WEBVTT - Thinking Sideways: Part I of The American Beauty Murder 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:01.880 Hey, everyone, I just want to make a couple of 0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:04.720 quick announcements before we get started with the show. I 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:07.800 literally just got back from the airport. I was fortunate 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.560 enough to fly down to Atlanta this weekend to join 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:14.320 some amazing people at the Southern Podcasters meet up. I 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.799 finally got to meet Melissa Mandy for Moms and Murder. 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.880 We've been interacting with them since they first started their 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:23.520 show and they say such great things about us, and 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:26.319 we're huge fans of theirs, so it's pretty awesome to 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.080 meet them in person. Along with some other great podcasters 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.960 I met at Crime Con in Nashville. There was Erica 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:35.400 from Southern fried Trough Crime, Lauren Brooke from The Fall Line, 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:39.199 Nina from Already Gone, Steve from Trace Evidence, Jennifer and 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.519 Lindsay from Corpus DELECTI, and Mo from Targeted and I 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:44.680 want to give a huge thank you to Christine and 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:48.040 Larry for all their support and hospitality. It was great 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:50.600 seeing all of you and all the fantastic people that 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.560 came out to show their support for everyone's podcasts. Also, 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.320 our website had a major overhaul thanks to the talented 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.600 Lisa from the Secret Lives of weddings podcast and if 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:03.760 you haven't checked it out, you can at Minds of 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:08.759 Madness podcast dot com. Finally, this episode is pretty special 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.320 to me. When we were at Crime Con in Nashville, 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:15.080 I got to meet Steve, Devon and Joe from Thinking Sideways. 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:17.600 I really have been a huge fan of their podcast 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:20.080 for years, and for those of you who are familiar 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.040 with their show, you know that Team Sideways just recently 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:26.240 wrapped up their podcast and have stopped producing content on 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.479 a regular basis. We talked about doing an episode together, 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.840 and when Stephanie Moore from our Cleaner's team came to 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.000 us with a huge and incredible script on the American 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:39.480 Beauty Murder, we asked them to record with us. Luckily, 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:41.760 they got their parts in before they closed up shop, 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:44.479 and I really want to give a special thank you 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:47.960 to Devin, Steve and Joe for helping us with this project. 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.280 It really was a huge thrill for me to work 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:53.240 with you. This episode turned out to be a little 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:55.920 longer than our regular episodes, so we broke it into 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.160 two parts, but you won't have to wait long for 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.680 the next episode, as we planned to release it in 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:04.640 around twenty four hours. Again, thanks for listening and on 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:09.280 with the show. The opinions expressed in the following episode 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.799 do not necessarily reflect those of the minds of Madness 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:19.320 podcast listener Discretion is advised. A toxicologist with the San 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:23.240 Diego County Medical Examiner's Office convicted of poisoning her husband 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:25.320 and trying to make it look like a suicide with 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.480 a scene from a popular movie of that time. The 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.840 victim was her husband, Greg de Villers. She had claimed 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.840 he was depressed over the disintegration of their brief marriage 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.040 and committed suicide. There was a wedding picture propped up 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:40.640 near his body. He was found lying on their bed, 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:44.520 red rose pedals sprinkled about, reminiscent of a scene from 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:47.640 the Academy Award winning movie American Beauty. There's also a 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:52.040 one million dollar civil suit judgment against her for the parents. 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:54.240 They don't expect to see any of that money, but 0:02:54.960 --> 0:03:00.320 at least they don't want her to profit from this either. Yeah. 