On September 14, 2007, 19yo Ashley Wallace wakes up in a hospital bed, surrounded by police officers accusing her of being a serial killer, after her sister, Bree, found a note in which Ashley confesses to the murders of her father and stepfather; the problem is, Ashley did not write this letter. What happened to her that night would uncover one of the most disturbing serial killers the state of New York has ever seen, the last person Ashley would ever think would want to harm her, or her family.
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00:00 What's the next thing you remember?
00:02 Waking up in the hospital
00:04 Was a detective asking me what I did
00:06 The voice you've just heard is Ashley Wallace. The audio was recorded on January 14th
00:12 2009 one year earlier Ashley lived a happy life with her sister Bree and her mother Stacy who's also her best friend on
00:21 August 13th
00:23 2007 19 year old Ashley was at home headed for bed after a fun night drinking with her mom
00:29 That night Ashley's life took a disturbing turn for the worse
00:33 September 14th the following morning Ashley Wallace is found lying in her bed
00:39 Unresponsive next to an empty bottle of alcohol prescription pills and a letter in
00:44 The letter Ashley confesses in detail to two murders one of David Castor the other of Michael Wallace
00:52 Ashley's own father the problem is Ashley didn't write that letter in
00:58 2007 the quiet community of clay is forever shaken and what happened to Ashley that night will uncover one of the most disturbing
01:05 serial killers the state of New York has ever seen
01:09 I need an ambulance. My daughter I believe has taken some pills. Is that her? Oh she's still alive. She left a letter. What? Left a note. Oh my god oh my god oh my god. Oh my god this is not happening.
01:29 The year is 1999 in the small town of Weedsport, New York
01:34 11 year old Ashley Wallace lives with her family her father Michael her mother Stacy and her little sister Brie
01:41 Although she loves spending time with her mechanic father Ashley shares a much closer bond with Stacy her mother. She was my best friend
01:48 Me and her could just sit out and have hour-long conversations. You know about anything
01:55 everything and anything
01:58 November 1999 Ashley is unaware that the relationship between her parents has deteriorated
02:04 Stacy is considering a divorce. Stacy came to me right after Thanksgiving time
02:09 And she said can I really want to leave Mike what do I do?
02:12 And I gave her the name of my attorney
02:15 But Stacy responds that with the holidays coming up the timing isn't right
02:19 She says she'll consider divorcing after the new year instead
02:23 But Ashley notices that her mother is starting to become more irritable and aggressive
02:28 More of the discipline came from Stacy than my dad. I mean the more affection came from him and the punishing came from her
02:35 December 1999
02:38 Michael Wallace falls suddenly ill complaining of dizziness and spending most of his time in bed
02:43 He visits a doctor explaining how he feels drunk
02:46 Even if he hasn't been drinking the doctor treats him for an ear infection and sends him home, but the truth is
02:53 Michael is being poisoned
02:56 December 24th Christmas Eve Michael attends a holiday dinner at his mom's but looks worse than ever
03:02 The first time that I noticed my brother
03:04 he was like
03:07 Bloated his face was bloated. His hands were bloated. I
03:11 Asked him what was wrong. And he said I haven't been feeling well, I got cold, you know that kind of stuff
03:18 Okay, as the days pass his condition continues to deteriorate
03:22 January 11th 2000
03:25 Ashley Wallace's life takes a disturbing turn for the worse after coming home from school
03:30 Ashley finds her father asleep on the couch as he has been most of the time for the last few weeks came home and I
03:36 called my mom to tell her that I was home and
03:38 He was laying on the couch. I got off the phone with her and I turned the TV on I
03:45 Remember him making this funny noise. He put his arm up then he put his arm back down and
03:51 That was the last time that he moved
03:55 I
03:56 left to go get my sister and I got home and
03:59 When I got home Stacy had just got home too because she was gonna take my dad to the doctors
04:05 I remember I was standing right behind her and when I looked in my tits were this purple color
04:11 Michael is rushed to the hospital while the doctors do everything they can it's already too late
04:17 Michael has died from what seems to be a heart attack
04:20 I was there for a half hour with him by myself not knowing that if I had known what I know now
