Thinking Sideways: Part I of The American Beauty Murder

meet them in person. Along with some other great podcasters I met at Crime Con in Nashville. There was Erica from Southern fried Trough Crime, Lauren Brooke from The Fall Line, Nina from Already Gone, Steve from Trace Evidence, Jennifer and Lindsay from Corpus DELECTI, and Mo from Targeted and I want to give a huge thank you to Christine and Larry for all their support and hospitality. It was great seeing all of you and all the fantastic people that

came out to show their support for everyone's podcasts. Also, our website had a major overhaul thanks to the talented Lisa from the Secret Lives of weddings podcast and if you haven't checked it out, you can at Minds of Madness podcast dot com. Finally, this episode is pretty special to me. When we were at Crime Con in Nashville, I got to meet Steve, Devon and Joe from Thinking Sideways.

I really have been a huge fan of their podcast for years, and for those of you who are familiar with their show, you know that Team Sideways just recently wrapped up their podcast and have stopped producing content on a regular basis. We talked about doing an episode together, and when Stephanie Moore from our Cleaner's team came to us with a huge and incredible script on the American

Beauty Murder, we asked them to record with us. Luckily, they got their parts in before they closed up shop, and I really want to give a special thank you to Devin, Steve and Joe for helping us with this project. It really was a huge thrill for me to work with you. This episode turned out to be a little longer than our regular episodes, so we broke it into two parts, but you won't have to wait long for the next episode, as we planned to release it in

around twenty four hours. Again, thanks for listening and on with the show. The opinions expressed in the following episode do not necessarily reflect those of the minds of Madness podcast listener Discretion is advised. A toxicologist with the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office convicted of poisoning her husband and trying to make it look like a suicide with a scene from a popular movie of that time. The

victim was her husband, Greg de Villers. She had claimed he was depressed over the disintegration of their brief marriage and committed suicide. There was a wedding picture propped up near his body. He was found lying on their bed, red rose pedals sprinkled about, reminiscent of a scene from the Academy Award winning movie American Beauty. There's also a one million dollar civil suit judgment against her for the parents. They don't expect to see any of that money, but

at least they don't want her to profit from this either. Yeah. On the evening of November six, two thousand, in Loahia, California, a distraught twenty four year old woman by the name of Kristen Rossum made a frantic call to report that her twenty six year old husband, Greg de Vellers, wasn't breathing. When paramedics arrived at the young couple's home. They found Greg on the bedroom floor, surrounded by rose petals and their wedding photo placed by his head. He was still

warm to the touch, but unresponsive. At ten nine pm, Greg de Villers was pronounced dead. Kristen tearfully explained to the responding officer that Greg had been ill the previous day and had overdosed on medication. As officer Garcia searched the apartment for signs of drugs or a suicide note, he found only a bottle of cough syrup and a zip luck bag containing a shredded note. Kristen told the officer that it was a love letter from another man and that Greg had spent the weekend trying to piece

it back together. If Gregg had committed suicide, what had he used to kill himself and how had he managed to carefully surround himself with was petals. Join me now as we take a look back into the suspicious death of Greg de Villers, How these two star crossed lover's paths came together, and what secrets lay hidden beneath the surface. Of their seemingly joyful marriage. On oct in Memphis, Tennessee, a beautiful baby girl was born to parents, Ralph and

Constance Rawesome. Kristen had been born into a family of wealth and prestige. Her parents were both accomplished, self driven academics, Ralph a political science professor and Constance a marketing researcher. Later, they had two more children, Kristen's younger brothers, Brent and Pierce. The Rossum's appeared to be the perfect family. As a child, Kristen was strikingly beautiful, and her mother decided to devote the next years of her life to establishing a modeling

career for her, but Kristen had other ideas. Soon after seeing a performance of The Nutcracker in Chicago, Kristen decided she wanted to give up modeling for ballet. Her parents did not object. As the Rossum family moved around the Midwest following various career opportunities that came up for mister Rawsome, Kristen's talent for ballet continued to the people around her. Kristen came across as highly intelligent, talented, and stunningly beautiful. However, internally,

Kristen struggled with self esteem. She felt like a failure who repeatedly disappointed herself and her parents. At five ft two inches tall, Kristen often felt physically inadequate in comparison to the other ballet dancers who were taller, leaner, and more flexible. It's possible that these feelings of an adequacy later became the driving force behind the future self destructive behavior.

