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Natalie Robomet

Appearances

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Brittany had been at Lululemon only for a little while, but Bethesda was actually the second store she'd worked in. As Isla mentioned, Brittany had been at the Georgetown store. She got let go from it for a reason Isla found a bit confusing.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Basically, during the holidays, Lululemon ran a special sale for employees called Shop Night, where workers could buy clothes at 70% off, an even bigger discount than usual. Lululemon employees were only allowed to buy $1,000 worth of clothes, but Britney bought more than $2,000 worth. It caused conflict between her and her manager, and Brittany was actually fired.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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But after launching an internal investigation, Lululemon Corporate overturned the decision, and Brittany was relocated to Bethesda's store around January 2011, where things seemed to be going swimmingly, according to Isla.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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The day of the attack, Isla actually hung out with Brittany that morning.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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So the police also brought in Rachel, another educator working there the day of the attack. How long have you worked for Lululemon?

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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So a couple personal items had gone missing, but Rachel says it was nothing crazy.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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So this specific Friday, when Rachel left for the day, this is what she remembers.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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They both seemed fine. But apparently, after Rachel left, something happened that made everything not fine. Remember the bag checks where employees who are closing have to look in each other's bags? Isla explained it.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Well, apparently... When Jaina went to bag check Brittany that night, she found something. Jaina called another employee to ask about it. Here's that employee now.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Apparently, Brittany had said that this employee had rung her up.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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A different Rachel. The store manager. The woman who would find Jaina dead the next morning. State's attorney John McCarthy again.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Remember the size 14 men's shoes, the display ones that had been used for hemming, with that distinctive waffle print that had tracked blood around the store? Well, the footprints from the shoes never left the store.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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And police began to wonder, what if there hadn't been anyone else there at all? What if Britney had put the display shoes on to make it look like there'd been a man there? It would explain why Jaina had been killed, but the attackers had left Britney alive. And it would explain why the Apple employees had heard only women's voices. The problem? It didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Just because someone gets caught stealing, that doesn't mean they kill the person who caught them. And what happened to Jaina was horrific. When medical examiners carried out an autopsy, they counted more than 331 wounds made with over five different weapons. The back of Jaina's head had 13 different fractures.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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There was just no way that Brittany, this friendly, charming athlete who was all into athleisure clothes, could do something like this. Was there? Next time on Infamous.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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This week, we pick up the story with those detectives as they try to figure out just who did this. This is Murder at Lululemon, part two. So Brittany didn't make it seem like the guy you heard from at the beginning of this episode had something to do with the crime. She told police that she and Jaina were attacked by two men she didn't recognize.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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They were dressed all in black and wearing ski masks. One of them was about six feet tall. The other was closer to Brittany's height, five foot three. She said they sounded as if they were white. Now, this case was popping off in the media, so police were very motivated to find the assailants and quick. They get to work, hunting down any clues they can find, starting with surveillance tapes.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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The Lululemon store didn't have interior cameras, so they can't see exactly what happened inside. But the Apple store next door does have a bunch of security cameras. And one of them points right at the parking lot outside the store. Police secure the tape from Friday, March 11th, the night of the crime. One of the lead detectives on the case is eager to find out what it reveals.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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So he goes home, pops the DVD into his computer, and scrolls to 10 p.m. I can just imagine him squinting at the screen in the dark, looking for anyone who matched the descriptions Brittany had provided. At first, he doesn't see much, just average shoppers in light-colored clothes. But then, just after 11 p.m.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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That's state's attorney John McCarthy again, the chief prosecutor for the county. He's describing what police found on the CCTV tape.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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One about six feet tall, the other shorter. Both dressed in black and wearing beanies that looked like they could have been ski masks if they were to be pulled down over their faces. Investigators spring into action.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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They start questioning them. The two men are nervous and can only speak broken English. And these men say they have a perfectly good reason to be in that footage. They work in a restaurant in that shopping center.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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To be sure, one of the investigators went down to the restaurant. Other restaurant employees confirmed the men's stories. They couldn't have been leaving the scene of a murder. They'd just finished their shift. So the security footage lead was a dead end. But police also had tons of tips coming in. The reward for information was more than $100,000.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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This is audio of the two detectives who are investigating the case.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Most of these tips don't go anywhere, but a lot of people are calling about a man named Keith Lockett. He's a tall, black, homeless man known for being a drinker. Investigators are skeptical. This is mostly wealthy, mostly white Bethesda, and when people get scared, their prejudices quickly start to show.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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But some of the coolers say they've noticed Keith hanging out with a short guy and that he hasn't been seen at his usual location since the murder. And when detectives look into him, they find a colorful rap sheet spanning back years. Cocaine possession, assault and battery, robbery, the list goes on.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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So even though they think it's a long shot, they start looking for Keith and they find him six miles away at a hospital with bloody clothes and a swollen eye. Now, Keith says that the reason his eye is swollen was that a man had punched him the night before. But he can't seem to keep the details straight about who that man was, how the fight started, or where it even happened.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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As the detectives interview him, Keith becomes increasingly agitated. He keeps saying that he's schizophrenic and needs medication. And detectives start to wonder, was he unstable enough to have committed this grisly crime?

