Show full transcript 0:54 Learn more at ItTakesEnergy.com 0:59 Tonight on DateLine. 1:01 I'd never had anybody try to kill me before. 1:03 Like, was I scared? Sure. 1:05 I knew they killed somebody, but why? 1:07 Why would they come for me? 1:09 Um, someone just shot my window, 1:10 and I was pointed in my house. 1:12 Alright. 1:12 I'm a little lost, bro. 1:13 A muzzle comes out. Boom. 1:15 Window shatters. 1:16 I saw the bullet hole. 1:17 Literally went an inch away. 1:19 Way too close. 1:19 Way, way, way too close. 1:21 I just was so worried about my brother. 1:24 My heart stopped. 1:25 You realize there is some evil going on. 1:27 You have any enemies? 1:29 There is some crazy stuff that happened. 1:30 We started to piece some things together. 1:32 It's like, holy smokes, there's a pattern here. 1:36 They're murdering people. 1:38 They're murdering spouses, and you are one of those. 1:40 They're headed straight to where Brandon is. 1:43 Your mind's just racing like, what do I do? 1:45 A frightened father in the crosshairs 1:47 and a notorious killer behind it all. 1:50 Guess who? 1:52 You've been known as the doomsday mom. 1:54 Most hated mom in America? 1:56 Good one, Keith. 1:58 Your stomach just drops. 2:00 All you can think about is, are my kids safe? 2:03 How did he escape from the web of Mommy Doom's Day? 2:07 I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. 2:17 Here's Keith Morrison with Blind Sided. 2:37 Him, the straight arrow. 2:40 Quiet, unassuming. 2:43 And Mark for Death. 2:46 Did you ever think you wouldn't make it through this? 2:49 sure I was really worried when you wake up every morning and you know someone 2:54 wants to kill you it's a very different way that you live than most people and 3:00 when dead bodies began showing up you just feel sick to your stomach you're 3:05 just like this is not good they're murdering more people his name is 3:12 Brandon Boudreau is talking to us now because finally he can but when it 3:19 started where's your emergency home someone just shot my window so as I was 3:23 kind of pulling in they lifted their like back window okay it's how muzzle they 3:26 shot wasn't safe at all the dude actually got shot right here I just 3:35 wanted to count sure no problem at all he went underground hiding with his 3:40 four children convinced they all had targets on their backs. They fled town 3:44 to town, state to state, in a singular effort to stay alive. But who would want 3:50 them dead? These sweet, God-fearing people. It's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy. That's the 3:56 only right word for it. And when crazy becomes real, that's unthinkable. But 4:02 we're getting ahead of ourselves. Best to begin at the beginning. It was the 4:11 The very last day of the year 2007, a college just south of Salt Lake City in the town of 4:17 Orem, Utah. 4:19 Utah Valley University, where two young people crossed paths for the very first time. 4:25 One of course was the man you just met, Brandon Boudreau. 4:30 He was 22 years old, had just completed his two-year mission for the Church of Jesus 4:35 Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4:37 I would say I'm just an average person who tries to live their faith. 4:40 I think there's lots of people like me in the world, you know, doing their best. 4:45 The other one, the young woman, was just 18. 4:48 She was Mormon too, and she had a curious story. 4:52 She joined the Air Force, but within months she failed the test and was allowed to leave. 4:58 Her name was Melanie Cope. 5:00 How'd you meet her? 5:01 We met at a New Year's Eve dance. 5:03 I went with a bunch of buddies. 5:04 I was kind of always the guy that could drive everybody home, but happened to 5:07 to meet a girl there, dance with her. 5:10 Just got her number, you know, 5:11 was a very casual thing when we first met. 5:15 What was it about her? 5:16 You know, it's a mix of physical infatuation 5:19 with each other. 5:19 And then as we spent time together, 5:22 lots of little things clicked. 5:25 Clicked all right. 5:26 Maybe even something more, for Melanie at least. 5:30 She was very like in love with Brandon 5:33 from the very get go. 5:34 This is Jennifer Coons. 5:36 She describes herself as once one of Melanie's best friends. 5:41 She was a little bit more of a wild child, I'd say. 5:44 Really? Okay. 5:44 Yeah, she was a lot more wild than Brandon was. 5:47 Brandon's always been very like, you know, the best guy. 5:51 And though Melanie seemed immediately smitten, 5:54 Brandon said his friends needed a little push. 5:57 This is Mark Bell. 5:59 We were telling Brandon, like, hey, you better snatch this girl up. 6:02 You lucked out. 6:03 Like, this is the one. 6:03 Oh, I get this girl. 6:07 And Brandon did. 6:08 He and Melanie were young, yes, but that didn't seem to matter. 6:12 Between the time you met and the time you got married, 6:15 how long was it? 6:16 10 months, 11 months. 6:17 Okay, so it was pretty quick. 6:19 Yeah, quick by most standards, right? 6:21 Within a year, Melanie was a mother. 6:24 And then there was another, and another, and another. 6:27 Two boys and two girls. 6:29 Brandon's sales business flourished. 6:31 and the Boudreaux moved from Utah to Phoenix where they were enveloped in a 6:37 big hug by Melanie's extended family. Her Aunt Lori, they called her Lolo, her 6:43 Uncle Charles, and the children they were raising, son Colby, daughter Tiley, and 6:49 an adopted nephew named JJ. What would they like as you got to know them? 6:53 Wonderful. They were wonderful people and we were as close as you can get, right, 6:57 Right as extended family, lots of holiday meals together, lots of trips back and forth 7:03 between each other's houses, what you would expect out of a family that's close and loves 7:07 each other. 7:14 Often the children play together. 7:17 Little JJ became best friends with Brandon's oldest son, and Tylee. 7:23 Lori and Tylee had talked to me and said, you know, you want to baptize Tylee, and 7:26 of course to answer, yes, right? 7:28 and I was just lucky to get to go be a part of it. 7:31 And I was grateful. 7:33 But the relationship was about more than children. 7:36 Often Melanie spent hours and hours with Lolo. 7:39 And Charles and Brandon, 7:41 they became as close as two men could be 7:44 with their happy families, their successful businesses. 7:48 We'd always end up in the old soul moments 7:51 sitting there talking while all the kids are playing 7:53 and we're just sitting there discussing how lucky we were. 7:57 how blessed we were that we had all this and it was running so smoothly. 8:01 It's what you imagine when you imagine like what would a great life look like. 8:06 By 2018, Brandon and Melody had been married for ten years. Ten happy years. 8:12 And then one day, he was with Melody and oh, he had no idea. 8:18 It was just, this is how it is. There's no arguing about it. 8:21 It had begun. 8:23 She said that Brandon was involved in some very dark things. 8:27 I was as scared to be honest. 8:30 Afraid for a reason? 8:32 Oh, yes. 8:33 I'm really protective of my family, 8:35 and it's really hard for me to accept that it happened. 8:41 Yes, many reasons to be afraid. 8:45 Though what those reasons were? 8:47 Sex, money, and power. 8:49 That was really the driving motivation. 8:52 About that, they had no idea at all. 9:10 A decade after Brandon met Melanie, life was still very good. 9:15 Very good indeed. 9:16 We had a very comfortable life for sure, you know. 9:19 Trips to Hawaii or Cabo or the Caribbean, a lot of trips to the Caribbean. 9:25 Brandon's sales business in Phoenix had succeeded wildly too. 9:29 I'm just some guy who knocked doors for a living, right? 9:32 and then you're hanging out in these parties with like celebrities like I'm 9:36 standing at a Taylor Swift concert with Shaq literally next to me I took a 9:40 picture with them right like I met Mark Cuban at one of his parties that they 9:43 put on you know I mean by all means we were blessed we were building a new 9:46 house and things were good things were really good but across town things did 9:52 not seem to be so good trouble of some kind between melodies Aunt Lolo and 10:04 My initial response was, like, love them both and kind of stay out of it and let them work 10:09 through it or let them work to whatever the conclusion would be. 10:14 He might have asked, might have offered to help, but... 10:17 Melanie made it very clear to me that she didn't want us to be involved in any way 10:22 and that was a hard thing for me, but it was what I felt like the right thing was because 10:26 my wife was asking and she needs to come first. But events, strange events, terrible events, 10:34 did not wait long. So what's going on tonight? I can't get in touch with my kids. Perhaps you've 10:42 seen this. How old are your kids? Six and a half. The opening scene in one of the most 10:45 disturbing stories we've told. She lost her mind out of the house to say she took all 10:51 money out of a bank account today. In January 2019, Charles Vello, yes, Melanie's uncle was that 10:59 Charles Vello, married to that Laurie Vello, had come home from a business trip and discovered he 11:06 was locked out of his own house. Going police, money in the house. Charles told the police that 11:13 his wife seemed to have fallen under some sort of spell. She said you're not Charles. I don't 11:19 who you are, what you did with Charles, 11:20 but I can murder you now with my powers. 