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In today’s episode, I tell you the case of runaway aristocrat Constance Martin and Mark Gordon, who had hidden the birth of their daughter and then they just disappeared. But there’s so much more to this story. Let’s get into a case of concealing a birth and concealing a death. Was it murder or accidental? Right now on Love and Murder. Welcome, lambs. Welcome to a new episode of Love and Murder, your weekly true crime podcast, telling you cases of heartbreak that turn to homicide. I am your host, Kai and. Hi. I’m back. Back from my little mini staycation, I guess you want to say. In today’s episode we’re discussing, uh, it’s a case of a woman who grew up wealthy but decided to throw that all away once she had kids. But then her decisions ended up in the removal of her children and the death of her last child. So we’re going to be talking about a, uh, UK case focusing on Constance Martin. Before we begin, I want to say that this episode is sponsored by mylams and patreon. Patreon.com loveandmurder Be sure to, uh, subscribe to Love and Murder right now while you’re listening so you don’t miss a case. Now, if you didn’t know, you can also subscribe on our Patreon. So you don’t have to hear intros like this one or commercials like the ones that are coming up. And you get ky rants, you get bonus episodes and you’ll be helping Love and Murder. You’ll be a sponsor of Love and Murder. This month I put out a bonus episode about Angela Samoda’s murder. That murderer almost got away with it. But the thing that they didn’t count on was that Angela had this strong, strong friend. And I really hope that everybody has a friend in their corner like Angela did. So you gotta listen to that bonus episode. It’s in the Patreon and there’s actually a video version and an audio only version. Then there’s another bonus in there where I did a reactionary video on this other video where this girl left her baby to die while she went to party for six days. So that’s all in the, uh, Patreon right now. And so much more is coming up this month. Patreon.com loveandmurder if you want to catch those cases, be a part of Patreon and be a sponsor of Love and Murder. In the meantime, though, grab your butts, grab your delicious BJ’s apple juice murderinlove.com BJ’s use my link to get 35 off your, your first year’s membership, meaning that you’re only going to be paying $20 to get all that delicious savings. And let’s get into some love and murder. So first we’re going to go into who the Martin family is, because in the us, most of us, we don’t know who these people are. Some, some people do, but most of us don’t know who these people are. However, they are a, uh, really pretty prominent aristocratic household. And by aristocrats, I mean like, they’re probably called like lords and ladies, that kind of thing. They were so affluent that they hobnobbed with the royals. And they own this place called Crychell House in Dorset. I know to us in the US that means absolutely nothing. The people in UK know exactly what I’m talking about. Now this house, and I say use the term house loosely, it was a 5,000 acre estate and this is where the movie Emma, the 1996 movie Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow was filmed. I’ve never seen the movie, but if you’ve seen the movie, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That was their house. It’s surrounded by 400 acres or 160 hex heck hectares. I’ve never heard that phrase hect acres, but that’s how it is measured in UK. So it’s surrounded by 400 acres of park which includes a, uh, crescent shaped lake which covers 50 acres. That’s how big the lake is. 50 acres or 20 hectare acres. I hope I’m saying that word right because I’ve never seen that word before in my life. So please forgive me for that. The Martin family, I mean, obviously they’re really famous because they talk to the royals. So if they’re that famous, they’re always in tabloids and newspapers. In the UK. In 1996, the father, Napier Martin, had a midlife crisis, or as he called it, an awakening. And uh, of course the magazines, the tabloids, everything followed that like it was headlining news. So when Constance was nine, he disappeared, saying that he suddenly felt, quote, everything in my life materialistically was a completely empty shell. End quote. According to him, a voice in his head told him to leave his inheritance, shave his head and fly to Australia, which is exactly what he did. When he did that, he abandoned his children and started a whole new life. Whale watching and spiritual discovery as a, uh, tree surgery. I don’t know what that Is quote, I do recall having a recognition of myself that I was exhibiting some sort of courage, but of also in many other people’s minds, I was exhibited some sort of cowardice. Eventually he came back to the uk, where he decided to live in a lorry, trained in the art of head massage called craniosacral therapy, worked as a chef, and passed his estate on to his oldest son, Max. Now, for my non English lambs, and by English, I mean British, I looked up the word lorry and it said that in the US we call it a truck, like