Morbid - Episode 268: The Railroad Killer

Episode Date: October 4, 2021

As promised, we are talking today about the serial killer from Episode 266. In that episode, we focused on the only survivor of his crimes, Holly Dunn. Today, we take a walk through all of his crimes.  Throughout the 80's and 90's, Angel Maturino Resendiz was one of the most brutal killers the United States had ever seen. Known by the media as the Railroad Killer, he stalked victims nears railroad tracks before brutally butchering them either next to the tracks or in their own homes. His mode of operation involved sexual assault and a gruesome amount of overkill. He moved freely between his home in Mexico and the States before finally being caught through fingerprints and SNA. After a reign of terror that was as prolific as it was terrorizing, he was fortunately coerced into turning himself into authorities in 1999. Sole Survivor by Holly Dunn  As always, thank you to our beautiful sponsors! Hello Fresh: Get up to fourteen free meals—including free shipping! —when you use code morbid14 at HelloFresh.com/morbid14 Liquid IV: Grab your favorite Liquid I.V. flavors nationwide at Walmart or you can get 25% off when you go to LIQUIDIV.COM and use code MORBID at checkout! Everlane: Go to everlane.com/MORBID and sign up for 10% off your first order plus free shipping! Candid: Go to CandidCO.com/morbid and use code morbid Brooklinen:    Go to Brooklinen.com and use promo code MORBID to get $20 off, with a minimum purchase of $100 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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That's ANGI, or download the app today. Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Spooky Season Morbid. 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. Hey yo! It's officially spooky. It's always been spooky. It's really been spooky. It's really been spooky a fissially. Like, we're in October. Yeah. October is here.

Alina went apple picking today. I went apple picking today. I'm going to a harvest fair tomorrow. I'm ready to bake all the apple things. You got enough apples so that I can also be ready to bake all of the apple things. I sure did. I walked in doing this kitchen today

and how many apples did you get? John said like, I have like 40 pounds of apples. I'm pretty sure. I was like, can I have six? I need to bake something. Well, I figured everyone around us bakes like loves apple things. So we're like, well, anybody who comes through the house,

we can just feel you want some apples. And that's just what happened when I walked in today. And I was like, yeah, I'll take some apples. Yeah, you know what I do want some apples. Oh, it's just, this is the time. I love it so much. It's the time. It just feels good.

The air is crisp, I wore sweater. Some, like, everybody's like, you know, like during the holidays and like usually they're referring to like Thanksgiving and like Christmas or Hanukkah, they're like, I feel so warm inside. As soon as it turns October, I'm like, I am a bundle of happiness and joy. That's literally how it turns something,

it like just awakens something within me. Yeah, and I just like, I don't know, I just like wanted to dress like a fucking witch all the time now. Oh yeah, and I just, I totally forgot, and then I got reminded that Halloween Wars on the Food Network is coming back. I was here when she realized that.

I mean, that's like one of my favorite things. The best. And I want now the girls watch it with me, which is like, hello. There was like another wicked cute show last year on the Food Network for Halloween, and it was like Kristen Cheneweth, wasn't it? Do you remember what that was? Oh, I don't remember.

I know that there was, you know, they have all like the Halloween baking championships. Yeah. I love, I'm like a sucker. I hope that show comes back. It was Halloween and baking together. Bring it to me. The show was like a sucker. I hope that show comes back. It was Halloween and baking together. Bring it to me. The show was like Candy Land.

You're like, I'm not getting rid of this. I'm just trying to remember what it was called. But it was cute. That is cute. I love the food network. I'm ready for all the Halloween things to come back. And then like, when it's all over, which I'm not ready to talk about that.

Yeah, I'll talk about that. But then I love like, like, no-vamper food network and stuff. Oh yeah. Like, this is the that work and stuff. Oh yeah. Like this is the start of the holidays. Oh, it certainly is. And I don't know if you guys ever watch those shows that are like crazy outrageous Halloween decorations.

Yes. Or like crazy haunted houses across the nation. Yes. I will watch the same one every single year and be like, wow, like sometimes they will shock me every time. Oh yes, sometimes they have the same one every single year and be like, wow, like sometimes they'll shock me every time. Oh yes, sometimes they have the same one from like 2006. Yeah, I remember that guy, what's he up to? Oh yeah, it's the same episode.

It's the same one. But what's he up to in the set I'm into? But I've seen a hundred times. Yeah, tell me how long it takes to put that stuff up. Tell me what your electric bill is. Yeah, I need to know. I gotta know. But yeah, so we're excited, I don't know if you can tell.

I also saw this tick-tock just like really quickly. This woman has like a son and he asked her if the giant pumpkin really exists. It's like from a book. And from a book you just said? Yeah, the peanuts, Charlie Brown. Yeah, the grape. It's like from a book. I don't know.

Whatever. It's the wholesomeness is about what this woman did. She got this massive frickin pumpkin. And then she took this video of her and her family setting it up and then finally it blows up. And her child's face, I was like spooky season is the wholesomeest thing in the world. I love that.

It was so beautiful. She made the great pumpkin. She did. It was huge. Wow, get it, girl. It was bigger than her whole house. I love, wow, that's a lot. It like taller. Yeah. Oh, so it was like a blow up pumpkin. Yeah, yeah. Because when you first said and then they blew it up, I was like,

that sounds cool. Like I was literally looking at you like this. Sounded at all. So that's so cool. No, like it was like a like one of those like lawn things. Yeah, that makes sense. I love that. Awesome. I also need to know where she got it. So awesome. Also, it is spooky season because my microphone just fell on me. That just goes along with it. It just was like, it slowly just was like, and I'm done. I keep thinking that it's doing it again, but it's not. You know what, it's probably, it just feels weird.

That was getting weird. It just, I said it's not and it was like, bitch, totally... That was getting weird. It just... I said it's not, and it was like, bitch, I might be. I guess I'll just hold it. Yeah, you probably need to. Well, I think it was probably trying to end this whole thing because this case is a rough one. Oh, it's a really rough one.

I told you during the Holly Dunn episode, the survivor episode, which was like really tough, but also had that like good ending that Holly was a survivor, that she keeps Chris's memory alive, that she's doing this amazing stuff with her story and like helping other people. That was like uplifting, but then I told you, I told you that we were gonna talk about the asshole who did that to her. Yes. And here we are.

This is the episode. This one's really rough. It's a really rough one. It's very, very brutal. There is sexual assault, there's rape. There's, I don't even know if this is something like a specific thing, but like there's a lot of old people involved in this. Oh, that's kind of a bummer. Yeah, like I know that bumps me out a lot So just so you know it's coming. Oh

Yeah, it's this one's a rough one. So just you know, strap in because okay So we're gonna talk today about the railroad killer his name is angel is actually his given name is Angel Leonicio Reyes Resendez. Okay. But you probably know him better by now, now that we've mentioned him, and he's known in like the press and all that, as Angel Maturino Resendez. Yeah. Now, he was born August 1st, 1959 in Izzucar de Matamoros, Pueblo, Mexico. A Leo. And a Leo, there you go. Is that true?

I think I'm gonna find out. I was gonna say is that true or is that false? People like when I get it wrong. Would you say love when you get wrong? You said August 1st. August 1st. I'm pretty sure it's a Leo. I'm getting better at it.

You are getting better at it. Which I don't love. I kind of always want you to get it wrong. Just feels right. Well, I'm getting way more into it. But watch me say that and be wrong. No, I'm not. Yeah, he was a Leo.

He's on the cusp. Yeah, he's a Leo. I don't, there's not a ton about his childhood, which honestly at this point, it's like that's probably about like who gives a shit about him. He sucks. Nice, the worst. I was able to find a good amount about a lot of the victims,

which I feel like in this case, they're the most important. It was great to be able to find out good amount about a lot of the victims, which I feel like in this case They're the most important. It was great to be able to find out like who those people were So I'll give you a little over what I could find about his childhood and then we'll move on now He was born August 1st 1959 in Mexico. He was dropped on his head within minutes of being born well knocked unconscious Within minutes of being born any Any idea what happened there? Oh, I have no idea. But it's confirmed like his mother literally confirmed it. Oh, so that's a trauma immediately upon the arrival on this planet.

