Thank you for listening to White Devil, a podcast about power and privilege in a fragile paradise. You can hear new episodes released weekly on Amazon Music. Campsite Media.

This is White Devil. Please do enjoy.

Belize is the rare country name that works really well in puns.

When I first came here years ago, I bought one of those T-shirts.Unbleasable.Yeah..

Which one is the slogan?Unbleasable.Yeah..

Belize is unbelievable. I want to hold It's a hot place, tropical, the destination visitors flock to, especially in winter, to lie on beaches, drink rum drinks, and buy cheesy souvenirs, T-shirts and hats and stickers and shot glasses, many of bear the country's favorite pun, unbleasable.

There's also this.

Better believe it.

Better believe it.

Yeah, that's another one.

You got to believe... What is it? What did you say that one was? You got to believe it to believe it? That's right.

You got to believe it to believe it. So you got to come to believe it. So see what you got to believe. So you know what I'm saying, man? Yeah. That's what I do, man. I'm going to tell you guys.

By the middle of last May, a year after the death of Henry Jamot, I'd been responding with Jasmine for a few months, mostly texts and the occasional short call. She would typically respond, but sometimes she'd vanished for a while, so I couldn't really tell if she was a little flaky or just not attached to her electronics. I mean, she'd had a terrible year, and she lived on a remote tropical island. The plan had always been to fly down and see her at her new place on that tiny tourist island, Kecaucker. There was no rush. Jasmine wasn't going anywhere. She couldn't go anywhere. One of her passports was being held by Belize's Supreme Court, pending trial. And Andrew had the other one, as well as her kids, who were still in his custody pending some official judgment. So we made the trip. Joe and I spent a day in Belize City after flying in. Then we caught a boat out to the island to see Jasmine. Or so we thought. From Campside Media, this is White Devil. And I'm Josh Dean. Episode 7, Unbelievable. You can go down there and have lunch.

You can ask anybody where you can get a local food show. Okay. It's called Narring's.

How much do I owe you?

It's 30 US.

What is it, Belize? Sixty. Sixty US. Between us, Joe and I traveled about 7,000 miles to see Jasmine. But even after taking the boat out to Keekauker, the small island where she was hold up with her mom and two adopted cats, we were still having trouble getting to meet her face-to-face.

Hey, I'm sorry. I'm just rushing, rushing right now. I have to go pick up something and drop it off, and then I have to meet my lawyer at 2:00. So I'm just rushing. Let me finish this one errand I have, and I'll try to jump on a quick call with you, okay? Thank you.

This is not unusual with Jasmine. She could be unpredictable in the sense that we'd have a plan to talk or connect, and that plan would be sidelined by some emergency. I couldn't tell if she was maybe a little melod dramatic or if her life really was one fire drill after another. All right, well, then Trust me.

This is crazy. I'm living in a James Bond movie. I'm not kidding.

By the time we got to the island, Jasmine was pretty sure we wouldn't be able to meet for dinner. She texted me, I am dealing with a slight situation right now. I hope everything's okay, I replied. Well, not really, but hopefully soon, she said. I have a few things that need immediate attention. We checked into our hotel, and a few hours later, she sent me a link to a news story.

Please, you're watching the Nation Station, channel 7.

It was from the news outlet's Facebook page.

A hit out for the Commissioner of Police and a Magistrat. We'll have the shocking details of someone who allegedly wants them dead.

L-o-l, she wrote under the link, They are trying to frame me for a hit now on the Commissioner of Police and the Judge for the custody case. I had to read the message again to make sure I was understanding it right. They were accusing Jasmine of orchestrating a double assassination.

7u spoke to a source with knowledge of the situation, someone who has onderworld connections. He said that information had come to him from street sources that a woman who lives on one of the islands hired a Belize City Gang to take out a hit on a magistrate who is adjudicating a matter which she stands to lose.

That's what I'm dealing with, she wrote. Here I was thinking there was some minor annoyance, maybe a hiccup in her custody or even just personal stuff. But it turns out she's accused of orchestrating the murders of the police commissioner Chester Williams and Dale Caetano, the family court director who blocked her custody appeal. Just holy shit. I asked if we could meet up in the morning to talk about it. If I'm not in jail, sure. L-o-l, she wrote. The next day, we didn't hear much from Jasmine, so Joe and I decided to go to San Pedro on the larger, more popular island, Ambergus Key. I figured we should see the resort that she spent three years designing with Andrew, which also happened to be right next to the pier where the shooting happened. It's nice. You could be in Miami or O'ahu. It's got a very like, slick, luxury vibe. Which is how we found ourselves wandering through the generically modern and exquisitely clean lobby of the Alaia Resort. The place was fairly quiet, a few families in the pool, and a handful of others eating lunch, like us, outdoors at the resort's restaurant, Sea Salt.

