Hollywood

0:13Speaker 1:Rose is sitting on a cold wooden bench that feels like it was built to keep you awake. She's trying to keep her face neutral, trying to look like a person who's here for a normal reason, like jury duty or a parking ticket, anything but this. Her knee is bouncing and she's picking at her fingernails. When her name is finally called, Rose forces herself to stand up and walk through the courtroom doors. She keeps her head down, reminding herself not to look up at the defendant. She might lose her composure remembering things in the wrong order.

0:55Speaker 1:She can't help herself. Rose sees the defendant sitting at the table with their attorney. The defendant looks tidy, calm, composed, almost like Rose is the one on trial and they're the witness. Rose raises her right hand and swears to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing.

1:17Speaker 2:But the truth.

1:18Speaker 1:So help her God. Now the jury needs to know how she's involved in all of this. It is a murder trial, after all. Rose has to say it out loud in front of strangers. She met a woman online and fell in love, But the woman Rose knew is nowhere to be found. Welcome to Sword and Scale Nightmares, True Crime for Bedtime or Nightmare Beginnings.

2:04Speaker 2:Now.

2:27Speaker 1:Rose Sadaro is nineteen years old. It's March of two thousand and six, which means dating isn't just an app in your pocket. It's a desktop computer in the family media room, or if you're lucky, in your bedroom. You probably find friends and dates on a website called MySpace, scrolling through flashing colorful profiles, choosing and changing your top eight friends, or hanging out in a chat room. At least that's what Rose likes to do. And she's just a new friend named Hollywood. She's cute, has a really cool profile, and seems to have similar interests. MySpace messages turn into texts. Hollywood is a little bit older than Rose, that she's got a more exciting life. Apparently, Hollywood is a firefighter for Villa Park, a suburb of Chicago. But before this gig, she worked as a firefighter in New York City during nine to eleven. She even got an award for her service at Ground zero. Texts turned into phone calls. Each time Rose's phone rings, the caller ID shows Hollywood. Rose thinks it's cute. Hollywood, says her career has been stressful. As she tells Rose that she's a heavy drinker. She knows she should quit, but she can't.

3:54Speaker 1:She reveals that years prior, she had liver cancer and a transplant saved her life. This new liver won't last much longer, though, not the way she's been going. And to make matters worse, her brother Danny just died recently. Hollywood says he had something serious, something called Wilson's disease. Rose doesn't seem to care about Hollywood's baggage. She's in love, and she's got an I can fix her attitude, and Hollywood's life sounds bigger than Rose's life. New York Firefighting Station sixty seven, a whole world of people with nicknames, stories, and history. It sounds like a real adult life, the kind you only know from the movies or news clips and late night conversations. Hollywood seems like someone Rose should be lucky to have, but everything about her also makes Rose feel like there's a deadline on the relationship before it's even started. A month after chatting online, they decide to meet in person at Rose's house. The relationship moves quickly from platonic to sexual, time passes in a quick, messy way, as it tends to do when you're nineteen and enamored. Hollywood calls her things like baby and pretty girl.

5:22Speaker 1:It feels good to be wanted. In the summertime, Hollywood shows Rose the shiny nineteen sixty six Ford Mustang she just bought. She opens the spacious trunk and moves her guitar out of the way to tell Rose about the stereo equipment she plans to have installed. Rose thinks Hollywood is interesting and mysterious, but she's living like she's about to die, like she wasn't exaggerating about her health issues. The next time the two fight, Ros's fears are confirmed, Hollywood tells Rose she's got lung can her now. Dramatically, Hollywood drives Rose to a surprised destination. As they pull up, Rose reads funeral home on the side. Hollywood leads the way inside the building and right over to a casket.

6:16Speaker 1:She tells Rose that this is the one she wants to be buried in, and to make sure that there's a firefighting logo inscribed on the lid. She's serious about this, and Rose doesn't know how to respond. She wants Hollywood to be telling the truth, even if it means she's really dying. The alternative that she's lying somehow feels worse. Later in the car, Rose watches the street lights flicker across Hollywood's face. She thinks back over everything she knows.

