How I Caught My Killer (2023) s01e03 Episode Script

1
[keypad clacking]
[cell phone chimes]
NARRATOR: Twenty-year-old
Brandy Stevens-Rosine
loved messaging her
family and friends.
She loved staying connected.
SARA VAN ALLEN:
We texted a lot.
She was very glued to her phone.
♪
CARRIE ROSINE: It was
all day, every day.
NARRATOR: But then one day,
the messages stop.
[cell phone chimes]
KRYSTI HORVAT: I'm
thinking, "Holy shit,
something bad has
happened here."
♪
NARRATOR: Hours
turn into days,
and Brandy's still missing.
SGT. JOHN R. O'DAY
JR.: At that point,
we had reason to believe
that this is something
more than just a
run-of-the-mill missing person.
NARRATOR: No one
knows what happened
or where she went,
until a clue is discovered.
A text from Brandy's phone,
and it could mean the difference
between life and death.
- I truly believe that that
was her way of telling us,
"If something happens to me,
this is your way of finding me."
♪
[cell phone chimes]
theme music playing ♪
MAN 1: She solved her own
murder from beyond the grave.
MAN 2: The fitness
app on the phone,
it was overwhelming evidence.
I've been haunted
by the visions ♪
That I've seen
with my own eyes ♪
And the only way to find you ♪
Is to go beneath the lies ♪
♪
MAN: She did help
catch this killer.
♪
♪
NARRATOR: May 17th, 2012,
Youngstown, Ohio.
It's a blue collar town
that's seen its fair
share of hard times.
For 20-year-old Brandy Stevens-Rosine,
life in this town can be lonely,
so she spends a lot
of time on her phone
and uses it nonstop.
Texting every day to connect
with her friends and family.
So when the messages
suddenly stop
on a sunny spring
day in May 2012,
they quickly know
something isn't right.
♪
KRYSTI: I am Brandy's
friend, Krysti Horvat.
♪
By the end of the day,
nobody in our immediate
circle have heard from her.
♪
[keypad beeps]
[phone line ringing]
I called Brandy's
phone and no answer.
I was calling, it was nothing.
It was like her phone
had been turned off,
and that's odd.
She never turned her
phone off, never.
♪
NARRATOR: Small
chance she would avoid
talking to a friend.
♪
MAN: Carrie interview, take one,
AB common marker, soft sticks.
NARRATOR: And zero chance
she would avoid
talking to her mother.
- Not being able to get
ahold of your children,
you don't wanna think the worst.
♪
I wanted to believe that
my daughter was okay.
How could she not be?
Brandy was a strong individual.
♪
But, yeah, something's
not right here.
♪
♪
NARRATOR: Like most teenagers,
Brandy's still trying
to figure life out,
and leans on her friend
Krysti for support.
♪
- She was nervous
about being gay.
She felt judged, and she
would get upset about rumors
that were forming
as a result of it,
so that sparked our friendship
because I'm like,
"Let's talk about it,"
and then our friendship evolved.
Bitemarks by Paul Ressel
feat. Jessica English playing ♪
I've become something else ♪
♪
All out of pain and chaos ♪
CARRIE: To be gay
in Youngstown,
you were kind of
pushed to the back,
you weren't accepted,
and it devastated Brandy.
♪
♪
Do you ever feel like no
one's ever listened to you? ♪
NARRATOR: But by the
time Brandy's in college,
she's living her best life.
I promise I will, I'm here ♪
SARA: When I met her,
she was blooming.
She was very confident in
herself and ready to date,
and she was a hopeless romantic,
so she wanted to find, you know,
the great love of her life.
The bright and the dark ♪
And she wanted
somebody to be good to.
She had a lot to give.
Take your time ♪
♪
[birds chirping] [dog barks]
NARRATOR: Brandy
uses her phone
for more than just
texting her friends.
Like a lot of us, she
uses it to find love.
- She definitely was kind
of exploratory in dating.
SARA: She was a free spirit.
I wouldn't put it past her
to go and meet new friends
that she had met online,
be it out of state,
or a couple hours
away from home.
