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Death at the Spa

2024/2/13
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Dateline NBC

AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
伊丽莎白
伊尔迪科的朋友
伊尔迪科的表妹
斯科特·马利
斯蒂芬·贝尔
旁白
知名游戏《文明VII》的开场动画预告片旁白。
检察官
炸弹专家
瓦莱丽
罗尼
莎拉
莎拉·托马斯
调查人员
辩护律师
陪审员
Topics
调查人员:我们调查了伊尔迪科·克罗尼亚克的死亡,排除了与德克萨斯州爆炸案的任何关联,现在相信伊尔迪科是目标。我们调查了伊尔迪科的生活,发现她有几个情人,其中一些人对她的死有动机。我们调查了斯蒂芬·贝尔,发现他在爆炸案前购买了制造炸弹的材料,并且他在爆炸案当天反复查看伊尔迪科的日程安排和Facebook账户。我们还发现他在网上搜索了关于通过测谎仪测试的信息。所有这些证据都指向斯蒂芬·贝尔是凶手。 斯蒂芬·贝尔:我是一个火箭和烟花爱好者,我过去制作过自己的烟花,但我不明白为什么我会被指控谋杀伊尔迪科。我和伊尔迪科曾经有过一段恋情,但我们的关系已经结束了。我爱她,但我不会杀害她。我购买的材料是用于我的爱好,而不是用于制造炸弹。我搜索测谎仪考试的信息是因为我参加了测谎仪考试的试镜。 瓦莱丽:我相信斯蒂芬是无辜的。我们在一起已经很久了,我知道他不会杀害任何人。他是一个好人,他爱我,他爱伊尔迪科,但他不会杀害她。 辩护律师:政府的调查存在隧道视野,他们只专注于证明斯蒂芬有罪,而没有调查其他可能的嫌疑人,例如伊丽莎白,她讨厌伊尔迪科,并且有充分的理由想要她死。斯蒂芬缺乏作案动机,他购买的材料是用于他的爱好,而不是用于制造炸弹。 检察官:斯蒂芬迷恋伊尔迪科,当他知道伊尔迪科欺骗他时,他感到羞辱。他在伊尔迪科去匈牙利旅行时发现了她的短信,然后计划杀害她。他利用他在家中的材料制造了炸弹,并在爆炸案前几天购买了盒子和电池。所有这些证据都指向斯蒂芬·贝尔是凶手。

Deep Dive

Chapters
A package bomb explodes at a day spa in Aliso Viejo, California, killing esthetician Ildiko Krajnyak. The explosion and its aftermath are described, highlighting the initial confusion and the immediate suspicion of foul play. The investigation begins, focusing on identifying the target and the nature of the explosive device.
  • Ildiko Krajnyak killed by a package bomb at her day spa.
  • Initial suspicion of terrorism or a copycat bomber.
  • Bomb identified as a flash powder bomb.
  • Investigators focus on identifying the intended target and anyone with expertise in explosives.

Shownotes Transcript

Translations:
中文

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available in all states and situations .

tonight on line, everybody. We have .

one confirmed .

fatality at this time.

I know you .

knew he was going.

I know IT was her. Hey.

little money.

He was just beautiful inside and out.

This is murder by bombing.

exact.

The husband was aware that ilda was cheating on him.

How are the other .

guys were there? I could.

Five or six.

Elizabeth hated her.

SHE sent ill photos, which we watch on television.

What's the most common motive in human history? For her, it's love.

If this is intentional, I would be a person of interest. Naturally.

IT was one of moments for my hair stick on the back of my net.

You thought that's the end? No.

if you watched state line.

there's always an .

end that wasn't .

in a bomb in a day spot. And a victim with a string of lovers means no shortage of suspects unless the halt. And this is deadline.

Here's josh mangos with death at the SPA.

Ali sov o is a leafy Green wedge of the suburban sprang that makes up southern california's mythic orange county. It's just down the road from where the real housewives live their best lives. Not a lot happens at at least of vio. And around here they like that .

emergency.

except on may fifteen, two thousand and eighteen, just past one. P. M, something did happen, something big.

I heard that I was on my ch. Break at home, and I like that .

weird honey. Selsea was about a mile away from what sounded to her like a huge explosion. Others close by saw the aftermath seconds later and begin recording. A two story commercial building had been severely damaged. Ale's co workers confirmed .

that he said what street was IT on. And they said.

mary blue with holy heard that SHE worried her friend ilda a das par on maraba.

please. Someone said.

had a gas left inside the building cause the explosion. Or could this be terrorism, either foreign or domestic? Within minutes, an orange county serf deputy at on scene, everybody dash camera recording. Five.

twenty one, her two twenty three of the body parts.

Loss of life was a guarantee. Someone had been blown literally two bits. Several limbs were on the ground.

Debris from the building was throwing across the street, the sulfurea smell of fireworks and a plum of White smoke filled the air. Salary stone was at work several miles away when he heard about the explosion. SHE immediately thought of her boyfriend, who helped run a SPA on maraba street.

was texting back and forth with Steven.

Stephen deal was at home that day, so right after he heard from gallery, his thoughts turned to ildico too. There were business partners at this point. He texted her in an apparent panic.

There was an explosion there. Ilda, are you okay? He got no response. He was calling .

every number he had for her, trying to reach her and no answer.

Steven wasn't the only one trying to reach ilda. Sarah Thomas had been at the pot that morning, getting her lashes done. Just a few hours later, Sarah saw the building where the SPA was located on the news.

I didn't really know what to think of IT. I just thought like, oh my gosh, there was a gas explosion like when I laugh.

did you try to contact that?

Look um I did. I texted asking if he was okay. You know you see IT and you don't want to believe IT either. You're hoping that maybe IT just looks like this in that area.

There was a news conference, Michael workers put IT on.

We arrived at the .

scene of an obvious explosion.

I didn't have to listen to IT. I knew what they were going to say.

We have one confirmed fatality at this time. There were two injuries. Both were transported to area hospitals. Holy died ild o cell phone with dread. My iphone .

was going to Green when IT should be going to blue, I know.

And SHE .

was going on.

I know .

was her. Police weren't saying IT, but they knew the same thing. Forty eight year old ilda crony was dead. The two women critically injured had been ilda s clients at the small.

One of them told the first responder how SHE saw l to go open a box and then an incident ent. Later came a bright light and then darkness as the shock wave hit and the building crumbled. On top of them, orange county shelves investigator jack Aaron had been called to the scene. To him. The explosion sounds and alarmingly familiar.

In march of that year in texas, there had been a person in doing package bombs.

Tonight, I suspected serial bomber may have struck again.

My had. I thought maybe somebody was doing a copy of that.

So acro en wondered where there more packages out there, maybe headed for other targets.

We started process of trying to interview people who might be close contacts with the victims.

