[0:00]So they just pulled me over for a traffic. By, I have a broken windshield and I'm missing a tire. When 31-year-old Julissa Thaler is stopped for driving a suspicious-looking vehicle, what begins as a routine traffic stop descends into a nightmare when officers open the trunk and discover a young boy dead.
[0:23]What the f*ck. Uh, what the f*ck is that? Whoa.
[0:32]Holy s*hit! It looks like a kid. All right, let's cover it. Yep. The following footage is drawn from official police records. Most of it has never been seen-- until now. In the early morning of May 20th, 2022, police in Orono receive a 911 call reporting a suspicious vehicle with a shattered rear windshield driving on a bare rim. As officers chase this silver Impala, they have no idea they're about to stumble into one of the city's most devastating cases. Officers approach the car and speak with the driver, 31-year-old Julissa Thaler, who is visibly nervous and fidgeting. Was I speeding? Um, well, you don't have a tire. Well, I know, I'm going home right now. You're going where? I'm going home right now to go. Okay, where is home? Um, just down the block. Um, do you mind if I get on my way, my, I really can't drive on this, it's gonna break. Right, so that's why you're being stopped right now. You don't have a tire. Exactly, and I'm on my way, living like one block away. Okay, do you have a driver's license on you today? She explains that her car is in this condition because some kids were shooting paintballs at her car. Okay, so you said kids were shooting BBs at your window.
[1:47]When was that? Um, like an hour ago. So they shot off your tire with a, with a paintball gun? Yeah. Okay, so paintballs don't break a tire though. Well, they must've been doing something because it was really, really, really, really. Why is your hand all bloody? Because, I was just itching my finger. Soon, the detectives get Julissa out of the car for further questioning, but her explanations remain vague, raising more questions than answers. *Inaudible* What's that? I just wanted to know if I could go home. I need to put on my tire. Let's step out of the roadway here. I just wanted to put a tire on my car. Because it's super, yeah, we got a lot going on here but, let's get out of the road cause. Let's get out of the road. Bayview apartments if you know where that is, right across the street. Ma'am, let's get out of the roadway here. So, all this happened because kids were shooting BB guns at you. When I saw some kids shooting at my BB or at my tires. And then I yelled out the window, I said "Excuse me you guys, that's my car! What are you doing?" And then I ran out there to go get them. Didn't get a chance to wash my hands or anything and then I know it's the tire was like feeling off my car. I pulled on it and the tire completely fell off. So is the tire still back at the parking lot of the building or, where's the tire? The tire fell off somewhere over there at the parking lot. Do you guys, are you trying to search me or something? No, I just because you have blood, I'm just gonna put gloves on. Julissa's explanation doesn't match what the detectives see. The damage to the car is far beyond what a few paintballs can cause. But what really alarms them right now needs a definite answer. You see this?
[3:42]This is blood. No, it's not, it was Deer meat. Deer meat? There's a whole bag of ravioli and groceries over here. Let me see your hands for a second, can you just show your hand to me? How about the other side? It's just dirty. Okay. Blood. Yeah. It smells like, like death in there. It's Deer meat. Yeah.
[4:08]*Inaudible*
[4:11]Oh my God, look up in there. Okay, this is like, did you look up? So what, what happened in this corner here? Sure, so I had bags of groceries there. I had some Deer meat, I had some ravioli cans, I had some veggies, and those people broke my window so I had to throw all my groceries away. Let's, let's start at 06 and just, yeah. What's up? So, nobody else was in here today with you, right? No. Nobody? No. Okay. Why, what's up? Well, we're trying to figure it out. There's a lot going on here. There's a lot of blood. Or something.
