Going to Court - Talina Zar BONUS

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Speaker 14 Tell me how it felt walking into the courtroom and then I saw your eyes go up when you saw her. Just tell me about that moment of noticing when she entered the room.

Speaker 15 She seems smaller,

Speaker 17 older,

Speaker 15 but kind of smug still. I mean, I thought she looked kind of like

Speaker 15 she thinks she's going to get away with it. I don't know.
I thought she was looking at me. I turned to you and I think she's looking at me.

Speaker 14 I'm walking back from court with Jess Trevino, the internet sleuth who spent the past five years investigating the disappearance of Talina Czar and digging into the background of Corey Bomali, the woman accused of killing her.

Speaker 14 Jess has longed to confront Corey and to see her held accountable for the crimes Jess believes she has committed. And this hot summer day in Madison, Wisconsin is her very first taste of that.

Speaker 15 To know what I know about her and then to see her, my heart quickened a little bit.

Speaker 15 And then as I sat there, I just kept staring at her, waiting for her to turn, thinking, like, is she thinking about what's going to happen in Oklahoma?

Speaker 14 From iHeart Podcasts, I'm Melissa Giltson, and this is a bonus episode of what happened to Talina Czar,

Speaker 14 Corey's first day in court.

Speaker 19 The case before us today is entitled The State of Wisconsin versus Corey Bomalee Adams.

Speaker 14 It's Monday, June 23rd, 2025, and I'm in Madison, Wisconsin to cover a case you've heard about if you've followed this podcast. This is not the trial for the murder of Talina Czar.

Speaker 14 That's yet to take place. Instead, it's Corey's trial for the attempted murder of Sherry and Mike Ziegler using homemade ricin back in 2014.

Speaker 14 I'm here for a lot of reasons. To report on the trial because it's connected to Talina's case, but also to meet some of the people I've written about over the years but haven't met in person.

Speaker 14 Like two of the officers from Wagner, Oklahoma, they're here too.

Speaker 19 Please state your name for the record spelling it.

Speaker 21 Danny Elliott, D-A-N-N-Y,

Speaker 22 E-L-L-I-O-T-T.

Speaker 21 I am a lieutenant with the Wagner County Sheriff's Office in Oklahoma.

Speaker 22 My name is Joel, J-O-E-L, Weber, W-E-B-E-R.

Speaker 17 Okay, counsel, go ahead.

Speaker 14 Jess and I are sitting in a windowless courtroom in the Dane County Courthouse, an austere eight-story building that makes me feel like we're waiting to update our driver's licenses rather than observe an attempted murder trial.

Speaker 14 I have to say, for all our excitement and anticipation to be here, we're among only a handful of other people in the audience.

Speaker 14 But importantly, sitting just in front of us are Sherry and Mike Ziegler, the victims at the center of this case. I had spoken to Sherry earlier on the phone.

Speaker 17 It's

Speaker 24 been 10 years and it's taken the toll on us a little bit, you know,

Speaker 24 to keep going through it over and over. That's why it was hard for me to agree on a time to even talk to you about it.

Speaker 14 The trial is expected to last about a week, and over the course of the next few days, Sherry and Mike Mike will have to rehash and relive the trauma that began almost a decade ago but only recently came into full focus

Speaker 14 Sherry and Mike's testimony is barred from being recorded from our previous conversation I know she's been nervous about this case finally going to trial she both wants it to happen to put an end to this chapter of her life but is also dreading having to go through it.

Speaker 24 We've told the story many, many times because there's a lot of people we met and

Speaker 24 heard about it and want to hear all the gruesome details. And

Speaker 24 it's hard to talk about after a while. Once the trial is over with, I will be so happy and done with.
And then

Speaker 24 she goes back to Oklahoma, stands that trial, and hopefully spends the rest of her life in prison

Speaker 17 or worse.

Speaker 14 But until then, Sherry just has to sit and face the person who she believes tried to kill her.

Speaker 14 Jess is also here in the courtroom.

Speaker 14 She drove in from her home in Minnesota, a four and a half hour trek, leaving her family behind and taking off work to be here, to be in the same room with Corey, a person who has loomed large in Jess's world and this podcast.

