Betrayal - EP 22 - Angelique Pt. 1

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

Angelique’s teen pregnancy leaves her isolated and alone. Then, she makes a new friend.  If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team, email us at [e-mail] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremorchi. And I'm Holly Frye. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime. Each season we explore a new theme from poisoners to art thieves. We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body snatching. And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I grabbed my phone and I put my mom's phone number in my phone and I put the phone to my chest and I keep my finger on the call button. And I can't stop these thoughts. I don't know how else to explain it. It was just like somebody was whispering in my ear telling me something bad was about to happen. I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything.

Angelique Robledo was thrust into the headlines when she was only 17. Everybody was outside my door. I had every single news station. I had people calling me. I had Anderson Cooper calling me. I don't even know how they got my number. As a teenager, Angelique experienced a horribly traumatic betrayal. And that's the story you're going to hear over the next two episodes. It's taken her 10 years of hindsight, processing, and her own investigation to be able to tell the full story, not just for the headlines

or the tabloids, but for herself. Today Angelique is finally ready to tell her story her way. My motivation is not just to get my story out, it's also to be a voice for the mothers that are not here that didn't get to survive this crime. Anjali grew up in a large Mexican-American family. And so when we have get-togethers, it's not just a get-together. It was always a party.

There was always, like, a pinata. Our cousins, our aunts, our uncles, the whole shebang would come together. Their house was always a gathering place for friends and family. Angelique's mom was an interior designer, and she loved being a hostess. Even growing up when we lived in a mobile home, she didn't care. Like, come to our house, you know, come hang out with us. She would be an amazing host.

I just remember her always constantly baking cookies, putting them out on the table, and always having lemonade, always having things. It was a loving home. Angelique was the only girl in a family full of brothers. She was the sensitive one. I feel like I'm the oddball out in my family. I do feel like I'm the one that worries more about people

and what they think, and also what they think of me Compared to her brothers. She was more of a people pleaser. She wanted to fit in and be liked When Angelique was in middle school her family moved from California to Arizona. It felt like a big upgrade we went from living in a mobile home park to what seemed like to me like a big upgrade. We went from living in a mobile home park to what seemed like to me like a mansion because, you know, back then the prices were a lot different. We moved from California to Arizona and had a five-bedroom home with a pool.

And it was just amazing. It was like a new start and a new beginning. But it was a difficult adjustment. She left all of her friends behind and started middle school in a new state. I was the new girl. I definitely got stared at. I definitely got judged. My first week of school, I ended up eating lunch in the bathroom all by myself for like

a whole week because people did not like me. So she developed a tough girl persona. So I, at that point, had changed from the sweet girl who never got into fights, who never even had an F ever to this hardcore, you know, I won't say bad person. But when I look back at my childhood, I really do think of like, wow, I won't say bad person, but when I look back at my childhood, I really do think of like, wow, I did change into this person that I could not even recognize anymore.

And part of that new persona meant experimenting with drugs. I did start using marijuana and drinking with my friends. And then I was going through a really, really hard time during my 11th grade year, something just within my family. And it changed everything about me and made me feel numb. She asked us not to share details about what was happening,

but suffice it to say, it was a difficult time. So I was going through some stuff at home, but also dealing with being a high schooler and trying to be cool. The summer before her senior year, she was invited to a party. I woke up to a text message at like 6 a.m. that said, rage your party.

My parents aren't home, bring your bathing suits, let's go swimming and let's have a party. We are very, what I would call a redneck city. We were drinking Keystone. That's all we could afford. It was so much fun. I had a blast. It was at that party that a friend suggested

that they try a new drug. Trying meth. It took away the pain and the sorrow and everything that I felt inside of me. And I was immediately hooked. It only takes one time. And that's all it inside of me. And I was immediately hooked. It only takes one time, and that's all it took for me. She was in a bad place and living a life of extremes. I was just a young 17-year-old girl

who didn't really understand the consequences of using hard drugs that way. Nobody wants to go down this path. Trying meth wasn't the only thing that happened at the party. There was a guy named Josh there. They'd known each other for years as acquaintances. She thought he was cute. And that night...

