Episode 330: The Tragic Murder of Savanna LaFontaine Greywind | Morbid

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Hey weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Alayna. And this is something.

It's Corbin! It's morbid. It definitely is.

I was more speaking about this life. And you know what?

I think it's like, this is morbid, but we crawled to the finish line the last couple of weeks, man.

It has been. I feel like we're saying that like more often than not.

Yeah. And I want to know what deity we pissed off.

Yeah, something's awry. We're going to have to cleanse a lot of energy out of here because... holy shit it was it was literally like oh is it done now like can we stop like bam bam thank you ma'am bang bang boom holy shit fuck everything oh my god what's happening So you might notice that we sound a little, probably a little crispy.

We probably sound a little crispy. don't really sound, you know, pretty as smooth as we have been.

That's because we're recording remotely.

Because Ash is still down with the Rona.

My God, dude, the facts. So I feel fine now.

Like, so I got COVID last week. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't know. Like seven days ago or something.

Yeah, I think I'm on my sixth day right now and I'm still testing positive, which is really fucking annoying because I feel Totally fine.

I'm ready to go back to your house. I'm ready to see my fucking nieces.

Ready to record in person. Like I'm done with Rona.

I'm also just ready to like walk out of my fucking house.

I was going to say, just get out of the house, probably.

Yeah, I'm definitely a homebody, but this has really tested my limits of that.

You've really bodied your home this last week and you're over it.

I'm like a sarcophagi that I'm just like stuff and get me out.

And then as so we got the Rona. which, you know, we don't love recording remotely.

In fact, all my fellow podcasters who do that like On the reg, I give you a lot of props because it's hard.

It's not really enjoyable. It's hard. Really difficult.

And I feel like it's. you know, we like fake that connection really well in person, but.

We do, but we can't fake it over this. We're not lying, man.

Your pheromones aren't here to work off of and I don't know what to do.

That's the thing. I also just feel weird because I'm like in my bedroom and I'm supposed to work in my bedroom.

And I'm just in the pod lab alone. Yeah, it feels weird to be looking at it.

It's very weird. But it's been a weird couple of weeks because after, so we were dealing with that.

We were just trying to get the schedule down, you know.

You guys got a fun John episode because, you know, at first it was like super sick.

Like this wasn't like a. asymptomatic COVID experience like I had.

I was totally asymptomatic. Ash was like down for the count.

Oh, like if you really want to see how sick I was, I'll post the picture on the morbid Instagram that I sent Alina of my hair.

It's pretty amazing. oh my god because i was in bed for four days yeah Yeah, I could tell that you were super sick.

And that's, we just, it wasn't going to happen.

Even remotely, I wasn't going to ask her to. to sit for an episode, that would have been insane.

So luckily John, happened to be sitting next to me on the couch, and he was like, I'll step in.

And I was like, aww. How long have we been asking for that to happen?

I have been begging him to do an episode, and he's like, no.

And his whole thing was always... No, everyone will stop listening because my voice is terrible and I'll suck and everybody will be like, wow, this sucked.

And I was like, oh my God. No. Meanwhile, I feel like he has a very soothing voice.

He does to me, I'll tell you that much. It was fun.

He actually had a lot of fun, like recording.

And it was nice, like just to sit with him and hang out, do this together.

So that was kind of fun. But I was, get out of my seat, John.

Get out of my seat. That's my chair. That's my creaky chair.

He did say at the end, he was like, you know what, Ash, you got to come back because...

This was his one and done. He's going to come back.

We'll make him do another one. I think, well, I saw somebody say that now they wanted an episode of me, you and Drew and John.

Oh my God. That would be chaos. Yeah, I feel like we could get into trouble.

I know, it would be fun though. I think we should do it. helpful with that.

Like, thank goodness he stepped in. So that was able to happen.

It was fun. It Like a couple, it was a day.

I don't know what day it is anymore. I don't know what time is.

It's a flat circle, but... Very shortly after that, one of my daughters, my youngest one, had a seizure. out of nowhere.

And it was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. in my entire life.

So that threw things off a little bit. Because it was also around the same thing that was happening at the same time was my twins had their dance recital. which I know it's like, oh, it's a dance recital, but it's like they've been working really hard. like all season for it.

They were so excited about it. So we were trying to make sure that we made that super normal for them, kept that going. while also dealing with what had happened.

And I mean, we're so lucky because my mother-in-law lives with us.

So it was a huge help because as soon as it happened, it happened really fast.

She told me her neck hurt, her lips turned blue, and she just collapsed.

And luckily I caught her and then it happened when I was holding her.

But John, I called 911, John called his mom, like on the cell, because we were upstairs and she was in another part of the house.

And was like, you got to come help. She ran over and she was able to stay with the twins while we were able to go to the hospital.

So it's like... I was trying to sit there and be like, let's look at the positive.

She's okay. Like they told me there's no damage and that they don't think it's like an epileptic disorder.

But like, we'll keep an eye on her, but...

I was trying to think of all like the positives because I was like, okay, it's been a really shitty couple of weeks.

And if I just focus. on how terrible this is, it's going to, like, break me.

So I was like, I have to think... you know i'm very lucky that my mother-in-law lives with us and then i can like she's right there so she was able to watch the girls like I'm lucky she's not, you know, something worse didn't happen.

You know, it's all that stuff. But I feel like this won't be an ongoing.

Yeah. And they really do believe it won't be.

So that's a good thing. But and everybody's been so sweet. like all the people who sent like their well wishes and like, you know, Did witchy things to like, you know, like made offerings. rings and stuff to like it was just everybody was so sweet and we really appreciated it and I just wanted to tell you guys that but like thank you for being so awesome and and understanding that this was something that just like nothing else mattered at the moment.

No, not at all. But it'll put it into... It puts a lot of shit into perspective, I can tell you that much.

Yeah, I would think so. I mean... hate that I like couldn't be there because even like being away like put it into perspective for me like I was oh my god no like i need to be there it just makes you think like because immediately like thank goodness she was okay and that's all i could think of was like okay I'm just, this is all that matters right here.

Like I got seeing her face on FaceTime today.

I was like about to burst in. tears. And then I was like, that will be frightening for you.

She'll be like, what? You're like, PT, stay away.

What is going on? Luckily, everybody's on the mend.

We're going to get through this whole thing.

Yeah. We're going to keep getting the episodes out and.

Yeah. Thanks again for being so patient and so nice and kind about it.

We appreciate it. You guys are rock stars.

You truly are. So, yeah, that was the super duper fun week we had.

But guess what? It doesn't matter because here we are and it's time to record another morning. for the episode.

Let's go. Today we are going to be talking about the case of Savannah LaFontaine Graywind.

So I think we should just dive right into it if you're ready.

I'm ready. I think I know this name, but I don't know if I know the details.

Yeah, I had heard of this case because it's like pretty recent, but I hadn't heard all the details.

And I do just want to let people know that.

This is a case of like kidnapping and a very intricate way of going about it.

And there's a lot of mention about domestic abuse. use as well so just be aware of that okay so savannah lafontaine graywind was a young woman born on august 9 1995 making her a leo And obviously I had to dive into that because you know who I am.

Of course. The three categories, not categories, the three qualities that I feel like really summed her and Leo women in general up were strong-willed, determined and fiercely loyal love it all of those traits sound like they definitely described her to a t So she grew up in North Dakota.

She was like super duper close with her family.

Her parents, Norbetta and Joseph Greywind, had four children together.

There was Savannah, and then she had two brothers, Casey and Joe, and a sister, Kayla.

Now, this family was an indigenous family.

And in most sources, you'll see that they're from the Spirit Lake family.

Sioux tribe, but Norbetta Savannah's mother actually belonged to the Turtle Mountain tribe.

Oh, okay. From what I've read, it's actually not super common for people from different tribes to marry.

So I kind of looked into that a little bit, but everything I read said it's not common.

So I would be interested to hear if we have any Native American listeners or indigenous listeners that want to elaborate on that because I would It was something I was interested in but couldn't find a lot of information on.

