The dog had displayed some bizarre quirks in behavior before, but what he was doing now was like nothing he’d ever seen.
He had to do something and just knew his wife would have a cunning plan. But after they listened to the recording, they immediately called the cops.
Benjamin and Hope Jordan were living the American dream. They both had great careers, seven-month-old baby Finn was doing great and their lovable pitbull Killian was always there for cuddles.
All they needed was someone to protect their South Carolina home while they were out. But something was about to infiltrate their suburban paradise, and there was no way they could have prepared for it.
With a young child to take care of, the Jordans knew they would need to hire full-time help to look after their home while they put in the hours at work – and Finn warmed instantly to Alexis Khan.
As soon as her background check came through, they didn’t hesitate to call Alexis and offer her the job. But in their excitement, the couple failed to notice how Killian was behaving around the new member of the household.
The strange thing was, Benjamin had never encountered such a well-behaved dog in his life. Despite what people say about Pit Bulls, Killian had never been anything other than loving and protective toward the Jordan family.
So when Benjamin and Hope learned that Killian didn’t act the same way when they were out of the house, they were seriously concerned.
Benjamin received a phone call at work one day. It was Alexis, “If you don’t get this dog under control, I’m out of here!”
When he asked her to explain, Alexis revealed that Killian spent the whole day staring at her and would growl whenever she tried to clean or prepare food. “It stops me from moving around the house. I’m scared of it!” she said.
Benjamin just couldn’t understand any of this. He had never seen Killian do anything like what Alexis was saying, but her safety came first.
When he returned from work that day, Benjamin spent the evening with Killian and noticed nothing odd about him. But when he received yet another complaint from Alexis the next morning, he knew that something must be going on.
Benjamin had been a dog owner for as long as he could remember, so he had a wide circle of friends in the canine community. He reached out to members of a Facebook group he was part of.
Some suggested it could be an old habit that the new person had triggered in him. While others thought he might be envious of all the attention Alexis was pouring onto baby Finn. Benjamin knew he wasn’t looking at the complete picture, so he’d have to get some extra insight.
Alexis reported more disturbing behavior from Killian and they’d had to convince her not to hand in her resignation on several occasions, persuading her with bonuses.
The 22-year-old claimed this was the hardest job she’d ever had because of Killian – she even displayed scratches on her arm where Killian had attacked her. Benjamin and Hope promised Alexis they would find a solution if she could just hang on a little longer – and the Jordans had no choice but to do something quite drastic.
It had taken them months to find Alexis. Finn could be quite badly behaved when he wanted to be, but he was so good when Alexis was around. She really brought out the best in him.
Benjamin had considered keeping Benjamin fenced off while Alexis was in the house, but with the layout of the house and Alexis needing access to all rooms, it just wasn’t practical. Then Hope had a thought, “Maybe he’s trying to warn her about something?”
Once the thought had crossed her mind, Hope was certain that the only explanation was that there was some kind of danger in the house and Killian was simply trying to alert Alexis to it. Perhaps they had a wasp nest? Or maybe someone was staking the place out for a burglary?
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. They’d had Killian since he was a pup and he’d always looked out for little Finn. In Hope’s mind, there was only one way to prove once and for all what was causing Killian’s weird outbursts.
Hope’s plan was to slip her phone under the couch and hit the audio record button to see if they could hear what was triggering Killian to bark so aggressively.
They trusted Killian with their own baby, so they had to give him the benefit of the doubt before they followed through with Alexis’ demands to get rid of him. But Benjamin wasn’t so sure. They would need a better plan to be sure they were getting the most accurate information on their dog.
Being an amateur electronics hobbyist, Benjamin used some parts from an old phone to build a tiny recording device – so tiny that it would nestle easily under Killian’s collar and be shrouded by her thick fur.
This would allow them to listen to what was going on even when the dog wasn’t by the couch. The pair couldn’t wait to get home to retrieve the recording later that evening and shed some light on what was triggering their normally-placid dog.
When they got home from work that day, Benjamin and Hope made a beeline for Killian and quickly retrieved the device from his fur. Luckily, it was still in one piece.
Alexis immediately complained about Killian, so they knew they would be listening to a valuable recording. Once Finn was in bed, Benjamin connected the device to his laptop so they could listen to the day’s activities. But when they heard the audio, the couple’s jaws dropped in disbelief.
The first thing they heard was “a lot of cussing,” Benjamin said in his statement. But that wasn’t the half of it. As they expected, Alexis’ voice could clearly be heard on the recording shouting at the dog to “get out”, while Killian responded with growling and barking.
But there was more. Before they could even discuss it, Benjamin called 911.
The secret bug they’d hidden in the dog’s fur had revealed that Alexis had been cursing at baby Finn – something they now realized she’d been doing for weeks. Benjamin played the recording to the police, who listened attentively and showed sympathy for what the Jordans were going through. But a simple audio recording was unlikely to hold up in court.
Then the cops heard the rest of the recording and they knew they had to do something.
“I wanted to reach through the recording and bust her there and then,” said Benjamin, of the untrustworthy employee. As he held the evidence in one hand and looked at Killian in the other, he felt so guilty that he hadn’t been able to act sooner.
But now they had proof, it didn’t take them long to work out what had to be done. Benjamin and Hope would get justice for what had occurred under their roof while they were gone.
However, despite it being clear to anyone that heard the audio what was happening, the police didn’t want to make a move until they had better evidence.
Benjamin and Hope tried to find somewhere in the house they could hide a camera, but it would have easily been discovered as Alexis had cleaning responsibilities. Unable to build a stronger case, there was only one option to take – but it was a long shot.
Once they got Alexis in an interrogation room, it didn’t take long for her to crack. The Charleston City Police detective accused her of not taking care of the baby properly and the confession came flowing out.
Alexis Khan was sentenced and made to sign a register to stop her working in the industry. “That is such good news,” Benjamin said. “To know that Killian was responsible for protecting our family.”
“I had been allowing her access to our home for months,” said Benjamin, remorsefully. “Had Killian not sounded the alarm, had I not bugged him with the recording device…” he added, trailing off.
It was very clear to all involved that Alexis was not the right person for the job. Benjamin and Hope were just grateful that it ended the way it did.
Needless to say, Killian was showered with all the treats he could stomach, some new dog toys, and a fresh bone. He was even awarded a medal by the local authorities for bringing an unfit babysitter to justice.
But can we really rely on our dogs to alert us to unscrupulous people entering our homes? We can’t all have pets that are as heroic as Killian!
