The exploration of a dead, battered female off a Florida freeway led detectives to decipher her non-traditional way of life and to the murder sentences of her 2 enthusiasts in their “throuple” partnership.
Before her body was recuperated at the end of a cul-de-sac near Highway 98 on April 23, 2018, Aileen Seiden had actually checked out area 15 of the Sportsman’s Lodge Motel in Eastpoint, Florida, together with her partner Zachary Abell and their shared partnerChristina Araujo
A clinical supervisor affirmed that Seiden’s injuries approached “the kind of thing [he saw] in motor vehicle crashes,” The Apalachicola Times reported.
Nearly every one of her ribs were damaged, and considerable wounding had actually transformed the female’s face, abdominal area and top body to an upset purple, the electrical outlet reported.
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Aileen Seiden, 31, was located dead off Highway 98 in Apalachicola, Florida, on April 23, 2018. (Aileen Seiden/Instagram)
Initially, authorities were incapable to determine Seiden’s body. However, not long after her body was located, they were contacted us to a bloody scene at theSportsman’s Lodge
“As soon as I came in, I noticed the bed. I mean, it’s — you couldn’t miss it,” lead detective Ronnie Jones stated in a recently launched CBS “48 Hours” docudrama regarding the instance, “Who Killed Aileen Seiden in Room 15?”
“I mean, this whole area was covered and had blood stains on it,” he stated. “I just put two and two together, and I automatically put that back to the body that was found the day before. It wasn’t just somebody cut [themselves] and bled a little bit on the bed. I mean the amount of blood… tells me that whoever was here was probably deceased.”
Testing inevitably suggested that the blood came fromSeiden
Fatal tourist attraction
Seiden was the youngest child of Miami business owner Frank M. Seiden, that offered furnishings to deluxe resorts, cruise liner and Disney Resorts, according to theMiami Herald Seiden, Abell and Araujo resided in North Miami.
Mike Picavet, that understood the triad, informed Fox News Digital that the love triangular was jammed, dealt with envy and peppered with hotheaded quarrels.
“Christina and Aileen had their first fight in my kitchen [in 2017],” Picavet stated this previous week. “Because [Abell] brought her over, brought both of them over. Aileen threw it in Christina’s face that she’d already been having sex with Zach for a year already. And then Christina started throwing punches right away. And it was really weird because Aileen lost and got back up and she, you know, everything was calmed down, and she started saying, Well, you’re fat and ugly, too.”
From after that on, Picavet stated, Seiden and Araujo would certainly trade strikes commonly in battles sustained by alcohol, commonly causing shiners on one or both of the ladies. Those battles were bookended by durations of rowdy partying and alcohol consumption, he stated.
Abell and Araujo began dating 5 years prior to Seiden’s murder. Meanwhile, Seiden and Abell had actually recognized each various other because they were teens and reconnected in 2017.
Picavet, that satisfied Abell and Araujo in a bar a number of years prior to Seiden entered the image, stated that Abell constantly had a “side piece” of some type prior to the throuple’s partnership started.
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Zach Abell was punished to life behind bars on second-degree murder costs in January 2024. Christina Araujo, right, took an appeal handle April 2023 in Aileen Seiden’s murder. (Broward County Sheriff’s Office)
Picavet stated he did not think that Abell was violent. However, he stated that Araujo was constantly “very controlling and directing” towards both of her enthusiasts. He stated that Abell attempted numerous times to damage up with Araujo, however points were unpleasant due to the fact that they were organization companions.
“He tried so many times,” Picavet stated. “He just didn’t know how to… and then also…all the threats all the time that she could make him disappear… Every time she got drunk, she’d say some weird things.”
Seiden and Abell started dating in trick, with Seiden’s buddy informing documentarians that the guy led her to think that he would certainly leave the various other female.
When Seiden shed her task as a home supervisor in 2017, a buddy of hers informed CBS that she began operating at Abell and Araujo’s utilized cars and truck dealer. Picavet stated that she shed her house at the exact same time. When Abell ultimately tried to damage points off with Araujo, Seiden’s close friend stated Araujo responded to with an unique proposition: that the 3 of them day as a “throuple.”
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On April 21, 2018, 2 days prior to Aileen Seiden, left, was killed, the throuple was identified on monitoring video footage stumbling out of the Red Pirate in Apalachicola, where they consumed supper, played mini-golf and consumed alcohol greatly. (Franklin County Court Clerk)
Friends and family members informed documentarians that Seiden was thinking about breaking short the partnership in the weeks prior to her fatality. However, she surprised them when she relocated with her enthusiasts in what her buddy called “one last chance to make it work.”
On April 7, 2018, Abell and Araujo got involved in a battle. Seiden grabbed Abell and took him far from your house, and both took place a journey.
Araujo sent out greater than 150 upset sms message to Seiden and Abell in a 24-hour period, according to the docudrama. However, after her 2 enthusiasts had actually been gone with around 2 days and had actually gotten to Texas, she had a change of mind.
