This story initially aired on Oct. 19, 2024. It was up to date on July 12, 2025.
In April 2018, within the sleepy Florida Gulf Coast city of Eastpoint, it appeared a killer had struck.
“I received a call that a body was located .. off of Highway 98,” Lt. Ronnie Jones, from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Workplace, instructed “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant.
Badly overwhelmed and with no identification, the girl turned a Jane Doe. Her killer’s id was additionally a thriller.
“What you worry about then is, are they loose in our community?” mentioned Jones. “What type of individual am I dealing with or individuals?”
Lower than 24 hours later, Jones obtained a name about one other crime scene on the close by Sportsman’s Lodge Motel.
As investigators labored to see if the 2 have been linked, they discovered that the girl’s unconventional relationship held the solutions.
For Franklin County assistant prosecutor, Jarred Patterson, the sleepy, Gulf Coast city of Apalachicola and surrounding countryside are among the many final remnants of a bygone period.
Jarred Patterson: Apalachicola, Florida is an excellent small place … It’s definitely nonetheless harkens again to a time earlier than there was condos on each inch of the seashore and earlier than there have been high-rises. … We’re referred to right here, the counties alongside this space of the coast, because the Forgotten Coast.
However when a pair heading to a close-by fishing pond found Aileen Seiden’s battered physique on April 23, 2018, Patterson questioned what had introduced a killer to Florida’s Forgotten Coast?
Jarred Patterson: The horror that it actually was … It completely shocked folks.
Ronnie Jones: It appeared like … somebody was in a rush. Whoever it was dumped the physique and took off.
Lead investigator Lt. Ronnie Jones, then with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Workplace, says documenting Aileen’s unsettling dump website was the primary of two ominous occasions over the subsequent 24 hours. He was quickly dispatched to the second crime scene on the Sportsman’s Lodge Motel and a bloody spectacle inside room 15.
Peter Van Sant (contained in the motel room): So, what’s it like so that you can be again in right here?
Ronnie Jones: Uh, brings again some fairly dangerous reminiscences.
Jones’ reminiscences stay in stark distinction to the tree shaded grounds of the in any other case peaceable motel.
THE HORROR INSIDE ROOM 15
Ronnie Jones: As quickly as I got here in, I seen the mattress. I imply, it’s — you couldn’t miss it. … I imply, this complete space was lined and had blood stains on it.
Peter Van Sant: And whenever you noticed that form of blood loss, what did that let you know?
Ronnie Jones: I simply put two and two collectively and I mechanically put that again to the, um, physique that was discovered the day earlier than.
Peter Van Sant: You probably did that rapidly, like (snaps fingers) that?
Ronnie Jones: Needed to have. … It wasn’t simply any individual reduce theirself and bled a bit of bit on the mattress. I imply the quantity of blood that was on this mattress tells me that whoever was right here was most likely deceased.
Jones recalled there was a scent of vinegar within the room.
Peter Van Sant: And what did that let you know?
Ronnie Jones: That somebody tried to wash the crime scene.
A luminol take a look at within the lavatory of room 15 of the Sportsman’s Lodge Motel revealed a bloody spectacle.
Franklin County Clerk of Court docket
A luminol take a look at for traces of human blood revealed what an apparently hasty clear up couldn’t disguise.
Ronnie Jones: The entire complete lavatory lit up.
Peter Van Sant: So, that was the scene of maybe a few of her most vicious assaults — was inside that rest room.
Ronnie Jones: Sure.
And Jones says the bathe curtain rod was a doable weapon.
Ronnie Jones: On the rod was positioned a palm print and likewise, uh, blood.
Peter Van Sant: And that’s vital proof, proper?
Ronnie Jones: That’s proper.
Testing would quickly affirm that it was Aileen’s blood within the motel room. Now got here the gut-wrenching obligation to inform Aileen’s sister, Franceasca Seiden.
Franceasca Seiden: He mentioned my sister was murdered. … I don’t know, like, what do you do? You search for assist. That’s all I might do. …I didn’t perceive why, like, it was given to me, once more, prefer to deal with one other loss.
Whereas rising up in Miami, then-16-year-old Franceasca and 9-year-old Aileen confronted their first tragedy when their beloved mom, Murtha, handed away from most cancers.
Peter Van Sant: How did the 2 of you take care of this?