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:38.080 On the evening of November six, two thousand, in Loahia, California, 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:41.200 a distraught twenty four year old woman by the name 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:45.680 of Kristen Rossum made a frantic call to report that 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.680 her twenty six year old husband, Greg de Vellers, wasn't breathing. 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:56.360 When paramedics arrived at the young couple's home. They found 0:03:56.400 --> 0:04:01.080 Greg on the bedroom floor, surrounded by rose petals and 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:06.080 their wedding photo placed by his head. He was still 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:11.960 warm to the touch, but unresponsive. At ten nine pm, 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:19.479 Greg de Villers was pronounced dead. Kristen tearfully explained to 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:23.239 the responding officer that Greg had been ill the previous 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:28.440 day and had overdosed on medication. As officer Garcia searched 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:31.680 the apartment for signs of drugs or a suicide note, 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:35.719 he found only a bottle of cough syrup and a 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:40.719 zip luck bag containing a shredded note. Kristen told the 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.520 officer that it was a love letter from another man 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:46.680 and that Greg had spent the weekend trying to piece 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:51.800 it back together. If Gregg had committed suicide, what had 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:57.360 he used to kill himself and how had he managed 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:04.080 to carefully surround himself with was petals. Join me now 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.440 as we take a look back into the suspicious death 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:11.400 of Greg de Villers, How these two star crossed lover's 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:16.280 paths came together, and what secrets lay hidden beneath the surface. 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:55.200 Of their seemingly joyful marriage. On oct in Memphis, Tennessee, 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.160 a beautiful baby girl was born to parents, Ralph and 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:02.120 Constance Rawesome. Kristen had been born into a family of 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:06.560 wealth and prestige. Her parents were both accomplished, self driven academics, 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:12.080 Ralph a political science professor and Constance a marketing researcher. Later, 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.560 they had two more children, Kristen's younger brothers, Brent and Pierce. 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:20.320 The Rossum's appeared to be the perfect family. As a child, 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.599 Kristen was strikingly beautiful, and her mother decided to devote 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.920 the next years of her life to establishing a modeling 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.960 career for her, but Kristen had other ideas. Soon after 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.200 seeing a performance of The Nutcracker in Chicago, Kristen decided 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:36.040 she wanted to give up modeling for ballet. Her parents 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.680 did not object. As the Rossum family moved around the 0:06:39.720 --> 0:06:43.280 Midwest following various career opportunities that came up for mister Rawsome, 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:46.920 Kristen's talent for ballet continued to the people around her. 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:53.000 Kristen came across as highly intelligent, talented, and stunningly beautiful. However, internally, 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.640 Kristen struggled with self esteem. She felt like a failure 0:06:56.680 --> 0:07:00.679 who repeatedly disappointed herself and her parents. At five ft 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:04.600 two inches tall, Kristen often felt physically inadequate in comparison 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.599 to the other ballet dancers who were taller, leaner, and 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:11.240 more flexible. It's possible that these feelings of an adequacy 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.320 later became the driving force behind the future self destructive behavior. 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:21.680 In three, her father, Professor Ralph Rossum, PhD, was handpicked 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.400 by the Reagan administration to act as a consultant in 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.880 the field of juvenile crime. It was said that Professor 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.840 Rossum was the author of Nancy Reagan's Just Say No 0:07:30.960 --> 0:07:34.960 to Drugs campaign. This prestigious position was equal to that 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:39.200 of the Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Dr. Rossum became a 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:43.080 recognized expert in his field, maintaining friendships with many high 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:48.440 powered associates, including Supreme Court Justice Scalia. In four, the 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:52.920 Rawsom family relocated to Claremont, California, where Kristen's father accepted 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:57.840 a tenured position at Claremont mckennet Colleges. Claire Mount, a small, 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:02.840 affluent community consisted