WEBVTT - Episode 4: Evil Ever After 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:07.800 School of Humans. This show follows the investigation of serial 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:12.840 murders and contains material that may be disturbing. Listener discretion advised. 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:20.799 On our third day in South Africa, the winter clouds 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:25.080 parted and the sun warmed the earth. Producer Jennifer Zucchini 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:27.520 and I hopped in a car with Detective Ben Boysen, 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.240 who took us on a tour of krueger Storp. 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:36.600 And that's on the fifty meters from Cecila's flat. 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:41.880 Ben's wife Christelle and our fellow producer Jermaine joined us. 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.199 There were high end suburbs with nice homes perched on 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:48.640 hills that kind of reminded me of La Some areas 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:52.519 looked more suburban, some more rural and far more flat, 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:58.959 while other neighborhoods looked dilapidated, under resource forgotten. 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:04.640 This area now is the worst GRAM area in Kruger's Door. 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:10.240 We ended our tour at the home of epd's next victim. 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:12.720 The housing complex stood on a single lane road with 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.800 a field across the street. Not much was visible from 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.680 outside the walls. Like most of the homes in kruger Stourre, 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.600 it was protected by tall, imposing white walls, so then 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.960 it's a gated community, yeah, which is wild because that 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.200 gate is huge and this is a pretty privatized area, 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:35.000 So I mean someone had to help Mirinda and Marcel 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:38.360 to be able to get in here. As we looked around, 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:41.440 we were reminded that Ben Boysen is a popular guy 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:42.480 around these parts. 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:43.920 Well, and the ice. 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:48.800 Well, great garden track. Okay, the lady's staying in the outset, 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:50.560 we can go inside. 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:55.880 And just like that, the security gates parted and we 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:58.680 were welcomed in by Anna Marie, the woman who now 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.840 lives there. We got a tour of the home. It 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.160 looked just like many of the condos that I visited 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:06.280 as a kid in the suburbs of Chicago. 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:11.639 It felt familiar, safe, But. 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:16.160 Then, knowing what had happened within those walls, gravity set in. 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.560 I suddenly couldn't stop thinking about the blood that was 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.800 shed right here in the room where I stood. Chills 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.959 ran down my spine. As Ben described the crime scene. 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:30.399 The beating bought the wall and the roof was full 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:30.880 of blood. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.200 She mentioned there were scratch marks along. 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:37.440 The door in the kitchen. There were deep grooves in 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:40.480 the corner of one of the old wooden doors leading 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.280 to the backyard one that required a skeleton key. Anna 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:48.120 Marie spoken Afrikaans, Christelle and Jermaine translated. 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.639 What she's saying is that the neighbors actually informed it. 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.200 It seems that those marks might be from when he 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:55.360 locked it into the house. 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:57.680 So there's the little marks that were made from that 0:02:57.800 --> 0:02:58.720 time on the door. 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:03.840 From School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts, this is Queen 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.800 Havoc and her murder Cult, I'm your host, Kurt Koupachak, 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:17.680 Episode four Evil Ever After being in the house was eerie, 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:20.800 but it was nothing compared to being in Miranda's presence. 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:24.760 When I left the prison, I was relieved to find 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:27.840 Jermaine waiting for me by the car. I was so 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.959 shaken up. It was one of the most intense situations 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:32.799 I've ever experienced. 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:35.920 We can call off the search. 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:40.960 Body could looking very very frazzile. So I'm really keen 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:42.640 to see what is going to come from this. 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:44.520 We're heading back to the hotel. 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:45.080 Now, We'll see you soon. 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:52.560 Are you okay? 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.720 That was yeah? 0:03:56.760 --> 0:04:01.520 Let's just stand outside. Okay. Wow. 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:04.800 Hearing that again brings you back to how rocked I was. 