Ep 43 | Gabriella Shields Part 1 Transcript

Ep 43 | Gabriella Shields Part 1 

Transcript

Before we begin this podcast, please be advised that the following episode contains language that some listeners may find offensive and inappropriate. The opinions expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not reflect the views of the podcast producers. Listen to discretion is advised.

Gabby, who actually took Jonas's life? Who pulled the trigger and killed him? That man was my best friend. Do you still believe that he was an informant now? Tim just out of the blue said, well, there's a way that we handle situations like this. She was like in between both of them guys. Right. So you think that it was probably easy for Albert to do this because he wanted to get him out of the way of Gabriela?

Yeah, I think he was in love with her. So basically zero planning and you'll, you'll.

So how did you sleep that night? I didn't.

You are now listening to the podcast Voices of a Killer. I'm bringing you the stories from the perspective of the people that have taken the life of another human and their current situation thereafter in prison. You will see that although these are the folks that we have been programmed to hate, they all have something in common.

They are all humans like us that admit that they made a mistake. Will you forgive them or will you condemn them? They are currently serving time for their murders.

In

June 2014, Christopher Yonez was murdered in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, a crime that implicated Gabriella Shields with two other accomplices, Albert Romero and Timothy Murray. The trio was charged after investigations revealed their belief that Jones was informing police about their drug activities, leading them to conclude that he had to be dealt with.

The case unfolded with evidence from text messages, surveillance footage, and witness statements detailing the chilling plot and execution of Yonez's murder, highlighting the brutal end to a life entangled in a web of crime and betrayal. However, there is a dark cloud over what really happened that day.

In this two part episode, we will interview Gabby as well as some other characters from this story to try to find out who really shot Christopher Yonez on that fateful night. We will uncover the complexities of the relationship between these people as well as speak to former law enforcement on the case to uncover the truth on this episode of Voices of a Killer.

You felt like you were aggressive whenever you were younger? Not really. I was more like, really docile. I was very confused about my life. I was very confused about who I was and what was going on with me. I was scared. I don't like to draw attention to myself. So back then, I didn't like attention drawing to me.

I had a lot of confusing thoughts going on in my head. I didn't want to talk about it. When I was molested, it was, it was a big thing. I had to go through court on that. It was a scary time for me, and then it was just, when it happened again, it was very confusing. No, I wasn't aggressive. Not until, like, high school, whenever I started getting bullies and stuff.

And then, even then, I I don't feel like I saw myself as aggressive. I had a lot of acceptance problems and stuff. I just didn't understand, like, why nobody loved me. My mom was an alcoholic. My dad was a raging alcoholic. I was just alone. My sister is, uh, disconnected from everything and from life. And then I was molested.

It's a lot happening. I don't feel like I saw myself as aggressive. That's more like I was picking up for myself. Now you're sitting in prison for second degree murder of Christopher Yonez. My question to you is, how long did you know Mr. Yonez? Like three years. One of the reasons why I met Jonas is because of the things that my baby daddy was doing for me.

He was taking my stuff from me and he was just a really bad person. And the guy that I was, like, taking my drug stuff from at that time felt like I needed somebody to, like, protect me. So he introduced me to Jonas. I remember it was around his birthday. We spent his birthday together. He was so funny. I remember we did some Hot Reels and he said, if you ever wanted to cuddle, I'm that guy.

And I just remember looking at him, and I had only known him a couple days at this point, and I said, that's, this is not that kind of relationship, okay? And getting on the phone. And those khaki shorts. And he's like, he was like, okay, never again. And he never made a pass at me ever again after that. We just made such a great friendship.

What's something about him that you remember, like, that was special about him? Okay, so he was a painter, and every morning he woke up to that song. I can't remember the name of it, but it goes, Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man. Time to talk. Yeah, I know what you're talking about.

That was his f***ing alarm clock. Goofball. That is funny, I mean. And he would, I remember him strutting down the hallway, dancing to it, I mean, just singing and dancing at his toothbrush, discoing it. It was so funny. He wasn't a lively character. I wonder things like, would he have gotten married? How many times would he have gotten married?

He really wasn't fond of the idea of marriage. He just really wasn't, to my knowledge. Not that he says he anyways. But I always think, like, maybe he would marry a couple people in his lifetime. I feel so horrible, like, his parents are never going to be grandparents. No weddings, no grandbabies, no graduations, no I've had this so bottled up for so long.

What did you feel whenever somebody like me contacted you and you're like, yeah, I want to, I need to talk about this. I got really paranoid. It's been a long time since I've been so paranoid. I'm going to be quite honest with you, I'm still paranoid. Gabby's story begins like many of the subjects on Voices of a Killer.

Led into dr*** from a young age, she was soon entangled in a web of abuse. And seeking protection when she found herself in the company of Christopher Yonez, sparking a complex relationship marked by moments of friendship amidst a backdrop of turmoil. Their bond, though platonic, offered glimpses of carefree joy in an otherwise dark chapter of Gabi's life.

Gabi's recount of her friendship with Yonez is poignant, highlighting the tragic loss of potential life milestones for Yonez. In the deep emotional turmoil Gabby endures, remembering him with the song Staying Alive by the Bee Gees brings a certain irony to the story that marks Yonez as a vibrant individual with dreams and quirks and not just another individual wrapped up in drug abuse.

Gabby's reflections bring a deeply human aspect to this case. Her struggle with guilt and the profound impact of this tragedy on both their family's underscores lasting scars left by this tragic event. With that in mind, I wanted to find out more from her about exactly what happened on that fateful night.

