Tick Tick Boom (Rachael Abraham)

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Observe, the North American dad, 50s, great polo collection. He enters his vehicle information on Carvana. An offer appears in minutes, remarkable. He squints, reads it again, smiles and says, dang, that's a good offer. The highest form of approval. No haggling, no hassle, no one called him boss.

He's still on the couch, astonishing. Sell your car today on carvana.com.

Pick up, fees may apply.

SPEAKER_2 (0:31)

How far would you go when someone threatens everyone you love? Who can you trust? From Academy Award winner Ben Affleck. Animals stars Affleck, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson and Steven Yeun. When a Los Angeles mayoral candidate's son is kidnapped, he and his wife are pulled into a web of deception, forced to make choices that could tear their world apart. Watch Animals in select theaters and on Netflix, October 9th. Rated R. Tap the banner to learn more.

Kenzie Ludwig (1:03)

Yeah. Okay.

Scott Weinberger (1:05)

Did you defend yourself in some way?

Kenzie Ludwig (1:07)

Yes.

Scott Weinberger (1:08)

Okay. What did you do?

SPEAKER_4 (1:10)

I grabbed a knife from her.

Andrew McMillan (1:12)

You grabbed a knife from her?

Kenzie Ludwig (1:13)

Okay.

Andrew McMillan (1:14)

What did you do to her?

Scott Weinberger (1:28)

I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.

Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (1:33)

I'm Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, former New York City homicide prosecutor.

Scott Weinberger (1:37)

And this is Homicide 360

Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (1:45)

Here's a statistic that we have likely repeated more than a few times on this show. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 50% of female homicide victims in the United States were killed by an intimate partner.

Scott Weinberger (2:00)

That number is really staggering. It means that as many as half of the women murdered in this country are killed by the person closest to them, a husband, a boyfriend, maybe even the father of their children.

Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (2:13)

What's worse, that number is going up. Since 2014, the number of homicides caused by domestic violence has increased by over 20%, which just highlights the ongoing need to raise awareness about the signs of abuse and ways to stop it, and to share the stories of both survivors and victims of what feels like an unchecked plague of violence.

Scott Weinberger (2:34)

As you probably know, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so Anna-Sigga and I thought it was important to share one of those stories today. Not just as a cautionary tale or a call to action, although it is certainly both, but as a way to tell one woman's story. Because maybe the key to stopping domestic violence is to see past the numbers, to the individual victims, to the human beings whose lives are upended and sometimes cut short at the hands of someone they once loved and trusted.

Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (3:06)

Helping us are two prosecutors from Portland, Oregon, both of whom played a critical role in the desperate efforts to protect and seek justice for a young mother of six in the summer of 2022

Kenzie Ludwig (3:18)

I'm Kenzie Ludwig. I am a deputy district attorney here in Multnomah County in Portland, Oregon. I have been a prosecutor for seven years and I have been with this office just over five years.

Scott Weinberger (3:30)

In 2022, Kenzie was working in the domestic violence unit of the district attorney's office. Her colleague, Andrew McMillan, was a young attorney himself and had recently been assigned to homicide.

Andrew McMillan (3:42)

Really my first and only legal job. I got it straight out of law school. I just didn't want to live that firm lifestyle. And I'm also from the Portland area, so really kind of wanted to come back to Portland to be able to give back to the community.

Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (3:54)

Now, as many people probably know or have heard, Portland is a unique place. There's a lot of civil engagement there and the spirit of reform, experimentation, even rebellion runs pretty high. The city's unofficial motto, keep Portland weird.

Scott Weinberger (4:09)

Portland often finds itself at the center of larger debates and at times civil unrest around national social issues, which as you can imagine, can sow a level of distrust of legacy institutions, especially law enforcement and the justice system.

Andrew McMillan (4:26)

It's a tough place to be a prosecutor because there's so much skepticism about the police in our office. However, I think the flip side of that is because there's so much skepticism and not only makes us do a much better job because we not only need to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, but really we have to push that beyond the shadow of the doubt.