In three, her father, Professor Ralph Rossum, PhD, was handpicked by the Reagan administration to act as a consultant in the field of juvenile crime. It was said that Professor Rossum was the author of Nancy Reagan's Just Say No to Drugs campaign. This prestigious position was equal to that of the Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Dr. Rossum became a recognized expert in his field, maintaining friendships with many high

powered associates, including Supreme Court Justice Scalia. In four, the Rawsom family relocated to Claremont, California, where Kristen's father accepted a tenured position at Claremont mckennet Colleges. Claire Mount, a small, affluent community consisted mostly of white, highly educated residents known for its picturesque tree line streets and small town feel, it was often compared to the fictional town in the

movie pleasant Ville. Kristen's parents, both devoted Episcopalians, expected their children to be driven, disciplined, and successful in all of their pursuits. As a young girl, Kristen excelled in both ballet and academics, consistently bringing home straight a's. At the age of fourteen, Kristen, still pursuing her love for dance, obtained the coveted role as the sugar plum Ferry in

a professional performance of The Nutcracker. Later in Kristen auditioned and was awarded a spot in the prestigious summer program with the Boston Ballet. That fall, her father, Ralph, accepted a temporary guest position at a private liberal arts school in southern Virginia so that Kristen could attend boarding school sixty hours away while continuing to pursue her dance with

the prestigious Richmond Ballet Troupe. During that time, Kristen suffered a bad fall, causing her to tear several ligaments in her ankle. Unfortunately, she pushed herself to return back to dance before she had completely healed, which caused her to develop a chronic stress fracture. As the stress fracture was repeatedly re injured, Kristen was eventually forced to give up dance. Around this time, Kristen, now fifteen, started drinking, smoking, and

doing drugs. She quickly learned their unexpected benefits to drug use. They allowed her to stay up late and study, while also helping her to stay Then usually weighing between a hundred and a hundred and ten pounds, Kristen started to fixate on her weight. Around sixteen years of age and no longer dancing, her mother and brothers started to notice that Kristen seemed sad. They had attributed her sadness to the loss of her ability to dance. While her grades

were still good, her behavior continued to change. One day, her brother found a pipe, razor, blades, and small mirror in Kristen's bedroom. He showed it to his mother. Naive and unaware of drug paraphernalia, Constance was clueless as to their meanings. Eventually, as her grades began to slip, the Rasums decided that perhaps Kristen just needed space from their constant attention. As Kristen was granted more independence. She started to forge new relationships with a group of kids who

liked to party. It was her new friends who introduced her to the euphoria of inhaling crystal meth. As her weight and grades both began to plummet, Kristen soon realized that she needed meth on a daily basis just to maintain a feeling of normalcy. She had open sores on her hands and face from constant picking and scratching. Finally, suspecting that Kristen might have a drug problem, Constance searched her daughter's bedroom and discovered a hidden box containing white powder,

a glass pipe, and razor blades. No longer naive, the Rossums confronted Kristen about her drug use. The discussion quickly escalated into a physical altercation between Kristen and her parents. During the argument, Constance slapped Kristen, who then ran into the kitchen and attempted to cut her wrists with a knife. After Kristen's father wrestled the knife out of her hands, Kristen ran off and locked herself in the bathroom, where

she began repeatedly making superficial cuts to her wrists. According to reports, her parents had decided not to seek medical or psychological attention because the cuts hadn't been that deep. Having been caught, Kristen promised to stop doing drugs, and surprisingly, life for the Rossom's quickly returned back to normal. However, it didn't take long before Kristen's old patterns began to resurface.

