Episode 59 - Chelsea Noel: A Loved One Incacerated

A single phone call can split your life into before and after and Chelsea still carries the exact timestamp: 11:34 p.m. She was in the final stretch of an undergraduate psychology thesis in forensic psychology, proud she’d gained the trust of a serial killer for her research, when real life hit harder than any true crime story. Her brother was arrested after a man was shot and killed, and the shock collided with grief, COVID lockdowns, and the kind of isolation that makes your nervous system feel permanently on edge.

We talk honestly about trauma and memory, why certain details haunt you, and how EMDR therapy helped her process that first crushing moment. Chelsea also walks us through what it’s like watching the media build a simple “monster” narrative while you’re reading police reports, listening to dispatch calls and seeing witness accounts that point to self-defence. We unpack the role of Kentucky’s stand your ground law, the volatility of PCP (angel dust), and how drugs, violence and fear can make a split-second decision life or death.

Then the story turns into a criminal justice system nightmare. Chelsea describes trial dynamics in a small town, inconsistent testimonies and the social price families pay when they’re linked to a homicide case. Even after the Kentucky Supreme Court rules her brother acted in self-defence and criticises the trial court, she says he remains detained without new charges. It raises uncomfortable questions about wrongful conviction, unlawful imprisonment and accountability when a court decision still doesn’t deliver freedom.

Connect with Chelsea on Instagram here

Purchase Chelsea's books here

If this conversation hits you, please subscribe, share it with someone who cares about justice reform, and leave a five-star review so more people can find Everyday Warriors. What part of Chelsea’s story are you still thinking about after listening?

Transcript

The Phone Call That Changed Everything

Chelsea 0:00

What wrecked me the most out of that was getting the phone call. That's a phone call I wouldn't wish on anybody. Oh, is it? It was, and I remember the time distinctly. It was 11:34 p.m. at night, and that time has haunted me to this day. It shows up everywhere, and I hate it so much.

Safety Warning And Why Stories Matter

Trudie Marie 0:26

This is the Everyday Warriors Podcast, where courageous guests share the truth of what they've survived, what they've learned, and how they have rebuilt their lives. I'm your host, Trudie Marie. Listen to these stories of resilience, purpose, and hope so you can remember you're not alone. Please note that the following podcast may contain discussions or topics that could be triggering or distressing for some listeners. I aim to provide informative and supportive content, but understand that certain things may evoke strong emotions or memories. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or in need of support while listening, I encourage you to pause the podcast and take a break. Remember that it is okay to prioritise your well-being and seek assistance from trained professionals. There is no shape in this. In fact, it is the first brief step to healing. If you require immediate support, please consider reaching out to Lifeline on 13, 11, 14 for a crisis intervention service in your area. Thank you for listening and please take care of yourself as you engage with the content of this podcast. Love the Everyday Warriors Podcast? It would mean the world to me if you were to leave a five-star review to ensure that the Everyday Warriors podcast is heard by more listeners around the world. You can also support the show for as little as $5 with a one-time donation or by becoming a monthly subscriber. Your contribution helps me to continue bringing you inspiring stories of everyday warriors who overcome challenges to find strength, resilience, and new possibilities in life. Head to the link to buy me a coffee and fuel the next episode. Every bit counts.

Chelsea 2:49

Hi

A Thesis Built On Serial Killer Trust

Chelsea 2:50

everybody, it's Chelsea.

Trudie Marie 2:53

So good to have you here. I and I know the time difference. The time difference always freaks me out with the states because we're literally like it's your evening, my morning. But I want to take you back to 2019, I think it is, when you were actually studying in college as an undergrad.

Chelsea 3:13

Yes, I was in an undergrad program for psychology. Really wanted to have a strong focus in forensic psychology because I like true crime and also psychology. So as an undergrad program, my options were some other psychology classes that I didn't really care for, or to do a thesis. I chose the thesis, and with that, I was able to gain the trust of a Buffalo serial killer, El Tinio Sanchez. And I was so proud of myself. I was late 20s, really writing cloud nine success, right? I got a serial killer to communicate. Visitations, emails, letters. And then come June 2020, I finished my rough draft of my thesis, outlined everything, really proud of it. And I'm like, okay, the draft is done. Now the easy part with editing and the thesis defense. However, right when I finished writing my draft, my own brother gets arrested for murder. Oh wow. It was a dark time, plus compounded with COVID, and we all had to be home. I couldn't see him because he was across state lines. There was the travel band in the states, quarantine, and so I was home suffering.

Trudie Marie 4:52

Um I can only begin to imagine what you were going through because one, you've just spent the last 12, six to 12 months dealing with a serial killer and gaining their trust and getting their story, only to then have your brother arrested for a very similar crime, even though it's not serial, arrested for murder. And then you're right in the middle of COVID and everything's on lockdown.

