0:00

and Scale contains adult themes and

0:02

violence and is not intended for

0:04

all audiences. Listener discretion

0:07

is advised. There

0:14

was no reason. There

0:17

was no purpose. It

0:19

was done for no other

0:21

reason than to satisfy

0:23

this defendant's internal desire to feel

0:25

what it was like to

0:28

kill someone. Why

0:33

is there a Sword and Scale on a Tuesday? That

0:36

doesn't seem right. I should call

0:38

the manager. This is

0:40

season 12, episode 288 of Sword

0:42

and Scale, a show that

0:44

reveals that the worst monsters are

0:46

real! Hey,

0:56

instead of complaining, we wanted to

0:58

head on over to the store

1:00

and buy something. Store .SwordandScale.com, we

1:02

got... Murder Daddy shirts. We got

1:04

people or shit tank tops. We

1:06

have sass hole Dad hats that

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we have a whole bunch of

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tumblers and things that are great

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for the beach or the pool. Put

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your head on over there and support

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your favorite podcast because I know this

1:21

is something we do for the love

1:23

of it, but you know, we also

1:25

like to eat every now and then. warmer

1:48

out there, so let me take

1:50

you down to a little place

1:52

called St. John's, Florida. It's

1:54

a suburban dreamland, tucked

1:57

between Jacksonville and St.

1:59

Augustine. Sounds pleasant,

2:01

doesn't it? This

2:03

is a place where life

2:05

feels peaceful, predictable,

2:08

ordinary. Golf

2:10

courses blend seamlessly into

2:13

HOA neighborhoods. Everyone

2:15

has a pool. Here, parents

2:17

trust that when their kids leave

2:19

in the morning, they'll come back

2:21

at night, before the streetlights turn

2:23

on. St. John's

2:25

wasn't always as booming as it is

2:27

today. In fact, it

2:29

was barely a dot on a map

2:31

just a few decades ago. But

2:34

things have changed,

2:36

especially in Florida. Over

2:39

the past 10 years, the

2:41

once quiet community has exploded

2:43

in size, growing from

2:46

just over 18 ,000 people

2:48

to almost 90 ,000

2:50

today. Despite that

2:52

growth, there's still a sense

2:54

of security here. A

2:56

belief that you know your neighbors,

2:58

that you know your children, that

3:01

bad things happen somewhere

3:03

else. On

3:06

Mother's Day, May 9th,

3:08

2021, it would take only

3:10

12 hours for that sense

3:12

of safety to shatter

3:14

completely. You're gonna have

3:16

to pay close attention here. We're

3:18

gonna jump around in the timeline

3:21

a bit But we'll start at

3:23

around 3 30 p .m. On

3:26

the side of one of these

3:28

beautifully landscaped streets sits a

3:30

cop car in the back seat

3:32

There are two teenage boys

3:34

both about 14 years

3:36

old They live in the area

3:38

and their parents have money and ring

3:40

cameras everywhere These

3:43

aren't the type of kids you usually

3:45

see in the back of a

3:47

police cruiser They're laughing each

3:49

holding their own phone with

3:51

one extended arm as they

3:53

record videos on

3:55

snapchat for cred fucking

4:00

cop already up Tristan what's up guys

4:02

Tristan if you fucking walk out of

4:04

there when you see this in a

4:06

moth hat talking

4:08

about a missing teen Tristan

4:12

He says Tristan if you

4:14

walk out the damn and then

4:16

the video cuts off Then

4:18

Aiden posts another snap,

4:21

but he's holding up a

4:23

peace sign and it's captioned. Hey

4:25

guys has anybody seen Tristan lately

4:27

You see as they're laughing and joking

4:29

in the back of a cop car

4:31

their classmate is missing

4:33

It's as if the gravity

4:35

of the situation hasn't sunk in

4:37

yet or worse That it

4:39

doesn't matter Earlier

4:42

that morning, 13 -year -old Tristan

4:44

Bailey's mother had awoken to

4:46

find her daughter's bed empty. Given

4:50

Tristan's age and the fact that she's a

4:52

cheerleader with good grades, her mom

4:54

immediately called 911. Okay,

4:56

is this a place? Yes, it is.

4:58

I need somebody to come to my

5:00

home right now. 13

5:10

years old. Can you

5:12

go room by room with me?

5:15

I did. I did. I

5:17

had my whole family. Was

5:20

she supposed to be sleeping in her room?

5:22

Yeah. The

5:24

last time somebody saw her

5:26

was at midnight. Was

5:29

last night? Yep. What

5:31

time did to bed? The

5:34

last time my sister her was at midnight.

5:38

Is there any reason that she would have left

5:40

to go to a friend's house? No.

5:43

Has she ever snuffed out before? No,

5:46

not to my knowledge. And her

5:48

location is off. Her snout location is

5:50

off. I have my friend to

5:52

have her and my friend to see

5:54

it now. She stopped sharing little

5:56

content with her. Her

5:59

phone's going straight. While

6:01

her mother was on the phone,

6:03

Tristan's father scoured the property, desperate

6:06

to find her. When that

6:08

failed, he got in his car, driving through

6:10

the neighborhood in search of her. Soon

6:13

police started to arrive at the Bailey's

6:15

residence, ready to take statements and

6:17

launch a full -scale search of their

6:19

own. So, you know, my wife

6:21

and I woke up this morning. We

6:36

probably both woke up around seven. Okay.

6:39

And my

6:41

daughter was and said that she was

6:43

going to make breakfast for my

6:45

wife because it's Mother's Day. Started

6:48

making breakfast. It was around

6:51

9 30. When

6:53

I say 9 30 or

6:55

9 40 that we asked

6:57

my son to go upstairs to

6:59

wake up, come down for breakfast.

7:02

Okay. He

7:04

came down. and

7:06

said he didn't

7:08

find her in her room

7:11

or in the media

7:14

room, which the kids are

7:16

sometimes sleep on if they're working

7:18

to be. So

7:20

I went out to drive

7:23

around the two amenity centers, just

7:25

worried that, I'm

7:27

sorry if I'm going too fast. Worried

7:31

that she might be

7:33

up there. And then you

7:35

came back over here and that's when law enforcement started

7:37

to show up, correct?

7:39

Correct, law enforcement was here

7:42

at one point. So

7:44

that's when we started to

7:46

piece together that she snuck

7:48

out last night. We begin

7:50

tonight with breaking news from

7:52

St. John's County where police say

7:54

this 13 -year -old girl hasn't

7:56

been seen in some 15 hours.

7:58

Thanks for joining us at 6.

8:01

I'm Jeff Bellin. This is the photo

8:03

of the St. John's County Sheriff's Office

8:05

wanting to take a close look at.

8:07

Tristan Bailey is missing. Deputies say she

8:09

was last seen during the overnight hours

8:11

at the Amenities Center in the Durban

8:13

Crossing subdivision. You know, again, so many

8:15

families out here, you know, I talked with

8:18

one family who says their kids went

8:20

to school with Bailey and they still can't

8:22

believe something like this happened. You know, they've

8:25

been living here for about 12 years

8:27

now and they said never has a child

8:29

been missing. The St. John's

8:31

County Sheriff's Office says Bailey was last

8:33

wearing a white cheerleading skirt and a

8:35

dark colored skirt shirt. So if you

8:37

have any information about the current whereabouts

8:39

or have seen Bailey, please contact your

8:41

nearest local law enforcement. After

8:44

piecing some things together and talking with

8:46

the parents of some of Tristan's

8:48

friends, they quickly determined that

8:50

Tristan had plans to sneak out that

8:52

night, as did many

8:54

other kids. Apparently,

8:57

there were secret tunnels

8:59

underneath Tristan's neighborhood,

9:01

which is straight out of a Stephen

9:03

King novel and, you know,

9:05

kinda cool. potentially

9:11

this boy, Trey,

9:15

a boy, Trent, and

9:17

a boy, Aiden.

