WEBVTT - Crime Alert 07.31.24

0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:04.560
<v Speaker 1>Crime Alert. I'm Nancy Grace, breaking crimes now. Brandy Elliott

0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:06.880
<v Speaker 1>spends a week at her Tennessee home alone with her

0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:09.800
<v Speaker 1>seven year old daughter Piper. Her husband, John is in

0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.600
<v Speaker 1>the hospital. Elliott draws Piper a bath, hoping for alone

0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:17.040
<v Speaker 1>time for herself, but Piper asked Mommy to stay and

0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:21.959
<v Speaker 1>help her instead. Brandy Elliott holds Piper under the water

0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:26.439
<v Speaker 1>for minutes. When Piper stops struggling, Elliott calls nine one

0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.200
<v Speaker 1>one to start CPR, but the seven year old little

0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:30.400
<v Speaker 1>girl is dead.

0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.960
<v Speaker 2>Nancy Elliott and Piper had just been to visit John Elliott,

0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.040
<v Speaker 2>a disabled veteran, after he was moved from critical care.

0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:40.640
<v Speaker 2>Piper plastered her father's room with coloring book pages and

0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:44.120
<v Speaker 2>well wishes. Just a few hours later, Piper was killed.

0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.600
<v Speaker 2>Brandy Elliott claims to have previous issues with mental health,

0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:50.199
<v Speaker 2>but her attorneys do not want her to undergo an

0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:51.680
<v Speaker 2>evaluation at this time.

0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:57.520
<v Speaker 1>Brandy Elliott thirty three, now charged with murder. Matthew Pancake

0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.880
<v Speaker 1>breaks into multiple Ohio businesses like a shoe store, a restaurant,

0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:06.840
<v Speaker 1>a pet store, and every time he's always wearing leper print.

0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:11.520
<v Speaker 1>One ZPJS cops Hot on his trail, had to take

0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:15.240
<v Speaker 1>a brief pause to wrangle bunnies, birds, puppies and a

0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:19.600
<v Speaker 1>ferret running loose in the parking lot. Officers finally find

0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:23.120
<v Speaker 1>pancakes sleeping on a bench nearby. A brief search reveals

0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:27.360
<v Speaker 1>four gerbils hidden in pancakes pajama pockets. None of the

0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.440
<v Speaker 1>animals are hurt, but pancakes taken to the hospital to

0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:35.720
<v Speaker 1>get several bites and scratches looked at. Matthew Pancake thirty one,

0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:40.200
<v Speaker 1>now charged with breaking and entering in vandalism? What about

0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:48.080
<v Speaker 1>ferret kidnap? More crime and justice news after this Now

0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:50.680
<v Speaker 1>with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Onlines

0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:51.840
<v Speaker 1>John Lemley.

0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.640
<v Speaker 3>A seventy six year old Connecticut woman, has been found

0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.240
<v Speaker 3>dead at her Burlington home, just hours before she was

0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:01.240
<v Speaker 3>scheduled to be sentenced for the killing of her husband.

0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:04.600
<v Speaker 3>We turned to Sydney Sumner of Crime Online for more.

0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:10.320
<v Speaker 2>Connecticut State Police are investigating Linda Kassuda Biggatzi's quote untimely death,

0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:13.200
<v Speaker 2>which occurred after officers were called to her residence for

0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.600
<v Speaker 2>a welfare check. Kasuda Bagatsi had reached a plea deal

0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.160
<v Speaker 2>and was expected to be sentenced to thirteen years in

0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:21.720
<v Speaker 2>prison for the twenty seventeen death of her eighty four

0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:25.240
<v Speaker 2>year old husband, doctor par Luigi Bigatzi, a professor at

0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:29.320
<v Speaker 2>Yukon Health. In March, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter and larceny,

0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.680
<v Speaker 2>having initially been charged with murder. She was free on

0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.320
<v Speaker 2>more than one point five million dollars bail. In writings

0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.560
<v Speaker 2>founded her home Kasuda, Bagatzi claimed she killed her husband

0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:42.359
<v Speaker 2>with a hammer and self defense during a dispute over

0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:46.280
<v Speaker 2>home repairs. Police discovered doctor Bigotzi's body in the couple's

0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:51.079
<v Speaker 2>basement in February twenty eighteen, wrapped in plastic showing advanced decomposition.

0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.440
<v Speaker 2>The medical examiner determined the cause of death was blunt

0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:58.120
<v Speaker 2>trauma to the head. Investigators believed doctor Bagotzi died in

0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:01.000
<v Speaker 2>July twenty seventeen, and his paid The checks continued to

0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:04.400
<v Speaker 2>be deposited into a joint account until his body was found.