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.520 I didn't even have words to articulate my thoughts. It's 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:11.080 something I thought I was prepared for. I've been working 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.040 on this story for a couple of years, and I 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.320 knew I needed to be brave to walk into that prison. 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.600 But actually the hardest part was walking out, sitting down 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:25.200 with that kind of evil that stays with you. Here's 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.400 the person we're calling Luke, who spent some time around 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.359 Mirinda and the group. He refers to her by her profession, 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:32.400 the teacher. 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.120 And if you look at the teacher, she didn't have 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:38.840 a good life. She struggled the whole life. She's also 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.719 got a lot of hurt, and she once belonging somewhere, 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:46.040 and the children got raised without her father's It's the 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:52.560 perfect evil set up to manipulating gains someone for your avantach. 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:56.160 Like Rhea, Mirinda was made vulnerable by her faith, by 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.200 her upbringing, and I suppose she was the victim in 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.400 her story. Here's journalist Maritzka Kotz there. 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:04.360 And Mirenda's she's got two sisters. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.720 I got to know the adds I made the grandmother. 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:12.320 They you know what they are, these very conservative ladies, 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.760 and they don't swear, and they don't have hair out 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:17.200 of place, and they are. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:21.640 So soft, maybe a bit too focused on propriety, and 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:25.080 maybe why Mirinda often felt out of place. To her, 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.040 it was slow death, and now she was trying to 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.800 live for something greater than herself, acting in God's name, 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:35.880 just like she'd been raised to. But in doing so 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:37.800 she became a monster. 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.240 She'll kill Marcel, and she'll kill Lys. If they go 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:46.280 against Cecilia, she will kill And that's the bloody, sad 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:48.160 part of this old story. 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.440 That choice haunts me. Her betrayal of her own kids, 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:58.920 the corruption of their innocence for what for her own 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:03.400 satisfaction of her psychopathology. When I spoke to her, she 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:06.080 actually brought this up totally imprompted. 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:07.440 I study psychology. 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:12.080 I studied psychology. My father was a psychologist. I know 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.600 I'm not a psychopath. I still have a conscience about. 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:19.719 Things, you know. But then she said this in almost 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:21.920 the same breath, if you turn off. 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:25.159 Do you kissing every time after I kill someone? 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:25.960 It's like. 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:28.720 A relief. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:31.640 Psychologist. 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:35.520 Rosalind McNabb told producer Jennifer Tacchini what was happening in 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:36.080 this case. 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:44.320 Psychopathology is a personality disorder cat grasped as antisocial. It's 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:51.920 that manipulation, that calculating ability, the ability to do something 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:54.640 that is antisocial. 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:58.760 What do you do if your mother or the mother 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:03.320 you've been given to, actively goes against society with craven hostility. 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.000 Journalist Jana Marx writes in her book that Marcel coped 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:11.240 with her strange existence by working extremely hard at school, 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:15.360 getting straight a's, and Mirinda was so compromised that she 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.000 sent her high achieving daughter to live with Cecilia. 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:24.880 She was thirteen when she moved in with Cecilia. She 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:31.360 was literally told to live with Cecilia, babysit for Cecilia's kids, 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.760 clean up for Cecilia, do everything. So this was really 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:36.680 an abandoned kid. 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:39.680 LaRue, on the other hand, used drugs as a way 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.640 to escape. He tried running away a few times, but 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:45.640 then he would quickly return. Didn't take him long to 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.520 learn he had nowhere else to go, no one to 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:51.880 help him, and out there on his own, his choices 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.480 only became more grim. The Rue and Marcel were kept 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:57.480 from their father by their mother, Mirinda. 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:02.080 They were told her dad does not want to see you. 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.200 But that's not to say her kids didn't have any 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:08.760 male role models in their life. No for a father replacement. 