295: Bryan Kohberger’s Confession, Diddy ACQUITTED of Major Charges, & 5th Grade Girls Plot Murder
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Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. With me, Annie Elise. And we've got headline highlights today. And boy, do we have a lot to talk about. Now, as you can see, I am not in my normal set. I am coming to you from New York. I am currently traveling and on the road. So bear with me on the quality here. But no, as I was saying, we have...

So much to talk about. First and foremost, we've got to talk about everything that's going on with Brian Koberger. If you have been living under a rock and haven't heard by now, Brian Koberger accepted a plea deal. This means that the death penalty will be taken off the table. He will have to serve four consecutive life sentences, plus an additional term for the burglary charge.

And in lieu of this, he will have to admit guilt. He will have to confess. And Koberger's hearing was just yesterday where he changed his plea. And we had one of our correspondents in the courtroom watching the family's reactions, watching Brian's reaction and breaking down everything that went down. So she's going to be sharing that with us as well in this episode. And I don't know if Mercury is in retrograde or what's going on.

but we also have the Diddy verdict to go over. So not only did we have Brian's hearing yesterday, which Madison is going to break down all the emotion in the courtroom and what that was like, but the Diddy verdict came out. And guys, I just got to say, I'm pretty surprised by this.

It blew my mind. So I'm gonna break down what it means, what the verdict was, and what that can look like for his sentencing. There also are a lot of breaking cases out there right now. There is this horrific story that I thought was fake when I first heard it, but it's basically this murder plot that happened with a group of fifth graders. I mean, can you even believe that? I can't even believe I'm saying that out loud.

There's also a fitness influencer who was murdered. There is just so, so much to go through today. And of course, the big Brian Koberger of it all. Earlier this week, I was on News Nation right when the news broke. Actually, it's like my phone, I feel like, was like blowing up. Everybody wanted answers and was curious what was going on. So I went on News Nation earlier this week.

on Banfield and shared what my viewpoints were about this. I also went on Court TV, and there's been a lot of details that have come out since then too. So again, we'll go through all of that. As a quick reminder before we get into all of the cases, I have a couple of little, you know, housekeeping items, if you will. Number one, a reminder that we are going on tour. Tickets are almost completely sold out for all cities, but

And there are some, I think, still left for some cities. So anyway, the details are at AnnieElise.com. Go to the tour tab. You can find all the cities there. There also are a couple of meet and greets left at select cities. So you can stack that on with your ticket. And then in other news, we have totally decided effective July 1st to revamp Patreon. Now, if you're not in Patreon, first and foremost, you are missing out. If you're ever looking for extra content to binge,

this kind of content that you're already getting the deep dives and the 10 to life episodes but ad free members only live streams, merch discounts, giveaways, annual gifts, access to our 24 seven group chat. It's all over on Patreon. And like I said, we did a full revamp to where we stuffed all of these different membership tiers with so much more stuff making them just

I just way more valuable if I'm being honest than they were before. I feel like we're built on community. We like thrive off of that talking to each other, being face to face when we can be in the group chat. So I wanted to just restructure it after getting so much feedback from you guys and make it just the core of it just community where there's more perks, there's more accessibility, there's more drink, take a drink every time I say it community. So

We've revamped all of that and through 11:59 p.m. On July 4th, we are offering like this limited time flash sale where the normal $5 per month tier is only going to be $3 and you'll basically sign up at the $3 and it'll be $3 per month for life. It's not like it's going to change once that deal expires. Also, you can sign up for any of the tiers for an annual membership at 20% off, but

But that deal is going to end July 4th at 1159 p.m. So now would be the time to do it. And you can get all of that at patreon.com slash Annie Elise. Now with that, now that housekeeping is done, let's get right into this first story because I first saw it breaking over the weekend last weekend and there was some mixed information out there. At first it was that it

It was a double homicide, then it was a triple, then it was a murder-suicide. So let me just break down this case for you. Gloria Zamora was a 40-year-old fitness influencer from Southern California, and she was stunningly beautiful. She had this long brown hair, she had this like killer, killer body because she, of course, was into fitness, and she had spent the better part of her life as a fitness coach, in fact.

just like truly having this passion for it. She even did some modeling with it as well. And in her recent years, she had reached very high levels of success as a social media influencer, working with different collaborations with fitness brands, with lifestyle brands, all sorts of different things. And while she loved all things fitness related, yes, that's true. Gloria was first and foremost, a devoted and loving mother to six children. You heard that right.

six children. I mean, God bless her, right? Her kids ranged in age from eight years old to 24 years old, and her older kids were from her first marriage, and her younger ones were from her second marriage, which also is her current marriage to her current husband, a guy named Thomas Lazarega. Now, as we all know, there are a ton of influencers in every niche of the market these days, right? Fashion, fitness, baking,

Twerking, I mean, honestly, you name it. But Gloria really geared her platform toward busy mothers. Just like herself, she could identify with them. She wanted to share her tips, her tricks, and life with them. She found it very rewarding just helping fellow moms regain their confidence, gain back their strength, both physically and mentally. Not only fitness on the outside, but what fitness does for you mentally as well. All of her posts were very motivational, and they were really relatable.

