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Blaine Alexander

Hi, everyone, I'm Blaine Alexander and today we are talking dateline. I am joined by my good friend Andrea Canning to discuss her episode Slow Burn. Hi, Andrea.

Andrea Canning

Hey, Blaine.

Blaine Alexander

If you guys haven't seen the episode yet, you can stream it now on Peacock or listen in the Dateline podcast feed and then come right back here. Later on. We'll have an extra clip from the victim impact statement made by Jennifer's mother, Bet Kuritis. And then after that, we will answer some of your questions from social media. Okay, Andrea, let's talk Dateline.

Andrea Canning

Let's do it.

Blaine Alexander

So before we jump into all of it, Andrea, can you just give us a quick recap of this episode?

Andrea Canning

Yeah, I mean, this one started out with, you know, there's a fire at Keith Canaro's house. He's an entrepreneur, wealthy, very large home. And his family is inside the house and they are dead. And Keith is dead. And the whole family, it appears, has been. Then there is another fire 10 miles away. So the first one's in Colts Neck. The second one is in Ocean Township, New Jersey. And everyone's okay in that house. This is now Paul Canaro. This is Keith's older brother. So two fires not too far away from each other. Two brothers. Police start to quickly suspect that this could be Paul Canaro, that he is at the center of both of these fires and the four murders. They wind up charging Paul with arson for his own house and arson for his brother's house and the quadruple murder of his brother's family. And he was convicted of all of his crimes.

Blaine Alexander

So this was one of our hour long episodes and this one just hit me so hard. Because in the entire first act, I was just on this emotional rollercoaster because you show this beautiful family photo with these kids. We know that they weren't in school, but I'm thinking, okay, hopefully they were at camp or maybe, maybe they were with a friend or a family member. And I just would not allow myself to believe that they had been killed too.

Andrea Canning

I know, that's just. I know that that's what made this episode for me just so much harder. When you are doing this to children. Yeah, I mean, it's, it just takes it to another level. You know what innocent children, 8 and 11. This is their uncle, you know, he. I mean, Jesse took, took him to school for Special persons Day. What?

Blaine Alexander

That just gutted me when I heard that.

Andrea Canning

What are you doing? Like, I just, when I heard that, like, it defies logic, the whole thing.

Blaine Alexander

And I think the other, the other piece of this is that it just that they were stabbed. I mean, that is such an unbelievably up close personal way to kill anyone.

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Blaine Alexander

But to kill a child. And so as I was watching your storytelling through the first act, I'm thinking, okay, we know there's a body outside. Oh, okay, it's Keith. He's dead. But then as they found more, I'm like, oh my God. Like, there were more. There were more. It was, the whole thing was stunning to me. I want to touch on your interview that you did with the first responders, and I was so glad that you were able to speak with them because I think anytime we can talk with first responders, especially as I mentioned, when you have these stories of a house fire and they go in and it's like, okay, what are we going to find? Who are we going to find? What does it look like? I wonder if you can just tell me a little bit behind the scenes about your conversations with them. Because these guys were clearly so aff by what they saw when they found Jesse and Sophia. What was it like sitting down with them?

Andrea Canning

Well, first of all, you know, we, our volunteer firefighters in this country, I don't think get enough applause. Kudos, right? Pat's on the back. They do this for free. And that Adelphia Fire Company was all volunteer. So first of all, it's such a selfless, I mean, all fire, all firefighters, volunteer or not, are very selfless individuals and they care a lot about the community. But then it's sort of like you take it up a notch when you don't even get paid, right? I mean, you could just see it in Their eyes, when they. When they talked about, you know, especially Carmelo, you know, when he held the Sophia in his arms, when he, you know. And we didn't actually show the whole thing. Cause it was just. It was extremely sad. But he was just. Still. I could just see it in his eyes how horrible that moment was for him when he realized that it was a little girl that he had picked up.

Cassandra Marshall

Yeah.

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Blaine Alexander

I mean, I think that was when I was watching it. I know that I was affected by it. Because I'm thinking, okay, maybe, you know, maybe it's his wife, maybe it's Jennifer. And then to realize, oh, no, this entire family is gone.