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Then there was the issue of Jaina's car. Jaina had actually driven to work that day, so when Brittany called her, telling her she needed to go back to get her wallet, Jaina drove back to meet her. So you'd expect that Jaina would park right outside the store. But her car wasn't there.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Local police had seen Jaina's car in the parking lot the night of the murder and they'd seen someone in it. When detectives get to the car, they discover something else.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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There was some blood in Jaina's car. Had the killers taken Jaina's keys, planning to steal it, but then just abandoned it a few blocks away? It didn't make much sense. And there was one more clue investigators uncovered.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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So, Jaina had impeccable credentials, with her exceptional education and master's degrees. She didn't need to sell Lululemon clothes to make ends meet. She was at the store because she was inspired by their corporate ethos, had even studied it. And Brittany, with her college education and Division I soccer career, had pretty impeccable credentials too.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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She dated professional men, not just the guy you heard at the start of the episode, but a dentist and even a guy in the Secret Service. Brittany had come to Lululemon after working at a DC high-tier hotel, where she had said she'd work directly with VIPs, like the Jonas Brothers, to make sure their suites were exactly to their liking.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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She was actually hoping that working at Lululemon would help her get to her next goal in life, to be an Equinox trainer. And now two Apple employees are saying that on Friday night, when Britney said that two men had been yelling and laughing as they carried out this horrible attack, they hadn't heard any men in the store.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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Instead, they said they'd heard what sounded like an argument between two women. This is interesting to detectives, especially now that the Keith lead felt like it was drying up. They'd collected his DNA to send to the crime lab, but they weren't optimistic. So they start talking to Lululemon employees, looking for new clues.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon I Part 2

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She worked the early morning shift the Friday of the attack, and she knew both Jaina and Brittany well.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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So Jaina is this go-getter. She was actually about to move to the Pacific Northwest to be with her boyfriend. And then this horrible tragedy occurs. So what about the other victims?