And in just two years, she managed to gain over 165,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. So with all of that growing success, you would probably think or assume that her husband Thomas would have been extremely proud of her, rooting her on from the sidelines, her biggest cheerleader. She was out there hustling, working her ass off, grinding, trying to make shit happen while also trying to inspire other people to be the best version of themselves. But as it turns out,

That support system was very far from the truth. So much so that on June 16th, Gloria went on her podcast, which is called the Horizon Podcast, spelled H-E-R, Horizon, and she shared the very sad reality of what was really going on behind the scenes in her marriage. Take a listen. Gloria Zamora appeared in two episodes of the Horizon Podcast, and the first was recorded on June 3rd, and the second just days later on June 16th, so just $5.

days before the tragedy unfolded in that parking lot of the sushi restaurant in Fontana. And in the episode titled Why My Second Marriage Has Fallen Apart, Zamora opened up with raw honesty. She spoke about how her fitness journey and a growing presence on social media was becoming her calling and how that focus on career, she said, was creating friction and

in her second marriage. Now, Zamora never named her husband in the episode, but she made it clear the relationship was unraveling. And jealousy, she said, was part of the reason why. I want you to take a listen to what she shared. I would tell the second marriage, my soon-to-be ex-husband, I would tell him, like,

My job itself is already exhausting. So you adding more mentally distraughting stuff, I don't even know how in the hell I take so much. Like I tell my kids all the time, I don't know how I'm able to be like so resilient and just keep it moving, keep taking all this crap.

and unfortunately not fall like these other people to where you're not mentally okay. She then revealed when things really started to fall apart. My whole second marriage started falling apart because obviously I'm like dedicating time into fitness and

trying to grow something and seeing even the opportunity or even thinking that this can even become something, you know? So people started getting insecure and not allowing me to thrive in something that I'm just so passionate about, you know? Okay. So I felt like that person was just holding me back. And then came the decision, the moment she chose to walk away. I decided to end my second marriage

And that's when a lot of the problems started to where bringing me down mentally, talking about like, yeah, you can do that. Like, what are you thinking? Like, what do you think you are? You think that you're this fitness influencer all of a sudden? Like, you really think you can do that? So it's like when somebody wants to test me or... Yeah, yeah. They want to...

-Challenge you. -Yeah. Don't challenge me, 'cause I'm gonna prove you wrong. Zamora also spoke about the emotional toll this was all taking and the strength it took to protect her peace of mind. She credited her children for helping her to make the choice to leave. He's putting this fear and thinking, "You're not gonna amount to nothing. I'm the one that's done everything for you." -Of course. -Yeah, you know, so people-- -You build me, sure. -You build me, yes. You know, like, without me, you ain't , you know? So...

thankful for my older kids because I feel like if they were in the picture, I think I would still be in that marriage fully, fully unhappy because I hadn't been unhappy for a couple years. This is not just a year. This is not just a month. We're talking about years. And in one of the most powerful moments, she offered this message. To put your life into someone else's hands to where that person is responsible, whether you're happy or not,

I'm like, I am not happy in this marriage. So little by little, something just kept telling me like, what you're feeling is right. You're not happy in this marriage and it's okay to get your...

Now I know that I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but I can never emphasize it enough. If you are in a relationship where your partner is constantly putting you down, constantly just taking jabs at you or criticizing your every move, that is a form of control. And that is a form of mental and emotional abuse. And it should be an immediate red flag. You should definitely just like close your eyes.

And Gloria recognized this. She didn't put up with it. She had put up with Thomas' controlling behavior for so long at that point. Long enough. So having him continue to treat her like shit? No. She was now done. So she did a lot of soul searching in the process of what she should do.

Should she leave him? Should she fight through it? Should they go to counseling? And she finally found her voice and felt like she was strong enough to speak out in that interview about her toxic marriage. Just really being candid of what she was going through. Again, hoping that other moms and wives who are in similar situations

could relate or that she could be there as a source of support for them. She wanted to encourage them to also see these red flags in their own relationships if they were occurring. So as this is unfolding,

In true narcissistic fashion, Thomas was infuriated when he heard this podcast interview. I am talking went off the rails. He was now finally being called out publicly and that was just, you know, not going to happen. It was something that he could not bear.

And something that we talk often about, but maybe not often enough, is that narcissists crave just positive attention, all the sorts of praise, positive reinforcement. They feed off of it. It honestly, it's what fuels them. But when somebody embarrasses them, then

or worse, even criticizes them, they do not handle that well. Not at all. They get mad. They get livid, enraged, and not just like rolling their eyes and then like letting it fester on the inside and being resentful. They almost feel a sense of entitlement

to start playing dirty. So Thomas just could not stand the idea that Gloria was moving on and was no longer afraid of him. At some point, she apparently had also filed for divorce along the way. And with that, she had recently started dating again, trying to rediscover her independence and what a real connection could look like.

Which, gosh, I'm saying connection. Can you tell I've been watching Love Island too much? Honestly, it's like they say connection and exploring every other word. But anyway, now Thomas was hearing all of this, and he was basically spiraling out of control with jealousy. Just fuming. Had all sorts of resentment, too. He now had lost control over her. His absolute worst nightmare. So on the evening of June 21st, five days after that tell-all interview...

gloria was out on a date she was out on a date with a man named hector garduno now unbeknownst to gloria thomas was stalking her and hector just sitting in his car watching her kind of quietly lurking and waiting in the shadows for the perfect moment and opportunity to strike

And sure enough, as Gloria and Hector left a sushi restaurant where they had just sat down for a nice dinner, hoping to just, you know, have a quiet evening, Thomas approached the two of them and he gunned them both down. Now his first shot was directed primarily at Hector, the guy she was on this date with.

But then he turned the gun on his estranged wife, Gloria. Now, thankfully, several off-duty officers were in the area when these shootings occurred. And one of them happened to be driving by the restaurant when he heard these shots take flight, you know? So he quickly just spun around, made a U-turn, and immediately intervened in the situation. He confronted Thomas. And while we don't know all of the details yet, I assume trying to de-escalate the situation and trying to maybe get his weapon away from him.

But in the process of that confrontation, he ultimately ended up fatally shooting him. Yeah. From a tactical standpoint, what's your assessment of, you know, this off-duty deputy's response to a situation like this? Well, you know, it takes a lot to confront somebody who just shot and killed two people in a parking lot. So you got to give credit to the deputy for even stepping up and doing that. You know, fortunately for him, it didn't end tragically, which it could have. And so,

I give credit to him. He probably saved a lot of other people that night. Who knows what this guy's intentions were? There are a lot of kids involved in this. And when you're dealing with people's emotions going through divorces, this guy just shot and killed his ex and this guy that she's out to dinner with in a public parking lot. That tells you a lot.

So as all of that chaos was unfolding, Hector and Gloria were transported to the local hospital. But sadly, it was too late. They were pronounced dead upon arrival. Now here Gloria was, just living her absolute best life, right? She was free finally from all of this negativity, all of that control, and she was finally feeling happy again. And in just one single instant, he was able to get her out of the hospital.

