Episode 278

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Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

Let's not go to that level.

We can't get

that level.

What the hell?

Well, if you like murder, I don't know who likes murder, but you know what I mean.

If you like this sort of thing, the true crime thing, here we are.

This is Sword and Scale, Season 11, episode 278.

A show that reveals the worst monsters are real.

So, when I started this podcast, I didn't realize I was actually starting a small business.

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Criminals are a subset of our society.

We often like to think of them as different from ourselves.

We classify them as criminals and separate separate them from the rest of us.

It's those people over there.

They're the ones that make the bad choices, not us.

Sure, it takes a bad decision, or bad series of decisions, to become a criminal.

A lapse in judgment, a bad choice,

drugs, things like that.

And the thing is, we're all still just human beings.

Human beings make mistakes.

And you and I are also human beings.

But there is a bit of a distinction, even though I would argue it's a lot more fragile than most people want to portray, especially those people that are teetering on the edge of morality.

There are those criminals who just find it nearly impossible not to break the law.

It's kind of like who they are, you know?

deep down.

Psychologically, it stems from a lot of things, but often they have an utter lack of empathy.

They put their desires above everyone else.

They rationalize and minimize their actions to justify this behavior.

In fact, they see themselves as so superior that they feel outside the societal norms and above all legal constraints.

Any challenge to this superiority is met with defensiveness and rage.

These criminals relentlessly seek validation and control through the skewed lens of their irrational mind.

And this pursuit almost always leads to destructive consequences for themselves and, more importantly, all of those

around them.

About 45 minutes north of Detroit, Michigan, tucked into the north-central part of Macomb County, is the village of Armeda.

Surrounded by farmlands and orchards, it's best known for the Armeda Fair at the end of every summer.

On July 24th, 2014, it was a cloudy afternoon, but the temperature outside was only 72 degrees.

On the west end of town, April Millsap woke up late.

Were you already awake when she woke up?

She was probably up on two this afternoon.

Two this afternoon?

Oh my goodness gracious.

I'm not too nice, but yeah.

Why so late?

Was she out late last night?

She

was at school.

She goes to bed late.

Okay.

She goes to bed like maybe one

in the morning.

Sure.

And do you think that she was at home that whole time?

Oh yeah, because I'm the type of girl that might sneak out for a couple hours

to a Thursday night party.

Because

I'm on the couch.

Like a typical 14-year-old, April stayed up late and slept most of the day during the summer.

School was out, after all.

The woman speaking is her mother, Jennifer.

If she's hard to understand, it's because she suffers from cerebral ataxia.

An affliction that affects her muscle movements.

She has to walk with a cane and has a bit of a speech impediment because of this.

She explains that April is a good kid.

and would never sneak out of the house.

And she couldn't even if she wanted to.

Her Her bedroom window was painted shut, and she couldn't leave through the front door because she would have had to get past her mother on the couch.

Besides, the family pets served as April's alarm.

As soon as you get up, we have two dogs and a cat.

They all clock to her.

She's like the pie pipe, but

they all just...

It's like April.

Yeah.

They clung to her.

So I know when she gets up.

April woke up bright and early in the afternoon.

When she exited her room, she greeted the family pets, two dogs and a cat.

What was her demeanor when she woke up this morning?

What'd she look like?

Was she just uh debated?

Yeah,

okay.

And in true teenage fashion, April went straight from sleeping to gaming on her computer.

After tea, she spent most of it playing on her computer

on that PC

right there in the living living room.

She plays Sims.

She checks our website.

She finds stuff for her Sims characters.

She goes online for that.

After a while, she got tired of playing games and decided to take the family dogs for a walk.

Found them on the couch with my laptop and she's getting dressed to take the dog to a walk.

She changed her clothes about three times to go for this walk with the dog.

Why'd she do that?

April always changing her clothes.

Okay.

She's a fast chicken.

That was a typical for him.

Yeah.

And she'd get the backpack ready because she takes the water for the dog.

She takes a little bowl and she gets the dog water when she walks it.

She changed her clothes three times because she needed the perfect outfit for her walk.

She loaded her backpack and water bottle, some dog treats and a little bowl.

for the water.

She grabbed her cell phone, put her six-year-old border collie lab mix on a leash, and set out for the great outdoors.

Did she say where she was going?

She didn't say exactly the path that she was going to take, but there's two paths that she usually takes.

She usually goes to the trail by the

granary over there.

Yep.

And then

from our house, she goes the other direction towards the the church.

On the southern border of the village of Armada is the Macomb Orchard Trail.

Once a railroad, now a paved path through the Michigan countryside.

It stretches for miles and is frequented by walkers, joggers, and bicyclists, especially during the summer.

She didn't say which trail she was going on today?

No.

Okay, how long is she usually gone?

Does she always go for walks like that?

Well,

the dogs are overweight, and she's been trying to get the dogs

slimmed down a little bit.

She took the meekest dog that we have.

We have a pitball and horse.

Yeah, but she would have taken him.

Yeah.

But she took Penny.

And I think she...

That's the dog's name is Penny.

Yeah.

And I think her goal was to walk Penny, come back, then come back, and then take the other one.

April often took her dogs for a walk, but never took them together.

They didn't walk well together.

On this day, she took her oldest dog first, Penny.

So it's kind of unusual for her to walk this late in the afternoon, in the evening?

No,

she

goes up with

a hell call and say, I'm at the park, come meet me, and she goes to the park to meet him.

So she leaves the house, and you don't know what trail she's going on, but were you fairly confident she was going to go on the trail?

Yeah, yeah.

She only goes to two places, like I said.

She didn't just walk around the village or anything like that.

She was a creature of habit and only took one of the two paths when walking the dogs.

Penny, especially, was getting on in years and couldn't handle long walks.

How long was April usually gone when she'd go for a walk?

Half hour.

At the moment.

Yeah, because, like I said, the dog can't handle it.

Yeah.

So she will bring the dog back.

You may be wondering what this interview is all about.

Well,

after April left to walk Penny that day, she never returned.

When she was gone for two hours of time before 8 and 3 hours, that's where I started calling and texting.

I thought maybe she met up with the last fan in town.

I texted April, where are you?

And they got a call back.

And it's typical I pulled to a dormitory.

So I started looking sick, and then

8:30, it's getting darker and darker.

And then 9 o'clock, I call her, and there's no answer.

It's going to voicemail.

April had been gone for hours before her mother realized how late it was.

The sun had already set, and April wasn't answering her phone.

And

it would ring the four times and go to voicemail.

So the phone was on,

but

it was on.

