WEBVTT - Hidden | Ashley's Story 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.760 Topics featured in this episode may be disturbing to some listeners. 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:06.280 Please take care while listening. 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:16.799 My husband and I were opening a business. His first 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:20.320 job was that very next day. One of the clients 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.440 had asked if they could bendmo him, so he'd called 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:27.880 me that morning September twenty ninth, twenty twenty one. He 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:31.200 was like, I need you to set up my business venmo, 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:33.239 and I was like, all right, use your name and 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.879 password for whatever email is connected to your venmo. So 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:39.800 he sent me the log in for his iCloud and 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:43.440 as I'm signing in, he frantically calls me back. He 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.800 was like, Oh, don't worry about it, we'll do it 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.360 together when we get home. Like, I'm sorry, it's going 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:51.280 to be too much, Like, don't do it. I knew 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:55.720 by the tenor of his voice that he was trying 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.880 to hide something. I thought maybe he bought something they 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.560 didn't want me to know about. There was nothing in 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:06.920 his photos, and then I scrolled down and that's when 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.000 I saw a hidden folder and I opened it. 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:16.480 You know, when you open your photos, it's going to 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:18.720 show you like a whole bunch of them. At once. 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:25.080 I slammed my computer shut. What the hell did I 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:27.200 just see? 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.679 I'm like, no, there's no way I saw that. My 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:33.800 first reaction was like, that was disgusting. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:34.759 I need a shower. 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:38.720 I need to get that off of me. Unfortunately, you 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:49.080 can't scrub that out of your brain. When I was 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.600 in the shower, I said the most heartfelt prayer I 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:55.320 think I've ever said in my life. I was like, God, 0:01:56.040 --> 0:02:00.559 something's wrong. Whatever you're about to hand to me, I'm ready. 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:04.800 I can do this. God, I'm ready for you. 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:25.560 I'm Andrea Gunning. This is Betrayal, Season two, Episode one Hidden. 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:30.399 When we set out to make season one, our goal 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.440 was simple. If we could help make one person feel 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.640 less alone, then we did our job. And the responses 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.720 we got from you guys, it was overwhelming. Thank you 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.880 all for sharing your thoughts and feelings. We value them 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:46.359 so much. In addition to feedback, we also heard from 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:50.280 people wanting to share their story. Some of them were heartbreaking, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:55.400 some were inspiring. We received hundreds of emails, and several 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.359 of them revealed a betrayal that nobody wants to talk about. 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:01.919 I was surprised to see this issue reappear in email 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:05.520 after email. Would I be able to take this subject on. 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.280 I was nervous, but it was something I could not ignore, 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.840 especially since there was this one email I could not 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.440 stop thinking about. It was from the woman you just 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:20.520 heard that slammed her computer shut. She's based in Utah, 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.399 and in the winter of twenty twenty two, I flew 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:35.800 out to meet her. It was late when I landed 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:39.480 in Salt Lake and the roads were empty. It was 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:41.640 a twenty minute drive to the place we were staying. 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.680 It was dark. Looking out into the sky, there was 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.400 an outline that almost split the sky into two, two 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:53.440 black shapes gently resting against one another. What was that? 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:58.120 At first I didn't know what it was. They were 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:03.280 the Wasatch Mountains. It was breathtaking. I had never been 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:06.400 to Utah, and the mountains that surrounded me seeing the 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:10.280 best of nature. It provided a sense of comfort, almost 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.960 like a hug, almost as if the sky was saying, welcome, 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:24.039 You're safe here. The mountains were keeping watch. Despite the 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.159 sense of safety and the beauty, I was guarded, thinking 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:30.479 of what lies beneath. I was there to cover a story, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.320 a story born in the darkness, the shadows, a story 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:38.640 about betrayal, invasion, and really the worst parts of humanity. 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:42.040 It's a story of Ashley Lytton, a mother of three 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.440 who lives in a town called Riverton, twenty five minutes 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:46.719 south of Salt Lake City. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:52.919 I grew up in West Valley City, Utah. It's a 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.960 suburb of Salt Lake City, and it's known locally as 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:02.360 being just a little bit rougher, rougher crowds, tougher kids, 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.760 and growing up a lot of us kids kind of 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:09.159 just around the streets because her parents worked a lot. 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.159 When I was a child, my mom got sick. She 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:17.760 has multiple sclerosis. My mom wasn't like super mobile. Instead 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.200 of like being a kid and being ten and like 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:23.880 playing at recess, that wasn't an option. The only option 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:25.520 was to go home and check a mom, make sure 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:26.080 she was okay. 