There was no sign at all of Andrew Ashcroft. While we were finishing up, Jasmine texted and asked me to send some photos of the resort she hadn't seen in over a year. I never got to go in the pool, she wrote. She was still unable to see us that night, but the tone in her voice had changed. Before, she'd seemed almost bemused, incredulous, maybe. Now, she sounded nervous.

So the police have... I was out running some errands, and they show up at my house two times, and they said they have questions for me, and they want me to come to the station to answer them. Anyways, I'll I'll fill you in, if anything. I'll let you know what is happening.

We tried calling her back. What? What? You have to be outside. Your door's haunted. All right. She's saying she can't talk. So she may be going to jail. But it's just all over that stupid fucking rumor, that she was going to kill the commission, I had a hit put on the Commissioner, which is just silly. I mean, it seemed silly, but cops were taking it seriously, and so was Belize's media. We called Hippolito, a person with a much better view of the larger picture, to see if he knew anything about what the hell was going on. He'd spoken to Dickey Bradley, Jasmine's defense attorney. I just finished speaking to Dickey, and he mentioned to me that, yes, they raided her house.

Jasmine's claiming is that a mentally man is making allegations, and she went in to make a police report to report this man, and apparently, she was left with two minor charges. He said he would get back to me, but that's the latest right now, but it seems like she's okay.

This was the first we'd heard of another person involved. But over the next few hours, we got a little more clarity. As Jasmine explained it via a series of texts and then voice memos, this all started with a guy named Lionel Neil, who also goes by Piggy. Lionel had done some construction work for Jasmine, and later a little security. Jasmine and her mom, Candice, who lived together, even gave him a room in their house for a bit. Lionel was telling the media that he had a fling with Jasmine. She denied that. In fact, said that Lionel actually just got weird. He came into her room and took a photo of her sleeping and then sent it to her. He started menacing them and asking for money. The day before we arrived, she claimed, he came at her with scissors. So she pressed charges. That was the quote unquote situation she was talking about when she canceled our first meeting. The cops, in turn, picked Lionel up, and he had a hell of a story to tell them. He said that he'd overheard Jasmine Harton trying to hire gangland assassins to kill the police commissioner and a magistrate.

Belizean cops, for some reason, were taking it seriously, which clearly had Jasmine spuked.

He's claiming I owe him money from construction work that he did in Belize City. That's what this is all about. And then it just happens to be he's mad about, he thinks I owe him money, which I do not. But the fact that the Ashcrofts are so desperate that they're running with this lunatic's words, why am I going through this? This system is insane. Someone can just say gossip when they're angry, and I might go to jail for that. Where do I live? My gosh.

You heard that Ashcroft assertion in there. Let me be clear that there's no evidence that Andrew or anyone in his family was behind this bizarre episode. And via his lawyer, Andrew denied any knowledge of these allegations, saying that, quote, this appears to be something of an urban myth. But you can understand why Jasmine believes that someone with motive was out to get her, because this was nuts, a thing that never should have gotten outside of the local police station where Lionel was questioned. And yet, by the end of that day, Wednesday, here was Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police, talking to a a order from channel 7.

Yes, I have received information yesterday, and I am not moved by it. I have tasks, CIB and command operations to do certain things.

That's the Criminal Investigations Branch.

Because the person who actually put out the hit is known to us, and those that we were told are the ones being hired to do the hit, we also know who they are. And so they are being monetized by the police. We have a job to do, and we must do our duties to the best of our And in terms of the threat, we'll do what needs to be done to neutralize that threat.

We will do what needs to be done to neutralize that threat. This was a pretty clear statement that the top cop in a country plagued by drug running and gang warfare believed or pretended to believe a story that Jasmine Harton was trying to have him killed, and that he might detain her for it. I mean, he wouldn't really. Would he? White Devil will return just after this.

The Hargan women seem to have it all. We were blessed. My mom was amazing.

But detectives would soon discover inside the house, there were the bodies of two women.

