Hi, this is 911. You have an emergency? Okay, I'm on a sailboat out of South Daytona and a boat just floated by me and a girl jumped out of it and swam over and crawled in my dinghy, said people have been beating on her. Okay. How long? Wait a minute. A boat. Wait a minute. A boat is coming to. There's a boat. Do you want to go with these people or not? Okay, guys, she ain't going with you. She's going in to the port to meet the police. In the simmering heat of a typical Florida summer, the city of Daytona Beach gleamed like a gem on the Atlantic coast known for its legendary Daytona International Speedway and sprawling sun kissed beaches, The destination was a haven for thrill seekers and sun worshipers alike. Neon lights flickered in the bustling beachfront bars and restaurants, inviting locals and tourists to indulge in the city's lively nightlife. Yet beneath the surface of this idyllic coastal paradise, a sinister undercurrent was about to emerge, one that would shock the community to its core and challenge the acumen of the city's finest detectives. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over the streets an ominous sense of foreboding settled over Daytona Beach. Little did its residents know that they were on the cusp of a chilling chapter in their city's history. Let's dive in. Crystal Caralea Guest, Born on December 23rd, 1986 in Barntable, Massachusetts was a New England native who soon found her home in the sunnier climes of Central Florida. After relocating southward with her mother, Crystal spent the majority of her life in this vibrant and sunny region. She was a familiar face in New Smyrna Beach and later made her home in Daytona Beach. Her school years were spent walking the halls of New Smyrna Beach High School, where she was beloved by her peers. Her family members described her as warm, loving and fiercely protective of her loved ones, sometimes to her own detriment. In the early 2000s, Crystal embarked on a new chapter in her life, entering into matrimony and setting the stage for the subsequent events that would unfold in her life. The Pifers welcomed a baby boy into their lives in June 2005, marking a joyful beginning for the young family. But their happiness was abruptly overshadowed. On October 1st, 2005, while their infant son was resting in his bouncy chair, a tragic accident occurred. A piece of furniture toppled over, causing severe injury to the infant. The boy sustained a fractured upper jaw and palate along with mid facial trauma. In a race against time. He was urgently transported to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando. There, he underwent emergency surgery and began a lengthy recovery process. During his hospitalization, he was nourished through tube feeding until it was safe to remove the tracheostomy and his injuries had sufficiently healed. After an intense 16 day hospital stay, he was finally discharged. This incident mirrored a worrying trend noted by the Center for Injury Research. Between 1990 and 2007, an estimated 264,200 children were victims of furniture tip over accidents over the years. Crystal's son needed further medical treatments, and she devoted herself to ensuring his well-being, making it her foremost priority. Professionally, Crystal had stable employment as an office manager at a car doing business in Holly Hill, a position she held for a decade. To the contrary, her personal life faced challenges. In 2009, her first marriage came to an end with a divorce. Undeterred, Crystal later entered into a second marriage. But this, too, hit troubled waters. In December 2012, she filed for the dissolution of her second marriage, a process which concluded in March 2013. Unfortunately, the difficulties with her second husband did not end with the divorce. A mere six months later Crystal found herself in a position where she needed to file for an order of protection against him, indicating ongoing turmoil in her personal life. Following the collapse of her two previous marriages, Crystal was understandably cautious about reentering the dating scene. Nonetheless, her perspective changed when she met Thomas Prins, a 42 year old entrepreneur originally from Hoboken, New Jersey. When Crystal met Thomas Prins, he had lived in Volusia County for more than 15 years and owned a landscaping business. Despite the 14 year age difference, her family warmly accepted Thomas, raising hopes that he might be the stable and mature partner. Crystal longed for their relationship progressed quickly, and court records show that Crystal moved into Thomas's home in Daytona Beach. But the initial optimism was short lived. Just seven months into their relationship, red flags began to surface. Police records and accounts from neighbors paint a picture of a tumultuous relationship marked by recurring arguments that were loud enough to draw attention and frequent police encounters. In fact, Daytona Beach police say officers responded to their home at least a dozen times for domestic disturbance calls. One such incident occurred on March 21st, 2015, in a Western unit for a 960 unit 25/3 domestic assault. On the night of March 21st, 2015, police arrived at Crystal and Thomas's shared residence for a report of a disturbance. As detailed in an arrest affidavit, Thomas told the responding officers that an altercation began when Crystal came home late in the evening. He claimed he expressed his concern to her, saying, I would have liked to call to make sure you were okay. In response, Crystal allegedly threw a dinner plate from the sink at Thomas, hitting him in the head. Following this, Thomas left the residence to call 