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Two troubled teens.
One an orphaned immigrant.
Carlos was born into the formal equivalent of a
toxic waste dump.
The other a young girl with a turbulent
home life.
She was subjected to witnessing
deviant behavior.
Their troubled paths brought them together.
First as friends...
Then as impassioned lovers...
There was a level of intimacy.
You can't separate them because together
they're symbiotic.
But when circumstances tried to keep them apart.
Tensions not only rose...
He basically wanted to see him burn in hell.
...they triggered deadly consequences.
You walk into that master bedroom, and you
see the carnage.
And left everyone wondering - just how far
were these young lovers willing to go to
stay together?
This is something that you only read in novels.
You don't think it's really going to happen in
real life.
real life.
Though her middle class upbringing in suburban
Cleveland suggested otherwise, Tabitha
Messina's childhood was chaotic from
the word "go".
Tabitha's dad, Richard was a hard-partying
playboy type.
Mother, Karen, was an exotic dancer
who wasn't home much.
Karen was an absent mother.
Karen was not there for Tabitha.
If Tabitha's mother was home, it was usually to
grab a bottle of liquor, or badger Richard
into giving her money for drugs.
We got called there for domestic disturbances,
loud noise complaints, and Karen, uh, was a suspect
in several burglaries and breaking and enterings and
thefts and shoplifting.
At times taking little Tabitha with her
when she shoplifted.
Despite his own bad habits, Richard eventually
realized that Karen was a corrosive influence on
their daughter.
He filed for divorce and set out to find a new
mother figure for Tabitha and her brother Rick, and
found one when he took up with another exotic dancer
Sandra Cover.
The moment Sandra met Richard - and then Tabitha
- she gave up stripping in order to stay home and
give Tabitha some stability.
But playing the role of Tabitha's surrogate mother
was no easy task.
Unlike Richard, Sandra was strict.
And 8-year-old Tabitha rebelled against
her influence.
Tabitha didn't wanna listen to Sandi...
Because they weren't married and Sandi had no
authority over her.
But Tabitha's acting-out wasn't strictly reserved
for Sandra.
By elementary school, it was clear the neglect
she'd received from her mother earlier in life had
resulted in some pretty serious behavior problems.
At least until high school, when Richard
decided to put his foot down.
He didn't finish high school.
I think that was his goal to make sure she did.
He tried to guide her.
"You have a curfew, no drugs."
But the more ground rules Richard and Sandra tried
to lay down, the more Tabitha lashed out.
The police department got called in several times
for verbal arguments between Richard and
Tabitha, or her and Sandra.
But as difficult as Tabitha was to wrangle,
Richard and Sandra got even more frustrated when
she began spending less time at home, and more
time with a rowdy group of teens from school.
When she turned eighteen, that's when things went to
hell in a hand basket.
She stayed out all night, she ran with a
crazy crowd.
Between her good looks and outgoing personality,
Tabitha knew she could pretty much have any one
of the cliched bad-boys within this "crazy crowd"
she wanted.
But it was a standoffish, loner-type within the
group that caught Tabitha's eye.
A handsome, 19-year-old named
Carlos Christopher.
Originally from the slums of Brazil, Carlos'
childhood made Tabitha's seem picture perfect.
He was born in a jail.
His mom was incarcerated.
She was, um, in there for drug abuse and theft.
His father was a gang leader.
His father killed many people.
His father would take Carlos along with him when
he'd do his killings so Carlos could see it and
witness it.
Eventually, Carlos' dad died, and Carlos was
shipped off to an orphanage.
At the age of 8, he was adopted by an American.
Carlos is brought to the United States and raised
by a very nice family in Cleveland Heights.
But even in the cozy Cleveland suburbs, the
scars of Carlos' traumatic childhood were visible.
Like Tabitha, Carlos also lashed out at authority.
And at school, he had a hard time escaping the
long shadow cast by his father.
