 It was August 25th, 2016, and Shanna Grice was home alone. What's crazy about this case is that Shanna had already complained to the police five times about fears that she was being stalked. In fact, during one of these reports, she was reprimanded by the police and handed a fine of $90 for wasting police time. If only officers knew just how wrong they would be about Shanna. They'd be forced to learn the hard way that Shanna's fears were justified, and her life was in serious danger. Shanna Grice grew up near Brighton in Sussex, and she had a pretty ordinary childhood. Shanna was an only child, but she had plenty of friends at school to make up for her time that was spent alone at home. We don't know too terribly much about Shanna's upbringing or her time in school. Her family haven't really shared much personal information about her since that awful crime took place. What we do know is that she was described as incredibly lively and vivacious, so it's clear to see that she was a young girl who had a passion for life. As far as we know, Shanna's early years played out without too much of a fuss. By the time Shanna had entered secondary school, or high school as we call it here in the States, she'd already taken her life into her own hands and started crafting a future for herself. It was while she was attending high school that she ran into a boy named Ashley Cook. The two met sometime around 2013, when Ashley was 17 and Shanna was 16. During the outset, the two were inseparable. What began as a passive interest in one another grew to something far, far greater within a matter of a few months. Before they knew it, the two started dating, and not long after that, things began to get quite serious between them. After graduating from high school and moving on with their lives, the two remained together and were deeply dedicated to one another. Or so it seemed. See, Ashley was dedicated to the relationship more than anything. But Shanna, well, she was beginning to have a change of heart. After school, Shanna had found a job at a local fire alarm company. And when starting a new job, you're bound to meet all sorts of new people. And one of these people was Michael Lane. Up until this point, the relationship between Shanna and Ashley had been nothing but perfect. But after meeting Michael, Shanna began to have second thoughts. See, as far as I can tell, neither Shanna nor Ashley had ever been in another serious relationship before this point. And I mean, how could they have been? They were literal children when they first started dating. And while this is nothing to really be concerned about, the two obviously didn't have much life experience behind them. So when Shanna met Michael Lane, well, she began to wonder if Ashley really was the one she had thought. Michael and Shanna were always able to laugh with one another, no matter what they did, whether at work or otherwise, they had fun. The same was true between Shanna and Ashley. But with Michael, things were different. He had an energy about it that was captivating and infectious. To top this off, he made Shanna feel like she was the only thing in the world that really mattered. Before long, Shanna realized that she had started to develop feelings for him. Now we don't know how the situation played out specifically, but one thing led to another and Shanna started to feel like she and Ashley may not have been the perfect couple that she thought they were. She proposed the idea of the tube taking a break, testing the waters and making sure they explored all of their options before dedicating themselves to one another at such a young age. It seems that Ashley likely disagreed with this idea, but what was there that he could have done to stop it? After all was said and done, the two agreed to take a break and they went their separate ways. Immediately after setting their feelings aside for a while, Shanna began dating Michael Lane. But there was one big problem here. See, Michael was definitely the sweetheart that he portrayed himself to be, at least in the early days. But as time passed by, Shanna began to realize that there was much more to Michael than meets the eye. Rather quickly, Shanna began to feel trapped, smothered. It took her less than three months to realize Michael was not the person she thought he was. She knew she made a big mistake. Before we keep going with the video, I wanted to show you guys a great new mobile game called June's Journey. If you're in a true crime and mysteries as much as I am, this game will be perfect for you. June's Journey is a hidden object game, but with a pretty captivating story involving a murder mystery. It takes place back in the 1920s, and each new scene and level takes you through a different chapter of the story, setting up June Parker, the main character, to solve the mysterious murder of her sister. This game is completely free to download, and the basic idea of the game is hunting for clues and hidden objects that may help bring June one step closer to solving the case. You can customize and remodel your mansion as well as your garden island along the way. Now, I grew up playing Seek & Find games like this, so this game is right up my alley, and I feel like you guys will enjoy it as well. It's super relaxing to play and easy to pick up when you have a few free minutes here or there throughout the day. You can click the link below in the description to download the game on iOS and Android devices. But it's also available on PC through Facebook Games. So if you're ready to dive headfirst into a captivating murder mystery and help June solve the mysterious case surrounding her sister, just click the link below to download June's journey. When Shana first met Michael, Michael had been working as a mechanic at Brighton Fire Alarms, while she had a position somewhere else in the company. Needless to say, there was a serious attraction between the two, but this is likely because Shana had no idea about Michael's colorful past. See, by the time Michael and Shana had met, Michael had already been arrested just a few years prior. The specific number has never been revealed, but we know that several women had filed complaints against Michael. Now, I don't know about your specific definition of the word several, but to me, that means it must have been at least three or more women. These women had filed complaints against Michael that covered a span of around 10 years. Mind you, he was only in his late 20s when he met Shana, so this guy had been in constant trouble for his entire adult life. One of these women who filed charges against