911. During this time, Crystal's brother and father arrived and reportedly became physically aggressive towards Thomas. However, when asked to identify them, Thomas said he could not recall their names despite the incident. Thomas did not want to press charges and declined to provide a written statement to the police. He reported no injuries and refused medical attention. Consequently, Crystal was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault. The prosecutors later dropped these charges due to the witnesses lack of cooperation. Before this incident, Crystal had no history of violent behavior. On the other hand. Thomas's past was marred by a substantial criminal history, with at least eight arrests for charges, including domestic violence and child abuse dating back to 2006. It is unclear if Crystal was aware of these charges. Despite the stormy dynamics of their partnership. Crystal kept the ongoing abuse by Thomas a secret, striving to maintain a facade of normalcy in order to protect her family with a determined effort to appear content and move beyond their troubles. Crystal and Thomas attempted a fresh start on the evening of August 11th. They chose to dine together at a local Riverside restaurant, hoping to leave their turbulent history in the past and start a new 911. Where's the emergency? There's a body floating out of the dock here. It just came up on them when we were fishing jeans and no shirt. And looks like he's got bruises on it, like his shoulders and stuff. On August 11th, 2015, Thomas and Crystal planned an evening that combined dining at a local Riverside restaurant with a leisurely boat ride on the Halifax River in Port Orange. Their intention was to enjoy dinner before spending a few hours on the water. However, the night took an unexpected turn right from the start. At the restaurant, the couple's intense displays of affection led to them being asked to leave. After being escorted out, the couple with crystal in denim shorts and a bikini top headed to the marina to embark on Thomas's boat for the next part of their evening. Yet it wasn't just their public affection that raised eyebrows that night. Patrons at the restaurant sensed something amiss. Particularly with Crystal's situation, one observant patron, increasingly concerned for her safety, decided to take action, recognizing the seriousness of what might be unfolding. This patron began recording the events on his cell phone, capturing key moments of the interaction between Thomas and Crystal, This guy's gonna plow into every boat in this dock. Maybe we'll get lucky and it won't start. Something is going to happen. my God. Here we go. Here we go. Turn the lights on! As Thomas and Crystal sailed away into the night Their departure left onlookers at the marina fearing what might transpire next. That fear turned into reality just after midnight, when Thomas suddenly called 911. 911 where's your emergency? Me and my fiance, got in a little argument and she took the keys to my boat and jumped off the boat. And I just want to make sure she's okay. You don't see her in the water? I don't see her in the water. I think she swam to shore. She she's not that good of a swimmer. I keep on jumping in the water to see if I could find her, and I can't find her anywhere. Crystal! Is she responding to you? No. Okay. You don't see her on the shore, though? No, no, She took the keys to the boat, said I hate you And she jumped in the water and swam off. And I'm just praying that she's okay. How long ago did this happen? Not even 5 minutes ago. Maybe 10 minutes ago. Police and an emergency rescue crew were summoned to Thomas's location. They escorted him to safety, but had no luck finding Crystal. Hours later, at around 7 a.m., a fisherman at the Seven Seas Marina and Boatyard in Port Orange stumbled upon a frightening scene. Shocked by what he discovered, he immediately called 911 to report the grisly find. 911. Where's the emergency? There's a body floating out off of a dock here. We just came up on it when we were fishing. Jeans and no shirt and it looks like he's got bruises on, like his shoulders and stuff. Detectives from the Port Orange Police Department arrived on the scene and sought to determine whether the body discovered was that of Crystal Pifer. An autopsy was arranged for the following morning and police offered no additional details at that time. Roughly one hour after the fisherman 911 call, Thomas contacted Crystal's mother to inform her that her daughter was missing. She observed Thomas's tone is flat and unemotional. Crystal's mother immediately gathered her family and contacted local police to assist. The following day, police received information that the medical examiner's office identified the body as that of Crystal Pifer. Further, there were more than 30 injuries sustained. There was no evidence of water in her lungs or other signs consistent with drowning. Instead, there was a ligature mark around her neck. The cause of death was asphyxiation by ligature, and the manner of death was homicide. Acting on this information, detectives requested that the last known person to see her alive. Thomas Prins, come down to the police station for questioning. Upon arrival, Thomas waived his Miranda rights and agreed to be questioned by detectives without an attorney present We’re arguing back and forth and stuff, and then, um, uh ... We finally end up calming down. We end up kissing. We’re making out, blah blah blah ... and I said “Baby, the boat’s gonna stall.” She decides “I’m, uh ... I don’t want to deal with this no more.” and takes my keys and jumps in the frikkin water And I’m