Aleida takes you into the courtroom in the most compelling, gripping, and unforgettable trials. She is inside the courtroom from start to finish and is passionate about bringing you all of the details and legal analysis straight from the trial.
As 35-year-old Kellen Winslow II’s rape trial began in a San Diego courtroom, he faced the five women in a 12-count consolidated criminal case against him, searing charges holding a potential life sentence. Kidnapping and rape of a 54-year-old hitchhiker, rape of a 59-year-old homeless woman he had befriended, rape of an unconscious 17-year-old at a house party (when Kellen Jr. was a 19-year-old college student), indecent exposure to a 57-year-old neighbor gardening in her front yard, and lewd acts before a 77-year-old woman at a gym. Ugly charges to be sure, but were they true? And how had it come to this?
As the trial delved into shocking facts, complicated legal issues, and unexpected twists and turns, attorney, true crime writer, and legal analyst Aleida K. Wahn was there for every minute. She now takes you beyond the headlines and shares the extraordinary details of what really happened in a page-turning account. Was Kellen Winslow II a depraved, sexual predator, preying on the most vulnerable of women as the prosecution contended? Or was consent freely given and claims cruelly fabricated by opportunistic women seeking financial gain from a wealthy superstar as the defense maintained? Were the elderly women simply mistaken about identity and to what had truly transpired? Did overzealous law enforcement and nonstop media coverage contribute in some way to false claims? You will find out the answers and more as Aleida takes you inside the courtroom in this unbelievable and unforgettable trial.
Did the spouses in the first three cases choose the deadliest way out of unhappy marriages or was there more to the story? Was divorce not enough for Diana Lovejoy? Did she hire her firearms instructor and sometime lover to kill her soon to be ex-husband? Or were the two simply trying to save Diana’s young son from abuse?
Did Julie Harper kill her husband in self-defense after revealing to him for the very first time she filed for divorce after enduring years of abuse? Or was her story all a lie and she killed him intentionally as the prosecution contended?
Did 38-year-old mother, Maria Elena Guzman, whose three daughters were her life, decide one night to just walk away from them forever? Or did her husband kill her after she decided she was done with his endless philandering and was kicking him out of the family home? Did he get away with murder?
In the Brian Hancock story, a murder case without a body goes to trial. But can you prove murder without that body? And what happens to the case when the body of Peter Bentz is suddenly discovered during the trial? Should the jury be told this stunning news or not? Find out what a judge decided.
In the last case, police suspected crime lab analyst Kevin Brown of murder after his DNA was found in a cold case homicide. How had his DNA gotten there? Was the simple answer the case was one of accidental cross-contamination, attributed to shocking lab practices of long-ago days, which detectives refused to believe? Did their conduct ultimately push Kevin Brown to suicide? Had detectives driven a gentle, loving husband over the edge with a reckless investigation and claims he was responsible for the rape and murder of a beautiful 14-year-girl? Did the police go too far?
As Aleida K. Wahn takes you inside the courtroom, you will learn the details and more. Then you can decide the truth for yourself in these cases we cannot forget.
Did little two-year-old Jahi Turner vanish from a San Diego park or was he killed by his stepfather and “thrown away in the trash like garbage” as the prosecution contended? And why did it take 14 years to charge this cold case? Yet after two long decades the most haunting question of all still remains: Will Jahi ever be found?
What really happened to beautiful Rebecca Zahau, who was found hanging by a noose from a second story balcony of an historic mansion? Her body was nude, making the red rope wrapped around her neck, and binding her arms behind her back and feet, even more prominent. A blue t-shirt was wrapped around her neck and a gag placed harshly in her mouth. Her death was ruled a suicide, a decision her family would never accept. Yet even after a civil jury verdict, the horrifying and bizarre details continue the never-ending debate: Was it murder or suicide?
In January of 1998 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe was found murdered in her own bedroom. Who killed this beloved child in the dark of night? Unbelievably, Stephanie’s teenage brother and his two friends were initially charged after coerced confessions were elicited through fierce police interrogations. But when Stephanie’s blood was found on the clothes of transient Richard Tuite, the case took a whole new turn, culminating in two trials and opposing verdicts.
Then there are the cases that haunt because sudden and senseless deaths seemingly could have been avoided. Though the trials revealed what happened, the searing question of why remains. Could someone have intervened before it was too late? Were signs missed?
In the Regina Johnson case, Regina killed her husband, but did she kill the daughter she so loved? Regina was a loving mother who descended into paranoia and delusions. Could more help have been offered?
In the Salvador Sanchez trial, why did a recent high school graduate, who had spent months fully immersed in his church group and filled with a faith he was eager to share, take the life of his best friend? Was he legally insane?