Had trauma before even getting a birth certificate, I'm pretty sure. So, yeah, that's sad for your hair. Oh, I can't fathom dropping an infant directly from birth. No. No, I can't fathom dropping an infant, but dropping... I'm not really sure. He also fell off of a building when he was three years old. How does that even happen?

How does that even happen? Distained severe injuries. I tried to find out how that even happened. It was why he was on the top of a building at three years old. I tried to find all of this. There's no real information, but it's just something that's in a lot of sources that his mother did mention. It is so interesting.

I mean, obviously, it's like very dull. Yeah. When you fall on your head, it causes trauma and then your brain can turn into like a really scary person. But it's so interesting how a lot of serial killers do have had trauma. Yeah. I mean, it's just, hey, oh, there it is.

Let's figure out how to treat that. Yeah, I don't know. The brain is a very delicate organ. It's very hearty, but it's also very delicate at the same time. So the brain is tough. The brain is tough. The brain is tough. It is a fickle bitch.

Now, at six years old, he unexpectedly went to live with his aunt and uncle because his mother got remarried. And I don't know what happened there. I don't know why he was just at six years old sent to live with his aunt and uncle. A lot of people said he was like spoiled there and he had a great time. Okay. But then there's also these, and a lot of sources I found said that he could have possibly been sexually abused

in this house. Oh. But again, no real confirmation. It's just heavily reported in a lot of sources. It's just like his child, I was just like ridiculously chaotic from day to night. Very chaotic. He actually ran away at 11 years old and lived on the streets.

At 11 years old, living on the streets, he was attacked by a gang of kids with bricks, and he was hurt so badly that he was found bleeding from his ears and nose. We have another very traumatic brain injury for bleeding from ears and nose. Seriously. And at this point, he would come back and forth home, like for like after, and he would like leave for long periods of time, just show back up. And every time he would show back and forth home. Like, for like after, and he would like leave for long period, it's time to show back up. And every time he would show up, his family member said they were like, kind of freaked out because he was getting like, very like,

he was talking about like scary things, like the apocalypse. And he was like getting very preachy and very aggressively religious. And they weren't even sure what kind of religion he was preaching. He was just like talking about the end of days and all that. Like it was just and people were like, where's this coming from?

Like what? What's happening? Yeah. And later they said that they were like, he, but we'll also see everyone said he was never really aggressive. But that they were like, he was really aggressive. Well, they know like aggressive like physically or angry. Oh, okay. He just was really aggressive. Well, they know like aggressive, like physically or angry. Oh, okay.

He just was aggressively religious. Like he would literally like shove it down your throat. Right, right. And to listen to what I'm saying, and this is real. Okay, you're not a believer. And but when it came to his manner and his way of being, they said he was gentle and calm.

Weird. So it's very strange. Because then obviously as we know, he is not at all. Literally the farthest thing from that, like he is the epitome of evil. In fact, somebody I think actually described to him as that one of the investigators said he is the epitome of evil. I mean, yet going into this, we already know like what he did to Chris and Hall.

Oh yeah. And waiting to find out the other stuff. Oh. Hey there, fellow podcast listener. It's Elena. And Ash. And we're taking you back to the days before streaming services. Whoa.

You know when you would come home from high school and it was only a few hours until that TV show everyone was watching was about to come on. Well in 1999, that show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In our podcast with Wondery, the rewatcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In our podcast with Wondery, the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we take it back to 1999. So get out your knee-high boots and paste that poster of Angel on the wall. It's time to enter the Buffyverse.

Some of you avid morbid listeners already know what we've gotten store. Hey, my nose. Join us as we sway our way through Buffy's drama, action and romance. Episode by episode. Slacy, follow the rewatcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.

Darn, darn, darn, darn, darn, wooooow! What if you were trafficked into a cult over shot nine times or fell in love with a vampire or went into a minor surgery and woke up one week later, paralyzed? What would you do? I'm Whit Missildine, the creator of this is actually happening, a podcast from Wondry that brings you extraordinary true stories of life-changing events told by the people who lived them. From a young man that dooms his entire future with one choice, to a woman who survived a notorious serial killer, you'll hear their first person account

of how they overcame remarkable circumstances. Each episode is an exploration of the human spirit and personal discovery. These haunting accounts sound like Hollywood movies, but I assure you this is actually happening. Follow this is actually happening wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Lundery app. Oh delicious, they have flavors like lemon lime, strawberry, watermelon, my personal favorite passion fruit, my second personal favorite guava, there's also peanut colada, literally every flavor that I've tried is delicious and I swear every single time I try a new one I'm like, oh that's my favorite.

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Liquid IV has donated over 11 million servings globally. I am obsessed with Liquid IV, and you will be too. Grab your favorite Liquid IV has donated over 11 million servings globally. I am obsessed with Liquid IV and you will be too. Grab your favorite Liquid IV flavors nationwide at Walmart or you can get 25% off when you go to liquidiv.com and use code morbid at checkout. That's 25% off anything you order when you get better hydration today using promo code morbid at liquidiv.com. So about, you know, later in his like early teens, he ran away again. And this time he crossed the border into Texas

and to the United States. He was finding work on farms and other places where people would hire, you know, undocumented workers at that time. Yeah. And he apparently crossed back and forth the board, like over the border, a lot. Like, it is very impressive.

Just all the time. He came in one tessie pleased. That's like one of the most dangerous things. Yeah. Whoever, who's the guy that you love and he had the show on Netflix, David Ferrier? Yes, David Ferrier. Yeah, I love David Ferrier.

Remember the episode that he did where he showed like what a terrifying track it is? Oh yeah. Wow. The fact that he just like did that multiple times. Yeah, and he did it all the time, apparently. Wow. Because at age 16, he was apprehended, trying to cross into Brownsville, Texas.

That was 1976. Or he was sent back to Mexico, but I think he also like voluntarily went. Okay. And so now, obviously at this point, he's on the radar a little bit. Right. So he realizes, you know, I gotta make sure that I can fly under this radar. Yeah. So aliases are obviously a thing you're gonna do, because otherwise you're just gonna keep getting caught.

Right. So this is when that begins. He starts using trains to get around, because at the time you could just like sneakily hop aboard a freight train and ride it wherever you wanted to like Carl Panstram. Like, if you're doing it in like a wholesome way, how fun does that sound? Oh, it sounds adorable. Like just somebody jumping on a train. I mean like just take me wherever you want. But it also jump off. Super dangerous. When you think about like these horrible demons that this, just to get wherever they can go and then get right back out as quick as they can.

Scary. It's horrifying. It's Karl Panzerum, that's all I think of. And you said he had more than 30 aliases. He had over 30 aliases, and he had five different birth dates that he used. Wow. Now, in 1979, he came back into the United States

and he was convicted of Grand Theft Auto in Tampa, Florida. You would think that if you were gonna go back and forth, you'd be quiet about it while you were in either place. That's what nobody understands. Nobody understands what this method of this madness was. Trying to get caught. And some people think that it was like because he kept getting caught with what he was doing,

that he was getting angry and thinking that like something was against him, so he decided to like punish people. And I don't, it's none of it makes sense. He's come up with about a million different reasons, none of them makes sense. Well, it also just sounds like his brain was just like coming to me. Yeah, the reason he could put it at this point. The reason is he's an evil person. Right.

