02x02 - Primetime Predator

[bunniefuu]

[water running]

[tense music playing]

[man] What are my nipple tats?

Go on my Instagram, @90DayGeoffrey,

and read my post. It tells all about 'em.

[woman 1] I have no idea how he was cast
on a reality show as big as 90 Day Fiancé.

[woman 2] He was like
a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde…

[music surges]

…you didn't know which one
you were gonna get.

[woman 3] He grabbed me and shoved me,

threw me on the ground,

strangled me.

I genuinely think
he was trying to k*ll me.

[woman 2] All I see is the abuse
when I close my eyes.

It was just not gonna stop
until he was stopped.

[disturbing music playing]

[music intensifies]

[audio glitches]

[music ends]

[gentle music playing]

[car approaching]

[woman 1] I've never spoken to anyone
about this, other than the police

and my friends and family.

And I just feel like it's time.

Looking back on it,

there were so many red flags.

I should have run for the hills.

[dramatic sting]

[children talking indistinctly]

[Kristen] In 2017,
I had just started my teaching job.

[school bell rings]

I taught third grade.

It was my dream job at my dream school.

And after dating my boyfriend, Corey,
through grad school,

we ended up breaking up.

He was my best friend,

but we just weren't quite sure that
that was what we wanted forever.

And then I met Geoffrey in December.

[gentle music playing]

I was scrolling through a dating app,

and I swiped right on Geoffrey Ian.

He was in his thirties, had dark hair,

very good physical build, gorgeous eyes.

And so I sent him the first message
and just said, "Hello."

He quickly gave me his number,
and we were texting.

He was very charismatic,

clearly intelligent.

And then we decided to go out on a date.

[inaudible]

We went to dinner
at a local Mexican restaurant

and hit it off right away.

[inaudible]

Geoffrey told me
he owned several properties

on the street where his house is
and multiple properties around Knoxville.

He made himself seem like
a really successful businessman.

Geoffrey was also, at that time,
working as an actor on these crime shows.

I saw the cop cars out front.
What's going on?

[man on TV] What is this?

Carlo drew it. It's his mom's house.

[Kristen] So I thought him being an actor
was really cool.

He was the total package.

Geoffrey came on really strong,
really hard, really fast.

He would show up at my house
with just a trunk full of groceries.

We went to the mall a lot.

I would see a sweater or a scarf,
be like, "I love that. That's so cute."

And then the next day,
he would show up at my house with it.

He really just completely
swept me off my feet.

[Geoffrey on voicemail]

[Geoffrey in a sing-song voice]

[Kristen] On our first date,

Geoffrey told me about his ex-wife
in Canada, Brittany,

and his two children with her.

They were two and 10 months old,
and Geoffrey had full custody of them.

It was like I became a mom overnight.

They went absolutely everywhere with us.

I was overwhelmed by it at first.

I wasn't really ever sure
that I wanted kids of my own,

but, oh my gosh,
did I fall in love with those boys.

[tense music playing]

And then a couple weeks after that,
right before New Year's Eve,

I was staying at his house,
and I went downstairs,

and there were two teenagers
in his living room.

And I'm like,
"Hello, who are you?" Like, "Hi."

And he's like, "Oh, I'm just taking care
of these couple of boys for a friend."

The teenage boys would come and go,

and so, honestly,
I didn't give it much thought.

[music surges]

[tense music continues]

We were a couple months now
into this relationship.

I was walking upstairs at his house

and saw mail sitting
just on one of the stairs.

And on the mail,
it said "Geoffrey Paschel."

He had told me that his last name was Ian,

and my instant first thought was,
"Is he hiding something?"

I confronted him about it
when he got home.

He made me feel like
I was making a big deal out of nothing.

"Ian is my middle name."

"You just assumed
that Ian was my last name."

And I was like,
"Okay, maybe it isn't a big deal,"

and started to even question, like,

"Did he tell me his last name was Ian,

or did I just make this all up
in my head?"

[music fades]

[suspenseful music playing]

And then…

[phone ringing]

…one day, Geoffrey called me
from his home phone for some reason.

It was a number I didn't have
in my cell phone.

So I let it go to voicemail

and Googled the number,

and it came up "Allison Paschel."

[music surges]

I'm wondering who Allison Paschel is.

Is it his sister? Is it his mom?