In the last case, was Navy Petty Officer Richard Sepolio under the influence of alcohol when his truck plunged off the Coronado Bridge killing four and seriously injuring many? Read why the trial was so emotionally charged and the ultimate conclusion so shocking.
As Aleida K. Wahn takes you inside the courtroom, you will learn the details and more in these haunting trials we can never forget.
As the long dark night at last gave way to the morning light, the terrible discovery was made. Buried beneath a pile of cardboard boxes and discarded trash was the still body of Tom Merriman. This discovery was made even more shocking as Tom Merriman was found in his own driveway, his body overlooked again and again by the officers tasked with finding him. He had been there all along.
It was 7:00 a.m. on January 2, 2021. The search which had begun almost 24 hours before was now over. Tom was lying on his right side, covered with blankets, still clad in pajamas from his recent hospital stay. Tom Merriman was only 64 years old and the co-founder of the beautiful and educational Butterfly Farms in Encinitas, California. He was known as a nurturer of living things, a man one with nature. What could have led to this moment? Who could have done this? And why?
According to the prosecution, it was Tom’s own stepdaughter, Jade Sasha Janks, who plotted Tom’s death after finding nude photographs of herself on Tom’s computer. It was a horrifying revelation. Why would Tom Merriman possess such photographs of his own stepdaughter? And did this unthinkable discovery really lead Jade to murder? At the time of Tom’s death, Jade was 37 years old but had met Tom as a teen when he married Jade’s mother.
The prosecution assured that it did, firmly pronouncing it was Jade alone who dosed Tom with his own medications, put a plastic bag over his head, and then strangled him with her own hands. She had planned to have him found in his bed, designed to look like an overdose. Yet the defense countered it was Tom Merriman himself who made his own cocktail of pills while still having other prescription drugs within his system and fighting ill health. Tom was an alcoholic, abuser of prescription drugs, took narcotics to sleep, and suffered from an extensive list of medical problems. Jade Janks loved her stepfather, was the only one who took care of him, and would never have harmed him, they proclaimed. With these dueling sides, what was a jury to decide?
As the murder trial of Jade Janks began in a San Diego courtroom, attorney, true crime writer, and legal analyst Aleida K. Wahn was there for every minute. She now takes you into the courtroom and beyond the salacious headlines to reveal what really happened, detailing it all, from the shocking facts to the dramatic end. What surprising evidence was discovered? What did the medical examiner not find? What did the witnesses say? Were the two people who claimed Jade confessed speaking the gospel truth or were they merely out to save themselves? Who could be believed?
You will find out the answers and more, as Aleida K. Wahn takes you into this gripping and unbelievable trial. Then you can decide for yourself whether forbidden photos led to a deadly revenge.
On February 1, 2021, Jesse Milton Alvarez rose at dawn, and according to the prosecution he was ready to complete a deadly mission. It had been one year and five months since his girlfriend had left him. He had tried everything to win her back, but she was gone. It was a fact he could not accept. When his actions moved into stalking, she sought help from the court and took all measures to protect herself. Now she was in love with another, engaged to be married. Was it just too much for him to bear?
As Jesse Alvarez waited silently outside the new fiancé’s home in North Park, San Diego, lives were about to change forever. It was 6:15 a.m. Just after 7:00 a.m. Mario Fierro, a beloved 37-year-old teacher and coach at Cathedral Catholic High School, emerged, and began packing his car for the day. Jesse approached, and gunfire soon erupted, seven shots in total, leaving Mario Fierro dead on the ground.
But what transpired between the two before the deadly shots rang out? Was it a premeditated ambush as the prosecution claimed? Did Jesse Alvarez see Mario Fierro as his arch nemesis, so filled with burning jealousy he had to destroy him? Or was it the ultimate revenge against his ex-girlfriend, to kill the person she most loved and to take away her dream of a happy marriage? Or was the story entirely different? An act of self-defense or imperfect self-defense as Jesse’s attorneys argued to a jury.
As the murder trial of Jesse Alvarez began in a San Diego courtroom, attorney, true crime writer, and legal analyst Aleida K. Wahn was there for every minute. She now takes you into the courtroom to examine the shocking details of this tragic case, from the unexpected breakup to Jesse’s deep descent into obsession, and to the devastating end.
Find out why a judge only 13 months before the fatal shooting denied Amy Gembara’s request for a restraining order. Was Jesse Alvarez just that persuasive that he could convince a judge he posed no threat? Or was it an error? Although a restraining order cannot stop a person bent on destruction, had the restraining order been granted Jesse Alvarez would not legally been permitted to purchase a firearm. Could that have prevented Mario Fierro’s death? Were other signs missed? Could there have been intervention before it was too late?
You will find out the answers and more as Aleida K. Wahn takes you inside the courtroom in this searing case of deadly obsession.