Samantha Wohlford: The YouTuber Who Turned into a Killer

The desperation to be in the limelight drove her to a fatal cliff

Samantha Wohlford was a small YouTuber, making her place in the industry. But for her, this YouTube channel was not enough; Wohlford wanted to be an actress and make it into the spotlight. However, life did not work out that way for her, as the only thing she was ever famous for afterward was the kidnapping and murder of her husband, Ernest Ibarra.

Her Motivation To Start YouTube

Samantha with Ernie and child | Photo Credits: Goodreads

Samantha was the mother of five children. When she was 19 years old, she had a pair of twins with her high school boyfriend. Ernie and Samantha met in 2008 at a local tattoo shop before the couple began dating. In 2011, Samantha welcomed another set of twins but this time with Ibarra. In 2013, at the age of 24, Samantha had her fifth child. In 2014, over a fight about Ernie’s gaming character marrying a female character online, Samantha threatened to leave Ernie but to quell the battle, he asked her to marry him.

To support the family of seven, Ernie worked two jobs. However, it was not enough. Samantha believed that starting a YouTube channel would help take the extra load off Ernie and went down that path. Her videos discussed her passions, personal life, and the struggles of being a young mother of five.

“She felt like this was going somewhere. She kind of started paying less attention to her kids and she acted like her so-called job was more important than that,” said Abigail, Ernie’s sister. “She wanted to be internet famous … My brother didn’t like that kind of thing.”

However, the two fought a lot over Ernie’s gaming habits as well. Neither liked what the other person was interested in and the amount of dedication they gave their hobbies. This was the first nail in their coffin.

Who Kidnapped Ernie?

On the 20th of February 2015, Samantha’s mother, Rosie, received a hysterical phone call from her daughter.

She said there were intruders and apparently they had kidnapped him [Ernie]. I finally managed to hear her say, ‘I’m tied up,’ and now I’m really freaking out. I’ve never been so scared in my life”…