♪
KRYSTI: Some of the
girls, she would drive out
by herself to meet.
It was sort of a red flag.
Why are you doing this?
You don't know these people.
Like, I wanted to warn her
about potential dangers.
♪
♪
♪
NARRATOR: So when Brandy
stops communicating
on May 17th
♪
[line ringing]
her family and friends naturally
start to ask questions.
[line ringing]
Where did she go?
[keypad clacking]
[cell phone chimes]
[line ringing]
Who did she meet?
[line ringing]
- I went into
investigation mode.
[line ringing] I called
Brandy's best friend Reannon,
because Brandy said she
was going to Reannon's.
She told us that
Brandy never came over.
Said she had talked to her,
but she had never come over.
[keypad beeping]
I called everybody
[line ringing]
and nobody had seen her.
Went to her Facebook page,
went to her Myspace page,
no activity.
Something's not right here.
♪
NARRATOR: The day
she disappears,
Brandy is staying
with her grandparents,
so Carrie calls her mom,
and she gets troubling news.
♪
CARRIE: She says, "Well, Brandy
didn't come home last night,"
and she says, and when
Brandy left the house,
she did not take her backpack
with her medical supplies
in it with her insulin.
♪
That was strange
♪
Because she was
type one diabetic.
KRYSTI: Every time
she'd go anywhere,
she had to bring her insulin.
If she would go without her
insulin, she would not survive.
♪
So we knew that Brandy was in trouble
because she didn't have that insulin.
♪
NARRATOR: A type one
diabetic can't go
more than a day
without taking insulin.
Her mom Carrie contacts
the Youngstown authorities.
Now missing without
her medication,
Carrie files a missing
person's report with police.
♪
MAN: Joe Streyle
interview, take one.
TROOPER JOSEPH STREYLE:
I'm Trooper Joseph Streyle.
When we get a missing
person's case of an adult,
it's not too big of an
alarm for us initially,
because they're an adult.
They're allowed to move,
come and go as they please,
not tell anyone where they're
going and it's totally legal,
and they can do what they want.
So there was no knee-jerk
reaction of we have to find her,
except the one issue was the
fact that she was a diabetic,
and it was unknown if she had
access to her medicine at the time,
so something to be
on the lookout for.
♪
[siren wails]
♪
NARRATOR: Even though
a missing person's case
has officially been opened,
because she's an adult,
local police don't
actively search for Brandy.
Brandy left her grandparents'
residence in her own car,
and could be anywhere.
All her loved ones can
do is wait for a break.
- All these thoughts go through your
mind, you know, did she go off a road?
[siren wails]
Did she go into a,
you know, a ravine?
♪
Did she go in a lake?
Maybe no one's just
seeing her car.
Your mind does
crazy tricks on you
when something like this
happens in your life.
It-it was bad.
♪
NARRATOR: Three days pass
from when Brandy goes missing.
[line ringing]
Calls and texts to Brandy
still go unanswered.
♪
♪
Then a break in the case.
[cell phone chimes]
On May 20th, an alarming text
from Brandy is uncovered.
- I got a text message from
Brandy's friend Reannon.
♪
She says Brandy had texted
me on Thursday and said
that she had gone to Cochranton.
♪
♪
NARRATOR: Reannon
received several texts
and a request to not share
the info with anyone,
so she covered for her friend,
but after it becomes clear
something has happened to Brandy,
she breaks her promise and
shares the text with Krysti.
- Reannon said
here's the address
♪
That she had texted me,
and said that she
had a funny feeling,
and then later saying that she
didn't get where she was going.
♪
[car engine starts]
♪
NARRATOR: Krysti
decides to take action
into her own hands
since the police won't.
♪
KRYSTI: I knew at that point
that she had gone
to Pennsylvania,
which was about an
hour away from us,
so I decided that I'm
gonna go to that address
that Reannon had texted me
and try to see if I
could find answers.
AUTOMATED RESPONSE: In a
half a mile, turn left.
♪
NARRATOR: There's
finally a trail
pointing to where Brandy
had intended to go
the day she disappeared,
and now,
her friend is in pursuit.
