WEBVTT
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To listen ad free, visit sinspod dot com slash subscribe
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starting at two ninety nine a month. You'll also get
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Hi, and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas
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true crime podcast where we cover cases that deal with
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domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases.
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I'm your host Sean.
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And I'm your co host John.
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In part one of our flashback episode about Debbie Flores Narvaez,
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we left off with Debbie still missing and her Panic
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sister Celeste staying here in Las Vegas over the holidays
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to search for her. In Part two, the search for
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Debbie heats up and the reality of what happened to
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her is discovered by Metro Police. One of the key
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breaks in the case came from someone who we called
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Jessica in this episode to protect her identity. At the
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time we recorded, we and a lot of other people
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were under the impression that she was just an ex
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girlfriend of blues.
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Since then, though, the news media have shared her identity why,
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and We've decided to share it here too. In the flashback,
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her real name is Calai Casorso, and at the end
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of the episode we'll explain more about how deeply entangled
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with Blue she really was. The case was shocking, but
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so was what we eventually learned about Calay. But for now,
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here's our remastered original coverage of Part two of The
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Last Dance.
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In part one of Debbie's story, her star was on
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the rise. The dance number she had poured her heart
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into was about to debut on the Vegas Strip. Debbie
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had worked tirelessly for months and built the performance from
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the ground up. Her friends and family were concerned when
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Debbie missed the final rehearsals, and they knew something was
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horribly wrong when she never showed up for opening night.
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Las Vegas Metro had questioned her on again, off again
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boyfriend Jason Griffith, who was likely the last person to
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have seen Debbie before her disappearance. He cooperated with the police,
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but his history of domestic violence incidents had the Las
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Vegas community on edge.
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Where was Debbie? Hi?
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And Welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true
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crime podcast where we focus on cases that deal with
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domestic violence.
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I'm your host, Sean, and I'm your co host John.
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Thanks for joining us for part two of Debbie's story.
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If you haven't had a chance yet to listen to
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part one, we recommend you go give that a listen
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now before diving in here. When we left off on
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part one, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department didn't have
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any new leads on Debbie's disappearance and they needed someone
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to come forward with information. Debbie was last seen on
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December twelfth, twenty ten. Debbie's car was found two days later,
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abandoned with no plates. Debbie's phone and computer were inside
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and untouched since December twelfth, but nothing on in or
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around the car offered any answers as to where Debbie
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had gone or what had happened to Her roommate said
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that she left their condo on December twelfth planning to
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go watch the Dexter finale with her boyfriend, Jason. Jason
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said he did see her briefly that night, but stated
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she had gone to hang out with friends, and he
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told police that she may have been considering ending her
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life because she was distraught over their breakup. Celese, Debbie's sister,
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had forgne spending the holidays with her two young children instead.
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She felt she had no choice but to spend the
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holidays in Vegas searching for Debbie. Celeus was quoted by
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Channel eight News Now saying, I don't get to see
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my kids, I don't get to see her, I don't
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get to be with my family. It's just another day
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for me. It's not Christmas, even my book. My family's incomplete,
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and I'm just trying to put them back together again.
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On January fifth, the police received the tip they were
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looking for a witness had information relevant to the case
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and wanted to speak to detectives. The witness chose to
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approach a friend of hers who had a connection to
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a Metro Police officer, who then brought the information to
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the lead detective on the case. It's a little bit
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of a game of telephone for reasons that will become
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clear in a minute. The witness who were going to
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call Jessica was an ex girlfriend of Jason's. The two
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of them remained friendly although they had broken up. I
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want to add that this person is yet another girl
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friend of Jason's that he was dating while he was
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dating Debbie, and while he was also married. Do we
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mention that yes, we discovered Jason was actually married this
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whole time. He was married in Reno in two thousand
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and six. According to Jessica, on December fourteenth, Jason called
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her and asked if it was okay for him to
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store something at her house for a little while while
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he was getting ready to move to a new place.
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She told him that it would be fine if she
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had the room. She was shocked when he pulled up
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to her house with a huge U haul because she
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wasn't expecting to store a lot of items for him.
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Jessica said, Jason wasn't alone. His roommate Lewis Colombo was
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with him. When they opened the U haul, there was
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just one item inside a large blue plastic storage tub.
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The tub didn't have a lid on it, and it
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was filled with a gray substance that she was sure
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was concrete. The concrete was bumpy on the top and
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the tub was bulging out a little on one side. Jessica,
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of course, was confused and was thinking, like, what's going
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on here. She decided to ask Jason what's in that tub.
