Michelle Le Murder Trial: No Laughing Matter

Monthly Archives: January 2018

Michelle Le Murder Trial: No Laughing Matter

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Witnessing a trial from a courtroom gallery is very different from watching a trial on television or in the movies. There is no DVR, so you don’t get the benefit of playback. You experience moments of numbing boredom, and particularly after lunch it can be a struggle to simply stay awake. It can be difficult to hear questions and answers if you are sitting in the gallery.

 

The prosecutors and the defense attorney are no more than a few yards away, but neither is miked, and they are addressing their attention, commentary and questions toward the witness, jury and judge. Therefore, you don’t see or hear everything. If a tape recording is being played and introduced into evidence, as it was during this afternoon’s session of the Michelle Le murder trial, the judge, jury and witness all read from transcripts, but those of us in the gallery only hear the white noise of a cheap audio recording interspersed with semi-intelligible dialogue. So, any opinions arrived at or judgments made depend upon other types of impressions.

 

I arrived in court late today, during the testimony of Lead Investigator, Hayward PD Inspector Fraser Ritchie. Prosecutor Butch Ford and Inspector Ritchie were setting the stage for the initial interview the Inspector conducted with defendant Giselle Esteban just before midnight on May 28, 2011 the day after Michelle Le disappeared. After transcripts were distributed Mr. Ford pushed the play button.

 

Due to the challenging acoustics of the courtroom the words on the recording were largely garbled. However, the tone of the conversation chimed through as clear as a bell. Ms. Esteban was conversational and nonchalant in her responses to Inspector Ritchie’s questions. Her voice was atonal, flat and emotionless: broken by occasional bursts of inappropriate laughter.

 

Taken out of context Giselle Esteban’s laughter is simply an unmelodious expression of mirth. However, in the context of a murder trial in which both sides acknowledge that the defendant killed Michelle Le, her laughter is a chilling indictment of an empty soul: void of empathy, sorrow, or remorse. Her evil cackle provides a rare window into the festering cesspool of lies, resentment and pure evil that is the mind of Giselle Esteban.

 

Amazingly, she not only placed herself at the scene of the crime on the evening that Michelle disappeared, she admitted that the two of them had a conversation, making her the last person known to see Michelle alive. Although she is not a card carrying member of Kaiser, she supposedly went to the hospital to inquire about pre-natal care. That doesn’t even make sense.

 

As the tape played, the defendant sat at the defense table staring straight ahead. This woman must have ice water coursing through her veins. Maybe that’s why they call it cold blooded murder. Occasionally, she would grab a pen and write furiously on the legal pad in front of her. As the damning conversation reverberated through the courtroom I could only wonder what she was writing. When Inspector Ritchie said, “If she’s dead all fingers are pointed in your direction,” did Giselle scribble “Awkward”? After the Inspector told her that other witnesses in the investigation had told police that she and Le had a tumultuous relationship, did Giselle write “Wait until I get my hands on those bastards”!

 

After the tape concluded Inspector Ritchie described the state of Michelle’s car when it was located the day after she disappeared. I have tried not to think about the crime as the trial approached, but it all became too clear to ignore. There was blood everywhere. I believe that Giselle laid in wait for Michelle Le in the Kaiser Hospital parking structure on Friday evening May 27, 2011. At around 7:00 p.m. Michelle visited her car, was attacked from behind, and stabbed to death by Giselle Esteban.

 

I don’t see what’s so God damned funny.

 

 

 

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Where is Jessica Ridgeway?

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Jessica Ridgeway

Just like Sierra LaMar, Jessica Ridgeway disappeared while walking a well-worn route to school. Just like Sierra LaMar, Jessica’s book bag was located two days later. Just like Sierra LaMar, her mother didn’t receive that notification that Jessica hadn’t attended school until late afternoon. In both cases the initial community response was overwhelming. Just like Sierra LaMar, Jessica Ridgeway remains missing.

