Sword and Scale - Episode 255

Episode Date: December 18, 2023

In August of 2014, a masked thief, dressed in black, walked away with nearly $20,000 from an American Eagle store in Fort Worth, Texas. Three months later, the assistant manager of that store was found brutally murdered inside her burning apartment. Were these completely separate crimes or were they somehow connected?This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5895676/advertisement

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your discount. 100% free shipping and get it fast with rush processing. Code sword at Adamaniv.com. Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listen to discretion is advised. See the little hundred pound girl and you're a killer, dude. Fuck you.

No, fuck you. No, fuck you. No, fuck you, go ahead. What are you gonna do? Ask me in 30 years when you're halfway through your sentence if you're a killer. We made it all the way to season 10 and the end of 2023. A year that I thought was for sure going to kill me on a show called Sword and Scale that proves that the worst monsters are real. Well, like I said, it's been a hell of a year and not in a good way. We started out in a complete mess.

The site was broken, the app was broken. We worked really hard to fix it and we're going to launch a new app and new website very soon in 2024. We're going to take a short break because I'm gonna crack if I don't and you know we'll be back really really soon as soon as we can with some major surprises for you. I think we're gonna love them. Business notifications getting out of hand, buried under an avalanche of customer emails, texts, and social media messages, keep your edge with Thrive Small Business software and never miss a message again. Thrive offers one solution to communicate, market, and run your business.

But simply, small businesses run better on Thrive. Get Command Center for free today at thrive.ca. That's THR-Y-V dot CA. Terms and conditions apply. Free plans have limited functionality. When a murderer is committed, people usually want to know why. And oftentimes, that answer makes sense to us. We all know what it's like to be jealous, angry, or want something we can't have. When a person kills for money or revenge, we get it.

We don't necessarily condone it. And like that Chris Rock joke. But it makes sense sense in some way. The motivations are on some level, relatable, but every once in a while a murderer comes along with a motivation that is not quite so relatable, not quite so easy to understand. They aren't driven by anger or jealousy. They don't seek revenge or wealth. Instead, they're driven by something much more frightening.

All they want is to experience the planning and the crime itself. All they're really after is the thrill of the kill. In November of 2014 on the morning after Thanksgiving, a young med school student was fast asleep in his bed at the River Ranch Apartments in River Oaks, Texas, which is about a 10 minute drive from Fort Worth. As the student was sleeping off his turkey dinner from the night before, he was suddenly awakened by a scream that apparently had come from the apartment above his own. is the screen upstairs. So at 7.30 you heard screaming. I was laying in bed. It wasn't... I wouldn't call this a blood curling high-pitched top as loud. You know, I wouldn't describe the

scream like that. It's more of a scream slash like yell. That's why it was in that woke me up. So I'm sitting there looking at the ceiling and I'm writing my brain thinking, okay what the heck is going on up there? Like, don't you go up there? Like, at my first I was, she woke us up up for a nightmare. And then like I heard like the real loud pounds on the ground. After hearing the scream followed by a loud thud, this young man contemplated what to do next. Eventually, he decided to get out of bed and inspect his apartment. After he did, he found that everything car leaving. It came in and I said, my carbon dioxide started going off. And that alarm is so different than it's smoke alarm. It's so much louder, so easy.

I didn't hear anything after that. The alarm just turns out everything. The carbon monoxide alarm in the apartment started blaring. Soon after, the fire suppression sprinkler system activated, so the young man called 911. Yeah, hi, I'm a little bit of a river range apartment, and I think there's a fire upstairs in the apartment above me, and now there's a... Hey, stay on the left.

Now my sprinklers are going to... ...for the fire department. For the fire department, if the 7 may help you. Yeah, a little bit. 47. Oh, five river range apartments, there's a fire above me. The river ranch apartment complex is a two-story quadplex that only consists of four separate dwellings. Even so, the medical student wasn't the only person affected by the assumed fire that had broken out in the apartment above them.

Not long after this initial 911 call was placed, more emergency calls were transferred to the Fort Worth Police Department. So, man, this is a Fort Worth police you're found by 111, you know, emergency. Yeah, the fire went off. Okay, is it with the witness? Yeah, yeah.

Okay, we have a car right now. Are you in the apartment of the fire? Fire is cut out. Okay, you're just cut out. I think this is about your end of the project. You think there's some others? Yeah. OK. Eventually emergency responders and Fort Worth firefighters

arrived on the scene. They found that one of the second floor apartments was on fire, and they quickly began working to extinguish the flames. Meanwhile, a crowd of onlookers began gathering around the complex. And news of the fire quickly reached friends and family members of the River Ranch The exact address is my sister's address. One of her coworkers had calls to tell me that her partner had called on fire.

And that they were releasing information to anybody. But we're all out of town for the next two years. So we're trying to figure out how we can get information on which she's at the end. OK, what I'm going to do, you said it was your sister, right? That's correct. Ashley Harris is your name. 31-year-old Ashley Harris lived with her golden retriever

at the River Ranch Apartments, and worked full-time as an assistant manager at American Eagle, at the nearby Hewlin Mall. Can you describe her duties as an assistant manager? Well, her department responsibility, because she was trying to get into store management. She had just taken over visuals a few months back, which required her hours sometimes to be a little longer

or like later evenings, doing like visual changes. And other job duties would be just running ourselves or during the hours. She was really big into loss prevention. She that that was her track. She wanted to eventually end up with our loss prevention department. So she would help me out with a lot of operational things that actually was. She was strong as that was just making sure that everybody was trained on procedures

and making sure that everybody was aware I was going on the store. As an assistant manager at American Eagle, Ashley Harris worked long hours and was paying her dues in hopes of eventually being promoted. Ashley wanted to be a lost prevention specialist. If you're not familiar, many retailers employ these specialists to safeguard the company's assets and prevent or minimize theft. So Ashley was working her way toward the position that she ultimately wanted. She regularly posted videos of herself on social media while she was at work.

I'm extremely tired and this right here is not even helping. Look at my eyes. It's horrible. For anyone who has ever had a retail job, unfortunately, raising my hand, you can probably relate to how demanding and tiresome that kind of job can be. It was, it was JC Penny for me in case you're wondering. Despite the long hours and demands of her job, Ashley maintained a good attitude and a healthy personal life. Again, Ashley lived at the river ranch apartments, and she lived there with her beloved Golden Retriever, Nala. Sadly, in 2014,

on the morning after Thanksgiving, a large fire broke out inside Ashley's apartment. Fort Worth firefighters were eventually called to the scene, and as they worked to extinguish the blaze, many onlookers and concerned friends of Ashley watched as flames and black smoke billowed out of Ashley's apartment. As many of these onlookers anxiously waited for news of Ashley's well-being, a few of them were questioned by police. I'm sorry. Uh-huh. She got hold around 630. That's 330? I was here. I was here. I was here.

I was on the back of the board. She's in the town. Okay. And she got here and she said she's on a bench. How do we get to love it? Uh-huh. And then I had no sleep for a little bit. We'll go after this.