That's really interesting. I didn't know that.

I didn't even know that was a thing. Who knows?

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe that's just like what the Internet says and they could be wrong.

You never know. Yeah, but because we're focusing on Savannah, I did want to talk a little bit more about the tribe that she was a part of, which again is the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe.

Now, this tribe actually used to be known as the Devil's Lake Sioux Tribe, And they've actually changed their names a couple of times.

But in the early 90s, they officially changed it to Spirit Lake Sioux.

And when the tribe name was changed, so was the name of the reservation that they lived on.

Originally, it had been known as Fort Totten Indian Reservation, but now it's simply known as the Spirit Lake Sioux Reservation.

Okay. Now you might be saying, Alina, why did they change the name from Devil's Lake?

That sounds so rad. It sounds very metal, but I was like, you know what?

What is the newer name? The new name is the Spirit Lake Sioux.

That sounds so soothing. It does. Like it just it immediately makes it's like peaceful sounding.

It is. I agree with you. Well, and there was like an actual reason for it, too, because...

Basically, the people who belong to this tribe, they actually don't think that Devil's Lake should be called Devil's Lake.

Oh. Actually, I don't think the devil is really a part of Native American culture at all like it's not. like catholicism or anything like that where there's like a a devil yeah like And when the settlers first stepped on the scene, they actually misunderstood the name when it was translated for them.

And they thought that the translation of the Native American words, and I'm going to do my best with this, me walk on. they thought that meant Devil's Lake when actually it translates more into pure water source, or you could say sacred or spirit instead of pure.

Oh, that's much better. So yeah, their settlers go just fucking shit up all over again.

So the reason why the Native American people considered this lake sacred or like a spiritual place was was actually because of the belief in a cryptid called the Again, going to do my best here.

I think it's Unk Tehillah. Ooh. Now, Unk Tehillah. is a gigantic female serpent who was said to live in the nearby lake.

And she had one thing on her mind. chaos.

Oh, I love it. So apparently she's got these massive claws, she's got fiery eyes... this like loud booming voice that the Native Americans compared to thunderclaps.

And she also has this large kind of diamond like gem on her forehead.

Oh, OK. This sounds horrifying. It is. And it's only even more horrifying.

It is said that whoever looked into her eyes would either lose their own sight over time.

Or just become insane. Wow. Now, even if you approach this beast while she was not awake, like if she was sleeping, Just seeing her with your own eyes could mean that your entire family would perish.

Oh my God. Yeah, like she is for real. And this is just kind of one version of the story.

There's a bunch of different versions that have come out over the years and different tribes have different beliefs, but From what I could find, this seemed to be like the Sioux people's belief.

Wow, that's wild. Cryptids are wild, man. cryptids are absolutely crazy yeah we're definitely going to get into more cryptids Oh yeah I've actually been working on a couple while I've been sick.

Yeah I love it. Oh yeah, your entire family would perish, but there was one way to kill her.

To do so, you would have to shoot a medicine arrow through the seventh spot from her head because that's where her heart is.

And if you're able to do this, then you get that diamond gem on her forehead, which is called the Ulan Suti, I believe.

And if you get that, you become the greatest wonder worker within the tribe.

Wow. I love this. I'm like, but if you see her, then your whole family dies.

So like you become this great wonder worker.

But did your whole family die? Yeah, like is your family thriving or nah?

Or nah. That's like a wild. Yeah, it was just like an interesting aside that I thought would be cool to mention, especially because she comes from this tribe.

So like, let's get a little information on it.

Yeah, it's perfect. Part of the culture.

It's part of the culture. And thank you for saying that because it really leads me perfectly to my next point.

That's what I'm here for. That is what you're here for.

So Savannah's culture was something obviously, just like most of us, that is incredibly important to her and was important to her.

Now her Dakota name, which is, I believe, the name that your tribe gives you, is where Thunder finds her.

Oh, I love that. It's not beautiful. I feel like Thunder kind of like plays into this whole thing where... this like cryptid had like had a booming voice like thunder and then there was a couple other variations of the story where there was like this big fight between her and this other cryptid.

And it was like the like thunder God, all this craziness.

That's cool. I love that. Yeah. I was like, oh, that's really ironic that that is her given name.

Yeah. Another thing that I'm super interested in but couldn't find a ton of information on is Dakota names.

I was like, I kept trying to be like, well, what is that?

And then everybody just kept giving me the definition for like Dakota of a name.

And I was like, no, no, no. A Dakota name.

That is not what I was asking. You've pressed an incorrect key.

Thanks so much. I know what Dakota is. Thank you.

But something that Savannah was really focused on in the last couple of years that she was with her family and something that was really bothering her was was constantly hearing that Native American and Indigenous women were disappearing without a trace or turning up murdered all over the world but the murders are still unsolved because they're simply just not getting enough attention yeah According to Savannah's act, which unfortunately and fortunately we'll talk about later in the episode, quote,

Indigenous women face more violence than any other group, and at least 84 percent of indigenous women have been the target of sexual or other violence in their lifetimes that's so sad 84% of indigenous women have been the target of those crimes.

How isolating it must feel to have no one helping.

And that's the thing. And again, thanks again, because that leads me perfectly into my next point.

The problem, which honestly is something that we've touched on in the past, I think in your episodes that you did on Willie Pickton, you gave us so much great information. about the problem and what we can do about it.

But it's just that these cases are not investigated.

They're not reported on. There's all kinds of arguments about which jurisdiction they belong in because certain like the actual like police departments think that it's not in their jurisdiction and then there's like tribal law force and Just like so much red tape.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But the real problem that we need to focus on is that this community has been so marginalized. people need to actually spread awareness, which hopefully will lead us to actually ending so much of this loss that we're going through.

Like these women are just vanishing from these tribes and nobody's talking about it.

And again, it's just like they're isolated from everything because it's like they're screaming out for help and no one's helping.

That's the thing. And it's like, when are we going to do something about it?

But I feel like a lot of people think, like, I don't know what to do about it.

So but there are a ton of resources, which I'm sure you're going to tell us, too.

They just keep leading me perfectly into my next point.

Here I am. Here I am. You great partner.

I'm just ushering you through. Yeah, you really are.

No, I actually have like a ton of great sources that I'll link in the show notes and we'll talk a little more about those at the end. but I just want to tell Savannah's story first.

And then I hopefully like, Hopefully I can share those and you guys and us and all of us weirdos together can actually do something about this.

Yeah, absolutely. Also, sorry if I'm like not being clear, I'm on a lot of cough medicine.

I think I'm like going around my points a little bit.

Oh no, you sound great. All right, cool.

But just wanted to get that out there in the beginning.

I think we're in a mutual like brain fog, like just together, like a community brain fog.

I think that we're all in a place of what the hell is happening, brain fog.

Yeah, we truly are. Alright, so on with the story.

Let's go. Back in the summer of 2017, there was a lot going on in Savannah's life.

She was living in that apartment with her parents and her brother, but she was also eight months pregnant and expecting a baby girl. that she and her boyfriend were planning to name Haisley Jo. adorable the cutest name ever now the baby was due in September.

And in the meantime, the family was just trying to get everything together that they needed to get.

Now, Savannah had just celebrated her 22nd birthday.

She had also just become a CNA, also got a new job working with the elderly.

Actually, her long term goal was to become a registered nurse and continue taking care of the elderly.

So she was really not doing anything. Doing absolutely everything.

Doing the most. Like the most. And on top of that, she was planning on getting a new apartment with her boyfriend, Ashton.

Good for her. Like just like starting their lives together.

Yeah. Like you said, she was determined.

She was hardworking. It's like very clear.

It's so clear. She was like she was truly a Leo woman.

Yeah. Well, Ashton, her boyfriend, was also a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux tribe.

And from the sounds of it, like everybody was really excited for the two of these guys to start their family together.

I love that. they you'll love this. They had known each other since middle school and they started dating in high school.