an 18 wheeler. So I’m wondering if he actually lived in an 18 wheeler or did he live in an RV. This is where I’m confused because I did look it up. It said, we call it a truck and it showed pictures of 18 wheelers, but this is what he’s living in. So did he live in the trailer of a truck or is a lorry an rv? So my English lambs. Can you please verify in the comments below, please. Anyway, moving on. Mary Anna Martin, the grandmother, had ties to the late queen. So that’s just, you know, I’m just giving you background on who these people are. Constance went to school at St. Mary’s which was a boarding school for girls in Shaftesbury that costs more than 30,000 pounds a year. She then went to Leeds University to study Middle Eastern studies and Arabic. While she was in college, she traveled to Egypt and spent a year there. After she graduated from college, she moved to London and worked as a researcher for the Arabic TV network called Al Jazeera. She was just beautiful, full of life, full of kindness. She was very, very talented. Just a stunning person inside and out. I was kind of bowled over by her, really. So now that you have an idea of the family that she came from, uh, let’s get into the case. In 2016, Constance met Mark Gordon, who was 13 years older than her. So at the time of this case, Constance is 37, Mark is 49. Mark was born in Birmingham, UK, and when he was young, it’s believed that he had moved to Florida with his mother and his half sibling. And then he ended up returning to the UK again in 2010. While in the UK, he lived in a rundown house in Ironfield, which is north of London. Look, I’m not judging him. You live in what you could afford. But this is what I’m retelling so that you can understand where he came from, where she came from and everything like that. I’m not judging. After they met, Constance became Distant with her friends and family to the point of cutting ties with them. Her and Mark moved in together, but ended up being evicted. And then By August of 2020, they were living on the Cold harbor estate. But Constance had signed up under a fake name. One day in 2020, after being off of her social media for four years, she suddenly uploaded a Facebook album of baby pictures titled quote, My Love Sprogs. So to her friends, who hadn’t seen her in four years, it appeared that she had more than one child. One of her friends wrote on the album, quote, toots, where in the world are you? I’ve missed your beautiful spirit in my life. More friends wrote on her social media, but she never answered. It’s like she uploaded that album and then just left. So this case begins in December 2020, when Constance and Mark’s car was found burning and abandoned near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Inside the car, police found a, uh, placenta. So it’s like, is that, is that all you found, just a placenta? Right. Greater Manchester police later issued a plea for the couple to return, believing that Constance had, quote, very recently given birth to a baby boy. And neither her nor the baby have been assessed by medical professionals. Constance and Mark had actually been last seen on January 7, 2023, at, uh, the Eastham tube station in New York, Him, East London. They’d actually been seen with a newborn baby in Constance’s arm that was hidden under a red shawl. So police pulled those CCTV footage and they saw that Constance and Mark had bought a tent. So now they’re thinking, okay, it’s cold. They’re about to live in a tent with a newborn baby. Also, they believe that Constance and Mark were trying to exit the country via, uh, a ferry and go to the Netherlands. Investigators said that they did believe that both Constance and Mark had enough cash to, quote, live off the grid. But still they were sleeping, you know, in a tent in sub zero temperatures with a newborn baby. And so far with their investigation, it had been 54 days since, you know, anybody had seen her. Now, during their disappearance, information about Mark’s past came out. So basically in Florida in 1989 when Mark was 14 years old, it’s alleged that he’d broken into a 20 year old neighbor’s house and sexually assaulted her at knife point. He was arrested and at 16 years old was found guilty. So he was arrested and he was like in jail waiting for his trial and everything. So that was like two years. So at 16 years old, he was found guilty of, quote, one count of armed kidnapping one four separate counts of armed sexual battery and one count of burglary with a deadly weapon. He ended up being sentenced to 40 years in prison, but only served 20 years. And then he was deported out of the US back to the UK in 2010. So remember it said that he came back to the UK in 2010. Well actually he was deported back to the UK after this information came out. Constance’s father put out a plea publicly on 1-19-2023 saying, quote, Darling Constance, even though we remain estranged at the moment, I, uh, stand by, as I’ve always done and as the family has always done, to do whatever is necessary for your safe return to us. I beseech you to find a way to turn yourself and your WE one into the police as soon as possible so that you and he or