Transcribe your podcast
[00:00:00]

Zordon Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences, listener discretion is advised.

[00:00:15]

You know, I am wanted for murder in the state of Oregon. OK, Edwin, where are you right now? Can you stop? I am going to stop what I had already won. I'm ready. I'm going to stop I. Can you tell me where you are right now? I have no idea.

[00:00:31]

Hello and welcome to Season seven, Episode one sixty six of Soad and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters, a real.

[00:00:51]

So we often record these episodes weeks in advance, so in the last plus episode, I didn't get a chance to thank you. On June 21st, Holly or Oliver or Pooh Bear, my dog of 16 years, passed away. I was severely underprepared for the grief that would come with that. Ali was the first dog I ever had. He was a pound puppy. And I remember when I adopted him, suddenly I felt normal, like loving and caring for this little fur ball and having this be my most important task in life was how things should be.

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The relationship between Ollie and I outlasted six jobs, four moves, two marriages and many more failed relationships, probably a mid-life crisis or two, the entirety of the creation of this podcast and a national tour. A lot of you met Holly during that. And that's also coincidentally how I ended up in Houston. I met the love of my life. She came over to pet that old sweet boy. And we've been inseparable since. And Miss my best friend in the last few weeks have been tough.

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But I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the sweet, comforting messages you've posted on my Instagram and Facebook, I created a short memorial for all. Either that's how I was able to cope in the immediate hours and days after passing. So if you allow me just one more indulgence, I'd like to dedicate this episode to him and to the unconditional love inside every dog's great big heart, if only the rest of us could take a cue from dogs.

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Oh.

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[00:03:20]

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31 year old Edwin Laurer woke up next to his wife in his home in Redmond, Oregon, on Sunday, July 24th, 2016. It was going to be a hot day, just like the day before Edwin had arrived home from work very early in the morning and got only a few hours of sleep before waking up for church around seven a.m..

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The couple attended church together every weekend. His work schedule was all over the place to the point that his wife kept a calendar with the schedule on their fridge so she could refer to it when she wasn't sure when he'd be working. His job frequently required him to work weekends, often the night shift on this particular weekend.

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Edwin had gone into work at two p.m. on Saturday and didn't arrive home until after his shift was over around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday. Despite his small window of time for slumber, missing church on Sunday was out of the question.

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Edwin was a part time campus safety officer at Central Oregon Community College, his alma mater. His wife, Isabel, didn't work Saturdays, so she went to bed around midnight the night before. She didn't hear Edwin come home and climb into bed with her. She was sleeping heavily at the time. What mattered was that he was there when she awoke in the morning and today he was something was off. Though Edwin was acting strangely, he seemed shifty and nervous.

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Isabel could not have prepared herself for what was to come. It was like a movie and it all happened so fast. Edwin and Isabel got up on Sunday, got ready and headed to their church service at Larocque, a church in Bend. The service was scheduled to start at nine a.m.. Are you noticed anything weird at all at this point?

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Yeah. So he was very quiet, like on the way to church. Doesn't say much. Just unusual.

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My church, he was just very quiet, very strong. And he would usually like, grab my head it. So we're going to church as to what's wrong with you, what's going on. Angelo, you know, we've been together for a long time.

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I know something's up when your partner of many years suddenly starts acting cold, distant and distracted is usually something wrong, something directly causing it. We've all experienced it before. Isabel just wanted to know if it was something that she had done, something that perhaps she could fix.

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What was it that was causing Edwin to start acting so differently towards her? Put yourself in Isabel's shoes. Those of us that have been in relationships know exactly what this feels like. She or he are mad and you don't know why you keep asking what's wrong and they keep evading the question, saying nothing. She probably thought that he'd gotten fired from his job the night before and didn't know how to tell her. Or maybe he had cheated on her and was feeling guilty.

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Our minds go to the worst possibilities when something's wrong and we start reenacting these worst case scenarios in our head, preparing to brace ourselves for what is to come.

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But no possible worst case scenario that Isabel concocted in her mind could ever even come close to what Edwin had actually done. And she was about to be slapped in the face by reality.

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You didn't ask him anything at that point, though? No, because it's still in training that work has been stressful for. And indigenous women like. Talking about it like just in the sense of like, so what if I don't make it?

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Yeah, yeah, we just have been it's been stressful in the sense of just trying to figure out.

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Or so I thought that maybe that's just it was altogether. So I didn't even push it. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't I was just like, you know, I'm feeling down to myself.

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Sure. Absolutely. I felt the same exact thing. I didn't push it. I didn't cry.

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Isabel Pontes Laura was in training to be a police officer. She talked about how both she and Edwin were under a lot of stress on sure that she would be able to make it through all the training. Things were kind of up in the air, but she thought maybe Edwin was just having a bad day. We've all had those, too, and she herself had been having a lot of those lately. Once she and Edwyn left church around noon, according to Isbel, they grabbed pizza at Pizza Hut and went with a family member to see a movie at the theater after dropping off the cousin back at his own house and arriving home in their jeep.

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Isabelle noticed something about the Nissan Altima Edwin had been driving the day before the windows were cracked open, all of them. This was strange because Edwin never let the windows down, so Isabelle asked him about it. But he shrugged it off, reminding her that it was a very hot day. They went inside, took a shower together, had sex and went to bed. The next morning would change their lives forever. I woke up like around eight thirty, but I still stated that and I got up like nine.

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Was he in bed with you? I was in bed with me. OK, so he he was still in bed by the time you got out at night. And how did your morning go?

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So I woke up. He told me, oh, you're getting up already because you're usually sleeping. And I'm like, I'm already awake on my way to continuously being. So he stayed in bed and I got up going. I turn on the water sprinklers. I was just waiting for him to get up so we could start the morning. He comes out of the room and his eyes were all teary. That's what my dad told me. So he sits on the sofa.

