True Crime with Kendall Rae - Abducted While Biking Home: The Murder of 20-Year-Old Sierah Joughin

Episode Date: January 16, 2025

Sierah Joughin was a 20-year-old college student who was riding her bike home from her boyfriend's house one night when everything suddenly changed. Her boyfriend had been following alongside on his m...otorcycle, and when they parted ways, Sierra was immediately attacked and abducted by a sick man who lived nearby. Justice for Sierah: https://justiceforsierah.org/ Sierah Strong: https://justiceforsierah.org/programm... Kid Print ID: https://justiceforsierah.org/kidprint/ Check out my foundation, Higher Hope: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/  Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop This episode is sponsored by: Quince Earnin Acorns Check out Kendall's other podcasts: The Sesh & Mile Higher Follow Kendall! YouTube Twitter Instagram Facebook Mile Higher Zoo REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://bit.ly/32kwPly Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://bit.ly/3KqMZLj Discord: https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN CONTACT: For Business Inquiries - kendall@INFAgency.com

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Starting point is 00:00:27 BenMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Hello everyone and welcome back to True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much for joining me today. And if you are new, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you. Okay guys, so today we are gonna be talking about a case that was requested in my members only form and I can't believe I hadn't heard of this case. I have to just right off the bat tell you that this is a very heavy one and it was very hard to research and prepare for.
Starting point is 00:01:02 I was able to learn a lot about Sierra Joggin and I was just so impressed with the young woman that she was. She was such an interesting, special, unique, kind, creative person. And for her life to have ended at 20 years old is just, it's hard to even wrap your mind around. Her family has done so much to honor her memory
Starting point is 00:01:23 and I think it's really important that people know more about her and know her story. So that's what we're going to be getting into today. Before I get into the case, I did want to tell you guys some great news. I'm very excited to share with you the impact that Higher Hope was able to make in our first only four months of running our foundation. If you missed last week's episode, I just again wanted to say thank you to everyone who has donated so far or participated in our holiday matching program. We raised quite a bit and that is all going to be put to great use in 2025. But in our first four months in 2024, we were able to award 14 different grants at a total
Starting point is 00:01:59 of $99,821 and I am very, very proud of that. We could not have done this without all of your support on all of our shows, all of your donations. This was a combination of hope and Empower Grants and I could not have done this. My team could not have done this without all of your support by just watching our shows or making direct donations.
Starting point is 00:02:18 It means so much to us and also I wanted to thank our sponsors who also make this possible. If you wanna follow along with us, you can follow us on Instagram or head to our website at any time. If you're interested in making impact yourself you can make a donation at our website which is higherhope.org. I'm very excited to see what we're able to do in 2025 and hopefully we just keep you know taking it a mile higher. But let's go ahead and get into Sierra's case because we do have quite a bit to go over and I want to start out as I always do by telling you more about who Sierra was.
Starting point is 00:02:48 Sierra Catherine Joggin or Cece as she was lovingly called when she was a kid was born on February 11th 1996 in Sylvania, Ohio to her parents Sheila and Tom. She was actually the only child that came from their relationship but in total she would end up having four siblings after her parents split up, two on her dad's side and two on her mom's. And it's kind of funny, her mom actually wasn't sure if she wanted to have any more kids because Sierra was a perfect baby.
Starting point is 00:03:15 Like even when she was bad, she was still good. For example, there was this one time while they were on a family trip in the Bahamas and I guess she had kind of like gotten into trouble for something and they couldn't find her for a minute. And then all of the sudden, they ended up finding her in the closet and she told them that she had put herself in timeout.
Starting point is 00:03:33 And from a young age, Sierra just always seemed to be self-aware, well-intentioned, and very sure of exactly who she was. Oh, and definitely confident. Sierra was a very confident person and that just comes across in any videos of her, any pictures of her, any stories that you hear about her. Her mom, Sheila, says that Sierra's confidence really just started at a young age and even as she grew older, when most girls, unfortunately, tend to lose
Starting point is 00:04:00 some of their confidence over time, that really was never the case for her. And when I say confident, I don't mean that in a cocky type of way, she was just very sure of who she was, she knew who she was and she was happy to be who she was. And she was also that type of person that could bring anyone out of their shell and always made sure that everyone around her felt included. Now, one of the most important women in her life,
Starting point is 00:04:24 aside from her mom, was her aunt Tara. She was Sierra's aunt on her mom's side, and since she was only 16 years old when Sierra was born, it really fostered a very close relationship between the two of them. She was kinda like her sister, aunt, and sorta second mom all in one. And when she and her husband Howard
Starting point is 00:04:41 had four kids of their own, Sierra was practically her fifth. She would go on their family vacations and they would include her in everything they did as if she was their own daughter. And one thing about Sierra that everyone seemed to just love about her is that she just didn't have an off switch. She was all gas, no breaks all the time,
Starting point is 00:04:59 full of energy and full of life. She was just someone that people loved to be around and she loved to be around people as well and also loved to make people laugh. I think the best way to put it is that Sierra was someone who not only found joy in everyday life, but she was someone who brought joy to everyone else's everyday life.
Starting point is 00:05:17 She also loved to travel, she loved to exercise, she loved to spend time with her friends and as I'm sure you can already tell, she had no problems in the friend department She went to evergreen high school where she played for the volleyball team and was definitely the life of every party And I think something that people really loved about her and something that I loved learning about her Is that she just didn't take life that seriously? Even when she was in high school and that's a time where most of us take life too seriously if that makes sense, but for example,
Starting point is 00:05:49 she was not even on the cheerleading squad, but she would still wear a cheerleading uniform or outfit or whatever around at school just because she liked it. She also had a boyfriend, a really great guy named Josh Kolesinski, And when everything that I'm about to tell you happened in 2016, they had already been dating for seven years. Their parents were actually friends when they were growing up and sources say that they'd known one another since they were as young as six. And what started as a friendship turned into a relationship
Starting point is 00:06:18 kind of around middle school and they never looked back. Everyone in their lives just knew that the two of them were a package deal from very early on. Wherever Sierra was, there was Josh. Wherever there was Josh, there was Sierra. And even when they were young, they were already starting to have conversations about wanting to get married one day.