In June, 2014, you started doing m*** after you had your first child at 22. Yeah. So, and then you said that you weren't really violent when you were a kid, but you got into some altercations growing up. How did m*** make you feel the first time you did it? It started off recreationally. So you started off doing m*** recreational and when did it go to the next level and how?

I guess it kind of started getting a little wild. It started off slowly. I don't know. My husband, he knew that I was getting high, I think, on something. I tried to hide from him, but slowly but surely I started like doing it a lot. I started wanting to stay out and party more. And, I started doing it all with my second baby daddy, but he wasn't my baby daddy at this point.

He was just my friend. He had just gotten out of prison, and this is somebody that I've been friends with for a really long time at this point. I mean, this guy has been through a lot together, but looking back, he never really had my best interests at hand. I had did a couple bad things to him. We were okay.

Maybe that's why he did what he did to me. Put my life away for me. Do you feel like you ever noticed a change in the way you think when you started doing math? Do you feel like you got an evil side or everything was just fine as long as you had it all under control? What'd you feel? Things started, my mental thinking went awry.

Like I really lost my sanity. Whenever I was with him, like, he really messed with my head badly. He really took me down mentally. I started hearing audio hallucinations. I would have thoughts of suicide. Like, I really shut myself into myself. That's how it started. I started drawing a lot, and it was really dark, like, pictures that I was drawing.

It was never really thought of, um, harming anybody else as to harming myself. It's because of the drug. So were you shooting m*** at the time? No. Whenever I moved to Springfield, I got off the needle and I stayed off the needle. So the time of your crime, you weren't shooting it up? After the crime, I started shooting up again.

So at what point in time did you meet your co defendants, Albert Romero and Tim? I met Tim for the first time that, the night of the crime. The crime. How long had you known Albert? I've known him like maybe six, seven months. So whenever you started getting heavy into selling, was it because of Albert or was it before that?

Before Albert, it wasn't as heavy as it was after. If m*** did not exist, you would not be in prison right now. Would you agree? Agree. 100%, right? I absolutely agree. I feel if I could have slowed down my thought process and really thought about this situation that I was in and I was educated about

Gabby's first use of m*** began shortly after the birth of her first child at 22. What started as an attempt to keep the drug use hidden from her husband quickly spiraled out of control, particularly as she grew closer to a long time friend and future father of her second child, a man freshly out of prison who In retrospect, may not have had her best interests at heart.

This friendship and escalating drug use plunged Gabby into a dark place, mentally, filled with audio hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, yet her introspection reveals a struggle that was more about self harm than harming others. While Gabby recounts the lead up to the crime that resulted in her incarceration and allows to introduce her two co defendants in this case, the first one, Tim Murray, who we'll hear from later on in this episode.

Who she only met on the night of the crime, while her acquaintance with the other, Albert Romero, was relatively brief, spanning just six to seven months. Yet, it was during this period that her involvement in drug consumption and distribution intensified, suggesting a pivotal role played by her associations.

Gabby's reflection on the impact of m*** on her life is stark, believing unequivocally that without it, she wouldn't be behind bars. She regrets not having the clarity of mind to evaluate her circumstances more critically, hinting at a mix of personal failings and external influences that led to her downfall.

Ultimately, it was this lack of clarity that led her to believe that her friend, Christopher Yonez, was an informant for the cops. Listen, Gabby, I'm gonna go over what I understand happened, and you can correct me if I'm wrong. So, Mr. Yonez gave you a nickname of Squirrel. Later on, you get pulled over by a police officer, you become a little combative, and the police officer says, Don't get squirrely with me.

That comment made you feel like you connected the dots, that officer said the word squirrely, therefore, Mr. Yonas must be talking to the police and telling them about your drug activities, which then made you feel like you needed to take care of Mr. Yonas. and have him killed. Is that not correct? No, that's not correct.

One of the things that made me feel like that was whenever I went to the police station the detective sailor he works for the feds he, him and some I think his partner's name was Wells or something like that, holds me in questioning me, asked for a lawyer and he's like, are you gonna be one of those?

and I said yeah and he was like He's my, okay, friend to make a f***ing example out of me, blah, blah, blah, that's his whole spiel, and while I'm leaving, he's my see you later squirrel. So, that's something that made me think that. The only thing that I really got incorrect was you being pulled over and being combative, but he did say squirrel to you at some point?

He did say squirrel. Moving forward in my life, when you're on the street, you want to believe that. You're really slick, but at the end of the day, they really are just that smart. They know what they're doing. So what other things that Mr. Yonas did that made you feel like he was an informant besides his behavior?

Was there something that kind of did it in? Okay. So his erratic behavior. Okay. So the girl, Rinaldo, you hanging out with her, protecting her for a friend and, and basically tells me that there's just some things that I'm, I'm not going to understand her right. The last time we talked. Before it happened, he would avoid me and we went from talking every single day to nothing.

Is this girl actually a cop that had a badge? Multiple people on the street says that they've seen the badge. Multiple people say that she is a cop. So, is it real? I don't know. Why would Jonas be hanging out with a police officer when he's so deep into dr***? At this point, your guess is just as good as mine.

Is she a real cop? I don't know. I do not know. And there's females that come in here that talk about something, what you're like, Garver. We're not at Garver. Talk about Officer Garver. Maybe that's something you should look up. So, the night it happens, I go over to our mutual friend's house, Heather, and Mickey's there talking about how Jonas is acting, snitching on people, and how he is using needles and everything, and just all this other s***, and I'm just like I know the needle thing is a lie.