He felt entitled to take all of that happiness away from her. Why? Because you felt like she betrayed you because she was moving on and that wasn't allowed? It was just completely stripped away. And somebody that she had also just started dating, Hector was brand new on the scene pretty much, he lost his life because of it as well. It's just so senseless.

And aside from those two deaths, think of the ripple effects this causes. Gloria is leaving behind her six kids, and Hector, he leaves behind four daughters. So ten kids in total now have to live without their parent, and their lives are forever changed. And you guys, this story, it really got to me when I first heard about it, and that's why I wanted to just get all the information, and there is still a lot of information trickling in, but...

Gloria had finally done what we talk so much about on this podcast. She had bound the strength within to leave, to move forward, to gain her voice, regain her voice. And she was punished for it. She was killed for it. All because he couldn't handle rejection. He didn't want to see her happy, successful, and felt entitled to be the only person in her life. So just like that, he took it all away. A true shitbag, if you ask me. I mean...

And it sucks, like, while I'm glad he wasn't able to hurt anybody else, it does suck that there's not going to be a day in court where he's going to have to answer to everything he did and where he's going to be able to hear victim impact statements and know the gravity of the situation that he caused. And now, look, all of his kids left without both parents. It's just, again, it can be very dangerous in these situations, and it's incredibly sad.

Now let's talk about this next story, okay? Because this one is crazy psychotic. I need a new word. Need to get my thesaurus out. Because a group of fifth grade girls from Surprise, Arizona concocted a full-blown plan to murder a fellow classmate. Fifth grade girls. I'm sorry, fifth.

and 11 year old girls concocting this full bore plan to murder a classmate. I don't know. I don't remember exactly what I was doing in fifth grade. I'm being honest. I don't have a great memory in that regard, but I don't really remember much of my childhood, but I would guess that I was probably like jump roping. Maybe I was like playing freeze tag or four square. I don't know.

I think I was kicking somebody in the shins, like a kid at recess, but it's 'cause I had a crush on him. But anyway, I wasn't like full blown planning murders. I probably didn't even know what murder was at that age, right? So the police records were released last week. And for the first time,

All the details in this case became public. And let me just tell you, my jaw was literally on the floor when I read all of this. It still is on the floor. And I'm going to go through this with you. But first, let's just rewind for a second.

So it was October 2024 when a group of four girls from a legacy traditional school first started plotting this murder. Now, allegedly, one of the girls had been in a, quote, relationship with a fellow fifth grade boy. He apparently cheated on this girl while they were dating, which I'm using those words very loosely because it's a fifth grade relationship, right? But it led to a very bitter breakup.

And I don't even know what kind of relationship fifth graders can have. I don't know what cheating would entail. Are fifth graders really kissing? Are they doing more than kissing? I don't think I had my first kiss till seventh grade. Maybe I'm a loser. I don't know. But anyway, there was some sort of like, you know, big toxic love triangle cheating situation. And it led to a very bitter breakup.

So because of that, this young girl and her friends decided that killing this boy who wronged her, who cheated on her, was the answer. That was the way that she was going to mend her broken heart, murdering him. And you know how when we were kids, we all would pass notes back and forth, which now it seems like most kids just text each other. But these girls, they did pass notes. And in one of the letters that she wrote to her friends, she wrote, just end him, end him, end him.

Kill him. K-I-L-L him with a period between each single letter, trying to really emphasize kill him. It is diabolical, okay? Psychotic. So they had planned out every single detail of this murder too. First, they had planned on luring the boy into the bathroom, where they then were going to plan to stab him in his stomach.

They also planned on wearing gloves to be sure that they didn't leave any fingerprints behind or leave any fingerprints on the weapon, which again, how fifth graders even have the thought process to even plan something out and be kind of strategic? What are you watching? What are you watching? What video games are you playing? How do you know to wear gloves in the first place? But anyway, so they were gonna lure him to the bathroom where they would wear gloves, stab him, and then in the stomach where he would bleed out.

out. Then lastly, they would leave behind a suicide note, laying it right next to the boy's body so that people would think that he killed himself, that this was all just a horrible case of him taking his own life, which there's something I guess these fifth grade girls didn't quite think out. Very rarely do we see somebody take their own life.

using a knife, not to mention a knife to the stomach, but you know, again, fifth graders. So each of these four girls was assigned a role in carrying out this horrific murder.

One girl would provide the murder weapon. Another girl would forge the suicide note. One girl would stand guard as the lookout outside of the bathroom. And then lastly, one girl would be the one to actually commit the murder, stab and kill him. Which again, let me just, I keep saying fifth grade, but let me just really drive home the fact these are 10 and 11 year old girls.

That is so scary to me. It is so scary. Now, luckily, the girl's plans quickly unraveled.

Now, this next sentence is probably going to hit home because of the words I'm using in it, but that is the point. But the whole reason this plan unraveled is because fellow classmates of theirs overheard their plans for this murder while they were out playing at recess. Okay? Let that sink in. They heard about this murder plot out at recess. Recess. Recess.

It is crazy. So thank God these other kids intervened and told their parents. So the parents alerted the school and then thankfully the school took it very, very seriously. They searched the girls' backpacks. They called each of the girls individually in with their parents and they started interrogating

them. The authorities started interrogating them one by one. Then all four of the girls were arrested within the week. However, and I've got to say this has to be because of an age thing, although still freaks me out a bit, they were only charged with misdemeanor counts of threatening and disorderly conduct. How they are not charged with something more severe is

I'm not quite sure because this was a plan. There was a full-blown plan in place. But let me continue and then we'll talk more about it. So according to the police report, three of the girls did show remorse when they were being interrogated. But one of the girls was apparently amused by the entire incident.

She was smiling, she was laughing, and she kept trying to make excuses for her actions. Which that's honestly terrifying to think about. She didn't feel one ounce of remorse. So the students were later released into the custody of their parents, and they were suspended from school, pending possible expulsion, which I think they should definitely be expelled, right?