It would go straight to the boys now.

Worry was setting in, and Jennifer tried repeatedly to call and text April, but never got a response.

Tried to driving all the way to looking for her.

I mean, she's upfront, so I didn't think she should get too far.

Sure.

Then she started to call her friends and her 15-year-old boyfriend, Austin.

When I started getting dogged, you better home, and that's when I started getting worried, and I texted him, and he said that she sent him that tap.

Austin had been with a friend all day helping him and his father move and mount a TV.

He didn't check his phone until it was nearly 8 o'clock.

That's when he saw a message from April received at 6.28 p.m.

that read,

I think I almost got kidnapped.

OMFG.

What did he think of this text message from?

I don't know what the conversation was from that.

I think he asked her what happened.

But I don't know what transpired after she sent him that text.

I would have...

I tried to push him and he would kind of know.

She didn't tell me anything and he kind of stopped there.

But yeah, if I get a text like that from him, I would have been jumped in the car by then there.

The reason Austin didn't give any more information when pushed was that he didn't have any more.

He responded to April's message but didn't get a reply.

After Jennifer's call looking for April, he immediately became concerned and got a friend to take him to April's house.

What was his reaction when you were talking to him about it?

He thought it was a joke.

Okay.

He thought maybe it was

because when he got back to our house, of course I wasn't there without driving around.

He thought her and I were all shopping and we were playing a joke on him.

Then he seen me drive by and that's what he called me.

Austin and his friend joined Jennifer in looking for April.

The village of Armada was only about three-quarters of a square mile, so they hoped she couldn't have gotten far.

They split up, Austin and his friend went down to the Macomb Orchard Trail, one of April's possible routes, while Jennifer continued to drive around.

The two boys went west on the trail, but didn't find her.

When they started heading east, they noticed something in the distance.

Far down the trail, they could see the lights of emergency vehicles.

When they met up with Jennifer and relayed the information, she decided to go to the police and report her missing, and to see if there was any connection.

You haven't noticed anything strange in the last couple months, couple weeks, couple days even?

No, no, anyway.

Did April mention anything about um

having uh

any odd encounters on their social media stuff any was she talking to anybody not not to me okay

the interview took a strange turn it started to veer off from the line of questioning about where april could be and changed to questions about any events that could have foretold a tragic end.

Did you know her to take

No, she

when the topic even comes up.

The police were asking these questions for a reason.

The emergency vehicles on the east side of the Macomb Orchard Trail and her disappearance were not a coincidence.

They were connected.

About the same time Austin and his friend joined Jennifer in looking for April, two joggers running on the trail saw Penny alone.

At first, they just ran past, thankful that the dog wasn't aggressive.

But when they came back by and she was still there, they decided to investigate.

The dog came running out of the trail, barking erratically.

My wife looked at me and said that it appeared to be a mannequin or a doll look like down there.

There was a girl with her skirt down at her knees and her shirt pulled up above her chest, and her head was kicked back.

9-1-1.

I'm fairly certain we just found a body along the mountain bike trail.

Penny alerted the joggers to April, just 30 feet off the trail.

We are between Omo and North Avenue.

It's in our made-up.

Okay, it looks like GPS is putting you a lot closer to Fulton Street.

We're kind of right in the middle.

Is it a male or a female?

Female.

About how old do you think she is?

I didn't get that close.

Okay.

Is she on the trail?

No, she's off of the trail, touched back into the woods.

Her clothes are all taken off.

Okay, and you don't believe she's breathing?

I don't believe so, no.

The police had to break the news to Jennifer that even though they didn't have an official ID yet, it was likely April's body that they found in the woods off the trail

with her loyal dog Penny at her side.

So, when I started this podcast, I didn't realize I was actually starting a small business.

Yikes.

There's nothing small about a small business.

You're working all of the time.

Thankfully, though, I have a partner with all the tools that I need to be successful.

You may have heard of them.

Their name is Shopify.

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It brings together in-store and online operations across up to a thousand locations.

Imagine being able to guarantee that shopping is always convenient.

Endless aisle, ship to customer, buy online, pick up in-store.

All these things are made simpler to customers so they can shop how they want, and staff have all the tools to close the sale every time.

And let's face it, acquiring new customers is expensive.

With Shopify POS, you can keep shoppers coming back with personalized experiences and first-party data that give marketing teams a competitive edge.

In fact, it's proven.

Based on a report from EY, businesses on Shopify POS see real results, like 22% better total cost of ownership and benefits equivalent to an 8.9% uplift in sales on average relative to the market set surveyed.

So if you have a retail or online business, then I'll tell you what, Shopify is a fantastic partner to have on your side.

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On July 24th, 2014, April Milsap set off for an evening walk with her dog Penny, but never returned.

After it got dark, her mother got worried.

When her calls and texts were ignored, she began to search.

She called all over the small village of Armeda, looking for her.

Even April's 15-year-old boyfriend helped to search for her.

It wasn't until they knew of the large gathering of emergency vehicles on the Macomb Orchard Trail that they feared the worst and went to police to report her missing.

That night, the police announced to the media their progress in the case.

There are two missing persons that we're investigating, trying to find out what their situation is to make a determination to see if that's maybe our victim.

We don't know that much about it.

There are no signs

of gunshots or knife wounds or anything like that, but we are

looking to the medical examiner's office to tell us what the cause of death was.

The following morning with more information, the chief of police gave a press conference addressing the now confirmed homicide.

The Armeda Police Department and the Michigan State Police are currently investigating a homicide which occurred within the village limits of Armada.

happened in the area of Fulton Road in Depot, which is at the south end of town.

The body was discovered approximately 8.20 last night.

Preliminary investigation reveals that two adults that were on the trail using the trail were alerted to a female's body which was located in a drainage ditch.

The victim has been identified as April Don Milsap.

She's 14 years of age and she is from the village of Armeda.

Her official cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation.

But even this tragic news brought some sense of relief to her family.

When they did the autopsies, there are no signs of sexual assault.

And her dog Penny never left her side.

April's lifeless body lay in the brush 30 feet from the trail for a couple of hours before she was found.

Her backpack and cell phone were missing.

Even the dog's leash and collar were missing.

This suggested that she was murdered during a robbery, except She was practically naked.

This implied sexual assault, but there was no evidence of it occurring.

The evidence didn't tell the whole story.

All they knew for sure was that she was beaten and asphyxiated to death in broad daylight, mere feet from a busy trail.

The police turned to the public for help.

Detectives are currently looking for a large gray box van that was seen in the area of the crime scene.

This is described as a painter's type of van.