Starting point is 00:06:36 Sierra did want to wait just a little bit longer, you know, sort of get her career jump started. But at the end of the day, it was always going to be the two of them. Their relationship was really so beautiful And it didn't matter what they were doing Josh said that they were always having a good time They did fun things like parties and school dances and even skydiving But Josh has said that some of their best moments together was when they didn't have anything to do and they were just bored and found ways to
Starting point is 00:07:00 entertain themselves together and because of where they were living they Definitely had to make their own fun quite a bit of the time. I mentioned earlier that Sierra was born in Sylvania, Ohio, but she actually grew up 10 miles down the road in Metamora, which is where this case takes place. Now Metamora is about 24 miles west of Toledo and the most accurate way I can describe it from my research is rural, very rural and corn, lots of corn. Based on the 2016 census, Metamora had a population of only 617 people. So we're talking very, very small. But from what I can tell, Sierra really loved living there, so much so that after her sophomore year of college,
Starting point is 00:07:43 where she was attending the University of Toledo, she decided to spend that summer living back at home at her grandparents house, which was about a mile or so down the road from her mom's house. In school, Sierra was a member of the National Honor Society and took learning very seriously. In her first two years, she was studying business, specializing in human resource management. In the summer that she was home, she had both an internship and a personal assistant job. Her internship was for ICE Industries, which is actually her uncle Howard's company. And long story short, she was on a path towards getting a job there after graduation. She was also planning on moving in with her aunt Tara and uncle Howard in the upcoming
Starting point is 00:08:21 school year. It would be a very easy location for her to live because they lived super close to campus. So as you can tell, Sierra had a very bright future ahead of her and was really going to continue to impact people's lives for years to come. But that was all ripped away from her on July 19th, 2016. It was a Tuesday and her mom Sheila remembers it
Starting point is 00:08:44 being a completely normal day. She got up, she went to work, and at one point in the day she connected with Sierra over the phone to coordinate a family movie night because Secret Life of Pets was coming out. Sierra wanted everyone to go and see it. She also remembers that she and Sierra were planning on talking later that evening about Sierra studying abroad in the fall. That summer, she had been working to get her passport up to date so that she could leave the country and study abroad, which I'm sure she was very excited about.
Starting point is 00:09:13 And the updated passport was actually supposed to come in the mail that evening. But they didn't really get the chance to talk about it because Sierra decided that she wanted to ride her bike, which actually was a new bike, over to Josh's house. She'd recently gotten this purple mountain bike from a garage sale and since their family had just come home from a vacation, she was really eager to go and see Josh. So sometime around 5pm, she gets on her new bike and heads off to Josh's house. And he actually lived seven miles away from her, but like I've already mentioned, she was a very active person and this was no big deal to her
Starting point is 00:09:45 Although it was a very hot day in July and Josh said that she seemed pretty tired when she did get to his house But she got there. She made it there. Everything was fine They spent just a little bit of quality time together because she did have to head back home because Josh actually had plans with another friend That night so she was always just going to stop by for a little bit and then head back. At the start of the year many of us are trying to refresh our wardrobes and if you're doing some New Year's shopping I cannot recommend one of my favorite brands enough and that is Quince. With Quince you'll be able to refresh your look with quality pieces and stay on budget.
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Starting point is 00:11:33 I truly, truly mean it. I'm actually planning on doing some Quince shopping over the weekend. I need to get just a few essentials and that is my go-to place to do so. So upgrade your closet this year without the upgraded price tag. Go to quince.com slash tckr for 365 day returns. That's really hard to find. Plus free shipping on your order. That's q u i n c e dot com slash tckr to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com slash tckr. So a little after 6 30 p.m. she leaves his house. However, this time she wasn't riding alone because Josh actually decided to ride his
Starting point is 00:12:12 motorcycle alongside of her. And I really thought this was very sweet, but he just didn't like the idea of her riding home by herself. Even though the way home should have been very safe. I mean, it's very rural. I'm talking like a few houses and just cornfields all the way back. He still wanted to make sure she made it home safely. And he had no reason to believe she wouldn't, but he just wanted to be sure. Now, during the few
Starting point is 00:12:34 miles that they rode together, Josh ended up recording two different Snapchat videos. And in these videos, they look like they're having such a great time. It's honestly so heartbreaking to look at these, especially when you know what is about to happen. And I just hope that those last few moments that she had with Josh were special to her and filled with laughter and joy because in just a matter of moments, it was all gone. And here's how that happened. While they were riding home together on County Road 6 Sierra ends up telling Josh that she's got it from here
Starting point is 00:13:07 He can take off and it was okay for him to turn around and just go back home She was a very headstrong person someone very independent someone you'd almost never win an argument with so she Insisted that she didn't need him to escort her the entire way home and he actually did push back at first He really wanted to take her all the way home, but she really insisted that she was okay. She assured him she was gonna make it home just fine. And so eventually he did agree. And that was about another mile into the journey.
Starting point is 00:13:36 So they went about two miles together before he turned around. They got to Evergreen High School when they finally stopped. Josh gave her a kiss. He told her that he loved her and said, text me when you get home. But that text never came. And at first, Josh didn't really freak out.
Starting point is 00:13:53 He did say that normally she was very good about sending him a quick text, letting him know that she had made it somewhere safely, but he didn't wanna panic and it hadn't been that long. So he just sort of kept his eye on his phone and figured that she would eventually text him. Meanwhile, her mom was also experiencing sort of a strange feeling, but just like him, she didn't freak out right away. That evening, she had taken her two younger kids to Tae Kwon Do class and on her way home,
Starting point is 00:14:22 she had to stop at her mom's house. I mentioned earlier that Sierra had been living with her grandparents, but what I didn't mention yet is that Sheila's younger daughter was also staying there. And she remembers that as she was pulling in to drop her other daughter off, she noticed that Sierra's bedroom light was off. And she thought it was kind of strange because it was only 9 p.m. It was pretty early for Sierra to go to sleep, but she figured that, you know, maybe she was just tired, she'd been busy lately and didn't think too, too much of it. She just took note of that.
Starting point is 00:14:52 However, the weird feeling that she was experiencing turned into a full blown panic a little over an hour later when Josh called her at 10, 15 p.m. and asked if she had heard from Sierra. He still hadn't gotten a text from her. And every time that he tried calling her, her phone was going straight to voicemail. So he was getting really concerned and he thought, you know, maybe she had reached out to her mom and just wasn't calling him back or answering for some reason.
Starting point is 00:15:20 But he quickly panicked as well when he heard that Sheila also hadn't heard from Sierra. So at that point Sheila reaches out to her mom and it was the same thing. Not only was Sierra not in her room, but her bike wasn't in the barn either. And right away everyone had this horrible, gut-sinking feeling. This was completely out of character for Sierra. So they all end up getting in their cars and driving around trying to find her. And at first they were thinking that maybe she had some type of horrible bike accident.
Starting point is 00:15:51 Maybe she had been hit by a car, wasn't able to get in touch with them, that she was injured on the side of the road somewhere. Maybe she was unconscious, something like that. So Josh heads out and starts looking along the route that they had taken together. And then Sheila went in a different direction towards a neighboring town, which she didn't think that Sierra had likely gone that way, but she wanted to cover their bases. And also,
Starting point is 00:16:15 that was the direction of the fire station where she ended up going and finding a sheriff's deputy sitting in their car right out front. And that's when she frantically explained what was going on and that she desperately needed help but Unfortunately like we hear so often her pleas for help were met with some resistance at first She got the whole you know, she's 20 years old. She has every right to leave speech But you know Sheila is like that is not what is going on here I know my daughter this doesn't make sense. And she was not going to take that as an answer.