They set up a tip line. Hundreds of calls came in, including one from Steven elder, cos business partner.

possibly had information .

to provide us. Stephen indicated he knew ilda well because he was ildico S. X, and helped her manage the SPA. He told the this matcher he'd tried in vain to reach ilda acron team drove thirty two miles north of eeo vio to where Stephen lived to ask some questions and also make sure he was safe.

We didn't know if the business was the target. We did not feel the co was the target. We didn't know if mr. Biel was a target .

when they got the Steven's house. Their concerns felt quite legit because some boxes had just been delivered.

IT was a horrific scene. A package bomb had gone off at a day spot in Alice ova. A woman had been killed, two others injured.

This isn't a towbar. You know, crime is rampant, or where things like this happen.

When things like this do happen, the FBI response, the burrows joint terrorism task force mobilized, special agent Ashley miracle, was assigned to speak with the surviving victims. Lead agent nick veasey a went straight to the scene.

We had a massive debris field, huge crime scene, and we wanted to initially come up with an investigative plan and a plan to process the crime soon as possible.

Obama was on the loose, and other potential targets were out there. Agent vsi a knew timing was everything. He set up a command post staff, ed, around the clock. Orange county share of deputies have arrived at the home of ilda s business partners Stephen bail, and saw he'd just received some packages.

are made quick contact with them so that we can make sure that was safe.

Forum they had Stephen, step outside.

Can they go inside and .

take .

look at this right? As you open the door, the packer to the left, there's three. And there in a day.

Stephen SAT, with investigators in their car while the bomb squad went to work in his house. They were not devices. They were benie. They were benie, right?

So he'd been doing some remodeling in his house, and he was getting packages with various items as free modeling.

Stephen didn't appear to be a target, so was ilda argument. Believe the answer was yes.

Based off of her injuries and in our experts and the interviews with the surviving victims, that was more likely going to .

be a homicide. This is murdered .

by bombing.

exactly. Investigators asked Steven the usual first question.

If you were going to try to figure on who would want to hurt her or her business, who would your best get be? I cannot come up with a single thought for who would ever want to hurt her.

Of course he's own ties to l. Go put him on the list of people to rule in or out. Stephen understood that and conceded to a search of his hole while he continued to talk about ilga. SHE was .

always smiling. SHE had great advice for people, you know, SHE cared SHE went out of her way to to, you know, is your .

burden investigators? We're speaking with ilda s friends, too. And her story quickly started to emerge.

Hand look at he's a cute little funny i'll get the years he was just .

beautiful insight out.

Ilda was a well respected institution who had been recommended to holy how was he wonderful .

from the very beginning?

Wonderful technically, or a wonderful as a person, or about VOA SHE made .

me feel like a friend right from the start.

Harley was going through some hard times then, and ilda was a good listener. They connected the same way. Hairdresser sometimes become a data bank of their client secrets .

I confide in in her. SHE confided in me.

They had some things in common. They were both boy moms.

SHE loved her son. He was number one.

talked him all the time.

Yes, just like I talked about mine.

there was another frequent topic goes relationships with man and not just the one he had with her husband of twenty two years.

I knew he had her boyfriends on the side.

How many other guys were there?

I could, five or six. There is always .

someone holy didn't approve of illegal affairs, but he did understand them.

SHE just wanted to be loved. And he loved attention from men.

Her husband, not one of those man.

no.

What was wrong in that marriage?

I do believe from what he said, he was a good man. You know, he took care of her mother, very good to her mother, but he just wanted to feel loved. And they grew apart .

when ilda at her husband, ronnel of a steel, met. Ilda had recently moved to the us from her native hungry ilda s. Cousin eva bony says their relationship was beautiful.

They were very cute. Cup ball and you in .

love tell.

yes, of course, just a warmness, what they have between them.

They had a son who was now in college, and along away something in the marriage changed. He wasn't sure .

what he would not um give me her private life nor asking me my opinion that was her live like hilda .

s friend and plant Sarah and knew about ilda s extra meats adventures. Did l cos husband know what was going on in in her romantic life?

I assumed. So SHE did make IT seem like they had an arrangement.

Was ilda planning to end that arrangement. When Sarah saw her the morning of the explosion, it'll go talk about a man he had recently started seeing.

SHE said, I wanna be with him. I don't want to to be dating all these people and that he was going to move forward with this.

Get a couple of hours after that conversation with Sarah at her pot IT look, IT was gone. Now, an intense investigation was underway into ilda s life. Investigators learned he had recently returned from hungry agents, pulled her travel info for the day is leading up to the explosion, and they request at her cell phone records. They also spoke with ilda s husband, ran ilo, who actually found them when .

the explosion happened. He came down to the scene. He tried to ask if l. ca. Was OK.

Those feel like the actions of a person who .

did .

not involvement IT felt to us. What we observed was a frantic individual looking for information.

Royo said he was at work when his brother told him there was an explosion on mara blue and one person had died. He said he wasn't sure if ildico had returned from hungry, so he texted asking if he was back in town. Ildico did not respond, and that's when running o says he drove to ilda spd.

Can we tell him anything you did? We see if her car was in the parking lot?

Investigators couldn't answer any of the ills questions, so they told him to go hole to the house he shared with ill to go.

We put a survey ance team him right away. Um so we were watching his movements .

when Riley made at all ill goes cousin eva met him there.

I ask him, what does he know and he said he doesn't know anything.

And then came a knock at the door.

five to six, like a military style without die for people, entered the house.

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Forty eight year old ilda chron yak had been killed by an explosion after he opened the package at her day, small investigators had ruled out any connection to those texas bombings and now believed ilda was the intended target. The big questions were why, who built the device and how did you get to her SPA with an explosive device .

that that they all have their unique signatures, the chemicals, how was contained, how was delivered, how was gone off? So you kind of working from inside out to trying to find the person or person's responsible .

FBI bomb technicians told the agent niche asia. The device that killed alda was a flash powder bomb hidden inside the cardboard box. Ildico s client saw her open right before the blast. Agent miracle spoke with her. I but I don't .

remember a team that her recollection of that was very good.

As they continue to collect evidence from the debris bomb text were identifying the components of the explosive device. They found the jacket of A C V S brand nine volt battery completely split open. Cells from the battery were found lodged in the ceiling right above where the bomb went off. Investigators believed that battery powered the bomb. The bomb itself tells you that .

you're looking for someone who has some specific specialized skills. This is not a device that just anybody could make great.

We were looking for anybody with experience with chemicals and eleven c fusing systems.

That's a fairly sophisticated piece of knowledge in both those cases.

very much so investigators needed to find whoever that was. The night of the explosion, what looked like a swat team showed up at eight to go at her husband, ronnie's house. Milo, as he was called, was there with illegal cousin. Eva asked .

why you guys saw here, and nor was very calm. But I was keep asking them and they couldn't give me as they told me that .

we don't know anything. Map s five agents went through the house inch by inch. The search continued overnight, and into the next day, a news chopper captured the scene.