him described him as being, quote, very controlling in their relationship. A few of these women accused him of obsessive and stalker-like behavior. At least one woman claimed that he sent her erotic photos against her will, and this report seems to suggest that he might have done this on several occasions involving multiple women. Several of these women claimed that he would show up to their homes unannounced, harassing them by luring outside of their doors or windows. One of these women, even claimed Michael, had become physically aggressive with her at one point. Since Shana was blissfully unaware of Michael's history, it's clear to see that she had no idea what sort of red flags she should be looking out for. The two continued dating for a period of around three months, but all of a sudden, Shana had a change of heart that seems to have come from nowhere. Ashley, Shana's former boyfriend, has never revealed why Shana decided to do this. But he says that he got a call from her out of the blue one day, and she admitted that she made an awful mistake by breaking up with him. She made it clear that the time that she'd spent with Michael only helped to prove how deep her love for Ashley had really gone. She begged for Ashley to take her back, and considering he'd spent most of his time hoping and praying for a call like this to come through, he had no issues with reigniting the relationship. But that doesn't mean there wasn't trouble in paradise, because you've got to remember, Michael had fallen head over heels for Shana by this point. Michael knew that he'd been somewhat of a third wheel from the very beginning. It was clear to see that the bond between Shana and Ashley went much deeper than anything he could have ever hoped to have with Shana. After all, the two had essentially grown up together. That's not a bond that can be easily replaced. Needless to say, Michael was angry. Not only angry, but enraged and downright ticked off. Immediately following their breakup, Michael confided in a friend about how he had been feeling, ending their conversation by saying, quote, she'll pay for what she's done. If you're watching this video, chances are you're familiar with the man by the name of Ted Bundy. The interesting thing about Ted Bundy is that he was able to lure women in by making them feel safe, valued, heard and respected. He had a charisma about him that was unrivaled. While we all know the monster that he turned out to be, the women he attacked could never be blamed for falling into his trap. He was a master manipulator, but he put on a front like no one else. He gave the impression of being someone you could let your guard down when you were near, someone you could trust. See, Michael Lane was the same way. He was a man that you and I both clearly know was a bully, and that's putting it incredibly lightly. But for the women that he had an interest in, he was able to put on a front that was downright irresistible. In the days after Shanna and Michael had broken up, he became incredibly depressed. Not only this, but he began to obsess over the months that he'd shared with Shanna, and he vowed to do whatever it may take to get her back. He initially took to harassing Ashley, first by leaving a note on his car taunting him, saying, Shanna will always cheat on you. Thankfully, Ashley knew that this simply wasn't true and didn't really let it get to him. Shanna, on the other hand, wasn't as willing to let it go. She contacted the police and reported Michael's actions, but they didn't really do much to help. They showed up and gave Michael a verbal warning, but that was pretty much the end of it. But soon after this happened, Michael installed a tracking device on Shanna's car. This device would alert his phone anytime Shanna's car moved, giving Michael time to jump into action and follow her wherever she went. One day, he followed her home. He approached her as she was just outside the front door and grabbed her phone. He then chased her around while Shanna did everything she could to escape his grasp. But that's when he lunged toward her, grabbed her hair, pulling her closer to him. Once Shanna was able to break free, she called the police and it seemed like they were willing to take the case more seriously at this point. When officers showed up, they immediately arrested Michael for assault, but rather strangely, no sooner than he was taken to the station, he was released. When officers were questioned about this, they explained that they let him go because as far as they could tell, no crime was committed. They believed that this was nothing more than an argument between a young couple. So they wrote the whole situation off rather quickly. The reason they believed this to be the case was because as they searched through Michael's phone records and his text messages, they noticed that some of the texts that were sent by Shanna had been signed with five kiss emojis. Investigators exact words were, quote, Shanna would be signing texts to Michael with five kisses. This is not harassment. Now, I'll admit it is certainly a bit bizarre that if Shanna felt so threatened by Michael that she would be signing her texts with kisses, especially after just getting back together with Ashley. I don't really understand what's going on here, but to top this off, Shanna was hit with a $90 fine for supposedly wasting police time. The thing is, just prior to Michael being picked up by the police, Shanna had reported him for stalking and leaving unwanted flowers on her car. So if the two were already at odds with one another weeks prior to this, it just makes the kiss emojis all the more bizarre. A couple months after this, the situation escalated dramatically. When Michael stole a key from Shanna and let himself into her home without her knowledge, he snuck in in the middle of the night while he thought she was sleeping, just standing beside her bed and watching her. After a while, he turned and left. As of a turnout, Shanna wasn't asleep. She'd hurt someone into her home. So rather than running or trying to hide, she thought it was best to just fake being asleep, hoping that whoever had broken in would just take whatever they wanted and leave her alone. She only realized that the criminal had in fact been Michael, which he saw him walk past her window as he was leaving. Needless to say, Shanna reported this incident to the police as well. Michael was once again arrested, but was once again let go, simply being told by the police to stay away from Shanna. The very next day, Shanna would receive seven phone calls from a blocked number, believed