Rotten Mango - #122: The Billionaire Inside 3 Suitcases (Case of Elize Matsunaga)

Episode Date: December 15, 2021

He was about to sell his family company and become a billionaire. But then he went missing. In order to find him, the police had to dig into his personal life. Why was a private detective following hi...m? Who hired them? What’s on the videos the PI took of him? Why was he visiting a very shady chat forum every single day - what kind of information was he looking for on there? And most importantly - did the dismembered body parts scattered on the side of the road have anything to do with this? Full Source Notes: rottenmangopodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Rambles. Whether you're doing a dance to your favorite artist in the office parking lot, or being guided into Warrior I in the break room before your shift, whether you're running on your Peloton tread at your mom's house while she watches the baby, or counting your breaths on the subway. Peloton is for all of us, wherever we are, whenever we need it, download the free Peloton app today. Peloton app available through free tier, or pay to description starting at 12.99 per month. Welcome to this week's main episode of Rotten Mango. I'm your host Stephanie Sue and we're
Starting point is 00:00:37 just going to jump right in. It was almost closing day. Not of a house, although that would be a huge accomplishment for most. He is not like most people. He is the heir to the Yogi Food Fortune. They were about to sell Yogi Foods to the massive multinational food conglomerate General Mills for close to $1 billion. There was a billion dollars on the table that week. It was almost closing day, but before the deal can be closed and the papers can be signed, he goes missing.
Starting point is 00:01:09 The heir to the fortune goes missing. The billionaire man. From the get go, I mean the questions are endless. Did someone kidnap him for ransom? Are we gonna be expecting a demand for a bag of cash from the deal? Is it a disgruntled employee of Yogi Foods? Maybe it's a business partner who feels scammed, who feels cheated out of this deal? Maybe.
Starting point is 00:01:29 Maybe it's inside the family. Maybe the heir knew too much about the company. Maybe someone had to shut him up before the deal fell through. Something was wrong with the deal. But what's up with that private detective that was following him the weekend before he vanished? Has anyone seen the videos? The PI took of him? What's on those videos?
Starting point is 00:01:47 Well, what about that website that he was frequenting every day, the chat forum? Well, nothing feels legal about that chat forum. But the most pressing question of all was how did one of the richest men in the country end up on the side of the road with his limbs dismembered and stuffed in bright blue trash bags. As always full source notes are available at rottingopodcast.com but there is a really good Ducky series on this on Netflix called Once Upon a Crime, Alise Matsunaga. This is probably one of the most underrated Netflix Ducky series of true crime that I've ever seen in my life.
Starting point is 00:02:24 I mean every single second of it was jam-packed, fast-paced, it was... I don't want to say amazing because that sounds so strange, but it was really... it was an invigorating watch. That's what I can say. So let's get into the story. But before we do, I just want to apologize for skipping a mini-soauce, very abruptly, that was out of nowhere. I caught hand-foot mouth disease from my 10-month niece, which if you don't know what that is, don't Google it because essentially your hands, your feet, and the back of your mouth, like where your tonsils are, just have blisters, open-sourced blisters for days. I couldn't type. I couldn't even talk. I couldn't even swallow water. It was probably the most painful thing I've ever experienced. So that's why there was no mini-sode, but we're back on schedule and we're somewhat healthy.
Starting point is 00:03:11 So this is good. It's like a holiday miracle. So let's jump right into the story. There's two people involved in this one. And these two people are very fascinating. The case takes place in Brazil and I just want to, like, just a forewarning before all of this is every single person involved in this. Not even just like the victim and the perpetrator, but all of the witnesses, all of the police,
Starting point is 00:03:35 the prosecutors, even the friends of the victim, they're wild. Like just everything that comes out of their mouth, you're like, what did they just say? Why would they just say that? That doesn't make any sense, so just be warned, put your pants on because it's going to get crazy. Something that comes out of their mouth, you're like, what did they just say? Why would they just say that? That doesn't make any sense. So just be warned, put your pants on because it's going to get crazy. Let's introduce the two main people of today's story, Alize Matsunaga. Now, there's not much on either of these people's childhoods.
Starting point is 00:03:57 But what I can gather from Alize is that she grew up in this super small town. They didn't have a paved road leading up to her house, so it was really in the middle of nowhere, is kind of how she describes it. In the beginning, it seemed like they were doing their best to be a wholesome family, Alise with her parents, her sister, and Alise remembers, even as a young kid, they would be waiting around for Santa to come drop off these presents. They'd be waiting every day, Christmas would come around, no presents. What the hell is this? They would wake up, no gifts anywhere, and her mom would pull the kids aside and tell them,
Starting point is 00:04:29 Well, of course not. Santa Claus got lost. We're in the middle of nowhere. He's not great with directions. I mean, of course he's not going to be here. Of course, there's no presents. It's not because you guys are bad people or bad kids, or he forgot about you. He just got lost, he doesn't have ways. And it seemed like, you know, they were trying to live this normal, cute life. I'll be it, they had a lot of financial stress in all of these things, but then out of nowhere. Alise's dad just packs up and leaves,
Starting point is 00:04:57 like just leaves the house, buys on out of here. Because Alise's mom can't find work in their small town, she has her parents watch over the kids and she ventures to a large town to find work as a housekeeper. So when she comes back for the kids, years later, she's not alone. She's like, meet your new dad. This is my new husband, and this is going to be your stepdad, and we're all going to live together. No questions asked. It's going to be a beautiful family. Forget your biological dad. Just pretend it's him.
Starting point is 00:05:23 So he wasn't the best. Now the kids were not stoked, but what can they do? I mean, they're forced to live with this man. So they did notice some alarming signs as they get older. The first thing was that one day a lazy noticed that the locks in the house had been changed. Not the outside locks, but particularly the bathroom lock. Now, I mean, it didn't make sense. She walked into the bathroom and now she, I mean, it didn't make sense. She walked into the bathroom and now she can't lock it from the inside.
Starting point is 00:05:49 That's a little strange. Why would someone replace the bathroom lock and make it so that I can't even lock it? That's the whole purpose of a bathroom lock. And more strange than that is that now whenever she tried to use the restroom, her stepdad would just barge in. And would say, whoa, oops, I didn't see you coming in here. I didn't know you were using the restroom.
Starting point is 00:06:06 But she's like in her early teens. You know, she's not thinking this guy's creepy. She just feels off about it. When she turns 15, one day she's showering. And there's this slanted window in the shower. And she notices something like rustling outside, rustling in the leaves of the tree. And she's like, what the heck is going on?
