Ashley Flowers
Appearances
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
They completely empty out the dumpster, try to examine anything that they can still visually see or test. From everything they find, they weren't able to conclusively say that it had actually had anything to do with Karina. But it's something that keeps getting brought up in every single article and every single blog post or Reddit or web sleuths that I read on this.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Everyone refers back to that dumpster fire and just said it's really suspicious. But since they couldn't link anything to them, they continue to look at other suspects. And they start with that homeless man that she was dancing and talking to. They find that his name is Juan Polo and they quickly rule him out. He's just a local guy. He had plenty of alibis. People saw him all the time.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
He wouldn't even have anywhere to take a body and dismember it, even if he wanted to. So they decide that their next best bet is to track down that man and his dog. Superman dog. Yes. Because also you are probably a serial killer if you're walking around in Boston at 3 a.m. with a matching shirt with your dog. I mean, I am all about dogs, but it's a little bit strange, no?
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Okay, here, my problem is not with the matching Superman shirts. The 3am and the matching shirts. So they actually find this guy because he stands out like a sore thumb. His name is Herb Whitten. And he actually lives in Andover, Massachusetts, which is 32 minutes north of Boston.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
I encourage you to get involved with your local Crime Stoppers, and if you want more information on Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana, go to crimetips.org. So, Britt, I am super excited because I think I might have found a case that you have never heard about.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Right. And whoever overheard them actually overheard them correctly. He was a man who was from like somewhere north. And frequently he would say would like go walk his dog downtown. But it seems super weird to drive 30 minutes at 3 a.m. to walk your dog and like talk to a bunch of really drunk people because that's the only people who are walking the streets at 3 a.m.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Well, police end up ruling him out because they say that he got a speeding ticket the same night that she was last seen. So they say this rules him out because he was obviously headed back to Anover. He was in his car. He couldn't have been murdering her.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
But what I question is if the police also say that she could have been alive for up to 24 hours after she was last seen, that doesn't mean that he had to be killing her right at that time that he was getting a speeding ticket. Did they search his car? I mean, I've never gotten a speeding ticket.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
I have so many questions, but it's 1996 and there are no answers. Oh, God. So yeah, so they said the police, I'm hoping they know more than me, but they completely ruled him out because of this speeding ticket. Another suspect that pops up is John Zwiz. I'm not really sure why he came up, but people love talking about him. He lived really close to where her body was found.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
He's just an odd duck that I think had had a couple of run-ins with the law. Nothing super serious. He's in this very dark grunge band. And shortly after her murder, he released a song and people often quote the lyrics when they're talking about him. Part of the song goes, I've got an old man's car. I've got a jazz guitar. I've got a tab at Zanzibar. Tonight, that's where I'll be.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And a lot of people refer to this because it came out shortly after she was murdered. And they think it's just a nod to the fact that maybe he was there that night and he had something to do with it. But outside of these lyrics, there's been no other kind of confession and police couldn't link him to it in any way.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
There's brief talk of a man named Eugene McCollum, who in 2000 killed and decapitated a prostitute and a man from East Boston. A lot of people like to link him to the case just because of his decapitation. Obviously, he's He's OK with murdering people. He's OK with severing bodies. But police again say that he was a suspect for a long time.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
But after he was caught for these other murders, went to court, was tried and convicted, they said that they're not bringing any other charges and they don't consider him a suspect in the case anymore. And unfortunately, the police didn't feel the need to share with the public why. And that's literally the only information we have on him.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
There's really random stuff connected to this case as well, which, again, I totally believe is unrelated, but just what are the odds? So in the same building as where the dumpster where her body was found, there's kind of a famous case, this man named Rafi Kokadikian. He was accused of killing his friend in the desert years later.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Him and his friend went on a camping trip and they got lost and really dehydrated. And he said that he had killed his friend as like a mercy killing. But after they tested the body, they found that he really wasn't that dehydrated. So there's all this speculation around that. He's actually in prison now for that crime. Totally. I mean, not the same crime at all.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
But again, just super weird that he was there at the time and then murders his friend later. I mean, it's just one of those things that, again, people bring up.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Bizarre coincidence. Right. Well, the case kind of stalls out at this point. They've kind of run out of suspects. There's nowhere to go. They still don't even have a crime scene. And about one year after her murder, Herb Whitman, our dog-loving friend, commits suicide.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And there's no record I can find online about any kind of suicide note or reason he left or whether or not he had a history with depression. But a lot of people are saying, okay...
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Right. It's total admission of guilt. He couldn't live with what he did and he just had to do that. But police still say no go. They wouldn't look into it any further. They said he was just a disturbed man. He was never a suspect. And the case goes back to being cold. They try and bring in the FBI agents.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And the FBI do their thing and try and create a profile of someone who would do a crime like this. But the problem is it's 1996. They have nothing to work with except for eyewitness testimony, which we know is super unreliable. They have no security footage. They have no phone records, no really computer records.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
If this happened today, I mean, they would have footage probably outside of the bar. They would have all the text messages between her and her friends, not only the day of, but leading up to the event.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Right. Again, briefly, it gets mentioned, like, in a couple of news stories where the reporter's like, and the police say that they looked into the officer she was dating and he's totally cleared.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Right. But they don't give any kind of alibi or anything like that, which, again, they haven't done with a ton of people. They gave Herb Whitman's alibi, which makes me think he was a very serious suspect.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
But what I try and remember, this is Boston in 1996. Right. They were notoriously corrupt then. Hot mess. Hot mess. Right. So nothing was below them. They had no problem. Like if they thought someone did it, just confirming their suspicions and building evidence around that they had no problem protecting their own.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So while this guy was literally immediately ruled out, there's not a whole lot of faith that I have in that. The case is really dead at this point. I mean, I've laid out all the suspects for you. There's nobody at this point who has come forward with any new information. They still, to this day, have no idea where the crime scene was. But the strangest thing.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So her employer, remember that was Frank and Susan. Susan's a painter. And I found her website. No. Yes, no.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Kind of. So maybe. No, I don't know. So the website is SusanNichter, S-U-S-A-N-N-I-C-H-T-E-R.com. And she has like a gallery of all of her paintings. And she has a couple that are just super disturbing. There is one in the Never Been Seen exhibit where it's called Carried Across. And it's this blue painting of what looks like a man holding the body of a naked woman kind of upside down.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And she looks unconscious or dead. He looks just totally shocked and surprised. And then in the shadows, there looks to be like another person, I assume a woman, but it could be a man, who's like caressing the man's head, like telling him it's going to be okay.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
There is another one under current events. And it's the second picture. It's called Messenger, which is also really strange. So, yeah, it's it's a girl who actually looks a lot like. So the other one was all in blue. This one is in full color. And it's a girl who looks a lot like Karina. She has blonde hair. She's in a blue dress. And it looks like she is pushing away a man with wings.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
It never happens. Tell me, have you heard about the murder of Karina Homer?