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I turn off the TV and then it just says that it's like I killed a woman. That's what he said. I'm like, What do you mean? Things like I hit her with the car. And did he tell you which car? The car that they of the job and what? And what did you say to that? So, Michael, what do you mean you hit her and it's a guy who turned. I panic. Now, my what do you what do you mean by you either panicking and what did you do?

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I don't remember exactly the words that he said. He said something that he hit her with the car and then he panicked. Okay. So then I asked him, like, that's what I was trying for him to explain to me. So you hear what? The car. That's an accident. Why? All right. What do you mean you panic? What do you mean? And what did he say? He just kept saying, I panic.

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And at that point he's already late. He got up and he's already late going into the room and walking back and forth here.

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Isabel was a budding police officer and her husband had just told her that he's involved in a hit and run. He had hit a girl with his car, killed her and did not call nine one one. And I'm not really quite understanding what he's telling me. So when he's walking, he walks to your bedroom and he walks to your bedroom. I think it's important that I followed him there and I'm like, explain to me why I would have been OK.

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So then he says at some point, I don't remember. I was back in the living room. I went up because he was just walking back and forth. He said that he hit her with the car. And I asked him, where is there any sign that you hit her white? And he said that it was because of the girl that not there was no signs. And then I'm like, So what did you do with the body? What it is like?

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I hit her now. And then I kept asking them, what is it got to do with you hitting her? And now you bat naked and you hit the body.

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Does that turn south a college way on the E for. So I was going to focus on the larger area there and I didn't see it. So I was in Arizona and I wasn't expecting anybody, you know. So I turned around and I mean, I didn't hit her the authorities bumper with the car, the front rank, and she fell down. And at first I thought I was killed, but I didn't hit her that hard. So I got out of the car and she was really drunk.

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And then she looks at me and then she started screaming. She started screaming, Are you stupid? Edwins personal vehicle was that light blue Nissan Altima. But he drove a different car for work. It was a white SUV then. This part is really important to remember. It resembled a police vehicle.

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Even though Edwin was a simple campus security officer, this car had lights on the exterior, just like a cop car and a grill in the front. It also had a divider separating the front and back seats designed to hold a person in custody. It looks identical to local police cars all over the country. Aside from the decals on the side which said Central Oregon Community College, public safety, how long did this conversation go on?

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For last, it was pretty brief.

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I don't think he grabbed anything other than he did grab my gun from my purse. And then he just kept saying, I need to I need to go. And then right before he left, he's like, there's her stuff in the shed. So he said something in regards to her stuff. It's in the shed and her stuff is in the shed. And I think because I kept telling them it doesn't make sense that you're lying to me, it's not.

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So I feel like you told me that I could go see it and say, Oh, it is.

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Yeah, because it was it makes sense to me that I think he would see that with your body. We did make you feel make you feel like a movie. Just.

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But is it making any sense to me, but it is still one of the reasons we get away with it.

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Where are you going to really do that, especially especially when Isabel looked inside this shed hoping she wouldn't find anything, she was met with concrete evidence, a bloody purse, clothing items and shoes greeted her menacingly when she opened the door and she knew her normal life was about to become chaotic. When she returned to the house, Edwyn and the light blue Altima were gone and he'd also taken her gun. Then she saw the local news on television.

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Sawyer was last seen early Sunday morning near her West Bend apartment parking lot, walking toward nearby Central Oregon Community College. Her mother says her daughter is very close to her family and it's very unusual for them not to hear from her for two days. They say they are worried sick and just want to get their Caylee back.

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The timeline seemed to add up. This girl, Caylee Soyer, was last seen heading towards the campus Edwyn worked at, and she'd also gone missing the same night that Edwyn claimed he hit a girl with his patrol car during his shift missing.

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Twenty three year old Hailey Sawyer has much of central Oregon on the lookout. Thousands of concerned residents spent the day putting up flyers and sharing their concern on Facebook.

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And we just contacted everybody and said, please get her face out there. The incoming SIOC student and Ben native was last seen at 1:00 a.m. Sunday near the parking lot of her West Side apartment near Coxy.

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One day goes by and then the next day goes by. And pretty soon you you're walking up to there's a much bigger problem here and it's hard to process the worry.

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Sawyer was texting her boyfriend Sunday morning when her phone died. Since that time, the family says Caylee has not called posted on social media or showed up to work. She say this is unlike her.

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For some reason, she isn't getting in touch with us. And, you know, the only thing I can think of is that somebody is stopping her.

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The ID inside the purse Isabel Lara found in the shed looked just like the girl she was seeing on the news. She knew she had to do something. People were still out looking for this poor girl thinking she was alive. Isabel and Edwin were the only two people on Earth who knew the truth. Caylee Sawyer was dead. Isabel jumped in her car and drove to the Redmond Police Department. She told officers all of what you just heard by noon, the major crimes team had been activated and police were on the hunt for Edwin Laura.

[00:19:03]

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[00:19:30]

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23 year old Kelly Sawyer was a Bend, Oregon native. She worked as a dental assistant and wanted to eventually go back to school to become a dentist. She had just enrolled at Central Oregon Community College. She was blonde, beautiful and had absolutely perfect teeth, which people commented on constantly. Hey, why not be a billboard for your own profession? Right. Kelly lived in Bend with her boyfriend, Cameron. They rented an apartment near the community college campus, which was on the west end of the city.

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Saturday evening, July twenty third, Kelly went out bar hopping with some friends for a bachelorette party. Late into the evening, she was seen dancing with a man who wasn't her boyfriend. This kind of thing happens from time to time. She's young, attractive, her boyfriend wasn't there and it was innocent. Dancing with a little alcohol involved. You could see how something like this could easily happen. At the end of the night, around midnight, Kaylie texted her boyfriend Cameron to come pick her up from the bar on their way home.

