Morbid - Episode 280: The "TallHotBlond" Murder

Episode Date: November 23, 2021

The Internet, a place where you can be whoever you want to be, whether it’s your true identity or an alter ego you’ve made up. For some people, this is chatting in online rooms with different screennames pretending to be their favorite character or someone they admire. In 2005 for a man named Thomas Montgomery it was darker than that. Thomas Montgomery was 46 years old when an 18-year-old under the screenname “TallHotBlond” messaged him. Instead of revealing who he truly was, Thomas pretended to be an 18-year-old marine named Tommy and the pair started their online affair. Eventually, their affair would leave someone dead and leave everyone else untangling a web of lies. https://www.amazon.com/Talhotblond-Thomas-Montgomery/dp/B0030949FU As always, thank you to our sponsors: SoloStove: Get an extra $10 off the early Black Friday sale at solostove.com, promo code MORBID. PrettyLitter: Go to PrettyLitter.com and use promo code morbid for 20% off your first order. SimpliSafe: Take advantage of SimpliSafe’s early Black Friday deals and get 50% off your new home security system by visiting SIMPLISAFE.com/morbid. NortonLifeLock: Save 25% or more off your first year of Norton 360 with LifeLock by going to Norton.com/MORBID 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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Hey weirdos, I'm Alena. I'm Ash. And this is morbid. Hello. Hello. Lots of stuff going on. Yeah, it's been, it's been like a, I feel like everybody's having a shitty week or like a shitty few days.

I don't know what's going on. Yeah, I don't really know either. I think some marketing area. It's a marketing area. I think we're entering like Sagittarius season. Is that bad? I don't know. It feels bad.

I don't know. I'm not even gonna pretend like I know. Yeah, don't. Sag is my rising sign, so like I think I'm excited. But I thought I know. Yeah, don't. Sadges my rising sign, so I think I'm excited about it, but I thought it would be good for me. Maybe it is, maybe it will be good for you. Maybe we just had to get through like a dark period, but I feel like I've seen like everybody's kind of

feeling this way or like a lot of people. Yeah. And yeah, and there's like some just shit going on in the world, like I'm sure everybody has read about what happened this weekend. It's so in Waka Sha, Wisconsin, a red SUV drove into a holiday celebration. Like what the fuck is wrong with you?

A holiday parade. So at least five people as of now are were killed. Multiple were injured. Reports are saying more than 40 people were injured. That's so sad. Just several of these were children, by the way. I'm just going to a holiday parade. Like how many other holidays have been called to be heard?

Children at a fucking holiday parade. Like I'm just like what? No, it's come on. What is happening? Like everything, people just suck right now. Yeah. Like it really does. Like I keep seeing like, you know,

I'm seeing a lot of like on social media people being like like other creators and stuff. I keep seeing people being like, social media people being like other creators and stuff, I keep seeing people being like, why are people so mean all of a sudden? What's going on? And then we've stumbled upon some really nasty things that I was like, cool, wish I didn't see that. So I'm like, what's going on? Can everybody just let everybody else just be happy? Here's the thing, guys. Live and let live. Yeah. Come on, just if you live like thing guys. Live and let live. Yeah. Like come on, just if you live like that,

it's just so peaceful. Exactly, just like, I'm not hot and bothered by anything. Stop trying to hurt people, stop trying to physically hurt people, stop trying to emotionally hurt people. Yeah. Like it's just not cool. No, it's not.

So I just don't understand it. But this whole thing is, I can't imagine the kind of evil son of a bitch you have to be to get into a red SUV and drive it through a holiday celebration where children are marching in a parade. Luckily this person is in custody. We don't have any information about them, but like throw the actual book at them. Well, and I saw too that they, like the police believe that they were coming from another like incident.

Yeah, and I didn't get to read anything about that, but it wouldn't surprise me if you're willing to do it once. But I guess like a marching band was hit. A marching band at the parade. And the granny. Oh yeah, oh yeah, I'm getting to the grannies. There was little girls march just marching in Santa hats with like pom-poms, they were hit.

Yeah. Apparently, according to the Associated Press, like Ash was saying, a group of older women called the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies was hit. What could be more pure? Like, they had to, so they had to, and apparently the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies are like, beloved.

Of course they are, I love them. I love them. I love them and I don't even know them. Me too. What are you doing? And they had to cancel this parade last year. It's an annual parade. And it's something like the 58th or something.

It's like a long, long, long, long, long, long, long. It's been around forever. They had to cancel last year because of COVID. And they had themed this year's parade, comfort and joy. Oh my God. And then this mother fucker decides to just take everybody's comfort and joy away.

Let anyone just exist happily. Just let someone exist. So angry. Everyone's so, I know everyone's angry with the pandemic and shit. I know everybody was stuck inside. People lost their jobs. Like it's been shitty.

It's so shitty. Like no one's feeling great. But I feel like you're not feel like, you're not helping. But you're not helping. But you're like, yeah. You should band together and take care of your fellow hum. It just feels like there's a lot of, I keep seeing, like, people tweeting on Twitter.

I see people tweeting. As people are tweeting, I've seen other creators be like, wow, I stumbled upon some really mean comments and that was a bummer. And I'm like, do you feel good? Did that make you feel good that you just like ruined someone's day? Because if it did, you need to go like seek help.

Because- Well, and if you're putting all of that into the universe it all comes back. Yeah, it's like just put good shit into the universe. I'm telling you, if you just like boost other people up that deserve to be boosted and if you don't like someone, lock on by. Man, just don't look at me.

It should all not learn if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. Is that not the cardinal rule of like being a child? Like, let's all take that into our adulthood. I think it's just like, I'm glad I'm teaching my girls to be kind. Yeah. And just drilling that into their heads,

like always be kind. And if you just drilling that into their heads like always be kind. And if you don't like someone that's fine, don't hang out with them, but don't be me. Right. And if you see someone sitting by themselves, at least ask them if they want to hang out, maybe they want to be alone. And you got to ask, I'm going to share this because it's a parent of you in an Alaina wooden chair for herself. But the teacher pulls Alaina this side the other day and told her that her two oldest girls, if they see somebody who's not getting played with,

they go and play with them. And like, I got to win. That's a win right there. That is, that really was. Like John and I hold my job here as done. We were like, all right. Because we, you know, all you can do is try. Like any parent listening to this

or somebody who is like raising a child, because we, you know, all you can do is try. Like any parent listening to this or somebody who is like raising a child, a guardian to a child, like all you can do is try to teach them what you, you can just try and you just hope that it's sinking in. You just, you throw them out into the world and you're like, I hope you're treating people. Nice. I hope you're listening to what I said. And like we read a lot of books about it, which I think is very helpful. And I should share some of the books that we've read because a lot of people have asked and I there's we have a ton of really good books with like the teach like kindness. I like love bedtime

stories. Yeah, because it's fun. And I think it's an easier way, especially at their age, they're five. I think it's an easier way of like getting the message across as it kind of puts in like situations that they've been in or will find themselves in. Understand the concept a little better. But hearing that I will say it was like a very like John and I high five to where like I had like that. They listened. They listened. But like just, you know, like just be the person that sits with the kid that they're not sitting with.

Yeah, just be like that. Yeah. And it's cool if you don't like something, just walk on by. Because like that can just be like that can be like a metaphor. Like I'm not even saying if somebody's sitting alone goes there with them with them saying that, but I'm also saying like, if you feel like somebody's like getting the shit

out into the stick, brighten their day a little bit. It's also the fucking holidays. What is wrong with everybody? What the hell is wrong with everybody? But you know what, just the moral of this story is lift other people up that you feel need to be lifted. Yeah. And leave other people that that you feel need to be lifted. Yeah. And leave other people that you alone.

And just be nice. Yeah, just be kind. I'm telling you, it feels a lot better. It does. Your gastro and intestinal system will thank you because hold it on to a lot of hate and shit. That's bad for your gut. I mean, mine has never thanked me. And I tend to think that I'm like a kind for your sin.