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:13.880 The kids had Zach Valentine talk about toxic LaRue looked 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.880 up to him, while Marcel took to Mikayla. But Michaela 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.520 was becoming desperate to get away from her husband, to 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:24.640 get away from Cecilia, Mirinda, all of them, even the kids. 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.640 The horror of the murders had not left her. She 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:29.800 could not forget what they did. 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.079 When she realized that her husband was now killing people, 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:39.480 she started writing poems from the Bible versus on this warrior. 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:44.439 Michaela had been so isolated by EPD she didn't know 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:47.520 where else to turn. She felt like she was losing 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:51.640 her grip. As her sanity started to unravel, she leaned 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.400 harder into her faith. A personal favorite Bible quote of 0:08:55.440 --> 0:09:00.240 Michaela's fear not for I am with THEE. The God 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:04.720 of Mikayla's faith would never condone census killing. A book 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:07.280 she read on spirituality back that up. 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.679 She decided, no, I'm reading this book, Fruits of Life, 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.240 and in that book she came to realize God will 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:18.440 never ask you to murder anybody. 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.720 She knew she needed to flee from Cecilia and electus perdeis, 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.000 even if escaping meant she'd have to leave the Colt 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:30.600 without her husband. First, she had to muster the courage 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:34.760 to confront Zach. Ever since he'd killed Pastor Reginald ben Dixon, 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:38.199 things had been weird between them. Zach was changing into 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:42.000 someone she didn't recognize. Michaela was also stressed about the 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:46.360 couple's finances. Zach was spending heavily on Cecilia's medical bills 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.840 and pulling big chunks from their savings to support her 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:54.360 alleged overseas orphanage. Soon he was handing over far more 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:58.040 money than they earned. When Michaela finally told her husband 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:02.520 that she wanted to leave EPD, Zach listened, then he 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.240 calmly suggested they pray on it. 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:10.319 Weeks past, Mikaela found a mother and she said, listen, 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.280 this stuff that I did, and I'm going to the police, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.599 and I'm sorry for what's going to happen, and i 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.080 cannot tell you what it is now, but you'll see 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:21.760 I'm apologizing now. 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.640 For most of twenty twelve, Mikaela Valentine would lead work 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:38.360 early every Thursday so she could stay by Cecilia's bedside. 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:41.680 As the year wore on and her doubts about Cecilia 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:46.120 and Zach became impossible to ignore. She started indirectly crying 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:51.040 out for help. Once Michaela mentioned a one coworker that 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.120 she needed to take some time off her reason so 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:57.480 she could help her friends build car bombs. This person 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:00.640 was later questioned by Susette about why she never reported 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:01.920 that alarming information. 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.960 She said She's spoken to a Osmond and a husband said, 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.240 this is just unbelievable. Just don't go to the police. 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:08.360 That gonna think you crazy. 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:12.959 So often in stories like this, we wonder why didn't 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:17.760 anyone say anything sound the alarm, ask for help. People 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:21.400 feel like it's not their place, and who would believe them. 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:25.920 Michayla's stories about Cecilia's prayer group were so outlandish, how 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.960 could they possibly be true? Like many others in this story, 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:40.240 Michayla's coworker chose to stay silent. Cut to October twenty twelve. 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:45.240 By then, Cecilia had figured out that Michayla was a 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:47.839 flight risk and posed a threat to all of them. 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.439 Michayla knew way too much. If she went to the police, 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:58.040 that would be the end. Cecilia and Mirinda began feeding 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:00.680 Zach lyes about his wife Here's Luke. 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:05.640 She has absolutely a mastermind. She knows how to manipulate people. 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:11.199 She lied about Michaela to provoke soccagainst it. 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:15.200 It was about this time that Cecilia turned her manipulation 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:20.040 full tilt to seduce Zach Here's journalist Jana Marx. 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.559 It came to light that he had understanding that he 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.599 was married to the wrong woman, Mikayla, that Celia was 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:29.160 actually tasting to be his wife. 