Hello! Hello! Welcome back to another episode of Diagnosing a Killer. I'm Koelle. And I'm Kenna.
How's it going? I'm in a sultry voice today. Yeah. So those laps, bro. This is my normal speaking voice.
Yeah, I'm super strong. Yeah. I was like, I have like a, I guess like a sleeping cramp or something? Like in my neck, my lower neck. So I was like, rubbing
my shoulder out. I like turned my head like I look like one of those bros that just came back from the chin.
Oh, you're looking for the chin? That's right over there.
Oh, you're my shoulder pop. Yeah, I did. That way. Watch it. You see my beach ball. Ow! Oh my gosh. Actually, okay, I'm gonna stop moving around.
Just sit still. How's everyone doing? You know, it's going good. Well, I definitely wanted to, before we get into your case, take over for a second and shout out all of our peeps that responded to our
Instagram story about where you were from, which is super cool. Oh, I haven't heard this. I know. So we got a bunch of different responses. So we have Canada, we have
Tuscumbia, Alabama, which is home of Helen Keller, apparently. Oh. Pensacola, Florida from the UK, but living in the Netherlands, Texas, of course. South America,
Bellingham, Washington, SoCal. Movication said we aren't entirely sure where Cole is from. And then Brady said the upside down. Yeah. So thank you guys for those responses. I was just interested.
Cole's from outer space. We had to know. Oh yeah, he's definitely an alien. He was, yeah, he's an alien that was raised by butterflies. Is that what he says? Yeah. No, that's what I say. Oh.
Well, thank you guys for responding. We really like to know about people listening to us. I know, like, I always say this, I know we have listeners all over the world, but it makes it
more real when you hear a specific place. Yeah. And then someone is like, Hey, I live here, and I listen to you. And I'm like, how the hell did you even find us?
Where did you search that? Did you search that? Did you know to search that? That's so cool. No, but we did get a really nice message from a listener in India.
Ooh. So, Shana, I think is how you pronounce it, says, Hi, I'm a new listener all the way from India. I'm a huge true crime fan, and I'm actually an aspiring psychology student.
And I just wanted to say that you guys are amazing. I've only recently discovered your podcast, and I must say I'm hooked. I love how it's not just this is a person, they killed this many people, and this is how they killed them, but actually a deep dive into the psyche of these criminals and their history.
I'm definitely going to be binging your podcast. Yeah, thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. I loved that message. Of course, I responded. And they also suggested a case, so we will look into that for sure.
But yeah, thank you so much. And she said, I hope you guys are doing well. Thank you for reading this, if or whenever you do. Of course, we're going to write it. The time difference.
Yeah, exactly. The time difference gave us a little bit of a different responding time, I guess, for normal. But we really appreciate it. And we love, obviously, love hearing from you guys.
We got another message from another listener that sent us a meme. I think I reposted it. It says, My heebies are fucking jeeveed. Oh, yeah.
This reminded me of you all. I was like, yes, I love it. Heebies and the jeebies. But yeah, thank you guys a lot for reaching out to us.
Yes. And if you want to continue reaching out to us, you can check out diagnosingaKiller.com. There you can find links to merch and resources.
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Email us, rate us, review us. Yeah, definitely do that. Love those reviews. Love those reviews. You guys have made better about that. You guys are great.
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Here we are to say, do better. Just kidding. We can all do better, though. Love you guys. Love you. Ready? Yeah.
Today we are going to be talking about a one Rachel Mullenix. Do you know who that is? It sounds kind of familiar. Rachel Mullenix. Okay.
Mullenix. Content warning. This episode describes mental, emotional, physical abuse towards adults and minors, sexual assault, alcohol and drug use, and threats of self-harm.
If this episode is not for you, we encourage you to check out another one of our episodes. Remember, your mental health comes first and we love you. Love you. Bye.
So Rachel Mullenix. Okay. It sounds like a doozy of a content warning already. It is a bit, yeah. One early at mid-September morning in 2006. Whoa.
He's throwing me for a loop already. I know, right? It's like the Zach Bowen case. A Newport Beach Yacht Club member was attempting to take a sail out of Beacon Bay when he came across something odd in the water.
He noticed what appeared to be a bed sheet. Upon closer inspection, the man was horrified to realize that this bed sheet contained the body of a woman. Oh my God. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? I can't. I can't even. Simply cannot.
It's so odd. I cannot even. He immediately noticed. Oh my God. I just got that. I'm sorry. He immediately notified police who arrived on the scene shortly after. The woman was removed from the water and placed on the pier for further inspection.
The woman had been stabbed over 50 times in all various shapes and sizes, the wounds. Oh my God. Most of her injuries being to her chest, head and neck.
She had defensive wounds on her hands, and her jugular and carotid arteries had been severed by three separate stab wounds to her neck. That sounds extremely personal. Yeah.
A small, partially closed pocket knife was within the bedding that the woman was wrapped in. The knife still contained blood and tissue attached to it, which is horrific. There are photos.
Perhaps the most disturbing detail of the state of the body was that a butter knife was still lodged in the woman's right eye socket, the handle protruding from her skull. Oh my God. Horrific. That is so much force.
That's so much force, and like you just left, like you left it. Rage. Like you didn't, like, with as much rage as you're experiencing when you're stabbing someone 50 times, leaving it in there is deliberate.
That's absolutely deliberate. I was just thinking, and I know I'm sure other listeners are thinking as well, when it's a crime like this, it seems very personal, and you want to essentially mutilate or kind of get rid of the face so that you don't have to look at that person.
Yeah. Which means you did that to make yourself feel better, and then you had no fucking empathy at all by leaving the knife. Absolutely. That's ridiculous.
In an effort to identify the woman, investigators attempted to obtain fingerprints from the victim, however, due to her being in the water for what seemed to be at least 12 hours, investigators were unable to collect fingerprints initially. Oh no.
Strangely, when scouring the area for further clues, investigators came across a cardboard box floating not far from where the body was found. This box was for a 27 inch TV and also had duct tape attached to the outside of it.
Detectives thought that maybe this was the box used to house the body in transport, and the box was then collected for evidence.
Another peculiar find was an abandoned Volvo that was parked in Corona del Mar, just six minutes from where the body was found, a six minute drive.
The woman's body was taken to the county medical examiner's office where an autopsy was performed. It was determined that the woman had breast implants, and once removed, detectives were able to make out
lot numbers and serial numbers imprinted on the implants. So they can find her doctor and they can find her records.
Manufacturers, much like we see on any other kind of product, put these numbers on their products to detect batches of products that were produced under the same conditions at the same time.
So if there's ever a recall or a medical thing, they'd be able to track down essentially who purchased this product from breast implants to serial.
From the information gathered on the implant, it was determined that this particular implant was manufactured in France, was used in an operation in Oklahoma, and registered to a woman who now lived in California.
Dang, maybe flying them all over the place.
I know right, from France to Oklahoma. The victim was then identified as Barbara Milonix from Huntington Beach, California, which was just a 12 minute drive from where her body was found.
That's the same last name as the perpetrator.
Oh, interesting.
Barbara Ann was born on May 29th, 1950. This is how our episodes typically start.
Yeah.
In Munich, Bavaria, Germany. She's actually German.
Barbara's family moved to the States when she was still young, settling in Oklahoma City area.
Not much to find out about Barbara's young life, but what we do know is that Barbara had always had aspirations of becoming an actress.
Her favorite movie was Gone with the Wind and she did love movies.
Unfortunately, at age 18, Barbara was the victim of a rape, which resulted in a pregnancy.
Oh my gosh.
Barbara carried the baby to term and would give the child up for adoption.
Barbara was devastated as her other aspiration in life was to be a wife and a mom.
Oh, that's so sad.
So giving up this child was very difficult for her.
Barbara would eventually get married to a local man, and she was over the moon when she found out that she would be having a baby boy.
The couple named him Ashley or Alex. He goes by Alex.
However, the couple would not last, divorcing just a few short years later.