Meaning that at the time they were expecting Will Haisley Joe, they had already been together for about seven years.

Oh, my God. Stop it. Right? Like, that's a fairy tale.

It is. And when Selena found out that she was pregnant, Ashton actually was living and working in Minneapolis, which is about 40 miles. four hours from where she and her family were in Fargo, North Dakota.

I can only imagine that that would add so much stress to the situation.

Oh, yeah. Ashton like immediately started putting the family first and considered the new baby on the way. uprooted everything and moved closer so that they could all live together.

Oh man, that's apparent. Like it just sounds like the two of them are really figuring things out.

And it's like, I feel like. like reading about this, I could almost just feel like the excitement and like the room I was sitting in, just like buzzing with like all this chi. to happen and like not knowing what to expect, but just like ready for such an exciting time.

Well, they're just like it's clear that they were real partners.

Like you can tell when people are just ready to like go through it all together, have already been through it together and are just like, Only thinking of their family and what they need to do to make it thrive.

And it seems like the two of them. We're on the same page there.

They totally were. And then just to like point out Savannah as well, everybody was like, oh my God, she's going to be an amazing mom.

Like she's super good with kids. She was really, really involved and she was like a huge part of her niece and nephew's lives.

She literally was like helping raise them.

Oh my God, I love it. Obviously, this next sentence is going to really bum everybody out because...

Her obituary would later point out those kids were a huge part of her life and everything she did revolved around them.

So you know she would have been this amazing mother.

Absolutely. And just like the fact that like that's like her niece and nephew and she's 22, but everything she does. revolves around them like that tells you exactly who she is that's how you are with the with your nieces though I fucking love my nieces.

And that's how I feel about you, that you're going to be an amazing mom.

Oh my God, stop it. It's true. We have a lot of stuff to do before that happens.

But when it happens, you'll be great. I'll be vibing.

Oh my God. And Drew. Drew's going to be such a good dad.

He's so good with the girls. Oh, and they are obsessed with him.

Oh my God. Your youngest. Could you quickly just tell that story?

Oh my God. after she got out of the hospital, the girls...

My mother-in-law had taken the girls while we were in the hospital to get her like little stuffies just to cheer her up.

And she got the two stuffies and I asked her, what are you going to name them?

And she held one up and said, I would like to name this one Drew Drew.

After Drew. Drew, Drew. And the other one, cat food.

You guys don't have cats. Like she only knows my cat.

She only knows Franklin and Lux. And I love.

That she sleeps with Drew Drew every night.

So now she sleeps with Drew Drew, Frankie, and Buxy?

Yes. No, really just TT's missing. I guess we have to get her a TT stuffy.

We gotta get a TT stuffy. I'm like, listen, I'm the OG of all this squad.

I love it. Drew Drew is a sloth. Like not, not in a bad way.

Just like, it makes sense. I feel like, cause I love sloths.

I love Drew. There's so many fun facts about sloths.

We're digressing. But Savannah is that kind of aunt.

You know, where you're just like, you, when you decide to do it, if you decide to do it, you're going to be amazing at it.

You can tell. Exactly. Now, at the time that Savannah and her family were living in the apartment complex...

Unfortunately, so were two actual pieces of human shit piles named Brooke who was, I believe 36, but her age varies from 36 to 38. and her boyfriend, William, William, excuse me, Holland, who was 32.

Oh, no, they are atrocious. They had been dating for about three years at the time they were in the apartment. but their relationship was completely volatile.

Since they had moved into the building around May of 2016, there were countless fights that would literally shake the ceilings of the apartments beneath And it wasn't a huge complex.

There were only seven units within this building. so the neighbors knew where the sounds were coming from, and they were constantly calling the cops to check things out.

Cops were coming and going from the apartment at all hours.

And unfortunately, there were countless domestic disputes that turned physical.

That's awful. It is. On one occasion, William actually threw Brooke into their bathtub and later pleaded guilty to assault.

Oh, my God. Now, when that happened, a no contact order was also put into effect.

But just six months later, the police were called to the apartment again for another disturbance report.

And sure enough, William was there when he should not have been.

It's like, how do you do that to someone that you supposedly care about?

I have no idea. I don't understand. I have no idea how people do any of the things that this specific paragraph is going to cover.

But geez. Wow, because this is really rough, just so everybody knows.

The cops get there and they're like, you're not supposed to be here.

You're in trouble again. But it would not be the only time that he would violate these orders.

He and Brooke actually both had passed with the legal system, but they didn't seem to use that to better themselves in any way after the multiple run-ins that they gone on they both had children that they didn't see and didn't pay child support for cool rick actually herself had at least seven children Ugh.

And was constantly being sued for not paying support.

One time, actually, by her oldest daughter.

Like, her daughter sued her. Oh, that breaks my heart.

It does. An ex of hers who was left to raise that daughter on his own commented, quote, It just seemed like she was more into doing her partying, doing her own thing. and not wanting to have anything holding her back.

And she wanted to go off and do what she wanted to do.

Then do that and be by yourself. But don't have children.

Yeah. Don't bring kids into it. I never understand that.

Right. No. Now she did later mention to authorities that she grew up going like in and out of different foster homes and obviously didn't have the best experiences with them.

So I do feel bad that she clearly had like a horrible childhood and then was also clearly being abused by her partner.

It's like a cycle of abuse. not an excuse for abandoning your own children or for exactly what we're going to be finding out that she did to another person's child and another person's mother.

Oh god. Now talking a little bit more about her boyfriend, William there, interestingly enough, he actually sued his parents for child support when he was 16.

Wow. So I can't imagine that he really had an idyllic childhood.

No. Such a weird kind of like ironic piece of information there.

Yeah. And it's like people like they came together having this similar experience.

Yeah, exactly. Now, he also seems to have children.

It appears that he has two children. And in 2012, he actually pleaded guilty to abuse or neglect of a child which carries a felony, carries as a felony.

According to the Dickinson Press back in 2011, William brought his young son to the hospital for medical care.

Oh, my God. Now, obviously CPS and the police became involved in the situation and an investigation concluded that there was literally no way in which an accident had caused that fracture.

And it also wasn't due to any medical condition.

That's horrific. Wow. They're literal monsters.

Actual monsters. Now, now this is going to fucking enrage everybody listening.

Somehow he was only sentenced to one year in jail for this and got two years probation.

This is what happens, though. I feel like this kind of shit is not taken seriously enough and it happens all the time.

I'm like, how do you fracture your own child's skull and then just literally get slapped on the wrist?

That's what happens. Exactly. like not only like just like fractured somebody else's skull because that is horrific in its own right.

But you actually had a part in creating this specific human that you're abusing.

And it's a baby. And it's a baby. What does a baby do to deserve any kind of abuse?

Exactly. Exactly. All they do is rely on you for literally everything.

Right. And like, it is your choice to have them.

Yeah. And it's, you're supposed to be a safe place for them.

And it's like, I, It always breaks my heart to think of these things.

It's so horrible. It happens so often. And then it happens a lot that they get a slap on the wrist or it gets ignored.

And then the abuse continues. We've seen it like over and over and over.

And it's like the abuse keeps happening and eventually that kid gets murdered.

And then everybody's like, huh. weird something should have been done yeah now luckily that was not the case for his son um So he served his time and then a no contact order between him and his son was put into effect.

Good. But it did end up being lifted in June of 2012.

It's unclear if they've had any contact, though.

That's what we're working with here. And just keep the information about that felony charge and plea in your back pocket because that's going to come back later.

Oh, boy. So really just all around people in a shitty situation with just no motivation to better things for themselves, their family or anybody around them.

Cool. Now, Savannah and her family, for clear reasons, didn't actually associate too much with these particular neighbors.

They were friendly enough. Like her family, they would say hello in passing.

It's like neighbors. if they needed to.

So on the morning of August 19th, 2017, which was 10 days after Savannah's 22nd birthday.

