EP. 147: GEORGIA - They Murdered Her Grandparents (The Killings Of Wendy and Randall Bjorge)
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Warning. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

Becoming a grandparent is one of life's greatest joys. You already went through all of the hard years of parenting, and now you get to sit back and watch your own child become a parent. It's a beautiful cycle of life, and the love of a grandparent is truly unlike anything in this world.

My grandma reposted the sweetest thing on Facebook the other day that read, quote, "At times, we need our grandchildren more than they need us. They have no clue what they truly do for our souls."

End quote. Love you, Mimi. But Jimmy Carter once said, quote, "Because grandparents are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations." End quote. And that's exactly what Amanda Sterling was hoping for in 2015.

Amanda had been having issues with her teenage daughter Cassie. Issues that she couldn't seem to fix no matter how hard she tried. Hoping to heal her and her daughter's relationship, as well as lead Cassie in the right direction, Amanda reached out to her parents to see if they could help. Maybe they could help Cassie get her life back on track. Amanda also knew her parents loved their granddaughter more than anything in this world.

So when Randall and Wendy Bjorg were asked if they could take custody of Cassie, they were more than happy to help. But little did they know that in doing so, their lives would be taken by the very girl they loved the most, their own granddaughter. So this is the story of Cassie Bjorg and Johnny Ryder. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America.

Bye.

Just outside the bustling metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia, is the town of Lawrenceville, a town known for its vibrance, diversity, and culture. Founded in 1821, Lawrenceville is the oldest city in Gwinnett County and was named after the famous naval commander, Captain James Lawrence. During the War of 1812, Captain Lawrence and his crew boarded the USS Chesapeake, and he told them, "'Tell the men to fight faster, and not to give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks.'"

The command would go down as one of the most memorable expressions of resilience and determination in American history.

Today, the city is still proud of its history. Interestingly, the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse was voted as one of the best places in the United States to host a wedding. With its picturesque charm and historic surroundings, Lawrenceville has a population of around 30,000 residents, and it's a place where many people are proud to call home. It's also considered a great place to raise a family due to an abundance of schools, parks, and community amenities. Although it's not considered a small town, it does have a small-town feel.

Which is exactly why Randall Björg and his wife Wendy decided to live here. Randall and Wendy Björg, both 63 years old, were the embodiment of the perfect couple. The two had been married for decades, and it was clear to everyone that knew them that they really loved each other. In 2015, the two were living in a picturesque two-story home located at 1911 Furlong Road in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

And by all accounts, they were absolutely adored and respected within their community. Although the two were retired, they stayed active by volunteering at local community centers. Giving back to their community was very important to them. Within their neighborhood, people described the couple as very friendly. Randall and Wendy were the type of neighbors where, if they saw you doing yard work, they would walk over and ask if you needed any help.

In the evenings, the couple would sometimes ride their bikes or go on walks with their dogs. It was a way for them to get some fresh air and spend some quality time with each other as the day winded down. Their neighbor, Eric Trioda, said that he would often be sitting on his porch when the couple would walk by his house. And every time, he could always expect Randall and Wendy to wave and ask how he was doing.

The couple was also adored by the children in their neighborhood. In fact, some of the kids who lived nearby described them as the quote, "nicest people I ever met." You know, some people when they get older, they don't wanna live around a bunch of rowdy kids, but not Randall and Wendy.

The sounds of children laughing and riding their bikes down the quiet streets brought them a lot of joy. Maybe it reminded them of when they were young parents, or when their granddaughter Cassie was a little girl. By 2015, Cassie Bjork had grown up. She was 16 going on 25. But Randall and Wendy often reminisced on when Cassie was little.

Becoming a grandparent was so exciting for them. They were the ones that taught Cassie how to swim, and they were right there for all of her big milestones. However, as Cassie grew up, she was no longer that innocent little girl. In fact, their daughter Amanda had really been struggling with Cassie.

Cassandra Cassie Bjorg was born in Duluth, Georgia in the year 2000. And although there isn't a lot of information out there about her childhood and upbringing, it's clear that she never really had a great relationship with her biological father. However, she did grow up living in Duluth, Georgia with her mom, Amanda Sterling, and her stepdad. Now, as Cassie grew older, like most teenagers, she started to rebel. She pushed the limits, tested her boundaries, and it was causing a lot of turmoil with their home.

according to her mother cassie was known to be a wild child who did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted she had a really big problem with listening to authority it also didn't matter what amanda did or said cassie just wouldn't follow the rules and not just her rules she also continuously broke the law by the age of 16 cassie had racked up a number of juvenile offenses including theft underage drinking smoking marijuana shoplifting assault

running away from home and skipping school. For years, Amanda tried to correct her daughter's behavior, but by 2015, she was at the end of her rope. So, with no other options to help her daughter left, Amanda called her parents, Randall and Wendy, and asked them for help.

Randall and Wendy had been really good parents. They were loving and kind, but they also didn't put up with disrespect. So Amanda reached out to them in 2015 to see if they would be willing to intervene and steer Cassie in the right direction. She hoped that their loving and stable home environment would be a positive influence on Cassie so she could turn her life around.

Cassie also respected her grandparents more than she respected her mom. So maybe she would listen to them. When Randall and Wendy got this call from their daughter, they were more than happy to help.

They knew deep down that Cassie was a good girl. She just needed a little direction and they were willing to do anything for their granddaughter. So in October of 2015, they filled out the paperwork and not long after that, they were officially granted custody of Cassie Bjork. And everyone was really hopeful at first.

Amanda was especially happy because Cassie needed to get away from Duluth. The crowd she had been running with there was pretty seedy to say the least. And as they say, you are the sum of the people you hang out with. Maybe a new school and new friends would help point Cassie in the right direction, but they couldn't have been more wrong.

When Cassie found out she had to move to Lawrenceville, she was angry. She didn't want to leave Duluth High School and all of her friends. But here she was, in a new town, in a new school, with no friends.

To make matters even worse, she also had to live with her grandparents, who immediately set out a list of strict rules she had to follow. She had to attend school every day. She had to do her homework and pass her classes. There was a curfew she had to be home by, and no exceptions. And she was not allowed to drink alcohol or smoke marijuana. Now, these rules were all the ones Cassie was known to break while she lived with her mom.

And in the beginning, it was obvious that she wasn't going to follow her grandparents' guidance. Cassie constantly butted heads with them and challenged their authority.

But Randall and Wendy were patient with her. They knew that this was a big adjustment and her behavior wouldn't just change overnight. But in their hearts, they knew she would get there eventually. After all, Cassie was once a sweet and respectful little girl, but she hadn't had the easiest childhood. She wasn't a bad person, she had just fallen astray.

Having her living with them was not easy. Upon moving to Lawrenceville in late 2015, it was clear that Cassie had no desire to follow their rules, and the more they tried to enforce them, the more she rebelled.

At the time, she was enrolled in Peachtree Ridge High School, and after just a few months, she found a new crowd of troubled teens. And soon enough, she started skipping class again. Her grandparents got on to her, but she didn't listen. And at some point, she refused to attend any of her classes, resulting in her dropping out of school completely.

But Randall and Wendy weren't going to put up with that. If Cassie wasn't going to go to school in person, then they would homeschool her, which is exactly what they did. But as you can imagine, that wasn't a walk in the park either.

In fact, it seemed to cause even more tension within their home. So much so, between October of 2015 and March of 2017, the Gwinnett County Police Department responded to 31 phone calls at the Björg residence in Lawrenceville. 18 of the phone calls were to report that Cassie had run away, and 8 of the calls were from concerned neighbors that would overhear their fights.

The neighbors' calls were reported as "COAP," which meant "Check as often as possible." That's how concerned they were. Sadly, nearly every week, Cassie's angry screams would echo throughout the neighborhood. And at some points, her grandparents even had to call the police because she would get physically violent with them.

Cassie herself would later admit that in one of these domestic disputes, she even broke one of her grandpa's ribs. On one school night, Wednesday, November 30th, 2016, Cassie came home well past curfew, and immediately her grandparents could tell that she was heavily intoxicated, so they were understandably upset.