Alex would be mostly raised by his father, who was more established at the time of the divorce,
although sometimes Alex did stay at his mom's house and it was kind of more of a shared custody arrangement.
Alex remembers his mother running a pretty tight ship, a clean house, and was always well put together.
However, at times she could be very controlling.
When Alex began to get jobs and work, he said his mother would sometimes call his job in an effort to cause confrontation or to have Alex fired,
as she only wanted the kids to stay home and around her.
That sounds very controlling.
I said kids, but kid.
This was a level of control and manipulation that Barbara was capable of, and he, that's the kind of house the whole team grew up in.
And Barbara is the future victim.
Yes.
Okay.
He later revealed on a phone interview conducted by forensicfilesnow.com,
quote, my mom would call our jobs, our bosses, and start problems for no reason.
She did it because she felt like she was losing control of us.
But you can't do stuff like that because bosses will fire you.
Yeah, exactly.
He said about the house growing up, quote, I'd have my friends come over and they think that when my mom was cool,
she would buy us popsicles or rubies or whatever.
And then the minute they were gone, I thought they don't really know her.
She could be like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Even my girlfriend at the time could see it, end quote.
Oh my God.
That's like definitely some sort of personality disorder it sounds like.
Yeah, I think so.
And I don't know if it's due to the sexual assault that she experienced in giving up her first child for adoption,
that maybe she felt like she had to keep control over her kid.
Absolutely.
Just to make sure maybe nothing would happen to him or yeah.
Well, that's an understanding feeling, but I feel like the links that it's gone to,
like that's not normal.
Right, yeah, exactly.
In the mid 1980s, ready for love again, Barbara would meet the man who would change the course of her life.
Oh my God, that's your favorite line.
I'm just kidding.
But she did meet a Bruce Mullenix who was nine years her junior.
Nine years her junior?
Yeah, that's a term.
What's that mean?
It means he's nine years younger.
Wow, you just expressed your old age.
Yeah, or if it was nine years her senior, he would be older.
I've never heard that expression.
I hope I'm using that right.
I'm pretty sure I am.
Email us.
Bruce had previously graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1984 where he achieved a
Bachelor of Science in Management Science and Computer Systems.
That is a mouthful.
Dang, how many times did you just say that?
Right.
The couple would marry within a few years of dating in 1987.
Bruce was 27 years old when the couple married, making Barbara about 36.
Soon the couple would welcome their daughter in 1989, Rachel Mullenix.
Oh, I thought that Rachel was going to be the one that was put out for adoption years prior.
And then she came back and got mad.
Venge, yeah.
Just a bunch of Venge.
Rachel was described by her brother Alex as, quote, a good kid.
She made good grades.
She was on a couple basketball teams.
She did ballet and she did gymnastics, end quote.
So she was really doing it all.
Yeah.
Alex recalled how his mother doted on Rachel at times by saying, quote,
she dressed Rachel in the best clothes and taught her the best manners, end quote.
So it's like she's the favorite child.
Yeah, she's the little doll.
Yeah.
Mostly the small family seemed to be doing well.
Bruce often traveled for work, so the mother daughter duo were usually left to care for
the house and for one another.
However, after an uncertain amount of time, Bruce noticed that his wife seemed to be
drinking heavier and heavier.
Oh.
Barbara would cause arguments mostly when she was drunk.
And he was seeing a side of Barbara that he had not previously seen before and was shocked
that on occasion, Barbara would get so upset and drunk that she would get violent with him
and Rachel.
Oh my gosh.
On at least one occasion, Bruce called the cops and child protective services on his
own wife after an altercation between Barbara and Rachel.
And Rachel became physical when Rachel was just about 12 or 13 years old.
Oh my God.
That's so awful.
Nothing.
Don't fucking expose kids to adult problems.
Right?
I hate that.
Well, it's like, you know, again, she's already having this control issue, but she's also
dealing with probably a lot of depression.
Yeah.
And so she's coping with that by drinking.
Not only that, but I think at this time she was also taking prescription medications
for various things.
And she probably has PTSD.
Yeah.
And she's all of those feelings with a depressant like alcohol are going to come out and
they're going to turn to anger because she doesn't know how to handle her sadness.
Yeah.
That's why she's drinking.
And the only place that's going to go is outward to other people and, you know, potentially
cause disorders for other people because she's influencing her children this way too.
That's traumatic for everybody involved.
On one occasion, Barbara had claimed that her daughter attacked her with a knife, bearing
at least two to three superficial slash marks on her right arm.
Rachel had what appeared to be a bite mark on her arm, but later testified that the mark
was self-inflicted.
So this did go all the way to court.
Okay.
Yet another time that the cops recalled, Rachel said that she had left the house once things
became physical.
After police contacted Rachel, who had left her a friend's house that night, no charges
were filed.
She essentially said, my mom was drunk.
We got into an argument.
Things might have gotten physical, but I'm not coming back to the house.
I met a friend's house.
I am safe.
She's alone.
She's probably about, well, at this point, she's probably like 14, 15, but still.
But still, she shouldn't be allowed to make that decision for herself.
And I personally don't think that what should have been up to her to drop the charges because
she's a minor.
Well, yeah, I think the dad should have definitely been had a say in that.
And I don't know whether or not Bruce actually witnessed it or what the circumstance was.
Yeah.
He did say that it became physical, but who's to know if like he saw the after effects?
Yeah, that's true.
I mean, it's kind of hard too because, you know, you want to think that like, oh, a kid
wouldn't make something up like that, but sometimes it happens.
Yeah.
You know, and then the father goes to jail, you know, the mother goes to jail and then
there wasn't actually anything that happened.
It definitely seemed like in an effort to protect her mother, Rachel said, I did this
to myself.
Yeah.
And yeah, I did wield a knife, but she's also a minor.
She was worried that her mom was going to get in serious trouble or something.
And I've seen it before that it gets sold that way.
You're the minor.
If you say that you did these things, you're not going to get in trouble, but if you say
that I did these things to you, I'm going to get in trouble.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So take the fall.
Yeah, it's true.
Oh, gosh, it's heartbreaking.
That is awful.
That's way too much for a young girl to think about.
Absolutely.
She has other shit going on.
Yeah.
So apparently any further investigation into this was never open on Barbara, no cases
or anything.
And looking into the home, it did seem that the small family was doing well.
They had a big house, big bedrooms, and all the things that Rachel could have needed.
There was even photos all around the house of big birthday parties.
So it just seemed like a big smokescreen for the abuse.
Yeah, absolutely.
And also I was going to say, I feel like if any incident happens like that, especially
when it includes minors, even if the charges were dropped, that should still remain on
her record so that in case something else happens in the future, you know that it's
a repeating thing and not just a single moment that happened or whatever, like a once occurrence
or whatever.
Yeah.
And I wonder if just because charges were dropped, you know, you know, you're not
a lawyer because charges were dropped that like that paperwork just goes bye bye.
I don't know.
Yeah, exactly.
Just goes bye bye.
Bruce said, quote, Barbara had a problem.
When she got more and more into drinking, things started to get real bad.
End quote.
Another quote, she was a crazy mean drunk.
End quote.
And that's like, I mean you got to feel like you're walking on eggshells in your own house.
Yeah.
Like if, oh as soon as she has a drink, I can imagine the stress that everyone was like,
oh shit, like, you know, she has a drink.
Oh, she's got a drink in her hand.
It's going to go.
What's the next few hours going to look like?
Exactly.
Fuck.
You should, no one should ever have to fucking worry about shit like that.
Things got so bad, in fact, that Bruce did file for divorce from Barbara in 2002.
Alex recalled the sense of escalation and his mother's behavior stating, quote,
I did move in with my mother in 2003 when she lived in Oklahoma.
A couple of times when I was about to leave, she self-inflicted wounds and threatened to
say that I did it to her.
Oh my god.
She chased me around the house of the baseball bat.
Rachel told me about the same kind of behavior, end quote.
So it's not a one off thing or it didn't happen.
Like it's clearly happening and she's using her kids as a catalyst to get away with it
because she's threatening that they're going to get in trouble.