“If you want to come back home come back. You never have to question my love,” Araujo created, according to the docudrama.
Abell and Seiden after that welcomed Araujo to fly bent on fulfill them inTexas
Picavet informed Fox News Digital that he “thought [Seiden would] end up dead there or something because [he] didn’t expect them to come back altogether.”
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Zach Abell and Christina Araujo are visualized in an image, broken by their close friend Mike Picavet, after they admitted to Aileen Seiden’s murder at his home. (Franklin County Court Clerk)
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Ten days right into the journey, Seiden been afraid for her life and called her sis.
“I was like, ‘Aileen, run to the nearest gas station,'” Franceasa Seiden remembered, according to the docudrama. “I said ‘run, get the — get out of there’ … ‘Go!’ …She’s like, ‘I can’t.’
Back in Florida, on their way home to North Miami, the group headed to the Sportsman’s Lodge Motel, where they decided that they would spend one more day there and continue to party. On the morning of April 22, they stocked up on Fireball whiskey and vodka at a liquor store, surveillance footage showed.
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Zach Abell and Christina Araujo are pictured on toll booth surveillance footage after Aileen Seiden’s murder. (Franklin County Clerk of Court)
That day, Seiden called her best friend and crafted an escape plan. She intended to get on a bus back home when the trio reached Tampa, their next destination. The friend bought Seiden a Greyhound ticket because she had left for the sudden road trip without her wallet.
However, Seiden’s friend never heard from her again.
On the evening of April 23, Picavet said that Araujo and Abell turned up on his doorstep.
” I resembled, ‘OK, where’s Aileen?’ And right now, Christina states, ‘Oh, she ran away.’ … And I stated, ‘Bull—-,'” Picavet recalled. “I said, ‘Where is she?’ And Zach right now … began to choke up, and he stated, ‘She’s dead.'”
Abell told Picavet that Araujo had killed Seiden and convinced him not to call 911 when he found her body. Likewise, Picavet feared a violent outcome if he notified law enforcement.
“ I was fretted for my safety and security after that, from Christina,” he told Fox News Digital. “Well, I can not oversleep my residence currently. This is insane. She understands. I understand. So, you understand, I can wind up … she can wind up eliminating me.”
Picavet said Araujo described where she and Abell dumped the body, and he began searching for the location on Google Maps. Ultimately, he would give police the same location where Seiden’s body was found.
After his friends had fallen asleep on his couch, Picavet snapped a photo. Then, he took to social media to find Araujo’s father, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department Col. Tony Araujo. When he finally reached him, Picavet sent him the photo and told him that he had urgent news about his daughter.
They met up at a nearby gas station.
” I increased there … I stated, ‘Christina killed somebody.’ And he states, ‘You understand I’m a police, right?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes, sir. I do,'” Picavet said. “He right away said, ‘Wait right there.’”
Zach Abell and Christina Araujo had been dating for four years when Aileen Seiden joined their relationship in 2017. (Franklin County Clerk of Court)
Araujo brought Picavet to the police station, where he made a formal statement. There, he identified a photo of Seiden’s battered body.
Police arrested Abell and Araujo and charged them both with first-degree murder. However, they would not face a jury for six years due to court delays and complications.
In 2023, Araujo took a plea deal for the lesser charge of second-degree murder. Abell went to trial in Franklin County in January 2024. Because Araujo confessed to beating Seiden, she became a crucial witness in his trial.
Abell’s attorney, Alex Morris, argued in court that Araujo had the motive to kill Seiden – jealousy over Abell’s split attention – and that she was the instigator in her death.
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Ultimately, the jurors found Abell guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder, as they were unable to decide whether he had intended to kill Seiden when he and Araujo beat her.
At his sentencing, Abell claimed that he intended to leave Araujo and had proposed to Seiden with a Ring Pop on their road trip.
“Me and Aileen were gon na go our means and leave Christina from it,” he claimed.
Picavet is convinced that Abell did not take part in the beating that cost Seiden her life, although he did help dispose of Seiden’s body.
” I understand he really did not eliminate her even if I understandZach And he, you understand, he would certainly have informed me he’s innocent of the murder. He’s dumb. Stupidly not innocent for aiding relocate the body,” Picavet said.
Picavet said he is committed to helping Abell prove his innocence in the murder and said that a hidden camera in his apartment when his friends returned to his home that night captured Araujo admitting to being solely responsible for the killing and contradicting testimony that she gave in court.
However, that small camera, disguised as an outlet, was taken into evidence by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Picavet claims that investigators were unable to pull files off it for evidence and that he hopes to get the SD card from the device back so that he can obtain the footage that could help his friend.
“Once that occurs, after that Zach’s charm ought to be great due to the fact that there the proof is mosting likely to appear, which is brand-new proof that Christina’s entire testament was bulls–. And after that it’ll be ideally helpful for Zach.”
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