Brooke from upstairs came down and asked if she would be willing to help her with a sewing project she was working on.

She went down to Savannah's apartment specifically, and she said, oh, you know, I've been working on sewing this dress, and I just need to... have somebody try it on so I can get like the final pins in place.

So this is so planned. So planned. And it's so planned in a way that's like, hey, I know that she'll help me. because she's a kind person and she'll do this like let me just take full advantage of that of the good person that she is And I'm sure this is exactly why she did this because some sources also claim that she offered Savannah money.

She probably knew this is a young mother who's about to move out on her own.

Of course, she's going to like do anything she can for a little extra cash.

Of course. she's bringing a freaking baby into the machine so savannah agreed and she was like oh sure like i'll be up in just a minute And she told her mom, she was like, Oh, like, I'm just gonna go help out this lady.

But just so you know, I just ordered a pizza, like I left the money over there it's going to be coming soon so if it gets here while i'm here like blah blah whatever And before turning to leave, she commented to her mom and said, something along the lines of you don't think this lady's crazy right oh and her mom said like of course i don't How would she know that their upstairs neighbor, who they honestly probably felt bad for knowing that the cops were coming all the time,

How could she know that she was planning exactly what she was?

She couldn't. She 100% couldn't. There's no way.

Why would you ever expect that what I'm about to tell you would ever happen to you or to anyone?

And normal, happy, like sweet people do not assume that this woman that's asking this pregnant woman to come down to her apartment to help her out is going to do something At all.

Like no one would ever think that. That's just never.

This is your neighbor. Like, you know, you see them.

You know that they've got some stuff going on clearly, but like it's never involved you in the past.

So why would you ever? think anything was going to happen.

I know. And it's a real bummer because it makes you sit there and go, Like, I know I'm this way.

I'm like, I don't want to help anybody. Like, I'm not a trap.

You just don't know. That's the thing. So once inside, it is believed that Brooke started arguing with Savannah and saying that she was mistreating cats.

Like that's what is said in every single source.

I'm not sure if they were Brooke's cats in particular or somebody else's, All I know is that it was clearly just something to say to confuse Savannah and start a fight.

I was, yeah, just to start it off on like an aggressive kind of note.

Exactly. So at some point it started off aggressive, it gets more aggressive and escalates.

And Brooke lunges at Savannah, who is eight months pregnant, knocks her to the ground.

And this is all in the bathroom. So when Savannah fell. her head hit the sink so hard that she was knocked unconscious.

Oh my God. And you know what? You feel so vulnerable to, pregnant anyways.

Oh, I can't imagine. I can tell you fully.

I remember, John, when I was pregnant with the twins...

He set me up to get like a massage, like a pregnancy massage, like a special one because I had like super bad back pain.

And... We had to go through like getting a doctor's note.

Cause like at that, you'd have to be like super careful cause you can like go into labor.

So it was a big, the whole thing. and I got so freaked out that I didn't go at the last second because I was like, I feel so helpless and like vulnerable and, And I just don't want to be in a vulnerable position while pregnant with someone I don't know.

I get that. Even though this is a licensed massage therapist who has like a storefront and everything, I'm like...

So an experience to especially for like if you're a first time mom which you were and obviously Savannah was going to be. you don't know like anything that's going to happen to your body. and your one goal like your one job is just to keep that baby and yourself safe that's all you think about a lot of pressure.

Like I can only imagine why that would make you feel so vulnerable.

And she was probably like, I just like, I just want to like reach out and hug Savannah because in that moment she was probably only thinking of protecting her. that baby in her belly absolutely And just a trigger warning, the next part is going to get very graphic.

Pretty detailed. So if you don't want to stick around for that, I understand but It's coming, just so you know.

Skip forward. Yeah, so... She knocks Savannah unconscious to the ground and then she goes and gets some kind of knife from the kitchen.

I, was just like, nobody knew exactly what kind of knife it was.

It could have been like a utility knife.

It could have been a kitchen knife. I'm not sure.

But she cut Savannah from hip to hip and performed...

Some kind of sick at home procedure that I'm not even going to dare call a C-section, but it was like, it was a crude C-section.

Oh my God. Now, once the baby was out, like she delivered the baby, placed it inside the bathtub.

And luckily, I'm just going to let you all know right away, the baby lives.

Thank goodness. Unfortunately, Savannah would not survive this.

She was alive when the baby was quote unquote delivered.

But she was essentially just bleeding out because she didn't have proper medical care.

So she was alive when she cut that baby out of her stomach? she was alive we can only hope that she was unconscious for most of it Oh, and just like, oh, it's like, it's killing.

I literally am like, oh. Because you know what this is like to have a baby, to deliver a baby. think of it in these circumstances.

And she just, oh, just that helpless feeling.

I can't imagine it. She probably wasn't even thinking of anything about that baby if she was conscious, which my God, I hope she wasn't.

I really hope she wasn't. Yeah, so Brooke just tends to the baby while Savannah's basically bleeding out on the floor.

And I guess she just really ignored her until William came home.

And I guess when he got there, he immediately obviously saw Savannah and was like, Is she dead?

Which also, what? I'm sorry. Like, you know that you are two monstrous pieces of shit. when one of you can walk into your home on a random day and see a woman who has had a baby cut out of her womb on the floor, and your first reaction is, is she dead?

I would have any other questions. You're not completely blown away by the fact that there is a heart, like a. a wounded woman in your home right now?

Like you don't what? Not at all. Wow. Now Brooke's response.

I'm not sure. Please help me. What? I have no words.

I have no words for these fuckers. I really like.

Wow. And they've both brought children into the world themselves.

That's like a really wild thing to me. for her at least seven times.

Wow. Yeah. So it was then that he grabbed a rope and manually strangled Savannah to death. to finish it off what fucking I can't say it enough what fucking monsters absolute fucking monsters.

Now, him, like, finishing everything and with the rope was actually later debated because some people thought that it was actually Brooke who had done that.

Oh my God. So nobody exactly knows what his level of participation was, but he was there and he didn't stop it.

And you didn't do anything to help her. And his past tells us everything we need to know about who he is.

He's a violent person. It's very clear. Yeah.

They are irredeemable. They truly are. No.

Savannah's whole family is downstairs while this is happening.

Oh my God. I didn't even think about that. because her mother Norbetta started panicking because Savannah hadn't said she was going anywhere other than upstairs and And when she hadn't come back down after a little bit, Norbetta actually went upstairs and knocked on the door to see like, oh, like. is what's going on?

Like, where is she? And Brooke told her that Savannah had actually left her on two 30 that afternoon.

Oh my God. Meanwhile, she's literally on her bathroom floor.

Oh. And of course this doesn't make any sense to Norbetta because Savannah had not returned home.

Her wallet was left in her and her family's apartment.

Her car was parked in the driveway. And on top of all of that, she hadn't answered her cell phone at all that day.

And that was just nothing that she would do And her cell phone wasn't anywhere to be found.

And when she left, she was like, hey, I ordered a pizza.

If it gets here before I get back... From all accounts, she was coming right back.

She was just running upstairs to do this and then coming home and eating some pizza.

Oh, my God. Which also just think about how, how like such a regular day that would be.

Yeah. You just ordered a pizza. Yeah. Like, it's just like crazy to think that she like to think of her actually like dialing the phone, ordering that and then going upstairs like. having no idea so haunting it really is so Norbetta obviously has no choice but to call the police and report her daughter missing.

And she tells them the last place that she knew Savannah was going was upstairs and she hadn't seen her since then.

Now, obviously, the police know these people well.

So they come upstairs. They knock on the door about 5 p.m.

They search around the apartment. And they find nothing.

Oh, come on. Which is wild because there's a baby.

Are you kidding? East young woman inside of this apartment somewhere.

What the fuck? Yeah, didn't find the baby.

Didn't find anything. Newborn, like a legitimately newborn baby.

Yep. Wow. Now they come back the next day.

They do another search. They find nothing.

Still, still a newborn baby and a deceased young woman in this apartment.