11:23 Has she been to the doctor? 11:25 She won't go to the doctor because she's a translated being, 11:28 and they would find out she's translated. 11:29 She cannot be killed. 11:31 She cannot die. 11:32 But Brandon knew none of that. 11:34 There were strange events enough in his own house 11:38 with his own wife, Melanie. 11:40 Did you know she was going out to meetings of some kind? 11:43 Yeah, I mean, when she came back, what was it like? 11:47 When she started being, you know, a little more religious and, like, really wanting to 11:51 talk to me more about faith and things like that, I got excited. 11:55 You know? 11:55 I was like, oh, this could be good. 11:58 After all, Brandon had always been more religious than Melanie, but his excitement didn't last. 12:05 In its place was confusion. 12:08 She started telling me, like, I'm going to go to the temple every day. 12:11 It's open, you know? 12:12 And going to the temple maybe once a month, like, is a good goal or if you're really 12:16 trying to get after it maybe once a week but like every day is just a bit 12:20 extreme maybe is the right word right like it said abnormal that's how I would 12:24 put it. Not at all normal said Melanie's longtime friend Jennifer Coons. She saw 12:30 this new Melanie develop on Facebook posts for sudden intense interest in 12:36 the biblical end times. I don't really unlike the Melanie she knew. It was a 12:41 lot more extreme that she had ever been before and so it was just weird I 12:46 I never really mentioned anything to her because I don't want to make her feel awkward or, you know, like I was judging what she was doing or whatever, but it was pretty strange. 12:56 And then in late June 2019, it was as if someone simply flipped a switch. 13:03 The event? 13:04 Brandon's grandfather died and Melanie announced she would not be attending the funeral, an argument ensued, and the new Melanie suddenly spoke as if it was some divine authority. 13:15 And God said that I can reveal this to you now. 13:17 And so then the very next thing she says is, you hacked my Aunt Lori's computer. 13:22 I need you to admit this. 13:23 You hacked my Aunt Lori's computer? 13:26 This is what she says to me. 13:28 Did you? 13:29 Of course not. 13:29 I mean, that's why. 13:31 Why would I care? 13:34 But Brandon now knew where this was coming from and decided to make some phone calls. 13:40 I tell her, I'm going to talk to Lori and to Charles because this isn't okay and try 13:46 calling both. 13:46 Lori never answers. 13:47 Charles picks up, says you're right. 13:49 You should have nothing to do with this. 13:50 I'm sorry. 13:51 You're involved. 13:52 But if Brandon thought this misunderstanding with Melanie could be cleared up quickly, 13:57 he was in for a shock. 13:59 What else did she accuse you of? 14:00 Eventually she came forward and said, you know, God's told me that you're gay 14:07 and we need a divorce, yeah. 14:10 What's it like to hear that? 14:11 From the person you've been living with for 10 years, 14:14 have four kids we're in love with, 14:16 felt closer to than anybody else on the planet, 14:19 and she's telling you, 14:20 God said we have to get a divorce because you're gay. 14:23 I mean, your response is probably the normal, 14:27 if you're not personally invested in a right response, 14:29 which is just kind of laughing like a what? 14:32 This doesn't make any sense, you know? 14:34 Mostly I was just devastated, right? 14:36 Right at this point, this was kind of the moment where I realized all this isn't just 14:42 going to get better and there's something really wrong. 14:46 Deadly wrong. 14:47 For him, maybe. 14:50 Certainly deadly for someone. 14:59 Luckyland Casino. 15:01 Imagine signing up and finding your welcome surprise already waiting. 15:06 Spin free with gold coins or collect sweet coins plus daily login delights. 15:11 Sign up now, let the magic talk, Lucky Land Casino, where the magic happens. 15:17 No purchase necessary, VGW Group, Void, where prohibited by law, CT&C's 21+. 15:24 Over the years, I've met people whose lives were changed forever in a single moment. 15:29 In my new podcast, Before and After, I explore what happens after that decisive moment. 15:34 Personal, powerful conversations with Cullen Kaepernick, Jeremy Renner, Gabby Giffords, 15:40 and others. 15:41 Join me wherever you get your podcasts. 15:44 Listen to all episodes of Before and After with Lester Holt now, wherever you get your 15:50 podcasts. 15:54 The leaves are changing, the weather is turning. 15:57 It's a perfect time to get cozy and listen to a few stories. 16:01 Since it's Halloween, of course, it'd have to be mysterious, suspenseful, perhaps a little 16:08 creepy. 16:09 Join me for an all-new Morrish and Mysteries featuring the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. 16:15 Coming soon, wherever you get your podcasts. 16:20 Listen now, June 25, 2019, Brandon Boudreau's head was spinning. 16:38 One moment he thought Melanie was taking a deeper interest in their LDS faith, and the 16:43 next, she revealed that God had spoken to her, had told her he, Brandon, was gay. 16:52 So it was just a sharp break like that, from you thought everything was okay and getting 16:57 better to a wanted divorce. 16:59 Yeah, that was just a matter of hours. 17:01 Once she made that decision, she made it clear that we weren't going to be alone 17:04 in the same room ever again. 17:06 Surely she would recant. Tell them that was all nonsense. 17:10 That their life together could be normal again. 17:13 But no, it was over. 17:15 And as if to make absolutely sure there was no going back, 17:19 Melanie fired off a missive to Brandon's family 17:22 who had gathered for the grandfather's funeral at the time, 17:26 including a sister Desiree and her husband Chandler. 17:29 Like 11 o'clock at night, we got a group text for Melanie, 17:32 which is very weird. Melanie did not group text us anything. And it was just saying, 17:39 please pray for our family. Some things have come to light. And we just were like, what? Like, 17:46 it was so out of the blue and it was late at night. So we were like, we'll just go to bed 17:50 and figure this out tomorrow. That was it. Yeah. So we didn't know what it was. We were like, 17:56 okay you know and it wasn't till the next day I called my dad and found out 18:02 what had actually happened. Well which was what? She accused him of being gay and 18:08 asked for a divorce. What'd you think when you heard that? I was very surprised 18:16 that was not something I saw coming so I was kind of like do we have some 18:22 evidence or something that supports this or like help me understand where 18:25 this is coming from because for me it was it was kind of an unbelievable 18:28 accusation just knowing Brandon as long as I'd known him and you have to remember 18:32 like my grandpa had just died so that week yeah it was really selfish of her 18:37 like we were already a mess we were a big mess and then to throw this in on the 18:43 mix of it it was just really hard Brandon must have been pretty blindsided 18:48 by oh he was a mess he was a mess Brandon also broke the news to a close 18:55 friend and business partner. His name is Brandon, too. Brandon Ewell. Here he is with his wife, 19:01 Claudia. It was a pretty good shock. The Ewells thought they knew Melanie, knew all about her. 19:07 They had traveled together. The kids played together and Claudia admired Melanie. She was a 19:14 great mom. They always trusted me with their kids and I always trusted them with my kids 19:20 because Melanie, she was just great. 19:26 The ultimate compliment. 19:27 I mean, this is the girl that you would look up to when you're trying to be. 19:32 If she would have an Instagram, I would be like stalking her 19:34 because she is the one that I wanted to be like her 19:37 because she was very sweet, very spiritual, 19:40 and also always being kind to other people. 19:44 So when Brandon told the Ewells why Melanie said the divorce was necessary, 19:50 well. She had received revelation from God that he was gay. What did you think 19:57 about that? With that I thought it was a joke. Yeah I'm like this can't it's not 20:01 real. I just don't I didn't think it was real. What do you mean? What? He's like 20:07 yeah I don't I don't know what's going on with my life right now and I was 20:11 very sad for my friend. Brandon was sad too. Sad for what was sad especially 20:19 for his children. 20:20 Man, I had such a desire to have my family stay, a family unit, and I had such a, like 20:28 I had spent my whole life building this unit, but in that moment I was just emotionally overwhelmed 20:34 and I was devastated. 20:37 But Brandon, emotionally wrecked as he was, was still a logical thinker, and the sequence 20:42 of events was not lost on him. 20:44 That is what was happening in his own life seemed a mirror image somehow of the marital 20:51 weirdness that had been afflicting Charles Vallow and Laurie's husband. 20:55 How long before you made the collection? 20:58 That night I recognized this is how Charles was feeling since January. 21:04 Remember for six months Brandon had honored his wife Melanie's request to stay out of 21:10 Charles and Laurie's marriage troubles. 21:12 But what Brandon didn't know was it ever since that night 21:15 in January, six months before when Charles had called 21:19 the police about Laurie's erratic behavior. 