Morbid - Episode 249: The Horrific Murders of Austin Wenner & Jessica Lewis

Episode Date: July 25, 2021

On June 19 2020, a group of tik tokers stumbled across a suitcase on a Seattle beach. They used the app Randonautica to get to the exact location and thought maybe there would be money in the suitcase. Instead they realized something much more sinister and called police. Inside, the suitcase were the remains of Jessica Lewis and Austin Wenner, a couple who’d been together for nearly 8 years.  Thank you so much to Cori Nelson for joining us on the show!  You can follow Cori on Tik Tok @Corixgabrielle As always, thank you to our sponsors: Hellofresh: Get up to fourteen free meals—including free shipping! —when you use code morbid14 at HelloFresh.com/morbid14. Babble: Now, when you purchase a 3-month Babbel subscription, you’ll get an additional 3 months for FREE! Just go to BABBEL.com and use promo code MORBID. NomNomNow: Try Nom Nom today and you’ll get 50% off a two week trial. Go to TryNom.com/MORBID Bestfiends: Download the 5 star-rated puzzle game, Best Fiends FREE today on the App Store or Google Play Embark: Go to Embarkvet.com to get free shipping and save $50 off your Embark Breed and Health Kit with Promo code Morbid See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, Prime members, you can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon music. Download the app today. You're listening to a morbid network podcast. Whether you're running errands on your daily commute, or even at home, you can enjoy all your audio entertainment in one app, the Audible app. As an Audible member, you can choose one title a month to keep from the entire catalog. This includes the latest bestsellers and new releases. Plus get full access to a growing selection of included audiobooks, audible originals,

and more. If you've been wanting to form good habits, break bad ones, and improve motivation, atomic habits written and narrated by James Clear is a great lesson. It'll reshape your mindset on progress and success by helping you develop strategies to transform your habits. New members can try audible free for 30 days. Visit audible.com slash wundery pod or text wundery pod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days.

That's W-O-N-D-E-R-Y-P-O-D. Audible.com slash wundery pod or text wundery pod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days. You can host the best backyard barbecue. When you find a professional on Angie to make your backyard the best around. Connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well. Inside to outside, repairs to renovations. Get started on the Angie app or visit Angie.com today. You can do this when you Angie that.

Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Olena. And I'm Cory. And this is Morbid with a guest. Woohoo! I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song.

I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song. I'm not a fan of the song. Guys, we have Cori on the show today. Cori is a TikTok star, a legend, a true star, a human, and she's going to tell us all about herself.

Well, you just made me sound a lot cooler than I am. So thank you for that. Thank you for that. I'll send you like $500 quick pay after this. Love that. Thank you. But yeah, yes. TikTok star, I guess. I think it's just been a little over a year at this point. A lot of growth for one year. That's crazy.

That's astronomical. It's been an insane journey. An insane journey. How did you like get started? Like what made you realize that you're going to be a real young girl? I think it's just been a little over a year at this point. A lot of growth for one year.

That's crazy. That's astronomical. It's been an insane journey, an insane journey. How did you like get started? Like what made you go to TikTok and what kept you there? So it was like right before COVID hit and like we were like preparing for this, what you guys call a panorama. A picture of what whatever it is. Right, and so I was super bored and I'm a clinical therapist.

And so I was like, yes, yeah, it's interesting, that's for sure. And so I was like, you know what? I have like a creative side, I want to lean into that. So I started doing TikTok videos about just like mental health and like like Quick tips, you know, like different like therapy techniques information education about mental health and raising awareness for it and So that's how I started and then after a while I was just so

It's burnt out from it because I do it 40 hours a week at my job. And then this is like my, yeah, and it was my outlet. So I was like, I gotta have it be something different. So I got a, yeah. And so I leaned into, I was like, okay, well, what else am I? And obviously when you're a mom, you have no other identity. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, like, oh yeah. Right.

And so, I was like, all right, I'm just gonna do mom content. Like, this is my life. Having a kid as a shit show as you know. Yeah. Like, oh yeah. So, I just started saying the things that nobody says. And I was like, you know what?

I love that so much. I feel like I needed it in the beginning of like, I mean, my daughter's four, so I mean, she's still obviously in the early stages, but like even just like the baby stages, I'm like, man, I wish I could have heard this. Yeah. So I started it and it took off and I'm super grateful for it.

And yeah, it's been an amazing journey so far. I can only imagine. And then did you start using it recently to figure out like some of your family dynamic and stuff like that, because you're adopted? Right, yeah. Okay, so long story short, I knew I was adopted ever since birth and just gonna start it off at like my mom and

dad are my mom and dad, you know, I don't call my adopted parents. Yeah, like they love my ass. I'm sorry. No one else did. That's like how we in my grandma and dad, she's my mom. Yeah. Saying nothing otherwise. Exactly. Exactly. So I, but I was always curious. So I reached out to my birth mom when I had my daughter. And I'm sorry short, it was great. And then she just turned to psychopath and it didn't work out. And then that was the first time I was like, well, you know, I guess it takes two to make a baby. So like, what about my biological father? You know, that was the only time I actually ever thought about it. Right.

What's the other way? I think I got this equation. Exactly. Yeah. So, I reached out. I tried to do it myself like researching because I knew his name and I just like wasn't finding anything. I'm also like horrible at the internet.

But I just, I can't work it. Like me doing an email is like a huge accomplishment. So yeah. So I went on TikTok and I was like, okay, email is like a huge accomplishment. So yeah, so I went on tic tock and I was like, okay, well, I have this following. Maybe they could help me. Here's my cat. The cutest old male I've ever heard. That was awesome. Sorry. No, you're fine. With guests appearance by. Kevin. Kevin is the best. Oh my God. And so I made a video and I was like, Hey guys, this is the information I have. This is the name. I, this is the area where I know he lived in. And at this point, I knew he had passed away. And the only information I had for how he passed away was through like a brain tumor.

And that was all I knew. So, oh my God, within a day, I had hundreds and hundreds of messages of people being like, I think this is what I found. I love this. This is your family's Facebook. This is like your, you know, it was insane. And so I followed up on those leads.

That's wild. And I eventually found where my, so he was with like a bunch of different families. He had a bunch of different kids. But his latest family was who I got in contact with. And so his latest wife, he had three kids. And so I reached out to like my half siblings, right? And they were like, oh my God, like we had no idea

you're existing, like this is crazy. Like, you know, like I would love to like set up a conversation with you. And I was like, yes, like I need to find answers. Like is an adopted child? Like it's just super healing and always something you think about for sure and biologically you can't fight it right and so I did a zoom call with them and I was like okay so like what was he like like he's as cool as me like what are we doing here

as cool as me like what are we doing here? Is that where I get it? Right. Well, then here we go. And then they're like, they're like, oh, you don't know. And I was like, oh, you're like, talk to me. You're like, talk to me about to tell me. Whenever someone uses those words, that particular sentence, you're like, oh, here we go.

What's following that? Y'all. My heart started pounding. I was like, okay, like this, like what was he like, I knew he was a drug addict, but I'm like, okay, so maybe he just did something like drug wise that was like not approved of. I sure don't tell it to say breathe.

You're literally be anything at that point. You have no idea. Right, and they're like, yeah, well, you know, he passed away. And I was like, yeah. And they're like, well, he was in prison. He was life in prison at the time he passed away. I was like, I'm sorry. I feel like I'm alive though.