[keyboard clacking]

So I do a search for her name,

and up pops a birth announcement

with Allison Paschel
and Geoffrey Paschel for their son.

[unsettling music playing]

He had made it seem like
his children with Brittany

were the only children that he had.

This was a really big deal to me.
What else is he trying to hide from me?

So I searched Geoffrey's name,

and I found a whole slew of court cases

about his previous relationships.

[music intensifies]

I found domestic as*ault allegations,

alleged neglect and abuse of the children,

and that he had kept opiates in the house.

And I was shocked to read that

because it just didn't seem like
the person I was dating.

I also found several marriages,
I believe four.

When he was 18 years old,
he got married for the first time,

and that allegedly ended in an annulment.

Then he married Sabrina.

Then he married Allison.

And then he married Brittany.

And I found several birth announcements.

I realized that those two teenagers
were his as well,

that their mother was Sabrina.

He had completely lied and bamboozled me.

I came across mug shots…

[camera clicking]

…and criminal charges that included

driving while intoxicated,
as*ault, drug charges.

And the biggest one…

He did some time
in federal prison in Texas.

I was horrified.

I am a teacher.

I have never been in trouble,

and now this guy that I'm dating
is a felon?

I have no idea who I'm dating.

[music fades]

[tense music playing]

I confronted him about it.

And he made it again seem like
it wasn't a big deal.

And like, "Well, you never asked."

How am I supposed to ask?

"Do you have four ex-wives
that you haven't told me about?"

"Have you been to federal prison before?"

And then he told me that
he wasn't honest about those charges,

because then I wouldn't have ever shown
any interest in him initially.

Which is valid.
I was like, "Yeah, you're right."

"I wouldn't have dated you
had I known this."

And it made me feel tricked,
and it made me feel trapped.

Because now,
I had completely fallen for him.

Geoffrey told me that
his exes were conspiring against him,

that they were just being vindictive,

and they were just hurt exes.

He had already lied about so much.

I had every reason not to believe him.

But I did anyway.

Because I was completely in love with him.

[music builds, drops]

[unsettling music playing]

[Sabrina] I am Sabrina Grigsby,
Geoffrey Paschel's second wife.

Geoffrey was like
a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

You didn't know which one
you were gonna get.

He made my life a living hell.

He stole my dreams away.

[music fades]

[dramatic sting]

[soft string music playing]

I was 25 when I met Geoffrey.

I went to a Halloween party. There he was.

Geoffrey was extremely charismatic.

That was his thing.

And I just thought, "Wow."

He was wonderful to be around.

He was a country boy,
but he wanted to be cultured.

He wanted to do more, be more educated.

Geoffrey wanted a lot of money,
and he had big dreams.

And that was very intriguing to me.

Everybody was jealous
of the relationship we had.

It was just like a whirlwind of fun
and love and laughter.

He was very good to me, and it was nice.

For a while.

[intriguing music playing]

We were engaged about seven months.

We did have an incident.

He had got quite upset.
I'm not sure even what it was.

And he pushed me
into the entertainment center,

and I fell down.

It was a big surprise.

It happened so quickly and so forcefully.

I mean, he might be a short fella,
but he was pretty strong.

I didn't want to even admit to myself
that that happened.

I guess I just kept it in my mind
that we were gonna have a nice life.

I didn't pay attention to the red flags.
I was in love.

[pensive music playing]

Me and Geoffrey had got married
on April Fool's Day, 1998.

Geoffrey talked all the time
about wanting to have at least four kids.

Come to find out, I had got pregnant
with my first child on our honeymoon.

I was so excited, thinking,
"He's gonna be the greatest dad."

You know? Um…

But he changed almost instantly.

Uh, he was just a completely
different person.

Very agitated all the time.

Anything would just set him off.

And I was shoved,
hit, horribly screamed at.

I was just trying harder and harder,

of course, thinking I did something wrong.

[crickets chirping]

[banging, glass shattering]

He kicked me a few times,

and I was afraid
I was gonna lose my child.

So I tried to stay quiet,
just do what he needed when he needed.

[gentle music playing]

He became horribly controlling.

[crickets chirping]

If I stayed up too long, he would turn
the power off completely in the house,

where I had to go to bed.

We lived in Greenback.
It was in the country.

Neighbors very far away.

I was just very isolated.

He shut the phone off.

So I had no communication, no vehicle.

[wind chimes clanging softly]

I couldn't see my mother
and my father, my sister.