Yeah, that's ridiculous.
Like he's like going to come stay with her and then he's like, oh, I'm going to move out
because shit is way too intense here.
And then she threatens to put him in jail or something.
Yeah.
So like you don't want him to leave.
What are you going to do?
Get him arrested?
He's going to leave then, you know?
Well, at least he would probably still be dependent on her because, you know.
But it sounds like an empty, I'm not an empty threat, but it sounds like she thinks like,
oh, I just have to say this to my kids and they'll just mind me.
They won't.
Yeah, exactly.
They won't turn me in or anything.
Bruce agreed to alimony and child support as Barbara wanted to relocate to Tampa, Florida
after learning that Bruce's plans were to move to Huntington Beach, California.
He didn't apply for custody of both children?
Well, Alex at this point, I think, is old enough to live out of the house.
Oh, okay.
But still.
Yeah.
So he was moving to and from.
He even said that he moved away to Portland, Oregon, I think it was, just to get away.
Even though like Bruce, though, knowing what's happened in the past,
like I would be fighting for custody of my child.
I would not want my child to be with her.
Yeah.
Well, I think that maybe he was like, I would like to move to Huntington Beach
and maybe you guys can move in the area, just not with me.
And I think she was more like, no, I'm taking your daughter
and I'm moving onto the other side of the country.
Of course, the country, yeah.
So that you, you know, just to be as far away as possible.
Because she, I mean, she took the money
and the one person she can manipulate clearly is Rachel.
Yeah, that's true.
If you're not from America, Huntington Beach is in California.
I'm sorry, yeah.
And Tampa Bay is in Florida.
Florida.
And they're on the opposite side of the country.
So yeah.
Bruce did not want to be so far away from his daughter,
but he couldn't wait to get away from Barbara.
So the two agreed that Rachel would stay with Barbara
while she finished high school, which is another thing, right?
Okay.
Rachel was not thrilled about this arrangement,
of course, one could imagine.
Rachel began to turn to other means of receiving
positive attention and began hanging around
maybe some people that she should not have been.
Well, she's being shown like the worst kind of behavior
at home is to say that she's not gonna try to do that on her,
do that herself.
Right.
To complain of that game, I'll become a fucking delinquent,
you know?
Exactly.
She did start smoking weed and she did begin to drink
and go to parties on the weekends.
And that's also coping as well.
Yeah, she's also done, I mean, her mom is modeling this behavior.
Exactly.
She says, this is what you do when you get upset about something.
When you're upset.
When you're upset, you drink.
You drink, you party.
Yeah.
So remember, she's just now starting school, a new school.
She's a girl from Oklahoma.
She has to fit in very quickly.
So that also probably plays a factor.
Barbara seemed to not have a problem with this oftentimes,
as Barbara would invite some of Rachel's friends over
to drink and smoke the night away on a few occasions.
She would be like the one hosting.
Yeah.
Oh my God, fucking the Colonel.
I'm not like a regular mom.
I'm a cool mom.
Call me the Colonel.
Yeah, call me the Colonel, exactly.
Again, I think this is Barbara's attempt at either being a cool mom
or the hot mom or the relative mom.
Or she's like, fuck it, if I have all of her friends come over here
and they like me, then she won't leave.
Exactly.
Because she'll be at my house doing what she wants to do anyway.
That was gonna be absolutely my next point,
that she was gonna essentially keep an eye out
on all of Rachel's friends.
Because like you said, all of Rachel's friends like her.
Not only that, but if they're a bad influence,
she can be like don't hang out with that guy or whatever.
Yeah, or she could, I mean, you know how Alex was saying
that his mom was a completely different person in front of the company.
Maybe she was like, you know, now if Rachel tries to talk
shit about me to her friends, her friends aren't gonna believe her.
Because they know me and they think I'm cool.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, so many motives.
So many motives.
Rachel and her mother lived in Tampa for just a short while,
before Barbara reached out to Bruce with a big ask.
The alimony and child support that Barbara had been receiving
seemingly wasn't enough to keep the two afloat on their own.
So I did a little bit of internet sleuthing, right?
And I found where they lived.
Oh my god.
Two bedroom apartment, $2,500.
In Florida?
In Tampa, Florida.
Today?
Well, I mean, this was just in mid-2000s.
Yeah, I mean, that's a lot.
It's a lot of money.
I looked at the map.
I looked at the street view.
It's a very nice, quiet community.
It's a really nice area.
Do you have to be paying 12?
Let's not even say that.
Let's not even call it $2,500.
Let's just call it $2,000 a month, okay?
For inflation, because let's all face it.
We're going through it right now.
So let's say $2,000 a month for a two bedroom apartment
in a swanky area.
It's almost essentially like a, it kind of looks like a townhome.
I think they're apartments. You're telling me you can't downsize a little bit?
Yeah.
You're receiving alimony and child support.
Oh, I haven't mentioned this either, but Barbara doesn't work.
Oh.
Barbara has not worked.
Okay.
This whole time she has not worked.
So she's just relying on the child support
and the alimony.
And now she's asking for more, even though she has essentially more than enough,
or she could choose to live a little humbly and not have to spend so much on it.
No, I have to spend so much, right?
Okay.
So just want to make sure that all clear.
She has to support her drug and alcohol habit though.
Well, of course. Well, that's probably where the money's going.
Exactly.
I was saying.
Exactly. Yeah.
Just makes me wonder about how much Bruce is paying.
Bruce, you keep that secret to yourself.
You don't have to tell us.
Don't tell us.
But I'm just saying.
You know.
So again, with Barbara wanting to pursue her acting career,
she asked if Rachel and her could move in with Bruce
in his small Huntington Beach condo.
She didn't want to go there.
Well, she was like, oh, it's close enough to LA.
I'll just make it big.
But in the meantime, can we stay with you?
You know, either that or I think that she was financially
pushed with Bruce.
And I think that she's like, let's move back in.
Yeah.
And have, because apparently I say it was a small condo,
but Barbara would have her own room.
And I'm assuming so did Rachel.
So that's a three bedroom condo in Huntington Beach.
And it's like a ride on the water.
It's really pretty.
So I was just going to make a comment.
I'm like, you know, I can't stand that mindset of I'm going
to try this one thing.
I'm going to get really good at it.
And I'm going to be rich.
And I'm just going to do that.
And if that doesn't work out, and that sucks, my one thing,
I'm like, you know, you and I talk about all the time,
like if this podcast blows up, cool,
but I'm not fucking sitting around waiting for it to blow up.
I'm working.
I'm going to school.
You're going to school like to try to make our lives better
in the future.
Just in case this doesn't work out.
Just in case.
It would be nice.
Yeah.
I'm not relying on it.
Right.
You know, when that sounds like she's relying on it.
She's like, I'm going to rely on him to pay for me.
Well, I don't do anything.
And I'll just make it big and make it big.
Make it big.
Someone will just come around and like give me their lead
role in a movie.
You know how many people go to LA and fail every day?
Well, yeah, it's kind of a problem.
Yeah, it is a problem.
From what I understand, I've never been.
Louis, tell us.
Tell us.
Yes.
So again, Bruce thinking that he was done with Barbara for forever
still couldn't leave his daughter hanging.
I don't blame him.
And Rachel begged to be back with him.
She was like, Dad, please, please.
I need to not be with just her.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't blame her.
So Bruce agreed to have the two move in sometime early 2006.
I would have been like, Rachel move home with me.
Barbara figured out.
Barbara, fuck off Barbara.
Figured out.
Fuck off Janet.
Now go to your fucking baby shower.
Go to your fucking baby shower, Janet.
Barbara found some acting gigs more specifically
or maybe ironically on CSI.
Oh my god.
Isn't that crazy?
Yeah, that is wild.
She was an extra.
She had small extra parts,
but it did give Barbara kind of a sense of drive
that maybe it wasn't so far fetched
that she could become a full-time actress.
She's like, I'll just do this extra position really well.
And they'll be like, oh my god, you have the face.
