0:00

Sword and Scale contains

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adult themes and violence

0:05

and is not intended

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for all audiences.

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Listener discretion is

0:12

advised. Even with

0:14

everything said and done, you

0:16

know, I know the body

0:18

is burned, things like that,

0:20

okay? You can still see

0:22

whether or not there's any

0:25

kind of marks or anything.

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I don't know if you

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forgot about us, but we're

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still alive and kicking right

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here It's season 12 episode

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284 of the award-winning sword

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that reveals that the worst

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monsters are real We're

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noticed. Our new podcast that we launched

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It's still available on Apple and Spotify

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if you want to get it. Also,

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if you haven't seen our TV show,

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our award-winning TV show, and the reason

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I keep saying award-winning is because we've

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won a lot of awards. And we're

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very proud of it. And we're very

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proud of it. But we've done

1:35

here. Go check it out. Episode

1:37

12, the story of Trina Hiseh.

1:39

I mean, these shows that we're

1:41

doing, this is some of the

1:43

best true crime I think you'll

1:45

find in the world. Because we

1:47

put our whole heart and soul

1:50

into it. We've been doing this

1:52

now for 11 years, and if

1:54

you haven't figured out by now,

1:56

it's a passion. So go check

1:58

it out. During

2:24

the early morning hours of December

2:26

30th 2011, some Good Samaritans were

2:28

driving down the Gainesville Raceway and

2:31

noticed a brush fire just off

2:33

the side of the road. Smoke

2:35

billowed in the dawn as they

2:37

pulled their vehicle closer and called

2:40

police. When the cops arrived on

2:42

the scene, they quickly realized that

2:44

this wasn't just a brush fire.

2:46

The contents of the flames were

2:48

clearly... human, limbs, a torso, a

2:51

bra, and a face were visible

2:53

amongst the black char and soot.

2:55

The woman was long gone, of

2:57

course, just the center of her

2:59

face. Her nose, lips, and cheeks

3:02

had escaped incineration. A tiny glimpse

3:04

of a human being was looking

3:06

up at the cops. and the

3:08

stale smell of gasoline hung in

3:11

the air. What a sickeningly sweet

3:13

aroma that must have been. After

3:15

an autopsy on January 3rd 2012,

3:17

the police were able to use

3:19

the body's fingerprints to identify the

3:22

victim as Celia Houda, a 22-year-old

3:24

cheerleader from the University of Florida

3:26

in Gainesville. They found out that

3:28

Celia... had been reported missing by

3:30

her family at the start of

3:33

the new year, after no one

3:35

had heard from her. Now her

3:37

silver Nissan was also unaccounted.

3:39

for. The members

3:42

of her family

3:44

were, of course,

3:46

devastated as they

3:48

talked with the

3:50

local news. People

3:53

are still in

3:55

shock. People are

3:57

still, you know,

3:59

in pain. And

4:01

it's just like

4:04

the sorrow that

4:06

has, you know,

4:08

come upon us.

4:10

It's just we

4:13

never expected this.

4:15

Never expected anything

4:17

like this to

4:19

happen. This is

4:21

just horrible what

4:24

has happened. Celia

4:26

was a college senior majoring in

4:28

family, youth, and community sciences. But

4:30

her true passion was dance. She'd

4:32

been dancing her whole life and

4:34

now competed for the UF club

4:36

team as a cheerleader. You know,

4:38

she was this big, but just

4:40

had, you know, the personality and

4:42

the spirit of a giant. And

4:44

because she was so little, she

4:46

was when we always threw up

4:48

in the air. Yeah. Always. It's

4:50

like, okay, we need to go

4:52

up in the air. She's like,

4:54

okay, I'm ready. And because she

4:56

did cheerleading because she did gymnastics,

4:59

she ran track. She was born

5:01

in Ghana and came to America

5:03

as a young child with her

5:05

family. She was studious, creative, and

5:07

accomplished. It's tragic and it's hurtful.

5:09

And it's disrespectful the way that,

5:11

you know, this has happened. Nobody

5:14

deserves this, not, not anybody

5:16

at all. The last person to

5:18

see Celia was her new

5:20

boyfriend, Michael Carter. He soon found

5:22

himself sitting across the table

5:24

from two detectives. Mike, you're in,

5:26

you're here and you're on

5:28

free will. You're here, you know,

5:30

basically as a witness. Okay.

5:33

We're investigating the death of Celia.

5:36

Celia? Celia, yeah. And you're just

5:38

like to know, you know, start from

5:40

the game, where'd you meet her?

5:42

And we met online on Facebook or

5:45

whatever. Celia and Mike flirted back

5:47

and forth over messenger, but soon exchanged

5:49

numbers. But I got a number,

5:51

so she gave me a number. So

5:53

we started talking to him. How

5:55

long ago did you meet? Like it

5:58

was on the Sunday. So

6:01

Leah and Mike's relationship was fresh, but

6:03

they had been hanging out for the

6:05

last few weeks, so she came back,

6:07

so we seen each other, and we're

6:09

talking, whatever, she came to the house

6:11

and whatever, we talked to you. So

6:13

like a month ago, two months ago,

6:16

one month ago, it was last month

6:18

or whatever. One of the Sundays when

6:20

she came at the temple. So Leah and

6:22

Mike's relationship was fresh, but

6:24

they had been hanging out for the

6:26

last few weeks pretty consistently.

6:28

Pretty serious with one another or just

6:31

just dating her? Yeah, we were like talking

6:33

at first and then we got sick or

6:35

whatever Like she um I Guess she started

6:37

liking me a little more and she had

6:40

told me so we had made an agreement

6:42

that we were gonna start like talking and

6:44

dating stuff like that So that's what happened

6:47

and we were just talking to him now

6:49

without seeing each other I stayed at her

6:51

place a couple nights and she kind of

6:53

my place my woman now had to come

6:56

or whatever like that We

6:58

just been together almost

7:00

every day. And then on that.

7:02

So you talked to her every

7:04

day just about? Probably every day.

7:07

She called for every day. Okay.

7:09

When's the last time? And I'm

7:12

not asking you some personal questions.

7:14

And yeah, it's just the way

7:16

it is. As a series. Okay.

7:19

When's the last time y'all slept

7:21

together? Yeah, it sets. Probably at

7:23

Wednesday. Then she brought me back.

7:26

so she said she was going

7:28

to her parents I was like

7:30

yes and gets home so

7:33

this past Wednesday okay it

7:35

was past Wednesday in the

7:37

afternoon yes sir at her

7:39

house yes sir so Leah

7:41

lived in the district departments

7:43

in Gainesville which was sort

7:45

of a student housing unit

7:47

she had a modest place

7:49

when detectives went to

7:51

her house went to her house after

7:53

they discovered her body Her dog had

7:55

been trapped in the bathroom for days.

7:58

Dishes were piled up in... the sink

8:00

but her laptops and other valuables

8:02

were still in the home. There

8:05

was a note taped to the

8:07

outside of the door that read,

8:09

Sally, call me when you get

8:11

home. Mike had spent the night

8:14

at Sally's house earlier that week

8:16

on a Tuesday. Her body was

8:18

found on the Friday. Mike didn't

8:21

try to call her again until

8:23

the weekend and when he did,

8:25

a woman picked up. That wasn't.

8:27

Celia. And the girl having the

8:30

phone says she was sleek, so

8:32

I asked him. Like, they put

8:34

on the phone or whatever. It's

8:36

important. She's like, well, she said

8:39

she'll call you tomorrow and I

8:41

ain't never get no call back

8:43

or whatever. So I called and

8:45

went straight to the answer. She

8:48

kept on calling. I thought a

8:50

phone was dead and three days

8:52

passed by so I'm like, I

8:54

know she don't wait this long

8:57

to charge her phone or charge

8:59

her phone or whatever. My thought

9:01

it was weird that Celia had

9:04

not called him back in day,

9:06

still, he kept trying her number,

9:08

and it would go to voicemail,

9:10

again and again. That's when he

9:13

logged into Facebook. And I found

9:15

out last night, on Facebook, I

9:17

seen her, I went out paid

9:19

to see what she owned, or

9:22

whatever. When I seen other people,

9:24

I was like, resting in peace

9:26

or whatever. Mike hadn't met any

9:28

of the people Salillo was close

9:31

with except one. I didn't know

9:33

what to her last minute. You

9:35

do any of her friends? Only

9:38

friend? I don't know. None of

9:40

her friends besides ametris or whatever.