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According to Jessica, Jason hesitated before he told her. His
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demeanor was are you sure you want to know? And
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finally he told her Debbie is in there. Jessica was
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horrified and terrified and told him to get the tub
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the fuck out of here. Jason and Lewis left with
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the truck, and Jessica did not contact the police right
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away because she was scared that whatever had happened to
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Debbie could happen to her. Jessica had decided to speak
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to a friend who had a connection to the police
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department so she could feel safe in making this anonymous tip.
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The police followed up on the tip by going to
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U haul rental locations close to Jason's house. They checked
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the rental agreements and surveillance footage and discovered that Jason
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and Lewis had rented a U haul truck with two
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utility dollies around eleven am on December fourteenth. The truck
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was returned outside of normal business hours very early in
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the morning of December sixteen. Jason and Lewis were seen
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on surveillance video leaving the keys to the truck in
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the dropbox. The rental truck had a GPS inside it
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that allowed the police to track the movements of the
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U Haul during the rental period. It had been parked
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overnight on December fourteenth at a Flying J truck stop
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location in Vegas. This was particularly important because it connected
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to another piece of evidence that the police had collected
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back in December but had not revealed to the press,
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her family or to the news media. On December twenty second,
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the police had executed a search warrant of Jason's home
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and recovered a receipt from a Flying J truck stop
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that showed the purchase of sponges and bleach made on
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December fifteenth.
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On January seventh, twenty eleven, Jason's roommate Lewis, was interviewed
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by homicide detectives. Lewis agreed to talk so long as
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he would be immune from arrest in prosecution. The police
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agreed to Lewis's conditions, probably because the police aren't the
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ones that make the deals the district attorneys due, but
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in any event, Lewis was reassured and he gave his statement.
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According to lu Leuis, Debbie did come to his in
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Jason's house on the evening of December twelfth to watch Dexter,
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as Debbie had told her roommate she was going to do.
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Later that evening, Debbie and Jason got into an argument,
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and Jason grabbed Debbie by the throat and began strangling her.
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According to the police report, Lewis quote had to pull
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Griffith off of Flora's narvaez because he was choking her
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with his hands around her neck. Lewis broke up the
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fight and was able to get the two of them
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to calm down. He had to leave the apartment around
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eight twenty pm to meet up with his girlfriend. He
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said that at ten thirty pm he received a text
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from Jason that said not to bring his girlfriend back
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to the house. When Lewis got back home, Jason met
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him at the front door and told him this was
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a changer diaper moment.
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Lewis entered the house and saw Debbie lying on the
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floor with a plastic bag on her face. Lewis went
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to the bathroom and threw up, and when he returned
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he could tell that Debbie was dead. She wasn't breathing,
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and she was cold to the touch. According to Louis,
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Jason then to told him that Debbie head said that
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her throat was hurting and she wanted to call for
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an ambulance. That was when Jason grabbed her from behind
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and choked her until she died. Lewis explained how he
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and Jason discussed what to do with Debbie's body. They
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purchased a tub and concrete, mixed up the concrete in
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their garage, bit Debbie's body into the tub, and encased
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her in the concrete. The combined weight of the filled
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tub was seven hundred pounds. Lewis confirmed the details that
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Jessica had shared. Louis and Jason rented the U haul
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and the dollies and brought the tub to Jessica's house,
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but she refused to let them store the tub there.
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They had also attempted to store the tub at an
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undisclosed building, but were unable to move it to the
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second floor, probably because it weighed seven hundred pounds. They
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then parked the U haul truck at the Flying J
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truck stop overnight. The next day, Jason got the keys
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to a house that belonged to some friends who were
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out of the country. Lewis brought the tub to that
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house by himself and noticed that it had started leaking
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when he moved it into the house. He ended up
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leaving it there for a few days.
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This next part of what Lewis told the police is
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particularly gruesome and horrifying. Jason and Lewis went to Walmart
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to purchase additional tubs, tools, and concrete. They returned to
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the house where Lewis had left the tub and chiseled
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Debbi out of the concrete, dismembered her, and placed her
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in two separate tubs, and once again covered her with concrete.