Starting point is 00:06:22 And she looks closer. There's a creep watching her, a creep had climbed onto the tree to peer through her shower window and watch her shower. So she freaks out, she grabs the nearest towel, she tries to run out of that bathroom as fast as possible. She had no idea that it was her stepdad. But he didn't know that she didn't know, so he climbs down from this tree, runs into the house, slams into the bathroom, and you know, she's naked, she's afraid, and he drags her down and assaults her. She said that the feeling was she wanted to rub her skin until it blood. She felt like it was all her
Starting point is 00:06:59 fault. She was ashamed. She was so angry with God that she had to experience this. So that night, she packs up all of her things, and she's gonna run away from home. I'm not staying. She was so angry with God that she had to experience this. So that night she packs up all of her things and she's gonna run away from home. I'm not staying. She brought us $50. Grab the knife. Decides I can never go back. There's no going back now. But when she tries to run, she's preyed upon by other guys. Can you believe it? Like I mean, so she's walking down the road and these guys are stopping their cars like, hey, get in the car. Why are you alone? How old are you? Just strangers some of them tried following her in their cars asking her come on just get in Come on, just I know you want to get in she was so terrified one man did offer her to stay the night at his place
Starting point is 00:07:40 And she trusted him so she did and Thankfully, he was a good person, and the next morning, CPS showed up to get her. She was terrified of going back to her family house. I mean, she never told her mom what happened. She didn't tell the police. The only thing that she did was to ask to stay with her aunt from then on,
Starting point is 00:07:58 and her aunt was the only person in her life that she felt like would be there, no matter what. Now, the rest of her years that Alisee's in this small town, she like would be there no matter what. Now the rest of her years that Alisee is in this small town, she just wouldn't stop daydreaming. Skrulls trying to get out. She would always say, this town is too small for me. I just don't like it. And by the way, Alisee is beautiful. She's got this blonde hair, like beautiful. I think they were blue, like striking eyes. I mean, truly, she looked like an angel, is what people describe her.
Starting point is 00:08:29 She'd always tell her, I just want to get out of here, I want to get out of here and her aunt would say, well, you need to study. That's the only way you're going to change your life. And Alise, I mean, she knows the reality of the world. What are you talking about? How am I going to study? I don't even have money for college.
Starting point is 00:08:44 Let's say I get into college, who's going to pay for it. So at first, Alize graduated high school and becomes a nurse, like an assistant. And it was rough. She said she loved being able to help people, but it was tough on her psychologically. So they had all this training that you had to get through to how not to get attached to your patients.
Starting point is 00:09:02 Because if you're an emotional wreck, you can't help people. But everything changed when her first patient died on her. She just, she's gonna do it. She was like, I can't stop thinking about this person. I feel like I did something wrong. I have to overthink every single step of my life that I ever did, when if it was my fault in some indirect, weird way.
Starting point is 00:09:20 So she eventually quits and she decides, I gotta go to law school. This is it for me, law school. But how am I gonna pay my tuition? That was her main concern. She's thinking about how do I pay for my tuition? Shared already gotten out of her old town. She had moved into the big city, but she's got no money.
Starting point is 00:09:35 Now in that same exact city, there was someone who... Money was no concern for them. This guy's name is Marcos Matsunaga. Now Marcos, again, there's not a lot on his childhood, other than his grandpa had immigrated from Japan to Brazil, and they are one of the richest families in Brazil. After immigrating, it's like our rags to riches type of story. So Marcos, it's said, worked and studied really hard growing up. He valued hard work.
Starting point is 00:10:01 I mean, he didn't really have a choice. So from the minute that he was born, Marcos was being trained to take over the family company. Yoke Food Company. It was founded by Marker's grandfather. It went on to become one of the largest food companies in Brazil. They made tons of snacks, dry market foods like popcorn, but it's owned by a General Mills now. And that's kind of important to the story. So General Millss bought Yoki for about a billion dollars. General mills is the company that makes most of the cereals. Yeah, uh-huh. So they bought Yoki foods.
Starting point is 00:10:33 So Yoki foods that had popcorn, seasonings, grains, soy beverages, snacks. I mean, this is no small company. They had more than 5,000 employees. The family, if they were to sell the shares in the company, it would amount to almost a billion dollars Which they later do and Marcos was gonna be the leader of it He was gonna be the heir to the whole company Not only was he family not only was he the next extension of CEO
Starting point is 00:11:00 But he was really good. I mean he kind of reminds me of Aldo from the house of Gucci story He had expanded Yokey in the span of 11 years to be 10 times its size. So the guy is smart. Like, the guy is not just like this rich person who is getting everything spoon fed to him. I mean, a little bit, but he's somewhat smart. So, Elysian Marcos, they meet and it's kind of mysterious how they met. I mean, Marcos just starts introducing her to all of his friends and family.
Starting point is 00:11:26 Didn't really tell them who she was, how they met, where they met, nothing. Just hey guys, it's my new girlfriend, Alise. Nobody asked questions. I mean nobody thought that they would actually get serious. I mean his friend said and I quote, it's the whole stereotype thing. Okay, let me explain. Marcos was not the most conventionally attractive person.
Starting point is 00:11:47 He was a little bit older. I guess just doesn't fit conventional, so hot type standards, right? Who even defines that? But at least he was younger, he was very petite, blonde, you know. They thought he was a fling. They thought, okay, he's just messing you know, messing with some young girls now But eventually he's gonna get over it. The two came from completely different backgrounds That's what the friends knew is Alise did not come for money
Starting point is 00:12:14 Suddenly she's being swept into this life going on lavish vacations out of the country going to fancy museums But the more that the friends saw them together, I mean, it made sense. They had some common interests. They both loved hunting. Hunting, they loved it, okay. There's a lot. They would go hunting and indigenous villagers together. They have a lot of pictures that are questionable.
Starting point is 00:12:38 I have nothing against hunting. I really don't, especially if people do it sustainably. Like a lot of indigenous Native Americans do it sustainably. They use every part of the animal. It's a lot more sustainable than traditional going to whole foods by an impact of meat. But their pictures are questionable, that's for sure. Like they would put the rifle on the antlers of the deer,
Starting point is 00:12:58 the dead deer that they're just holding up. And they would pose next to it. It was a lot. They had taxidermy deers in their house. I mean, it's just intense and People were coming around to Alise. All the friends and family. They were talking to her and realizing. Oh, she's not just a pretty face She's kind of smart. She's finishing law school. She's very determined and eventually Marcos decides I got to I got to marry this girl So he starts showering Alise with all of his attention Like just going in on her and sometimes is a bit much if she had a steady group for law school
Starting point is 00:13:29 He would always ask are they gonna be men there? I mean, I don't know my girls I guess my male classmates might be there because I can't control what kind of classmates are in my law school class, right? I can't avoid all men. Oh Okay, Alise will haveie, well, have fun. But he would call every 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes. I didn't even get this treatment from my mom when I was like in middle school.
