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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. He put her in a truck hole again and held it for several minutes. He stopped, checked her pulse, and there was a wound. Welcome to Season 10, Episode 252 of Sword and Scale. A show that reveals that the worst monsters, you guessed it, are real.
This month marks the 10th year of Sword and Scale. I came up with this idea in October 29th of 2014 on my birthday, by the way. Thank you. Thank you for wishing me a happy birthday. Yeah, and now 10 years later, here we are. It's amazing. Life is really fucking weird sometimes. ♪
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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,
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. On July 25th, 2010, a woman named Tracy Stevens found herself at the Pickneyville Police Department. She had reported her youngest daughter, 15-year-old Sydney Stevens, missing over a week ago. Now things were getting serious.
No one had heard from her. When did you report her missing? Monday morning, the 19th, around 7 o'clock in the morning is when I called 911. Is that when you found her missing? Yeah. Okay. Do you think she crawled out her bedroom window? No. The way that my house is set up, it's split level, and her room is the entire downstairs. It's actually a two-bedroom house, and I also have a 17-year-old daughter. Where do you live at?
In case you haven't figured it out, Pickneyville is a very small town. The kind of place where everyone knows each other. In 2010, the town had just over 5,000 residents. We're talking tiny.
It was unusual for teenagers to disappear in towns like this. In Tracy's modest split-level house, Sydney's bedroom was the entire downstairs floor. Okay, so she had basically the run of the downstairs, that split level. Right. We gave my son the bedroom upstairs because he's the boy and we couldn't have them all share in a room. And then the downstairs, because it's pretty good size, I'm going to have to put this on silent.
This is her, Sydney's dad. Can I please answer this one? Sure. Hello? Tracy's phone was ringing off the hook. Sydney's disappearance was making the rounds through their family as well as the small town. Sydney had an older half-sister, Dakota, who was 17, and an older half-brother named Zachary. Dakota and Sydney were raised together by Dakota's father until Tracy revealed that Sydney was not actually his biological daughter.
Sydney found this out when she was just a little girl and it really rocked her sense of being. So you found her missing on the 19th? Yeah, the morning of the 19th. I've told this story so many times. Ma'am, I'm sorry. I know. I know. It's okay because I went to bed Sunday night about 1130, quarter till 12. She was there.
She was in a good mood. She was fine. She had been playing with the dog. Her and the dog were sharing string cheese. They were sharing popsicles. Me and her were watching Squidbillies together. Let me ask you this. Who lives in the house with you? Me and Sidney and my daughter Dakota. Okay. And was Dakota at home during this time? Dakota had stayed the night at her boyfriend's house. And what's his name? Chad Bennett.
He lives with his grandparents out in Charlotte Hills. Dakota was out with her boyfriend, Chad, so it was just Sydney and Tracy at the house. While Tracy was on the family computer, Sydney played with her dog, sharing a popsicle in a cup. So her and the dog are both drinking out of this cup. Whatever they do. I know it sounds disgusting, but those two do it all the time. She had wrecked her bike on Saturday.
because it was like 7:30 Saturday night before I even, Randy even come and pick me up. She had wrecked her bike on Saturday and had scratched up her legs and hurt the palm of her hand. I mean, and it was just that palm of her hand was just really bad. She was mad because she wrecked her bike and because her friends weren't home that was supposed to be home because they were supposed to go camping and the friends apparently- - That was on a Saturday night, she was-
That was Saturday evening. Sydney was upset with her friend, but this wasn't unusual. Sydney was plagued with emotional problems. She lived for drama, and most people didn't want it. They knew the things that she had done in the past. They didn't want to deal with it. She was alone. It was a lot just to be her friend.
And she'd have friends for very short periods of time and then the next thing you know, I never see or hear from them again. And I was like, so whatever happened to so-and-so? Oh, well, they did this and pissed me off or blah, blah, blah. Or they said this about me or said that about me. It was always somebody else's fault. She's a teenager, first of all. And second of all, she's bipolar. Sydney was a moody, sensitive teenager. And this was exacerbated by her bipolar disorder.
Sidney's mental illness was finally taken seriously after Tracy found her in the laundry room of their house with a rope around her neck. She was trying to hang herself. Sidney was hospitalized and her whole life changed. Tracy was scared to leave her alone. After that, things had gotten really bad again, which resulted in Tracy having to install a lock on her own bedroom door. Sidney threatened to kill me.
and was hospitalized for that about two years ago. She made threats that she had a plan one night that she was going to slit my throat and then go drown herself in the bathtub. Who was going to help her? She was going to do it all by herself, apparently. Sydney also ran away from home often, but she was always found. She'd be spotted or one of her friends would call Tracy. This time things were different. It had been a week.