When they confronted her, Cassie started berating her grandmother for being too strict. And during the fight, Cassie grabbed a full glass of water and threw it at Wendy's head. Luckily, it missed and shattered into the wall behind her. But Cassie wasn't finished just yet. From there, she charged at her grandma so aggressively, Randall had to step in and hold her back.

They were terrified, especially because Cassie had a background in martial arts. She could really hurt them if she wanted to. So during the struggle, Wendy decided to call 911. When the police arrived, Wendy tried calmly explaining what happened, but Cassie kept interjecting.

While speaking with Wendy to get a statement, the officer wrote, I heard several times while Mrs. Bjork would speak some smart aleck remark, during which time I had to intervene several times to be quiet and not speak when an adult was talking. The officer noted that there were no bruises on Wendy's body, but she did have a small mark on her left arm.

When he interviewed Cassie, she told him that she threw her glass of water, but she never hit her grandmother. Apparently, Cassie had become upset when her grandmother threatened to call the police, and from there, the argument ensued. Officer J.C. Guevara wrote the report but did not take Cassie into custody. Instead, he forwarded the report to the juvenile courts, and she was ultimately charged with simple battery, unruly juvenile, and simple assault with the primary weapon being listed as a blunt object.

But following this incident, Randall and Wendy were understandably disappointed. Their life had been really hard since Cassie moved in with them, and she was constantly running away.

Time and time again, Wendy and Randall would wake up and go to Cassie's room, only to find out that she had slipped out of her bedroom window in the middle of the night. And Cassie wouldn't just leave for the night. Sometimes she would be gone for days at a time, which is really scary considering she's still a teenager. There's a lot of danger out in the world.

danger that Cassie seemed to gravitate to. Sometimes she would be gone for so long, Wendy and Randall would have to print out missing persons flyers and distribute them throughout their neighborhood. They would also go to Facebook and tell everyone to be on the lookout for her. And eventually Cassie would come back just to start the cycle all over again.

But despite all of the heartbreak she was putting them through, they were not willing to give up on her. And they even got creative with their discipline. To make sure Cassie wouldn't run away, they installed a security system at their house that would alert them if one of the windows or doors opened in the night.

They also started lining the front and back doors with objects before they went to bed, so that maybe they could hear Cassie moving them in the middle of the night. But when they got creative with their discipline, Cassie also got creative. Before sneaking out, she would take the batteries out of the alarm system, so she could slip out the door without the alarm going off.

So as you can see, even with all of the extra precautions, Cassie was still disobeying their rules. And Wendy and Randall just didn't know what to do anymore. Every single thing they tried didn't seem to work. And they were at their wit's end. On April 1st, 2017, Wendy went to Cassie's bedroom to find out that she had run away once again.

So she went to Facebook, writing quote, "Please spread the word. Please be on the lookout for Cassie." End quote. One friend even commented quote, "Not again. I pray she is safe and returns home." Later that night at 11:18 PM, Wendy texted her sister-in-law about Cassie running away. The text read quote,

"I'm going to bed soon. Maybe tomorrow will be better. All I can do is hope for the best and expect the worst. It shouldn't be this hard for any of us." Sadly, this would be the very last time anyone would ever hear from Wendy and Randall Bjork. Over the next few days, many friends and family members tried to get in contact with the couple, but were met with silence.

both Wendy and Randall stopped replying to all texts, phone calls, and emails, which was very strange. The couple were very good at communicating with people and hardly ever ignored messages, and their loved ones were concerned. So on April 6th at around 6:00 PM, a family member who lived out of state and requested a welfare check at 1911 Furlong Road

The police report stated that the family member hadn't heard from Randall and Wendy for approximately one week and they wanted to make sure they were okay. So at 6:09 PM, an officer responded to the call and drove out to the Björg residence. The officer reported that he knocked on the door, but no one answered. And although this was a welfare check, there was nothing suspicious that really stood out.

There were no signs of forced entry and the couple's car was not in the driveway. So to him, it looked like no one was home. Maybe the couple left and didn't want to talk to family members. And with that, the officer left the residence without going inside.

A few hours later, another phone call came in at around 8:19 p.m. with another person stating that they hadn't heard from the couple in several days. However, a Gwinnett County police officer had just been there, and he didn't think he had cause to gain entry to their house. So, nothing was done. But over the next day, phone calls continued to pour in, requesting that they check on the couple. So, on the afternoon of April 7th, officers went to their residence again.

This time, they walked around the property, peering into the windows to see if they saw anything suspicious. But again, they found nothing amiss, which meant they had no grounds to enter the home. Before leaving, they spent several minutes knocking on the Borg's front door, but no one answered. To the police, it seemed like Wendy and Randall had left town. Maybe they took a vacation and didn't tell anyone.

After all, their car still wasn't there. So again, they left the property without going inside. And by now, their concerned family members are upset. They know deep down that something was wrong here. And with the police refusing to search their home, they were left with no choice but to file a missing persons report on the couple.

By now, it's about 9 p.m. on the night of April 7th, and while Wendy and Randall's loved ones are filing a missing persons report, another 911 call comes in reporting an assault case that was actively taking place at a nearby home located at 1685 Rambling Woods Drive.

The caller's name is Tomoko Ryder and she tells dispatch that she is currently driving her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend to the hospital because her son had attacked them. Tomoko said that her son's name was Johnny Ryder and that he and this unknown female came into their house, started beating them, and even threatened to kill them.

Now, Tomoko said that her daughter was pretty badly injured. So they were on their way to the hospital, but the police needed to go to her house immediately to arrest her son, Johnny. So that's what they do. When the officers arrive at the home, they look through the window and see a messy scene. There are items thrown all over the floor and blood smeared all over the walls. So they make their way inside and announce their presence.

Officer RM Litwin said, "I then leaned in the door slightly to look around because it was unknown if there may be an injured party on scene. As I leaned toward the door, I immediately began to cough." After a moment, Officer Lee realized that someone had sprayed pepper spray in the residence.

Shortly after this, Tomoko Ryder arrived back at the house to give officers a statement on exactly what happened. She said that earlier that evening, her daughter, Mendy, and her boyfriend had gone out to dinner.

And when they came back home, their house was in complete disarray. It looked like they had been robbed. So Mindy goes upstairs to her bedroom and it's there where she finds the robber in the act of ransacking her room. Mindy said that all of her belongings were thrown on the floor

And some of her stuff was even missing, like a nice watch of hers. And sadly, the person robbing her was her own brother, 19-year-old Johnny Ryder. They also said there was a girl with him, 17-year-old Cassie Bjork. Now, according to them, Johnny hadn't been home for weeks, which was pretty common.

They also said that they had never met the girl that was with him. But when Mindy saw that her own brother was robbing her, she immediately pulled out her phone to call her mom. She was understandably furious. And on that phone call, Mindy told her mom that she was going to call the police. But instead of feeling remorseful, Johnny and Cassie pull out a can of bear spray and they start spraying it in Mindy's face.

Now downstairs, Mindy's boyfriend hears all of this and immediately comes to her aid. And when he walks into the room, Mindy is on her knees, clearly in a lot of pain. But before he can do anything, Johnny comes after him, spraying him with the bear spray and punching him several times in the face. And as he does this, he yells to Cassie and says, Go grab the baseball bat.

Cassie immediately leaves the room, only to return moments later with the weapon. And as Johnny continues to punch his sister's boyfriend, Cassie lifts the bat over her head and slams it down onto both Mendy and her boyfriend multiple times.

With each blow, blood spatters across the room. She ended up hitting them both in the head, neck, and back. And as you can imagine, both Mindy and her boyfriend are very badly injured. But it's here where Johnny and Cassie decide to flee the scene, stealing his sister's car in the process.

Minutes later, Johnny and Mindy's mom, Tomoko, would arrive at the house, and she couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing. The house was in complete disarray, and there was blood everywhere, and her daughter tearfully recounts what just happened as blood gushes from her head wound. So, Tomoko quickly takes them to the hospital and calls 911 to report what had just happened.