9:20

There was also another boy, Joshua, but

9:23

from everything I've heard that

9:26

Joshua didn't pan out. At

9:28

one point, I also

9:30

left, I left with

9:32

my daughter because we

9:35

heard there's this place called

9:37

the Tunnel where kids sometimes

9:39

go and Here's

9:42

one of the other parents talking

9:44

about the notorious tunnels. They

9:47

were hanging out at the north. They stuck

9:49

out sometime in the middle night and were

9:51

hanging out at the north and then the

9:53

two boys went home. and this

9:55

is gonna go home but she was gonna meet

9:57

this 22 year old guy. I

10:00

guess she buys bait stuff from, or

10:02

she's that 20 -year -old dealer or 20 -year -old

10:04

plug. Sneaking

10:11

out into those tunnels wasn't uncommon,

10:13

especially for teens looking for

10:15

an escape from the ordinary, or

10:18

the watchful eyes of their parents,

10:21

and the numerous, numerous

10:23

security cameras. I

10:26

mean, I really should buy some

10:28

ring stock. Describe to me what

10:30

takes place at the back of these trails,

10:32

as far as your understanding of it. What

10:34

are these? People do drugs, they come out

10:36

high. What kind of drugs? All

10:39

I know of where I've seen with

10:41

my own eyes is marijuana. And

10:44

I've seen vapes.

10:47

OK. 95 % the time

10:49

when I go to North, I do not see

10:51

people coming in or out, or even if I go

10:53

when there are people in there. OK.

10:55

It's normally like 1 .30 in the

10:57

morning, people go back there. What's

11:02

your relationship with Tray and Aiden? Do you

11:04

know? I mean, I have no idea. I

11:06

personally didn't even know they knew each other.

11:09

You didn't know who knew each other? I didn't, I

11:12

didn't knew. I didn't know Aiden, Trey,

11:14

them two. I didn't know they knew. Okay. What

11:18

do you know about her? I mean, how does she

11:20

describe her to me? She, I just know she did. She

11:23

played cheer. I

11:27

knew she was friends

11:29

with, she's normally friends with older kids. She

11:32

wouldn't, at lunch, she'd normally come sit up with

11:34

like the older kids because she's, she was in sex

11:36

when I was in eighth. So she

11:38

would always be up with, like, the 7th or 8th

11:40

graders. And I just know

11:42

she was kind of one of the popular

11:44

people. OK. Describe Tre

11:46

and Aiden for me. What do you know

11:48

about them? I know. First,

11:50

with Tre, I used to,

11:52

I would help volunteer and coach

11:55

the POA volleyball team for

11:57

boys. And he used to play.

11:59

And he got kicked off for punching this

12:01

kid named Josh in the

12:03

face and, like, hurrying him pretty

12:05

badly. And I just know

12:07

that he has a bad background. I've heard

12:09

things from people like his family and just

12:11

not to mess with him in general. I

12:14

just know he's one of the bigger kids that just, he's

12:16

one of the bullies of the school. He's

12:18

had problems and then Aiden, he's,

12:22

I've had problems he has in the

12:24

past, I think maybe three or

12:26

four months ago jumped one of my

12:28

friends named Henrik in my grade. And

12:31

that's how I know he's

12:34

not a very good person.

12:37

Trey has been held back, he's 15, but

12:39

he's in the eighth grade. And

12:42

Aiden, I'm pretty sure he's 14 and

12:44

in the eighth grade. Rumors

12:46

were starting to spread fast.

12:48

Group chats lit up

12:50

with speculation, quickly adding

12:52

new names to the mix. From

12:55

everyone talking about it, I just heard

12:57

that she was missing. And then I

12:59

thought she just like snuck out or something, but it

13:01

turned out people talking about.

13:03

what they thought happened or what

13:05

happened. And one of

13:07

the kids that was supposed to

13:09

be involved. And who

13:11

was that? Aptin Abrahe, I think

13:14

you say, his lesson. How old

13:16

is he? He is 14, he's in my

13:18

grade. And he had said some

13:20

things in a, was it a private chat? Someone

13:22

scratch out at it. Do you know who he

13:25

was talking to? It's

13:27

his, his name is on it. And

13:29

he says, Aiden just snuck out with her.

13:31

I trying to walk into the Wynton

13:33

Woods. He

13:35

raped her, and when she

13:37

was all up on him, she tried running away,

13:39

and he hit her, and she fell, and she bled

13:41

out literally 30 seconds away from my house. They

13:45

didn't try to get me to go with them. Do

13:49

you know who screened? Who

13:51

got the screen grab of this? That

13:53

kid, that's right there. And he sent it to you? It

13:56

was in a group chat. They got

13:58

reposted. They got reposted everywhere. Yeah, I'm sure.

14:01

Okay. Do you

14:04

know Aidan? He went

14:06

to my school last year. He was in my

14:08

math class. He was a

14:10

really bad kid. He was always

14:12

getting into trouble with girls at school.

14:15

As all over them. Yeah. I'm

14:18

pretty sure he got expelled from our school.

14:20

That's why he goes to B .O .A. Okay.

14:23

What about Trey? I

14:25

have no clue. I just,

14:28

my, my boyfriend was, he sits at

14:30

the lunch table with him and he was like, I

14:32

would never suspect him to do that. Like he's not

14:34

a very good kid, but he was like, I would

14:36

have never thought he would do that. Gotcha. You

14:39

said that there was another conversation

14:41

to that had been deleted. Oh yeah,

14:43

they, um, someone posted

14:45

on their storyboard. I don't think anybody even

14:47

had time to screenshot it, because they deleted

14:49

it like that. He was like, it

14:52

was like a group chat that they had like planned

14:54

to do this. Um. Who,

14:56

between Tray and Aiden, or...?

14:59

Yeah. Who was

15:01

on that group chat? And

15:03

Aiden... Tray

15:05

and Aiden. The three of them? Yeah. My

15:08

understanding is that I know both

15:10

kids decently well and had problems

15:12

with both of them in the past.

15:15

And that their

15:17

area, or all the kids'

15:19

area around here, that do drugs or

15:21

just don't do good things. hang

15:24

out at the spot by

15:26

north, just way back

15:28

there in the woods. And know that it

15:30

just sounds like an error. They would take

15:32

people to do things like that. As

15:35

Trey Absher and Aidan Fucci sat in

15:37

the back of a cop car, broadcasting

15:40

themselves on Snapchat, rumors

15:43

continued to circulate. Believing

15:45

theory was that the two boys

15:47

had lured Tristan into the

15:49

woods, assaulting her and killing her. Allegedly,

15:53

they had even tried to involve

15:55

a third boy who backed out.

15:58

Even more suspicious, Tristan

16:00

allegedly had an ongoing sexual

16:02

relationship with Trey. Keep

16:05

in mind, folks, these kids are

16:07

13 and 14 years old. Prior

16:10

to Tristan's disappearance, a video

16:12

had been circulating around

16:14

the school that depicted the

16:16

teens were in a sexual act.

16:19

Trey had secretly recorded the encounter

16:21

and shared it with other boys, which,

16:24

by the way, can stick

16:26

your kid with charges in

16:28

the realm of possession, production,

16:30

and distribution of child pornography, even

16:33

if they're a minor in case you didn't know. So,

16:37

if you're parenting via iPad, I would

16:39

suggest you get off your ass. So

16:42

anyway, the night before Tristan

16:44

went missing, Trey had been badgering

16:46

a different girl from their school to come

16:48

meet them out in the woods that night.

16:51

Her name is Lola. Well,

17:02

I didn't know him personally, but I

17:04

heard about him a lot in the

17:06

fifth grade. He got, um, he

17:09

got sent home because he

17:11

broke a kid's nose and then...