He hates needles. He can not stand them. But, so I'm like, I'm gonna get down to the bottom of this and handle this situation. I leave, and I drive around Frankfurt for like two hours trying to get my thoughts together. Is this real? Is my friend this? Is my friend that? And I can't f***ing figure out my life at that point.

So whenever I go to Albert, I'm telling Albert about this. It all began with the nickname Squirrel, but the plot thickened dramatically when a cop used the same nickname during a routine stop. Gabby's mind went into defensive and suspicious overdrive. She was convinced that Yonez had betrayed her, giving up information on her drug dealings to the authorities.

As things got more difficult, Gabby's paranoia escalated. She received cryptic messages, caught wind of rumors about Yonez cozying up with the cop, and then, on a one off meeting with a guy named Tim, ominously suggested a dark solution for dealing with traitors. A concoction of gossip, half truths, and Gabby's spiraling fears led her to believe that murder was the only way out of her predicament.

What followed next is Gabby's account of the night in question, and perhaps, Just leaves us trying to piece together who exactly shot Christopher Yones. So the night that you told Albert about what your thoughts were on Mr. Yones, that was the same night that y'all took his life? Yeah! So basically zero planning, then y'all killed him that night?

Yeah. What made you think you could get away with doing this with all the technology that police have? And there was no thinking it through. I didn't really think have some deliberation. I said, okay, so what happened? Tim says, well, you have to bring him to me. I'm thinking that's going to be easy because he's not answering my phone calls.

So I was like, this is going to be an easy out. So I call his phone and of all nights to answer my f***ing phone calls, fix it up. It says, what's up squirrel? And I'm like, oh. Alright, well, I'm like, listen, I need to talk to you. He's like, okay, well, this is where I'm at, this is where I can be. And so I get off the phone, and I'm just like, I'm like, wow, he actually answered.

And Albert looks at me, and he's like, mija, are you sure? And I said, no, but, okay. You drove the victim, Mr. Yones, out to Chadwick, here in Missouri, while Albert and Tim followed behind. You pulled down a secluded area in Chadwick. Albert walks up, pulls him out of the vehicle. Mr. Yones pulls a knife and there's a fight.

He gets Knocked to the ground and Tim runs up and shoots him and then they told you that you needed to put a bullet in him just to make sure that you're on board with this as well. They handed you the gun and you shot him as well and then y'all left. Is that correct? I had never in my life been to Chadwick before that night.

Is there any way that maybe, just like you, believing that Mr. Yonas was an informant that maybe you don't remember? I really feel, I don't have it in me for real to pull a trigger and take somebody's life. I didn't know that he was being stabbed. It's been told by a few people that you had this, this way about you where you wanted to be powerful, a big drug dealer.

Is that accurate? I mean, wanting to Walking down the steps to be that are two different things. Do you know what I mean? I think I was very far from being full of anything. Well, right. You may have been far from that, but is that something that you desired? Oh, well, let me give you an example and you can tell me if this is not accurate, but I think if I get your discovery, you and someone else dressed up as breaking bad and pretended to be breaking bad and took pictures of yourselves like that.

Well, you can just tell me if that's something that. You might have done. I watched TV. Who had the gun? I'm guessing Tim. Cause Tim shot him. I've never seen the gun before or after. Gabby, who actually took Jonas life? Who pulled the trigger and killed him? Tim did. And what did Albert do during that process?

Well, listen, from what the prosecutor said, I'm trying to piece it together. I don't want to know what the prosecutor says. You were there. I know I was there, but I didn't see anything. This is where it gets sticky. Okay. Whenever Albert pulled him out of the car, it sounded like they were just scuffling around.

I heard sounds, which makes me think the headlights were off. So there was some scuffling of the gravel and I heard, I heard Jonas making some sounds, like he was being hit or something. Somebody's here. I don't know. It's not facts. I'm not going to say it. But, he said or he didn't say anything, but he was making just sounds like he was getting hit or something.

You know what I mean? Like, whenever I came around the car door and got in front of the car a little bit, him was shooting off around. I don't know how he saw them, which is why I think the headlights were on. So, I didn't really see anything. What happened to me, I didn't see nothing. And I went back into the car, and I started to back away, and I didn't see Albert.

I don't remember turning on my headlights, which makes me think the headlights were on, but because I didn't see anything, I feel like they were off. For 8 long years, it's been driving me crazy. So, I heard the last gunshot, and I thought he killed Albert. So I stopped, and there was a knock on the window, and I thought it was him to kill me, and I look over, and it's Albert.

So I didn't see anything. I didn't even know he had been stabbed. Until the prosecutor told me and that's what she thought I was lying about because I was there, but I didn't even know he was stabbed. Albert had written me this text message about getting the knife. I went to write him a message back and it was on auto sender.

I don't remember what I was going to say, but it said something about a small tribe and I don't even remember seeing the knife. I don't even remember seeing the knife. So the only thing that I can piece together is whenever he pulled him out of the car, he grabbed the knife. Is that a fact? I can't say that's a fact because I didn't see it, but that's the only thing that I could piece together.

But, in my mind, whenever you stab somebody, wouldn't they like, what does that sound like to you? Have you ever heard somebody get stabbed? Because I haven't. Somebody here says it sounds like a little grunt, but in my mind, it sounds like somebody screams or somebody describes it to me and it sounded exactly the way Jonas was sounding.

With no plan in place, Gabby and her accomplices, including Albert, decided on a course of action that would irreversibly change their lives. Gabby's recounting of the events is chilling matter of fact, a spontaneous decision that led to a lethal confrontation in a secluded area of Chadwick, Missouri. As Albert and Tim followed her to a designated spot, what ensued was a bloodbath.