One thing led to another. And all of a sudden I wake up in the morning and I'm like, okay, so this happened. She and Josh hooked up. It was casual, a one-time thing. After that party, Angelique's life began revolving around her new addiction. I got sneakier.

I started finding people that were like within work doing it. I started getting people to do it with me so that they would get it. Like when you're in that drug world, you'll figure it out. As the weeks went on, Angelique began feeling sick and started to suspect she could be pregnant. So one day, about six weeks after she hooked up with Josh, she bought a pregnancy test.

Well, I guess I wasn't the only person that thought I was pregnant, because when I got home, there was a pregnancy test sitting on my bed from my mother. She had been tracking my period. She said, you have not had a period this month, take this test. Turns out it was positive. She was only 17 and she panicked.

I remember very clearly at that very moment, I locked myself in the bathroom. I brought my pipe in there, I brought my bag, my stuff, and I had smoked and smoked and smoked. I was in shock, and I thought maybe this would numb my pain. But she couldn't stay in the bathroom forever. I came out and I threw the pregnancy test at my mom, and I said, I'm pregnant.

And she was livid. She was so mad at me and disappointed. She was crying and I was just sitting there. I just turned off all my emotions and I just looked at her like, what? I tried to pretend like it wasn't a big deal. But inside I was actually really like freaking out. But inside, I was actually really like freaking out. Her stepbrother was watching the whole scene, and he knew Angelique had just used drugs in the bathroom. He was one of my best friends. He was somebody that I would talk to all the time.

And the first thing that he did was he found my stash and he flushed everything down the toilet. The rest of that day was a blur. Once everyone in the house had gone to bed, Angelique had one thing on her mind. I sat at the toilet, staring at it, with a wrench trying to figure out how I could remove the toilet to get my stash

so that I could smoke again. That's what my main priority was, was to sit there and figure that out. At this point, she'd been addicted to meth for six weeks and it had taken over her life. It was the moment that I sat on the ground staring at that toilet with a wrench that really made me stomach how far gone

this drug had made me. I had felt pathetic. Like, I have no idea what I'm doing with this wrench. What am I gonna do? Take this toilet apart and put my hand down and try to find a bag that might be soaked? Like, is that how much I love this? Is that how much I want to do this?

I spend my whole paycheck on it. How am I supposed to do anything in life? Sitting in front of the toilet with a wrench was her rock bottom. She never wanted to go back to that place. It was my turning point. And if you're an addict, you understand exactly what that means. The next morning, she knew she had to talk to Josh.

She told him she was pregnant, and he agreed to meet in person. And I came down the street in a hoodie with glasses. It's hot in Arizona. I pulled my hoodie down, took off my glasses, and stared at him and said, do you see me? And he said, yeah, you look really messed up. And I said, exactly.

If I don't have this baby, this is going to be my life. I don't know if I have it in me to stop doing this because I like it too much. But this baby can change everything in my life. This baby can help me. She decided that this pregnancy was her second chance, her lifeline.

She told Josh that she was going to have the baby, whether he wanted to be involved or not. After all, they had only hooked up once. They hardly knew each other. I didn't want somebody to be with me because I was having their baby. I wanted somebody to be with me because they loved me, not because they felt obligated.

But Josh wanted to be there for her and for the baby. One of their first dates was a doctor's appointment. There, looking at the ultrasound monitor. When I saw the screen, I had immediately fell in love with this tiny little bulb inside of me. And honestly, that was like reassurance for me and more motivation to stay away from the people that were doing drugs or to stay clean. This whole experience led her to sobriety and she's been clean ever since.

I officially believe that being pregnant is what saved my life. But it wasn't easy. She had to take one day at a time. Trying to work, trying to stay sober, trying to do all these different things just was extremely complicated. So I had decided just to stop and I stopped going to school at that moment. I ended up actually getting my GED. Her old friends started avoiding her.