You have it.
She looked right really well.
Yeah, she stood there silently.
Really great.
She was great.
She was so great.
Rachel seemed to be doing well enough in school,
but eventually was able to convince her parents
that opposed to traditional schooling,
she wished to be placed in an alternative school
that only required her to be on campus once or twice a week.
So it's kind of like ace.
Yeah, I get that.
Because this girl has gone through so much already.
She's probably so fucking overwhelmed.
Yeah.
Just with everything.
And if she's still going to be able to get her GED
at the end of it, I support her.
Yeah, for sure.
Or maybe even get a high school diploma.
She's like, this is what I can do.
Yeah, and I know what I'm capable of.
I at least want to graduate.
Please settle over, fuck.
And I get that mindset of if I stay here any longer,
I will drop out, or I won't graduate.
Or I'll run away.
Exactly.
Yeah.
This motivation may also come from a different source
as Rachel had met a man by the name of Ann Allen,
who was 21, Rachel being only 17 at the time.
And with this new school schedule,
Rachel was able to spend way more time with Ian.
Ian.
The two were madly in love,
quickly expressing their wants to marry each other
and move in together.
The couple dated secretly for about four months
before being found out by Rachel's parents.
Yeah, because that's illegal.
That's why they had to date secretly.
She was in high school.
Shut up.
Don't say anything about it, or I'm going to get arrested.
Just like her mom's been doing to her.
Yep, don't say anything, or I'll get arrested.
Yep.
God.
Barbara and Bruce both agreed that they did not
care for their 17-year-old daughter to be dating a 21-year-old man.
In fact, Barbara had threatened many times
to file a statutory rape charge against Ian
once she found out they were having sex.
I would probably do the same thing.
Like, he's a man.
He's a man.
She's a child.
Bruce was against the idea of filing the charges
because he understood that if you try to push them apart,
they're only going to want to be together more.
I also agree with that.
Right?
It's like reverse psychology.
You got to just keep them at arm's length,
but don't let them elope.
Yeah, exactly.
Rachel and Ian threatened to run away together
unless her parents signed a written letter
saying that they would not pursue charges against Ian,
and that Rachel was free to date him.
Otherwise, she would never be seen from or heard from again.
So that's such a hard position to be in.
Yeah.
Like, that really is.
Her parents counter offered with Rachel was to be home
every night by 1 a.m. no sleepovers.
That was essentially their only condition.
Okay.
I think that's fine until she turns 18.
I think that's fine because the latter is,
or sorry, the alternative is she runs away.
Yeah, she runs away or she stays the night
and I think what they were were,
okay, well, you're 17, you're almost 18.
1 a.m. seems fair.
Reasonable.
You're not staying the night over.
You're not getting pregnant.
And then there's no covering up the statutory issue, right?
Exactly.
But then they're still clearly having sex,
even if they were at home at 1.
And so 1.
But then the parents could be like,
okay.
Like, you can't have sex before 1 a.m.
Yeah, that's not a thing.
Yeah.
It's got to wait.
That's 6 or 4 1.
Yeah, I got to start that timer.
So the couple agreed to these conditions.
Of course, Bruce signed this.
He loved his daughter very much
and he couldn't stand the idea of not being
with his daughter again,
now that he had her back.
Yeah.
Barbara also signed the document,
but her motives may not have been as pure.
She desperately wanted to hang on to Rachel
as a source of dependency for her.
And Barbara was not done controlling the situation by far.
Oh, God.
Alex, Rachel's half-brother,
remembers, quote, before my mother's death,
there was a lot of drugs and alcohol around.
She liked Sky Vodka and took uppers and downers,
and she would party with Ian and Rachel, end quote.
So now she's like, oh, let me spend as much time
as I can with Rachel and Ian so that I can keep an eye on them
all the time, essentially, right?
Sky Vodka is nasty.
That's my PSA.
The more you know.
In early September in a rage,
Barbara went up to Ian's work
and managed to get him fired
after berating him and the staff at his job.
For what?
Just, I guess, she's just like,
if you don't fire him,
I'm going to be up here every fucking day.
Sounds like something she would do.
She's like, I tried to look for it.
Out of control.
Yeah.
Because now it's like, oh, we're drinking and drugging together.
Like, we're cool.
We're cool.
But now, yeah, but now we're too cool.
So let me go fuck up this man's life.
Or she's like, put your job so that we can drink
and drug together more.
Or something.
I don't know.
Maybe she had a thing for him.
Bruce said about this quote,
Ian had never met anybody like this before.
It was, I'll get in your face.
I'm not afraid.
I'll mess up your life.
I'm going to threaten you.
I'll go to your parents.
I'll go to your little brother's school.
I'll go to your job.
I mean, this is just the way that Barbara was.
Run the fucking other way.
Right?
I'm sorry.
Like, you might love the daughter, but like-
I, uh-uh.
Abs is fucking literally not-
This guy has no self-preservation where he's like,
I can't do this.
Your parents are crazy.
Yeah.
Or at least your mom.
I'd like to think, like, the first time
I got an inkling of someone reacting that way
to something that I said,
I would just not fucking talk to them again
to get to that point.
Right.
But it's much harder when you're in it.
You can't really see it clearly from an outside perspective.
I mean, they've also been dating less than a year.
So-
But he probably thinks now, like, okay, like-
Oh, this poor girl.
For her and I have been doing drugs and stuff together,
what if I leave and she turns me into the police
for having drugs or whatever?
Or she says I raped her or something, you know?
Or she says, you know,
this man was giving my underage daughter drugs.
Exactly, yeah.
Like, there's all these types of things.
And I think Barbara knows that.
And that's why she's like, I can just do, you know, whatever.
About a week later, Rachel had gone to visit Ian
so the week after she went up to Ian's work,
Barbated.
Rachel had gone to visit Ian at his house
while the two watched movies and they fell asleep.
Barbara was waiting for Rachel to return home that night.
And when she didn't, by 1 a.m.,
she flew out the door and made her way to Ian's.
Rachel wrote in her diary about this situation, quote,
We woke up at 1.20 at his house and we rushed out the door.
And when we opened the door, my mom was standing there.
I was humiliated.
I wanted to die right there.
Before this happened, like a week or so ago,
my mom showed up at his job and got him fired.
I wish she would just let me be happy, end quote.
On September 10th, three days before the murder
and a few days after Rachel had accidentally
skipped curfew, Rachel wrote that her mother's behavior
was escalating, quote,
She is fucking crazy.
She threatens me every day, all over Ian.
Either she's threatening to do something to him or me
in its constant, end quote.
Rachel says, quote,
I have HPV, stage one.
She's saying that she's going to Ian's mom
and telling her all about it.
What bullshit.
She has no right.
This should be my decision to tell someone, not hers.
She's such a bitch.
One day she will threaten the wrong person
and they'll beat the living shit out of her.
Life and death.
Life, death.
What does it mean?
Some people get great lives and some people,
well, do you know what the kids with bad homes do?
They cut, they do drugs, they commit murder,
burn themselves, cause harm to others.
They say to turn to God, give me a break.
God does not control life and he doesn't control death.
So try to survive in this horrible world, life and death.
End quote.
Geez.
Like she's going through it.
She's fucking troubled.
And it's all her mom's fault.
I mean, that's so heartbreaking.
It is.
It's really heartbreaking.
And she's so cognitive about her situation.
Like she's so aware.
Yeah.
She's like, reminds me of Gypsy.
This is bad.
Yeah.
This is bad and this is gonna end worse.
Yeah.
You know, like she knows.
Only one direction this is going.
It's only so much I can fucking handle.
God, that's so awful.
I have like the full body hues right now.
It's awful.
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So again, just within a week, back at the crime lab,
the serial number on the cardboard box that once held a 27-inch
screen TV was traced back to a local electronics store.
There, investigators found that a TV was sold to Barbara's ex-husband, Bruce Mollinix.
Investigators arrive at Bruce's condo only to discover that both Bruce and his 17-year-old
daughter Rachel are missing.