I mean, I would be absolutely pissed if my kids attended that school and these four pseudo-murderers were coming back into the school campus. I mean, not a shot in hell. It just doesn't make sense to me. Now, according to the police records, the parents of the victim, they intend on prosecuting the four girls who plotted the murder of their son, which, good for them. They definitely should prosecute

them. But the whole story is unnerving to say at the very least. And again, why they just got off with misdemeanors, I don't understand. It has to be an age thing because it seems like there was a very clear cut plan there.

I don't know. And more details are, of course, getting released, but since they're all minors, it's very difficult to get all of the information. However, we've talked about cases like this before too, not with like a whole group, like a girl squad of four girls who plot a murder, but

with friends who meet, disturbed teens or middle schoolers who meet and then commit a murder against their third friend. And what's the expression? I'm probably going to butcher the way I say this, but folidu, folidu, you know what I'm talking about? Kind of like the Joker in Harlequin, where it's like,

What are the chances? What's the likelihood that two people who are equally deranged meet each other and forge a bond and a friendship and a relationship and then decide to carry out these sinister actions? It's an anomaly. I mean, not an anomaly. That's probably not the right word. But like, it's not something we see every single day, right?

But in this case, you had four of them all come together and think this was a good idea, which I'm happy that three of them felt remorse. But still, it freaks me out. It is a very scary case. So as we learn more, I will definitely keep you posted. Now I want to talk all about this Brian Koberger stuff, but we have a couple more cases I just want to quickly get through.

And this next one is about one that happened very recently in New York. In the early morning hours of June 21st, a 31-year-old woman from New York was walking home from work when a stranger started slowly approaching her. Now, at first, he was just kind of like catcalling her from far away, you know, being like, hey, hey, and whistling. I don't know how to whistle, otherwise I would do it. But just kind of like bugging her, you know, harassing her. And she didn't really think much of it. I mean, yeah, it's annoying, but I will say...

living in New York for so many years, it happens quite often, especially near the subways. So she just kind of ignored it and kept going on her way. But then as she continued walking, the man started following her and he started yelling things out at her. Like I go this direction, I live in this direction, just kind of these weird things that made her feel extremely uneasy. And at this point it was nearly 1 a.m. and the streets were almost completely empty.

So she tried to remain calm. She tried to not freak out. But then this guy started moving in closer and closer. So at this point, all of her kind of like spidey senses were going off. She knew she had to do something and she had to do something fast. So up ahead, she saw a deli or a bodega. It was still open because those usually are open very late, if not 24 hours. And she decided to just like quickly get to it and then dash inside.

So after spending about five minutes inside the deli, she hoped that when she left, this guy would have left, that he would have just like kind of wandered off on his own somewhere else, different direction. But when she did a quick check, she could see him just hiding and waiting for her outside of this deli. Now, luckily, two guys in their 20s walked through the door of the deli at that point, and she knew that this might be her only opportunity to get help.

So she explained the situation to them, and she asked them if they wouldn't mind walking her home. And I gotta say that we rarely see good Samaritans in a lot of the cases that we cover, but these two guys did not even hesitate. They both agreed and said, "Yes, absolutely, we will walk you home." One of the guys even said, quote, "The lady approached me and said that her life was in danger. This guy was following her. We saw him a few blocks away still following her.

So we walked her home so that she was safe, which you would think great, you know, happy ending, end of story. They walk her home. She's safe. She gets inside. She locks her door. You know, great. We love a happy ending. No pun intended. But here's where the case can be open for interpretation on the events that followed because once she arrived back home safely, she waited inside for about 10 minutes, but then she went back outside to walk her dog, which again,

Again, not to shame her at all. Everybody does their own thing. Everybody has their own belief system. But for me personally, if I had some crazy, scary stalker and stranger that I knew was following me, my dog's peeing on the rug that night. I'm sorry. There was no way in hell I am going back outside in the middle of the night, especially just 10 minutes later, right? I mean...

Sorry, dog, you're peeing inside and I'll clean it up with some like resolve. So anyway, she goes back outside to walk her dog. And once again, she sees this stalker. This time he was hiding behind a tree. So she ran back inside. She locked her door and she finally called the police. However, when the police finally arrived, they couldn't find this guy.

Now, this is crazy, but roughly 30 minutes after those two good guys, those good Samaritans had walked this woman home, they spotted this stalker again. Which, New York City is a very big city. It's a small city, but it's a big city. So like, how they're all running into each other again, like, who knows, right? But this time, as they saw him again, he was following a different woman.

Which how creepy is that, right? He was just lurking. It didn't matter who the person was. He was going to target any woman he possibly could find on the street, it seems like. And sure enough, it wasn't long before this stalker full-on went after this new woman and started attacking her. The woman was screaming, terrified, and once again, without any hesitation, these two guys just jumped in to help.

One of them even tried to slam the stalker to the ground. However, he pulled out a really large knife from his sleeve and he immediately began stabbing the two of them. He stabbed one of the men multiple times in his chest and shoulder.

The other man was stabbed right above his eye and there was blood everywhere. It was a very chaotic scene and a pretty gnarly scene. These guys were just trying to help. They were just trying to get this freaking dirt bag away from this second woman now. And he had a full-on knife that he pulled out of his sleeve and attacked them with, which...

Obviously, we know that he would have used that knife on the woman too, right? So the two men were taken to the hospital, and luckily they are listed in stable condition, and they're expected to make a full recovery, which thank goodness. The woman was fine too, thank God. However, amid all of the chaos at the scene, the stalker fled.

And he is still at large. Police have released a photo of him and they're asking for the public's help to try and track him down and identify him. But this is just, again, a good reminder to never walk alone, especially at night, because you never know who might be lurking behind you. And kudos to these two guys, right? They were literal guardian angels for these two women. So who knows what could have happened if they hadn't been there to help.

to help. So let's just hope that this scumbag is caught. Now, this next story is bizarre. I mean, truly bizarre, bizarre, bizarre, because on June 21st, a 39 year old British man named Jackie used a fake ID to book a private event at Disneyland in Paris. And he reportedly paid 150 grand to rent out the entire park. And I've heard that for weddings. I've heard that for, have I

Have I heard like graduation parties, like not where somebody hosts their personal one, but like where a school may rent out like part of a theme park, things like that. But this guy rented out the entire park. You'll never believe why. He was throwing a mock wedding ceremony with a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl. I'm sorry, what?