Like what? OK. Life in prison, like, you got to kind of have a crime for that. A bit old crime, right? It's got to be felonious, whatever's coming next. I was like, okay. Um, so, so for what?

And I'm like, do I even want to know the answer? Do I just hang up now? Like I, I didn't want to do. And so they started explaining it more. And they were like, well, he was super abusive. And I guess to them and the wife at the time. Oh, that's true. And I was like, yeah.

And I was like, I am so sorry. The fact that I even had to trigger this and bring this up, I'm like, you guys don't have to tell me. It's OK, because I don't want to trigger that many. Right. And they're like, no, it's fine. They've been in therapy. They're like, we've processed this so much. And I was like, OK, it's fine. They've been in therapy. They're like, you know, we've processed this so much.

And I was like, okay, well, whatever you feel comfortable telling me, and I didn't push it at all. And so supposedly he was very abusive throughout the whole thing. So point where his wife, ex-wife, was pregnant and pushed her down the stairs. She was like, lost the baby. She was like, lost the baby. She was super abusive to the kids.

And so finally, the mom was like, get the fuck out of here, like get out of here. I'm like, hell yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, put down. Put down. This is an asshole.

And so I guess he retaliated, got really upset, and tried to mass murder his family. And I, by Arsene, what? Oh my gosh, this must have been so intense to hear. I was like, because you're never prepared to hear it. Like how do you prepare yourself to learn that? Like what? Right, I was, you're like, okay, I'm just eating this,

but I don't know how. I swear for the next week, I was like calling my mom, my dad, my boyfriend, my best friend, and I just kept repeating the story because I was like, I can't grasp this concept. Like my biological father tried to mass murder his family. I got it.

Right. And so yeah, it was by Arson. He tried to like lock all the doors somehow and set them on fire. I did not push for more details after that. And he eventually got life in prison and died in prison where I was like, thank fucking God. Like, yes. You kind of deserve to die. You ask. I mean, oh my God. So that connection to true crime, I guess. That's what I'm saying. I'm like, you know what? I was kind of like

meant to go on this because I'm like true crime by blood. You are. I love it. I love it. I literally told my therapist it was so funny. And I was like, do you think like I'm like destined to be a murderer or something? No, but I don't think I was going to say I get that because I have like strange motherhood connections. And I'm like, am I going to be my mom? And they're like, you're in therapy, there's no way that that's gonna happen. You've chosen therapy. Right. What makes a person a murderer? Are they born to kill or are they made to kill? I'm Candace DeLong and on my podcast,

Killer Psychie Daily, which you can find exclusively on Amazon Music. I share a quick 10 minute rundown every weekday on the motivations and behaviors of the criminal masterminds you read about in the news. I have decades of experience as a psychiatric nurse, FBI agent, and a criminal profiler. On Killer Psychie Daily, I'll give you my expert perspective on cases like the mysterious

New York City drugings, Breaking Down Lori Valow, a.k.a. Mommy Doom stays motives, and what drove Caitlyn Armstrong to murder? I'll also bring on expert guests who add even more insight into these criminal minds. I promise you won't regret adding these 10 minutes to your morning routine. Hey, Prime members, listen to the Amazon Music exclusive podcast Killer Psychie Daily in the Amazon Music app. Download the app today. Right, you chose a different path for sure. Yeah, and it's so funny because like I got my

domestic violence certificate. I'm a recovering addict. I obviously am a clinical therapist, mental health wise. So it's like everything he was, I like, did the opposite. And it's just so interesting. It's so interesting to see how, how that plays out. But yeah, such a like, thing to show like nature versus nurture. Yeah, right. Just can just happen. Right. You can fight against nature. Yes, it was insane. So, yeah, so that's how I'm a murderer by blood. Wow, my goodness. Welcome. Welcome to the show.

I guess you're going to have to have you on. It's so funny because Corey reached out to me on Instagram and she was like, I have a huge connection to True Crime. Like, I love more, but I want to be on. I was like, oh, I'm obsessed with your TikTok. Let's do this. But I had no idea it was like all of that. That's so crazy. And for some reason, I had it wrong. I thought it with your TikTok. Let's do this. But I had no idea it was like all of that And for some reason I had it wrong. I thought it was your grandfather So I was emailing and I was using grandfather. You're probably like what is this girl talking about?

No, I don't I probably said grandfather again. I barely had my life together. So I like Lee said grandfather Wow, that's wild I was like, I feel like I've definitely sent them back and forth before. Me and my husband back and forth because we're always sending like parent TikToks to each other. Just to be like, this one's so perfect. How do people, the accuracy in which they're going to be? I'm like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be like Yes, me and my family have sent them back and forth because we're always sending like parent tick talks to Just to be like this one's so perfect. How do people the accuracy in which people know our lives because it's true The humor that needs to be added with being like a parent is just needed like it's Survival at that point if you don't have a sense of humor I don't know how you survive

Parent and I feel like as an aunt, I need a sense of humor. Just survive the day here sometimes. Yeah. That's how my best friend is. So we call her aunt. And she's like, it's like three hours. And she's like, I'm sorry. Like, I have to go.

Like, I have to exit at this point. I need to go out of here to leave. That's me when I leave sometimes. I mean, like, I love being here. But there are some days where I'm like, dooses. And I'll just stand on the porch waving at her. And she drives away like,

I'm fine with you. I'm like, dooses, and I'll just stand on the porch waving at her. And she drives away like, hi, with you. Hi, again, sorry. Have so much fun in your place alone. That's so funny. So funny. It's so true. I really feel like there's no real transition

into this case because, whoa, this is like a crazy case. Have you heard of the TikTok suitcase murders? So I know you had mentioned it, and I was like, don't look it up. Don't look it up. So I was like, yeah, I wanna be surprised. Quote it. I wanted to be surprised, but I only knew

like a little bit about it. So I'm like, really excited to kind of get and then to the nitty-gritty in details, because all I remember is that they wouldn't take it down. Yeah, that's a big part of it. For a while. So yeah, that's all I am aware about it. So that's like basically all I knew about it

when I was getting into it. And then I got into it and I was like, oh, okay, I'd really like to be out of this now because it is gnarly and ongoing somewhat. I think so that one tick talk about it. Yeah, that quick little. That's all I really saw. And actually, even though they took that video down,

there's I went on the other day just to see if I could find like the kid talking about it at all and you can't. But there's so many other creators that are still using that particular video. So it's still circuited to see it all the time. Mm-hmm. So it's still going around. Yeah. Yeah, it's still going around.

Like other people using screen captures or like something like that, which is shitty. Because if you are somebody on TikTok and you are sharing that video, just know that the family like doesn't want it out there. No, absolutely. And so disrespectful. Yeah, that's somebody's daughter that somebody's done like somebody that somebody somebody you know. And it's like a very graphic that picture.

Once you know what it is, like when you don't know what it is, it can look very innocuous. But like once you know what's happening here, when you don't know what it is, it can look very innocuous, but like once you know what's happening here, you're like, that is a lot. Right. That's a lot. That was just on TikTok. All right. So let's get into it.

Let's do this. So our story starts with Jessica Lewis and her boyfriend Austin winner. Jessica Lewis was 35 years old and she was living in Seattle with her boyfriend, Austin winner, who was 27. They had been dating for like eight years at the time of their death and everyone who knew them said that they were just like super good-hearted people. Jessica was born in Maple Valley and by all accounts, she was like a super hard worker. First of all, she had four children, so you guys know that's a job.