17:14

he's been getting

17:16

in a lot of trouble

17:18

and stuff because and I

17:20

didn't know him personally I

17:22

stayed away from people like

17:24

him and then earlier today

17:26

he posted something in the

17:28

back of the cop car

17:30

saying Yo, anyone

17:33

seen, and Tray did the

17:35

same thing, and everybody's been

17:37

reposting that and saying about

17:39

how messed up that is.

17:42

He asked me to sneak out

17:44

earlier that morning, and I

17:46

said, yeah, because like, live

17:49

a little, have fun. What

17:52

time do you think? Around?

17:56

10 .30, he asked me first, and

17:58

then he kept snapping me throughout the

18:00

whole entire day, which was like, are

18:02

you still going? Are you still going?

18:04

Which I found a little bit

18:06

weird, and so then...

18:08

That was at 10 .30 a .m. or p

18:10

.m.? Uh, that was a .m. and...

18:13

So that would have been Saturday morning,

18:15

yesterday. So, what

18:17

my main theory was is that

18:19

after Tray got mad at me

18:21

and I got mad at him,

18:23

he asked... sneak out. And

18:25

then so I know that

18:27

like at food trucks, she would

18:30

always talk about the times

18:32

when she sneaks out and stuff.

18:34

And I know that she's

18:36

not exactly like, you know,

18:38

like ideal daughter and everybody

18:40

just wants to sneak out

18:42

and have fun. Tristan

18:45

had actually told one of her friends about

18:47

her plans to hang out with Trey and

18:49

Aiden. Tristan was the only

18:52

one. who thought that sneaking out

18:54

and hanging out with these boys was

18:56

a good idea. Even her

18:58

fellow 13 -year -olds told her not to

19:00

go. She was like, I'm supposed to

19:02

meet up with them sometime this weekend, so I guess

19:04

it was after school. I didn't really know when it

19:06

was. I had this

19:08

really bad feeling, because she was like, we're going to

19:10

go hang out. And I was like, it

19:13

it just didn't sit right with me and I

19:15

got very agitated. And then she asked me what's

19:17

wrong and I told her like I didn't really

19:19

know, like it just, like I didn't really want

19:21

her to go. Despite

19:26

the warnings though, Tristan

19:29

followed through with her plan, walking

19:31

straight into the unknown.

19:35

But while everyone was busy

19:37

pointing fingers, there

19:39

was one side of the story that no

19:41

one had heard yet. The

19:43

boys. As

20:10

afternoon turned evening on Mother's

20:12

Day 2021, the peaceful

20:14

St. John's community had become the

20:16

epicenter of a frantic investigation. What

20:20

began as a simple search for

20:22

a missing teenage girl had quickly

20:24

morphed into something dark and strange. All

20:27

eyes were on three teenage

20:30

boys. Daphne Sabsure,

20:32

known by everyone as

20:34

Trey, Aiden Fucci, and

20:37

a third boy, Abton.

20:40

The rumor mill was an overdrive,

20:42

and no one knew what to believe.

20:46

So it's around 4 p .m. and St.

20:48

John's County cops have Trey and Aiden in

20:50

the back of a squad car. They

20:52

have to get a statement from each of them before

20:54

they decide what their next move is. Meanwhile,

20:58

another deputy drives over to Abdon's

21:00

house to get statements from

21:02

him and his family. Hey, are

21:04

you Aiden? Hey, I'm Detective Pauline Salvis

21:06

over here at the Sheriff's Office. We're

21:09

trying to figure out where Christian's

21:11

at. And I'm not

21:13

trying to get you in trouble or anything

21:15

like that. Obviously, I'm more concerned about her safety

21:17

and what she's doing, where she could be

21:19

hanging out. You're telling him that there may be

21:21

another path that he's maybe staying at? Or

21:24

she's staying at? What's the path?

21:26

It's like a trail that goes super deep

21:29

down there. Down to the woods?

21:31

OK. Have you heard from

21:33

her at all? No? OK. All

21:35

right. So are

21:37

you So, will you kind of give

21:40

me a statement about what's going on

21:42

with her? Yeah, so we're at Trace

21:44

House, and I stayed there until probably, like,

21:46

1 .50 a .m., and then it was really

21:48

late to be home, so I just had

21:50

to leave. The rest of my mom

21:52

was like, seriously, just killing me. OK. So...

21:55

of walking home and then next to

21:57

like where that brick wall starts up

21:59

there. Okay. Is where like she touched

22:01

my dick and I like pushed her off

22:03

me real hard and then I just kind

22:05

of like got, I want, kind of walked away

22:07

to anger. So why did, why

22:09

did she do that though? Was she like, were

22:11

y 'all talking about like? She's, she's at home.

22:14

Oh, she's at home is what you're saying?

22:16

Okay. All right. She's to like

22:18

breathe. She

22:20

and the God, He's Himself, He's in

22:22

school. She says she begs and He's explaining

22:24

something. Other

22:29

classmates had mentioned this elusive

22:31

21 -22 year old guy

22:33

too. Apparently Tristan

22:35

was quote, banging him

22:38

and was being provided cases

22:40

of white claw along with

22:42

vapes and whatever drugs she wanted.

22:44

LSD, shrooms, weed, you name

22:46

it. Both Trey and

22:48

Aiden told police they thought she might

22:50

have been picked up by this guy after

22:52

she and Aiden had their little fight and

22:54

parted ways in the middle of the night. They

22:57

weren't the only ones with this theory. As

23:00

these stories unfolded, the police were

23:02

working behind the scenes, gathering

23:04

hard evidence. All of

23:06

the kids' houses were within walking distance,

23:09

but the streets were densely packed, meaning

23:11

officers would have to knock on

23:13

a lot of doors. Then

23:16

after scanning hours of security and

23:18

doorbell camera footage, someone

23:20

finds a clip. The

23:22

truth is about to surface

23:24

one frame at a time, and

23:27

it's far more chilling than anyone imagined. You

23:30

see, when law enforcement first

23:32

located Aidan, he gave his

23:34

side of the story. He said

23:36

that after leaving Trace House

23:39

on Telfer Drive at around 1

23:41

a .m., He and Tristan

23:43

walked along North Durbin Parkway.

23:45

He claimed that about a quarter

23:47

out of the way into their

23:49

walk, she parted ways and

23:52

made a left onto

23:54

Cloisterbane Drive, her street. Aiden

23:57

said he kept walking toward his

23:59

home on Castledale Court and

24:01

got home at around 3 a .m. But

24:04

the detective quickly picked up

24:06

on a problem. Why

24:09

had it taken Aiden two hours? to

24:11

get home. The distance from

24:13

Trey's house to Aiden's home was just

24:15

under two miles. A walk

24:17

like that shouldn't have taken more than

24:19

40 minutes, tops. Aiden,

24:22

sensing the shift in tone, tried

24:24

to adjust his story a bit. He

24:27

told the officer he'd been

24:29

walking around by himself for

24:31

a while, for whatever reason. This

24:34

inconsistency raised red flags, of

24:36

course. To get a

24:39

clearer picture, the detective asked Aiden, if

24:41

he'd be willing to ride in the

24:43

back of a patrol car and retrace

24:45

the path they had walked together. Aiden

24:48

agreed, and his dad followed behind him in

24:50

his golf cart. As

24:52

they drove up North Durbin

24:54

Parkway, Aiden's story shifted

24:56

once again. This time,

24:58

he admitted that he had an argument

25:00

during the walk. He claimed

25:02

Tristan had tried to make a move

25:05

on him, and because he didn't want

25:07

to cheat on his girlfriend, he pushed her. Does

25:10

that sound believable, ladies? I

25:13

didn't think so. Anyway, he

25:15

said she fell and he even got

25:17

out of the car to demonstrate the

25:19

push, saying he thought maybe

25:22

she hit her head. But

25:24

he walked away and didn't look back. But

25:27

something still didn't add up. Surveillance

25:30

footage obtained from a home

25:32

on Saddle Stone Drive

25:34

up near Castledale Court where Aidan

25:36

lived showed something entirely different.