I had no friends.

My parents, they were begging me
just come back home.

[door slams]

I got to where I was just so sad
all the time.

[poignant music playing]

But my grandparents on both sides,
my parents never divorced,

loved one another through thick and thin.

I just really thought
I could do something that would fix it.

Then everything would just be all right.

It's hard to look at without…

[breathing heavily]

[voice breaking] …being emotional.

I can see what
I'd probably already been through.

I might've been smiling,
but my eyes weren't.

My eyes look about as sad
as they do right now, I bet.

[crying] Because I just wish I had've ran.

Took that baby right there
and just went as fast as I could.

[ominous music playing]

When we were first getting together…

Cocaine.

That was his thing.
He was doing it. He was dealing it.

But at this point,
he stopped doing the drugs

and then just really started dealing.

He wanted to make more money.

That was when it really got excessive.

We had a lot of people coming in and out
of our house all the time.

You could smell it, see it.

I always just tried to keep my son
in another room.

And then I was pregnant
with my second child.

And he kept telling me
he wasn't doing that anymore,

and he was trying to, you know,
really get out of that aspect of life.

And I thought he had stopped all of it.

[dramatic sting]

[ominous music playing]

He'd taken my vehicle.

I just thought he was gonna go pick up
his friend in Texas

and bring him back for a visit.

And then Geoffrey called me

and informed me that he had been arrested
for five pounds of pot

and a couple ounces of cocaine.

That was really devastating.

And… our lives were changed.

[dramatic sting]

[gentle music playing]

When Geoffrey first went to prison,
I literally still stayed at home.

It took a long time for me
to get out of that feeling

that I could leave the house,

that he couldn't hurt me.

I didn't have a job.
I was dependent on him.

And he did leave us some money
and paid the bills up a little bit.

When Geoffrey was in prison,
he did write the boys a lot of letters.

He wrote me all the time too,

saying that he was sorry for everything

and that he was excited
to have a new life with us

and that he was trying to be
a better father and a better family man.

I know this sounds crazy,
but I was hopeful.

I just kept trying to have faith that
things would get better when he came home.

[foreboding music playing]

But when he was released from prison,

the control was ten times worse.

When you're in there,

it's like the criminals,
they learn from one another.

And he was just sneakier.

His evil was more finely-tuned.

The abuse was daily,
mentally and physically.

The sexual abuse got pretty awful too.

Just forced to do things
you just don't want to do.

The monster definitely was back.

[audio glitches]

[dramatic sting]

Finally, after the eight years
of marriage,

I was going to file for divorce.

[knocking on door]

And he actually beat me to it.

When I saw the paper that
he'd filed before I did, I was ecstatic.

I didn't want to be a part
of his life anymore.

After the divorce,

Geoffrey used the children
to manipulate me.

It wasn't like they were his kids.

It was like they were little pawns
in a chess game.

He made my life a living hell
for the next decade.

A few years later,
he married Allison and then Brittany.

And then next came Kristen.

I prayed for these women.

I prayed for them every night
that they would wake up and be okay,

because I knew Geoffrey wasn't gonna stop.

[music surges, fades]

[dramatic sting]

[somber music playing]

[Kristen] In early March 2018,

Geoffrey's youngest son
with his ex-wife Brittany passed away.

It was very sudden.

I had been so in love
with that little boy.

And he was like Geoffrey's little clone.

They did a full autopsy,
and it was inconclusive.

It crushed him.

But it did bring us closer together.

It was like we were trauma-bonded

over this horrible thing
that had happened.

But it was also like a switch flipped.

[tense music playing]

The sweet side, the caring side,

it was gone.

[inaudible]

[Kristen] He started getting
really volatile.

[inaudible]

He was expl*sive when he was mad.

He would pinch me. He would twist my arm.

He bent my finger back, what felt like
all the way back to my hand.

Little things… to kind of test me,

to see "How is she going to react?"

"What is she going to do?"

"And how far can I push this
before she snaps?"

[music fades]

And then when he saw how upset I was,

he completely turned it on me

and was like, "You're so dramatic,
just like all my other exes."

[pensive music playing]

I didn't tell anyone
that this was happening.

No one.

No friends, no family.

He had already significantly isolated me
from a lot of my friends.

I owned a home in Knoxville.
He didn't want me staying there.

