Marine dismembers girlfriend with machete on vacation in Panama - Crime Watch Daily Full Episode

I'm Chris Hansen right now on crime watch Daily from here in New York an ex-marine and his new girlfriend set off on the adventure of a LIF time she was obviously very smitten with him but only one of them comes home my heart drops a secret affair a surprise wedding a gruesome Discovery are all of the body parts there no enter the star witness the victim's dying sister how are you I'm fine we didn't believe that she would be able to make it all the way to trial Michelle sigona with a desperate Race Against Time to catch the killer to use the last moments of her life to give everything she could right now Andrea iser with crime watch Daily Jason Mata with crime watch Daily this I'm Elizabeth I'm here with crime watch I'm Michelle from crime watch Daily Anna Garcia from crime watch is crime watch deal St off my we'll find you again we always do hey everyone I'm Chris Hansen welcome to crime watch Daily it was a verdict that outraged our viewers How could a man who admitted to stabbing and dismembering someone not get life in prison the case begins with a couple in love and their trip to a place known as Devil's Island here's Michelle sigona Chris it was supposed to be a fresh start two lovers dropping everything to love a life of leisure and a Tropical Paradise but it wouldn't play out that way instead it would be a trip marred by broken promises betrayal and blood a young couple sets out on the adventure of a lifetime but only one of them comes back a trail of deception from Panama to Costa Rica to Southern California A History of Violence there were reports of incidents both ways from the island a gruesome Discovery and a family torn apart he slid the top of it open with his machete and skull rolled out it was here among the sun-splashed beaches of Southern California where Ivon balali grew up she had one older sister and one older brother she was the baby of the family at the time she was 14 when we got married I just loved her she was very special and she was a very happy person but at nearly 40 years old the passionate dog lover with the infectious smile seemed a bit lost bouncing from job to job unsure of what she really wanted out of life then she met a strong 6'2 Midwestern man named Brian brimager he served in the Marine Corps and there were people who liked him he had a gregarious personality I think women found him attractive Von baldelli certainly did but just how positive was that attraction she was obviously very smitten with him almost to the detriment of anybody else in her life and there were more than a few little problems with that Mr Brier was married at the time and was in other relationships but was seeing her how much ion knew about Brian's wife or any other women when they met isn't completely certain but at some point during their affair she not only found out she went public she wrote a letter to Brier's then wife describing the relationship that brimager had with her that he had with another woman by the name of Kristen wovin so she was aware that brimager was not being faithful to her and that should have been the end of Brian brimager and Ivon baldelli instead Brian eventually divorced and over the next few years he and Devon maintained an onag again off again relationship then suddenly things were on in a very big way whose idea was it for them to move to Panama her words to me was that Brian came home and he says I'm retiring at that time she had lost her job we told her forget about the job search we're going to Panama and she sold everything she had here in California so you knew she meant business she was she was serious she told me she was going to design clothes and sell them on the beach she was very she had a plan yeah she had a had a plan and she was so happy and so with only a few sewing machines and Georgia May the King Charles Spaniel she considered her child Ivonne took Brian's hand all the way to the small expat community of bcus deloro Panama they settled in fairly quickly to the island of Isla canero brimager was playing the guitar at local bars she was attempting to work but according to multiple Witnesses thanks in part to a NeverEnding supply of booze and Coke it soon became a Paradise Lost it wasn't long after they got to Panama when things really took a turn and would you say the violence began to escalate absolutely the violence began to escalate almost immediately when they arrived in Panama what the landlord said is that every time they were together she observed miss baldelli being jealous and trying to push and PR Mr brimager but Brian pushed right back and then some we have multiple Witnesses who have all corroborated and told us about the numerous times when Brian would punch yon when Brian would strangle yavon when Brian would kick her her neighbor could hear it through the walls did yvon ever reach out to anyone and say I don't know what to do you know yon had multiple people on theice Island that did come to her and her response wasn't to deny the violence but was to describe it as something that she could handle but handle how on the night of November 8th just over a month after they first arrived Ivonne and Brian got into a heated argument do you believe yavon was a victim of domestic violence yes absolutely do you believe Brian brimager was a victim of domestic violence absolutely sometime during the fight Brian turned his