Chelsea 5:21

Yes, but June 2020, it was more than just my brother's arrest. My paternal grandma passed away on June 4th, and then June 13th, I turned 30. June 17th, my brother gets arrested, and then July 2nd, my paternal grandpa passed away. So my 29 days of June, I was just like, fuck this.

Trudie Marie 5:48

I don't blame you. That's a lot for anybody to go through any single one of those things. I mean, you look at the one celebration of you turning 30 in the middle, but everything else just compounded. Your body is going through so much trauma in such a short space of time.

Chelsea 6:07

29 days of crap, and I was stuck home. Yep. Now I laugh about it, but that's probably the dark humor side of it. Plus, my grandparents died of natural causes. So it was natural causes, but you know, just all of it within June. And I'm like, this sucks. Did not want to get out of that.

The Arrest And A Month Of Grief

Trudie Marie 6:44

So, how did you even begin to start to process? Obviously, losing a loved one brings its own grief, and you have to deal with that in such a way. But let me focus on the fact that you've just written a thesis about a serial killer and now your brother is convicted of murder. What was it like actually hearing that your sibling could have done something?

Chelsea 7:11

What racked me the most out of that was getting the phone call. That's a phone call I wouldn't wish on anybody. How is it? It was, and I remember the time distinctly. It was 11:34 p.m. at night, and that time has haunted me to this day. It shows up everywhere, and I hate it so much. But I remember I was in my living room, I was putting pictures away because you know, grandma passed away. I'm pulling out pictures for a few future, maybe funeral stuff, and just got home from the college library because I was a night owl. So I liked the quiet, and we were still allowed to go there with masks and just get home. And I remember in my living room, and then my dad calls me and answered the phone, and I knew it wasn't my dad. That tone, like he was like in shock, panic, trying to catch his breath, couldn't speak. And I'm thinking in my head, he's like, Well, first he said, It's bad, it's bad, it's bad. That's all I kept repeating. And I'm like thinking, what could it be? Did grandpa pass away? And right as I was thinking it, it's not grandpa. And I'm like, get out of my head. Because my grandparents passing away, that really didn't bother me because it was a long time coming, and we just knew my grandma was like, Yeah, I'm gonna pass away from this, I'm fine. Um, so they wanted to die for 30 years, so I'm like, okay, well, I know death happens in old age, but just hearing my dad on my phone, and then I'm trying to think because he was 700 miles away because he lived in Tennessee, and I'm in New York, and my brother lived in Ohio, so we all lived in different states, and my dad just blurted out, your brother's been arrested, or your brother killed a man, and the cops are looking for him. And uh I just remember screening. I can't describe the screen because it's not your normal screen, if that makes sense. I can picture it in my mind, but trying to describe it's just there's no words.

Trudie Marie 9:40

No, and it is it's very different. As a police officer myself, I've had to do those formal announcements that of somebody passing and seeing people collapse and react in shock. I don't know what yours was like personally, but having seen it, it is not your normal reaction to anything. It is a complete shock to the nervous system.

Chelsea 10:08

You know, I'm just trying to think like my instincts. My brother and I, we were basically children born to survive. There was like no love on any side of our family. So hearing that about my brother, I just wanted to get in my car and go. Just drive south, but I didn't know where he was. So that's really the only thing that prevented me from jumping in my car and just driving. Aside from the fact that I went a little bit not medically documented, but I kind of went blind from crying because the tears were so much in that moment, they wouldn't stop, I couldn't see. That's how a lot it was. And I was even slapping my face at times to stop the tears. I'm like, I just need to see. I called my cousin, she came over, so she was my savior in that moment. And yeah, it I did get EMDR for that phone call. A lot came up that I did forget about, but it's what I needed to remember. And hearing my brother kills a man and then the cops are looking for him. I also knew that wasn't really my brother knowing him. I'm like, he doesn't just kill somebody and run away. Um but checking mobile patrol app, that's where you can look for mugshots of people. I'm constantly refreshing the internet to see anywhere typed in his name, anything. I was desperate. Nothing until like 3 a.m. Because it happened at nighttime, I think around 9, 10 p.m. But my dad didn't get the call until right before he called me. And his phone call came from my brother's baby mama. I don't like her. But that's you know, family stories and apparently families. Oh my gosh, yeah, there's there's a lot there, but she told my dad, this is from my dad. He said that she called him and said, I'm now a single mom of three kids, your son shot someone and ran, and she's a single mom from three other men, not my brother, but she's one of those baby mamas. So, but the way my dad said how she said it was so cold, like she didn't even care. But when you look at her baby daddies, she's kind of put them all in jail at one point, so yeah, that's that story. But my dad called me, and then I'm freaking out, and my dad and I just know he shot someone and took off. But then a couple hours later, I texted the baby mama. Hey, what's any info? So she did say that they were in a cabin in Kentucky, so another state in Zismul, four states. Nobody's been in the state they should be in. Um so happened in Kentucky. She said he shot someone, and then she said he probably killed himself by now. And I'm like, the fuck did you just say? I'm like, you're lucky you're nine hours away from me right now.

