Episode 288

Speaker 2 Today, we're exploring deep in the North American wilderness among nature's wildest plants, animals, and

Speaker 1 cows.

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Speaker 1 But there's so much nature.

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Speaker 1 Extraordinary.

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Learn more about their delicious dairy at ov.coop.

Speaker 7 Ready to take advantage of an incredible deal at Mazda?

Speaker 8 September is the final month of eligibility for federal $7,500 electric vehicle lease cash on the new Mazda CX70 and CX90 plug-in hybrid.

Speaker 11 All Mazda current inventory is unaffected by new tariffs.

Speaker 7 See your local Mazda dealer for details.

Speaker 9 $7,500 electric vehicle lease cash offer expires at the end of September.

Speaker 7 Don't miss out.

Speaker 13 $7,500 lease customer cash could toward 2025 CX70 PHEV and CX90 PHEV when leasing through Mazda Financial Services.

Speaker 15 Lease customer cash can be combined with other public offers, including lease incentive offers. Lease customer cash cannot be combined with APR or other customer cash offers.

Speaker 15 Lease customer cash is not redeemable as cash or cash back option. Lease customer cash is only available on approved credit.

Speaker 17 Not all customers will qualify for credit approval or offer.

Speaker 18 Limit one discount per customer per vehicle.

Speaker 19 Lease customer cash offer only available in United States regardless of buyer's residency.

Speaker 16 Void reprohibited.

Speaker 21 Apply within the lease structure as a capital cost reduction.

Speaker 14 Lease customer cash is only available on participating Mazda dealer's current inventory, which is subject to availability.

Speaker 20 Offer ends 930-2025, and you must take delivery prior to expiration of offer.

Speaker 22 See participating Mazda dealer for complete details.

Speaker 23 Sword and scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Speaker 25 There was no reason.

Speaker 26 There was no purpose.

Speaker 26 It was done for no other reason than to satisfy

Speaker 26 this defendant's internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone.

Speaker 24 Why is there a Sword and Scale on a Tuesday? That doesn't seem right. I should call the manager.

Speaker 24 This is season 12, episode 288 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real.

Speaker 24 Hey, instead of complaining, why don't you head on over to the store and buy something? Store.sornskill.com.

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Speaker 24 I know this is something we do for the love of it, but you know, we also like to eat every now and then.

Speaker 7 Ready to take advantage of an incredible deal at Mazda?

Speaker 8 September is the final month of eligibility for federal $7,500 electric vehicle lease cash on the new Mazda CX70 and CX90 plug-in hybrid.

Speaker 9 All Mazda current inventory is unaffected by new tariffs.

Speaker 7 See your local Mazda dealer for details.

Speaker 9 $7,500 electric vehicle lease cash offer expires at the end of September.

Speaker 7 Don't miss out!

Speaker 13 $7,500 lease customer cash good toward 2025 CX70 PHEV and CX90 PHEV when leasing through Mazda Financial Services.

Speaker 15 Lease customer cash can be combined with other public offers, including lease incentive offers. Lease customer cash cannot be combined with APR or other customer cash offers.

Speaker 15 Lease customer cash is not redeemable as cash or cash back option.

Speaker 18 Lease customer cash is only available on approved credit.

Speaker 17 Not all customers will qualify for credit approval or offer.

Speaker 18 Limit one discount per customer per vehicle.

Speaker 19 Lease customer cash offer only available in the United States regardless of buyer's residency.

Speaker 16 Void reprohibited.

Speaker 21 Apply within the lease structure as a capital cost reduction.

Speaker 14 Lease customer cash is only available on participating Mazda Mazda dealer's current inventory, which is subject to availability.

Speaker 12 Off rents 9:30-2025, and you must take delivery prior to expiration of offer.

Speaker 22 See Participating Mazda Dealer for complete details.

Speaker 24 It's getting a little warmer out there, so let me take you down to a little place called St. John's, Florida.
It's a suburban dreamland, tucked between Jacksonville and St. Augustine.

Speaker 24 Sounds pleasant, doesn't it? This is a place where life feels peaceful, predictable,

Speaker 24 ordinary.

Speaker 24 Golf courses blend seamlessly into HOA neighborhoods. Everyone has a pool.
Here, parents trust that when their kids leave in the morning, they'll come back at night. before the streetlights turn on.

Speaker 24 St. John's wasn't always as booming as it is today.

Speaker 24 In fact, it was barely a dot on a map just a few decades ago. But things have changed, especially in Florida.

Speaker 24 Over the past 10 years, the once quiet community has exploded in size, growing from just over 18,000 people to almost 90,000 today.

Speaker 24 Despite that growth, there's still a sense of security here. A belief that you know your neighbors, that you know your children, that bad things happen somewhere else.

Speaker 24 On Mother's Day, May 9th, 2021, it would take only 12 hours for that sense of safety to shatter completely.

Speaker 24 You're going to have to pay close attention here. We're going to jump around in the timeline a bit.
But we'll start at around 3.30 p.m.

Speaker 24 On the side of one of these beautifully landscaped streets, sits a cop car.

Speaker 24 In the back seat, there are two teenage boys, both about 14 years old. They live in the area, and their parents have money and ring cameras everywhere.

Speaker 24 These aren't the type of kids you usually see in the back of a police cruiser. They're laughing, each holding their own phone with one extended arm as they record videos on Snapchat for

Speaker 24 Cred.

Speaker 24 He's talking about a missing teen, Tristan.

Speaker 24 He says, Tristan, if you walk out the dam.

Speaker 24 And then the video cuts off.

Speaker 24 Then Aiden posts another snap, but... He's holding up a peace sign and it's captioned, hey guys, has anybody seen Tristan lately? You see, as they're laughing and joking in the back of a cop car,

Speaker 24 their classmate is missing. It's as if the gravity of the situation hasn't sunk in yet, or worse,

Speaker 24 that it doesn't matter.

Speaker 24 Earlier that morning, 13-year-old Tristan Bailey's mother had awoken to find her daughter's bed empty.

Speaker 24 Given Tristan's age and the fact that she's a cheerleader with good grades, her mom immediately called 911.

Speaker 24 Yes, this.

Speaker 29 I need somebody to come to my home right now. I don't.

Speaker 29 I don't even think.

Speaker 29 Take a big breath for me, okay? How old? Is there anything?

Speaker 29 She's 13.

Speaker 29 13 years old?

Speaker 29 Can you go room by room with me? I did. I did.
Take a big breath. I've had my whole family.

Speaker 30 Okay, was she supposed to be sleeping in her room?

Speaker 29 Yeah.

Speaker 29 The last time somebody saw her was at midnight.

Speaker 30 Was last night?

Speaker 29 Yes. What time?

Speaker 29 The last time her sister saw her was at midnight.

Speaker 30 Is there any reason that she would have left to go to a friend's house?

Speaker 29 No. Has she

Speaker 29 left out before?

Speaker 29 No, not to my knowledge. And her location is off.
Her Snapchat location is off. I have, my friend has her.
And I turned 60 and she stopped sharing local code phone.

Speaker 29 Her phone's going straight to voicemail.

Speaker 24 While her mother was on the phone, Tristan's father scoured the property, desperate to find her. When that failed, he got in his car, driving through the neighborhood in search of her.

Speaker 24 Soon, police started to arrive at the Bailey's residence, ready to take statements and launch a full-scale search of their own.

Speaker 32 So, you know, my wife and I woke up this morning and uh.