04:26 He wouldn't be he could have helped him
04:30 When Stacy Wallace is asked if she wants to have an autopsy done on her husband her answer is no
04:37 Stacy are you gonna have an autopsy? She looked at me and she says Rosie, you know
04:42 He didn't like being cut up in surgery and everything like that
04:46 She said Michael would want us to kick back pop a beer
04:51 Have a good time, you know that type of thing
04:54 Not cry over him. I just never understood why she didn't cry
04:59 I always thought it was because she didn't want me and my sister to see her upset
05:02 The secret of Michael's death will be buried with him
05:06 Stacy Wallace now widowed mother of two little girls inherits her late husband's
05:12 $10,000 life insurance after renovating the house with the money
05:16 Stacy takes the girls to Disney World and goes back to being that fun mom Ashley knew her best friend
05:21 But something is different. She started talking on the internet to people and she started like
05:29 disconnecting
05:30 from being a mom
05:32 2001 one year later in the small town of Liverpool, New York
05:38 David Castor is living a prosperous life owner of a thriving heating company after a recent divorce
05:44 He enjoys a comfortable lifestyle one
05:47 He quickly begins to share with Stacy Wallace who in his eyes is a loving mother of two little girls
05:52 Right away Ashley and Bree dislike David and don't want to see their father replaced so quickly at first
05:59 We really didn't like him. He said he didn't want to be our father and he didn't want any part of being a father
06:04 He already had his kids and he didn't want more August 16th
06:08 2003 less than two years after the couple met David and Stacy get married the wedding takes everyone by surprise
06:15 Especially since no one from David's side of the family is invited not even his own son David jr
06:21 They had gotten married and did not tell anybody. I had no idea
06:25 He was getting married Stacy Wallace becomes Stacy Castor right away
06:29 She and her two daughters move in with David in his home in Liverpool an upgrade in lifestyle for the single mother
06:35 While the couple couldn't be happier Ashley and Bree do not approve of David as their stepfather
06:40 The rising tension between them makes life at home a living nightmare
06:44 David was miserable. My mom acted miserable the only time they were happy is when they weren't around me and my sister as
06:51 The months pass David and the girls begin to bond as Ashley is getting ready to graduate
06:56 She doesn't know yet just how proud of her her stepfather really is if you could see the smile on his face
07:03 At my graduation party. It's just like he's like a proud father
07:07 But as Ashley and David's relationship improves the new couple's love is deteriorating
07:14 Stacy and David fight constantly
07:16 August 22nd 2005 two years after the couple got married the County Sheriff's Office in Syracuse, New York
07:23 Receives this disturbing 911 call
07:26 I'm just getting a little concerned because I haven't talked to him since 5 o'clock in the morning on Sunday when he locked me out of the bedroom
07:33 Stacy explains to the operator that she and David got into an argument the night before that lasted seven hours
07:47 According to her story David got drunk took the bottle of Southern Comfort then locked himself in the bedroom
07:53 Refusing to come out. Has he ever mentioned hurting himself or harming himself or Friday night when we were arguing
07:59 He told me to get out take my kids and get out. I couldn't leave and then five minutes later
08:05 He said if I left he would make me sorry
08:07 I would be sorry if I ever left him right away the operator dispatches police to the caster home
08:13 Okay, don't cry. We're gonna check on him. Make sure he's okay. Maybe surprise you guys going through something right now
08:17 Well, his father died a month ago and he's been kind of weird
08:21 In the last month when the sheriff's deputies arrive on site
08:25 They break into David's room to find him lying face down naked on the bed on the nightstand next to the bed
08:31 Was a short glass half full of a green liquid
08:36 Police find on the floor next to the bed an open bottle of antifreeze laying on its side
08:42 Emergency medical personnel pronounced David dead at the scene
08:45 The scene makes it look as though David took his own life after locking himself in by drinking a lethal dose of antifreeze
08:52 My gut was telling me that there was something more going on with this. It just wasn't right
08:56 One deputy discovers in the kitchen trash can a turkey baster with green fluid inside if this has got antifreeze in it
09:04 What's it doing in the kitchen trash?
