Regardless of whether you celebrate it or not, the holiday season may bring you peace
and joy.
The colorful lights, the snowy displays, the good cheer – sure, it can be a bit much
at times, but at least at the root of it, it promotes happiness and kindness to one
another.
Of course, we can trust that human nature will find a way to rip the good feelings out
of the holly jolly holidays.
These three stories aren't about Christmas miracles, but of holiday crimes committed
by the worst of the worst.
Or, maybe they're creations of the Scrooge in our ranks.
That's for you to determine.
The line that divides the factual from the unreal has long since blurred, the tales we
once thought fantastical now implanted as truth.
To decipher verity from the imagined, you must break from the ordinary and consider
a universe where the outlandish prevails.
Can you expand your mind to see beyond our perceived reality?
Can you decide what's fact or fiction?
It's not entirely uncommon for spouses to squabble, especially when one of them does
something insensitive.
Carlos and Laurie Miguez weren't what many would consider a "happy couple," but they
did their best to put a smile on their faces.
Their tensions rocketed one Christmas, however, when Carlos proved just how thoughtless he
could be.
Story # 1: The Christmas Quarrel "This is just like him.
I'm so sick of it," Laurie paced her friend's apartment, her heart racing from hurt and
anger.
On cue, her cell phone dinged, another sorrow-filled text that simply stacked onto the dozens of
empty apologies he offered throughout their marriage.
Laurie considered ignoring it, but even four days after their last fight, she was still
furious.
Carlos had never been the best when it came to Christmas gifts, but year after year it
was obvious that he had grown more and more uncaring.
Last year's vacuum cleaner was nothing compared to his complete forgetfulness this year.
It hurt to have been completely overlooked, especially by the man intended to love you
forever during a holiday that pretty impossible to miss.
No, he wouldn't get off easy this time.
Disregarding his lengthy "I'm sorry" text, she launched into a tirade that concluded
with a harsh demand: You need to move out.
She waited for him to respond, but a few hours passed with no acknowledgment.
Hoping he had left, she returned home long after nightfall.
The house was dark, save for the lights of the Christmas tree shining through the living
room window.
When she walked through the door, to her dismay he was still there, sitting quietly at the
kitchen table as the soft glow of the holidays illuminated him.
"We should talk about this," his voice shook, but she just rolled her eyes and retired
to the bedroom.
"Don't walk away from me!"
It wasn't uncommon for his voice to roar through the house, but he had always been
a man with plenty of bark but no bite.
Figuring he needed help understanding the concept of "moving out," Laurie started
pulling his clothing from the closet, her anger compounding as the pile grew on the
floor.
Her heart pounded in her chest, drowning out the sounds of the door opening and the heavy
footsteps approaching her.
Without warning, a calloused hand grabbed her throat and spun her around.
She had never seen Carlos' eyes filled with such rage.
He squeezed, imagining her throat crushing beneath his fingers, but the satisfying snap
never came.
She just stared at him in shock, her doe eyes filling with water.
Fearing he'd see his impromptu plan through, he had prepared a backup strategy.
Something quicker and less personal.
He let his hand slip from her throat, giving her a second's reprieve before jamming a
knife into her stomach.
The moment she fell limp, the rage left him, leaving him with a heavy regret and sorrow
that left him wanting to die.. but with no strength to do so.
Interlude 1: Could a Christmas gift really get between
two people, to a point where it ends in murder?
Maybe their relationship was already coming to an end, and this altercation was just the
straw that broke the camel's back.
That still doesn't explain such a violent reaction from a man not known for his violence.
Perhaps this is just another one of our fictional creations.
We'll let you decide in the comment section.
Before we get to the reveal, let's visit the story of Miqdad Zafar, who, on one Christmas
morning, proved that no holiday is safe from acts of gruesome violence.
Story # 2: Killer St. Nick It all started with the foreclosure.
Miqdad and Ameena once lived the dream, raising their beautiful children in southern Texas.
The downfall started quicker than the patriarch could prepare for.
The loss of a job, the first missed mortgage payment, the start of the endless fights.
He and Ameena had started out so in love, dreaming of a bright future.
By the middle of 2011, the foreclosure warnings started appearing.
It wasn't a life Ameena wanted, especially not for their children.
She tried to make it work, but just a few months into 2012, her love for Miqdad had
started to fade and her children were starting to be affected by their deteriorating relationship
and constant arguing.
The divorce devastated Miqdad, but he remained a devoted and protective father.
Certainly not one that seemed capable of the horrors that unraveled on December 25th, 2012
at Ameena's morning Christmas gathering.
When Miqdad showed up uninvited at his ex-wife's door dressed as Santa Claus, it was simply
deemed an act of desperation.
He was alone and she was surrounded by their two children, her sister, and her brother-in-law.
Maybe there was a hint of jealousy, but still nothing that would indicate the day would
unfold as it did.
Not long after the unwanted Santa arrived, slinging a bag of what was assumed to be cheap
gifts, the entire tone of the holiday changed.
While everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves, sending the occasional text to explain the
awkwardness to friends, Miqdad uncovered his gifts – a Smith and Wesson 9mm and a Glock
23 .40-caliber pistol.
The family, shocked and terrified, followed his orders and gathered in a room towards
the back of the apartment.
He seemed cool and collected, as if he had planned this for weeks and it was unfolding
just as he had expected.
As they cowered on the floor of the room, Miqdad remained quiet, contemplating what
he should say.
Instead of speaking, though, he lifted the 9mm and fired several rounds into Ameena.