The Violent Struggle that Culminated in Yonez Is Being Shot. According to one of our sources, Gabi was coerced into firing a shot as well, but she strongly denies any involvement. Rather Gabi suggests that it was Tim that fired that fatal blow. Luckily for us. I was able to get ahold of Tim to get his side of the story.

Gabby's story shows just how chaotic and blurred her memory and perception of that night was. As we prepare to hear Tim's side of the story, it's clear that the truth is as fragmented and elusive as the memories of those involved. After the break, Tim tells his side of the story story.

I've got Tim here, who is actually part of Christopher Jon's murder. Which there's two other co defendants, Albert Romero and Gabriela Shields. To my understanding, you had never even met Gabriela until the night of the murder, correct Tim? Correct. You grew up in South Missouri, right? Right. What would you say your upbringing was like?

Was it normal? Did you feel like you had a rough upbringing? Yeah, it was good. It was good? Did you finish high school? No, actually I got my GED here in person. So when did you first get into doing dr***, like hard dr***? I really don't remember. Do you feel like it was before you were an 18 year old man or after?

Yeah, before that. You had done m*** before you turned 18? Yeah. So, you'd never been to prison before, right? Yeah, I ain't never been. Had you ever been in trouble with the law? Nope. Did you know Albert Romero before that night? Yeah. Did you owe Albert Romero some money? No, I didn't. It's my understanding that he said, Hey, we need help taking care of someone, and that you owed him money and that he would basically wash that, that that debt clean if you helped him.

Is that not what happened? No. That ain't right. So what made you agree to kill someone? Well, I didn't even know what was going on until it happened. Yeah. So you got in the car with Albert and y'all followed the victim Christopher Yonez and Gabriela. Did you ride in front of them or did you follow them out there to Chadwick?

They followed us. And you were in the car with Albert, right? Yeah. Were you driving or was Albert driving? I was driving. And on that car ride to Chadwick, do you remember the discussions you guys had? Did you know what was going on yet? No, I didn't know what was going on until we got there. At what point did you figure out what was going on?

Or did you just see it all unfold in front of you and then said, Oh, this is what we're doing. I mean, take me back to that night. Right in front of me. I didn't know what to do. You pulled up and, and did Albert get outta the car or did you stay in the car? What happened? I stayed truck. Okay. So did Albert go over to the passenger side and pull out Christopher Yez outta the car and started fighting with him?

I don't know because I didn't see it, but uh, that's what they said.

I didn't. It was all kind of a flash. And before it was all over, it was over and done with.

No, I seen the flashes and then by the time I, I turned around and got out. He was getting in the truck and he was telling me there, so have you heard any stories to where they said you were the one that pulled the trigger? Yeah, I heard truck out. Did Gabriela, did she ever get out of the vehicle whenever you pulled up?

I don't think so. Yeah, but I think they had something else going on before all that. They had gotten into a few problems. I don't know, I think they were just beefing because Him and Gabriela used to date and then they got together and they would break up and she would always go back to that guy. Go, go back to who, Chris or Mr.

Yones or Albert? Yeah, I don't know. She was like in between both them guys. Right. So you think that it was probably easy for Albert to do this because he wanted to get him out of the way of Gabriela? Yeah, I think she was in love with him. Yeah. So why would they bring you along if you're not going to participate?

I don't understand that. I was just the ride. So after they killed Mr. Jones, did you not worry about them like, Oh, we got to take care of Tim now in case he says anything. Did that not worry you a little bit? Oh, hell yeah, dude. Do you feel like Albert's a dangerous person? Well, I didn't think he was until then.

It's kind of hard to say. Let me ask you this. I mean, I know you didn't know Gabrielle until that night, but had you heard anything about her before you met her? No, not really. You never heard like whether she was a dangerous person or somebody that you needed to watch your back over, or you just didn't know anything.

I knew, uh, she was dating some other guy named Kenny. Here's one of the storylines that I heard. I want you to tell me if it could be true or not true, but it's my understanding that after Mr. Jones was killed, somebody actually handed the gun. To Gabriella and said, we need to make sure you're on board with this and you need to put a bullet in Mr.

Yonez. Did that happen or? I don't think that happened. Everything that's happened so far, I don't think any of that. Is it right? Because I wasn't really back over there. I don't even think she got out of the car, to be honest with you. What was the conversation like with Albert after y'all drove away and he just killed the person?

It was pretty quiet. I had a lot going on in my mind. Did that freak you out? I was trying to figure out how to get the hell away from these people as fast as I can. Listening to Tim speak makes us compare his tale to that of Gabby's. Gabby's side of the story feels chaotic, like she was caught up in a whirlwind she couldn't control.

She talks about how things just spiraled out of nowhere, making her a reluctant participant in a crime she never planned. On the flip side, Tim's account is all about being the odd man out, claiming he was just along for the ride and pretty much in the dark until everything went down. He paints himself as more of a bystander, someone who didn't really get why he was there in the first place.

He even suggests that he just heard gunshots, implying that Albert may have been the one to shoot Yonez. But what spices up Tim's tale is his take on the drama between Gabby, Yonez, and Albert. According to him, there was a love triangle that might have stirred the pot, suggesting that jealousy could have been the real reason behind the murder.

Tim hints that Albert might have seen Yonez as a rival for Gabby's heart, adding a layer of personal vendetta to the crime. Was Christopher Yonez the victim of jealousy? As we dig through their stories, it's like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing, leaving us piecing together clues from their casual yet conflicting recounts of that fateful night.