He would sit there and kind of brag to people
about, oh well I got into a fight with this person
and I beat up that person.
Not all of the kids bought into Carlos' act.
But Tabitha was captivated by his swagger.
I think Carlos and Tabitha saw something in each
other that, you know, they both had troubled
upbringings and they could relate to each other, and
that's how relationships start.
A relationship that quickly blossomed into a
passionate *** romance.
The emotions were strong.
Tabitha and Carlos themselves had told me
that they were sexually involved with each other.
The more infatuated Tabitha and Carlos became
with each other, it was clear there was more
between them than just red-hot *** chemistry.
When adolescence finds someone else who's like a
kindred spirit, like a person who's just like
them, you can't separate them because together
they're symbiotic.
But Tabitha was worried there was one person who
would try to separate her from Carlos.
Her father: Richard Messina.
It's been no secret to the members of this department
that Richard is a racist.
He does not like people of color,
black people in particular.
Carlos Christopher is Brazilian/Puerto Rican
mix, dark skin male.
And just as Tabitha feared, when Richard did
find out about her budding romance with Carlos -
he was furious.
Growing up, Tabitha had tested
Richard's authority.
But after seeing his livid reaction to Carlos,
Tabitha knew this was one issue her dad wouldn't
budge on.
And as long as she was staying under his roof -
her relationship with Carlos would be doomed
without his approval.
So even though it hurt her deeply - after a few weeks
of hooking up - Tabitha broke things
off with Carlos.
Tabitha was upset over it.
Tabitha ultimately decided the best way to both mask
her pain - and ease the tension with her father -
was to immediately dive into a new relationship.
So she started dating another one of the boys in
their close circle of friends
named Jason ***.
Carlos and Tabitha, they split.
They go on their ways and now Tabitha's developing
this relationship with Jason.
Richard was thrilled when he met Tabitha's
new boyfriend.
Now Jason was around quite a bit, ah, Tabitha had
dated Jason, and my dad liked Jason.
But beyond pleasing her father, Tabitha knew that
dating Jason had another important benefit.
Since they were all friends, being with Jason
still allowed her to be close to Carlos without
tipping off her father.
Which deep in her heart is what Tabitha desired most.
She knew she's in love with him.
But Carlos didn't know Tabitha's relationship
with Jason was just an act.
And seeing her move on so quickly with one of his
good friends stung him deeply.
So to mask his own heartbreak, he decided to
follow suit - and began dating Tabitha's good
friend: Tammy Tabak.
At that time I was dating Carlos and Tabitha was
supposed to be dating Jason.
But on their double dates, Tabitha and Carlos had a
hard time keeping apart from each other...
even in their most intimate moments with
their new partners.
Tabitha and Jason are having sex, on the
playground, Tammy and Carlos are making out a
short distance away, also on the playground.
Carlos would later tell us that as Tabitha would be
having sex with Jason she would be looking at him as
if to entice him toward her.
It was clear the former lovers still lusted for
one another.
But a bizarre series of events was about put their
true feelings to the test in a way no one imagined.
Something was about to happen to bring Carlos and
Tabitha back together...
But how will Richard react?
I just had that sick feeling in the pit
of my stomach.
And a routine 911 call morphs into a ***
investigation.
You walk into that master bedroom, and you
see the carnage.
see the carnage.
Kindred spirits Tabitha Messina and Carlos
Christopher had just ended a passionate but
short-lived romance.
Largely because Tabitha knew her father didn't
approve of their interracial relationship.
Following their split, both Tabitha and Carlos
had jumped into new relationships.
Tabitha's developing this relationship with Jason,
and Carlos has this relationship with Tammy,
and they're all friends.
But forces were at play that were about to bring
Tabitha and Carlos back together.
It started on the afternoon of July 29th,
when police in South Euclid, Ohio received a
911 call regarding a possible burglary at the
Messina home.
But when officers arrived at the scene, they
discovered much more than just burglary.
You walk into that master bedroom,
and you see the carnage.
