Caterham, England. February 17, 2014. Lorin LaFave was at a loss. Her 14-year-old son, Breck, hadn't been himself for a while. It all began when he joined an online gaming club, headed by Lewis Daynes, an 18-year-old unemployed computer engineer. Daynes's influence on Breck was powerful - he began skipping activities he once enjoyed, he isolated himself from his family and friends, he was constantly irritated and argumentative.

Lorin did everything she could to put an end to the friendship. She installed parental controls on their home computers and tried to ban Breck from using Daynes's server. She even called the police, fearing that Breck was being groomed by Daynes. But her efforts were in vain.

Those who had the power to help Breck failed to do so, and the consequences were devastating.

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Learn more about what The Breck Foundation is doing to keep young people safe online.

You can find sources for this episode here.

Music from Purple Planet Music

Cheshire, Connecticut. July 23, 2007. Cheshire has pretty much everything you'd want if you were looking for a quiet, peaceful place to raise a family. The houses are spacious, the lawns are well-manicured and leafy trees line the streets. But what's most attractive about Cheshire is that it's safe. At least, that's what Bill and Jennifer Petit thought - it seemed like the perfect place to raise their two daughters, Hayley and Michaela. And it was, until one night in late July 2007 when all hell broke loose. What Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes insisted was only going to be a home burglary, escalated into a frenzy of violence and ultimately, murder. What spurred the two men to carry out such heinous acts? And could the police have done more to stop them?

The Cheshire Home Invasion Murders (my blog post on this case)

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Sources for this episode:

The Cheshire Murders Documentary

Connecticut Murder Suspect’s Ex-girlfriend Speaks Out

Sister of Komisarjevsky Girlfriend Testifies about Concern Over Relationship

Komisarjevsky’s Religious Upbringing Detailed in Court

Petit murder suspect had long, troubled history of drugs, crime

Two Portraits of Triple Killer, Offered to Jurors, Are at Odds

Defense in Connecticut home invasion case aims to shift blame

Steven Hayes, once on death row for Cheshire triple killing, resentenced to 6 life terms in prison

Joshua Komisarjevsky, convicted in Cheshire triple killing, seeks a new trial

CT Supreme Court hears Cheshire killer Komisarjevsky’s argument for new trial

Steven Hayes from Death Row: ‘I just snapped’ at scene of Cheshire home invasion

Revisiting The Grisly Cheshire Murders

The Survivor

Connecticut town finds hope, healing 10 years after gruesome Petit family murders

Connecticut Home Invasion Convict Is Undergoing Gender Transition in Prison

The Petit Family Foundation

Music from Purple Planet Music