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:29.080 Eventually, her mom needed more support. 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:32.080 My mom at this point was no longer in her home, 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:36.280 and my dad worked tonights, and so I took care 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:39.040 of my little brother and sister, got them breakfast, and 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.360 I'd walk them to school every day, and then i'd 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:42.640 co to junior High. 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.159 Just meeting with Ashley, I got the sense that she 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.279 was someone who had to grow up quickly. She put 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:50.760 her family's needs ahead of her own, she helped raise 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.080 her two younger siblings, managed a household. There was never 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.720 a question. Ashley just did what needed to be done. 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:00.680 Ashley's dad, John Trehillo, as. 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:03.840 She's spinn the caregiver, and still more caregiver than all 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.960 the kids, as she's been the caregiver from day one. 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.039 She told me that her only escape from all of 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.840 that responsibility was a boy she met at school. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:14.599 I met Matt in seventh grade. 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.600 He was handsome and all the girls liked him, and 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.080 he just happened to notice me too. I wrote in 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.680 my journal the first day that I found out what 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:27.119 his name was, met the man I'm going to marry today, 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.960 And then I wrote his name on your book day 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:33.200 that year. This is gonna totally age me, but in 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:36.800 my yearbook he said, hey, give me a call some time, 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.120 gave me his number, and then he put ps, you're 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.640 pretty fly, and I was. 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:44.320 Like, oh my god, he thinks I'm fly. 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.359 I didn't even know what that meant, but I just 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:49.440 knew that it meant something like super cool. 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.000 We all know this kid wild, unpredictable. 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.360 I'd see him, you know, getting in trouble all the time, 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.360 and I don't know I just I think I really 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.160 admired like how brave he was. It sounds brave, but 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:03.160 really it was probably reckless and stupid. 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:09.840 Matt wasn't exactly faithful to Ashley. Bad boys rarely are. 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.720 It was not an awesome relationship, and so I kind 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:16.440 of made traits with it more than anything else. It 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:20.440 was transactional. I guess I'd get rid of my respect 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:23.600 to have a safe place to go outside of my home. 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:26.520 They were kids at first, but stay together for more 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:30.520 than ten years, and during that time, drugs became the 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:32.360 third partner in their relationship. 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.280 He really started struggling with addiction when we were like 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:42.520 fifteen or sixteen. That's when he started like painkillers, ecstasy, 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:45.800 and I had never even really seen marijuana at that 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:46.720 point in my life. 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:51.960 The drug addiction continued into adulthood, and so did their relationship. 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.120 They still felt like kids, but they had a girl fast. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.120 I got pregnant with a vea when I was twenty 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:03.280 and she was not planned. So that was interesting because 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:07.000 I didn't want kids and I was using contraceptives and 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:09.960 it just still happened. 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:13.960 Three years later, a son came along, Ashley stepped up 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.240 to the plate determined to take care of her kids. 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:18.920 Ashley's sister Anna. 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:23.560 She tried to be a devoted partner and he just 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.040 wasn't that person. He wasn't ready to be a father, 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.480 and the resulted in a lot of dysfunction and instability 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.120 that my sister did a really good job trying to 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:34.560 shield the children from. 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.320 He would settle down for months on end, but never 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.640 like super consistent. But I was like, maybe this will 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:44.280 be it, you know, because I saw so much potential 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:46.400 in him, and I just thought he was meant for 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:48.480 so much more than what he was doing. 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.160 Then Matt disappeared on a three day bender. 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:56.520 I just knew that I was done, So I took 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:59.840 his shit and dumped it on his brother. His brother 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:04.440 spront Lawn like a crazy lady, and I left him. 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.920 I had to because of his addiction. I was like, 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.480 I need to give these kids a chance. 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:15.240 Ashley spent her whole life prioritizing others. Leaving Matt meant 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:18.520 she needed to come first. Leaving a relationship where you're 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.559 so emotionally invested in your partner so young can be scary, 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:24.400 but she did it. She got herself out of an 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.960 unhealthy relationship and went to work for herself and for 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.480 her two kids. She took a waitressing job and hustled. 