6:50Speaker 1:This woman is intense and she's broken, and she must be telling the truth. Why would someone lie about something so serious? Hollywood reaches over, squeezes Rose's hand and says she wants a future. She starts talking like it's already planned, like she didn't just pick out her own casket. She wants a place together and a life together. Rose believes her, and that's the problem. Rose Sidaro is nineteen when she meets a woman online who calls herself Hollywood. Hollywood is Kara's mad, intense and larger than life. She says she's a firefighter, She's a hero who's seen things that no one else should ever see, and Rose believes all of it.

8:13Speaker 1:It's not just the stories, it's the way Hollywood tells them, like she's daring you to doubt her. And what are you supposed to say when someone says they've saved lives at ground zero? Prove it? But Rose isn't seeing what she can't see, not yet anyway, because the knight that landed her a seat on the witness stand was a night she thought was a normal date at a bowling alley. It's Thursday night, March fifteenth, two thousand and seven. It's been a year since this romance started. Tonight is normal and easy. They're going to dinner, then bowling. They're drinking, laughing and talking about the future. Is smitten. The women meet at a restaurant and decide to leave Hollywood's car there and this relationship. Rose drives whenever possible, because Hollywood is usually over the legal limit. They pull into the bowling alley around ten. Hollywood is getting drunk fast. Rose is watching it happen, doing that thing you do when you're being fully engulfed by a toxic relationship. She's glad Hollywood is enjoying herself. The two stay out late till about one point thirty in the morning. Hollywood is plastered,

9:37Speaker 1:and Rose drives them both back to Hollywood's place. The clock reads three am. When Rose pulls into the driveway. There's a white van further up near the garage. Rose doesn't know whose it is and she doesn't ask. They walk inside silence. The roommate stop be home because Hollywood's stumbling around isn't exactly quiet. They make their way to the back bedroom so Hollywood can get a change of clothes for Rose to sleep it. Rose spots it immediately, sitting on the bed, right out in the open. She sees a gun. It's not buried in the closet or tucked under the mattress. It's just sitting there like it's just been used or about to be. Rose feels her body tense up. Rose has wondered about the more mysterious aspects of Hollywood's life, but now she's getting suspicious. All of their questions and doubts she hides in the corners of her mind must have come to the forefront, and they're screaming at her. This time. Rose asks questions. Hollywood tells her not to worry and tucks the gun into the bedside table. Rose puts it out of her mind and the two go to sleep. Morning comes fast. Hollywood is awake by eight. Rose falls back asleep for a while.

11:09Speaker 1:When she wakes again, they're watching TV. The weirdness of the gun on the bed has already faded. Right now, things feel comforting, domestic. Even the peace and quiet don't last long. Soon, Hollywood's phone is ringing off the hook. Rose can't hear the details of the phone calls, but she sees Hollywood's face change. She hears her voice titan. She watches her pace back and forth, stopping occasionally to peer out of the window like she's expecting someone. No one comes. They leave around noon so Hollywood can get her car from the restaurant. Rose is still wondering what all the phone calls were about. During the drive, Hollywood tells Rose that her roommate is missing and that her roommate's parents and her boss have been calling. Rose drops Hollywood off and goes back to her own home and routine. Later, Rose is supposed to be a tending awake and Hollywood is invited. She calls to say she's going to be late and wants Rose to wait.

12:19Speaker 2:Up for her.

12:21Speaker 1:Rose agrees. While Rose is driving home after the wake, Hollywood calls again. Her voice is calm and controlled. She tells Rose that if she gets pulled over, she should deny knowing her deny having a MySpace account. Rose is confused. This is getting weird, and she can't reconcile these strange behaviors and unanswered questions with the person she knows Hollywood to be a hero, a role model, and someone who's just had a lot of bad luck in life. So then Hollywood calls back to apologize. She says a neighbor saw Rose's car in the driveway. Rose wonders why it would matter, but Hollywood doesn't explain. Again, she explains how Rose should deal with the police should they come knocking.