25:39

At approximately 1 .45 am,

25:41

two figures were captured

25:43

walking east along the road. One

25:46

was wearing a light -colored hoodie

25:48

and wearing Nike shoes, and

25:50

the other was dressed in black.

25:54

But by 3 .27 am, the

25:56

same camera captured only one figure,

25:58

wearing a light hoodie

26:01

running west. The

26:03

footage even captured the sound of

26:05

his feet slapping against the sidewalk. He

26:08

was shoeless, carrying his

26:10

white Nikes. This

26:13

raised a question. Why

26:16

had Aiden and Tristan been

26:18

spotted together way past Tristan's street

26:20

on Saddle Stone Drive

26:22

if he had claimed she parted from

26:24

him much earlier and headed home? After

26:27

seeing this footage, investigators knew they

26:30

had to bring in Aiden one more

26:32

time for questioning. They

26:34

now had proof that he wasn't telling

26:36

the full story. Aidan

26:38

was the last person to see Tristan. No

26:41

one else was involved. Once

26:44

he's put in the back of a squad car, Aidan's

26:47

behavior turns desperate.

27:09

As soon as the door shuts and

27:11

the cop walks away, he tries to

27:13

FaceTime his girlfriend, whom he

27:16

has in his phone as quote, dream

27:18

girl. I mean, I can't

27:20

even make this shit up guys. These

27:50

kids take

27:55

his front door for now. We're

27:58

gonna be holding on to your phones, all right buddy? much

28:02

more technically savvy than the cops that

28:04

are dealing with them. Did

28:06

he really think that Just putting Aidan's phone

28:08

in the front seat would keep him from

28:10

using it? Hey Siri. Tag's

28:13

Dream Girl. They took my phone.

28:16

I'm using Siri and I love you

28:18

by. Your

28:21

message to Dream Girl says they took my

28:23

phone. I'm using Siri and I love you

28:25

by. Ready to send it? Yes.

28:30

Okay, it's sent. Hey

28:32

Siri. Text dream

28:34

girl. I'm talking through

28:37

the glass. I cannot

28:39

see your text Your

28:41

message to dream girl

28:43

says I'm talking through the glass.

28:45

I cannot see your text Ready to

28:48

send it? Yes

28:50

Okay, it's sent

28:52

Hey Siri Text

28:55

green dream girl,

28:57

please stick with

28:59

me through this

29:01

Sorry, I missed that Could you

29:04

say it again, please? Please

29:06

stick with me through this.

29:09

I'm sorry. While

29:19

Aidan was being driven to the police

29:21

station, he lashed out in frustration, kicking

29:24

the seat in front of him and complaining. I'm

29:27

gonna get arrested for bullshit, he said.

29:30

At the same time, across town,

29:32

detectives were at the Bailey residence

29:34

trying to gather more information about

29:36

Tristan, hoping to understand

29:38

what kind of girl she really was. So,

29:41

obviously, we're here because we

29:43

went missing, and we're trying to

29:45

figure out where she could be at. And I just

29:47

want to ask you some questions about, like, the last

29:50

time you had maybe seen her, or, you know, what's

29:52

been going on with her, or anything like that. From

29:55

your knowledge, when was the last time

29:57

you saw our talk? Um, it was

29:59

sometime after 12. So

30:02

I think it was probably around

30:04

12, 15. She

30:06

came downstairs. She talked

30:08

to him about something that I can remember. Okay.

30:11

And then she went out

30:13

to the garage to take a

30:15

call. And then when I

30:17

went to see what she was

30:19

doing, she was on FaceTime

30:21

with a boy. And

30:23

I think it was Trey.

30:26

Yeah, have you tried calling her or texting

30:28

her or anything like that? you had any

30:30

luck? Yeah, I've called her a few times,

30:32

but I just got straight to police now.

30:34

Okay, has this ever happened with her before

30:36

that you were aware of? No. No? You've

30:39

never heard of her sneaking out until

30:41

today or... No, okay. Now

30:43

at this point, the Baileys knew

30:45

nothing of Aidan's story. They

30:48

were still trying to investigate

30:50

their mysterious 22 -year -old drug

30:52

dealer, Leed. The officer

30:54

following up with them instructed Tristan's younger

30:56

sister to call a girl named

30:58

Sam. You see apparently

31:00

Sam and her sister Lena

31:02

were closer to Tristan and had more

31:04

information about this guy. Ultimately

31:07

this would end up being a

31:09

fruitless pursuit, but Tristan's mother was

31:12

desperate. She said she was

31:14

going to go meet with her

31:16

22 -year -old plug. OK.

31:18

Plug means, like,

31:21

deal with it, I guess. OK. Okay.

31:23

And so like said that, I

31:25

was like, oh, my god. Like,

31:27

I know someone, like, I

31:29

don't associate with them whatsoever, but

31:32

I know, okay. And

31:34

I really hope everything's okay.

31:37

Thank you, Sam. If you guys need

31:39

anything else, just let me know. Okay,

31:41

I'll let you know. Sam? Sam?

31:44

Okay. All right.

31:46

Sam, Sam? Sam? What?

31:50

Please just... Please just

31:52

be honest with me. I

31:54

don't think you're not being honest,

31:56

but somebody just sent me

31:58

a message and it said that

32:00

Lena didn't tell the police everything that

32:02

she knows. Sam,

32:05

does Lena know anything else? If she

32:07

doesn't know anything, can you get

32:09

it out of her? As

32:11

Tristan's mother and sister talked with a

32:13

detective in the kitchen, someone

32:15

was walking near Settlestone Drive where...

32:17

and Tristan had been caught on

32:20

camera the night before. As

32:22

Tristan's family speculated about

32:24

different possibilities holding out

32:26

hope that she may be found

32:28

alive, this person had

32:31

just come upon

32:33

her body. Hello? Hi,

32:35

this is Operator Hartzell of the Sheriff's Office. Your

32:37

phone called 911, is everything okay? No,

32:40

I found the missing girl. Yeah,

32:48

at the end of that if you come

32:50

back to the pond at the southern end of

32:52

it, she's about 25 feet in the woods.

32:54

She's in the woods and on the pond? She's

32:58

in the woods back here behind the pond. Yes, sir.

33:02

She looks like she's wearing black shorts and

33:04

a black shirt. Don't touch her, please,

33:06

sir. She's wearing

33:08

what color? looks

33:11

like black shorts, black shorts, and

33:13

black shirt. And

33:15

not moving, correct? No,

33:17

there's bugs flying all over her. I don't think she's

33:19

alive. As a

33:21

911 caller hung up the phone, Tristan's

33:23

family was ending their call with

33:25

Sam. Tristan's father was

33:27

in another room at the time.

33:30

He was the first of them

33:32

to hear the news, and I gotta

33:34

say, brace yourselves. All

33:37

right, thanks. Okay, I love

33:39

you. Love you, too. love you, too. you, too. Okay,

33:42

bye, Sam. This

33:45

is good for me, too. I'll call you

33:47

guys back. Stay okay. Okay, thank you. Of

33:50

course. Bye bye. Okay.

34:00

Well, one

34:12

family faced the unthinkable loss

34:14

of their daughter. Another

34:17

parent just a few miles

34:19

away was already trying to protect

34:21

their own child, no matter the cost.

