# 252: Crystal McDowell

An episode of [Morbidology](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1463979546), 15 Apr 2024, 48 min.

Audio: https://prefix.up.audio/s/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/s.gum.fm/s-610c47a4222ada0024acb2d8/pscrb.fm/rss/p/prfx.byspotify.com/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/2IMk17EdnEqyRhJTIpIU/claritaspod.com/measure/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/59195067/morbidology_252_crystal_mcdowell.mp3

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on August 25, 2017, unleashing widespread devastation along the Gulf Coast. In the days and weeks that followed, rescue missions were taking place, but amidst these, it became apparent that a woman had disappeared. However, detectives didn’t believe her disappearance was connected to the storm…. SPONSORS - ZocDoc: Zocdoc is the only free app that lets you find and book doctors who are patient reviewed, take your insurance & are available when you need them. To find a & book a top rated doctor today. Visit: https://zocdoc.com/morbidology Nutrafol: Hair thinning affects approximately 1 in 2 women, but you’re not alone. Nutrafol is the leading dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement. Get $10 off and free shipping with the code “MORBIDOLOGY” at: https://nutrafol.com/ Prose: Prose offers custom skincare and haircare, tailored to your specific needs. They are offering 50% off your first order at: https://prose.com/morbidology SHOW NOTES - https://morbidology.com/morbidology-the-podcast-252-crystal-mcdowell/ PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/morbidology YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/morbidology Audio Credit: Epidemic Sound Evening of Chaos - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Empty Reflections - ErikMMusic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgq4SPKHlyI A Mothers Sacrifice - OurMusicBox - https://ourmusicbox.com/ Dark Tranquility - Anno Domini Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6mBav72Ak Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/morbidology--3527306/support.

## Transcript

[0:34] High wall of Hurricane Harvey has started to make landfall here on the Texas coast.
[0:40] Already in Corpus Christi, Texas, more than thirty thousand people are without
[0:44] power and things are only expected to get work. This is all happening right
[0:48] now as we come on the air, and the situation is unfortunately dire.
[0:51] People trapped in their flooded out homes. They are fleeing to their atticts,
[0:55] taking to social media begging for a rescue. Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas
[1:08] on the twenty fifth of August two thousand and seventeen, unleashing widespread devastation along
[1:15] the Gulf coast. It was initially a Category one hurricane, but it rapidly
[1:19] intensified into a Category four, with wind speeds exceeding one hundred and thirty miles
[1:25] per hour. However, the slow moving nature of Harvey compounded its impact,
[1:30] prolonging the storm's effects over several days. As Harvey lingered over southeastern Texas,
[1:37] it unleashed unprecedented rainfall, with some areas receiving over fifty inches of rain.
[1:44] The torrential downpours overwhelmed rivers, bayous, and reservoirs, leading to catastrophic flooding
[1:51] that submerged homes, roads, and entire neighborhoods. Thousands of residents were displaced,
[1:57] seeking refuge in shelters or on root rooftops awaiting rescue. The disaster prompted
[2:04] a massive response effort, including federal, state, and local agencies, as
[2:08] well as numerous volunteers and first responders. The US Coast Guard, National Guard,
[2:15] and other emergency personnel conducted rescue operations, using boats, helicopters, and
[2:20] high water vehicles to reach stranded residents in perilous conditions. Tragically, one hundred
[2:27] and seven people lost their lives during the storm, with one hundred and three
[2:30] of those fatalities occurring in Texas. In the aftermath of the disaster, communication
[2:38] infrastructure was severely disrupted, making it challenging for people to contact their loved ones.
[2:45] Flooded roads hindered travel, complicating efforts to check on friends and family members.
[2:52] The morning before the hurricane struck, thirty eight year old Reiltor Crystal mcdoyle
[2:57] had been in touch with friends and family preparing for the impending storm. She
[3:01] had posted on her Facebook account telling people to stay safe out there somewhere amidst
[3:08] the chaos of the hurricane, However, Crystal vanished. Crystal mcdoyll was born
[3:29] to parents Pamela Sue Sarah and Anthony Paul Waters on the twenty sixth of October
[3:34] nineteen seventy nine. Her name had been inspired by the drug that her parents
[3:38] were both addicted to, Crystal methamphetamine. When Crystal was born, she had
[3:45] the drug in her system, as Pamela had been unable to kick the addiction
[3:47] while pregnant. Growing up in an unstable environment, tragedy was never too far
[3:53] away, and when Crystal was just eleven years old, both of her parents
[3:58] died within the space of six months. She was moved from family member to
[4:02] family member and found herself the victim of sexual abuse before she was sent away
[4:08] to Oklahoma. Then, when Christel was thirteen years old, she was abducted
[4:13] by a child predator, held hostage in a chicken coop, and sexually assaulted
[4:17] until she managed to escape. Eventually, Christel's uncle, Jeff Walters and his
[4:24] wife took Cristel under their wing and brought her over to them in Baytown,
[4:28] Texas. Despite the hardships that she had faced, Crystal excelled in school,
[4:33] and her friendly nature and quick wit made people gravitate towards her. After Crystal
[4:40] graduated from school, she was keen to make her own way in the world,
[4:43] so she entered the world of employment. She started working for ExpressJet Airlines,
[4:48] where she held a number of positions, including flight attendant and training instructor.