Plus, Sydney left her purse in her bedroom when she vanished and none of her shoes were missing. That didn't make sense.
and
The end of April, I had surgery and she got suspended from school. I took her cell phone away from her because she got suspended from school. Sydney had been in some trouble lately. Dakota and Sydney weren't getting along. Tracy was chalking it all up to the fact that she had two teenage girls under one roof. After finishing up on the computer, Tracy decided to go to bed. I told her, I said, well, I'm going to bed. I said, you know, I'll see you later. She says, do you have to work in the morning?
What time do you think that was? 9 times out of 10, she hates me because I'm momma.
She don't like my rules, she don't like anything. So when she says, "Love you," I can say it and there's times she will not answer me. So these times she answered me. So that's how I know she was in a decent mood. Sydney was happy the night before she vanished. That's what was so odd. Whenever Sydney disappeared in the past, she had been building up to a manic episode. Everyone could tell something was about to implode. This time, Sydney was calm.
The next morning, she was gone. - You know, something's wrong and I've been telling the police all week long, something with all of this is not right. I haven't stayed at my house Monday night and Tuesday night. This and sin, I feel like I'm being watched
And Dakota gets the same feeling. I feel like I'm being watched. There's something creepy about my house and neither one of us will go in there without each other or somebody else. - Why do you think something? - I just, it's just-- - You think something would maybe happen here? - I don't know. It's just a gut feeling that something's wrong. Another thing Dakota found
On her vanity, which is by her bed on the other side of the room, she found the stuff on her vanity had been knocked over. Dakota just picked all that up and just kind of sat it back up because it's not a very sturdy vanity and it wouldn't take a whole lot to bump it. It's just that real thin. When did she find that? That was Monday evening when me and her were looking through Sydney's room trying to figure out if something was missing. And is there anything that you can think of of who would want her?
But the reason Tracy was at the police station was because that morning, they had found a body.
Two men had been fishing in the local river and spotted something floating in the creek. When the police arrived, they pulled up the body of a young woman. She was waterlogged and banged up. She was unrecognizable. The body had ratchet straps tied around her waist at one end and it was tied to a cinder block on the other. Whoever this was had suffered multiple bullet wounds to the head.
The only identifying factor on the body was a piece of jewelry. The dead girl wore a silver necklace with a little musical note charm. We've got to try to identify this person we found. We hope it's not your daughter. I just have a really bad feeling. The detectives pushed a photograph toward Tracy of the silver music note necklace. We found something. Have you ever seen that before? I've never seen that. That was...
The girl was Sydney.
The 15-year-old had been shot in the head, then tied to a cinder block and thrown in the river. But who on earth in this tiny, close-knit town would want to kill Sidney?
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15-year-old Sydney Stevens had been found shot dead in a creek and tied down in the water. The teenager had a history of mental illness and running away. Sydney's mom, Tracy, had reported the troubled teen missing a week prior and told police that Sydney had a long history of running away and suicide attempts and that she was also bipolar. Sydney had lost a lot of friends over the years and had dated some boys in town.
But her mother couldn't think of anyone who would want to kill her. Starting from the inside and working their way out, the detectives soon brought in Sydney's sister, 17-year-old Dakota, for questioning. They were only two years apart and hung out in the same social circles, though they didn't always get along. Dakota knew her sister. Maybe she could shine a light on her social life.
Can you tell me about your and Sydney's relationship? Well, we got along great till puberty. Then it was the don't touch my stuff, I hate you, fall off the face of the earth kind of thing. Typical teenage sister. Yeah. Thanks. But, like, we got along great unless I was on my period or she was on her period, then we absolutely did not want to be around each other. Sure. But other than that, we got along great unless she was trying to take my stuff and we were fighting about chores or something.
Though the sisters both loved emo music, punk bands, and dressed like your typical small town teenage goth chicks, Dakota and Sydney were very different people.
Dakota is, you see her room, there's, yeah, there's dust bunnies all over the place, but everything is lined up, everything is organized. Dakota is OCD, and she knows. You can go in and move something a quarter of an inch, and she's going to walk in and immediately know that there's something wrong in that room. So let's talk about Sydney and her disappearance, what everybody originally thought it was. Where were you?
when you were notified of her disappearance? - I was at my boyfriend's house. - And who's your boyfriend? - Chad Bennett. - Okay, does he live here in town? - Yeah. - Where's he live at? - I don't know his address, but it's the same little subdivision that Plumlee lives. - Okay, who called you? - My mom texted Chad and said, "Have to go to call me when she wakes up." And then he woke me up and said, "Call your mom." And then that's when she asked if I knew where Cindy was or anything, and I was like, "No."