Speaker 15 I've had this image in my head of this,

Speaker 15 not a literal monster, but

Speaker 15 to just go through this whole thing and know the things she's done, I had just a different image of what she would still look like. And it felt

Speaker 15 kind of surreal, kind of intense for a little bit. And I kept, I got a little nervous when she first came in.

Speaker 15 I felt zero sympathy.

Speaker 17 for her.

Speaker 15 In fact, all I could think the whole time was I'm looking at her hair and I'm like, Corey and her fucking mullet. I mean, she's still rocking it and it's terrible.

Speaker 14 Well, she probably doesn't have a hairdresser.

Speaker 15 When she had one, it was terrible, which is small in comparison, right? I'm not saying it's not. I'm just...

Speaker 17 Yeah.

Speaker 17 The mullet, the jacket.

Speaker 15 I'm nitpicking her, which I normally...

Speaker 15 Okay, I'm not going to lie, I probably do nitpick people sometimes, but

Speaker 17 I don't know.

Speaker 15 I don't like anything about her, so I didn't feel any sympathy.

Speaker 14 Corey is seated at a table with her two lawyers on the opposite side of the room from us. She's wearing glasses and dressed in plain clothes, a blazer and blue-collared shirt.

Speaker 14 I'd seen photos and heard about her physical presence from the Wagner neighbors. She was described over and over as physically strong and capable.

Speaker 14 a workhorse who easily erected fences, managed livestock, and fixed things around the house.

Speaker 14 It's hard to square that description with the woman in front of us, who looks rather small and unremarkable.

Speaker 14 Corey too has been waiting for this moment. She's been incarcerated since her arrest for Talina's murder in January 2021.

Speaker 14 In court, she's mostly quiet, occasionally whispering something to her attorneys. And yet we all, Jess, the Zieglers, and me, can't help but stare.

Speaker 14 What unfolds during the court proceedings are two versions of the same story.

Speaker 14 The story told by the state, the prosecutors are Matthew Mosier and Jack Schneider, is probably pretty familiar to you by now.

Speaker 14 It starts in 2014 when the Zieglers go on vacation and come home to a mess. Weird powder sprinkled about their house.
And soon, they notice that things are missing.

Speaker 14 A safe and also a credit card, which someone had been using.

Speaker 14 The deputy who goes to the Ziegler's house testifies that by the time he looked into the robbery and the fraud, Sherry had done quite a bit of her own amateur sleuthing.

Speaker 26 When you had contact with Sherry, did Sherry indicate to you if she had done anything herself to potentially investigate who had used this card?

Speaker 22 She had done some groundwork on it based on the fraudulent credit card statement that they had. I think she was able to view a picture or some video through one of the locations.

Speaker 14 From the footage, Sherry could see exactly who was using her credit card.

Speaker 26 Do you recall her indicating to you that the person she thought might have used the credit card was her neighbor who she knew is Deb?

Speaker 17 Yes.

Speaker 26 Did you ultimately follow up based on information Sharon Ziegler gave you and determined that the person she was calling Deb was Corey Corey Bonnelly Adams.

Speaker 30 I did, yes.

Speaker 14 Corey is ultimately convicted of using Sherry's credit card. Wisconsin police never find the missing safe, and the strange debris is written off as a prank.

Speaker 14 Sherry told me the deputy didn't even collect any of it for evidence.

Speaker 24 I actually did show him the sample. of that kitty litter stuff that we had collected and he goes yeah it looks like kitty litter, oil dry.
Yeah, I don't know what it is.

Speaker 24 And just kind of brushed it off and

Speaker 17 left.

Speaker 24 You know, he just didn't do anything more.

Speaker 14 On the stand, the prosecutor asks the deputy about this.

Speaker 11 Tepdy Zach,

Speaker 26 had you now learned that some of the powder left behind in the Ziegler residence test depositive for ricin?

Speaker 22 I did.

Speaker 28 Had you known it was potentially a toxic substance at the time, would you likely have sought to collect anything that was left?

Speaker 17 Absolutely.

Speaker 14 The jury hears that the investigation into the incident with the Zieglers is closed after Corey's conviction for credit card fraud.