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:36.599 She was finding independence. While in the job. One customer 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:38.679 kept coming in over and over. 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.880 So one day I'm at work and I saw him 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:47.280 and he smiled at me. 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.640 He was Jason Linton, and he looked familiar. 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:54.120 I recognized him at that point because my sister went 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:56.160 to high school with him, and I thought he was 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.880 GTL I was like, oh, this idiot, Ashley. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.679 I remembered him being such a meadhead. But he was undeterred. 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.800 He made a point of coming into Ashley's workplace often. 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:10.960 He was flirty with me, and he'd come in like 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:13.480 two or three times a week. He'd always get a shake, 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:14.640 a chocolate shake, but. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.120 I'd give him like an extra large shake, but I'd 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:19.320 only charge him for small. 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:22.520 Everyone at work always were like, oh, hey, ash your 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:23.360 shake boyfriends here. 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.760 Ashley was surprised when Jason changed jobs and started working 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:30.640 at the same restaurant and she was assigned to train him. 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:33.280 We're sitting there and he kept trying to like talk 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:34.920 to me while I was training him, and I was like, 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:36.720 what do you want to know about me? 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:38.480 I like to work and be a mom. What do 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:39.080 you like to do? 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:41.160 And I was kind of being an asshole because I 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.000 wanted to get past this and train him and get 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:44.560 it done out with. 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.240 Jason was determined to impress. 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.480 Her, and he's like, well, I can sing, and I'm like, 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:51.800 you can sing? 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:53.640 And I'm not a mean girl, but I was going 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:55.920 to shut this down real quick, so I was like, 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.520 all right, let's see what you can do. Took him 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:01.959 in the back friends with all the cooks and all 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:03.120 the waitresses, and I was. 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.320 Like, hey, everyone can reckon this. New guy says he 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:11.280 can sing. What did he say? Rascal Flat song, God 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:12.760 Bless the Broken Road or something. 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:17.040 It's a song about broken paths leading you to your future. Soulmate. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.320 Ashley certainly had a broken road. She could relate the 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.480 lyrics look back on decisions made things not working out 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:29.320 but inevitably for the better. And it struck a chord 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:31.240 and Jason could really sing it. 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.440 My jaw was on the floor and I was like, okay, 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:36.880 I'll have lunch with you here. 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:41.480 After the shift, Ashley started to look at Jason differently. 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.800 He wasn't the goofy guy his sister knew in high school. Anymore. 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:46.600 He was serious. 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:50.920 It was also fun, sweet and talented. He could sing 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:53.680 and had a great sense of humor. 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:56.040 It was pretty quick that we met him. 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:00.880 I thought, Wow, she just found a good guy, real respectful, 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:02.720 very mannerally. 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.400 He was like night schiming armor. I was like, here's 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.200 this normal dude that wants to be with me. Like 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:10.800 what I even told. 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:13.679 Jason when we first dating, I'm like, you're crazy, Like 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:14.320 what are you doing? 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:18.880 You are handsome, you are young, I have baggage, I 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.240 have debt, I have a crazy ex, you know, like 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:22.880 I had all this stuff. 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:26.400 And he is like, no, I'm gonna stay. I'll take 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.120 a chance on you. And I thought how lucky I was. 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:31.480 And my family told me how lucky I was. 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:39.599 My name is Kathy Trihio and I am Ashley's stepmom. 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.400 I love Jason. You could just see how nice and 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:48.040 kind he was to her. He's really funny. He has 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:51.079 a really great personality, can cut up the room pretty 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:52.840 quick with laughter and jokes. 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.480 If we're comparing my old relationship to this relationship, Jason 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:01.120 was normal. Jason came from a good family. He was charming, 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.120 he was kind, he was a hard worker. 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:06.800 You wouldn't meant a person that didn't like Jason. 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.080 The sweetest part was how much he seemed to love 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:11.120 Ashley's children. 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.400 He was really super good with her kids. 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.640 Her daughter, Avea was only two when Ashley met Jason. 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:18.560 Her son was still a baby. 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:23.800 It was so natural and they loved him and my son. 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:27.160 He did all of his firsts in front of Jason, 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:31.760 his first words, first time crawling, first time walking, first 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:32.559 time giggling. 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.920 I think Avea was probably like five when they got married. 