Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, I just want to make a couple of
Speaker 1: quick announcements before we get started with the show. I
Speaker 1: literally just got back from the airport. I was fortunate
Speaker 1: enough to fly down to Atlanta this weekend to join
Speaker 1: some amazing people at the Southern Podcasters meet up. I
Speaker 1: finally got to meet Melissa Mandy for Moms and Murder.
Speaker 1: We've been interacting with them since they first started their
Speaker 1: show and they say such great things about us, and
Speaker 1: we're huge fans of theirs, so it's pretty awesome to
Speaker 1: meet them in person. Along with some other great podcasters
Speaker 1: I met at Crime Con in Nashville. There was Erica
Speaker 1: from Southern fried Trough Crime, Lauren Brooke from The Fall Line,
Speaker 1: Nina from Already Gone, Steve from Trace Evidence, Jennifer and
Speaker 1: Lindsay from Corpus DELECTI, and Mo from Targeted and I
Speaker 1: want to give a huge thank you to Christine and
Speaker 1: Larry for all their support and hospitality. It was great
Speaker 1: seeing all of you and all the fantastic people that
Speaker 1: came out to show their support for everyone's podcasts. Also,
Speaker 1: our website had a major overhaul thanks to the talented
Speaker 1: Lisa from the Secret Lives of weddings podcast and if
Speaker 1: you haven't checked it out, you can at Minds of
Speaker 1: Madness podcast dot com. Finally, this episode is pretty special
Speaker 1: to me. When we were at Crime Con in Nashville,
Speaker 1: I got to meet Steve, Devon and Joe from Thinking Sideways.
Speaker 1: I really have been a huge fan of their podcast
Speaker 1: for years, and for those of you who are familiar
Speaker 1: with their show, you know that Team Sideways just recently
Speaker 1: wrapped up their podcast and have stopped producing content on
Speaker 1: a regular basis. We talked about doing an episode together,
Speaker 1: and when Stephanie Moore from our Cleaner's team came to
Speaker 1: us with a huge and incredible script on the American
Speaker 1: Beauty Murder, we asked them to record with us. Luckily,
Speaker 1: they got their parts in before they closed up shop,
Speaker 1: and I really want to give a special thank you
Speaker 1: to Devin, Steve and Joe for helping us with this project.
Speaker 1: It really was a huge thrill for me to work
Speaker 1: with you. This episode turned out to be a little
Speaker 1: longer than our regular episodes, so we broke it into
Speaker 1: two parts, but you won't have to wait long for
Speaker 1: the next episode, as we planned to release it in
Speaker 1: around twenty four hours. Again, thanks for listening and on
Speaker 1: with the show. The opinions expressed in the following episode
Speaker 1: do not necessarily reflect those of the minds of Madness
Speaker 1: podcast listener Discretion is advised. A toxicologist with the San
Speaker 1: Diego County Medical Examiner's Office convicted of poisoning her husband
Speaker 1: and trying to make it look like a suicide with
Speaker 1: a scene from a popular movie of that time. The
Speaker 1: victim was her husband, Greg de Villers. She had claimed
Speaker 1: he was depressed over the disintegration of their brief marriage
Speaker 1: and committed suicide. There was a wedding picture propped up
Speaker 1: near his body. He was found lying on their bed,
Speaker 1: red rose pedals sprinkled about, reminiscent of a scene from
Speaker 1: the Academy Award winning movie American Beauty. There's also a
Speaker 1: one million dollar civil suit judgment against her for the parents.
Speaker 1: They don't expect to see any of that money, but
Speaker 1: at least they don't want her to profit from this either. Yeah.
Speaker 1: On the evening of November six, two thousand, in Loahia, California,
Speaker 1: a distraught twenty four year old woman by the name
Speaker 1: of Kristen Rossum made a frantic call to report that
Speaker 1: her twenty six year old husband, Greg de Vellers, wasn't breathing.
Speaker 1: When paramedics arrived at the young couple's home. They found
Speaker 1: Greg on the bedroom floor, surrounded by rose petals and
Speaker 1: their wedding photo placed by his head. He was still
Speaker 1: warm to the touch, but unresponsive. At ten nine pm,
Speaker 1: Greg de Villers was pronounced dead. Kristen tearfully explained to
Speaker 1: the responding officer that Greg had been ill the previous
Speaker 1: day and had overdosed on medication. As officer Garcia searched
Speaker 1: the apartment for signs of drugs or a suicide note,
Speaker 1: he found only a bottle of cough syrup and a
Speaker 1: zip luck bag containing a shredded note. Kristen told the
Speaker 1: officer that it was a love letter from another man
Speaker 1: and that Greg had spent the weekend trying to piece
Speaker 1: it back together. If Gregg had committed suicide, what had
Speaker 1: he used to kill himself and how had he managed
Speaker 1: to carefully surround himself with was petals. Join me now
Speaker 1: as we take a look back into the suspicious death
Speaker 1: of Greg de Villers, How these two star crossed lover's
Speaker 1: paths came together, and what secrets lay hidden beneath the surface.
Speaker 1: Of their seemingly joyful marriage. On oct in Memphis, Tennessee,
Speaker 1: a beautiful baby girl was born to parents, Ralph and
Speaker 1: Constance Rawesome. Kristen had been born into a family of
Speaker 1: wealth and prestige. Her parents were both accomplished, self driven academics,
Speaker 1: Ralph a political science professor and Constance a marketing researcher. Later,
Speaker 1: they had two more children, Kristen's younger brothers, Brent and Pierce.