9:42

I'm used to like got along.

9:44

They went school together. What is

9:47

her name? Ametris. Beatrice? Smith. Mike

9:49

hadn't met any of the people

9:51

Salillo was close with, except one

9:53

other friend. Did she ever say

9:56

anything about anybody else? Like, she,

9:58

um, ex-boyfriend. Yeah, she had an

10:00

ex-boyfriend who she had an altercation

10:02

with, like, a while. back that

10:05

had got her in trouble or

10:07

whatever and all that other so

10:09

I guess they were trying to

10:12

work something out and he'll come

10:14

by the house when I was

10:16

there and not going to win

10:18

down the door or whatever but

10:21

she never opened I asked her

10:23

why you answer she like I

10:25

don't feel like like let him

10:27

mean or whatever and me and

10:30

you go together and all that

10:32

bring another man into the house

10:34

he wants the last time not

10:36

happened I think it happened I

10:39

think it happened I think it

10:41

happened that Tuesday or that we

10:43

got that Tuesday the way you're

10:45

trying to Mike said that Salia

10:48

talked to her but she didn't

10:50

open the door. You know his

10:52

name? Only since she had her

10:55

phone was A.D. Mike said that

10:57

Salia's ex-boyfriend had knocked on her

10:59

apartment window to bring back a

11:01

DVD when the two of them

11:04

were hanging out earlier in the

11:06

week. He had no clue what

11:08

the guy's name was. All that

11:10

he knew was that Salia had

11:13

him listed in her cell phone

11:15

as A. So Leah had confessed

11:17

to Mike that A.D. and her

11:19

used to fight a lot. And

11:22

at one point the cops had

11:24

been called. Celia even admitted that

11:26

she had been recently arrested for

11:29

violating a restraining order that AD's

11:31

new girlfriend had taken out on

11:33

her. It was all really messy

11:35

and embarrassing. Their relationship was a

11:38

revolving door of chaos until recently

11:40

when Celia had put a stop

11:42

to it and started dating Mike.

11:44

Yeah, like they argue and they

11:47

fight or whatever when they were

11:49

together like a while while back

11:51

or whatever. They won't recent though.

11:53

Anything about her getting hurt. by

11:56

him? Did she ever mention anything?

11:58

No, he hit her before where

12:00

she said then like one time

12:03

I think he got mad and

12:05

through a breakthrough a window. She

12:07

had to get a whole new

12:09

window where I guess because she

12:12

didn't want to talk to him

12:14

whatever. But she didn't mention any

12:16

words she got beat up by

12:18

him or anything like that. They

12:21

said they got into it and

12:23

he hit her whatever they were

12:25

together. Okay. But first, they had

12:27

to make sure that this wasn't

12:30

a lie to get police off

12:32

of Mike's back. Still, Mike swore

12:34

he hadn't seen Celia since Wednesday.

12:36

Wednesday night, in fact, when she

12:39

dropped him off back at his

12:41

house at 7.10 p.m. How sure

12:43

are you about the 70s at

12:46

7.10 p.m. How come you know

12:48

that? Oh, we were like, I

12:50

looked at the time, what I

12:52

was trying to see. I was

12:55

at a time where I was

12:57

like, okay, well, she left at

12:59

like 10 something, so I want

13:01

to see if she won't get

13:04

back like 10 something because she

13:06

wasn't getting back. This is in,

13:08

you know, you wear a watch.

13:10

This is her car? I had

13:13

on my phone too. What kind

13:15

of person did she have? It

13:17

was either I think Gucci or

13:20

a coach person. I mean, was

13:22

a big small? It was one

13:24

of the big, like, like, big

13:26

curses. Which you normally carry. She

13:29

carried everyone. Everything with her. Like

13:31

that's where her wallet would be

13:33

maybe. Wallet, phone, everything. I sleep

13:35

medicating. I mean, her medication that

13:38

she'd take like at 11 o'clock

13:40

or whatever. She'd take her night.

13:42

What does her phone look like

13:44

for her cell phone? She had,

13:47

I think, a galaxy T-Mobile phone

13:49

with a pink cover on it.

13:51

Then Mike agreed to hand over

13:54

his cell phone and give his

13:56

fingerprints. He said he had nothing

13:58

to hide to hide. Do you

14:00

know what happened to her? You

14:03

didn't hear anything on the news?

14:05

I didn't see the news or

14:07

whatever. I was seeing them in

14:09

favor of what they said written

14:12

in peace. And like when they

14:14

had told me, the new girl,

14:16

me just told me, she like,

14:18

somebody burnt her up in her

14:21

car, whatever. As Mike was talking

14:23

with a detective, another team of

14:25

officers was over at Celia's apartment

14:27

collecting evidence. Security guards confirmed that

14:30

Celia's car had left the complex

14:32

when Mike said it did and

14:34

hadn't been seen again again. As

14:37

they combed through her belongings and

14:39

canvassed the complex, a man approached

14:41

Celia's door. He was tall, black,

14:43

and muscular. He walked right up

14:46

to the group of officers outside

14:48

and introduced himself. His name was

14:50

Antonio Drayton. A.D. He claimed he

14:52

was Celia's boyfriend, and he wanted

14:55

to know if they needed his

14:57

help. A.D. would prove to be

14:59

even more helpful than he seemed.

15:34

22-year-old cheerleader and university senior,

15:36

Celia Houda, had been found

15:38

dead on the side of

15:40

the road and set on

15:42

fire. Her car was gone

15:44

and no one had seen

15:46

her in a week. Her

15:48

boyfriend Mike Carter had been

15:50

the last one to see

15:52

her alive, but as the

15:55

police were searching her apartment

15:57

for clues, another black male

15:59

showed up and introduced himself

16:01

as a... Antonio Drayton, claiming

16:03

he was Salia's boyfriend and

16:05

offering to help them with

16:07

their investigation. But Mike had

16:09

warned the cops about a

16:11

man who Salia had been

16:13

dating, who he knew as

16:16

AD, and now AD was

16:18

here. So Antonio, or AD,

16:20

voluntarily went to the police

16:22

station. They asked him to

16:24

start at the top. How

16:26

did he first meet Salia?

16:28

I recall going to the

16:30

mall and she was working

16:32

in Empire a clothing store.

16:34

You know, I saw her

16:37

there and she helped me

16:39

get my clothes like I

16:41

was trying to pick out

16:43

an outfit. That's the actual

16:45

small? Yeah, it was called

16:47

Empire. It's like a clothing

16:49

store. Oh, she helped me

16:51

get an outfit. I didn't

16:53

answer her name or anything.

16:55

I saw her out in

16:58

the club. I

17:00

saw out at the club. I

17:02

saw a few times in the club

17:04

and I used to just walk up

17:06

to him like Miss Empire. It was

17:09

a couple times I did that,

17:11

but it was about three times. About

17:13

three times I went out like three

17:16

times. And the next time I wake

17:18

up, I have a, I check

17:20

my box space and she wrote me

17:22

on my space. And she was

17:24

looking for my page, she saw my

17:27

picture, found out my name, and we

17:29

exchanged numbers over me. my space and

17:31

we began talking and just hanging

17:33

out on February 1st. I want to

17:36

say, oh no, still is a Super

17:38

Bowl. I asked him to be my

17:40

girlfriend. Antonio or Tony and Celia

17:42

got serious after that Super Bowl party

17:45

and the two became an item. They

17:47

were big in the club scene. Celia

17:49

loved to dance after all and

17:51

Tony was a notorious flirt who stationed

17:54

himself at the bar. and let

17:56

women flock to him. He was the

17:58

kind of guy who'd have a few

18:00

girls in his back pocket at all

18:03

times. You know, the type. We've

18:05

seen him before. Anywho, Salia would often

18:07

get jealous, confront him, and he'd gas

18:09

lighter. A pattern, I'm sure many of

18:12

us are familiar with. Cheaters do

18:14

what cheaters do. Then they would get

18:16

into a huge fight, of course, and

18:18

eventually they'd always end up back together.