But, cool. I kind of feel like it's a much worse. You got to, like, is that a kind for you. But, oh, me, I kind of feel much worse. You got to, like, is that a probiotic you have over there? For that? Sure, a probiotic of kindness. Well, this is a probiotic of happiness because we had talked about Noah and Amber Claire in our last episode.

Yes. And it turns out that they were found on Thursday. And what a weird little action to we'll get into it. So there were surveillance surveillance photos taken of them walking together in San Clement down November 11th. They were wearing a large, large backpacks Amber and Jake and like dark clothing. And it was clear that they had cut Noah's curls off. And it looked like Amber's hair was cut as well. It did kind of look like her hair was cut as well. I could have tell if like maybe she had just had it

and had her something. Yeah. To me it looked cut at least. But on Thursday morning a woman named Julie Bonnett spotted the three of them walking near Dohani state beach and Dana Point. She was driving her son to school. So she took a quick photo, got her son off to school

and called 911. And this was all around like eight four years ago. Yeah, Julie Bonan. Like, gets her kids to school and saves two children's lives. That's, she does it all. She, I hope she put her feet up that night. I hope she did.

Like, you go, go. I hope she lit a candle. Yeah, it was, she bathed. Yeah, she put on some podcasts, I hope. But she watched The Real Housewives and just zen. Heck, yes, she deserves it. She did. And she said, quote, you just have to trust your instinct

and your gut to do these things, because I almost didn't act on it. I was driving my send-in middle school, and I saw the three individuals that I'd seen on social media. There was a blurry picture of them put out, and it was pretty much the same image. She was holding the little boy's hand and he had a shovel in the other hand.

Oh my God. And the dad was much taller and it struck me that he had a hat, sunglasses, and camo pants. It was strikingly similar to the image put out. But I think that's so important too that she said that I almost didn't act. Absolutely. Because how many times have you been in a situation

where you've seen something and been like, oh, maybe that's not what it is. Exactly, because you're like, I don't want to call and I don't want to look stupid if I'm calling her. I don't want to make a big fuss and like, get someone in trouble when they didn't do anything or like cause an uproar, but it's like, like we always say just overreact.

Yeah, exactly. You know? But I actually, Julie reacted perfect. She did, and Noah and Amanda were reunited his mama Amanda, and she said, Amanda was like, our bags were packed. We were just waiting to hear what the next move was. Oh my God.

And they were reunited. She posted, quote, words cannot describe the feeling of him jumping into my arms and not wanting to let go. I swear we sat and cried on the floor holding each other for 10 minutes. Noah, mommy loves you more than you will ever know. It's me and you forever baby. Or excuse me, it's you and me baby forever and ever. Like I, and there's a video of him running to her. Oh, it like lit it like

my voice is about to crack because I feel like I have this giant lump. Yes, I cried watching it and my whole body was just like, did that. To the womb. Because when we were talking about that on the episode the other day, in my head I was like, all I want for Amanda is to hug and see her baby again. That's all I want. Like I felt it so I, like we stopped recording, I was thinking about it and I was like, I swear, I just like, I'm trying so hard to just like put into the unit,

like please let her hug no matter what. And I feel like we did really put that into the universe. I hope we helped manifest it. The William Bonn in episode. And then a woman named Julie Bonn in. That's saw them. Like tons of people were telling me. Like tagging us and that would be like, whoa!

Like what'd you guys do? That is weird. That is weird. It has been a couple of weird things. I'm telling you, you put stuff into the universe. Like sometimes it can, it can be a very fast, you know? It was a powerful batch. It was at least weird.

That was definitely a weird coincidence. It was. And a very happy coincidence that it turned out that way. Yeah, seriously. And I'm just so happy for Amber's family, for Noah's family, like I'm so happy. Seriously. And Jake Carr is in custody.

So. Hell yeah, yes. Another important note to the story. I'm sorry, yeah, he is. Another important note to the story. I'm sorry, yeah, that is an important kind of like the most. Yeah, like he's not just walking around, not just roaming the streets. But that's great, and that's very happy. That's a very happy thing that happened this week.

Yeah, I think we should all... I guess that this is a bit of a shit sandwich because like we talked about a sad thing in the beginning and that's not the thing in the middle and then now we're gonna get into a case that just beginning. And that's not anything in the middle. And then now we're going to get into the case, which is obviously very like bummer-esque. Yeah. So here we are.

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You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wonder App. Yeah, I am gonna do the case. You may have heard of it of Tall Hot Blonde. You know what, when you said this case, I was like, why do I know that? You're like, what? I was like, why should I know this? I think years ago, you and I were gonna say, the lifetime movie directed by Courtney Cox.

Pretty sure we did. Or like produced by Courtney Cox. Hell yeah, Courtney Cox. Huge, like love her. Love her. Like, go with others. That's a big thank you. Like thank you.

Thank you. But yes, this is also known as like the love triangle murder, the first catfish murder. So let's get into it. And intriguing. Yeah, so we're gonna bring it all the way back to May of two. May of two. What?

I was gonna say 2005 and then that felt, you know what? 2005. Hey, it's the same, 2005 is right. It is, you're not wrong. I'm not wrong. You're not wrong, no what's wrong. But we're going back to 2005 to New York State. 46-year-old Thomas Montgomery is doing what everybody in 2005 was doing.

He's hanging out in chat rooms on the internet. I was just going to say heck yes, he was. Yeah, specifically on the site Pogo. I don't know if everybody was on the Pogo. You could play different games on there. He liked to play poker and blackjack, but you could play, it was like an online arcade kind of. Oh, you know, I feel like when you said it,

I was like, why is that ringing some kind of bell? If you look at it, I think maybe you might have played a game or two on there before. I might have just like known what it was because that does sound very familiar. Yeah, it looked familiar to me, but yeah, you could play all kinds of games on there and you could chat with people

from like all over the world while doing so. Oh, and it's still there. but yeah, you could play all kinds of games on there and you could chat with people from all over the world while doing that. Oh, and it's still there. Oh yeah, look at that. So Thomas was having somewhat of a midlife crisis. He had two kids that were in their teens, so obviously they needed him less and less. He and his wife were having marital issues,

so he was kind of using the internet as his escape. And while he was on in one of these chat rooms, a message popped up from a user with the screen name, TallHotBlawn. I love that. Which like screen names were the best. I love screen names. If anybody messaged you from that screen name today, you would know that there's like a 99.99% chance that the person messaging you was not TallHot or Blonde.

No, of course. You would never anything that was in your screen name. Never. Like, summer, girl, hot or blocked. No, of course, you would never anything that was in your screen name. Never, like, summer girl eight. It was mine. Mine was literally, Bennington baby. Oh my God. Forchester Bennington. Yes. Because yes, I was obsessed withchester Bennington.

My first one was Fallout Girl, 1996. That's the best. I love that you went like full, like, emo with that one, or like, emo, you know, like, pop punk. Like, I think I like wanted it. I wanted to try and you were like, Fallout girl. And then you were just like, emo with that one, or like emo, you know, like pop punk. Like, I think I like wanted to try and you're like, follow girl. And then you were just like, emo. You were like, you know what?

Full of trance. Full of girl it is. Full transformation. No, I'm blossoming into the flower I am. That's what I found to myself. See, and I was bending to an baby, like what? I also had Ashley, X-O, X-O, X-O, A. Yes, he did.

You got to have the X-O. I had a lot of screen names, but none of them were tall hotplugs. No, there's that. I stayed true to Chester Bennington with mine. You also had, you had Roxy girl. Oh my God, yeah, Roxy doll. Roxy doll, that's what it was. Remember Roxy?

