whole range of names every now and then i'll bring one back from like 20 years ago and use it on my husband and he's like, oh my gosh. >> so yeah, it's like, what do they call you? >> do they have a pet name? >> they call me mom. there's nothing they have. i've never been the recipient of, like a cute pet name. >> there's the challenge. there's the challenge. challenge is coming up with a pet name. that's so fun. >> the happiest of all, valentine's day to all of you. thank you for playing along. you as i'm anna garcia right now on true crime news. they escaped one of the most famous kidnapings of all time. >> i've been kidnaped and i've been missing for ten years. >> three women abducted and kept as sex slaves in a cleveland house of horrors. amanda berry, gina dejesus, and michelle knight. this is michelle today. >> i am lily rose lee. i am known as michelle knight. >> my new conversation with lily

rose lee about her life after breaking free from monster. ariel castro, can you share with us how you went from victim to survivor? plus an evil plot caught on camera. >> take an electric cattle prod if you can get a bull that weighs five tons to move, put it in certain parts of his body. >> kidnaping. torture. but the mastermind isn't a mobster. he's an orthodox rabbi hired to help women who can't get a divorce. >> i don't care what happens to him. >> the undercover fbi sting that brought down the prod father rbi. thanks for joining us. it began with tv news cameras swarming a house in cleveland, ohio, where three women and a girl had pulled off a daring escape after being held in captivity for more than a decade. we're talking, of course, about the cleveland kidnapings at the hands of ariel

castro. today, one of those brave women is talking about life after the nightmare dark secrets revealed from inside this home. >> i like it, and i've been missing for ten years. and i'm here. i'm free now. >> a harrowing 911 call. almost too shocking to believe. three victims held captive in chains. finally freed after being locked in a basement by a monster. >> this man pushes me in a tiny room and he stuffs a really nasty sock in my mouth. >> her words are hard to hear. abducted in broad daylight. forced into a house of horrors. now telling her own story in her own way. >> i would like to fill that hole that's been locked away. so deep in my heart and just release it. >> michelle knight, who legally changed her name to lily rose lee, is talking to true crime news about her journey and why she chose to document her

struggle. >> what i went through made me the strong and powerful woman that i am today. >> incredible words, considering the vile way in which she and two other victims were treated. >> talk to the police when they get there. >> okay. >> thank you. >> hello? >> yeah. talk to the police when they get there. >> okay. are they underway right now? >> as soon as we get a car open. >> no. i need them now before he gets back. >> all right, we're sending them. okay. >> amanda berry bravely making an escape to a neighbor. police photos show the torture, torment and terror inside the house. amanda, along with gina dejesus and michelle knight, all kept locked downstairs in a basement. curtains covering the stairwells bound with rusty chains, at times forced to wear this motorcycle helmet. >> who's the guy who went out? >> his name is ariel castro. >> ariel castro was convicted of

kidnaping and raping the women. he also fathered a child with one of them and later died by suicide in prison. but for lily rose, though deep scars remain, she is documenting her journey. >> looking back at young michelle. now, lily, what do you think of that person? >> i think she can finally let go of the pain and start to heal. >> i'm lily rose lee. i am known as michelle knight, one of the three missing girls from cleveland that was held captive in the house of horrors. >> she says it's her way of healing from the wounds she was forced to suffer. >> how are you feeling? >> nervous. >> why? >> just bringing up the story brings back bad memories.

>> trying to move beyond those bad memories. she says that she is sharing her story so she can help other victims of abuse. letting them know that no matter how dark their lives have become, brighter days are ahead. can you share with us how you went from victim to survivor? >> oh my gosh, that was a hard road. i'm not going to lie, that was very hard. i would say there was a lot of crying, punching pillows, crunching cereal, doing a lot of exercise and zumba. and i, i think what really got me is one day someone asked me, how do you define yourself? and do you let the situations that you went through defined who you are? i said no. i said i defined who i

am. >> lily rose says it's been a lot of work. but despite the difficult journey, she has worked hard to take back control of her life. she is now married. she has lost touch with the other women with whom she was held captive. lily rose is hoping that her healing journey can lead her to reconnect with them, a step she feels that will help her move on from the cruel world. they were forced to live inside these walls. >> it's been an emotional roller coaster and i would say anybody that has ever talked to me always had told me. i always have a way of seeing the brighter things in life. and i do. i try to look positive, i try to look forward, and i try to tell people that what i went through made me the strong and powerful woman that i am today.