21:22 She said, you're not Charles, I don't know who you are, 21:24 what you did with Charles, but I can murder you now. 21:27 Charles had been, like Brandon was now, 21:30 searching for a lifeline, a friend to talk to, 21:34 and repeatedly reached out to Brandon via text. 21:37 Charles, the text to Brandon read, call me please, it's urgent. Please call me, please. 21:45 Please call me when you can. Please Brandon, just need a moment. I won't bother you again. 21:53 Yet, Brandon had not received any of these text messages. Why? 21:59 There's only one person who had access to my phone and had gotten in my phone and 22:01 blocked Charles. That would be his wife, Melody. 22:04 As Brandon would later tell police, he found she had blocked all of his incoming texts from Charles for months. 22:12 Looking back now, knowing he was trying to reach you, knowing he was trying to communicate with you, 22:16 probably needed a friend in that situation. 22:19 What's that like for you? 22:20 Yeah, it's something to weigh on you the rest of your life. 22:26 Can't go back and change it. 22:30 So in late June, after Melanie had made it clear that she wanted a divorce, 22:36 Brandon finally picked up his cell phone and called Charles. 22:40 Tell me about that conversation. 22:42 I just, you know, I apologize to him. 22:46 I missed the mark. 22:48 I wasn't there enough for him. 22:49 I could have done more. 22:50 I could have been better while he was going through this. 22:53 And so I told him and he forgave me and said he loved me 22:57 and said he understood and we talked through things. 23:00 And he reminded me how he'd been warning me. 23:02 She even sent me a text that I didn't get because my phone was blocked and he told me hey Lori's gonna convince Melanie that you're gay 23:10 That would be the last conversation Brandon and Charles would ever have 23:16 Because in the next few days 23:17 Charles discovered Lori was cheating with a married man and contacted that man's wife and blew the whistle and 23:26 Then Brandon got a phone call 23:28 Like a cold hand around his heart 23:31 Who's your first thought? 23:36 It was the height of a torrid Arizona summer, July 13, 2019, 23:56 and Brandon Boudreau's life 23:58 seemed to be falling apart. 24:01 It was two weeks after Melanie demanded a divorce, and just like that, Brandon was loading 24:07 her worldly possessions into a truck, and she was moving out of their dream home 24:12 and into a rental. 24:15 when he heard his phone. 24:17 I remember it was kind of like I put it on speakerphone 24:19 because my face was so sweaty and Adam was calling me, 24:24 Adam Cox, Lori's brother. 24:26 And he said they killed Charles. 24:30 Just like that, they killed Charles. 24:31 Yeah. 24:32 What was your first thought? 24:34 I think you just go into shock a little bit, you know? 24:37 So I was just like, what? 24:40 He said they killed Charles, they shot him. 24:42 It was true. In fact, it happened two days earlier at Laurie's home in the Phoenix suburb 24:48 of Chandler. We've told you that part of the story before. The police were wearing body 24:53 cams when they responded to the 911 call from Laurie's house and encountered another 25:01 one of Laurie's brothers, not Adam, but Alex, standing in the front yard. 25:06 They just have a seat right there. 25:08 Chairman, police department, anybody inside? 25:10 Make some noise! 25:11 Inside, Charles Vallow, age 62, was lying dead on the living room floor. 25:18 Hey, team, we got one subject down. 25:20 Apparently, gunshot ones in the chest. 25:24 A bit later, Laurie arrived. 25:25 How long have you lived here? 25:27 Like three weeks. 25:27 Oh, jeez. 25:28 And then she said? 25:30 That's why the neighbors don't know us. 25:32 Gotcha. 25:33 Like, hi, neighbor, sorry. 25:36 very strange just like the story Laurie told the police which was the Charles 25:42 had come to her house that morning to pick up seven-year-old JJ for school 25:46 and was in a rage but there was just no calming him down said Laurie he's like 25:59 acting really weird like he's flying something but anyway he goes he goes nuts 26:05 he's gone that's on us a lot of times goes nuts like yelling and screaming yeah 26:09 yelling and screaming so that woke up Tyley she said Tyley was Laurie's 26:14 16-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and so Tyley came out of her 26:18 room upset and she had a bat and she told him to leave her mother alone like 26:23 right so she was really whatever and he's screaming at her and then my 26:30 That's Lori's brother, Alex, who was staying over, and here he is telling police he felt 26:35 the need to protect Lori. 26:37 All I heard was her say, don't touch me, and then him coming right after her. 26:42 And I shelled him back. 26:43 Okay. 26:44 And I said, what are you doing? 26:46 Because I'm going to hurt my sister. 26:48 In another room, Tiley was supporting her mother's story. 26:52 Tally told police that Charles made a move for the baseball bat. 26:56 He just grabbed it, and tried to take it, so I held on to the end, and then eventually 27:01 I fell, and he kind of took it into his hands, like he was going to do something with it. 27:07 And he came in me with a bat. 27:08 Quite a scuffle then, said Alex. 27:10 What did you do? 27:11 Did you go? 27:12 I just went straight to the room. 27:13 Okay. 27:13 Because I said, this needs to calm down. 27:16 Alex picked up his .45 caliber handgun. 27:19 What happened when you came out with the gun? 27:22 I said, put that bat down. 27:23 How many times did you say you told him to put the bat down? 27:29 He shot Charles in the chest, two bullets, self-defense, said Alex. 27:38 And when Brandon heard that story, that Charles had gone after Tiley with a baseball bat, preposterous 27:45 thought Brandon. 27:46 One of the attempts it was made was to make him sound like somebody who was potentially 27:49 violent, who would take a baseball bat and try to hit somebody, a child. 27:53 If you knew him, you know there's no chance. 27:55 That's all I would tell you. 27:56 He wasn't a quick to anger guy, you know, he was, I mean, you know, do sales and learn all of that patience and be very successful like he was for years and years and years without learning how to temper your emotions and work through them and be patient. 28:11 In fact, Brandon was coming to his own conclusion about the shooting that it was an ambush. 28:17 I think they just murdered him. I think he walked in the door and they shot him and killed him. 28:21 Sure. 28:21 The story that they gave doesn't even make any sense. 28:23 Do you never get a chance to say goodbye properly? 28:27 No, I did. 28:31 I got a phone call. 28:35 It's more than most people get. 28:38 But in the middle of a divorce himself, 28:41 and in spite of the lesson he might have taken from the killing of Charles, 28:45 Brandon didn't quite make the connection. 28:48 The connection to his own mortality. 28:51 Too far-fetched. 28:54 In that moment, did you get your mind around the idea that if that happened to him, I'm 29:02 next? 29:04 He'd get scared of it, but to just assume that someone was going to murder me felt extreme, 29:10 right? 29:12 Scared, yes. 29:14 A little bit concerned for safety, yes. 29:18 I still knew in my mind I hadn't been doing anything that they were accusing me of, 29:22 So, some, what seemed logical to me at the time. 29:26 I just assumed I was, I'd be fine 29:27 if I just minded my own business 29:28 and stayed away from the crazy people, right? 29:33 All very well, unless the crazy comes to you. 29:40 Being on the door is like, acting really weird, 29:57 like he's my brother, I'm all with her motion. 29:59 After Lori Vallow spun her story for police, 30:02 Brandon Boudreau felt like he was sinking, falling, 30:05 into some weird, unfamiliar netherworld. 30:09 Well, their divorce was in the works. 30:11 Brandon found himself exchanging the children every week 30:14 with his now estranged wife, Melanie, 30:17 who seemed an entirely different person. 30:19 The people he had loved and trusted without reservation 30:22 were quite suddenly strangers. 30:25 And Laurie had been treating her husband, Charles, 30:28 like some satanic enemy. 30:31 And now Charles was dead, 30:33 shocked to death by Lori's brother, Alex. 30:36 He came at me, put the bat again, 30:39 after he'd already hit me in the head, 30:40 so I shot him to stop it. 30:42 And it seemed that nobody was doing anything about it. 30:47 He considered calling the police, but... 30:50 It's complicated, right? 30:51 Cause like, what do you know? 30:52 When you think about it from a police perspective, right? 30:55 They just only want to deal with facts 30:56 and it's like, man, I don't have a lot of facts for you. 30:59 Just a lot of conjecture. 31:01 Besides, an unpleasant notion was beginning to grow in the very darkest corners of Brandon's mind. 31:07 Saying nothing would be safer for you. 31:08 Yeah. 31:09 Maybe it'll all blow over. 31:11 I think the real thing was I just didn't think that what I had was important. 31:15 I still could have done it. I still should have. 31:17 But Brandon had just made a big commitment that might require not rocking the boat. 31:22 He had just sold his shares in his multi-million dollar business, 31:25 so he could bank the money and take some time and focus on his family. 31:30 So he tapped down his suspicions, or tried to, and busied himself with the duties of 31:36 a dad. 31:38 He had to stay friendly, he figured. 31:41 After all, he was sharing custody of his four kids with Melanie. 