Speaker 32 it's okay

Speaker 32 we probably both woke up around seven okay

Speaker 32 and um

Speaker 32 my daughter was and said that she was going to make breakfast for my wife because it's Mother's Day

Speaker 32 started making breakfast it was around 930

Speaker 32 when I say 9.30 or 9.40 that

Speaker 32 we asked my son to go upstairs to wake up, come down for breakfast. Okay.

Speaker 32 He came down and said

Speaker 32 he didn't find her in her room or in

Speaker 32 the

Speaker 32 media room,

Speaker 32 which the kids will sometimes sleep on if they're watching TV. Okay.

Speaker 27 So

Speaker 32 I went up to drive around the two amenity centers, just worried that

Speaker 34 I'm sorry if i'm going too fast new your friend

Speaker 32 um worried that she she might be up there and then you came back over here and that's when law enforcement started to show up correct correct law enforcement was here um

Speaker 32 at one point so that's when we started to piece together that

Speaker 35 um she snuck out last night We begin tonight with breaking news from St. John's County, where police say this 13-year-old girl hasn't been seen in some 15 hours.
Thanks for joining us at six.

Speaker 35 I'm Jeff Ballin. This is a photo the St.
Johns County Sheriff's Office wants you to take a close look at. Tristan Bailey is missing.

Speaker 35 Deputies say she was last seen during the overnight hours at the amenities center in the Durban Crossing subdivision.

Speaker 36 You know, again, so many families out here, you know, I talked with one family who says their kids went to school with Bailey, and they still can't believe something like this happened. You know,

Speaker 36 they've been living here for about 12 years now, and they said never has a child been missing. The St.

Speaker 36 John's County Sheriff's Office says Bailey was last wearing a white cheerleading skirt and a dark colored skirt shirt.

Speaker 36 So if you have any information about the current whereabouts or have seen Bailey, please contact your nearest local law enforcement.

Speaker 24 After piecing some things together and talking with the parents of some of Tristan's friends, they quickly determined that Tristan had plans to sneak out that night, as did many other kids.

Speaker 24 Apparently, there were secret tunnels underneath Tristan's neighborhood, which is straight out of a Stephen King novel and, you know, kind of cool.

Speaker 32 We heard that she was linked with

Speaker 32 potentially this boy Trey,

Speaker 32 a boy Trent,

Speaker 32 and a boy

Speaker 32 Aiden.

Speaker 32 There was also another boy, Joshua, but from everything I've heard, the Joshua didn't pan out.

Speaker 32 At one point I also left. I left with my daughter because

Speaker 32 we heard there's this place called the tunnel where kids sometimes go and use drugs.

Speaker 24 Here's one of the other parents talking about the notorious tunnels.

Speaker 38 They were hanging out at the north. They snuck out sometime in the middle of the night and were hanging out.

Speaker 38 at the north and then the two boys went home and they said going to go home but she was going to meet this 22-year-old guy that I guess he buys babe stuff from, or it's a 22-year-old dealer, or 22-year-old plug, whatever that means.

Speaker 27 And,

Speaker 38 but I don't know who that guy was.

Speaker 24 Sneaking out into those tunnels wasn't uncommon, especially for teens looking for an escape from the ordinary or the watchful eyes of their parents and the numerous, numerous security cameras.

Speaker 24 I mean, I really should buy buy some ring stock.

Speaker 39 Describe to me what takes place at the back of these trails as far as your understanding of it.

Speaker 40 What are these? People do drugs. They come out high.

Speaker 41 What kind of drugs?

Speaker 40 All I know of, or I've seen with my own eyes, is marijuana.

Speaker 40 And

Speaker 40 I've seen vapes.

Speaker 42 Okay.

Speaker 40 95% of the time when I go to north, I do not see people coming in or out, or even if I go in there, people in there.

Speaker 40 It's normally like 1.30 in the morning, people go back there.

Speaker 39 What's her relationship with Trey and Aiden? Do you know?

Speaker 40 I mean, I have no idea. I personally didn't even know they knew each other.

Speaker 39 You didn't know who knew each other?

Speaker 40 I didn't, I didn't knew, I didn't know Aiden, Trey, them two. I didn't know they knew.

Speaker 41 Okay.

Speaker 39 What do you know about I mean how is she describe her to me?

Speaker 40 She I just know she did

Speaker 40 She playing

Speaker 37 cheer

Speaker 20 I

Speaker 40 I knew she was friends with, she's normally friends with older kids. She wouldn't at lunch, she'd normally come sit up with like the older kids because

Speaker 40 she was in sixth when I was in eighth. So she would always be up with like the seventh or eighth grade areas.

Speaker 40 And I just know she was kind of one of the popular people.

Speaker 28 Okay.

Speaker 27 Describe Trey and Aiden for me.

Speaker 39 What do you know about them?

Speaker 40 I know first with Trey, I used to, I would help volunteer and coach the POA volleyball team for boys.

Speaker 40 boys, and he used to play, and he got kicked off for punching this kid named Josh in the face and like hurting him pretty badly. And I just know that's he has a bad background.

Speaker 40 I've heard things from people about his family and just not to mess with him in general. I just know he's one of the bigger kids that just is one of the bullies of the school.
He's had problems.

Speaker 40 And then Aiden,

Speaker 40 he's,

Speaker 40 I've, I've had problems. He has in the past, I think maybe three or four months ago, jumped one of of my friends named Henrik in my grade.

Speaker 40 And

Speaker 40 that's how I know he's not a very good person.

Speaker 40 Trey has been held back. He's 15, but he's in the 8th grade.

Speaker 25 And Aiden, I'm pretty sure, is 14 and in the 8th grade.

Speaker 24 Rumors were starting to spread fast. Group chats lit up with speculation.
quickly adding new names to the mix.

Speaker 43 From everyone talking about it, I just heard that she was missing and I thought she just like snuck out or something but it turned out people talking about what they thought happened or what happened

Speaker 45 and one of the kids that was supposed to be involved.

Speaker 46 And who was that?

Speaker 28 Apton Abraham, I think he's saying his last name.

Speaker 48 How old is he?

Speaker 43 He is 14.

Speaker 3 He's in my grade.

Speaker 46 And he had said some things in a was it a private chat?

Speaker 43 And someone screenshotted it and put it on.

Speaker 48 Do you know who he was talking to?

Speaker 45 It's his name is on it.

Speaker 46 And he says, Aiden and Trey just snuck out with her, Trey and Chalkin, so they went in the woods.

Speaker 41 He raped her.

Speaker 46 And when she was all up on him, she tried running away and he hit her and she fell and she bled out literally 30 seconds away from my house.

Speaker 46 Aiden tried to get me to go with them.

Speaker 25 Do you know who who screen

Speaker 46 Who got the screen grab of this?

Speaker 45 That kid, that's right there.

Speaker 25 And he sent it to you?

Speaker 43 It was in a group shop. It got reposted.

Speaker 3 It got reposted everywhere. I'm sure.

Speaker 42 Okay.

Speaker 26 Do you know

Speaker 39 Aiden?

Speaker 43 He went to my school last year.

Speaker 28 He was in my math class.

Speaker 43 He was a really bad kid. He was always getting into trouble with girls at school and I was all over them.

Speaker 25 Yeah.

Speaker 28 I'm pretty sure he got expelled from our school. That's why he goes to POA.

Speaker 46 Okay. What about Trey?

Speaker 49 I have no clue.

Speaker 43 I just, just he my my boyfriend was he sits at the lunch table with him and he was like I would never suspect him to do that like he's not a very good kid, but he was like I would have never thought he would do that.