Speaker 1: The Rossum's appeared to be the perfect family. As a child,
Speaker 1: Kristen was strikingly beautiful, and her mother decided to devote
Speaker 1: the next years of her life to establishing a modeling
Speaker 1: career for her, but Kristen had other ideas. Soon after
Speaker 1: seeing a performance of The Nutcracker in Chicago, Kristen decided
Speaker 1: she wanted to give up modeling for ballet. Her parents
Speaker 1: did not object. As the Rossum family moved around the
Speaker 1: Midwest following various career opportunities that came up for mister Rawsome,
Speaker 1: Kristen's talent for ballet continued to the people around her.
Speaker 1: Kristen came across as highly intelligent, talented, and stunningly beautiful. However, internally,
Speaker 1: Kristen struggled with self esteem. She felt like a failure
Speaker 1: who repeatedly disappointed herself and her parents. At five ft
Speaker 1: two inches tall, Kristen often felt physically inadequate in comparison
Speaker 1: to the other ballet dancers who were taller, leaner, and
Speaker 1: more flexible. It's possible that these feelings of an adequacy
Speaker 1: later became the driving force behind the future self destructive behavior.
Speaker 1: In three, her father, Professor Ralph Rossum, PhD, was handpicked
Speaker 1: by the Reagan administration to act as a consultant in
Speaker 1: the field of juvenile crime. It was said that Professor
Speaker 1: Rossum was the author of Nancy Reagan's Just Say No
Speaker 1: to Drugs campaign. This prestigious position was equal to that
Speaker 1: of the Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Dr. Rossum became a
Speaker 1: recognized expert in his field, maintaining friendships with many high
Speaker 1: powered associates, including Supreme Court Justice Scalia. In four, the
Speaker 1: Rawsom family relocated to Claremont, California, where Kristen's father accepted
Speaker 1: a tenured position at Claremont mckennet Colleges. Claire Mount, a small,
Speaker 1: affluent community consisted mostly of white, highly educated residents known
Speaker 1: for its picturesque tree line streets and small town feel,
Speaker 1: it was often compared to the fictional town in the
Speaker 1: movie pleasant Ville. Kristen's parents, both devoted Episcopalians, expected their
Speaker 1: children to be driven, disciplined, and successful in all of
Speaker 1: their pursuits. As a young girl, Kristen excelled in both
Speaker 1: ballet and academics, consistently bringing home straight a's. At the
Speaker 1: age of fourteen, Kristen, still pursuing her love for dance,
Speaker 1: obtained the coveted role as the sugar plum Ferry in
Speaker 1: a professional performance of The Nutcracker. Later in Kristen auditioned
Speaker 1: and was awarded a spot in the prestigious summer program
Speaker 1: with the Boston Ballet. That fall, her father, Ralph, accepted
Speaker 1: a temporary guest position at a private liberal arts school
Speaker 1: in southern Virginia so that Kristen could attend boarding school
Speaker 1: sixty hours away while continuing to pursue her dance with
Speaker 1: the prestigious Richmond Ballet Troupe. During that time, Kristen suffered
Speaker 1: a bad fall, causing her to tear several ligaments in
Speaker 1: her ankle. Unfortunately, she pushed herself to return back to
Speaker 1: dance before she had completely healed, which caused her to
Speaker 1: develop a chronic stress fracture. As the stress fracture was
Speaker 1: repeatedly re injured, Kristen was eventually forced to give up dance.
Speaker 1: Around this time, Kristen, now fifteen, started drinking, smoking, and
Speaker 1: doing drugs. She quickly learned their unexpected benefits to drug use.
Speaker 1: They allowed her to stay up late and study, while
Speaker 1: also helping her to stay Then usually weighing between a
Speaker 1: hundred and a hundred and ten pounds, Kristen started to
Speaker 1: fixate on her weight. Around sixteen years of age and
Speaker 1: no longer dancing, her mother and brothers started to notice
Speaker 1: that Kristen seemed sad. They had attributed her sadness to
Speaker 1: the loss of her ability to dance. While her grades
Speaker 1: were still good, her behavior continued to change. One day,
Speaker 1: her brother found a pipe, razor, blades, and small mirror
Speaker 1: in Kristen's bedroom. He showed it to his mother. Naive
Speaker 1: and unaware of drug paraphernalia, Constance was clueless as to
Speaker 1: their meanings. Eventually, as her grades began to slip, the
Speaker 1: Rasums decided that perhaps Kristen just needed space from their
Speaker 1: constant attention. As Kristen was granted more independence. She started
Speaker 1: to forge new relationships with a group of kids who
Speaker 1: liked to party. It was her new friends who introduced
Speaker 1: her to the euphoria of inhaling crystal meth. As her
Speaker 1: weight and grades both began to plummet, Kristen soon realized
Speaker 1: that she needed meth on a daily basis just to
Speaker 1: maintain a feeling of normalcy. She had open sores on
Speaker 1: her hands and face from constant picking and scratching. Finally,
Speaker 1: suspecting that Kristen might have a drug problem, Constance searched
Speaker 1: her daughter's bedroom and discovered a hidden box containing white powder,
Speaker 1: a glass pipe, and razor blades. No longer naive, the
Speaker 1: Rossums confronted Kristen about her drug use. The discussion quickly
Speaker 1: escalated into a physical altercation between Kristen and her parents.
Speaker 1: During the argument, Constance slapped Kristen, who then ran into
Speaker 1: the kitchen and attempted to cut her wrists with a knife.
Speaker 1: After Kristen's father wrestled the knife out of her hands,
Speaker 1: Kristen ran off and locked herself in the bathroom, where
Speaker 1: she began repeatedly making superficial cuts to her wrists. According
Speaker 1: to reports, her parents had decided not to seek medical
Speaker 1: or psychological attention because the cuts hadn't been that deep.