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The couple got into a bit of a spat. What sparked the argument other than alcohol, is unclear. It could have been the dancing or it could have been something else. Regardless, the fight continued into the parking lot at the couple's apartment building. Kelly was known to walk away from fights so she could cool down and on this particular night. That's exactly what she did. Cameron left the car and went into the apartment expecting Caylee to follow at some point when he went back down to the car to check on her.

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She was gone again. She'd been drinking and her judgment was pretty impaired. This is likely why she didn't see the obvious danger a young drunk girl might face while walking alone in the dark. She just wasn't thinking about that. Cameron texted her, Where are you? Please come home and talk to me. At least you're being unfair. Are you kidding? What a joke. I'm sorry. I'm not good enough for you. I don't know how you can say that.

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If you wanted me, you could have me. You don't care if you cared even a little bit. You know where I am. Sorry, I'm not as important as your phone. Caylee, please just come home and be with me. I don't want to play this game. I'll start searching, but please help me out. My phone is about to die by. Please don't do this to me. I apologize for being upset when I picked you up.

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The two argued back and forth over text for a while. The end of the conversation went like this.

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I just drove up and down college way really slow. I didn't see you and I don't know where else to go. Just come back.

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Are you kidding? Because that's bullshit. Goodbye.

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Phone off Caylee, please. That was the last time anyone heard from Caylee Sawyer. It was approximately one a.m.. Meanwhile, Edwin Laurer was nearing the end of his shift as a public safety officer. Kelly was walking along the road only a few blocks from her apartment building. At this point, she was wearing a black dress, brown boots and carrying her little green purse. Edwin pulled up alongside her in his patrol vehicle, which, as we said, looked just like a cop car.

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But the events that would follow did not match what Edwin had confessed to his wife, Isabel. Edwin had not accidentally hit Caylee with his vehicle. He somehow got her inside the car into that back seat that was meant for detainees. And she was screaming. So panic.

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Oh, shut up, shut up. She passed out of the car door to a flat, the B twelve lot. This parking lot was very secluded and Edwin knew this. He'd been patrolling the grounds as a campus safety officer for almost two years. This was a calculated move. Caylee was in the back seat of the patrol car realizing something bad was about to happen. The Doors had a child safety type locking system, so passengers in the back seat could not unlock the doors and leave the car themselves.

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She couldn't get up to the front seat either due to the plexiglass divider. When she gave me her like she had her phone because I knew her phone was back like it. Just click on my and my perspective reformism. So I told her in Gimme Purse, so tell me exactly what you said in your purse. He didn't say exactly how you said, Grace, I won't give me a purse just like that. So she hands over the person you boys in your shoes.

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She goes, yes, it is the first person. And I point phones there, so and you know where we leave. But at this time, she's starting with the door and I'm. And I'm telling you. Shut up, shut up. Shut. You know, why are you so relieved when you found that phone, she was never going to get away because she had seen my face and you already knew. She kept screaming.

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So Edwin pulled over and opened the door to the back seat. He grabbed her neck with his hands and tried to choke her out to stop the noise. And then I was panicking. I don't know, though, she started screaming. And so I called to check on her. Shut up. She. She's screen cycler down.

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What Edwin failed to tell police was that his rage seemed to be sparked by her answer to one question. He asked her if she was a prostitute and he requested sex offering to pay for it. She refused, so he silenced her and took what he felt he was owed at some point or another, something as minor as an offensive comment. Are you a hooker? I mean, honestly, what we've approach there is, is you possibly losing your job for offending somebody.

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People are offended every day. People lose their job for offending people every day. That all of a sudden became more important than the life of another human being that you say is equal?

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I think she. I honestly thought that I was going to do some you were, man, and that's the problem right now. You were you upset at first a ferzat, wasn't it? Yes, you were. No, I wasn't. Well, let me back up. Let me back up. Let's just settle this right now. When you saw that girl, you picked her up or your intentions and helped her because you were a security guard on the campus and people look up to you, was your intent to find some way to help her or was your intent to find a way either by paying for sex or taking sex?

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And when things went south, you knew you had to kill her because now the person she looks to for safety and security wants something from her and she doesn't want you. He grabbed a large rock and smashed it into her head. When Caylee cease to move, Edwin thought she was finally dead. He proceeded to rape her limp, motionless, helpless body. Caylee was still alive at this point. He must have thought, well, I'm already in trouble.

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Might as well get what I was after from the beginning, now that she can't fight me off to that, I dragged her body behind a tree there. I think she died because I heard her breathing.

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Her best friend Edwin realized Caylee was still breathing when he initially dragged her into the woods. He hit her again with a large rock. These blows to her skull left her face unrecognizable. During his police interview, Edwyn carefully skirts around the topic of sexual assault. He had no problem admitting that he'd killed Caylee, but he just couldn't accept the responsibility of raping her. He was a churchgoing, God fearing man, after all, and he was attempting to frame the whole incident around, accidentally bumping into Caylee with his vehicle.

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Any ill intent Edwyn had that night, he continuously tried to cover up.

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So a couple things you need to understand. And we're finally getting to the real problem here. We really are, is you knew she was never getting out the car among you. Shut that door. Well, let me finish. You let me finish right here, because I know this because you said workers, you know, immediately give me your purse and your phone why she wasn't going to get out. I mean, she was going to survive that car wash, you know, because you can't let her live, can't you?

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She can't make a phone call if you have it. I wasn't going to rape her when you can't let her live. When we're missing something here, man. Yeah, I know what you guys are thinking. And it makes perfect sense because where you got what you asked for her purse, what was in your head that made you want her purse? Because, you know, she had a gun. She had she could defend herself. She was going to use the phone to call 911, call for help.