[4:55] As her role as the flight attendant, Kristeal got to travel the world,
[4:59] meeting new people in experiencing new cultures. It was a stark difference to
[5:03] the life that Crystal had once known. Then in two thousand and seven,
[5:09] Crystel settled down with Stephen mcdyll, a father of one and a shipping manager
[5:15] with a great career. Crystal became the bread winner of the family. Her
[5:19] hard work allowed them to purchase a comfortable home together, along with some flashy
[5:24] cars. Those that knew the couple said that Stephen had an obsessive love for
[5:30] his wife. Crystel's aunt Cindy recalled like if she wanted her feet rubbed,
[5:35] he would rub her feet. If she wanted her hair brushed, he would
[5:39] brush her hair. Christol wasn't just Stephen's world son and stars, but she
[5:45] was the one who brought home the money as well. The couple went on
[5:49] to have two children together, Madden and Maui, and Crystel juggled being a
[5:54] mother and having a demanding career. The couple went on to have two children
[5:59] together, Maden and Maui, and Crystel juggled being a mother and having a
[6:03] demanding career, but she made it work. Her friend Mandy Avelos said of
[6:10] her, She's a goofball at times, for sure, but very caring.
[6:15] Everybody that has met her just thinks the world of her. She has a
[6:18] big heart and she loves her kids. But after ten years of marriage,
[6:23] the relationship between Crystal and Stephen was in troubled waters. Towards the latter part
[6:34] of twenty and sixteen, Cristel and Stephen's marriage reached its breaking point. She
[6:41] confided in friends, expressing that they had drifted apart. Specifically, Crystel felt
[6:46] a lack of challenge from Stephen. She yearned for a partner who would motivate
[6:51] her to reach greater heights, to strive for success, but Stephen didn't fit
[6:58] that mold. He had grown accustomed to the comfortable lifestyle that Cristel had provided
[7:02] him, a nice home, an expensive car and every material desire fulfilled.
[7:11] As Cindy remarked, Stephen was okay with just stepping back being the houseperson.
[7:17] Stephen's daughter from a previous relationship, Christa macdoyll, further observed he was the
[7:24] dad, she was more of the provider. So in early two thousand and
[7:29] seventeen, Cristel made the difficult decision to file for divorce, signaling the definitive
[7:34] end of their marriage. The divorce was finalized in June, but by now
[7:41] Cristel had already moved on with a man named Paul Horgrove, a local jeweler
[7:46] who lived in Baytown. They had met when Cristel came in to Robson Steinmand
[7:49] Jewelers, where he worked to have a ring remounted. Much like Cristel,
[7:56] he too had been divorced, and the two entered their new relationship no knowing
[8:00] exactly what they wanted. They had learned from their previous relationships and were ready
[8:05] to put it all into their new relationship with one another. This new relationship
[8:11] moved very quickly, and the couple had already exchanged I Love views. They'd
[8:16] even been planning a trip to Belgium. Cristel and Stephen shared custody of the
[8:20] girls, and they both moved out of the Marridal home. Crystal purchased a
[8:26] townhouse on Ward Road close to Paul, and she even helped Stephen buy a
[8:30] new place in Legends Bay. But Crystal's home needed to undergo renovations, so
[8:37] in August of twenty seventeen, Cristel moved back in with her ex husband Stephen.
[8:43] It was just to be for a short while as the renovations were completed.
[8:48] Despite the uncommon living arrangements, Kristel and Stephen made it work for the
[8:52] sake of their two children. Crystel stayed in the master bedroom downstairs, while
[8:58] Stephen slept in the spare bedroom upstairs. Despite the ongoing renovations, Cristel's life
[9:03] was slotting into place, and she was the happiest she had been in some
[9:07] time. She had found love again and had just embarked on a new career
[9:13] path. Her job as a flight attendant had required her to spend a lot
[9:16] of time away from her young children, who were eight years old and five
[9:20] years old. Having experienced the loss of her parents at a tender age,
[9:24] Cristel understood the fragility of life, and this field her desire to spend as
[9:30] much time with her children as possible. Recently, her uncle Jeff presented her
[9:35] with an opportunity to join him as an estate agent in the family rum business.