And I can't imagine this is like a huge apartment.

And these two pieces of shit have a very long history of violence and being pieces of shit.

Oh yeah, now Brooke would later tell the investigators that while the police were searching their apartment the first time, Savannah's body was hidden in the bathroom closet.

So all they would have had to do is open that closet.

Oh, my God. Unfortunately, I don't think it would have saved her life, but it's like...

You could have found the baby way sooner.

Yeah, exactly. second time, William had actually hollowed out his dresser before the police arrived.

And while they were searching, Savannah's body was hidden inside the dresser wrapped in towels and plastic.

Oh my God. And the baby was just hidden under blankets and was sitting right next to William, wherever he was sitting.

Under blankets. Under blankets. That's safe. yeah, that's safe and how do you not look under the blankets?

Like I'm like, I feel like I'm watching a bad horror film here and telling you like to run the other way from what is right there.

And it's like, I'm sorry, a newborn isn't making any kind of like.

Cool squeaky noises or cries or anything under blankets.

And you've been here twice now. The likelihood of you visiting a newborn's place of living and not hearing them Twice in a row?

Twice in a row? Like what are the odds of that?

Yeah. So the next day, the couple. carried the dresser down that he had hauled out with Savannah's body in it and they loaded it into their Jeep.

They obviously did this at night. They would go out strictly at night with the baby.

I was just going to say, either leaving the baby at home or taking the baby with them is...

Both are bad. Yeah. And like she later said that like she took the baby to Walmart. like at night.

So she was just walking around this community where everybody knows that like what has gone on and nobody's like turning around and noticing this.

And no one's seen, like, and the thing that's killing me is like, even people who did like, probably see this person.

It's like they're seeing Savannah's baby and they don't even realize it.

Yeah. But the thing is, this couple was said to be under surveillance.

Yeah, it sounds like they were. When they got rid of an entire woman's body and were running around with her baby.

No, they were not. They were not under surveillance.

That was bullshit. No. So apparently like at work, William wasn't so careful with his words and had mentioned something about taking care of a baby to a few of his coworkers.

And they were like, what the fuck? And everybody, again, remember I mentioned this is not a big apartment building.

It's like... seven units people within the apartment building started hearing a baby crying oh my god I really hope that her that Savannah's parents weren't some of those people.

I really hope so, too. But either way, the people who heard that and the coworkers put two and two together since the news of a local pregnant woman going missing had spread.

And now their shady ass coworker slash neighbor all of a sudden has a baby.

Okay. Yeah. So the coworkers actually went to the police on August 23rd, which was four days after Savannah had gone missing with their information.

Now, with this pretty big lead, the police were able to get a full blown search warrant. which they served the next day.

And when they did, they luckily found the newborn baby alive and well and, uh, found Brooke and William just taking care of the baby.

Jesus. The fact that their plan here was just to...

Well, we ripped this baby out of a poor woman.

And to stay in that apartment complex where like her family lives down.

That baby's grandparents and uncle lived downstairs from...

How did you figure that out in your head that this was going to work?

That's wild. How did you figure out in your head that this was an acceptable, okay, appropriate thing to do?

Well, just... This is where like when we look into these stories, it takes my mind to like... just such a harsh place because I just think about it and I'm like, these people left their apartment building during the day.

And there's no doubt, obviously, I mean, they talked to the mom while Savannah was in the apartment.

And it's like they're walking around knowing what they've done and knowing that they have her grandchild.

And knowing like Ashton, knowing they have his baby.

And they're walking around acting like this is, and it's not killing them.

Like this hasn't destroyed them from the inside out as humans.

Yeah. You have to be a sick, messed up, fucked in the head individual.

You're not a human. No, you're a monster.

You're something so subterranean. I can't even...

It's wild to me. I'm so glad my brain won't allow me to even come close to understanding that kind of.

So luckily, immediately the baby is taken to the hospital and put into protective custody.

Now, once they determined that the baby was obviously Savannah's baby through GNA. the baby was put back into her family's care.

Thank goodness. She weighed four pounds, 13 ounces.

And she didn't have any major health concerns, which is bonkers considering how she was brought into this world.

That's a miracle. It was September 11th when she was finally reunited with her family.

And it had been three weeks since she'd been found.

Oh. They were probably so happy to have her because it's like this is a piece of Savannah.

Exactly. And I've seen pictures of Haisley Joe.

She's so cute. Just like her mama. I was just going to say that.

I'm looking at pictures because Savannah is...

Beautiful. Just breathtaking, like breathtaking.

And oh my goodness. She is the cutest. Oh, like she.

She takes your breath away, this baby. And she really looks just like her mama.

She does. And there is a there's a Facebook group.

I'm not sure if that's what you're on right now, but I'll link that to.

And the family will give like periodic updates about how she's how the baby is doing.

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I think she's going to be like five pretty soon.

Oh my God, she's so beautiful. Oh, and she looks like her dad too.

She's got like a perfect mix. She really does.

Oh man, she's like gorgeous. I know. Oh, this family is like so, oh, it's like breaking my heart to look at.

They're a beautiful family. They really are.

It's just so crazy that she didn't have, like, any major... trauma.

She was not only born a month early, but in such a horrific way.

Yeah, and got no medical care. at all like she was a few like what a couple days after she was born like almost a week Like she was meant to be here, man.

She really was. What a little fighter. Yeah, for real.

So Brooke and William were quickly arrested.

Thank goodness. But they refuse to give any information on Savannah's whereabouts.

What pieces of fucking shit. Every time you think it's gotten as bad as it could possibly get from the two of them, it gets worse.

Ugh. Now, it would be another three days before Savannah's body was found.

Her body was found Sunday, August 27th by... a couple of people kayaking on Red River.

This is a little graphic just so you know. she had been wrapped tightly in duct tape and plastic.

And the only reason that she was visible was because her body had been kind of stopped by a log within the river, which is...

Horrific, but also kind of lucky because I don't know how soon she would have been found otherwise.

Yeah. Thank goodness she was found. A total of eight days.

This is so sad. so bad when the medical examiner finished the autopsy, they claimed that it was clear this woman was a victim of homicidal violence.

There was a long laceration, obviously, that went from one hip to the other.

So it was clear that she was the missing mother.

And she was later identified as 22-year-old Savannah LaFontaine Graywind.

When they spotted this tattoo that she had on her foot that said too beautiful for earth.

Oh my, are you kidding me? No. Oh, that like just gave me chills.

I knew this already and it gave me chills again, too.

Just and you know what? She really was. Yeah.

I hate that this baby was robbed. of her as a mother.

And that's the thing, like such a great mom.

Yeah. Like somebody that would have like, cared and doted and just like poured herself into motherhood it seems like oh that kills me Now, of course, Brooke and William turn on each other as soon as they are brought into custody and they're told that the body is found.

Brooke told the investigators that on the day she went missing, Savannah had asked her how to induce early childbirth.

She had Just sought Brooke out because Brooke was such a great neighbor.

Knocked on the door. and said, how do I induce early childbirth woman who I literally have never talked to in my life?

And why would she want to do that? No idea.

She then told the authorities that Savannah came back two days later in the middle of the night She had a newborn baby and she asked Brooke to take the baby.

Wow, Brooke, not only are you an actual piece of shit, but you are the worst liar I've ever heard in my life.

Like in what world is that conceivable? It's not.

No. Completely unbelievable. Now, she would obviously change that story when she went back to trial in 27 or when she went to trial.

Excuse me. in 2017 and she was facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder. conspiracy to commit kidnapping and lying to the police.

Badly. She did badly. She told the court that she had lied to her boyfriend William earlier that year about being pregnant. because she knew that he wanted a baby really badly, and she thought that was going to save their relationship.

Also, why do you want a baby? Like, you guys are not functioning.

First of all, why do you want a baby? And then second of all, okay, then like try to have your own.

And if you can't look into other methods. that don't include stealing one directly from somebody else's womb.

