Nation's Dumbest Killer Exposes Her Crimes Through Google

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Phoenix Nets, Forest of Dean, Wolverampton
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Gerisa Konita Gordon
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Canterbury Christ Church University, Phoenix Nets
4. 20:00 – 25:00: Forest of Dean

Notable quotes from "Nation's Dumbest Killer Exposes Her Crimes Through Google"

• Violated, what do you do in that situation? For a young woman named Phoenix Nets, this was not merely just a philosophical question, but actual reality. One that crept closer…

  about Phoenix Nets · at 0:31

• A car drive by was now much more noticeable no matter where you were. And deep in the forest of Dean, someone noticed something quite unusual that evening. It was on a narrow…

  about Forest of Dean · at 3:45

• Her full name was Gerisa Konita Gordon and she was a Jamaican national who was 28 years old at the time of her arrest.

  about Gerisa Konita Gordon · at 8:33

• Independence. In 2009, she left her home to move to Kent, where she then enrolled into Canterbury Christ Church University. This was all part of her plan because Phoenix…

  about Canterbury Christ Church University · at 11:18

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Phoenix Nets — Person · 3 mentions · first at 0:35
• Gerisa Konita Gordon — Person · 1 mention · first at 8:33

Companies & orgs

• Canterbury Christ Church University — Company · 1 mention · first at 11:23

Places & events

• Forest of Dean — Place · 2 mentions · first at 3:49
• Wolverampton — Place · 1 mention · first at 4:21
  Officers realized that the car was registered to an owner who lived in Wolverampton, nearly 80 miles away.
• Lozells — Place · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Can I ask you something? What is obsession to you? Is it that fleeting spark that lingers longer than it should? A harmless affection that quietly twists into something darker? Is it longing? Or is it control that is dressed up and masquerading as love? And at what point does admiration become fixation anyway? And what happens when someone you consider a friend stop seeing you as a person and start seeing you as their property? When no becomes an insult? And when your boundaries aren't just ignored, but routinely violated, what do you do in that situation? For a young woman named Phoenix Nets, this was not merely just a philosophical question, but actual reality. One that crept closer, tighter, and more dangerous as time went by until that line between discomfort and danger finally snapped. Welcome, or welcome back to Coffee House Crime, folks. My name is Adrian and today we're diving into a story filled with lust,

0:55 fixation, and escalating obsession. And I have to say this is one of the most gruesome crimes that I have ever covered. And as you'll soon realize through the sheer amount of surveillance footage covered in this video, her obsessive killer may as well have vlogged her entire cover up. I have to say she is definitely not the smartest cookie. By the way, Copy House Crime is run by two good friends, Nero and myself. We're just a small team dedicated to sharing real stories told properly with respect. And after last week's video, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who support the channel, listen to our sponsorships, and show interest in what's behind the camera. It's kind of crazy to think that this channel is almost 5 years old, because honestly, it still feels like half a year ago to me. Trust me here, but so many things have changed since this channel's beginning. And now that I've hit my 30s, moved country, and

1:40 become a homeowner, it is kind of obvious that I'm entering a new stage in my life. But don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. This is just a reflection. Renovating in the daytime and working in the evenings and nighttime has reminded me how tiring taking extra work on can be. And it's also taught me how important health is. Because if that's off, everything is. And that is precisely why I love this video sponsor, ZTO. ZTO is a free website where you can search and compare highquality in-et network doctors, choose the right one for your needs, and then click to instantly book an appointment. And the great thing is that Zockdoc isn't just for one type of care because they have more than 100,000 providers across nearly every specialty ranging from primary care to dental health, I care to urgent health to mental health and much, much more. It's the one-stop shop for all of your health care needs. And

2:26 there's no need to call a doctor's office and wait on hold either because ZuckDoc lets you do everything online. And when you found the doctor you need, you can see their actual appointment openings, too. Oh, and did I mention that Zodoc helps you get appointments fast? typically within just 24 to 72 hours of booking. Not only that, but you can even score same day appointments. So, stop waiting and start getting the care that you need. Go to zdoc.com/copyhouse crime to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today.

