Elizabeth Santos Death: How Did She Die? Did Someone Kill Her?

The most recent episode of the Crime Junkie Podcast tries to explain Elizabeth Omotaro Santos’ enigmatic death in Anchorage, Alaska, in August 2020. The victim’s family accuses the investigators of being utterly incompetent and careless. Despite the fact that no one has yet been charged with the death, the authorities have refuted the charges. So, how did Elizabeth pass away and was she indeed murdered? Below is what we currently know.

How Did Elizabeth Santos Die?

In August 2020, Florida native Elizabeth Omotaro Santos, who lives in Wasilla, Alaska, travelled to Anchorage to see her friend Lizette Hoglund Hall. Dustin Kurpius and Elizabeth had recently broken up, so Elizabeth was seeking solace with her friend. She had dated Dustin for more than ten years. Desmond Marcus Hall, Lizette’s son and Dustin’s friend, was also there at the time. Officers from the Anchorage Police Department were called to the 7700 block of Rovenna Street on August 8, 2020.

When they arrived at Lizette’s residence in response to a domestic abuse allegation, they discovered Elizabeth was in severe condition. The first responders took her to the hospital where she passed away from her injuries after suffering from roughly 10 stab wounds to her torso, upper thigh, and vital organs. What happened next was a strange series of occurrences that obscured Elizabeth’s demise. Despite being in a severe state, the podcast claimed that Elizabeth had been handcuffed on the way to the hospital.

She was so badly hurt that she was unable to speak clearly or explain what had happened to the authorities. Throughout the episode, it was also mentioned that the ambulance took more than 37 minutes to get to the hospital. According to official police accounts, Lizette was sweeping up blood from the floor when detectives arrived at the crime site. They also observed multiple bruises and scratches on her face, which she stated were the result of an altercation with Elizabeth just prior to the stabbing.

The two suspects, Lizette and her son Desmond, were taken by the police to the station for questioning. Lizette claimed Elizabeth was attacking her while she was being interrogated, attempting to stop the attacks with her hand. She eventually ran upstairs, urged Desmond to dial 911, then locked herself and her bedroom door as Elizabeth pounded on it. Although she was unable to provide a plausible explanation for how she managed to do so, she also claimed that she did not come down prior to the police showing up.

Yet, when the 911 call recording was played, no banging sounds could be heard. Furthermore, Lizette insisted that she was wiping up the blood because she was worried about stains. She had a criminal history that included numerous assaults, and there was also unconfirmed information that she had previously used knives in violent activities. Desmond has never provided the police with a formal statement and refused to speak to them without representation. But in a later interview with a private eye, he claimed not to have seen t he altercation.

Did Someone Kill Elizabeth Santos?

Desmond claimed he heard the argument but didn’t see Elizabeth Santos cut or stab herself. The suspects were released after the police collected their DNA and fingerprints. The investigation finally went cold, and no one was ever put on trial. The officials instead asserted the strange notion that the numerous stab wounds were self-inflicted. Elizabeth’s family and acquaintances refuted the accusation, claiming she wasn’t violent, suicidal, or a drug user.

The family eventually obtained multiple images of the crime scene, along with images of a number of knives that were allegedly used in the assault. The knives had no blood on them, which meant they had either never been used or had been thoroughly cleaned. Yet, the crucial question was still how Elizabeth could have fatally stabbed herself with so many blades. A fourth knife was discovered, according to a later investigation, in the garage not far from the location where Lizette claimed she and Elizabeth had a dispute. It was filthy, muddied, and purportedly covered in blood.

Desmond was not even in handcuffs and appeared calm and relaxed on the police station footage that was made public by the police showing Lizette and Desmond being escorted there. When he and his mother were being accused of such serious offences, he could be seen grinning and amusing himself. The discovery of the benzodiazepine midolosum in Elizabeth raised additional red flags. Benadryl is a sedative, and Lizette acknowledged giving Elizabeth four of those the night before the stabbing, but she never gave a justification.

Dustin, Elizabeth’s ex-boyfriend, claimed she had threatened him with a knife after she passed away. His sister, Katie Kurpius, rejected her brother’s claim, claiming that because of his epilepsy and sporadic seizures, his recollection was unreliable. Lizette claimed that Elizabeth had been acting strangely in the days before she passed away. Deanne, however, who had known Elizabeth for more than six years, told the police that she was aware the latter took Adderall and had ADHD. She said, however, that she had not seen any behaviour change.

Two days before to the stabbing, a neighbour reported seeing Elizabeth struggle with an unidentified person, who was then observed fleeing in a pickup vehicle as she screamed at him. Another neighbour reported to the police that she and her partner overheard Lizette’s house screaming at the time of the stabbing. The family also saw Elizabeth sending multiple frantic texts to Dustin at three in the morning the night before the stabbing. They have made every effort to analyse the matter and have discussed the investigation with practically all authorities.

They have voiced their worries to the regional Alaskan government, the Anchorage Police Department, the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, the mayor’s office, and several local assembly members. No government organisations or agencies, despite their thorough investigation for the facts, could offer appropriate responses. The family complained that the case had received minimal local media coverage, and the lead detectives had supposedly appeared dismissive of their worries.

Divesh Solanki
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Being a binge-watcher himself, finding Content to write about comes naturally to Divesh. From Anime to Trending Netflix Series and Celebrity News, he covers every detail and always find the right sources for his research.

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