He wanted me staying at his house,

which is out in the country,
about 20 or 30 minutes from Knoxville,

where my friends
and family and everyone is.

[dramatic sting]

[intriguing music playing]

At this point,
we had been together about a year.

When the times were good with Geoffrey,
they were so good.

He could be so kind, so sweet.

He met my every need.

And then something would set him off.

He would choke me.

He would pull my hair,
throw me around the room.

He broke my kitchen table and chairs,
just smashing all of it to pieces.

He tore my purse apart
and ripped up my money.

[metal clangs, chains rattle]

I couldn't get out of his gated property
without him opening the gate.

And this was common.

If we would fight and I would wanna leave,
I was not allowed to leave.

[suspenseful music playing]

One time, I was so scared,
and I hit the panic button on my iPhone.

And it called 911.

[line ringing]

He'd snatched my phone out of my hand.



[phone ringing]

Of course, now he has my phone,
so I can't answer it.

He sends it to voicemail.

[music builds, drops]

[dog barking]

[Kristen] No one ever came.
No one ever showed up.

[tense music playing]

It became this constant cycle of abuse.

Something bad would happen…

-[phone ringing]
-…and then he would call constantly.

So I would block him.

[Kristen] He would go
to the lengths of the earth

and do whatever means necessary
to get me back.

He would get down on his knees
and beg and make himself cry

and just plead with me to forgive him.

One time he showed up
with his three-year-old,

had him knock on the door,
"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy."

Like, how am I not gonna open the door
for this little boy that calls me Mommy?

And so I gave in.

I let him in.

And it started all over again.

[birds chirping]

[pensive music playing]

Now talking about it,
I realize how insane this sounds.

I can't even believe
that I accepted this as my reality.

But I was just so incredibly in love
with him.

[music surges, fades]

[dramatic sting]

[gentle music playing]

We were in Destin, Florida,
visiting his family there.

We'd all just gone out
and had this great dinner,

and he took me outside,

pulled a ring out of his pocket,
and proposed to me.

But the typical excitement that would
follow an engagement did not follow.

My parents were… were not fans of his.

I mean, I had lost a ton of weight,

and I wasn't allowed to cut my hair
because he liked my hair long.

He didn't want me wearing makeup.

I was very much under his control,

and I think that they knew
it was gonna get worse from there.

[music surges, fades]

[dramatic sting]

[pensive music playing]

On June 8th, we go out to dinner.

My friend was our server
at a local restaurant here in Knoxville.

We're making each other laugh.

It was a great night.

We made plans to go out
with my friend after.

So real quick,
I just wanted to walk my dog.

[tense music playing]

Everything was fine on the drive home.

Everything was fine
when we got back to my house.

I took my dog, Zoe, out for a walk
in the neighborhood.

[dog barking in distance]

And when I came back through the door…

[music intensifies]

[tense music playing]

…Geoffrey attacked me.

He grabbed me,
and he smashed my head into the floor

over and over again.

[faint high-pitch ringing]

I was in and out of consciousness.

I remember at one point
being in the kitchen.

I have no idea how I got there.

The next thing I remember…

[loud banging]

…he had me pinned in the corner
of my living room

and was just shoving me into the wall
over and over again.

[muffled high-pitch ringing]

I don't remember him saying anything.

I had no idea what I did wrong
that made him act like that.

He had never been this severely a*usive.

It had never been this bad.

I genuinely thought
he was trying to k*ll me.

I remember him dragging me
up the stairs by the hair.

And I felt my face
and realized that my nose was bleeding.

The whole inside of my mouth
was also bleeding.

He made me go to the bathroom
and wash my face.

And I remember being so scared
to wash my face

because I thought he was going to
smash my face down into the faucet.

And he told me to go get in bed.

And I did.

I was pretending to sleep.

I was afraid that I had a concussion
or a brain bleed,

that I was gonna die.

So I tried so hard to stay awake.

[Geoffrey snoring]

As soon as his head hit that pillow,

I jumped out of bed,
and I just made a beeline for it.

[music surges]

I had no shoes on.

And I ran down my driveway
as fast as I could.

[music distorts]

I kept going…

[music surges]

…and I made it to my neighbor's house.

[banging]

[phone dialing]

[man] On June 9th, 2019,

we responded to a domestic violence call

off of North Shore Drive
in the West Knoxville area.

The time was 1:49 in the morning.

We knock on the door.