13:18Speaker 1:She lays out a story. Rose is supposed to say, I left my car at the house because I couldn't drive, and a friend drove me home. If she gives these answers, it'll keep her from getting involved, but the question remains just exactly what is Hollywood involved in? Two days later, on Saturday, March seventeenth, two thousand and seven, police want to bring Rose in for questioning. Rose repeats the script she's been given. She confirms she was with Hollywood two nights ago, whose real name is Nicole A. Boucherief. She leaves out the part that feels most personal. She's nineteen, embarrassed and sitting in a police station doesn't feel like a safe place for a teenager to share that she's been sleeping with a twenty eight year old woman she met online. But Rose isn't just Nichole's secret. She's the other woman, and she doesn't even know it. Niicole wasn't single when she started talking to Rose online under a fake name. She was fully entrenched in building a life with someone else, thirty two year old Rebecca Klein. They've been together for almost seven years. They share a life, a home. They even wear matching commitment rings. Rose shifts

15:03Speaker 1:in her seat as she realizes the truth. Not only was she sleeping with a much older woman, but she was sleeping with a married woman. Basically, she thinks that's why she's here, But the police are asking questions like they're investigating something much much worse than infidelity. Back in Villa Park, Illinois, the missing person's story is already falling apart. Thirty two year old Rebecca Klein hasn't shown up for work. Her white van isn't where it should be. Her work involves planning activities for adults with disabilities. She isn't the kind of person who would leave her clients hanging. Her boss is calling her at home. Her family is circling and police are involved, but no one can find her anywhere.

16:26Speaker 1:Now we're rewinding. Police talked to Rose Sadaro on Saturday, March seventeenth, but the day before, a detective had paid Nicole Abusherief or Hollywood a visit. During this visit, Nicole tells him that she and Rebecca have been together for about seven years. She describes a loving, committed marriage like situation, no infidelity, hardly any fighting, a relationship with no room for a third person. But a neighbor has already told police he saw Rose's car in the driveway overnight. He also saw Rebecca's white van there early that morning. Suddenly, Rose is someone that has to be accounted for, and Nichole's explanation comes out quick and polished. Rose was drunk.

17:24Speaker 1:Rose left her car at the house a friend drove her home. Nichole says she hadn't mentioned it before because she didn't want Rose to get in trouble for underage drinking. Then she adds something even stranger. She claims she didn't have Rose's address or phone number. She's met with skeptical looks. Of course, the detective walks to the garage where Nichole's new Mustang sits. He notices dust covering the whole car, except for a clean spot on the trunk lid, like someone had recently opened it. It's one of those trunks where you have to use a physical key to unlock it before the lid will pop up. He asks Nicole for the key. Nickole says she only has a key for the ignition and that the trunk never had a key at all. Inside the house, the weird little details keep piling up. Police try to use Nichole's laptop in the dining room but can't get internet access. Rebecca's brother in law goes downstairs to reset the connection. For a moment, the laptop looks like it's working, then the internet drops out again. When he goes back downstairs, he sees the modem unplugged. No one can say who unplugged it, only

18:49Speaker 1:that it's unplugged at exactly the moment police are trying to look. So back to March seventeenth. Then, the police have got Rows in their interview room. At the same time, Rebecca's mother is telling detectives that Nicole called her earlier that morning. Apparently it was to ask if she'd heard from Rebecca. Nicole told her mother in law that Rebecca went to work around six point thirty, but now no one could get a hold of her. Rebecca's mom gets off the phone, calls family, calls Rebecca's workplace and finds out that she never showed up to work. She's worried, so she calls Nicole back. Nichole says she's going to drive around and look for Rebecca's work band. By the afternoon, Nicole says she's found it. According to her, it was on a street corner near the house, unlocked, with the keys in the ignition and a backpack on the seat.

19:47Speaker 1:Rebecca's parents rushed to the house, and by the time they get there, the police have already arrived, asking to search the house again for clues. At first, Nicole refuses, but eventually she gives in. First, they want to take Nicole to the bank to see if there's been any weird activity on Rebecca's accounts. Nicole, who has an excuse for everything, says she wants to stay home in case Rebecca calls. After twenty minutes of goating, the police convince her to go with them. That the house detectives make a beeline to the garage, back to the Mustang, and one of them removes a speaker from the rear deck so he can look into the trunk. Through the opening, he sees something shiny, translucent and plastickey put.

20:40Speaker 2:It that way.

