police identified one of them as Zak Bolland-- the man who threatened Kyle and his house hours
before the fire. EMI POLITO: We can clearly, see the faces, and they are buying alcohol.
NARRATOR: The beer brand matched the bottle used to make the Molotov cocktail. VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: They're
holding a box full of bottles of beer, which, we believe, were then used to commit the arson.
NARRATOR: But it wasn't enough to make an arrest. AMBER HAQUE: They're kind of laughing
and joking with each other. To be honest, they look, like, they don't really have a care in the world.
NARRATOR: Then, a breakthrough on another liquid purchase. The police also got CCTV footage from a petrol station.
NARRATOR: Two men are caught on camera. Their identity hidden. Their purchase clearly seen.
EMI POLITO: They think they are being clever by covering themselves up with the hoodies.
However, we are able to pick up patterns on the clothing, on the jackets, the color of the trousers,
even features on the shoe ware. And the combination of the clothing items between the two
people are similar to those that we are able to see in the first bit of CCTV footage.
NARRATOR: It can't be a coincidence. Zak Bolland is clearly, linked to both locations.
They then, enables the police to assume that they are the same person. VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: If the suspects are masked in some
of the footage, that doesn't mean that investigators cannot combine and use that footage with other CCTV in order
to reinforce their case. NARRATOR: Police identified the two others with Zak Bolland
as David Worrall and his girlfriend, Courtney Brierley. All three were arrested.
LEWIS HUGHES: Zak Bolland denied the attack, his girlfriend, Courtney Brierley, went no comment to all questions asked,
and Dave Worrall was the only one who gave a comprehensive account on interview.
He actually told us that he believed, they were going to set fire to a bin at the premises.
We've set about disproving this, proving that the bins were at the front of the premises, exactly where the group knew
they were from the earlier incident where they've threatened the Pearson's. And there were, in fact, no bins in the back garden.
NARRATOR: On the 13th of December 2017, Michelle's youngest child, Leah, died in hospital.
She was only three years old. Michelle had now, lost four of her five children. AMBER HAQUE: Due to the severity of the injuries
that Michelle had sustained, she struggled a lot with memory problems. She would often ask, where the children were
because she didn't remember or recall that they had suddenly died. MIKE BROADLEY: The children had the procession
through the local area and arrived on horse drawn carriages to the church, where there was a very big turnout
of friends, family, and the local community came to support everybody, as well. NARRATOR: In May 2018, Courtney Brierley was
found guilty of manslaughter. Zak Bolland and David Worrall were found guilty of the murder of four children and the attempted
murder of Michelle and Kyle. MIKE BROADLEY: Zak, Courtney, and David were all sentenced for a total of 98 years between them.
Today, may be at the end of the trial, but it's not the end for us, as we may try to recover
and get on with our lives. This incident led to the death of, pretty much, a whole family.
And when you look at the images from the staircase and the bedrooms, it was extremely hot,
and it had been extremely terrifying for that family. So here, we're going from very petty disputes
to really serious consequences, and it's really easy to think, how can that happen?
And surely, that's not normal, but actually, statistically speaking, that's exactly, how a lot
of these situations happen. They start from these really petty, normal human interactions and then
they spiral out of control into these really extreme consequences. [THEME MUSIC]
NARRATOR: The point-of-sale cameras were an unexpected and vital witness. VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: In this particular case,
the point-of-sale cameras were instrumental in actually, cracking the case. CCTV and video evidence is effectively, crucial.
It's a crucial piece of evidence in a criminal investigation. NARRATOR: But the killer's convictions
were not the end of the story. AMBER HAQUE: On the 25th of August 2019, Michelle Pearson, very sadly, passed
away following some complications after she had an operation. She said, she'd lost any will to live at this point
and just wanted to let go, to be with her babies, her angels. NARRATOR: It was 20 months after the fire.
Michelle was 38 years old. Zak and David had their sentences increased by three years.
Her coffin, followed by four white horse-drawn carriages, one for each of her children.
VASILEIOS KARA GIANNOPOULOS: This is a very heartbreaking story that shocked the nation.
This was just, such a desperately tragic and completely harrowing story that not only affected
the local community in Salford, but all across the city of Manchester and beyond.
They were known locally, as the Walkden Angels. It had that much of an impact on the local community here.
MIKE BROADLEY: This incident is one that will always stay with me. The whole idea that you could do that act and just drive away
and you've left that devastation behind you, I just can't believe somebody can do that and just drive
away and get on with their lives, knowing that you've potentially, wiped the whole family out.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

When Keith Johansen calls the police to report that his wife, Brandi Celenza shot herself, the police race to their Florida home. Upon arrival they learn that the house is rigged with cameras – when they finally get access to the recordings that show the events that lead up to Brandi’s death, they are shocked by what they find. Over in the UK, a horrific scene unfolds when the Pearson family home is engulfed in flames and there is clear evidence that it was an arson attack. Police work to identify the culprits and thanks to CCTV footage, they are one step closer to uncovering the truth.

===============

Killers Caught On Camera is a brand new true-crime series with a voyeuristic twist: video footage from home security cameras, CCTV, and dashcams take center-stage, helping detectives catch perpetrators in moments of criminal intent to acts of pure evil. Family members of victims and law enforcement provide first-hand accounts of how these chilling events unfold while experts like Criminal Psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw dissect the darkest corners of the mind.

=============== Like, comment and subscribe if you’re ready for more true crime. Your favorite shows like World’s Most Evil Killers, Meet Marry Murder, Forensic Files, Unsolved Mysteries, Murdered At First Sight and Bloodline Detectives are all available to stream 24/7 for free via the FilmRise Streaming Network. You can access The FilmRise Streaming Network through most free App Platforms and Smart TV portals such as Amazon Fire TV, The Roku Channel, Android, iOS and many more.

Brief Summary

Brandi Celenza's murder and Michelle Pearson's fire tragedy reveal the impact of domestic violence and revenge crimes through video evidence.

Key points

The Perfect Family. Brandi and Keith's seemingly perfect life is revealed to be a facade.
A Shocking Discovery. Cameras in the home reveal the truth about Brandi's tragic situation.
Justice Served. Keith Johansen is found guilty of first-degree murder, bringing relief to Brandi's family.
CCTV Breakthrough. Investigators found crucial CCTV footage that led to identifying the suspects.
The Fire's Tragic Toll. Michelle Pearson lost four of her five children in a devastating fire.
Convictions and Consequences. The perpetrators were sentenced for their roles in the tragic fire.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The camera doesn't lie.

A man's defense in a murder case.

0:21WatchMar 10, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.