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They placed the tubs in a closet of the house
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and sealed the door shut with spray foam insulation. They
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gathered up their tools and sealed those inside of a
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different closet in the house. They left the broken pieces
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of concrete and the blue bin on the floor of
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the living room. Lewis told the police where to find
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the house. The police obtained a search warrant, and when
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they entered the home, they found the broken concrete pieces,
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the blue bin, and the sealed up closets, just as
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Lewis had described, and in one of the closets were
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the two bins containing Debbie's remains. The police also conducted
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further investigation into Jason. They discovered that in November of
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twenty ten, a friend of Jason's had reported to the
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North Las Vegas Police Department that Jason had sent him
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a text that indicated that Jason was contemplating ending his
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own life. The police did a welfare check on Jason,
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and they placed him on a legal two thousand hold,
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which gives the police a medical professionals the ability to
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hold a person who's in a mental health crisis in
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a mental health treatment facility for up to seventy two hours.
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Jason was brought to a hospital and released a short
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time later. Another ex girlfriend of Jason's came forward to
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the police and said that on December seventh or eighth
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of twenty ten, Jason had texted her and asked her
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if she knew where he could get a gun. She
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did not know what he wanted the gun for.
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On January eighth, twenty eleven, the police stopped Jason as
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he was leaving work at the Love Show around eleven
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fifty pm. They told him he wasn't under arrest, but
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they wanted to ask some more questions about Debbie's disappearance.
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He agreed to talk to them, but he commented that
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they hadn't read him his miranda rights. The officers read
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him his rights, and Jason signed a card acknowledging that
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that had happened and that he understood he was waiving
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his right to an attorney and his right to remain silent.
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Jason said that he didn't have anything to do with
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Debbie's death. He denied that he killed her on purpose
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or accidentally. He was questioned about the U haul, and
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he admitted to renting it, but he told the police
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that he needed the U haul to pick up a
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punching bag, stand and other workout equipment from a friend,
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although he wouldn't say who the friend was or where
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they lived. The officers then tried asking Jason about Debbie's
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body and some of the details Lewis had given them,
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but Jason refused to answer those questions without his attorney present.
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Police placed Jason under arrest and transported him to the
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Clark County Detention Center. While he was being transported, Jason
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allegedly said to the police officer that Debbie's death quote
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was not a premeditated thing, and quote it was a
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heat of the moment thing. He explained that he thought
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Debbie had a gun and that she had attacked him.
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According to the police report, the officer responded to Jason
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that no one was going to believe that. Jason said
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that Debbie had quote forced him to do what he did.
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The police report also stated that Jason had said that
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he did all the amateur stuff. Afterwards, January eleventh, the
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coroner ruled Debbie's death was a homicide and that she
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had died from asphyxiation. Jason was arraigned on January twelfth
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on charges of murder. He pleaded not guilty and was
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hauled without bail. During the arraignment, Celeste, who was of
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course present, made headlines when she justifiably screamed with Jason
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when she saw him, she shouted from the back of
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the courtroom, I hope you rotten hell, you fucking asshole,
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for what you did to her, You fucking asshole. I
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hope you rotten hell. I hope you rotten hell. According
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to reporting from ABC Channel thirteen, Celeste later told the press,
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I guess I just kind of blacked out and said it.
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Very few people know what Celeste was feeling that day,
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but I can't imagine anyone blaming her for reacting like that.
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In the midst of all this pain, Celess and her
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family started a fund for survivors of domestic violence. As
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Celeste said, quote, it's really extremely important for women to
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understand that they don't have to deal with this, that
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they can talk to somebody, they don't have to be afraid.
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The funds raised were given to the Shade Tree, a
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shelter for women and children in Las Vegas.
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Originally, Jason's trial was filed on February ninth, twenty eleven,
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for Debbie's murder and was set to start on November
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twenty eighth, twenty eleven. Due to various legal arguments in wrangling,
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the trial didn't start until May fifth, twenty fourteen, presided
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over by Judge Kathleen Delaney. That might seem like a
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00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:21.039
long time, and that's because it's a very long time.