18:21

It's just... How it goes? It

18:23

was a cycle of chaos and drama

18:25

until a girl named Angela Owens came

18:27

along. Tony started seeing Angela behind Celia's

18:30

back, but Celia kind of sent

18:32

something was up. I'm going to let

18:34

Tony explain and I'll fill in

18:36

the gaps. Like months, it was months

18:38

back, months back. And it was last

18:41

year, June was answer's birthday, June 21st,

18:43

I think. I was that same

18:45

day. I'll translate. Basically it was Angela's

18:47

birthday and Tony was trying to be

18:50

a boyfriend. I was like, man, just

18:52

give me all my stuff I

18:54

bought for you. For um, that I

18:56

bought for you. She was like, no,

18:59

no, at first. I was making so

19:01

much commotion she was living in

19:03

the States then. I'll translate. Basically, it

19:05

was Angela's birthday and Tony was trying

19:08

to be a boyfriend. To both her

19:10

and Celia found out and... She

19:12

lost it, of course. They got new

19:14

big fight at her place and

19:16

Tony left. In his little birthday with

19:19

that same night, I was doing all

19:21

party at a status nightclub. I goes

19:23

downtown in the parking garage. The

19:25

same officer's always there. They know me

19:28

by name. Mr. Drake, you got to

19:30

talk to you. I was in the

19:32

restroom. I was like, need to

19:34

talk to me now. He's like, yeah,

19:37

man. In the time that Tony had

19:39

left Salihas and showed up at the

19:41

club, Salia had called the police

19:43

and reported that Tony hurt her during

19:46

the fight. The cops found him

19:48

easily. Yes, we just want to do

19:50

our job. We know if you knew

19:52

anything about it, you probably wouldn't even

19:55

came out, but we knew where

19:57

you were going to be. And he

19:59

was like, yeah, you got a dispatch,

20:01

a dispatch against you from being in

20:04

the States against Salih Huda, and

20:06

it's looking pretty bad, some serious charges.

20:08

She said you strangle her, you took

20:10

some things that belong to her, and

20:13

it was all felony charges. It

20:15

was all about. So this happened in

20:17

June. Yeah. You all had this argument.

20:19

You all had your stuff back. Yep.

20:22

And she gave you the stuff

20:24

back. I left. You left? That was

20:26

it. I was trying to call

20:28

him, she wouldn't talk to him, say

20:30

nothing. So then what if you didn't?

20:33

It played, no, the same day, no,

20:35

the same day, we were at

20:37

the club. Same day, I went out

20:39

to the club, the office and seen

20:42

me, Mr. Drake, before I even went

20:44

to, before I got to the

20:46

club, before I got to the club,

20:48

before I got to the club, before

20:51

I got to the, before I got

20:53

to the club, before I got

20:55

to the club, before I got to

20:57

the, before I got to the club,

21:00

before I got to the club, before

21:02

I got to the, before I

21:04

got to the, before I got to

21:06

the, before I got to the

21:08

club, before I got to the, before

21:11

I got to the, before I got

21:13

to the, before I got to the,

21:15

before I got to the, before

21:17

I got to the, before I got

21:20

to the, before I got to the,

21:22

before I got to the, before I

21:24

got to the Tony was arrested

21:26

on domestic violence charges and spent two

21:29

months in jail. He got out and

21:31

who did Tony run to? Well, Angela

21:33

and Celia, of course. This brings

21:35

us to December 2011 when Celia went

21:38

missing. A few nights before her

21:40

body was found, Tony and Celia had

21:42

a date. But he knew that Angela

21:44

would also be at the club, out

21:47

looking for him, looking for him.

21:49

and Salia. Did y'all meet up at

21:51

the club? Oh no, they went, I

21:53

tried to go to the obviously club

21:56

with them. I don't like to

21:58

be in the same club because I'm

22:00

well known in the clubs, so and

22:03

it's like different girls. So if she

22:05

sees something, it's gonna make her

22:07

mad or she'll end up fighting or

22:09

you know, it's vice versa. So I

22:12

tried to be in the same club,

22:14

but I tried to not. So

22:16

Tony brought Salia to another club to

22:18

another club to avoid Angela and

22:20

his other little friends. But it didn't

22:23

work. Salia and Angela met face to

22:25

face. And they ended up talking because

22:27

of this injunction thing. They didn't

22:29

have an understanding between each other. And

22:32

it was like, well... As Lil told

22:34

her, I had sex 22 days ago

22:36

and when you see Tony, well

22:38

Tony just left my house two hours

22:41

ago and he gave me money, they

22:43

basically got caught up in all my

22:45

lives. I was telling between the

22:47

two of them and all the other

22:50

girls. When they talked, she was about

22:52

to fight some girls and they told

22:54

me and Slib called, I like,

22:56

what's Slib? Where are you? She called

22:59

me? No, I called her first.

23:01

She didn't answer and I called her

23:03

back. And she was like, it's crazy.

23:05

I'm headed home, I'm headed home, I'm

23:08

messed, I messed up. Me and

23:10

Sam got into it. And I'm going

23:12

home. So I'm like, okay, she's home,

23:14

she's messed up. I know she's going

23:17

home. She's going home. She messed

23:19

up, what's that mean? You dropped. She

23:21

didn't talk. I mean, did. Did she

23:23

drink a bunch? She was an answer

23:26

in the phone. So I got

23:28

um, I got quand. I went over

23:30

there. I went over there and

23:32

she wouldn't ask, she wouldn't answer the

23:34

door. She went, she went home, she

23:37

wouldn't answer the door. Antonio said that

23:39

he hadn't seen Celia in days.

23:41

You want to give us a DNA

23:43

swab? You know, just a swab of

23:46

your mouth. A swab with my mouth?

23:48

Yeah, we just take a swab

23:50

and... It's a DNA sample. DNA sample.

23:52

You want to do that? Well, then,

23:55

is that... I can do that, but

23:57

what am I... Well, you want

23:59

to prove it. You want to prove

24:01

it. You're not involved in this anyway.

24:04

No, I didn't. So if you're not

24:06

involved in this, then you have...

24:08

I get them. Yeah, I get them.

24:10

Well, I'm not exclusionary. Yeah. Separate.

24:12

That's why we take fingerprints of people

24:15

that are exclusionary prints. I'm up for

24:17

the sorry and the citizens. Well, I

24:19

know that, but do that anyway.

24:21

It's exclusionary. It's basically all it is.

24:24

You want them to do that? Yeah,

24:26

I'll do it. Now, police had to

24:28

find Angela and get her side

24:30

of the story. The words of Mike

24:33

Carter still hung at the forefront of

24:35

their investigation. So they had to find

24:37

her, well she said she had

24:39

called you tomorrow so I waited. And

24:42

it ain't never even called back

24:44

or whatever, so I called her and

24:46

met straight to the answer. So they

24:48

had to find the woman who answered

24:51

Celia's cell phone after she'd gone

24:53

missing. First, they'd start with Angela Owens.

24:55

It would be easy to find her.

24:57

She was the only one who had

25:00

given Tony a ride to the

25:02

police station. Angela explained that tensions had

25:04

been so high between her self Tony

25:06

and Celia. that she'd taken out a

25:09

restraining order against Celia. She was

25:11

afraid of her because Tony had made

25:13

it seem like Celia was after her.

25:15

But that night at the club, Celia

25:18

was at the bar with her

25:20

friends when Angela approached and Celia reached

25:22

out and grabbed her arm, asking

25:24

to talk. We went to the bathroom

25:26

and talked, and in the bathroom she

25:29

was just saying, like, she was kind

25:31

of asking questions, like, when did

25:33

me and Antonio make it? of social

25:35

that we were together. And I told

25:38

her May 16th and she had asked

25:40

me, she was just mainly like

25:42

saying that like he, like even if

25:44

she wanted to be with him, she

25:47

knew that she couldn't because he didn't

25:49

make her happy and she felt

25:51

like the only reason why she was

25:53

still holding on is because she felt

25:56

like she needed him to get the

25:58

injunction drop because me and her

26:00

never talked. She apologized about. the whole

26:02

situation is like how she wanted

26:04

to fight me. That's the whole reason

26:07

why I got the injunction. So she

26:09

I just, I basically was just like,

26:11

if me and her could have

26:13

taught from the beginning, then I would

26:16

have never put her straight water out

26:18

against her, but I guess just the

26:20

lack of communication and whatever he

26:22

was telling her versus whatever he was

26:25

telling me. While they talked in the

26:27

bathroom, the two women realized how Tony

26:29

had been playing them both. There

26:31

was no need for any of this

26:34

craziness. How did that end? The

26:36

last thing ended with me and her

26:38

is I was just like, well, I'm

26:40

telling you now that I'm done, like

26:43

I don't have, you can have

26:45

him, whatever you guys are going on.