Franceasca Seiden: We didn’t discuss it. … as a result of it was so quick.
Six years later, their father Frank—a profitable furnishings producer who Franceasca says shared a particular bond with Aileen —all of the sudden died from a coronary heart assault. It left Aileen, then 14, an orphan, and 22-year-old Franceasca with a choice to make.
Franceasca Seiden: I signed the papers, and I turned her authorized guardian.
Peter Van Sant: And what did that imply? What have been your duties?
Franceasca Seiden: I turned a mother or father. … I needed to take her to high school. I needed to decide her up from faculty. … I needed to end my very own faculty. I used to be working. … I didn’t have time to grieve. And I don’t assume that she did both.
Seven years later, Franceasca moved to Los Angeles on her personal. That’s when she says Aileen, by then in her 20s, started grieving their dad and mom.
Franceasca Seiden: She began to assume rather a lot. … She turned extra delicate.
Allie: One thing like shedding her dad and mom … has … long-lasting results all through your life. And it’s apparent that it did.
Aileen Seiden, 31, of Miami, had been visiting Franklin County, Florida, and shared a motel room with two different folks — Zach Abell, an outdated buddy, and Christina Araujo.
Aileen Seiden/Fb
Aileen’s finest buddy, not wanting her title related to this case, has requested “48 Hours” to confer with her as “Allie.” She remembers a robust and decided Aileen making it on her personal in Miami.
Allie: She labored as a property supervisor … She lived in an amazing residence, , she paid her personal hire, she made her payments. She was very impartial.
Franceasca noticed that independence firsthand when Aileen made an prolonged go to to L.A. in 2016.
Peter Van Sant: Trying again, do you would like she had stayed with you?
Franceasca Seiden: 100% %. … As a result of no matter occurred when she went again to Miami is when she reconnected with Zach.
Zach was Zachary Abell, who Aileen had recognized since they have been youngsters.
Allie: I’m undecided if he had the very best status in highschool. … At first, she wasn’t actually certain about him.
However years later, she and Abell began courting.
Allie: I feel to start with Aileen discovered Zach enjoyable, however I feel it modified fairly rapidly.
Investigators in Franklin County would quickly study all about Zach Abell. They found that Zach, Aileen and one other girl named Christina Araujo had all been seen within the Apalachicola space. Detectives additionally discovered the three shared a room on the Sportsman’s Lodge Motel: room 15.
Jarred Patterson: We wanted to know what occurred inside that lodge room outdoors of three folks entered and two got here out carrying a physique.
AN UNCONVENTIONAL PROPOSAL
Off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Captain Mike Picavet units sail on his 50-foot boat.
Mike Picavet (on his boat): It’s form of bizarre, uh, making an attempt to recollect any good occasions. There simply weren’t. There was all the time some problem.
Again in 2018, Picavet would play a central function in Aileen Seiden’s homicide investigation. He knew Aileen and her boyfriend Zach Abell nicely.
Mike Picavet: Zach is simply, um, very entertaining. … He’s very extroverted.
Picavet had met Abell by probability at a bar about seven years earlier.
Mike Picavet: He got here as much as me at Duffy’s and mentioned, “Hey, I like your shirt.” And I’m like, “OK …”
Mike Picavet: After which, uh, Christina got here up.
Zach Abell and Christina Araujo
Franklin County Clerk of Court docket
Christina Araujo — Abell’s girlfriend on the time. The 2 had been courting for about 4 years. Picavet says Araujo instantly began boasting about her highly effective father.
Mike Picavet: Proper outta the gate, she mentioned, “Oh, yeah, my dad’s a major with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department, and if we ever get into any trouble with the law, he can take care of it.” And I used to be like, “What?” Who says that?
Regardless of their odd first assembly, Picavet says he started hanging out with the couple. What adopted have been years of untamed nights, wild events, and many heavy consuming.
Mike Picavet: That was their go-to factor: “OK, we’ve gotta do shots of this, shots of this.”
However Picavet says there was an attention-grabbing energy dynamic within the couple’s relationship with Araujo, who’s eight years older than Abell, calling the photographs.
Mike Picavet: She was very controlling and really directing. … He would comply with her lead with stuff.
Someday in 2016, Abell stopped by Picavet’s boat — however not with Araujo. As an alternative, Abell launched Picavet to Aileen Seiden. Picavet might inform Abell now had two ladies in his life.