09:08 When he's locked himself in the bedroom as the body is brought in for an autopsy
09:12 Stacy is taken to the sheriff's office for further questioning. She calls Ashley to tell her the news
09:18 Stacy gets on the phone and she had sound like she was upset and everything. So I was like, what what is it?
09:23 She's like David passed away
09:26 How does this happen again? Like how how do you lose someone? That's such a big part of your life again
09:33 Ashley is distraught losing a second father figure
09:36 but she still has no idea of just how dangerous her mother is a wife who kills her husband's is often referred to as a
09:43 Black widow after the infamous spider known for killing its partners
09:47 But Stacy Castor will eventually take it to a whole other level
09:51 while the investigation of David's death awaits further forensic results Stacy walks free as
09:56 David's will is read. It says he leaves everything to Stacy his company his house all his vehicles
10:03 And nothing to his own son David jr. I don't even believe my name was mentioned in it my first feelings on that were
10:11 My father really did not like me
10:14 I thought he was just pissed at me like why nothing to do with me and never wanted anything to do with me again
10:19 Stacy started
10:22 Taking me and my sister on trips
10:24 Now she was actually spending time with us and spending money on us and wanting to be our friend again
10:31 The year is 2006 one year after the death of David Castor
10:35 Detective Spinelli receives the forensic evidence from the case
10:39 results show the turkey baster contained antifreeze inside and David's DNA at the tip and the glass it was filled with antifreeze had three
10:47 Fingerprints on it all of them belonging to Stacy Castor at that singular point right there my thought processes go from
10:56 probable suicide to
10:58 Almost certainly a homicide blood tests also show inconsistencies with what Stacy had told the 911 operator
11:05 She claimed David had gotten drunk that weekend
11:08 It results show no trace of alcohol in his blood
11:15 District Attorney William Fitzpatrick along with detective Spinelli are now convinced that David Castor was murdered by Stacy
11:22 But in order to be sure they need more than a few prints
11:26 Absent a confession or an eyewitness. It's a massive process
11:29 I mean we literally have to interview hundreds and hundreds of people the ideal scenario would be to interview Stacy's first husband
11:36 Ashley and Bree's father Michael Wallace it turns out we can't talk to him because he's dead and
11:42 That's when the trouble for Stacy Castor really starts
11:47 September 7th
11:49 2007 two years after David Castor's death
11:52 Stacy Castor is asked to go to the sheriff's office to meet detective Spinelli for a second interview
11:57 I told that we needed to close the case out one way or the other and I need to ask some questions answer
12:02 She seemed nervous. She was pacing
12:04 That's when she learns that the detectives along with the district attorney have exhumed her first husband's body
12:10 They tell her that they found antifreeze in his body
12:12 Just like in David Castor her second husband's body then detective Spinelli asks her a question
12:18 That will trigger a dangerous chain of events and I said Stacy there's two glasses on here
12:23 Can you tell me which glass it was that you were called bringing into the room when you came from cranberry juice?
12:29 And she looked at it and said
12:31 Well when I poured the antifreeze I and then she stopped and said I mean I mean the cranberry juice
12:37 Those of us that were watching the interview went. Oh my god
12:40 That was a Freudian slip that she couldn't control and she said I don't like this
12:46 You're trying to frame me you're trying to put this on me and I'm done and she stopped the interview
12:50 It was apparent that Stacy was extremely nervous
12:53 We decided the next step would be to obtain wiretap on Stacy's phones
12:59 Stacy is now cornered. She knows the cops are going to charge her for both murders unless she can outsmart them
13:05 Time is running out for Stacy
13:07 But what the investigators have not anticipated is just how far Stacy Castor is willing to go to hide her crimes
13:15 September 14th one week after Stacy Castor was interviewed for the second time the detectives listening to the phone taps in Stacy Castor's house
13:23 are faced with a disturbing scene the
13:25 investigators who are listening on the wiretap
13:29 Hear a 9-1-1 call from Stacy Castor
13:33 I need an ambulance. My daughter I believe has taken some pills. Is she conscious? Yes, she's moving. I'm leaning over her. Ashley? She's having trouble I think. It sounds like there's something in her throat. Ashley? Ashley?