26:47

And she was just like, I don't

26:50

even want to be with him. She

26:52

was just like, I just want

26:54

to get this injunction dropped so that

26:56

I can graduate and move on with

26:59

my life. So there was no argument,

27:01

no confrontation. And that was the

27:03

first time we had ever even had

27:05

a conversation had a conversation. in person.

27:08

Angela agreed to lift the restraining order

27:10

and the two parted ways back

27:12

into the nightclub. A few days passed

27:14

and even though Angela told Celia

27:16

that she was done with Tony, she

27:19

kept seeing him. He lured her back

27:21

in and she fell for his charms.

27:23

On Friday evening, she got off

27:25

work and went over to Tony's house

27:28

to meet up. That day, it seems

27:30

he was strange because... When I got

27:32

over there, he was sitting on

27:34

the couch. And I'm like, what's up?

27:37

And he's just like, just thinking, got

27:39

a lot of stuff in my mind,

27:41

but he always says that. So

27:43

I'm like, okay, whatever. And then Cass

27:46

kept calling him. I don't know if

27:48

you guys know who that is. Cass

27:50

is short for Cassandra Kimbrough, a

27:52

42-year-old mother of six, who was also

27:55

in Tony's back pocket. Who is

27:57

saying? She's like this 40 year old

27:59

lady who's like, I don't know, I

28:01

really don't know. She's been around him

28:04

ever since I've known him. She

28:06

like, I guess just does a lot

28:08

of stuff for him. Are you like

28:10

family or something? No, not. She's not

28:13

his family. But she just like...

28:15

I mean, did they used to date?

28:17

Now they're just friends? I guess. I

28:19

guess. He said they never dated. She

28:22

was his boss at Dollar General

28:24

when he used to work there in

28:26

the warehouse. And I guess something

28:28

transpired, transpired between them. I

28:30

don't know. But ever since I've

28:32

known him, she's always been, like,

28:35

around. Kind of like... You see

28:37

around like, she's been at this

28:39

place? Has she ever been there

28:41

when you got there? I mean,

28:44

she's been, like, yeah, she's been

28:46

there. Like, his apartment is in

28:48

her name. Like, she's just weird.

28:50

Yeah, so the two were dating,

28:53

but Angela didn't know that. Salia

28:55

didn't know that. And Tony made

28:57

sure to cover his tracks by

28:59

painting Cassandra as some sort of

29:02

crazy middle-aged nut. What do you

29:04

think the reason behind that is?

29:06

I think I see it as

29:08

he has a lot of dirt

29:10

on her and so he uses

29:13

that to get stuff from her.

29:15

So he's black male like her.

29:17

Yeah, that's what I see it

29:19

as. What dirt does he have

29:22

on her? I don't know, he

29:24

just always, he'll never tell me,

29:26

but he'll just always be like,

29:28

there's so much stuff that I

29:31

have on that lady, that's why

29:33

she just does what she does,

29:35

because she's scared. Because she'll call

29:37

her and be like, oh, can

29:40

you bring me something to eat?

29:42

I'm hungry. I'll be like 4

29:44

o'clock in the morning. And she'll

29:46

do it. Yeah. According to Angela,

29:48

Cassandra was like Tony's personal slave.

29:51

bringing him snacks at 4 AM

29:53

when he asked. I don't care

29:55

who it is. No one should

29:57

be jumping out of bed to

30:00

bring a man in his 20s

30:02

snacks at that hour Let me

30:04

walk that back because I like

30:06

snacks What I'm trying to say

30:09

is there's a balance, you know,

30:11

so you said cast kept calling

30:13

or texting? Calling Tony. Uh-huh. And

30:15

um, what would you know, why

30:18

should get calling? What I don't

30:20

know. I? I had asked him.

30:22

I'm like, what are you guys

30:24

doing? And because on the phone

30:26

he kept saying stuff like, I

30:29

need like bleach, rags, stuff like

30:31

that. That's what he was telling

30:33

her on the phone? Uh-huh. And

30:35

then I don't know what she

30:38

was saying. And then he was

30:40

just like, get off the phone.

30:42

And I'm like, what are you

30:44

guys doing? Are you cleaning? And

30:47

so then we just got back,

30:49

like he never really said, he

30:51

just, he never said what the

30:53

bleach in the rags were for.

30:56

No. This is the whole time

30:58

it's texting you guys are where?

31:00

I'm at his house. He's on

31:02

the phone. This is Friday night.

31:05

This is after I leave the

31:07

mall and I've come to his

31:09

house. But when the police asked

31:11

Cassandra about the bleach in the

31:13

rags, she started talking about laundry.

31:16

Like sometimes he'll call me and

31:18

say, you know, you know, I

31:20

got a load of clothes. Sometimes.

31:22

So you just go pick it

31:25

up and. Yeah, I'll come take

31:27

a, like, bring a basket and

31:29

it'll take me a couple days.

31:31

I don't know. I take my

31:34

time. Well, I might have, I

31:36

might have some of his tout

31:38

and stuff that he probably, because

31:40

if he don't have them, he

31:43

saw, you know, I just must,

31:45

you know, some rags or whatever.

31:47

Yeah, yeah. Sorry about the audio

31:49

on that clip. We do have

31:51

some incredible equipment and very talented

31:54

engineers here, but it doesn't really

31:56

work like you see. in the

31:58

movies. It's not like CSI Miami.

32:00

Zoom in. Doesn't really work that

32:03

way. Just so you know. Anyway,

32:05

back to the story. When Cassandra

32:07

showed up at the police station,

32:09

she was wearing a black Hillary

32:12

Clinton-style pantsuit. Styleish. Her short hair

32:14

was neatly combed to the side

32:16

showing off her gold hoop earrings.

32:18

She was naturally friendly, yet meek.

32:21

But there was something a little...

32:23

off about her. Cassandra Kimbrough was

32:25

originally from New York. Nine years

32:27

ago, she was working for FedEx

32:30

when they transferred her down to

32:32

Florida, and after six months, she

32:34

and her husband split up. Now

32:36

she had two part-time jobs. Her

32:38

six kids, she took care of

32:41

her aging mother, and apparently she

32:43

was bending over backwards to do

32:45

everything and anything. For Tony. Well,

32:47

we just want more detail about...

32:50

really that week, you know, your

32:52

relationship with Antonio and also you

32:54

knew the victim. Is that right?

32:56

Yeah, I knew her. Okay, did

32:59

you? I wasn't familiar with her,

33:01

but I knew her. Okay. When

33:03

was the last time you talked

33:05

with her? Um, I want to

33:08

say she had because she was

33:10

planning a Christmas party and she

33:12

had invited me to and then

33:14

she had asked me that night

33:16

if I wanted to come and

33:19

I told her, no, you guys,

33:21

I didn't want her. The other

33:23

night she had a Christmas card.

33:25

Yeah, I think it was the

33:28

night she had a Christmas card.

33:30

She had asked me if I

33:32

was coming. I told her I

33:34

know I wasn't coming We didn't

33:37

talk on a regular basis, but

33:39

we weren't enemies I see I

33:41

would see her on the bus.

33:43

I would say hello to her

33:46

or she would if she saw

33:48

me she would say hello to

33:50

me. So it was pretty casual

33:52

animosity for for what I don't

33:54

understand. I mean with the whole

33:57

Tony So she didn't see me.

33:59

I don't know when she first

34:01

like two years ago when she

34:03

first started seeing him she Nobody

34:06

in Tony's life knew about me.

34:08

Nobody in Tony's life knew about

34:10

Cassandra. Angela thought she was some

34:12

weird ex-boss Tony was blackmailing for

34:15

rent and food. Salia had her

34:17

suspicions that Tony and Cassandra had

34:19

slept together, but the truth was

34:21

that Tony and Cassandra were in

34:24

a sexual exchange. They had been

34:26

sleeping together for years. She was

34:28

basically his sugar mama. And she

34:30

had been with Tony longer than

34:33

any of the other girls. You

34:35

kind of look over him. You

34:37

look after him a little bit.

