'Island of Lost Dreams': Wife stands by husband convicted of killing girlfriend
09/13/2016 12:00 pm PDT
A young couple sets out on the adventure of a lifetime, but only one of them comes back. A trail of deception, a history of violence, a gruesome discovery and a family torn apart.
It was supposed to be a fresh start: Two lovers dropping everything to live a life of leisure in a tropical paradise. But it wouldn't play out that way. Instead, it would be a trip marred by broken promises, betrayal -- and blood.
Yvonne Baldelli and her boyfriend Brian Brimager, an ex-Marine, have relocated to a vacation paradise looking for a fresh start. That move would instead set off a sinister chain of events filled with lies, mystery and multiple lovers.
When Yvonne Baldelli moved to Panama with Brian, she thought it was to start a new life together. But apparently they weren't both on the same page.
Yvonne Baldelli went missing after moving to Isla Carenero, off the coast of Panama, in September 2011 with Brian Brimager. And her family is beyond worried when Brian comes back home to California alone and almost immediately marries another woman.
Brian Brimager had moved with his girlfriend to an island paradise off the coast of Panama. But just a few weeks after she goes missing he marries the mother of his secret love child. And investigators soon discover that baby girl isn't the only thing he is hiding.
Brian's defense claims that a violent, daylong fight ensued, culminating in Yvonne pulling a knife. Brian fought back, beating Yvonne before getting hold of the knife and using it to fatally stab her in the back.
Then things really got gruesome.
In his own words, Brian Brimager says he dragged his girlfriend into the bathroom and used his machete to dismember her body. Then, to make it look like she really did just run off with all her things, he killed her dog.
Brian Brimager was sentenced to 26 years in prison on May 25, 2016.