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But listen listen to this. According to your story, this is where it does not make sense if your intent isn't already there to do some kind of harm or some kind of evil to her. Some friggin evil there, bro. Always there. You just got to face the devil, man. You can't cower away from it. You face the damn thing. Go right out if you know the only way. If you don't have intent in her head, your thought is I got to keep that phone away from her because she's going to call for help before anything bad can happen.

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You've already made a decision. Am I right or am I wrong? Help me. So I made the decision on that. I've decided to kill her.

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Edwyn left Caylee's body there in the wooded area of the B twelve parking lot while he determined what his next moves would be. And there would be many. This legal hole Edwin was digging for himself would become deeper and deeper with his white patrol shirt now stained in blood. Edwin drove to the gym on campus to try to wipe his clothes clean. He must not have realized how difficult it is to remove blood and dirt from clothing, especially with water alone.

[00:30:56]

He must not have seen a lot of Tide commercials in his lifetime at 1:00 a.m., he checked his watch. He was scheduled to finish his shift at two a.m. and knew he needed to get to the main office and clock out.

[00:31:11]

So I got there like around 1:00 or something like that. I was almost there and he wanted to talk to me about something. And I was in the basement because I saw a scratch on my face and I was scared that he was going to see it because I knew that you guys were going to investigate us. And, you know, for a fact, because I'm not stupid people. Yes. So I panicked. And, you know, instead of talking, I actually like most of the computer.

[00:31:43]

And I was just said, oh, yes, yes. And I tried telling him something, but I was so nervous that I don't think he was able to understand what I was saying, because what I said and again, he wasn't able to understand. So, again, I think if they didn't ask me any more questions, I don't think he realized anything bad. I just think he was tired because I told you I'm tired of was going home.

[00:32:13]

Then when I was walking out, like, OK, I need to get rid of her, because if they find her and we talk a lot, I don't know what of us. And it's going to be me because I was in the office.

[00:32:31]

Edwin didn't want to waste any time getting Caylee's body out of there. He placed her behind a tree in the woods just off the B 12 parking lot. But it wouldn't be her final resting place. He left the office and got back into his personal car, the blue Nissan. I grab a trashcan first from.

[00:32:51]

Well, Senator, I'm still here. I grabbed a trash can or trash bag.

[00:32:57]

I drove up the hill in and put her head inside of my car just to let this married churchgoing man now had the dead body of a girl he had kidnapped and raped in the trunk of his car.

[00:33:12]

I wonder if he pictured God watching him do all these things or if he compartmentalized the guidelines his religion laid out for him, leaving those rules only to apply to his public persona.

[00:33:25]

So what happened next? So I drove over to the church by my presence and she was kind of heavy, you know, so I grabbed her and pretty much rip everything off her like.

[00:33:45]

During the pitch. Then I went back home pretty quick, I put them over for someone else with me, this second location where Edwin dumped Caylee's body would not be her final resting place either.

[00:34:03]

He just could not leave this poor girl alone. He went on to move her a third time. So next day, I actually was the following night while my wife was sleeping, he's got out without her noticing and I and I like to its location. You know, not this time was never play in. Feel really bad about her group. The girl has a name, Kaylee Sawyer. Interesting that he chose to dehumanize her even further, Edwin wasn't feeling bad about what he'd done.

[00:34:48]

He was becoming increasingly worried about what was going to happen to him when he got caught and he knew he was going to get caught. This all becomes clear when he says this to investigators is the most likely will die.

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And this is the. Doesn't take my heart. And so we get this. Edwin, quote, felt bad and quote, because. He's scared to die in prison. That's the bottom line. Who wouldn't be? Then again, most of us don't go around killing and raping people. Most of us actually follow laws and try to treat other human beings with respect. When Laura, on the other hand, had carnal desires that outweighed his religion and outweighed his sense of humanity, he just didn't give a shit.

[00:35:47]

He wanted something and he took it. Like an animal. Meanwhile, Caylee, her life snuffed out, was laying in the bottom of a small canyon, her boyfriend became concerned when he didn't hear back from her at all on Sunday, July 24th, the day after she walked away from their argument angrily. Caylee by now would have contacted someone, maybe her mother or father, one of her friends, someone just to tell them that she was OK.

[00:36:32]

But no one had heard anything. Her phone was going straight to voicemail. Caylee's boyfriend, Cameron, decided it was time to call 911.

[00:36:43]

One one dispatcher. Can I help you? Hi. I'm not sure if it was quite right. No call last night. I got home from the bars, my girlfriend, and she got upset at me and ran off and I chased her and wasn't able to find her. And I still haven't heard from her phones off. I called all our family and I haven't heard from her. So I'm wondering what you recommend. I do. We can put in a call and we can have officers, deputies to look for.

[00:37:08]

OK, and where was she last seen in college? Where college in Alpine Meadows apartment complex took place at the college. Where in that apartment complex? Yes, in a specific apartment or in the parking lot. Just in the parking lot. And yes, we lived there together. And it was last night. Yeah, whatever. It was like one o'clock in the morning she got walking or something like that. Yeah, well she was yeah she was mad at me so I walked inside and told her to come meet me in there and she's like, calm down.

[00:37:47]

And then I went back out in ten minutes and she was gone. And I called her a few times and she said she was walking down the street. And then I guess she said her phone is about to die. And she I couldn't get a hold of that. I haven't heard from her since she took that, but. Yes. And does she have a vehicle is parked in the parking lot or she has a vehicle that's parked at her friend's house.

[00:38:11]

And I've been over there and talk to your friend and she hasn't heard from either. And the vehicle is still there. Yep. It was the color make and model. It's the Silver Impreza and it's like a dark blue. She another played on it. I don't think it is parked at a friend's house. Yes. Any idea where she would go or they could see where her car was, their best friend or her mom's. I've been over to talk to her dad and I just haven't heard anything from anybody.