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And I have never seen a picture of Frank Rapp. I couldn't find one. I have no idea if this is what he looks like. But it's a man with like very small spectacle glasses and an orange hat who appears to be running towards her and she's pushing him away. And he's got something in his hands. But can you tell what that is, Brittany?
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Other than it just looks like a girl who looks like Karina pushing away a man because he's coming at her unwontedly. Again, I all of this is crazy speculation. There's a lot of her paintings. If you guys want to go through the site, we'll post a link to her website on ours that are really dark and disturbing and disturbing. You know, you could take this one of two ways.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Either she's painting about what she knows and something happened and it's this like deep, dark secret that she's finding a way to express. But also whether or not they had anything to do with it. It happened to her. You know what I mean? It was her family.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Right. It was something that was like an experience within her life that I'm sure played heavily into her own experience. And so that might just be something that she continues to replay and try and work out and reason in her own head. But still super creepy.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Yeah. So Frank and Susan have just gone on. Obviously, they're living their life. She's still painting. He's a photographer. Mr. Whitman's dead. But everyone's just kind of gone on and forgotten about Karina. And it's a totally cold case. I don't know if anyone's going to ever go back and reinvestigate.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
I think there's probably a lot that could be done knowing what we know now about how corrupt police were back then. I wonder if a fresh take or a fresh look at the case wouldn't bring about something a little bit new or if they wouldn't want to because maybe there's something that they were covering up. I don't know. But unfortunately, Karina's family is still in Sweden.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
They still have no answers. And I can't imagine being in another country and having something this horrific happen to your daughter or your sister or your friend. And I'm sure that letter that she sent home just absolutely haunts them. And no one ever figured out what was so terrible that happened to her.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Yeah. And I have to think that most of the time when cold cases are solved, a lot of it has to do with the family pushing and not letting go and being relentless. And that's so hard for her family to do. Not only being far away, but not really understanding our customs or understanding how it works. And I'm sure they're not wanting to make enemies, but also not wanting them to give up. So.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Sorry, guys. Well, let me give you a little bit of junkie medicine because I'm going to tell you this brand new story. All right. So Karina Homer was 19 in the year 1995. And this girl is actually from Sweden. She won the lottery there, which gave her about fifteen hundred dollars. This girl is young. She's beautiful. She's energetic.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
I don't even know if there's, you know, there very well could be some DNA in the case that we just don't know about. So I wonder if they've ever gone back and look and tried to retest. But I have a feeling there wouldn't be knowing that she was completely cleaned before her torso was dumped.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Thank you guys for listening to another episode of Crime Junkie. If you want to interact with us on social media, you can do that Twitter at Crime Junkie Pod or Instagram at Crime Junkie Podcast.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
We'll see you guys next week. Crime Junkie is an Audiochuck production. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And she decides that she wants to take this money and start a new life. Try living life in America. She gets a job in the US as an au pair for a couple in Dover, Massachusetts. This is like the first part where this story gets a little bit questionable.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So part of the reason I had never heard about it and you had never heard about it is there's not a lot on this case, even though I read that it's one of the most famous Boston cases ever. There is little to no information on this. So when I'm looking up how she got this job, I found some really fishy articles, basically from the U.S.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
government saying, you know, we run these agencies that bring au pairs over. They're registered through us. They come in the United States through us. They're working on a visa for au pairs. But she wasn't registered with any of these organizations, none of the normal ones that all of her other au pair friends were.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So I have no idea how she would have even found out about this job or got connected with this job. The only thing I can maybe assume is that she had friends over here that knew of a family, but she really went about this an odd way. And I don't know if that was just happenstance or if there was some reason she wasn't going through like the proper channels.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Well, she works for a family of Frank Rapp and Susan Nichter. Now, they're married and they have kids, but they both have really prominent careers, which is why they have different names. Frank is a commercial photographer and Susan is a prominent painter. So like very upper middle class.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
She would work the week taking care of the kids and doing housework, helping around. And on the weekends, she would have those off. And her employer, Frank, actually had a loft downtown where he did all of his commercial photography. It's said that she spent a lot of time in that loft on the weekend. She would stay the night there. I don't know if that was just to get out of the house.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So she wasn't always like with the kids that you're babysitting. I feel like you would just need a break. Right. But I don't know if she had more of a friendship with her employer or if things crossed a line ever. It also seems kind of weird to me. Like, I understand you want to get away, but to be spending nearly every weekend.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
I don't know if he was with her or if the agreement was basically he works there on the weekdays and then she goes there on the weekends just to get away from the family. Again, very little information, but we do know that she would go there frequently. Right. The story of hers really starts the summer of 1996.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So she had been in America for a few months and she sends a letter home, a couple of letters home actually, telling her family that she's going to be cutting her trip short. She wants to come back to her small town in Sweden. She tells her family the reason is she is really tired of house chores, that she's doing a lot more housework than she originally thought she was going to be doing.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
She's just kind of over it. It's not what she dreamed it would be. And she's just going to be coming home. Well, there's one letter sent to her friend that tells a little bit different story. She tells her friend that she's cutting her trip short, but because something terrible happened.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And she tells her friend she can't tell her what it is, but she'll tell her when she sees her when she gets home. No. Right. So there is crime junkie lesson number two in life. If you ever have a big secret and something terrible happens, don't wait to tell somebody. You will 100 percent die before you get to tell somebody. Just tell anyone. Write it in a letter and like delay mail it.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
i know i know i like as soon as i read that i was like oh no baby girl she sends that letter home and her friend doesn't think anything initially she's like oh you know she's coming home i'm just excited to see her obviously it's nothing that bad she's gonna tell me when she gets home she's not hurt her family hasn't heard anything bad so her friend doesn't alert any kind of you know she doesn't set off any kind of alarms or alert her family
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to Crime Junkie. I am your host, Ashley, as always joined by Britt. Hi, everyone. And this week, I'm super excited. I have a story that I had never even heard about before I started researching. I'm super excited to tell you junkies about it. But first, me and Britt want to tell you a little bit about one of our favorite nonprofits.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Karina seems to be living a pretty normal life in Boston. You know, aside from this letter, everyone thought she was pretty happy. She has friends there, actually lots of other au pair friends who are even from Sweden. So she doesn't feel like too much of an outsider. She has a group that she hangs out with on the weekends. She's even dating. She, for a short time, dated a Boston police officer.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And then she also dated another man from South Boston in that short time she was there. And from what I can tell, neither relationship was extremely serious, just kind of fleeting. But just to show you that she was comfortable, she was outgoing. And the story really starts for her on Friday, June 21st, 1996. Her and her friends meet up at a downtown loft.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And again, this is another question I have that can't really be answered. But all they keep mentioning is this downtown loft that they meet up at. I don't know if this is her employer's loft. Yeah, I was going to ask that. Right. If it's one of her friends lofts. I just know that they all meet up and the plan is for them to get together and then they go down to the bar together.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