And with this information, I had to go back to Gabby and ask her what she thought. He literally says. Just like you corroborated, you were surprised. I don't think you thought it was somebody who was actually going to die that night. But Toby, he doesn't admit to anything that he did. You talking about Tim?

Yeah. So, did he not get out of the car? Yes, he got out of his truck. He shot him. Tim did, not Albert? Wow. Are you 100 percent sure that Tim shot him? There can't be like, I, I think that's how it went down. It's, I mean, you can say that, but we need to say it. Like, you either know for sure, you, you think it probably like that.

Can you say a hundred percent sure that he got out of his vehicle? Why can't, why can't you? Cause you don't remember? Not because I don't remember because I didn't really see. Why did you just say that? There's a reason you're saying that Tim got out of the vehicle. Because I'm pretty sure it was Tim.

Like whenever I come around my vehicle to the front of my vehicle, the gunshots were going off. So now you're out of the vehicle? Yeah, I was out of the vehicle. So Tim thinks you didn't get out of the vehicle. I got out of the vehicle. Why'd you get out of the vehicle? Reality hit me. I'm maybe to stop it whenever I ever pulled him out of the vehicle.

I was like, I oh, oh, oh my God. So I get outta the vehicle, everything falls on my lap. I've been down to get it, and I, I'm like, I have stopped this. And I leave everything there. I come around the driver's side door, and I, and the gunshots start going off. I'm only assuming that maybe it wasn't him. I guess this whole time I was assuming it was him, but I can't say that it, I seen him because I didn't, I didn't see anybody do anything.

I really wish that you guys could remember what exactly happened, it sucks that you all got these f***ing weird ass stories, it really makes me aggravated because I feel like now that I'm getting more than just your story, which I still don't f***ing know. How do you not remember a night like that, Gabby?

Toby, I keep telling you, my headlight. I didn't see his body. I didn't even know he was stabbed until the prosecutor told me. Yeah, but I'm just talking about, like, with one person saying you didn't get out of the vehicle, you're saying you did. He's saying he never got out, but you're saying he did. This is ridiculous.

I got out of the vehicle. I'm pretty sure

So You're saying that Albert and Tim were pulled in front of you and you pulled up with the victim, Mr. Yonez, and you don't remember if Tim got out of the vehicle or not. I'm guessing myself. Out of the vehicle. So Albert's in the passenger side of the vehicle in front of you parked, right? He's in the passenger side.

Albert walks over to the passenger side by Mr. Yonez, the victim, and tell me, does he open up the door? Does he talk to him through the window? Does he punch him? What happens? He opens up the door. And at this point, does Mr. Yonez know there's something bad going on? If there wasn't enough time,

any questions? Albert pulls him, opens the door and grabs him, physically pulls him out of the vehicle. And then what happens? Do they start fist fighting? I don't know. I just remember Were they cussing at each other? Like, I'm gonna get you, or what the f*** are you doing? And it made me think, and then I would, like, jump out of the vehicle.

Everything that was in my leg fell out on

the pan. Out of reflex, it bent down my

door. And then it, around the door, the gunshot, the gunshots start going off. Did you see who was holding the gun? Did you see Tim standing there this whole time? So you just saw Mr. Yones and Albert. So Albert must've been the one that shot. Okay. So tell me the next step. What happened? And I don't even know

all the way to,

oh my God. He killed Albert. I'm frozen in my

vehicle. He said, we're gonna f***ing Did you say, what the f*** just happened? I was like, in shock. I,

we don't ever talk about this. I said, no, I think we need to talk about this. We don't ever talk about it. We don't ever talk. So wait a sec. You showed up with Christopher Jon. But you left by yourself following them?

So how did you sleep that night? How long was it till you had your first police encounter?

And who was this, was it a uniformed police officer or detective? They were on y'all that quick? Well, okay, so,

the cigarette, he still had it in the vehicle, they were still in his pocket, fell out of his pocket, but, they were, his body, or, around his body at the crime

scene, on the ground. That flashlight that you had on your lap when you said you got out, you'd left it at the crime scene? Yeah, that flashlight. Right, so the flashlight, did you Realize that after you'd left, like, Oh, I left my flashlight. Yeah, actually, when we got.

So now you've just left a paper trail for the cops to read about the flashlight. They don't even need you. So did you ever think during the process, like every text I send is going to be scrutinized? On the way there, barking, or like, it's a nice, all in tech. Yeah.

When were in, in Christian, the female pod is right next to whenever he got there, wrote me this note. He likes to dedicate songs to his adults and everything. And he dedicated me this Chainsmoker song and it was when we go down together and I was like, oh my God. And this is something that I thought about all these years, you know what I mean?

This, all these things that could have been prevented. So Gabby stuck to her version of how that crazy night went down. And it's like her story is playing a game of ping pong with Tim's. She's pretty convinced Tim was the one who pulled the trigger, but when you press her for the cold, hard facts, she's not all in.

It's like, she thinks she saw Tim hop out of his truck and take the shot, but then again, she's not betting her life on it. Confusion's the main vibe here, with Gabby admitting she didn't catch the whole showdown because, well, she wasn't exactly front and center. The action and the headlights on the car were off at the time of the incident.

Then there's Tim's tale, right? He's painting a picture like he's just along for the ride, chilling in the car while the drama unfolds outside. According to him, he's practically invisible, a ghost in the night's events. But Gabby's sure she got out of her car, driven by a mix of shock and maybe a dash of heroism, thinking she could put a stop to the madness.