Speaker 25 Gotcha

Speaker 43 You said that there was another conversation too that had been deleted.

Speaker 43 Oh, yeah, they um someone posted on their story, but I don't think anybody even had time to screenshot it because they deleted it like that.

Speaker 43 He was like, it was like a group chat that they had like planned to do this.

Speaker 37 Between Trey Trey and Aiden or yeah

Speaker 50 who is on that group chat? Abs and

Speaker 50 Trey and Aiden.

Speaker 25 That's three of them. Yeah.

Speaker 40 My understanding is that I know both kids decently well and had problems with both of them in the past and

Speaker 40 that their area or all the kids area around here that do drugs or just don't do good things hang out at the spot by north just way back there in the woods and i know that just it sounds like an era they would take people to do things like that

Speaker 24 as trey abscher and aiden fuci sat in the back of a cop car broadcasting themselves on snapchat rumors continued to circulate the leading theory was that the two boys had lured tristan into the woods assaulting her and killing her Allegedly, they had even tried to involve a third boy who backed out.

Speaker 24 Even more suspicious, Tristan allegedly had an ongoing sexual relationship with Trey.

Speaker 24 Keep in mind, folks, these kids are 13 and 14 years old. Prior to Tristan's disappearance, a video had been circulating around the school that depicted the teens were in a sexual act.

Speaker 24 Trey had secretly recorded the encounter and shared it with other boys, which, by the way, can stick your kid with charges in the realm of possession, production, and distribution of child pornography, even if they're minor, in case you didn't know.

Speaker 24 So, if you're parenting via iPad, I would suggest you get off your ass.

Speaker 24 So, anyway, the night before Tristan went missing, Trey had been badgering a different girl from their school to come meet them out in the woods that night. Her name is Lola.

Speaker 48 And do you know, um, I don't know how you pronounce his name, Adrian

Speaker 24 Fuchsi. Adrian.

Speaker 24 Adrian Fuchsi.

Speaker 48 Do you know him?

Speaker 51 Well, I didn't know him personally, but I heard about him a lot in the fifth grade.

Speaker 51 He got sent home because he broke a kid's nose, and then

Speaker 51 he's been getting in a lot of trouble and stuff because

Speaker 51 and like I didn't know him personally. I stayed away from people like him.
And then earlier today, he posted something in the back of the cop car saying

Speaker 51 yo anyone seen and traded the same thing and everybody's been reposting that and saying about how messed up that is

Speaker 51 he asked me to sneak out earlier that morning and I said yeah because like

Speaker 25 live a little have fun

Speaker 48 What time do you think?

Speaker 51 Around 10.30, he asked me first and then he kept snapping me throughout the whole entire day which he was like are you still going? Are you still going? Which I found a little bit weird and so then

Speaker 48 that was at 10.30 a.m. or p.m.

Speaker 51 Uh that was a.m. And

Speaker 43 that would have been Saturday morning, yesterday.

Speaker 51 So what my main theory was is that after Trey got mad at me and I got mad at him, he asked her to sneak out. And then

Speaker 51 so

Speaker 51 I know that, like, at Food Truck, she would always talk about the times when she sneaks out and stuff. And I know that she's not exactly, like, you know, like, ideal daughter.

Speaker 51 And everybody just wants to sneak out and have fun.

Speaker 24 Tristan had actually told one of her friends about her plans to hang out with Trey and Aiden. Tristan was the only one.
who thought that sneaking out and hanging out with these boys was a good idea.

Speaker 24 Even her fellow 13-year-olds told her not to go.

Speaker 45 She was like, I'm supposed to meet up with them sometime this weekend. So I guess it was like after school.
I didn't really know when it was.

Speaker 45 Like, I had this like really bad feeling because, like, she was like, we're gonna go hang out.

Speaker 3 And I was like, um, like, it just didn't sit right with me.

Speaker 45 And I got very agitated. And then she asked me what's wrong, and I told her, like, I didn't really know.

Speaker 51 Like, it just, like, I didn't really want her to go.

Speaker 45 And, I mean, I guess she went anyways, but.

Speaker 24 Despite the warnings, though, Tristan followed through with her plan, walking straight into the unknown.

Speaker 24 But while everyone was busy pointing fingers, there was one side of the story that no one had heard yet:

Speaker 24 the boys.

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Speaker 7 Ready to take advantage of an incredible deal at Mazda?

Speaker 8 September is the final month of eligibility for federal $7,500 electric vehicle lease cash on the new Mazda CX70 and CX90 plug-in hybrid.

Speaker 9 All Mazda current inventory is unaffected by new tariffs.

Speaker 7 See your local Mazda dealer for details.

Speaker 9 $7,500 electric vehicle lease cash offer expires at the end of September.

Speaker 7 Don't miss out.

Speaker 13 7,500 lease customer cash good toward 2025 CX70 PHEV and CX90 PHEV when leasing through Mazda Financial Services.

Speaker 15 Lease customer cash can be combined with other public offers, including lease incentive offers. Lease customer cash cannot be combined with APR or other customer cash offers.

Speaker 15 Lease customer cash is not redeemable as cash or cash back option.

Speaker 18 Lease customer cash is only available on approved credit.

Speaker 17 Not all customers will qualify for credit approval or offer.

Speaker 18 Limit one discount per customer per vehicle.

Speaker 19 Lease customer cash offer only available in the United States regardless of buyer's residency.

Speaker 16 Void reprohibited.

Speaker 21 Apply within the lease structure as a capital cost reduction.

Speaker 14 Lease customer cash is only available on participating Mazda dealer's current inventory which is subject to availability.

Speaker 12 Offer ends 930-2025 and you must take delivery prior to expiration of offer.

Speaker 22 See participating Mazda dealer for complete details.

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Speaker 24 As afternoon turned to evening on Mother's Day 2021, the peaceful St. John's community had become the epicenter of a frantic investigation.

Speaker 24 What began as a simple search for a missing teenage girl had quickly morphed into something dark and strange.

Speaker 24 All eyes were on three teenage boys. Doffus Sabscher, known by everyone as Trey,

Speaker 24 Aiden Fuchsi, and a third boy, Abten.

Speaker 24 The rumor mill was an overdrive, and no one knew what to believe.

Speaker 24 So, it's around 4 p.m. and St.
John's County cops have Trey and Aiden in the back of a squad car.

Speaker 24 They have to get a statement from each of them before they decide what their next move is. Meanwhile, another deputy drives over to Abden's house to get statements from him and his family.

Speaker 25 Hey, are you Aiden?

Speaker 53 Hey, I'm the technical police officer through the sheriff's office.

Speaker 53 We're trying to figure out where Tristan's at.

Speaker 54 And I'm not trying to get you in trouble or anything like that.

Speaker 3 Obviously, I'm more concerned right now about her safety and what she's doing and where she could be hanging out.

Speaker 53 You're telling him that there may be another path that he's maybe staying at?

Speaker 25 Where she's staying at?

Speaker 53 What's the path?

Speaker 3 there's like a trail that goes super deep down there down to the woods this morning.

Speaker 25 Okay.

Speaker 53 Have you heard from her at all?

Speaker 25 No?

Speaker 28 Okay.

Speaker 31 All right.

Speaker 55 So are you willing to kind of give me a statement about what's going on?

Speaker 3 Yeah, so we were at Trey's house and then I stayed there until probably like 1.50 a.m.