0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:09.120
<v Speaker 3>An internal investigation at Yukon resulted in disciplinary action against

0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:13.000
<v Speaker 3>a medical official who failed to monitor doctor Bigatzi's work

0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:16.960
<v Speaker 3>during that period. Now to Texas, where a former US

0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.720
<v Speaker 3>Army employee has been sentenced after stealing nearly one hundred

0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.920
<v Speaker 3>nine million dollars to fund a lavish lifestyle. Once again

0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:26.680
<v Speaker 3>crime online Sidney Sumner.

0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:30.080
<v Speaker 2>Fifty seven year old Janet Yamanaka Melo was sentenced to

0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.640
<v Speaker 2>fifteen years in federal prison after admitting to embezzling nearly

0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:36.520
<v Speaker 2>one hundred and nine million dollars from a youth development

0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:40.760
<v Speaker 2>program for children of military families. Mello, a former financial

0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.640
<v Speaker 2>manager at Fort sam Houston and San Antonio, used the

0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.720
<v Speaker 2>stolen funds to support a lavish lifestyle, purchasing luxury items

0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.920
<v Speaker 2>including multiple mansions, a fleet of high end vehicles, and

0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:55.680
<v Speaker 2>designer accessories. US District Judge Xavier Rodriguez handed down the

0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:59.120
<v Speaker 2>sentence after Mello pleaded guilty in March to multiple counts

0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.520
<v Speaker 2>of mail fraud and filing false tax returns. The court

0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:06.240
<v Speaker 2>heard that Melo had created a fictitious organization named Child

0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:09.680
<v Speaker 2>Health and Youth Lifelong Development to siphon grant money from

0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:14.400
<v Speaker 2>the military program, submitting over forty fraudulent applications over six years.

0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.400
<v Speaker 2>US Attorney Jamie Esparza for the Western District of Texas

0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:22.120
<v Speaker 2>described Melo's actions as a profound betrayal of trust, highlighting

0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:27.000
<v Speaker 2>her exploitation of her position and expertise. Melo's extravagant spending

0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.799
<v Speaker 2>included a single day purchase of nine hundred and twenty

0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:32.960
<v Speaker 2>three thousand dollars in jewelry in twenty twenty two, in

0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:37.039
<v Speaker 2>the acquisition of eighty two vehicles, including a Maserati Mercedes

0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:41.040
<v Speaker 2>in a vintage nineteen fifty four corvette. Melo's defense attorney,

0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.560
<v Speaker 2>Albert Flores, stated that his client is remorseful and intends

0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:46.840
<v Speaker 2>for the items bought with the stolen funds to be

0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.919
<v Speaker 2>sold to repay the government. He also mentioned that the

0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.440
<v Speaker 2>defense does not plan to appeal the sentence.

0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.760
<v Speaker 3>This case has drawn close attention due to the scale

0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.479
<v Speaker 3>of the theft and the breach of trust involved, with

0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.880
<v Speaker 3>prosecutors noting that Mela all of his actions were facilitated

0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.640
<v Speaker 3>by her deep knowledge of the grant system and the

0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:07.640
<v Speaker 3>trust she had built within her workplace.

0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:12.320
<v Speaker 1>Thanks John Jacqueline Jackie Rays thirty, moves to Boyt In Beach,

0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:16.040
<v Speaker 1>Florida to get to know her bio dad, Denzil Dixon.

0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.680
<v Speaker 1>She quickly becomes close with her aunt Joy Dixon, then

0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:23.240
<v Speaker 1>moves in with her. Two months later, Denzel passes away

0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.599
<v Speaker 1>from a terminal illness. Jackie doesn't take it well and

0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:30.279
<v Speaker 1>begins to lash out at the ant. They argue often,

0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:34.880
<v Speaker 1>especially over Jackie's unemployment, as the aunt Joy struggles to

0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:38.560
<v Speaker 1>keep up with the bills. After one argument, Jackie storms

0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:41.320
<v Speaker 1>out of the house with a purse and laptop. Joy

0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:43.919
<v Speaker 1>assumes she's taking the night to Blue Off Steam, but

0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.520
<v Speaker 1>Jackie never comes back. Police believe Jackie is still in

0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.240
<v Speaker 1>the area, but have not been able to confirm she's safe.

0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:54.520
<v Speaker 1>Jackie Rays missing two years, five eight, one hundred and

0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:58.960
<v Speaker 1>ten pounds, brown eyes, brown curly hair. Anyone with info

0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:03.880
<v Speaker 1>on j Jackie Reyes called Paul Beach, Florida Sheriffs five

0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:09.040
<v Speaker 1>six one six eight eight three seven four zero. For

0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.400
<v Speaker 1>the latest crime injustice news, go to crimeonline dot com

0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:17.440
<v Speaker 1>and join us on our daily podcast, Crime Stories with

0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:19.520
<v Speaker 1>this crime alert. I'm Missy Grace.