Andrea Canning

Well, and the mayor, jp, the former mayor, he would not. He refused to even talk about the injuries of the family, of the mom and the two kids. He wouldn't even. He's like, I'm sorry, I'm not going there. I'm just. I'm not even gonna get into that. And I don't blame him. You know, it's just. It's so graphic. It's so horrific. It's still so hard for people even to this, to talk about it.

Blaine Alexander

Yeah. I want to talk about. What was our reporter's name? Monica.

Monica Mastalone

Monica.

Blaine Alexander

Monica.

Andrea Canning

Monica.

Blaine Alexander

Monica. Monica Guy. I thought, what a fantastic interview. I mean, one, she's a reporter, right? And so she's there. She knows what's going on. But two, she knows the family. She clearly knows the community. I mean, this is something that just her in a certain way. I loved having her voice in this story and just hearing her perspective.

Andrea Canning

She was a unique. Yeah. Because it is a small town. Right. And then to be. Not only you're a neighbor, then you're a reporter covering the story. And she said, you know, in the story, you heard her, she said, it was the worst day of my career. You know, because, like, tragedy just doesn't usually strike that close to home for media. Right. And for Monica to be able to sit down and talk about it was really, like. It was really impressive that she was able to get it out, but in such a, like, really heartfelt way. And she didn't want anyone thinking she's trying to get attention for this or anything. Cause she's not. You know, she was there to honor them and just talk about how deeply it affected the community, what wonderful people they were. That was Monica's, you know, reason for doing the episode.

Monica Mastalone

Yeah.

Blaine Alexander

Well, it was a powerful voice to add to it, really.

Andrea Canning

She really had a powerful voice. I agree.

Blaine Alexander

She did. Speaking of. I was so impressed. I Loved hearing from the friends who knew Jesse and Sophia, the siblings, because, I mean, gosh, how I was struck by the fact that they were so young when this happened. And now they've grown up. There's several years now removed. What, six? Five. Six years. But the fact that they were obviously so impacted by this, and it was such a large moment, especially in the life of a child. I thought that hearing their voices really just kind of drove home what this did to the community.

Andrea Canning

Absolutely. I mean, we, like, in our. In our town, we just. We just had a young boy in my daughter's friend group die of cancer.

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Andrea Canning

You know, and I saw how that just hit the young community so hard.

Cassandra Marshall

Yeah.

Andrea Canning

You know, it was. It was really devastating for them. But that's one of those things you can explain, you know, that's. That happens in life. People get sick.

Blaine Alexander

Right.

Andrea Canning

It's. It's not fair, and it's sad, but it's. You know, it happens.

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Cassandra Marshall

Yeah.

Andrea Canning

But to have to explain to your children that their best friend's uncle killed

Blaine Alexander

them, you have to explain evil. You have to explain that someone is evil, someone is mean. Right. And that's a lot harder to drive home to a child.

Andrea Canning

I don't know how those poor parents told them the news. You know, it's really hard to imagine having to tell your children that.

Blaine Alexander

And kids grow up together. Right. I mean, that's their sense of safety is their friend group and the people that they're around. So I'm really glad that they spoke. What was it like for you, talking with them? How were they during that process?

Andrea Canning

Well, I know it was really hard for them. They really wanted to do it.

Blaine Alexander

That's the thing.

Andrea Canning

There was no pressuring of these kids because the moms were gonna do it.

Blaine Alexander

And that's important to say yes. They wanted to do this because the

Andrea Canning

moms were gonna do it and the kids were gonna do it. And then the moms decided they couldn't handle it. You know, it was just too hard. So they backed out. But the kids were like, no, we're not backing out. We wanna do this. We wanna do this for our friends. They pulled it together, and I tried my best to put them at ease. And they were like, just lovely, lovely children. Teenagers. And it hit me when the boy said. I was talking to him before we started the interview, and he said, I'm a senior. Yeah, I'm graduating. And it hit me in that moment, and I thought, wow, Jesse would have been graduating.

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Andrea Canning

You know, like, with. With his class this year and that

Blaine Alexander

just drives it home even more right of where he would be now. When we get back, we will hear some of the emotional victim impact statement made by Jennifer's mother at Paul's sentencing. Still waiting in line again.