Trudie Marie 13:47

Yeah, nothing like adding to the trauma of what's going on, just to throw that in as a flippant comment along the way.

Chelsea 13:55

Yeah, she didn't care at all. Nothing. And my I'm glad my cousin was there to hear it too. And then she also she was waiting for the cops to interview her. She did call me when she was leaving because I guess they all left the cabin area. And I put her on speakerphone. And I'm trying to like play devil's advocate because I'm like, I know this is highly traumatizing, but at the same time, she's just a terrible person to begin with. I never cared for her, and I told my brother that straight up because I'm like, look, I know you. This no, what are you doing? My cousin hearing her on the phone, I heard her. She's like, I'm just headed home now, I don't care. And I'm like, you're not going to stay with him at least till the morning, check in with him at jail. Nothing. She just washed her hands that day. So she became a problem throughout the pretrial hearings, too, and at hearing. And it got so bad from her that the attorneys stopped including her on information because the deceased was a friend of hers that my brother shot and killed. So the night that the murder occurred, the news portrays it one way, but the facts from the police reports and also the dispatch calls paint the truth. And the night of the murder, sorry, I'm just a little shaky at the moment. I'm just glad it's not that time period anymore. I'm glad it's six years away, but it's still ner in my nervous system a little.

Trudie Marie 15:40

That type of emotion is raw, and it's something that people need to be aware of, like even anybody listening, is trauma like that stays in your body. There is an attachment there, unless you can a hundred percent heal it. But then I don't even know if you can a hundred percent heal it. But when you can tell stories that you can put yourself back in the time frame, you can smell, you can hear, you can see, you can imagine it, it is a real trauma. And I think everybody would have experienced something like that in their lifetime that they can totally relate. So even having you just bring it up now, it's hard. It's not an easy thing to just, oh yeah, I'll tell this story like it's a work of fiction. No, this actually happened to me, and I'm reliving it as if it's happening now.

Chelsea 16:33

Yeah, it sucks so much. I wouldn't wish this on anybody. And I won't jump to society's view on it just yet, but uh what is it? When

Media Narratives Versus Police Facts

Chelsea 16:45

the news reports they painted my brother a monster. The first report that came out was my brother shot a man in the back of the head five times, point blank. I knew that was not my brother. I'm like, this is garbage, that's not that's not him. Who would do this? Right. Well, that was sense redacted, and I'm like, hmm. So then I get all the police stuff at one point, and the people at the cabin were five adults, five kids, and like a couple dogs. They brought their pets. Apparently, it was supposed to be my brother and his baby mama, and the deceased sister, and the deceased husband. It was supposed to be just those four adults with their mixed children all on a friend trip because I think some COVID restrictions were lifting, and people just wanted to get out of the house, so it was supposed to be just them. And the baby mama, she was friends with the deceased sister since like grade school. My brother was just friends by you know association, whatever. Yep, and the deceased sister, her mother was going on a trip at the same time, so the deceased wasn't invited for either trip because of this man's history, which the news conveniently left out. The deceased has a history of a drug problem, history with law enforcement in Ohio and Kentucky. He was arrested by SWAT team for being on drugs and firing an illegal firearm in his mom's front yard. He was arrested in Kentucky for selling fentanyl. Like this man has a history. And looking at his Facebook, there's this one video. He had his one, one of his many girlfriends, because he had a couple of them. His one girlfriend, he made her record a video like a month before he passed away. Because this happened June 2020, a couple weeks before it was the George Floyd in May. So doing EMDR, one of the things I recalled was, oh my god, I hope my brother didn't shoot a non-white person because I couldn't handle national news, let alone local news.

Trudie Marie 19:37

Totally get it. That's hard to deal with anyway.