I had lost a lot of friends, like deep, really, really close friends. Everybody else was still in high school. Everybody else was still partying. Everybody else was still doing these things that I couldn't do. Her friends had moved on without her. She says she felt forgotten. You think about high school and you think senior year is going to be the year. It's going to be the year that I graduate.

All these different things that we think senior prank just prom everything. I was watching all of my friends go through that and I wasn't. On top of that, she didn't have any friends who understood what it was like being pregnant. And I felt so isolated and lonely because nobody understood why I had heartburn. Nobody understood why I couldn't walk two miles without catching my breath. Nobody could understand, you know,

me complaining about how big my belly was. Like they didn't understand any of that because none of them were going through what I was going through. Her biggest supporter was Josh. But to prepare for the baby, Josh started working overtime, trying to save money. He was working like 90-hour weeks. Like, it was insane. It was literally from morning to night.

I never saw him. But he would come to my house with no sleep just to give me a kiss or just to give me a hug. Seeing Josh was often the highlight of her day. That was until she was introduced to a new friend. I had a friend, her name was Hannah, and Hannah called me. It was like, I met this girl, her name is Cassandra. She is pregnant just like you are. She's our age.

It's crazy. Her birthday is in October, just like yours. I feel like you guys would have a lot in common. Plus, she's new to town, so she doesn't have too many friends. You know what it's like to be pregnant and kind of feel like that isolation. Kind of just painted this whole picture of like a perfect friend. But that new friend would change Angelique's life forever. Angelique was 17 when she found out she was going to have a baby. She had lost a lot of friends, and by the time she was entering her third trimester,

she was feeling isolated and alone. But then a friend offered to connect her to someone new, another teenager named Cassandra, who was four months pregnant. And I was like, yeah, yeah, like that sounds awesome. Like I need a new friend. I need somebody that is going to be able to relate to what I am going through right now. So she made plans to get lunch with her. It was like an instant click.

So if you're a girl, you know exactly what I mean. You either click with a girl or you don't. And I had felt this like full connection with her. Right away, they just got each other. She was very smiley and just seemed so down to earth. I would say something like, oh my gosh, this happened. And she'd be like, I know what you're talking about.

And I was like, oh my gosh, you understand me. Finally, Angelique had her pregnancy buddy, someone who wouldn't judge her. It was the connection she'd been craving. They both needed to set up their baby registry, so they decided to do it together at a baby store. We were excited and we absolutely like, oh you should get this, oh you should get that, I already have this. It was actually like a really cool moment to have with a friend because I didn't have a friend

that was gonna go do that with me. They started talking every day, commiserating. We stayed in contact through Facebook and text message constantly. The same exact things that we always talked about. How are you feeling? What are you craving? What's been going on?

They became fast friends and they had mutual friends, so they would sometimes hang out as one big group. When they all got together, Cassandra was always on her phone. She always would be like, oh, my husband's calling me. She was constantly on the phone. That was one thing they didn't have in common. Angelique was still taking it slow

with the father of her baby, but Cassandra was already married to the father of hers. We were all kind of thrown off at the fact that she was like 17, 18 years old and she had a husband. His name was Edwin. Cassandra only talked to Edwin in Spanish. Even though Angelique grew up around it every day, she never learned the language. So when Cassandra was on these calls, no one knew what she was talking about.

So that was something that like we all did go, huh? It was weird, but people just chalked it up to Cassandra being young, pregnant, and being attached to her husband. A few weeks before Angelique's due date, her family and friends threw her a baby shower. We had it at my parents' house, and it was really, really big. I remember feeling extremely overwhelmed with the amount of gifts that I got.

It was insane. I had gotten every single thing that I wanted for my registry plus more. I just remember that whole day feeling so blessed. The only person who couldn't be there was Cassandra. She'd been feeling sick that day, but promised to check in when she felt better. She was just like, hey, like, how are you doing?