31:45 And with all four under the age of 10, it was an eye-opening experience. 31:50 I was always a dad who didn't mind changing a diaper. 31:52 That was easy enough, as you start realizing, like, I don't know some of the things 31:55 is that, you know, that these little girls need. 31:58 And so you're trying your best to be the best dad you can be. 32:02 But for sure, you feel like when you start trying 32:05 to do your daughter's hair, you realize real quick, 32:07 oh, I don't know how to do this. 32:09 And it's not a skill I'm going to learn quickly. 32:12 Oh, he did his best to keep life for his children 32:15 as normal as seemed possible under the circumstances. 32:19 How were they taking all of this? 32:22 Young kids are resilient, you know? 32:23 They are. 32:24 And they can adapt quickly and change, but deep down you don't know what you're doing to him. 32:33 No. And then with his blessing, they'd go, they'd be with their mother. 32:37 This woman he didn't really know anymore. 32:40 And those days, without his kids, said Brandon, he counts as some of the darkest of his life. 32:46 You sell your business, you really have no job, you're facing all these situations. 32:50 What was it like? What was your move? What was your emotional mental health? 32:57 You're just doing your best. You know, I chose to try to wake up and be positive. 33:00 You don't always win, you know. Some days you're... 33:04 You've got a walla once in a while. 33:06 Yeah, some days you're in the slog of it and you're just working your way through. 33:10 And in for a few months, that was what I was doing. I was just working my way through. 33:16 Just... 33:16 Sure. 33:16 You just wake up. You just try to move forward. 33:18 know it's in your back that somebody was gonna come gunning for you. 33:21 I never had anybody try to kill me before, you know, 33:24 and I'd never even put myself in a position where I thought there was anybody who'd hate me that much. 33:29 His friends and big extended family tried to help, but felt mostly helpless. 33:35 He fell into something of a depression over that summer, didn't he? 33:38 Yeah. 33:39 Well, that's the thing is, it came out of nowhere. 33:42 Even though all this is happening, like he still loved her, 33:45 So we're watching him grieve the marriage 33:47 as he's trying to figure out how to figure out custody 33:50 and get his own home and everything. 33:52 I was like, let's go to the movie 33:53 because you're just depressed 33:55 and you could just see just his whole demeanor 33:58 was just slumped over, just like almost like a ghost, 34:03 almost just gone. 34:04 Like we were watching Spider-Man at one point, 34:07 Spider-Man kisses MJ, he just like turned to the side 34:12 and I was like holy smokes he is just destroyed right now and then late 34:18 September 2019 with the separation complete but the divorce still in the 34:23 works Melanie asked Brandon if he'd take the kids a few extra days of course he 34:29 said happily he didn't know of course that she was taking a trip to see her 34:35 aunt Laurie who'd recently left Phoenix with children JJ and Tiley and moved to 34:41 Idaho. Didn't know that Lori's brother Alex Cox, the man who'd shot and killed 34:46 Lori's husband Charles, had also moved to Idaho and lived in an apartment near 34:51 Lori. Didn't have a clue that on October 2nd Lori was caught on camera 34:58 moving the backseat from a jeep she owned along with the spare tire and 35:02 putting those items in a storage unit in Idaho. Didn't know Lori and Alex got 35:09 the jeep's windows tinted. Didn't know the jeep would be caught on a license plate reader 35:13 on the road to Phoenix. Where Brandon lived. And almost certainly did not know why that 35:20 very jeep was parked near Brandon's house. Or why, as Brandon watched, the back window 35:26 opened and the muzzle of a gun appeared. 35:36 The midterms are just around the corner and it's safe to say there's been a lot 35:40 of noise about the election? Well, now it's time to lock in. What's really on the ballot 35:45 this November? And what's really at stake? We'll get you up to speed on all of it. 35:50 I'm NBC News' Chief White House correspondent Garrett Haig, and every Saturday from now 35:54 to election day, I'm hosting Here's the Scoop Election Edition. We'll talk to some 35:59 of the smartest voices about the top issues that are going to define this election. 36:03 From President Trump's influence to the war with Iran, to affordability and 36:07 AI and politics. We're diving into all of it and what it could all mean for the 36:11 direction of the country. Join me every Saturday. Just search here's the scoop 36:15 wherever you listen and follow now. Corrupt people will always run for office 36:21 but we have to stand up to them. When a local journalist. If officers do 36:26 something that's against the law we're gonna write about it. Takes on a 36:29 sheriff. We began getting allegations of violence. Nothing's more dangerous than 36:34 the truth. These stories really got him angry. It was a complete madhouse. It 36:39 cost us everything. I knew they didn't like us. I've had no idea they would 36:43 talk about killing us. From producer Rachel Maddow, KillBerry Print, new 36:47 documentary. Now streaming on Peacock. The case that shocked Massachusetts. A 36:52 pregnant young woman dead. A former Stoughton police officer accused of 36:56 her murder. Now he's on trial. NBC 10 Boston is inside the courtroom every 37:01 day, following every twist, every revelation, and every critical moment. 37:05 With expert legal insight and analysis night after night, this is coverage you won't find 37:10 anywhere else. 37:11 Commonwealth Confidential, the Sandra Birchmore case, download the podcast today. 37:16 Watch full episodes on the NBC10 Boston YouTube channel. 37:30 It might not be too much to say that as October 2019 dawned, things were finally 37:36 looking up in the life of Brandon Boudreau. 37:40 In fact, on October 1st, Brandon had finally closed the deal to sell the family home that 37:45 he and Melanie had shared. 37:47 October 1st is the day that the deal finishes. 37:51 It's done. 37:52 I had divided up all the other assets and given a bunch of money. 37:55 To Melanie, that is. 37:57 That was kind of the final piece to that puzzle. 38:00 And so on the morning after, on Wednesday, October 2nd, Brandon had an extra spring 38:06 in his step as he left his house and got into his car, all four children with him. 38:11 And then dropped them off at school, the two olders, and then dropped my next oldest off 38:15 at a preschool, and then my youngest at her mom's house. 38:18 Mom would be Melanie, of course. 38:21 Remember they were doing custody exchanges every week. 38:25 And then Brandon went on with his day, no idea what was waiting for him. 38:30 I go to the gym for an hour, hour and a half, then I drive from the gym back 38:34 to my house and as I pull around the corner I noticed that this jeep's parked awkward 38:38 in a weird spot. 38:40 Alarming? 38:41 Not yet. 38:43 But that jeep seemed familiar somehow. 38:46 Had he seen it before? 38:48 And why was it parked that way? 38:51 Back in, facing his house. 38:53 As I kind of pull up I noticed it's got a Texas plate. 38:56 Sudden recognition. 38:57 The jeep. 38:59 And what was this? 39:00 window lifts up and muzzle comes out, boom, loud noise, window shatters, and I think of 39:06 someone shooting at me. He tells the story so nonchalantly now as if refusing to 39:11 re-enter the moment, but back then in the moment. And so I just push the 39:17 accelerator on my car and zoom straight instead of turning into my driveway. 39:22 And as he sped away from danger, Brandon dialed 911. 39:25 Someone just shot my window and I was cornered in my house. I drove away but I can see them driving off 39:30 and I was trying to pull in my driveway. 39:32 Sorry, I'm a little off the breath. 39:35 Within minutes, a Gilbert City police officer showed up. 39:38 Right there. 39:39 So what's going on? 39:41 Someone shot my window out. 39:42 OK, give me a little bit more than that. 39:44 Yeah, so I was just pulling in. 39:46 I noticed a green Jeep Wrangler. 39:49 They lifted their back window. 39:50 OK. 39:51 I saw a muzzle. 39:52 They shot. 39:53 It hit my window, and it's not turning in. 39:55 It scared me really bad. 39:56 I wonder if you would have shot again if you hadn't 39:57 driven off in a hurry. 39:59 Yeah, those are the kind of things you think about. 40:01 The jeep with the shooter inside had disappeared from the subdivision. 40:06 A search was on. 40:07 More patrol units arrived. 40:09 Anyone who wants to can see all of my trauma in real time. 40:14 He began to doubt. 40:16 Maybe that shooter wasn't trying to kill him. 40:19 Maybe it was some kind of prank. 40:21 I was thinking maybe it was just a paintball gun or something. 40:24 Because when I opened my door, the window shattered and fell down, but I couldn't 40:28 I couldn't see a bullet hole anywhere so I was like maybe I didn't get shot at, you know? 40:32 But then he saw us, the door frame of his car. 40:35 I think the point where I realized for certain I had been shot at was when I saw the bullet hole in the frame. 40:42 How close did it come? 40:44 A couple inches. 40:45 It was right here in the frame. 40:48 My head was about the exact same height. 40:50 Way too close. 40:51 That's all I can say. 40:52 Way, way, way too close. 