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Soldier and his girlfriend fatally shot in Valentine’s Day slaying

February 24, 2026·49 min·5 clips

The story opens with a warning about graphic, disturbing material and strong language. It then goes straight into a Valentine's Day murder that left a young soldier and his girlfriend dead in their bed. Police say the woman's ex-boyfriend is the suspect. Detectives allege that he drove seven hours from Ohio to North Carolina for the early morning ambush. The Ohio State Patrol later found him driving back home, and the show includes body-cam footage from the arrest. Anna Garcia presents the case as a murder investigation and a look at what investigators say happened inside the house before the shooting. Family members told police that a child in the home was allegedly ordered to wake up the woman. The woman's background is also part of the story: she had fled Ukraine with her younger siblings. The episode notes that those children have been traumatized again. The tone stays grave rather than theatrical. Garcia introduces the case as part of the show's weekly run of high-profile and under-the-radar stories. Guest Mike King joins as a law-enforcement expert and the creator and host of Profiling Evil. He also discusses his new series Gardens of Evil, which the show says is number one on Apple Podcasts in true crime. The conversation keeps coming back to the arrest footage and the human cost of the violence. The family allegation adds another disturbing detail without going beyond what the record says. The story treats the case as a targeted killing with severe fallout for the surviving relatives. Even with the hard facts front and center, it leaves room for uncertainty where the investigation is still developing. That balance gives the story its force. It is less interested in shock than in tracing what investigators say happened and why it matters.

As heard by us

A brutal targeted killing told with restraint, legal context, and a steady eye on what can be proved.

A Valentine's Day murder in North Carolina gives this episode its hardest edge: a young soldier at Fort Bragg and his girlfriend are shot in bed, and police say the woman's ex-boyfriend drove seven hours from Ohio for the early morning ambush.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a grounded account of a Valentine's Day murder, the police pursuit, and the arrest that followed.

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