Their neighbor, Beth Lenz, would later speak to the media and say, Like with Cassie's grandparents, Tomoko had had a lot of issues with her son Johnny, but she never expected that he would do something quite like this.

Now, luckily, both Mindy and her boyfriend would make a full recovery, but they sustained significant injuries. Mindy was left with multiple bruises on her body and had even received seven staples to her head. So the Gwinnett County Police Department immediately sent a "be on the lookout" for Mindy's car, which is the vehicle they left in. They also issued a warrant for Johnny's arrest, and for his girlfriend, but at the time they didn't know Cassie's identity.

And while officers around Lawrenceville looked for the couple, others stayed at the crime scene to investigate. At the Ryder household, officers confiscated a can of bear spray, two air rifles, and a machete. During their search of the house, the officers also found a Mazda Tribute SUV inside of the garage, with its doors open and interior lights illuminated.

After talking to the Ryder family, they told the officers that they had no idea whose vehicle it was. So the officers ran the plates and quickly discovered that the car was registered to Randall and Wendy Bjork. And from there, it wouldn't take them long to connect the dots. Randall and Wendy had been reported missing by their family members. And now their car is at the scene of a brutal assault.

So with this new evidence, police officers finally had enough grounds to gain entry into the Bjorgs' home, which was only a little over a mile away. When the officers pulled up to the house, they had a gut feeling that they were about to walk into a disturbing scene. And this was confirmed even further when they stepped inside. As soon as the front door opened, they were hit with the unmistakable smell of death.

a smell that only grew stronger as they made their way up the stairs. Soon enough, they were on the second story of the home, standing in front of a closed door. It was a bathroom, and when they opened it, they found the beaten and bloodied body of Wendy Bjorg. In another bedroom upstairs, they found the beaten and bloodied body of Randall.

With one glance, it was obvious that the couple suffered an extremely violent death. Both of them had multiple stab wounds, blunt force trauma to the head,

and their throats had been slit. It was also clear that their bodies had been lying there for at least a week, so they had gone through a significant amount of decomposition. Now, investigators were pretty confident about who murdered the couple. Not only had there been a lot of domestic disputes at this household, but after the attack on Johnny Ryder's family, it was clear that this young couple were out for bloodshed.

And interestingly enough, it seemed as if they went through a lot of trouble trying to conceal these murders. For one, both Wendy and Randall had been doused in bleach, likely to cover up the smell.

And two, the rooms where their bodies had found had been cocked, meaning the killers had put a waterproof sealant on the windows and doorframe in an attempt to trap the smell. So with this discovery, Johnny Ryder and Cassie Bjork were no longer just wanted for assault and battery, but now for a double homicide.

Crime scene investigators said Gwinnett County detectives worked throughout the night to try and locate the killer couple. Unfortunately, it wouldn't take them very long. Everyone knew that Johnny and Cassie couldn't have made it very far. The couple didn't have a lot of money, so they were probably hiding out at a friend's house. Johnny's family gave investigators a list of all of his friends, and soon enough,

In the early morning hours of April 9th, Mindy's stolen vehicle was located at an apartment in Sewanee, Georgia. The apartment belonged to one of Johnny's friends, who would later claim that he had no idea what the couple had done. But from here, the police surrounded the residence and spoke through a megaphone, ordering the couple to come out with their hands up. Of course, they didn't listen.

Later that morning around 9:54 a.m., the SWAT team arrived and were able to gain entry into the apartment with the help of a robotic device. But once inside, the SWAT team went through clearing every room until they found a locked bathroom. And again, the couple refused to come out. When they did finally make entry, the SWAT team found Johnny and Cassie on the ground lying in a pool of blood.

They had tried to die by suicide by slitting their wrist with a razor blade, but they were unsuccessful. So from there, the two were taken to the Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville to treat their injuries. Corporal Dion Washington stated, quote, "We believe that they were attempting to kill themselves by slitting their wrists, but they weren't successful. We believe they're going to be in the hospital for a couple of days." End quote.

But while the couple remained hospitalized for their injuries, the news of the double homicide spread quickly throughout the community of Lawrenceville.

Police found the couple in the house after relatives asked for a welfare check. Officers checked the home earlier in the week, but they were unable to make contact. They returned to the house overnight after finding the couple's car on Rambling Woods Drive. That's where the two relatives of the granddaughter's boyfriend reported he beat them with a baseball bat.

Police then searched hours for the teens and this morning they received a call the two were at the residence at McGinnis Ferry in Suwannee. Investigators say the two barricaded themselves inside an apartment, sparking a SWAT standoff. Police say once they made entry, they found the teens with self-inflicted stab wounds.

Randall and Wendy's family members, friends, and neighbors were shocked when they heard the news. A longtime friend of the couple's, named Jerry DeCattrell, spoke with the media and said that Randall and Wendy were great people who loved giving back to their community. As for their granddaughter, Cassie, he stated that the couple had been struggling with her, but they didn't want to talk about it. Instead, Jerry said that they often reminisced on the early years of her life. Randall would always flash a smile when he talked about teaching Cassie how to swim, or how sweet she was growing up.

Jerry couldn't believe that the very granddaughter they loved so much would one day kill them. After learning the news, he went to their house and placed a basket of flowers outside their home, telling reporter Marissa Mitchell, In the days following the murders, neighbors helped decorate a tree that was in the couple's front yard.

At the base of it, there were so many flower baskets, notes from people in their community, and two wooden crosses with Randall and Wendy's names. Neighborhood children wrote letters and drew pictures and taped them to the tree to honor the couple. One drawing depicted a woman smiling next to a piano with the words, We will miss you. Another neighborhood kid wrote, Dear Mr. Randall and Miss Wendy, I will always love you. All the memories are running through my head over and over again. I will always remember what happened when you were here. You were the nicest people I ever met.

it was obvious that their untimely deaths profoundly affected the community of lawrenceville and everyone was asking the same questions why why did cassie and her boyfriend kill them well both cassie and johnny had run-ins with the law cassie had been arrested for things like theft shoplifting and assault and johnny had been arrested a few months prior to the murders for financial transaction card theft

The two were definitely troubled, but no one ever expected that they would commit murder. After hearing the news, some people didn't even believe it was true. One teenager named Ryan Farmer, who was friends with Cassie, told reporters, "...we were really good friends. She was a sweet girl. She was outgoing. She was happy."

End quote.

Now after making a full recovery at the hospital, Cassie was brought to the Gwinnett County Police Department for a formal statement. With her arms and wrists bandaged, two detectives came into the interrogation room and tried to establish a rapport with her. They started by bringing her McDonald's and even joked around with her a bit. Their goal was to make her comfortable with them so she'd be more inclined to open up and tell the truth.

And it seemed to work. I don't think I've met you before, have I? No, no, no, no. Do you remember my name? Coolness. Coolness. Coolness. Really? Swear. Swear. Swear. That's probably why I was Class Clan 25. Miss Coolness. That's a pretty cool name. Miss Coolness, Shannon Coolness, whatever you want. I mean, you look familiar. Yeah? Mm-hmm. But I couldn't like...

I like every single one of them.

I'm pretty open-minded except... You like country, do you? I don't like country. I really don't like country. We could be friends then. I'm not into country. I've tried, but no. It just doesn't... I can't vibe with it. How am I so full? Aw, same part as you. Well, you have been in a hospital and you're eating hospital food, so... This makes me so disappointed. I don't know. She said she could eat two big chickens and she barely made it through. What is it, a quarter pounder? Those hospital food was messing me up. You did talk a lot of smack, though. Mm-hmm.

After making Cassie feel at ease, Detective Dave began the interview by asking her about her relationship with 19-year-old Johnny Ryder. According to the interrogation, Cassie and Johnny had been seeing each other for around three months, and she admitted that the two were in love.

