Did clues from an Apple Watch solve a college student's murder?

When Cindy Kostial chatted together with her daughter on the cellphone the night of July 19, 2019, she had no concept it will be the final time she'd hear Ally's voice. Cindy says she and her husband Keith had visited Ally in Oxford, Mississippi, earlier that week. "She wished us to remain an additional day, she was having a lot enjoyable. She wished me to prepare dinner her dwelling cooked meals." 

Ally Kostial, who'd simply completed her junior yr at Ole Miss, was excited to have her mother and father visiting from St. Louis, Missouri, as she embellished her campus residence, in response to Cindy. "We went buying. She loves a seaside theme, so we simply purchased a bunch of recent décor."

Now again dwelling, Cindy talked to Ally round 7 p.m. on that fateful Friday night time. "She had simply woken up from a nap. I stated, 'What are you going to do tonight?' She stated, 'I'll exit with some pals.' So, I did not fear about it as a result of I do know she does that on a regular basis. And I stated 'Oh, that ought to be enjoyable.'"

Cindy and Keith Kostial's interview is a part of this week's "48 Hours" broadcast reported by "CBS Saturday Morning" co-host Michelle Miller, "What Ally Kostial Did not Know," airing Saturday, March 5 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

Simply hours after that cellphone name, 21-year-old Ally was discovered lifeless with a number of gunshot wounds at Sardis Lake, 45 minutes from campus. Lafayette County Sheriff's investigators started working shortly, heading to Ally's residence. Her cellular phone was gone however they discovered her Apple Watch in her bed room and found a few of Ally's remaining textual content messages had been with fellow pupil Brandon Theesfeld.

Ally Kostial and Brandon Theesfeld
Ally Kostial and Brandon Theesfeld

Ally Kostial/VCSO

Theesfeld and Ally had a rocky relationship historical past, in response to her pals. After assembly as freshmen, they dated casually. That stopped the next yr however in some unspecified time in the future of their junior yr, they reconnected.

Investigators discovered Theesfeld was planning on seeing Ally the night time she died. That supplied a powerful early lead. In line with investigator Jarrett Bundren, once they dug additional into Ally's texts, they discovered she had shared with Theesfeld some life-changing information. "She stated that she thought she was pregnant," stated Bundren.

In April 2019, three months previous to her homicide, the couple began texting backwards and forwards about Ally's state of affairs. She even despatched him a photograph of a house being pregnant check that appeared inconclusive.

Theesfeld's rapid response was that they might not preserve the infant. Ally spent the following three months texting Theesfeld, asking to fulfill to debate the state of affairs in particular person. On the night time earlier than she died, Theesfeld lastly agreed to see her.

Ally's Apple Watch helped investigators observe down Theesfeld simply hours after she'd been discovered lifeless. They requested him to come back to the Lafayette County Sheriff's Division to reply some questions. Theesfeld responded however investigators say he saved making excuses all weekend as to why he could not meet, promising to come back in Monday morning. When Theesfeld did not present, regulation enforcement began monitoring his cellular phone. They discovered he was headed north, showing to be making his method dwelling to Fort Price, Texas.

With Theesfeld now seemingly on the run, a bulletin was despatched out for his arrest. In simply hours, Memphis police noticed Theesfeld at a gasoline station. After they took him into custody, they are saying he had blood on him and a gun in his truck that matched the caliber used to kill Ally.

In August 2019, Theesfeld was charged with capital one homicide and confronted the demise penalty for allegedly kidnapping and killing Ally Kostial. Amongst proof towards him, a letter present in Theesfeld's campus residence, apparently written to his mother and father the weekend Ally was killed. Theesfeld wrote that he'd all the time had "horrible ideas" and "that is the top for me … I am both going to jail or going to die." He additionally wrote "I do know I'll get caught."

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