Okay, I got them. Bring your stuff out all. Everyone going to follow her mother .

with a package when I was over to the house .

look like a torna. And IT was upsides. yes.

By now, IT was clear to eva ildico had been killed in the explosion at her pot, and that law enforcement was taking a hard look at rilla.

Did you at any point think that ilo could be a suspect?

Never, ever in my life.

I mean, in this country, sadly, marriages break up and husband's kill their x wives mean, that happens.

yeah. But I would never ever believe that that nilo, I would believe that the neighbor, or anyone else, but not the .

the investigators, wanted to know a lot more from rilla about his relationship with his wife and husbands still live together. But they lived separate lives.

They lived in the same home. They were raising a child together. They had dinner um on a regular basis together.

But I mean, he was dating man who were not her husband and he was aware of that.

I think he had a .

sense of maybe but during his interview, ron ilo expressed nothing but love and respect for ilda to investigators, and they found nothing suspicious. And rilla and ilda goes .

home A O one .

day after the explosion, law enforcement finally released ilda s name. Eva stood outside elda s place as a family. Friends spoke to the press. Is this a complete shock to family and friends? We are in full support of our public authorities to do their jobs in hopes of finding answers to many of the unanswered questions.

Who didn't want .

you a little show?

I didn't think anybody.

what you'd never heard her, express any fear of anybody?

No, but I knew that he had complicated relationships. I don't know. Maybe somebody SHE was. I don't know what he was. Max, step in.

maybe ran. Ilo did when he spoke with investigators. He did share a couple of interesting details. There was a handy man and a max who had a key to illic SPA ran ilo quoted ilda as saying. Max would sometimes park overnight in a lot and sleep in his car.

So we definite wanted to talk with a handymen.

When they did, nothing alarming stood out. They moved on. Rhino also talked about a woman who'd been sending him angry messages recently. SHE was upset that ildico o had gotten between her and her husband Stephen bell had mentioned this same couple.

That i'll put somebody on the right are screen .

pretty quickly, yes, and and I did quickly.

Ilda chrome had been in someone's cross hair. As a result, he was dead. Now investigators had heard twice about a couple ild o had somehow become entangled with a couple that lived in a sov o just a few miles from response. They were Elizabeth and gibor pp names familiar to ila gos friends tell me about the bar.

SHE had a little fling .

with ham holy, said ildico mEdgar. In two thousand fifteen.

they had an intimate relationship.

As far as I know, IT was a complicated relationship too. The major complication here being that SHE and gore were both married.

He thought he was going to leave his wife and end up before .

ago that did not happen. Instead, there was a confrontation at ilda SPA after Elizabeth said he found the bar and ildico having sex, voices were raised and IT got physical, unclear who started that in the end. Gabor return to Elizabeth two years later, ilda poked gabor on facebook. According to Elizabeth, he also began seeing ildico driven by their hole, and Elizabeth responded. SHE sent ildico some photos.

which we won't show on television, but they were intimate photos, sort of painting ilda that I got him, his mind. Now, what do you say about getting those photos? Wonga boar's wife.

I thought SHE was crazy sending another woman .

photos like that. Even so, holy says ilda never expressed any fear of Elizabeth. Should we have taken the history of that love triangle a little more seriously? FBI agents were wondering the same thing last twenty four hours.

You're talking at the paps about their relationship with the go, correct?

Elizabeth told the agents a long todd's story about ill that goes affair with her husband, about the shouting fight at ilga spt, and about how ilga had tried to reconnect with gabor. That's when the scored wife Elizabeth texted the scored husband, rilla SHE almost destroyed my family. Enough is enough.

And then this just a month and a half before the explosion. Neo, please ask your wife to stop contacting me or my husband. He did IT again.

Any contact from her is not welcomed for us. Rhino texted back, suggesting sheet block ilda on facebook, to which Elizabeth th responded, really, you're so blind and accept what your wife is doing. Instead of stepping up, be a man Elizabeth .

was very fourth write of her feelings failed o like ild .

go and it's came from an affair that ill to go head with her husband. correct?

The phase gave investigators consent to search their devices and their home.

There is no evidence that uh her or her husband had any knowledge or materials to detonate device in this matter.

You didn't find anything.

nothing.

No evidence of bomb making maybe, but Elizabeth th sure seemed on the verge of detonating. Whenever he talked about ildico, SHE told the burrow they should have no trouble finding suspects because the men in ildico s life were a never ending revolving door and agents knew theyd have to speak with every one of them IT doesn't sound with the ilga was very concerned for her own .

safety SHE didn't think there was anything to be nervous about .

Sarah on the other hand worried and SHE couldn't help but wonder about a guy. He saw ilda with the morning of .

the explosion. SHE came out of her room, rushed with keys and male in her hand. And that's win. The guy was starting to come towards us and SHE sort of .

shoot him off .

would look like he appeared to be pretty tall, bigger, gray hair. I asked who IT was, and SHE said, old.

just a friend. Ilda didn't share any details. That was all sort .

of insignificant to me. IT didn't seem out of the ordinary. And until you leave a place in, a bomb goes off, then everything weird.

Which is why SHE contacted law forceful, and soon FBI agents were at her door. They asked me .

to try to identify who I saw that day, which I could not do.

They show you any photos.

yeah, but they were like your books size, like this small, really grainy, bad photos on a paper like this. And so all I could tell them at the time was, is definitely not him.

Turns out the man Sarah saw that morning showed up at the SPA after the explosion because he had lunch plans within A O his name was Scott mali, and investigators spoke with him.

He told us that he and the o metic casino few weeks prior, he dropped off in the airport when he went to hungry and he offered to picker up.

It'll to go. agreed. And so he picked up from lx the night before they spent the evening together, and he drove ilda to respond the next morning.

And so certainly wasn't any bad blot into them.

No, when investigators looked at the video from L. X, there he was without to go at baggage claim. He seemed to be telling the truth.

Even so, they checked his records and searched his car and home. And there was this before landing at L. X, ild go made to stop at the sand from cisco airport.

Investigators obtained that video too. There was ilda and SHE wasn't alone. Who was that investigators needed to find out.

When investigators obtain article chronic x travel information, they saw that before landing in l ax on her way home from hungry sh'd made to stop at the same Frances go airport.

we got the airport video we saw .

coming through customs. They also saw that ilda wasn't alone. This turned out to be a man named lazlo sabo, who is that IT .

was a person. SHE was a often on dating. And he went on the trip to angry with an ilda.

flew back to the states together and parted ways. In inference, cisco, before ilda caught a flight to L. A. And that Scott, you talk with them last long, told investigators he'd been in hungary for the last few weeks and he hadn't visited southern california in months. Investigators had plenty to keep them busy, including indicates business partner Stephen veel, whose house they were searching his girl for, a vallery said on the day after the bombing, Stephen couldn't stop thinking about IT ago.