They all go to Zanzibar, which is in downtown Boston. And it was like the hip bar for young people. A lot of foreign people would go there is what I was reading. She was obviously only 20 at the time, but she had a fake ID. She went out that night wearing a mask. I've heard black or gray shirt with very tight, shiny silver pants.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So that plays into into account later when we're talking about eyewitnesses seeing her. She wasn't, you know, just wearing all black. I feel like people would remember this girl in super shiny silver pants. But it was 1996. So, I mean, anyone could have been running around in silver pants. The 90s, though. Yes, true, true. So here's what we know for sure happened that night.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
She goes in with her friends. She's having a great time. They're like staying there, shutting the bar down. And she gets really intoxicated. And we know for sure that sometime between the hours of two and three in the morning, she exits the bar. What we don't know is exactly how she exited the bar or who she exited with because there starts to be some different accounts.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
One person says that she had actually fallen asleep and then the bouncer kicked her out alone. Another account says that she went outside with an older man. And then a third account says that she just exited the bar by herself doing okay. She wasn't like passed out. But all accounts say she was very intoxicated.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
At some point, we go back to we do know that she tried to get back in the bar to find her friends, but the bouncer won't let her back in because the bar is officially closed. They've stopped serving. So people who are in there are slowly making their way out, but they're not going to let any new people into the bar. There are a couple more eyewitnesses that see her after she's denied entry.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And a lot of these are confirmed by multiple people. So one thing they know for sure that she did is she was seen talking and dancing with a homeless man for a little while. Naturally. Naturally. Then the next sighting that they think is pretty confident in is they see her talking to a man with a really large white dog. And they're both the dog and the man are wearing matching Superman shirts.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And someone overhears him saying that he's, you know, from the from the north area. So they give this account of this man from the north with this large white dog in matching Superman shirts. And they get that from a couple of people because obviously someone like that's going to stick out. There's another possible sighting of her talking to four men in a silver car.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
This episode of Crime Junkie is brought to you by Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And the witness says that they were trying to convince her to go to some kind of after party. But it's unknown if she actually got in the car. There's a fourth witness who has a possible sighting of her in a car. But I don't know how seriously to take this one. I only saw it in one place.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And additionally, I think what's really distinct about her is the clothing she was wearing and being out in front of that bar. Right. Right. Now, we wouldn't normally put a ton of stock in that. Again, it was just one person. But what we find out later is this 24-hour store is actually really close to where her body was found.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So it's possible that she actually did get there, whether she walked or whether she maybe was in the car and someone drove her. But we have this one-off sighting. At this point, all of the sightings stop. And for 30 hours, no one sees her. And to be clear, she at this point is not reported missing. This is all stuff we've pieced together after the fact. She is on her weekend break.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
So her employers haven't reported her missing. They don't expect to see her on the weekend. And it was Friday night that she went missing. Sunday afternoon, there's a news broadcast that a body of an unidentified blonde woman had been found with a fake ID or they assume a fake ID. And that's when her employers get notified and actually call the police and say, hey, this might be our au pair.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
No, they don't actually do any of the arresting. All Crime Stoppers does is they're responsible for taking the tip, keeping the tipster anonymous, and then giving that information to police, and police do all the arresting.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Now, the way they found this body is insane. So Sunday morning, the very early hours, there is a homeless man who's digging through garbage cans, trying to find cans to turn in, loose food, whatever. And he finds this black garbage bag and he opens the bag and inside is the full torso of a woman. Whoa. Just the torso. Whoa. He obviously immediately calls the cops.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
The cops find that she had been totally cleaned, even all of her makeup removed. There's no account that I can find. It says that specifically they were keeping it under wraps whether or not she was clothed or nude. There was one blog entry where it talks about her naked torso.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
But I have a feeling that's just somebody doing their own interpretation because from everything I could say, the police were intentionally keeping that quiet. The body had been strangled and severed at the waist right below the ribs. So really the only thing that the person had to cut through was her spine.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
And I don't know if this is a show of somebody who has medical knowledge or if it's the person's just mildly smart. You know what I mean? It doesn't take a lot to figure out.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Exactly. Exactly. One police report that I read said that she may have been alive for up to 24 hours after she was last seen. And they're assuming she was last seen about 3 a.m. on Friday. So I don't know. Again, I only saw one side of that. I don't know if that means the body hadn't set into rigor mortis. I don't know if that means it was still warm.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
I don't know if they could just tell by blood flow. That being said, there wasn't a ton of blood. This was a secondary scene. And to this day... They have no idea where she was actually murdered. So her torso was just found in this bag. They searched the rest of the dumpster and they never found her waist or legs. So once the host family called in, police obviously start investigating.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
I don't really know what to think of the host family calling in. If they again, it was Sunday that this was broadcast, so she wasn't missing. I don't believe from everything I found that they put a picture of her on the news. So I think it's a little bit strange. They're like, oh, a blonde girl in a dumpster must be our Swedish au pair.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
I don't even know how to follow that up. But yes, Crime Stoppers is only responsible for taking the tips, and their number one goal is making sure that the tipsters remain anonymous. As of early 2018, Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana is responsible for clearing over 7,000 cases because of their tips.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
Right, right. But again, I don't know all the details. It might not be that fishy, but a little bit strange. Well, police obviously investigate them first. The family immediately shuts down and lawyers up. Now, I don't think that necessarily means someone is guilty. Like, I am all about lawyering up if anything happens ever, even if you have nothing to do with it. This is also Boston in the 90s.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
But they were very uncooperative. Other nannies had some very unflattering things to say about Frank, that he was just kind of sleazy. They wouldn't confirm or deny whether or not Frank and Karina had any kind of relationship. As they're investigating the family, something super fishy happens. Right behind their condominium, like within 200 feet, at 9.20 p.m.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Karina Holmer in Boston
on Monday evening, this is a day after her body was found, There is a dumpster fire, like up in flames. The whole thing is just burning right behind her employer's home. So police are immediately going and checking it out. Red flags are going up everywhere. They're thinking, OK, is this the second half of her body? Is there something of hers that people are getting rid of?