back and Ivon snapped Miss belli took Brian's computer they had two laptops at the time took the laptop and smashed it on him after that the couple's neighborhood Ivon quote screaming bloody murder a series of loud thuds and then nothing at all for two days no sign of Ivonne but then both she and Brian appear in town Ivonne concealing her face behind dark sunglasses there's photographs that she took from her own laptop of her left eye having a massive bruise as records would later show Brian punched her in the face after she hit him with the laptop the laptop broke that had an unintended Consequence the consequence is that they were now both checking their email on the same laptop Miss belli had somebody install software on that laptop to get Miss Mr Brier's email password and that's when she found out that the entire time Brian had been in Panama with her he was emailing his other Old Flame Kristen woven and not just that he was saying I'll be back home to spend time with you and help raise our daughter and of course this is all without yvon baldelli knowing about the fact that he even had a daughter apparently while Brian was married to his first wife and at the same time dating Ivonne he had also fathered a secret child with Kristen yvon just had no idea she had no idea she was blind to the fact that he was living a double life the date was November 26th according to court records Ivonne woke Brian up screaming about what she'd found she got very angry they got into a fight that fight escalated then at some point during the day Ivonne sat down at her computer to write a letter A little over 2 weeks later a plane touched down in San Diego only Brian stepped off do people think where's yon they do coming up Brian was telling people she was just off with another man in Costa Rica where did Ivonne baldelli go and sadistic taunts point in a disturbing direction that individual posted a comment saying I only used it to dismember one stripper now back to today's mystery island of Lost Dreams Ivon baldelli and her boyfriend an ex-marine have relocated to a vacation Paradise looking for a fresh start now as Michelle sigona picks up the story that move would instead set off a Sinister chain of events filled with lies mystery and multiple lovers when Ivon baldelli moved to Panama with her boyfriend Brian she thought it was to start a new life together but apparently they weren't both on the same page and when a return flight touch down in San Diego just a few months later they weren't both on that either he flies back to the United States and he eventually goes and gets his truck he has to pick up his truck that's right from yvon's sister Michelle Valenzuela before Brian and Devon left Brian parked a truck full of his things at Avon's sister's house and if not for that pickup who knows where this story might have gone so he has to face the sister it does and she asks Brian where's my sister in fact no one in Avon's family had heard from her in weeks not since Ivonne found out Brian had been emailing a woman named Kristen work Hoven the mother of a child Ivonne didn't even know Brian had it was unusual that when Brian came back that Michelle had not heard for from her for over 3 weeks and that concerned her but was everyone just making a big fuss over nothing what Brian told people was that she had found out on his computer that he had a daughter with Kristen woven and that she had become angry about this information and decided to leave with another man to Costa Rica and as it turns out just a few days after that big November 26th fight Ivonne and Brian's Panamanian landlord received an email from ivonne's address confirming as much it read hey ne ne Brian is a lying cheating exploitive and I just couldn't stand dealing with it anymore I'm in Costa Rica for a while with a guy I met at one of Brian's gigs when we first moved here we've been talking off and on since then and it's great to be spending time with someone who can be considered a gentleman Michelle is immediately suspicious in fact Michelle told Brian I want to go to the police and report her missing and what did he say he said why don't you just wait on that let me try to reach out to her contact her by email and see if she'll get in touch and not long after that it seemed she did in the email Ivonne tells Michelle she's alive and well and should be home in a few weeks for a big family reunion it was 2 days after Christmas when Michelle sent her reply so glad you responded didn't want a pry or bug but I was worried wanted to make sure you weren't kidnapped and someone pretending it was you haha after that the emails from Ivon stopped despite repeated desperate pleas from her family to get in touch I said whatever you need we just need you to be okay and we're not going to judge you just contact us we just need to know you're okay and then came time for that big family reunion the one Ivonne said she would try to attend January 12th comes around the family gathering is there avonne doesn't show up my heart drops so you knew that was sort of the last stop in all of it if she doesn't show up for this family gathering then it's going to be all hands on deck right almost immediately ivonne's sister starts her own investigation she uh enlists the help of a techsavvy relative who then starts to look at the origin of where the emails from Ivan's account were coming from Michelle found out that the emails had come from California Southern