I went in there and I showed her I was leaving. And it was and I went home. What time was that? At 440 when I left here. 440 when you left here? Was there anything else in there? With her? No. No.

She turned it off through this. It was just her, huh? But you were with her until then you left. Then I left him at home. I checked her when I made a phone. I can see her in the butt. Among the onlookers was a young woman that was well acquainted with Ashley.

In fact, she and Ashley had been on a few dates together. Her name was Alexis Torres. And Alexis claimed that she was with Ashley just a few hours before the fire broke out. I first met Ashley about a year, a year and a half ago, and we were just, you know, like, I get to face with friends at first, we started really getting close, started hanging out just about every day. It became one of my really, you know, best friends, and then we started dating. As is usually the case for retail workers, Ashley Harris, had to work on Thanksgiving.

And what has become the American custom, many retailers open their stores on Thanksgiving evening as an extension of an early start to Black Friday. You're all consumers, aren't you, that it's the biggest single shopping day in the United States every year, and kind of sets the tone for the whole Christmas shopping season. On this particular Thanksgiving day Ashley was expected to work on a specially long overnight shift at her American Eagle store at the nearby Hewlin Mall. Ashley was having to work for Black Friday so we had a Thanksgiving at Tracey and Carrie jobs, which we never got to go to the front

of ours. We had Thanksgiving around, I guess, it blew up to a clock. She left because she had to be at work and she asked me to take care of Nala, her dog. While Ashley was at work, Alexis looked after her dog. Early the next morning at around 3am, an exhausted Ashley returned to her apartment. Was Ashley still wearing the same clothes that she went to work in? Yes, she was still wearing her same work clothes. And can you describe those?

She had on the red shirt, but I don't remember what it said, but all her employees were wearing it. She had on jeans and her boots. She still had her keys. Or did she the keys anywhere? She still had them on her belt loop. It was a pretty big clip. She always just put it around her belt loop. According to Alexis after Ashley came home,

she and Alexis spent some time together before Alexis said goodbye and left the apartment. And we talked for about an hour and a half and I left her apartment at 3.40 I mean that 3.4 I'm sorry 4.40 again. She walked me out. I opened the door, the front door, I closed it and her locked the door behind me. I checked her at 453 and I sold her out at home and I didn't get a response. And just to clarify, I know I had asked you this before, but just so we can put it on the record, was there anybody that Ashley ever talked about having problems with or that would want our harm, Ashley.

By all accounts, Ashley Harris was an extremely well-liked, caring and personable young woman. She had a lot of close friends, many of whom described her as having a magnetic personality. People liked to be around Ashley, even people that only briefly interacted with her could easily recognize the overwhelming positivity that Ashley briefly interacted with her could easily recognize the overwhelming positivity that Ashley carried herself with. She was extremely nice, extremely just positive. It was only for a couple of seconds we were walking our dogs and I just felt her positive energy. As the police investigated the fire at Ashley's apartment, one of the people they spoke to

was her boss at American Eagle. Not unlike Ashley's friends and acquaintances, her boss had only good things to say about Ashley and couldn't imagine that anyone would want to hurt her. What kind of employee was Ashley? Fantastic. Ashley just tried to be as cordial to everybody as possible. You couldn't ask for a more positive person on the associates. I'll just kind of attach themselves to her. She was like the mother of the store. She was my right-hand person. I'd

dependent on her for so much. You know, if Ashley was having problems or trouble with anyone, that's blood and we're all being ourselves up over. We just don't get it. Like, she didn't have an enemy on the world. Despite what everyone was saying about Ashley, the chaos at her apartment suggested that she must have had at least one enemy. Tragically, as Fort Worth firefighters were working

to extinguish the blaze, they found a body among the flames. It was female. She was lying face down. And it was obvious that the fire didn't kill her. Ashley Harris had been murdered. And an apartment fire has turned into a potential murder mystery in Southwest Ford Worth. On Friday, we told you about this firefighters discovered

the body of a young woman inside her burning apartment unit along Keen Ranch Road. But investigators quickly determined the fire was not the cause of her death. A restaurant affidavit say Harris was found with her ankles bound with gray duct tape. Her hands were also bound with gray duct tape, her hands were also bound with gray duct tape behind her back, and that her body was partially burned. In the early morning hours of Black Friday someone, or multiple people, broke into Ashley Harris' apartment, an attacker. They bound her arms and feet with duct tape, a pistol whipped her and strangled her to death. Then, they set her apartment on fire and fled.

Interestingly, as police processed the scene they determined that the only thing missing from the apartment was Ashley's work key. For detectives, this was bizarre. Why would someone only steal a set of keys to American Eagle? Was that all they wanted? What the detectives didn't know is that the person behind all this mayhem at a plan. And part of that plan was to murder Ashley Harris. person behind all this mayhem at a plan. And part of that plan was to murder Ashley Harris.

But another part of the plan included gaining access to the store where Ashley worked. Ultimately it was those missing keys that would help explain why someone wanted to commit this brutal crime, and why a well-liked young woman that seemingly had no enemies was viciously attacked and murdered. You know that myth around a serial killer is like a Hannibal Lecter that they're smarter than everybody and they speak multiple languages and travel the world and have refined tastes. Yeah, that's all nonsense. Most killers are idiots. Complete babbling idiots.

Don't be an idiot. Learn to speak multiple languages with babble. You see, if you're American, chances are you only speak one language. Only 22% of Americans speak another language other than English at home. But you can be the exception. You can be the smart one, not the dummy. Start learning a new language this fall and be the exception, not the rule. Because with Babel you start speaking a new language in just three weeks. Why Babel? Well, because it works. Babel is designed by real people for real conversations. All of Babel's tips and tools for learning a new language are approachable, accessible and rooted in real life situations, and delivered with conversation-based teaching.

This is exactly how we learn as little children about the world around us. We interact with it, and in doing so, we learn how to interact with it. It's pretty brilliant, and Babbles got it down pat. So here's a special just in time for the upcoming holidays. This deal is only for our listeners and you can get started right now with 55% off your Babble subscription. But again, it's only for our listeners at babble.com slash monsters get 55% off at babble.com slash monsters spelled B-A-B-B-E-L.com slash monsters. Again, B-A-B-B-E-L.com slash monsters.

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Do retail right with Shopify? Sign up for a $1 a month trial period at shopify.com slash sword and scale. All lower case. Go to shopify.com slash sword and scale to take your retail business to the next level today. shopify.com slash sword and scale all over case in no spaces shopify.com slash sword and scale. Business notifications getting out of hand buried under an avalanche of customer emails, texts and social media messages keep your edge with thrive small business software and never THR-YV.CA. Terms and conditions apply. Free plans have limited functionality. In November of 2014, Fort Worth firefighters were called to a fire at the River Ranch Apartments in River Oaks, Texas.