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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So these two athletes, Jaina and Brittany, were the women inside the store. The women who had been brutally attacked. Jetzt möchte ich einen Moment auswählen und ein bisschen mehr generell über Fitness und ihre Rolle in unseren Leben sprechen. Speziell die Art von Boutique-Fitness-Klassen und Luxury-Gyms, die Lululemon dich ausführt.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Die, die in den 2010ern wilder populär geworden sind, wie SoulCycle, CrossFit und Equinox. Diese teuren, kultistischen Workouts, die nicht nur ein Weg sind, dein Körper zu bewegen, sondern eine Lebensweise, eine Marke, die kommt, um deine Identität zu definieren. Ich glaube nicht, dass es eine Überraschung ist, dass die Amerikaner sich von organisierter Religion entfernt haben.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Das hat mit dem Wachstum dieser Identitären Fitnessregime zusammengefasst. Und es gibt etwas Religioses an ihnen, denke ich. Die dünn gelassenen Klamotten bei SoulCycle, die furchtbare Verzweiflung von Crossfit-Liften, die hohen Türen und zigzige Atriums von Equinox, diese modernistische Architektur, gebaut, um Angst zu inspirieren und dich klein zu machen, als würdest du in einer Kathedrale sein.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Und die Lululemon-Store sind eines dieser heiligen Räume. Du bist wahrscheinlich in einer, oder am wenigsten hast du sie gesehen. Sie sehen wunderschön aus. Spaltlicht-Tabeln, gefälschte Mannequins, die in ihren berühmten, streckigen Yoga-Panzen gekleidet sind, schöne kleine Kuppelhäuser, die mit gerollten Yoga-Matten vorbeigelegt sind. Es ist hochwertig und tieflich aspirativ.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Ein Ort, um Kleidung zu kaufen, das versprochen hat, dich eine bessere Person zu machen. Dieser Lululemon-Store in Bethesda war nicht anders. Hinter der Kante standen rote Shopping-Tüten mit Sagen auf sie, wie die heutigen Vorgaben. Dinge wie, atme tief und genieße den Moment. Erfolgspflichtige Leute verwendeten die Worte wünsche, sollte und versuche mit, ich werde.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Dieser Umfeld machte die schreckliche Szene, die die Polizei in Lululemon entdeckt hat, immer mehr zerstörerisch, sogar heilig. We got a hold of a video from the actual crime scene. At first, the store looks normal. Everything seems to be in its right place. But then you notice a mannequin is lying on the floor. It's got black bike shorts on and a striped shirt.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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And there looks to be a bloody shoe print near it. Und in the back of the store, behind a purple door, they find Jaina. Die George-Washington-Gradin mit mehreren Master-Klassen. Sie ist bereits tot. Seine Haare sind geschliffen und geschliffen. Es gibt einen großen offenen Cut auf der Rückseite ihres Herzens. Eine Rippe liegt unter ihrem Nacken.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Die Rückseite ihres Pants sieht aus, als ob sie zerbrochen oder geschliffen worden sind. Im Bad finden sie Brittany, den starken Athleten, der schon mal Kunden zu Push-Up-Kontesten gefordert hat. Sie ist auf dem Boden, aber sie ist noch lebendig. Sie hat Kratzer über ihrem Gesicht und sie weint.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Sie trägt weiße Fußgängersocken, die in Blutstöhnen verkleidet sind, und schwarze Yoga-Panzen, die sich auf dem Kratzer öffnen. Plastische Zip-Tüten verbinden ihre Ankeile und Rüste. Eine grüne Shirt ist um ihren Nacken geworfen. Es ist mit dem Satz geprintet, setz deine Ziele. Die Leben sind zu kurz für den Treppen. Geh raus und renn. Die Beige-Bathroom-Türen sind in Blutstöhnen gesmehrt.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Im Video sieht man drei weiße Blumen, die auf dem Boden gestoßen wurden. Sie sind Ivory-Petale, die von den grünen Strähnen ausgeschnitten wurden. Außerhalb des Bathrooms ist ein roter Lululemon-Kotthänger, eine Schnauze von Windex, Papier-Türen und eine Buddha-Statue. Einer dieser kleinen, ca. 10 cm langen. Die Buddha wurde überknockt.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Brittany doesn't look like she's in good shape at all, so she gets rushed to the hospital. When she's there, she's stable enough to talk. She's freaked out, but she's coherent. So an investigator sits down with her, a woman, and Brittany starts talking to her.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Sie haben den Store zusammen geschlossen, was bedeutet, dass sie die Rechte ausgeschlossen haben, die Lichter ausgeschlossen haben und dann, bevor sie weg waren, haben sie alle in der anderen Tasche gespeichert, um sicherzustellen, dass es keine stickigen Finger gab, dass keine Items gekauft wurden.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Diese wurden als Tasche-Schecke genannt und es war der Weg, wie Lululemon die Storchen jeden Abend geschlossen hat, egal wo in Amerika sie waren.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Es gab auch andere Vorteile, z.B. dass die Mitarbeiter mit Geld auf Yoga- und Fitnessklassen bezahlt wurden. Aber es gab auch ein paar Lululemon-Praktiken, die nur etwas seltsam waren. Ich spreche nicht von den intensiven Lululemon-Fans, wie zum Beispiel der Frau, die ihren öffentlichen Job verabschiedet hat, um dort zu arbeiten.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Next time on Infamous.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Ich spreche von den seltsamen persönlichen Dingen, die die Firma ihren Mitarbeitern gemacht hat. Like, Lululemon was really big on helping employees set goals and achieve them.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Too personal, I'm sure, for a lot of people. But for Kat, who was so young and so new to the city, it was actually pretty helpful.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Es war diabolisch.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Von Sony Musik Entertainment und Campside Media bin ich Nathalie Robomet.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Nun, vielleicht kannst du es von dem Titel hören, aber diese Geschichte ist ein bisschen mehr traditioneller wahrer Kriminalität, als wir es normalerweise bezeichnen. Aber es ist auch viel mehr als ein sehnsüchtiger Mord. Es bringt so viele verschlossene Worte dazu, was es bedeutet, in Amerika im Jahr 2010 zu sein, welches die Ära ist, die wir bezeichnen werden.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Es geht um Frauenheit, darum, wie Brands und Fitness-Fads und Fashion-Label die Anhaltspunkte unserer Leben geworden sind, quasi ein Moralsystem für uns zu erschaffen. Und die Gründe, warum wir diese Moralsysteme brechen, warum wir die schlimmsten Dinge als Menschen tun. Für diese Geschichte haben wir auch das Gerichtshof angerufen, um die Files und Gerichtsdokumente der Polizei aufzuholen.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Es gab so viel, dass sie uns einen Lippenabschluss gemailt haben, aber es wurde zurückgegeben. Also haben wir die Schwester eines unserer Kollegen nach DC gesendet. Long story short, haben wir schlussendlich unsere Hände auf eine Menge Files, einige davon sind noch nie veröffentlicht worden, so ihr werdet viele dieser Insider-Taperecordings über die nächsten paar Episoden hören.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Mit dem habe ich es Vanessa übergeben.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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The first employee, Rachel, arrives. She's wearing orange sneakers. She's the manager of this particular Lululemon, and she's arrived to open it for the day, as she's done on so many other days. But almost immediately, right when she approaches, she can tell something is wrong.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Er stimmt. Nach dem Buch von Dan Morse, The Yoga-Store-Murder, gehen die beiden in Lululemon zusammen. Innerlich scheint alles normal zu sein zu Beginn. Racks von leckeren, knusprigen Kleidungen, viele inspirierende Sagen auf den Kappen und ein Schalkbord auf der Wand. Heute sagt es, dass wir alle gleich glücklich und glücklich sind. But then he notices something. Stains on the floor.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Small at first. But as he walks deeper inside, he sees more and more. It's blood. Some of it pooling beneath a purple door. He pushes the door open. Und was er im Inneren sieht, schickt ihn zurück in den Storefront.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Ein Ort, der mit einem fast religiösen Sinn und Zufriedenheit verbunden ist. Und jetzt liegen zwei weibliche Körper auf dem Boden. Die Szene ist voller Chaos. Das ist eine Umgebung, die sich nicht an gewaltige Verbrechen befindet. Die Gruppen beginnen zu sammeln. Die Geräusche verbreiten sich.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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In der Zwischenzeit, bei einem nahen Diner, ist Staatsanwalt John McCarthy, der Hauptprosekutor für die ganze Stadt von fast einem Millionen Menschen, ein ruhiges Frühstück genutzt.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Das machte es eines der größten, seltsamen und berühmtesten Töne, die er in seiner jahrzehntelangen Karriere gesehen hat.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Kat arbeitete bei Lululemon auf einer schönen Straße in Soho, in New York.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 1