2:55 Thank you again to Zukdoc for sponsoring this video and thank you so much to you folks for listening. I really do appreciate it. Now, I believe we have an important topic to discuss here. And so, on that note, please grab yourself a coffee and let's caffeinate while we investigate. This is the case of Phoenix Nets.

3:21 The date was May the 12th, 2020, and it's a time that none of us want to remember. As you know, lockdown had smothered most of the world into silence, especially England. Roads which were once filled with cars were now long empty concrete corridors. In fact, entire cities were starting to feel abandoned, and they were almost as quiet as the rest of England's many fields and forests. I mean, just seeing or hearing a car drive by was now much more noticeable no matter where you were. And deep in the forest of Dean, someone noticed something quite unusual that evening. It was on a narrow road just outside the town of Culford that a local resident saw a lone car driving through the darkness. The strange thing is it wasn't just passing through either and it seemed to be circling around the area as though the driver was searching for something. Feeling uneasy and perhaps a little bit nosy, the local resident

4:13 decided to contact the police. And after running a quick license plate check, officers realized that the car was registered to an owner who lived in Wolverampton, nearly 80 miles away. Okay, in hindsight, it did sound a little bit ridiculous. I mean, imagine the authorities getting all bent out of shape because the car dared to be 80 mi away from its registered address. It feels almost dystopian and kind of like something straight out of the Hunger Games. However, at least at this point in the pandemic, traveling that far was strictly against the rules. Everyone was meant to stay put while we tried to figure out this whole CO situation. And so, when a lone driver is seen zigzagging and circling around the country in the middle of the night, well, yeah, you could say that eyebrows started to levitate. When police officers intercepted the driver, they recorded this moment on body cam.

5:05 And as you can see, the driver stepped out, seemed quite visibly anxious, and insisted that he was merely waiting for a friend. So the police officers reminded him that this was still the middle of a lockdown. And unless his friend was in a medical emergency, he had no reason to be here. With no evidence of a crime and nothing immediately illegal in sight, they just merely issued a warning to him and then told him to head home. But as the car faded into darkness, something about the encounter didn't quite sit right with them. Less than an hour later, those same police officers were once again patrolling the same stretch of road.

5:41 Apparently, a gut feeling had brought them back there, and that is when they realized they saw more headlights caught in a strange silhouette by the entrance to Stooffield Quarry. It turned out to be the same car that was now pulled over with its engine turned off. And beside it was a lone figure who was standing next to two large suitcases. The body cam footage from that moment shows it all. Whoever this woman was, she seemed to be both concerned and defensive. And as the police officers edged closer towards her, she would become even more erratic. At the time, nobody knew what she was hiding. But it became quite clear to officers that she was desperate to keep the contents of those suitcases a secret. Almost like she was maybe hiding a body in there. Spoiler alert, she was.

6:28 You knew your property. He's trying You're trying to stop us, which is which is now really concerning.

6:34 Wait, wait. Just listen. Just listen. You're going to get you're going to get arrested for obstructing police.

6:38 All right. I don't want to I don't want to stop you guys. You are you are stopping. You are stopping us.

6:43 Okay. Can I just could I just explain because as I said before as I said before like I don't I've

6:52 had issues with that before. Step away please. Just stand there. Okay. What the

7:07 cuz that that's a that's a person. You are under arrest. Yeah. That's a [ __ ] person.

7:19 507. SGE. Can we get you down in ASAP, please? Urgent. Inside the first suitcase, officers found human remains. And as for the second one, well, that held even more. It is no surprise to learn then that both the woman standing there and the driver were arrested immediately and then taken down to the local station for questioning. But the thing is that would only raise more unsettling questions. I mean, it kind of leaves us with a few rather enormous ones actually, doesn't it? To begin with, who precisely was this woman? And why was she standing in the darkness with a dismembered body zipped up into two suitcases? And just to throw another one out there, why was she 80 mi away from home during a national lockdown with luggage that you definitely would not take on a holiday?