Oh my god. You know, self. Oh yeah, four children. Oh yeah. She also had two jobs on top of that. One was where she worked at and assisted living. And then the other one was a nursing home. So she had her free.

I was going to say, she's choosing, like, jobs outside of her already. Completely, you have to be selfless job. Right. She's choosing other selfless jobs. She was clearly just like a very good-hearted person who wanted to help other people. jobs. She was clearly just like a very good-hearted person. A very natural help other people. Yeah. Yeah.

And Austin was born in Kent, Washington. And he was known among his friends as cash money, which I just thought was really great. I'm really impressed with that. Like I love that. He also was a father. He had one child of his own from a previous relationship.

I didn't get like a ton of information about his background just because there really isn't a lot, but they were just like super, super in love love and you could tell they were happy together. Oh, now at the time, I know, I know, and it gets weird. Like there's a lot of things that it seems like there's a lot of things people did know that they were doing, but there's a lot of mystery in this where people didn't know exactly what they were up to. So I'm also just going to throw a trigger warning out here. There's like abuse that we're going to get into. There's also like sexual abuse that we'll get into later on down the line. So if you want to sit this one out, feel free. But not you, Corey, and not you, Alina.

We're stuck. You guys are stuck in this. Yeah. We are in this together. So at the time of their deaths, they were renting a room from this man. They were renting a room in a house. And this man was 62-year-old Michael Lee Dudley, and

boy is the sky of fucking dud. He lived in the house, along with his tenants, so he was like living with them. This house was on Alboam Boulevard in Bureen, Washington. He was charging them $1,500 a month for one room. Girl, that's more than my rent. That's literally like essentially what my rent is and I have a whole last apartment. For just a room. One room. I was gonna say they just rented the room and like I got a lot of days to rent.

I'm sure they had access to the kitchen or whatever, but they really were renting a room. Like how I just wow. And I was glad because along my research process, like other people were like, what the fuck? And you're like, okay. Now let's just grab me. Yeah. Red flag. And they were having a hard time making the rent months to month

because, you know, obviously they're living in this situation like they're having a hard time with money. Like they don't, they can't get a place fully on their own. And it's like, you would think this guy would kind of help them out a little bit, but not at all. And he was getting more and more angry with them that they weren't making rent every month. And then he said that it wasn't only the rent he was upset about. He also alleged that they had brought criminal behavior into the house.

Was that ever specified? Like somewhat, but it's not like totally determined. So we'll get into it because it definitely seems to be true that there was something criminal going on around the time that Jessica and Austin were both murdered. Multiple witnesses came forward after their deaths and they said that there was an issue going on between Austin and the Simo and Americans living in the area. And no one was quite sure what had gone on between them, but one of the witnesses said that it was either over COVID-19 relief cards or some kind of quote check thing. Huh.

So what was criminal was the $1,500 rent payment? Yes, what was absolutely criminal. That was criminal. Definitely something criminal happening there. So in addition to the COVID-19 relief cards or the check thing that was going on, I'm like, what does that mean? But they also were saying that Austin had stolen vehicles on the property that he had stolen from some Owen people. Okay. But that was never that's never been like, um, what's the word? Fill it in for me, you got this confirmed confirmed. Thank you. I don't know why I can think.

Fill it in for me. You got this confirmed confirmed. Thank you. I don't know why I can think the way I was saying can be like a nope. I was gonna say that's never been specified and I don't know why I was gonna say that. I was gonna say that too. So we're on the same page. Oh, okay good. I'm glad. So yeah, that's never been confirmed. But whatever was going on was definitely escalating quickly because another witness who was left unnamed in the affidavit said that Austin told them he had pissed off the wrong Samoan man and that the man had put Austin's name on a bullet and left it in the mailbox of Dudley's home. Jesus. Yeah. And in addition to that witness' statement, Austin's aunt had come forward and confirmed that same story. So it seems like that is confirmed. Oh wow. Wild. That's intense. Yeah. And then on the morning of June 9th, which is the morning that they were believed to have been murdered like later that day.

Or so the same day that they were murdered. But before that, they were at Austin's mother's house, the two of them doing some guard work and they were hoping to earn some money from his mother. And she said that they were both in a state of panic. And they told her that people had broken into the room where they lived. They were carrying guns. And after they beat the two of them, they demanded money. Wow. Yeah. I'd be panicked as well. I would also be panicked. Yeah. Absolutely. I'm just like escalating. This whole thing just sounds like straight out

of a movie. I'm like, what is going on here? Oh my god. It's all start. I have no, what is going on here? Like how did this all start? I have no idea because there's so much because it like I said, it still is ongoing. Like the man who they think did this hasn't even gone to trial yet. So it's like, what? It's just weird. So now that same night, the night of June 9th, 2020, is the night that, like I said, they believe Austin and Jessica were murdered. Neighbors heard a man yelling, please don't do this, just let me leave,

and then heard multiple gunshots. So they immediately, excuse me, called 911. The call was placed around 7.15 pm that night. Police showed up, no one answered the door, and so they left. What? They literally left, because nobody answered the door and so they left. What? They literally left. Because nobody answered the door for them. After someone calls and is like, I'm pretty sure

if someone's getting murdered next door and they're like, we should knock on the door. No one answered. They're like, I heard that in the show. I find it's like, no, somebody probably got killed in there. And someone yelled, please don't do this. Just let me leave. And then you heard gunshots. And you're like

knock knock knock. No, anyone, okay, we'll go. Everything's fine. Never mind. Yeah, it seems like everything's fine in there. The situation must have rectified itself. They went to sleep. Cool. It's like, what? What? Wow. Crazy. So obviously Jessica and Austin were murdered that night. But their bodies weren't found until June 19th, which was 10 days after they were believed to have been killed. Man. Now, as we know, like we were talking about in the beginning, their bodies were discovered by a group of TikTokers, and the TikTokers were using this app called Rando Nautica. Have you guys ever heard of that? Yes. I have never heard of that. Okay, I had never heard of it either. So it's a crazy app.

I went on a deep dark hole, like just like researching Rando Nautica, I swear I spent like two hours just being like, what the fuck is this? So the app is for people to use if they want to like explore a certain area or have some kind of adventure. Now when you download the app, you're asked to set an intention

for what you want out of this whole thing. Like you could say you want to see something inspiring, you want to find money, you want to find money, you could say that you want to see something that makes you uncomfortable, and the app will generate a set of coordinates for you to find. What is it? There's all these stories that people will find these things that they're intending to find. I have a couple of these stories right now. So people get like intense outcomes from this. And you do have to wonder like what is staged with this

and what's not, especially for like TikTok content. Like I think some people are definitely taking an extra mile. You know who did a video, not a video, a podcast episode on this is and that's why we drink. Oh, did they? Yeah, they did a like a random random Nautica adventure. I didn't even know they did that. Yeah, I don't know what episode it is, but we'll show it out if we can. It's a good one. Do you know what they ended up finding? I don't know exactly

what they ended up finding, but I think it was like there was some weird things that like lined up with what they were looking for, I think. Yeah, it is weird. Like, so I found a most feed article. Sorry, go ahead. I was just going to say, is it still up? I think it is. It's still an app. OK. You can still use it. Yeah. So I found a Buzzfeed article where one set of users