California even more specific the emails were actually coming from where Brian brimager was living and perhaps the most suspicious part of all who Brian was living with the woman he'd been emailing in Panama the mother of his secret child and most shocking to ion's family his brand new bride Kristen woven so Brian comes back to the United States gets engaged to Kristen just within days yes within days in two days within two days he's engaged engaged and he was married that same month somebody forwarded me the registry from his new wife I screamed I screamed hysterically in the house my husband got up and I'm say look at this look at this look at this were you enraged I was angry and Michelle went to the local sheriff's office and actually filed a missing person's report actually she wasn't going to report her missing she was going to report a murder because she had felt that that's what what had happened that she was murdered coming up the local saw them going towards a boat dock that is the last time she was ever seen alive and we get to a shallow area and there were like these garbage bags that were torn and there were bones all over we returned to our crime watch Daily mystery island of Lost Dreams Michelle sigona is back Michelle Chris Von baldelli is missing after moving to Panama with her boyfriend and her family is beyond worried when that boyfriend comes back home to California and almost immediately marries another woman they look like two people who have been in love their whole lives you'd never know that just a few weeks before these wedding photos were taken the groom Brian brimager was living in Panama with another woman a woman now missing and depending on who you asked presumed murdered the last time that she was seen alive was when a local saw them going towards a boat dock and they were fighting and brimager was dragging her by the arm back to the boat it was shortly after she discovered Brian's secret correspondence with Kristen but Brian said it was actually ion who left him for someone else ran off to Costa Rica was some mystery man C iously ivonne's bank card had been used at a Costa Rican ATM around the same time something was definitely wrong because not only was she missing but who else was missing with her her dog she couldn't have kids so that was her baby she would have never left her dog so with all the fake emails Brian sent posing as Ivonne in hand ivonne's sister Michelle filed a report with authorities and Brian was brought in for questioning he did sit in a agree to speak with the FBI when it was still mostly a missing person's investigation but he told them the same Costa Rican romance he told everyone else what did you do I called the Costa Rican Embassy to see if she really went to Costa Rica and she said nobody with that passport ever entered the country even more troubling when I call the American Embassy in Panama they said that she never left Panama you know I said we got we got to do something so working in conjunction with American and Panamanian authorities ivonne's family flew to boas Del Toro to start their own search we by ourselves quietly walked all around the island as far as we could go and then went back the other way as far as we could go and we would do that every day and we would look everywhere grueling work for anyone let alone ivonne's aging parents there hadn't been any proof she had been murdered and certainly no proof that she had been murdered by brimager what authorities did have was a growing mountain of circumstantial evidence for one those fake emails he was flat out asked did you impersonate yvon yes and he said no that's right in addition to that there were upsetting reports out of Panama of Brian suddenly flushed with cash after ivonne's disappearance buying everyone in the bar drinks while toasting her name and as for those ATM withdrawals tying Ivonne to Costa Rica turns out when Brian left Panama to come back to the states he made one little stop along the way he purposefully took a trip to Costa Rica to bolster his story to withdraw money from Avon's account to make it look like she had been in Costa Rica but of all the damning clues there was one that stood out as particularly disturbing apparently Ivonne wasn't Alban left behind on the Island Mr brimager had brought a machete down to Panama with him then he had given the machete in exchange for a debt that he owed to a local Panamanian person that was there on the island that person then put the machete up for sale on a local website and Mr brimager happened to have seen that it was up for sale and he logged into that site and he posted a comment saying don't worry that machete was mine I brought it from the United States it's barely been used I only used it to dismember one stripper a terrible joke or something more police bring the machete to the states for testing but it comes back clean and after over a year of searching for Ivonne in Panama the family comes back with little more than a collection of traumatic moments like this we get to a shallow area and there were like these garbage bags that were torn and there were bones all over they were would later turn out to be animal bones but ivonne's parents were forced to leave the island before getting confirmation and when we had to leave the island and when we had to leave the country I could not live with myself thinking that I left her behind and that that maybe those are her bones she had a nervous