[loud knocking]

When we hear pounding on her door,
we thought it was him.

And I was so afraid.

[indistinct police radio chatter]

[neighbor] Thank you.
Sorry, we thought you were him.

[Matt] Oh, okay.

-We're very scared.
-[Matt] That's all right.

We left the lights off
'cause we're very scared.

[Matt] All right.

Kristen is sitting on the kitchen floor
of the neighbor's house

with this really big raised bruise
on her forehead.

And she has abrasions
consistent with domestic as*ault

if somebody's been thrown around.

[Kristen] We got into an argument,

and he threw me up against
my kitchen floor and my living room floor.

-[Matt] Okay.
-[Kristen] Um…

[Matt] These guys are gonna check you out.

I'm gonna have them do that first
while we're asking questions.

The forensic unit arrived
and started photographing her elbows

and her knees and forehead.

[camera clicking]

[Kristen] The paramedics
that came to the scene

said I really needed to go
to the hospital.

[siren wailing]

[indistinct police radio chatter]

[tense music playing]

[Matt] We make our way
from the neighbor's house

over to Kristen's house.

It's probably close to 3:00
in the morning.

[knocking on door]

However, as soon as we start knocking
on the door,

Geoffrey immediately answers the door,

and he's wide awake,

and he is… he's wired.

[Geoffrey] Out of the house.
You don't have permission to come in.

[Matt] Oh, yes, we do.

[Geoffrey] You don't!
Look at all these scratches on me.

[dog barking]

-[Matt] What's going on?
-[Geoffrey] How do you think?

[Matt] Have a seat. Right there.

[Geoffrey] You wanna know the exact truth?

[Matt] Have a seat.
Not gonna tell you again.

-[officer] You can sit right there.
-[Geoffrey] It's fine. That's fine.

[Matt] He's talking really quickly.

In my opinion, he's under the influence
of cocaine or methamphetamine

or some other stimulant.

[officer] Tell me what happened.

-She's mad because I want to leave her.
-Okay.

[Matt] We're asking about
Kristen's injuries,

and you can tell he's trying
to come up with an explanation.

She acted absolutely, I mean, crazy.

-All right.
-I mean…

Scratched me, ran against the wall,
hit herself, slapped herself.

None of it made sense.

Where did she supposedly run
into the wall?

[Geoffrey] No, not supposedly,
she really did.

-[officer] Okay.
-[Geoffrey] Right here.

[indistinct conversation]

[indistinct police radio chatter]

[Matt] The forensic unit had located
some blood spatter on the walls…

-[camera clicking]
-…on a light switch,

and as well as on the floor.

[Geoffrey] I mean, she…

[Matt] After just a couple minutes
of interviewing Geoffrey,

we determined that
he's the primary aggressor.

[music surges]

We arrest him.

[Geoffrey] I didn't touch the woman.

When we placed him in handcuffs,
he's got this… this disbelief.

Absolutely not. No way.

You know, we're making the wrong decision.
He's innocent.

We placed him in the patrol vehicle…

-[camera clicking]
-…and he flipped a switch.

He just became unhinged and enraged.

He starts kicking at the windows,
like a horse kicking a door.

And we have to pull him out,
and we have to restrain his legs.

We place him back
in the back of my patrol unit,

and he continues kicking.

[loud banging]

So we have to pull him out again

to connect the chain of the leg irons
to his handcuffs.

[chains rattling]

Typically, we're not gonna do that

unless somebody's
just really off the rails.

[tense music playing]

[Kristen] At the hospital,
I had to have a CT scan done.

I did have a concussion.

They prescribed me some pain medicine

because I was just in
an immense amount of pain.

The next day, Geoffrey got bailed out.

So on Monday morning,

my parents took me
to the Knox County Sheriff's Office,

and we filed an order of protection.

The order of protection is a civil case,
so actually two cases against him.

My civil case,

and then there was a criminal case
for the actual domestic as*ault.

His family couldn't contact me.
His friends couldn't contact me.

He obviously couldn't contact me.

The engagement was definitely off.

We completely cut all ties
on… on that day.

[music surges, fades]

[dramatic sting]

[pensive music playing]

[woman] I am
an assistant district attorney

here in Knoxville, Tennessee.

I've been in various units
within the office,

one of them being
the domestic violence unit.

When I got the case file,

what initially stood out to me was
just the amount of violence involved

in this particular as*ault.

