Going West: True Crime - Celia Sweeney // 281

Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on, True Crime fans? I'm your host Tee Tha- And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody! Big thanks to Stephanie for recommending today's case. I really appreciate you sending that in Stephanie and everybody else who sends in recommendations. If you have a case that you want us to cover here on the show, just shoot us an email at going west podcast at gmail.com and we have hundreds on our list but we're always always so happy to get recommendations. So thank you so much in advance!

Starting point is 00:00:46 Well guys, we are going to get straight into today's episode. This is episode 281 of Going West, so let's get into it! 1.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0%

Starting point is 00:01:18 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0% In February of 2020, a 28-year-old woman went missing in South Carolina after trying to get away from a man at a bar. When police searched her apartment, they found an alarming amount of blood, but nobody, and her car was also missing. When police searched the property of their first suspect, they found even more disturbing

Starting point is 00:02:02 evidence. This is the story of Celia Sweeney. Celia Marie Sweeney was born on July 5, 1991 in Newport, Rhode Island, to parents Victoria and Sean, and she had a sister named Kelsey. But the family relocated out of Rhode Island pretty soon after to situate Massachusetts, which is known to be a very idyllic coastal town, about 45 minutes southeast of Boston. According to our family, Celia had a larger than life personality, and she was known for her kindness and her devotion to social justice. And actually her

Starting point is 00:02:52 LinkedIn page lists some of her causes, and those include animal welfare, environmental education, social services, politics, and civil rights. She was a lifelong fan of the Patriots, even after she moved out of the Northeast, which is another move that we'll get into here in a minute. Her obituary read that she was a quote, bright light in the storm that is life, calling family and friends away from the rocks and into the safe harbor. She will be greatly missed by all those that loved her. Celia absolutely loved the ocean and cherished growing up on the water. After graduating from situate high school in 2009, she went

Starting point is 00:03:34 on to attend Curry College in nearby Milton, Massachusetts, which is less than an hour from her hometown. And she was totally fine with this move because it meant that she would be able to stay close to her family. In 2013, Celia received her bachelor's degree in criminal justice actually from Curry College after spending all eight semesters on the Dean's List, so she was very smart. Around this time, she was working as a bartender just outside of Boston in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and bartending as well in Quincy, Massachusetts. A friend and former co-worker named Haley Mahoney remembered quote, we worked with three other girls and we just had unbelievable camaraderie. And

Starting point is 00:04:17 you know, it was just such a fun job like I didn't dread going in. I loved working with her. After bartending for a little while, Celia decided to kind of transition to working as an office coordinator for a window tinting company before becoming a sales manager at an auto detailing company. Then, in 2015, she got the opportunity

Starting point is 00:04:37 to work for private jet company Magellan Jets, employed as the executive assistant to the CEO. So that's a huge step up. I mean, first she's a bartender, then she's working for a glass company, and now she's working for this private jet company. Oh yeah, definitely. And her adventurous spirit did guide her away from the northeast, where she had spent her entire life thus far, and she made the move down south. spent her entire life thus far, and she made the move down south. She moved her beloved cat and dog, Kaleesi and Raider down to Charleston, South Carolina to kind of start a new. And maintaining her love for being close to the ocean, which luckily for her Charleston

Starting point is 00:05:17 is, Celia settled in West Ashley, which is an area of Charleston, and it's known to be a picturesque area just west of downtown known for its of Charleston, and it's known to be a picturesque area just west of downtown known for its shopping and dining, and it's nestled along the Ashley River that feeds into the Atlantic Ocean. It was a pretty difficult decision, of course, because like I mentioned earlier, she loved being close to her family, she spent all of her life in the Northeast, particularly Massachusetts, but according to her friend Haley, she said, quote, I think she just wanted a change of pace.