[9:41] Recognizing the potential for a more stable work life balance, Cristel eagerly accepted
[9:46] the offer and immersed herself in her new role. She found ammen's fulfillment in
[9:52] guiding clients towards their dream homes while simultaneously forging a path towards her own goals.
[10:01] Jeff fondly reminisced, she said herself she was the happiest she had ever
[10:05] been in her life. Just the day preceding the onslaught of Hurricane Harvey,
[10:18] Cristel had plans to pick up her children from Stephen before he left for work
[10:22] that morning. The night before, she had been staying with her boyfriend Paul
[10:26] at his home approximately twelve minutes away from Stephen's home. Rising at six thirty
[10:33] a m. Crystal and Paul prepared for the day ahead. After bidding farewell
[10:39] to Paul with the kiss, Cristel embarked on her journey in her black Sea
[10:43] Class Mercedes, bracing herself for the impending storm. Shortly after she left,
[10:48] Cristel reached out to Paul via text message, letting him know that the road
[10:52] conditions were good. She mentioned her intent to either remain at Stephen's home with
[10:58] her son and daughter, or, depending on traffic and weather conditions, possibly
[11:03] take them out somewhere. At the same time, Cristel was also texting her
[11:07] uncle Jeff. She told him that Paul had surprised her with the real estate
[11:13] billboard with her face emblazoned on it offering her services. That morning as she
[11:18] drove over to Stephen's home was the first time she had seen the billboard.
[11:24] She texted Paul, you're so sweet. In response, Paul said, I
[11:30] love you and I'll always support you. With Harkey and Harvey approaching, Paul
[11:35] became concerned when he realized he hadn't heard from Cristel for a couple of ours.
[11:41] He later recollected, it's not like Cristel not to reply back very quickly,
[11:46] so I thought that was kind of weird, thinking she was with family
[11:50] getting ready for things. Paul taxted Cristel and rang her number multiple times,
[11:56] but Cristel never replied, and she never picked up, Paul started reaching out
[12:01] to Cristel's friends to see if any of them had seen or heard from her,
[12:05] but nobody had. Paul then made contact with her uncle Jeff. He
[12:11] said that he had heard from her that morning when she texted him about the
[12:13] billboards, but it had been silence ever since. The search for Crystal mcdell
[12:26] began even before Hurricane Harvey struck the area, initiated by her friends and family.
[12:33] However, initial efforts to involve detectives were met with seemingly nonchalant responses.
[12:37] As the storm had disrupted communications and made it challenging to locate individuals. With
[12:46] electricity polls down and internet connections unstable, authorities assumed that Crystal might have sought
[12:52] refuge somewhere and would eventually make contact. Cristel's families concern grew as they knew
[12:58] she would would have made every effort to reach out to them, regardless of
[13:03] the storm's impact. Her uncle Jeff commented, we tried to plead with them
[13:09] and they just wanted to wait and see. I know a lot of officers
[13:13] had water in their own homes. That was a bad time, not that
[13:16] there ever is a good time. The storm has definitely complicated things. Despite
[13:24] the complications caused by the hurricane, Crystal's family persisted in their search efforts.
[13:31] Paul had security cameras at his home and it showed Crystal leaving that morning in
[13:35] her car. That meant that she had left Paul's place safe and well.
[13:41] But what happened to her on the way to Stephen's place. She had indeed
[13:46] been texting on her way there, as confirmed by a text message she had
[13:50] sent to Stephen which read, on my way do you have water? Looks
[13:56] like I may stay here with the kids. It seems just like rain.
[14:00] Steven said that he soldom waited for Crystal to appear, but she never arrived.
[14:07] Family and friends pleaded with the detectives to take the disappearance seriously, even
[14:11] as many officers dealt with their own storm related challenges such as rescues and I'm
[14:18] on one dispatch cent there had been inundated with phone calls, missing people,
[14:22] dropped people, and people left without homes. Overwhelmed emergency responders were forced to
[14:28] triage tens of thousands of calls, taking care of only those who needed help
[14:33] urgently. I know people are trying to reach nine to one one may not
[14:37] be getting a response. I understand that the system there are a lot of
[14:43] people who are calling, but let me ask for a gift. Let's give
[14:46] preference to the life threatening calls. Flooding in the area further complicated the search,
[14:54] making it more difficult to navigate and locate any potential clues. The turning
[14:58] point to the investigation came a couple of days later. See this black car
[15:03] right here, this Mercedes. Two people got out of it and it doesn't
[15:09] belong to them. That was a snapchat video from a woman who came across
[15:13] a partially submerged to Mercedes outside of Motel six in Mont Bellevue. It was
[15:20] soon uncovered that this was Crystal's Mercedes. It was located in an area she
[15:26] had not been intending to visit on the day that she disappeared. It had
[15:31] been left unlocked and the keys were left on the dashboard. It was as
[15:35] if somebody expected and even hoped, that somebody would come along and steal it.