A story of betrayal you would struggle to believe if it wasn't true.

I am just praying to God. This is a sick joke.

From 48 Hours, this is Blood is thicker, the Hargan Family Killings.

Listen to blood is thicker, the Hargan family killings, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to White Devil from Campside Media. As Joe and I poked around Belize, wondering if we'd ever actually get to sit down with Jasmine. This crazy assassination story was blowing up. All of the major Belizean stations were covering it now. And credibly, like here on the channel 5 Morning Show, open your eyes. It's alarming to me because it's the fact that we have the highest officer in the land.

You hear a hit and you're like, That's never going to happen. That happens in the movies. But there's a responsibility involved because we are living in unprecedented times. I also think I should sue channel 5 because their headline last night was, What was that? Woman Who Order Execution. It's like, Is there even a day of questioning or day in trial or any proof of this before you slander me online. Luckily, they haven't put my name, so that's how they're protecting themselves.

I should explain what she means here. The stories to this point were anonymized enough that Jasmine was not named. She was, however, described in a way that anyone who knew even a little bit about her, which would be anyone in police, basically, would know who they were talking about.

They say a Canadian that's in the courts that obviously everyone knows it's me. But I'm just, Oh, this is ridiculous. Now that you've heard that, and I have the police report that I filed against this guy saying he planned to go to these people and say that I was going to kill people.

Yeah. Lionel had even threatened that he was going to do this.

I have that in my report. And sure enough, that's exactly what he did, and they're going to choose his side or choose to listen to this lunatic. Anyways, this is welcome to a day in my life. I told you, my life is insane.

This half-baked allegation was enough to pass for a major story in the Belizeian news cycle. When we woke up the next day, it was still going strong. Morning.

Morning. Hey.

7:40 in the morning. How was it? Hot already. She messaged me this morning saying that she's in hiding and the police are waiting to detain her for questioning. Meanwhile, on a Love FM news bulletin, Hippolito had finally identified that Canadian woman as Jasmine, and he talked to Chester Williams.

But from what Chester told me is that some mentally ill person in the village is claiming that Jasmine is doing this, but he says the person is mentally ill.

Okay, so the police commissioner is telling Hippolito a prominent reporter, that the informant, the source of all this hit stuff, is, quote, mentally ill. And yet it's not seeming like it's going away. Jasmine's lawyer, Dickey Bradley, agreed that the insinuation was, in his words, preposterous Chris, but he didn't seem all that surprised either. Later that afternoon, I recap the situation for Joe after speaking to Jasmine again. She's quite angry, rightly so, I think. She's mad at Andrew, channel 5, everybody, the police, obviously. It seems like we'll probably see her today. She's being a little bit more calm and optimistic, but of course, at the cop show. I guess we'll just hang out, work until lunch, and then... Yeah. Hopefully not Joe. Never a no moment, man. Throughout the day, we tried to call various people, including Dickey. Why was this still a thing? Was there something here I was missing? Do people in Belize not have a voicemail? If you notice, every call, it just rings and rings. Maybe this is how I make my fortune. I bring voicemail to Belize. All right. First attempt failed. We'll just keep trying. When that failed, we went for lunch at this place called the Split, where everyone on the island seems to hang out.

It was a place Jasmine and Andrew used to go, she told us, when things were good.

You guys have a lovely afternoon.

I appreciate it. Do you enjoy your lunch at the Unbleasable Barbecue.

It's the best dry chicken I've had in maybe ever.

It was pretty delicious. I had the coconut curry Also one of many businesses named Unbleasable, the official cliché of Belize. All right, anyway, calling Dicky again. Am I optimistic? Not really. Love FM's homepage. In the headlines, he was just Dickey. It's like, imagine going to NPR's website and it's like, Dickey on Controversial murder case. This is the better call, Saul of Belize, who's not answering our call. Yet again. Come on, Dickey. All right, we'll try again later. I did hear from Jasmine again. She was back at home, out of hiding, but needed to go check in.

Hello?

Hey, so this is just your regular check-in? You're not going because they're calling you in?

No, I have to check in every single day as part of my bail conditions. Yesterday, I went to check in and they said nothing to me. I went, signed in, I left. Then an hour later, they're riding around saying that they're aggressively trying to locate this threat to neutralize me. I'm like, Guys, I was just there. You could have detained me right then and there, and you didn't. Anyways, I'm just going to go sign I'm not going to get it over with.