13:50 Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. This is not happening
13:58 Right away police are dispatched to the Castor house on Wetzel Road
14:01 While Ashley barely clings to life her mother explains that next to her bed is an empty bottle of vodka and prescription pills
14:08 Is that her? Oh she's throwing up. Turn the phone off and grab her stuff. She left a letter. What? She left a letter. Let them know.
14:18 16 year old Bree Wallace Stacy's second daughter is in the room with her. She hands her a note left by Ashley's side
14:26 Mommy, remember that I love you more than anything and I did it for you and for us
14:30 I couldn't let daddy be mean to you and me anymore. Please forgive me mommy. Please don't hate me
14:36 In the letter Ashley confesses to the murders of David Castor and Michael Wallace her own father
14:42 Giving intricate details as to how she went about poisoning them, but something is off about the letter
14:47 750 words long typewritten even the name Ashley is typed at the bottom
14:53 The truth is Ashley never wrote that letter when emergency personnel arrive at the Castor house Ashley is unresponsive
15:01 She wasn't talking. She looked petrified. Her eyes are wide open, but she's not seeing anything
15:06 She's rushed to the hospital barely holding on to life if she dies. No one will know what really happened
15:12 She was in intensive care. They weren't sure she was gonna live.
15:16 I can tell you that that is one of the lowest moments of my life. I would have accepted partial responsibility
15:23 for the death of Ashley Wallace
15:26 But while the letter left at Ashley's side tells in detail how Michael Wallace was murdered Ashley was only 11 years old at the time
15:33 Could a child formulate such an elaborate scheme?
15:36 The carefully laid plan by Stacey Castor nearly has investigators convinced
15:41 But regardless of what the officers think because they have a confession in hand unless Ashley wakes up
15:47 She will be accused of the murder of both her father's and Stacey Castor will walk free after
15:52 Killing her own daughter and framing her for murder. My biggest fear was that Ashley was gonna die
15:57 Detectives are at the hospital around the clock surveilling Ashley's room waiting for her to wake up
16:03 It was several hours for Ashley to work through whatever she had ingested and start to come out of it
16:09 I actually woke up in the hospital and I had no idea what day it was. They had no idea where I was
16:16 Before she can regain full consciousness
16:18 Stacey Castor fights her way through the guard demanding to see her daughter. The next thing I remember is
16:24 Stacey coming in and touching my hair and I look up and I remember seeing a police officer standing right next to her
16:32 She said to me something like I'm sorry. I love you
16:35 And then she just left for the first time
16:38 Investigators finally get to hear how Stacey Castor attempted to frame Ashley for her own crimes
16:44 Ashley's story begins on September 12th two days earlier
16:47 I'm really nervous because it's my first day of school
16:50 Get to my class and a lady comes in and says that I needed to go down to the office
16:56 the one detective was from Cougar County and he goes I don't know if you've heard but we have
17:03 Exhumed your father's body and we found antifreeze in his system
17:08 What the detectives don't know is that Stacey already warned Ashley making sure her daughter was on her side
17:14 Manipulating her so she would be angry at the police instead. Hello
17:18 Mommy, they came to my freaking school. They came to your school. Are you okay?
17:24 I'm gonna be okay, but I'm really freaking out right now. Oh my god
17:29 That bastard came to your school. Do you want me to come and get you? No, I have to be here
17:36 All right, calm down and go back to class. All right
17:38 At around 5 p.m. Stacey makes a suggestion to Ashley to drink their troubles away that a rough week let's just get drunk
17:48 I was like cool, you know
17:50 What kind of teenager wouldn't think that was awesome?