Inside one of the apartment's firefighters found the dead body of 31-year-old Ashley Harris. Soon after, Fort Worth homicide detectives were called in to investigate and they quickly determined that Ashley had been murdered Ashley's hands and feet were bound with duct tape and she had multiple Lacerations and wounds all over her body a Medical examiner later determined that Ashley must have been dead before the fire started because her aorta blood Tested negative for carbon monoxide. The medical examiner also found that Ashley's eyes reflected strangulation. The cause of death was

exphyxia and blunt force trauma to the head. There was no doubt that this was a homicide. As for the fire, an arson investigator determined that rubbing alcohol was used as an accelerant, and the fire had multiple points of origin, including Ashley's bed, her closet, and her body. In other words, someone viciously beat and murdered Ashley, poured alcohol all over her body and her belongings and then set the apartment on fire before fleeing the scene. Thankfully, Ashley's dog survived, and you were all going to worry about that, so I made sure to tell you. Anyway, the pup was eventually adopted by Ashley's parents, and he's doing fine. During the subsequent investigation though, homicide detectives interviewed several people, one of which happened to be a former police officer that lived in the same apartment complex

as Ashley. Later on maybe around seven or your soul you told me seven seven oh five I come back out in a vacate spot was a car that I didn't recognize so between seven and seven oh five you see a car in the spot next to Ashley that you recognize it's not belonging to that complex correct not a car that I have seen before and can you describe what you saw What I believe to be a black infinity. And did you see anybody coming or going from that vehicle? No, sir. OK. So when you left for work at 720, you said the car you

meant the black infinity. The black infinity was still part next to Ashley's truck. According to Ashley's neighbor, his typical morning routine included smoking a cigarette on his apartment's front balcony. On the morning of the murder and before the fire broke out, this neighbor noticed a black car parked next to Ashley's truck. It was a car that he did not recognize as usually being parked there. Don't you just love neighbors? At the same time, Ashley's other neighbor, the young man that lived below her, noticed a black car leaving the complex just before his

carbon monoxide started going off. And that alarm is so different than smoke alarm. It's so much louder, so easy. And I didn't hear anything after that. That alarm just turns out everything's. At this point in the investigation, the cops had gathered a lot of information very quickly. They were trying to put all the pieces together. But the one thing they knew right away was that they needed to find that black infinity and its driver

Somehow the news of that car spread among Ashley's friends and co-workers and it prompted Ashley's boss to approach detectives Now from your understanding what kind of car did a car to drive? I was told Dave is a black, it's like a little black sports car, 2-door 4-door. I believe it was 2-door. I never saw it in person just that picture that I'd, that you forwarded over to so. Now when you approach the set, they hide it. You put two and two together. Because somebody, one of her friends, somebody had mentioned it, the black car and as soon as she said it, he asked me to not look at each other and we were like, is that Carter?

Like Ashley Harris, 28-year-old Carter Servantes was also an assistant manager at American Eagle. Both women had worked at the same store and Carter happened to own and drive a two-door black infinity. On the morning after the murder, the lead homicide detective on this case decided to visit Carter's apartment. And when he arrived there, he found a black infinity parked in the driveway. Rather than approach the home and knock on the door, the detective decided to sit, wait, and watch. After a few hours, he saw Carter leave her apartment and walk toward her car. But Carter wasn't alone.

Whether it was a young black man that looked to be around 18 or 19 years old. The detective watched as the young man got into the driver's seat of the infinity while Carter sat in the passenger seat. The couple drove off and the detective followed until they arrived at the Hulen Mall. The same Hulen Mall where Ashley Harris used to work. The detective continued watching as Carter stepped out of the passenger seat and walked into the mall, meanwhile the young driver sat and waited in the parking lot. At this point it was around 8am and the doors to the mall were open, but many of the stores inside were still closed. So the detective decided to follow Carter into the mall, as he called

upon another detective to put eyes on the young driver. Unfortunately, the detective in the mall lost sight of Carter and was unable to find out where she went or why. The other detective, however, decided to approach the infinity and question the driver, who identified himself as David Mallory. David explained that he had driven his girlfriend to the mall so she could pick up some documents from her job at Arrow Postal. Of course, that's not really where she worked, is it? This struck detectives a strange because,

you knew that Carter didn't work there? What a dumb lie. Some people are really bad at it. When the detective asked David for his driver's license, he explained that he didn't have one, which prompted the detective to arrest him. David was then taken to the police station and questioned. Did it bring in Castro? Checked you in? You haven't got that friend over? Did you guys ever leave for Missouri?

Anything is out? So you didn't leave at all Thursday? No. In questioning, David, detectives learn that he was Carter's live-in boyfriend. And according to him, he and Carter spent their Thanksgiving at home together. He explained that all they did was cook, eat, watch

movies, and sleep. At this point, David had already garnered some suspicion from detectives, because when he was first approached at the mall, he presumably lied about where Carter worked. So this morning you got you know what going on. We got talking about what you do To the most you said she knew some papers or something Okay, she'd be in and out We'll shut the phone I was waiting the print work. Okay, okay, what time is the mall open? I'm not sure She was going there to put up paperwork a paper Relations at the pick up some paper.

We're at it. I'm not sure. That she worked there, but she said that she was going to pick up some papers. That you have to wear, but what paper do you know? I mean, I went into consent about it. Detective seemed to believe that whatever was supposed to happen at the mall that morning

had been orchestrated by David's girlfriend. They also seemed to believe that David knew all about her plan and they wanted him to tell them what the plan was. You're glad about that. It doesn't even weigh your lines, it doesn't matter where she works. And I thought of the thing I couldn't be used to something better. You know she had no work, and she got the marriage, and that's what I was in the American English. She had no work her as much. So here's the deal, man.

You have to be honest with us about what was going on this morning. So what were you really in there at the Mar-a-Dule? What she told me, I was just taking out a gift of paper, and she said she'd be in love. David maintained his story and claimed that all he had done that morning was drive his girlfriend to the mall. At the same time, David had some questions of his own. From his perspective, it was obvious

that something more was going on here. When someone is arrested for driving without a license, they aren't typically questioned by multiple detectives. Much less homicide detectives. You guys wrote something that's wrong. So we always think you guys, you know, we've got tips, that information on a lot of you that you guys wrote to. What was about to happen this morning? So that's how it's going on. And you just posted it on me for about 15 seconds.

Do you know what I mean? What's going on? Because I mean, I would really like to know why I'm in this. That's why you're here. You're going to tell me, you need to watch the main, we're not the ones that you're here. You're going to tell me, you need to watch, I mean, we're not the ones that are bullshitting here. And the day that's coming, you don't go to this link. Okay, you're the smart guy.

You tell me why we're here. I don't know why we're here. Why do you think you're smarter than the one you tell us why you're here? You're going to do this to all you people who do this. A lot of people who have no driver's license that's a young man, don't down. That you are smart guy. You have figured out, you know what?