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But there were a litany of motions, according to court documents,
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on both sides, that delayed the start of the trial,
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such as a motion from the defense attorney Abel Janez
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to delay and give them more time to prepare because
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there was allegedly some evidence on a hard drive that
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00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:39.240
the defense was trying to locate. A motion from the
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00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:43.159
defense to run an NCIIC National Crime Information Center check,
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which is basically a criminal background check on Debbie to
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00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:50.519
prove their assertion that she was violent. This one failed,
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00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:53.960
and a motion to suppress the statements that Jason gave
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to the police in the police car on the way
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to jail. This one also did not succeed. The court
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00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:02.279
ruled that this was relevant and missible. Specifically, Jason said
284
00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:04.679
that the murder was not a premeditated thing and it
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00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:08.399
was in the heat of the moment. The trial lasted
286
00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:13.440
about two weeks. The way prosecutor Mark DiGiacomo presented the
287
00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:17.399
case was that Jason had choked Debbie and asphyxiated her
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00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.799
with a plastic bag because she was standing in the
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00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.879
way of his relationship with Anye Rue. He said that
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00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.519
Jason had stoked and amplified Debbie's frustration by lying often
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00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:30.600
about his monogamy and pulled away from her after accompanying
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00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:32.759
her to the abortion clinic in May of twenty ten,
293
00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:35.639
only to reel her back in by offering her a
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00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:38.039
gift as an olive branch on her thirty first birthday
295
00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:41.399
in July. One of the constants in the relationship was
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00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.799
that they were off and on, broken up and together
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00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:46.120
over and over, and the times were aware of it.
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Was Jason initiating the reconciliation.
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00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.000
We also want to note that Lewis was never charged
300
00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:56.120
with any crime connected to Debbie's death or the subsequent
301
00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:59.159
events that he took after her death to conceal her body.
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00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:02.279
He did testify at trial to most of the facts
303
00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:05.759
we've already told you here. Jajacomo also claimed that Jason
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00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:08.519
had become depressed and suicidal between his arrests for domestic
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00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:11.639
violence on October twenty second, as we mentioned last week,
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00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:14.360
and his thirty first birthday December tenth, which would have
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00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:17.879
been two days before Debbie disappeared. This isn't much of
308
00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:19.600
a stretch when you think about the fact that in
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00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:22.399
November of twenty ten, the police transported and held him
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00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:26.279
on that legal two thousand hold we mentioned. During the trial,
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00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:29.919
prosecution called one medical expert who testified that it might
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00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:32.879
have only taken seconds for Debbi to become unconscious, but
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00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.519
the death would have taken much longer. They also called
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00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:38.399
the medical examiner, and as you might expect, he testified
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00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:41.679
that her autopsy was the worst he had ever completed.
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00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:44.919
I can't imagine how horrific that autopsy must have been,
317
00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:48.960
given what Jason did to Debbie post mortem. It's incredibly horrific.
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00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.960
The prosecution also included surveillance video of Jason and Lewis
319
00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:56.000
buying the plastic tubs and concrete at home depot, and
320
00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:58.000
of course, the footage of them renting the U haul
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00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:01.120
and Dolly's on December fourteenth, along with the receipts for
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00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:05.000
sponges and bleach. He told the jury, you're not allowed
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00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.200
to hold onto a woman's neck for ten minutes and
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have it not be first degree murder. Essentially, he's saying
325
00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:13.080
that at some point Jason crossed the threshold into premeditation.
326
00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:16.879
As we talked about a few weeks ago, being strangled
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00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.639
takes seconds, but being strangled to death takes much longer.
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00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:22.039
And if it wasn't in the heat of the moment,
329
00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.320
why wouldn't he just let go? They pointed out that
330
00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:27.919
while he was claiming this was done in self defense,
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00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.840
which contradicts the heat of the moment claim. By the way,
332
00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:33.480
he also claimed that he had called the police many
333
00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.320
times on Debbie. Why wouldn't he call the police this time?
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00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:40.399
There was a lot of evidence here, both circumstantial and direct.
335
00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:44.519
On December twenty second, twenty ten, when Detective Dan Long
336
00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:47.399
interviewed Jason again. He made up a story about two
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00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.279
previous partners who might have wanted to harm her. Jason
338
00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:52.840
spun the police a tale about how Debbie was contemplating
339
00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.200
ending her own life because she was distraught about the
340
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:58.519
breakup of their relationship, and he told detectives to go
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00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:01.399
look for her near the over pass at Windmill and
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00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.400
the two fifteen Beltway. We lived just a few miles
343
00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:07.039
from there, and two of the corners of that intersection
344
00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:09.799
are strip malls. One of them is a medical building too,
345
00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:12.880
and the other two are on a very busy running
346
00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:14.960
trail that I have spent a lot of time on.
