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The national sales event is on at your Toyota dealer, making now the perfect time to get a great deal on a dependable new Toyota truck. Like a rugged, half-ton Tundra, workhorse by nature, powerhouse by design, the Tundra combines raw capability with premium comfort and advanced tech to fuel your wildest adventures. And with the available i-Force Max Hybrid Powertrain, you can take electrifying horsepower farther
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So visit your local Toyota dealer and check out amazing national sales event deals when you visit buyatoyota.com. Toyota, let's go places. Ever find yourself holding back on travel plans because you're afraid of the language gap?
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Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. It's not that I observed anything, it's just the picture is, I mean, amazingly close. I mean, it's, you know, it looks just like my brother. Sword and Scale, episode 265. Let's go. ♪
Well, you simply haven't lived until you've cowered in a small closet with three cats and your significant other thinking you're going to die in the next five minutes. Yeah, for a second there, I thought episode 264 was going to be the last sword and scale ever.
I'm lying. I wasn't thinking about Sword and Scale at all. In fact, I was thinking about death. The imminent death that was coming via tornado. I'm not lying when I say this. The entire sky turned black. It turned to night in the middle of the day. And this was the entire city of Houston. And if you've ever been to Houston, you know how fucking big it is. When we emerged from that closet, it was literally like a bomb had gone off. But we're still here.
So, go check out the latest episode of Sword and Scale Television, episode 3, Shuri Syverson, before the next twister hits. I hear Big Daddy Government's doing some weird shit with the weather. Just look at Dubai two weeks ago.
The national sales event is on at your Toyota dealer, making now the perfect time to get a great deal on a dependable new Toyota truck. Like a rugged, half-ton Tundra, workhorse by nature, powerhouse by design, the Tundra combines raw capability with premium comfort and advanced tech to fuel your wildest adventures. And with the available i-Force Max Hybrid Powertrain, you can take electrifying horsepower farther
than ever before. Or check out the fully redesigned Tacoma, delivering trail-dominating power and captivating style. The new Tacoma was born to make your off-roading dreams come true. And with the new available tech, this legendary truck is getting even better. And when you buy a Toyota truck, you buy Toyota dependability, meaning your truck will hold its value long into the future.
So visit your local Toyota dealer and check out amazing national sales event deals when you visit BuyAToyota.com. Toyota, let's go places. Sarasota Springs sits in the western coast of Florida, about halfway between Tampa and Fort Myers. Sarasota being so close to the ocean is beautiful. It's lush and green in some areas.
Specifically, the safer inland neighborhoods in the suburbs. Blocks upon blocks of residential neighborhoods house a community of about 15,000 residents. Sarasota Springs is arguably one of the best places to live in Florida. Specifically, if you're raising a family. There's lots to do. The beach is right there and crime rates are low.
February 1st, 2004 was Super Bowl Sunday. Josh Groban sang "You Raise Me Up" right before the kickoff of Super Bowl 38, a game between New England and Carolina. That year, the game was in Houston, my hometown. The song choice and location of the game were tributes to the seven astronauts who lost their lives in the tragic Space Shuttle Columbia disaster exactly one year prior.
Just to set the scene with pop culture landmarks, this was also the Super Bowl that featured Janet Jackson's infamous nipple slip. Remember that one? It's weird how you remember where you were during moments like that. And I'm sure you'll remember that all of the supermarket tabloids obsessed over this for the next several weeks. Many residents of Sarasota Springs, like the rest of the country, were tuning in for the game.
having parties, eating buffalo chicken wings, and drinking beer. Bud Light, of course. As the tranquil hush of the Sunday evening sunset enveloped the surroundings, the unexpected cries of a terrified mother desperately searching for her child shattered the serene silence. Eleven-year-old Carly Bruscia, a sixth grader at McIntosh Middle School,
was staying at her friend Danielle's house off of Bee Ridge Road, just a little over a mile from where Carly and her family lived. Just after dinnertime around 6pm, Carly and her friend got into a little tiff over something trivial. But being a kid, her emotions were very real to her, and she was angry. Carly abruptly decided she wanted to go back home and watch the Super Bowl with her family, so she called her stepdad, Steve Kanzler.
and told him she wanted to come back, which during the game isn't annoying at all. You remember what it was like being a kid, right? I mean, it hasn't been that long. Emotions feel twice as intense. At least twice, I mean, probably more like five times. And you have almost no patience whatsoever.
Carly was mad and she wanted to go home right that minute. She didn't want to wait for her stepdad to get there, you know, like the logical thing to do, so she just took off walking. Carly's friend Danielle watched Carly standing on the corner of the street by her house just before she began her mile-long trek home. It was 6:18 p.m.