And here's a thought. I don't know, get your relationship together first and become better human beings before you bring a human being into the world.

A baby isn't going to fix you to being pieces of shit together.

That's not going to help. No, if anything, it's just going to add more stress and everything.

Later that same year during an argument, Brooke claimed that William brought up that he actually knew the whole time that she was lying about being pregnant. and now he demanded that she quote unquote produce a baby for them because that's how that works you just produce a baby who are these people?

I'm like, if anybody ever looked at me and told me to produce a baby, They would think that I had just done some kind of magic trick because I would exit from that premises so quickly.

I'm just astounded that these two are violent awful toxic people in a toxic violent awful relationship and they were like let's bring a newborn into this Yeah, that sounds good, right?

And not only that, but let me forcibly tell you to bring a newborn into this.

Produce a baby. What? My God, like people are truly, as a species, Man, we are not doing well, bitch.

That is wild. Yeah. She also said that William specifically mentioned Savannah, like talked about their pregnant neighbor.

And she said, that's when I realized that was the baby he was talking about.

That we would take this baby from a family that we literally don't even know.

I have like no words. Like they are truly just abhorrent.

Right. And again, it went so well the first seven times, Brooke.

Yeah. And so well the first two times, William.

Cool. Wow. William obviously denies all of this.

He said he had no idea that Brooke had been planning this and he denied any involvement in any kind of. planning or lead up.

He just said that when he got home from work that night, that all this happened, he walked in the door.

And Brooke looked at him with holding the baby and just said, this is our baby.

This is our family. I'm like, and then you just rolled with that.

You didn't. You didn't ask any questions.

And that is some kind of real break from reality that she had.

Like that is for her to stand there and just be like, this is our family now.

Whoa. No, it's not like that is not your family.

That is not yours. You stole that in. the worst imaginable way.

That's just it. And he just, and like you said, he just doesn't, he's just like, okay.

This is the way we get a baby. Take this baby to Walmart and I can't.

I genuinely cannot. So Brooke ended up pleading guilty to all the charges that I listed earlier.

And she did apologize on the stand saying, i'm just really really really sorry i wish i could take their pain i wish i hadn't done this there's no excuse there's no rational rationalization There's nothing.

I know it doesn't help, but I'm sorry. I'm guilty and I deserve every year that I get.

Yeah, Brooke, you know what you can do with that apology?

Yeah, you know exactly what you can do with an apology.

Those kind of apologies, I'm like, Fuck off.

Just started off with, I'm really, really, really sorry.

Like, listen, Brooke. You're not a teenager that just like got a ding on her dad's new red convertible.

Exactly. You took a human life. You took somebody's daughter.

You took somebody's sister. You took somebody's mother.

And then on top of that. You took that person's baby.

And just to be, I'm really sorry. I'm really, really, really sorry.

I'm really sorry that I decided to plan out inviting her over to my home where I could ambush her and then cut a child out of her womb.

Yeah, and then to say I deserve every year I get, we know.

Yeah, exactly. And it's like, honey, you deserve endless. punishment yeah i can't even come up with a punishment that you actually do deserve And it's like, how dare you look at that family and say, like, I'm really sorry.

I wish I hadn't have done it. That doesn't fucking help anyone.

Get out of here. I'd rather them just say silent.

I don't think any of them should be allowed to say I'm sorry.

Like a hundred percent. We just have that thought at the exact same time.

Sorry means absolute dog shit at that moment.

The best thing that I don't know who said this to me, but I've probably just heard it throughout my life.

If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done it.

Because you don't have to be sorry if you just don't do it.

That's why. We have a filter in our head that says, that's probably a bad idea.

Yeah, especially... Murdering a human being is not an I'm sorry moment.

No, there's plenty of things to be sorry for murdering another human being is something you should never get to the point of having to be sorry for.

Put that everywhere. Like you said, like it's not like you dinged your dad's convertible.

Oops. Yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to do that.

That was my bad moment. Oopsie. whatever but it's like you system you like planned this out meticulously And you put this poor woman who's already vulnerable in like eight months pregnant. in danger, and then you cut the baby from her womb and then murdered her.

And then stole that baby and then acted like it was yours.

That's just beyond my comprehension. That's good.

Yeah. So luckily we get to the sentencing for at least Brooke here.

On February 2nd, 2018, she was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Bye Brooke. Now, for the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, the prosecution asked that the court impose the maximum sentence of life in prison, which obviously they did, and for the conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

The judge also imposed the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

So she got the maximum on almost every charge.

Good. As she should. Now, this next part is going to creep you the fuck out.

So when the public gets a hold of this story, a few other people come forward with experiences that they also had with Brooke that now made them even more uncomfortable than they previously had in the past.

Oh no. Now, one woman was at lunch with her family and her brand new baby daughter that her family had just officially adopted.

And the mom notices a woman sitting at a table And she's staring over at them, more specifically focusing on the baby.

This woman at lunch says that this was 100% Brooke and she was actually with William.

Oh my God, I hate this. A woman who is Brooke comes over to their table to compliment the baby. and apparently just kept staring at the baby and repeating, She's exactly what I want.

Oh my God. now all just like while staring wide-eyed at the baby.

So the little boy at the table was just like, oh yeah, like that's my new sister, Sophia.

Freaking stoked about it. Even looking away from the baby.

Brooke just replied, Sophia, that's the name.

That's exactly what I want. That's exactly what I want.

Okay. I'm like, that just gave me full chills.

I would be like, you need to get away from my baby right now.

Yeah, I guess the mother like went to like to like take the baby elsewhere, like to breastfeed the baby.

And Brooke just like kept staring at that.

And finally, they left because they were so uncomfortable.

And these poor people, they're trying to be like polite.

You're trying to be like... Yeah. Like, what the fuck do you do in that situation?

Like, I just said, like, I would be like, get the fuck away from my baby.

You don't know what you would do in that situation.

You're trying to be nice. Usually to say, like, get the fuck away from me.

Get the fuck away from my baby. Me and you, that's our motto now.

Yeah, but like... But at that point, they're probably just trying to be like polite and they're probably like, okay, how do I get out of this situation without being an ass?

And remember, that was a baby that they had just officially adopted.

Yeah. alone let us have our celebratory moment and stop staring at my brand new baby oh my god wild now an ex-husband came forward with information that he believed she was deeply disturbed She had dated this man and moved with him to Australia. after divorcing from her previous husband, who she had attacked with a knife.

Oh. Now, this man who she was married to, I think they were only married like a couple months, and he found different journals of hers. and found out that she not only had a bunch of kids living in America, because she had told him that she didn't have any children,

He found that all of that out, but also doing that when you have kids, like imagine your kids finding out later that you were like, yeah, I don't have kids.

Yeah, no, I don't have kids. And I want some actually.

Like she was saying to him, like wanting to start a family with him.

What the fuck? Wait, you literally have like five other families.

What? Like go take care of them. And I guess she got pissed at him.

But then he found these super creepy journals of hers where she was talking about different ways to induce labor. different meds that would be needed to like induce the labor, all kinds of tools for at home childbirth, like, scissors, gloves, clamps.

She was planning to do this a long time ago. bizarre shit, dude.

Absolutely. And it also seems like she was kind of aware that she had like this dark side to her because in one entry of her journal she wrote Perhaps there are two distinct personalities within each of us, darkness and light.

One of them is socially obliterated fairly early, or we're born with the one, I believe we're predetermined with two distinct thought processes that manifest as personalities.

Is it normal for humans to have this dark side?

Seems so. Uh, no, no. The answer is no.

You asked a lot of questions and the answer to all of them is no.

No, like, yeah, we can have two different personalities for sure.

I'm a Gemini. I'm all about that. But like not one of them includes stealing a baby from the mother's womb.

Yeah, and not all of us have that, like, nasty dark side.

No. Like, sorry. Like I'm a little more socially adaptable in some situations and not very much in others.

So she was 100% planning to do this a long time ago.

