THE COUGH SYRUP KILLER_ The Case of Lauren Hugelmaier

"Three people walked into a Brooklyn apartment on July 13, 2018. Only one walked out." The day after her 32nd birthday, aspiring influencer Lauren Hugelmaier told police a masked intruder broke into her apartment, sprayed her in the face with mace, and fatally stabbed her 33-year-old husband, Michael, and childhood friend, 26-year-old Dennis Ceglia .But the evidence told a different story. Hours before the killings, Lauren and her husband had a "weird argument" . She posted an 8-minute rant on Instagram calling Michael "psychologically abusive" . Investigators found no sign of forced entry, no usable DNA from an intruder, and surveillance footage showing no one entering the building at the time of the murder .The final nail? Lauren's bracelet was found in the laundry room of her building—where she claimed she had run to hide from the intruder. But the blood spatter pattern on her clothing placed her at the scene when the stabbings occurred, not hiding. And a search of her cell phone revealed she had researched "How to avoid police interrogation" and "How to hide a body" in the weeks prior .Prosecutors argued this was a premeditated contract killing: Lauren paid an accomplice $5,000 to carry out the murders while she played the victim . Facing life in prison, Lauren pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree manslaughter in 2024, agreeing to testify against the accomplice . She will be sentenced in January 2025 and faces 10-23 years . A 911 dispatcher will never forget the call: "I can still hear her telling me her name, and it just felt wrong" .Listener discretion advised.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/red-tree-crime--6847553/support.