Mom Hunts Daughter's Killer - The Case of Raymond McLeod

Raymond McLeod killed Krystal Mitchell and her mother went in search of him

**Episode Transcription

A single mother of two is found strangled in her friend’s apartment. Her boyfriend is missing and so is a car. So begins a six year manhunt. Let’s get into the case of Raymond McLeod right now. On Love and Murder.

Welcome everyone! Welcome to a new episode of Love and Murder – the weekly true crime podcast discussing relationships gone terribly wrong. Where our motto is, you’re either someone’s last love or first murder

I am your host Ky and this show discusses true crime cases told in the form of a story with mystery and suspense.

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In today’s episode, we’re talking about a case of a mother who hunted down her daughter’s killer

But first, I wanted to remind you to head on over to our exclusive group at patreon.com/loveandmurder. Our last bonus episode a crazy crime round up with 3 cases; The first story is of a man who hired a hit on someone to cover up an affair.

The second is of a teacher caught sexually assaulting a student on camera

The fourth is of a mother who killed her own child because she was angry at someone else.

We also have a bonus coming up soon of Char and I reacting to a routine traffic stop that turned into an arrest of a 30 year fugitive.

In the meantime though, grab your butts, grab your apple juice, and let’s get into some Love and Murder.

On June ninth, 2016 thirty year old Krystal Mitchell and her boyfriend Raymond RJ McLeod of the Clan McLeod, Sorry I had to do it, was visiting a friend in San Diego.

Now Krystal had grown up in Vancouver, washington and moved to phoenix arizona to pursue her career in property management. She’d gotten married to a guy in 2008 at the age of 22 and had two children. However, in 2012 she got a divorce. So Krystal did end up working as a property manager, and that’s where she meant RJ, after he moved into an apartment complex that she was in charge of.

At this time when she was meeting RJ, she was a single mother of two children who were five and six. Rj had been married twice and was a single father so far, it sounds like they have stuff in common. So anyway, like I said, they were visiting friends in San Diego. When RJ was seen assaulting Krystal the next day when the friends came back home, they found Krystal unresponsive on the floor of their guest room. The friends naturally called 9-1-1 and emergency responders said they received a call about.

And I just wanted to say this part because I want you to know, you know, kind of like what they got on their side. So they said they received a call about a quote, woman not breathing in an apartment. So of course the responders were sent out and when they arrived, they did confirm that Krystal had been dead for some time. Investigators said that there was evidence of a struggle, and they also stated that Krystal died from a violent, quote, violent strangulation. The friends ended up telling the authorities that they think that RJ was the last person who they knew saw Krystal alive.

So basically, as far as they knew, that was the last person to see Krystal alive. And the problem is we can’t find him. He hasn’t been answering the phone, a car of ours is missing and he never came back to the apartment. So when police looked up Rj’s name, they found that he’d actually been accused of abusing both of his ex wives. I wonder if Krystal knew that because you know, abusive people like to lie. And how would we, as just regular people know this? You know some people are not aware of how extensively you can search someone.

So how are you supposed to know? You take somebody by face value. This is what they’re telling you. If they haven’t given you any reason to lie, then you know during the investigation it was also found that the night before Krystal’s death. The couple had gone to a bar and that’s where a person saw RJ slap Krystal in her face. And so the person tried to intervene and RJ started fighting with him.

And then the couple, RJ and Krystal were kicked out of the bar. I don’t know why Krystal was kicked out. That’s kind of, I don’t know if he was assaulting her, wouldn’t you want to make sure she was OK, not kick her out with him? So that he could assault her more without Y’all sitting there able to protect her. I personally think that was wrong of them. So investigators also retrieved the surveillance cameras from the apartment. And one of the videos showed RJ grabbing Krystal by the neck after they had gotten home from the bar, which was late that night.

And he grabbed her by the neck and shoved her into the elevator. So like I said, you saw him slapping her in the bar and you kick her out with him and this is what happens. So investigators searched for RJ for months, but they were not able to find him. Now on the flip side, Krystal’s mother, whose name was Josephine Funes Wenzel, was a former police detective and she said from the day her daughter was killed, she came out of retirement, effen right! and dedicated her time because she’s retired. I have a particular set of skills and I will find you.

Basically, that’s who he was messing with. So she dedicated her time to track down this guy who murdered her daughter. So you know, even without the detective behind her, you know how mothers, women are really good detectives. Just give us a keyboard, give us the Internet and look, we will find you. So now she has detective behind her name, so she has woman and detective. So she looked through social media. She went through any leads that she could find. She was using her detective background.