Kristen's mother had finally had enough and contacted Officer Horowitz to have Kristen arrested for being under the influence of an illegal substance. Kristen was booked, fingerprinted, photographed, and ultimately released into her parents custody. The raw Sums, with their continued pattern of denial, decided the real problem with Kristen wasn't a drug problem, but rather it was a location problem.

They decided the best solution was to have Kristen graduate early, then moved thirty miles away to the University of Redlands in California. After her first semester, Kristen was doing so well that her parents decided to allow her to move into the dorm. With her new gain freedom, Kristen immediately fell back into drug habits and her grade started to slip again. Eventually, campus police discovered drugs in her dorm room,

and she was expelled from the university. Ashamed of her physical appearance and relapse, Kristen didn't want to face her parents and their inevitable disappointment. When her boyfriend came to take her home from Christmas break, she was nowhere to be found. Her parents immediately suspected her disappearance had something to do with drugs. On Christmas night, Kristen phoned her boyfriend and asked her to meet him at a hotel in red Lands. She told him she'd been staying with

various friends for the past two weeks. She'd been missing well he was showering, Kristen emptied his wallet, which contained two hundred dollars, and caught a train to the San Diego, Mexican border. Kristen was on the hunt for Math. While crossing the pedestrian bridge into Tijuana, Kristen ran into Greg de Villars and his two brothers, Jerome and Bertrand The Deviller's brothers were just about to push through the second turnstile when Kristen Rassum dropped her leather jacket, sparking eate

ful conversation. Since Kristen was traveling alone, Gregg readily invited her to tag along with them. After crossing the border, the four of them took a cab into a popular Tea Juan, a tourist destination aligned with bars and dance clubs. As Kristen and the da Viller brothers hopped from bar to bar, it quickly became a parent that Kristen and Gregg were attracted to each other. By two am, Kristen and the brothers headed back over the border to the

u S where Gregg's car was parked. Greg invited Kristen back to his two bedroom apartment that he shared with his brother, Jerome and another roommate. Kristen did not object. Meanwhile, back in Claremont, California, Kristen's parents discovered she'd missed her finals, and by the day after Christmas, they had filed a missing person's report with campus police. The intake report stated that Kristen's boyfriend had last seen her on the morning

of December. However, because Kristen was now a team, the report read that she was a voluntarily missing adult. An entire month went by before the Rassam's heard from Kristen again. When she finally did call her parents. It was to share that she had met a nice young man, was working three jobs, and had turned her life around. Greg then lent Kristen his car so she could go see her parents. It was an emotional reunion that ended with

promises and apologies. Next, Kristin drove to meet her boyfriend, the one she had deserted at the hotel and stolen money from one Christmas Day. Her boyfriend heard an elaborate tale about Kristen being kidnapped at gunpoint by white slavers in Mexico and driven around in the trunk of a car. She told him that after she had escaped, she had met a nice man who helped her get back in the country. She assured him, however, that it was a

platonic relationship. Kristen's parents, relieved tear about their daughter's recovery, drove down to San Diego the following weekend to meet the wonderful new man who had saved their daughter's life. Before her parents arrived, Kristen had coached Greg to lie and tell them she was living with a coworker, seeming to be in a healthier place. The Rossums talked Kristen into resuming college and immediately helped her apply to San

Diego State University as a freshman. They collectively decided to wash the University of Redland's admission and expulsion from her application. After paying for her tuition books and giving Kristen rent money. Her parents also bought her car to the raw Sums. Greg was the saving angel who had brought Kristen back to them. But while Gregg only saw perfection in Kristen, his brother and roommate witnessed a different side to her, one that was a liar and manipulative and a drug addict.