I'm so sorry that I missed your baby shower. And I was like, hey, how are you doing? I'm so sorry that I missed your baby shower. And I was like, hey, no, don't worry. I know what it's like to be pregnant. Don't worry or feel bad at all. And she was like, I still have gifts for you, and I really, really want to come over and just see you and hang out. So they made plans for Cassandra to come over

a few days later. My little brother answered the door and she had walked in and she was very bubbly, very enthusiastic, you know, very kind, and she had this really big bag with her. It was like a diaper bag. The bag was full of gifts for Angelique, but instead of opening them, they got distracted just catching up.

We just spent our whole day just hanging out, talking, you know, sat on my couch watching TV. At that time, it was 16 and pregnant and team mom, like MTV. Those are, like, all the things that we used to watch, and so me and her spent a lot of time doing that. Angelique's mom fixed them lunch. You know, we're eating, and I started to notice she was mimicking things that I would say. For an example, my mom would be like, oh, well, Angelique ran away when she was this

age and she jumped a wall. But all of a sudden, she had the exact same story. And then I was like, oh, you know, that could happen. But then more stories would happen and she would just be like, oh know that could happen but then more stories would happen and she would just be like oh that happened to me too almost exactly the same and I don't know for some reason I was getting bothered by it and I don't know why it's really not that big of a deal. I pulled my mom aside and I asked her like hey do you think Cassandra's weird and she was like what

do you mean I was like I don know, just like keep getting this weird feeling about her. Like I have this weird feeling. And my mom was like, no, like I don't feel that way. She's like, I can tell you that it does seem like she needs a lot of attention. And it seems like she wants like your approval to be your friend. Cut her some slack, you know,

as a mom would tell a teenager, like you're kind of being judgmental. So Angelique tried to give Cassandra some grace, even when it came to the endless calls she made to her husband, Edwin. Once she realized my mom understood Spanish, she kind of changed her demeanor and she started taking her calls in private. I was just like, okay, these are just things that are kind of just going on. They have explanations.

As the afternoon went on, Angelique got tired. It was exhausting hosting. So I started like yawning and kind of just being like little like, oh, I'm so tired. She had told me that she didn't have her keys to her house and she had to wait for her sister to get back home. And so at that point, I was like, okay, Angelique, suck it up, like she's stuck here for a little bit and that's okay. You're just gonna have to stop and suck it up, like hang out and just continue

the rest of your day with her. By this point, it was getting close to dinner time. Angelique's mom had to take her little brothers to football practice. She offered to bring Angelique and Cassandra along. And Cassandra was very adamant, like, no, I don't feel good. Is it OK if we stay here? So they stayed back.

Once my mom had left, my brothers had left, and it was just us. It was just starting to get darker outside. And it was like a light switched. It was like Cassandra started being different. Suddenly, Cassandra seemed on edge, almost paranoid. But then, she remembered something. And she was like, oh, your gifts.

And at this point, I'm like, oh yeah, that's why you came over. You came over because you wanted to bring me baby shower gifts. And that just completely slipped my mind. Cassandra wanted to surprise Angelique with the gifts. She wanted to give me these gifts in a very unique way. She took a chair from my kitchen, and she put it in the middle of my kitchen and told me to sit in it and turn around and close my eyes.

And I thought that was so odd, but I did it. She said, I'm going to come up behind you, I'm going to drop the presents in your lap. She started dropping presents in her lap one by one. The first present was a receiving blanket. The second present was a onesie, little booties, a bib, a bigger blanket, some random newborn diapers. But Angelique noticed something off about the gifts. They had the smell.

It smelled like a man had rubbed like, like cologne all over it, or like they, like, he just like rubbed himself on it or something, like it just smelled like a man. But I am not a rude person. My mother did not teach me to be a rude person and I will be thankful for whatever I get, whether I like it or whether I don't.

So I nodded and I said, thank you so much. The whole situation started to give her that weird feeling again. My instincts were telling me something that I didn't know how to explain or what it even was, but there was gifts in my lap. Then Cassandra brought out an even bigger present, an expensive baby carrier.