and i am so proud of who i become and where i'm at now. >> when we come back, undercover video captures an unholy plot. >> of kidnaping and beating them up and torturing him. >> but you won't believe the mastermind behind the attack. >> my name is brayden. i was five years old when i came to saint jude. i'll try and shorten down the story. so i've been having these headaches that wouldn't go away. my mom, she was just crying. what? they said your son has brain cancer backwards. >> it was your worst fear coming to life. >> watching your child grow up is the dream of every parent. you can join the battle to save the lives of kids like brayden by supporting saint jude children's research hospital.

families never receive a bill from saint jude for treatment, travel, housing or food so they can focus on helping their child live. >> what they have done for me, my son, my family. sorry. yeah. >> life is a gift, especially for a child battling cancer. call or go online and help save the lives of children like brayden. >> now i'm 11 years old. we were actually doing the checkup for my brain, and they. they saw something in my throat. it's thyroid cancer. >> it was heartbreaking to find out that he has cancer again, but we knew who we had behind us. it just gives me hope. >> you can make a difference. join with your credit or debit card for only $19 a month, and we'll send you this saint jude t-shirt. >> without saint jude or its

donors, we would have been in a bad place. >> these kids, they've done nothing wrong in the world. finding a cure for childhood cancer. it means everything. >> help saint jude give kids with cancer a chance. >> on the next true crime news. cycling phenom murdered. dramatic new

many people seek guidance and advice from their spiritual leaders. but in one orthodox jewish community in new york, wives were seeking something else from their rabbi. torture and beatings on their husbands who refused to grant them a divorce. but rabbi mendel epstein has no idea that he is about to be the one feeling the sting of the fbi. >> this is an expensive thing to do. it's not simple. >> you're listening in on the planning of a vicious crime. >> the first problem is the surveillance cameras. it has to be taken where there are no surveillance cameras. >> the victim will be kidnaped, tortured, beaten. >> you do what we tell you, or it's going to get worse. >> and the man in charge thinks he's untouchable. >> the police come. >> yeah.

>> and the cops themselves with the joker in it. >> he had a name that people knew. and if you needed this sort of thing to be done, you knew where to go. >> it's certainly not the first time that new york's been cursed by mob violence, but a current plague of beatdowns and intimidation is festering in a place you wouldn't expect the orthodox jewish community, a society that operates outside the mainstream and lives by its own rules and laws. one of those laws, most controversial to outsiders. an orthodox woman can be granted a divorce only when her husband allows it. she has to convince him to sign a document called a get, releasing her from marital vows. a vindictive husband can use it to make life for his ex-wife miserable. >> without a get. she's a chained woman. she is not allowed in the orthodox

community to date to remarry. if she did, her children would be considered memsahibs, which means basically bastards. >> community pressure or a stern letter from a rabbi will usually get a husband to come around when those tactics don't work. there are other solutions, and they come right out of the bloodiest books of the old testament. it's called a forced get, and it can range from simple scare tactics to heartless violence. and there's one man who can arrange it all for you. >> hello? >> rabbi epstein? >> yes. >> rabbi mendel epstein, a respected religious leader and advocate for women in jewish courts. and he's more than happy to help a client whose sister has a deadbeat husband. >> we're having a very, very difficult time with this man. we're getting a little bit desperate and very frustrated.