to have been Michael, in which he would do nothing but heavily breathe into the phone. When Shanna tried to report this, police basically shut down, and said that they would not be looking into the situation any further. Two days later, when Michael was seen stalking Shanna, she reported him once again, with the responding officer claiming that this was nothing more than a low-risk case. Adding that he'd make the case leader aware of it, but we all know that this means he basically wrote the whole situation off and never spoke of it again. Finally, on August 4th, 2016, Shanna spotted Michael hanging outside of her home. She confided in a friend that she was terrified the police wouldn't believe her, obviously based on her previous five experiences. Her friend actually witnessed this particular situation, so we know without a shadow of a doubt, Shanna was telling the full truth. Ashley backed up Shanna's claims as well. Regardless, this time, Shanna didn't call the police. And unfortunately, this would prove to be a fatal mistake. It was August 25th, 2016. Shanna was at home with her roommate, but at some point in the evening, the roommate stepped out for a while. As it would turn out, this ended up being an evening in which Michael was loitering outside of Shanna's home, keeping tabs on her and watching for when she'd be left alone. No sooner than he saw Shanna's roommate leave, Michael jumped into action and let himself inside of her home, presumably using the same key he'd stolen a few months prior when he watched her sleep. The only problem was, this time Michael had much more nefarious intentions. As he burst into Shanna's home, he made a quick work of the situation. He headed straight towards Shanna's room and used a knife to end her life. No one could have ever seen this coming. This was a rapid escalation, unlike anything that could have been predicted. But that wasn't all. Before he left, he deactivated the fire alarm in the home, then set Shanna's bedroom on fire while she was still inside. He then locked the door and just walked away. Ashley had last seen Shanna a few hours before. He'd kissed her goodbye and left for work as he always did, not knowing that this would take place just hours later. He said he didn't realize anything was wrong until he got a message from one of Shanna's coworkers later on, claiming Shanna would never shoot up for work. He wasn't able to stop by her apartment on his own, so Ashley called his younger sister and asked her to stop by and check on Shanna. No sooner than she arrived, she called him back, sobbing and panicking because she noticed a red stained footprint near the door and no one was answering the door to let her inside. At this point, Ashley began panicking as well. He called his father immediately and asked him to stop by and see what was going on. He arrived a few minutes later and made his way into the apartment. The moment he stepped inside, it was clear what had taken place. He found Shanna in her bedroom in a state which he's never put into words. Investigators would later reveal that Shanna had in fact lost her life in her bedroom that day. We don't know if Michael took her life himself or if the flames and smoke did it after he left, but needless to say, the situation was incredibly grim. Ashley remembers that day and says that he hates that his father will have that memory stuck in his head for the rest of his life. But Ashley's father says that he's simply thankful that it wasn't Ashley who had to find her that way. Needless to say, there was one primary suspect in this case, Michael. Police closed in on him immediately and when questioned, Michael obviously denied any involvement. He admitted to being over at Shanna's home that evening but insisted he hadn't been involved in the crime. Even though investigators have been pretty well useless up until now, they made a quick work of the investigation and immediately charged Michael for claiming Shanna's life. But there's one big issue here for many people. Why had it taken such a tragedy for police to actually do something about Michael? The thing is, Shanna had obviously reported Michael to the police on five separate occasions. If they'd even spent as much as two minutes searching his record, they could have easily seen that he was a terrible, awful person with a colorful history that perfectly documented what he was capable of. Yet they did nothing to protect Shanna. How is it that after all this time in all these reports, no one ever even bothered to once open up his criminal record? After Shanna lost her life, a police watchdog group intervened and investigated the way the Sussex police handled the case. A total of 13 officers were investigated and three were held accountable and faced disciplinary actions. One officer defended himself claiming that Shanna admitted to having an affair with Michael while she was in a relationship with Ashley. But how is this a defense? What does that even prove? Affair or not, the girl was clearly being stalked. She'd reported Michael's violence towards her as clearly as she possibly could and Michael had an obvious history of violence towards other women as well. I was able to confirm that the three aforementioned officers did in fact get punished, but I haven't found any reports that claim any of them faced any jail time or really any sort of repercussions for their actions outside of a gentle slap on the wrist. In the words of Shanna's family, the whole situation was a joke and the hearing was a sham. In the end, I'm grateful that Michael was finally caught and put behind bars. He'll be facing a sentence of 25 years for what he's done, but in no world should it have taken such disastrous consequences for police to have acted on this man. This whole case is just sickening and the loss of Shanna's life was, well, pointless. Police had more than enough information to arrest this man and actually charge him with something, but they chose not to. Shanna begged and begged for help five times or more, but police turned a blind eye to this heinous serial criminal. I just hope that at the very least, these three officers lost a great deal of sleep over the next few weeks, months and hopefully years because the loss of Shanna's life rests solely on their shoulders. If you're interested in Case I Covered and don't forget to subscribe, it's totally free and keeps you up to date with all of my future videos. You can also click that Join button below to support the channel and see new videos long before everyone else does. But my name is Ty Nottz and I'll catch you guys in the next one.