Mike Picavet: It was the weirdest factor. … In case your relationship’s not working, simply finish it and transfer on.
Nevertheless, Picavet says that Abell couldn’t make a clear break from Araujo, who was additionally his enterprise accomplice.
Mike Picavet: He tried so many occasions. He simply didn’t know how one can … after which additionally, uh, all of the threats on a regular basis that she might make him disappear. … Each time she bought drunk, she’d say some bizarre issues.
Aileen’s finest buddy, Allie, says Abell and Aileen started to secretly date.
Allie: She appeared to like him a lot that she was nonetheless hoping that he would, , resolve to be together with her. … He would lead her on to assume, he was making an attempt to finish it with Christina.
In 2017, Aileen unexpectedly misplaced her job as a property supervisor.
Allie: She was actually beginning to lose management of her personal life.
Allie says which will clarify why Aileen finally began working at Abell and Araujo’s used automobile dealership.
Allie: It wasn’t the impartial life that she had all the time lived.
Allie says Aileen continued to strain Abell to interrupt up with Araujo for good. However when Abell lastly tried to finish issues with Araujo, she countered with an unconventional proposal.
Allie: It was not the reply that anybody anticipated. … Christina got here again and mentioned, “Well, why don’t we try and all be in a relationship then?” … It now turned this chance for this “throuple”, three-way form of relationship.
A throuple is a romantic relationship amongst three folks. Allie says Aileen was towards the thought.
Allie: Aileen mentioned, “Absolutely not. There’s no way. It’s never going to work.” And there was form of crickets for just a few weeks.
However Allie says Aileen later modified her thoughts. The trio was now a throuple.
Allie: I used to be in shock actually. … But in addition a bit of bit blissful for them that possibly this might work.
Nevertheless it didn’t work. Earlier than lengthy, there was hassle.
Allie: This complete dynamic began to vary the place considered one of them all the time gave the impression to be the odd man out or was jealous. … And at that time it simply began to spiral uncontrolled.
In line with Picavet, issues escalated, resulting in irrational habits and fights fueled by alcohol. He says Aileen and Araujo traded punches typically — normally leading to black eyes — on one or each of the ladies; that they’d generally disguise behind huge sun shades.
Mike Picavet: It was an on a regular basis factor — each second day factor, I might say.
Allie remembers issues in another way. She says Abell was the principle aggressor within the relationship.
Allie: Aileen would name me … and would say, “You have to come over here, like he hurt me again.” And I’d rush over there and {photograph} her and beg her to go to the police.
However Allie says Aileen refused, fearing Araujo’s legislation enforcement connections would work towards her.
Aileen’s sister Franceasca was livid when she discovered of the abuse.
Franceasca Seiden: I needed my sister out of the scenario … I needed her out.
Peter Van Sant: It’s exhausting to depart.
Franceasca Seiden: It’s exhausting to depart. … And … I had this sense that Christina was extra … violent of the 2.
Allie: It was actually tough to see her going via a time like this. It was simply so exhausting. … And she or he was scared to loss of life.
As soon as, Allie says the abuse bought so dangerous, she took Aileen to the emergency room.
Allie: I took her to the hospital as a result of … they should report issues. However she wouldn’t say the place the bruises got here from.
Aileen’s finest buddy needed to ship a tough reality.
Allie: “Aileen, you have to break up with this guy. Someone’s gonna end up dead.”
“I THINK THEY’RE GONNA KILL ME”
Allie: When Aileen was in actual hassle, it was exhausting to get anybody to return rescue her.
The trail that led to Aileen Seiden’s homicide could have begun weeks earlier. In 2018, Allie was shocked that regardless of the bodily violence of their relationship, Aileen had determined to maneuver in with Zach Abell and Christina Araujo. The throuple was now working collectively, sleeping collectively, and dwelling collectively.
From left, Zach Abell, Aileen Seiden and Christina Araujo have been concerned in a romantic relationship often known as a “throuple.” Seiden’s finest buddy mentioned that when Seiden started courting each Abell and Araujo in 2017, it didn’t take lengthy for hassle to begin.
Franklin County Clerk of Court docket/Franceasca Seiden
Allie: Aileen was trapped within the relationship as a result of she was trapped financially. … However she felt that that was one final probability to make it work. … It was like a one month or two-month trial.
However inside just a few weeks, Allie says Aileen had had sufficient.