[4:59]What's with, what looks like blood in there? It's not blood, it's Deer meat. I had a big bag of, there's a farm around here that does Deer meat and hamburgers, so I get fresh bags from them. Okay. The glass got over it, so I had to throw it out. I also have like tacos in there. Where do you, where did this happen then? Um, at the Alano club in, do you know where Alno club is, by Shell gas station? Ei? Oh, Alanon? Yeah, Alanon. Okay. You know where the Shell gas station is, right? Sure. Yeah, it happened over there. Okay. Okay. I mean, it's just Deer meat, you can look at it. Yeah, where is it? Where is? I threw it out, it was full of glass. Okay. Was the Deer meat sitting on the back? Um, I had a few bags of groceries. And was sitting on the back here? Yet despite everything detectives point out, Julissa doesn't budge from her Deer-meat explanation. And as her answers circle back to the same story, detectives feel their suspicion sharpening- most of all toward the trunk she keeps avoiding. What do you have in your trunk? Nothing. Nothing in the trunk at all? Nothing. There's no Deer meat or anything in the trunk? No, sir. Does anybody else drive your car, or just you? Just me. I understand you wanna be good at you job, but I also think it would be really beneficial to just give me a ticket and let me go. Well we got one coming here that's incharge of it all and then he can tell us what we're doing. Is he here? I'm cold and crabby, just let me go. We get it, and we appreciate your patience with us. I know there's a lot going on here and. Yeah, I mean what's gonna happen? Like I just wanna, you guys let me go. I know. You know it's fine enough to get a ticket. As Julissa grows increasingly impatient, demanding to be let go, the detectives hold firm. Soon after, the supervisor arrives and takes charge. After studying the situation completely, he turns to Julissa and begins his questioning. Tension rises as she starts demanding clarity, unaware that his next move is entirely out of her hands. No, but at this time, we're not releasing your vehicle back to you. One, it's unsafe to drive. There's no tire on the front left-hand side. Two, your back window is shot up and to me, you see that you see the back seat right there? Yeah. It looks like a bullet hole. Well, I have a spare tire in the garage. I can't move it. So right now, all right, I don't have any you're not under arrest, you're not being detained, but we're not letting you take your vehicle right now. We're impounding the vehicle. Detectives decide to detain the vehicle, noting the condition of her car and inconsistencies in her story, and offer her a ride back home. And while some detectives drive Julissa home, others stay behind to examine the vehicle. Just your thoughts on one thing. We have not checked the trunk, and I have this terrible feeling about the trunk, and I've had it the whole time. Um, I don't know if we can peek or if we want to leave it alone or knock and say, hey, anyone in there but. After a careful discussion, detectives finally decide to open the trunk, unaware of the shocking discovery waiting inside that will turn the case upside down.
[8:18]Whoa! Uh, what the f*ck is that? Whoa!
[8:28]That might be the Deer meat that she took out of the car to put in the trunk. Watch yourself, there's a gun. We don't know if it's loaded or not.
[8:44]What is this? Is it an amp? It looks like a kid. Legs!
[8:57]It has some weight to it. Okay. Oh s*hit. Hey, we need as many bodycams up here as we can here.
[9:09]Just get some bodycams up here. We had to safety check this thing. There's something in this blanket. Watch out, there's a shotgun. There's a shotgun, right? And there's weights in this blanket.
[9:27]Okay. All right, let's cover it. Yeah.
[9:35]Inside the blanket in the trunk, detectives are met with a shocking sight—a young boy's body, his head gone, an image far beyond anything they expected at the scene. Let's go grab her. Yeah. Yeah, let's go get her right now. Bayview condos. She ran in there, by the way. She booked it when she got out.
[9:58]Okay, so we get there. She ran in her apartment. She's not going to come to the door. We're just going to boot it. We're just going to boot it. At that moment, detectives realize they made a mistake letting Julissa go.
[10:12]Urgency spikes as one team races to the Shell gas station she mentioned, while the others storm back to her apartment, this time to put her in handcuffs. Police! Come to the door! Police! Come to the door! Open the door or we'll kick it down. Open the door!
[10:35]Kick it! Police! Check that one. Police Department! Watch that one! I'll cover this one. Police department. Come out with your hands up. Announce yourself.