>> the good rabbi will provide another service if you know what to ask for. >> frankly. >> we're looking for some options at this point in time. >> i don't think this is a phone conversation. right, am i correct? and you understand what we're talking about is we're going to need some strategic planning, you know, using a nice word. >> but mendel epstein did was when a husband refused to grant his wife a get, he would, in some cases, for tens of thousands of dollars, have that man kidnaped and beaten up until he agreed to give his wife a get. >> first comes a formal sit down in epstein's office. >> i'll go through the process and what we'll do. we could force him to give again. >> but when epstein talks about getting the divorce signed, he sounds less like a rabbi and more like a mob boss. >> it's a kick to the stomach or whatever. or, you know that you bang him out, you know he's down. >> his get process is simple. >> i don't want to use the

secular terms, but what we're doing is basically going to be kidnaping a guy for a couple of hours and beating him up and torturing him, and then getting him to give the get. >> his methods cruel. >> and i understand you're lying with a plastic bag around your head. a minute ago, you were standing in like a normal person. that's right. say 80% of the guys. it's over right there. now you do what we tell you, or it's going to get worse. >> he knows the best way to avoid attracting any nosy cops. >> hopefully wanting to be a mcclung. and basically, the reaction of the police is that the guy does not have a mark on him. you know, i there's some jewish crazy affair here. you know, they don't get involved. >> he also knows how to get what he wants. >> i really want to know. >> i would like to know. >> take an electric cattle prod. if you can get a bull that weighs five tons to move. right. you put it in certain parts of his body, and in one minute the guy will know. and now he's lying on the floor, handcuffed and hooded. we can continue to work on different parts of your

body. so you're not working out again. >> but even with all his goodfellow experience and careful planning, there's one thing the alleged godfather doesn't know. >> thank you, rabbi. >> thank you. >> the woman and her brother are undercover agents for the fbi. and they're about to engineer this man of god's spectacular fall from grace. up next, rabbi epstein thinks he has the perfect plan. >> if the guy gets bloodied in here so i don't have to have carpets cleaned. >> ut things are about to go in a different direction. >> rbi achiuwa. >> today we are talking about medicare part c, commonly called medicare advantage. if you're losing benefits for any reason or new to medicare, you can call now because you may be eligible for plans in your zip code with additional benefits or cost savings you may not be receiving now, or that may have previously not been available to you.

different parts c plans are available in different parts of the country, so don't wait. call the number on your screen now. you should call now even if you've called before. we will check to see if there is a part c plan available in your area, with additional benefits and potential cost savings. call to speak with a licensed insurance agent and find out if you are eligible for a special enrollment period. you don't get medicare part c benefits automatically, so call now for your free 2025 no obligation medicare benefits review. >> just call 809 969 354 (800) 996-9354. >> if there's a true crime you think we should know about, call the true

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gruesome methods rabbi mendel epstein uses to torture husbands into granting a jewish divorce. and prosecutors claim for years he's been getting away with it. >> mendel epstein believed that as long as things were kept within the community, there would not be any repercussions. when people went to the police, the police would just wave it off and say it was some crazy jewish affair. >> in the orthodox jewish community, the practice of allowing a woman out of a marriage is called a get. the prosecutor claims these are pictures of men who got a beating at the hands of epstein's very unorthodox goon squad, husbands who had to be convinced by the prod father to give their wives a divorce to bust him. two fbi agents go undercover with body cameras rolling. >> he knows that i'm now, unfortunately, i'm in my 40s, and he knows how desperately i want children. and he's depriving my mother of his grandchildren. >> the two fbi agents are acting

as brother and sister, trying to arrange a beat down on the woman's husband. >> i don't care what happens to him. >> we don't want to. we've learned on different people how to do this. the first shot you land puts them out. once he's down, he's handcuffed another. >> this kind of brutality does not come cheap. just listen to the price. >> starts at $10,000. the tough guys are probably going to be in the range of 50 or 60. >> now that they've got a deal. rabbi epstein instructs the sister and brother to have her husband show up at a remote warehouse in new jersey on a real estate deal he can't refuse. the plan is to have three other rabbis there, armed with divorce papers and four thugs who will make sure he signs them, even if it's in his own blood, to keep his hands clean. rabbi epstein will be miles away in brooklyn with an ironclad alibi. >> i'm somewhere else. >> i'll be in a public place. if

anything goes on, i'm the first stop. so i've got to be with witnesses. sure. after this is done, they're going to call me up and say mazel tov to me. so i know that it's done. >> but is all this just tough guy talk designed to inflate the rabbi's ego and reputation? consider epstein's final chilling bit of advice. >> let's go through this. he says he's getting out of town. go, adedo. >> yeah. >> don't let him die. i'm very serious. >> yeah, yeah. no. >> be prepared for that. my boys don't care. >> cameras are rolling and the stage is now set for the sting. it's late in the afternoon in edison, new jersey. the industrial park is isolated. the rabbi's gang arrives for the last minute arrangements. >> people dressed in black, people wearing masks, shadowboxing and getting ready and making actual preparations to grab the husband when he arrived and force him by violence to give again. >> listen closely as the undercover fbi agents get the sting started.