Speaker 1: Having been caught, Kristen promised to stop doing drugs, and surprisingly,
Speaker 1: life for the Rossom's quickly returned back to normal. However,
Speaker 1: it didn't take long before Kristen's old patterns began to resurface.
Speaker 1: Kristen's mother had finally had enough and contacted Officer Horowitz
Speaker 1: to have Kristen arrested for being under the influence of
Speaker 1: an illegal substance. Kristen was booked, fingerprinted, photographed, and ultimately
Speaker 1: released into her parents custody. The raw Sums, with their
Speaker 1: continued pattern of denial, decided the real problem with Kristen
Speaker 1: wasn't a drug problem, but rather it was a location problem.
Speaker 1: They decided the best solution was to have Kristen graduate early,
Speaker 1: then moved thirty miles away to the University of Redlands
Speaker 1: in California. After her first semester, Kristen was doing so
Speaker 1: well that her parents decided to allow her to move
Speaker 1: into the dorm. With her new gain freedom, Kristen immediately
Speaker 1: fell back into drug habits and her grade started to
Speaker 1: slip again. Eventually, campus police discovered drugs in her dorm room,
Speaker 1: and she was expelled from the university. Ashamed of her
Speaker 1: physical appearance and relapse, Kristen didn't want to face her
Speaker 1: parents and their inevitable disappointment. When her boyfriend came to
Speaker 1: take her home from Christmas break, she was nowhere to
Speaker 1: be found. Her parents immediately suspected her disappearance had something
Speaker 1: to do with drugs. On Christmas night, Kristen phoned her
Speaker 1: boyfriend and asked her to meet him at a hotel
Speaker 1: in red Lands. She told him she'd been staying with
Speaker 1: various friends for the past two weeks. She'd been missing
Speaker 1: well he was showering, Kristen emptied his wallet, which contained
Speaker 1: two hundred dollars, and caught a train to the San Diego,
Speaker 1: Mexican border. Kristen was on the hunt for Math. While
Speaker 1: crossing the pedestrian bridge into Tijuana, Kristen ran into Greg
Speaker 1: de Villars and his two brothers, Jerome and Bertrand The
Speaker 1: Deviller's brothers were just about to push through the second
Speaker 1: turnstile when Kristen Rassum dropped her leather jacket, sparking eate
Speaker 1: ful conversation. Since Kristen was traveling alone, Gregg readily invited
Speaker 1: her to tag along with them. After crossing the border,
Speaker 1: the four of them took a cab into a popular
Speaker 1: Tea Juan, a tourist destination aligned with bars and dance clubs.
Speaker 1: As Kristen and the da Viller brothers hopped from bar
Speaker 1: to bar, it quickly became a parent that Kristen and
Speaker 1: Gregg were attracted to each other. By two am, Kristen
Speaker 1: and the brothers headed back over the border to the
Speaker 1: u S where Gregg's car was parked. Greg invited Kristen
Speaker 1: back to his two bedroom apartment that he shared with
Speaker 1: his brother, Jerome and another roommate. Kristen did not object. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: back in Claremont, California, Kristen's parents discovered she'd missed her finals,
Speaker 1: and by the day after Christmas, they had filed a
Speaker 1: missing person's report with campus police. The intake report stated
Speaker 1: that Kristen's boyfriend had last seen her on the morning
Speaker 1: of December. However, because Kristen was now a team, the
Speaker 1: report read that she was a voluntarily missing adult. An
Speaker 1: entire month went by before the Rassam's heard from Kristen again.
Speaker 1: When she finally did call her parents. It was to
Speaker 1: share that she had met a nice young man, was
Speaker 1: working three jobs, and had turned her life around. Greg
Speaker 1: then lent Kristen his car so she could go see
Speaker 1: her parents. It was an emotional reunion that ended with
Speaker 1: promises and apologies. Next, Kristin drove to meet her boyfriend,
Speaker 1: the one she had deserted at the hotel and stolen
Speaker 1: money from one Christmas Day. Her boyfriend heard an elaborate
Speaker 1: tale about Kristen being kidnapped at gunpoint by white slavers
Speaker 1: in Mexico and driven around in the trunk of a car.
Speaker 1: She told him that after she had escaped, she had
Speaker 1: met a nice man who helped her get back in
Speaker 1: the country. She assured him, however, that it was a
Speaker 1: platonic relationship. Kristen's parents, relieved tear about their daughter's recovery,
Speaker 1: drove down to San Diego the following weekend to meet
Speaker 1: the wonderful new man who had saved their daughter's life.
Speaker 1: Before her parents arrived, Kristen had coached Greg to lie
Speaker 1: and tell them she was living with a coworker, seeming
Speaker 1: to be in a healthier place. The Rossums talked Kristen
Speaker 1: into resuming college and immediately helped her apply to San
Speaker 1: Diego State University as a freshman. They collectively decided to
Speaker 1: wash the University of Redland's admission and expulsion from her application.
Speaker 1: After paying for her tuition books and giving Kristen rent money.
Speaker 1: Her parents also bought her car to the raw Sums.
Speaker 1: Greg was the saving angel who had brought Kristen back
Speaker 1: to them. But while Gregg only saw perfection in Kristen,
Speaker 1: his brother and roommate witnessed a different side to her,
Speaker 1: one that was a liar and manipulative and a drug addict.
Speaker 1: Shortly after Kristin moved into Gregg's apartment, things started disappearing,
Speaker 1: such as jewelry, credit cards, checks, and family heirloom rings.