Starting point is 00:16:48 So at that point, she makes a 911 call of her own and several more calls after that to make sure that something was being done. And meanwhile, her aunt Tara was calling local hospitals to see if anyone matching Sierra's description had been brought in. And there actually was a brief moment where they thought they had found her. A hospital in Detroit had an unidentified woman come in who had a belly button piercing
Starting point is 00:17:09 just like Sierra and also had a scar on her calf that was just like Sierra's, but it didn't end up being her, which of course only added to the fear that her loved ones were feeling. So they continued to do what they could, which was posting online and organizing search groups in hopes that she would be found quickly. And thankfully by around 11 30 p.m. it was all hands on deck with the local sheriff's department. One deputy, Matt Smithmyther, was woken up that night by a family member who explained what was going on and he jumped right out of bed to help. He started making some calls and really just helped kick things into gear. And a discovery was made that very night. Right around midnight, a different deputy and his canine
Starting point is 00:17:50 were patrolling County Road 6, looking for any sign of Sierra when he came across some matted down corn stalks, which of course, given the circumstances was something worth looking into. And when he got closer, that's when he saw it. Three to four rows deep in the corn, his flashlight reflected off of Sierra's purple mountain bike.
Starting point is 00:18:09 It was standing up on its kickstand and based on the fact that it was left a few rows deep, he immediately believed that someone was trying to conceal it. And upon further inspection, he realized why. The bike had what appeared to be blood on both the seats and the handlebars So right away backup was called and minutes later The entire area was just swarming with law enforcement and they ended up finding several other key pieces of evidence Including a fuse box a pair of women's sunglasses a pair of men's sunglasses an orange handled Screwdriver with blood on it and also a green sock.
Starting point is 00:18:46 And they also said that there was a strong smell of gasoline, motorcycle tire tracks, and most notably, blood stains on several corn stalks. And of course, with all that, it was immediately undeniable that this was the scene of an abduction. Maybe not a murder, at least they hoped not, but definitely the scene of a violent struggle at the very least. And so that night, Sierra's family ends up getting a call
Starting point is 00:19:11 from someone that they knew that there was a ton of law enforcement by the cornfields not far from their home. And so of course they all rushed to go see what was going on. But when they got there, no one would tell them anything. So it wasn't until hours later
Starting point is 00:19:25 that an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent came by their house to tell them about what they had found. And that news was, I mean, you can't even put it into words. This was just confirmation for them that something horrible had to have happened to Sierra, something far worse than a biking accident. And so from that moment forward, they're dealing with a whole new set of fears. Not only was Sierra missing, but she's missing because someone took her. So they needed to figure out who that person is,
Starting point is 00:19:54 why they took her and where they were keeping her. And I'm sure this won't come as a surprise to you, but the first person of interest, of course, was Josh. Not only because he was the last person with her, but also because he was riding a motorcycle that night. And considering that a fuse box and motorcycle tire tracks were found at the scene, he just seemed like the most likely person. Plus, you know, statistically speaking, it would make sense, right? So the next day on July 20th, he was questioned. And by that morning, local investigators and BCI agents
Starting point is 00:20:25 had set up a mobile command center at Evergreen High School and that's where Josh was spoken to. And he was right off the bat, extremely cooperative. I sat around for a little while, it was probably half hour, four seconds. We sat there and just talked for, whether I should just take her home or whether she wanted to ride a bike there.
Starting point is 00:20:42 And we said she wanted to ride a bike and I had my motorcycle and I figured, you know, I'll follow her for a little bit and just kind of give her crap through stuff. I'm good. So I followed her, she left. I followed her down the street and I said, all right, she's telling me, like, you can leave now.
Starting point is 00:20:58 So just through that, turn around, wow. What do you think? No, I don't know what What do you think? What happened? Tell them. I honestly, I have no idea. I don't know if it was someone she knew. Yes, but Angus, Sarah is a scrapper. She is a strong girl.
Starting point is 00:21:17 And if someone came up to her, she would have put up a fight. I guarantee you. Unless it happened like that. Unless it was, I can, I can see you're having a music game. You don't even hear someone from an often. It's just bam. That'd be the only way he told them absolutely everything that he knew and even offered to
Starting point is 00:21:35 draw a map of his and Sierra's movements from the evening before. He also agreed to let them search his house and his truck because he had nothing to hide. At one point, they did find a pair of bloody coveralls in his truck but they ended up confirming that it was animal blood from a hunting trip. And even though he was innocent, Josh of course as anyone would be, was terrified. Not only terrified for Sierra and what she's going through or what could have happened, but the idea that they think that he might have been involved, I mean, that's really scary, especially for a young person like him.
Starting point is 00:22:08 Thankfully though, pretty quickly, investigators did come to the conclusion that he was telling the truth, and that was partially because of a new piece of evidence that they found that they could not connect to him. But it was evidence that definitely belonged to whoever was responsible. That same day, July 20th, the community was
Starting point is 00:22:26 going as hard as possible in their search for Sierra. Law enforcement didn't even need much help rallying people to look for her because everyone was just already doing it and it hadn't even been 24 hours yet you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't know what happened or wasn't already out there searching, which is exactly how this piece of evidence was brought to their attention. It turns out that the night before, a farmer and his son were driving home on County Road 6 when they noticed a black motorcycle helmet on the side of the road. And without even giving it a second thought, they pulled over, picked it up, and continued driving home. And then it wasn't until the next day that the farmer heard about what had happened and was
Starting point is 00:23:06 like, oh wait, that helmet we found was pretty close to where they're saying the crime scene was. So he immediately got in contact with police and turned it over to them. And thank God he did because when they took a closer look at it, they could see that it was covered in blood-like stains and that one of those stains was a partial palm print, which of course suggested that this helmet might have been used to strike Sierra during her abduction. And because Josh was able to prove that the helmet didn't belong to him, it was helpful in clearing him. But obviously now they're stuck with the question of whose helmet is this? They did submit it and all those other items
Starting point is 00:23:45 for DNA testing right away, but of course those tests take time. And time was something they just didn't have because nobody knew if Sierra was alive or not and they just couldn't wait on test results to make their next move. Life doesn't happen bi-weekly, so why should payday? The money you earn can be in your hands today with Earnin. Life doesn't happen bi-weekly, so why should payday?
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Starting point is 00:25:16 Service is not available in all states. So they began a bunch of other methods to try and find her starting with pinging her phone, which is an obvious first step in a missing persons investigation. And unfortunately, they did not have any luck with that because the ping took them right back to the abduction site. They also weren't able to get anything off her Fitbit, which they knew that she was wearing because of those Snapchat videos.