♪
But is Krysti or anyone else
prepared for what may happen next?
♪
♪
♪
May 20th, three days after Brandy
Stevens-Rosine goes missing,
her last text reveals a
possible final destination.
Local police are
not looking for her,
so Brandy's friend Krysti
chases down the lead.
♪
Where we go ♪
When darkness falls ♪
KRYSTI: When I
got the last text
that Brandy had sent to Reannon,
that made me nervous.
So, not only had
anyone seen my friend,
but she had a bad
feeling before she left.
So I knew that I was
gonna have to go out there
to the address and
search for Brandy
and see if we could
find where she was.
♪
NARRATOR: While Krysti
drives towards the address,
Brandy's mother keeps
searching for anything
that will help her
find her daughter.
CARRIE: We knew that
she went to Cochranton,
but we're still trying to
figure out why, why, why?
You know, what's in Cochranton?
The only thing that I can come up
with was Jade lived in Cochranton.
♪
- One of the girls that
Brandy said that she had met
on the dating app
was named Jade.
♪
And what I first
heard about Jade was,
"I can't wait for you
to meet this girl."
It was butterflies for Brandy.
♪
CARRIE: There was
a lot of emotion
for Brandy with Jade.
I saw the sparkle in her
eye when she looked at Jade.
♪
KRYSTI: Brandy and
Jade's relationship
was on again and off
again, hot and cold.
They would fight.
♪
♪
Then they would make up.
Brandy, even against the
advice of her friends saying,
"Hey, it's time to
stop," couldn't.
♪
NARRATOR: After about a year,
despite Brandy's best
efforts to hold onto Jade,
the relationship comes to a
cold and cruel end in 2011.
♪
CARRIE: Brandy comes home
from work one morning
and Jade was gone,
so was $300 cash that was there,
and her iPod.
It devastated Brandy,
it hurt Brandy,
because Jade betrayed her.
Brandy was so kind to her,
and that was hard for Brandy.
She struggled with
that for a long time.
You know, for a couple months, she
was really, really, really sad.
♪
NARRATOR: While driving
out to Cochranton
to hopefully find her friend,
Krysti reaches out to Jade.
[cell phone chimes]
Maybe she can help.
KRYSTI: I texted
Jade to ask her
if she had seen Brandy,
and Jade said no,
she hadn't seen her.
And I said, "Okay, I'm gonna
head up to the address,
see if I could see any car
tracks or tires on my way there,"
and Jade's response was,
"Be careful, people around
here don't like gay people."
♪
NARRATOR: A fair warning from
Brandy's ex-girlfriend Jade.
Pennsylvania has seen a
steady rise in violent crimes
against LGBTQ individuals
over the last decade.
It can be rough out here
if you're different.
♪
- Philadelphia's Office of LGBTQ
Affairs says this crisis of violence
against trans people cannot
be allowed to continue.
♪
KRYSTI: I guess it
was a possibility
that she ran into a stranger
who maybe didn't
like gay people.
♪
NARRATOR: So if she wasn't
visiting her ex-girlfriend,
could Brandy have
been catfished,
lured out to the country
by someone she met online
who wanted to hurt her?
♪
♪
♪
KRYSTI: When I got
off of the exit
and got closer to the
address she had texted
♪
It started to get a
little more creepy.
♪
♪
So now I know I'm out in
the middle of nowhere.
I can see the farms
and sort of desolation,
and still no sign
of Brandy's car
♪
So I felt, uh,
I don't know, just very nervous.
♪
I'm driving down
these dirt roads.
My GPS seems to be a little off.
I can't even see the
addresses on the houses.
♪
It's just really starting
to get extra eerie
as I get closer to the
address I'm supposed to be at.
♪
I'd seen no evidence,
no clear evidence
of an accident or her car.
♪
♪
I finally get to the stop sign
to turn onto Drake Hill Road.
♪
♪
♪
NARRATOR: In the
middle of nowhere,
a friend missing,
not answering her phone,
but hope rises when she hears
AUTOMATED RESPONSE: You have
arrived at your final destination.
♪
KRYSTI: I eventually got to
what looked like a church
♪
And it was, it was ominous,
and there was nothing
in that church.