Investigators with a warrant in hand enter the residence,
which showed no signs of force entry.
Here, investigators would find a mountain of evidence.
Detectives quickly noticed that one of the bedrooms, presumed to be Barbara's,
had a mattress and a box spring that were missing, but the bed frame remained.
And detectives use lycoprystal violet, which is similar to luminol,
to determine if there is a presence of blood.
So luminol, which a lot of us might have heard of,
creates a blue or green color,
chemoluminescence from the reaction with hemoglobin or blood when it's sprayed on the surface.
You've seen Dexter.
You know that scene where Julia Stiles is like, she's in the season or whatever,
and her name is Lumen, and she starts spraying it.
She goes, what's that? He's like, luminol. And he goes, no relation.
No relation. Lumen, luminol.
So the difference between luminol and lukocrystal violet is that you don't need to work in the
dark with LCV. It turns purple or dark blue, and you can see it clearly in the light, which is kind of cool.
So when LCV was applied, the room lit up all different sorts of colors.
The presence of blood was in the sink, on the walls, on light switches, the floor.
The pattern of blood was in a sweeping motion, as if someone had attempted to wipe it from all surfaces.
Yet a very distinct palm print was left behind on one of the walls,
and this section of the wall was removed in order to process it for palm print identification.
That's going to be you one day.
I know, right? Hopefully. Well, I wouldn't do fingerprints.
I wouldn't do fingerprints. I do DNA.
Or I would do DNA.
I do DNA.
Well, that's going to be one of us one day.
We'll see.
A blood-soaked sponge was found on the nightstand, and a box of latex gloves were found in the kitchen as well.
Perhaps the most haunting evidence of all was found in the silverware drawer.
The set of silverware that the drawer contained matched the same design as the butter knife found in the skull of Barbara.
I bet that was so unnerving to open the drawer and see that, and you're like, oh, fuck.
And I guarantee you, they're immediately like, it was the ex-husband.
Right.
While the crime scene was what?
It just did like the tiniest eyebrow right here.
Right.
You just left eyebrow, literally. I can't, I can't raise one eyebrow, but it literally went like this.
It's like so small.
While the crime scene was being processed, Bruce Milenex showed up to the crime scene after claiming he was at a town for work since Tuesday.
Hmm.
He was absolutely shocked that police were now in his condo collecting evidence of a murder that took place there.
Not only that, but the murder of his ex-wife.
This was the first time that Bruce was hearing that his ex-wife was dead.
I was gonna say, because I don't know what her past is about, like past is like, but I feel like somebody that's a drug user and alcoholic,
it's not very odd for them to go missing for a few days.
Right.
They're maybe on a bender or something.
Yeah.
I don't know how, I don't know what her routine was.
Or if that was like something common that she would do.
Yeah.
But also they're not married and he probably isn't upset that she's gone.
He's like, oh shit, she's gone.
All right, cool.
No, they were literally like, we found your ex-wife's body in the ravine over there and now we're processing your apartment.
Yeah, and he was like, oh shit.
And you had a crime suspect.
She was gone.
He was like, what?
Yeah.
Like, she's dead?
Yeah.
You know?
That's wild.
This is like the first time that he's hearing it.
Yeah.
Ugh, ugh, ugh.
I hate that.
I just got the heaps in the jeeps.
Stop.
So yes, he was being looked at as a prime suspect, excuse me.
A quick comparison between the palm print found at the crime scene and Bruce Milonix's palm
print determine that he was not the owner of that print.
And police were also able to determine that Bruce was in fact out of town since Tuesday afternoon on work.
Well, that's probably why it happened.
Because she was left once again alone with her mother.
We all know that she did it.
Her name's the title of the episode, all right?
I love when you say that.
We all know it's her.
We should have like a merch shirt that just has like title, like where it's got like heading,
title, whatever.
Yeah, it's the title of the episode.
And of course it's a perpetrator or something, you know?
Yeah.
The question remains at this point, where was Rachel?
Had she also been murdered?
Which is what detectives fear at this point.
Yeah, of course.
We know the background.
They didn't.
Investigators attempted to call Rachel many times with no answer.
Asking Rachel's friends, it was determined that the last time she was seen was with her boyfriend Ian Allen at a movie theater.
Ironically, the couple watched that night, The Lady in the Water.
Oh my god.
Isn't it her phone ringing off the chain and she was like, oh fuck.
Oh shit.
Like something's going down.
Oh, I'm sure they thought they got away with it.
Oh, sure.
They.
Oh.
Shit.
In an effort to locate the couple, police went to Ian's parents' home, where they claimed that they hadn't seen Ian in almost two days.
Ian's parents consented to a search of the house, but neither of the two were there.
Ian's parents said that they were worried since the family's gun was missing from the home, a.38 caliber.
They weren't worried?
They were.
They were worried because they were like, well, he hasn't been home and this gun is missing since he hasn't been home.
You didn't think to report that?
No.
They're like, oh, he's 21.
He's fine.
It's just soul something for me.
Sure.
The Allens agreed to have the family computer taken as evidence to be processed as well.
These people are badass.
They're like, yeah, search my home.
Find him.
Take everything.
Take everything, please.
Yeah.
What?
Well, they were probably worried about Ian too.
That's true.
Okay, this person's, his girlfriend's mother has been murdered and we can't find our son and you can't find Rachel.
Maybe it was the ex-husband and he killed all three of them.
Yeah, the kids are missing.
You know, a neighbor of Bruce Mileneck said that about two or, that about at two or three in the morning, a lot of yelling, screaming and thudding came from inside his condo, Bruce's condo, for suddenly stopping.
Okay, I'm not laughing like at what's going on, obviously.
At least snickered.
I did snicker, but it wasn't about what was happening.
It's about like, you don't call.
Like, you don't think to call.
I can't stand that stuff.
Like it was like the Lulu Lemon murder.
Like, yeah, there's someone very clearly being at least harmed next door.
I mean, it's not like rando gunshots where you're like, you call the cops and you're like, I don't know where to, like when you're, when it's literally like your next door neighbor or something and you hear like screaming and thudding.
Yeah, like excuse me, you're not calling.
Like help, I'm being stabbed and like, you know, nothing.
Seriously.
And like even like the, the Lulu Lemon murder was like so recent too, like, you don't want to like maybe put that on like the neighborhood app or something.
Like, hey, I don't have anyone else heard.
Yeah, like I get shit on my ring app all the time.
That's like, did anyone else hear gunshots?
I don't know if anybody else does this, but I keep notes on my phone where I'm like a suspicious car or something, you know, but like in case something happens.
I don't call and like, hey, there's a weird person because I don't know.
And I'm not trying to be nosy.
I'm just saying like if I felt weird, you know, or I'll be like, oh, I heard this specific thing at, I don't know.
Is that weird?
That's a little paranoid.
You're like just sitting there by the window all day.
No, not like 733.
The mailman looked weird.
No, like you ever like, you ever like walk down the street and you get like a creepy vibe from like someone following you or something.
You're like, you know, guy with a hat on.
I feel that way in any situation.
I'll text you or I'll text like Dana or something.
Just text my location.
Or yeah, and I'll say, I'll just be like, hey, remember you have a location or whatever.
Or be like, hey, just let you know, like, I used to do that all the time.
Like when I was I delivered for DoorDash for a while for anyone that doesn't know.
If I was delivering DoorDash and it maybe got dark outside or there was like a little bit of a sketchy area.
Like I would text you and be like, hey, just let you know.
I'm walking up to the door.
This person wants me to knock on the door.
Like I don't feel comfortable.
I'm at this address and then I'm like, I'll text you as soon as I leave.
I dropped the food or whatever.
I text you.
So I do something similar in a sense that I don't do it in my notes.
I feel like that's part of the woman condition though.
It's fucked up that we have to even fucking think about that.
Anyways, continue.
Also within that hour, another neighbor could hear what sounded like someone.
This is another one, right?
This is another one.
A neighbor could hear what sounded like something being dragged and eventually saw someone placing something into the back of Volvo.