She was using her detective connections. She was searching for him. And look child, let me tell you, she had time. She’s retired. She had time. Josephine said, quote, talk into the coroner. All I want to know is did my daughter suffer? Did she fight back? She was just taken away and slaughtered. It was just so wrong. When he took Krystal from our lives, he tore a hole in our hearts and I just decided to get involved. I wanted justice for her. I wanted her kids to see justice. And I wanted to see justice before I left this earth. End Quote. During an interview nearly a year after Krystal had died, Josephine told KNXVTV that she had no doubt that RJ had killed her daughter.

Quote, I have no doubt in my mind he’ll kill again if he hasn’t already after my daughter, because this man has no conscience, End Quote. So, being that they weren’t moving forward with the case, they could not find RJ. A few months after Krystal died, the San Diego police asked the US Marshals for assistance, and according to the Marshall Service, they believed that RJ had headed to Mexico immediately after he murdered Krystal. In their investigation, they actually had proof to back that out because he had rented a car, bought Mexican insurance for it, And where would he be going with Mexican insurance? Spain so in putting out an APB for him, they described him as an avid bodybuilder and a heavy drinker with a murder and a warrant issued for his arrest.

They also said that it’s believed that he took the name of a bodybuilder in Canada who kind of looked like him and it seems like he was able to go with that identity. Witnesses started calling in saying that they saw him in Guatemala in 2017 and in Belize in 2018 but nothing substantial to go and you know, saying this is definitely him, he’s here for US Marshals to go and get him. So what they did was added him. To the 15 most wanted list in 2021 So he was on the US Marshals 15 most wanted list by 2021 and on top of that they offered a reward of up to fifty thousand dollars for information leading to his capture now according to 24wallst.com quote, “The US Marshals Service is the country’s oldest law enforcement agency, founded through the Judiciary Act of 1789 By contrast, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was not founded until nineteen oh eight the. U s Marshals Service is part of the US Department of Justice and operates under the supervision of the US Attorney General. It’s 15 Most Wanted Fugitives program was established in 1983 and is relatively similar to the FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, both in terms of the levels of crimes committed by the people on each list and the prominence each agency gives the list with the public.

The 15 Most Wanted Fugitives program includes murders, members of organized sex crime, sex offenders, drug dealers, and financial criminals. The US Marshals Service distributes posters that hang in some federal buildings and post offices under the head in the hunt is on. Notably, if one of the 15 is killed or captured, he or she is taken off the list until a replacement is named. Due to a lack of replacements, the current list stands at 12”

End Quote Now at the end of this episode, I’ll read to you who’s on the list as of the date of this recording. So continuing on with the case, it was said that he really laid low and being that he was a former Marine, he might have relied on his training. And I think it’s a strong possibility that he did relied on his training in quote clandestine operations. So I think that’s how he was able to evade for so long. So then on August twentieth the, u s Marshals Service received a very strong tip. That someone looking like RJ that they’ve been looking for that they have all these posters out that’s on the website that they probably have plastered over TV and everything like that.

Someone resembling RJ might be working as an English instructor in a school in Sun. Ok, let’s see how we say that. Sun Sonata, El Salvador. So being that this was a very strong lead. A week after that, the US Marshals traveled to Salvador and quote determined the individual inside the school was in fact Mr. Mcleod, going by the name of Jack Donovan. End Quote. Remember we said that he was probably going by somebody’s name, a bodybuilder in Canada.

That’s exactly what he was doing. So he was going by the name of Jack Donovan. So being that this is not their jurisdiction, Salvadorian law enforcements had to take. Rj into custody and then he was deported back to the US the next day. So he was taken into custody on Monday and by Tuesday he was deported back to the US. They were like get out of our country.

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And side note, the Marshals actually learned from the Salvadorian authorities that RJ had come into the country illegally. He actually didn’t have any idea on him when he was captured. Of course, Krystal’s mom. Was just overjoyed quote finally we got the snake and we’re getting him off the streets. Finally, I don’t have to spend another moment looking at his picture. Finally, I don’t have to wake up at three a m to do searches.

This chapter can be closed. Of course, we have a new chapter that’s opening, which is going to be the courts. When the marshals called me up, we just cried. End Quote. She also said that these last six years for her had been an emotional roller coaster. And she’s just so happy that it’s coming to an end, you know, like she said the chapter’s closing, so she’s just so happy that this chapter’s closing, even though another one’s opening, but still this guy is in custody. So that’s a relief off her shoulders, quote. That also brought me a lot of tears because I know that. To know that I put in all those hours, all that time, away from life itself, from my own family, searching for him, that it was such a tremendous accomplishment.