Speaker 3 And then I was really late to be home, so I just had to leave because my mom would like seriously just kill me. Okay.

Speaker 3 So we started walking home and next to like where that brick wall starts up there, okay, is where like she touched my dick and I like pushed her off me real hard.

Speaker 26 And then I just kind of like got out of one, kind of walked away out of anger.

Speaker 55 So why did she do that though? Was she like, were y'all talking about like she's

Speaker 56 oh, she's the home? Is what you're saying? Okay.

Speaker 42 All right.

Speaker 28 She's ready to like breathe.

Speaker 3 Okay. She has a guy who uses selling those free swords.

Speaker 28 She says she bangs and he's explaining something.

Speaker 55 She's told you about this before?

Speaker 24 Other classmates had mentioned this elusive 21-22-year-old guy, too.

Speaker 24 Apparently, Tristan was, quote, banging him and was being provided cases of white claw along with vapes and whatever drugs she wanted, LSD, shrooms, weed, you name it.

Speaker 24 Both Trey and Aiden told police they thought she might have been picked up by this guy after she and Aiden had their little fight and parted ways in the middle of the night.

Speaker 24 They weren't the only ones with this theory. As these stories unfolded, the police were working behind the scenes, gathering hard evidence.

Speaker 24 All of the kids' houses were within walking distance, but the streets were densely packed, meaning officers would have to knock on a lot of doors.

Speaker 24 Then after scanning hours of security and doorbell camera footage, someone finds a clip. The truth is about to surface, one frame at a time.
And it's far more chilling than anyone imagined.

Speaker 24 You see, when law enforcement first located Aiden, he gave his side of the story.

Speaker 24 He said that after leaving Trey's house on Telford Drive at around 1 a.m., he and Tristan walked along North Durban Parkway.

Speaker 24 He claimed that about a quarter out of the way into their walk, she parted ways and made a left onto Cloysterbain Drive, her street.

Speaker 24 Aiden said he kept walking toward his home on Castledale Court and got home at around 3 a.m.

Speaker 24 But the detective quickly picked up on a problem. Why had it taken Aiden two hours to get home? The distance from Trey's house to Aiden's home was just under two miles.

Speaker 24 A walk like that shouldn't have taken more than 40 minutes, tops.

Speaker 24 Aiden, sensing the shift in tone, tried to adjust his story a bit. He told the officer he'd been walking around by himself for a while, for whatever reason.

Speaker 24 This inconsistency raised red flags, of course.

Speaker 24 To get a clearer picture, the detective asked Aiden if he'd be willing to ride in the back of a patrol car and retrace the path they had walked together.

Speaker 24 Aiden agreed, and his dad followed behind him in his golf cart.

Speaker 24 As they drove up North Durban Parkway, Aiden's story shifted once again.

Speaker 24 This time he admitted that he had an argument during the walk. He claimed Tristan had tried to make a move on him, and because he didn't want to cheat on his girlfriend, he pushed her.

Speaker 24 Does that sound believable, ladies?

Speaker 24 I didn't think so. Anyway, he said she fell and he even got out of the car to demonstrate the push.
saying he thought maybe she hit her head. But he walked away and didn't look back.

Speaker 24 But something still didn't add up. Surveillance footage obtained from a home on Saddlestone Drive, up near Castledale Court where Aiden lived, showed something entirely different.

Speaker 24 At approximately 1.45 a.m., two figures were captured walking east along the road. One was wearing a light-colored hoodie and wearing Nike shoes, and the other was dressed in black.

Speaker 24 But by 3.27 a.m., the same camera captured only one figure, wearing a light-colored hoodie, running west.

Speaker 24 The footage even captured the sound of his feet slapping against the sidewalk. He was shoeless, carrying his white Nikes.

Speaker 24 This

Speaker 24 raised a question.

Speaker 24 Why had Aiden and Tristan been spotted together way past Tristan's street on Saddlestone Drive if he had claimed she parted from him much earlier and headed home?

Speaker 24 after seeing this footage, investigators knew they had to bring in Aiden one more time for questioning.

Speaker 24 They now had proof that he wasn't telling the full story. Aiden was the last person to see Tristan.

Speaker 24 No one else was involved. Once he's put in the back of a squad car, Aiden's behavior turns desperate.

Speaker 26 When you're done over there, bring the canines over to Leith Hall and North Durban

Speaker 24 to get a scent from over here.

Speaker 25 Yeah.

Speaker 57 No, he yeah, he's with me in the car.

Speaker 25 Okay, bye.

Speaker 24 As soon as the door shuts and the cop walks away, he tries to FaceTime his girlfriend, whom he has in his phone as quote, Dream Girl.

Speaker 24 I mean, I can't even make this shit up, guys.

Speaker 24 just have bowl to drink though.

Speaker 58 Let me see your phone.

Speaker 8 Thank you.

Speaker 26 Take his phone for now.

Speaker 26 Let me hold on to your phones, alright, buddy?

Speaker 24 These kids are much more technically savvy than the cops that are dealing with them. Did he really think that just putting Aiden's phone in the front seat would keep him from using it?

Speaker 57 Hey, Siri.

Speaker 59 Text Dream Girl, they took my phone, I'm using Siri, and I love you by.

Speaker 60 Your message to Dream Girl says they took my phone, I'm using Siri, and I love you by.

Speaker 60 Ready to send it?

Speaker 57 Yes.

Speaker 60 Okay, it's sent.

Speaker 40 Hey Siri,

Speaker 26 text Dream Girl, I'm talking through the glass.

Speaker 59 I cannot see your text.

Speaker 60 Your message to Dream Girl says I'm talking through the glass. I cannot see your text.

Speaker 60 Ready to send it?

Speaker 57 Yes.

Speaker 60 Okay, it's sent.

Speaker 57 Hey, Siri,

Speaker 26 text green dream girl.

Speaker 42 Please stick with me through this.

Speaker 58 Sorry, I missed that.

Speaker 30 Could you say it again, please?

Speaker 57 Please stick with me through this.

Speaker 5 I'm sorry.

Speaker 24 While Aiden was being driven to the police station, he lashed out in frustration, kicking the seat in front of him and complaining. I'm going to get arrested for bullshit, he said.

Speaker 24 At the same time, across town, detectives were at the Bailey residence trying to gather more information about Tristan, hoping to understand what kind of girl she really was.

Speaker 33 So, obviously, we're here because went missing, and we're trying to figure out where she could be at.

Speaker 33 And I just want to ask you some questions about like the last time you had maybe seen her or, you know, what's been going on with her or anything like that.

Speaker 33 From your knowledge, when was the last time you saw or talked?

Speaker 34 It was sometime after 12.

Speaker 61 So I think it was probably around 12.15.

Speaker 61 She came down the stairs, she talked about something that I can't remember.

Speaker 41 Okay.

Speaker 61 And then she went out to the garage to take a call.

Speaker 61 And then when I went to see what she was doing, she was on FaceTime with a boy.

Speaker 34 And I think it was Trey.

Speaker 29 Yeah, have you tried calling her or texting her or anything like that?

Speaker 33 Have you had any luck?

Speaker 61 Yeah, I've called her a few times, but I just get straight to voicemail.

Speaker 33 Okay. Has this ever happened with her before that you're aware of?

Speaker 28 No.

Speaker 49 No.

Speaker 33 You've never heard of her sneaking out until today, or no?

Speaker 32 Okay.

Speaker 24 Now, at this point, the Baileys knew nothing of Aiden's story. They were still trying to investigate their mysterious 22-year-old drug dealer, Leed.