[15:43] But because of the flooding, the car couldn't be stolen. The water
[15:46] had risen so much that it couldn't be moved from where it was parked.
[15:52] This unexpected discovery finally raised suspicions among detectives the Crystal's disappearance was not simply a
[15:58] result of the hurricane, but possibly involved foil play. Detectives began to consider
[16:06] the possibility that the storm might have been used as a cover up for her
[16:10] disappearance. Sheriff Brian Hawthorne commented, we are hampered by some of the flood
[16:17] issues, but we are as aggressive as ever trying to locate and find Crystal
[16:21] mcdoyle. The family were pleased to have the support of the detectives in their
[16:25] search for Crystal, and Sheriff Hawthorne reassured them by stating, I've expanded the
[16:30] resources and now have a team of about four investigators on it. The flood
[16:36] duties and responsibilities of high water rescue and securing people is slowing down as the
[16:41] need is reducing, I'm adding more resources to the investigation. Crystal's car was
[16:47] towed to the crime scene lab, but the floodwaters had made it impossible to
[16:51] get any kind of evidence from it. If there were any fingerprints or any
[16:56] evidence that could indicate what had happened to Crystal, the flood had washed them
[17:00] away, but the detectives had another idea up their sleeves. The motel had
[17:07] surveillance cameras outside, and so did a handful of other businesses in the area.
[17:12] They hoped that one of these surveillance cameras may have captured somebody driving and
[17:17] park in Crystal's car. The time frame that they needed to scar through was
[17:22] so large, and detectives knew that it would take a number of days,
[17:26] but still they were determined. While the footage from the surveillance cameras were being
[17:34] examined, detectives turned their attention to Crystal's cell phone, in particular her cell
[17:40] phone data. It showed that her cell phone had pinged within a three mile
[17:45] radius of one to one zero Park Street, which was Baytoun's Park service Center.
[17:51] It's located in Goose Creek Park, a heavily wooded area with creeks running
[17:55] throughout it. Crystal had no reason to be in that area. It wasn't
[18:00] too far away from Paul's home, but it wasn't that close to Stephen's home,
[18:04] where she had been traveling to that morning. Paul posted about the cell
[18:10] phone pings on his Facebook account, and people came out in droves to search
[18:14] for Crystal. The detectives working on the case weren't too happy. They said
[18:19] that the volunteer search could hamper the official search as people could inadvertently be destroying
[18:25] potential evidence. Plus it was dangerous for people to be searching that specific area
[18:32] because of the hurricane. The creeks had flooded and mcasons and alligators could have
[18:36] been disrupted. The detectives embarked on the area themselves, but the search wasn't
[18:41] easy. They found out further afield, utilizing ATVs to come the marshy areas
[18:48] around Cedar Bayu. They also called in the assistance of Texas Equis Search,
[18:55] a nonprofit organization that specializes in organizing and conducting searches for missing persons. Despite
[19:02] the exhaustive searches in the area, no trace of Crystal could be found.
[19:07] In an effort to glean some more information about her whereabouts, her uncle Jeff
[19:11] offered a five thousand dollars reward, but it did little to bring forth any
[19:15] leads or tips. Wasn't too surprising that nobody had seen anything out of the
[19:22] ordinary just as a hurricane was blowing in. People were too preoccupied with getting
[19:26] home safely and making sure that they were prepared with food and water. The
[19:33] days continued to trickle past with no new developments in the case, and Crystal's
[19:37] family were desperate for some more information. As detectives dealthy brint to their investigation,
[19:48] suspicions began to swirl around Stephen, her ex husband. While Crystal had
[19:55] texted Stephen that morning to say she was going to stay at home with the
[19:57] children, Stephen claimed to detectives that he received a further text message from her
[20:03] at nine thirty a m. In this second text message, Cristel told Stephen
[20:08] that she was going to pick up the children and then drive them to Dallis
[20:12] to ride out the storm. This unexpected change of course puzzled Cristel's family,
[20:18] especially Jeff, who was planning his own trip to Dollis to ride out the
[20:22] storm. The timing of that second text message added to the intrigue. Cristel
[20:29] had left Paul's home ours before, suggesting that she would have already been at
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[22:04] That's neutrofol dot com promo code morbidology. Detectives paid Stephen a visit,
[22:14] and he told them the same thing he had told them from the beginning.