mostly of white, highly educated residents known 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:06.360 for its picturesque tree line streets and small town feel, 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:08.760 it was often compared to the fictional town in the 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:14.240 movie pleasant Ville. Kristen's parents, both devoted Episcopalians, expected their 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.160 children to be driven, disciplined, and successful in all of 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:22.560 their pursuits. As a young girl, Kristen excelled in both 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:27.840 ballet and academics, consistently bringing home straight a's. At the 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:31.160 age of fourteen, Kristen, still pursuing her love for dance, 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:34.320 obtained the coveted role as the sugar plum Ferry in 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:40.439 a professional performance of The Nutcracker. Later in Kristen auditioned 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.280 and was awarded a spot in the prestigious summer program 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:51.360 with the Boston Ballet. That fall, her father, Ralph, accepted 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:55.160 a temporary guest position at a private liberal arts school 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:59.280 in southern Virginia so that Kristen could attend boarding school 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:03.840 sixty hours away while continuing to pursue her dance with 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:09.400 the prestigious Richmond Ballet Troupe. During that time, Kristen suffered 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.840 a bad fall, causing her to tear several ligaments in 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:17.600 her ankle. Unfortunately, she pushed herself to return back to 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:21.160 dance before she had completely healed, which caused her to 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:26.680 develop a chronic stress fracture. As the stress fracture was 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:31.760 repeatedly re injured, Kristen was eventually forced to give up dance. 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:39.720 Around this time, Kristen, now fifteen, started drinking, smoking, and 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:44.640 doing drugs. She quickly learned their unexpected benefits to drug use. 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:47.680 They allowed her to stay up late and study, while 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:50.920 also helping her to stay Then usually weighing between a 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.800 hundred and a hundred and ten pounds, Kristen started to 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.120 fixate on her weight. Around sixteen years of age and 0:09:57.160 --> 0:10:00.400 no longer dancing, her mother and brothers started to notice 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:04.680 that Kristen seemed sad. They had attributed her sadness to 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:08.400 the loss of her ability to dance. While her grades 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.120 were still good, her behavior continued to change. One day, 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:15.600 her brother found a pipe, razor, blades, and small mirror 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:19.720 in Kristen's bedroom. He showed it to his mother. Naive 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.040 and unaware of drug paraphernalia, Constance was clueless as to 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:26.880 their meanings. Eventually, as her grades began to slip, the 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.240 Rasums decided that perhaps Kristen just needed space from their 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:35.160 constant attention. As Kristen was granted more independence. She started 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:37.720 to forge new relationships with a group of kids who 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:41.480 liked to party. It was her new friends who introduced 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:45.920 her to the euphoria of inhaling crystal meth. As her 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:49.400 weight and grades both began to plummet, Kristen soon realized 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:51.680 that she needed meth on a daily basis just to 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:56.200 maintain a feeling of normalcy. She had open sores on 0:10:56.240 --> 0:11:00.880 her hands and face from constant picking and scratching. Finally, 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.080 suspecting that Kristen might have a drug problem, Constance searched 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.480 her daughter's bedroom and discovered a hidden box containing white powder, 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.960 a glass pipe, and razor blades. No longer naive, the 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:16.559 Rossums confronted Kristen about her drug use. The discussion quickly 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:20.080 escalated into a physical altercation between Kristen and her parents. 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:24.800 During the argument, Constance slapped Kristen, who then ran into 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:27.360 the kitchen and attempted to cut her wrists with a knife. 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.040 After Kristen's father wrestled the knife out of her hands, 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:33.960 Kristen ran off and locked herself in the bathroom, where 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:40.000 she began repeatedly making superficial cuts to her wrists. According 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.840 to reports, her parents had decided not to seek medical 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.000 or psychological attention because the cuts hadn't been that deep. 