Kriti Mehrotra
It was May 15, 2018, when the entire community of Aliso Viejo in Orange County, California, was left baffled to the core as a bomb went off in a spa on Mareblu Street just after 1 pm. As explored in NBC’s ‘Dateline: Death at the Spa,’ only one individual by the name of Idilko Krajnyak was sadly killed, who just so happened to be the owner of the said facility. It took officials a while to figure out the truth behind the heinous ordeal, but they were ultimately able to apprehend the assailant with the help of his then-fiancée, Valerie Stone.
Valerie Stone Instantly Connected With Stephen Beal
Although not much information regarding Valerie Stone’s background or early years is available as of writing, we do know she has sadly almost always been rather unlucky in love. According to her account in the episode, she was trying online dating by the time 2018 rolled around, where she often came across men who were stuck on their exes or their pasts. She thus did their best to weed them out right there and then, because obviously, “Who wants to be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t really want to be with you?”
However, everything changed for Valerie in May 2018 as she came across Stephen Beal on one of the apps, just for their initial few conversations to reportedly really pull her into his charm. She hence agreed to meet him for dinner a few days later, where they instantly connected. She said, “It was great… We talked about anything and everything. Complete honesty.” As per her, he even told her about his most recent failed relationship with Idilko Krajnyak because they co-owned a rather successful spa business on Mareblu Street in suburban Aliso Viejo.
The conversation came across to Valerie as Stephen just trying to clear the air since he was still in communication with his ex owing to their business, rather than him being hung up on her. So, she was admittedly “completely okay with it. They were friends. He had nothing but nice things to say about her. I never saw anything in (him in) terms of anger towards her.” Therefore, of course, the events of May 15 left her shaken — she was glad her boyfriend had decided to stay home on the fateful day, but his ex-girlfriend’s death in such a way was shattering.
Valerie Stone Believed Stephen Beal Was Entirely Innocent
When Valerie heard about the bomb explosion on an early summer day, she could only think of her boyfriend because she was several miles away at work and needed to know if he was okay. She thus immediately texted Stephen, even though she knew his plan was to stay at home, and was glad when he stated that he had indeed not gone to the spa to help out that day. She even understood that he then texted his ex-girlfriend to know if she was okay, only to reportedly panic a little after Idilko never replied, with her text bubbles also remaining green instead of blue.
Valerie never expected Stephen to become the prime suspect in the ensuing investigation because she had seen him unable to stop thinking about the matter in the days after. She even believed his claims of innocence, which is why the search of his home, her car when he was with her, and other investigative procedures felt like “harassment” to her at times. Just to be certain, though, after she had moved in with him, she also went “through everything in his household,” as if executing a search warrant of her own, and she found nothing.
Therefore, despite Stephen having been charged for the explosion based on his financial records as well as surveillance footage, when he asked her to marry him in a love letter, she said yes. Little did Valerie know she would then be approached by the FBI, asking her to wear a wire and capture his confession, to which she also said yes because she wanted the truth. She never got any confessions or the feeling that he was hiding something, so she remained by his side, but he was eventually arrested on March 3, 2019, after forensic tests tied him to the matter.
Valerie Stone Prefers to Lead a Quiet Life Today
Valerie had still continued to stand by Stephen, maintaining it was not because she was blinded by love but because she wholeheartedly believed “he’s not a sociopath or psychopath murderer.” She even testified in his defense when he went on trial, only to later learn that he hadn’t been truthful about his bond with Idilko when they started dating, as he was hung up on her. Nevertheless, as per the aforementioned episode, despite Stephen’s conviction, she still believes he is innocent because if he were guilty, he would have confessed during that FBI sting.
Since then, Valerie has moved out of Southern California to start afresh in another state altogether, where she prefers to lead a private, quiet life well away from the limelight. As for her relationship with Stephen, it doesn’t appear as if they are still romantically involved in any capacity, especially with her stating in the original that she is “ready to move on.” Unfortunately, we do not know much else about her current standing as she has consciously chosen to remain well away from prying eyes, but we wish her nothing but the best for her future.
Read More: Where is Ildiko Krajnyak’s Family Now?