stumbled across just this wide open field and they went in the middle of the night. And there was just a man by himself just walking around this fucking field, a little alone. No. Did they ask to find something uncomfortable? Because that was a good thing. I couldn't find what their intention was. But then unsettled me. And then just bring me there. This one first, it like the next one somehow is scarier than

that. So clearly, Randall and Otica is just like wild and out. Oh no, no, I want to use it. I know. I kind of like. I'm ready to hop on.. I'm ready to get out of the business. Right? Let's do this. Let's find something that makes us uncomfortable. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery's podcast American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in US history, presidential lies, environmental disasters,

corporate fraud. In our newest series, we look at the Kids for Cash Scandal, a story about corruption inside America's system of juvenile justice. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, residents had begun noticing an alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers, and often for committing only minor offenses. The FBI began looking at two local judges, and when the full picture emerged, it made national

headlines. The judges were earning a fortune carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children and force a heated debate about punishment and America's criminal justice system. Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad free on the Amazon music or Wonder App. Another set of users, I don't know again what their intention was, but they stumbled across this small little village in the middle of the woods.

And there was all these structures, little houses and hut things that were clearly put together by people, I have to assume. And they were using trees and branches. It was like, very cool rustic sheet kind of vibe, but also Blair Witch kind of vibe. Also, too. Yeah. So those are some of the things that people stumble across. I have

no idea what is going on with that. But we're gonna get burns. I'll just burn myself at this point. Yeah. That's your experience. Like that's how scary I would be. Yeah. I feel like I got this. Don't worry about it. I'm going to head out here. But either way, Rando Nautica has tips for people that are new to using it. And some of them kind of seem to be in places like precautions. They tell people if they don't normally venture alone,

then they should go with a friend or a group. They say that it's best done as a daytime activity, which you're like, but why though? Because at night, they're going to lead you to a field with a random guy just standing in it. They also said that you should be sure to have your phone totally charged and to use situational awareness. Because they like, don't blame us. I'm like, I'll know what you're doing here. What's happening? Doing something weird. What do they mean by situational awareness?

Like, I have no idea. I'm in sense if you stumble on something. You need to be specific. I'll leave right now. Yeah. OK. OK. All right. You don't want to do this anymore.

But either way, these tick tockers got a lot more than what they expected. So that's what they used when they stumbled across this suitcase. And the app generated a set of coordinates that ended up being on Alky Beach in Seattle. And they saw that there was this black suitcase like right in the spot where their coordinates had led them to. So that's just like, obviously a weird coincidence.

This is a very wild way to find this. Very weird. It was crazy. So they thought that it was part of the app. Like I don't know if, to me, I'm like, oh, did they say that they wanted to get money? Because they thought that the suitcase was full of money. So they started opening it. And then they were like poking it with a stick just to kind of like, I don't mess around

with it, I guess. But as soon as they started opening it more and more, the smell permeated the air. And they said that it was the worst smell they had ever smelled in their entire lives. I'll know what that means. And immediately they called 911. Now, I'm not sure how long it took for the police to show up,

because in a couple of sources, it said that it took hours for them to come. Which I'm glad that too, somewhere. And I'm like based on the fact that they left when they thought that somebody like could have been being murdered. Like maybe they did take hours to show up. You know, I was going to say it's not that far off. So maybe something's really going down around this area. They came to the suitcase, knocked, no one answered and they left. Yeah, maybe that's what happens. Like literally. They were like, nope, don't see it. All right.

Sorry, we got to go. So when they got there, the suitcase actually wasn't where the kid said it was gonna be. So that's why I'm like, yeah, I think it took them a while to get there. But somehow, I mean, I'm assuming like the tides or something probably had something to do with it. And the suitcase I got in back into the water, and there was a bag floating nearby, because the bag that was in the suitcase got free. Now, it appeared to have a torso inside of it. Wild. So they called the Harbor Unit because they were like, hello, back up please. And while they were waiting for the Harbor Unit to arrive, the police found another bag

floating in the water just a little bit farther away. Now this one was a large duffel bag. And as they discovered that bag, a smaller white bag floated from underneath it. Now all of the bags had the remains of 35-year-old Jessica Lewis and 27-year-old Austin winner. So horrible. Three days after that discovery, another bag was found with more additional body parts belonging to the couple. In the same river or body water?

I couldn't find what body it was, but it said it was different bodies of water. I just couldn't find like the exact one. Oh, wow. So whoever had done this, I clearly tried to separate them out and hide them. Wow. So sad. I just said the fact that people found this just doing like some fun little adventure. A random app that's just supposed to bring you like weird stuff like a random guy in

a field. And they found like that you can't make this up. Like if somebody wrote this in a movie, you'd be like, that's ridiculous. Like that would never happen. Well, a lot of people in a TikTok happened thought that it was fake. Yeah, I would have. Like I think I remember seeing it mean like yeah, yeah, that's not real. Right. And that's so traumatizing for the people that have found it. Yeah, I know. That's not easy on them. Oh my god. There's no way to prepare yourself for that

and there's no way to ever, I mean you literally stumbled upon someone's child. Yeah. Like you know I mean no matter how old they are, they were someone, someone. Right. Yeah. Like you literally stumbled upon someone's child. Yeah, you know, I mean, no matter how old they are, they were someone, someone. Right. You just stumbled upon pieces of them in a suitcase. Like that will stay with me forever, I would think. Yeah, you can't see that. Mm-mm.

Now, I guess we'll blame this on trauma because even after knowing what they had discovered was a human body, one of the kids from the group, like we said, still decided to upload the video. And he captioned it, something traumatic happened that changed my life. We found this black suitcase. We were joking that maybe the suitcase would have money,

but the smell was overwhelming. And then alongside the caption, he added a couple of hashtags, and among them were hashtag crime, hashtag murder. So I do feel like he kind of wanted to go viral with this. How old are these kids, do you know? I don't know their exact ages, but I think they're probably like 16, like around that age.

So I think one of the things you could probably say, like by no means am I justifying it, because it's not okay. Young and short. But like as a 16 year olds, I think they are of that generation that grew up sharing literally everything online or seeing that everyone shares everything online. They never had a period of time where they weren't sharing everything online, seeing everything being shared online.

Right. So I think it's just another thing like this traumatic thing happened to be. I'm going to share it online because that's what we do. And I don't think they, I hope that they didn't think farther than their own nose there. And just weren't thinking of the fact that this is someone's life. And this is someone's family member, this is someone's friend. Yeah, you know, see, I definitely like, I think in the beginning of it, I would hope it's ignorance. And I think it definitely was, but then it got to the point where they were asked to take the video down and they were refusing. Okay, and that's just, so that's what it's just fuck you. Yeah, that's fucked up.