Starting point is 00:05:50 On Thursday, February 27, 2020, 28-year-old Celia went out with some friends. She, along with a female neighbor and two men, headed out for the evening to a few bars and restaurants. The identity of this female neighbor was never confirmed by the press, so we'll continue to refer to her as the neighbor. But it does seem as if there are rumors flying around about what happened and who was involved. One YouTube comment from someone who claimed to live in Charleston and also know the key players read QUOTE, Gina Sheldonay brought these evil assholes into Celia's life that night.

Starting point is 00:06:27 And Celia knew that they were bad, so she got away from them. They were brought to her apartment later that night by Gina Shaldane. And we're definitely not trying to put an innocent person on blast year by saying her last name, but we also found a news article that included her full name as the quote female neighbor, so it appears to be pretty accurate and thrown around a lot in this case. Celia was seen that evening leaving her apartment complex and she was spotted by multiple witnesses at the bars. One bartender even remembered speaking to her.

Starting point is 00:07:01 Celia broke away from her group for a moment and just chatted with the bartender, telling her that she was ready to go home and she had been for a while. Celia explained that she had to work in the morning and that she wanted to ditch her group and leave on her own. And this was the last confirmed conversation that she had with someone outside of the group that she'd been at the bars with. According to this bartender, Celia and the two male companions came in late Thursday night, and Celia later told the bartender away from the two men that she had brought them there to quote, get them out of her home.

Starting point is 00:07:35 Which is creepy if this is true, which we can kind of assume that it's true, because that means that these men know where she lives and wouldn't get out of her house or she felt uncomfortable asking. So she suggested they go out in public so she could possibly like ditch them then. But again, they know where she lives and she's literally trying to get away from these guys. Yeah, I mean, I've had similar situations in my life where there's a drunk person that's, you know, a friend of a friend that's at your house and it's like, you kind of want them to leave

Starting point is 00:08:05 but you don't really know how to tell them in a nice way. So you say, hey, let's all just go out and then you kind of just ditch them later. So I've definitely been in that scenario so I can understand what Celia's probably thinking here. Yeah, but this even, like, even aside from being drunk, seems even worse.

Starting point is 00:08:22 Like, that these guys were... Intimidating. Yeah, or just not good people that she did not want in her house. Right. And actually, the bartender did claim that one of the men was so intoxicated that she refused to serve him. While she also claimed that Celia appeared to be sober, and that she wasn't drinking much if at all, because she had to drive herself home that night.

Starting point is 00:08:45 It seemed that Celia had left that bar on her own late Thursday night or early Friday morning. So according to this bartender, they said, quote, I asked how she was getting home. She said she had driven herself there. She wasn't intoxicated. I said, okay, girl, have a good night. And she kind of scooted out without a whole

Starting point is 00:09:05 lot of notice from anyone else and left the bar. Which goes along even more with what Heath and I were just chatting about is that she's trying to leave without anybody seeing so she has enough to deal with that. Like she literally just wants to go home and be by herself and go to sleep and go to work the next day. So the bartender also added, quote, she was awesome. I even told her that while she was here. She was very nice and outgoing and just a really cool girl. Later around 3 a.m. or early that Friday morning, which was February 28, 2020, Celia texted

Starting point is 00:09:39 the female neighbor that she had been out with, complaining that she couldn't get rid of one of the guys that she had been out with, complaining that she couldn't get rid of one of the guys that she had been with that evening. So she's still having issues. Why he came back to her apartment though is unclear, but it seems that obviously, you know, she didn't want him there. And it was as if she was trying to return home by herself hours prior. And like we said, had likely taken them to the bar to get rid of them all together. But the problem was, is they still knew where she lived.

Starting point is 00:10:08 So it's possible that Celia was either too uncomfortable or too scared to tell him that he needed to go home at that point, which is just a horrible position to be put in by anyone, especially at 3am when she's ready to just peacefully end her evening. Yeah, I mean, she's got work in the morning. She's like, get the fuck out of here. Exactly. But hours later on that Friday morning, Celia did not show up for work as scheduled.