Let's rewind for a second. Rented out Disneyland Paris to hold a mock wedding ceremony with a nine-year-old girl.

girl, a full grown man. Okay. He claims that he was filming this quote mock wedding for social media purposes, which he rented out this whole park. He had this whole elaborate wedding set up all the way right there in front of the sleeping beauty castle. I mean, gross talk about like, I'm just gonna say like grooming and weird and predatory, just sick. So he

And when I say he had this whole elaborate setup, I really mean elaborate. He had a full-on live string quartet

all sorts of gorgeous floral centerpieces, a giant wedding cake. He even went so far as to hire over 200 adult wedding guests and 100 kid wedding guests. All these like actor slash guests to attend this sick and twisted fantasy wedding that he was having with a nine-year-old girl. A 39-year-old man to a nine-year-old girl getting married in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle and hiring every, it's so fun.

fucking weird. Okay, it is so weird. Now, the little girl had reportedly been flown in from Ukraine that morning, but she wasn't abducted or not at like the surface level because she arrived with her 41 year old mother. And

And apparently, this little girl was like decked out in bridal gear too. A full-on bridal gown, she had five inch heels taped to her feet. Like, takes toddlers and tiaras to a whole nother level, right? Literally a child bride. Now I don't know the mother's involvement in all of this, so until I have more details, I'm not gonna say anything. But what I will say is she's not the one who stepped in to stop this sick fantasy from happening. It was one of the actors.

This guy who had been hired as one of the wedding guests, actually he was hired to play the father of the bride. He took one look at this and he's all, "Hell no. This is so weird. Nope, we're not doing this." He was told it was a fake wedding and it was like an acting gig, but he was never told that the bride was a child.

which can you imagine? So the actor reportedly alerted Disneyland staff, who then contacted the police. Reps for Disney said that they had absolutely no prior knowledge that the bride was only a child, and they had been told that the park was being rented for a real wedding, not for some social media stunt.

Now, as if this whole thing wasn't already sick and twisted enough, it gets even worse. Because as it turns out, Jackie, the 39-year-old man, was already a convicted offender on the registry. He even served time in prison back in 2016 after he was found guilty of inappropriate sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls. Which means...

He's on the list. He's on the registered list. You all know which one I'm talking about. And he is not allowed to have any contact with minors.

And not only that, but since his release from prison, Jackie has repeatedly staged different productions with underaged children. How that happens and how that goes under the radar, your guess is as good as mine. In fact, in 2023, so just a couple of years ago, he hired hundreds of kids and teenagers to act as though they were all his friends.

fawning fans at this fake movie premiere, just gushing over him, just adoring him, admiring him. And some of these hired fans were as young as six years old. And according to the paid teenage fans, they were told,

their instructions to get paid for this job for this gig was that they had to scream for him. And they had to try and touch him like reaching out trying to grab him trying to touch him as though they just really, you know, wanted, like were obsessed with him, like he was One Direction or something. I don't know why I said One Direction. But like, that's what I think of when I think of young girls, like reaching out trying to like touch these celebrities, right? Meanwhile, his real identity was completely withheld from these hired fans.

Now take a listen to this. Let me just tell you what one of the women who was hired to pay a guest said. She said she saw a little girl dressed in white with her hair all done up and I saw a woman who picked her up in her arms and I was shocked. I burst into tears when I saw it was just a child. It was horrific. So this guy, Jackie George,

I suppose we have to say allegedly, but it's in France, so I don't really care. He spent a hell of a lot of money to create his perfect sexual fantasy, which was marrying a nine-year-old girl, yeah? Absolutely right.

He's lived his fantasy as far as he can but then you think well, you know that video that he's done of This wedding will now be being sold on the dark web that that so there's so that could be his investment He's put puts a lot of money into it. But if you get if you get live footage of a fantasy And you go on the live web on the dark web that Normal people nobody actually can actually

access because it's all with loads of encryptions, encryptions, encryptions. It goes out there as fresh meat.

So that's what this is about then? So that's why he spent so much money on it? He lived out and filmed in real time his fantasy. So then, last June, Jackie was caught handing out free gifts to young girls outside of a dance studio. Just a freak, right? And get this, sources say that for his mock wedding, he was even made up professionally so that his face appeared totally different than his own.

I don't know if that just means makeup, heavy contour, if it means prosthetics. I don't know what that means, but to where he looks like a different person. Now, let's be honest, okay? Let's call a spade a spade. This guy obviously has an infatuation with little girls. And the scary part is he's very, very smart.

He's managed to find a way to go around the system and get away with all of this under the guise of, oh, these are just fake productions for my YouTube channel. It's not really me living out a fantasy. It's just all for social media. It's just a stunt. It's for clicks. It's for views. No.

No, no, no, full stop. Now, thankfully, Jackie was arrested after his Disneyland stunt, and he has been charged with fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and identity theft. And he's currently being placed in pretrial detention, which...

It's scary to me that he was able to get away with this for so long, but also, I say, throw away the key, lock this sick bastard up, don't ever let him around another child again. It's my opinion, probably a hot take, but whatever, I'll share it anyway.