Andrea Canning

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Blaine Alexander

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Blaine Alexander

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Cassandra Marshall

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Blaine Alexander

Let us surprise you. You know, I have to say I talked about the fact that I went on an emotional roller coaster in act one, but probably the first three acts, I was all over the place watching this. And I think, and it was funny because Jay and I were watching this together. So I'm like, emoting out loud. He's giving his thoughts. Sounds like my husband.

Andrea Canning

He's unlike Tony.

Blaine Alexander

He does that just kind of, what are we thinking? Because I always go into it cold. I hadn't read any of our stuff in the file or anything. And so. So at first when you. I remember when you mentioned that he had been taken to school for favorite person's day, or, you know, I was thinking, oh, my God, it might be him. They're spending so much time talking about Paul. But then when I heard that there was a fire at his house. I said, no, no, no, no, no. I was wrong. It's not him. Someone's now being targeted.

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Andrea Canning

Yeah.

Blaine Alexander

That was exactly what I thought. And I remember thinking, oh, my goodness, is it for their money? Is it people are jealous of? I mean, I really started. That went through me for a loop.

Andrea Canning

The.

Blaine Alexander

Which I'm sure was the point of him doing that. That definitely threw me for a loop in that the whole thing was stunning to me. We see these stories so often, and I know you've had some. I've had some. Where someone tries to set a fire to cover up the evidence, and in some way, it doesn't work. Right. I think that when I saw that part about him going up and unplugging the security camera in the middle of the night, it's like, okay, that clearly

Andrea Canning

that, you know, Blaine, it's not the first time that I've. I had a story last year where the killer. You see him walking up to the camera and disabling the camera. I'm like, what do you not think that these images will be telling, like, captured? Like, I don't understand. What do you think happens up to the point where you disconnect?

Blaine Alexander

You know, you see these people who think things all the way through in so many different ways, and that just seems like it's such an obvious Ms.

Andrea Canning

Well, and it made me think of, you know, in the case of Nancy Guthrie, which is still unsolved. And, of course, you know, our hearts go out to Savannah for that, and we really. If anyone obviously has any tips, you know, call the FBI. But, you know, that was such a big part of that story as well. You know, the final image of someone discounting connecting her camera. And it seems to keep coming up in. In these Dateline episodes, how the cameras factor into things.

Blaine Alexander

It does. I think it got a lot of people thinking about their own security, their home security systems in a different way, and it does bear pausing on that, too. I want to give that number. 1, 800, call FBI. That's the number that we've been putting out there.

Andrea Canning

Thank you for doing that.

Blaine Alexander

Savannah and her family so much.

Andrea Canning

Like, it's. It's.

Blaine Alexander

It tears at us at all. At all times.

Andrea Canning

It really does.

Blaine Alexander

1-800- call FBI.

Andrea Canning

We just want it solved for Savann and her family.

Blaine Alexander

I'm glad that we got a chance to. To put that out there, because people are always listening, especially our dateline listeners. I mean, you and I talk about how astute our Dateline viewers and listeners Are. And so if they know anything, please, if you know anything, call FBI.

Monica Mastalone

Absolutely.

Blaine Alexander

I want to talk about the money here. It's certainly no stranger to a Dateline plot that there's insurance money involved, that there's money. But when you set the sum, $1.5 million, I was shocked at just how that's not a lot of money to massacre your entire family, including children. Right. And I say this. I say this delicately because there's no amount of money that's worth killing anyone or your family or anything like that. But 1.5 million. I was. I was honestly expecting the number to be higher. Right. If that's kind of what he stood to gain.

Andrea Canning

But they say it was more than that. The prosecutors say it was more than that, that he was jealous, he was vindictive, he was angry with his brother. And then if you looked at those, the one section of the email section where Paul and Keith were emailing each other. And yes, and, you know, Paul says, I don't want to sell the pest control business right now. I want to wait. And you can see how Keith controls everything. He's like, no, we're selling now, like. And because Keith was the one with all the money.

Blaine Alexander

He was what, 90%. It was 90% his business.