There was literally almost an injury to
every part of her body that you could see.

I could tell that
this was an incredibly brutal attack

that took some time to happen.

At Mr. Paschel's arraignment,

Geoffrey was charged with
aggravated kidnapping, domestic as*ault,

and interference
with a 911 emergency call.

There was an offer portrayed to him
to plead to a felony offense

that was a four-year probation offer.

No jail time.

This saves the victim
from having to come to court and testify.

It doesn't drag it out.

He declined the offer.

At that point in time,
we had to actually get this case to trial.

[music surges]

[Kristen] Geoffrey's ex-wife, Allison,
reached out to me

after her attorneys found out
about the as*ault

just to check in and see if I was okay.

And through Allison, I met Sabrina.

[crickets chirping]

[Sabrina] When I finally got to speak
with Kristen,

I found out, yeah, she's just as amazing
as, you know, Allison was,

or any woman that
he was blessed enough to be with.

We started talking about the things
that he said and did.

And hearing what Kristen went through,
it was very triggering.

But we've been through the same thing
at the hands of Geoffrey.

This has been going on for decades.

This was just not gonna stop
until he was stopped.

[music surges]

[tense music playing]

[Heather] Given COVID,
the court system having to shut down,

took a lot longer than we wanted
to actually get this case to trial.

And while his case was pending,

I had learned that he was on,
I guess, a reality TV sort of dating show

called 90 Day Fiancé.

[music surges, fades]

[dramatic sting]

[bright music playing]

[Geoffrey] I just landed in Moscow
to see the love of my life, Varya,

in person for the first time ever.

[Kristen] I had no idea.

I had no idea.

[inaudible]


is a reality show

that follows international couples
who have met online.

Basically, the premise of the show is
that they're already dating

before they meet for the first time.

Which means, apparently,
he was in a whole other relationship

with someone from Russia
during our engagement?

[Geoffrey] I met my girlfriend online
several months ago.

I truly believe that Varya and I
are meant to be together.

If things go well with Varya,
I'm gonna propose to her.

[Kristen] So, the as*ault happened
on June 9th…

She acted absolutely… I mean, crazy.

[Kristen] …and by July,
he's already in Russia filming.

I was still black and blue.

I'm sure he was already cast
for the show when my as*ault happened,

so they wouldn't have caught that.

But he had several criminal convictions
before he was on 90 Day Fiancé.

I was able to find these convictions.

People on the internet
were able to find these convictions,

the media was able to find
these convictions

before the show even aired.

Geoffrey, his history runs deep
and it runs dark.

-If these allegations are true…
-Correct.

…it sounds like
he's got some serious anger issues.

They aired the episodes anyway.

[dramatic sting]

I'm Geoffrey, I'm 41 years old,

and I live just outside
of Knoxville, Tennessee.

[whirring]

I like to do anything that I can get
out there and get my hands dirty.

[woman] A lot of people really liked him
on the show.

I mean, he's portrayed
as a very likable, charismatic,

strong, hardworking,
all-American country boy.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Sabrina] I did watch a few clips of it,
and my children were in it.

He was speaking with them
about all the women that had hurt him

and the things that he'd been through,
and that he deserved to be happy.

[Geoffrey] There's a risk that
I'm gonna be heartbroken.

And it really scares me

because I don't think my heart can take
another letdown.

It just kind of hit me.
Like, we didn't hurt you.

You hurt us.

[music surges]

[Kristen] Despite all these
awful allegations,

he still had a growing fan base
that loved him.

Did you know that I had a YouTube channel?
I have Cameo. I have fan mail.

Geoffrey created a fan base
from being on that reality show,

and he really fed off of it.

He just kept getting larger than life.

What are my nipple tats?

Go on my Instagram, @90DayGeoffrey,
and read my post. It tells all about 'em.

[Sabrina] He just kept thinking that
"I'm untouchable."

"I'm unstoppable."

"There's nothing
anybody can do to me now."

[music builds, drops]

[Heather] Prior to actually going
to trial,

Mr. Paschel posted numerous videos online,

where he had talked about
all of the accusations.

What's the biggest, I guess, misconception
that you think that people have about you?

Oh, I mean, it's…
it's gotta be woman-beater.

It's gotta be, uh, woman-ab*ser,
domestic-violence-person, whatever, it's…

When you go through something like this,
you're advised not to talk about it.