That's why Dakota said she wasn't super concerned. Sydney had gone missing many times. In fact, she'd run away just last summer, but was found hiding in the woods when she ratted herself out to a boy she had a crush on.
Dakota said that on the night Sydney disappeared, she came home briefly with her boyfriend, Chad. She only saw Sydney for a minute in the kitchen. I went in the kitchen one time to make food, and all she said was, why are you putting that in the microwave? Okay. And other than that, she was just Sydney. And when you were there from 11, 11.30 to 3, 3.30, you were there.
Dakota and Chad left and went to meet some of their friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. Then they went out and did whatever dumb things teenagers do.
Dakota slept over at Chad's house. The next morning, Sydney and Dakota's mom, Tracy, called her daughter to tell her that Sydney was missing. And you call your mom. Yeah. And like you said, Sydney's gone. So what time do you go back to your house? I think his grandma dropped me off about noon.
Chad leaves work about 1:45 and it takes him a little over an hour to get ready. I think she took me and him to my house at noon because he went with us to drop me off. Where does Chad work? Gilsters and Chester. Chad and Dakota had been dating for a while now and things were as serious as serious gets in teenage land. Dakota was obsessed with Chad. He was her entire world. Tracy was not happy about any of this.
Chad wasn't exactly the kind of guy you wanted your daughter to be dating. He was thuggish, moody, a troublemaker. And if that wasn't bad enough, he ran his own gang called the P-Town Saints.
So what's the deal with this? Explain this gang to me that they're all in. I have no clue. I find it stupid and I told them that it's stupid because if you're going to live in a town of 5,000 people where the majority of the people are prisoners, you don't have a gang. Right. We forgot to mention that about Pickneyville. Even though the town has about 5,000 people, 2,200 of those residents are actually inmates at a prison.
But they classify themselves as a gang. I'm not quite sure. I think something happened with the cops and the cops started calling it a gang. I don't remember really. Well, what, uh, why would you think the cops would classify it as a gang? Because at first, from what I understood of it, it was just a whole bunch of friends that had each other's back and it was...
Dakota was playing it down, but the P-Town Saints took themselves very seriously.
Dakota had become the queen bee of their little crew right after she and Chad became official. What an honor. See, every one of them know that if me and Chad are together and they call, and then if I say no, that's how it goes. That's how it goes, okay. Because I'm Chad's girlfriend, and if I don't want him hanging out with someone, or it's just supposed to be me and him, if they have a problem with it, they can take it up with me. Okay, sure. So you know what that's telling me? What?
You're the head girl in the gang. Dakota had become instantly cool when she started dating Chad. That's what happens when you start dating a Chad, you become instantly cool. Didn't you ladies know that? She was someone now to be feared and revered. You can be too, ladies. Just go find yourself a Chad. Check the phone book. If y'all still know what that is, I guess. But Dakota wasn't always a cool girl.
When she was little Dakota was extremely strange. Tracy reported that for an entire year when she was in grade school Dakota was convinced that she was a dog and insisted that everyone treat her like a pet. She didn't speak, she just barked. What is it? Dogkin or caninekin? Animalkin? These degenerate furries will stop at nothing. I'll tell ya. After about a year of this nonsense
She stopped and went back to being herself again. As Dakota grew into a teenager, she became moody and gravitated towards emo and punk. She was obsessed with Kurt Cobain and Twilight Brooks, whatever that is. Sidney really looked up to her big sister. She wanted to be just like her. I was going to ask you about Chan. How was his relationship with Sidney going?
What did you always pick up on? He didn't like Sydney a whole lot, kind of. I mean he tolerated her because it was his girlfriend Dakota's little sister, you know. She never really, there was a just a one or two times that I can remember that they ever even like went together somewhere. Like if Dakota was going, I don't think Sydney ever went alone with Chad anywhere.
When you talked to her before, you said that Sydney really liked Chad. She liked him. But as far as him liking, I mean, her, then he didn't really care for all the men. Sydney was different because of her being bipolar. And she would, Sydney was all about drama. And Chad seemed that he didn't want a lot to do with the drama.
I think more than anything, she just kind of got on his nerves. Tracy admitted that Chad and Dakota would be annoyed if she asked them to keep an eye on Sydney. But the only thing that I think what I was going to say earlier is the only thing that I could think of that Chad, why he wouldn't like her, because with Sydney being bipolar, there were times like whenever I'd go to work or if I had plans to go and do something or whatever, Dakota wasn't able to go and do what she wanted to do.
because I would have to have her stay with Sidney. Not all the time. There was dependent on how Sidney's mood was and how she'd acted days before as to whether or not I would leave her by herself or if I would make sure that Dakota was with her. Then the police got a hold of Chad. So I understand you're Dakota's boyfriend, is that right? Yeah. And how long have you and Dakota been together? On the 20th of this month, it'll be a year and a half.