8:21 Well, whatever you're imagining right now, the truth is actually far darker than anyone expected. But let's start at the top here and first talk about our first suspect, Garisa. Her full name was Gerisa Konita Gordon and she was a Jamaican national who was 28 years old at the time of her arrest. Born in Jamaica, she spent her first few years under the sun. However, everything would unfortunately change for her when she was only 7 years old. Imagine living in a bright, colorful, and warm country and then being uprooted to England. For Gerissa, that was her reality. And before she knew it, she was flown across the Atlantic Ocean to live with her aunt. She was suddenly dropped into a new world with new accents, new weather, new rules, and new expectations. And it was only later that her mother actually followed her. And even then, the family never quite fit together the same way after that. She then moved to North

9:18 London and attended an allgirl state secondary school. And although her early years in the UK did appear ordinary from the outside, her late teenage years would sadly take a terrible turn. Somewhere along that path, Karissa became entangled with an older man who exploited her and then forced her into sex work. She became trapped in an abusive and exploitive relationship. And by adulthood, Karissa was a woman who was now shaped by trauma. Psychologists would later diagnose her with a personality disorder with a low tolerance for frustration and intensely struggled with rejection. And of course, this is a dangerous combination when left untreated. Fast forward to 2020 and Grisa had escaped London and was hopeful for a better life. That is when she ended up in a refuge for vulnerable women in the Lozelle's area of West Birmingham. A place that is designed to give people stability and most of all

10:14 safety. And it was inside that refuge that she met another resident, someone who was also trying to rebuild her life and someone that Garissa took quite a fond liking to and her name was Phoenix Nets. Born in the early 1990s in Cuddon of South London, Phoenix was the only child of her parents Mark and Saskia. They described her as supportive, loving, and a fantastic daughter. Until the age of 11, Phoenix attended the Parish Church Junior School in her hometown. It's one of those classic South London primary schools where everyone knows everyone and where childhood feels like one long blur of classrooms, playgrounds, and inside jokes. Her classmates remember her as bright and articulate. She loved drama, adored performing, and for a short while was even a keen horse rider.

11:05 She was one of those kids who had the kind of spark that suggested a very bright future ahead of her. It's a shame that unfortunately that would never materialize. By her late teenage years, Phoenix was ready for her independence. In 2009, she left her home to move to Kent, where she then enrolled into Canterbury Christ Church University. This was all part of her plan because Phoenix dreamed of becoming a paramedic. She was driven, compassionate, and someone who was genuinely wanting to help others. However, somewhere between her first and second year, her path slowly began to fracture. Unfortunately, Phoenix left university before completing her degree.

11:46 And although we don't quite know why, there always is a reason. Those closest to her say that she struggled with depression, occasional drug use, and general pressure to succeed. Despite all of this, Phoenix and her parents always maintained a very strong bond. They always remained supportive to her, and in return, she loved them deeply for it. After dropping out of university, Phoenix then traveled northwest to the city of Birmingham, a place that, Lord knows how, she somehow grew to love. However, by late 2019, cracks unfortunately began to appear again. Her situation became much more fragile, and that is how she found herself in the same refuge as Gerisa. The building functioned as shared accommodation. It included communal kitchens, narrow corridors, and small private rooms that branched off from one another. It was not glamorous by any means, but it was a safe place that provided both support

12:43 and stability for vulnerable women, which is precisely what we need more of in this world. And at least in theory, it was temporary. And Phoenix certainly saw it that way, too. Although she was just settling into the refuge, her mind was already drifting back towards home. She planned to return to London and move back in with her parents as soon as she could. But of course, that had to wait until all pandemic restrictions eased up, and only then could she legally travel back. However, as the lockdown loomed and dates shifted back again and again and again, well, that escape plan kept falling behind. And while Phoenix waited for the moment to arise, that is when she crossed paths with Gerissa. and that connection would turn into one of nightmares.

13:33 By early 2020, both Phoenix and Garissa were living in neighboring rooms inside that refuge. So, of course, over time, the two got speaking to one another. Now, from what we know, it looks like they were not actually the most compatible of friends, and they weren't even that close. Their bond had definitely formed more out of proximity than choice. But as winter slowly bled into spring, the atmosphere between them began to change. And by February, Phoenix had started telling her friends that things felt off with Gerisa. And when I say off, I'm not talking about small arguments from across the table.