Starting point is 00:10:33 The last outgoing message that she sent was that early morning complaint to the neighbor with whom she had been out with. So naturally, with more hours passing, her family and friends became worried that they hadn't heard from her at all. Like it was completely unlike her not to check in, and certainly wasn't like her to miss a scheduled work day. Although it was still early on in the day, a man who was reported to be Celia's boyfriend

Starting point is 00:11:00 stopped by her apartment around 8.30 a.m. to check on her, so just over five hours after texting the female neighbor that she had been out with. And he walked into a horrifically shocking setting. Now according to police, he discovered a quote, significant amount of blood throughout the apartment, and clear signs of a struggle. There were boot prints from a pair of men's boots, prints which were made from walking through the blood left behind at the scene. Also present was a cartridge casing used to house a bullet, but there was no sign of Celia, and her car was gone as well.

Starting point is 00:11:46 Now upon seeing all this, Celia's alleged boyfriend called the police who treated it as a crime scene immediately. The last time Celia's phone pinging was around 11.30 a.m. that same morning. So actually three hours after her boyfriend came to the house, and it pinging in or around her apartment complex, but they could not find where it had wound up.

Starting point is 00:12:08 The following morning on Saturday, February 29, 2020, police issued a statement saying quote, The city of Charleston Police Department is currently looking for Celia Sweeney, 28 years old, who is considered to be endangered. Sweeney is believed to be with her vehicle, which is a 2010 dark-colored Audi S5, Massachusetts license plate, 252-LY8. But then, later that evening,

Starting point is 00:12:37 authorities located Celia's car in a nearby parking lot, which felt like a step in the right direction, but there was still no sign of Celia, and no indication as to where she had gone. As the law enforcement began casting a wide net, several witness accounts emerged of Celia's car being driven away from her apartment complex early on Friday morning. This was about around 6am.

Starting point is 00:13:04 Multiple statements claim that they saw her car being driven by a man, closely followed by another man in a white pickup truck. Now surveillance footage in the parking lot from which her car was recovered confirmed this. It looked as if two men had driven to the same parking lot, abandoned Celia's Audi, and driven off in the pickup truck together. So based on the license plate, the plate numbers belong to the owner of a white Ford F-150 pickup truck who was a man named Buddy Car, aka one of the men whom Celia had been out

Starting point is 00:13:37 at the bars with the night that she disappeared. So let's talk about this guy for a bit. 32-year-old Buddy Car was already very well known to police, having been arrested twice on charges of methamphetamine in both 2015 and 2019, as well as a charge for unlawful possession of a weapon. So Buddy had grown up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, which is nearly four hours away from Charleston, alongside five sisters. And he had served in the Marines for six and a half years, but most recently he was working

Starting point is 00:14:12 in construction. And there is some speculation as to whether he had ties to the, you know, very prolific motorcycle gang, the Hells of Angels. But for now, we're not so sure. And for anybody who doesn't know the hell's angels are technically a motorcycle club like generally for Harley Davidson writers and the group has taken on a bit of a nefarious reputation and it's now recognized worldwide as like a cover up for organized crime and the reason that he is possibly believed to have

Starting point is 00:14:43 been involved with them is because there was one Facebook post of his that memorialized a deceased friend and on this post, buddy wrote quote, My brother, Blinky, words can never truly convey how much I love and miss you. What an incredible impact you made on my life and will never be the same without you. See you in the helmet, my brother. Angels forever forever angels. Blinky, hell's angel, nomad, South Carolina.

Starting point is 00:15:12 There are also multiple posts on his Facebook profile indicating his involvement like personally, although this has neither been confirmed nor denied. And it's also unknown whether or not this has any bearings on Celia's murder anyway, which we're gonna get into because this is a murder case. But his Facebook has since been deactivated. So that's most of what we know about Buddy,

Starting point is 00:15:34 but something in this case that's just crazy to me is how quickly and how easily kind of that they found, Buddy, because of his truck being found in the surveillance footage Which just shows you how careless he was in all of this you know not to mention the multiple witnesses coming forward saying that They had seen him and his truck like it's just it's it's almost silly how quickly they found this out and Because of what's to come. I mean we're so grateful that this discovery was made so damn fast. Oh, God, yeah.

