On November 30th, the FBI finds Bailey & Aubrey in a hotel in Missouri & takes them back to Nebraska on their other charges. It is discovered that at 10:35 am, the day of Sydney’s disappearance, both Aubrey & Bailey purchased a hack saw, duct tape, utility knives, bleach, drop cloths, & tin snips. They were inside the Home Depot for a total of 12 minutes. They are seen clearly on video surveillance. Later, after they had purchased these items, Aubrey is seen going to Menards during Sydney’s shift. He looks at her, into his pocket, back at her, & then calls Bailey.
On December 4th, 2017, the first of Sydney’s remains were found. A search team comes across a trash bag in the middle of a ditch with an arm sticking out of it. It wasn’t her whole body that was found because it had been dismembered. Her organs were missing including her tongue, kidney, & heart. They were able to identify the body fairly quickly because Sydney had a tattoo on her arm that read “ Everything will be wonderful someday.”
Around six months after the first of her remains were found, Aubrey & Bailey are charged with the murder. Aubrey’s defense team immediately tells the media that it was a sex act gone wrong & Sydney had died accidentally of asphyxiation.
Aubrey & Bailey said that her death was not premeditated & when she died they panicked, put the body in the trunk, cut her up, & dumped her. A note from Aubrey to Bailey tells her what to tell the police & to put the blame on him. This immediately shuts down their story because if it were true Aubrey wouldn’t have to tell her what to tell the police.
It comes out at trial that Aubrey was the leader of a sex cult, Bailey being his sidekick. At the time they were the only two in the cult but several women were in it prior. They wanted Sydney to join the cult. Aubrey claims he also had a history with Sydney.
Aubrey also claims he is a vampire with special powers & can fly & read minds in the trial. He says only witches could join the cult & if they killed & tortured other women they would also gain special powers like him. He says these killings had to be done as a ritual in the forest under certain moon phases for it to work.
Three women come forward & testify about the sex cult on trial. One claims she met Bailey on TInder in 2017 & convinced to join the cult. She was given an allowance of $200 a week, lived in the house with them, taken on spa days & overall treated very well. With that though, came some rules like she had to walk naked around the house, she had to participate in any of the events they wanted to do, she had to steal with them, etc.
The prosecution claims at trial that while Sydney was on a date with Bailey, Aubrey came out & strangled Sydney with an extension cord. They claim that she didn’t know Aubrey like he previously claimed. They then cut her body into 14 pieces & dump her into trash bags about an hour and a half away from her home. To this day only 13 of the 14 pieces have been found, that being her upper left arm.
At trial, Aubrey pleads guilty to unlawful disposal of a body but not guilty to murder & to conspiracy to commit murder. Still claiming that the death was accidental. But there were marks on the back & top of her head & had restraint marks on her wrists.
In the middle of trial one day, Aubrey sitting in the corner of the room yells “Bailey is innocent & I curse you all!” & slits his own throat. Everyone jumps up & freaks out of course & he is immediately taken to the hospital where he survives.
Once Aubrey is done healing he is taken back to finish the trial, this time handcuffed to his seat.
After only three hours of deliberation, Aubrey is found guilty by the Jury of first-degree murder & conspiracy to commit murder. He was then sentenced to the death penalty.
Bailey was found guilty of first-degree murder, Unlawful disposal of a body, & conspiracy to commit murder. In early November 2021, Bailey was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She too showed little sympathy but was grateful she wasn’t getting the death penalty for the sake of her daughter whom she had with her ex-husband.