Like I get it.
Like you don't want to get involved.
You don't want to get involved, right?
But you can call anonymously and say I'd like to remain anonymous.
They're never going to fucking know who it was.
Well, they still have your phone number though.
It's not really anonymous.
The perpetrator, I mean, it's not like they're going to be like, oh yeah, this guy.
Do you have this phone number saved in your phone?
They called.
No, I know, but you can't still see it.
Okay, so if they had, right, called 911 and they said I want to remain anonymous and they found out that there was a body in that car, they're still going to call that person up and be like, okay, you need to tell us what you saw.
Yeah, no, absolutely.
And you can, I think you can remain anonymous in court documents.
No, I'm talking about like Rachel, like if you remain anonymous and it gets out and they're like, oh, your neighbor called or whatever.
They're not going to be like, oh, your neighbor Jim called.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, they're not going to say it.
Yeah, they're not going to do all that.
Yeah.
Not until it goes to court.
And they're like, oh, it was my neighbor that saw me do it.
Yeah.
Well, maybe she should be fucking take somebody.
Hey, I remember, I know that chick.
She's my neighbor.
Further digging, detectives were able to determine that Ian had requested September 12 and 13 off from work.
This is before he got fired.
No.
He already knew before he got fired, which would have been two weeks before this.
He, you requested an arrogant piece of shit.
You're requesting days off work to murder someone.
I'm just going to take the day off.
Can I get PTO for these two days?
I'm going to be working.
You want me PTO?
Yeah.
Like what?
They're mental holidays.
Okay, that's a bad joke.
That's such a bad joke.
On September 11th, so this would be the day before the murder, Ian asked a friend, called him up, and asked if he was available to pick him and Rachel up from a party that he would be attending the next night.
His friend was hesitant.
It did say the friend's name, but I'm just going to leave you to the honest because, you know, again, don't involve him, right?
He insisted that he could pay his friend for a ride.
He was like, uh, I don't really know if I want to drive you out there.
Um, and he, Ian's like, well, I can pay you.
I'll pay you gas money, whatever, just to pick me and Rachel up from this party because we're going to be really wasted, bro.
Like, we're going to be so wasted.
24 hours in advance.
Yeah.
That I'm going to be so fucked up.
This is before Uber, clearly.
This is also before you made the choice to get fucked up.
Like you have a choice here in this moment.
Like you don't have to get fucked up.
And asking where the party was located, Ian told his friend that it was in Newport Beach, you know, where Barbara's body was found.
Oh my God.
The friend would agree.
And the following evening, he picked up Ian and Rachel at an intersection in Corona Del Mar.
So remember, that's where Barbara's car was found.
Six minutes away from her body.
He's like, where's this party, bro, at the corner of Fifth and Newport?
Yeah, exactly.
Like, where?
Some party.
Let's not forget, this is also like a Tuesday or Wednesday night.
So it's like what?
Yeah, this raging party.
That's really gross that he said a party.
Like he's going to a party.
Right?
That's gross.
It could have been like, oh, like our car broke down.
We need to ride.
Yeah.
24 hours.
It's like, our car broke down tomorrow night.
Just to let you know.
I'm going to need some help.
Ian's friend found it really interesting that the entire reason Ian and Rachel needed a ride was because it said that they were going to be really drunk.
The friend immediately noticed that when Ian and Rachel got into the car, they were sober.
Stone cold sober.
Which makes it even fucking worse that they literally did this stone cold sober.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Not under the effects of drug as alcohol.
That's so fucking, yeah, that's so fucked up.
Ian made it a point to tell his friend multiple times while driving not to speed because, quote, there's a lot of police activity in the area and he didn't want to get pulled over.
End quote.
Not end quote, but you know, the last part was very crazy.
He said he didn't want to get pulled over, end quote.
That's talking in the third person.
Yeah.
That's fucking wild because you know, obviously we all know what he's thinking like I can't be seen in this area.
In this area.
Yeah.
Exactly.
A neighbor recollected that about 7am he saw a young man matching Ian's description loading black trash bags into the back of his car.
Again, another neighbor, not another phone call.
Bystander effect.
When Ian showed up at his former job looking to dump these bags the following morning, he at about 9 o'clock, I think it was, he was asked by an employee what he was up to saying, Ian, quote, looked sweaty like he had been doing work, end quote.
Wait, wait, wait, I'm sorry.
He took the bags to his job.
To his job.
To dump them in a dumpster, yeah.
He's like, yeah, I've been on PTO the last two days.
I've been working.
Yeah.
Well, he did tell another employee he was either going to help Rachel move or his Rachel's mom's mom move.
So again, he had kind of already set it up like I need these two days off because I'm helping somebody move.
Now I'm dumping black trash bags into a dumpster because we're getting rid of some stuff for the move.
Right?
But that's just dumb because then he's literally like saying that he was with Rachel and her mom those two days.
Yeah, exactly.
So it's like, she ends up dead.
So what were you guys doing?
Yeah.
Because you told an employee you were going to be with her.
Certainly not moving.
He's like, oh, plans changed.
There was a party.
I got wasted.
Yeah, it would have made more sense to be like, oh, I need the two days off because I plan on getting wasted and being hung over the next day.
Or going out of town or something.
Yeah.
I'm out of town.
You know?
Well, that's why big criminals are fucking stupid.
Yeah.
The bags were located in the dumpster and Barbara's purse and other personal belongings were found inside.
Okay.
Nearby, police located the springs of a burnt mattress and box spring.
So he had gone out to this like kind of wooded area by his job, his former job and lit the mattress and box spring on fire.
Oh yeah, he's not even working there anymore.
No.
He went to dump his shit there.
That's ridiculous.
Unfortunately, all that remained was the metal.
So they couldn't find any blood evidence or anything like that on the mattress.
Well, that's obviously not good for the investigation, but there's a lot of other things so far that have lined up for them to kind of know like,
for sure.
At least a general idea of what happened.
Yeah.
They can, I mean, I don't know how they would have linked that.
I don't know if it's circumstantial evidence or if it was invisible in court because you would have to prove that that would have been Barbara's mattress.
Yeah.
But then Ian was the one that dumped it there or whatever.
You have to prove all of that.
Well, I don't think anybody saw him do it, but they saw him dump the trash bags full of her belongings, but not, you know, there wasn't any blood evidence in any of the bags, essentially.
The computer analysis brought back information that someone on the Allen Family Computer had looked up directions to Tampa, Florida.
Oh my God.
Tracking Barbara and Ian's debit cards helped determine that the couple were in fact on their way to Tampa, Florida.
Barbara and Ian's?
Yes.
So he took Barbara's card and used it for gas.
Got it.
And then when he had dumped that and then he had to use his own for gas like an idiot.
So they're just like following, it's like Emperor's New Groove all over again.
Yeah.
It's like a breadcrumb trail.
Yeah.
The last known use of Ian's card was in Sulphur, Louisiana at a gas station where Ian had actually ditched his debit card and his cell phone before leaving the parking lot with all of his information on them.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
God.
Local police were contacted with a bolo, which is beyond the lookout, and was put out for Ian's truck, his vehicle.
The couple were located on September 15th just east of Sulphur, Louisiana, and were promptly brought in for questioning.
They just like ran out of money and gas and just sat there.
They just like walked.
Pretty much.
They couldn't afford to go anywhere else.
The two were separated, and as soon as detectives entered the room to interrogate Rachel, Rachel exclaimed, quote,
Do you know that I was kidnapped?
Do you know that?
End quote.
Okay, I'm done.
You're done.
What the fuck?
I was probably her plan the whole fucking time.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like, if we get caught, I'm just going to say that he could have me.
It gets better.
Rachel began to tell her side of events, saying that on the night of September 12th, she fell asleep around 10 or 11 p.m.
She woke up to the sound of her mother screaming her name,
and when Rachel rushed into her mother's bedroom, she was met by her horrific scene.
Her boyfriend Ian had snuck into the house in the middle of the night and was stabbing her mother in a fit of rage.