You get convicted of hurting a child in any way, sexually, physically, mentally, whatever it is, your access to children should be stripped. And for parents who do this, I think your access to having children should be stripped. I know that's a hot take, but I think if you're convicted of it, you can never be trusted again. So, and that's not for everything. I know there is reform, but I think when it comes to severe child harm,

there's an exception there. Not an exception for a whore, but like, let's bend the rules and like, let's never let them around children again, right? Now we're about to get into Brian Koberger and what went on during his plea hearing yesterday. And we're going to hear directly from Madison, our correspondent who was inside the courtroom and watched everything happen and watched the emotions. Brian's family was there, what their facial expressions were like, what Brian's face was like, the family's, everyone. But before that, I just quickly want to go over

the Diddy verdict, because that also came out yesterday. And quite honestly, it had a lot of people surprised. So he was basically acquitted on the three of the more serious charges, yet he was found guilty of the two lesser charges. And those two lesser counts were the Mann Act violations. Those specifically were for transporting Cassie and another woman, who went by the name Jane, across state lines for illegal sexual activity, which

which basically in layman's terms, that means to engage in prostitution. So it's two of the lesser charges and it's basically prostitution charges. But he was found not guilty of the more serious charges, as I mentioned, that were racketeering, sex trafficking, and of both Cassie and sex trafficking of Jane. Those are also the charges that would have given him the sentence potentially of life in prison.

So the jury was deadlocked on that racketeering charge at the end of day Tuesday, but ultimately they cleared him on that, found him not guilty. So now the only two convictions are the Mann Act counts, which are those prostitution ones. So the big question is, of course, what will that sentence be? It can be up to 20 years.

However, based on what I've been looking at with similar cases in the past and because those other charges he was found not guilty of, so they can't necessarily bolster these charges, they are not applicable. I think two to five years in federal prison is a realistic minimum because again, it doesn't have that trafficking element to it. My personal guess, and I'm not a lawyer, so this is just my guess, guys.

I think probably four years for both counts, which he also of course will have time served from what's gone on this last year. And

I could totally be wrong, but even so, him being found guilty of only those two lesser charges just feels very unjust to me. I think that it was a horrible day for the victims yesterday, and while I'm glad there was some shred of accountability, I mean, not really. Like, not on the big charges. So, curious if you guys agree with the verdict or not. Now let's talk about Brian.

Okay, let's talk about Brian Koberger because I know that is what so many of you guys want to talk about. So late on Monday night, it was like it broke the internet, right? Brian Koberger accepted a plea deal and everybody was up in arms.

Nobody was really agreeing with this. And I mean nobody meaning not only the public, but also some of the victims' families. It wasn't just Kaylee's father, Steve Gonsalves, who said that he did not agree with this. Other family members of the victims, he said, did not agree with this. Although he didn't name which ones, I have my suspicions and I'll tell you in a few minutes. But...

He said that this deal was brought to them, or not even brought to them, but it was lightly mentioned in one of their meetings, and they were very adamantly against it. So when the news broke on Monday, everyone was trying to make heads or tails of it. Like, how is this deal being made when trial is literally supposed to start in 42 days?

And when for the last two and a half years, he's been saying how he's factually innocent. They have all of this overwhelming evidence. There's a third party culprit. There's a co-conspirator. There's other DNA. It was planted. I was framed. I was looking at the stars. And now that's not the case. He's saying, I'm guilty. I'm going to cop to being guilty. In exchange, though, you got to pull the death penalty off the table. And he's not the one that brought the deal to the prosecution. I believe the

Basically, it's my understanding that the defense reached out last week to the prosecution and said, bring us a deal. We want to see what you come up with. And then that's when the prosecution started putting this together. So it's been a wild few days because everybody was trying to make sense of it. One of the biggest questions was, OK, well, now with this guilty plea, even if he is confessing,

What does that confession look like? Is he giving details? Is he sharing a motive? Is he saying what really happened? All of the details. Or is it just him standing up and saying, I killed them. And he would have to go individually for each charge, admitting guilt to murdering each one of those young adults. Kaylee, Zanna, Maddie, Ethan. So...

Everybody was trying to dissect it. As I mentioned at the top of this episode, I was on News Nation earlier in the week, also Court TV, where everybody's just trying to make sense of it. And it's something that you can't really make sense of. Steve Gonsalves even gave an interview where he basically was outraged and ripped the prosecution apart, saying to the public even, like, for the plea deal hearing on Wednesday, when Brian is going to enter in his new plea, please beg, implore the judge not to accept it because...

This is not what we want. And at one point, I thought it was really insightful. Ashley Banfield asked him in this interview, she said, now though that there is a plea deal, it means that there's no opportunity for appeal down the road. And we know that death row cases, they can be on death row sometimes for like 30 years and it's appeal after appeal after appeal. And she's like, isn't there any sort of solace you take in that? That now you will never hear a squeak out of Brian Koberger again.

to which his reply was zero. He doesn't take any comfort in that. He was fully prepared, didn't care if there were going to be appeals down the road. He wanted justice for his daughter and for those victims. And he feels like the state kind of took the easy way out to just button it up. And I got to say, it put a really bad taste in my mouth too, because

To me, it feels like, once again, Brian Koberger is the one taking control. He's the one calling the shots. And I know it was the prosecution that brought it to him, but, like...

where is the control? When do the families of these victims get to take the control back and have their voice be heard? And sure, at sentencing, they will be able to read their victim impact statements, and there will be some sort of allocution where he's going to have to admit and say what happened, but in what level of detail? A bit unclear. The gag order will, of course, now be lifted as well, and we're going to talk more about that. I have a deep dive coming up, but we

where we learn more about the discovery and all the evidence they truly had against him. But what I think this now has done is it has robbed the families and the public of

of any truth to this case. Because a trial, it would have exposed every detail, every timeline inaccuracy, every lie, every single detail, all the way into the nitty gritty details of, was he the Papa Rogers account? Which if you don't know about that, you need to look on my YouTube. That is a wild, wild situation that's roped into this. Actually, you don't need to, and I'll tell you why in a

um because i'm going to talk about it but like there are so many other things below the line and look well i think okay fine he is going to be confessing to these four murders great there still is the question of not only why these four kids but how did it become four because i it's my belief he did not go into that house with the intention of committing more than one murder

I believe he went in there for Maddie. I talk more about this in next week's episode and for very specific reasons, which kind of brings me to my next point. You may have seen it out there already, but there's a docu-series that is coming out July 11th called One Night in Idaho. It's through Amazon Prime and it's very well done. It's a four-part series. Hunter speaks out on it, his girlfriend Emily at the time.

who they both are the ones who went over to King Road that morning, and Hunter's the one who found Zanna. They're the ones who called 911. They speak out in this docuseries. More friends of Dylan and Bethany, the surviving roommates, they speak out and they talk about Dylan and Bethany's behavior that morning. The families are sharing more details in this docuseries. And so...