Yeah. Oh, fuck. I had a cool. That was cool. I was cool. You were so, I didn't think I was cool. I was cool. I was cool. You were so cool. I didn't think I was cool. I was cool. Thomas was so excited because

Tal Hoplahn was like, hey there. He was also apprehensive. He started chatting with THB under his own screen name, Marine Sniper. Wow. She told him that her name was Jessie. She was from West Virginia and she was a senior in high school

And Thomas was 26 You should end my conversation right there. Oh gotta go by and she said hey you're in the wrong Like you're on the wrong chat room here like this one's for kids and he was like you know, I Know he was like I'm not gonna be honest about my age here. He was like, I'm not going to be honest about my age here. He was like, I'm going to have a little bit of innocent fun here in his mouth. Not innocent. I was getting you like, not for me. He told Jesse that his name was Tommy and that he was also 18 and he was going to be heading off to Iraq soon to fight in the war. Yes. He even sent her a picture to prove who he was.

Little did she know this was a picture from almost 30 years ago. Yeah. The amount of times that this happened. It still happened. It still died. There's a whole fucking TV show. There's a whole fucking TV show. That this happened in chat rooms.

When they first came out, once one person figured out they could do that, it was like for you. It was like a pandemic. Yeah, literally. But she said, yeah, she had no idea that she was talking to a married 46-year-old man with two teenage daughters. Dang. A man who was a Sunday school teacher and who also sat on the swimboard for his daughter swim team.

Damn. Like, just a regular day-to-day guy. Yeah, just hanging. And people who knew Thomas in real life said they never would have expected him to do something like this. All of his neighbors liked him. They said that he was one of the best neighbors in the neighborhood. And the only hint of a complaint that people said about him

was that he was a little bit awkward. Which is like, you know, like everybody's awkward. I'm awkward. I was like, you know, I feel that. Yeah, I'm awkwardly waving at people. I feel like you never know people's online presence, you know, just like what they're into. Like who they want to be online.

Yeah, because like every once in a while you hear somebody be like, yeah, they were like, totally, everything was just whatever. And nothing was a rye. And then they looked through their history on the internet. They were like, oh, that's what was going on. That's what was going on. And you're like, and that's the thing,

like in his day-to-day life, Thomas was just a regular, regular guy. And he actually had been in the Marines when he was younger. It was something that he had wanted to do ever since he was a little kid. He would like watch movies about it all the time. And like he, that was like his identity. But those days were over now.

And by this point, like I said, it had been almost 30 years since he was a Marine. And he, at this point in his life, was a recovering alcoholic. And he was also working as a machinist at the DinaBraid Corp in Clarence, New York. Okay. So the job was something that he was like, good at, but it wasn't something that he really loved. He said he stayed there because of the pay. Which is it.

That's so many. I think that's people's stories. You know, like that's what we've all pay. Which is it. That's so many. I think that's all stories. You know, like, that's what we've all done. Everybody says that. And the thing about Thomas was that his daughters meant everything to him. Like, they were the reason why he got sober in the first place and why he stayed at the job that he was at. He was like, I could have done something else, but I was making good money.

And I needed to provide for my family. Well, that's good. Yeah. And I mentioned quickly before that he and his wife were having marital problems at this point. One of their big problems was their sex life. Okay. So Thomas, as he put it, wasn't able to perform.

Okay. So slowly and slowly, that kind of just stopped even being a part of their marriage. Yeah. And it's like, but do you want to do this stuff online and stuff just like get divorced? Exactly. Like why are you doing that to your wife? You can do this as much as you want. Yeah, you can go off. Like whenever people cheat, I'm always like, just get divorced.

That's the whole thing. Especially when there's no like abuse or anything and it's just like, just cheating to cheat. It's like, just break up. Well, it's like, he was cheating for excitement. Yeah. Because his life was lacking excitement. Well, that's literally that's exactly it. It's because I think that's the problem because you're like, why don't she just get divorced? Why don't she just like break that's not the fun of it. The fun of it is that they're doing something wrong. And if they were single, they're not doing well,

he would still be doing something wrong because she's too young. Yeah, but you know, that like forbidden fruit kind of thing is that's like the perfect way to describe this like tall Tal Hoppland was his forbidden fruit. And he knew it too. But he was like, I was depressed and my life was lacking something. And I got that message from her and it was like a shit story. It's like, dude, you're gonna hurt people.

Yeah. So they started sending photos back and forth and things just got flirty and flirty or inflirty or as the conversations went on. Even like the first pictures that Jesse sent of herself were in a bathing suit. Damn. So she said she was a softball player, so she also sent pictures over her like that. She played basketball, so she was sending like all these pictures and very much like she

was the same in everyone. So like, it was definitely her. Definitely her. Or it was at least the same girl. Yes. And all the photos. Exactly. So the picture started to get spicier as time went on.

Like there was more revealing ones. And you know, it was all kind of crazy. And Thomas had his own photos to send. He was sending his old military photos like continuously. Because he was keeping up this facade that like he was warbed. Yeah. He's 18. He's in the military.

And he's headed to Iraq. So he would tell Jesse all about these crazy things he was war back. He's 18, he's in the military. He's had a two-eye rack. So he would tell Jesse all about these crazy things he was going through because he was telling her he was at boot camp. And then he was saying he was getting ready to go on secret missions. He had hinted at these dark missions that he had been on that he couldn't tell her about.

And maybe some of those things were true. I was going to say maybe he's drawing on some previous experience. Maybe, but 2020 was able to obtain documents that showed that he actually never even trained as a sniper, and that was like his big thing. Like he was like, I mean, that's a screen. That's literally his screen name,

and he would talk all about that. And they also said that he had never even seen action during the time that he served. I was gonna say, while you, I was like, maybe this is it, but in my head, I'm like, to me, when that's the case, I feel like it's usually the other way that that happened. I feel like when you've actually been through that stuff,

you're not really as willing to spin the narrative as hard as he is. He was adding a little bit of spice. Add a little bit of spice. That's what he was doing. He said that he was six feet tall. He said he was totally built. And he, you know, he like really wasn't one of the things. He like, you know, he's not.

That was not really what he was. Jesse was like, do you have big shoulders? Like I love big shoulders. And he was like, my shoulders are fucking huge. I'm a house. Like if you say to like a dude, do you have big shoulders? I love big shoulders. Of course, you really think that your shoulders are huge.

You know what, that's the one small thing about me. Yeah, exactly. Like what? He also introduced Jesse to like other people in his life, sort of, because he pretended to be his father. Like he was pretending to be Tommy's father at one point. Wow. It's crazy.

And because he told Jesse that he was in boot camp and he was like training. So Jesse would talk to his father and ask the father to relay messages to Tommy. But the whole time she was really talking to Thomas Montgomery. Wow. Now, the real Tom was getting nervous

about the online affair. Like Thomas Montgomery was getting nervous. So that's when he introduced this other persona of Tommy's dad to see if he could break things off. So he told Jesse he was like, you need to stop talking to my son, but then Tommy would get a chance to log on and Jesse would win him right back over. So he would be like, I'm going to try and get away from this. Like, I'm going to pretend to be my dad and be like, stay away from my son. But then he would go back online as Tommy

and Jesse would say something and he'd be like, oh, I have to continue this. Oh, so he was spinning his own romance novel here. Literally. He was literally creating drama. Yes, like, right. He got it. Wow.

It was wild. And so by that point, he and Jesse were sending gifts back and forth like they had each other's addresses. They were talking on the phone while Tommy was off duty. They were having phone sex and they were having virtual sex through the chat rooms that they were in. You know, just leave that to your imagination. Yeah, you can figure that one out. Yeah, and they had also even dropped the L word.

So they were in deep, lyrv. They were in lurve. And the real Thomas said that when things became sexual in the chat room, that's when he started to feel like very dirty about this whole thing, but he said he was in it so deep that he couldn't stop himself.

But I'm like, yeah, she's like, school senior. Yeah, and you can. Stop yourself. Yeah, you absolutely can't. You have free will, sir. 100% stop yourself, but.

But he said that he was so invested, he thought this whole thing was real. And he said that the relationship had, quote, become more real to me than real life. And later it would become very clear that he was so wrapped up in this online affair that he was basically losing his group on reality. Oh yeah, it happens all the time.