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Hi, Crime Junkies. I'm Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. And today's story, the one I have for you, is a powerful, tragic reminder that the most dangerous time in an abusive relationship often comes when a victim is trying to break free. And that sometimes the person closest to you can become your worst enemy. This is the story of Lisbeth Almon-Papoka.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But he does remember something strange. He says that Lisbeth's white Lexus was parked in the driveway for a while on the morning of July 1st. In fact, his wife had to ask Jonathan to move the car just after 11 a.m. because it was blocking her in. And this was so odd because Jonathan and Elizabeth always parked on the street. They never parked in the driveway.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Well, and I thought he said her car was gone when he got home. Bingo. He did say her car was gone when he got home, which is just more confirmation that they're on the right track. But they need proof, solid proof, like video footage. Now, the landlord doesn't have any.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And as they visit neighbors, they are told again and again that cameras they have don't work or they won't let strangers just look through their video. So just as they're ready to give up, Yaneth tries one last house down the street from Elizabeth's apartment. And this resident agrees to let her check her camera that was working. And that is when they see it.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Lisbeth's so-called missing Lexus going up and down the street twice on July 1st. Once at 5.51 p.m. and once again at 8.22 p.m. And none other than Jonathan is behind the wheel. So the moment Yeneth sees that video, I mean, her blood runs cold. And in that moment, just then, guess who drives by? Jonathan is pulling up onto the street, which is like perfect timing.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And they're not going to play coy. Like they have proof now that he is lying to them. So they walk right over and confront him. And at first, it's like more of the same. Like, oh, she must have run off with some guy. He has no idea where she is. And then he switches it up and he's like, okay, listen. I know she's okay, but I can't tell you what she's doing. She has to be the one to share that.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
It's not mine to share. And then he changes it again. And he's like, OK, fine, fine, fine. I'll tell you the truth. Now he claims that Lisbeth went to Mexico. Now, since she's undocumented, he says that her plan was to marry someone to, quote unquote, fix her papers. But thanks to the missing persons report that they filed, now she's stuck at the border.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And the only way he says that they can help her is by retracting that missing persons report and telling police that she's not actually missing.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But when he got there at around 10, there was still no sign of Lisbeth. And her car, a 2007 white Lexus, was gone too. When's the last time anyone saw her? Well, Yanneth talked to her sister the night before via Instagram. And Jonathan says that he was with her in bed and then he left for work. So that was at like 3.15 in the morning. He works that like kind of overnight shift.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I truly have no—like, I don't know what he's saying. I don't know if he's saying she's in America. I don't know if he's saying that she's in Mexico. I don't know. But he's been lying to everyone about this because— Because he says that he didn't know how to break the news to Albino that his daughter ran off to Mexico. Like, he was just so worried about Albino's feelings.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So according to him, she did take her car at first, but then she came back because she'd forgotten something and then she needed to go meet this guy. So he says that he drove her somewhere. And where is her car now? Dude, I don't know. Like, Yanneth wants to, like, explode. Like, it doesn't make sense. And she wants to demand that he, like, sit down and actually tell them everything.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But by now, she's seeing a pattern. Like, if she can stay calm, if she can just let Jonathan talk... Every time he does reveal something new, even if each detail contradicts the last and even if it all feels like lies, like it does feel like we're getting somewhere. So she plays along like, OK, look, you're the only one who can help us find the car. Just tell us where it is.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And he starts naming a dozen different spots. It's in a garage. It's by a beach. It's under a tree. Until finally he levels with them. It is actually parked on the street near his relative's house in nearby New Haven.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
As East Haven Captain Joseph Mergo told us, when investigators pull up to this house on Monday, July 6th, they are stunned because right there, a mile from Jonathan and Lisbeth's apartment, is Lisbeth's supposedly missing Lexus. Now, they have a lot of questions for Jonathan's relative, the person whose house this is by.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But this person says Jonathan never mentioned that he was leaving the car there. He just dropped it off a few days ago. And when this guy, his name's Carlos, when he asked Jonathan why, Jonathan claimed that he couldn't fit the Lexus at home because he was already working on a few cars and he didn't have room in the yard for it. But like. Hi. That's a lie. It's a lie.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Police know that's a lie because when they'd been by to speak with him before, there were no other cars in the yard. Now, Carlos may be cooperating, but it's not like he's totally on their team. Because again, like this is his cousin. And guess who Carlos called at some point? While the officers are still on the scene, Jonathan rolls up. Totally.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Totally unannounced to just like help fill in some of the gaps, you know, make sure they have like the right narrative. And Jonathan admits he is the one who drove the Lexus there on Thursday, July 2nd, and that he lied about it being missing. And he claims that he was embarrassed that Lisbeth had left him to go to Mexico to start this new life. So, yeah, he knows that he's lied about the car.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
He knows that it looks bad, but he's like, it doesn't really change anything. Not really, because the bottom line, he says, is that she left first. on her own, and she's totally fine. So police tow the Lexus to headquarters and the next day they do an emergency ping on that 727 number, the one that was texting them saying Lisbeth, which, by the way, like so weird, no one's called them back.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And oh, also super weird. It's not a number that is registered to a specific person like a landline or cell phone would be like something where you would go through a provider. No, this is registered to a pinger, which is one of those apps that lets you basically get a free phone number. Hmm.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So it hasn't been that long that they've gone without talking to her. But Yanneth knows her sister's world revolves around Astrid. Mm-hmm. There isn't a world where she would just leave her alone, especially since Yaneth is always available to babysit. Again, that's what she was kind of expecting the call to be. Right. So Jonathan also says that Astrid isn't the only thing that she left behind.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But like any level of pseudo stealthness ends here because the account is registered to Jonathan with the email address Jonathan Jarrah 2020. His full name is Jonathan Jarrah Akupina, by the way. So like real brilliant here. So they decide it's time to look harder at the last place Lisbeth was known to be, which is the apartment. And Jonathan agrees to let them take a look around.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