Jasmine figured if the police had any real intention to arrest her again on nothing but hearsay, they would have done it already.

This is a made-up allegation. There's no proof of anything you're saying. What are you guys talking about? You're just making up things to me now, and it's embarrassing for them.

People are through it.

If you read the comments, they know that this is bullshit.

It's certainly from an outsider's perspective, it's embarrassing. I cannot believe the Commissioner of Police of Belize is actually giving press conferences about it.

No, he doesn't believe it. It's because the Commissioner is in the pocket of Ashcroft, and they're like, Run with this. He's just like a dog to them. He's the dog with a bone right now, and they're just running with it.

This is how far gone she was, suspecting the Ashcrofts of being behind everything. And of course, we have no evidence that they were. They've denied any involvement. Also, we were now in Belize on the same tiny island, and I was still talking to Jasmine on the telephone. I mean, is there any danger that they'll hold you?

Well, they can detain me for 48 hours to ask questions. They can do that.

Have you talked to Dickey yet?

I did talk to Dicky. He said they can't revoke my bail without pressing charges on me, and they have nothing to press charges. So he doesn't seem worried.

This, if you're being conspiratorial, is the risk. A condition of Jasmine's bail is that she stay out of trouble. And she was convinced that certain forces, including Andrew Ashcroft, were determined to have her sent back to prison. So if the cops were to press charges here, her bail would be revoked, and she would go straight to prison. Then, she could lose custody of her kids permanently. Again, no proof of anything to suggest conspiracy, but this is where Jasmine's mind was at. I mean, I just can't believe they took it seriously.

They didn't really. They saw an opportunity and took advantage of it.

Well, it sure seems like somebody did, yeah. Although, like you said, that's going to be very hard to prove.

They can't prove it because it didn't happen.

No, I meant prove that Andrew is... You're sure he's aware of it, right?

Oh, my gosh. Yes. Andrew was called immediately.

By Chester Williams or another top cop, she means, to alert him to her arrest, which isn't as random and implausible as it may sound. She and Andrew both know Chester Williams. They've been friendly in the past. And while she and Chester obviously aren't exactly friends anymore, he is in her phone. She's texted him recently, and she's convinced that Chester and Andrew were in regular communication.

They definitely informed Andrew. For sure, for sure, a thousand million %.

Andrew's lawyer say their client has never had any conversations with Commissioner Chester-Williams regarding Lionel Neil. So when are you going to go?

I have to go before five o'clock, so I'm just sitting here with my mom.

All right. Well, if they don't hold you, can we get together later?

Yeah, if they don't hold me or if you want to pick me up at my house and drive me to the police station, you can.

Yeah, we could do that.

Okay.

Okay. You want to WhatsApp me the address?

There's not really an address.

It's just- So does it have a color?

It's a white house.

White house. Okay. So we rented a golf cart, the only motorized transport on Keecocker, and went looking for a white house. It's Extremely islandy that there are no addresses. A half hour later, we found the house, a modest two-story that she was renting from some American expats. And just outside, we finally met Jasmine. Candice was also there. Turns out she hadn't left since she first arrived, more than a year ago. Hey, Jasmine. It's us. Hi.

Hi. Nice to meet you.

I'm sorry. It's good to meet you, by the way. Is this open?

No, I have to get the keys. Sorry, it's hot in here because we have everything close to him. Oh, my gosh. What a day. What a few days.

How are you feeling?

I just want this bullshit to end. Yeah, I can.

She gave us a quick tour, introduced her Then Jasmine, Joe, and I hopped into our rented golf cart and bounced 10 minutes back north to the island's lone police station. It doesn't really stand out from the surf shops and restaurants that surround it. It's painted bright yellow and had, quite ironically, a giant banner on the front that said, Celebrating Women's Month, sponsored by a funeral home. Things seemed pleasant enough. Jasmine signed in as usual. But when she turned around to leave, the officer Officer on duty stopped her and said that the boss needed to speak with her. He showed Jasmine into a small office in the back. Turns out she was going to be detained after all and taken eventually to Belize City, to the police headquarters on Queens Street. As I paced around the tiny lobby, I could hear two cops listening to Jasmine's voice memos, which included memos from Lion O'Neill inside a small office with the door open. These were memos she'd shared with them to try and clear her name to prove that this was all nuts.