[10:57]Police! Announce yourself. But when the detectives step inside the apartment, they notice that Julissa has vanished. The detectives don't waste a second. They start combing through her apartment, hoping it holds something that explains the horror they just discovered. And as they move through the rooms, one detail in the home immediately grabs their attention. Yeah, there was a washer going. Where's the washer? Kill it. Right here. Don't let it drain anything. Right now we're going with her. Cameras see where this chick went. Inside the washer, detectives discover bloody clothes tumbling in the drum, and the machine, still running, tells them that Julissa can't have gone far. To pin down her timeline, they pull the building's CCTV, hoping it shows when she walked out and where she headed. The footage shows that Julissa isn't alone—she's seen leaving with an unidentified man, just thirty minutes before detectives arrive. Now detectives have two urgent questions: 1. Who is he? 2. Where they headed? Officers tape off the area, focusing on the direction Julissa and the man were seen leaving and searching for any trace of their trail. Meanwhile, the team at the Shell gas station continues looking for discarded weapons or clues that could break the case wide open. There, detectives also search for the kids Julissa claimed were shooting paintballs, but the area is empty. Still, among the bystanders, one witness steps forward, leading detectives to a nearby dumpster, and handing the investigators their first thread to unravel the case. This and there's a dump here. Were you able to see exactly what she threw in? I have no idea. One of the bus drivers said that, um, she saw them who are throwing a bunch of stuff in the trash. It's the one that was right next to the pumper that she was at. Okay, it was that pump. And then that's the pump next to it. So this is all the pump that she was at. Okay, so this is the important one. Well, yeah, like I said, I don't know if she threw it in this one or this one or any of the other ones. Sure. What I know is that Trish, the woman who works here, said that she saw that sketchy woman in the car without wheels. Yeah, throwing some stuff in the, in the trash. Okay. So, I would guess that if there's anything in there, it would be in that one. Okay. Detectives quickly collect the trash bags and expand their search to every nearby dumpster, leaving no stone unturned. And what they uncover inside will change the course of the investigation. F*cking blasted him. Yeah. I'm so pissed! Yeah. The search uncovers horrors across multiple dumpsters, each one revealing something worse than the last. In one, detectives find a child's booster seat, soaked in blood and torn apart by a shotgun blast. In another, they discover a backpack, blood, bone, and what appears to be more brain matter. And scattered in a different bin, his kindergarten homework. But it's what's inside the backpack that finally stops everyone cold: a school ID card of a six-year-old kid named Eli Hart, and his mother's name, Julissa, printed right beneath it. Piece by piece, the child's identity—and the brutality he faced—becomes unmistakable. While one team collects the evidence from the dumpsters, another unit traces the path Julissa and the unidentified man took from the apartment. Minutes later, detectives spot both of them near the complex. Officers move in, immediately arresting the man and taking Julissa into custody. Get your hands up! Hands up! Get on the Ground! Get on the Ground! On the Ground! Lay on the Ground! You go to the right. You take him. All right, don't move!
[15:08]*Inaudible*
[15:17]*Inaudible* What? Am I under arrest?
[15:25]Okay, roll here. My way here. Why did you arrest my boyfriend?
[15:33]Okay. What the f*ck is going on? We'll explain to you at the Police department. What the f*ck is going on? You'll be explained to at the Police department, you're being detained right now. For what? For what? I was just walking on the street, that's all I'm f*cking doing. With both suspects secured at the same time, detectives finally have their first real chance to understand the horror that has unfolded. The investigation is getting increasingly disturbing with each step, and it's time to sit with Julissa to finally get clarity on what they've discovered. But talking to Julissa is about to be an absolute rollercoaster for the detectives. Right now you're being, you're being held and arrested for suspicion of being involved in a homicide. And what homicide would that be, specifically? Well, that's what I think we have to uh, we have to talk about a few things here. Sure. Um, yeah, could you tell me like, what, what you think I did, and who is this person? And, if you could answer those two questions, that would be awesome. As repulsive as Julissa seems, the detectives have two main objectives while speaking to her. How Julissa's vehicle became a violent crime scene? What do you think was found in the trunk of that vehicle? I'm not sure what was in there.
[16:45]I think you know. I don't. Can you tell me what it was? Then like, maybe I'll know why I'm here. There's a dead body in the trunk of that car. A dead juvenile body. Really?
[17:08]Who was it? That's what I can't answer right now. That's why I'm here talking to you right now. The reason why we don't know who it was is because the head was missing. What? In my car? When I talked to you earlier, you had told me that you had that car, and you were doing Instacart from 10 p.m. till 6 a.m. Shortly into the interview, Julissa refuses to even accept that she was driving with a child's dead body and blood in her car. One of the things she does repeatedly in the interview is ask for an attorney but then continue telling her story anyway. Today, I was assaulted by somebody. I have a really long history with my ex. Um, he's in like the Meth community. So, so I can't answer you that. I mean, are you stating that you still, you still want to speak with us? I mean, Yeah, I guess I mean I'm just telling you a few things after the fact. Officers circle back to their main concerns, now mentioning her son Eli to try to confirm if the body is her son's. Do you have any kids? I have a son. How old is your son? Um, six. Six years old? What's your son's name? Eli. Does Eli live with you? He does, but he lives with my boyfriend. Where was Eli today? Because, I mean, you know, we