Chelsea 19:42

Yeah, I mean, yeah. Don't want to touch that subject, but uh but where was I? Yes, so the deceased had a long-known history of just problems. The video he made his girlfriend post. I saved it on multiple forms. I did more work on my brother's case than the attorney did. But the deceased made his girlfriend film him saying, Yes, I purchased an illegal firearm. No, nobody's gonna take this away from me. And yes, I know I'm a felon. So he knew what he was, and same with everybody knew what he was. Yet my brother's the one painted as the monster on the news. So the news says my brother shot and killed a man. They portrayed him as my brother being a friend to the deceased, like they were like brothers. But my only my brother met him a couple of times. So there's where the narrative is taken out of proportion. But according to when more stuff comes out, the night of the murder arrest, the sister of the deceased and her husband and the baby mama, they all said in their recorded police statements of that night that the deceased was violent towards my brother. My brother was leaving the cabin, duty to retreat, because my brother was like, I don't want to be around this violent man. And the violent man chased after my brother with a knife. And in Kentucky, they have a stand your ground law. So my brother did everything legally gun protocol, according to the NRA. And the witnesses all confirmed it, confirm what my brother was saying. This is where I want to tell my brother he's an idiot because he waived his Miranda right. But my that my brother was doing the right thing. And my brother's story stayed the same every time he was asked. However, the Next day. This is where I want to punch everyone involved. Because the deceased sister told her court deposition that my brother was violent and that my brother purchased the drugs that the deceased was on. And there's a point. The news never mentioned anything about the deceased being on drugs. As she was saying, my brother brought angel dust, my brother brought cannabis, marijuana. She was blaming in her court deposition, my brother brought all these drugs. What she did not realize, I hacked my brother's Facebook page because I know my brother that well. And then the deceased brother-in-law, he was, I didn't read his court deposition, but at trial he lied under oath. There was no consequence for that. But the sister, aside from her police statement and her court deposition being two opposite stories, she decided to go on the news in Ohio a couple times, and she gave two other different stories. So she had four different stories total. And each story, she was in a different location when the crime happened.

Trudie Marie 24:06

And then to lie under oath, like when you're doing a police statement or for a court deposition, like why? At least if you're gonna lie, keep your story straight.

Chelsea 24:19

Oh, and with her lies, because I saved everything. I have a camcorder, I screenshot, video recorded everything off social media daily as the tears were coming through my face, reading the death threats that my dad were getting, my brother's pictures were tagged and everything, which I saved them all. And but it's just you can't help but think people are rather stupid. Do you not think that this is gonna catch up? Well, it did because her four stories, the prosecution told her not even to show for trial, and she didn't. That's why the prosecutor told her not to show up at all. I'm like, that's fucked up. Yep. And her husband took the hit for lying. Cause in his police, he actually, what is it? There's three 911, no, four nine one one calls. My brother called to say he admitted self-defense, and the deceased brother-in-law said, Yeah, the deceased was violent towards my brother, and the the brother-in-law kept moving the body, even though dispatch said not to. And this is where that first initial news article, the deceased sister called 911 and said, My brother shot him in the back of the head. And I'm like, wow, they went with that one, but not the self-defense that a man was just attacked by someone on angel dust with a knife. That didn't make the news. It just filled me with rage and anger. Then another bystander from the cabin overcalled and said she heard gunshots. That was it. But the stress, the anger I have towards all those people involved. But my brother was the one that pulled the trigger. So who do you think they're gonna portray as the monster?

Trudie Marie 26:30

Yeah, and I think that's something, especially for the Australians and the Australian audience, where we have such tight gun laws now, that guns are not a really a big thing within Australia. Yes, there are the illegal firearms and they're the ones often used in whatever case, but we just don't have the same laws here. But I can only begin to imagine because even as a police officer, if you were to pull your trigger in an incident that required it and you shot somebody, you're literally fearful of your own life. In those moments of self-defense, when it's legitimate self-defense, you fear for your own life, and you will do anything to save your own life. And in my career as a police officer, I have been in two incidents where knives were an issue, and thankfully for me, I never had to withdraw my weapon. But the danger is there, and it's a split-second decision. You have like knives can do more damage than a gunshot wound, truth be told. And the media are always going to portray the alternative narrative, because never let the truth get in the way of a good story. But what I want to ask you is what was it like when you actually got to speak to your brother either for the first time or as trials started to happen? Because obviously he's now got to live with the fact that, okay, yes, I was fearful for my own life, but in that moment, I also took somebody else's life, and he has to now live with that guilt. It's like a car accident where it could not be necessarily the fault of the surviving driver. The deceased driver may have actually caused the accident, but the other person has still got to live with that for the rest of their lives.