34:39

I mean, you pay for his

34:41

apartment. You know, that's in your

34:44

name. You look after him a

34:46

little bit. I do. If I

34:48

can. I mean, you do. I

34:50

mean, you do. I mean, I'm

34:53

not saying nothing. That's not a

34:55

bad thing. I'm just saying you're

34:57

trying to help him. Well, I

34:59

mean he did say you pay

35:02

for his apartment. I helped him

35:04

pay for it. Cassandra knew that

35:06

Tony was embarrassed about their relationship

35:08

and that he kept her a

35:11

secret, which he said she was

35:13

fine with. After all, her oldest

35:15

son was Tony's age. What was

35:17

it they had over? He had

35:19

nothing over me. He would say

35:22

that to people because they, you

35:24

know, he had nothing over me.

35:26

He would say that to people

35:28

because they, you know, you know,

35:31

why you were, he had, you

35:33

know, he had nothing over me.

35:35

To be honest, the biggest issue

35:37

he had was my age. I

35:40

think if I was 20-something, we

35:42

probably would have been together. But

35:44

his issue was, you know, because

35:46

they, like he meets, why you

35:49

like that old lady and why

35:51

you... Is that probably you? I

35:53

would tell him, you know, you

35:55

could just tell him, you know,

35:58

be cool, you could just say

36:00

that. I mean, but I've gotten

36:02

over it. How are you? I'm

36:04

42. 42. Yeah. Was she really

36:06

cool with all this? Kazaner had

36:09

been sleeping with Tony for years,

36:11

longer than Angela Salia. any of

36:13

the other club girls Tony was

36:15

with. He also had a baby

36:18

with another girl, just FYI, who

36:20

he still had sex with on

36:22

a regular basis. Cassandra worked nonstop

36:24

to provide for everyone in her

36:27

life, including Tony. A grown, fucking

36:29

man. She was a doormat, basically.

36:31

And there's no way in hell,

36:33

and she didn't feel stepped on

36:36

every time she did something for

36:38

Tony. Only to find out he'd

36:40

spent the night with Celia. Still,

36:42

she insisted she was fine with

36:44

all of this. Celia came on

36:47

board at why you all were

36:49

dating or seeing each other or

36:51

whatever. Yeah, he got serious with

36:53

her. How do you feel about

36:56

that? I just backed off. You

36:58

know, they made me no difference.

37:00

Well, you don't seem like the

37:02

jealous type. No, I'm not. You

37:05

don't seem like it to me,

37:07

but I don't know. I mean,

37:09

under different circumstances. No, I've been

37:11

through too hard a relationship, so

37:14

I was just... You're not really

37:16

looking to get something serious, are

37:18

you? No, not with Tony. Even

37:20

Tony said she was fine with

37:22

all this. Everything that goes on,

37:25

and she plays like the friendly

37:27

part, or whatever, I do my

37:29

things, she don't say nothing, she

37:31

knows, well, I'm seeing, Lee, I'm

37:34

seeing something, Cass don't say nothing.

37:36

It's like, Cass can come to

37:38

the house and nobody knows. She's

37:40

just a friend of me, and

37:43

that's all they see. Yeah, she

37:45

won't say nothing to none of

37:47

them. Cassandra may have been fine

37:49

with being Tony side chick, but

37:52

Celia certainly wasn't. Angela knew this

37:54

well. which was why she was

37:56

scared of Celia. When Celia cried

37:58

and begged Tony to be faithful,

38:01

Cassandra situated herself in the wings

38:03

as the calm... cool older woman

38:05

who Tony could share everything with.

38:07

She would never get jealous as

38:09

he whined about the hysterical girls

38:12

he was sleeping with. There's really

38:14

something to be said about traditional

38:16

values because when you find yourself

38:18

in a situation like this, you

38:21

know things are going to go

38:23

fucked up in some way. You

38:25

just know it. Especially if you're

38:27

hearing my voice, retell your story.

38:30

He just couldn't take her crying

38:32

to him. He like, you know,

38:34

he is sitting listen to it

38:36

and then he'd be like, all

38:39

she did was cried, all she

38:41

did was cried. So what was

38:43

their issue? Do you know their

38:45

issue? Same as everybody else. It

38:47

is what him not being monogamous,

38:50

I guess it is? I'm being

38:52

faithful to every day. Yeah. And

38:54

did you ever know him? Did

38:56

he ever say anything about hurting

38:59

her in any way? No. She

39:01

swore she had nothing to do

39:03

with Salia's murder. And we need

39:05

you to be completely truthful with

39:08

us. Okay. Do you know who

39:10

killed Salina? No. Honestly, I don't.

39:12

I wish I did. Did you

39:14

kill Salina? No. No way. I

39:17

have no. I did not kill

39:19

her. Do you have any knowledge

39:21

of who killed Salina? The

39:25

cops were getting nowhere.

39:28

All they had now

39:30

was a serial cheater

39:32

who wouldn't stop talking

39:34

and his many girlfriends.

39:36

Then, something amazing happened.

39:38

They found Celia's silver

39:40

Nissan, and the car

39:42

would lead them to

39:44

her killer. 22-year-old

40:25

Celia Houda had been murdered and

40:27

left burning like trash on the

40:29

side of the Gainesville Raceway. Her

40:31

ex-boyfriend Tony Drayton had volunteered to

40:34

help the police and ended up

40:36

revealing that he had three main

40:38

women he was seeing. Celia, Angela,

40:40

and Cassandra. And they were all

40:43

jealous of one another. The cops

40:45

also knew that a woman had

40:47

answered Celia's cell phone after she

40:49

went missing. But they still had

40:52

no clue who that was. Then

40:54

they found Celia's silver Nissan abandoned

40:56

in an apartment complex just down

40:58

the road from Tony's apartment. Her

41:01

purse was inside and nothing had

41:03

been removed. Her money, her apartment

41:05

keys, her cell phone, they were

41:07

all still in there. But the

41:10

car reeked of gasoline. The smell

41:12

was so intense in fact that...

41:14

When the officers opened the trunk,

41:16

they expected to find a full

41:19

can of gasoline, but there was

41:21

none. All they found was a

41:23

comforter that matched the pattern of

41:25

a burned piece of cloth found

41:28

on Celia's corpse. It was clear

41:30

Celia had been murdered, then the

41:32

killer had used her car to

41:34

get gasoline and burn her body.

41:37

The police subpoenaed security footage from

41:39

all the nearby gas stations and

41:41

soon found... The last known footage

41:43

of Celia's Nissan. At the kangaroo

41:46

gas station during the early morning

41:48

hours on the night that Celia

41:50

was killed, video showed a woman.

41:52

Exiting the vehicle with her hood

41:55

up. She filled a can with

41:57

$2 worth of gasoline, then slipped

41:59

back into the car. The woman

42:01

had her hood pulled up over

42:04

her face, but her long hair

42:06

was sticking out. Angela had long

42:08

hair. Cassandra did not. When they

42:10

brought Angela back in, they had

42:13

even more ammo. A tissue had

42:15

been found at the crime scene

42:17

with her DNA on it. The

42:19

other thing is we sent there

42:22

was a napkin ton of paper

42:24

towel thing found at the scene

42:26

where Salih's body was. That's the

42:28

side of the road and that's

42:30

it and the bigger picture and

42:33

this is where her body was.

42:35

We sent that off to have

42:37

testing done off from F DLE

42:39

and Tony's DNA kind of back

42:42

on it, but yours did too.

42:44

But do you know how your

42:46

DNA? No, I don't know. I'm

42:48

not yet. Have you ever, you

42:51

said you never were in her

42:53

car? No. Tony's DNA was on

42:55

the tissue along with Angela's and

42:57

things were not looking good for

43:00

her. Because what we had was

43:02

called a mixture. You had a

43:04

mixture of his and yours, but

43:06

they were able to separate it

43:09

out. to identify the person. I

43:11

mean, unless he had something in

43:13

his pocket that fell out, like

43:15

he said, but other than that...

43:18

Did you guys use condoms when

43:20

you had sex? Or... Mm-hmm. So,

43:22

I mean, he would, like, clean

43:24

up with something afterwards or what,

43:27

or nothing? Yeah. Is that possible?