Speaker 24 The officer following up with them instructed Tristan's younger sister to call a girl named Sam.

Speaker 24 You see, apparently, Sam and her sister Lena were closer to Tristan and had more information about this guy.

Speaker 24 Ultimately, this would end up being a fruitless pursuit, but Tristan's mother was desperate.

Speaker 29 Okay.

Speaker 63 And so when she said that, I was like, oh my god, like I know someone, like I don't associate with them whatsoever.

Speaker 34 But I know of him.

Speaker 34 And I really hope everything is okay.

Speaker 61 Thank you, Sam.

Speaker 63 If you guys need anything else, just let me know.

Speaker 62 Okay, I'll let you know.

Speaker 62 Sam,

Speaker 45 Sam. Okay.
Alright.

Speaker 33 Get Sam.

Speaker 33 Sam. Sam.

Speaker 62 Please, just...

Speaker 33 Please just be honest with me. I don't think you're not being honest, but somebody just sent me a message, and it said

Speaker 33 that Lena didn't tell the police everything that she knows.

Speaker 33 Sam, does Lena know anything else?

Speaker 33 If she doesn't know anything, can you get it out of her?

Speaker 24 As Tristan's mother and sister talked with a detective in the kitchen, someone was walking near Saddlestone Drive, where Aiden and Tristan had been caught on camera the night before.

Speaker 24 As Tristan's family speculated about different possibilities, holding out hope that she may be found alive, this person had just come upon

Speaker 24 her body.

Speaker 29 Hello?

Speaker 15 Hi, this is Alberto Hartsville's Sheriff's Office. Your phone call 911 is everything, okay?

Speaker 64 No, I found the missing girl.

Speaker 65 There's a, uh, at the end of the street, there's a retention pond on the other piece of property.

Speaker 64 Yeah, at the end of that, if you come back to the pond

Speaker 64 at the southern end of it, she's about 25 feet in the woods.

Speaker 27 She's in the woods now on the pond?

Speaker 64 She's in the woods back here behind the pond. Yes, sir.

Speaker 65 She looks like she's wearing black shorts and a black shirt.

Speaker 33 Don't touch her, please, sir.

Speaker 42 No,

Speaker 29 I'm about to come up anyway.

Speaker 65 It looks like black shorts, black Nike shorts, and a black shirt.

Speaker 29 And she's not moving, correct?

Speaker 64 No, there's bugs flying all over. I don't think she's alive.

Speaker 24 As a 911 caller hung up the phone, Tristan's family was ending their call with Sam.

Speaker 24 Tristan's father was in another room at the time.

Speaker 24 He was the first of them to hear the news, and I gotta say, brace yourselves.

Speaker 31 Alright, thanks.

Speaker 62 Okay, I love you. Love you too.

Speaker 62 Okay, bye, Sam.

Speaker 29 This is the coding too.

Speaker 62 I'll call you guys back soon, okay? Okay, thank you.

Speaker 63 Of course, bye-bye.

Speaker 45 No, no, no.

Speaker 24 Well, one family faced the unthinkable loss of their daughter. Another parent just a few miles away was already trying to protect their own child no matter the cost.

Speaker 24 But as the truth started to unravel, it became clear not every parent was grieving. In fact, some were already covering their tracks.

Speaker 24 During the night and into the early morning hours, Aiden and his family were being kept in an interview room. Holding them in a room together was intentional, but this flew right over their heads.

Speaker 31 It's a holding arm.

Speaker 31 They're gonna send you detectives in here to start talking to you.

Speaker 31 Whatever, you know.

Speaker 31 You need to talk to your lawyer first.

Speaker 31 Do I have a lawyer? Yeah.

Speaker 31 You do.

Speaker 24 That's the sound of Aiden's mother, Crystal, entering the room. You're going to love her.

Speaker 31 You know, you don't speak until Andy comes.

Speaker 31 You have to speak in the cop car. You don't have to speak anywhere until your attorney comes, which is Andy.

Speaker 31 You knew it in the women? Yes. So you did not have to speak in none of the cop cars, you had to speak anywhere until he was present.
You just say, I'm not speaking as my tongue is here. That was it.

Speaker 31 Are you asking questions?

Speaker 31 Um, well, they asked, like, what color is my hair and what color of my eyes and all that? That's all I am. And then, where do you live?

Speaker 31 You know, they found this girl, right?

Speaker 31 Where?

Speaker 31 In our neighborhood, down our main street.

Speaker 31 Is she dead? No, no, no, she's dead.

Speaker 31 That's why this is very important. It's all in you right now.

Speaker 31 Oh, my problem.

Speaker 31 You might have to do that. You were the last one scene with her.
So right now, it's a lot of, it's facing you right now, son.

Speaker 31 So however you talk, you breathe, you think,

Speaker 31 then you respond.

Speaker 31 This is very serious, Aiden. You can't act like, I don't know,

Speaker 31 I don't know. You can't, and you can't.
You understand this is serious

Speaker 31 clearly.

Speaker 31 You understand, right?

Speaker 31 Everything you say will affect you.

Speaker 24 Everything you say will affect you, she says, right after.

Speaker 24 You can't act like I don't know.

Speaker 24 Hmm.

Speaker 24 What did she mean by that?

Speaker 31 That Snapchat that you did was not very smart. It's not good at all.
Now we have people wanting to burn our house on their car, so

Speaker 31 because of that Snapchat thing you did. It's all over your internet and everywhere.
Social media.

Speaker 31 And it just doesn't look right. So everyone thinks that you did.

Speaker 31 You and another kid killed or raped her.

Speaker 31 And that's the one around social media pretty fast right now.

Speaker 24 Before we play the next clip, remember what Crystal had told her son when she came into the room. She basically scolded him for talking to the cops before his lawyer was present.

Speaker 24 But not realizing there are cameras in every room, she nonchalantly goes on to ask him all the same questions a detective would ask in an interrogation.

Speaker 24 She does their work for them.

Speaker 31 Did you tell me anything different in the cop car that we don't know about?

Speaker 31 No.

Speaker 31 Do you know if this girl got

Speaker 31 picked up?

Speaker 31 You told me about her dealer.

Speaker 31 You think she got picked up by him?

Speaker 31 Probably. She says she wasn't coming home.
She says she's going to find somebody.

Speaker 31 After you left her there walking? Like, you think she got picked up after that? She just kept walking? Probably.

Speaker 31 Do you know if she turned the other direction or she was just still walking behind you? So you pushed her down and then you walked. We shouldn't be talking to you.

Speaker 31 I'm just asking when you told the cops. I don't know what she said.

Speaker 31 I was just asking when you told them.

Speaker 31 You walked away. You came straight home.
You didn't turn back around to see where she went?

Speaker 31 What were you doing outside in that late night?

Speaker 31 We were at Tree's house and you know with them.

Speaker 31 Did you kiss or do anything with this girl?

Speaker 31 Be honest as you can to them.

Speaker 31 To Vandy, your lawyer. Yes.
Yeah. You kissed her.

Speaker 31 Anything further?

Speaker 31 So your DNA is going to be on her.

Speaker 24 I remind you that these people are allowed to vote.

Speaker 31 We saw your shoes were off on the camera. Fall your shoes off.
Good feet were hurting.

Speaker 31 And those shoes give me blisters.

Speaker 31 This is serious, Adam.

Speaker 31 It's very serious.

Speaker 31 This is no joke. This is your whole life.
Your whole life.