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.000 The wedding was August twelfth, twenty eleven, and they eventually 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.439 had a child together, a daughter. 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.280 And it just seemed to make their family complete. 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:50.199 We moved to Riverton. I hate to use the word bougie, 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:54.720 but it is more bougie than West Valley. And you know, 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:57.400 ten fifteen years ago before we moved out here, that 0:13:57.600 --> 0:13:58.960 was a big deal. 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.880 It was cleaner, it looked safer. 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.960 The house, a good school, district, safety, a promising future. 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:13.720 She had achieved her dream. I met Ashley at our 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:15.959 house in Riverton. She was finishing work. 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.840 So, yeah, this is our living room. 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:24.960 Your house is adorable. It's so homey. 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:25.800 Thank you. 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.560 Yeah, it's fun. The kitties stay away from it. Now, 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:30.920 we had no no kitty spread, just like, put the 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:32.280 spray bottle right there and they're like. 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:34.640 The first thing I noticed about Ashley is how full 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.320 of life she is and how dedicated she is to 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:41.120 her three children. Oh and she's also really short and 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:42.000 always has heels. 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:49.080 On a typical day in our household was insanely busy. 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:55.880 Avea played competitive soccer and had practice for two hours. 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.920 My son played little league football, and then my youngest 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.400 danced and had to go to dance once or twice 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.800 a week as well. So I spent the majority of 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:11.680 my days being a taxi driver for two hours. I'm 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:14.040 a free taxi. That's what I call it. I'm a 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:14.800 free taxi. 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.760 Ashley and Jason have been married for eleven years. The 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:23.320 two little ones she had when she first met Jason 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:28.320 they're teenagers now, and the baby they had together is nine. Aveya, 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:32.040 her oldest, has a driver's license and a job. All 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.600 marriages have ups and downs. They've struggled making ends meet. 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.560 Mortgage payments were almost missed, but this new business they 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.800 were launching was going to be a game changer. 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.520 Park City is a very well established, very rich area 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:53.600 of Utah. 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.200 I mean your movie stars hang out up there. 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.480 It's also a ski resort town, only about forty miles 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:04.040 from Riverton. Jason would have a lot of business opportunity 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:04.720 in Park City. 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.880 He had a lot of work up there. He was 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.800 working on three and four million dollar homes. 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:16.240 Jason's former employer, Steve Ihausen, was selling Jason and another 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:17.840 contractor his business. 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:22.880 He's very personable. The contractors especially really liked him because 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:27.040 he was very organized and was able to talk with 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:30.520 the customers and kind of show them what needed to 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:31.280 be done. 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.840 It was all starting the next day. Jason just needed 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.520 to set up a business Vemo account, and he asked 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:38.560 Ashley for assistance. 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:49.400 I knew by the tenor of his voice that he 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:50.560 was trying to hide something. 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:52.680 There was nothing in his photos. 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:57.080 And then I scrolled down and that's when I saw 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:04.760 a hidden folder and I opened. It plays like slow 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:08.520 motion in my brain when I think about it. You know, 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.680 when you first pull up your photos, it gives you 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:15.560 I don't however, many like thirty photos or something, you know, 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.840 and it gives you like little squares, so you can't 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:20.680 really see unless you click on it. But those little 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:26.680 squares I could tell weren't women. I think my brain 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:30.520 went to what I could recognize, like what made sense, 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.119 and so I went to what I thought. 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:34.680 Was explicit adult photos. 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:39.040 So I saw the adult and then I saw that 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:44.360 this adult woman's face was superimposed on a female child's 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:48.879 nude body. 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.960 Did you ever see something and think this isn't real? 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:57.000 It can't be real. It was too disturbing for words, 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.280 Why would her husband have this? 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:02.919 I clicked on one or two and screenshot at it 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:07.920 real quick, and then instantly slam it shut. 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:15.000 What was all of this? She thought about Jason, her husband. Yes, 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.719 there were problems. This was not a fairy tale marriage. 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:21.440 He was far from perfect, but he wasn't this kind 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:26.440 of person. He wouldn't look at material like this. This 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:32.879 was criminal. Ashley knew she needed support quickly. Even with 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:35.560 what she had just seen, she didn't completely trust herself, 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.040 so she facetimed her younger sister Anna. 