He really is. When you hear what he's done, it's truly evil. So in June 1979, that year, he broke into a floor at a home. An 88-year-old man was in there. The 88-year-old man tried to fend him off, but he beat him unconscious and fled in his stolen car. He did live. Okay, but he passed away, I think, like shortly after that. And there's nothing that says it was directly related to this, but obviously it didn't show. He had some complications. Now in April, 1980, he was caught in sentence

to 20 years in prison. Whoa, in 1980. So what happened there? 1985, that summer after Elena. The year of me, after only five years into that 20-year sentence, he was released on parole. Was the prison overcrowded? Or like what the, I have no idea.

You're sentenced to 20 and they're like, yeah, five's pretty close. Five seems about right. Like what is that? You beat an 88 year old man unconscious. And we're just gonna let you back out into, and not only that, you have a rap sheet that's like a mile long at this point.

That's like a CVS receipt. Like, what is going on in real life? Here's your extra bucks. So he was deported back to Mexico. Oh man. 1986 the next year. I mean, obviously. He's right back into Texas.

Uh, he was starting at this point to get super, super religious and not the good kind. I have to stress that. He was talking about how certain people don't deserve to live. It was very like hateful speech. super, super religious and not the good kind. I have to stress that. He was talking about how certain people don't deserve to live. It was very like hateful speech. Yeah. Very judgey, very like, I'm above all. And he also had this thing where he believed that he was like sent here to like rid the world

of like just people who didn't belong. But he was doing crimes at the same time. Okay, got it, makes sense. Now, this is when the first victim happens. This victim is unnamed to this day. They met at a homeless shelter. They went on a motorcycle ride together and they decided to go to an abandoned farmhouse

to do some target practice together. This was a young woman. Everything was going fine according to him some target practice together. This was a young woman. They, everything was going fine according to him and his confession later. I mean, like to believe that. And then he said she disrespected me. So he ended up killing her, shooting her four times with a 38 caliber gun.

And he left her body in that farmhouse. Oh my gosh. He then found her boyfriend and killed her boyfriend. And he has never been found. What? Resendez said he dumped his body in a creek somewhere between Uvalde and San Antonio. He also said his motive was that they were just bad people and he thought they practiced black magic. You just like whips that out of your ass. Well, he even says he, and several times he says, I just think they did this. Like there was no proof he says, several times he says, I just think they did this.

Like there was no proof he just would be like, yeah, I just think that. Okay, good. So he jumps on a freight train right out of town. He ended up going back to Mexico because he got caught for another offense involving like falsifying documentation. Now, in 1988, he's back in the States,

just floating around, kind of getting any work he can at this point, just trying to make money, just trying to keep it for a little bit, he tried to fly under the radar. Do you know who you're sure? By a little bit, I mean, like months. Okay. So, in November of that same year,

he tried to apply for a social security card with falsified documents and boom, prison again, and then deport it again. And also, it's like, okay, he's in prison again after then deport it again. And also it's like, okay, he's in prison again after they let him out for five years and they see that he's still doing these things. So it's like, why are you just letting him out? That's what nobody understands. No, I don't. He was able to make it. But it makes sense. He used tons of aliens. Right. And he was able to fly through that. And that's the other thing. Like, if he was falsifying not, then I guess

it was hard and prison under the same name before. I guess it was hard to trace him. So July 19, 1991, in San Antonio. This is when he met 33-year-old Michael White. I don't know a ton about this victim. I could not find anything about him. All I know is that somehow, because this is only from Rizendez's confession, he ended up in an abandoned house with Michael White again, and he beat Michael White to death with a brick and then left him there. And did he say anything? In his confession, he said he killed White because he thought he was gay. Yep, I literally, like, yeah, he later drew a map to the, he said, I Yep. I literally like, yeah. He later drew a map to the, he thought. Yeah, he said, I think he was gay.

Either way, like even if you know versus thing, like, yeah, I don't even have words for that. I really don't. Yeah, it's outrageous. Like, how does that affect your fucking life in any way? Answer. It does. It does, so there you go.

He later drew a map to the crime scene during his confession and that's how they were able to find Michael White he went back to Mexico he started teaching English classes at a local like he was like tutoring because in it at his time in the United States he was picking up he was like fluent in English by this point yeah so he was able to use that in Mexico he could he was teaching he was able to use that in Mexico. He could, he was teaching. He was settling down a bit in Mexico. In the early 1990s, he met Julieta Dominguez.

This was by 1994 that he met her. He still spent time in the US. He would still come back and forth, but he would also send money back to her when he worked in the US. So for a while, it seemed like he was actually settling down. Right. Like, he was actually like doing a thing with a family. Yeah. And she said, like, there was no indication

that he was this like violent horrible person. Like, she said, he was very like calm and kind and like chill. But that happens all the time. It does. It happens all the time. Even like, like, Bundy and Court, when you see him, like, he's sort of like fine. That's snap. And does. It happens all the time. Even like a like Bundy and court when you see him, like he's totally fine. And then that exactly that's not right. You can see the flash in the eyes

and you see the second that they turn into the monster that they really are, that the like veil falls. Yeah, you can see it. And that's what happens with these guys. And wild style. Like there can just be like two people inside of one person. And that's exactly what it is. There's a curtain hanging over. And once that curtain drops, you can catch it. And that's exactly what it is. There's a curtain hanging over,

and once that curtain drops, you can catch it. And it's like, ooh, yeah, because that one, we've talked about it like a few times before that one video just is so chilling to me when he just snaps, and you're like, that's what everybody's saying. And a lot of people that, like, that's one of the quotes is like, I realize like what those girls saw.

Yeah, exactly. So, she also said though that he was starting to preach to her as well, and it was starting to come off very hateful. Like she said she was worried that he was part of a hate group in the United States. So she was saying like some of the stuff he was saying, she was like I just kind of tried to like just ignore it

and like move on, like not engage with it, but like I don't know, she even said it was starting to bother her. And probably scare her out, of course, because you're like, what is that? Right, like those are your views, cool. Yeah, so March 21st, 1997 in Baldwin, Florida, near a railroad track. He saw a young, newly engaged couple, 19-year-old Jesse Howell and 16-year-old Wendy von Huben. They were runaways from Woodstock, Illinois, and he noticed them because he said they were

holding a book related to the occult, which take it with what you will because who knows if they were? Who knows if they were? Why though we're talking about that. Why though we're talking about that? It doesn't matter. It's not your business. Like, they're not saying anything or doing anything to you.

So keep fucking walking because they, that's what they believe. And you're not allowed to believe anything. That isn't what I believe apparently. Right, yeah, that's cool. So that's what makes the world go around. So he talked to them like pals. Like he was like, hey, what's going on?

Are you traveling too? And he told them, you know, they were, they kind of mentioned to him like they had run away from home. They were looking to get some work. So they could kind of stay away from having to go home. They didn't want to like go back to their old lives. So he was like, hey, if you're looking for work, I'm going to get a job. And he said, you know, like in another place in Florida.

And they were like, oh, that sounds great. That's what we're looking for. That sounds way too good to be true. So they got on a train with him. They just hopped on the train. The train made a stop in Bellevue. And Jesse and Resenda's got off, not sure why. So he walked with Jesse, chatting with him,

little bit behind him, and then he walked up behind him and beat him over the head suddenly with the air hose coupling on a piece of railway equipment. Oh my God. Yeah. Then, he got back on the train without Jesse, probably covered in blood. Yeah.

But the next stop was Sumter County, Florida. Resinda's tied her up, raped her, and strangled her before suffocating her to death with duct tape around her face. Oh my God. Then he covered her with a blanket and left her beside the tracks in a shallow grave. And then just jump back on the train. Wow. Yep.

Now, July 1997, these happened quick. They happened like boom, boom, boom. He was like one after the other. July 1997 in Colton, California. A man named Robert Castro was at a railway yard, and he was alone. In Resendez arrived that night on the train. He saw him, they met, they talked.