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:34.880 She started playing a psychological game with him. So she's 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:36.120 a very dangerous person. 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:43.240 On Wednesday, October three, twenty twelve, almost two months after 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.800 Reginald ben Dixon was killed, Michaela mustered up the courage 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.719 to confront her spiritual master and tell her that she 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:57.439 was leaving EPD. When she arrived at Casana Flats, Michaela 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:01.560 was escorted into Cecilia's bedroom. The door was closed behind her. 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:07.200 Marcel waited out in the living room. One on ones 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.960 with Cecilia were rare and unpredictable and could create tension 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:22.199 within the group. Silence minutes past, but then the door 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:28.520 to Cecilia's room opened. Mikayla emerged. She was light, ebulent, 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:33.520 free Michaela said her goodbyes to Mirinda, to LaRue and 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.880 to her surrogate baby sister, Marcel. I would guess that 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.280 some part of her wish she could take Marcel away 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:44.679 with her. Then Michayla exited Casana Flats for the last time, 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:46.880 excited for her future. 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:53.120 She was in a good place at that stage, chucking 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:56.319 everybody away. You know, say, I don't want Marianell my 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:58.520 life anymore. I don't want Cecilia on my life anymore. 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:02.439 And she told her usband, you must it's Meo or Cecilia. 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:11.680 The next morning, October fourth, Michaela wakes up next to Zach. 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.360 They open their eyes. It's a normal day, like any other. 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.440 It's Thursday, the day she'd usually take care of Cecilia, 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.240 but today she's her own woman. 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:24.280 She tends to herself instead. 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:27.680 She makes coffee for her and Zach before he leaves 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.000 for his office at Discovery Life Insurance. 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:37.560 Cecilia told Zach they must give a sleeping tablets in 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:38.080 a coffee. 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.520 While Mikayla's back is turned, Zach drops two sleeping pills 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:47.720 into her morning coffee and watches them dissolve. Suddenly, drowsy, 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:51.360 Michaela says she'll probably go back to bed. Zach says 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:55.520 goodbye and leaves for work. Just a heads up, this 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.560 next part is quite upsetting. If you, or someone with 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:01.200 you is a sensitive listener, you might want to skip 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:08.400 ahead by a minute or two. Mikayla isn't in bed 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:12.000 long before Marenda comes through their front door, armed with 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:15.880 a hammer and a set of knives. Her daughter, Marcel 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:21.240 follows obediently. Mirinda creeps into the bedroom, hammer in hand. 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.000 She stands over the sleeping Mikayla. 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:29.600 When Maranda came in, marandaita with a I'm on the eighth. 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:33.480 Marcel stands frozen in the doorway, watching as her mother 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:37.080 is about to murder her only friend. When I spoke 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.120 to Mirenda in prison, she chillingly described to me what 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:40.720 happened next. 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:43.880 I have this thing in my hat that I have 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.640 to eat it to incapacitate it because she's young. And 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:50.520 then she opened her eyes and she was all dragged. 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:53.520 Mikayla wasn't fully asleep, she. 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.760 Awaked it actually, and then she looked at Maranda and 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:59.960 de Marna told her, Mikaela, you now need to star 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:01.520 to pray, because now I'm going. 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:01.880 To kill you. 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.240 And then and then she closed her eyes and she 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:10.080 started prying out loud, and she pried, and I letter 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.520 pray and until she finished, and then I stabbed it. 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.880 Marcel nearly faints. She catches herself and leans on the 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:21.040 doorframe for support. Her mother seems to forget that she's 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:25.000 even there. Mirinda uses a crude knife on Michayla, one 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:29.360 made for skinning fish. Without looking back, Mirinda shouts where 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:32.320 are you to her daughter. Marcella is still holding herself 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.680 up with the doorframe frozen. She knows she'll be in 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:40.240 trouble with Cecilia if she doesn't honor her instructions. Fear 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:45.040 animates her limbs. Marcella approaches Michayla. Her friend's eyes are 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:49.040 glazed over. Blood is everywhere as the life leaks from 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:53.960 her body. Michayla's prayers fall weakly from her lips. Marcel 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.760 stands over Michayla. She looks down at her. She feels 0:16:57.800 --> 0:16:59.840 the menace of the knife in her hand and her 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:05.000 mother's hot stare. Then Marcel surprises herself. She stabs Michaela 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:06.480 in the abdomen on her left side. 