It has dents all over the van and the van was occupied by two white males.

It has not been determined the role of the van in this investigation.

If you are aware of a similar van in the area or know somebody that has that type of van, the police are asking the citizens to contact the Michigan State Police.

The van was seen late afternoon, early evening last night.

And again, we don't know the participation of the van.

It could be, you know, just the wrong place at the wrong time.

And if we can get somebody to come forward and let us know that they were out here, that's what we're looking for.

Of course, it's a box van.

The go-to vehicle for sick fucks.

A young girl saw this van around the time of the murder and described the men driving it as staring her down.

The police wasted no time.

They gave the media what information they had and let them disseminate it.

But they didn't just sit around waiting for tips.

We're about to start a canvas of the whole village.

The van was seen, you know, kind of circling in and out of the area.

So

that's why somebody took a picture of it.

They canvassed the area and interviewed practically everyone in the village.

They even performed a roadblock at the village's main crossroads and questioned everyone who drove through.

The local police enlisted the help of Michigan State Police and the FBI.

They even searched with scent dogs, but came up with nothing.

The tips from the public started pouring in, though, and quickly the box fan suspicion was put to rest.

A contractor called and admitted to being in the area showing his new employee some of the homes he previously worked on.

It was the good people of Armeda that would eventually break open the case.

People started coming forward that were on the trail on that day.

William Buchanan was an avid bicyclist and was riding the trail when April walked her dog past.

Did you ride the Orchard Trail on July 24th of 2013?

I did.

When you're heading east toward Calm,

do you see a motorcycle on that trail?

I do not.

Do you see

a young girl walking a dog when you're heading in that direction on that trail?

As he was riding east on the trail shortly before 5.40 p.m., he didn't see anything unusual.

But just a few minutes later, Amy and her mother, Gail,

did see something.

Did you go for a bike ride on

July 24th of 2014?

Yes, I did.

Did Did you go with anybody?

Yes.

Me and my mom went for a bike ride after she had gotten home from work that day.

Did there come a point in time where you

came across a young girl and her dog?

Yes.

The time was approximately 5.40 when Amy and Gale first saw April.

She was walking west on the west, on the south side of the trail.

heading west.

I was heading east.

She was looking down at her phone or whatever she was looking at.

She was looking down.

And she was walking her dog.

And my first thought was, is the dog friendly?

And then it was just maybe a minute, not much longer, and she crossed over to the north side.

So she was on the same side of the trail as I was.

And I was heading east.

What did you do when she crossed over?

Well, I looked at her and I said, hello.

And I said, nice dog.

And she smiled and replied, said yes.

Thank you very much.

It was after this encounter that the pair witnessed a peculiar sight.

Motorized vehicles of any kind were not allowed on the trail.

It's illegal.

When they saw a motorcycle on the trail, it stood out to Amy and Gail,

but also worried them.

We were just riding our bicycles and I was still on the north side of the trail and the motorcycle was just sitting there and

I got over to the south side to get out of the way because it was just sitting there not moving at all.

Well I was alerted because number one

I

right away knew there shouldn't be a motorcycle on the trail

and I also thought it odd that someone was completely covered.

And why is this person on the trail completely covered?

You couldn't see their face at all.

The motorcycle was odd enough, but the rider was also covered from head to toe in July.

He was wearing long dark pants, a long-sleeved hoodie, and a full-face helmet.

Their suspicions were raised, but they pedaled on by, minding their own business.

That's how you stay alive, by the way.

Just minding your own business.

You're welcome.

Anyway, shortly after Amy and Gail rode by, Doug and Mary came down the trail.

What is it that catches your attention?

There were two people ahead on the trail and

it was difficult to tell how we would need to move.

They were more on my side of the trail but also in the middle of the trail up ahead and stop.

We saw the two people on the side of the road and the left side of the trail that were they were near each other.

They looked looked to be talking and then on the opposite side of the trail i could see a motorcycle parked at first they were only concerned with how to pass without causing an accident they were on bikes traveling more than 10 miles an hour but as soon as they got close they noticed an odd interaction as we started to approach the two people separated ways she started walking on the trail toward us with her dog and we passed her first

they looked like they were together on the trail.

Now while it's not really odd to see two people on the trail together, it is odd to see them part ways.

So I said hi and

I don't know if I heard her say hi or whether she mowed hi but she responded like hi.

They saw April on the trail with a man, but they quickly parted ways.

When Mary said hello to April, she replied and smiled.

The smile, however,

you know?

It's one of those smiles where it's like, are you really smiling?

What are you trying to convey to me?

Yeah, it was one of those kind of smiles.

Tight-lipped and odd, you know?

I just knew that she seemed tense.

With the smile, I don't know.

It just seemed unusual.

And I'm on, I'm passing her on the south side and she shifted her eyes to the south side.

After passing April, they had to negotiate passing the man with the motorcycle.

So Mary's attention was glued to him.

I'm just looking at his face.

I think I was, I don't know.

I was maybe curious, but mostly I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to move into our lane.

And I said hi.

Was there a response?

No.

After you said hi, what did you see that we do?

When you say hi to someone and you're up close, you expect a response back.

He had an angry look on his face and he looked down and I just passed him.

How does that, I guess, strike you?

As rude.

Rude?

Indeed.

Then again, that is how you stay alive.

The couple continued to ride, but the whole interaction stuck with Mary.

She even said something to Doug about it.

She didn't understand why such a girl was talking to an older man.

She assumed it was her stepfather or secret older boyfriend.

Ooh, how salacious.

Shortly after that, William Buchanan rode back through in the other direction.

This time,

he did see something.

I had to see a white domino calf three-quarters of a mile away.

As I approached I could see that it was

a young man,

tall and slender, probably at least six feet.

I thought him to be over teens, 20s.

We never knew that.

He had a helmet on so yeah, it was a full face helmet

with a clear visor.

I'm looking at the eyes as a tell to

what are you going to do with your friend?

He, like Mary, was drawn to the man's eyes, finding it odd that he looked angry.

His eyes were so wide, I thought he was angry or nervous or something.

And

maybe his concern was, I'm this purist bicyclist, and I'm really angry with him.

So I just kind of knocked this sort of forward off me.

I'm not kind of an archaeologist for everybody down the trail, right?

It's just being monotonous.

As soon as he passed the man with the angry eyes, he saw April.

Immediately after passing, i entered the tall trees on the fall it's shaded in there the forage is darker doesn't lose as much sun

and uh on the left side of the trail young girl heading west on the trail on the left side on the edge of the trail after passing the whole scene just puzzled him i was trying to understand the scene the situation right unusual for the motorcycle to be there she's on the left side of the road or the path my thought was

there was something going on there between the two of them.