According to Resendez, he waited for Castro to turn around, and then he beat him to death out of nowhere with a piece of wood. He found him the ground. Jesus. Are you seeing that he has a pattern of weapons of convenience, just whatever is lying around, and violent attacks near railways?

Like, that's his thing. Yes, I am seeing that. That's his thing. That's also just so scary, because he's capable of anything. Anything. Because he literally is. Like you said, like, just uses anything around in nature.

Well, and it gets scarier because he starts entering homes near relways. What? And he just uses whatever is around him in the house. So he's that's fucking scary. That's even scarier because it means he doesn't give a shit. Well, that's like you've always said if somebody breaks into your house, they literally don't give a fuck.

Yeah, you don't want to mess with that person because anyone who can enter a house without knowing what the fuck is inside of it. Because we have no idea who lives there. They are bonkers and you don't want to go anywhere near that. You lock yourself somewhere and you call the police because don't fuck with that person. You fucking hate your Simply Safe button that is louder than Led Zeppelin and Lert your neighbors. You alert, you press that siren and you call the police.

You hit the panic button next to your bed. Yeah. Because I'm to people at cat burglarism people in the middle of the night. No, no, no, no, you don't want to deal with that. Then on August 29th 1997, I don't know if that date sounds familiar. Lexington, Kentucky. This is the death we talked about in Holly Dunn's episode. We talked about it in episode 266. I'm not going to rehash it completely because I would love for you to listen to that episode. I'm not going to rehash it completely because I would love for you to listen to that episode. Mainly because it's about Holly and I think, and then about Chris and I think like it can do a lot better than me just quickly going over it here.

But this is when Christopher Meyer, 21 years old, was killed. And his girlfriend at the time, Holly, done, was sexually assaulted and beaten almost to death, savagely. Yeah, when Resendez attacked them while they were walking outside of a party on the railroad tracks. was sexually assaulted and beaten almost to death. Savagely. Yeah. When Resendez attacked them while they were walking outside of a party on the railroad tracks, he tied them both up and dropped an over 50 pound rock on Christopher's head every time you say that instantly. My eyes just like shut.

It's horrific. But like I said, Holly has done amazing things since this photo book. She wrote a book. She wrote a book. I'll link it again because why not? She also emailed us and she's going to provide us with a signed copy of her book to give away. Yeah, so we'll let you guys know what we're going to do for that and like when that'll happen, but yeah, she's, she's fucking amazing. Like such a nice person. We love Holly. She was great. And that's why I want you to listen

to episode 266 about her, because I really important. Her story's really important here. She's the only survivor of this entire thing. Can you imagine? Yeah, her book is called Soul Survivor. Yeah, it's called Soul Survivor. So that was on August 29th, 1997. After this murder and attack,

he jumped right back on a freight train just like Holly had said in her book. She didn't know what happened because she blacked out after he beat her with what she thinks is a piece of plywood. She was totally blacked out and she went she woke up, he was gone. So she said, I assume he just maybe jumped on a train. And that's exactly what he did. Yeah. He thought Holly was dead. So he jumped on a train and now he went premium essentials to outfit you in comfort Recently, I ordered a few new cardigans from Everlane since fall is here baby and that in and of itself was an adventure I got the chunky cardigan in white. It is super soft super comfortable

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you go to Everlane.com slash morbid and sign up. Now, people think at this point that maybe he had been bothered by this one a little bit, because he waited a while for the next one. Do you think that was interesting? I wonder... So here's my thing. I think these were two college kids and we're going to be like big news. Well, that's the thing in this. So, Holly did become big news. Yeah, I think he realized that he had, he wasn't sticking

with his like typical victim, M.O., which is just anyone he could find at a rail rail rail track that was like seemingly drifting through town, you know. So there's that. But there's also the fact that Holly did a great job humanizing herself during that ordeal. I don't think he's a human, so I don't think he has a conscience. Something in me though is like, did it maybe? I don't know. I don't know. For me, I would think that it would be because that case obviously got a lot of coverage and the fact that Holly survived. Obviously he must have seen that. Yeah.

And then I think probably just wanted to lay low for a while so that he didn't get caught. That's more what I think. But maybe because like you said, she did do such a good job. She did a great job of humanizing. But like very quick thinking and very like smart thinking with how she was able to do it.

But he's so evil. But he's so evil. But he's so evil. But then it's like what we find out too is he had a baby with Hulietta and a baby girl and he was apparently like smitten with her. And that was after. Yeah. And very gentle with her.

Interesting. The duality of that kind of behavior. Yeah. I can't wrap my brain around. I try to figure, I can't figure it out. I think it's probably good that you can wrap your brain around it. But I just need to know how these, how they compartmentalize these parts of themselves.

Some people just can. Yeah, because I mean, you look like BTK. Right. You had a full-ass family that he was just like doing things with. Some people's brains too are just more equipped than others to compartmentalize. Yeah, and I think it's easy looking on the outside to be like, how did his family not know?

You know, in any of these cases, but then you look at it and you're like, no, they didn't because he wasn't that person with them. Right. And I constantly think of Carrie Ross Rossin like BTK's daughter. She didn't fucking know. Like she's no idea. She was as victimized by everything. It's like anybody else was. And it's like, it's just, but it's so easy for all of us on the outside to sit there and think like, oh, like how do you had, how wouldn't you know? But I'm telling

you, like there's, there's these kind of cases where you're like, they were a completely different human being with their family than they were on the outside. It's so many of the cases that it must, that's the thing, like I wish there was some way to just like figure out how the fuck that happens. That's the thing, I just need to know. It's gotta be some connection in the brain.

It's a fascinating part of the human condition, especially the criminal human condition that people are able to do that. It's a fascinating part of the human condition, especially the criminal human condition that people are able to do that. It's just like wild to me. But either way, he did take some time off here. And he went back to Mexico and spent time with his family and he worked there for a while. Now remember, that was in 1997.

It wasn't until October 2, 1998 that he struck again. Wow. It was in Hughes Springs, Texas. And he stepped off the train that evening and just stalked the neighborhood waiting to strike at random. Oh, man. Because there was a neighborhood right next to the railway.

OK. He found a red brick. This one's tough, by the way. They're all tough, but like this one, old people just really bum me out. He found a red brick home and chose it at random, saying later that he just felt it radiated evil. He snuck through.

That's the dumbest fucking shit. It's all shut up. It's also just bullshit. Right. He says about a hundred different reasons for it. So it's like, okay, that was the whole radiated evil. So I had to kill a person inside.

Yeah. He snuck through an open window in the back of the home and inside was Leuffy Mason, who was 87 years old. 87 years old, you live 87 years on this earth. And that's what I'm saying. And some asshole like this is the recent year gone. She was asleep in her bed alone. Leuffy apparently was a character to her neighbors.

Like every one of them. She was a freaking character. Those who knew her said she was feisty. She was not one to back down. She was also described as strong willed, but very thoughtful. She would share her pies with the neighbors. Oh, my God. Her father was a sheriff's deputy who was killed in 1919 in a train accident. Oh wow. And her mother died the neighbors. All the gone. Her father was a sheriff's deputy who was killed in 1919

in a train accident. Oh wow. And her mother died soon after. So she had her fair share of like, and she was left with her sisters. Like she was at her fair share of shit she had to like get through. Yeah, trouble.

She very likely confronted her attacker that night. Everybody said they were like, I think she woke up in the back. I'm like, fought him. Because like she was that kind of woman, right? She would not have just been coward or anything. And she was found unfortunately beaten to death on the floor of her bedroom. Oh my god. She had been killed with her own antique iron that he found.

I can't even fathom that. Literally just the closest thing he could find to him. He then, after he had killed her, the 87-year-old woman that he killed, he then ate food from her fridge, went through her stuff, and then just left. Very night stalker-esque. Yep. And then a neighbor who was supposed to give leafy a ride to visit her sister in a nursing home that next day. Oh my God.