34:24

But as the truth started

34:26

to unravel, it became clear

34:28

not every parent was grieving. In

34:31

fact, some were already covering their

34:33

tracks. During the

34:35

night and into the early morning hours,

34:37

Aiden and his family were being kept

34:39

in an interview room. Holding

34:41

them in a room together

34:43

was intentional, but This

34:45

flew right over their heads. What's

34:48

this for? It's a holding arm. It's

34:52

a holding arm. They're

34:54

gonna send you to death. They're gonna start talking to

34:56

you. Whatever,

34:58

you know. You

35:00

need to talk to your lawyer first. Do

35:03

I have a lawyer? Yeah. That's

35:12

the sound of Aidan's mother, Crystal.

35:15

Entering the room, you're gonna love her. You

35:17

know, you don't speak until Andy

35:19

comes. You

35:22

don't have to speak in the cop car. You don't have

35:24

to speak anywhere until your attorney comes, which is Andy. And

35:27

then you're a man and woman? So

35:29

you do not have to speak in none of the cop

35:31

cars. You don't have to speak anywhere until he was present. You

35:34

just say I'm not speaking to my attorney's here. That was

35:36

it. I've been asking questions.

35:40

Well, they asked, like, what caused my

35:42

hair? I woke up

35:44

in my eyes and all that. That's all I

35:46

am. And then where do you live? You

35:49

know, they found this girl, right? Where? In

35:52

her neighborhood. Down our main

35:54

street. Is

35:57

she with? No, she's not. No,

35:59

she's dead. That's

36:01

why this is very important. It's

36:03

all on you right now. That's

36:05

my problem. She

36:07

was the last one seen with her. So

36:09

right now, it's a lot of, it's facing

36:11

you right now, son. So,

36:14

however you talk, you breathe,

36:16

you think, then you

36:18

respond. This

36:21

is very serious, Aiden. You can't act like

36:23

I don't know. I don't know. You can't

36:25

say nothing. You understand this is serious. Clearly.

36:29

You understand, right? Everything

36:32

you say will affect you. Everything

36:35

you say will affect you, she

36:37

says, right after. You can't

36:39

act like I don't know. Hmm.

36:42

What she mean by that? Now

36:47

we have people in the burner house on our car

36:49

some Because that snapshot

36:51

thing you did it's all over you're

36:53

all over the internet never social media on

36:55

social media, you'll probably come stay with me after

36:57

we get done with this. Just for your well

36:59

-safe being, when you

37:01

did the snapchat, they fired it up, you

37:04

haven't heard about it. And

37:08

it just doesn't look right. So

37:10

everyone thinks that you did, you

37:12

and another kid killed

37:14

or raped her, and

37:17

that's the one around social media

37:19

pretty fast right now. Before

37:21

we play the next clip, remember

37:24

what Crystal had told her son when she

37:26

came into the room. She basically

37:28

scolded him for talking to the cops

37:30

before his lawyer was present. But

37:33

not realizing there are cameras in

37:35

every room. She nonchalantly goes

37:37

on to ask him all

37:39

the same questions. A

37:41

detective would ask in an interrogation.

37:44

She does their work

37:47

for them. She

38:06

said she wouldn't come home, she

38:08

said she's in the fun to buddy. After you

38:10

left her there walking, do you think

38:12

she got picked up after that? She just kept

38:14

walking? Probably. Do

38:16

know she turned the other direction or if she

38:18

was just still walking behind you? She pushed

38:21

her down and then you walked away. We shouldn't have

38:23

talked in your hand. I was just asking when you

38:25

saw the cops. I was just asking when you told them. You

38:29

walked

38:31

away.

38:34

You came straight home. You didn't turn around

38:36

and see where she went. I'm

38:43

doing my house tonight, in the later night. No.

38:47

I'm at that tree's house, and you're out with them. Did

38:50

you, uh, can't start doing anything with this girl?

38:56

Two and a year lawyer.

38:58

Yes. Yeah, I guess they're...

39:08

I remind you that these people are allowed

39:10

to vote. You saw your, uh,

39:12

your shoes were off on the camera, followed

39:14

your shoes off. This

39:19

is

39:22

a no

39:28

-joke. This

39:30

is your whole life, your whole life. And

39:33

yours. And yours. And your

39:35

brothers and sister. Did

39:37

she really grab you and you just really pushed her or

39:40

was that... No, she did. Okay.

39:43

You don't know what happened to her after you pushed

39:45

her. Did she say, ow,

39:48

or get mad? She

39:50

said, eh, and she was

39:52

like, eh, and I think I

39:54

pushed her, but I just told her

39:56

I didn't do it. I told her

40:00

do it. The only direction she

40:02

wanted? Probably

40:04

the other way, because she wasn't mixing

40:06

anymore. You didn't look back on her? Mm

40:09

-mm. Crystal

40:13

sounds really nervous, doesn't she?

40:16

Try to keep up here. I know it's a lot. The

40:18

lawyer she mentioned hiring for Aiden

40:20

is actually a family member. Crystal

40:23

isn't married to Aiden's dad. She

40:26

remarried and her new

40:28

husband's brother -in -law is a

40:30

lawyer, so we're talking about

40:32

that level of lawyering. The

40:35

lawyer's wife's name is Victoria,

40:37

and she knows Crystal did

40:40

something very bad. First off,

40:42

if you could just tell

40:44

us what is your relationship to

40:46

Aidan Fuji's family? And how

40:48

do you know them and what's the relationship

40:50

there? Through marriage, my

40:52

husband and Aidan

40:54

Fuji's mother's husband

40:56

are first cousins. Well

40:59

that morning we decided to go

41:01

on a golf cart ride to

41:03

go see their construction that's being

41:05

taken in their home. We got

41:07

there and we're looking at their

41:09

kitchen and light pendants and officers

41:11

showed up needing to speak to

41:14

Aiden and his parents. I

41:16

soon followed after just to

41:18

see what was going on and

41:21

the officers asking questions about

41:23

where the last place Aiden had

41:25

seen. the girl

41:27

and whether any drugs

41:29

involved, et cetera. The

41:31

officer asked if he could take

41:33

Aiden so Aiden can show

41:35

him where the underground tunnels are

41:37

in the neighborhood and his

41:39

mom agreed to that. So Aiden

41:41

left with the officer in

41:43

his patrol car and they went

41:45

to the North Amenity Center. Crystal

41:49

and I were outside with

41:51

the children and I had asked

41:53

her had she looked in

41:55

his room to see if she's

41:57

seen anything that would be

41:59

beneficial or strange. And she

42:01

said no and said that she was going

42:03

to. So she went up to his room

42:05

and I stayed outside with the children. She

42:08

had came back down and

42:10

she had said that his

42:12

jeans were damp. And I

42:14

had asked her if they are wet or damp and

42:16

she said damp. And

42:18

I said okay. like

42:21

her face looked kind of pale and

42:23

I said, what else? And she said, there

42:25

was like a discoloration on the

42:27

jeans. And I said, I

42:30

don't remember exactly what I said, to be

42:32

honest. I had

42:34

asked her where the jeans were, I believe, and

42:36

she brought me inside. Okay. When

42:38

she brought you inside, did she show

42:41

you the jeans? Yes. And how

42:43

did she show you the jeans or

42:45

did she say anything while she was

42:47

showing you the jeans? She

42:49

brought the jeans out of her room

42:51

and handed them to me. And I

42:53

held them up and I didn't see

42:55

anything on the jeans. And I said,

42:57

I don't see anything. And she said,

42:59

yes, you do. And I

43:01

looked at them and it was like

43:03

on the back butt pocket, there was

43:05

a discoloration underneath the pocket of the

43:07

jeans. And I said, it

43:09

looks yellow. And she said that she had

43:11

washed it. When she had

43:13

to wash it, I said, why would you wash it?

43:16

And I don't recall what she said to me.