17:52 Parents just gave you permission to drink
17:55 It was weird like how tired I actually got from finishing that drink
18:00 and so I told her I was gonna go lay down because I
18:04 Was about to pass out like that's how drunk I felt off of one drink
18:09 September 13th the next morning Ashley wakes up with a horrible hangover
18:14 She goes to school comes back and again Stacey suggests for them to drink this time. She says let's get really drunk
18:22 I could taste the vodka and it was very strong and it made me cringe and I
18:28 Asked her if she could take it back and put either more orange juice in or more sprayed in it
18:33 Stacey goes into the kitchen and brings her a straw
18:35 She tells her to put the straw into the back of her throat and to just drink it
18:39 Ashley does as her mother says and passes out
18:42 Later that evening Brie comes back to find out her sister has been sleeping all day
18:47 Open the door a little bit. My mom came out of like nowhere and close the door. She's fine
18:53 Like really and like to me that was weird right then and there I was like, are you sure she's okay?
18:59 Mom's like she's sleeping and I hope she sleeps through the entire night the next morning
19:04 Brie hears a strange noise coming from Ashley's room. She was making that noise when she was breathing out
19:10 and her eyes were all glassed over and she had thrown up and I
19:14 Called her name and she didn't answer me and I shook her and she didn't wake up
19:19 Even though she wasn't like responding anything. She looks scared. Did you think that you were losing her? I did
19:27 If it weren't for her sister Brie Ashley would have died in her bed ten minutes later
19:31 When Ashley wakes up in the hospital both her and her sister Brie come face to face with a shocking new reality
19:38 Their mother just attempted to kill Ashley when I woke up and saw that police officer standing there. I
19:44 Absolutely knew that I didn't do it
19:47 and
19:50 She was the only one there
19:52 So it had to have been her upon hearing Ashley's story district attorney Fitzpatrick gives the order to immediately put Stacy
19:59 Castor under arrest we made the conscious decision to arrest her right there on the property of the hospital
20:03 What a Liverpool woman tonight is charged with killing her husband and investigators say it appears
20:10 This is not the first time what shocked the community was the idea that a mother
20:16 Would attempt to murder her own daughter to save her own skin to blame her for the murders of her two husbands
20:24 What could be more basic than a mother's love for her child?
20:27 January 13th 2009 Stacy Castor's trial begins
20:32 One year after her mother tried to kill her and frame her for murder
20:35 Ashley shows up in court. The prosecutor is District Attorney William Fitzpatrick
20:40 He's been preparing Ashley for this moment, but she's faced with an incredible challenge
20:45 Come face to face with her mother in court the woman
20:48 She trusted all her life and who betrayed her there were other parts of me
20:52 That are still a little kid and were afraid of that mom
20:56 Look, she was gonna give me like I am so disappointed in you that you're up there
21:00 testifying against me
21:02 The worst part is Stacy Castor's only defense is to convince the jury that Ashley killed both her father's all
21:08 Stacy needs is reasonable doubt from one jury and she walks free
21:13 Fitzpatrick makes a bold move of calling Ashley to the witness stand as the first witness. I want to ask you about the day your dad died
21:20 I
21:22 Saw him take and lift his arm up and then he made a breath and then he didn't move again after that
21:27 So I thought he was just sleeping as Ashley tells her story. She's visibly upset
21:33 I wanted to be sitting right next to her and holding her hand and helping her and
21:38 She shouldn't had to go through that alone as the hour passes Fitzpatrick then leads her to talk about the night
21:44 Her mother tried to poison her she came home and she was like, let's get drunk. Let's get just totally drunk
21:50 Now as you I want you to explain to the jury if the cup tasted bad and you didn't enjoy it
21:55 Why would you drink because I trusted her?
21:57 What's the next thing you remember waking up in the hospital?
22:03 Was a detective asking me what I did. What did you drink? What did you do? What did you take?