He even hands over his and Lisbeth's phones along with her laptop. He also goes to the station for another interview. And this time around, he refers to Lisbeth as his ex-wife. Oh, yeah. And he says that he knew she wasn't happy. He knew she wanted to leave him. She'd been struggling with depression, he says, and they've been having problems.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And he admits that he had been unfaithful, but says that she was also seeing other men. And in fact, they had discussed the possibility of having an open relationship at some point. And she mentioned, he says, wanting to visit various guys in Mexico. And he says that their daughter even told him that Lisbeth wanted to marry someone else.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But he swears he never laid a hand on Lisbeth, despite what her family might think. And actually, he claims she was the one who got physical during that fight a few months back, that she hit him, and that's how she hurt her arm and hand.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I mean, he's like he's shocked. He's totally stunned. He had no idea like how it's even possible. Maybe someone set it up under his name using an old email address that was his, which like I don't know if they were able to subpoena the records before talking to him. But like old email my ass. It's the year 2020.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Like you're telling me Jonathan Jarrah 2020 was not from 2020. Like, OK, my guy. But it gets even better or like, I mean, honestly, it gets even worse because over the next few days, he keeps denying any connection to that number. Even after police discover that it was last used from an IP address that matches his home Wi-Fi.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
She's like texting everyone from the bathroom that she's hiding in. Again, he's like, I has no explanation. He just insists it is not him. The only way to break this guy is basically to catch him dead to rights in the lie. So they walk away from that interview to go gather information. They do another search of his house.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
They get more cell phone records, including from Pinger, showing that the account with the 727 number was created at 10.38 a.m. on Friday, July 3rd, which is right after, yes, Albina told Jonathan to meet them so they could go report her missing. I was going to say, the text came through at 1040? I know, and exactly two minutes before Yaneth got that first text from Lisbeth.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So Captain Mergo and another investigator sit down with Jonathan that Saturday evening, and they are gravely aware that no one has seen or heard from Lisbeth, the real Lisbeth, by this point, for 10 days. And East Haven PD actually gave us a clip of that interview.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Her phone is still there. So he's like, I can't even try and call her. But even though her phone is there, along with her car, some other things are gone, like her purse, her passport, some clothes, and apparently $10,000 from their safe. Oh, that kind of sounds like she left on purpose. Yeah. Or at least there's like some clear signs of that.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Now, Jonathan doesn't have an answer to that. And as he goes through everything he remembers about July 1st, his story changes again. He still claims that her white Lexus was gone when he got home at around 10 a.m.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
He says that he went inside, looked for Lisbeth, couldn't find her, noticed her passport and purse were missing, and then his daughter pointed out that mommy's phone was still there, so he thought that she might have just gone to the store. But now he's saying he went back outside at this point and lo and behold, Lisbeth's car is just like there.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Police actually have another ace in the hole. They had pulled surveillance footage from the elementary school right next to Jonathan and Lisbeth's apartment, which gives them a clearer view of their road. And the footage from July 1st shows that when Jonathan got home that morning, he parked on the street right behind Lisbeth's white Lexus. And it was there the entire time.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
The only person moving it around was him. And he was doing some more sketchy stuff. So he moved it into the driveway for about an hour and then took it over to the school parking lot later that afternoon. And there... In full view of the camera, he pulled out a can of air freshener and is like spraying it all around the trunk. But even with this video evidence, he still won't come clean.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
After that, Jonathan decides that he wants a lawyer. Interview's over. But investigators know that they're on the right track now. Everyone they talk to says Elizabeth would never leave her daughter. And they confirm that she, of course, didn't go to Mexico. There has been no activity on her passport.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So over the next few days, they start piecing together Jonathan's movements through witness interviews, phone records, cell tower data, and surveillance footage from a dozen locations. And they find out that on the night of Tuesday, June 30th, Lisbeth and Jonathan were in an hours-long argument via text. Lisbeth was home while Jonathan was kind of coming and going from the apartment.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And what they learned is that at 9.09, he left to run an errand. He's back by 9.17. But instead of going inside, he like sat in the car while this like text fight continued. And in this, Lisbeth told him it was over, that if he ever saw her and their daughter on the street, like he should walk the other way. She was that done. Mm-hmm.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Yeah. So Yaneth wonders if her sister maybe just needed some space. And so she asked Jonathan like the obvious question. Did you guys have a fight? And he admits like, yeah, we did have this like little argument the night before, but it wasn't serious. We kissed. We made up before bed.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And she told him that the last 10 years had been like a nightmare for her and she just wanted to forget that he existed. And on his end, he, in these text messages, is mostly begging her not to leave, saying that he wouldn't walk away if he saw them, like Astrid was their baby. All that time, he was still just outside in the car.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And then at 12.50 in the morning, so this is now Wednesday, July 1st, he finally gets out and walks to the house. Now, police can't see him go inside. The school cameras are set in like the rear parking lot facing the street with like trees blocking the house itself. But cell tower data places him in that area for over two hours.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Until he is seen on video leaving their house for his UPS shift at 3.18 a.m.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
No, no. So because of the camera angle, they can't. But what they're assuming is that he must have gotten Lisbeth in there somehow.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Mostly because of that, like, air freshener. Yeah, in the trunk. Now, when investigators search the Lexus, cadaver dogs do alert on that exact spot in the trunk. So they are sure that Jonathan killed her, placed her in the trunk, disposed of her. But the problem is he's not talking anymore. And they're still missing the most crucial piece of evidence of all, Lisbeth's body.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But as detectives lay out Jonathan's cell tower location points on this map, this clear route starts to emerge. They see that on July 1st, he spent most of the day at home before dropping Astrid off at Yeneth's at around 4 p.m., He takes his own car for that, a blue Chevrolet Cruze.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But when he gets back home, he took Lisbeth's Lexus out for some errands, including a stop at a local Home Depot, where he bought a shovel and a hoe. So part of a murder kit. Got it. Or a disposal kit, at least. Yeah. So later that night, after 10, he drove the Lexus a few miles to the restaurant where he works.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And surveillance footage from surrounding businesses shows him pulling up to the dumpsters in the back corner of the parking lot. Now, the restaurant, this is interesting, was actually closed because the owner was on vacation. So it was like nice and quiet, not a whole lot of traffic. And of course, Jonathan would know that. He works there. He works there, exactly.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Anyways, now once he's in the parking lot, you can't see what he's doing. But he was there for nearly an hour and a half. And he's on camera visiting that exact same spot again a week later. So the problem is by the time police get a search warrant for that area, it's July 15th. We are two weeks to the day out from Lisbeth's disappearance.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