Speaker 14 That is, until 2020, when Corey comes in contact with police in Oklahoma.

Speaker 24 All of a sudden, I get a phone call out of the blue from this gentleman asking questions about Corey.

Speaker 24 And I was really hesitant to say too much about it because I didn't know if this was something that Corey was putting us up to to get slander on us or, you know, I mean, I just did not trust this woman.

Speaker 24 I lost trust in a lot of people and a lot of things after that.

Speaker 14 When you were watching Corey today,

Speaker 14 How would you describe her demeanor while she was observing the court proceedings?

Speaker 15 She seemed really calm to me. I didn't notice any fidgeting or I noticed a lot of looking around just to see, but

Speaker 15 I wanted to see if she looked at Sherry when she walked by, and I noticed that she kind of turned forward and didn't even make eye contact.

Speaker 14 The trial moves along relatively slowly. On day two, the police from Oklahoma are called to testify.
Important note here, the jury is never told that Corey is charged with murder in another case.

Speaker 14 They are only told that in 2020, she came in contact with these authorities in Oklahoma who were investigating a different incident.

Speaker 14 So, they have to keep their answers pretty vague. The cats say they spent almost a year playing cat and mouse with Corey, trying to collect enough evidence to put her behind bars.

Speaker 14 The jury is unaware of any of this. You might recall that we previously used a voice actor to read statements by Detective Joel Weber, the lead investigator in the disappearance of Talina Czar.

Speaker 14 Now, you can hear his actual voice as he's questioned by the prosecutor.

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Speaker 26 Back in April of 2020, did you become involved in an investigation of Wagner County, Oklahoma that resulted in you having contact with the person

Speaker 30 identified as Corey Bomaley Adams?

Speaker 17 Yes.

Speaker 30 Do you see Miss Bomaley Adams in court today? I do. Could you point her out and describe where she's sitting and what she's wearing?

Speaker 30 Oh, to the right side of the table in front of me, and looks like a white blazer. I guess the record reflects the identification.

Speaker 14 The prosecutor brings up Weber's interview with Corey on May 9th, 2020, when he asked her about the circumstances surrounding the credit card fraud.

Speaker 14 In episode four, you heard a recreation of that interview based on transcripts. At trial, the state played the real version.

Speaker 32 My neighbor, my male neighbor, and I were very good friends, and my husband and I spent every penny we had to move to Wisconsin. And we went through a tough time where we didn't have much money.

Speaker 32 He gave me this card to use.

Speaker 29 His what card?

Speaker 32 His wife's card.

Speaker 28 Oh, his wife's card, okay.

Speaker 32 To use and said, go get yourself some groceries, you know, go fill your tech with pass and it's what you can pay to that. Well, the wife was jealous with him and I for no reason.

Speaker 32 And she had a ten area and she pressed charges because I used her pride card.

Speaker 32 He stood behind her.

Speaker 32 I didn't, I still like the guy. I still think he's a big guy.
I just like,

Speaker 32 she's not a big person.

Speaker 14 I'm sitting behind the Zieglers while this video from 2020 plays in court as they listen to Corey tell yet another version of the events of 2014.

Speaker 14 Back then, Corey claimed in court she'd found the credit card on the ground and used it. Of course, Sherry believes neither story is the truth.

Speaker 14 I watch her shake her head in frustration, clench her jaw. Another Wagner cop, Danny Elliott, testifies about finding castor beans, which can be used to make ricin, in a safe in Corey's possession.

Speaker 26 Lieutenant Elliott, I'm showing you it's marked as Exhibit 38. What do you recognize Exhibit 38 to be?

Speaker 21 That is a small safe that was located in a bedroom closet.

Speaker 27 I'd like to ask you some questions about this safe. When this was located in Ms.

Speaker 30 Bombly Adams' residence on May 29th, did she make any statements in your presence about this item?

Speaker 21 Something to the effect of it's an old safe that she didn't even have the key to it anymore.

Speaker 30 At some point, were you able to locate a key for the safe?

Speaker 26 Yes, very quickly.

Speaker 30 I'm next showing you what's been received in evidence exhibit 40.

Speaker 26 Are these other items that were found inside that safe?