40:53 That's when I was like, oh, it was 100% like someone was trying to kill me. 40:56 Then your body just, I think the shock starts setting in and you go from the 41:01 adrenaline to like whatever else and you start kind of getting over one bite. I 41:05 remember at some point I had to sit down. I couldn't even stand up anymore. 41:09 Brandon sat down on the sidewalk, started texting. One went to Mark, Mark Bell. 41:16 I got a text message saying somebody just tried to kill me. I said what? 41:22 I said yeah, somebody just tried to kill me and said what do you mean? 41:26 and he's like somebody just shot at me. 41:28 He's like, I need you. 41:29 So jumped in my car and headed over there 41:32 and still in your mind, you're thinking, 41:34 this isn't possible, like what's going on? 41:36 What's, and it's not making sense. 41:39 Before long, the officers who surrounded Brandon 41:42 seemed to recognize that a serious investigation 41:44 would be necessary. 41:46 Are they sending a detective out? 41:47 This definitely, because the detective should come out. 41:50 So they asked Brandon the obvious question. 41:53 You have any enemies, any anybody that you? 41:55 I just went through a divorce. 41:58 There is some crazy stuff that happened with her and killed 42:02 her husband, but I would hope that has nothing to do with this. 42:06 But as the shock diminished, a new certainty took its place. 42:09 And Brandon told detectives something different. 42:12 Yes, he said. 42:13 There were people who, now that he thought about it, 42:16 people who wanted him dead, ASAP. 42:19 And so would begin his life on the run. 42:23 We're like, Brandon, this is the only thing that makes 42:25 sense where there's smoke there's fire oh and speaking of smoke do you realize 42:30 how astonishing this sounds I know but I mean really astonishing events 42:50 thought 42:50 Brandon Boudreau were more than strange now they were frightening so they shot 42:56 them what happened someone had taken a shot at him missing his head by mere 43:00 inches not even three months after Aunt Laurie's husband Charles Vallow had 43:04 been shot dead by Lori's brother Alex. 43:07 Brandon's worried family surrounded it. 43:10 I can still picture his face like he just was in shock. 43:15 His protective friends jumped in to support him. 43:18 Once there's an attempt on somebody's life, 43:20 that's when you realize there is some evil going on. 43:23 But one person Brandon did not hear from. 43:26 Now the word about this incident was 43:29 the mother of his children. 43:30 Did you hear from Melanie at all about this? 43:34 No. 43:35 She didn't express any concern about you. 43:37 Like, somebody shot at you, are you okay? 43:39 Didn't say anything like that? 43:41 No, I guess I had already been conditioned not to expect that out of her from everything 43:45 else that had happened so far. 43:47 Still, Brandon didn't deep down really want to believe Melanie's aunt Lori and Uncle 43:53 Alex murdered Charles and had plotted to kill him, Brandon, or that Melanie had 43:58 had anything to do with it, even as his friends told him. 44:02 Wake up. 44:03 We're like, Brandon, this is the only thing that makes sense, where there's smoke, there's 44:06 fire, but it did almost take some convincing because I think he also couldn't believe 44:12 it all the way. 44:13 He was already just so broken that I think something inside of him was also helping protect 44:18 him. 44:18 And the thing was, as Brandon soon realized, his friends didn't know the half of it. 44:25 For instance, the timing of that attempt to kill him, it happened the day after the sale closed on Brandon and Melanie's family home. 44:33 And why was that significant? 44:35 That sale, along with a whole life insurance policy still in effect on Brandon, made his life worth up to a million dollars. 44:45 Payable to Melanie. 44:47 There's not a better time like it's going to be the maximum amount of money you can get. 44:50 that's the best day ever if you're going to get the most money you can for a situation, 44:54 which is heartless and emotionless and super, you know, scary. 45:00 But Brandon had just moved, so how would the shooter know where to find him? 45:06 It hit like a rude awakening. 45:08 Melanie had sent him a text asking, what's your new address? 45:13 And he told her, told her, and almost no one else. 45:19 In our divorce decree, we had agreed that any time we changed, we let each other know. 45:22 So she's the only person, besides the people who helped me move, who know where my house 45:26 is, because I didn't tell anybody. 45:28 And he thought about that jeep with the Texas plate, the one the shooter fired from. 45:34 He knew that jeep. 45:36 It belonged to Melanie's aunt, Lori. 45:39 He was all but sure it was Alex he saw in the jeep, aiming that rifle at him. 45:43 And he knew Alex had already killed Melanie's uncle, Charles. 45:47 It all seemed to lead straight back to Melanie. 45:52 Did you have any doubt that she must have known? 45:55 At that point? 45:56 For me personally? No, of course not. 45:59 Investigators in Gilbert called Melanie in for an interview. 46:03 She denied knowing a thing. 46:05 Didn't know who shot at Brandon. 46:07 Although she did admit being close to Lori. 46:11 And that was that. 46:12 The police thanked her and let her go home. 46:15 where a few days later it was time to exchange custody of the kids again. 46:21 Brandon was to pick them up at Melanie's place. 46:25 I was very, very concerned about picking those kids up. 46:28 I mean, that's how they killed Charles. 46:30 It wasn't a custody exchange. 46:32 Brandon thought it smelled like a setup for another attempt on his life. 46:36 He asked Melanie to change the meat location to the police station. 46:41 She refused. 46:42 They met in a park, steps from her home. 46:45 I've really got to lean into figuring out how do I work with law enforcement to get them caught for the thing that they did. 46:52 So I think a lot of what starts to occur is your mind just racing, trying to figure out like, what do I do? 46:57 So when he collected the kids, Brandon enlisted his friend, Brandon Ewell, to come along. 47:03 I usually have a firearm in my vehicle. 47:06 Did you think at the time I might have to use this gun? 47:09 or I was prepared for the worst hope for the best. 47:12 How comfortable were you about that, Claudia? 47:15 Not very comfortable at all. 47:16 I even ask him, I say, 47:18 does he not have any other friends that can go help him 47:20 because we also have younger kids? 47:23 But he's like, you know, he said like Brandon really needs us. 47:26 In the end, the custody exchange was uneventful. 47:30 But a week later, mid-October, 47:33 Melanie sent Brandon a text 47:35 that would take this strange tale 47:37 in a new and even weirder direction. 47:40 I get this bizarre text that says that she's moving to Idaho 47:44 and, you know, I can keep the kids and, you know... 47:48 Just like that. 47:49 Just red flags, right? 47:51 To Brandon, it felt like Melanie was quite prepared to abandon their kids. 47:56 Though she did offer him a choice, keep the kids in Arizona 47:59 or send them to Idaho. 48:02 To him, it amounted to the same thing. 48:04 Melanie was ready to ditch her own four children 48:07 for the sake of whatever awaited her in Idaho. 48:10 Like, no one would say this about their kids. 48:12 Like, you can just have the kids 48:13 and I'm just moving to a different state. 48:15 I'm just abandoning my kids. 48:16 What did it say to you that she was suddenly moving to Idaho? 48:20 Honestly, I didn't even know how to process it. 48:23 It was just, oh my gosh, something else is up. 48:25 I've got to get soul custody of my kids 48:26 and I've got to get us somewhere safe. 48:28 To gain soul custody, Brandon needed a new attorney. 48:31 When he found one, the attorney dropped the shocking news. 48:35 Brandon and Melanie's divorce was not yet final. 48:38 The person we paid to file the divorce papers hadn't even filed them yet. 48:43 And so he kind of explained how the law works and that, hey, 48:46 either of you can take the kids and not return with the other person. 48:48 And once everything's filed, then you have a pattern for how you resolve disputes. 48:53 Because since it's not filed yet, you're both just parents 48:55 and either of you can have the custody of the kids. 48:57 So just take the kids and run. 48:58 I wouldn't say run. 48:58 I would just say take the kids and keep them safe, you know 49:01 There's a difference running implies that you're the one that did something wrong 49:05 Brandon took his kids and left Phoenix to stay with his sibling and while he was there 49:09 He went through his old emails the emails Charles Vallow sent him before he was killed 49:14 And I'm just going through every little detail every crumb that Charles left me, right and one name jump right out at him 49:21 It's this guy who I'd never heard of but his name was Chad Daybell Chad Daybell 49:27 who was he? She typed his name into Google and up pops this obituary for a 49:34 Tamara Debel and I realized this is his wife and it just says she dies doesn't 49:38 say how and I'm sure I sounded like a crazy person but like killed Charles 49:42 trying to kill me this dude just killed his wife like this is just crazy and 49:49 crazy wasn't quite done with Brandon Boudreau. The leaves are changing, the 50:00 It's a perfect time to get cozy and listen to a few stories. 