 

But there are differences too. Sierra is 15-years-old and Jessica Ridgeway is 10. Sierra was walking to the school bus stop while Jessica was walking to meet friends who would then walk with her to school. Sierra carried a Juicy Couture Bag and Jessica had a child’s backpack. Sierra’s school didn’t notify her family that she wasn’t in school until about 6:00 p.m., but Jessica’s school tried and failed to notify her mother as early as 10:00 a.m. Sierra LaMar has been missing for more than six months while Jessica has only been missing for five days.

Leiby Kletzky

These cases aren’t aberrations. Children disappearing en-route to school or at school bus stops is too common. Just last week another 10-year-old girl disappeared after leaving school. Fortunately, she has been found safe. Last year, in Brooklyn, NY 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was murdered and dismembered after he disappeared walking home alone after school. 7-year-old Orange Park, FL second grader Somer Thompson was kidnapped walking home alone home from school on October 19, 2009. Her remains were found in a landfill several days later. In January, 2007 13-year-old Ben Ownby vanished after getting off of the school bus in rural Missouri. He had been kidnapped by a predator, but was found alive four days later. On November 29, 2005 12-year-old Amber Harris disappeared without a trace after getting off of her school bus in Omaha, NE. Her remains were found many months later. Finally, in the most famous case of all 6-year-old Etan Patz never made it to school near his Manhattan, NY home on May 25, 1979. A suspect has only recently been arrested in that case. I could go on and on and on.

Somer Thompson

Without belaboring the point, on October 4, the day before Jessica vanished, a man driving a white van in nearby Arvada, CO was reported following and interfering with children walking home from school.

Ben Ownby

The incident was reported to the police and the school principal warned the parents of kids under her care via a robo-call. Two weeks previously, also in Arvada, a man in a blue sedan tried to lure children into his car by offering them candy. Neither of these individuals has been identified or questioned regarding Jessica Ridgeway’s case.

Amber Harris

Perverts who live on or near the walking routes or school bus stops know which kids to expect and when to expect them. That creates vulnerability. However, we can minimize school route vulnerability by following a few simple steps. Parents should always show their children the safest routes to and from school. They should always be with at least one other person, an adult if possible. There should be surveillance at school bus stops. This can be addressed in a number of ways. It could be a neighborhood watch program, or something as simple as parents sharing the duty to see their kids leave on the school bus in the morning and return in the afternoon. It could also be a church project. Finally, the unblinking eye of a surveillance camera tells no lies.

Etan Patz

The investigation for the gap-toothed girl in the pink and purple glasses hit stride quickly. The authorities issued an Amber Alert despite the fact that they have no vehicle information. Volunteer ground searches were initiated early on. A multi-jurisdictional task force of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies has conducted roadblocks, neighborhood canvas, and a team of search and rescue divers have already searched a local lake, all to no avail. Her school notified the family that she didn’t arrive at school in a timely manner. Unfortunately, her mother, who works nights and was asleep, missed that call.

 

Sierra LaMar

Will this be enough to bring little Jessica home safely? I certainly hope so, but am unwilling to make a prediction. If her family cooperates with law enforcement and the media, and if the recovered backpack reveals any evidence there is always hope. These are the factors that led to the arrest in Sierra LaMar’s case. Unfortunately, although Sierra has not yet been recovered, the suspect has been charged with kidnapping and murder.

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AB 109: California’s Felon Dump

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As a result of a lawsuit brought by inmates of California State prisons, the United States Supreme Court ordered the state of California to reduce its prison population by more than 30,000 inmates over a three-year period of time. In response the California State Legislature passed The Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011 (AB 109). The goal of AB 109 was to transfer responsibility for incarceration and supervision of certain non-violent, low-risk offenders from the State to its 58 counties. This month marks the one-year anniversary of the implementation of AB 109, but it is nothing to celebrate.