she can be protected. I want you to understand that you are much, much loved by whatever the circumstances. Only then can a process of healing and recovery begin. However long it may take, however difficult it may be, I would like you to understand that the family will do all that is needed for your well being. And I also wish you to understand you are much, much loved whatever the circumstances. We are deeply concerned for your and the baby’s welfare. The past eight years have been beyond painful for all the family as well as your friends and as uh, they must have been for you. And to see you so vulnerable again is tested in the extreme. He did let it be known also publicly that the family had known about Mark’s background and they had been living in quote, great concern the whole time. The family also offered a 10,000 pound reward for the couple and their newborn in any help that could help capture them. After that statement, Mark’s mother released a statement of her own defending her son. Quote, I am very concerned. I love my son. He’s a good boy. So I don’t know what this is all about. I am worried for all of them. I am thinking, I wonder if someone kidnapped them. Now my thing is, why are some parents like this just blind to any wrongdoings of their kids? You do know that doing that to your child is actually a disservice, right? Like, are you afraid that your child won’t love you if you recognize that they do horrible things? Because that’s not the case. And if it’s the case, then they probably don’t love you anyway. Children need to grow up understanding the consequences of their actions. You can’t just let them do whatever they want and constantly say, oh, they’re a good boy or Good girl. No. I wonder if this is why he thought he could get away with sexual, uh, assault. Breaking into somebody’s apartment at 14 or house at 14 and sexually assaulting them at, you know, knife point. I. I don’t understand, but why are you acting like this is impossible, that he could have disappeared with her? I’m not saying do anything to her, but I’m saying you’re acting like this is impossible, that he could have disappeared with her. Then, in February, Constance’s mother put out an open letter to her daughter. Quote, I want to help you and my grandchild. You deserve the opportunity to build a new life, establish a stable family and enjoy the same freedoms most of us have. Constance, I will do what I can to stand alongside you and my grandchild. You are not alone in this situation. We will support you in whatever way we can. I am ready to do what it takes for you to recover from this awful experience so you can thrive and enjoy motherhood. I love you and miss you, Mom. Xx you know what? I noticed that neither one of them mentioned Mark in this, which is. You know what? I’m not even going to fault them for that. Because the father did say that he knew about Mark’s past. And I’m not going to lie, if that was me, I would want my daughter away from that person. So, no, no, no. They’re in the right. Never mind. You know me, I just speak my mind as I’m going through the case. So, anyway, seven weeks after the search started on February 27, the couple was found and arrested.

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They ended up being arrested in a residential area in Brighton. They had been spotted around 9:30pm outside a corner store by a member of the public who had recognized their faces from the news. Six minutes after that call came in, police were out there like and arrested the couple. And in their report they said that both her and Martin were, quote, heavily closed for outdoor activity. Now my question is why did she think she could disappear in the UK if she’s just that well known? That’s like Angelina Jolie trying to go unnoticed somewhere. Like I even don’t stand over people. But if I’m just in Target near my house and I see Angelina Jolie, I’m doing a double take and if it shows 10, $10,000 reward for the capture of this person. I’m calling like, I’m sorry, my family needs to eat. She already has $10,000. I’m totally calling. So after they were arrested, Constance’s father released a new statement saying that he felt, quote, immense relief that she’d been found. Whatever the weather, I love her dearly and will support her best I can. For whatever reason, she and her partner went on the run. The consequences of their actions have increased many fold. It would have been far better if they had handed themselves in earlier. However, you heard that I said. Constance and Mark were found. Police now realize that their baby was not with them. So they questioned the couple as to where the crap is your baby? But neither Constance nor Mark answered. So this started another frenzied police search involving over 200 officers, search and rescue dogs, helicopters, drones and thermal cameras that went across an area of 90 square miles, or 230 square kilometers, from Brighton to New Haven in the UK. While the manhunt was going on, Constance and Mark were recharged on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. On March 1, 2023, almost two days after the search started, the baby’s body was found