I felt like really awkward about it. Like I know this gift was expensive. And I remember sitting there telling her like, I don't think I could accept this. Like you've already given me so much. Cassandra explained that she'd gotten two of them at her own baby shower and wanted to give one to Angelique. Plus, she said Angelique was special. She had felt some type of special bond between us. She was like, I just feel like you're a true friend and I just feel like I want to thank

you for accepting me and I know I can be overbearing sometimes. And it was like reassurance that I wanted because of all the feelings I was having and that conversation with my mom. So it made me feel like, oh, she really is somebody that just wants a friend. She just wants to be accepted. Cassandra was on the verge of tears. Angelique almost felt sorry for her.

So I accepted the gift, and she was like, oh my gosh, I forgot. I have one last present for you. And I was like, well, what is it? She was like, well, I have to show you in the dark. Like this has to be done in the dark. So we go to your room. And I was like, yeah, sure.

Cassandra had been spoiling Angelique with gift after gift for the baby, but she had one last present for her. It was a gift that involved a light or a projection. You'd have to see it in the dark for the full effect. So they went to Angelique's room, where Cassandra told her to sit on the bed and close her eyes one more time. At this point, the sun has fully set because it's pitch dark in my room. I couldn't see too well, but I could see her shadow, like I could see her. And I start to get really scared. All of a sudden, it was like these weird thoughts started coming into my head, and they were

very like vivid thoughts. It was just like somebody was whispering in my ear telling me I was about to be murdered. That like something bad was about to happen to me, that I was going to be stabbed. So I grabbed my phone, and I put my mom's phone number in my phone and I put the phone to my chest and I keep my finger on the call button. And I can't stop these thoughts." She couldn't tell if this was just anxiety or if it was something more serious. So as I'm battling with myself, all she's doing is digging through this bag to give

me the gift. Then at that moment, I said something. I said, Cassandra, what's taking so long? And she was like, I found it, I found it, okay. And she got up on my bed, got behind me on my bed, which made me extremely nervous. And she said, okay, are you ready? And I was like, yeah, show me. She was like, okay. And I'm like, well, what are you doing?

She's like, I'm just going to put the light over your head, and then you'll be able to see it's going to shine on your closet. Like I had a big closet door. And I was like, okay, okay. And I'm sitting right there and she puts her hand on my shoulder. She leans me forward and she starts to count. And she says, one, two. And right when she says three,

something inside of my head said, stand up. So I jumped up as fast as I could, and I ran and turned the light on. But when she flipped the light switch, whatever she had in her hand, she was putting back into the bag. And she's just like staring at me, and I'm like, what is going on? And exactly when I say that, her phone rings, and she answers it,, it's Edwin.

And she takes the bag and she leaves the room and she just starts speaking to this person in Spanish. She starts yelling at this person. Angelique's heart was pounding. I kept on wanting to make it make sense because none of it made any sense. So she tried to calm herself down by lighting a candle, a nervous habit of hers. When Cassandra came back into her room... I was like, well, is everything okay? And she was like, yeah, it was Edwin.

He wants to take me out to dinner, but I have nothing to wear. And I was like, well, just go look in my closet. Go see if there's something in there that fits you. The whole situation was so bizarre. Angelique needed a moment to herself. So she left Cassandra in her room while she went to the kitchen.

In my head, I'm thinking, something's happening inside of my room right now, and I don't know what's going on. Then Cassandra came out wearing one of Angelique's dresses. And I'm like, oh, that's cute. And I get up and I start to walk closer to the room. And I start to smell this weird smell. And I'm like, what's that smell?

And she's like, what are you talking about? And I was like, it almost smells like something's burning. And she was like, oh, I don't know what you're talking about. And she's looking at herself in the mirror, just checking herself out. And I'm just like, no, I can absolutely smell like something is burning. The smell was so intense that Angelique ran from room to room,

checking to see if anything was on fire. The last place I look is my closet. When I open my closet, everything is in flames. All my clothes that are in my closet, it's all on fire. And I went into a straight panic mode. I grabbed my phone and I didn't call 911. I called the last person that called me, which happened to be one of my best friends.