Starting point is 00:25:42 So at that point, their best bet was to continue with the ground searches. So those searches carried on all day Wednesday with the help of several law enforcement agencies, canine units, helicopter crews, family, friends, community members, but even with hundreds of volunteers, nobody found anything. There was a report of a van that had been apparently speeding through the area on the day
Starting point is 00:26:04 that Sierra went missing and that created a lot of concern because Toledo is actually a sex trafficking hub and as I mentioned earlier they were only 25 minutes from the city. So you know they started thinking the worst there but then they ended up finding the driver of that van and cleared him. And then there was also a woman who reported that at 7 20 p.m on the 19th she was driving down county road 6 when she saw something strange. She saw a man bent over at the waist about two or three rows deep in the corn along with a bike
Starting point is 00:26:37 lying on the side of the road. And she actually didn't think much of it at the time but once she heard about Sierra she thought it might be an important detail to the case. And she describes this man as a white male wearing red shorts and possibly a white t-shirt. So law enforcement didn't have too much to work with there. So that left them once again scratching their heads with no idea where to turn to next, feeling frustrated, but luckily that didn't last too long. Because of how many volunteers were helping comb through these cornfields, officers were able to utilize their time conducting door-to-door searches.
Starting point is 00:27:14 And one of these doors belonged to a man named James Dean Worley. And what's crazy is they went to this guy's house on only a hunch. But within moments of talking to him, they realized that this was their guy. On July 21st, three law enforcement agents went to James Whirly's home, which mind you was located only five miles from where Sierra was abducted.
Starting point is 00:27:37 And this sicko wasted no time getting chatty. And right off the bat, I just need to tell you guys, this guy is a fucking freak. Like it did not take long at all for them to figure out that something is seriously off with this guy and as soon as they knocked on the door and explained why they were there, James let them in and insisted that they all sit down and they were like, no it's cool we're not gonna be here long we don't need to sit but he was like no you're gonna sit down and you're gonna listen to me
Starting point is 00:28:11 Overall right away the whole situation was just a giant red flag. I mean for starters James was looking rough He had visible scratches and bruises all over his body that were clearly defense wounds So, you know, they're getting red flags from that alone But then he opens his dumb mouth and starts word vomiting some of the most outrageous things I have ever heard. And as soon as he starts blabbing, one of the officers is like, okay, we need to record this. So he gets out his phone and starts trying to subtly record him. James, you know, gets a feeling that he's being recorded.
Starting point is 00:28:39 So he gets all sketchy about him having his phone. The officer lies to him and tells him that he's just texting his boss But he is secretly recording him and thankfully he did I mean they really had to because this idiot was immediately Placing himself at the crime scene on the night it happened. So here's his full story Okay, according to James around 545 or 6 o'clock on the evening of July 19th He left his house to go ride his motorcycle and while he was driving through County Road 6 his motorcycle stalled out So he pulls off to the side of the road where he apparently ends up coming across not one but two bikes a gray one and a blue one and try to stick with me as I
Starting point is 00:29:23 attempt to explain this the way that James did because quite frankly this dude is a real fucking idiot and so None of what he said really makes sense But he basically said that his plan was to ditch his motorcycle And then walk home, but since he had back problems He instead decides that he's going to ride one of these bikes that he found all the way home. However, after standing there and thinking about it,
Starting point is 00:29:49 he decides that he is not going to take one of the bikes. Instead, he's going to try and push his motorcycle home, like walk besides it, which of course doesn't make any sense because he just said that he has back problems and can't really walk that far. So, makes a whole lot of sense, right? That if you can't walk, might as well try pushing a motorcycle
Starting point is 00:30:08 and walking at the same time. But like I said, dude's an idiot. Get back so we can get out of here and take care of mine. Oh, OK. I started to buy the eggs. I'm pushing in Iran and Iran. There's a corn field and I'm about half a mile down the road. There's two bikes sitting right in the wheat field.
Starting point is 00:30:24 So back to the story here. I'm pushing my bike and I'm about half a mile down the road. Okay. There's two bikes sitting right in the wheat field. So back to the story here, I'm pushing my bike and I had to stop and there was bicycles sitting there and I thought to myself, I ain't gonna stand and stay out here. I pushed my bike into the cornfield because the end rows are open. I was in my head thinking, I'm gonna ditch this thing but there's these bikes here. This was probably my bike and somebody else's bike. There was a blue one and a charcoal gray one, light charcoal gray color.
Starting point is 00:30:49 Anyways, I'm right there and I'm over boiling and I look across the wheat field, I don't see no kids or nothing. There's nobody on the road. I didn't see anybody. And I thought, man, I'm gonna stick my bike in here and I'm gonna walk home. Problem is I can't walk because the sciatic nerve.
Starting point is 00:31:06 So you just leave the bike in the cornfield? I was thinking about it and I went in and I got it inside me and I thought, don't go wrapping this up in your heads. I go and I start the bike and attack the chick. Eddie, no, well, so I screwed with it for a while and I took a break and I decided, you know what? I'm gonna turn this around, which I did. I got it back out and I took a break and I decided, you know what, I'm going to turn this around,
Starting point is 00:31:25 which I did. I got it back out and I convinced the pollution and then I made it home here about 10 o'clock. Now two things to note about his story. Okay, so first of all, the whole thing about there being two bikes there is not true. He was just trying to convince officers that someone else had been there with Sierra and two, and I'm sure this is obvious, but his whole story was a way to explain why his DNA would be on her bike. And he could not have been more obvious because he even asks in the interview if
Starting point is 00:31:58 they found his DNA on it. So are we really getting every house up and down? Yep. Did they find my fingerprints on a bike or something? Is there any information like that coming back on me? So the bullshit detector is clearly going off for these officers. He not only placed himself at the scene and came up with a nonsense story about the bike, but then he dropped some more info, which was really the icing on the stupid cake James told them that when he left the area He lost a few of his belongings and do you want to guess what those items were?
Starting point is 00:32:32 It was a pair of sunglasses an orange handled screwdriver a fuse box and drumroll Please his helmet and he just offered this up to officers on a silver platter I had traffic issue with my bike here the other day. I his helmet and he just offered this up to officers on a silver platter. I had traffic issue with my bike here the other day. I dabbled with it the best I could. I never saw anyone. I saw two bicycles. That's it.
Starting point is 00:32:55 My helmet's gone. My fuses are gone. My screwdriver's gone and my glasses are gone. Because keep in mind, none of that information had been made public, okay? It was so obvious right away that he was the one who was responsible, but he definitely wasn't going to admit that. In fact, he makes multiple weird comments that he's not out there killing chicks and raping chicks and stealing people. And at one point, he mentions how he recently had a girl come to his house, but she left alive. And the way he delivered that information is so strange. Like he's
Starting point is 00:33:29 trying to be like, well, someone was recently at my house, a girl in fact, and she's not dead as if one person leaving his house alive proves that he didn't kill someone else. I'm not out there killing chicks. I don't have relationships. I mean, I'm in fact trying to get one started online a little bit right now. But and she's been out here and guess what? She went home alive. So yeah, it was pretty obvious to officers right away that he was their guy. I mean, he had to have been the one responsible by the way that he was acting. Everything he was saying was so bizarre and coming from a place of like aggression, but then trying to cover
Starting point is 00:34:09 tracks that didn't even need to be covered yet. I mean, he was the one who put the target on his back, which is crazy because really they only went to his place on a hunch. And even though they're now definitely feeling like he is got to be a suspect, he's likely the one responsible. They don't want to let him know that they're now definitely feeling like he is gotta be a suspect, he's likely the one responsible, they don't wanna let him know that they're thinking that because in their minds, maybe Sierra is still alive and they don't want him making any sudden moves if that's the case.