Chelsea 28:32

Yeah, I mean, he did lose six years of his freedom because of a known criminal, violent person. And that's there's some things I want to ask him when he's not on a jail or prison recording. But to your question, speaking into the first time, all I remember kept saying is, I'm glad he's alive. Because if it was the other way around, and knowing that guy's drug and criminal history, a judge would have just given that deceased man 30 days of inpatient. Oh, you were on drugs, it's not your fault. That's just how the American justice system is. But that's when I say my brother killed a man, everyone at that time just shut off. They didn't want to be around me. They're like, ooh, murder? No, thank you. Nobody cared to hear that it was actual self-defense because during that time, because it was right after George Floyd and a couple months before Kyle Rittenhouse. So in between those two. And I know when people say self-defense, they're like, yeah, right. But the NRA fully agreed that it was self-defense, as well as the Kentucky Supreme Court, when they read his appeal, my brother rightfully won his appeal completely, not reduced to a lesser sentence, because the Kentucky Supreme Court stated my brother did act in self-defense. And they also stated the trial court was biased against my brother. And they also stated that the trial court did not have enough evidence to bring it to a trial to begin with. Because that man, the deceased, that's about as respectful as I can give him that label. And I have none for this person. I just don't. And that people hearing it, they're like, oh my gosh, that's a victim. No, he wasn't. You read the facts of the case, the documents, the autopsy report, the toxicology, and knowing that criminal history, he wasn't a victim. He was a problem. Sorry, I'm just getting really angry. I hate this man so much.

Trudie Marie 30:57

No, but it's yeah, it's something to be aware of. Is yes, everybody is a human being and everybody has a right to their own story. But when you have people in society who knowingly do the wrong thing a lot of the time, and when you own unregistered firearms, when you take illicit drugs, when you cause violent situations, you are not operating under the law. You're not under operating under the world as a good standing citizen. You are knowingly doing the wrong thing. And so when you get portrayed as the person who is the victim in all of this, you can't it's awful to say because your brother was probably a really good upstanding citizen who followed the rules, who did the right thing. Yes, you found Facebook messages that said he was taking a little bit of cannabis or whatever to a getaway. He's not the first person to do that. And yes, he knowingly did that, but there's a big difference between making one mistake and knowingly making mistakes every day of your life.

Chelsea 32:11

Yep. And the messed up thing is that nobody invited the deceased on the trip because I also found private messages from the deceased sister to my brother. The deceased sister even said she couldn't stand her own brother. But the deceased forced him away on a trip and he brought the drugs. And the next day, my brother had one or two beers, and that was it.

Trudie Marie 32:52

Yeah, and in the circumstances, he's obviously also on a what you would call a vacation weekend away, whatever you want to call it, but he's with what you say is the baby mama, but also the child. So not only is he probably concerned in those moments for his own life, he's concerned for that of his partner and of his child. Yeah. So there's way more lives at stake than just your brother's life in that moment.

Chelsea 33:22

Yeah, because the deceased, who knows? He could have stabbed my brother first and then killed everyone else. Because peace, angel dust is no joke.

What PCP Does In Violence

Trudie Marie 33:32

But yeah, I mean, for the listeners who don't know what angel dust is, can you give a little bit more detail for that?

Chelsea 33:41

It's a powder substance, and I think it's the number one worst drug that on the market. I think it's worse than fentanyl because people develop superhuman strength on angel dust.

Trudie Marie 33:54

So is angel dust another word for what we would call here in Australia like meth? Methylamphetamine.

Chelsea 34:03

No, it's higher than that.

Trudie Marie 34:05

It's higher than that.

Chelsea 34:06

Um, yeah, it's PCP. I forget the scientific name for it because science and me just don't work.

Trudie Marie 34:13

No, they don't work with me either.

Chelsea 34:16

Yeah, uh, I failed chemistry, but I learned a lot about angel dust while going through this case. But yeah, it's the number one drug in America that is highly dangerous. Because if somebody's on angel dust, violent rage, out of control, they're not in their mindset, they're gone. And you can shoot someone in the leg on PCP, they won't feel it. That's how powerful it is. So in the States, when there has been cases of like police officers really shooting someone, because you got to shoot until the threat's eliminated. That's what the NRA teaches. And usually when a person has any bullet holes in them, you do have toxicology and PCP's present because you can shoot someone on PCP 10 times and they really won't feel it unless you shoot until the threat's eliminated.

Trudie Marie 35:15

Wow. So we're dealing with quite volatile lethal drugs that can cause more problems than we would care to admit in general society.

Chelsea 35:28

Yeah, you can run over someone at full speed on PCP and they'll still get up and walk it off. They don't feel anything on angel dust.

Trudie Marie 35:37

What was

Trial Pressure And Small Town Power

Trudie Marie 35:38

it like then? Obviously, it's such an awful situation to be in, but then what was trial like? Like going through because that would I'm gathering, that's not an overnight process. So we're talking a couple of years of having to deal with everything going on.