And he's like, gotten got this weight, you know, on his shoulder and he's like really concerned about what's going on with the investigation. And so that point we decided to go to the police department.

He comes down to our our release of the ho substation and says he had like to talk to investigators and charge the investigation.

So investigate action from the orge county share of department and an FBI agent SAT down with Steven. That conversation .

was recorded before .

we started here, voluntarily came. And he just randomly started sharing bits of information about the relationship in the business.

Stephen was a grandfather, now a little war, with four adult children. He and l. Don met in two thousand and sixteen when they both swipe right on a dating APP and then immediately hit IT off.

We went away that we were uh exclusively dating and with one another. And you know all of those sort of texts that you send a three clock in the morning when you can sleep, you know, I miss you, I miss you were here. You know, I was not the saying, you know.

over time, Stephen says he got involved .

with ildico SPA together. So and we're doing that business and quite successfully.

And while their business appeared to be thriving, their romantic relationship started falling apart about a year and a half of IT. Steven said. Ild go seemed to be .

hiding something. I confronted her with some change behavior, like whatever mean. Well, when we first started dying, SHE gave me a access to, you know, he gave me her sententious for her united account, very little things like and then um SHE at one point, just for seemingly no reason SHE, please change your .

password. Stephen new full, whe ilda was married to someone else, but until then he thought he was the only other man in her life. Now he realized world traveller ilda was also a frequent flier in the world of romance.

The issue was for me, you know, why and why are you trying to hide IT? Because the reality is, if he said, SHE accompany and said, you know, I really think that I wanted, like, open up our relationship. Look that I don't want to be exclusive.

If I wanted, you know, date other man, I was okay. What was the hiding? IT see the plan to see.

Steven said the path of their relationship reminded him of a .

song you wake up in the morning Carrying on one of us is changing or maybe we just not trying. You know, something is IT is on this.

And now IT was too late. Ildico o had been killed by a package bomb that ripped open their SPA. Stephen once again said he had no idea who could be behind IT.

Like your deal is no means motive than an opportunity. And I don't know people, but I don't know anybody that have the motive. Okay, what about the million?

I don't know what's in my garage. I don't know what chemical they found. So I, you know, I suppose I could probably fall into that category. The chemicals, right?

Law enforcement tends to pay attention when you tell them you could be a suspect in the crime they're currently working on. And investigators who were at that moment still searching Stephens's house had found large quantities of explosive chemicals in Stevens. Steven said there was a simple explanation for that. He used to make his own fireworks and was a long time rocket hobby est .

friend of mine. And I build model rocket. And I started this years ago when my kids were little and IT got to be almost an obsession. And so, like we built the twenty five or six inch diameter four .

state rock IT had been years since he built one, he said. And those chemicals were just sitting in the government unused investigator argument. Wanted to know .

more when they do their analysis of chemicals found there, chemicals found in your own own, that would be a coincident of the same. Again, I don't remember what chemicals are around in the house because I haven't. I haven't taken them down.

Look to them, I them, and even know where they were. IT is an xi zer, and me sure there was some sort of an xi zer that was in the blob that was based because you have to. And if IT clearly is possible that I have that oxidizer .

an oxidizer, meaning a chemical agent that helps ign fuel and cause an explosion with .

someone with your type of experience, be able to convert that into something on a bigger scale. I saw the devastation, the actors of those reports. I have no idea how you would, I like, put something together that will. That we call us something like that.

Every man now had his doubts about that.

I know what mr. Will was thinking. He came in there and dog you, but if he was trying to get himself out at the spotlight, light IT feels like he did exactly the opposite.

You definitely put himself as more of a person of interest as that interview .

went on and Stephen bill wasn't done.

He gives us a lot of these Victoria's details to things that really don't make much of anything except for kind of elude to what's going through his his mind.

Maybe like the idea he was about to reveal for a screaming play about an assam.

I can't believe, is telling me the story.

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Stephen bell had walked himself into the aleo via o sheriff station, and over several hours he had talked himself. It's a more trouble than he was already in.

The whole interview is is odd to me down from the beginning.

because why is there right the .

interview had feared in is some truly bizarre territory. Steven told them about a screenplay he was writing about a soccer mom who was a part time assessing, and she's very good.

SHE planned every step of the way SHE covers her track.

He also told several jokes. Then he performed a magic trick on someone in the process of investigating a murder.

He did the public coin from behind my ear kind of track. You kidding me? No, I was blown away.

unusual? yes. Then again, Stephen was also an aspiring actor.

How many more people are gonna have to die before you do something useful?

Stephen had worked for years as an executive consultant, he said, and was on disability. Now he was apparently looking forward to turning this new unfortunate set of circumstances. IT is something positive, as he shared a conversation he'd had with his girlfriend vallery .

after the explosion. Actually, when you get past all this, you need to do risky stand up comedy routine about IT because there's a lot of really potentially humorous animates that are just wrapped up in the most intense life situation and and you know, the audience can relate to to what you're going through. And so with britain in a new hust manner, people to be entertaining.

I've never experiences that in all the interviews i've done in my place here. I think he thinks he's out sMarting.

Everybody wrong again.

By then, acr man was not entertained. He was convinced. You said.

you have the means. Now look at the traditional modes of a homeside. And there's couple motives there that stand out.

Do do you think that you fall into the category of a heavy? Those motives? love? No, no. Okay, I rely on evidence.

but in my heart you got ta get to the you.

In my heart.

I got thinking, he's not definitely who killed her.

They had no evidence linking Steven build directly to illius s murder. However, in the search of his home, investigators found what looked like sticks of dynamic you'd see as props on a movie set.

This morning, we learned fifty nine year old Stephen bill was arrested.

So the friends arrested in not for murder, but for being in possession of unregistered destructive devices. Acumen had some reservations about the arrest. You knew evidence in the case was still scarce.

I wanted to get to the bottom of a homicide and not arrest somebody for having some type of devices.

So you wanted to follow around for couple of days and see what that happens.

I wanted to fall m around. I wanted another chance to interview him, talked him again at a later date, any variety of other investigative techniques, what I would prefer.

And the road wanted him locked up.

yes.

Then about a week later, Stephen bell made headlines again.

This was a very unusual move by federal prosecutors. They went to a .

judge over .

the weekend to ask the .

charges be dismissed against Stephen bal.

federal prosecutor .

mark tackle. The FBI lab examiner could not rule out these items as possibly being .

used in rockery. And he walks out of the lockup.

He does ilit goes. Friends didn't know what to think.

I just didn't know if they were ever gonna find find the person responsible.

I was very upset. I don't understand .

that you thought that the end?