close to the place the couple had been arrested. It was hidden under trash and it was wrapped inside a little bag for life in a garden style shed. So little. Uh, I’m not saying little. I’m saying L, I D L Little. I guess that’s the name of a store. On March 3, the couple went to court with charges of gross negligence manslaughter, perverting the court of justice, and concealing the birth of a child. It was thought that the baby, which was actually a girl and not a boy, had died on January 9, but the cause of death could not be determined. In early January 2024, the couple once again appeared in court. This time they pled not guilty to all charges that were presented against them. Their trial started on January 26 and it was presided over by Judge Mark Lewcraft. The couple are accused of concealing the birth of a child, cruelty to a person under 16, causing or allowing the death of a child, manslaughter by gross negligence and perverting the course of justice. It’s alleged that they went on the run because they wanted to keep Victoria, which is the name of the baby, after their four other children had been taken by cps. Four other children, and we’re going to get into that later on in the court. On January 31, the jury was shown pictures of partially destroyed baby clothes and baby items on February 27, Social Services testified that twice Constance was informed about sleep dangers in relation to her newborn baby, including suffocation, overheating, and positional asphyxia. Babies are more delicate and vulnerable, and their airways can easily become blocked when placed in certain positions, especially if they are sleeping on an adult’s chest. This increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome or accidental suffocation. Social services said that Constance was told of the crucial importance to place the child in what they called a uh m. Moses basket for sleep, rather than allowing herself to doze off with the baby on her chest. Critical dangers of falling asleep with a baby on one’s chest were firmly raised to Constance, who once again stated that she understood the risk and would take this on board. The social worker said that Constance promised to follow the advice and not to cause harm to the baby. Then the social worker spoke to Mark, dealing with concerns about the lack of preparation for the baby’s birth. Mark heard and accepted some of what the social worker was saying, but then he also came back and said that everyone had the right to choose how they live, and they shouldn’t be penalized for having a lifestyle that wasn’t, quote, mainstream. Nobody’s penalizing you from having that life. It’s the fact that you need to think about your child first. And if it’s below freezing temperatures and you’re living in a regular tent, then maybe you should consider doing something different. And if social services are telling you that it’s not good to sleep with a child on your chest or sleep with a child around you because you might roll over on that child, they’re not saying this just because it’s fun or to tell you a bedtime story. They’re saying this because there have been numerous instances where this has actually happened. And so now they put out a PSA to people saying, don’t sleep with your child in your chest. Don’t sleep with your child right next to you. It’s not saying that every single person might roll over on their child or every single baby might have sudden infant death syndrome, but you don’t know which child will and which child won’t or which adult will and which adult won’t. So the best thing to do is follow the practices. That’s all. But nobody’s getting on you for, you know, I want to live in a camper van or I want to live in a tent. Nobody’s getting on you for not having a lifestyle that’s not mainstream. You’re missing, uh, the point, and you’re Missing it hard. Anyways, back from my rant. When Constance was six months pregnant, she went to the hospital, and staff noticed that she didn’t have any prenatal care at that time. She claimed that her and Mark were living in a campervan. Months later, when social services estimated it was time for Constance to go into labor, social services issued a national alert to find the couple. So they were literally, like, watching her hard. I guess they had her flagged in the computer or something. So they found her and Mark, and they’d actually used fake names at the hospital. Constance said that she had been traveling to, quote, avoid, uh, her family. And she had also adopted a, quote, fake Irish accent so that, you know, people wouldn’t know that she’s from the uk. That depends on how good your Irish accent was. And she identified herself to the hospital staff as part of the traveling community. However, your Constance Martin, you’ve been in these people’s houses all your lives, in their newspaper, on TV and everything. So, of course they saw who you were. So then she told the social workers that she had been evicted from her apartment and they were continuing to live in the camper van. Social services then reported that they, quote, had a number of concerns, including falsifying of names and that Ms. Martin and Mr. Gordon had been