Oh, absolutely. Not a doubt in my mind. Not a doubt in my mind.

Which is wild because I'm like, you have actually seven chances at getting good at this.

Like at really like... taking care of these two.

You don't want to take care of a baby. You have seven that you could have taken care of.

Or even just give a shit about Like, you couldn't even give one fuck.

You had no fucks to give about seven other kids.

And it's like... dipped to australia and like left all the kids and it's like did I wonder if she left these kids after they were not like in that baby phase anymore.

Like maybe she's just this... monster who only wants that baby phase.

And once they get out of it, she's like, get away from me.

Maybe. I know that her oldest daughter who ended up having to sue her for child support She left, I believe she left when she was like younger and then actually became like more involved in the child's life when she was like 13 or 14 and then just vanished again.

So I think she was kind of one of those that like, maybe goes in and out or for some of them she did that and then for other kids she just completely abandoned them my god just seemed to be a hot this I don't get it and I feel so bad for all the kids yeah they deserve better Yeah.

And for people that were married to her, like I can't imagine finding that out.

Yeah. Yeah. I married you and had a child with you and this is what you're capable of?

Oh my God. her telling you I don't have any kids and then you find out she has a ton of kids I'd be like what kind of fucking monster are you seriously So moving on now to William.

He had also been charged with the same counts that Brooke pleaded guilty to.

He was acquitted on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder because they were not technically able to determine how Savannah died.

Like they couldn't say if it was the strangulation or if it was from bleeding out.

Ugh. That makes me so angry. And they also couldn't determine whether he really did use the rope or if it was Brooke.

Can we look at intent here? Seriously, evidently the jury didn't think that he had been involved in the whole plan leading up to the murder.

And they seemed like I have no idea what they were thinking, but like, I don't know them.

I don't know. Yeah, I've never met them.

I don't know her. So the prosecution they wanted to be sure that they could obviously get this guy put away for a long time.

And they were really banking on a life sentence.

So in order to do so, they wanted to have him labeled a dangerous offender. based on his past criminal record, which is something that we've seen happen a ton of times.

Now they were specifically citing, obviously, the 2011-2012 incident and felony charge of neglecting or abusing a child.

So at first that worked. The judge, Judge Tom Olson, sentenced William to a life sentence in prison, saying later.

I knew the only fair and just sentence would be the maximum allowed by law.

Yeah. Unfortunately, William was allowed to appeal this sentence and And the North Dakota Supreme Court actually disagreed with the original judge.

How? They stated. that the previous charge that was used to label him as a dangerous offender was not similar to the crime that he was being punished for, so it simply didn't apply.

And this is why the justice system is broken.

This is why that is and this is a perfect example.

He was charged with abuse or neglect of a child.

And they're like, child's skull was fractured.

That doesn't really tell us anything about him.

He was a baby. Yeah. Tell you what you need to know.

This is what happens, though. I feel like we see it all the time.

They look at that and they go, well, that doesn't really tell us anything.

Really? Because I think it's worse than a person who kills an adult.

Anybody who hurts or murders a child is a whole different kind of beast than... that we can't ever let walk free.

Like, no. And for some reason in this country, we take it like it's not as big a deal.

It's the same thing as like... abusing or killing animals.

It's like we don't take it seriously. Seriously, for some weird fucking reason, and it is such an indication. of such shit to come.

And for some reason, we're still just, nope, not a big deal.

No, it's fine. It's like, oh, so it's infuriating.

So yeah, so he gets retried, he gets resentenced and His new sentence was 20 years in prison, excuse me, plus one year to be served consecutively.

And he got credit for time served, which was 775 days.

Are you shitting me? Nope. This man is gonna walk around in less than 20 years.

Yup. Wow. I hope everyone in prison knows what he did.

That's all I'll say about that. His pompous asshole response to this was a very severe sentence is definitely appropriate for what happened here.

I was really angry about what had happened last time, but then I stopped and I tried to look at it from an objective point of view.

And I just like to say that I'm not mad about it.

I totally understand why you did what you did.

No one cares if you understand because nobody understands your choice.

Glad you get ours. We don't get yours. Lock the key rotten.

They're rotten. They're like, I'm all for like, you know, people changing.

Rehabilitation. And rehabilitation. But people like this that are capable of going along with something like this, in my personal opinion, I don't know in what world you are supposed to get rehabilitated from doing something like that.

I don't know. And not only how horrific this one instance was, but that they have this habitual violent, horrific, child abuse, piece of shit way about them that is long into their past.

It's like, this is... a pathology of behavior.

Even this one instance, I'd be like, I can't understand how you come back from that and become a human being.

I don't get it. But you tack on all that other shit, that pathology of abuse and violence and just... piece of shitness.

And you're telling me that man is going to come out of prison, a changed person.

Like I don't buy it. No, and to sit there and be like, I'm not even mad about it.

Nobody fucking asked if you were mad about it.

I want you to be like, don't you just did that to be like, no, like it doesn't matter.

I don't care. like fuck off yeah no one asked how you felt about your sentencing you piece of garbage That's actually not a part of this.

No. But obviously Savannah's family was incredibly upset and her mother's. was we want justice he deserves a life sentence i don't think this man should ever walk free he betrayed our family He looked us in the eye with a straight face while our daughter laid dead in his apartment.

Please don't ever consider letting him out.

Is there anything that can be done? I guess you would just have to call like representatives in North Carolina, excuse me, North Dakota. ask for him to not be released, but I don't know if there's really a lot to be done because there's only maximum sentences for certain things.

Like he's not even in for murder. That's the problem.

And that's wild. Right. Wow. It's crazy.

It's crazy. And she's right. He walked by that family every single time he saw them since he knew what happened to their daughter and just looked at them knowing full well where their daughter was, where their grandchild was. what they planned on doing with their daughter.

It's insane. What's scary to know is that Savannah and Ashton's daughter, Haisley, will be in high school by the time that William is up for release.

That's horrific. What if he wants to target this family again?

That's what kills me. Like this, oh, that's just, it's...

I have no words. Loses their daughter like in such a horrific way.

And then now they have to worry about. him potentially hurting their family when he gets released.

Yeah, that's too much, man. That's so infuriating.

It really is. Now, gearing things back to Savannah now, almost a thousand people attended her funeral.

And everybody was wearing red shirts to honor her and the other missing or murdered indigenous women across the globe.

Uh, this like wearing red was actually something that was started by an organization that I believe we mentioned in your Willie Pickton episodes. the missing and murdered indigenous women um organization yeah so they will always wear that color or use that color in their campaign campaigns.

Excuse me. And a memorial was dedicated to Savannah on a bridge right next to Red River where her body was discovered.

Oh. There's a plaque with her name nailed to a tree by the bridge and not too far from the bridge.

There's this like giant, beautiful sunflower field. which is so beautifully ironic because that was Savannah's favorite flower oh I love it Right.

Now, in the aftermath of Savannah's murder, a lot of those close to her and specifically her parents felt that the Fargo Police Department just did not do enough.

They felt like the Action was far too slow when she was first reported missing and then I don't I don't even know how they sat there and knew that law enforcement was in that apartment multiple times while Savannah and the baby were both in that apartment.

It's not even like a house, it's an apartment.

That's the thing. How did you not hear them?

Now, David Todd, the chief of police, basically said something along the lines of like, the investigation would have gone differently if we knew that the person we were searching for was dead.

It's like, shouldn't you just address every situation like it's that dire?

Yeah. Yeah. He was like, we weren't looking for a body.

We were looking for a person. And I'm like, but that's actually those are the same things.

Well, I feel, and it's like, isn't part of like investigatory work not going in with a preconceived narrative of what has happened?

You don't know what's happened. You're just looking for that person.

You go in and you let what's happening, tell you what's happening instead of going in there and being like, well, this is what's going on.

It was just a fucking excuse for him to be like, my police department's fine.

They did not do their job here. Not at all.

Now, tribal leaders across North Dakota were outraged and demanded that something be done.