Yeah. And this is wild this next part. Because on January 22, excuse me, January 2nd of that year, he wrote himself a note and said quote, on January 2nd, 2006, Thomas Montgomery, 46 years old, Cease's to Exist, and is replaced by an 18 year old battle scarred marine.

He has money in the bank, 2.5 million. He's handsome, like a red headed Harrison Ford. Then he went in to talk about his penis and I'm not going to read about that. And he said, like, how he'd be able to like, really perform this time. Wow. Yeah. And then he said, quote, he is moving to West Virginia to be with the love of his life. All right. So like, I'm rather confused about how he was going to move to West Virginia and revert his age back 28 years, but like maybe he had some kind of wild plan. Yeah, who knows? I mean, maybe he's, yeah. Maybe he got in contact with Peter from

Arie the Freight of the Snark this week. Yeah, there you go. I was like, hey, can I borrow that machine? Can I borrow that real quick? Dial it back. Do you get some polyjuice potion? And he's just like, let me turn me into this 18 year old stud muffin? Like Honey, I shrunk the kids. Yeah. I don't know. Let's do this.

I don't know what the plan was. I mean, I don't think in these situations, it seems to me that people usually don't have a plan. And they just kind of are like, they just win it. Rolling off the seat of their pants. And they're like, well, we'll figure it out as it goes. Yeah, but like, just he was like, good. I'm not Thomas Montgomery anymore.

Like I am Tommy. Like, it was a wild chiff. It's a big, like, this is like a big show of like, sadness. Absolutely. Like this is just like very sad. It is, absolutely. Like this is just like, I'm sad for his family.

Then I feel bad for the 18 year old. Exactly. That's sitting here thinking she's in the Lurve. She is, absolutely. All around. Like this is just like, I'm sad for his family. Then I feel bad for the 18 year old. Exactly. That's sitting here thinking she's in the lurch. Yeah, exactly. And like getting groomed. Like very much getting groomed. You know, like that, I'm sad for everybody. Like this is just sad.

Well, fortunately, Thomas' imaginary plan was foiled because he was discovered by one of his daughters. Oh, no. Which you feel absolutely terrible for the daughters about this case. Yeah, that bums me out. She had borrowed his computer to do something one day and while she was logged on, an instant message came up from Tallhop Blonde. Like, I can't imagine how Iki that must have felt.

I feel so bad for her. That's, wow, that's trauma. Yeah, seriously. So that's a trauma mama right there. And immediately she went to her mom and like, literally Thomas' whole last wife. Like, and imagine like the guilt on her of like having to go tell her mom that.

Oh, it's, cause you're sitting there. Oh, there's just like so many layers of that. There is. And then the poor wife sitting there, having to hear from her daughter, who just found this, like the layers of that, because if like you're not a wife, you're going on a run.

That's like kind of embarrassing in a way. Oh, for sure. You'd feel like shameful and just like, yeah, because I mean, we're like human beings. Human beings feel shame for like weird shit. That like even when it's like, when it's not even weird, nothing to do with it wasn't her fault.

Like I remember like just like putting this back. I'm like, let me bring it back to me. No, but I just think of like the shame thing. Like when I was going through like the bullying stuff in junior high, yeah, I was ashamed. Like I was actually embarrassed, but why was I embarrassed? Like when I think about it, that home like,

that bully should be embarrassed that they bullied you. But it's like you do in those situations, like people who are cheated on, they feel embarrassed, like they did something wrong. And it's like, and it's a weird, a weird human thing that we do. Well, and then like, to have your daughter bring that to your attention,

like you're supposed to shield her from all of this. And you're like, oh fuck, like what has happened here? That's the other thing I was gonna say, is like I'm sure when like something happens, like you know, you find out your husband's having an affair. Right. That's something you would wanna deal with between you and your husband and never let the kids know.

Exactly. Or, or, or, or decide if they know you're gonna know or when they're gonna know or how you, you were gonna relate that to you. You need to be like in control of them. You don't want them to find out in such a traumatizing way and then become part of the whole thing. Well, then without your, you doing it, you know, that sucks for, oh, I feel so bad for the mom and

the daughters. Well, I feel so bad for Cindy because it only gets worse at this point. So her daughter brings this to her attention. And then obviously she starts digging because she's like, what the fuck is going on? Yeah, once you get that little nugget, you want to find everything out. Oh yeah, trust me. And she already could kind of tell that something was going on with the computer. Like she'd be like, hey, get off the computer and he'd be like, oh, I'm just finishing this game

or she'd be like, who are you talking to? And he'd be like, oh, just some buddies. Oh, you always know. It was in the back of her mind. Of course. So she starts going through everything. She finds love letters. She finds physical gifts.

That included lingerie, specifically a pair of red underwear. That finds love letters. She finds physical gifts. That included lingerie, specifically a pair of red underwear that had been sent to her fucking house. She had seen various chats between Thomas and Jesse. She saw a chain that was engraved, like Jesse had sent Thomas a chain that said Tommy and Jesse forever. Oh my God. She found all of the provocative photos at that point. And then she realized, oh my God, he's sending, like, so at this point she just thinks like, oh, great, he's cheating on me. Then she finds out that he's pretending to be an 18-year-old because she's going through these messages and slowly it's becoming more clear.

And then she sees the pictures that he's sending and saying, like, these are photos from right now when she knows, yeah no they're not. Living with you. Yeah, like so far. Oh my God. And it's like, uh, with the daughters how old do you know, I don't know their age. But they were, it's had their teenagers. Okay, that's what I thought.

But now it's not even a case of like great my husband's cheating on me and I have to deal with that and not only that, but he's cheating on me. And I have to deal with that and not only that, but he's cheating on me with a child, with a teenager. Yeah, like, maybe somebody of the same ages are daughters. Literally, and then on top of that, it's not like, okay, we just are going to get divorced and work through this to get away from each other. You have children who are, you are now bound for,

I can't imagine having children with someone. And then finding out they cheat on you because that brings a whole other element into it that now you're bound for life to that person. You are never gonna escape that person and it's like that must be. I can't imagine that. You must just feel so tricked. It's anybody listening has gone through that. I am so sorry. My heart is literally exploding in my chest for you because I can't I I think, I just thought about that. And I'm like, you must just feel duped.

Like, you're like, I stood in front of this man and we took vows together. Like, we would never do this to each other. Like, we would never do this to each other. Like, we would never do this to each other. Like, even that sucks, we would really fuck up. Like, you're, whole last married and have whole last children. And you've been married at this point over 20 years.

And just knowing you're never gonna escape that person. No, and how do you ever look at them? Like when your boyfriend cheats on you, you can buy and you later, and you never have to see you again or here. Like as long as you have kids together. Yeah, but if you don't, like your boyfriend who you don't have any children with,

but it's like once you have kids, you know. Yeah. Which is why I think a lot of people choose to stick around and try to work through it because they're like it's better than staying together for the kids. And what if there's custody things and like all that shit? Oh, I just like feed this family. I feel so bad. I know it's horrible. I just want to wrap you up and hug you. Well, and she's really having that her husband is delusional. Like he's living in a delusional fantasy world. Yeah, that's a scary thing to find out. And he had been chatting with this girl for months at this point,

and then Cindy's like looking through all the timestamps of these messages, and she was able to see that a lot of the time spent talking to Jesse, it would be like the whole night. Like he would stay awake the whole night until like five or six in the morning. Well, she's just sleeping.

While she's sleeping, and then he would leave for work at seven. So he would stay up all night talking to this girl and then go to work. Like, he was addicted. Yeah. Like addicted to this relationship. Wow. So she did collapse for fucking Cindy

because she pulled a bad bitch move here. Ooh. She wrote a letter to Jesse to tell her who the fuck Thomas really was. Oh, Cindy. So obviously Shazard addressed because they've been sending him back and forth. So she enclosed a pictureard address because they've been sent back and forth. So she enclosed a picture of like a family picture of her Thomas and their daughters.