14:06 I'm talking about Gerisa repeatedly asking Phoenix for sex. This wasn't romantic interest or even misguided affection either. It was just this weird and obsessive fixation from her. And for Phoenix, it was deeply unwanted. The imbalance was quite stark though. Phoenix was polite, kind, and wanted to keep the peace. Meanwhile, Geresa became this increasingly volatile and horny goblin. And then came April 11th, 2020. It was on that night that Gerisa phoned the Samaritans, both drunk and distressed. She spoke to the operator about liking another woman and wanting to have sex with her. And in her own goblin words, she told the operator that quote, "Her loins were hot." Just a quick side note here, but please can we ban that phrase from ever being said again. It was on that night that the UK then entered strict lockdown. Visitors were not allowed, movements were limited, and support services, which

15:03 were already stretched thin, were then suddenly reduced. Staff at the refuge were rotated in and out, too. Isolation seemed to hit everyone differently, but for Phoenix, it made her situation exponentially worse. The lockdown meant that she could no longer leave, and it also meant that she could not put any physical distance between herself and someone who was now beginning to scare her. Instead, she was now trapped with the very person that she feared, separated only by a thin bedroom wall. They used the same shared kitchen, passed each other on the same narrow hallway, and shared the same bathroom, too. And of course, while all of this was happening, that tension was building. Now, Phoenix was trying to stay positive, and she was texting her friends to say that she planned to leave as soon as restrictions eased. But over time, you could tell that her messages grew more anxious. For example, in one

16:00 text message which was sent on April the 7th, she said, "There's a girl here who keeps asking me to be sexual. I think I'm going to have to move back to London. It's scaring me. Laugh out loud." Meanwhile, Karissa's behavior became even more erratic. Her fixation deepened. Her emotional state grew more unstable. And with every passing day, Phoenix found herself with fewer places to retreat, fewer opportunities to get away, and fewer people physically present to intervene. And in the early hours of April the 16th, 2020, the relationship had reached its tipping point.

16:35 It was early that morning that Phoenix was still awake. She was on her phone to a friend, again, emphasizing that she wished to return home as soon as lockdown was over. However, shortly after that phone call, Gerisa barged in through the bedroom door, stabbed Phoenix four times in the chest, and then left her in a mortally wounded state. The most haunting thing about this is that this was not a quick story. Phoenix was left there to die alone for several hours, unable to make any phone calls because Garissa had stolen her phone. One of the most frustrating things here is that all of the other women in the refuge heard strange noises coming from Phoenix's room in the hours after, and this included banging, scraping, and even the faint sound of a woman crying. In fact, several of them would even claim that they heard her saying, "Help me." For several heartbreaking and grueling long hours,

17:28 Phoenix must have felt ignored as she faded in and out of consciousness, wondering why nobody was coming to save her. Between 10:04 p.m. and 3:07 p.m., Garissa then used Phoenix's phone to make several desperate searches. This included how to fix a punctured lung, internal bleeding, and can someone recover from getting stabbed. It was later that afternoon that Phoenix's friend tried to call her mobile phone, but received no answer. Now, at first, she wasn't too concerned. However, as the hours passed by, worry slowly began to creep in. And the horrible thing is that while she was fighting for her life, Karissa was already beginning to plan how she would get rid of her. By the morning of April the 17th, 2020, Karissa had shifted fully into coverup mode. Seen here in the surveillance footage, she bought a 45lb circular saw on Gumree, then having it delivered directly to the refuge after it arrived.

18:24 Shortly before 11:00 a.m., Garrisa then began to dismember Phoenix's body. What followed was total erasure of Phoenix's room. The mattress had vanished. Her bed frame had now disappeared, and both the carpet and its underlay were ripped up. Everything was thrown out, and the floor beneath was scrubbed down so vigorously that the room stank of bleach. She also hired several people to remove the evidence, branding it as waste. As seen from these nearby surveillance cameras, you can see two men carrying rolled carpets and heavy black bags out of the house. Both completely unaware that they were actually helping clear the aftermath of a murder. With the room now stripped away, Gissa turned her attention towards Phoenix's mobile phone and social media. She began to impersonate her, sending text messages to her housing support manager, her friends, and even her parents. Garissa's text messages mimicked everything

19:20 perfectly from her emojis to her abbreviations right down to the number of kisses that she would use. Most people genuinely believed that Phoenix was all right. And that is when her deception escalated even further. And she did that by combining homicide with AI. Gerissa downloaded a voice editing app and then began to craft new audio messages using Phoenix's voice from old recordings. Apparently, the results were eerily real. So, I guess you could say that although Phoenix was already gone, Gerisa was keeping her alive online.