Starting point is 00:13:55 Every 30 minutes, and Elysie would beg all the guys in her class, shh. Can you just not talk? Like, because the minute that he hears your voice, it's gonna be a whole thing. Just, can you just just for two seconds? Then he'd pick up. Hello. Who the hell are you with? Oh, I am with my friend Sandra Okay, we'll put Sandra on the phone so I can talk to her like he was that
Starting point is 00:14:15 toxic Husband that wanted to talk to our friends like send proof as if he's a parent. I mean, it's weird So the two get married and all of Marcos' friends were impressed by him. His family thought this is the one for him. He loved Alise so much. He treated her like a queen. He would pull out her chair for her to sit down every single day, even at home. Shit, everything that she wanted financially, the newest handbags he showered her in gifts. I mean, Marcos was a good spender, a great consumer, one might say.
Starting point is 00:14:46 They had over $500,000 worth of wine in their home wine cellar. Over a quarter million dollars of Cuba's most expensive cigars, and they were kind of eccentric. They weren't just rich, rich, they were eccentric and rich. They were strange. They had this pet snake that they named Gigi, and in a lot of home videos they would film They would feed GG various mice and they would just comment on the mice like what like it's animal planet like oh look at the mice
Starting point is 00:15:11 I just peed in the corner. Oh Don't worry. This one's not too big for GG. She's gonna go in for the kill Like animal planet style this would later of course bother a lot of people that the couple had snakes And they were also fine with feeding the snake mice without feeling bad. Inside of their apartment, they had guns, rifles, scattered everywhere. Inside of a hidden room in their apartment, they had over ¼ million dollars worth of guns and ammo. So they're just living this weird life, okay?
Starting point is 00:15:41 Afterwards, after the marriage, Alise starts trying to get pregnant. She stops taking the pill, and she thought it would happen very naturally, but it didn't. So they start going to doctor's appointments, infertility treatments, and like a lot of couples who go through this, Alise said it was rough. It was so tough. She was the one taking all the hormones. Undergoing a ton of different treatments, she was emotional because every single time she had high hopes that this would be the time that she would get pregnant, but it wouldn't. And she'd be unstable, she was emotional just upset. And then in 2010, she finds out her worst nightmare.
Starting point is 00:16:16 Marcos, her wonderful husband, is freaking cheating on her. So she finds out in a really traumatic way too. So she goes on vacation with Marco, so she asks him, hey babe, do you want to take a shower with me? I'll take one later. So she hops into the shower when she gets out, he's not in the room. Why is he not in the hotel room? But she hears something ringing. It's a Skype call. From a woman. Who the hell is that? She doesn't pick up, but she proceeds to go through their whole chat log and the two of them had been seeing each other It's just like this gut punching feeling and she waits. She's like seething. She's literally boiling
Starting point is 00:16:53 Waiting for him to get back so she confronts him and he says You guessed it It's not what it looks like. It's a work thing. She's like are you are you an idiot? I read the chat history. Don't even lie to me. She was so shocked. She never imagined in a million years that her husband could do something like this. She always read about it like, oh, those poor women, but not Marcos, not her husband. So she immediately calls her attorney right then and there for a divorce. I'm getting a divorce. That's it. That's final. This doesn't fly where I come from. I don't care if you think you have money and that's why you can cheat. from. I don't care if you think you have money,
Starting point is 00:17:25 and that's why you can cheat. No, I don't care. I'm leaving you. I want a divorce. So as she's trying to contact her attorney and do all of this for the next couple of days, in the middle of all of this, she starts feeling all light-headed.
Starting point is 00:17:37 She starts feeling all nauseous. She's freaking pregnant. What? After years of trying, nothing was working, and the minute that she finds out that her husband is cheating on her and she's trying to get a divorce, She's freaking pregnant. What? After years of trying, nothing was working and the minute that she finds out that her husband is cheating on her and she's trying to get a divorce,
Starting point is 00:17:49 she finds out that she's pregnant. And Mark goes, gets on his knees and he's apologizing, baby, I'll never do it again. Come on, we gotta start this family together, please. I'll do anything. Did she truly forgive him? I don't know. She said that she did.
Starting point is 00:18:04 She truly believed though that he would keep his word, especially now that they were going to have this beautiful daughter together. So she gives birth and they were so happy for six months. And then they just start arguing again, like a lot. I mean, the way that Marcos would talk to her was strange now. She said it was distant. It wasn't respectful and it wasn't admiring as it usually is. He never wanted to be home. He never wanted to be home. He never wanted to spend time with his wife or his child. She literally had to beg him to come spend time with his own child. He just, he wasn't even just busy from
Starting point is 00:18:34 work. She felt like he didn't love her. So they start seeking outside help for their marriage. They have a counselor, a spiritual counselor, a reverend, and potentially they were looking into a fair piste, but it's not going well. Alise just wasn't trusting him. He kept telling her, you made me a man. We have to forget what happened. So he's like, forget the affair. You got to forget it so we can move on. I feel like this is so relatable for a lot of couples who had invidelity issues, but she would accuse him of having another affair because she's
Starting point is 00:19:03 I don't know, traumatized. So if he comes home a little late another affair because she's I don't know traumatized So if he comes home a little late. Yeah, she's a bit on edge and instead of being patient with her He would start calling her crazy. You're lying. You're making this shit up in your head You're insane. You see things that aren't there because you're so paranoid And at least me on the other hand is like am I paranoid? You're the one that cheated. Am I going crazy? Like, am I being gaslit right now? I feel so stressed. I feel like I made this relationship.
Starting point is 00:19:31 I don't know. Why is this conversation getting to me? I'm looking at him with, I'm piercing him with my eyes right now. So she does something that, you know, might sound a little crazy, but honestly, I feel for her. So she hires his private detective
Starting point is 00:19:49 and she leaves town to go visit her grandma who is sick at the time and this is perfect. While I'm gone, the private detective will be watching Marcos to see if he really uses this as an opportunity to cheat on me. I mean, that makes sense. Literally, the first night that she's out of town, she gets a call.
Starting point is 00:20:05 Hello? Listen, your husband just went out, he arrived at the hotel, picked up a woman, and they left to go together to a restaurant. Are you kidding me? I mean she couldn't believe it. Is this seriously happening again? Or what? So she calls Marcos knowing all of this. Hey honey, what are you doing? Oh hey babe, I'm just gonna celebrate with the buyers because they close the company's sale. So at this exact week that all of this is going on,
Starting point is 00:20:31 they are in the process of selling Yokey Foods to General Mills. So this is the biggest transaction of this. Billion dollar deal. A billion dollar deal. There's a billion dollars in the elevator. So he's just lying He's like I'm celebrating with the buyers because we close the company's sale. She knows this is a lie
Starting point is 00:20:50 But she doesn't say anything. Oh, they she know that's not the buyer. Oh, no, he was rubbing up on her Yeah, there's pictures of it just rubbing. There's videos just kissing rubbing, okay? The second night it only gets worse the PI calls again He's at a Japanese restaurant now with the same woman. Which one? This was the worst news, because it was the same restaurant that Alicia and Marcos were regular as that.