Anyway, this comes out July 11th. And a lot of the times when documentaries are released, they'll reach out to certain people and allow you screen what's called screeners, which are basically you have the ability to watch it before it's released to the public. So they had reached out to me about six weeks ago. And I watched this six weeks ago, again, very well done.

And there are a lot of questions that get answered in this docuseries. And so I recorded at the time a full deep dive episode. I pulled stuff from the docuseries. We talk a lot about Papa Rogers because there is, I can't talk about it yet. Hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me slow down, Annie. So there's a lot of stuff that I pulled from the docuseries.

There's a lot of things in this docuseries that answer a lot of questions, including a direct link with the Papa Rogers of it all. And now with this docuseries, because it's not being released until July 11th, there is this thing called an embargo, meaning anyone who has screened it, like myself, cannot review it, cannot talk about it, cannot share details of it until a fixed date. So while my deep dive episodes usually release on Monday,

Next week's episode is not going to release until Tuesday because that is when the embargo is up and that episode is all about this docuseries. And I am sharing all of the things that now add up with Papa Rogers, with Brian McAuliffe, which we now know, of course, he's admitting guilt, but also the behavior from the roommates

what they're saying in these new interviews. I have the audio clips. I have the video interviews, all of these things. So that is going to be like a super-sized episode that is going to be released on Tuesday for you. So just, I apologize that it's outside of the normal release schedule, but it's because of this stupid embargo, which I hate that word.

But anyway, another piece in all of this that I think is a disservice, maybe a blessing and a curse, is with the roommates. Because the trial, it would have been awful. They would have had to face Brian face to face. They would have probably been eviscerated on cross. It would have been terrible. They would have been shamed for drinking. They would have been shamed for not reacting, for not calling 911. However, the truth would have been out there. And I believe

with all of the rumor and speculation that has been out there for the last several years about these two girls, I think that a lot of that would have been put to rest. So while it's a blessing that they don't have to go through a nasty cross and face Brian directly, I think it's a curse because now,

will all of those details and discovery still come out and clear their name from public opinion? Or does it give the public even more fuel to continue pushing that agenda being like, well, even though he, you know, is accepting a plea deal and confessed and says he's guilty, they, I still think they're somehow involved. I still think something is weird. Like I think it just allows a little bit of an open window for that opportunity to where, um,

I was hopeful that even though this trial would be detrimental to go through for them, that at the end of it, there would be some sort of resolution to where they could feel like they could breathe again. Because think about it. They're not, they can't even go to a freaking grocery store right now without probably getting side-eyed and judgment. And people are just attacking them relentlessly online. And so, yeah,

I just hope, and we're going to, of course, learn more as we go, and I'm going to be keeping you updated the whole time. I just hope we learn more details and get the answers to so many of the questions that we have. When did the stalking begin? Why did he really put that survey out at the college? Was it really Maddie who was the target? I believe yes. I talk way more about that in the episode that is coming out next week. And because of things that were included in the docuseries too,

I link a lot of things together. So you'll want to hear that as well. But there are so many other

questions that roll into it. And so, I don't know, I'm curious where you guys sit with this. I personally think that he is the biggest weasel coward on the planet. I think, you know, for, you thought you were cocky enough and a big shot enough to get away with murder. This big criminology student, this TA going for your PhD, doing all these things, and you thought, "I'm smart enough to get away with murder. I idolize Bundy. I idolize BTK. I'm gonna kill someone and I'm gonna get away with it." And you get caught.

Then, for two and a half years, you proclaim your innocence. You get your pro-burgers on board saying you've been framed, you're a scapegoat, you're innocent, you're this, you're that. Then finally, when push comes to shove and the death penalty is on the table, you're running like a scared little bitch.

You were tough enough to commit a quadruple murder, but now you're a coward and you're not going to face the death penalty. And it makes me wonder too, what finally pushed the defense to ask the state to propose a deal? Was it the new witnesses from Philadelphia or I'm sorry, from Pennsylvania that they were going to be bringing in the boxing coach, the, um, um,

car salesman, all of those people? Was it the DoorDash driver who said that she saw him at the house that morning? What was it to where they finally, after all these years of feeling like we're gonna use the autism diagnosis, we're gonna use this, we're gonna do that. What was it that finally made them say, "Shit."

We're backed into a corner. Show us a deal. Show us what you got. What can you do for us? And like I said at the top of this episode, Madison was in the courtroom yesterday. I live streamed the hearing over on my YouTube channel, but Madison was there. She watched every facial expression, every reaction, the energy, the frenzy and the chaos that was going on, the protesters that were in the parking lot. And so we are going to hear directly from Madison now, and she's going to share what that was like. So Madison, take it away.

Hey, Annie Madison here. I am in Boise, Idaho, where I just left Brian Kohlberger's plea hearing, where we heard from Kohlberger himself for the first time in two and a half years that this case has been ongoing, admit that he is guilty of the four murders against the college students in North Idaho, as well as the burglary charge that followed. This courtroom experience was very emotionally heavy. There were several of the victims' family members in attendance, as well as Brian's own parents.

and he did not acknowledge any of them throughout the duration of this hearing, except for his own parents, with a subtle nod before he sat down with his attorneys at the beginning of the hearing. Judge Hipler opened the hearing up by saying that he received several phone calls and emails yesterday from the general public, urging him to reject the plea deal, which in Idaho he can do. However, he said that this was very disruptive to his courtroom as well as many other court proceedings, saying,

And he didn't bother to read any emails or listen to any voicemails that he received yesterday, and every single one of them were forwarded to security or law enforcement where necessary. He said that this court should not and will not take into consideration the public's opinions when making a decision like this. And it kind of gave the vibe of, if you're going to act like that, you don't get what you want, type of thing. Or like a scolding parent, almost. And

and definitely set the tone as very serious from the start of the hearing. After this, he apologized to the victim's family members as well as Brian's family for having such short notice on this hearing. He said that he himself only found out on Monday afternoon that a plea deal was even on the table, let alone going to be taken. He said that he wished there would have been more time for them to arrange to be here, but that he was thankful for those that were able to make it. And then move forward into the actual...

proceeding where he asked the defense attorneys and brian a series of questions to determine that they understand what taking this plea deal means the sentences that are to follow if he does plead guilty and

and really to establish that he's of sound mind to be able to take this plea deal. He answered all of the questions very matter-of-factly with yes or no, maybe an occasional nod or a shake of the head, and literally showed no emotion. For a second, I wasn't even sure that he was looking at Judge Hippler. I thought maybe he was looking at the wall, because he...