[22:18] Crystal had failed to pick the kids up that morning, and he had no
[22:21] clue where she was. While inside his home, detectives observed a black bag
[22:26] beside the computer, which contained real estate documents. When Crystal left Paul's home
[22:33] that morning, she had been carrying a black bag, But according to Sheriff
[22:38] Hawthorne, the bag that Crystal was carrying was more like an overnight bag,
[22:42] while the bag found in Stephen's home was a black briefcase. He stated it
[22:49] was not something a woman would use as an overnight bag. He said that
[22:55] Crystal had been staying with Stephen, so the fact that a bag was there
[22:57] wasn't too out of the ordinary if it was indeed Crystal's. He had his
[23:03] own theory about what was going on, and he commented, I think that
[23:07] there was probably some animosity between the boyfriend and the husband. The husband might
[23:12] think that the boyfriend has something to do with it, the boyfriend might think
[23:17] that the husband has something to do with it. He mentioned that there was
[23:22] a long list of persons of interest, from Paul and Stephen to even uncle
[23:26] Jeff. Then, on the fifth of September, Cristel's family hired a private
[23:32] detective from Unlimited Investigations and Research Services of Liberty, who started working alongside the
[23:38] detectives. As the search for Crystal continued, the family continued to be suspicious
[23:48] about Stephen, in particular Paul. He commented in the media that in the
[23:53] week leading up to Cristel's disappearance, she and Stephen had been arguing frequently,
[24:00] but Paul wasn't truly aware of just how bad the marriage between the couple had
[24:04] been. Stephen's behavior had been deeply troubling from the moment they first got together.
[24:12] He had exhibited obsessive tendencies towards Cristel, even resorting to emotional manipulation whenever
[24:18] their relationship hit a rough patch. Stephen would often threaten to kill himself if
[24:26] Cristel ever considered leaving him, effectively coercing her to staying in unhappy marriage.
[24:33] Stephen had displayed selfish and manipulative traits, insisting on having things his way and
[24:38] throwing temper tantrums when he didn't get his desired outcome. During their divorce proceedings,
[24:44] Cristel had even said that Cristel had threatened to kill her, the children,
[24:48] and then himself. He took the divorce very hard. Cristel had been
[24:52] the sole provider for the family, but even following the divorce, she still
[24:56] helped him out financially. Some people who knew Stephen noticed some dark changes in
[25:03] him in the wake of the divorce. Over the course of a couple of
[25:07] days, he changed his Facebook profile photo to a photo of a grave,
[25:11] followed by a photo of a grim reaper, and then a photo of him
[25:14] and Crystal. One particularly alarming incident occurred when Cristel called police to report that
[25:21] Stephen had threatened to harm himself and their children. This call had come after
[25:26] the children failed to show up for school, prompting immediate concern for their safety.
[25:33] Despite police efforts to locate Stephen, he remained elusive until the following morning,
[25:37] when he reappeared with the children. Stephen was desperate to win Cristel back,
[25:45] and behind the scenes, he had been harboring plans to propose to Cristel
[25:48] again, and he intended to do so on an upcoming family cruise. He
[25:53] had purchased clothing for the both of them, including a white dress and suit,
[25:57] in anticipation of the occasion. However, in the lead up to Cristel's
[26:03] disappearance, she told Stephen that he had been uninvited and that she was taking
[26:07] her new boyfriend Paul instead. While Cristel and Paul had been dating for a
[26:12] little while, she had wanted to keep it a secret from Stephen. She
[26:18] said to her aunt Cindy, he will kill me, but with the cruise
[26:22] coming up, Cristel needed to let Stephen know that she had moved on.
[26:26] Apparently, Steven didn't take it too well, and Cristel told friends on Facebook
[26:30] messenger that she was getting a little scared of Stephen. The lead up to
[26:37] the end of their marriage had been tumultuous, but after they broke up,
[26:41] things seemed to approve. For a while, Cristel had felt safe staying in
[26:45] the same home with Stephen, but after breaking the news that he was uninvited
[26:49] to the family cruise, Cristel seemed to be afraid. It was as if
[26:55] the old Stephen was making a reappearance and now still was missing. The family
[27:03] weren't hopeful the Crystal was going to be found alive, but neither were the
[27:06] detectives. Sheriff Hawthorne commented, I hate to use the term presumed dead because
[27:12] there were two children, so I hope that we find her alive and well,
[27:17] but I don't feel real confident about it. At this point, detectives
[27:22] were still scarring through the surveillance footage from Motel six and the surrounding area.