[00:38:39]

No nuts, OK?

[00:38:42]

The people in Caylee's life knew how important her job was to her. They were patiently waiting and hoping she would show up for work the next day at around seven p.m. that Sunday after Caylee's loved ones seem to have exhausted all their search efforts. Caylee's mother called nine one one.

[00:39:00]

Yes, I need to have an officer call me. My daughter is missing and she is over. Twenty three that she has epilepsy and some medical issues. What's the address missing from she and her boyfriend? They live at the Regency and they feel fishy. I don't have the exact address. OK, are you able to get it? I am driving up there right now to talk with him and see what's going on so I can call back.

[00:39:29]

They were all looking for her thinking she was alive at the time. You can almost hear it in their voices. The lack of sheer panic we usually hear in calls reporting people missing. Caylee, after all, was an adult and she had walked away after an argument with her boyfriend. There were so many possibilities. And at this point it seemed too soon for everyone to be fretting over the worst case scenario. Then Monday rolled around. Caylee didn't show up for work.

[00:40:03]

Isabel Laurer made her way to the Redmond Police Department to report her husband's actions to police. That is the little she actually knew about his true crimes. Edwin had gone on the run and by 5:00 p.m. after the major crimes team had been activated, the court granted a search warrant for Edwins. Home and car items were immediately recovered, including the bloody purse Isabel found in her shed with Caylee's passport. Inside that right, there is some pretty damning evidence.

[00:40:39]

Well, as we're learning more about this, let's summarize what we know at this point as officials are putting together the pieces on this very complex case. Now, on Sunday night around 7:00 p.m., the family of Carlie Sawyer made a report to the Bend Police Department regarding her disappearance. They say she went missing from her West Bend apartment near the central Oregon Community College campus sometime after 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning. By 11, 30 last night, the central Oregon major incident team who is working on Caylee's disappearance changed the investigation from a missing person case to a homicide investigation.

[00:41:15]

Edwin Larra is a 31 year old Redmond resident currently employed at CCC, working as a Part-Time Campus Public Safety Officer. We've recently learned that Lori's wife, Isabel Pons. Laura, as I mentioned, is a police officer who yesterday morning reported her husband potential involvement in this investigation, despite Isabel's pleas to her husband to turn himself in.

[00:41:40]

Edwin went on to do the unthinkable. Over in Salem, Oregon, about a two and a half hour drive from Redmond, a 19 year old girl named Andrea Mays was getting off of work. She'd worked a double shift at Ross dress for less. It was around 9:00 p.m. when she headed to her car. She sat inside for a while checking social media and decompressing after work. Before driving home, she was mindlessly snapped, chatting people and scrolling through her Facebook, feeling relatively safe inside her car.

[00:42:33]

The doors were locked, which can sometimes make you feel like you're in your own little armored protection vehicle. A false sense of safety. As a young girl coming out of work alone in the dark, that's often the first thing you'll remember to do. Get in your car, lock the doors.

[00:42:52]

However, on this evening when Dreya left, her windows cracked a little bit for airflow just as she was sending a message to someone, the thud of a body ramming up against the side of her car shocked her into attention. An arm came through the window and Edwin Laura entered her vehicle with a backpack and a gun pointed right at her. He told her to drive at first. Andre, I thought this man only needed her to drive down the street to drop them off.

[00:43:26]

She soon found herself on the highway for hours upon hours through the night, and she realized she had no idea what might be happening to her. She didn't know what Edwin's intentions were, and she certainly had no idea at this point that Edwin had killed a girl close to her own age and was on the run from authorities. He would go on to threaten her with that information later on. The first stop, after a few hours of driving, was a motel.

[00:44:00]

The plan was to rent a room and stay the night. And Edwin most likely planned on sexually assaulting Andre inside that room. Video footage shows Edwyn and Aundrea talking to the clerk about reserving a room before walking up to the window, Edwin explained to his hostage that they were to act like boyfriend and girlfriend. And when forced on Dreya to hold his hand and reminded her that if she said anything or made eye contact with the clerk, he was not afraid to kill them both.

[00:44:34]

Andrea wanted desperately to convey to this clerk somehow that she was in horrible trouble. The clerk didn't catch any of her facial expressions or seem to think anything was awry. She and Edwyn then drove around the building to the room they had rented, and Edwyn handcuffed Aundrea to the bathroom door and blindfolded her while he showered. He then forced her to swallow sleeping pills, threatening that if she did not comply, he would inject the sleeping pills into her forcibly.

[00:45:10]

Andrea tried our best to stay awake throughout the night. She felt Edwyn encroaching on her personal space and nibbling at her ear lobe. An alarm on her phone went off, and she brilliantly told Edwyn that it was a reminder for her to take her medicine. She explained to him that she had a really, really nasty hair, which she had to take medicine every day. This story Andrea concocted on the spot could be the only reason she evaded sexual assault that night.

[00:45:44]

The next morning, they began driving again. Andrea's car was leaking oil and Edwin knew they needed to ditch it. He refused to let her go with the car. He needed her as a hostage at this point for protection against law enforcement. He knew that they would eventually catch up with them. At around five a.m., they pulled into the parking lot of a Super eight motel in Wyrick, California. Edwin spotted a man unloading things from his car into his motel room and told Andrea that was the car they were going to take.

[00:46:21]

What unfolded over the next few minutes occurred in what felt like seconds, moment. What's your emergency? I was carrying a suitcase and I just transferred a call to Medical at Separate Motel. The manager there said there's a gentleman who says he got shot in the stomach and he's laying down and room one zero eight one zero eight. All right. You're not the answer.

[00:46:49]

The guy is saying that this man was another casualty of the tornado named Edwin Lora, ripping through two states and demolishing anything in its path. If he knew he was going to get caught like he claimed so many times, why did he drag out this crime spree for so long? Why not just cut to the inevitable and turn yourself in? Andrea and Edwin followed the 73 year old man who was unloading things from his car. They followed him into his motel room and Edwin demanded the man hand over the keys when the man screamed for help.