Okay. So you've been around Sydney for a little while during that time frame? Yes, sir. I didn't really talk to her too much. I mean, that's just every now and then we'd have little conversations. Like, say, my old lady was in the shower.
You know, something like that. So did you and Dakota ever hang out with her and her boyfriends or anything? No. You guys never went places together or anything like that? Nope. She was really jealous of me and Dakota, like what we had, because we've lasted for so long and her boyfriends will last for maybe a week, if that. Chad claimed that Sidney would go through boyfriends quickly and that he didn't really know any of them.
Except that time she dated his good friend, Carl Dane. Who was her boyfriend that she'd been seeing over the last four, five, six months? Anybody in particular? Well, I don't know. She was with my buddy Carl for maybe two weeks. Who's Carl? Carl Dane. Carl Dane, you said? Yeah. Oh. Because they were together for a little bit, like I said, maybe two, two and a half weeks.
But I know as soon as her and Carl broke up, she got real mad at him because he's the one that left her because she cheated or whatever. And what time frame would that have been in? When would that have happened when Carl was with her? It would be before she ran away the first time. The police decided they should get in touch with Carl Dane, see if he knew anything about what happened to Sidney.
But before they reached him, they got a call from Sidney's older brother, who said that when he ran into Carl a day prior, Carl had told him that he witnessed Sidney's murder. Carl Dane was a greasy teenager with a shaggy mushroom cut and a red goatee. The cops were familiar with Carl Dane.
He had been arrested for minor charges over the years, mostly drugs and stealing. So they brought him in for, you know, a little chat. I want to know what you know about what happened, Sid. I don't know anything. Did you talk to anybody last night? No, but I was chatting. Did you talk to anybody about any of Sidney's family recently? I talked to her brother yesterday over at McDonald's. Okay, and what did you tell her brother yesterday at McDonald's?
Nothing really. He was asking if I knew anything and I said I didn't. So you didn't tell her brother that you witnessed the whole thing? No. You're sure about that? Yeah, I didn't tell him nothing. I didn't tell him that. What did you tell him? I told him I didn't know anything about it. Well, I mean, don't you think that's pretty far off from, I mean, those two statements are just completely opposite, aren't they?
So how can anybody make a mistake about what you said? I don't know. So did he get mad at you after you talked to him? He seemed pretty pissed while I was talking to him. Why did he seem so pissed? It's his sister that all this shit happened to. I'd be pissed if something happened to my sister too. Carl's story was suspicious and he was acting sweaty and strange. You seem pretty nervous. Is there any particular reason why you're nervous?
I'm not really, no, I don't really like being in the cop stations. - Did you used to date Sydney? - Yeah. - When? - Like March over here at four. - How long? - About a week. - One week? Why did it end so quick? - Well, she got mad one day because I didn't take her fishing and she just left, you know? So I went up to school the next day and I'm like, "Hey, if you're gonna act like that, you know, we done."
so you broke up with her and she didn't break up with you yeah basically so did you ever make any statements to somebody anybody about uh being mad at sydney i was mad at her for a little bit but i got over it why were you mad at her since you broke up with her just the way she acted when we were together which was how she didn't get away she got mad carl said that he and sydney only dated for a week or so and that they did normal couple stuff
the relationship wasn't that big of a deal where did you and sydney go since you were dating at the time sat up in the park you know when i'd say like no i'm not at her house the longer the detectives talked to carl the more they realized he was just a nervous lying teenager you remember where you you were on um sunday night the what was that 18th 18th i was sitting at home it's pretty quick answer how do you know where you were that long ago
I just remember, you know, I remember what I'm doing, you know, every once in a while. Carl claimed he was home with his friend James Glazier. Nothing happened. They just hung out. Carl wove a story as he nervously tapped his toe and stuttered. When did you hear about what happened to her? About her missing? Like, Monday afternoon?
This last Monday? Or the Monday before? The Monday before. How'd you find that out? Chad called me and was like, "Hey, you know, Sidney went missing." Okay. And when did you find out that Sidney was dead? Just a couple days ago. You know, it was on the news. Nobody told you? You just saw it on the news? Yeah. Nobody's talked to you about it since then? Not really.