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:51.600 Having been caught, Kristen promised to stop doing drugs, and surprisingly, 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:56.000 life for the Rossom's quickly returned back to normal. However, 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.600 it didn't take long before Kristen's old patterns began to resurface. 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.480 Kristen's mother had finally had enough and contacted Officer Horowitz 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.320 to have Kristen arrested for being under the influence of 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:13.439 an illegal substance. Kristen was booked, fingerprinted, photographed, and ultimately 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:18.920 released into her parents custody. The raw Sums, with their 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.400 continued pattern of denial, decided the real problem with Kristen 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:27.840 wasn't a drug problem, but rather it was a location problem. 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.839 They decided the best solution was to have Kristen graduate early, 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:34.199 then moved thirty miles away to the University of Redlands 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:38.760 in California. After her first semester, Kristen was doing so 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.080 well that her parents decided to allow her to move 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:44.880 into the dorm. With her new gain freedom, Kristen immediately 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:47.719 fell back into drug habits and her grade started to 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:54.080 slip again. Eventually, campus police discovered drugs in her dorm room, 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:57.679 and she was expelled from the university. Ashamed of her 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.800 physical appearance and relapse, Kristen didn't want to face her 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:04.559 parents and their inevitable disappointment. When her boyfriend came to 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.120 take her home from Christmas break, she was nowhere to 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:11.560 be found. Her parents immediately suspected her disappearance had something 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:20.800 to do with drugs. On Christmas night, Kristen phoned her 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.199 boyfriend and asked her to meet him at a hotel 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:26.600 in red Lands. She told him she'd been staying with 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:29.760 various friends for the past two weeks. She'd been missing 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:34.840 well he was showering, Kristen emptied his wallet, which contained 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.320 two hundred dollars, and caught a train to the San Diego, 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:45.400 Mexican border. Kristen was on the hunt for Math. While 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.840 crossing the pedestrian bridge into Tijuana, Kristen ran into Greg 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:52.600 de Villars and his two brothers, Jerome and Bertrand The 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.480 Deviller's brothers were just about to push through the second 0:13:55.520 --> 0:14:00.160 turnstile when Kristen Rassum dropped her leather jacket, sparking eate 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:05.000 ful conversation. Since Kristen was traveling alone, Gregg readily invited 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:09.040 her to tag along with them. After crossing the border, 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.320 the four of them took a cab into a popular 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.800 Tea Juan, a tourist destination aligned with bars and dance clubs. 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.200 As Kristen and the da Viller brothers hopped from bar 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.960 to bar, it quickly became a parent that Kristen and 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:26.560 Gregg were attracted to each other. By two am, Kristen 0:14:26.600 --> 0:14:28.520 and the brothers headed back over the border to the 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.400 u S where Gregg's car was parked. Greg invited Kristen 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:34.680 back to his two bedroom apartment that he shared with 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:40.720 his brother, Jerome and another roommate. Kristen did not object. Meanwhile, 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:45.040 back in Claremont, California, Kristen's parents discovered she'd missed her finals, 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:47.080 and by the day after Christmas, they had filed a 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:52.360 missing person's report with campus police. The intake report stated 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.040 that Kristen's boyfriend had last seen her on the morning 0:14:55.040 --> 0:15:00.560 of December. However, because Kristen was now a team, the 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:04.720 report read that she was a voluntarily missing adult. An 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.840 entire month went by before the Rassam's heard from Kristen again. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.800 When she finally did call her parents. It was to 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:12.840 share that she had met a nice young man, was 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:16.280 working three jobs, and had turned her life around. Greg 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.760 then lent Kristen his car so she could go see 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:23.400 her parents. It was an emotional reunion that ended with 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:28.480 promises and apologies. Next, Kristin drove to meet her boyfriend, 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.840 the one she had deserted at the hotel and stolen 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.920 money from one Christmas Day. Her boyfriend heard an elaborate 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:38.480 tale about Kristen being kidnapped at gunpoint by white slavers 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:40.960 in Mexico and driven around in the trunk of a car. 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:43.520 She told him that after she had escaped, she had 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:45.200 met a nice man who helped her get back in 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.560 the country. She assured him, however, that it was a 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:54.120 platonic relationship. Kristen's parents, relieved tear about their daughter's recovery, 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:56.880 drove down to San Diego the following weekend to meet 0:15:56.880 --> 0:15:59.440 the wonderful new man who had saved their daughter's life. 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:04.000 Before her parents arrived, Kristen had coached Greg to lie 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:07.920 and tell them she was living with a coworker, seeming 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.560 to be in a healthier place. The Rossums talked Kristen 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.480 into resuming college and immediately helped her apply to San 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:17.400 Diego State University as a freshman. They collectively decided to 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:21.320 wash the University of Redland's admission and expulsion from her application. 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.160 After paying for her tuition books and giving Kristen rent money. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:29.080 Her parents also bought her car to the raw Sums. 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:31.960 Greg was the saving angel who had brought Kristen back 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.840 to them. But while Gregg only saw perfection in Kristen, 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:37.800 his brother and roommate witnessed a different side to her, 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:41.480 one that was a liar and manipulative and a drug addict. 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.480 Shortly after Kristin moved into Gregg's apartment, things started disappearing, 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:50.080 such as jewelry, credit cards, checks, and family heirloom rings. 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:54.480 Greg blamed the thefts on Jerome's friends, and Jerome blamed Kristen. 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.640 When confronted, Kristen admitted to taking the items and begged 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:02.400 for help to get off drugs. Jerome wanted her out immediately, 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:04.920 but Greg would not hear of it. He had fallen 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:07.000 in love with her and had made it his mission 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:10.159 to help her. While Greg and Jerome through a party, 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.440 Kristen spent the entire evening in the other roommate's lap. 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.240 When someone asked if they were a couple, she burst 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:18.959 into tears, Asking the roommate to privately speak with her 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:22.160 on the balcony. She tearfully admitted to being in love 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.359 with the roommate and felt they were meant to be together. 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.959 The roommate declined her offer, which prompted him and Jerome 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.560 to move out of the apartment. They both hoped Greg 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:33.840 would eventually see Kristen for the manipulator that she was. 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:42.320 That next summer, six months after their faithful meeting, Gregg 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:47.639 told Ralph Rossom he wanted to marry his daughter. Kristen's 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.720 parents encouraged the couple to finish college first, which they 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:56.520 both reluctantly agreed to. It was at this time they 0:17:56.600 --> 0:17:59.840 finally discovered that Kristen and Greg had actually been living 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:04.640 together since the night they had met. While the Rossums 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:08.720 were disappointed, they decided to put their thoughts on premarital 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.080 sex aside and paid for Kristen and Greg to move 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:16.520 into another apartment in the upscale area of Lajoya, California. 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:21.080 They were pleased with Kristen's turnaround and decided to help 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:26.000 the couple by paying for their rent. Kristen was majoring 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.439 in chemistry and had become a straight a student again. 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.800 Constance took Greg aside and made him promise to tell 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:39.960 her if Kristen ever relapsed on drugs. Greg assured her 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:51.360 he would. Greg, like Kristen, came from a well educated, 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.680 suburban family. Greg was the oldest of three American born 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.920 sons to French parents, even Marie France Trimult Dave Fillers. 