Shortly after Kristin moved into Gregg's apartment, things started disappearing, such as jewelry, credit cards, checks, and family heirloom rings. Greg blamed the thefts on Jerome's friends, and Jerome blamed Kristen. When confronted, Kristen admitted to taking the items and begged for help to get off drugs. Jerome wanted her out immediately, but Greg would not hear of it. He had fallen in love with her and had made it his mission

to help her. While Greg and Jerome through a party, Kristen spent the entire evening in the other roommate's lap. When someone asked if they were a couple, she burst into tears, Asking the roommate to privately speak with her on the balcony. She tearfully admitted to being in love with the roommate and felt they were meant to be together. The roommate declined her offer, which prompted him and Jerome

to move out of the apartment. They both hoped Greg would eventually see Kristen for the manipulator that she was. That next summer, six months after their faithful meeting, Gregg told Ralph Rossom he wanted to marry his daughter. Kristen's parents encouraged the couple to finish college first, which they both reluctantly agreed to. It was at this time they finally discovered that Kristen and Greg had actually been living

together since the night they had met. While the Rossums were disappointed, they decided to put their thoughts on premarital sex aside and paid for Kristen and Greg to move into another apartment in the upscale area of Lajoya, California. They were pleased with Kristen's turnaround and decided to help the couple by paying for their rent. Kristen was majoring in chemistry and had become a straight a student again. Constance took Greg aside and made him promise to tell

her if Kristen ever relapsed on drugs. Greg assured her he would. Greg, like Kristen, came from a well educated, suburban family. Greg was the oldest of three American born sons to French parents, even Marie France Trimult Dave Fillers. Greg and his brothers grew up in southern California in a bilingual home, speaking fluent French. Even Marie had an explosive marriage, with numerous allegations of physical violence, dual restraining orders,

and financial control issues. The marriage eventually ended in divorce. Marie moved herself and the boys into an apartment in Palm Springs, California, and Greg got a job at sixteen to help provide for the family. Despite Eves, their father being a prominent plastic surgeon with the practice in Monte Carlo, Monaco and Thousand Oaks, California, he often claimed to have

financial problems. Back in the nineteen eighties, he was required to pay child at alimony support in the amount of fourteen hundred dollars but somehow always managed to find a way to avoid doing so. Despite the lack of funds, the boys still had opportunity to play tennis, swim in the apartment complex pool, and ride dirt bikes in the

desert right outside their front door. All three boys had part time jobs while at school, and after graduating from Palm Springs High School, put themselves to work through college. By the end of summer nineteen seven, Kristen and Gregg had been together for two and a half years and appeared to be happily married with promising futures. On June four, Kristen applied for a student internship position at the San Diego Medical Examiner's office, where she was interviewed and hired

on the spot. Within a few short months, Kristen was given additional responsibilities including drug screening, sending drugs out for analysis, and drug sample preparation. She thrived in this environment and quickly decided her future was in forensic toxicology. Kristen's early reviews were filled with praise, and she was seen as very bright and a diligent worker who learned fast and

was dependable. As there was no background check required for a student intern position, no one from the Medical Examiner's Office would have ever discovered she was a former drug addict. As such, she was given free reign to do the samples of hard drugs, including meth and heroin. At first, Kristen was able to avoid the temptation, but unfortunately that wouldn't last. In May, Kristen graduated with honors, and a few days later she was invited to her first professional

toxicology conference. That year, the conference was held in San Diego, where she met some leading forensic toxicologists. Later that year, Kristen's mentor at the Medical Examiner's Office, Frank Barnhardt, left to work for the San Diego Sheriff's Crime Lab. He encouraged Kristen to apply for a job there, too, promising to give her a good recommendation. She admitted on the application to having been arrested and jailed for possession and

being under the influence of a controlled substance. She also admitted to using math between thirty to forty times between the years of her mother would later state she went overboard with her honesty, she was rejected by the Sheriff's department as unsuitable. In February two thousand, Kristen submitted her official application to become a full time toxicologist at the San Diego Medical Examiner's Office. This time time, her mother made sure she wasn't overly honest in her application, and

she was readily offered the job. In addition to the easy access to illegal narcotics, she was also given a key to the office, allowing her unsupervised access. The same month Kristen started at the Medical Examiner's office, Greg graduated from uc SD and began looking for full time work. He quickly found a job with a biotech firm, working for the company's vice president, Dr Stephen Gruenwald as his assistant.