Andrea Canning

So the. The pest control was 50, 50. And then the IT company, which had been very successful in the past, was 9010 for Keith. And the IT business was. Did very, very well. But then, you know, it's. The need for an IT business, like outsourcing it, you know, is just fading away. Right. So. And AI is getting involved in that. And so anyway, he. He realized, he's like, you know what? It's. This has been a good run. It's time to get out of the IT business. And I just want to sell everything at this point, you know, just. Just be done with the pest control. So Paul didn't like that. And so it was more like the prosecutor said, you know, greed, revenge, you know, kind of a cauldron of bad blood. Right on. On Paul's side, really. And Keith, you know, some. Some said that Keith was growing tired of his brother and, you know, taking care of him. And. And also he had caught him. You know, according to prosecutors, Keith had caught him stealing. So he was really getting, you know, frustrated with the situation. And Paul was living above his means with his other woman, his daughters, all of his fancy cars. And, you know, he. He wasn't bringing in enough money to cover all that.

Blaine Alexander

I think you labeled it right when you called it A story like Cain and Abel. Yeah, it was very akin to that, you know, this deep jealousy. I did have one question, and I wonder if you could answer this for me. I wondered why Keith texted Paul in the middle of the night to say, hey, looks like my generator's out. I'm gonna go outside and fix it.

Andrea Canning

Yeah, well, were they already talking? So what we learned was that Keith was, like, the businessman. Paul was the tech. Paul was the techie. The. The guy who took care of everything for Keith. You know, Paul's the guy who fixes everything. So probably, you know, Paul had a feeling that he would come out there and, you know, sure enough, you know, he. It was a trap, right?

Monica Mastalone

He.

Andrea Canning

He led his brother outside to a trap, which is so scary that he was lying in wait. You know, of course,

Blaine Alexander

let's talk a little bit about. So of course he's arrested, he's charged, and it goes to trial. Let's talk about the trial. Specifically, I want to talk about Paul's defense attorney, Monica.

Andrea Canning

Monica Mastalone.

Monica Mastalone

Yeah.

Blaine Alexander

Yeah, Monica Mastalone. And I've got to say one. When she. When you. I think you had it in a tease at the end of Act 5 of there's a Third Brother, I thought, right, maybe it was the third brother. I mean, I was all over the place with this episode.

Andrea Canning

Let's call it what it is. Monica had a very difficult case to defend.

Blaine Alexander

Very.

Andrea Canning

I mean, the evidence was really stacked against Paul. So, you know, I think she did a good job for what she had to work with. But that was. That's one you can call an uphill battle for sure.

Progressive Insurance Narrator

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Blaine Alexander

It sounded like. I want to ask you about Paul's family throughout all of this. It seemed like they were standing behind him.

Andrea Canning

Yeah. I mean, they wouldn't do interviews. They weren't interested. But, yeah, the daughters testified for him. The family showed up to court. I don't know how much, but they definitely were trying to help him.

Blaine Alexander

So.

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Andrea Canning

But, yeah, they wouldn't speak to us.

Blaine Alexander

Well, one family member we did hear from, and this is our extra sound. We also heard from Jennifer's mother, who spoke at Paul's sentencing hearing. Tell us a little bit about her, and then we can listen to what she had to say.

Andrea Canning

Yeah. I mean, the family also declined to do interviews. Jennifer's family, what I know from their testimony in the courtroom is just how gutted they are, how devastated they are.

Monica Mastalone

How.

Andrea Canning

How does a family move on from something this horrific?

Blaine Alexander

Well, let's listen to what she had to say. In court.

Monica Mastalone

Jennifer, my daughter, was a beautiful person. She was warm, vibrant, caring. Wife, daughter, sister, friend, and most of all, a wonderful mother. Keith was a loving and devoted father, husband, son and brother. He had a brilliant life, and his success was only because of his incredibly hard work and doggedness. He was the son I never had. A true, loving son. A man who would be there to help anyone in need. Jennifer and Keith had the same birthday and sadly, now share the same day of passing. My grandson, Jesse. I wish I could have seen him grow up. He had a mind like his father's. So smart, deeply interested in history,

Progressive Insurance Narrator

a

Monica Mastalone

kindest heart, cared about everyone. Sophia, my beautiful granddaughter, so young. She loved to dance, sing, play with makeup. She put on makeup better than I did. She was joyful, spirited, and kind, like her mother. Jessie would be graduating now and going to college in the fall. Sophia, High SCHOOL lives stolen. There is not an hour in the day I do not think of them. And to think of them is to think about this terrible thing. How their last moments were terrifying, painful and horrific. How each of them looked at their

Andrea Canning

Uncle Paul

Monica Mastalone

as he killed them. Killing them in front of each other like an animal.