43:29

I mean... That we had sex

43:31

when this happened? No, we're like...

43:33

No, I'm saying is it possible?

43:36

We don't think like you laid

43:38

down here and had sex like

43:40

in the crime scene or anything

43:42

like that. No, I'm just saying

43:45

like obviously... he had this on

43:47

him somehow so if there's a

43:49

mixture of your DNA and his

43:51

we're just trying to figure out

43:54

how that came about. Oh I

43:56

mean it could be from that.

43:58

I don't know. You all had

44:00

sex and then you know he

44:03

just basically cleaned up with that

44:05

a little bit himself and your

44:07

DNA would be on there too.

44:09

It doesn't take much. That could

44:12

be an option. Then the cops

44:14

brought up the confrontation with Celia.

44:16

Angela said that everything went fine

44:18

and that she had told Tony

44:21

she was done with him. That's

44:23

when she revealed how angry he

44:25

got. I text him after I

44:27

got in the car and I

44:30

was like, I spoke with Celia

44:32

and I'm done with you, you

44:34

know, all I want from your

44:36

house is my glasses. And he

44:39

was like, okay. And then the

44:41

next day I was like, just

44:43

let you know, because it was

44:45

the day after Christmas, the mall

44:48

closes at 730. So I'll get

44:50

my glasses from your house when

44:52

I get off. And he's like,

44:54

oh, I'll have cast bring him

44:57

to you. You know, I don't

44:59

want you to think I'm trying

45:01

to keep like he was kind

45:03

of seemed angry at the time.

45:06

And I was like, I don't

45:08

know if Tony told you, but

45:10

I guess you're supposed to be

45:12

reading my glasses, and she's like,

45:15

well, I don't know anything about

45:17

it, but I'll call him. So

45:19

I guess she did. And then

45:21

he text me an hour before

45:24

the mall closed and was like,

45:26

can you come over? I just

45:28

want to talk. And then you

45:30

can get your glasses. And I

45:33

was like, I'll come by, but

45:35

I'm not coming inside. I went

45:37

over there. He came out. We

45:39

sat in the car. We sat

45:42

in the car for like two

45:44

hours. For like two hours. I

45:47

still said, no, I'm not going

45:49

to take you back. And he

45:51

gave me my glasses and I

45:54

went on. Angela agreed to give

45:56

the police her cell phone for

45:58

data collection. And as they were

46:00

doing that, the results from Tony

46:03

Celia. and Cassandra's phones came in.

46:05

It turned out that they were

46:07

all pinging off the same tower

46:10

at 2.27 a.m. on the night

46:12

Celia was murdered. How could that

46:14

be? Were they all together? Cassandra

46:17

had told police that she worked

46:19

a triple shift that evening, but

46:21

there was a small sliver of

46:24

time between her work hours that

46:26

she claimed she was at Tony's

46:28

apartment and... They just hung out.

46:30

But when they talked to Tony's

46:33

family, his brother admitted that Tony

46:35

had showed up late that night,

46:37

looking for money and acting strange.

46:40

The cops knew that Cassandra and

46:42

Tony were not snuggling on the

46:44

couch that evening. Either both of

46:47

them or Cassandra was driving Celia's

46:49

car around with her dead body

46:51

inside. So they brought Tony and

46:54

Cassandra... back in and this time

46:56

they were both under arrest you

46:58

realize how serious this is I

47:00

understand how serious this is yes

47:03

this is someone died murder case

47:05

I understand how I understand how

47:07

serious it is but I had

47:10

nothing to do with her murder

47:12

and you had your phone with

47:14

you the whole time Yeah, I

47:17

guess. I think I had it

47:19

with me. It was after I

47:21

usually just, like I said, I

47:24

usually either leave it in the

47:26

car or bring it in and

47:28

just sit and dress in the

47:30

house. We've been working on this

47:33

for 33 days. Mm-hmm. Okay. And

47:35

to get somebody in handcuffs to

47:37

get them arrested is, let me

47:40

just have to have evidence. We

47:42

have evidence. And we have evidence.

47:44

And we have evidence. And we

47:47

have evidence that. You didn't stay

47:49

in his apartment the whole night.

47:51

You were in the car, so

47:53

that is his car. that you

47:56

bought gas up in stark. We're

47:58

in that blue jacket that's on

48:00

the search warrant. We have more

48:03

than just that shot of just

48:05

the back shot of you. Okay?

48:07

Honestly, I don't think he killed

48:10

Celina. Who? Okay? Okay? But I

48:12

believe until you told you what

48:14

happened. And maybe it was an

48:17

accident. I don't know what it

48:19

was. Maybe he didn't ever intended

48:21

her to die. That's fine. And

48:23

he freaked out and called you.

48:26

And then you came over and

48:28

then like what you do for

48:30

Antonio is everything. I don't do

48:33

everything. We know. I don't do

48:35

it. You're there for Antonio. You're

48:37

there for Antonio. You're there for

48:40

Antonio. And he asked you, basically

48:42

he pushed you in a really

48:44

bad jam. In my opinion of

48:47

how, I could be, I think

48:49

could be wrong. And I based

48:51

on our conversations, you know, and

48:53

you correct me if I'm wrong,

48:56

but I think he puts you

48:58

in a really bad spot. And

49:00

then you helped him. Cassandra sat

49:03

tensely as the officers leaned in

49:05

and pressed harder. They were unrelenting.

49:07

Cassandra denied everything despite the cold

49:10

hard evidence right in front of

49:12

her face. She wouldn't give it

49:14

up for her precious Tony. Okay,

49:17

then we can continue this conversation.

49:19

Talk about what I... What, what,

49:21

what, Tony is down there? Yeah,

49:23

I mean, if I don't say

49:26

nothing... We can prove that he's

49:28

on the hall. I bet you

49:30

might pay check on it. I

49:33

bet you might pay check on

49:35

it. You want to go down

49:37

here and we'll let you see

49:40

him and hear him? You don't

49:42

want to see him? Okay. Can

49:44

you peek through the window? We

49:47

can see him? You want to

49:49

see him and hey goes? I

49:51

know y'all got him. Okay, and

49:53

he's not going anywhere. Like he

49:56

just said, his bond is a

49:58

million dollars. The evidence against Tony

50:00

was over. his DNA was found

50:03

at the crime scene in Celia's

50:05

car on her cell phone and

50:07

his family had revealed that he'd

50:10

come home asking for money and

50:12

to borrow a gas can. Yikes.

50:14

Another friend told the police that

50:17

they overheard Tony admitting to the

50:19

murder at breakfast. I wonder if

50:21

he was having one of those

50:23

delicious Denny's moons over my hammy.

50:26

Those are quite tasty. Anyway, the

50:28

tips were flying in. You need

50:30

me to throw more out here

50:33

for you? We know you left

50:35

with Tony. We know you went

50:37

up there. We know you went

50:40

to the convenience store. We know

50:42

you bought the gas for $2.

50:44

We know you were in the

50:47

same car. We know you answered

50:49

the telephone. When Selena's new boyfriend

50:51

called and said she's asleep. And

50:53

then he said, he said, he

50:56

said, She'll

50:58

call you tomorrow. Cassandra

51:00

was the strange woman

51:03

on Celia's phone. She

51:05

was the one who

51:07

had paid for the

51:09

gas in a wig

51:12

with her hood up.

51:14

It was all crashing

51:16

down on her. She

51:18

hung her head in

51:21

her hands and started

51:23

to cry. Just

51:26

told him to be right, do

51:28

right about her, man. Just, that's

51:31

all he had to do. Just

51:33

do right by her. That's all

51:35

I ever did was tell him

51:38

to be right with Selen. She

51:40

was a nice girl. She was

51:42

crazy, but I tried to tell

51:44

her about him. She got mad

51:47

at me. So I left it

51:49

alone. That's why I just leave.