No, because if you watched date line, there's always an end and that wasn't IT.

Oh, she's right. This wasn't the end because a mundane, an ingredient of the bomb that killed elder co, was about to become a key piece of evidence when video surfaced of this guy purchasing a nine vole battery just days before the bombing.

IT was one of moments for my hair stick on the back .

of my neck and later sting Operation.

I had a sign documents so they could go in and put cameras and listening devices in our room. That was a nightmare .

that does not point to the killer.

There's not just two people in the room. There's like what twenty five except twenty three of them. We're watching .

and listening. IT was some extremely stressful.

For some people, finding love is easy. Others don't have the same kind of luck. Like gallery stone.

i've dated people who were still stuck on their axes, and that obviously doesn't work out.

In her online dating profile, valery warned those guys away .

must not be stuck in the pastor, stuck on your act or ah something like that and cause I was so tired of IT.

you want to weed out those guys who can't move on on exactly.

I mean, who wants to be in a relationship with someone who doesn't really want to be with you?

Then SHE came across Stephen bill's photo, and SHE swiped right. So today, a few days later, they met for dinner, and he says they instantly connected.

IT was great. We just no holds bar on the conversation. We talked about anything and everything. Complete honesty .

and right away, Steven brought up ilda his x.

he was completely up fine, he says, were no longer dating. She's moved on. She's dating other people.

Any indication he was thinking about her?

Not at all.

Stephen told gallery. He and l tico were still business partners.

but that was all I was completely OK with IT. They were friends. He had nothing but nice things to say about I. I never saw anything in terms of anger .

towards her. And you were probably .

listening for that. Warn you, you bet I was only .

a month after that first date. Stephen deal was at the center of the investigation into ilda s murder and had been arrested for possession of unregistered .

destructive devices. Okay, now vary reality. Jack, is there any feeling in your head saying, maybe this is not the guy I thought he was, maybe this is not the person I should be involved with?

Yes, I thought across my mind. I guess the thing is, is i've had so many poor relationships that, and this one was going well up until this horrific incident happened, that IT was colleague. But if he is not guilty, where could this possibly go? How good could this be? Now maybe that sounds like i'm desperate.

That's what is not where I was going. Foolish might be where I was going OK. I also need to point out to you that there are other men out there, online and elsewhere, who are not targets of law enforcement.

True, he didn't have hand cuts on up until that point.

because that point is the point where a lot of people might think of themselves. This is where I get off the Steven .

bell express. yeah.

And here you are when .

the government dropped those charges, vallery was there to take Stephen home, still wearing his jail issue jump suit with his belongings in .

his and and U N T even both think that's IT. We're done.

Nightmare over yes. The next day, says vallery, SHE and Stephen were running errands when suddenly they realized they had company.

We're going down the freeway and I see an orange carney share. Next thing I know is behind me and his lights are on I was just like of god, pull over and like, what do you see whose car with you don't like? Yeah and you guys released him from jail. Drop the change of the charges.

What's the problem? Deputies searched ed, their car, while gallery hit record.

Those who are posters, you can open them. We spent about three hours on the side the road, and they brought in a bomb sniffing dog. And I swear, there were probably thirteen cars behind us.

They uncovered exactly nothing to vallery IT felt like harassment. And even though vallery and Stephen were allowed to leave, Steven's daughter charlie Brown says he knew the search for evidence against her father was not over. They want to bring whoever did this to justice, and they clearly want IT to be him. For investigators, coming through that evidence was a huge task.

We continue to analyze hundreds of, not thousands of hours of C, C, T, V footage, tens of thousands of digital media from both alico, Stephen, bill, other family and friends, business records, financial records and IT takes a long time to process microbes of evidence.

When a bomb goes off, just serve slowly.

building a case we wanted to do IT right?

yeah. Then came what looked like a major clue, a deep dive at the Stevens financial records LED to this purchase.

We found him buying a twelve by six by six box.

and we were able to obtain C, C, T, V. Footage of hmi. Nah, that was at a story right around the corner from the SPA.

about a week before the bombing.

The box matched the description of the one the surviving witness said ildico was opening at the moment of her death. Then there was this. Bank records also showed Stephen beal getting cash from this ATM when an investigator familiar with the area saw that. You remember red that just down the street was a cvs store. He checked the stories, security video and that guy you saw at the register, it's Steven bill one week before the bombing, buying a cvs brand single nine vote battery and paying in cash that changed everything for me.

IT was very compelling at at one point you have to start and see one of the coincidences.

stop with the battery and that's your .

bomber create. What's more, investigators were now hearing stories suggesting Stephen and ildico relationship was not at all like the ones Stephen n had described to investigators. There was one night he told him he was out to dinner with holy, and he apparently didn't take her word for IT.

He did not believe that he was with me. So he kept blowing up her phone, texting her, calling her. He assumed he was with another man when we walked out of the restaurant. He was there. He, he was pretty angry that night.

pretty .

well. Stories about jealousy are not evidence of murder. And if Stephen had trouble moving on earlier, that seemed to have fast. A couple of months after the explosion, Stephen certainly seen serious about vallery.

He wrote me a love letter, and at the end of the letter asked me to medium.

do you have to think about at all?

No, I didn't. I'd moved into the house. I mean, i'd been through everything in his household, socks, doors. I mean.

do you want .

exactly? I mean, I did my due diligence in the house. You know, I didn't see anything that was .

of concern .

way I did charleen approved. Think she's good for him. I think he's good for her.

And he doesn't shy away from my guy who has already seen the inside of the lockup.

I said to her that if you, at any point, decide to walk away, not that IT matters what we think, but none of us would plain you. I mean, if i'd been dating someone for four to six weeks and this all happened all, be honest, i'd probably piece .

out there, right? But she's stuck around.

but he stuck around. That loyalty of varies was about to be tested.

You another proposal? Yes, this one from some guys in gray suits.

yeah.

And you had to say yes. To that time.

I didn't feel I had a choice.

In the california road trip republic, we believe you take adventure for a ride, whether coastal cruizing, mountain muratori or redwood, rooming ing, discover beauty around every turn. Your road trip can kick off from anywhere, starting route, but you should always start at visit california, 点 com, bugle up, create those tunes, and discover why california is the ultimate playground. Hey, i'm your shahid, and i'm the host of the optimistic project.

This is the podcast that asks what gives you hope. Each week I sit down with change makers you may or may not know from comedy, music, academia and more to uncover what inspires them to create a Better tomorrow. Join us as we find out ways that we can cultivate optimism in our own lives. You can find the optimism project wherever you get your podcast. Don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode.

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Vati stone and Stephen bell were engaged. He gave her a ring, a damon, solitary.

是 little .

over care。 IT.

very nice.

IT is.

sometimes an engagement is when people drop by with gifts, not these guys.