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Sie hat von George Washington University begonnen mit einem Degree in Business and Marketing und war sowohl ein Outdoorer als auch jemand in der Corporate Life. Als Kind hat sie sich mit ihrem Vater zu Boy Scout Campouts eingeladen. She took dance lessons. She was fluent in Spanish. She was very athletic.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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She says she found a gun left on her bed with the safety catch off. A provocation. A threat. Then, one afternoon, Haya and the kids were at home in their Dubai palace when one of the sheikh's helicopters unexpectedly touched down in the yard. The passengers, a pilot and a few security guards, allegedly climbed out. One said he had come to take a passenger to al-Awir, a prison in the desert.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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There have been more photos, more meetings with UN representatives, but questions remain. Despite all of the attention Latifa's escape received, no one has been brought to justice for attacking the boat near India, or for the treatment Tina and the rest of the crew say they received. Latifa's sister Shamsa, the one who ran away back in 2000, has still not been seen in public for decades.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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And the thing is, there are so many more strange cases involving Emirati royals. Cases that have never really gotten any attention. For one, Sheikh Mohammed has another ex-wife who claims he kept her from her child. Randa Albana, a Lebanese woman who married him in the 70s, told the Sunday Times she hasn't been allowed to see their daughter since she demanded a divorce nearly 50 years ago.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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Then there's Sheikh Mohammed's brother, the late Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Back in 2000, the same year Shamsa was allegedly abducted, her cousins, Maktoum's kids, were also living in England. They were in this giant rooftop apartment in the fancy London neighborhood of Knightsbridge, when all of a sudden, four Emirati bodyguards allegedly swooped in and escorted them away.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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Their nanny called the British police. She thought they'd been kidnapped. In the press at the time, the incident was chalked up to a disagreement between the Sheikh and his wife over where their kids should go to school. He wanted them to return to Dubai, while she wanted them to study in London. But it all sounds eerily similar to Shamsa, her abduction, and her desire to study abroad.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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And sadly, this alleged treatment isn't a thing of the past. We are hostages in our home. As recently as October 2022, Sheikh Mohammed's nephew's ex-wife alleged that she faced abuse, harassment, and intimidation during a bitter custody battle. My children and I are terrified and frightened for our lives. It seems like the same thing just keeps happening over and over.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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I mean, Latifah is just out there, supposedly doing okay, but we don't really know. It's almost like the world isn't watching this situation. Or doesn't care. And maybe that shouldn't be surprising. Because this is a story about women seeking their freedom. Arab women, specifically.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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A demographic the world likes to use as a symbol of oppression when convenient, rather than humanize with the depth reserved for other people. And in America, we like to think that we're better than all that. That we really are free. But freedom means something different to everyone. And we definitely don't all have it. For some, it's the right to work. For others, it's the ability to have guns.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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Of course, it doesn't help that the people alleged to have done wrong in this story are incredibly powerful and incredibly rich. People in my life were even worried about me being involved in this series. That I might disappear the next time I visit Dubai. Just be hauled off at passport control and never seen again. Or that something might happen to my family.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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Thinking about all this, it's hard not to hear Latifa's voice in my head from that original 2018 video.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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Then, Haya claims, a guard said to her son,

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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Haya's son clutched her leg. She assured him the men were only joking. But she later says she thought if Zayed were not there, they would have taken her. In fact, one of the guards in this very same helicopter had allegedly abducted Shamsa from England way back in 2000. Sheikh Mohammed claimed the helicopter landed in the yard by mistake. But Haya felt that she and her children were in danger.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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And what was she going to do about that? Run. From Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment, this is Infamous.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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We also learned about Haya's affair and Sheikh Mohammed's apparent anger about that affair.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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So a while ago, we talked about how in the UAE, some wives can practically be their husband's property, but they can also quickly become not their property.

Infamous

Encore: Dubai's Missing Princesses I Part 4

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Now, we don't know for sure if this is what Sheikh Mohammed did with Haya, but under Sharia law, that's all you need to say to divorce your wife. And on February 7th, 2019, without Haya knowing about it, he ended their marriage. It may have been a deliberate date. It was the anniversary of her father's death. And after that, according to Haya, things got really scary.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 3

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They made her move Jaina's car? Why is Brittany offering up this information? I mean, if she really can explain this, maybe all the other puzzle pieces will fall into place. Maybe she's innocent after all.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 3

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Maybe not. Because Britney's saying she saw a cop. Probably that patrol officer who'd seen someone behind the wheel the night of the murder. And she didn't flag him down. The cops have heard enough. They're ready to confront Britney. From Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media, this is Infamous. I'm Natalie Robomad. And I'm Vanessa Grigoriadis.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 3

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This episode, detectives zero in on their prime suspect. This is Murder at Lululemon, Part 3. So in the span of a week, Brittany has gone from victim to prime suspect. Maybe she'd been caught stealing, and in her panic, she'd killed Jaina, and then tried to cover her tracks.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 3

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State's attorney John McCarthy again, the chief prosecutor for the county.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 3

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So police have a new suspect, Brittany. Maybe, they think, Jaina had caught her shoplifting and Brittany lured Jaina back to the store and killed her. But it was just so unbelievable, and it didn't answer a lot of questions. Like, for example, remember how they found Jaina's car a few blocks away from the store?