Speaker 21 Yes, the mags of seeds.

Speaker 14 The bag of castor beans.

Speaker 14 The Wagner cops also bring up the recipe they found on Corey's computer on how to make ricin.

Speaker 14 The prosecutors asked the Wagner police about a tip they received, a tip we mentioned briefly in the podcast, but was a significant piece of the investigator's puzzle.

Speaker 30 At some point, also, had you or Deputy Weber received essentially some of the reports or information about the case from Alexander Adams?

Speaker 21 I believe Investigator Weber did. Yes.

Speaker 30 Had you become aware that Alexander Adams was the ex-husband of Corey Bomley Adams during this case?

Speaker 17 Yes.

Speaker 14 You may remember Alexander Adams, Corey's ex, who goes by Alec. He's a Celtic musician who first connected Corey and Talina at Gorefest.

Speaker 14 In 2020, after Talina went missing, he contacted Wagner police and told them that Corey had previously admitted to him that she tried to poison their neighbors in Wisconsin.

Speaker 14 At trial, Alec is a key witness for the prosecution.

Speaker 14 On the stand, he's soft-spoken and wears a black suit jacket against a plum purple button-down shirt. His hair is gray and thinning on top, and a long braid drapes over his shoulder.

Speaker 14 The prosecutor asks Alec about the events of 2014 and why he didn't come forward at the time.

Speaker 26 Mr. Adams, in terms of when Ms.
Bomali disclosed the poisoning issue to you, did you have any concerns for whether you would be in trouble?

Speaker 23 Yes.

Speaker 27 Why was that?

Speaker 17 Well,

Speaker 23 when she told me she'd done this, I looked at her and I said, that's attempted murder and I am not good with that.

Speaker 23 Her reply was, you can't say anything about it because both of us will be arrested and the animals put to sleep. At the time, we had 50, almost 50, maybe a few more, rescue animals.

Speaker 29 How did that affect you in terms of that statement being made to you by Miss Pomalie Adams?

Speaker 23 That was terrifying and

Speaker 23 very,

Speaker 23 very successful in

Speaker 23 silencing me.

Speaker 14 Alec goes on to say he also reached out directly to the Zieglers in 2020, an act he didn't feel he could have done earlier for fear of retribution from Corey.

Speaker 27 What was the purpose of you contacting the Zieglers?

Speaker 23 I

Speaker 23 thought at that

Speaker 23 time that I might have, I might be safe to at least

Speaker 23 let them know that

Speaker 17 if

Speaker 23 they had found any of that powder in the house, if they still had some, I told them to get it checked because it it could very well be rice and

Speaker 23 I just thought they should know

Speaker 23 in case anything might have come up, like, you know, kidney trouble or something like that.

Speaker 17 And I thought at least this way, you know, they could maybe do something.

Speaker 14 As Alex speaks, my eyes drift back over to Corey.

Speaker 14 I'm curious if I'll see some sort of reaction, a furrow of a brow, or maybe a wince.

Speaker 14 And she's staring him down, silent, but intense.

Speaker 14 During Danny Elliott's testimony, he explains that after getting the tip from Alec and finding the caster beans, They too felt compelled to reach out to Sherry Ziegler in the summer of 2020.

Speaker 30 What was the reason for contacting the Zieglers?

Speaker 21 Well,

Speaker 21 it was curiosity at first.

Speaker 21 We had got the reports that there was some white substance that was spread during the burglary of the Zieglers.

Speaker 21 We'd found the castor beans. I know eventually the computer showed the recipe for the ricin.

Speaker 21 So I was very curious to find out if that substance could have possibly been, and based on what Alexander was saying, if it was possibly ricin. She said that she didn't have any of the substance.

Speaker 21 A short time later, she contacted me back

Speaker 21 directly and said that she had went through, I believe it's her socks and underwear drawer and shook everything out and sure enough, found a sample of it.

Speaker 30 Did you have any discussion with Ms.

Speaker 29 Siegler about her sending you that substance?

Speaker 17 Yeah.

Speaker 21 I told her at that point, and I didn't really know what to do with it, but I said, told her to put some gloves on, put it in a Ziploc bag, and overnight it to me.