Andrea Canning

Oh, wow. That's hard to hear, right? I mean, wow.

Monica Mastalone

Yeah.

Andrea Canning

But at the same time, she's so well spoken. She hit like, every point, as hard as it is to hear, that was like, so powerful.

Blaine Alexander

I mean, she. She really drove it home. She did. I think watching them, they had to look into the face of their uncle as he slaughtered the family. And then ultimately, then that's unbelievable.

Andrea Canning

And we, you know, we had someone saying that in one of the interviews. And I said, I, you know what? I don't really want to include that. You know, and sometimes you just make that editorial choice because it was just. It's almost too painful and too, like, maybe that's the wrong call. I don't know.

Blaine Alexander

But you know what? I think that. And I had this experience recently with a story that involved kids, too. I thought about you as I watched this piece, because obviously we're both mothers, and there is something about doing these stories where children are involved, where children are harmed that is just so hard.

Andrea Canning

It is the worst. It really is the worst. It's like, oh, I'm. Like, I'm on the verge of tears right now.

Cassandra Marshall

Oh, yeah.

Blaine Alexander

I think that you handled it so well, though. I mean, both talking with the friends who had had to deal with such a tragedy so young. In honoring the kids, Jesse and Sophia, I think that you handled it so beautifully.

Cassandra Marshall

Thank you.

Blaine Alexander

And it's not easy. I understand that.

Andrea Canning

They made it easy for me, you know. Cause they were, they were so lovely. You know, Cassie, our producer wanted to remind me of something and this will lighten the mood for a moment here

Blaine Alexander

for all of us. Okay, we'll take it. Please.

Andrea Canning

We do these long interviews and we are constantly interrupted by weed whackers, lawnmowers, planes, trucks backing up trains.

Blaine Alexander

Trains.

Andrea Canning

People with bad mufflers going by, talking, clanking, I mean literally, you name it, sirens, whatever.

Blaine Alexander

Yeah, yeah.

Andrea Canning

And we were doing an interview and I guess it was with jp, the former mayor. And we kept getting interrupted by chickens because every time they would lay an egg, that's what the owners told us of the facility, that whenever they lay an egg they start clucking or whatever. And so we, I was like, it's a new one.

Cassandra Marshall

I was.

Andrea Canning

Chickens.

Blaine Alexander

Was there just a chicken farm right there?

Andrea Canning

Some type of like barn setting? Yeah. And the chickens were like out back. And so, yeah, it was kind of funny because, you know, it's, it's like. Add it to the list. A new sound disruptor. Chickens.

Blaine Alexander

That is hilarious. You know, I've got to say we do some, we do interviews in some interesting places. Well, no, this was a, this was a well told episode. I really appreciated it. And, and thank you for this conversation. This was a good one.

Andrea Canning

It was a tough one. But yeah, always, always like having these conversations with you.

Blaine Alexander

Blaine.

Andrea Canning

Agree.

Blaine Alexander

Thank you. Coming up next, we're going to answer some of your questions on social media. Ready for the first day of school at Etsy? We are here to help kiddos feel

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Andrea Canning

Hello, everyone. Again, Blaine had to go off on a shoot. So we are here with the incredibly talented and hardworking producer of this episode, Cassandra Marshall. And.

Blaine Alexander

Hey.

Andrea Canning

Hey, Cassandra. Hey, Andrea, or Cassie, as I like to call you.

Cassandra Marshall

Yes.

Andrea Canning

So you are here to help us with our social media section. All right, let's start with. This is from flutiefan. She says Keith was shot in the head and still ran outside. That's quite a feat. But I don't. Do we think that was in the house? Probably not, right?