Only, by the time she's on the scene, gunshots are ringing out and she's not even sure who's holding the gun anymore. After the murder, Gabby's life turns into something out of a crime thriller. She dropped clues left and right without even knowing it. A flashlight here, a pack of cigarettes there, and bam, she's left the breadcrumb trail straight to her.

Then there's the texting fiasco with Albert. Like they're trying to win a prize on who can leave the most evidence behind. And the kicker, Albert dedicates a Chainsmokers song to Gabby while they're both in the clink, making their situation sound like some twisted love story gone wrong. Now, we gotta circle back to Tim, cause something's not adding up.

Gabby's stories have holes you could drive a truck through, and Tim's sitting pretty like he's just a bystander, and I want to find out what happened after Christopher Yones tragically lost his life that night. So where did y'all go after the murder? I went down the road to a house. And what was the conversation like when y'all got to the house?

That was not really much about talking about anything that happened. Did Gabriela seem freaked out or okay with what happened, or was she surprised too? Because do you feel like her demeanor was like, okay, we got that taken care of. Good job. Or was she like, wow, I can't believe that just happened? I think she was very disturbed by it.

Really? I mean, I did not talk, but I don't think she took it seriously. So you think she was pretty shocked like she didn't think somebody was actually going to get killed? Yeah, I think she was. And that's kind of what she told me, but here's the thing, Tim. A lot of people think Abby's not a good person.

And she wanted to be this big boss and she has like a very mean streak. But she told me that she didn't think it was going to happen. And you're telling me that she didn't feel like it was going to happen. I'm believing that she might not have thought it was going to happen. And just like you, I think it almost seems like it was just Albert wanting to get somebody out of the way that, to the, to the girl that he liked.

Do you think that's accurate? Well, what it was is, that was her ex boyfriend or whatever, and he was jealous across him. I heard another story that he owed Albert some money. And then another story that Albert was getting dr*** from him, so I don't know. You know what I mean? Yeah. Did you see his, uh, dead body or a, after he was shot, or did y'all leave and you get, you didn't get to look at it?

Yeah, it was, it was nighttime. I didn't see nothing. I didn't see nobody or nothing. I never even know that guy Chris or whatever. I, I never met him or Right. Did you ever think about, man, I need to, I need to save myself from going to prison. I need to get ahold of the police or something like that. Did that ever cross your mind?

Yeah. What am I supposed to do? These people coming after me? It was the second degree murder you were found guilty of. Yeah. Do you think that Gabby deserves life plus 40 years for that? Yeah. She's going to die in prison. How old are you, Tim? It sounds like you'll have a life once you get out and you've got eight down.

You probably got maybe six more I'd say until you're up for parole. Is that pretty accurate? I really appreciate you calling me. All. Hey man. Alright. Not a problem. Yep. Laylo in there and good talking to you. Okay. All right. See you man. After everything went down the scene at the house they all headed to was pretty quiet, almost like nobody wanted to dive into what just happened.

Tim tells us Gabby was really shook up, which kind of flips the script on anyone thinking she was all tough and in control of the situation. It sounds like she didn't even see the murder coming, like it hit her out of left field. Showing a side of Gabby that didn't match up with the hardcore image some people had of her.

Tim hints that the real drama behind the murder might have been more about messed up love stuff and jealousy than any big crime plans. He talks about Albert maybe being jealous of Gabby's ex, throwing in some side stories about money and dr*** that could have stirred the pot. When Tim looks back at what happened in his own time in jail, he doesn't think Gabby should be locked up for life plus 40, especially when he's looking at getting out someday.

This whole conversation with Tim gives us a different angle on the night, making the whole thing seem like more of a bad decision going way wrong, rather than some big criminal mastermind. After the break, we hear Gabby's reaction to Tim's words.

So why would Tim think that you were freaked out? What was your demeanor like? Were you saying to Albert things like, why did you do that? Or were you super quiet and scared looking? I didn't speak the whole time we were there at that lady's house. I didn't speak. I had texted Albert a few things. He had a calm demeanor, but when I tell you, he's got a weird, scary demeanor.

Like, everything about him is scary. He was just so calm, cool, and collected when Albert was just Albert. Who was calm, cool, and collected? Him, Lloyd. So you don't think he was freaked out? Cause he's saying that you were freaked out, but now you're saying that he was just calm and cool? He was very calm, cool, and collected.

His demeanor didn't change at all. From the time I came into the duplex and was talking to him in Albert, until after I was sitting in that trailer with him, after it happened, the demeanor did not change at all. No facial expressions, no pitch in his voice, no nothing changed. So after this night, you and Albert are together.

Did you ever bring up the discussion of what happened that night with Albert? I tried. Why, what did you bring it up that night, and then I tried to bring it up the next day because we had gotten lost leaving, and I tried to talk to him about it, and he just kept telling me, we don't talk about it. And I said, I think that we need to speak about it because we're going to need to account for where we've been at, what we've been doing, we need to talk about it.

He was like, no, we don't speak of it. And I said, no, we need to. Gabby seems pretty taken aback by Tim's description of her demeanor that night. She insists that she was silent throughout the whole ordeal and didn't display any signs of being freaked out. In fact, she describes Albert as the one with the strange and intimidating demeanor.

According to her, he remained eerily calm, which doesn't quite match up with Tim's account of her being disturbed. Gabby's attempts to bring up the discussion about what happened that night with Albert were met with resistance. She tried to emphasize the importance of talking about it, especially considering the need to account for their actions and whereabouts.

