Julissa Thaler: The Mother Who Bought a Shotgun After Losing Custody Battle
10 Minute Murder | Bingeable True Crime Stories
Joe
4.9 • 638 Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2026
⏱️ 14 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In May 2022, Orono police discovered six-year-old Eli Hart's body in the trunk of his mother Julissa Thaler's vehicle during a routine traffic stop in Minnesota. The investigation revealed Thaler had shot Eli up to nine times with a 12-gauge shotgun just ten days after regaining full custody. Evidence included the weapon purchase six days after the father filed for custody, Google searches about child blood loss and life insurance payouts, and ammunition specifically requested to "blow the biggest hole." Despite 21 police calls to Thaler's home, documented mental health crises, and explicit warnings from family members that she would kill Eli rather than lose custody, Dakota County Social Services recommended returning the child to her care.
Eli was a kindergartener who loved the monkey bars, fishing with his dad, and making friends at school. Despite being born with medical challenges that required surgeries and hearing aids, everyone said he was one of the happiest kids they'd ever met. His foster mother told social workers directly that she believed Thaler would murder Eli to keep him from his father. Two weeks after getting full custody, that's exactly what happened.
#EliHart #JulissaThaler #TrueCrime #MinnesotaMurder #ChildWelfare #Justice #SystemFailure
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Six-year-old Eli Hart was a kindergartner who loved playing on the monkey bars and going fishing with his dad. |
| 0:06.6 | He was born with medical challenges that required surgeries and hearing aids. |
| 0:11.0 | But teachers and family said he was always smiling, always making friends. |
| 0:15.4 | In May 2022, during a traffic stop in Orono, Minnesota, police found Eli's body in the trunk of his mother's car. |
| 0:23.1 | She'd shot him nine times with a shotgun. |
| 0:26.1 | It had been exactly 10 days since Dakota County gave her full custody of Eli. |
| 1:07.6 | Okay. The Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! I'm There's a moment in a lot of true crime cases where you realize that tragedy didn't have to happen. |
| 1:12.1 | Someone saw the warning signs. Someone raised the alarm. Someone tried to intervene. And then you find out that all those someones were ignored and a child ended |
| 1:17.6 | up dead. The case of Eli Hart is one of those stories where every single person who tried |
| 1:23.0 | to save him was told to sit down and be quiet. And ten days later, that little boy was gone. |
| 1:29.9 | Eli was six years old in May 2022. |
| 1:33.0 | He was in kindergarten at Shirley Hills Primary School in Mound, Minnesota. |
| 1:37.5 | By all accounts, he was this bright, energetic kid who loved being around other people. |
| 1:42.8 | His dad, Tori Hart, said Eli was always happy, always |
| 1:46.0 | outgoing, full of energy. He loved the monkey bars at the park, loved playing with toy cars, |
| 1:52.4 | loved going fishing. Eli had medical challenges from birth. He was born with a genetic disorder |
| 1:58.3 | called Towns-Brox syndrome that affected his feet and his |
| 2:01.9 | hearing. |
| 2:02.8 | He had multiple surgeries when he was a baby and wore hearing aids, but none of that slowed him |
| 2:07.2 | down. |
| 2:07.9 | Teachers said he was popular with the other kids. |
| 2:10.2 | He made friends very easily. |
... |
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