Your boyfriend Johnny, how long did you date that dude for? Like three months. Three months. You guys, you and Johnny pretty tight? Did you have feelings for him or just kind of a boyfriend type thing? I had feelings. I still have feelings for him. I care about him. I guess I'm going to ask a corny question. Is it love or not? Yeah.

This is what he told me. After Tyvee, we went to Atlanta and we were on like this, I don't know, it was like this parking lot thing and we got to see like the whole city. And he told me that when we were sitting up there that like for a second he looked at me and I looked at him and he told me that all he could see was just me and then purple around me. And he said like purple is like a sign of love. And he said like ever since then, like it was like love at first sight.

I don't know. I mean, he got married to like this crazy bitch and then now she's like saying that I'm stalking her when I've only met the girl like twice. Yeah, I talked to Johnny a couple days ago and just talking to him, I think she definitely was crazy. Is he okay? Yeah, he's fine. He sends his regards and all that stuff. Is he doing okay? No, he's fine. He actually is better off than you. They weren't that deep or anything. Really? Yeah.

Man, I could have sworn he did worse than me because I remember when we were in the bathroom, because he did it with me too, he kept going and I kept telling him to stop. Yeah, maybe it's just tougher skin. At this point in the interview, detectives want to know exactly what happened in the days leading up to April 1st. I guess let's start from scratch about what happened, starting from when you ran away, I guess.

Is that the 31st? Do you remember? Or 28th or something like that? I don't really. I didn't really run away. My grandmother kicked me out. Okay. Because this is what happened. I was chilling with Johnny and my other friend Sabrina. And I came home because it was time for curfew. Because I didn't want to violate my probation. So I came home.

And my grandpa was asleep and my grandma got really mad at me and she was like saying like, "Oh, you know, if you don't like it here, you know, we're just gonna find somewhere else for you to stay." And she just said that out of the blue. Like she just got really mad for some reason. And so I was just like, "If you're gonna find another place for me to stay, I'm just gonna leave. I'm just gonna find somewhere else to go." So... And this was...

Basically, when you took off, you came back, your grandparents were home, and I guess that's when you had that argument? Wait, what? You just had an argument with your grandma, right? Mm-hmm, and then I left. Okay, I'm sorry, I got you. And then when you left, where'd you go to? I was just staying with Johnny. We were sleeping in his car. And then so you're kicking up with Johnny. Where are you kicking up with him at? We were just all over the place, Bailey. We were just trying to find something to do, just keep, you know,

According to Cassie, she and Johnny slept in his car for a few days just hanging out before they went back to her grandparents' house. And on one of those evenings, the two drove out to Peachtree Ridge Park where Johnny brought up the idea to kill her grandparents so they could run away together. So I guess when do you decide to go back to your grandparents' house in the middle of the night?

It was like a couple days after, like two or three days. Do you remember Saturday, Sunday? Do you have an exact? I don't really remember. I didn't really even know what day it was that we went into the house. And before you did that, did you and Johnny meet up somewhere at a park or something to talk about what was going on? We went to Peachtree Park, and we talked about it. At first, it wasn't my idea at first. How did you even get, I guess, what was said? How did you even bring up what was the context? He first asked me, are you afraid to die?

And I said no. And then I asked him, are you afraid to die? And he said no. And he was just talking about how we could like run away together, you know, that kind of like dream. And he asked me, he was like, would you kill your grandparents?

And I kind of hesitated for a minute. And I was like, why? And he was just like, I don't know. I mean, because he knows probably everything that I've been through with all of my family. And he understands that all I really wanted to do was just kind of get away from everything, kind of just move on with myself. I wasn't having a good relationship with my grandparents. It just started getting really bad that I got a charge from them because I fought them. I might have broken my grandpa's ribs when

for that charge for simple assault and simple battery, you know? And it just like, it just got really worse. We just kept arguing all the time. And then, I don't know, I guess things like just seemed different. They didn't look at me the same anymore. Like they didn't, I don't know. It was like, the vibe that they have was like,

They didn't really know what to do. They didn't really know how to be around me, I guess. They didn't really know how to talk to me. So I didn't really know how to talk to them either. So it was just a really hard... It was a big age difference too. Yeah. And then before all of the stuff happened with my parents, they treated me so much differently. They trusted me. I could have done anything at their house. I was free and I loved going over there. And it wasn't like...

So unhappy with the way things were going with her grandparents, Cassie and Johnny meticulously created a plan on how they would kill Wendy and Randall. When you guys met at the park, did he ever go over the actual plan on how you guys would do it or anything like that? What was that about?

Well, I mean, we were just trying to figure out how to get money. And because he said that he might have had a warrant. And I didn't know if I had a warrant because, you know, my grandma kicked me out. And then she did the same thing that my mom did. My mom would kick me out and kick me out.

Like a couple days later, she would call the cops saying that I ran away when I didn't. Like sometimes like she would physically force me out of the house because like sometimes like I would just be like, mom, why are you doing this? And then, you know, she would like literally like grab my stuff and push me out the door and then call the cops on me. So I felt like that's what like my grandma did and I didn't know. So I was already figuring that I had a warrant or something that already violated probation. And Johnny was saying that he might have already like violated probation because he thought his mom called the cops on him or something. I don't know.

But how we started talking about it was like we started out like with, you know, what time should we go to the house? How are we going to do this? You know, like what what, you know, materials do we need to do this? So, you know, we start talking about that. And then, you know, so we decided to go around like midnight or one one thirty because my grandma normally went to sleep around like eleven thirty twelve. So we would.

We decided, like, you know, we would park down the road. And then the park was literally, like, right behind my backyard, like, the neighborhood park. So I was able to go through the park and then cut through my backyard because there was a fence. Like, there was the trees, and then there was my fence, and then there was the house. So you could easily, like, go through the trees, and then there was the little gate that you could go through. I didn't even think, like, you could even open it.

How'd you guys move that cement to, isn't there like a cement block or cinder block or something? Yeah, it was pretty easy to move. Like, I was able to push the door out a little bit, and then, like, it was stuck, but I was able to maneuver my body over to get into the other side, and then I just moved the cement block over so that Johnny could get through, and then I moved it back. You were living out of his car. Did he have, like, a lot of clothes in his car that he would change into? Yeah. Okay. He already had clothes in his car. Okay.

did he have like different shoes or did he kind of just keep one pair of shoes on yeah different shoes he had a bunch of stuff in his car it's kind of like mary poppins okay that's a good you got some good analogies i like that

Cassie told the detectives that on the night of April 1st, she and Johnny entered into the backyard through a gate, and from there, they quietly snuck up the deck stairs that led to her grandparents' back door. But when the two peered through the window, they noticed that Wendy was still up and moving around, so they had to wait.

So when you guys made it to the, I guess the back door or the back gate, what'd you guys do next? How'd you move up to the house? Well, we went up the stairs. The decking stairs? Yeah. The back deck. And my grandma was still up cause we got there a little bit early. So we went back down and we were kind of just chilling over where, um,

The shutters? Yeah, we were just talking about the shutters. And then we saw that the lights turned out and then we just like stayed outside for a little bit longer just to, you know, wait. And then I already had the keys to my house because I already had a set of keys so I was able to unlock the back door. And then that would, they just made everything easier. And this back door, do you mean the bottom back door? Or so you're still talking about the door on the steps? Yeah, like when you,

But now that Wendy was asleep, and the house was quiet and dark, the two quietly made their way inside.

Wearing blue medical gloves, Cassie said she held a tire iron in her hands, the weapon she chose to murder her grandparents. She gripped it tight and quietly made her way up the stairs. So you guys are at that back door now, uh...

You're the first one to kind of walk inside there or how do you? So there was stuff in front of the door because my grandma normally would block off the back door. So, but I was able to open, so I unlocked the back door. I was able to open the back door a little bit and not have the stuff in front of the door fall and

you know, make a noise. So I was able to like maneuver in and then I moved to stuff in front of the door and then I got Johnny in and then we closed the door and locked it. And then what'd you guys kind of, you just hang out downstairs or did you start moving upstairs? We went upstairs. We needed, we didn't immediately go upstairs. Like we went to the stairs and then we were like just listening, just hearing what was going on and we thought everything was good and then we went upstairs and. Hold on, did you guys have anything in your hands or you just? I had, it's one of those car tools.