I didn't want to talk to you. I did have an investigation going on, that I'm not going to be 100% honest with you. I am not going to show you my cards. I'm not sure that I know that. And all I do is tell them, you have to be your hide and talk. Yeah, I've just told you. I'm not, I'm telling you, I'm not going to show you my cards.

One tool that I have to talk to you is for a rescue front office that we see you commit, which is what we did. That's why you're under arrest. I'm going to tell you quite honestly, 100% what I think is happening here is a woman is taking you down a bad path. The detectives traded questions in accusations with David, but by the end of their conversation neither side gave more than an inch. David never admitted to anything, and he was eventually booked,

taken before a judge and jailed for driving without a license. Meanwhile, the cops had also tracked down Carter and brought her in for questioning as well. Interestingly, they found Carter in the laundry area of her apartment complex, which meant that after David dropped her off at the mall, Carter must have made the long walk back to her home. So whatever Carter had done that morning in the mall remained a mystery, at least, for

the time being. Carter, Carol, Seventus? Yes, sir. I know you mentioned David, is your boyfriend? Not one of you guys been together? Um, about a year and a half? How did you guys meet? Uh, we worked together at American Eagle briefly.

28-year-old Carter'slvantez originally worked as an assistant manager at an American Eagle store in Amarillo, Texas, which is about 400 miles north of Fort Worth. It was in Amarillo that Carter met and began dating her coworker, David Mallory. When the district manager became aware of that situation, he gave Carter a choice. She would either resign or be transferred to another store. Carter chose the latter. How did you know for work?

I had a job opportunity with American Law Affairs that brought me here. From Emerylo or Lubbock or? From Emerylo. I worked with the company for about eight years. It was about seven, seven and a half months from change. And I was a store manager for the Manemorello, and they transferred me down here to work at Hewlin' Mall. Are you still there?

No, I'm not. Before Carter made the move from Emmerillo to Fort Worth, she called the American Eagle store manager and Fort Worth and spoke to both him and Ashley Harris. It's not like she was transferred here because she had ties to Fort Worth or one of the ... No, no, she didn't know anybody here, matter of fact, whenever she was going to move here, she had called and talked to me and to Ashley and ask, like, what's an area that you know would be closest to the her, but kind of central.

And Ashley, I think, is the one that I should mention the Benbrook area. Carter made her way to Fort Worth and soon began working at American Eagle at the Hulin Mall. While there, things didn't go well for her. Carter struggled to get along with many of her new co-workers, which happened to include Ashley Harris. Can you describe the relationship between Ashley and Carter?

They never collect. I mean, Carter never clicked with anybody in the store for my understanding, except for the associates. You know, again, Carter kept everybody at parms, like, shit, you know, Carter everyone over everybody at part-way, shit, you know, Carter everyone overturbed part of the hangout or anything like that. Carter and Ashley were both assistant managers, but they were pretty much also completely

opposite people. They had conflicting personalities and approached their positions at American Eagle in different ways, if that makes sense. While Ashley was an upbeat and exceptionally personable worker, Carter usually kept to herself and maintained a matter of fact attitude during her shifts. Meanwhile, back in Amarillo, David Mallory stopped showing up for work and was eventually fired from his American Eagle store. David's name was placed on the company's Do Not Hire list, and he soon moved to Fort

Worth where he reunited with Carter. Once there, Carter used her position as an assistant manager to falsify some paperwork and hired David to once again work alongside her at the Hewlin Mall American Eagle. Unsurprisingly both Carter and David were eventually fired, but not for the reasons you may think. I was put on a suspended leave of absence the week before and then they decided to let me go on September 1st. There was a robbery at human mall and I had closed the night before and they determined that I had left the

store and secured so they let me go. Was that case ever solved? Yeah. Did you ever speak to the detective about that case? No, it was never questioned. And I did not leave the store. I actually filed for an employment and filed the company. So where are you currently working? I'm not sure. If you ask Carter why she was fired from American Eagle, she will tell you

that she was accused of leaving her store on secure. But if you ask her boss, you'll get a more detailed explanation. I got a call one day while I was at church on a Sunday morning, hard to pause it from the night before I had been stolen. So I went to the store, we had video in some of our store. What had happened is the night before she was scheduled, I believe, a two to ten to be like the closing, correct, to be the closing manager, to close down our red shirts. And then Carter was scheduled to work. I believe a three to midnight or a four to midnight.

Three months before Ashley Harris was murdered, in August of 2014, there was a robbery at the Hulen Mall, American Eagle. On the night of that robbery, Ashley Harris had done a shift change with Carter. And during that brief time that they were working together, Carter did something unusual. Carter around 7 or 7 30 that night told Ashley that she was going to take the trash out. And Ashley thought of a strange or something that Carter's, you know, Carter was very handballed. She didn't, a lot of that stuff was beneath her

So in the way she took a she took the trash out and Left the back door unlocked a few hours later Carter and a couple of other employees finished up their shift Close the store and left so that night I believe that five or ten minutes after 12 You can see on the camera Carter and her team leave the building, logged down the front gate and they leave. At about one 15 in the morning, you see on the camera a black male walk in from my back door on to my self floor. He's he's wearing a like a black hoodie or a dark hoodie, pulled up over his head, wearing gloves. He walks over to end of my cash grab area and bends down. He walks directly to the safe, bends down, puts a key in, unlocks it and takes the deposit

with a little over $18,000 deposit, and then takes that same pack out. A masked thief dressed in black casually walked through the unlocked back door, reached into the store safe and left with about $18,000. Needless to say, it was highly suspicious that this thief somehow knew that the back door was unlocked. At the same time, this thief seemed to know exactly where to go to get the money.

These retail workers sure are smart. A week went by after we were doing our investigation and I was told to contact Carter and terminate her appointment for policy violation for leaving the store unsecured. And as far as the theft, it was put in the hands of four PDs. Can I go from there? We were in a press charges assuming that it was moved forward on their end. Okay.

After the robbery, Carter was let go. It was assumed that she planned the robbery. But aside from firing her and handing the investigation over to the police, there wasn't much else that American Eagle could do. At that point, nobody at the store knew that Carter was dating David Mallory. But that didn't stop Ashley Harris from putting two and two together. In watching the surveillance footage, Ashley could easily tell that the mass thief was David Mallory. His mannerisms in Lanky frame gave him away.

Even so, the managers at American Eagle were never able to question David about the theft because after it happened, David, just for some reason, never came back to work. So, so curious. So, so, so curious. Somehow he suspiciously just disappeared. Weird. And after that incident with the theft was David ever put back on the schedule with the fire, we our policies that they have to have to reconfect get a no call no shows. So I'll put him on

the schedule for the reconfectative shifts and he never picked a schedule. I've never showed up so he's terminated. So that was shortly after? I mean, that would have to be ever come back. No, sir. Okay. Ashley Harris believed that Carter planned the robbery and David carried it out. And given that David never came back to work, her assumption was all but confirmed.