[00:47:29]

Edwin yelled that he would shoot him if he didn't stop yelling. The man yelled again and Edwin shot him in the stomach. After Andrea and Edwin ran out of the room, the man was able to call 911 one and received medical care which saved his life. Edwin Lora and his hostage ran a little over a hundred yards down the road to a gas station. Edwins I's dotted around for another vehicle that they could steal. Time was running out and he needed to get back on the road.

[00:48:03]

He spotted the vehicle that they would take. A family had been traveling inside the targeted car when they needed to stop for gas. The father and grandfather were inside using the restroom while two teenage boys and their grandmother were waiting inside the car for them to return. Edwin grabbed Andrea and the two started walking towards the car. Edwin through Andrea into the vehicle and pointed a gun at the oldest teen's head, yelling, Drive or I'll shoot. The teen began driving south on the interstate with his grandmother, brother Andrea and Edwin in tow.

[00:48:41]

Edwin now had four hostages while they drove the teens in the car, would later recount to investigators that Edwin told them the whole story of how he had killed two people.

[00:48:54]

He explained that he used to be a good man, a religious man with a wife living a good life. And then the urge to kill just crept up on him and he had to act on it. So he did could Edwin Laura have been a serial killer in the making? Many seem to think so. Which makes you wonder how many other people out there, most to you. Had the same desire to kill the teens, somehow convinced Edwin to let them stop the car and get out.

[00:49:34]

Miraculously, he allowed it. They pulled over and the two boys and their grandmother were abandoned on the interstate. Andrea was still held captive inside the car. Edwin took Andrea's cell phone and in between calling his friends and family to speak to them before the inevitable happened. He recorded a video that he wanted her to post on her Facebook timeline. Hi, everybody. I want to say that I apologize for everything I've done, and I'm sorry about that.

[00:50:07]

Don't worry at all, he says, is sorry about that girl. His tone is so flat and emotionless. It's absolutely appalling to hear that lack of remorse coming directly from his mouth and he is one of the family members strategy.

[00:50:27]

Fine. And you will be fine. So far, he's been doing what I've been told to do, you know, and and if you guys are wondering if I have nothing or no right. I'm not that kind of guy.

[00:50:42]

Now, I know this clip was getting really good and I'm interrupting again, but Edwin Laurer really just said I'm not that kind of guy in reference to sexual assault. Let's think about that for a second. Not only is he placing sexual assault on an elevated level of evil beyond murder and desecration of a body, but he's also claiming that he's not someone who would ever sexually assault anyone. We know that he sexually assaulted Caylee's body after he thought she was dead.

[00:51:17]

We know that he intended on assaulting Andrea in that hotel room. That's how this all started. Yet here Edwin is trying to convince the public that he's just not that kind of guy, what a douche. You know how you feel, that other girl, you know, I regret it. I regret killing her. She kept screaming at me forever. So you feel like driving and you'll be home pretty soon in. I'm for grandma and her family members and their boyfriend.

[00:52:00]

You know, I'm sorry I got here pretty soon. OK, so the cop said not the shoot up and shoot up. And that's not my fault. Sorry, everybody.

[00:52:14]

But Edwin urged Andrea to post the video with the caption Murderer on the loose. This could have actually helped her potentially, but she was embarrassed. She didn't want her Facebook friends to see the post. She changed the privacy settings on the video so that only she could view it once it was posted. Not sure exactly what she was thinking by doing that. As Edwin flew down the highway, going over 120 miles an hour, a highway patrol officer spotted him and began pursuit with no knowledge of who was in the car.

[00:52:50]

He was just hoping to pull over this car for speeding.

[00:52:55]

No, it's our season to bring you down to the break here.

[00:53:04]

Yielding a run for the chase continued and Edwin began to realize that this was the end. There was no way out. Aside from surrendering. He did not want to be killed by police nine on any emergency. Yes. Then when Laura and I'm the guy on Interstate five in a high speed, I know you guys have the chopper. I'll me already. Yeah. And yeah, I just want to say I am going to turn myself in, OK.

[00:53:39]

Where are you at. OK, I'm on my five. I think you're ready if I'm right. So you know, I am wanted for murder in the state of Oregon. OK, Edwin, where are you at right now. Can you stop. I am going to stop with the head ready. Once I'm in Redding, I'm going to stop. Can you tell me where you are right now? I have no idea. OK, honestly, there's a sign right here, 50 miles from Corning, 50 miles south or north of Corning.

[00:54:09]

Are you by yourself or know someone with me? I kidnapped her in Oregon. Is that her name is Andrea. What's your last name? He doesn't know. I'll let you. I'll let her give her last name. You can call her family and give me a second. What's your name? Hello. Yeah, hi. What's your name? Andrea. Andrea, what's your last name, names and dates? Are you hurt at all, Andrea?

[00:54:36]

No, no. OK, do you know where you are? Let me talk to Edwin again, OK? Hello? Yeah. Edwin, you're heading south on five. Yeah, I'm heading southbound on five. Sorry, did you make it past Redding yet? I think I did. I'm 50 miles from orning. You're 50 miles from Corning. Yeah. One five 15 oh, 15 miles from Corning yet. So I'm backing a state trooper highway patrol right now.

[00:55:07]

You're what, sir? I'm having a highway patrol. OK, where are you at now? I am Florida Avenue, one mile from Fourth Avenue, one mile from Florida. Are you able to safely find somewhere to stop? I'm not going to stop right here. I'm just going to throw myself in an awning. OK, are you going to call police and where are you going? Yeah, I'm going to police. But I want to ask you a favor.