Oh my God. I'll put I can post the family picture, but the daughters are blurred out. Good. Yeah. They need to be brought into this. Um, and she said she goes, quote, Jesse, enclosed, you will find a picture of my family. Let me introduce you to these people. The man in the center is Tom, my husband. There is no Tommy. He's taking advantage of you. You need to be much more cautious with your safety. You will only be hurt by a man who has mastered

the art of manipulation and lies. Do not trust words on a computer, Cindy. Snaps for Cindy too. For not being like, you bitch, you know what I mean? Like for being like, you are being lied to he's grooming you He is in the wrong here not you you are a teenager and like be careful and to be like you need to be smart about your safety Like Cindy like what a good-ass person the fuck if more people like Cindy the world would be a better place Seriously like and like she's not blaming this girl at all. She's like, you need to be careful.

I'm worried about you, too. She's literally saying, you've been groomed and duped by this man who is my husband who I'm horrified by. Yeah. Wow, Cindy. That's bad. Yeah. Bad bitch.

I'm obsessed. That was really impressive. It was. It's very easy, of course. We all want to get mad at the other woman immediately. Good for her. But I mean, she must have just put her mom pants on really quick and was like, this could be one of my children. And also, it's like, this isn't the other woman. This is a child. This is a teenager. And my husband is like, disgusting and

very rich. Exactly. He's the disgusting monster. This is a teenager that's being groomed. It's like, so I'm going to tell her you need to be safer. Exactly. Wow. Yeah. Damn. It's I'm obsessed. So then Jesse gets this letter in the mail and she's like, are you fucking kidding me? I feel so bad. I can't imagine how she felt. She is. No, she had imagined getting that photo in the mail. And like, I'm like, there's nothing wrong with balding, but she thinks that she's talking to like an 18-year-old, and then she gets a picture of like a middle-aged balding man with children.

She's looking for some flowing ginger locks that you promised her. She thought that he was a red-headed Harrison board. Yeah, as I always said, I think so, whatever. But in either way. Yeah. And she also is now learning that she's been in like having this weird relationship with a guy who And she also is now learning that she's been

like having this weird relationship with a guy who has a whole family. Like she's probably feeling really gross. I mean, they were having like phone sex. Yeah, like she's probably like I did not intend to be. It was a 10 to me. Yeah. A mistress here.

That's not like that's so unfair. Exactly. So she texted Thomas immediately. She was like, I know everything. I hate you. You should be in jail for what you've done. Like this is fucked. Good, good for you, Jesse. Yes. So she was heartbroken and probably just, I would assume in a bit of disbelief over this whole thing. Yeah. So to be sure that like this, because you know, you're like, wait a second. Like, is this true? Like, what the fuck are like,

did this, is the woman mad? Like, did she make this up? Did she find a fake photo? Like, I don't know. Yeah. So she messaged a coworker of Tommy's that she knew. Now his name was Brian Barrett. Brian worked at the Dyna braid corp with Tommy as a part-time machinist. He was the oldest in his family. He was 22 years old and he was going to school to become a teacher. Basically anybody who knew Brian liked him. He had worked the whole summer that year coaching Little League. When he was finished with that, he helped his dad coach soccer on the weekends. He had also just bought himself like a new pickup truck. He's a really stand-in guy.

Good for you, Brian. And he was like really proud of himself for buying the truck and meant a lot to him. He should be. And the absolutely cars are so bright. So he had met Jesse online through Thomas on the gaming websites. Like they would be in the same chat rooms, like playing games together and stuff. And Thomas was kind of his friend from work, but like I said, like Brian was 22. Yeah.

And Thomas was 46. So it was kind of like one of those friendships. Yeah. That you're just like, oh, this guy from work. Yeah, exactly. But Brian had been to dinner at Thomas's house before. So like, they were like a little bit more than a acquaintance, I would say. So it was news to him though that Thomas was dating an 18-year-old girl in the internet.

And a shock when he found out that Thomas was pretending to be an 18-year-old. So he was like, uh, so he was like, yeah, Thomas is really a middle-aged man with a family. Let me try to make you feel better about this whole situation. Oh man, brilliant. So he kind of stepped in like, has a noved the whole thing and was like, I'm so sorry that you're going through this. Like, let's talk about it. Like, I'll be your friend. Yeah, like this sucks. So through talking to one another, they kind of realized that, I mean, they're closer to the same age. Yeah. Ryan is in fact 22, which is in fact 18. And they realized like, maybe we were the ones

who should have been together in the first place. Like, we have a lot in common, blah, blah, blah. So soon enough, their message is turned flirty. And Jesse was messaging Thomas that she had moved on to somebody bigger and better than him. I also am like, Jesse though, like, you should take Cindy's advice. And don't trust where it's in for Peter.

Yeah, like, please, like you're a morgueful for you. Find somebody in West Virginia. I'm very worried for you. IRL. Yeah. But apparently Brian was talking about his new relationship with Jesse at work and telling everybody what Thomas had done, which all of us would be doing that.

Right. And like this guy over here. Yeah, I'd be like, be careful of this guy. Yeah, exactly. So Thomas was obviously catching wind of this. And he was pissed and getting like a lot of shit at work. And then the shit-stirmed and stopped when he was at home because he was able to see that Brian and Jesse were like going into other chat rooms and telling everybody on Pogo what had happened and being like, this guy's a fucking super freak. So 2005. And they were basically being like, he's a pedophile.

Yeah. Which like, technically he's not because she was 18. But like, he's really fucking gross. But it's still really gross. Like he's a super, very inappropriate. Like totally wrong. But because of all the drama and the fact that Thomas had lied about who he really was online,

his account got suspended. So he's even more pissed. So I guess he was still able to message Jesse online, his account got suspended. So he's even more pissed. So I guess he was still able to message Jesse like on a separate platform. Okay. And he asked her, he was like, why are you doing this to me? Like I'm sorry, I believe you alone, like just like, please stop doing this to me. Yeah. And the thing was that Jesse was playing both sides, because on one hand, she would be in these chat rooms doing her best out Thomas for like the creep that he was.

But then on the other hand, she was still messaging him that she missed him and wanted to be with him. Now, for example, this exchange, tall hop blonde messages Marine Sniper and says, I ache to be with Tommy. Do you miss it, Tom? And he says, more than you will ever know. My heart aches to hear you call me your Tommy. I wish I could be that 19 year old Marine for you, which like,

Wow. And she says, I know Tom. And this is just like, I pay everything about it. There was also another exchange where the two of them kind of like tried to put the whole thing behind them and move on as friends. Jesse told Thomas that Tommy should live on in his heart because he would always be a part of her heart. Okay, yeah. And then they reintroduced themselves to one another with Thomas saying, hi, I'm Tom, I'm 47 because he had just had a birthday

and I'm a former Marine. And then Jesse says, hi, I'm Jesse, I'm 18 years old and I just graduated like in all capital letters. All right. So like we're gonna be friends now. There you go. Yay. Okay.

But then all of the sudden one day, Jesse decided that she wanted to accept Thomas for who he really was. She told him that she missed him and she wanted to be with him again. So Thomas was like over the moon because he's all kinds of fucked up. He's still married at this point.

Yes, still married. And like Cindy's like trying to like work on this. Like make it work. Wow. Like amazing woman. Yeah, for real. And but he knows what he's doing is wrong. He's married.

Like we just said, and again, he's 47 in the squirrels 18. Yeah, nothing about this situation has changed. It's literally no. He's not lying by the way. Exactly. So they started their relationship back up again. And they went right back to their old ways. Like Cindy would beg him to get off of the computer

and he'd say, when I'm done. And he said, it was like a drug. I was addicted to it. I couldn't just end it. No, you could. Like, no, that's actually exactly what you were supposed to do. You were 100% good. So Jesse and Tom said that this time,

they're like, their relationship was different the second time around But their computer histories both tell the same tale It was just as if not more sexual than it had been like this the first time around There's a documentary actually that I watched I'm gonna plug it in the show notes You can see a bunch of their exchanges with one another The explicit ones are just like truly bizarre. Very uncomfortable. I'm not reading them here, but if you want to go find that

you can. And they just like dove right back into everything. Wolf, until one day. Yeah, I knew something was coming. Jesse said, I made a mistake. And she said, I changed my mind about this whole thing. I really want to be with Brian. He's younger.