This was caused by Barbara threatening to never allow the couple to see each other again.
Wrong.
In a brave attempt to save her mother's life, she threw herself at Ian, but Ian quickly shoved her out of the way
and began to proceed to stab Barbara ultimately to death.
After killing Barbara, Ian held Rachel at gunpoint and threatened her life if she were not to cooperate with everything he asked her to do.
Rachel claimed that she didn't remember anything after that until she woke up down with duct tape in a motel not far from the home.
That's her story.
And she's sticking to it.
And she's sticking to it. All right.
Sounds like a good plan.
Right?
Not really.
It's foolproof.
It's definitely foolproof.
Everything they've done is foolproof. That's why it's gotten them in this interrogation room.
When this was disproven and the dilemma brought up of how Ian was able to keep her subdued while also loading Barbara's body into the car,
dismantling the bed, cleaning up the crime scene, which also Rachel's blood was found on the soaked sponge, by the way.
Dumping the car.
Furthermore, three fingerprints of Rachel's were found on the duct tape used to wrap the body in the cardboard box.
Weird.
The palm print?
Ian's.
It's the only thing.
Ian's, yeah.
Rachel insisted that he made her do all of these things while she was at gunpoint.
She insisted that she was simply too scared to attempt to flee.
So she's like, oh, I had to do all these things.
I did most of everything because Ian had me do everything because he was holding me at gunpoint, essentially.
So, okay, that also doesn't make sense.
Yeah.
Like, it's probably very unlikely that she can lift her mother's body on her own.
Thank you.
And, you know.
Yeah.
And do all of that within the span of a few hours?
Exactly.
Dismantling the bed, taking it to, why would she take the mattress to Ian's work and then light it on fire?
Yeah.
What, and I guess-
He's like, at one point-
You take light it on fire at my work.
At my work.
You better light it on fire at my work.
You better dump these trash bags in the bin and dump them straight at my work.
Yeah.
Dressed up like me.
So a gun was actually located in Ian's truck, blood completely covering the handle, most of which-
Most of which was Rachel's blood.
Well, how did she cut herself?
Cleaning up?
How-
How did she cut herself?
I have a really bad-
I think I said I just tried my neck in the beginning of this episode and it hurts so bad so I was leaning back to try to stretch it and then I had a question.
So how did she cut herself while she was-
So that's the thing.
Duh, on the knife that she used to stab.
Okay, obviously that was a stupid question.
Right?
Okay, listeners, yeah.
So if- I mean, I'm sure if you guys are all true crime fanatics, I'm sure you've come across at least one or two cases, a stabbing case where someone has used a knife, and in the process of stabbing someone, the knife gets so slippery because of all of the blood that the perpetrator's hands usually slip down the bladed part of the knife.
So yes, that would be a great reason, right?
So it's like Rachel's like, I didn't do anything, I just found Ian-
Waving her hand in the air and it has a slight-
Waving her hand in the air and it has a slight on it, that was insane.
I didn't do it.
Yeah, I don't know, I was doing like a nae nae or something.
No, I mean, that's really fucked up.
I'm not trying to make light of the situation.
No, yeah.
So again, it's like, oh wait, this sponge has your blood on it because you used your hands that had cuts on them to wipe away the blood that was your mother's blood.
But again, her explanation for just her cleaning up the blood and whatever, why her DNA was on it was because she was just simply using the sponge.
But how hard are you scrubbing where you're bleeding?
Yes, so again, most of Rachel's blood was on the handle of the gun.
Why not shoot your attacker if you're-
I mean, clearly it was in your possession.
You're holding it.
That is fucking scientific evidence that says that you're holding it.
That you're holding it.
You can't explain that one away.
And there's only one gun.
One gun.
You know, it's not a standoff here.
You weren't holding it for like a half second because there's probably enough blood on there to know.
Yes.
So the couple was transported back to California because I remember they're in LA, Louisiana, where Milenex maintained that she was incredibly fearful of Alan.
And she even told the booking officer on several occasions, you're not going to let him hurt me, right?
You're not going to let him hurt me.
Okay.
Yeah.
Also, just a little peppering it in there for the listeners.
I'm not sure if you all recognize this, but I think it's so cool that when Coelle does a case, she calls the person by their first name until they've been arrested and then she switches and calls them by their last name.
I don't know if I've mentioned that before.
I don't think you have, but I noticed that you do it.
Like, I'm going to tell you to do a case.
I don't do that.
Yeah, well, that was a job first name.
There was John Boyd to me.
There was John Boyd.
There was John Boyd to me or something.
John Boyd.
The name that they don't want to be called is what I call it.
Yeah.
Sorry.
Continue to be a bathroom murder burp, Durst.
Bathroom murder burp, Durst?
Who was that that said that?
Stimax.
Oh, yeah.
Bathroom murder burp, Durst.
I was like, oh, something about Durst.
Oh, when we go to Fredericksburg and Mama W. shows us the Durst house of Durst Street.
And so I think I sent him a picture of that and he goes like, bathroom murder burp, Durst?
That's so funny.
So funny.
So insisting that the two had to be transported to jail together, officers stuck Milenex and
Allen together in the same squad car.
They did it on purpose.
This is on purpose because they wanted to see what they were talking about.
Yep.
They probably have a microphone in the back.
Once in the car, they did not realize that their conversations were being recorded.
I love my oh, oh my gosh.
Milenex can be heard telling Allen, quote, if you go to prison and I get out, I'll wait
for you.
I'll wait for you.
Oh, wait.
You did it.
You won.
You did it.
Quote, did you tell them that you kidnapped me?
And quote, Allen responded with quote, they didn't buy that for a second.
And quote, like, he's dumb.
Yeah, he's dumb.
He's like, this is a dumb idea.
Milenex told Allen to quote, plead insanity.
I don't hate you.
I'll never hate you.
I love you till the day I die.
Do you understand that?
And quote, and.
I'm sorry, you can't just plead insanity.
You have to be proven insane.
Insane.
Yeah.
You have to actually have a mental disorder.
And quote, if I make bail and I get out of this somehow, I'm going to change my identity
and change my, I can't even get through this.
Sorry.
Give it to me.
Okay.
Quote, if I make bail and I get out of this somehow, I'm going to change my identity and
change my appearance and I'll come see you.
And quote, they both proceeded to tell each other over and over, I love you.
I love you.
I'll change my appearance.
I'll change my identity and my appearance and I'll just come visit you.
If you get out of there, you're allowed to go see him.
I'm pretty sure unless that's the condition that the judge has, you know, which I guess
they don't know.
I'll change my address.
Up as you.
I'll change it up.
I'll just come see you.
Just remember that one time.
Sound records indicated that the two texted all night the night of the murder with Milenex
giving Alan information regarding whether or not her mom was asleep.
That's fucking terrifying.
It reminds me of Gypsy almost, this specific part.
In one text, Milenex says, quote, Ian, I don't care what I have to do in order to be with
you and nothing is going to take you away from me.
End quote.
Milenex maintained that these were simply text messages that proved that she was going
to run away with Alan that night, not proof that they planned on killing her mother.
Alan was willing to take complete responsibility for the murder.
His side of events was that on the night of September 12th, the couple planned on running
away together.
With her dad gone, there was at least one less person in the house that could catch
them attempting to leave.
When Alan entered the house around 1.45 a.m., Barbara woke up to find the couple with their
things packed.
An argument ensued and Alan had had enough.
He closed the bedroom door and killed Barbara while Milenex listened in horror.
Alan was steadfast that Milenex did not help him clean up the scene as he wanted to take
all of the blame should they be caught.
He also came up with a kidnapping story so that Milenex would not be at fault at all.
So he was the one that said, tell them that you were kidnapped, that way you have no responsibility.
They think they're geniuses.
Of course, but I'm like, no, because all the evidence points to her being the one.
You know what I mean?
I think it's funny that people in situations like this think that they can just explain
the way, over-explain something and it's going to be believed.
And if they say the same thing over and over, it's just going to be believed.