After the interview, detectives took Carl back to his grandfather's house, where he'd been living for a while. When they walked onto the property, the police were taken through the garage and spotted something jarring. A pile of cinder blocks and the same orange ratchet straps. The exact same two things that had been tied to Sidney's dead body in the creek.
They immediately arrested Carl and took him back to the station. Before they even read him his rights again, Carl said this: "How you doing Carl?" "Alright." "You never missed a spot." "Just hang in there a minute, okay?" "Man, what you can tell me how many years I'd be looking at if I was a guy?" "What's that?" "What you can tell me how many years I'd be looking at if I was a guy?" "If you was a guy?" "Oh, you THE guy you mean?"
We'll talk about that when Tim comes in and we'll talk about it all together, okay? Show me how you confess to a murder without actually confessing to a murder. That's how. What is it you need to tell us? The person that killed him. You were the person that killed him? Sidney Stevens. Sidney Stevens. And how'd you do that? Well, neither of the doors were unlocked. So I climbed up on the porch. That door was unlocked so I walked in there.
Carl spoke quietly as he confessed to kidnapping Sydney out of her bedroom that Saturday night and stuffing her into his car.
- When you say you choked her out, what do you mean by that? - So, because she passed out. - With your hands? - Yeah. - And she didn't try to struggle or anything? - She tried. - Didn't scratch you, didn't do nothing like that? You were shaking your head no? - No, she didn't. - So who else was in the car? - Nobody. - Okay, so did you try to restrain her in any way? - No, I put her in the trunk, took her to the bridge, shot her a couple times, pushed her off. - What car were you in? - The Pontiac.
Carl said that after he shot Sidney and threw her off the bridge, he went back a few days later with that ratchet strap and the cinder block
so he could tie it to her and keep her under the water. And how many times did you shoot? I shot four times. I don't know how many times I hit. Shot four times. With what? 22 pistol. Where's that pistol at? Bottom of the lake. What lake? I'm not too sure. It's somewhere up here in the... Could you show us? I really can't remember where it's at. I went out and got it from my sweater.
- Okay. Where did you get the .22 pistol? - Found it. - Well, I know you didn't find it, but what did that pistol look like? - It looks like a old-time Luger. - Okay. Was it a Ruger? - Yeah, it's a Ruger. Ruger .22. - Why all of a sudden did you decide to do this at this point? - Mm-hmm. - What triggered it? Did you see her somewhere or something? - I don't really know. I just heard she was a snitch. - Okay.
Carl's story wasn't adding up. It would have been very tough for him to handle this operation all on his own. Not impossible, but it's unlikely.
Plus, by his own admission, Carl dated Sidney for a week before they broke up. That's not much of a motive to murder someone, even for teenagers. The cops knew Carl was a part of the P-Town Saints when they brought in James Glazier. They found out he was also in the gang.
With his childlike speech impediment, James seemed years younger than he actually was.
I mean, he sounded like about 12 and not 17. But in the grand scheme of things, these boys were all still kids. Their brains were not fully developed yet. And here they were at the police station being questioned about a murder. That's some great parenting, guys. James took his duty as head soldier of the P-Town Saints very seriously.
and told the cops the basic rules of the gang. We don't hit women, we don't lie to each other, we don't steal from each other, and we're always by each other's side no matter what. You said you're third in command? Who's the two ahead of you? Carl and Chad. Carl who? Dang. How do you mean he's ahead of you? He's second in command. Okay.
James said he was at Carl's house the night that Sidney disappeared. In fact, James had been living at Carl's grandpa's house for weeks.
Now that the cops had Carl's confession, they knew that James was wrapped up in this too. To my knowledge, your name has been brought up and now you're going to be charged and you're not going to leave here. Now's not the time to play games. Now's the time for the truth. If you want to talk to us, we're more than happy to talk to you to get to the bottom of it because that little girl did not deserve what happened to her. I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't motor no one.
The people that was there with you said you was there and you was in on it. I didn't do anything. I wasn't no well. I was at Carl's. You was with Carl. You know where Carl is? I think he's at his mom's. No. He's sitting back here. He is in jail. For what? You think he did it? He is charged with first... He said he did. With first degree murder. When did he do it?
That's when James asked to stop and have an attorney present. The cops agreed and left the room. After a while, they came back and James changed his mind. He didn't want a lawyer. He was willing to talk. He just wanted his mom there with him. So they brought her into the room.
No.
James confessed everything. Carl hadn't done this alone. Then there was another boy there from the gang, Robbie Mueller.
They all drove to Sidney's house in Carl's grandpa's car. Literal children murdering other children. He told us on the way what he was doing. He said if we ever talk...