[27:27] They gained access to the surveillance footage taken from outside a shell gas station that
[27:33] was next to Motel six. As they watched the footage, a suspicious individual
[27:38] caught their attention. His behavior raised red flags. He appeared agitated, constantly
[27:47] glancing over his shoulder in the direction of Motel six. His actions became even
[27:52] more suspicious when he approached a trash can at the gas station and appeared to
[27:56] dispose of something, pushing at deeper down into the bin. The man then
[28:03] turned around and his face came into view of the camera. It was Stephen
[28:07] McDowell. As detectives continued their investigation into Crystal's disappearance. They meticulously analyzed surveillance
[28:23] footage for any clues about Stephen's whereabouts and actions. They knew that he was
[28:29] at the Shell gas station and kept looking over towards Motel six, almost as
[28:33] if he was checking to see if Cristel's car was still there. Detectives then
[28:38] went back to the Motel six footage from the hours before and came across Crystal's
[28:44] car being driven into the parking lot. Moments later, a man climbed out
[28:48] of the car and walked away. While the footage was grainy, detectives could
[28:55] see that the man looked remarkably similar to Stephen. Despite their suspicions, detectives
[29:02] lack concrete evidence linking Stephen to Cristel's disappearance or confirming that she was indeed dead.
[29:08] They confronted Stephen again, but he maintained his innocence and denied any involvement
[29:14] in Cristel's disappearance. With no tangible evidence to support their suspicions, detectives faced
[29:21] a frustrating challenge in building a case against Stephen. Concern for Cristel's children,
[29:26] Maden and Maui weighed heavily on their minds. They feared for the safety of
[29:32] the children in Stephen's care, especially given their suspicions that he might have been
[29:37] involved in Cristel's disappearance. District Attorney Cheryl Leake took decisive action upon recognizing the
[29:45] potential danger to Cristel's children in Stephen's care. Collaborating with family and protective services,
[29:52] they arranged for Maden and Maui to be removed from Stephen's custody and placed
[29:56] with Cristel's aunt, Cindy on the eighth of sp Do you ever indulge in
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[31:26] District Attorney Leake understood the emotional impact this would have on Stephen, anticipating that
[31:32] it would be a significant tipping point. Stephen was brought into the interrogation room
[31:37] once more, and he broke down. He said that he was exhausted and
[31:42] begged to go home, but promised that he would return the next morning.
[31:48] The detectives thought that they were close to a confession, that since they had
[31:52] no direct evidence against Stephen, they had to let him go. They just
[31:56] hoped that he would stay true to his word come back the next morning.
[32:06] That night, Stephen's daughter Christa was bartending when her father called her after he
[32:10] left the police station. Despite being away for universities. Stephen urgently asked her
[32:16] to come over, stressing that it was important. Christa had been planning to
[32:22] visit the next day anyway, but Stephen was adamant she come over right away.
[32:28] After wrapping up her shift, she drove to her father's now mostly deserted
[32:31] home. Cristel had been absent for weeks, and now the children were gone
[32:37] as well. Krista reached Baytown at about three point thirty a m parked her
[32:42] car and knocked on the front door. Stephen answered, and he was visibly
[32:47] irritated. He told Christa that he was going to be arrested the next morning,
[32:52] but stressed that he was innocent. He said detectives believed he killed Cristel,
[32:58] but said he had no clue what had happened to her. Stephen was
[33:01] clearly preparing for the worst. He handed Christison photo albums, financial documents,
[33:07] and even the keys to his cherished Mustang. Despite Christa's attempts to reason with
[33:13] him. The conversation veered sharply. While Stephen initially professed his innocence, he
[33:20] then told Christa the detectives had offered him a reduced sentence if he told them
[33:23] where Cristel's body was. Christa replied and said to her father that that didn't
[33:30] matter since he didn't know where Cristel was. Stephen then bluntly responded, what
[33:37] if it's true. He then looked away and began to cry. The detectives
[33:43] arrived at Stephen's home in the oars that followed and took him back to the
[33:45] police station. He was presented with the video footage of him at the Shell
[33:51] gas station and at Motel six, but detectives had since come across another video
[33:57] of Stephen from that day. It was him walking into Walmart and then coming
[34:02] back out with the bicycle. He then cycled off in the direction of his
[34:07] own home. The detectives believed that he had dropped Crystel's car off and then
[34:13] cycled away. Stephen continued to profess his innocence, but then there was a
[34:19] tipping point. He asked whether he could talk to his children, but the
[34:23] detectives told him no. They said that he could see his children, but
[34:28] only if he took them to Cristel's body. Stephen's demeanor appeared to relax.
[34:36] He slumped down in the chair and simply replied okay. Stephen recounted the detectives
[34:47] that the morning Crystal vanished, she had actually arrived safe and well at his
[34:52] home. He admitted to fabricating his earlier claim that she had never appeared.
[34:59] According to Steve, he had questioned Crystals whereabouts the previous night while her home
[35:05] was under renovation. She had opted to spend the night with Paul instead of
[35:08] Stephen. Stephen said that Cristel then told him that she didn't love him and
[35:15] that he needed to come to terms with the fact that their marriage was over.
[35:20] Stephen confessed to detectives that he had approached Crystal from behind and choked her,
[35:24] yes, please do with this fight choke hold or something? Did she
[35:34] say anything when that was going on? Or did she fight or what happened?