Starting point is 00:34:34 So they decided to leave and let him think that everything was fine, even if just for a few hours while they obtained a search warrant, which of course they went to go get right away and then they start looking more into this man's background and what they found left them speechless and it's certainly going to leave you speechless as well. Today's episode is brought to you by Acorns.
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Starting point is 00:35:59 and SEC registered investment advisor, few important disclosures at acorn.com slash TCKR. It turns out that back in 1990, registered investment advisor, few important disclosures at acorn.com slash TCKR. It turns out that back in 1990, James was convicted of a crime that was eerily similar to Sierra's disappearance. On July 4th, 1990, Robin Gardner was a 26 year old girl living in White House, Ohio with her mom. And just for your reference, White House is only about 20 minutes away from where Sierra lived.
Starting point is 00:36:27 And so on that day, July 4th, 1990, Robin decides she had nothing else to do. It was a holiday. And she wants to go for a bike ride. And she remembers that she had written about a mile away from her house before she decided that was far enough and that she should probably turn around and go back home. But just as she makes that decision, she heard a car approaching and thought I'm just gonna wait for them to pass and then I'll turn around. So the truck passes and she circles the other way and then almost out of nowhere she goes flying off her bike and lands in a ditch and it was because the driver of the truck had turned around
Starting point is 00:37:05 and hit her and at first she thought it was an accident because the driver got out of the car and was seeing if she was okay but just a split second later he'd taken a hammer out and smashed her on the back of the head luckily she didn't end up passing out but because she was still conscious the guy got out a screwdriver and pressed it to her neck. She's screaming at this point and he tells her that he would kill her if she didn't stop screaming and get into his truck with him. So Robin ends up fighting against him as hard as she could the entire time that he dragged her into his car and she continued fighting when she was in the car as well. However, he still manages to get a handcuff
Starting point is 00:37:45 onto her right wrist. Luckily, he wasn't able to do so on her left wrist, so she grabs the steering wheel and just starts screaming and screaming and screaming, hoping that someone will hear her. But of course, they were on a very rural road, a lot like the one that Sierra was abducted on. And the odds of someone driving by or hearing her
Starting point is 00:38:03 were extremely slim. But by some sort of miracle really, a motorcyclist just happens to drive by and because Robin had made such a commotion, he stopped and he helped her escape. The two of them rode right to her house where they called the police and what's insane is that when the motorcyclist took the police back to where he found Robin, her attacker was still there. And who do you think it was? Yep, that's right, it was James Whirly. And of course he had a ridiculous story for the police. He basically tells them that he was just driving and then Robin swerved into his car and when
Starting point is 00:38:42 he got out to check on her she began acting hysterically. So he thinks it's a good idea to put handcuffs on her while he goes and gets help. In what world does that make any sense? Of course it just doesn't and the police agreed so he was arrested for attempted abduction but he only ended up serving three years out of a six to 10 year sentence for good behavior. And what's so maddening is he literally told his court ordered therapist that he'd bury the next one. And yet they still let him out. Unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:39:17 And as you can imagine, this was so, so traumatic for Robin. So much so that she moved to California where she felt a lot safer. But even still, she says that she can't be alone because she's scared that if something ever happened to her again, nobody would ever hear her scream. And believe it or not, probably you're on the side of believe it with this guy, but there were probably others that he did this to as well. And that brings me to Claudia Tinsley. In September of 1996, a 24 year old mother to Claudia Tinsley. In September of 1996, a 24-year-old mother named
Starting point is 00:39:46 Claudia Tinsley was reported missing by her mom after she failed to come home one evening. Claudia was a sex worker and on the night that she disappeared, James Worley came to her house and picked her up. And according to James, the two of them drove around for 45 minutes, had oral sex, and then he dropped her off at an unknown location. Her mom got worried, of course, when she didn't come home, so she told police that James Worley was the guy that she had been with last. And of course, as you're probably picking up on, James is just someone who is a walking red flag and her mother had a weird feeling about him as soon as she met him. And so she had actually written down his license plate, thankfully.
Starting point is 00:40:26 And of course, James swears up and down that he didn't kill her, which of course none of us believe, but they brought him in for questioning a week after she disappeared, but ultimately they couldn't prove that he did something to her. So he was never arrested. They did end up getting a search warrant
Starting point is 00:40:42 for his place a couple years later, but ultimately they didn't find anything that connected him to Claudia. Well, they did actually find some weed so they were able to send his ass back to prison for two years for that, but that was pretty inconsequential considering what they suspected him of doing. And it's heartbreaking, but to this day Claudia has never been found. So technically James's involvement in Claudia's disappearance is alleged But the fact that him of all people was the last guy to see her I mean to me just tells you everything you need to know I Can't sit here legally and say that he did it because there's no proof that he did and it's all alleged, but yeah,
Starting point is 00:41:26 I'm sure we can all agree how we feel on that one. But getting back to Sierra's disappearance, obviously as investigators are learning all of this, they needed to get back to his property ASAP. So later that same day, they returned to his house to ask him more questions. And when they got there, this jackass has the audacity to ask for his helmet back,
Starting point is 00:41:48 which of course officers are like, no, my dude, that is not going to happen. This time though, they outright told him that they found blood on the helmet, which James was like, oh no, that's not possible. But this time around, he seemed very agitated and very nervous. Now he did allow them to walk around his property but he made sure to stay close by. Now as
Starting point is 00:42:11 for his house it more or less looked okay. I mean it was messy but besides that it didn't look like Sierra had been there but it was the barn where the real horrors were waiting and they didn't even need to go inside to know that something was in there. Because as soon as they started to approach it, James's whole demeanor changed. He seemed like he really didn't want them to go inside, but of course they did anyway. And what they found was truly, truly horrifying.
Starting point is 00:42:39 I mean, for starters, the barn reeked of bleach. Like someone had clearly been trying to clean up something, which they could also tell because there were fresh rake marks on the ground. They also noticed that the glass on the door to the barn had been spray painted black, as if someone was trying to prevent other people from seeing inside.