Greg was quickly promoted, and when Dr Gruenwald left for his own startup in cancer research, his first employee was Greg the Viller's. The new job was demanding, giving Greg and Kristen little time, I'm for their relationship. Greg's professional life was going well and there were plans to send him to law school at the company's expense to become

an in house attorney. Greg was the first to arrive each day and the last to leave, being described as the company's most positive person, with both Kristen and Greg gainfully employed and succeeding in their careers. Gregg and Kristen set a wedding date for later that year. Lwardly, Kristen praised Greg as their soulmate and savior to friends and family. Inwardly,

she craved passion and excitement from outside sources. Unbeknownst to Greg, Kristen had secretly begun to engage in sexual relationships with co workers, fellow students, and men from her past. In the dark about their daughter's restlessness, the Rossums began planning for their daughter's upcoming wedding. It was set for June five, and Constance was making all the arrangements. She had already booked and paid for a prestigious location for the private

ceremony and reception. As the months went on, Constance had the entire wedding day planned with military precision. While her mother was finalizing wedding plans, Kristen was still carrying on an affair with a man who had just left San Diego for a job in New York. Kristen began having second thoughts about her upcoming nuptials. Kristen told her mother that although she loved Greg, she wasn't sure she was

in love with him. Kristen's mother thought it was just a case of cold feet and didn't think it was a good idea to cancel the wedding. On Saturday June, on a perfect sunny day, Greg and Kristen were married in front of family and friends. None of Kristen's high school or college friends were in attendance, and she had no bridesmaids. But what Kristen lacked in friends, she made up for with family. Later, Dr ross And would remark

it was a perfect wedding for a perfect couple. Two weeks after returning from their magical honeymoon, Kristen was emailing her secret boyfriend and professing her love to him while making plans to continue her affair. Greg was immediately making plans for children. Kristen told Greg that any plans for children would need to be put on hold, and it soon became a major issue between the newlyweds. Kristen would later say she was becoming more confident as a person

and this was a threat to Greg. You early September, Kristen became fixated with the movie American Beauty and telling friends it was her favorite. By Christmas, Kristen had moved on from her secret boyfriend and embarked on a new passionate affair. While Kristen was busy juggling two secret boyfriends and her husband, she became enamored with a tall, handsome, married thirty year old Australian doctor named Michael Robertson. Dr Robertson had just been hired at the Medical Examiner's office

as her new boss and the chief toxicologist. From the moment they met, sparks began to fly. Dr Michael Robertson was the golden boy of international forensic science and had the good looks to go with the title. After graduating eating from Australia's monished University with a pH d, Dr Robinson worked at the Coroner's office in Melbourne, where he was soon on the fast track to success. Dr Robertson was soon offered a prestigious position with the National Medical

Service in Pennsylvania. He and his wife then emigrated to America to start their new life. Despite his outward perfection, Dr Robertson had a dark secret. Within a few months of moving to America, Dr Robertson began a relationship with a close personal friend of his wife's along with another female employee. Dr Robertson was ambitious and joined the Society of Forensic Toxicologist, commonly referred to as SOFT, and became a regular presenter at their annual meetings, befriendings some of

the nation's most distinguished toxicologists. He was a rising star in the field. He was well liked and described as the life and soul of the party during the many conference social events. In early two thousand, Dr Robertson was offered the position a forensic laboratory manager at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office, and he and his wife moved into the affluent area of Laoya, just a few

blocks away from Kristen and Greg. Within a few days of his arrival in the office, Kristen was going out of her way to spend as much time with her new boss as she possibly could. According to co workers, there appeared to be a mutual attraction between the two. His new office had a perfect view of Kristen's desk, and she would be in his office constantly. It wasn't long before the two were going to launch every day

and meeting outside of work. Their obvious office romance quickly created resentment among the other toxicologists who felt Kristen was getting preferential treatment. In May of two thousand, Dr Robertson invited Kristen to accompany him to the May Conference of the California Association of Toxicologists, commonly referred to as CAT in Anaheim, California, about a two hour drive from San Diego. His friend Dr Daniel Anderson from the l A County

