Eaton: So you do believe that Charles was shot in selfdefense and Alex was defending himself?

Melani: Absolutely. And I went to Tylee and was like, 'How are you?' She was so brave speaking about it and was very collected and very mature. I admire Tylee so much for how brave she was. She explained everything and so did Lori and so did Alex and it made sense with how Charles has been acting. You're in shock that it went to that extreme but I'm glad Alex was there to protect Tylee.

I hated that Tylee had to go through that and I know there's been a lot of criticism of how Lori acted afterward. She's smiling on camera and I know when she's uncomfortable, she'll just kind of laugh or smile and try to make light of it. I do the same thing. It's just how we handle being in shock and every person handles being in shock differently.

That's when everything started to be strange. Charles had said all these things in court documents, things I had never heard Lori say, and that's when these strange ideas started flowing around. Lori has always been an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints. She loves learning and she spent a lot of time in the temple trying to learn and grow from experiences and trying to feel peace from all the things that have happened in her life.

Charles I feel took that to an extreme with the things that he said about her. Honestly I see everything Charles did...like the emails about his life insurance. Charles sold life insurance and had his own company and the texts between people it almost looked like a setup. It was very alarming to see all these things.

I have been asked what spiritual experiences has Lori had. That's not for me to answer or to say what Lori and Chad's beliefs are. But I know the people they are and I know they're good people and they're trying. As a family, we'd get together and talk about the mysteries of God and the deep doctrine conversations. We're allowed to do that. We're allowed to discern truth from error and just learn and in our church. We believe in revelation and it's an ongoing process. We're learning continually and everything's changing. We're just people that are trying to grow in our faith and be closer to the Savior.

There's no cult. Lori's my aunt, Zulema's almost like an aunt to me, Alex is my uncle and this is my family. Where it comes down to Tylee and JJ and this zombie idea it came from a disturbing phone call I got from one of Lori's old friends right after they took off to Hawaii. She told me Lori and Alex did something to Tylee and JJ and we don't know where they're at and Lori has lied to you and all these things that didn't feel right. On that phone call I felt a lot of fear and doubt and that's when I kind of went into this worrying phase.

I'm newly married and I'm sharing these things with him and can't sleep some nights. I didn't know where they're at, I didn't know what was going on and I didn't understand these things. And Ian, which I don't know, is talking with Natalie and Brandon and they're telling him these terrifying things that aren't true that I've wanted to kill Brandon and I'm in a cult. I have no idea what Ian's doing behind the scenes and I'm in a scared time in my life where I'm trying to figure out the pieces. I'm trying to know what's going on with with Brandon and his plans and who he is working with and where my kids are. December was terrifying like we're thrown into this boiling pot as soon as we get married and trying to just adapt as best we can.

Eaton: Melani, did you actually believe these things that Lori and Chad told you? Or were you telling Ian just to get it off your chest with the assumption you didn't know what to think?

Melani: Lori and Chad did not tell me most of those things in the document. Those were fears I was hearing from other people and never did I believe them. When you don't have knowledge about something and you're in a scary situation like this, you think the worst. And I'm an open book. I kind of say it how it is.

I didn't know Ian was recording all these things and that he was talking to Natalie or Brandon. I had told him my history with Brandon and I warned that Natalie's probably going to try to get a hold of Brandan and Brandon's going to run with all these lies about me. Ian knew who I was but the factor of Tylee and JJ going missing he'd never seen them before and had only met Chad and Lori one time. He doesn't know what I know about the past with Lori trying to do everything she can to protect her kids and people who have been threatening her.

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