The thing is that Yanneth is pretty sure that's not the full story because Lisbeth and Jonathan have been together for over a decade since they were in high school. And though she was private, Lisbeth had confided in her sister about some issues that they had. And honestly, some issues is an understatement. Their relationship was straight up toxic.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Now, the parking lot is partially fenced in, but in the back of it where Jonathan was like skulking around, it butts up against this densely wooded area. So investigators like brace themselves for a full scale search, but they don't actually have to go very far. Right behind the dumpsters, something that catches their eye is this door laying flat on the ground.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
When they lift it, they see disturbed dirt beneath. And almost immediately, the cadaver dogs start picking up the scent of decomp. And as they carefully dig, the smell just intensifies. And soon, they uncover this bundle wrapped tightly in a blue fleece blanket held together with clear tape. And it has long black hair sticking out from one end. And they know that they have finally found Lisbeth.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Now, before police even reach Elizabeth's family to notify them of the discovery, Yaneth starts hearing rumors through the media that a body has been found. But she doesn't necessarily know the details, and she is still just like clinging to this hope that it isn't her sister.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And even after her father and stepmom show up later that day with detectives and a priest, like warning her to brace herself for what will likely be bad news, she's still holding on. But the next day, investigators show her photos of the victim's tattoos to help with identification. And that awful realization just like hits her. She is never going to see her sister again.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And the only thing her family can hope for now is some sort of justice. Now, when she is taken for autopsy, the medical examiner determines that Lisbeth died from homicidal asphyxia. And he also finds non-fatal blunt force injuries from what was likely a struggle. She's got a bruise on her upper arm and another on her lower back.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So investigators did consider others like Jose, who really was her old high school friend that she was supposedly dating at some point. But with everything pointing to Jonathan, like, come on. Now, Yanneth expects him to be arrested at any moment. Like, again, come on. But days pass. And then weeks. And it doesn't happen. He is still a free man.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And despite that notarized letter, which, you know, you pointed out like doesn't do much, he still has rights as Astrid's father. So he's able to have supervised visits with her, visits that take place at Albino's house.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I feel like it would almost be like you're living in an alternate reality.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Yes. And the only real solace for Yeneth is the overwhelming local support that she receives. Like she starts working with advocates to raise awareness about her sister's story and about domestic violence as a whole. Now, Jonathan doesn't have any record for abuse against Lisbeth. The fight that they had in May wasn't reported.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Like, she caught Jonathan cheating multiple times. They had broken up, reconciled more than once. Like... Over and over again, she stayed for their daughter, even though he wasn't exactly a doting father. And things had only gone from bad to worse recently.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
He does have a felony conviction for assaulting a police officer, which, like, details are sparse on. But according to a Hartford Current article, that thing happened when he was 18 after crashing into a cop on a motorcycle. We don't know of any other incidents. But this is the thing, just because there aren't things on record doesn't mean that they didn't happen.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Like domestic violence is one of law enforcement's biggest blind spots because many of these incidents never even reach police. And when they do, they rarely get the attention that they deserve.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
There was actually this study done by the National Library of Medicine that found that Black women and Latina women like Lisbeth are more likely to encounter neglectful or even hostile responses when they seek help. And for Hispanic victims, there are often extra hurdles like language barriers or fear of deportation if they're undocumented like Lisbeth.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And the longer her homicide investigation drags on without an arrest, the more speculation there is that her case isn't a priority because of her nationality. But Captain Mergo told us that there was a lot happening behind the scenes that investigators can't share publicly.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Like, at the time, they were working with multiple agencies, gathering warrants for more digital data, things like phone records, surveillance footage, and Google searches. Evidence even from the Lexus goes to the FBI lab for testing, including a single blue fiber found in the trunk that ultimately matches the blanket that Lisbeth was wrapped in.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And they did an analysis of the air freshener can, and they found that Jonathan could not be eliminated from being a source of the DNA on it. And they also learned that on the afternoon of July 1st, less than 12 hours after he says he last saw Lisbeth in bed, Jonathan was on Facebook Marketplace trying to trade her car for a pickup truck. Yeah.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And in August, they get a new chilling detail from Astrid herself. She tells her family and later an FBI agent that when she woke up that morning and her mom wasn't in bed, she was searching, like, in the apartment. But for some reason, she couldn't get into her own room because the door was locked. And according to her, like, that wasn't a thing. That had never been locked before.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So back in May, this is just a couple of months before, Yeneth had planned this cookout and her sister was supposed to come with Astrid, but they didn't end up going. And Lisbeth said that she didn't feel well, but the next time Yeneth saw her, her arm was in a sling and her shoulder was really swollen. And three fingers on her left hand were bruised, like almost purple.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And then when her dad got home, he didn't even go look for her mom. Instead, he just started cleaning. Like, that was the first thing he did.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So the theory, according to Captain Mergo, is that after Jonathan killed Lisbeth, he likely stashed her body in their daughter's bedroom, locked the door so Astrid wouldn't go in when she woke up, and then later he backed the Lexus into the driveway to load Lisbeth's body into the trunk.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And in fact, they find out that while it was parked there, Jonathan did nearly three dozen web searches on how to fold down the backseat.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And listen, it isn't the police. Like, they agree with you. But I guess the state's attorney's office didn't because as detectives share their findings with them, they keep hearing like, you're close, but like, go back, get more, chase down more leads, verify additional details and more. In the time that they kept getting sent back, they worried that Jonathan was going to skip town.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So they actually put him under surveillance. Because, you see, even though he lived in the U.S. since childhood and can legally work here, he was still an Ecuadorian citizen. And at the time, Ecuador had a strict ban on extraditing its citizens to the U.S. So if he made it back there, he would almost be untouchable. But when they...