Chelsea 35:56

So trial one, I'm just gonna say it's awkward for both sides and the jury, right? This is real life that grade schools and high schools don't teach. So when you're thrown into life experiences and you have no clue and no help, because on the prosecution side, they have what's called a victim advocate, where the family gets the support, the victims get a voice. This the family members of the other side, nope, fuck you guys. How dare you show up and show support for a murderer? That's what I've gotten from the moment it happened until trial, which is disgusting of society. But when I say it's awkward, because this happened in a small town, and eastern Kentucky, they don't like logic in this area. If you're smarter than them, forget it. But I say it's awkward because this town only had a courthouse, a firehouse, a gas station with a subway restaurant inside, a little deli shop, and a library, and one or two street lights. There was really wasn't no place to go for lunch except subway or the deli shop where you have the court officers, the judge, the prosecution, the jury. Everybody. Yeah, so that's just awkward. And we were told, don't talk to the jury, right? You can't do jury influence, which we weren't gonna do anyway. But I'm like, I like to smile at people and hold the door open for people, but I even if I did that to like jury member, I'm sure it would have been taken out of context. So I had to kind of be like a stone cold looking bitch. Um, it was just awkward. Nobody wanted to be there, is what it was. And I wasn't even allowed to sit during the trial because of everything I found on Facebook, private messages and everything that was public, I saved. So our paid attorney, because we went the paid route, not a pro bono one, and that we had two, and they said, We're gonna call you to testify to everything on Facebook. So wait in the parking lot. I never got called because I would have helped my brother's case. However, I was really fucking pissed because my brother even told the attorneys, call my sister, call her. But they did not want that because small towns in the court system. We knew before even jury pool was selected, my brother lost the case because our attorney said, Oh, I just won last week against the same prosecutor with another murder case in the next county. But that case, the accused was a local boy. My brother was from out of town. My brother was the fall case to make everything fair amongst the courts.

Trudie Marie 39:21

My brother didn't have a chance to start with, and that's where the judicial system falls down when it becomes, and I don't like to talk politics on my podcast. I'll be very upfront and say that. But when you've got situations where people are literally in it for themselves, that it's what's fair in a small community or what works in state, or if somebody local or out of state, and it takes away from the fact of the case and it starts that political influence of yeah, I just it growles my nerves. Knowing I'm a police officer and I've arrested people that have been back out on the street because the judicial system doesn't work. I can only imagine how you felt in that situation because I've felt it myself as the arresting officer who gets somebody for a crime who's only back out on the street, you get a slap on the wrist, and no, you're not too bad. I'll just think and then they you're arresting them a few weeks later for exactly the same thing. Yep.

Chelsea 40:33

Oh, that anger is still with me, it's dormant because you can't heal from that type of anger knowing your loved one gets fucked over and over again. Um but yes, trial was not fun, and but is that it was unanimous, but it's also a pro-drug county, which also didn't help my brother. And everyone in that county was related. The jail warden knew everybody in the sheriff's department, knew everyone in that small court, they're all related. So he really did not have any chance, and it was a money thing for the county, right? Here's me and my dad dumping money into this county, dumping money into commissary financials for this. That's a whole nother podcast. Um, but this is why I hate the baby mama too. She was useless on the stand as to what my dad said, because again, I was out in the parking lot the whole week, except for closing arguments. I was allowed to go in for that. Great. But my dad said that the baby mama was useless on the stand. And I told him, I was like, look, I was telling you and the attorney that for the last three years, and both of you gaslit me, saying, No, no, her deposition was great. I'm like, no, it wasn't, because compare it to her police statement. They're two different things, and they wouldn't listen to me because they're older white men and I'm a smart woman. I've been called I'm too smart for my own good. I get it. But when I started to point things out, that's when the attorney stopped including her on things. And then come trial, according to my dad, she kept saying, I don't recall. I don't recall. She didn't even recall where she was standing. Just, and that made my dad angry. And at the end of the court day, I'd be like, I don't care to hear it. Go stand far away from me because you didn't listen to me for three years. I don't care to hear you now. So my everyone tried to target my self-esteem during this three years. I even lost friends because of it. I'm like, I don't care for you guys. I lost other family. I don't care. You guys knew my brother and what he was like, but this is my lowest point. And I've realized those people I cut ties with, it was always one-sided. I would always answer the calls for them. But the second I needed one thing, I was told, get over it, forget them, fuck them. And I'm like, are you fucking serious? But with the baby mama closing arguments, the jury comes back guilty. The I'm trying to register that. Like what my brain couldn't process what I just heard from the judge. It just couldn't. And as I was sitting there, it was like slow motion. And my dad was to my left because I'm on the end row. And baby mama was on the other side of him. As I was trying to process what the judge just said, the one thing I heard out of the baby mama's mouth is you have to come get his stuff. Because I'm not keeping it. If my dad wasn't in between us, I would have reached over and grabbed her fucking throat. And the attorneys, even before trial, and my dad warned her to stay away from me. Because there was a lot that unfolded between from her. And I just wanted just to beat the shit out of her. Yeah, she doesn't like me too, because I do hold the people accountable. And like I said, to back up a little bit, when she was just leaving after being interviewed by the cops, she kept dodging the attorneys to give a court deposition. And I was like, oh hell no. So made some friends in Ohio, and they knew where she worked. So I called because the attorneys had a hard time getting a hold of her. They're like, we call her number, but it goes disconnected. And I'm like, no, she has it programmed that way because she's a sketchy person. That's actually how her voicemail set up. So I call her work, ask for her by name, and the secretary transferred me to her phone. I she didn't pick up, it went to voicemail, and I recognized her voice saying her name. And I'm like, gotcha. I told the attorney this is where she works. She was served the next day to come testify and she went down there. Yeah. So yeah, my brother knows what I'm like. People know what I'm like. I figure shit out, but that's why she doesn't like me.