They pull up in a black superman and ask me to get in. So I get in in and they said, we're going to go off sight.

We need, need to talk to you. IT was the FBI. They showed up of her work and draw gallery to a nearby park.

And they say, okay, leave all your electronics in the car.

Then SHE says, two agents walked in one direction, while the agent in charge walked in the opposite direction with salary.

He has a file and he shows me some pictures of the inside the building after explosion. And then I think there was one of Stephen buying boxes or something .

all that supposed to both horrify you as to what the crime actually was and also suggest that they have evidence that he's involved. yeah.

The friends were asking gallery to become what they call a CoOperating witness. You might call that an informant.

They were trying to get me to get him to admit that he is the one who package up the box and that he had used the box that he had bought to make the box.

Feller says he believed that if he turned them down, her reputation would suffer. And SHE also felt IT was the right thing to do.

I said, I want you guys to catch the person to do this.

You know, even if it's Steven.

even if it's Steven, I told I didn't think IT was.

but if IT is, i'm OK with him being locked up.

IT was such a horrendous crime that whoever did did this to eda deserves to be behind bars. And if I was Steven, IT was Steven.

How would you bring herself to get the man SHE love to admit this, such a terrible crime?

I was like all we were doing.

the smell bit win high value, says the FBI, wanted in on the romantic getaway. SHE and Stephen, her plan, and they offered some free upgrades that aren't usually included in .

the resort fee, like, okay, we will pay for the hotel. So for them to pay for the hotel, I had a sign documents so they could go in and put cameras and listen devices in our room. That was a nightmare.

There's not just two people in the room. There's like what twenty five except twenty three up. We're watching and listening. You guys have fun that weekend.

Not a lot. No, IT was extreme stressful. Your boyfriend thinking.

this is great. We can leave all our troubles behind and have a nice week. In the other, you're thinking, maybe I can get him to confess to a murder. Are you a Better or worse actress than you thought you were?

It's Better than I thought I was.

They also bug salaries, car and her phone and IT turns out they did have a gift, a necklace with a hidden listening device to be warned the entire weekend.

Steven did not say, where do you get that? Actually.

I had a reason. I said, all look what I found. I hadn't seen this. And forever I thought I lost IT.

I mean, that to me is like you delivering for them.

I was trying I mean, I I tried very hard agents .

for sensa and miracle were there for IT is a nice weekend.

I we didn't really .

enjoy the weekend perhaps because the dinner was the railed SHE brought up ildico.

brought up the bombing, tried to get him to discuss IT great. And he didn't really incremental himself at all.

He didn't really talk .

about IT at all. The FBI wouldn't give us the tape, but apparently the Operation was the best.

I was doing everything within my power to get him to do something and nothing, no confession.

FBI agents continue to keep up close eyes on Steven online. They found his acting real.

I believe that that an actor has to have a life outside of the camera. Art illuminates life, but also life illuminates art.

He spent more money getting classes and lessons that he did ever making any money from acting.

Welcome to show yeah.

what you mean by that.

what you so when Stephen was cast in the plate, twelve angry jurors, the FBI was in the audience. We were there to to watch the aspiring actor play the role of a jury, four person in a murder trial.

Just remember that this is a first degree murder charge. So if we return a verdict of guilty, the accused goes to the electric chair.

The bureau went to the plane because agents were investigating Steven's disability claims. They learned he'd been on disability for more than a decade because Stephen said he suffered from a difficult to be communicating memory laws and an inability to read.

He was able to memorize lines and recite them, which was contrary to what he was providing on the disability forms as things that he was not able to do.

He had, no, he was still in the f he.

and yes, he was concerned about IT. But you can't let that stop you from living your life, something he loves to do. And I know pretty interesting play that he chose to be into.

maybe a surprising choice, or maybe not a surprise.

you be appointed choice.

Because the message of that play is how people can believe one thing, all of them. And then IT turns out what they thought they believe actually isn't .

true right now. Stephen bills off stage life was about to take yet another turn.

This was over.

I thought I was over hard breaking IT was just the beginning.

March third, two thousand and nineteen, IT was a sunday. Stephen had left to run some errands.

I was so bad. Kiss me goodbye.

Then vallery s phone. Ray Steven was calling.

and he's like, i've just been arrested and then hands the phones to the special agent in charge .

this time IT was the charges and not the vacation that received an upgrade. mr. Bill was arrested person to a federal criminal complaint that charges him with a malicious destruction of a building resulting in death. The charge Carries a potential sentence of life in federal prison without the possibility of parole.

This adds up to a murder charge in terms of what he's facing. correct. What sort of got you over the hub?

The lab finished its analysis and conclusions of all the hundreds of pieces of evidence that we submitted to them that .

sounds like there was not any one particular thing.

IT was sort of the totality of everything adding up.

He's in shock .

and you must have been .

to I really was. I was there's like, no way there's no way they have a case against them.

And so days, weeks, months went by. Stephen bell SAT behind bars without bond gallery, once again stood by her. Man.

you've never felt like you were at risk by being was Steven. Never if all this ends were an acquittal and he walks out of jail of free. Man, you still have no worries. No, you believe him.

Hardly.

you love him.

Yes.

do you believe in because you love him?

No, no, I believe in, because I believe is not with the associate athor psychopaths.

Murderer is the word.

yeah, he is not a murderer either.

Proving that Stephen deal was a murderer became the job of federal prosecutors. Mark tcha, an animal. T salek you confident you got the right person?

Absolutely one .

hundred percent.

The case finally went to trial in two thousand and twenty two, four years after the explosion, prosecutors reminded the jury, ilda wasn't the only victim. Two other women have four years dealt with the medical repercussions from that blast. The government played for the jury an excerpt of a poem, Stephen, being recorded for ildico, while they were dating.

I love how when I dream of my life partner, the only person that I can see is you.

They told the jury Stephen bill was obsessed and in factual with a deco, and when he learned of her deceit, he was humiliated. The government showed photos found on Stephen bill's phone of ilda s text conversation in hungaria with her sand from cisco guy lazlo zab o. Prosecutors said. Stephen found those texts while on a trip with the go just two months before the explosion.

And so the only reason that we could determine why he would take those pictures is so that they get those translated later on.

In those tests, laslo and ildico are discussing plans to go dancing during ilda s tripped a hungry, according to prosecutors, IT was then that Stephen made his plan to kill ildico.

He knew how to make rockets and fireworks, and those are the exact things one needs to know how to make to make a bomb. And he used that to end her life.

Prosecutors also showed jars of video investigators found of Steven demonstrating how to safely mix explosive chemicals when making homemade fireworks.

The advantage of this method is that even if you're using highly sensitive materials, this is extremely gentle and will not cause the formulation to Spark or self at night.

That shows .

the expertise, argue that via ploss device .

and do IT, you know, the person has to be really confident that they're able to put this thing together without killing themselves. And that is a special, special skills set in electrical and chemistry.