Allie: Aileen … was going to maneuver out. … She was actually accomplished with the connection.
However Aileen’s plans to depart have been halted on April 7, 2018, after Abell and Araujo had gotten right into a violent struggle. Allie says she bought a name from Aileen on Abell’s cellphone.
Allie: She was going to depart and get Zach out of the home. However prefer to go to a espresso store. … The subsequent name I bought was from Christina. … She was offended and livid.
Allie says Araujo threatened to report the automobile Aileen and Abell have been driving in as stolen in an obvious try to preserve them from leaving her behind. Allie instantly warned Aileen and Abell.
Allie: As an alternative of coming round and coming again, like I assumed they’d, they hit the gasoline and went to Georgia. … I mentioned, “What are you doing, Aileen? You don’t have your phone. You don’t have a wallet. This is crazy.” … She mentioned, “We’re going on a road trip. … This is a good thing.”
However the highway journey wasn’t a superb factor to Christina Araujo. She started harassing Abell and Aileen, sending a storm of offended texts: “U 2 deserve each other.” Araujo despatched greater than 150 texts in roughly 24 hours. All went unanswered, together with this one: “My dad will be calling u.” Later, Araujo issued this menace: “you f***** me over and now I’m f****** u over“
Allie: I used to be simply making an attempt to inform her, “Christina …why don’t you worry about … your own life?”
About 48 hours into the highway journey, Abell and Aileen have been heading to Texas and Araujo appeared to have a change of coronary heart, texting: “… if you want to come back home come back. You never have to question my love …”
For causes which are unknown, as an alternative of coming dwelling, Abell invited Araujo to hitch them, and he or she flew to Dallas.
However with the throuple united, the outdated issues returned.
Allie: Aileen began to name me from Zach’s cellphone at night time saying, , “This is getting bad. And I don’t know what to do.” … It wasn’t till Christina arrived, that that began to occur. … I used to be actually fearful somebody would get damage.
By day 10 of the highway journey, Aileen’s older sister, Franceasca was additionally fearful. She hadn’t heard from Aileen shortly. When the trio stopped in New Orleans, Aileen lastly referred to as Franceasca and shared an alarming suspicion.
Franceasca Seiden: She’s like … “I think they’re gonna kill me.” No joke. … So I used to be like, “Aileen, run to the nearest gas station.” … “Go tell the person —”
Peter Van Sant: Name 911.
Franceasca Seiden: Yeah! … “Run to like —” I mentioned “run, get the — get out of there.” … “Go!” …She’s like, “I can’t.”
Franceasca, determined to assist, tried to get extra particulars from Aileen.
Franceasca Seiden: If I had the place the deal with was, I might’ve referred to as the police then and there, however she needed to go, she needed to get off and he or she hung up. … I used to be extraordinarily pissed off however I — and I used to be scared.
With no means to assist her sister, Franceasca hoped Aileen would keep secure.
The highway journey continued into its second week. The trio then headed to Panama Metropolis, Florida, however a missed exit led them to the Forgotten Coast.
David Adlerstein: The highway journey is obscure; partying someday and murdering the subsequent.
David Adlerstein is a reporter for The Apalachicola Instances, one of many oldest newspapers in Florida.
David Adlerstein: I’ve been masking the Aileen Seiden case because the week it occurred.
On the night of April 21, the trio — captured on surveillance footage — stumbled into the quiet peace of Franklin County.
David Adlerstein: They went to a preferred restaurant, the Pink Pirate, performed miniature golf, partied.
On the suggestion of a neighborhood, the throuple headed to the close by Sportsman’s Lodge Motel. They reserved the final emptiness of the night time: Room 15. The subsequent morning, on April 22, 2018, the throuple made a plan.
David Adlerstein: They determined they’d spend one other day there, not get again on the highway, and make it a — a celebration. So that they bought up within the morning and went to the liquor retailer.
From left, Aileen Seiden, Zach Abell and Christina Araujo are seen in safety digicam video at a liquor retailer in Franklin County, Florida, on April 22, 2018.
Franklin County Clerk of Court docket
Right here they’re in a screenshot from the shop’s surveillance footage. Whereas there, the trio bought giant bottles of vodka and Fireball whiskey.
David Adlerstein: Once I went to analyze … their path that day and went to the liquor retailer … the clerk, she identified that the Fireball that they purchased was the most important bottle you would purchase, and that is simply the three of them.