My thought was that she's still on the same side of the path.

They just had a rendezvous.

Like, I thought, is it a girl

walking the trail and

meeting with a right friend that she's not supposed to, or he has a motorcycle, but he'd just drop her off?

I mean, just thoughts going through my head.

I was trying to process

why these two figures were there and in the position they were, with what they were doing.

He was curious about what those two had been up to, but he kept peddling.

Moments later, Eric Reschke and his two daughters rode down the trail heading east.

At some point in time on the path, did you see April Milsap?

Yeah.

At approximately what time did you see April Milsap?

It would have been about 6.25.

When you saw April Melsap, did she have a dog with her?

Yes.

Was she with anybody?

Yeah, there was a motorcycle pussing along next to her.

Was the motorcycle moving or was the motorcycle still when you first came upon them?

It was moving.

How close is the motorcycle to April?

It was right next to her.

It was in the middle of the trail.

You saw April and the man on the motorcycle slowly riding alongside her.

From their body language, it seemed like they had been talking.

Do you or any of your kids acknowledge April?

Yeah.

Who does?

old police.

Did April respond to it?

Yeah.

How did she respond?

She looked up from her phone and waved and said hi to her real quick, and then that's that was it.

Other than the motorcycle on the trail, nothing seemed wrong when they saw April.

He and his daughters, just like the others, kept riding.

Three minutes later, April sent the text message, I think I almost got kidnapped.

OMFG.

Minutes after that, Amy and Gail rode back in the other direction.

Yes, I rode up on a motorcycle that was parked on the left side of the trail.

My guard went up.

I was cautious that somebody was going to jump out at me.

Why I thought that, I do not know.

I just kind of even slowed down because I was just,

I was honestly thought somebody was going to jump out, or I wanted to know where they were at, you know, what were they doing, you know.

Little did Amy know that her fear in that moment was completely warranted.

I heard like stepping on the bushes and

on the side.

And when I looked over there, it appeared to be the dog with his paws.

For just a second, her fear.

dissipated.

Then she saw the rider of the motorcycle.

Then I made eye contact with the person that was out there.

Right after she noticed Penny in the bushes, she looked up and locked eyes with the man, just standing there in the brush.

His hands were at his sides and he just stared back.

His eyes were very piercing, very um

like he had done something wrong.

After this frightening encounter, Amy caught up with with her mom.

Gail wanted to go back and investigate the riderless bike.

She hadn't seen the man.

She wanted to turn around and go back.

What did you say to her?

I said, absolutely not.

We're going home.

And I said it very sternly.

The police would later surmise that Amy interrupted the man on the motorcycle.

If the brush weren't so thick, she would have seen April at the man's feet as he stared back at her.

Minutes after Amy saw the man, Terrell Land rode east on the trail.

Do you encounter at any time a motorcycle on that path?

No, I did not.

As you're passing the grater and heading into the tunnel of trees, is there anything unusual that you see?

Yes.

Okay.

What's that?

Well, I ride the, I've probably ridden this trail maybe a hundred times over the past couple of years and never do I see a dog

free.

Saw it and wondered what the heck.

And I thought someone was probably walking it and had stepped into the trees to relieve themselves, is what I had thought.

So I kept riding.

He rode the trail a little further, then turned around and came back.

Do you see the dog again when you pass that area?

No.

Are you then consciously looking for the dog now?

Yes.

Do you see the dog?

Oh, no.

Do you hear something?

Yes.

What is it that you hear?

Repeated barking.

It was just like a constant are.

It's just, it was enough that I went, what kind of hacks?

But I kept going because I'm on the bike trail and I didn't put two and two together until I got home.

It was all over.

when Eric Reschke, Doug, and Mary came back down that trail.

It was only later that the two joggers were alerted by Penny and decided to investigate finding April's body.

If not for the presence of the motorcycle and the rider with the rude behavior, who knows if the witnesses that day would have noticed or even remembered April walking her dog.

Perhaps they wouldn't have had to, because it was shaping up that the man on the motorcycle was the last person to see April alive.

It was most likely her killer.

From the witness statements, the police were able to build a timeline of April's last moments.

She was attacked sometime between 6.25 when Eric Rischke first saw her and 6.40 when Amy saw the man standing in the brush.

This was the 15-minute span of time in which April was attacked, her clothes nearly ripped off, and her head bashed and neck stomped.

The police got a search warrant for her cell phone and began to compare her GPS data to what they already knew.

They were working the case 24-7 in shifts.

They performed several more searches with and without the aid of dogs.

They began interviewing all registered sex offenders in the area.

And once again, they asked the public to help locate the the owner of an Enduro-style off-road motorcycle, possibly colored in blue and white.

But this time, they released a composite sketch provided by Amy.

Police released this sketch of a man they want to talk to.

He's a white male with sandy brown or reddish hair.

Police aren't certain about his height, but say he's not excessively short.

We're just telling the public, if you see this person, then you want to see if they're exhibiting some type of behavior too.

And that's what we're really looking at.

A lot of times when these people commit these type of crimes they'll either change their work habits or they'll do some different things in order to make it a little they're not themselves.

We're pretty sure that somebody that this person may have talked to somebody.

If somebody has talked to you or something that you think is suspicious give us a call and let us look at it.

We'll determine if it's a good tip or not.

And the tips came flooding in.

In a matter of days, the police had over 400 tips.

One officer, the day after April's death, was following up on the sighting of a motorcycle, and it fit the description when he spotted another motorcycle.

I seen as I'm driving by, I turned my car around, pulled into the driveway, took a little better look at it from inside my car,

snapped a couple photos of it with my cell phone, snapped a photo of the address of the house, and then I proceeded back to the command center.

I wanted to see if this was in fact the type of bike that the TIP was speaking about, the on-road, off-road style bike.

Possibly it was.

And

so at that point, we made a determination to go back out there, make contact with the homeowner, and gather some more information about the bike.

When he returned to the house, the motorcycle was gone.

They questioned the homeowner who told them that the bike belonged to a friend of his, James Vancalis.

They found his address through motor vehicle records and went to go pay him a visit.

Say hello.

Hi, James.

Went to the front door, knocked on the door.

An older gentleman answered.

I asked to speak to James Vancalis.

He said he was James Van Callis.

I asked him if there was another James Van Callis, maybe a son.

He said there was.

I asked him if I could talk to him.

He yelled in the house for James Van Callis or James, however he called him.