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
end up putting eyes on him, they were surprised to find that he wasn't running, like, far from it. He was just going about his life as if nothing had happened. So he thinks he's in the clear. That's what he believed, yeah. The good news is, he is wrong. On Sunday, December 27th, police have Albino set up a meeting with Jonathan at a diner in New Haven.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And Jonathan thinks that he is going to see his daughter at this meeting. But instead, this is when he is finally arrested for the murder of Lisbeth. And for investigators, putting the cuffs on Jonathan feels like a win. And for Lisbeth's family, it is a huge relief. Like no more sharing Astrid with the man who took her mother from Astrid and all of them.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But that relief is short-lived because now they face an entirely new battle, which is the legal system. So Jonathan pleads not guilty and he is sent to jail on a $2 million bond to await trial. But according to community organizer Vanessa Suarez, who has been supporting Lisbeth's family, prosecutors aren't exactly confident taking this to a jury still.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Like, they even consider at some point reducing the charge to voluntary manslaughter because they're worried that they might not be able to make that murder charge stick. Wow. Why? What more do they need? I don't know. An eyewitness, I think. I think they want a confession, something that isn't circumstantial, I guess.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Like what's actually happening? I'm with you. Like, believe me. But from the prosecutor's perspective, like taking it to trial, it's always a risk.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But this seems like not as much of a risk. So they end up going back and forth with the defense. They're like debating possible deals. Right. But through this whole time, like, Lisbeth's family is firm. They're like, anything less than a murder charge would diminish what happened to Lisbeth. And they're not willing to accept that.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And Lisbeth said that she and Jonathan had gotten into a fight. But Yaneth told our reporter Nina that sometime after that, she noticed this shift in Lisbeth. Like Lisbeth seemed done this time, like done for real. She was looking for a job. She was reconnecting with her love of art by designing stickers and decals, hoping to turn that creative outlet into a business and gain some independence.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So the long and the short of it is that with delays from COVID and all the negotiations, it is not until February of 2024 that both sides reach an agreement. Facing 60 years in prison, Jonathan pleads guilty to murder. And in exchange, he is sentenced to 25 years with immediate deportation once his time is served. Now, for Elizabeth's family, 25 years is grossly inadequate as a punishment.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
They, along with advocates like Vanessa, have been very vocal about the larger issue that her murder brings to light. Vanessa told us, like, too often when women go missing or are found dead, they don't get the urgency or attention that they deserve.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And while there is this huge pressure on victims to report abuse, society needs to step up and create better systems of support for cases of gendered violence. We know how widespread this issue is. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, an estimated 47,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by an intimate partner or family member in 2020 alone.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And that is an average, when you think about it, of one every 11 minutes. So like to put it in perspective, by the time our crime junkies finish this episode, approximately four women and girls will have lost their lives.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I know. I know. But there are lessons to be learned from every tragedy. And that's actually why Captain Mergo reached out to us, hoping that we would share Lisbeth's story. He believes that it shows how real the dangers of intimate partner violence can be and the lengths that abusers will go to manipulate and to control even after death.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
From the beginning, exactly. I mean, it took an all-hands approach. I mean, Elizabeth's family pushing for answers, diligent police work and technology like digital forensic evidence and surveillance footage, all of it to finally reveal the truth like piece by piece. But not every victim has loved ones that are determined to fight for justice or have the ability to.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Like, not every department is willing or able to go deeper. Too often, these stories end before they ever begin. And no one should have to face abuse alone. Help is available, and we've included resources in our show notes if you or someone you know needs support. And please make sure to take any signs of abuse seriously, no matter how small they might seem.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I mean, it can be so hard to see the full picture, especially when you love someone and you want to believe that things will get better. But if you are in an abusive relationship, the focus should be on your safety and your well-being rather than waiting for or like betting on the abuser to change. Because sometimes the risk is greater than anyone could have ever imagined.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
You can visit our website for all of the source material for this episode, CrimeJunkiePodcast.com.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And just a couple of days before all of this, on June 29th, Lisbeth even put in a rental application for an apartment in Yeneth's complex, planning to move there as soon as possible without Jonathan. Now, as far as Yeneth could tell, Lisbeth was ready to end things for good this time. And had Jonathan realized that? Yeah, she'd made it clear to him. Okay.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But whether he understood how serious she was, I don't know, right? Like they've done this like back and forth thing before. Right. So as Yanneth's talking to him, she has all of this like history running through her mind. But she's still not panicking. Not yet. The leaving her daughter behind does not make any sense, like, any way you cut it.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But other signs point to her getting away just for a minute. So Jonathan and Yanneth make arrangements for her to watch Astrid so he can go looking for Lisbeth. And, of course, the second they're alone, Yanneth starts doing what we would do. She's, like, asking Astrid questions. I mean, Astrid's seven. She's old enough to know kind of what's going on. So, like, did you hear your parents fighting?
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And Astrid says that her mom took her to bed in her, Elizabeth's room the night before. And she was there when Astrid fell asleep. But then Astrid said when she wakes up, her mom is just gone. And her side of the bed was already made. But Astrid doesn't remember any arguments. She doesn't remember any strange noises, like nothing woke her up in the night.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And while she doesn't seem frightened, she is acting sort of odd. Like she's looking around Yanneth's apartment with almost this intense focus. And then she tells her aunt that she's going to be living here now. Wait, that Astrid is going to be living there with her aunt? Yeah. And she's like taken aback. Like she doesn't know what it means, but she doesn't even really dwell on it at first.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So a few hours pass. And it's weird because there's just no word even from Jonathan. So Yanneth eventually calls him to check in. And he says he's talked to a couple of Lisbeth's friends. No one knows anything. And then he's like, well, I'm going to go do some laundry now.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Even if you are, it's strange because to Yanneth, he doesn't seem at all worried. So Astrid ends up staying the night with Yeneth, almost like the first sign of this self-fulfilling prophecy. And the next day is an even harder one because the next day actually is Lisbeth's birthday. Now, this is when Jonathan finally shows back up, but he's not there to pick up his daughter.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
He's dropping off groceries, like a lot of groceries, as if he is planning on Astrid staying with Yeneth for a while. So Yanneth sits him down and presses him for information. And that's when Jonathan starts painting a troubling picture of Lisbeth. He says that she just hasn't been herself lately, that she's been severely depressed.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
She's been drinking a lot, smoking weed, even seeing other men, specifically a guy named Jose that they knew from high school. And in fact, Jonathan says that he's trying to track down where Jose lives to see if maybe she's there with him. Because as far as he's concerned, you know, the reason he's like, I'm not worried is he thinks Elizabeth isn't in danger.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
She must have just run off with some guy. And Yanneth knows Elizabeth has been struggling, but everything else he's saying doesn't line up with the sister that she knows. Jonathan's making himself out to be almost like the victim here, saying that he doesn't know what he did to deserve this. And he's wondering about how he's going to care for her.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Yeah. And the more he talks, the more uneasy Yeneth feels. And that's when she realizes it's time to tell their dad, Albino, what's going on. Now, Lisbeth and Albino aren't super close. You see, Lisbeth and Yaneth grew up in Guerrero, Mexico. And when their parents moved to the U.S. in 2001, the girls actually stayed behind with their grandparents. But their parents split.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Their mom basically kind of bowed out of their lives. And they didn't join Albino in Connecticut until around 2010. That's when Lisbeth was 16. So there was like a lot of formative bonding years that were missed. And rebuilding that relationship had been tough. But at the end of the day, Lisbeth is still his daughter.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
It's Wednesday, July 1st, 2020, and Yanneth Allman's phone rings with a call that she's not expecting. On the other end is her sister's longtime boyfriend, Jonathan. Now, in all the years that she's known him, Jonathan has only ever called her for one thing, like to arrange child care for their daughter, Yanneth's seven-year-old niece. But this isn't one of those calls.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So he comes over while Yeneth and Jonathan are still there, still talking this out. And when he hears what's going on and he hears Jonathan's version of events, Albino can't shake the same feeling Yeneth has. Like, none of this makes sense. But there's a new detail now that Jonathan adds. He insists that Lisbeth actually did take her phone with her.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
He says not her regular cell phone, but one of those like phones that only works on Wi-Fi. So Albino's like, OK, I need to see this for myself. That night, he makes Jonathan take him back to their apartment and he checks all over inside. But there's like nothing weird, no sign of a struggle, no damage, no strange smells, no clues at all even about where Lisbeth might have gone.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So the next morning, this is now Friday, July 3rd, Albino drives by their place again just to see if anything has changed. There's still no sign of Lisbeth or her car. And that's when he decides it's time to bring in law enforcement. So he calls Jonathan, who agrees to meet them at Yeneth so they can all go to the East Haven Police Department together. But this is when things get really strange.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So within minutes of that call to Jonathan, at 10.40 a.m., Yanneth's phone buzzes with messages that stop her in her tracks. Okay, so the incoming texts are from a number that Yeneth doesn't recognize with a Florida area code. Again, they're in Connecticut. So the area code is 727. And the person who's sending these texts are claiming to be Lisbeth. But they're written in Spanish.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Now, I wrote out what the rough translations are that I'm going to have you read. Okay.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So she gets these and does the immediate thing that I would do. She hits the call button and tries to get this person on the phone who's claiming to be Lisbeth. She waits. She waits. The phone rings and it rings and it rings. That timing, it feels so coincidental. Way too coincidental. Yeah, no one is picking up on the other end. And when Jonathan arrives, he's like, oh, guess what I just got?