347
00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.680
That's the two fifteen trail. I've run that thing many times,
348
00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:20.759
and I can't think of a location where a body
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00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:23.440
wouldn't be found right away. It was a lot less
350
00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:27.240
populated and busy in twenty eleven, but still he claimed
351
00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:30.880
that again on December twelfth, he had only a brief
352
00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:33.000
interaction with Debbie and that she didn't get out of
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00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.440
her car. He said they talked and she drove away
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00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.160
and vanished without a trace. Note that on the date
355
00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:40.839
of this interview, December twenty second, that's the day that
356
00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:44.359
Metro executed a search warrant on Jason's house and recovered
357
00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:46.400
receipts for Sponges and bleach.
358
00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:50.839
The defense attorneys were Abel Yannas and Jeff Banks. The
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00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:54.160
case they presented involved four days of testimony from Jason
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00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.519
testifying that Debbie's death was self defense. He said that
361
00:17:57.519 --> 00:17:59.480
he grabbed her from behind with his arms around her
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00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:01.680
neck when he thought she was reaching for a purse
363
00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:05.880
that may have contained a gun. As it turned out,
364
00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:08.799
there was no gun, and there was no testimony from
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00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:11.799
anyone that Debbie knew that she had ever owned a gun,
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00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:14.839
nor had she ever attempted to buy a gun or
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00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:15.599
borrow a gun.
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00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:19.440
It also occurs to me that this argument makes no sense.
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00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:22.079
I'm imagining a situation where someone has their back to
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00:18:22.119 --> 00:18:24.039
me and I think they're reaching for a purse that
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00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:26.960
might have a gun in it. He said that he
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00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:29.000
grabbed her by the neck, but that doesn't sound logical
373
00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:30.720
to me. If you think about someone going for a gun,
374
00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:33.319
why wouldn't you knock them down or tackle them. Holding
375
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:35.759
their neck might not prevent them from reaching that gun
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00:18:35.880 --> 00:18:38.160
if it exists, and threatening you with it. None of
377
00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:39.359
it passes the smell test.
378
00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:42.960
To me, I agree. He also said that after she died,
379
00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:45.160
he panicked and asked his roommate Lewis to help dispose
380
00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:48.519
the body. This is also strange because for someone who
381
00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.079
is panicking, he certainly came over with a plan, given
382
00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.720
the links he went to in order to hie Debbie's body.
383
00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:56.240
There's also the fact that she had the plastic bag
384
00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:59.079
on her head. Jason claimed he had put that plastic
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00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:01.000
pag on her head to see if she was still breathing.
386
00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:05.400
To Jacomo also pointed out that the self defense claim
387
00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:09.000
was an obvious fabrication, because if it were true, Jason
388
00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:11.319
would have stopped choking her when she was unconscious and
389
00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:13.799
or rendered some kind of aid or called an ambulance.
390
00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:17.240
Jason made quite a few claims during his four days
391
00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:20.039
on the witness stands, such as he claimed that Debbie
392
00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:22.799
told him she was pregnant. He said that the fight
393
00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:26.359
escalated after she told him this and demanded that he'd
394
00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:29.160
break up with Anye and devote his full attention to her.
395
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.119
The autopsy showed she was not pregnant. This argument appears
396
00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:37.359
to have been a big misfire, though on cross examination
397
00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:40.839
by de Jacomo, the DA insinuated that if this was true,
398
00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:44.039
perhaps Jason killed her because she and her pregnancy would
399
00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:46.720
have hurt his relationship with Anye, or that he killed
400
00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:49.039
her to head off another domestic violence charge that would
401
00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:52.480
ruin his career. Jason claimed that on the night of
402
00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.960
the murder, Debbie told him that she had slashed his
403
00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:57.559
tires before coming into the house and that she had
404
00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:02.160
brought it with her it presumed being the gun because
405
00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.319
she was going to kill him and then kill herself.
406
00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:08.359
These arguments make no sense. For one, Lewis was home
407
00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:12.680
the whole time, and Jason never called the police for
408
00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:16.039
help that night when he had in the past when
409
00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:20.119
she was allegedly being aggressive with him. But most of all,
410
00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:23.200
why would Debbie do that the night before the biggest
411
00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:27.319
break in her career that she'd been working towards for months.