Starting point is 00:16:08 And actually, let's get into that right now. Yeah, so on Monday, March 2nd, 2020, so three days after Celia went missing, the Spartan Bird County Police in cooperation with Charleston Police arrived at Buddy's home to question him about his involvement in Celia's disappearance. Buddy resided in Inman, which is just about a 20-minute drive from where he grew up in Spartanburg. But Inman, which is a small town of only about 3,000 people, just south of the border of North and South Carolina, is over 200 miles, over 320 kilometers, from Charl Charleston where Celia went missing. So it's obviously weird that they're investigating this guy that lives so far away.

Starting point is 00:16:51 Which is why the Spartanburg County police were involved, but luckily, like, jurisdiction didn't get in the way of anything and they could still question him. And I mean, like, literally right after finding his identity out, they questioned him or they went to try to question him. Right. So when police showed up, parked in front of Buddy's home on Doc Thompson Lane in Inman was his white pickup truck. But there was no sign of Buddy or Celia.

Starting point is 00:17:19 No one appeared to be inside either, and the house was eerily quiet. When police finally gained entry, they found buddy car deceased inside. And we'll come back to that, but there was unfortunately still no sign of Celia. While buddy was, you know, living in a residential neighborhood, the lots are pretty spacious with plenty of brush in between, so just behind Buddy's house is a pond, and a small patch of forest dividing his backyard from the homes behind his. A search of the home revealed Buddy's body, but not much else, so still believing him to be connected to Celia's disappearance, because of the security footage, police were hesitant to announce any details to the public quite yet.

Starting point is 00:18:05 Buddy's family were notified of his death, but a cause of death was not yet announced. And police declined to even tell Buddy's family about his potential involvement in Celia's disappearance and possible murder. They actually ended up finding out about it later on the news when the information was released. But, a search of Buddy's entire property did reveal something horrifying. A black plastic husky brand storage tub. It was hastily discarded in the brush near buddy's house, and inside, they found the body

Starting point is 00:18:40 of 28-year-old Celia Sweeney. Before that quick break, Heath explained that after searching Buddy's house, they found him deceased inside, and then upon searching his whole property, they found Celia's body in a black plastic storage tub amongst some brush. Now, as you can imagine, Buddy's death greatly complicated things because the person assumed by police to be the murderer was now gone and couldn't be questioned. But actually, police also knew

Starting point is 00:19:42 that there was another person involved in this case. Yes, and who would that be? The one who helped Buddy drive Celia's car away from her apartment on the Friday morning that she was reported missing. Exactly. So as they scrambled to put together like a timeline of events and bring closure to Celia's family, of course, for such a senseless and seemingly random act of violence, they also knew that they needed to find the third party who may know more. So inside Buddy's car, were latex gloves, and a hammer with blood on it was also found in the door of the passenger seat.

Starting point is 00:20:21 Inside his home, there was a receipt to a Home Depot, which never looks good and weirdly feels like it comes up constantly in these cases. Yeah, why are we always talking about Home Depot, man? I know. Well, this receipt indicated that on Friday, February 28, 2020, so the day that Celia was last seen, Buddy and potentially his co-conspirator had stopped at a home depot in Charleston after Celia was believed to have

Starting point is 00:20:49 already been dead. And that's when he or they purchased the black plastic storage tub, latex gloves, concrete mixing bags, and camouflage nylon straps used for securing items in the bed of a truck.

Starting point is 00:21:05 And we know, obviously, why everyone's called him Betty, but he has a truck. Yes, the 4-F-150. Exactly. And the debit card used to purchase the items had belonged to Buddy, so at this point without a doubt, they knew at least Buddy was behind Celia's murder. Security footage from the route that the truck had driven that day showed that at one point, earlier on that Friday, the plastic tub

Starting point is 00:21:31 was in the back of the truck. And later that day, it was gone. Meanwhile, an autopsy was being performed on Celia Sweeney to try to glean more details about this cruel fate that had been falling early that February morning. A coroner determined that she had died from blunt force trauma to the head, which could explain that bloody tamer in buddy's car.