The throuple then returned to the Sportsman’s Lodge Motel.
Allie: I don’t assume Aileen was having enjoyable. I feel she was simply making an attempt to possibly get by and keep alive.
Allie says she spoke to Aileen that day.
Allie: Aileen mentioned … “I need to leave him. I’m telling you. I’m like a sex slave. He has this really scary look in his eye. It’s very scary. It’s different.” … And she or he mentioned, “I need your help.”
Allie says the 2 buddies had crafted an escape plan: Aileen would get on a bus from Tampa — the trio’s subsequent vacation spot.
Allie: I purchased her a Greyhound ticket as a result of she didn’t have a pockets.
The bus would drop Aileen off close to Miami and Allie would take her dwelling. Aileen simply wanted to get on that bus, and he or she’d be secure.
Allie: After which, , I by no means heard again. I by no means heard something after that …
The subsequent night time, a whole lot of miles away in Fort Lauderdale, Mike Picavet was dwelling and alone. There was a knock on the door. It was Christina Araujo and Zach Abell.
Mike Picavet: I used to be like, “OK, where’s Aileen?” And instantly, Christina says, “Oh, she ran away.” … And I mentioned, “Bulls***.” I mentioned, “Where is she?” And Zach instantly … began to choke up, and he mentioned, “She’s dead.”
The information was surprising sufficient, however Picavet says as soon as Araujo was out of earshot, Abell instructed him what occurred.
Mike Picavet: He mentioned that Christina killed her. He wakened. … She was lifeless subsequent to him. And, uh, he tried to offer her CPR, then, uh, needed to name 911. Christina mentioned “No” and instructed him, “You can’t call 911.” … For some motive, he stored on saying he needed to shield Christina. …And I’m like, “What do you gotta protect her for?”
Picavet says he needed to guard each of his buddies. He feared a violent end result if he referred to as 911.
Mike Picavet: I didn’t need them to get killed … I simply needed to be sure that … they have been introduced in in a secure, uh, means. … The one factor that I might take into consideration … is to go speak to her father.
Christina’s father, Colonel Tony Araujo. The one, Picavet says, Christina had all the time bragged might make her issues go away. When Abell and Christina fell asleep on the couch, Picavet took a photograph of Abell and Araujo on his sofa, and says he went on-line to seek for Christina’s father — a person he had by no means met.
Mike Picavet: So, I used to be panicking, looking for his cellphone quantity.
When Picavet lastly bought ahold of Colonel Araujo, he didn’t instantly reveal the lethal information.
Mike Picavet: I mentioned, “I gotta talk to you. It’s about Christina. It’s very important.”
Picavet says Araujo’s father directed Mike to satisfy him at an odd place: a gasoline station.
Mike Picavet: So I went up there … I mentioned, “Christina killed somebody.” And he says, “You know I’m a cop, right?” And I’m like, “Yes, sir. I do.” … He instantly mentioned, “Wait right there.”
Picavet says Araujo’s father then introduced him to the sheriff’s workplace to make a proper assertion.
Mike Picavet: He did what was the correct factor to do. … He … bought two different folks to ask me all of the questions.
“She had bruises … from head-to-toe, covering her entire body. She had lacerations on her face, stomach, legs,” mentioned Lt. Ronnie Jones of the physique discovered on Freeway 98 that was later recognized as Aileen Seiden. Zach Abell and Christina Araujo have been each charged with first-degree homicide. Each claimed they have been harmless.
Broward County Sheriff’s Workplace
Later that day, Picavet was proven a photograph, and he was the one to establish the battered physique of Aileen Seiden. With that affirmation, police descended on Picavet’s dwelling as Abell and Araujo have been about to depart. They have been arrested and introduced again to Franklin County. The pair was later charged with first-degree homicide. It could take nearly six years earlier than they’d face a jury — and by then, solely considered one of them would stand trial.
WHAT HAPPENED INSIDE ROOM 15?
For nearly six years, Franceasca Seiden lived in agonizing limbo as her sister Aileen’s case — difficult by having two defendants — confronted delay after irritating delay.
Franceasca Seiden: (crying) You’re therapeutic, you’re doing the issues that you might want to heal and you then’re stopped. … And now you’re gonna prepare for this huge second. … after which it stops once more.