We have more in common. And I only realized it when I let him go. What I'm doing here is wrong. I have to go back and be with Brian. He's younger. We have more in common and I only realized it when I let him go What I'm doing here is wrong. I have to go back and be with Brian So she's playing both of them like a fucking fiddle everybody. I think it's time to sign off throw up your way message Put up an emoliric and just stay away from the computer for a little while everybody. They go do things IRL Yeah, be or be AFK. BRB AFK. Just. AFK. Away from keyboard.

Oh, obviously. Obviously. Obviously. BRB, like really summed up first. You would say. BRB AFK. Away from keyboard. Like, can't type back, sorry.

That's hilarious. We would just say BRB. Or BBL. Which not much of a completely different. Yeah. But BRB AFK was like the, like, Burbath. Yeah, Burbath.

So yeah, Jesse broke things off for the second time and Thomas was not sad. He was pissed. Inwraged. And most of his anchor was directed at the person he saw at work every day. Brian. Brian.

So Brian was talking with his friends at work one day about how he and Jesse were making plans to meet up soon. IRL. Oh no. So Thomas kept listening in on Brian's work conversations, like trying to hear all the details. So he was under the impression that Brian only wanted to meet Jesse so that he could have sex with her. And that was something that made him angrier because in her early conversations with Tommy, Jesse had said that she was a virgin.

So they were making a very big deal about the fact that Tommy was the one who wanted to take her virginity, which is just a really whole weird thing in a way self. Yeah. Yeah. I have all kinds of thoughts on that. Yeah. But now, Thomas, the way that he was looking at it is like, I've been talking to this girl. I'm in love with her and then Brian steps in, he ruins everything

and he's gonna take her virginity, like he's pissed. So, it's such a weird, it's such a weird time. Yeah, we're all, I can't pure until we get fuked. It's super taken anything. Yeah, like I'm still the same person I was. But anyways, he would get home from work and he would sign in and start harassing Jesse. He would call her, I hate saying this word, a whore.

He would say all kinds of terrible things to her, um, trigger warning for this. He said that the only time he ever wanted to see her again was if she was being gang raped. And he used a terrible word to about the people who he wanted to gang rape her. He used a slur, didn't he? A slur, yeah, because you... If you watch the documentary, just be warned that there are a couple of times where he types that slur, and it's not blocked out or anything, so just know that going into it, because I did not expect it, and it was very jarring.

Because that was one thing that Ash mentioned to me, I think, as a trigger warning, she was like, by the way. I was like, just so you know, like it really ups at me. Yeah, I was, I don't want to see that work. Wow. Because you're like reading the messages and then you're like, Oh God, no, it's just like, ah, and then there was this exchange. Marine Sniper says, talking about Brian, I hate him with a passion, a passion. And for 10 cents, I would eliminate him. Eliminate him for a dime, for a dime. And tall tall hop blonde says that's a little drastic, isn't it? Marine sniper payback is a motherfucker Jesse. I am the ultimate weapon. I am a marine and she goes

Yeah, it's a lot stop she goes What are you going to do and he goes? Let's just say your piece of shit boyfriend came with an a pussy hair of dying. Yeah, which like, you discussed. He's so gross. And Jesse says, are you serious? And he says yes. And she says when?

And he goes the day after you two assholes told me you were fucking with me. Because like they would like message him and be like, yeah, you're stupid. And she was like, oh. And he said, had I pulled a little harder, he would be gone. Brian will pay in blood. All right, Thomas. Yeah. So whatever settled down,

tiny little aota of grip that he was holding on, I was just gonna say. I was just gonna say. I was dwindling with every conversation that he had with Jesse. It's like Elsa with a balloon. She let it go. Yeah, for a balloon. She let it go. Yeah, for real.

He just let it go. Put them, there it goes. But Jesse was concerned for Brian and she was like, you need to be careful at work. And she specifically told him that she wanted him to make sure that Thomas stayed away from his truck. Like that was one thing that she had made

like a big deal about saying. Okay. And Brian was like, yeah, I'm worried too. Like do you think that I should tell like a boss at work that this is going on or like anybody? And he said, in recent days, Thomas had tried to hit him with his car in the parking lot. Yeah, you should tell somebody. You should definitely tell somebody. But unfortunately, Brian would not get the chance to report Thomas to anybody. On Friday, September 15th, at about 10 p.m. Brian was heading out of work and he was walking through the parking lot to his truck.

He was like one of the last people at work. He got into the car and immediately seemingly out of nowhere. He was shot three times. Yeah, and he didn't have plans that weekend because Thomas Montgomery didn't know this, but Jesse had messaged Brian earlier and canceled the plans to meet up that weekend. Because this was the weekend that they were supposed to meet up. But then at the last second, Jesse didn't want to anymore.

Man. Yeah. She said she wasn't ready to meet in person yet. So nobody in Brian's close circle knew that he was heading out to West Virginia to meet this girl, and they didn't think that he had, they like just didn't know what was going on for him that we found. So he wasn't discovered until that Monday morning. Yeah.

Oh, it's horrifying. People like started arriving at work and coming onto this scene. Everybody was showing up. It got brought into this. That's what sucks. And yeah, we got there. We got brought into this whole thing. Exactly. And he was brought in get there. We'll see what you guys brought into this whole thing.

Exactly. And he was brought in like being a really good guy. Like what the fuck is this old man doing to you? Like you sweet, young innocent girl. But it's terrible. So everybody's arriving at work. So that's when the police were called. Everybody except Thomas Montgomery.

Huh. Yeah. Now when police arrived on scene, 22-year-old Brian Barrett was dead. One of the shots went through his neck. Ooh, yeah. He was slumped over in his own truck that he had bought and was so proud of himself just sitting in a pool of blood.

That's so sad. And so they found shell casings at the scene, a peach pit, and they also noted that Brian's back rear tire had been slashed. So whoever had done this to him had intended to, and clearly they wanted to be sure that he had no way that he was just gonna say so he couldn't drive away. Yeah, like in one of the documentaries

that I watched, one of them was like, he was literally a sitting duck. Yeah, like, and it's horrible, I'd describe it, but it's true, it's the truth. So the police start asking Brian's co-workers, like, do you see of enemies? Like, why would this be happening? So all of them are like, yeah, he has one in particular.

There's been something going on between him and this guy, Thomas Montgomery. It's kind of like a love triangle. We don't know all the details, but it's about this girl named Jesse. But at that point, Thomas Montgomery was nowhere to be found. And so when they learned that the center of this love triangle was Jesse,

they were really worried about her because they were like, he's nowhere to be found, is he on his way to go do something to her. So the search for her actually started out in a pretty unconventional way. They were trying to locate who she was and get a last name. And they were able to do so via my space. My space.

Yeah, like one of the people who worked at the front in the police station was like a younger person, and they were on my space, trying to figure it out, and that's how they found her. Wow. Yeah. This is the most 2005, I love it. Truly, it was one of the first times

that they had ever found somebody in that manner. That's great. So then they were able to get an address, and they made their way out to West Virginia. Wow. Crazy. Like, that's the only way. That's the thing, like, that's really wild.

It is. So when they got to Jessie's home, an older woman answered the door, and she said that her name was Mary Sheeler, and that her daughter was Jessie. So the police started explaining this whole situation that her daughter is involved in, and they're like, a young man has just been killed,

and like, we're really concerned for your daughter. Do you have any way of getting into contact with her? And Mary said, no, I don't. And they were like, you don't have a way of contacting your daughter. Like, we're really worried for her safety. So they keep talking to her, and they're just like getting this really weird vibe

from her, and then all of the sudden she starts crying. Uh-oh. And she says, I need to admit something. Oh, no. Her daughter, Jesse, wasn't the one who sent the messages to either man. Oh no. Or the pictures. Oh no.

