Mean Girl Murders Recap for Goth Girl Gone

-This week’s Mean Girl Murders takes place in Redlands, California in September 2003 and covers the murder of Kelly Bullwinkle.

 

-Most people that went to Redlands East Valley High School saw their town as the typical suburban town with cliques that included the jocks, stoners etc.

 

-The goth kids were known for being punk and different. One of the members of this clique included a new girl named Kelly, who was a lonely girl who just wanted to fit in. During her junior year, she befriended Kinzie Noordman, who was the founder of Friends of Lesbians and Gay Club, aka Flag. Both girls were bisexual, so they bonded.

 

-Another girl in their group was Elody Romero, who was considered to be intimidating. Damian Guerrero rounded out the group. He was charismatic and seemed to have a lot of people who wanted to be his friend.

 

-Damien and Elody dated on and off throughout high school. They were always with Kinzie and Kelly, even after Kinzie and  Damien graduated.

 

-Despite not being a couple, Kinzie and Kelly attended prom together and acted like a couple.

 

-After Elody and Kelly graduated, the group drifted apart, with Kelly working, going to school and making new friends. One of them included a girl named Cassandra Ontiveros.

 

-On September 13th, 2003, Kelly was meeting another friend named Amy, who was bringing along a guy to meet Kelly. However, Amy was late and by the time she went to meet Kelly, she was gone. She didn’t think too much of this at first, but before long, other friends reached out to Amy, saying that Kelly was not showing up to work and that she could not be reached. At this point, Amy began to worry that something was wrong.

 

-Two days later, Kelly’s roommate Laura returns and finds that the pets have not been taken care of and that the newspapers and mail have not been picked up. She also learned that Kelly had not been to work, so she got in touch with Laura’s mom Diana, who was on a Coast Guard ship.

 

-A search of the house turned up disturbing notes and a pocket knife, making authorities wonder if she was suicidal or that she ran away. However, theories change when her car is discovered abandoned. This takes the investigation into a whole new direction.

 

-Nobody knows where Kelly could be, but they wonder if Kinzie could have some answers. However, she claimed that despite having plans with Kelly, she hadn’t seen her for awhile. When Kelly didn’t confirm any plans, Kinzie made other plans, which was confirmed by authorities.

 

-Diana begins a mass search for Kelly with the help of her friends.

 

-On October 4th, three teens are hanging out in an area called Ghost Town when they discovered Kelly’s dead body in a shallow grave. It appeared that she had been shot and buried in the grave.

 

-Damien, Kinzie and Elody attend the funeral and even make a memorial in Kelly’s honor.

 

-Police go into a deeper investigation to find out who murdered Kelly. Everyone is questioned, including Kinzie, who claimed that Michael McMillan and Eric McLoghlin were possibly involved. They were involved with Cassandra as her cousin and boyfriend, respectively. They were arrested days after the murder for car theft and were still in prison. However, they gave Kelly the creeps and one of them even allegedly confessed to the murder.

 

-A search of their apartment found a bloody shirt and articles about Kelly. They become the prime suspects.

 

-Mike, Eric and Cassandra are all questioned, with Cassandra saying that Mike admitted to shooting Kelly. However, Mike denies this and said he was joking. He even supplied an alibi for the night of the murder, as did Eric and Cassandra. The alibis checked out and cleared them of murder.

 

-Kelly’s friend Amanda recalled her talking about how she and Damien were seeing each other even though he was with Elody. He also treated Kelly like dirt in public even though she claimed things were different when they were alone.

 

-Elody was not happy about this turn of events and admitted it caused a rift in the friend group….to the point where they ruined her 18th birthday by treating her badly. Things kept getting worse for Kelly in the group, especially since Kinzie also turned on her.

 

-The group continued to mock and bully Kelly, who was slowly falling apart from the betrayal. The bullying spilled into LiveJournal, where Elody and Kelly would fight over Damien. Elody even went to far as to threaten Kelly, making her the newest suspect.

 

-Elody is then questioned but also had an alibi for the night of the murder.

 

-Kinzie’s cousin Scott Simonson was the next one questioned. He helped lead them to Damien, who he said owned the same kind of gun that was used to kill Kelly. When Damien was questioned, he claimed the gun belonged to his brother and that he was with Kinzie the night of the murder. The two of them had an alibi, but they were still suspects. A search of Damien’s home turned up a bullet casing in Damien’s jewelry box….which matched the bullet used to kill Kelly.

 

-Damien is now a suspect. Kinzie is questioned yet again and this time things begin to fall apart. She finally admits that they did kill Kelly in a practical joke that went wrong. They claimed they wanted to scare her as revenge for the love triangle and the gun accidentally discharged.

 

-Kinzie is let go in hopes that she will make some calls to give authorities more evidence. Things go according to plan and Kinzie and Damien are arrested. They admit to everything, including how the first shot wasn’t fatal, but the second shot was to ‘end her suffering.’

 

-After the murder, they get movie tickets and go to dinner to give themselves an alibi.

 

-Kinzie is convicted of first-degree murder and got 45 years to life in prison. Damian’s first trial is deadlocked, but a plea deal gets him 15-life. He has since been denied for parole. Kinzie will be eligible again 2027.

 

-Kelly’s mom has since passed away.