Lastly, in January 2024, on the Franklin County Courthouse in Apalachicola, Florida, Zach Abell was about to face trial. He had pleaded not responsible to first-degree homicide and would stand earlier than the jury alone. Eight months earlier, Christina Araujo took a plea deal for a lesser cost of second-degree homicide.
Peter Van Sant: So, she admitted participating on this?
Jarred Patterson: Sure. … she implicated herself … within the precise beating of Aileen.
After finding out a mountain of proof, prosecutor Jarred Patterson believes Abell was extra accountable in Aileen’s homicide. And the state is counting on the jury believing Araujo’s model of what occurred inside room 15.
Jarred Patterson: The one one who has instructed us something about what occurred in that room is Christina Araujo.
David Adlerstein: As soon as Christina made her plea deal, she would turn into the prosecution’s star witness.
Print reporter David Adlerstein, digicam in hand, was there as Christina Araujo transported the courtroom again to the night of April 22, 2018. Araujo testified that she, Zach Abell and Aileen have been enjoyable within the room on the Sportsman’s Lodge Motel after a day of heavy consuming.
Christina Araujo took a plea deal for a lesser cost of second-degree homicide and testified towards Zach Abell.
David Adlerstein
JARRED PATTERSON (in courtroom): When Zach drinks, does he act in another way?
CHRISTINA ARAUJO (in courtroom): Sure … He turns into very aggressive, very imply.
Abell turned violently enraged, says Araujo, when Aileen posed a seemingly harmless query.
CHRISTINA ARAUJO (in courtroom): She mentioned, “Christina, guess what?”
Peter Van Sant: And she or he appears over at Christina and says, hey “Christina, guess what …” How would that sentence be completed?
Jarred Patterson: I don’t know ’trigger she by no means bought to complete it.
CHRISTINA ARAUJO (in courtroom): Zachary bought up instantly and went over to her, and was in her face, hitting her. … He’s simply yelling at her, telling her, “You always start problems.” (crying)
Araujo admits to additionally hitting Aileen as she demanded to know what she was about to say. She by no means bought a solution.
CHRISTINA ARAUJO (in courtroom): And I bought so pissed off, I simply went and bought — I left the room.
After stepping outdoors room 15 for a couple of minutes, Araujo claims she returned to seek out Abell and Aileen within the lavatory.
CHRISTINA ARAUJO (in courtroom): Once I opened the door, he had one thing white in his hand, like if he was poking at her.
Jarred Patterson: The health worker was capable of establish small round bruising to the physique of Aileen that … might be in line with a bathe curtain rod.
Just like the bathe curtain rod investigators recovered that had palm print impressions in Aileen’s blood.
Peter Van Sant: Whose palm was it?
Jarred Patterson: The palm print belonged to Zach Abell.
The assault continued close to the beds says Araujo, the place she says Abell reached for his picket strolling stick.
CHRISTINA ARAUJO (in courtroom): He hits her a number of occasions with it. … When he hit her within the — the again although, the stick broke.
Jarred Patterson: We had truly discovered items of that picket employees within the lodge room … we didn’t understand the importance of it till we discovered the opposite piece within the automobile that contained our sufferer’s DNA.
Araujo says she watched in terror as Abell started utilizing that stick with sexually assault Aileen.
David Adlerstein: Christina’s description of the crime was … horrifying to hearken to. … Aileen clearly suffered a horrible loss of life.
Adlerstein remembers the health worker saying Aileen’s accidents reminded him of these he had seen in motorized vehicle crashes.
David Adlerstein: As a reporter, I attempt very exhausting to not be emotional. I distinctly bear in mind … preventing again tears.
Araujo claims she finally put herself between Abell and Aileen, and the assault lastly stopped. Aileen was badly overwhelmed however nonetheless alive, she says. And the exhausted trio simply fell sleep.
CHRISTINA ARAUJO (in courtroom): I didn’t assume she was gonna die from it.
Araujo claims it wasn’t till she wakened the subsequent morning that she realized Aileen was lifeless. She says she solely participated within the coverup out of worry of what Abell may do to her.
David Adlerstein: She appeared to me genuinely remorseful … Others had totally different opinions.
Peter Van Sant: Who’s Christina Araujo in your guide?
Alex Morris: Manipulative, crafty, a chameleon. … I feel that there’s evil in her.