There was no lights on.
I knew at that point
something had gone wrong.
♪
I was lost.
♪
NARRATOR: Instead of taking her
to the address Brandy texted,
Krysti's GPS leads
her to an old church
in the middle of nowhere.
♪
- When I pulled into the
church parking lot and realized
I wasn't going to find the
address I was headed towards,
I I felt frustrated,
and I felt helpless,
and I felt like maybe Brandy
had the same sort of experience
getting to where she
was headed that day.
Did something really bad happen
before she even got
to the residence?
♪
NARRATOR: Brandy's
last text she sent
said, "Bad address,
heading home."
♪
Did her GPS send her to
the wrong location as well?
♪
- And I thought about getting
outta the car, walking around,
going up to people's doors.
I realized there's no way that
I was gonna find the house.
♪
NARRATOR: Is it
possible Brandy knocked
on the wrong door?
♪
KRYSTI: The fact
that I was lost,
and that a good friend of mine
was lost and missing and
I just felt like while
I was at that church,
that's when I lost hope
and became really nervous
about what actually happened.
♪
NARRATOR: Brandy's texts
lead to more questions
than answers,
and the chances of
finding her fade
with each second the passes,
until a phone call comes
in [cell phone ringing]
that could lead her
mother straight to her.
♪
I try to go without it ♪
My bones won't
seem to listen ♪
NARRATOR: On May 21st,
four days after Brandy
sends out her last text,
police pick up a signal
from Brandy's phone
in the small Pennsylvania
town of Meadville,
nearly 70 miles north
of Brandy's home in Youngstown.
♪
Still not committing resources
to locating Brandy
[phone ringing]
they pass along the
information to Brandy's mother.
- I couldn't grasp the concept of
why they weren't searching for her.
I had a hard time with
it trying to understand,
but yet we're ecstatic.
You know, her phone got pinged.
Okay, maybe she lost
it, maybe it broke.
NARRATOR: So Brandy's
friends and family
form a search party
and go looking for her.
KRYSTI: When
Brandy's cell phone
pinged in Meadville,
you know, immediately we're
both like, "Yeah, let's go,
let's go there and look around."
I was imagining that
could have led to Brandy,
and maybe, you know,
there's still hope.
♪
CARRIE: We got into Meadville.
We went straight to the street
of where her phone pinged.
The street dead-ended into a
wastewater treatment plant.
♪
I called her phone
[line ringing]
nothing.
Things just weren't
making sense.
♪
NARRATOR: The ping leads
to a dead-end, literally,
so they expand their search.
♪
- So we went to the hospitals,
stores, restaurants.
We went everywhere,
passing flyers out.
KRYSTI: We had all
separated and kind of
infiltrated the
town of Meadville.
We went door to door with
these pictures of Brandy.
♪
NARRATOR: But no one has
any legitimate information
about Brandy.
♪
Once again, she's
nowhere to be found.
♪
CARRIE: It was
a very hard day.
It was hard, it was
hard for all of us.
♪
NARRATOR: Their search
party comes up empty-handed.
With the police still
not engaging in the hunt,
it's back to square one.
♪
CARRIE: I felt like I
was missing something.
You get a lot of thoughts
going through your head,
but I was also very, very angry.
I need to know what's going on.
I need to know where
my daughter's at.
♪
They call me ♪
NARRATOR: Five
days after Brandy
was last heard from,
running out of
time and patience,
Brandy's mom turns to the
one clue left behind
♪
[cell phone chimes]
Brandy's last text.
- I couldn't give up. I
absolutely could not give up.
NARRATOR: She's determined
to find the address
that Krysti failed to
find two days earlier,
so Carrie and Krysti head
to Cochranton, Pennsylvania.
♪
♪
CARRIE: I was
nervous going there,
but something is just
pulling at my heart.
I mean, there's something telling
me that she's around here.
♪
NARRATOR: Whether by
a mother's intuition
or a better GPS,
a road that previously led to
nowhere now leads to a house.