Well, so their brain isn't even fully developed yet to think like in that rational logic way, but also like, if they didn't take it down, I'm thinking of like obviously getting that shock value, getting followers, getting attention and all of that. And it's like, you almost begin to crave that more than the ethical side, especially when you're 16. Mm-hmm. Because that's just an important thing to you. Right. Right. Exactly. No, I totally agree with that. Yeah. And you're right, it did go viral, like super, super viral. Yeah. And actually TikTok, like, it's self, like they asked like TikTok to take it down. And TikTok said they couldn't really do anything about it because technically it didn't violate any of their guidelines, which is a load of BS because there's

so many like plus size models that I find on TikTok and their videos get taken down all the time for violating guidelines when like other creators don't get taken down for wearing the exact same things. And then this is two people's bodies that we're finding, like dead bodies, and that doesn't violate your guidelines. That's so messed up. It drives me nuts. Tic-tac drives me nuts sometimes. I bet. I see it all the time with like some of my favorite creators like you, where like all of a sudden they'll put up a video and be like, well, this got taken down three times,

and I'm not really sure why. And it's always something completely innocuous. So you're like, why? Yeah, like that gets taken down. Like there's nothing in that at all. And then that doesn't like, right? What is the standard here? Right.

I once had a video, sorry, educating like my daughter on like, like, different types of families, like adaptive families, gay families, all of this. And it got taken down. And like, what? Like, what does families, gay families, all of this, and it got taken down. And I'm like, what? Like, what does that violate? What does that violate?

It's like, that should be shared widely. I don't understand like, what? Thank you. Yeah. That's wild to me. I can't. I can't. Like, I follow Remy Bader, and she's like a very body positive, like girl that, like, she's an influencer.

And her videos will get taken down sometimes where she's trying on clothes. And it's like, she's not being inappropriate at all. It's so, oh my God. I don't think there's an actual standard. I feel like there's some kind of weird picky choosy thing. I think so too. Absolutely.

It's like whoever's working that day. Yeah, exactly. And it's working. Your videos are going to be taken down. Whatever mood they're in. Yeah, I'm sorry. Literally. Your videos are going to take you down. Whatever mood they're in. Yeah, exactly. Literally. So, like I said, load of BS and the family of the victims continued to ask that the video

be taken down. And finally, it was. But at that point, it had been viewed over 30 million times. Wow. So, that's ridiculous. And nobody actually knows if it was the creator that ended up taking it down or if it was TikTok themselves. That's still something that nobody really knows what happened. That's interesting. Yeah. Now, before the video was taken down, Jessica's aunt Gina, who is like really prominent in this investigation,

and she's like very vocal and has been very vocal throughout the whole thing, she organized a GoFundMe that was originally set up for reward money, like before they had known the person that was involved in this. And she posted to the GoFundMe. TikTok should have pulled the video down the moment it was confirmed that it was human remains. They should have pulled it the minute Jesse and Austin's names were leaked to the public. They should have pulled it the moment the family asked them to. Countless times.

If possible, if you too could please ask TikTok or the creator. She used his name, but I'm not going to just because I think he's like younger. Yeah. If you can please ask TikTok or the creator himself to please remove the video off their website, I'd greatly appreciate it. These were real people, both TikTok and the creator got their celebrity status. Now please have some respect for human life are ready. Their parents are going through enough. Yeah, I mean, that that shouldn't even be a thing that she has to like plead and have that taken down. I feel like it says so much about like this generation as a whole that

that even has to be like put out somewhere where social media is as a where we are right now that it's like she had to make a like a desperate plea to get that taken down. Yeah, it's bad. Yeah, it is. It really is. So the King County medical examiner was able to determine that Austin had actually even shot once in the torso

and that was how he died. And again, he was believed to have been killed on June 9th. Now Jessica was determined to have been killed at the same night as well, but she suffered seven gunshot wounds. Wow. Now, I saw both of them are also determined to have been beaten before they were killed. And some people theorized, because again, nobody knows exactly who was involved with this. They have one man that 100% in my opinion,

blicked at this, but they do think he had help. So one theory is that Jessica was killed first and maybe was being like tortured in front of Austin. And that's why there's such a difference in the manner that they were. Oh, that's terrific. It's terrible. So from like what I've heard, like especially that you guys in other, in other episodes, like that's personal then, right? Like having that beating and then being shot that many times. Yeah, I would like it. I would think so. Or at least like motivated by in my opinion, money. Yeah.

You're gonna say trying to get something out of Austin probably. Probably. I think there definitely must have been like something that was in there in the person who did this opinion like stolen from them. Yeah, I think. Or punishment for Austin. Yeah, because it's like the person he loves. Exactly. Like I said, I mean, they were together for eight years.

Yeah. They were so loved. So I think that's like got wrenching. It's so sad. And Kathy Taylor, the forensic anthropologist, looked over the autopsy report herself. And that's when she said that this was likely with the aid of other people. Now, the reason she believed that to be true was because the cuts made to the bodies were disorganized, and it was clear that the cuts had been used using, excuse me, had been made using different tools and in different manners. Oh, okay. That's interesting. That's interesting. Definitely interesting. But then it's like, I've seen cases, like again, that we've covered where different tools are used

because this is so terrible, but you know, maybe a blade gets dull or maybe they just one works in some way and doesn't work in another way or breaks or. Exactly. So it's like, yeah, maybe other people were involved or maybe this was the person we think it was and he just had to use different tools to do this.

Wow. Didn't have to, but did use different tools to use. Shooting is also a really good soundstair, but it's like a quick method of dispatching someone and disarming someone. So it's not like they were stabbed or something else or like that would take more than one person. I mean, that like indicates more than one people. When shooting, it can more go towards one person, you know, I mean, that like indicates more than one people, like when it's shooting, it can more go towards one person. Yeah.

You can easily disable someone quickly with one shot. I can see that. And I have a quote later on from a person involved that we'll see. It does. It I just don't think multiple people are involved. I but I just don't I'm not totally sold, but where I've where I'm at right now in the research process with this whole thing. And like from what we know,

I do think it was either solely this guy, and maybe he had one person that helped. Okay. But before we get to that, we'll finish this part of it. It was believed that they were killed and dismembered inside, because there was a lack of insects on the body, but there were also some strange findings. There was a grass found inside of Jessica's mouth and there were animal feathers found on the bodies. What? Animal feathers. Animal feathers. Do they know what kind of animal? They weren't, I don't think they were able to determine exactly what kind of animal, but Michael fucking Dudley had chickens on the property. Yeah. I would say that's pretty interesting. And some internet sleuthing done by a YouTube channel called Popular Crime. They actually got all of the

affidavits and everything put together. I couldn't find them anywhere so I don't know how they got them, but I'm like, thank you for getting those. That was so fucking helpful. And I actually found them through one of our favorite YouTubers, Stephanie Harlow, who also did a video on this. Shout out to her, go check out her video. But popular crime found out that Michael Dudley, actually at one point in time, was using Airbnb to rent out Jessica and Austin's room before they lived there. And a guest who stayed in their particular room was the one to point out that, yeah, he did have chickens on the property. And once a chicken had actually gotten into their room through an open window,

I was going to ask that if they entered the house at all. So I like, yeah, I guess it makes sense that there would have been feathers inside of that house and apparently particular room. Like in chickens junk like that? I think they can fly like that. I think they can block the wall. Do chickens fly? Like, I think they, like, I'm like, I think if they bounce, I don't like, I think if they get a little bit of leverage, they can, they can, yeah. Yeah, a little bit.