Lisa Gilvary’s daughter Katie Lung

Up and down the state, the release of so-called  non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual, “low-risk” inmates has been marked by dozens of reports of murders, rapes, attempted murder, kidnapping, stabbing and other crimes committed by inmates released early at the county levels as a result of AB 109.

 

Accused killer Michael Cockrell

On Monday, September 10, 2012, 26-year-old Michael Cockrell repeatedly stabbed Lisa Gilvary, 46, and her roommate, Jennifer Gonzalez, 20, during the course of a home invasion burglary. He then laid in wait and viscously attacked Fresno police officer Jonathan Linzey, 32, when he came to their aid. Ms. Gilvary died at the scene and Cockrell is now facing a possible death sentence. In March 2012, Cockrell was released from prison after serving only six-months of a three-year sentence under AB 109.

 

The state says that AB 109 only applies to ‘low risk” offenders, so it’s okay, but Michael Cockrell was considered a “low risk” offender! I can assure you that the State and I have very different definitions of “low risk.” It’s no wonder AB 109 has been called an abysmal failure, a disaster, and a deception that is dumping dangerous felons at our doorsteps.

 

In Lancaster, more than 300 offenders were released under partial supervision to Los Angeles probation officers since Realignment began.  Nearly 200 of these offenders have been rearrested for new crimes or charges.

 

Redding Police Chief Robert Paoletti “expressed frustration with the lack of jail space, which has resulted in early releases and created the perception of a revolving door at the jail.  Failure to appear warrants totaled 4,569 in the first six months of the year, a 32 percent increase from last year, when there were 3,453.” 

 

The California legislature needs to repeal AB 109.  The State needs to drastically reduce the type of offenders it allows to be shifted to the county level.  The state must take an inmates or parolees criminal history into consideration when determining who is eligible for AB 109. County jails are simply not equipped to handle many of the dangerous, repeat offenders AB 109 has sent them. Nor should we, as parents, have to worry about these same dangerous criminals being released early from overcrowded jails into our neighborhoods.

 

Crime exacts a heavy toll: on government, on society as a whole, but especially on victims. The cost of crime has three dimensions: a dollar amount calculated by adding up property losses, productivity losses, and medical bills. An amount less easily quantifiable includes the forms of pain, emotional trauma, and risk of death from victimization. And finally a dimension that cannot be quantified – the loss of life, and the trickle-down effect of extreme trauma or even death on the families of victims, their friends and communities held hostage by the threat of fear.

 

In 1996 the National Institute of Justice calculated the cost of crime. A single murder costs society $2,940,000, a rape at $86,500, and a robbery with injury at $19,000.  Make no mistake: this is a crime tax that we all pay into one way or another.

 

A fundamental duty of government is to protect society, to ensure that we walk safe streets and that the weak among us are not threatened by fear, intimidation and violence. Every time that a ‘so called’ nonviolent felon who has been released onto the streets commits an act of violence government has failed in that duty. When our government turns its back on the fundamental duty to protect innocent citizens, its skewed priorities must be revealed and it must be held accountable for its actions.

 

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Vote Yes on Prop 35 to Stop Human Trafficking in California

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By Sharmin Bock

As a prosecutor who has spent over a decade fighting human trafficking, I’ve seen the terrible human toll of sex trafficking in California. Every day, women and children are forced to sell their bodies, on the streets and online, for the financial gain of human traffickers.

 

I have helped to create and lead the first of its kind unit in the nation dedicated to recovering sexually exploited children and prosecuting those who profit from selling them.  Since 2006, this unit has prosecuted over 200 sex traffickers and supported the rescue of hundreds of children, some as young as 11 years old.

 

While our efforts have made a difference, we could’ve saved and prevented many more. California’s current laws are simply inadequate to confront the growing problem of human trafficking within our state.  A recent national study by a victims’ rights group gave California an “F” grade for its weak laws dealing with child sex trafficking.  Prop 35 eliminates the shortcomings of our existing law that is riddled with gaping loopholes through which children literally fall into the hands of traffickers waiting to profit from them.

 

Drug dealers, gangs and organized crime are moving into sex trafficking because the current penalties present very low risk for them.  Grotesquely, they realize that there is no better investment than selling children these days because the profit is high and risk is low. And while children and girls are increasingly sold online, current laws against sexual exploitation have not been updated to face 21st century realities. As a 23-year veteran prosecutor and proud Californian, I know we can do better.

 

That’s why I teamed up with advocates for victims to write Prop 35.  The language of Prop 35 is carefully written to confront the growing problem of human trafficking in our state.  It uses federal law as a guideline and draws on the first-hand experience of prosecutors and those who work to help victims.  For too long, victims have been mistreated while traffickers escape punishment.  Prop 35 protects victims in so many ways and, for the first time, clearly recognizes sex trafficking victims as victims and not “prostitutes.”

 

Prop 35 makes critical changes to California law by:

  • Increasing prison terms for all forms of human trafficking to match federal sentences.
  • Requiring convicted sex traffickers to register as sex offenders.
  • Requiring all registered sex offenders to disclose their internet accounts, as states such as New York already have.
  • Requiring criminal fines from convicted human traffickers to fund services to help victims.
  • Mandating human trafficking training for law enforcement.
  • Providing trafficking victims the same level of protection rape victims have under the Rape Shield Law.
  • Removing the requirement to prove force, fraud or coercion in a child sex trafficking case.

 

After so many years of working to stop human trafficking and strengthen our laws against this crime, it is a dream come true to see a comprehensive measure like Prop 35 on the ballot. There’s no doubt that Prop 35, once passed, will save lives. That’s why the measure has widespread, bipartisan support from survivors, anti-trafficking advocates, women’s rights groups, child advocates, faith-based organizations to major law enforcement organizations, lawmakers, and prosecutors.

 

The changes embedded in Prop 35 will save lives and taxpayer resources. You may have some questions about Prop 35.  Here are some answers to the questions we hear most often so you can make an informed choice.

 

Isn’t human trafficking just an international issue?

Many think that human trafficking is a third world problem.  But from my vantage point in the trenches, I can tell you that it’s a universal crisis occurring in our own backyard.  Domestic trafficking is no less serious when international borders are not crossed.  The risk and harm to a child is the same whether she is trafficked from China or within California, where the FBI has identified San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego as high intensity child sex trafficking areas. Prop 35 allows us to protect all children here in California.

 

What will Prop 35 cost?

The costs of Prop 35 are negligible.  The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) has reported Prop 35 will have a “minor increase in state and local criminal justice costs from increased penalties” and there would be potential one-time local costs of up to a few million statewide for police training. On the other hand, Prop 35 will generate new funds through criminal fines to pay for victims’ services to help survivors recover and become vital members of our communities.

 

The benefit of rescuing and healing our children far exceeds the very small expense associated with Prop 35. Moreover, helping survivors turn their lives around will pay dividends for generations. When exploited girls and boys are assisted, the criminal justice system will see savings through vast reductions in future arrests and burdens on the courts.  Given how strong and clear Prop 35 is, I predict that we will also see a reduction in trafficking in our state. Trafficking will no longer be easy money and convicted traffickers will be required to forfeit their assets.

 

The savings are huge, and will spare children yet not enslaved.

 

Would Prop 35 criminalize consensual behavior?

Absolutely not. Human trafficking entails profiting from the sexual exploitation of a child (who cannot legally consent to sexual conduct) or the use of force, fraud and coercion to compel an adult into forced labor or commercial sex acts against his/her will.  Prop 35 is narrowly tailored and specifically states that there must be criminal intent to violate the law.  Prop 35 not only requires the showing that the trafficker causes a child “to engage in a commercial sex act”  but also “with the intent to effect or maintain a violation of Section,” and it lists 12 different existing criminal sections in our state law.

 

Human trafficking is a brutal and clearly delineated crime that involves and requires proof the criminal intent (called mens rea) to exploit another human being for profit. PROP 35 is not something that could ever be triggered by mistake.

 

Prop 35 does not impact prostitution involving consensual adults. There are laws on the books against prostitution, but Prop 35 only covers cases where traffickers profit from the sexual exploitation of a child or the forced exploitation of an adult.

 

Why not address this in the Legislature?

Every year for the past five years, along with many others, I’ve been in Sacramento trying to improve our state’s human trafficking law. For instance, I worked on a bill that would update our anti-trafficking law to the national standard by removing the need to prove force in child sex trafficking cases. This bill was introduced three times, and died three times. However, the exact language of this bill, which sailed through the Assembly without any opposition, is now contained in Prop 35.

 

While our legislators have made commendable incremental progress, our laws are still inadequate. Californians simply cannot afford to let another day go by without a comprehensive human trafficking law that protects victims and those at risk within our own state.

 

Does Prop 35 broaden the definition of human trafficking?

The only change that Prop 35 makes to the current definition of human trafficking is the expansion of the list of trafficking violations to include the production of child pornography. However, the distribution of child pornography would only be included if the distributor specifically caused the child to engage in the sexual act, such as if a trafficker is attempting to sell children online by making them appear in a pornographic video. There are laws on the books to fight the possession and distribution of child pornography, and Prop 35 will not augment them.  Other than this specific change, Prop 35 does not change the categories of violations currently listed in state law. The measure clarifies the definition of coercion by mirroring the definition in the federal law.

 

Does Prop 35 unfairly limit the ability of accused traffickers to defend themselves in court?

No. Prop 35 simply levels the playing field for victims who can currently be intimidated out of their rights.  The measure provides trafficked victims the same level of protection that rape victims currently receive under the Rape Shield Law.  Like the federal human trafficking law, Prop 35 removes the requirement to prove force in child sex trafficking cases. Prop 35 provides victims with evidentiary protection when testifying against their traffickers. Specifically, evidence that the victims engaged in a commercial sex act (such as prostitution) as a result of being a victim of human trafficking cannot be used to prosecute them. Victims will be able to face their exploiters in a court of law without fear of prosecution, and defendants will maintain the right to mount a full defense in court.

 

Final Thoughts

Prop 35 gives prosecutors, police and advocates the tools we need to fight this very important fight. Prop 35 is a comprehensive and effective response to an epidemic that plagues our state and must be stopped in order to protect our children from what is – no matter how you look at it – modern day slavery. When Prop 35 passes, we will have the clearest and best human trafficking law in the country. I predict that traffickers will flee as fast as possible from our state.  By voting yes on Proposition 35, you will have done your very best to protect our state’s most precious resource, our children.

 

Let’s send a clear message that California does not tolerate the sexual exploitation of women and children. Please Vote Yes on 35 this November.

 

Visit VoteYesOn35.com.

 

About Sharmin Bock

Sharmin Bock is a 23-year veteran prosecutor in California and a nationally recognized leader on cutting edge criminal prosecutions including DNA cold cases and human exploitation and trafficking.  Sharmin was recognized as Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature and awarded the prestigious Fay Stender Award by the California Women Lawyers. Sharmin was a candidate for San Francisco District Attorney in 2011.

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Sierra LaMar: Anatomy of a Search Day 191

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Linnea Lomax

We who are drawn to and volunteer at missing person search centers are focused on the singular goal of rescuing and/or recovering a missing person. Sometimes, as in the case of Linnea Lomax, the missing person is found very quickly, as we are just learning to recognize each other’s faces. We shake hands and return home knowing that we have helped a family find answers. Other times, searches can be drawn out for months or even years. People who might not have met for any other reason or purpose suddenly find themselves captives of the emotional vortex that is the search center. That is when things can become complicated.

Polly Klaas

When we were searching for Polly in 1993, hundreds of volunteers were drawn to our search center. Some visited once or maybe twice, but others returned time and time again. Over the two month period that we were looking for Polly, as we became friends instead of strangers, many of the volunteers let their guard down and began sharing personal details about their lives. For some reason many of those volunteers, mostly women, confessed secrets to me. Some of those secrets were so deep seeded that I suspect they had never before been shared. Most had to do with being molested or otherwise victimized when they were children. As difficult as the stories were to listen to, they had to be much harder to tell, because sometimes the ladies would cry or pause to collect their emotions. Many carried guilt, some were still angry, others had found peace through counseling or spirituality, a few had substance abuse issues, but all were driven to help a little girl and her desperate family. Without exception, they admitted that they were volunteering to find my daughter as a way to reconcile, or make amends, with their own past.

Sierra LaMar

At the Sierra LaMar Search Center, which has been active for six months now, many of the people on the KlaasKids team are damaged souls. Violet and I lost Polly. My brother in law Kelby was also very close to Polly and has made search and rescue work a major component of his volunteer activity ever since. I met Danny Domingo at a search center in Vallejo that was established for his niece Xiana Fairchild in 1999. Her skull was found in the Santa Cruz Mountains in January, 2001.  Midsi Sanchez survived her own harrowing ordeal at the hands of a predator in 2000. Michael Le and Krystine Dinh are currently attending the trial of the woman who killed their beloved sister and cousin Michelle Le. Debbie and Pat Boyd, who I first met at the Sierra Search Center, have never recovered the remains of their daughter Kristie Wilson, although an individual has been convicted of murdering her in October, 2005. I share this only because I truly believe that those who have suffered victimization sometimes resolve to assist others who are currently enduring victimization as a way to give meaning to their own struggles.

Xiana Fairchild

I am concerned that many of the things that brought us together to find Sierra and now undermining the effort to achieve this singular goal. I see people criticizing and nitpicking over trivial matters. Social media is being used as a weapon to undermine, not strengthen our search effort, by focusing on peripheral issues that detract from, and not enhance the common cause. Personality clashes that should be confronted or dealt with in person are instead being posted on Facebook. Alliances and cliques that have personal agendas clutter the path to Sierra like weeds, and make it difficult to stay on course.

Midsi Sanchez

We should refocus on the positive things that have been achieved these past six months. Friendships have been formed. Some of us have found new purpose in our lives. A cause that is bigger than any of us has united us in a common goal. We have made our community proud, and we are closer to finding Sierra than we have ever been before. The work that we are doing together in Morgan Hill can be transformational if only we allow ourselves to stay the course, but right now we are drifting.

Christie Wilson

Together we need to refocus and find Sierra. By doing so, we might finally find ourselves.

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Michelle Le Murder Trial: Courtroom Porn

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Murder Victim Michelle Le

It wasn’t about the words or ideas expressed. We are all familiar with batteries, balloons, heat, humidity and lust. It wasn’t even about the emotions expressed as they are universal and common. Instead, it was the impersonal recitation of private expression.

 

Accused killer Giselle Esteban

The prosecutor and defense attorneys use very different interrogation techniques. To date, so much of this trial turns on text message transcripts. More than 300 pages of text messages were downloaded from Scott Marasigan’s iPhone alone.

 

Prosecutor Butch Ford is introducing selected content of these text messages as evidence in the case against defendant Giselle Esteban. Typically, Mr. Ford provides a transcript of the text messages to Mr. Marasigan and other relevant parties including the defense and judge. He then asks the witness to read back various portions of the transcript. As tedious as this process is, it has created a clear roadmap through the venomous mind of the defendant. We know that she despised and obsessed over the victim Michelle Le. We are also learning that her jealous obsession was based in paranoia and not reality. Although the trial has only just begun it is a strategy that makes sense as the case for first degree murder is constructed brick by brick by brick.

 

Scott Marasigan

The defense attorney Andrea Auer has also selected portions of Mr. Marasigan’s text log to prove that her client didn’t commit cold blooded murder, but was instead driven to kill Michelle Le “out of extraordinary provocation and the heat of passion.” Ms. Auer also provided the witness and other relevant parties with a copy of the transcript. But her focus was not about Giselle’s hatred of Michelle Le. Instead she centered her attention on Internet sex.

 

Unless one is producing pornography, the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter, for public consumption, it is usually experienced alone or with a trusted partner. Rarely, is it shared with a room full of people. But that is exactly what happened during the cross examination of Scott Marasigan, the man who completes the triangle of twisted passion that resulted in the tragic death of Michelle Le.

 

The youthful passion that drives the world can manifest itself in many ways. It can produce the glory of a Paul McCartney love song, or the tragedy of murder. This trial is about youthful passion run amok. The victim was only 26, the killer is 27, and she met Scott Marasigan when they were both college freshmen.

 

Instead of having Mr. Marasigan read portions of the transcript, the defense attorney chose to have the witness verbally acknowledge the transcript as she read them aloud to the jury. This disconnect between the lustful passions of youth and the words dispassionately reverberating throughout the courtroom was awkward and uncomfortable and seemed to indicate that people separated by distance wanted to have sex with each other. I don’t know what that has to do with the murder of Michelle Le.

 

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Michelle Le Murder Trial: Day 1

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Accused killer Giselle Esteban

I spent the nineteenth anniversary of Polly’s kidnapping and murder in court. Today began the trial of Michelle Le’s accused killer Giselle Esteban. If opening statements were indicative of how this trial will be handled, and in my experience they usually are, then this is one killer who will never again walk in the grass, smell the roses, or vacation on a beach. Instead, she will rot in a physical hell that matches the sick, twisted fantasies that dominate her life and ruin the lives of those who find themselves drawn into her sphere.

 

The prosecution was unambiguous. Giselle considered her crime for a long time. She planned to kill Michelle, and she telegraphed that information to others.

 

There is no privacy in 21st Century America. The prosecutor can document events leading up to Michelle’s murder. He has phone a variety of phone records including text message logs, which paint a portrait of a monster. There is an extensive record of phone calls that calculate her obsession with a woman who meant Giselle no harm and never threatened her. Cell tower pings track Giselle’s movements as she stalks Michelle, her work place, her friends and associates. There are pictures and video of Giselle invading Michelle’s space in harrowing and intimate ways. There is the trail of breadcrumbs that ultimately led to Michelle’s remains, days after Giselle was charged with her murder. All in all, a portrait of a twisted woman with hate in her heart and vengeance on her brain is painted in bold brushstrokes, so that all can see her madness, her evil intent.

Murder Victim Michelle Le

The defense paints a different picture altogether. But even their pastel portrait is streaked in crimson red: the crimson red of Michelle’s blood. They say that it wasn’t a premeditated crime. That instead it was a crime of passion caused by victim whose loose morals invited scrutiny and ultimately retribution. Despite a potential mountain of evidence the defense claims that Giselle is being portrayed as something that she is not. She is not a monster, instead she is a woman scorned. A woman who watched her family crumble beneath her as a philandering boyfriend betrayed her trust and their family.

Scott Marasigan the Man in the Middle

But opening arguments are but a preview of things to come. Scott Marasigan, the lover scorned for crimes perceived but never committed, was the first witness. He spent the afternoon reading from text message transcripts and Giselle’s jealous obsession and twisted logic manifested itself before our eyes. The transcripts were vile, slanderous, profanity riddled sound bites designed to belittle, injure, and torment. Several times a day Giselle would stab Scott with her invective. Three hundred pages of insults that repeated the same words time and again: whore, slut, bitch.

Brother Michael Le & Cousin Krystine Dinh

It was enough to make seasoned reporters gasp in horror. Unfortunately, it was also enough to make Michelle’s brother Michael and cousin Krystine leave the courtroom shaken and in sobs. And today was only the beginning.

 

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