Starting point is 00:21:13 They were close with the chef. So this is blatant disrespect. It's not even like he's trying to hide the affair from people, he's trying to be discreet, he's literally showing everyone in the world. Hey, I really don't care that I'm cheating on my wife. What are you gonna do about it? So she's triggered, and on top of that,
Starting point is 00:21:29 she's the one that introduced him to this Japanese restaurant. What are you gonna do about it? Why would you break into these apartments? For money, for drugs, whatever was in there. Why aren't you afraid of getting caught at doing this? No, who's going to catch us? What a police.
Starting point is 00:21:50 It was the height of the crack era, and instead of locking up drug dealers, some New York City cops had become them. I would suit up in my uniform and we're going to want some drug dealers and I know how to do it really well. This is the inside story of the biggest police corruption scandal in NYPD history and the investigation that uncovered it all.
Starting point is 00:22:15 Did you consider yourself a rat? 100%. I saved my soul just like everybody else does. Listen to and follow the set, an Autosy Originals documentary podcast series, available now in the Odyssey app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your shows. I'm not a big guy, man, but I love being a dirty mother f***er. So she feels hurt. Then the PI tells her that this woman's name is Natalia and she is an escort. And the world felt like it was crashing down on her. Because her worst nightmares were coming true. It was happening to her.
Starting point is 00:22:58 What happened to the first wife was happening to her. What? Marcos was married with a young daughter at home when Alise had met him working as an escort. He left his wife and child for Alise and now Alise with a young daughter at home is going to be left for another escort. So he had logged on to Marcos when he was with his first wife and his young daughter at home. He had logged on to one of his favorite websites called M-Class, a website for high-end escorts and he sees the least pictures, he falls in love, requests her to meet at a hotel not too far from his work and they hit it off. He hires her a few more times, they realize they have a ton in common and he offers her
Starting point is 00:23:42 a deal. Get off the escort website See me and only me full time and I'll pay all your bills Later his friends found out that he is dating an escort and they were upset Yeah, okay, so his friends are really weird people. I don't like them. They said they weren't upset because they're good friend They're good old pal was hiring escorts, but that he dared to date one It's like okay very sexist. I want to punch them in the face. I mean, it's clear that if these are the people that he's hanging out with, maybe he doesn't have the best outlook on women, the way that they talk about them,
Starting point is 00:24:12 they all actually had joined a forum, like a website, where they just rank escorts. And Marcos' name on that website was HOUR RIDER. So they date for a few years. Before Marcos divorces his first wife, moved in Alise, and now that she had his child, another daughter, she was the wife, he's gonna get rid of her. And Natalia's woman that he's seeing was the escort that he's gonna marry for the third time. He even gifted Natalia the same exact car that he gave Alise.
Starting point is 00:24:43 I feel like that would mess with me. What's the car? It was like a, it was an armored Mitsubishi, like armored bulletproof. What? Yeah, because you know, they are a billion dollar family. Oh. So they gotta be careful.
Starting point is 00:24:57 Just driving around in an armored Mitsubishi. But it's almost like screaming car get. Yeah. Like, hello. But the same exact car, it's not even about the car. It's like like screaming target. Like, hello. But this same exact car, it's not even about the car. It's like the same one. You couldn't even get creative. According to Natalia, Marcos had told her that once the company is sold to General Mills,
Starting point is 00:25:15 they are going to move to Miami together and start a new life. He hates Alise, he's scared of what she might do, and they're always fighting. So after finding all of this out, she packs her bags from her grandma's house and it's time to go back home. And her whole plan was to not let Marco snow that she knew. She was just gonna gather all these things from the PI, take it to a divorce attorney, get a fat settlement out of this.
Starting point is 00:25:35 I mean, get the bag, you deserve it, Alise, right? That seems normal. Every girl can get behind this, every guy can get behind this until she gets back get behind this, until she gets back. So she gets back to the airport. Margot's picks her up with their daughter, and Alise is just trying to be calm. Yeah, what do you guys want for dinner? I mean, I don't really feel like cooking.
Starting point is 00:25:53 Maybe we should order pizza. Okay, sounds good. But by the time that they get to the apartment, and before the pizza is even delivered, a fight starts. Alise noticed that Marco seemed nervous. He comes back and he says, hey, I just got off the phone and after we finished dinner, I got to go to my dad's house. And she just, she didn't want to say anything, but just sitting there looking at this guy blatantly
Starting point is 00:26:20 lying to her when she knows damn well he's going to go see his mistress and not go to his dad's house She wanted to hold it together, but she couldn't she just looked at him and said stop lying stop lying I know you're not going to your dad stop lying What are you talking about Alise? What do you mean? I know everything you're a liar. I hired a detective I know you're not going to your dad's! So right at that moment, the pizza gets delivered. They're waiting at the bottom. They can't go all the way up.
Starting point is 00:26:51 It's a luxury apartment condo. So he's like, well, I gotta go get the pizza. The CCTV footage shows Marcos going downstairs in the elevator to get the pizza, and the man's looked nervous. He looked stressed. He looked like he's gonna go through it. He comes back upstairs with the pizza and this time was very different from the first time he cheated. Marko's did not get on his knees. He didn't beg her to stay. She kept accusing him of lying and at first he tried to gaslight her and when it didn't work,
Starting point is 00:27:17 Alise said that he told her, Do you think someone with your reputation will ever find Prince Charming? I know, men. You will only find guys who will use you for your... P- You think I'm your dad? I'm not a bum. I took you out of the trash. And according to Alise, he slapped her across the face. He even allegedly threatened to tell everyone that she was crazy,
Starting point is 00:27:39 so this seems to be a running trend in this relationship where every time they get into fights, he threatens to have her committed to an institution to live out her days. What? So Alisee had reached out to their reverend before and told them what happened and she said she was terrified. What if he does admit me? Would you help me? Can you tell them that I'm not crazy?
Starting point is 00:27:59 And Marcos, on the other hand, tells the reverend already found an institution for her. Like anytime she acts up, I'm just going to stick her in there. And the Reverend is like, whoa, whoa, instead of that, why don't you just get an outpatient psychiatrist that can prescribe her medicine to try and calm her down? Okay, the Reverend's weird on this one. Because what? Just you just think all women are hysterical, and she just needs meds for being mad and like being justifiedly angry with her husband.
Starting point is 00:28:25 I don't know, it's weird. So at Leasy claims, she said, I just want to go back to my hometown. I want to divorce you, and I want to go live with my parents. I hate you. Okay? Go! But don't you dare take my daughter with you. You leave her here.
Starting point is 00:28:38 Because if you go and take her with you, you'll end up being shot. You won't even see it. That's what at Leasy claims Marcos had said. I mean, the marriage had kind of been on the rocks for a while. He just wasn't interested. You'll end up being shot. You won't even see it. That's what Alise claims Marcos had said. I mean, the marriage had kind of been on the rocks for a while, he just wasn't interested. This is the same guy. Marcos had reached out to all of his old buddies
Starting point is 00:28:52 that he had kind of distanced himself from during the marriage, because you know, you move on, you have family of kids. Maybe you just don't have time. He's running a multi-billion dollar company. And he had told the friends, hey, I want to reconnect. I just want to hang out again like old times. But when they invited him, he never showed up. May of 2012, it hit the news. Yoki executive Marcos Catano Matsunaga is missing.