19:54 Meanwhile, Phoenix's remains had already been wrapped and then packed into two large suitcases. And in the days after, surveillance cameras all across Birmingham would unknowingly record Gerisa's strange and frantic movements. One clip would show her cycling through quiet residential streets with a heavy suitcase. Later on, she appeared at a police station, agitated, unsettled, and clutching her phone. She claimed that she needed to charge her iPhone and was meant to meet a friend in the area. But when police officers asked her for ID, Karissa seemed both panicked and hesitant. The following day, another camera captured her entering a home bargain store where she bought cleaning products and a sleeping bag. She paid in cash and then left abruptly. She then booked a taxi the next morning where yet another surveillance camera would capture her stepping out of the taxi at a petrol station. Sensing that something

20:47 was rather off about the situation, the taxi driver would even abandon her. Of course, this left Karisa both stranded and panicked. And in a moment of pure genius level stupidity, she then decided to do the one thing that you absolutely should not do while trying to hide a body. She called the police. Geresa claimed that the taxi driver had stolen her bag. But when the officer asked what was inside so they could track it, she then backpedled immediately, claiming that the driver had actually returned it after all. By now, even the surveillance cameras were probably thinking, "Bless her, she's trying." The following day, CCTV caught her yet again. This time boarding a train towards Culford to the forest of Dean and finish what she had started. She then made several searches on Phoenix's phone, including, "How do killers get caught? Can bodies burn to ashes with petrol?" And, "What happens

21:41 when you burn a body with petrol?" Proving once again that criminals don't get caught because the police are psychic, but instead because they make ridiculous Google searches as if they are literally auditioning for prison. When she eventually reached the forest, Geresa then camped beside the suitcases, literally sleeping right next to Phoenix's remains without any thought whatsoever. For multiple days, she then wandered around the quarry's paths, both exhausted and disheveled. For whatever reason, it looks like Karesa could not bring herself to bury the remains.

22:14 Burning the body didn't seem to work either, because without a strong accelerant, the suitcase never caught fire in the way that she imagined. After leaving the forest, another camera captured her journey back towards Birmingham. A petrol station camera recorded her filling plastic jerry cans with fuel. The footage showing her standing rigidly over the nozzle, watching the containers fill, and then walking back into the city through Gumree. She then hired a man named Mahesh Soretier, paying him to drive her from Birmingham to the rural outskirts of Kulford. At 5:00 p.m. on May the 12th, 2020, Mahesh then picked Gerisa up and drove back towards Glosters. She asked him to stop near the entrance of a quarry, said that she needed to retrieve something and then told him to come back later. The thing is that Gerisa would never actually return. And because she essentially disappeared, Mahesh grew

23:06 anxious over her safety. Because he was anxious, he then started to circle the area to find her. And because he was circling the area, a watchful neighbor called the police. And of course, that is exactly how our story unraveled, which leads us to this body cam footage where they found Gerisa and a suitcase full of human remains.

23:33 What the is that? That's a That's a person. We can do the first. You are under arrest.

23:42 Yeah, that's a [ __ ] person. 507, can we get you down in ASAP, please? Urgent. When police officers finally opened those two large suitcases, the black bin bags found inside would confirm their greatest fears. And so, surprise, surprise, both Garissa and Mahesh were arrested immediately. They were then processed, photographed, and placed in an interview room. And apparently, all of Gerissa's answers seemed to contradict each other. At first, she claimed that she was meeting a friend. And then she said she was traveling for no reason at all. And then she even claimed that she had no idea what was in those suitcases. Meanwhile, Mahesh was busy blabbering everything he knew, and it became quite clear early on that he had no role in Phoenix's murder.

24:44 He was merely just a driver that was hired off Gumree. You could say he was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. But thankfully, he would not have to pay a hefty price. But for Gerisa, well, that was a very different story. And being honest with you, it was not looking good. I mean, if it wasn't for all the surveillance footage that was already going to screw her over, it would be the countless Google searches she made on Phoenix's phone. And if that wasn't enough already, when they finally searched her bedroom back in Birmingham, they would find a hacksaw with Phoenix's blood all over it.