Starting point is 00:21:55 And she had likely died quickly if not instantly. She was then folded into and sealed into the black plastic tub. But of course, I mean this was cold comfort to those who loved her who just couldn't understand why this happened in the first place. And like I said, I mean it's possible that the hammer was the murder weapon, but this has still like to this day not been confirmed. It's also unknown why there were remnants of a gun having been discharged inside Celia's apartment, with no public reports of gunshots being heard or evidence of

Starting point is 00:22:32 a gunshot on Celia's body. I mean, that's one of the strangest details of this case is that, you know, they found a shell casing inside her apartment, but they have no idea where it came from, if it was fired from a gun owned by Buddy, and no neighbors heard anything. Yeah, it's so weird. So hopefully that information will come out eventually, but right now, we just have no idea. Exactly.

Starting point is 00:22:56 So on March 2nd, 2020, the Charleston Police Department issued the following statement announcing Celia's death. They said said quote, a woman found dead Monday at a Spartanburg residence has been identified as a missing woman from Charleston. Celia Sweeney, 28, was reported missing to Charleston Police Friday, February 28, by co-workers and friends. Police did a welfare check at her residence and found that she was missing along with her vehicle. The abandoned vehicle was located late Saturday night. Investigators identified a person of interest in the case who lived in Spartanburg. That's when Charleston police requested the assistance of the Spartanburg County Sheriff's

Starting point is 00:23:37 Office and the state law enforcement division to assist with the investigation. That person of interest was also found dead Monday at the residence where the body of Miss Swini was found. The person of interest has been identified as Buddy Allen Car 32. State law enforcement division is investigating the death of car. The investigation into Miss Swini's death is ongoing.

Starting point is 00:24:02 It was determined and eventually announced that Buddy had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The corner determined that he had been dead for about 48 hours when he was found on Monday, March 2, so it's likely that he took his own life shortly after he returned to his home with Celia's body. But that begs the question, who had been helping buddy cover his tracks, that fateful Friday?

Starting point is 00:24:32 Well, of course, it was none other than the other man in attendance on their Thursday outing, a 36 year old man named Mark Walton. So they located Mark, who was alive, and arrested and charged him with accessory to murder, named Mark Walton. So they located Mark, who was alive, and arrested and charged him with accessory to murder, with the bond set at $500,000. He was also ordered to refrain from contacting

Starting point is 00:24:55 anyone in Celia's family. One report claims that Mark was Celia's neighbor in their apartment complex, while another claimed that he was staying with a woman who lived in their apartment complex, who may have been the neighbor friend with whom Celia had gone out with on the evening of Thursday, February 27th. But regardless, one source who claimed to know both Celia and Mark said that he was spending the night at her apartment that evening and claimed that the two had had a fight. Now according to this anonymous source, she had kicked Mark out of her apartment around

Starting point is 00:25:31 3am. His phone tracking confirmed that Mark had traveled about 500 steps between 303 and 312am, which is the approximate distance between the apartment in which Mark had been and Celia's apartment. And as well, I know as a lot of you guys are probably already thinking, this was also shortly after Celia had sent that last text known to come from her phone sent to the female neighbor. On March 2, 2020, again, that Monday, the day before Mark was arrested, Mark posted

Starting point is 00:26:09 on Facebook that he had gotten a new phone and lost all his contacts. A friend of Celia's chimed in and wrote, �Trying to hide all the evidence that you killed my friend, you're a sick fucking human and took a beautiful life. You should rot in prison for the rest of your pathetic existence. And his Facebook has also since been disabled. In a development that proved to be pure luck on behalf of investigators, Buddy's Ford F-150 tracked its own precise movements, including when doors are opened and closed.

