True Crime Tuesday March 7th, 2023 - Updates on: Isabel Celis/Christopher Clements - Bryan Kohberger - Former Doraville PD Officer Miles Bryant - Young Thug and the YSL RICO trial
Updates from previous cases are the subject of this week's TCT.
Good morning everyone.
I know you don't usually get these TCT posts so early, but it appears the new readers I have been getting over the past week (hi, and thank you for subscribing recently) really love to read their Substacks in the morning, so that means that these posts will start going out around 5:15 AM MST. That means less lollygagging from yours truly, but it also means that we will be getting more eyeballs on the small True Crime community we have been building over the past few months.
I say WE because I honestly wouldn't have gotten this far in keeping this updated if it wasn't for the people who have been here consistently every week, reading and sharing my work. While other portions of the Substack have gotten tons of views lately, I really do appreciate my Tuesday audience because I feel like knowing about these atrocities on a deeper level rather than the surface one we are so often fed is impactful, in the sense that it educates us all about the perils and troubles that people and victims face each day.
Just as another quick aside: this week's TCT will be covering cases from the past that haven't been resolved yet. Next week we will have a brand new case to dive into, but I felt like we leave so many hanging threads some weeks that it's about time we got some updates on a few cases. So, because of that, this TCT won’t be big on tons of details. But don't fret, because as I do every week, I'll be sure to cite and redirect you to stories that will help paint a more clear picture, especially if you want to gain insight beyond what's written here.
As a quick plug, you can always find all of the True Crime Tuesday posts up top, collected on a single page, for your reading pleasure. I am going to make sure they are all labeled correctly this week to make navigating them more manageable. That takes care of the initial pleasantries. Let's get into our updates for the week.
Christopher Clements’ Trial Over the Death of Isabel Celis Ends Deadlocked
This past weekend it was reported that Christopher Clements, the man accused of abducting and killing 7-year-old Isabel Celis back in 2012, would not be found guilty of the crime. After nine hours of deliberation, the judge was forced to rule the case a mistrial due to the jury being deadlocked. When asked if more time would be needed to come to a decision, the spokesperson for the jury said it wasn't necessary, and the jurors were then dismissed and Clements was released back to prison to serve the rest of his sentence from the Maribel Gonzalez murder as well as the previous burglary charges he had been convicted of.
Prosecutors will be meeting later this month to see if the prospect of sending this case to trial once more with a different jury pool will be enough to convict Clements. What's different from the trial that convicted Christopher previously, the murder of Maribel Gonzalez, is that Maribel’s body contained Christopher's DNA, and Melissa Stark, Clements' former fiance, took the stand and testified that Clements was not at home during the time of Maribel's abduction. While there was a mountain of circumstantial evidence regarding Isabel's disappearance, there was nothing as clear-cut as Stark's testimony or the Y STR profile on Maribel's body.
The defense's main strategy was to paint Sergio Celis, Isabel's father, as untrustworthy and possibly involved in the murder himself, which was something Clements had been stating from the initial interviews with FBI agents, as well as follow-up interviews with Pima County detectives.
The main sticking points from the defense attorney, Eric Kessler, were that no DNA nor fingerprints were found at the crime scene, as well as the implausibility of someone being able to abduct Isabel and go through her bedroom window without making a sound. While digital forensics, cell phone data, was able to place Clements in the vicinity of where Isabel was taken, as well as near where her body was dumped, it still is circumstantial because there were no eyewitnesses that can place Clements at those locations. Clements did live and work in the area around the Celis residence, and while there isn't a valid reason for him to be in Avra Valley after the abduction, the fact of the matter is there doesn't need to be.
It leaves a frustrating situation. While Clements knew the location of where two young girls were dumped after they were abducted from Tucson, there wasn’t enough concrete evidence to convict him at this point.
The biggest takeaway from this ordeal is we still have to wait for justice to be served for Isabel. Getting a guilty verdict against Clements doesn't look to be a slam dunk either. At this point, it appears that the prosecution needs to gather more evidence, and one wonders what it would entail to acquire a favorable verdict.
There are those who are presumably saying that Christopher Clements is serving time already and isn't a danger to anyone while locked up, but the case of Isabel still being open, especially after it was Clements who opened this can of worms in the first place, does leave a sour taste. Clements revealing his knowledge about the Celis case was what got him indicted and later convicted of killing Maribel. The mistrial leaves more questions than answers.
How did Christopher know where Celis and Gonzalez were dumped?
Why would he divulge information about the Celis case to a fellow inmate and why did he have pictures of the Celis house in his cell?
Why did he direct the police to the Celis case in the first place?
The case and its current state are perplexing. All we can do now is hope a solution can be found. It may take some more digging or possibly just a new jury pool. But in actuality, things haven’t been this unclear about the case since before Clements came forward with information.
Bryan Kohberger
It's time to revisit the Bryan Kohberger investigation. Also known as the Moscow Murders, this case entails the students who were murdered in Idaho last November. Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were all killed by a single assailant, who was then witnessed leaving the house by one of the roommates who was not assailed.
Evidence has since pointed back to a single man: Bryan Kohberger. I've written about Bryan's past already in previous write-ups, so feel free to visit those for a more extensive understanding of the type of person Bryan is. This week we'll be covering some of the things an FBI search warrant turned up.
PEOPLE, who have excellent coverage of the investigation thus far, have reported on the items that were taken from Kohberger that could be used during the investigation and trial. These items were seized when Bryan was taken into custody and removed from his parent's home. I'll go ahead and quote the article here, written by Corin Cesaric
The items seized from the home located in Albrightsville, Pa., include a Smith and Wesson pocket knife, another knife of unidentified make, a Glock handgun with three empty magazines, black face masks, black gloves, one black hat, “green leafy substance in plastic bag,” “book with underlining on page 118” and Kohberger’s AT&T bill.