25:20 In April of 2021, Karesa's trial finally began. The prosecution laid out all of the messages, Google searches, surveillance footage, and forensic evidence. And the jury was horrified to learn that Phoenix could have survived for up to 12 hours after the attack if anyone had stepped in to intervene. The surprising thing here is that Greece's defense did not try to claim that she was innocent.

25:42 Instead, her lawyers spoke of mental health struggles, PTSD, and a life defined by trauma and exploitation, including being forced into sex work by an older man years prior. He also described his client as volatile, damaged, and unable to regulate herself under pressure, which of course wasn't an excuse, but instead an explanation for the instability beneath her crimes. But one thing that definitely did not help Garisa was a letter from her very own mother where she described her daughter as quote a ticking time bomb who never received the support that she needed. In fairness, she did insist that Gerisa was not inherently a bad person, but instead was someone who was failed repeatedly by the system. Throughout court proceedings, Phoenix's family gave multiple victim impact statements. Her father said that their lives had been irreversibly changed and that their anguish was indescribable. And her

26:37 mother described herself as forever devastated and forever empty. The judge called Garesa a very dangerous woman and described the crime as callous, calculating, and evil. After that, she then sentenced Garrisa to life in prison with a minimum term of 23 years and 6 months. In the aftermath of this case, housing providers across Birmingham reassessed their safeguarding procedures because being honest, they quite clearly needed to. In parallel to this, charities also reviewed how risk is identified in shared accommodation and the publicity around this case also sparked calls for better communication between mental health services and housing providers.

27:23 Now, what I think is most heartbreaking about this case is how avoidable Phoenix's death really was. What I think is horrifying and despicable is that even after being stabbed, she lay there on that bedroom floor crying out for help for 12 gruelling hours. And despite several neighbors even hearing her, nobody stepped in to intervene. As for Gerisa, well, she clearly became fixated on Phoenix for reasons that we will never fully understand. And although we don't know the why or the how or the moment it all began, we do know that over time those feelings intensified. It is very clear that Garissa had no idea what to do with those feelings. And left unchecked, they twisted into something unstable and then something obsessive and then something dangerous. What really bothers me here is how all of this happened inside a refuge, a place that is meant to be a last resort where safety is guaranteed.

28:13 For Phoenix to have that final sanctuary fall apart must have been nothing short of devastating. And I do truly hope that her family are finding a path towards healing. And with that said, I think that pretty much wraps up our case today, folks. But before I go, I'd love to know your thoughts on this one. Because of course, Garissa's trauma and mental health do certainly muddy the waters a little bit. On that note, do you think Garissa deserved the punishment she received? Or maybe do you think she deserved higher?

28:40 As always, share your thoughts down below. And it turns out we're getting very close to Christmas now. So, merry Christmas to you, your family, and your friends. And happy holidays to you wherever you are in the world. Thank you so much for being here so close to the festive season. And hope you have a great time off no matter how long or short it is. Oh, and thank you to Zdo for sponsoring today's video. Go to zdoc.com/ coffeehouse crime or click the link in the description to find an instantly booker top rated doctor today.

29:06 Man, I'm getting really good at saying that quickly. Anyway folks, thank you so much for watching today and as always, I'll see you again very soon for another video. Until that moment arrives though, remember to look after yourselves, look after each other, and merry Christmas. Thank you and goodbye.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "Nation's Dumbest Killer Exposes Her Crimes Through Google"?

In order: 0:00 Phoenix Nets, Forest of Dean, Wolverampton; 5:00 Gerisa Konita Gordon; 10:00 Canterbury Christ Church University, Phoenix Nets; 20:00 Forest of Dean.

What is mentioned in this Coffeehouse Crime episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Phoenix Nets, Forest of Dean, Wolverampton, Gerisa Konita Gordon, Canterbury Christ Church University, Lozells. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Nation's Dumbest Killer Exposes Her Crimes Through Google"?

The episode runs 30 min; the transcript is about 5,016 words in 45 timestamped sections.

More from Coffeehouse Crime

• All analyzed episodes
• People mentioned on Coffeehouse Crime
• Topics mentioned on Coffeehouse Crime