At that time, the defendant came to the door.

He ended up coming out on the porch.

The original James Van Callis answered the door.

It was determined later that's his father.

He also came out on the porch, as well as a female came out on the porch.

32-year-old James Donald Van Callis lived with his father, 66-year-old James Bernard Van Callis.

Everyone called him Jim.

His mother, Brenda Poopy, also lived there.

And yes, that's really her name.

His girlfriend, Crystal Stabler, also lived there, too, along with their three-year-old.

James kind of fits the description, too.

He has a slender build, and other than the hair, he looks like the composite sketch.

I asked the defendant some questions.

What did you ask him?

I told him we were doing an investigation in Armeda.

I asked him if he was in Armeda the day before.

He said he was.

He cooperated with the officers and answered their questions, albeit vaguely.

He gave approximate times for his whereabouts that day.

He said he left home on his bike at around 5 p.m.

and he ran by his friend's house, but he wasn't home.

He continued to Armeda and stopped at the Marathon gas station to rest a bit.

The seat on the bike was a bit uncomfortable.

Then he went to his brother's house.

It was casual.

It was just just us, you know, asking about

his whereabouts and everything in our meta.

It was very casual, very friendly.

What about the next morning, about 12 hours later, when you asked for the record save?

It was still friendly.

He indicated he was busy,

but it was still friendly.

Did you have contact with him then later in the day?

You parted Wades and there's supposed to be a call-up.

Did you have additional contact?

Yes, always the phone.

Who called who?

I initially called him

later in the afternoon.

There was no answer.

I left a message and then received a phone call back from him.

And did that phone call tack?

Yes.

Did you speak to him?

Yes, I did.

And won't tap or call it?

He was very upset to the point where he was irate on the phone.

He was yelling at me on the phone, telling me that it was a witch hunt,

that we are trying to call and talk to all kinds of people and take people's cell phones.

It was just more of an out-of-control type phone call.

James Van Callis didn't like the police because he had a record.

In 2005, he was convicted of breaking and entering for which he got probation.

Then in 2007 he was convicted of failure to pay child support and sentenced to five years probation.

He quickly violated that probation by continuing not to pay child support and was put in prison for about a year.

When April was murdered, he hadn't been out of prison that long.

The elder Van Callis also had a record.

But is that really a surprise?

In 1995, he pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal sexual conduct.

One victim was between 13 and 15 years of age, and the other,

well, the other was younger than 13.

He is a registered sex offender.

James was in Armeda that day, and

at that time,

he owned an Enduro-style motorcycle, and he fit the description well enough.

When the police conduct an investigation, they follow a lead until it bears fruit or fizzles out.

They started to investigate him and tried to verify his story.

Either he did it or they would have to rule him out.

But James didn't like being investigated and quickly went from cooperative to combative.

So they took their suspicions to the judge.

We didn't have a good search warrant.

A judge wouldn't sign it.

We wouldn't be there.

He is a person of interest in our investigation and are made up.

We are looking at him.

After trying to contact James several times to get a written statement and ask a few more questions, they were only met with hostility.

So they filed for a search warrant for his residence.

The FBI, Michigan State Police, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office, and the Armada Police descended on the Vancalas property, some 15 miles northeast of Armada.

James immediately protested.

And there were other details that we wanted to discuss with you, and we're not able to get them.

How do we do that?

Did I put my foot in there?

With my foot in my parents, would I put my foot in your neck?

You gotta stop generalizing, everybody, because everybody out here has a different position.

What would you do if somebody touched your parents?

What would I do if somebody touched my parents?

Well, not being in the position you're in, and they're coming to my house and doing a search warrant, so it's hard for me to say arbitrarily if somebody touched my head.

We were walking right up.

Here we are, here we are, here we are.

Don't shoot.

Here's our hands.

Here's our hands.

And they're dragging us.

Yeah, that wasn't us.

He's just talking.

I'm nervous.

I know.

I'm nervous.

You are too.

Don't start.

Nervous about what you're pissing in your mouth.

Nervous about what?

Because you got FBI, state police, and sheriffs here.

I'm nervous.

They piss and shit the same way I do.

Watch your mouth.

That is true.

You can't go anywhere without getting your neck stepped on, apparently.

You can't ride your motorcycle before you're on because somebody's going to say something, you're going to get your neck stepped on.

The team that first served the warrant was apparently a little rough with the Vancalises.

James was complaining about how his parents were treated and that his neck was stepped on.

He didn't want to answer any questions about April's murder and outright refused to provide a written statement for what he already said.

I'm not writing nothing or anything, but that's a form of omission, and I'm not going to sit there and have

some variants of my story I gave you in my written one and have, oh, aha, fuck that shit.

I gave you two statements.

Other than that, I don't recall anything I've ever done.

These questions seemed to trigger his anger.

He began fluctuating between two extreme emotions.

One moment, he was calm and collected, and the next, he flew into a blind rage.

We can't get him to go.

We're already at that level.

We're already at that level.

Just not quick.

we're at that level.

What the hell do you understand?

Fuck you and your badge.

I gotta get you down to that level.

Hey, fuck you and your badge.

James, you gotta settle down right now, okay?

Because if you're gonna raise your voice like that, we'll just buy you out of here.

I got no problem.

What's wrong with her?

Boy, James got quite a bit of a temper when he gets going, huh?

He don't like it when he's cornered.

Well, you don't like it.

It sounds like he don't like it

when he's not in charge, is what it sounds like.

Why you gotta be so rude to us?

Can you be nice for two seconds?

You're fucking for a card life.

What does that mean?

You have to be rude?

Jimmy, get in the car and shut up.

Jimmy, get in the car and shut up.

I want cough.

Kidnakarn, shut up.

The officer was right.

James didn't like it when he wasn't in charge.

In fact,

that was evident every time he opened his loud mouth.

When he wasn't berating them at the top of his lungs, he was threatening the officers with a lawsuit.

So you guys went through my door with a warrant just for material.

Oh, that's not going to look good.

That's not going to look good on the stewards.

There was...

Well, there were some allegations that you were hot-headed and there were some weapons in the house.

Who had allegations of that?

Who's the accuser?

Well, I can't tell you.

Oh, alright.

The attorney finding out.

You sound like a smart guy, man.

I mean, did you ever think about going to college or was that not on the radar for you?

People that go to college are the ones that can't learn from the book.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's a hard stance to take when you're an uneducated, unemployed 32-year-old who spent time in prison for not paying child support.

But it didn't stop James from trying to sound smart and make things personal.

What's your name?

Neil, don't make me sue you as an individual.