Starting point is 00:26:43 We love to see it. Yeah, so that's how they found out all these details. Between 3 a.m., when Celia sent her last text, and Mark potentially went back over to Celia's apartment from her neighbor's apartment, and 6 a.m., when the men were spotted leaving the apartment complex, the doors of the truck were opened and closed multiple times. Now, later that day, around 12.45 pm,

Starting point is 00:27:07 the two men were spotted on security camera footage at Home Depot in Charleston, and on it, Mark was shown putting on a pair of latex gloves that they had just purchased before touching the black container in which Celia was found. That's not suspicious. Right?

Starting point is 00:27:24 So please recover a pair of American flag cowboy boots, which Mark was spotted wearing when he was out at the bars on Thursday evening. They were seized by police and found to have blood on them. So based on this, the Charleston Police Department announced, quote, the totality of these facts, circumstances, and evidence, established probable cause that Mark Walton was present and a principal actor in Celia Sweeney's murder. While it didn't confirm that he had been an active participant in her murder, or even present at the time that it happened, Mark at least ate it in helping buddy cover it up.

Starting point is 00:28:02 After this discovery, the charges against Mark were upgraded to murder. Like buddy, Mark's criminal history was dotted with charges, which included failure to pay, but nothing as as serious as accessory to murder, or potentially even murder itself. And there's a lot of misinformation floating around regarding whether or not Mark Walton is still, in in fact incarcerated. The Charleston County Sheriff's Office website itself claims that he made a $250,000 bail in May of 2020 and is out awaiting a trial. But other articles claim that he is still imprisoned in the Charleston County Detention Center. At a bond hearing for Mark in April of 2020,

Starting point is 00:28:47 Celia's family were allowed to give victim impact statements, and her aunt said, quote, I think you helped cover up what he did to her, and you could have chosen to help her, and you chose not to. You could have called police, you had choices, and instead you helped to hide her, and you caused so much more pain.

Starting point is 00:29:10 Celia's mom echoed quote, there's an emptiness in me that only Celia could fill. I will never get to embrace my daughter again. Mark was very stoic while the statements were read, and those who knew and loved Celia bemoan the lack of information about what happened to her. One online forum had neighbors of Celia's chiming in, just hoping for more information, and stating that the police had been camped out all day and night at the apartment complex following her disappearance, but claimed that no one, not even the police, seemed to know what had really happened that night. A thread on Reddit also implicated Celia's supposed friend

Starting point is 00:29:51 in neighbor, Gina, with one poster stating simply quote, Celia was friends with Gina, Gina's boyfriend is Mark. Mark's friend is Buddy. It doesn't appear that Celia knew Buddy prior to Thursday 227. He apparently was in town and got together with Mark and Gina. Meanwhile, there's been nothing said about Gina, so it's unknown where she was when her friend was being murdered and hidden. Another question quote, where in the hell were Mark and Gina when she was trying to ditch Buddy? Do you think Buddy returned to Celia's house alone? One poster posited that Celia may have been set up by the men with Gina's help, asking

Starting point is 00:30:30 quote, where were her so-called friends? Were they actually friends? Or is it possible that her so-called friend Gina set her up? Like maybe they wanted to rob her? The reason why I ask is because Celia wanted to ditch all of them, not just Buddy, which seems to indicate that she wasn't close enough to tell Gina and her boyfriend that she felt uncomfortable around Buddy. The mere fact that Celia wanted to ditch all three of them indicates that she felt uncomfortable around the two friends that she didn't know

Starting point is 00:30:59 as well. I think the police need to question Gina and her boyfriend again. Yeah, I mean, I agree with this completely. It doesn't seem like she was very close with Gina, if that's even the person that is in question here, that is her female neighbor. But it also makes you wonder, of course, why this happened at all. Like, was, you know, maybe Celia was trying to get Buddy out of her apartment, and he made advances at her, and she rejected rejected him because she was not into this guy at all and then maybe he retaliated that's really the only kind of scenario i can