Was the one who reported it when she didn't answer the door. She knew something was wrong as soon as she didn't answer the door because she told police chief Randy Kennedy that Leuffy was very timely. She was not one of those people that would have kept you waiting. And she said, she was annoyed when people didn't respect punctuality.

Like that. So I was like, I don't respect punctuality. Like that. So I was like, I don't know. I get it leafy. I get it leafy. So time that so when this neighbor came to pick her up and bring her to the nursing home to see her sister, she said each time that I came to pick her up to do that, she was up ready and waiting. Like she would have like locked right out the door.

I've been waiting. Let's go. Right. Like all business. And this worried her. So chief Kennedy showed up that day on October 2nd to check things out when he was called. And her poor sister, like she just never arrived again. And he later told the Houston press close.

Excuse me, the Houston press quote, she was always very nice to me. She would bring me a glass of iced tea or lemonade when I was working because he apparently would moe her lawn when he was younger. So this was like a very close like he was like shit. And he said she had a reputation for being pretty demanding and outspoken, but I really liked her. I love that. Yeah. And in the same article, a source from the nursing home where her sister stayed said her sister was her life. Every day, promptly at two in the afternoon,

she came here to visit Birdie, which I love that name. That's my favorite name. Leafy and Birdie. Tell me those aren't the cutest sisters you've ever heard. Been the coolest people ever. Leafy and Birdie.

Like I asked. So she said she'd always cook something for her and would sit and talk with her and sing her songs that were popular back in the 40s. And she would always stop by my office to leave a recipe or bring a copy of the latest poem she had written. She just sounds like a leafy. And amazing human being. Leafy.

Now unfortunately this case went kind of cold because there was a really no leaf. Hopped on if I can train, I'm sure. He was in and out, left nothing. Initially, they believed, they were like, this has to be someone who knows her because it was so brutal that they were like, this must be someone angry. Like it has to be that, but no. And do you think maybe they assumed

because like they said she was so like, that she was like a character and they pissed someone off, they thought and like, I don't know. So they, but there was an open window. So I don't know why they didn't, they, he snuck through it and that's how we, so oh man, that freaks me the fuck out. Her house was also less than 50 yards away from the Kansas City Southern rail lines.

Oh wow. So she was just the first house. I can't imagine that. He left on the train again and off to Mexico he went. So on, on, around December 11th, he was trying to get to Florida again, and he got on the wrong train. So he ended up in Carl, Georgia. And when he ended up there, he was like, all right, I'll just go with this. He stalked the neighborhoods again. While he was creeping,

he saw Fanny Buyers, who was 81 years old in her front yard. While the sudden did he just like totally want to like switch up and murder elderly people? Yeah. Did he ever say anything about that? He just, because it changes too. He has no victim profile at all. In one of her neighbors, Patty No Sarah later said that she was often outside in the yard with Fanny, and that Fanny was never really alone.

She was like, there was always people around her, people would visit her. And she said, this just happened to be a time where she was in her yard outside. Somehow, he ended up sneaking into her home without her knowing it. And when she came back into the house from being outside, he killed her with a single blow to the head. Oh my gosh.

And was this during the daytime? This was a little like late afternoon into evening. Okay. She was found bludgeoned to death in the house. It was the neighbor who called because she was scared when she didn't answer the door, just like, so sad. So sad. Again, she was never alone.

She just happened to walk into her home alone for a minute. And he jumped out and beat an 81 year old woman to death for literally no reason, which there, there is a reason, but no given reason either. Right. No evidence left here. So charges were actually put against another man at this point. Oh wow.

But they were dropped later when Resindes provided, like information that was not released to the media about this and he was like, no, I did it. Why did they think that it was the other person? I'm not sure exactly because I didn't want to name this guy because the charges were dropped. I don't want to like, bring it up, I know. But they must have had some kind of reason for this guy.

I don't know, but all I know is that Resend DesiLater was like, here's some information that wasn't in the media about the case that only I would know. And they were like, oh, you're telling the truth. Wow. Now, he traveled Southwest for a few weeks at this point, right back on the train.

Right, and he ended up in West University Place, Texas. This was on December 17, 1998 that the next murder occurred. Down the street from the railroad tracks, very close to them. That's also literally six days later. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And this is where a doctor named Claudia Benton

was home alone. Her husband and two twin daughters were out of town in Arizona. Oh my god. They just laughed. Yep. She was a pediatric neurologist at Baylor College of Medicine. And that night, she was preparing

for a big presentation the following day. Her home was near the Union Pacific Railroad. And all we know is he latched on to her. And that night he prowled over around watching her through the windows until about 10 p.m. and then she went to bed. Now that's when he snuck in. He found statues that he later said he believed or demonic they were not And also some medical publications because she's a doctor, right? And he assumed from these medical publications that she performed experiments on Fetuses and performed illegal abortions. He's just like making shit up. He's just an asshole Right, and he just makes shit up It's like just admit that you're a fucking monster that you wanted to kill this woman.

Nothing is so wholeer than that. These people who are like bright lights in society, that's what you just want to fuck with people who are like good people. That's all. That's the thing is like, just fucking say what you are. Yeah. So Claudia, he attacked her while she slept in bed.

She fought back, like fought. I guess investigators said like, she must have gone in a few good licks because they were like, she could have, she almost got away. And how incredible is that? That she was asleep and then wakes up and is able to just fight back like that. Well, he ended up raping her,

he stabbed her several times with a kitchen knife in her hands and back. Oh my God. And then beat her with one of the statues. It was a bronze statue that was two feet tall. Holy. He hit her 19 times with it. Oh my God.

The other thing is, you're so religious and clean. No. You think you're amazing. It's none of that. No, I know he's not, but he's claiming to be and you're raping people. Yeah. Well, so many of them do that. Like what fucking sense does that make? I know. I know. I know how many of them of that. No, I know he's not, but he's claiming to be, and you're raping people. Yeah. Well, so many of them do that.

Like, what fucking sense does that make? I know. It doesn't make any sense. So many of them do that. They just claim this religious thing, and it's like, but that literally goes against, isn't that supposed to go against everything?

I don't understand. I don't understand. I don't understand. I don't understand. I don't understand. No, it doesn't make any sense. He also, you sit there and say that, though, I don't even understand.

Because they're idiots. He also left her head partially in a plastic bag. She had, um, she had a broken arm from the attack, and several bones in her face were completely shattered. Oh my God. He then ransacked her home. He stole a guitar, a banjo, a stereo, jewelry pieces of ivory she had in a collection.

And he was just on foot? Yeah, he was just on foot. And then he, well, he was on foot getting there, but you'll see. He also broke all of like her art and statues, like just what nuts. He then made some snacks with her food, ate it in her house,

and then stole her red jeep Cherokee. That's how he got out. Oh, no, police came to the home, and they found fingerprints everywhere. Good. Those fingerprints were then matched to those on her Jeep when it was discovered abandoned in a San Antonio motel parking lot on December 18th.

So glad he was that parking stupid. That parking area was right next to train tracks. So he just left it there and jumped on a train. Now, Debbie Benningfield, who is the deputy administrator of the latent print section of the Houston Police Department. That is a long time. Certainly. That's what she is.

She took those prints on the steering wheel of Claudius Jeep and she put them into the Texas Department of Public Safety's automated fingerprint identification system, which is Texas A-Fists. Just that. I don't know. Most of you have probably heard of like A-Fists. This is just Texas's specific A. Just that. I don't know. Most of you have probably heard of like aphys. Yeah. This is just Texas's specific aphys. So on December 26th, 1998, they got a match. Hey! It was apparently matching Carlos Cluthier Rodriguez, who had been arrested in Carson County,

Texas in 1993. I also, like, love the dedication, well, I don't love it, the dedication, though, of even the middle name. Oh, yeah. You just changed all of them. And he got really unique with it. He did. Yeah, which is boo to you. Yeah.