Corners office, was organizing the event. Kristen, along with Dr Robertson and fellow co workers, attended the CAT conference together. Kristen attempted to avoid any impression of impropriety to minimize further office gossip, but that intent mention lasted approximately one day. Back at their hotel, Kristen and Dr Robertson consummated their romance for the first time and decided not only did they have a future together, but they were destined for

one another. Within days of the conference, their fling moved quickly into a passionate love affair. A week later, Kristen and Dr Robertson began exchanging gifts and roses when they came back to the office from lunch. They would enter within minutes of each other, sometimes freshly showered. On May, the first in a long series of passionate emails between the two started. Sitting just a few feet away from

each other, they would exchange long, flowery emails. Dr Robertson wrote from his office, the deepest love is being able to let down all barriers and give yourself to another who has done the same. This is what I feel for you. An hour later, a reply came from Kristen. You're a beautiful person and an inspiration to me. I want nothing more than to give my all to you, my life, my love, my world. Their exchanges were straight

out of a romance novel. That day's exchange of love notes ended with Dr Robertson telling Kristen that he loved her. Her reply, I'll be thinking of you and all our future has to offer. I can't wait for it to begin. That same day, Kristen was simultaneously sending emails to Greg, stating that she loved him more than anything in the world, and asked him if he could email her more often. Twenty minutes later, she emailed Dr Robertson, telling him she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

The following day, she emailed her brother Brent to tell him she had doubts with Greg's ability to be a true life companion. She accused their parents of pushing her into the marriage because they had spent so much time and money on the wedding. She described Greg as unsupportive and said the most significant reason to remain in the

marriage was to not disappoint their parents. The following week, both oblivious to the office gossip, Kristen and Dr Robertson spent most of their working days writing ever more passionate emails to one another. Kristen stated she wanted to leave Greg and moved to Australia to Mary Robertson. By Thursday morning of that week, the two were so indiscreet that Dr Robertson's immediate boss found it necessary to address the

rumors directly. He said, I spoke to them about reports that were reaching me that there might be improper relationships between Robertson and Kristen. I told him we could not have a relationship in the senior subordinate chain of command and it would be deleterious to the morale of that division. Dr Robertson vehemently denied the rumors and immediately sent Kristen an email telling her to delete all of their emails

as they wouldn't be well received by office snoops. Later that afternoon, Robertson's boss called both him and Kristen into his office, asking that they avoid being in close proximity to one another as it made other coworkers uncomfortable. Part of Kristen's job had including logging all of the illicit drugs found at death scenes before they were disposed of by the Sheriff's office. It was the absolute worst place

for a recovering drug addict to be working. It was later determined that illegal drugs were kept in such a disorganized and unsecure manner that any toxicologist working at the Medical Examiner's office could remove drugs intended for destruction with impunity. Kristen later admitted to smoking meth at the Medical Examiner's office during work hours in the high pressure liquid chromatography room because the strong smell was quickly dissipated by the

vented machine. Even Dr Robertson would later agree that the office system for drug storage was woefully inadequate. However, it would be another six months before he discovered how Kristen was using the system's weaknesses to support her drug addiction. Dr Robertson was soon promoted to the position of Chief Toxicologist. He would now be in charge of all toxicology work at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. Kristen was

delighted and hit a congratulations card in his desk. Dr Robertson would regularly place gifts and roses in a box under his desk with love letters for Kristen to fine. They would continually give each other different colored roses with long, passionate love letters about the various meanings of the colors. Roses would become a special language of love between the two, each color signifying a different emotion. Kristen saved many of