were at your apartment earlier. He's with my boyfriend. Who's your boyfriend? Um, Rob. Rob. Okay. As the questions begin to heat up, Julissa loses patience and seems restless to leave. Can I just go home, and check on my baby, and check on my house and everything? Wait, I thought you said Eli was with Rob. Yeah, I need to go home. I need to find my phone. You guys took my car that had my phone and everything. Well, right now I know that there's nobody at your house. I know that. Would I be able to go home? Can I be released soon? I need to paint this picture. Okay, so maybe you can actually questions, but I don't want to be under arrest. I didn't do anything. As Julissa slowly realizes she is not getting out of custody without giving the detectives some answers, she opens up with some new and shocking revelations. Okay, well, can I tell you guys something off the record, then? I have every right to tell you guys something off the record. Everything's on the record. Okay, well, I'm kind of angry right now because my ex involved me in some pretty horrible stuff. And, um, I have like multiple restraining orders against him. And you guys can even tell. Every threat in the restraining order, there was bomb threats, gun threats, shotgun threats, murder threats and, so I can prove that he's like capable of doing that in those restraining orders. He violated the order of protection. Actually, I think I was here, like two weeks ago, because my house was broken into two weeks ago. And then occasionally, because when I first got that order of protection, he was a meth dealer, and I snitched on him. Because I wanted to leave. I wanted me and my baby to be safe. And so I snitched on him, and the police did a complete raid of the house. They arrested a few of his friends, went to hire out meth dealers, and started arresting them. And then I got really scared, because then they found out I snitched. And, it's been really bad for me ever since. I get harassed everywhere. So, if I go to the cities, they harass me there. If I'm ever around the meth community, they know my face, they know my name. Um, and Tori has like a really, really long history of coming with a really, really, like big friend group of like, meth smokers. And all of them are really, really possessive over my child. And I've tried to protect my child from Tori and everything he does. Because there's like, drugs, and he steals stuff, and all these big meth dealers, like, know who he is. And occasionally, here and there, they reach out to me in the community, and I'll be like, "Hey." They'll threaten to do something super threatening. And I'm just sitting there scared, like, oh, great.
[21:35]I think we should cover your assault a little bit more. If there's. They held a gun to my head. There's a gun now? Okay. No. Well, you hadn't mentioned the gun before. You said that there was a knife involved. If he was gonna come there, I would have ran. Okay.
[21:55]How that connects to today, and how this morning I had, you know, a conversation with Julissa on the street after a, after a simple traffic stop, and how we got to here right now. Well I mean, you guys should have known, right?
[22:47]What Julissa says next is enough to leave even the detectives speechless. You guys stopped me on the side of the street. I'm babbling, all scared, like I had just been r*ped. And you guys didn't even notice. And you asked me why my window's broken and there's a rim missing off my tire. And you guys didn't even bother to ask me if I was okay. I'm sure we did. That's the first thing that Officer Rebush asked you. He asked you if everything was okay right now. He talked to you for four or five minutes. Well I think, I think a good officer would be able to look at somebody in the eye and tell like, are they really okay or are they just telling you they're okay? We're at 10 o'clock. You stopped. The assault happened. That's when the r*pe occurred, and the gun was pulled to your head. And I haven't heard one little thing about a little boy in any of this. Julissa doesn't reveal a word about the dead body in her car, and keeps framing Tori for her assault. It is now time for the detectives to reveal some pretty hard evidence they have against Julissa.
[23:55]But what she doesn't know is that officers have reviewed CCTV footage from the night before the discovery,
[24:52]which shows Julissa at 11:22 p.m. walking out of the garage with her son Eli, then placing him gently in the back seat of her car.
[25:59]This is the last time anyone saw the 6-year-old boy alive. Investigators are loaded with evidence in the interrogation room,
[26:08]and they move on to confront Julissa. We have a really good idea of who that little boy is in the trunk. And you do too. We know things. And we wanted to come in here and at least give you, we wanted to come in here and at least give you the opportunity to be honest, to help yourself. And you couldn't do it. I just tried to be honest with you guys. I told you exactly who it was. We wanted to give you, we wanted to give you this opportunity. Julissa, we spent, um, all day, gathering evidence, from video surveillance from every business in the area.
[26:47]We spent, um, the whole day with forensics. We've analyzed things. There's things that we know, like you were at the Shell gas station. We know that. We know what you did there. We know that because we have video. We know that because, um, evidence was collected. So this is you telling us, it's this person with blood and tissue matter, and more blood, and more tissue matter, and mud and water. What do you mean blood and tissue matter? Julissa, this is your time to talk. What does that mean, blood and tissue matter?
[27:28]I think you have an idea of what it means. This is your opportunity to be honest with us. I was just honest with you and you're not listening to anything I'm saying. I just gave you the information of these people who are harassing me. So generic, a generic person in the meth community, that's what I'm supposed to go on? I'm supposed to help this little this little dead child, this dead child in a trunk, your son. It has body parts, skull, brain of your son in the backseat. The back window was shot out, and your son is dead in the trunk. How do you know what that looks like? In another dumpster, there's pieces of it. A backpack with his name on it. So cut the crap. With surveillance video.
