TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Michele "Missy" Avila with me today.

In October 1985, 17-year-old Michele “Missy” Avila vanished after going for a ride with her close friends, girls she trusted implicitly. She never came home. Three days later, her body was discovered face-down in a shallow creek within Angeles National Forest, her waist-length hair hacked off and a heavy log placed on top to hold her down.

As the investigation turned cold, grief wove into betrayal. One of Missy’s supposed best friends, Karen Severson, even moved in with Missy’s grieving mother, portraying herself as a comforting presence while hiding unimaginable guilt. Three years later, another teenage peer, Eva Chirumbolo, broke the case wide open, leading authorities to arrest Karen and another friend, Laura Doyle, for second-degree murder.

Both were eventually convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life. Karen Severson was released in December 2011 after serving 21½ years; Laura Doyle followed in December 2012 after 22 years behind bars.

In early August 2025, the lifeless body of 8-year-old Genesis Ariah Mata was found in the bathtub of a La Quinta Inn in Bakersfield, California. The discovery revealed a scene so horrific that first responders were visibly shocked, her body showing signs of extreme abuse including scalding burns, crushed hands, whip marks, and missing fingernails.

Arrested and charged were her father, Ray Mata Jr., and her stepmother, Graciela Bustamonte. Court documents allege they worked in concert over multiple days, torturing Genesis with scalding water poured over her skin, crushing her fingers in a door frame, and inflicting repeated physical abuse that led to her death.

Adding to the tragedy, events leading up to Genesis’s death raise haunting questions about systemic neglect. Reports reveal that Child Protective Services had been alerted over 20 times regarding suspected abuse or neglect within their home, yet no meaningful intervention occurred.

In the courtroom, both parents pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including first-degree murder, torture, aggravated mayhem, and child cruelty. The broader community has responded with shock and calls for accountability, demanding answers not just from the judicial process, but also from the child welfare system that failed Genesis.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kiaya Campbell with me today. In June 2017, 10-year-old Kiaya Campbell vanished after walking with a 15-year-old acquaintance, her father’s girlfriend’s son. A massive search effort was launched. Hours later, Kiaya’s body was found in a drainage ditch. She had been brutally beaten to death, struck at least five times in the head with a metal pipe before being left there to die.

Police quickly identified the teen as a suspect. Overwhelming evidence, including blood on his clothing and surveillance footage, contradicted his initial story of a rainstorm separation. He was charged with first-degree murder, ultimately tried as an adult, and pleaded guilty in early 2019.

In March 2019, the teen, who was just 15 at the time of the crime, was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

This harrowing case forces us to grapple with the unimaginable: how a child’s life was so violently stolen by another child, and raises urgent questions about juvenile justice, trauma, and the depths of human cruelty.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Brett Bowyer, Thurman Ratliff, and Catherine Ratliff with me today. In early 2002, the state of Alabama was rocked by two horrific and connected murder cases. On January 30, 68-year-old Thurman Ratliff and his 62-year-old wife Catherine Ratliff were found shot to death in their Lee County home in what appeared to be a targeted home invasion. Just three weeks later, in nearby Russell County, 12-year-old Brett Bowyer and his father, Forrest “Butch” Bowyer, were abducted by men posing as narcotics officers. The father and son were bound, taken to a remote construction site, and buried alive in a shallow grave. Brett was shot three times and killed, while Forrest’s throat was slit, yet he somehow survived, clawed his way out, and identified the attackers.The killers, Michael Carruth, Jimmy Brooks, and James Gary were ultimately tied to both brutal crimes. All three men were charged with capital murder for the Bowyer and Ratliff slayings, with Carruth and Brooks receiving the death penalty and Gary sentenced to life in prison. The shocking survival of Forrest Bowyer helped unravel this deadly trio’s pattern of violence and brought justice to the grieving families. These cases remain among the most disturbing child and family murders in Alabama history, and Forrest’s escape from the grave became a national true crime headline.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Seath Jackson with me today.

In April 2011, 15-year-old Seath Jackson was trapped by his ex-girlfriend, Amber Wright, and led into a deadly ambush at a rural Florida trailer. Seath was tortured, shot multiple times, and his already shattered kneecaps were broken to fit his body inside a sleeping bag. After his murder, his remains were burned in a fire pit, scraped into paint buckets, and eventually dumped into a flooded quarry, weighed down with cinder blocks.

The group responsible, all teenagers themselves, included Amber; her stepbrother Kyle Hooper; Michael Bargo, the instigator and shooter; Justin Soto; and Charlie Ely, all prosecuted as adults. Bargo became Florida’s youngest death row inmate, while Amber, Kyle, Justin, and Charlie received life sentences (Charlie was later released after a plea deal).