50:05 Since it's Halloween, of course, it'd have to be mysterious, suspenseful, perhaps a little 50:11 creepy. 50:12 Join me for an all-new morris and mysteries featuring the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. 50:19 Coming soon, wherever you get your podcasts. 50:23 Listen now. 50:28 Over the years I've met people whose lives were changed forever in a single moment 50:32 In my new podcast, Before and After, I explore what happens after that decisive moment, personal 50:39 powerful conversations with Colin Kaepernick, Jeremy Renner, Gabby Giffords, and others. 50:45 Join me wherever you get your podcasts. 50:48 Listen to all episodes of Before and After with Lester Holt now, wherever you get your 50:54 podcasts. 50:55 True crime, three-part documentary, streaming on Peacock. 51:01 The Alexander Brothers had this incredible rise in business. 51:05 Privilege surrounded them. 51:06 Free hot shots. 51:08 Who thought they ruled the world? 51:09 But everybody heard rumors. 51:11 My goal is to hunt a client and hunt a female. 51:14 Courage exposed them. 51:16 I didn't know what to even call what they did to me. 51:19 Sometimes monsters don't look like a monster. 51:22 The Wolves of Real Estate. 51:24 The Alexander Brothers. 51:25 Now streaming only on Peacock. 51:41 Melanie now complete. Brandon Boudreau thought he had uncovered another murder. He was sure 51:47 of it. So he called the Gilbert, Arizona police, told them about this guy Chad Debelle, whose 51:54 wife Tammy had just died up in Idaho. Both Chad's spouse and Lori Vallow's spouse were 52:00 now dead. As with Brandon's attempted murder, Gilbert police weren't immediately sure 52:07 what to make of Brandon's claims, but they did follow through and call Idaho about the 52:12 death of Tammy Debelle. 52:16 So there wasn't an autopsy or anything done, she had already passed when the husband called 52:23 it in. 52:24 They just kind of looked at her and from what I was, I was advised the family refused an 52:29 autopsy. 52:30 Refused an autopsy? 52:32 That didn't look right at all. 52:35 Well, Brandon started calling around to check in on members of Lori's family. 52:39 Like Tiley, Brandon had baptized the girl. 52:43 Now he worried about her, especially when she didn't answer his calls. 52:48 He couldn't know, of course, would it already happen to Tiley? 52:53 Anyway, just then solving a murder took second place to avoiding his own. 52:57 Melanie, who, weeks before, had told Brandon he could keep the kids in Arizona while 53:02 As she moved to Idaho, it apparently changed her mind and posted on Facebook a $10,000 reward 53:08 for help to find him and the children. 53:12 Paranoia kicks up to a whole different level at that point. 53:16 Did you take any steps to protect yourself? 53:18 You know, I bought my first handgun. 53:20 Melanie's post made it clear that she and her uncle Alex were still hunting him. 53:24 And in his mind, Alex was looking for another chance to shoot him. 53:28 and Brandon didn't know where they were. 53:32 Brandon hired a private eye, this man, Rich Robertson. 53:38 Brandon's story spilled out at the PI 53:40 as if from a fire hose. 53:42 Did you believe all this stuff? 53:44 Well, not entirely. 53:46 You just never know. 53:47 Some people have tried to hire private investigators 53:50 as an alibi. 53:53 I didn't know if maybe he had done something to her 53:55 and was hiring me to make it look like he was trying to find her. 54:01 There was all kinds of scenarios in your mind. 54:03 If I was him, that's probably how I would feel. 54:06 But no matter, Robertson took the case 54:09 and drove over to Melody's last known address. 54:13 And what do you know? 54:15 Soon found Melody and Alex moving clothes and such into a U-Haul. 54:20 In between loads, I just slipped up there and popped a GPS unit on the bottom of that U-Haul. 54:28 A tracker. 54:29 A tracker. 54:30 That's how I was able to keep track of him for a couple of days. 54:33 Soon, Melanie and Alex showed up at the home of Brandon's friends, 54:38 the Ewells, who had been helping him take care of the kids. 54:42 Claudia Ewell was pulling out of the garage when she saw a car parked at the curb, 54:47 A bald man behind the wheel, and standing in her driveway, Melanie. 54:56 My heart stopped. 54:58 Claudia quickly made a decision to act like this unannounced visit by Melanie was nothing 55:03 unusual, but... 55:05 She said, I'm here to pick up my kids. 55:09 And I said, what do you mean? 55:11 The kids are not here. 55:13 And she says, the spirit told me that my kids are here. 55:17 The spirit told me? 55:18 Yes. 55:19 And I thought, yeah, the Holy Spirit told her that the kids were at my house and immediately 55:26 for me, I was like, oh my heavens, this is not gonna be okay. 55:31 Claudia went into the house and yelled for her husband. 55:34 Melanie joined her inside. 55:36 How was she behaving? 55:38 As if she was angry or did she behave like your friend or a stranger or what? 55:43 Stressed out, very troubled. 55:45 Melanie asked the Ewells if they knew where her ex-husband Brandon was. 55:49 When they said they did not, she said this. 55:53 That Brandon was involved in some very dark things. 55:56 It's better for you to not get involved. 55:58 She said, if you guys know what's good for you and your family is like... 56:01 Do not get involved. 56:02 Do not get involved. 56:03 Wait a minute. 56:04 If you know what's good for you and your family, don't get involved. 56:07 It sounds like Mafia talk or something. 56:09 Yeah. 56:09 It would feel like threatened for us. 56:12 At that moment, we're just very insecure. 56:13 You guys are hiding my kids like it's not going to go good for you. 56:17 It became clear to the UOs that Melanie wanted to search their home for her children. 56:22 Claudia was telling Melanie the truth the Woodrow kids were not there. 56:26 But she didn't tell Melanie that they had been there and very recently. 56:32 My biggest fear was like if she would have found something like a toy from the kids. 56:38 There was actually this teddy bear that one of the boys always carries everywhere 56:42 where he goes, and that teddy bear was upstairs. 56:46 So I was like, if she really finds that, 56:50 she's gonna know that we're lying to her. 56:52 I was praying that she would not notice. 56:58 And then, quite suddenly, Melanie seemed to change her mind. 57:02 She did not go upstairs, but left the house 57:06 to rejoin the bald man in the car. 57:09 And I went to the car. 57:11 I asked so who's that who's that and she said that's my uncle 57:16 Uncle Alex of course Alex Cox and the uncle didn't even like he didn't even look at me 57:22 He didn't even acknowledge me. They drove down, but they drove down a couple houses, and they stayed there for 57:29 Long time, and I'm just I'm sitting in my driveway in a in a beach chair 57:35 Watching just staying there. I mean I stayed awake 57:38 very late into the night 57:40 watching maybe they thought they were gonna catch the kids coming in or out or 57:46 something or I don't know later when they called Brandon and described the man 57:52 in the car there was no doubt said Brandon that was Alex that's the guy that 57:58 shot at me so you need to know that pretty spooky stuff yeah yeah so 58:05 So Melanie and Alex were still looking for Brandon, still looking for the kids. 58:10 And the P.I.'s tracker was about to show something alarming. 58:29 One month after the attempt on his life, Brandon Boudreau was hiding. 58:34 Hiding with his four children from Melanie and her uncle Alex, the one with the gun. 58:41 He felt like as long as Alex and Melanie were in Phoenix, he needed to put some distance 58:47 and therefore his own end protection and the kids. 58:52 Brandon had taken refuge 10 hours away at his parents' house in American Fork, Utah, 58:58 just south of Salt Lake City, seemed like a safe choice 59:02 until the P.I.'s tracking device showed Alex and Melanie heading north, straight for Brandon. 59:10 Did somebody know that Brandon had taken the kids up there? 59:13 are they headed straight to those kids and what would happen if they went and 59:20 showed up where Brandon was staying. As the U-Haul sped toward American Fork, 59:26 P.I. Robertson contacted law enforcement. Just compiled all the 59:30 information I had on the vehicle, the license plate, who was driving Melanie 59:36 and Alex's information. And I put all this into a report that we were able to 59:40 give to the American Fork Utah Police Department and let them know what was 59:45 going on. The PI called Brandon too, of course. What'd you do with the kids? How'd 59:52 you keep them safe? I didn't know for certain that they had my parents address 59:55 but I knew that if they had my parents address that they didn't know where 59:58 my sister lived. So I sent my kids over there and I stayed there just in 60:03 case at my parents house because I figured it was better just me than 60:07 my kids. Brandon's sister Desiree and her husband Chandler that night suddenly had a 60:15 house full of children. Was there any concern in your mind that they might be 60:19 targets? Yes, like I just was so worried about my brother, about my nieces and 60:25 nephews, and like even as I talk about it it brings back some of the stress 60:29 that I felt because it was such a hard and scary time. Then Melanie and Alex 60:36 like suddenly stopped at an exit 20 minutes 60:39 from Brandon's parents' house. 