breakdown and had to be hospitalized going through all that not being able to bring Ivon back was just uh very devastating at this point yvon's family is sacrificing so much time money energy searching for their love one Brian brimager is back here in San Diego doing what he's living the life of Riley he is going to school he's golfing Kristen and Brian then had another kid and through it all Brian maintained his same old Story one that was rapidly unraveling he denied doing anything anything other than just knowing she had ran off with another man once we were able to review the contents of his computer and interview him it became very clear to us that he was the one that was involved coming up this is one of the most tragic parts of this case does Justice come too late Mr Binger really took both of their daughters the motto of the US Marine Corps is Seer Fidelis it means always faithful however ex-marine brimager has been anything but that Michelle Chris brimager had moved with yavon to Island Paradise in Panama but just a few weeks after she goes missing he marries the mother of his secret love child so at first he's charged and arrested where is he taken down he was arrested in his home in carlb California which is actually the home of Kristen wov The Woman Brian married right after coming back from Panama without Ivonne initially he was charged with obstru instruction of justice and making false statements to Federal officers when he was interviewed he lied about having yon's computer lied about beating yvon lied about impersonating her through emails he lied about multiple things with the intent to obstruct Justice it wasn't the charge ion's family was hoping for but at the very least Brian was off the streets still even when confronted with his own lies Brian continued to deny having anything to do with the disappearance but then roughly 1 month after his arrest breaking news out of Panama there was a Panamanian man who lived out in the middle of this jungle and he was building a trail from his Hut out to the coast and he was chopping away with his machete and he came across a military style duffel bag he slpp the top of it open with his machete and yvon's skull rolled out in front of him are all of the body parts there no uh they were not able to find an entire skeleton what was that night like for you because they didn't find all her remains that was hard that was hard to know that there was pieces of her missing large uniformed Cuts in many of the bones tell at least part of the Gory tale it's just very hard to think that she was chopped up but even with ion's remains found Brian remained silent while the prosecution worked with ion's family to build its case unfortunately for the prosecution star witness time was running out you know this is one of the most tragic parts of this case uh yvon's sister Michelle Valena was diagnosed with breast cancer during the time that she was so desperately trying to find her sister and so desperately trying to find Justice for her sister she wasn't taking proper care of herself she was so focused on her sister that she missed a lump in her breast by the time her sister's body was finally found the cancer had metastasized to Michelle's brain they weren't certain how much longer she would be available and coherent and so we sought an emergency deposition of a potential witness because we didn't believe that she would be able to make it all the way to trial good afternoon Miss Valena good afternoon how are you I'm fine for as long as she could this is my sister Ivon belli Michelle sat across the table from the man she knew killed her sister and set her peace since dropping off at the airport with the defendant did you ever see your sister again no Brian said nothing I was saying that he murdered my sister after the deposition we wheeled her back to the hotel room she asked how she did we told her she did great and uh she went to sleep and she never regained Consciousness again you know you couldn't have had a better sister than Michelle a champion she's a champion to use the last moments of her life to sit down and to give everything she could it uh was one of the strongest demonstrations of strength and fortitude that I've ever seen Mr brimager really took both of their daughters but still Brian copped to nothing something that was about to become much harder to do because of one key piece of evidence that machete was found it was animal he needed to get her to be small enough to fit in a backpack back coming up shocking firsthand details about what happened that night we believe this is Kristen's house tough questions for Brian's new bride someone's coming even after his ex-girlfriend's body was found macheted in the jungle after he sat across from her dying sister during her last moments on Earth even with all the evidence pointing right back at him Brian brimager still denied having anything to do with Von bald deli's murder but that was about to become much harder to do over a year after it had originally been tested and they had found no blood we were examining the machete in preparation for trial and we found that the handle could be removed they removed the handle and found that there was blood under the handle the same DNA as yavon baldelli when confronted with that news Brian brimager sat down with his lawyers and finally started talking we were ready to go to trial and uh he pled guilty approximately one month before trial it