43:18

at that point. There

43:20

was something else you said. Why

43:24

would you watch those jeans? Oh, you could

43:26

get in trouble. OK. Yeah, I'm sorry. Well,

43:29

I just knew that there was a missing girl at that

43:31

point. And he was the last person to see him with

43:33

her. And in my mind, I wouldn't

43:35

have touched anything in his bedroom. I mean, if it was

43:37

my child, I would have went up there and looked

43:39

to see what was going on. But I wouldn't have messed

43:41

with anything in his room, just because I know they

43:43

probably would come with a search warrant to search the home.

44:15

By dinner time on May

44:17

9th, 13 -year -old Tristan

44:19

Bailey's body had been

44:21

found, and 14 -year -old

44:24

Aidan Fucci's guilt seemed

44:26

undeniable. The home

44:28

security footage showed him walking to his

44:30

house in the early morning, wearing

44:33

the same jeans as Mother

44:35

Crystal later admitted to

44:37

washing. But it

44:39

wasn't just a simple wash. Crystal

44:41

was doing more than laundry. She

44:44

was rewriting the truth. And

44:46

as investigators circled closer to

44:49

the Fuji family, Crystal

44:51

wasn't just hiding evidence. She

44:54

was actively trying to reshape the

44:56

narrative, attempting to coach

44:58

her son into saying he wore a

45:00

different pair of pants that night. This

45:03

wasn't just a mother protecting

45:05

her child. This was

45:07

something much more calculating. The

45:12

clothes. The clothes you're wearing. Hmm?

45:18

be nothing on those clothes, right? I

45:21

don't know. You

45:25

wore khakis for cleaning. I

45:27

don't know. Are you sure there's

45:30

nothing on them? I

45:32

don't know. Hmm?

45:37

When we looked on the camera, you were wearing khakis. Aiden

45:44

tries to tell the truth that he

45:46

was wearing blue jeans that night. But

45:49

his mother says, are you sure?

45:52

When we checked the security camera, you

45:54

were wearing khakis. When

45:56

police checked Crystal's security camera

45:58

footage, they found something very

46:00

different. Not only was

46:02

Aiden seen entering the house in the blue

46:04

jeans, cameras inside

46:06

the home caught Crystal

46:08

scrubbing them. by hand

46:11

in the sink. Now

46:13

she was working overtime to

46:16

cover both of their

46:18

asses. Soon, Aiden

46:20

had to be swabbed for DNA

46:22

samples and after that, they're

46:25

all moved to a different room

46:27

than the one they were in before. was

46:34

recorded. The other

46:36

one was not. What

46:38

a fucking idiot. Don't say

46:40

nothing. Don't

46:42

take nothing from anybody. Keep

46:45

your head down. No,

46:51

No, just keep your head down. It's

46:54

going to be rough. Yeah.

46:59

You'll be fine, I'll touch you. You

47:03

see there's a chance of me recording? Yes.

47:08

We're going to search my house first And

47:10

there's any of thing that But

47:15

he's gonna go home, geez. It's

47:21

always a You're right. You're

47:23

right. I'm just not letting hopes up Oops.

47:27

Mama, knows I'm staying here.

47:34

So now it's an object of, like,

47:37

yes, with your mind to act. I'm

47:50

just trying to think it would be stupid, maybe

47:52

something made you do it so they don't justify it.

47:54

Even if he had been

47:57

high, nothing could have

47:59

justified what Aiden did to Tristan. Nothing.

48:03

Nada. His parents

48:05

babied him, comforted him, and even

48:07

assured him They'd put money on

48:09

his books. Aiden was

48:11

no victim, though. He was not a

48:13

child. He was a monster, a

48:16

cold -hearted killer, someone

48:18

with absolutely no conscience.

48:21

Today, the St. John's County

48:24

grand jury convened and

48:26

issued an indictment against Aiden

48:28

Fucci for first -degree murder

48:30

involving our victim, Tristan

48:33

Bailey. Aiden Fucci

48:35

will be tried as an

48:37

adult. To say that

48:39

it was horrific could arguably

48:41

be made as an understatement.

48:44

The medical examiner completed

48:46

an autopsy on our

48:48

victim and identified

48:51

confidently

48:53

that there were 114

48:55

stab wounds, 114.

49:00

At least 49 of those

49:02

stab wounds were to

49:05

the hands, arms, and the

49:07

head, and were

49:09

defensive in nature. The

49:12

bottom line is that premeditation

49:15

could be inferred,

49:17

certainly from just the

49:19

sheer number of stab

49:21

wounds that Tristan Bailey had

49:23

to suffer. Every

49:27

time that arm went back, And

49:30

every time that arm went down,

49:32

that was premeditation. And

49:34

it happened if you times

49:36

114 by two, that's 228.

49:39

But it's not just

49:42

the fact that she

49:44

was stabbed 14 times,

49:46

114 times. It's also

49:48

information that we were able

49:50

to glean from witnesses. The

49:54

defendant made statements

49:56

to several people. that

49:59

he intended to kill someone. He

50:01

didn't say who that was,

50:03

but he indicated to witnesses that

50:05

he was going to kill

50:08

someone by taking them in the

50:10

woods and stabbing them, which

50:13

are certainly the facts of this

50:15

case. Remember

50:17

Dream Girl, Aiden's girlfriend?

50:20

Well, here she is. Did you

50:22

ever hear Aiden discuss having a certain plan

50:24

that he wanted to carry out? and not

50:26

maybe specifically to a certain person, but did

50:28

he ever discuss in detail, like, this is

50:30

how I would do something, or this is

50:32

what I want to do? Yeah.

50:36

He did. Can you tell

50:38

me about that? Um, he

50:40

was sitting on my roof, and

50:43

the topic

50:45

was brought

50:47

up again

50:50

about... He asked me, like,

50:52

what I would do if he murdered

50:54

someone. Mm -hmm. I

50:56

don't know what my answer really

50:58

was, but he would say that

51:00

if he was going to murder

51:02

someone, it was gonna be planned. He

51:06

said that he would just

51:08

walk at night or

51:10

something and find, like, a

51:12

random person walking to

51:14

and just drag them in

51:16

the woods and stab

51:18

them. Okay.

51:21

He said that he thinks

51:23

it's gonna happen soon. He

51:26

said, I should expect it within the

51:28

month. And when was that that he

51:30

said this? I think

51:32

this month. The defendant

51:34

had a knife that he carried with him.

51:37

A knife was found in the pond, very

51:40

close in proximity to

51:42

our victim's body. That

51:45

knife had a tip

51:47

that was broken off. That

51:49

tip was located by

51:51

the medical examiner. in

51:54

the scalp of our victim. Aiden

51:56

kept knives for

51:58

protection. He always had a knife

52:00

on him if he wasn't at school. He

52:03

would keep his air pods. He

52:06

listened to music to try and

52:08

calm him down. He said that helped

52:10

him with his anger. Well,

52:13

there was mainly two that he

52:15

would have on him, and it

52:17

was one that it stepped out, gave

52:19

him. It was like a, it

52:21

was like a kind of gray,

52:24

black, like...

52:28

Army looking one. It had

52:30

a skull on it. Maybe

52:32

like an orange skull on it or something.

52:35

And he called it Picker. Okay.

52:39

Because it had, I guess,

52:41

teeth than I've had. You

52:44

mean like it had a serrated

52:46

edge? Yeah. Okay. There

52:48

was another one. It

52:51

was like yellow and it was...

52:53

was made out of wood, I

52:55

think. He

52:57

called that one...

53:00

He called one

53:02

picker, and then

53:04

he called that

53:07

one poker. The

53:09

statements that the defendant made

53:11

to his friends made it clear

53:13

that he was considering a

53:15

homicide. And I gotta

53:17

tell you this, it's disturbing

53:19

and concerning that those

53:22

statements were... not, let's

53:24

say, adequately or appropriately, or

53:27

not taken seriously by

53:29

the folks that heard them.

53:32

I'm not saying that this could have

53:34

been avoided, but I'm saying that it

53:36

was never reported beforehand. Along

53:38

with a series of violent drawings,

53:41

investigators found blood stains on clothing

53:43

and shoes Aidan had hidden in

53:45

his bedroom. The samples

53:47

match Tristan's DNA profile. Slam.

53:51

Dunk. All the

53:53

while, Aiden's parents took

53:55

extreme measures to protect their

53:57

sweet little angel from

54:00

a big scary thing called

54:02

consequences. They

54:28

were, in fact, going to take

54:30

him away. It was 1 a .m. by

54:32

this point. He was dressed

54:34

in an orange jumpsuit and he was destined for

54:37

a jail cell. Aiden

54:49

pleaded not guilty to his charges. even

54:51

without the support of his family lawyer, and

54:54

under the guidance of a public defender.

54:57

He was confident enough to take his

54:59

case all the way to trial. In

55:02

February of 2023, jurors were

55:04

selected, but before that could

55:07

begin, Aidan changed his

55:09

plea to guilty. And

55:11

that's a good thing that he did,

55:13

because someone at the county jail had already

55:16

snitched on him. This guy

55:18

came forward with no promises made, in

55:20

his own case. Aiden

55:22

had apparently told him

55:24

the whole story of what

55:26

happened that night. I

55:28

know it's gonna be really hard to understand

55:30

this guy, but he's a...

55:32

well, he's a criminal. He's

55:34

a jailhouse informant, a snitch, a

55:36

rat. Not a public

55:38

speaker. So, there's

55:41

that. At some point in time, the

55:44

defendant in our investigation, Aiden Fuji, was

55:46

transported to the Duvall County Jail, and

55:48

he was placed somewhere in the vicinity

55:50

of you, correct? Yes, sir. OK. And

55:52

where were you located at whenever Aiden

55:54

Fuji was transported and housed in the

55:56

Jacksonville County Jail? I mean, I block

55:58

segregation. I block segregation?

56:00

Yeah, he and I block segregation. OK, so.

56:02

Women in jail. So if

56:05

you could explain to me kind of how

56:07

these cells are arranged or situated. They're

56:09

right next to each other. They're women's cells.

56:11

They got a shower, a toilet, and

56:13

a bunk in each one of them. The

56:15

only way you could talk is through

56:17

the vent. I said,

56:19

I don't get no news paper. I

56:22

don't get to make one phone call. I

56:24

don't come out for no read. I

56:26

can't see nobody paperwork. Do you

56:28

have a television? I have no television. I

56:30

have none of that. I have no internet

56:32

access. I have none of that. Okay. Before

56:35

Aiden Fushi was transported and housed in the

56:37

Jacksonville County Jail, did you have any knowledge

56:40

of this case that we're investigating in St.

56:42

John's County? No, sir. Okay, so how did

56:44

you become aware of this investigation that we're

56:46

working in St. County? Aiden Fushi

56:48

told me. He told me he said me and

56:50

Trey, this is my right, he said me

56:52

and Trey was at Trey House, and

56:54

he wanted Christian to come over. She's

56:56

not got no house. And it was like

56:58

12 a .m. when we left, saying him

57:00

and Tray. I mean him and Christian. We

57:03

left her house and went into the

57:05

woods. I made sure I had my

57:07

knife. We walked on the

57:09

streets a little bit. First,

57:12

and the camera guy was going in together. Didn't

57:15

believe it by myself. But once we

57:17

got into the woods, we had to get

57:19

past this bar wire fence to get to

57:21

the pun. We got on

57:23

these floors and we had sex. She

57:25

act like she ain't want to, but

57:27

I made her. It was good. I came

57:29

inside her a little bit, and that

57:31

shit was on my mind. So

57:34

I said to myself, she got

57:36

to die. Man, I just

57:38

snapped, and I stabbed her a lot of time.

57:41

She was yelling my name. Excuse

57:43

me, I ain't careful. Then I

57:45

threw the weapon in the gun, and I

57:47

left. I got home. It was like

57:49

2 AM. Trey called me the

57:51

next day, and I

57:53

said, how I seen her? I

57:55

said, no, it's crazy, because that's

57:57

one of the things in my

58:00

head that I planned out. He

58:02

said there was no witness to that. A

58:04

neighbor camera had him and her going

58:06

in the woods, but only him coming

58:08

out. He said he told

58:10

the police he was walking around. He

58:13

said he told the police she was

58:15

running away, and she could sleep down. He

58:17

said she was a straight girlfriend. That's

58:21

his homeboy, and she was 13. on

58:30

it. He said he smoked some weed

58:32

and he been planning to have sex with

58:34

her. He said he ice her. Can

58:37

they have sex? She said no,

58:39

any rater. Though there

58:41

were no sexual assault charges

58:44

pursued, this one witness

58:46

says that Aiden confessed

58:48

to raping Tristan before killing

58:50

her. It just gets

58:52

worse. and worse, doesn't

58:54

it? Aidan's sentencing hearing

58:56

occurred over the course of

58:58

three days. His mother

59:01

faced charges for her involvement as well.

59:04

Thank goodness, whether sentencing to

59:06

occur right after her sons. I

59:08

have considered all of the evidence

59:10

that has been presented for the

59:13

last during this week. The

59:16

testimony that was presented, the

59:18

victim impact statements, the

59:20

evidence that was submitted, the

59:22

filings, and I have

59:25

analyzed each and every one of

59:27

those factors as well as any other

59:29

factors that may be relevant to

59:31

these proceedings in order to determine

59:33

an appropriate sentence for this case. I

59:36

would say that the defendant has shown

59:38

some ability to modify his behavior that

59:40

was shown in school through the Dean

59:43

of Students. However,

59:45

as Dr. Pritchard noted, this

59:47

crime is extraordinary. His

59:50

behavior was so unusual compared to

59:52

individuals his age that there is

59:54

a poor prognosis for rehabilitation. The

59:59

effect of this crime that is

1:00:01

had on the victim's family and on

1:00:03

the community is significant. There

1:00:06

is no greater loss than the

1:00:08

loss of one's own child. The

1:00:11

nature and circumstances of her death

1:00:13

have caused an even greater trauma

1:00:15

on her loved ones. Her

1:00:17

siblings, parents, and extended family

1:00:19

members all provided compelling victim

1:00:21

impact statements relating their personal

1:00:23

struggles with coping with her

1:00:25

death. It has

1:00:27

caused them deep and emotional

1:00:29

and mental health problems. They

1:00:32

are no longer able to function as the

1:00:34

family they once were. It

1:00:37

has also had a tremendous impact and

1:00:39

effect on this community. This

1:00:41

court has reviewed all of the letters

1:00:43

that were submitted by her friends, teachers,

1:00:46

coaches, and others. Approximately

1:00:48

150 letters were received.

1:00:50

I have read all of

1:00:52

them and all of them strike

1:00:54

a similar chord. This

1:00:57

was a devastating crime. It

1:00:59

was devastating to the children of this

1:01:01

community. It materially

1:01:03

changed an entire

1:01:06

community. Some of

1:01:08

the letters indicated and

1:01:10

discussed children who

1:01:12

were teenage children who could

1:01:14

not sleep in their beds alone.

1:01:16

It had to sleep in between

1:01:18

their parents for fear of

1:01:20

what happened in this case. I

1:01:23

would submit that this case

1:01:26

is probably the most difficult

1:01:28

and shocking case that this

1:01:30

county in St. John's County

1:01:32

has dealt with. 114

1:01:36

stab wounds. 49

1:01:38

defensive wounds, 35 wounds to the head

1:01:40

and neck, 29 to the back and

1:01:42

shoulder, and six fatal

1:01:44

wounds. This

1:01:47

court has reviewed and

1:01:49

seen more than its fair share

1:01:51

of autopsy photos. The autopsy

1:01:53

photos in this particular case were

1:01:55

particularly difficult. The

1:01:58

49 defensive wounds indicate

1:02:00

that Tristan

1:02:02

Bailey was

1:02:05

conscious. that

1:02:07

she was aware

1:02:09

and that she was doing

1:02:11

everything she could to fend off

1:02:13

this attack. She

1:02:16

suffered a painful, horrifying

1:02:19

death from someone that she trusted. Her

1:02:23

screams were most likely stifled by

1:02:25

her own suffocating lungs. He

1:02:28

lured her into a secluded place in

1:02:30

the woods near his home, a

1:02:33

person that she trusted, and

1:02:35

he led her there under false pretenses.

1:02:39

There was a heightened level of

1:02:41

premeditation in this case. Based

1:02:43

on the prior statements that he

1:02:45

made to his girlfriend and his friend,

1:02:48

he indicated

1:02:50

that he was going to

1:02:53

kill someone. At

1:02:55

which point he determined that it was going

1:02:57

to be Tristan Bailey, I don't

1:02:59

know. But there

1:03:01

was going to be a victim. He

1:03:04

indicated that he was going how

1:03:06

he was going to do it

1:03:08

that he would take them into

1:03:11

a wooded place that he would

1:03:13

stab them He would kill them and

1:03:15

then run away so that

1:03:17

he could keep on killing He told

1:03:19

his best friend that he wanted

1:03:21

to kill someone to see what it

1:03:23

felt like and he wanted to

1:03:25

watch them bleed out this particular

1:03:27

crime was

1:03:30

committed with the weapon of choice

1:03:32

as a knife, which he nicknamed

1:03:34

poker. That

1:03:36

required a

1:03:39

up close,

1:03:41

personal type of

1:03:43

murder that

1:03:45

is rare. It's unique. What

1:03:50

is also very

1:03:52

troubling is that

1:03:54

this crime had no motive. This

1:03:58

was not done out

1:04:00

of greed. It was not done

1:04:02

in retaliation, retribution, or revenge.

1:04:04

It was not a crime

1:04:06

of passion. It was

1:04:09

not a crime that was committed

1:04:11

because he felt rejected by her. It

1:04:14

was not done in a fit

1:04:16

of uncontrollable anger. There

1:04:18

was no reason. There

1:04:21

was no purpose. It

1:04:23

was done for no other reason than

1:04:25

to satisfy this

1:04:28

defendant's internal desire to feel

1:04:30

what it was like to

1:04:32

kill someone. It

1:04:35

is for this reason, and all

1:04:37

of the reasons previously stated

1:04:39

that leads this court to the

1:04:41

conclusion that there is only one

1:04:43

appropriate sentence in this case. Mr.

1:04:46

Fucci, if you and your attorneys would

1:04:48

please rise. Counsel,

1:04:51

is there any legal reason why this

1:04:53

court cannot impose sentence at this time? Mr.

1:04:59

Fucci, having entered

1:05:01

a plea of guilty to the

1:05:03

crime of first degree murder, I adjudicate

1:05:05

you guilty of the pre -meted first

1:05:07

degree murder of Tristan Bailey. I

1:05:10

sentence you to life in prison. Because

1:05:13

of your age, you are eligible for review

1:05:15

of the sentence in 25 years. You

1:05:18

will be taken back to the

1:05:20

Duval County Jail and then transported

1:05:22

into the Florida State Prison System.

1:05:25

We are adjourned. This

1:05:28

sentence means that Aiden Fucci

1:05:30

could get out of prison before

1:05:32

his 40th birthday if he behaves well,

1:05:34

if he's a good boy. So

1:05:37

far, he's not really made a name

1:05:40

for himself as an obedient inmate. His

1:05:42

mother, on the other hand, only spent 30

1:05:45

days in jail for tampering with evidence

1:05:47

and will be on probation for

1:05:49

five years. This murder

1:05:51

not only shattered a family,

1:05:53

but it made everyone in the

1:05:55

community leery of each other. As

1:05:58

I would argue, you should be

1:06:00

in any community, especially

1:06:02

small ones. The

1:06:04

fact that an adult was involved

1:06:06

in the cover -up made

1:06:08

it all the more shocking. Parents

1:06:11

were slammed right into the face of

1:06:13

reality when it came to what

1:06:15

their teenagers were doing behind their backs.

1:06:18

But no one expected a crime so

1:06:20

brutal, let alone a cover -up

1:06:23

so close to home. After

1:06:25

the sentencing, Tristan's father

1:06:27

spoke outside the courthouse. As

1:06:30

part of this investigation, the

1:06:32

amount of kids sneaking out in

1:06:34

our community and the frequency of

1:06:36

how often they are doing so

1:06:38

had us completely dumbfounded. As

1:06:44

I mentioned before, there's an open case

1:06:47

with her, so it's difficult to comment. the

1:06:50

fact that we are continuing to have to go through

1:06:52

the legal process. You've

1:06:57

seen the videos from the home. You've

1:06:59

seen the videos from the interrogation room. I

1:07:02

would say if she's sorry, she can

1:07:04

start by accepting responsibility. To

1:07:07

Aiden's family, I

1:07:09

would remind them that he

1:07:11

is still here. They can

1:07:13

still see him. They

1:07:15

can encourage him to change

1:07:17

his behavior. of bragging about his

1:07:19

brutality and threatening the corrections

1:07:21

officers and their families that keep

1:07:24

him from harm and setting

1:07:26

out on a better road. In

1:07:40

a tight -knit community like St. John's,

1:07:43

everyone thought they knew each other. Neighbors

1:07:46

trusted one another. Families

1:07:48

felt safe and parents

1:07:51

believed they understood their

1:07:53

children. But this case,

1:07:55

in cases like its shatter, those

1:07:58

illusions. It wasn't

1:08:00

just about sneaking out or

1:08:02

the dangers of lurking online.

1:08:05

It was about realizing how much

1:08:07

of their kids' lives parents

1:08:09

were missing. As Tristan's

1:08:11

father put it, they

1:08:13

didn't even know what their own

1:08:15

kids were truly capable of. But

1:08:18

this case wasn't just about the actions

1:08:20

of teenagers. It was

1:08:22

also about the choices made

1:08:25

by full -grown adults that

1:08:27

should know better. Crystal

1:08:29

Fucci's desperate attempt to protect

1:08:31

her son to cover up

1:08:33

for him in his darkest

1:08:35

moment taught us all a painful lesson.

1:08:38

When someone is drowning in

1:08:40

their own choices, sometimes

1:08:43

trying to save them without thinking

1:08:45

can pull you under two. Sometimes

1:08:48

the instinct to shield a loved

1:08:50

one from consequences only drags

1:08:52

you down with them. This

1:08:55

crime took more than just Tristan's

1:08:58

life. It shattered a family

1:09:00

and forced a community to confront

1:09:02

the uncomfortable truth. Sometimes

1:09:04

the darkness we fear

1:09:06

most isn't lurking out

1:09:09

there. It's right in

1:09:11

front of us, in

1:09:13

beneath the choices we

1:09:15

make. And when someone

1:09:17

is drowning in their own sins,

1:09:20

jumping in after them only

1:09:22

ensures you both

1:09:24

sink. This

1:09:50

episode was written and produced by

1:09:52

Elena Thomas, one of our

1:09:54

senior writers. We're gonna start giving

1:09:56

our producers a lot more

1:09:59

credit in the future. Something

1:10:01

we should have done a long time ago. If

1:10:03

you enjoyed that show, head on over

1:10:06

to Swordscale.com, consider signing up for Plus

1:10:08

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