♪
♪
KRYSTI: When we got there,
we pulled into the driveway,
and there was an older
gentleman sitting on the stoop,
as well as Jade
and Ashley Barber.
Ashley was Jade's
girlfriend at the time.
♪
My initial reaction
to Ashley Barber was,
she wants to be a badass.
♪
NARRATOR: Strange that
Brandy's last text leads
to where her ex is staying
with her current
girlfriend, Ashley.
♪
Stranger still, Jade
failed to mention anything
about Brandy heading there
when Krysti called her.
♪
- I went and approached Jade
♪
And I asked her, I
said, "Where's Brandy?
♪
"She said she was coming here,
where's she at?"
Jade said, "Well,
she never came here.
We never saw her,"
and I looked at Jade and
"I don't This is bullshit."
I said, "I don't believe an
effing word you're saying."
♪
- And then Ashley got
defensive of Jade,
put her arm in front of
Jade, and told Carrie,
basically, don't
talk to her this way.
♪
I immediately had a
bad taste in my mouth.
I felt like it was
really distasteful,
acting like a tough guy to
my missing friend's mother,
and not just for the sake of being a
tough guy or being cool, but, like,
not a good person was
my initial reaction to what
I saw about Ashley Barber.
♪
CARRIE: I went up
to Jade and I said,
"Well, she sent a text
saying she was coming here.
"This is the last place that we
know that she was supposed to be,
"and you're telling me that
she never made it here?
I don't buy it!"
♪
Soon as I said that,
Jade said she was supposed
to come over there,
but they never saw her.
♪
NARRATOR: After being
confronted with Brandy's text,
their story changes.
But they have an alibi
backing up their new account.
♪
- They said, "We were at
the hospital on Thursday
when she said she came here,
that's why we didn't see her."
♪
Ashley held up her arms.
One was covered in bandages
and one was a solid bruise.
♪
- Her dad was
sitting on the stoop,
and he introduced
himself as Mr. Barber,
and he said,
"I'm telling you, she
didn't, she's not here.
We haven't seen her."
♪
It didn't make sense.
Nothing made sense.
♪
But we left. [sighs]
♪
NARRATOR: All seems lost
♪
Until a few hours later
♪
When a call is made
to law enforcement
from inside that very house
[line ringing]
and the caller provides
shocking new information
♪
And an unexpected turn
in the Bermuda Triangle
of Brandy's disappearance.
♪
♪
On May 22nd, 2012,
several hours after
the confrontation,
Ashley Barber's mother makes a call
to the Pennsylvania State Police
reporting a car in her
garage she doesn't recognize.
♪
- By some stroke of humanity,
this woman called
the police and said,
"There's a car in my garage,
and you guys should
check this out."
MAN: Sergeant O'Day
interview, take one.
NARRATOR: Sergeant
John O'Day Jr.
Is the first to the scene.
SERGEANT JOHN R. O'DAY
JR.: With another trooper,
I remember going
down to look at it.
It was inside an
attached garage.
It was a blue Kia Rio,
and I could immediately tell
that it was Brandy's car.
♪
The garage was locked, so I
couldn't look inside the car
♪
But the exterior was very clean, and
from what I could see of the interior,
it was very clean as well.
♪
- Which was an
immediate red flag,
because Brandy would have
her Diet Mountain Dew,
and energy drink cans sprinkled
out throughout her car,
and, you know, papers and
clothes, and certainly not clean.
♪
- After I located the car, I was
able to interview Jade and Ashley.
I asked them why her
car was at the house.
They related that
she got a phone call
after being at the residence
for a very short time,
approximately half an hour,
and after receiving
the phone call,
she walked outside of the house
and walked down Drake Hill Road
to allegedly get picked
up by an unknown actor.
♪
♪
So at one point told them,
"Listen, Brandy's not in trouble.
"I just wanna know where she is.
I wanna make sure that she's
not dead in a ditch somewhere."
♪
They said that Brandy didn't want
anyone to know where she was,
so she asked them to cover
for her while she was gone
♪
And not to say anything about the
vehicle at the residence as well.
♪
NARRATOR: Sergeant
O'Day leaves the house,
satisfied that someone
came and picked Brandy up.