However, Albert was firm in his stance of not discussing it, leaving Gabby frustrated and with unanswered questions. Nevertheless, Gabby eventually ended up in prison where she is contacting us from today. So, what transpired next? How did the police catch up with her and her two co defendants? So, the first encounter that you had with, uh, the detectives, did they cuff y'all or did they just come over and question you?

Well, the Hama people, uh, Detective Wells and, uh, Jackson Wentz, and Brent Lewis, I gave him permission to say that he found my stuff, but, you know, there was dr*** there, they tried to say that I, now, I get hit with this, they say that they find, on top of Albert Dresser, boom, he gets hit with a class, which is, he gets hit with possession, he gets hit with distribution, we both get arrested, or

the drug truck, I get bailed out of jail, bail him out, and they told me, if you want him out, then you have to turn yourself in. And, Interesting. So the next day they were already there. Yeah, you had with him, admitting he was with all of this other stuff took a year and a half to close the case. From my understanding, what they did was, all the way out in the country where you were, they just linked up to the very first gas station camera, and from there another camera.

They traced you all the way back at Sunshine and Glenstone in Springfield, from camera shots all the way, the whole ride there, to where you killed this guy. There is this school, just got the security footage system on footage. The gas station that you stopped at, they were actually able to see into the vehicle cause y'all pulled up to get cigarettes.

That's all in my motion, all those pictures are in my motion. What happened to the gun?

I never saw the gun before, during, or after. Truth, I don't like guns, security guns. The first time I ever played with a gun, whenever I was a teenager, I almost shot my own knee off. So I don't really like it. Tell me about what it was like going on the run. It was very scary. For the first few days, I was still in Springfield.

I tried to kill myself on a hat. I don't do heroin at all, so I tried to take the easy route, and I had decided I was going to do that. Whenever Detective Nash had first given me the option to turn myself in, I said, I tried to buy myself time, and I mean, I went and talked to a lawyer, and he said he wanted 75, 000, and I knew I couldn't come up with that, not in the time that I needed.

So I decided that this was my plan B. What prompted you to go on the run? I didn't know if I was strong enough to come to prison for the rest of my life. No, I mean, how'd you know they were after you? Well, my boyfriend at the time messaged me and told me that the highway patrol was looking for me and I was in his car.

And he told me that they were there looking for me, that I had a warrant out for my arrest and murder. So I parked his car and seat of some random guy's car. I didn't even know this guy had no idea where it was. And mind you, I had just did this heroin, right? And I'm not sure if it was like, I don't, I don't know nothing about heroin and I don't know how I did died.

I really don't. It made me really sick and I was in and out for days. I was in the backseat of this guy's car for three days. He just helped me around. I have so many bad things that happened to me, but he took care of me. He kept me moving around and stuff like that. I think he knew what I was on, but I didn't know what I looked like.

I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know what was happening. I just knew I was f***ed off. But whenever I was finally starting to come around, like, I remember hearing this knock on the door or something about the cops and I grabbed the phone and my stuff and I ran out the back door and I'm in this bright orange, you know, the hunting vest or the orange hunting sweaters that you wear to let the other hunters know that you're not a deer?

Yeah, yeah. I'm on the north side. of town and that's what I'm wearing and I'm running. I call up my boyfriend and he was like, Oh my God, you're alive. And I was like, I'm alive. And I don't know where I'm at. And he was like, it's the nearest street sign. And I was like, okay, so I'm at, where was it? Crap. I can't remember it.

He was right down the street from me. And this whole, I really feel like it's a God thing. Like me not dying, him being right down the street, like the guy that I got in the car with all of that. I was really saved. I mean, God was just really there with me. There's no other way that I can explain that. So, I get in the car and he was like, Oh my God, you look like s***.

And I was like, Can you just drive, please? And he was like, where have you been? And I was like, I'm dead, dude. And he was like, that's what I thought. And I was like, can you just, please, can we just not talk right now? And we drove to this lake house, it was his parents lake house, and we stayed the weekend there and we had planned to go to North Carolina.

And we didn't quite make it that far. We made Tennessee and we don't really have a, an idea of where to go. Like we didn't really know what we were doing. Scared. I knew I was gonna be caught at some point. Did you think about going to Mexico? How was I gonna get across the border? To be honest, I'm scared of the Mexican presence, so no, I'm gonna take my chances in the United States of America.

Thank you. Gabby's journey after the incident took a harrowing turn as she found herself on the run from the law. Initially, she contemplated ending her life, but decided to flee instead. Her boyfriend informed her that the highway patrol was looking for her, and she had a warrant for arrest for murder.

This triggered her escape plan. While on the run, she endured a turbulent few days. Under the influence of heroin, she ended up in the backseat of a stranger's car, completely disoriented. The man who found her showed her unexpected kindness, helping her navigate the situation and keeping her safe. But eventually, the long arm of the law caught up with Gabby.

Nevertheless, before our story continues in part 2 of this episode, I needed to find out more about the intricate love triangle between Gabby, Albert, and Yonez. It was clear that Yonez held a special place in Gabby's life, but did Albert's jealousy cause the murder, or was it Gabby's suspicion of Yonez as an informant?

An idea bought into by Tim and eventually pushed over the edge on that fateful night. What did Christopher mean to Gabby and how did his presence impact the events that unfolded that fateful night?

Because they both liked you. Jonas used to tell me that Albert was gonna get me in a lot of trouble. Albert was very reckless with everything that he did. Jonas was a protector. He was really just protecting me in a lot of instances. I'm very hardheaded. That's where our really, our friendship really went.