started just as Brian said it had so many years before around the time of her death that the victim had logged on to his account and had found out that Mr brimager had another relationship with Kristen woven had a child Brian's defense claims that a violent daylong fight ensued culminating in Ivonne pulling a knife Brian fought back beating Aon before getting hold of the knife and using it to fatally stab her in the back then things really got gruesome he said that after he had stabbed her in the back he knew that he needed to move her and bury her in the jungle and in order to do that he needed to get her to be small enough to fit in the backpack and so in his own words Brian brimager dragged his girlfriend into the bathroom and used his machete to dismember her body then to make it look like she really did just run off with all her things he killed her dog were the dogs remains ever found no they were not but what really started that final fight was there a deeper motive evidence found on ion's computer begged the question she had drafted a letter entitled work Hoven the name of Kristen work Hoven we believe that she intended to send that letter and intended to make sure that Brian's plans to return and live with Kristen and raise his daughter weren't going to happen and he wasn't going to let her talk so he killed her the US attorney's office does believe the motive is that he wanted to silence her I don't think that holds water you don't I don't I think this was a fight that escalated and then he had to figure out what to do I think it was a huge mistake he found himself in that moment in Panama not knowing what to do and having to make terrible decisions but if it really was all just a heat of the- moment situation what about Brian's Behavior after he got off the island probably the most heinous and cruel acts he committed or what he put that family through in making them believe that Von was still alive giving them false hope she was still alive and then there was that Facebook comment about using his machete to quote dismember one stripper is there any response for that what he did was in terrible taste but it wasn't to denigrate her memory or because he's coldblooded it was to make everybody look away from it was a deflection Brian I think remains remorseful remains repentant ivonne's parents have strong opinions about what Brian can do with his remorse there's no way I believe that he's sorry in the end Brian was sentenced to 26 years in federal prison which means no chance of parole May 25th was the sentencing May 28th we were able to take Ivon back to San Diego close to where her home was and give her a send off that was dignifying that was something worthy of Ivonne justice has been served for ivonne's killer but what about the woman who even to this day continues to stand by a side the beginning of when some people are making comments about his wife my husband said you know she's a victim like yvon was a victim let's be patient but now after she knows what Ivonne suffered he broke her nose broke her jaw broke her teeth stabbed her over and over and over again and chopped her up in little pieces and threw her in a swamp and she's supporting the man that destroyed Ivon I'm sorry I I don't have any understanding for her and we wanted to help ivonne's parents find that understanding so we sent our own Jason Mata to Kristen's home to try and get some answers let's see what Kristen has to say for herself does she still support her husband after what he pleaded guilty to someone's coming Jason Mata with crime watch Daily is Kristen here can you open the door is Kristen Kristen your daughter is there a Kristen that lives here Jason Mata with crime watch Daily we're doing a story about Kristen's husband's conviction Brian she doesn't live here where did she where no where did she live do you know her miss the woman behind the door refuses to open up but we had to try one more time to get Kristen's side of the story just had a question on whether Kristen still stands by Brian or not Brian's attorney says that she still supports him odd considering what she what he's convicted of after several more minutes of knocking we're forced to leave without the answers we came for repeated calls to Christen work Hoven by our producers have also gone unanswered so for now this is where we're left two daughters lost a family fractured but not broken we pray and we look forward to one day seeing them again to hug them again and tell them how much we love them and how much we miss them and that's our hope 26 years hardly seems like enough time for a guy like this now we want to hear from you if your husband was accused of a horrible crime like this would you stay by his side like Brier's wife is doing sound off right now on our Facebook page coming up disorder in his courtroom but this judge is not having it 93 days in the county jail cam stand up and when things really begin to escalate see how far I went to protect a woman from her CRA stalker I had to make a decision to act you just sit on the sidelines and let let people become victims next this next guy got an overwhelming two thumbs up from our viewers on social media a Michigan judge who decided to Hop Off the Bench and get involved when a defendant became unruly it was a decision that would go viral instantly these messages aren't a terrified woman I don't even know him so I just don't understand how he's like like so obsessed and like