60:41 At that point, you know, 60:43 I think the paranoia hits a peak for me, pacing, 60:46 you know, waiting, expecting a knock any minute. 60:49 I just waited, waited, waited. 60:53 I don't know how long it was. 60:55 If you want the honest truth, Keith, 60:56 maybe 30 minutes an hour, 60:59 then eventually I got a text that they were moving again. 61:03 moving closer and closer but then they drove right by drove right straight 61:10 through they went right through the middle of Salt Lake and kept head in 61:15 north never stopped what happened inside your stomach when that you saw me it 61:19 was it was like everybody just sigh of relief the PI relate the news to Brandon 61:28 So I started to calm down a little bit. 61:31 Brandon brought his four kids back to his parents' house, 61:34 breathed easy for a week or so. 61:40 Until... 61:40 911, what's the address of your emergency? 61:44 Well, Brandon was out and his mom was watching the kids. 61:47 Melanie showed up. 61:48 Although she ditched the tracker, Brandon saw her on doorbell video. 61:52 And he called police. 61:55 Melanie left. 61:56 She didn't know the kids were here. 61:58 She was trying to find my son and kids. 62:01 Minutes later, Brandon arrived. 62:03 My detective said he wants to talk to your kids. 62:06 And then, two days later, she was back. 62:09 Officers, I have a legal ADHD affair. 62:12 My kids had been held out of state. 62:14 Melanie showed up again, tried to push her way into the garage, 62:18 demanded to see if her kids were safe. 62:20 My kids are, I'm worried they're in danger, 62:22 because I my husband's been doing a lot of things that caused me to worry so 62:29 officers went inside and checked but they are safe and they're taken care of so 62:34 we're not just gonna go in there and move them from the house then the officers 62:38 noted somebody sitting in a car on the street nearby who's in the car what 62:42 yeah Alex uncle Alex the shooter here an officer approaches him 62:51 Alex is calm, cooperative, unruffled. 62:56 How's it going? 62:57 Pretty good, dude. Not bad. 62:59 You guys came all the way from Arizona? 63:01 No. 63:02 Oh, where were you coming from? 63:04 Idaho. 63:05 Oh, Idaho. That's right. 63:07 Do you live in Idaho? 63:09 Yeah, I just moved up there. 63:10 Are you going to be receiving citation for criminal trespass? 63:15 Initially, the police decided to give Melanie a ticket, 63:18 but then they spoke with her down at the station, 63:20 And before long, they changed their minds and upgraded the charges. 63:25 Okay, so things have changed a little bit, okay. 63:29 Your criminal trespass is enhanced to domestic violence. 63:34 How does that work? 63:35 Because you were in domestic relationship. 63:38 You had, you know, in-laws there. 63:42 You trespassed, you entered the garage unlawfully. 63:45 So we're actually going to be taking you into custody tonight. 63:48 So I'm just gonna need you to go and stand up face away from me push your 63:54 hands behind your back. Alright let's go ahead and have a seat in there. And still 64:03 nearby was Melanie's uncle, Alex. You'll leave this with you 64:08 Melanie's gonna be going to the Utah County Jail tonight. Alex posted bail 64:14 before dawn and Melanie was freed. Eventually she pleaded no contest to 64:19 Criminal trespassing got a suspended six-month sentence. 64:23 But Brandon knew now that Melody and Alex 64:27 had been to his parents' house. 64:29 It wasn't over. 64:31 Now, more people I love. 64:32 More people I don't want anything bad to happen to. 64:35 And now I'm putting all this extra pressure on them. 64:37 You know, now they're in there. 64:38 Now what if my dad has to do something 64:39 he doesn't want to do, or my mom? 64:42 Only one thing to do. 64:44 It was drastic, but what choice did he have? 64:47 Monday on NBC. 64:54 The new season of The Voice has arrived. 64:57 I'm so excited! 64:59 Fan favorites Adam Levine and Kelly Clarkson are back 65:02 to take on two new powerhouses. 65:04 The legendary Queen Latifah. 65:06 The Queen is in the house. 65:08 And country superstar Riley Green. 65:11 Riley is super charming. 65:12 He is a whole vibe. 65:13 Can we put that on my chair? 65:15 It's going to be a wild ride. 65:17 The blind auditions continue on The Voice this Monday on NBC. 65:22 This election season, let the NPR Politics podcast save your time and your sanity. 65:27 We'll help you understand key races, which polls you can safely ignore, 65:31 and what might happen if power shifts in Congress. 65:34 Our short daily episodes come out every afternoon, 65:37 so you can spend less time scrolling through each chaotic news cycle. 65:40 Make NPR Politics your hub for midterm election coverage. 65:43 Follow our podcast on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. 66:02 Alex, the guy he was sure had already tried to kill him. 66:06 And when they showed up at his parents' house in Utah, he warned his family he was about 66:12 to vanish. 66:14 He just said, I need to get somewhere where I don't have to feel that stress that they're 66:19 always going to show up. 66:20 He was so paranoid and rightfully so. 66:24 So Brandon threw a dart at the map and flew with his children ages nine, six, four 66:31 and two across the country to Florida. 66:36 I was on the run from people who might be able to figure out where I was. 66:40 And he revealed his location only to his parents, siblings, attorney, and the Gilbert police 66:46 detective back in Arizona. 66:49 Even longtime friend and business partner Mark Bell was in the dark. 66:54 I had no idea where he was, and that's how it was supposed to be. 66:58 He wanted to vanish. 66:59 You know we moved around wherever we needed to stay in hotels 67:02 There being bees I tried to never have anything in my name no rental car in my name 67:06 I mean I was trying everything there were of course some issues like what to tell the kids 67:12 Yeah, I just told him we're doing vacation when we talked about where mom was it was just a she's visiting some friends 67:18 We all miss her. We'll see her again soon 67:20 But it helped with the kids and their questions that Brandon's mom and two sisters flew out to help as 67:26 as the little family hopscotched around the Deep South. 67:29 It was a family affair. 67:31 It was. 67:32 We thought it was one thing I can say about us. 67:34 We take care of each other, so. 67:38 Brandon's youngest sister, Diney, 67:40 was a kindergarten teacher of the time, 67:42 so she played the role of the fun aunt. 67:45 The first day was there. 67:47 I took Anise and my nephew to Disney World 67:50 and I took my nephew for a full day in Universal. 67:53 I bought coloring books and board games, whatever I could do to just ease his burden 67:59 and help take care of his kids. 68:02 It sounds like a kind of a sweet time that week. 68:05 I don't know, a sweet time is what I'd call it, but it was a time. 68:12 As Thanksgiving 2019 approached, a couple of weeks after Brandon had gone underground with his children, 68:17 He got some good news from the detective working on his case back in Arizona. 68:23 Investigators had found the Jeep, the one believed to have been involved in Brandon's attempted 68:28 murder. 68:29 And in what came as a surprise to no one, the Jeep had been traced to a town 900 miles 68:36 from Phoenix, Rexburg, Idaho. 68:40 Traced to this apartment complex where Lori Vallow suspected shooter Alex Cox and 68:45 Lori's niece, Melanie, aka Brandon's ex-wife, all lived in separate units, and where the 68:52 police knocked on Lori's door, as you can see in this body cam footage. 68:57 Lori, I'm with the town ball police department. 68:58 How are you? 68:59 You got a medal? 69:00 Lori said she was new in town. 69:02 I've had to move around a lot when my brother's is trained to kill me. 69:05 Kill her for her life insurance money, she said. 69:09 It wasn't true, of course, but she told the police that was why she was being 69:13 a bit dodgy. 69:15 So I don't tell people the truth about where we are and what we're doing because of those reasons. 69:21 So I look like a suspect, but I'm a good person. 69:25 Oh boy. 69:27 Lori soon learned the detectives weren't just looking for that jeep. 69:32 They were also looking for Lori's children, Tylee and JJ. 69:36 JJ's grandmother had reported she hadn't had any contact with him 69:39 since Lori moved the children with her to Idaho three months before. 69:43 Investigators told Brandon that warrants would be served at Lori's 69:47 apartment the next day. They got those warrants and so we were like you know 69:52 fingers crossed like it's gonna help this is gonna do something. But when a 69:57 SWAT team arrived the following day they go in and guess what everybody's 70:01 gone they'll just disappear. Lori was gone. There was no sign either of 70:07 Tiley or J.J. 70:09 It was just kind of par for the course like I you kind of get used to being disappointed 70:14 But clearly the ground was shifting 70:17 In the following days detectives told Brandon that his ex-wife Melanie had gotten remarried 70:23 To a man. She had just met weeks before 70:26 very shocking 70:28 right was within a 70:30 Month I think of our divorce 70:33 Melanie's marriage was related to a cult-like group called the Church of the Firstborn run 70:38 by that guy whose name Brandon had come across in those emails from Charles, Chad Daybell. 70:44 Chad, who was now Lori's husband. 