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.600 Greg and his brothers grew up in southern California in 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.960 a bilingual home, speaking fluent French. Even Marie had an 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:12.560 explosive marriage, with numerous allegations of physical violence, dual restraining orders, 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:17.840 and financial control issues. The marriage eventually ended in divorce. 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:21.520 Marie moved herself and the boys into an apartment in 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.920 Palm Springs, California, and Greg got a job at sixteen 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:28.600 to help provide for the family. Despite Eves, their father 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.879 being a prominent plastic surgeon with the practice in Monte Carlo, 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:36.800 Monaco and Thousand Oaks, California, he often claimed to have 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:40.720 financial problems. Back in the nineteen eighties, he was required 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:43.159 to pay child at alimony support in the amount of 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:47.240 fourteen hundred dollars but somehow always managed to find a 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:52.040 way to avoid doing so. Despite the lack of funds, 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:55.440 the boys still had opportunity to play tennis, swim in 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.480 the apartment complex pool, and ride dirt bikes in the 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:02.919 desert right outside their front door. All three boys had 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:06.320 part time jobs while at school, and after graduating from 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.360 Palm Springs High School, put themselves to work through college. 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.800 By the end of summer nineteen seven, Kristen and Gregg 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.280 had been together for two and a half years and 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:23.920 appeared to be happily married with promising futures. On June four, 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:28.120 Kristen applied for a student internship position at the San 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:32.280 Diego Medical Examiner's office, where she was interviewed and hired 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:35.960 on the spot. Within a few short months, Kristen was 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:41.800 given additional responsibilities including drug screening, sending drugs out for analysis, 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:47.159 and drug sample preparation. She thrived in this environment and 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:53.440 quickly decided her future was in forensic toxicology. Kristen's early 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:56.600 reviews were filled with praise, and she was seen as 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:00.080 very bright and a diligent worker who learned fast and 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:04.240 was dependable. As there was no background check required for 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:08.480 a student intern position, no one from the Medical Examiner's 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:12.360 Office would have ever discovered she was a former drug addict. 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.760 As such, she was given free reign to do the 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:22.399 samples of hard drugs, including meth and heroin. At first, 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:28.160 Kristen was able to avoid the temptation, but unfortunately that 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:41.280 wouldn't last. In May, Kristen graduated with honors, and a 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.359 few days later she was invited to her first professional 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:49.680 toxicology conference. That year, the conference was held in San Diego, 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:55.520 where she met some leading forensic toxicologists. Later that year, 0:21:55.840 --> 0:22:00.359 Kristen's mentor at the Medical Examiner's Office, Frank Barnhardt, left 0:22:00.400 --> 0:22:04.320 to work for the San Diego Sheriff's Crime Lab. He 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:09.200 encouraged Kristen to apply for a job there, too, promising 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:14.359 to give her a good recommendation. She admitted on the 0:22:14.400 --> 0:22:19.080 application to having been arrested and jailed for possession and 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:25.119 being under the influence of a controlled substance. She also 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:29.920 admitted to using math between thirty to forty times between 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:38.120 the years of her mother would later state she went 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:44.280 overboard with her honesty, she was rejected by the Sheriff's 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:51.800 department as unsuitable. In February two thousand, Kristen submitted her 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:56.040 official application to become a full time toxicologist at the 0:22:56.119 --> 0:23:01.320 San Diego Medical Examiner's Office. This time time, her mother 0:23:01.440 --> 0:23:05.959 made sure she wasn't overly honest in her application, and 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:11.359 she was readily offered the job. In addition to the 0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:15.080 easy access to illegal narcotics, she was also given a 0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:22.680 key to the office, allowing her unsupervised access. The same 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:27.000 month Kristen started at the Medical Examiner's office, Greg graduated 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:30.240 from uc SD and began looking for full time work. 0:23:30.680 --> 0:23:34.280 He quickly found a job with a biotech firm, working 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:39.200 for the company's vice president, Dr Stephen Gruenwald as his assistant. 