Zalerri | Aby

1. The Noise in the Walls

1 min. 0 sec.

A social worker visits a former client and learns that she supposedly moved to Florida. The forwarding address provided…

A social worker visits a former client and learns that she supposedly moved to Florida. The forwarding address provided by landlord Joseph Zalerri does not exist. A suspicious detail from years earlier prompts the first missing-person report.

2. The Second File

50 sec.

Detective Ellen Marsh searches the landlord’s name in other missing-person cases. She discovers three more vanished tena…

Detective Ellen Marsh searches the landlord’s name in other missing-person cases. She discovers three more vanished tenants connected to Zalerri’s properties. Each disappearance follows the same carefully documented pattern.

3. Eleven Names

1 min. 0 sec.

Marsh combines thirteen years of rental records into a single timeline. Eleven tenants disappeared shortly after Zalerri…

Marsh combines thirteen years of rental records into a single timeline. Eleven tenants disappeared shortly after Zalerri marked their files “VAC.” For the first time, investigators begin treating the cases as possible homicides.

4. The Basement Door

1 min. 0 sec.

Police search four properties and find a locked basement cabinet. Inside are forty cassette tapes labelled with tenants’…

Police search four properties and find a locked basement cabinet. Inside are forty cassette tapes labelled with tenants’ names and dates. Eleven labels match the names in the landlord’s rent ledger.

5. The Tapes

58 sec.

Every recording contains Zalerri speaking alone to a vanished tenant. He discusses ordinary details and offers vague, un…

Every recording contains Zalerri speaking alone to a vanished tenant. He discusses ordinary details and offers vague, unexplained apologies. The tapes were recorded after each person had already disappeared.

6. The Forwarded Mail

58 sec.

Investigators trace every forwarding address to a post-office box controlled by Zalerri. For thirteen years, he collecte…

Investigators trace every forwarding address to a post-office box controlled by Zalerri. For thirteen years, he collected the unopened mail of the missing tenants. The preserved letters create a precise timeline of eleven interrupted lives.

7. The Scrubbed Room

53 sec.

Forensic teams discover that a basement workbench and floor were recently cleaned with industrial solvent. Luminol revea…

Forensic teams discover that a basement workbench and floor were recently cleaned with industrial solvent. Luminol reveals patterns consistent with deliberately removed biological evidence. The room suggests violence, but provides no DNA or identifiable victim.

8. The Man Who Helped

55 sec.

Zalerri calmly provides investigators with his books, tapes, records, and keys. His cooperation initially appears unusua…

Zalerri calmly provides investigators with his books, tapes, records, and keys. His cooperation initially appears unusually open and helpful. Detectives realise that everything he surrendered was evidence except the bodies.

9. The First Charge

54 sec.

Prosecutors review a case with no remains, weapon, or established cause of death. The repeated pattern across eleven dis…

Prosecutors review a case with no remains, weapon, or established cause of death. The repeated pattern across eleven disappearances becomes impossible to dismiss. Zalerri is arrested and charged with eleven counts of first-degree murder.

10. No Body, No Crime

1 min. 0 sec.

The defense argues that the state cannot prove any of the tenants are dead. The prosecution relies on patterns, vanished…

The defense argues that the state cannot prove any of the tenants are dead. The prosecution relies on patterns, vanished paper trails, and thirteen years without a sighting. A judge allows the unprecedented circumstantial murder case to proceed.

11. The Voice on Exhibit 12

59 sec.

The forty cassette tapes are played aloud in court. Jurors hear Zalerri addressing missing tenants as though they are st…

The forty cassette tapes are played aloud in court. Jurors hear Zalerri addressing missing tenants as though they are still present. The prosecution calls the recordings evidence of knowledge, while the defense calls them grief.

12. The Ledger on the Stand

1 min. 4 sec.

The rent book is examined page by page before the jury. Each missing tenant’s name is followed by the same handwritten n…

The rent book is examined page by page before the jury. Each missing tenant’s name is followed by the same handwritten notation: “VAC.” Forged termination forms and redirected mail align with every entry.

13. The Families

55 sec.

Relatives describe years of unanswered letters and failed attempts to locate their loved ones. Zalerri repeatedly told t…

Relatives describe years of unanswered letters and failed attempts to locate their loved ones. Zalerri repeatedly told them the tenants had moved and wanted privacy. The unopened mail reveals that the missing never received those messages.

14. The Defence

58 sec.

The defense accepts that the records and tapes are authentic but disputes their meaning. It argues that disappearance do…

The defense accepts that the records and tapes are authentic but disputes their meaning. It argues that disappearance does not automatically prove death or murder. Without bodies or weapons, the entire case rests on reasonable doubt.

15. The Verdict

56 sec.

After nine days of deliberation, the jury reaches a divided decision. Zalerri is convicted of eight murders and acquitte…

After nine days of deliberation, the jury reaches a divided decision. Zalerri is convicted of eight murders and acquitted of three. The historic convictions are secured without recovering a single body.

16. The Search That Followed

52 sec.

Investigators excavate basements, yards, foundations, and outbuildings across all four properties. Cadaver dogs and grou…

Investigators excavate basements, yards, foundations, and outbuildings across all four properties. Cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar identify several possible locations. None of the eleven missing tenants is found.

17. The Interviews

58 sec.

Detectives repeatedly visit Zalerri in prison and ask where the bodies are. He speaks openly about the buildings and rem…

Detectives repeatedly visit Zalerri in prison and ask where the bodies are. He speaks openly about the buildings and remembers the tenants with apparent fondness. He never admits the killings or reveals a burial location.

18. The Man in the Library

1 min. 1 sec.

Inside prison, Zalerri becomes known as a disciplined, polite, and reliable inmate. He works quietly repairing books and…

Inside prison, Zalerri becomes known as a disciplined, polite, and reliable inmate. He works quietly repairing books and maintaining the library catalogue. The reassuring personality that protected him outside continues to define him in custody.

19. The Silence He Kept

50 sec.

As Zalerri’s health fails, investigators make one final attempt to obtain answers. Three families still lack convictions…

As Zalerri’s health fails, investigators make one final attempt to obtain answers. Three families still lack convictions, remains, or a place to grieve. He dies without confessing or revealing what happened to the missing.

20. Eleven Names, One Ledger

1 min. 9 sec.

Zalerri leaves behind eight convictions, three unresolved cases, and eleven missing bodies. The tapes and ledger remain…

Zalerri leaves behind eight convictions, three unresolved cases, and eleven missing bodies. The tapes and ledger remain preserved as evidence of an extraordinary bodiless prosecution. His properties were the last confirmed address each of the eleven tenants ever had.