Trudie Marie 45:35

Moving

Appeal Win Then Illegal Detention

Trudie Marie 45:36

forward, obviously, your brother was found guilty in that moment, and then you appealed. So, what happened with the appeal?

Chelsea 45:46

My brother, and I'm gonna say this with a lot of proudness and pride and happiness. My brother truthfully and rightfully won his appeal. And was it he was arrested for murder in the first degree? He was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree, but manslaughter was 20 years. He still got the max murder in the first would have been 20 to life. And so he got manslaughter first, 20 years. The Supreme Court appeal, he won it outright. Clean bill, clean slate. They said, nope, not reducing it to a lesser in the Kentucky Supreme Court. Five Supreme Court justices agreed, only two denied it. So seven judges. They all stated, my brother acted in self-defense. They stated there wasn't enough evidence to take it to trial, and they stated the trial court was biased against my brother. There's a lot more to the case, which I wrote about in a book. And I wrote it because I needed that's what I needed when I went through this. I needed something to cope, and there was nothing. The only books that are out there, how to deal with a loved one incarcerated, it's all religious scripture. Oh, that was triggering my religious drama. I wanted something raw, vulnerable, people who could understand what it's like, even if there's no words to describe it. So um yeah, I wrote more about the case in that book, but he did rightfully win his Supreme Court appeal in the appeal from March 21st, 2025. The Supreme Court stated that the trial court had 20 days to either release my brother or re-indict him on new charges. The trial judge didn't either. Which he was we waited the 20 days and then the 20 business days because those are two separate things. So we waited after the 20 business days, he's still in prison. I call the Kentucky DOC, said, Hey, release my brother. The Kentucky DOC is like shit, he should have been released last week. And I'm like, Yeah, I know what's going on. He gets sent to a processing center as he was getting processed out. Nope, the judge wanted him back in jail, and that's where he's been illegally detained for over a year now.

Trudie Marie 48:34

Wow, so he wins an appeal and literally should be released because all charges have been expunged and yet he's still in prison. How does that even work? And is there anything that you can do to expedite the process to have him released?

Chelsea 48:54

No, I've contacted the Kentucky Governor, the Kentucky Mayor, Judicial Conduct Commission, Bar Association, recontact the Supreme Court, the Kentucky DOC, ACLU, the Innocence Project, and a congressional inquiry, aside from all the news. All of them told me, yeah, this sucks for him, but we can't help you. I've even contacted the White House. Nobody will help, and he's just sitting in jail, a free man. No court order to keep him there, no new charges, nothing. Wow. It's fucked up. That's an understatement, which is why I'm on all these podcasts just trying to get anyone to hear it, because this is a hefty lawsuit. Yeah, judges should not have immunity from the Supreme Court deemed her biased against him. Well, hello, it's still happening, and you guys are aware of it, but not doing shit. Where's the accountability?

Trudie Marie 50:04

Yeah, I have to agree. Obviously, you've come to me on this podcast and I don't know your story, but just hearing what you've said and knowing from my own police background how systems operate. I'm sitting here almost blabbergasted as to how do we have innocent people? Because in your situation, a Supreme Court has ruled him self-defense, it's happened, the charges are expunged. But how do then we still allow this man to be illegally detained? It just it nothing makes sense.

Chelsea 50:44

No, but if my brother was the one, like I said, who would have been stabbed to death by a man on drugs, that man would have only spent 30 days inpatient rehab somewhere.

Trudie Marie 50:57

How is your brother coping through all of this?

Chelsea 51:01

He's not not at all. Hearing seeing his various mug shots throughout these six years, that's not him anymore. And it it kills me because the night he got arrested, half of me died. I lost my buddy. And seeing his mug shots, he's not there, and hearing him on the phone, he's not there. So he really got fucked. And he's literally just surviving. Yeah, and he's the one that's portrayed as a monster, yeah.