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 3

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Detectives started digging into Brittany's past. They soon found out the cropped pants incident wasn't the first time that Brittany had allegedly been caught stealing, not by a long shot. According to Dan Morse's book, The Yoga Store Murder, back when Brittany was young, she seemed to have a habit of sticky fingers.

Infamous

Murder at Lululemon | Part 3

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For example, when her sister babysat for a neighbor, that neighbor said that whenever Brittany would accompany her, stuff would go missing from the house. Just little things, coins from the change jar or pieces of cheap costume jewelry. Later, when Brittany started playing varsity soccer in high school, she made friends with her teammates. And one of Brittany's friends' wallets kept going missing.

Infamous

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The teammates suspected Brittany. When they confronted her, they said she broke down and admitted it. Brittany's really fun to hang with, they would say. But be careful. She steals and she lies. Then, when she got into college on a soccer scholarship, there were allegedly more instances of thieving. Enough of her teammates raised concerns to the coach and she was off the team.

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which was devastating, not just because she loved soccer, but because she also lost her scholarship. By the fall of 2004, Brittany dropped out, just a handful of credits shy of graduating. She moves to DC after school and troubles continue. In 2006, she gets into a relationship with a dentist and ends up getting a job in his practice as an office manager.

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But they break up, she leaves the job, and a while later, he alleges that she breaks into his house and steals stuff from his new girlfriend. A Lacoste polo shirt, a pair of diamond earrings, a bottle of Vera Wang perfume. The ex files a restraining order against Brittany. Brittany agrees not to go near him for a year. After that, Brittany's roommate accuses her of stealing, too.

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And her sister does. It just doesn't seem to stop. Brittany bounces between jobs and relationships. And apparently, she was also looking for creative ways to make ends meet. At one point, she browsed Craigslist for potential sugar daddies. She texted one of the advertisements and began a correspondence with the prospective benefactor.

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The two made plans to meet up and Brittany wrote, I don't have any hidden agendas. I'm just a younger woman with goals slash dreams and could use financial assistance. But she also seemed to be trying to get her life together. She was going to exercise classes all the time and working towards a new career in fitness.

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Brittany felt like she really fit in.

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A patrolman had seen someone sitting behind the wheel after midnight, after the murder had taken place. Had that person been Brittany? And if so, why would she get into Jaina's car? Before detectives can even figure out their next move, they get a call from Chris, Brittany's brother. He says that apparently Brittany has something important to tell them, something she'd forgotten to say earlier.

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Actually, two days before the murder, the store's management team had brought up the missing things at a regular meeting. They'd noticed that Britney had worked all the shifts where things disappeared. $10 here, a bottle of perfume there. And the reason why Britney left the Bethesda store came up as well. Dana was at that meeting and heard everything.

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The night of the murder, after she talked to Brittany about the crops, she called the same coworker and said something along the lines of, I caught her.

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So Brittany, her sister Marissa, and her brother Chris all head to the station. Chris and Marissa wait outside, and Brittany sits down in the interrogation room with two detectives. What you're about to hear is tape from that conversation.

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Tina and her associates managed to smuggle a cell phone to Latifa and Latifa started sending them video messages. The situation is very hard. In one, Latifa sat in the corner of a bathroom wearing a dark shirt. She brought up Mary Robinson's visit and told the story, but from her side.

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Latifa's supporters kept reaching out to human rights organizations for help, but they hadn't heard much since Mary Robinson's visit.

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So far, Princess Haya had believed Sheikh Mohammed when it came to Latifa. Observers thought Haya may have been either a knowing participant in the campaign against Latifa or porn. But that was all about to change because a fissure in Sheikh Mohammed and Haya's relationship turned into a chasm. At the end of December 2018, Sheikh Mohammed published a poem. It was called The Morality of a Knight.

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One of our producers, Rajiv, is going to read it.

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The Sheikh seemed angry with someone.

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Now, Sheikh Mohammed has written a lot of poetry. In the Arab world, it's not super weird for a royal to write poetry. It's like a president releasing a memoir or giving a commencement speech after being in office. It's just something people do. And most of his poems are about horses, his nation, pretty innocuous, universal topics. But these weren't innocuous.

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To me, they seem pointed, venomous even. Here's another from a few months later.

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But Sheikh Mohammed seemed like he wasn't mad at Latifa or even Shamsa. These poems appear to have been directed at Haya, his beloved modern Jordanian wife. Why was he allegedly mad at Haya? It all had to do with a certain employee of hers, Remember how Latifa made friends with Tina, the Caprera instructor? Well, Haya made friends with one of her own employees, her hunky British bodyguard.

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And starting around 2017 or 18, he became more than a friend. Right around when all the international drama with Latifa was going on, Princess Haya was apparently having an affair with one of the men who was supposed to protect her. Not unlike Princess Diana, who allegedly slept with her own bodyguard. Now, let's just remember that Sheikh Mohammed was legally married to two women at this point.