♪
Who is this mystery person
that Brandy didn't want
anyone to know she was with?
Heart rate is creeping now ♪
- There is a level of fear
in the LGBT community.
You make sure you
don't go places alone,
but I don't think any fear
crossed Brandy's mind.
I've been away for days ♪
NARRATOR: Did
Brandy's fearlessness
lead her down that
desolate road?
- It didn't strike me
as odd at the time.
NARRATOR: But it
doesn't take long
before the investigation
takes a decisive turn.
[cell phone ringing]
CARRIE: Next thing I
know I get a phone call
from the police officer
that was at the scene,
and stated that they
found my daughter's car
at the Barber residence,
Ashley's house,
and that it was in my best
interest to come and pick it up.
♪
I said, "I'm not touching
my daughter's car.
My daughter's been
missing for six days now."
I said, "I was
just at that house.
"They never said anything
about her car being there.
♪
They told me she never made it."
I said, "Something is not
right, something is wrong.
You find her car and she's not there,
doesn't that bring up questions?"
- I could tell that
she's very concerned,
and I'm sure as any mother,
she wanted more to be done,
and there's only so
many things we can do
until we learn more out
of the investigation.
- After that, I wanted to
put pressure on the police.
[line ringing] I called
the FBI in Cleveland.
No one else would listen to me.
♪
NARRATOR: Within an
hour of her call,
state police officers
returned to the house
where Brandy's car was found
to dig deeper into Jade
and Ashley's story.
There's just one small problem.
- We returned on May 23rd to
speak with Jade and Ashley,
but when we went there, they
were no longer at that residence.
♪
It started to add up that
maybe there was something
more than just a
run-of-the-mill missing person.
♪
NARRATOR: The
Pennsylvania State Police
jumped into the
case full force
♪
But now they aren't just
looking for one girl,
they're looking for three.
Were Ashley and Jade involved
in Brandy's disappearance,
or did they suffer
the same fate?
♪
- At that point, it started
to arise some suspicion.
We didn't know
what had happened.
♪
NARRATOR: To find answers,
investigators send out
their names and faces
to every law enforcement
agency in the state.
♪
- My shift ends, so I get
in my personal clothes,
get in my personal vehicle.
♪
On my way leaving the
city of Meadville,
I noticed two white females
dressed in all
black goth attire,
uh, with plastic grocery
bags in their hands
♪
And they were just at that point
crossing over the guardrail
from the wooded area right
next to French Creek.
♪
At that time they were
having a conversation with
a gentleman that was parked
underneath the overpass.
As I started to pass
them in my vehicle,
they bladed themselves away
and almost turned away from me
so I couldn't see their faces.
♪
NARRATOR: The
two girls matched
Jade and Ashley's description,
prompting the off-duty officer
to approach the parked
car and speak with them.
STREYLE: Went to the
passenger in the rear,
asked her name.
She provided me the
name of Jade Olmstead,
and then I asked the front seat
passenger what her name was.
She provided a false ID
without batting an eye,
and I was like, "Are
you Ashley Barber?"
She once again continued to
lie until eventually she said,
"I'm Ashley Barber."
♪
My first impression of Jade,
I could tell that she was
nervous, she was scared,
and she was definitely
following Ashley's lead.
♪
Ashley just stared at
me with these cold eyes,
and continued to lie
about her identification.
♪
I had asked them if
they would be willing
to come back to the Pennsylvania State
Police barracks for an interview.
♪
They willingly came with
their own free will,
and they were escorted back to
the barracks to be interviewed.
♪
NARRATOR: Detectives
separate Ashley, Jade,
and the driver for questioning.
♪
They determined the driver was only
there to pick up the two girls,
and had no connection
with Brandy.
He's allowed to go free,
while Jade and Ashley's
interrogation continues.
♪
As detectives press Jade
and Ashley at the station,
officers search Ashley's
home for any evidence
that could tell them what
really happened to Brandy.
♪
♪
SGT. O'DAY JR.: About
three to 400 yards
away from the residence,
I came across an
area in the woods
that was cleared of a
lot of leaves and debris.