Trudie Marie 51:40

Yeah, it's such a sad situation to be in. And I can only begin to imagine as you're the loved one with the sibling loved one incarcerated. There's two journeys here: there's the life of your brother inside, and then there's your life. And this is not just a case, and I think this is where so many people forget in the whole process, even whether the even if your brother was guilty, people always focus on the victim, but no one ever focuses on the suspect family either, because or the perpetrator's family either, because there are loved ones on both sides, and even if it's something like self-defense, yes, your brother shot a person, but it was in self-defense. He's got to live with his guilt. The family has to live with crap, this happened, and then there's also the victim, like the other side's family. Like, there's always more to the picture than what everybody just focuses on one side of it. No one ever looks at the big picture of how many lives are actually impacted by these types of events.

Chelsea 52:56

Yeah, and I'm like I said, my dad and I got a lot of garbage. And now that I'm more vocal, since none of them answer me, like actually answer me, it's their secretaries. I blow up their Facebook pages, and I started to get private messages saying I'm a disgusting piece of shit. Hope you rotten hell. I'm like, oh yeah, I remember these days. But people hate the truth. And I'm like, look, the evidence, the facts, but that's the American justice system, unfortunately.

Trudie Marie 53:36

Yeah, it's look, I really empathize with the situation that you're in, and it's a really vulnerable share to actually come out publicly and say, this is what my story is, this is what I've been through, this is how hard my life is. And all I can do is wish you and your family all the best, that somebody will eventually listen and your brother will be able to start his life over again.

Chelsea 54:09

Hopefully, but the moment he's out, he says he wants a cigarette and a McDonald's cheeseburger. And I'm like, come on, how about some juice?

Trudie Marie 54:19

It's the simple things in life, though, when you've had everything taken away from you, if that's the one thing that keeps him going, well, who's to deny a man?

Chelsea 54:30

I know, but it's gonna be a lot when he does get released, but he can't get that six years of his life back, he can't. No, so who's gonna be accountable for it? I think the court system should financially be accountable, but we'll save that for another episode.

Trudie Marie 54:48

Yeah,

Writing Books To Survive It

Trudie Marie 54:49

that's another story to come. And inside of obviously, you have written your story about having somebody incarcerated, you've also gone on to write works of fiction as well dealing with true crime and your passion of true crime, and then you're obviously still studying your PhD at the moment. So you've got a lot on your plate, despite everything else going on in the background.

Chelsea 55:16

Yes, a lot, but it's what keeps me going. And yes, I wrote two books, fiction inspired by true events, and one's my brother's case, like I said, to help people cope. It's called The Family Wants a Conviction, because that's all we kept hearing is the family wants to convict my brother. Well, I want him out. Like, where's that being known? And the other one is uh how I gained the trust of the serial killer that I did my thesis with. So there's two and more to come because I love true crime.

Trudie Marie 55:52

It's good to see that you've had something like during this ordeal of a coping mechanism, but a way that you've been able to produce something from that that is beneficial to other people. So I will definitely link uh the details for your books in the show notes.

Chelsea 56:09

Thank you, and thank you, Trudy and listeners. I had a lot of fun.

Trudie Marie 56:14

Well, thank you so much for, as I said, being part of the show, sharing such a hard story so vulnerably. And my only hope with every episode of the podcast is that somewhere in the world, somebody who is going through the similar story of having a loved one incarcerated, that they can take some hope, some inspiration, or just know that they're not walking this path alone.

Chelsea 56:41

The point of my book to help others.

Trudie Marie 56:44

Yeah, and it's such it's a such a good purpose to have. And I always finish the podcast episode by asking, what is the one thing you are most grateful for today?

Chelsea 56:54

Oh, that is a question. I think platforms like yours where I can speak and be heard for once, because I was told constantly just to be silent. So people listening, even just hey, is this a story you might be interested in? And you're like, Yes. But to me, that I'm so grateful, and that's rewarding. So thank you.

Gratitude And How To Get Involved

Trudie Marie 57:25

Thank you for tuning in to the Everyday Warriors podcast. If you have an idea for a future episode or a story you'd like to share yourself, then please reach out and message me, as I am always up for real, raw, and authentic conversations with other Everyday Warriors. Also, be sure to subscribe so that you can download all the latest episodes as they are published. And spread the word to your family and friends and colleagues so they can listen in too. If you're sharing on social media, please be sure to tag me so that I can personally acknowledge you. I'm always open to comment about how these episodes have resonated with you, the listener. And remember, lead with love as you live this one wild and precious life.