Veronica Mazzecca
Appearances
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Hey, Veronica. Hi, Andrea.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yeah, so the defendant at the center of this story is 37-year-old crypto investor John Waltz. He is accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian businessman for weeks inside of a Manhattan townhouse. He was actually arrested on Friday and arraigned on charges of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault, among other charges. And he has currently entered a plea of not guilty.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
That is correct. Officials are saying that William DuPlessis is a business partner of Walt's, and he turned himself in alongside his lawyers on Tuesday. He is facing the same charges as Walt's, but there's no plea as of yet.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
He is a 28-year-old Italian citizen. He was actually another business partner of Waltz and Duplessis, which is coming from law enforcement. Investigators believe that the three men had a rocky past, but things really took a turn for the worse when the victim arrived in New York City earlier this month.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yeah, exactly. So Woltz and DuPlessis allegedly demanded that the victim give them his Bitcoin password. And when the victim refused, the police said that that's when the torture began. This man managed to escape. Yeah. Against all odds, according to law enforcement, the victim told Waltz that he would finally give up his Bitcoin password.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
And then when Waltz went to go get the victim's laptop, he saw an opportunity to flee and flag down a nearby officer for help.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
So we're still in the prosecution phase of the trial. At this point, the jury is pretty familiar with the details of the crime. They've seen photos of the crime scene and surveillance video of the masked man. Prosecutors say, is Serafini walking down the driveway towards the home?
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yeah. So a friend of the family actually testified that they believed that the man in the video walked just like Serafini. But Serafini's older brother said that the person in the video was not similar to his brother.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yeah. So Serafini's older brother said that they had joked several times about killing his in-laws, but he insisted it was just a joke. Serafini's old boss had a disturbing story to share. He testified that he had overheard Serafini arguing on the phone with somebody.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
And when the call ended, he said Serafini threw his phone at the dashboard and said, quote, I want to kill my mother effing in-laws. And this was about three months before the shooting. And a young bartender who once worked at Serafini's bar told the prosecutor that she was scared to testify as she looked at him sitting at the defendant's table.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
So she's the big witness that everyone is waiting to hear from. Right now, court is in recess until next week. So we'll be keeping an eye out for when she takes the stand. OK.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yes. So Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting on the set of the movie Rust. She was the one responsible for firearms used on set. And what happened was actor Alec Baldwin was holding a prop revolver, but it ended up firing a live round, killing cinematographer Helena Hutchins in 2021.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
No, she did not serve her full sentence. A spokesperson for the New Mexico Corrections Department said Gutierrez-Reed was only required to serve 85 percent of her sentence because she wasn't convicted of a, quote, serious violent offense per New Mexico law. That and she had credits for things like time served and good behavior. Do we know what is next for her?
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Legally speaking, she was released in Arizona with dual supervision under probation and parole authorities. According to the New Mexico Corrections Department, she will be on parole in the manslaughter case for a year. Okay. Thank you, Veronica, for all these updates. Of course. Thank you. Thank you.
Dateline NBC
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
According to the New Mexico Corrections Department, she will be on parole in the manslaughter case for a year.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Hey, Veronica. Hi, Andrea.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yeah, so the defendant at the center of this story is 37-year-old crypto investor John Waltz. He is accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian businessman for weeks inside of a Manhattan townhouse. He was actually arrested on Friday and arraigned on charges of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault, among other charges. And he has currently entered a plea of not guilty.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
That is correct. Officials are saying that William DuPlessis is a business partner of Walt's, and he turned himself in alongside his lawyers on Tuesday. He is facing the same charges as Walt's, but there's no plea as of yet.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
He is a 28-year-old Italian citizen. He was actually another business partner of Waltz and Duplessis, which is coming from law enforcement. Investigators believe that the three men had a rocky past, but things really took a turn for the worse when the victim arrived in New York City earlier this month.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yeah, exactly. So Woltz and DuPlessis allegedly demanded that the victim give them his Bitcoin password. And when the victim refused, the police said that that's when the torture began. This man managed to escape. Yeah. Against all odds, according to law enforcement, the victim told Waltz that he would finally give up his Bitcoin password.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
And then when Waltz went to go get the victim's laptop, he saw an opportunity to flee and flag down a nearby officer for help.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
So we're still in the prosecution phase of the trial. At this point, the jury is pretty familiar with the details of the crime. They've seen photos of the crime scene and surveillance video of the masked man. Prosecutors say, is Serafini walking down the driveway towards the home?
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yeah. So a friend of the family actually testified that they believed that the man in the video walked just like Serafini. But Serafini's older brother said that the person in the video was not similar to his brother.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yeah. So Serafini's older brother said that they had joked several times about killing his in-laws, but he insisted it was just a joke. Serafini's old boss had a disturbing story to share. He testified that he had overheard Serafini arguing on the phone with somebody.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
And when the call ended, he said Serafini threw his phone at the dashboard and said, quote, I want to kill my mother effing in-laws. And this was about three months before the shooting. And a young bartender who once worked at Serafini's bar told the prosecutor that she was scared to testify as she looked at him sitting at the defendant's table.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
So she's the big witness that everyone is waiting to hear from. Right now, court is in recess until next week. So we'll be keeping an eye out for when she takes the stand. OK.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Yes. So Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting on the set of the movie Rust. She was the one responsible for firearms used on set. And what happened was actor Alec Baldwin was holding a prop revolver, but it ended up firing a live round, killing cinematographer Helena Hutchins in 2021.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
No, she did not serve her full sentence. A spokesperson for the New Mexico Corrections Department said Gutierrez-Reed was only required to serve 85 percent of her sentence because she wasn't convicted of a, quote, serious violent offense per New Mexico law. That and she had credits for things like time served and good behavior. Do we know what is next for her?
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
Legally speaking, she was released in Arizona with dual supervision under probation and parole authorities. According to the New Mexico Corrections Department, she will be on parole in the manslaughter case for a year. Okay. Thank you, Veronica, for all these updates. Of course. Thank you. Thank you.
Dateline: True Crime Weekly
The Crystal Rogers case at trial. Karen Read prosecution wrapping up. And a lawyer on objections.
According to the New Mexico Corrections Department, she will be on parole in the manslaughter case for a year.