Speaker 30 With the benefit of hindsight, how would you evaluate that decision?

Speaker 21 Yeah, that wasn't my finest thought process. We don't deal with a lot of rice in Oagrene County.

Speaker 14 I try not to laugh. It's a brief moment of levity in otherwise somber proceedings.

Speaker 14 The jury hears that the sample Sherry sent to Danny Elliott tests positive for ricin, as do subsequent subsequent samples taken from the Ziegler house.

Speaker 14 And that's pretty much the sum of the state's case, that in 2014, Corey entered the Ziegler house, stole the credit card, and left homemade ricin strewn about with the intention of killing her neighbors.

Speaker 11 Attempted homicide is you tried your best, and it didn't work.

Speaker 33 No one is putting ricin in someone's bed, in their sock drawer, in their office if you're not trying to kill them.

Speaker 33 You're not trying to have them consume a tiny amount just to get sick.

Speaker 33 There's no conceivable reason to put ricin in someone's house other than to cause their death.

Speaker 14 The bulk of the evidence the prosecutors present is the stuff the Oklahoma cops gathered.

Speaker 14 The recipes for ricin found on Corey's computers, the castor beans found in a safe, along with a receipt that proved Corey bought them years before the Ziegler incident.

Speaker 14 Honestly, we really didn't learn any new information that we didn't already know. But the defense had a different story to tell.

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Speaker 9 Featuring the iconic journalists of Variety and hosted by co-editor-in-chief, Cynthia Littleton.

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Speaker 9 With Sherry,

Speaker 9 they're really good people.

Speaker 15 And it was weird, you know, at first telling people, I'm going to go stay with Sherry and Mike.

Speaker 16 And they're like, in their house?

Speaker 15 Like, do you even know them that well?

Speaker 16 And

Speaker 15 I've talked to Sherry for five years on and off the phone, and

Speaker 18 I felt okay. I don't know.

Speaker 17 I'm

Speaker 15 goes back to the intrusive and impulsive part that I guess we talked about.

Speaker 14 Jess is staying with the Zieglers for the trial, which is exciting for her. She's part of the inner circle, gets the inside scoop.

Speaker 14 But also, it's a lot. Long hours in court, followed by emotional nights.
The uncertainty weighs heavy on all of them.

Speaker 14 Eventually, it's the defense's turn. We're all wondering if we will get to hear from Corey directly.
Will she testify, tell her story in her own words?

Speaker 14 We learn as the judge questions Corey, the answer is no.

Speaker 19 I have some questions for you,

Speaker 19 Miss Bomley Adams. Do you understand that you have both a constitutional right to testify as well as the right to not testify?

Speaker 14 Yes.

Speaker 19 Have you had the opportunity to discuss your decision on whether to testify with your lawyers? Yes. Have you had enough time to discuss your decision with your lawyers? Yes.

Speaker 19 Have you made a decision as to whether you will or will not testify? Yes, Your Honor. And what is that decision? I will not testify.

Speaker 14 Those dozen or so words are pretty much all we hear from Corey.

Speaker 14 And as her attorneys lay out their case, there's not much about Corey at all.

Speaker 19 And for the defense attorneys, we have Kathleen Chung and Luis Cuevas.

Speaker 14 They don't contest that Ricin was found inside the Ziegler's house, but they do question who placed the Ricin there and if the jury can ever really know for sure.

Speaker 20 She's been wrongly charged.

Speaker 30 She's been wrongly accused of this.

Speaker 21 She did not

Speaker 20 try to poison the Zieglers.

Speaker 14 They suggest that Corey's then-husband, Alexander Adams, had just as much access and opportunity to poison their neighbors as Corey did.

Speaker 35 The prosecution says that Corey Bomelli Adams is the only one who could have put ricin in the Ziegler's home.

Speaker 35 That is just not true.

Speaker 35 Every piece of evidence that they say points at my client points at Alexander Adams also.

Speaker 35 They say

Speaker 35 computer searches show you

Speaker 35 that my client did a lot of searches.

Speaker 35 They don't know who created those documents that the detective told you that.