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:08.840 Marcel only stabbed at once with. 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:12.960 Her knife stuck inside Michayla's body. Marcel lies. She tells 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.320 her mother it won't go in. My knife is not 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:18.800 sharp enough. That's okay, says Mirinda. Her mother reassures her, 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:23.040 I'm almost through. Marcel pulls out the knife she's stuck 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.760 in the side of her only ally, she looks at 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:29.800 the blood on the blade. The praying stops. Michaela's lifts 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:35.679 stop moving. Now she can hear her mother breathing heavily 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:39.960 over Michaela's fatal silence. Marcel stares at the beads of 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:44.679 sweat on her mother's brow, her blood speckled face. Mikayla's 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:49.199 brief gasp of freedom was short lived, and. 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:53.720 She stabbed her sixty four times. Unbelievable. So, but this 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:55.840 is hows with you where they used. 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:56.320 To stay. 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:05.040 Before they leave. Marcel helps her mother pull the divey 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.360 over Mikayla. Merinda adds an electric blanket. 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:09.720 She switches it on. 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:13.760 Cecilia had told her followers that the time of death 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:17.320 is difficult to determine if a body is exposed to 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:22.320 extreme heat. They take Michayla's phone, pocket her wedding ring, 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.960 use the blood coated hammer to batter Mikayla's tablet to 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:29.480 pieces so it can't be tracked. They aim to make 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:33.879 it look like a home invasion and robbery. After they 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.040 leave the scene, mother and daughter scatter all of these 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:40.240 items and the murder weapons, dropping them from their car window. 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.120 At various points on their drive back to Casana Flats, 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:53.680 EPD gathered together and were reminded of the price of 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:57.640 defying Cecilia. Here's journalist Mritzka Katz there. 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:01.680 Mikaila was always the example. You know, remember what happened 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:02.240 to Michaela. 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:05.879 The threat of reprisal for defying Cecilia was now a 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:09.359 promise to the group. Zach proved that he would sacrifice 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:12.400 his wife to their queen, and Marinda seemed even more 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.760 compelled to be the best, the favorite, the most committed, 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:40.560 no matter what the cost. At three point thirty PM, 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:42.400 Zach Valentine returns home. 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:46.399 He's not alone the buzando I was supposed to sell DoLS. 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:50.000 He might shure that day before he met the guet. 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:53.960 He's with a real estate agent named Estelle. In order 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:56.879 for his alibi to be air tight, someone has to 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:00.439 be there when he discovers his wife's body. Zach had 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:02.920 arranged to meet a Stelle at his house after work 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:07.080 so she could take some photos. Estelle later testified that 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:09.680 she waited at the front door with her colleague while 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.439 Zack went in to greet his wife. The reel at 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:14.840 her noticed an ashtray had been knocked under the ground. 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:18.760 There was ash all over the carpet. The house smelled 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:23.400 of cigarette smoke, alcohol, and men's yodor. Something's not right, 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:27.159 she whispered to her assistant. Then they heard Zack shouting 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:27.880 from the other room. 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:30.760 It was doc in a room and he came out 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:33.880 and he said to the woman, please come come look. 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:35.200 I think my wife is date. 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:38.959 When Estelle gets to the bedroom, she can't tell what's happening, 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:42.680 not until she switches on the light. When she does, 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:46.040 she sees someone under the covers of the bed, and 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:51.600 there's blood everywhere, like everywhere. Zach doesn't touch his wife's 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:55.399 dead body. He just stands there. A Stelle yells to 0:20:55.440 --> 0:20:58.679 her assistant to call the police. She pulls Zack gently 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:02.200 away from the side of his wife. Is she really dead? 