screaming at her, I’m like, “Baby are you frikkin kidding me?” I’m like, it will start up, we’ll almost there ... and then, uh, that was it. I kept on hearing her swimming, and then I didn’t hear nothing. And that’s why I waited about, like, maybe ten minutes and then call, uh, I end up calling 911. I said, hey listen, me and my girl been in an accident ... [DETECTIVE] - You guys got into an accident? What? [DETECTIVE] - Is that what you said? No, I said that me and my girl got into an argument ... [DETECTIVE] - Oh, argument, okay I’m sorry [DETECTIVE] - I have a feeling the argument on the boat was a little bit more elaborate than ... what you’re describing ... I mean, we pow-wowed and argued back and forth [DETECTIVE] - Did yall’s arguments ever get physical? No. I mean, like I said, we pow-wowed and yelled and got to the point where it was loud and stuff ... but, I mean, there was nothing physical. Nothing to that extent. [DETECTIVE] - As part of our preliminary, would you mind if I just look to see if you have any marks or anything like that? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I do tree work and I get scratched up .. I might get scratched up and stuff, but other than that ... no. Shouldn’t have anything to, uh ... [DETECTIVE 2] - You mind if we see your belly too? Oh, absolutely. [DETECTIVE] - Are you sure you guys didn’t get physical? No. [DETECTIVE] - Those look pretty fresh. [DETECTIVE] - She didn’t grab you, or ... No, no. Not at all. There was nothing to that point at all. [DETECTIVE 2] - Did you do anything else with the boat when you got back? Uh, no ... other than just grab the clothes off of it, that’s it. The towels and the clothes and stuff ... [DETECTIVE 2] - Where were they? Either in that pile on the floor, or ... I threw it in the washing machine with my clothes. [DETECTIVE 2] - So you did laundry when you got home ... Just so, uh, just so I end up, uh ... yeah. [DETECTIVE] - You run over to a crime scene where a body was ... [DETECTIVE] - on the river. Yeah. [DETECTIVE] - Who do you think it was? Uh, I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m just praying that, um, uh ... I mean, not that I wanted to wish on anybody and stuff. I’m just praying that it’s not Crystal. [DETECTIVE] - Well ... [DETECTIVE] - I hate to break it to you, but it is Crystal. [DETECTIVE] - I think you already knew that, though. [DETECTIVE] - It is Crystal. [DETECTIVE] - There’s a little more that happened on that boat last night than what you’re telling me. [DETECTIVE] - She has some injuries. [DETECTIVE] - Not ... a couple, but ... a bunch. What other injuries are we talking about? [DETECTIVE 2] - What else happened on that boat? I don’t know! [DETECTIVE] - The evidence suggests ... [DETECTIVE] - from what we know so far ... [DETECTIVE] - That there was a physical ... a physical altercation took place [DETECTIVE] - You were the last person with her. [DETECTIVE] - You got scratches on your right arm, your forearm, you got bruises on your left arm. [DETECTIVE] - Scratches on your back, you’re bleeding on your leg. I think it was last night when I, uh, when I end up slipping down by the dock. While I was pulling the boat up ... [DETECTIVE] - There was a bunch of bruises on her. Maybe she could have got something when she jumped in the water? I don’t know ... [DETECTIVE] - Water doesn’t do that to you. [DETECTIVE] - She looks like she went a couple rounds with Mike Tyson. [DETECTIVE] - And ... [DETECTIVE] - You’re telling me that nothing physical took place? There’s nothing physical that took place on the boat. I mean, we had sex like three times on the boat and stuff, but, uh ... not to the point of hurting her. [DETECTIVE 2] - You had sexual intercourse three times on the boat last night? Yeah. [DETECTIVE 2] - And not rough sex or anything like this? No, I mean, don’t get me wrong. I mean we, uh ... grabbed each other and stuff ... [DETECTIVE] - Did you grab her by the neck last night? What, while we were having sex? Uh ... no. No, not last night. [DETECTIVE] - Did you put anything around her neck? No. No. At one point, and stuff, we did, uh ... uh ... Oh I’m trying to think, like, when we were sitting up in the chair and stuff ... I did end up grabbing her and stuff when we were, uh ... [DETECTIVE] - By the shoulders probably? No, uh ... kinda like by the neck and the shoulders area and stuff to where my fingers would have been, like, right there. But not to, uh ... ... not to the point where we were hurting one another. [DETECTIVE] - I got a couple of photos here. Okay. [DETECTIVE] - Um, would you mind taking a look at them? Are they of Crystal? These are the bruises that are on her face? From what? From her hitting something? [DETECTIVE] - That’s what we’re here to find out Thomas. [DETECTIVE] - See the lines around her neck? You know what that is called? [DETECTIVE] - What that appears to be? What does that appear to be? [DETECTIVE] - A ligature mark. Okay? Like from a rope or something? [DETECTIVE] - Where is her bathing suit? Uh ... Her bathing suit would, uh, [DETECTIVE] - Did you wash it? No! She originally had on a bathing suit top ... um, uh ... her, uh ... uh ... [DETECTIVE] - Look at her lip. [DETECTIVE] - Her chin. [DETECTIVE] - She was punched, Thomas. [DETECTIVE] - She was punched multiple times Okay, well it definitely wasn’t by me. [DETECTIVE] - You’re knuckles are swollen! [DETECTIVE] - The only thing that explains these marks [DETECTIVE] - is an altercation between her and somebody else. [DETECTIVE] - And that somebody else, I think ... [DETECTIVE] - was you! Am I being charged with anything? Detectives released Thomas