412
00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.440
It got even worse for Jason. The DA pointed out
413
00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:34.200
that after the murder, Jason had claimed that he was
414
00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.720
not in possession of Debbie's phone because it had been
415
00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:40.640
dumped in the neighborhood near his house. However, the GPS
416
00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:43.359
data pulled from the phone indicated that it had been
417
00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:46.200
near the New York New York Hotel where Anye's show
418
00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:50.359
Zumanity was. Jason also claimed that a threatening letter had
419
00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:52.319
been left on his car in which Debbie threatened to
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00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:55.519
kill him. The problem here was that there were also
421
00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.400
text messages between him and Lewis, proving that Lewis had
422
00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:03.440
written the note, not Debbie. Regardless, though Jason's overarching defense
423
00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:05.960
is that he killed her in self defense. The defense
424
00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.119
spent a lot of energy portraying Debbie as volatile and violent,
425
00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.680
and submitted a document to the court in which they
426
00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:14.599
claimed to have access to four prior partners who had
427
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.799
testified to her violence. Anye was also called as a witness.
428
00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.200
She testified that she had broken up with Jason in
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00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:23.960
the fall of twenty ten after finding out about his
430
00:21:24.039 --> 00:21:26.640
various incidents of cheating on her, like sleeping with two
431
00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:29.319
other members of the Love Show. She was apparently under
432
00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:31.799
the impression she was in a monogamous relationship with him
433
00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:34.480
and thought Debbie was just out of control harassing and
434
00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.440
stalking Jason. She thought they had broken up in May
435
00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:40.319
and didn't know they got back together around Debbie's birthday.
436
00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:43.920
She did tell the court, however, that she told Jason
437
00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:45.519
that she would get back together with him if he
438
00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:48.519
broke up with Debbie, which seems to bolster the prosecution's
439
00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:50.079
claim that Debbie was getting in the way of his
440
00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:52.920
relationship with her. I mentioned a minute ago that there
441
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:56.279
were text messages proving that the death threat notes that
442
00:21:56.279 --> 00:21:59.039
Debbie had allegedly written were actually written by Lewis. This
443
00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:02.200
came out during Anye's cross examination, and it was reported
444
00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:04.799
that when she learned this from the DA as she
445
00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:09.039
was being cross examined, Anye gave Jason quite a meaningful stare.
446
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.240
There was another thing that Aanye said that was very telling.
447
00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.000
When she was asked if she thought Jason was suicidal,
448
00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:18.559
she replied that she did not think he was suicidal,
449
00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:20.559
just that he was a great actor.
450
00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:25.640
On May twenty second, twenty fourteen, after the two week trial,
451
00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:29.519
Jason was found guilty of second degree murder. The prosecution
452
00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.440
had been hoping for a verdict of first degree murder,
453
00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:34.680
while the defense wanted it to be voluntary manslaughter. The
454
00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:38.039
sentencing hearing was two months later, on January twenty third,
455
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.920
and it lasted about an hour. During his censing hearing,
456
00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:44.559
Jason pled for mercy from the court, saying that he
457
00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:47.839
had reached out for help to the police fourteen times,
458
00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.559
and he hoped that she, the judge, would find it
459
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:54.480
in her to give him some help. Finally, the judge,
460
00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.759
who was unswayed, did not mince words, saying, the responsibility
461
00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:02.319
for this toxic and aultimately tragic relationship continuing as long
462
00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:06.039
as it did is entirely yours. During their year long
463
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:10.319
on and again off again relationship, Jason had many opportunities
464
00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:13.640
to walk away, but he always went back, the judge said,
465
00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:16.240
and for no other reason that I can discern from
466
00:23:16.279 --> 00:23:19.599
whatever was discussed at trial. The only reason I can
467
00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:26.559
see was to satisfy your own narcissistic predisposition. Jason was
468
00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:29.240
given the maximum sentence for second degree murder, a life
469
00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:32.240
sentence with the possibility of parole, with a minimum sentence
470
00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:35.400
of ten years. His first parole hearing was in twenty twenty.
471
00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:38.240
Because he had credit for almost four years served, his
472
00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:40.960
parole was denied and his next parle opportunity is in
473
00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:45.039
twenty twenty six. Jason appealed to his conviction to the
474
00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:47.759
Nevada Supreme Court, which ruled on it in twenty sixteen.
475
00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:51.319
There were several aspects to his appeal, including claims that
476
00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:54.160
his right to avoid self incrimination was violated because he
477
00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:56.880
was forced to present evidence at trial on the topic
478
00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:59.519
of his claims of self defense, claims that his right
479
00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:03.519
to counsel were violated, claims that several pieces of evidence
480
00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:08.119
that were not allowed should have been, claims of prosecutorial misconduct,
481
00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:10.799
and claims that the court failed to address jury questions
482
00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:14.119
presented to them. The Nevada Supreme Court did not find
483
00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:18.039
any of the allegations warranted them, overturning his conviction.