Rocky. I was getting mad at the fact that, Hey, you're out doing everything that you want to do, but now that I'm doing something that I want to do, now you're getting irritated with me. Now you're coming at me crazy. But looking at it now, I don't feel like that's what he was doing at all. He was just really trying to protect me.

Being in that life, you don't see the whole, the big picture. You just see, you know, the itty bitty pieces to the thousand piece puzzle, and you don't want to, you don't see past any of that. Does that make sense? Sure. Now, Albert, Albert's problem with Jonas, I mean, I, unless something happened prior, I think that his only problem with me was because of me.

There was one time that I went to the storage unit and I was talking to Jonas and he pushed up on me. I had my phone in my back pocket and you know how people like, um, jailbreak their phones or whatever, put new, put new. Tom's on it or whatever, and, um, But knew what? Um, for a Samsung, you could put a different firmware on it, and it does different things.

You know what I mean? It's got, like, different designs on it. I don't know if you're into technology, but my phone had a different firmware on it, and it was acting finicky. It was pocket dialing people all the time. And I had my phone in my back pocket, and I had an Jonas had like, I was sitting down, he had like this futon inside his storage unit and I sat down on the futon and he was sitting beside me and my phone, I guess whenever I pulled it out, Albert, I didn't know this until much later, but I guess he heard the conversation that we had and Jonas is just like, he's no good for you, like, she's on you, he does all this other stuff and everything and it's just, basically he was just being a friend, Albert had a problem with that.

So you think it was probably easy for Albert to Kill Mr. Yonas because of the situation between y'all three. I mean, I can't say that. I don't know. I can't really tell you. I worked full motive. I was a big part of it. Yeah. You put everything together. You're the reason that this guy was murdered and without you, it wouldn't have happened.

Well, just like you said, without those two, it wouldn't have happened. I believe that as well. So, it's my understanding and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but you thought that Mr. Yonas was an informant. He was talking to the police. Is that correct? I did feel that way, yeah. Do you still believe that he was an informant now?

I did not go to these two people and say, hey, this guy's an informant, let's murder him. Not yet. But what I'm saying is, the reason Mr. Jones was killed is because your impression was that he was an informant, he was talking to the police, and now, years later, you understand you were wrong. So this guy was killed for nothing, is that correct?

Were you aware that he was infatuated with you? He was. Okay. Did you know that when they went through his storage unit that he actually lived in, they found lots of love letters and things that he wrote about you? No, he didn't. Would you like me to prove that to you? He was in love with a girl named Linda Woods.

Are you saying that my information is inaccurate? I feel like I would have known that. Well, I mean, you don't have to know that somebody's writing things down about you. I was always in the storage unit with him. I never seen him. They found Stuff that he wrote about you in like love letters and things like that.

This is coming straight from the detective. And you have proof. I mean, I can get it. Because he never, he acted. Well, that doesn't mean that it didn't happen. But maybe he felt like he couldn't get you. I mean, to say that, well, he didn't act that way. So that didn't happen. That's not a good argument. So that's the truth after he passed away.

In his storage unit, there were love letters and things that he wrote about you. He liked you, maybe it was slight infatuation, I don't know. But, these are the things that they found, and my question to you is, How does that make you feel, knowing that you were a part of taking someone's life, that I had a genuine love for you.

I told you the questions were going to be rough. Gabby, are you okay? Gabby. I just need a minute. It just shows that you, I mean you got a heart, Gabby, obviously. I just think you were really f***ed up on m***. I mean, that's my opinion. Like other people might say, no, she's just naturally like that. I disagree because if m*** wasn't a factor, I wouldn't be talking to you right now.

I just feel like the friendship that Jonas and I had. You felt like he was a friend? That man was my best friend. He loved you, Gabby. I don't think he would have ever thought that. You would be responsible for taking his life. Do you think he forgives you? I don't feel like I deserve it. I don't deserve to be forgiven.

I'm done for tonight, I'm over. Will you please call me tomorrow? Gabby, it's going to get better for you, okay? I'll call you tomorrow. Alright, take care of yourself. Call me tomorrow, okay? As I hung up that call, I couldn't help but feel empathy for Gabby. Christopher Yonez was very dear to her heart and the loss of his life has impacted her greatly.

As we finish up this episode, it's clear that the story is far from over. The events that have unfolded so far have left us with more questions than answers. We've heard Gabby's perspective, learned about her time on the run, and delved into the complexities of her relationship with Albert and Yonez. In Part 2, we will dive deeper into the investigations, the legal proceedings, and the pursuit of justice.

We'll hear the other key players in this narrative, each with their own version of events. Join us on the next episode of Voices of a Killer where we'll discover the truth behind the tragic death of Christopher Yones as told through the eyes of Gaby Shields.

On the next episode of Voices of a Killer. He's been involved in gang activity probably most his life. He's that G Thug mentality, but she was afraid. Albert started a physical altercation. They probably fought over that knife. This is my first time telling anybody my story. So nobody has ever heard my side of the story.

Where you're at now is where you're going to spend the rest of your life. Obviously, that has to go through your mind, like, is this it? What do you think is fair for you, Gabby? I just wanted to be loved. I think a lot of people took advantage of that. That's a wrap on this episode of Voices of a Killer. I want to thank Gabby and Tim for sharing their stories with us today.

Their ability to be open and honest is what makes this podcast so special. If you would like to listen to Part 2 of this episode, it is available right now on Patreon. You can visit Patreon. com slash Voices of a Killer and hear how this story plays out. If you want to listen to these episodes weeks in advance, you can now do so by joining our Patreon at Patreon.

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I'm your host, Toby, and we'll see you next time on Voices of a Killer.