Speaker 31 Ann Rs. Ann Rs.
And your brothers and sister?

Speaker 31 Did she really grab you and you just really pushed her or was that... No, she did.

Speaker 31 Okay.

Speaker 31 You don't know what happened to her after you pushed her.

Speaker 31 Did she say ow or get mad?

Speaker 31 She said and she was like, Ann.

Speaker 31 I think I pushed her, but I just told her to FOMO.

Speaker 31 The only direction she won't do?

Speaker 31 Probably the other way, because she wasn't next to me anymore. You didn't look back on her?

Speaker 31 They're searching her house right now.

Speaker 24 Crystal sounds really nervous, doesn't she? Try to keep up here. I know it's a lot.
The lawyer she mentioned hiring for Aiden is actually a family member. Crystal isn't married to Aiden's dad.

Speaker 24 She remarried, and her new husband's brother-in-law is a lawyer. So we're talking about that level of lawyering.
The lawyer's wife's name is Victoria, and she knows Crystal did something very bad.

Speaker 37 First off, if you could just tell us, what is your relationship to

Speaker 37 Aiden Fuji's family? And how do you know them and what's the relationship there?

Speaker 44 Through marriage, my husband and

Speaker 44 Aiden Fuji's mother's husband are first cousins. Well, that morning we decided to go on a golf cart ride to go see their construction that's being

Speaker 44 taken in their home. We got there and we're looking at their kitchen and light pendants, and an officer showed up needing to speak to Aiden and his parents.

Speaker 44 I soon followed after just to see what was going on. And the officer is asking questions about

Speaker 44 where the last place Aiden had seen the girl, and

Speaker 44 were there any drugs involved, etc.

Speaker 44 The officer asked if he could take Aiden so Aiden could show him where the underground tunnels are in the neighborhood. And his mom agreed to that.
So Aiden left with the officer in his patrol car and

Speaker 44 they went to the North Amenity Center. Crystal and I were outside with the children.
And I had asked her, had she looked in his room to see if she'd seen anything that would be beneficial or strange?

Speaker 44 And she said no and said that she was going to. So she went up to his room and I stayed outside with the children.
She had came back down and she had said that his jeans were damp.

Speaker 44 And I had asked her if they were wet or damp and she said damp.

Speaker 44 And I said, okay.

Speaker 44 Like her face looked kind of pale and I said what else? And she said there was like a discoloration on the jeans and I said

Speaker 3 I don't remember exactly what I said to be honest

Speaker 44 I had asked her where the jeans were I believe and she brought me inside okay when she brought you inside did she show you the jeans yes

Speaker 25 and

Speaker 44 how did she show you the jeans or did she say anything while she was showing you the jeans she brought the jeans out of her room and handed them to me and I held them up and I didn't see anything on the jeans and I said I don't see anything and she said yes you do and I looked at them and it was like on the back butt pocket there was a discoloration underneath the pocket of the jeans

Speaker 44 and I said it looks yellow and she said that she had washed it

Speaker 44 when she had said she had washed it I said why would you wash it and I don't recall what she said to me at that point

Speaker 39 There was something else you said

Speaker 39 why would you wash those jeans?

Speaker 44 Oh, you could get in trouble. Okay.
Yeah, I'm sorry. Well, I just knew that there was a missing girl at that point, and he was the last person seen with her.

Speaker 44 And in my mind, I wouldn't have touched anything in his bedroom.

Speaker 44 I mean, if it was my child, I would have gone up there and looked to see what was going on, but I wouldn't have messed with anything in his room just because I know they probably would come with a search warrant to search the home.

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Speaker 24 By dinner time on May 9th, 13-year-old Tristan Bailey's body had been found, and 14-year-old Aiden Fuchsi's guilt seemed undeniable.

Speaker 24 The home security footage showed him walking to his house in the early morning, wearing the same jeans as Mother Crystal, later admitted to washing.

Speaker 24 But it wasn't just a simple wash. Crystal was doing more than laundry.
She was rewriting the truth. And as investigators circled closer to the Fuchi family, Crystal wasn't just hiding evidence.

Speaker 24 She was actively trying to reshape the narrative, attempting to coach her son into saying he wore a different pair of pants that night. This wasn't just a mother protecting her child.
This was

Speaker 24 something much more calculating.

Speaker 31 You wore packies or including

Speaker 31 them?

Speaker 31 When we looked on the camera, you were wearing khakis.

Speaker 31 Right?

Speaker 24 Aiden tries to tell the truth that he was wearing blue jeans that night, but his mother says, Are you sure? When we checked the security camera, you were wearing khakis.

Speaker 24 When police checked Crystal's security camera footage, they found something very different.

Speaker 24 Not only was Aiden seen entering the house in the blue jeans, cameras inside the home caught Crystal scrubbing them by hand in the sink.

Speaker 24 Now she was working overtime to cover both of their asses.

Speaker 24 Soon, Aiden had to be swabbed for DNA samples, and after that,

Speaker 24 they're all moved to a different room than the one they were in before.

Speaker 31 This is the room they record, Jen.

Speaker 31 Yes. Everything you said was recorded.

Speaker 31 The other one was not.

Speaker 24 What a fucking idiot.

Speaker 31 Don't say nothing.

Speaker 31 Don't take nothing from anybody.

Speaker 31 Keep your head down.

Speaker 31 No.

Speaker 31 No, just keep your head down.

Speaker 31 It's gonna be rough.

Speaker 31 You'll be fine though. I touch me.

Speaker 31 There's a chance of me going home.

Speaker 31 Yes. They're gonna search my house first.
And if there's any kind of thing that links.

Speaker 31 And now he's gonna go home, Jason.

Speaker 31 There's always a chance. You're right.
They're gonna have something else up.

Speaker 31 Hope so long. I know I'm staying here.

Speaker 31 So nothing ought to

Speaker 31 like

Speaker 31 mess with your mind to act

Speaker 31 doing the thing you were supposed to.

Speaker 31 It was CBD,

Speaker 31 not THC, THC, get you high, CBD, don't do Jack. I'm just trying to think if you did something stupid, maybe something made you do it, so that'll justify it.

Speaker 24 Even if he had been high, nothing could have justified what Aiden did to Tristan.

Speaker 24 Nothing. Nada.

Speaker 24 His parents babied him, comforted him, and even assured him they'd put money on his books. Aiden was no victim, though.
He was not a child. He was a monster.
A cold-hearted killer.

Speaker 24 Someone with absolutely no conscience.

Speaker 58 Today, the St. John's County Grand Jury convened and issued an indictment against Aiden Fucci for first-degree murder involving our victim, Tristan Bailey.
Aiden Fucci will be tried as an adult.

Speaker 58 To say that it was horrific could arguably be made as an understatement. The medical examiner completed an autopsy on our victim and identified confidently that there were 114 stab wounds.
114.

Speaker 58 At least 49 of those stab wounds were to the hands, arms, and the head and were defensive in nature.

Speaker 58 The bottom line is that premeditation could be inferred, certainly, from just the sheer number

Speaker 58 of stab wounds that Tristan Bailey had to suffer.

Speaker 58 Every time that arm went back

Speaker 58 and every time that arm went down, that was premeditation and it happened if you times 114 by 2 that's 228

Speaker 58 but it's not just the fact that she was stabbed 14 times or 100 114 times it's also information that we were able to to glean from witnesses

Speaker 58 the defendant made statements

Speaker 58 to several people that he intended to kill someone. He didn't say who that was, but he indicated to witnesses that he was going to kill someone by taking them in the woods and stabbing them,

Speaker 58 which are certainly the facts of this case.