Even so, the police investigation into this theft dragged on for months. David and Carter were never even questioned by police about it. She was not going to go down without a fight, but she took an extremely hard, but she also knows that Ashley is the one that called her in. Given the nature of Carter's departure from American Eagle, and her response to being fired, it wasn't unreasonable to suggest that Carter may have had an axe to grind with both the store itself and the very recently murdered Ashley Harris. When Carter was brought in for questioning the detectives, we're already highly suspicious of her. And as she was interviewed, Carter didn't do herself any favors to sway those suspicions. In fact, she really only made things worse. At one

point during the interview, detectives briefly left the room, but not before offering Carter something to eat or drink. Carter accepted a bottle of water from one of the detectives who left the room after handing it to her. Carter opened the bottle and took a sip. She then went for another sip, but abruptly stopped before taking it. Then a look washed over her face that can only be described as, oh shit, what have I done? Carter then put the water bottle on a nearby table.

She grabbed the tissue from a nearby tissue box and used it to wipe down the water bottle. Huh? What is she doing? Wiping away fingerprints from the water bottle? Wiping DNA maybe? What you guys do for Thanksgiving? We were here for Thanksgiving. It was just me and him. So, did you go to dinner or did you go to...

I actually cooked. I made turkey and there was stuffing and mashed potatoes and green bean castor oil. Anybody join you for dinner? No, there's just a two of them. How many of you guys have dinner? We actually ate all day. I made it as a lunch and we had rented movies on Wednesday night. That's one day when you watch this. No, Wednesday we rented those movies so we could stay on all day on Thursday and

watching movies and eat. Like David, Carter explained that she and David were at home on Thanksgiving. to those new days, so we can stay in all day on Thursday and watch movies and eat. Like David, Carter explained that she and David were at home on Thanksgiving. She claimed that they cooked eight watch movies and slept. She also explained that on the following day, she and David briefly left Carter's apartment to check on some Black Friday sales before returning home later the same evening. Naturally Carter never mentioned anything about going to Ashley's apartment, committing murder.

Oh yeah, and setting the place on fire. Okay, so this morning, what time did you guys get up? I woke up about, I don't know, if it was about 7.30, and talked to him for a little while and then I kind of fell back asleep. Okay, and then what time did you wake up? Um, I woke up about 915, 930. I put the laundry in and then I was waiting for the office to open when I

started to detect it. Okay. Carter told detectives that on the morning that David got arrested in the mall parking lot, she never left her apartment complex. She claimed that when she got out of bed, David was just gone, and she didn't know where he went. What Carter didn't know was that the detective she was telling the story to had watched her leave the apartment that morning and drive to the mall with David. that has happened over the last few days. Okay, and we knew what was going to happen. Okay.

Before revealing what he knew, the detective gave Carter one last chance to revise her story. But she never did. Carter stuck to her easily disprovable lies. All right, so let's start with this morning. Okay. All right. This morning. Okay, what time do you get up?

About 7.30. I couldn't wait for you. And then what happens then? And then we talked and I went back to sleep when I woke up he wasn't there. I know that's a lie. No, it's not. You know why? I know it's a lie.

Why do you know it's a lie? Because I saw you come out of your apartment and get in the passenger's seat of that car and I saw him drive out of there. That's why I know it's a lie. You're lying to me. I'm sorry. You were in that vehicle. I'm sorry.

I saw you exit that vehicle. I saw you getting that vehicle and I saw you exit that vehicle. Oh, I've done today. It's take the long. Okay. We're going to start over about what happened today. I'm sorry. I did not do anything.

Okay. I know you didn't do anything this morning, but that's for ghost Hig-to-Hondrey. It's your life. You are lying, 100%. How did... Right now, you're making yourself seem like you're just a terrible person. You're a liar that doesn't give a damn about your life. No, not at all.

Okay, so why can't you just be completely honest? I am being completely honest. To understand what he's saying, he was there. OK. He watched you. He followed you. I don't stop. OK.

He saw it with his own eyes. It's not what someone told us. It's what he saw with his own eyes. When you can't be honest about the little things, when we get to the big things, nothing matters. Despite what the detective had seen, Carter maintained her story. For whatever reason, she did not want to place herself at the mall, and the cops wanted

to know why. What exactly were Carter and David planning to do that morning? I don't know what you know what DNA is, right? Do you have a problem with me getting a sample of your DNA? Yes, I would have a problem with that. Do I need an attorney? What am I doing here? Well, you're not under arrest.

What a vehicle swab, I'd like to do a vehicle swab inside your mouth and get a sample of your DNA. No. Would you be willing for us to consent to a search of your residents? No. Is there a reason? Yes, because I have rights and I'm an American citizen and just because you're the police doesn't make you the Gestapo.

Again, Carter had not done herself any favors. She had presented herself as an uncooperative liar, and for detectives, that meant she must have been guilty of something. Whatever that something was involved the murder of Ashley Harris, the Hewlin Mall, and probably American Eagle. For a time, several questions lingered over this case. Who killed Ashley Harris? Why did they do it? And what exactly did Carter and David originally plan to do at the mall on the morning after the murder?

The cops already had the assumption that Carter was a terrible person and a criminal. But as they began answering those big questions in this case, it became clear that Carter was much more sinister and sociopathic than anyone could have ever suspected. Business notifications getting out of hand, buried under an avalanche of customer emails, texts, and social media messages? Keep your edge with Thrive Small Business Software and never miss a message again. Thrive offers one solution to communicate, market, and run your business. Put simply, small businesses run better on Thrive.

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Shoppers before noon get three local delivery, some exclusions apply. Only at the brick mattress store at Lesley & Lake Shore. On November 28, 2014, the dead body of 31-year-old Ashley Harris was discovered inside her apartment. Ashley had been beaten and strangled to death, and her killer or killers set her apartment on fire before fleeing the scene. One witness saw a black two-door infinity, leaving the apartment complex just before the fire set off smoke alarms and the building sprinkler system. Fort Worth police quickly learned that Ashley's former coworker, 28-year-old Carter Cervantes,

own day, black infinity. Within a day of Ashley being murdered, Carter was questioned by homicide detectives, as was her 19-year-old live-in boyfriend, David Mallory. Carter and David had both worked alongside Ashley Harris at American Eagle at the nearby Hewlin Mall, but Carter and David were both fired after $18,000 was suddenly stolen from the store. It was presumed by the store's management staff, which included Ashley Harris, that Carter planned the robbery and David carried it out.

Three months after the robbery, Ashley Harris was found dead in her apartment. 31-year-old Ashley Harris was murdered Friday, November 28th. Police say because she turned in to co-workers for stealing almost $20,000 from the American Eagle Store, where they all worked. Well, Steve Ashley Harris's neighbors at her apartment complex were awakened on that morning by fire and even water from sprinklers leaking down through the ceiling of their apartments.