Speaker 1: Greg blamed the thefts on Jerome's friends, and Jerome blamed Kristen.
Speaker 1: When confronted, Kristen admitted to taking the items and begged
Speaker 1: for help to get off drugs. Jerome wanted her out immediately,
Speaker 1: but Greg would not hear of it. He had fallen
Speaker 1: in love with her and had made it his mission
Speaker 1: to help her. While Greg and Jerome through a party,
Speaker 1: Kristen spent the entire evening in the other roommate's lap.
Speaker 1: When someone asked if they were a couple, she burst
Speaker 1: into tears, Asking the roommate to privately speak with her
Speaker 1: on the balcony. She tearfully admitted to being in love
Speaker 1: with the roommate and felt they were meant to be together.
Speaker 1: The roommate declined her offer, which prompted him and Jerome
Speaker 1: to move out of the apartment. They both hoped Greg
Speaker 1: would eventually see Kristen for the manipulator that she was.
Speaker 1: That next summer, six months after their faithful meeting, Gregg
Speaker 1: told Ralph Rossom he wanted to marry his daughter. Kristen's
Speaker 1: parents encouraged the couple to finish college first, which they
Speaker 1: both reluctantly agreed to. It was at this time they
Speaker 1: finally discovered that Kristen and Greg had actually been living
Speaker 1: together since the night they had met. While the Rossums
Speaker 1: were disappointed, they decided to put their thoughts on premarital
Speaker 1: sex aside and paid for Kristen and Greg to move
Speaker 1: into another apartment in the upscale area of Lajoya, California.
Speaker 1: They were pleased with Kristen's turnaround and decided to help
Speaker 1: the couple by paying for their rent. Kristen was majoring
Speaker 1: in chemistry and had become a straight a student again.
Speaker 1: Constance took Greg aside and made him promise to tell
Speaker 1: her if Kristen ever relapsed on drugs. Greg assured her
Speaker 1: he would. Greg, like Kristen, came from a well educated,
Speaker 1: suburban family. Greg was the oldest of three American born
Speaker 1: sons to French parents, even Marie France Trimult Dave Fillers.
Speaker 1: Greg and his brothers grew up in southern California in
Speaker 1: a bilingual home, speaking fluent French. Even Marie had an
Speaker 1: explosive marriage, with numerous allegations of physical violence, dual restraining orders,
Speaker 1: and financial control issues. The marriage eventually ended in divorce.
Speaker 1: Marie moved herself and the boys into an apartment in
Speaker 1: Palm Springs, California, and Greg got a job at sixteen
Speaker 1: to help provide for the family. Despite Eves, their father
Speaker 1: being a prominent plastic surgeon with the practice in Monte Carlo,
Speaker 1: Monaco and Thousand Oaks, California, he often claimed to have
Speaker 1: financial problems. Back in the nineteen eighties, he was required
Speaker 1: to pay child at alimony support in the amount of
Speaker 1: fourteen hundred dollars but somehow always managed to find a
Speaker 1: way to avoid doing so. Despite the lack of funds,
Speaker 1: the boys still had opportunity to play tennis, swim in
Speaker 1: the apartment complex pool, and ride dirt bikes in the
Speaker 1: desert right outside their front door. All three boys had
Speaker 1: part time jobs while at school, and after graduating from
Speaker 1: Palm Springs High School, put themselves to work through college.
Speaker 1: By the end of summer nineteen seven, Kristen and Gregg
Speaker 1: had been together for two and a half years and
Speaker 1: appeared to be happily married with promising futures. On June four,
Speaker 1: Kristen applied for a student internship position at the San
Speaker 1: Diego Medical Examiner's office, where she was interviewed and hired
Speaker 1: on the spot. Within a few short months, Kristen was
Speaker 1: given additional responsibilities including drug screening, sending drugs out for analysis,
Speaker 1: and drug sample preparation. She thrived in this environment and
Speaker 1: quickly decided her future was in forensic toxicology. Kristen's early
Speaker 1: reviews were filled with praise, and she was seen as
Speaker 1: very bright and a diligent worker who learned fast and
Speaker 1: was dependable. As there was no background check required for
Speaker 1: a student intern position, no one from the Medical Examiner's
Speaker 1: Office would have ever discovered she was a former drug addict.
Speaker 1: As such, she was given free reign to do the
Speaker 1: samples of hard drugs, including meth and heroin. At first,
Speaker 1: Kristen was able to avoid the temptation, but unfortunately that
Speaker 1: wouldn't last. In May, Kristen graduated with honors, and a
Speaker 1: few days later she was invited to her first professional
Speaker 1: toxicology conference. That year, the conference was held in San Diego,
Speaker 1: where she met some leading forensic toxicologists. Later that year,
Speaker 1: Kristen's mentor at the Medical Examiner's Office, Frank Barnhardt, left
Speaker 1: to work for the San Diego Sheriff's Crime Lab. He
Speaker 1: encouraged Kristen to apply for a job there, too, promising
Speaker 1: to give her a good recommendation. She admitted on the
Speaker 1: application to having been arrested and jailed for possession and
Speaker 1: being under the influence of a controlled substance. She also
Speaker 1: admitted to using math between thirty to forty times between
Speaker 1: the years of her mother would later state she went
Speaker 1: overboard with her honesty, she was rejected by the Sheriff's
Speaker 1: department as unsuitable. In February two thousand, Kristen submitted her
Speaker 1: official application to become a full time toxicologist at the
Speaker 1: San Diego Medical Examiner's Office. This time time, her mother
Speaker 1: made sure she wasn't overly honest in her application, and
Speaker 1: she was readily offered the job. In addition to the
Speaker 1: easy access to illegal narcotics, she was also given a
Speaker 1: key to the office, allowing her unsupervised access. The same
Speaker 1: month Kristen started at the Medical Examiner's office, Greg graduated
Speaker 1: from uc SD and began looking for full time work.