484
00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:22.319
In twenty twenty three, Jason appealed again on the grounds
485
00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.920
of ineffective assistance of council. He pointed to fifteen different
486
00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:28.839
examples where he claimed that his council was ineffective and
487
00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:31.720
all the points were denied. For example, he claimed that
488
00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.359
his council failed to bring in a choke expert as
489
00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:36.559
a part of his self defense claim to discuss how
490
00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:39.680
he had choked Debbie in an evidentiary hearing. His council
491
00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:42.200
said that they were concerned that testimony about the length
492
00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:44.400
of time he would have had to have strangled Debbi
493
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:47.920
would have made a first degree murder conviction much more likely,
494
00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:50.880
and that's why they didn't pursue it. Debbie was laid
495
00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:53.839
to rest in Puerto Rico, but several memorials were held
496
00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:57.200
in her honor in twenty eleven. On January thirteenth, there
497
00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:00.319
was a private memorial held with her family, Her work
498
00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:05.160
family held a memorial performance at the Luxor on January fourteenth,
499
00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:07.160
and her high school also held a vigil in her
500
00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:11.319
memory on January seventeenth. At her memorial service held at
501
00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:14.079
the lux Or, Anita Mann said there was nothing she
502
00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:17.200
would not do. She wasn't that fantastically trained, but she
503
00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:20.039
attacked dancing with a vengeance. That's the way she attacked life.
504
00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:22.200
Pull out with vengeance and passion.
505
00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.359
There was also a benefit celebration for Debbie held at
506
00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:29.680
the Rio on January twenty sixth, twenty eleven, with proceeds
507
00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:31.960
raised going to help the family cover the expenses to
508
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:35.160
lay Debbie to rest in Puerto Rico and also for
509
00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:38.200
the benefit of the Shade Tree. According to the website
510
00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:41.200
created for the event, both Vegas and La performers donated
511
00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:43.240
their time and talent for a show of dance, music,51200:25:43.279 --> 00:25:46.000
and art Debbie had said the arts of My Life.51300:25:46.640 --> 00:25:50.079
It featured performances from the cast of Fantasy as well51400:25:50.119 --> 00:25:53.559
as the MGM Crazy Horse Paris show Vegas. The show51500:25:53.880 --> 00:25:56.920
Thunder from down Under, and the website lists that the51600:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.400
event was sponsored by Penn and Teller, Cara Top and51700:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.440
the Golden Steer Restaurant. All three of these are truly51800:26:03.480 --> 00:26:06.079
Las Vegas legends and it just really shows how Debbie's51900:26:06.119 --> 00:26:09.119
death affected the entire community. I was able to find52000:26:09.119 --> 00:26:11.200
a video of one of the performances from the benefit.52100:26:11.680 --> 00:26:14.440
Jennifer Romas did a contemporary dance to the song this52200:26:14.480 --> 00:26:17.400
Woman's Work, And to be honest, this woman's work is52300:26:17.440 --> 00:26:19.839
next to impossible for me to listen to and not52400:26:19.920 --> 00:26:24.039
cry anyway. But Jennifer, who is a burlesqued performer, gave52500:26:24.079 --> 00:26:27.240
this dramatic, emotion filled performance in honor of Debbie and52600:26:27.319 --> 00:26:30.160
it was gorgeous and moving. I will share a link52700:26:30.200 --> 00:26:32.960
to it in the show notes. Jennifer is amazingly talented52800:26:33.000 --> 00:26:35.039
and continues to light up the stage here in Vegas.52900:26:36.599 --> 00:26:39.599
The all star casts that performed at Debbie's benefit and53000:26:39.640 --> 00:26:42.640
the sponsors highlight what we've talked about in past episodes53100:26:43.119 --> 00:26:45.960