70:49 Chad and Lori seemed to be on the run. 70:51 A nationwide alert would soon be issued for Tiley and JJ. 70:55 And Brandon was told that the body of Chad's wife Tammy would be exhumed and autopsyed. 71:00 It's just kind of a wave of, like, of good for change, you know? 71:04 Like, you're going through, like, just trying to keep your head above water, 71:07 and you're like, oh, some good things are happening. 71:08 Like, there is some hope. 71:11 And then came the call from the Gilbert Police Detective. 71:15 It was about Melanie's uncle, Alex. Alex Cox. 71:19 He tells me, hey, I've got some news. Alex is dead. 71:24 And I say, who? 71:27 I said, Alex Cox, who we believe shot at you. 71:29 He's dead. Dead. And quite surprisingly given the events enumerated in this report of natural 71:39 causes. So was Brandon safe now? He and his four kids? And what about Melanie, their mother? 71:49 What would become of her? Answers were coming now. Strange. Terrible. And in one particular 71:58 way. Very, very good. As the calendar flipped from the worst year 72:18 of Brandon 72:18 Boudreau's life into the New Year, 2020, Karma finally began to catch up. Good 72:24 Karma, that is. A judge awarded Brandon temporary sole custody of his four 72:30 children, and after the sudden death of suspected hitman Alex Coggs, their life 72:35 in hiding, hops scotching across the South, that all could finally end. The 72:40 family was back home in Phoenix. And one day when the karma was particularly 72:48 auspicious, Brandon encountered her. Her name is Jenny. So one of my dear friends 72:56 was marrying one of his dear friends. I was one of the bridesmaids. He was one 73:01 of the groomsmen, so they paired us up to walk down the aisle together. And that 73:06 was the beginning of the end. Jenny lived more than a thousand miles from 73:12 Phoenix. So for months after meeting, she and Brandon were only together by phone. It was enough. 73:18 Against her better judgment, Jenny fell in love. Did it occur to you, I have allowed myself to get 73:26 close to somebody who, you know, maybe tied up with the wrong kind of people who want to shoot 73:30 other people. Maybe you want to think twice about this. Absolutely. But let me tell you, 73:37 Yeah, when you meet a man like this, he's hard to let go of. 73:43 He is, even through all these hard things. 73:47 By the end of January 2020, some of those hard things were over. 73:53 And one day, Jenny and Brandon were spending time together in person when they saw this. 73:58 Chad, where are Lori's kids? 74:01 Listen, just tell people what's happening. 74:02 There's people around the country. 74:03 Lori and Chad J. Bell had been found in Hawaii. 74:07 But there was no sign of Lori's kids, Tylee and JJ. 74:12 There's people around the country 74:13 praying for your children, praying for you guys. 74:16 Why don't you give us answers? 74:17 Here these two are off just gallivanting around in the sun, 74:21 you know, and enjoying their lives 74:24 as if there's nothing that's happened. 74:25 And finally you got to see somebody ask them the question. 74:28 Can you tell me where your kids are? 74:30 And with that, the shroud of mystery around Chad, Lori, and this group Chad had christened 74:36 the Church of the Firstborn, began to melt away. 74:40 Where are your kids? 74:42 You remember this story? 74:44 How Chad, a small-time author of End Times fiction, met Lori at a meeting of like-minded 74:50 believers back in late 2018, while Lori was still married to Charles, and convinced 74:56 she was a goddess, who'd been his wife in previous lives. 75:01 And in this life, Chad told Laurie, 75:04 their mission was to bring together 75:05 144,000 true believers for the second coming of Jesus Christ. 75:11 Oh, and Chad decreed they also had 75:14 to fight off evil spirits inhabiting people 75:16 in their own families, including Chad's wife Tami, who 75:20 an autopsy show died of asphyxia. 75:23 And, of course, Lori's husband Charles would be shot to death. 75:29 And now, with Lori's kids Tylee and JJ missing, everyone was fearing the worst for them, too. 75:37 Less than a month after these scenes, Lori was arrested for refusing to produce the 75:41 children and was flown back to Idaho, held in a million dollars bail. 75:47 Not long after, Brandon's ex-wife Melanie and her new husband Ian sat for an interview 75:52 with us on date line. She denied being part of any cult and defended her Aunt Laurie. Remember, 75:59 Melanie had moved to Idaho and lived next door to Laurie for several weeks after the divorce. 76:04 Did you ever see Tiley and change anything? When I moved up there, I did not see them. 76:09 Did you ask? Where are they? I'd asked Laurie. You know, I wasn't close with Tiley. During 76:15 her teenage years, she was very independent. So if Laurie, you know, said that she was 76:19 with friends I just believed her I didn't ask further questions you had to 76:23 wondered I just have a lot of trust for Lori she's always done everything to 76:28 protect her kids and I have to wonder if she has a reason she doesn't trust 76:31 authorities or or the court system she realized how astonishing this sounds I 76:38 know but I mean really astonishing sure I understand that but the bottom line 76:45 is I don't know what I don't know well we see JJ entirely again I 76:49 I absolutely believe so. 76:51 I hope so. 76:54 Brandon and Jenny watched Melody on Dateline 2 76:58 in disbelief. 77:00 I couldn't believe she did it. 77:02 And it made me sad for Brandon 77:06 and sad for these extra bonus kids of mine who I love 77:10 because one day they will see it and be disappointed. 77:15 While the search for the children went on, 77:17 Brandon and Jenny planned a wedding and then one day before they were to walk 77:23 down the aisle they saw this. 77:25 It looks like there is an area of focus in the backyard. 77:29 Authorities had finally found the bodies of the children just outside Rexburg, Idaho 77:35 buried in the property of Chad Daybell. 77:39 When you found out those kids had been buried like animals in the backyard, 77:43 what did that do to you? 77:44 You knew those kids, well, you baptized Tiley. 77:49 What was that like? 77:51 It's miserable, like there's no good words for it. 77:53 It's miserable, it's terrible. 77:55 You grieve, it's all you can do. 77:59 Difficult, sure. 78:01 And you're gonna get married the very next day. 78:03 How did that affect your wedding day? 78:05 You can only imagine. 78:07 You know, this is a day that's supposed to be filled 78:10 with joy and anticipation. 78:12 Our hearts were heavy. 78:14 That day. 78:15 But the wedding went on in Provo, Utah 78:18 with Brandon's four children and Jenny's two 78:21 standing up for their parents. 78:23 And when the day after dawn... 78:26 I woke up in the morning. 78:28 I just told her, I said, hey, I feel like 78:30 we need to drive up to Rexburg. 78:33 Brandon and Jenny visited the burial site 78:36 to pay their respects. 78:37 And Brandon volunteered to identify 78:39 little JJ's body 78:40 so the boy's grandfather wouldn't have to. 78:44 It's the unfortunate side effect of a situation like this 78:49 is that someone has to do that. 78:51 And so I just said I'll do it. 78:55 What was that process of identifying the kids? 78:59 It was terrible. I don't know what else to say. 79:02 I'm grateful nobody else has his memories. 79:06 That's all I would say. 79:11 There would soon be opportunities for answers for Brandon 79:14 to face the people who had tried to kill him, and in an unbelievable twist, to be questioned 79:20 on the witness stand by Lauria Debelle herself. 79:24 Mr. Boudreau, you and I met in 2009, is that correct? 79:42 Justice grinds slow, as they say, and Brandon Boudreau and his wife Jenny were marking 79:47 their third wedding anniversary by the time Idaho prosecutors were finally able to put 79:51 with Lori and Chad Debelle on trial. 79:54 The charges, murder and conspiracy. 79:57 Children JJ and Tylee and Chad's wife Tammy 80:00 were killed for the basest of reasons, 80:02 said prosecutor Rob Wood. 80:04 This was about sex money 80:05 and at some level some degree of power. 80:09 That was really the driving motivation for the case. 80:13 Tammy had life insurance? 80:14 Yes, and there were social security funds 80:16 for Tylee and JJ. 80:18 Chad viewed those children as obstacles 80:20 to the life he wanted. 80:22 So Chad wanted them out of the way, 80:24 and Laurie needed money. 80:27 My name is Brandon Boudreau. 80:29 Brandon testified at both trials, 80:32 and it was at trial that he learned Chad 80:34 had declared two of Brandon's children dark, 80:37 possessed by evil spirits. 80:40 Some of those Chad declared dark aren't around anymore, 80:43 the fact not lost on Brandon. 80:45 What kind of person is that? 80:47 That's what you ask yourself. 80:48 How could you think that about children? 80:49 The Idaho trials ended with convictions on all counts. 80:53 Lori received three consecutive life prison terms, 80:57 Chad, the death penalty. 81:00 My feelings were that we needed to keep everybody else safe, 81:04 so the only option was to keep them in prison the rest of their lives. 81:07 A year later in Arizona, 81:10 Lori was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder 81:13 for the killing of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow. 81:15 and then finally in June 2025 it was Brandon's turn. Lori went on trial for 81:23 trying to get him killed. The Jeep Wrangler. Prosecutors showed the jury that
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