Though Sarasota Springs has a ton of residential areas, Carly's walk back to her house would be along a very busy main road. There were sidewalks, but the houses lining those sidewalks quickly disappeared and were replaced by businesses like bars, mini golf, and car washes as she continues to walk west towards her home. It was basically a straight shot from Danielle's house.
Carly would walk west on Bee Ridge Road for about 20 minutes before turning right onto her street, McIntosh Road. Then she'd walk for another few minutes and she'd be home. To an 11 year old, I'm sure this plan seemed easy enough. I washed my hands and at the door I went. And I got down there, I didn't see her. I said, well maybe I passed her on Bee Ridge. So I made a U-turn, come back, drove real slow, didn't see her. Went into Evie's, looked inside, see if she was in the arcade.
Didn't see her, so I said maybe she went the back way. Behind Nick's bar, I don't know the name of the street. I went back around, came back, didn't see her. So I went back to Connie's house. And I said, "Where's Carly?" And she left walking. I said, "Well, I can't find her." So I went back home, got my wife. We're driving around. Took her back to the house where the girls were. She yelled at the girls for whatever she said. We got in the van, we drove down.
I came down Bee Ridge, I was going real slow, my flash was on. She was screaming out the one side, I was looking across eastbound traffic, trying to see. So going across, she said, "I'm gonna get out," 'cause it's a bunch of wooded area that has houses there, it's just all rubble, you know, and just trees. So she'll stop, I'm gonna get out. She got out screaming, "Carly!" So what she did, I pulled into Evie's and parked. Took my little boy out with me and we started walking back to where my wife was.
Carly's mom, stepdad, and younger brother continued looking for her for another hour. They took all the back roads home, weaving in and out of different neighborhoods, Carly's mother Susan screaming Carly's name out the window as they drove. But the effort was fruitless. Susan's only wish was to witness her daughter, with her thick ash blonde hair and smile on her face, emerge from the woods unharmed.
You don't see her walking on B Ridge, you get all the way to the Lalani address. I didn't go to Lalani, I passed it because I've only been there, you know, once or twice. Okay. I passed Lalani, go down to the next intersection that was there and I made a U-turn and come back. Okay. Then I recognized the house around the corner now because I passed it. Once I saw it, it was too late. Okay. So that's when I make a U-turn and come back.
and I didn't see her outside. So I made it just right there, a little circle there. I come back out, went back down Bee Ridge to see her and never saw her. Alright. So I went all the way down to McIntosh, come in the back way by Nick's Bar because sometimes she'll come the back way because it's staying off, it's shorter for her that way. So I come down that way, I don't see her. So just before I get to the golf course, I come out, whatever that little road is there,
I turned left and then another left into Evie's and I looked I didn't see nobody I said because I thought maybe she went inside but you at this point Evie's is actually open yeah there's people of people okay Evie's was a landmark for Carly given that it was a center point between her and her friend's house it was a multi-building collection of businesses all under the same name
Evie's express car wash and mobile detailing, Evie's tavern and grill on Bee Ridge, and Evie's family golf center. Evie seems to have quite the enterprise. Inside the main building was a kid's arcade. Somewhere, Stephen thought his stepdaughter might have stopped on her walk home. When he didn't find her there, he thought perhaps she cut through Evie's parking lot and through another neighborhood to get back home quicker.
Over an hour had passed since they began looking for Carly, and Susan's heart was in the pit of her stomach, so she decided to call 911.
at about 7.30 p.m. 911, what's the location of the emergency? My daughter is missing. Has she been missing before? No, she had a fight with her girlfriend. She decided to walk home. And we've been driving around for about an hour and a half. And now it's not an hour and a half walk. She's gone. We can't find her anywhere. I've called all her friends. How old is she? Eleven.
And when was the last time that she was seen? It was at 6 o'clock, James. Around 6 o'clock. And she was at a friend's house? Yeah.
Okay, what's her name, ma'am? Carly, C-A-R-L-I, Inc. Her last name? Lucia, B-R-U-C-I-A. She's a white female? Yeah. Okay, what's her date of birth? 3-16-82. Okay, how tall is she? She's too shy of my feet. Do you know how much she weighs?
And what color hair does she have? And what color are her eyes? Do you remember what she was wearing? Um...
That's okay. The deputies will get that from you when they come in, okay? Does she have any medical problems? No. Okay. Where was the last place that she was seen? Did she leave her friend's house and that was the last time that anybody saw her? Yeah. Okay.
Is somebody there with you? Yeah. Okay. All right, we got the deputies coming over to meet you, okay? If you can get any information about what she was wearing when she left her friend's house, and you can tell the deputy. We're going to get that right now. Pardon me? We're getting that right now. Okay, you can give that to the deputy, okay? Yes. Okay? They'll be there as soon as they can. Okay. Okay. Did you say you were looking around for her for the last hour and a half? Yes. Okay.