He’s not going to get away again. He’s never going to be released from that jail. If I have something to do with it, I will be satisfied when he is convicted for brutally murdering my daughter and that he’s sentenced to life in prison. End Quote. Rj, who was 37 by this time, of course, pled What? What Lambs? What did he plead Not guilty during his arraignment hearing in San Diego? So his preliminary hearing has been scheduled for January 26 or I should say by the time of this recording, had been scheduled for January 26 2023 However, in doing my research, it looked like the hearing had then been pushed back to March 8, 2023 He faces he faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, and it’s unclear as if he has even an attorney to speak for him yet.

Now, if he can’t get an attorney, the court will appoint him an attorney unless he waives that right as well. Now, I couldn’t find an update to this case. I didn’t. I didn’t see if he actually did his preliminary hearing on March eighth. I know he definitely didn’t do it on the twenty sixth, but did it put They pushed it back to March eighth. But I don’t know what happened since then and I couldn’t find any more updates on this case, and I really hate cases in which I can’t find updates now.

As frustrated as I am, I am 100 % aware that her family is 2000 times as frustrated as I am. I did find though that he is currently being held without bail, so at least he’s still in prison. Also, Krystal’s children are currently being raised by her brothers and her parents and I’m just happy they’re being taken care of and they weren’t sent to foster care. But I do have a question though, where is their father? Not that I’m judging, I’m literally just wondering where is their father? Why is it her brother and his mom taking care of the children? And that is the case of a mother who came out of retirement to find the SOB who killed her daughter.

Right on Mom. You know who she reminds me of? Since I heard this case, The one person that I keeps thinking of is movie. Actually, the one movie I keep thinking about is Peppermint. Have you seen that? Do you agree with me on that? I mean, I mean, she’s not doing exactly what the main character in Peppermint is doing, but the fact that she. Was solely focused on making the person who did this to her daughter pay.

Reminds me of Peppermint. So like I told you before, let me tell you who’s on the US Marshals website As of today’s recording, according to the 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list, here are the fugitives on the most wanted list right now and what they’re wanted for. So what I’m doing is you can see in the show notes below, the link is right there and all I’m doing is just reading off their summary. So Raymond Abbott is wanted for an escape from a maximum security detention facility in Puerto Rico and he is extremely violent. David Allen Bones is wanted for rape of a child and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

He is armed and dangerous. David Creamer is wanted for money laundering, possession of firearms and distribution of child pornography. Larry Porter, Kism is wanted for murder, firearm explosions, arson, narcotic trafficking, kidnapping and airplane hijacking. Lester Eubanks is wanted for escape murder and attempted rape of 14 year old Mary Deaner. Jose Bustos Diaz is wanted from escape from the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Texas. Robert Lee King is wanted for the brutal murder of his girlfriend and the attempted murder of his girlfriend’s 20 year old daughter. John Joseph Ruffo is wanted for bank fraud and failure to surrender for sentences.

Ruffo has numerous international ties including the Caribbean, South America and Europe. John Panalegan Panalegan is wanted by the Northbrook Police Department in Illinois for murder. He killed the victim by strangulation. Anthony Burroughs is wanted for first degree murder of 19 year old Ruben Rodriguez, an escape. He is armed and dangerous. Anthony Ojeda is accused of killing a six week old baby boy on December 3rd, 2019 He’s believed to be traveling with his husband Neil Garzon who is also wanted. Darrell Brown is wanted for the murder of his girlfriend and her niece which occurred in Grand Rapids, michigan in twenty nineteen.

Both victims were shot multiple times. Brown is believed to have fled Michigan immediately after the murders and then they have 4 here who they apprehended. Michael Baltimore is accused of entering a Carlisle area barbershop and shooting three people. One of the victims, a Barber, died as a result of the shooting. Baltimore is considered armed and dangerous. They apprehended him. Araceli Medina is wanted by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Washington in reference to aggravated murder, 4 counts of rape of a child and three counts of his assault. She was apprehended. Edgar Cezanne Garcia is wanted by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Washington in reference to aggravated murder, 4 counts of rape of a child and three counts of assault.

He was apprehended Joshua. Joshua Smiley is wanted by the Mobile alabama Police Department for capital murder. Smiley is also wanted by the US Marshals Service for a federal bond violation on a federal drug charge out of Fort Wayne indiana. Smiley is known to carry firearms. He was apprehended. You can see this link down in our show notes below, as well as all the other links that I mentioned in the show. So what did you think of this episode?

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