Um. So this is obviously a known alias of Resendez. So now they got the Carson County Sheriff's Department on this, too. And they got the Carson County Sheriff's Department on this too. And they got the original fingerprints they had taken from Rizendes when he was arrested in 1993 at Carlos Clothea Rodriguez. Now that they had these original prints that were taken when he was arrested in 1993, they figured they should check to see if that was really his name or if he was connected to other crimes.

Right. So on December 28th, Yamabarthay, 1998, they had the Texas Department of Public Safety put the prints into the Western Identification Network, when to search for any other matches. So while this is happening, the California Department of Justice's A-Fist database, which is connected to win, was like, oh hey, we have a match for those. I love it, just like in my head while I was reading this, it's like ding, ding, like I was literally watching the United States and it's just like,

ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, like I've heard this is right. It's just all matching up. So they're like, yeah, we have a match for those. He had been arrested August 15th, 1995, in San Bernardino for trespassing on the railroad property and having a loaded gun on him and then something related to theft. Just all kinds of bad shit. Yeah. December 19th, the original prints that they took the first time were sent to the FBI's criminal justice information services division to see if they came up in the NCIC

database. And on January 5, 1999, they were hit. And they finally saw his long CVS receipt of a criminal record. Yeah. Now, on January 5, 1995, the Harris County District Attorney's Office, they told police that instead of going directly after murder charges for Claudia Benton, they should get him on burglary at home at her at her home because they could definitely get him on that, but they wanted to make sure they had concrete evidence of murder.

Okay. Because they wanted to make sure once they had him, they had him. He wasn't going anywhere. So a warrant for burglary was issued on January 5th, and it was entered into NCIC. It made sense because there was overkill in all of these cases. There were all weapons of convenience.

They were all nearer railroad things. So like, yeah. They make sense that they were connecting. All the red dots are connecting. Now, already back in Mexico after this, this is when Julietta became pregnant with their first child oh my goodness and it was in March 1999 the same year that he had his daughter Leria that's pretty name I know it's really pretty I also believe Leria is the name of the lady in

the craft it is the shop lady shop. He was he was apparently a very present and very loving father, like I said, according to Pouliera, to me, like a father and like welcome a new baby. And I would just think that you would just have images of like all the people that you murdered while a new life came in. Who were somebody's baby at some point. Right. Like, I would think that you would think of that. No, of course not. Now two months after her birth, he went back to the United States. Uh-huh. He was just like, bye. He arrived in Womart.

I'm going to look that up. I looked it up. It's Wimer. Not Wimer. Wimer. Wimer. I was going to say that I liked your subtle accent. And then you were like, Wimer. Wimer. It'sommer. Well, I was going to say that I liked your subtle accent and then you were like, Wommer. Wommer.

It's Wommer, Texas. He's totally very convincing. Thank you. Thank you. For a second, I was like, man, you're like, have we transported? It's like, what? Wommer, Texas. It's totally like a very small town.

It's people feel safe there. The residents said it was one of those places where you just like hear about that no one locks their doors. I was just gonna say you don't lock your doors. No one's afraid to walk at night. You know, everyone knows each other. Everyone looks out for each other. It's a cool little place. It sounds like I don't know anything else about it.

I hope it's still a cool place. Me too. But on May 2nd, 1999, it became a very scary place. So Resenda's got off the train, of course, and he immediately noticed the United Church of Christ on Main Street. And he was intrigued by that. Now, Wimer has 13 churches, and it worked out to one for every 150 residents. So, wow. Yeah, so I was like, wow, that's really interesting. Hashtag church. So this is a very close and very religious place.

When Rosetta's rolled in, he saw this church, but it was closed. But inside of the, parsinage, I believe it's called, it's like I've heard that. Near the church, that's where 46 year old Norman Skip Cernic was and his wife Karen Cernic, who was 47.

Norman was the Reverend at the church, but he never wanted to be called Reverend. He insisted on being called Skip. I conno. Only. I guess when he first started there, he was like very unconventional, but people immediately, like, soon fell in love with it.

Like at first they were like, who is this guy? He said, it's only a dude shit. Yeah, he would like joke and sing during sermons. He would bring kids up to the front of the church to take like part in the whole thing with him. And like, I guess he was like amazing with kids. I was gonna say that's awesome though,

because then if you, like if you're in religion and important to you, it's a good way to get them into it. Exactly. He made it an event. Like he made it of like a fun thing to do. Instead of like, you know some people, like's important to you. It's a good way to get them into it. Exactly. Yeah, he made it an event. Like he made it a fun thing to do. Instead of like, you know some people, like I remember my friends growing in church

being like, oh, I'm so worried. Yeah, like these kids probably looked forward to it. Exactly. And according to a great article about their life in Texas Monthly, I'll link it. Skip told his father about whimer. Whimer. And the church, when he got settled in the town,

and he said he loved that town, and he loved that church and its people. He was like, this is where I'm supposed to be. Yeah. And his father said that he said, quote, skip said that in other towns, they had put him up on a pedestal. But in Wimer, he could go to picnics, chase the kids,

play volleyball, and have a beer, if you wanted. Hell, he loved that. Yeah. Now church member Kelly said he was just family. And he also said, at Picnic's, skip was the one who slipped the ice cubes with plastic bugs into someone's tea and filled the balloons with water. A gifted thusby in and high school in college, he was the ham who organized church plays, usually playing the villain.

He sounds awesome. He and his wife, Karen, who was a biochemist when they met. Yeah, yeah, Karen. We're also called compassionate above all else. Apparently, they started a group called caregivers for the church that made sure every single person who was in need of it had someone in the congregation who would check up on them regularly and help them out.

Skip was also a marriage counselor and neighbors said literally everyone went to him for advice and they went to him for counseling because they said he felt like he made you feel like he actually cared about what you were saying. Sounds like he did. And they said he didn't just give you blanket answers. He didn't give you generic answers.

We just think about it. They were like tailored to you. I bet he also had all the tea. I'm saying. So, residents said that Karen was his light. They said they really meet. Yeah, they said when they came to town, Karen immediately began planting flowers everywhere around town. Around buildings and public areas when they arrived and their own garden behind the church had vegetables and roses, and they were constantly working on it together. Wow. They lived behind the church,

and that's where Resendez came across them. That's where a fucking demon walked in. Yeah, that's Sunday. They didn't show up for Sunday service, and people were immediately worried. So the whole entire congregation showed up on Sunday to the church, and we're waiting. And then I guess his assistant Reverend started doing the sermon, because they were like, oh, maybe he's just caught somewhere.

Imagine having to do that too while you're just sitting there like, where is he? Yeah, they're like, I don't know. But President Ted Neely, President of the congregation, Ted Neely, was like, you know what, I'm going to go check on them in their house. So he went there during the service because he said something didn't feel right. He found them dead in their home. He came back to the church and announced to the entire congregation that something terrible had happened and they called the police. Oh my goodness.

So when police arrived, they saw that the home had been ransacked. Next they found Skip and Karen. Their heads were crushed with a sledgehammer while they slept. The sledgehammer was still leaning against the wall covered in blood. Karen was also sexually assaulted after she was murdered. Oh! The bodies were then covered with blankets, and the couple's truck was not in the garage, but it soon turned up in San Antonio three weeks later. Before Resendez had left their home, he stole their VCR in a video camera and obviously

stole their truck. This got lots of attention, this double murder. Suddenly it became linked to Claudia Benton's murder after the truck was found in San Antonio. And did they find prints? They were able to. So DNA found was tested and compared to the benton case and it matched.

Ding ding. This is when they're starting to try to link it to other crimes. And this is when Chris Myers crime, his murder, and Holly's attack came up. And that's when they started connecting all this. And that's when the officer must have gone. Yeah.