keeps messaging me trying to escape a stalker with no regrets I want per to tell me leave her alone you know what I told you to leave her alone but he's about to have one big one C him stand on messing with the wrong judge put your hands behind the B on his home turf T his ass right now it all went down here in Jackson County Michigan where Judge John McBain Prides himself on maintaining order in his court I'm known as kind of a non-nonsense law-abiding judge and I I don't tolerate disorder and disruption in my courtroom today he meets his match an alleged stalker named Jacob lson with no apparent respect for the law or the bench don't swear my cour it's the defendant's second time before judge McBain the first time he only slapped Larson with a restraining order ugh demanding he stay away from a former High School classmate you're out there hanging out at her place of employment you're putting things all over her car her managers have got to come in there and ask you to leave but he violated it within hours I have messages from October 9th after we got out of court and then I have some from the 23rd now his frightened victim is forced to face her Tormentor in court again thankfully this judge is determined to make her feel safe she was just absolutely terrified of this guy yeah I I've seen it before some of these stalkers can be dangerous people her seat is just a few feet from lson but their stories couldn't be further apart she's instigating it though why do you feel that she's instigating CU she's uh posting pictures and whatnot directed to me um know off like a lot of makeup hair done all that stuff like a full nine uh she's you know sub tweeting me and whatnot on Twitter is that true I don't have him on Facebook I don't have him on Twitter I have him on no social media whatsoever my Twitter's private judge McBain tells the accused talker it's all like the movie Fatal Attraction but it seems this defendant is writing his own lines I want her to tell me to leave her alone you know what I told you to leave her alone and apparently that didn't get through loud and clear so today you're going to jail for 3 Days that's when the defendant makes a ridiculous claim you and her are all and judge mcbaine loses his patience got a bad attitude he had a bad attitude last time you were in court you her are buddy buddy 45 days County jail oh okay 93 days in the county jail you want to go for a year try it right now one more one more word out of you it'll be a year counting over Facebook it BR 93 days in count i't never threat stand up stand up buddy budy MO stand up you're you're going to a jail for a year in the county 365 days County Jail appealing I will good put your hands behind your back now the noons judge has finally hurt it up and whips off his black robe T his ass right now I knew that if I had to get in a little bit of a scrum with the defendant I didn't want to with my Rob on it's clearly not the kind of thing you want to be wrestling in the enraged man's petrified Target cowers in shock as the suspect violently explodes I came up behind him and helped take him down to the floor wrestled him down and he was really them resisting and kind of chicken winging and stuff I had to make a decision to act to just just sit on the sidelines and let let people become victims while the officer C CS him the Furious suspect rages at his alleged victim tell me to leave you alone tell me right now and judge McBain leaps to her defense he kind of stood up and you know he made an aggressive move towards the petitioner the woman I was somewhat concerned for her safety put your hands behind the back for the first time in his career the judge leaves the bench during a trial joining in a dramatic courtroom takedown Tas his ass right now put it down get your Tas Tas right now put your hand behind your back we'll make it 93 you can think about it all right I'm a good can't tell me to leave you alone to leave you I just wanted to get him on the ground and get him where my court officer could get him cuffed but once Larsson was on the ground the judge noticed the real danger a swinging handcuff that was evid to me he was swinging the Handcuff and I was concerned that you know my court officer could get very easily injured at that point that's a very dangerous thing to get somebody that resists arrest and they've only got one cuff on you're better off to have no cuffs on than one thanks to judge mcbain's Swift action nobody is hurt including the defendant who is restrained without a taser good news for him he didn't have to get 50,000 coursing volts you know and get tased after the trial the offender did his time but didn't seemed to learn a lesson the judge says lson went right back to harassing his victim I warned him if he violated it again it'd be referred to the prosecutor's office for aggravated stalking it was he violated it again and now it's it'll be set for trial in front of a different judge on felony charges he may not be presiding but judge McBain might still be on hand to make sure Justice is sered I will probably be a witness in the case I would hope that most judges would do the same thing for their Court office officer instead we'll let you be the judge of that tas's ass right [Music] now

Channel: True Crime Daily

Views: 872,425

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Id: yAPQZY1XHRI

Length: 39min 12sec (2352 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 08 2023