Sydney Loofe’s Killers Wanted to Make Torture Videos for Cash: Witness
The Nebraska couple accused of fatally strangling 24-year-old Sydney Loofe after wooing her on Tinder last year allegedly discussed selling homemade murder and torture videos.
Anastasia Golyakova, who testified in Dawson County Court on Thursday about her months-long relationship with Bailey Boswell and Aubrey Trail, revealed the couple told her they believed they could make upwards of “one million dollars” from these sinister videos.
“I paid three psychologists to forget this,” Golyakova said, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Boswell, 26, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and improper disposal of human remains for her alleged role in the 2017 slaying and dismemberment of Loofe, a cashier at a Lincoln, Nebraska home-improvement store. She has denied any involvement in the murder.
Accused Killer Convinced Her Online Date to Join Murderous Coven of Witches: Witness
Prosecutors allege Boswell conspired for weeks with Trail, her 52-year-old boyfriend, to lure Loofe to her death. Loofe was missing for 19 days after the Tinder date before her body was found in garbage bags scattered among ditches and farm fields in rural Nebraska.
Last July, Trail was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder after jurors heard from witnesses who said the 52-year-old convinced his “cult” members he was a flying, mind-reading vampire. Golyakova also testified Wednesday that Trail claimed he was a vampire who had the ability to “hypnotize” people. Another woman who testified on Wednesday stated the 52-year-old told her he could fly.
During Trail’s dramatic trial—in which he cut his own throat and declared his girlfriend’s innocence—he claimed Loofe was accidentally strangled during a “sex party” and Boswell only helped clean up the crime scene. Prosecutors, however, argue Boswell was a willing participant in a sinister murder plot, pointing to evidence that the couple had conspired to lure several young women into their lifestyle.
On the 12th day of testimony in Boswell’s trial, Golyakova was one of two women who described in graphic detail how she was lured into the couple’s sadistic world after matching with Boswell on Tinder.
The women, Golyakova and Katie Brandle, are among three women who testified for the prosecution, all providing similar stories about how Boswell and Trail had “rules”—including not wearing clothes in the apartment—along with frequent discussions about killing, punishment, and torture, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
Golyakova told jurors on Thursday that she “swiped right” on Boswell, who went by “Jenna,” on Tinder in June 2017, just after she graduated from high school in Lincoln. Soon after meeting the 26-year-old, Golyakova testified she entered a “sugar daddy” relationship with the couple.
Earning about $200 to $300 a week, Golyakova said she also became involved in their antique business, often helping the pair steal items to later re-sell. Golyakova testified that she was expected to adhere to the couple’s “rules”—and even got hit in the face by Boswell for not doing something the 26-year-old had asked.
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Throughout her sexual relationship with the couple, Golyakova also became involved in the group’s “witchcraft.” She admitted she never believed in witchcraft and assumed the practice—including the hypnosis powers Trail claimed to possess—was role play.
“I thought it was more of a foreplay thing,” Golyakova testified, admitting that she could not recall the “powers” the pair alleged to have and believed only five people were involved in the “coven.” “[Boswell] would go to sleep on the couch, then roleplay as another person.”
Slowly, Golyakova said, she was introduced to the idea of murdering somebody—which the pair said could be used to make additional money. Golyakova said the couple posed the idea of making a video in which they tortured and killed someone for “a lot of money,” insisting they would only target pedophiles and other criminals as victims, NTV News reported.
Golyakova said she started to get worried about the couple’s intentions and once warned another woman who had met the couple about their creepy schemes. The witness eventually left in October 2017 after finding a job at a Lincoln mall, stating she later feared for her safety because Boswell and Trail started to threaten her.
On Wednesday, a witness referred to on the stand as A.H. testified that during her relationship with Boswell and Trail, she was told she had to murder somebody in order to gain her witch powers. The person she was supposed to murder was later identified as Golyakova—which A.H. didn’t know until the trial.
Brandle also testified on Thursday, explaining that she had met Boswell on Tinder on October 31, 2017. During their conversations, Boswell suggested the pair engage in a dominant-submissive relationship—which Brandle said she was “curious about it.”
When she finally met Boswell, the 26-year-old took her to an Ameristar hotel room, where she met Trail—who was referred to as “master.” Brandle said the couple also talked to her about witchcraft and murder, according to 1011 Now News. At one point, Brandle said she was ordered to murder “that stalker girl”—Golyakova.
”It wasn’t just sex anymore, it was real,” Brandle said.
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