That's how we've got the guy. Exactly. And that's in episode 266. I tell you the story of, this is gonna be interesting actually, because you're hearing this side right now. If you go to 266 and listen to it from Holly's side, this is when the police officer came and said,

we got the guy. Yeah. Holly's rape kit was tested against the DNA they had for resendants and it matched. And now it's a man hunt. Hell yeah, let's go. So June 1st, 1999, he was arrested, but not for these crimes.

He was arrested in New Mexico. Yeah, he was arrested in New Mexico. And immigration authorities came up with nothing when they ran his name that he gave him. Yeah, because I'm sure it was like, just one you made up that day. This was also apparently when it wasn't linked to any other law enforcement agency systems. Whoa. So he was just released and brought back to Mac and like sent back to Mexico.

He really could literally this close. Yep. And that didn't stop him. So June 4th, 1999, three days later. No. In Schuulenberg, Texas, right back to Texas, where he just terrorized them, he killed Josephine Convika, who was 73 years old, and a widowed grandmother of six. Wow. He killed her in her home

where she had lived her entire life. And her home that it was 3.5 miles from the Cernac's home, and only a mile from the railroad tracks. Thomas, you've been so scary for that community. Oh, they said they went into just panic mode. Yeah. He killed her while she was sleeping.

He beat her in her head with a grubbing hoe. Apparently, it's like a pickaxe. I know. Okay. The grubbing hoe was left embedded in her head, but they found her. Okay. Yep, in a back room of her house,

police found two items they thought must have been left by the killer, and it was clear that they were leaving, like he was leaving a calling card kind of. Oh, I should have told. Yeah, Ashulenberg newspaper article, that they wrote about these crimes, said it was a toy

train that they he had found in her closet and likely belong to her grandchildren. A toy train and it was also an article about the crimes. That just sent shivers up and down my body to think of like a little kid playing with that train and then the horrible monster that murdered his grandma used it as a calling card. And how bold of him to leave the train to be like, yup, this is how I'm doing it. Yeah, like they're not gonna take that.

Like they haven't already thought of that too. They're all right. They know these people are all around train tracks. They already know that's how he's getting on. But at that point, he realizes that. And he's just so brazen. He doesn't give a fuck. He thinks he's untouchable.

He's just dumb. So it's just so frustrating. People who knew her said she was the sweetest, dearest little old lady her neighbor said. And she said she would not have heard of fly. Oh my goodness. Yes. Also 73 is like not even old. Now within 36 hours of killing Josephine, he crossed back into Houston

and he killed again. That same night. The same night on June 4th, 1999, he broke into a duplex near the rail line in Houston and he found Nomi Dominguez, who was 26 years old and asleep in her bed. So he did that is like the way that he just doesn't give a heck of a way it is. No, me was a teacher for the Houston Independent School District's Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, and she was pursuing a master's degree in education. He raped her and killed her with a pickaxe in her bed. He then covered her with a blanket and left stealing her car and driving it two hours west. He then covered her with a blanket and left stealing her car and driving it two hours west.

Now, quick side note about Nomi Dominguez, when the new elementary school was built in the town, recently they named it Nomi Dominguez Elementary after her. I love that. It was the first local school to be named after a Mexican-American. That's amazing. It's very like poignant, but it's so sad that it took her

being murdered for that time. Her being brutally murdered for that to happen. He then went back to Mexico. He just jumped on a train. See you later. Six days after that, he got according to Julietta, he got a phone call at home and he was very stressed out and clearly upset. Someone must have called him and tipped him off. We still don't know who that is. I wonder if he, because remember with Holly's attack, he was like, I have a friend over there. I didn't believe that at the time, but now I'm like, I still don't believe it. Who called him and who would have known that he was doing this?

I think it's just me, someone that he knew about what he was doing, but I don't think anyone helped him. Would you know what he was doing and call him and be like, people are terrible? Like, I hate elderly murder guy. Well, his photo was being put up in certain towns in Texas and stuff. Somebody might have known him and like, hey, they're looking for you in Texas. Like, let's not do that.

And remember, he's not being put up as a murder suspect quite yet. So. But still, if somebody's wanted, let's not tip them off. Well, yeah, that goes without saying. But I, like if somebody's like wanted, let's not tip them off. Well, yeah, that's what that goes without saying. But like, I bet it was somebody who knew him, saw his photo and was like, hey, they're looking for you in Texas because he wouldn't tell Julietta who it was or what they had said.

He just said, I have a problem. I would say so. And then he went back to the US, which you think if they called him and were like, hey, they want you here, he'd be like, yeah, I should stay out of there. Nope. He just I wonder what he was like telling her why he had to like leave So off he kept saying he was going to do work. He was getting jobs So he's coming back with money on June 15th 1999 June 15th. This is only days later Yeah, he arrived in Gorham, Illinois and he broke into the home, which was only 100 yards away from a railroad track, of George Morbure, who was 80 years old.

According to an article in the Eagle, George was a retired prison guard and was an army vet. He loved to fish, and he did so frequently in the pond next to his trailer. He was happy, and he lived only a few houses away from his daughter, Carolyn Frederick, who was 51. George was known to give food to anybody who hopped off the train near his home if they wandered through his property. He would just come out and give them like a sandwich. Wow. Because he was like, well, they were passing through so they probably needed to eat. Yeah. Like he was just that person. It's like a kind soul. When Resindes came upon his home at the end of the long driveway,

he climbed through an open window and waited because George had just driven away and he'd watched George drive away and then he entered the home. Right. George came back with the morning paper and he was immediately ambushed by Resindez. He attacked and tied George to a chair and then shot him in the back of the head with his own shotgun. Oh my God. His daughter Carolyn came by to help her father clean, as she often did, and he attacked her as well. He struck her over the head with the shotgun, sexually assaulted her, and then beat her to death

with the shotgun so brutally that the shotgun broke into. Oh my God. Yeah. He then ate some of their food in the fridge, and he left in Carolyn's truck. He also abandoned that truck and then went back into Mexico. And it was Carolyn's husband who came across the scene to call police. You can't imagine. Yeah.

Seeing no. No. Texas Ranger officer Drew Carter, who comes back importantly in a moment, he said, quote, what makes this so scary is that these victims were in their own beds behind locked doors. Every one of these victims was like the average citizen, and therefore the average citizens could view themselves as victims. This guy was the boogie man. Yeah. Now, at this point, they had discovered partially thanks to his need to leave that toy train That he was using the railroad to get around undetected. Yeah So investigators started hot stopping trains and searching them. Oh wow

It was like a multi-agency situation and they named it Operation Train Stop So I was like that's not a very creative, but cool So June 21st he was put on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. Yeah, yeah. This is when they found a half sister that he has. What? She was in New Mexico. I didn't get a hit with that. Her name was Manuela Matarino Carquets, I believe. She was contacted in New Mexico and officer Drew Carter of the Texas Rangers talked to her and she was not cooperating at first She was like nope, I don't know anything about that But he was like listen like we can we can strike a deal here

We can we can make this worth everybody's while like those people's lives and the balance like maybe I don't know help me out here So she ended up talking finally. She didn't know anything. Well, the thing is, she must have been really scared. She was basically just being like, no, I'm not gonna talk about my brother. She didn't know anything though. But they stuck a deal with her. And he agreed to him getting humane treatment

when he was captured, in that he would get psych treatment. Okay. That's what she wanted. She said, I want him treated humanely, and I want him to get psychologically evaluated and treated. And she said, if you can promise me that in writing, she said, I will get him to turn himself in.

But why should he be treated that way when he literally- I exactly- I could- I could realize people's grandparents. Exactly. But they were- And I would feel exactly the same as the other brothers. And they were also like sure. So on July 13th after she had convinced him, he drove across a bridge

and he surrendered to police. Wow. Thanks to her like she convinced him to do it. Wow. Now he was immediately charged with capital murder for Claudia Benton. Yeah. Then he was immediately linked to others as well. There was a palm print left at Levy Mason's scene that matched to him. There were nine in total that they had on him now. They were also able to find DNA and stolen items from victims in his home in Mexico. Oh my God.