Carly Bruscia never made it home that night. Police searched on and around Carly's potential path home until 3 o'clock in the morning. They resumed the search the next day and
By noon, a bloodhound tracked Carly's scent to an area behind Evie's car wash. That's where the scent trail stopped. But Evie's had security cameras everywhere. You know Evie. She doesn't miss a thing. Surely one of them caught Carly on tape. Carly Bruscia vanished February 1st, 2004, never making it home from a sleepover at a friend's house.
The next day, after talking with police about a missing girl in the area, car wash owner Mike Evanoff looks at tape from his surveillance cameras. Just came in and saw her walking and him walking and it's just right away when I saw it, it just threw chills and sugars right in my body. The video, grainy and only 10 seconds long, is chilling.
Carly is a half mile from her home. A man in a mechanic's uniform walks up to her outside the car wash. He leads her away. The manhunt begin. The video surveillance from Evie's car wash showed Carly clear as day. She was facing the camera, walking towards it unknowingly. And a man in a blue mechanic's shirt with a white nametag appears to approach her from the opposite direction.
We see his back to the camera, but clearly he grabs her arm and pulls her closer to him in a kind of aggressive way. Then he turns around to face the camera and pulls Carly out of frame by the wrist. That footage is the last time she's ever seen again. Shown on local and national television, the video brings hundreds of leads. Surely someone would recognize the man on the grainy tape. And they do.
On February 3rd, just two days after Carly's abduction, numerous tips came into the Sarasota Sheriff's Office, all pointing to one man: 39-year-old Joseph P. Smith. One of these callers even knew where the guy worked. Joseph was apparently a mechanic at a place called Saurus Autos. When detectives arrived at the auto body shop, they were greeted by a man who admitted he'd been the one to call in the tip himself.
He told detectives that Joseph was his friend and co-worker, but he had just seen the clip of Carly Bruscia's abduction on television and he immediately recognized Joe. The guy said that he called the shop's landlord and told him to turn on the news. He watched the clip and agreed. The guy in the footage was Joe. It had to be.
The coworker told police he didn't want to believe Joe would be capable of such a thing, but he wasn't sure because
He knew Joe did hard drugs and at the time he was separated from his current wife. This co-worker decided to call in so quickly because he thought of his own 11 year old daughter and what he'd want his community to do if she were missing. Imagine if we all lived by that role. The man in the CCTV footage apparently easily recognized by his community was wearing a name tag on his mechanics uniform.
But the grainy resolution of the video footage made it difficult to decipher. Interestingly, NASA had software all the way back in 2004 that was able to enhance grainy footage. It was called Video Image Stabilization and Registration, or VISOR for short. It was a million dollar piece of software, almost as expensive as our new app.
But NASA offered it to law enforcement in this case. And guess what? It fucking worked. The name tag matched what all of the callers were saying. It read, "Joe." Every day we rise, challenging ourselves to work for what we believe in. At U.S. Border Patrol, protecting our borders is more than a job. It's a calling. Agents answer the call.
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On February 1st, 2004, 11-year-old Carly Bruscia was staying at her friend's house just a little over a mile from where her own family lived in Sarasota Springs. Carly decided that she wanted to go home following a little argument she had with her friend and said she was going to walk. When Danielle's mother called Carly's parents to confirm she had permission to walk home, they said no, and Carly's mother sent her stepfather to pick her up.
But when Steve arrived, Carly was gone. After a massive search, Carly's scent was picked up by a bloodhound at Evie's Car Wash, a business located about halfway between Danielle and Carly's houses. CCTV camera footage showed Carly's abduction in broad daylight. Law enforcement narrowed the suspect down quickly with the help of hundreds of tips from the community and NASA's million-dollar visor technology.
As if all that wasn't enough of a jump start on this case, the suspect's own brother contacted law enforcement to say the exact same thing everyone else had said. "I recognize that guy."
The voice you're hearing is John Smith.
No, the other one. That's a joke because, you know, the name's John Smith. Anyway, this one was his brother and he suspected 39-year-old Joseph Smith as responsible for Carly's abduction. Joe Smith and John Smith. Their parents were really creative with the names, huh? Anyway, as you can probably tell by his accent, John and his brother Joseph were originally from Brooklyn, New York.
along with every other annoying new Floridian. John moved to Sarasota County in the 90s and Joseph followed him in 2003. Joseph, Sarasota's main suspect, was an auto mechanic. He was a two-time divorcee. Is it divorcee or divorcee? I don't know. And he had three toddler-aged daughters. A dad with a full-time job and three little girls
is not someone you'd usually suspect of kidnapping, someone else's little girl. But as we know, the world is a wretched place. Sunday, he called me just out of the blue. I haven't spoke to him in a month or so. He didn't even know how I'm doing. I said, I got to go. And I hung up on him. Then Monday, you know, this thing happened. I saw it on the 10 o'clock news. And I said to my girlfriend, I said, damn, it looks like my brother, doesn't it?