She had sent the gifts and talked on the phone with these men. Mary Sheeler. She was the one behind all of these actions. Oh, and there was a Jessie. Her daughter, Jessie. She was using her daughter's photos to keep up the illusion that she was tall-hop blonde, and her daughter had no idea.

Oh my god, like I literally want to throw up. Unreal. Thinking of using your child. And she was sending like, oh my god. She was sending pictures of Jesse and bathing suits, like pictures of her getting into her car. Oh my god. Upsk skirt photos of her fucking daughter. What a fucking monster.

Like the most disgusting thing I've heard in recent years. Oh my god. Like, because I was saying earlier, like we watched this documentary together when it came out, but it was like years and years ago. Yeah, and I don't remember. I did not remember like, I didn't either.

I didn't either. That was the, because I'm like, and I don't remember. I did not remember like, I didn't either. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't either. I'm so sorry. I didn't either. I didn't either. I didn't either.

I didn't either. I didn't either. I didn't either. I didn't either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either.

I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. I didn't remember either. like put that out of my head. God. Yeah, using her daughter's photos. So they were like, oh my god. Okay. Can you fill out a police report for us?

And she did. And she said that the real Thomas had called her. And she believed it was right after he had killed Brian. In the police report, she wrote that he called and said, quote, your boyfriend was very easy to take care of. And ended the call by saying, no 18-year-old is gonna best me. Whoa!

Yes. That's terrifying. When they were finally able to track Thomas down, he was arrested for first-degree murder. Sure was. But he told them that he had nothing to do with this. He said the night that Brian was murdered, he was at home with his wife and daughters,

and that they would vouch for him. Cindy was like, you thought this? I was just gonna say, I hope Cindy was like, uh, no. No, she was like, I will not vouch for you, neither of us. Though that's children, you piece of shit. That shows what an asshole he is. He's terrible.

He thinks after all he's put them through the other guy that's fucking us. That they'll vouch for his wife for your ass? Like, for your murdering ass. Yeah. No. And he kept trying on the phone with his daughters for your ass, for your murdering ass. Yeah, no. And he kept trying on the phone with his daughters, calling them from his jail cell,

being like, they're gonna keep me for a long time. Like, I'm not gonna come home if you don't vouch for me. And again, a monster. Literally. These two are fucking monsters. It was horrible. And listening to the conversation, like his daughter's like crying on the phone.

Oh, fuck these terrible. I felt so bad.. I felt so bad. And I felt so bad. I didn't like how are, has this many people like using their children in these ways? It's like, seriously? What is wrong with you guys? Fuck around with your own lives.

Do whatever the fuck you want with your own lives. But don't bring your kids into it. Why you all bringing kids into it? Like fuck you guys. And like the way that Mary Sheeler brought her daughter into this, like, ugh. Well that's a geez.

But I respect I respect Cindy and his daughter so much because they were not they were not willing to lie under us. Good for them, but I feel so bad that I'm having to go through this shit. Oh, yeah, Cindy filed for divorce while Thomas was in prison. I'm talking to a girlfriend. And Thomas didn't find out that the Jesse he had been talking to is actually a middle aged woman until he was brought into custody.

I must move. So that whole time he was like, oh, I did this because I want to win Jesse after like the girlfriend. And they were like, oh yeah. Oh, that. They brought out this picture of Mary Sheeler who does not look like Jesse.

And they were like, hey, do you know this woman? And he was like, no. And they were like, oh yeah, that's Jesse. And they were like, hey, do you know this woman? And he was like, no. And they were like, oh yeah, that's Jesse. And he was like, what? And they said, quote, the blood drained from his head and he turns the colors of the walls, which was a pasty white. Like what a perfect little taste of your own medicine.

It's like, you're not the only person who lied about who you were on the internet. This lady did too. Oh, are you disappointed? Was it worth it? Are you disappointed? Yeah, how do you feel for you? Big yikes. So while he was being held in jail before the trial, he actually tried to kill himself.

He overdosed on sleeping pills that he had found in another inmate cell, but that didn't work. And then he was placed on like a more intense watch so that that wouldn't happen. And he slowly started to realize that the case against him, like he was gonna have no way of getting out of it, man. So he called his lawyer and he and his lawyer spoke. And they came to the decision together that it would be a much better idea

if he pled guilty to the charges because you're gonna get a better deal because you are guilty, sir. Yes, so he entered a guilty plea. But then at the last second, he fired his original lawyer, got another one, and tried to file a motion to revoke his guilty plea. Guy, you don't know when to quit.

The motion was denied. Yeah, I was gonna say. The judge was like, you thought, that's a no. He was like, I thought, like, he said, he was like, I entered the guilty plea when I, like, when I wanted to, so why can't I get out of it if I want to? And it's like, you don't understand this, do you? Do you not know how things work?

And also, not only did the prosecution have like, tens of thousands of instant messages between Thomas and Jesse, including the ones where he threatened to hurt Brian. Yeah. And he had also threatened to hurt Jesse and her mother in these messages. But they also found his DNA on that peach pit at the site.

Oh, there was a peach pit left at the site where Brian was killed. Don't be. And Thomas Montgomery's DNA was found on the peach pit. Oh my God, it's like Parks and Rec. Oh my God, it is. Yes. Holy shit.

But that's not it, guys. That's not it. Because during the interviews with Thomas and Brian's co-workers, one of them said that Thomas had said if he was ever going to commit a murder, which like weird conversation, yeah, he would use an M1A1 gun, which is like an old military rifle.

Okay. So during the investigation into Thomas, they took a gun cabinet away from his home and they took it into their custody. And the gun that Brian was shot with was never found. But the FBI was able to do their thing. And then looking at old family photos, they realized the same gun cabinet

that they had in their custody was in a picture, like an old family photo, and when they zoomed in, that gun was inside of it. So they were able to prove that he did have that gun at one point in time, most likely he would sit for the murder and ditched it. Holy shit! Yes, exactly.

That's some real FBI shit. That is some real FBI shit. That is real FBI shit. And it was an old military rifle. 30 calibers to be exact. Match. Match the shell casings found on scene. Damn.

Like, damn. Wipe your hands off. That's your fucking case, buddy. That's, that's some FI-I shit. Oh, hell yeah. So when it came time for his plea, Thomas explained to the judge that yes, he did shoot Brian. He said he shot Brian three times with a 30 caliber rifle.

We know as he was getting into his truck. And the judge said, did you mean to kill Brian? And he said, no. But then his lawyer like elbowed him and then he said, yes. I love that his lawyer is like, I am coming. You're literally entering a guilty. You can't say no. How do you not understand this?

You shot him three times in the neck. And you didn't mean to. like, you didn't get. Okay, poor Brian, I know. I know. So Brian's father, his family, I feel so horrible. That's their oldest son. His father read a victim. And he did nothing wrong.

He was the only one telling the fucking truth in this situation. The victim impact statement that his father read said, quote, my wife and I don't understand how this could happen to our family. We don't understand how this could happen to our family. We don't understand how such evil could exist in the world. To gun down a boy over a simple, over simple jealousy does not make sense. No.

And then when it came time to Thomas' sentence, they said quote, We were hoping for more, but to be honest with you, we were prepared to take the 20 if we had to, the 20 years. Which obviously we did. We were glad to see that the judge didn't prolong this any longer and give Montgomery more rights than my son ever got. Oh, so Thomas was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He's appealed his case, saying that he was pressured

into pleading guilty by his lawyer, but his appeals have been denied. No, so I let it fuck right off. And the prosecutors hoped that they would be able to charge Mary Sheeler with something in this because she's a disgusting piece of shit for what she had. And she's a key part of this whole case. Absolutely.

Brian would still be alive if she hadn't done what she did. Absolutely. But technically by law, she didn't do anything illegal. Yeah, catfishing is not like unfortunately. And she's your own child. Your own child. Damn, why is there not a law somewhere in here?