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I'm not saying that cheating is okay, but an eye for an eye and all that? Regardless, Sheikh Mohammed's reaction became out of proportion to the affront, and the messages only got darker over the next few months. In one phone conversation, Sheikh Mo allegedly told Haya, I have received bad news about you.

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Haya hung up, terrified. Haya says a number of her trusted staff members were dismissed and replaced with people loyal to Sheikh Mohammed. She probably felt like, all of a sudden, even the walls had eyes. And then, anonymous notes allegedly began appearing in her house.

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By the way, we sent a detailed list of questions to Sheikh Mohammed's attorney about everything you're hearing in this episode. He didn't return our request for comment. And that wasn't all. While their seven-year-old son Zayed was on a trip, Mohammed allegedly phoned Haya and said, He is a desert boy.

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According to Haya, Mohammed didn't try to hide his disdain for her in front of their kids either. During one visit, he allegedly said to his son, Zaya, do we need a mama?

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By March 2019, Haya says her desk at the ruler's court had been removed. To Haya, it was a public slap in the face, an indication she no longer had any power. Maybe Haya finally realized what Sheikh Mohammed was capable of. Or maybe her own desire for freedom suddenly aligned with Latifa's cause. Whatever it was, Haya was about to pick up the baton Latifa had placed down.

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But only one of them would escape for good.

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Right. And she recorded that video that would go viral, the one that Louise watched in a cafe in Beirut.

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Spring has sprung and I am dying to get out of town. I'm actually going away this weekend with some friends, and I recently bought my partner a new Quince carry-on that I might just be borrowing for this trip.

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This year, I'm treating myself to the luxe upgrades I deserve with Quince's high-quality travel essentials at fair prices, like lightweight European linen styles from $30, washable silk tops, and comfy lounge sets, with premium luggage options and stylish tote bags to carry it all. The best part? All Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands.

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For your next trip, treat yourself to the luxe upgrades you deserve from Quince. Go to quince.com slash infamous for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order. That's q-u-i-n-c-e dot com slash infamous to get free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com slash infamous

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So Haya told a court she only became aware of Latifa's disappearance when the rest of the world did in March 2018. Initially, she thought Sheikh Mohammed couldn't possibly be responsible for the forcible return of his daughter. Haya and Sheikh Mohammed had a son and a daughter of their own. He often doted on them, especially their daughter Jalila, who seemed to be Mohammed's favorite.

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Haya says she asked her husband about Latifa's video. She says he told her that Latifa was bipolar and unstable. Mental illness is even more stigmatized in the Arab world than in the West. So dubbing Latifa as bipolar effectively painted her as persona non grata. Princess Haya says she felt sympathy for both Latifa and Sheikh Mohammed. But she was basically not involved. Until December 2018.

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This BBC documentary was a major news event. Latifa's story was not going away. Dubai's ruler was forced to publicly respond.

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The very same day, a United Nations committee made another request that Dubai prove Latifa was alive. Princess Haya sprang into action. Haya called her friend, Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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On December 15th, 2018, Mary Robinson says she went to one of Haya's residences for lunch. Mary sat down with Latifa and a couple others. An array of fruit plates and Evian bottles lay before them on a table. They looked at each other, warily, chatting.

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This lunch with Mary Robinson was supposed to assuage concerns. But the whole thing just looked off. Robinson was dressed for a stately lunch, a white collared shirt under a tailored peach jacket, pearl earrings. Latifah was dressed in a hoodie, zipped all the way up.

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Weeks after the lunch, Mary Robinson gave a public interview.

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Princess Haya had to respond. And she did so on a top Irish radio station, RTE Radio 1.

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Haya made it clear that she'd acted of her own volition.

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Any time the interviewer pressed her on Latifa's disappearance and the BBC documentary's reporting, Haya said the same thing.

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She pushed Mohammed's narrative. that Latifa's escape had been a kidnapping.

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And she implicitly denied all of Latifa's allegations from her video.

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But it wouldn't be long before Latifa's version emerged. That's after the break.

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As the Mary Robinson episode played out, Tina Jauhiainen looked on in horror. After Tina got out of jail in the UAE, she started working with others on a campaign they dubbed hashtag free Latifa. But she hadn't been able to get back in touch with Latifa. In fact, no one had heard from her in months. Then Tina was in Finland, sitting with her brother, when she got an odd message.

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This was a total stranger. The person said Tina would need to answer a series of security questions before they would give her the note.

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Finally, Tina received a picture of a letter Latifa had written to her.

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Louise watched, glued to her screen.

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Before turning off the recording, Latifa had a final message for her father.

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Look, when Shamsa escaped, it was so long ago, turn of the 21st century. Cell phones with cameras weren't readily available. The internet was in its infancy. There was no Twitter or Facebook. Not that many people even heard what happened with Shamsa. But this time would be different. More after the break.

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So that video that Latifah made, it went viral. It made news across the world.

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Soon, a UN committee demanded something. They wanted Dubai to prove that Latifa was alive. And some of Latifa's skydiving friends even flew a banner over the 2018 Kentucky Derby. It said, Dubai, where is Princess Latifa? Now, Tina and the rest of the crew members were released from jail, but Latifa hadn't been heard from. The whole situation was really confusing.