I'll put a personal name at the house.

I'll put a hey,

you talk to me.

I'll put a personal knee on your house.

You came here.

You did it.

You're responsible.

Yes, sir.

You sue me.

Get in the car.

I'll wait.

Oh, God.

So, anyway.

I'm done.

I gotta tell you, ma'am, I'm sorry, but I'm done putting up with him.

I'm done.

I only have patience so long that I try to give people an understanding, you know, but then when he starts making it a little more personal, I'm not going to sit here listening to him.

Shut the door!

God damn it, I'm taking it.

it.

I think your mother's gonna arrest you.

I hope that's a threat.

Don't get

and when he wasn't threatening a lawsuit, he was letting the officers know how he really feels about them.

Every time, man, every time the cops show up, it's always nothing but bad news.

It's never good.

That's why, I mean, I probably told you sometimes I don't even want to pull over when they're pulling me over.

You know what?

I'm the kind of guy who wants to slam on his brakes and make you ass on me and hope that I hurt you and not no offense because that's the way they make me feel.

Thank you.

No offense, but you know what I mean?

Like you freaked me out and I slammed on the brakes.

I'm sorry that you went through the windshield kind of shit.

You know, I mean, they fuck with me too much.

I want to give them a peace of my mind.

Like, when it comes to the home gun, anytime I can give them a piece of my mind, fuck you, people.

Hey, when you leave, I hope you wrap your cruiser around a fucking telephone pole.

James seems to have a cruel disregard for the police.

Perhaps everyone as well.

Well, everyone except maybe this one FBI agent.

In

Amid the multi-agency search of his home, he decided to hit on the blonde FBI agent, Hubba Hubba, you know?

Yeah, I always wanted to work for the FBI, but I'm too much of a criminal.

So, by chance, can I have your card?

Is it because I got all the cops in my backyard?

Maybe.

How about you take my number and I probably probably wouldn't call me.

Oh.

Mom,

I was hitting on her and she told me to leave her alone.

I was hitting on her and she told me to leave her alone.

I asked her for her phone number and she says, and I go, well, if you don't won't take mine, can I give you mine?

She's like, I won't call.

I'm like that with every girl I meet.

Hey, you know what it is?

You're an idiot.

Can't help myself.

She blushed.

He couldn't help himself.

He was like that with every woman he met.

In fact, he was so preoccupied by this woman that the officers had to ask her to leave.

Once they had his whole attention,

they let him know why they were there.

What's that?

He's saying that he's got me in Armada.

Well, he says he's got me in Armedo 40 minutes.

That's unaccounted for it.

Bullshit if it it is.

And that's just to inform you why we're here.

What brought us here this third time?

So I'm not a suspect, but yeah, there's 40 minutes that ain't accounted for.

But yeah, I was at my brother's.

That's right.

Well, well, because I'm going to talk to you about it.

If you're on a bike, they're just in town and we're looking for somebody right now to talk to on a bike.

I told you everything I know.

Okay, hold on.

The 40 minutes is exactly how I said it.

If you're trying to make me remember time now, I don't recall.

I really don't.

It's so much time.

I know.

It's been so much time now.

I don't

recognize it.

And that's why I tried to do it the other day.

I wish you would.

Why don't you have me write it down when you were here?

Yeah, I don't remember anything now.

Do you recall the second time I came here, it was very late at night.

You're in your bond.

First time you were here.

First time, no, I know.

I had to back up myself in the middle of my sentence.

The first time we come, it's late at night.

We know we pull people out of bed.

So the next day when I come here, what was the first thing I said?

Can we go write all this down?

Nope, I'm busy.

He claimed that he didn't remember specifics now.

It had been a long time.

Just to clarify, this was July 30th, only six days after April's murder.

Now

going through a town that somebody gets murdered in does not make you a murder suspect.

And we never

have you heard of somebody.

Everybody that gets a town.

Well, you know what?

That's a good point.

You made a good point.

At the time this happened, absolutely.

You're right.

Anybody and everybody could be a suspect.

Anybody and everybody.

could be a suspect.

But not everyone owned a motorcycle and helmet just like the ones described by witnesses.

Not everyone was wearing clothes that matched the description.

Just James Van Kellis was.

But they weren't there just to ask questions.

They were there to prove it.

So, where's my bike going?

I wouldn't come on my motor ride on my fucking bike today.

What are you going to tell me?

Give me the motor.

Give me that fucking motor.

His mother just wanted to let them do their job.

Honestly, he was protesting way too much.

It made it seem like he had something to hide.

And he was hiding something.

You see,

the Vancallis family had a large marijuana grow operation.

This isn't necessarily illegal as Michigan allows marijuana medically and allows people to grow their own.

You can even grow plants for other people who have their medical cards.

The problem is, you're only allowed to have 12 plants maximum for each cardholder.

That's 36 plants.

The Vancallis family had 52.

And I guess the stress of the situation was getting to them because all they wanted to do was to take their medicine.

We're not breaking the law.

We're not breaking the law, so why don't you hold whoever's in charge?

I had it on my

if I had a joint right here, right?

We'd let it up right now.

There's not a damn thing you can say about it.

Ron Private Production.

I'll let a joint up right now and start swinging.

You can say we have a federal one.

Agency here with this guy.

Doesn't make a shit.

I don't give a shit.

I'm going to suck on my left and I'm going to go.

Even if your state allows medical or recreational marijuana, it's still illegal federally.

The Vancalis men weren't getting out of this one unscathed.

Both father and son were arrested on drug charges.

The authorities seized his bike and helmet along with the clothes he said he was wearing the day of the murder.

They took his pants, his shirt, and his shoes.

The one thing they couldn't find was his hoodie, which had been accidentally thrown away.

The pants had what might be blood on the cuff, but the real reason they were there were for his shoes.

The imprints on the victim's neck were so significant and vivid that we felt that if we could find those shoes, that we could match it up.

Whoever killed April stomped on her neck so hard, it left an imprint of the bottom of the shoe.

It was also so hard that it collapsed her airway, ultimately, leading to her death.

But when they checked the shoes that James said he wore that day, they didn't match.

The Vancalis men would remain under police custody under federal drug charges, while the authorities tried to find more evidence connecting him to April's murder.

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After the murder of April Milsap on the Macomb Orchard Trail one evening in July 2014, the police were looking for a person on a motorcycle.

That person, the one with the motorcycle, was the last one to see April alive, according to statements by many witnesses.

When they discovered James Van Callis owned a motorcycle like the one described, they asked him a few more questions.

When he became evasive and hostile, the authorities got a search warrant for his house.