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:06.840 Zach asks. Once he's out of the bedroom. A Stelle 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.840 goes back to the bedside to check to be sure there. 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:14.360 Was a lot of blood. Everything was blood. She was mutilated. 0:21:16.080 --> 0:21:20.800 Mikayla's gone, A Stelle says. Zach walks to the fridge. 0:21:21.280 --> 0:21:25.040 He chugs an entire cartner fruit juice. A Stelle watches him. 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:28.560 Then she grabs two cups, thinking some water would be 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:31.159 good for her and her colleague. But her hands are 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:34.679 trembling so much she drops the glasses. They shatter against 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:36.560 the tile floor, and. 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:39.480 Then the woman ask him, are you not going to 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:40.280 find somebody? 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:45.879 Zach doesn't answer. Instead, he wonders aloud where the cats are? 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:49.800 She said, find your patents and find the police. Okay, 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.080 you find these patents, and she found the police. Because 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.879 he didn't find the police, he never touched his wife. 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:57.800 Then you just ask, we must look for my cats. 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:01.119 Where is my cats? And they found the cats in 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:03.960 one of the rooms, opened the door and the cats 0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:07.720 ran out. And then you walked outside and went to 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:11.720 stand next to this wall smoking. Does he get it? 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:16.000 His phone rings? It's his father. 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:19.159 A Stelle listens as Zach pleads with his father to 0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:22.000 come to the house. A Stelle is relieved that Zach 0:22:22.040 --> 0:22:24.480 has someone to talk to, someone who can be there 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:29.359 with him. The three of them wait in the living 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:34.000 room for what to Estelle feels like ours. Zack inquires 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:37.520 if the potential buyers are still coming this afternoon, will 0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:40.800 you still be able to sell the house? He asks, No, 0:22:41.680 --> 0:22:46.240 I've canceled the appointment. A Stelle responds. His wife's body 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.359 is lying lifeless in the next room, growing colder by 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:52.440 the minute. It's all a Stelle can think about. But 0:22:52.680 --> 0:22:56.000 Zach wants to know if the house will sell. Maybe 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:00.200 he's in shock, a Stelle tells herself. Zach leans forward, 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:03.720 face in hands. He says, I didn't want to trick 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:08.080 my wife. Stelle pretends not to have heard that. She 0:23:08.200 --> 0:23:11.160 gets up and steps outside. She can hear the sirens 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:14.399 that are to her relief, now approaching. The police take 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:20.760 control of the crime scene. They hustle everyone outside and 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:25.760 begin taking statements and document the murder with photographs. Mikayla's 0:23:25.840 --> 0:23:30.960 parents arrive in hysterics. A grief councilor speaks with Michaela's parents, 0:23:31.280 --> 0:23:34.240 but they're interrupted when the councilor hears laughter at the 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:37.639 murder scene. She turns and is stunned when she sees it. 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:38.720 Zach and his parents. 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:41.960 They were standing mixed to him at the wall, and 0:23:42.480 --> 0:23:43.200 they were laughing. 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:46.359 Zach and his parents are introduced to the grief and 0:23:46.440 --> 0:23:49.080 trauma counselor. The family makes it known that they are 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:51.640 children of God and they don't need to speak with anybody. 0:23:52.560 --> 0:23:57.080 The grief counselor notes that Zach's eyes are dry. Zach 0:23:57.160 --> 0:24:01.240 complains aloud that all this is taking so long. The realtor, 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:04.440 A Stelle, attempts to compassionately explain to him that the 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:07.719 police have to photograph the house from every angle. Oh 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:10.399 so you'll get some photos, just not the ones you wanted, 0:24:10.840 --> 0:24:21.680 Zach sarcastically says to an astounded Stelle. Around eleven PM 0:24:21.800 --> 0:24:24.760 that night, the police finally let the families back into 0:24:24.800 --> 0:24:29.080 the house. Mikayla's mother pulls Zach aside. She wants to 0:24:29.160 --> 0:24:33.199 know was Mikaela a Satanist. Zach assures her that her 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:37.159 daughter was not. The police find assassination kits next to 0:24:37.200 --> 0:24:41.160 the couple's bed. Each member of EPD has their own kit. 0:24:41.760 --> 0:24:46.639 It contains gloves, a ski mask, cable ties, knives, strangling wire, 0:24:46.960 --> 0:24:50.920 and a handgun. This discovery alone should have alerted the 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:54.879 detectives that something illegal was going on. People don't typically 0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:58.800 have strangling wire in their bedside tables, but for whatever reason, 0:24:59.160 --> 0:25:02.119 the police decide to overlook the matching his and hers 0:25:02.280 --> 0:25:06.840 assassination kits. Before leaving the murder scene, the trauma counselor 0:25:06.840 --> 0:25:10.400 approaches Zach one last time, nearly everyone else is left. 0:25:11.400 --> 0:25:13.560 She asks Zach if he has a friend to stay 0:25:13.640 --> 0:25:15.880 with or if he's going to stay with his parents. 0:25:16.160 --> 0:25:18.320 And he said, now he's going to sleep there. So 0:25:18.520 --> 0:25:21.440 he turned that mattress that was full of bloody, turned 0:25:21.480 --> 0:25:23.840