Starting point is 00:29:18 I mean, this is the heir of one of the biggest food companies in Brazil. Let's be real. The first thing on everybody's mind is the guy's been kidnapped. There's gonna be a ransom coming in because Yokey is about to close a billion dollar deal. Someone out there wants to chunk of that billion. Maybe it's a business deal, hard and bad. An NDS business partner who feels cheated
Starting point is 00:29:37 out of this general mill's deal. Maybe someone who doesn't want the general mill's deal to go on, maybe it's a family member, we don't know what goes on, look at how so Gucci is crazy. Everyone and anyone is trying to help the police locate Marcos and Marcos' family. They were so concerned.
Starting point is 00:29:53 I mean, this was one of the most important weeks of their lives for their family business. Literally a billion dollars on the line. Where the hell is he? So Lisey tells Marcos cousin, well, he left home on Sunday to go to a meeting with a person from General Mills. He straight up told me, look honey, I have a meeting and it might be long so I may not
Starting point is 00:30:10 come home because the next morning I have another important meeting at the company I might just sleep in the office. What did you guys fight or something? No, I'm just so anxious because he hasn't come home. Have you guys heard from him? Has anyone from the family heard from him? I need my husband. And then Alise goes to Marco's parents house,
Starting point is 00:30:28 and she does something very different from what she did with the cousin. So with the cousin, she's sitting there all like, have you seen him? He told me he's going to a meeting. Oh my God, where's my Marcos? But she sits down with Marcos' parents, and she tells them the truth.
Starting point is 00:30:41 She pushes in a tape to the TV and presses play, and it's the video, the private detective took, of Marcos having an affair. I mean, well not actually doing it, it wasn't an R-rated movie, but it was the PI following them around, rubbing up on each other all over town, at restaurants, outside of hotels. I mean, it's clear he's having an affair. Alise! I mean, the family was so shocked. The first thing that Marcos' mom did, and I know it's crazy because we always imagine he's having an affair. Alise. I mean, the family was so shocked. The first thing that Marcos' mom did,
Starting point is 00:31:07 and I know it's crazy because we always imagine these rich families to be balls to the walls crazy, but Marcos' mom was devastated. She looks up at Alise with tears in her eyes and said, I'm sorry, that's not how I raised my son. And they said, whatever you need, we will help you. Do you know what happened? She says, yes, I mean, I confronted him with this,
Starting point is 00:31:31 and he packed his bags, took some cash and left. Well, the family, I mean, they were upset. They've got so much business going on. Alise, I mean, they thought Marcos was obsessed with Alise. This, none of this made sense. He was head over heels for her He loved her, how is he cheating on her and on top of that they've got this business deal and now Marcos is out there with a bag of cash Forking his mistress, they're upset, they're disappointed and their son, they're they're disgusted by all of this
Starting point is 00:31:58 So three days after Marcos vanishes Alise goes to an attorney Not the one that she usually goes to I think think, maybe that one has connections with the rest of the family, but a different one. And she tells them the whole story of how Marcos vanished. Well where was he last seen? Leaving our apartment? Well then of course that's where the police will start their investigation. At your apartment.
Starting point is 00:32:20 Okay, if they show up at our place, can I, can I call you? Of course I'm here to help, but don't you already have a lawyer? Yes, but I, I just want someone there, I just want someone there with me. So it's a little weird, and then a few days after that, an email comes in to Marcos's brother. And all it said was, please tell Alise and my mom that I'm fine. I just can't talk right now. Signed Marcos. And this is a relief to everyone, especially Alise. She starts slowly feeling a little bit more relaxed.
Starting point is 00:32:50 She's been anxious this entire time. Okay, good. At least now we know that he's alive, right? Alise he's out there somewhere. I mean, a tar-breaking, because he's out there with his mistress, but better than being kidnapped for ransom. Then about 20 miles from San Paolo City in a city called Cocha.
Starting point is 00:33:07 Police were called out to the side of a road. They had found something strange. There were two garbage bags. Okay, not that suspicious, but in one of them, you know, there was some clothes that were covered in blood. There were pants and shirts in there. Okay, now it's getting a bit alarming. The police opened up a second bag and there was a whole leg, a whole foot.
Starting point is 00:33:26 Okay, well we got to search this entire place. Let's go. And hour later, they find another leg. Then a torso. They were all wrapped up in blue garbage bags. I mean, it's clear that it was from the same person, but who? I mean, they knew this person was extremely pale,
Starting point is 00:33:39 considering they weren't in Brazil. Someone with well-groomed nails, they said it looked like this person hadn't jabbed a toenail in their entire life. Just lived a good life with this part of the city coachia. I mean, that's not very common. It looked like they didn't work on their feet. Again, not common in this part of the city.
Starting point is 00:33:56 Their clothes were designer. Ralph Lauren shirt, diesel pants, designer underwear, the pants alone were what most people in this town made in a month's work. So, this is, that's a lot of money for a pair of pants. The police did not know who the victim was, but I mean, they knew they needed to do the best that they could on this case, because whoever it was was freaking rich. And they're terrified.
Starting point is 00:34:19 This was murder. This was dismemberment. I mean, of what we can only imagine is a very rich man. So, when they gathered all the thrown limbs together, they realized another strange detail. The cuts were clean. Whoever did this knew what they were doing to some degree. It wasn't a jagged, rushed dismemberment. It wasn't, you know, a crime of passion and I'm like, oh, I got to dismember this body. Which, I mean, you would never think that, right? But you
Starting point is 00:34:44 got what I'm saying. I got to dismember this body. What do I do? I don't even know the first place to start. Let me just grab and kid your knife and just do what I can It wasn't something like that. It seemed like this person had some extra knowledge of anatomy or how to debone in dismember bodies Which is a very limited number of people. It wasn't it was a crime of rage. Yes Someone who knew the victim who despised them, it was a crime of rage, yes. Someone who knew the victim, who despised them, but had some sort of knowledge. So it's not clear who this person is yet, the victim. The police want to find a hand or the head
Starting point is 00:35:13 for fingerprints or dental records or even a facial sketch. Day by day, it seems like they're trying to complete this little puzzle and finally, the arm and the head are recovered. There's a bullet on the side of the head. I mean, yes, they already knew it was murder, but now they know the cause of death. And the fingerprints were not in good shape to run through the system. So just by looking at the face, it's clear. This is an Asian man.