There's two bodies in there and the room is a
mess and there's a lot of blood.
Responding officers radioed for backup.
While CSIs cordoned off the crime scene, beat cops
identified the victims.
Upon checking the house they discovered in the
second floor bedroom
Richard and Sandra deceased.
Initially the crime scene suggested Richard and
Sandra were victims of a deadly botched robbery.
Especially once investigators discovered
Sandra's vehicle - a GMC Jimmy - was missing.
But when homicide detectives arrived on the
scene and noted the position of the bodies,
they began to form a new theory about the crime.
Based on the nature of Richard and Sandra's
wounds, it appeared there had been two attackers,
wielding two very different weapons.
Richard's injuries were chops, which would be
indicative of an axe or a knife.
Sandra had several elongated bruises.
In the garage, officers made a discovery that
indicated the killers hadn't brought the ***
weapons with them to the scene.
Richard's garage is very, very neat.
He has a tool pegboard; you could tell
items are missing.
There's a spot here for a small hatchet.
There's a spot here for a crowbar.
If they were used in the crime, the missing crowbar
and axe could have inflicted lethal injuries
similar to the ones Richard and Sandra
sustained.
They also suggested the killers were familiar
enough with the house to know where to find them.
To me as an investigator that speaks of knowledge,
you know, that the offender knew the victims.
In the master bedroom, there was an even more
telling piece of evidence.
In the midst of this big disarray of the room
someone took the time to put a doily over
Sandra's face.
Walk over to the side of the bed where Richard is,
and you see that the comforters and the
blankets have been pulled in such a way that they
cover his face.
To detectives the covered faces not only suggested
the killers knew Richard and Sandra - it was a sign
they had some remorse over their actions.
When someone covers, covers a face of someone
they just killed it's, it's a sign of guilt.
They don't want to look at their handy work so they
cover the face.
But who in Richard and Sandra's lives would want
to *** them in such a brutal fashion?
To answer that question, detectives turned to the
woman who initially reported the crime:
Renee Vlna.
When I arrive at the crime scene Renee Vlna and
Ashley *** who are Jason's mother and sister
respectively are already there giving written
statements to, uh, the patrol officers.
Renee told police that the previous night her son
Jason and Tabitha had gone out with Carlos
Christopher and his new girlfriend Tammy Taback.
The plan was for the four of them to attend the
annual Home Days festival.
Home Days is a carnival type event that the city
of South Euclid puts on you know it has rides,
games, attractions, food, music, fireworks.
Renee told police Jason told her he'd be home
later that night.
But Jason never came home.
She was trying to get a hold of him throughout the
night she couldn't; she tried to call Richard and
Sandra on their cell phones they weren't
answering so after she got off work that day she went
to the Messina house.
When Jason's mother arrived to find a window
broken out and the screen slashed open,
she called 9-1-1.
Renee's statement suggested the
disappearances of the four teenagers might somehow be
related to Richard and Sandy's brutal
double-homicide.
And when combined with Sandra's missing GMC,
suggested two very different possibilities:
One was that the quartet of friends might have come
back to Richard and Sandra's house - only to
encounter the killer who kidnapped them in the GMC.
The other, and more troubling theory, was that
the four teenagers were somehow responsible for
the crime.
And were now on the run in the stolen SUV.
So the question is Where are they?
Are they together on the run?
Detectives immediately issued a BOLO for Tabitha
Messina, Jason ***, Carlos Christopher, and
Tammy Taback.
A few hours later, police tracked down two of the
four possible suspects:
Jason *** and Tammy Tabak.
Interviewing them separately, investigators
peppered Jason and Tammy with questions.
I sat there for probably two maybe three hours and
filled out a twelve-page statement for them.
According to both Tammy and Jason, the night had
been a big one for both couples.
After the Home Days celebration, the group
headed over to a nearby playground.
We all just hung out there and we were all just
talking and everything having a good time.