And then at 11 o'clock, my brother's knocking on my door. Monday morning? No, 11 o'clock at night. Oh, Monday night. Did I say Monday morning? No, no, you said 11 o'clock. 11 o'clock at night. Okay, Monday night. And remember, he lives far from me, so it's kind of odd for him to go out of his way. And I opened the door, you know, I was in just my bottom pants because I came in to go to bed. I'm like, what do you want? He's like, oh, I thought you wanted to talk to me. I'm like, what made you think I wanted to talk to you? He's like, no, I got to go to bed.
He's like, "Well, I need to talk." I'm like, "I don't really care. I'm going to bed. I gotta go." I closed the door and then left. It was just real strange. And like I said, the next day came and everyone's talking about it and people calling me, "Hey, I seen your brother on the news." And I'm like, "Don't say that's my brother because you don't know. He might look like him, but unless you're 100% sure, don't say it's him." I was getting a lot of phone calls.
Joseph had apparently struggled with back pain his entire life, turning to pills to self-medicate.
and eventually escalating to intravenous heroin use. Though he maintained a job somehow and looked and behaved relatively normally, Joseph's drug addiction got him into trouble numerous times for things like theft and possession. His most frequent target was his own brother John.
Most of it.
electronics, power equipment, stuff like that. Yeah, stuff that I usually leave out in the background. Like one time a paint sprayer, my mom was coming and I was doing a few test spots and I got interrupted. I left it there and a couple days later, you know, it was gone. You know, I live in a pretty good neighborhood. You guys know it's, you know. What part of town is it again? Sarasota Golf Club. Okay. There's no, it's a circle, so there's no passerby or there's no people walking around. I mean, for things to missing, you know who it is. I mean, it doesn't just, it doesn't happen over there.
We're too close over there. So, like I said, he's gotten me about four or five times. So before, you said he came over Monday night at 11. Monday night at 11. Prior to Monday night at 11, when's the last time you saw him? Face-to-face saw him December 24th. Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve. He went to go shake my hand and I pushed him and shoved him. We were all supposed to meet at my sister's house and he just robbed me the day before.
So I was still pretty mad. And then he picked up his kids and left. So that was like a family Christmas? Yeah, everyone was going to my sister's house. And, you know, I hadn't found out about that until a few hours earlier that it was actually him that did. I mean, I knew it was him when I first went home because first of all, he was missing. His wife, at 3 o'clock, he said, I'll be right home to his wife. 3 o'clock came, 4 o'clock came, 5, 6, 7, 8 o'clock came. His wife called me.
I said, "I gotta run home, drop money off to my girlfriend, and then I'll come back and I don't know what I'll do, but I'll be there for you."
I did just that and when I got home, I seen the spot where it was. I went inside and said, "Babe, did you put that snake in the garage? Because it was too heavy. I didn't think she'd do it." She's like, "No, I thought you did." I was like, "Motherfucker." So anyway, I know, with him missing, I know exactly, the two and two together. It's not the first time. I went to his house, waited for a little while. Then he called me on his cell phone and he said, "John, I'm trying to get in touch with everybody, but no one's answering the phone." I'm like, "Joe, cut this shit. I'm at your house.
come here now, I want my snake back. And he's like, what do you mean, what snake, what snake? I said, whatever, just get home, your kids are crying, your wife's crying, just get home. He was right around the corner. He came home,
And when he got out of the car, the first thing he said was, I mean, you'd expect him to say, I'm sorry, babe, you know, I'm missing all these hours. No, he's like, what is John talking about the snake? I was like, hello, whatever. You know, I said a few words to him, you know, his eyes were like this, you know, I know what he was doing. And I left. And then Christmas Eve came and we had that little altercation and that was it. And I didn't see him until Monday. Here's the biggest red flag of all.
Joseph had no alibi for the time Carly went missing. He was also missing Sunday. I don't know if you guys have heard that already. He was missing Sunday. What do you know about that? He was missing between, I think, 3 and 7.30 or 3 and 8. And he lied to three different people. That's the part that... I mean, I don't know if he's my brother, but if he did it, he's going to rot in hell because that's pretty shitty to go for a little child. But he told...
he told the people that he was staying with. Yeah, what are the stories that you know of? He told the people that he was staying with, he took their car, Mimi and Jeff, that's who he was staying with, because they were having problems at home because of all this drug shit.