Starting point is 00:35:35 And that's the first connection between the two completely separate unrelated police investigations. The disappearance of Marcos Matsunaga and the dismemberment of John Doe in the woods had finally come together and they realized Marcos Matsunaga has been murdered and dismembered in the woods. I Just want to put a side note of the medical examiner working on this case when I tell you every single person in this case with Bizarre This is what I mean the medical examiner was interviewed for the docuseries and he adds more strangeness to the whole story. He has a whole spiel about doing autopsies, and he says, and I quote,
Starting point is 00:36:11 people are always more beautiful on the inside than out. Of course, I would never go around cutting people open. I only do it because it's my job. But people are more beautiful on the inside than out, and that is the truth. Just a random commentary. Yeah, just your organs are prettier than your face, Boo Boo, like that type of commentary. But of course I want to go digging around for your organs, but I do because it's my job.
Starting point is 00:36:34 It's just that's how we started this interview. I was like, okay, there's a lot of weird characters on this one. And then the news breaks. The body was formally identified to be Marcos Matsunaga, the heir to the Yoki group that was just sold, yes they finished the transaction to General Mills for almost a billion US dollars. Marcos was one of the wealthiest businessmen in the entire country, so yeah, there was a ton of pressure on the cops to solve the case, there was a ton of press attention, there was a ton of mystery and conspiracy.
Starting point is 00:37:08 So the police asked Marcos' brother, he's the one that had to ID Marcos' body. Is your brother married? Yes, what is a wife to? She went to law school and now she's studying wine. What about before they were married? She was a nurse. Oh, a nurse.
Starting point is 00:37:23 A nurse, you say. Now, I don't know if maybe Marcos' brother was just unsettled by this conversation, or if he wanted to help the investigation in general, but he goes to Elise's and Marcos' apartment with his business partners, with the police, and they look for any CCTV or clues to who might have done this time. They start coming through every single second of every single frame of footage that they had in this entire luxury complex building. So we see Alise, the daughter, Marcos, and their nanny get into the elevator with all of the bags because you know Alise had gotten to see her grandma.
Starting point is 00:37:55 They get up to their floor, they get out, and then eventually the nanny leaves. She's you know, been sent off to go. Then Marcos gets into the elevator, goes all the way down, picks up a pizza, and the clothes he's wearing when he picks up the pizza are the same ones that are found in the garbage bags. So he's seen bringing the pizza upstairs. And now this is what gets interesting. The police go through everything. They did not find a single frame of Marcos leaving the building. After he brings the pizza up, that's it. No sign of Mark was anywhere. So the police are thinking, bingo, what happened after he got the
Starting point is 00:38:30 pizza upstairs? Only Alise knows. So the police pulls cell phone data from Alise's phone and her phone pinged at the exact time at the exact place that the body was found. At the exact time that a witness came forward and said, hey I saw someone throwing trash bags into the woods. Okay. So they confronted her with this. They confronted her with the phone. They confronted her with the security footage of their apartment elevator.
Starting point is 00:38:53 And they find one. You know, they kind of show her stills of an exact frame. And it's not Mark goes with the pizza. No, it's of her the next day. After the pizza. No, it's of her, the next day. After the pizza night, before noon, Alise is seen entering the elevator with three giant suitcases. And every suitcase, she's hurtling and sweating
Starting point is 00:39:14 to get into the elevator. What's in the suitcase, Alise? When she gets back home, guess what? No suitcases. Why, where did you leave your suitcases? I mean, that's an abnormal thing to do, who just in the middle of the day picks up three suitcases, fills it with something heavy, and then gets rid of it. That's not a good way to throw a trash. Did you have trash? So the police tell her. Listen, you don't have to say anything. But
Starting point is 00:39:38 we will charge you for murder. We know you did it. You know you did it. You're just going to make us work a little bit harder. That's all Alise calls her lawyers. She gets thrown into the police station jail all night and the next day she wants to make a full confession And she sits down. This is all recorded. She said that while they were eating pizza Alise brought it up again the fact that he was having an affair and he kept calling her you're literally crazy and It escalated and escalated and finally he stood up and he slapped her across the face. And he had never done something like that before, and he just kept denying it with so much confidence, he kept portraying me as a villain, and I was just like, what the hell is happening?
Starting point is 00:40:16 Am I going crazy? All I remember is going into the cabinet and grabbing my other gun. He had never slapped me before, so I was scared of what he might do. What else he was capable of? So I grabbed the gun, and I was gonna walk back out to where he was in the dining room. But halfway through, in the hallway, I was like, am I crazy?
Starting point is 00:40:33 What am I doing? Why am I grabbing a gun? This is bizarre, this is annoying. So I was walking back to but the gun away. And then he showed up. He saw that I had a gun, and he screamed at me. Turn around, shoot me, shoot me, you coward, shoot me,
Starting point is 00:40:48 or else get out of here and go back to your hometown to your shitty family and leave my daughter here. Do you think any judge will grant custody to a whore? And he started walking towards me and I couldn't take it anymore. The police asked, couldn't you have just left the house? I could have done a lot of things. I could have kept my mouth shut. I shouldn't have said anything about the PI. I just left the house? I could have done a lot of things. I could have kept my mouth shut. I shouldn't have said anything about the PI.
Starting point is 00:41:07 I shouldn't have said that I could have done a billion things. I mean, but I just wasn't myself at that moment. I don't know. I wasn't myself. I hadn't slept in two days. The PI kept calling me. I couldn't take it anymore. And so I shut him. Then I dragged him to a bedroom. And then I had the unfortunate idea of dismembering him. If it was a crime of passion, why didn't you dismember him?
Starting point is 00:41:29 Why didn't you call the cops? He was dead. In a pool of his own blood, because of me, I wanted to call the police, but I knew I'd be arrested right then and there, and I didn't want to be taken away from my daughter. And so yeah, the unfortunate idea of dismembering him came to me. I started to cut him up. So the police were wrong. This wasn't the nurse in Alise.
Starting point is 00:41:50 It was the hunter in Alise. So she felt cornered. She shot. She killed and now she was prepping her game. She knew how to skin animals, how to debone them, how to dismember them, how to get rid of their blood. She knew how to do all of this. Ironically, Marcus was the one that taught her how to do all of this, and even gifted her the gun that she used on him that night.
Starting point is 00:42:12 He's the one that taught her how to shoot. And Alise was very good at hunting. Marcus' friend would even say, sexistly, for a woman she was a great shot! Now the police aren't very happy with this statement. Because they felt like she was saying just wasn't adding up to the forensics. So they charged her not only with first degree murder, but with foul motive, meaning she did this for money, and cruel means a.k.a. dismembering the body,
Starting point is 00:42:36 which means that she is... she's just an evil person. So this is like the harshest punishment she can get if convicted, which is 30 years in Brazil. I mean, it's clear that she did it, but why? It didn't make sense. Yoki Food Company was about to sell for a billion dollars. Money that Marcos would inherit quite a large chunk of.
Starting point is 00:42:55 Why did she not just wait a week? Why did, I mean, even if she did have a prenum, which it didn't seem like she did, she would have gotten a big sum of money from him with this payday, especially with the footage of him cheating and it seemed like his family was backing her. You know, she would have been able to raise her child, co-parent, live well, never work another day in her life. So it's a question of, did she actually fear of her life, or was this something she came up with to justify the murder?