Such a good time, that as the sun was setting, Jason
*** made a completely unexpected gesture toward
his new girlfriend Tabitha Messina...
They're at a carnival having a great time, it
seems like the usual romance and Jason gets
down on one knee and says, "will you marry me"
to Tabitha.
Tabitha was clearly caught off guard by the impromptu
proposal by her teen fling.
As was her former lover Carlos...
It's very bizarre that Jason asked Tabitha to
marry him.
But Carlos was even more shocked when Tabitha
inexplicably accepted Jason's proposal.
But before Carlos had a chance to ask Tabitha what
she was thinking, Tammy Tabak said that Tabitha
received a call on her cell phone.
Or rather, the cell phone she'd borrowed from her
dad's girlfriend.
Tabitha had borrowed Sandra's cell phone.
Richard began to call Tabitha on that cell phone
asking her to bring it back.
Only Richard wasn't asking,
so much as demanding...
I could hear him screaming, "I want my damn
cell phone back at the house right now."
That's when Tabitha asked Carlos - not her new
fiance Jason - to come to her rescue - and take the
phone back for her.
I think Tabitha had sent Carlos to make Rick even
more angry.
In the past, Richard had made it clear to Tabitha
he didn't want her anywhere near Carlos.
So when he saw her ex-boyfriend show up on
his doorstep to return Sandra's phone - he flew
into a rage.
When Carlos took the phone back he got to the
sidewalk in front of the Messina house and Richard
saw Carlos with the phone and that set him off.
They get into a fight, Carlos pushes Richard.
Richard punches Carlos in the face.
During the scuffle, Richard told Carlos he was
going to call the cops.
Carlos then fled the scene - returning to the
playground where he told Tabitha, Jason and Tammy
what happened.
A few minutes later, the cops showed up.
They'd just spoken with Richard Messina and had a
warning for Carlos.
The police find Tabitha and her group.
And in speaking with them they advised him that he
is not supposed to come on the property.
But according to Tammy Tabak, Carlos wasn't the
only one Richard Messina banned from his property.
Tabitha Messina was told to stay away, that she had
been thrown out of the house.
According to Tammy, Tabitha had been crushed
to learn her own father had kicked her to the curb.
Even though she had provoked her father and
he'd threatened to throw her out in the past - she
never thought he would follow through
with the threat.
Now stunned and distraught, Tammy said
Tabitha turned to someone else for comfort.
But once again it wasn't her new fiance,
Jason ***.
Rather, she ran to her recent hero and old flame
- Carlos Christopher.
And after a long and emotional embrace, Tammy
said Tabitha asked Carlos to take a walk with her.
Alone.
Tabitha and Carlos were kind of like, if I had to
give a guess, maybe five hundred to a thousand feet
ahead of us talking...
Tammy couldn't say for sure what Carlos and
Tabitha had been talking about.
All she knew was that she and Jason were pretty
ticked off that their significant others had
gone off together.
After an hour of waiting, Tammy headed home.
A few hours later, Tammy got a phone call from
Tabitha's husband-to-be, Jason ***.
Jason called me at three thirty in the morning
asking me if I had heard from Tabitha or Carlos,
and I said no I have not heard from Tabitha
or Carlos.
If Tammy Tabak's statement was true, then not only
did Carlos Christopher have a physical
confrontation with Tabitha's father the night
of the murders, he and Tabitha were unaccounted
for at the time the crime was committed.
And when they start putting the timeline
together, they were wondering what took, you
know, that long period of time.
They really couldn't speak too well about Carlos and
Tabitha's whereabouts for that whole time period.
Police couldn't help but wonder - had the former
lovers reignited their old flame?
If only to put an end to Tabitha's tumultuous
relationship with her father and Sandra once and
for all?
A single phone call transforms the case from a
*** investigation into a multi-state manhunt.
The warrant says they should be considered armed
and dangerous.
And police finally catch up to Carlos and Tabitha.
But not before Tabitha reveals
a jaw-dropping secret.