There was some fresh dirt.
♪
There were some small
saplings on the ground.
♪
The soil was loose,
wasn't compacted,
which would indicate
maybe it was freshly dug.
So at that point,
we wanted to see
what was under there
and investigate that further.
[camera shutter clicks]
NARRATOR: Thinking they
may have discovered
something suspicious, they
call in the medical examiner
to aid in the excavation.
MAN: Scott Schell
interview. Soft sticks.
♪
SCOTT SCHELL: We removed
the tree branches.
We had about a ten-foot-by-ten-foot
area that seemed to be all fresh dirt.
♪
And you can see a little
bit of an indentation in it,
♪
But it's getting dark.
Called the Cochranton Fire Department
to bring me scene lighting.
♪
We just started digging
a handful at a time.
We were just scooping
it out of the way.
♪
And less than ten
inches into the dirt,
I was finding
like, green leaves,
and stuff that
shouldn't be buried.
I mean, it was fresh, because
the leaves were still green.
♪
And I'm like, "Well, someone
purposely buried those items."
♪
As we kept on going, I got
down to about 20 inches
♪
And I found flesh.
♪
NARRATOR: As police
continue to question
Jade and Ashley
piece by piece,
crime scene investigators
dig up evidence
of an unspeakable crime,
an act of violence so savage,
it's impossible to comprehend.
♪
♪
In the dark ♪
Far from home ♪
NARRATOR: A 20-year-old
college student
has been missing
for nearly a week.
I found you ♪
A text leads police
to an address,
and behind that address
is a wooded area.
Shine a light on me ♪
With something buried
beneath the soil.
[camera shutter clicks]
♪
SCHELL: We were
approximately 20
inches into the earth,
and that's when I actually
discovered a chin and mouth.
♪
As you can see on these
pictures right here,
you can actually see teeth,
and then from there, we uncovered
the nose, the eyes, and the head.
SGT. O'DAY JR.: And at
that point you could tell
that it was Brandy.
♪
There was also some
signs of the struggle.
♪
Blood, and other things that you
could tell it was, it was a battle.
♪
I've seen a lot of different
homicides and death,
but it was shocking to uncover
someone in that manner.
[indistinct police
radio chatter]
♪
NARRATOR: Seven days after
Brandy sent her last text,
police finally discover why
she wasn't returning calls.
CARRIE: Well, about
2:00 in the morning,
they told me that they
found Brandy's body
in a shallow grave.
♪
It was, it's your
worst nightmare.
It was horrifying.
It was horrifying that day.
♪
Absolutely horrifying.
♪
KRYSTI: My phone rang
after Carrie caught word
that they had found
Brandy's remains.
I slid down the wall slowly
as she was explaining
that Brandy was dead.
♪
It's just unfathomable that
this could have happened to
someone so sweet, you know.
So-so loving and so smart.
♪
NARRATOR: Detectives
confront Jade and Ashley
with the news that Brandy's
body was discovered in the woods
behind Ashley's family home.
Both girls agree to tell the truth
about what happened to Brandy,
and the truth is horrifying.
CARRIE: We were told
by the state police
that when Brandy
first got there,
Jade met her by the
edge of the woods,
and that they had invited her
to see a fort in the woods.
♪
Well, the minute Brandy
starts going into the woods,
Jade hits Brandy over
the head with a shovel.
♪
And it was multiple,
multiple hits.
[woman screams, echoes]
And if that wasn't enough,
they tied a rope
around her neck.
[women giggle, echoing]
They had already dug the grave,
and they rolled
her in the grave.
♪
[women giggle, echoing]
[heavy breathing]
And then they threw
a rock on her face.
♪
And they buried her.
♪
[voice breaking] That's
how they treated her.
♪
♪
[sighs deeply]
♪
♪
NARRATOR: Jade and
Ashley admit to planning
and carrying out a vicious and
premeditated attack on Brandy.
♪
But only after the
autopsy is performed
do the police learn the extent
of what she went through
the night she died.
♪
- We discovered that
Brandy had mud and dirt
all the way down into
her bronchial tubes.