So while he got to do Instagram Lives,

talk to his followers
and tell them his side of the story,

I had to be silent.

This is all just a ploy.

This is all just a, um… an agenda

to try to make me lose custody
of my child.

He said that I joined forces
with all of his exes

and that we were all scheming against him.

I think this is gonna be
a Johnny Depp moment.

I think this is gonna be like…

This is gonna be like Amanda Heard
getting called out

and being recorded
actually being the ab*ser.

[music intensifies]

[music fades]

Welcome back to Court TV Live.
I'm Ashley Willcott.

We wanna start first
with Tennessee v. Geoffrey Paschel,

the former reality TV star who was accused
of a brutal attack on his former fiancée.

[Heather] Kristen's as*ault took place
very late on June 8th, 2019.

We were not able to actually go
to a jury trial until October 2021.

The hardest part of the trial
was obviously seeing him again,

having to face him.

It was terrifying.

[Heather] It's hard enough for a victim
to come to court

to tell 12, 13 people
whom they've never met

the worst experience of their life.

Well, now she was gonna have
cameras looking at her.

She knew that this was gonna be televised.

So the case definitely stood out
for that reason.

[Ashley] Geoffrey Paschel was a little bit
different than some defendants

because he was so clearly confident.

I would argue perhaps arrogant.

He, to me, looked like somebody
who wanted to be in control.

Varya, his fiancée, was in the front row
every day supporting him.

In my opinion,
this was a pretty straightforward case.

And so the only strategy that I really had
was just to let Kristen talk.

[Heather] During that time,
did you try and get away or anything?

When I was screaming, I was trying
to get away from him, but I couldn't.

He's too strong.
He was holding me down on the ground,

and then he was pushing me around,
and I could not get away.

It was awful having to sit
across from Geoffrey at trial.

He would just lock eyes with me
and not let go.

It was very scary
to have him stare at me like that.

I remember going up the stairs,
and then that's the last thing I remember.

Um, I don't know what happened up there,

but there was blood splattered
on my bedroom door,

so something happened up there.

Kristen, in my opinion, was very credible.

I was confident that
the jury was gonna believe her.

[tense music playing]

[attorney] At this point in time,
the state calls Mr. Geoffrey Paschel.

Sir, do you swear to tell the truth,
the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?

-[Geoffrey] I do.
-Thank you.

[Ashley] Typically,
defense attorneys tell defendants,

"You're not taking the stand."

"It's not gonna come off well."

But Geoffrey Paschel,
in my opinion, does it

because he thinks he can manipulate
the jury, control the jury,

and convince them,
"I'm right. I didn't do anything wrong."

I went to go leave.
She attempted to grab my keys.

Well, she did grab my keys
and tried to bolt out the door.

And as she went to bolt out the door,

the door, this being a door,
the door open,

she ran smack into the door,

side of the door as she ran out.

So she grabbed my keys and turned
and hit the door, the open door.

He essentially tried to say
that she was drunk,

that all of these injuries
were self-inflicted.

But the weight of the evidence
was so strong against that.

And I think that the jury saw that.

[suspenseful music playing]

The jury went out mid-afternoon.

They actually weren't out
for... for very long.

It was actually just a few hours.

[Kristen] The jury came back
with a verdict really quickly.

I was shaking, and I was terrified
and held my parents' hands.

I didn't know what way it was gonna go.

[foreperson] We, the jury,
find the defendant Geoffrey Ian Paschel

guilty of aggravated kidnapping.

We, the jury,
find the defendant Geoffrey Ian Paschel

guilty of domestic violence.

[judge] And as for count three?

I can't even explain
that feeling of euphoria

when they found Geoffrey guilty.

This coming Thursday, Geoffrey Paschel,
the convicted reality cast member

from the TV show 90 Day Fiancé:
Before the 90 Days will be sentenced.

[anchor] Once a reality TV star,
Geoffrey Paschel,

he now faces 12 to 20 years in prison

without the possibility of parole.

[music surges, fades]

[dramatic sting]

[pensive music playing]

[Heather] During trial,
the rules of evidence

actually don't allow us to bring in

what we call propensity evidence,
prior bad acts,

because we want the jury to see
the crime at hand,

but it is something
that we can use in sentencing.

So, his ex-wife, Allison,

actually testified at the sentencing,
uh, to the abuse that she suffered.