Speaker 1: He quickly found a job with a biotech firm, working
Speaker 1: for the company's vice president, Dr Stephen Gruenwald as his assistant.
Speaker 1: Greg was quickly promoted, and when Dr Gruenwald left for
Speaker 1: his own startup in cancer research, his first employee was
Speaker 1: Greg the Viller's. The new job was demanding, giving Greg
Speaker 1: and Kristen little time, I'm for their relationship. Greg's professional
Speaker 1: life was going well and there were plans to send
Speaker 1: him to law school at the company's expense to become
Speaker 1: an in house attorney. Greg was the first to arrive
Speaker 1: each day and the last to leave, being described as
Speaker 1: the company's most positive person, with both Kristen and Greg
Speaker 1: gainfully employed and succeeding in their careers. Gregg and Kristen
Speaker 1: set a wedding date for later that year. Lwardly, Kristen
Speaker 1: praised Greg as their soulmate and savior to friends and family. Inwardly,
Speaker 1: she craved passion and excitement from outside sources. Unbeknownst to Greg,
Speaker 1: Kristen had secretly begun to engage in sexual relationships with
Speaker 1: co workers, fellow students, and men from her past. In
Speaker 1: the dark about their daughter's restlessness, the Rossums began planning
Speaker 1: for their daughter's upcoming wedding. It was set for June five,
Speaker 1: and Constance was making all the arrangements. She had already
Speaker 1: booked and paid for a prestigious location for the private
Speaker 1: ceremony and reception. As the months went on, Constance had
Speaker 1: the entire wedding day planned with military precision. While her
Speaker 1: mother was finalizing wedding plans, Kristen was still carrying on
Speaker 1: an affair with a man who had just left San
Speaker 1: Diego for a job in New York. Kristen began having
Speaker 1: second thoughts about her upcoming nuptials. Kristen told her mother
Speaker 1: that although she loved Greg, she wasn't sure she was
Speaker 1: in love with him. Kristen's mother thought it was just
Speaker 1: a case of cold feet and didn't think it was
Speaker 1: a good idea to cancel the wedding. On Saturday June,
Speaker 1: on a perfect sunny day, Greg and Kristen were married
Speaker 1: in front of family and friends. None of Kristen's high
Speaker 1: school or college friends were in attendance, and she had
Speaker 1: no bridesmaids. But what Kristen lacked in friends, she made
Speaker 1: up for with family. Later, Dr ross And would remark
Speaker 1: it was a perfect wedding for a perfect couple. Two
Speaker 1: weeks after returning from their magical honeymoon, Kristen was emailing
Speaker 1: her secret boyfriend and professing her love to him while
Speaker 1: making plans to continue her affair. Greg was immediately making
Speaker 1: plans for children. Kristen told Greg that any plans for
Speaker 1: children would need to be put on hold, and it
Speaker 1: soon became a major issue between the newlyweds. Kristen would
Speaker 1: later say she was becoming more confident as a person
Speaker 1: and this was a threat to Greg. You early September,
Speaker 1: Kristen became fixated with the movie American Beauty and telling
Speaker 1: friends it was her favorite. By Christmas, Kristen had moved
Speaker 1: on from her secret boyfriend and embarked on a new
Speaker 1: passionate affair. While Kristen was busy juggling two secret boyfriends
Speaker 1: and her husband, she became enamored with a tall, handsome,
Speaker 1: married thirty year old Australian doctor named Michael Robertson. Dr
Speaker 1: Robertson had just been hired at the Medical Examiner's office
Speaker 1: as her new boss and the chief toxicologist. From the
Speaker 1: moment they met, sparks began to fly. Dr Michael Robertson
Speaker 1: was the golden boy of international forensic science and had
Speaker 1: the good looks to go with the title. After graduating
Speaker 1: eating from Australia's monished University with a pH d, Dr
Speaker 1: Robinson worked at the Coroner's office in Melbourne, where he
Speaker 1: was soon on the fast track to success. Dr Robertson
Speaker 1: was soon offered a prestigious position with the National Medical
Speaker 1: Service in Pennsylvania. He and his wife then emigrated to
Speaker 1: America to start their new life. Despite his outward perfection,
Speaker 1: Dr Robertson had a dark secret. Within a few months
Speaker 1: of moving to America, Dr Robertson began a relationship with
Speaker 1: a close personal friend of his wife's along with another
Speaker 1: female employee. Dr Robertson was ambitious and joined the Society
Speaker 1: of Forensic Toxicologist, commonly referred to as SOFT, and became
Speaker 1: a regular presenter at their annual meetings, befriendings some of
Speaker 1: the nation's most distinguished toxicologists. He was a rising star
Speaker 1: in the field. He was well liked and described as
Speaker 1: the life and soul of the party during the many
Speaker 1: conference social events. In early two thousand, Dr Robertson was
Speaker 1: offered the position a forensic laboratory manager at the San
Speaker 1: Diego County Medical Examiner's Office, and he and his wife
Speaker 1: moved into the affluent area of Laoya, just a few
Speaker 1: blocks away from Kristen and Greg. Within a few days
Speaker 1: of his arrival in the office, Kristen was going out
Speaker 1: of her way to spend as much time with her
Speaker 1: new boss as she possibly could. According to co workers,
Speaker 1: there appeared to be a mutual attraction between the two.