Was that to do with a tire? Yeah, a tire iron. It was a tire iron. So I had one of those. Where'd you get that at? Johnny's car. Because he had one in his car. His Honda? Or whatever. And Johnny just used his fist. And he brought a black book bag that had duct tape in it. And it had the tire iron in it. And it had gloves in it. Because we were also wearing gloves too. What kind of gloves? They were like... Like hospital gloves or regular... Hospital gloves. Oh, okay.

What color were they, do you remember? Blue-ish. Yeah, they were blue. Okay. You actually had the tire iron in your hand or was it still in the book bag? I had the tire iron in my hand. You know, we got it out before we went inside the house. So I had it in my hand and Johnny didn't have any weapon. He just used his fist. So who's first up the stairs? Is it you and he's kind of following you or? Yeah, I go up the stairs. He goes into my grandpa's room and then I go into my grandma's room.

So Wendy and Randall slept in different rooms. Being that Randall was obviously bigger and would be harder to take down, Johnny decided to take care of him while Cassie would kill her grandma. So she quietly stepped into Wendy's room, but she didn't kill her right away. She paused for a moment.

But then suddenly, she heard the sounds of a struggle coming from her grandpa's room. It's at that moment when Cassie lifted the tire iron above her head and slammed it down onto her grandma. It's terrifying to think about what went through Wendy's head in those moments. The room was dark, so she might not have even known who was attacking her.

But eventually she would realize that it's her own granddaughter trying to kill her and Wendy fought back. And then he, do you hear kind of what's going on over there? And does that kind of cue you off to, was your grandmother there? Yeah, he started going at it and then, you know, I could hear my grandpa just yelling, you know, them fighting. And then I started getting in the rush and then, you know, that's when I started hitting my grandma. She started like screaming and stuff. And he

Was that the first hit? Yeah. The back of the head? Yeah. She bit me. I took a picture of that yesterday, right? Yeah, she bit me in my finger too, but I forgot which finger. It was on my right hand. I think it was either like my middle finger or it was that one. When you guys, when you and your grandmother used to get into it, is that, that's kind of how she, she, did she bite you before to kind of get you off her or whatnot? Yeah, she's bitten me before. She's bitten you before too? Yeah, I haven't bitten her, but she's, she's, she's bit me before. Okay. Okay.

After both Randall and Wendy suffered multiple blows to their head, they couldn't fight back anymore. So that's when Cassie and Johnny decided to tie them up with duct tape.

So you're in the bedroom with your grandmother. When, I guess, when do you meet back up with Johnny? Do you, do you leave your grandmother there or kind of what happens? So I started hitting my grandma and I already had duct tape and then, you know, Johnny's doing his thing and, you know, I stopped hearing Johnny doing whatever. And so he comes in the room with me and my grandma and, um,

From here, Cassie drags Wendy into the same room that Randall was in. She then goes downstairs to grab some knives. But Cassie and Johnny couldn't kill them just yet.

Murder wasn't the only reason that they went there that night. They also wanted to steal from them and use the money to start their new lives together.

Did she tell you?

Yeah, I mean, like, she kept saying, like, I'll give you money. I'll give you my keys. You know, I'll give you anything you want. But, yeah, she just kept saying that. Was she able to talk with the duct tape around her face? Yeah. Like, she was, like, mumbling. You could still understand her, but, like, at the same time, you couldn't. Like, it wasn't like her mouth was shut. Yeah. It was like that. Okay. Almost as if she could still move her mouth. Yeah. So, we left my grandma sitting there on the floor, and then I got the code.

to the safe. So Johnny's watching my grandpa and my grandma and I'm over. How'd you get that code? Did she tell you guys or? She told us. Okay. So she told us the code and, you know, I went in the closet because that's where they kept the safe. So, you know, I go in there, you know, I'm checking out all the stuff and I grab the book bag and I just start stuffing the book bag with everything, you know, like there was envelopes just filled with money. There was probably about like a thousand dollars that we found in that safe that they were just saving and

Did you know about that money or you just said no? Well, my grandma, it was kind of weird. Like she was kind of giving me like an idea about it before. Like she was saying, what if I just gave you a thousand dollars? Would that just make the world a better place? I'm just like, no, I don't want a thousand dollars, you know? So, you know, she kept saying that. And then like, when I saw it, I was just like, wow, she actually had a thousand dollars in her zip. Like that's crazy. So you guys put that stuff in a bag and then, uh,

Basically, Johnny's in your grandpa's room with your grandpa and your grandma in the room. Do you come back in there and say, hey, I got this stuff? Now, after they got the money and everything they wanted from the safe, Wendy and Randall were useless to them. So it's here where Cassie goes downstairs and grabs some butcher knives. Then she would come back upstairs and slit her grandparents' throats.

Cassie and Johnny then dragged Wendy's body into the restroom, where Johnny slit her throat as well. Cassie admitted that Wendy was frightened, so much so she ended up going to the bathroom on herself.

To hear Cassie talk about how gross it was when her grandma defecated on herself is so sad.

She clearly has no remorse for what she did. But following this, the two still weren't finished. Instead of leaving their bodies there, Cassie and Johnny decided to mutilate Wendy and Randall even further to make sure they were dead. They stabbed the couple several more times and Johnny even hit them in the head with a tire iron once more. But with that, there was no question that Wendy and Randall were dead.

So from there, Cassie packed a bag and the two left the house to do a little grocery shopping. We were just checking around, seeing if everything was okay. And then I started grabbing my clothes and started stuffing bags with my clothes. And then Johnny's, you know, walking around doing his thing, checking to make sure that they were both dead and checking to make sure if we didn't forget anything.

And yeah, then we left and then we came back to the house. When you guys left, where did you guys go to? We went over to like Kroger or Publix to go get something to eat. And then we went back to the house. So we just kind of like chilled there. Did you guys kind of just stay in the house then or? Yeah, it was kind of both. We were kind of like in and out of the house for a couple of days. It was just me and him. We didn't tell anyone. I mean, I told my friends that my grandparents went on a vacation for like two weeks.

Throughout the entire interrogation, it was obvious that Cassie's main motive for killing her grandparents was because she couldn't handle authority. She was upset with their rules and believed that the only way she could truly be free was to get rid of them once and for all.

I guess with your grandparents, then we can move on to Johnny's. I mean, was there like ever a snapping point or, I mean, do you feel bad about what happened? Do you think she deserves what happened or what, you know, how are you feeling right now? I'm not in your shoes. With my grandparents? Yeah. I mean, I feel terrible. I mean, I feel like the worst person on the planet, but at the same time, it's, it was kind of just like,

I don't know. I mean, there was so much stuff going on between me and my grandparents already. Like, I couldn't handle it anymore, you know? Like he said with his follow-up question, though, I mean, did they deserve it? Did grandma deserve it? Did grandpa deserve it? Or was it kind of just more getting away from your own family? It was more kind of just getting away. So you don't think that grandma did anything...

Who did you have a... because your grandparents are essentially your parents at this point. Yeah. And they've been taking care of you for how many years and you live with them. It's a day-to-day thing. Mm-hmm.

Who did you have a more contentious relationship with? Who was the one you were butting heads with all the time? My grandma. Your grandma more so than your grandpa? Yeah, I couldn't talk to my grandpa. Like, I did not have a real good relationship with him. You know, before we did, but then, I don't know, like, I wasn't able to talk to him as much. And he kind of, like, pushed me out. Was it Johnny's plan to...

you get your grandma and he get your grandpa or did you want to kind of get your grandma yourself because of your relationship like your your strained relationship it was sort of johnny's idea more i mean i don't know i i didn't i don't think that he deserved it but i just wanted to get away from all of that you know like i was so tired of dealing with my family it felt like i didn't even have a family like it felt like they weren't there

Like, even though they tried to help, it's just like the way that they were kind of doing it was like, I don't know, it didn't really work out. Basically pieced together kind of what happens based on the evidence and stuff like that. But what we never can fully explain is why it happened or what happened. Like the reasons it happened. Like why we did what we did. Yeah. I mean, the main reason why I did what I did was because I kind of just wanted to get away from my family.

