Tinder Killer Aubrey Trail Slashed His Throat In Court While On Trial For Murder
He killed a woman he and his girlfriend met on Tinder.
KLKN Sydney Loofe went on a second date with a woman she met on Tinder in November 2018. She had been excited about going out with someone she described to friends as her “dream girl.” But the date went very wrong and Loofe was never seen alive again. Now that woman, Bailey Boswell, and her boyfriend Aubrey Trail are accused of her gruesome death and dismemberment. Prosecutors say the crime was a deliberate seduction using social media and the pair intended the incident to end as a murder. But Aubrey Trail interrupted his own trial on June 24 to say that Boswell is completely innocent — then he slit his own throat.
Trail survived the experience and is expected to be back in court later this week. The judge will put him in handcuffs to prevent further self-harm. Meanwhile, jurors will continue to hear about the grisly murder he stands accused of.
What happened to Sydney Loofe? Who is Aubrey Trail? Read on for all the details.
1. Tinder
According to testimony reported by The Daily Beast, one of Sydney’s friends, Brittney Flinn, got a text from Sydney on November 14th saying that she had a date with a woman from Tinder. Sydney sent Flinn a photo of the woman, who was using the profile name Audrey25. Sydney also posted to SnapChat, saying she was excited about the date. It was evidently her second date with Audrey25, who was later identified as Bailey Boswell. Sydney’s mother sent her a text that evening, saying: “How come you didn’t tell me you had a date,” but she never got a response. In the days to come, family and friends would grow concerned when Sydney stopped communicating with them. They reported her missing after going to her apartment and discovering her car and purse were still there and her cat was inside alone, without food or water.
Sydney met her killers on Tinder.
2. Trail and Boswell
As police began searching for Sydney, Boswell and Trail started making videos for social media declaring their innocence in the matter, according to the Daily Beast. The only catch was that no one had accused them of having any involvement in the matter. Before Sydney’s body had even been found, Trail took to Facebook to say: “You’ve already crucified us in the newspapers, you’ve already crucified us on Facebook. You know, in America, I sure thought it was a trial first but I guess not." In another, he said: “They’re chasing us around like dogs. I wish the family the best...I wish Sydney the best. But as far as the police department, fuck you.” By November 30th, the two were under arrest but not for anything related to Sydney’s disappearance; they were charged with transporting stolen goods from Kansas to Nebraska. It would be six months before they were arrested for the murder.
Boswell during a court appearance.
3. Grisly discovery
On December 5th, police located Sydney’s body in a ditch after they spotted a garbage bag with an arm sticking out of it. They were able to identify the remains as Sydney due to a tattoo she had saying “Everything will be wonderful someday.” But wonderful was far from the condition she was in. Police said her body had been dismembered and that her tongue, kidneys, and heart were gone.
Trail has been trying to exonerate his girlfriend Bailey Boswell.
4. Investigation
The police were aided in their search for the culprit in the murder by Sydney’s friends and family. The Daily Beast reported that Sydney's friend Brooklyn McCrystal testified that she set up a phony Tinder profile to find the woman who was believed to last see Sydney alive. McCrystal managed to connect with Audrey25 and flirted with her until she was able to get her phone number. She passed the information on to police who traced the number to Boswell. Cell phone records for Boswell and Trail showed contact with one another, contact with Sydney, and even the location of her body.
Her body was discovered in December.
5. Motive
Trail’s lawyers are saying that Sydney’s death was unintentional. Allegedly, Trail says that he, Sydney, and Boswell were engaged in consensual sexual activity that included erotic asphyxiation and Sydney died accidentally. But prosecutors have a different take on it. They believe the couple had been part of a sexual fantasy group that included other women and they were hoping Sydney would be part of it. They also believe the murder was a part of the fantasy. The two had purchased a hacksaw, duct tape, drop cloths, utility knives, trash bags and bleach before Sydney went missing. “This was a planned seduction to kill somebody,” said Nebraska Assistant Attorney General Sandra Allen according to the Daily Beast. “The somebody is Sydney Loofe.”
Police trakced down Trail.
6. Evidence
The evidence against Boswell and Trail is quite damning. There is surveillance footage of Trail walking into Sydney’s job and looking at her then looking at his phone, as if to compare her to a photo. He then called Boswell. Police also found discovered Viagra, 17 sex toys, and bottles of bleach, along with smears on the walls of their apartment from cleaning off the blood. Bedding in the apartment matched a sheet found near Sydney’s body, as well.
The evidence was substantial.
7. Court outburst
In court on Monday, during testimony from witnesses who had helped police track down the murderous pair, Trail yelled “Bailey is innocent and I curse you all,” the New York Post reports. He then used some kind of object to stab himself in the throat, before collapsing to the floor from his wheelchair. He was taken to a hospital as court staff cleaned the blood from the floor. The judge instructed the jury to return the following day and announced that Trail would be forced to wear handcuffs for the remainder of the trial.
Trail stabbed himelf with an unkown object.
Trail is being tried for first degree murder and Boswell will be tried for the same crime at a later date. Before this trial, Boswell pleaded guilty to improper disposal of skeletal remains.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.