You don't understand.
Evidence is contradicting what you're saying.
It's not that I don't believe you just because it's you.
The evidence is telling me that you're fucking lying.
Absolutely.
Yeah, it's pretty plain.
Yeah, pretty cut and dry.
The defense would paint the narrative that Rachel was an abused young girl who found
no other choice but to have her boyfriend murder her mother.
And even though it was the last thing that she wanted, she loved her mother very much.
And then even if she was capable of the crime, Rachel simply wasn't strong enough to dispose
the body alone.
So yeah, absolutely.
He is guilty.
So you can't just put all the blame on Rachel, essentially, is what her defense was saying.
I mean, it's true, though.
He is just as much as fault as she is at fault.
Bruce Mellenics came to his daughter's defense saying that all of the years that Barbara
abused Rachel, he never once saw Rachel ever raise a hand to her mother.
Alex, Rachel's half-brother, said about the circumstances, quote, I'm shocked that a
murder happened, but then I'm not.
You can't go around treating people like that and then think that nothing will happen.
At any time, anything can spin out of control, end quote.
That's her son.
Yeah, that's her son.
And he knows the situation through and through.
He hasn't lived there for a reason.
He also said, quote, emotionally and mentally, she choked Rachel, end quote.
I completely agree.
Me too.
The defense may have had a solid case had it not been for the prosecutions, witness
the forensic pathologist.
The pathologist explained that given the various sizes of the stab wounds, how they were placed
and how the murder was carried out, at least two people would have had to perpetrate this
crime.
Oh, wow.
Because she also had stab wounds summed to the back of her leg.
But given the fact that these were all created while she was alive, there's no way you wouldn't
be able to do it fast enough if it was more than this.
From head to feet, essentially.
It would have to take two people at other ends of the bed.
Oh my God, that's so fucked up.
That's so brutal.
It is.
Barbara was asleep when she was stabbed over 50 times and the evidence showed that the
butter knife that was plunged into Barbara's eye occurred while she was alive.
That's so awful.
The jury deliberated for just a few hours and both Alan and Mlynix were found guilty
of first degree intentional homicide.
Both were sentenced to 25 years to life.
After sentencing, Ian Allen confessed that what others already knew, that Rachel Mlynix
did in fact help him commit the murder, which he had maintained throughout his entire trial.
I think he found like, this is the defense that I have, I'm going to go with it, or the
defense that I can possibly help her.
I think once he was in court and he was hearing what her defense team was saying, which is
that he was the sole perpetrator, and essentially she turned her back on him and said that he
was the soft-footed person and he held her at gunpoint and all that sort of stuff, I
think he realized he fucked up.
Yeah, absolutely.
He's like, wait a second, I don't want...
I thought I was doing something to protect her, but she doesn't give a shit.
She doesn't give a shit about me.
She wants me to be thrown under the bus.
Exactly.
So after he was convicted and sentenced, he said that she had perpetrated this crime.
Yeah, I...
I already found guilty of it anyway.
I was going to say, and arguably, like my opinion, she was the one that suggested the
crime and planned it, you know?
Yeah, absolutely.
And she was the one that was texting him, oh, she's asleep, she just had a Xanax, she
didn't have a Xanax, whatever it was.
Neither Alex nor Bruce feel like Rachel Milenex is a danger to society.
Even Alex going so far is to say that his sister has suffered enough in her life.
Rachel still maintains her innocence, citing that she was a young, dumb girl who just dated
the wrong guy, I'll say.
Both Alan and Milenex are awaiting their appeals, both claiming the reason that the crime happened
in the first place was that there was no way to get out of the abuse that Barbara put Rachel
through.
And it's so hard.
It's just like a Menendez situation, an Egypt Zero situation.
It's like...
Do they deserve to die?
...the victims in the case.
Yeah.
Do they deserve to die?
I don't know.
Do...
Does Rachel deserve to be in prison for sure?
I don't know.
You know what I mean?
Like, it's hard.
It is hard.
Because, of course, she was going through abuse.
It's very clear.
We've seen it.
Yeah.
But there's not a really...
I would say the only justifiable excuse for killing somebody is to save an innocent life.
I always say that.
Yeah.
Was she saving her own life by doing that?
You know, it's hard.
It's really hard.
Yeah, exactly.
Oh, I got the heaves.
I know.
It's just...
It is this kind of like that Gypsy Rose type situation where you're being...
You know, abuse is abuse.
Yeah.
You know, abuse is abuse.
It does the abuser other options, and that's the thing is, you know, in the Gypsy Rose case,
in the Menendez case, in this case, they feel like they don't have another option.
Yeah, exactly.
They've been taught.
They've been taught that if I were to go to police, she's just going to say that I'm
crazy.
She's just going to say that I hit her or cut her or abused her.
And who's to believe me?
I'm just a kid.
Yeah, exactly.
You know?
Exactly.
And they lash out.
And it's definitely a byproduct in all of the situations with the three that we just
talked about.
It's a byproduct of what the victim, the ultimate victim did.
Yeah.
It's...you subjected your child to that abuse, and they did what they did because they suffered
from your...like, at your abuse.
And again, we're not victim blaming here.
No, absolutely not.
Just there is a real psychological thing that happens, and it is a cycle of abuse, and
these people would probably be diagnosed PTSD if it got to that point.
PTSD, this is all trauma response.
And even in Barbara's case, she dealt with PTSD from the rape, giving up her child.
She was clearly coping with drug and alcohol use.
So yeah, she probably was either suppressing that or she had substance use disorder, things
like that.
But there's some very...again, a lot of the times when we do these cases, there are very
real steps that could have been taken to prevent a tragedy like this.
Absolutely.
There definitely has.
And I don't think that...I mean, I don't necessarily agree with everything that Bruce
did, but I don't know the story well enough to say that he didn't do everything he thought
he could.
Right.
You know?
I think that he probably thought that relationships and marriages go through shit.
Yeah.
And I definitely watched an interview with him, and he definitely seems like a kind guy.
Yeah, I don't doubt that.
Yeah, he definitely seems like a kind guy.
Alex seems like a really well-adjusted kind guy who's really successful.
And I think that it's a case of someone experiencing something that they might be illiquid to deal
with where they didn't maybe recognize the warning signs.
Maybe they did think it's better to tip-till around her than to force her in any kind of
way to go get treatment or help.
But I think that maybe it's just one of those things that if you become aware of somebody
else's disorder or potential diagnosis that you can say in a gentle way.
Maybe this is something that you're experiencing.
Maybe this is something...you know, I did a little research on this.
Yeah.
Instead of it just being like, oh, that's Barbara, you know?
That's Barb.
Yeah, that's Barb.
Yeah, exactly.
And it's way easier said than done.
Of course.
And I think that Bruce's solution was like, let me get some distance here.
Let me figure out myself and then maybe I can be better prepared once Rachel graduates
high school and she can come live with me.
I don't think that he did it in a way that was...like he was trying to ignore the situation.
Or also figured out.
He clearly very much loves his car.
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree.
Well, that was a wild case.
I actually never even heard of any of those people before.
She's been on my list for a really long time, actually.
Yeah, I would say at least the last year or two.
Oh, wow.
Dang.
Well, not too...it couldn't be two.
Couldn't be two.
Yeah, at least the last year.
Wow.
Thanks for bringing that.
For sure.
Thanks for listening.
Do you have anything else?
No, I think we're good.
Okay, well thanks for joining us guys.
We will see you next week with another mental breakdown.
We have like literally one more week and a half until the festivals.
We got our pens.
Our pens came in.
We're gonna have to ship out some pens.
Yeah, for sure.
Guys, if you haven't checked out the Patreon exclusive message, if you're a Patreon member,
hop over to Patreon and get your exclusive message from us.
And yeah, let us know.
It's only like two minutes, but it's a very love filled two minutes.
It is.
It's a love fest.
And we love all the listeners equally.
It's true.
Absolutely.
It's very true.
Yes.
Well, I think I just said love three times, but love you.
Love you.
Bye.
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