When they got to Sidney's house, James and Carl snuck in together while Robbie waited outside.
as the lookout. James tried to get Sidney to come with them, but she fought.
That's when James and Robbie tackled Sydney and choked her until she passed out. Then Robbie and Carl dragged her out the door while James pulled the car around.
They shoved Sidney's limp body inside and Carl took over in the driver's seat. And then we got back in the car and Carl told us that if we ever talked and he made this clear, he would kill us on the spot. So who drove? He did. And where'd you guys go? We went down to almost to Cutch Town, down by the bridge. I closed my eyes, Robbie turned around and Carl put like four shots out of it.
Carl shot Sidney and then gave his instructions. He pointed the gun at me and Robbie and told us to push it right. And we did. He told me to kick right here and told Robbie to push right here. And when I did, the whole body went with the head. James and Robbie kicked Sidney's lifeless body through the rails and she tumbled down into the water with a splash. The boys got in the car and left. So then what did you guys do? Went back, buried the gun, buried the clothes,
Listen to James' reaction here. He's truly shocked that the cops found the gun they buried. Teenagers can be so fucking shortsighted, literally stupid, yet they think they're so much smarter than everyone else. Have you noticed?
After burying the gun, they buried all the clothes they were wearing along with their latex gloves. Nobody will find those.
Just like Carl had confessed, they came back a few days later and attached the cinder block and ratchet straps to Sydney's body. - I did not really feel like touching the body. I wasn't seeing anything, so I just wrapped it like right here. - On her arm? - Yeah, and threw it in. - Well, how did you get to her? She was in the water. - No, she was underneath the bridge and she floated back up towards the land. - The detectives wanted to know if Chad knew about this. After all, he was their gang leader.
The original gangsta. Since Chad's the leader, what do you know about this? I think, I'm pretty sure he probably knows. He knew. I don't know if he was the one who told Carl to do it or Carl told Chad he was doing it. But I think Chad might have knew. I mean, I don't know though because Code is Chad's girlfriend.
And Dakota?
Well, Dakota had claimed she knew nothing about any of this, even though she was the queen of the P-Town Saints. But then Tracy said something in passing that stopped the detectives dead in their tracks. Sidney wrote a lot of things down. Thoughts, feelings, things that were kind of weird, in my opinion. There had been rumors a while back and somewhere written down in a notebook that
Though Dakota played it off like she was the most confident girl in the world, she was always a little skeptical of Chad when it came to other girls. No.
Okay, yes. I was going to say, don't even go there. Don't even go there. It's only to see you. We text, but most of the time it's just text messages from me. Okay, did you look at his phone that night? No. When did you look at it? I've looked at it in over a month since I looked at it. Because there's been, I've heard sometimes that he was cheating on me. So I was looking through his phone to see anything and I never seen anything. But it was just people trying to start stuff.
If Dakota admitted she would be very, very, very upset if Chad cheated on her with another girl,
How much rage would fill her if she thought that girl was her own little sister?
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Learn more at cbp.gov slash careers. Sydney Stevens was a troubled teen with bipolar disorder and a history of running away from home. But this time, she'd really gone missing. She was found dead in a creek, and her ex-boyfriend Carl Dane, along with his friends James Glazier and Robbie Mueller, had admitted to kidnapping and murdering Sydney.
The boys all belonged to a gang named the P-Town Saints and the head of the gang, Chad Bennett, also happened to be Sydney's older sister's boyfriend. Carl, James and Robbie were all arrested for Sydney's murder. But it was still unclear as to who truly killed Sydney. James confessed to choking Sydney until she passed out while Carl admitted to shooting her. However,
If she was already dead when Carl shot her, then James was the one who actually caused her initial death, not Carl. The police needed to figure this out, if only for the benefit of the family. Sydney's sister Dakota and Chad basically walked free. Dakota was arrested briefly for obstructing an investigation but was released.
There was nothing concrete tying them to the murder other than the suspected motive and their affiliation. Carl, James, and Robbie didn't have any real motive to murder. Sydney either, other than the fact that they didn't like her. But Dakota had a motive. She thought Sydney had slept with Chad and she was sick of the fact that she had to babysit her sister's mental illness all of the fucking time.
While Carl, James, and Robbie sat in jail, Dakota and Chad went on living their lives. They even talked about getting married. Tracy was beside herself. Because Chad got Dakota something for her birthday that cost over $800 and she thinks it's an engagement ring. Dakota was about to turn 18 and Tracy knew that her daughter would no longer be under her legal guardianship.