He told them he was going to work. No, he told them he was going with his wife, I think. And they told his wife that he was working on someone's car. They told my mom that he was sitting in Marina Jacks looking at the water. You know, that's not my brother. He's not, you know, a sightseer or whatever. So everything was just like, oh, you know, you did it again. You know, the hell with you. And those were the hours he was missing. And then to see that on TV, you know, Monday, I mean...
Looks like the police had the right guy in their crosshairs and his brother John was spilling the beans.
Granted, it was probably because he had such a resentment built up against his brother after years of repeated thefts. But either way, John Smith was useful to police. And he'd prove useful later on also. The tips led police right to Joseph Smith.
Three days after Carly disappears, Joseph Smith is arrested at his house on cocaine possession and a probation violation. Police believe they have their man. These charges give them enough to hold him. Law enforcement pulled up to Joseph's last known address in an unmarked vehicle and knocked on the door. Joseph was staying with a friend because of his impending divorce. One of the neighbors indicated there was someone inside the house, so an officer knocked.
There was no answer. The officer called his supervisor to ask for some instruction and the supervisor told him Joseph Smith was on probation. So they called his probation officer to the scene. Eventually Joseph's sister showed up and told the cops she would go get her brother. They brought him out, they asked him a few questions regarding his whereabouts the day Carly was abducted, and they searched his room and car.
Joe acted like he had no knowledge of the abduction. Detectives even showed him a still photo from the CCTV footage at the car wash, and he replied, "That looks like me, but it's not me." You alright? I'm tired. Okay. It's been a long day. It's been a long day with you. Okay. I've spent a long day with you. I know we weren't together the whole time, but it's been a long day with you. Um...
This is gonna be exactly like out at your house, okay? Okay. We gotta sit down and we have to talk. Certainly, since I've left your house, I've been at work. But just like your house, I wanna just talk. You and I have some things to talk about, okay? 'Cause some of the things at the house, we gotta get straight. That's the most important thing. Okay. This room is about the truth.
It's the most important thing that goes on in this room, is the truth. But we're not at your house, we're at my house. Okay? And because we're at my house, and you're here, and I'm a law enforcement officer, and this is a police station, before we can talk, I have to read you your rights. Have you heard that before? Yeah. Adam 12 and TV. I was already advised to talk to a lawyer. Who advised you? A friend of mine. When did he invite you there? On the phone.
Okay. When did that happen? Hmm? When did that happen? When we had talked to. Okay. That means you and I can't talk. We should talk to a lawyer. The detective left Joseph in the interrogation room for about 15 minutes before returning. It's always a drag for cops when a suspect of an exceptionally horrible crime decides he needs to speak with a lawyer. But it's, you know, also his right.
In Joseph's case, he didn't have a lawyer yet. When I came out to your house, I told you the grave seriousness of my job. The most important part of my job is to attempt to locate this child. As such, I am willing to go to any lengths in order to work with you.
Do you have an attorney right now that I can contact to come down and talk to you? Would you like me to contact the Public Defender's Office and have a lawyer come down and talk with you right now? I'd like to talk to my family about it. This is an ongoing investigation. I have got to find that little girl. You have asked and requested a lawyer. I must provide you that lawyer, but this investigation has to go on.
In order for this investigation to continue, I need you to talk to that lawyer. Do you have one in mind? No, I don't. Can I contact the Public Defender's Office for you? And they can bring a lawyer down here. Yeah. Would that be okay? I guess. I'd rather talk to my family and see what they suggested with the lawyer. Do they have suggestions? Do they know a lawyer? Sure, my brother and my mother would know.
Is that a lawyer that you want to represent you? I know, I guess that they would know the direction to take. I mean, I don't know, you know, I didn't give this much thought, you know. Well, that's obvious. You were caught on camera. Joseph also had no idea that his brother had been blabbing up a storm about him. His family would be of no help at this point. I don't, I mean, you tell me first that it's something different.
And you go into the house and you tell me something different there. I mean, I don't understand. You weren't totally honest with me there. What's my job, to be honest with you, to find a little girl? That's number one. Number one. Yeah, but I mean... I can't discuss this case with you anymore. But I need to talk. You need to talk. Because this case has got to go. It's got to continue. You're the key person.
As such, I need to get a lawyer in here and he is going to sit down and talk with you. And then maybe through him, we can talk. Then again, you won't tell me what's going on. I don't understand. I guess, how would I even know that this lawyer is from the Public Defender's Office? I have a set of rules that I'm sworn to obey. Like you said, you know, this is a serious thing. I mean, I was supposed to be clear to this thing.