Starting point is 00:42:58 Then it got even worse, because as they're poking around, they end up finding a green crate that's tucked behind some hay bales and inside of the crate they found adult diapers, a bag containing bondage clothing and restraints, a roll of white clothesline, latex gloves, clear plastic bags containing women's lingerie and clothing, a piece of duct tape with straw, hair, and other debris stuck to it, brown rope, white socks, and a bag for storing an air mattress
Starting point is 00:43:30 along with a pink sex toy. So obviously this is shocking to law enforcement, shocking to anybody. It is so creepy. I mean, why the fuck does he have these items? I mean, this freak literally kept Ziiplock baggies stuffed with women's underwear and lingerie and he had it all labeled and organized. It's just ugh it's so beyond creepy and when they found this James of course goes into full defense mode. He tries explaining to
Starting point is 00:43:58 them that he had all of these items because he had a bunch of different girlfriends and he liked giving out underwear and lingerie and different items to all of them, which obviously wasn't true. I mean, look at the guy, but also come on, no one has labeled little bags like this. It's a clear attempt at a cover up of what he was actually doing. And by this point, the search warrant had been secured. So it was game over for James Worley. Now, in addition to the women's clothing found in that green crate, investigators also found a freshly made sandwich
Starting point is 00:44:34 tucked in there as well. And of course, they're thinking that this meant Sierra could still be alive and possibly somewhere nearby. So they tore that barn and the rest of his property up, trying to find her. And at one point, they thought they did. Inside the barn, investigators uncovered a piece of plywood on the ground and it had what looked to be breathing holes cut out of it. And when they lifted it up, they didn't find Sierra, unfortunately, but they did find something very disturbing.
Starting point is 00:45:02 Under the plywood, a chest freezer had been lowered into a hole in the ground, and that freezer had been secured shut with a ratchet strap. And when they opened it, they found that it had been lined with blood soaked carpet and smelled very strongly of bleed. Now, by this point, James had been brought into the station for questioning.
Starting point is 00:45:23 And when they asked him about this freezer, of course he said he had an explanation. And that explanation is that this is where he kept his weed, right? Because everyone who partakes in the ganja knows that you've got to keep it in an underground freezer covered with plywood, right? Okay, ridiculous. But anyway, their discoveries didn't end there. Back in the barn, they also found an air mattress, duct tape, zip ties, handcuffs, handcuff keys,
Starting point is 00:45:53 more rope and more adult diapers. So basically everything a person would need to commit an incredibly heinous crime. Then inside of his machine shop shop they found his motorcycle, which later tested positive for blood, more adult diapers, two sets of handcuffs with keys, a zip tie, and a bottle of bleach. And then this is also really disturbing, but they ended up finding a nanny cam. And I'm not sure if any footage was recovered from that that hasn't been revealed, but just the idea of him having one of those is very, very, I mean beyond scary. And then there was a search of his
Starting point is 00:46:33 two trucks as well. In his red truck they found a can of pepper spray in the driver's side door pocket, a black ski mask, work gloves, an ear warmer, a roll of duct tape and seven 24 inch zip ties which had already been connected. Meaning that he pre-started those zip ties making it easy for him to quickly tighten them. Then in his green truck, they found a white rope that was bundled with black electrical tape and again, zip ties under the driver's side seat
Starting point is 00:47:01 and under the floor mat of the driver's seat. And then inside his house there were yet again more adult diapers and then also a pair of black boots that were caked with mud. But despite all of this, all of this sick and disgusting, very obvious evidence, James of course says he can explain it. He says that all of it is for his new explain it. He says that all of it is for his new adult film company. Yeah, he actually tried to sell that story. He said it's definitely not for kidnapping and killing, which is honestly so offensive, right? Like, really you're caught having all of this and you're still going to try and lie? I mean give it up, dude. The jig is up. Okay? You're done.
Starting point is 00:47:54 And plus, investigators had uncovered video surveillance from outside of Evergreen High School that showed a truck driving towards the scene of the abduction on the night of the 19th. And as you can probably guess, it looked a whole lot like James's truck. So the thinking was maybe this was him returning to the scene to go back and pick up Sierra, because if you think about it,
Starting point is 00:48:16 he likely could not have abducted her on his motorcycle. So they thought maybe he incapacitated her, then hit her in a cornfield went back home got his truck and then went back to pick her up and you guys when James was shown the video of the truck passing by the school he fully admitted oh yeah that was me but of course he had some bullshit story about how he was going back to get his helmet. But yeah, this idiot once again just placed himself at the crime scene. And luckily at this point, they had enough to go ahead
Starting point is 00:48:50 and place him under arrest. And you will not believe, or maybe you will, what this monster had to say when they arrested him for abduction. He said that he wanted his own room so that he could get a good night's sleep that night. Like anyone gives a fuck about your sleep. I mean after what he did he deserves to go to sleep and never wake up and stick around because that might just be happening. After his arrest investigators were hoping that James would just
Starting point is 00:49:18 man up and tell them where she was. But because we're talking about an evil person here, he admitted to nothing and so the searches for Sierra had to continue. They spent hours and hours combing through every inch of James' property and came up empty handed and also there were still tons of volunteers searching in other areas and they couldn't find anything either. And of course this is all just agonizing for the Joggen family. I mean, they didn't even know who James Worley was. They had never heard of him, but now they are hearing his history and, you know, hearing that he has a history of abducting women in the past. And this sicko is likely the one who took Ciara from them. I mean, it was excruciating. An
Starting point is 00:50:03 anonymous $100,000 reward was posted for information leading to Ciara's whereabouts, but in just a few hours, they realized that she would not be coming home safely. Because that very same day that James was arrested for her abduction, her remains were found. That day, a volunteer was driving south on County Road 7 in an effort to help look for Sierra when he noticed a disturbance in the cornfield. So he got out of his car to check it out and after walking 20 to 25 yards into that field, he spotted a patch of dirt that looked like it had been disturbed, almost like someone had dug that hole and then filled it back in with dirt. But after law enforcement came and dug it up themselves, it was empty, which was discouraging,
Starting point is 00:50:47 but they felt like they were close to finding something. That same guy had found a yellow latex glove sort of between the road and the cornfield. And while they didn't find her body near there, they figured it had to be connected. So they fanned out and that's when they found it. It was another mound of disturbed dirt that looked like a hole had been dug and filled back in. And this time the hole wasn't empty. It took five hours in the 95 degree heat and law enforcement literally had to use little
Starting point is 00:51:19 hand shovels to get to it. But throughout the night, they had been able to uncover Sierra's body. The idea of her laying in that grave any longer was unbearable to them, so they were willing to work as long as it took to get her out, even if it was the middle of the night. And this is just a beyond disgusting detail, but they also found human feces nearby. Human feces, meaning this sicko, as if everything else he did to her wasn't bad enough, he had the audacity to take a shit near her grave and just wait until you hear the condition that he left her in. And full warning, this is very disturbing. I debated
Starting point is 00:51:59 not even sharing it, but I know you guys will want to know. And it's important to know the facts here and know the reality of what's important to know the facts here and know the reality of what James did to her. So here it is. In that shallow grave, Sierra was found hog-tied and handcuffed, wearing only an adult diaper and a lacy bra. Again, this is very disturbing but a rubber dog toy had been placed in her mouth and tied around her head using a shoelace. And after her autopsy was conducted, a medical examiner determined