Alex Morris is Zach Abell’s legal professional. He says Christina Araujo acted alone.
Alex Morris: I consider that she is the assassin.
The picture taken of Zach Abell and Christina Araujo by Mike Picavet at Picavet’s dwelling in Fort Lauderdale on April 23, 2018.
Franklin County Clerk of Court docket
Morris says, it was Christina Araujo who beat Aileen, and that picture taken by Mike Picavet at his dwelling after the homicide reveals she had accidents to her palms and toes.
Peter Van Sant: Which tells you, Christina will need to have been the attacker.
Alex Morris: That’s proper.
Araujo was the one with homicidal intent, says Morris, triggered when Abell and Aileen took off together with her within the rearview mirror. And he says these threatening texts that she despatched to Abell’s cellphone earlier than becoming a member of them on the highway journey learn like a confession.
Alex Morris: There are threats of bodily hurt to each Aileen and Zach within the messages.
Peter Van Sant (studying Araujo’s textual content): “You come near me hoe, I will kill you.”
Alex Morris: I feel it speaks for itself. And that’s precisely what occurred.
After Aileen’s homicide, Morris says Araujo wiped down the motel room—utilizing the vinegar that Ronnie Jones would later scent. He says Abell’s palm prints on the curtain rod bought there when he moved it through the cleanup.
Alex Morris: He was instructed to select the curtain rod up over there and put it over there.
Peter Van Sant: By?
Alex Morris: Christina.
A toll sales space surveillance picture from after the homicide reveals that Christina Araujo, and never Zach Abell, was the one driving the automobile. And due to this fact, Morris says, she was the one in management.
A toll sales space surveillance picture from after the homicide reveals Christina Araujo, and never Zach Abell, driving the automobile. And due to this fact, Abell’s legal professional Alex Morris says, she was the one in management.
Franklin County Clerk of Court docket
Alex Morris: The proof signifies Christina to be … the one giving the instructions … and had the whole lot to have the ability to manipulate the scenario.
Manipulating Zach Abell, says Morris, due to these threats she had been making for years about her father’s affect in fixing her issues.
Alex Morris: Backside line is Zach was petrified of Christina’s father.
Abell selected to not testify. When Morris made his closing arguments to the jury, he concluded the proof confirmed there was just one one that needed Aileen Seiden lifeless.
ALEX MORRIS (in courtroom): They haven’t confirmed any motive as to why Mr. Abell can be desirous about murdering Ms. Seiden, however I’ll let you know the place motive lies and it’s clear as day, and that’s with Ms. Araujo.
Alex Morris: The motive being: I would like rid of the one that’s taken my man.
Peter Van Sant: So jealousy?
Alex Morris: Sure.
In his closing, Patterson mentioned Christina Araujo already accepted her function on this crime. He requested the jury to carry Zach Abell accountable for his half by discovering him responsible of homicide.
JARRED PATTERSON (in courtroom): They lived collectively. …They labored collectively. They personal a enterprise collectively. … They went to the Sportsman’s Lodge collectively. … They emptied out the room collectively. … They ran away collectively. … They bought arrested collectively. The one factor they didn’t do collectively was kill Aileen Seiden? No means.
However who would the jury consider?
A QUESTION UNANSWERED
Ronnie Jones: She wasn’t born right here. … And she or he didn’t stay right here. However she was left right here. And she or he’ll all the time be remembered by Franklin County.
Aileen Seiden
Aileen Seiden/Instagram
Residents of Florida’s Forgotten Coast will now lengthy bear in mind Aileen Seiden, says Ronnie Jones. Nearly six years after her loss of life, the neighborhood waited for justice for the stranger they now had come to embrace as considered one of their very own.
Peter Van Sant: What was going via your thoughts because the jury begins its deliberation?
Ronnie Jones: Make it fast.
David Adlerstein: I used to be instructed by the jury foreman that after they first went in … there was 10 in favor of first-degree premeditated homicide with two holdouts.
After about 5 hours of deliberations, the jury reached a consensus.
JUDGE ALLMAN (in courtroom): Within the case of the State of Florida vs. Zachary Ray Abell … the defendant is responsible of the lesser included offense of second-degree homicide.
Zach Abell was discovered responsible of second-degree homicide.
CBS Information
Second-degree homicide identical to Christina Araujo. Adlerstein says the jury foreman instructed him they only couldn’t resolve if Abell had truly meant to kill Aileen.