Listen, before... I'm still deciding what to do, but if I meet with you, I need you to admit that you lied about all the stuff you're saying about me. Lionel, you need to get mental help. You're making so many lies against me, and you're acting completely insane. No, I don't want to send you that. You're acting like a crazy person. Okay.

And then they took her out the back, and she was gone. We'll find out where they'd taken Jasmine after the break. Right under our noses, Jasmine Harton had once again been detained and then whisked away, this time on essentially no evidence other than one random guy's accusations, a guy who goes by the name Piggy. Then an hour later, she resurface in Belize City, where cops had tipped off the local news. They handcuffed her on the pier in front of the cameras. She's smiling in that footage. The look on her face is pretty clear. It says, You have to be kidding me. Joe and I puttered off in the cart in sheer disbelief over the day's absurd events. We stopped by Jasmine's house where her mom was waiting. She had no idea what was going on. While we were there, her phone rang. Excuse me. It was Jasmine.

Hello. Hey, Mom, I'm at Queen Street. Yes. Can you try to get a hold of Dicky from Can you please? I'll try again.

I can't get hold of him, but I'll-Okay, maybe.

I'll just keep trying. Okay, sweetheart. I will. Are you okay? Yeah. I love you, too. I'm going to be in a cell tonight, but I'm okay. I'll get into that one before. Love you, Mom. I love you, too, sweetheart. Go ahead. That's good. Okay. I'll call now. Okay, thank you. Bye. I even have my brother in Canada phoning Dicky. That's the other thing. He never answers his damn phone.

Never. Jasmine spent that night in jail, in a dark cell at the main police station with three other women. The next morning, I called Candice for an update and to make sure she was okay. Good morning. Hey, Candice. Hi, I'm Josh. She heard from the police in Belize City. Jasmine was asking for her glasses. So no actual information from the jail? The police just called you and asked for the glasses?

Yeah. So I just can't see her asking me to come in just to bring her glasses.

So what do you think it is?

Well, no reason to pick me up or detain me, but if I go in there, I'm afraid that something may happen. I just don't trust them.

This is where Candice was. She, like Jasmine, had reached a state of complete paranoia, a feeling that every force in the country had aligned against them. She believed the basic fact of that call, that her daughter might actually need those glasses. But she also truly feared that she would be arrested, too, if she went to the police station. On what grounds? Not clear. But this is where she was. We could take them to her, I said. Which is how a couple of hours later, Joe and I ended up in the lobby of the main police station in Belize City, with Jasmine's glasses and a bunch of clothes and toiletries that Candice had carefully packed into a bag. Can I have a bag for Jasmine?

Pardon. A nice young police clerk greeted us, then handed us off to a much less nice policewoman who seemed not at all happy to be talking to us about this infamous prisoner.

Or her stuff. She doesn't have any sun glasses. No, not sun glasses. The station called for the glasses. You guys called her mom.

Well, I never called, sir. I don't want anything. I don't want no glasses there. She's fighting there in South Lough already. She can break those glasses and put the other female with it. She's just That's another way to be figured.

But that's a specific- Did you get that? The woman said that Jasmine could break those glasses and cut other female inmates. She claimed that Jasmine had been, quote, fighting already. They asked me to root through the bag and assemble a single change of clothes. That's all they would take. I don't really feel super comfortable going through. Is that a shirt or pants? This felt almost like a bit like Belize's version of candid camera was pranking me, and some host was going to leap out from behind the desk and then probably arrest me, too, as part of a murder for hire conspiracy. So you just want one? That's it. I'm no weird. Yeah, I'm looking for it. I didn't pack it, like I said. It was unclear how long Jasmine would spend in that jail, which did not look very nice. Till Monday. Is she going to be here till Monday? Yes. We'll be here until Monday. You're keeping her all weekend. The law said they could hold her for 48 hours without charges, but one of those cops had mentioned a court appearance on Monday, in three days. I got the sense that such details probably didn't matter.

We hopped in a cab to the municipal airport to catch the 15-minute flight back to Cauchy. We were a little early, so we had a beer in the open air bar overlooking the airport. Well, Airstrip is more like it.

Yeah, what do you make it the whole day?