Speaker 35 They don't know who visited those websites. They don't know who made bookmarks or had cookies.

Speaker 35 When asked, the district attorney said, Corey's computers.

Speaker 16 But the detective doesn't know who owns them.

Speaker 35 He doesn't know where they've been.

Speaker 35 He doesn't know who's been on them.

Speaker 14 He only knows where they were from at one moment in time.

Speaker 35 All of the rest of the information

Speaker 35 comes from Alexander Adams.

Speaker 14 Corey's lawyers focus on one specific event that they see as damning. According to emails that came out during discovery, Wisconsin had once offered Alec immunity from prosecution for his cooperation.

Speaker 14 I don't know what kinds of potential charges could even be brought against Alec, but the defense suggests that to free himself from such a liability, he might say anything now.

Speaker 14 Still, there's no evidence there was was ever a formal immunity agreement between Alec and the state. Nothing was ever signed.

Speaker 35 Alexander is bent on this, and he has pursued this from 2020 to today.

Speaker 35 And he has repeatedly told many people that Corey confessed.

Speaker 35 This is the key to this case, Alexander's report of my client's alleged confession, the central allegation here.

Speaker 35 It is the only evidence at all

Speaker 35 that puts my client in the house.

Speaker 35 Only Alexander Adams says that the substance that my client possessed was ricin.

Speaker 35 He's the only one who says that my client knew how to make ricin and that she had it and she did make it.

Speaker 17 That's only him.

Speaker 35 He's the only one who says Corey

Speaker 35 intended attempted murder and he couldn't stop saying that.

Speaker 14 In closing arguments, Corey's attorneys remind the jury that the burden is on the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Corey committed this crime, a threshold that they do not believe has been met.

Speaker 35 The state must prove that

Speaker 17 Ms.

Speaker 19 Corgomeley Bonnelly had an intent to murder

Speaker 35 Michael and Sharon Siegler

Speaker 35 and that she

Speaker 35 put that rising in acts

Speaker 35 toward the commission of murder.

Speaker 35 There is no proof of any of that.

Speaker 35 The judge will define reasonable doubt for you.

Speaker 35 This is a completely doubtful case. Would you even buy a car from Alexander Adams?

Speaker 35 Much less a house?

Speaker 35 Or trust him in a decision about something serious?

Speaker 35 This entire case depends on Alexander Adams' credibility. They can't prove she was in the house ever.

Speaker 35 They can't prove she's ever had ricin.

Speaker 35 The only person who says she's brewing ricin is Alexander.

Speaker 35 They can't even prove she disliked Zebler's much.

Speaker 14 They also bring up the question of motive.

Speaker 35 Why in the world would she want to do this?

Speaker 35 Of course there's an obvious reason to steal. She wanted money.
And apparently she lied about it when she was in Oklahoma. She lied about it here and she lied about it there.

Speaker 35 So I think it's fairly clear that there's some evidence here that she's a thief.

Speaker 6 And it seems that she, that card, she clearly used it without permission.

Speaker 35 And then she lied about it. I don't know how we get from that to murder.
That is a huge leap.

Speaker 14 On Friday, after four and a half days of testimony, the state and defense rest and the jury enters deliberations.

Speaker 14 It only took them two hours.

Speaker 14 Has the jury reached a verdict?

Speaker 36 Yes.

Speaker 19 All right, please pass the verdict envelope to the bailiff.

Speaker 19 Verdict, count one.

Speaker 19 We, the jury, find the defendant, Corey Bombley Adams, guilty of attempted first-degree intentional homicide as charged in count one of the information.

Speaker 19 Members of the jury, as to count one, is this your verdict? If it is, say yes. If it is not, say no.

Speaker 25 Verdict.

Speaker 14 Count two.

Speaker 19 We, the jury, find the defendant, Corey Bomley Adams, guilty of attempted first-degree intentional homicide as charged in count two of the information.

Speaker 14 Corey is convicted of two counts of attempted murder in the first degree, one for Sherry, one for Mike.

Speaker 14 But Jess isn't there in the courtroom to to witness it. She had left Wisconsin the night before after sitting through four days of trial.
She was exhausted.