They wanted to see if the shoes he wore that day matched the tread pattern found on April's neck.

Little did they know, they would discover a a large marijuana grow operation.

Both James and his father Jim were arrested on federal drug charges.

They sat in jail while the authorities tried to build their case against James.

Months would go by, and the police would redo interviews and try to find out as much as they could.

gathering all of the circumstantial evidence.

After serving the search warrant and seizing all of his stuff, they didn't find anything.

They didn't find DNA, fingerprints, hair,

nothing.

And the shoes he said he wore didn't match the pattern.

So they talked to his father, who seemed a little too comfortable in his orange jumpsuit.

Did Jimmy do this?

Didn't he murder that girl?

No.

Did he kill that girl?

No.

Even by accident?

No.

How do you know?

I don't.

I don't want my son.

Nor all my kids.

He's been running out of straight narrow for the last, well, for the last year anyway.

A year before that, he went to prison.

Yeah.

He didn't think his son was capable of doing such a thing.

You know, because he turned a few new leaves over or some shit in prison.

So, the officer tried to paint a scenario to see if it changed his mind.

He's got that explosive temper and maybe something just went too far that day.

There's a chance encounter.

Maybe, you know how Jimmy is with the ladies.

He's a lady's man.

Well he's a lady man.

He likes to talk to him and

somebody rejects him.

It doesn't sit too well.

No, that don't happen that way.

No, that don't happen.

Well, it's not like

he doesn't know the consequences of what would happen because something better.

When emotions are running hot, you know, no, no, no.

People's personalities tell you, oh, I'm on a lifetime registry.

He knows this.

He's lived with it for the last 20 years with me, so he knows.

So, you know.

His son wouldn't have lost his temper because he would have never talked to an underage girl.

He knew better.

Messing around with little girls leads to trouble.

It was a lesson he learned from his father, a registered sex offender.

Another lesson he learned from his father, the self-proclaimed asshole, was not to beat women.

Because for the whole time that we've been with her, I beat her up all the time.

You know,

that's why I'm still with her.

Still making it up.

Do you think Jimmy ever picked up some of your bad habits from that?

No, if you would, you'd be beaten up all the girlfriends he had.

But you've never seen me up as girlfriend.

No, even the girlfriend's never said anything, and nobody ever said anything about it.

He knew his son and just didn't think he was capable of murder.

He'd been on the the straight and narrow for nearly a year.

He went on to support his claim by saying his son is a thief, not a murderer.

But that's not really a very strong argument.

It would take until October 2014 for the county to finally press charges.

In cooperation with the Armeda Police Department, Michigan State Police, Macomb County Sheriff's Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today we announce charges against James Donald Vancallis for the murder of April Dawn Milsap in the city of Armeda.

He was charged with first-degree premeditated murder for the amount of time it takes to asphyxiate a person.

Surely he had time to change his mind or call for help.

They also charged him with assault with intent to commit sexual penetration because it was clear what his intention was before he got interrupted, killed her, and then ran away.

Of course, in all his worldly knowledge from all the books he read instead of going to college, James pleaded not guilty and proceeded to trial.

In the trial, the prosecution paraded around witness after witness that placed him on the trail that day.

They all saw a different little piece of the picture.

One noticed his clothes, a couple others noticed his eyes, and one woman saw his face.

All these pieces put together described James.

They went over April's GPS data and created a map of her last movements.

They pointed out that all of a sudden her phone was moving at 22 miles an hour.

When they cross-referenced the timestamps with local surveillance systems, they saw a picture of a man on an Enduro motorcycle that was blue and white.

They talked about the shoes they seized and how they didn't match the pattern on April's neck.

They theorized he destroyed the real shoes he was wearing that day.

He said he was wearing a pair of K-Swiss tennis shoes, but the one witness specifically remembered high-tops.

Pictures from social media showed he owned a pair of high-top Nike Air Jordan's Flight the Power edition.

The point is that these particular shoes match the tread pattern on the victim's neck.

I guess that's the power they were referring to.

The power of the state attempting to arrest a criminal.

They also talked about the lack of DNA found on the helmet.

the theorized weapon he used to incapacitate her.

It wasn't that they didn't find April's DNA.

It was that they didn't find any DNA at all.

The helmet had obviously been cleaned inside and out.

But their star witness was James's ex-girlfriend, Crystal Stapler.

She described him as controlling and abusive.

What about if you wanted to use the computer during the day?

No, I couldn't.

Was there a home phone in there in your portion of the house?

No.

If James was out, how would you communicate with him?

Through his mom or dad.

Did James have a phone?

Yes.

Did James have a driver's license?

Yes.

Did James have a computer?

Yes.

Did James have a car?

Yes.

Did you have a car?

No.

Why not?

Wasn't allowed.

Was that the same with the driver's license?

Yeah.

Was he controlling these aspects of your life?

Yes.

He controlled her to the point that she feared him.

Because of this, she wasn't immediately truthful with police.

Why is it that you're not telling them everything right away?

Scared.

What are you scared of?

James.

Why are you scared of James?

Because he was abusive and

controlling.

Had he ever hit you before?

Yes.

It seemed like he did, in fact, pick up dad's bad habit.

She went on to recall the night April died.

Would you describe how he is dressed when he leaves the house?

A white t-shirt with football logos on it

and gray camel pants and his black and white shoes.

What type of shoes was he wearing?

Black and white jewelry.

Her testimony contradicted James's statement that he wore the K-Swiss shoes.

But this wasn't the only damning evidence.

She recalled that when he returned that night, he was acting normal until he thought she was sleeping.

I wake up and see him cleaning his shoes.

Okay.

And what part of the shoe is he cleaning?

The outside.

Okay.

Had you ever seen him clean his shoes before?

No.

When she asked why he was cleaning his shoes, he said, because he got oil on them.

She didn't question him further, even though the middle of the night seemed like a really weird time to be cleaning your shoes.

After that, she never saw those shoes again.

Does he say anything to you when he comes back to bed?

Yeah, that he messed up and he needed me to stand by his side.

When he first comes back into bed, has his

demeanor toward you changed?

Yeah.

How is his demeanor now?

Loveby-Webby.

Was it that way when the two of you went to bed several hours earlier?

No.

When his mood like that changes, what does that

mean to you?

He did something wrong.

While he didn't admit to anything specifically, the timing of this statement to Crystal was suspicious.

But the following day, she found something even more suspicious.

Are you asked to wash any of his clothes?

Yeah, he wanted me to do a little laundry.

Okay.

Is that unusual?

Yeah.