51:51

I just started leaving all this

51:53

stuff alone. I tried to learn

51:56

the girls. This is the kind

51:58

of a man who is. And

52:00

everybody gets mad at me. His

52:02

cast is because he calls me,

52:05

y'all want to be in my

52:07

position. I'm like, y'all. I'm not

52:09

in a position for somebody to

52:11

want to be in. It's not

52:14

just not a great place to

52:16

be. Cassandra said that Tony killed

52:18

Celia. She didn't know how or

52:20

why. She didn't ask questions. She

52:23

was just trying to get out

52:25

of his apartment. But she knew

52:27

he wouldn't let her leave. Did

52:29

he threaten you? If you don't,

52:32

did he say something or? I

52:34

don't know if I refused. He

52:36

would have. If I said no,

52:38

I'm not, he did. I mean,

52:41

I didn't try to fight with

52:43

him. Sure. Because if I did,

52:45

I know what would have happened.

52:48

I was trying to stay calm,

52:50

to keep him calm so he

52:52

don't attack me, right? I should

52:54

have. I should have said something.

52:57

I should have been. Well, you're

52:59

looking out for yourself. You didn't

53:01

know what to do. I didn't

53:03

know what that's what I should

53:06

have did. the same way he

53:08

used his power over her to

53:10

get snacks at 4 a.m. or

53:12

free rent. She just could not

53:15

say no to him. Is this

53:17

really power he had over her?

53:19

Or is this a decision she

53:21

made herself? I said, I don't

53:24

want my seat. Where did you,

53:26

where did he sit? I'm the

53:28

passenger's seat. So you drove the

53:30

car and he said in the

53:33

passenger seat. Should I speak to

53:35

a lawyer because I'm incriminating myself

53:37

and I mean, I mean, I

53:39

want to be a witness but

53:42

still a witness. I don't think

53:44

at this point you're hurting yourself

53:46

by telling us. Too late, Cassandra.

53:48

That's a little too late to

53:51

ask for a lawyer. I mean,

53:53

you kind of have to feel

53:55

sorry for her a little bit,

53:58

a little bit. No. Cassandra said

54:00

that Tony made her drive Celia's

54:02

car to run the errands to

54:04

finish the job. She said she

54:07

was afraid that Tony would hurt

54:09

her if she didn't go along

54:11

with what he wanted. So, like

54:13

a dutiful side girlfriend, she got

54:16

the gas and helped him dump

54:18

Celia's body, as you would. He

54:20

was driving and trying to find

54:22

a area that, you know, was

54:25

kind of secluded. And we saw

54:27

the other cars coming. We

54:30

pulled over one time, but

54:33

we saw our car timing,

54:35

so we kept driving. And

54:37

got there, I said, let's

54:40

just throw it over the

54:42

bushes. We don't just let

54:45

it go over the bushes.

54:47

Because you put the gasoline

54:49

on it. We know you're

54:52

scared and I can't, I

54:54

mean. Yeah, but that's the

54:57

why he said it. Because

54:59

I did that. I thought

55:01

I could go. I don't

55:04

want it. I said just

55:06

throw it over. You know

55:09

what I mean. You were

55:11

just going to throw it

55:13

over and throw gasoline on

55:16

it. That's what you know.

55:18

He won't, he made me.

55:20

do the gasoline. That's me.

55:23

That's me. He kept holding

55:25

over me. You can't say

55:28

nothing because you're the one

55:30

that right. You're the one

55:32

that did this and you're

55:35

the one that did that.

55:37

Y'all gonna look at him.

55:40

I did it too bad.

55:42

Because you were scared. I

55:44

just wanted to come home.

55:47

That's why I said just

55:49

throw my body over. The

55:52

bushes would be big enough.

55:54

No longer. Fine. It just.

55:56

He was trying to make

55:59

you equally guilty in that

56:01

way. It was true. All

56:03

Tony cared about was himself.

56:06

That's pretty obvious. But we

56:08

can't blame it all on

56:11

Tony, can we? He was

56:13

a true sociopathic narcissist. The

56:15

word narcissist is thrown around

56:18

all the time these days,

56:20

especially by middle-aged women whose

56:23

relationships have fallen apart. It

56:25

gets used again and again

56:27

and overused, and loses its

56:30

true meaning. There are actual

56:32

real narcissists out there. who

56:35

care about nothing other than

56:37

their own comfort, their own

56:39

pleasure, their own gain, at

56:42

the expense of everyone else's.

56:44

Make no mistake about that.

56:46

The word gets thrown around

56:49

to describe any kind of

56:51

douche bag that does any

56:54

kind of thing we don't

56:56

like. But Tony Drayton truly

56:58

is a narcissist who used

57:01

every woman he ever met.

57:03

Only the most selfish animal

57:06

could commit a crime like

57:08

this and brazenly walk towards

57:10

the police offering his assistance

57:13

in solving the very crime

57:15

that he committed the arrogance

57:17

the Huspa, you know the

57:20

gall of this pile of

57:22

shit Did he write something

57:25

else? Did you see him

57:27

do this when he lit

57:29

it or? I'm going to

57:32

go. During the car? So

57:34

he lit the fire. And

57:37

what did he say? He

57:39

was saying things with him.

57:41

That was it though. That

57:44

was it. Cassandra gave it

57:46

all up. That was it.

57:49

That was it. She still

57:51

didn't know how Tony killed

57:53

Celia. All right, like so

57:56

how is that the deputy?

57:58

The deputy? He can't see

58:00

you. He can't see you.

58:03

He can't see you. We're

58:05

not going to let him

58:08

see you. We're not going

58:10

to let him see you.

58:12

We're not going to go

58:15

ahead and transport you. And

58:17

he won't see you leave.

58:20

He's in a whole other

58:22

room. Okay. Whether

58:24

he finds out tonight or

58:26

wherever this ends up trial

58:28

or whatever. I don't know.

58:31

Like I said, I just

58:33

don't want him to know

58:35

nothing. But what was said,

58:37

what I said, I don't

58:39

want nobody coming to meet

58:41

to my family. Cassandra was

58:44

terrified of Tony and didn't

58:46

want him to know that

58:48

she had squealed. You have

58:50

to wonder, was she afraid

58:52

because she thought Tony would

58:54

do something to her family?

58:57

Or was she scared because

58:59

she didn't want to disappoint

59:01

him? She's very hard to

59:03

read. Then, they let Cassandra

59:05

call her mother before they

59:08

took her to jail. She

59:10

didn't want her aging mom

59:12

to find out about this

59:14

on the 6 o'clock news,

59:16

after all. I know, I

59:18

know, I know. I know,

59:21

I know. I don't

59:23

know. I'm sorry mom. What

59:25

can I do? I'm sorry.

59:27

I'm sorry. I'm just. I

59:29

know. I don't know. I

59:31

don't know. I don't know.

59:33

I don't know. We kept

59:36

threatening the kids and threatening

59:38

everybody. I just want to

59:40

keep everybody safe. I feel

59:42

like I did everybody. But

59:44

I was scared. He's sitting

59:46

there walking around. Before they

59:48

could get him. She could

59:50

have did something. I'm

59:53

sorry. I'm sorry. I'm

59:56

sorry. police had to

59:58

deal with Tony. Look,

1:00:00

we wouldn't have come

1:00:03

pick you up today

1:00:05

if we didn't have...

1:00:07

Matter of degrees. Matter

1:00:10

of degrees. No degrees

1:00:12

is the matter if

1:00:14

you intentionally hurt somebody.

1:00:17

Or you don't intention,

1:00:19

it's just happened or

1:00:21

it's accidental. That all

1:00:24

plays a part in

1:00:26

how things can happen.

1:00:28

Tony denied everything. He

1:00:30

babbled on and tried

1:00:33

to twist and turn

1:00:35

his stories. Maybe his

1:00:37

smooch talking and mind

1:00:40

tricks worked on the

1:00:42

girls at the club.

1:00:44

that he manipulated, but

1:00:47

detectives are slightly smarter

1:00:49

than that. Slightly. They'd

1:00:51

seen a million boneheads

1:00:54

like Tony, and they

1:00:56

weren't going to give

1:00:58

up. Tony, this is

1:01:01

your life, man. This

1:01:03

is your life. This

1:01:05

is your life. This

1:01:08

is your life. This

1:01:10

is your life. This

1:01:12

is your chance. I'm

1:01:15

trying to give that

1:01:17

to you, man. I'm

1:01:19

trying. You talk me

1:01:22

through this, okay? Talk

1:01:24

me through it. Please,

1:01:26

bring me the world's

1:01:29

tiniest violin for old

1:01:31

Tony Boy. Please bring

1:01:33

me the world's apartment.