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:43.040 For some reason, in my brain, even though my subconscious 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.879 knew it, my brain could not comprehend it, and I 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.400 was like, no, you need to call Anne. 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:51.400 Anna had a similar reaction. 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:56.000 I remember just feeling like, what the fuck am I 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:57.000 looking at? 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.920 Anna tried to see the photos through the phone. At 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.440 the same time she was looking at Ashley. 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.919 I just remember her gasping and putting her hands to 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.439 her face. She just kind of lost her shit. She 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:13.720 started hyperventilating. 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:17.840 Ashley works at home a few days a week. Jason 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:21.600 knew she'd be there, and his intuition started kicking it. 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:24.760 He just started calling out the hook and texting me 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:28.480 and I wouldn't respond. So I was scared because I 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:29.560 knew he was coming home. 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:32.760 Jason sounded anxious when they spoke, and now he was 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.080 calling and texting with a frenzied energy. 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.840 She started going into this really weird dark place where 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:40.040 she was like, oh my god, I got to get 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:41.280 out of the house. He's going to come back here. 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:42.880 He's going to find out that I've seen this. He's 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:43.600 going to come kill me. 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:46.919 Her mind immediately went to another well known case in 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:49.840 Salt Lake City where a husband kept secrets from his wife. 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:53.760 My first thought was Mark Hacking and Laurie Hacking. 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:58.400 In two thousand and four, the Hacking case made international 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:03.399 news and dominated the front page of Utah newspapers. Young 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:06.880 pregnant woman Laurie Hacking discovered that her husband had lied 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:10.720 about his education. As they were preparing to move across 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:13.760 the country from Mark to attend medical school, Laurie also 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:16.560 learned he had never been admitted. 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.560 And instead of being exposed, he killed her and they 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:24.320 had to look for her body in the landfill. I 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:26.760 instantly was terrified, and I was like, he's going to 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:27.119 kill me. 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.119 Neither Anna nor Ashley knew exactly what to do next. 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:36.520 And it's like, oh my gosh, I can't see it 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:38.600 really well, but from what I think I can see, 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:42.040 you need to go show Kathy. Kathy, she works at 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:46.119 the Department of Corrections for the State of Utah and 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:51.160 specifically has to deal with a lot of correspondents from 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.080 inmates in and out of the prison. 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:58.320 Her stepmom, Kathy would certainly recognize the content in the 0:20:58.400 --> 0:20:59.000 hidden file. 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:02.159 She was at the state prison. It's probably like a 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:06.280 twenty minute drive from Ashley. I wanted her to go 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:08.920 see her, to see if the images were as bad 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:12.080 as we thought they were. She's been around some bad people, 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:13.320 you know, and we trust her. 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:17.840 And I got a phone call from Ashley's sister Anna 0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:21.840 and she said, Hey, there's something really bad going on. 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:27.040 Ashley is headed your way. She needs help, okay. So 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:29.880 I went out in front of my building to look 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:31.560 out the window, and I seen her car pull in. 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:38.480 She said she'd seen images on Jason's phone, so I 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:41.040 wasn't sure what we were talking about. I just assumed 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:43.160 maybe it was having an affair or something. I knew 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:47.040 it was something, probably not great. But I went out 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:48.639 and she got out of the car and she was 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:55.760 walking towards me and Ashley's little She wasn't able to 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.119 hold herself up really well, and so I just grabbed 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.119 a hold of her and was hugging her and holding her. 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:05.800 We got back in her car and she showed me 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:11.080 a screenshot of it. I said, oh my god, he's 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:14.360 in so much freaking trouble. And we're back and forth crying, 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:17.400 both crying so hard because those girls were too young. 0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:27.199 I'm not a age expert, but I do work at 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:31.240 the prison and sometimes people send inmates pictures that they're 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:34.560 not allowed to have, and I knew those girls were 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:35.000 too young. 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:41.080 What happened next might be hard to understand unless you've 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:44.399 been in this situation. You know you're sitting on a 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:48.000 ticking time bomb. You have information that will blow up 0:22:48.000 --> 0:22:50.320 your life. As you know, it, and you want some 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:54.840 control over how and when it will explode. Ashley had 0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:56.280 someone in mind to help. 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:02.840 Send's older brothers, a police officer or one of the 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:06.960 bigger police departments here in Salt Lake, and I trust him. 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:09.879