Starting point is 00:31:33 imagine yeah it feels like that's probably the scenario and then you know buddy called mark to help him take care of the situation or whatever right because they're good friends marks right there right there. Right, and Buddy was, you know, in from out of town. So it's like the only, you know, he had a friend that was in town to help him here. I wonder if maybe he was hoping to like hook up with Celia and like stay at her place or something like that. Like, my mind goes in that direction, which obviously is a total speculation, but either way, just so fucked up. Yeah, and it seems that there's a lot of speculation about Gina's possible involvement. Obviously, Daphne and I don't know Gina, but it seems like there's a lot of people online

Starting point is 00:32:15 that are kind of pointing fingers at her saying that she could potentially be involved. And after Celia's death, Gina actually posted on Facebook, quote, "'Celia, I can't believe this. I really can't accept that you're gone. I hope you know I love you more than anything in this world, and I will see you again someday.' Please know, Raider and Calisi are safe, and you are so loved until we meet again.' I love you more than anything in this world. That's an extreme thing to say. Kind of an interesting quote. It makes it seem like they were really, really close, but were they? Yeah, I don't know.

Starting point is 00:32:53 Buddy's mom told a local news station through Tears Quote, we first learned about it and it's just unbelievable. Because we just don't believe that this happened. He wasn't a monster. I feel like that's what he's being made out to be and he was not. There's a lot of unanswered questions. Me and my family, we didn't find out that there was somebody else there until 10, 10, 30 last night. Every one of us knows that that girl's family is hurting too.

Starting point is 00:33:23 And I just want them to know that we're willing to fight for her too and to find out everything that happened I mean I understand the sentiment behind this comment from buddy's mom It is very nice, but also your son You know most likely killed somebody there's denial in there for sure I do I don't even want to say most likely. Sorry. I mean he did yeah And I understand why as his mom if you don't see that side of him and you find this out And then he's dead and you can't talk to him You're like what do you mean he did these horrible things like I don't know him to do that sure

Starting point is 00:33:59 But like he did this so I understand how painful that must be to not have that answers as to why your child would do that to another person. But those are the those are the facts of the evidence. Yeah. There have been no updates in the case against Mark Walton or his status since early 2020. So that was three years ago, which leads us to believe that he is either one out on bond and under house arrest, which would include having to wear an ankle monitor, or two, still in prison and awaiting sentencing. And a trial which has most likely been postponed multiple times due to COVID, and it's just not being reported about. There are still way more questions than answers in this case, and we likely won't know more until Mark heads to trial.

Starting point is 00:34:46 So until then, Celia's friends and family await the answers that they deserve. Celia's friend Amy wrote after her death, quote, Celia was my best friend, my sister, my person for approximately four years before she decided she needed to move south to restart her life. She saved me from myself more times than I can count and was one true confidant in life. We laughed

Starting point is 00:35:12 and cried together and in each other found an understanding and mutual respect, I think neither of us thought we would ever find in a friend. As much as she did for me, I tried my hardest to do for her. There are no words to describe the sheer pain and despair that her loss brings. I love you Celia, always. Goodbye for now. I promise to make you proud. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. I really hope that we find out sometime soon when this trial is going to be... Yeah, or what's going on with Mark Walton in general?

Starting point is 00:36:03 Yeah, like what? What the hell? So we're gonna keep looking and keep searching. If you guys happen to just see details pop up at any point, feel free to email us, but we're gonna stay on the lookout for that. And then hopefully whenever that happens, there's going to be a ton more information that comes out and we could do an update episode. Cause I know this episode didn't have a whole lot of details

Starting point is 00:36:22 in it, we really tried, but wanted to still get Celia's story out there because there are so little answers in it, you know? Yeah, and also just because justice really has not been served in this case at all. No way, it has not. So thank you guys for tuning in. Thank you in advance for sharing. If you decide to do so, and we'll see you on Friday. Alright, guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:37:21 you

Going West: True Crime - Celia Sweeney // 281

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