Police say that they were eventually led back to Harris' co-workers who were suspected in that theft back in August, but they weren't arrested for the murder until this weekend. During their initial police interviews, neither David nor Carter admitted to any wrongdoing. They didn't come clean about the robbery, and they certainly didn't come clean about the murder. A few more weeks went by, which allowed police to gather more evidence. Eventually, David and Carter were both arrested and charged with capital murder.

After these arrests were made, David was given another opportunity to speak to detectives. And during this second interview, David got a taste of the overwhelming evidence that cops had on both him and Carter. And although your phone was locked, we were able to get into, we were able to get into Carter's phone when we cut her from the car the day that we got her. So we've got a lot of stuff on her and we've been able to make sense of a lot of it. And I know there was a lot of communication between you and her. There was some planning. At one time in Abelene when you were working up there, she wanted to basically hit a link over at the American Eagle there. Some of the most damning evidence that the cops found came from David and Carter's

cell phones. In reviewing their text messages, detectives learned that before robbing the Fort Worth American Eagle store, Carter and David planned to quote, hit a lick in Abilene, Texas. For those of you that aren't career criminals, the term hit a lick means basically to steal a lot of money from a very easy target. There was an extensive surveillance done by her watching one specific manager and her car. The plan was basically to disable her car and then continue with what she wanted to do. And there's no doubt in our mind that you were aware of that because when we get your

phone, all the corresponding test messages are there. Based on Carter and David's texts, it was apparent that they had followed and surveilled an American Eagle store manager in the Abelene Mall parking lot. They planned to disable the store manager's car and capacitate her and steal her work keys. The end goal was to break into the American Eagle store

and rob it. We also got pictures, was to break into the American Eagle store and rob it. We've also got pictures, which are pretty damaging mostly to her about what she was up to and what she was kind of do. And David, I think Detective Peyton and I are both for the thinking that she was a mastermind behind this thing, and that's been our position the entire time that we've been investigating this case, that she was a mastermind. She's a person that likes to manipulate people.

She's a sociopath. She likes to lie and she's going to stick to her lies. Given that Carter seemed to be the mastermind of this criminal duo, detectives were hoping that they could get David to flip. What they truly wanted was details about what happened inside Ashley Harris' apartment on the night that she was murdered. Let's start with the Abeling situation.

Explain to us what was going on with that whole Abeling panic. So, man, she don't want to worry. She kept trying to give me the quid my job and trying to handle me the quim my job and trying to go ahead with it. So tell me what her plan was. She didn't really just like disclose everything to me.

She just really told me that she wanted to hit Abba. For the majority of this interview, David tried to maintain as much plausible deniability as possible, which wasn't easy, given everything the cops found on his cell phone. So what was the plan? How was she going to get the keys from the girl? She never told them. Mom, there you have the honest man.

I'm asking you because I already know. Do you remember ever going into the Ab or to the abling mall and kind of scoping out the American evil for? You remember going in her snapping pictures of managers schedules? The reason why you're taking this picture. So I'm getting that, David. I take that sheet of that. She showed it to me.

She sent it to you on your phone. She sent a T by tag. She sent it from her phone, from my phone to her phone. And stuff like this, David, that this is stuff you need to be upfront about. I mean, this is something you would remember. Despite the pretty clear cut evidence, David maintained that when it came to any criminal activity, Carter was doing her own thing. David claimed that he just kind of watched from the background. Didn't help with any of the planning and wasn't privy to any of the details.

So it explains me exactly how it was going down an ablution. There was a really just like the said plan. I mean, she said she wanted to get the keys. I mean that was the plan. She wanted to get the keys from one of the managers. Yeah. Okay. Were you guys going to follow her away?

She never said. She just kept saying that she was going to get the keys. But then you mentioned somebody prior earlier. Yeah. I mean, she said, well maybe I can pop or or and she would just be in the park a lot. Carter and David plan to attack an unsuspecting woman in a parking lot and steal her work keys. They exchange text messages as they surveil the woman and discuss to each move as they went along. But in the end, David convinced Carter to abandon this plan.

This is from her to you. Do you think she parked to walk out of the movie theater doors? You respond. Yes, she did and then you respond. She's not too far from over a park And then she says she has a purse and then you respond. So that's most likely where they would be she has a purse and then you respond. So that's most likely where they would be. Then she asks you, which side is it on and then you respond, I like it. It all just doesn't seem feasible. You're there. You're watching, you're talking to Carter about what's about to happen. Another thing you kind of try to back out says it doesn't seem feasible, which kind of goes back

to what we're thinking. You're the smarter guy in this whole situation. She's trying to make you do this. But we're sitting here trying to lie to us about what really happened. Doesn't make sense to us, David. Eventually, David explained that Carter had filled his head with fantasies. According to him, Carter wanted the two of them to become cross country bandits. They could plan and commit robberies in one state and then move right on to the next. America was their oyster and they were going

to be the next body and Clyde. And fuck, man, I'm 19. Who doesn't want all that money? I think I fuck, I come from the hood. No, I've never seen $10,000 in my life. She said, I could quit my job and I could go help her, go bow wherever the hell she wanted to go. She said, we can go anywhere. She said, I have a scar and it has long miles. We can go anywhere. We can go anywhere.

We have 50 states that we get you from. She want to be buying and collect. So she just continued, continued, can you just get back and add anything like that? Come on, you need to come on. David and Carter abandoned their plan to rob American Eagle and Abilene, but they followed through with their plan to rob the American Eagle in Fort Worth, and walked away with $18,000. This ultimately led to both of them getting fired, but David and Carter weren't finished with the Fort Worth location. After losing their jobs, they came up with a plan to hit the store again. And that plan involved the person that identified

them as thieves. Ashley Harris. But if he had Ashley's keys, you could get in back doors or you know, I mean like we get in through the front door through the gate, we just raised it up a couple of feet, go underneath. Ashley had keys to that gate. Correct. Okay. Yes sir. So if I had Ashley's keys, I actually had keys to that gate. Correct. Okay, sure. And so, if I had Ashley's keys, I could get in there, and I could also get in the deposit box. Absolutely. In the early morning hours of November 28th, 2014,

Ashley Harris returned to her apartment after working a long, entire, some Black Friday shift at American Eagle. Detectives theorize that shortly after arriving home, Carter, Servantes, and David Mallory forced their way into Ashley's apartment and attacked her. They bound her feet and hands with duct tape, pistol whipped her, and strangled her to death. Then they stole her work keys and set her apartment on fire before fleeing the scene. The next morning Carter and David drove to the Hulin Mall and they planned to use Ashley's keys to break into American Eagle and rob the store before it opened. Surveillance cameras captured a masked woman trying to unlock the store's front gate.

That woman was quite obviously, Carter. What Carter and David didn't realize is that a homicide detective had followed them to the mall, and Ashley's keys were completely useless. Servantes and Mallory had been fired from their jobs at American Eagle Outfitters at Hulen Mall, after they were suspected of stealing nearly $18,000 from the store safe in August. Harris had identified the pair as the suspects. The police documents say Sir Vantes and Mallory planned to go back to American Eagle to take $40,000 to $50,000 in Black Friday shopping sales. But they needed the keys from Harris.