Shocked, appalled, eye opening.
Those were a justification as to why he should become
involved in this.
involved in this.
On July 29, 2007, Richard Messina and his girlfriend
Sandra Cover were found brutally murdered in their
home in suburban Cleveland.
After speaking with Jason *** and Tammy Tabak,
police believed Richard's daughter, Tabitha Messina
- and her former lover, Carlos Christopher - might
have murdered Richard and Sandra after a
confrontation over a cell phone.
The altercation had led to Tabitha telling Carlos to
take back the cell phone for her.
She refused to even go along with Carlos.
Based on a statement from Tammy Tabak, investigators
knew that after the confrontation, Richard
banned Carlos from his property and kicked
Tabitha out of the house.
A move police believed not only devastated Tabitha,
but drove her back into Carlos's arms.
But police believed that whatever satisfaction
Tabitha may have felt from being reunited with Carlos
was also overshadowed by the feelings of betrayal
she felt after her father kicked her to the curb.
Up to this point, Tabitha had done everything to
make her father happy - including giving up the
man she really loved.
But now that Richard had thrown her out, police
theorized that Tabitha had not only gone back to
Carlos - but that she and Carlos had decided to
*** Richard and Sandy as payback for keeping
them apart in the first place.
That theory gained further traction when Tammy Tabak
told investigators about a phone call she received
from Carlos and Tabitha the morning
after the murders.
They had called me up like we're
running away to Georgia.
Tabitha was like you, me, Carlos and Jason we are
all going to start a new life together.
According to Tammy, Tabitha's sales pitch
almost worked.
Starting a new life you know where nobody knew me;
it actually sounded good to me.
In fact, Tammy told police she was packed and waiting
when Carlos and Tabitha came to pick her up...in
Sandra Cover's GMC Jimmy.
That's when I pretty much started getting a bad
feeling internally that something wasn't right.
In another interrogation room, Tabitha's fiance,
Jason ***, was telling a similar story.
Jason agreed that they're going to turn around and
they're going to come back to Ohio.
Tammy and Jason weren't the only ones who had
a feeling that Tabitha and Carlos were
up to no good.
Back at the crime scene, investigators found
evidence that supported their suspicions.
A couple shirts and a knife and a fedora hat
were found in the shrubs just outside of the house.
Those shirts were collected and submitted
for testing.
Those shirts contained the DNA of both Tabitha and
Carlos respectively along with the blood
of Sandra Cover.
Between the blood evidence, and the
statements made by Tammy Tabak and Jason ***,
investigators had enough evidence to arrest the
couple, who by then could be anywhere.
Warrants were issued immediately for
their arrest.
The warrant says they should be considered armed
and dangerous.
Fortunately for investigators, just 16
hours after issuing the BOLO, the owner of a motel
in Avery County, North Carolina spotted something
unusual in his parking lot.
The manager awakes in the morning, goes to do his
thing, opens up the door, sees this strange car in
the parking lot.
It was parked crooked in the parking lot and there
was litter outside of it as if somebody was just
throwing stuff out the window.
When the motel owner approached the vehicle, he
discovered two people asleep inside, and
immediately called the authorities.
One of our officers got there, run the tag
on the vehicle.
Dispatch informs him of the, uh, be on the lookout
or the BOLO that we put on the car that, uh, it is
related to a double homicide.
When he heard that he immediately backed off
called in reinforcements.
Moments later, a team of heavily armed officers
arrived on the scene and ordered Carlos and Tabitha
out of the vehicle.
At first the two suspects refused.
They didn't wanna exit the vehicle.
We approached the vehicle and took both Carlos
Christopher and Tabitha Messina out of the vehicle
at gunpoint.
Before she'd even made it to the back of the squad
car, Tabitha began professing her innocence.
She was saying that they did not do that, did not
kill her father and his girlfriend.
Though to investigators, her behavior suggested she
was guilty.