Speaker 24 Remember Dream Girl, Aiden's girlfriend? Well, here she is.

Speaker 39 Did you ever hear Aiden discuss having a certain plan that he wanted to carry out?

Speaker 39 And not maybe specifically to a certain person, but did he ever discuss in detail, like, this is how I would do something or this is what i want to do

Speaker 54 yeah he did

Speaker 42 can you tell me about that um they were sitting on my roof and

Speaker 54 the topic

Speaker 54 was brought up about brought up again about

Speaker 49 he asked me like what i would do if he murdered someone

Speaker 49 I don't know what my answer really was, but

Speaker 54 he would say that if he was going to murder someone it was going to be planned

Speaker 54 he said that he would just

Speaker 25 walk

Speaker 49 at night or something and find like a random person walking to and just drag them in the woods and stab them

Speaker 49 okay

Speaker 54 he said that he thinks it's going to happen soon he said i should expect it within the month and when was that that he said this

Speaker 49 i think this month.

Speaker 58 The defendant had a knife that he carried with him. A knife was found in the pond, very close in proximity to our victim's body.
That knife had a tip that was broken off.

Speaker 58 That tip was located by the medical examiner

Speaker 58 in the scalp of our victim.

Speaker 49 Aiden kept knives for protection.

Speaker 54 He always had a knife on him if he wasn't at school.

Speaker 54 He would keep his AirPods. He listened to music to try and calm him down.

Speaker 49 He said that helped him with his anger.

Speaker 54 Well there was mainly two that he would have on him and it was one that his stepdad gave him.

Speaker 49 It was like a

Speaker 54 it was like a kind of

Speaker 54 gray

Speaker 54 black like

Speaker 49 army looking one.

Speaker 54 It had a skull on it, maybe like an orange skull on it or something,

Speaker 54 and he called it picker.

Speaker 54 Okay,

Speaker 3 because it had, I guess, teeth the knife had

Speaker 39 you mean like it like it had a serrated edge?

Speaker 25 Yeah, okay.

Speaker 54 There was another one,

Speaker 54 it was like yellow and it was like out of it was made out of wood, I think.

Speaker 49 Like he called that one uh

Speaker 25 he called

Speaker 49 one picker, and then

Speaker 25 he called that one

Speaker 54 poker.

Speaker 58 The statements that the defendant made to his friends made it clear that he was considering a homicide. And I got to tell you this, it's disturbing and concerning that those statements were

Speaker 58 not,

Speaker 58 let's say, adequately or appropriately, or not taken seriously by the folks that heard them.

Speaker 58 not saying that this could have been avoided, but I'm saying that it was never reported beforehand.

Speaker 24 Along with a series of violent drawings, investigators found bloodstains on clothing and shoes Aiden had hidden in his bedroom. The samples matched Tristan's DNA profile.

Speaker 24 Slam dunk.

Speaker 24 All the while, Aiden's parents took extreme measures to protect their sweet little angel from a big scary thing called consequences.

Speaker 24 Can you take him away?

Speaker 31 Are they taking me away?

Speaker 31 I don't know what they're going to do.

Speaker 24 They were, in fact, going to take him away. It was 1 a.m.
by this point. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit and he was destined for a jail cell.

Speaker 24 Aiden pleaded not guilty to his charges, even without the support of his family lawyer and under the guidance of a public defender.

Speaker 24 He was confident enough to take his case all the way to trial. In February of 2023, jurors were selected, but before that could begin, Aiden changed his plea to guilty.

Speaker 24 And that's a good thing that he did, because someone at the county jail had already snitched on him. This guy came forward with no promises made in his own case.

Speaker 24 Aiden had apparently told him the whole story of what happened that night. I know it's going to be really hard to understand this guy, but he's a...

Speaker 24 well, he's a criminal. He's a jailhouse informant, a snitch, a rat, not a public speaker.
So, there's that.

Speaker 37 At some point in time, the defendant in our investigation, Aiden Fuji, was transported to the Duval County Jail, and he was placed somewhere in the vicinity of you, correct? Yes, sir.

Speaker 37 Okay, and where were you located at whenever Aiden Fuci was transported and housed in the Jacksonville County Jail?

Speaker 25 I mean, I blocked segregation.

Speaker 37 I blocked segregation.

Speaker 25 Yeah, he and I blocked segregation. Okay.
One-man cell.

Speaker 37 So if you could explain to me kind of how these cells are arranged or situated.

Speaker 25 They're right next to each other. They're one-man cell.
They got a shower, a toilet, and a bunker each one of them. Okay.
The only way you can talk is through the vent. Okay.
That's it.

Speaker 25 I don't get no newspaper. I don't get to make one phone call.
I don't come out for no rent. I can't see nobody paperwork.

Speaker 39 Do you have a television?

Speaker 25 I have no television. I have none of that.

Speaker 25 I have no internet access. I have none of that.
Okay.

Speaker 37 Before Aiden Fucci was transported and housed in the Jacksonville County Jail, did you have any knowledge of this case that we're investigating in St.

Speaker 25 John's County? No, sir. Okay.

Speaker 37 So how did you become aware of this investigation that we're working in in St.

Speaker 45 John's County?

Speaker 25 Aiden Fuchsi told me. He told me, he said, me and Trey, this is my writing, he said me and Trey was at Trey house.
And he wanted Christian to come over. She snuck at her house, and it was like 12 a.m.

Speaker 25 when we left. Saying him and Trey, I mean him and Christian when we left her house and went into the woods I made sure I had my knife we walked on the streets a little bit

Speaker 25 first and a camera got us going in together then me leaving by myself but once we got into the woods we had to get past this barbed wire fence to get to the pond we got on these floors and we had sex She acted like she ain't want to, but I made her.

Speaker 25 It was good. I came inside her a little bit and that shit was on my mind.

Speaker 25 So I said to myself, she got to die. Man, I just snapped and I stabbed her a lot of time.

Speaker 39 She was yelling my name.

Speaker 25 Excuse me. I ain't care.

Speaker 39 Then I threw the weapon in the bun and I left.

Speaker 25 I got home. It was like 2 a.m.
Trey called me the next day. And asked,

Speaker 25 have I seen her? I said, no. It's crazy because that's one of the things in my head that I planned out.

Speaker 25 And he it was no witness that a neighbor camera had him and her going in the woods, but only him coming out. He said he told the police he was walking around.

Speaker 25 He said he told the police she was running away and she could sleep down. He said she was a straight girlfriend.

Speaker 25 That's his homeboy and she was 13. He said it was by his house.
He said it was a pond.

Speaker 25 It's a big pond. It got floaters on it.
He said he smoked some weed weed and he been planning to have sex with her. He said he iced her.

Speaker 25 Can they have sex? She said no, and he raped her.

Speaker 24 Though there were no sexual assault charges pursued, this one witness says that Aiden confessed to raping Tristan before killing her. It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?

Speaker 24 Aiden's sentencing hearing occurred over the course of three days.

Speaker 24 His mother faced charges for her involvement as well, thank goodness, with her sentencing to occur right after her son's.

Speaker 26 I have considered all of the evidence that has been presented for the last, during this week,

Speaker 26 the testimony that was presented, the victim impact statements, the evidence that was submitted, the filings.

Speaker 26 And I have analyzed each and every one of those factors as well as any other factors that may be relevant to these proceedings in order to determine an appropriate sentence for this case.