♪
That indicated to us that
Brandy was still alive
when they buried her.
♪
♪
[inhales deeply]
[exhales deeply]
CARRIE: She fought back.
She had broken nails, scratches.
♪
She had three skull fractures.
♪
But Brandy wasn't dead
when they buried her.
♪
Brandy was still alive.
♪
[voice breaking] I think
that's the hardest part for
♪
She was still breathing
and they buried her.
♪
♪
- It was brutal, you know.
It's, it was savage, and
completely uncalled for.
I just want to know,
why did this happen?
How did we get to
this situation?
♪
NARRATOR: Brandy's
family and friends
never get an answer
to that question.
♪
But after Jade and Ashley
are arrested for murder,
two journals are discovered
that reveal horrifying insight
into the minds of
these young killers.
♪
- This is Ashley's journal entry
that she dated May 21st, 2012.
♪
"Dear Miss Rosine
♪
"I fucking murdered your
20-year-old mistake.
"I beat her head
into the ground.
♪
"I've never been so alive.
♪
"I just wanna do
it again and again.
♪
"Why lie?
"I'm addicted.
♪
"I don't feel guilty.
♪
I feel like I have a purpose."
♪
I'm gonna read Jade's for ya.
♪
"Yesterday was the beginning
of a whole new life.
"I found my calling,
a new addiction.
♪
"Do I feel guilty?
"No, not an ounce,
I'm proud."
♪
♪
♪
NARRATOR: As details
of the crime spread,
Brandy Rosine's case
stuns the nation,
and rocks this
community to its core.
STREYLE: We're
in a small town.
You know, we have investigated
some homicides in the past,
but nothing to the brutality
of a case like this,
such disregard for
another human life.
♪
CARRIE: When the
preliminary hearing
and everything got out
about what happened to
her, of course, you know,
everybody's going crazy.
They need a death penalty.
They need the death penalty.
♪
SARA: Prior to this situation,
I had never believed
in the death penalty,
but after it happens to
somebody that you love,
with the amount of premeditated
information that they had,
it altered everything for me.
♪
NARRATOR: Although it
is rarely carried out,
capital punishment is
legal in Pennsylvania.
To avoid any chance of
receiving the death penalty,
both girls accept a plea deal.
♪
NARRATOR: On
October 31st, 2013,
nearly a year and a half
after Brandy's murder,
Jade Olmstead pleads guilty,
and is sentenced to life
in prison without parole.
♪
Two weeks later, Ashley
Barber pleads guilty,
and is sentenced to life
in prison without parole.
♪
♪
CARRIE: Jade and Ashley got
sentenced to life in prison.
♪
Everyone's like, "It's over."
It's not over.
It's never over.
I have no justice for my heart.
There's not a day that goes by
that I don't think of my daughter.
♪
- As a father, I would've hoped
for more if it was my child,
but that was the plea
deal that they reached.
[cell phone chimes]
NARRATOR: What started with
a text message to a friend
ended with two murderers in prison
for the rest of their lives.
♪
Justice served for some,
but for those who knew Brandy,
there will always
be an open wound.
♪
- There are evil
people in this world
♪
That hurt children every day.
♪
And I don't want any parent
to ever feel what I've felt.
♪
KRYSTI: I guess this
is the only thing
a person remaining can do
and keep her memory alive.
The best we can do is try to let
her continue to have a voice.
Maybe someone can learn
from this situation.
♪
NARRATOR: Brandy
Stevens-Rosine
was a warm and
kindhearted young woman.
She always had her
phone in her hands,
texting, making plans
with her friends,
staying connected with
the people she loved.
♪
Ultimately, that connection
helped solve her murder.
♪
- The bottom line is Brandy had
her own way of letting us know,
"This is where I'll be if
something happens to me."
Stay strong, break free ♪
And it was all from her text.
♪
The last text that she
physically sent to anybody.
♪
We found my baby.
♪
I don't know where
my head is lately ♪
Have I lost my mind? ♪
♪
♪
But I know that
I have a secret ♪
And it's only mine ♪
♪
♪
And the only way to find me ♪
Is to go beneath the lies ♪
♪