A normal human reaction especially from someone
who had nothing to do with the crime would be
sadness; would be anger; would be confusion.
Uh, Tabitha exhibited none of that.
She never showed any kind of remorse, any kind of
sadness, any kind of concern for her father
and Sandi.
But once she was back in Ohio, Tabitha told
investigators an entirely different story
about the ***.
One that put the blame for the crime squarely at the
feet of on and off again lover Carlos Christopher.
Eventually she settled on the story that Carlos
killed both Richard and Sandra and that she was in
effect held hostage while he did it.
He threatened that if she said anything he was going
to kill her.
Unfortunately for Tabitha, there were a few problems
with her story.
It was evident that they were killed with two
different weapons.
Richard's injuries were chops, which would be
indicative of an axe or a knife; Sandra had several
elongated bruises on her torso.
One person assaulting both of them would likely not
change weapons in doing so.
But the presence of two *** weapons wasn't the
only evidence contradicting
Tabitha's story.
Down the hall, Carlos Christopher was giving a
far different, far more contrite,
version of events.
Carlos maintained that he was sorry
for what happened.
Carlos also maintained that killing Richard and
Sandra was Tabitha's idea.
According to Carlos, it all started after his
altercation with Richard, when police showed up at
the playground and told Tabitha she was no longer
welcome at home.
Carlos claimed that's when Tabitha pulled him aside
and re-professed her true feelings her him.
And she immediately followed that up with a
sinister proposal.
Tabitha pulled him aside and told him that, you
know, we should kill him.
But Richard wasn't the only one Tabitha
wanted to kill.
Carlos said Tabitha also wanted to *** Sandra -
since she'd been the one who ratted her out over
taking the cell phone.
Carlos claimed he resisted the idea at first.
Until Tabitha told Carlos a shocking story he'd
never heard before.
A story that triggered a wave of emotions.
She begins to tell Carlos about what a horrible
childhood she had, how she was *** repeatedly by
Richard, how he had beat her.
Like Carlos, detectives were stunned by the
accusations of abuse.
It's bull when it comes to, ah, any type
of *** abuse.
I would stake my life on that, my dad, ah, despised
those type of people.
Whether or not Tabitha's accusations were true, one
thing was certain: they infuriated Carlos.
Those were a justification as to why he should become
involved in this, in this homicide.
But anger was only one of the emotions Carlos
experienced that night.
As he listened to Tabitha spell out her murderous
plan, Carlos also felt the *** spark between them
re-ignite.
She used her sexuality or her power of persuasion
over Carlos Christopher to recruit him to be part of
this, this act of homicide.
At that point Carlos and Tabitha decided they could
no longer keep their hands off one another, so they
ditched Tammy and Jason, and headed for a private
spot not far from the playground.
There was a level of intimacy that night.
Fueled by their reignited passion - and a new
commitment to be together no matter the consequences
- Carlos said he and Tabitha made their way to
Richard and Sandy's house.
Though Carlos claimed he still had no plans
to kill anybody.
He maintained that he never wanted
to hurt anybody.
He just wanted to scare them.
He just wanted to stop him from hurting Tabitha.
But once they broke into the house, it became clear
to Carlos that Tabitha was out for blood.
They went into the bedroom.
He stood over Richard.
Tabitha stood over Sandra, and just about the time
that Carlos was going to wake Richard up he looks
over and sees Tabitha
whaling on Sandi with a crowbar.
According to Carlos, the sound of Tabitha attacking
Sandy jolted Richard Messina awake.
That's when Carlos claimed he reacted
without thinking.
Carlos, he says his mind froze and at that time he
hit Richard with the axe.
Chopped Rick in the neck, almost decapitated him.
Death came to Richard Messina in a matter of
moments following those multiple blows of the,
of the hatchet.
Richard Messina may have died instantly, but not
Sandi Cover.
According to Carlos, she and Tabitha were locked in
a desperate struggle.
Tabitha says to him Carlos kill this ***.