Speaker 1: His new office had a perfect view of Kristen's desk,
Speaker 1: and she would be in his office constantly. It wasn't
Speaker 1: long before the two were going to launch every day
Speaker 1: and meeting outside of work. Their obvious office romance quickly
Speaker 1: created resentment among the other toxicologists who felt Kristen was
Speaker 1: getting preferential treatment. In May of two thousand, Dr Robertson
Speaker 1: invited Kristen to accompany him to the May Conference of
Speaker 1: the California Association of Toxicologists, commonly referred to as CAT
Speaker 1: in Anaheim, California, about a two hour drive from San Diego.
Speaker 1: His friend Dr Daniel Anderson from the l A County
Speaker 1: Corners office, was organizing the event. Kristen, along with Dr
Speaker 1: Robertson and fellow co workers, attended the CAT conference together.
Speaker 1: Kristen attempted to avoid any impression of impropriety to minimize
Speaker 1: further office gossip, but that intent mention lasted approximately one day.
Speaker 1: Back at their hotel, Kristen and Dr Robertson consummated their
Speaker 1: romance for the first time and decided not only did
Speaker 1: they have a future together, but they were destined for
Speaker 1: one another. Within days of the conference, their fling moved
Speaker 1: quickly into a passionate love affair. A week later, Kristen
Speaker 1: and Dr Robertson began exchanging gifts and roses when they
Speaker 1: came back to the office from lunch. They would enter
Speaker 1: within minutes of each other, sometimes freshly showered. On May,
Speaker 1: the first in a long series of passionate emails between
Speaker 1: the two started. Sitting just a few feet away from
Speaker 1: each other, they would exchange long, flowery emails. Dr Robertson
Speaker 1: wrote from his office, the deepest love is being able
Speaker 1: to let down all barriers and give yourself to another
Speaker 1: who has done the same. This is what I feel
Speaker 1: for you. An hour later, a reply came from Kristen.
Speaker 1: You're a beautiful person and an inspiration to me. I
Speaker 1: want nothing more than to give my all to you,
Speaker 1: my life, my love, my world. Their exchanges were straight
Speaker 1: out of a romance novel. That day's exchange of love
Speaker 1: notes ended with Dr Robertson telling Kristen that he loved her.
Speaker 1: Her reply, I'll be thinking of you and all our
Speaker 1: future has to offer. I can't wait for it to begin.
Speaker 1: That same day, Kristen was simultaneously sending emails to Greg,
Speaker 1: stating that she loved him more than anything in the world,
Speaker 1: and asked him if he could email her more often.
Speaker 1: Twenty minutes later, she emailed Dr Robertson, telling him she
Speaker 1: wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
Speaker 1: The following day, she emailed her brother Brent to tell
Speaker 1: him she had doubts with Greg's ability to be a
Speaker 1: true life companion. She accused their parents of pushing her
Speaker 1: into the marriage because they had spent so much time
Speaker 1: and money on the wedding. She described Greg as unsupportive
Speaker 1: and said the most significant reason to remain in the
Speaker 1: marriage was to not disappoint their parents. The following week,
Speaker 1: both oblivious to the office gossip, Kristen and Dr Robertson
Speaker 1: spent most of their working days writing ever more passionate
Speaker 1: emails to one another. Kristen stated she wanted to leave
Speaker 1: Greg and moved to Australia to Mary Robertson. By Thursday
Speaker 1: morning of that week, the two were so indiscreet that
Speaker 1: Dr Robertson's immediate boss found it necessary to address the
Speaker 1: rumors directly. He said, I spoke to them about reports
Speaker 1: that were reaching me that there might be improper relationships
Speaker 1: between Robertson and Kristen. I told him we could not
Speaker 1: have a relationship in the senior subordinate chain of command
Speaker 1: and it would be deleterious to the morale of that division.
Speaker 1: Dr Robertson vehemently denied the rumors and immediately sent Kristen
Speaker 1: an email telling her to delete all of their emails
Speaker 1: as they wouldn't be well received by office snoops. Later
Speaker 1: that afternoon, Robertson's boss called both him and Kristen into
Speaker 1: his office, asking that they avoid being in close proximity
Speaker 1: to one another as it made other coworkers uncomfortable. Part
Speaker 1: of Kristen's job had including logging all of the illicit
Speaker 1: drugs found at death scenes before they were disposed of
Speaker 1: by the Sheriff's office. It was the absolute worst place
Speaker 1: for a recovering drug addict to be working. It was
Speaker 1: later determined that illegal drugs were kept in such a
Speaker 1: disorganized and unsecure manner that any toxicologist working at the
Speaker 1: Medical Examiner's office could remove drugs intended for destruction with impunity.
Speaker 1: Kristen later admitted to smoking meth at the Medical Examiner's
Speaker 1: office during work hours in the high pressure liquid chromatography
Speaker 1: room because the strong smell was quickly dissipated by the
Speaker 1: vented machine. Even Dr Robertson would later agree that the
Speaker 1: office system for drug storage was woefully inadequate. However, it
Speaker 1: would be another six months before he discovered how Kristen
Speaker 1: was using the system's weaknesses to support her drug addiction.
Speaker 1: Dr Robertson was soon promoted to the position of Chief Toxicologist.
Speaker 1: He would now be in charge of all toxicology work
Speaker 1: at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. Kristen was
Speaker 1: delighted and hit a congratulations card in his desk. Dr
Speaker 1: Robertson would regularly place gifts and roses in a box
Speaker 1: under his desk with love letters for Kristen to fine.
Speaker 1: They would continually give each other different colored roses with long,
Speaker 1: passionate love letters about the various meanings of the colors.