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Many in the Arab world couldn't believe that the Sheikh would treat his own daughter with such apparent cruelty. And it didn't help that rumors started circulating about the captain of the yacht, Herve Jobert.

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In May 2018, the Delhi Beast ran an article that claimed that Latifa's escape was a highly orchestrated extortion plot between Latifa and Joubert. The story is only on the record source, Hervé's ex-wife.

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By the way, this has never been proven, and Joubert denied all the allegations in the article. And to us, this is what he said. Why would you give credit to a former bitter ex-wife who knew nothing about this operation? This ransom demand has been refuted in high court already, and it does not make sense. Latifa did not want to go back. So ransom? For what? For her to be returned? Nonsense.

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Louise remembers there were so many different stories swirling.

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But Sheikh Mo, through the whole ordeal, was silent. And remember, he didn't respond to our questions either.

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But Sheikh Mo wouldn't stay silent forever. Or, at least, an emissary of his would speak out. And then, this story would take an even stranger turn. next week on Infamous. Infamous is created and executive produced by Gabriel Sherman and me, Vanessa Grigoriadis. This episode was co-hosted by Natalie Robomed, who wrote it with Heather Schroering.

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Producing by Heather Schroering, Natalia Winkelmann, Lily Houston Smith, and Grace Heerman. Princess Latifah and Sheikh Mohammed did not comment for this series. Shoshi Shmulevitz is our managing producer and editor. Sound design by David Devereaux. Recording by Ewen Lai Tramuen. And fact-checking by Matt Giles. Voices by Rajiv Gola and Lily Houston-Smith.

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Campside Media's executive producers are Josh Dean, Adam Hoff, Matt Scher, and myself. Campside Media's operations team is Doug Slawin, Ashley Warren, and Destiny Dingle. If you're enjoying Infamous, please rate and review the show. It helps us more than you know.

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I'm Vanessa Grigoriadis. And I'm Natalie Robamed. This is Dubai's Missing Princesses, Episode 2. So last episode, we heard all about Princess Latifah and her sister Shamsa, who had tried to run away years before Latifah.

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Yeah, it does seem that way. And now we're going to hear exactly how Latifa escaped. And it's mostly from Tina's perspective. We'll hear what happened after she ran away. So it all began in February 2018 at a cafe in Dubai called La Serre. It's in downtown Dubai, spitting distance from the tallest building in the world. Early one morning, a royal driver drops Latifa and Tina off for breakfast.

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I can picture the scene around them. Women with designer handbags, sipping lattes. Men in their traditional white robes, dish dashes in Arabic. They're chatting over espressos. First, Latifa strode to the bathroom. She took off her black abaya, applied makeup, and put on sunglasses. As they departed, Latifa left her cell phone behind. She and Tina headed to Muscat, the coastal capital of Oman.

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It's about a four and a half hour drive. On the way, they took some selfies. Then they pulled into the beach. There was a dinghy there that had been waiting for them, and they climbed in. Tina's friend and a personal trainer, he drove the dinghy. They went out about 15 miles into the turquoise sea. Joubert was there. He was waiting with a pair of jet skis.

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Several miles later, they reached a yacht that Joubert was piloting. It was named the Nostromo. That's Italian for shipmate, and it's a very popular name for boats. It's also the name of the spaceship in the movie Alien.

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This Nostromo was a white yacht with a navy blue hull and two large masts. Not quite the super yacht that Latifa's father owns. Latifah climbed on board. She was determined to make it out this time. She was not going to be like Shamsa. She was going to get to safety. And her plan?

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She was going to the grand city on a hill, the place of freedom, the place where Natalie and I both live, the United States. So they set out across the Arabian Sea. They watched movies, sent messages to friends. But were those messages secure? By now, Latifah knew her father would have discovered she was gone, and she worried about what he might do.

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She got even more worried when they lost touch with the guy who piloted the dinghy. So Latifah sent a very important message, one that might save her life. That's after the break.

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So Latifa and Tina were on this boat on their way to America, but sailing towards India. But they weren't alone.

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It turned out that Sheikh Mo's office had reportedly gotten in touch with an FBI agent at the U.S. consulate in Dubai. According to USA Today, he asked for their help in locating Latifa. He told them the princess had been kidnapped and she needed urgent assistance. So this FBI agent pulled data from the boat's internet provider and they gave it to Dubai officials.

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At this time, the UAE government was also believed to be a client of the NSO Group, a cyber intelligence technology firm and creators of a spyware tool called Pegasus, which can secretly hack and extract data from people's phones. At this point, Latifa and Tina were off the coast of Goa. That's a resort town in India that's very popular with young people, full of dance clubs.

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This whole life that Latifa wanted was almost there to touch. But for now, Tina and Latifa were still below deck in their room. Then they heard a noise.

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The cabin began filling with smoke, and they could barely see anything. They struggled up the stairs to the deck.

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These men were from the Indian Special Forces. One of them boarded the boat, tied Tina's hands behind her back, and dragged her to the deck. The men kept shouting, asking who Latifa was, and Latifa just kept repeating, over and over, I am seeking political asylum. I am seeking political asylum. But the men just dragged her away, kicking and screaming. Tina heard her say something.