David Adlerstein: They knew that, uh, Christina had pled responsible to second, and I feel they finally mentioned … we’re going to offer him the identical.
Mike Picavet: It doesn’t inform me that they’re equally accountable.
Mike Picavet says even with the decision, he’s satisfied his buddy performed no half in Aileen’s loss of life.
Mike Picavet: To me, there’s an harmless man sitting in jail.
Ronnie Jones: I feel they’re each simply as responsible as the opposite.
Now retired from legislation enforcement, Ronnie Jones spends his days tending his bar in Apalachicola. He says he’s nonetheless left questioning what actually occurred inside room 15.
Peter Van Sant: Is that this case a thriller to you?
Ronnie Jones: It’s not a thriller on precisely what occurred, however precisely why it occurred … That’s what nonetheless bothers me to this present day. Why?
Like what Aileen may need been about to say that sparked the assault.
Ronnie Jones: It was my understanding within the rumors … that she was fixing to reveal the truth that she was pregnant.
Peter Van Sant: Pregnant. And was she pregnant? Did you study that on the post-mortem?
Ronnie Jones: I used to be on the post-mortem, and he or she was not pregnant. … I don’t know if she thought she was or not.
When it was time for sentencing, Abell lastly spoke and instructed the courtroom one other twist on this tortured story.
ZACH ABELL (at sentencing): I had stopped, and I had grabbed a Ring Pop. And I proposed to her with a Ring Pop and requested her to marry me. And she or he mentioned, “Yes.” … And me and Aileen have been gonna go our means and depart Christina out of it.
Peter Van Sant: Zach spoke at his sentencing and mentioned that he’d truly proposed to Aileen throughout this journey.
Franceasca Seiden: Uh, I feel that’s simply … BS. … Uh, it’s an amazing story, however no.
JUDGE ALLMAN (at sentencing): I’ve been within the justice system in a single type or one other, for 40 years, hardly ever have I seen the form of accidents … that I noticed on Aileen Seiden.
The decide instructed Abell he wished he might impose a harsher punishment earlier than sentencing him to the utmost: life in jail.
Jarred Patterson: Within the state of Florida, life means life, we don’t have parole.
At her sentencing, Araujo’s father Colonel Tony Araujo set the document straight. He mentioned he by no means used his affect to profit his daughter, and he recalled the dialog he had together with her after the homicide.
COL. TONY ARAUJO (at sentencing): “You will own up to the truth. You will accept responsibility. You will be the voice of the victim, and you will testify under oath in a court of law. … And then whatever is sentenced to you, that’s fine.”
Jarred Patterson: There was no settlement together with her as to the size of sentence … She gave her assertion with the information that she might nonetheless obtain life in jail.
CHRISTINA ARAUJO (at sentencing): I take into consideration that day day by day of my life. … The main points hang-out me, and the reminiscences preserve me up.
The decide acknowledged her cooperation, and sentenced Araujo to 25 years.
Ronnie Jones: Justice has been served. He received’t beat up anymore females; neither will she.
Allie: I feel that each girl form of thinks, “I would leave if I was in that situation. I would just get up and leave. I would never tolerate that.”
Aileen’s finest buddy Allie hopes there might be extra compassion for these trapped in abusive relationships.
Allie: It’s all the time that, “I’m sorry. It’s never going to happen again.” … and also you consider it, since you’re in love and issues are good 95% of the time. However the 5% which are dangerous are so dangerous.
“She was such a sweetheart. Her soul was so kind,” Franceasca Seiden, left, mentioned of her youthful sister, Aileen.
Franceasca Seiden
Peter Van Sant: Along with your sister gone, how would you like her to be remembered?
Franceasca Seiden: I would like her to be remembered as a candy, loving human being whom … sadly had … misplaced her dad and mom at such a younger age, however she was nonetheless so candy. Like she was such a sweetheart. Her soul was so sort.
In January 2025, “Allie” handed away. She was 42.
Should you or somebody is a sufferer of home violence, contact the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
Produced by Lauren A. White and Richard Fetzer. Marlon Disla and Phil Tangel are the editors. Ryan Smith and Tamara Weitzman are the event producers. Chelsea Narvaez is the affiliate producer and Cameron Rubner is the published affiliate. Anthony Batson is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the manager story editor. Judy Tygard is the manager producer.
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