Speaker 1: Roses would become a special language of love between the two,
Speaker 1: each color signifying a different emotion. Kristen saved many of
Speaker 1: the rose pedals in her desk. In June, Dr Robertson
Speaker 1: was summoned to a meeting with the Medical Examiner Dr
Speaker 1: Brian Blackburn in San Diego homicide Detective Terry Torkerson. It
Speaker 1: was explained that a death from five years earlier, which
Speaker 1: had been ruled an overdose, was in fact allegedly caused
Speaker 1: by a fentanyl overdose. As the San Diego Medical Examiner's
Speaker 1: Office didn't test for fentanyl. Dr Robertson had sent it
Speaker 1: out to his old employer in Pennsylvania. It would later
Speaker 1: be claimed that Kristen and Dr Robertson made use of
Speaker 1: the facts that fentanyl was not part of the regular
Speaker 1: talk screening for opioids conducted by their office. The newly
Speaker 1: promoted doctor Robertson decided that the upcoming sl FT conference
Speaker 1: would be a good opportunity for another romantic getaway, and
Speaker 1: arranged to have Kristen in attendance to co present a
Speaker 1: paper of which he was the primary author. However, everything
Speaker 1: changed in mid July when Gregg found one of Robertson's
Speaker 1: love letters. Chris did admitted to having strong feelings for
Speaker 1: the doctor, but denied anything physical was going on. Gregg
Speaker 1: telephone doctor Robertson, whom he had recently met at a
Speaker 1: social function, and demanded he had no further inappropriate interactions
Speaker 1: with his wife. He also threatened to call the medical
Speaker 1: examiner and reveal their affair. To Christian's relief, he didn't
Speaker 1: do that, but despite these warnings, the affair not only continued,
Speaker 1: it heated up. In mid September, Kristen started writing a
Speaker 1: journal of quote self discovery unquote. However, she never mentioned
Speaker 1: in her diary her relapse with drugs or her love
Speaker 1: affair with Dr Robertson. Later prosecutors would claim it to
Speaker 1: be a cliche written journal written for the sole purpose
Speaker 1: of deceiving Gregg into believing her to be faithful and
Speaker 1: drug free. In mid September, she had lunch with her
Speaker 1: mother explaining her desire to leave greg. Her mother was
Speaker 1: supportive and offered to help her move out. That very day,
Speaker 1: she told her mother she was apartment hunting and planned
Speaker 1: to leave Gregg. In early November, Kristen and Dr Robertson
Speaker 1: headed to the s O f T conference, having booked
Speaker 1: just one room for the two of them. Later they
Speaker 1: would alter hotel receipts and be reimbursed for two rooms
Speaker 1: out of the Medical Examiner's budget. Once they arrived, they
Speaker 1: were given materials that included an eight page article on
Speaker 1: fentanyl written by doctor Daniel Anderson from the Los Angeles
Speaker 1: Medical Examiner's Office entitled twenty five Deaths on Fentanyl. A
Speaker 1: few days later, they would both attend to presentation at
Speaker 1: the conference on fentanyl overdoses resulting in unintentional death or suicide.
Speaker 1: Later Kristen's old friend Frank Barnhardt, who had hired her
Speaker 1: for the Medical Examiner's office and had tried to hire
Speaker 1: her at the Sheriff's department, commented she wasn't wearing her
Speaker 1: wedding ring at the conference. Dr Robertson and Kristen then
Speaker 1: announced that they were now a happy couple, explaining they
Speaker 1: were in love with each other and in unhappy marriages
Speaker 1: with other people. Dr Anderson said he wasn't surprised, but
Speaker 1: didn't approve and thought it unfair to their respective spouses.
Speaker 1: Kristen follow him out of the reception hall Terria I had,
Speaker 1: saying how much she and Dr Robertson valued him as
Speaker 1: a friend and respected his position. He said he didn't
Speaker 1: want to be part of a drama filled scenes, so
Speaker 1: he tried to avoid her the rest of the night.
Speaker 1: Kristen returned back to San Diego more in love than
Speaker 1: ever and determined to separate from Greg by whatever means necessary.
Speaker 1: From the moment Gregg picked her up from the airport.
Speaker 1: After returning from the conference, the arguments between them began.
Speaker 1: Gregg became suspicious that his wife had had a relapse
Speaker 1: on drugs and searched Kristen's purse, Greg found three different
Speaker 1: types of drugs. In an angry email, Kristen attempt to
Speaker 1: explain away each of the pills he found as something innocent.
Speaker 1: She accused Greg of violating her trust by searching through
Speaker 1: her purse, and even alleged she wanted Gregg to find
Speaker 1: the pills to prove a point that he doesn't trust her.
Speaker 1: On October two thousand, Kristen celebrated her twenty four birthday.
Speaker 1: The night before, Dr Robertson hid roses and chocolate in
Speaker 1: her desk. Her husband gave her two dozen red roses. Kristen,
Speaker 1: running low on meth and also the funds to obtain it,
Speaker 1: began looking into alternative sources to maintain her daily habit.
Speaker 1: That day, at work, she made several web searches on
Speaker 1: how to synthesize meth. That evening, she logged onto Greg's
Speaker 1: computer at home and conducted searches on quote making crystal
Speaker 1: meth easy unquote. That same evening, Dr Robertson wrote christ
Speaker 1: in a two and a half page letter, urging her
Speaker 1: to make a lifelong commitment to him and hinting he
Speaker 1: would leave her and move on if she didn't act now,
Speaker 1: the whole situation was playing out like a soap opera.
Speaker 1: On the Friday before Gregg's death, Kristen became obsessed with
Speaker 1: obtaining more bath. She continued web searches for making the drug.