At that point, Carlos helped Tabitha
finish off Sandra.
Then, the couple had grabbed some money and
jewelry from the bedroom before escaping
in Sandy's GMC.
They tried to kinda hide the scene by ransacking
the place and looking as though someone else who
didn't know the family did it.
With Carlos' confession in tow, investigators charged
him and Tabitha with a laundry list of felonies.
Including breaking and entering, robbery, and two
counts of aggravated ***.
Shocked, appalled, eye opening.
The community had never experienced a crime of
such violence that was publicized so heavily.
Amidst this growing media frenzy, prosecutors
announced that they would seek the death penalty
against Tabitha and Carlos.
There were additional felonies that were
committed and the level of cruelty that went in to
this type of, ah, killing and how it was
perpetrated, um, would definitely make this a
death penalty eligible case.
Which suited the victims' families just fine -
despite the fact that one of the accused was their
own flesh and blood.
Most of us wanted the death penalty.
I know I wanted the death penalty,
an eye for an eye.
A series of gruesome revelations sends family
members fleeing from the courtroom.
They couldn't handle it.
He basically wanted to see him burn in hell.
And Carlos and Tabitha's dueling statements are put
on trial.
But who will the jury believe?
You could hear an audible gasp throughout
the courtroom.
May 2008.
It had now been nine months since teen lovers
Tabitha Messina and Carlos Christopher fled the
Cleveland suburbs after allegedly murdering
Tabitha's father, Richard Messina, and his
girlfriend, Sandra Cover.
After being on the run for less than 24 hours, Carlos
and Tabitha were arrested outside a motel in rural
North Carolina, and were charged with two counts of
aggravated ***.
And prosecutors announced they'd be seeking the
death penalty against both of them.
These were capital *** cases, so under Ohio law
the court can hold you without bond when the
charge is for the death penalty.
But, while the couple had allegedly killed together,
they would be tried separately.
Carlos, who'd already confessed to murdering
Richard Messina, would be tried first.
Prosecutors opened their case by rolling out the
physical evidence linking Carlos to the crime.
The prosecuting attorney just methodically went
through everything.
There was no question as to the quality of the
proof that Carlos Christopher and
Tabitha Messina were the perpetrators
of this homicide.
To hammer home their point, prosecutors
submitted crime scene photos as evidence that
Carlos attacked Richard Messina - and then Sandra
- with the rage of a man hell-bent on ***.
According to prosecutors - every hack delivered to
Richard and Sandra's bodies was backed by an
anger and resentment that Carlos had built up
against the man who had forbidden him from being
with his true love.
Blood was flying inside of that room.
This was not an intent to scare anyone.
The crime scene photos were powerful, but they
were more than some family members could stomach...
My mom left the courtroom; my brother Ted left
the courtroom.
They didn't look at those pictures.
They couldn't handle it.
When it was their turn, Carlos' defense team
claimed that while there was no denying their
client had taken part in the ***, he certainly
wasn't the crime's mastermind.
Carlos Christopher's claim was that he was not the
principle offender, that Tabitha Messina was the
motivator and the leader of this act of homicide.
Tabitha just kept pushing this idea that her father
is sexually assaulting her to him in an effort to
convince him to go forward with the plan.
But prosecutors fired back that there was no proof
that Richard Messina had ever assaulted
his daughter.
And that the entire story was nothing more
than a ruse.
There was never any evidence of any type of
abuse by the part of Richard Messina against
his daughter, those were inventions that Tabitha
Messina perhaps gave to Carlos Christopher as a
justification as to why he should become involved in
this homicide.
After three days of testimony,
both sides rested.
Forty-Eight hours later, the three-judge panel
returned with a verdict.
Carlos Christopher was convicted of
aggravated ***.
With the verdict rendered, it was now time for the
sentencing hearing.
This time, prosecutors opened by offering up a
series of fiery victims' impact statements.
One of them was really adamant about Carlos
getting the death penalty.