Unbearable, man. It's fucking weird. It's absurd, and I keep wanting to laugh at it. And then I think that she's sitting in a shitty jail cell right now in Belize City. And before we came here, I made lots of cracks and comments about this can only happen in Belize or it's a Banana Republic, not knowing if that was actually true. But, man, seeing all this happen in real-time, it's just like, Isn't there someone else they can go to. I'm like, what about the judge above the judge? It's just like, it seems so absurd, but there's nowhere to go to tell someone that it's absurd, right? Because the people in power seem to be the ones perpetrating the absurdity. So, yeah, it's got to feel pretty hopeless. The next morning came and went, and so did the afternoon. Finally, around 8:30 PM that night, I got a text from Wendy Ogzalou, the woman who bailed Jasmine out the first time, and who'd been helping pro bono on some things. She texted to let me know she'd just picked Jasmine up from the jail. Jasmine spent that night at Wendy's place in Belize City, then caught an early flight back to Cocker, so that she'd be home for one very important thing, maybe the only thing she actually looked forward to anymore, one of two supervised monthly visitations with her five-year-old twins, Charlie and Al.

I picked her up to go to the airport and get the twins, plus the babysitter Andrew had sent to Chaperone, an off-duty cop who calls himself Mr. Handsome. Then I dropped them all at the house and left them alone. They read books and painted seashells, and at the end, when I came back to drive them to the airport, they were clearly upset about leaving. Charlie asked me to drive very slowly so that the plane would leave without them. Jasmine took them inside the small terminal building to catch the plane, then came back out.

Quick, right?

Yeah, sorry. I didn't mind waiting at all. I was happy for you to get more time. I have to sign in. I don't know if you want to-Yeah, do you want to go straight there?

Yeah, I guess. Can we get out?

I can get around him, I think. Back to the police station again. For her daily stay out of prison sign. So you don't get a break, even though they just let you out of jail?

No.

Nice. There's never a break.

Oh, my gosh. I've just spent a day and a half in jail. Like in It was not nice in there, trust me. People are being brought in after domestic. And this one girl came in, she just thought another girl, and she get her finger off.

In jail?

No, she was telling me and acting out what she did. She put the girl's finger and I was sleeping on cement. You don't get a pillow blanket, nothing. It's pretty cruel. It's pretty cruel.

Later, we caught up with Wendy, who had rushed down to see Jasmine while she was in jail.

I didn't find out about it. I saw it on the news. So as soon as I saw that evening, as her legal counsel, I went to the police station to do a wellness check on her to make sure that she was okay.

Wendy is not actually Jasmine's official lawyer, so it's surprising that cops let her in.

It's not her first rodeo inside a jail cell. It's not pleasant, but you'll survive. And in fact, was a very tearful saying that she was being abused. Not physically abused or anything, but psychologically abused in the prison cell there. Waking her up in the middle of the night and opening her jail cell and telling her she's free to go. And as soon as she steps out, they tell her, It's a joke, and pull her back in, and just things like that that would bring her to tears. And in the middle of this interview with her, there was a knock on the door, and it was the operating commander of the police station at the time who came to tell her that she was free to go. At first, she was in total disbelief. She wasn't sure if it was another joke again. And she said, Is this for real? And they told her, yes. At which point, we just collected her stuff and then walked out. This trumped up charges. None of it is true. And she He suffered enough.

Wendy wasn't suggesting that all of Jasmine's problems should go away. The criminal case, the matter of Henry's death, no one was arguing that she shouldn't face that charge in court and let justice run its course.

She's going to pay. She's in court, and she's going to go to trial for the original criminal complaint that was made against her. And there's due process. She's going to have her day in court for that. Everything else that's transpired. It's not part and parcel of the original criminal came. These are additional matters that are being brought to court against her, I think, to wear her down and to kill her spirits.

Audrey Mature was no longer on Jasmine's legal team at this point either, and they hadn't spoken in months, but she was still keeping a close eye on the case, and we spoke to her that same day. I asked if there was any logic at all in this new twist.

There's no need to kill a man, street. Why would you kill him and save him from the embarrassment of what will come out about him? If Jasmine wanted to kill anyone, to get away with everything, the only person she needs to kill is Andrew Ashcroff. If Andrew Ashcroff is dead, there's no one else who have a better claim of custody of those kids.

I probably don't need to disclaim here, but I will anyway. This is not a real suggestion. Audrey is not proposing a terrible macabre fix here. It's just a thought experiment. Although it says something about Belize that nobody really boxed the idea that a regular citizen with no criminal record might put a hit out on someone.