That's not so simple when cameras show you committing the crime. The whole community agrees it was you and your alibi doesn't add up. Things are not looking good, Joe. What is the public defender going to tell me? Is he going to tell me what's going on? Does he have any information? He will and then we can talk. That's what's got to be. I'm going to contact him now. Okay. Did you say something? Do you think that I could smoke or not?
It is a federal building. It's a law firm up in here. What do you mean? Like outside or something? Not right now. You like coming? Yeah, we're working on it right now. I need to talk to my family, see what's going on. Joe, once you have decided to speak to a lawyer, I am under an obligation to respect that right. Unless you revoke it and say, Detective Davis, okay, I want to talk to you.
But you have to do that, okay? As such, I can't talk to you. You have asked for a lawyer. I'm going to get you one from the Public Defender's Office, okay? I can't talk to you. You have requested a lawyer. What about my family? Why can't I call them? You can't call them because they're not part of this. These are the people that are telling me to get a lawyer.
You know, I want to talk to my parents or my brother. Joe, the people that gave you legal advice ain't here. Of course. I want to talk to them. It's just a phone call. Let them know what's going on. My mom's real concerned, you know? My brother, everybody. Okay. Yeah, Joe's brother was concerned, but he was concerned about whether or not Joseph had really committed this horrible crime because...
It sure was looking that way. Once they put Joseph in jail, they set up a little scheme with his brother John. John knew Joe would never ever confess to the crime if it was something he really did. It was so horrible, this would be a truth that Joe would take to his grave.
John suggested that if someone went to Joe and confessed to crimes that they'd committed that were similar to the ones Joe was accused of, then perhaps maybe he might be willing to open up about what he'd done. Well, that didn't work. Then a meeting between John, Joe, and their mother was arranged at the jail, but he wouldn't crack. He knew they were trying to get a confession out of him and didn't say a thing. But on February 5th,
It all came spilling out. Tell me about, and I'm talking about today, tell me about your first contact with inmate Smith. My first contact today was beginning of the shift. We have to feed the inmates normally around 4.30, and I handed him a food tray and a cold beverage, and that was it. What was his mannerisms, or did you observe anything about him?
He looked like he was under a lot of stress and his eyes were glassy, like he just got done crying. Did he say anything to you? No. And you gave him his food and left? Right. Tell me about the next contact you had with him. The next contact I had with Mr. Smith was when I got back the food tray from him when he was done eating. He was staring at me in a manner that he wanted to talk to me.
and that he had some things on his mind that he wanted to talk about. When he handed me the food tray, he told me that all this that was going on around him was very stressful and he wanted to end it tonight. Well, I instructed him that, first of all, I wasn't clear on what he meant by ending it, if he wanted to end his life or end the ongoing investigation. His response was that he wanted to speak to his attorneys
because there was just too much going on in his head and he wanted to get it out of his head. Now, he made it clear to me that he wasn't suicidal and that he wanted to confess to what was on his mind to his attorneys. Again, he said, I have to end this tonight. And at this point, he was demanding to see his attorneys. He wasn't hollering, but he was standing up against the bars, talking to me, squeezing the bars. You could see that the
you know, the frustration in his forearms that he wanted to speak to his attorneys right now. He then said that he wanted to put closure to this tonight. He then stated, I really fucked up. He then he asked me, Davino, how big is this right now? Meaning the media type of thing. And then he said, I think, I guess he finally realized that this is all over the place. Meaning,
Joseph then asked the officer if he can have the phones turned back on as they'd been turned off for the night already. He'd done this before for other inmates, so the officer agreed. Joseph called his brother and the officer tried hard to listen in
on the conversation. According to the timeline of events in this case, I'm assuming these jailhouse calls weren't recorded for some reason. And I guess John said to Mr. Smith that, Joe, I can't hear you, I can't hear you, can you speak up? And Joe, Mr. Smith started talking a little louder. I guess there was a vague connection in the phone or there was noise in the background because John could not hear anything.
Mr. Smith. He then said, "She's between two trees, not too far back." He then said, "Maybe by the tree line." And then he said to John, and at this point he was very emotional, his eyes were watering, he was choked up. He said, "John, tell mom I'm sorry. I was not thinking right. Please tell mom I'm sorry." Did he hang up or did he think he was cut off at that point? No, he hung up the phone.
very softly and walked back to his home. After his arrest, Smith's brother, John, visits him in jail, and later the brothers talk by phone. Later at the trial, John Smith testified about those conversations and against his brother. Did he say anything about how it ended? I asked, he wasn't sure. What do you mean? What did you ask? And try to speak up again. Remember, you've got to try to... I asked if she was dead.