Eat themselves through the window. Yeah, just eat themselves. I think I was eating themselves, but either way, chicken got in there, my dudes. I don't know how. But, so I guess it's not out of the realm of possibility that the feathers got onto the bodies while they were being dismembered inside of the house. Yeah. And if it was, I don't know if there's a basement in that house or anything like that. Okay, because I was going to say if there's another room in that house that chickens could have gone

that it's in your taxes. Yeah, maybe. Or even just think of like maybe this guy went out and fed his chickens and like had to wrangle them up I don't know how if you wrangle chickens. I guess you do But maybe he had other swaths the chickens or something, you know, yeah, you don't know and trailed them in I don't know I don't know I don't have chickens So I don't know anything's a possibility here because I don't have chickens when chickens are involved anything is possible Including double yolk to eggs, which are some of the obviousmiest eggs. Yeah, and they're gonna look that up there. Yeah, so investigators were finally able to obtain a search warrant of the home on

Oblom Boulevard on August 19th, 2020. So it did take a while, but search warrants do. They found bullet holes in the walls and in a nightstand and blood in Jessica and Austin's room. So all the bullet holes and the blood and everything was found in that specific room. And they had also found that the room had a fresh coat of paint. So that's interesting. Very interesting.

They also over there found a nine meter, oh my gosh, nine millimeter handgun in Dudley's truck, I believe. Okay. So he was being questioned and he told the investigators he knew that the blood was from Jessica cutting herself earlier, but other than that information, he was like, yeah, I don't know how those bullet holes got there. Because, you know, like bullet holes just ran to me, form in our houses sometimes and we

don't know how they got there. I was gonna say that's not one of those things that you're like, yeah, you know, there's just like a hole in the wall and maybe like a mouse made it or maybe we bumped into it. It's like, yeah, I don't know how that bullet hole got there. Yeah, it's like so crazy. It's like, it's there one day. The other day. And a bullet hole happened. A bullet hole just materialized. It's like a wormhole. It's like, like that doesn't happen to everyone. Yeah. Like what? You guys don't get rid of it. What without a gun or a bullet? He's like, I actually wanted some advice from you guys on how to figure this out.

Do I just putty over that or is it gonna come back? What about things? Is it like one of those stains that won't go away? What is this? It's also like, who do you think you're talking to, sir? Like this is the police. They know that bullet holes don't randomly just fucking occur.

I would hope so. And they were less than satisfied with his answers. He also had stated that the couple had locked him out of the house twice that day. So I think they were like, oh, cool. Now you're just giving it up to us that you had to motive to do this. So he was immediately arrested for the murders. Wow.

Now I'm assuming they had some other stuff, but like I said, this is still ongoing. So I think there is some stuff that's available to the public. And I think there's other things that are kind of being kept under wraps right now. Maybe because they do think other people were involved. It's smart. So three nights after Dudley's arrest, and this is where I get to the point where I'm like, are other people involved? Three nights after he got arrested, three people were arrested because they were reported to be trespassing on his property. The police got there while they were in the middle of trying to tow a car away.

Yeah, that's sus. That's so sus. I wasn't eating suspicious. Yeah, like don't be suspicious. Don't be suspicious while we tow this car off of a murderer's property. I know. I couldn't find any information about who these people were other than there was two men and one woman who was arrested. I couldn't find anything about the type of

car that they were trying to tow away. But it does make you wonder about something we heard about earlier, those allegedly stolen vehicles about people were saying Austin had stolen and brought on to the property. That makes a lot of sense. Because it's like was somebody trying to get their stolen car back without involving the police? Or on the other hand, was it somebody trying to help out Michael Dudley because they knew that maybe there was evidence in a certain car? That's what I'm wondering, but then I'm like, did the police not search the cars on the property? Yeah, it's strange. But maybe they didn't, I don't know.

Well, maybe they only had, because I think that's the other thing that I was wondering, because I know they got a search warrant for the house, but then I believe that 9mm handgun was found in his truck, and I think you usually need separate warrants for like vehicles and like a house. I would assume that they have searched these cards already. Or maybe it was one of those things where they had a search warrant for that, his house and his car. But then when they showed up, there was other cars on the property

and they didn't have warrants for those particular cars. I'm not sure. I don't know if it would be because it's on the property that it would be contained in this whole thing, especially with like murder charges and the fact that he's being arrested on murder charges. Right. And then the other thing was like I said, you couldn't find anything about like

who's car this was. Like, I don't know who it was registered to. It was just that these three people, like again, not even named were in the middle of tow and a car. Just tow on a car on his property. So we still don't know like who's it is. No, still don't know, which is weird. And there's a lot of random people involved in this case and those last three are not the only ones because later in the investigation police were able to speak with a woman who actually moved into Jessica in Austin's room the night that they were presumably killed. I'm sorry what? moved into that particular room the night that they were killed. Like, what? Whistle ball.

Okay. In the wall. Yes. Oh, it gets crazier. What? It gets crazier. So she was taken to the house by another friend who I believe put her into contact with Michael Dudley.

Now, Michael Dudley, I think, like takes in people, but I don't think he does it out of the kindness of his own heart. I think he does it. So he puts them in a position where they owe him something kind of thing. Wow. So this woman was going to be staying there. She moved in her things and then she hopped in the shower. And I guess before she got, excuse me, she got in the shower before she ever saw the

room. So she showered and then she walked into what was supposed to be her room. The story's so weird. And it only appeared right here. There was a pile of clothes in the middle of the floor. That was her floor at this point. And she said there appeared to be some kind of figure laying beneath them. And she saw a hand sticking out of the pile.

No. No. Nope. Nope. Yeah. At that point, wouldn't you just be like, it's good. Like, I'm out. I'm out.

So I think she had already been dropped off by that point, and it doesn't sound like she had a way to get out of there, unless she asked him to leave. So then it's like, what do you say to this man to get yourself out of there other than like, hey, I think there might be a dead fucking body in my room. Like, you want to tell me about that? Oh my god. When she got there tell me about that? Oh my God.

When she got there, she told police that she noticed earlier in the evening before she saw the body in her room that his glasses were broken and that he had multiple what she called defense wounds and scratches all over his body. Oh, now when she asked Dudley what the fuck was up, he told her, oh I going to clean up the room.

But can I actually just take you somewhere else? Like, you have anywhere else you could go while I get this finished for you? As if that wouldn't be something he would do in the first place? Right, like what? Now, she was like, I agreed because I needed to get the fuck out of there. But that she agreed and he was like, hang on one sec, I just have to like do something really quick. And she saw him laying out huge sheets of plastic

in the basement before they left. Now, she apparently jokingly asked him what had happened and his response was this. Let's put it this way. His gun misfired, mine didn't. What? I also have no idea if she ended up going back there and like staying in the house after seeing a hand a Potential dead body and hearing this man say to you that he essentially killed someone and what do you do in that situation?

Like you said, she's in a real bad situation there. What does she do? Because you can't just like run out the door. He's gonna chase you. Like, right. He's a murderer. This is bad. And then it's like, if you don't come back, is he then gonna come hunt you down? Because now he knows that you know he did something. And if you don't have somewhere else to go, what do you do? What do you do? That's... Like I would just be like, oh, cool. You know, like fun. It's so fun. I'm going to go run to the grocery store and never come back. It literally never come back.

Right. Now, another witness who is also left unnamed in this affidavit used to use one of the rooms in Dudley's house as like a storage kind of area. And she had met Jessica in Austin on multiple occasions. And when she asked Dudley where they were, he allegedly told her, you're not gonna have to worry about that anymore. Nice.