Speaker 14 She told me she needed to get back to her family. After the verdict, I called her as quickly as I could.
Tell me what just happened.

Speaker 16 So I get a call from somebody at the courtroom that said verdict in guilty of all charges.

Speaker 36 I am so psyched. I was a little worried after some of the testimony I heard, but like, I'm really excited.
I'm so happy.

Speaker 14 Are you disappointed you weren't there to see it?

Speaker 36 Extremely, like, extremely, I'm so mad at myself for going home.

Speaker 18 I got home yesterday at like two in the morning.

Speaker 17 So I'm sad, but happy.

Speaker 36 I mean, it kind of, I mean, I guess the verdict was all that mattered.

Speaker 36 I just wish I could have looked at her, but from reports of people there, she was just like a statue, no emotion when the verdict was read at all, just completely blank.

Speaker 36 My phone is currently blowing up with people, guilty, guilty, guilty.

Speaker 17 I was like, yes, I know.

Speaker 36 Literally, as I'm talking to you, I have one, two, three, four, five, six messages all coming through. So just trying to get back to people.
And there's people in different states waiting to hear. And

Speaker 36 yeah, I'm super excited. This really worked out.

Speaker 16 I'm glad. I feel like we got some.

Speaker 36 It's like our first step in getting justice for Telena.

Speaker 18 This is really like the first part of it.

Speaker 36 I feel like this is like the beginning steps of it, so it makes me happy.

Speaker 14 I reached out to Sherry Ziegler, too, to ask if she wanted to share her reaction to Corey's guilty verdict. But she passed.

Speaker 14 She said the verdict is what she hoped for, and now she just wants to put this experience behind her.

Speaker 14 Meanwhile, Jess keeps looking forward. Corey's sentencing hearing is scheduled for August.
She faces up to 60 years per charge.

Speaker 14 And then, if all goes as planned, Corey will be sent back to Oklahoma to stand trial for the murder of Talina Czar.

Speaker 15 It's not that I'm not invested in sharing Mike's case, because I am, but the Talina case is where I think my heart is kind of at. I think that one's going to be a lot more...

Speaker 15 Oh my god, this is finally happening than this one is.

Speaker 14 Jess had always planned on going going to Oklahoma to attend the murder trial, but she's wavered recently, having a bit of a crisis of confidence.

Speaker 14 In the month since the final episode of the podcast came out, Jess told me she'd been affected by some of the negative comments she'd read online.

Speaker 15 I don't want to get emotional, but

Speaker 15 I struggle with some of the Reddit stuff and some of the shitty comments people are saying that I'm intrusive and narcissistic. And because I second guess, I'm self-aware.

Speaker 15 I know sometimes it doesn't sound like it here, but I am.

Speaker 14 But because of the podcast, Jess also recently connected with Talina's sister, Cheryl.

Speaker 14 Over the phone, Cheryl told Jess she was grateful for all of her work and she passed along a similar message from Talina's mom.

Speaker 15 Knowing that they think it's okay

Speaker 17 made this better for me.

Speaker 6 I was actually

Speaker 15 after reading some of that stuff. I'm like, I should just stop doing this, like, finish recording with Melissa and just drop everything and never talk about it again.

Speaker 15 And when she was like, no, never stop talking about it, I was like,

Speaker 17 then

Speaker 15 I'll do it for them and for her.

Speaker 14 What Happened to Talenazar is a production of iHeart Podcasts. It's written, reported, and hosted by me, Melissa Geltson, with writing and story editing by Lauren Hansen.

Speaker 14 Our executive producer is Ryan Murdoch. For iHeart Podcasts, executive producers are Jason English and Carl Cadel.
Zoe Denkla is our associate producer. Jeremy Thal is our editor.

Speaker 14 Original music by Aaron Kaufman with additional music by Jeremy Thal and Gideon Crevichet.

Speaker 14 Additional sound recording by Nicholas Bartel and Tony Bublitz.

Speaker 14 Special thanks to the staff at the Dane County Courthouse.

Speaker 14 Episodes are mixed and mastered by Carl Cadel. Our logo is designed by Ido Moore.

Speaker 14 Thanks so much for listening.

Speaker 1 This is an iHeart podcast.