And what did he say? He said, "I don't know if she could be." John Smith testified Joseph told him what he'd done to Carly Bruscia and that the body was hidden near a church. Was there an open field at the church? Yes. John Smith tells police where to find Carly Bruscia. February 5th, 2004, her body is found on the grounds of the Central Church of Christ in Sarasota. The body of a beautiful 11-year-old girl, Carly Bruscia, has been found.
Joseph Smith is under arrest for the abduction and murder of Carly. Joseph's phone confession detailed that he had raped Carly in a borrowed beige station wagon before strangling her and driving her to a field behind a church on Proctor Road. In a letter to John, Joe said that he took Carly's pink backpack and threw it into the water at Marina Jack in Sarasota.
Later on, Joe had more conversations with his mother and brother. In one of them, Joe's mother comforted him by telling him the best thing he could do was to try to explain it was an accident. Nice, right? Then she went on to tell him she knew he would never do something like this on purpose. But the news media and the community were all up in arms because of the severity of his charges. Joe clarified with his mother,
asking her if she knew what his charges were, and she said she did. She also asked him what she should relay. Toward the end, the brothers seemed to be discussing a plan that would have made them a lot of money. Here's a later interview of John Smith explaining what really went down during and after Joseph's first confession. He told me that he strangled her.
You know, that was what he told me when they put me together in that little jail cell, that little meeting there. And the reason why, when I came out, they said, "What did he say? What did he say?" I said, "He said nothing because he told me that he tied her up." And I thought, "I'll just drive over there, let her go," something like that. But after that, he started sending me letters and so forth, and, you know, in his own admission, and, you know, he choked to death.
John's admission is still slightly unclear, so let me fix that. When Joseph originally confessed to his brother, he seemed to be under the impression that though he raped Carly and choked her out, she may still be alive. Joseph told his brother John where he could find the body and John planned to drive out there to untie her, take a photo of her, and sell it to the media, then report his findings.
I guess they thought they would make John look like a hero, like a Batman character. So John did actually drive out to the church with intentions to carry out this ridiculous plan. But he couldn't find Carly's body. Joseph's mother and brother seemed to be enablers, even participators. Perhaps that's the reason John would later testify against his brother at trial.
acting as the prosecution's key witness. When Carly's body was found, she was, of course, no longer living. She wasn't found bound, but her extremities had markings suggesting she had been. She was found partially undressed, corroborating Joseph's confession of sexual assault, and there were markings suggesting Joseph had dragged Carly's body to its final resting place on the ground amid some trees.
This man who had young daughters himself had raped and murdered an innocent little girl he didn't even know. Whether he was using drugs or not, he felt entitled to someone else's child for his own sexual deviancy. And he jumped on the first opportunity he saw. Joseph pleaded not guilty to the charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery.
He wouldn't go to trial until late 2005. In the meantime, journalists and detectives were digging up disturbing things in Joseph's past that should have had him locked up long before he saw 11-year-old Carly Bruscia walking alone on that fateful Super Bowl Sunday. Every day we rise, challenging ourselves to work for what we believe in. At U.S. Border Patrol, protecting our borders is more than a job.
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With benefits for medical emergencies and evacuations, trip cancellations, travel delays and baggage mishaps, you can travel with perfect peace of mind. Learn more and get a quote at AllianzTravelInsurance.com. 39-year-old Joseph P. Smith pleaded not guilty to the crimes he committed against an innocent child, 11-year-old Carly Bruscia on February 1st, 2004. His DNA was found on her clothing.
Her body showed evidence of strangulation and sexual assault, and the fibers from the station wagon Joe was driving were retrieved from Carly's body. Joseph was unaccounted for during the exact stretch of time Carly went missing and was murdered. Joseph had even confessed his crimes in many different ways to his brother and mother. He spoke with them over the phone, he wrote letters, and eventually his brother John Smith
was called to testify against him. This was cut and dry. It re-traumatized the community to have to relive this crime two years later, but the jury made quick work of the whole ordeal.
You could feel the tension in the courtroom. The judge warned everyone, scream or shout and you're tossed out. And then came the verdict broadcast across the country. We the jury find as follows as to count one of the charges. The defendant is guilty of murder in the first degree as charged. Carly Brugge's mother broke down crying and said, thank you, Jesus. Carly's father simply nodded in approval.
Joseph Smith, guilty on all counts. Bailiffs began preparing to take Smith away when the judge had to slow them down.
Slow down for one second. Smith will be back in court a week from Monday when the same jury returns to recommend a life or death sentence. I will now be preparing to present further evidence on November the 28th and will be arguing that a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole is the best decision in this case. I lost one of the most precious things to me in my life because of an animal, a disgusting animal.
perverted animal. The jury took five hours to pour over the evidence. The surveillance video, the letter that Smith sent to his brother, and the recorded conversations between Smith and his mother where he admitted killing her. Uh, Joe, the best thing that you could do is just try and explain it was an accident.