How were you feeling? So that was your plan going into it, killing Grandma and Grandpa would get you further away from your family. Yeah. When you were actually attacking Grandma, when you heard Johnny attacking Grandpa, you said you got a rush. Yeah, I had, like, this, like, kind of, like, this rush where I was like, okay, like, I'm ready to do this, you know, like, you know, like, it's...

you know, gonna happen. There's no going back. So... It wasn't like a good rush. It was kind of just like, kind of like, okay, like... It's go time. I gotta do this, you know? Like, I gotta, I gotta do what I gotta do. No, I'm not gonna pretend I'm any expert in karate or anything like that. I got a cousin who's a Filipino world champion. He's pretty good at what he does in whatever art form he does it in. But I know a lot of it, it's kind of that controlled aggression. Yeah. Okay. No lie that this was a pretty violent attack on grandma and grandpa. Yes.

Were you able to kind of control your aggression based on all your training over these years? Were you angry? Were you sad when it was going on? Kind of walk me through what was going on in your head. I mean, was it, like you said, the rush where it's go time, I just need to do what the f*** I came here to do? Yeah. Or was it like...

them they gave me curfew they deserved it it was let's get the shit going it's both but honestly like i stopped doing kung fu for a while just because you know my mind wasn't there you know i i just all of my feelings were and my emotions were all over the place and i wasn't able to focus so that really affected you know my kung fu but when i was there you know like i don't know

like just all of my emotions kind of just like came out when it was happening like I was just angry and I was sad but I was heartbroken at the same time you know because it was just like you know why did all this stuff have to you know happen with my family you know like why did I have to deal with all this bullshit you know and just I just kind of really got tired of it and I couldn't handle it anymore like I just kept exploding inside almost like I wanted to just

and run away and just be by myself with someone, you know, and just start my life. Like, I was just tired of being... And grandma and grandpa were your biggest hurdles? Yeah. Just because, you know... Is that how you saw them as your biggest hurdles to being with Johnny? Mm,

No, they were my biggest hurdles because of probation. Okay. If I didn't get probation, like, I wouldn't be in this... I don't know, like, probation kind of really messed me up because, you know, I was going to get a job, you know, I was going to, like, start getting money, just, you know, start my life. And once I got probation, it kind of just, like, really messed up everything, you know? Like, I had to be home at a certain time and I couldn't do as much stuff as I, you know, used to do. And...

You know, that really made me angry too, you know? I used to just be able to do whatever, you know, I wanted to, you know? Now, Cassie said that after her grandma was dead, concerned friends and family members kept texting Wendy, asking if she had found Cassie yet. If you remember, Wendy posted on Facebook that she had run away again. So obviously, people are going to be checking in.

But when Cassie saw these texts on her grandma's phone, she kind of started panicking. Did you text anyone on grandma's phone? Yes. Pretending to be grandma? Yes. Who did you text? Just...

Okay, and who's that to you? She's a family member in California. Okay, and what did you say? She kept asking, is everything okay? Because she just started freaking out that my grandma wasn't texting her. And so I started texting her saying everything's fine. Where did you take grandma's phone from? Was it on her nightstand? Was it in her purse? It was on her nightstand. Did you take it before or after you hit her with the tire ring?

It was like in the middle. In the middle? So she couldn't call 911? Yeah. You know, we made sure.

In this next part, Cassie described what they had planned for after the murders. Where were you going to go afterwards? We were going to go to Florida. Okay. Anywhere in particular? Maybe Pensacola, Panama City. Just somewhere where we could just escape. Yeah. Just somewhere where we could just kind of escape reality. I gotcha. That's kind of just all I've been wanting to do for such a long time.

Escape reality or kill grandma and grandma? No, no, no, not kill them. Kind of just like escape from everything, you know, just start my life, you know, like, I don't know. I just wanted to move on from everything. Just my family, you know, like I couldn't be around them because just everything that, you know, we've all been through, you know, it's just so much betrayal and lies. Did Johnny have a similar relationship with his family or was his more of a beneficiary kind of thing? He wanted their money. Well, yeah.

The way I saw their relationship was his mom, you know, would get on him a lot saying, you know, like, you're not doing anything with your life. Blah, blah, blah. When he had like, he just got out of jail. He had two jobs. He was back in school. He, you know, he was, you know, getting his shit together. Right. And then, you know, his mom kept saying, you know, like, you're just worthless. You know, you're not doing anything. Kind of putting him down. Yeah. So it was more of a hostile relationship between them with that. Yeah.

So, as you just heard, Cassie wasn't the only one who despised her family. Johnny did as well, which is exactly why the two decided to stay in town after the murders instead of running off to Florida. As it turns out, Wendy and Randall weren't the only people they planned on killing.

Okay.

They also talked about murdering Cassie's mother as well.

I don't know, I just, I started feeling like... Was your mom ever part of the plan? Of killing them? I wanted to. Was it something you and Johnny discussed, or was it something you just thought of? Well, I mean, we did discuss it, but then Johnny was like, no, we can't waste our time on them.

And I was really okay. But I wanted to. So they decided against killing Cassie's mom, but they definitely wanted to kill Johnny's family. And that way, they would have even more money when they started their new lives together. So instead of skipping town right away, they decided to hang out for a couple of days until they were ready to kill again. And in the meantime, Cassie blew through her grandparents' money

buying mostly food and marijuana. During this whole week, kind of in between, you guys obviously took Grandma's credit card. You swiped it a bunch, right? Did you ever get denied?

Now, earlier in the confession, Cassie told detectives that after she murdered her grandparents, it had just been her and Johnny staying at the home.

However, Detective Bruce leaves the interrogation room and minutes later, he storms back in with some interesting information. As it turns out, she and Johnny had actually had a little get-together at her grandparents' house, all while their bodies lay upstairs. We got a problem, man. I mean...

As you know, I'm a cool dude. So is she, okay? I've been doing this longer than you've been alive, okay? I'm a no-bullshitter. I don't know what those DA investigators, I don't know what type of, you know, how many times they talk to you or that. We're different in that aspect, okay? I'm cool as shit with you.

If you're cool as shit with me. But once lying and stuff like that starts, I have a problem. I believe that there were people at that house. Okay? If it was, it was probably Lisa. I mean, I just want no if or anything like that. Unfortunately, you're in this. Okay? There's no, you know, there's no saving face right now.

So a lot of this was on the news, as you can imagine. So he's been getting phone calls about you inviting people over to your house. So who was there? The only person who I can think of would be there would be someone and her boyfriend. Okay, so as a boyfriend, what's her boyfriend say? No, again, you're saying you think they showed up. I mean, you have to... Is that video from...

During that time frame, do you know? It might have been. I don't know. I mean, you remember pretty good details. I don't see how you forget this. Is your grandma going to let Johnny and her house? No, she didn't even know about them. I mean, she knew about Johnny, but she didn't know about... So for all these people to be inside your house, where are we going to both have to assume that it was after you guys killed your grandparents? I'll be straight up. Did we hear about a conversation that took place...

Inside there where someone was bitching about the smell and Johnny's like now dude is just sewage There's a sewage problem upstairs. Is this not that never came? Well, that could be rumors, you know all the kids talk rumors never was a conversation that came up the only only people who came over to the house So they did come over to the house after you killed your grandparents. Oh

After she was caught in her lie, Cassie came clean about having people over. She even admitted that she and Johnny doused their bodies in bleach and even used caulk around the windowsills and doorframe so their friends wouldn't smell the decomposition.

it's not so mean okay did you order food no if we got hungry we would have left and got something to eat but the conversation with the smell and the sewage that well just don't don't hang up on that that's just rumors people in high school talk a lot of a lot of crap and that's just rumors that i heard i knew somebody i mean i've seen videos and things like that and i pretty much knew somebody was in that house why would you protect them and not tell me about it let me ask you a question you killed my grandpa with johnny

Johnny, you said glues and what we know to be caulk, caulks the doors. Was that immediately after or was that before people came over? It was before people came over. Okay, so... I even poured bleach on them before he did that to the door. You poured bleach on Grandma and Grandpa? Yeah. And you left one of the bleach bottles in the bathroom next to Grandma? Yeah. Why did you pour bleach on them? Johnny told me to. For the smell? Yeah.