Starting point is 00:52:30 that her cause of death was asphyxiation. When that dog toy was put in her mouth, it restricted her ability to breathe. And they say it would have taken her 10 minutes, 10 excruciating minutes to lose her life. And what's even worse, they said that that toy had been shoved in her mouth so violently that it actually had broken one of her teeth. The autopsy also revealed that Sierra
Starting point is 00:52:51 had suffered a wound to the right side of her forehead, a hairline fracture at the left occipital bone, and several contusions on her left leg. And so based on these horrific injuries and all the evidence that they had found so far, they were able to paint a better picture of what they believe happened to her. Which was that while riding her bike, Sierra was struck by James on his motorcycle. And after that, he proceeded to strike her in the head with his helmet enough times to make her lose consciousness. He then moved her deep into the cornfields where he left her while he rode his motorcycle back home to retrieve his truck, which he then drove back
Starting point is 00:53:29 to the scene to collect her body. The autopsy did not find any signs that she had been assayed. But that's not to say that this crime wasn't sexual in nature, and I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself here, but investigators determined that there was semen on a blanket found inside his barn, as well as data from his computer Showing that he had been watching porn for hours leading up to her abduction So while he may not have violated her physically in that way They do believe that it was a sexually motivated attack now going back to the night that she was found Sierra's loved ones actually were all together when that call came in. And her stepdad, Matt, answered the phone and he didn't even have to say anything
Starting point is 00:54:08 for everyone in the room to know what he had learned. There were a collection of screams and sobs that nobody in that room will ever forget. Her mom says it sounded like wolves howling at the moon and everyone collectively wept out of sadness and anger. There was a very small, very, very small sense of relief in the fact that at least now they knew where she was. But of course, along with that came the knowledge of the horrors that she had endured at the end of her life. A candlelight vigil was held in her honor on the 30th
Starting point is 00:54:43 at the University of Toledo, which was organized by a friend of Sierra's from college. It was attended by her friends, family, members of her business sorority, and even complete strangers who just wanted to show their support. I think one thing that really rings true when it comes to this case is how the community
Starting point is 00:55:01 really came out and supported Sierra and her family during this time. And I wanted to show my support too. And so on behalf of this channel today, I will be making a donation to the Justice for Sierra nonprofit. This nonprofit was started by her aunt Tara in an effort to help protect other Ohioans. And they've already done some really incredible work. For starters, they were able to pass a bill known as Sierra's Law, which, quote, established a database accessible to both law enforcement and everyday citizens, enabling them to identify the presence of
Starting point is 00:55:32 violent offenders in their neighborhoods. And then they also host an annual Spirit of Sierra run, which I love. It's a five K run and fundraiser that takes place at the University of Toledo campus. And it's a color run, which is so fun, and it's supposed to be a lighter day, you know, one of happiness that truly honors Sierra's life and her legacy, and they honor her in a way that she would have loved. It also helps raise money for the nonprofit, which they use to fund programs such as Sierra Strong, which is yet another cool thing that this family is doing. The Sierra Strong program
Starting point is 00:56:05 is a self-defense program for students that they have turned into a curriculum to be taught in schools. The program is taught annually to students in middle school and high school and it seeks to empower them to be self-aware and learn how to better protect themselves in the event that they are attacked. And then they also host these community events where they teach self-defense and they provide parents with something that they call a kid print ID. And this is so genius. A kid print ID is a laminated card for parents that includes vital information about their children,
Starting point is 00:56:37 such as their height, their weight, their hair color, eye color, as well as a copy of their fingerprint. And the point of it is is if your child goes missing, then parents can give this card to police very easily so they can quickly disseminate the information to the public. There's even info on the back of these cards so parents know exactly what steps to take in the event that their child goes missing. I'm just so impressed and proud of everything that they're doing in the wake of all of the tragedy that they have been through themselves trying to you know do something to help other parents who could end up in a situation like this and teach kids how to defend
Starting point is 00:57:12 themselves I mean it's so much great vital work and I think it's just amazing so if any of you are interested in learning more about it or maybe making a donation yourself I'll be sure to link their website in the description box or the show notes if you are listening to the podcast version of the show. But now let's jump back into the case and the road to justice, which took about two years after Sierra's remains were found. James Worley was officially charged with her murder and in total he would end up being indicted on 19 felony counts, including two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of abduction,
Starting point is 00:57:45 four counts of kidnapping, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, one count of possessing criminal tools, one count of gross abuse of a corpse, one count of tampering with evidence, and two counts of having a weapon while under disability. In this sicko, no shock here, but he pleaded not guilty to everything, despite the literal mountain of evidence they had against him. So let's get into the trial and go over again what that evidence was. James's trial began in March of 2018 and when this good for nothing, evil, ugly loser walked into the courtroom, he had the nerve to have this poor me sort of look
Starting point is 00:58:25 on his face, which was just so offensive to the Joggen family. As if being in the same room as the sicko wasn't traumatizing enough for him to be walking around acting like the victim here. Oh, I would just be so infuriated. It would take everything in me not to want to get up and Punch that stupid look off his face. But of course, they can't do anything
Starting point is 00:58:50 They have to just sit there anyway, though the trial begins and the prosecutions case against James is a strong one because after Processing the evidence from the crime scene and also James's house The two DNA profiles came back belonging to him and to Sierra. And just to name a few things that they founded on, James' DNA was found on the male sunglasses and the screwdriver that was found at the abduction site,
Starting point is 00:59:16 also the latex glove found near her grave, some duct tape, as well as traces of his own blood on his helmet. As for Sierra's DNA at the scenes, it also came back to the yellow latex glove, as well as the women's sunglasses, the sock, the blood on the corn stalks, and of course, the helmet.
Starting point is 00:59:33 As for inside the barn, they found traces of her DNA on some rope, duck tape, the air mattress, paper towels, and blood on a pair of pink underwear. They also collected swabs from James' motorcycle and her blood was found on that as well. And despite all of that, the defense still tried to say this man was innocent.
Starting point is 00:59:53 They ended up questioning a lot of the DNA because out of all the DNA that did come back as a match to James, the DNA sample that was collected from underneath her fingernails did not. Also, remember how I mentioned earlier that that woman had thought she had seen a man in the cornfields that was wearing a red pair of shorts? Well, they never found a red pair of shorts at James' house. So they ridiculously suggested that someone else had murdered her. And to explain how her DNA got all over James' barn,
Starting point is 01:00:25 they said that this strange man abducted her, snuck her into James' barn without his knowledge, and then killed her and disposed of her. Because that makes a whole lot of sense, right? Yeah, some strange man abducts Sierra on his motorcycle with his helmet, hides her in his barn, and then uses his handcuffs and ropes to tie her up and kill her Absolutely, not. I mean the fact that they even tried to make this argument is Just laughable and the defense even tried to suggest that James couldn't have buried her on his own So they suggested that if he did do it, maybe he had an accomplice There had to be someone else involved which is a a pretty strange suggestion, considering that their main argument
Starting point is 01:01:06 was that James wasn't involved at all. So not the brightest defense team here. And of course they wanted to make the jury believe that all that creepy stuff in his barn, all the lingerie, the underwear, the little shorts, everything like that was innocently for his so-called adult film studio that he was about to create.