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Tina watched on in fear as Latifa was carried away by the men. Guards looted the boat, taking electronics and even Tina's makeup.

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Tina was left on the Nostromo with the crew and the guy who had coordinated this entire escape, Hervé Jobert. Jobert, by the way, responded to some questions from us, but declined to be interviewed for this series. At some point, Tina says she noticed there were UAE soldiers on the boat. It seemed to her that India was allowing them to be here, just turning a blind eye.

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An Indian news outlet even reported that Sheikh Mo had called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the situation. The two countries had a relationship. I mean, India had many, many citizens working in Dubai, building all those huge skyscrapers. Tina says that the UAE soldiers had access to two large helicopters. And now Latifah was getting hustled away.

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The helicopters disappeared into the air. The Nostromo began to move. Once the boat reached the UAE, Tina says she and the rest of the crew were blindfolded, cuffed, and transported to the middle of the desert. There was a secret prison there. The interrogation began immediately.

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As the men pressed Tina, she had the sense that these men thought it was all a plot. She was somehow involved in kidnapping Latifa to extort money from Sheikh Mohammed.

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The interrogators questioned Tina for hours that night, and then again for days. She was being treated like an accomplice.

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And she might not have if it wasn't for a very clever trick by Latifah. Before she'd escaped, Latifah had recorded a video of herself. She was in Tina's apartment, telling her entire story to the camera. So the audio you've been hearing from Latifah, that's where we got it. But the world hadn't seen this video yet.

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While she was on the boat, Latifa got the video into the hands of a group that aimed to help people who had been wrongly imprisoned.

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David Haig is a businessman turned human rights advocate.

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And now, this video was on YouTube. It was visible to the entire world, and the world noticed.

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Louise was in a cafe in Beirut when she clipped on the video.

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In her video, Latifa warned that her father would try to discredit her. She made it clear that she is actually just one of three of the Sheikh's daughters who are named Latifa, and that the royal family might point to one of her other sisters and say, see, Latifa is fine.

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The only seven star hotel in the world. Dubai is a playground for expats and the mega rich.

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Who is responsible for this world of earthly delights? Well, there's one man who takes credit. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Welcome to Dubai. Sheikh Mo, as he's called, is the all-powerful ruler of Dubai. He's 73 years old, but his beard is jet black, which might mean it's dyed, and overall, the look is very stern Arab dad.

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Infamous is created and executive produced by Gabriel Sherman and me, Vanessa Gregoriotis. This episode was co-hosted by Natalie Robamed, who wrote it with Heather Schroering. Producing by Heather Schroering, Natalia Winkleman, Lily Houston-Smith, and Grace Heerman. Princess Latifah did not comment for this series.

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Shoshi Shmulevitz is our managing producer and editor, sound design by David Devereaux, recording by Ewan Lai-Tramuwen, and fact-checking by Matt Giles. Campside Media's executive producers are Josh Dean, Adam Hoff, Matt Scher, and myself. Campside Media's operations team is Doug Slaywin, Ashley Warren, and Destiny Dingle. If you're enjoying Infamous, please rate and review the show.

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It helps us more than you know.

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Sheikh Mo is a monarch, but he's sort of like a cool monarch. He drives around in a white Mercedes G-Class SUV. The license plate, number one.

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He projects the image of a progressive democratic ruler, or at least progressive for the Gulf region. He's a poet, an author, a horse lover. Some horses just give you that feeling, you know, telling you that there is something about them. Through their eye, you can see their heart, and the horses is fantastic. Sounds pretty great, huh? Sheikh Mo seems like the perfect leader for his country.

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A man whose vision helped turn Dubai from a speck on the map to a world-renowned destination. A man who represents wealth, prestige, and progress. And of all the things that are big about Dubai, the skyscrapers, the overseas horse races, the money, there's one more thing. Sheikh Mo's family.

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At certain points, he's had multiple wives at once, which is permitted under the country's Sharia law, and a lot of children. He's thought to have up to 30 kids.

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This was the general assessment. But there was one child who didn't agree.

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From Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment, this is Infamous, and I'm Vanessa Grigoriadis. This is episode one of our four-part series, The Missing Princesses. This week, we're telling yet another dramatic story about the rich and famous, but this one is from halfway across the world.

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It's a story I've done a lot of reporting on, but I'm also going to be joined as a co-host by Natalie Robamed. She's a writer on our team, and she has a personal link to the country. So, Natalie, tell us about that.

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So that's like when people say, oh, these people, they were just living in tents. Like, I mean, is that the truth? Or what was it like back then?

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But when you were growing up, it was obviously more sophisticated than that.

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And then suddenly it becomes this, like, champagne brunch Louis Vuitton toting hellscape. Like, right?

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But their values are consistent with real housewife values? I mean, what are these people doing living in Dubai then?

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And that's what our story is about. It's about what happened to three princesses when they tried to break out of those golden handcuffs. Natalie will kick it off after the break.

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Welcome to Dubai. It's a dazzling metropolis in the United Arab Emirates, flanked by rolling sand dunes and the turquoise waters of the Persian Gulf. This is one of the world's great cities.