His family was apparently stunned. They said, like I said before, he was a, quote, very loving calm man, especially with children. That's so, I know he's very scary. It's scary. It's just so scary and crazy. Now, it was on May 7, 2000 that he took the stand in the Benton trial.

Oh wow. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity. And he claimed he was half man and half angel. And was sent here just like cleans the world of those that God deemed lesser. Yeah. The defense was claiming he was also schizophrenic, but psychologists testified that he was not insane,

not schizophrenic, and definitely had personality disorders, for sure. Right. But and they said likely caused by severe trauma and his childhood and head trauma, and definitely had personality disorders, for sure. But, and they said likely caused by severe trauma and his childhood and head trauma, but they rejected his insanity plea. At various times, he claimed he killed because God told him to,

because the devil took him over because the homes of the victims were radiated evil, because he saw that they were medical professionals and figured they must, you know, examine and, I don't even know, experiment on fetuses because atrocities and Serbia upset him. What? And because he was upset over what happened

with the branch dividends in Waco. What? All of it. At various times. So none of those are true. So none of it. All of it. None of it at the same time.

Actually. FBI crime analyst Alan Brandley testified that the killer's attacks were quote, quote, eroticized violence intended to punish his victims. Yeah. And Drew Carter, the Texas Ranger who helped arrange the surrender. He said he was, quote, a walking breathing form of evil. Yes. Yeah. West University, where West University, Texas, where Claudia Benson was killed, the sergeant Ken Macha there, who was actually one of the first investigators

to go on to the Benton scene, said, quote, it was terrible overkill. It was out of this world, very much out of this world. I have been to suicides, gunshot suicides are gruesome, but never anything like this. I never imagined what human beings could do. It really is terrifying. If anything, like I'm just realizing throughout having this podcast, what human beings can do is just earth shatter right? Wild. It's really, really like eye-opening

what people can do to each other. Now, George Benton, Claudius Husband, said it perfectly when he said about Resendez, quote, he had a kind of gift of really taking some of the best people from society. Yeah. And it's so true. Like, so true.

All of the victim descriptions, like, he did Chris, Claudia, Leafy, the Surnax. All of them. Just sounded like the most amazing people. Now, on May 18th, 2000, he was found guilty. A lot of counts.

Think so. In May 2003, his conviction and sentence was upheld in a court of appeals and all of their appeals failed. Good. He told the judge he wanted to be executed, which to me should be automatic life in prison. Yeah.

Well, oh, you want to be executed now? No. You're supposed to be prison forever, honey. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection. He did confess to more murders, and he's linked to 15 so far that they can confirm. He confessed to more, though. In addition to the above crimes, San Antonio Police Detective George Sadler said that he was told by Resenda

himself that there are two murders that he did that he will never talk about, and he took them with him. Why even say that? Because he is an evil asshole. Exactly. Who knows if there are even two more murders? Or he just finds one in a fuck with everyone. Now, they also think that he could be connected to murders in Mexico. Because he's spending time there, too. Why?

And not even thinking about that. And particularly in CODAD, Horace, where he lived, there was a time where bodies were found by railroad tracks, and they think he could be connected to this. Yeah, I mean, it's not like, I don't know. But they haven't, nothing's happened with that so far. Now, on June 27th, 2006 is the day he was executed.

It was actually delayed two hours, though, because there were, like, last minute appeals and shit, and you tried to claim insanity again, but he was not. When he walked in, they said he chanted, forgive me Lord over and over again. No. And his last words were, I want to ask it, and he spoke to the, there were many family members

of victims present and he said, I want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me. No. You don't have to. I know I allowed the devil to rule my life, such an excuse. That's the thing. It's like, no, you haven't made choices. You have free will. You didn't.

I just ask you to forgive me and ask the Lord to forgive me for allowing the devil to deceive me. I thank God for having patience with me. I don't deserve to cause you pain. You did not deserve this. I deserve what I'm getting. We know. So, yeah. He was pronounced dead at getting. We know. So, yeah.

He was pronounced dead at 8.05 PM. He was 46 years old, which he seems like he should be a lot older. I know, and you just said that. I was like, I'm come again. It's like Carl Panther. It is. We're done. Yeah.

When you get to the point where you're like, yeah, and he was this much years old. You're like, no, no. He's 100,000 years old with all he's done. Seriously. Now, again, Claudia Benton's husband, George was there for the execution, and he said he was there to make the statement

that people have to understand what evil really is. Yeah. And he said, what was executed today may have looked like a man, walked and talked like a man, but what was contained inside that skin was not a human being. This is not human behavior, but something I can only say is evil,

contained in human form, a creature without a soul, no conscience, no sense of remorse, no regard for the sanctity of human life. I really think that is like what it comes down to is just some people are soulless. Not human. He didn't, but this is just such a wild.

I, the brutality of his crimes, and a lot of that many of them. Had not heard about this case. Yeah. So like, because when I mentioned it in the first episode about Holly, everybody's like, a lot of people were like, wow, I didn't know about that one. I don't think to hear about it.

I definitely didn't. And it's like, how did we not hear about this one? Right. It's so intense. He's one of the worst by far. Yeah. And like by far. A prolific. So prolific. So brutal. See you later, goodbye. Yeah. I hope that all those family members of the victims have some kind of peace. I don't know, how could you ever, though? I just, I mean, I think it was Holly who said like, after he was executed, like at least he's not, he can't ever destroy any life again. And at least he's gone.

Like at least we don't have to think about him just existing, like worry that he's even, because that's the thing, like, again with the death penalty, we talk about being so like in the middle and it's not black and white. The thing with that is, I can't imagine the family of his victims sitting there worrying what happens if he escapes.

Yeah, if he gets parole hearings. You don't. If you just don't know. That's why it's kind of like, okay, in this case, I can understand it. To me, he just doesn't seem like he has a soul. No, not at all. Like, he was so angry and so just brutal and so over, like, all of it was overkill. I think the thing is, he destroyed these people even after he had killed them. Right.

I think unfortunately, the thing here too is that he had so many instances of trauma that there was something wrong. Something just went off like some kind of switch either turned off. That's what it seems like to me. It's just like some kind of empathy switch in his brain. Just got to just slip down. And you wonder like, I wish they could have looked at his brain. I know, you know, like this is one of those situations

I would love to know what his brain looks like. That's a thing. But here we are, he's gone. Hopefully in the future too, because like we've talked about that before, it's like something must happen in the brains of these people. Yeah, and that's different than like people who don't do these things. Yeah, no fine like lesions or like, you know, they'll find different things, or like that one part is as active as the others, or as high or as like more active.

Right. But there seems to be no like consistent one thing that we can trace back to all of them. And I think it's because we can't look at all of them. Right. So I feel like we need to look at more of them. If she could, but the only way to really look at a brain is to hold it in your hand.

Yeah. And you got to kill the person for that. Or you got to wait until they die. Yeah. So it becomes hairy. We person for that or you got to wait until they die. Yeah. So it becomes hairy. We could do like a case study when these people do die of like, you know, brain swathe out, weight them out.

Yikes. But yeah, so that was that and I'm glad it's over. And again, go read Holly's book because she's the real, she's the real one here. She really is. But, whoo, well we hope you keep listening because it's been real one here. She really is. But, well, we hope you keep listening because it's been a tough few weeks. It has been, we hope you. Keep it.

Weird. But not so aware that you have a bunch of aliases and you're like, I'm just gonna go and kill everybody in the world and blame it on the devil. Yeah, I'm do that. Don't top on trains and do that either. I just like take trains for transport. Yeah. Take trains to nice places to do that either. I just like take trains for transport. Yeah.

Take trains to nice places to do nice things. Thank you. Goodbye. 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 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.