1:01:36

Please, bring me the

1:01:38

world's tiniest violin for

1:01:40

old Tony Boy. Tony

1:01:43

had a big dramatic

1:01:45

story. unbeknownst to him

1:01:47

and attack Celia killing

1:01:50

her with a fire

1:01:52

extinguisher of all things.

1:01:54

Then she called Tony

1:01:57

for help. But that...

1:01:59

That didn't make any

1:02:01

sense because, you know, cops

1:02:03

aren't as dumb as he is.

1:02:05

Of course, you can say, I'm saying,

1:02:07

what can I say to me? But

1:02:10

I'm saying, you told Kaz to

1:02:12

go over around there. Yeah, to

1:02:14

go over there. Yeah, to go over

1:02:16

there. Yeah, when she got, you say

1:02:18

she got working now, something, whatever. She

1:02:20

don't, but how, how would she get,

1:02:23

how would she get Sala's keys? How

1:02:25

would she get her car keys? She

1:02:27

don't have sets of Sala's car keys.

1:02:29

How would she drive? She'd have to,

1:02:31

she'd have to go in the apartment

1:02:34

and get the car keys to drive

1:02:36

it over to your house with the

1:02:38

body and the truck. And she's trying

1:02:40

to make sense of it. What I'm

1:02:43

saying is. It can be bogus. What do

1:02:45

I say? It can be bogus. The only

1:02:47

thing is don't. You said, I did this

1:02:49

at my house when I know dealing with

1:02:51

it, shouldn't go down in

1:02:53

my mouth. Tony continued to argue,

1:02:56

manipulate, and twist his way around

1:02:58

the truth. He leaned back in his

1:03:00

chair and threw up his arms. He

1:03:02

did his usual drama routine,

1:03:04

and when that didn't work, he softened

1:03:06

up and tried to play the victim.

1:03:09

He said that Cassandra killed

1:03:11

Celia. And she

1:03:13

forced him

1:03:16

to help

1:03:18

her clean

1:03:20

up the mess.

1:03:23

He panicked

1:03:26

and went

1:03:28

along because,

1:03:31

you know,

1:03:33

he's just

1:03:36

a scared

1:03:38

little boy.

1:03:41

She lived the body up. She

1:03:43

lived the body up. But

1:03:45

the fire extinguisher story

1:03:48

didn't make sense because,

1:03:50

well, forensics. Tony was

1:03:52

a liar, but Celia's corpse

1:03:54

would tell the truth. Even with

1:03:57

everything said, Don, you know, I

1:03:59

know... The body is burnt

1:04:01

and things like that,

1:04:04

okay? You can still

1:04:06

see whether or not

1:04:08

there's any kind of

1:04:10

marks or anything. And

1:04:13

there's nothing, there's no

1:04:15

gouges or nothing on top

1:04:17

of her head. So I

1:04:20

don't get how that could

1:04:22

happen. Tony stuck to his

1:04:24

lies. Tony stuck to his

1:04:26

lies. Tony stuck to his

1:04:29

lies. Unfortunately, and you're right, I

1:04:31

get that, but I can't understand

1:04:33

how there ain't gonna be no marks

1:04:35

at all. You see what I'm saying? Tony

1:04:38

stuck to his lies. Unfortunately,

1:04:40

Celia's body had been burned so

1:04:42

badly that it was hard for the

1:04:45

medical examiners to determine the

1:04:47

actual cause of death. But

1:04:49

based on Tony's track record

1:04:51

of putting hands on his

1:04:53

girlfriends when he got overly emotional

1:04:55

and the fact that there

1:04:58

were no signs of blood force trauma

1:05:00

It was assumed that he strangled her

1:05:02

to death You sure that you

1:05:04

ain't got none else to tell me

1:05:06

because when this last time when I

1:05:09

walk out of here tonight This

1:05:11

is it man. I can't go to

1:05:13

bat for you no more. I

1:05:15

need you to I understand Tony was

1:05:17

taken to jail where he continued to

1:05:20

call Angela because she was the

1:05:22

only person. Tony was taken to

1:05:25

the jail. Tony was taken to

1:05:27

jail where he continued to call

1:05:29

Angela because she was the only

1:05:32

one who would answer. Tony

1:05:34

was taken to jail where

1:05:36

he continued to call Angela

1:05:38

because she was the only

1:05:40

one who would answer. He

1:05:42

was charged with first degree

1:05:44

murder. But

1:06:05

as time went

1:06:07

on, Tony had

1:06:09

a change of

1:06:11

heart, Tony had

1:06:13

a change of

1:06:15

heart. Or maybe

1:06:17

just some good

1:06:19

legal advice

1:06:21

from his

1:06:23

public defender. By

1:06:26

the way, in

1:06:28

May of 2012,

1:06:31

Sylvia's birthday. Tony

1:06:33

Drayton, TD, pleaded guilty

1:06:35

to second-degree murder.

1:06:38

He would avoid a trial

1:06:40

and the judge sentenced

1:06:42

him to 45 years

1:06:44

in prison. Cassandra Kimbrough

1:06:46

pleaded guilty to accessory

1:06:48

after the fact and

1:06:50

received two years in

1:06:53

prison. A slap on the wrist,

1:06:55

if you ask me. Tony Drayton

1:06:57

was your textbook narcissist.

1:06:59

Who thought that he

1:07:01

ran... the world. That's

1:07:04

probably why he kept his

1:07:06

world so small. So he'd always

1:07:08

be the big fish in the

1:07:10

little pond of his

1:07:12

Gainesville College club scene. Tony

1:07:15

thought that the women in

1:07:17

his life were inferior to

1:07:19

him, especially Cassandra, who he

1:07:21

used and used and abused

1:07:23

for years, just because she

1:07:25

was weak and led him.

1:07:27

He wanted these girls to

1:07:29

fight over him. to actually

1:07:31

scratch and claw at each

1:07:33

other over his affection. He

1:07:36

liked the fact that Angela took

1:07:38

a restraining order out on Celia.

1:07:40

But when the girls settled

1:07:42

their differences and Angela told

1:07:44

Tony she wanted nothing more

1:07:46

to do with him, that's

1:07:48

when Celia lost her life.

1:07:51

Was that his motive? Did the

1:07:53

fight with Celia's start because Tony

1:07:55

was furious that she had

1:07:57

ruined his fling with Angela?

1:08:00

Tony was a serial cheater

1:08:02

who relished in the fact

1:08:04

that he could jump from

1:08:06

one girl to the next,

1:08:08

doling out lies like candy

1:08:10

to make sure he had

1:08:12

a constant stream of admiration,

1:08:14

attention, and sex coming his

1:08:16

way. In fact, dishing out lie

1:08:19

after lie to the police was

1:08:21

just as easy, and he did

1:08:23

it with such prowess that had

1:08:25

his crimes not been so sloppy.

1:08:28

The cops may have just believed

1:08:30

him. Tony was willing

1:08:32

to go to any measure

1:08:35

to maintain his hedonistic and

1:08:37

shallow life. So Leah Houda

1:08:39

just happened to be the

1:08:41

tiny, yet mighty cheerleader who

1:08:44

tried to stand up to

1:08:46

this creep when he finally

1:08:48

took it too far. You

1:08:50

know, sometimes it's the little,

1:08:52

tiny, seemingly inconsequential

1:08:55

decisions. that make

1:08:57

all the difference. So if

1:09:00

you hear my voice talking

1:09:02

to you right now, and

1:09:04

you find yourself in a

1:09:06

similar situation to any

1:09:08

of these women, maybe

1:09:10

let go that ego just

1:09:13

a little bit. You're not

1:09:15

all that smart. None of

1:09:17

us are. And truly, give

1:09:20

it some real, hard,

1:09:22

deep thought. Think real

1:09:24

hard. about what you

1:09:26

may be unintentionally setting

1:09:29

into motion. Just a

1:09:31

thought. Stay safe. So,

1:10:25

Please support the show if

1:10:27

you can head on over to

1:10:29

sword and scale com and sign

1:10:31

up for plus starts at just

1:10:33

10 bucks If you go to

1:10:35

the second tier and you do

1:10:37

20 you can see the TV

1:10:39

show too, which I highly

1:10:41

recommend