Like the police, Tracy also had a feeling that he was behind Sidney's murder plot. So Tracy asked her boyfriend's daughter...
to try to talk with Dakota. And I had texted Laura and a couple other family members asking them to please talk some sense into her to not marry this jerk, basically, because I've talked to her until I'm purple in the face and it gets me nowhere. Well, Laura, instead of calling to talk to her, actually came out to mine and Randy's house this evening and sat outside for a
The cops got Laura on the phone and she relayed what Dakota had confessed.
I said, "But if Chad is so innocent, then let the evidence prove that he's innocent and you have nothing to worry about." I said, "But you're sitting here worried right now. So correct me if I'm wrong." And she just kind of looked up and she started bawling. And I said, "You know more than people know you know. And I know that." I said, "And I have known that." And she just, all she'd do is kind of shake her head, "Yeah." Shake her head, "Yeah." Shake her head, "Yeah."
And I said, now, you tell me, is it fair? You want to keep your boyfriend, but your mom didn't get to keep her daughter. And I just kind of, and it sounds horrible, because I was crying too. Honest to God, I do care about the girl. But I just kind of kept, and it sounds mean, but I just kept kind of breaking her down and breaking her down and breaking her down. And I said, now look.
Let me help you. I can help you. I can help you have a future. You can go to college. You can, you know, all the reality of things. I said, or you can keep things the way they are and either end up in prison because you look like a liar because you're not talking or end up in a mental institution because it'll fester at you enough. You'll lose your mind. Dakota was a scared little girl pretending to be tough. So she told Laura that
She would talk to the cops on her terms. She's like anti-authority 17-year-old kid. She doesn't want it to be an interrogation on her. And I told her it wouldn't. It'd be polite. Questions being asked. Okay, you know, what about this? You know, and...
It really needs to be anonymous as possible because she's scared. I think there's more than she even let on to me because she didn't say a whole lot, but she would agree or disagree. There was a lot more than Dakota let on and everyone was about to find out.
In the fall of 2012, Robbie Mueller decided to give a proffer statement to police, clarifying who actually killed Sidney that night and why they all plotted her murder. Maybe Robbie was trying to save his own butt, but maybe he was telling the truth. The state needed to charge these kids. Sidney needed justice and justice.
this would get them one step closer. I was by the door and they walked up to her. James went to put some tape around her mouth and she took it off and stood up and I guess thought it was a joke because she just stood up like normal and didn't act like anything was going on and then Carl had the gun pointed at her and that's when she kind of was flipped out and James grabbed her and they wrestled to the ground and everything and
This is just so sick and vicious.
These boys had a rule in their gang, no hitting women. Yet, kidnapping and choking a woman until she passed out was somehow acceptable. Started to bring her outside right after we got out the door. She woke up again. He said, put her in it again. I did. And we ended up stumbling over, I guess, where the fire was at or something like that, because I know I tripped and fell on my back. James ended up putting her in a chokehold and...
According to Robbie, it was James who killed Sidney with his chokehold. If Sidney was dead when they put her in the car, then Carl's gunshots were not murder.
Robbie also told the cops that the P-Town Saints had some rules everyone had to follow. Yeah, you're not supposed to talk about stuff over the phone. Not supposed to associate with Sidney, which I would. That was part of the game's rules, or excuse me, the P-Town Saints rules. You couldn't talk to certain people. And one of them was Sidney. Yeah. It was unclear as to who made this rule, Dakota, Chad, or Carl.
But it was a rule that the gang had written down on paper and told every member to memorize and follow. Robbie then said that he heard Chad, James, and Carl planning Sydney's kidnapping and murder.
Did you hear that? "I'll make sure Dakota leaves the door unlocked"? James, Carl, and Robbie were all looking at life sentences. If they could prove their involvement, Chad and Dakota could face the same.
The town was disgusted with this savage murder and the state wanted these bullies to pay. About a week after Robbie's proffer statement, the cops had Dakota back in to talk. Now, she had dyed pink hair and it was cut short. She looked skinny and sickly as she sat down. Here's the thing. Jessica tells us that you made a statement about...
You knew that they were going to try to scare Sidney the night of the murder. Jessica tells us that, okay? Jessica also tells us that you unlocked the door for Chad, the sliding glass door. Remember on the balcony? She said, you guys talked about that. Now, you remember when I talked to you about that, you never would admit to me.
that you unlocked the door for Kat, okay? - I didn't unlock the door for him. - Why would Jessica tell you that? Tell us. She has nothing to gain. She has nothing to gain. She didn't, 'cause see what, she didn't know. The reason she's saying that is she's saying that you believed that, this is supposed to be what you told her, is that you believed that they were gonna come and scare her.
because of the sleeping deal with Chad, with Sidney and Chad possibly sleeping together. And hold on, let me finish, and then you can go. While she was briefly locked up, Dakota confessed to her cellmate that she had left the door unlocked so the boys could scare Sidney. And she did it because her sister had slept with Chad. She's saying that you did it so that they could come in and scare her, not to kill her.