Speaker 1: In desperation, she took an extended lunch, crossed over the
Speaker 1: border and met a local taxi driver in Tijuana who
Speaker 1: instantly became her drug dealer. He gave her his card
Speaker 1: and told her in the future to call him directly
Speaker 1: and he would meet her at the bridge with her drugs.
Speaker 1: On Thursday, November two, Kristin alleges she was at home
Speaker 1: reading a love letter from doctor Robertson when Gregg caught her.
Speaker 1: After he wrestled the letter out of her hands and
Speaker 1: read it, He then accused Kristin of being on drugs again.
Speaker 1: She stated, quote, he almost struck me. He read the
Speaker 1: letter and was infuriated by it and was storming around unquote.
Speaker 1: Kristen grabbed the letter and attempted to shred it. According
Speaker 1: to Kristen, Gregg snatched it from the shredder and attempted
Speaker 1: to tape it back together. At one point, Greg allegedly
Speaker 1: became so incensed that he threatened to take the letter
Speaker 1: to the medical examiner and reveal her fair along with
Speaker 1: her drug relapse. The next day, Kristen stopped smoking meth
Speaker 1: in the event that Greg went to her boss and
Speaker 1: she was asked to take a drug test. She then
Speaker 1: went to Dr. Robertson's office and told him about Greg's ultimatum.
Speaker 1: That evening, Kristen's parents took Greg and Kristen out to
Speaker 1: dinner for Greg's upcoming twenty seventh birthday and Kristen's twenty
Speaker 1: four birthday. The Rossoms would later say that Greg was
Speaker 1: acting odd that night. Kristen's mom tried to talk to
Speaker 1: her into leaving with him that night, but unbeknownst to
Speaker 1: her parents, Kristen had a plan of her own. Greg's
Speaker 1: threat to expose her affair and drug relapse has scared her. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: Greg was at home tending his hangover from the drinks
Speaker 1: his wife had given him the night before. During a
Speaker 1: phone call that morning with his brother Bertrand, he complained
Speaker 1: of feeling tired and hung over. This phone call with
Speaker 1: his youngest brother would be the last contact he would
Speaker 1: have with anyone other than Kristen. At nine pm on
Speaker 1: Sunday night, Kristen left the apartment to call Dr Robertson.
Speaker 1: This call lasted just a few minutes, and prosecutors believe
Speaker 1: this call sealed Greg's bait. Stay tuned for part two,
Speaker 1: where we will unravel how the sordid love affair between
Speaker 1: Kristin Rosamond Dr Robertson ignited more than a fiery passion
Speaker 1: between them, but escalated to involve a plan that would
Speaker 1: permanently remove Greg de Villers from the equation, a scandalous
Speaker 1: case that would later become known as the American Beauty Murder.
Speaker 1: There's a few people we really have to thank for
Speaker 1: helping put this episode together. Firstly, and most importantly, Devin,
Speaker 1: Steve and Joe from the podcast Thinking Sideways. I've been
Speaker 1: a huge fan of their show and I can't tell
Speaker 1: you how exciting it was for me to work with them.
Speaker 1: Sawyer Westbrook and the team from Resonate Recordings for their
Speaker 1: assistance in editing this show. And finally, a special thanks
Speaker 1: to Stephanie Moore who researched and wrote this episode. Now,
Speaker 1: with this part of the show, I normally say I'd
Speaker 1: like to introduce to podcasts, but I kind of have
Speaker 1: a feeling you already know them. They're huge supporters of
Speaker 1: our show, and we think the world of them. The
Speaker 1: Generation Wide podcast, How are you doing tonight? I'm doing fine.
Speaker 1: Justin how are you? I'm doing great. We are the
Speaker 1: Generation Why, and we've been around quite a while since
Speaker 1: two thousand twelve. We've been doing true crime, murder, mysteries, conspiracies, controversies,
Speaker 1: wrongful convictions, missing persons cases, anything and everything under the sun.
Speaker 1: Here's what you can expect. They didn't know it, but
Speaker 1: they were one thousand feet or so from where these
Speaker 1: three girls are being held captive. When he brings these
Speaker 1: young ladies back to his house, they would have this
Speaker 1: chain wrapped around their neck, in their stomachs, and they're
Speaker 1: beaten under the control of a psycho. And he lied
Speaker 1: about everything. Now you can't trust anything he's done. I
Speaker 1: think this is anyone's worst night. And these women were
Speaker 1: killed in one place and then taken and dumped somewhere else. Chaos,
Speaker 1: that unpredictability made him so terrorized. The strongest evidence they
Speaker 1: have is the eyewitness testimony of a six year old boy.
Speaker 1: He placed his body underneath the house. I think this
Speaker 1: is less of a story about a monster and more
Speaker 1: of a story about survival word generation. Why look us
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Speaker 1: They Walk among Us is an award winning true crime podcast.
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Speaker 1: join us to hear more on the UK's most notorious
Speaker 1: and obscure crimes, featuring well known cases like the life
Speaker 1: and crimes of the UK's most violent inmate, Charles Bronze,
Speaker 1: to the sad tale of the Gibbons twins, whose string
Speaker 1: of petty crimes would lead them to be trapped in
Speaker 1: broad Mall for eleven years before their eventual release ended
Speaker 1: in tragedy. We also cover lesser known cases like the
Speaker 1: woman who murdered a husband with an ornamental frog and
Speaker 1: kept him mummified and has shared for eighteen years, or
Speaker 1: the teenager that used his elaborate online fantasy life to
Speaker 1: plot his own murder. Listen unsubscribed to They Walk among
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