[35:39] Stephen said that as he put his arm around Crystal, she told him
[35:43] that he was scaring her. Following her murder, Stephen confessed to covering Crystal's
[35:49] face with the target bag to spare himself from seeing it. He then maneuvered
[35:53] her lifeless form into a fatal position, stuffed her into an industrial grade garbage
[35:59] by, and subsequently placed her within the trunk of her own black merceries.
[36:05] He said that he needed to move quick because a repair worker was coming out
[36:07] to the home that morning. Under the cover of darkness in the early morning,
[36:13] Stephen left his children unattended at home and disposed of Crystal's body. He
[36:19] transported her to a densely wooded area in western Chambers County, not too far
[36:23] away from his home. Upon confessing, Stephen guided the detectives to the precise
[36:29] location. Despite the rugged and dense terrain, the detectives discerned the pungent odor
[36:35] of human decomposition, immediately confirming that they were on the right track. After
[36:40] an audious search through the brush, detectives eventually located the badly decomposed body of
[36:46] Crystal. On the ninth of September, forty four year old Stephen McDowell was
[36:51] charged with the first degree murder of Crystal. He was ordered to be held
[36:55] on five hundred thousand dollars bail and was appointed Keaton Kirkwood as his defense attorney.
[37:01] The arrest hadn't come as much as a surprise to Cristel's loved ones.
[37:06] Her good friend Morgan Raymondy had her own theory of what happened, stating when
[37:10] Stephen decided that if he couldn't have her, nobody else could, he also
[37:15] made the decision for her children, her family, and her friends. He
[37:20] took her away from all of us because of his one selfish act. Kristel
[37:24] and Stephen's children were now left without a mother or a father, as they
[37:29] were taken in by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Straightway,
[37:35] Jeff stepped up and said he would take the children under his wing until a
[37:38] permanent plan was thought up. Eventually, Cristel's longtime friend Mandy Avelos took custody
[37:45] of the children. She was an aerospace worker in Las Vegas and had known
[37:51] Crystal since she was just a teenager. And in November, Stephen was indicted
[37:55] by a grand jury and his trial was scheduled for noveage of two thousand and
[38:00] nineteen, but before then the trial was moved to Galveston. Stephen's defense team
[38:07] had filed emotion saying that there had been too much publicity for Stephen to get
[38:12] a fair trial. By the sixth of June two thousand and nineteen, a
[38:15] jury had been selected and opening statements were ready to begin. In the Constitutional
[38:21] courtroom of the Galveston County Justice Center, Prosecutor Cheryl Leake laid out some grim
[38:27] facts about Crystal's upbringing. She told the jury she wanted a husband, a
[38:32] home, children, to be loved and give and receive love like she had
[38:37] never given or received before in her life. She said that over the ten
[38:43] year marriage, whenever Crystel threatened to leave Stephen, he would threaten to kill
[38:47] himself. She stated, so she divorced him. Then he started to threaten
[38:53] to harm her and the kids in himself. She was beginning to be more
[38:58] afraid, and apparently her fears came true. On August twenty five, two
[39:02] thousand and seventeen, he made good on those threats and choked her to death
[39:07] in front of their five year old daughter. For the first time, it
[39:12] was publicly revealed that Cristel had been killed in front of her own daughter.
[39:17] After the prosecutor stepped on, defense attorney Keaton Kirkwood opted out of providing an
[39:22] opening statement, the testimony got under way with Paul Hargrave, Cristel's boyfriend,
[39:29] who recounted the morning of her disappearance. The detectives who interviewed Stephen testified,
[39:35] followed by the video of his confession. Stephen had asked for the death penalty
[39:40] to be taken off the table in exchange for his confession, and the prosecution
[39:45] had agreed. The next witness was Mandy Aviloss, Cristel's friend who had custody
[39:52] of Madin and Maui. She testified that after Stepham was arrested, Maui had
[39:58] come to her and said she needed to tell her a secret. The five
[40:02] year old girl said that she had woken up on the twenty fifth of August
[40:06] two thousand and seventeen and had heard her mother and father arguing. She said
[40:12] she went through a bathroom into their bedroom and saw her father push her mother
[40:15] to the bed and put his hands over her nose and mouth. Ali said
[40:21] that she went over to the bed and stood there, but her father continued
[40:24] to do what he was doing. At one stage, her mother looked over
[40:29] to her, but her father refused to move or stop until her mother was
[40:34] completely motionless. Mawi said that her father then told her to go upstairs and
[40:38] never tell a soul about what she had just seen. The jury were then
[40:44] shown a video of Maui describing what she had seen to prosecute her leak.