In a case that continues to horrify the true crime community, 13-year-old Paris Bennett brutally murdered his 4-year-old sister, Ella Bennett, in their Texas home on February 5, 2007. Despite having a reported IQ of 141 and no prior history of violence, Paris stabbed Ella 17 times while their mother, Charity Lee, was working a late shift. He then calmly called 911 and pretended to try to save her. But his true motive was even darker—he later admitted he had killed Ella not out of rage or impulse, but as a calculated plan to emotionally destroy his mother. The murder was premeditated, and he deliberately chose a method that would leave no room for survival.After the murder, Paris was charged as a juvenile and ultimately sentenced to 40 years in prison, the maximum allowed under Texas law for someone his age. The case gained national attention due to its shocking nature: a highly intelligent teen murdering his younger sister in cold blood as an act of emotional revenge. In later interviews, Paris admitted he still had violent urges and showed chilling signs of psychopathy. Charity Lee, now an advocate for trauma survivors, has publicly shared her journey through grief, forgiveness, and raising her third child, all while knowing that her son is a remorseless killer. This tragic case is often cited in discussions about familicide, juvenile murderers, and the psychology of teen killers.

In February 2009 in Marion County, Florida, 26-year-old Heather Strong vanished from her life and from the hearts of those who loved her. She was last seen walking away from her job at a roadside restaurant, leaving behind two children she deeply cared for. A week later, her family raised the alarm and the search began.

The investigation soon exposed a web of betrayal: her estranged husband, Joshua Fulgham, and his former fiancée, Emilia Carr, became the focus—linked together by jealousy, custody disputes, and a disturbing reunion. Weeks later, authorities recovered Heather’s remains from a shallow grave near a trailer on Carr’s mother’s property. Evidence revealed she had been suffocated while bound to a chair.

Both Fulgham and Carr were charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. In December 2010, Carr was convicted; her jury recommended the death penalty, and she was sentenced accordingly in February 2011. However, following a legal challenge in 2016, her death sentence was replaced in May 2017 with life in prison without parole. Fulgham, who was tried later, was also found guilty and sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole.

In a terrifying escalation of obsession, 52-year-old Jeffrey Bothee broke into the Kentwood, Michigan home of a woman he had previously been convicted of stalking. When police cornered him in the basement, Bothee detonated an explosive device, injuring five officers and igniting chaos.

As officers moved in, Bothee attempted to trigger a second bomb strapped to his body. He was shot by police in the process. Whether the fatal blow came from the bullet or the blast remains unclear, an autopsy was ordered to determine the cause of death.

Just months earlier, Bothee had been sentenced to probation for stalking the same woman.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Mark Staudte, Shaun Staudte, and Sarah Staudte with me today.

In 2012, the Staudte family of Springfield, Missouri, suffered two mysterious deaths. First, 61-year-old Mark Staudte passed away unexpectedly, followed five months later by his 26-year-old autistic son, Shaun, both ruled at the time as medical-related incidents. In 2013, their daughter Sarah collapsed with organ failure, sparking a police investigation after an anonymous tip.

As investigators dug deeper, horrifying secrets surfaced: Diane Staudte, the family matriarch, had been poisoning her husband and son with antifreeze. Her 24-year-old daughter, Rachel, eventually admitted to assisting, under her mother’s direction. Their plan reportedly targeted family members they deemed as burdens.

Convictions followed:

• Diane Staudte took a plea deal and is serving life in prison without parole.

• Rachel Staudte pleaded guilty in exchange for testifying against her mother; she received two life sentences plus 20 years, with parole eligibility after around 42½ years.

Meanwhile, Sarah Staudte survived, but with lasting neurological and physical damage. In court, she read a powerful statement: “I prefer to be a survivor rather than a victim.”

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering April Dawn Millsap with me today. 14-year-old April Millsap was walking her dog on the Macomb Orchard Trail in Armada, Michigan, on July 24, 2014, when she suddenly vanished. Just moments before her disappearance, she texted her boyfriend, “I think I almost got kidnapped omfg.” Her body was later discovered in a drainage ditch, brutally beaten and strangled. April’s dog, Penny, was found nearby, and helped alert passersby to the horrifying scene. The small town was rocked by the shocking murder of this teenage girl, and the case quickly gained national attention as investigators worked tirelessly to identify a suspect.James VanCallis, a 32-year-old man with a criminal history, eventually became the prime suspect in April Millsap’s murder. Though there was no DNA evidence linking him to the crime, investigators used witness testimony, cell phone GPS data, and a distinctive shoe print found on April’s body to build their case. In 2016, VanCallis was found guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and attempted sexual assault, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The murder of April Millsap remains one of Michigan’s most heartbreaking true crime cases, remembered for the way modern technology—like fitness tracking apps—helped bring a killer to justice.