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I got these texts from Lisbeth, too. And he says that she basically told him she wasn't happy with him, that she wanted a fresh start, and that someday after she gets her life together, she's going to come back for Astrid. And while the text might have set off all the, like, sister Spidey senses, Jonathan is just like, well, now we know what happened. Like, nothing more we can do here.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Let's just keep, like, living our lives. Certainly no reason that we need to, like, get the cops involved. Like, right, folks? No, absolutely wrong. Yeah. So her dad and her sister are more convinced than ever that they need to go to the police. And they do get Jonathan back on board with that plan. He just wants to do one thing first.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Like, can I real quick sign over custody of Astrid to Albino and Yaneth? I guess he's worried that going to the police will trigger a report to the Department of Children and Families and he doesn't want them to take Astrid away. So to him, signing over custody seems like the safer option, which like I would say you have experience with stuff like this.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I mean, right off the bat, Jonathan asked her if she knows where her sister Lisbeth is because he says she's fully just like MIA. And she's left their daughter Astrid at their East Haven, Connecticut apartment alone. And again, she's seven. In fact, it was Astrid who alerted him to Lisbeth's absence in the first place.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
The short answer is no. Something like that requires a court order. He says he wants to basically just get like a notarized letter or something, which again, like not how it works. But they do. They go. They do that. And it feels weird to everyone. But they have bigger concerns on their minds that afternoon.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
So they do this, then they go to the police, and then they sit down with an East Haven officer who asks Jonathan to walk him through everything. And he gives them the same story. And while there are no new details, there are a couple of interesting takeaways. Even though him and Lisbeth aren't married, he keeps referring to her as his wife.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
And he just completely leaves out everything about the text that he supposedly had gotten from her.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Right. Now, luckily, Yeneth's there, too. And she's like, oh, by the way, like, show him the messages that she supposedly sent you. I'll show you the messages she supposedly sent me. So he shows the officer the messages and the officer tries calling the number himself, just like Yeneth did.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
He doesn't get an answer, but he leaves a message asking Lisbeth to contact East Haven Police Department when she gets the message.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I don't either. So while the officer waits for that callback, he ticks the basic like missing person boxes, like checks the hospitals, enters her information into their system, enters her car information into their system, into like their state database.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But during the next couple of days, it doesn't sound like much else happens on law enforcement's end. Although I know that a cop does go by Jonathan's to speak with him at least once. Maybe they were thinking that Lisbeth would come back on her own. I don't know. But her family isn't going to just sit around and wait.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
They, along with Jonathan, start driving around, looking every place they can think of for her or her car. They check beaches, train stations, motels, everywhere and anywhere they can think of. And all the while, they can't help but notice that Jonathan still doesn't seem very worried. And that only ramps up Yanneth and Albino's suspicions. He was the last person to see her.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
If he doesn't know where she is, then who does? Every possible scenario is running through their heads, each one worse than the last at this point.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I don't know. I don't know if you could call them close. I mean, they weren't all best friends. But, I mean, in the beginning, everyone liked him. He and, you know... hung out because of Lisbeth. Like he seemed respectful, responsible. He was working two jobs. I mean, he had the one at UPS. He had another one at a local Italian eatery.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
But Yaneth has seen, or at least she's had exposure to his manipulative side over the years. So I think their like perception of him changed a little bit. Like he would barely help with Astrid. But the minute Lisbeth tried to pull away, he would use her, Astrid, as like a ploy to reel her back in. And even during the, like, good times, Yaneth noticed Lisbeth never seemed truly happy with Jonathan.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
I guess when she woke up, she realized that mom wasn't there and she called him. That was at like 9.15 in the morning, just as he was kind of wrapping up his shift at UPS. And he said he really didn't think much of it at first. Like he thought maybe Lisbeth just stepped out for a minute. So he kind of was just, you know, assuaged her concerns, you know, finished his shift, headed home as usual.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
There was always, like, a missing spark. But even with everything she knew, including their recent physical fight, Yaneth said that she never imagined that her sister might be in real danger around him. But now that has all changed. So by Sunday, July 5th, Albino and Yeneth decide to conduct their own search. So while Jonathan is at work, they head to St. Andrew Avenue where he and Lisbeth live.
Crime Junkie
MURDERED: Lizzbeth Aleman-Popoca
Their duplex is at the end of this dead-end road right next to an elementary school. Now, Lisbeth and Jonathan are on the bottom floor and their landlord lives upstairs. So that's actually where they start. And the landlord tells them that he didn't hear anything unusual that night that she disappeared or in the early morning hours. No commotion, no loud noises.
The Deck
Javed Akhtar (Jack of Diamonds, Connecticut)
He had young children, and he had a younger wife. You know, I don't work in a jurisdiction where we have a lot of homicides, so I don't want to say I take it personally, but it was one of the ones where you come into our community, you shoot people, you kill somebody for the community that we're in charge of protecting.
The Deck
Javed Akhtar (Jack of Diamonds, Connecticut)
I'm fiercely loyal to the officers that work with me and beside me, and fiercely loyal to the citizens that we are tasked with protecting. I want to solve this. I want to stay with this. Even when I retire years from now, if
The Deck
Javed Akhtar (Jack of Diamonds, Connecticut)
If somebody picks this up and I check it over here, I'll probably always be like, hey, whatever came in that Javid case, I would love nothing more than to be able to find Rafia and or Javid's someday and say we solved this crime.