One by one, he emptied rounds into each of his loved ones without explanation - even
as his children begged for their lives, Miqdad had nothing to say.
As the minutes past and the lives faded from Miqdad's family, the screams turned to dull
whimpers.
His children's sad eyes just stared at him as he picked up the nearby landline to call
911.
"Help, help.." he whispered into the phone, the operator barely able to hear him.
"You need help?"
The operator replied, but her inquiry was met with a chilling response.
"A shooting.
Shooting people."
Miqdad kept his voice low and, after that, stopped speaking altogether.
When the call ended, he turned the gun on himself and fired, ending his family's last
Christmas together in a pool of blood.
Interlude 2: It's tragedies like these that leave us
wondering, "Why?"
Miqdad loved his children, didn't he?
Sure, many people have killed their spouses before, but to sink so long to remove your
entire family from existence on Christmas day?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
And before the reveal, there's one last Christmas crime we still have to tell.
This holiday season, ask yourself how well you know those closest to you.
Are they faithful?
Could they hurt you when pushed too far?
Had the Gill family asked these questions of each other, chances are their Christmas
Eve would have gone quite differently.
Story # 3: The Gift Slip "Oh c'mon, just one, Harry!"
Katarina implored, impatiently dancing around the gifts scattered beneath the snowy white
tree.
"You promised!"
Harry took pleasure watching her squirm as she begged to open one of the many gifts bearing
her name.
He pondered for a moment then recalled the golden necklace bearing her name.
It was one of the few things she didn't pick out over the year and he was more excited
to give it to her than he wanted to let on.
Without speaking, he feigned a sigh and pointed to a small box nestled in the branches of
the tree.
"I didn't even see that one, you sneak!"
She gleefully snagged it from its hiding spot and nearly sprinted to the couch.
Harry knelt on the floor in front of her.
"Well go on, you brat.
You get one tonight."
As Katarina's fingers dug beneath the folds of the paper, Harry noticed something that
nearly stopped his heart.
As she tore at the paper, he froze as a purple jewelry box sat in her hands.
Katarina hated purple.
Melissa loved it.
Katarina made no mention of the color, but she seemed to take forever opening it, giving
Harry more-than-enough time to consider how he had mislabeled the boxes.
His mind raced, chiding his ignorance in thinking he could have kept his affair from being discovered.
He couldn't move, though; especially not as Katarina lifted the lid and saw the seven-letter
name staring up at her.
"Wait, wha…" her voice trailed off when her eyes met Harry's.
Maybe he could have explained it away as a mistake made by the jeweler had his eyes not
oozed with guilt.
"Are you kidding me?
Who the hell is Melissa?"
Three years of marriage, thrown away on what was originally meant to be a quick fling.
Harry had no words and when he didn't answer, he could only watch as Katarina sprung from
the couch, knocked him to the ground, and left the living room.
Harry thought he'd have a moment to collect his thoughts and find a way to explain, but
his time alone was cut short.
He could feel the anger radiating off of her without even turning his head, though seconds
later he wished he had.
"You cheated on me, you son of a…"
A thud rang through his ears.
Then, complete silence.
When he fell to the floor, he glimpsed Katarina standing over him, a bloodied rolling pin
in her hands.
He mustered a whimper before everything faded to nothingness.
When Harry woke up two weeks later, his body attached to a multitude of machines, he had
almost forgotten what put him in the hospital.
Then he remembered the thud and Katarina's infuriated stare.
As the doctor later filled him in on the events of the past two weeks, he learned that Katarina
was arrested for attempted murder.
Interlude 3: A faux pas on Harry's part put quite an
end to their festive evening, but it's up to you to determine whether it actually happened
or not.
Any scorned lover could tell you the rage that comes from infidelity, but is it enough
to lead to a heinous murder attempt?
And how could Harry have been so careless as to not properly label the two boxes?
Then again, we all make mistakes, so clearly this was just one of Harold's, right?
It's time to leave us your thoughts on Katrina and Harry in the comments, but even more importantly,
it's time for the big reveal.
The Reveal: Are you ready to find out if you can decipher
between fact or fiction?
Let's look back at tonight's three stories and find out which were born from reality
and which were fabrications of the imagination.
Let's start with our first story, the forgotten Christmas gift that led to murder.
Did Carlos escalate a Christmas squabble to cold-blooded murder?
If you thought yes, then you'd be right.
The real story is that of Julio and Gloria Resto.
After receiving nothing from her husband, Gloria made the call to kick Julio out, resulting
in her murder.
Afterwards, Julio then made several attempts on his own life, including "suicide by cop".
Julio entered a police station brandishing a knife but was taken down by non-lethal rounds.
How about our second story, that of Miqdad the killer Santa Claus?
Do you think this story is one from our imagination?
If so, we're sorry, but you'd be wrong.
On Christmas morning in 2012, Aziz "Bob" Yazdanpanah attended his ex-wife's Christmas
party uninvited.
Within the hour, everyone, including Bob, were dead.
No motive had ever been found, but some speculate it started as an "honor killing" of his
daughter, who was dating a non-Muslim.
Finally, we look at Harry and Katarina.
There may be many that can vouch for how realistic Harry's "gift slip" was, but this story
is rooted in fallacy.
It's nothing more than a Christmas concoction – a little holiday gift from the Fact or
Fiction crew to you.
How well did you in tonight's video?
Did you look past the deception of our world and define the oft-blurred line that struggles
to separate lies from the truth?
Let us all know in the comment section below and should you find the urge to test your
perceptions again, be sure to subscribe and join us next time when we ask you to decide
what's fact... or fiction.
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