He basically wanted to see him burn in hell.
When it was their turn, the defense argued that
the judges should take into account Carlos'
traumatic childhood in the slums of Brazil.
Carlos's attorney said that Carlos was born into
the formal equivalent of a toxic waste dump.
They used his upbringing in the mitigation citing
the fact that he witnessed all this violence when he
was a kid.
Tales of Carlos' troubled childhood didn't seem to
sway the victims' families.
You could see the victims' family shake their heads.
Oh he didn't have enough hugs and oh he was born in
Brazil and his mom died in prison, and I don't care.
So instead of letting his attorneys do the talking,
Carlos Christopher decided to take the stand - and
attempt to personally atone for his crimes.
He actually offered an apology on the last day of
the sentencing, and the emotional way that he
projected those words felt as though he was
apologetic and regretted what he did.
While Carlos' tearful plea didn't sway family
members, it did seem to have some impact
on the judges.
The judges felt based by the circumstances
surrounding the homicide that the appropriate
punishment in this type of a case would not be the
death penalty.
Carlos Christopher was sentenced to two
concurrent life sentences with no
possibility for parole.
You could hear an audible gasp throughout the
courtroom followed by some crying and some tears from
the families because they really wanted
the death penalty.
But if it was the death penalty victims' families
were after, they'd have another chance to see
justice served.
When Richard's daughter Tabitha stood trial.
The court hears from Tabitha herself.
I was selfish, and I wanted everything.
And Tabitha's defense makes a bold move - one
that may render her entire trial obsolete.
We were looking for justice.
We were looking for justice.
October 24th, 2008, it had been more than a year
since 19-year-old Tabitha Messina had been arrested
for the murders of her father, Richard and his
girlfriend, Sandra Cover.
Earlier that year, Carlos Christopher - Tabitha's
friend, turned lover, turned co-conspirator -
had been convicted by a three-judge panel.
But a heartfelt apology during his sentencing
helped Carlos avoid the death penalty.
He apologized to the victims' families for what
he did, he knew what he did was wrong.
Although Tabitha also faced a possible death
sentence if convicted, she had been anything but
remorseful in the weeks leading up to her trial.
She was very defiant.
My defense is gonna be that I was abused, so it
was justified.
But then, just days before Tabitha's trial was
scheduled to begin...
She changed her plea from not guilty to guilty.
Apparently, Tabitha's sudden about-face came
after prosecutors made an offer too good to pass up.
By entering a guilty plea the death penalty was
taken off the table.
They felt based by the circumstances surrounding
the homicide that the appropriate punishment in
this type of a case would not be the death penalty.
The plea bargain angered some members of the
victims' families.
I don't understand why there is a death penalty,
if they don't get the death penalty why is there
a death penalty?
We were looking for justice.
Under the order of the plea bargain, Tabitha
would be able to save her own life,
albeit behind bars.
Tabitha seized the opportunity, taking the
stand and offering up an apology even more
emotional than Carlos'.
I was selfish, and I wanted everything.
I ruined that your honor.
She said I had a good father, my father was good
to me, he loved me, but I pushed his buttons.
But as tearful as her apology was, Tabitha's own
family wasn't buying it.
They were crocodile tears, there's no way that
Tabitha's statement was sincere or
true in any way.
The presiding judge wasn't buying it, either.
He sentenced Tabitha to 30 years to life for each
***, with the sentences to run consecutively.
She won't see the light of day until she's eighty
if that.
She'll be eligible for parole when she's eighty.
It is my fervent hope that someday she gets shanked
in prison, and then maybe justice will
be finally done.
Whether Tabitha Messina ever walks out of prison
or not, one thing is certain.
The connection between Tabitha and Carlos - was
powerful enough to ultimately bring
them back together.
Even if the cause for their reunion was to kill
the very people who kept them apart.
Tabitha is wholly evil, he was really just in the
wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong
person, and he'll spend the rest of his life
regretting it.