Cassandra Marshall

No. I can understand why viewer might be confused at that point. It's sort of the way the investigators felt. I mean, they get to the house, they see him out there, they see he's shot, there's a fire going on. But what they learn in the next couple of days and weeks is they find the shell casings out in the yard. And so in that moment, they didn't know that. But later, they, based on that evidence, conclude that, you know, he was shot at multiple times out in the yard. And then later, they sort of get access to his electronic equipment, Keith's, and learn that, you know, the electricity had gone out in the house. And so he got an alert about that and he went outside to check the generator, the backup generator, which was near the area where he was found. And so they. They feel pretty confidently that he was lured out there by the electricity being cut off and then shot.

Andrea Canning

Yeah, that. I mean, that was all they believe. Part of the diabolical plan by Paul.

Cassandra Marshall

Exactly.

Andrea Canning

Okay, so this is from Southern beach girl. She said, I can't even imagine how heartless you have to be to stab little kids. I mean, that was probably like the number one comment, right? Is how is this. How can someone do this?

Cassandra Marshall

Right. Everybody we spoke to in interview was just heartbroken and said that this was probably one of the most heartbreaking and difficult cases they worked because of that element of the kids being involved and especially being the niece and nephew, that to everybody's experience, they were quite close. You know, that he had a close relationship with them. It wasn't like they were. The whole family were estranged. Not that that would justify them in any way whatsoever, but it did add a layer of disbelief and just sort of like, you know, being sick to your stomach when you think about their last moments and knowing that it's at the hands of their uncle.

Andrea Canning

Nothing about this case makes sense. This is from Caitlin or Stryx.

Blaine Alexander

Owl.

Andrea Canning

Don't they say, don't mix business with family?

Cassandra Marshall

Well, I mean, yes, it did have horrible consequences in this case. But, I mean, I think we all know that there's tons of family businesses out there that. That are successful without any kind of problems whatsoever. And from what I heard in my reporting and at trial, this business relationship worked very well for a very long time. You know, this was. These were issues that they had coming to a boiling point, you know, in the last year. So you never know what push. I mean, we cover stories all the time that we don't understand pushes people over the edge.

Andrea Canning

And that's the problem is when you try to understand things, like, you know, you're gonna beat your head against the wall. Cause there's just. There's like, no understanding, you know, family businesses, sure, they probably have all kinds of drama, I'm assuming, you know, for people, but.

Cassandra Marshall

And they said that these brothers fought all the time. That was sort of the nature of their relationship, you know, but then they would make up very quickly, which is why, like, for example, remember the fact that even though he was. Keith was arguing with Paul and about to cut him off, like, when the electricity goes out, who does he call? Text first.

Blaine Alexander

Yeah.

Andrea Canning

Or text. He texts Paul. Yeah, right. And the defense used that, you know, as part of their defense, that this was something they did, but they always, you know, made up quickly. Okay, so let's see. Sergeant Marty. Defense lawyers really have to compartmentalize their work, huh? Cognitive dissonance.

Cassandra Marshall

I mean, defense. I mean, this was a public defender. And I mean, all defense attorneys have this sort of like, you know, oath or duty to defend their client to the best of their ability. You don't. And public defenders especially, do not get to choose their cases. So you work with what you have. And this defense attorney was very articulate with us. You know, I think we both sort of felt. She felt that it was her duty, it was her calling. She was passionate about it, doing the best that she could. And she also talked about how Paul's wife and friends were supporting him throughout this process. So, I mean, I think she did what she was supposed to do.

Andrea Canning

She did her job. And that's. That's what makes our country different from a lot of countries, you know, around the world.

Cassandra Marshall

We.

Andrea Canning

We have, like, a pretty amazing justice system. It's not perfect by any means, but, you know, it's, you know, they're there for a reason.

Cassandra Marshall

Yes.

Blaine Alexander

All right.

Andrea Canning

Well, that, that's it for talking dateline. Thank you so much. I, I want to say, well, I'm supposed to say Cassandra, but I'm going to say Cassie, thank you. Thank you for coming on and answering.

Cassandra Marshall

Thanks for having me.

Andrea Canning

Our amazing viewers, questions and listeners. And thank you all as well for listening. Remember, if you have any questions about our stories, you can DM us your audio on our socials at Dateline NBC or leave us a voicemail at 212-413-5252 for a chance to be featured right here. And you can watch the video version of Talking DATELINE on Peacock or YouTube or subscribe to the NBC News app. We'll see you Friday for an all new DATELINE on NBC.

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