Okay, so when did you pour the bleach on them? It was like a couple days after. Like it was like before we left the house to go chill with some friends. Like we did it before anyone came over to the house. Okay, so you kill grandma and grandpa. You basically grab all your shit and put it downstairs. Did that happen the same day? Yes. Okay. At some point you're chilling downstairs with Johnny. You end up...

We're like, let's have some people over. Johnny tells you to pour bleach on them? Yeah. You pour bleach on them? Yeah. Where did you put Grandpa's bleach bottle? We use the same bleach bottle. Okay. So you bleach Grandpa first? Yeah. Then you bleach Grandma. And then you throw the bottle in the trash can. Okay.

In the bathroom? I don't remember. It's like, all right, let me, it's more like a Windex bottle than it is like a tub of bleach. Okay. And then Johnny cocks the doors? Yes. After you bleach them? Yes. Several days after you kill them? Yes. And that was because it smelled and you were having people over? We weren't intending to have any people over. We only had

It's come over just that one day because we were like, you know, it was only a couple days after, so we thought it was going to be okay. Like, it didn't smell in the house. Do they know that your grandparents were upstairs? No. They have no idea? They had no idea. I told them that they were on vacation. Did they go upstairs at all? No. How long did they stay there for? Just for like a few hours. They came really late at night. Who else came over? We only thought...

- For coming? - It was just them. No one else came to the house. - Cassie showed no remorse. In fact, one of the deputies even heard her talk about how she was all over the news and how she was a quote, "star." Throughout the interview talking about the murder of her grandparents, Cassie didn't shed one single tear. That is until she was confronted about this party she had at their house.

Up until then, she had been all buddy-buddy with the detectives, but not anymore after they caught her in a lie. And it wasn't until then when she finally showed a bit of emotion.

Okay, let me ask you this then. You literally have shown no emotion towards your grandparents and I don't have a problem. Like, I don't know the life that you were having and I guess I can kind of understand that you wanted to sever that part of your life and start over again, okay? But why are you showing emotion with when I brought up, what the hell is this chick?

You know what I'm saying? She's just a close friend. She was there most of the time when I was going through the stuff with my parents. So she's really close to me, not as close as people like... Did she come over? No. Does she know what happened? No. Did you tell anyone what happened? Not a person?

About a week after murdering Wendy and Randall, the smell within the house became too strong to bear. Cassie and Johnny were also running out of money, so that's when they figured it was time to rob and kill Johnny's family.

Now, there seems to be a pretty big gap still though between your grandparents and then attacking his sister and the boyfriend. Was that kind of in the plan? Yeah. To try to get away with it for the week and then kill them? Well, we were really like going on like a...

week thing. It was kind of just like a day-to-day kind of thing. Like, what are we going to do today? Sort of thing. But I mean, we wanted to get out of town as soon as possible. Of course. But just how it all just kind of turned out, I don't know. Thank you so much. I didn't really work out as we planned it to be. Okay. So there was no...

So you guys basically stayed in town after your grandparents because the plan was to kill Johnny's family and maybe get some more money? Yes. Okay. And it wasn't like a set schedule on Saturday at 5:55 p.m. we're gonna go kill them but more of a day-to-day thing? Yeah, I mean like you know we were just planning on doing it at night mainly. Okay. So what made you guys pick that night that you did it and not any of the other nights before? Was anybody gonna be at the house that shouldn't have been or were you waiting on someone in particular to be there with them? Who's in Johnny's family?

you got a mom and a dad just a mom two sisters and that's it okay yeah we were we were really like planning on like what time we were just kind of like just going how it went i guess just saying i would go and then it's just kind of like really downhill from there with the bear spray and everything in the baseball bat

- The what spray? - We had like bear repellent that we bought from Bass Pro Shop. - What was that for? - For the, just to like get them away or to like kind of like knock them out. - Okay. - That stuff is strong, like. - Yeah. - That stuff, oh my gosh. - We have to get sprayed with like the obviously non-bear spray and that stuff is strong.

So did you spray it on? Yeah, we both did. Well, I mean, Johnny did more. He sprayed more because my bottle stopped working for some reason. So I couldn't really use it. And, you know, it was so crazy. Like, it was just all rushed. Like, it was just the spray was going everywhere. And it was like your eyes were burning. Like, your whole body was burning. It was so painful. Who did you guys spray? Who got sprayed with that? One of Johnny's sisters and her boyfriends.

Was anybody else home? No. Were you waiting on them to get home? Yeah. Like that was the plan? Yeah. Because you obviously waited at your house to make sure Grandma went to bed and to both. I assume your intention was to catch them while they were sleeping? Yeah. And then with Johnny's house, you went before everybody else got back for the night? Yeah, because our plan was... Why didn't you want to attack them while they were sleeping? I'm not sure why we didn't do that, but...

He kind of said it would be a lot easier if we kind of just waited for them to each come home so we could each of them just not come out. Yeah, and it didn't really go like that. Okay. Did you guys talk much about the incident actually at Johnny's or no? No, we kind of segued into it just because I was wondering why they stayed in town so long, but I didn't realize that was the reason was because they were playing with Johnny's family too.

But Cassie and Johnny's plans to be Bonnie and Clyde desperately failed. They were no seasoned criminals, and their plan was destined to fail from the beginning.

After their confessions, Cassie Bjorg and Johnny Ryder were arrested and charged on April 12th for two felony warrants of murder and two felony warrants of aggravated assault.

When Cassie's mother, Amanda Sterling, heard the news about her own daughter murdering her parents, she was shocked. She admitted during an interview that she never could have predicted something like this would happen. A Gwinnett County teenager accused of killing her parents was in court today, and her mother is giving some insight into what may have sparked the crime. Channel 2's Nicole Carr is live in Northeast Atlanta. She talked to the woman who lost her parents and now could lose her daughter to prison. Nicole?

Right, this is a woman who lost most of her family in one weekend and she agreed to share some of their history with us. Not in a million years did I ever think something like this would ever happen. Amanda Sterling's parents were beaten and stabbed to death. Her 17-year-old daughter is now one of two teens charged with their murder. What comes next is unclear, but Sterling says she needs support. Giving me hope and strength and hope.

FOR THE DAYS TO COME BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG ROAD. ON FRIDAY, CASSIE BORGE FACED A GWINNETT COUNTY JUDGE AND NEW FELONY MURDER CHARGES IN THE DEATH OF HER GRANDPARENTS, WENDY AND RANDALL BORGE. POLICE DISCOVERED THEIR BODIES IN THEIR LAWRENCEVILLE HOME OVER THE WEEKEND. CASSIE'S 19-YEAR-OLD BOYFRIEND, JOHNNY RIDER, FACES THE SAME CHARGES. WARRANTS INDICATE A TIRE IRON WAS USED IN THE BEATING. NOBODY KNEW IT WOULD EVER GET TO THIS. IT'S A

THE TRUE SENSE OF A TRAGEDY. THROUGH FAMILY ATTORNEYS AND HER MOM, WE'VE LEARNED MORE ABOUT CASSIE. A GIRL TRYING TO LIVE LIFE LARGER THAN THE MEANS THAT SHE COULD HANDLE, AND IT GOT AWAY FROM HER IN A BAD WAY AND IN A HURRY. THEY DESCRIBE A LONG JUVENILE COURT HISTORY. CASSIE DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL AND WAS

put on probation in February. They say long-term behavioral issues led to her grandparents taking custody. The family tried to remove her from a bad crowd in Duluth to stability with her grandparents in Lawrenceville. But there were at least 13 calls to police and assault charges for striking a grandparent, and now murder charges, and a mom who says she wasn't informed of all the recent trouble. Do not, do not, no one judge my client and the way she mothers by the actions of Cassie.