If Andrew Ashcroft was dead, all her legal problems over him locking her out of their joint business would go away. She has every right. If Andrew Ashcroft was dead, all his wealth would be inherited by the children, the lawyer, the police, the judge, the magistrate, whoever is like a non-factor in that. They say she wanted to kill a commission of police. She benefits in no way from that.

I left Belize the next day, but Jasmin was due in court for another custody hearing. Afterwards, she sent me a voice memo. It had been quite a day.

So yesterday was a bit of an awkward day. I had to attend custody court in front of the same magistrate, Caetano, who thinks that I've just ordered a hit on him. I took Tropic air and on the flight to Belize City from Keecacker, Andrew Ashcroff was also on the flight. So the day just started out extremely uncomfortable for me. I don't even think he noticed I was sitting behind him. And then And once we arrived in Belize City, he had a vehicle waiting to pick him up, and he ushered Andrew into the vehicle quickly because I'm such a threat.

Court had not gone well. Jasmine and her custody attorney argued that, surely, after all this media circus about the alleged hit, Dale Caetano could no longer be unbiased and should recuse himself. Caetano denied that motion. He would stay on and judge. At that, Jasmine's attorney advised Jasmine and the court that they could not, in good faith, continue. They would walk out in protest. Assumption being that the hearing would obviously stop for the day while the judge attempted to restore order. That's not what happened. Here's what did.

Hey, Josh, I just want to let you know that I got a call from Love FM News today. Andrew and his attorneys just left and told them that they've been awarded custody of the children.

This is significant. Before, the ruling was temporary custody, but this seemed more final, more decisive.

I don't know if you've seen the latest news, but they're saying that I've been arrested for murder and that I've been found guilty of putting hits, and they're just doing this international smear campaign, and it happens at the same time Andrew is awarded custody. So this is all an attack on me.

Again, the Ashcroft camp says they have not proactively shared any information about Jasmine with the media.

I I don't know how I feel right now. I feel sick to my stomach. I'm trying to do an immediate stay of order so that Andrew can't leave the country with my children. So I have a thousand things going in my mind right now. I just wanted to fill you in.

Caetano didn't just award custody to Andrew. He also squashed Jasmine's application for interim visitation.

So at this point, I do not have access in visitation to my children, which means Andrew could probably take them out of the country. I'm just terrified. The last time he did this, I didn't get see them for a month. I just... Gosh, I'm so tired of this shit. Anyways, I'll let you know what's going on soon.

Next week, this bizarre tale takes another twist. Toured the opposite end of the Caribbean, Turks and Caicos. Hi there. I'm giving a call because a friend of mine has some pretty detailed information on Lord Michael Ashcroft. My friend lives in the Cayman Islands, and he's a liquidator and has been after Lord Ashcroft for about 10 years. He's a terrific resource for you guys. He knows where a lot of bodies are buried. White Devil is a production of Campside Media in Association with Olive Bridge Entertainment. The show was written and reported by me, Josh Dean, with the series producer, Joe Barrett. The story editor and sound designer is Mark McAdam, who also provided original music. Additional sound design by Joe Barrett. Studio engineering by Ewen Lytrom-Ewen. Our closing theme is Under the Shade, I Flourish by Chris Halton and New Manhattan, including Eli Carvahal, Ava Carvahal, and Louis Chernyovski. This episode was fact-checked by Sarah Ivrey. Additional research by Emma Simenoff and Reporting in Belize by Hippolito Navello. Artwork by Anthony Garace. A special thanks to our operations team, Doug Slawin, Ashley Warren, Sabina Mara, Emma Simenoff, Destiny Dingle, and David Eichler. Campside Media's executive producers are Vanessa Gregoriades, Adam Hoff, Matt Sher, and me, Josh Dean.

At Olive Bridge, the executive producer is Will Gluff. If you enjoyed our show, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. It really does help other people find the show. Here's a thought. Maybe tell a friend to check out White Devil while you're at it. Anyway, thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.

The Hargan women seem to have it all. We were blessed. My mom was amazing.

But detectives would soon discover... Inside the house, there were the bodies of two women.

A story of betrayal you would struggle to believe if it wasn't true.

I am just praying to God, this is a sick joke.

From 48 Hours, this is Blood is Thicker, The Hargan Family Killings.

Listen to Blood is Thicker, The Hargan Family Killings, wherever you get your podcast.