living in a tent. The social worker said that she explained to Constance that it was winter and the conditions were freezing, and, uh, the space in a tent or in a camper van wouldn’t be appropriate for a baby to live in. So Constance came back and said, well, the camper was my idea, because, you know, at first we were in a tent, but, you know, I said that wasn’t a good idea. So I said, let’s get the camper. And she promised that she would work with the care professionals and that her baby was her priority. Social workers then went on to tell Constance that she needs to reach out to her family and get proper houses. That, quote, due to her homelessness and inadequate preparations for a baby, court order would be sought if she was unable to establish a suitable home for herself and the child. They also told her that, quote, some baby girls and nappies or some clothes and diapers is simply not enough for a newborn baby to be safe. Then the court spoke to a pediatrician, uh, about what they thought about keeping a newborn baby in a tent in the temperatures that were currently, well at that time in the UK, which was like 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. And the pediatrician said that this can be fatal. Then the prosecution asked what Were the risks to a baby being placed inside of a jacket with the parents sitting down. And the pediatrician said, quote, if the mother goes to sleep, she can bend over the baby and the baby can be smothered. The court was also told that in 2017, when the couple were having their first child, police were called because, once again, they had given fake names when she went to give birth. So to me, it seems like this is her habit, which makes sense if to her she’s trying to run from her family and she doesn’t want her family to know that she has babies or whatever. The court then heard that Constance’s four children were previously removed from her when in 2019, a judge had found, quote, risk of harm to the children by being exposed to physical violence between the partners. So literally, they were physically fighting, and this. The children could have gotten hurt in the midst of them constantly fighting. So CPS removed the children, and in 2022, all four children were placed away from their parents. So Constance and Martin did end up having supervised visitation with their children. And it was reported that they did, quote, interact well with all of their children during the supervised visits. However, their attendance was, quote, inconsistent, which left the children feeling distressed and unsettled. One of the children ended up being quiet and withdrawn and would later tell the staff, quote, mommy and daddy canceled again. Oh, ah, how heartbreaking. And then at another time, the same child was described as, quote, inconsolable. So I don’t understand what’s going on here. Like, you do want your children, but you didn’t have them in safe conditions. And when they were taken away, you really weren’t consistent in even seeing them effectively, possibly giving them abandoned issues and other issues. Also, after the baby was born, a social worker actually went out to the tent where Constance and M. Mark were living in, and they described the tent as, quote, like a festival style tent. So, like one of those thin tents. So basically, it’s not a tent that was for cold, for any kind of weather. It was just a tent, like a decorative tent. And actually at that time, rainwater had pooled on top and it was drooping under that weight of the rainwater. And the social worker also said it smelled so still. They also pointed out that there were a large number of black trash bags that it looked like it held their clothes in. And I’m sorry, I think I’ve been calling Mark Martin this whole time. So if I keep saying Constance and Martin, I really mean Constance and Mark. So I apologize. I’m, um, totally not good with names. Which is not good when you’re a true crime podcaster, because you got to remember names. But sometimes this does happen. I’m not perfect, so please be patient with me. And I literally just realized it and went back and corrected it for this sentence. I don’t know how long I’ve been doing that, but if I’ve been doing that throughout the episode, I do apologize. It’s Constance and Mark. So the social worker testified that they, quote, explained to her it was winter and the crowded space was wholly unappropriate for live in. And Constance responded with that, saying that her and Mark lived an alternative lifestyle and said, don’t judge us. So then on March 7, Constance took the stand, where, uh, she was asked if she’d ever been cruel to her children. She said that she, quote, did nothing but show her love and that she had given her daughter, quote, the best that any mother would. She also said that she felt, quote, intense grief after she woke up to find the lifeless infant inside her jacket. Then Mark was supposed to testify, but when it came his turn, he changed his mind so he didn’t end up being called to the stand. Then, uh, on March 8th, Constance took the stand again and said she felt responsible for falling asleep on the baby. So the lawyer said that