They also say there was some suspected drug use, but at this point, no motive has surfaced from investigators, family, or attorneys. Live in Northeast Atlanta, Nicole Carr, Channel 2 Action News. As for other family members, including the couple's son, Chris, and Randall's sister, Sylvia, they admitted that they were, quote, haunted by what happened. Sylvia stated she has experienced, quote, persistent anxiety and profound sadness after their deaths.

And their son Chris said, "I'm still in shock and disbelief that such an event has occurred. We are all upset and hurt by this devastating loss. I have anxiety that I can barely describe and anger that is boiling deep. My mother and father were both kind and gentle people who loved to help others. They touched many lives over the years and I will miss them.

I wish that I could have been able to tell them goodbye and that I love them." Chris Björg was also able to keep his parents' ashes, and he admitted that when he is alone, he often speaks to his parents as if they're still around. But the emptiness their family feels, knowing that Wendy and Randall were killed by their own granddaughter, is profound.

both cassie and johnny were held without bond at the gwinnett county jail until it was time for them to go to trial on friday february 2nd 2018 both cassie and johnny decided to take a plea deal and pled guilty to stabbing beating and murdering randall and wendy bjork in an effort to avoid a lengthy trial where their family members would have to relive the events in graphic detail

Another reason Johnny Ryder decided to plead guilty was because that meant the death penalty would be off the table. Before the plea deal, the Gwinnett County District Attorney, Danny Porter, made it very clear that he would be seeking the death penalty because of how brutal the murders were. So it's safe to say that Johnny made a good choice, if you can call it that. Cassie, however, was never eligible for capital punishment because once again, she was just under 18. During the sentencing hearing,

Judge Deborah Turner told them both, quote, Your behavior lacks any sense of humanity or morality. I'm not sure I've ever imagined such a well-planned, despicable, heinous act to be committed by two young people. The heartless and depraved nature of what the two of you did says to me it's not worth my time. End quote.

Both Cassie and Johnny were allowed to speak during the hearing, but Cassie only cried and she refused to say anything. But as for Johnny, he took the opportunity to address the court and apologize for his actions, stating, quote,

End quote.

During the victim impact statements, Wendy and Randall's son Chris said he was too emotional to give one. But Randall's sister Sylvia stood up and laid out all of the brutal scenarios that continued to haunt her. I just wonder how much vicious cruelty it takes to leave someone to putrefy. Did he die quickly? Did Cassie see his face? Someone he loved so much. Someone he was proud of.

Chris's wife also added, "It is sad to me that the first time they visit my house and meet my children is in a paper bag from a funeral home."

due to both cassie and johnny pleading guilty they were sentenced to two life sentences with the possibility of parole after 60 years in addition an extra 21 years was added to be served concurrently with their life sentences the charges of aggravated battery and armed robbery against johnny's family were dropped

But at the end of it all, Gwinnett County Judge Deborah Turner concluded with, I just continue to be stunned that you sealed areas so that you could make sure the smell of decaying human flesh wouldn't be noticed, that you had parties and ordered Chinese food with the two people that you had brutally murdered lying upstairs. Today, Cassie Bjorg is serving out her life sentence at the Lee Arendelle Correctional Facility in Alto, Georgia.

And interestingly enough, it seems as though she has set up a profile on a website called Caged Ladies, where she is currently looking for pen pals. On her profile, she wrote, quote, "'Hello, my name is Cassie. I am stuck in a penitentiary and I would love to hear from you. I'm 5'3, 115 pounds with a petite body. I'm 23 years old and born in the year 2000."

End quote.

Now as for Johnny Ryder, he is serving out his life sentence at the Central State Prison in Mekon, Georgia. Both Cassie and Johnny will be eligible for parole in 2078 when they are nearly 80 years old. But we can only hope that they use their time away to think about all the lives they destroyed trying to be modern day Bonnie and Clyde.

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Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. As always, it's so awesome to have so many people out there listening every week. Courtney and I have just been blown away over the years to see how big this show has gotten and just to see how many people tune in every week. So I just want to thank everybody again for helping make our dreams come true.

I also want to shout out some new patrons this week. Rachel Greving, Caitlin Wood, Faith, Jennifer Flores, Edith Stoller, Dominique, Mango, Bella, Jillian Cayley, Lauren, Lauren McMahon, Bema18, Sam Trish, Carol Adams, Cindy Piedra, Riley, Elise,

so many, so many more too. Oh my God. So every single week we have so many new patrons to shout out. Patreon. If you like the show, you want more episodes of Murder in America, I highly suggest you run to our Patreon right now. For just $5 a month, you can get early access to every single episode of the show. Also without ads, so it's early and ad-free. For $10 a month, you get the early ad-free access, plus everything

two full length bonus episodes of Murder America every single month. These episodes sound exactly like the episodes that are going on our main feed, but they're always just going to be exclusively on Patreon. And for $20 a month, you get a bonus episode every single week. So that's four bonus episodes a month.

plus the early and ad-free access. So if you love the show and you can't get enough, Patreon's definitely where to go. If you sign up today, there's a whole library of episodes you can go listen to. So yeah, it's a great choice if you love what we're doing and you want to help support us. Also, give us a follow on Instagram at Murder in America, and be sure to go check out my YouTube channel, The Paranormal Files, if you'd like to watch some ghost hunting.

That's how I started off in this career. So yeah, we just did a Delphi episode, a Delphi documentary, and it's super interesting, but I'm not going to keep you all for forever. Thank you again for listening. We will see y'all next week and yeah, catch y'all in the next one.

Hey everyone! I'm Joe. And I'm Trace. And we're the HorrorQueers. Every week we do a deep dive into a different horror film and look at it through a queer lens. This could mean pointing out queer creatives that worked on the film. Or applying a queer reading to some of your favorite horror movie characters. Episodes can be serious and academic. Or fun and frivolous. It depends on the movie! And no movie is off limits. The film could have explicit queer themes. A high cant quotient. Or both. Or not at all!

We believe that representation matters, and since queer folks haven't always had the best representation, we're here to help fix that. So what are you waiting for? Subscribe today to start getting your weekly dose of queer horror. Horror Queers, available wherever you get your podcasts. Or find us online at bloody.fm.

Welcome to the All 80s Movies Podcast. I'm Bill. And I'm Jason. And this is the podcast where we talk about the blockbusters, the flops, and everything in between from one of the freshest decades for movies, the 1980s. So whether you're a brain, a jock,

a valley girl, or a Jedi, we've got some 80s classics for you. Do these movies stand the test of time? Are we discovering something new? Is there an 80s movie we are finally watching for the first time? Join us each week as we dive into the cinematic nostalgia that inspired and influenced a generation. From the hits to the cult classics, we'll discuss our earliest memories, favorite scenes, fun facts, and our not-so-favorite movie moments, too. You can find the All 80s Movies Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Please follow, and happy listening. Hey there, are you in need of a new weekly fix of horror gaming discussions? Then look no further than Saferoom, Bloody FM's horror video gaming podcast. I'm your host Jay Krieger, and I am the other one, Neil Boe. And every week, Neil, myself, and the occasional guest get together to chat about classic and contemporary horror games, and the elements that make them a standout amongst the hordes of horror games being released seemingly every day now.

In addition to celebrating anniversaries and new releases, we also interview influential horror developers such as Amnesia the Bunker's creative lead, Frederick Wilson, and even the maestro of lo-fi horror, Erdorf, the developer behind the Faith trilogy. And finally, on Thursdays, we release episodes of Horror Bytes, our bite-sized indie horror showcase in which Neil and I share a game that we discovered on Itch.io from an up-and-coming developer.

So if this sounds like the podcast for you, please consider checking out Safe Room on your preferred podcast platform and be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at Safe Room Pod for show updates.