[40:49] Maui had made some drawings of what had happened, including one which asked why
[40:53] did you get mad and kill mom and make her not breathe. Alwis said
[40:59] that her mother and father were arguing because her mother had a new boyfriend.
[41:04] She said she heard her mother say that she was going to go away and
[41:06] take the children with her. She described how her father had replied, no,
[41:12] you're not before he pushed her on to the bed. At one point
[41:15] she set her father turned to look at her and he looked angry. She
[41:21] recalled her mother trying to say help, but no sound was coming out of
[41:24] her mouth. Maui also said that typically she and her brother slept in their
[41:30] father's bed, but the night before her mother was killed, they had been
[41:34] told to sleep in their own beds. After the video, the prosecution rested
[41:38] their case. Defense attorney Kirkwood then told the jury to focus on the evidence
[41:44] and the discrepancies. He then called Tomorrow Shipley to the witness stand. She
[41:50] was Stephen's former neighbor, and she described him as a sweet guy who would
[41:53] always stop and chat with her or bring her food. Stephen's mother, Mary
[41:59] Louise Johnson, and his sisters Heather and Erica all testified that he was a
[42:04] great father who seemed to get along with Cristel. The defense then called Stephen
[42:08] to the witness stand, where he surprisingly said that he was guilty. However,
[42:15] he refused to go through with the legal paperwork required to officially plead guilty.
[42:21] He said that the issue was that the indictment said that he had choked
[42:23] Cristel. Stephen then claimed that he had killed Cristel by accident by hugging her
[42:30] to death. On the witness stand, he said, I just wanted to
[42:36] hold her. I just wanted to start over. I was tired of arguing,
[42:39] and I was tired of fighting. He changed various parts of his confession
[42:45] and told the jury that when Cristel arrived at its home in the morning,
[42:47] she was in a good mood. He even claimed that they had sex,
[42:52] but then an argument broke out because he was supposed to get a document notarized
[42:55] that would allow Cristel to take the children on a cruise without him. However,
[43:00] he never got the document notarized. He testified, she said she didn't
[43:06] love me any more and hadn't loved me in a long time. She had
[43:09] never said that before. I told her to stop, and I begged her
[43:13] to quit being mean to me. I grabbed her and I put my arms
[43:16] around her. He said that they were standing up when he was hugging her,
[43:21] and said that Cristel's body then became limp and she fell. According to
[43:25] Stephen, they fell on to the bed and he realized that Cristel was dead.
[43:30] His new version of events completely contradicted the story of his nowe seven year
[43:36] old daughter, and he suggested that she made the entire story up. Some
[43:40] text messages were presented afterwards to show the tumultuous nature of their relationship. Two
[43:46] days before Cristel was killed, she had texted Stephen, please move on with
[43:52] your life and stop manipulating the kids and using them as pawns. You're still
[43:55] acting crazy. I wanted a divorce years ago. The jury deliberated for just
[44:01] over three hours before finding Stephen mc doyll guilty of the murder of Christal macdoyll.
[44:07] As The verdict was announced, he showed no semblance of emotion. The
[44:13] sentencing phase began immediately and Stephen was facing a sentence of life in prison.
[44:17] Stephen said to the coord that it was his wish that their children be legally
[44:22] adopted and that their names be changed to Cristel's maiden name. I stated,
[44:28] I want them to have a last name they can be proud of. Stephen
[44:32] said that he was sorry for what had happened and that he could never forgive
[44:36] himself. During the closing arguments, prosecutor Leak touched on Stephen's claims of what
[44:42] had happened. She stated, he hugged her to death. I have to
[44:46] say that's a new one for me. Stephen mc doyell was then sentenced to
[44:52] fifty years in prison. He was ordered to serve at least twenty five before
[44:57] he be considered for parole. As the sentence was announced, the courtroom erupted
[45:02] into audible gasps. Christel's uncle Jeff later said, he took her from us
[45:08] and he deserves worse. He was given leniency. In my opinion, he
[45:14] did exactly what he said he was going to do. He said he was
[45:16] going to destroy her, so she couldn't be with anyone else. Cristel mc
[45:22] dowell's life seemed to be in a perpetual state of turbulence from the moment she
[45:27] was born. Despite a nonstable upbringing, she believed she had found solace in
[45:31] her marriage to Stephen I. After after enduring a troubled decade together, Cristel
[45:37] decided to pursue a divorce. At last, it seemed like her life was
[45:43] on an upward trajectory. She embarked on a new career path and found companionship
[45:49] in a new romantic interest. Yet this new found stability was shattered violently,
[45:54] all because Stephen couldn't come to terms with her moving on. Well, Bestie's
[46:19] That is it for this episode of Morbidology. As always, thank you so
[46:22] much for listening, and i'd like to say a massive thank you to my
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[47:21] time, take care of yourselves, stay safe, and have an amazing week.

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