The government told the jury Stephen used materials he had in his home to build the bomb, including an oxidizer which caused the bombs, distinct grades.

White smoke. The forensic evidence was clear. The chemical residue that was found at the scene that was determined to part of the bomb was from the same specific types of chemicals that Stephen bill kept in his home.

Prosecutors said that just days before the explosion, Stephen deal bought two items to complete the bomb package, a box and that cvs brain non vote battery.

What are the odds that somebody else purchase a battery from that lot available during that time, same kind of battery as was in the ball?

I'm not a statistician, I can talk to probability. But what I can say is that Stephen, bill purchased the exact same type make a model of battery that the evident shows was part of the bomb.

And because Stephen was involved in ilda s business and had full access to her schedule, prosecutors said he found the perfect moment to plant the ball. Then he waited.

He repeatedly, for no reason that we could design, was checking her appointment schedule and her facebook account over and over on the day, he knew he would be returning to the united states, to the spar to see clients.

And there was this, prosecutors told the jury Stephen was searching for information online about whether a narcy st could beat a polygraph test.

And so that suggested that he is thinking of a polygraph.

and he thinks that of self was an aris.

correct? According to Stephen wheeler's defenced, what that really showed was a massive case tunnel vision.

The entire force of their investigation was proving Stephen did IT, rather than finding out who actually killed the alpha.

And they were about to tell the jury how the government's case appear to be a strong one, but not if you look just below the surface.

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starting route.

but you should always start at visit california dot com, then buggles up, create those tunes and discover why california is the ultimate playground. Hey, i'm your shahid, and i'm the host of the optimistic project. This is the podcast that asks what gives you hope.

Each week I sit down with change makers you may or may not know from comedy, music, academia and more to uncover what inspires them to create a Better tomorrow. Join us as we find out ways that we can cultivate optimism in our own lives. You can find the optimism project wherever you get your podcast. Don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode.

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Was this the murder trial of an obsessed, spurned lover? No, said his defense. Stephen bill was simply a hopeless romantic.

One of the the themes is that mr. Bill was a jilted x lover. It's a nice sound by, it's great for TV, but the evidence directly refuted that crying .

hard ball was Stephen bills lead defense attorney. He told the jury the relationship between his client and ild o con yc was complex that even after he'd moved on, Stephen still cared for her and SHE for him. These tests were exchanged just a couple of weeks before the explosion. They will to go to Steven, miss you. When do we get to cuddle seconds later, Stephen to ilda, miss you to love.

The strongest piece of evidence is mr. Bil's total lack of motive.

He said there were plenty of others with a motive to kill ildico people who weren't thoroughly examined. Like Elizabeth pp, the woman who despised the deco for getting involved with her husband.

Elisabeth hated her, wanted her out of her life and made IT very clear in all of her communications.

IT got to the point where Elizabeth reached out to ellice's husband, ran ilo cheat.

demanded that you do something about IT chAllenged his masculine ity when he wouldn't stop ildico that was about .

a month and a half before the explosion. When Elizabeth took the stand, he said he had nothing to do with ilit goes murder, even though he knew that after the explosion, law enforcement would seeker around. And when they did, the defense argued the FBI search of the pops home was perfunctory at best, as demonstrated by these photos taken at the scene, the .

photographs are completely eligible. They're completely dark, in contrast to the hundreds of photos taken of mr. Bill's home.

the perhaps particularly Elizabeth were dismissed too quickly as possible suspects, said the defense, as was max, a handy man who had full access to ila o .

sweet SHE was reporting for fear of max being there.

The defense pointed out to the jury that the cameras in the building, we're not working at the time, and a handy man would have .

known that. So we knew he could get in and out of ilga SPA without ever being seen.

And of course, there was l. dago's. Husband who had some pretty obvious reasons to be angry with her.

The husband was aware that ilda was cheating on him while they lived under the same roof.

And as for the government's evidence against Stephen bell, the defense argued there were easy explanations for some of IT. For example, that nine val battery he bought with .

cash IT makes sense that Stephen wood have purchase that battery ild code needed ni val batteries as a regular part of her business.

And the box, the government said, contained the bomb. Stephen was remodelling his home, packing up his belongings and moving them around. The defense argued purchasing a box wasn't unusual.

He used his staples rewards card, not hiding who he was.

The defense said the government could not prove that box had been used to make the bomb, despite one of the blast survivors saying IT was very similar. And they said the chemicals, the FBI found that is home. We're simply part of a harmless hobby, building rockets and fireworks. And as for Stevens online research about passing a polygraph exam, the defense had an explanation.

mr. Peel happen, offered in an audition to be a polygraph. That search was, within days of that audition.

simply puts at the defense. Law enforcement got the wrong guy.

mr. Bill is a warm, funny, kind of quirky older man, has raised children, has grandchildren, loves his hobbies, which unfortunately, those hobby made him a target of law enforcement. Here.

seven weeks of trial, sixty six witnesses. Now, Steven's fate was in the hands of twelve strangers. The jury, probably he did IT, but i'm not firmly convinced he did IT probably .

is not good enough. Probability is is not good enough.

Stephen bills life and Stephen bills art, or on a collision course.

Okay, just remember, this has to be a twelve another vote. Either way, anyone not want to vote all those in favor of guilty.

raise your hands here. He was acting in real life. Stephen was literally a captive audience, as the case against him was laid out for jurors, critics who would have the final say. We SAT down with three of those jurors, marisel a clouds and milk.

He had the materials, and he had to.

absolutely. And I think we all agreed on that. Those were some of the first things we checked off that no matter what sid fell on and IT, we all agreed that he had the means to do IT.

He had the knowledge to do IT. The question was whether he acted on that knowledge. That's where jr. struggled. They didn't disagree about whether Steven had purchased a novel battery, only about whether IT was part of the bom B2Class. There was no doubt that IT was there's only one way something gets shot into the ceiling at at that kind of speed and that if it's sitting right on top of the the thing that that nates sala .

wasn't so sure, you were not convinced ultimately that the manual battery was part of the bomb.

not be under reasonable debt.

And there was the motive or lack of one based on .

what you heard in that courtroom. Was Stephen bell obsessed with her? And was he so furious that SHE no longer wanted to be with him that he killed her? As a result.

he wasn't obvious from the testimony that that he was the kind of person who would fly off the handle. I asked prosecutors about that. I don't really see the Venus here from Stephen to alica.

Where's the text where he says you'll never be with the other man? Where is the text where he says you will pay for this?

He was an individual that was trying to win her back. And so I think that reaction that you're asking about might not have been the best way for him to interact with ill, to go to keep her in his life.

That's not who Stephen bill is. Stephen bill is a calm, calculating individual. Stephen bill thinks he is the smartest person in the room.