Why?

Because he never really wanted me to wash his clothes.

He wore the same clothes all the time.

What were you asked to wash on the morning of the 25th?

The Carhartt hoodie and his pants and that shirt.

Did you find something unusual in the Carhartt jacket after you washed?

Yeah.

What was it that you found?

Like watted up hair and like shavings of grass or like hay.

She didn't recognize the hay as anything from the yard.

And the hair certainly wasn't hers.

All of this odd behavior she kept to herself, like when James gave his family instructions.

he was already in jail.

All of this information really cast James in a bad light, but it did fit the theory that James hit on young April that day on the trail.

When she rebuffed his advance, he hit her over the head with his helmet.

He dragged her into the bushes, he started to assault her.

When Amy rode by on her bike, he got nervous, abandoned his plan, stomped her to death, and fled.

And just in case any of the jurors were on on the fence about this theory, they read off some of James's Google search history.

Here are just a few excerpts.

Do young girls like older men?

Why would this girl say I'm too old for her and still hit on me?

What does it mean when a girl tells you that she has a boyfriend?

How to have sex with a girl?

How to make a girl who does not want you want you.

Notice the key phrases in all of those searches.

He wants to know how to get a girl, not a woman.

Needless to say, the jurors weren't on the fence

at all.

Biggest line of garbage I've ever heard.

The evidence is just overwhelming.

Circumstantial as it may be, it's still overwhelming evidence.

Count one.

First degree premeditated murder.

We find a defendant guilty.

Count two.

Count two, first-degree felony murder.

We find a defendant guilty.

Three, kidnapping.

We find a defendant guilty.

Count four, assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.

We find a defendant guilty.

James was found guilty on all counts.

He tried to remain stoic when the verdict was read, but he had a little eye twitch when he heard the decision.

April's family erupted into celebration as he was led from the court.

At his sentencing, April's mom, Jennifer, gave her statement.

I hope the rain pierces you like bullets.

I hope the sun burns you like fire, burned skin.

I hope the floor walls close in on you and choke you.

I hope those steel bars are your only friends.

I hope when you close your eyes, eyes, you see only April

over and over and over again.

You will die behind those bars alone.

I hope that the inmates know exactly what you did

because I hear their punishment can be very ugly.

I hope they save all their rage and anger just for you.

You, James, are a damn thief.

You stole my beautiful daughter's life.

I pity you and I hate you and I can never forgive you.

Her pain was palpable.

She thanked the judge and sat down sniffling into a tissue.

Next, James addressed the court, once again demonstrating his intelligence or lack thereof.

Well, first off, is that

there is no evidence that shows that I have done anything wrong.

There is nobody that can say they've seen me commit any crime.

There is nobody that can ID or has ID my motorcycle as being on that trail that day.

None of the witnesses could positively, positively identify me.

They said that they've seen eyes, which is, if that's the case, how many people have eyes that are that shape?

This is a sad chain of events that somehow I'm wrapped up in.

I don't know how to have the NOSAP family understand that I don't know her.

I've never met her.

I'd never seen her before.

He goes on like this for a while before he starts complaining about inconsistencies in discovery files.

There is a fraud that's been perpetuated in this case by whoever put the case together to put it on that hard drive.

My attorney has witnessed it.

I've brought it up to my attorney several times.

He could testify right here, right now, if you were to ask him if what I'm saying is the truth.

The reality is, we're here to sentence you today.

I understand that, Your Honor, but.

Please, I didn't interrupt you.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

The reality is, we're here to sentence you.

Anything you want to say regarding an appeal, you can do that as soon as you're done with me.

I'm just asking for a motion for trial of the Noval on the grounds that

this idiot was arguing appellate issues and trying to call for a mistrial at the sentencing does nobody watch law and order anymore as to the charge of first degree murder it is the sense of the court that you serve life in prison with no chance of parole shortly after his tirade he was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder another life term for felony murder 18 years and 9 months for kidnapping, and 6 years and 8 months for assault with intent to commit sexual penetration.

I don't think I have to add that up for you, but it's more than necessary, really.

Not sure there's much more you need after life.

Immediately following the sentencing, his mother claimed her son was framed because the authorities needed to pin it on someone.

Yeah,

that's how idiots think the system works.

Cops don't work on a quota, people.

Maybe prosecutors, but not cops.

Later, in a phone interview from prison, James claimed his ex-girlfriend was told what to say on the stand and forced to testify, or else her kids would be taken away.

I'm not sure that CPS does that either.

But, okay, James, whatever.

A couple of years after his incarceration, he would file for appeal, citing a bunch of reasons he probably thought would work.

It was denied.

James Donald Vancalis remains in prison to this day.

Meanwhile, the village of Armeda started to heal.

They built a memorial park for April at the Fulton Street entrance to the trail, and four years after her death, the high school presented her mother with an honorary diploma.

James Van Callis thought he was above the law.

He saw himself as superior.

He thought that the law didn't apply to him.

The truth, however, was far from that.

He still wasn't paying child support.

He controlled many aspects of his girlfriend's life and manipulated her constantly.

He was growing more than the legally allowed amount of marijuana and speeding through town on his bike without a motorcycle license.

He was riding on a trail where it wasn't allowed.

And all of that could have been forgiven if he hadn't hit on a 14-year-old girl on a remote walking trail and then flew into a rage when she denied him.

And in fact, while we're on it, why hit on a young girl?

Why hit on a girl at all if you have a girlfriend at home?

Well, James, that's because you don't give a shit about anyone else's feelings, except your own.

You put your desire above and ahead of anyone and everyone.

This pursuit for validation in the eyes of a young girl who was just minding her own business led to your downfall.

Amy interrupted this baby man, which is the only reason April Milsap wasn't sexually assaulted in addition to being murdered.

James Van Callis

was callous, utterly indifferent to the law and to the rules we've agreed upon in society.

These rules that we have, because at the end of the day, we're all human.

We all make mistakes.

We all do things we shouldn't at times.

We sometimes even break the law.

But there is a distinction.

There is a

between

us

and them.

Because some of us will get up day after day after day.

And even though we know at the end of the day, we will fail,

we will be imperfect, we will make mistakes, we may even occasionally hurt someone.

At least we tried to put in the effort to be a better person.

At least we're the kind of people

that try.

Thank you so much for joining us once again.

If you like our show, please go check out our website.

And if you could, join Plus.

It starts at only $10 a month and it really goes towards helping us produce these.

You can find it along with our merch store with dozens of items that you can find with the sword and scale branding over at swordandscale.com.

Until next time, stay safe.

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