And, you know, she's not adding to this. She's saying, you know, she even says in her statement, she told me that if she knew that they were going to kill her sister, that she wouldn't have done it. I mean, that's too detailed. This doesn't make sense with what you're saying. See, I don't remember telling her that, though. And this one here, she says that you come in
and told how much you hated your sister and was glad that she was gone. And then she asked me why I was in jail and I told her what it was for. And I said, well, I think it's
While Dakota was whimpering to the officers, Chad was down the hall and they were about to arrest him.
Do you think Chad is going to protect you anymore? He wasn't doing it to begin with. Well, you know, I think Chad was protecting himself at the beginning on those interviews that we conducted with him, and I still think he was protecting you. But what you have to understand is Chad isn't ready to be arrested right now, too. One of these days, what's Chad going to tell us? That's going to hurt you down the road. I had everything.
The police pressed Dakota for hours until she finally cracked.
It took two years, but she admitted to the truth. What did you do to that door? Tell me. Huh? What did you do? Okay, look at me. Take your hands away from your mouth and look at me. What did you do? And you unlocked the door? Be perfectly clear on something about this door, okay?
The P-Town Saints had planned Sidney's kidnapping and murder together. Dakota was aware, even though she didn't know everything.
She unlocked the door so they could execute their plan. James strangled Sydney until she was dead. Carl drove the car and shot Sydney. Robbie was forced to go along at gunpoint. All the boys together rolled Sydney into the creek and tied her down with a cinder block. And Chad, Chad allegedly provided the guns. Chad organized the plan. Chad motivated his crew.
But Chad kept his hands clean. He was the OG. After all, he didn't have to get his hands dirty. He just had to point his finger and say, "Go." 15-year-old Robbie Mueller took a reduced sentence for his proffer statement. He was originally given 26 years, but after some complications with his lawyer, the appeal, and a heartfelt court date where he received Tracy Stevens' forgiveness,
He was given a lighter sentence. He will be out this year. James Glazier got 60 years. Carl Dane pleaded guilty to murder and was given 60 years as well. But the day before he was supposed to be transported to the prison, he hung himself in a cell. Chad Bennett was initially arrested for kidnapping, home invasion, and first-degree murder. But in 2013, all the charges were dropped.
The DA filed a "nolle prosequi" which means he did not wish to prosecute the case at the time. The reason: there weren't any witnesses to testify. All the living P-town Saints as well as Dakota refused to testify against their precious leader, even though they were offered immunity. Dakota Wall was given 26 years on the home invasion charge.
She is now out of prison and living her life. Judging by her Facebook page, she seems to be doing just great. And by the looks of it, she's even got a new boyfriend. Sydney Stevens may have been a pain-in-the-butt little sister who required as much attention as the next needy teenager. But that was Sydney. She was 15. What 15-year-old isn't a bit annoying, moody, and headstrong?
She had an unstable upbringing and a lot of severe mental issues. What Sydney needed was love from her family, so she would know that there was more to life than the sad little cycle she was stuck in. Instead, she got neglected, rejected by her big sister, and left downstairs in the basement. Sydney would likely have grown up and matured into a decent young woman,
Maybe she would have found therapy and tackled her demons head on. Maybe not. We're all imperfect. We all have our own problems. The point isn't what Sydney could have become. The point is what she never got the chance to try to become because of her own sister and four displaced, dysfunctional boys who decided to try to prove to each other just how tough
They all really were by killing a defenseless teenage girl. The P-Town Saints were a bunch of children playing gangster. Now one of them is dead and the other will be in jail until he dies. And Chad? Well, Chad finally got his. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to the home invasion charge in order to avoid the first degree murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Speaking of years, it took eight of them. But justice was finally served. Rest in peace, Sidney. You didn't find love in this world, but maybe you'll find peace in the next. Well, that's gonna wrap it up here. Thank you for joining us once again. If you haven't heard it yet,
Check out Certain Scale Nightmares. It's available now for free on Spotify, Apple, all the things. And you might like it. And there's like 30 episodes now, so go check it out. And stay safe. Hey, great show. I'm calling to weigh in on the figure-figure debate. So let me give a little background. I watch a lot of Formula One, MotoGP, and it's based out of Europe. And all the commentators are English, and they say figure-figure.
So I'm pretty sure they invented the English language. So I think you win on this one, Mike.
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