The day after Harris was killed, Servantes was seen on mall security video, the police saying she appears to be trying to unlock the gate. What Servantes and Mallory didn't know, the locks had already been changed. The evidence that police had gathered in this case was overwhelming. The evidence that police had gathered in this case was overwhelming That's what happens when nitwits commit crime

Lots of evidence Despite this David maintained that he had never been to Ashley's apartment and That he had nothing to do with the murder Wasn't me, said David. He also claimed that on the morning after the murder, when he dropped Carter off at the mall, he didn't know what Carter was planning to do. When I tell you that I literally slept all of the things he's given. Okay.

That's what happened. So she rolled out sometimes hearing things, giving her a sleep. Yeah, like I had no knowledge that she even left. I had no knowledge that she came back. I never woke up and she wasn't there. Nothing I never went to sleep and she wasn't there. Every time I was there, she was there.

Okay, well, we know that's not the case. You knew what she went to the mall that day that she took over there to do. That was part of her plan. You knew she had the keys, okay? Maybe you don't mind part of it. You know what? You said, I'll drive you and that's your thing. She got to be honest about that. I had no knowledge about having those keys. You're making a huge mistake. I'm not telling us what we're asking you. You're not telling us the truth. You're not filling in those pieces for us. And you're going to put me in the mix with her. I'm trying to, man. I know what the fuck you're trying to do.

I'm trying to identify what you did, man. I didn't do shit. That's the fuck you're trying to tell me, man. At the very minimum, we know that you were there. That you drove for there. We know that for a fact. To where? To the location where this happened. To the mall? Yes.

The mall. Y'all got me. Y'all got me. And the night before. No. No. No. You're saying that's a lie. Yeah, that is a lie. Okay Detectives knew or at least strongly suspected that David went to Ashley's apartment with Carter and helped commit the murder But no matter how hard they pressed him David simply wouldn't give it up. If you had a known somebody got me killed, you would not have helped her. Kaila! There's no way she could have done this by herself. Man, she was a hundred pounds at the most wave that that seemed luck. There's absolutely no way she would have done this by herself.

I can admit, man, I've done some bad things in my life, man. But I've never ever imagined somebody back. Imagine this. You're sitting in a police interrogation room and a homicide detective is accusing you of a murder that you didn't commit. Would you just sit there and meekly say, I've never murdered somebody, bro?

I get that everyone reacts to situations differently, but let's just say if that were me and I were innocent, of course I'd be innocent, I wouldn't murder anyone, but let's just say that were me, I wouldn't be that casual. In fact, my inner Hispanic would probably be coming out and I'd be screaming at the detective, telling them that they have the wrong man, they made a mistake, demanding a lawyer immediately before anything else comes out of my mouth. In fact, in any case, these particular detectives kept pushing David and dumb David eventually offered to give them more information and exchange for a deal.

Basically, David was willing to tell the truth finally. If and only if he could get something out of it, that is. Yeah, I need to. I need a guarantee, man, that child aren't going to river if he's like her. I need a guarantee. What kind of guarantee you have? I don't know, man, but a document, I need something. We don't do that here the same the same time for documents. The document is when we tell the DA's office that we want to use you. That's when the documents start coming in. I ain't going to do that, man. I ain't going to do that. What do you tell him about railroad? How are we going to railroad? We're just trying to ask him what's going to happen.

We're asking you what she did. This is a capital case. I'm glad that that's finally sunk in your head. That's what little case. I understand that. Now, I'm glad that that's finally stuck in your head if that's what this is. Again, the evidence in this case was overwhelming. Not only did detectives not have the authority to offer David any deals, but quite frankly, they didn't need to offer him any deals. They had him dead to right. Not really sure what that expression means.

I just, I've heard it said before. So there it is, dead to right. Not really sure what that expression means. I just, I've heard it said before. So there it is, dead to right. I'm not sure if I even said it the right way. But besides that, the purpose of this interview was really just to make the case even stronger and to more specifically determine what Carter and David did on the morning of Ashley's murder. Okay, tell us what you did because we know that the very minimum you drove her there. You may not have gone in and did what you did to this girl or she did what they did to this girl, but the very minimum you drove. And there's a difference. Somebody that just drives and somebody actually goes and does it.

I didn't even drive there. I don't know. Okay, this too. She's driving. You just stay in the car and you were supposed to like honk or something. Something happened. Okay. But you were at least there. I don't know where this to place. She's driving you just stay in the car and you're supposed to like honk or something. Something happened. Okay, but you were at least there. I wasn't there. So you there you just you know I just doing this for yourself and you gotta do this for other people. Man I can't tell you. I told you the lies that I told you and I told you the truth about them. So people that matter the jury they're just to be people that are made aware of this interview.

And I want those people to know this truth. The only reason not to tell the truth about all this is if you're a killer. If you are a cold, blooded, fever, stealing killer killer and stick to it because you have nothing else. There is nothing redeemable about you. That is the only reason to stick to the lies because you can't swallow the peel of being a killer. You big enough to do it but you're not big enough to admit to it. And that makes you, that makes you nothing. That makes you unredeemable. That makes you a liar. That makes you a capital murder actor. After three hours of interrogation, detectives determined that they weren't going to get anything

else from David. He was sticking to his guns and unwilling to admit that he took part in Ashley's murder. So detectives called it quits, but not before getting in a few more well-deserved jobs. And let me tell you something. If we were setting in different chairs, and you were accusing me of it, I'd be standing up screaming yelling, stark, raven mad. If I was innocent, you have never been that. You never will be that because you're guilty of killing Ashley Harris. Fuck you. No. Fuck you. You want to you want to talk to me? What are you going to do? Huh? Because I'm going to walk out of here. Oh, you got all you got when I can fuck Ashley when I can front you with the truth and get in your face

like a man because you're not team now and you're a man when I can front you with the truth, all you can say is fuck you. That doesn't hurt me, dude. Because that doesn't affect me. That's a kid's answer. That is the way of an ignorant child who has nothing else. Can you tell every day, you tell every day, you can tell you, you throw it. You throw it. You've been confronted with your actions. You've been confronted with your deans.

You're a brief, I'm terminate. You shut your joke, bitch. You're a man. You're a man. Oh, geez. I'm done. I'm done. You ain't fit to sit here and call it the real day, man. That's the real day, man. You're I'm done. I'm done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You done. You're done. You done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done. You're done killer, dude. Oh, man, no killer. Oh, yeah.

Ask me in 30 years when you're halfway through your sentence. If you're a killer. Take me to the county. Yeah. You're going. David made his choice. He was not going to cooperate with police and this interview came to an end. But not before one of the detectives made a prediction.

Unless we know exactly what you did that comes out of your mouth, I'm gonna talk about Carter Tellings, because I'm guarantee you that sooner or later she wanna be sitting right here. She may not get the opportunity, but I can guarantee you that she's gonna try. And we don't want her telling your story. This is your story.