parents with a child need to go to a doctor, isn’t that correct? To which she responded with, absolutely not. She said basically some members of her family had hired a PI to find her and her first child, and, quote, if that is what happened, I had to escape my family, as my family are extremely oppressive and bigoted, and they would not allow me to have children with my husband, and they would do anything to erase that child from the family line, end quote. So that’s why she said she was running. Basically, that’s her reasoning for running and hiding and cutting off her family and friends, I guess. Now, it’s interesting to note that, first of all, she is white, and she’s really rich, and she’s famous and everything like that. And Mark is black, and as you can see, he has this record, and he comes from a poor background. I’m wondering in what aspects she’s saying her parents would erase this child from their family line because it’s not the child’s fault that the father, you know, was a convicted rapist. So the only other two things I could see is race or social standings. And this is just me thinking based on, uh, her comment, I am not saying this is what the family actually said or this came out or anything like that. This is just wholly my opinion based on her comment. So the attorney continues with, quote, can you see that taking your newborn child into a tent in the middle of winter with no heating and hot water, can you see that was a very bad decision? And she said, if you don’t mind, we are looking at this from a Western perspective. There are kids that live in igloos, ma’. Am. These children. First of all, first of all, an igloo is not a tent. These types of homes by the Inuit people, they were set up to preserve warmth. It’s not a, uh, freaking tent that doesn’t have any kind of barrier from the elements. So that’s two different things. So I’m sorry, you’re looking at it from a wrong perspective where you have no idea what it takes to live out in the elements. A simple tent and an igloo. That’s like saying you want to be a truck driver, but you want to haul everything in a Toyota, a Toyota Camry. It doesn’t. It doesn’t make sense, and it’s two different things. She then verified with the court that Victoria had died on January 9. She said after the baby died, the couple would go shopping in Brighton. And then her lawyer asked her what she would do with the dead baby when they went shopping. Quote, we usually carried her with us. There were very rare occasions that we would leave her in a tent. I think that happened twice. We went to the beach once with Victoria’s body. I think we were very close to being arrested. Yeah. See, I think her mental health, uh, was just completely gone. I don’t know why, like, what happened, but I think her mental health was just completely gone. Then her lawyer asked what she was thinking at that time, and she said, quote, I don’t think we were really thinking. We just wanted to lay low and hide away from people. That was predominantly our main thought process. So then they continued moving between various places with Victoria’s body, trying to evade police. She said one time she thought they had been recognized at a train station and, quote, kept thinking people were going to recognize us when they went to the beach. She said, because of all that paranoia, they just stopped going shopping and stopped going out because they were completely afraid of getting caught. Because of that, they started dumpster diving at Brighton’s Hollenberry Golf Club. However, Mark ended up becoming, quote, anorexically thin and completely unwell. And. And even so much so that one time he had ripped the end of one of his toes off. So they basically couldn’t take it anymore. And they ended up going shopping, quote, if we kept going much longer, sharing one piece of bread out of the bin, it wasn’t sustainable. I said, baby, you’re not in a good state. Neither am I. We need to get some food, get our blood sugar up, and figure out what we’re going to do. So they went shopping, and it was at this shop that someone recognized them and called 999. After that, they were arrested and the rest is history. So that’s literally how they were caught. So she finished her testimony by talking about her baby, saying, quote, she was our, uh, pride and joy. I had four kids. I know how to look after children. So her lawyer asked her whether she regretted her decision, and she said, quote, I regret falling asleep in the way I did. So then the defense called Peter Fleming, who was supposed to be an expert in infant health and developmental physiology, and he said, quote, I have seen no evidence of hypothermia as cause of death. And when they asked him about the age of the infant, he said, quote, all the pointers suggest to me that she was much younger. The best fit is that she was about two to three weeks old. Wow. This was a new newborn. So basically, this was surprising because everyone had thought that the baby was actually eight weeks old, and it was only two to three weeks. So then on June 19, after 73 hours of deliberation, the jury was discharged without reaching a verdict on, um, charges of manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child. However, on June 26, Constance and Mark had been found guilty of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. But the jury still were unable to reach a verdict on the other charges. So because of that, the court announced that a retrial would be pursued against the couple on charges of gross negligence, manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child. Detective Superintendent Lewis Bradford said, quote, the jury could not reach a verdict for both Mark Gordon and Constance Martin on other charges. And the investigation team from the Met Specialist Crime Command, alongside our partners from the Crown Prosecution Service, will now prepare for a retrial in March 2025. We will not be making any further public statements until the conclusion of the retrial. Our focus has always been and remains securing justice for baby Victoria. After the case, a friend of Constance’s spoke out about everything going on and. And she claimed, I’m going to say claimed, that Constance was allegedly, quote, brainwashed because she had gone to Nigeria and had a controversial encounter with a Nigerian preacher. According to this unnamed friend who wanted to remain anonymous. She said that Constance got involved with the teaching of somebody named T.B. joshua, who is a leader of a Nigerian megachurch. Quote, she ended up becoming one of his disciples in Nigeria. I believe she got brainwashed while she was over there. The experience traumatized her. She was not the same person when she came back. She always used to be wild, but also happy, kind and buoyant. She was darker when she came back and she found things more difficult. She never told us what really happened. It was scary and I believed it changed her. It was a huge part of her life. And that is the case of Constance Martin and Mark Gordon. What did you think about that case that is apparently still ongoing because they’re not even going to do a retrial until next year. Do you think Constance was actually running from her family because she was afraid of what they might do to her, um, mixed race baby? Or do you think her time in Nigeria something happened that messed up her mental health? In my opinion, basically, I can’t imagine what the issue could have been that led to this drastic decline. I wonder if, like due to her family life when she was younger, I guess, like her father leaving and stuff like that, do you think that this affected her to the point that maybe mixed with postpartum mental changes, it all led to this decline? Does that make sense? Do you understand what I’m saying? Like, I wonder if that’s the whole thing. But then also, if you look back, her father had a, uh, quote, awaken in time. And he went through like something I guess none of us would understand either. So I’m wondering if this is just replaying out in Constance as well. So basically ending my ranting thoughts. I wonder if it’s all a mental health issue, like something happened. This friend is saying something happened in Nigeria, which it could very well be, or maybe something happened before Nigeria, but it’s just coincided, you know, I really think it was mental health issues. And then she just got with an unsavory character. Meaning obviously he doesn’t make the right decisions if as 14 he went and raped somebody and. But I don’t know, maybe he turned his life around because there’s no other record of his arrest or doing anything similar. But they were in a physical domestic violence situation. So I don’t know. I’m just rambling off my thoughts. I’m not sure. This case took a sharp left because she was this rich teenager, led a great life. I understand the issue with her father. According to them, he abandoned them that could have been a really traumatic time in her life. That could have been the catalyst for everything that’s happening now. Not saying it is just giving my opinion and trying to figure this out. But I just wonder. I wonder what caused all of this. It just seems so off, you know? So that’s why I found this intriguing in the sense of the psychological aspect of it. Like, what happened? What happened that you had five kids and literally you lost all. All of them. Four of them are with other people and one of them died because you. I mean, she didn’t murder the baby, but, you know, it was an accidental death. But just what happened, you know? So you heard my thoughts. I want to hear your thoughts. Let me know in the comments below. I’m going to put a poll out asking if you think mental health was the cause of this decline. Yes or no. So just go ahead and answer that poll question and also please let me know what you think about this case in the comments below. I totally want to hear from you. And just a personal update. So I did take a little break. I did need a mental health break. Um, I had AI Gein replacing me for the Wednesday and Friday episode. Um, I did ask if y’ all wanted me to keep AI Gein for the Wednesday and Fridays or you wanted me to come back. And, um, one person answered. Vesquez Mex Ben said, only use Gein when necessary, please. Robotic British Gein is me. Which, thank you so