22:08 What did you write in that note?
22:10 But I didn't know what he was talking about because I didn't write a note and I didn't take anything
22:15 The trial lasts for three long weeks the evidence against Stacy Castor is overwhelming
22:21 Investigators collected forensic evidence from the home computer. It shows the letter was finished on September 12th at 2 27 p.m
22:29 Ashley couldn't have written that letter because she was at school
22:32 In fact, it was the same day. She called her mom at home in a panic
22:36 The letter was written on Stacy's computer account and she was the only one home at the time
22:46 I'd never seen anything like it before in my life. It's got detail about the death of David Castor
22:51 It's got detail about why Ashley tried to take her own life. Whoever wrote that no
22:58 Killed Mike Wallace and killed David Castor. It wasn't a no it was a confession. It was Stacy cast that confessed in that
23:05 No
23:05 Furthermore a friend of Stacy admits she helped falsify David Castor's will after his death to make Stacy the sole beneficiary
23:12 Evidence that comes as a relief to his son David Castor jr
23:16 It made me feel a lot better like that
23:18 He remembered good times not just the bad time when the defense attorney put Stacy on the stand it comes as a surprise
23:26 But prosecutor Fitzpatrick is ready. It actually poisoned. I did not poison him. When did Ashley poison?
23:32 I can't answer that question through all of this Stacy Castor is showing no emotion and
23:38 then
23:41 prosecutor Fitzpatrick
23:42 explodes
23:44 Stacy Castor remains cool calm
23:55 Collecting the case is now in the hands of the jury in the Stacy Castor murder trial
24:00 It's now up to them to determine if they've seen enough evidence when the trial is over
24:04 it takes four emotional days for the verdict to come in actually was standing in the hallway and
24:09 Someone has said we had a verdict and she just dropped her knees on the ground
24:14 People of the state of New York versus Stacy R
24:17 Castor the jury's reached a verdict as to count number one murder in the second degree. What is the verdict?
24:23 guilty
24:25 On count two attempted murder in the second degree, what's the verdict?
24:31 guilty
24:35 Stacy Castor is found guilty on all counts. She was sentenced to 54 years in prison
24:41 All I could do was just try because I was just so happy you could just feel this huge weight
24:47 Just being lifted right off of you
24:49 You're not just a danger to the general public
24:52 You're a danger to the people who love you and are closest to you
24:55 And I believe that the sentence I'm about to impose will remove that danger once and for all
25:00 Honestly, that was the best day of my life
25:03 Because I knew that people knew that I didn't do it
25:07 I'm just glad it's over
25:10 And I believe that my brother was there by the other sides
25:15 After the trial Ashley and Bree moved on with their lives with the help of family and friends
25:19 But not without their share of struggles because of Stacy whom she refuses to call mother anymore
25:25 She misses out on so many memories with her father. She took away my dad. She even took away David
25:32 Who would have loved it to walk me down the aisle? It's just heartbreaking
25:36 She says as hard as it is to get up every day and put a smile on my face
25:41 I know that I have to because if I don't then Stacy won.
25:45 I graduated from college. I got my associate's degree in accounting. I work at a CPA firm and I'm a bookkeeper
25:54 I would have never done any of that stuff if I still was with Stacy.
25:58 I wake up and I'm happy every day. I couldn't change a thing that I'm doing right now
26:03 William Fitzpatrick who helped Ashley throughout the trial has developed a close bond with her
26:10 He promised to walk her down the aisle the day of her wedding
26:13 Although it was never proven Stacy Castor is suspected to have killed her own father in
26:21 2002 the same way she killed David Castor and Michael Wallace after walking free of consequence for her crimes for years
26:29 She died in prison in 2016
26:31 Stacy never expected that her downfall would come from her own daughters
26:36 Ashley and Bree's love for each other defeated a serial killer and now living a full life is their best revenge
26:43 *Music*
26:45 *Music*
26:47 (heart beating)
26:49 (eerie music)