So I'm screaming, there's a fire in my house. Call 911, help, please. She didn't have time to deal with Cassandra or think at all. She just needed to put the fire out immediately. And I'm running to the kitchen, I'm grabbing pots and pans, I threw one at Cassandra and I'm telling her fill these up and let's put this fire out. Angelique poured on as much water as she could before they had to evacuate. I was just coughing so much to the point like where I was on my knees and I had finally gotten the strength to like get up and I grabbed her by her collar

and I dragged her out of the house with me and I opened my garage door. And when I opened it, smoke was rolling out of my house. We had finally made it outside and we were just both on the ground coughing so much. Right as they got out, Angelique's best friend, who she called in panic, was pulling up to the house. He lived not even a minute away from me. So him and his mom got in the car, they drove over, and they were the first people that were on the scene.

He and his mom had called 911, and the fire department was on their way. I was so scared. And I was also trying to breathe because I was having bad contractions from inhaling so much smoke. Cassandra was also having contractions. Angelique was a week away from her due date. But Cassandra was only six months pregnant. So me and her are both sitting in different chairs in different areas of my garage. I started feeling worse.

My contractions were getting so bad. Angelique's parents arrived home at the same time as emergency services. And this is like when the cops start to show up. Everyone's kind of rolling up to my house at this point and there's just smoke everywhere. Firefighters rushed inside while paramedics started attending to Angelique and Cassandra.

They came home to everybody outside of our house. So they were in shock also. And I think my dad was inside, like with the firefighters, trying to figure out what happened. My mom was more emotional support. When they give me my IV, like everything's fine, oxygen. I start feeling so much better. But Cassandra wasn't feeling better.

She thought she was in labor. So the paramedics decided to take her to the hospital. Meanwhile, Angelique went inside with her parents to assess the damage. The firefighters had put the fire out, but not before. Everything inside my closet was gone. Every single piece of clothing that I had, my mother's wedding dress that I had hoped to wear on my wedding day one day was gone. Every single piece of clothing that I had, my mother's wedding dress that I had hoped

to wear on my wedding day one day was destroyed. Everyone wanted to know how the fire started. Angelique thought Cassandra had something to do with it, but she didn't think anyone would believe her. And I'm like, okay, if I tell you what I think happened, please just listen. Just listen to me. Don't think I'm lying. She explained that she had lit a candle in her bedroom

and then went to the kitchen, leaving Cassandra alone in her bedroom. I said, I guarantee you, if you find that candle, you'll find her fingerprints on it, which they should not be on it, because I'm the only person that touched it. The authorities retrieved the candle and collected it for evidence.

Meanwhile, Angelique tried to explain to her parents that something else had happened that night. She told them about the whole scene before the fire, how Cassandra sat her down in the dark, that she'd been scared for her life. I'm like, Mom, it felt like I was going to die. It felt like somebody was going to stab me. It felt like I had something to my back. Then EMS began collecting Cassandra's things, including that big bag she'd brought with her. They start grabbing the diaper bag and I say, hold on, hold on. And I'm like, excuse me, please wait. I said, can I please see that? And I'm doing this in front of everybody, in front of the cops. I take the diaper bag and I keep explaining to them, she said she had this present for me.

Like, the explanation is in this bag. And as I'm doing that, I put the bag on the counter, I breach my hand in the bag, and I feel these two metal objects. And when I lift them and pull them out, they're two large butcher knives. I drop them on the counter and I just start screaming. On the next episode of Betrayal...

There's some stuff in here that I don't think you know. He has done this before. They sold babies in Mexico. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team or want to tell us your Betrayal story, email us at betrayalpod at gmail.com. That's Betrayal, P-O-D, at gmail.com. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts.

And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison. Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning. Written and produced by Monique Laborde.

Also produced by Ben Federman. Associate producers are Kristin Malkuri and Caitlin Golden. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreincheck. Audio editing and mixing by Matt Dalvecchio. Additional editing support from Tanner Robbins. Betrayal's theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MIBE Music. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremorchi. And I'm Holly Frey. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime. HOST 1 Each season, we explore a new theme from poisoners to art thieves. HOST 2 We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices

to body snatching. HOST 1 And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story. HOST 2 Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your We indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.