Speaker 26 I would say that the defendant has shown some ability to modify his behavior that was shown in school through the Dean of Students.

Speaker 26 However, as Dr. Pritchard noted, this crime is extraordinary.
His behavior was so unusual compared to individuals his age that there is a poor prognosis for rehabilitation.

Speaker 26 The effect of this crime that has had on the victim's family and on the community is significant.

Speaker 26 There is no greater loss than the loss of one's own child.

Speaker 26 The nature and circumstances of her death have caused an even greater trauma on her loved ones.

Speaker 26 Her siblings, parents, and extended family members all provided compelling victim impact statements relating their personal struggles with coping with her death.

Speaker 26 It has caused them deep and emotional and mental health problems. They are no longer able to function as the family they once were.

Speaker 26 It has also had a tremendous impact and effect on this community.

Speaker 26 This court has reviewed all of the letters that were submitted by her friends, teachers, coaches, and others. Approximately 150 letters were received.

Speaker 26 I have read all of them and all of them strike a similar chord.

Speaker 26 This was a devastating crime. It was devastating to the children of this community.
It

Speaker 26 materially changed an entire community.

Speaker 26 Some of the letters indicated and discussed children who were teenage children who could not sleep in their beds alone and had to sleep in between their parents for fear of what happened in this case.

Speaker 26 I would submit that this case is probably

Speaker 26 the most difficult and shocking case that this county in St. John's County has dealt with:

Speaker 26 114 stab wounds, 49 defensive wounds, 35 wounds to the head and neck, 29 to the back and shoulder, and six fatal wounds.

Speaker 26 This court has reviewed and seen more than its fair share of autopsy photos. The autopsy photos in this particular case were particularly difficult.

Speaker 26 The 49 defensive wounds indicate that Tristan Bailey

Speaker 26 was conscious,

Speaker 26 that she was aware,

Speaker 26 and that she was doing everything she could to fend off this attack.

Speaker 26 She suffered a painful,

Speaker 26 horrifying death from someone that she trusted.

Speaker 26 Her screams were most likely stifled by her own suffocating lungs. He lured her into a secluded place in the woods near his home,

Speaker 26 a person that she trusted, and he led her there under false pretenses.

Speaker 26 There was a heightened level of premeditation in this case.

Speaker 26 Based on the prior statements that he made to his girlfriend and his friend,

Speaker 26 he indicated that he was going to kill someone.

Speaker 26 At which point he determined that it was going to be Tristan Bailey, I don't know.

Speaker 26 But there was going to to be a victim.

Speaker 26 He indicated that he was going, how he was going to do it, that he would take them into a wooded place, that he would stab them,

Speaker 26 he would kill them, and then run away so that he could keep on killing.

Speaker 26 He told his best friend that he wanted to kill someone to see what it felt like and he wanted to watch them bleed out.

Speaker 26 This particular

Speaker 26 crime was committed with the weapon of choice as a knife, which he nicknamed poker.

Speaker 26 That required an

Speaker 24 up-close,

Speaker 24 personal

Speaker 26 type of murder that

Speaker 26 is rare. It's unique.

Speaker 3 What is

Speaker 26 also very troubling is that this crime had no motive.

Speaker 26 This was not done

Speaker 26 out of greed. It was not done in retaliation, retribution, or revenge.
It was not a crime of passion.

Speaker 26 It was not a crime that was committed because he felt rejected by her.

Speaker 26 It was not done in a fit of uncontrollable anger.

Speaker 26 There was no reason. There was no purpose.

Speaker 26 It was done for no other reason than to satisfy

Speaker 26 this defendant's internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone.

Speaker 26 It is for this reason, and all of the reasons previously stated, that leads this court to the conclusion that there is only one appropriate sentence in this case.

Speaker 26 Mr. Fucci, if you and your attorneys would please rise.

Speaker 26 Counsel, is there any legal reason why this court cannot impose sentence at this time?

Speaker 42 No, sentence.

Speaker 26 Mr. Fuci,

Speaker 26 having entered a plea of guilty to the crime of first-degree murder, I adjudicate you guilty of the premitted first-degree murder of Tristan Bailey. I sentence you to life in prison.

Speaker 26 Because of your age, you are eligible for review of the sentence in 25 years. You will be taken back to

Speaker 26 the Duval County Jail and then transported into the Florida State Prison System.

Speaker 26 We are adjourned.

Speaker 24 This sentence means that Aiden Fuci could get out of prison before his 40th birthday if he behaves well. If he's a good boy.

Speaker 24 So far, he's not really made a name for himself as an obedient inmate. His mother, on the other hand, only spent 30 days in jail for tampering with evidence and will be on probation for five years.

Speaker 24 This murder not only shattered a family, but it made everyone in the community leery of each other. As I would argue you should be in any community, especially small ones.

Speaker 24 The fact that an adult was involved in the cover-up made it all the more shocking.

Speaker 24 Parents were slammed right into the face of reality when it came to what their teenagers were doing behind their backs. But no one expected a crime so brutal, let alone a cover-up so close to home.

Speaker 24 After the sentencing, Tristan's father spoke outside the courthouse.

Speaker 27 As part of this investigation, the amount amount of kids sneaking out in our community and the frequency of how often they are doing so had us completely dumbfounded.

Speaker 27 With regard to Crystal Smith and her apology, as I mentioned before, there's an open case with her, so it's difficult to comment.

Speaker 27 The fact that we are continuing to have to go through the legal process makes the apology questionable.

Speaker 27 You've seen the videos from the home. You've seen the videos from the interrogation room.
I would say if she's sorry, she can start by accepting responsibility.

Speaker 27 To Aiden's family,

Speaker 27 I would remind them that he is still here. They can still see him.

Speaker 27 They can encourage him to change his behavior of bragging about his brutality and threatening the corrections officers and their families that keep him from harm and setting out on a better road.

Speaker 24 In a tight-knit community like St. John's, everyone thought they knew each other.
Neighbors trusted one another. Families felt safe and parents believed they understood their children.

Speaker 24 But this case and cases like it shatter those illusions.

Speaker 24 It wasn't just about sneaking out or the dangers of lurking online. It was about realizing how much of their kids' lives parents were missing.

Speaker 24 As Tristan's father put it, they didn't even know what their own kids were truly capable of.

Speaker 24 But this case wasn't just about the actions of teenagers. It was also about the choices made by full-grown adults.
that should know better.

Speaker 24 Crystal Fucci's desperate attempt to protect her son, to cover up for him in his darkest moment, taught us all a painful lesson.

Speaker 24 When someone is drowning in their own choices, sometimes trying to save them without thinking can pull you under too.

Speaker 24 Sometimes the instinct to shield a loved one from consequences only drags you down with them.

Speaker 24 This crime took more than just Tristan's life. It shattered a family and forced a community to confront the uncomfortable truth.

Speaker 24 Sometimes, the darkness we fear most isn't lurking out there, it's right in front of us, hidden beneath the choices we make.

Speaker 24 And when someone is drowning in their own sins, jumping in after them only ensures you both

Speaker 24 sink.

Speaker 24 This episode was written and produced by Elena Thomas, one of our senior writers. We're going to start giving our producers a lot more credit in the future.

Speaker 24 Something we should have done a long time ago.

Speaker 24 If you enjoyed that show, head on over to swordandscale.com, consider signing up for Plus and getting a whole lot more content, commercial-free, and also check out store.sword and scale.com.

Speaker 24 Stay safe.

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