Had no expression on his face whatsoever. Just a very robotic "yes, yes, yes, no."

And very matter of fact, I will say. After it was determined that he was of sound mind to be able to accept this plea hearing, and he answered that he did in fact agree with what the consequences were when he took this, and understanding that he did not only have this option. As Judge Hipler is reading out what these charges are, he very matter of factly, as he

He should, and as most judges do, stated for each count who the victim was. For example, he would say in the charge of first degree murder against Madison Mogan, this is what you're facing and this is what you're admitting to by pleading guilty. And then he continued to do the same thing for Zanna, Ethan, and Kaylee. And this really stirred up a lot of emotion in the victim's families because

This is when most of the tears started to flow. And I also noticed that a few of the victim's family members actually turned the complete opposite direction. So they didn't have to look at Brian. And I think seeing that for myself was very emotional, but definitely brought a vibe to the courtroom of kind of their...

Their sorrow and their disgust with Brian that they couldn't even look at him as the judge is reading their own family member's name of what he did to them.

It was very sad. Brian didn't show any emotion during this time though, which I thought was interesting. For a second, I thought maybe he was going to tear up a little bit because, you know when you're trying not to cry and you blink a little bit more than usual to like stop the tears from coming out? That's definitely what he was doing. But I don't want to pin any kind of emotion on that because the rest of the time he had absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

He looked down at the table while the family members were heard crying and stared really blankly at Judge Hipler. You would almost think he was staring at a wall as he was reading these charges off.

In the end, the court heard out the state's factual evidence from start to finish when Koberger bought the K-bar knife in March of 2022 to when he was arrested six to eight weeks after the crime, I believe they said, in Pennsylvania at his parents' house. The court accepted the plea deal and sentencing will be happening on July 23rd, which is just under two weeks away. Basically,

We were kind of hoping for an allocution hearing, obviously, yes, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen. However, the state did ask that Koberger will have to hear victim impact statements at his sentencing hearing, and I think that is definitely a big deal, especially given the emotion that was in the room today.

I will say that Hipler throughout the entire course of the hearing was extremely no-nonsense. He was, you know, didn't even hardly look at Brian Koberger. He looked down at the table to read his questions. He looked up to get the answer. And he looked at the prosecuting attorneys most of the time. So there's that.

The gag order is still in place until sentencing. This was the prosecution's request. The defense had no objections to the gag order being lifted, but Hipler did decide to keep it. And one last thing that I noted, I think the only time that I saw Brian Koberger show any emotion, and maybe this is just in my head, was when Judge Hipler said that he is no longer able to wear civilian clothes to court.

He didn't look very happy at that. Maybe that's me seeing things. Maybe that's... I don't know. But there was definitely a change in his face when Hipler said that he can't wear civilian clothes anymore, not that he's pleaded guilty. And I think that's interesting. But overall, the family members definitely showed out and showed up for the victims. They...

really made an impact on media members. I know myself and a couple others were talking after the court experience that it was very sad. Brian, I don't know how to even explain the vibe that he gives off. It's not scary. It's a little bit eerie, but he just doesn't have any emotion. And he almost reminds me of like a robot. So

Do with that what you will. I am looking forward to the sentencing hearing. Hopefully I can get in for that. And we will talk to you soon. Have a great day. So you just heard from Madison everything that went on. And as a reminder, the gag order is not going to be lifted until sentencing. However, there were those few key things that were said during this hearing that

The state was not planning to try to argue that Brian went into King Road that day to commit all these murders. Just one, which aligns with what we were saying, you know, what we have been saying that we believe Maddie's the target and the others caught him by surprise. Sentencing is going to be July 23rd. That's also when the victim impact statements will be read and that is when that gag order will be lifted. So we're not going to learn a lot of new information until then.

However, One Night in Idaho, the series that I mentioned that releases July 11th, does have a lot of unreleased information. So I did that full recording and that full episode. We're going to release it for Monday's Deep Dive, but because of the embargo, it's going to release on Tuesday, but it's going to break down everything. So just a reminder, we're going to be a day delayed, but

that is an episode that will shed a lot more light on this situation too while we wait for that gag order to be lifted and has some details that have not been released. So make sure to listen to that. So I don't know, guys. What do you think about all this? It is a lot to take in. I know. So...

I have that episode coming out next week where it's going through the One Night in Idaho docuseries that has not been released and a lot of information that has not been released yet too. So check back for that. Also, as a reminder, the Patreon tiers, it's only on sale through the end of this week at 11:59 PM. But a perfect example is the other night when all of this broke on Monday night, I was able to literally just grab my phone and go on Patreon live.

and talk with you guys about it for 30 minutes. So that's just one of the perks that you get in Patreon is more of like that behind the scenes access, immediate access, our group chat that's going 24/7, bonus content, ad free content, all of those things. So check that out and it's patreon.com/annieelise. And don't forget your tour tickets because they are almost gone.

All right. Thank you guys so much for tuning in with me today for another episode of Headline Highlights. I'm going to be back with you first thing next week with the Idaho mega deep dive. One night in Idaho. Exclusive interviews, brand new friends speaking out, and we are going to dissect everything and try to make sense of all of this. All right. Thanks again, guys. And until the next one, stay safe.