>> if the guy gets bloody, do it in here so i don't have to have carpets cleaned. >> now there's no turning back. >> lights out. >> but with lights out, the fbi swat team is. all systems go. >> they came in and they arrested everybody. >> the feds pull the net on eight orthodox henchmen bagging the bad guys in beards, hoodies, even catching one thug in a monster mask. three rabbis armed with parchment ink and quills and the muscle armed with rope, hoods and fists. all of the men are given lengthy jail time, and rabbi mendel epstein is sentenced to ten years in prison for conspiracy to commit kidnaping. >> they were trying to say that this religious activity was protected by the first amendment. and although there are exceptions for religious activities, effectuating violence on others is not one of them. >> at sentencing, epstein tells the judge, quote, i guess i got caught up in my tough guy image.

his attorney says that's all it was. >> rabbi epstein and his family are some of the most loyal, compassionate, smart, caring, community minded individuals i've ever met. he was coming from a position of what is good and what is right and what is noble. and perhaps it went a little bit too far. >> but prosecutors claim the rabbi earned his title as the coonrod father. >> this was a big operation, and it had been operating under the radar for years. mendel epstein had a reputation for this sort of thing. he was known in the community as the rabbi who did things the other way. >> after serving six of his ten ar sentence, rabbi m del epstein was released from prison. we'll be right back. >> attention, medicare beneficiaries. if you have or are eligible for medicaid, please listen closely. you may be eligible for medicare advantage plan from wellcareor .

call. now we can answer your questions and help you enroll over the phone. wellcare provides access to essential benefits that go beyond original medicare, such as dental, vision, hearing, and $0 or low prescription drug co-pays. with free home delivery, free over the counter healthcare items, free fitness benefits, well cares, telehealth services including online doctor visits, a digital, mental health and social support resource, plus extra benefits including the wellcare spendable debit card, which you can use for over-the-counter health items. wellcare is contracted with medicare to provide plans that may be right for you. call (877) 870-2334. now

>> on the next true crime news. cycling phenom shot dead by her lover's envious girlfriend. now true crime news has the dramatic

new video as cops arrive on scene. >> her boyfriend. >> she was with her friend colin. >> and the new interrogation video of the woman scorned. >> we're hearing, like, jealousy stuff going on. i would like to leave. >> before fleeing the country, getting plastic surgery and trying to escape cops again on the next true crime news. become a true crime news insider visit true crime news.com to buy exclusive products that can help safeguard your loved ones. in a world where more than 50% of women admit to fearing the walk home alone, the need for personal safety has never been more urgent. the personal alarm is an innovative, compact, life saving device that fits easily into your hand, attaches to your keys or clips to your bag with the simple push of a button or pull of a pin, bellbird emits a deafening 130 decibel alarm, attracting attention and deterring potential threats. the built in flashlight ensures visibility when needed most.

scan the qr code or visit true crime news.com to get these products now. for the latest breaking crime news go to true crime news.com. watch more exclusive content on our youtube channel, listen to our podcast and follow us at my true crime news. that's it for today's true crime news i'm anna garci see you next time, e ryone. (tense music) - [nancy] a young mother ringing in the new year became the victim of a rage-fueled crime of passion. - she'd been out reveling since it was new year's. - [nancy] detectives believed shortly after, she had crossed paths with her killer. - [daniel] and then came across this individual that then made her last moments a hell. - they found her purse about a mile away. there were exes that were looked at. - they had just broken up. it was a pretty volatile relationship. - the impact on her family was pretty seismic. the aftershocks of it were just, it was a nightmare. - [nancy] her killer had been filled with rage.