Wow, he's really being conspicuous. Yeah, don't be suspicious. Wow. Like not an idiot. Seriously, like you're just telling everybody. What an idiot. Those are the kind of dudes though, or kind of people in general that think that they're above it all. And they think everyone around them is so stupid that no one's gonna catch on.

That's actually like what Stephanie Harlow was saying. She was like, I don't know if he just thought he was like gonna get away with this, like if he's some kind of narcissist and he was like, nothing's ever gonna happen to me. Probably. And it seems as though he is because in a second, we're gonna get into his past and you're gonna be like, what the actual fuck. Yeah. But before I was gonna say, oh go fuck. Yeah. I was just gonna say, oh go ahead. No, I was just gonna say the first thing that came to my mind even earlier was like he's a narcissist just for even like how he was

talking to the cops like you think. Yeah, right. He thinks he's gonna get away with it because he's like some god complex or whatever. Because he's like no one's as smart as I am. So like I'm sure I can say I don't know where those bullet holes came from. And they'll just take that. And they'll explain you. Because I sure I can say I don't know where those bullet holes came from. And they'll just take that

that. It's like you because I'm so pretty. It's already. No, sir. Now before that woman who was like he said like you're not going to have to worry about them anymore. Before she asked, she also said that she saw garbage bags in the back of his truck that smelled foul. And then on a completely separate occasion, he had asked her if she would drive a U-Haul to Portland for foul. And then on a completely separate occasion, he had asked her if she would drive a U-Haul to Portland for him. And she was like, I don't know what she said. The answer is always no. You don't drive anything. Absolutely no.

But she found out that the U-Haul allegedly had Austin's belongings inside of it. And the plan, quote unquote, never materialized. Herbunny's, herbunny. So they just never got around to doing that, but I feel like she knows a little bit more than she's saying. It seems like. It's a little suspicious. Well, so yeah. So now let's look into Michael Lee, Doug, these past. This is where if you have made it this far,

I'm just gonna remind you again, trigger warning, trigger warning. We're gonna talk about sexual abuse and a lot of other terrible things. Cool. So we're really dealing with a monster here. This guy's rap sheet includes a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, multiple vehicle thefts, a DUI in Oregon, and a VUSCA felony, which is violation of a uniform controlled substance. Oh, okay. And people closest to him have said some very terrifying things as well. His ex-girlfriend, I believe you say her name is, uh, Meryl Scordon.

She said that she couldn't believe that he would do something this evil, but she did say there was an altercation where he, quote, started to hit me and grab my hair out of my head. He threw me onto the floor and hit my head into the hardwood floor. Then he threw me in my stuff on his patio out the door and came and hit my head on the patio. Did that with one hand and held a gun in the other hand? Oh my god. What a poor woman. I can't even imagine. And she said horrific. She was like, I can't believe I'm the person saying that I can't believe he would do something murder.

I was gonna say that. But she was like, I just couldn't even believe he would do that even after everything that I went through. I mean, who would ever picture someone that they were like in a relationship with at some point could be capable of that? Even if they are like a monster in your relationship. Right, you just always hope on whatever.

You're never thinking that they're gonna turn into a brutal murderer. Right, and you would hope that they didn't. Yeah. That night obviously left him with another charged ad to his rap sheet, which was assault. Now in June of 2018, Michael Dudley's own daughter filed a sexual assault restraining order against him. Oh my god. This gets really dark just so you guys feel. The report stated that he sexually assaulted her over a period of nine years and that it started when she was 10 and didn't end until she was 18. She told police that he had drugged her on multiple occasions and raped her multiple times.

Oh my god. She was forced to share her bed with him and forced to watch him watch pornographic material. Oh my god. Amongographic material. Oh my God. Among other things. Oh. She went on to say that he took out his gun on multiple occasions while this was all happening to threaten her and to stay quiet. And she said, even now she was afraid to leave her house to go to work. Like she was afraid to go anywhere. Um, Michael Lee Dudley didn't face a single charge for this because his daughter was told she should have filed the report as a domestic violence report instead

of a sexual assault report. Oh fuck off. Fuck off. Like why would you not just say like he hears the paper to do that instead? We'll just put it onto a different fucking paper for you. That is what it comes down to That they feel like huge. There's not even a word for the way that they fail to her. Right. Well, they failed her. And then on top of like not following through with that, you have no idea the repercussions. Right. What have happened? And they just failed a lot of people. The system fails a lot of people. It's so sad. I just can't imagine like going through that and then find it and again getting up the courage to go and get the restraining order like that's scary and of itself because

people don't follow. You don't know what's going to happen. And then to have law enforcement look at you and be like, yeah, you didn't file that the right way so we can't do anything. I'm sorry, what? Like how can you not do anything about that? And that's the thing. The courage it took for her to just file that. Things to just do that, right? Right. And to have it just like shot down in

her face like that is wow. And then it makes you not want to obviously like go through that process again to because like we said to even get yourself there, then it's like do you even want to go through that again? Because you're thinking the same thing might happen. You've lost trust in the system, right? Right. Like They can't protect you who can. I can't imagine that feeling. And then, father. Like, that's your own father. The amount of times this poor girl was failed by just everybody.

Yeah, the person who's supposed to protect you. Whenever parents do that kind of stuff to kids, it's like, so fucked up. There's the people that are supposed to protect you and like, keep you safe. Those are the people who you're supposed to be able to go to when things are scary in the world. So it's like, they are the scary ones in the world. It's like, I can't imagine that feeling. No.

No. No. No. No. Gina Jessica. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. No, I was just going to ask, was there other siblings? Did you say that? Or like, I didn't find if there was or not. I just saw that the daughter had said that that happened. Okay. Now Gina Jessica's aunt, who I had mentioned earlier, she had said that that happened. Okay. Now, Gina, Jessica's aunt who I had mentioned earlier, she later said that all of these allegations made against Dudley by his own daughter, lined up with things that Jessica had told her. She told police, this is a direct quote,

sometimes he would break their car so they couldn't leave. He put trackers on people's cars. Anytime he ever got into a dispute with anybody, he would tell them to leave, but try to keep them in the house. Oh, he's in a monster. He's so scary. This is an animal cruelty warning as well. She also told police that he had killed a dog in front

of Austin, in Jessica to scare them, and then left the body of the dog in front of the house so that they couldn't leave. She said, this is terrible, terrible, terrible. He beat this dog to death with a hammer because it got one of his chickens. He just left it out there for the other dogs to look at and sniff. He's a freaking psycho. My god. Dude, like I just don't understand how this man did all of this and was just walking around.

I was gonna say like I don't understand how he was like not put away for something. Yeah, oh my god. How was he able to get to this point to be able to do something like this? Like a psycho to say the absolute least. Wow. So in court, Dudley was charged with two counts of second degree murder. Like I said, he hasn't gone to trial yet, but his bail was set at $5 million. And in March of this year, though,

his defense attorneys brought the bar she's, I believe say, say it, and Harry Steinmitz requested that the bail be reduced to 500,000 so that he could get out of jail and be put on electronic detention at home. They said that he was being treated so unfairly. I'm sorry. Like what?

Are we supposed to treat you fairly? No. Jesus. And he said that, or his defense attorney said that the state of Washington still hadn't finished gathering the evidence against him, so that should be reason enough. Eleven people wrote letters to the judge vouching for deadly,

but I can't really imagine that the judge cares how popular you are as a human when you're a file for two murders. I don't. That's gonna help you out. And but they were trying to paint him as like this amazing man. He had gone to California and helped people put out wildfires and stuff like that.

