This podcast details true crime cases.

It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence.

It is not intended for children.

Listener discretion is advised.

Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime.

This month we're in the series Step Monsters.

In this final episode of the series where I detail cases of bad step parents, I'll tell

you about a case of an abusive stepfather who received his comeuppance when his stepchildren

turned on him.

Were they justified in their actions?

Or was this the case of evil step kids?

This is the story of Joshua and Jerome Ellis and the murder of Neil Toley.

Baby-faced Jerome Ellis looked younger than his 14 years.

With his large dark eyes and mop of brown hair, he could pass for about 12 years old.

But in his 14 short years, he'd witnessed a lifetime of alcohol abuse, domestic abuse,

and family dysfunction.

Even so, his teachers and neighbors thought him affable and polite and described him as

a promising young man.

Jerome's parents Gary and Marie Ellis had married in 1990.

Their first son Joshua was nine years Jerome's senior.

Jerome looked up to his big brother who aspired to become a police officer or a soldier.

Their father was an alcoholic and their parents fought bitterly over his drinking and money.

...