the rose pedals in her desk. In June, Dr Robertson was summoned to a meeting with the Medical Examiner Dr Brian Blackburn in San Diego homicide Detective Terry Torkerson. It was explained that a death from five years earlier, which had been ruled an overdose, was in fact allegedly caused by a fentanyl overdose. As the San Diego Medical Examiner's Office didn't test for fentanyl. Dr Robertson had sent it

out to his old employer in Pennsylvania. It would later be claimed that Kristen and Dr Robertson made use of the facts that fentanyl was not part of the regular talk screening for opioids conducted by their office. The newly promoted doctor Robertson decided that the upcoming sl FT conference would be a good opportunity for another romantic getaway, and arranged to have Kristen in attendance to co present a

paper of which he was the primary author. However, everything changed in mid July when Gregg found one of Robertson's love letters. Chris did admitted to having strong feelings for the doctor, but denied anything physical was going on. Gregg telephone doctor Robertson, whom he had recently met at a social function, and demanded he had no further inappropriate interactions with his wife. He also threatened to call the medical

examiner and reveal their affair. To Christian's relief, he didn't do that, but despite these warnings, the affair not only continued, it heated up. In mid September, Kristen started writing a journal of quote self discovery unquote. However, she never mentioned in her diary her relapse with drugs or her love affair with Dr Robertson. Later prosecutors would claim it to be a cliche written journal written for the sole purpose of deceiving Gregg into believing her to be faithful and

drug free. In mid September, she had lunch with her mother explaining her desire to leave greg. Her mother was supportive and offered to help her move out. That very day, she told her mother she was apartment hunting and planned to leave Gregg. In early November, Kristen and Dr Robertson headed to the s O f T conference, having booked just one room for the two of them. Later they would alter hotel receipts and be reimbursed for two rooms

out of the Medical Examiner's budget. Once they arrived, they were given materials that included an eight page article on fentanyl written by doctor Daniel Anderson from the Los Angeles Medical Examiner's Office entitled twenty five Deaths on Fentanyl. A few days later, they would both attend to presentation at the conference on fentanyl overdoses resulting in unintentional death or suicide.

Later Kristen's old friend Frank Barnhardt, who had hired her for the Medical Examiner's office and had tried to hire her at the Sheriff's department, commented she wasn't wearing her wedding ring at the conference. Dr Robertson and Kristen then announced that they were now a happy couple, explaining they were in love with each other and in unhappy marriages with other people. Dr Anderson said he wasn't surprised, but didn't approve and thought it unfair to their respective spouses.

Kristen follow him out of the reception hall Terria I had, saying how much she and Dr Robertson valued him as a friend and respected his position. He said he didn't want to be part of a drama filled scenes, so he tried to avoid her the rest of the night. Kristen returned back to San Diego more in love than ever and determined to separate from Greg by whatever means necessary. From the moment Gregg picked her up from the airport.

After returning from the conference, the arguments between them began. Gregg became suspicious that his wife had had a relapse on drugs and searched Kristen's purse, Greg found three different types of drugs. In an angry email, Kristen attempt to explain away each of the pills he found as something innocent. She accused Greg of violating her trust by searching through her purse, and even alleged she wanted Gregg to find the pills to prove a point that he doesn't trust her.

On October two thousand, Kristen celebrated her twenty four birthday. The night before, Dr Robertson hid roses and chocolate in her desk. Her husband gave her two dozen red roses. Kristen, running low on meth and also the funds to obtain it, began looking into alternative sources to maintain her daily habit. That day, at work, she made several web searches on how to synthesize meth. That evening, she logged onto Greg's computer at home and conducted searches on quote making crystal

meth easy unquote. That same evening, Dr Robertson wrote christ in a two and a half page letter, urging her to make a lifelong commitment to him and hinting he would leave her and move on if she didn't act now, the whole situation was playing out like a soap opera. On the Friday before Gregg's death, Kristen became obsessed with obtaining more bath. She continued web searches for making the drug.