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:49.119 Greg was quickly promoted, and when Dr Gruenwald left for 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:53.359 his own startup in cancer research, his first employee was 0:23:53.480 --> 0:23:58.200 Greg the Viller's. The new job was demanding, giving Greg 0:23:58.359 --> 0:24:03.320 and Kristen little time, I'm for their relationship. Greg's professional 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:06.160 life was going well and there were plans to send 0:24:06.240 --> 0:24:09.680 him to law school at the company's expense to become 0:24:09.720 --> 0:24:13.800 an in house attorney. Greg was the first to arrive 0:24:14.040 --> 0:24:18.160 each day and the last to leave, being described as 0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:23.080 the company's most positive person, with both Kristen and Greg 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:27.280 gainfully employed and succeeding in their careers. Gregg and Kristen 0:24:27.359 --> 0:24:31.720 set a wedding date for later that year. Lwardly, Kristen 0:24:31.800 --> 0:24:37.400 praised Greg as their soulmate and savior to friends and family. Inwardly, 0:24:37.800 --> 0:24:43.520 she craved passion and excitement from outside sources. Unbeknownst to Greg, 0:24:43.840 --> 0:24:48.520 Kristen had secretly begun to engage in sexual relationships with 0:24:48.680 --> 0:24:57.040 co workers, fellow students, and men from her past. In 0:24:57.119 --> 0:25:01.840 the dark about their daughter's restlessness, the Rossums began planning 0:25:01.880 --> 0:25:07.080 for their daughter's upcoming wedding. It was set for June five, 0:25:07.920 --> 0:25:12.119 and Constance was making all the arrangements. She had already 0:25:12.119 --> 0:25:16.120 booked and paid for a prestigious location for the private 0:25:16.160 --> 0:25:21.040 ceremony and reception. As the months went on, Constance had 0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:26.160 the entire wedding day planned with military precision. While her 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:30.600 mother was finalizing wedding plans, Kristen was still carrying on 0:25:30.720 --> 0:25:33.359 an affair with a man who had just left San 0:25:33.400 --> 0:25:38.720 Diego for a job in New York. Kristen began having 0:25:38.880 --> 0:25:44.040 second thoughts about her upcoming nuptials. Kristen told her mother 0:25:44.200 --> 0:25:47.679 that although she loved Greg, she wasn't sure she was 0:25:48.080 --> 0:25:52.359 in love with him. Kristen's mother thought it was just 0:25:52.480 --> 0:25:54.960 a case of cold feet and didn't think it was 0:25:55.000 --> 0:26:01.520 a good idea to cancel the wedding. On Saturday June, 0:25:59.480 --> 0:26:05.840 on a perfect sunny day, Greg and Kristen were married 0:26:05.880 --> 0:26:10.840 in front of family and friends. None of Kristen's high 0:26:10.840 --> 0:26:14.160 school or college friends were in attendance, and she had 0:26:14.200 --> 0:26:18.320 no bridesmaids. But what Kristen lacked in friends, she made 0:26:18.400 --> 0:26:23.520 up for with family. Later, Dr ross And would remark 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:28.240 it was a perfect wedding for a perfect couple. Two 0:26:28.280 --> 0:26:32.600 weeks after returning from their magical honeymoon, Kristen was emailing 0:26:32.640 --> 0:26:37.080 her secret boyfriend and professing her love to him while 0:26:37.119 --> 0:26:41.280 making plans to continue her affair. Greg was immediately making 0:26:41.320 --> 0:26:45.919 plans for children. Kristen told Greg that any plans for 0:26:46.119 --> 0:26:48.840 children would need to be put on hold, and it 0:26:49.000 --> 0:26:53.400 soon became a major issue between the newlyweds. Kristen would 0:26:53.480 --> 0:26:56.719 later say she was becoming more confident as a person 0:26:57.040 --> 0:27:00.960 and this was a threat to Greg. You early September, 0:27:01.440 --> 0:27:05.879 Kristen became fixated with the movie American Beauty and telling 0:27:05.920 --> 0:27:11.359 friends it was her favorite. By Christmas, Kristen had moved 0:27:11.359 --> 0:27:14.320 on from her secret boyfriend and embarked on a new 0:27:14.440 --> 0:27:21.200 passionate affair. While Kristen was busy juggling two secret boyfriends 0:27:21.320 --> 0:27:25.960 and her husband, she became enamored with a tall, handsome, 0:27:26.320 --> 0:27:31.880 married thirty year old Australian doctor named Michael Robertson. Dr 0:27:32.040 --> 0:27:35.639 Robertson had just been hired at the Medical Examiner's office 0:27:35.880 --> 0:27:39.960 as her new boss and the chief toxicologist. From the 0:27:40.040 --> 0:27:51.280 moment they met, sparks began to fly. Dr Michael Robertson 0:27:51.480 --> 0:27:55.920 was the golden boy of international forensic science and had 0:27:55.960 --> 0:28:00.000 the good looks to go with the title. After graduating 0:28:00.000 --> 0:28:04.640 eating from Australia's monished University with a pH d, Dr 0:28:04.800 --> 0:28:08.080 Robinson worked at the Coroner's office in Melbourne, where he 0:28:08.119 --> 0:28:13.560 was soon on the fast track to success. Dr Robertson 0:28:13.680 --> 0:28:17.680 was soon offered a prestigious position with the National Medical 0:28:17.760 --> 0:28:22.280 Service in Pennsylvania. He and his wife then emigrated to 0:28:22.359 --> 0:28:27.760 America to start their new life. Despite his outward perfection, 0:28:28.240 --> 0:28:34.399 Dr Robertson had a dark secret. Within a few months 0:28:34.400 --> 0:28:39.080 of moving to America, Dr Robertson began a relationship with 0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:42.920 a close personal friend of his wife's along with another 0:28:43.120 --> 0:28:49.440 female employee. Dr Robertson was ambitious and joined the Society 0:28:49.520 --> 0:28:55.320