Starting point is 00:43:22 Are we all idiots for thinking money had anything to do with it, and is she just a squarred woman who wanted to kill? Now of course Marcos's friends and family don't buy her story. A lot of his friends had known him for over 25 years and they say that they had never seen him once lose his cool. Even y'all at someone, ever get violent, they said Marcos is the type that would just get quiet when he's mad. But again, these are the same friends that said, For a woman, she's a great shot. So, I don't know. And your friends really don't know you unless you're in like a heated romantic relationship, everything changes.
Starting point is 00:44:03 You're just not the same person. So as she's awaiting trial, which takes four years since her arrest, the trial is in 2016, she's in prison, she's facing six to 12 years in prison or at the max 30 years. And all of it was relying on the fact that the cruel way, the prosecutors claim she tortured him. So you're thinking, will she shot him? Yes, it's cruel. Yes, it's evil. But is that necessarily torture? Because we've covered a lot of cases where there's a lot of gruesome prolonged deaths, murder.
Starting point is 00:44:33 So I mean, it's a whole debate. So this is where the prosecutor stands. They say that there was a lot of blood in his lungs, meaning that when she dismembered him, his heart was still somewhat pumping, but he was brain dead. So then the defense argument was, if we go by the prosecution standard of, quote, alive, then all organ donors who were brain dead, but their blood was still somewhat pumping
Starting point is 00:44:58 at that time, those would have been dismemberments while alive. So where do you cross the line? Do you want to set a new precedent for what is alive and what is dead, for this case, or are we just going to go with what medically speaking everybody goes with? So that was the biggest debate. So the prosecutors, their theory, their trial strategy, their whole aim was to initially prove her story false, and it all centered around the gunshots to the head. She claimed it was in self-defense, she shot him, and he had approached her, but it was
Starting point is 00:45:27 about 6 feet apart, that's what Alise said, which typically the closer the victim is to the perpetrator, the easier it is to argue self-defense. So 6 feet is quite a ways away. 6 feet? Yeah, it's like right there. I mean, but it's not like, you know what I mean, self-defense is truly you really can't. Last resort. Like last resort. You can't just shoot people because you're like, they were six feet away from me, you know? Okay. That's social distancing. So the first issue that the prosecutor had was that the gun
Starting point is 00:45:56 shot was aimed upwards in his head. Yes, he was shot in his head, but more so as if he were crouched down in a defensive position or even sitting down, Alise was five feet tall. Marcos was 5 feet tall. Marcos was around 5'9". If it happened exactly the way that she said, then the shot would have been upwards, she shorter. But it was downwards. Oh yeah, that's weird.
Starting point is 00:46:15 How did that happen? So Alise and the defense claimed that, uh, potentially he was crouching while approaching her. Kind of leaned down to approach her, which seems defensive right, But you could also interpret it as he was ready to pounce. You know, it's so bizarre. This whole case, I mean, you just keep going back and forth. Like at one time I'm like, team Alise and then the other time I'm like, uh, she's the weird, she's guilty.
Starting point is 00:46:39 Another issue the prosecutor had with this whole story that Alise gave them was Alise claimed they were about six feet away from each other when she shot him. Now, if you shoot someone from that far, they will have an entry wound, which essentially means, oh, that's where the bullet went in. But Mark goes that more than that. He had burn marks around the entry wound, which typically only happens in close-distance shootings
Starting point is 00:46:58 because your skin is so close to the barrel of the gun, your skin will literally burn and it might have this tattoo mark. The furthest distance that specific gun can leave a mark like that is about 20 inches, definitely not 6 feet. So with these things in mind, the prosecution introduced their version of events. Alise, wait until Marcos went to get the pizza, and ambushed him right as he opened the door.
Starting point is 00:47:23 He held a gun to his head, he crouched down because if someone has a gun to your head, your first instinct is to kind of crouch down like put your hands in there like, ah, what are you doing? And when he crouches down, his head is down and she shoots him. Well, why? The prosecutors think the motive is, she comes from a rough background, she got an opportunity to marry with Rich. But when she finds out that things aren't going her way, she was too used to this life to go back, she turned into a violent,
Starting point is 00:47:49 dangerous person. Cough cough, the prosecutors are saying she's a freaking gold digger. Alisee says, this is absolutely not true. And this is the part where I think every person is such a bizarre person. I mean, you would just think if you're almost in for murder, people are accusing you of being this evil person, you would just say if you're almost in for murder, people are accusing you of being this evil person. You would just say, that's not true. I loved him. But instead, she said, that's not true. If I wanted to kill him, I would have done it when we went hunting. We go to this indigenous village all the time. I could have just shot him there. It would be so much easier. I would never have done it in my own house.
Starting point is 00:48:19 About the gold digging comments, she said, having your bills paid helps you smile. It helps a lot, but it doesn't guarantee happiness. It really doesn't. So her attorney argued it would not have been gold degree for her to kill him because nobody kills the goose that lays the golden eggs. Nobody, it would be dumb too. She would have gotten a lot more out of continuous
Starting point is 00:48:39 child support payments and alimony. Now the trial itself was super sexist with everyone framing Alisee to be a gold digger and escort. Her former escort ad pictures were front pages of newspapers for weeks. Nobody cared that Marcus was seeking escorts. Everyone cared that Alize was a former escort at one point in her life. They cared that she came from a humble background and married someone rich. How dare she?
Starting point is 00:49:04 You know, how dare she? And how dare she kill him? How dare she, you know, how dare she, and how dare she kill him? How dare she do anything negative to him? He saved her. The fact that they had a pet snake, so you know those home videos? The jury, the public, they were upset that Alise wasn't screaming and squealing
Starting point is 00:49:18 like a lot of women might. You know, if you see a mice, get strangled to death by a snake, you might scream a little. You might be like, ah! But Alisee didn't. So they tried to paint her as this heartless cruel person. But to be fair, she's a hunter.
Starting point is 00:49:31 Yeah. She's not going to be like, oh my god. She's a hunter. So when the police are talking about the guns, the couple had in the secret room, the police chief says, and I quote, we were so excited when we walked in there with all those guns.
Starting point is 00:49:44 It's like woman walking into a shoe store. I guess. Forget pistols, I love some stilettos. That's what gets my blood pumping. I've never been in a store filled with pumps and boots and not have been drooling. Just, I mean, this is so sexist. The whole thing is is so sexist even these side comments just show you incredibly gross over you know this whole trial during the trial Marcos was revictimized so this is a situation that happens to women all the time when a woman is victim of a crime of any any history or any past of this woman this victim that's slightly scandalous is gonna get brought up now that's the kind of thing that happened to Marcos. So is this whole debate in the press of is it okay? Like because it happens to women, should it
Starting point is 00:50:31 also happen to men? Or what's not okay is not okay regardless of the gender? But it was a bit wild, so they kept bringing up the forum that he rated as Scorts. His username was writer, and even on the day that he was murdered, he used it, which a lot of women in the public did not like. and even on the day that he was murdered he used it which a lot of women in the public did not like so even till the day that he died he's cheating on his wife He would rate women on their service how they are in bed and he would rate their physical bodies He would give them like a number like a scale like he's on a yelp review like ambiance 4 out of 5 You know food 3 out of 5 like what know, food, three out of five. Like what? Also do you guys want to rate this podcast on?