In desperation, she took an extended lunch, crossed over the border and met a local taxi driver in Tijuana who instantly became her drug dealer. He gave her his card and told her in the future to call him directly and he would meet her at the bridge with her drugs. On Thursday, November two, Kristin alleges she was at home reading a love letter from doctor Robertson when Gregg caught her. After he wrestled the letter out of her hands and read it, He then accused Kristin of being on drugs again.

She stated, quote, he almost struck me. He read the letter and was infuriated by it and was storming around unquote. Kristen grabbed the letter and attempted to shred it. According to Kristen, Gregg snatched it from the shredder and attempted to tape it back together. At one point, Greg allegedly became so incensed that he threatened to take the letter to the medical examiner and reveal her fair along with

her drug relapse. The next day, Kristen stopped smoking meth in the event that Greg went to her boss and she was asked to take a drug test. She then went to Dr. Robertson's office and told him about Greg's ultimatum. That evening, Kristen's parents took Greg and Kristen out to dinner for Greg's upcoming twenty seventh birthday and Kristen's twenty four birthday. The Rossoms would later say that Greg was

acting odd that night. Kristen's mom tried to talk to her into leaving with him that night, but unbeknownst to her parents, Kristen had a plan of her own. Greg's threat to expose her affair and drug relapse has scared her. Meanwhile, Greg was at home tending his hangover from the drinks his wife had given him the night before. During a phone call that morning with his brother Bertrand, he complained

of feeling tired and hung over. This phone call with his youngest brother would be the last contact he would have with anyone other than Kristen. At nine pm on Sunday night, Kristen left the apartment to call Dr Robertson. This call lasted just a few minutes, and prosecutors believe

this call sealed Greg's bait. Stay tuned for part two, where we will unravel how the sordid love affair between Kristin Rosamond Dr Robertson ignited more than a fiery passion between them, but escalated to involve a plan that would permanently remove Greg de Villers from the equation, a scandalous case that would later become known as the American Beauty Murder. There's a few people we really have to thank for helping put this episode together. Firstly, and most importantly, Devin,

Steve and Joe from the podcast Thinking Sideways. I've been a huge fan of their show and I can't tell you how exciting it was for me to work with them. Sawyer Westbrook and the team from Resonate Recordings for their assistance in editing this show. And finally, a special thanks to Stephanie Moore who researched and wrote this episode. Now, with this part of the show, I normally say I'd like to introduce to podcasts, but I kind of have a feeling you already know them. They're huge supporters of

our show, and we think the world of them. The Generation Wide podcast, How are you doing tonight? I'm doing fine. Justin how are you? I'm doing great. We are the Generation Why, and we've been around quite a while since two thousand twelve. We've been doing true crime, murder, mysteries, conspiracies, controversies, wrongful convictions, missing persons cases, anything and everything under the sun.

Here's what you can expect. They didn't know it, but they were one thousand feet or so from where these three girls are being held captive. When he brings these young ladies back to his house, they would have this chain wrapped around their neck, in their stomachs, and they're beaten under the control of a psycho. And he lied about everything. Now you can't trust anything he's done. I think this is anyone's worst night. And these women were

killed in one place and then taken and dumped somewhere else. Chaos, that unpredictability made him so terrorized. The strongest evidence they have is the eyewitness testimony of a six year old boy. He placed his body underneath the house. I think this is less of a story about a monster and more of a story about survival word generation. Why look us up on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or your favorite podcast app and hit the subscribe button and They Walk among Us.

They Walk among Us is an award winning true crime podcast. From the sinister and surreal to the brutal and bizarre, join us to hear more on the UK's most notorious and obscure crimes, featuring well known cases like the life and crimes of the UK's most violent inmate, Charles Bronze, to the sad tale of the Gibbons twins, whose string of petty crimes would lead them to be trapped in broad Mall for eleven years before their eventual release ended

in tragedy. We also cover lesser known cases like the woman who murdered a husband with an ornamental frog and kept him mummified and has shared for eighteen years, or the teenager that used his elaborate online fantasy life to plot his own murder. Listen unsubscribed to They Walk among Us through a cast, Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider.