#7 - David Anthony
“Good morning. Tested positive for coronavirus early this morning. That means I have to stay here
for at least two weeks”. That was the text message received by many of 51-year-old Gretchen Anthony’s
friends and family on March the 23rd of 2020. Over the next few days, additional texts from
Gretchen’s number described how her condition was worsening, which had prompted her to admit
herself to the emergency room at the Jupiter Medical Center in Florida. After several more
days of concerning texts and fruitless attempts to reach the woman by phone, the family contacted
the police and requested a welfare check. Officers discovered that security cameras had been ripped
from the walls inside Gretchen’s residence. After reaching out to the security service provider,
investigators obtained copies of the camera’s recordings from the day she’d last been seen.
The video showed a man lying in wait on Gretchen’s patio, around the same time a neighbor claimed to
have heard a woman let out a “blood-curdling scream”. The police ultimately identified
Gretchen’s estranged husband, David, from whom she’d filed for divorce just weeks before her
disappearance, as a person of interest in the case. After a manhunt spanning roughly 2,000
miles, David was located in New Mexico, where he was taken into custody on suspicion of kidnapping
and murdering his wife. He was also accused of sending the deceptive text messages from her phone
in an attempt to cover his tracks. In December of 2020, the authorities reached an agreement
with David, which stipulated that he would plead guilty to second-degree murder and reveal the
location of Gretchen’s yet-unfound remains in exchange for a lighter sentence. He subsequently
led police to the body, abandoned in a patch of grass behind a Walmart, just a few miles
from her house. The following January, David was sentenced to 38 years behind bars for the crime.
#6 - Jermico Willis
In March of 2018, Oklahoma police were called to an apartment near East 71st Street and South
Yale Avenue in Tulsa for a report of someone having taken their own life. When emergency crews
arrived, they came upon 25-year-old Iesha Wallace dead from an apparent gunshot wound. The victim’s
boyfriend, 30-year-old Jermico Willis, who’d reportedly been the one to call 911, told officers
that she’d shot herself. Investigators uncovered multiple pieces of evidence at the crime scene
that contradicted Willis’ claims. Following an autopsy conducted by the county medical examiner,
Wallace’s death was officially ruled a homicide, and suspicions predictably fell upon Willis, who’d
been released from federal custody only a year earlier. The man was charged with first-degree
murder, as well as felon in possession of a weapon. During the ensuing homicide investigation,
it was also determined that Willis’ brother, Terry, had helped him cover up the crime before
the arrival of police. He allegedly helped stage the crime scene to better support their cover
story, and was also accused of intimidating a state witness in connection to the investigation.
Terry, who was also a convicted felon, was consequently arrested on charges of accessory to
murder and intimidation of a witness. In April of 2021, after Willis entered a guilty plea to
his charges, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
#5 - Luis Romero
Texas woman Maria Marquez Santiago, a mother-of-three, was found dead inside
her pickup truck at 8520 La Porte Freeway near Lawndale Street in Houston on November the 21st
of 2018. Local police described how the vehicle had been parked off the side of the road in a
grassy area near some bushes. Her cell phone was tracked down to an apartment complex, where she’d
reportedly gone to put an end to her affair with 36-year-old Luis Moron Romero. A few hours after
Santiago’s arrival, Romero emerged from his apartment with her body wrapped up in a roll
of carpet. He then abandoned her vehicle in the vacant lot and left the scene. A few days later,
Houston police presented Romero with the damning surveillance footage of his attempted cover-up,
at which point he confessed to the murder. Shortly after his subsequent arrest, local authorities
received a tip about his alleged involvement in a previous murder with a similar cover-up.
In February of 2017, the body of 56-year-old Guillermo Gonzalez had been found in his car
at an abandoned car wash near Romero’s apartment. The latter’s DNA was detected in the mixture taken
from the crime scene, and he was thus handed down a second murder charge. In the summer of 2022,
Romero was convicted of both crimes and consequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
#4 - Jan Poepl
At about 10 pm on November the 16th of 2018, a vehicle crashed into a light pole on Barnet
Highway near Texaco Drive in Burnaby, British Columbia. When first responders arrived at the
scene, they came upon 2 passengers, a man and a woman, with the latter reported as being in
critical condition after having been thrust into a ditch 30 feet from the car. She was rushed to
the hospital, where she was ultimately pronounced dead. The police immediately suspected foul play,
as the female victim, identified as 34-year-old Nicole Porciello,
presented with extensive stabbing wounds. The man, 31-year-old Jan Poepl, was identified
as the victim’s on-again off-again boyfriend. According to the testimony of family members,
the couple had broken things off about a month prior to the deadly incident,
leading investigators to theorize that the car crash had been the end result of some
sort of domestic dispute. In the end, it was determined that, on the night in question,
Poepl had attacked his ex in a jealous rage. After stabbing Porciello 47 times, the man crashed their
car into the light pole in an attempt to make her death appear accidental. Porciello, who worked as
a special education teaching assistant at Templeton Secondary School in Vancouver,
was reportedly survived by a 10-year-old son. A disturbing video recorded in the moments
immediately following the stabbing was shown during the ensuing court proceedings. The clip,
which many of the victim’s relatives refrained from watching, showed Poepl taunting the woman,
who was covered in blood and begging for him to spare her life. He ultimately pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
#3 - Alex Semaan
On the night of December the 1st of 2014, Australian police were called to a home in the
Melbourne suburb of Brunswick East after receiving reports of a shooting. Eyewitness Tony Kannan told
investigators that he’d arrived at the bungalow, belonging to friend Alex Semaan and his family,
to find the latter high on methamphetamine and holding a gun. When asked why he was
wielding a weapon, Semaan allegedly said, “I want to kill everyone”. A short time later,
family friend Michael Bekhazi arrived at the home and went into the courtyard. Semaan subsequently
pointed the gun at Bekhazi’s head while Kannan looked on in disbelief. He then waved the firearm
in the direction of his neighbors, who were taking out the trash, before pointing it back
at Bekhazi and pulling the trigger at point blank range. Following the shooting, which killed the
victim instantly, Semaan retreated back into his house, along with his girlfriend, Megan Beljulji,
and sister, Hanna. A tense five-hour standoff ensued as the police attempted to gain access
to the residence, while Semaan, Beljulji, and Hanna refused to surrender. When officers
finally entered the house in the early hours of the following morning, the three occupants
presented a carefully fabricated cover story about how an unidentified intruder had attempted to rob
Bekhazi before gunning him down. Investigators reportedly found additional bullet holes,
intentionally placed by the conspirators near the crime scene, which would appear to corroborate
their story. The false narrative was rejected, however, and all three subsequently faced criminal
charges. Semaan was sentenced to 18 years in prison in connection to the drug-fueled shooting,
while Beljulji and Hanna were jailed for at least 2 years for attempting to cover up the crime.
Today’s topic was requested by River Parish. If you have any other topics
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#2 - Ian Bennett
The lifeless body of 38-year-old Kerry Woolley was found in the bedroom of her flat in the English
town of Solihull on the afternoon of July the 12th of 2020. The mother-of-two reportedly presented
with 54 sharp-force wounds, the majority of which were concentrated on her neck. There were also
signs that she’d been strangled. West Midlands Police had been notified of the grisly crime
scene by the victim’s boyfriend, 38-year-old Ian Bennett, who claimed to have come upon her
body already in its mutilated state. Investigators reviewed text messages exchanged between Bennett
and Woolley, which indicated that the couple had had a falling out days prior to the latter’s
death. The man had reportedly accused the victim of cheating on him, which the police labeled a
“groundless” allegation. CCTV footage showed a car belonging to Bennett’s 63-year-old mother,
Lynda, driving to a canal bridge, where the latter then exited her vehicle and tossed an item into
the water. Investigators used dashcam footage from Lynda’s car to prove that the item she’d
discarded was actually the knife used to fatally stab Woolley. Bennett was thus taken into custody
on suspicion of murder, while his mother was also arrested for helping him cover up the crime.
Following a 16-day trial at Birmingham Crown Court, the man was found guilty and jailed for a
minimum of 25 years. Lynda was likewise convicted, leading to a 3-year prison sentence of her own.
#1 - Elliot Turner
20-year-old Elliot Turner was arrested for murdering his girlfriend, Emily Longley,
in a jealous rage at his parents’ house in Bournemouth, Dorset, England on May the 7th
of 2011. The 17-year-old victim, a native New Zealander, was fatally strangled while lying
next to Turner in bed. When he was being taken into custody, the young man reportedly said,
“I never meant to harm her. I just defended myself”. Turner maintained his innocence and was
subsequently released on bail, at which point Dorset Police covertly installed surveillance
devices at his parents’ home on Queenswood Avenue. The police reportedly obtained 23 separate audio
recordings in which Turner’s parents openly discussed how they’d destroyed a letter the
young man had penned confessing the murder. They were also accused of removing “vital evidence”
from the murder scene prior to the arrival of police. Although the legal defense team
argued that the damning audio clips had been recorded illegally, they ultimately proved to
be a substantial part of the prosecution’s case. In court, it was detailed how Turner had a history
of obsessive and controlling behavior towards women, including Longley, an aspiring model,
whom he’d baselessly accused of unfaithfulness. Following a four-week trial, Turner was convicted
of murder and sentenced to life, with the possibility of early release after serving
16 years. Both of his parents were jailed for 27 months for their roles in the subsequent cover-up.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather help your significant other cover up a crime they committed
or attempt to travel abroad with a fake passport? Let us know in the comments section below!