while they worked on strengthening their case in the process of piecing together the events of the evening, they conducted interviews with witnesses and restaurant patrons who had observed Crystal and Thomas engaged in an argument at the dockside restaurant shortly before 8 p.m. on the night of Crystal's death. As the investigation progressed, detectives came across a crucial lead. A fisherman had witnessed a severe altercation involving the couple around 10:45 p.m. that same night, prompting him to call 911. Hi, this was 911 and you have an emergency. Okay, I'm on a sailboat out off of South Daytona and a boat just floated by me and a girl jumped out of it and swam over and called my then had people been beating on her. Okay, How long? Wait, a matter of boats. Wait a minute. A boat is coming to pick. If there's a boat. Do you want to go with these people or not? Okay, I got to go to work. She's going to make the play here. Go. Where is she? Okay. She told me they were beating her face and stuff. I don't know. I can't see. It's dark now, but these guys and her yell and scream. Well, look, I got a mentally handicapped daughter on board here with me. Who is this guy to her? She says it's your boyfriend. He's not following you. Are they? They're going to stay in the house out here saying, Come on, come on. Okay. You're so wrong. She just. Just didn't know what it is. But know I just don't hurt anybody, okay? I'm in Vancouver, Canada, Broke a huge radio. My daughter is at first. Freeman. Yeah, she's screaming. And now I'm dressed in normal. Okay. He said she just pressure on they had an injury and she and that he hurt her hand. She's back at the boat. If she is she back on the boat or not? He's back on the boat and they got all the lights out. Now can you get them yelling. No. Now they're all of a sudden they're being really quiet. A little over an hour later, Thomas place they 911 call to report Crystal as missing yet it was the call made by the fisherman George Wagner one hour earlier that proved to be the last puzzle piece. This crucial element help detectives to complete their understand of the events of that night. According to a report from the South Daytona Police Department, the situation began with a violent assault by Thomas on his boat, prompting Crystal to jump into the water in an attempt to flee. She successfully swam to Wagner's boat and sought help. However, realizing that her presence might endanger her, Wagner's daughter, Crystal chose to return to Thomas's vessel, a decision marked by both courage and concern for others. Despite her return, the argument between Crystal and Thomas continued, it tragically escalated to the point where Thomas strangled Crystal with her own bikini top. Following this, he disposed of her body in the Halifax River. The sequence of these events, culminating in the 911 call made by Thomas, painted a grim picture of the night's events for the investigator. Thomas was arrested on October 27th, 2015 and held without bond pending trial. He was charged with first degree premeditated murder and made his first court appearance the following day. In your case, or you have been indicted by a grand jury on the charge of first degree murder. The camping nolo family wore justice for Crystal shirts today as they sat in court watching their daughter's boyfriend, 42 year old Thomas Prins, being charged with first degree murder. We like to my grandson liked them and that's why Crystal kept going back to her. I found out that because her grant, her son liked them and he asked me, says, did Tommy hurt my mom? And I said, No, no. And he goes, good, because I like them. Authorities say they were investigating whether Piper's death was related to a disturbance call from the night before at the South Daytona ramp. Police say Piper jumped off Prince boat onto another man's boat for help, claiming Prince was beating on her. The man called 911, but police say Piper jumped back into Prince's boat before help arrived. Her body found in the Halifax River the next morning after the fact. You know, people have told us about domestic abuse between the two of them, but no one has said anything until after she had passed. And I wish people would have spoke up. The family says they knew Prince abused Piper once before but didn't know it was ongoing. They tell New Six they saw marks on Piper's body after she was found, but still have questions, knowing what how she died and what killed her. Because, you know, we always wonder where she calling for us needing help. Could she have made it to shore or was she did she die before she hit the water? She could. And what they do know is that they're one step closer to justice being served in June 2016, following a six hour deliberation, the jury delivered their verdict in the case against Thomas Prins, finding him guilty of first degree murder for the death of his girlfriend, Crystal Pifer. The gravity of the verdict was too much for Prince. He collapsed in the courtroom, visibly overwhelmed by the outcome due to his sudden medical crisis, He was immediately taken to an onsite medical office for treatment, prompting the judge to postpone the sentencing. The courtroom was subsequently cleared in the wake of this unexpected turn of events. Five days later, the case reached its conclusion. Thomas Prins was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This sentence marked the end of a profoundly sorrowful story, offering Crystal's family and friends a sense of justice in their grief. For them, Crystal's memory continues to be a beacon, embodying hope and resilience, shining light even through the darkest moments.