20:41Speaker 1:He moves his flashlight around inside the gap at different angles, tape hair, the shape of the head. This is Rebecca. There's no sign of forced entry to the house or the garage. The missing person's story ends right here, but Nicole doesn't know it yet. Police aren't going to reveal to her what they've found, not quite yet. Instead, he walks back inside and asks Nicole again if she has the keys to the trunk. Nichole says the locks have been changed and she doesn't have a key. Later, when investigators search the house more thoroughly, they find keys on an end table in the living room and another key in a dresser in the master bedroom. They try them all and guess what the trunk opens. Rebecca is lying there on her side in a fetal position, hands tied behind her back. She's got a plastic garbage bag over her head, tightly wrapped with duct tape. Inside the bag, her eyes and mouth are covered with bandanas like she's been suffocated. Four days later, when officials think they have enough evidence to convince a jury, Nicole is charged with first degree murder. Bond is set at one million dollars,

22:15Speaker 1:and at the trial, the state doesn't hang this case on one dramatic piece of evidence. They build it up like a wall. They start with the motive. Why would Nicole want to blow up her life? Rebecca's mother testifies that the couple hardly ever fought. The only issue she's aware of is that her daughter wanted children and Nicole did not. In fact, Rebecca wanted children so badly that she'd started purchasing toys. She'd keep them in a closet until Nicole changed her mind. Nicole's mind, though, was made up.

22:55Speaker 1:She didn't want to be tied down to one person, even claiming in court that she and Rebecca had an open relationship. Nicole was prowling online for someone new, and more importantly, she had three hundred and seventy five thousand dollars in life insurance payouts coming her way if something were ever to happen to Rebecca. This is the first time Rose is hearing a lot of these details, and she's floored. Now she can clearly see the role she was playing upon in Nichole's twisted chess game. But this trial isn't over yet. Next, prosecutors describe the scene of the crime. There's no fourth century. Rebecca didn't just disappear into the night. She vanished inside her own life. She was found where only someone with access could put her.

23:56Speaker 1:Prosecutors walk the jury through the physical evidence. The trunk that didn't have a key until they found one in the house, the dust on the Mustang all except the clean spot on the trunk lid, fingerprints on the trunk that matched Nichole's left hand, and the duct tape around Rebecca's head, which is confirmed to be from a role found in the garage. All of these items have Nichole's fingerprints all over them. It's like she made no effort to conceal her crimes, aside from simply lying, which she did so well. She didn't even think to delete her Internet history on Nichole's computer. It's clear she's been leading a double life. A computer crimes investigator testifies about the MySpace messages. Nicole admits she used MySpace, but claims she stopped because there's too many crazy people on it. Yeah, okay.

25:00Speaker 1:She says Rose is a friend she met on MySpace, but she can't even remember Rose's screen name. Meanwhile, the state presents MySpace messages Rose received from multiple profiles names like Sam, Tiff, Becky, n YFD, and ties those messages back to IP addresses associated with Nicole. The world Rose thought she was being invited to, the one filled with firefighters and nicknames and dramatic updates starts collapsing inward. It was not a world. It was one person behind a keyboard building a cast of characters directing her own fictional reality.

25:51Speaker 1:The goal wasn't dying of lung or liver cancer. Her brother was very much still alive, and she had never been a firefighter. In fact, she worked a normal, boring job at a security company. So when Rose sits on that cold, wooden bench and they call her name, she tells the truth. To her, this all felt like a trap. Nicole built a fantasy, shoved it down her throat, and involved he Rose in a murder before she even realized what was happening. Rose's testimony tips the scales. Nicole admits that yes, she's lied about a lot, but she's not a murderer. Her defense doesn't convince anyone. A jury finds Nicole abuscherif or Hollywood guilty, and a judge sentences her to fifty years in prison. She'll have to serve the entire sentence before eligible for parole at the age of seventy six. Rose Sidaro doesn't hear the sentence in some cinematic courtroom moment. She hears it years later as information passed along, like the final footnote of the worst year of her life. It should have felt like an ending, but the flashbacks still come. She sees the driveway at three am, the white van, the house, and shudders to

27:35Speaker 1:think what was in the garage. She remembers how close she was and how very little she understood. If you enjoyed the show, please consider joining plus at Sword and Scale dot com slash plus. But if you can't, consider leaving us a positive review on your preferred listening platform. Sweet Dreams and Goodnight