[00:55:32]

Uh huh. So I have asthma. Yeah, that's OK. Yeah. So you don't not to be rough on me because, you know, I can barely breathe right now. All right. So that's all I want to say. You know, a medical. Yeah, well, I, I think so. I'm going to need my inhaler. I forgot my neighbor at home, you know, I went all over, all over Salem, Oregon, looking for an inhaler.

[00:55:59]

But I guess they don't sell it, you know, behind the counter.

[00:56:03]

Well, who thinks to grab their inhaler from home before they kidnap four people and engage in a high speed police chase? Who can blame them, really? That was just an easy mistake to have made. This nine one one operator is being so sickeningly sweet and helpful in this situation, even when a self admitted murderer and kidnapper is asking her to make sure police are easy on him.

[00:56:27]

It's ironic because many of the 911 calls made by victims of violent crime include operators that are unprofessional and downright rude, but she's she's she's nice, you know.

[00:56:38]

But it's understandable in this instance that the operator may have been acting a certain way so that she could coerce Edwin into pulling over immediately rather than waiting until he got to his destination.

[00:56:51]

Edwin, how fast you're going? I'm going about 120 miles an hour, 120 miles an hour, yet you slow down. I want to make it quick. That way I can turn myself in. Well, the officer sees you with that. We just don't want you to speed away from anything. If you could stop it and get yourself in our easier water, whether the officer behind me right now, OK, they see we're talking to you. Yes, he's doing me.

[00:57:15]

I think he's a he's he's right behind me. OK, the officer. See two. And are you able to safely stop? Yeah, I can stop, but not right now. I've been warning. OK, what's the difference? I'm stopping now in Corning. I used to want to stop right here in the middle of the road, you know, putting myself in danger and putting everybody else in danger, more in danger, I guess. You know, they don't know when.

[00:57:39]

I'll let them know they won't. But if you can stop safely, they just don't want you to run. I think you're going to run or anything. OK, Edward, do you have any weapons with you? Yeah, that's what I was going to say. I do have a gun on me. I am not going to tell them not to shoot me. No, I don't want to die. OK, you stick by your window, let them know.

[00:57:59]

Yeah, I'm not. Yeah. I'm going to let them know, you know, don't hurt Andre. You know, she's a nice girl, you know, don't hurt her. I'm actually following my family to say bye to them. I want them once I'm done all my family then I'll turn myself in. OK, we can get hold like you. I already told my wife I bought a lot of people already. I am. I am wanted for the death of Katie Bowyer.

[00:58:30]

Bend, Oregon. What's the girl's name? Caylee. What lawyer? Sawyer. Yes. And she was from Bend, Oregon. Yes. I want to say that it wasn't an accident. I so I work for public safety there. And she was really drunk and I didn't see her and I run her over OK. And then after that, you know, I, I guess she was still breathing and then she was screaming and I decided to say no forever now.

[00:59:04]

And I am very remorseful for that. And, you know, I know her. And then are you able to stop the officer behind you? They don't know if you're running and stuff are not trying to run from them. So if you could say, please stop now before we talk, nobody will get hurt. If you didn't try to talk, you want me to read the paper? You the office of the police, the police officer say, no, no, no, you don't need to read the police officer, OK?

[00:59:29]

Because I want her I want her to get in front of me again. What do you want to know where she can move to people moving around? I'm not going to shoot anybody. I promise. I know. But that you you have to realize they have to take care of you for their safety and for your safety as well. You understand that? Yeah, I understand. OK, all right. So I'm about to get morning. I'm like four miles away.

[00:59:50]

OK, where are you at now? Can you tell me where you are. I am four miles from Shawnee and how they'll go. That's for you. How old is she, Andrea. How old is she? How old are you? She's 19. Nineteen years of age. OK, yeah. She have any weapons or anything or not. She doesn't. I honestly kidnapped her. We drove her car, you know, and her car died on so I had to borrow somebody else's car.

[01:00:18]

He really does not like taking responsibility for things. Does he borrow is an interesting word choice.

[01:00:27]

Are you going to stop. Yeah, maybe I would stop right now, I'm used to Vietnam shaking up, I mean, I'm shaking, I understand and I don't want to get shot. OK, I will let them know. But you need to make sure you listen carefully, OK? OK. And you get let you know I have a bulletproof vest to you. Do you are you wearing it? Yes. OK, ok. Well, you're not going to try to do anything right.

[01:00:55]

No I'm not. You want me to throw my gun out of the window right now? No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't do that right now. All right? I just want you to stop frantically, basically 200 days. You want to kill me? No, no, no. You don't want to do that to her and yourself. All right. I'm just going to call her grandma and apologize, and then I'll be right now, let's just kind of hear about you stopping, OK?

[01:01:24]

This were about stopping to get you guys both safe, OK? All right. OK, I'll stop. I'll hang up now. I know I'm going to stay on the line with you. OK, ok. Well basically technically it's illegal to talk on the phone and drive. Right. You know, if you're calling it an emergency and you know what? This is just a totally different circumstance. OK, how iconic.

[01:01:48]

A murderer and rapist is worried about cell phone laws on the highway.

[01:01:53]

I know this is being recorded. And, you know, I just want to pay the family of Caylee that, you know, I am sorry. I'm sorry for what I did to her. And I am I will tell them where the body is, you know, I will get that in peace. You want to let me know or just have this recorded words? No, I remember. OK, so hopefully the police shoot me, you know, and I'll I'll survive.

[01:02:25]

You know, what this coward is saying in so many words is that he was trying to preserve his own life above all else.

[01:02:34]

He's saying, you better not kill me or you'll never find out where Caylee's body is.

[01:02:40]

OK, are you able to safely pull over then? So the officers don't keep that. Don't keep them chasing you. Just pull over, you know, pull over right now. OK, I'll let you talk to Andrea, OK? Don't hang up. I'm not going. Hello. Yeah. Hi Andrea. Are you OK? You don't need any medical anything. No. OK, so where's his gun at. Does he have it. I don't know.