The warrant also states that documents, vehicle paperwork, books, a prescription and electronic items — including a cell phone, laptop and power cable — were also collected from the home. 1
It goes to show you that investigators are pulling out all the stops when it comes to linking Kohberger to these crimes. Even the underlining inside the books sticks out because I can see that coming from a behavioral standpoint. Prosecutors can use that to argue that Kohberger had knowledge and predetermination. The black clothing doesn't immediately point to nefarious actions, but given context inside a murder investigation where the person accused entered someone's home in a burglar-type fashion, then you can see the narrative being drawn.
As stated before here, Kohberger did not do himself any favors. His conduct before and after the murder paints him as a conceivable suspect. But, to compare this to the previous case we discussed today, there is a lot of circumstantial evidence. The one thing that I could see tying this all together is the DNA left at the crime scene. There's no other explanation for it being on the sheave that was recovered at the house, other than Kohberger leaving it there. Also, the item was left only after someone entered the house. Why would that person place a random sheave with Bryan's DNA on it at the house? Tie this in with the reports of Kohberger spending extensive time at the school while not attending nor being employed as well as digital forensics discovering he may have also been in contact with one of the victims.
You don't want to get trapped into thinking that Bryan will automatically be guilty, but from the outside looking in, things don't look good for the defense when this eventually comes to trial this summer. It also speaks to Bryan’s compulsiveness if he had these items associated with the murder with him at his parent's house.
Miles Bryant
Mile Bryant, the former Doraville Police officer who was charged with the murder of Susana Morales2, a 16-year-old girl who lived near the alleged murderer, has now been named in other investigations due to the notoriety he has gained from the murder case he is involved in.
There are some things to cover before we jump into that aspect of the case.
For starters, Miles was connected to Susana's remains by his service weapon being found near the body. He had reported that his gun was stolen in an attempt to muddy the investigation. It also appears that before he became a police officer, Miles had a penchant for breaking and entering.
In 2019, Johnson was videotaped inside a woman's apartment after he came in through a bedroom window. He was able to disable the lock and enter before searching around. It shows a pattern of antisocial behavior, as well as a disregard for safety regarding the woman who occupied the home. The woman's daughter had lived in the home, attending nearby Berkmar High School, but never disclosed her address to Bryant before the break-in.
That isn't even the only one. According to the article linked, Miles Bryant is being charged with four other break-ins as well. All were female classmates of Bryant. Chief Matt Johnson has spoken with multiple women who claim to have video evidence of Bryant entering their home. This shows a pattern of disrespecting and stalking women, especially the details of finding these addresses while the victims of the burglaries don't know how Bryant came across their information.
Bryant’s arrest for Morales’ murder helped the girl’s mother identify the mystery burglar. She filed a report in May 2019 and police showed up to look for him, but then the case went unsolved.
That is until last month, when Snellville police said they determined that Bryant was the offender from the burglary.
Police charged him with first-degree burglary on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old is now accused of breaking into or attempting to break into the homes of four former female classmates.
One of them accused Bryant of stealing her underwear in 2018. 3
This is another case where a poor young girl was struck down by a reportedly disturbed individual who has problems with women and also has extensive knowledge of police procedures. It's sad to think of the number of people Bryant has harmed, most of which wouldn't have known who he was if he hadn't been caught after Susana's disappearance.
Young Thug - YSL RICO Trial
Things aren't looking good in Fulton County right now.
George Chidi of Rolling Stone has shed light on some of the issues of prosecuting a high-profile case such as the one that's taking place right now against Young Thug and the YSL gang.
Here's a quote from George Chidi from a March 4th article:
Attorneys and other sources close to the trial say that the sprawling prosecution of Thug and his YSL cohort on murder, gang, and racketeering charges is affecting cases across metro Atlanta and beyond, creating widespread delays and disrupting other trials. Among those other cases is the RICO prosecution of Rayshawn Bennett, a.k.a. the rapper YFN Lucci, who is facing a murder charge after allegedly participating in a botched drive-by shooting in what prosecutors describe as an ongoing YFN-YSL gang war.4
We have been slowly wading through jury selections and other incredibly strange debacles like Young Thug being handed a narcotic while in court, as well as an ACLU report that claims Fulton County has been housing inmates in inhumane conditions.
Let's be honest here, this case has been a circus from the beginning. It's insane the scope and magnitude that this case has, and when you consider all the moving parts that have to be encompassed and included, it isn't even a sure thing that Fulton County will get the convictions they are seeking. They have turned a fair amount of people as state evidence, but with the speed and other issues that keep impacting this case, it doesn't create ideal circumstances for the prosecution. At the same time, Thug has been doing his best to raise questions about his character with his actions in the courtroom already.
This is one of those cases that you point to when people make the statement that fact is stranger than fiction.
All of this is happening in a county that seems hell-bent on prosecution no matter the cost. Looking at the Rolling Stone article once more, how incredible is it that prosecutors find this court so important that they will let other cases be taxed in order to take down Thug? With the claims from the defense consisting partially of discrimination, it's no wonder that everyone has been as careful as possible when it comes to jury selection. I think the defense knows that they have some outs left in the deck, especially with how intricate this entire ordeal has been. But, prosecutors have knowledge and experience on their side. RICO cases are incredibly hard to beat, and we've seen the government, local and federal, take down some vast networks of criminal behavior already.
That about does it for this week’s True Crime Tuesday. No suggestions this week. Here’s hoping I find something interesting for us to watch or listen to come next week. If you have any suggestions for podcasts, TV shows, docs, YouTube videos, or anything else, feel free to reply to this through email.
Please, take care of yourselves out there.