Well, even the sharpest among us are sometimes tripped up by the complex details of the webs day weeks. During the very first interview outside his home, you may have noticed Stephen was talking about ill ago in the past tense. SHE was always smiling.

SHE had great advice for people, you know, SHE cared. SHE went out of her way to to, you know, easier burden.

No question. He was no longer among us. But up to that point, law enforcement had not yet identified IT ago as the person who had died in the explosion. Jurors took an initial vote, eight to four.

which one eight to four to convict.

I said probably he did IT, but i'm not firmly convinced he did IT. Probably not good enough. Probability is not good enough.

There are raised voices. There was pointing. There was A A little bit of money. Yeah.

definitely. And then .

they're out forever. Not a good sign.

Not a good time. Your mind is racing and speculating. What could I ve done Better?

Finally, jars and the judge, a note, a hung jury, nowhere around IT that line.

horrible.

I was so disappointed .

just for her family.

The judge declared red a missal for prosecutors. A setback, maybe a temporary one.

Was there ever getting thought about what they're not?

You're going to go head and retry. No.

we were always going .

to retract that case for Stephen beal, a Victory also, perhaps temporary .

acquittal would have been Better. But certainly a hung ury is Better than a rog ful conviction.

Stephen remained in jail, waiting for another trial that began in june two thousand twenty three. And prosecutors again presented their evidence, the box, the battery. What they said was Stevens obsession with ilda and his expertise with explosive materials.

There was just simply no one who had that amount of overwhelming evidence against them.

not her husband, not the handy man, not anybody that he had dated, not the past. No one, just Steven bell, just Steven bill.

This time they concluded their case with a recreation of the explosion that killed the older and played IT four jurors side by sad. With the video and photos of the actual aftermath at the SPA IT .

really showed how that bomb could have gone off and what the effect on ild o would have.

IT also matched the chemical used in the bomb, which matched the chemicals the defendant had at his residence.

The courtroom was silent as the images played complete with photos of ilda s scattered body parts.

And the every piece about that demonstration was the man again and disintegrated. The hands and arms were blown into bits. The legs were severed from the manicheans body in very much the same way that ildico was found after he died.

IT was a vivid reminder of what happened to ildico, as well as a demonstration at the prosecution of what Stephen bill was capable of. To prove Stephen bell was no murderer this time, the defense would rely on a woman who'd been, by his side all those years, his fiancee gallery. You still think he's innocent?

I do.

Stephen bills, free on save valley stone, had stood by him for five years.

All I want is not guilty verdict, because I know I didn't do IT.

Now SHE would take the stand for him in court as the defensive star witness for this trial. Stephen had a new defense team, Megan blank and anthy sois. They told the jury Stephen bill was merely a rocket and firework hobby est.

He wouldn't have built a bomb. And they said he certainly wasn't furious and of a ilda to kill her. Instead, he moved on.

And the proof of that was vallery. He starts a new relationship psychologically. That is not what jilted lovers do. The defense wanted the jury to hear about that relationship directly from gallery we call .

gallery stone to the stand, to help give the jury a Better understanding of what was going on in mr. Veal's life. And my stone was able to tell the jury that he had moved on. SHE was able to explain that the jury what the relationship was like.

Valery testified about that wine hike in malawi, u. The bug necklace SHE war and how the FBI staying went nowhere. The instructor .

to ask specific questions and a time to a list IT some incriminating evidence from him and nothing came of IT didn't will .

never said anything that that getting inro's ced no.

there's no admission and he told the jury after that was all over, SHE confessed to Stephen sh'd been an informant. He says he wasn't angry at all.

a horrific crime that require a lot of planning. IT required a lot of emotion, and we just didn't have that.

Now the case was again in the hands of a jury in less than two hours, five years after the explosion that shock a eso vio, the jury reached a verdict guilty. L the cousin eva.

I was very happy to hear that. Very relieved. It's not gonna ing cut back. But we we did something together. All this people who worked on this case and .

halted after the verdict. I spoke with vallery again.

IT has been, and I checked eight hundred and ninety seven days since you.

I ask that down a long time.

Now, during that time, a few things have happened for both of us. You moved on a southern california to another state. I went on a big died.

I lost seventy pounds. Here's something that didn't happen during those and ninety seven days, which is you can break up with them. You guys are still together.

Varry says he still believes Stephen is innocent, that if he were guilty, he would have confessed during that thing he was part of.

I did everything that they asked me to. They asked me to try and get him angry to see if he haven't outburst. He never did. He was always calm, cool and collected.

Okay, it's possible i've seen too many movies, but maybe there was a reason for Stephen not taking the bate.

During those conversations, you hold up a piece of paper like that. No, you didn't warn him.

Note did not because he .

was on the witness list for both trials. Valery missed a lot of what happened in court. What came next wasn't pleasant for either of us.

I read her some text messages between ilda and Stephen that were presented to the jury. Those were text vallery hadn't seen. If you're recall, SHE and Stephen started dating in midday, April two thousand and eighteen. And IT was then he said his relationship with the was over. He was so friends with her.

They weren't romantically involved any longer.

Are you convince?

absolutely.

Building a relationship with you is the single most important period of my life. ildico. You rock my world.

You were the woman that i've always dreamed of. I will love you forever. That was on April twenty second of two thousand and eighteen. Oh, oh, April twenty eight, he texts ildico, i'm also missing you.

wow. That kind of makes me feel right now.

I'm sorry about that. I do want to say that perhaps not everything that somebody says in a text to somebody else has to go through a lot detector, like sometimes I know this going to come as a shocked to you. Men say things the women that are not one hundred percent show.

sorry.

Now, I really need to evaluate things.

Mean, it's been five years alone and hoping.

yeah.

you owe yourself up here too, not just him. yeah.

Gallery now says she's ready to move on. In january two thousand twenty four, sixty four year old Steven deal appeared in court again, this time to here is sentence, which was life in federal prison plus thirty years. Eva spoke outside the courthouse .

after five years of waiting, and one of our family and friends have peace in knowing that mr. Bill, we are spent his remaining days in pleasant SHE will live forever in our heart and never be forgotten.

What are you miss most about her?

But calling and checking on me like every day that what do you doing? You come over, we go here and there and then just her laugh .

SHE has this energy .

that you going and you deep us and you leave the salon and you are flying because he will bring up positive about you.

Sing .

yes.

exactly for ilda .

s loyal client slash friend holy, that's exactly the way ilda made her feel.

SHE was a sunshine in some of my darkest stays, and I just miss her and love her.

That's all for this edition of date line and check out our talking date line podcast. Josh ka, it's an andrey a canning will go behind the scenes of tonight's episode available wednesday in the date line feed. Wherever you get your podcast, we'll see you again next friday at nine eight central. I'm later hold for all of us that nbc news good.

Night hey friends.

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