A disturbing Florida murder tied to a polyamorous triangle aired last night on CBS’s “48 Hours," capturing the intense scrutiny of a relationship gone fatally awry.
According to CBS News, the episode sheds light on the death of Aileen Seiden, whose tangled romantic involvement with Zachary Abell and Christina Araujo led to her murder.
Aileen Seiden, a 31-year-old from Miami, became the focal point of an intense investigation after someone discovered her body dumped six miles from a Florida motel, where she shared room 15 with her partners, Zachary Abell and Christina Araujo. Their polyamorous relationship, often referred to as a "throuple," began in 2017 and quickly deteriorated into a complex web of jealousy and violence.
The motel room scene starkly characterized a bloody backdrop that suggested a brutal altercation. Franklin County's lead investigator, Ronnie Jones, noted the severe nature of the scene, where the amount of blood indicated a violent death. "I just put two and two together," Jones said. "It wasn't just somebody cut themselves and bled a little bit."
Initially, Seiden, Abell, and Araujo's relationship seemed like an exploration of love beyond traditional boundaries. However, as 2018 progressed, the situation turned sour. Abell regularly physically abused Seiden, while Araujo often threatened her using her father's law enforcement connections.
These threats were not empty. Seiden's best friend, Allie, recalled numerous distress calls from Aileen, describing the escalating violence. "Aileen would call me… and say, 'You have to come over here, like he hurt me again,'" Allie shared, painting a grim picture of the fear Seiden lived with daily.
As tensions rose within the throuple, Seiden and her friends made plans to escape the abusive environment. Allie detailed how the relationship dynamics changed, observing that one person always felt like the odd one out, which fueled jealousy and resentment. "This whole dynamic started to change where one of them always seemed to be the odd man out or was jealous," she said.
However, the escape plan arrived too late for Seiden. The investigation picked up pace when detectives found her body in April 2018, with Detective Jones linking the dumped corpse back to the motel's blood stains. "She had bruises… from head to toe, covering her entire body. She suffered… I've never seen anything like it," Jones expressed, highlighting the brutal nature of the crime.
The turning point in the case came when both Abell and Araujo were charged with Seiden’s murder, which tied them directly to the crime through forensic evidence and contradicting accounts of their last night together. Consequently, Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Jarred Patterson needed to piece together the events that led to Seiden's death. "We needed to know what happened inside that hotel room outside of three people entering and two coming out carrying a body," Patterson stated, emphasizing the mystery that the legal team needed to unravel.
As the case progressed into the courtroom, it laid bare the destructive nature of a relationship marked by power imbalance and intimidation. In particular, fighting for justice for Seiden, the trial became a focal point for discussions on the dangers of coercive control within polyamorous settings. Thus, it served as a chilling reminder of how quickly love can turn lethal when mixed with jealousy and violence.
Ultimately, this tragic story not only illuminated the extreme outcomes of abusive relationships but also highlighted the importance of recognizing and intervening in domestic violence dynamics, regardless of the relationship's structure. As the legal proceedings continue, the memory of Aileen Seiden serves as a stark warning of the potential dark turns in human relationships.