At any point during your marriage,
was there physical abuse?

[Allison] There were many threats
made to me and to my family.

He was violent to me
on numerous occasions, um…

[Heather] I'm gonna stop you
for just a second.

When you say threats,
um, what kind of threats?

To k*ll me.

[tense music playing]

[Heather] Uh, she testified to them
taking trips together,

where he would strangle her.

She testified about a time
where he held her face close to a fire.

And then she testified about a time
where she had actually moved,

they were split up at the time,

when she comes home
and finds him in her home.

He immediately attacked me,
grabbed me, and shoved me into the wall.

Threw me on the ground,

um, strangled me.

Um, when I finally broke free,

he went and swung at me,

and I moved so he could hit
the top of my head versus my face.

When Allison was on the stand, uh,

I felt like I went backwards
to my own abuse,

and I had to leave the courtroom.

[Heather] She testified that he r*ped her.

And I think that everybody
in the courtroom,

when she was testifying
about that, you know,

we were all extremely disturbed by it.

I mean, her abuse went on for years.

So, her… her testimony was…
was incredibly powerful at sentencing.

[Ashley] Every defendant has the right
to be heard at sentencing.

And Geoffrey Paschel took
that opportunity.

[Geoffrey clears throat]

I have a beautiful family.

[indistinct chatter]

Beautiful friends.

Uh, I'm a dad.

He focused on, "I've got all these
children and friends and family."

What did he not focus on? The victims.

I go out of my way to help people.

[voice breaks] I don't need anything.
I don't want anything.

It just gives me that
internal satisfaction… to help people.

You know, that's what… that's my reward.

[Geoffrey sniffles]

So, I ask that you, uh…
you have mercy on me.

Thank you.

[judge] Thank you, sir.

What is going on behind closed doors
is much different

than the image that Mr. Paschel projects
out to the rest of the world.

The judge just absolutely nailed
Geoffrey's character.

He saw right through him.

[judge] Twelve citizens from Knox County
listened to her.

And they listened to the defendant.

And they found beyond a reasonable doubt
that she was telling the truth.

And I agree with their assessment.

I've never felt more seen,
more vindicated.

It was truly an absolutely amazing moment.

[judge] This behavior towards these women…
is sick.

It is sadistic.

I think that Mr. Paschel has a desire

to inflict as much emotional damage
to these women as possible.

For the reasons stated, the court finds
that the appropriate sentence in this case

is 18 years to serve.

[Ashley] This was an unusual case
because the state requested 16 years.

The defense argued for fewer.

The judge didn't do
either of those things.

Instead said, "I'm giving you more."

[Kristen] Not only did I take
my power back,

but I felt like I gave power back
to so many women

that he has taken it from over the years.

And when Geoffrey was found guilty,

it made every bit of suffering worth it.

[music intensifies]

Geoffrey… How's Geoffrey?

Of course, the most common question.
I expected that.

Well, uh, soon,

uh, we'll have a call
with the lawyer's team

to discuss the strategy… [clicks tongue]

…uh, of filing to the Supreme Court.

Um, yeah, so keep your fingers crossed.

Varya has been very outspoken
about supporting Geoffrey,

and she still stands behind him.

So today marks 1,255 days

since my loved one,
Geoffrey Paschel, has been in prison.

I decided to open up about this…

[pensive music playing]

[Kristen] A lot of people,
after they go through something like this,

will join, like, a support group.

My support group is Sabrina and Allison.

And the bond that I have with them
and the connection that I have with them,

it's just incredible.

[Sabrina] Kristen's my hero.

Today, I have a beautiful bond
with Allison and Kristen.

It's a blessing. We're like sisters.

[mellow music playing]

[Kristen] Shortly after the as*ault,

my college ex-boyfriend reached out to me
just to check on me

and said, "Hey, how are you?"

This was in July 2019.

We rekindled, got engaged,

and we were married in October 2019.

Corey was my rock through everything.

He was extremely supportive.

He just made me feel so confident

and so sure about going through
with the process.

And he was just the most wonderful partner
that you could ask for

in this awful situation.

I think going through something like this,

this traumatic,

not only does it teach you
what you don't want in a man,

but it shows you what you do want.

And now we have kids, and…

Everything in my life right now
is honestly just phenomenal.

[birds chirping, twittering]

[music fades]

[dark techno music playing]

[music fades]