There has to be. But she tried to make herself out to be a hero. And she said the reason why she talked to Thomas Montgomery for so long was because she didn't want him to go out in real life and talk to other teenagers. No. I think we all know that that's a load of BS, Mary. Not only did you use your daughter's photos

without her permission, she also once used a camera to get a shot of her daughter's skirt and authorities were able to find that she had sent the picture to multiple men asking, quote, guys, do you like it? No, she's literally disgusting. A disgusting monster. And the thing is it's like, I can't believe what she did to her daughter and had it been a one year earlier, she could have gone to prison for like child pornography. Yeah. Against her own child.

Wow. Yeah. And Jesse, like the real Jesse had no idea about what her mom was doing. And she didn't find out until her friends started hearing about this case and brought it to her attention. So she ran into her father one night

and she was like, do you know about this? Like what? And at that point, he didn't even know. So he like found out with her. Oh my God, these poor families. It's so horrible. And he said he was surprised, but it was also a running joke in Mary's family

that she could get out of anything she wanted to if she described her way out of it. He was like, she's literally literally been a liar her whole life. Wow. And it was just like she had never lied about anything this big. So he filed for divorce and the real Jesse cut off all contacts with her mother. Good.

Mary has never apologized to her daughter. That's wild. Now, the only time that Mary has ever spoken about everything that happened was when she told BBC, it was stupid. It should have never happened. I just never thought it would go anywhere. It did happen.

It did happen. It happened far off and that would be the end of it. No, first of all, it didn't happen. Like this isn't just happening. I wish it didn't happen. No, you did it. Like you created the situation. Don't be passive about it.

Don't say it happened to you. You chose to victimize your own child for some weird sick thing that you were trying to do. Right. Don't pretend it happened to you. And you were an active part of it. And to say it was stupid, it never should have happened.

Like the murder of that thing. 22 year old man. Like boy, you had his whole life ahead of him. You want to be that passive and say it? I'm sure his family thinks that, that it happened. Yeah, it just happened. And it shouldn't have ever gone that far. Like no, that's somebody's child.

That's people's friends. That's people's like, are you kidding me? That somebody's loved to run. Like fuck you. She also wants to write a book about the dangers of the internet. No, like, no. You're the dangers of the internet. No. Like funny.

You're the dangers of the internet. Dear publishers in the world. No. Don't do it. I don't know what it would. No one would, but I'm telling you, don't do it. But Brian's parents have a petition in the hopes that some kind of law could be made so that anyone who did what Mary Sheeler did could be held criminally responsible.

Unfortunately, as of this date, no such law has been made, but they're trying. Which is wild. And the first deputy district attorney, John J. DeFranx, I just want to finish this with a quote that he made because it just really drives this whole case home. He said, quote, the uniqueness of this case is that everybody appeared to be misleading everybody else in the whole situation which resulted in a violent death was unnecessary. Ironically, the only person telling the truth here

was the victim. Because I was gonna say Brian was not misleading anyone. He was the only person who was doing, and he was doing like a nice thing, like he was trying to be like console this girl. And it's like this, and these innocent people, like Brian's this innocent person that was brought into it,

unwillingly and just tried to be a good guy. Yeah. And like, Jesse, the real Jesse, the real Jesse, she was unwillingly put into this. Absolutely. Like she's a victim in this. Like I was searching the case while you were talking just to like see the pictures of people. They're all over the place. And it's like, no, I'm not going to be posting any pictures of Jesse to our Instagram page.

Her pictures shouldn't be part, like it's, I know that it's like, it's part of the case. But it's not, that's not fair. She didn't, she didn't have those pictures out there. Her mother did. And it's like, her mother literally victimized her. Like, that's fuck. It's so fucked.

And actually, Mary Sun, at the end of the documentary that I watched, which again, I'll link in the show notes. He said that his mom, as of that point, had been spending more time on the computer and he was growing concerned. So she could still be out there doing this shit. And that's the thing, I don't know what kind of law could possibly be made about this.

That's why the internet is a scary thing, man. I don't know what I'm gonna do on the internet ever. No, I'm gonna be like, no internet. I'm gonna be one of those crazy people. It's like the internet is a scary thing, man. I don't know about my children on the internet ever. No. I'm gonna be like, I'm gonna be like one of those crazy people that's like no internet in the house. No internet. Cause it's like, you're like, Mom, you're like, you are the internet.

You are the internet. Like you're always on the internet, Mom. But it's like, there's no policing it. And it's like, really is a scary thing because people can say whatever they want, they can lie through their fucking teeth about anybody they want to and say it like it's fact. I mean, all of the, what was that show?

How to catch a predator? Yeah, I think that whole thing. It was so scary to see and it's like you really have to be, like parents do have to be more, like we're, I think we all have to learn a totally different parenting method now. Yeah, because there's so much more scary stuff that can become involved here. Absolutely.

We all need to help each other. I think everybody just needs to help each other to protect your kids. It's hard. But this case is so tragic. The fact that the one person involved in the three of them was telling the truth is the one that was murdered. So needlessly, not that there's ever a need for murder, but it's like, and like he got 20 years from taking a 20-year-old's life. His parents literally said that not enough. Like they literally said the sentencing was an insult. It is.

Which it absolutely is. 20 years, that's not even the amount of time that Brian was alive on this earth. Right. Absolutely. 20 years, that's not even the amount of time that Brian was alive on the surf. Right. And like, really? Are we, what about when he gets out of prison

and he tries to, like, what if he logs on those sites again? Exactly. And pretends to be an 18 year old and does this to somebody else. No, that's like really. Damn, it's scary. This was 2005. Mm-hmm.

And it's like catfish the movie came out in 2010. I know, because I loved that. And it's a very similar. I know. Sc scenario where that mom was using her daughter's photos. And it wasn't even her, well, she was using her like younger daughter as like a pond, but she was using some strangers photos. Oh yeah. It was this like girl. And saying who was like an artist and like a, you know, a musician or something.

Yeah. And saying it was her daughter. Yeah, that whole, like that whole thing was crazy because honestly catfish to me, I remember watching that. It's so scary when it came out. It's so scary. When we lived in the apartment and like with a bunch of our friends and we all sent down to watch it.

And we were at the end of it, I remember we were all just like, what the fuck did I just watch? Well, also towards the end of it, you're like, are they gonna get murdered? Oh, I thought they were all just like, what the fuck did I just watch? Because we were like, holy shit. Well, because also twit the end, if you're like, are they gonna get murdered? Oh, I thought they were literally gonna get murdered. Honestly, it was as scary. It was. That's the whole thing, and it was.

The whole entire thing. And this gave me so many of those vibes, but it was like before it, which is even scarier than it was. And it was like, worse. Yeah, because somebody died. Like, this ended in death. Yeah. The unit is a scary place.

This is a cautionary tale, my dear. Very big cautionary tale. Like, remember, you don't know who's on the other side of that screen app. You don't know. It may feel like you know, but you don't know. I'm gonna, when my kids, like, if I do allow them to have the internet,

I'm gonna sit down and play them this episode. Yeah, for real. Like, just so you know. So you're aware. Yeah, I just want to put that out there. Be careful. We're gonna sit down and watch catfish. Yeah, we are. Because that'll show you. Oh, so yeah, guys. Man, that was a crazy tale. And I feel so hard for all these families. I feel so horrible for Brian's parents and his brothers. Yeah, I want Brian's family

guys. And I feel so bad for Thomas's daughters and Cindy. I hope Cindy and her daughters are thriving. Yeah, I hope they're just like, like I hope you are killing it seriously. Cause you already were. And I hope Jesse's killing it, the real Jesse. I hope Jesse's killing it. Yeah, get it girl. I hope like live your life, you're doing great.

Live your best life. Man, all of you live your best life. Yeah. And we hope that you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But it's the way that you log onto an online chat room and you're like, oh my god, I think I'll pretend to be my daughter today. That won't be weird or terrible in any way at all.

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. And then this happens, like, don't be that weird. Don't. ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿ʻ ʻ‿� 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 Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. plus an Apple podcast. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at

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