much, Velasquez, because you’re the only one who responded. On the other hand, that could be totally my fault because I was supposed to put out a poll and I didn’t. But I did ask for you to let me know in the comments below. So either way, um, and let’s get into why I didn’t put out a poll. It was basically time management. So in that time I was away, I was also focused on trying to get help because this is very overwhelming for me. It’s a lot of work to do, and so I was focusing on getting help. So I actually hired somebody and I was training them on what needed to get done, which is more time out of my days because I still have to write, I still have to research, I still have to do everything. And I’ll tell you more about how AI Gein works in a second. And so, you know, training this person took a whole lot of time out of my schedule. And so I forgot to post the poll due to that training. But either way, after two to three days, this person quit and said it was too much work for them to Which I was like, you’re getting paid for this. And literally, it was copy and paste. I wasn’t asking them to come up with anything. I literally came up with everything. And it was just, you take everything that I came up with and you copy and paste it in the correct sections in the correct areas. When I tell you it was. It’s just so easy. It’s just literally copy and pasting everything I already came up with. So I just wasted a week of my life and I’m done. I’m not trying to hire anybody else, uh, for a while anyway. I’m not gonna hire anybody else for a while. So I’ll just figure it out and do everything myself. Because I’m just angry at how much time I wasted. Um, and then when I was saying I still needed to research and everything, AI Gein, I think some people think that I just say, hey, here’s this case. Pump everything out for me. No AI Gein. I still have to do the research. And then with AI Gein, I have to actually write a script. Then I got to take each line from the script and put it into the program. Then from that, I have to listen to each line to make sure it doesn’t sound like a robot and make sure it sounds as. It’s a lot of work. The thing I like about it, though, is it’s, first of all, AI Gein is there. If I get sick, if I need a little mental health break, if I need a little vacation or something like that, I’m happy that AI Gein is there. And it removes the mental health portion of it, being that when I record an episode, I see this case many times. So I gotta research it. Then I gotta get my, uh, my case together, like the story together. Then I got to record it. So this is already the third time I’m listening to this case. Then I got to edit it. That’s the fourth time. Then I put it out. Then I got to get clips together. So you see, I’m constantly reliving this case over and over and over and over again. But with AI Gein, I literally just research it, get the script together, listen to her retelling of it, and that’s it. Put it out. So it’s only three times, as opposed to, like five times. So it’s kind of better for my mental health that I don’t. Especially when it’s a hard case, I don’t have to relive hearing the terrors of that case over and over and over. Do you understand? And that’s also why sometimes when I’m reporting. I tell y’ all that I’m not letting it sink in because you have to understand, this is like, the fourth time I’m hearing this, and I can’t let it sink in. So that’s why AI Gein is. Is good. And that’s the work that goes into AI Gein. So, anyways, that’s what I did with my little time off. It did give me a mental health break. Um, I feel refreshed. I don’t know how long that’s gonna last. I may need. Need another mental health break some months down the line, but, you know, I’ll let y’ all know when that comes up. I’m really happy that y’ all contended with AI Gein, because looking at the numbers, y’ all were still listening. So thank you for that. I do want to say congratulations to one of our lambs. Y’ all know our lamb, Christina Bobo. She is very consistent in commenting, so wish her congratulations on a milestone in her child’s life. I don’t want to put too much out there because I don’t know if she wants me to tell all her business, but either way, wish her congratulations. Congratulations. Yay. I know you’re so proud. So, anyway, that is all the update I have for you. Don’t forget to let me know your thoughts on this episode in the comments below. Also, don’t forget to share this episode with everyone you know and everyone you don’t. That is a free and easy way that you can help out Love and murder. And as we end every full episode, I want to remind you. Let’s say it now. That it’s all, uh, love and no murder. See you in the next episode. Bye. Foreign.

Is a strange and unusual podcast made by the strange and unusual me, Autumn Grooby. Each week, I’ll be taking you through some of the creepiest cases true crime has to offer. It won’t only be true crime. I’ll also be covering cryptids, haunted places, haunted things, and the true stories that inspired horror movies. Listen every Monday and Friday for new episodes. And remember, if it’s creepy and weird, you’ll find it here.