Starting point is 01:01:27 They also tried to really push lack of motive. They suggested that Sierra and James didn't know each other so he would have no motive to kill her. But obviously that's just another stupid argument because as we know, people kill people they don't know all the time. It's called a crime of opportunity, right? It happens quite frequently. Plus, not to mention, James went to jail for trying to abduct someone he didn't know, Robin. And speaking of Robin, she ended up very bravely taking the stand during the trial, and she
Starting point is 01:01:59 had to sit there and recount and explain the worst thing that ever happened to her, but she said she did it for Ciara because she wanted to be a voice for her. She is the only living victim of James Worley as far as we know, and she knew that the value of her testimony would be huge in this case. And to be clear, while there haven't been any other confirmed victims, one therapist said that after analyzing James, he believes he fits the profile of a serial offender. I guess he kept these journals and videos possibly? And while we don't know the contents of these, the therapist was basically like, yeah, this guy has done this
Starting point is 01:02:38 before, or at the very least is capable of doing it again. And thankfully for every BS argument that the defense presented, the prosecution came back with an undeniable rebuttal. Plus they'd also looked into his phone data which literally placed him at the abduction site for nearly two hours on the 19th where they were also able to trace Sierra's phone. There was no way he was trying to fix his motorcycle for that long at the same time in the same place that a brutal attack was taking place. And his phone also pinged where he buried her.
Starting point is 01:03:12 I mean come on, it's so obvious. Oh and when they searched his computer data, that was also really disturbing. In both 2015 and 2016, he had been looking up porn categories such as hog-tied teen, bound, beaten down teens, forced teens, stranded and forced, and rough pickups. And maybe that's what floats his boat. I mean, whatever, I'm not here to kink shame or whatever. But when you look at that and then you look at the condition Ciara was found in, it looked bad.
Starting point is 01:03:43 Plus, James had been buying women's lingerie wholesale. And I'm sorry, but there is no way that ugly perv had that many girlfriends that he was giving out underwear and lingerie to. I mean, come on. He had some sick sexual fantasies, and he disgustingly used these items to make that fantasy come true.
Starting point is 01:04:03 And he did so at the expense of an innocent girl's life and Thankfully the jury agreed and it only took them six hours of deliberation 57 year old James Dean Worley one of the most worthless humans I've ever had the displeasure of learning about was found guilty on all 19 counts and he didn't even flinch. He sat there completely emotionless. I mean, he didn't show a ounce of remorse at all. And a month later, he was sentenced to death.
Starting point is 01:04:36 And I know people have different opinions on the death penalty. I have my own opinions that I'm not gonna break all down here today. But in my opinion, James Worley does not deserve to live his life. He does not, after what he did, buy. Literally buy.
Starting point is 01:04:53 Good night, salutations. He deserves it. I'm just so angry after learning about this case. It is so despicable. It's so disgusting. Sierra deserved so much more and I don't even want to say person when it comes to James because to me he is not even a human. He is nothing but a monster not just for what he did to Sierra but to the other women that he has done things to and
Starting point is 01:05:17 there's probably more we don't even know about but not just all of that. When you hear what he had the nerve to do to her family during sentencing you're gonna want to throw up. The judge ended up letting him speak and this asshole went on a 45 minute rant about his innocence and he cries and he talks about how Sierra lives on and it's just it's such bullshit it's such an act and it's outright offensive for him to claim that he is still the victim in all of this. Just take a listen for yourselves. Their hearts are wounded and they always will be.
Starting point is 01:05:54 But if you believe what God has in him, if I believe it, the earth goes on. She may have been murdered and decadalized, but she goes on. So his execution date is set for May 20th of 2025, so it's coming up soon. Hopefully this year he will finally pay for what he did. Like a lot of families say, Sierra's family was grateful that her killer was brought to justice, but it doesn't change what happened. She will always be gone and a guilty verdict and a death sentence will never bring her back. Her aunt Tara said it wasn't anything to celebrate and she's right, it's not. Sheila also
Starting point is 01:06:38 expressed that over the years one of the things that has been especially difficult is seeing her daughter's friends grow up. They're all getting married, they're having kids and doing things that her daughter should be doing right now. But instead of celebrating her life with her, they're continuing to mourn her loss every day. They ended up filing a wrongful death lawsuit against James, which was settled in 2018 for $3.6 million. But the one thing they wanted out of that lawsuit
Starting point is 01:07:04 was ownership of his property, specifically that barn. They wanted to tear that godforsaken thing down and in 2019, they were able to do just that. Of course, it doesn't bring her home, but it does allow her family the freedom of knowing that the place that she lost her life will no longer exist, at least not in the capacity it once did. And it's so heartbreaking to think about, but if Sierra was still here today, it's likely that she and Josh would have gotten married. Who knows,
Starting point is 01:07:29 they might have even had kids. But instead, Josh was left without the person that he pictured the rest of his life with. He spoke during the trial, which was, as you can imagine, incredibly emotional for everyone. And the impact that this has had on him is just undeniable. Being the last person to see her alive is a horrible weight to carry and I just hope that he knows that he is not responsible for what happened. In somewhat positive news when it comes to Josh, he did go on to get married and have kids and I'm so glad that he has been able to find some happiness again. And even though I'm sure he will always love Sierra, I have no doubt about that. But I am just very glad that he was able
Starting point is 01:08:13 to move forward in that way. Again, I'm just really so impressed with this whole family and everything they've done to honor Sierra. Her favorite quote was actually live, laugh, love. And it seems that they've really adopted that into, you know, their mentality and everything that they have done moving forward. The justice for Sierra nonprofit seems like they are making a massive difference
Starting point is 01:08:35 in their community. And I can't wait to see everything that they end up doing in years to come. At the end of the day, it's just so heartbreaking to think about, you know, someone as young as Sierra was 20 years old losing their life because of a monster. I mean, there was no reason for it. And like I said, I know the death penalty is very controversial and I certainly have a lot of different opinions when it comes to it and who should get it, who shouldn't and just kind of how I feel about it overall. And my opinion on it is constantly evolving, but I just can't think of a single reason why James should be able to continue
Starting point is 01:09:11 living after what he did to Sierra. But of course, I'm curious about what you guys think. And I know opinions will vary. And so I'd love to hear from you. Do you think that he should have been given life without parole or do you think the death penalty was fair? in life without parole or do you think the death penalty was fair? That is going to be it for me today guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
Starting point is 01:09:34 It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.

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