about how people who don't live here don't really know53200:26:46.000 --> 00:26:48.519
the ways that our community will come together and look53300:26:48.559 --> 00:26:52.480
after each other in times of tragedy. Jason has come53400:26:52.559 --> 00:26:55.440
up for parole twice since he has been incarcerated, and53500:26:55.519 --> 00:26:58.400
both times Celeste has made sure she was present to53600:26:58.440 --> 00:27:02.519
make sure he wasn't released. In twenty twenty, after serving53700:27:02.519 --> 00:27:06.400
ten years in prison, his parole was denied. Five years later,53800:27:06.440 --> 00:27:10.039
in October of twenty twenty five, he had another parole hearing.53900:27:10.920 --> 00:27:14.519
The twenty twenty episode revealed that at that hearing, Jason's54000:27:14.559 --> 00:27:18.640
wife was present to testify on his behalf. Celeste was54100:27:18.680 --> 00:27:20.960
shocked to learn, as we all were, that he had54200:27:21.000 --> 00:27:24.119
a wife. Even more shocking to us was that his54300:27:24.240 --> 00:27:27.839
wife was revealed to be none other than Calais Casorso,54400:27:28.440 --> 00:27:31.119
the woman who gave police the information that led them54500:27:31.160 --> 00:27:34.039
to discover that Jason had killed Debbi and had then54600:27:34.160 --> 00:27:36.200
testified against him.54700:27:36.720 --> 00:27:40.039
Jason was thankfully once again denied parole, and he remains54800:27:40.039 --> 00:27:42.799
at High Desert Prison. His next hearing will be in54900:27:42.839 --> 00:27:45.599
twenty thirty. At that point, he will have served twenty55000:27:45.680 --> 00:27:49.519
years for Debbie's murder. When we originally recorded this episode,55100:27:49.640 --> 00:27:52.079
the info we had access to stated that the home55200:27:52.119 --> 00:27:56.039
where Jason and Lewis had hidden Debbie was empty because55300:27:56.039 --> 00:27:58.799
the owners were out of the country. We thought that55400:27:58.839 --> 00:28:01.400
maybe they were on vacation for an extended period of time,55500:28:01.759 --> 00:28:04.799
but the twenty twenty episodes stated that the people who55600:28:04.799 --> 00:28:09.240
own that home had been deported. As Celeste has said,55700:28:09.559 --> 00:28:12.279
there is no sense of closure for this tragedy. We55800:28:12.319 --> 00:28:14.720
will continue to bring you updates whenever we have them.55900:28:15.440 --> 00:28:18.000
When one of these tragedies happen. When someone is murdered56000:28:18.079 --> 00:28:21.359
due to domestic violence or murdered period, all of the56100:28:21.400 --> 00:28:24.480
family and friends surrounding that person are also victims of56200:28:24.519 --> 00:28:28.039
the crime. In Debbie's case, those victims included her show56300:28:28.079 --> 00:28:31.279
family and the community of performers here in Las Vegas56400:28:31.279 --> 00:28:31.680
as well.56500:28:33.119 --> 00:28:36.279
Thank you, as always for listening. You can find resources56600:28:36.279 --> 00:28:39.519
in our show notes or on Since and Survivors dot com,56700:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.200
and be sure to like, subscribe, and follow us on56800:28:42.200 --> 00:28:45.200
social media and share this episode with a friend, because56900:28:45.680 --> 00:29:39.680
what happens here happens everywhere. Thanks for listening. Visit sinspod57000:29:39.720 --> 00:29:43.240
dot com, slash subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to57100:29:43.279 --> 00:29:48.920
listen ad free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok,57200:29:49.039 --> 00:29:53.000
and threads at Sins and Survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast,57300:29:53.079 --> 00:29:56.200
please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice.57400:29:56.319 --> 00:30:00.400
You can contact us at questions at sinsnsurvivors dot com.57500:30:00.599 --> 00:30:02.880
If you are someone you know as affected by domestic57600:30:02.960 --> 00:30:06.240
violence or needs support, please reach out to local resources57700:30:06.319 --> 00:30:09.240
or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources57800:30:09.279 --> 00:30:12.519
is available on our website, Sins and Survivors dot com.57900:30:12.920 --> 00:30:16.319
Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is research,58000:30:16.359 --> 00:30:19.319
written and produced by your hosts Sean and John. The58100:30:19.400 --> 00:30:21.839
information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time58200:30:21.839 --> 00:30:25.240
of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please58300:30:25.279 --> 00:30:28.039
email us. Links to source material for this episode can58400:30:28.079 --> 00:30:31.960
be found on our website, sinsensurvivors dot com.58500:30:32.240 --> 00:30:35.240
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely58600:30:35.319 --> 00:30:39.599
those of the podcast creators, hosts, and their guests. All58700:30:39.640 --> 00:30:43.559
individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not58800:30:43.720 --> 00:30:47.759
constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal58900:30:47.799 --> 00:30:48.960
professionals for guidance.