Like I told you the first time, you cannot afford it. That's all I want. For somebody to tell your story. Because I can guarantee you that she's gonna make make you the bad guy. She'll say, well, David's plan. He's the one that hated this girl. He's the one that needed money. She's going to put it on you, David. I'm telling you, man. Surprisingly, detectives turned out to be completely right. In May of 2016, Carter Servantes took her case to trial.

She testified in her own defense and her story was one that we have heard many times before. I was inculcated. According to Carter, David was violent, sexually abusive and controlling. Yes, of course, she's going to claim these things after she's caught red handed. As always. She claimed that their relationship had devolved to the point where Carter was in fear for her life, and that David had threatened to kill her on multiple occasions. So naturally, Carter had no choice, but to do exactly what David told her to do. How many times have we heard that before? Do this until I know what to drink, what to eat, and here, and maybe have sex and then

living there. While on the witness stand, Carter also claimed that in order to keep her in line, David enlisted the help of two of his friends to rape Carter. Carter spun quite a tail and was clearly hoping to garner some sympathy from her jury. It all sort of reminds me of a certain Aquaman actress. When prosecutors were given the chance to cross examine Carter, one of the things they asked her about involved her police interview. They wanted to know why Carter had wiped down the water bottle that the police had given her.

Carter's response was just as surprising as it was unbelievable. Carter claimed, get this, that she wasn't trying to wipe away DNA or fingerprints. No, no, no, that's silly. She was just trying to wipe away the overwhelming smell of semen, because the water bottle reminded her of being raped by David's friends. I swear to get... I swear to... I swear to... I can't make this up.

As for the morning of the murder, Carter's story wasn't all that different from David's. According to Carter, the murder must have been carried out entirely by David while she was asleep at home. The next day, David drove Carter to the Hewlin Mall, gave her Ashley's work keys, pointed a gun at her, and demanded that Carter use those keys of set up American equal pieces. And he said, go in and open the gate, bring me that fast, positive, I shook my head, but I wasn't gonna do it. And he said, you understand, there's somebody sitting outside your parents house right now. If you go in, I'm gonna kill them,

and then I'm gonna kill you. During Carter's trial, a lot of details about this case were revealed. For starters, when police searched Carter's car, they found a semi-automatic pistol with Ashley Harris's DNA on it. The prosecution theorized that this gun was initially used to gain Ashley's compliance when David and Carter broke into her apartment and was later used to pistol whip her, which explains the bruising and abrasion son Ashley's body.

Also Carter had clearly surveilled Ashley's apartment during the weeks leading up to the murder, as there were several photos on her phone of Ashley's apartment complex, Ashley's truck, and the stairwell leading up to Ashley's front door. Just a quick, pro tip if you're thinking of murdering someone, don't take pictures of their apartment beforehand. I know some of you are dumber than most, but you know, there it is, there's a tip for you. That one's for you. Prosecutors also revealed that this wasn't a situation of a robbery that incidentally turned into a deadly homicide. Now this was a murder. The murder of Ashley Harris was always part of the plan.

Also found on Carter's phone were text messages with David that included map coordinates. These coordinates led police to a shallow grave in a deserted area of Abelene, Texas, about 100 miles away from Ashley's apartment. Police also recovered a sales receipt and surveillance footage of Carter purchasing gloves, a tarp, and two shovels. I mean, it might as well just walk into the police station with the evidence at this point,

if you're that dumb. The prosecution theorized that Carter planned to abduct Ashley, steal her workies, murder her, and then bury Ashley in that shallow grave. For whatever reason, and much like the rest of Carter's plan, things didn't really play out as intended. Instead of driving Ashley to her intended burial site, Carter and David must have decided to leave her body in the Carter and David must have decided to leave

her body in the apartment and bring the place down. Of course, no thought, or consideration, was given to any of the other occupants of the apartment complex. The thought that more people could be injured or killed didn't even cross their minds. As for David, he also took his case to trial and maintained the same story that he told detectives. His lawyers argued that if Carter did go over to Ashley's apartment and murder her,

David knew nothing about it. In the end, both Carter and David were unsuccessful in convincing their respective juries that their partner was solely responsible for the killing. They were both convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In Carter's case, the jury deliberated for only two hours,

which came as no surprise, because frankly, Carter was a shitty criminal. As for her motivation, things aren't as simple as they may seem. Yeah, Carter had an axe to grind. She was angry that Ashley accused her of robbing American Eagle. She was angry that she got fired, and yes, Carter wanted to steal a lot of money. But all of those things were just peripheral.

Carter's criminal acts were driven by something much more complicated. I can tell you that she is, you know, the word narcissistic. OK, I think she's one of the most narcissistic people I've ever come across. She's looking at her pictures and stuff on her phone. Her world revolves around her.

Her world is all about her. Have you ever seen her do something for someone else? When detectives investigated this case, it didn't take them long to understand Carter'servantes. She obviously lacked empathy and remorse. And she had complete disregard for the law. The woman was a textbook sociopath. And when it comes to killers like her, the easily understood

motivations for murder, like anger, revenge, or greed, don't really apply. You see, Carter's event has what is commonly referred to as a... thrill killer. She wasn't seeking victory over Ashley, or revenge against American Eagle. What truly motivated Carter was something much more terrifying to the average human being here on Earth. What truly motivated Carter was the agony of her past defeats. And like most thrill killers and sociopaths,

the only satisfaction that Carter could find was planning out and carrying out her crimes. Any money or retribution that she gained as a result was just a bonus for her, a cherry on top, if you will. Two years after the murder of Ashley Harris, Carter took her case to trial and tried to lie her way out of trouble. She demonstrated that she had not changed and will likely never change. She knew every step of the way that what she was doing was wrong and she didn't care. She didn't care about the life she took or the people she heard. Well, it's hard not to get a little sentimental at the end of the year, but I do want to say that I love you guys. I know it's hard to hear that from another adult that you've never met through a telephonic computer device,

but I mean it. You guys have changed my life so much for the better. And you've affected the lives of countless others. We work on this show every day, try to bring you the content that you appreciate, try to do it in a respectful and responsible way. All of us here at Sword and Scale and especially I appreciate you so much. You guys who are still here actually see through the bullshit.

You actually see what's happening You see that authenticity is no longer valued that people value fake fucks politician like fake fucks that'll tell them everything they want to hear and That's not me that'll never be me. I just tell the truth because that's all that I know how to do So if you're still here with us in 2024, thank you. And stay safe. Hi, my name is Dominique and I'm in Houston. And I just listened to episode 153.

And it hit me off. I consider myself to be pretty liberal, but I'm over all of these new as guide no see for mental health disorders. Give me a damn break, okay? This is what happens when you breathe an entire generation of athletes that get participation trophies because they showed up. Now they don't know how to take rejection and when they get told no, now you gotta stab somebody. This is dumb. But that's all.

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