Starting point is 00:51:07 I'll both podcast, I'm kidding. Because I would give it a five out of five and five way. So the way that the sentencing would work is that the jury goes back with their opinion and the judge sentencing. Alisee. So the jury comes back and they say that she did not commit murder with foul motive, nor did she do it with cruelty. They're not saying she didn't commit murder.
Starting point is 00:51:28 She did, but they're saying we don't know if it's self-defense, but it definitely wasn't like this premeditated, evil, cruel, torturous murder that the prosecutors try to have. The prosecutors wanted the max, which was 30 years, but she could technically be walking out that day after serving only about five years. It was up to the judge and the judge completely through the book at her A lot of people believe that this had to do with money and power because of the Matsunaga family had a lot of money and power and Typically with things like this when the jury goes one way the judge kind of goes with them But the judge threw the book at her gave her 20 years in prison.
Starting point is 00:52:05 It's not the max, but I mean a lot of people are upset. Half of the people that were watching this trial wanted her to go free. This is obviously, yes, he's not physically abusive, but this is psychological abuse that she had suffered. She had been isolated from her friends and family. She literally couldn't even hang out with male classmates at law school. Look at the way that his friends talk about women. They're raiding women. I mean, look at the way that they treat women. This is clear. There was some sort of psychological abuse happening and sure, maybe it's not the most clean cut self-defense case, but she tried.
Starting point is 00:52:37 They were upset. Others wanted her to get the max. They were like, this is a gold digger. She took this opportunity. Sure, maybe she wasn't thinking smartly about how to get all this money, but she was pissed. There was no way that her golden goose was gonna spread his wings with another person, with another woman. She wanted all of that to herself. She felt betrayed, so she killed him. She's a black widow. That's what everyone is saying. So this, this is not the max. They were upset. Everybody was upset. Either you wanted her to get 30 years,
Starting point is 00:53:04 or you wanted to get none. Nobody wanted her to get 20. It was just, what is this middle ground? So she had sent off to prison. And in Brazil, the prison system is interesting. They have something called temporary release where inmates can participate. You have to be qualified, but you're entitled to one week of freedom five times a year. And this is essentially to help you re-socialize.
Starting point is 00:53:24 That's part of the rehabilitation. What if in 20 years you get out and you have no idea how to interact with people, it's too much freedom all at once and you start reoffending again? So she's arrested in 2012. She was finally let out in 2019. And she did this Netflix docus series on her fur low. She said that the main reason she wanted to do it was, she wanted her daughter to hear her version of events because she's not allowed to see her. She's being raised by the Matsunaga family, and at all the time that this went down, what were you thinking? That's what they asked her.
Starting point is 00:53:56 She said, well, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I was feeling really confused. I would sit at the dinner table, stare at Marcos' seat, and wish that all of this was true, that he would just be there, even if we were fighting, it would be fine. I still have dreams of his severed head covered in blood talking to me. I can't tell you what kind of emotion made me pull the trigger. But there were so many emotions through me that day. I was feeling angry, I was feeling scared, and I was feeling relieved to know that I wasn't crazy.
Starting point is 00:54:22 Marcus's family said that they will never recover. His loved ones have panic attacks, they have trust issues. The main thing is they can't get over that Alise kept looking for him, kept asking them for help and finding him. Keep coming over with all of these things, showing them the video of her cheating, and they took her side. They straight up told her, don't worry, we'll have your back, we're gonna help you. She manipulated everyone.
Starting point is 00:54:48 Now it's so hard to trust anyone. I never thought that she'd be able to do something like this. I just kept thinking, how can someone be so manipulative? One thing that I thought was very bizarre was that she made a bit of a speech about murder, victim, awareness. Yeah, the talk is here.
Starting point is 00:55:04 I tell you these people are something else. So they said, do you have any last words? You know, you're thinking, and I'm thinking, I'm so sorry for what I did. I feel remorse for Marcus. She said, in prison, there are crimes that I learned about that are a lot more barbaric than mine. But we're not talking about it because the victims are poor. If it were me that were murdered and Marcos the killer,
Starting point is 00:55:26 would there be spotlights on him? Would people be interested in my life, the victim's life? Or maybe not because I'm poor. They wouldn't have cared this much. Is that a problem in the world? Yes. Do I think Alise should be the advocate poster child for this specific problem? No, Alise. What are you saying? You're insane.
Starting point is 00:55:46 That sounds, that sounds gnarly, no. What are you saying? She's like, what if it were me that were murdered? Instead of me murdering and dismembering my husband, what if it were me? Would you even care if it were me? If I were the victim, it's like a little weird. I mean, the whole mindset is bizarre. And she's like, if I were the big seven, it's like a little weird. I mean, the whole mindset is bizarre.
Starting point is 00:56:06 And she's like, if I were the one that died, instead of me being the one to shoot and dismember my husband, would you still care about me? Eat the rich that I was a part of till I murdered my husband. But anyway, I mean, the whole thing is bizarre. All I know is this entire crime has been the embodiment of confusion for me. I don't particularly know where I stand. I don't have a strong opinion. Typically with crimes, I try not to because I know nothing at the end of the day.
Starting point is 00:56:31 I know absolutely nothing. Other than murder is bad. Don't murder people. Other than that, I do feel like this is how most crimes in the real world works. You don't really know who to believe. Maybe Marcos did abuse her. I mean, we have evidence he might have been maybe verbally abusive. Definitely not the best husband in the world.
Starting point is 00:56:50 He was cheating, but that doesn't mean he deserved any part of it, right? And yeah, maybe we should ask ourselves, do you think things would have been different if Marcos wasn't rich? Because we do have to remember that he is... He's Asian, you know, he's a person of color, and if Ale wasn't a pretty white woman, would things have been different for her as well? And if you were Elisee's child, would you ever be able to forgive your mom for something
Starting point is 00:57:12 like this? Because that's the whole point of the Netflix talk. She wants her daughter's forgiveness. What are your thoughts on this case? I mean, bizarre. Every single person involved is so bizarre. It's like a part of me wants to say self-defense but it's so not clean cut and self-defense. I mean by book is truly your
Starting point is 00:57:32 life is at risk in that very moment. I don't know. What are your thoughts? And I hope you guys enjoyed and I will see you guys this Sunday for the mini-sode and I'll be there and I'll see you guys. Bye. for the mini-sode and I'll be there and I'll see you guys. Bye!

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