But it's like, yeah, people tend to do those things to try to cover up what a terrible fucking person they are. Wow. Right. Jessica, Gina's, excuse me, Jessica's Aunt Gina again said she was there at the hearing over the bail and she told the judge she was worried about him getting out for multiple reasons.

One of which was that, again, they believed she didn't act alone, but nobody else is in custody yet. So it's like, what? Like, you could just link up with those people. Yeah. She also pointed out that his own family tried to sell his home for money while he was in jail so that they could pay for the bail.

But obviously they can't do that because it's like an act of crime scene. Crime scene, exactly. And she also said that she was contacted by somebody who was unnamed, who was so terrified that if Michael Dudley got out of jail, I'm seeing exactly. And she also said that she was contacted by somebody who was unnamed, who was so terrified that if Michael Dudley got out of jail, he would directly come to that person and kill them.

And it's just at this point, it's like, I see no reason why he should be. No, like there's no valid reason that he should just be allowed to leave. He should be in jail for the rest of his life regardless of whether he did these murders, but obviously at this point, we know he fucking did, but simply because of what he did to his daughter

and his ex-girlfriend and a dog, it's like, wow. This guy does not need to be out on the streets. He definitely doesn't. Luckily, the judge, sorry, go ahead. Please tell me he didn't get out on bail. No, he didn't. The judge denied the request to lower the state at five. I was like, so he's still nobody's going to be paying $5 million for him to get out of jail.

I hope. Oh God, I hope not. He was arraigned on September 8th of 2020 and he pleaded not guilty to the two charges of second degree murder. Now, his trial was supposed to take place on October 1st, but it did not. And I haven't found any update past the arraignment, but I know that trials can be pushed off like a ton of times, and especially with COVID and everything. I'm sure it's spying. Literally everything in the world. And then again, like we said, they were still trying

to gather evidence against him. So I think that obviously has something to do with it. But just to wrap this up, it's really important to both of these families that Jessica and Austin were known for who they were in life instead of how they were murdered. So as always, I just want to end it on a quote from the family. I have two. Jessica's aunt Gina said, I don't want them to be remembered in a violent way. I want them to be remembered for their humanity and their kindness. She said Jessica was a beautiful ray of sunshine, and she was a very thoughtful person to others. And Austin's mother said he had faith, a big heart, and loved the outdoors, country music, campfires, trucks, dogs, Jessica, and his family. Aww, I just got these thumbs up.

I know. I thought so saddened. So we're definitely going to have to update this as soon as anything happens in the trial. And I'm so, so hoping that number one, they find out if other people were involved and get them arrested, ASAP Rocky. And also hope that he gets put in jail also ASAP Rocky for forever.

I know. Let's hope that, I mean, let's hope the right guy is being convicted and that he is convicted seriously. Yeah. And I hope that he's a great guy. Yeah. And one helps that great guy. I mean, it definitely sounds it. I was like, like, what do you guys think about the other people involved like a

laneau? Like, oh, you go first. What do you think? I mean, honestly, it sounds, of course, it's, it's always probable that there's more people involved and it's always probable because more people makes a crime easier. But it also makes it harder because more people can't keep their mouth shut. Like more people is gonna be messier.

So, and the way it was done, he definitely could have done it himself because you incapacitate two people with a gun shot. That's easy to do. Yep. Especially in a room, if you're sneaking up on them in a room, just opening the door and doing it.

And he was known to lock people and he's not let them get out. He's not let them get out. He's got his house, he knows it, he knows it like the back of his hand, they don't, he's got a lot of areas that he can take them, he's got a lot of, I think it might just be him. I don't know if more people involved in the actual act, maybe more people are involved in the planning or the leading out of the team. Or knowing about it, but I feel like it might just be one person in the actual act. Maybe more people are involved in the planning or the leading or knowing about it, but I feel like it might just be one person in the act. That's pretty much what I think.

What do you think, Corey? I definitely think the same. I think just because of how evil this man is. Seriously. What I thought is like, okay, so yeah, I think he did it himself and all that, but like maybe he had some threats to other people that like, they owed him something

or they were just like terrified of him. Or like they, I don't know, took the car or something or tried to go clean up in some way. Like I think, this a mess. He was just an, yeah, I think it's just an evil person. And so to you. Got other people involved somehow. Yeah, so because there's definitely something to

those people towing that car off the property. They were doing that for sure. And so soon after he was arrested, it just, it's strange. It feels like there might be a string of just mess behind this. That is 100%. That is going to have to be unraveled and maybe being unraveled right now. And that's why it's, it's probably taking a little while because it's probably a web that they're going to have to untangle of what's going on. Yeah. Yeah. So that is the case of the TikTok suitcase murders. Wow. That's crazy. That was a rough one. Yeah, it was really tough. I hope hopefully everybody got my trigger warnings in time. I know. I was able to skip it. I think so. It was a doozy to research.

I was like, I had to walk away from it multiple times. Yeah. It was like, this is tough. There's so many layers to that one. Yeah, that really is. But especially with the salon going. I know, I know, seriously. That's the thing because this could be ongoing for a while. I think it might be. Yeah, especially where there's like, it was supposed to happen in October of the trial and then you haven't heard anything. I feel like maybe they got some new information or found some new evidence that they're working through. Yeah. I think we'll definitely keep this on our radar. Oh yeah. For sure. And you know what, I'm good, if you see that video, don't share it. Yeah. Like just, just don't share it. Yeah, don't share that video because the family does not want that video out there and it's really

shitty that people aren't listening to that. Yeah, just listen to the family. That's all you need to listen to. Yeah. Just have some decency, like respect, just some human-based respect. Yeah, exactly. I know it's really hard these days, but really try to pull that good side of you out. Yeah, and just know it's a visual of of the crime and it's you know what once you know what is happening you like that's their family members in those back. You don't need to see that. That's a lot. Not for you to see. No, definitely not. But thank you so much for coming on and doing this with us doing a sad sad case with us. Thank you. Seriously, it was an honor to be here despite how dark cases cases could be.

You are welcome back anytime, because this was so much fun. You're going to have to back, because we'll have to update. Yeah. Once we get the update, I need to come back on this one. Oh, yes. I'm invested now. And yeah. We're in this together.

So you're all in this together. We are. We'll start our own task force. We're like, I can't talk to you. I mean, I can't talk any day. I'm so here for it. I love it. And plug anything that you have, like, upcoming or anything you want to plug at all.

I'm not that cool. I don't have the cool things coming up. Just, if you want to have, like, listen to tragic mom stories, just tragic mom stories stories Just tragic life stories Follow me. I worry ex Gabrielle on tic tac Instagram You won't be disappointed. Hey brown. Just maybe maybe well. I don't know You won't I can vouch as as a fellow parent I can

Fear true weird of you're definitely in for your best. Absolutely, absolutely. But yeah, I appreciate you guys having me on so much. It's been so fun and amazing, so thank you. Oh, of course. We're so happy to have you. Of course. All right, guys, well, we hope you keep listening

and we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you do any of this. So, or share that video. Yeah, don't keep it so weird that you keep sharing that video. Yeah, it should be. Bye. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.