And if Carly's mother could speak to Smith? Carly's family members weren't the only ones affected by this horrible crime. All of Carly's friends and classmates were on high alert.
Joseph's former wives and children had to deal with the shame of being connected to such a monster. And take this with a grain of salt given John's involvement in the aftermath of his brother's crimes, but he sees himself as a victim also. My life, my life crashed like you have no idea when all this shit happened. And he's the cause of it. He's the direct cause of it. You think he cares how many lives you ruined?
He doesn't give a fuck. All he wants is money for commissary. He does not give a fuck. I don't think he realizes what he's done to everybody. But still, don't you people realize who he is? He's a monster. He said, Molly, you killed a little kid. And you're not going to talk to me because I testify. That's crazy. But that's what happened. I have no family. None of my family would talk to me except my sister.
So not only did my whole life crash, no family talks to me, it's been rough. You know, I died. I dove real hard into drugs and the women. Ever since this happened, my life just, it just died. I can't even explain it. I testified. I did the right thing. None of my family talks to me. Only my sister. Nobody. Not my aunt.
Joseph's life was not virtuous.
not before he murdered Carly and not after. Joseph had already been arrested 13 times prior to his final act of violence, and he'd been on probation nearly constantly since 1993, often violating the terms. Joseph's brother believes Joe may have also been responsible for the murder of a young woman named Tara Riley in Bradenton, Florida, just four years before Carly's murder.
Tara Riley's naked body was found in a retention pond behind a Bradenton Walmart in 2000. Detectives looked into the case when it occurred, but it still remains unsolved to this day. Long story short, Joseph wasn't likely to have any willing character witnesses to speak on his behalf at sentencing, and a jury swiftly voted 10-2 in favor of the death penalty.
During his time on death row, Joseph watched TV, got some marriage proposals for some reason. I don't know what's wrong with you people. And his dear old mother even moved closer to the prison so she could visit him more often. How sweet. He began writing a 59-chapter manuscript detailing the woes of his life. Oh boy. Can't wait for that on Audible. In it, he blames all of his transgressions on his drug use. Oh, you poor little victim. Poor baby.
Oh, society should bend over backwards to help you. He and his lovely mother tried to shop the book around to publishers, but thankfully, they weren't interested. At least some of the media hasn't gone to complete shit. Not entirely, anyway. Joseph ended up living on death row until 2018, when the unthinkable happened.
A Suncoast prosecutor says the state will again seek the death penalty for the killer of Carly Boucher. A 4-3 decision by the court Thursday vacates the death sentence of Joseph P. Smith, who was convicted of raping and murdering the 11-year-old on the Suncoast in 2004. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decision found Florida's death penalty process unconstitutional.
unconstitutional. The Herald-Jubune reports juries must now unanimously agree on critical findings before judges can impose death sentences. Carly's father, Joseph Bruscia, calls the vote a travesty. It's one of two things. It's a trend of favoring the criminals over the innocent, the victims, or is it just more
way for attorneys to make billable hours because it certainly doesn't make any sense i mean it's it's a further thing from justice that comes to my mind the date of smith's new penalty phase has not yet been announced but brucia says he will be attending alongside family two years later joseph's death penalty status was reinstated then on july 26 2021 joseph smith passed away
at Union Correctional Institution in Rayford. He was 55 years old. Carly Bruscia was a little girl who liked classic little girl things. She had a lavender bedroom and a pink book bag. Posters of her favorite pop stars on the wall, stickers all over the surfaces of the furniture in her bedroom, and she was an innocent little girl. So full of excitement for life.
This degenerate fuck, this evil person, this inhuman monster, decided to take this sweet child away from her parents, away from her family, away from her friends, away from her home, away from this world. A memorial garden was set up for the beloved Carly, and it sits behind the central church of Christ at the spot where her body was recovered.
Carly's ashes were built into the memorial site itself. Unfortunately, Carly's mother, Susan Schorpen, passed away in 2017. And since then, reports seem to suggest that Carly's memorial has fallen into disarray. Though this was a case that law enforcement and the community seemed to come together in perfect harmony to solve, it was a case that really never should have happened. An innocent 11-year-old girl
made the impulsive decision to walk home and there are monsters out there. She unfortunately encountered one of them, an evil adult man who had his own impulses, his own deviant mind and zero self-control, like a wild animal waiting in the forest for slowly moving prey. Joseph spotted Carly and attacked.
All right, that does it. Go check out episode three, Shree Syverson, Sword and Scale Television. It's one of the best ones we've done so far. I mean, it really made me physically ill. Go check it out and stay safe.
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