[01:03:07]

Can you see it. He said he had a gun. It's like stopping. Yeah he is stopping. OK, make sure your hands are up to itself. I know you're on the phone right now, but hold your hand to OK. I'm going to stay on the line with you to the opposite, get there, OK? And you're going to be OK, Andrea. That one had to have his hands up. Yeah, he doesn't understand them, OK?

[01:03:35]

They come and make sure that the officer you tell them I face that he kept hear until I get over it. Tell him we're letting it happen so that he can't hear you. He's already working for them. He's walking towards the top of the tree. Hold his hand up. Yeah. He begins to turn around and walk towards that. He can walk backwards towards them. I can't use too far. OK. And if you want to do the same, once he gets out, step and and back up backwards towards the non-profit.

[01:04:19]

OK, if you stay on the line with you, once you get out, I'll read the second line. Once you get out, can you see do they have him in custody already? They're getting the cuffs on him right now and the cuffs on it. Yeah. OK, I'm going to hang up and get out and you walk backwards towards them with your hands up, ok. OK, ok. And it's going to be OK for me to stay in the car, to stay in the car.

[01:04:43]

OK, whatever instructions they give you to do that.

[01:04:47]

This nightmare was almost finally over for Andrea, but the police still had to treat her like she was a threat. How traumatizing this whole ordeal must have been to have been kidnapped, held hostage and then treated like a criminal when she was finally released by her captor, when police finally had Edwyn in custody sitting down at an interrogation table, they had one goal in mind, finding Caylee's body.

[01:05:20]

All right. So here's the thing. I just want to get through the nitty gritty. We have not been able to find Caylee's body. Can you please help me find her body immediately before we start talking about anything else? Oh, the reason why I'm asking you that is I've done this a bunch of times. I want to tell you where the body is. Yeah, I do. I want to go first. OK, if this information gets to other people that you're like, oh, yeah, I'll tell you only till I get what I want.

[01:05:53]

They might try to think of this about something different than what it is.

[01:05:58]

And so I need you to remember that it doesn't matter so much about what happened is what you do now.

[01:06:05]

And, you know, this may not have been possible that Edwin drew a map to the canyon that he had thrown Caylee's body into. It was off Highway 126, about 10 miles outside of Redmond, Oregon. Her face was unrecognizable and her family had to identify her body based on a tattoo Caylee had on her wrist. Here's the Bend, Oregon, district attorney speaking on the overview of the case. The entirety of Edwin Lauras crimes was devastating to the community and to those who had to investigate it.

[01:06:44]

Even the D.A. himself begins to get emotional about talking about Caylee.

[01:06:50]

The autopsy revealed that Caylee died as a result of blunt force trauma to her head. Her injuries further indicate. That she fought for her life. This is an investigation the likes of which Deschutes County has never seen, it started as a missing persons case.

[01:07:12]

Then it became a case with a murder that occurred in one location, a body being moved to two different locations, a kidnapping in a county on the other side of the Cascade Mountains, followed by an attempted murder in California, a carjacking in California and a high speed chase. Deschutes County residents should be proud of the top notch and professional investigation that was done by our local law enforcement officers. Edwin did not go to trial. He pleaded guilty to his crimes and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[01:07:51]

The work wasn't done in Caylee's family's eyes, however. Her family filed a lawsuit against Central Oregon Community College, alleging that the campus atmosphere was a breeding ground for abuse of power at the hands of campus safety officers. They claimed that these officers had an attitude of being above the law. They had vehicles that looked like cop cars. They had uniforms very reminiscent of those that police officers wear, and they were even given handcuffs and bulletproof vests. These campus safety officers did not go through the same training police officers must complete.

[01:08:30]

This past May, the Oregon governor signed a bill into law that would prevent campus safety officers from having anything that looks like actual law enforcement equipment. This law prohibits rooftop lights, push bumpers and dividers between front and back seats inside campus safety vehicles. The vehicles must also have GPS and an interior recording system. The law prohibits officers from stop and frisk type procedures and more in-depth background checks and psychological evaluations will be required before a new officer is hired. This law has already gone into effect, and it's called Caylee's law.

[01:09:13]

There's a long, heartbreaking list of people whose lives were changed because of Edwin Lauras decisions.

[01:09:21]

Caylee's family chose to try to make change to legislation in order to protect other students from yet another sect of authority actively abusing their power in this country.

[01:09:34]

And in this case, it worked.

[01:10:13]

That does it for this episode of Sword and Skill. It's nice to be back after summer break and we've got a whole lot of fascinating stories coming up for you this year. But more importantly, we have a plus perfect. Listen, I don't want to hear any complaining. What's this perk is gone. I always hear complaining. I just don't want to hear you have a chance right now to get this perk. And you may never get the chance again because you must have an active account during the month of July to qualify, not August 3rd or in their 1st July.

[01:10:47]

Also, don't wait five seconds before midnight on the 31st either. If you want this perk, sign up right now. What is it you may ask? Well, it's a set of four beautiful sort of scale themed lapel pins, along with matching metallic stickers, all designed by the bag. You know better than me explaining it. Why don't you just go see them for yourself? Go to Sword and Scale's Instagram page and you'll see plenty of pictures of them.

[01:11:14]

If you're at the ten dollar level of plus, you'll get all four stickers. If you're at the 15 dollar level, you'll get all four stickers and one randomly selected pin. And members of the twenty five dollar level or higher will get all four stickers and all four pins. These are not available anywhere and once they're gone, they're gone. But if you have an active account with a valid mailing address during the month of July, you are guaranteed to get one.

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[01:12:19]

We'll see you there. And until next time, don't forget your inhaler and stay safe.