And luckily, something was done. Oh, so former North Dakota attorney general and former North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp proposed Savannah's Act, which would require that the Department of Justice And this next part that I'm going to say is straight from the congress.gov site.

Quote, provide training to law enforcement agencies on how to record tribal enrollment for victims and federal databases. develop and implement a strategy to educate the public on the national missing and unidentified person system. conduct specific outreach to tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations regarding the ability to publicly enter information through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or other non-law enforcement sensitive portal. develop regionally appropriate guidelines for responses to cases of missing or murdered Native Americans, provide training and technical assistance to tribes and law enforcement agencies for implementation, and developed guidelines and report statistics on missing and murdered Native Americans.

First of all, I'm so glad that that happened, and I'm so glad it's called Savannah's Law.

Yeah, Savannah's Act. I love that. Savannah's Act.

But how sad is it that it took this long?

Just for it to be like, hey... We should probably train police forces on how to just try to look for these people.

Yeah. Yeah. It took that long. And then it's sad that somebody decided to, do their fucking last move in office blocking this bill.

Are you kidding me? No, I'm not. What is the reason?

That's the thing. So that was like a lot of information.

So just to like kind of sum that up, essentially, what Savannah's Act wants to do is address large gaps in data collection, train law enforcement more effectively with these specific cases, And according to the cut, increased communication between federal, state, and tribal officials.

So when it was brought to the Senate for voting, it passed unanimously, obviously, because there's nothing wrong with it.

So unfortunately, former Virginia Senator Bob Goodlatte, I think is how you say it.

He blocked it at the House level. Fun fact to the district that he actually repped is also where Virginia's largest Native American tribes live.

I don't understand human beings. I really don't. savannah's act was the final thing that he did in his last week in office like he really just took that time to be an absolute dick yeah very cool bro The reason being was that he felt like some of the language regarding law enforcement agencies applying for grants from the Justice Department. needed to be revisited.

It needed to be revisited. No. Okay. He said, you know, I agree with the bill overall.

But I just want I reject that certain provision.

Yeah, I bet. I'm like, OK, well, then, like, take it out later.

But just fucking pass the law. There's nothing wrong with the law.

Just fuck off, dude. Like just leave. You're leaving.

Just continue to leave. Luckily Savannah's law was passed and it was, but it wasn't signed into law until October of 2020.

That's wild. It's absolutely insane. I'm glad it was passed, though.

I'm glad it was passed too. And a second act, the not invisible act was brought alongside it.

And that act is to quote unquote, increase intergovernmental coordination to identify and combat violent crime with Indian lands and of Indians.

I want to point out that obviously I know you're supposed to say Native Americans, but for some reason, a lot of the language still says Indians.

I don't know why they're not changing that.

If there's like, if like there's a reason for that or if it's just them just continuing to be assholes.

But I just wanted to point out that that was a quote.

To finish this off, I want to give you like some actionable items that you can do if If you want to get involved in the movement that is bringing awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous women, A great source, a great resource to visit is the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Organization, and I will link that in the show notes.

On their website, they bring awareness to different ongoing cases, different events that they're putting on. so that you can go support the mission.

And there's also places to donate to help the mission keep moving along. and actually last thanksgiving they had this campaign called pass the red purse where they told stories of like their struggles as indigenous people and specifically women.

And they passed around the purse and asked for donations and they were able to raise more than seventeen hundred dollars.

Oh, wow. There's so much more to be done, I feel like.

Oh, yeah. going to link the Safe Women, Strong Nations campaign that's being organized by the Indian Law Resource Center.

And again, so I saw Indian being used there, too.

So I'm not sure what that's about. If you want to explain that to me, I would love to. be enlightened.

Yeah. If you would like email us and let us know, because I really do want to know what that's about.

Cause it does feel like so. Feels wrong.

Yeah. Because I'm like, yeah. Yeah. I want to say the right thing.

And that's what that place is called. And it seems as though they're doing like great things for indigenous people.

So, so let us know. But yeah, they're in their website has tons of information about like actionable items that we can all work on different places to donate if you're able to.

I already donated and I did so in Savannah's name.

And I feel like if we- you're able to donate, it would be really cool if everybody did so in Savannah's name.

Yeah, because, guys, when we did the Katie Hawelka case, And I linked to that petition.

You guys got that petition. Blown. That thing went from 8,000 signatures to the last I looked at it, it was like 40,000.

And you guys did that. You did that. power that we all possess together.

Let's go flood these sites with. donations if you're able to.

If you're not able to do donations, there's so many other things you can do.

There's numbers you can call. There's events that you can do and let's just do that all in savannah's name yeah Let's do it.

And we'll link all of this stuff. So it'll be easier for you guys to follow.

When we post this onto the Instagram and stuff, we'll also put all that information again so that...

You guys can have it in different areas, but that would be amazing to just blow it up in Savannah's name.

Absolutely. And just a little update, baby Haisley Jo, I think I said already, she's almost five years old now.

And according to her father, Ashton, she is a quote unquote, calm, happy baby who is always smiling.

Oh, and after Savannah's death, he obviously had to grow up incredibly quickly to take care of their daughter.

Yeah. And obviously that was incredibly difficult in the beginning.

Like your whole life is turned upside down.

You're mourning the woman that you were with for seven years of your life.

And then you're a dad, like all at once.

I can't imagine that. But he said that he's got a good rhythm going now.

And he just wants to be a good father for his daughter.

And he said of Savannah... Every day I'm reminded of her more and more because every day she grows, meaning the baby, and she's starting to look more like her mother.

I miss Savannah so much. I've never put love into somebody like I did her.

Oh. My heart update. I mentioned that the family, Savannah's family has a Facebook page where they update. anybody interested.

And I was looking through it the other night and I saw that there's actually a GoFundMe set up right now for Ashton.

And I'm not sure what happened. Basically, the family, like his family is saying that he's very private and they don't want to let all the information out.

Yeah, but there's a GoFundMe set up for him and it says basically that he's like fighting for his life and... they need like to get to a certain um amount oh geez So I'll put that GoFundMe link too if you want to donate to that.

I'm not... entirely sure what's happening but i hope that he's okay especially for the baby and for yeah Oh, geez.

I hope so. Yeah, let's post that too. kind of finishing this whole case.

And I got like amped up about the different things that we can all do.

And then I found that and I was like, oh, no.

Like, I hope he's all right. I know. Yeah.

Jeez. Well, let's make sure we blow that up and we make sure we... do whatever we can in Savannah's name here.

Definitely. That is a case of Savannah LaFontaine-Greywind and She deserved so much more.

Yes, she did. And so did her family. everybody involved on the victim side of things just deserve sad but i hope that Haisley Joe is just thriving oh I hope so too I hope that whatever's going on with Ashton gets cleared up soon yeah for sure Crazy.

It's a crazy world. That was a tough one, but thank you for sharing it because it needed to be shared.

You're welcome. And again, I'll put all of that information that I kind of like flooded you with at the end that will all be in the show notes.

Yeah, definitely. I can also see if we can get that posted on social media as well.

Perfect. Sweet. We hope that you keep listening, guys.

And we hope you keep it. Weird. I should never, ever have to tell you that you don't have to keep it this weird.

If you keep it this weird, you're not a weirdo.

If you keep it this weird, you're going to jail forever and you're a disgusting human being.

Yep. Bye. Bye. Thank you. If you like Morbid, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

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[The Tragic Case of Savannah LaFontaine-Greywind: A Call for Justice and Awareness]-[Episode 330: The Tragic Murder of Savanna LaFontaine Greywind]

📋 Summary

The Tragic Case of Savannah LaFontaine-Greywind: A Call for Justice and Awareness

Introduction: A Life Cut Short

The Perpetrators: A Pattern of Abuse

The Crime and the Aftermath

Justice and Systemic Failure

Savannah’s Act and the MMIW Movement

A Call to Action

🎯Key Sentences

📝Key Phrases

📖 Transcript